Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Dawn of Primacy: Dark Maelstrom

-9-

As Kimberly tried to focus on the image before her it seemed to melt away into nothing leaving her standing outside in the dark. The wind died as suddenly as it had come. Kimberly looked around; a chill ran down her spine. She didn't know if she was just being paranoid, but something about all of this seemed wrong. Quickly scooping up the lantern she turned the gas supply off and began to walk quickly toward the Command Center door her pace quickening the closer she came. The huge doors slid open for her allowing her in. She hurried through the open door breaking into a short sprint as she crossed the threshold coming to a stop several meters inside. She pressed herself against the side wall watching the massive doors close. She exhaled realizing she had stopped breathing just before she had entered the Command Center.

Get it together Kim, you're jumping at shadows, and shadows aren't anything to be afraid of. Shadows aren't anything at all. Nothing but a lack of light, really they are, truly, nothing. Her eyes grew wide as a horrible moment of clarity took hold in her mind. Her heart began to race as the truth forming in her mind solidified. She dropped the broken lantern and raced toward the Medical Bay.

"No abnormalities detected," Circuit replied as his eyes returned to yellow.

"This doesn't make any sense," Billy said. "There is nothing wrong with Trip. What I don't understand is why is he still morphed?"

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

"Well normally when a person is unconscious their body reverts to a natural state, but for some reason Trip has remained morphed." Billy turned to the owl. "Is that normal Circuit?"

"No," the owl replied.

The door slid open as Kimberly raced in; her face a little flush from the sudden exertion.

"Kimberly, what's…?" Ashley began.

"Run a scan on his powers Billy," Kimberly said.

"Okay," Billy said pressing a few keys. "But, why?"

"Because that Ranger touched him, that Shadow Ranger." She said.

"I'm not seeing the connection," Billy said.

"A shadow is nothing," she said. "A shadow is void, like Josh was talking about when he told us about the Go-Dai!"

Billy activated the scan and sat back for a moment letting that sink in. He was approaching this problem from the idea that something was wrong with Trip, but there wasn't anything wrong except for the weakness he felt, but their strength was tied to their powers as well. He hadn't even considered that because Trip's powers hadn't failed, if anything they had seemed too strong. Billy noticed Circuit's eyes had turned white; apparently he didn't need orders to act. It was interesting that the designers had chosen the form of Bubo Viginianus, the Great Horned Owl, as the template for the design. It seemed that the old poem, or at least the association between the owl and wisdom, had lasted through the next thousand years.

The computer beeped as it completed its scan brining Billy back to the moment. Something about this traveler from the future had seemed to awaken the child in him though. Looking at the screen Billy could see that Kimberly had been right, there was another energy signature present, and it was feeding off his morphed state like a parasite.

"Circuit do you see the power drain as well?"

"Yes Billy," he replied.

"Do you think that we could correct the problem simply by demorphing him?"

"I'm not certain. There isn't enough data to suggest it would help, or that it wouldn't."

"Jason, try shutting down his morpher."

Jason looked down at Trip's waist but didn't see anything that resembled a morpher.

"It's up here," Circuit said pointing at Trip's left arm with his beak.

Jason moved around the table and took hold of Trip's wrist. He starred at the device, nothing about it looked familiar. He looked at Circuit.

"Do you know which button it is?" Jason asked.

"Those two, the buttons on both of the sides," Circuit replied pointing at the front of the Morpher. "You have to press them simultaneously, it prevents accidental demorphing."

Jason pressed the buttons and released Trip's arm. The green armor began to ripple and faded out of existence. Jason pressed two fingers to the side of Trip's neck, he felt a pulse of some kind, but it was different from what he had expected.

"Xybrians have an eight chambered heart," Circuit said as if anticipating Jason's question. "They require two elements from the air in order to breath, oxygen and nitrogen, their physiology really is quite interesting."

"Well he's alive Billy," Jason said not sure how to respond to the information Circuit had spontaneously provided.

"I think Billy and that owl are going to get along real well." Kimberly whispered to Ashley.

Ashley grinned at the thought of the two of them talking to each other all day about every topic imaginable.

"Running secondary scan," Billy said.

The Rangers huddled around the monitors awaiting the results of the test.

"It seems the foreign energy has dispersed." Circuit said.

The Rangers all turned to look at him. As they did the computer toned indicating it was finished.

"Looks like he just made this whole Command Center obsolete," Jason jested.

"On the contrary," Circuit said. "This place is one of the most advanced centers that will exist on this planet for the next three hundred years. Though, largely, the technological advancements on this planet will be driven by shared Ranger technology and that taken from future incidents on Earth against the force of evil."

"Should he be telling us all this stuff about the future?" Ashley asked. "I mean, what about messing up the time line and all the stuff they go on about in movies."

Circuit tilted his head looking at Ashley as if puzzled by her statement.

"From what Trip was saying I think we can conclude that the timeline is already ruined," Billy said.

"The timeline is not as weak as you might suppose," Circuit said. "It takes an event that is capable of starting a chain reaction of causality to alter the future in the way you are proposing. Scientists once believed that the timeline was a constant, that, and I apologize for such an archaic term, 'fate' was something decided by some 'grand design' and that the outcome of past events was unalterable. However, in the late twenty-ninth century, Professor Trent Mansfield discovered that while the presence of 'fate' was in fact plausible it is the result of all of existence moving in a unified direction and is not alterable by a single event up to a certain temporal significance."

The Rangers stood staring at Circuit. With the exception of Billy the other's seemed confused by what Circuit had said.

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"In layman's terms," Circuit began again. "Think of time as a river flowing along a set path toward a final destination, while the course of individual water molecules can be altered and even eliminated the river continues to flow."

"This is fascinating stuff," Billy said. "So you're saying that time can be altered without having a significant impact on the future?"

"Yes," Circuit replied. "Contrary to popular opinion in the scientific community of Earth at the present time and for nearly the next two hundred years, the phenomenon suggested by what was commonly known as the 'Butterfly Effect', while excellent for explaining interactions within a current frame of temporal space and how those interactions may influence further temporal events, ignores the principle of freewill that all sentient life forms possess to resist dynamic forces."

"What if someone from your time were to alter an event to such a degree that it removed their existence?" Billy asked. "Wouldn't that create a paradox?"

"In such an event there are two theories, though, as you can imagine it is nearly impossible to study such data, and those ways so far devised present moral dilemmas. However, the first theory states that since the quantum energy within a closed system, in this case our universe, is constant then the result of such an event would be the redistribution of quanta with a future that may appear different from a human perspective, but has the same quantum potential and thus the same direction as the previous future. However, the second theory takes into account the fact that when we move outside of time we create a quantum imbalance, yet order is maintained giving rise to the idea that our universe is not a closed system as some have thought, but merely another quantum singularity within an even greater quantum state containing other quantum singularities."

"My head hurts," Kimberly interrupted. "I'm sure this is fascinating and interesting, but I'm going to go get some rest."

"I think I will too," Ashley said.

"Don't stay up too late talking to Circuit," Jason said patting Billy on the shoulder.

"You coming Adam?" Kimberly asked.

"No," Adam said opening his eyes. "I want to be here when they wake up."

"Okay, good night," Kimberly replied as the three Rangers left the Medical Bay.

"So what does the second theory state?" Billy asked eagerly.

"The second theory states that it is likely that the creation of a paradox could result in a transference of energy between singularities to compensate for the change in the quantum state. Though at the present year it is unknown what the ramifications of such a shift in quantum energy would be. Though the information given to humanity by Eltarian scientists does show the existence of other dimensional planes; though none in which there exists a 'parallel world'. It is conceivable that these dimensions are actually other singularities within the greater quantum state. This has caused some to believe that these paradoxes could be the key to dimensional travel, but so far no theories have emerged as to how one of these paradoxes can be safely created."

"Fascinating," was Billy's only reply.

Lord Zedd stood on the balcony of his lunar fortress. Events of the last week had weighed heavy upon him. Everything he had strived to achieve was falling apart. He should have allowed Rita to select that whelp as her Green Ranger. He should have delayed his arrival to Earth in favor of conquering another race. Everything had gone wrong from the moment he had selected that accursed human as his Green Ranger. Joshua Raine. That name angered him. He should have been able to overpower the Rangers, but by some fluke they had managed to sever his control over the Green Ranger just as they had done with Rita's choice. Was it the Sword of Darkness that proved to be the weak point, or had it been something else? Something, less tangible? When he thought of all the times he could have simply crushed them, he could have obliterated this world the moment he arrived, now he had a true fight on his hands, nothing he knew of the Rangers could give him an easy victory. Rumors were even circulating amongst his own warriors that the Green Ranger was still alive, though something about the accounts he had received did not feel right to him. This Green Ranger was different, not only in his demonstrated powers, but in the manner of his attacks. Not one of his Generals, not one of his warriors had been torn to pieces in the way that was consistent with the Green Ranger's abilities. Joshua had been smart though, he could be doing this deliberately to make it seem this Ranger was a fake while still helping his friends. He had also studied with Ninjor, which meant Joshua could know almost as much about the Morphing Grid as he did.

It would be a dangerous trail to follow now, but he had to keep his plans intact. If he changed everything now in favor of a single crushing blow the growing suspicion among his General's that he was not all powerful would be strengthened and he could not afford to make examples of them if he was to continue his campaign across the galaxy unabated. Of course, since none knew his time table there was nothing preventing him from accelerating those plans. And even if those plans should fail he still had one more trap waiting for just such an occasion.

Jason was still awake watching some old battles on the holo-display when Billy emerged from the Medical Bay an hour later. It was nearly two in the morning, but Billy didn't feel tired at all. Circuit flew through the opening before the doors closed and glided silently to the console to Jason's left. Jason didn't seem to notice him. The images Jason was currently viewing were from the last fight of his old life. He watched carefully as Green Ranger dodged the attack he and Billy had made before stabbing him in the back and taking him down, finally breaking his neck. He watched as Kimberly's arrow hit the Green Ranger allowing Billy to eliminate one of his weapons. Billy came up alongside of him watching the final moments of the fight that had changed their lives forever. Jason watched the last moments as the Green Ranger screamed at the sky. He turned off the display.

"I never knew how it really ended," Jason said turning to Billy.

"Everything happened so fast," Billy said. "I think I kicked that sword away before I even realized you were dead."

"It's funny," Jason said a little distant. "Even though I was suppose to lead the Rangers I still had to die, this event was unavoidable. It just reminded me of what Circuit said about free will."

Billy thought about it for a moment. It did seem that Joshua's actions had always been opposed to fate or destiny. If anyone could come back from death then it was him, though with what Kimberly had helped them discover with Trip it was unlikely that the Green Ranger they had seen was really him. The way Joshua had described the fifth element, the power of void, it seemed inconceivable that he would use it. Still this Shadow Ranger, as Kimberly had put it, was making good use of the abilities he had and seemed to move about freely. It was obvious that this new Ranger was not helping Zedd, at least not directly, but was the enemy of their enemy really their friend?

"Hey, Billy, you there?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind." Billy said. "Well this is the main system," Billy said turning to Circuit. "The encrypted files are all located on matrix seven two one eight six five. Feel free to interface with the system to get your Time Shadow fixed. I know there was some damage done to it. I'm going to sleep."

"Thank you," Circuit replied. "I hope I will be able to help you with your problem as well."

"How's Trip doing?" Jason asked as Billy was leaving the room.

"His power levels are climbing, but he's going to need some rest." Billy replied. "We'll have to see how he is in the morning."

"Okay, well good night Circuit," Jason said as he followed Billy out of the room.

"Good night," Circuit replied.

The lights shut down in the main room. Circuit connected to the main system through the remote link Billy had given him access to. His eyes glowed green in the darkness as he began transferring data to the system to repair the Time Shadow. Having completed his first task he began scanning the encrypted files that Billy had locked away. They all appeared to be locked with a fairly standard Eltarian Encryption Key. Circuit began unlocking the files scanning them as he went. His eyes widened as the data was copied into his own mainframe. This was very interesting material indeed.

Psycho Blue and Pink were hunched over the work station that they had constructed in the bowels of the Dark Fortress. The room had originally been one of the fortress' many garbage repositories, but Blue had insisted that this would make the best location for the Psycho's to work from. While he intended to equip the facility to suit their needs he had grown increasingly fixated on his new experiments once he had finished the small work station in one corner of the room, originally not much bigger than an office desk, the work station had grown to the size of a small room as Blue had eviscerated parts from all over the Dark Fortress to add to it. Near him Psycho Pink was at work contributing her own skills to Blue's latest project.

"Did you hear the news?" Red asked coming into the main room.

"Shhh," Blue replied not looking up from his work to address him. "This is a very delicate stage,"

"What are you doing?" Red asked in a whisper as he approached the work station.

"Genetically modifying cockroaches," Blue replied.

"To do what?" Red asked grinning with anticipation.

"Make them different colors," Blue replied.

"Here's a red one," Pink said holding up the bright red insect.

"Why are you changing the colors of bugs?" Red asked hoping there was something to salvage from Blue's latest plan.

"So they can blend in with the Skittles." Blue said.

"I'm painting white Ss on them," Pink added.

Red stood looking at Blue in total dismay, not sure what to say about his latest endeavor.

"The best part is that if this works out we can also make some to hide in M and Ms, and Reese Pieces."

"And you are doing this because, why?" Red asked the annoyance in his voice apparent.

"You just don't get it do you Red?" Blue asked in frustration.

"Why don't you explain it to me," Red replied.

"You wouldn't get it anyway. It involves Chaos Mathematics."

"They have math for causing chaos?"

"Idiot," Blue replied. "Of course they do."

Red pondered the possibilities for a moment.

"So what did you want?" Blue asked.

"I heard that Zedd killed Astronema," Red replied.

"Really?" Pink replied, a hideous grin spreading across her face.

"Well that should keep her from discovering that I took one of the antimatter regulators from the power core." Blue said turning back to his work. "I guess things do work out if you stay positive. Of course she could always come back as a zombie."

"I hate zombies," Pink replied with a shiver. "Always watching you at the park with their beady little eyes, trying to steal your bread, cooing incessantly,"

"Those are pigeons," Blue said continuing his work.

"Oh," Pink replied. "Never mind then."

"Have you seen Black or Yellow?" Red asked looking around.

Blue leaned back with a sigh, "If you promise to go away I'll tell you,"

"Deal,"

"Yellow went to acquire a waffle iron. Black is out walking Lucy,"

"Out where?"

"Out on the top of the fortress," Blue said getting annoyed.

"There's no air out there Blue, Lucy's going to suffocate!" Red said frantically running out of the room.

"Red!" Blue called, but he was already gone. "Moron,"

On the surface of the Dark Fortress Psycho Black was out dragging the remains of some animal on a leash behind him. The animal was no longer identifiable and looked as if it had been repeatedly run over by several motor vehicles. A heavy tread mark was imprinted in the mess of fur and toughened flesh that ran from what was once the front of the creature to the back. If the animal had a tail it was no longer present. The collar which had been tightened around the flattened corpse was equipped with an atmospheric shield allowing a living creature to survive even in a hostile environment such as the vacuum of space. As he continued to walk along Psycho Red emerged from one of the numerous access hatches that existed on the outer hull.

Red waved his arms furiously as he approached Black attempting to shout something, but his words were lost in the airless void. Black looked at him inquisitively coming to a stop. Red came to a halt barely a foot from Black still shouting. Black tapped the side of his head indicating that he could not hear anything Red was saying.

Red pointed at Lucy and made a motion like he was choking. Black looked at him for a minute trying to understand what he was trying to convey. Finally he understood what Red was getting at and leaned down tapping the collar indicating the atmospheric shield generator.

Upon seeing the device Red nodded his understanding and gave Black a thumb up before walking away. Black smiled and mouthed something to his pet and continued to walk along the surface of the Dark Fortress.

"Where am I?" a voice asked.

Adam inhaled deeply as these words stirred him from his sleep. His eyes opened, slowly coming into focus from the haze of a long sleep. He looked down at his watch to discover that it was nearly eight in the morning; the digital display just visible in the low light levels. He rubbed his eyes and looked around to see Rocky awake staring at him.

"Did you say something?" Adam asked sleepily with a yawn.

"Where are we?" Rocky said modifying his question.

"You're at the Command Center, the headquarters, or whatever you want to call it, of the Power Rangers."

"So that stuff that happened last night wasn't just a dream,"

"No," Adam said with a smile. "But you're safe now,"

"So all those days you were busy with your community projects you were actually…" Rocky's question trailed off.

"Yeah, I was here training or taking my turn at monitor duty. Every once and a while I would go to help with some sabotage, but those missions were usually light ones that didn't involve much combat."

"You lied to us," Rocky said a little distant.

"I didn't have a choice," Adam started. "Well I did, but not after becoming a Ranger, they have a code, it was in honor of their former leader, Zordon, our identities were kept secret, until about a week ago."

"What changed?" Rocky asked.

"With everything we knew gone, we all agreed that our double lives were over. We all took a new oath and now life as a Power Ranger is all we have until a day comes when we can set aside our powers or pass them on."

"Can you keep it down, I'm trying to sleep," came a tired voice.

Adam looked over to see Shawna rolling over and pulling the cover over her head. Rocky looked over and also noticed Aisha was still sound asleep. Looking around the room he saw another individual lying on a bed opposite their own in a black shirt and white and black pants.

"Who's that?" Rocky asked sitting up in the bed.

"His name is Trip," Adam replied. "He's a Power Ranger from the future."

"Huh," Rocky sat looking at the green hair and odd gem in his forehead. "Does everyone in the future look like that?"

"I don't know," Adam replied. "He's actually an alien, though I don't remember the name, started with a Z I think."

Rocky's stomach growled. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked.

"I can get you something," Adam replied getting up. "Have any requests?"

"As long as it's a hot meal anything would be great,"

"I'll see what I can find."

Adam walked out of the Medical Bay, the doors opening as he approached, they slid shut behind him leaving Rocky alone with the others in the room. Rocky glanced around at the equipment and the green haired alien in the other bed. He tuned and set his feet down on the floor, the metal feeling cold through his socks. He rose and began to walk around the room stretching out his arms. He turned and proceeded toward Trip; Rocky came to a stop near the top of Trip's bed looking down at the sleeping Time Force Ranger.

Adam exited the Medical Bay to find the main chamber empty and the lights still off. It appeared as if, after last night's battle, all the Rangers were exhausted.

"Lights," he called out.

With a flicker and hum as if something were charging up the lights came on in the main chamber. Instrument panels sprang to life allowing for human interface. Adam could see Beta still standing in his docking station in the corner, the red line that darted from side to side extinguished as the machine recharged. On one of the panels the blue mechanical owl sat motionless, its eyes closed as if it were also sleeping, though Adam wondered if a machine like that actually required rest.

Adam continued through the main chamber coming to one of several doors around the perimeter. The door slid open and lights came on revealing a large storage area, about the size of a two-car garage, filled with shelves of food items. On the far end of the room was another door that led to a cold storage bay, though Adam was certain it was never intended to be used as a refrigerator and freezer. Adam walked passed the shelves taking a loaf of bread from one as he did. Approaching the cold storage room the door slid open. Lights came on above a long line of storage containers organized like filing cabinets, cool air wafted over Adam's face as he stepped inside. Adam walked up to one that was labeled 'meat'. Gripping the handle he twisted and pulled, there was a sound of decompression as the cylindrical drawer slid open. Adam looked through the contents, chicken, ground beef, a single piece of fish, not what he was looking for. He closed the drawer and looked down at the subsequent drawers below it, but none of them were labeled. He began to go through them and finally found what he was looking for, pulling a package of bacon from the unit he slid the door shut and proceeded to another cabinet labeled 'eggs'.

Billy opened his eyes as he heard the hum of several power regulators coming online indicating someone had turned the power on. It had only been a week since he and the others had moved into the Command Center, and he was already conditioned to waking when he heard that sound. On the cot next to his Jason was still asleep. Billy twisted his neck trying to work out a kink. These cots were not the most comfortable things, but they had been readily available. It would be a simple matter to have some beds made with the construction facilities the Command Center had, but with the creation of the labor drones he had made to work on other renovations such as the conversion of two storage bays, one into twin bathrooms, and the other into a proper kitchen, along with the work on the Power Cycles and the reincarnate Dragon Zord he had been a little distracted. The renovations had also taken longer than he had hoped because of the nature of the Molecular Assembler which was used to manufacture equipment in the Command Center. The device was fascinating, assembling matter from base particles directly into the desired material and at incredible speeds. The process was time efficient, if not mathematically complicated given the intricate task of firing trillions of particles a second to cause atomic nuclei to form and establish electron orbits. Regrettably the device was bulky and not suited for micronization, which meant that all the necessary materials and amenities had to be formed in the work bays and then installed by the drones. In addition work was going slow because of the excavations needed to expand the existing storage rooms and install pipe work. This was being accomplished with the teleporter, making things much easier and efficient without compromising the security of the Command Center, but it was not moving as quickly as he had initially hoped.

The only thing that had saved them when they arrived is that Josh had worked on some rudimentary facilities to accommodate himself when he was here. While his makeshift kitchen and bathroom were functional they were small and not adequate for the needs of five people, let alone the additional four they now had. However, he was still hopeful that the facilities would be operational in the next few days, even if they were still incomplete. Billy took his glasses from the table next to his bed ignoring the task of dealing with his contacts for the moment. He opened a suitcase that was near his cot and took out a pair of jeans and a shirt. In the corner he noticed the pile of clothes that had built up over the last week. Getting a washer and dryer would also be a priority. Billy got dressed and exited the storage bay.

The floor of the main chamber was cold on his bare feet, but he didn't concern himself with it as he made his way to the Medical Bay. As the doors slid open Billy was shocked to see Rocky hovering over Trip, who was still unconscious on his bed.

"What are you doing?" Billy asked trying to keep his voice light and mask the tone of suspicion.

Rocky looked up apparently a little shaken by Billy's abrupt entrance.

"I was just looking," Rocky replied. "I've never seen an alien before."

Billy looked around the room. Aisha and Shawna were still asleep, or at least not giving any indication that they were awake. The situation was a little awkward. He had no proof that Adam's friends had any ulterior motives, but it still made Billy uncomfortable that Adam left them alone in the Medical Bay with Trip, who Zedd had gone out of his way to try and eliminate. It would be best that he remain until Adam returned, but needed to make it appear as if he suspected nothing.

"So how are you feeling this morning?" Billy asked walking over to check the medical display next to Trip.

"I'm feeling a little better," Rocky replied. "Little hungry though. I'm Rocky by the way," he said extending his hand.

"Billy," he replied shaking his hand.

"Which Ranger were you?"

"The blue one,"

"Ah," Rocky replied as he went back over to his bed and sat down.

Billy continued to look over Trip's vitals. He pressed a few buttons to run another scan of Trip's powers and activated the security lockouts on the computer requiring a Ranger's voice print and retinal scan to access any information. The bar slid out over Trip and began its scan.

"What are you doing?" Rocky asked.

"Running a medical scan," Billy replied

"Oh, where am I?" came a voice from one of the other bed.

Billy looked over his shoulder to see that Shawna was awake and pushing herself into a sitting position on her bed. Rocky looked at Billy questioning if he were going to explain or not.

"You're in the Command Center, the base of operations for the Power Rangers," Billy replied after a brief moment of silence before returning to his work.

Shawna and Rocky began to talk quietly to one another about what was going on. Rocky told her about his brief conversation with Adam before he had left to get them breakfast. Billy began to phase out their conversation as he looked over the results of Trip's scan happy that the two of them had each other to talk to until Adam returned.

"This is a dangerous game you are playing Lord Diabolico," came a strong sinister voice from the shadows.

A lone figure stood with his back to the demon. Light played across the lower half of the figure. A long midnight blue cape hung over his shoulders concealing his back. Below the tattered ends of the cape the back of a pair of bone-white armored boots were visible. A scabbard of some kind was visible on his back, the same as his armor, but with intricate design work as if the weapon it housed was meshed with its sheath.

"I assure you that our movements have gone undetected by the enemy," Diabolico replied. "I am certain Zedd is not aware of…"

"You presume too much," the figure replied calmly. "My Lord is concerned about your… activities."

"Do you mean to tell us that Zedd has discovered us?" Olympius replied.

"You would be wise to hold your tongue in my presence," the shadow replied, his head turning slightly, a glowing red eye fixed on Olympius.

"If Queen Bansheera were here…"

"Your mother isn't here to pamper you whelp," the stranger said, his tone becoming more hostile. "And if she were you would find she cares as little as I do about what you think."

"How dare…" Olympius began before Loki closed a massive hand around his face.

"Please be silent," Loki whispered. "Even though I deplore you we can not afford to lose your strength."

Loki released his hand slowly as Olympius composed himself. "I'm sorry for my outburst," he said feigning humility.

"I apologize for the interruption lord," Diabolico said. "Does our future bode ill?"

"It is difficult to say," the figure replied turning his head away from them again. "The Oracle is clouded in darkness, a maelstrom of chaos is upon us now and nothing is certain. If we do not proceed carefully in this matter we risk being smashed upon the rocks of fate and sink into oblivion. My Lord is understandably weary of taking any direct action at such a crucial time."

"Forgive me lord, but it is the nature of my kind to take advantage of chaos and darkness and strike from it."

"That is quite a gamble," the figure replied as he stepped away into the shadows dissolving into mist. "And it is one my Lord is not prepared to take." His voice echoed through the catacombs fading away.

"Do you think he means to dispose of us now?" Vypra asked.

"I knew we shouldn't have done anything," Olympius said voicing his frustration. "This is what befalls us for listening to you." He said pointing at Diabolico.

"We are in no danger," Diabolico said calmly, apparently ignoring Olympius. "Whoever this new power is that we find ourselves under, it is clear he is cautious, but he also is prepared for mistakes. What we were given was a warning, not a threat."

"What do you mean brother?" Loki asked.

"He was warning us that if we are discovered we will be on our own. And we have all seen how we fair on our own…"

Trakeena paced the main chamber of the underground hive. Her mind was preoccupied with the reward she sought for her service. She had heard that Lord Zedd possessed many powerful artifacts from many alien worlds, but Lokar had informed her that as many of these icons used the powers of the enemy that they would not leave his collection. She couldn't understand why if these items were able to grant power like that of the Rangers that they were not used. Lokar, however, did not see fit to explain the matter to her and she was left to decide on an alternate reward. Lokar had offered one small piece of advice and suggested that she choose something that would make her more powerful, as Generals who did so tended to excel in Lord Zedd's service. She couldn't help but think that Lord Zedd only rewarded others to strengthen his own army while fostering loyalty from those who did well and eliminating those who failed. He truly was weeding out weakness and increasing his strength. This was a lesson she took to heart.

"My Lady," a voice from outside called as a large warrior in fiery chitinous armor came into the chamber.

"Furio, what have you to report?"

"As you have requested my Lady the control center is complete, you are now able to command the Khepri from here." Furio replied handing her a wrist gauntlet. The item was a metallic blue like her armor, but was inset with jewels and artwork that looked similar that of ancient Egypt.

Trakeena looked over the gauntlet admiring the fine detail that had gone into its creation. Like all the things made by the Vora it was a masterpiece of technology and intricate design.

"Father told me that once, many millennia ago, we were revered as gods on this planet."

"What happened?" Furio asked.

"The filth rebelled," she said with disdain in her voice. "They turned to another source of power, horrible monsters from another realm, but I hear in the end the beasts they summoned to expel us eventually conquered their whole world."

"Perhaps fate has led you back to assume godhood on this world once again." Furio suggested.

"Perhaps," Trakeena said attaching the gauntlet to her wrist. "Now, how are our plans coming?"

"Things move slowly my Lady," Furio replied.

"Why?"

"Between replenishing our ranks from the last fight and the expansion our workers are spread thin."

"Take Treacheron and several of our remaining queens and establish several more colonies across the planet, place them in remote area where they can feed off the wild life and go unnoticed."

"But what of our ordered expansion?" Furio asked.

"I have a plan," she replied with a cold smile.

"I will do as you command my Lady," Furio replied with a shallow bow before leaving the chamber.

Perhaps we were led back here to resume godhood? It did not matter why they had been led back to this planet, before all this was over she would be the goddess of this world. For the time being however she would have to play the role of obedient warrior.

Kimberly woke up curled in a ball on her cot, her arms wrapped around her pillow. She had the vaguest sensation that she had dreamt about Joshua, she tried to remember what had happened, but the images faded from her mind as she slipped into the waking world. She sat up looking around the dimly lit room. She noticed Ashley's cot was already empty. She reached over to the small table next to her bed and shifted the clock radio around; it was nearly ten in the morning. She grabbed a pair of grey sweats and put them on before she wandered out of the room.

As the door from her room opened the light from the main chamber flooded in causing her to squint. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. The room appeared to be empty except for Beta who was at one of the stations monitoring the Command Center's systems. She walked to one of the consoles. She activated the translator and began typing in the possible combinations she had heard the other day from that strange man.

The results that came up were sparse, which made her job easier. Apparently the Japanese had a word for Earth, so that eliminated the possibility of terra being the word he had used, the only other option that had come up was Ptera, which was used in Japanese, unless it was a name, which she couldn't account for. The second word was a little tricky because she couldn't remember if he had said musha or mushi. The results didn't seem to help as one meant warrior and the other meant insect. So he had either referred to her as the Ptera warrior, or the Ptera insect. She sighed leaning forward on the console. Without knowing exactly what he said she couldn't determine if he was a friend or an enemy.

"You okay?" Ashley asked coming into the room.

"Yeah," Kimberly replied trying to perk up. "Just hitting another dead end."

Ashley knew that response too well; it meant she didn't want to talk about it. "So everyone is having breakfast, our guests are all up as well, except for Trip."

"Is he okay?"

"Billy says he is, he just needs a little time to get his strength back."

"So you already ate then?"

"No, I was going to then decided to wait."

"How come?"

"Oh, Jason still wants to hear about how I met Josh."

"Oh," Kimberly replied with a smile. "It wasn't that bad. I mean a cute guy walks up to you it's not like any girl's first thoughts are 'I bet he's here to ask if I'm want to be a Power Ranger'."

"I just felt so stupid," Ashley said, her face turning a little red.

"Well if it makes you feel better Josh never said anything to me about it, I think he had bigger things on his mind."

"Adam was there too though,"

"I doubt he'll say anything," Kimberly reassured her. "It really wasn't that bad though, I think it was kind of cute really."

"Maybe,"

"So breakfast then?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah,"

The two proceeded into the smaller storage room that Josh had once used as his bedroom and served as a limited kitchen. The room had been rearranged with a single long table running from one of the walls allowing for seven chairs to be placed around it. In the corner was a small refrigerator on top of which sat a microwave. On the wall above these appliances was a series of cupboards that now contained dishes and basic food items. Josh's stuff had been moved into storage. Billy had thought it best to get rid of it, but Kimberly and Ashley had both protested making the valid point that they weren't short on space and there was no proof either way of Josh's condition no matter what common sense told Billy. One addition Billy had made was a small sink with a small model dishwasher below it. Between the appliances the converter box that lowered the Command Centers power output to a level safe for man made appliances sat on the floor, a heavy cable running from the wall attaching to the back of it.

Jason smiled as the girls entered the room, even though he didn't say it Ashley knew he was still hoping she would tell him what had happened. Adam was sitting down on the end of the table with his friends catching up. They looked to be in good spirits for all the horrors they had survived, though Billy was certain that a good portion of it had merely been suppressed.

"Good morning," Billy said looking up from his cereal.

"Morning," Kimberly replied with a smile.

"Oh, we're done here," Adam said noticing the lack of seating as Kimberly and Ashley came in.

Adam and his friends picked up their plates and cups and rose from the table. As they went toward the sink Billy stopped Adam for a moment and whispered something to him. Adam seemed annoyed for a moment, but nodded and continued on his way. The group finished with their dishes and left the room quietly.

"What was that about?" Kimberly asked.

"I'm just not sure we can trust them," Billy said. "I wanted to make sure Adam understood that we shouldn't leave them alone."

"You think they might be working for Zedd?" Kimberly asked a little confused.

"I don't know," Billy said. "It's just a hunch, but it's a little too convenient that we found them, out of all the buildings we could have entered we just happened into the one they were using, and out of everyone that was allegedly with them they were the sole survivors."

"When you put it that way it does seem a little strange," Ashley admitted.

"Still," Kimberly said. "That could just be a coincidence."

"Maybe," Jason admitted. "But with all the strange stuff that has been happening and all the new faces showing up we can't afford to take any chances."

"All I'm saying is that we should keep an eye out for anything suspicious," Billy said. "It may be nothing, maybe it was just a coincidence."

"I hope so, for Adam's sake," Kimberly said taking out a bowl and pouring in some cereal. "It would be nice to see someone get something good for a change."

"So Jason," Ashley began as Kimberly passed her the cereal box. "If I tell you what happened when I met Josh do you promise not to tease me about it."

"Sure, but I'm not promising I won't laugh," Jason said with a smile.

Ashley thought about it for a moment. "Fine, but I don't want to hear a word about this again from either of you, okay."

"Fine," Jason replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"Billy?" Ashley prodded.

"Oh," Billy said looking up, apparently not paying attention to the current conversation "Sorry, yeah, won't ever mention it again."

"Fine," Ashley said with a sigh. "So like Adam said yesterday, he and Josh had teleported in about a block away from Angel Grove Jr. High, I was in eighth grade at the time and was out waiting for the bus…

Ashley was sitting on a bench with a tray that still had several cupcakes on it, the leftovers from the bake sale the cheerleading squad had held that day. She sighed setting the tray down next to her. The bus was running late, and on a Friday, why on a Friday? She leaned back and looked up at the sky, watching the few clouds that were drifting overhead. Just one more year and then High School, of course that meant after this year she would move from the top of the social standings to the bottom. Her head snapped back as she heard the sound of a diesel driven vehicle, false alarm, just a truck. She really wanted to get out of her uniform and into some real clothes.

"Ashley Hammond?" A voice came from behind her.

Ashley turned her head to see two guys standing between her and the Gym. They were both cute, especially the one with blonde hair. She didn't recognize either one though, which meant they probably didn't go to this school.

"Yeah?" Ashley responded.

"Hi, my name is Josh, this is Adam." Adam nodded. "I really need to ask you about something if you have a moment."

Ask me about something? Ashley blushed a little.

"Yeah I have time," she said trying to keep her composure.

Adam stayed where he was as Josh walked over toward Ashley. Ashley stood up as he approached, her eyes locked with his, offering him her seat. Josh smiled and sat down.

"So what did you…" Ashley started to say as she sat down next to him.

"Um," Josh began to interrupt.

Distracted by Josh Ashley sat down on the tray of cupcakes that she had placed on the bench. She could feel the cake and frosting smear on her skirt as she crushed them. Ashley's face went crimson as she realized what she had just done.

"Excuse me," she said jumping up and running toward the nearest bathroom.

"So, you were so interested in Josh that you forgot about the tray and sat on the cupcakes." Jason said chuckling a little.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't tease me," Ashley reminded him.

"Sorry," Jason said trying to keep a straight face.

"So what happened after that?" Billy asked.

Ashley emerged from the bathroom a few moments later. She had taken her skirt off and washed it out in the sink and then had been forced to tie her sweater around her waist to cover the water stain on her skirt. She almost hoped that Josh wasn't going to be there when she came out, but he was still sitting on the bench, Adam was standing off to the side talking with him. She could see from the bathroom that one of them had disposed of the remains on the tray. With butterflies in her stomach Ashley forced herself to return to the bench.

"Is everything okay?" Josh asked as she came back.

"Yes," Ashley replied brushing her hair back, a little nervous. "Sorry about that,"

"No worries," Josh replied handing her the empty tray. "I hope you don't mind, but we cleaned up the mess,"

"Oh, no, thanks," she said checking the bench and sitting down again.

"I hope those weren't for anything important," Josh said.

"Oh, no, it was for a bake sale today, not important." she said.

"I can pay for them," Josh replied.

"Oh don't worry, they were leftovers, I was just going to take them home, so what did you want to ask me about?" she said trying to get back to the conversation they had almost started.

"I'm here to offer you a chance to join a group that works to make the lives of people better." Josh said.

"Oh," Ashley replied looking a little disappointed.

"Are you not interested?" Josh asked trying to read her expression.

"It's not that, I just thought, anyway, it depends. I have a lot already with student council and cheerleading."

"I understand," Josh said reaching into his pocket. Adam grinned knowing what was coming next. "This is a little different though." He unfolded his hand.

Ashley looked down and caught sight of the small golden coin that he held. Yellow energy lit in the eyes of the icon on the coin and spread over the coin. Adam noticed that Ashley's eyes reflected the yellow light causing them to almost shine for a moment. He wondered if that had happened when he had looked at his own coin.

"What is this?" Ashley asked not looking up from the coin.

"This is the Sabretooth Tiger Power Coin," Josh said. "I'm offering you a chance to become a Power Ranger."

"Oh my god," Ashley said quietly trying to restrain herself.

"There are some things to consider," Josh said seeing her immediate enthusiasm.

"Yeah, whatever, it's fine with me," she replied.

Josh closed his hand around the coin. Ashley looked up at him. "I'm serious," he said, his tone becoming very foreboding.

"Okay, what should I be considering?"

"This isn't a game, this is real life. People will live or die because of you. And, not to sound so dramatic, but we could be talking about the fate of the world here. What I'm offering you is a chance to defend your planet and everything you love, but it comes at a price."

"What's the price?" Ashley asked coming down from the euphoria of the thought of being a Power Ranger.

"Your power must never be used for personal gain, and no one, absolutely no one can ever know you are a Power Ranger."

"Why?" Ashley asked. "I mean, why can no one know?"

"Because people will go through your family to get what you have," Josh said.

Ashley sat pondering what Josh had said. The chance to be a Ranger was too great to pass up, but it would be hard to not tell anyone. Then again she didn't like the thought of someone coming after her family to get her power. Then there was the real possibility that she could be killed like the other Rangers had.

"Are there any other rules that I have to follow?" Ashley asked.

"Those are the only ones that you will lose your Power Coin for ignoring without question,"

"Wait a minute," Jason said interrupting. "What happened to the other rule that Zordon charged us with when he gave us our Power Coins?"

"You mean the second rule," Billy said. "Never escalate a battle unless we were forced to? We discussed it, at points Josh and I got quite heated with one another, but in the end we decided that this was a war and as long as a hostile force was at our doorstep any means to protect the human race was not an escalation, but action in a war we were already in. We have no intention of trying to destroy Zedd's whole empire, just what threatens us."

"Aren't we still endangering our families though when we revealed our identities?" Ashley asked.

"Only a small gathering of world leaders and military officials were there," Billy said. "It is conceivable that someone there may try and blackmail us if they found out exactly who we were and which relatives were still alive, but under the circumstances it is unlikely."

"What makes you so certain?" Jason asked.

"Even though our Morphers are a shortcut to get to the power locked in the coins, only a small group of humanity can actually use them, to an average person they're useless; they would never survive the transformation, not for long anyway. We've released that information."

"That's right," Kimberly said. "Billy used that when he was defending Josh, the UN wanted him to give up his Morpher to someone they felt they could trust and Billy told them that there was a limit to who could use a Morpher, and Josh's Morpher was much more powerful, so there were fewer people who could handle it."

"Right," Billy said. "And since we didn't know when Zedd was going to attack again they reluctantly agreed to give Josh a period of probation while we replenished our ranks."

"So how is that going to stop anyone?" Ashley asked.

"Well, granted human intelligence is a factor, but anyone intelligent enough to orchestrate such a feat should be able to conclude that without being certain that they or an associate could use the power it would be worthless to even attempt to acquire it since the technology we possess here is far greater than anything else in the world. We could teleport someone out of danger without having to deal with any of these violent elements."

"What prevented that from being an option before though?" Jason asked.

"Accessibility to us," Billy said. "If one of us were to come home to find a parent being held hostage there is little we could do immediately with the limits on the teleporter, not to mention we would have to contend with threats of theft and being attacked in public."

"Do you stay up all night thinking of these things?" Kimberly asked half joking.

"To me it's just common sense." Billy replied.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," Jason said. "So what happened next?"

"Well," Ashley said. "I was really thinking I wanted to be a Ranger, but was worried more about if I could keep this a secret…."

Josh was amazed that Ashley was taking so long to come to a decision. Adam had jumped at the chance, though he had approached Adam differently, he was hoping that the change in tactic hadn't scared Ashley from accepting the offer.

Ashley was busy weighing the pros and cons of this situation, it was hard to find a downside, but as Josh had said this was serious. She had to wonder which Ranger he was. He was either the Blue or the Green; that was a scary thought, she might be sitting on this bench with the one who killed three of the Power Rangers, maybe it was better she didn't know. She knew that he wasn't the Pink Ranger; that much was certain. She smiled as the thought entered her mind, so at least there would be one other girl she could talk with. She suddenly became aware of how quiet it was. She looked up to see that the other students that had been waiting for the bus were gone.

"Um, did a bus come while I was gone?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah," Adam replied. "Almost after you left,"

"Great," Ashley muttered.

"That was your bus?" Josh asked already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, now I have to call my Mom and get a ride home,"

"I can drop you off," Josh said.

"You drive?" Ashley asked.

"No, I teleport," Josh replied with a smile. "Much faster."

"So do you need an answer now?" Ashley asked. "About being a Ranger?"

"Do you want more time to think about it?"

"I don't know," Ashley said. "My head is swimming right now."

"Then listen to your heart," Josh replied.

Ashley closed her eyes and tried to silence all the questions that were swirling in her mind. There were so many 'what ifs', but in the mess of thoughts she could feel something compelling her to accept. What if she didn't take this chance and it never came again? That was one 'what if' she wasn't prepared to spend her life wondering about.

"I'll do it," she said opening her eyes.

Joshua extended the Power Coin to her.

"This is going to be weird," Adam said as Ashley took hold of the coin.
Ashley could feel power moving through her body as if a fire was spreading inside her. Memories began to fill her mind, places and people she had never met. Flashes flooded her mind, the Dark Warrior, her Uncle in danger, Silvia! Billy, you're too high!

"Billy you're too high!" she said in a sudden panic. Ashley held the coin to her chest as she fell to her knees trying to catch her breath. "What was that?" she asked between gasps.

"The psychic imprints of the coin's last owner." Josh said.

"You could've warned me," Ashley said a little upset as she rose to her feet.

"I tried," Adam said.

"It's interesting though," Josh said.

"What is?" Adam asked.

"The reaction wasn't anywhere near as pronounced in you," Josh said to Adam. "I wonder if the Yellow Ranger had greater struggles during the time she was a Ranger?"

"She was brave, she had to overcome a lot of fear," Ashley said. "I can tell you that much."

"…After that Josh told me about the Command Center and arranged to take both Adam and I there Saturday evening to meet Billy and Kimberly. We spent the next several months training in martial arts and were finally allowed to come on missions."

"What did you do until then?" Jason asked.

"We had them using the equipment in the Command Center, like a support team." Billy said. "Beta was still in his early stages and was in no position to provide any help if we needed it."

"You might be against this Billy," Jason said. "But it seems to me that we have three new members who could be trained to fill that role. I think you did a remarkable job on Beta, but he's not Alpha, we could use someone here to assist Beta."

"I was thinking we could use Circuit for that," Billy said. "I'm just a little concerned about anyone having access to the Command Center computers who I can't fully trust."

"I can see your point," Jason said. "And Circuit would be the obvious choice, but that's a decision that really has to be left to Trip."

"I know," Billy began but was interrupted as Adam burst through the door.

"Trip's awake!"

General Hamren sat at his desk looking over the morning reports. He had heard of the Ranger's activity on the News this morning, the explosion in space, the intense fighting that occurred in Stone Canyon, all presented with little fact, and much speculation. He was finding that their department had little more to go on. The official report that had come back from the Ranger's automated response was that they had engaged Lord Zedd's Generals in an attempt to rescue friendly forces. The trench that was torn into the landscape that was discovered by one of the patrols early that morning, and the mixed reports that had come in of a large ship that had appeared in the sky late last night led him to believe that more was going on than the Ranger's were reporting. The UN was definitely too lenient with these children, allowing them to get away with incomplete reports of their activities. They were facing an enemy they knew little about, and it seemed that the best equipment they had was all but useless against them. But to allow these kids to run around playing superhero because they had the power to fight this enemy was just reckless.

The data recovered from Area Fifty-One might be able to give them an edge, if Captain Mitchell could put it to good use. And cleaning up the mess left by the incident with the Green Ranger's Morpher was coming along nicely. It had helped that few who had worked on the project had survived the attack on the base. The enemy apparently had left forces on the surface to take care of any who might escape. Despite initial reports a small number of scientists did survive, but died shortly after at their facility during debriefing. While the cause of death was still unknown Hamren was glad to at least have one situation handled. They lost many great minds, but he had what he needed. Now it was all up to Mitchell and his team of scientists and engineers.

His eyes caught site of the corner of a folder on his desk with the insignia of the Lightspeed Rescue Project. He pulled it out and glanced over the report. It seemed that with the new information Mitchell was confident that they could have working prototypes in a matter of days. Hamren flipped through some of the design specs and other test data, none of it meaning much to him. He picked up his phone and pressed a few buttons.

"Have Captain Mitchell call my office immediately," he said before he hung up the phone. "So what is it you think you've found Captain?" Hamren said to himself as he looked over the intricate design specs.

It was only a few minutes before the phone rang. Hamren answered it quickly. It was Mitchell.

"So what do you have for me Captain?"

"I think it would be easier to show you sir," Mitchell replied.

"You expect me to come out there?"

"Trust me General, you will not be disappointed."

"Then I will be on the next flight out, see you soon Captain."

Hamren hung up the phone and gathered his unread reports into his briefcase. He activated his intercom.

"Yes General?" his secretaries voice came through.

"I need a flight to Mariner Bay immediately."

"I will get you one, sir."

In a rush the General collected the last of his things and left his office. If Mitchell had truly discovered the secret to the Ranger's technology then he definitely wanted to see what he was able to produce with it. Maybe this breakthrough would even allow their representatives in the UN to suggest that the Ranger's be put on a tighter leash if they wanted to continue to have the support of the world.

Trakeena approached the door to Lokar's laboratory. The original doorway had been replaced by a high archway and twin doors carved with runes and other icons of Lokar's unique form of Arcanum. On each side was a knocker, the dark ring running through the head of some fowl beast. As she reached out to take hold of the ring the six eyes on the face lit red. She hesitated for a moment as the bottom of the knocker rested on the chin just below some large teeth. She stared into the triangular formation of eyes on each side of the creature's face. With a deep breath she reached out and took hold of the ring and knocked it against the door. The hits rang through the dimly lit corridor of the palace. The light in the eyes faded as the door opened slowly.

"Come in," Lokar's voice came from inside.

Trakeena stepped forward into the room. The door closed behind her with a loud boom. As she came into the room she saw Lokar standing before a table, a black cloth was spread over some object that lay underneath. The room itself was a sight she had never seen before. There were no furnishings except for the table. The walls however were covered in intricate carvings of great geometric complexity. Light streamed from the lines in a variety of hues bathing the room in a warm light. Despite its appearance Trakeena felt nothing but a deep darkness like an abyss.

"What can I do for you my dear?" Lokar asked, the table behind him sinking into one of the symbols on the floor. "Have you decided what reward you desire?"

"I need some way to accelerate the reproduction of my warriors, our armies were depleted in the fight beyond what I had thought and I am worried that we will be unable to meet the demands of our Lord without assistance."

"That needn't be your reward." Lokar said as a pillar rose from the ground with a small box on top. He took the box and handed it to Trakeena. "These will accelerate your expansion, but at a price."

"What are they?" she asked.

"These will accelerate the life forces of any creature that ingests them for six generations. These generations will be faster, stronger, more intelligent, even breed faster, but their life span is considerably shortened as a result."

"That doesn't concern me," Trakeena said with a smile as she looked over the black surface of the box.

"Is there anything else you desire?" Lokar asked.

"I had thought of one other thing," she replied. "But I am uncertain how it could be attained through magic."

"You would be surprised what I can accomplish by magic," Lokar said with a sinister smile.

"My Father was a great warrior, and while I have my Generals, I would like to be a great warrior myself."

"And here I thought you had a challenge for me," Lokar said sounding a little disappointed. "I will give you three spirits, great warriors from conquered worlds." In his hand three twisting orbs appeared; the swirl of tormented faces within each one. "With these spirits you will gain the fighting abilities of each warrior as well as the strength from each of their spirits."

"No consequences?" she asked.

"Oh, there are always consequences to power," Lokar said. "What those will be will depend on you."

Trakeena reached out her hand and received the three orbs from Lokar. As her hand touched the spheres they melted into her flesh filling her mind with images of death and torment as well as knowledge. There was a moment of deep darkness where she felt torn. Her world went black for a moment. She felt her body collapse to the floor; she could hear Lokar's laughter. Then, she could hear Lord Zedd laughing. Had they discovered her plans? As her eyes opened she found herself lying on the ground of a burning city. The monolithic structures around her appeared to be made of white marble, the artwork unlike anything she had seen in her years of nomadic wandering through the galaxy. She pushed herself up from the ground noticing that her hand was clad in an armored gauntlet of white gold and platinum.

"Looks like that one still has some fight left," Lord Zedd's voice boomed.

She whirled to see Lokar and Lord Zedd standing amid the flames of the burning city. Zedd was arrayed in his full armor; his twin bladed sword was in his hand. At their feet were the bodies of several other warriors all wearing armor that matched her gauntlet. Then as if possessed she found herself uttering words in a deep voice.

"Eltar will not fall to you as long as a single one of us draws breath." Trakeena voiced, though the voice was not hers. She rose to her feet holding a long double edged sword in her other hand. Long silver hair swept across her face in the wind generated by the flames as she faced Lord Zedd.

"Then Eltar will join the hundreds of worlds that have refused to bow to the Lord of the Universe." Lokar said.

Trakeena found herself charging at Lord Zedd though everything in her wanted to run from his fearsome presence. She gripped the sword with both hands trailing it down by her side as she flew at him, every step causing her pain, as if her leg were broken. As the two met Zedd parried the attack and punched his armored hand into her face sending her falling back as a shriek of screams echoed in her mind. She landed on her back with a heavy crash and slid until her shoulders smashed into the base of some steps. As she lay on the ground, her head resting on the first step, she heard a battle cry. Turning to one side, blurred through blood, she saw a group of warriors charge at Zedd and Lokar. She wanted to scream for them to stop, but was unable.

Zedd stepped forward into the first warrior as he approached, smashing his shoulder into the chest plate collapsing it. Blood flowed out from beneath the helmet as the warrior fell away. Zedd's blade fell through the group cleaving armor and warrior in two as if he were only striking at air. As three more fell, a sword came down on Zedd, but the warlord caught the blade and closed his fist around it shattering it and then ran the wielder through. The two remaining warriors hesitated for a moment, but Zedd showed no mercy. He cleaved one in half, the other he grasped by the helmet and with a twist and an effortless pull removed the warrior's helmet with his head still inside. The bodies fell at Zedd's feet as blood covered the ground.

"Is this it?" he asked raising the head to the sky. "Is this the best Eltar can send against me?"

Zedd cast the crumpled helmet away in disgust. Lokar began to walk toward Trakeena. She couldn't see much except for the robes around his feet swaying with each step. As he towered over her she rolled her head back staring up into his cold eyes.

"You will make a good part of my collection." Lokar said as he stretched out his hand over her body. Black tendrils snaked from Lokar's hand and pierced through the chest plate and tore into the flesh beneath. Trakeena felt immense pain, like something was tearing her mind apart. In a burst of pain something within her broke, she felt everything go numb. Her world went dark once again, she felt for a moment as if she was floating.

Trakeena opened her eyes to find herself on the floor of Lokar's laboratory. The black box she had received was lying on the ground beside her. She looked at her hand, relived to see her metallic insect shell.

"I assure you, you are fine," Lokar said from above her.

"What was that?" Trakeena asked as she rose taking the box.

"Latent memory," Lokar said. "I could remove it when I take a soul, but I find it helps if I leave it in."

"Helps with what?" Trakeena asked a little puzzled.

"To serve as a reminder of what happens to anyone foolish enough to oppose Lord Zedd."

Trakeena was uncertain if he suspected anything, or if he was always grinding the concept of punishment into the minds of Lord Zedd's Generals.

"Well thank you for your assistance," Trakeena said as she backed out of the room.

"Thank you for your service," Lokar replied with a dark smile.

Trakeena pushed against the door and slipped out of the opening, happy to be out of that room.

Trip was sitting at the table working on his second bowl of cereal, for some reason he felt like he hadn't eaten in days and even this second bowl was doing little to put a dent in his hunger. Billy was sitting across the table from him, while Circuit paced on the table catching Trip up on the events that occurred during his state of unconsciousness. The others were out in the main chamber getting to know their other guests. Everyone had questions that they wanted to ask Trip, but Jason had suggested they give Trip some room and allow him some time to get ready. Billy was allowed to stay with him in the event that he needed anything, or had a relapse from the strange condition that had plagued him previously.

"They also have a Molecular Assembler," Circuit said, slight excitement was in his voice. "I was able to use it to repair the Time Shadow and finish the upgrades we were working on before our emergency departure."

"That's good," Trip said quickly between mouthfuls.

"Then I was able to use their teleportation system to give Sean, Tiberus, and Vleks a proper burial. I also decoded several files from their archives and discovered that there was a wealth of historical information dating back as far as fourteen millennia."

"Wait, what?" Billy asked. He had been so distracted by the events of the morning he had never even asked Circuit if he had been able to decode those files.

"Those files you were unable to unlock were encoded with a standard Eltarian Encryption Key, the contained historical records on the early days of Earth along with technological data and information on key figures over the ages." Circuit replied. "It was very enlightening."

"I'll have to read those files later," Bill replied. "They sound interesting."

"They're not written files," Circuit corrected. "They are holographic recordings."

"What?"

"Near the end of the Sol War a new race known as the Kejimia joined the Ath'zyn Alliance."

"Wait," Billy said. "What are you talking about?"

"Zordon never explained any of this to you?" Circuit asked.

"I've never heard of the Kejimia, the Ath'zyn Alliance, or any event that was known as the Sol War."

"Oh," Circuit said. "Well it's all in the files, it's very interesting, but the Kejimia were responsible for providing the Ath'zyn Alliance with technology to open a microscopic wormhole through which images can be viewed, it's the very technology that powers that holographic system you have in the main chamber. Unfortunately all known members of the Kejimia were destroyed when the star that powered their Dyson Sphere, which had become their home world, collapsed suddenly into a black hole. The power output of this star had been used to run an even more elaborate form of your holo-display, one with the ability to look back in time by hundreds, even thousands of years. It was rumored that the Kejimia became so obsessed with knowledge that they caused the collapse of their own star trying to witness the origins of the universe."

Trip, his mouth full, made a sound of interest as he poured a third bowl of cereal.

"That's incredible," Billy said. "Who were these Ath'zyn though?"

"The most literal translation I can give you is the Masters of the Power, referring to the power behind the Construct that we have been calling the Morphing Grid."

"You're talking about the Morphing Masters?" Billy asked.

"You could translate it that way," Circuit said. "Have you heard of them before?"

"Zordon only mentioned them once, in connection with two powerful icons that Rita wanted, eggs that were suppose to contain unbelievable power."

"Oh," Circuit replied, his eyes widened. "Those are powerful indeed."

"What do they do?" Billy asked. "Zordon never explained, he just said the Masters had placed them adrift in a chest to protect the Earth from universal evil."

"He didn't know much more than that, information on the Ath'zyn is very limited before the emergence of Alliance when the records began. The only additional information is that these eggs are actually crystalline constructs, the true purpose of which is unknown. Though the one point of interest I found regarding these 'ancestors' is that the Ath'zyn claimed a heritage from humanity."

Trip swallowed his current mouthful. "Hey Circuit?"

"Yes Trip?"

"Do you want to interface with the computer out in the main chamber and let them watch the files on this point in history, just get them caught up with how things should have gone starting with the Green Ranger's appearance and working up to the present date?"

"I can do that."

"Thanks," Trip replied taking another bite.

"You sure you'll be alright in here by yourself?" Billy asked.

Trip nodded, he finished chewing and added, "I'm not even feeling full yet, and time crucial."

"Okay," Billy replied.

Billy rose from the table and proceeded out into the main chamber, Circuit looked at Trip for a moment, slightly concerned about his friend's increased appetite, but hopped from the table, wings unfurling as he followed Billy out.

"So how is he?" Jason asked as Billy came out.

"He seems okay, he's very hungry though," Billy replied. "It might be a result of what happened to him."

Circuit glided out onto the main console and perched on it.

"Trip instructed Circuit to let us watch what should have happened in the timeline up to the present." Billy said.

"That should be interesting," Jason said.

"I'm ready when you are," Circuit replied interfacing with the system.

The Rangers, along with Adam's friends, quickly sat down in the chairs that surrounded the holo-display.

"Now it is important to remember that the files from this period were largely compiled from the journal of a former Ranger and what news footage survived, so some visual material is a computer generated recreation based on what we know." Circuit said as an image began to appear.

A young man with short dark hair and brown eyes wearing a black shirt sat back in a chair after apparently activating some kind of recording device.

"I'm Tommy Oliver. If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong. This video dairy is a confidential record only to be viewed in case of an emergency. What you're about to see is a history of my life, my history as a Power Ranger."

There were a few whispers from the Rangers as to which Ranger this Tommy actually had been. They continued to watch as early events unfolded showing their selection as Rangers under Zordon. A tear ran down Kimberly's cheek as the display showed Zack and Trini. There were vague accounts of their previous battles which Jason, Billy and Kimberly all recognized. The account began to move into Rita's selection of the Green Ranger and the revelation that Tommy had been Rita's choice after seeing his fighting prowess against Jason at a marital arts tournament. Some of the Ranger's exchanged confused glances as events began to unfold showing this Green Ranger's attacks on the Command Center and the other Rangers and his eventual defeat in nearly the same manner, though the outcome had been very different.

"So that's where it all changed," Billy said.

Lord Zedd strode down the poorly lit corridor of the Dark Fortress toward the dull metal bulkhead before him. Lokar was at his side not entirely sure why his presence was required. As the two approached the door opened. The Psycho Ranger's heads snapped up surprised to see Lord Zedd taking the time to appear personally.

"My Lord," Red said with a token bow. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I am here to remove your leash. You are free to do as you please to the Rangers." Zedd turned and began exiting the room. "Lokar, remove their restraining nodes."

"As you wish my Lord," Lokar replied with a gesture. He turned and followed Lord Zedd from the room.

The Psycho Rangers looked around puzzled for a moment.

"That jerk didn't do anything!" Black protested.

Red suddenly clutched his chest. Something was tearing at it from the inside. The other Psycho Rangers also felt it, clawing at their armor trying to get at the source of the pain. Red fell to his knees as flailing tendrils burst from his lower abdomen. He fell forward onto all fours, the other Psychos almost perfectly synchronized in their responses. A black body began to emerge from the hole like some twisted spider tearing free from the opening. A vile yellow liquid sprayed from Red's mouth as he hacked and coughed, the pain was almost unbearable. As the node dropped to the floor it continued to squirm and thrash about in the black viscous syrup that the Psycho's had for blood. Red began to breath heavy as the pain subsided and the hole in his stomach began to close up. He reached down and picked up the node, the cyber-organic device's limbs continued to flail trying to get free from Red's grasp. A large smile spread across Red's face as he closed his hand around the device crushing it. A thick, dark green fluid ran down his arm dripping onto the floor.

As Lord Zedd and Lokar continued down the corridor they could hear loud, crazed laughter echoing from the room. Lokar grinned; there was nothing more beautiful than unleashed chaos.

Trip emerged from the makeshift kitchen. After his sixth bowl of cereal he had felt much better. Approaching the holo-display he could see that it was going into the final moments of Tommy's life as the Green Ranger. He stood behind the others and watched the history conclude with Tommy's return as the White Tiger Thunder Ranger. Circuit stopped the playback.

"So that is what I know as far as what should be in this period of history." Trip said.

"I've already compiled their history from the main computer and have noted the point of divergence from Earth's perspective." Circuit replied.

"What happened to cause all this?" Kimberly asked.

"Circuit," Trip said passing the explanation to him.

"At fourteen thirty-three and eleven seconds a temporal anomaly was detected that was thought to be a residual from a battle involving Time Force Operatives in twenty zero one. At fourteen thirty-four and two seconds the anomaly became unstable and the resulting quantum imbalance manifest somewhere in the late twentieth century. At fourteen thirty-four and six seconds our mainframe was able to confirm that that the redistribution of quantum energy had caused a chain reaction in causality resulting in removal of the existing timeline."

"Basically," Trip said. "Something outside our dimension entered through a time window and altered history."

"So where is this 'thing'?" Jason asked.

"We're not exactly sure," Trip admitted. "Time was limited, we only had about thirty seconds before the shift affected our temporal location, we didn't have time to completely analyze the phenomenon."

"So what are our options then?" Billy asked.

"Well," Trip began. "We need to locate the point of contact…" Trip suddenly fell to his knees clutching his head, his eyes shut tightly. The jewel on his forehead was burning a bright green. With a loud screen Trip raised his head upward, veins visible in his neck. His eyes opened burning with the same green light.

As Jason and Billy leapt to help Trip the light faded from his eyes and forehead and he fell forward. Jason immediately checked his pulse, the rapid beats he had felt before were absent. The two rolled Trip onto his back, Billy checked for breathing as Kimberly ran to the Medical Bay.

"Beta, Medical Emergency!" Billy shouted.