Burning Crimson

Summary: The Champion of the Phoenix if fated to die to defeat a powerful enemy. But first the Universe will know . . . Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger. The conclusion of the Crimson Ranger trilogy. AU for MMPR Season 2 and beyond.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend/desire to make any money off the Power Rangers/Super Sentai concepts and characters presented in this story. They are fully the property of their respective owners and are used with loving respect. Furthermore, this story utilizes concepts borrowed/adapted from Chris Claremont's run on X-Men.

Burning Crimson

Chapter 9: Gathering Power Part III

Brandon sat fully morphed in the place of the Adjudicator, studiously ignoring the glare Gant was giving him. It wasn't like he wanted to be adjudicating this trial either. However, given the nature of the trial and the identity of the accused the legal authorities of over a dozen worlds agreed that as the Champion of the Phoenix, effectively the Power's living representative in the Universe, he was the only one qualified to do so.

Brandon sighed quietly and looked around the Chamber. In the front row of the observation gallery were the representatives of the Allied Worlds, a few of whom he recognized. Gant, the recently named Chancellor of the Eltaran High Council, who appeared to be sulking over the fact that he wasn't serving as Adjudicator and therefore the center of attention . . . Brandon already knew he was going to have to keep an eye on him. Next to him was Trey, looking horribly uncomfortable in his royal robes, he much preferred his Ranger uniform. The Gold Ranger glanced at Gant, looked back at Brandon, and rolled his eyes. Brandon successfully repressed a snicker . . . now was not the time for Brandon to allow his best friend to get him into trouble. In actuality, there were a surprising number of Rangers representing their home worlds' interests; Delphine of Aquitar, Andros of KO-35, and the newly instated Red Ranger of Sirius, Anubis Kruger. Then again, given the charges, maybe it wasn't so surprising.

The charges and arrest had created such a stir that physical attendance had been limited official representatives of the Allied Worlds. Brandon knew that there were hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the governmental center, as well as billions more in front of vid-screens across this half of the galaxy. Unfortunately, about half the crowd outside were protestors. While they seemed perfectly non-violent, and he trusted the cybernetic Centurions to be non-confrontational, Brandon was not willing to assume the same about the recently created Council Guard. The members were all handpicked by the Council for their unwavering loyalty to the Council and Brandon found them all to be rather trigger-happy. Therefore the members of the new Eltaran Rangers were hidden in the crowd, ready to back up the Centurions and prevent the Guardsmen from making matters worse.

Brandon looked down to the main floor as a mechanical voice made a throat-clearing sound, "Yes Red Centurion 006?"

The Command model Centurion replied, "We are ready to begin whenever you are sir."

Brandon sighed internally, centered himself, and said, "Very well, bring in the accused."

The lights over the Centurion's optic sensors flashed in sequence. A moment later the doors to the Adjudication Chamber opened. She entered; head held high, back straight, her gait proud, dressed as always in flowing white. Flanking her were two of the heavily armored Combat model Black Centurions. They conducted her to the seat of the accused and she sat. Looking at her squarely through his visor, Brandon said, "Red Centurion 006, please read the charges."

"The accused is charged with the following crimes: Endangering a planet's welfare by forcibly retiring an experienced team of Rangers during an active threat; Engaging in deception, including falsifying the statements and visages of Zordon of Eltar and Alpha 5, in order to force the Rangers to comply with their retirement; Violating the free will of two sentient beings through the illegal reprogramming of Blue Centurion 185 and Alpha 6 in order to make them complicit; Finally, endangering a planet's welfare by abandoning her responsibilities as Mentor to an inexperienced Ranger team during an active threat."

Brandon centered himself again, lest he allow his anger at his home planet being put in such danger to cloud his objectivity. He addressed the accused, "Dimitria of Inquiris, how do you plead?"


Tommy and Jason stood off to one side of the Dinolair as Kim stared down Brandon, "No. They've done their time. You are not dragging them into this!"

Brandon was not backing down, although he kept his body posture relaxed and made sure that he didn't come off as towering over Kim . . . that would only make things worse, "I am not dragging them into anything Kim. I want them to stay out of this fight as much as you do, but the reality is that there's a good chance, too good a chance that the fight will come to them and they need to be able to protect themselves."

Kim huffed, "They don't have powers anymore. Their identities are still secret."

Brandon knew it was a low blow, but he really wasn't willing to lose this argument, "Your and Jason's identities were secret, neither of you had powers and Divatox was able to figure out you were ex-Rangers. You think Thrax can't do the same, even if Cenagog doesn't have Mesagog's memories?"

Jason and Tommy winced. If looks could kill, Brandon would have died several more times right then and there. Kim took a deep breath, ready for whatever rant she was about to launch into when a surprisingly forceful voice asked, "Don't we get a say in this?"

Brandon looked up behind Kim as she spun around, her anger deflating at the sight in front of her; Conner, who had been the one to ask the question, stood in a true Red Ranger command stance flanked by Kira, Ethan, and Trent just like they would have while morphed and facing down a bad guy. Kim sighed deeply, "Kids, you don't have to do this. You're done; you can have normal lives now."

Conner approached Brandon and, as he reached out and placed his Dinogem in the Crimson Ranger's hand, looked at Kim and said, "This is what Rangers do, give up on normal lives so that everyone else has the chance for them. One of the first things you ever taught us."

Tommy laughed. Kim glared at him, but he just responded, "Oh come on Kim. It just figures that the one time he actually listened would come back to bite us in the ass."

Kim sighed again and a wry smiled crossed her lips, "True. Fine, I don't like this, but if it's what you want . . ." She glanced at the teens and got nods from all of them, "Okay, but you know the rules . . ."

Kira interjected, "Yeah, yeah. No dying because if we do you'll find a way to resurrect us so you can kill us again."

"Precisely."

The other three DinoThunder teens handed their gems to Brandon and he repeated the procedure he had completed with the Magna Defender sword and the Ninja morphers. At least, until he got to Trent's gem, "I, I can't recharge this."

Tommy stepped up to him, "What? Why not?"

Brandon studied the gem for a few moments, although his eyes appeared to be defocused and there was a slight crimson glow to them. Finally, he sighed, "The gem's morphogenic structure is fractured."

Tommy released a sigh of his own, although his sounded more frustrated, "Probably from the infusion and then removal of the evil. And having the energy split between Trent and the clone couldn't have helped matters."

"Yeah, too much strain over too short a time."

"So, there's nothing you can do?" Tommy asked, trying to latch onto some hope for Trent.

"Well actually, I can recharge it," he looked at Tommy, "but it would be like when Zordon recharged the Green Power Coin."

Tommy's face darkened and Kim seemed about to jump in, but her husband beat her to the punch, "There's no way I'm letting Trent go through that."

Brandon looked at Tommy with a mysterious smile, "Do you trust me?"

Tommy seemed puzzled and looked back at Jason, who just smirked back at him. Turning back to Brandon he replied, "Yes. Of course."

"Then let me have your gem."

Still looking confused, Tommy handed over the black Dinogem. Brandon studied the gem for a moment and then began glowing crimson again; suddenly he smashed his hands together, effectively smashing the black and white gems together. Looking up at the teens he made eye contact with the White Ranger, "Trent . . . come here."

Trent looked uncertainly at the other teens, and then his mentors, who both gave him reassuring smiles. They seemed to trust the Crimson Ranger, and why not? According to the others Kim had made one call to Eltar and Brandon had shown up and broken Tommy out of that amber casing with little more than a snap of his fingers. He crossed to Brandon and, as he got close, felt his skin start to tingle. It was just like that split second in the morph before the armor manifested, but now it didn't stop. "Give me your left hand," Brandon almost commanded. Trent put his hand out and Brandon quickly dropped what felt like only one gem into it and covered it with his own hands. Suddenly the crimson glow around Brandon flashed at Trent. There was a burst of light and when it cleared everyone but Brandon simultaneously said, "Wow."

Trent looked down at himself through what he realized was his visor. At first, he thought something was wrong with his helmet because he was seeing his old White Ranger armor, but the white parts looked black and the black parts looked gold. Looking up Trent asked, "Am I seeing this right?"

Tommy was just smiling, as was Kim who commented, "Black suits you."

Brandon seemed to sag a little but said, "I know this won't help with you being referred to as "New Tommy," but . . ."

Before he could finish his statement, Kim jumped in with, "Aisha threatened no home cooked meals for a month if Rocky did that again. Somehow she even got his mom in on it too."

"Oh," Brandon smiled, "good. Anyway, since I know White doesn't have the best memories for you, I thought this might help. Although, at your core you're still a White . . . a Ranger who is pure of purpose and will."

Trent looked back at his friends. Kira and Ethan were smiling, Conner was mock-sulking, "He still has the cool helmet." Trent laughed as Conner smirked and winked at him and released his morph. Looking at his bracelet he saw that the gem was now black, but shaped like his old white gem.

The teens all gathered around Trent, looking at his new gem. The adults gathered around Brandon, Jason pushing a chair up for him to sit. Brandon gave his mate an "I'm fine" look. Jason in return gave him a "Do not argue, you will not win" look. Brandon sat down with a rueful smile.

Tommy glanced back at the teens and then looked at Jason and Brandon, "Okay that takes care of the kids. All that's left are the Wilds and those of us who weren't Zeos."

Brandon sighed, "Unfortunately, there's not much I can do for the Wild Force team . . . their powers are tied up with Princess Shayla, and I don't want to have to wake her if I don't have to. She only awakens naturally for Orgs, and forcibly waking her could throw the Animarium's balance out of whack. So at the moment the Silver Guardians and Lightspeed are getting word to them to be on their guard."

Tommy nodded, his expression conveying that he didn't like it, but understood. Kim picked up, "Okay, that just leaves the rest of us."

Brandon smirked, "Actually, all of us need to talk. The others, even Lightspeed, are going to look to our lead in this and we need to all be on the same page."

Tommy looked to the computer terminals, "I can set up a teleconference."

Brandon shook his head, "No, we need to be face to face." He looked at Kim, "Can you make the phone calls?"

Kim smiled at Brandon with an arched eyebrow, "You're asking if I can make phone calls?" Brandon chuckled as Kim continued, "What should I tell them?"

"Be ready for teleport in about an hour, I'll . . ."

Jason interrupted him, "I'll teleport everyone here."

Brandon gave Jason a hard look, "I can get everyone at once."

Jason returned Brandon's look, "Can you?"

The Crimson Ranger held out for another second and then sagged, "Probably not safely, no. But it's a lot of work, can you handle it?"

Jason's look softened, pleased that Brandon wasn't being pig-headed about this, "Billy, Kat, 'Sha, and Rocky are all in Angel Grove. Adam and Tanya are in LA. Zack and Trini are in Brussels. It's only three trips, no problem."

"Okay," Brandon nodded. Turning back to Kim he amended the plan, "Okay, tell everybody to be ready in about an hour, Jason will pick them up. Use the transponders Billy gave everybody so Jase can get a fix."

Kim nodded and then went off to make the necessary calls. Tommy watched her go and then said, "I'd better go get the house ready for that many people."

"Actually," Brandon interjected, "Could you have the kids run into town and take over for Haley and have her join us?"


Dalos V was a minimum security penal colony, reserved for those convicted of non-violent political crimes. In most cases it was hard to tell the colony from any other. Most inmates had their own quarters comprised of a small bungalow adapted to their biological needs for rest and sanitation. There were gardens, a library, and other recreations. They were even allowed to wear their normal clothing. The only things that gave any indication of the true purpose of the colony were the identification brace, which also served to suppress any unique or racial powers or abilities, worn by each inmate; the multi-layer forcedome surrounding the facilities; and the Centurion guards and administrator.

Inmate #043097, once known as Dimitria of Inquiris sat reading on an arbor-covered patio near the edge of the area in which the inmates were allowed to wander. Suddenly the peace and quiet was interrupted by the muffled sound of an explosion coming from above her. Dimitria looked up and saw a bundle of dark energy crackling against the outermost layer of the forcedome. Within seconds the first layer collapsed and the energy began struggling against the second. From all over the colony various colored Centurion units came running, mostly the more combat oriented Blacks, the Blues that served as the primary guards, and the local Red command unit.

Dimitria's attention returned to the ground level when she realized she was being addressed by one of the Centurions. Looking into the optical sensor of one of the Blue guards it repeated its command, "Inmate #043097, you are ordered to return to your quarters immediately. Failure to comply will result in . . ." Whatever else it was about to say was cut off by a loud explosion as the second layer of the dome collapsed and the energy slammed into the final layer.

At this point the Blue bodily pushed her in the direction of the dwellings as it drew its Synergizer and prepared for combat. An instant later the last dome collapsed and the energy landed, in a flash revealing a small attack force comprised of three unique individuals and a dozen metallic looking foot soldiers. Dimitria, still an Inquiran despite her peoples' official denial of her, studied them. One was a Camian male of the winged sub-type in golden armor. With him stood a humanoid reptilian matching no type known to Dimitria and therefore of uncertain gender, if any. The third was a winged humanoid female in silver armor who also did not match any species she knew of. The Camian yelled, "Attack!" and the warriors and foot soldiers engaged the Centurions.

Dimitria began to back away, thinking that perhaps it was now best to follow the Blue Centurion's command when she sensed the teleportation pulse behind her. She turned and almost cried out at the sight before her. However, her mind quickly noted the differences between this individual and who she initially thought it was, and so instead of crying out she asked, "Who are you?"

The red and silver armored figure seemed to regard her for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. The helmet vanished revealing an extremely attractive blue-grey skinned male with red eyes and ebony hair. He smiled; it was a feral and cunning expression, but also very alluring and responded, "I am Thrax, Heir of the Zedd."

Dimitria straightened and looked at Thrax squarely, "Lord Zedd is gone."

Thrax continued to smile as the battle waged around them, "Yes, Lord Zedd fell. But I am not a collection of ancient mystics possessing the body of some lowly historian. I am the ideals of the Zedd given physical form. All of their power and knowledge wrapped in flesh."

"What do you want from me?"

"You intrigue me, Dimitria of Inquiris." He stepped closer and she took a step back, "Denied your own Ranger team but chosen as Zordon's successor on Earth. Through cunning and guile you removed Zordon's children and replaced them with a team of your own, only to find them corrupted away from your control by the influence of their predecessors."

"That's not how . . ."

Thrax continued, "So then you seek glory in the battle with the UAE. Glory you earned, leading the forces of the Light to several stunning victories, only to have that glory snatched away when you are accused of treason, vilified for seeking to live free from Zordon's shadow. Stripped of your honor, your name spat upon by your own people while your sister, the former pirate queen, is celebrated."

Dimitria turned her back on Thrax, not wanting him to see her struggle to control the rage that burned within her. He moved closer, placing and armored hand upon her shoulder, "You continue to wear the white robes of an Inquiran cleric, but I can feel the darkness in your heart." She began to move away, but he lowered his lips to her ear and his breath was warm against her skin, "It is . . . intoxicating."

Dimitria's voice was thick as she spoke, "You never answered my question."

"I want to give you power. I want to give you the vehicle by which to vent your rage at the galaxy that has so abused you. I want you at my side as I take my rightful place as Emperor of the Universe . . . as my Empress."