Zordon of Eltar: Chapter 8: The Drums of War

The site at the slave camp, where moments earlier several hundred human slaves and a small band of rebels had vanished into thin air, was tense indeed. Ooze soldiers and Tengu Warriors alike shook with fear as their creator and master paced back and forth in front of them, his calm demeanor disguising the unquestionable rage coursing through him. Ivan stopped his incessant pacing and slowly turned toward his subordinates.

"Can any of you tell me exactly how six human pre-pubescents, managed to sneak into one of our camps, liberate hundreds of my slaves," Ivans calm demeanor suddenly broke as he rounded on his servants, "AND VANISH INTO THIN AIR!" At his bellow, the winds picked up in ferocity, blowing all of his warriors off of their feet. With a scream of inhuman rage, Ivan thrust his arms into the air, loosing purple lightning from his fingertips, as if he were trying to scorch the sky itself for being the means of his foes' escape.

As he brought his arms down, Ivan's breathing erupted in short gasps, as he attempted to compose himself. This was, after all, not the doing of those meddlesome humans, it was him. The last free Eltarian in the galaxy, Zordon of Eltar, it had been he who had facilitated the human's victory. It was inconceivable to Ivan that this one bothersome youth of Eltar, whose escape on Eltar he had viewed as a mild annoyance, had not only struck a great blow to the construction of his Ecto Morphicon Titans, but a great blow to Ivan himself. The cheap shot had caught Ivan off guard, and blown him into the side of a mountain.

While nowhere near strong enough to do him any permanent harm, the attack had taken him off of his feet. It had been many centuries since the morphological being had felt the sensation of pain, and he had liked it even less now then he had remembered it. The fact that this Zordon was able to take him off of his feet, and cause him a small margin of pain made Ivan worry a bit. There was no being in the universe capable of doing that, so this Zordon, left unchecked, could become the most powerful warrior in the universe if Ivan continued to ignore the problem. He could not allow even one loose end to remain open; not while he was so close to activating his glorious creations. Finding Zordon of Eltar had just become priority one for the whole of the Ooze Empire.

xxxxxxxxxx

*WEEKS LATER*

Zordon looked across the blazing fire they had created outside of the cave. He sat around it, along with Alpha and the newly named Power Rangers of Earth. This night was particularly frigid. It was almost as if the planet itself was worrying over what was about to transpire the following day.

They were on the eve of battle, and each being sitting around the fire knew that in a few short hours, they were to face the battle of their lives. Zordon's concern for his young charges was great indeed. Their first real test of the power coins would be one of the greatest battles the universe had ever seen. Every single person around the fire had a part to play in the upcoming struggle. Even Alpha had a very important part to play in the battle against Ooze. Alpha's role, in actuality, would prove to be the most important of all to Zordon's plan. He hoped that the fussy robot would be alright, and make it out of the battle unscathed.

The rangers and Alpha had listened intently to his plan intently, and had spent the last week preparing mentally and physically. Alpha had been toiling away in the cave, constructing the device necessary to the plan, while the Rangers had continued to familiarize themselves with the metamorphosis process, their new weapons, and the operation of the new Zords. Zordon himself had decided to train alone, honing his body and mind, and working further with drawing out the power of the Staff of El. As he continued to work with the remarkable weapon, Zordon began to think that there was no limit its strength. He gazed down at the staff, which rested on the ground beside him. Its smooth white surface seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary alloy, from the pointed bottom end up to the stylized lightning bolt which sat atop it. Its modest appearance was quite unbecoming of the unbelievable power it could unleash. Zordon felt he would need every last bit of the staff's power before this was over.

Zordon had also busied himself by sending two telepathic messages out into the cosmos. For his part of the plan to work, he needed allies. He could not undertake his assigned task alone, and he had begun to think that his messages may not have reached his intended targets. Just as this thought pushed at his nerves, everyone around the campfire marveled at a small white owl, which fluttered down from the sky and stood near their fire.

"Beautiful," Mei said, staring at the wondrous creature.

"Thank you," echoed a crisp female that Zordon knew well. He smiled widely as strands of light surrounded the owl until it had transformed into the radiant visage of Dulcea, master warrior of Phaedos. The rangers and Alpha all seemed surprised at the sudden transformation, as Zordon rose to his feet and crossed to meet her.

When he approached, she met him with a warm and loving embrace, coupled with a long passionate kiss on the lips.

"Hey now!" Boi said, drawing laughs from the other rangers. Zordon separated from Dulcea, his cheeks flushing red.

"Look guys!" Dan remarked, "Zordon is embarrassed!" The rangers continued laughing.

"That's quite enough of that," Zordon said to his team, while chuckling. "Rangers, this is Dulcea, and she is the master warrior of the planet Phaedos." Dulcea greeted each of the rangers with a simple nod of her head. "I am very happy that you received my message and was able to make it, Dulcea."

"As am I, Zordon," she replied. "Your mission is obviously of the utmost importance, and is worth leaving the Great Power of Phaedos unguarded for a time."

Just then there was a streak of light which careened towards the camp. The rangers and Dulcea took a defensive stance, while Zordon simply smiled. It seemed his second message had reached its destination as well.

The light struck the ground before them, and the armored form of Masked Rider stood before them all when the smoke had cleared. With a gesture, the armor vanished from his body, and the bearded form of King Lexian stood before them.

"Your Highness!" Alpha exclaimed, jumping up and down. "It is wonderful to see you again!"

"And you as well, my friend," Lexian said to his former aide. He turned to Zordon. "I came as soon as I received your message, Zordon. I will lend my arm, and the Masked Rider powers to your cause."

Zordon introduced Lexian to the rangers and Dulcea. As the new members of the team got acquainted with the rangers, Zordon smiled in spite of himself; it felt good to be around friends, even on the eve of the fight of his life.

xxxxxxxxxx

The morning of the battle had come, and Zordon had gathered the rangers, Dulcea, Alpha, and Masked Rider around him.

"Today is the day," he said to them, "on this day we fight not just for the fate of the Earth, but for the future of the entire universe. Today we stand before one final massive confrontation, one last stand of good against a force so evil, it has saturated most of the known galaxy with its scourge. Today is the day that Ivan unleashes his Ecto Morphicon Titans upon this world, and if we fail here today, then the Earth will be razed in a matter of hours. And soon the Ecto Morphicons will crush resistance on countless worlds throughout the galaxy.

"Each of us has a part to undertake in this venture. Rangers, use your power coins and your Zords to their fullest potential. I leave the destruction of the Ecto Morphicons to you. Alpha, you must take the device you have constructed to the assigned area we have discussed. Dulcea and Lexian, you two will join me as we keep Ivan occupied so the Rangers can accomplish their task."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Their plans were set.

"Today you fight not for me, not for yourselves, but for all sentient beings everywhere. So fight hard, and fight true. Fight for the sake of countless worlds that will be liberated by our victory today. Fight for the greater good; for the light, which today will wipe the stain of this darkness from the universe for all time! Today we fight for the light! And may the power protect us all!"

xxxxxxxxxx

Alpha hurried himself into the cave. He had a very important job to do, and was busying himself by doing one final check on the device. Zordon's diversion team and the Rangers had all since teleported out to their specific strike points, and now it was his turn. A beep from the computer told him that the device was working properly. With an electronic sigh he set the coordinates for teleportation and gazed at his charge.

This device was the key to the plan. Ivan Ooze was a being made up of self replication protoplasm, which could not be destroyed by conventional means. It would take the force equivalent to that of a blazing comet to destroy him. Since destruction was not possible, the only conceivable way to defeat Ooze was containment. And containment was the sole source of the device he had constructed. It appeared to be an immense claw like hand, grasping a purple egg. That would serve of Ivan's prison cell for all eternity. The hyper-lock chamber had been constructed, and Alpha teleported away with it, to wait for Zordon's signal.

xxxxxxxxxx

Zordon, Dulcea, and Lexian now in the guise of Masked Rider stood together in a rocky mountain range on the outskirts of the Grove of Angels. The three of them knew their mission. They were to distract Ivan and keep him from the Rangers, while attempting to lure him into Alpha's hyper-lock chamber.

"Are we ready?" Zordon asked his companions.

"We are," Dulcea said, coming up to his side and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Yes, Zordon," Masked Rider said. "Call forth the beast and let us find battle this day."

With a deep breath, Zordon raised the Staff of El into the air, calling upon its power to amplify his voice throughout the entire planet.

"Ivan Ooze!" He bellowed into the sky. His voice reverberated throughout the entire Earth. "This is Zordon of Eltar! I know you have been searching for me, and I've decided to save you the trouble. Follow the sound of my voice Ooze, and brace yourself for the fight of your life!"

As soon as Zordon finished that sentence, a purple beam struck the ground in front of him in a massive explosion that drove the three warriors back a step. Standing in the wake of that explosion was the twisted form of Ivan Ooze. He chuckled softly to himself as the assembled three fell into defensive stances.

xxxxxxxxxx

When the Power Rangers arrived at the summit of a mountain range overlooking Ivan's main camp, they gasped at the sight of the completed Ecto Morphicon Titans. The silver massive hulking forms of a scorpion and a biped hornet loomed over them all. The camp was full of Ivan's ooze soldiers, and the group of Tengu warriors which had decimated them prior. At the sight of the beaked beasts, Burai began to shake with rage. At the head of the camp, standing right before the Ecto Morphicons, stood Ivan Ooze.

"Today we launch a plague of darkness that will eclipse the entire universe! Today our machines of death will crush this puny planet before turning their attention on the rest of the universe until our foul empire spans the entirety of creation!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd of monstrosities as Ivan unleashed purple lightning from his hands, engulfing the Ecto Morphicons and filling them with purple ooze. The machines moved their extremities for the first time and were given life. The cheers of the ooze creatures below were drowned out by a deafening voice reverberating throughout the camp.

"Ivan Ooze!" The unmistakable voice of Zordon cried. "This is Zordon of Eltar! I know you have been searching for me, and I've decided to save you the trouble. Follow the sound of my voice Ooze, and brace yourself for the fight of your life!"

Ivan's scream of rage was immediate and in a flash or purple he had taken to the sky, rushing toward the source of the voice.

"That's our cue!" Geki said to the others. They drew their weapons and vaulted down to the base of the camp. As one, the ooze creatures turned to look at them. The six teens heard a cackling noise from beyond them, and the source of the laugh made themselves known as the dozen Tengu Warriors floated down before them.

"I thought you humans had learned your lesson!" the lead Tengu said in a screeching voice. Geki smiled in response, turning to the rest of the team.

"Guys," he said to his comrades. "I think it's morphing time!"

xxxxxxxxxx

"Well, well, well," Ooze said upon seeing the three gathered warriors who had rallied together to defeat him. "This is it? Just you, a woman, and a giant insect? I have to say Z, I'm a little underwhelmed. I was expecting an army, or at least those human kids of yours to be standing with you."

"The three of us are all that is needed to stop you Ooze," Zordon spat back at him. "You've dedicated your life to evil, and thus you have forfeited your very existence! You can't live your life wading through a river of blood."

"Wow, really? I come all this way for a climactic battle to the death and you start in with a lecture? Honestly Z, the disappointments just keep coming." Ivan suddenly took on a very serious tone. "Why don't you make it up to me with some action?"

Instead of a response, Zordon fired a white bolt of lightning from the Staff of El at Ivan. At the last possible second, Ivan vanished, moving so fast that none of the warriors were able to see it. He rematerialized behind them.

"Over here!" he shouted as he thrust his arms forward, summoning powerful winds which took all three of them off their feet and hurtling into the side of the mountain. Zordon was the first to rise and leapt at Ooze, the staff coming down in an arc aimed at the evil monarch's head. Ivan sidestepped the attack, grabbed Zordon by the wrist and waist, and threw him across the battlefield. As soon as Zordon was air born, Ivan was met with the combined assault of Dulcea's staff and Masked Rider's eletro saber. Ivan simply dodged out of the way of each attack until the staff and saber met each other. Before Dulcea and Lexian could break off and redouble their efforts, Ivan sent a blast of purple lightning at each of them and then flew backward, crashing to the stony ground.

"You'll have to do a bit better than that, heroes," Ooze said, laughing. All three warriors rose back to their feet and charged the purple being as one.
xxxxxxxxxx

"Dragon Zord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber Tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

When the glare from their power morphers faded, the Tengu stood faced with six very armored, very powerful, and very angry humans. What followed was a barrage of battle as the Power Rangers fought on, charging through countless ooze soldiers and easily overcoming the power of the Tengu.

Soon the ooze soldiers were no more and the Rangers were able to give the Tengu their full attention. They shattered beaks, and tore through feathers and flesh, completely embarrassing their feathered foes.

Goushi took on four at once with his power axe. He sliced through their armor easily and blew others away with the cannon on the other end of the weapon. Boi and Dan stabbed and slashed at everything that moved, while Mei's marksmanship was 100 percent accurate each time, finding her feathered mark at all times.

Soon only one was left, and Burai and Geki took turns roundhouse kicking the creature in the face, until it's beak shattered into pieces. Geki then buried his sword deep in its chest as the Tengu collapsed to the ground dead.

Before the rangers could revel in their first true victory, the ground around them exploded in a fiery inferno. The six fell to the ground and looked up to see that the Ecto Morphicons had taken aim at them. Now fully activated and sensing the conflict, the titans began to advance on the six humans.

Inside his helmet Geki smiled. These beasts had no idea what they were about to face.

"We need Dino Zord power now!" he screamed.

xxxxxxxxxx

Zordon, Dulcea, and Masked Rider were finding their task much more difficult than the Rangers. Ivan had been batting them around the battlefield like toys and had thus far not even broken a sweat. Most recently he had electrocuted the ground beneath them, causing Lexian and Zordon to tumble backward in the explosion. Only Dulcea had managed to roll through it, and dashed forward to meet Ivan one on one.

Her staff was a blur as she swung over and over again at Ivan, but the ooze monster was simply too fast for her. No matter where she would swing, Ivan had moved from that position seconds earlier. She cried out in frustration.

" We really must learn to mind our temper, hot stuff," Ivan jokingly admonished her.

"Monster!" she spat, sending another volley of blows his way. "You face Dulcea, master warrior of the Planet Phaedos! You will not mock me!" Dulcea separated her staff into two and twirled them around, creating the powerful whistling sound which had rendered Zordon nearly defenseless in their first encounter.

Ivan staggered back, clutching the sides of his head as Dulcea advanced. Still spinning the two halves of her staff she connected to the side of Ivan's head with a powerful roundhouse kick, sending him stumbling back a step. She repeated the maneuver three more times before Ivan reached out with his arms, smacking Dulcea at the elbows and shattering both joints. She dropped both halves of her staff with a shriek of pain and Ivan, now infuriated, grasped her by the face and began pumping purple lightning through her body.

Zordon and Lexian were on Ivan in an instant, forcing him to drop Dulcea's convulsing form. When she fell to the ground she laid unconscious on the stone. Ivan batted Zordon aside and began to fend off Lexian's electro saber with nothing more than his left hand. Lexian continued to try breaking through Ooze's defenses, but Ivan was deflecting every attack with simple flicks of his wrist.

Finally, Ooze had enough of this latest game that he struck Lexian's sword harder than before, and broke the electric blade in two. He grasped the falling half of the sparking weapon in his hand and hurled it at Lexian, striking the Masked Rider in the chest as his own weapon's electric charge coursed through him. He fell to the ground and did not move.

Finally, Ivan turned to face Zordon. The Eltarian rose to his feet, using the Staff of El to keep him up.

"And then there were two!" Ivan declared, holding his arms out to the side. "I wanted to save you for last, big guy. I wanted you to know without a shadow of a doubt that you never had a prayer of winning this battle."

"Come on then," Zordon spat, "show me what you can do." Ivan looked amused for a moment before blurring out of sight again. Zordon never saw the attacks which struck him. He only felt the chop to the throat, knee to the face, punch to the back of the head, knee to the gut and massive bolt of lightning which engulfed him and sent him hurtling to the ground. Ivan materialized into view once again, now taking on his terrifying serious demeanor.

"You are a fool Zordon of Eltar," Ivan sent lightning coursing through Zordon's body. The Eltarian screamed in agony until the barrage ceased. "You thought you could stand against the most powerful being in the universe," another blast of lightning, "you thought you could topple the most foul empire in creation," another blast of lightning, "no you will pay the price for enacting decency in an indecent universe!"

Zordon could no longer move. His clothing was torn and scorched, his body smoldered, and blood trickled from his mouth. He was finished, but hope was not lost. If the Rangers could defeat the Ecto Morphicons then the plan could still succeed. Everything depended now on the Rangers and Alpha.

Just then, Zordon and Ooze were interrupted by the sound of two massive explosions, and Zordon laughed in spite of his situation.

"Looks like I win after all Ooze," he said, to Ivan's confusion.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Megazord sequence has been initiated," the pleasing baritone voice of Zordon's ship computer said. The Megazord tank rose up on two legs as the Pterodactyl Zord flew in attaching to the chest piece and allowing the Megazord's face to slide down.

"Megazord activated!"

Geki, Goushi, Dan, Boi, and Mei sat together in the cockpit of the Megazord, newly formed and ready for action. The six chord flute chime rang out over the battlefield, courtesy of Burai who controlled the mighty Dragon Zord from the top of a nearby cliff.

The Megazord advanced on the Ecto Morphicon known as Hornitor. The giant hornet met the oncoming machine with a mighty punch from one of its three fingered claws. The Rangers inside were rocked by the force of it, but redoubled their efforts as the Megazord charged forward, punching the Hornitor righgt between its compound eyes.

The Dragon Zord spun its drill like tail and swung it at the dreaded Scorpinok, Ivan's second titan. Scorpinok recoiled before firing back with several missiles from its tail. Burai watched as his Zord fell backward. "Two can play at this game," he said, playing another chord on the flute. In response, the Dragon Zord shot several missiles out of its fingertips.

The Megazord and Hornitor continued to exchange blows, their battle becoming a veritable slug fest. When Hornitor slowed down for an instant, the Megazord hammered it with two vicious punches, bringing the titan crashing down to the ground.

"We need the power sword!" Geki yelled from the cockpit. An immense sword fell from the heavens, imbedding itself in the ground. The Megazord pulled the sword from the ground but, as it advanced, Hornitor struck it with a massive power blast from its mandible, sending the Megazord crashing to the ground, smoking.

Burai had decided at this time to take the helm of the Dragon Zord personally, leaping into the tiny cockpit. Just as he took the controls however, Scorpinok unleashed a powerful burst of energy from its tail, knocking the Dragon Zord off of its feet, collapsing in a heap beside the Megazord.

"Boost the emergency power!" Geki yelled.

"Power reserves are in the red!" Boi responded.

"We have negative helm control," Mei shouted.

"Then re-route all morphing grid systems into the booster generators!" Geki replied.

"Done!" Goushi said.

With that the Megazord rose back to its feet, stopping to grab the Dragon Zord's hand and help it back to its feet.

"Thanks guys!" Burai said, as he turned back toward Scorpinok. "Let's see how you like this, ugly!" he cried out. He re-routed all of the Zord's energy into the drill tail, which began to glow green. The Dragon Zord turned, bringing the energized tail down into Scorpinok. The creature struggled for a moment, before it was completely engulfed by an explosion and fell into thousands of pieces.

Inside the Megazord, Geki rallied his teammates. "Alright guys lets finish this!"

"Right!" they all said in unison.

The Megazord raised its power sword in the air, energizing it, before slashing clean through the Hornitor's frame, causing the titan to fall to the ground and explode in a massive burst.

"We did it!" Mei yelled over the joyous cried of her comrades.

"Yeah," Geki said. "Now let's go find Zordon!"

xxxxxxxxxx

"What was that?" Ivan asked rhetorically to himself. Zordon laughed through his pain.

"That would be the sound of my warriors dismantling your machines," he replied.

"What!" Ooze shrieked. "You make up bold lies to buy yourself a few more moments of life!"

Just then a massive object fell from the sky, crashing just behind Ivan. He turned to see that it was the head of the Hornitor, cleaved from its body and dropped there as a message to him. He turned to see who these messengers must be and gazed upon the Megazord and Dragon Zord, standing there menacingly.

It was then that Ivan realized he had been duped. Zordon and his pathetic band of warriors had done nothing more than distracted him, while these…children had gone and destroyed his beautiful creations. Ivan shook with rage and glared in hatred at the two mammoth machines which had destroyed years of his work in an instant. Slowly he raised his hands, and pointed an index finger at each of these mammoth machines.

"Bang," he simply stated, shooting concentrated purple lightning at both machines before they could fire on him. The lightning engulfed both contraptions for a brief moment before they exploded in a fiery blast. The six armored humans fell from the explosion, collapsing roughly to the ground. Ivan glared at them in hatred.

"So, you brats thought you'd destroy my creations and then come here to finish me off too, is that it?" He said through clenched teeth as the warriors struggled to stand up. "Well let me tell you something, I'm more powerful than an ARMY of Ecto Morphicons! They were a vanity project! A declaration of power! A statement which you have all cut short, and for that you will pay DEARLY."

"We're not afraid of you," Geki said, struggling to rise and meet Ivan face to face.

"How fortunate that you should die then without a trace of fear. I'm sure the human race would write heroic songs of your bravery, but your actions here today have doomed not just yourselves BUT YOUR ENTIRE RACE!"

Ivan's rage hit a boiling point as the sky grew dark.
"But first you'll watch as your mentor dies in agony," he said turning back to Zordon. The Eltarian gritted his teeth, waiting for the final blow to fall. What he did not expect was a pink blur to shoot in front of him and stop, standing between his prone form and Ivan. Mei was trying to save him.

"To get to Zordon, you'll go through me," she spat.

"And me!" Geki said, leaping over Ivan's head to stand beside Mei. The other four rangers followed suit, until they were all standing between Ivan and Zordon.

"No!" Zordon yelled. "Get out of here! Don't do this!"

"I'm sorry, Zordon," Mei replied. "But you're not dying today! Thank you for everything you've done for us!"

With that, the six warriors through their weapons into the air, bringing them together and forming the power blaster. The finishing touch came when Burai placed his dragon dagger atop the weapon. Geki pointed the massive cannon at Ivan.

"What is this foolishness?" Ivan said in disgust.

"FIRE!" all six Rangers said in unison. The blast sailed from the cannon and connected in Ivan's chest, causing a massive explosion that took the evil monarch completely off guard. Zordon and the Rangers stared on in shock when the smoke cleared and Ivan Ooze laid prone on the ground with a gaping wound in his chest.

"Did we….do it?" Boi said cautiously. Just then Ivan's finger twitched, sending a single burst of purple lightning which struck Boi in the heart, ripping through his armor and coming back out the other side. He was dead instantly.

Time seemed to stop for Zordon as Boi's body fell to the ground and, as it hit the stony floor, the armor encasing his body vanished and he was left a lifeless corpse.

"No!" Geki screamed amidst many similar cries from his comrades. Ivan struggled back up to his feet, clutching the wound in his chest.

"Noone….has….ever…done that….to me," he said, struggling through the immense pain. Burai rushed Ivan in a rage, before he had moved 10 paces, Ivan raised two fingers to the sky, and a massive explosion engulfed Burai. He fell dead to the ground, his armor evaporating off of him at the moment of death.

"Stop!" Zordon cried out to the Rangers, trying desperately to rise only to have his body fail him again and again. "You have to run!"

Goushi was the next to fall, as Ivan shot two thin beams of energy from his eyes, spearing Goushi through the heart. His armor vanished as life slipped away.

Dan and Geki rushed at Ivan, while Mei stood by Zordon. Before they reached him, Ooze vanished, reappearing behind Dan and snapping his neck. He fell to the ground cold and armorless. Geki slashed wildly with his sword, but Ivan caught it in his hand, ripped it from Geki's grasp, and used it to decapitate the red ranger.

Finally he advanced on Mei.

"Mei, please," Zordon pleaded through tears. "Run, save yourself! Please! For me!"

"I stay behind for you, Zordon," Mei said, clearly crying behind her helmet. "To run would be a slap in the face to everything you taught us." Mei fired off an arrow at the advancing Ivan. Ooze simply caught it, and threw it back, impaling Mei between the eyes through the visor. As she dropped to the ground and her armor disappeared, Zordon could only stare blankly into her lifeless eyes.

He had failed them. He had completely and utterly failed them and had led them to their deaths. Soon he would join them in oblivion, with his last thought being that he hoped Alpha would at least be able to escape the planet before its inevitable destruction.

"You thought you were so smart," Ivan said through clenched teeth, still clutching the wound in his chest. "You thought you'd outsmart and destroy ME! Well Zordon of Eltar, your destiny ends HERE!"

Just then the Staff of El came to life in Zordon's hand. The staff shook and vibrated like never before and gave off a glare so bright, even Ivan had to shield his eyes. And if he could have seen, Ivan would have seen the power coins on the belts of each of his fallen victims flare to life. The coins rose from the bodies of their owners and flew toward Zordon, embedding themselves in the staff, directly under the lightning bolt adorning the top of the staff. Zordon felt the pure energy of the staff and coins flood through his body and fill him with strength. Then he heard a voice in his mind, as if the Staff of El was speaking to him.

"Zordon of Eltar, RISE," it said.

With renewed strength and vigor Zordon rose to his feet, glaring in utter hatred at Ivan Ooze. The tears flowed freely from his eyes for his downed warriors and, should he survive this, he would grieve and honor their memories for as long as he would live.

When the glare subsided and Ivan gazed and the fully empowered Zordon, he faltered for a moment, as if he could sense the power given off by the Eltarian.

"This ends NOW!" Zordon yelled, covering the distance between them in a microsecond. With a cry of rage, Zordon struck Ooze hard across the face with the staff and Ooze flew back with the force of such an attack. Ivan, upon landed shot purple lightning at Zordon's charging form, but Zordon caught the blast on the staff and bounced it back at its originator, sending Ivan sailing through the air again. Zordon reached him in no time, grabbing Ooze by the throat and leaping into the sky with him, dragging him to where he knew Alpha was waiting.

Alpha had heard the many explosions and clashes echoing around the area as he prepped the hyper-lock chamber in another area of the mountainous battle field. It was no ready for use, and just in time it seemed as Zordin hurtled toward the ground, holding Ooze by the throat. Zordon slammed Ivan down into the ground and turned to Alpha.

"Do it!" he shouted. Alpha turned to the console. One button would be pressed and Ivan would be sealed for all eternity. But Ivan, seeing what was about to transpire, shot a blast of purple lightning at Alpha, which cleaved the small robot in two. Alpha's legs fell forward, while his torso fell back and he landed with a metallic clink on the ground.

"NO!" Zordon screamed, not wanting to believe that another ally had fallen. In this moment of distraction, Ooze acted, striking out at Zordon with the lightning and catching the Eltarian off guard. There was no taunting now, no break in Ivan's rage filled attack. Only the continuous stream of lightning pumping through Zordon's form as he thrashed on the ground.

Ivan rose back to his feet and continued pouring the lightning into Zordon, determined to kill the Eltarian warrior once and for all.

"This is IT!" Ivan shrieked while pouring the energy onto Zordon. "It's over for you and the entire universe!"

Ivan was so consumed with Zordon's destruction that he failed to hear a small voice say "Back up systems online," as Alpha 5 powered back up. Alpha, seeing the state Zordon was in, crawled toward the console controlling the hyper lock chamber, noticing for the first time that he was missing his legs. "Ay-yi-yi" he said in an exasperated tone. He reached the base of the console, pulled himself up, and slammed his metal hand down on the activation button.

The metal hand holding the egg on the machine released its grip and the egg split open. A shot of white energy burst forth from it, engulfing Ivan Ooze. At once, the force of his lightning attack stopped, and Zordon was free.

"No!" Ivan screamed, trying to fight the pull of the hyper lock chamber. The gaping wound in his chest at the hands of the Rangers had weakened him to the point that his struggles were barely keeping him from flying back into the egg. Zordon rose to his feet and stared at the struggling Ivan, who seemed desperate to rid himself of the light.

"Now the light takes you down deep into the darkness Ooze," Zordon said over Ivan's screams and the hum of the machine. "Stay there, buried forever. And let your empire become the galaxy's forgotten nightmare." Zordon balled up his fist and punched the struggling Ivan Ooze square in the jaw. This stopped Ivan's struggling and sent him hurtling into the hyper-lock chamber. The egg sealed itself shut, the fingers came down to grasp it, and Ivan Ooze, the worst evil the galaxy had ever known, was finally and decisively defeated.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The story is not over! I'm running late right now, but the Epilogue to the Ooze War should be up later today! Then Book TWO: The Zeo Crisis will continue in this same file! I'll wrap up my thoughts on the Ooze War in the Epilogue!