LEO
The tower was enormous. That's pretty much all I could say about it, except that it was also dark; very daunting, even for a Power Ranger. Not even Trakeena had anything like this.
Zordon (Zordon! The real Zordon!) was doing well against Zendorr. Blue and red light flew around them in arcs, bolts, and every possible shape, trying to hit each other.
Which meant that Mike and I could enter the fortress undetected.
With a solemn nod of "good luck" and "I've got your back," we drew our Sabers and beat in the huge metal door with our shoulders, entering easily.
Too easily…
The door slammed behind us and a lone stone guard, much larger and stronger than one of Trakeena's Stingwingers, eyed us hungrily.
And then approximately seventy of them dropped from the ceiling high above or ran into the parlor from other rooms.
"Rangers!"
We turned. A large figure, dressed in iron armor, stood at the top of a staircase.
"Who are you?" asked Mike.
The figure descended, dragging a highly oversized (and heavy, no doubt) claymore with him.
"My name is Kortan," he said, "and I serve Lord Zendorr."
"I figured," I retorted.
"I have orders to destroy you," said Kortan.
My, my, you get right to the point, don't you?
"Then destroy us," said Mike. "Why do you need your guards?"
"To prevent you from running. That is all."
"So it's two against one," I noted. "Hardly seems fair."
"For you," replied Kortan. He raised his claymore. "Come. Better to get it over with quickly."
Mike and I raised our Sabers and Kortan's guards made room.
I looked at Mike, raising my wrist where Dreiberg had placed the tracker. Mike nodded. As I grasped my weapon with both hands, I secretly activated it.
KARONE
"Karone."
I open my eyes, but I stand in darkness.
"Who is it?"
"Karone. You can hear me?"
"Yes. Who are you?"
A small light glows in the darkness, and I feel the rush of wind against my face as I rush toward it, without moving my feet at all. In a matter of moments, I am standing before a large glowing tube.
Inside the tube is a head.
A familiar head.
"Karone," he says. "The time has come for you to morph."
"Who are you?"
"Don't you know me?"
"I do…but I don't…"
The head nods.
"Your question shall be answered in time, Karone. But now is the time to act. Leo and Mike are below you, in the main parlor, fighting an entity called Kortan, servant of Lord Zendorr."
"They won't be able to get in," I reply. "I can't see any kind of door or window."
"Raise your hand and accept what I give to you."
I raise my hand, and a large drill-like weapon materializes in it.
I recognize it.
It's Andros' Spiral Saber.
"Where did you get this?" I ask.
"Again, you will know in time. But now, you must escape with Rorschach. This weapon is the only means you have at this point. Use it well."
The head vanishes, the tube following suit.
I know I've seen him before.
"Astronema."
I see light.
RORSCHACH
A big drill appeared in Astronema's hands. Still sleeping.
"Astronema."
She opened her eyes.
"We need to get out of here," she said.
"How perceptive," I grumbled. "You have a weapon."
"I know." She rose and moved toward the wall. "It's Andros'."
With that, she began drilling through the wall. Easily.
"Impressive."
The wall collapsed and she thrust the drill into my hands.
"I'll morph. You need that more than I do."
"Not exactly true, Astronema, but it'll help."
With a "Go, Galactic," she morphed into the Pink Power Ranger.
Now, when does she kill me?
"Come on."
She left. I followed.
Only time I'll ever do that.
NITE OWL
We saw the man from a good distance away, fighting a demonic-looking guy. I thought it was safe to assume that the demon was on the other side.
Kai activated his communicator.
"Leo, Mike, come in."
Brief static and then, "We read you, Kai."
"What's going on?"
"We're fighting Iron Man."
"What?"
"See for yourself. We're inside."
"Karone and Rorschach are making their way down from their prison," said Jon. "However, I cannot teleport to their location."
"Then we'll just have to help Leo and Mike," said Veidt.
"Agreed," I said.
"I don't know if anyone noticed," said Laurie, "but we've got Power Rangers struggling. Not a good sign."
"Only because we're not there yet."
"Oh, aren't you the world's smartest man," Laurie retorted, and then realized the validity of her statement. Veidt smiled slightly at his minute victory.
Wait a minute…
"Jon," I said. "If you can't teleport, couldn't you just make yourself bigger and then smash your way to their location?"
"A possibility," replied Manhattan, "but this place is still full of surprises that I cannot foresee."
"Well, I'm landing Archie," I said. Pulling my goggles over my eyes, I added, "Let's rock."
ZORDON
Zendorr did not realize that I was toying with him. To his frustration, I matched him step-for-step and blast-for-blast, and easily. He had no idea why he could not defeat me.
More importantly, he had no idea that a fifty-foot-tall blue man had just removed a large chunk of stone from his fortress. He had no idea that Karone and Rorschach were descending to the doorway, Karone slashing anyone who got in her way, and Rorschach just slashing anyone with the Spiral Saber. He had no idea that Kortan would meet his doom in a matter of minutes.
My mistake. Rorschach jumped over the rails, down two flights of stairs, rolling, and surprising him with a drill to the abdomen.
The blue man seemed to realize that Karone and Rorschach were free, and began annihilating Golems with a wave of his hand.
And still, Zendorr did not notice. He kept his eyes trained on me.
Good.
The Power Rangers and the Watchmen boarded the airship, taking off from behind the tower. I parried another of Zendorr's attacks and simply stopped.
"You lose, Zendorr."
And I pointed behind him.
ZENDORR
How could this be? How could I not defeat this fool who had been cooped up in a time warp for ten thousand years?
He stopped defending himself and pointed behind me.
"You lose, Zendorr."
I turned. My tower was in ruins. My Golems were dead. Kortan was slain. My prisoners were gone…
Everything gone…
"Zordon…" I said angrily, but maintaining some level of calm as I turned to face him. "You do realize that – "
He was gone. Vanished. No longer in front of me.
No longer vulnerable.
Sparks flew not just from my staff, but from my eyes, my fingers, my entire body.
Zordon… Zordon… You… Zordon…
I looked to the sky.
"ZORDON!"
The sands of the desert shifted with my rage.
You think you've won…
I began to laugh. I began to laugh hysterically.
"You haven't seen anything…"
Oh, if he thought my son's Serpentera was bad…
Ha.