"Hey, but…but we were doing so well!" Baboo protested as several Putties began to haul him down the dark hallway.

"Yeah!" Squatt chimed in, swatting as three rockier, wider versions of the foot soldiers. "Hey, get your hands off me!"

"Please!" Baboo cried out, his cry growing faint as he and his partner were carried off.

Rita Repulsa didn't watch as her minions left the throne room. She just kept looking at Earth from her balcony, twirling a few silver strands of her twisted hair.

"The only reason I didn't kill them is that their creature showed competence, however marginal it turned out to be, my queen," Goldar said, keeping his eyes low and his knee bent in reverence.

"You've learned patience after these thousands of years. Good," Rita said, keeping her back turned to Goldar and Scorpina, who had entered the room with Rita. "Let's see how you keep yourself in check when Scorpina takes your place during the next attack. You're lucky I don't punish you the way I do those two bumbling idiots."

Scorpina turned her three-point sword around in her hand. She allowed herself a toothy grin, which Goldar growled at, and remarked, "Still, Empress Rita, they do have some use. At least for a laugh."

Rita turned around, her simple brown robe whirling in the emptiness of space. "Don't seek any more mercy for them, child. If they survive, that'll be a more than generous amount." Rita beckoned her court to join her down another hallway and to Finster's workshop. The group walked in to see the goat-like creature maneuvering his sculpting tool softly along what appeared to be another winged being.

In a corner of the workshop, a large, brawny figure stood near a table, shrouded by shadows.

"Things are coming together, Mistress Rita," the High Counselor spoke, blinking a small eye near his shoulder. "A great specimen for resuming control of things on Earth."

Rita nodded and turned to the partially completed monster. "Very nice, Finster," Rita said, putting an arm around her servant's shoulder. "How much longer?"

"All of the preparations will be finished soon, Evil One," Finster quietly answered, smoothing out a section of space clay near the facial region.

Rita smiled and moved a thin, somewhat wrinkled finger to Finster's throat. The witch pressed a sharp purple nail to his white throat and said in a soft voice, "You have until the end of this Earth week. Clear?"

Finster gulped, beads of sweat running down his fur. Rita withdrew her finger and turned to leave.

"Good."

Back on Earth, the afternoon sun had broken through the mass of clouds over the Amalei Region, and the weather warmed up just a bit. But even a little warmth brought much comfort to the Power Rangers and their friends, who were outside in a wide area of the park.

Lia and Hayashi were practicing semi-free fighting, signaling a direction for attack, and then using freestyle combinations.

"Jodan!" Lia announced.

"Osu!" Hayashi responded.

Lia faked an advance twice, and then she slid in two deliver a punch and a spin side kick to her brother's head. He high-blocked two times and punched his sister in the stomach, but as Lia fell, she took her leg and swept Hayashi to the ground.

Hayashi shook his head to get a swath of blonde hair out of his face, and he smiled as he took Lia's hand to get up. "You're getting better at going with falls after attacks, getting back up," he said.

Lia grinned chuckled and punched his shoulder. "We just practiced today. You're getting better, too."

The two went over to Ash, who was finishing up a kata with Terry and Colleen. All three of them broke the calm air with yells as they rotated into sitting stances, their left arms contorting into over-the-shoulder punches.

"You're all together on those moves. Looking good," Hayashi said, high-fiving the three. "Take five."

Lia nodded and tugged Ash along by the yellow belt he was wearing; Colleen was also a yellow belt while Terry wore green.

"About time we're all together," Ash remarked, tightening his belt. "I can't believe Squatt and Baboo had us scrambled like that."

"Same here," Misty added. She was arching her arms back in the Spartan Warrior yoga position. "But at least we got rid of that bug, and nobody got really hurt this time."

"Yeah," Ash replied, pushing Misty's arm further back, causing her to raise an eyebrow and both of them to laugh. "Even Rosie. But a dislocated shoulder in a big alien attack is lucky, I guess."

"But what's also lucky," Hayashi said as Brock and Tracey came over next, leaving a group of kids who were throwing a football around. "is that we got Mastodon to smash Monarch. Good plan, man."

"Yup," Brock muttered. He had his face in a book, and Tracey started to chuckle.

"Got a movie hidden behind that book, Brock?" Misty teased.

"Nope, he's studying," Tracey said, putting a hand on Brock's shoulder. "I think he's had enough monster madness for one day, like all of us."

Brock looked up from his schoolbook and answered, "Huh? Yeah, until Friday. They've got Ant Volcano 7 on TV then, and I haven't seen that one in years."

His friends smiled, and Brock scratched his bushy hair. "What? Movie knowledge saved the day. And it's not like I'm obsessed. They do thirty-minute PSA shows about that, and that ain't me."

"Hey, could be worse," Lia noted. "You could try to shoehorn it in a thirty-minute children's program with monsters and fighting and robot powers. You know, make it forgettable in all the flash."

"That doesn't work," Ash said, tilting his head.

"All depends on how you get the message across," Brock interjected. "Fun is fine, but you have to keep your head in the game." He then whirled around as someone shouted, "Heads up!" Brock opened his hands to catch the football, but it was thrown far right to another boy.

"Oh…" Brock uttered. "Guess I'd catch that if this was TV." And then he and the others broke out into some much-needed laughter.

NEXT TIME ON POWER RANGERS

As the nights fade and the sun rises, several people in Feron Grove are falling ill, drained of all of their energy, pale and on the verge of peril. Rest assured, Rita Repulsa and her newest beastly soldier have a stake in the uncertain chaos, trouble that the Power Rangers cannot pinpoint. Can our heroes find the source of the crisis when even those they care for rise against them? Find out next time on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

AUTHOR NOTE:

For those of you that may be put off by this story, yes, this one is supposed to be full of cheese and puns, but not too much. Things got real dark in the Evil Green Chronicles, and I thought it'd be fun to go back to some of the MMPR magic and corniness that we know and love :).