Chapter Six: Like Putty in Their Hands

Zordon watched incredulously as Amaradon Ranger blocked Goldar's sword with the palm of his hand. Goldar stopped dead in his tracks.

"Huh!?" Goldar exclaimed.

Amaradon laughed. "See ya, Goldie." He then jumped and performed a reverse kick, sending Goldar flying out of the ring of fire. As he slammed into the mountainside, he rolled down, extinguishing the flames on his armor. He didn't readily get back up.

"Zocato power!" Amaradon yelled. A shockwave of power erupted from the black ranger, hitting both Scorpina and Robo Knight. Amaradon then set his eyes on Scorpina. "Ready to join your monkey friend?"

Before he could attack, however, Necrolai descended down from the sky, snatching Scorpina up. "Not today, Power Ranger!"

Amaradon watched as the two disappeared into the distance. He then turned to Robo Knight, who had taken his place between Zordon and Amaradon.

Amaradon pointed at the knight. "Are you sure you want to do this? I will rip you apart, gear for gear."

"Knight Dynamic." Robo Knight said as his answer, firing multiple lasers at Amaradon. Amaradon rolled away, but was still hit with a significant number of blasts. He fell to his stomach, his back smoldering.

"Now leave here, Black Ranger, while you still can."

"Ahhh!" Amaradon replied, rushing Robo Knight. The sentient machine got into a fighting stance, ready to fight, but was surprised when Amaradon leapt over him. Zordon watched in Fear as Amaradon began descending toward him, ready for the killing blow. Zordon closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable.

The inevitable, it seemed to be, took longer than Zordon thought. He opened his eyes to find himself in a mysterious outdoor setting. He shook his head, realizing where he was.

"I'm... I'm dead. So this is the Afterlife..."

. . .

"Interesting..." The Sorcerer of the Sands remarked. "So the Ethereals have returned."

"Can they be trusted?" Joe asked, folding his arms. He wore a look of anger on his face.

"I believe so... As long as our goals are in alignment with theirs, that is." The sorcerer replied.

Miha furrowed her brow. "Well... Are they?"

"I don't know... Only time will tell." He said, a look of concern on his face.

"Master! Master!" Delu yelled, running in the large tent.

"Yes, my assistant?"

"Huge Demon activity in the universe. And it led me to... him."

The sorcerer sneered. "Dark Specter..."

"Yes, master. And also Bansheera. And the Dark Fortress."

"Rangers! I need you to go there immediately!" The sorcerer said, concern on his face. "This may be our opportunity to eliminate the two most deadly beings in the universe in one fell swoop. Your powers are specifically tailored to fight Demons. Now go!"

Marvelous, to the side, heard none of this. The only thing he could think about was the damage he had caused over the past few centuries. His heart was beating faster. Suddenly, he felt the card in his long coat begun to burn. He pulled it out. He could feel it burning his palm, but for some reason he couldn't let go. He then stared, wide eyed as his veins began to turn black, the blackness creeping up toward the card in his hand.

"Marv!" Luka yelled a fourth time. Marvelous snapped to attention, looking from her to the card and back. No black veins. No burning.

"Uh... yeah... what?" He replied.

"Follow us. We have the coordinates. Come on!" She yelled, sprouting wings and flying away.

The sorcerer, concerned, walked to Marvelous. "Are you alright?"

He flashed him a grin, causing his translucent, electric looking wings to spread out from his back. "Of course. I'm Marvelous." He winked and ran forward, flying into the air. As he pocketed his Power Card, though, he frowned. Where the card had been in his palm, a rectangular scar could be seen, from where the card had burned him.

. . .

Bio Red lunged forward, with both he and Bio Green ducking Ecliptor's advance. Bio Green kicked Ecliptor's hand, sending his sword flying away. It clattered on the grated ground loudly as it skidded under a network of pipes extending from the boiler nearby.

Bio Pink and Bio Blue were able to grab Darkonda by each arm, holding him momentarily. They watched as Bio Yellow ran up and, jumping, kicked Darkonda on the chest. The other two rangers let go of him and allowed him to fly backwards into a wall.

"You haven't changed a bit, Novact." Bio Yellow declared, pointing at him.

"Who are you!?" Darkonda screamed in frustration. He hated that these people were calling him by his human name. He felt as if that was demeaning and devaluing everything he had built for himself over the twenty centuries he had been living as a Demon. The reputation he had garnered for himself.

"You don't recognize me? Do you remember the name... Claire Risp?"

"You! I... I will never forget you. You're the one who ruined my life! You were my jailer!" Darkonda screamed, rushing at her. Bio Blue and Pink jumped in and began fighting him, protecting Yellow.

The Yellow Ranger stood, stunned. Memories started flooding her mind. The Zeo Crystal. Commander Zedd, Rahp, Filcar, Lovel, Novact, and many others. Her old guilt over those actions returned. As she turned around, she was suddenly met with a punch to the helmet.

"I will end you here, ranger." Ecliptor declared. Bio Red and Bio Green were on knees in the background, struggling to get up

"Not this time, Ecliptor." Bio Mech Silver declared, teleporting into the room and shooting him in the chest.

"Who are you!?" Bio Red questioned.

"I'm here to bring you guys back home. Hurry! Come with me! Now!" The Silver Ranger yelled, firing blasts at Darkonda to get the other rangers time to get to him.

Yellow Ranger stood up slowly, half of her helmet gone, having been shattered by Ecliptor's great power. "You're... one of us?"

"Yes, now hurry! Hurry!" Bio Silver yelled.

"You!" Luka yelled, walking through a wall while her four teammates did the same.

Bio Silver turned to see her and laughed. "Oh, good! I was looking for you as well! Thanks for saving me the trouble!" He pointed his blaster and fired at her.

Remembering he had a setting for hitting spiritual matter, Luka rolled out of the way. She and her team then became physical.

"Gokaigers?" Bio Pink asked.

Doc cocked his head to the side. "Do we know you?"

Miha squinted and looked at the Yellow Ranger's half exposed face. As she began to place it, Darkonda sent a ball of Black Energy at the Gaia Rangers.

"We're gonna have to morph!" Joe yelled.

Marvelous stood up. "Right... Change card!"

The other four followed his movements. They then yelled out together: "Sky Armor!"

Almost instantly, the five became the Gaia Power Rangers. They got into fighting stances, ready to attack.

Darkonda began to back away. He could feel their power, and it was making him weak. Ecliptor by that point had made it back onto his feet. He stared as there were now six more rangers than when they had started.

Ecliptor huffed. "I'm not stupid. Darkonda: let's go." He then caused a grid like portal to appear behind him. Darkonda, upset over being ordered to do something so authoritatively by an underling, but more concerned for his life, backed into the portal as well.

"No!" Gaia Green yelled, jumping into the portal after them as it closed.

"Doc!" Gaia Blue screamed, diving but missing him.

Bio Silver shot several blasts at the Gaia Rangers. "Stay behind me. They're dangerous!"

Bio Blue turned to him. "No, they're friends..."

"A lot has changed, and not only your suits. Or their suits. The pirates are evil again. Follow me and I will get you guys out of here safely."

Gaia Pink shook her head, remembering the face. "Claire! It's me! Miha! Please listen to us. He's not who he says he is!"

Gaia Yellow perked up. "The Alliance Rangers!? But... how!?"

Gaia Blue shrugged. "Same way we are here now. The universe is a silly place..."

Bio Red folded his arms, looking from Bio Silver to the Gaia Rangers. "I'm not going with anyone. Rangers, let's move out."

Bio Silver laughed. "That's... Not an option." He didn't want to resort to it, because he didn't want to drain so much of his own power, but he knew he had no choice. He flipped open a small control panel on his wrist and pushed a button, paralyzing the Bio Mech Rangers around him. He then pushed another button and, using a lot of his own power, teleported all six Rangers onto Bansheera's ship. To Deviot's laboratory.

The Gaia Rangers stood, staring.

"What just happened?" Gaia Yellow asked her team.

Gaia Blue sneered. "We lost Doc and the Alliance Rangers got kidnapped."

Gaia Red clenched his fists. He could feel pain in his left hand still from the burn his card had given him. "We gotta save them..."

Gaia Pink shook her head. "We have to get to Dark Specter. We may not get another chance. We don't know where the silver guy went, and odds are if we go to Dark Specter, we will find Doc there anyway."

Gaia Blue approached the Pink Ranger. "Who is Dark Specter, anyway?"

"I'll explain on the way. Let's see if we can find a way to him." Gaia Pink said, leading her team into what she hoped wasn't their destruction.

. . .

Beast Red leapt through the air, dodging the onslaught of attacks from the members of the Five Fingers of Poison. He hit Naja as hard as as he could. Naja fell to his back, but quickly jumped up.

"Ship: report power levels. I hit that thing as hard as I could, and whatever boost I'm getting from this star, it didn't seem to affect him much." Beast Red said, dodging another attack from Gakko and Stingerella together.

Beast Black nodded. "Yeah, me too. This isn't making any sense."

Jak-Am frowned, looking at his monitor. "I'm as confused as you are. Your power output is off the charts. My machinery can't calculate how hard you guys are hitting, but... there's some sort of field around each of those Monsters. All of my calculations say that you should be able to rip into these guys no problem, so I can only suppose it's the field around them that is the missing variable to be able to calculate what's wrong."

Beast Blue got hit by Rantipede, sending her flying through the air. She landed with a thud. "Please hurry! We're getting destroyed here!"

Jak-Am left his cousin to watch the monitors as he ran to Cass-Mer's lab. He wanted to see if she had learned anything that could help figure out how the sun was affecting the rangers.

Jak-Am entered the lab. He saw Cass-Mer sitting at her desk, drawing diagrams. He smiled to himself, thinking how beautiful she looked in that situation. He approached her desk and asked her the status of the solar research.

Upon hearing his question, Cass-Mer shrugged. "I have no clue, Jak. I really don't. According to what I can see, they should be destroying those guys."

"But... they're not."

"Okay... um... send me the readings of the enemies. Obviously there's something about them that is not only counterbalancing Earth's star, but also negatively affecting the team. Maybe I can figure out what's going on, but I'll need the info first." She said.

"I'll get you the info soon." Jak-Am replied, rushing back to his station.

Cass-Mer sighed. Okay... But please hurry. I don't know how everything is connecting. I don't know if these effects are hurting them...

She shook her head and looked at her report she was going to submit back to the council: "Kryptonians and the Photonucleic Effect". She hoped that she could find a break soon, for the rangers' sake.

. . .

Trinity narrowed her eyes as she saw the power spike. It was in the midst or some random desert. She turned to see Gosei with a concerned look on his face as he spoke with the Liarians.. He was always very secretive when it came to them. Zordonhad always told Trinity only he and Gosei could know of their dealings with Liaria, to protect her from anyone wanting to kidnap her for information. It just made he more worried over the situation.

She nodded to herself. She didn't want to interrupt them, so she slipped out of the room silently. She was going to investigate the disturbance on her own.

Gosei looked at Notrom. "So... it's done?"

He nodded. "Yes. Buried in the center of the Earth is the Greatest Treasure."

"And the defense network is set up with what teams?" Gosei asked.

Notrom pulled out a schematics and pointed to a few of the diagrams. "The Ranger Keys of the Space Rangers from the Karovan System, the Alien Rangers of Aquitar, and Team Victory from Earth."

Gosei squinted at the schematic. "Team Victory? How does that work without Dulcea or Yoral? They were integral parts of that team."

"Burai took Dulcea's place, so that's fine. The network is set up for teams of at least three. We saw that was the lowest number we could get for the Greater Power of a team to work. We got the Gold Ranger from Triforia, Meledon Ranger, Pink Ninja Ranger, and Robo Knight." Notrom replied.

"Robo Knight!? He's just a machine..."

"No, he's much more and just as much a ranger as the others. Can he not morph?"

"That's more like changing from one form to another-"

"Well, that's what morphing is: changing from one form to another. He has a Ranger Key and he is helping the network. What's done is done."

Gosei shrugged. "The more help the merrier, I guess... So, even if someone is able to get to the Greatest Treasure in the Universe, they CANNOT get to it without each Ranger Key."

"Each Ranger Key, plus access to each Greatest Power attached to each team in the network."

"What if someone hacks into or destroys the network itself?"

"Impossible. The network source is in the force field, alongside the Greatest Treasure. The seal is made with our Key Magic and is unable to have the bond broken until the Greater Powers can break that bond. That's the only catalyst that can get the Greatest Treasure." Notrom said.

Gosei smiled. "After so many years... Gerlit and Guy would have been proud to be here today, to see this momentous occasion."

Notrom smiled. "Yes, they would. Now, we are going to go and see if we can find the newest team that has popped up: the Beast Watch Rangers. If we can get their powers copied into keys, that's one more set of Ranger Keys that an enemy would need to have to unlock the force field."

Gosei nodded. "Like I said: 'the more the merrier!'"

Notrom and his assistants dropped down from their chairs. They then lifted their key wands into the air and vanished. Gosei stood up and looked around.

"Hunh... where did Trinity go?"

. . .

Lionel kicked Leon in the jaw. As Leon flew through the air, Leon readjusted and pounced off the nearest mountain wall. He swiped furiously, claws retracted not scar his brother, and punched him hard several times.

The brothers landed, heaving and puffing. Their fangs were seen by all around as they bore them to each other. They both crouched, ready to strike.

They made eye contact. Within instants, the lions' coiled muscles released, sending them flying toward each other. Their impact was to be momentous.

With a mighty roar, Faor leapt into the air, grabbing both lions be the back of the neck and bringing them back down to the earth. He swung each to opposite sides of the field.

"Stop! Now!" He yelled. "We don't have time for this. Lionel: This is a family affair, and as a commander I refute your dismissal of Leon. You are too connected.

"Leon: Your reaction to Lionel was uncalled for and you will be reprimanded on base. You may leave now, Leon." Faor concluded, turning to speak to Lionel.

"But-" Leon started.

"DISMISSED!" Faor shouted, not turning to look at him.

Leon bowed his head and began walking to his friends. Although he knew he got off extremely well for the circumstances, his pride was still bruised badly. He was angrier at Lionel more than ever.

As Faor spoke with Lionel, all he could do was think of his brother. He knew his father would be very upset once he found out what Leon had done, and then take it the wrong way. Whereas Lionel knew Leon was a great fighter, his father believed him to be inferior to Lionel in every possible way. Lionel wished he could show his father how great Leon was, but at the same time cared too much for him, fearing he would lose him in battle.

Deep down, Lionel knew he was wrong for sheltering his brother. Deep down he knew that soon the time would come when he could protect him no more. And he feared that time was coming sooner, rather than later.

. . .

Trinity kneeled behind the peak of a crag, looking down at Rita, Finster, and a group of Tenga Warriors as they marched across the desert like area. She noticed Finster was holding a map in his hands.

What are you two up to...? Trinity thought to herself. She knew it must have been something big, because it was a rare thing to see Rita come down to Earth in person.

"Hurry up, Finster! My legs are getting tired!" Rita complained.

"Hmm... the map says the Temple of Power should be around here somewhere..." Finster said.

Temple of Power? I don't think so... She thought. She didn't know what they were up to, but she knew she didn't want Rita getting anymore power.

"Ninja Storm... Ranger Form..." She whispered, becoming the Pink Ranger.

"Okay, Finster... Hand it to me so I can-" Rita began. Before she could finish, a pink blur bounced around, sending several Tenga Warriors crashing to the ground. The chaos caused Finster to drop the map.

"Power Ranger!" Rita yelled, pointing at her. "Attack!"

She stood, pointing, but nothing happened. Her fighters had already been incapacitated. She frowned as she realized her dilemma.

The Pink Ninja Ranger laughed as she walked over and picked up the map. "I think I'll be taking this!" She then Ninja Streaked away, leaving the two villains alone.

"This is all your fault!" Rita said, hitting Finster repeatedly over the head with her staff.

"Yes, my queen. Oh! Sorry, my queen! Ow!"

A few yards away, on the other side of a large stone wall, the Pink Ranger stood, looking at the map. As she tried to read it, she felt something strange occurring to her.

"Huh?" She said as she was teleported. Suddenly, she found herself in a foggy room. Looking up, she saw a large, blue armored man sitting cross-legged at an altar. He stood up and waved.

"Who are you?" The Pink Ranger asked, getting into a fighting stance.

"Hello my fellow martial arts enthusiast! Oh, and a ninja to boot. I'm so proud." He then stuck out his chest and said, "I am the guardian of this temple. My name is Ninjor."

. . .

"No, this is not the Afterlife, Zordon of Eltar." A female voice said.

Zordon turned around, shocked to see three figures. They looked like silhouettes, each looking as if they were the personification of a different color.

The white one addressed Zordon again, apparently a female. "We are the Tribunal of Magic."

"Why am I here?" Zordon asked.

"Because, apparently, you squandered your Magic and we have to pick up the pieces for you!" The black silhouette shouted at Zordon.

The red figure shook his head. "Zordon, we have a responsibility to ensure that Magic permeates the universe. If you had been destroyed, it would have caused a chain reaction of events that would have allowed the universe to not have any Magic. We had to intervene."

Zordon was puzzled, although he understood the purpose of the "tribunal". "If you want to ensure Magic exists, why save me. He has Zocato power. Magic will persist, even without me."

Black screamed. "No! Zocato is the antithesis of Magic!"

White nodded. "The Zocato power not only negates Nathadian Magic, but it also could infect, if unopposed by Nathadian Magic, the Universal Magic Grid, destroying all of Magic!"

Red folded his arms and looked down. "Zocato power is not Magic. It is a virus towards Magic. You are the universe's last hope to protect Magic. Nothing can eliminate Zocato power like Nathadian Magic. Nothing. We need you."

The image of the Guardian flashed in Zordon's mind. This was obviously one of the futures he had envisioned. Zordon wondered, though, if it was the optimal one. He was fairly certain it wasn't, because of his own feelings of shame toward his lack of commitment to being the Meledon Ranger.

"Why me?" Zordon asked simply.

"All will be revealed in time." Red said.

White waved her arm, causing a hologram to appear before them. Zordon watched as Robo Knight fell to a knee, his armor looking badly damaged.

She pointed at Zordon. "Everyone you love and care about will be destroyed without you. We all need you."

Looking back at the hologram, Zordon heard the following: "I will protect everyone on this planet. You will not stop me." Robo Knight said.

Amaradon laughed. "Looks like I already have... Zocato power!"

Amaradon Ranger tossed something into the air. The black and blue cloud floated out from him and hit the object as it splat onto the ground. The object began shaking. Robo Knight stared, analyzing it.

"Scan complete. Clay?"

Amaradon nodded. "Yes... Clay. Special clay."
The clay began shaking more until it exploded into multiple mounds. Sickening plops could be heard coming as projections starting erupting from the mass. Before long, several clay men were dancing around Amaradon Ranger.

"Putties: Attack!"

. . .

December shook his head. He could not understand how everything had become as unpredictable as it had. His palm device then beeped, indicating the scan of the Ghost of Darkness' Underground Temple was complete.

"This is December. The anomaly seems to be a temple under the Earth. It's origin seems to be from the universe that branched into this one, but... it is older than it is supposed to be. It must have come here from the future."

December then stopped. He saw his recorder had only recorded his words, but did not send anything. He wondered if it was the Underground Temple, or something else interfering.

"Hello, December."

December turned around and frowned. "Rogue."

"Please... Call me September."

"You are The Rogue to me. Nothing more. Nothing less."

September's face fell. He had forgotten how emotionless Watchers were. He had tried to sequester himself from them for a very long time. "December... You are right. This is the temple of a time traveler. I have been investigating this place and I have yet to finalize anything."

December shook his head. "If you hadn't changed the destiny of this universe, we would have been able to find this anomaly as it happened."

September shrugged. "The collateral damage when attempting to bring free will to all of creation."

A vortex at that point began forming behind December. September grew wide eyed. "But... how?"

"They lost contact with me. They want to find me in case... you are the disturbance."

September pulled out a Trizyrium Crystal. "But I have this!"

"We've made improvements." December said casually.

September tried teleporting out. He found that he couldn't. "...I can see that..."

September then got into a fighting stance. He knew that soon he would need to be fighting for his life against the Freelancers.