A/N: Hello guys, and we now pick up where we last left off on 'Roar of the Lion' the next exciting chapter of 'Power Rangers: Astro Force'. So Haggar has created a new Robeast to fight the rangers, and Shiro is insisting to the others (despite Allura's doubts) to trust Ulaz, a Galra who is a member of a resistance who defect from Zarkon, and who is offering them a Legend-Zord that they found in an asteroid field. Let's see where it goes from here now, shall we? Enjoy!
The wormhole opened up inside a large ship that looked like the Galra prisoner ship the rangers had been on during their second mission. Ulaz, Keith, and Shiro stepped out into the ship and the gateway closed behind them. Keith and Shiro were fascinated at the sight of the ship's interior design, there were several soldiers wearing the same suits Ulaz wore during their fight in the command center operating computers or guarding the doors to certain rooms.
"Wow, this place is impressive" Keith said. Shiro then ran to the windows to see that there was no sky outside, nor were there any stars, but it looked as if they were inside a glowing purple vortex with lightning appearing on the walls every few times.
"Ulaz, where are we?" Shiro asked.
"In order to preserve our whereabouts from Zarkon, we have perfected the technology to create a pocket in between time and space for us to hide in and avoid the Galra's radar" Ulaz explained.
"Now that's impressive" Keith admitted, piping into the conversation.
"The Legend-Zord, where is it?" Shiro asked. Ulaz then guided the red and black rangers down the hallways of the ship and stopped in front of a large door guarded by two members of the order.
"Who are they?" one of the guards asked.
"These are Keith and Shiro. They are Power Rangers, and we are handing the Legend-Zord we have found over to them, where it's safe" Ulaz explained. The guards then stepped aside and opened up the door so that they could enter. Once inside, neither rangers could believe their eyes to see a large black lion like Shiro's only it had a mane on it made entirely of gold metal, it's forearms were also made from gold, and it's tail was gold-plated as well. The eyes, while not glowing were green.
"Now that is one big kitty" Keith said before he handed the book of Legend-Zords to Shiro for him to read and analyze. Shiro looked through the pages until he found the right one. The page showed an illustration of the same lion that sat before them, only it was standing on top of a large rock, it looked like a screen shot from 'The Lion King'.
"I found it. Leo the Lion" Shiro told them.
"Leo? Isn't that one of the monsters that was slayed by Hercules?" Keith asked.
"It says in the book that after Hercules destroyed his physical body, his spirit was channeled into a large meteor made out of an ancient element that could resist extreme heat such as lava and suns. The Alteans carved a new body for Leo out of that meteor when they discovered his spirit was trapped inside" Shiro read aloud to Ulaz and Keith. One of the guards who was watching over the Leo-Zord walked up to Ulaz carrying a metal chest in his hands.
"It's power card, sir" he said before Ulaz took the chest out of his hands and saluted him. Keith and Shiro then watched as Ulaz lifted the lid of the chest open and revealed the power card resting on a pillow-like surface. Leo's card was gold, while the lion head and the electrical pathway markings on it were black.
"This one looks a little different than our power cards" Shiro said. Keith gently took the card out of the box and looked down at it. After a few seconds of looking, the card lost it's golden yellow glow and the eyes on the lion head on the front glowed green. Growling could then be heard and everyone looked to see that the Leo-Zord's eyes were glowing and it was standing up.
"Do not fire! That is an order!" Ulaz shouted to the other guards. The Leo-Zord leaned it's head downwards to Keith's level and sniffed him. Keith stood completely still, fearing that the Leo-Zord was going to attack him, but after the black and gold lion had finished sniffing him, it lied down on it's belly. Keith had then calmed down and let out a tiny smile, reaching his hand out to pet it's cold golden metal mane.
"Keith, I think the Leo-Zord just chose you to be it's keeper" Shiro spoke in awe.
"I guess it did" Keith said looking back down to the card in his hand. Shiro then noticed a tiny little purple glow generating from inside his vest pocket. He took out his power card to see that it was emitting purple pulses, and then felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Shiro screamed, dropping his card and placing his hands on his head where the pain was coming from, falling to his knees. Ulaz and Keith ran to Shiro's aid and helped him back up.
"Shiro, what's wrong!?" Keith asked, worried for the well being of his friend and fellow ranger.
"I felt someone talking in my head. It was Zarkon" Shiro told them. Keith and Ulaz gasped.
"What did he say?" Ulaz asked him as he helped Shiro back up onto his feet.
"He said 'I've Found You', and that was it" he answered. He then took Shiro and Keith back to the control room and withdrew a holographic-viewing device from the console.
"This will take you to our headquarters. Just tell them that I sent you, and you will receive our allegiance and help" Ulaz told them. Shiro took the device from his Galra friend and shook his hand.
"I can't thank you enough" Shiro thanked him.
-At Galra Central Command-
Zarkon opened his eyes and smiled, a wicked terrible smile. He then stood up and walked out of the room towards Haggar's laboratory. While still placing the final touches on Praxas, Haggar turned her head to see her emperor standing in the doorway walking towards her.
"Is something the matter, sire?" Haggar asked.
"I was able to track down the rangers through the black lion. It seems that the black lion and I are still connected somehow" Zarkon told her. Haggar gasped in surprise.
"Are you sure?" she asked, wanting to be sure that she heard what Zarkon had told her was as exactly how he said it.
"Yes. Our bond remains but it is very weak. It seems that the black lion has become attached to the black ranger and has formed an even stronger bond with it. A bond stronger than I could have imagined" Zarkon answered before he walked towards the modified Praxas and pressed a button, preparing a pod for him to be transported to where he had located the rangers. Haggar watched as he typed in the coordinates into the computer.
"How come you've never tried this before?" Haggar wondered aloud so that Zarkon could hear what she was saying.
"Like I said, the bond has grown weak due to how long we've been separated. I may not be able to do it again, so let us make what we can out of this" Zarkon told her. When he pressed the button, the pod containing Praxas was shot outside the ship and towards the typed in destination.
"And if this fails, is your alternative still on the table?" Zarkon asked, turning away from the keyboard to face Haggar. She pulled the chest from before out of her robe sleeve and opened it to take out a purple power card with a black dragon's head on the front, and the electrical pathways on it were black as well, it let out a purple glow as it sat in the witch's pale and callused hand.
"Indeed it is, sire" she answered before placing the card back inside the box, putting it back inside the sleeve of her robe and walked out of the laboratory, allowing Zarkon to be alone.
-Back on Earth-
Carter, Allura, Coran, and the other rangers sat around the master computer, waiting for a response from Shiro and Keith in case something was wrong. Lance and Hunk were playing 'Connect Four' on the floor, Pidge was by the wormhole generator playing 'Fetch' with Rover by throwing a tennis ball at one end of the command center, and the wolf ran towards it, picked it up with it's mouth and brought it back to her. Coran was looking in a small mirror, straightening his mustache.
"Anything yet?" Hunk asked. Carter just shook his head and simply replied with a 'No'.
"It's been an hour already. How long do two people need to pick up a Legend-Zord?" Lance complained.
"It is odd, but they haven't reported anything to us regarding a Galra attack, and that's good" Carter told the bored out of his mind blue ranger.
"What if Ulaz betrayed them and is now holding them hostage? What if there is no Legend-Zord?" Allura piped in. Pidge groaned in annoyance at this.
"Calm down, Princess. I get how you have your doubts, but just give them a chance. I'm sure they'll be calling sooner or later with some good news" Pidge said as she threw the ball again and Rover ran off to catch it. A beeping sound came from the computer, and the rangers abandoned what it was they were doing before to run up to listen to the communication. Even Rover went up right by Pidge's side with the tennis ball still in his mouth. Carter pressed the button and began to speak.
"Shiro, Keith, you okay?" he began.
"Guys, we have bad news. Somehow Zarkon managed to track us down using the black lion card, and now we've picked up an incoming projectile heading towards us" Shiro said through the communicator.
"What? Are you sure?" Allura asked, shocked to hear that Ulaz didn't betray them.
"Yeah, I don't know how it happened but whatever that projectile is, it's getting closer" Keith answered.
"Probably another one of Haggar's monsters. Hang on you two, I'm sending the other rangers your way for backup. How's the Legend-Zord?" Carter replied.
"Good, it's the Leo-Zord. It's chosen Keith as the keeper of it's card" Shiro spoke.
"Well then let's make sure that the Leo-Zord stays with us and not fall into the Galra's hands" Carter said before pressing the button to the wormhole generator and causing a portal to open.
"You know what to do, rangers" Allura said, to which Lance, Pidge, and Hunk nodded once before running through the portal and to aid their fellow rangers.
-Back on Board the Resistance Ship-
All three rangers who were sent from the command center landed right in front of Keith and Shiro who now stood in a large hanger where cargo was stored.
"Glad you could make it, guys" Shiro said with a smile, letting them know how glad he was they were here with them now. Loud banging caught their attention and everyone looked to the closed hangar door to see something was trying to break right through it, but all it did was dent the metal.
"Where's the Leo-Zord?" Pidge asked.
"It's safe, but it won't be for long unless we take care of this thing" Keith told her as he withdrew his power card from his vest.
"Well then it seems our mission seems pretty clear, protect the Leo-Zord at all costs and make sure whoever or whatever this thing is is destroyed" Lance suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to me" Hunk said. All rangers placed their power cards into their gauntlets.
"Astro Blaster, Supercharge!" they all said together, and their ranger suits and helmets appeared on their bodies, replacing their previous clothing. The banging on the hanger door kept on going, and some of the dents expanded as whatever was causing them to be in the door grew bigger and bigger. Soon, the entire hanger door was busted right through the door's seams and Praxas revealed itself to the rangers.
"Well this guy's certainly different" Lance commented on the appearance of this new Robeast. Praxas then opened his mouth and it started glowing pink.
"Everybody duck!" Shiro ordered. All the rangers fell to the floor and dodged one large pink laser beam that destroyed a large pyramid formation made entirely of metal storage crates, all that remained of it was a puddle of melted metal that glowed orange and emitted steam from the pink energy beam.
"Woah! That stuff is strong!" Pidge said in disbelief.
"If that thing fires another and it hits us, we're all gonna be toast, literally" Keith said as he stood back up.
"Hunk, seal that thing's mouth back up" Shiro ordered. Hunk nodded and took the hilt off his belt and flipping the black switch, activating his element blaster.
"Element blaster, engage!" Hunk shouted before he began firing mud ball after mud ball at Praxas' mouth. Each one of the mud balls that Hunk fired at Praxas' mouth were incinerated when they touched the plasma that resided inside.
"What!? It had no effect!?" Pidge shouted in disbelief.
"How is this thing even beating us right now? It doesn't even have legs!" Lance contributed to the shouting.
"Legless or not, this thing's still going down. Rangers, attack!" Shiro ordered, and all the rangers ran towards Praxas, their power swords activated and held tightly in their hands. Praxas then opened his mouth and fired another energy beam at the rangers, it almost hit Pidge and Keith, but they either ducked underneath it or jumped over it to try and attack the Robeast. Pidge tried to disable the booster rocket that allowed Praxas to move around, but he moved upwards and causing the green ranger to miss and crash into a wall. Keith tried attacking above Praxas, but due to his booster rocket, he swerved to the other side and Keith landed on the floor on his back.
"Okay, that really hurt" Keith rasped after hitting the floor.
"Hey at least you didn't hit the wall" Pidge said in response to the red ranger's statement. Shiro and Lance helped Pidge up off the floor, while Hunk helped Keith up. All five rangers stood still as Praxas prepared to fire another beam at them.
"Brace for impact guys" Shiro said. Everyone shut their eyes, preparing for the beam to strike them, but none of them felt the burn of plasma striking them. Curious, all the rangers opened their eyes back up to see Ulaz lying unconscious on the floor with a molten hole in his armor and his chest.
"Ulaz!" Keith and Shiro cried out in unison and ran towards him. The fallen Galra weakly tried holding his eyes open and took Shiro's hand into his own.
"Shiro, listen to me" he began weakly.
"What is it, Ulaz?" Shiro asked, sounding as if he was about to cry underneath his helmet.
"Never stop fighting, Zarkon must be destroyed. Keep the fight going" Ulaz rasped before turning his head to Keith.
"And you, Keith" he said.
"Yes, Ulaz?" Keith answered. Ulaz then pulled out from his back the Leo-Zord's power card and handed it back to him.
"The Leo-Zord has chosen you, keep it safe. And never stop believing" Ulaz finally said before closing his eyes and his grip loosened in Shiro's hand before his limbs went limp and he slumped on the floor, dead. Keith never felt so much anger than he felt right now, and Shiro felt grateful, Ulaz saved him and his friends, and now he would never be able to repay that debt. Keith then stood up and took a fighting stance in front of Praxas to face him.
"Keith, what are you doing?" Shiro asked.
"Trust me, the Leo-Zord will guide me, I know it will" Keith said while looking down at the card, the green eyes on the card flashed once before Keith raised the card up to the sky.
"Engage Lion-Heart Battlizer!" Keith called out to the sky. The card disappeared in his hand as golden lightning surrounded it and a powerful set of armor surrounded Keith's ranger suit. On his arms were now large black gauntlets that looked pretty bulky and had the appearance of the Leo-Zord's head and upper chest, with the golden mane and glowing green eyes, it's mouths open to reveal Keith's hands. On his shoulders were golden lion head shoulder pads, his chest had on a protective chest plate on it that was black, but it had glowing green eyes on the sides of it, a lion's nose in the very middle, and on the bottom was a top set of lion teeth. Keith's legs also had new boots, which looked like lion's paws with the golden claws sticking out the toes, and on top of his ranger helmet was the top of a lion's head with the top jaws sticking out.
"Lion-Heart Battlizer activated!" Keith cried out as he now took a fighting stance. The other rangers had their eyes open wide (underneath their helmets) in awe at the sight of Keith's new Battlizer.
A/N: And there you have part two of 'Roar of the Lion'. Keith has been chosen to the keeper of the Leo-Zord's power card, Ulaz sacrificed himself to save the rangers, proving that Allura was wrong and that not all Galra serve Zarkon, and Keith has unlocked the Lion-Heart Battlizer. In the next chapter, we will get to see how powerful the Battlizer makes Keith when he faces Praxas. More to come in the next update! Please review, thanks!