Chapter 14

Note: I think everyone can predict what's going to happen next, but there are a few things about Zero that has not been revealed just yet.

The Rangers walked out of the hospital in Stone Canyon after checking up on their fallen comrade. They were as of yet unaware that Kim, or Cori as they had known her, had awaken from her slumber. Nor were they prepared to face the dark trial which awaited them. I stood on the roof of the hospital, clad in the exoskeleton that I had since used to rescue and assist the Power Rangers. But as I looked down at the teenagers, I no longer saw them as allies. I jumped off the roof and landed in a crouched position before the Rangers causing them to stop walking. I slowly stood up with my back to the Rangers and hung my head.

"Oh man, Sean, I'm glad to see you." Tommy said. He made his way toward me. "Look, I know you're upset with what happened to Cori, but we can help you." Tommy stood right behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Let's take out Zarden together, bro. What do ya say?" Then without warning, I turned and delivered a hard elbow into Tommy's chest, causing him to fly back. The other three Rangers ran to Tommy who groaned in pain and gasped for air.

"Oh my god, what's happened to him?" Kimberly said.

"Zarden must have gotten to him." Adam said. Tommy continued to groan in pain.

"Ah, god, my chest." Tommy exclaimed.

"Don't worry Tommy; we'll take care of him." Adam said. The three standing Rangers reached behind their backs and Adam called out, "It's Morphin Time!" The three Rangers grabbed their Morphers behind and held them in front of them. It was at that moment that I reached my left hand out and drew energy from their power coins.

"Mastodon!" Adam called.

"Pterodactyl!" Kimberly called.

"Saber-Tooth Tiger!" Aisha called. The three of them began glowing and transformed into their Ranger forms, only they were no longer in the Cosdonian exoskeleton, but rather their original Ranger costumes. The Rangers looked at their costumes and though their helmets hid their facial expressions, their body language explained their shock.

"We're back in our old suits." The Black Ranger said.

"This is bad." The Pink Ranger said. I brought my arm down and ran at the Rangers. I threw a rounding jump kick at the Black Ranger knocking him down, and then I threw a roundhouse kick at the Pink Ranger knocking her down as well. I then threw a left side kick at the Yellow Ranger's chest, then hit her with a right cross kick to knock her down. I then crouched down and punched the ground, causing the earth to shoot up under the Rangers, knocking them to the sky. I sprung off each section of rising earth, launching myself at the Rangers, and then as I flew at them, I cut them one at a time, then landing in a crouched position with my sword along my back. The Rangers hit the ground soon after, their costumes cut in the places I attacked them and the earth slowly lowered back into position. Tommy groaned as he painfully got back to his feet. He reached behind him with his right hand and grabbed his Morpher. I stood up and turned halfway toward him, reaching my free hand toward him and drew energy from his power coin.

"Tiger Zord!" Tommy called. Tommy then transformed into his old White Ranger costume. I then ran at the White Ranger, and cut him as I ran past, causing him to flip to the ground. I then turned and dropped my heal onto his chest. As the White Ranger sat up, I kicked him in the side of the head knocking him down again. The Pink And Yellow Rangers jumped to the sky, with the Pink Ranger shooting an arrow from her bow and the Yellow Ranger throwing her daggers at me. But I batted them away with my sword. As the two of them landed I jumped toward them and delivered a kick to the Pink Ranger, then turned and kicked the Yellow Ranger with my other leg. Upon landing I turned and held my sword horizontally above me to block the dropping axe of the Black Ranger. I pushed his ax up and then delivered my right knee to his stomach, then stood beside him and did a back somersault-kick to his head, knocking him back. The Pink and Yellow Rangers ran at me from behind, but I started to spin around and suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The two female Rangers looked around and before they even realized what happened, I sprouted up from the ground before them, cutting them both with my sword. I landed in a crouch with my free arm across my body, my other arm extended straight behind me and my head down. The White Ranger managed to get back to his feet and reached down to grab his saber. I looked up toward the White Ranger and stood in a defensive stance. The White Ranger ran at me and attempted to cut me with his sword, but the blade went through my body as if I were not standing there at all. The White Ranger looked up in time to receive a front kick to the chest that knocked him down once again.

At the Command Center, the alarm blared and Alpha 5 waddled around the controls to respond. Jason, Billy and Kim went to the viewing globe to see what the danger is and upon viewing it, they saw the other Rangers in their original costumes battling me as Zero the Cosmic Ninja.

"Oh no." Kim said.

"As I feared, Lord Zarden managed to gain control of Zero." Zordon said.

"And naturally Sean is gonna take back the armor he gave us so he has even more of an advantage." Billy said.

"We'd better get down there and see if we can't set him straight." Jason said.

"It doesn't make sense." Kim said. Billy and Jason looked at the girl.

"Zarden knows everything Marduk knew about the Zero power, he should have known a mind control spell wouldn't last long." Kim said.

"What are you saying?" Jason said. Kim sighed and said, "The Zero power automatically begins trying to compensate when the brain waves of the bearer are altered, so any kind of mind control wouldn't last too long. Even shorter if the person encounters what he feels is the basis of his positive emotions."

"So you're saying that whatever happened to Sean will wear off after a while?" Jason asked.

"Exactly." Kim said. "Marduk had to have learned that from Demetria, his empress, so Zarden should have known that this kind of control wouldn't last."

"Perhaps this forced encounter is merely a distraction for another plan that Zarden has." Zordon said.

"Regardless, the others aren't equipped to deal with Zero, especially without the Cosdonian armor." Billy said.

"I'll go down there with you." Kim said. "Maybe I can reason with him and help break Zarden's hold on him." Jason and Billy looked forward and reached behind their backs and Kim pressed the red and yellow buttons on her digital watch just as Jason exclaimed, "It's Morphin Time!"

At the hospital, I held the White Ranger by his throat and picked him up. The other fallen Rangers saw their leader literally in my grasp. The Pink Ranger reached out for him and called him by his human name and I laughed.

"I'm disappointed. Is this all I get from you Tommy? I was half expecting a challenge." I said. Then I heard the battle cry of another Ranger. I turned and saw the Black ranger jump toward me. "Black Ranger to the rescue." The Black Ranger attempted to swipe his axe at me, but I moved the White Ranger in the path of his axe causing the black Ranger to cut him instead. I then turned and delivered a roundhouse kick at the Black Ranger and tossed the White Ranger at the other Rangers. I reached back and pulled my sword out of its sheath and as the Black Ranger got back up, I uppercut his with the sword sending him flying back toward the other Rangers. The female Rangers helped the male rangers to their feet. I ran at the Rangers at blinding fast speed, cutting them with each pass as I ran back and forth. Finally I landed before them in a crouch with my back to them. I stood up and held my sword in my left hand with the blade pointing downward in front of me. I slowly brought my right hand over the blade handle with my middle and index finger pointing upward, both fingers joined, meanwhile charging the sword and my body with electricity. I brought the sword closer to my body and the electricity took the form of a large electricity ball the circumference of my sword and hand. Then as I pushed the sword toward the rangers, the large ball of electricity shot at the rangers and electrified all of them. The Rangers dropped to the ground and all of their power suits disappeared. I slowly walked toward them and said, "There's only room for one hero in this world, and I just proved that it's me." Tommy looked up as I stood over him I held my sword pointing down at him and said, "This is the end of the Power Rangers." But suddenly and without warning, I was struck by lightning and fell back. I rolled on the ground and pushed myself up into a crouch, holding my sword horizontally in front of me. But then I heard another battle cry. I looked toward where it came from, and was hit by a jump kick by the Red Ranger in his Cosdonian style exoskeleton. The Red Ranger landed and the Blue Ranger, also in his Cosdonian exoskeleton and wielding his power lance, joined the former leader. I got up to a crouch.

"I gotta admit, that was pretty good, but you don't think you can really beat me, do you?" I asked.

"One way to find out." The Red Ranger said. He held his sword defensively. "Let's do it, Billy." The Red and Blue Rangers pointed their weapons toward me, shooting flame and electricity from their weapons, but I held my sword horizontally in front of me, protecting me from the elemental attacks.

"It's not working." The Red Rangers said as he and the Blue Ranger stopped their assault.

"Of course not. I gave you your powers. You think you could stop me with them."

"You didn't give me mine." A female voice said. Suddenly Zero3 dived at me with both sais in hand. She swiped both of them at me at the right time to knock me down, allowing her to dive over me and do a forward roll. She stood up and faced me and I kipped up to my feet.

"Jason, Billy, get your friends out of here. I'll take care of Zero." Zero3 said.

"You got it." The Red Ranger said. He and the Blue Ranger then ran to the fallen teenagers. Zero3 and I squared off, both of us holding our weapons defensively.

"Can you really fight me Kim?" I said.

"I don't want to, but it's the only way to stop you from doing something you'll regret later." Zero3 said.

"So be it." I said. Zero3 and I ran at each other. I threw a rounding jump kick at her, but she ducked under it. She turned and threw a roundhouse kick at me, but I blocked it, then she blocked the front kick I threw at her. Zero3 and I then back flipped away from each other.

"I'm impressed, the amount of time you've had your powers makes you a match for me in hand to hand." I said. I reached back and pulled my sword from its sheath. "But let's see how you handle a weapon." I ran at her again and attempted to cut her with my sword, but she dived over the blade an rolled on the ground. She pulled one of her sais from their holster and threw it at the ground in front of me. When it stuck to the ground, electricity shot from the handle and knocked me back.

"Hang back." The Red Ranger said. "I'm gonna help Cori out." The Red Ranger ran toward the battle field. The injured Tommy reached out and painfully said, "Jason wait!" But then he clutched his chest in pain. I swiped my sword at Zero3, but she blocked it with her sai and caused me to move to the side. She did a cartwheel and picked up her other sai. I turned to face Zero3 but suddenly I was alerted by a battle cry. I turned toward where it came from and the Red Ranger delivered a jump kick to my chest, knocking me back. Zero3 looked at the Red Ranger and in her eyes saw me through him.

"I don't wanna fight you, but I can't let you continue this." The Red Ranger said. The Blue Ranger looked at the others and said, "we've got to help him." Kimberly, Adam and Aisha stood up and reached behind them.

"It's Morphin time!" Kimberly yelled.

"Mastodon!" Adam called.

"Pterodactyl!" Kimberly called.

"Saber-Tooth Tiger!" Aisha called. The three teenagers returned to their Ranger suits. Zero3 joined the Red Ranger.

"You ok." Red Ranger asked.

"Yeah." Zero3 said. "Jason, we can't stop him like this." The other rangers joined the two of them.

"There's no other way." The Red Ranger said. "Cori, you buy us some time so we can set up the power blaster." Zero3 looked at The Red Ranger almost as if she were in shock. The red Ranger put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Trust me." Zero3 then nodded. She looked toward me and then ran at me. The Red Ranger took the lead of the other Rangers, all of them now wielding their weapons. The Red Ranger pulled his sword from it's sheath and said, "Alright Rangers, let's bring 'em together!" All of the Rangers then took a pose with their weapons. Zero3 and I fought against each other. The rangers Clashed all of their weapons together and they all charged with electricity.

"Power Axe!" The Black Ranger said. He held his axe much like a weapon and pushed a mechanism forward. He then threw the Axe to the sky.

"Power Bow!" The Pink Ranger Said as she twirled her bow in front of her. She threw the bow at the floating axe and it seemed to attach to the front of the Axe cannon, giving it the appearance of a large crossbow.

"Power Daggers!" The Yellow ranger said as she twirled her daggers. She crossed her arms in front of her and then threw them at the combined weapon. The daggers attached to the bottom of both sides of the bow with the blades pointing backward.

"Power Lance!" The Blue Ranger said as he held his two glades beside his head. He threw his glades at the assembled weapon and they attached themselves underneath the bow between the two daggers and the cannon of the axe with the blades pointing backward.

"Power Sword!" The Red Ranger said. He jumped up to the assembled weapon grabbing it by the handle of the crossbow and physically attached his sword to the very top of the weapon. The Red ranger dropped down with the assembled Power Blaster, and upon landing the other Rangers joined him, all of them calling out "Power Rangers!" The Blue Ranger at the Red Rangers right, holding his left hand on the end of the bow and his right arm across the face of his helmet, the Black Ranger on the right side of the leader in a mirrored pose to the Blue Ranger. The Pink Ranger behind the Blue Ranger with her left hand on the Red Ranger's right shoulder and the Yellow Ranger behind the Black ranger with her right hand on the Red Ranger's left shoulder. Zero3 blocked my sword with her sai and then roundhouse kicked me causing me to stagger to the side. She then threw a right cross kick to knock the sword out of my hand and then did a back flip-kick to knock me down. I got up to my feet and shook my head. I stood up and said, "You don't really think you're gonna defeat me, do you Kim?"

"Maybe not, but your Ranger friends might." Zero3 said.

"Fire!" The Rangers called as beams from all five cannon openings shot at me. I turned toward the Rangers and saw the combined laser blast fire at me. Unable to avoid it, I was hit by the blast and knocked back. The rangers grabbed their individual weapons.

"That was awesome." The Yellow Ranger said.

"Yeah, but did it work?" The Pink Ranger said. The Red Ranger ran to Zero3 and was soon joined by the other rangers. The six of them waited to see whether the blast successfully neutralized me. I soon stood up; groaning in pain, the front of my chest was charred from the blast from the Power Rangers.

"Impressive…" I said. "But not good enough."

"Michael, I'm so sorry." Zero3 said silently, hanging her head down. The Red Ranger looked at her, seeming to be the only person that heard that. I made my way toward them, holding my arm at my chest. Soon I dropped to my knees and then dropped face down to the ground. Zero3 and the Red Ranger ran to me and picked me up.

"He's unconscious." Zero3 said. She looked at the Red Ranger and said, "Jason, we have to get him out of here."

"You got it." Red Ranger said. Tommy made his way to the other rangers still injured at the chest.

"Tommy." The Pink Ranger said holding him upright.

"Jason." Tommy said in pain. "Good job." The Red Ranger looked at Tommy and said, "Thanks man." The Red Ranger picked me up and he and Zero3 held me up.

"We have to get him out of here." Zero3 said.

"Let's get back to the command center." The Red Ranger said.

"Right." The Pink Ranger said. The Rangers and Zero3 started glowing and suddenly they either disappeared or turned into streams of light and shot to the sky.

Meanwhile at Lord Zedd's moon base, Zarden sat on the throne with his Z staff resting on his lap. Zarden's entire body was glowing green energy and his body rose and collapsed as he breathed in and out. Soon Zarden stopped glowing and stood up.

"There." Zarden said. "The battle with DeSean took a great deal of my energy, but I am now fully recharged." Diablos and the Dark Ranger stood at the balcony as their master approached them.

"Are you two ready to begin?" Zarden asked.

"Yes my lord." The two of them said.

"Then go down and bring the world to its knees." Zarden said. The two minions began glowing and disappeared. Zarden looked toward planet Earth and said, "And so it begins." He began laughing maniacally. The battle with me was merely a decoy to allow Zarden to re-energize his powers. An added bonus was the regression of the White, Black, Pink and Yellow Rangers to their original powers and finally my incapacitation. With all that now done, Zarden and his minions were free to launch their real scheme. Only Kim, Jason and Billy left to man a decent challenge, but if using the power of Zero was merely a decoy, the plan that Zarden was about to unravel would be far worse.