Disclaimer: Power Rangers is Saban's. Everything you don't recognise is mine.
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty Six: Dawn of a New Era
Tommy was nervous.
After he had left the mysterious Ranger alone with Zordon, his anxiety had shot up tenfold. Something in his heart told him that the Ranger could be trusted and Zordon would be fine. He jumped slightly as a hand was placed on his shoulder. Looking to one side, he saw Kim looking at him with a frown on her face.
"You left him there? You trust him to not trash anything?"
He sighed softly as Rocky's voice reached his ears. Ever since the Red Ranger had been forced to make the statement identifying the Orange Ranger as an ally, his friend had become more standoffish against any mention of the pseudo-Power Ranger in Sydney. Tommy couldn't really blame him; the Orange Ranger had been rather rude to him a few minutes ago as well. A small voice inside his head told him that was partly his fault for letting Rocky's comments get the better of him, but he forcefully dismissed it. The truth was; everything about the Orange Ranger's demeanour screamed out 'young kid' in big red letters.
He knew the Power would never willingly choose a young kid to handle the great responsibility and he had his suspicions that the Ranger was a sleeper agent that was sent by Lord Zedd. Of course, this had been disproven when the Ranger was actually able to set foot inside the Command Centre without the alarms being triggered. Still, he had his doubts about the person under the helmet. Motioning Billy to come close, he asked one question.
"Is there any way we could listen in on what is happening in the Command Centre? I don't trust the new Ranger."
Saba rolled his eyes and sighed. Ever since his identity as Zordon's father had been revealed by Xonix, the Rangers had been subtly treating him differently. Tommy hadn't even spoken to him during battle once and had been using him as a normal sword instead of getting him to shoot lasers from his eyes. Without even bothering to hear the Blue genius' explanation, Saba patched into his private one-way communications channel and Zordon's voice rang out.
"The second last member was Aruk. My father's friend was as great of a scientist and energy manipulator as he was a warrior. Together with my father, they pieced together the intricate and unique Power signatures of each crystal and devised the Prophecy of the Crystals, now known as the Prophecy of Ultra. This partnership lasted even after my father was caught up in one of Rita Repulsa's attacks and was transformed into his scimitar state. You have seen what he looks like recently."
Tommy's mind was reeling with the information his mentor was freely giving. The Prophecy of Ultra was what Zordon had given them to read after the first disastrous fight against the Golems. Who was Aruk and what was Zordon talking about? He snuck a glance down at the sword hanging from his belt and felt a tinge of regret. Saba knew who Aruk was, but probably didn't want to share the information because of Tommy's childish attitude towards him.
With a start, he realised he had missed most of Zordon's next words and was interested to see what secrets his mentor would divulge to the Orange Ranger.
"I thought at that time that we would have a working prototype of the crystals in a thousand years. Even then, it would be too long as reports had surfaced of Xonix perfecting the foot soldiers of his army: Golems and Fiends. Ninjor and Aruk had gone off to defend the diamond and silver mines of Zycor from his attacks."
Saba chuckled under his breath. Those were the better days when Ninjor, Aruk and himself had been in their original forms. His eyes widened as the communication channel shut off abruptly. As his son's voice echoed in his head.
Xonix has engaged in the Ritual of Da'Lana and his monster has grown. Send the Rangers out to meet the beast and hold it off for as long as you can.
Saba closed his eyes in acceptance and, when he opened them, he saw all six Rangers looking at him expectantly. He would have a lot more explaining to do, but hopefully his son would be able to back him up. A loud screech pierced the air, causing all eyes to look in its direction. Blood drained from everyone's faces as they saw the defeated Wolf Wraith rise up from the sands, looking as menacing as ever. Recovering his nerves quicker than the others, Tommy raised Saba into the air to summon his Zord. Six subvocal calls later and the six Thunderzords were racing through the sands to intercept the giant monster.
Standing in the cockpit of the Tigerzord, Tommy ran his scanners of the monster and frowned under his helmet. From the scans, the monster seemed the same but it wasn't acting like it had been. Granted, he only had seen it barely conscious, but there had been a strange sense of animalistic intelligence about it whereas the creature in front of them only broadcasted mindless rage. Swallowing hard, he keyed the Zord communication system.
"Go in one at a time, guys. We don't know what we're dealing with."
As the Rangers responded positively, he charged in – guns blazing. In hindsight, he would realise what an incredibly idiotic move that was as the lasers easily bounced off its many reflective surfaces. Gritting his teeth, he reached behind him to grab a crystal sphere from the rack. Ignoring the startled shout from Saba, Tommy slid the sphere into its port and placed his right palm on top of Saba's head.
"White Tiger Thunderbolt!"
The ball of crackling energy sped out of the Tigerzord's mouth and impacted against the monster with a flash of fire. Tommy smiled smugly under his helmet and turned the Tigerzord away…when it was struck from behind by a powerful blow that knocked it off its feet and sent it crashing into the other five Thunderzords. Shouts of pain and surprise came from the communications system as the Wraith blasted the downed Zords with energy from its fingertips.
"Thunder Megazord Power, Now!"
At Rocky's command, the five main Thunderzords began the transformation into the mighty Thunder Megazord. So far, the only monster that had defeated it outright had been the Ogre. On the other hand, the Ogre had been sent down by Xonix – not Lord Zedd and the difference between the two was staggering. Within seconds, the transformation was complete and the giant samurai-themed gestalt stood ready. With a mighty flourish, the Megazord drew the Thunder Sabre and prepared to charge it up.
That's when everything went to Hell.
Looking like a Wraith-shaped stream of liquid, the Wraith jumped into the Thunder Sabre – stopping the charging process in its tracks. As it leapt out at the still-transforming Tigerzord, it opened its mouth and shot a rapid-fire stream of metallic shards at the Zord. The shards punched through the thick armour and into the vital systems of the Zord, sending sparks flying into the dry air of the desert. As Tommy punched the non-functional console in frustration, he felt a sharp jolt as the Wraith jumped off his wrecked Zord and crash-tackle the Thunder Megazord.
The ear-splitting screech of rending metal filled the air as the Wolf Wraith bared its claws and tore into the gestalt with unparalleled savagery. By some minor miracle, the claws managed to miss the main cockpit every time though they came close one or two times. Wrenching open its arms, the Wraith ripped the remaining armour from the torso of the Zord and howled in triumph. Lowering its head, it began to rip into the Red Dragon Thunderzord's exposed body. Waves of pain crashed into Rocky via the mental link he shared with his Zord, mimicking Adam's pain as most of the Lion Thunderzord had been ripped apart. Falling to the floor of the cockpit, he managed to scream out the next words.
"Tor! We need you!"
In a flare of green light, the massive Carrierzord dropped from the sky and landed on the Wraith. Green lightning crackled between the two as Tor began draining energy away from the monstrous beast. But the Wraith wasn't going to stand there and let it be drained. Grabbing hold of the mighty Zord with both hands, the Wolf Wraith wrenched it off its body with a powerful scream that blew out all of the Thunderzords' radar systems. The Power Rangers scrambled in their cockpits as they tried to get their Zords up and running again, but it was no use.
Tommy focused his will into the controls of the Tigerzord, trying to make something – anything – work. All he received in return was a feeble lurch and a shower of sparks. He tried again and received nothing except for a worrying grinding sound from the internal systems. Saba rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew that the Thunderzords were useless against a monster empowered by the Ritual of Da'Lana; even when the Thunderzords were drawing on the full Thunder Powers.
"Tommy, Rangers, listen to me. You cannot defeat the enemy in front of you with your current powers."
Adam's pain wracked voice filtered through the radio system.
"We need new powers? Stronger ones?"
Saba shook his head as best as he could – which wasn't much. The next strongest powers after the Thunder Powers would be the Ninjetti powers but the Rangers couldn't leave Earth to receive them from Dulcea until…well, he knew what would have to happen for that to occur. He sent out a prayer of hope that it wouldn't happen, but he knew it had to occur for history to flow on its correct course.
"No, Adam. Your powers will be fine for the foreseeable future. Just wait and all will be revealed."
There was a disgruntled grunt from the Rangers, but they accepted that. The true Thunder Powers had helped greatly defend Angel Grove from Lord Zedd, but if Xonix was attacking them as well…they would all be killed easily. Tommy screamed in anger and punched the console next to him. He was about to order that Saba or Dorzon or whatever his real name was to tell him all he knew of Xonix or the strange Ranger when six words he thought he'd never hear again came from outside.
"I Need Dinozord Power, Now!"
TBC…