Power Rangers Zeo #9 Rangers on Trial!
"We finally tracked you down Elgor!" I shout pleased with myself as I and the other Zeo Rangers surround the disgusting monster.
"Aw c'mon guys can't we talk this out?" Elgor pleads.
"Nope. Ze-Oh!" Britt commands with all the Rangers preparing to Morph.
"Zeo Ranger 1, Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger 2, Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger 3, Blue!"
"Zeo Ranger 4, Green!"
"Zeo Ranger 5, Black!"
"Zeo Ranger 6, Red!"
"For murders across hundreds of galaxies, you're under arrest! I've always wanted to say that." Madison exclaims charging at the monster alongside Josiah. Elgor charges forward as well kicking Josiah back and blocking Madison's punch. I draw my sidearm and begin shooting at Elgor, but he grabs Madison and shields himself with her body.
"Oops, sorry Madison!" I remark sincerely while Brandon flips over Elgor kicking him from behind.
"Zeo Power Blaster!" Connor commands summoning his weapon and blasting Elgor keeping him off balance.
"Zeo Flying Power Kick!" Britt shouts jumping into the air and kicking Elgor into the ground.
"Alright guys, let's finish him off. Zeo Power Cannon, Activate!" I command as we all put our weapons together blasting Elgor resulting in a massive explosion.
"Another job well done if you ask me." Josiah remarks as they all unmorph.
"Britt, where did you learn that kick thing? That was freaking awesome!" Madison shouts excitedly.
"Me and Jayce have been working on it on our off time. Jayce hasn't quite got the hang of it." Britt remarks looking at me, but just as I begin to protest I suddenly fall over unconscious. "Jayce!"
Suddenly, Brandon, Josiah, Madison, and Connor all fall to the ground unconscious. Britt looks around in hopes of determining where the hidden attacker is, but before she can she's hit as well falling to the ground.
"Acquisition of the Power Rangers is complete. Bringing them to you now." A muffled voice reports as he walks up to the Rangers with a swarm of military officers picking up the team.
I slowly wake up handcuffed to a table with two other people in the room with me.
I panic yanking at the cuffs. "Where am I? Where are my friends?"
"That's all depending on you Mr. Thedford or should we say Red Ranger." One of the men retorts sliding a folder over to me.
"What is this?" I ask not wanting to touch the folder.
"It's all the evidence that we have that you and your friends are Power Rangers." The other man answers not breaking his constant stare.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I remark starting to get my bearings together and realizing that we've been found out.
"Don't play us kid. It's all in there. You de-transforming, transforming, you in the middle of the Brownwood Invasion." The first detective remarks angrily as he slams his fist on the table.
I open the folder realizing that he's telling the truth. "Alright, so if I was the Red Ranger, why would you kidnap me and my friends? We're protecting you and everyone else."
"Wow, slow down. We never said you were in trouble. The government just wants to understand your powers and how you became Power Rangers." The second Detective states trying to obviously be the good cop in this situation.
"To be honest? By chance. We became targets and due to that we were prime candidates for becoming Rangers." I explain hopefully sating their intrigue.
"We're gonna need a little bit more than that." The second detective says taking a sip from his coffee making me audibly sigh.
"It all started two years ago when Rita first announced her return. I'm sure we all remember that day. Two astronauts opened her cell and she was released along with her generals Goldar and Finster. We, just like you were surprised and very worried what it meant. That's when Connor stumbled onto a secret long buried." I begin explaining taking a break to catch my breath.
"A secret?" The first detective asks his interest peeked.
"Afraid I'm not gonna tell ya that part boys." I snicker knowing that riles them up. "Continuing the story. Due to Connor finding this secret, we became targets for Rita not wanting us to investigate it. Not sure if you'll remember, but that school fire in Brownwood? Yeah, well that was caused by Goldar trying to get us. Unfortunately, he nearly succeeded. Caleb and I had to rush into the burning building and grab Hannah and Britt from it. Still makes me laugh thinking about it honestly."
"Wait, go back. Who's Caleb and Hannah?" The second Detective asks making me stutter for a second realizing I just accidently released my friend's secret identities.
"Hold your pipe I'm nearly to the good bit." I retort trying to think up of an excuse, but finding none. "After Caleb and I saved the girls, Caleb, Hannah, Britt, Connor, and I were all teleported to our current base. There we were given our power. Caleb the Red Ranger and leader of the team, Hannah the Pink Ranger, Connor the Blue Ranger, Britt the Yellow Ranger, and myself the Black Ranger. That's how we got started anyways."
"Wait hold up for just a dang minute. You weren't the leader? If you were given the power, who gave it to you?" The Detectives both take turn asking questions, but I just tune them out.
"Listen, I'm not gonna answer any more of your questions until I see my friends." I proclaim getting frustrated with the situation. The two detectives look at each other before reaching over and releasing me from my handcuffs.
"They're out in the hallway. You get five minutes." The first Detective says opening the door and allowing me to leave. I look over seeing everyone bunched up in seats and halfway asleep.
"Guys!" I shout glad they're okay. Britt is the first to wake up coherently getting out of her chair and shaking the others.
"Jayce, what's going on?" She asks with a worried tone.
"They want to know more about us, how we operate and our power set. I'm trying to keep as much as I can from them, but it's not working. They have evidence Britt, pretty convincing evidence." I inform her before turning to Connor. "How fast can you make a machine to erase their memory?"
"Not fast enough. It could take me a day. But by then they'll be able to report everything." Connor explains much to my dismay.
"Can't we just break out of here?" Brandon asks not thinking about the consequences.
"Yeah, let's just break out of here and become the most wanted people in the world. No thanks." Madison retorts with Brandon shrugging.
"She's right. Our identities would get out one way or another. If they caught us, imagine what the world would do if they had our abilities, our weapons, our Zords." Connor continues.
"Okay, I get it. Bad idea." Brandon remarks frustrated.
"What if we just come up with a convincing story that is kinda similar to the truth?" Josiah offers after taking the longest to fully wake up.
"That could work, but we would need to switch out people in order to keep the story going and the accounts all the same." I say starting to formulate a plan in my mind.
"Your five minutes are up. Mr. Robnett your next." The second Detective remarks escorting Connor away from us in handcuffs.
Connor's Interrogation
"Alright Mr. Robnett. We're gonna start with where we left off with your friend." The first detective explains as I see the folder of evidence that Jayce was talking about.
"My names Connor." I reply matter of factly.
"Right. So, Connor, Jayce was telling us you found out the secret that led to becoming Power Rangers. What was the secret?" The second Detective probes.
"Yes, I'm the brains behind the operation. The Q to their multiple James Bonds if you get what I mean. The secret was nothing special." I say attempting to put the conversation on me and not Zordon or Alpha.
"You mean that you created some of the technology that you use during fights." The first Detective asks meaning that my plan worked.
"I came up with the ideas and the science behind them, but Hannah did all the work." I admit again pushing the topic further away from Zordon.
"Again, that girl." The first detective mutters to the second obviously confused.
"What happened to Hannah?" The second asks curiously.
"If you want that part of the story I need to explain another part. It was barely a month into us original five being Rangers when Rita unleashed her most devastating trick at the time, the Green Ranger. Up to that point we had only been fighting her goons and lower level monsters, but this was different. She chose someone close to us and put him under her control." I explain taking a break to recall the events leading up to it defeating Glacire, Hannah soloing Super Puddies, and Jayce and Caleb stopping a virus.
"The Green Ranger! Who is he?" The first Detective exclaims suddenly becoming very interested.
I think back realizing that the Detective probably wants to know in order to arrest him for killing a lot of people. "Bryce Rowlett." I lie knowing that Brandon will hate me later for covering for him.
"The Rowlett twin who died? Now this is getting interesting." The second detective remarks snickering to himself.
"He easily defeated us. Nearly killed me and left us unconscious with our base about to explode." I say speaking the full truth. "It still freaks me out thinking that I could've died at that moment. Thankfully, a new Ranger appeared saving us and helping us overcome Bryce."
"Madison Bleth?"
"The one and only." I remark nearly audibly laughing to myself thinking of all her antics during our time as Power Rangers. "As the Purple Ranger she and her Zord were an invaluable asset to the team letting us form the Thunder Megazord and break Rita's hold on Bryce."
"Hey wait a minute." The first Detective says realizing they've been completely sidetracked.
Britt's Interrogation
"You're the last original Ranger we haven't interrogated, so let's make this clear. These pictures go public if you don't tell us what the secret is." The first Detective shouts slamming his fist on the table making me flinch.
"Alright, if you insist. The secret is our Zords. They talk to us." I lie going along with the story Jayce had concocted while Connor was getting interrogated. "They're kinda like our mentors."
"Zords? You mean those mechanical robots?" The first asks while the second detective comes back into the room with more coffee.
"Yep, using different combinations in conjunction with our Megazord allows for us to beat some of our tougher foes. One of my favorite examples is the Lightning Megazord, a combination of the base 5, Madison's, and Brandon's Zord." I explain reminiscing back to when we first unlocked it fighting off the newly awakened Lord Zed.
"Wait, Brandon?" The first one asks as I realize I completely just messed up.
Brandon's Interrogation
"We need you to clarify something son. Are your or are you not the Green Ranger that went on a rampage around the world killing 23 people and injuring hundreds more?" The first Detective asks getting closer to me as I realize Connor must've tried covering for me.
"Yes, I am the Green Power Ranger. Rita put me under her control and I was forced to do all those things. I atoned for those sins by saving countless millions of people on multiple occasions. For instance, Lord Zed and Rita Repulsa both were after a rare gem that would give them immense power. The other Rangers were preoccupied keeping the city safe, so I was sent and recovered the stone." I explain hoping the detectives would understand that I wasn't able to control my actions.
"What I'm confused about is how your brother fits into this whole mess. We know he was killed, but his body wasn't ever found." The second Detective asks with tears swelling in my eyes already just thinking about Bryce.
"Bryce got roped into this after witnessing us transform and saving Madison from getting crushed. He wanted to help so bad and I let him. We had a remaining Power Coin, the things that contained out Power, so we gave it to him. He joined the team as the White Ranger, protector of everything good." I explain fully fighting the tears at this point and hoping the detective won't just arrest me on the spot.
"Well now we know who the White Ranger was. But, there is still a missing piece. How did you all defeat Rita and what happened to Bryce?" The second Detective asks calmer than the first which is now tapping his foot annoyingly.
"It was December. We knew it was coming at that point, but we couldn't stop it. Rita's armada had arrived and with her all her armies, generals, and ships. We were hopeless to stop her on our own and even got captured. But, we escaped and when we did we were met with an ambush of a massive scale. Hundreds of soldiers, her top generals, herself, and Lord Zed. We were easily beaten and tied up for a public execution which Rita demanded herself. Thankfully, we weren't the only Power Rangers. Alien Force, an elite group of aliens gathered from multiple planets teamed up to fight evil. They saved us and helped us defeat her top Generals." I explain looking back at how far the Alien Force team has come from the days where we hated each other. "You know this day as the 1-day Invasion, but for us it was the end of a chapter. With the Alien Force's help, we neutralized large portions of Rita's armies with Caleb leading a frontal assault on Rita's main warship. It was only after using everything we had that we were able to destroy her and Lord Zed."
"So, you won?" The second Detective asks curiously.
"Not quite." I remark peeking the men's interests. "A few months later a new evil came to Earth, Rito Repulso. He wasn't like Rita or Zed, he was smart, cunning, and powerful. Our most powerful foe even to this day. Anyways, at this point Rita's final creation had also shown up Sara-0, a cyborg with the ability to turn into a Power Ranger."
"That's the cyan one that attacked the school, right?" The first Detective asks more so already knowing the answer.
"Yes, that was her. Anyways, Rito had created a monster capable of cloning us with a single drop of blood. We didn't know this and ran in unprepared. We defeated the monster, but the deed was done and Rito had all 8 of us cloned." I explain before choking on my words. I then burst out crying not being able to continue before the second Detective hands me a cleanix. "They stormed the base breaking Bryce's Power Coin. He didn't have much time after that. With the help of Sara-0 who we helped restore the memories of, we defeated our clones, but Bryce's time was running out. Rito knew that and sent Kigoraxe to activate a nuke on a military site. We couldn't just let him start WWIII, so we tried stopping him. But, we weren't successful and the nuke was launched. Bryce knew what would happen if it landed anywhere, so he took his Zord and guided the missile into space. That's how my brother died. Can I leave now?"
"Yes, you can go." The first Detective says letting out a held in breath. "Two more to go."
Madison's Interrogation
"Heyyy, you think you can pass that coffee big guy? I just fought a monster an hour ago and I'm like super beat. Please?" I ask giving my best edition of the puppy dog eyes. He slides over the coffee which I immediately gulp down in its entirety.
"Alright, let's stop from where we left off. Bryce just died, what happened next?" The second Detective asks now coffeeless.
"Alright buckle up boys cause we're just hitting the good part of the story." I retort slamming the coffee cup onto the table. "Kigoraxe and Rito are still out there, but we're all too devastated to do anything. Wouldn't you know it though Caleb toughs it out and decides to take on Kigoraxe by himself after being called out! Caleb left without warning and was doing pretty well until his emotions got the better of him and became reckless. He probably would've died, but Jayce came in for the rescuuuuuuue! Him and Jayce held off Kigoraxe until the rest of us arrived to help take the son of a gun down. Massive explosions everywhere and we won! However, due to losing Bryce and the White Tiger Zord we were no longer able to reach White Lightning mode with the Megazord. We had to get a bit tricky with how we approached future villains. But, it wasn't long after that a new trouble was stirring. In the future 50 years from now, Britt came back to save us from being destroyed."
"Wait, what?" The first Detective asks suddenly baffled at the idea of time travel.
"Yeah, you see something happened and Caleb died or whatever, so he couldn't later save us from Rito. The Machine Empire attacked sooner than they were supposed to and took over the Earth. Britt used the other Power Coins to go back in time landing in the present saving Caleb from getting killed. She then told Hannah something and the original five Rangers ran off to go stop Rito or something. I wouldn't know cause I got freaking kidnapped by the cyborg Sara-0. Some way to pay us back for giving her memories back." I retort remembering how ticked off I was, but also how nervous I was being cramped up in a cage alongside Brandon. "Basically she created another cyborg, they both turned good and they helped us out or something like that. But for the main event. Rito was finally ready for the final battle. He had been planning everything up to that moment and was ready for us. He even had armor protecting himself from our energy blasts. We found that out too late and the armor made him invincible. This is where you guys know the most recent Invasion. What you don't know was that there were two battles being waged. Myself, Britt, Connor, Sara-0 and Caleb were taking down Rito while everyone else was focusing on keeping the damage to a minimum while also taking as many monsters down as they could. But things got rough, we couldn't hurt Rito and Sara got her arm chopped off meanwhile our Zords were completely wrecked by the hundreds of monsters storming the city. Thankfully, the Alien Force showed up just in time to give some assistance to Jayce's squad."
"This is so intense." The second Detective states holding a metaphorical bag of popcorn.
"Right? Well it only got worse. Caleb knew they weren't gonna be able to beat Rito, so he teleported the rest of his team against their will except for Sara who stayed. Caleb then sacrificed himself purposely breaking his Power Coin setting off an equivalent to a nuclear bomb destroying Rito's armor and killing Sara." I explain remembering how sad Jayce and the other original members of the team were. "Our job wasn't it finished though and we wanted vengeance. We fell back on our last resort turning our Power Coins into pure energy and blasting Rito with the full force of our power destroying him. We had finally won, but at the cost of our powers. They were gone⦠permanetly."
"Okay, but obviously you're still a Power Ranger, so how did you get your powers back?" The first Detective asks completely engrossed in the story.
"That's for the next person to explain. Whew, that was a mouthful." I remark laughing to myself as I lay back in the chair.
Josiah's Interrogation
"It's all up to you kid. You need to finish this adventure." The first Detective states exhausted and just wanting to end this.
"Alright well the story begins again after a year. The previous Rangers all lost contact with each other and broke apart as friends. Jayce, Connor, and Britt were still together, Brandon and Madison went to England, and Hannah decided to take up the Alien Force's offer to join them and left for space." I begin explaining stretching my knowledge a bit. "This is where I come into play. Jayce was driving me home along with Britt, but we were suddenly attacked! Jayce and I totally fought them off and they ran scared. However, it wasn't over cause Chuck, the other cyborg, teleported me to the base thinking I was Connor. This is where the adventure begins cause Master Vile, the most sinister singular force in the galaxy, had arrived on Earth. We got the band back together along with the Alien Force. We gathered the Zeo Crystals for new powers and succeeded while the Alien Force held off the forces of Master Vile. We became the Zeo Rangers and with the power we've been fighting off the Machine Empire after defeating Master Vile."
"I'm confused, where is Hannah?"
"In space. She decided to continue being with them and all that." I explain wondering if I left anything out when I suddenly realize I missed the most important part. "Just before fighting Rito the final time, Jayce got a message from Caleb as a sort of final message type thing. Basically, he transferred his leadership over to Jayce saying he was the best candidate and that he believed in him. Your pretty much caught up now though."
"Okay then." The first Detective states getting up and un-handcuffing me. The three of us all walk back to the others. "As I see it I have nothing against you. Before this I thought you were just vigilantes, but your heroes and I'm sorry I doubted you. Your identities are safe and your free to go."
"Finally." Jayce remarks as we all teleport away using our Morphers leaving the two Detectives baffled.
"Stay strong Power Rangers." The first Detective mutters to himself before turning to leave.
