"So uh," Jace began as he dodged a swing from one of the robot Rangers wielding a broken pipe. "Who are these guys?"
"What's left of Drayven's robot army," His dad replied and kicked the machine to the ground.
A few feet over the two Blue Rangers danced around a Mighty Morphin Red robot with black gloves and spiked armor.
"So if you were the second Red Ranger why are you wearing blue?" Rylan asked.
Rocky laughed and looked towards his son. "Well as much as I like the Red Ranger clout, this suit is way more powerful." Then to demonstrate he punched a hole right through the robot's chest.
Beside them, Astrid and Zhane made quick work of the robots around them.
"So pink huh?" Zhane asked as he shot down another robot. "I was hoping for something more flashy."
"What? Like silver?" She asked and cut open the chest of one of the androids.
He laughed, "Gold would work too."
After a few more quick jabs and some blaster fire the robots were all taken care of, their wires and metallic bits littering the entire area.
"Alright," Jace said, "What's next?"
"You guys storm the factory and free all of the Rangers inside," Tommy said and slung Saba over his shoulder and turned away.
"What about you guys?" Jace asked.
"We're going to find the Praetor, and we're going to show him what happens when you mess with the Power Rangers."
"Hold up," Jace said, "That sounds a lot like you're trying to ditch us."
"I'm not," Tommy replied, "We're strategically splitting up. Somebody needs to save all of the captured Rangers, and somebody's gotta take care of the Praetor."
"Kira and the others will be here to save the others," Jace said, "We can help you instead."
"Jace..." Tommy began and stopped for a moment. "I said no."
"You don't think we can have your back," Jace stated.
"You're too inexperienced," Tommy replied a bit more annoyance in his throat. "The Praetor isn't some Monster of the Day."
"Well we haven't been fighting monsters," Jace said, "We've been fighting bounty hunters, evil Rangers, and everything in between. Rylan was almost sacrificed by a clan of demon ninja."
"Jesus," Rocky muttered.
"I'm fine," Rylan replied.
"I know what I'm doing," Tommy said.
"Yeah so do I," Jace replied, "And it's shit. You don't trust is."
"I don't want you to get hurt!" Tommy replied. "I've done so much to keep you and your mother safe. I'm not going to let you throw all of that away!"
Jace froze, his mouth half-open, every word only half-formed.
"You don't think I regret every birthday I've missed? Every celebration I couldn't make? I've hated every second of this for years but I do it for you. I do it so you can have a future so that my wife doesn't have to face a city destroyed by some monster!"
"I-I-I…" Jace began but couldn't even begin to finish.
Jace felt a wave of vertigo, and suddenly everything looked a little brighter.
A little more… green.
"You act like those weren't my birthdays," Jace spat. "Like you were the only one making sacrifices." He blinked twice and in the split second his eyes flashed emerald green. "You hid everything from me. My entire life I've had no idea who you really are. Hell, I didn't even know I had a brother!"
Everyone was too absorbed in the drama to see the figure approaching. It limped towards them, a smile plastered on its half remaining face.
Jace noticed it first, but only had enough time to scream, "Dad!" Before it raised it's pistol and fired.
It was a robotic clone of Tommy Oliver, an entire arm missing and half of its sickeningly human face offering a maddening grin.
The blast hit Tommy's Master Morpher and ejected sparks in every direction.
Zhane whipped around and quickly dispatched the enemy with a quick shot from his blaster and it fell to the ground.
As did Tommy.
Jace dived forward to help his dad, but as the White Ranger demorphed his body began to expel electricity that shocked Jace the moment they touched.
He fell back and onto his butt, as Tommy screamed in complete anguish. The other Rangers demorphed and approached Tommy.
But he just stood up and brushed the dust off his jeans. "Come on," He said, then cast a nervous look at Jace. "You guys too."
"Guess that leaves me to start freeing everyone," Tanya muttered. "Not that you guys were asking me."
Lucius was carried onto The Dragon's ship and brought to the control room. Colossus stood by the closed door as The Dragon took her seat and punched in the coordinates.
"Thanks to the Morph-X I'll have enough power to break into the Antiverse," The Dragon spoke.
"Why not just use the door?" Lucius asked as if that wasn't the most pressing question.
"Because," The Dragon explained. "He has that spot under 24/7 surveillance, and I've got to keep this a secret."
In a flash she demorphed, her olive skin reflecting the light from her bald head.
"Why can't the Praetor know?" Lucius asked.
"The Praetor thinks he's a visionary," The Dragon explained. "But he's a fool. A wise man gone mad who thinks he knows what's best."
Lucius shook his head. He thought The Dragon was the Praetor's most trusted warrior.
"What were you saying earlier?" Lucius asked. "About my destiny?"
The Dragon smirked and said. "Don't worry we're getting there."
Colossus laughed, "thank the heavens I don't have to keep acting like he made sense. We must venture to the great beyond," he said in a terrible mocking of the Praetor. "Bah! That old fool quit making sense before my planet's star was born!"
Lucius heard all of this and felt his anger blossoming. But he didn't know how to react, he knew a fight would prove pointless. So he stayed quiet.
"What's wrong?" Colossus teased, "Don't like us bad-mouthing the all-powerful Savior? Well, let me offer you some advice. Nobody is perfect, and the more perfect somebody pretends to be the less so they are. The Praetor is a mastermind, after all, he engineered this entire operation. But he's blind to the reality of everything around him. He's so zeroed in on his plan that he didn't even see us moving in the shadows."
"What are we doing?" Lucius asked again. "You can't just keep me in the dark."
The Dragon smiled, "My precious Destroyer, we're going to save the multiverse."
The Praetor's ship broke through the dimensional barrier and appeared in the sky above the planet. It rested silently between them and a strange moon-like object in the heavens.
"He's already positioning himself," Zhane said. "That's not good at all."
"For what?" Rylan asked, "If it won't just scare the hell out of me."
"His ship is going to channel all of the stored morphing energy and shoot it into that object in the sky," Zhane explained. "A massive Zeo Crystal "
"I don't know what that is, but I don't like it," Rylan said.
"Well let's just say this," Rocky said. "A single Zeo Crystal broke into five pieces powered an entire Ranger team and all of their equipment, plus they just get stronger indefinitely."
"So that's how he wants to reboot reality," Jace muttered, "By setting this thing off like a supernova."
"Is that what you think he's doing?" Tommy asked.
"What do you mean?" Jace asked.
Tommy frowned, "He's not trying to recreate the multiverse. He's trying to destroy it."
His dad's words hit like a freight train, bringing a tense silence in their wake.
"Well then come on," Astrid said, breaking the silence, "Let's go."
"How?" Rylan asked. "Our ship is still on Mironoi."
"We'll take mine," Zhane said with a smile. "Just got a new paint job anyway."
"And if you scratch it what's mom gonna think?" Astrid asked.
"I'll repaint it before them," Zhane said. "Just like I did last time."
"You've only had it for a month," Astrid said. "How have you already messed it up?"
Zhane shrugged, "Busy month."
The six of them traveled towards the foliage where Zhane's ship was hidden in the brush. "you should have seen what we had to do to get between dimensions," Zhane told Astrid. "It wasn't easy."
"Nothing you do is easy," Astrid told her father.
"That's because if you live life on easy it'll eventually catch you off guard. If you're playing hard mode you'll always be on your toes."
The six Rangers all stepped up the metal ramp and into the cool, climate-controlled atmosphere of the ship.
From there Zhane moved towards the pilot's chambers, leaving the five alone in the round commons area as the ramp closed and the ship began to lift from the ground.
Jace looked towards his father, who was examining his morpher carefully in his hand. As he rotated it in the air Jace noticed the gnarly crack that extended across the empty green coin slot.
"Do you think there's going to be any problem using it?" Jace asked.
"We're just gonna have to wait and find out," Tommy said darkly. Jace couldn't help but be shaken by the stressed and ragged look his father had. It was rare to see him look so starved for answers.
"We're nearing our destination," Zhane said through the ship's coms. "I'd suggest finding something to hold onto."
Before anyone could say anything in response to his cryptic message the ship picked up speed and punched right through the side of the Praetor's warship.
Lucius watched the attack from their location right outside of the Praetor's view. The small cruiser plunged through the hull of the Praetor's ship like a thumb pressed through a styrofoam cup.
"Those brilliant fools," The Dragon mused. "You can always count on the Power Rangers getting involved somehow."
"So where does that leave us?" Colossus asked.
"Exactly where we need to be," The Dragon said. "We still have clearance to dock our ship, and everyone will be too busy to care about what we're doing."
Lucius felt a horrible sinking feeling in his chest as the ship headed towards the Praetor.
And towards an unknown destiny,
Bandora was terrified. It was at that moment, in the darkroom filled with strange machinery, with the towering body of the Praetor standing behind her, her body was flooded with primal terror.
"It's time…" The Praetor spoke, his otherworldly voice echoing around the room and inside her head. "There is no time to stall, child."
Bandora knew that he was correct. This was the only way to save the universe, to breathe life into a new existence where peace would prevail and despair would become a relic.
But why was she so scared?
She thought of her mother, the Mystic Mother. Did she feel fear like this when she carried out her duties?
Speaking of her mother. Bandora held her fist tightly around the stone that carried her mother's magic.
The stone ignited with life, filling the room white light.
"That's right…" He said. "Unlock your true potential child. It's time to show the multiverse your power."
Bandora raised her staff with her other hand. She could feel the magic leave her body and flow into the air. The feeling was one of the most euphoric of her life, and also the most draining.
"You must push harder…" The Praetor said.
Bandora closed her eyes, and the machines around her began to hum.
"Good...good…" He whispered.
Suddenly the entire ship rocked violently for a moment, and sirens began to blare in every direction.
"What in the name of the Grid!" The Praetor snapped. "Those pestilent fools! They can't interrupt, not when we're so close! Keep pushing," He said to Bandora, then he spoke to a device in his ear. "I need everybody on this ship to report to the crash site. The Power Rangers will come no closer."
The six rangers flooded out of the ship, with Zhane pausing the examine its damaged front.
"Well, I'm sure Karone will understand," He muttered before turning around towards the other Rangers.
"Where are we?" Rylan asked in the dark and hot air.
"The very bottom of his ship," Zhane explained, "Now come on, we've got a lot of ship to transverse."
"Why not crash at the top?" Astrid asked, "Since we're so crunched on time?"
"This was the weakest point on the ship," Zhane said, "And besides like I said, we don't take the easy way."
"And that will be your downfall," An electronic voice said through the thick atmosphere.
A sharp-toothed machine with caterpillar track stepped in front of the Rangers with a posse of the Praetor's familiar automations.
"And who are you?" Rocky asked, "Alpha's evil cousin?"
"Close," The android said, "I am the original Alpha, Zordon's first companion."
"So why are you standing in our way?" Tommy asked. "I'd assume you'd want to save the universe from the Praetor."
"Well of course," Alpha-1 said. "I was created to help end this war. This never-ending war. Ultimate destruction will finally bring peace."
"Alright so he's Alpha's evil grandpa," Rocky muttered, and took a defensive stance "I got this."
"I'm helping," Rylan said and stepped next to his father.
Rocky looked over at his son for a few seconds before nodding.
"We've all played this game," Rocky said to the others. "Go on and save the world."
The two Rangers armed their morphers and exclaimed. "It's Morphin Time!"
Rocky as MMPR Red armed his Power Sword while Rylan raised his mother's sword.
"You know the drill," Tommy said to the others, then he turned towards Jace and Astrid and rolled his eyes. "Maybe you don't. That's our cue to get out of here."
The two fledgling Rangers nodded and followed behind Zhane and Tommy as they blasted their way past the mob of machines and further into the ship.
Tanya shivered as she moved through the empty compound. With the bazaar automations of Lord Drayven taken out of commission, the building seemed way to quiet to the Yellow Ranger.
"Figures they'd put me in charge of this while everyone else saved the day," She muttered to herself.
But in reality, she didn't mind, her role was just as important as anyone else's. Plus she had a life, she had a child to worry about. Once a Ranger always a Ranger, but slowing down couldn't hurt.
"Well look who we have here," a familiar voice broke the silence.
Tanya frowned. "Are you serious?"
The voice laughed, "Serious as death."
The figure stepped out of the shadows and Tanya felt her stomach sink.
"What's wrong?" The boy said with a smirk, "You look like you've seen a… ghost."
The boy that stood in front of her looked exactly Trent Mercer, former White Dino Thunder Ranger.
But she knew it wasn't him because Trent died during the Battle of Reefside.
In a flash, he transformed into the armor that mirrored the White Ranger but with Robo-Ranger's distinct black boots and shoulder guards.
Tanya raised her Master Morpher and transformed into Zeo Yellow as the Ranger charged towards her.
"So how come you're not all mangled like the rest of them?" She asked.
"I was a part of a secret program," The Robo-Ranger said. "Drayven wanted to be able to create Rangers based on power sets of fallen warriors, an entire army of the undead."
"Why didn't he?" She asked as her sword connected with his own Drago Sword.
"Channeling that much morphing energy without a host proved too time-consuming," He explained. "So there's just me."
"I guess I'm thankful for that," Tanya said and swung her sword into the android's chest.
The android didn't respond to the damage, instead, he grabbed her arm and twisted it hard enough to cause a shock of pain that dropped her weapon to the ground.
Then he pulled his weapon back and slashed it across her body.
And she certainly felt it.
The Robo-Ranger threw her body into a wall, making a loud slap and a thud that echoed around her as her morphed form flicked out of existence.
She swore softly as the room pulsed and her head pounded. It used to take a lot more than that to knock her armor off.
The White Ranger took a step towards Tanya, but before he could gain any more distance a blast shot through the air and sparked against his chest.
"Sorry for the delay," SPD Red said as he stepped into the battle. "We were a little preoccupied."
"Hey now!" MMPR Black said he appeared behind him, "If anyone should get to make a dramatic entrance in front of my wife it should be me." He stepped forward and paused at her fallen form, "Oh shit!" He said and moved to her aid. "You okay?"
"I've been better," Tanya muttered.
The White Robo-Ranger charged towards the Rangers, but Xander moved in and blocked the attack, "What happened to staying vigilant?" He asked as sparks flew from his magi-staff
"Wife's in danger," Adam muttered.
"I was distracted by the Ranger sitcom," J.J replied.
The three still morphed Rangers regrouped as the White Ranger prepared for another attack.
SPD Red fired his blasters, and MMPR Black shot from the Power Axe in its gun mode, and Mystic Green shifted his staff to its crossbow mode and fired alongside them.
Their blasts hit the White Ranger in the chest, knocking him into the wall and knocking his morph away.
He looked at them, a mask on his astonished face as a crack ran his right cheek where the synthetic flesh had been torn.
It was at that moment Tori and Kira arrived behind the other Rangers.
The world around Kira froze, and her morph instantly broke.
"Trent…" Kira managed to choke out of her throat.
And the Robo-Ranger just smiled as he transformed again and charged right toward her.
Nobody had time to react before the blade punched through her skin.