After several empty rooms and twisting hallways, Kira found the room housing all of the captured Rangers. Dozens of metal tables were laid out, each of them housing a Ranger with a metal helmet fixed on their heads.
She reached for the first person she saw, Conner McKnight… She frowned as she approached him. The two hadn't talked much in the last decade. They'd tried dating after the Drakkon incident but things were too… complicated.
She placed her hands on the helmet to pull it off when suddenly a jolt of electricity coursed through it and knocked her back. She watched from the ground, her entire body buzzing with energy, as everyone around her convulsed painfully.
They were being used by the machine, and that told Kira that things were getting serious. So she better work on pulling the plug.
She looked around, desperate to find anything. Some cables she could shoot, maybe a big control box she could shoot, really anything. Hopefully something shootable. But the machine was so alien that she had no idea where to even begin.
"Kira, evil Ranger incoming!" Xander's voice echoed towards her.
She readied herself, morphing just as Robo-Trent charged into the room. His suit was torn and scuffed, with loose wires falling from his robotic body.
"We almost had him," Xander said soon after, "But he got the slip and just ran."
Kira nodded and armed her Petra-Grips, ready to defend herself against the man.
But he ran right past her.
She watched, almost stunned, trying to figure out what he was doing.
Then she saw him move towards the wall to the south and slice it open with his sword. Behind the wall was the humming machine, strangely shaped gears all churning around a crystal in the center.
Trent's smile was visible through his shattered helmet, as he pulled back his fist and punched into the large clear crystal, shattering it.
The rest of the Rangers flooded in, watching wordlessly as power surged around the Robo Ranger.
"All of this raw morphing energy…" Trent breathed. "And it's finally mine…"
Tanya sighed, "Well... if no one else is gonna try it." She raised her blaster and fired into the evil Ranger surging with power.
But the blast did nothing to hinder his endeavors, and he continued to pulse with raw energy.
Finally, it subsided, and the lights around them flickered into darkness, with the only light available from the dusty windows.
His suit rebuilt itself, glowing with pure morphing energy.
He looked towards the Rangers and laughed, "I'm going to enjoy returning the ass-kicking you guys just gave me."
"Or really?" a new voice asked. And Kira didn't think she'd ever be so happy to hear it. "Because I don't think I've had my shot yet."
Then, without warning, without even questioning who he was up against, Conner McKnight jumped off the table.
Soon after other Rangers followed, it seemed that with all of the power being drained from the machine whatever was keeping the Rangers sedated had worn away.
Leaving the Robo Ranger standing rather awkwardly as the room was rapidly filled with Rangers.
The Praetor looked over at the computer readings. It seemed that the Grid Generator had lost all of its power. While that was mildly annoying it wasn't a problem, they already had enough power.
What was more worrying was the duel taking place.
Jace barely had time to dodge the swing from the Sword of Darkness.
"Woah buddy," Jace muttered.
Lucius was beyond words, his body carried purely by raw emotion alone. Dark energy poured from his form as he continued his assault.
Jace let his instinct carry him as he moved away from Lucius's second swing.
He dodged the next attack easily enough, ducking under the Ranger and uppercutting his helmet with a satisfying clank. Lucius stumbled back several steps, then regained his posture, a more potent dark aura radiating off his form. He pointed his sword forward and charged.
But was intercepted by Zeo Red.
"Dad," Jace pleaded, "You've got to back down. We can't risk you losing any more powers."
Tommy parried the Purple Ranger's sword and turned back to his son. "Do you think I have a choice?"
The Red Ranger delivered a spin kick that whipped Lucius's head to the side and utterly shattered his visor.
In return the Ranger uttered a war cry and swung his blade, smashing it against Tommy's midsection and knocked him away.
Jace felt his instincts take charge and in a fluid movement he scooped the fallen bounty hunters blade off the ground and it ignited with energy.
Green energy.
"You have no right to use that sword!" Lucius screamed as morphing energy poured off of their bodies in strong wisps.
"Can you stop with the 'big final battle' speech and just let me kick your ass?"
Zeo Red rushed to intervene, but a cloaked warrior positioned themselves between the Ranger and his son.
In a flash, she transformed and all of the memories of his time in the Devil's Playground came rushing back.
No time for that though, because her twin blades were pulled back and ready to slice him in two.
Scorpio was temporarily stunned by the attack, but the shock subsided quickly and he charged again.
"Damn, that was cool" The Silver Astro Ranger replied, as he struggled to stand against the overwhelming pain "Pretty flashy too!"
Astrid smiled under her helmet as she dodged another one of Scorpio's swings. His attacks were swift and precise, and she didn't imagine she'd be able to hold them off much longer.
Thankfully she noticed something new, her lighting attack had left his black armor cracked in its chest piece.
Still, a normal attack wouldn't be enough, not if she wanted to end things as quickly as possible.
Astrid took a deep breath as she pulled her sword back and felt for that new strength.
She could feel it hiding under the surface, igniting her fingertips with its power. Her sword began to glow, right as it struck Scorpio's spot.
Yet it wasn't enough.
Her blade shattered upon impact, and only spiderwebbed the crack instead of destroying his armor.
Scorpio laughed and swung his arm blade into her midsection, causing her to fly back as sparks raced across her body.
"You thought that would be enough?" Scorpio taunted. He pulled his foot back and kicked Astrid in the midsection with enough power to knock the air from her lungs and completely demorph her.
"The day we first met sealed your fate," Scorpio said as his armored boot landed on her stomach with a hard fall. "Now give me your Energem."
"What does the Praetor even want with my Energem?" Astrid asked through the pain.
Scorpio laughed, "Who said it was for the Praetor?"
Before Astrid could question his statement Scorpio pressed his foot harder into her, causing her body to scream in pain. "Severing your bond to the Energem will be a gruesome process, but one I can't help but feel extremely excited for."
A blast of energy hit Scorpio on the side, and he turned towards its source with a scowl on his face. But before he could even retaliate the Silver Ranger had spent the rest of his energy on the attack and his armor dissipated. Without the protection of the suit, his body began to violently react to the poison and he began to convulse on the ground.
The display caused a rush of adrenaline in the Pink Ranger. Her world was suddenly charged with electricity. She could feel it crescendoing into something powerful, it pulsed behind her eyes like a building headache.
She tightly screwed her eyes together and when they snapped open her eyes were a vibrant purple, and a bolt of lightning escaped her fingertips and hit Scorpio in his already compromised crack. In a flash, his armor shattered completely, and his unconscious form fell to the ground.
"We're here to help!" Zeo Blue suddenly exclaimed as he burst into the room. Then he caught sight of the fallen Scorpio. "Oh… nevermind I guess."
"Dad was stung by Scorpio," Astrid breathed as she looked past her hands and towards her father's fallen form. "I don't know how long he has."
"Oh shit," Rocky said and transformed into his red' ninja form before scooping Zhane up. The Ranger then looked at Astrid and said, "I'll get him out of here. I think I can trust you two to help Tommy and Jace out."
They both nodded somberly as Rocky ninja streaked away.
Rylan then turned to Astrid and said, "I know you're worried but we've gotta focus on stopping the Praetor."
"Don't worry," She replied darkly. "I'm not distracted, I'm motivated to kick his ass even harder."
"Alright," Rylan said with a smile under his helmet. "Let's go then."
Zeo Red danced around the Dragon's flying blades.
"I remember giving you those powers," Tommy muttered as he parried their blades. "Why are you using them for evil?"
The Dragon swung her blade upward, Zeo Red caught the blade but the force of that attack was still strong enough to pull his sword from his grip. The Dragon then delivered a powerful slash to Tommy's midsection. "If I had time to explain I would," she spoke in a voice that sounded so much like the Maria he met in the Devil's Playground it hurt his soul. "But our time is extremely limited."
As it to exemplify her statement the world around them trembled as dangerous electricity filled the air.
Meanwhile, the two Red and Purple Rangers continued their battle. The green blade that Jace had acquired hummed with energy as it connected with the Sword of Darkness.
"It's good to see that our skills were inherited," Jace muttered, "Otherwise this would be too boring."
As he watched Lucius frown things began to make sense.
"So you don't know?" The Red Ranger asked, "We're brothers."
Lucius snapped back to reality and jabbed his sword forward. The blade flanked Jace's side pulling sparks with a rush of energy and pain. Lucius then pulled the blade across Jace's again, spinning the Ranger as he flew to the ground.
"You aren't going to distract me," Lucius muttered as he approached Jace's fallen form.
The Red Ranger reached for the sword but Lucius kicked it aside. Jace tried to stand to his feet, but Lucius kicked him onto his back.
"Blood for blood," Lucius breathed with his jagged sword raised. "That is the code of my people."
The blade flew down towards the Red Ranger's heart.
But Jace caught the sword as it came inches away from ending him.
Lucius growled in frustration, as the armored warrior put all of his might into a downward push. But Jace held the sword at bay, even as cracks formed from his gloves and spiderwebbed down his arms.
"We don't have time for this," Jace muttered as a green aura began to pour from his armor. "Our dad is fighting for his life, and reality is about to be nuked by that madman you've been working for. We shouldn't even be fighting."
Talking was useless though, he could see it plainly on Lucius's face. There was no emotion but rage, it leaked from his body like the purple halo that sounded him.
You know what you have to do.
God he was starting to hate that voice, but it was right.
So Jace closed his eyes and gave in to the power that had slowly been building, gnawing at his body.
In an explosion of energy, Lucius was thrown away from Jace, and the Red Ranger rose to his feet. His armor was cracked and torn, motes of green light danced like stars around him. He pulled his fist back as it charged with energy.
And somewhere, in a distant part of his mind, he heard the White Ranger laugh.
His fist connected with the Purple Ranger's chest plate and hit with enough raw energy to launch him backward and demorph mid-air.
Jace scooped the Sword of Darkness off the ground, feeling even more empowered by its dark energy. He felt drunk, even better than drunk. He couldn't even think of a time he felt so powerful. The rush completely numbed him to the pounding in his ears.
Finish him.
The Dragon spotted the battle and reacted immediately, her swords ignited with fire as she knocked Tommy back and knocked him out of his morph.
Then she charged towards Jace, positioning herself between the two Rangers.
"What the hell is going on?" Jace heard a familiar voice exclaim. "I missed a couple of episodes or something."
The bloodlust was muted for a moment by the arrival of the Blue and Pink Ranger.
"We figured you could use some help," Rylan said as he raised his katana. "Like usual."
"Lucius," The Dragon growled. "It's time. Fulfill your destiny as the Destroyer!"
"Destroyer?" Rylan gulped as echoes of his own adventure danced in the dead air. "Creepy stuff like that is never a coincidence."
"What?" Astrid asked.
Rylan shook his head, "Doesn't matter, evil Ranger to fight."
The warrior before them simply laughed, "Who said we're fighting?" She asked then turned her back, weapons still drawn. "None of us want reality erased, so why don't we work together?"
"As weird as it is to agree with the bad guy," Jace replied, "She has a point."
By then Lucius was already rushing towards Bandora, which the Praetor took note of and scowled.
"What are you doing child?" He demanded, "We have no time for distraction!" His hands ignited with raw morphing energy but before he could launch an attack there was a burst of white light and the White Mighty Morphin Ranger stood between them with Saba raised.
The Praetor grinned, "A master of the White Light? I haven't seen one of those in over a millennium. Shame I have to destroy you."
He then launched a blast of energy that Tommy struggled to deflect with his sword.
"Alright guys," Jacsrdraid, "To quote Tanya, let's save my dad's ass, and all of reality while we're at it."
The Trent robot didn't stand a chance. With so many Rangers awakened, even with his enhanced power, they all made short work of him.
Leanbow swung his sword at the sparking Ranger, completely decapitating him with a spray of wires and torn electronics.
It rolled helplessly across the ground, and right to the feet of a particular Pink Ranger.
The Kimberly Hart of the Devil's Playground smiled to herself and crushed the android's head with her foot.
"Kim!" Kira exclaimed as she rushed towards her friend and temporary mentor while trapped in the mirror world.
Kim offered a smile back, "Hey, Kira," She said and hugged the Yellow Ranger. "I should've figured you'd be the one to save us."
"Don't pin it all on me," Kira replied, "I was just another part of it all."
Adam then approached the duo, "Hey, long time no see."
"Oh hey," Kimberly replied lukewarmly.
"How's Skull?" Adam asked.
"Busy," Kimberly replied, "Rebuilding a civilization isn't as easy as the movies make it seem."
When the excitement of seeing an old face subsided Kira was left with a gnawing question, one Kimberly might be able to answer.
"So what happened to Maria?" She asked.
Kimberly frowned, "What do you mean? She went missing about a year ago."
"Well she joined the Praetor," Kira replied, "Calls herself the Dragon or something."
Kimberly shook her head, "She wasn't ever really the same after she almost died. It twisted her somehow. But she isn't the only one I'm worried about."
Before the Pink Ranger from another world could continue everyone's communicator's beeped simultaneously.
"This is Rocky Desantos," The voice said in a frantic voice, "I have Zhane with me, and he's in critical condition. I'm teleporting myself to the door back to Mirinoi, anyone who knows the planet well enough to get us to a proper hospital needs to be there for us. He doesn't have long."
Kira felt her insides turn, she didn't know Zhane but any Ranger in that kind of danger brought dark thoughts forward.
Because in the end, it could be any of them instead.
"I'll go," Kat replied and rushed out of the room.
Suddenly the fresh silence was halted by a giant tremor tearing through the building.
"I think we all should go as well," J.J said, "This whole building might come down before Tommy can stop the Praetor."
Kimberly laughed as everyone began to file out of the building. "It always seems to come down to him."
"Not just him this time," Kira replied, "This time he's got his son at his side."
"Well if he has a quarter of Dr.O's skills we'll be fine."
"Jace does," Kira said, "And twice the guts."
"Oh boy, the Praetor should definitely watch out."
Jace charged forward, the Sword of Darkness glowing in his hand.
"Be careful with that thing!" Tommy exclaimed, "That sword is bad news."
"Relax," Jace replied, "I got this." His grip tightened on the hilt, and deep down he kind of loved how it made him feel.
The sword flew towards the Praetor's face, but a wall of energy took the attack instead.
The Praetor grinned and launched the Ranger back with a rush of raw power.
"The Praetor isn't just some monster," The Dragon said, "He's a fallen Morphing Master, one of the most powerful beings in the universe."
"In any universe," The Praetor stated confidently. "But that matters not. Power is just the tool that brings true peace."
"Yeah, yeah," Jace muttered, "Evil speech and all that." He then turned to the Dragon. "So how are we gonna beat this freak before he can keep monologuing?'
While the five Rangers battled the Praetor Lucius rushed towards Bandora. The young witch was locked in an intense concentration. It seemed that she was completely oblivious to the entire world around her. Above her, the massive Zeo Crystal was glowing and humming with energy. It seemed that at any second the generators below them would launch a charge of morphing energy into the massive object and it would finally supernova the universe into oblivion.
So he needed to be quick.
Lucius then grabbed Bandora and pulled her out of her trance. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she gazed at Lucius. He then pulled the stone out of her hand and shattered it with his boot.
"What the hell are you doing?" Bandora asked, "We were so close to saving the universe."
"You were about to let that madman destroy everything," Lucius exclaimed, "He tricked us!"
She just stared at him, stunned and processing his words. There wasn't time to convince her, so Lucius just reached for her dropped staff.
It was time to unlock his destiny.
Meanwhile, the Rangers were scrambling for a way to defeat the Praetor.
"If we can overwhelm his energy shield we'll be able to get an attack in," The Dragon said, "But it'll have to be one worth it."
"Alright," Rylan said, "Sounds good and all, but how are we going to do that?"
Astrid sighed, "Any way we can." The Pink Ranger then paused and grew silent, then her hand began to pulse with pink energy that shot towards the enemy.
The attack was just shrugged off by the Praetor's shield.
"Keep that up," The Dragon replied, then looked at Rylan, "What do you have?"
"Well…" Rylan muttered, then he managed to get a timid taste of his Tora flame that he shot at the enemy. "I have this."
"It'll have to do," Tommy replied and raised Saba and flanked the Praetor from behind with its laser attack.
Their attacks all combined as they were devoured by the Praetor's defenses.
At first, it didn't seem to be doing anything, but slowly the dome of energy began to lose it's transparency, growing more and more white and featureless.
"Keep it up," The Dragon growled. "We're getting closer."
Jace watched silently, he felt kind of useless at the moment because he was apparently the only one out of the team that didn't have some kind of energy projection powers.
But then he saw the hairline crack in the dome, and he knew what he could do.
"Jace!" The White Ranger exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?"
There wasn't time to reply, instead, Jace continued his charge, then slammed the Sword of Darkness into the Praetor's shield. Green energy poured from his suit and the sword and every part of his body.
And the Praetor's defense shattered.
Jace was knocked on his back and the Sword of Darkness fell from his grip.
At that moment the Dragon sprang, her swords flaming as she slashed into the Morphing Master's body.
"Why have you betrayed utopia?" The ancient being whispered as he fell to one knee.
"There's no utopia in death," The Dragon muttered, "And your delusions almost cost the entire multiverse."
"Don't discredit me yet," The Praetor said and rose back to his feet. He then shot a supercharged orb of energy at the Dragon and knocked her away with a spray of sparks and unfiltered energy. "My fellow Morphing Masters betrayed me. Banished me to this realm of death and decay. They thought it would destroy me. But it inspired me. I now know that total oblivion is our only salvation. Nobody will stop me from bringing true peace."
The Praetor then turned his attention to the three Rangers. He grinned as his injured body crackled with energy. "I'm going to take you out one by one and complete my life's ambition."
"Jace!" Tommy Oliver exclaimed. "Don't think. Just trust me!"
Before the Red Ranger could respond Saba was suddenly flying towards him.
He caught the blade just as the White Ranger wrapped his arms around the massive Praetor.
His dad was right, he couldn't think. His heart pounded in his ears. His body grew numb and cold. And every single person in every single universe needed him to act.
So he did.
He rushed forward, his body a glowing, green, red, and even white. Saba transformed in his hand, replacing white with red as it was propelled towards its target.
It hit perfectly, stabbing into the Praetor's ancient, powerful, body. The white-haired morphing master looked down at the Red Ranger and coughed blood. Spitting it across Jace's visor as he laughed.
Lucius frowned, the staff doing absolutely nothing in his hand.
The Praetor continued laughing, "And it was all for naught," He exclaimed.
The ground shook again, and a large blast of blinding light swallowed the world before being absorbed into the crystal.
"You were too late. Oblivion will still be mine!" He then tore the blade from his chest, throwing it the ground before falling to his knees. "Even if I won't see it."
The world paused around Jace, and his chest froze.
It wasn't the Praetor falling to the ground that tore Jace's heart from his chest, it was his father suddenly demorphing and tumbling backward.
Jace rushed past the wheezing Morphing Master, ignoring the death rattle as he went to his father's aid. Saba had completely pushed past the Praetor and into Tommy Oliver.
"I was worried that might happen," Jace's father said as blood poured from his stomach.
"But there wasn't time to overthink."
Jace stared helplessly at his father's rapidly paling face, completely oblivious to the crystal above their heads, which was glowing so intensely that all of the colors around them became washed out and meaningless.
Jace demorphed and touched his bare hand to his father's face. He didn't know what to do. At that moment he felt nothing. Like a nuclear bomb exploded in his brain, leaving a ruined wasteland in his heart.
Above them, all the crystal was so ripe with energy it was about to explode. The universe vibrated, the entire morphing grid vibrated. Every being with a strong connection to the grid could feel the world-ending catastrophe about to unfold and take all life with it.
But Jace didn't care, nothing else mattered to him but his father, who laid before him with his life rapidly slipping away.
And moments before everything would turn to ash Jace cried out with all of his strength, all of his being.
And the universe flooded with light.
But the crystal didn't explode.
Instead, it simply shattered, raining billions of shimmering particles to the world below and the universe beyond.
"What just happened?" Rylan asked.
"Somebody help me get my dad," Jace exclaimed, ignoring Rylan's question
"I don't think we can move him," Rylan said, looking at how large the pool of blood around Tommy's stomach had gotten.
"I can teleport us back to your ship," Bandora replied, suddenly coming back to her senses."But you've gotta take me with."
"Whatever," Jace said, "Just do it."
Bandora nodded and in a flash of light, they were back in the ship.
Astrid ran to the controls, she didn't exactly understand them, but she knew enough to pull them back to the world below. Meanwhile, Jace, knelt next to his father's body, watching as he struggled to breathe.
"I don't know enough about healing magic to heal your dad," Bandora told Jace, "But I can keep him stable enough to get him back to Mironoi."
Jace nodded, he normally wouldn't trust someone who was one of the Praetor's Crimson Raiders but he didn't have another option.
The ship landed outside the door and they all carried Tommy, with Bandora nearby casting a magic spell that stopped the bleeding.
"I'm sorry for being such a dick all the time," Jace whispered to his dad, who was probably too gone at the moment to even register his words.
"You're a teenager with attitude," His dad muttered in an almost dreamlike voice, "It comes with the territory."
The five of them made it out of the door, where they found Kira and J.J waiting for them.
"Holy shit!" Kira exclaimed. "What happened."
"We killed the Praetor," Jace breathed, "And maybe saved the multiverse, but my dad sacrificed himself…"
It was then that everything hit Jace, the shock, exhaustion, and the intense draining feeling in his spirit.
And everything became a blur.
The Dragon held a smile on her face as she demorphed. The battle had been tough, and although she lost in most regards she won in plenty of others.
Colossus approached and bowed to his master. "What would you like me to do?"
"Bring that to the meat freezer," she said and scowled at the Praetor's corpse. "Ir might still be useful."
"Yes master," Colossus said and reluctantly lifted the massive body over his shoulder.
She then grabbed the Praetor's communicator and spoke swiftly, "Whoever is piloting this ship, if you don't want to die you'll take us out of this dead world immediately."
The ground lurched and vibrated as they were transported back to the other dimension.
It was then that Scorpio and Lucius both approached the warrior.
"Everything worked according to plan," Scorpio said, "It's been an honor to be at your side. I hope I've grown from the child you knew in our world to a warrior who can fight by your side."
"You're a pathetic bug who's only concerned in allying themselves with the winning side," The Dragon replied simply. "Which is why you'll be allowed to transition with me back to our true allies. This ship will be a gift to them, a show of good faith."
She then looked at Lucius and frowned, "Unfortunately you aren't all I was hoping for, and now you're a liability to me."
He stared at her with a stunned and betrayed expression.
"Scorpio, throw him into one of the escape pods and launch him as far away as possible."
"My pleasure," He said and dragged the wounded warrior away.
She turned her back as Lucius was drug away, she had more important things to be investing her time into.