The evil sorceress Rita Repulsa and her followers escape from a Space Dumpster in which they were imprisoned for more than 10,000 years! Longing for revenge, Rita plans to conquer the Earth, or, if all else fails, destroy it! Thankfully, all hope is not lost. The ancient sage Zordon has a plan to save the world with the help of a group of 'teenagers with attitude'! But will they have what it takes to stand against the forces of evil? There's only one way to find out!
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, or any of the associated brands, and I never will. All I own is a collection of fond memories that Power Rangers has brought me over the course of my childhood (and after), and that's all I ever will own, at least for the foreseeable future. Power Rangers and any associated brands belong to their rightful owners.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: A Morphenomenal Adventure!
Chapter 1. Day of the Dumpster
On The Moon…
On the barren surface of the moon, two astronauts could be found walking towards what seemed like a container of some sort. The two were curious, and who wouldn't be? No one would expect to find something like this on the moon of all places…
As the two astronauts approached it though, it almost seemed to shake, making them hesitate. Just as the two wanted to continue on, the object burst open, and beams of light shot out from it. Said beams of light impacted a short distance away, revealing a set of what the astronauts would only describe as monsters, the most notable of whom looked like some sort of giant ape wearing golden armor, and who was holding a threatening-looking sword.
There was also a silver-blue looking dog-like creature, with long curved ears. He seemed to be wearing glasses, as well as a leather apron with various tools, and a blue headband. Compared to the creature in gold, he also looked rather… old.
Standing with the two was another duo of monsters, the first of which was a short, almost round blue creature, wearing metal armor, and with a large horn on his head. The other was a tall black… something… a cross between a monkey and a bat maybe?
Still in shock from the sudden events, the astronauts barely even reacted when a fifth entity made itself known, in the form of another beam of light shooting out of the container thing. This one dissipated to reveal a woman wearing quite definitely the most ugly dress in the history of dresses. And that wasn't even mentioning her hairstyle. Still, everything about this woman radiated power and just… pure evil.
"Oh, here, your Evilness, let me help you." Offering to stabilize the woman, who seemed to be in charge of the group, the black monkey-bat creature made his way over to her. The woman took his help, only to cry out a moment later.
"Ah! Uhh! You made me step in a puddle, you nitwit!" She cried out in a very scratchy voice that would've made the astronauts cover their ears, had they not still been in shock. They seemed to snap out of it at the sound, though.
In their haste to turn around and run away, the humans fell, instantly scrambling to get back to their feet.
"Ahaha! Humans! Don't leave! You'll miss my coming out party!" The scratchy voice called, as the group of monsters turned their attention to the astronauts. "That's when I conquer the nearest planet!" The woman in charge announced almost happily, turning her sights to Earth where it could be seen in the vacuum of space. As she did, she let out what could only be described as a text-book evil laugh.
With a menacing grin, the woman turned back to the astronauts. "But I might make an exception this time..." She stated, leveling her staff at the two and sending a blast of energy at the defenseless pair. When it passed, there was nothing left of them, not even dust or ashes. Along with the astronauts, the space container was also destroyed, leaving a few random shards of it to litter the moon's surface.
"Now… it's time to conquer Earth!" The woman returned to her previous glee, turning back to Earth as her monstrous followers joined her in her apparent happiness.
Angel Grove, Ernie's Youth Center…
Angel Grove Youth Center Gym and Juice Bar, more commonly known as just the Youth Center, was one of the most popular spots in town, especially for… well, the youths. And just as it would be any day, the Youth Center was filled with mostly highschool students today, all doing their own thing to relax - which was possible thanks to the many, many applications the Center had.
There was a section of the Center that was covered in mats, where people could spar and practice martial arts, if they so wished, there was a balance beam, and there was also a heavy punching bag hanging off to the side. A rope hung from the ceiling for people to climb in, and along the wall were various exercise machines. There was a small area that was reserved for arcade machines, and the rest of the Center was dedicated to it's main attraction: Ernie's Juice Bar. Off to the right was the exit to the hallway, which held lockers as well as leading to a storage room and the Center's main exit.
A brunette dressed in pink yoga pants and a flower themed top was practicing on the balance beam, with a another dark-haired girl wearing yellow spotting her. This brunette was arguably the most popular girl in school, Kimberly Ann Hart, and her friend in yellow was Trini Kwan. Two more of their friends were close by, namely on the sparring mats, engaging in a friendly fight.
One was a dark-skinned teen wearing black pants as well as a black short-sleeved shirt and a purple tank top. He was sparring with his best friend, a taller caucasian teen in a red tank top with black pants. They made friendly conversation as they threw a few half-hearted jabs at each other, before creating some distance so they could start sparring for real.
As they did, Kimberly went through her steps on the balance beam, doing so with ease and confidence - a result of lots of practice, and a healthy dose of talent. Over on the mats, the teen in red, Jason Lee Scott, made the first move, attacking his friend, Zachary Taylor, though obviously not with the intent of hurting him.
Jason spun around quickly before jumping up and sending a kick at Zack, but the other teen ducked under the tornado kick with relative ease, having seen the attack coming. The dark-skinned teen waited for a second, then sent a kick of his own. This time it was Jason's turn to duck. Contrary to what Zack had done though, the young man in red followed his evasion up with two rapid kicks, both of which were in turn dodged by Zack, who then attempted to sweep Jason's legs.
Jason avoided by jumping over his friend, landing in a roll to quickly get back up to his feet. He then patiently waited for his sparring partner to attack him again, which turned out to be Zack's downfall. After missing two kicks, and trying a jab which was caught by Jason, Zack's right side was left completely open to attack, allowing Jason to land a jab of his own. The two then separated with a chuckle from Jason, Zack congratulating his taller friend on the victory.
Meanwhile, Trini had gone from watching her best friend Kimberly perform on the balance beam to going through a kata, flowing through the moves with practiced ease. It was obvious she had done this before, though the girl in yellow still kept an eye on Kimberly, too, just to be safe. The girl in pink performed a backflip on the balance beam, while Jason and Zack continued to spar on the mats. Zack tried to kick Jason, but the teen in red caught his foot, after which Zack front-flipped to get out of his hold.
"Nice recovery, Zack." Jason chuckled.
"Yeah, thanks for teaching me, Jason." Was the boy's response, as he came over to clasp hands with his sparring partner.
Just a short distance away, Trini finished her kata, and thus was able to move over immediately when Kimberly front-flipped off the balance beam.
The girl in yellow clapped her hands at Kimberly's success as she walked over. "That was awesome, Kimberly."
"Thanks, Trini." The brunette clad in pink responded, still smiling to herself from the routine she'd just completed successfully.
As the girls started to get into a conversation with each other, another person walked into the Youth Center, wearing a white gi with a blue shirt underneath. The newly arrived boy had blonde hair, and he was wearing glasses as well. Spotting Jason and Zack, he grinned and started to walk over to them, even as more boys in gis were already doing stretches there, or were just chatting amongst each other.
"Hey fellas." The new arrival greeted, nearing Zack.
"Yo, Billy, what's up?" The dark-skinned teen returned, smiling upon seeing his friend come over.
"Well, I think I'm mentally and physically prepared for my first karate class." Billy said, trying to sound confident, though there was definitely some doubt in his voice. Jason smiled supportively, uncrossing his arms as he said his own greetings. The three began to chat, just as two more people arrived. People who were not exactly welcome, if one were to ask most of the people already in the Youth Center.
It was the resident bully duo. One was definitely more than a little overweight, while the other was maybe just a bit on the skinny side. Farkas Bulkmeier and Eugene Skullovitch, respectively. Bulkmeier wore a purple shirt, with a leather jacket and dark jeans, whereas Skullovitch was dressed in a too-cheap grey suit and had a spiked choker around his neck. He was chewing obscenely on a piece of gum, probably thinking it'd make him look cool.
"Oh, no. Look who's here." Trini noted from where she stood beside Kimberly, having noticed the bullies come in. The girl in pink looked over, her amused expression from earlier quickly leaving her face.
"Bulk and Skull." She muttered, exasperated.
"Hi girls! How about that double date?" Bulk asked, noticing the girls not too far away from him. Kimberly rolled her eyes. Skull leaned on the bigger bully's shoulder, nodding along with what he said.
"Yeah." The skinny boy added, along with a high-pitched, annoying laugh. "How about it?"
Kimberly rolled her eyes again and scoffed, while Trini simply turned to the boys with an amused expression on her face. She could hardly believe the two even tried.
"Sorry guys, but we'll pass." She told them, to which Skull sighed in disappointment and proceeded to walk away, towards Ernie's Juice Bar. However, Bulk would not give up so easily, and he pulled his skinnier friend back after grabbing him by the neck of his jacket.
"What's the matter?" He asked, obviously not as amused as Trini appeared to be. "We're not good enough for you?"
"Leave us alone, Bulk." Was Trini's reply. She was growing tired of the guys now too, just as Kimberly had been from the start.
"Oh yeah?" The two bullies chorused. "Make me." Bulk added.
"Yeah, make me!" Skull echoed, appearing to grow confident in having his bigger friend to hide behind again. That confidence was quickly crushed however, as Zack made his way over, standing behind the two girls and putting a hand on each of their shoulders.
"...him. Make him!" Skull quickly corrected, pointing at Bulk and swiftly going back to cowering now that Zack had arrived.
"Hey, you heard what she said. Leave them alone." The boy in black and purple said, not amused. Even if neither of the girls would admit it, both Trini and Kimberly were glad they had friends like Zack that would stand up for them. Then again, what were friends for?
"Well, what do you know?" Bulk picked up on Zack's no-nonsense tone and body language, and he rolled his shoulders and tried to appear threatening. "The dancer wants to be a fighter."
"It's okay, Zack." Kimberly spoke, looking over her shoulder at the dark-skinned boy. "We can handle these two." She added, turning back to the bullies. Zack shrugged, walking away from behind the girls. The bullies, however, were now fixated on the girls again.
"Oh really?" Bulk challenged Kimberly's words. "Let's show them some karate moves, Skull!" He announced, before both bullies proceeded to blindly charge the two girls. Their supposed targets simply stepped aside, grabbing their arms as the bullies ran by and flipping them over with relative ease and minor cries of exertion.
Many people watching the events unfold began laughing as the bullies landed on their backs on the mats, while Zack joined the girls again, all three chuckling softly.
"You guys should definitely join Jason's karate class." Kimberly advised the bullies, aiming to make their embarrassment worse. To add to the drama, Zack whooped, before all three chuckled again.
On the moon, in Rita's newly constructed Moon Palace…
On a balcony of the palace, overlooking Earth, was a large telescope. It was currently in use, the evil witch Rita Repulsa looking through it to scout potential targets for her to attack. Deciding on one, she turned to her troops, which at the moment, consisted of the four monsters that escaped the space container with her.
Not that that was necessarily a bad thing however. Okay, the monkey-bat hybrid and his friend, the short round one - Baboo and Squatt were their names, respectively - were practically useless, but… if they put their minds to it, they could actually accomplish some decent scientific things. They just needed proper encouragement.
The other two of her subordinates however, were a different story. The elder one was Finster. The Claydoian almost looked like what humans would consider an anthropomorphic dog, but despite his short and rather unimpressive appearance, he was by far the most valuable to Rita. You see, the Claydoians have the ability to use rare clay to create powerful items, as well as actual living creatures. Thus, Finster was Rita's primary, and currently only, source of monsters, weapons, and foot soldiers - her Putty Patrollers.
The other valuable force Rita currently had at her disposal was Goldar - the giant ape-looking thing wearing intricate and heavy-duty golden armor. He was without a doubt one of the most skilled and most powerful warriors this side of the galaxy, and he was loyal to boot. One can imagine why Rita was glad to have him there. It would make conquering Earth so much easier.
Taking another glance through the telescope after pondering the status of her troops, Rita decided her current target was the right one.
"Haha, yes, I like it." She announced in her scratchy tone. Squatt and Baboo cheered, while Goldar simply muttered his agreement.
"Finster!" Rita continued, raising her scratchy voice so it echoed beyond the balcony, into the room that led to it.
"Yes, my Empress?" Came the monster-maker's timid voice from inside.
"Start making my Putty Patrollers!" Repulsa ordered. After getting an "Of course, my Empress." from inside, the evil witch turned to Goldar. The golden-clad warrior got the message, and nodded.
"I'll lead them down and make the Earth yours, Empress." He growled in a deep, threatening voice.
Rita nodded, not necessarily fond of Goldar making his own decisions, but glad that he was at least making the right ones. It would be interesting to see how well the warrior would do with just some putty patrollers at his side, though. Then again, it wasn't like she could send another monster with him at the moment.
Having Finster create a monster would require magic and power on her part, and she was still exhausted from summoning her new Moon Palace into existence a short while ago. Oh well, this would be a good test of Earth's defenses, while Rita regained her strength. Speaking of testing Earth's defenses...
Angel Grove, Ernie's Youth Center…
Trini and Kimberly were sitting off to the side, conversing quietly like so many other people currently, given that the majority of the available space was now taken up by Jason's karate class.
Said class seemed to be going smoothly, all the students going through the kata as one, with just one exception. Billy, being a first-timer, had a bit of trouble going through all the different motions, often hesitating, and glancing around to see if he was doing things right. In doing so, Billy was more or less ruining the routine of the other students. Seeing this, Jason told the class to take a break, after which the teen in red made his way over to Billy.
"Billy, try it like this." He said, taking up a spot next to his friend. Jason then proceeded to go through the kata again, but slower, and making sure Billy got it right. As soon as Jason tried to throw in a slightly more advanced maneuver, however, Billy simply threw up his arms.
"I'm just not good at this." The glasses-wearing teen said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Billy, don't worry." Jason said, putting a hand on his friend's should in support. He gestured at himself. "Even I was a beginner once. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, with some practice." With those words, Jason excused himself, walking off to the edge of the mats before calling the class to attention.
"Alright class, what is it that martial arts helps us develop?" He asked, looking over his students to find them all thinking. All except one. Billy was the first to raise his arm, almost right after Jason finished asking his question.
"Billy?"
"Courage, kindness, integrity, fitness, loyalty and discipline." The answer was given almost automatically, showing that while Billy might not have been the best at the physical aspect of Jason's class, he excelled at the academic side of things.
"That's good, Billy. You memorized that very quickly." Jason nodded, his eyebrows raised in both appreciation of Billy's intelligence, as well as the sheer difference in attitude he saw, compared to the Billy from a minute ago.
"Hey!" Came a voice from the back. It belonged to Bulk, who pushed one of Jason's students out of his way after calling him a geek, and then proceeded to make his way to the front of the class, pushing Billy out of his way as well.
Bulk was rubbing Jason the wrong way, and he had been all day. First at school, then that thing with the girls earlier, and now the overweight bully showed up to his karate class wearing a gi with a denim jacket over it? What did he want now? He couldn't seriously be wanting to join the class, could he?
Of course, with Bulk there, Skull wasn't far behind, and Jason found that the skinny bully also wore a gi, with a black jacket and a hat as well.
"Teach us how to beat people up." Bulk growled at Jason, moving to stand beside the teen in red.
"Yeah!" Skull agreed, jumping up and making some laughable movements that he probably thought were martial arts. Jason barely kept himself from bursting into laughter as the two then proceeded to yelp in what they probably that was a karate-like style, though it could very well have been a bird's cry, if Jason didn't know any better. It was funny, that was for sure.
Realizing they were making fools of themselves, Bulk grabbed Skull and pushed him away, then proceeding to strike a 'tough' pose to try and intimidate Jason. The teen in red took a deep breath to calm himself, before speaking in a calm and confident voice.
"The martial arts were not developed to hurt others."
Bulk scoffed. "We did not sign up for a geeky karate class."
Jason rolled his eyes inwardly. They didn't sign up for any karate class. They just came barging in… but since Bulk seemed so keen on learning a lesson…
"Okay, Bulk." He decided, turning back to the bully. "Maybe you're ready for some more advanced techniques."
"Oh, okay." Said a now suddenly cheerful Bulk. Obviously, stroking the bully's ego had the desired effect. Jason turned away, tightening his belt.
He then executed a near perfect side kick, to which Bulk snorted. He appeared to think the move was easy, and that he would just emulate Jason's years of experience and practice.
"Side kick." Jason said, with reference to the move he just performed. The teen in red turned back to his new 'student', who snorted again.
"Anything you can do, I can do better, baby." Bulk boasted, before striking a ridiculous fighting pose. Jason held back his chuckle, gesturing for the bully to go ahead.
Bulk did so without hesitation, throwing his leg forward with a cry of "Hee ya!"
To Jason's surprise, the bully actually did manage to pull off the move somewhat decently, making Skull applaud excessively. But, while surprised, Jason wasn't done. He had other ways to make sure Bulk embarrassed himself. One of those was a move the teen in red was sure Bulk couldn't pull off.
"Tornado kick." Jason announced, watching as Bulk's face contorted in confusion. As before, Jason demonstrated the move, executing the spinning kick near perfectly with practised ease.
He then turned back to his 'student', watching as Bulk suddenly seemed unsure - he seemed to realize Jason meant it when he said advanced techniques. Still, the bully wasn't going to back down, and steeling himself, he took a step forward to create some space.
Bulk then proceeded to make a complete and total fool of himself. The overweight bully let out a cry even more ridiculous than the ones he and Skull had made earlier, and then spun around and fell face-first onto the mats, almost bouncing upon his landing.
The people watching - which by now, was almost everyone in the Youth Center - burst out in laughter, including a somewhat hesitant Skull and a very amused Jason. The teen in red was quick to recover though, not giving Bulk the chance to retort.
"Class dismissed." He called out, to which his students started to disperse, still laughing over Bulk, who was still on the ground.
Angel Grove, Ernie's Youth Center…
Several minutes later when they had all changed into more casual clothes, Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini and Kimberly were sitting around one of the tables in the Juice Bar section of the Youth Center, with four of them trying to convince their fifth friend that he wasn't bad at karate simply for not being able to fully follow his first lesson.
"Billy, I'm telling you, for your first lesson, you did really well." Jason said, as sincerely as he could. The teen in blue seemed doubtful.
"I did?"
"Yeah, we were watching you." Kimberly answered, trying to help Jason. Billy still wasn't convinced.
"I don't know if I've got what it takes..." He muttered, shaking his head. Trini sighed softly.
"It's all in your state of mind, Billy." She said reassuringly. "You don't need to be strong for martial arts."
"Yeah, it's all up here." Zack added, tapping the side of his head as he nodded to his bespectacled friend. Before anyone else had the chance to say anything more, the group was interrupted by none other than Ernie - the owner of the Youth Center was carrying a tray of drinks as he approached their table.
"Who ordered the spinach juice?" He asked good-naturedly, even as the teens turned to him. Before any of them had a chance to answer though, the whole world seemed to start shaking out of nowhere, and violently so.
"Oh no!" Ernie cried out! "It's an earthquake! Everybody, stay calm!"
The man's attempt was in vain though, as a lot of people were already panicking, and trying to rush their way out of the Youth Center. Ernie turned around to try and take stock of the situation, but in doing so lost his balance, resulting in the tray of drinks slamming into the face of Bulk, who had been sitting with Skull at a table nearby.
"Sorry, Bulk!" Ernie called, even as the large bully attempted to get his bearings. The shaking still hadn't stopped though - in fact, it seemed to be getting worse, even as people continued to file out of the Youth Centre, Ernie, Bulk and Skull included.
The earthquake was having its effect on the building too, with much of the furniture falling over or being broken, and parts of the ceiling breaking off to fall to the floor. With many people now having left, the five previously still seated teens finally had a chance to get up, and seek safety of their own, just as the shaking got even more intense.
"Oh man! It must be a big one!" Zack called out, struggling to stay on his feet even as more teens rushed by, and Kimberly cried out as she almost lost her balance, only staying upright by catching herself on the fortunately still standing table.
"You guys, something tells me this is no earthquake..." Billy spoke uncertainly. Something told him this was not natural. He was usually the one with all the answers, but not this time. Still, he had a feeling in his gut that there was more going on here.
At a particularly nasty quake, the five teens grabbed onto each other to stay upright, even as a large metal pipe crashed into the floor not far from them, causing both Trini and Kim to squeal and jump closer to the boys.
"Come on! We need to get out of here!" Jason decided wisely, even as more parts of the Youth Center became damaged in the earthquake - or whatever was going on.
The five started to make their way out of the Juice Bar, planning to head to the nearest emergency exit. However, upon leaving the Juice Bar section, Jason paused, looking down as he felt his skin start to tingle. He brought up his hands to inspect them, only to find a strange red energy running across his arms.
"W-what's going on?" Trini said from his left, where the black-haired girl was in a similar position, stunned to see herself covered in yellow energy of some sort. To her and Jason's right, Zack was caught in a swirl of pure black energy, which was slowly covering him up as the same happened to his friends.
"You guys, this is weird..." Kimberly spoke up softly from where she and Billy were standing a little bit behind them. Just like their friends, the two were being swallowed up by pink and blue energy at an increasing pace, until suddenly, the energy completely overtook them.
"Hold on!" Jason managed to call out to his friends, just before the five suddenly disappeared in a multicolored flash.
In the desert outside Angel Grove, in a strange, ancient looking building…
Somewhere deep inside the desert near Angel Grove stood a strange circular building, covered in even stranger, alien looking markings. The building looked to be made out of some sort of stone-like material, and looked positively ancient. Yet that wasn't all that was strange about this building. No, not quite.
Somewhere inside was a spacious room, empty and dark for the most part, despite many white lights being present in the darkness, almost making them look like stars in space. Near the centre of the chamber however was a small platform, made out of an unknown blue metal. On the platform was a small stand that held a large glowing globe, and only a few feet away from it was a another, larger circular platform surrounded by many advanced looking computers and consoles. This second platform looked out over the third and last interesting structure of the room, a set of extremely tall and advanced looking power coils, with a strange tube in between them. The tube went all the way from the floor to the ceiling, and it was unclear how deep it really went.
On the command platform, a small robot was frantically working on the many consoles, going from one to the next as it tried to silence the many alarms that were going off as well as trying to produce the information it sought.
"Danger, danger!" The small robot cried out repeatedly. It had a brightly colored colorscheme, with a red torso, golden plating on its arms and legs and a large golden lightning bolt painted across its chest. But its most defining feature? That would be its head, which was essentially a golden dome, with a red visor and no other discernible features.
"What is happening?! This is no earthquake!" The robot continued to vocalize it's confusion, furiously typing away at the controls around it, likely in an attempt to find out what was happening.
"Oh! We'll all be destroyed!" The robot cried out, bringing its hands to its dome-like head in exasperation. Really, the robot was overreacting a little, though it's doomsday-thinking made sense. This shaking had no sensible explanation, at least no apparent one. Thankfully, the robot's companion was able to shed some light on that.
The power coils crackled with electricity, before discharging it into the tube, a giant floating head appearing a moment later.
"CALM DOWN, ALPHA. IT'S RITA. SHE'S ESCAPED AND IS ATTACKING THE PLANET." The head spoke.
"Ay-yi-yi!" The robot, Alpha, exclaimed. "What do we do?! Zordon, there are no Rangers to stop her now!" He added.
"PERHAPS NOT, ALPHA, BUT I SENSE ALL HOPE IS NOT YET LOST." Zordon answered his companion. "RECRUIT A TEAM OF TEENAGERS WITH ATTITUDE!" He told his robot companion, echoing words of a teacher long lost.
"No, no! Not teenagers!" Alpha cried out, jumping up and down in frustration. Much like Zordon, he remembered a time long lost.
"THAT'S CORRECT, ALPHA." Zordon insisted. "THEY MAY BE OUR ONLY HOPE."
"I was afraid of that. Ay-yi-yi..." Alpha muttered, before stepping forward to work on the consoles. A few moments and button-presses later, Alpha stepped back.
"Oh, good! The computer's found them, Zordon! Now to fire up the teleportation grid!" He said cheerily, before the small robot walked away from the command platform. Apparently, his aversion to teenagers didn't last very long.
Only a second or two after Alpha had done fired up the teleportation grid, a bright multicolored flash had five teenagers with attitude appearing on the ground near the command platform.
They were quick to get to their feet, looking around in amazement, wonder and caution, and also likely a great deal of confusion.
"Wow… this ain't exactly the mall, is it?" Kimberly voiced her thoughts, more than a little out of it after suddenly appearing… wherever here was. At least it appeared the earthquake had stopped.
Billy walked past Kimberly, stepping onto the command platform as he admired the various consoles, each with their own blinking lights. It appeared he had found something interesting. To him, at least.
"This is magnificent!" The boy in blue said, even as the other four followed him onto the platform.
"I don't get it," Zack was the last to step onto the platform, following Trini, Kim, and Jason. "how'd we end up here?" He asked the question they all were thinking of. Well, one of the questions, anyway.
"I just want to know where here is." Trini added, not disagreeing with Zack. Billy turned to what appeared to be the main console, stepping toward it.
"Well, maybe the answer is in these controls." He thought out loud.
"No! No, don't touch tha- Whoa-WHOAH!" In his rush to get back to the command platform and stopping the 'teenagers with attitude' from making a big mistake, Alpha had miscalculated the amount of steps required to get on the platform, resulting in him stumbling and falling.
And getting the attention of said 'teenagers with attitude'.
"Whoah..." Billy breathed in disbelief, stepping forward to try and help the small robot back to his feet, even as the other four watched on.
"A fully sentient, multifunctional automaton." The bespectacled teen observed, inspecting Alpha from up close. "Never seen anything quite like it." He added, mostly to himself.
From up in his tube, Zordon watched on, briefly wondering how it was that none of the new arrivals had seen him yet. "WELCOME, HUMANS, TO THE COMMAND CENTRE." He spoke, aiming to gain their attention.
The five turned around, only for them to be caught by surprise as they found a giant floating head had spoken to them. Jason was the first to recover, stepping in front of the others as if to protect them.
"So, who are you?" The teen in red asked, not impolitely. Somehow, he had a feeling this… head had answers for them. Kimberly moved to stand beside Jason, still a bit in shock.
"Like, what are you?" She asked, adding to her eldest friend's question.
"I AM ZORDON, AN INTERGALACTIC BEING CAUGHT IN A TIME WARP." Zordon answered, looking down at them from his tube. Alpha walked around the five to stand before Jason and Kimberly.
"And my name is Alpha-5." He introduced himself. Kimberly shook her head, now back to being fully in shock.
"Excuse me, will, like, somebody come back down to Earth and pick me up, 'cause I'm totally confused." She complained.
"IT'S QUITE SIMPLE, MY DEAR." Zordon said immediately. "THIS PLANET IS UNDER ATTACK, AND I HAVE BROUGHT YOU FIVE HERE TO SAVE IT."
"Yeah, right." Zack, scoffed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Zordon didn't seem to be surprised, or bothered by Zack's behavior.
"AH, A NONBELIEVER." The intergalactic sage mused. "TAKE A LOOK AT THE VIEWING GLOBE BEHIND YOU. ALL YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE IMAGES YOU SEE."
The five looked behind them to find a glowing ball on a pedestal, for lack of better terms, and unanimously figured that must be the 'Viewing Globe'. They made their way over to find it's glow diminishing, to be replaced by images of what they could only describe as a witch out of a children's tv-show - if witches in children's tv-shows had the worst fashion sense possible, that was.
"THIS IS RITA REPULSA, AN EVIL SORCERESS WHO IS BENT ON CONTROLLING THE UNIVERSE." Zordon narrated, as the images changed to a group of what seemed to be humanoid clay-creatures, some who had blades or blunt weapons instead of hands. There was also a large ape-like creature wearing heavy golden armor, labeled 'Goldar'.
"WITH HER HENCHMEN AND PUTTY PATROLLERS, SHE NOW NO DOUBT PLANS TO CONQUER EARTH."
Trini, confused, turned back to look at Zordon. "What does all of this," she gestured at the images in the viewing globe, "have to do with us?"
"YOU FIVE HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO FORM AN ANCIENT AND ELITE FIGHTING FORCE TO BATTLE RITA. EACH OF YOU WILL BE GIVEN ACCESS TO EXTRAORDINARY POWERS DRAWN FROM THE ANCIENT CREATURES YOU CALL DINOSAURS." Zordon was all too happy to explain.
"Dinosaurs?" Kimberly, echoed, incredulous. This was sounding stranger with the second.
Instead of explaining more, Zordon decided to just show them. With small flashes of light, the five teenagers were suddenly wearing belts, with the weirdest belt buckles. Buckles they were all quick to grab and inspect.
"BEHOLD! THE KEYS TO YOUR POWER." Zordon announced, hiding his emotions at seeing the familiar devices again.
"What are these?" Zack asked, even as the five continued to inspect their newfound items.
"THESE ARE YOUR POWER MORPHERS. WHEN IN DANGER, UNLOCK THEM, AND CALLING THE NAME OF YOUR DINOSAUR, YOU WILL MORPH INTO THE FORMIDABLE FIGHTING FORCE KNOWN TO ONE AND ALL AS THE POWER RANGERS." Zordon answered, before being interrupted again.
"Morph?" Kimberly asked, not quite understanding.
"Metamorphosis!" Billy said excitedly, upon realizing what Zordon must have meant the devices were for.
"That means to change." Trini explained helpfully, being one of the few that spoke 'Billy-talk'.
"AS POWER RANGERS, YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO UNIMAGINABLE POWER, AND WILL COMMAND FIGHTING MACHINES KNOWN AS DINOZORDS." Zordon continued, deciding to finish his explanation before any more interruptions could stop him.
"JASON, BOLD AND POWERFUL, YOU SHALL LEAD THE RANGERS AND COMMAND THE TYRANNOSAURUS DINOZORD." The intergalactic being spoke, addressing Jason as the teen in red felt an incredible wave of power wash over him. At the same time, Jason almost thought he could hear a distant roar, even as something… connected him to the coin in the center of his morpher. Looking down, he found it now beared an image of a roaring tyrannosaurus rex.
"ZACHARY, YOU ARE CLEVER AND BRAVE. YOU SHALL COMMAND THE MASTODON DINOZORD." Zordon then turned to Zack, who froze briefly as he found himself in a similar situation, with his golden coin now depicting a mastodon.
"KIMBERLY, GRACEFUL AND SMART, THE PTERODACTYL DINOZORD SHALL BECOME YOURS." The pink-clad girl turned to Zordon as she was being addressed, only to look down at feeling her thoughts be tugged to the coin in her morpher. She gasped at the sight of a pterodactyl being shown on the coin.
"BILLY, PATIENT AND WISE, YOU SHALL COMMAND THE POWERFUL TRICERATOPS DINOZORD." Zordon went on, with Billy looking down to find his coin emblazoned with a triceratops.
"TRINI, FEARLESS AND AGILE, THE SABER-TOOTHED TIGER DINOZORD SHALL BE YOURS TO COMMAND." Zordon finished his monologue, while Trini examined her newly designed coin, the saber-toothed tiger being inspected thoroughly.
"OBSERVE THE VIEWING GLOBE." Zordon instructed after giving the teens a few seconds. When the teens turned to the globe again, they found images of their aforementioned Dinozords, the teens being in awe at the sight of the machines. They appeared every bit as formidable as Zordon had made them out to be. As they watched, the images changed to show the machines come together, first to form some sort of giant tank, which then changed into an even more gigantic humanoid robot.
"JUST AS THE FIVE OF YOU WORK TOGETHER, SO TOO DO YOUR ZORDS. WHEN YOU NEED HELP, YOU NEED ONLY TURN TO YOUR DINOZORDS, AND THEY WILL COME TOGETHER TO FORM THE MIGHTY MEGAZORD."
And now with Zordon's explanation finished, the teens finally truly had a moment to themselves to think it all over. Zack scoffed to himself, gaining the attention of the other occupants in the room, Alpha and Zordon included.
"Power Morphers? Megazords?" The dark-skinned teen, shook his head as he thought out loud, before turning to Zordon. "I don't know. This is just too weird for me. I'll tell you what; it's been real, but I've got to go."
Almost as if from a trance, Zack's words seemed to have an effect on his friends, snapping them from their own thoughts, and making them realize how ridiculous this all sounded.
"Yeah, see you." Kimberly agreed with Zack, moving to follow him off the platform, even as Zack turned to the other three.
"You coming?" The words were enough to convince Billy and Trini,giving them the last push they needed before they too stepped off the platform. "Jason!" Zack called for the last member of their group.
"What?" The teen in red wondered, not having been paying attention. He was too caught up in his own thoughts.
"Let's go, man!" Zack insisted, confused as to why Jason still appeared so interested in Zordon.
"Yeah. We're leaving." Jason answered his best friend, though something compelled him to hold eye contact with Zordon for just a moment longer. He didn't know why, but something here felt… off. Little did the teen know that Zordon knew exactly how Jason felt. It was for that reason alone that he would allow the five to leave.
"VERY WELL. THEN MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU ALL." Zordon said as the five teenagers left the room to go search for an exit.
"Well, that didn't go very well, now did it? Ay-yi-yi..." Alpha muttered, appearing put out now that the Power Rangers didn't seem to be returning after all. Teenagers or not, the small robot really had hoped for the Rangers' return.
"WORRY NOT, ALPHA. THEY MAY YET CHANGE THEIR MINDS." Zordon assured his companion, a knowing tone lacing his voice.
On the moon, in Rita's Moon Palace…
Rita Repulsa chuckled as she turned away from her telescope. Oh, the things she could see from here... "Really, Zordon, teenagers? How surprising!" She laughed, sarcasm dripping from the sorceress' voice.
Still, Zordon's return could turn out to be troublesome… "So you think you can stop me, do you? ...Finster!" Rita called to her famed monster-maker. "Hurry up with those Putty Patrollers!"
Inside, Finster was busy at work molding his special clay into roughly humanoid shapes. It had taken some time to get his machinery and equipment set up, but it was worth it. Now he was able to essentially mass produce Putty Patrollers and other creatures for his Empress.
"Yes, your evilness! I'm just molding the last ones now." The claydoian answered his Empress' hails, even as Squatt and Baboo watched him do so. With the last Putties molded, Finster added them to a plate filled with miniature clay sculptures, all of Putty Patrollers.
"Those Putty Patrollers will make short work of those pesky teenagers!" Squatt claimed excitedly.
"And the beauty is: if they don't, we can always make more." Finster told his fellow monster as he took the tray of sculptures and carried it over to a large oven-like machine. "Now, into the Monster-Matic they go. Ten seconds should do the job."
Given the Claydoian's experience, no one argued his expertise, and true to his word, it was only ten seconds later that a group of full-sized Putty Patrollers emerged from a large tube connected to the Monster-Matic.
"Now, my Putties! Prepare to get those teenagers!" Said the scratchy voice of Rita Repulsa, the sorceress having made her way inside. She then proceeded to laugh in glee, believing she had the perfect plan to destroy Zordon's new pet humans.
"Those stupid teenagers don't know who they're messing with!"
Angel Grove, outside the Command Centre…
It had taken a while, but eventually, Zack had managed to find a way out for him and his friends, the five now finding themselves outside a strange looking building in what appeared to be a desert. They could only hope it was the very desert near their home, Angel Grove.
"Great!" Kimberly commented sarcastically. "He could have at least sent us back into town..."
Even though Kimberly had a point, going back inside to request just that didn't occur to any of the five. Instead they just started walking, wanting to get back home as soon as they possibly could. It wasn't long until they found a rocky slope that led down from the apparent hill the Command Centre was situated on.
After minutes of going down rocky slope after rocky slope in silence, Jason finally spoke up. He had been plagued by doubt ever since leaving the Command Centre. It was almost as if something was calling him there. It was the same feeling he got whenever he thought of the Tyrannosaurus Power Coin attached to his Morpher. ...what if Zordon was right?
"Look, maybe we shouldn't have left." Jason addressed the group. "I mean, he chose us to save the world. I think we should do it."
"Do you think we can?" Trini asked, doubtful, but also curious.
"Hey man, you don't even know what you're talking about, Jason." Zack piped up, trying to convince his best friend to drop his ridiculous idea. "We were just talking to a giant floating head! Come on! It's ridiculous!"
"Exactly, Zack!" Jason argued. "We just spoke with a floating head and a robot, after somehow getting taken to the middle of the desert. None of us are arguing that it didn't happen."
By now, the group had stopped walking, Billy, Kim and Trini turning around to watch the exchange between Zack and Jason. Being best friends, the two rarely argued, and despite this clearly being an argument, Jason spoke with a calm and collected voice, obviously not feeling any agitation toward Zack.
"Look, man, with all that just happened, is it really that weird to think that maybe Zordon was right?" The teen in red asked the question rhetorically, but Zack didn't seem willing to change his opinion regardless.
"I must admit, Jason has a point." Billy interjected. "We have no reason to trust any of this, but there is no evidence that Zordon is lying either." The bespectacled teen added.
"Uh… you guys..." Kim drew the others' attention away from each other not so much with her words, but more with the uncertainty and slight fear in her voice.
The five teens looked around to find themselves surrounded by strange creatures. They were humanoid, and appeared to be made out of some sort of hard clay or rock. The creatures moved about constantly, making it hard to tell how many there were. Naturally, the five teenagers from Angel Grove were too much shock to be doing that in any case.
"Look out!" Zack cried out as one of the creatures moved too close to Trini for comfort.
Distracted by Zack's cry, Kimberly didn't notice one of the clay-creatures backflipping to land behind her, and so she screamed when she was suddenly grabbed from behind, a second attacker quickly joining the first in dragging her away from the group.
"Zack!" Adrenaline taking over from shock now, Jason made eye contact with Zack and nodded. Out of the five of them, they and Trini were the only ones that knew martial arts, so they stood the best chance at fighting. Their masculine pride made it so that they at least had to try to protect their friends.
"Right! These two are mine." The dark-skinned teen responded, targeting two creatures in front of him. He charged toward them, even as the creatures did the same. They both threw punches at him, but Zack caught their blows on his arms, before pushing one away, and using the newfound room to punch another.
Meanwhile, Jason had engaged another creature, landing a solid roundhouse kick to send it spawling to the ground. Another creature approached the teen in red, only to find itself floored with a tornado kick. As Jason turned back around though, he was dismayed to find his first 'victim' getting back appeared these creatures were actually tougher than they looked.
Following Jason and Zack's lead, Trini had also decided to engage the obviously hostile creatures, dodging under a swing from one before hitting it with several jabs, sending it stumbling back a few steps, though it only seemed dazed, and not hurt. Behind her, another creature zipped past, heading toward Billy - who now found himself all alone.
The bespectacled teen found himself tackled by two of the creatures at once, which actually appeared to be his saving grace, as the two clay-like things ended up tangled together, allowing the boy in blue to crawl out from under them. As soon as he got back to his feet however, Billy found himself engaged by yet another creature, this one simply hitting him in the chest, sending Billy flying through the air before landing painfully on the ground a short distance away, his breath knocked out of him.
Kimberly, still being dragged by her two assailants, finally found a rush of adrenaline coming to her as well, and the pink-clad girl employed her gymnastics instinctively, using a backflip to get out of her attackers' grasps. This left her wide open for a third creature to sneak up on her though, who grabbed her and literally threw her onto Billy where he'd landed a few moments ago.
The other three teens, despite being better fighters, found themselves in similar predicaments. Their attackers had deemed them the larger threats, and responded accordingly, grouping up on them. Zack tried to make his way to Jason, hoping they could stand a chance together, but before he could do so much as take a step in his friend's direction, he was grabbed from behind, another creature approaching from before him.
Having no other options, Zack attempted to drop-kick the creature, only to have his feet caught. Now utterly powerless, the dark-skinned teen was suddenly gripped by a wave of fear, even as he was dropped to the ground unceremoniously. A third creature approached, kicking Zack in his side with enough force to make him cry out even as he was also sent flying onto the pile that was Kimberly and Billy.
Trini had given up on trying to attack the creatures as more and more focused on her, especially now that her friends were being taken out one by one. Her attacks didn't seem to have any effect anyway. Now, the girl wearing yellow was just trying to dodge the attacks thrown her way, but that was not an easy task. And after ducking under a few swings from a creature in front of her, she suddenly found herself pushed harshly from the side, sending her rolling across the ground to her friends.
Jason, being the only one left standing at the moment, had been getting overwhelmed slowly by the sheer number of foes, just like the others had been, though the teen in red pushed himself to keep fighting. Surrounded by enemies, Jason tried to punch the one on his left, only for his arm to be caught, trying to punch the one his right had the same result, but Jason didn't give up there, sending a kick at the creature before him.
His leg was also caught, but Jason had been expecting that, and instead twisted around in the creatures' grip, kicking the one before him in the back of its head with his free leg instead. Doing so brought him off balance however, a fact the two still holding his arms were quick to exploit, as they send the teen tumbling toward his friends.
Having grouped them together again, the creatures surrounded them once more, closing in on them slowly. However, this also allowed the five teens to gather their bearings and take a second to think since the start of this encounter.
"This day is too weird..." Kimberly muttered half-heartedly, not quite sure what to think of the situation, but very much creeped out by it.
"What do we do now?" Trini asked, more focused than her best friend, though equally as clueless as to how to proceed. They had no idea what was going on, after all…
Jason, instead of thinking like the others, searched his instincts instead. He had no idea why he did that, but it was almost like he did it intuitively. His instincts led the teen's thoughts to the other strange things that happened today - to Zordon, and to the images they'd all seen in the Viewing Globe.
Wait… the Viewing Globe! These creatures… they seemed awfully similar to the Putty Patrollers Zordon had shown them! As if on cue, Jason felt that strange tug again, the one he'd felt when Zordon gave him his 'Power Morpher'. Looking down, Jason found the golden coin on the Morpher glowing softly, making him grab it to inspect it more closely. And just like that, it all clicked in his head.
"Guys, Zordon said these things would give us power. Let's do it!" He said, getting to his feet as he took the Morpher off his belt. The other four, confused, but strangely compelled to follow his lead, did the same, grabbing their morphers and getting to their feet.
"Mastodon!" Zack called out the name of his dinosaur to activate his morpher. He wasn't quite sure how he'd remembered that after everything that had happened in the past few minutes, though he apparently somehow had. But that wasn't all. His body seemed to be moving of its own accord, opening and activating the Morpher in his hands as he held it out before him. Unbeknownst to him, the mastodon coin gave of a bright black glow.
"Pterodactyl!" Kimberly followed, being in the same boat as Zack, though that could really be said of all five of them. Her body followed through the same movements, and the brunette's pterodactyl coin gave off a bright pink glow, contrasting Zack's.
"Triceratops!" Billy continued the trend, shouting out the name of the dinosaur assigned to him and activating his Morpher, adding a blue glow to the mix.
"Saber-toothed Tiger!" Trini was quick to add her own yellow glow by activating her Morpher, leaving only Jason.
"Tyrannosaurus!"
As Jason shouted the name of his dinosaur and activated his morpher, the five teens were suddenly hit by a surge of power, not unlike the one they'd felt when they were first given their Power Morphers - only this time, it was a lot stronger, and it didn't seem to be going away, either.
Looking down, Jason found a possible explanation. He was still wearing red, but not his clothes. Instead, he appeared to be wearing some sort of spandex-like uniform, with a large white diamond pattern running across his torso. He also wore a white belt, with what appeared to be some sort of weapon in a holster on his left hip, as well as white boots and gloves, both with a red diamond-pattern. His Power Morpher, Tyrannosaurus Power Coin included, appeared to have become part of his belt. What Jason didn't realize yet, was that he was also wearing a red helmet, with a silver mouthpiece, and a vague, tyrannosaurus-like design.
Behind him, the other four had gone through similar wardrobe changes, with all of them wearing uniforms almost identical to Jason's except for the colors and helmets. Zack wore a black and white uniform, instead of red and white, and his helmet was shaped to look more like a mastodon, albeit vaguely. Billy and Trini had blue and yellow uniforms respectively, with helmets resembling a triceratops for Billy, and a saber-toothed tiger for Trini. Kim's uniform had the greatest difference. It was pink and white, but it also had a short skirt that went mid-thigh, and had a white trim. Her helmet was also different, being white for the majority, and having a vague pink resemblance of a pterodactyl attached to it.
While the newly morphed Rangers were appreciating their costumes, the clay-creatures took the opportunity to escape, recognizing the bright uniforms instinctively. They did not want to be anywhere near the Power Rangers.
It took only a moment for the five to realize that the creatures were gone, but before any of the five had a chance to comment on it, the new Power Rangers were hit by a somewhat familiar feeling. It was the same one from back in the Youth Center! Though now having morphed and properly connected to the Morphing Grid, the five were instantly able to recognize it as teleportation, and so they didn't feel the need to panic as they disappeared in a brightly colored flash.
Angel Grove, near the docks
The Power Rangers reappeared in a large open space near the docks, their now enhanced minds recognizing the environment as their home, Angel Grove. Their attention was quickly drawn to a large ape-like monster wearing heavy-duty golden armor, who was also carrying a threatening looking sword.
The five new Power Rangers had never met him before, but they knew who this was: Goldar, one of Rita's most trusted and powerful warriors. Goldar raised his sword to the sky, and in a flash of lightning, a group of Putty Patrollers appeared around him, charging toward the Power Rangers without a second thought, while Goldar was content to hang back and watch for the time being.
"Alright, let's do it!" Jason motivated the others, the Red Ranger rushing forward to meet the enemy's charge. He sidestepped a slash from a Putty with a blade for an arm, before hitting it with a single punch that sent it flying. He then ducked under a kick from a second Putty, before kicking at a third that attempted to sneak up on him. Like the one before it, it went flying, amazing Jason. He wasn't even using his full strength… evidently, Zordon meant it when he said they'd become powerful.
Zack was quick to join the Red Ranger in the fun, weakly kicking a Putty to make it double over. The Black Ranger then elbowed his foe into the ground, leaving the concrete cracked and the Putty well beyond defeated. Another Putty Patroller came rushing over only to be kicked and sent flying into a wall a far away, while only a short distance away from Zack was Billy, the Blue Ranger picking up Zack's leftover opponents as much as he was watching the Black Ranger's back.
Billy blocked a strike from a Putty's blade with his gloved hand, before elbowing it in the stomach, resulting in another Putty flying overhead, even as the Blue Ranger continued with a roundhouse kick that sent another Putty to the ground with a single blow. He ducked under the swing of a third putty, before sweeping its legs out from under it, finishing the Putty off with a quick jab to its face - the Putty's head being left embedded in the street.
Kimberly was in her element, her gymnastics expertise enhanced now that she was a Power Ranger. The Pink Ranger was constantly on the move, flipping and cartwheeling around the battle, staying out of the Putties' reach. Whenever she saw an opening, she exploited it mercilessly, striking the creatures when they were most vulnerable - with devastating effect, given her newfound strength. This way, a strategy was quickly set up between herself and Trini.
The Yellow Ranger was surrounded by Putties, but unlike before, not worried at all. She was effortlessly evading and blocking their strikes, using quick and weak jabs to bring them off balance, so Kimberly could finish them off. This way, the Pink and Yellow Rangers quickly disposed of almost all their attackers, with only a single one left. Kimberly backflipped, simultaneously kicking the Putty and thus launching it into the air, where Trini sent it flying into the water with a powerful and perfectly executed jump kick.
On the moon, Rita's Moon Palace…
"Finster!" Rita's scratchy voice echoed around the room, even as she entered it. The elderly monster-maker was there, busily molding clay sculptures, no doubt trying to get a head start on making monsters for his Empress.
"Those stupid Putties a getting beaten by a bunch of pimple-faced nitwits! They're pathetic!" Rita continued her tantrum, continuing to practically scream even though she was practically standing next to everyone - and thus making them all jump back.
Though nobody outright said it, they all knew why Rita was so mad. She thought she had taken care of the Power Rangers a long time ago, so for them to be here now…
"How about making Goldar big with your wand?" Baboo offered carefully. He didn't want to speak out of turn, lest facing Rita's wrath, but if she wanted options… well, growing big used to be the only way anyone really stood a chance against the Power Rangers, back in the day….
At the suggestion, Rita made a disgusted noise and turned away, still seething with anger. That couldn't be good for anyone. On the bright side, she could use that anger to fuel her magic...
"Ugh. I always have to do everything myself. Finster, I'll deal with you later!" Rita grumbled loudly as she left for the balcony again.
"Oh dear..." Finster muttered softly, making sure Rita didn't hear him. It appeared he was going to be taking the blame for the Power Rangers reappearing after ten thousand years…
By the balcony, Rita took her staff, which doubled as her wand, and imbued it with magic.
"Magic wand, make my Goldar grow!" She chanted, throwing the wand at Earth, the spell taking the object straight to Goldar and the Power Rangers near instantly.
Angel Grove, near the docks…
Rita's magic wand impacted the ground a few feet away from Goldar, discharging it's magic charge before disappearing completely. The magic had taken hold of Goldar though, and in a burst of red energy, the ape-like monster grew to the size of a skyscraper in a few seconds, leaving the Rangers momentarily stunned.
"Whoah! Look at him! He's huge!" Jason gaped, craning his neck to look up at their new problem. Goldar simply laughed as he stomped the ground, making it shake and the Rangers lose their footing. They were quick to get back to their feet though.
"Back off, Fang Face!" the Red Ranger shouted up at their enemy.
"Get off our planet!" The Blue Ranger added.
"Yeah! The good guys are here!" The Black Ranger agreed, supporting his friends.
"We're the Power Rangers..." The Yellow Ranger started.
"...and we're not backing down!" The Pink Ranger finished.
In response to their little speech, Goldar simply chuckled, attempting to stab them with his now giant sword, but the Rangers scrambled to avoid the attack - barely.
At a bit of a loss in terms of what to do, Jason once more found help from his newfound 'Ranger instincts', this time in the form of Zordon's words echoing in his head. Whenever you need help, you need only turn to your Dinozords. Jason steeled himself at the thought, knowing what needed to be done now.
"We need Dinozord power, now!" He called out, raising his hand to the sky to summon the Zords for the very first time. Surprisingly enough, it only took an instant for them to appear from wherever they'd been hidden. True to Zordon's words, they were indeed giant machines resembling dinosaurs - their color schemes even matched their respective Rangers'!
Jason found the strength to jump all the way up to the head of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord, finding a hatch to enter what appeared to be a cockpit. "Log on!" He told his teammates, through a comm. unit he instinctively knew was installed in their helmets.
The other four were quick to follow his lead, jumping up and entering the cockpits of their respective Dinozords.
"Zack here, this is kicking!" The Black Ranger called out in glee, liking this Ranger thing more and more, now that he got to be in his Mastodon Dinozord..
"This is Billy, all systems go!" The Blue Ranger butted in, even as he was still checking out the cockpit of his Triceratops Dinozord.
"Trini here, ready!" The Yellow Ranger added from inside her Saber-toothed Tiger Dinozord.
"Hey, nice stereo!" Kimberly was the last one to log on, and though the Pink Ranger seemed distracted by the options in her Pterodactyl Dinozord, she was more than ready, just like the rest.
"All right, Let's do this!" Jason exclaimed, as the five Zords started charging toward Goldar - who suddenly seemed a lot less big. "Let's bring 'em together!"
"It's amazing! I know how to drive this thing!" Trini pointed out the obvious, though no one minded. In fact, they were all wondering why they seemed to be able to operate the giant machines.
"Affirmative, it's almost like second nature to me." Billy agreed, even as the Saber-toothed Tiger Dinozord and the Triceratops Dinozord moved ahead of the rest. The two Zords reformed, lowering their main bodies closer to the ground as their tails drew into the Zords' bodies, revealing two points where something could attach.
Meanwhile, the Black Ranger's Mastodon Dinozord split in two, transforming into two giant cannons, even as the Pterodactyl Dinozord combined with the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord. The combination of the two attached to the Saber-toothed Tiger and Triceratops Dinozords, becoming a body of sorts. The newly formed Mastodon cannons attached to the back of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord, while it's head, complete with tusks, attached to the front, completing the combination.
"Megazord Tank Mode, ready!" Jason announced, the Red Ranger now finding himself in a much larger cockpit than before, four empty seats having appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. They were quickly filled as the other four Rangers joined him though, all five Rangers moving to work on their respective consoles. Jason found Zack and Billy to his left and right respectively, will Kim and Trini took up positions behind him.
"Alright guys, let's go get him!" Jason ordered, even as the Megazord charged at Goldar.
"Right!" The other four chorused.
Goldar, not wanting to waste any more time and let the new Rangers get even more powerful, charged up energy in his sword, discharging it with a simple swing. The wave of energy impacted the Megazord, leaving the five Rangers to be knocked around in the cockpit as sparks erupted from just about anything.
"You and your weapons are no match for me!" Goldar boasted, happy that the Rangers might not be as big of a threat as he'd feared when he first saw them form the Megazord. The Rangers, however, were not quite done, and quickly pulled themselves back to focus.
"Alright, guys, let's see what this baby can do!" Jason announced, hitting a few buttons on his console to get the main cannons to fire. The resulting twin energy blast had Goldar crying out in pain, the golden-clad monster stumbling back.
"Yeah! Zap him again!" Jason ordered, happy with the apparent result of his attack. The Five Rangers quickly set about using their consoles, getting all weapons to fire. The result was a multitude of rainbow-colored energy beams launching toward Goldar, who simply had no chance to dodge. The monster was sent flying, making the ground shake when he impacted a fair distance away.
"Let's send this guy back where he came from!" Jason proposed to his teammates, the Red Ranger finding no disagreement there. He had the Megazord stop in its tracks, intuitively knowing there was more to the combination of Zords.
"Right!" The other four chorused once again.
"Let's power it up!" Jason ordered, beginning to work on his console. "Activating Megazord Battle Mode!"
It took a series of commands, but when the Red Ranger finished typing, the Megazord began to move on its own, the Triceratops and Saber-toothed Tiger Dinozords shifting even as the Zord's main body began to lift higher. The yellow and blue Zords transformed themselves into what appeared to be legs, while the Pterodactyl Dinozord detached from the combination briefly.
The Mastodon cannons transformed into massive and powerful arms, one of them grabbing the Mastodon Dinozord's former head from the Megazord's chest, only to place it on it's back. The Tyrannosaurus Dinozord's head disappeared into it's body, revealing a smaller, more humanoid head. It was now that the Pterodactyl Dinozord returned, wrapping itself around the Megazord's chest to form a protective armor.
"Megazord activated." The computer read out loud when the Megazord was standing at it's full height, the Rangers marveling at their new toy. They were distracted for just a moment too long though, as Goldar suddenly appeared before them, slashing the gigantic Zord brutally.
The Power Rangers barely hung onto their seats as the Megazord was forced to stumble back in a rain of sparks. Goldar slashed the Megazord again quickly, before attempting to stab the giant Zord, but by now, the Rangers had recovered from their initial surprise and shock and were ready.
The Megazord sidestepped Goldar's attack, letting him rush past. The massive Zord brushed aside the monster's sword as it turned back to face him, before hitting him with a powerful punch that sent him stumbling back.
Just like the Rangers though, Goldar was quick to recover, and quickly sliced at the Megazord another two times, his third attempt being blocked by the Megazord, which allowed the Rangers another chance to strike Goldar, this time even harder than before.
Goldar was sent flying, rolling across the ground as he landed, and flattening several trees along the way. The golden-clad ape monster was quick to get back on his feet however, alarming the Rangers.
"Red! That blow didn't even faze him!" Billy cried out, turning to the Red Ranger beside him. Jason made the mistake of turning to face the Blue Ranger, if only for a moment. When the Red Ranger looked back in front of them, Goldar was literally flying at them.
"Watch out!" Jason cried hopelessly. Goldar struck the Megazord with a powerful dropkick, sending it back - though the Megazord miraculously stayed on its feet.
"You fools are finished!" Goldar growled venomously, after getting back to his feet. He swung his sword threateningly, but Jason had other ideas - especially since that Ranger intuition was acting up again.
"Power Sword!" Jason called out, entering a command into his console. The Megazord raised its hand to the clouds, from which a massive broadsword fell, ending up in the ground before the Megazord. The giant robot didn't hesitate to grab the weapon, an instant energy boost strengthening the Zord as it held the weapon.
Goldar, for one, appeared to recognize when he was outclassed. These new Rangers might only just be learning, but they were learning fast. He wasn't going to let their luck become his downfall.
"Argh… this isn't over! I'll be back." The golden-clad warrior growled, before activating a basic teleportation spell and disappearing from sight.
The immediate threat neutralized, the Megazord stood at rest, allowing the five teens inside its cockpit to properly celebrate. Perhaps they would have done so too, if they hadn't had more pressing matters to think of.
With the five of them no longer running on adrenaline alone, they had finally come to realize what they had just been a part of, what they had just done. And with a single look at each other, the five unanimously decided they wanted answers. It was time for another talk with Zordon, it seemed.
Angel Grove, in the Command Centre…
"CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE." Zordon spoke as the newly-minted Power Rangers arrived on the command platform, now back in their civilian clothes.
"NOW THAT YOU HAVE BECOME POWER RANGERS, YOU MUST FOLLOW THREE BASIC RULES, OR LOSE THE PROTECTION OF THE POWER." The ancient sage continued, not giving any of the five a chance to ask the questions that they no doubt had.
"FIRST: NEVER USE YOUR POWER FOR PERSONAL GAIN. SECOND: NEVER ESCALATE A BATTLE UNLESS RITA FORCES YOU TO. AND FINALLY, KEEP YOUR IDENTITIES A SECRET. NO ONE MAY KNOW YOU ARE THE POWER RANGERS."
"Whoa, whoa, wait a second." Zack cut off whatever Zordon was going to say next.
"YES, ZACHARY, WHAT IS IT?" The ancient sage wondered, secretly not liking to have to answer questions already. He had hoped to put off on that for a while, wanting a chance to think on what to tell the new Rangers exactly. It seemed he would get no such chance, however.
"Well, I'm not so sure we're all up for this. I mean, we were pretty lucky this time." The dark-skinned teen spoke the doubt on his mind, and Zordon hummed in recognition of the boy's doubts.
"LUCK HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. YOU FIVE WERE CHOSEN TO BECOME POWER RANGERS. THE POWER THAT ALLOWS YOU TO BE HEROES ALSO ENSURES YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES. THE BASICS OF BEING A POWER RANGER WILL COME TO YOU NATURALLY, AND YOU WILL GROW MORE POWERFUL AS TIME PASSES AND YOU GROW MORE EXPERIENCED." Zordon explained.
"YOU FIVE WILL MAKE AS FINE A GROUP OF SUPERHEROES AS EVER THERE HAS BEEN." He added, eyeing the five teens before him. "AS A TEAM, YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE TOGETHER. YOU NEED EACH OTHER NOW, AND THE WORLD NEEDS YOU."
"Alright, I'm in." Jason announced, nodding at Zordon with a smile. The Red Ranger wasn't so sure about what Zordon had said, but he was getting that same feeling he'd had when they first came here earlier - and he wasn't going to ignore it a second time.
"Yeah, me too." Zack added. He'd been unsure of it all before, true, but after what they'd just seen and gone through? He was convinced. Besides, he wasn't going to leave his best friend to face the monsters alone.
"Count me in." Trini also added her support, nodding at Jason and Zack.
"Affirmative." Billy smiled. Kimberly, meanwhile, appeared deep in thought.
"I don't know, you guys..." She thought out loud. "I mean, the outfits are cool and everything, but my hair gets all tangled up inside the helmet. I don't think I can do it."
At the brunette's words, the boys appeared surprised, Jason and Zack even muttering softly in protest at Kimberly's words, while Trini bit back a chuckle at her best friend's antics. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next...
"Not!" The girl in pink suddenly shouted, catching everyone by surprise. Well, everyone but Trini and Zordon. "Got you!" Kimberly laughed, even as the others chuckled in amusement.
The moment didn't last long though, as the group's attention was quickly drawn by Alpha, who was moving frantically as smoke erupted from the circuits underneath his armor.
"Circuit overload! Circuit overload! Ay-yi-yi!" Even the small robot's voice was frantic, his entire system apparently affected. Worried, Kimberly tried to get Alpha's attention, even as Jason and Zack attempted to wave the smoke away.
"Alpha! I was just kidding." The brunette spoke, a little startled when Alpha outright paused at her words.
"Oh. Humor. What a concept. Ay-yi-yi..." The small robot muttered. He appeared magically repaired from whatever had caused the overload in the first place.
"You guys," Jason called out to grab everyone's attention. "let's do it." He proposed, holding out his fist. The other four were quick to add their hands to the pile, the group mentally counting down.
"Power Rangers!" The five shouted in unison, throwing their arms into the air enthusiastically.
And…. that's a wrap!
For now, at least. I've waited so long to get this out there. The idea for this fic has been in my head for a long time, but I never got around to writing it before now, so…
I suppose that doesn't matter now anymore though. I've simply decided to make time for this. So far, I'm not regretting it, and I don't think I will in the future.
In any case, if you hadn't noticed already - if not, what are you even doing here? - this is a rewrite of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but with my own twist - hence the AU.
I will try to make this fic as much fun as the show was - and still is - while also trying to make it a bit better (in my opinion), by fixing a few continuity errors, adding a bit of lore and an OC, and who knows what else? You'll find out soon enough. A few hints towards my changes have already been dropped, but don't worry if you missed them. All will be revealed in time. I hope.
Anyway, I should probably stop wasting all of your time, and just get to writing the second chapter, right?
Speaking of… next time, on 'A Morphenominal Adventure':
"See, I, uh… I finally completed a narrow-beam transmission module that will allow wave function over an extended interval." Billy spoke as they walked, Zach and Kimberly simply staring at the Blue Ranger. How much of that were they supposed to understand exactly?
When they arrived at the lockers, the three were joined by Jason and Trini, who had both just been able to pick up the tail end of the trio's conversation.
"Well, aren't you all excited?" Billy asked, a little confused by how none of the four said anything in response to his announcement.
"Well, I will be… when I figure out what you just said." Zach responded, attempting to break the somewhat awkward silence. This was the same thing that always happened when no one could follow a word that came out of Billy's mouth...
Don't forget to follow, fave and review! All support keeps me motivated to write, and constructive criticism is always welcome. How am I supposed to improve without it?
Until next time, and may the Power protect you!