Power Rangers & All associated trademarks are property of Hasbro

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 28 – Scorched Earth

The Rangers had not been deployed as a single unified force but as Panthera materialised on the surface of Anvil Six Beta, her bright pink armour solidifying around her she saw that she was not alone; beside her Tempestus had appeared in a similar stream of coloured light to her own, the Blue Ranger raising his hands to defend himself against an attack that never came.

"They didn't drop up right in the middle of it" Panthera assured him, cocking her head slightly as the sound of ongoing chaos reached her sensitive ears "But we won't have to look far to find a problem"

"Word" Tempestus nodded in agreement as he cast his eyes around and took stock of their surroundings; the pair had been teleported into what seemed to be a destroyed warehouse, possibly even one of those displayed on the Command Centres' live feeds as several aisles of racking had been toppled to crush dozens of Putties beneath the weight of their contents. Listening intently for a moment the Pink Ranger detected the source of the nearest commotion which she could tell by the nature of the sounds was some sort of ongoing skirmish and gestured for Tempestus to follow her

"Come on, this way!" the pair of them sprinted, covering ground at a rate far greater than any normal being could have managed until they entered what appeared to be some kind of steelworks where raw materials for whatever was made in the adjacent factories was produced; the air sweltering as it reached temperatures which forced the Ranger's suits to compensate and lit primarily by the glow of molten metals carried overhead in vast vats by powerful cranes.

The sound of crumbling stone caught their attention.

A group of burly and beleaguered men and women in a group that was largely human but held a handful of members from other planets fought against a group of Putties with anything and everything at their disposal, the sound that the Pink and Blue Ranger's had heard was the result of a powerfully built woman swinging a sledgehammer at the chest of the nearest automaton whilst another individual, a blue skinned and four eyed alien of the same species as B'Vor of Strike Squad Alpha simply picked another Putty up and hurled it into a nearby stream of molten liquid, melting its' body even as they received several gashes from the things limbs which had been sculpted to resemble mining tools.

"We have to help them" Tempestus urged, sprinting forwards without waiting for an answer; the Blue Ranger collided with the nearest Putty and shattered its' body into a cloud of debris as he landed a devastating leaping knee-strike to its' torso before being beset by a swarm of the chattering things. As he landed his leg lashed out to the side, kicking another Putty in the chest and shattering it whilst he kept moving and pivoted at the waist using his momentum to drive his elbow into the skull of another of them and send it staggering back, then brought his fist crashing into the automatons' knee as he rotated his arm downwards before straightening the limb and throwing the Putty off balance, ending it with a well placed kick once it had fallen to the floor.

There were still far too many of them remaining and the nearest Putty attempted to lunge at Tempestus only to be utterly obliterated by Panthera crashing into it, the Pink Ranger pouncing like some kind of savage beast and landing on the things' chest before kicking away with both feet and landing in a cartwheel which she used to arc a foot overhead and kick another Putty in the back of the skull before flipping to her feet and landing in a crouch, flinging the automaton to the ground with enough force to shatter the weak point in its' chest with the impact; another putty with hands like shovels charged at her only for Panthera to spring upwards and drive her elbow into its' jaw with enough force to lift the automaton off of the ground, she followed up by launching a spinning heel kick to the things' skull as she drew her arm back and finally destroyed it with a left handed jab to the ribs.

"GO!" she snapped at the workers who were watching the Rangers with something akin to awe "GET TO SAFETY, WE'LL HANDLE THIS!" the order snapped them out of their daze and they quickly began to flee; the moment they were out of harms' way Panthera turned to Tempestus who was continuing to plough through the Putties with ease

"Get clear, I've got a plan!"

"Groovy" the Blue Ranger acknowledged and rolled under a Putties' sloppy approximation of a roundhouse kick whilst Panthera manifested her twin curved blades in flashes of magenta light and combined them into a single weapon which she hurled upwards.

Directly into one of the vats filled with molten metal.

The container shattered and the Putties were submerged beneath a burning tide, their stony grey bodies melting and cracking even as they thrashed and struggled.

"Okay that's that problem solved" Panthera breathed out as she turned to Tempestus who seemed to be a little disturbed by her ruthlessness

"Good" he managed to murmur "Let's find the others"


Aslaug and Rensa had been teleported close to each other in what appeared to be a small shopping centre for those living on the privately owned colony to purchase many of their essential goods or simply to relax whilst not at work; fortunately the place had been almost entirely evacuated allowing the Black and Yellow Rangers to fight without restraint.

Which was exactly what Aslaug had begun doing and the evidence of her actions lay all around her in the form of the shattered remains of a dozen or more Putties littering the ground of the once pristine thoroughfare which now looked as though a riot had taken place within it. Another Putty fell to the ground as the Yellow Ranger cleaved its' head from its' body with a single powerful swing of her axe; its' decapitated form continuing to twitch and spasm as it collapsed though Aslaug paid it no mind, instead carrying her momentum into another blow as she turned to face a Putty that had been attempting to attack her from behind and brought her weapon into a low sweeping arc which ripped the automatons' legs away at the knees and allowed her to crush the weak point of its' chest with a single kick as it fell.

A crash above her caught her attention and alerted her to the fact that Rensa had taken to the upper floor of the shopping centre and was using his surroundings to his advantage in conjunction with his own unique way of moving and ability to scale almost any surface with ease. Aslaug watched the Black Ranger leap out of scuttling run along a wall and execute a wild but effective drop kick to one of a pair of Putties rushing at him, kicking the Putty in question several yards down the narrow walkway between the stores and the railings to leave a trail of broken pieces behind it as it collapsed; skidding to a halt behind the remaining Putty he performed a back-flip like manoeuvrer which saw his feet wrap around the neck of his target whilst he balanced inverted before bringing the constructs' skull down on the railings at the edge of the walkway before righting himself at the Putty staggered backwards and simply tackling it through a shop window and landing a finishing blow.

It was far from over however as another pair of Putties came rushing from the opposite side and the Black Ranger sprung into action once more; with Aslaug continuing to watch, silently impressed as Rensa dispatched one automaton with a savage spinning kick to the torso whilst in the same motion seizing the other by the ankles and dragging it to the ground. The Putty was quick to rise, warbling and flailing as it did so yet the Black Ranger was ruthless in his response and simply weaved under its' opening swing and wrapped his arms around its' waist before charging directly at the glass barrier and railings which marked the edge of the walkway that formed the shopping centres' upper floor. The barrier gave way and both Rensa and the Putty fell to the ground with an almighty crash, the stone construct shattering into fragments as it hit the floor and the magic that bound it fading from its' eye sockets in an instant. The Black Ranger was simply winded by the fall.

"Not exactly the way I would have handled them" Aslaug noted with an amused edge to her voice as she held out a hand and pulled her friend to his feet

"Hit from everywhere, use everything around you, no enemy can block everything" Rensa noted simply and the Yellow Ranger couldn't help but feel that he wore a satisfied smile beneath his helmet.

The conversation was abruptly halted by the telltale warbling and shuffling of footsteps announcing the approach of more Putties

"They never usually send this many" Rensa noted

"No" Aslaug agreed "We should deal with them and then find the others"


Mercy had arrived on the colony alone and close to what seemed to be the epicentre of the attack yet this had not slowed her advance in any meaningful way.

She had been teleported into an open street within the colony which reminded her less of the city within Promethea One and more of the more industrial and working class areas of Mariner Bay; Putties had attempted to march down the street in something approaching formation only to meet harsh resistance from the inhabitants of the colony as the limited security forces took cover behind abandoned vehicles and opened fire, breaking the Putties' ranks whilst civilians who had barricaded their doors and ground floor windows with anything available to them had taken weapons provided to them by the security forces and were shooting at the stone constructs from the upper floors of their homes.

Then Mercy had leapt into action.

The Red Ranger had washed over the insurgent Putties like a tidal wave of destruction, her katana manifesting in her hand as she leapt from the roof of one vehicle to the next and into the cluster of Putties nearest to, impaling, shattering and shearing limbs away before flitting onto the next target and leaving the scrabbling and disorient remains of the Putties to be overwhelmed by the local population. She rushed onwards, cutting down one group of Putties after another until she had distanced herself from those she had initially been protecting and found herself racing towards where she knew the monster she dubbed 'Howl the Moving Castle' to be whilst a display in the corner of her visor showed that her fellow Aegis Rangers were rapidly converging on her position.

The monster was still stood atop the remains of a bus, seemingly waiting for an attack when Mercy reached him and greeted her with twin barrages of rockets fired from the mechanical pylons atop his shoulders which robbed her momentum and forced her to come skidding to a halt before frantically leaping and rolling aside to avoid projectiles with barbed tips that tore into the ground before exploding in fireballs which engulfed everything in sight and hid the monster from view. Upon realising that she was unharmed Mercy returned to her feet, the street was a scorched and blackened ruin, the asphalt blasted apart leaving rubble and debris scattered around whilst small fires burning in the vicinity yet the Red Ranger had little time to take stock of any of it as the monster's scorpion-like tail arched over their head and the weapon mounted above its' bladed stinger fired a beam of sickly purple light which Mercy quickly managed to deflect with the flat of her sword, its' crimson blade glowing with power as the attack was dissipated.

"Hello Ranger, I am Vali" the monster introduced himself in a thick, phlegm-laced snarl as they hopped down from the bus they had been perched upon "And I cannot wait to watch you die"

"Hate to disappoint you Muttley" Mercy gave a fierce smile beneath her helmet at the small map displayed on her visor alerted her to just how close the other Rangers were a moment before they came sprinting from side streets in pairs and quickly fell into place behind her, the knowledge that Aslaug was at her boosting the Red Ranger's confidence and causing her smile to broaden. They had defeated monsters together before and this would be know different.

Vali undermined the Ranger's self assurance with a simple gesture, he dropped to a single knee and bowed

"Good, gather yourselves so that you can each know of one another's doom….my Lord will destroy you all"

"Your Lord?" Mercy demanded as she braced herself, she knew Paradoxa would be a formidable opponent if she entered the fray yet something in the back of her mind screamed in primal, unyielding terror and warned her that something dreadful was coming.

The fear was vindicated as a portal of swirling crimson light and tormented screams was ripped into the fabric of reality itself beside the monster and from it marched half a dozen Putties made of black marble like substance with fierce, glowing eyes; each Putty was built larger and more powerfully than average with a seemingly armoured form and remained utterly silent as they marched with purpose.

It was what followed them however that caused the Aegis Rangers to feel as though their blood had turned to ice in their veins.

A towering form which loomed over even Aslaug's impressive height with ease, clad in a suit of armour seemingly made from twisted and broken blades laid over countless mechanical components and draped with trophies taken from countless apex predators, including monstrous skulls adorning the shoulders. A horned skull whose face was hidden behind a mask with a crimson visor and grill-like mouth which turned each breath into a rumbling snarl and clawed hands grasping a double edged sword whose blade was larger than any of the Rangers were tall.

"He is referring to me" Lord Zord stated bluntly, the ground trembling beneath his feet as he spoke as if the very moon they stood upon were whimpering in fear

"Now bow before me" the tyrant demanded "Or decide which of you will die first"


The Command Centre was deathly silent for a moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity as the vast viewing globe formed by the central orb-like space of the room displayed Lord Zedd entering the fray in person. The monster that had introduced himself as Vali remained bowed and the Obsidian Putties that formed the warlords' retinue stood silently by as the battle commenced.

It became clear from the first attack that the Rangers were outclassed by orders of magnitude.

Lord Zedd swung his sword and created a shock wave of raw concussive force that blasted the Aegis Rangers from their feet before striding towards the Red Ranger; Mercy leapt to her feet and slashed at his armoured midsection only for the attack to be effortlessly blocked and the power of Lord Zedd's own swing to break the blade of weapon in half as it flung her backwards again.

Aslaug rushed to Mercy's aid with her axe at the ready at a war-cry on her lips only to be sent crashing to the ground with a dismissive backhand from an armoured fist which fractured the Yellow Ranger's helmet to the point of almost shattering it entirely and left her tearing a gouge in the road as she came to a halt.

Panthera was the next to attack as hurled her combined blades at the towering figure only for him to sink his sword into the ground and simply crush the spinning projectile into nothingness between his palms before retaliating, he grasped his monstrous sword in both hands whilst arcs of crimson lightning crackled and danced across the blades of his armour before travelling down the length of his sword; the ground exploded and the Rangers were hurled a dozen feet into the air, landing in crumpled heaps with their armour scorched and smoking and their surrounds torn asunder by the power their enemy had unleashed seemingly without any effort on their enemies' behalf.

Captain Kimberley Hart and Zebidiah Lord watched the obscenely one sided affair with profoundly different reactions, the former Pink Ranger's mouth hung open and was covered by her hands with no sound escaping her save for gasps of shock and horror whilst the former Lord Zedd stood rooted to the spot, lights flickering above him and eyes transforming into pools of bottomless darkness as his own bolts of arcane energy coursed over his clenched fists and the air around him seemed to hum with a low throbbing note as it became charged witch hateful magic.

"If you're gonna something we're gonna have to think fast, otherwise those kids are dead" Grace Sterling declared as she strode into the Command Centre, evidently deciding that she would be more use here than in the Zord hangars; her voice authoritative and unwavering even as her eyes widened at the sight of the head of the galaxy spanning empire that waged war against them laying waste to the Alliance and humanities' heroes. Kimberley managed to drag her eyes away from the viewing globe and give a shaky nod in response

"Is the Morpher ready?" she asked cryptically

"As best we can tell" Grace answered her, evidently knowing what Kimberley meant "Although this isn't exactly how I'd want to field test it-"

"It makes no difference" Zebidiah demanded, his voice reverberating around the Command Centre and dropping to a low and guttural snarl that seemed to shake the air and draw gasps and yelps of surprise from those working at the various computers and terminals as the truth of his identity was laid bare.

"Even if it is ready, Kay isn't" he waved at the ongoing struggle against Lord Zedd just in time to see Mercy's helmet be shattered as she impacted against the floor hard enough for it to crater beneath her "They are going to die and adding a sixth Power Ranger won't be enough to halt that tide alone"

"We have to do something!" Grace barked sternly "So I suggest you come up with a better plan" Zebidiah nodded slowly and closed his eyes, entering a trance like state for the briefest of moments whilst his magic crackled around him; his consciousness was accelerated and countless options were weighed against one another and dismissed in turn until eventually with a slow and rattling gasp of a breath the ageing man opened his eyes and slipped the hooded robe from his shoulders and cast it aside.

"Not we" he said simply "I"

"No!" Kimberley exclaimed, understanding what the former warlord intended.

"There's no other way" Zebidiah sighed "And besides, it's high time I had a reunion with my son. Teleport me to the Ranger's location!" he raised his voice as he gave the order and the crew of the Command Centre quickly moved to act on it, giving Kimberley and Grace only a moment to see the sorcerer slip something golden that gleamed in the light and seemed to radiate a sense of power from within his robes.

The Dragon Power Coin.


"Abysmal" Lord Zedd taunted, his sneering words echoing and rumbling as he strode towards the Rangers "I broke the back of Tommy Oliver's Ranger army and watched your great hero die cowering and licking his wounds like an animal. You're all even weaker than he was"

The Rangers each struggled to stand and brace themselves for what promised to be a final offensive against the towering behemoth; the Red Ranger's helmet had been removed and a gash high on her forehead left blood smearing her face whilst the once pristine white armour of her right arm was burned and blackened. The Yellow Ranger had also lost her helmet and wiped a thin trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth as she struggled to stand on legs that were unwilling to support her. The entire right side of the Pink Ranger's armour was blackened and scorched and the metallic claws that extended passed her fingertips had been broken away; the torso of the Blue Ranger's armour was similarly burned whilst the silver coloured diamond in the centre of the Black Ranger's chest had been broken and he seemed to be having trouble breathing as he dragged himself to his feet.

Lord Zedd debated offering more insults or a final offer for them to surrender, in the end however it was apparent to him that there was only one course of action and he charged forwards, enormous double bladed sword at the ready as he prepared to cleave the Rangers apart in a maelstrom of destruction. Time slowed to a crawl in his perceptions as his enemies tried to leap aside, seemingly moving in slow motion until a flash of light in the corner of his eye alerted him to a newcomer arriving by teleportation.

Then a bolt of light struck him the side with the force of a dying star and Lord Zedd, head of the Dark Empire, conqueror of the galaxy and devourer of civilisations was flung aside like discarded litter; the blades of his armour ripping wounds into the ground as he bounced and skidded across its' surface before finally rolling to a stop.

"ORCUS!" a booming and reverberating voice thundered, beneath his mask Lord Zedd's eyes widened in abject shock; there were few left alive who knew his given name and he could only think of one individual who would dare address him as such; flying to his feet Orcus, second in line to the throne of his people, Lord Zedd by right, lineage and conquest saw the slender and ageing man clad in simple robes and knew exactly who stood before him, regardless of what Zordon's dying gambit had done to him.

"Come now father" Lord Zedd growled "Surely you haven't lost so much of yourself that you've forgotten our customs….Bow before your Lord and address me by my title" hearing the anger in his tone, Vali who had remained dutifully bowed this entire time began to stir

"Go, gather our remaining Putties and attend to your duties" he demanded and the monstrous creature sprinted away with a loping, bounding gait as Lord Zedd and his retinue of black marble Putties stood against his father and the Aegis Rangers in a heavy and oppressive silence until Zebidiah Lord, the once ruler countless billions let out a low and menacing chuckle

"You always were fond of your theatrics and you always did think far too much of yourself boy" Zebidiah's fists clenched and lightning crackled around them "I see nothing to bow to, only a cowardly despot waging war in ways that demean our entire culture"

"My culture" Lord Zedd spat coldly "You are no Acheron….it's clear now that Thrax was the fool I always took him to be for daring to hope. My father died on Earth's moon, but I'm glad you've come here so that I can finally put his spirit to rest"

"You will certainly try my son" Zebidiah sighed heavily before holding out the Dragon Power Coin for Lord Zedd to see and in response the towering warlord laughed

"You mean to use that relic against me?"

"I do" the old man nodded "I believe that the Aquitian method is more to my tastes, intense study, magical attuning and meditation until a Morpher is no longer required….Or did you really believe that I, I who created the first Zord not forged by an Eltarian would not learn the secrets of the Morphing Grid?"

"You truly are a broken old fool" Lord Zedd snarled "No Acheron can use the Power, none bar my own failed Green Ranger….I had almost hoped that you would see the completion of your work and remember who you were" there was something under the spiteful mockery in his words, something raw and bitter

"Perhaps I am, Zordon's death changed me" Zebidiah nodded as he spread his feet and held the Power Coin before him in both hands "As you said Orcus….I am no Acheron" Lord Zedd let out a gasp of surprise, a sound that utterly demystified the tyrant as the man who had once been his father was engulfed in green light as they uttered a single word

"Serpenterror-Zord!"

When the light subsided both Lord Zedd and the Aegis Rangers, who had used the exchange as a chance to catch their breath were treated to the sight of a Green Ranger, but not the one that they had expected. Zebidiah's morphed state was the same shade of forest green but it glowed as if lit from within and coruscating green lightning travelled ceaselessly along the surface of the armour; the twin capes that hung from the Green Ranger's belt remained but the silver shield adorning the suits' chest was absent, revealing the obsidian coloured lightning bolt below and the material that had formed the shield seemed to have melted and run down the suits' arms to form claw like gauntlets adorning both fists and forearms made of a shifting, liquid metal that glowed and pulsed with arcane power. The helmet retained its' stylised flame-like visor though it appeared in the jaws of a different dragon, far more angular with glowing red eyes and a pair of golden whiskers which reached around the helmet and trailed behind it.

"Admittedly unexpected….and certainly interesting" Lord Zedd mused in response to the transformation before turning to his silent retinue of midnight black Putties "The Rangers are weak, finish them while I kill this pretender"

The area once again exploded into chaos as the battle resumed, Lord Zedd however barely had chance to move before the Green Ranger was upon him, planting the palm of a single clawed and armoured hand against his chest and blasting him backwards with a pulse of light. Lord Zedd's vision swam as he sailed through the air and he was vaguely aware of the sensation of several walls shattering against his armour before he came crashing to a stop several streets away from where he had previously been.

"So it's to be a contest of magical might" he rumbled as he rose to his feet and examined the crater which had been blasted into his armour with molten, glowing edges and realised that Zebidiah was harnessing the power of the Morphing and Grid and channelling it into his own arcane abilities. Without another moment of hesitation he surged into motion and charged towards where the Green Ranger still stood, just in time to see Zebidiah create a swirling nexus of emerald light between his palms and unleash several arcing torrents of energy which rushed at the warlord from all angles; Lord Zedd blocked the attacks with his sword and let out a roar of exertion as he forced the foreign magic into the space between the twin blades of his weapon until pure white light had enveloped the sword entirely. Zebidiah seemed to realise what his son intended and ended his own attack just as Lord Zedd swung his sword and discharged all of the power stored within it in a blinding corona which was followed by a blast of howling and screaming winds which ripped buildings in its' path asunder.

The Green Ranger was no longer there.

Instinctively the tyrant whirled around just in time to block a blow meant to impale him from the sword now in his fathers' hand, the Dragon Blade now blazed with green flames and even through his armour Lord Zedd could feel the heat as he was forced back a single step despite his far greater size and mass.

"All of this just to scorch my armour before you die" Lord Zedd laughed before being forced to grit his teeth and hold his sword with both hands as the lighting arced between the two weapons; the Green Ranger remained a single handed grip however and promptly used his free hand and the molten claw around it to grip his sons' armoured forearm and begin to squeeze with all the pressure of the deepest oceans until the metallic surface creaked and buckled and the entire limb was ripped away at the elbow.

Lord Zedd howled in rage rather than pain before bringing his horned and armoured skull crashing into the Green Ranger's helmet and kicking him away. Zebidiah looked at the half of Lord Zedd's right arm clutched in his clawed hand and realised, before discarding it that there was an utter absence of blood or the familiar stench of burning flesh, only sparks and twisted metal

"Just when did you loose your arm?" he demanded "Or did you simply decide to improve yourself by whatever means were available?" Lord Zedd gave no response other than a wordless scream of unimaginable hatred as he charged, sword in his left hand glowing with crimson light.

Zebidiah managed to parry and redirect the blow with the Dragon Blade and force the sword away from himself before reaching out and grasping at the armour encasing his sons' chest and ripping it away with a molten, glowing claw; now their was blood, thick and black and steaming as it dripped to the floor when the various tubes and devices which fused the suit of armour Porcius's body were damaged and ripped free. Howling in agony and thrashing like a wild beast Lord Zedd broke free and sank his sword into the ground before unleashing a blast of dreadful magic that painted the air a bloody crimson as a shock-wave cratered the ground around them and shook the colony to its' core. Zebidiah flew backwards, limp and dazed only for Lord Zedd's clawed grasp to close around his ankle; the Green Ranger as then hoisted overhead and slammed into the ground with a series of impacts that sounded like booming thunderclaps until Lord Zedd loomed over the prone and defeated form of the man who had once been his father. He ripped his sword free from the ground allowed a twisted, almost hysterical laugh to escape him

"All of your judgement and learning, all of your ancient wisdom….allow me to impart a lesson on you this time father" his voice dropped several octaves "You should have kept the shield" with that he stabbed downwards and heard the air leave Zebidiah's lungs as the blade cleaved through his torso and exited his back in a flood of crimson.

"You were a warrior once, an honourable death in combat would have been your due" Lord Zedd panted in pain and exhaustion, his own blood still flowing from his wounds "But you're not Lord Zedd, and you're not my father….die with these vermin you protect" ripping the blade free the tyrant staggered a few steps before manifesting a portal in front of himself and forcing himself to stand straight-backed and resolute as he marched through it.

He was Lord Zedd, he was power incarnate.


"Mercy! Zebidiah's down, he needs our help!" Panthera all but screamed as she relayed information to the Red Ranger whom Mission Control could no longer reach due to her damaged helmet. The Aegis Ranger's were already injured and exhausted which only made the battle they were currently enduring more difficult. Lord Zedd's retinue of Putties were unlike any that they had ever encountered before, moving with speed and precision as they blocked and parried blows before responding with impressive strength and fluidity.

Mercy had fallen into a kick-boxing stance that was second nature to her after so many years of training as she faced off against a lone Putty, blocking its' savage punch with her elbow before locking her hands around the back of its' neck and dragging it downwards so that she could drive her knee into the weak point in its' chest.

The Putty remained standing.

Taking advantage of the Red Ranger's surprise the thing managed to wrestle free of her grasp, though as it stood upright Mercy saw that it's armoured chest was cracked and fragmented, with some faint magical light visible within and without wasting another moment she lashed out and kicked the automaton in the chest with enough force for it to finally collapse.

"They take two hits to go down!" she warned as she sprinted towards Aslaug as the Yellow Ranger fought against a pair of Putties alone; Mercy leapt into the air and landed a punishing kick to the chest of one of the constructs as it attempted to attack the taller girl from the side. The Putty had managed to right itself by the time Mercy had rolled and leapt to he feet and the two fighters lunged at each other, the Putty launching a spinning kick which the Red Ranger leapt over and drove her knee into the automatons' face before striking it in the centre of its' torso with a roundhouse kick as it staggered away. The Putty crumbled into dusty and debris allowing Mercy to turn around and see Aslaug attending to the remaining Putty by landing an earthshaking punch on it's chest before simply grabbing it by the waist and neck then hoisting it overhead and slamming it into the ground with enough force to destroy it.

"You okay?" Mercy asked, deep brown eyes wild and fearful as she cupped Aslaug's cheeks; voice wavering. Aslaug managed a silent nod and the two locked eyes for a moment before she croaked out

"The others" she and Mercy looked around and saw that the other Rangers were in the process of defeating their own opponents with Rensa tackling a Putty to ground by seizing its' legs before bludgeoning its' chest until fell apart, Tempestus weaving around the blows of another Putty and crushing it with a series of palm strikes and Panthera taking what appeared to be an axel that had once been part of a car which had been destroyed in the fighting and driving it into the chest of the sole remaining Putty

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" the Pink Ranger demanded upon seeing that Mercy was still present "Find Zebidiah!" nodding the Red Ranger turned and sprinted in the direction of the Green Ranger's fight against Lord Zedd, vaguely away of the other Rangers close behind her until she reached a crater that had been blasted into the ground which was currently calf-deep in water which poured from from ruptured pipes.

The amount of blood staining the water was an immediate sign that things had gone terribly wrong.

"No, no no no, not again" Mercy whimpered, tears streaming down her face as she came skidding to a halt at the base of the crater and found Zebidiah floating in a pool of blood and water barely clinging to life; his morphed state had failed and blood poured from a wound which spanned from below his collarbones to his abdomen and poured blood at a terrifying rate whilst more of the crimson liquid stained his pallid face and silvery beard where it had spewed from his mouth yet despite it all the sorcerer remained not only alive but somehow conscious as he clung to the last vestiges of his willpower, eyes glassy and distant whilst magic visibly coursed over his ruined body in an effort to keep him from slipping away.

Mercy's voice sounded distant even to her own ears, as though it were a thousand miles away

"GET US OUT OF HERE! TELEPORT US OUT OR HE'S GONNA DIE!"


Kimberley had bolted towards the medical wing of the Lightspeed base on Promethea One the moment she had seen Zebidiah's vital signs begin to change, the old man had used part of his magic to block what exactly had befallen him from view as though he wished to spare the former Pink Power Ranger from a sight that would take whatever innocence he believed she had left. The moment she had reached the medical wing she begun screaming for every available doctor, surgeon and magical healer to be on standby and every possible piece of equipment to be made ready yet somehow when six streams of light manifested and announced the arrival of the Aegis Rangers and Zebidiah Lord all of her efforts and attempts to prepare seemed pitifully and unimaginably inadequate.

There was blood everywhere, rivers of it cascading to the floor from the moment Zebidiah arrived and healers of all kinds swarmed around the plainly dying man, barking orders to one another as countless magical auras coalesced in a desperate attempt to save the life of the former Lord Zedd.

"Get him onto an operating table! We're losing him!"

"We won't be able to operate, his magical aura is too strong, we won't be able to get near him once we start!"

"I've never seen readings like these! What the hell even is this guy?"

"He's stabilising himself! he's keeping himself alive through sheer magic and willpower alone"

"We've gotta get him into stasis!" A score of voices issued conflicting demands and advice and in the middle of it all, watching it with a sense of detached horror were the Aegis Rangers, each of them suffering a litany of burns, gashes and bruised or fractured bones and struggling to stand as the adrenaline that been flooding their veins began to vanish, allowing them to feel the profoundly deep weariness that washed over them. Mercy almost collapsed into Aslaug, fully intending to bury herself into the Yellow Ranger's embrace and take every ounce of comfort she could, yet her eyes met Kimberley's and upon seeing the haunted expression that the former Ranger wore a simple and inescapable truth spilled from the young woman's lips

"We have to go back" something in the air seemed to change and the Red Ranger felt the eyes of her team upon her as she held Kimberley's gaze "There are still people on that colony, we can't abandon them….we've got to go back"

"You have" Kimberley nodded, the admission leaving her lips as a tearful sob.

"HE'S CONSCIOUS, HOW IS HE CONSCIOUS?" a terrified voice demanded and the Rangers, both present and former turned in unison to see that despite his grievous injuries Zebidiah had sat bolt upright on the cold slab that he had been laid upon, his eyes becoming bottomless pools of darkness whilst the air around him buzzed and shook with unseen power and droplets of blood hung suspended in the air.

"Zebidiah!" Kimberley wiped her tears as she rushed to his side, the Ranger's a single step behind "Save your strength, let them help-"

"No time to be sentimental Kimberley, far more important things than me are at stake" Zebidiah interrupted as he held out his hand, revealing that the Dragon Power Coin was clutched within it and that the skin around the artefact was blistered and raw "Take it, they'll have to be ready, there's nobody else….May the Power protect you, all of you" without warning the former Lord Zedd's magic dissipated from the air and he fell backwards, collapsing onto the operating table limp and seemingly lifeless until several machines began to let out rhythmic beeping sounds and one of the many doctors managed to murmur an explanation in a disbelieving tone

"All vital signs have stopped…..except for brain activity, it's like he's in suspended animation"

"Get him into stasis, we can administer treatment from there" another quickly added, Kimberley didn't seem to hear them and instead stared down at the coin in her hand that had once belonged to Tommy; lost in her thoughts until she felt a hand on her shoulder

"We can't stay here" Mercy breathed out, determined despite barely being able to stand "We've got a job to do"

"He said that they'll have to be ready" Panthera added quietly, amber eyes narrowing to slits in suspicion "Who did he mean"

"I think he meant me" the voice that answered was faintly melodic and immediately familiar, the Aegis Rangers turned to see Kay standing in the doorway clutching one half of one of the robots that had been assigned to guard their quarters in each hand, oil and coolant pooling at their feet "I think my Grandfather wanted me to be here, his magic reached out to me and I felt that something was wrong so I came, the robots tried to stop me….My F-Lord Zedd did this?"

"He did" Mercy managed to answer, the shock of Kay being present on not even registering as it was simply buried beneath the weight of everything else that was happening; she simply forced herself to think in small, logical steps and put everything that didn't relate to her mission aside until it could be dealt with at a later date.

"Then I'm going to help you cousin" Kay assured her. Voice hardening into something steely and defiant "I just need my Power Coin" The Green Ranger held out his hand and Kimberley's eyes widened as she felt the object vanish from her grasp and reappear in the Acheron human hybrid's waiting palm.

It seemed that her goal of seeing all six Aegis Rangers united had been achieved, albeit in a way she would never have wished for.

Author's Notes:

So, halfway into Arc07 and boy oh boy, this one was an event lol.
Guess what….I've still got some more fun tricks lined up.
Unrelated but we know that Ryusoulger is going to be adapted for season 28 of Power Rangers which is cool, although I do agree that it would have been nice to see a Kyuranger adaption.

Anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I specifically chose to deploy the Rangers in pairs that they don't usually work in for the fights against the Putties.
More civilians taking out grunts please.
I feel like the ranger's individual fighting styles are evolving as I write them more, Tempestus was using what was effectively Aikido and Judo but has gradually started to get more heavy handed whilst Panthera has gone from straight up dirty fighting to using her acrobatic skills more effectively.
Also, Panthera's dropping the giant silo/container of molten steel onto the Putties was definitely based on that scene from the '95 movie with Saba and the crate…..Also working in manufacturing and engineering in a city famous for its' steelworks means I've heard some horror stories about molten steel.
Putties to me are basically stone Zombies, they have the advantages of Zombies and a more durable and controllable….that being said I had to have a fight in a mall at some point.
Yeah Vali is typical monster of the week strength, in that one Ranger on their own is definitely gonna struggle against him.
Oh the Rangers all thought they were slick getting into formation like that like it was gonna be just another monster.
Lord Zedd said that Vali/Howl the Moving Castle was bait, he's the trap.
Yeah Aslaug is 6'6'' and built, she's big….Lord Zedd is about 8'6''.
Mission Control just watching the Ranger's get slapped around because there's really not much they can do to help at that point; also remember that I said last chapter Lord Zedd's magic is currently tied to the wards hiding his base, which means even here he's not at full power.
Mention of a new Morpher, just because Kay's was literally made from pieces taken from dead Ranger's Morphers….he kinda needs a new one.
Zebidiah went full Doctor Strange and looked for the best possible option.
"Not we, I" is the campaign slogan of every centrist or corporate politician.
Oof, Lord Zedd just had to take a shot at Tommy like that.
Zebidiah used his Dad voice and called Lord Zedd out by his real name, oh he's grounded.
So Vali has other duties, meaning that Lord Zedd still has a plan outside of fighting the Rangers/Zebidiah.
"My father died on Earth's moon, but I'm glad you've come here so that I can finally put his spirit to rest" damn.
The little exchange between the past and present Lord Zedd's was fun to write, it gave a little insight into Lord Zedd's thought process and mind state.
Acheron genetics are incompatible with the Morphing Grid, but Zebidiah isn't Acheron any more; Zordon turned him into a human and the former Lord Zedd taking the Dragon Coin and becoming the "Serpenterror Ranger" was something I've had planned since day one.
Zebidiah fights like Trey did, mixing magic into his fighting style except with a lot more power behind it.
So under his armour Lord Zedd is a cyborg to at least some extent.
And boom, Zebidiah is down and critically injured; I'll be 100% honest I initially planned to kill him here but I feel like he's still got parts to play in other characters' development, I've got an idea for how to deal with him from here on out though.
I was gonna make the Putties even harder to get rid of but thinking about the scene before I wrote it made me think that there was already a lot happening this chapter.
"Not again" Zebidiah was someone that Mercy has known her whole life, the same as Zen-Aku was.
So Kimberley and Grace didn't actually see Zebidiah and Zedd's fight, just saw his vital signs drip through the floor.
There wasn't much time for the Rangers to interact but there were still a few little moments between Mercy and Aslaug.
Yeah, the Power Rangers used to fall back to the Command Centre and regroup for round 2 against the monster of the week pretty often but this was actually the first time the Aegis Rangers have had to.
So Zebidiah is in suspended animation at the moment and he willingly passed the Dragon Coin back to Kay.
Boom, Kay makes his reappearance with a bombshell of a cliffhanger and now we have all six Rangers ready to fight on the same side.
….and an actual boatload of angst to deal with after that.

No reviews on the last chapter…..Again.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.