Another of my stories makes it's return, after over a decade! When I last updated this story, this site simply didn't have the crossover section it does today (which is very nice, I might add!) and as such I have moved it from the Power Rangers section to Power Rangers and Mario crossover. I'm excited to see if this attracts a new audience as well. I can promise it won't be another ten years for the next update. Anyway, if you take the time to read please leave a review, I would greatly appreciate it, because they keep me energized!
The ragtag group trekked consistently uphill from Marrymore, following Geno's lead. Immediately noticeable was the drastic change to landscape as they journeyed to the Star Hill. The ground gradually turned to a bright blue color, and brilliantly glowing yellow flowers sprouted from it. Star shaped stone monuments decorated the area as they advanced uphill, all weathered by time. They weren't unlike the Star Pieces that had been merging with the Red Ranger, but clearly not as functional. Jason had to admit to himself that when he had begun his journey to an alien planet he had expected more unusual landscapes like this. It was almost refreshing.
"What… is this place?" Mallow asked as he looked around. He had noticed it was starting to look almost like a religious site.
"Star Hill, where the Star Road above comes from," Geno said as they stopped amidst the star shaped monuments. "It is fitting that a piece would land here."
"That's far enough!" a voice suddenly called from beside them.
The five travelers looked over to see Croco standing there with three henchmen, and a sadistic grin on his face. The purple, bipedal gator snapped his fingers and four more mobsters emerged from behind the stone statues. The team looked around to see that they were surrounded by armed and dangerous mobsters.
"Be smart, Croco," Jason warned the bandit as he sized up their surroundings.
"I'm here to pay you kids back in spades," Croco cackled in response.
"Oh, the insolence is glorious," Zedd laughed out as well. He didn't strike and sort of combat ready stance, merely standing tall with a firm grip on his Z Staff. "Please give me this moment. I have truly earned it."
"You punks have caused enough trouble, and we've followed you a long time," Croco suddenly took a serious tone. "The only way you get out of this alive is by dropping your weapons and surrendering. Smithy isn't the only one that wants you dead or alive."
Kimberly's eyes flared with anger at the mere mention of continued captivity.
"You're taking the side of the world invading megalomaniac?" Jason asked, slowly reaching behind his back.
"Survival of the fittest, baby," Croco grinned.
"Couldn't agree more," Jason smiled right back at him, drawing his morpher. "Kim! It's mor-"
"Pterodactyl!" Kimberly screamed as she rushed past a bewildered Jason, at long last transforming back into the Pink Ranger.
"Wait what?" Croco said with wide eyes at this development.
Kimberly was in the lead bandit's face before he could fully process what was happening, knocking him to the floor with a single super powered punch. The three bandits around him raced to his aid, but Kimberly materialized her Power Bow with a brilliant display of pink energy before they could get to her. She bashed the first in the face with one end of the weapon, and then swung the other end to catch the second underneath his jaw. The third bandit was rethinking the approach, but it was far too late. Kimberly kicked him in the stomach, launching him backwards with a desperate gasp to reclaim the air that vacated his chest. The other four bandits were already racing to the scene of the action.
"Come on! Let's get in there!" Mallow shouted as he started to rush forward.
Jason quickly put his free hand out and stopped Mallow's charge, causing the young boy to look at him in genuine confusion.
"Let's let her have this…" Jason decided as he watched two bandits go flying violently through the air, screaming in pain and terror as they did.
"Right then," Geno agreed, turning his back to the one sided melee to instead face his remaining three companions. "Centuries ago, the ritual to seal Smithy and his gang was preformed here, at the Star Hill."
"Mercy!" Croco screamed behind the possessed doll as he stumbled away from the rampaging Ranger, only to collapse. Kimberly closed in and began to pound away at him with her weapon, and he could only flail his arms wildly in a desperate plight to defend himself. "Oh, sweet kingdom in the sky! Mercy!"
"Smithy is originally from Aldar?" Jason asked, paying no mind to the bandit's pleas. Kimberly probably wouldn't go too far.
"No one really knows where his mechanical force came from, but they chose Aldar to invade a very… very long time ago," Geno replied. "They were one of two nearly unstoppable machine empires. One struck at the heart of galactic civilization and was repelled, but Smithy's struck here, on the outskirts. Had they been allowed to obtain a foothold in this universe, they could have committed unspeakable horrors without check."
"Please, oh please!" Croco's cries resonated between mildly concerning crunches.
"And you were here for that?" Mallow asked.
"I was created, like all the other star spirits, when Zordon used the natural energy of this planet to create the Star Road," Geno explained, shifting his glance to Zedd. "It was used to seal Smithy in an alternate dimension, and have since has served as a barrier and a beacon of hope. We have repelled constant threats over the course of many millennia. Including…"
Zedd snatched one of the desperate henchmen by the throat, squeezing tight and forcing him to drop the knife he held. The criminal's desperate attempt to take a hostage to stop the rampaging woman had failed just as spectacularly as everything else today.
"Yes, I was forced to place my castle on this planet to get past your defenses," Zedd found it easier to admit defeat while strangling the life out of a man. "I would have found a way to overpower them, however."
"The Star Road was empowered by the original seven Ranger energies," Geno continued as Zedd hurled the hapless minion into the violence. "Red, Black, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Green, and White combined their powers to create this guardian platform, and me and my kin who maintain it."
"White Ranger?" Jason repeated his question from Moleville while taking a firmer stance on this point. "There's no White Ranger. And the Green Ranger's powers are nearly completely drained."
"We'll need to figure something out," Geno simply admitted. He wasn't sure how to tackle that development, still. "It will take the combined power of all the Ranger energies to overpower Smithy. Before we only sealed him with the concentrated power of the Road, but to actually destroy him will take far more power."
"Power we don't have," Jason felt the need to reinforce his point.
"Someone please help us!" Croco cried out as Kimberly took a break from thrashing him to forcibly subdue his followers.
"None of it will matter if we don't reclaim the star pieces, first," Geno said as he waved his hand. "The concentrated Ranger energy of the star pieces combined with the Ranger coins is a source of immense power, and also the only way to rebuild the Star Road. There may still be a way, but it will require a united Ranger team."
"Just what I want," Zedd scowled. "More strength going to the Rangers."
"I'm not a fan of bringing Smithy to Earth, or the Rangers here," Jason remarked, ignoring Zedd's grumbles. "And I can't say I know how we would do either."
"Our journey is far from over," Geno reminded him. "I don't know either, but we will find a way."
Jason gave a weak smile and a nod. He did agree on that much at least.
"It doesn't… it doesn't…" a loud crunch and Croco's screams finally directed the four traveler's attention back to the brawl. "AAAUUUGHH! It doesn't bend that way!"
"Oh, she's so mad," Mallow gasped as he looked over the carnage left in Kimberly's wake.
"Ah… what the Rangers are truly capable of,'" Zedd admired the scene, ever the purveyor of any sort of violence.
"Kim!" Jason called out with a touch of hesitation. "Maybe we ought to let them go, now?"
Kimberly whipped her attention back to the ground, and Jason in particular. She still looked ready to lunge at the nearest enemy and continue to commit unspeakable violence.
"Someone has to tell their friends what will happen if they follow us?" Jason ventured the idea.
Kimberly paused for a minute as she processed that idea. It was admittedly a good one, and she sensed they could only take so much more of a beating. Reluctantly, she kicked Croco one final time in the stomach as she walked past him and rejoined the group. The only thing more terrifying that the absolute chaos she'd left behind was the innocent smile on her face as her Ranger gear disappeared around her.
"Ready when you guys are," Kimberly remarked with a happy nod. "Did I miss anything?"
"We'll catch you up," Jason commented as he looked to the road ahead. "For now, let's look around and find this star piece."
The team all agreed on that much and moved on, stepping over wounded bandits as they began their search.
Black, Blue, Yellow, and Green. Four brilliant streaks of light beamed into Zedd's moon palace orbiting Earth, quickly revealing the four Rangers left behind. Ready for battle they each stepped forward, striking a stance as they had many nights before and preparing once more for the fight of their lives. On this night they decided to try the approach of beaming directly to the source, and fighting the overwhelming odds head of. This night, however, the were not met with any sort of response.
"What the hell?!" Tommy shouted as he looked around the deserted room. They were the only ones in there. "Where is everyone?"
The room, and the castle as whole, was trashed and in disrepair, but that was only because the Axem Rangers had not seen to any cleanup after each battle. All of the robots, weapons, equipment, and anything else were completely absent.
"Scanning," Billy announced as he produced a small device that searched for any signs of activity. It came up short. "Nothing. We're the only ones on the entire moon."
"Why would they leave the palace behind?" Zack asked as he kicked a small rock aside. "They had this place completely fortified."
"Guys…" Trini called them over. "I think this is why."
The three men joined the Yellow Ranger, looking at an empty pedestal. They all stared in silent horror as they realized exactly what they were looking at.
"Zordon," Zack finally said into his communicator.
"Go ahead, Black Ranger," their mentor replied through it.
"…The portal to Aldar is gone," Zack said after some hesitation. He couldn't believe it. How were they supposed to get to Jason and Kim now? Or get them back?
"I see," Zordon replied, clearly at his own limits. It was chilling for the Rangers to hear a tone of almost defeat in his voice.
"Now what?" Tommy said as he threw his hands up. "Now what!? What are we supposed to do!?"
"It doesn't make sense," Billy said as he shook his head and struggled to understand. "They had the tactical advantage. The palace was theirs. Why would they abandon it?"
Zack suddenly started laughing, getting the confused attention of the others pretty quickly. They looked shocked that he was able to find any sort of humor in this distressing and confusing situation. Zack could see that, so he was quick to clarify.
"They need the troops somewhere else," Zack surmised simply, having found some sort of silver lining in this disaster. "They're losing forces."
"Elsewhere? Where?" Billy didn't buy that explanation. "We've barely been able to damage them with these fortifications. How could they be losing troops?"
"Jason and Kim," Trini announced, following Zack's train of thought.
Tommy felt a strange mixture of relief and fear sweep over him. More were going to attack Jason and Kimberly? And there was even less they could do to help? It was all kinds of bad news, except for one thing. As flimsy of hope as it was, it was still the only reassurance they'd gotten since the brief communication with Jason that they were even still alive. Of course they were, and of course they were going on the offensive.
"We have to find a way to Aldar," Tommy announced.
"Agreed," Zack nodded.
"Come home, Rangers," Zordon spoke though the open line. "We will continue the scans and make a new plan with this information."
The four took a brief look around, and then teleported out as instructed.
Jason, Mallow, Geno, Zedd, and Kimberly entered a clearing between all the statues to find what they were truly here for. Floating before them was the pink star piece, untouched and unharmed. Mallow smiled joyously at the sight.
"Finally, an easy one!" the boy cheered. " I just hope we didn't use all our good luck here."
"I think we're owed a simple one after everything with Booster," Jason laughed as he approached it. "Pink Ranger and the pink star all at once. Not bad, huh?"
"Funny," Kimberly smirked with her arms crossed.
"Just claim the infernal thing so I can leave this blue hellscape," Zedd remarked with dripping aggravation.
Jason rolled his eyes and approached the star piece. Like the others before it, it lifted into the air and began to circle him. The circle became tighter and tighter until it shot into the air, and then dove down and vanished into him. He was getting used to this display, but Kimberly gasped at what she believed would be the impact. Jason remained unharmed, and looked down at his hand to see the imprint of the pink star piece among the others. They were definitely forming a circle at this point.
"Beyond these hills is Seaside Town," Geno announced. "Hopefully a clue to the next piece will be there."
"Or someone I can take my frustration out upon," Zedd snarled. "This had better work, because all I've done since joining this band of misfits is deal with one absurdity after another that hasn't seemed to help. Have you considered actually fighting the alien invaders?"
"You know, I do a lot of that, while going to school and holding a job," Jason countered, looking to the deposed warlord. "It's easier than it sounds."
Zedd slammed his staff violently into the ground, and Jason turned fully to face him. Kimberly was quick to get in Jason's way this time.
"Hey, let's… not fight with Zedd?" she suggested, although saying the words was a genuine struggle.
"Still on the same team!" Mallow helpfully interjected.
Geno had already began to depart, and Zedd followed after him with a lingering gaze at the Rangers. Mallow looked to Jason for a moment and jogged after the other two. Jason just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"You alright?" Kimberly asked, rubbing his arm.
"I'll manage," Jason replied, nodding without opening his eyes from his quick and quiet meditation.
When he did open his eyes, he watched as Kimberly began to depart, silently thankful and amazed. They had always complimented each other very well. In just this short time on Star Hill, when one lost control, the other had been there to bring them back down. It was nice to have an old Ranger teammate back for that purpose. Kimberly had always been something more than that, so Jason had to admit he was glad it was her he had to be stranded with.
"You coming?" Kimberly turned to ask, with a warm smile. It could make one forget they were light years from home, against a huge army, and banking on a legend to pay off.
What else could he do? Jason smiled back and followed after her.