MMPR Dawn of Primacy: Vergence Chapter 4, a power rangers fanfic

Dawn of Primacy 22

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Dawn of Primacy: Vergence

-4-

"We'll tell you what you want to know, but we have a few questions first," Red Ranger replied removing his own helmet.

Kimberly turned toward the unfamiliar voice and was shocked to see a young man with long dark hair with streaks of blonde running through it.

"Who are you?" Kimberly asked.

"I think some introductions are in order," Trip said stepping out from behind the Quantum Ranger. "Nothing was the same for Earth after Lord Zedd arrived."

"I assume you're Trip?" Josh asked looking the Time Force Ranger over, noticing for the first time the large stone ring rising from the ground behind him, presumably this was the gate they had come through.

"Yes," he replied removing his helmet. "Our leader in red is Andros, in your timeline he was…"

"He was the Red Ranger from KO-Thirty-five," Josh interrupted suddenly recalling the news.

"Right," Trip replied. "The young lady in Pink is Karone, Andros' sister," Trip added as Karone nodded in response. "I'm sure your Kimberly already knows who Billy is." Kimberly nodded as the Quantum Ranger stepped forward removing his helmet. "And this is…"

"Tommy…" Kimberly said in shock.

"Is this everyone?" Josh asked putting a hand on Kimberly's shoulder.

"We have two other members, Rocky and Aisha, the Black and Yellow Rangers; they're on a mission at the moment." Trip replied.

"What happened here?" Kimberly asked. "Where are Jason, and Zack? What about Trini?"

"They're gone," The Green Ranger replied coldly as she walked around Josh and Kimberly, her eyes glistening. "Everyone is dead," she said as her voice began to shake, her eyes still fixed on Josh. "And I want to know why. I want to know what happened here! You said it was supposed to end!" she shouted at Joshua. "You d…" she choked on her words as tears rolled down her cheeks. "It was supposed to end…" She choked out in a whisper.

"Kim," Billy said as he rose to his feet and placed an arm around her shoulder turning her away.

"I assume Time Force sent you," Trip said trying to break up the awkwardness as Billy lead the Green Ranger aside for a moment.

"Eventually," Josh replied shaking off the shock as he watched Billy escort the Green Ranger aside as he quietly spoke to her. "First they showed up unannounced and kidnapped us before asking us for help. Apparently, we were the most compatible with these Ranger powers they developed and wanted to send us to this dimension to fix whatever created it before everything is destroyed."

"What do you mean by everything being destroyed?" Trip asked.

"Some technical things with this dimension, or universe, or whatever you want to call it. It can't sustain itself and in the year thirty-sixteen, I think, it collapses and takes our world with it. So, they gave us some data on how to make a working time machine so we could find out what caused the split and eliminate it, I have all the data in my morpher if you want to take a look at it."

"Yes, I definitely want to see that," Trip said in shock.

"Sorry to be so blunt," Josh replied a little ashamed of his own crassness.

"It's fine, it's better than the usual cryptic-ness," Trip started before catching himself and stopping.

Billy turned back toward the group as Kim walked away, putting her helmet back on as she headed toward the city. Josh watched her for a moment, she might be different from his wife, but he could tell she was torn up inside and was trying hard not to let it erupt right now.

"Well," Trip began again, "If we can make a working time ship I'm sure if we follow Lord Zedd's conquest of the universe we'll find what caused the problem."

"We have plans for that too," Joshua added. "A new model."

"What does Lord Zedd have to do with all this?" Kimberly asked changing the subject.

"Something happened in this timeline," Trip began. "Lord Zedd somehow amassed a large amount of power and conquered a huge portion of known space. Obviously, you're aware that Lord Zedd never conquered Earth, but that wasn't the case here."

"I know you have some questions," Billy interrupted, rejoining the group, his initial shock clearly passed. "And I have plenty of my own, but what you want to know is a rather long story and it would be better if we returned to the Command Center."

Josh and Kimberly exchanged a sidelong glance. Kimberly nodded to Josh.

"I have one question first though," Josh said. "Why does my appearance disturb you so much?"

Billy paused trying to find the right words.

"Because in this world you're dead," Andros answered.

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"You died defeating Lord Zedd," Andros added.

"Andros," Billy snapped.

"He's going to find out anyway," Andros shot back. "We don't have time to dance around these issues."

"I fought Lord Zedd?" Josh asked. "Are you saying I was a…" he paused for a moment. "…Power Ranger?"

"You were the original Green Ranger, the one chosen by Lord Zedd to defeat the Power Rangers, and you almost did." Andros said.

"Wait, Tommy was…" Kimberly started to inject.

"It'll be easier to show you at the Command Center," Billy replied with a sigh. "We have a lot of visual records from before the second Command Center was destroyed and I can fill in most of the gaps."

"Alright," Josh agreed. "Lead the way."

Billy began to walk toward the shinning white city as Josh and Kimberly followed behind him. The other Rangers stayed behind the couple, a few quiet questions passed between them, but Josh couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked leaning over toward Kimberly.

"Yeah," she said quietly, nodding her head. "It was just a little weird coming face to face with myself."

"The 'you' here seems really hurt and lost," Josh replied.

"If I lost you, I don't think I'd be any different," Kimberly said biting her lip.

"Don't dwell on it, I'm not going to leave you," Josh said reaching for her hand, Kimberly pulled away. "What is it?"

"It's just weird," she said. "I just want to be careful. I don't want to upset myself, but" she paused looking for the right words. "This is also the first time I've seen Tommy with you. I know it's not the same person, but"

"It still feels weird," Josh finished. Kimberly nodded. "I get that. And I wasn't even thinking about the other you, I agree we should probably be more, professional, in public."

Kimberly smiled at his odd choice of wording. They walked along in silence for a little while crossing the plains. To Josh's surprise he found that they were actually fields of crops, apparently in the early stages of growth. Several individuals with bald heads watched from a distance, Josh thought one of them looked like a woman, but wasn't sure, their faces looked young though, no more than fifteen or sixteen years of age.

Beyond the fields Josh could see rows of neatly planted trees, most likely orchards that disappeared around the edges of the city walls. He could see faint silhouettes among the trees working but couldn't see any details.

"What's with the shaved heads?" Josh asked.

"They're not shaved," Billy replied. Josh could immediately tell Billy was trying to hold his temper. "Lord Zedd did this, among other things, to the population when he enslaved our world, to make them easier to maintain."

"I'm sorry," Josh said. "I didn't know."

He looked over at Kimberly who gave him a reassuring smile. He sighed and pushed the mistake from his mind, he would simply have to be more careful about his questions. Looking around he noticed the strange color of the canopy above and the light that seemed to fill the sky as if from everywhere.

"Hey, Billy?" Josh began feeling a little awkward after his last question.

"Yeah?" Billy replied.

"Where are we exactly?"

"This is Athellon. It was the capital of an old alliance that fought against Rita and Lord Zedd here on Earth over ten thousand years ago." Billy replied his tone betraying a growing sadness. "Now it's the only refuge for the last survivors of humanity."

Josh and Kimberly exchanged a concerned glance as they continued to walk on quietly. Josh wasn't sure where on the planet they were at the moment, but he didn't want to press Billy anymore.

As they approached the city, high walls of tainted white rose from the ground over which ivy and other vines had grown during the long years. Several sections of the wall were broken down; or rather it appeared that they were in the process of being rebuilt before it was abandoned. Through the gaps they could see several elegant buildings within the city; their forms slightly marred by fire. Josh noticed several children playing in the vast amounts of open space that existed around the structures. He couldn't help but think that once those areas had been filled with many buildings.

Continuing along they came to the main gates, the gates were open wide, the vegetation growing on them suggested there had been no reason to close them for some time. As they passed through the portico, the city opened up in a much brighter expanse of white. The buildings were clean almost to the point of shining. Around the heights Josh and Kimberly could see several machines hovering around the city taking care of various maintenance projects as children ran up and down the streets playing, though not a single one looked to be older than eight or nine.

Kimberly couldn't help but notice that despite all the children there were no adults to be seen anywhere. It was possible that they were out working, or even out fighting. Then she noticed a few slender golden machines standing at various corners throughout the city. A small yellow point racing back and forth across their oddly shaped heads that Kimberly found all too familiar.

"Hey Billy," Kimberly began.

"Yes?" Billy responded.

"Is this whole city run by machines like Alpha?"

"They're earlier models," Billy replied. "Not nearly as advanced as the Alpha you're likely familiar with. We do need them though, we have thousands of children here that need care and there aren't enough of us to watch them."

"They're orphans then?" Josh asked cautiously.

"In a manner of speaking," Billy replied. "But I don't want to get into it right now."

Josh nodded even though he knew Billy wasn't looking at him. It was obvious that this city, while a home to the Rangers, also carried with it a lot of pain. It would probably be wiser to not ask any more questions about their past or present until he had seen what they had to offer.

"So where are we going exactly?" Josh asked.

"There," Billy replied pointing to a white tower that rose above the rest of the city. "The Citadel of Iledion."

Bill lurched along the ruins of Zedd's former capital. The actuators in the lower body had been crushed at some point, but Will had been unwilling to wait for the repairs to be complete before moving on. Bill raised an arm shielding his lenses from the dust. The strong winds had subsided slightly, though dust still hung in the air keeping visibility low.

"Where are we going Will?"

"To get an upgrade for this body, we're going to need it."

Bill was curious how Will knew where a better body existed. Ever since he had awoken Will had kept him in the dark. While Will had said this was for the best, he had his doubts, Will didn't seem very trustworthy and he was even beginning to consider that if Will did not need him he would not even be helping. Still, at least for the moment he had no choice but to help him, especially if Will could read his thoughts, they were both sharing the same mind, and there was no telling if they were truly two distinct minds, or if Will was a part of him.

"Turn left here," Will commanded.

Bill turned to find an opening in the ruins, apparently an old street. Through the dust he could see a humanoid form kneeling on the ground clutching a sword, the body only visible from the waist up. In front of the warrior was a rounded mound rising from the soil. Detail was hard to make out as the warrior was covered in a thick layer of dust.

"This is what we're looking for," Will said, his tone sounding satisfied for the first time. "Start digging."

Bill staggered forward, falling on his knees in front of the figure he began to dig.

"They're gone?" Taylor asked.

"Yes," Princess Shayla replied. "It appears they have escaped with Zordon's Rangers into Athellon."

"So how do we find them now?" Max asked pacing impatiently.

"They will return to our world eventually," Cole replied calmly.

"Perhaps a more direct approach would be better?" Princess Shayla suggested.

"We have no way of contacting Athellon though," Alyssa said. "We can only contact the other Rangers when they are in our world."

"But there are two in our world at this moment," Princess Shayla replied as she turned back toward the pool.

The water wavered as an image appeared of the Black and Yellow Rangers. They were pinned down behind a pile of rubble as several demons advanced on their position hurling fireballs toward them; the ethereal fire clinging to the debris and spreading as more was added. Behind the Rangers several people were cowering, their thin, wisp-like forms shuddering as they clasped their arms over their heads in terror.

"If we would like their assistance, it would be wise to offer our own," Princess Shayla added.

Cole nodded in response. "Then we will go,"

Taylor raised her orb to the sky calling on her Wild Zord, the large yellow eagle sprang from its perch on the mountaintop, the wings unfurling in a torrent of wind as it descended toward the Rangers.

Rocky fired three shots from his blaster before ducking back behind the flaming rubble. Two bolts hit separate demons in their goat-like heads, their bodies twisting into flaming ash as they dissolved into the wind. The third shot tore an arm from another.

"How many are left?" Aisha asked as she pressed up against the stone preparing to attack.

"At least fifty," Rocky replied. "Probably more,"

Aisha nodded as she rose up and fired several shots, dropping back behind cover as several fireballs flew overhead. Another demon exploded in a spray of embers as the plasma bolt burned through its chest, two more paused for an instant as the bolts grazed their heads clipping a horn from one of them; a fourth Demon fell as the bolt burst through its leg.

"You should get the people out of here," Rocky said. "I'll hold them off."

"I'm not leaving you!" Aisha protested as she ducked out managing to get a few shots off before pulling back. "Together we at least have a chance of winning."

Rocky leapt from cover firing a volley of shots into the advancing horde before landing behind another broken section of wall and rolling up against it.

"We don't have to win!" Rocky retorted. "We just need to survive!"

Aisha knew he was right. If they could get the people outside of the arcane barrier that surrounded the demon's territory, they could gate back to Athellon. Still, it was dangerous to leave Rocky on his own against so many adversaries. For an instant she felt a wave of despair wash over her as she considered the loss of their other allies and how it might have all been prevented if it weren't for the arrival of the Orgs and the loss of their Zords and enhanced battle gear. Even the Power Cycles would have been more than enough to even up this fight. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head, they hadn't come this far because of their weapons or power; it was their teamwork and trust in one another that had carried them through far worse situations than this.

"Alright," Aisha agreed as she rolled out firing spray of shots into the multitude falling two and wounding several others.

Rocky sprang to his feet and rushed at the demons, shouting as he converted his blaster into a dagger and manifested his axe in his other hand. Aisha turned and sprinted toward the small crater where the people had taken cover, diving over the edge as a fireball hit the back of her shoulder charring her armor black, scorching a small section of flesh beneath it. Aisha hit the ground and rolled, pausing only for a moment as she choked back on the pain before she pulled herself into a crouch.

Rocky deflected a fireball with the side of his axe as he met the first demon slashing his dagger across its throat as he spun bring his axe down, cleaving another fiend's torso in two, the spray of hot ash engulfing him as the demons began to converge.

"We need to go," Aisha said to the trembling people. "We just need to get over that hill and then we can escape."

"It's useless!" one of the men cried as he cradled his head.

"Lord Diabolico will hang us to be picked apart by the birds!" a woman screamed.

"It's not over!" Aisha insisted becoming desperate. "We just need to make it to that hill! It's not that far." She took hold of the nearly non-existent upper arm of the man closest to her trying to urge him to stand.

"Why did you come?!" He cried going limp in her grasp.

"You've killed us all!" another man cried in despair.

Aisha glanced back over her shoulder at Rocky. The Black Ranger had dropped his dagger and fired a cannon shot from his axe taking out two of the fiends. A flaming whip shot from the hand of another fiend to his left entangling the weapon and his hand with it as another fiend tackled him from the right clawing at his other arm.

"Rocky!" Aisha shouted firing a burst from her blaster.

The shot hit the fiend with the whip, sending flaming ash into the air as Rocky dropped his axe and slammed his fist into the fiend on his right. More were swarming in. Aisha looked back at the people still huddled and crying in the crater and back at Rocky. She raised her blaster and screamed as she charged out of the pit, her wild shots occasionally finding their marks as fireballs flew at her. One flew past her head blinding her on the right side for a moment, suddenly she felt an impact on her stomach as the searing pain began. She tumbled to the ground squeezing off a few more shots as Rocky managed a round house, getting precious space between him and his nearest attacker.

Suddenly, a deafening screech rang out overhead as two energy blasts lashed forward impacting on a large black obelisk far behind the demons, sending fiery cracks along its surface. The air flickered as if it was electric as the magic around them was disrupted. Five colored figures dropped from a large yellow eagle as it soared above them, banking to come around again on the obelisk. Suddenly rangers in red, yellow, and blue were standing with Rocky. Their hands raised with talons bared.

"Are you okay?" Aisha heard a voice next to her as a ranger in white helped her to her feet.

"I think so," Aisha said staggering to her feet. "Thank you."

"What is wrong with these people?" Danny shouted from back where the survivors were still huddled.

"They've snapped," Aisha said falling back to where he was, Alyssa brought her arms up as talons extended from her fingertips as she fell back with Aisha eyeing the movements of the fiends cautiously.

Rocky recovered his weapons as Cole, Taylor and Max made short work of the handful of fiends that had surrounded Rocky. The other demons regrouped in a half circle around the team of rangers, launching fireballs in random spurts. Cole, Taylor and Max swatted at them with their clawed hands, deflecting them to the sides and ground.

"Thanks for the help," Rocky said between deep breaths.

"What are you doing out here?" Talyor asked as she deflected a fireball with her taloned hand.

"Rescue," Rocky said nodding back to where the other rangers were with the people.

"You didn't have a plan for getting out?" she asked.

"We did," Rocky replied as he took out two more demons with his blaster from within the protection of the Wild Force Rangers. "But they had a patrol, or something come while we were trying to get the people out and we got overwhelmed.

The eagle once again soared over them, raking the obelisk with another energy attack. Cracks widened and burned fiercely as fire sputtered from its form.

"That thing is tough," Max commented.

"We used to have explosives," Rocky began. "But then,"

"Orgs," Cole nodded knowingly.

Rocky fired a few more shots off reducing several more fiends to embers and ash.

"Are there anymore of them?" Max asked.

"I think this is all that is left," Rocky replied.

"I think we can handle what's left?" Taylor said looking at Cole.

"Agreed."

The three Wild Force Rangers charged into the enemy's ranks deflection fireballs and slashing through the creatures as they went. Max caught one with an uppercut, sending embers into the air. Ash and embers danced wildly in the air as the Rangers dismantled the beasts with terrifying ferocity, their claws rending foes as fireballs were deflected to little affect. A flaming whip lashed around Cole's arm, but he used it to yank the fiend toward him before tearing the goat head from its body with his claws. An explosion shook the area as another attack from the Eagle Zord finally broke through the arcane construct, causing it to erupt into a column of fire that shot into the sky. Max kicked the last of the fiends in the chest sending it flying at Taylor who tore through it in the air as she leapt through the dematerializing body.

Aisha raised her arm up, "Open the gate, we're coming home, we have survivors."

"I have your coordinates and am opening a gate now; crisis drones have been activated." an Alpha's voice came though her com.

"Can we come with you?" Alyssa asked. "Princess Shayla sent us to talk with you."

"You guys are always welcome." Aisha replied. "Rocky, the gate is opening, let's get these people and go!"

The portal formed in the air, shimmering like serene water. This caught the attention of a few of the surviving people who stared at it with some lost sense of nostalgia.

"Is that water?" one of the women asked.

"Through there is more clean water and good food than you can even imagine." Aisha said.

"Food?" a haggard man asked as if he had never heard of such a thing.

Alyssa removed her helmet, her glistening eyes looking at the group on the ground staring up at them. She smiled warmly at them.

"Come on, it's time to leave this nightmare behind." She said extending her hand.

The man in front of her reached out a trembling hand and took hold of hers as he slowly staggered to his feet. He looked at the portal, then back at Alyssa, over at the other Rangers coming to join them, then back at the portal as he reached out with his other hand and watched it disappear within its shimmering light. Tears ran down his face as he staggered forward, still using Alyssa's hand for support as he made his way through the gateway. Alyssa blinked as he vanished into the light, tears ran down her cheeks.

"Okay," she said turning back to the awe-struck group with an outstretched hand and a tender smile. "Who's next?"

Josh and Kimberly were standing before an older man clad in a what Josh could only call sci-fi armor. His weathered features were very familiar to Kimberly. His wise, old eyes regarded the pair for a moment before he spoke.

"Though you are from another world, it is good to see your faces here."

As he spoke Kimberly's eyes lit up in recognition, "Zordon!" she shouted throwing her arms around him as tear formed in her eyes. "I never thought I would see you again."

"It's an honor to meet you." Josh said looking at Zordon. "Kimberly has told me so much about you."

"I sense sadness in those words," Zordon replied as Kimberly moved to his side, still keeping an arm around him, and Zordon a hand on her shoulder as Joshua took his other hand in his.

"In our world, you died," Kimberly said.

"I see," Zordon replied. "It seems no matter where we are, loss is something we all have had to deal with."

Kim stepped forward, still morphed except for her helmet. "Sorry about before." She said looking at Josh and then to Kimberly. "You really just caught me off guard."

"No, no," Kimberly said trying to be reassuring. "We had no idea either, if we had known, I mean,"

"There's no way you could have known," Kim replied. "It's just that," her voice started to shake, "It's nothing." She nodded and stepped back next to Billy. Billy put a hand on the shield near her shoulder.

"I feel like being here is a difficult thing for everyone." Josh said.

"As you have seen, everything about this world is difficult." Zordon replied. "But your arrival heralds the first real hope we have had in many years."

"That reminds me," Trip interrupted. "You said you had data in your morpher?"

"Oh, right, here you go." Josh replied removing the silver band from his arm and extending it to Trip. Trip stared for a moment in disbelief. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," Trip replied reaching out and taking hold of the band. "I just realized this world has made me more cynical than I thought." There was an awkward pause. "Anyway, I will get this to Circuit so we can retrieve the data and then I will get this back to you." Trip said with a nod as he departed.

"What happened here Zordon?" Kimberly asked. "This is nothing like the world we came from."

"I know we can't change the past, but I would like to understand it." Josh added.

"Well," Billy began as he walked toward one of the consoles and loaded up a holographic file. "For Earth, it all started with the arrival of a very different Lord Zedd, and his choice for a Green Ranger…"

As the images were displayed Josh immediately recognized the hulking figure in dark armor from his nightmares. Somehow, this was all connected.

Bill managed to pull one of the legs free at last, the black and green armor of this warrior was caked with dirt and worn with age. He could see the difference between the sheen of the onyx black armor that had been buried and the sun-bleached, weather-worn, dark-grey of the upper body.

"Are you sure about this Will?"

"Absolutely, this is perfect. He is a blank slate. Once we connect and use our repair systems and this body as raw material," Will paused. "We should be able to leave in a day or two at the most."

"And then what? Where are we going?"

"And then phase two. We are going to get you back Bill, all of this is for you, now get that other leg free, we're going to need to find a safe place while we transfer."

Bill lurched closer to the warrior's broken remains and began to dig again. Around them the wind blew, and dust and small bits of debris clattered across the ruin of black rock, sand and red earth. Bill couldn't help but wonder what had happened here. All around them were signs of a huge battle from long ago, but he had not seen one shred of life since he had woken up; or been reactivated. He wasn't even sure what he was. Was he one of these machine soldiers? Had they won or lost this war? What was his part in it and why was Will so quiet on the matter? What would it hurt if he knew who he was?

"Because then you would get distracted by other things. Look how distracted you are now, and you still don't know anything!" Will said ending the mystery of whether or not this other voice could hear his thoughts. "I saved both of us, but I can't have your inability to focus getting in the way."

"Who was this warrior?" Bill asked as he managed to get down to the knee.

"Ecliptor. He was one of Astronoma's generals."

"Who?"

"See? This is the problem, distractions. I had a long time to consider this, and your greatest weakness was your inability to focus on one thing, just one thing, one foot in front of the other. That's why you need me!" Will snapped.

"Sorry, Will. I'll try and focus." Bill replied as he continued to dig out the rest of Ecliptor's other leg.

High above the Earth a large, black ship approached. It resembled a dead insect more than anything mechanical, with long pylons in the front like pincers. It glided silently into the Earth's shadow, taking up a low orbit. On the bridge of the craft a figure sat in dark armor styled after the samurai armor of Japan's Feudal period. A mask like a snarling ogre covered the face beneath the black helmet. The two holes for the eyes were underlined in a blood red that ran down the cheeks of the mask like tears. To either side of his throne were two large, black banners with red pictographic writing and a large centipede in the center, twisted into an "S". As he leaned forward looking at the screen the golden highlights of his armor caught the light along with the twisted golden horns that rose like flames on either side of his helmet.

"General Zurgane, what do our scans show?" He said in calm deep voice.

"It would seem the rumors are true, Master Lothor." A cyclopean masked warrior responded. His armor was similar to Lothor's but lacked the adornment of horns. Golden plates ran down the helmet and also graced his shoulders. On the chest of his armor was the same centipede symbol which was on the banners. "It appears that Earth was indeed destroyed."

"Are there any signs of Zedd's forces?" Lothor asked sitting back.

"None, but there is still life down there."

"What about the Wind Ninja Academy?" A dark-blue ranger asked stepping from the shadows. His armor was insect like with gold on the pauldrons and bracers.

"Unknown," Zurgane replied.

"Patience," Lothor said. "When we have finished our scans you and your brother may go and investigate."

"You promised us vengeance," another ranger in similar crimson armor said emerging beside the first.

"And you shall have it, one way or the other." Lothor replied.

"How can we if Kanoi is already dead?" the one in blue protested.

"There may still be away," Lothor answered. "We shall have to see." The two rangers turn and walked back into the shadows. "General Zurgane, continue your scans and prepare our warriors for battle."

"Yes, Master Lothor."

After so many years of serving Lord Zedd's ambitions, finally they would have a chance to once again realize their own. Lothor stared out at the dirty ball of blue in the void. It might no longer be worth conquering, but it still held enough secrets to make it a diamond in the rough.

"Lord Diabolico," a winged, red demon with a head like a bull knelt before the skull throne.

"What news do you bring?" Diabolico replied gesturing toward the creature with his staff.

"The Power Rangers have destroyed one of our labor camps on the western fringe. We lost seventeen souls." Diabolico grimaced. The demon continued, "They were assisted by the Rangers of Animaria. Their Zord destroyed our obelisk." The demon paused.

"Is there more?" Diabolico questioned.

"No, my Lord."

"Then you may go."

"My Lord?"

"The western fringe does not concern me. And an outpost so small is of little concern at the present. Go and attend to your remaining dominion."

"Yes, my Lord," the demon said as it bowed its head before rising and walking from the throne room.

Loki stood beside Diabolico, watching him go before speaking. "How can you say it is of no concern? Between the Vora's insatiable appetite and the senseless Org rampages we are losing more and more humans every day. Even with the few cloning centers we still control from Zedd's fallen empire we cannot grow new stocks of humans fast enough."

"I am aware." Diabolico replied unaffected. "What you may not be aware of is that in raiding that temple in the west we have recovered a number of scrolls from an organization that has used this area long before its last inhabitants arrived to conquer it. Among those scrolls I have found reference to a Cave of Spirits which contains a power known as the Gem of Souls. Its powerful magic is strong enough to dispel any barrier, no matter how strong."

"That would be in Org territory." Loki replied.

"Yes, and so was the temple. I do not know exactly where this cavern is, but our temporary alliance with the Orgs will allow us to search for it. Once we have this power, we can open our own gateway to Zordon's city and tear open its protective barrier. With the lives of those humans, we will be able to cut off the Org expansion and turn our full attention to our fight with the Vora. Without the aid of the Rangers we will also be able to gather people from other regions, far from here."

"It seems a good plan," Loki agreed.

"The one unknown is those new rangers. Without knowing who or what they are we have to move slowly and carefully."

"It would be best to let the Orgs fight them if we can."

"Agreed. Though I doubt Trakeena is unaware of the present developments as well." Diabolico said.

"She has little reason to involve herself if the Rangers do not involve themselves in her affairs."

"This is true. She is far more calculating than the Orgs. We need to ensure that she also expends her energy against this new threat if we are to come out in a favorable position at its conclusion. Perhaps we can once again use Ifrit and Shiva to stir the pot?" Diabolico mused twisting his staff in his hand.

"Why do you need another General?" Toxica asked as she and Jindrax followed Master Org through the maze of corridors within the Nexus.

"Do you know the location of Zen-Aku?" he replied.

"No." Jindrax voiced.

"Then, that is why."

"What is so special about this Zen-Aku?" Toxica asked.

"He is an Org, of sorts, but he believes that the Animarian Rangers betrayed him. He will stop at nothing to destroy them."

"We could do that for you, Master." Jindrax suggested.

"No," Master Org replied stopping in front of a statue. "I want you two to contend with those new rangers."

A nervous glance passed between Toxica and Jindrax. Master Org extended his hand toward the statue, a large creature that looked almost butterfly-shaped in its upper body, but with a crab-like head. A large horn rose from an ornate headpiece.

"Nayzor, arise!" Master Org commanded as energy arced from his hand, engulfing the statue. Rock exploded and scattered around the cavern as red eyes glowed forth at the rebirth of the Org general. The Org stepped forward and knelt, the golden rings pierced into his wing-like shoulders clanking together. A cape flowed behind him.

"I live to serve." General Nayzor said.

"I have awoken you for a purpose," Master Org said extending a spear with a crescent-moon-shaped blade on the end. "I need you to awaken our old 'friend', Zen-Aku."

"What is this weapon my Master?"

"It is the Lunar Glaive; it holds within it the power of the full moon."

"Ah," General Nayzor replied taking the weapon. "That will be most useful. Would I be right to assume you wish me to present this to Zen-Aku when he has awakened?"

"Yes. And inform him that I will also reward him well if he can bring me Princess Shayla."

"Of course, my Master," Nayzor replied as he rose with a bow. "Forgive my delay Master, but you seem to have already full awakened, what need do you have of the Princess?"

"While it is true that the events of recent years have done much to revitalize my strength it is only by consuming the Org Heart that my power will be fully realized."

"Then I shall waste no more time, my Master." General Nayzor replied with a bow before leaving the other three Orgs there.

Toxica watched him go from the corner of her eye. Was this what Master Org truly wanted? A lump of an Org that simply acted, like a lackey? Did Master Org not see them as anything greater than the Putrids that swarmed around the Nexus subsisting like insects? She would certainly not be something so lowly, she would prove to Master Org that she was worthy of respect and better treatment.

Master Org turned and began walking back toward his throne room. Toxica and Jindrax followed after him.

"We are here to see the two gods." Cole said. They were still morphed, though they had removed their helmets.

"The what?" Andros replied looking past him to Aisha, who only shook her head.

"He means the two rangers that were near the Scion Noir today." Taylor clarified. Then aside to Cole, "I told you to stop calling them that." Cole seemed unconcerned with her chastisement.

"You're welcome to talk to them, of course," Andros began. "Right now, though, they are talking with Billy and Zordon about the history of this world."

"Have they been on vacation for the last decade?" Max quipped.

"Actually, they're from the original timeline, apparently."

"You mean they came from the Earth where this never happened?" Alyssa asked.

"That's what I understand," Andros said not wanting to give away everything he actually knew at this point. It wasn't really his place and none of these rangers had known Joshua anyway. Though the another detail would probably be safe. "One of them is actually Kimberly from the other timeline."

"There are two Kims now?" Aisha asked.

"Yeah, they are a little hard to tell apart."

"That sounds complicated," Danny said.

Andros nodded in response. He had no idea how complicated. If he had lost Ashley and another one had just come from another timeline with no idea of what had happened here, he wasn't sure how he would take it. Or how he would react to seeing himself as well. Though he also had to wonder if he and Ashley had ever gotten together in the other timeline? Trip was quiet about many details like that so as not to influence things, but now he was curious, were he and Ashley like Joshua and Kim?

"So, can we see them?" Max asked seeing Andros lost in thought.

"Now?" Andros asked coming back to reality. "Is it urgent?"

"When is it not?" Taylor replied.

Andros shrugged, "Let me talk to Zordon, excuse me." He nodded and turned away toward the Command Center, really it was the Citadel of Iledion, the former location of the Masters, but after the war with Lord Zedd it had become a new command center for the Rangers. It had also proved invaluable when the Orgs revived. If they had rebuilt a command centner in the real world they would probably also be refugees on Animaria right now. Andros passed through the doors and saw Joshua and Kimberly watching a holographic display as Billy was narrating key points. Psycho Red flashed on the screen with his devilish grin, Andros shuttered. Some nights he still had nightmares about those monsters, though not as often as Ashley. Andros made his way to Zordon and whispered his message. Zordon nodded to him and walked with him back out of the doors of the Citadel to the reception balcony below.

"Greetings Rangers of Animaria. We are always grateful for your assistance and your presence." Zordon said cordially.

"Greetings Zordon of Eltar. We have come to speak with your…"

"Rangers." Taylor interrupted glaring at Cole. "The two that arrived this evening."

"Ah yes, Joshua and Kimberly. Is there a matter you wish to discuss with them?"

"Yeah, one of them KOed an Org in a single blow!" Max exclaimed. "We want to talk to anyone who can help turn things around for us."

Taylor gave Max a sideways glance. "We don't mean to impose," she said. "But we were hoping we could talk to them and find out what they are doing here and what their plans are."

"We are eager to understand the full extent of that as well." Zordon replied. "Trip is looking over the information that was brought by them from the other world and Billy is presently teaching them about the events that unfolded here. They were about to start talking about the events just prior to Lord Zedd's conquest of the planet and the enslavement that followed. I do not know what state they will be in when Billy has finished. There are many chapters left to be told. If you would like to wait, we would be more than happy to share a meal with you and then perhaps they will be ready to talk." Zordon could see from their expressions that this was not a desirable outcome. "Is it something they must be interrupted for, or would it be agreeable for me to come with them to Animaria tomorrow and they could also talk with Princess Shayla?"

"It could wait until tomorrow." Taylor conceded. Though the others looked a little dejected at the thought of having to wait another day.

"It is not my desire to cause you to lose any heart my friends," Zordon said warmly. "I wish you had come before they began listening to our history. They have many questions, but I believe you will find them more useful in matters when they understand the situation here. The young man in particular has little knowledge the Power Rangers at all, and he has been very inquisitive."

"Then it might be better if we waited a day." Taylor replied. "Don't you think, Cole?"

Cole considered the words spoken for a moment, then slowly he began to nod in agreement. "It is true, we all have questions. If theirs are being answered then it would be rude to demand they answer ours now. We will wait." He said looking at the other rangers. Slowly the others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for your patience my friends. Please give my warmest regards to Princess Shayla. Is there anything we can do for you as you have traveled here to meet us?"

"And they helped us save a number of people from the Black Kingdom." Aisha added.

Zordon's smile grew, "For that we are even more grateful." He said with a slight bow.

"I think that we have all that we need?" Cole said looking around at the others. They nodded in agreement. "Then, we will see you tomorrow, Zordon of Eltar." Cole said with a bow before turning to go. The others nodded as they began to file out behind their leader.

"Alyssa," Aisha began as she put a hand on her arm. "Thank you for your help today. You were amazing with those people we rescued."

"It's funny," she said. "Those are the parts of this that I live for. Sometimes I think it's the only part that actually keeps me sane." She forced a smile and followed quickly to catch up with her friends.

"They seem as eager for a shred of hope as we are." Andros said as he watched them go.

"When hope is in limited supply, every drop counts." Zordon replied as he turned toward the Command Center.

"That could have gone better." Danny said as the Wild Force Rangers descended the steps of the Citadel.

"I can't say I really blame them though." Taylor said. "One of them used to be one of Zordon's Rangers in her own world. It makes sense that she would come looking for something familiar."

"I just wanted to talk to that other guy, I wanted him to teach me how to take an Org out with one hit." Max said punching his hand with his fist.

"It's just one more day." Danny said. He noticed Alyssa's solemn expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I was just thinking about those people we helped today. They were so broken; freedom was right there, and they couldn't even see it. A year or two ago, people would be running for the exit if we made one."

"Things are getting worse everyday out there." Danny agreed.

"That's why we need these new rangers." Taylor said. "Maybe they can finally turn things around for us."

"Do you really believe that?" Alyssa asked.

"I do." Cole chimed in. "You know the story; all it took was one ranger to bring down Lord Zedd."

Alyssa smiled. Taylor knew there was more to it than that, but she was not going to rob Alyssa of one of the few joys she could still hold on to in this world. Maybe that's why Cole continued to refer to them as "gods", maybe he needed something bigger to believe in as well. The Rangers continued down the steps in silence. Twilight had fallen over the city of Athellon. The lanterns that lined the streets and walkways had come to life with soft warm light. Runes of all colors were clearly visible throughout the streets given everything a warm a cheerful glow. Taylor couldn't help but think it looked a lot like Christmas growing up.

"It's so beautiful." Danny said.

"I wish we could do something like this on Animaria." Alyssa added.

"I miss fireworks," Max said. "Independence Day was last month."

"What's Independence Day?" Cole asked.

"It was a holiday to celebrate America's victory and becoming an independent country." Taylor offered.

"We would barbeque and then watch the fireworks at night." Max said. "My pops made the best ribs. Makes me hungry just thinking about it."

"Maybe when this is over, we can celebrate a new Independence Day." Cole smiled.

The others smiled as well, though in the back of her mind Taylor couldn't let go of the thought that that day might be one none of them would actually live to see. Their helmets reformed as they stood before the Gateway. The stone structure lit with a bright white light as the portal to Earth formed. The Wild Force Rangers walked through it and vanished as the door was extinguished, returning a cool darkness to the plain.

"Can we take a break?" Josh asked rubbing his eyes. It had been a few hours now and Billy was starting to talk about the rebuilding efforts that had begun in the months that followed the death of Lord Zedd. He could not believe the part that he had played in this world's history both for good and for evil. It was hard to think that everyone he loved, apart from Kimberly, was dead in this world. He no longer had any doubts though that his nightmares were connected to all of this. The question was, why?

"This is a lot of take in." Kimberly agreed. "I could use some fresh air and time to process." She felt out of place voicing it, in light of everything they had been through, but seeing Josh die in her arms was hard to deal with, even if he was still sitting next to her. She understood how crushed her other self must feel in this world. Even if it had been years, even if the pain wasn't fresh, she probably hadn't healed from it well when normal was something that didn't exist.

"This might just be a good place to stop for tonight," Billy said thinking about what was left to talk about. They had just finished one of the most harrowing years of their lives here, but 'London' was coming up next, and that was a lot to put on top of everything else in such a short time. "If you want to relax you can go down to the balcony, there is a kind of informal conference area we created there. There is a fire and seating, it offers a great view of the city, which, at night, is one of the few spectacular sights left in this world."

"Thanks Billy," Josh said standing up. "I mean it, I can understand why you guys don't want to talk about all this."

"We really do appreciate it." Kimberly said. "I never imagined it had been so bad here."

"It's fine." Billy said, his own exhaustion evident. "Though it doesn't really get better going forward."

"Come Rangers," Zordon urged indicating the way to the balcony. "Let us rest,"

"I'll be there shortly." Billy said as Joshua and Kimberly followed Zordon out of the Command Center.

The three of them walked down the stairs to the balcony below the main spire of the citadel. The city was stretched out before them, lit with warm lamps and glowing runes.

"It's like Christmas." Kimberly said staring out in awe.

"It is beautiful," Josh agreed.

As they continued down the steps, they could see the open balcony where the twin staircases converged. A walled firepit had been built in the middle of the balcony with several benches positioned around it. It was difficult to make out who was present, but three individuals were sitting around the fire talking. As they drew closer Kimberly could see that it was Rocky, Andros, and his sister, it was Karone, wasn't it? Coming near the group their conversation ceased and the three looked up at Joshua and Kimberly.

"Do you want something to eat?" Karone ventured.

"Actually, yes, if it's not a problem." Josh said. "We haven't eaten since this morning."

Karone stood up, for the first time Joshua noticed that her left arm was metallic from the elbow down. She walked over to a pot that was sitting on the edge of the pit and scooped something from it into two bowls that she produced from a shelf that was mostly cloaked in darkness next to the pit.

"Have a seat." Rocky offered, pointing at the bench next to them.

Josh and Kim sat down. Zordon paced the edge of the balcony for a moment looking out over the city. Karone walked over to them and extended the two bowls. Josh and Kimberly took the bowls with a nod, a familiar smell wafting up from inside.

"Potato soup," Andros said. "With some vegetables."

"It's not fancy, but it's good and fills you up." Rocky added.

Joshua and Kimberly smiled and took sips from the bowls, it was still hot, but the savory flavor of the potatoes and the creamy texture was a wonderfully welcome sensation after the long day they had had.

"It's really good," Kimberly said, "Thank you."

Josh nodded as he took another sip.

"How far have you come in our history?" Andros asked.

"Don't bother them with questions right now." Karone chided.

"It's okay," Joshua replied. "We stopped shortly after the death of Lord Zedd."

"So, there's still a lot you don't know," Andros muttered. Karone hit him lightly in the arm.

"You guys have been through so much," Kimberly said. "I can't even imagine."

"It has been a long road," Rocky agreed. "I don't think any one of us though can really understand what we've each suffered individually. It's probably strange hearing about how different this world is from yours."

"Do you know much about the world we come from?" Joshua asked.

"Some things," Andros replied. "We all know we were still rangers in the other timeline. Though I am the only one of the three of us that was the same."

"Was your sister also a ranger?" Kimberly asked, a little shocked.

"In your world I was the second pink Mirinoi Ranger." Karone said.

"There were rumors about that." Joshua said. "I can see why they would want to keep it a secret though."

"I can imagine that even in your world people would have trouble accepting 'Astronema, Princess of Darkness' as a hero." Karone laughed shaking her head.

"People fear what they don't understand." Josh said not wanting to push a potentially sensitive subject.

"There is a lot of awkward tension here." Karone added. "You guys don't have to treat us like we're going to break."

"I think Josh is just concerned about asking any insensitive questions." Kimberly said putting a hand on her husband's arm. "We did get off to a bumpy start today."

"I think we were all having trouble thinking clearly." Andros admitted. "If we can clear anything up for you, I'd like another chance."

"I can volunteer some things." Karone offered. "When I was working for Zedd I was terrified all the time. I don't think I even realized how much at the time. As bad as this world is, it's a welcome relief from the hell that I've lived through."

Zordon walked over from the edge of the balcony and sat down by the fire. Josh and Kim exchanged glances, communicating without words. Kimberly half smiled and Josh nodded slightly.

"If you don't mind," Josh began. "Maybe a personal account would be helpful?"

"I was unconscious for a lot of it, but when Andros and I fought in the final battle he nearly killed me. His last attack fractured the crystal that Lokar had used to bind one of his dark minions to me. That thing controlled most of my life, I couldn't fight it. It wasn't as bad as having Zedd in my mind, but this thing was ceaseless. When it left, I thought I had died. Actually, while we were in the middle of all this, I guess I did die for a short time. Andros had to use a life support driver on me after my breathing and pulse stopped. Fortunately, he was able to locate Zhane and the Mega Wing, and despite some close calls with Psycho Green's meteor shower we made it before my life support failed."

"Andros was pretty crazed when he rushed into the medical bay with her." Rocky recalled.

"There was a lot at stake." Andros said reaching over and taking his sister's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Anyway, I'm not all flesh and blood anymore though." Karone said lifting her shirt up to expose the cybernetic section of her body around her midriff. The left-side was still flesh, but machine components. These augmentations ran further up under her shirt and down below her hips. Karone pulled her shirt back down.

"Does that cause any problems with Orgs?" Josh asked, "I thought they could take over machines?"

Andros looked at his sister with an expression that seemed to convey, "I told you so". Karone shook her head. "That, I don't want to get into."

"Being morphed shields the wearer from Org infestation." Zordon said. "Orgs are similar to morphological beings, it is why they cannot take the Zords of Animaria."

"But if her morph failed…" Andros started to argue.

"Andros loves his sister dearly." Zordon said trying to diffuse the situation. "He worries a great deal for her safety. Though they will often argue, it warms my heart to see the love they have."

Both Andros and Karone looked down as they smiled a little. "Is that how your arm was hurt as well?" Josh asked trying to change the subject.

"This?" Karone asked raising her metallic arm. "No, this was… London."

"London…" Rocky and Andros sighed almost in unison.

Josh pushed his hands up over his mouth and nose. "Sorry, if I hit a nerve."

"We lost some good people in London." Andros said. He looked over at Zordon for a moment. The wizard looked sad but nodded. "You have probably noticed that the Rangers you saw at the last battle with Zedd and the ones you've seen are different. Everything changed for us in London."

"You don't have to talk about it." Josh offered. "We can see that outside of Billy, Trip and Tommy, no one is where they were anymore."

"It must have been hard to lose so many of them at once." Kimberly said softly.

"Don't misunderstand." Andros said. "I think you are getting the wrong idea. We lost a lot of people in London, and we lost some Rangers, but not every ranger you haven't seen is gone." Andros sighed and collected his thoughts. "After the final battle Ashely quit being a ranger, it had become too much for her. In the aftermath, we discovered that we had recovered the Green Ranger's morpher and Kim decided to take on that power in memory of Josh. Originally, Shawna had become the new Pink Ranger; she and Adam were getting close as they worked together. Aisha was determined to make up for her part in betraying the Power Rangers and became the new Yellow Ranger. We were starting to take back our world. Diabolico and his armies were still dormant, and the Orgs were still a rather mysterious new problem. But things changed after London though in a big way.

We had just tried to contact Time Force the week before, when we first encountered that machine. At the time we thought it was some kind of leftover Machine Empire weapon. It was several more weeks before we had enough information that Circuit made the connect in his database with the Orgs. At the time, most of the remaining people had congregated into mega-cities. One of these was London. With the UK being islands, it seemed a perfect and defensible location. When Zedd had attacked the British had detonated multiple warheads in the tunnel that connected the large island to the mainland. This made the channel deeper and the earth beneath it very solid. We thought Trakeena and her Vora were mostly in mainland Europe and scattered throughout Asia at the time, we didn't realize how far she had actually spread her colonies. We had been building up an air force using salvaged Velocifighters and Quadrafighters and were making plans to help supply the other mega-cities in the region from this stronghold. Jason was at the London mega-city talking with the leaders there…"

"It's still hard for us to help as much as we would like." Jason said as he walked through the black-stone buildings of London with Prime Minister Davies and two of his commanders.

"It would certainly be more helpful if your Zords were part of the operation." Davies said.

"And believe me," Jason said, trying his best to be diplomatic. "That is our highest priority right now outside of crisis control. Losing the Command Center means that we lost our teleportation system. Zordon is the only one capable of moving our Zords right now, but he can't be at every engagement at once. We still have our Power Cycles, and the Mega Wing is in orbit as an emergency response, but I can't promise a higher commitment of forces without talking to the rest of our team."

"I think the situation warrants it." The Prime Minister replied. "We are about to begin a major operation that will affect most of Europe. We are one of the few regions that are still capable of maintaining any livestock and open land from crops. It's difficult to keep anything safe from those bugs on the continents where land is concerned. Your Zords might be overkill for anything the bugs have but they are also largely immune as well. It would be very helpful to have one or two for some of the larger hives we're planning to hit. The continued safety of this city may well depend on it."

"The cities still have the food processors from the occupation though. We need to be more focused on protecting human life." Jason interjected.

"Did you have to eat that gruel?" Davies asked.

"No, sir." Jason admitted.

"I'd rather eat pig slop." One of the commanders said.

"You can't expect commoners to eat that stuff anymore than you can expect them to wear their slave suits. We're fighting wars of morale as much as we are fighting wars with our enemies." Davies said.

"I'll have Zordon assemble everyone when I return." Jason replied. Ever since the rebuilding had started it seemed like everyone had an angle and everyone had an agenda. Jason wasn't sure how much he liked having to play the role of politician on top of being a ranger. Jason noticed a small tremor. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" the Prime Minister asked.

"There was a small bit of shaking."

The two commanders looked at each other and shrugged. The Prime Minister smiled. "Britain has plenty of seismic activity. Most of it is insignificant."

"How common are they?" Jason asked.

"We might have one or two every few days, but higher magnitude quakes are rare here. Why do you ask?"

"The ground shaking is just something that always concerns me." Jason said. "Do you monitor your earthquakes?"

"Our seismic monitoring stations were all destroyed during the invasion. We do keep reports on anything noticed by our people however."

"I will definitely have Billy get you some equipment. If this is going to be a base of operations, we need to be on guard."

"The mainland is over thirty kilometers away. Not to mention that you would have to tunnel over a hundred meters down to avoid breaking into the ocean, assuming anything could even dig through that material anymore. Do you know how many warheads were detonated in that tunnel? It's a wonder we didn't crater the island itself."

"Still, I think it is warranted." Jason replied.

"Fair enough, better to be prepared than not, I suppose." Davies admitted. "Still the closest known hives are over a hundred kilometers inland."

"What is the status of the wall?"

"Nearly complete." One of the commanders said. "In that way we were fortunate that so much work was done during the occupation."

The ground shook again, this time much more noticeably.

"That felt more like an impact than any kind of shaking." Jason commented.

There was another vibration followed by faint screams as the four of them turned to see a building collapse in the distance, disappearing below the skyline of the city. Jason raised his wrist.

"We need backup in London, we just had a building collapse, search and rescue."

"I have Adam, Shawna and Kimberly ready to go," Billy said. "If it's bad I can also join you?"

"That should be good for the moment and send the Power Cycles." Davies and the commanders were already moving off toward the collapsed building. Jason lowered his voice. "And Billy, get everyone else back and ready, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Do you think there is more to this?"

"I don't know. Something just feels wrong. If the situation changes, I'll let you know." Jason started running toward the damaged building. After a few minutes a portal appeared in front of him as the Green, Black and Pink Rangers emerged on their cycles. The Tyrannosaurus Cycle rolled out behind them and came to a stop. Jason came up to them and quickly mounted his bike. "That way!" He said pointing. The Rangers nodded and they sped off toward the fallen structure.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

"A building collapsed." Jason said, his sentences short as he tried to catch his breath. "There was some shaking, before. Not enough, for that though."

"Do you think it's an attack?" Shawna asked.

"Not sure. Be careful." Jason replied as he reached back and took his morpher. Holding it out with his right hand he activated it. The armor formed over his body as he raced into the morphing field. After speeding down a few streets past confused and shocked onlookers the Rangers arrived at the toppled building. It had fallen to one side, across the street, taking out half of the building on the opposite side.

"Does anyone need medical attention?" Shawna shouted as she dismounted her bike. Several people shouted in affirmation and began moving toward her. She activated a switch on the side of the bike, pulling out a medical kit.

Jason approached a group of people. "Do you know if anyone was inside, or how many?"

"I don't," a woman replied. "But I'm almost certain I heard screams from inside when the building fell."

"I know people have been living all around this area, but I don't know if any of them are home at this time of day. Most people are out working. The children are in school or care centers." A man replied. "If there is anyone under there, it's more likely that they we just passing through."

"All right Rangers, search and rescue scanners on, let's start clearing this debris. Carefully."

Kimberly and Adam nodded as all three Rangers engaged their cycle's transformation mode, the bikes folding around them, making them hulking giants compared to the people around them. Their HUDs switched to an infrared overlay with auditory scanning for heartbeats. Slowly they began clearing the rubble of the building and stacking it in a tidy pile.

Jason wasn't holding out much hope. These building that Zedd had made were strong and durable but being made from these large black stones meant that buildings fell like a pile of bricks, the odds of a safe place remaining after a collapse like this was almost zero.

After nearly ten minutes of working, local peacekeepers and the Prime Minister arrived with his two commanders and began restoring social order. People were encouraged to move on, and transportation routes were changed through other parts of the city. Shawna finished with the people she had been helping and joined in the rescue effort.

They continued to work with little communication for nearly an hour, the stack of stones growing into a small building in its own right. Then Adam saw something.

"Guys, over here." Adam shouted.

Kimberly arrived to see a weak heat signature from underneath one of the stones. Carefully, she helped Adam lift it, being cautious to not disturb the rest of the pile. Both of the Rangers turned away as they caught sight of the mangled body beneath the stone. Jason let out a sigh as he moved over to help clear away more debris.

"We need a medical team," Jason said. "One found, I don't think he is alive, there is no heartbeat."

A group of people moved in with a gurney and hoisted the man's corpse onto it. One of the people checked for a pulse and checked for breathing before looking at his watch and making a note on his clipboard. He nodded to two other members before they picked up the gurney and carefully moved out of the cleanup area.

"I don't think you're going to find anyone," one of the commanders said coming alongside Jason.

"I know commander."

"Harper," he replied.

"Commander Harper."

"Any idea what caused this?"

"None," Jason admitted. "I don't know what happened. It's like something toppled it, but that small quake couldn't have done this." Jason switched his scanners over to seismic and knelt, putting an armored hand on the ground. Small, erratic spikes showed on display. Suddenly a larger spike, then another and another, then back to the small random vibrations. Jason activated his com. "Billy, I need you to get out here and I need you monitoring seismic activity. I think something is happen underground here."

The ground rocked again. Jason's scanner was showing high activity. The vibrations increased, the cries of people could be heard, spreading around the city. Suddenly buildings began to fall at random. In front of Jason the remaining rubble flew into the air. The other rangers jumping back as a huge, row-plated beetle smashed up onto the surface. Its front legs had large, spiked bludgeons. Jason reached out a hand, deflecting a stone from crushing the commander. Before Jason could even say a word, both commanders were already converging on the Prime Minister and drawing some kind of blasters from their holsters. Jason activated his com.

"Billy, we have a Vora attack, bring everyone!" There was no response.

"Guys, I can't get Billy on the coms!" Jason shouted as Kimberly rushed at the giant bug, a volley of rockets launching from the pauldrons on her armor as short, glowing blades projected from the arms igniting in green flame.

Chitin cracked and scattered as orange fluids sprayed from the wounds as the rockets tore into the side of the insect. Green Ranger slammed into the head, tearing through it with her plasma daggers. Kimberly exploded out the other side in a spray of fluid as the monster collapsed in a heap. Orange goo ran off the chassis and sizzled off the green blades.

"My com is dead too." Kimberly said panning her suit as she scanned for more enemies.

"Same," Shawna affirmed.

"Look out!" Adam shouted as the hulking corpse began to ungulate, large beetles with carapaces that looked like jagged rock were forcing their way out from under the huge corpse, their movement tearing and dragging the body away from the hole in a horrid tangle of limbs and sludge.

Shawna raised her bow and sent a rapid barrage of magenta darts at the new threat, but the bolts shattered in a cloud of fuchsia shards, seemingly ineffective. Jason rushed in, his sword flashing from the right arm as he slashed at the nearest beetle, but the powered blade only rang off the thick carapace of the creature.

"Jason, look out!" Kimberly shouted as the beetle's mouth lit with a white flame.

Jason leapt out of the way as white plasma spewed from the beetle melting a channel into the street and dissolving the side of a nearby building, the remaining material oozed like a thick syrup. As he landed, Jason whirled around and caught sight of clouds of Sting Wings pouring out into the sky in several distant locations.

"Oh no," he gasped. "Rangers, fallback and regroup!"

"Billy, I need you to get out here and I need you monitoring…" the com went dead.

"Jason?" Billy said boosting the signal power. "Jason, do you read? Billy looked down at the panel, all the displays showed that something was jamming the signal. He rotated through the bands, but all were filled with copious amounts of white noise interference. It wasn't clever, but it was working. Billy switched over to the Mega Wing. "Zhane, are you there?"

"I'm here."

"We lost contact with Jason and the others at the London mega-city. I need you to head down there. I will get the others and we will gate in as soon as we can."

"What are we dealing with?"

"I don't know, but I'm certain it is an attack."

"Destination set, see you on the ground." Zhane replied ending his transmission.

Billy activated the coms again. "All rangers to the Gateway, we have an attack on London. Full response." Billy dashed out of the Command Center and hurried down the steps to the Gateway, pulling the morpher from his belt.