It had been a few weeks since the Coinless sentries had attacked the Ranger Slayer and her two sentry allies. The two Renegade Sentries walked across the soft sand, leaving deep footprints in the ground. They were approaching their destination with a fair amount of caution, "It's too quiet", Lauren whispered to Tennaya.
"Don't tell me you're scared", Tennaya chuckled. She was walking a few paces in front of Lauren, "The spirits must be sensing our presence and the cause that we fight for".
Lauren sighed and chose not to respond to the Tyranno sentry's comment. Things had been a little tense over the last couple of weeks. Tennaya had spent most of the time scouting out this cave whereas Lauren kept out of her way. On the surface the tricera sentry was the supportive but underneath she was concerned. She couldn't remember the last time Tennaya had been so obsessed with something. Tennaya had been looking for any references to the Corona Aurora. She knew that she couldn't oppose Tennaya alone so he only hope was that The Ranger Slayer and her allies would show up.
"We're here", Tennaya stated, snapping Lauren out of her thoughts. The coinless sentries crept into the cave as quietly as they could but once they were fully inside, one of them was disappointed, "This is it", Tennaya scoffed, "I was expecting a hoard of vengeful spirits blocking the way".
"Try not to jinx us", Lauren hissed back. There was nothing special about the cave, certainly nothing to indicate they were in the presence of one of the most powerful artefacts in the world. The walls were smoother than they would expect from a cave exposed to the elements but that could've been the work of the Corona.
Sitting in the middle of the cave on a rocky pedestal was a crown with five gems embedded in it. There was a faint glow from the gems but they could feel the power radiating outwards. The Coinless sentries inched towards the crown, still surprised that there didn't appear to be any traps or obstacles in their way. Tennaya reached out her hand towards the Crown but Lauren grabbed her arm to stop her, "Wait, are you sure you want to do this?"
"Not this again", Tennaya sighed, "six weeks in the presence of the Ranger Slayer and you've gone soft on me. What happened to your sense of conviction?"
"Perhaps you should listen to your friend", a ghostly voice called out.
The Coinless sentries froze in their tracks at the sound of the voice. It belonged to someone that had died years ago. They turned around and came face to face with a blue floating head, "Zordon" Lauren gasped.
"Hello", Zordon smiled, "it's good to see you again rangers".
Tennaya shook her head a few times and slowly backed away, "No, you can't be here".
"Rangers", Zordon stated, "the powers i gave my rangers to protect the world may have been corrupted, but this is not what the powers was ment to be used for".
Lauren looked down at the Corona Aurora that still sat in its resting place, "The Crown?" She said with a tremble in her voice.
Zordon nodded, "There is a reason the Corona Aurora was hidden away", the walls were suddenly filled with several different images. They were from different eras throughout history but there were two common themes. Firstly Flurious and Moltar trying to steal the Corona Aurora, then random evil rangers trying to steal it in all of the projections but more importantly there was death and destruction. The Coinless sentries weren't easily shocked but even they struggled to watch the sickening images they were seeing.
It all became too much for Lauren and she adverted her gaze, "Please I've seen enough", she pleaded with the mighty sage.
"If you continue to walk this path, this will be your destination", Zordon stated. Unlike Lauren, Tennaya was still observing the images, "Tennaya", he said softly, "surely you see the folly of this".
The tyranno sentry glanced towards the ground briefly before her eyes glared back at Zordon, "They were weak, I won't succumb as easily as them".
"Seriously", Lauren gasped in exasperation.
"No I've come this far", she reached out towards the pedestal, "Drakon will pay for his crimes and so will those who created him".
"You can't blame the rangers for the crimes of a lone renegade", Zordon shook his head disapprovingly.
Tennaya paused temporarily but it was only a brief pause. She reached out and removed the Corona Aurora from its resting place. It felt warm to the touch and she could feel the power pulsating from the cool stones, "Very well", Zordon said coldly, "you have made your decision. Like those who have been before you, there shall be one final test before the true power of the crown is yours". His gaze softened slightly, "May God have mercy on your soul", Zordon sighed and the sage disappeared.
Unimpressed with the warning she had just been given, Tennaya tossed the Crown up into the air, "Never been too good at tests before", she chuckled.
"Dude are you damaged in the head", Lauren snapped, "did you not seen the same thing I did? Is that what you want to become just for sake of revenge". Tennaya didn't get a chance to answer as the sound of hurried footsteps echoed throughout the cave, "Someone's coming", Lauren whispered, apprehensive that this was the test that Zordon spoke about.
A few moments later the Ranger Slayer, Masterdon and Sabretooth sentries burst into the cave. Tennaya looked at them for a couple of moments before shaking her head in amusement, "Some final test this is".
Shaking off Tennaya's remarks, Kim held out her hand, "Put the crown down", she pleaded, "you don't know what it could do".
"Oh I think I do", she replied, "I've seen what it can do and it will dispose of Drakon and his pathetic army in seconds".
"And then what", Kim began, "you've made your opinions clear about us, does that mean we'll be next in the firing line".
Tennaya shrugged, "Depends if you get in our way". Lauren frowned at Tennaya's comment, at least she didn't see her as an enemy yet, although she might if she ever found out what she had done.
"And you Tricera", Charlie looked at the Tricera Sentry in desperation, pleading with her to stop tyranno's madness. Lauren though was frozen to the spot, still horrified by the images she had seen and that Tennaya was willing to continue down that path.
"Something you want to tell me Lauren", Tennaya said coldly in the direction of the Tricera sentry. When there was no response, she shook her head, "I don't believe it, I've been Yoko Ono'd by my own friend". Tennaya turned around slowly and glared at Lauren, the crown in her hand shining brightly.
"Wait Tennaya, it's not like that", Lauren backed away slowly.
"My own friend", Tennaya continued, "I should've seen this coming", she raised the Crown in the direction of Lauren.
The sight of Tennaya aiming the Crown at Lauren forced the rebel senteies into action. Eric grabbed the Tyranno's arm whilst Charlie tried desperately to pull her away. Kim meanwhile grasped Lauren's hand and pulled her towards their side of the cave. They were so busy struggling that they failed to notice that the Corona Aurora was pulsating wildly. There was a sudden flash and all five sentries disappeared from the cave, transported to places unknown.