DISCLAIMER: Saban, DC, BBC. You know who goes where. Storyline originally
Shadow Ranger's. Thanks go to him for letting me write this. And now.
WARZONE by C.A. TURNER
Doctor's TARDIS, between dimensions:
"Doctor, what's going on now?" Troia asked. The assembled heroes from both the Titans and the JLA had taken a break from the events on the viewscreen. All had just returned from planning strategies in fighting Minion.
"The worst is just about to start." The 5th Doctor told them.
Power Chamber 7 July 1998
"Okay Billy, give it a try," Trini called as she finished working on Alpha's damaged circuitry.
"Powering up now," Billy replied from the console that he had jury-rigged to repair the small droid.
Alpha had been so badly damaged the Rangers had given up trying to repair his body until they had the time to do so. Instead, desperate for information they had patched his databanks into the Power Chamber's computer system..
"1010101010 1001 001001" the computer said as it slowly powered up and interfaced with Alpha.
Billy adjusted the controls and tried again. This time the results were more favorable..
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, Rangers!" Alpha cried. "You're all safe!"
"Alpha, what happened here?" Kimberly asked.
Although the log she had found in Tommy's quarters had told them about the Rangers' first encounter with the Psycho Rangers it had not been updated since. Despite Billy's best attempts he had been unable to restore Zordon's voice and the computer was still locked out..
"I don't..." Alpha went quiet as if trying to recall what had been going on. "Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, I don't know. Everything is blank for the last two days.".
Billy nodded. He did not expected somebody to go to all the trouble of disabling Alpha and Zordon without taking the extra precaution of wiping his memory as well..
_The question is why did they only disable Alpha and Zordon? _ He wondered. .
For one thing turning Alpha off was simple, but the way it had been done allowed the android to keep his memories and personality. As far as Billy knew only two people other than Zordon knew how to do that and both of them had been on the quest for new powers..
Taking a look at the program log inside Alpha's brain Billy discovered somebody had gone to great pains to delete parts of Alpha's memory twice within the previous forty eight hours. That was a feat only Billy was competent to manage. He started to wonder whether the Zeo Rangers had lost to Minion or one of their own teammates.
* * *
Prison Subdimension - Stone Henge.
Minion and his new protege walked through the prison dimension gloating over their new playthings. The Queen of the Crown had finished draining the power she needed and now their guests were there for them to play with.
The first set of cells contained the group of kids known to the world as Beetleborgs. They had been drained of nearly all their powers and most of their life force. Minion had been tempted to let the Queen finish them. The idea of seeing every cell in their bodies drained of life until their frail human bodies were reduced to piles of dust was almost too good to resist, but not quite.
The Queen had resurrected one of the Beetleborgs' enemies and he had promised Minion to demonstrate some very interesting torture techniques in return for being able to deal with the fourth Beetleborg. Minion had given the Shadowborg permission to pursue the White Blaster Beetleborg to the ends of the Earth providing the evil Borg made the White Borg's death long and painful.
As a result Minion had left the Beetleborgs alone. They were currently held in a cell, their hands and ankles bound and the Beetle Bonders held in safekeeping. The cold stone floor was far from comfortable, but compared to what some of his prisoners were going through the Beetleborgs were lucky.
Minion and his companion punched in a code and opened the cells on the far side of the room. Inside were his favorite trophies, the former Zeo Rangers.
This was Minion's favorite part of the Prison Dimension. He had altered the flow of time in the dimension so a few hours would seem like weeks to the Rangers trapped inside. All six of the Rangers he was holding prisoner were undergoing various forms of torture.
First off was Aisha. Minion had trapped her at the bottom of a long tube. Minion had sealed the sides,top and bottom of the tube so she only had a limited air supply. Then he had started to pump in a drop of water every thirty seconds. It was a slow torture. Aisha knew she could not escape and that eventually she would drown, but not before the dripping water drove her insane.
Next in line was Trey. Biilly had suggested that perhaps it would be fun to separate Trey into his component parts without his consent. As a result they had placed the Lord of Triforia on a version of the rack and were gradually stretching the Gold Ranger until he either split into three different parts or was torn in half by the rack. Minion had liked the idea, but found it too unimaginative. Therefore he had added his own subtle changes.
The rack had been modified so Trey was now seated with his hands tied to a series of pulleys. His legs and ankles were strapped to a set of bicycle pedals. The idea was that a small motor attached to his arms would tighten the ropes and stretch the Lord of Triforia unless he pedaled fast enough to counter the effect. Minion had made an additional change. The system was now ratcheted. If Trey stopped pedaling he would be stretched, but even if he then started to pedal as fast as he could the ropes would not loosen. It was the ultimate no win situation. Sooner or later the Triforian would tire and when he did he would be stretched.
Rocky had been strapped into a chair. On his forehead a metal device had been fastened. As Minion pressed a button the device sent a signal to the muscles in Rocky's leg, causing it to twitch. The sensation was not painful, but after a few hours of constant twitching Rocky would be driven insane. Minion had seen the evidence of what constant exposure to the device would accomplish. Even the most iron willed prisoner would crack under the strain.
The device had been created years ago for use by bounty hunters wishing to interrogate captives to find their prey. Minion had been lucky to find a working model in Zedd's castle. Obviously Zedd had had dealings with either the Varox or the Bounty Hunters' Guild. He was not sure which but knowing Zedd, he was willing to beat the Bounty Hunter had not been paid for his work, or lived to tell about it.
Minion had modified the next cell especially for Kat using the technology he had gained from Grimlord. The room was set to play out random dangers at random intervals, stimulating her pain receptors without the physical injury. Minion had no intention of damaging Kat's body. He had wanted Kat since the day he had first met her. In truth she was second in his desires only to Trini.
Minion planned to leave her a few more hours and then offer her a chance to end her pain. He doubted she would take him up on the offer first try, but faced with a life of pain or a life as his slave he suspected she could be persuaded to choose the latter.
Sam's torture was simple but effective. He had been tied with his hands above his head and had a Robo Trooper punching him at regular intervals. Each blow cracked his ribs causing him to scream in agony. But Minion had programmed the Robo Trooper to allow enough time between blows for the Ranger healing to take effect. For the Robo Trooper it meant a few seconds of action followed by long periods of waiting. For Sam it meant constant and nearly unbearable pain. Biilly was, however, simply using him as practice for Tommy.
Adam's torture was perhaps the most cruel. He had been secured so he had a view of all his friends being tortured. Minion had injected him with a drug to paralyze his body. Adam could see and hear everything, but could not move any part of his body to help or even turn away or shut his eyes. Tears ran down his face from having to watch his friends being tortured, knowing he was free to intervene but unable to help them. He continued to sob, broken at the sight of his friends suffering knowing he had failed them.
"What's the matter Adam, can't you stand to see your friends suffer?" Minion asked softly. "You know, you could save them. Just swear total and undying allegiance to the forces of darkness and I'll let them go."
"Go to hell!" Adam spat, struggling to speak due to the effects of the drugs.
Minion did not reply. He simply turned and nodded to the Robo Trooper in front of Sam. The Trooper understood the unspoken command and punched Sam in the face, cracking his skull.
"You had better not say things like that Adam," Minion hissed. "Or I'll instruct the Robo Trooper to crush his skull.".
"And you know even Ranger healing cannot heal brain damage," Biilly added..
"We'll leave you to consider our offer," Minion told the distraught Ranger. "See you soon."
Biilly waited until Minion vanished before walking over to where Sam was hanging. Using the fighting techniques he had learned from Minion he kicked the Red Zeo Ranger several times in the chest and stomach, smiling in satisfaction as he heard the Ranger's ribs crack.
"That is for Tommy kicking my butt when he was the Green Ranger," He said angrily.
Aiming at the Red Zeo Ranger's kneecap he attacked the leg brutally. "That is for his ruining any chance I ever had with Kimberly or Kat," he said as the knee snapped.
Cutting the bonds holding Tommy's arms, Biilly continued to kick and punch the fallen Ranger. "This is for causing me to leave Earth, fall in love with a fish and then lose the woman I love."
The fact he had never experienced those events other than through the memories he shared with Billy did not occur to the replica. As far as he was concerned Tommy had made his life miserable and now it was time to get revenge, and as far as everything was concerned, Sam was Tommy. Lifting Sam to his feet Biilly delivered a sharp kick to his former leader's neck..
"Wait six hours and then resume the treatment," he said to the Robo Trooper as he teleported away..
Six hours was nowhere near enough time for Sam to heal, but that was the idea. Biilly promised himself he would return to beat Sam a bit more when the other boy was awoke..
Minion watched Biilly from outside the Prison Dimension. His young protege was coming along nicely. Already Minion could feel the effects of the spell fading as Biilly started to become naturally evil. When finally he reached the point of no return, Minion knew exactly how to push him over the line; have him kill Sam using his Ranger powers.
Minion could feel the Power mutating. Soon Biilly would be another evil Ranger and Minion's army would be complete. He had his Psycho Rangers, he had the Dark One trapped inside the replica of Tanya, he had the two spare replicas Biilly had removed from the Power Chamber and now, he had Biilly. There might have been eight new Rangers, but Minion had fourteen Evil Rangers and six of their friends held captive..
"Silvo, prepare the Psycho Rangers and their Zords. We attack the Rangers as soon as they are ready."
* * *
Biilly's Quarters, Power Chamber Two Days Earlier.
Biilly lay asleep, trying to recover his strength after his battle with the Psycho Rangers. Resisting Minion's offer had taken a lot out of him. Not just because Minion's arguments had been persuasive, but also because he had felt in his heart that Minion spoke the truth.
Inside his head a battle was still raging, a battle that would turn the tide of the war in Minion's favor. Biilly found himself floating in a dark void. He was all alone. No Friends to help him, no enemies to threaten him and only his thoughts to keep him company. It was the most peaceful place Biilly had ever visited, at the same time it was the noisiest place he had ever been. His thoughts kept churning over Minion, his true identity and the offer he had made for Biilly to join him..
What Biilly did not know was that Minion had placed a spell on him to encourage such thoughts and help the replica to reach what Minion would consider to be the right decision. .
"Hello Biilly," Minion said.
Even in his dreams Biilly could not lose the face of the villain. He stood before the Triceratops Ranger, his red eyes glowing in the darkness. Biilly was not sure what felt worse, the fact Minion was standing within striking range or the fact that he was not feeling even the slightest urge to attack him.
"What's the matter Biilly, don't you want to see this face?" Minion asked. "How about this one instead?"
As he spoke Minion removed his mask to reveal the face underneath. Biilly still could not help but stare at the face the other Rangers had damaged so badly. He remembered it had been Tommy's order to fire.
"Go away!" Biilly said.
"As you wish Biilly," Minion replied.
The void seemed to grow even darker than before, forcing Biilly to strain to even make out his own body. The voices in his head got louder. Whispering, taunting him, telling him the way things might have been. .
"If you had killed Tommy when you had the chance, Cestria would still be alive.".
"You should be leader of the Rangers not Tommy, or in this case, Sam."
As Biilly looked on the void grew lighter. Two duplicates of Biilly appeared in front of him. One was dressed in light blue bearing the Triceratops on its chest. The other was a dark blue with the Jackal taking pride of place on his chest.
"I doubt you will listen to me Biilly, so why don't we let you decide?"
He signaled to the two figures and they started to fight back and forth. Each was equal in strength, speed and skill. The only factor separating them was Biilly. He did not know that Minion had reached into his mind and cast a spell to ensure the victor would be based on what Biilly wanted and would cause him to act. If Biilly truly wanted to be evil then the dark Biilly would win and Biilly would be evil. If Biilly truly wanted to be good then the light Biilly would win.
Both Biillys had been armed with Power Lances, which they started to use with deadly efficiency. Biilly watched as the good and evil parts of his nature fought for overall control of his mind. He was unaware that Minion was also watching with interest.
He had not expected Biilly to choose to be evil, but with every second the two fighters became more and more even..
"Enough," Minion called, freezing the fighters at the point where Biilly had only slightly more evil than good. It would be easy to watch him sink further into the dark side, but riskier too. If Biilly could shrug off the control it would be impossible for Minion to gain domination over him. However with Biilly under his influence he could slowly drain the good from him. "Biilly you are both good and evil. Join me and you will have the power of the Jackal and Triceratops.".
Minion watched as Biilly agreed and smiled. The spell had worked. All Biilly's inhibitions were finally gone. He watched as two new Power Coins appeared on Biilly's chest. One showed the Triceratops and the other the Jackal.
"Welcome to the winning team," Minion said. "Now wake up and remember what you have to do."
* * *
Stone Henge
Two Days Earlier.
"What would you have us do master?" Psycho White asked.
Minion looked down at his creation. Like all the Psycho Rangers, Psycho White did not have a gender and could appear as either male or female. At the moment Minion could detect an air of masculinity about the Psycho Ranger. He wondered whether maybe the Psychos' encounter with the Rangers had altered them all.
"Go and draw out the Rangers. Attack their homes if you have to," Minion replied. The Psychos knew who the Rangers were and Minion decided he would take advantage of the situation. "Do not destroy them yet," he warned. "I have plans for them."
Minion waited for the Psycho to disappear before turning his attention to more important tasks. He had allowed himself to be distracted by the Psycho Rangers' first assault and had neglected his duties to the forces of evil. Already another portal had opened at Stone Henge, this one allowing him access to the planet of Gallifrey and the Shadow Grid.Tapping the portal's power Minion was able to travel to different time zones within the various dimensions and capture the Zords and weapons suitable for his Rangers. Before long he had collected the Ninja Zords, Shogun Zords, and some Zords the Rangers had yet to create or discover. For some reason, he wasn't able to obtain the Dino or Thunder Zords, or any of the Zeo Zords. "These will do for now." He said to himself.
Just as the Rangers had created their new Zords using Serpenterra, so Minion planned to use the Rangers' own Zords to build his new army. Of course he had not forgotten to retrieve Cyclopsis from a dimension where instead of being destroyed it had merely been captured by the Rangers. Minion could see and advantage in using all the Megazords together, but first he wanted to see what he could do with Cyclopsis.
He looked the grey Zord over thoughtfully. He noted the Rangers in the other dimension had altered the Zord so it could operate without a Ranger. They had also removed some of the most dangerous and effective weapons.
_I can definitely do better, _ Minion thought. "Robo Troopers X2794-A and X2794-S report."
The two Validium based foot soldiers appeared before their master. Both of them bowed before their creator.
"Merge, sweetie darlings." Minion sarcastically instructed.
The two Troopers touched hands and combined to form a larger Robo Trooper. The new Trooper was armed with a large silver mace.
"Grow," Minion said. He pointed to Cyclopsis to give the Trooper an idea of what size he required. The Trooper obeyed, growing to full size and the approximate width of Goldar's old War Zord. "Now bond with Cyclopsis," Minion said.
This was an easy command to obey. The Robo Trooper walked over to the War Zord and stepped into it. The living metal flowed over the Zord coating it in Validium. Now Minion had the combination he wanted. The Zord would provide structure and the Robo Troopers would make it invulnerable to attack.
"Cyclopsis, online!" Minion commanded.
He pointed the Sword of Darkness at the Zord, bathing it in the cold annihilating light of purest evil. He smiled as the Zord started to reform, transforming into the formidable battle machine that had once come close to defeating the Rangers.
Although the Zord retained the three horns on its head the rest of the body was altered to become sleeker and more muscular. Solid Validium projectiles from a spare Trooper Minion had selected replaced the missiles hidden inside the chest panel. There was no point in making the shells explosive because the living metal would absorb any blast.
Minion turned away before he could review the other weapon systems. He wanted it to be a surprise when he found out exactly what the new and improved Cyclopsis could do.
* * *
The Psycho Rangers were enjoying themselves. Deciding that threatening innocent humans would encourage the Rangers to make an appearance they raided Angel Grove High School, taking the few students whom had not been kept home hostage.
"Rangers!" Psycho White called, holding the evil Saba across a girl's throat. "Either you show up by the count of ten or we start killing one of these pathetic humans every ten seconds."
Nothing happened and for a moment he thought maybe the Rangers had seen sense and realized just how futile fighting the Psycho Rangers would be..
"One!"
Psycho Red finished his rounds of the school ensuring every human was accounted for. He stepped into the classroom where Miss Appleby used to teach the Rangers English. He could sense the laughter from some of the lessons over the years. He could feel the good in the room from a teacher whose love was teaching and her students.
Growling angrily Psycho Red summoned his Double Power Swords and began to trash the room. He did not stop until the room was leveled. "Now that's a classroom," he said looking at the scorched hole he had made in the blackboard with his sword.
"Two!"
Psycho Purple found her way into the Principal's office. She summoned her Power Claw and began redecorating the room. The five- knife- like blades slashed into the walls and furniture as she took out her aggression on the office.
"Three!"
In the Power Chamber Alpha worked quickly to summon the Rangers and tell them what was happening. Each of them looked serious as they morphed and teleported to stop the Psycho Rangers.
"Fou..."
Psycho White's count was interrupted when he found himself on the receiving end of the Power Cannon's blast from behind. A microsecond after he sensed the blast his hostage was teleported to safety.
"So, you came," Psycho White said turning towards his attackers. "Now the fun begins."
"Not today," Zeo Falcon replied.
All six Gem Coin Rangers stood ready for action. Zordon and Alpha had beamed all the civilians to safety. Now it was time for a rematch.
"Get them!" Psycho White called.
What followed was almost a repeat performance of the last encounter between the Gem Coin Rangers and the Psycho Rangers. The two sides fought back and forth, through the classroom and into the open air. All the time Zordon kept the Rangers aware of where their opponents were in relation to each other.
"Now!" Zeo Falcon called. "Plan A." * * *
Minion watched the events taking place and was quickly able to see what the Rangers had in mind. They had worked to separate the Psycho Rangers then teleported to a place where they could use teamwork to take out one opponent at a time.
_Not very sporting, _ Minion mused. _Still it is within the rules and does make a sound strategy. _ "Psycho Rangers, play along with the Rangers' plans."
Deciding that the Rangers would be busy for a while, Minion opened a small metal box he pulled from subspace and took out a communicator. "Time to make sure the Rangers lose," he said to nobody in particular.
In a flash of blue and black light Minion vanished. He reappeared minutes later in the Power Chamber. He noticed the look of shock on Zordon's face and the unsurprised almost friendly look on Biilly's face.
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, intruder alert, intruder alert," Alpha cried as he entered the Chamber..
"Calm down Alpha Five," Minion said, imitating Zordon's voice.
The android ignored him running to the controls to summon the Rangers. Minion stood still. He wanted to stop the robot, but had overlooked the Power Chamber's secret security system. A beam of magical energy had bound him in place as Alpha started to work the controls.
With a single movement Biilly morphed and blasted Alpha and the security system with his Blade Blaster. Minion was glad that Biilly was acting under the effects of a spell. If Biilly had followed his desires willingly Alpha would still be dead, but Biilly would have lost his powers as well. Minion had need of the replica so ensured he kept the forces of good confused as to which side Biilly was on.
"You can remove that thing," Minion said, gesturing to the helmet on Biilly's head. "Your power will only stay in standby as long as you want it to. Otherwise you will remain at full strength."
"Biilly, what are you doing?" Zordon asked. Biilly had already ensured Zordon could not summon the Rangers. He was cut off from anyone who might be able to help and certain Minion would kill him.
"Well Zordon," Biilly started, a slight smile forming on his face. "Minion and I have come to an agreement. I serve him and in return I get to kill the Ranger responsible for Cestria's death."
"Biilly, Minion is responsible for Cestria's death," Zordon said..
He reached out with his powers and for the first time felt the source and strength of Minion's power. Minion was the holder of the Sword of Darkness and powered by the Lin Kuei Crystal. Zordon also sensed the deeper connection to the Jackal. Deeper still, almost beyond Zordon's mental reach was another set of Spirit Guides.
"Impossible," he said as he finally worked out who Minion was. "You were destroyed by the Rangers."
"Nothing evil dies old man," Minion shot back. He removed his mask and for the first time Zordon could see Minion's face.
_No wonder he can control Biilly, _ Zordon thought. _He knows all the flaws in Biilly's personality and has the magic to make the task easier. _.
"It's time to make your memory a little.foggy, Zordon," Minion said..
He moved to one side of the plasma tube. Biilly moved to the other side and together they opened the dimensional controls. The controls had been rigged so only certain Rangers could change Zordon's location in the time warp. Billy Cranston had built the system and both Biilly and Minion knew how to bypass it. Then, they put a virus that affected Zordon's thought processes for the past 6 hours, temporarily causing him to lose conciousness.
"Now for him," Biilly said pointing to Alpha..
Minion took the hint and rewired the robot, removing all memories relating to their visit. Then they blasted his body to make sure the Rangers would find him useless.
"This Chamber both ancient and strong, built for a purpose of defeating the wrong, constructed by skills and magical art, I summon the Beast of Destruction to rip it apart."
As Minion spoke the vortex to the Dark Dimension opened before him. A large green beast made of evil energy stepped forward. Its sole purpose to destroy and then vanish.
"Level this place," Minion said as he vanished, leaving Biilly to defend himself against the beast.
Biilly saw the logic in Minion's plan and decided to play along. But first he had something to do. Locking onto the two remaining replicas he teleported them to Stone Henge. Now Minion had a full set of replicas. If Biilly had not been under a spell he might have felt guilty. As it was he had no reservations about completing his mission. Minion had told him many things in the short time they had spent together earlier, things that the other Rangers would never know. He understood Minion's mission and was able to help. Soon with Minion's spell removing all his resistance he would also be more than willing to assist.
Biilly watched as the beast tore through the Power Chamber, destroying everything in its path. Billy struggled to see as the power system was destroyed. He locked all the systems affected and then charged the beast with his Power Lance. He landed unconscious on the floor, the beast gone. * * *
The Rangers' strategy seemed to be working. Already they had separated and apparently destroyed the Pink and Black Psycho Ranger. Pink had put up a good fight, managing to keep all the Rangers at bay until Zeo Frog managed a lucky shot with his Cosmic Cannon. She had screamed loudly and dissolved into a puff of smoke.
Psycho Black put up an even better defense, managing to injure Zeo Wolf in the fight. An arrow from Zeo Crane's bow caught him in the neck, apparently damaging his breathing to the point where he destroyed himself.
"Biilly, we need a lock on the next Psycho Ranger," Zeo Falcon said.
There was no response from the replica, so Zeo Falcon tried Zordon and Alpha instead. Still no reply and even the computers' response was silent.
"I think we'd better get back to the Power Chamber," he said to the others.
In six columns of light they arrived in the Power Chamber. Their home base lay in ruins; Alpha practically dismantled in one corner and Biilly lying half-morphed on the floor. Of Zordon they saw that he was awaking from a rather severe blow somehow. The plasma tube was intact and showing signs of the damage Tommy had done when he had first gained the Green Ranger powers.
Demorphing, Kat and Aisha quickly transferred Biilly to the remains of the medical bay. Whatever had caused the damage had been merciless, ripping most of the vital equipment to pieces.
"Computer, three to teleport to Simudeck One," Kat said..
She felt herself being teleported along with Aisha and Biilly to the Power Chamber Simudeck. Hopefully even if something had broken, the damage would not have been too severe.
"Computer, begin program E97ELTARE," Aisha instructed, understanding Kat's intention. "Training protocols removed."
E97ELTARE was a program developed to give the Rangers some knowledge of how to treat minor injuries. Normally the equipment was nothing more than a hologram, but with training protocols disabled all the equipment was fully functional, giving the Rangers a spare medical bay.
After a few minutes they had Biilly revived and ready for action again. They then teleported him to the main chamber where he explained that Minion had somehow gained access to the Power Chamber and had managed to disable Zordon and placed a spell to prevent him being restored.
Timed perfectly as ever the alarm sounded, triggering the View Screen to show the newest cause for concern. Biilly faked surprise at what he saw on the screen. Of the other Rangers only Tommy recognized the machine currently devastating the downtown areas of Angel Grove.
"Cyclopsis," he breathed..
"Do you know what that thing is?" Kat asked.
Sam considered his answer for a moment before nodding. "Not as well as Biilly might. Tommy once told me about him. Cyclopsis is Goldar's War Zord. Rita resurrected shortly after I lost my powers the first time. Rita sent the population of Angel Grove into another dimension and summoned Lokor to help her. Cyclopsis came close to beating the others that day. If Alpha had not discovered the Zord's weakness, the Rangers may have been lost."
"I have heard of Cyclopsis," Trey said. "If Minion has truly resurrected him we may have a problem."
"The question is who will operate the Zord?" Biilly commented. "Goldar is not here anymore and I doubt if Silvo or Brasso would do the job."
"Enough discussion." Minion's face appeared on the Viewing Screen. "You have five minutes to arrive and defeat Cyclopsis, or I will instruct its new operator to level Angel Grove building by building."
"Can you remember how to defeat Cyclopsis, Biilly?" Aisha asked.
"We just perform multiple attacks in differing modes until the computer locks up. Then we finish him with all our power."
"It's Morphin Time!" Sam called.
"Zeo Ranger I - Crane!"
"Zeo Ranger II - Bear!"
"Zeo Ranger III - Ape!"
"Zeo Ranger IV - Frog!"
"Zeo Ranger V - Falcon!"
"Zeo Ranger X - Wolf!"
"Triceratops!" As the other Rangers teleported away Biilly locked the teleport controls, ensuring nobody could get in. At the same time he triggered a small overload in the power room to ensure the Chamber remained in darkness. _Just making sure the enemy doesn't gain control of Power Mountain, _ he thought as he teleported away. * * *
"Let's take this from the top," Zeo Falcon said. "Attack Bikes, Power Up!"
As the bikes skidded to a halt the five Rangers climbed on. Zeo Wolf climbed into the sidecar of Zeo Crane's bike and prepared himself for whatever Zeo Falcon was planning.
"Switch to Sentinel Mode!" Zeo Falcon instructed.
Using the multiple weapons Billy and Zordon had stored in the secret vault Biilly had managed to design some humanoid shaped robots using the weapons and attack bikes. Weapons and bikes combined to form a single giant robot, slightly smaller than a Megazord. With Zeo Falcon in the center each Ranger felt a strange connection to the machine.
"The autopilot should keep Cyclopsis busy for a while," Zeo Falcon said. "Let's get the Ninja Zords activated."
"We need Ninja Zord power, now!"
"Stick to single attacks," Zeo Wolf advised.
The Wolf Zord moved so fast that Cyclopsis didn't see it coming until it was to late. The powerful hind legs drove the Zord into the air where it made contact with Cyclopsis arm. The Zord's jaws clamped shut around Cyclopsis; Zeo Wolf holding on as the War Zord tried to shake the Wolf loose.
Zeo Frog guided his Zord forward and directed it to open its mouth. The Frog's tongue wrapped around Cyclopsis', allowing Zeo Frog to direct a burst of electrical energy into the War Zord's body. Activating the recall system he used the tongue to pull Cyclopsis towards the Zord. .
The combined assault allowed Zeo Ape a chance to get close. The mighty Zord leapt onto the War Zord's back, wrapping its arms around the neck. Zeo Ape had learnt from his earlier tangle with the enlarged Robo War Zord that brute force would not work. Instead the Zord summoned both of its swords and stabbed them into the back of the War Zord's neck. .
"Hold him steady," Zeo Crane called.
Bolts of pink energy struck the War Zord in the chest causing it to fall over. The Crane Zord flew around to move in for a second assault. Once again Zeo Crane armed her lasers and prepared to fire.
Zeo Bear had moved her Zord behind Cyclopsis' body. As the Crane fired again it knocked the War Zord over the Bear and onto its back.
The Falcon Zord dived; its talons extended outwards. Mini missiles fired from the wings, striking the War Zord in the chest and shoulders. While the missiles did no real damage they distracted Cyclopsis long enough for the Falcon Zord to sink its talons into the metal warrior and lift it into the air. .
"Fire!" Zeo Falcon ordered pressing the button on his control stick.
It took Zeo Falcon a moment too long to realize something was wrong. Cyclopsis had used its telekinetic powers to trigger the torpedoes inside the Zord. As they exploded the Falcon dropped the War Zord to the ground as Zeo Falcon attempted to regain control.
"I'm down," Zeo Falcon reported, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs.
"You can join us later," Zeo Crane told him over the communicator.
"Ninja Megazord!" the Rangers called.
The arms and legs of the Ape detached from the body, the legs of the Bear split away from the body and legs and head of the Wolf retracted into the Zord's body. The bodies of the Ape, Bear and Wolf joined together to form the upper torso and arms of the Megazord. The legs of the Ape joined together and connected to the base of the upper torso to complete the main body.
Meanwhile the Frog had transformed into a pair of legs, joining with the Bear's legs, which had transformed to make two feet, to form the lower body. The arms of the Ape had converted into fists, which connected to the arms.
Finally the body and arms merged with the legs, allowing the Crane to slide into place as the head. The fully charged Power Sword appeared in the Megazord's hand. In a single movement the Power Sword moved across Cyclopsis' body carving a diagonal slash in its body.
While the Ninja Megazord was forming the Sentinel was using every weapon at its disposal to keep Cyclopsis off balance, a strategy that seemed to be working. As long as the War Zord was trying to stay upright it could not fight back. Then the operator gained control slamming the Sentinel to the ground and crushing it underfoot. He slashed from the Ninja Megazord came in time to prevent too much damage being done.
Cyclopsis responded by sliding a blade from each arm and attacking the Megazord. Combining the energy weapons with his blade Cyclopsis parried the Zords' attacks. With a quick movement it disarmed the Megazord and moved to make a killing blow.
With a loud screech the Falcon Zord descended on Cyclopsis, its weapons firing to push it away from the Megazord. Cyclopsis rolled away to allow the Megazord to stand up again.
"Docking now," Zeo Falcon said, activating his Gem Coin.
"Ninja MegaFalconzord!" the Rangers called as Zeo Falcon appeared in the control room and took his position.
Thrusters fired on the back of the Megazord's back, flying into the air, Power Sword in hand. Cyclopsis responded by firing the cannons located beneath its breastplate. It ten fired its wrists on the end of solid steel cables, which wrapped around the Megazord's body in a similar way to what the Frog Zord had done earlier. High voltage electricity shot through the cables, into the hands and finally into the Megazord.
Turning to the right Cyclopsis released the Megazord at the peak of its spin, throwing the Megazord to the ground with a crash. Energy bolts shot from various points on Cyclopsis' body, causing further damage to the Zord.
"Sky Zords, online!" Zeo Crane called.
From above the Rangers could see the jet like Sky Zords moving in to attack. Teleporting out they took control of their Zords. The White Sky Zord moved in first unleashing a volley of cluster bombs. That was quickly followed by the Pink Sky Zord's ice attack and the Black Sky Zord's fireball. The Yellow Sky Zord moved in quickly trapping Cyclopsis care of its null beam. The Gold and Red Sky Zords struck simultaneously. The Gold Zord rammed Cyclopsis with its nosecone whilst the Red Zord generated a sonic boom..
The three horns on Cyclopsis' head combined together to form a single ball of energy. The ball fired at both the Sky Zords and Ninja MegaFalconzord.
The Megazord remained upright, using all remaining power to prevent total collapse. The Red and White Sky Zords had manage to fly clear of the blast and turned to come around again, targeting their attack effectively enough to make the War Zord stumble backwards.
"Switch to high stance mode!" Zeo Falcon called to the other Sky Zords.
Although different the basic transformation sequence for each Zord followed the same procedure. The wings folded upwards and apart from the Gold Zord, which had inverted wings, rotated to point backwards. Thrusters activated to lift the Zords into the air to complete the procedure. The rear half of the plane transformed to become the legs and feet. The nose cone and cockpit flew off the body, hovering in the air and separating. The arms had meanwhile formed from the main body, the area they appeared from becoming filled by the cockpit, now acting as the chest. Finally the nose cone attached to the body, pointing backwards to form the head and the various weapons attached to the Zords' arms.
Inside the Zords the Rangers had changed position within the cockpits so they could see out. Surrounding the War Zord the Rangers now hand the upper hand. At six to one and the Ninja MegaFalconzord slowly gaining power the Rangers attacked. Kicks and punches combined with laser beams and special powers as the Zords worked together to tire Cyclopsis down.
As Biilly had suggested, Cyclopsis took a short time to adapt. Once it had the fight became more even. Using its telekinetic powers Cyclopsis lifted the Ninja MegaFalconzord from its feet, slamming it into the Sky Zords. Minion had made a few alterations to the War Zord, one of, which were the missiles concealed on each hip.
"Defender Zords, attack!" Zeo Frog and Zeo Ape called as the Sky Zords collapsed. .
The five Defender Zords moved into position. The White Defender Zord struck first. The powerful fire engine had a pair of water cannons mounted on its cab. As it moved close the cannons fired pressurized jets of water knocking Cyclopsis off its feet.
The Pink Defender Zord was next. The helicopter used its powerful rotors to create a localized tornado. Only a quick shift in position allowed the War Zord to escape being drawn into the blades. Cyclopsis adapted to the new attack and lower its centre of gravity. Laser bolts shot from Cyclopsis' eyes, trying to disable the rotor blades.
The Yellow bike Defender Zord launched its twin missiles striking the machine in the arm the Rangers had damaged before the War Zord had started to fight back. At the same time the Black ambulance shaped Defender Zord fired a burst of compressed air from its double roof mounted compression cannons. The Red police car Defender Zord fired its own double cannon freezing the War Zord to the ground as it drove through.
Deciding to take advantage of the weakened opponent Zeo Falcon and Zeo Bear summoned the Techno Zords to attack. The two plane like Zords moved in, dragging the cannon behind them, slowing down so the cannon was in position the three Zords unleashed a mixture of energy and projectile based weapons. Both planes flew off, releasing the cannon before they did so.
The covered motorcycle was next; striking Cyclopsis with its single roof mounted laser. It skidded to a halt, turning ninety degrees as it did so and firing again this time from a stationary position. It stayed in position whilst the car moved in from one side and the dune buggy from the other side both firing their high powered energy rifles. The two vehicles stopped to form a perfect triangle formation.
"High stance mode!" Zeo Falcon instructed.
All ten mobile Zords morphed into robot warriors, each armed with personal weapons. Photon blasts, accelerator rifles, bullets, and heat, ice and friction blasts struck Cyclopsis. The computer system struggled to cope with ten simultaneous mode changes and the differing tactics. Inside the Zords its three operators checked their timing and saw it was almost time to finish the fight.
"Megazord I, power up!" Zeo Crane and Zeo Wolf called.
The robots reverted to ordinary sized planes and flew towards each other. Then at the right time they switched upright and headed towards the sky. The White plane's nose cone retracted into the cockpit to be replaced by a head, the wings folded toward the bottom of the plane and the fuselage shrunk to half its normal size. The Pink and Yellow planes transformed into the arms, and the Red and Black planes formed then legs. As the Zord touched down it grew in size until it resemble a normal Megazord.
"Drop Zord, now!" Zeo Crane ordered. The plane flew past; dropping the fists, feet and chest plate of the Megazord as it did so.
"Gem Coin Megazord I, online!" Zeo Crane ordered.
"Megazord activated," the computerized voice said.
Adam and Rocky both called out, "Gem Coin Megazord II, power up!"
The fire engine's cab rolled up and over the top to reveal the Megazord's head, the rest of it shifting shape to form the body. The helicopter' rotor blade flew of as the tail detached itself allowing the helicopter to form the right arm. The ambulance attached itself to the left side of the body and the motorcycle and police car formed the legs.
Once again the Drop Zord appeared, releasing the hands, feet and chest shield for the Defender Megazord. When the Megazord was complete the rotor blades and tail transformed into a Power Sword.
"Megazord II, activated," the computer reported.
"Gem Coin Megazord III, form up!" Zeo Bear and Zeo Falcon called together.
The two planes flew over to where the cannon was placed and picked it up. The planes flew away, dragging the cannon with them, but soon returned with the gun emplacement in tow. The high speed of the two jets caused the chains dragging the emplacement lift off the ground. As it drew near the chains were released. The gun detached itself from the emplacement, allowing it to form the lower body onto which the larger of the two planes formed to create the upper torso, shoulders and head. The dune buggy and motorbike transformed into the arms and the other plane and car formed the legs.
A panel opened on the lower back of the Megazord from which the hands and feet for the Megazord were released along with the chest panel. The gun had in the meantime split in half and appeared in each hand. The light on the controls lit up to tell them the Megazord was fully powered.
The Drop Zord converted to high stance mode and joined the other Megazords. Zeo Wolf teleported back to the partially revived Ninja MegaFalconzord and took control. For the first time Zeo Falcon realized Triceratops Ranger was not with them. _I wonder where he is? _ He wondered. At the same time he checked on the condition of the Sentinel and found it recharged and ready for action.
"Six Megazords and one Cyclopsis," Zeo Ape pointed out. "This should be fun."
The original Cyclopsis might have had trouble adapting to the mode changes, but with its new programming and three operators to control the more vital functions, the only way for the War Zord to fail was if the operator deliberately caused it to malfunction.
"SFC online!"
"Flaming Defender Power Sword now!"
"Scattershot Cannon, online!"
The Drop Zord activated its four-barrelled rifle and took aim at the War Zord. The Ninja MegaFalconzord powered up its own Power Sword and prepared to attack. The Sentinel drew its sword and stood ready for combat.
"Fire!"
Even as the various weapons struck Cyclopsis had formulated a response. Capturing the combined energy on its horns the War Zord returned fire, adding its own missiles and cannons to the assault.
"Well that worked," Zeo Ape quipped as he stood the Megazord up again.
"Guys this is Biilly," the voice said over the communicator. "Use the Gem Coin Ultrazord and Ninja Ultrazord to finish Cyclopsis."
"Gem Coin Ultrazord, activate!"
"Ninja Ultrazord!"
The Ninja MegaFalconzord merged with Titanus to form the Ninja Ultrazord. Already charging its power cells, Zeo Wolf braced himself for the attack ahead.
The Gem Coin Ultra Zord started by separating the five Defender Zords. The police car, motorcycle, ambulance and helicopter joined with the Drop Zord to form the top body. The fire engine transformed to become the lower body. The Sky Megazord split in half to form the legs and the Techno Megazord formed the arms. Finally the Sentinel transformed to provide the head, arm guards and chest plate. The various weapons from the Zords attached to the arms and legs, forming the equivalent of a mobile fortress.
"Lock on and fire!" the six Rangers called. * * *
"Make it look good," Minion told the three pilots of Cyclopsis just before the Ultrazords fired.
The three pilots did not respond verbally, but nodded to indicate they understood. Cutting the shielding to minimum power the pilots braced themselves to take the blast. As the blasts stuck the War Zord its shielding collapsed causing Cyclopsis to explode.
Watching from his base at Stone Henge, Minion smiled behind his mask. He had seen the plans for the Gem Coin Ultrazord and knew the finishing blast drained Gem Coins of all but a small portion of their power. Now it was time to show the Rangers what happened to those who failed to anticipate Minion's moves.
"Cyclopsis, reactivate and finish those ridiculous Ultrazords!"
Slowly the Validium drained away from the Zord and reformed to become a more powerful version of Cyclopsis. Inside the cockpit the three operators reappeared ready to finish the Rangers.
The two blades slid out from the arms ready to strike again. The chest panels slid down to reveal the rows of cannons and the hip compartments opened ready to fire the Validium missiles Minion had constructed. A ball of energy formed on its horns and fired in a single sphere of fire.
With its first strike Cyclopsis destroyed the Ninja Ultrazord. Missiles and energy bolts ripped the MegaFalconzord to pieces. As Titanus reverted to normal a Validium blade chopped his head off. The Gem Coin Ultrazord was paralysed having used all its power in the barrage. Piece by piece it was dissected by the War Zord's blades.
The main pilot detected the energy changes indicating the Rangers were up to something. At first he suspected they were planning on splitting the Zords in a desperate last stand. But the energy readings were too high, almost as if there was a problem.
"Minion, get us out of here!" the central pilot called.
"What is wrong?" Minion asked, angry that somebody had dared to alter his carefully laid plans.
"The Rangers are preparing the Zords to self destruct."
"Idiots!" Minion swore as he made a gesture to teleport the pilots away.
Minion watched as the Ultrazord lurched forward slightly and grabbed hold of the Validium Cyclopsis. Even the strongest metal in the known universe could not survive the exploding power core of an Ultrazord.
Ten...the Rangers teleported to the ground and watched from a distance.
Nine...the Ultrazord drew all the power it could from the Gem Coins, causing the Super Zeo Gems to return to the Power Chamber, the Power Coins staying in place.
Eight...the power discharged into the individual Megazord units.
Seven...the Ultrazord split into its individual units.
Six...the three Gem Coin Megazords started to charge their weapons.
Five...Minion wondered if maybe he had underestimated the Rangers.
Four...Sentinel charged its own vast arsenal.
Three...the Gem Coin Megazords, Sentinel and Drop Zord closed the barrels on the end of their weapons..
Two...the weapons fired. The Zords went into overload.
One...the computer inside Cyclopsis searched its database to adapt to what it knew was coming. It found no way out.
Zero...the Zords exploded.
Parts of the Megazords rained down on Angel Grove for a full five minutes. People ran for cover as debris crashed into buildings injuring those trapped inside. The Rangers peered over the edge of the crater, now reliant on the limited power stored in their suits. Deep inside the crater, reflecting the sun's light, the remains of Cyclopsis sparked. If it had fallen in one piece the Validium War Zord would have reformed. * * *
"What happened?" Zeo Ape asked as the Zords started to disappear.
"Automatic recall," Zeo Falcon explained. " Tommy once told me that it's to stop the Zords destruction from shutting down the Morphin Grid. First time they used it was when Cyclopsis nearly destroyed the Dinozords."
"Shame you can't teleport away Sam," Minion scoffed. "Now you're going have to meet the three pilots of Cyclopsis. I take it you know Psycho Black and Psycho Pink."
The two supposedly deceased Psycho Rangers stepped forward. Both were laughing as they imagined what they were going to do to the now zordless Rangers.
"And of course where would they be without the other Psycho Rangers?" Minion asked.
The Rangers found themselves outnumbered two to one. The Psycho Rangers drew their weapons and prepared to finish their weakened opponents.
"The Zeo Crystal is gone, the Zords are gone, you have no way to get back to Power Chamber and even if you could Zordon cannot help you." Minion seemed to grow more confident with every passing second. "I'll give you one chance to surrender before I order my servants to do it the hard way."
"We'll never surrender," Zeo Falcon replied angrily. "We'll either defeat you or die trying. In other words.GO FUCK YOURSELF!!"
"You won't have to defeat me Sam," Minion replied. "Or my Psycho Rangers for that matter. And you will be sorry you said that. Tsk, tsk. Such shameful language. Tommy really should have washed your mouth out with soap. Instead, I'll have you fight him."
As he spoke he pointed to a figure floating above the Rangers. They could not see the face because of the bright light behind him.
"Now!" Minion ordered.
The figure dropped from the sky, driving both feet into Zeo Crane's head. Swinging on one foot he caught Zeo Bear with a back kick and punch to the chin. Ducking to avoid a kick from Zeo Ape he swept the legs out from Zeo Wolf and moved to drove his elbow into the Ranger's face. After trading blows with Zeo Frog and Zeo Ape he delivered a kick to their chests, winding them and allowing him to concentrate on Zeo Falcon.
"Hello Sam. Looks like you will have to take Tommy's place after all." the dark blue uniformed warrior said. His uniform resembled that of the Blue Aquitian Ranger. On the chest was a double coin. On the first coin was the image of the Triceratops and on the other coin was the half-formed image of the Jackal.
The two warriors started to fight, Sam powered only by his reserve energy from the Morphin Grid and his opponent powered by the light and dark side of the Morphin Grid. Although not as skilled or powerful as either Tommy or Sam, the opponent used his anger to fuel his punches. In a shock move he ripped off his mask and watched the statement of shock on Sam's face. Even through the mask he could see the confusion, recognition and anger at the unexpected betrayal.
Zeo Falcon charged at his former colleague unsure whether or not he could turn him back to the light. For his part Biilly laughed as Zeo Falcon's kicks deflected off his arms.
"You don't want to do this Biilly," Zeo Falcon said looking at the hate filled face in front of him. "Don't let Minion use you."
"Minion is not using me," Biilly replied. "He simply showed me the way things need to be if I am to have my revenge. Oh and Sam, I really rather this was Tommy, but..." Biilly stopped talking as he kicked and punched the White Gem Coin Ranger, knocking the weakened Zeo Falcon to the ground. "I do want to do this."
Zeo Falcon slowly stood up noticing that Biilly was waiting for him. He had no doubt Biilly was not fully evil, but unless he could get them away from Minion he knew it would not do him any good. Throwing himself upwards he speared Biilly to the ground, thumbing desperately for his teleport button.
"I disabled the teleport function, Sam," Biilly said cheerfully.
"No! You son of a bitch!" Zeo Falcon shouted.
Frustration finally built up to the extent where Sam snapped. Grabbing hold of Biilly he punched him once in the face. It was not his intention to hurt Biilly, but he needed to get away so he could still fight. Turning around, demorphing as he did so, Sam found himself face to face with the Psycho Rangers.
"You obviously weren't listening when we told you the first time," Psycho White said.
"We're faster than you," Psycho Black said.
"Smarter than you..." Psycho Gold said.
"Stronger than you..." Psycho Yellow told them.
"But we're evil!" Psycho Pink finished.
"Yeah? And your mothers are all cheap sluts. So?" Sam snapped, preparing to make their task as difficult as possible.
"Yeah," Psycho Red replied, imitating the voice, the taunt having no effect whatsoever. "And we cheat."
Sam felt a slight pain in his neck before his world turned black. Behind him stood Biilly, his Psycho Blaster drawn and set to stun.
"Stand down," Minion called as he arrived. "You have done well Biilly."
He examined the coins on Biilly's chest. At the moment the replica held equal amounts of good and evil, but one small act could push him over the edge. Minion started to make plans to replace the spell with a genuine desire to be evil. .
Raising his hand five lines of energy flowed from the fallen Rangers into his hand, recharging his powers. He pointed at Biilly, giving the replica a taste of the power he could have if he was evil.
"Silvo!" Minion boomed. "Take these fallen Rangers to the Prisoner Dimension and make them.comfortable."
"What about him?" Silvo asked pointing to Biilly.
"He is with me," Minion replied as Silvo picked up the fallen Rangers and left. * * *
Zordon awoke in the plasma tube he looked around the Power Chamber, shocked by the devastation and the sight of Alpha lying dormant on the table.
"Zordon!" Billy and Trini cried when they saw their mentor had woken up.
"Welcome back my Rangers," Zordon said. "I am pleased to see you have all gained your full powers."
"Zordon, what happened here?" Trini asked. Although they had been able to piece together some of the Zeo Rangers activities, they had yet to fully understand how the others came to be missing.
"I shall find out as you do. My memories are unclear on the subject. Observe the Viewing Screen," Zordon told the Rangers.
Slowly the images started to play back the events of the last few days, from the time the Rangers left on their quest to the moment the Zeo Rangers were finally captured and Minion used his power to seal off Angel Grove and the surrounding area..
"Biilly betrayed them?" Billy asked.
"I am afraid so," Zordon replied.
"He must have been under a spell," Zack commented. The others nodded in agreement, not wanting to believe a Ranger had purposely joined the dark side.
"Zordon can you replay from point twenty two thirty eight?" Billy requested. Zordon did as Billy requested trusting the Blue Ranger had noticed something useful. "Stop there," Billy instructed as the picture showed the replica standing over the demorphed Tommy. "Can you enlarge the chest area?"
Zordon did as he was asked, wondering what Billy had noticed. Enlarging the chest area revealed the two coins on the replica's chest..
"He can be saved," Billy said. "He still holds the powers of the Triceratops."
What Billy did not mention was that he had recognized the second coin as being the Jackal. He had seen that coin before during a battle. He just couldn't remember where.
"We'll try everything we can to bring him back Billy," Jason assured his friend. "But we might have to stop him if he fights back too hard."
To Zordon, Trini asked, "Was there anymore to the playback?"
"Yes Trini," Zordon answered. Once again he activated the playback and the Rangers turned to watch.
Minion stood in the middle of Angel Grove, waiting patiently as the Earth's armed forces attempted to do the job the Rangers had failed to accomplish. With a wave of his hand he knocked the air force from the sky. He took all the firepower the combined arm and marines could deliver and then summoned his Robo Troopers to finish the job.
Slowly a black shell started to form around Angel Grove, locking out any further images. Other domes started to form around the Ley Nexuses. For all intents and purposes, Minion had won. * * *
Minion sensed Zordon's awakening and cursed his over confidence. He knew that fully power Rangers combined with Zordon had a slight chance of defeating him. It was not something he wanted to happen. Minion knew the answer was to make an immediate strike and that would mean he had to reserve as much power as possible..
"Silvo, Brasso, come here!"
His two servants appeared before him as always. He looked them over; both were strong and capable warriors and he had no doubt each would give the Rangers a fight to remember. But Minion also knew the Rangers would defeat them.
"Lower all the barriers apart from Stone Henge. Bring the conversions from North Valley here. I still have a use for them. Then find Shinnock and order him to destroy those Rangers."
"Yes, my lord," Brasso and Silvo replied, both vanishing to complete their next mission..
"Biilly, are the last of the Psycho Rangers ready for action?"
"Yes Minion," Biilly replied.
The Triceratops had grown smaller as the Jackal started to take control. Minion felt the change and knew that soon Biilly would be his ultimate weapon. * * *
"Rangers, Shinnock has reappeared in Angel Grove," Zordon said as the alarm sounded. They had all been shocked when the barrier had been removed and even more amazed to find the city relatively intact. Even the population was high, something that led them to wonder what had caused Minion to change his plans. .
Charterville, and Leewood all looked to be in a similar condition. North Valley was another matter. What had once been a strong town was reduced to ashes, the population nowhere in sight.
On the screen giant Shinnock was walking through Angel Grove, happily trashing anything in his way. Lightning bolts from his staff leveled tall buildings while the people ran for cover.
"We need to take care of Shinnock before he trashes the city," Jason said. "It's Morphin Time!"
"White Ranger Power!"
"Black Ranger Power!"
"Pink Ranger Power!"
"Blue Ranger Power!"
"Yellow Ranger Power!"
"Red Ranger Power!"
"Purple Ranger Power!"
"Green Ranger Power!"
The Rangers appeared a safe distance from where Shinnock was rampaging. It was then Pink Ranger asked the question the others had not considered. "Guys, we like have four sets of Zords and one monster. Which set do we use?"
"Well, technically the only Zords we have are the Thunder and the Ninja Zords," Blue Ranger replied. "The Dino Zords will take time to be recreated and Shogun Zords and Battle Borgs need to be redesigned. Of course, Tor and Dragonzord should be at peak performance."
"Okay," Red Ranger said. "We need Ninja Zord power, now!"
A beam of light shone from each Ranger's chest into the sky, combining at a point and calling forth the Ninja Zords from the Temple of Ninja Powers. In the sky above eight Zords appeared, not the prototype Ninja Zords the Gem Coin Rangers had been forced to use, these were the fully functional Ninja Zords that the original Ninja Rangers of Earth had used. The Rangers felt themselves being teleported into their Zords.
"All right Rangers log on," Red Ranger said.
"This is Zack, back in black and ready to attack," Black Ranger said from inside the Frog.
"Billy here, all systems nominal," Blue Ranger reported glad to be back in the Wolf again.
"Trini powered up and ready," Yellow Ranger called in..
"Hey, who put this Phil Collins tape in this Zord's stereo?" Pink Ranger said from inside the Crane, realizing she shouted "Kat, why?!"
"Tanya ready for action," Purple Ranger called.
"Tommy online." The White Ranger's comment was more to himself than to the Red Ranger.
"Whoa!" The shout came from David who was the only Ranger who had never operated a Zord before. As a result he was finding it difficult to keep control of the Panther.
"David, relax and let the Power guide you," Yellow Ranger advised.
Green Ranger did as he was told and found he was able to regain control. "Green Ranger back in control, Panther Zord ready for action."
"Bring them together," Red Ranger said. "Ninja MegaFalconzord!"
"Ninja Battlezord!" Green Ranger called.
The Crane started to fold to form the head while at the same time the Frog transformed to become the legs and the Bear converted to become the Ninja MegaFalconzord's upper body. The already modified Ape and Wolf joined onto the Bear to form the arms as the Crane linked on to become the head. Then the whole upper body joined onto the Frog as the Falcon Zord linked onto the back. Hands formed over the Ape and Wolf's heads.
The Panther Zord transformed to stand upright on its hind legs. The head rotated downwards to become the chest and the front paws became the arms. The Hawk Zord's wings and head folded into the body as the Hawk Zord joined onto the shoulders of the Panther to become the head of the Ninja Battlezord. The Panther's tail converted into a Power Sword as Purple and Green Rangers slid into the cockpit ready for action.
"Don't forget me Rangers!" the unmistakable voice of Ninjor called as he flew down on his cloud and grew to full size..
What followed was a fast paced high impact battle. The Ninja MegaFalconzord held Shinnock's staff to one side allowing Ninjor and the Battlezord to use their swords. With a cry of pain Shinnock struck back with an assault of lightning bolts. It took a while for the Rangers to shake off the effects of Shinnock's attack as he charged them.
"You are truly evil, Shinnock," Ninjor said. "Evil makes me so angry!"
Ninjor transformed from his normal look into the battle mode Kimberly and Billy remembered. A ball of energy shot from his hands blasting Shinnock in the chest and disintegrating his staff.
"Battle Strike!" Green and Purple Rangers called.
The Ninja Battlezord gave a short spin and drove its Power Sword into Shinnock's chest. As it stopped spinning the Zord ducked out of the way as the Ninja MegaFalconzord descended using its double power punch. Shinnock exploded as the Zords and Ninjor celebrated their victory. * * *
Power Chamber Later.
"Congratulations Rangers, you have been victorious in your first battle as full Rangers. In addition I have managed to restore Alpha and we are working on a way to trace the other Rangers. Tommy, I also wish to inform you that in time you will learn to use your psychic powers to their full extent."
"We still have a lot of work to do," Jason said. "We have to find the others and stop the Psycho Rangers."
"And don't forget Minion," Tommy added.
"Man I am tired," Zack said.
"I suggest you all go to your quarters and get some rest," Zordon said. "I do not feel it is wise for you to leave the Power Chamber at this time."
The Rangers agreed and retired to their room, knowing Zordon would tell them as soon as he found the others. Then it would be pay back time. ***
Doctor's TARDIS, between dimensions:
"Not a nice person, this Minion." Flash observed.
"Really, Sherlock? How did you guess?" Kyle Rayner frowned.
"In any case, we'd better be ready. I have a feeling this 'Minion' plays for keeps." Batman cautioned everyone.
"Power Chamber dead ahead." Rocky told everyone.
"I wish you had found a better way to phrase that!" Zack groaned. Zack realized that the joke he had just made was a way to keep from having a panic attack. It was all about to get real.
END. * * *
WARZONE by C.A. TURNER
Doctor's TARDIS, between dimensions:
"Doctor, what's going on now?" Troia asked. The assembled heroes from both the Titans and the JLA had taken a break from the events on the viewscreen. All had just returned from planning strategies in fighting Minion.
"The worst is just about to start." The 5th Doctor told them.
Power Chamber 7 July 1998
"Okay Billy, give it a try," Trini called as she finished working on Alpha's damaged circuitry.
"Powering up now," Billy replied from the console that he had jury-rigged to repair the small droid.
Alpha had been so badly damaged the Rangers had given up trying to repair his body until they had the time to do so. Instead, desperate for information they had patched his databanks into the Power Chamber's computer system..
"1010101010 1001 001001" the computer said as it slowly powered up and interfaced with Alpha.
Billy adjusted the controls and tried again. This time the results were more favorable..
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, Rangers!" Alpha cried. "You're all safe!"
"Alpha, what happened here?" Kimberly asked.
Although the log she had found in Tommy's quarters had told them about the Rangers' first encounter with the Psycho Rangers it had not been updated since. Despite Billy's best attempts he had been unable to restore Zordon's voice and the computer was still locked out..
"I don't..." Alpha went quiet as if trying to recall what had been going on. "Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, I don't know. Everything is blank for the last two days.".
Billy nodded. He did not expected somebody to go to all the trouble of disabling Alpha and Zordon without taking the extra precaution of wiping his memory as well..
_The question is why did they only disable Alpha and Zordon? _ He wondered. .
For one thing turning Alpha off was simple, but the way it had been done allowed the android to keep his memories and personality. As far as Billy knew only two people other than Zordon knew how to do that and both of them had been on the quest for new powers..
Taking a look at the program log inside Alpha's brain Billy discovered somebody had gone to great pains to delete parts of Alpha's memory twice within the previous forty eight hours. That was a feat only Billy was competent to manage. He started to wonder whether the Zeo Rangers had lost to Minion or one of their own teammates.
* * *
Prison Subdimension - Stone Henge.
Minion and his new protege walked through the prison dimension gloating over their new playthings. The Queen of the Crown had finished draining the power she needed and now their guests were there for them to play with.
The first set of cells contained the group of kids known to the world as Beetleborgs. They had been drained of nearly all their powers and most of their life force. Minion had been tempted to let the Queen finish them. The idea of seeing every cell in their bodies drained of life until their frail human bodies were reduced to piles of dust was almost too good to resist, but not quite.
The Queen had resurrected one of the Beetleborgs' enemies and he had promised Minion to demonstrate some very interesting torture techniques in return for being able to deal with the fourth Beetleborg. Minion had given the Shadowborg permission to pursue the White Blaster Beetleborg to the ends of the Earth providing the evil Borg made the White Borg's death long and painful.
As a result Minion had left the Beetleborgs alone. They were currently held in a cell, their hands and ankles bound and the Beetle Bonders held in safekeeping. The cold stone floor was far from comfortable, but compared to what some of his prisoners were going through the Beetleborgs were lucky.
Minion and his companion punched in a code and opened the cells on the far side of the room. Inside were his favorite trophies, the former Zeo Rangers.
This was Minion's favorite part of the Prison Dimension. He had altered the flow of time in the dimension so a few hours would seem like weeks to the Rangers trapped inside. All six of the Rangers he was holding prisoner were undergoing various forms of torture.
First off was Aisha. Minion had trapped her at the bottom of a long tube. Minion had sealed the sides,top and bottom of the tube so she only had a limited air supply. Then he had started to pump in a drop of water every thirty seconds. It was a slow torture. Aisha knew she could not escape and that eventually she would drown, but not before the dripping water drove her insane.
Next in line was Trey. Biilly had suggested that perhaps it would be fun to separate Trey into his component parts without his consent. As a result they had placed the Lord of Triforia on a version of the rack and were gradually stretching the Gold Ranger until he either split into three different parts or was torn in half by the rack. Minion had liked the idea, but found it too unimaginative. Therefore he had added his own subtle changes.
The rack had been modified so Trey was now seated with his hands tied to a series of pulleys. His legs and ankles were strapped to a set of bicycle pedals. The idea was that a small motor attached to his arms would tighten the ropes and stretch the Lord of Triforia unless he pedaled fast enough to counter the effect. Minion had made an additional change. The system was now ratcheted. If Trey stopped pedaling he would be stretched, but even if he then started to pedal as fast as he could the ropes would not loosen. It was the ultimate no win situation. Sooner or later the Triforian would tire and when he did he would be stretched.
Rocky had been strapped into a chair. On his forehead a metal device had been fastened. As Minion pressed a button the device sent a signal to the muscles in Rocky's leg, causing it to twitch. The sensation was not painful, but after a few hours of constant twitching Rocky would be driven insane. Minion had seen the evidence of what constant exposure to the device would accomplish. Even the most iron willed prisoner would crack under the strain.
The device had been created years ago for use by bounty hunters wishing to interrogate captives to find their prey. Minion had been lucky to find a working model in Zedd's castle. Obviously Zedd had had dealings with either the Varox or the Bounty Hunters' Guild. He was not sure which but knowing Zedd, he was willing to beat the Bounty Hunter had not been paid for his work, or lived to tell about it.
Minion had modified the next cell especially for Kat using the technology he had gained from Grimlord. The room was set to play out random dangers at random intervals, stimulating her pain receptors without the physical injury. Minion had no intention of damaging Kat's body. He had wanted Kat since the day he had first met her. In truth she was second in his desires only to Trini.
Minion planned to leave her a few more hours and then offer her a chance to end her pain. He doubted she would take him up on the offer first try, but faced with a life of pain or a life as his slave he suspected she could be persuaded to choose the latter.
Sam's torture was simple but effective. He had been tied with his hands above his head and had a Robo Trooper punching him at regular intervals. Each blow cracked his ribs causing him to scream in agony. But Minion had programmed the Robo Trooper to allow enough time between blows for the Ranger healing to take effect. For the Robo Trooper it meant a few seconds of action followed by long periods of waiting. For Sam it meant constant and nearly unbearable pain. Biilly was, however, simply using him as practice for Tommy.
Adam's torture was perhaps the most cruel. He had been secured so he had a view of all his friends being tortured. Minion had injected him with a drug to paralyze his body. Adam could see and hear everything, but could not move any part of his body to help or even turn away or shut his eyes. Tears ran down his face from having to watch his friends being tortured, knowing he was free to intervene but unable to help them. He continued to sob, broken at the sight of his friends suffering knowing he had failed them.
"What's the matter Adam, can't you stand to see your friends suffer?" Minion asked softly. "You know, you could save them. Just swear total and undying allegiance to the forces of darkness and I'll let them go."
"Go to hell!" Adam spat, struggling to speak due to the effects of the drugs.
Minion did not reply. He simply turned and nodded to the Robo Trooper in front of Sam. The Trooper understood the unspoken command and punched Sam in the face, cracking his skull.
"You had better not say things like that Adam," Minion hissed. "Or I'll instruct the Robo Trooper to crush his skull.".
"And you know even Ranger healing cannot heal brain damage," Biilly added..
"We'll leave you to consider our offer," Minion told the distraught Ranger. "See you soon."
Biilly waited until Minion vanished before walking over to where Sam was hanging. Using the fighting techniques he had learned from Minion he kicked the Red Zeo Ranger several times in the chest and stomach, smiling in satisfaction as he heard the Ranger's ribs crack.
"That is for Tommy kicking my butt when he was the Green Ranger," He said angrily.
Aiming at the Red Zeo Ranger's kneecap he attacked the leg brutally. "That is for his ruining any chance I ever had with Kimberly or Kat," he said as the knee snapped.
Cutting the bonds holding Tommy's arms, Biilly continued to kick and punch the fallen Ranger. "This is for causing me to leave Earth, fall in love with a fish and then lose the woman I love."
The fact he had never experienced those events other than through the memories he shared with Billy did not occur to the replica. As far as he was concerned Tommy had made his life miserable and now it was time to get revenge, and as far as everything was concerned, Sam was Tommy. Lifting Sam to his feet Biilly delivered a sharp kick to his former leader's neck..
"Wait six hours and then resume the treatment," he said to the Robo Trooper as he teleported away..
Six hours was nowhere near enough time for Sam to heal, but that was the idea. Biilly promised himself he would return to beat Sam a bit more when the other boy was awoke..
Minion watched Biilly from outside the Prison Dimension. His young protege was coming along nicely. Already Minion could feel the effects of the spell fading as Biilly started to become naturally evil. When finally he reached the point of no return, Minion knew exactly how to push him over the line; have him kill Sam using his Ranger powers.
Minion could feel the Power mutating. Soon Biilly would be another evil Ranger and Minion's army would be complete. He had his Psycho Rangers, he had the Dark One trapped inside the replica of Tanya, he had the two spare replicas Biilly had removed from the Power Chamber and now, he had Biilly. There might have been eight new Rangers, but Minion had fourteen Evil Rangers and six of their friends held captive..
"Silvo, prepare the Psycho Rangers and their Zords. We attack the Rangers as soon as they are ready."
* * *
Biilly's Quarters, Power Chamber Two Days Earlier.
Biilly lay asleep, trying to recover his strength after his battle with the Psycho Rangers. Resisting Minion's offer had taken a lot out of him. Not just because Minion's arguments had been persuasive, but also because he had felt in his heart that Minion spoke the truth.
Inside his head a battle was still raging, a battle that would turn the tide of the war in Minion's favor. Biilly found himself floating in a dark void. He was all alone. No Friends to help him, no enemies to threaten him and only his thoughts to keep him company. It was the most peaceful place Biilly had ever visited, at the same time it was the noisiest place he had ever been. His thoughts kept churning over Minion, his true identity and the offer he had made for Biilly to join him..
What Biilly did not know was that Minion had placed a spell on him to encourage such thoughts and help the replica to reach what Minion would consider to be the right decision. .
"Hello Biilly," Minion said.
Even in his dreams Biilly could not lose the face of the villain. He stood before the Triceratops Ranger, his red eyes glowing in the darkness. Biilly was not sure what felt worse, the fact Minion was standing within striking range or the fact that he was not feeling even the slightest urge to attack him.
"What's the matter Biilly, don't you want to see this face?" Minion asked. "How about this one instead?"
As he spoke Minion removed his mask to reveal the face underneath. Biilly still could not help but stare at the face the other Rangers had damaged so badly. He remembered it had been Tommy's order to fire.
"Go away!" Biilly said.
"As you wish Biilly," Minion replied.
The void seemed to grow even darker than before, forcing Biilly to strain to even make out his own body. The voices in his head got louder. Whispering, taunting him, telling him the way things might have been. .
"If you had killed Tommy when you had the chance, Cestria would still be alive.".
"You should be leader of the Rangers not Tommy, or in this case, Sam."
As Biilly looked on the void grew lighter. Two duplicates of Biilly appeared in front of him. One was dressed in light blue bearing the Triceratops on its chest. The other was a dark blue with the Jackal taking pride of place on his chest.
"I doubt you will listen to me Biilly, so why don't we let you decide?"
He signaled to the two figures and they started to fight back and forth. Each was equal in strength, speed and skill. The only factor separating them was Biilly. He did not know that Minion had reached into his mind and cast a spell to ensure the victor would be based on what Biilly wanted and would cause him to act. If Biilly truly wanted to be evil then the dark Biilly would win and Biilly would be evil. If Biilly truly wanted to be good then the light Biilly would win.
Both Biillys had been armed with Power Lances, which they started to use with deadly efficiency. Biilly watched as the good and evil parts of his nature fought for overall control of his mind. He was unaware that Minion was also watching with interest.
He had not expected Biilly to choose to be evil, but with every second the two fighters became more and more even..
"Enough," Minion called, freezing the fighters at the point where Biilly had only slightly more evil than good. It would be easy to watch him sink further into the dark side, but riskier too. If Biilly could shrug off the control it would be impossible for Minion to gain domination over him. However with Biilly under his influence he could slowly drain the good from him. "Biilly you are both good and evil. Join me and you will have the power of the Jackal and Triceratops.".
Minion watched as Biilly agreed and smiled. The spell had worked. All Biilly's inhibitions were finally gone. He watched as two new Power Coins appeared on Biilly's chest. One showed the Triceratops and the other the Jackal.
"Welcome to the winning team," Minion said. "Now wake up and remember what you have to do."
* * *
Stone Henge
Two Days Earlier.
"What would you have us do master?" Psycho White asked.
Minion looked down at his creation. Like all the Psycho Rangers, Psycho White did not have a gender and could appear as either male or female. At the moment Minion could detect an air of masculinity about the Psycho Ranger. He wondered whether maybe the Psychos' encounter with the Rangers had altered them all.
"Go and draw out the Rangers. Attack their homes if you have to," Minion replied. The Psychos knew who the Rangers were and Minion decided he would take advantage of the situation. "Do not destroy them yet," he warned. "I have plans for them."
Minion waited for the Psycho to disappear before turning his attention to more important tasks. He had allowed himself to be distracted by the Psycho Rangers' first assault and had neglected his duties to the forces of evil. Already another portal had opened at Stone Henge, this one allowing him access to the planet of Gallifrey and the Shadow Grid.Tapping the portal's power Minion was able to travel to different time zones within the various dimensions and capture the Zords and weapons suitable for his Rangers. Before long he had collected the Ninja Zords, Shogun Zords, and some Zords the Rangers had yet to create or discover. For some reason, he wasn't able to obtain the Dino or Thunder Zords, or any of the Zeo Zords. "These will do for now." He said to himself.
Just as the Rangers had created their new Zords using Serpenterra, so Minion planned to use the Rangers' own Zords to build his new army. Of course he had not forgotten to retrieve Cyclopsis from a dimension where instead of being destroyed it had merely been captured by the Rangers. Minion could see and advantage in using all the Megazords together, but first he wanted to see what he could do with Cyclopsis.
He looked the grey Zord over thoughtfully. He noted the Rangers in the other dimension had altered the Zord so it could operate without a Ranger. They had also removed some of the most dangerous and effective weapons.
_I can definitely do better, _ Minion thought. "Robo Troopers X2794-A and X2794-S report."
The two Validium based foot soldiers appeared before their master. Both of them bowed before their creator.
"Merge, sweetie darlings." Minion sarcastically instructed.
The two Troopers touched hands and combined to form a larger Robo Trooper. The new Trooper was armed with a large silver mace.
"Grow," Minion said. He pointed to Cyclopsis to give the Trooper an idea of what size he required. The Trooper obeyed, growing to full size and the approximate width of Goldar's old War Zord. "Now bond with Cyclopsis," Minion said.
This was an easy command to obey. The Robo Trooper walked over to the War Zord and stepped into it. The living metal flowed over the Zord coating it in Validium. Now Minion had the combination he wanted. The Zord would provide structure and the Robo Troopers would make it invulnerable to attack.
"Cyclopsis, online!" Minion commanded.
He pointed the Sword of Darkness at the Zord, bathing it in the cold annihilating light of purest evil. He smiled as the Zord started to reform, transforming into the formidable battle machine that had once come close to defeating the Rangers.
Although the Zord retained the three horns on its head the rest of the body was altered to become sleeker and more muscular. Solid Validium projectiles from a spare Trooper Minion had selected replaced the missiles hidden inside the chest panel. There was no point in making the shells explosive because the living metal would absorb any blast.
Minion turned away before he could review the other weapon systems. He wanted it to be a surprise when he found out exactly what the new and improved Cyclopsis could do.
* * *
The Psycho Rangers were enjoying themselves. Deciding that threatening innocent humans would encourage the Rangers to make an appearance they raided Angel Grove High School, taking the few students whom had not been kept home hostage.
"Rangers!" Psycho White called, holding the evil Saba across a girl's throat. "Either you show up by the count of ten or we start killing one of these pathetic humans every ten seconds."
Nothing happened and for a moment he thought maybe the Rangers had seen sense and realized just how futile fighting the Psycho Rangers would be..
"One!"
Psycho Red finished his rounds of the school ensuring every human was accounted for. He stepped into the classroom where Miss Appleby used to teach the Rangers English. He could sense the laughter from some of the lessons over the years. He could feel the good in the room from a teacher whose love was teaching and her students.
Growling angrily Psycho Red summoned his Double Power Swords and began to trash the room. He did not stop until the room was leveled. "Now that's a classroom," he said looking at the scorched hole he had made in the blackboard with his sword.
"Two!"
Psycho Purple found her way into the Principal's office. She summoned her Power Claw and began redecorating the room. The five- knife- like blades slashed into the walls and furniture as she took out her aggression on the office.
"Three!"
In the Power Chamber Alpha worked quickly to summon the Rangers and tell them what was happening. Each of them looked serious as they morphed and teleported to stop the Psycho Rangers.
"Fou..."
Psycho White's count was interrupted when he found himself on the receiving end of the Power Cannon's blast from behind. A microsecond after he sensed the blast his hostage was teleported to safety.
"So, you came," Psycho White said turning towards his attackers. "Now the fun begins."
"Not today," Zeo Falcon replied.
All six Gem Coin Rangers stood ready for action. Zordon and Alpha had beamed all the civilians to safety. Now it was time for a rematch.
"Get them!" Psycho White called.
What followed was almost a repeat performance of the last encounter between the Gem Coin Rangers and the Psycho Rangers. The two sides fought back and forth, through the classroom and into the open air. All the time Zordon kept the Rangers aware of where their opponents were in relation to each other.
"Now!" Zeo Falcon called. "Plan A." * * *
Minion watched the events taking place and was quickly able to see what the Rangers had in mind. They had worked to separate the Psycho Rangers then teleported to a place where they could use teamwork to take out one opponent at a time.
_Not very sporting, _ Minion mused. _Still it is within the rules and does make a sound strategy. _ "Psycho Rangers, play along with the Rangers' plans."
Deciding that the Rangers would be busy for a while, Minion opened a small metal box he pulled from subspace and took out a communicator. "Time to make sure the Rangers lose," he said to nobody in particular.
In a flash of blue and black light Minion vanished. He reappeared minutes later in the Power Chamber. He noticed the look of shock on Zordon's face and the unsurprised almost friendly look on Biilly's face.
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, intruder alert, intruder alert," Alpha cried as he entered the Chamber..
"Calm down Alpha Five," Minion said, imitating Zordon's voice.
The android ignored him running to the controls to summon the Rangers. Minion stood still. He wanted to stop the robot, but had overlooked the Power Chamber's secret security system. A beam of magical energy had bound him in place as Alpha started to work the controls.
With a single movement Biilly morphed and blasted Alpha and the security system with his Blade Blaster. Minion was glad that Biilly was acting under the effects of a spell. If Biilly had followed his desires willingly Alpha would still be dead, but Biilly would have lost his powers as well. Minion had need of the replica so ensured he kept the forces of good confused as to which side Biilly was on.
"You can remove that thing," Minion said, gesturing to the helmet on Biilly's head. "Your power will only stay in standby as long as you want it to. Otherwise you will remain at full strength."
"Biilly, what are you doing?" Zordon asked. Biilly had already ensured Zordon could not summon the Rangers. He was cut off from anyone who might be able to help and certain Minion would kill him.
"Well Zordon," Biilly started, a slight smile forming on his face. "Minion and I have come to an agreement. I serve him and in return I get to kill the Ranger responsible for Cestria's death."
"Biilly, Minion is responsible for Cestria's death," Zordon said..
He reached out with his powers and for the first time felt the source and strength of Minion's power. Minion was the holder of the Sword of Darkness and powered by the Lin Kuei Crystal. Zordon also sensed the deeper connection to the Jackal. Deeper still, almost beyond Zordon's mental reach was another set of Spirit Guides.
"Impossible," he said as he finally worked out who Minion was. "You were destroyed by the Rangers."
"Nothing evil dies old man," Minion shot back. He removed his mask and for the first time Zordon could see Minion's face.
_No wonder he can control Biilly, _ Zordon thought. _He knows all the flaws in Biilly's personality and has the magic to make the task easier. _.
"It's time to make your memory a little.foggy, Zordon," Minion said..
He moved to one side of the plasma tube. Biilly moved to the other side and together they opened the dimensional controls. The controls had been rigged so only certain Rangers could change Zordon's location in the time warp. Billy Cranston had built the system and both Biilly and Minion knew how to bypass it. Then, they put a virus that affected Zordon's thought processes for the past 6 hours, temporarily causing him to lose conciousness.
"Now for him," Biilly said pointing to Alpha..
Minion took the hint and rewired the robot, removing all memories relating to their visit. Then they blasted his body to make sure the Rangers would find him useless.
"This Chamber both ancient and strong, built for a purpose of defeating the wrong, constructed by skills and magical art, I summon the Beast of Destruction to rip it apart."
As Minion spoke the vortex to the Dark Dimension opened before him. A large green beast made of evil energy stepped forward. Its sole purpose to destroy and then vanish.
"Level this place," Minion said as he vanished, leaving Biilly to defend himself against the beast.
Biilly saw the logic in Minion's plan and decided to play along. But first he had something to do. Locking onto the two remaining replicas he teleported them to Stone Henge. Now Minion had a full set of replicas. If Biilly had not been under a spell he might have felt guilty. As it was he had no reservations about completing his mission. Minion had told him many things in the short time they had spent together earlier, things that the other Rangers would never know. He understood Minion's mission and was able to help. Soon with Minion's spell removing all his resistance he would also be more than willing to assist.
Biilly watched as the beast tore through the Power Chamber, destroying everything in its path. Billy struggled to see as the power system was destroyed. He locked all the systems affected and then charged the beast with his Power Lance. He landed unconscious on the floor, the beast gone. * * *
The Rangers' strategy seemed to be working. Already they had separated and apparently destroyed the Pink and Black Psycho Ranger. Pink had put up a good fight, managing to keep all the Rangers at bay until Zeo Frog managed a lucky shot with his Cosmic Cannon. She had screamed loudly and dissolved into a puff of smoke.
Psycho Black put up an even better defense, managing to injure Zeo Wolf in the fight. An arrow from Zeo Crane's bow caught him in the neck, apparently damaging his breathing to the point where he destroyed himself.
"Biilly, we need a lock on the next Psycho Ranger," Zeo Falcon said.
There was no response from the replica, so Zeo Falcon tried Zordon and Alpha instead. Still no reply and even the computers' response was silent.
"I think we'd better get back to the Power Chamber," he said to the others.
In six columns of light they arrived in the Power Chamber. Their home base lay in ruins; Alpha practically dismantled in one corner and Biilly lying half-morphed on the floor. Of Zordon they saw that he was awaking from a rather severe blow somehow. The plasma tube was intact and showing signs of the damage Tommy had done when he had first gained the Green Ranger powers.
Demorphing, Kat and Aisha quickly transferred Biilly to the remains of the medical bay. Whatever had caused the damage had been merciless, ripping most of the vital equipment to pieces.
"Computer, three to teleport to Simudeck One," Kat said..
She felt herself being teleported along with Aisha and Biilly to the Power Chamber Simudeck. Hopefully even if something had broken, the damage would not have been too severe.
"Computer, begin program E97ELTARE," Aisha instructed, understanding Kat's intention. "Training protocols removed."
E97ELTARE was a program developed to give the Rangers some knowledge of how to treat minor injuries. Normally the equipment was nothing more than a hologram, but with training protocols disabled all the equipment was fully functional, giving the Rangers a spare medical bay.
After a few minutes they had Biilly revived and ready for action again. They then teleported him to the main chamber where he explained that Minion had somehow gained access to the Power Chamber and had managed to disable Zordon and placed a spell to prevent him being restored.
Timed perfectly as ever the alarm sounded, triggering the View Screen to show the newest cause for concern. Biilly faked surprise at what he saw on the screen. Of the other Rangers only Tommy recognized the machine currently devastating the downtown areas of Angel Grove.
"Cyclopsis," he breathed..
"Do you know what that thing is?" Kat asked.
Sam considered his answer for a moment before nodding. "Not as well as Biilly might. Tommy once told me about him. Cyclopsis is Goldar's War Zord. Rita resurrected shortly after I lost my powers the first time. Rita sent the population of Angel Grove into another dimension and summoned Lokor to help her. Cyclopsis came close to beating the others that day. If Alpha had not discovered the Zord's weakness, the Rangers may have been lost."
"I have heard of Cyclopsis," Trey said. "If Minion has truly resurrected him we may have a problem."
"The question is who will operate the Zord?" Biilly commented. "Goldar is not here anymore and I doubt if Silvo or Brasso would do the job."
"Enough discussion." Minion's face appeared on the Viewing Screen. "You have five minutes to arrive and defeat Cyclopsis, or I will instruct its new operator to level Angel Grove building by building."
"Can you remember how to defeat Cyclopsis, Biilly?" Aisha asked.
"We just perform multiple attacks in differing modes until the computer locks up. Then we finish him with all our power."
"It's Morphin Time!" Sam called.
"Zeo Ranger I - Crane!"
"Zeo Ranger II - Bear!"
"Zeo Ranger III - Ape!"
"Zeo Ranger IV - Frog!"
"Zeo Ranger V - Falcon!"
"Zeo Ranger X - Wolf!"
"Triceratops!" As the other Rangers teleported away Biilly locked the teleport controls, ensuring nobody could get in. At the same time he triggered a small overload in the power room to ensure the Chamber remained in darkness. _Just making sure the enemy doesn't gain control of Power Mountain, _ he thought as he teleported away. * * *
"Let's take this from the top," Zeo Falcon said. "Attack Bikes, Power Up!"
As the bikes skidded to a halt the five Rangers climbed on. Zeo Wolf climbed into the sidecar of Zeo Crane's bike and prepared himself for whatever Zeo Falcon was planning.
"Switch to Sentinel Mode!" Zeo Falcon instructed.
Using the multiple weapons Billy and Zordon had stored in the secret vault Biilly had managed to design some humanoid shaped robots using the weapons and attack bikes. Weapons and bikes combined to form a single giant robot, slightly smaller than a Megazord. With Zeo Falcon in the center each Ranger felt a strange connection to the machine.
"The autopilot should keep Cyclopsis busy for a while," Zeo Falcon said. "Let's get the Ninja Zords activated."
"We need Ninja Zord power, now!"
"Stick to single attacks," Zeo Wolf advised.
The Wolf Zord moved so fast that Cyclopsis didn't see it coming until it was to late. The powerful hind legs drove the Zord into the air where it made contact with Cyclopsis arm. The Zord's jaws clamped shut around Cyclopsis; Zeo Wolf holding on as the War Zord tried to shake the Wolf loose.
Zeo Frog guided his Zord forward and directed it to open its mouth. The Frog's tongue wrapped around Cyclopsis', allowing Zeo Frog to direct a burst of electrical energy into the War Zord's body. Activating the recall system he used the tongue to pull Cyclopsis towards the Zord. .
The combined assault allowed Zeo Ape a chance to get close. The mighty Zord leapt onto the War Zord's back, wrapping its arms around the neck. Zeo Ape had learnt from his earlier tangle with the enlarged Robo War Zord that brute force would not work. Instead the Zord summoned both of its swords and stabbed them into the back of the War Zord's neck. .
"Hold him steady," Zeo Crane called.
Bolts of pink energy struck the War Zord in the chest causing it to fall over. The Crane Zord flew around to move in for a second assault. Once again Zeo Crane armed her lasers and prepared to fire.
Zeo Bear had moved her Zord behind Cyclopsis' body. As the Crane fired again it knocked the War Zord over the Bear and onto its back.
The Falcon Zord dived; its talons extended outwards. Mini missiles fired from the wings, striking the War Zord in the chest and shoulders. While the missiles did no real damage they distracted Cyclopsis long enough for the Falcon Zord to sink its talons into the metal warrior and lift it into the air. .
"Fire!" Zeo Falcon ordered pressing the button on his control stick.
It took Zeo Falcon a moment too long to realize something was wrong. Cyclopsis had used its telekinetic powers to trigger the torpedoes inside the Zord. As they exploded the Falcon dropped the War Zord to the ground as Zeo Falcon attempted to regain control.
"I'm down," Zeo Falcon reported, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs.
"You can join us later," Zeo Crane told him over the communicator.
"Ninja Megazord!" the Rangers called.
The arms and legs of the Ape detached from the body, the legs of the Bear split away from the body and legs and head of the Wolf retracted into the Zord's body. The bodies of the Ape, Bear and Wolf joined together to form the upper torso and arms of the Megazord. The legs of the Ape joined together and connected to the base of the upper torso to complete the main body.
Meanwhile the Frog had transformed into a pair of legs, joining with the Bear's legs, which had transformed to make two feet, to form the lower body. The arms of the Ape had converted into fists, which connected to the arms.
Finally the body and arms merged with the legs, allowing the Crane to slide into place as the head. The fully charged Power Sword appeared in the Megazord's hand. In a single movement the Power Sword moved across Cyclopsis' body carving a diagonal slash in its body.
While the Ninja Megazord was forming the Sentinel was using every weapon at its disposal to keep Cyclopsis off balance, a strategy that seemed to be working. As long as the War Zord was trying to stay upright it could not fight back. Then the operator gained control slamming the Sentinel to the ground and crushing it underfoot. He slashed from the Ninja Megazord came in time to prevent too much damage being done.
Cyclopsis responded by sliding a blade from each arm and attacking the Megazord. Combining the energy weapons with his blade Cyclopsis parried the Zords' attacks. With a quick movement it disarmed the Megazord and moved to make a killing blow.
With a loud screech the Falcon Zord descended on Cyclopsis, its weapons firing to push it away from the Megazord. Cyclopsis rolled away to allow the Megazord to stand up again.
"Docking now," Zeo Falcon said, activating his Gem Coin.
"Ninja MegaFalconzord!" the Rangers called as Zeo Falcon appeared in the control room and took his position.
Thrusters fired on the back of the Megazord's back, flying into the air, Power Sword in hand. Cyclopsis responded by firing the cannons located beneath its breastplate. It ten fired its wrists on the end of solid steel cables, which wrapped around the Megazord's body in a similar way to what the Frog Zord had done earlier. High voltage electricity shot through the cables, into the hands and finally into the Megazord.
Turning to the right Cyclopsis released the Megazord at the peak of its spin, throwing the Megazord to the ground with a crash. Energy bolts shot from various points on Cyclopsis' body, causing further damage to the Zord.
"Sky Zords, online!" Zeo Crane called.
From above the Rangers could see the jet like Sky Zords moving in to attack. Teleporting out they took control of their Zords. The White Sky Zord moved in first unleashing a volley of cluster bombs. That was quickly followed by the Pink Sky Zord's ice attack and the Black Sky Zord's fireball. The Yellow Sky Zord moved in quickly trapping Cyclopsis care of its null beam. The Gold and Red Sky Zords struck simultaneously. The Gold Zord rammed Cyclopsis with its nosecone whilst the Red Zord generated a sonic boom..
The three horns on Cyclopsis' head combined together to form a single ball of energy. The ball fired at both the Sky Zords and Ninja MegaFalconzord.
The Megazord remained upright, using all remaining power to prevent total collapse. The Red and White Sky Zords had manage to fly clear of the blast and turned to come around again, targeting their attack effectively enough to make the War Zord stumble backwards.
"Switch to high stance mode!" Zeo Falcon called to the other Sky Zords.
Although different the basic transformation sequence for each Zord followed the same procedure. The wings folded upwards and apart from the Gold Zord, which had inverted wings, rotated to point backwards. Thrusters activated to lift the Zords into the air to complete the procedure. The rear half of the plane transformed to become the legs and feet. The nose cone and cockpit flew off the body, hovering in the air and separating. The arms had meanwhile formed from the main body, the area they appeared from becoming filled by the cockpit, now acting as the chest. Finally the nose cone attached to the body, pointing backwards to form the head and the various weapons attached to the Zords' arms.
Inside the Zords the Rangers had changed position within the cockpits so they could see out. Surrounding the War Zord the Rangers now hand the upper hand. At six to one and the Ninja MegaFalconzord slowly gaining power the Rangers attacked. Kicks and punches combined with laser beams and special powers as the Zords worked together to tire Cyclopsis down.
As Biilly had suggested, Cyclopsis took a short time to adapt. Once it had the fight became more even. Using its telekinetic powers Cyclopsis lifted the Ninja MegaFalconzord from its feet, slamming it into the Sky Zords. Minion had made a few alterations to the War Zord, one of, which were the missiles concealed on each hip.
"Defender Zords, attack!" Zeo Frog and Zeo Ape called as the Sky Zords collapsed. .
The five Defender Zords moved into position. The White Defender Zord struck first. The powerful fire engine had a pair of water cannons mounted on its cab. As it moved close the cannons fired pressurized jets of water knocking Cyclopsis off its feet.
The Pink Defender Zord was next. The helicopter used its powerful rotors to create a localized tornado. Only a quick shift in position allowed the War Zord to escape being drawn into the blades. Cyclopsis adapted to the new attack and lower its centre of gravity. Laser bolts shot from Cyclopsis' eyes, trying to disable the rotor blades.
The Yellow bike Defender Zord launched its twin missiles striking the machine in the arm the Rangers had damaged before the War Zord had started to fight back. At the same time the Black ambulance shaped Defender Zord fired a burst of compressed air from its double roof mounted compression cannons. The Red police car Defender Zord fired its own double cannon freezing the War Zord to the ground as it drove through.
Deciding to take advantage of the weakened opponent Zeo Falcon and Zeo Bear summoned the Techno Zords to attack. The two plane like Zords moved in, dragging the cannon behind them, slowing down so the cannon was in position the three Zords unleashed a mixture of energy and projectile based weapons. Both planes flew off, releasing the cannon before they did so.
The covered motorcycle was next; striking Cyclopsis with its single roof mounted laser. It skidded to a halt, turning ninety degrees as it did so and firing again this time from a stationary position. It stayed in position whilst the car moved in from one side and the dune buggy from the other side both firing their high powered energy rifles. The two vehicles stopped to form a perfect triangle formation.
"High stance mode!" Zeo Falcon instructed.
All ten mobile Zords morphed into robot warriors, each armed with personal weapons. Photon blasts, accelerator rifles, bullets, and heat, ice and friction blasts struck Cyclopsis. The computer system struggled to cope with ten simultaneous mode changes and the differing tactics. Inside the Zords its three operators checked their timing and saw it was almost time to finish the fight.
"Megazord I, power up!" Zeo Crane and Zeo Wolf called.
The robots reverted to ordinary sized planes and flew towards each other. Then at the right time they switched upright and headed towards the sky. The White plane's nose cone retracted into the cockpit to be replaced by a head, the wings folded toward the bottom of the plane and the fuselage shrunk to half its normal size. The Pink and Yellow planes transformed into the arms, and the Red and Black planes formed then legs. As the Zord touched down it grew in size until it resemble a normal Megazord.
"Drop Zord, now!" Zeo Crane ordered. The plane flew past; dropping the fists, feet and chest plate of the Megazord as it did so.
"Gem Coin Megazord I, online!" Zeo Crane ordered.
"Megazord activated," the computerized voice said.
Adam and Rocky both called out, "Gem Coin Megazord II, power up!"
The fire engine's cab rolled up and over the top to reveal the Megazord's head, the rest of it shifting shape to form the body. The helicopter' rotor blade flew of as the tail detached itself allowing the helicopter to form the right arm. The ambulance attached itself to the left side of the body and the motorcycle and police car formed the legs.
Once again the Drop Zord appeared, releasing the hands, feet and chest shield for the Defender Megazord. When the Megazord was complete the rotor blades and tail transformed into a Power Sword.
"Megazord II, activated," the computer reported.
"Gem Coin Megazord III, form up!" Zeo Bear and Zeo Falcon called together.
The two planes flew over to where the cannon was placed and picked it up. The planes flew away, dragging the cannon with them, but soon returned with the gun emplacement in tow. The high speed of the two jets caused the chains dragging the emplacement lift off the ground. As it drew near the chains were released. The gun detached itself from the emplacement, allowing it to form the lower body onto which the larger of the two planes formed to create the upper torso, shoulders and head. The dune buggy and motorbike transformed into the arms and the other plane and car formed the legs.
A panel opened on the lower back of the Megazord from which the hands and feet for the Megazord were released along with the chest panel. The gun had in the meantime split in half and appeared in each hand. The light on the controls lit up to tell them the Megazord was fully powered.
The Drop Zord converted to high stance mode and joined the other Megazords. Zeo Wolf teleported back to the partially revived Ninja MegaFalconzord and took control. For the first time Zeo Falcon realized Triceratops Ranger was not with them. _I wonder where he is? _ He wondered. At the same time he checked on the condition of the Sentinel and found it recharged and ready for action.
"Six Megazords and one Cyclopsis," Zeo Ape pointed out. "This should be fun."
The original Cyclopsis might have had trouble adapting to the mode changes, but with its new programming and three operators to control the more vital functions, the only way for the War Zord to fail was if the operator deliberately caused it to malfunction.
"SFC online!"
"Flaming Defender Power Sword now!"
"Scattershot Cannon, online!"
The Drop Zord activated its four-barrelled rifle and took aim at the War Zord. The Ninja MegaFalconzord powered up its own Power Sword and prepared to attack. The Sentinel drew its sword and stood ready for combat.
"Fire!"
Even as the various weapons struck Cyclopsis had formulated a response. Capturing the combined energy on its horns the War Zord returned fire, adding its own missiles and cannons to the assault.
"Well that worked," Zeo Ape quipped as he stood the Megazord up again.
"Guys this is Biilly," the voice said over the communicator. "Use the Gem Coin Ultrazord and Ninja Ultrazord to finish Cyclopsis."
"Gem Coin Ultrazord, activate!"
"Ninja Ultrazord!"
The Ninja MegaFalconzord merged with Titanus to form the Ninja Ultrazord. Already charging its power cells, Zeo Wolf braced himself for the attack ahead.
The Gem Coin Ultra Zord started by separating the five Defender Zords. The police car, motorcycle, ambulance and helicopter joined with the Drop Zord to form the top body. The fire engine transformed to become the lower body. The Sky Megazord split in half to form the legs and the Techno Megazord formed the arms. Finally the Sentinel transformed to provide the head, arm guards and chest plate. The various weapons from the Zords attached to the arms and legs, forming the equivalent of a mobile fortress.
"Lock on and fire!" the six Rangers called. * * *
"Make it look good," Minion told the three pilots of Cyclopsis just before the Ultrazords fired.
The three pilots did not respond verbally, but nodded to indicate they understood. Cutting the shielding to minimum power the pilots braced themselves to take the blast. As the blasts stuck the War Zord its shielding collapsed causing Cyclopsis to explode.
Watching from his base at Stone Henge, Minion smiled behind his mask. He had seen the plans for the Gem Coin Ultrazord and knew the finishing blast drained Gem Coins of all but a small portion of their power. Now it was time to show the Rangers what happened to those who failed to anticipate Minion's moves.
"Cyclopsis, reactivate and finish those ridiculous Ultrazords!"
Slowly the Validium drained away from the Zord and reformed to become a more powerful version of Cyclopsis. Inside the cockpit the three operators reappeared ready to finish the Rangers.
The two blades slid out from the arms ready to strike again. The chest panels slid down to reveal the rows of cannons and the hip compartments opened ready to fire the Validium missiles Minion had constructed. A ball of energy formed on its horns and fired in a single sphere of fire.
With its first strike Cyclopsis destroyed the Ninja Ultrazord. Missiles and energy bolts ripped the MegaFalconzord to pieces. As Titanus reverted to normal a Validium blade chopped his head off. The Gem Coin Ultrazord was paralysed having used all its power in the barrage. Piece by piece it was dissected by the War Zord's blades.
The main pilot detected the energy changes indicating the Rangers were up to something. At first he suspected they were planning on splitting the Zords in a desperate last stand. But the energy readings were too high, almost as if there was a problem.
"Minion, get us out of here!" the central pilot called.
"What is wrong?" Minion asked, angry that somebody had dared to alter his carefully laid plans.
"The Rangers are preparing the Zords to self destruct."
"Idiots!" Minion swore as he made a gesture to teleport the pilots away.
Minion watched as the Ultrazord lurched forward slightly and grabbed hold of the Validium Cyclopsis. Even the strongest metal in the known universe could not survive the exploding power core of an Ultrazord.
Ten...the Rangers teleported to the ground and watched from a distance.
Nine...the Ultrazord drew all the power it could from the Gem Coins, causing the Super Zeo Gems to return to the Power Chamber, the Power Coins staying in place.
Eight...the power discharged into the individual Megazord units.
Seven...the Ultrazord split into its individual units.
Six...the three Gem Coin Megazords started to charge their weapons.
Five...Minion wondered if maybe he had underestimated the Rangers.
Four...Sentinel charged its own vast arsenal.
Three...the Gem Coin Megazords, Sentinel and Drop Zord closed the barrels on the end of their weapons..
Two...the weapons fired. The Zords went into overload.
One...the computer inside Cyclopsis searched its database to adapt to what it knew was coming. It found no way out.
Zero...the Zords exploded.
Parts of the Megazords rained down on Angel Grove for a full five minutes. People ran for cover as debris crashed into buildings injuring those trapped inside. The Rangers peered over the edge of the crater, now reliant on the limited power stored in their suits. Deep inside the crater, reflecting the sun's light, the remains of Cyclopsis sparked. If it had fallen in one piece the Validium War Zord would have reformed. * * *
"What happened?" Zeo Ape asked as the Zords started to disappear.
"Automatic recall," Zeo Falcon explained. " Tommy once told me that it's to stop the Zords destruction from shutting down the Morphin Grid. First time they used it was when Cyclopsis nearly destroyed the Dinozords."
"Shame you can't teleport away Sam," Minion scoffed. "Now you're going have to meet the three pilots of Cyclopsis. I take it you know Psycho Black and Psycho Pink."
The two supposedly deceased Psycho Rangers stepped forward. Both were laughing as they imagined what they were going to do to the now zordless Rangers.
"And of course where would they be without the other Psycho Rangers?" Minion asked.
The Rangers found themselves outnumbered two to one. The Psycho Rangers drew their weapons and prepared to finish their weakened opponents.
"The Zeo Crystal is gone, the Zords are gone, you have no way to get back to Power Chamber and even if you could Zordon cannot help you." Minion seemed to grow more confident with every passing second. "I'll give you one chance to surrender before I order my servants to do it the hard way."
"We'll never surrender," Zeo Falcon replied angrily. "We'll either defeat you or die trying. In other words.GO FUCK YOURSELF!!"
"You won't have to defeat me Sam," Minion replied. "Or my Psycho Rangers for that matter. And you will be sorry you said that. Tsk, tsk. Such shameful language. Tommy really should have washed your mouth out with soap. Instead, I'll have you fight him."
As he spoke he pointed to a figure floating above the Rangers. They could not see the face because of the bright light behind him.
"Now!" Minion ordered.
The figure dropped from the sky, driving both feet into Zeo Crane's head. Swinging on one foot he caught Zeo Bear with a back kick and punch to the chin. Ducking to avoid a kick from Zeo Ape he swept the legs out from Zeo Wolf and moved to drove his elbow into the Ranger's face. After trading blows with Zeo Frog and Zeo Ape he delivered a kick to their chests, winding them and allowing him to concentrate on Zeo Falcon.
"Hello Sam. Looks like you will have to take Tommy's place after all." the dark blue uniformed warrior said. His uniform resembled that of the Blue Aquitian Ranger. On the chest was a double coin. On the first coin was the image of the Triceratops and on the other coin was the half-formed image of the Jackal.
The two warriors started to fight, Sam powered only by his reserve energy from the Morphin Grid and his opponent powered by the light and dark side of the Morphin Grid. Although not as skilled or powerful as either Tommy or Sam, the opponent used his anger to fuel his punches. In a shock move he ripped off his mask and watched the statement of shock on Sam's face. Even through the mask he could see the confusion, recognition and anger at the unexpected betrayal.
Zeo Falcon charged at his former colleague unsure whether or not he could turn him back to the light. For his part Biilly laughed as Zeo Falcon's kicks deflected off his arms.
"You don't want to do this Biilly," Zeo Falcon said looking at the hate filled face in front of him. "Don't let Minion use you."
"Minion is not using me," Biilly replied. "He simply showed me the way things need to be if I am to have my revenge. Oh and Sam, I really rather this was Tommy, but..." Biilly stopped talking as he kicked and punched the White Gem Coin Ranger, knocking the weakened Zeo Falcon to the ground. "I do want to do this."
Zeo Falcon slowly stood up noticing that Biilly was waiting for him. He had no doubt Biilly was not fully evil, but unless he could get them away from Minion he knew it would not do him any good. Throwing himself upwards he speared Biilly to the ground, thumbing desperately for his teleport button.
"I disabled the teleport function, Sam," Biilly said cheerfully.
"No! You son of a bitch!" Zeo Falcon shouted.
Frustration finally built up to the extent where Sam snapped. Grabbing hold of Biilly he punched him once in the face. It was not his intention to hurt Biilly, but he needed to get away so he could still fight. Turning around, demorphing as he did so, Sam found himself face to face with the Psycho Rangers.
"You obviously weren't listening when we told you the first time," Psycho White said.
"We're faster than you," Psycho Black said.
"Smarter than you..." Psycho Gold said.
"Stronger than you..." Psycho Yellow told them.
"But we're evil!" Psycho Pink finished.
"Yeah? And your mothers are all cheap sluts. So?" Sam snapped, preparing to make their task as difficult as possible.
"Yeah," Psycho Red replied, imitating the voice, the taunt having no effect whatsoever. "And we cheat."
Sam felt a slight pain in his neck before his world turned black. Behind him stood Biilly, his Psycho Blaster drawn and set to stun.
"Stand down," Minion called as he arrived. "You have done well Biilly."
He examined the coins on Biilly's chest. At the moment the replica held equal amounts of good and evil, but one small act could push him over the edge. Minion started to make plans to replace the spell with a genuine desire to be evil. .
Raising his hand five lines of energy flowed from the fallen Rangers into his hand, recharging his powers. He pointed at Biilly, giving the replica a taste of the power he could have if he was evil.
"Silvo!" Minion boomed. "Take these fallen Rangers to the Prisoner Dimension and make them.comfortable."
"What about him?" Silvo asked pointing to Biilly.
"He is with me," Minion replied as Silvo picked up the fallen Rangers and left. * * *
Zordon awoke in the plasma tube he looked around the Power Chamber, shocked by the devastation and the sight of Alpha lying dormant on the table.
"Zordon!" Billy and Trini cried when they saw their mentor had woken up.
"Welcome back my Rangers," Zordon said. "I am pleased to see you have all gained your full powers."
"Zordon, what happened here?" Trini asked. Although they had been able to piece together some of the Zeo Rangers activities, they had yet to fully understand how the others came to be missing.
"I shall find out as you do. My memories are unclear on the subject. Observe the Viewing Screen," Zordon told the Rangers.
Slowly the images started to play back the events of the last few days, from the time the Rangers left on their quest to the moment the Zeo Rangers were finally captured and Minion used his power to seal off Angel Grove and the surrounding area..
"Biilly betrayed them?" Billy asked.
"I am afraid so," Zordon replied.
"He must have been under a spell," Zack commented. The others nodded in agreement, not wanting to believe a Ranger had purposely joined the dark side.
"Zordon can you replay from point twenty two thirty eight?" Billy requested. Zordon did as Billy requested trusting the Blue Ranger had noticed something useful. "Stop there," Billy instructed as the picture showed the replica standing over the demorphed Tommy. "Can you enlarge the chest area?"
Zordon did as he was asked, wondering what Billy had noticed. Enlarging the chest area revealed the two coins on the replica's chest..
"He can be saved," Billy said. "He still holds the powers of the Triceratops."
What Billy did not mention was that he had recognized the second coin as being the Jackal. He had seen that coin before during a battle. He just couldn't remember where.
"We'll try everything we can to bring him back Billy," Jason assured his friend. "But we might have to stop him if he fights back too hard."
To Zordon, Trini asked, "Was there anymore to the playback?"
"Yes Trini," Zordon answered. Once again he activated the playback and the Rangers turned to watch.
Minion stood in the middle of Angel Grove, waiting patiently as the Earth's armed forces attempted to do the job the Rangers had failed to accomplish. With a wave of his hand he knocked the air force from the sky. He took all the firepower the combined arm and marines could deliver and then summoned his Robo Troopers to finish the job.
Slowly a black shell started to form around Angel Grove, locking out any further images. Other domes started to form around the Ley Nexuses. For all intents and purposes, Minion had won. * * *
Minion sensed Zordon's awakening and cursed his over confidence. He knew that fully power Rangers combined with Zordon had a slight chance of defeating him. It was not something he wanted to happen. Minion knew the answer was to make an immediate strike and that would mean he had to reserve as much power as possible..
"Silvo, Brasso, come here!"
His two servants appeared before him as always. He looked them over; both were strong and capable warriors and he had no doubt each would give the Rangers a fight to remember. But Minion also knew the Rangers would defeat them.
"Lower all the barriers apart from Stone Henge. Bring the conversions from North Valley here. I still have a use for them. Then find Shinnock and order him to destroy those Rangers."
"Yes, my lord," Brasso and Silvo replied, both vanishing to complete their next mission..
"Biilly, are the last of the Psycho Rangers ready for action?"
"Yes Minion," Biilly replied.
The Triceratops had grown smaller as the Jackal started to take control. Minion felt the change and knew that soon Biilly would be his ultimate weapon. * * *
"Rangers, Shinnock has reappeared in Angel Grove," Zordon said as the alarm sounded. They had all been shocked when the barrier had been removed and even more amazed to find the city relatively intact. Even the population was high, something that led them to wonder what had caused Minion to change his plans. .
Charterville, and Leewood all looked to be in a similar condition. North Valley was another matter. What had once been a strong town was reduced to ashes, the population nowhere in sight.
On the screen giant Shinnock was walking through Angel Grove, happily trashing anything in his way. Lightning bolts from his staff leveled tall buildings while the people ran for cover.
"We need to take care of Shinnock before he trashes the city," Jason said. "It's Morphin Time!"
"White Ranger Power!"
"Black Ranger Power!"
"Pink Ranger Power!"
"Blue Ranger Power!"
"Yellow Ranger Power!"
"Red Ranger Power!"
"Purple Ranger Power!"
"Green Ranger Power!"
The Rangers appeared a safe distance from where Shinnock was rampaging. It was then Pink Ranger asked the question the others had not considered. "Guys, we like have four sets of Zords and one monster. Which set do we use?"
"Well, technically the only Zords we have are the Thunder and the Ninja Zords," Blue Ranger replied. "The Dino Zords will take time to be recreated and Shogun Zords and Battle Borgs need to be redesigned. Of course, Tor and Dragonzord should be at peak performance."
"Okay," Red Ranger said. "We need Ninja Zord power, now!"
A beam of light shone from each Ranger's chest into the sky, combining at a point and calling forth the Ninja Zords from the Temple of Ninja Powers. In the sky above eight Zords appeared, not the prototype Ninja Zords the Gem Coin Rangers had been forced to use, these were the fully functional Ninja Zords that the original Ninja Rangers of Earth had used. The Rangers felt themselves being teleported into their Zords.
"All right Rangers log on," Red Ranger said.
"This is Zack, back in black and ready to attack," Black Ranger said from inside the Frog.
"Billy here, all systems nominal," Blue Ranger reported glad to be back in the Wolf again.
"Trini powered up and ready," Yellow Ranger called in..
"Hey, who put this Phil Collins tape in this Zord's stereo?" Pink Ranger said from inside the Crane, realizing she shouted "Kat, why?!"
"Tanya ready for action," Purple Ranger called.
"Tommy online." The White Ranger's comment was more to himself than to the Red Ranger.
"Whoa!" The shout came from David who was the only Ranger who had never operated a Zord before. As a result he was finding it difficult to keep control of the Panther.
"David, relax and let the Power guide you," Yellow Ranger advised.
Green Ranger did as he was told and found he was able to regain control. "Green Ranger back in control, Panther Zord ready for action."
"Bring them together," Red Ranger said. "Ninja MegaFalconzord!"
"Ninja Battlezord!" Green Ranger called.
The Crane started to fold to form the head while at the same time the Frog transformed to become the legs and the Bear converted to become the Ninja MegaFalconzord's upper body. The already modified Ape and Wolf joined onto the Bear to form the arms as the Crane linked on to become the head. Then the whole upper body joined onto the Frog as the Falcon Zord linked onto the back. Hands formed over the Ape and Wolf's heads.
The Panther Zord transformed to stand upright on its hind legs. The head rotated downwards to become the chest and the front paws became the arms. The Hawk Zord's wings and head folded into the body as the Hawk Zord joined onto the shoulders of the Panther to become the head of the Ninja Battlezord. The Panther's tail converted into a Power Sword as Purple and Green Rangers slid into the cockpit ready for action.
"Don't forget me Rangers!" the unmistakable voice of Ninjor called as he flew down on his cloud and grew to full size..
What followed was a fast paced high impact battle. The Ninja MegaFalconzord held Shinnock's staff to one side allowing Ninjor and the Battlezord to use their swords. With a cry of pain Shinnock struck back with an assault of lightning bolts. It took a while for the Rangers to shake off the effects of Shinnock's attack as he charged them.
"You are truly evil, Shinnock," Ninjor said. "Evil makes me so angry!"
Ninjor transformed from his normal look into the battle mode Kimberly and Billy remembered. A ball of energy shot from his hands blasting Shinnock in the chest and disintegrating his staff.
"Battle Strike!" Green and Purple Rangers called.
The Ninja Battlezord gave a short spin and drove its Power Sword into Shinnock's chest. As it stopped spinning the Zord ducked out of the way as the Ninja MegaFalconzord descended using its double power punch. Shinnock exploded as the Zords and Ninjor celebrated their victory. * * *
Power Chamber Later.
"Congratulations Rangers, you have been victorious in your first battle as full Rangers. In addition I have managed to restore Alpha and we are working on a way to trace the other Rangers. Tommy, I also wish to inform you that in time you will learn to use your psychic powers to their full extent."
"We still have a lot of work to do," Jason said. "We have to find the others and stop the Psycho Rangers."
"And don't forget Minion," Tommy added.
"Man I am tired," Zack said.
"I suggest you all go to your quarters and get some rest," Zordon said. "I do not feel it is wise for you to leave the Power Chamber at this time."
The Rangers agreed and retired to their room, knowing Zordon would tell them as soon as he found the others. Then it would be pay back time. ***
Doctor's TARDIS, between dimensions:
"Not a nice person, this Minion." Flash observed.
"Really, Sherlock? How did you guess?" Kyle Rayner frowned.
"In any case, we'd better be ready. I have a feeling this 'Minion' plays for keeps." Batman cautioned everyone.
"Power Chamber dead ahead." Rocky told everyone.
"I wish you had found a better way to phrase that!" Zack groaned. Zack realized that the joke he had just made was a way to keep from having a panic attack. It was all about to get real.
END. * * *