Written by DTM666
Disclaimer: The author of this piece would like to state that 90 percent of the characters featured here are properties of BVS Entertainment Inc and not that of the author. 10 percent of the characters featured here are original creations of the author.
Also, the author understands that this piece automatically negates events that occur any and all PR incarnations that occur after Power Rangers Wild Force; hence no Dino Thunder or Ninja Storm is featured here and hence Tommy is not a doctor of anything. This is an AU, so to speak. Just thought we should be clear on that.
Note: Yes, I said I would have gotten this up on Friday, but unfortunately I was delayed with other stuff... and I got no reviews for the last chapter, so here it is today. It's a bit on the short side (compared to the other offerings), but it's better than nothing. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with the Wednesday update at least. Anyway, enjoy and review.
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Out on an open field, two longtime friends face each other in combat for the first time in a long while. Some distance apart, Thomas Oliver and Jason Lee Scott locked eyes with each other for some time. Each one holds their respective morpher, waiting for the right moment. Near the house, Carter Grayson and Cole Evans watched the fight from afar. They were about to see a sight they never thought possible; the battle between two Power Rangers.
There have been Ranger battles among each other before, but this was different. There are no spells involved, no misguided loyalties, no evil agents... just two longtime friends venting out their frustrations... or rather, the frustrations of one.
Jason looked at his friend; Tom had some anger built in him, he thought to himself, and he needs to vent it out. Thomas looked back at his friend; Jason knows I need to vent my anger, he thought, but not on him.
"I was going to let this pass, bro," Jason said, "but since you really need this, then I should let you know that I'm not holding back."
Thomas nodded with reluctance. "Agreed. Let's do this."
Both Red Rangers stared each down a short while longer before calling out in unison, "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"
Two flashes of light enveloped on both Jason and Thomas. When both faded, they were replaced with the Red Power Ranger and Zeo Ranger 5 - Red, both of them brandishing their respective Power swords. Neither one made a move for a minute. Then the battle begun.
Zeo 5 leaped to the air, raising his sword above his head. Red Ranger also leaped with his sword above his head too. When the two met, both swords clashed together, causing a slight spark of red energy. The two landed on their feet and began dueling. Red Ranger managed to block off Zeo 5's attacks, and Zeo 5 managed to do the same. A mistake on Zeo 5's part allowed for an opening, and Red Ranger took advantage with a spinning heel kick to his opponent's hand, disarming him of his Zeo sword. Zeo 5 would leap from Red Ranger's sword strikes until he was in a favorable distance. Taking his Zeo Blaster, he fired a laser beam at Red Ranger. While the Power sword deflected the beam successfully, more shots from Zeo 5 managed to keep Red Ranger off-balance. After blocking a few blows, a beam finally impacted Red Ranger, knocking him down.
Red Ranger groggily got back on his feet and turned to see Zeo 5 leap, motioning for a jump kick. He recognized this move as the "Zeo Flying Power Kick," an effective maneuver. Zeo 5 flew at incredible speed and managed to land the kick on Red Ranger's head, knocking him down.
Looking ahead behind his mask, Thomas frowned. "I expected more from you, Jason. You're a little out of touch."
"Don't worry, bro," Red Ranger rebutted as he struggled back to his feet, "I'm just getting started."
Drawing his Blade blaster from his holster, he fired several charged shots at Zeo 5. Although the first shot missed, the second shots onward did not and Zeo 5 was jolted to the ground, but soon recovered quickly. Both Rangers attempted another round of hand-to-hand combat, showing off their martial arts prowess. Each attack was blocked, each move countered once or twice, each attempt at a finishing blow missed. After sidestepping one of Red Ranger's roundhouse kicks, Zeo 5 thrust his head with full force at Red Ranger's face. Taking advantage of his opponent's stunned state, he leaped with another Power Kick attempt in mind, but Red Ranger blocked the maneuver with his arms and countered with a swift kick to the head of Zeo Red. Thomas could do nothing except wait until his body impacted the ground.
Seeing Zeo 5 struggling to his feet, Red Ranger rushed towards his opponent and went for a sliding kick, effectively tripping Zeo 5 back on the black soil of the battle field. Zeo 5 was able to recover from the attack and managed to get back on his feet.
Red Ranger and Zeo 5 stood at a distance from each other, both firmly clutching their blasters with both hands. Traditional martial arts did not work. Swordplay did nothing to end the fight. It would be luck of the draw. Without hesitation, Red Ranger fired several blasts, but Zeo 5 managed a high leap and fired a flurry of laser bolts at Red Ranger, who managed to dodge most of the incoming fire before getting blasted on the chest and was subsequently knocked down.
With his adversary fallen, Zeo 5 threw away the blaster and made a leap in the air. He positioned his right arm so that the tip of the elbow would hit. Red Ranger noticed his adversary above him, but did not move out of the way. Instead, he simply crossed his arms across his chest and soon extended them. A brief flash occurred, blinding Zeo 5 temporarily but not enough to knock him away. Zeo 5 did feel a pain in his elbow, as it collided with a golden chestplate. Zeo 5 stood quickly and observed his fallen opponent. Behind the mask was a shocked look as he witnessed the Red Ranger bearing the armorpiece of the Green Ranger.
That's impossible, Thomas thought, isn't it?
With the distraction in place, Red Ranger lifted his foot across Zeo 5's head, knocking him aloop for a second. When Zeo 5 got himself back together, he looked ahead at his Ranger opponent and saw him forming a ball of green energy between the palms of his hands. That same ball grew slightly larger with each passing second, the green energy slowly change into a brighter crimson color. When the energy ball reached a sufficient charge, Red Ranger released the projectile and saw as it impacted and knocked down Zeo 5, crackling him with red and green energy. Once fallen, the uniform of Zeo Ranger 5 faded and left behind the defeated Thomas Oliver, clutching his chest in pain. The victorious Red Ranger demorphed soon after and went to check on his friend, who seemed to be alright, albeit in slight pain.
"You okay, bro?" Jason asked, offering a hand.
Thomas nodded slowly, taking the hand of his friend, who helped get back on his feet.
"Thanks, man," Thomas said, almost sounding embarrassed, "I needed that."
"No problem, bro."
As the two Rangers recovered, Thomas' wrist communicator made a light tone, indicating that he was receiving an e-mail. Jason motioned him to go ahead while he recovered. Thomas gave a small smile, nodded, and rushed towards the house.
---
The Astro Megaship has seen better days, Andros thought to himself.
As Andros surveyed the halls of the ship, he could see panels laying around along with various bits of debris. On the up side, the ship had been repaired to the point where it can operate under its own power, but it still required some repair work, specifically in restore lost systems like weapons and shields.
As he observed a routine maintenance check, his mind reflected back to the past two hours. The first hour was learning how to operate the foreign Machine equipment, which had changed substancially in the past couple years. Once he was able to transmit messages, he sent a quick email message to Thomas Oliver on Earth, detailing their adventure thus far. When that was done, he made a quick call to his fiancée Ashley on KO-35. Naturally, she was worried about him, but Andros assured her that he and the others were fine. Fifteen minutes of talking later, Andros tried to make contact with another former Turbo/Space Ranger, Carlos, who was commander of the Delta Megaship MK2. Unfortunately, he was unavailable. That's when he decided to start checking on repairs to the Megaship.
Andros quickly returned to reality as a nearby Cog told him that the Megaship now has a workable jump drive that will carry the Megaship to the Kerovan sector, where proper repairs and upgrades would be made. Before long, the small Aradon-led Machine fleet arrived in orbit of KO-35. The sudden appearance of a Machine fleet unsettled some nerves aboard the orbital platforms, but after some clearing up, things were relatively fine.
Zhane agreed to stay behind on KO-35 to take charge of repairs to the Megaship, while Andros and TJ would stay with Aradon aboard his ship to meet with another small squadron of Machine cruisers. A short time later, Aradon's fleet left orbit and work began on developing battle tactics for confronting the Wraith.
Unfortunately, no method was developed in tracking its whereabouts, only the trail of asteroid fields that fill the void of rogue planets. Suddenly, sirens sounded and cogs were seen rushing towards battle positions. The bright white lights dimmed and started to pulsate in a red haze. Andros and TJ stood up looking around at the chaos occurring in the ship.
"What's going on?" the Kerovan asked.
"Trouble" was Aradon's only answer.
To be continued...