Kenny ran until he could not breathe. Beneath his body, his feet pounded at the ground, across a few patches of grass, carrying him through pavement, until his lungs screamed for a sufficient supply of oxygen and threw him down to the ground about two city blocks from Luigi's Pizza Parlor. He turned to look behind him for any signs that Adam was following – but the streets were instead filled with curious onlookers, staring suspiciously at him. But Kenny didn't steal anything this time. He just wanted to know if his new friend was okay. Guilt made its presence known in his conscience. Kenny had just run off, terrified from his life, leaving Adam to fend for himself against crazy cyborgs. How could he have done such a thing?

"Get a grip," he ordered himself. "Adam told me to leave. I was only listening to him." But then … why wasn't he feeling any better? Kenny didn't get the opportunity to ponder over his situation any longer as seemingly out of nowhere, strange figures materialized out of thin air. There was a whole group of these humanoid robots, probably a dozen or so. And they were the strangest thing he'd ever seen. They had the proportions of a human, but moved very mechanically. Their bodies were nothing more than what looked like a metal body suit. Their heads consisted of brass plating that looked like someone what carved eyes and mouth holes out of a clock face. They were ridiculous in appearance but could these things ever move! They jumped at the citizens of Angel Grove and began terrorizing everyone in sight. Purses were snatched, though nothing was taken from them. Men and women alike suffered the wrath of these robots, being pounded to near unconsciousness with metallic fists.

The sounds of bones breaking mixed with the terrorized screams and utter chaos ensued in a mere matter of seconds. Shop windows were broken and their goods damaged. Kenny was so shocked that he stood rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend what had just unfolded in the last few moments. Did these things have anything to do with the attack on the pizza parlor? What did they want with Angel Grove? Did Rita and Zedd order this? He knew there was something off about those two. Was Adam alright?

And that was when the blood began spilling, snapping Kenny from his thoughts. They ran in little streams down the pavement and into the sewer drains. Broken bodies of Angel Grove citizens were scattered on the street, some dead, some unconscious, or in the process of bleeding to death. The high pitched shriek of highly concentrated laser beams filled their air. Kenny whipped around and caught sight of the robots wielding guns. They were about the size of regular handguns, only their shape was very fishlike and gold in appearance. A bright red beam skimmed by his head, forcing Kenny to duck for protection, covering his own head.

His unintended outcry caught the attention of a nearby robot as it turned its clock-like head to face him. Kenny looked at the thing and back off, trying to find a means of escape. But the creatures were everywhere, each one having already turned to his direction and began to circle him, like a pack of lions cornering an antelope. What made him so special? Why did it take the entire troop to take him down when they had each slaughtered their own share of civilians without helping each other? Something didn't seem right.

That was the last comprehensible thought that crossed Kenny's mind before his entire body froze, and the world turned black.

XXXXX

Adam knew that activating his Zeo morpher would turn him into his alter ego – the Green Zeo Ranger. And he knew that doing so would make his presence known, enveloping him in a not so conspicuous aura of radiant green light. His cover would be blown. He wished for the millionth time that Billy, the team's technical support would develop the technology for a more silent, less flashy method of transformation. But for now, the traditional method of morphing had to do. Besides, Adam figured he'd be more equipped to handle Gasket and Archerina as the green ranger, not little pinner-boy Adam Park.

"Zeo Ranger Four," he cried out proudly, "Green!" Jamming his fists together, he produced the same blinding green light that always shone when he morphed, as it quickly enveloped his whole body. The force of the transformation lifted him gracefully to his feet, blowing apart the dining table he hid under into a cloud of smoke, effectively catching Gasket and Archerina's attentions.

"It seems somebody's looking for a fight," Gasket said, sizing up the Green Zeo Ranger with an unimpressed look on his face – well, the best look an android was capable of producing.

Archerina wasn't as slow to respond. A laser arrow magically appeared in her metallic hand, while her crossbow simultaneously materialized in her other. She expertly drew the string and placed the blunt end of the arrow against it and released, all in a matter of a split second. But instead of firing just a singular beam upon launch, the arrow split into three parts, each one hitting the Green Zeo Ranger with a force so magnificent, he was lifted of his feet and thrown into the burnt cement wall, effectively crashing through, revealing the thick wire frame of the wall underneath. Some of the wires snapped, ripping through the Green Zeo Ranger's costume as he sailed through the wall, tearing through the spandex material and into his skin.

"Good shooting," Gasket commented, nodding with an impressed frown.

Realizing that he couldn't handle the two of them by himself, even as the Green Zeo Ranger, Adam called into his communicator, a mini microphone built into a watch strap that he wore around his left wrist.

"Guys! I need your help. I'm at Luigi's Pizza. Get over here now!"

XXXXX

"Come on, Jase," a tall, lanky teen called, "show me what you've got." The teen was dressed in a red wife beater, revealing well developed shoulders and lean arms. A large blue pad was strapped to his palm, holding it about two feet from his face. He cocked his head back for a second, flinging the long brown strands of hair away from his eyes. He stood with his legs wide apart, bent slightly at the knees for balance.

"Hah!" Jason cried out in mock laughter. "How do you expect to fight properly with that long girly hair in your face, Tommy? I'd be afraid to hit such a pretty sight."

Tommy shot Jason a frown. "Enough with the hair jokes, man," he said, half seriously. "We're not fighting – just sparring."

Jason shook his head at his friend. Tommy served as the leader of the Power Rangers – and it was understandably obvious. He had the charisma, the drive, and the skills to back up the daunting role. Tommy never backed down in the face of danger. And with the rest of the Power Ranger team to back him up, he didn't necessarily have to, leading to almost certain victory of whatever monsters the Machine Empire decided to send their way.

But Jason wasn't sure Tommy knew that it was because of the team effort that they were always so successful in their missions. The two of them were best friends, almost like rivals having similar personality traits except one – cockiness – that Tommy seemed to have a slight aura of. Jason would jab jokes his way once in awhile to coax him to step down from his pedestal but Tommy more often than not, never got the hint. And this was just another one of those times.

And it wasn't like anyone else on the team seemed to see things from Jason's point of view. Katherine Hillard, the pretty Australian immigrant girl who now served on the team as the Pink Zeo Ranger would always scream for Tommy whenever she was in danger on the battlefield. It was never "Jason!" or "Adam!" or "Rocky!" – the other male members of the group. It was always the same God-awful high pitched pathetic cry, "Tommy!"

It wasn't that Jason disliked Katherine at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She was a sweet girl, but a powerful one at that, her true abilities as a person and a Power Ranger obscured by a thick mask of modesty. And her foreign Australian accent made her even more attractive to the boys. The long flowing blonde hair helped too. But his only beef with her was that she didn't do much to curb Tommy's ego.

Jason launched a powerful turning kick into the pad, knocking Tommy's hand sideways, catching the young man by surprise.

"Woah, watch out, buddy!" Tommy gasped out. "What are you, trying to rip my arm off or something?"

Jason just grinned. "Didn't mean to break your nail."

"Guys, I need your help! I'm at Luigi's Pizza! Get over here, now!" Adam's voice, laced with a little of static and explosions in the background sounded through both of their communicators. Jason and Tommy reflexively hid their left wrists behind their backs. They exchanged worried glances.

"What the hell is going on this time?" Jason asked quietly. "Adam knows better than to engage the Machine Empire's troops by himself."

"We're not doing anything just standing here," Tommy replied. "Let's go."

XXXXX

"Do you know that when you glance my way, I feel something inside, I cannot stay …" A beautifully clear, crystal voice sang softly, yet powerfully. "That sounds corny," the same voice followed. Tanya Sloan seized a poor quality pencil off its place on the desk, turned it upside down, and erased away the lyrics violently. As she rubbed, her elbows collided violently on the acoustic guitar that lay in her lap, producing a hollow thumping sound, but she didn't care. It was a high quality Yamaha guitar, made to withstand anything.

At last, the dreadful lyrics had been erased and she now sat facing a blank, though slightly smudged sheet of paper. Tanya forced new lyrics out of her mind, unconsciously taking a curly lock of jet black hair from her head, twisting it around her finger. It was a habit of hers, performed during times of utter artistic or academic confusion. She brought the eraser of her pencil to her mouth and began to chew – another bad habit. But this one was inherited from Adam, only she didn't seem to mind the bitter taste of the powder coating the eraser.

"That's right," she told herself, "think of Adam. The right words will come." So she thought of Adam, her unofficial boyfriend, and immediately felt warmth radiate through her chest. It was a good sensation, and she could just feel her eyes glazing over, knowing that he felt the same way about her. But still, no words came.

"Ah, screw it," she said, ripped the pencil from her mouth, throwing it back down onto the table. "I'll finish up the song later."

She stood up from the wooden stool she had been hunched on until then and walked slowly over to the mirror. Tanya grabbed the dark red lipstick on her dresser and twisted the bottom so that just the tip of the pigmented stick protruded from the base, and applied the color sparingly onto her full lips – an attractive African trait.

Alongside music, Tanya was also passionate about her heritage. She wasn't an African American, but an actual African, born and bred in the actual continent – until a few months ago when she accepted the role as the Yellow Zeo Ranger. It had been a quick decision, and it seemed right at the time. The local animal herds that lived around her village were mysteriously dying off – whether from disease or starvation, she didn't know. For the past few months prior to her life altering decision to become a Power Ranger, Tanya remembered having nothing but beats and potatoes cooked together to form an unholy sludge that was supposedly nutritious. It tasted like barf, and that was all she cared about. What she really looked forward to at least once a week was the slabs of antelope that her father and the other village boys would bring home after the monthly hunt. The animals were usually big enough to last them a few weeks before the men would go out and hunt again.

But when the animals started dying off, she would face the horrible nutritious sludge day after day until she could no longer take it. And that was when the mysterious girl showed up in her village, claiming to be in search of a fragment of the mysterious "Zeo Crystal." At the time, Tanya had no idea what she was referring to, but knew it now as the crystal that gave her the power to transform into a Power Ranger. The mysterious stranger that showed up turned out to be Aisha Campbell, her predecessor to the Yellow Ranger powers. She was well educated in medicinal biology and offered to stay in Tanya's village to help find a cure for the animals – a noble decision in need.

In returning the favor for Aisha's overwhelming kindness, Tanya decided to take her place on the team as the Yellow Ranger, thus inheriting her powers. How Aisha was doing back home in Tanya's village, she had no idea. But she remained faithful to her abilities.

"Go, go, Power Rangers," the little electronic communicator beeped.

"Shit!" Tanya cursed, throwing her pencil back down on the table, launching herself off her seat and into the messiness that was her basement studio. The thing beeped again. "Damn, where is it?!" she cried to herself. She tore into her backpack, lying at the foot of the ceiling-high bookshelf searching every pocket like a hungry wolf for a hiding rabbit, and pulled out the communicator from a side pocket.

"Tanya, here," she gasped in relief. There were no words on the other end, just some static, screams, and one giant explosion.