Author's notes -- Thanks for your review Koulagirl -- I'm glad you're enjoying the show :). I realised that I couldn't really ever fix Rita being a somewhat one-dimensional villain. What I could do, is make her competent and kind of scary, a real powerhouse. Anyway, here's chapter two :).

Chapter Two

"Teresa?" I called, lightly tapping on the door. "You dad said you were in. Can I...?"

"Yeah, of course, come in," came the reply, and opening the door, I stepped into the room Teresa shared with her older sister. Across from me, Teresa was sitting in the bay window overlooking the Tiaron's backyard, a pencil in her hand and a notepad resting on her knees.

Shutting the door behind me, I crossed towards her, sitting on the windowsill and glancing down to the notepad. "Wow," I said, seeing a sketch of a cheerful clown. "That's really good."

Teresa smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I couldn't sleep. I figured I might as well do something."

I nodded, and looked out the window. "Me neither. I guess if Ultramarine's trying to throw us off our game, it's working."

"Can I ask, are you okay?" Teresa said. "It's just, the last week you've been really distant. We were worried."

"Still down about Aaron, I guess," I said, turning back to her. "But Jason spoke to me a couple of times, so I'm cool. I promise. Until last night, obviously."

"I'm glad," she replied. "That's good to hear."

"What about you?" I asked, tapping the sketch of the clown. "You only draw this well if something's really bothering you. I know you too well, Teresa Tiaron."

Teresa smiled. "I'm fine, really," she nodded. "I guess I'm just worried about Ultramarine." But she paused, glancing down to the drawing in the notepad. "Can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"About Brendan," she said. "Do you ever think that he should maybe take this a bit more seriously?"

"What do you mean?"

Teresa sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's on the team," she said quickly, "and I'm glad he's our friend, but it seems like it's all just fun to him. Like he's more worried about his next one-liner than the badguys. Don't you think he should be a little more focussed sometimes?"

I shrugged. "It's never really bothered me," I replied. "I mean, I couldn't get through class without him. And I don't know, I think it's cool that he can keep everybody smiling even when the sky is falling. He just doesn't get caught up in it like the rest of us, you know?"

"I guess so," Teresa nodded.

"I don't think we could change him anyway," I said.

Teresa smiled. "Yeah, you're right there," she said. "Thanks," and dropping the drawing back onto the desk beside us, she stepped out of the window. "Let's go find the others."

"C'mon, gimme a break here," Zac laughed, hunched forward on the couch and giving the game console a pounding comparable to what his character was enduring. "I've got the giant robot for back-up, you'd think I'd be doing better than this..."

Beside him, Brendan grinned. "You're not doing too badly," he replied. "Except for the whole, you know, not-winning part."

"Beginner's luck," said Zac. "Has to be."

"Hey guys," came a voice, and Jason stuck his head around the corner of Zac's room. The Silver and Black Rangers nodded a greeting, and stepping into the room, Jason turned to the television screen facing them. "Zac, seriously, you've never won with this character."

Zac shook his head. "Bound to eventually, right?" he asked, then risked a glance up to Jason. "We're just trying to enjoy ourselves, you know. Calm before the storm kinda deal."

Jason nodded, sitting down on the floor beside the couch.. "That's cool," he said. "I think we need it. I fight the winner." But before Jason had even finished the sentence, Zac's fighter died spectacularly, and Zac sighed and passed the controller across to Jason.

"Step right up," smiled Brendan. "I'll take you on."

Jason laughed and looked over to the Silver Ranger. "It's good to hear your voice again," he said. "You hardly said a word yesterday."

Brendan nodded. "I just figured sometimes we don't need the stupid jokes."

"I don't know," Jason replied. "With Ultramarine and Rita planning who knows what up on the moon right now, I think we need them now more than ever." He looked back to the screen as the game returned Jason and Brendan's characters into the fighting arena, a shadowy forested glen. "Hey Zac," Jason continued, "do you think I'm a bad teacher?"

Zac glanced to Jason. "What makes you say that?"

"Just something somebody said to me yesterday," Jason replied. "You remember how I was back with Billy, right? I think I'm doing that all over again."

"You can be a little... driven sometimes, I guess," Zac said. "But that's not totally a bad thing, that's just you."

Jason nodded but didn't reply, thinking over what Zac had said while still concentrating on the game with Brendan, which to Jason's credit lasted at least fifteen seconds longer than Zac's game.

Jason looked across to Brendan as he grinned triumphantly. "Okay, I don't impress that easily," the Red Ranger said. "But seriously - damn."

The palace doors swung open and Ultramarine stepped into the room, immediately crossing towards where Rita stood with a troop of putties behind her.

"You're ready?" he asked. Rita nodded, and the warrior continued. "Hmm. When you said I'd have an army behind me, I assumed you meant more than fifteen."

"Armies take time to produce, and we have been busy this week," she replied sharply. "Besides, you should be more than a match for anything on that island. Consider them, insurance."

Ultramarine nodded. "There's no kill like overkill," he said. "It had just better be where you said it would be."

"He will not have parted with it," Rita replied. "It means far too much to him, I can guarantee it you of that."

"Excellent," the warrior replied. "We can move out."

"Yes," Rita replied. "The only thing we're still lacking," and smiling evilly, she turned to look at Finster on the far side of the room, "is a diversion."

Billy stepped into the Youth Centre, and glancing around the interior of the building, soon spotted Kimberly and Trini at a table up near the Juice Bar, noting a mountain of textbooks and notepads between them as he jogged over to join them.

"Good morning," he called, and the two Rangers looked up from their books and smiled as he approached.

"Hey Billy," said Kimberly. "Come, sit down, join the study club."

Billy pulled a chair out beside Trini, running his eyes over the school-books spread out around him as he sat down. "English, modern history, geography... I'm impressed."

"Actually, at the moment," Kim began, holding up a fourth book, "science. It feels like I've got three hundred assignments to write, and since I lost yesterday and I'm going to lose this afternoon, I was up all night trying to get through it all." She paused, and smiled. "Really worked, too."

Trini leaned forward. "If trying to balance everything is going to start costing you sleep, you really should take to Veronica," she said. "Get her to give everybody a lighter practice schedule. The other girls are probably in the same boat."

Billy nodded. "Trini's correct. You said it yourself Kimberly, your other priorities are just as worthy of your time," he said. "Certainly Veronica seems highly- strung and possibly faintly deranged," and Kimberly smiled, "but you shouldn't let her dictate your schedule."

Kimberly sat back, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I appreciate your help but I don't have a choice on this one," she said. "I never applied for head cheerleader because I, well, I knew I wouldn't have been too reliable," and she tapped her communicator for emphasis. "Which means that Veronica is in charge and can call the rules whether I like it or not."

Trini nodded, about to reply when an approaching figure suddenly caught her attention. "Speaking of which..."

"Hey Kimmy!" called Veronica, her bright grin fixed in place and hair tied in a ponytail as she approached the table. "Working hard?" Kim nodded, and Veronica smiled. "Well, just remember, we want you fresh and alert at practice this afternoon, so don't study too hard. See you then!" And without another word, the cheerleader turned and bounced away.

The three Rangers turned to each other. "Well," said Trini simply.

"Decaf," nodded Billy.

Kimberly smiled. "I don't know who's worse, her or Ultramarine."

Trini laughed. "I think that might be a little unfair."

Kim nodded, watching as Veronica left the building and running her eyes from the cheerleader's pink top to her lime-green skirt. "That's true," she said. "Ultramarine can at least coordinate."

Without warning, the Rangers' communicators suddenly chimed, and they glanced around to each other.

"Great," said Kim. "The one sound I was hoping we wouldn't hear today."

"You're right there," said Trini. "C'mon," and the three Rangers quickly stashed all the books into Kimberly and Trini's backpacks, before leaving the table and jogging down towards the locker-room, Billy shutting the door behind them.

"Zordon," said Trini, raising her communicator. "Go ahead."

"Trini, are Billy and Kimberly there as well?" Zordon asked.

"Yeah," said Kimberly. "We're both here."

"Good," came the reply. "I've contacted everybody. Ultramarine's made his first move. Can you please come to the Command Centre as soon as possible?"

"Affirmative, we're on our way," Billy replied, and the three Rangers tapped the top buttons on their communicators and vanished from the scene.

All eleven of us materialised in the Command Centre before Zordon's energy tube seconds later. We all glanced around to check everyone had arrived, before looking up to the interdimensional sage.

"Zordon, what is it?" asked Scott. "Where's Ultramarine? In the city?"

Zac nodded. "We're ready for him."

"That's the thing," Zordon replied. "Ultramarine isn't in the city. He's not even in Australia, and barely even in the Southern Hemisphere." We all looked around in confusion, and Zordon continued. "Rangers, if you could turn to the world map," he said, and paused as we turned to the map of the world on the wall beside us, only to see a light flashing somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "A few minutes ago our sensors picked up Ultramarine's signal on one of the Phoenix Islands, a group of small volcanic islands roughly halfway between Fiji and Hawaii, and just south of the Equator."

There was a second of silence. "Well," said Sarah. "That was unexpected."

"What on Earth does he want out there?" I asked.

Brendan glanced around the room but couldn't resist. "A good tan?"

Tommy shook his head. "He threatens us yesterday and then attacks an island thousands of kilometres away," he said. "What gives?"

"The interesting thing is," continued Zordon, "that's as much information as we have. Something on that island is blocking our scanners, and we haven't been able to investigate any further. Which makes me very curious as to what exactly is located there."

"Well no matter what, we have to go after him," said Kimberly. "Make sure he doesn't hurt anybody else."

"Ayeyiyi!" cried Alpha suddenly. "Rangers, we've just detected a monster in the city!"

Everyone spun to face the viewing screen as the device automatically flashed to life, showing a screaming crowd of people racing down the main street of the city. As they fled, the monster behind them steadily came into view - instantly recognisable as Rita's twisted version of a rhinoceros, the beast stood six feet tall and was covered in a thick grey pelt, with two glowing yellow eyes, a pair of flat ears sticking out from the side of the creature's head and a single sharp ivory horn.

"The Rhinoblaster," Zordon nodded. "A vicious and powerful creature, but not one noted for it's intelligence."

"Obviously a diversion," nodded Billy.

Jason quickly glanced around the group. They'd need as many Rangers as possible to take on Ultramarine, but given the strength of the monster, that didn't leave them with many options. Okay... "Tommy and Zac," he said, "stay in the city, take care of the monster and join us when you can. Everybody else, how about a trip to the tropics?"

Zordon nodded. "Excellent," he boomed. "The best of luck Rangers, and be careful."

"Okay," Jason nodded, "let's do it guys," and we all reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Dilophosaurus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Dragon Zord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

The city emptied around him as Rhinoblaster left a trail of destruction down the main street, people fleeing the city in droves or racing to the emergency monster shelters following practiced evacuation procedures. Reaching the abandoned city plaza, the monster lowered his head and charged, shaking the ground with every step, smashing into an empty car and launching the vehicle through a nearby building. Watching with a satisfied smile as the car rolled to a stop, the beast turned to continue his rampage, when suddenly there were two flashes of light a few metres away, and he found himself facing the Black and Green Rangers.

"Endangered species, no?" asked Tommy.

Rhinoblaster growled and stepped towards them. "Not this rhino."

Zac nodded. "Then check back in about ten minutes."

The monster roared and thundered towards them, but Tommy immediately took to the air, sending the beast stumbling with a kick to the monster's jaw. The monster staggered back but found his footing quickly as Zac charged forward to attack, Rhinoblaster blocking a roundhouse punch from the Ranger before retaliating - Zac struck away a low swipe, blocked a blow with his elbow and caught the monster's right fist before landing a powerful blow to the beast's chest and forcing him back. Even as the beast recovered, Tommy raced forward, and blocking a high punch, the Green Ranger landed a kick to the beast's ribs, before spinning around a chest-high swipe and sending the monster crashing with a high spin kick.

The two Rangers regrouped as the beast staggered to his feet.

"Get the point yet?" asked Zac, then blushed beneath his helmet. "Oh man, that was bad..."

Tommy smiled. "Make up for it in round two," he said.

Across from them, Rhinoblaster roared. "I'm not beaten yet!" he cried, and raised his enormous fist - a silver curved blade formed in a flash of light, and the monster charged back towards them.

"Works for me," nodded Zac. "Power Axe!"

"Dragon Dagger!"

The beast slashed with his sword as he approached, but Zac somersaulted to safety while Tommy raised his dagger to block the sword's arc in a shower of sparks. Striking the weapon away, Tommy landed a blow to the beast's chest, before slashing the dagger back towards the beast's head - blocking Tommy's wrist, Rhinoblaster carved his sword back towards the Green Ranger, forcing Tommy back. But turning to follow after the Green Ranger, the beast came under attack as Zac leaped forward to confront him, carving his axe through the air as he fell. Rhinoblaster blocked the swing, batted away a second blow and ducked back around a third as Zac followed after the monster, swinging for the beast with every step. The monster sliced his sword for the Black Ranger's chest, but Zac blocked the blade with the axe's barrel, before landing a blow to the monster's torso and sending him crashing with a high kick.

Rhinoblaster rolled to a stop, dazed, and with the upper hand, the two Rangers charged forward to continue the battle.

The endless deep blue of the Pacific Ocean flashed by far below, broken only by tropical islands, coral atolls and the international date line somewhere beneath us. In the distance, a single small island suddenly appeared on the horizon but was rapidly approaching, and before we knew it, we'd teleported down out of the sky and materialised on the beach.

I quickly looked around - the nine of us had landed on a beach of white sand, with crystal blue water gently lapping onto the shore behind us. A single volcanic peak sat in the centre of the island, tropical jungle on all sides leading down to the coast. Ahead of us, a wide stone path bordered by palm fronds and hibiscus plants led away from the beach, while further inland, a massive stone complex seemed to jut straight out of the side of the volcano, rising above the jungle and overlooking the coastline.

The only things that didn't fit were the still-sparking remains of what looked to have been an army of robotic droids littering the ground on all sides, and the sounds of frenzied combat that echoed down to the beach, shouts, crashes and twisting metal, punctuated every few seconds by the roar of a cannon blast.

"Good heavens," said Trini. "We're in the middle of a war."

"It sounds like it," nodded Teresa. "But somebody definitely lives here, that's for sure."

"These guys must be the local security force," said Scott. "I guess if we follow the spare parts, we'll find Ultramarine."

Billy nodded. "They're more than likely to see us as intruders as well."

"We'll just have to fight our way in," Jason replied. "Doesn't matter - no matter what we find here, we get to Ultramarine."

"Guys," I began, glancing from Teresa and Scott on my left to Brendan and Sarah on my right, "check it out," and unholstering my blaster, I quickly transformed the weapon into blade mode.

"Cool," said Brendan, as they all reached for their blasters.

Jason nodded, and the four Senior Rangers transformed their blasters as well. "Okay guys, let's move!"

With that, we all charged forward, quickly following the stone path inland but at all times keeping watch for any signs of danger. The concentration of wreckage seemed to increase the closer we reached to the huge stone building, and turning a corner, we ran past several putties lying unconscious amidst the broken droids.

"At least we're on the right island," nodded Sarah.

Up ahead, nine robotic droids suddenly emerged from the jungle, each targetting one of us and quickly closing in. Six feet tall, the droids had thin mechanical bodies and blinking beacons for heads, each one armed with a large chest cannon as well as blasters fitted to both arms.

"Heads up guys!" cried Kimberly, and half a second later, the droids took aim and fired.

I leaped sideways into the air as the blasts whistled towards me, spinning towards the droid facing me, finding my footing and carving my blade through the robot's chest shell, a second slash sending it to the ground. Beside me, Kimberly somersaulted over incoming fire, rolling to her feet and destroying the droid with a high jump kick, while a few metres away, Scott spun around the blasts and kicked a fallen tree trunk towards his opponent, reaching the robot while it stepped around the log and taking its head with a slash from his blade. Behind him, Teresa had dived under the incoming fire and destroyed her opponent with a low foot sweep, while Trini threw her blade at the sole droid remaining - the blade buried itself in the robot's chest shell, and the droid toppled backwards in sparking ruin.

"Everyone okay?" Jason asked, and we all nodded. "C'mon."

Hearts racing, we continued, past a field of sparking robot pieces and through what was once a thick stone gate, now little more than rubble. Ahead, the pathway led right into the stone building, and without slowing down, we charged up the steps, past two huge battered doors and into a small atrium, all nine of us coming to a grinding halt as we crossed the small hall and finally reached the interior of the building.

"Wow," was all I could say.

We were standing on the far side of a great hall, with an arched ceiling at least forty feet above our heads. Tapestries and paintings lined the curved outer wall, while statues and various artifacts stood on display stands throughout the room, a huge wooden chest a few feet to our left filled to overflowing with gold and precious stones. But everywhere we looked, putties and droids were fighting in the aisles between the treasures, the droids blasting with their weapons while the grey warriors were battling hand-to-robotic-hand. The noise of the battle was deafening, the sound almost overwhelming.

And it only took a second to find our quarry - in the middle of the room under a shattered marble statue, Ultramarine was slicing through dozens of the droids with every step, constantly moving forward and leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

We all stepped into the ruined hall, but glancing away from Ultramarine, Trini suddenly noticed an old man lying on the ground at the side of the room, with a long white beard and dressed entirely in black robes. He was half-buried by rubble and debris, and appeared barely-conscious and probably badly injured. "Jason!"

Jason looked in the direction Trini was indicating, and immediately turned to the three closest Rangers. "Trini, Billy, Kimberly, help him!" he said, and as they turned and dashed away, Jason looked back to the rest of us. "Juniors, let's go!"

With the line of Rangers on either side, Jason grit his teeth, quickly gauged the clearest path across the hall and charged forward a second later, leaping over a pile of burning wreckage, striking away a putty and deflecting a stray blaster shot with his blade as he ran. A droid spun towards him as a second putty leaped in from the side - he destroyed the robot with his blade before it could fire, before launching the putty into the air with a left backhand and continuing forward. Behind him, Sarah dived over a barrage of droid fire, rolling to her feet and destroying the robots with her blade, smashing her forearm back into a putty before kicking forward and launching several droids into the air.

Beside the Purple Ranger, Scott struck a putty aside and turned to sweep a droid off its feet, grabbing the robot as it fell and throwing it at a line of approaching droids, turning back in time to duck under a swipe from a putty and flatten the grey warrior with a high kick. A few feet away, Teresa was striking away opponents left and right, moving forward with every step and leaving a trail of defeated putties and shattered droids behind her. Beside her, Brendan was fighting desperately to stay ahead of the tide of opponents, ribbons of light whirling around him. Out of the corner of his visor, he saw a droid take aim for Teresa - he spun around and sent a beam of light spiralling towards the robot, instantly destroying it.

Teresa glanced back to the Silver Ranger. "Thanks," she called.

Brendan nodded. "Any time."

Across the room, Kimberly had reholstered her blaster and summoned her Power Bow, and picking off opponents one-by-one from afar, she steadily cleared a safe path through the battlefield for Billy, Trini and herself. As they moved forward, two putties leaped into their path but fell a second later, while an entire crowd of clashing putties and droids crashed to the ground under a volley of precisely-aimed arrows. They finally reached the fallen man, and the Pink Ranger turned back to the battle to keep watch as the Blue and Yellow Rangers knelt down beside him.

"Sir...?" Billy began, his voice barely audible over the sounds of the battle.

The man's eyes flickered open, and his gaze travelled from Billy to Trini. "Rangers..."

Billy nodded. "We're here to assist," he said, brushing away the rubble that had fallen across the man's stomach. But when he glanced down to see the extent of the man's injuries, he suddenly wished he hadn't. "I'm not sure we can... these injuries are too severe..."

The man nodded slowly, his gaze unfocussed. "Ultramarine..." he whispered.

Trini leaned forward. "Yes," she said. "What did he come here for?"

A trembling finger rose, the man pointing towards the far corner of the great hall. "Pris... m..." he mumbled, struggling with every word. "Rain... bow... pris..."

The two Rangers looked up and back to the battle. On the far side of the room, in the direction the man had pointed they could make out a raised stone platform, with a stone pegasus at each corner and a marble table in the centre. On the table was a small glass cube, delicately balancing on one of its apexes and bathed in a ring of golden light. The cube itself seemed to contain a ball of light, so bright they could only look at it a few seconds before turning away.

"The prism," nodded Billy, looking back to the old man. "He wishes to acquire the rainbow prism there?"

The man nodded weakly, and Trini raised her communicator. "Trini to all points," she said quickly. "There's a glass cube on a stone platform at the back of the room. The prism - that's what Ultramarine's after!"

Across the room, the six of us quickly looked up and around, catching sight of the stone platform at the back of the room and what had to have been the prism Trini was talking about. Halfway across the hall, I glanced from the prism to the hall's nearby centrepiece, and what was left of the marble statue standing there - dozens of putties and droids were still between me and the prism, and so turning to the statue, I leaped into the air, clearing the putties and droids around me and managing to land on the very top of the ruined statue.

Turning and changing my aim, I took to the air, somersaulting right over the battle and landing only a few metres out from the platform. Finding my footing, I spun around only to face a wall of droids - without warning, there was a flash of silver, and as the droids fell to the ground in sparking ruin, Ultramarine stepped through the cloud of smoke to face me.

The warrior stopped, smiling beneath his face-mask. "Tracking me here and figuring out what I came for," he said. "You know, I'm almost impressed."

I raised my blade. "You want the Rainbow Prism?" I said. "You'll have to go through me."

The warrior nodded. "Best news I've heard all day," he replied, and stepping forward, he slashed his right blade straight towards me. I blocked the blade with my dagger and struck aside a blow from his left, spinning around and aiming a high kick for his face mask. The warrior spun under the move, quickly carving his blades back towards me, but I ducked around the blow and leaped forward with a right hook - he blocked my fist and struck it away, batting away my left when I swung again. Finding my footing, determined not to fall, I slashed forward with my blade, but catching my wrist, he casually threw me aside, and I crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap several metres away.

But by now, the other four Junior Rangers had all reached the stone platform, and as Ultramarine turned back to the prism they all leaped towards him. Reaching the warrior first, Scott slashed high with his blade while Teresa aimed low, but the warrior blocked both attacks with his blades, batting the weapons away and slashing forward. Scott dodged around a wide slice but the warrior retracted his right blade and slammed the Blue Ranger back with a blow to the chest, before blocking an attack from Teresa, firing with his shoulder cannon and sending the White Ranger to the ground.

Even as the two Rangers rolled to a stop, Brendan and Sarah charged forward to attack. Retracting his remaining blade, Ultramarine blocked a punch from Sarah and struck her aside, turning back to Brendan and quickly ducking under a high kick before aiming a punch for Brendan's helmet. Brendan dodged the warrior's fist and retaliated with a chest-high punch, but Ultramarine struck away the blow and sent Brendan crashing with a kick to the stomach. Now recovered, Sarah leaped in from the side, striking out, but the warrior dodged her first punch before catching her second, throwing her into Brendan and effectively downing both opponents.

"Well," said Ultramarine cheerfully, "that was fun," and with nobody between him and the prism, he stepped up onto the stone platform.

"Ultramarine!"

The word echoed out even above the sounds of battle, and the warrior turned back to see the Red Ranger striding past the other Rangers towards him.

For a tiny second the warrior's composure wavered, but quickly glancing around, he smiled as he saw a piece of marble from the destroyed centrepiece on the ground beside him - in one smooth motion, Ultramarine reached down, scooped up the piece of rubble and launched it through the air towards where I was still climbing to my feet.

Jason turned without hesitating and raced over towards me. Even as the piece of rubble fell, Jason swung his fist for it, intercepting the block's path through the air and shattering it into thousands of tiny fragments only a foot above my head.

But the split-second diversion was all Ultramarine needed, and he turned back and reached out for the prism. Looking back to him, we could only watch as Ultramarine's fingers closed around the delicate glass cube, and a surge of power crackled up the warrior's arm as he pulled the prism free.

Ultramarine grinned triumphantly as he looked back down to the team. "Nice try," he said, and before we could react, he vanished from the hall in a flash of blue light, taking the prism with him. On all sides the sounds of battle abruptly ended as the putties accompanying Ultramarine teleported away with him, leaving the nine of us alone and empty-handed in the hall alongside the remains of the army of shattered robotic droids.