Chapter 2:

Midnight Madness; A Ranger in the Rough

General Leo Auron paced his office at Camp Delta restlessly, feeling as if he was wasting energy by not doing anything productive at the present moment. It had been weeks since he had tasted battle, and despite his ability to control his natural desires, his lion instincts were beginning to get the best of him. He was fully aware that his legions of Balien troops had taken total control of Earth, but he clandestinely wished that something interesting would happen, whether it was a rebel attack or a group of humans trying to revolt at his base camp, Delta, or even at another camp. He just wanted to taste blood on his fangs again in the heat of battle…it had been far too long since he had faced an opponent of equal ferocity that measured up to his caliber. What he needed, despite the fact that they had defeated his forces the last time he invaded, was the challenge the Power Rangers created when they showed up to make their meager attempt at saving the humans in his various camps.

Auron was in charge of the five largest slave camps on Earth; Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Sigma, and Omega. Delta was the largest and most fortified as it also served as Auron's personal base camp as well as his command centre. Although not the first camp to be created, Delta had been the one built closest to the most captured survivors. No one, save one, had ever escaped from Delta…the rebels were typically too smart to even undertake a rescue attempt at Delta. More often than not, the rebels would be destroyed on the approach to the camp as his squad of Skyclaws would pick them off one at a time if they had made it past the outlying minefields and laser traps. Auron glanced down at the clock sitting on his desk; 11:50 p.m. He wasn't even close to the time he would typically lie down for his nightly rest. But what to do…

BEEP!

Auron's desk comm beeped to notify the gigantic lion general of an incoming transmission. Auron sighed deeply. It was probably just another notification that another slave had been sent to the stockade where there had been an 'accident' resulting in the slave's untimely death. He was fully aware that his troops slaughtered the slaves at their own leisure and he was sick of having to record them all. He made a mental note to alter protocol to allow troops to log accidental deaths in the stockade. To this day, even days after his escape, it perturbed Auron that a slave had consistently survived the punishment he received at the stockade as well as the removal of his meals. He knew that the soldiers had referred to him as 'Stock' but he could not recall the slave's actual name; he made a habit of not concerning himself with the names of those under his service as slaves. This, however, was clearly an exception to the normality that Auron had found on this planet. He would have to look up the slave's name later on.

BEEP!

"What is it!" growled Auron into the comm unit's microphone. The screen flickered to life, illuminating his darkened office with the image of Colonel Graymane, the Balien that was in control of Delta's daily activities and security of the camp itself. The wolf-like Balien was normally under control of his emotions, but something clearly had the Colonel spooked.

"Sorry to interrupt you General sir, but there has been a breach," Graymane said as he saluted his superior. The command centre was awash with a myriad of warning lights and video feeds from the security cameras. Balien ground troops were running across the screen behind Graymane, presumably en route to their assigned battle stations.

"So? Deal with this breach how you always deal with them. Send the Skyclaws out to tear whoever's out there apart. And in the highly unlikely event that they fail have the snipers take them out when they get in range. This, Colonel, is standard procedure and I am struggling to comprehend why you're bothering me with this news," Auron snarled, rather incensed that his train of thought as well as the solitude of his office had been disrupted for this.

"Yes sir, I know sir. But this isn't a breach of the outer perimeter General. Our inner courtyard, as well as the slave domicile area, has been breached by what we assume to be two rebels," Graymane reported, "But these are seemingly two extraordinary rebels sir, and I'm not referring to the fact that they're breached the inner wall."

"Time, especially mine, is rather precious at the moment Graymane. If you'd be so kind, and if you'd like to retain your head, explain why these two rebels are extraordinary and not already dead," Auron ordered through the comm unit. He could tell from the background of the command centre and the number of alerts being issued that this new situation needed to be handled efficiently and, more importantly, immediately.

"Yes General. For starters, as you've already pointed out they've made it past our exterior and perimeter defenses. As you likely know sir, no human has ever made it past the exterior and perimeter defenses of one of our camps or command centres for that matter. The only recorded case…" Graymane began to report.

"Colonel, when I care about the recorded cases of what species made it past our defenses and where, you'll be the first one to know; I assure you. Until that point, I want to know about the current situation and the current situation only. Are we clear?" Auron growled into the screen, flashing his fangs in warning.

Graymane took a deep breath, visibly shaken by the lion general's demeanor. "Crystal clear, sir. These rebels are wearing suits of, well we're not sure, and helmets that hide their identities. They have crests emblazoned on their chests and bear weapons that seemingly can't be destroyed. Moreover, they seem to have split up once they penetrated our defenses. According to our logs, there was a red figure and a blue figure that came through the breach. Upon entering, the blue figure moved towards the command centre, where I am ashamed to report, he is making short work of whatever soldiers or artillery we assault him with. The red figure, well General, we lost him. The last recording we have of him is disabling the fuse for the camera circuit to the slave domicile."

"Graymane, should you tell me that you haven't sent troops into the slave holding area you will soon find yourself relieved of your command as well as your pulse," Auron warned, clenching his fist beneath his desk.

"As I said, sir, our troops have been decimated by the blue figure that is holding his ground outside the main entrance to the command centre," Graymane related, clearly relieved that he had apparently taken the correct course of action.

"Do you have a still-frame of this blue figure Colonel?" Auron inquired, beginning to consider that history may be repeating itself.

"Yes General," Graymane commented, calling up the file that he assumed the General would be requesting next.

"Well done Colonel," Auron commended, "You have my leave to handle the situation. I will make my way over to the command centre after viewing the image to see if I can dispatch this blue rebel." With that, Auron flicked off the signal to the command centre, removing the image of Graymane from his viewing screen. With the flick of a switch he accessed the folder which contained all the files that had been sent to his comm unit within the last hour. Selecting the still-frame of this blue figure, he brought the image to the entirety of the screen.

"Just as I thought," Auron said with a smirk crossing his face, "Too bad this time we're ready"

As Auron arose from his command desk he glanced at the clock still ticking on the surface of his steel work space. Midnight; today was going to be a good day, for today he got his revenge on the accursed Rangers that sent him fleeing from Earth a millennium ago. He only hoped that the Ranger would know that he had the honour of being destroyed by the High Command General. Time, however, would most certainly tell.

Moments Ago

"So let me get this straight. You get to go save the slaves, be the hero, have all the babes want to bear your children, and I get to stand outside the command centre and fight every Balien in the place? Since when was I supposed to be the honorable one and die for the cause?" Chris grumbled as they scaled the fence that lead to the inner stronghold of Delta.

"Because I know where the slaves are held, how to disable the cameras, where the guards will be…" Stone explained as he landed inside Delta, his first time setting foot in the camp since he had been free. It felt strange to be voluntarily returning to the place where he had suffered so much and endured so many beatings and deprivations. Many were the times he had dreamed of storming into this area with whatever weapon he could get his hands on to take down as many Balien bastards as he could before he caught the laser bolt or blade the ended his life. Now, however, he knew that he had a greater purpose to being here than for vengeance. He was here to liberate slaves and give them the same taste of freedom he had. Chris was to be the one to do the fighting this time around.

"Alright Mr. Map-in-his-Head you can be the hero. I'll stick to being the one who single-handedly holds off every Balien in the place. No, don't thank me, it's all part of the job," Chris said with his usual sarcastic tone. The Ranger's luck, however, took a turn for the worse as soon as he had finished his sentence. It seems as if the two hadn't escaped the Balien interior security measures. The closed circuit cameras had detected their presence and the alarm had sounded, flashing lights and all.

"Well, you always said I would get you killed," Stone said with a smile as he smacked Chris on the back.

"And one day, you ass-hat, you will. But for the moment might I suggest that we use these new powers of ours?" Chris said, already making the necessary motions to morph. Stone simply nodded, bringing his bracelet arm in front of his chest. With a glance, the two initiated their powers.

"For freedom!" the Rangers cried, morphing for the first time. They extended their arms, spread their fingers and watched the electricity dance along their bodies; armoured suit pieces clasping to their bodies wherever the electricity touched. Lastly, they felt their heads being encased in a helmet, not only protecting them from harm, but protecting their true identities as well. Stone's suit had a Phoenix emblazoned on the chest of his red armour in white, as did his helmet. Contrastingly, Chris' blue armour had a Pegasus displayed on his chest in white as well, as he also did on his helmet.

As the morphing sequence ended the two felt the power once again flow through them, amplifying their senses and their strengths. They had become Power Rangers, defenders of good and destroyers of evil. They were ready for whatever the Baliens were going to throw at them. Or so they hoped.

"Ok so maybe finding the powers wasn't so cool, but using them most definitely kicks ass," Chris said, clenching and unclenching his fist before his face.

"Yeah well remember, you don't know the limits of the armour or the powers yet, so take it easy when you're teaching those Baliens the meaning of the word 'fight', ok?" Stone reminded Chris.

"Yeah just go and be the hero already before I change my mind," Chris joked, pushing Stone on his way. With that, Stone charged off towards the slave area of Delta, dispatching three Baliens on his way to the gate. Stone didn't even require the use of his Ashblade to fight the Baliens; the immense power from being a Ranger was enough. If only we all could be Rangers, Chris thought, maybe then we'd have a chance.

"Halt, human! You are within Balien space; as such you will immediately remove your armour, your helmet, and drop any weapons you are carrying," the Balien guard, an ape, bellowed. It was sincerely unfortunate that the guard could not see the smile on Chris' face through his helmet. Even more unfortunate was the fact that the ape had apparently called for reinforcements, as there was now a small contingent of Balien troops behind the ape who was likely a sergeant.

"Let me get right on that you Balien bastard," Chris replied, once again feeling the spike of power from being a Ranger, "And when you say disarm your weapons do you mean things like this? Skystaff!" Chris cried, calling the staff into his hands. "Just to be clear monkey boy, I'm not surrendering, nor do I have any plan to die or be captured, so why don't we do the civilized thing. You surrender this camp to me and we call it a day. You and your worthless overgrown animal cracker friends pack up, fly your asses back to whatever flea-ridden planet you hail from and I never see you again. Then again," Chris said as he began to twirl his staff effortlessly, "there's always the hard way."

"Human scum…you'll taste my blade before this day is done. By Auron I swear!" The ape sergeant snarled as he and he squad of troops, composed of a plethora of animal races, charged towards Chris. He set his feet and shifted his grip on his staff in preparation to strike down the squad as quickly as possible. The first trooper to reach Chris was a rabbit-like Balien who used its natural speed to try and hit Chris. The Ranger spun his staff before him, blocking every blow the Balien took. With a deft flick of his wrist, Chris had knocked the Balien to the ground and had dealt the finishing blow with one of the blades extending from the end of the Skystaff. What amazed Chris was that he had felt no exertion whatsoever from the fight, it was as if he hadn't moved at all. That euphoria, however, would not last. Sooner than Chris would have liked there were dozens of Baliens attacking him all at once. He soon began to falter; it was as if he couldn't move fast enough to keep ahead of all the enemies attacking him.

Listen to me Chris, Rion said telepathically, you need to focus. Free your mind of all other thoughts. See only yourself, your foes and your weapon and you will move faster and do things you never imagined possible.

Great, Chris thought, I'm surrounded by these guys and he wants me to relax… Reluctantly, Chris let his instincts and reflexes take over. He moved without thinking, rolling, flipping, vaulting, and fighting like he never had before. He felt himself running along walls and up fences, jumping off the shoulders of one Balien to strike down the next. In truth he had never felt so powerful, so alive. Everything happened faster than Chris could calculate. He had destroyed dozens of Baliens in what must have been hours; but in reality it had only been minutes. Little did Chris know that the Balien General was on his way to destroy Chris right now.

Stone had taken out the fuse for the camera circuit on his way to the slave housing domiciles; he figured that would give him a few extra minutes to free a few more slaves. Getting into the slave area was easy…the gate had been open. But opening the doors wasn't; the Baliens had changed the door codes since his time there, which could probably be attributed to the fact that he had escaped. This is what had caused him to lose massive amounts of time in his rescue attempt. He cut through the door locks with his Ashblade in the end, which he figured he should have thought of sooner, but he wasn't thinking clearly because of the blaring alarms.

I better revert back to my human form, Stone thought as he ran through the door leading into the first block of slave housings, they'll only recognize me as Stone, not the red Ranger.

"Power down!" Stone cried. Instantly, his helmet and armour were gone, leaving him in the clothes he had been wearing when he had left the rebel base. Each zone had three large slave houses, in which 50 slaves could reside, if you could indeed call it that. Stone figured with a bit of luck he could free the slaves in each of the three houses for a total of 150 humans having a fresh taste of freedom. His hopes, however, were soon crushed. The first two houses he entered were barren and empty…it was as if the slaves had left and in quite the hurry. The third house, however, contained a single boy whom Stone recognized from his previous internment at the camp.

"Johnny? By the power is that you?" Stone cried as he ran towards the boy. In the weeks since Stone had left the boy had thinned greatly, and his glasses were bent almost to the point of being unusable. Johnny's eyesight was, in a word, terrible. In addition to having glasses thicker than the bottom of an old coke bottle he was also astigmatic, meaning that even laser surgery, when it was available before the invasion, couldn't have cured the sixteen year old's eyesight. Johnny, however, never let a single word of complaint escape his lips; he didn't want pity or sympathy from anyone. He didn't want to be viewed as an invalid or a man with a weakness…it just so happened he was blinder than a bat without his glasses. At the sound of Stone's voice, however, Johnny began to rouse from what appeared to be a fitful slumber.

"That voice…I know it," Johnny mumbled through a yawn as he rolled toward the approaching Stone. Reaching under his glasses, Johnny rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up that much faster. His eyesight seemed to clear as he fixed his gaze upon Stone. "Stone! What are you doing here! Why would you come back here when you could live the rest of your life beyond these walls?" Johnny called as he rose to his feet.

"I can't let anymore people die here," Stone began to explain, "but now I see I may have been too late. Where the hell is everyone? They couldn't have killed two houses worth of slaves in the weeks that I've been gone…it's just not possible even for them!"

"I think you're right…I don't think all the slaves that are missing have been killed but…" Johnny explained, but it was lost on Stone. He hadn't noticed it when he first saw Johnny but now his mind was bursting with action. He saw himself zooming across the plains into the Cavern, where Johnny was standing in front of one of the statues, with Rion talking to him. This must mean…

"Stone? You get all that there chief?" Johnny asked, likely assuming that Stone had zoned out, as he did.

"Sorry, got lost in translation there. Say that again," Stone requested.

"Try and pay attention this time will ya? I've got a hot date in a few minutes. So, as I was saying, I don't think that the Baliens have been killing off the slaves. While on duty one day I saw a transport full of slaves being sent off somewhere. I crept closer to the fence and overheard some Balien guards talking. Something about 'new subjects for Omega'…whatever that means. So, I assume that all the vacancies are because of these transports sending slaves to be subjects over at the place they refer to as Omega," Johnny rationalized.

Subjects? Stone thought, what the hell is that supposed to mean? That, however, would have to be a question to be answered later. "Johnny you want to get out of here with me? I've got to go and try to free more of us but…" Stone said as he was about to tell Johnny where he would need to wait for him and Chris.

"Hate to burst your bubble old Stone," Johnny began cautiously, "but things have changed a lot since you left. There aren't gates between the housing areas anymore…they've been replaced with minefields. And judging by the number of alarms going off it's a small miracle that you haven't been caught yet. How many fighters did you bring with you anyways?"

"Just one," Stone said with a smile, "but that's a story for when we're beyond these walls. Now, I know there's no gate, but can you take me to the fence that used to lead to the next housing area?"

"Yeah but we've gotta hurry…I've got a really bad feeling about this"

Stone and Johnny rushed out of the building and back into the courtyard that would eventually lead them back to where Chris was holding off every Balien in Delta. Johnny gestured over to a pathway that ran directly east of their current position. The ground was shaking from the explosions that Chris was presumably creating from his battle with the guards. Some of the damage that Chris had done must have disabled the locks on the slave houses, as the human slaves were milling about in the courtyard directly outside of their domicile. Many of the slaves were looking about in absolute terror, as they had not heard any explosions since the day the Baliens had invaded. Soon, however, they all had noticed Stone standing on the other side of the fence. Some were shocked, others stupefied, but all were overjoyed that their idol, their hero, and their hope had returned. It would truly break Stone's heart to not be able to rescue these slaves who looked to him for their source of courage. He knew that if he let them begin to ask questions he would not have enough time to say what needed to be said and be on his way; in reality he still found it to be a miracle that Chris had not sent him a message that he needed to hurry up.

"My dear friends," Stone began, trying not to let the hurt he felt at having to leave them to remain here come through his voice. He knew he would have to be strong. "I have returned to you today with a singular purpose in mind. I wish for all of you, like me, to be free of this hellhole; to remember what it is truly like to live life!" The crowd of slaves whistled and cheered, as they believed that Stone was going to free them from their captivity and restore their freedom. Now, came the most difficult part.

Stone, Rion called through telepathy, you must hurry. I sense that Chris will soon be in imminent danger. I have already told him to be on his guard. You two need to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Sadly, my dream cannot become a reality this night," Stone said, trying to avoid the disappointed stares of the slaves. They had clearly not expected Stone to say that. "But, I swear to all of you, by the blood that has stained these grounds, that I will return again to free every last one of you, even if I must do so with my dying breath." Stone turned and told Johnny to follow him back out. He could not bring himself to turn to see the disappointment of the slaves as they trudged back into their domicile after they had been given a sweet taste of hope. But Stone's good luck, however, seemed to have run out. Colonel Graymane and three squads of his best troops were headed this way and would bypass the area that Chris was holding. He knew that he couldn't morph in front of Johnny yet, leaving only one option. Taking a few heartbeats to send a message to Chris, he gave Johnny the crucial instructions.

"Johnny, take hold of my hand. No matter what you feel, see or hear do not let go. This is a matter of life and death," Stone said, extending his hand to the frightened teenager. Johnny was doing his best to hide his fear, but seeing Graymane charging towards you with blade in hand didn't do much for one's courage. Had Johnny had his Ranger abilities at this point the night would have turned out quite differently, Stone mused. For now, he would have to settle for saving the next Ranger from the Balien slave camp. There would always be another time, another night, and another battle that they would have to fight. Picturing the Cavern in his mind, Stone and Johnny disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving the slaves dazed and Graymane and the Baliens enraged.

Chris, I've run into a complication here. I'm getting out with the newest Ranger; I'll explain later. You've done great, now get yourself out. See you back at the Cavern.

Why is it that I'm expected to be the hero and I get a little thing like that as my only thanks? Chris wondered as he finished off the last of the Balien guards with a swift swing of his Skystaff. His Ranger powers had served him well in the battle; he had done things he never even dreamed he could and the power suit armour protected him from any blows that he hadn't managed to block or deflect. In fact, he had barely even felt the blow itself; the only telling factor that he had been hit was the amazed look on the face of the Balien that had managed to strike him. Chris, however, would be the first one to admit that he could have used a hand in the fight. True, he had made rather short work of the guards that had attacked him, but there were times when he had honestly thought he would be overwhelmed just by sheer numbers. Hopefully, this new Ranger that Stone had mentioned would be a valuable addition to their duo. Chris began to clear his mind and form a clear picture of the Cavern when he was interrupted by a growling voice that was a tad too close for comfort.

"So it was a Ranger," the voice growled, clearly amused and surprised at the same time. Only now did Chris notice the stench of a Balien in his general vicinity. He assumed that the number of Balien corpses surrounding him had numbed him to the natural stench they had whilst they were still drawing breath. Chris wheeled around to face the Balien that had entered the area. It was a huge lion, likely a Balien of high rank, which was fast approaching the Ranger, claws extended.

"Ah, come to see what happened to your pals?" Chris said, bringing his staff up to a guard position. It was at this point that it suddenly hit Chris. "Wait, how do you know what I am?"

"Foolish human…do you really think that you are the first to harness the powers that you are using? Your cursed predecessors disposed of my invasion army millennia ago and now I see that you've taken the liberty of trying to stop my invasion the second time. I assure you, feeble human, that you and your band of merry Rangers will not succeed in stopping me this time. We are far better prepared for your pathetic resistance this time," the lion ranted as he and Chris circled each other, waiting for one another to strike.

"Oh is that so there Simba? I'd ask you and what army, but well that'd be a stupid question now wouldn't it? But I'll tell you this: when my merry band of Rangers and I are actually afraid of more than your breath, we'll send you a memo," Chris said, openly insulting the Balien.

Stone and/or Rion…I could REALLY use some help here! Chris called through his thoughts.

Call for your animal Chris, Rion called back, only then will the great General be afraid.

"You insolent worm!" the lion snarled, "How dare you insult me! Do you know who I am?"

"No, but I have the distinct feeling that I'm about to find out," Chris said as the Balien continued as if Chris had not spoken a word.

"I am General Auron, High Commander of the Balien invasion force that made such short work of your world. And you, Ranger, will soon know the meaning of the power that I hold!" Auron roared as he charged at Chris, ready to pounce. Chris bent his knees, tensing for action. He knew that even as a Ranger he couldn't take the General on his own. Remembering Rion's words, he leapt into the air as Auron was about to crash into him.

"Pegasus I could use a hand here!" Chris yelled as he began to fall back down to the ground, about to land literally on top of Auron. Suddenly, however, Chris was no longer falling to the earth. Literally, out of nowhere, his Pegasus had appeared, snatching Chris out of the air as one would grab a falling coin. The Pegasus' hair had a slightly bluish tinge to it that shimmered in the moonlight. Chris could not help but laugh as he peered down at the stomping Auron who was roaring his rage at the sky that Chris now flew across. The Pegasus beat it's wings casually, yet was still moving at a considerable pace and was gaining altitude steadily with every beat.

"Smell you later your worship!" Chris called down to Auron, waving his Skystaff in a farewell gesture.

Despite the Pegasus returning Chris to the Cavern within minutes, the fear that Chris had felt when facing Auron had not faded in any fraction. As Chris slid down the tunnel into the statue room, he was greeted by Rion, Stone, and what appeared to be the next Ranger. The disappointment on Stone's face was as easy to read as an open book. Chris assumed that the stranger in their midst was the only slave that Stone had managed to save. At least, Chris mused, the guy he saved is gonna be a Ranger.

"Please," Chris began, "No need to make me a coffee after a hard night of likely killing every Balien stationed at Delta. In fact, don't get up…I'll just sit here on the floor." The irony of his comment was the statue room didn't offer any chairs at all, so everyone was either standing, or sitting on the floor as Chris now was.

"Nice to see you too honey," Stone joked as the sour faced Chris lay down to rest. "And forgive me if I don't offer you my recliner chair, but I have a personal attachment to it that you just wouldn't understand." At this, everyone, even Chris, roared with laughter. As the echoes of the humour faded, Rion's voice cut the silence like a knife through butter.

"Now that we have that out of the way, we have far more pressing concerns to attend to," Rion said as he hobbled onto the circular design that decorated the floor of the cavern. Stone hadn't noticed before, but it seemed as though Rion stood on the design on purpose, almost as if he was guarding the way to something. "Since you've returned from your first mission not only successful but with the next to hopefully join our little…crusade…I feel that it's time that we give this Cavern a bit of a renovative makeover. If you gentlemen would be so kind as to close your eyes while I make the necessary adjustments…"

Once again humouring the old man, the three shut their eyes, imagining what this new Cavern would look like. They all knew that the statues would have to be a part of it, for even Johnny could sense their importance. Stone hoped that their new Cavern would be less accessible. Now, normally this wouldn't make a whole lot of sense; why would someone not want to be able to get into their stronghold? This, however, was not the case at all. Despite Rion's explanation, Stone still felt that the Cavern could be found by Balien patrols and could be entered with very little exertion on the part of the invaders. Chris, after his near death experience as he would call it, wanted some way for people in the Cavern to view the Rangers that were currently at battle. Johnny thought that the new Cavern should have a place where the Rangers could reside, should the need arise.

"I think that should do it," Rion commented, "Feel free to open your eyes now."

As the humans opened their eyes, they saw everything that they had desired. The Cavern was no sealed on all sides with the statues raised to a higher level but still recessed into the Cavern walls. Much to Chris' delight, there was now a large pool of water that lay in front of the statues that he assumed would be used to view the outside battle. Finally, there was what appeared to be a lounging residence area in a dark corner of the Cavern. Stone broke the bewildered silence first.

"But how did you know…I'm assuming the other modifications are what you two wanted?" Stone asked the other two fighters, who nodded their agreement.

"Remember I told you I could read your thoughts? There's your answer. And if you were wondering how I did all this, it's one of the other perks about being the Protector," Rion explained.

"Protector?" Johnny inquired as he was new to the entire Ranger history. Chris and Stone were about to explain when Rion cut in.

"Yes, Protector. Johnny, you have been selected to become part of something greater than you could ever imagine, and I, as Protector, am guardian of the powers and their secrets. Stone and Chris, you see, are the newest generation of Power Rangers, as I hope you to be. The statues you see are of those who used these powers last, millennia ago when the Baliens invaded last. I know; you're shocked that there was a last time. Let me finish.

"A few millennia ago, give or take a few hundred years, the Baliens arrived on Earth and enslaved the humans much as they did this time around. I was part of the team of Power Rangers that fought off the Baliens during their first invasion attempt. I, dear Johnny, was the red Ranger, the leader, as Stone is now. Yes, that centre statue is of me, but I don't really like the pose I'm in…they didn't get my good side. Now, you're likely wondering that if I'm supposed to be a statue and I used to be a Ranger and that I fought over a thousand years ago how am I still alive? That's where the Protector part comes in. When a Ranger is destroyed they become a statue in this Cavern, bearing their weapon and power bracelet. But because I am the Protector, I'm immune to the touch of time. I reside here to train and pass on the ranger powers to the next generation of fighters that need to harness these powers. The Protector, in case you hadn't caught on yet, protects the powers for later use," Rion said as he concluded his explanation.

"Now, to more pertinent items on the agenda. When Stone got close to you, he saw you standing in this very Cavern facing the statue of the warrior holding the axe. Correctly, he assumed that the vision meant that you are destined to be a Ranger, which, by the way, you are. You are destined to inherit the powers of Baurin; black Ranger, agile and quick thinking. You wield the mighty Lunax and command the powers of Cerberus. That is, of course, should you accept them young one," Rion said as the statue of Baurin mystically illuminated, cutting through the darkness of the reaches of the Cavern. Just as the others, the Lunax and bracelet inset with an onyx floated before Johnny, awaiting his decision. "But more importantly Johnny, the powers can heal your less than perfect vision, allowing you to see without wearing your glasses."

"Accept them? If I'm destined to bear them doesn't that mean…well…that I'm destined to bear them?" Johnny asked, his youthfulness coming through like a beacon in a storm. Rion laughed, not out of spite, but because the way the question was framed. "And being able to see without these comes as part of my destiny?"

"No, see the way it works is that although you were chosen or destined to bear this burden, I mean powers, you have to choose to bear that destiny," Chris began to explain, feeling old and wise, "No one can force you to become a Ranger…you have to voluntarily accept the powers and use them to fight for the good of the planet and all that honourable stuff. Now, although the package comes with a cool suit, a kick ass creature and a weapon that owns Baliens, I'm still waiting for someone to show me the secret handshake."

Rion and Stone both chuckled, but apparently the humour was beyond Johnny; either that or he was taking this situation rather seriously for someone of his age. In all of his sixteen years, well at the least the ones he could remember, Johnny had heard about the Power Rangers…he had never been lucky enough to see one, but he knew that they existed. They were, after all, on TV almost every night on the news fighting some new monster with their shiny robot things that converged into a gigantic robot thing. Secretly, he had always thought it would be amazing to be a Ranger; for it meant that he was something greater than himself…he had a higher purpose than living life everyday in monotony. Now, before his very eyes, were two current Rangers and a Ranger of the past, offering him the chance to be a Ranger…to have a cause worth fighting, no…dying, for. Slowly, Johnny closed his eyes, taking a mental picture of the scene before him. He would remember this place, this exact moment, the rest of his life. Opening his eyes, taking a deep breath, he stepped forward taking grasp of the Lunax as he let the bracelet wrap around his wrist. Suddenly, his vision went blurry. Removing his glasses for the first time in life, Johnny saw the world without a layer of glass before his eyes.

"I swear to God that if anyone, from this point on, calls us the three musketeers…" Chris joked as he slapped Johnny good-naturedly on the back.

Johnny smiled as he, like both Stone and Chris, felt the power flow through his veins as the Ranger powers took up residence in his body. He was barely old enough to drive, but he now commanded supernatural powers to combat evil.

"Well Johnny," Stone said, "Welcome to the party. But I think it's about high time that the three of us return to Bastion."

"Bastion?" Johnny inquired, "What's that?"

"You'll find out soon enough kid," Chris said, "But Stone's right. They've probably written us off as dead by this point and are splitting up our stuff and taking my penthouse suite!"

"I'm sure. Now, there are a few things you need to know Johnny. Firstly, I, as well as the Rangers, can communicate telepathically. It's how we send messages to each other when we are in different locales. Second, you have the ability to teleport now that you are a Ranger. Simply create a clear picture of the area that you want to reach in your mind and when you open your eyes you will find yourself there. Thirdly, you cannot let anyone know that you are a Ranger; it's for your friend's protection more than it is yours. Should you find another Ranger, you will see them in this cave standing in front of the statue of the Ranger they are destined to be. Any finally, the command to activate your powers is 'for freedom'. Although I described the motion to Stone and Chris, I'm sure you'll know what to do when the time comes," Rion explained

With a nod, Johnny moved to stand beside the other Rangers. Stone grasped a hold of Johnny's arm as both he and Chris drew a clear picture of Bastion in their minds leaving Rion alone, once again, in the Cavern of Power.