Keepers of the Crystals of Power
By Puzzler
Series – Mighty Morphing Power Rangers
Summary – Where did the Power Coins originally come from? Through the help of an unknown disturbance in time, the rangers are about to find out… AU.
Warning, character death (don't worry, its not one of the main rangers, there's no way I would do that!).
Disclaimer – I do not own any of the rangers or anything else you might recognise, and am only borrowing them. I do, however, own Amara and the other things connected with her, so please ask if you want to use them.
Notes – I have absolutely no idea where this story came from, instead all I know is that it popped into my head one night and I wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget it. I have altered it slightly since then. I know that in the series, the power coins came from Ninjor (first seen in the episode Ninja Quest), but I wrote this before I had seen that episode and I didn't want to change it, so my story is AU. Please, read and enjoy (and if you do like it, please tell me)!
The rangers in this story are: Tommy, Rocky, Billy, Aisha, Kimberly and Adam.
Keepers of the Crystals of Power"Zordon, what's going on? Why the alarm?" Tommy asked just after the rangers materialised in the Command Centre.
"Rangers, we are picking up a large temporal disturbance in space heading towards Earth. If it reaches the planet it could have horrible consequences." Zordon answered
"Temporal disturbance? You mean like time travel?"
"Exactly Rocky."
"How can we stop it?"
"If you launch the Zords into space, their weapons should be enough to cause it collapse before it reaches Earth." Alpha said quickly, looking up from the computer panel.
"Then what are we waiting for? It's morphing time!"
Within minutes, the rangers were in their zords and heading into outer space. They quickly found the disturbance – a very large, blue-white spinning vortex.
"That thing's huge." Adam exclaimed
"It could cause serious damage to the Earth's temporal balance if it reaches the planet."
"I know Billy. Remember what Alpha said. We have to hit it dead centre."
"Right"
"Tommy, are you in position?"
"Yes. Let's get this thing and go home"
Both the Thunder Megazord and the White Tiger Zord fire and hit the disturbance, but one of the blasts is slightly to one side of the centre of the vortex and it starts spinning wildly in space.
"What's going on?"
"We missed the centre. We're being pulled towards it."
"Turn on the thrusters. Get us out of here!"
"It's not enough. We're still being pulled forward."
"Hold on everybody…"
As the Zords are pulled into the disturbance, there is a bright flash of white light and all 6 rangers find themselves sprawled on the ground, un-morphed. They quickly get to their feet and brush themselves off. The seemed to be in a large paved courtyard on the edge of a town. In all other directions, there was only desert.
"Where are we? What happened to the Zords?"
"I think the question we should be asking is 'when are we?'"
"What?"
"We were most likely affected by the temporal distortion of the vortex, and its affect on our Zords has sent us through time, apparently many years backward." Billy tried to explain "It is possible that we are not even on Earth any longer."
"Great." Tommy taps the communicator on his wrist. "Zordon? Alpha, can you hear me?"
"It is unlikely our communicators would work in this timeframe."
"Then how do we get back?"
They stand there, thinking, for a few seconds, before finding that they had another problem. "Guys, my morpher is gone." Adam said, worried.
There was a pause, while the others checked to see if they had their morphers. "They all are."
"This day is getting better by the minute."
"Excuse me, do you need some help?"
A tall, brown haired woman slightly younger than the rangers was standing behind them, having seen them from the town. She had almost sparkling blue eyes and the decoration on her shin length white dress seemed to show she was someone of importance. She was also wearing a white material headband on her forehead, with several symbols stitched on it. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She took in their surprised expressions. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you."
Rocky was the first to get back to his senses. "It's alright, we just weren't expecting anyone to be around. Can you tell us where you are?"
"This town is called Grandula." She noticed the barely hidden stares she was getting from some of the male rangers. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I am Amara, daughter of Zamir, Mayor of Grandula. Come, I will take you to my father."
"Thank you. We're not entirely sure how we got here." Tommy said, falling into step beside Amara. The others were content to let the white ranger take the lead.
"You are travellers?"
"You could say that. Where we come from is a long way from here."
"We are happy to have visitors to our town. This way please." They followed Amara towards the town, the buildings providing some shade from the sun's glare.
"Tell us about this town. Are there others in the area?"
"Grandula is one of six towns in this region, though there are also many smaller settlements dotted in-between. If you like, I can show you maps to help you get back to your home."
"I don't think that will be possible."
They passed into another courtyard, and had to raise their hands to shield their eyes from the sun.
"It's very hot here." Aisha said quietly
"Your home must be a very long way away. This weather is usual for this time of year."
There was a pause, as no one could think of anything to say. Tommy was the one to break the silence.
"Now it us who are forgetting things. I am Tommy, and these are my friends Rocky, Billy, Aisha, Kimberly and Adam." He introduced each person in turn.
"I am pleased to meet you all, but I feel I must give you a warning. Do not be surprised if some of the people in the town react strangely to you. Your appearance is very different to what we're used to."
"We can understand that." Kimberly said quickly "but you don't seem very surprised by it."
"I have seen many strange things in my life."
"Then can you tell us about yourself. How long have you lived here?"
"I was born here. I have two older brothers. I tend to end up acting as an ambassador for the town due to my father's position as Mayor, which is why I came out to greet you. What else can I tell you?" There was a short silence before she thought of something else. "Oh, yes, I forget that you would not know. Last year, my brothers and I were made the Keepers of the Crystals of Power. It is a great honour and responsibility. It allows us to keep this town and its people safe."
"You're a Power Ranger?" Rocky asked without really thinking
"You could call us that, but it is no secret. Everyone in the town knows. This headband I am wearing indicates my position." She pointed to the band on her forehead. "The symbols on it translate as hope, peace and truth."
"That might explain why we were brought here." Tommy explained. "We are also Power Rangers, from a different time, except that we have to keep it a secret."
"We need to know what happened to us." Billy stated. "Can you tell us what year it is now?"
"It is the 14th year of Minshara."
"Minshara?"
"Yes, the moon spirit. You measure time in a different way?"
"Very different apparently. It seems likely that we've been sent many years into the past."
"So you're from the future. You have no way to get home, to your time?"
"No."
"I promise you, my family and I will do all we can to help you."
"Father, I bring guests. They are from the future. I told them we would help them to get home."
"And so we shall. Welcome to Grandula. Please, come and refresh yourselves. The sun's heat is very strong."
"Thank you sir. You are most kind."
"We do our best to be welcoming to anyone. If you wish it, Amara could show you around the town later." Zamir suggested as they walked towards a low wooden table surrounded by stools. There were several glasses and a bowl of tropical-looking fruit on the table.
"We would like that."
"It might be better if we try to get you a change of clothes first though. It would be cooler for you and would attract less attention."
"I will see what I can find Father." Amara left through a doorway covered by a dyed drape.
"Your daughter is very gracious, Mayor." Tommy said once they were alone. "A perfect ambassador."
"I know, and thank you. I suspect that is why she was chosen by the Elders as one of the Keepers of the Crystals of Power. To our knowledge, she is the youngest ever to hold the honour."
"And your sons?"
"Both are several years older than Amara. You will probably meet them when you look around the town."
The rangers nodded, but were stopped from answering by an older woman appearing through one of the many doors into the room, carrying a large pitcher of fruit juice.
"My wife, Mindal." Zamir introduced. "Please, sit down."
As the rangers sat, Mindal poured the juice into several of the glasses on the table and handed them out. She spoke briefly with Zamir before leaving again.
A few minutes later, Amara re-entered through the doorway she had left, carrying a pile of clothes.
"These are the best I could find on such short notice." Amara said, handing the various garments out to the rangers "We can leave whenever you are ready. There is a room through here where you can change." Amara moved another tapestry aside to show a doorway.
"They seem to be wonderful people Amara." Zamir noted quietly, once the others were gone.
"Yes. I am glad to know that there are still rangers dedicated to saving the world from evil so far into the future."
"As am I, my daughter."
"This is a beautiful place. Very decorative, peaceful. Quite different from our world."
"I imagine many things will have changed by your time."
"What was that?" Adam moved towards the door of the store they were in and looked out into the town. "It sounded like a scream."
"Let us find out."
They ran outside and around the building they were in before reaching the central town square. Standing in front of the elegantly carved water fountain was a monster that resembled an overgrown fairy more than anything else, except that it was holding a large sword in one hand. The monster slightly resembled some of the carvings on many of the walls in the town, so it was easy to see where the inspiration for this 'creature' had come from.
"What is that?" Amara asked, surprised.
"It looks like one of Lord Zedd's monsters. He must have been pulled back in time the same way we were."
"Who is Lord Zedd?"
"The enemy from our time."
"Do you have your powers?"
"No. For some reason, they weren't brought back with us."
"Then we'll just have to stop this…Demon…on our own."
Amara stepped forward and crossed her wrists in front of her. As she slowly pulled her wrists apart again, a glowing beam of light connected them. The light quickly engulfed her, leaving behind a shining bronze head-to-foot costume, similar to the rangers' when they were morphed, with a white diamond on the chest. She nodded to them and walked towards Zedd's monster.
From opposite entrances into the courtyard, two other figures appeared – one in gold and one in silver – to stand side by side with Amara.
"You're going to have to leave this place, Demon. Or we will force you to leave."
"Are you so sure of that? Perhaps a little of my magic dust will change your mind." As he said this, the monster threw a cloud of dust at the rangers. Amara and the gold ranger managed to move out of the way, but the silver ranger wasn't so lucky. He fell to the ground, trapped in some sort of energy beam from the monster's fingers.
"You don't like it, do you? Even now, your mind is being turned to evil."
"No!" The gold ranger rushed the monster to try to free his brother, but was caught in another cloud of dust and was forced to the ground.
Amara jumped into the air and kicked the monster hard in the head, causing the other two rangers to be thrown several feet apart and away, but it was already too late.
The silver ranger got slowly to his feet, and even through the shining uniform, his movements showed he wasn't in control. The gold ranger, however, seemed to be fighting the effects of the monster. Amara ran to her eldest brother's side.
"Lucas, come on, fight it. You've always been strong. You've got to fight it off!"
Lucas, the gold ranger, continued his internal struggle for a few more seconds, before stopping and lying still.
"No." Lucas reached up quickly and put his hand around Amara's throat. The younger ranger tried to loosen his grip, but he was too strong.
Suddenly, a booted foot came out of nowhere and landed hard on Lucas' arm, causing him to let go of his sister. Amara struggled back to her feet and moved back a few paces.
"Thanks"
"No problem." Tommy said from where he had landed beside her. "Now let's get out of here."
"I can't just leave them."
"Until we find a way to fight this monster and his mind control, there is nothing else any of us can do. We need to get out of here and think of a plan."
"Alright." Tommy and Amara ran over to where the other 'future' rangers were standing, trying to contain the silver ranger and protect a group of townspeople covering against one of the walls. The 'future' rangers and Amara quickly headed out of the courtyard, pulling the frightened townspeople with them, and ran through the town. Unknown to them, they were all being watched.
"Yes, run away, puny powerless rangers! You know you cannot win." Lord Zedd laughed from the bridge of Serpenterra, which had also been caught in the temporal disturbance when it passed the moon base.
"Your plan worked excellently Master," Goldar congratulated. "The rangers from the past are no match for your monster!"
"Yes, and if we destroy their history, Zordon and the Power Rangers will never have existed!"
"How can we stop them?" Rocky asked once they were back in Mayor Zamir's house. It would most likely be the first place the altered rangers would look for them, but they had no choice.
"If we had sufficient power, and were able to destroy the monster, the control over the others would be broken and they should return to normal." Billy suggested.
"But we haven't got that sort of power available. And we'd still have to get past the other rangers to do it."
"Not necessarily." Amara said quietly, effectively stopping the discussion and causing everyone to look up. "The three crystals of power are designed to work together like one, through working as a team. Before, if we stood together, the power would be combined to fight off evil. If we were able to take the other crystals off my brothers, they would lose everything. I could then use the combined power of the three crystals to fight this monster."
"Do you think you can control all three crystals at once?"
"They are designed to be controlled by three appointed keepers together, but we have no other option."
"If that's all we can come up with, then we have to try it." Tommy said finally. "We should split up. Amara, if you, Aisha and I can take on the gold ranger Lucas, then the others can go after the silver ranger…"
"Jaken." Amara supplied her second brother's name.
"…Jaken and take the crystal off him. Everyone got it?"
"Yes, but we cannot hurt my brothers. They are only under a spell, after all."
"Let's go"
The group split up as they left the house, planning to come at the courtyard from different sides.
The surprise attack against Lucas went surprisingly easily. Amara and Aisha distracted him with a few half-hearted blows, before Tommy was able to grab the crystal off his chest. Within seconds, the power around him fizzled out and he was back in his normal clothes, but still under the monster's spell.
Zedd's monster appeared once again just as Tommy handed Amara the second crystal, and the rangers had to duck and move away to avoid the magic dust, trying to contain Lucas at the same time.
The attack on Jaken went less smoothly. He saw Amara jump out at Lucas, and was more prepared for Rocky and Adam's attack, throwing them off before knocking Billy to the ground as well. After a few exchanges of blows and knocks, the rangers finally found their chance. Kimberly was able to somersault over Jaken's head and snatch the crystal off his costume while Adam did his best to trip him up. Kimberly ran over to Amara to give her the crystal.
"Good luck."
As soon as Amara had both her brother's crystals, they started glowing once again and flew out of her hands, fixing themselves to the one already on the chest of her costume, forming a perfect triangle. The beam of energy she was then able to send at the monster through her hands destroyed him for good.
However, destroying him came at a price. Amara fell to her knees almost instantly, and would have fallen further if Tommy and Kimberly hadn't stopped her.
"Let's get her back to the house. She's exhausted."
"No, we will take her. She's our sister." Lucas said to their new friends, indicating Jaken as well.
"You're back with us then? No more evil spell."
"Yes. It's strange. I remember doing everything, but I don't know why. I never would have dreamed of hurting her otherwise."
"We need to take her back to father." Jaken said, moving to Amara's other side, where she was still kneeling, unmoving, in her bronze costume. "It looks like that last blast of power really drained her."
The 'future' rangers, along with Lucas and Jaken waited impatiently outside the room where healers worked with Amara. She had regained consciousness on her way back to the house, but was still very weak.
Some time later, Zamir came out of the room, looking shaken.
"What is it Father?" Jaken asked quickly
"The healers can't remove the crystal from her. He said simply. She nearly blacked out again when they tried."
"Can we see her?" Lucas asked
"Yes, and she seems to know more than we do about what's going on…and what to do next."
"What do you mean, 'what to do next'? Father?"
Zamir sat down on the stool at Jaken's question. He truly looked like the answer would bring him to tears.
"She says that the crystal cannot be removed without it ending up killing her, but that she cannot wield that kind of power for long. She would lose control, possibly be driven mad. She made it quite clear what her choice is."
"We can't just let her die! Father, please…"
"I know how you feel! I feel it too. But she is right. It is too much power for one person to handle. Even split between three people it is hard to control. This is what she wants. Go in, all of you." Zamir didn't say anything else, and let the 8 younger people walk into the room alone.
"Did father tell you?" She asked immediately, looking up from where Mindal was kneeling next to the low bed. Amara was lying in the bed, still encased in the bronze power costume. The helmet was sitting on the bed beside her.
"We can't let you do it."
"Yes you can Lucas. You have to. I won't let this power be used to destroy what I have worked so hard to protect, and I won't let myself destroy it. This is the only way."
"I know that…but I still don't want to do it."
"I know."
"Where will the power go?" Billy asked hesitantly, not wanting to interrupt the family moment. "I mean, when it is removed from you. It won't just disappear."
"I have an idea about that too. Lucas, do you know where my coin collection is in the main room?"
"Yes."
"Can you go and get it for me?"
"OK, I'll be right back." Within 30 seconds, he was back in the room carrying a small, intricately carved wooden box, followed in by Zamir. The Mayor moved over to where his wife was now standing to try to console her.
Lucas handed Amara the box, and she quickly opened the lid, revealing a collection of very old coins. "From what I know about the power in the crystals, it can only be contained within something ancient, but a force for good. Legend says that these coins…" She took out 5 large, silver coins. "…Were created by a father as a payment to save his family's life."
"You are going to transfer the power into the coins." Zamir stated.
"Yes. Help me sit up." Several pairs of hands helped Amara sit up in the bed, looking paler than ever.
"I don't want to die, but I know this is the only way." She turned to the future rangers. "Who knows, maybe what I'm doing here today will be important in your history."
Without saying another word, she laid the five coins out in a row on the bed in front of her, and, taking a deep breath, pulled the crystal off her own chest. She rocked forward as the power around her faded, looking close to losing consciousness again, but managed to move the crystal over the coins and transfer the glowing light of the power into them.
That done, she slumped back against the wall and breathed out one last word.
"Goodbye."
Lucas leaned over her and gently closed her eyes, doing his best not to cry, but for the rangers, the scene in front of them disappeared into white light. When they could see again, they were back in their zords, in space above the Earth.
"Well done, rangers. The distortion seems to have dissipated completely." Alpha 5's voice could be heard over the speakers in the megazord, but none of them were listening. If asked later, none of them would have remembered returning to the Command Centre.
"Did we…did we imagine it?" Aisha asked hesitantly when the rangers were sitting at a table at the Juice Bar. They had told Alpha and Zordon what had happened with the anomaly, but even Zordon couldn't really explain it.
"No, we couldn't have done. We all experienced it."
"She was such a pure, loving person. Why did she have to die to save them? Was it just because that was her part in history?" Kimberly asked.
"I don't know, but she was right. What she did that day is important to us today. She created the Power Coins."
End
A/N – This story has been buried in my room for ages, but I have only just got around to writing it up. I have an idea of how I could continue it, so there may eventually be a sequel.Let me know if you would like one.