Power Rangers: Animarium Episode 14- "A New Hero Rises"

When Tommy, Koda, Wes, Tyler, and Shelby are outnumbered by Vivks in a forest, one of Tommy's former protegees comes to the rescue. Featuring the return of Fred Kelmen from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: the Movie, as well as Carlos from Power Rangers Turbo and Power Rangers In Space.

He rushed up to the table in the outdoor cafe where his mentor and his five friends were sitting, enjoying their well-deserved dinner.
"Hey guys!"
Kimberly looked up from her food. "Hey! Rumor has it you're quite the hero."
Tommy gave his friend a high five. "That's my man!"
Fred looked down at the table, not thinking his contribution had really had any impact on the events that had unfolded over the last 24 hours.
"I helped a little. The Power Rangers did most of the work."
"Hey, things got tough, but you didn't panic. You, my friend, demonstrated true bravery."
"It's like what you taught me about martial arts. Use your head, and above all, stay calm."
Aisha looked at the young hero. "I hear you're in line to be a ranger yourself one of these days."
Fred shook his head, as much as he wanted to think it would happen, he knew it wouldn't.
"Nah, that's impossible."
Tommy put his hand on his young friend's arm. "Hey, anything's possible."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
Fred thought about it... "Fred Kelman, the silver ranger."
Billy looked up... "Uh, it does have a certain ring to it."
Fred shook his head. "Fred Kelman, the GOLD ranger."
Tommy gave his young friend a high five. In his mind he knew that the kid had what it took to be a ranger, he just needed a chance. As fireworks went off all over the night sky, the group enjoyed the show.

20 Years Later...

Tommy was in the gym on the Animarium. He was working out hard on the bench with Brody as his spotter. On the other side of the gym, Koda was lifting a 200lb weight bar with one hand. Cayden walked into the gym and headed over to Tommy.
"Hey, Dad. We've gotta get to the Command Chamber." Tommy got up and followed Brody and his son out of the gym. Koda dropped his weight bar and exited the gym as well.

In the command chamber, Billy was working on a panel with Kendall. "I don't get it Kendall. The subsystem was working just fine earlier."

"Try bypassing the main circuitry and switching to the secondary generator."

Billy smiled. "It worked."
A few minutes later, Tommy and the rest of the group walked in.
"Billy, what's up?"
"We've been detecting some strange readings on the other side of Angel Grove park. I thought it might be Vivks, but then the readings just vanished."

"Okay. Brody, Koda, and Levi. You guys come with me. We'll check it out."
"Tommy, be careful out there. Those signals indicated a possibly large number of Viviks."
"Gotcha, Billy. Thanks."

A few minutes later, the group entered the north side of the park. They looked around but didn't see anything. Tommy shrugged his shoulders.
"Could Billy's scanners have made a mistake? I don't see anything at all."
Koda stopped and sniffed the air... "Viviks... here... just... hidden."
"Okay then. Everybody keep your eyes peeled."
As the group wandered further into the park, the more cautious Koda got. After a while, even Brody started to get anxious.
"Guys... I have a feeling we're not alone."
Suddenly a whole group of Viviks rushed towards the small group. Tommy wasn't ready to take any chances.
"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

The four rangers morphed and used every bit of power they could, but they soon became overwhelmed. A huge shot from a Vivik's blaster sent Koda's Stego shield flying in one direction and the blue Ranger in a different one. When he landed on the ground, Koda de-morphed, almost not moving.

Tommy and the Romero brothers continued to fight as hard as they could, but soon they found themselves on the ground next to Koda, and demorphed. There were only a few of them left, but the four heroes had almost no energy left to fight.

"HIIIIIIIYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!" suddenly from out of nowhere, a guy in a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants came in and started to beat the Viviks off of the four warriors. Tommy looked up and watched their rescuer go to town on their attackers. Brody and Levi managed to get back to their feet and helped their new ally finish off the rest of the Viviks. While Brody and Levi helped Koda up, the hooded figure helped Tommy to his feet.
"You okay?"
Tommy got to his feet. "Thanks...do I know you?"

The guy removed his hood and smiled. "Hey, Tommy."
Tommy's eyes went wide. "FRED?! You look great!" He hugged the handsome young man.
Fred smiled and returned his mentor's hug. The two separated after what seemed like a long time. Fred looked at his mentor.
"You got a haircut!"
Tommy smiled and nodded. "And you've grown up!" Then his expression turned serious. "Fred, how much of that fight did you see?"
"Well when I came up you guys were on the ground. I knew you needed my help."
Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. In his mind he knew Fred needed to be told, but the park wasn't the place.
"Fred, there's a special place I want to take you to, ok?"

"Sure. Sounds great."
Later, the four rangers and their young friend emerged onto the Animarium. Fred looked around in amazement.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful."
"I had a feeling you would like it." He nodded to Brody, who stepped out of earshot. And activated his communicator.
"Hey Billy, I need you to bring yourself, Adam, Kimberly, Aisha, and Rocky to the fire ring. We've got an old friend here you guys need to see."

In the command chamber, Billy acknowledged the communication.

What could be going on at the fire ring?

He contacted the other four rangers. Later, they approached the area and stopped. Adam stepped forward.

"Tommy, who's this?"
Tommy smiled. "Guys, you remember our old friend Fred, who helped save Angel Grove from Ivan Ooze?"

The other Mighty Morphin Rangers smiled and gave Fred hugs and high fives. Fred looked around.
"You guys live here?"
Tommy looked at his teammates who nodded.
"Fred, there's something you need to know about us."
"What is it?"
"The reason I said it was possible for you to possibly become a ranger someday... it's because we're Power Rangers."
Fred's jaw hit the floor. "Tommy...Adam...Kimberly...Billy...Aisha... and Rocky... you guys are the Power Rangers?"
The group smiled and nodded.
"That is so cool!"
Tommy smiled. "And after today, I'd say it's definitely possible for you to become a ranger yourself. I'd also like you to meet some other rangers, including three you helped out in that fight."
Fred nodded. Tommy introduced him to Koda, Levi, and Brody.
"You see, the ranger team we were on was the very first. There have been more than 20 other teams of rangers. Some teams are small, some teams are large. In fact, Koda here, was part of the biggest ranger team we've ever had."
Koda stepped up. "Yes. Dino Charge team has 10 rangers."
Fred's mouth went wide.
Tommy smiled. "Look, Fred I'd love to give you a total rundown of every team of Power Rangers, but that would take too long. But this guy here..." he clapped Koda on the shoulder. "... is very special. He's a caveman from 100,000 years ago. See the source of his ranger power is a crystal called an energem. When someone bonds to an energem they stop aging."
Fred smiled. "You're a caveman? Cool!"

Koda smiled wide. Suddenly, Cadyn burst in.
"Hey, dad! We've got some..." he saw Fred and stopped in his tracks.
"Dad, who's this?"
"Cadyn, this is Fred. He's a really special guy. Several years ago, he led a group of kids and teenagers who helped save Angel Grove from a monster attack."
Cadyn smiled... "Dad, we've got a situation going on at the lake. We've gotta go."
Tommy nodded... "Come on, Fred. I'll tell you more about what's going on another time." The group raced to the lake where the bear zords were pushing what looked a wooden plank towards the shore. From the shoreline, Tommy could barely make out a form on it.
"Man, there's someone out there."
Before he could say anything else, Cadyn and Fred dove into the lake and took over pushing the plank towards the shore. Back on the shore, Tommy had been joined by Adam, Kimberly, and Billy. Soon the two boys and the plank were in plain view. Adam recognized the form on the plank.
"It's Carlos!"
Cadyn and Fred helped Carlos onto the shore. The tall Hispanic ranger was still out cold. Adam rushed forward and started CPR on his younger friend.
"Come on, Carlos! You got this bud!" within a minute, Carlos started coughing up water. Adam turned the tall guy onto his side, then onto his back.
"Easy, bud, easy."
Carlos looked around. "Wha...where am I?"
"Easy Carlos. You're on the Animarium."
"Man, this place is beautiful."
"We'll give you a tour later. Right now, let's get you to the medical bay to get checked out, ok?"

While Carlos was recovering in the medical bay, Tommy had introduced Fred to his son Cadyn as well as Red and his cubs and all the other animals on the Animarium.
Fred looked at Tommy. "So... the white ranger who saved the monorail... was that..."
Tommy nodded. "That was me."

"What did it feel like, flying that big robot bird?"
"It was great. But it was nothing like how proud I felt seeing you lead that group of kids to the construction site and save your dad and the other parents."
Fred's eyes filled with tears of happiness. Tommy smiled and clapped his young protege's shoulder.
Tommy's communicator went off. Tommy activated it and Adam's voice came through.
"Hey, Tommy, Carlos is awake, and he wants to talk to you."
"Right, I'll be right there." he nodded to Fred. "Let's go."
In the medbay, Carlos was sitting up. Adam and Dana had gotten him some clean clothes.
"I was going on a hike when I was attacked by a group of Piranhatrons, Quantrons, and these weird guys with white bodies and mop heads. I managed to find an opening and got out. I morphed and fought a bunch of them off, but then the last thing I remembered was they had pushed me over a waterfall. Apparently I demorphed as soon as I hit the bottom of the falls and I blacked out until I woke up here."
Tommy nodded. "Carlos, those mopheads were Viviks. They're the main enemy of the Dino Charge Rangers. But don't worry, you're safe here. And Billy's working on fixing your morpher. You get some rest." He turned and walked out of the medbay. Satisfied that Carlos was going to be okay, his mind turned to what to do about Fred.
Fred had gone to his apartment for the night. Levi and Brody promised to pick him up the next day for some martial arts training. Tommy sat around the fire ring with the rest of the Mighty Morphin Rangers who had been there during the whole Ivan Ooze incident. Jason soon joined them as well. Tommy looked up at his team.
"Guys, what are we going to do? Fred's a smart guy, he's got some amazing martial arts skills, and he's extremely brave. He basically has everything it takes to be a Power Ranger."
Jason looked at his friend. "I think you should give him a chance."
"You do?"
"Tommy, you told me everything this kid did to save the parents of Angel Grove. I mean, he operated a high-pressure water hose and piloted a monorail."

"Okay, so he has what it takes to be a Power Ranger, but what team do we put him on?"
Billy stood up. "Ours." he opened up a bag and took out a power morpher and handed it to Tommy.
"Billy, what is this?"
"A gift for Fred. Now there will be one more Mighty Morphin Power Ranger."
Tommy smiled. "You know, we can't just give this to him. We have to make it a special event he'll never forget."
Rocky smiled. "I've got an idea."

The next morning, Fred was watching the sunrise over Red's field. Tommy walked up and sat next to him.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Fred fought back a tear. "Yeah... I just wish dad could've seen it. I miss him so much."
Tommy didn't need to say anything. He knew just by seeing the look on his young friend's face that his dad had passed away. He clapped Fred on his shoulder.
"Hey, how about some training with me and the other rangers?"

Fred smiled. "I'd like that."
For the rest of the day, Fred had an intense workout with each of the 6 Mighty Morphin Rangers. Tommy helped him hone his martial arts skills. Adam and Rocky did some distance running with him, Kimberly helped him with his backflips and aerial work. Aisha took him swimming at the local pool. Billy helped him train with some weapons as well as learning some computer work. And even Jason, the original Red Ranger, helped train him on knowing when to escalate a battle and when not to. The whole time, Fred was wondering what all this was for, especially the backflips and computer training.
That night, after dinner, he was sitting at the fire ring. Jason came up and sat next to him.
"How are you feeling, Fred?"
"I'm exhausted. I wonder why they put me through all that intense training."
Jason clapped the young man on his shoulder.

"That's actually why I'm here." he stood up. "Come on."
Fred followed Jason to the temple where he saw the six rangers, morphed with their helmets under their arms. Carlos He saw Tommy first.
"Tommy, what's going on?"
Tommy stepped forward and tried to keep his emotions in check. "Fred, the reason we've been training you so hard today was because you have something special inside of you. We just needed to bring even more of it out."

Jason stepped back, Adam stepped forward. "Fred, when we first met you, you were just a little kid, but now you've become an amazing young man with so many awesome traits." He smiled. "You're so eager..." he stepped back. Kimberly stepped forward
"Kind."
"Intelligent." Billy added.
"Loyal." Aisha smiled
"And true." Rocky finished. He stepped back as Billy handed Tommy the golden power coin.
"Fred, because of all of these attributes, as well as your incredible bravery in the face of danger..." Tommy held out the coin, smiling wide. "Here you go."
Fred took the coin in his hand, shocked. "You're making me a Power Ranger?"

Tommy nodded. Fred stared at the coin in amazement. Suddenly it glowed and Gold energy started circling him. Tommy stepped back as a dark black suit materialized on his protegee, a golden shield similar to the one Jason wore when he was the Gold Zeo Ranger also appeared. Gold arm bands appeared on his biceps. Lastly, a yellow helmet appeared over his face with the outline of a cougar, similar to Aisha's helmet.

Soon, the transformation was complete. Tommy continued to fight back tears of pride as Jason put his hand on his former teammate's shoulder. Fred removed his helmet and looked at it in amazement. Just like his mentor, he was fighting back tears. One by one, his new teammates came forward to congratulate him. Aisha smiled really wide.

"I told you that you were in line to be a ranger."
Finally, Tommy stepped up Fred tried to keep it together.

"Tommy, I don't know what to say."
Tommy smiled at his young friend. "I told you anything's possible. Your dad would be really proud of you."

Fred finally lost it and buried his face in his mentor's shoulder and hugged him tight.
"Thank you, Tommy. Thank you for believing in me."
Tommy returned the hug, finally losing it himself. Over by the fountain, Carlos, Cayden, and Princess Shayla watched, smiling.

After a group picture of the seven rangers, the group broke off into smaller groups. Billy and Tommy took Fred to the Command Chamber and taught him about the basics of being a ranger, including how to morph.

Billy was just finishing covering weapons basics, when an alarm went off. Billy checked the sensors and shook his head. Tommy ran over to the console and nodded to Billy, who activated the communications console.

"Rocky, get the other Morphin Rangers to the Command Chamber, including Cadyn. Also have Adam bring Carlos along too. We're gonna need a lot of help for this one."
After the other rangers materialized in the base, Billy activated the viewscreen and then pointed to it.
"We've got a huge group of putties and it looks like Piranhatrons assembling on the north side of the park."
Tommy turned to the newest member of the team. "Ready for some on the job training?"
"You bet!" Fred exclaimed, even more excited than ever.
Tommy smiled. "Ok, then... IT'S MORPHING TIME!" The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers went first.
"WHITE RANGER POWER!"

"GREEN RANGER POWER!"
"GOLD COUGAR POWER!"

"BLACK RANGER POWER!"

"PINK RANGER POWER!"

"BLUE RANGER POWER!"

"YELLOW RANGER POWER!"

"RED RANGER POWER!"

Carlos followed right after them. "LET'S ROCKET!"

The group of 9 Rangers appeared in the park. Fred and Tommy led the charge.

Back on the Animarium, a crowd had gathered in the Power Chamber to watch the battle on the main screen. Alpha was constantly monitoring the rangers' power levels.

The group on the battlefield was moving quickly and efficiently. Cayden and Fred joined the beams from the dragon dagger and Fred's Power Spear and took out a whole row of putties. Rocky got the core five rangers together. "Okay guys, time for the Power Blaster!"
Tommy looked at his son and his protege. "How about we put together a little combination of our own guys?"
"Right!"
Adam started the combination. "POWER AXE!"
"POWER BOW!"

"POWER DAGGERS!"

"POWER LANCE!"
"POWER SWORD!"

Rocky leaped up and added his sword to the combination.
In the meantime Tommy, Fred and Cayden had assembled their weapons into a spear like formation of their own. In the Power Chamber, Jason watched the weapons come together. His thoughts were racing.
Come on, guys...you got this!
Rocky and his group fired the Power Blaster, with Tommy's group firing their spear immediately. The beams hit their mark, creating a massive explosion, wiping out the remaining putties and Viviks. Both groups of Rangers celebrated their victory. In the Power Chamber, a huge scream of excitement erupted as the assembled crowd celebrated the victory. Jason smiled.
Way to go, kid.

Soon the victorious team entered the Power Chamber to a huge round of cheers and applause, their helmets under their arms. Jason and Brody each grabbed one of Fred's legs and lifted him up on their shoulders. Tommy watched his young protege enjoy his time in the spotlight. He fought back tears, proud of how far his young friend had come.

Brody, Levi, Koda, and Tommy sat around the fire ring. Tommy looked at his young friends.
"What do you guys think about our newest ranger?"
Koda spoke first. "Fred..very strong."
Brody smiled. "I can see how he led all those kids to save their parents."
Levi nodded. "He's gonna be a great ranger."

Dane walked in and sat next to the group. "You know, it seems like we've got a great team of young rangers here. Brody, Levi, Nick, Cadyn, Tony, and now Fred. That's a full team."

Tommy nodded, realizing Dane was right.

The next morning, the group was meeting in the Power Chamber. Tommy looked at the young team.
"You guys have been awesome lately. I couldn't be more proud of you." He turned to Nick.
"Nick, I think we've finally got you a team to join." Nick smiled.
Tommy turned to the young group. Cadyn, Fred, Tony, Nick, Levi, and Brody. You guys have carried on the tradition of the Power Rangers well. I think it's time we gave you guys an official name- the Legacy Rangers." Nick looked confused.
"Ok, so if we're a new team, wouldn't that mean that we'd have to have all new powers?"

Tommy shook his head. "Nope, you will each continue to have the powers you have always had. Which is what makes you guys such a unique team."
Before Tommy could say anything else, the alarm went off. Billy checked the sensors.
"We've got a disturbance on the north end of Angel Grove Park."
Tommy nodded, then looked at the new team.
"What do you say we let the Legacy Rangers handle this?"
Brody stood at the lead. The new group got in a line up. "Ready guys?"
The new group nodded. The new group bolted out of the door, headed on their first mission as a team.

On the viewscreen, Tommy and the others watched with pride as the newest team of rangers charged towards their first encounter.

The legacy of the Power Rangers was secure.

And with that, a new team of Rangers is born...please comment.