Author's Note: I apologize for how long this took to post. Honestly, I got to a point where I had some massive writer's block. I'm not sure when I'll finish this, but I do have the next couple of chapters almost ready. Sorry for the delay!

Chapter 13

The whole team gathered by the newly remodeled spaceship, which now had the capability to make hyper-jumps thanks to project pegasus and some ingenuity from Rocket and Tony. Tommy, Kim, Rocky, Adam, Kat, and Tanya all stood on the bridge, alongside Thor, Loki, and Rocket. Standing opposite them was the rest of the team, with Captain America in the center.

"This is the day that will determine our legacy," Steve started. "In the future, the day Thor leaves is a turning point in the war here on earth. He was never heard from again, and we perished one by one at the hands of Red Skull. Today will be different. I fully trust that this is the one in a million chance that Dr. Strange predicted. You know your teams, you know your missions. No mistakes, no do-overs. Watch out for each other. This is the fight of our lives."

"He's pretty good at that," Rocket quipped.

"Yeah, way better than fearless leader over here," Rocky winked at Tommy.

"Thanks Rocko," Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes.

The space team piled into modified quin-jet, and Rocket fired up the engine. Katherine was the last one to walk up the ramp, and she looked back to Captain Rogers. Her eyes met his, and she gave him a small smile.

"Thank you," She mouthed to him, and then turned back, the ramp closing up while he watched her and the rest of the team leave. The jet flew off, quickly vanishing into the heights of the earth's upper atmosphere.

"After all this time, you're interested in a power ranger," Natasha chided.

"Romanoff, you need to stay out of my personal life," he quipped back. "Stark, how's communication looking?"

"Looks steady so far," Tony replied while he looked on with Rhodey, Banner, and Coulson at the data screens. "Judging off the ship's data, it looks like they're about to make the hyper-space jump, in three, two, one." Tony went silent for a moment, his gaze intensifying as he looked at the screen.

"Tony?" Steve prompted.

"Looks like they made the leap," Tony replied, looking at his old friend, prompting a sigh of relief. As Rhodey, Banner, Coulson, and Tony started to walk away from the monitor, the circuitry overloaded and caused a massive explosion, sending the four of them flying, and the rest of the team ducking for cover.

The quin-jet arrived in front of a massive, greenish orb. The rangers gawked as they stared at it's splendor.

"It's a planet..." Rocky whispered

"Of course it's a planet, what, you thought we were going to visit Thanos on a star?" Rocket quipped.

"Sorry, it's just... it's been a long time since we've been to space."

"And we haven't exactly seen a planet other than earth before," Adam added on.

"Well, here's a planet, now are we going to go and sacrifice ourselves to the hungry purple people eater, or we just going stare at a hunk of rock," Rocket soberly chided them.

"We're going to kill him properly this time," Thor growled.

"Rangers, suit up," Tommy commanded. The ship entered the planet's atmosphere and landed on it's surface. The ramp of the jet lowered and the rangers, Loki, Thor, and Rocket exited the ship, walking now on the planet's surface.

The rangers helmets were off, as part of the nanotech in their suits, and they looked to one another in wonder at the look of the planet. It was a fully functioning ecosystem, teeming with lush plant life. Bird-like animals graced the skies, foreign fruits and crops grew around them. "This is beautiful," Tanya whispered.

"It's easy for a planet to thrive when you kill half its population," Loki reminded soberly.

"This sanctuary of life was made by the blood that Thanos shed," Thor grimaced. He planted the butt of his axe on the ground in anger.

"Brother..." Loki sought to console, but Thor shrugged off his extended hand. "Rocket, any reading on the energy signature?"

"From the looks of things, we've got some traveling to do," he replied. "Remind me again, why didn't we park closer?"

"Element of surprise," Adam replied. "Even though these suits are powerful, we still need to find a way to power them with the infinity stones."

"And we're not exactly sure how to do that," Kat added.

"Someone want to tell me why we didn't think to figure that out before we traveled all the way to this god-forsaken craphole?" Rocket asked.

"Look, are you just going to complain the whole time?" Tommy shot back. "Or are you going to just keep mouthing off at everything we do?"

"I don't want to lose my only shot of getting my family back, due to a bunch of idiots starry-eyed at a planet and relying on some stupid power source that we don't even know can help!"

"Family?" Kim asked.

"Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all of them. And I'm a little nervous that if you don't have a full plan, we'll miss our only chance to get them back!"

"Rocket, you're not the only one that's lost," Kim replied, moving towards him. She knelt down and placed her metal-encased hand on his shoulder. "We're here because we've all lost. We want what you want."

"I'm sorry..." Rocket replied sullenly.

"Don't be," she encouraged. Rocket flicked a tear from his eye, and then looked back at the device he was using to track the stones.

"We need to go this way," he shared, pointing onward.

"Let's go," Tommy replied. The rangers powered down, and they began what they anticipated was a long trek to where Thanos might be residing. Hours went by, and they sat down for a rest near a small stream, where they refreshed themselves with water and some of the plant life, which Rocket helped them know was good for eating.

"How close are we getting?" Adam asked.

"We shouldn't be much further out," Rocket replied. Tommy looked at the screen that the raccoon was looking at, and determined that from a human perspective, they were about a mile away from the energy signature.

"What I wouldn't give to finish this with the suit on and flying in," Tanya sighed. "My feet are pretty tired."

"I hear ya," Rocky replied. "Though, I really feel for Loki and Thor, what with the capes and cloaks and all. You guys must be hot."

"This is nothing, especially considering I took the full blast of a star a few months ago," Thor replied with a grin.

"Show-off," Loki quipped.

"Let's get moving," Tommy replied. "We've got a job to do." The team continued on until they made it to the edge of what looked like a farm. They moved around its perimeter, and they found a small hut in the middle of it, made with old wood and straw. They began to approach, before they heard an ominous voice.

"Stark doesn't even have the decency to show up," the voice boomed. The team looked around to find the purple behemoth known as Thanos behind them. "I underestimated you Loki. I could have sworn I said no resurrections."

"I guess you're more feeble than you thought," Loki chided, though Thor placed his hand on his chest, warning him to stop. Thanos smirked.

"Have you come to thank me?" Thanos asked.

"Thank you?" Rocket growled. "You killed my family you big sack of..."

"A small price to pay for salvation."

"Salvation?" Kim asked, wide-eyed.

"You refuse to see the big picture," Thanos sighed. "The universe needed correction. To survive, measures had to be taken."

"I think it's time the measures were taken against you," Thor challenged. Thanos smirked, brandishing his busted-looking gauntlet, the six gems glowing brightly. The rangers quickly suited up with their new armor, and the nine teammates began to circle around the mad titan.

"I've made friends, Asgardian. Friends who enjoyed seeing the cosmic scales tipped towards balance."

"And what sort of sadistic friends would those be?" Thor asked. Before he could say anything else, he was stabbed through the chest and thrown towards the other heroes.

"It can't be..." Loki stammered, looking at the being in front of him. She was clad in black, with pale white skin, and her head was adorned with black spikes, almost like antlers, yet far more sinister looking.

"Why are you surprised, darling? I'm Hela, the goddess of death." Thor staggered to his feet, wincing from his wound. Hela looked at him oddly, smirking at his face. "I seem to recall taking your eye the last time we fought."

"That crab-sack's your sister?" Rocket asked.

"Unfortunately," Thor replied. Rocket looked at Hela, and then to Loki.

"Thor, are you sure you aren't the adopted one?" Rocket quipped.

"Not the time, bud," Tommy cut him off. "It's morphin time." The six rangers were encased in their armor, which brought a slight smile to Hela and Thanos.

"Stark sends his iron-plated minions to stop me," Thanos said, disappointment dripping in his deep, powerful voice. He held up his gauntlet, which was mangled. The arm that it occupied was scarred, his normal purple flesh was blackened. But they still held the stones, which gleamed brightly.

"We're not his minions, Grimace," Rocky, the purple ranger, quipped.

"We're the Power Rangers, new and improved," Tommy, the green ranger, added. "We're going to stop you, and fix all the wrong that you've caused."

"What makes you think you can defeat us?" Hela smirked. She stuck out her hands and summoned to large blades, which she threw at the iron-clad heroes. They dodged and began the fight, the six rangers fighting Hela while Thor, Loki, and Rocket fired on Thanos. He blocked their attacks with his decimated gauntlet, absorbing the energy to fire a massive energy beam.

Hela used her never-ending supply of blades to use them as projectiles, continously firing them at the rangers. While at first they were able to evade her attacks, one by one they were struck down by the magical weapons. Only Adam remained, while the others staggered back to their feet, ducking and dodging Hela's vicious blades of death until he was close enough to land a blow. But as he swung a right hook, she flipped over him and slashed him across the back. Sparks flew as he landed with a thud on the lush ground.

Hela leapt in the air and readied one of her blades for a killing strike against the blue ranger, when an energy beam struck her and forced her to land awkwardly. She looked over towards her shooter, and it was the orange-clad Kimberly. "Get away from him," she growled. Hela gave a cool grunt, smirking at her opponent. Kim charged at her, but encountered another barrage of deadly blades. She evaded them with her gymnastic skill, and by the time she steadied herself, Hela was blasted by Tommy from her blindside.

Hela staggered to her feet to find the rangers composed and ready to fight. She cracked a small smile, with a chuckle attached to it. "I'll admit that you're a bit more capable than I thought. Still, I'd advise you to kneel."

"We'll never yield to you, or to Thanos," Tommy declared.

"Fine, but..." Hela was cut off by the growing power surge to her right. She and the rangers looked over to find Thor's axe, stormbreaker, blocking a blast from the fully powered gauntlet. Thanos screamed as he exerted as much as he could into the blast, but stormbreaker would not yield. Suddenly, the magically powered axe let off a massive energy surge, it's wave extending in all directions as far as the eye could see.

Loki and Rocket ducked for cover, while the rangers and Hela were all forced back, landing hard on the ground. Thor panted heavily, dropping his axe from the long entanglement between it and Thanos' main weapon.

"Guys..." Kim started. Tommy looked over to see that her orange chest piece was suddenly glowing.

"Kimberly..." He rushed over towards her and grasped hold of her arm as she continued to lay on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine... just... look." She pointed to his chest piece, which also shone brightly. "Tommy, don't let me go."

"Kim, what are you talking about?"

"I... I just..." In a flash, the pair vanished without a trace.

"What just happened?!" Tanya screamed.

"I don't know, but I feel really weird!" Adam cried. Suddenly, a massive surge of energy eminated from his chest piece, engulfing Thor, Rocket, and Loki. In a flash, they were gone, leaving the four rangers alone with Hela and Thanos.

"You..." Thanos grumbled. He looked at the four remaining rangers. "You have the powers of the stones."

"What do you mean?" Hela asked.

"That energy beam... it sent your brothers far away across space," Thanos replied. "How did you do that?"

"Adam, concentrate," Kat whispered through their coms. "You can get us out of here, we need to retreat." He looked over to find Katherine glancing in his direction.

"We're the power rangers zeo, that's how," Rocky defiantly challenged, getting into a fighting stance.

"Zeo..." Thanos whispered. "You have access to the zeo crystal." Before they could say anything else, Adam was able to stabilize a portal which engulfed the four rangers, and they vanished.

"Things have taken a turn," Hela muttered.

"The zeo crystal is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe," Thanos replied. "I don't know what they are up to, but whatever it is, they are far more equipped than I expected."

"What do we do?"

"We go find Stark." Thanos replied.

"Why not just use your little glove?" Hela asked. "You could just vaporize them."

"If I need to, I will," Thanos replied. "But the last time I used the stones, it nearly killed me. It's one of the reasons I enlisted Ayesha's and your help. But, I won't hesitate to do what it takes to heal the universe of its greatest ills."

To Be Continued...

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!

- Googz333