Chapter 12

The Heart of the Matter

Turtle Cove, Present Time

A man stood at the gravestones, recalling the story that he and his friends had uncovered years ago:

A pair of professors at Turtle Cove University had fallen in love and as some love stories go, they were wed. Sometime afterwards, a good friend had joined them on an expedition to explore ancient ruins. But that friend had a jealous heart and when the legends of that temple were revealed, the "green-eyed monster" within became all too real and destroyed the happy couple. Their son was lost, presumed gone as well.

But he had survived, and was raised by a tribe of warriors. And the boy became a man, and so much more. He became a true hero.

Now, Cole Evans stood at these gravestones as he did this time every year, reflecting on his parents' lives and their story. He was the keeper of that story now, and of Viktor Adler's. Adler had swallowed an Org heart to become a true Org when he was found out to be a human by his underlings. It took everything the Wild Force Rangers had to take him out and cut through that heart, but with the power of the Animarium and their united strength, they pulled through.

Cole rested flowers at his parents' graves, knowing his parents were at peace. He did the same at Dr. Adler's grave, too, his yearly sign of forgiveness. With that done, Cole sat down on the bench across from the gravestones. He readjusted his trademark red headband and thought, (Mom, Dad, wherever you are, I hope you both are proud of me.)

It was near noon and people were headed off on their daily business. Cole figured he would do the same when suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. Cole turned around and saw a figure in a black hooded robe.

"Can I help you?" Cole asked, though he had a foreboding feeling.

"Actually, yes; I'm looking for a grave to pay my respects to. The name is Evans."

"That's right here." The figure in black followed Cole's gaze to his parents' graves.

"Hmm… 'Here lie Richard and Elizabeth Evans; devoted teachers, parents and friends.' There must be some mistake. The Evans I'm looking for isn't here."

"Which Evans are you looking for?"

"Cole Evans."

Cole was taken aback, but did not reveal himself. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but there's no grave by that name. That person was found to be alive a while ago."

"Hmm… no grave by that name you say… oh, that's right; I was supposed to find someone by that name, eliminate them, and then dig their grave. How silly of me. My memory's going in my old age."

"Who are you and what are you trying to say?"

"Oh, come now, I know you, do you know me? Look inside my heart and you'll see just what exactly it is I am and what I plan for you and your band." The figure chuckled darkly.

"Look inside your heart?" Cole couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he cleared his mind and focused and when he did so he heard a familiar sound. Silence.

"Do you see now, my boy?" The figure sneered with a knowing menace.

"No beat… but that must mean…"

"Make that connection, boy…"

"An Org."

"Precisely." The Org threw off his cloak revealing that he had a white body and a silver chest plate. A purple brain pulsated out of his head with its halves meeting at a gold horn.

"I am Cranivargo, a Knight Org, Master Org's loyal servant."

"But how? We destroyed Master Org!"

"Not quite. You destroyed his likeness. When Viktor Adler consumed an Org heart, he did become Master Org. But Master Org's heart itself was not destroyed. So long as that exists we Orgs shall rise up again and again."

"Master Org has another heart?"

"Of course, you fool. It is what gives us Orgs life. I shall take my leave of you now, Mr. Evans. But I will return to reunite you with your parents soon enough." With that, Cranivargo vanished.

"Wait!" Cole yelled, but it was too late. Cole stood dumbfounded, completely staggered at the events that had just transpired. How could it be? The Orgs were alive and well. But Cole was the only one who knew. He could assemble the team, but there was only a little hope of that happening. Everyone had gone their separate ways once again after the Legendary Battle, and hopes of them reuniting once more was remote at best. Cole had heard that his Red Lion WildZord had assisted the Megaforce team during their battles, but he was not certain that it could be called upon again, even if the situation arose.

Cole dropped back down on the bench and looked to the sky. (Please,) he thought, (If you're up there, Princess, I need your help. I can't fight alone. Please.)

Suddenly, Cole could feel something familiar. A certain energy that could not be described, but was all too real.

"Hey, Jungle Boy," came a voice from down the path. Cole looked up and saw an old friend. "Looks like we get a second tour of duty, huh?"

"Taylor!" Cole shouted as he rushed to embrace Taylor Earhart. "It's been ages"

"Not the time for that now, Cole. We've got work to do."

"How did you know?"

"The Golden Eagle Zord could feel something wasn't right. I didn't think it was this bad, though."

"We've got to get everyone together."

"Already done. They should be here right about… now."

Sure enough, a white car pulled up to the side of the road, and out stepped Danny Delgado, Max Cooper, and Alyssa Enrile. Everyone hugged as they met up with one another.

"Can't believe we'd meet up again like this," said Max.

"Who would have thought?" wondered Danny.

"This is just insane. I don't know what to do right now," asked Alyssa. "There must be a way to handle this."

"Hold on, aren't we missing someone?" asked Danny.

"Yeah, where's Merrick?" asked Max.

"Don't know," Cole answered. "He said it himself; he goes wherever the wind takes him."

"And it seems the wind has led me right back here." Merrick Baliton had arrived. The lone wolf steadily came up to them. "And I wouldn't have been led back here if I wasn't needed, now would I? I can tell something is wrong. What is it?"

Cole told him. "The Orgs are back."

"How? We destroyed Master Org, right?"

"Apparently, Master Org has a separate heart that we didn't know about, and as long as it exists Orgs can regenerate."

"But if that's the case," Alyssa thought, "shouldn't we have known about this last time?"

"Maybe Princess Shayla didn't know," Taylor proposed. "Maybe we were supposed to find this out on our own."

"Or maybe she did know," said Max, "and that's why she had us hand in our Growl Phones for safekeeping."

"Either way, we don't know much more than we did before," Danny grumbled. "Cole, what did that Org say about himself?"

"Not much," Cole replied. "He just said his name and that he was a Knight Org."

"Wait," said Merrick. "That reminds me of a story Zen-Aku told me. He told me that there was once an Org civil war. The Duke Orgs fought against the Knight Orgs."

"Really?" Taylor said, surprised. "Tell us the story."

"All right." Everyone gathered closer to listen. "This is what Zen-Aku told me while we were traveling together:

"Long ago, before they were involved with the Animarium, the Orgs were involved in a great civil war. The Duke Orgs fought against the Knight Orgs for Master Org's favor. The two tribes battled to see which tribe Master Org would allow to join him on his conquests."

"Why didn't Master Org just take both tribes?" Danny asked. "You need as many soldiers as you can get right?"

"Maybe, but you also want the strongest," said Taylor. "Law of the jungle, right?"

"As you can guess, the Duke Orgs won the civil war, but that's not the end of the story," Merrick continued. "Zen-Aku told me that per the rules of engagement, the Knight Orgs were to be banished until such a time when the Duke Orgs were defeated."

"So that means when we beat Master Org the first time, we released the Knight Orgs?" Max figured.

"It seems that way. But that's not all. The reason the Knight Orgs lost is that they were betrayed in the final battle by two of their own. A sorceress and a blade master."

"You mean…?" asked Alyssa.

"Toxica and Jindrax."

"So that's another reason they quit serving Master Org," Cole surmised. "They wanted to escape from the Knight Orgs."

"It might be partly that. But it's possible that they were sorry for what they had done. Zen-Aku and I parted ways after he found some ruins he wanted to explore, so I just figured I should do what is natural to me."

"Good thing you did," Alyssa said. "We're strongest when we're together."

"But that doesn't solve the problem of how we get back in the game," said Max.

"I know," said Danny. "If only Princess Shayla were here."

"We'll have to find her," said Merrick.

"I don't know," said Taylor. "How can we be sure the Animarium still exists?"

"The Megaforce Rangers have been there."

"Okay." Cole turned to stand beside Merrick. "I won't let anyone destroy us. We have to bring forth everything we have and take it to the Knight Orgs."

"It's all we've got," said Taylor. "Lead the way, Jungle Boy."

"I'm with ya, buddy," said Danny.

"You know I'm in. Never Give Up, right?" said Max.

"Of course. We need to do this," said Alyssa.

"Agreed," said Merrick simply.

"Alright, then. It's unanimous. Now all we need to do is prove it." Cole could feel the energy of his friends and he knew. They could do this.

"Guardians of the Earth, United We Roar."