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Chapter Fourteen: Power - Reorganized

The Morphing Masters sat in council. They had many issues to go over and process. Sentinel Knight had asked Zordon to present his findings beforehand, and after the introductory portions of the meeting Zordon had gone up before the council to speak. He spoke of the first mission of the Droid Program and how useful it had been in carrying out the assignment. Due to the mishap which had occurred because of friendly firing flying past the Dark Cloud, Zordon and those monitoring the Droid were able to see where they could fortify its armor. Zordon then disclosed what had occurred with Commander Zedd, and his new persona upon being infected with The Dark Cloud. He concluded his words by recommending more medals of honor for the commanders involved: Zedd, Rahp, Filcar, Risp, and Scorpius. He also spoke of the help everyone received from the cadets from The Top: Cestro, Margaret, and his right hand researcher, Burai. He told the councilmen that everyone involved was invaluable, and that was why he was standing there alive.

He then described the incident with Tria. He described how she lost control of her morph and how she resisted arrest. At this, he finished and took his seat in chair fifteen, beside Master Gosei. Sentinel Knight then stood, walking up ready to speak.

"As you all can see, Tria is not here. She has run from here, the organized alliance of the universe. She now abides in chaos, wishing to promote her vigilante ways. I don't doubt she wanted the Corona Aurora to create more beings like her."

Dulcea thought about that comment. If that were the case, then why did she return the Zeo Crystal? She could've taken it and said Vile had captured it. No one would've known better...

Looking at Sentinel Knight, Dulcea wondered why he was so quick to accuse Tria. Why be so aggressive with the accusations, rather than try to figure out where the contradiction of character had been coming from to begin with. Realizing she had zoned out, she focused again on what Sentinel Knight was saying.

"-and so this is why Tria of Triforia, as of now, is no longer a member of the Morphing Masters." Sentinel Knight declared.

Even those who had been busy preparing paperwork for their committee meetings perked up at this. It had been a very long time since someone living had been removed from that elite group. Dulcea hid her displeasure with a lot of patience.

Zordon, himself, was in full agreement to that decision. He knew there had to be a cancer high up in the United Alliance: the communications breaking down right before Master Vile's attack was too much of a coincidence to him. From what he'd seen only he and Burai had touched the system that day, and when he left the system, it had been working just fine.

Given a choice between someone who outright broke the law and hid it versus someone who, although annoying, has been loyal in his calling to the Alliance, I'm going to side with the latter. It must have been Tria, not Burai. Zordon thought to himself while observing those around him.

King Estro raised his hand at this point and was given some time. "Without even thinking, my mind wandered to this train of thought: who will take Master Tria's place in the Senior Council!? Well, let me tell you, councilmen, that I am going to recommend a name to take her place. It is an obvious choice for me. Master Zordon, you have been nominated."

And with that, the royal Master took a seat. Zordon's mind was reeling. He couldn't believe it. Within a matter of days he had gone from a member of Research to its Head, then that very same day had been brought up to be a Morphing Master. Then, in a whirlwind of events, some was nominating him to be a Senior member! He wondered why him, of all people. There were seven other people with more time as a Morphing Master than he.

Master Magnus raised his hand and stood. "On what grounds does such a recommendation stand?"

Estro shot a glance at Magnus, as if his word were good enough as it was. "His leadership has been very apparent to me, and I personally would like to have someone like him in the Senior Council. My preference, you know." And then, in mock sincerity, added, "My grandest apologies, if my personal opinion offends..."

Sentinel Knight stood in silence for a moment. It was a long and drawn out silence for Zordon, wondering what was happening. He didn't know what to expect. The only thing he did know was that his palms were sweaty.

Sighing, Sentinel Knight nodded. "This recommendation has been thought over by me, the presiding member, and I see nothing to object. Master Gerlit, would you please administer the voting process?"

The Liarian known as Master Gerlit nodded and announced for all those in favor to raise their hands. Zordon was surprised he wasn't asked to leave the room.

Interesting set up... There must be a lot of confidence in goodwill around here... Zordon thought as he saw the arms go up.

Why should I care who votes? I just need to get my research done... Although he thought this, deep down, he did care.

Looking around, Zordon saw who voted for his inclusion into the Senior Council. In favor was Sentinel Knight, Master Ivicar, Master Dulcea, Master Gerlit, Master Estro, Master Animus, Master Gosei, and Master Michael. Against Zordon's nomination was Master Magnus, Master Kamen, Master Orion, Master Dimitria, and Master Delphine.

Gerlit looked around and said, "Because the voting is not close, Zordon need not vote. The newest member of the Senior Council is Zordon Zoltar of Eltar."

Sentinel Knight adjourned the meeting and called Zordon up to speak with him. As Zordon approached the head of the group, feeling a conflict in him between having become a Morphing Master Senior member and just wanting to continue his research, Master Orion was wheeled over to Zordon in his wheelchair. Because he had not been one hundred percent going into the battle on Mirinoi, when Lord Zedd thrust him into a tree he had a slight relapse.

Orion grabbed Zordon's arm. "Hey, kid. Just wanted to let you know that it wasn't personal."

Zordon stared blankly at him, no idea what he was talking about. "What wasn't?"

Orion pointed to the chairs where everyone had been sitting. "You know, the voting. I didn't vote for you because I feel you need more experience, not because of who you are. I think you'll do great and-"

"Whatever. I'm just here to make sure things get done. Ma'am?" Zordon turned to the nurse pushing Orion. "He can go now. He probably needs his rest."

Zordon started turning when Orion grabbed his arm again. "Hey, now! Be nice. You could at least call her by name! Tell him your name, please."

Zordon tried to escape but Orion wouldn't let him. The Aquitian nurse, slightly embarrassed, turned to face Zordon. "My name is Cestria. Nice to meet you, Master Zordon."

Zordon nodded and pulled himself away to approach Sentinel. He probably called me up for a robe change. What am I now, gold? Who cares? What a waste...

He began to wonder whether or not those thoughts were real. As they rattled around in his mind, he could feel a sort of conflict. One part of him didn't care for the politics. The other part of him was fascinated, wondering what adventure was coming next and how he could be a force for good in that endeavor. It was almost as if he had two different people, conflicting and fighting in his head.

Sentinel Knight spoke as Zordon approached, snapping him from his trance. "Zordon, I want to say I read over your personal report before the meeting today. I appreciate your discretion on your saber. I do want to keep that on the down low for now. I don't want people confusing what you are doing, using it as a totem for extra power, with what Tria is doing by becoming a fully charged Morphing warrior.

"As you noticed, I did not object to your Senior status. I believe you are a fine Morphing Master and we all have a lot to learn from you. Remember in the future, though, to let me know of any research you have in development prior to a field test. That is, until Orion can take his spot again as the liaison between Research and Development and the Morphing Masters. Then you need to run research through him: he still outranks you in the council."

"Understood." Zordon said. I love dealing with Sentinel: short and straight to the point.

"By the way, may I meet the being you mentioned that is your Animal Spirit conduit from you report... Saba, was it?"

Zordon groaned in himself. "Yes, Master Sentinel. Let me know when you would like to meet him. He is a dear friend of mine."

Sentinel Knight nodded. "I'll make my way to your lab tomorrow before you start the interviews."

Zordon acknowledged the self invitation and left the room. He had forgotten about the assignments handed out earlier that day: He and Orion were to interview and conduct The Trials for Burai, Margaret, and Cestro. One of those three would be the new "white robe" member of the Morphing Masters.

They'll probably want me to be involved with finding a replacement for The Top, too. Oh, well. At least it is somewhat constructive. Maintaining order is a must.

Sentinel Knight, back in his office, went over the assignments again in his head to ensure he remembered everything:

Animus, Gerlit, and Estro were to man affairs there at the HQ;

Ivicar, Magnus, and Dimitria were to journey to Triforia to see if there were any leads on Tria's whereabouts;

Dulcea, Kamen, and Gosei were to meet with Rahp and the others from Zedd's platoon to deliberate on the Zeo Crystal's destiny;

Zordon and Orion were to handle the picking of the new Morphing Master between the current three members of The Top, and then Sentinel would likely assign them to pick a new member for The Top itself.

This time, we will have time to present full evaluations from this new round of The Trials before the council, to help them pick the newest member. Although Zordon is a great member, it would have been better if we weren't rushed due to App's death.

For Sentinel Knight, order was always key. He had been taught a very long time ago by a good friend of his named Auron about the importance of order. Notwithstanding, he had overlooked Zordon not going through another round of The Trials because the initial Trials had taken place only two months earlier. Technically those trials had been for placement in The Top, though. Normally, another round of The Trials would be have been performed for placement in the council. App's sudden demise and the growing need for help with the Zeo Crystal expedited Zordon's promotion.

To round off the list, Michael and Delphine were assigned to ensure Commander Scorpius had finished public affairs with Mirinoi, to calm the people down so they weren't frightened, and to clean up the remnants of battle. Then, they would try to find an energy trail to pinpoint where this new foe who had possessed Commander 17, Lord Zedd, could have gone.

Sentinel Knight, sitting in his office alone and needing some comfort, produced the crown known as the Corona Aurora in his hand. He looked at it. And me... with my eternal assignment...

On Mirinoi, Commander Scorpius looked to his trusted scientist. He was a brilliant man born on the planet Claydoious, although his ancestors were from the planet Sirius. He had been released from Research and Development at the beginning of Master Vile's war on Decrof. He had wanted to dive deeper into the Morphing Grid to find its true potential, but bureaucrats such as Zordon expelled him and his students from their midst.

Their loss, my gain... Scorpius thought.

The scientist looked at the deflated membrane that once housed the Dark Lord. It was made of an organic substance he did not understand. He was fascinated to be able to research it, and was glad he was no longer under the strict guidelines Sentinel Knight had enforced within the ranks of the United Alliance.

"Finster!" Scorpius yelled at the scientist.

The Sirian turned to face his new employer, trotting over to Scorpius. "Yes, sir?"

"Now, what I want you to do is study this thing... do whatever you need to, I don't care. My soldiers are at your disposal to experiment on."

Finster furrowed his brow. "But, sir, if the IRB hears of this-"

"That's why they won't. As long as you are under my wing, you can do whatever your heart desires! You do only have one heart, right? Anyway! Remember! Your main objective is to find out how to convert this... thing..." Upon uttering the word "thing", Scorpius picked up a stick and poked it into the tissue, lifting the membrane up. It clung to the stick and made an awful noise as it was lifted up off the ground. He groaned in disgust.

He continued, looking at Finster. "Convert this husk into something I can use to power myself up. I want to show the universe how someone with brains wields power."

Finster, eager to finally be able to do experiments on his own terms, answered, "Yes! Yes, sir! I will get right on it."

He then scurried off, telling Scorpius' grunts how to handle his equipment and giving them instructions on how to handle the membrane which once encased the essence of the Dark Lord.

Scorpius laughed. He thought of how he would crush so-called invaders, like the upstart Count Dregon from his homeworld of Edenoi. "Today marks the day of the beginning of my rebirth. I will rise up over all who oppose. The day will come when all will bow before me, and call me their master!"

He stood on an asteroid, surveying everything around him.

This garden... it is perfect. I can use it to plant my seeds of power. I will be a king! The Dark Lord thought to himself.

You won't be king of anything. You float around with a title you had to give yourself. The Alliance will stop you. Zedd told the Dark Lord.

The Dark Lord continued to ignore the voice in the back of his new head. He knew it was the banter of a prisoner who had lost everything.

Commander Zedd focused all his energy, and finally accomplished his goal. After a couple of days as a prisoner in his own body, he did it. He was glad he could read the Dark Lord's thoughts: he hadn't noticed what Zedd had just accomplished. For some reason, maybe because it was Zedd's brain to begin with, the Dark Lord could not hide his intents from Zedd, but Zedd could do so from the Dark Lord.

Zedd's feat was that he was able to twitch a finger.

Lord Zedd cackled, unknowing of what was occurring in his body. "No one will stop the inevitable: I will reign over this universe!"

Master Vile turned to his son. He was still playing a game on the ship's console. Vile moaned to himself in disappointment from his throne. Too tired and annoyed to walk to Rito, he yelled at him.

"Boy! Why are you lazing about!? Isn't there something you should be doing!?"

Rito smelled his armpit. "Hmm... I guess I should bathe..."

Vile threw his arms up. "Why can't you be more like your sister!? She is currently on assignment and doing fantastically! Soon, we should have everything we need to destroy the Alliance from the inside out!"

Rito considered this, then shrugged. "I guess she got the good genes. Hey, what about Mom, anyway? Uh... who is she? Did I get my genes from her? Is that why you aren't happy with me?"

Vile chuckled, avoiding the question of Rito's mother like he had done so many times before. "Oh, dear child. If you were useless, I would've destroyed you long ago. Now, don't you fret. I foresee a legacy for you. You may be bumbling, but I think you will one day be a great warrior, and have the strength to take on the strongest the universe has to offer!"

At this grand proclamation, Rito smiled and turned back to his video game. Master Vile shook his head, placing his palm to his face. "Oh... when will that day ever come?"

Meanwhile, Novact looked on the scene before him. Ever since his epiphany earlier, when Vile had told him he could wash over his foes like a dark wave, he looked at those around him with disdain. They were all lower than him. He hated them. They moved too slow for him. Vile's soft spot for his children annoyed Novact: in a real empire, Rito would be used as bait, and the general would actually hope he got destroyed.

He sneered as he looked at the man continue his video game. Keep playing your game. You're not the only one who can play games. I can play, too. And my game is just beginning... The future is mine...

The Gold Ranger looked at her surroundings. She found herself on a planet unknown to her. She collapsed again, demorphing.

Tria tried to morph, but it wouldn't take. She felt her energy exhaust every time she had entered Shadow Mode. Chasing Lord Zedd on Mirinoi in Shadow Mode for such an extended period of time appeared to have caused the Gold Ranger powers to hit some sort of threshold. She did not know when she would be able to morph again.

Being in an unknown place, she felt vulnerable without her powers. It was odd for her to feel so out of place without the ability to morph, because she had only just recently acquired this power. She realized how much the power had felt right to her then.

She thought back on the recent events. There was Master Vile trying to dominate everything he could, Lord Zedd and the destruction he was capable of, and what seemed like a more of a threat to Tria than any other: the Fake Gold Ranger.

Who is this Ranger? What does she want? How did she get Gold Ranger powers? Why does her costume look like mine? Sentinel said he felt the ranger tapping the Morphing Grid... Is this Ranger a Grid Ranger? If I have to face her, will she be stronger than me?

All of these questions and more raced through her head. She sighed. Alone. She thought again of all the villains appearing, spreading like a cancer. She wondered if there were even more, hiding in plain sight.

Tria frowned. "I only see things getting worse for everyone from here on out."

Zordon was back in his room for the first time in what felt like ages. He looked around, surprised to find no signs of a roommate. He had wondered when he was first brought into the fold of the Morphing Masters how long it would be until he had a solo room, as it was customary for Masters to have one. He hadn't thought it would've been so quick, though. But then again, everything about his ascension to the Morphing Masters had seemed rushed.

How long has it been, though? Two days? Three? A week? He would need to look at a calendar. Between Solaris 8 and The Zeo Crystal, The Gold Ranger attacking to get The Corona Aurora, the incident at The Intergalactic Conference, and now with Zedd possessed by some demon-creature, Zordon had lost track of time.

Well, now that the "cat's" out of the bag... Zordon thought.

"Saba: come forth!" From out of a small ball popped out a red feline like creature.

One day, while Zordon was doing research on a planet in the Vica Galaxy, he ran across this creature. It was very young and couldn't speak: a baby. Zordon scoured the area, trying to find the creature's family, but to no avail. He couldn't find any record of even that galaxy having a species that matched the cub's description.

Zordon had thought he was a curious thing and decided to take it back to his lab, feeling an instant and strong connection to it. He had found it held great power, and a bio scan revealed its brain was capable of being sentient. He named it Saba, because he had found him in the morning time.

During Zordon's research, he noticed Saba was getting more and more difficult to hide from everyone, so he tested a project of his: pocket universe devices. He got the idea from dimensional chambers Edenoi had been creating with their own science division. With permission from King Lexian, Zordon had used the tech to create a portable device with its own pocket dimension. He had visited it before testing it on Saba and found it worked well.

After a hundred years, he and Saba had grown extremely close. They were very good friends. Oddly enough, although Zordon raised him, the two looked at each other as brothers. Saba was already, in Zordon's opinion, smarter and more powerful than most in the Morphing Academy.

"So, Zordon, the cat... er... I... am out of the bag, huh?" Saba asked, looking to his friend.

Zordon laughed at that, because of how Saba had said the exact same thing that Zordon had been thinking. He and Saba had spent so much time together over the years, they often spoke alike.

"I happened to channel in from my dimension when Sentinel Knight was speaking to you. I am glad to hear he doesn't disapprove of our research. You know, I did tell you he would've understood had you explained you were tapping me for energy and not purely the Grid." He stuck his large tongue at Zordon playfully.

Saba was the only person with whom Zordon felt comfortable. He gave Saba a playful push. "You're so corny. Yes, you were right. Can we get on with studying?"

They both looked around. Saba smiled.

"Wow. Our own room... I don't have to hide anymore... Things sure are looking up for us, huh?"

Zordon smiled. "Yes, Saba. I only see things getting better for us from here on out."