Chapter Four: Earth - Animal Realm

"This must be a decision made that looks past the scope of the here and now." Cestro said as a rebuttal to Delphine's statement. She had presented her ideology on the evils of Power Rangers to the Elders of Aquitar and to follow up, Cestro was giving a counterpoint for the Elders to consider.

"Yes, we have to deal with the uprising of the Groundlings. I concur that a big part of trying to fix relations with them is to show that we are a law abiding people, by sticking as close to the law as much as possible.

"But to allow ourselves to let our past mistakes dictate our choices, to our detriment, is a mistake. Master Vile's forces are going to be at our front door. It will happen. Will we be ready? The remnant of the Alliance militia is holding the empire back... with Power Rangers. We were just recently attacked by the Triforian Ranger and a former Morphing Master. We lost soldiers who were good people. How would we have fared against them if we used Ranger tech? Five Rangers against one and a Morphing Master? Regardless of their power potential, I like those odds.

"The Anti-Ranger Coalition, or ARC, would like for you to believe they are trying to uphold the order of the galaxy. Is that not what the term "power ranger" means: to ensure power is kept within a certain range? We could protect alien planets much better as Power Rangers!

"Going back to what Delphine and her group ARC said about the Groundlings: didn't we explain to them the situation with her blood bending? Did we not offer the information that it had occurred to begin with? Had we not confessed to it as a sign of goodwill, trying to fortify our chains of trust with them, they would not even know about it! How can they think we have gone back to our old ways!? I submit they were looking for an excuse to start this Civil War. No matter what we do, they refuse to listen to reason. Should we let an illogical, war crazed nation dictate our actions, preventing us from helping the universe?

"My fellow Aquitians... The time has come for us to rise up and defend the universe, as members of the United Alliance! With the help of our own Power Rangers, we will be an ally to all who stand in need. I leave this decision now to you, o wise Elders." And with that, Cestro took his seat with his research team.

The men and women the Elders of Aquitar were composed of looked at each other and nodded.

The senior member placed the voice amplifier to her throat, saying, "We will adjourn for a recess. We will all meet back here tomorrow for our verdict."

. . .

On Earth, Zordon swung his saber with great might. He missed not having it connected to Saba. Ever since he had returned from his six month absence due to the Guardian, he had no word on where his good friend was. He feared the worse. He wished the Guardian had at least given him a recap of the events he missed, instead of just dropping him back in his universe six months after the events of what had been called Master Vile's Final Siege.

"Watsaw!" The Gold Ranger yelled in the midst of the fighting.

She shot several orbs of Gold Zeo Energy from her Power Staff to the enemies approaching her. Their grey skin sparked as the power hit them. More seemed to come out of nowhere every time some were knocked over, though. She was getting fatigued, and she hadn't yet unveiled Shadow Mode in that fight.

Things aren't lookin' good... She thought as she looked around.

"Raaaawr! " The Gold Ranger heard from behind her.

Suddenly, she was covered in darkness. Looking up, she saw a giant black creature fly over her and land in front, stomping flat the monsters who were approaching.

"Now that's how you deal with Hidiacs!" A young woman said, stepping up to be shoulder to shoulder with the Gold Ranger while eyeing the magnificent beast. She flashed a smile and the two women turned to face each other, shaking hands.

"I am Master Guin. I am one of the masters of the Order of the Claw. This big guy here is Black Lion. He is the ruler of the Animal Realm. Follow me. I have some intel for you."

As she saw more and more fighters and animals arrive, the Gold Ranger felt at ease with leaving the battlefield for information purposes. She entered a cave nearby, finding herself surrounded by people looking at maps and doing tactical surveillance.

"Isn't this a little close to the battlefield?" Tria asked as she demorphed.

Guin smiled. "We are from the Magic Realm. It's a different dimension, but still on Earth. Once we stepped into the cave, I opened up a dimensional rip and we walked into my realm. Sorry I didn't have time to explain before."

Tria and Guin looked at a map Guin grabbed from off a nearby table. She pointed at a mark. "This is where we are. It's the same location where the fighting is occurring, only a different plane of existence."

Tria smiled to herself. As a graduate of the Morphing Academy, she was somewhat versed in how dimensions worked. Gaining composure, she looked at Guin and began to ask her questions.

"Thank you for explaining. I appreciate that. Now, what is the Order of the Claw?"

"We are a group of Magicians from this realm. We were taught from a tradition of Martial Arts that have been passed down for many generations. We have been here on Earth for a long time. We are a secret branch of the Morphing Masters."

. . .

The young man looked at his makeshift raft. He was very excited to be embarking on his trip. When he had seen the Gokaigers and the Alliance Rangers battling, he had instantly fallen in love. He knew he wanted to be a Power Ranger.

That young man was supposed to have started in that upcoming semester at the Academy on a science scholarship. That was no longer a possibility, what with the Alliance being a shell of its former self. The Academy had shut down due to the events of the Final Siege and he had nowhere to use his talents. This talent he had was in engineering, and when it came to machinery there were not many who rivaled him. That could be evidenced as he looked through his schematics one last time. It was everything he needed to make a morpher. He placed the papers in his shoulder bag and laid them down in his ship.

"Guy! Please don't do this!" His mother begged before Guy entered the cockpit.

"Mom... I have to follow my dream. If I become a ranger, I can help bring the Academy back. Don't you want me to finish my studies?"

"... yes... but... oh, darling! Do you know what you're doing!?"

"Of course! Now stand back. I don't want you to get hit if this thing explodes." Guy said as he closed the door to his ship and began turning the ship on.

"Oh, my...! Guy, be careful!" His mother said, worried more than ever.

As Guy lifted off and began to make the ascent to space, he patted his shoulder bag. "Only one ingredient left to join the Gokaiger... once I take one of their morphers, I'll be able to see what their energy source is and mimic it so I can be a part of their team. Haha! This is gonna work!"

As he said that, he lifted up his hand in the air in excitement. He had forgotten, however, how small his ship was and banged his hand on the ceiling above him. Cradling his injured hand, he watched as his ship caught onto a frequency he knew belonged to the Gokaigers' Galleon. He had gone over the energy signatures on his computer from the day the Gokaiger were on his planet and had figured out which one belonged to them. He smiled as they popped up on the monitor.

"Rashon, huh? Interesting planet. Oh, well! It's time to get myself a morpher!" Guy Kari said as his ship sped toward the Gokaigers.

. . .

"What!? Why have I never heard of you, then?" Tria asked in shock, confused by Master Guin's sudden revelation. "I am Master Tria of the Morphing Masters."

She did not want to go over the specifics of what happened within the Morphing Masters at that moment, so she decided to leave the title of Master on her name for the time being. It actually hurt her to hear that title again. She was very ashamed and pained at her dismissal from the Alliance.

Guin smiled. "We are... confidential... according to our history books. There was a great power left here on Earth after the Morphing Masters left here. So no one would know about it, we were left here to defend it. The only non-Order people who know about us are Master Sentinel Knight and Master Animus."

"I'm sorry if you didn't know-" Tria began.

"Oh, you noticed I used the present tense. I know Master Animus has fallen recently, but it has happened before and it will happen again. He has a strong Will. He will return."

"So, you tap the Morphing Grid?" Tria asked, intrigued with the revelation of a branch of the Morphing Masters.

"We in the Magic Realm all have an intermediary that we use to tap the Grid. We either use our connection to an Element of Earth, or our Animal Spirits. The Order of the Claw use Animal Spirits."

"What is it you are guarding?"

"We were protecting a powerful object legend tells us is called the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. We do not know from where it came or what it does. We only know that the Venerated Ones did not want it falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately... Our group became corrupted.

"Two women masters within our ranks, Sabrina and Camille, fell to dark ways. An ancient force arose from darkness and persuaded them to follow his ways. They began restoring old evils here on Earth. They seek from us two things: the Greatest Treasure, and the evil known to us only as Ninjakon. There is just just as much mystery surrounding Ninjakon as there is the Treasure, so I am sorry I don't have more to tell you."

"Where did this evil come from? Where is the Ninjakon?"

"This evil calls himself Dai Shi. We do not know from where he came. He just showed up one day, preaching some twisted version of our practices. He told people flattering things about how the people here were more powerful than those out of the Magic Realm. He said they deserved to be rulers. Many believed his words.

"He then brought forth the Morlock who calls himself Master Octomus. We saw things get even worse on Earth when Rita Repulsa took over the palace the Venerated Ones established long ago before they left Earth.

"Oh, right, the Ninjakon. All we know is that it is hidden in the forbidden Ancient City. We have that place heavily guarded. There are many artifacts of evil origin there that we have been charged to protect."

Tria stared at Guin, trying to process everything she heard. "Wow... that's amazing. Well, my team of fighters are here to help you. We will ensure you will defeat Dai Shi, Rita, and all of the other evils here on Earth."

Guin smiled again, placing a hand on Tria's shoulder. "No, we can't do that. From what I've heard, the universe is in turmoil. Other planets need you. We have the help of the actual Animals whose Spirits we already harness to power ourselves. Rita and anyone else already have their hands full dealing with our two realms. Other planets aren't so lucky. They need you."

Tria couldn't argue with her wisdom, as Tria of Wisdom told her deep in her heart. "You're right... Wait, you said you were protecting the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. What happened to it?"

"I took it." Tria heard from behind her. She turned around and was joyed to see Master Gosei standing behind her. They smiled and gave each other large embraces.

"You took it?" She asked as she ended her hug with her old friend.

"Yes. Once we heard their was a group advancing towards it, we hatched a plan to protect it. It's in safe hands right now."

"Where?" Tria asked.

Gosei pointed at the cave walls around them. "Can't say, sorry. The walls have ears."

"When we began to be overwhelmed, I contacted Master Sentinel Knight and he directed me to Gosei and his secret friend. Sentinel told us they are extremely loyal and trustworthy. We are thankful for their help." Master Guin explained.

"Tria, you must go now. Return to the battle. Take Zordon and go to Mirinoi. They need your help there. Masters Orion and Magnus are having a difficult time defending it from Rita's forces." Gosei said, interrupting the moment they were having. He knew they didn't have much more time to lose.

"Rita? How is she gettin' there from here? She can't possibly have the ship power for a trip like that!" Tria said, incredulous.

"She used her Blue Magic and created a wormhole. I finally tracked it down myself. I've sent your sister on the Ragnarok the wormhole's coordinates already. Get there immediately. We'll be fine here." Gosei said. Guin nodded in agreement.

After giving the two a hug goodbye, Tria ran through the portal and found herself outside an empty cave, back on the main plane of Earth and staring at a field of beings massacring each other. She summoned her Power Staff to her hand.

"It's morphin' time! Gold Ranger power!"

. . .

Lord Zedd made his way in secret to Finster's laboratory as he crept through the halls of the Moon Palace. He could sense Finster's serum nearby. As he entered the lab, he found Finster studying a book. The book was one of Magic. Finster was doing all he could to figure out how to break through to the Zeo Crystal, which was under the Moon Palace, in the Caves of Deception.

"Finster, you brilliant fool! I'm here!"

"Oh, goodness!" Finster said, rushing to Zedd. "You must be exhausted! Come over here. You can feed for just a moment before you need to leave!"

"Why!? I need to be at full strength again!" Zedd demanded.

"To get to full strength will take time, Lord Zedd. The keepers of the Moon Palace will destroy you before you can fully replenish yourself."

"Fine. I'll take what I can for now. When can I return to quench my thirst, then destroy those who preside here?"

"I know they are leaving soon to visit Master Vile. Here is a communicator. Then when I know they are gone, I will tell you."

"Excellent, Finster." Zedd said as lied down the flat surface Finster had prepared for Zedd.

As he did, Finster began pumping serum into the tubes around his body. Once Zedd had a little bit of juice flowing, Finster disconnected him.

"I shall return, Finster. Until then, I will search the universe for a great power!" As Zedd said that, a planet flashed in his mind. The phrase "great power" echoed in him as he saw the planet.

"Are you okay, Lord Zedd?"

Touching the rim around his exposed brain, Zedd replied, saying, "Yes... yes, I am... I just thought of my next destination..."

"And where would that be?" Finster asked.

"...Phaedos..."

. . .

As the Gold Ranger ran into the fray back on Earth proper, she tried contacting Zordon. After a silence over her communicator, she tried several more times.

"Don't waste your breath, Tri." She heard Yoral say over the network. "We lost contact with him a while ago. I think his comm piece broke."

I hope that's all it was... The Gold Ranger thought as she battled through hordes of monsters trying to grab her.

"Reowr!"

"Rawr!"

Suddenly, two giant red blurs surrounded her. The monsters began to be thrown to and fro, slamming into the mountains surrounding the area in which they fought. The Gold Ranger paused to see the culprits: two Lions, red in color and smaller than the black Lion who helped her earlier.

"Meet the Red Lion Brothers!" A man proclaimed, landing in front of the giants. It seemed as if he had been riding on one of the Lions before dismounting onto the ground below.

"And you are?" The Gold Ranger asked.

"Master Lope, of the Order of the Claw. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm taking these two back to their father, Black Lion. These troublemakers snuck in here against his orders!" He said, laughing. As they pounced through the battlefield, the Gold Ranger continued looking for Zordon.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. When she looked over to it, she found Zordon standing in the midst of the explosion, hands crackling from Morphing Energy and eyes glowing with White Energy from the Emotional Spectrum. His saber was swaying in the wind of the explosion's aftershock in the holster on his belt.

Running to Zordon, the Gold Ranger placed her hand on Zordon's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Shrugging, Zordon replied, "I am now. Where have you been?"

"I'll explain on the Ragnarok. We gotta go now!"

"Go? Go where? We are needed here!" Zordon asked.

As the Ragnarok began to float above them, descending to pick them up, the Gold Ranger turned to Zordon and shook her head before saying, "No, we are needed elsewhere. We're going to see some old friends on Mirinoi."