Chapter Nine: Liaria, Kadix, and the Order of Meledon

Tria, Yoral, and Trinity stared at Zordon and Dulcea. They were unsure of what to say. Yoral broke the silence.

"...uh... just like that? This chick tells you about some old practice and you say we're all doing it... just like that?"

Zordon furrowed his brow. He hadn't thought what he had done was abnormal. When Dulcea told him about the Order of Meledon it felt right to him. He had then acted accordingly.

Tria moved her head around, as if she were physically rattling the idea around in her head. "We're not sayin' the Order isn't a good thing... it's just... kinda outta character for you to just sign onto somethin' like this without, I dunno, arguin'? Doubtin'? Then volunteer others? It's all kinda... weird... comin' from you..."

Trinity then brightened up and turned to the others, excited about her idea. "I know! I know! Dulcea is evil and Zordon is under her mind control!" She smiled, proud of her detective skills.

Tria and Yoral looked at Zordon and Dulcea with raised eyebrows. Saba walked over from the corner of the room. He sighed before he spake.

"No... he's fine. I can feel he's not under any mind control through our bond."

Yoral squinted at Saba, Dulcea, and Zordon. "But he's been with the chick for the past six months... maybe she's using that little dog to mind wipe Z-boy!"

"I'm a feline..."

"Stop this! Geez! I'm not brainwashed! I'm Zordon and I'm not under any spell. I felt... something! Okay!? Geez!" Zordon shouted, flustered.

Tria winked. "How does it feel to not have someone believe you?"

Dulcea turned her back to everyone, trying to hide a smile. Zordon stood, wide eyed and jaw almost open.

Yoral and Trinity shrugged. She turned to Yoral and said, "I dunno... I think my theory is still valid..."

"Zordon's kinda weird, so it's hard to say..." Yoral replied.

"Tria... I should've fought for you to have a fair trial..." Then, for the first time, Zordon had a thought. It was a thought he wouldn't let himself have until that moment, but it made sense. "Tria? Sentinel Knight... he was wrong. He should've given you a fair trial. I shouldn't have let my arrogance as a Morphing Master cloud my sense of right and wrong. I should have stood up for justice. I'm sorry."

"That's it. I'm convinced. Mind control..." Yoral said.

Saba nodded. "I'm starting to think you may be right..."

Trinity clapped. "Yay! I was right!"

"Thank you, Zordon. That means a lot to me." Tria said.

That was a big step for her. Being discharged from the Morphing Masters in the way she had been hurt her deeply. She cared much for that position and what it meant. Zordon's apology really did mean a lot to her.

"Sorry to break this up... but the console is beeping..." Yoral said, noticing it for the first time.

"Oh, no! How long!?" Tria asked, sprinting to it.

Zordon followed her over. "I don't know. I hadn't been paying attention."

"Wait... so is he or is he not brainwashed!?" Trinity demanded.

Tria winked at her. "Definitely not."

"The map is pointing to Liaria. There is a sudden burst of activity around the planet. Massive forces are on their way to join what's already there." Yoral said, reading the console.

"Okay, then. Let's go to Liaria." Dulcea proclaimed.

Zordon wanted to argue. He knew their mission was to find Master Ivicar, but he also knew that there were people in trouble. He thought about his mistake with Tria, how he had focused too much on the letter of the law and not the spirit. He nodded.

"Yes, let's go to Liaria." Zordon said.

"Oh! Brainwashed or not, I like the new Zordon." Trinity said, giving him a hug. Zordon blushed. Saba smiled.

Yoral sneered, turning back to the console. "All courses set for Liaria. Okay, everyone. Strap on your big boy shoes and get ready. This fight's gonna be a doozy!"

. . .

"Alliance Megazord! Online and ready to battle!" The Alliance Rangers said in unison.

"Let's take this creep down." Alliance Red said.

"Mega Sabers! Activate!" Alliance Blue announced. The megazord's dual blades appeared in its hands. Diabolico stood and observed the machine in front of him.

"Interesting... I had been told a machine of your caliber existed. I will destroy you rangers and take it for my army!"

"Is it too late for me to join!?" A booming, slow voice said from the east side of the battlefield.

"Huh?" Alliance Pink said, scanning the area.

"Oh, no..." Alliance Green said, looking at his screen.

"Now what do we do!?" Alliance Blue asked, worried.

"We fight." Alliance Yellow proclaimed.

Walking onto the field, a shorter, stockier Demon appeared. He was mostly blue in color and held what looked like a bazooka.

"Ah. Loki. What a surprise. I'm glad to see you here, my friend." Diabolico said.

"Yeah, I was asked by The Queen to come down and help you get this done quick. We're needed on Liaria pronto!" Loki explained.

"There's that Queen character again..." Alliance Red observed as the megazord lumbered toward the two to battle.

"After this we have to head to Liaria." Alliance Yellow said.

"My thoughts exactly." Replied Alliance Blue as he commanded the megazord's arms to swing at the Demons.

The blow was blocked by Diabolico. Immediately crouching to a knee, Loki fired his bazooka. The Alliance Megazord went flying backwards, crashing into a mountain side. Sparks were flying everywhere.

"We're still good. Let's go at 'em again!" Alliance Green said.

"Charging blades!" Alliance Pink said.

In unison, the rangers said, "Double Blade Beam!"

The blades were glowing with Morphing Energy. The megazord struck the ground with its blades and two vertically standing crescent waves shot toward the Demons.

"Ha! We're Demons! Ya' gotta do better than that!" Loki proclaimed.

Diabolico nodded. His mind, with arrogance, thought of how there were only a certain number of things which could hurt a Demon, let alone destroy one. He snickered.

One beam hit Diabolico, and the other hit Loki. It knocked them both backward. They fell on their backs in a pile.

"Alright. Let's finish them." Alliance Red said.

"Hahaha!" Loki laughed.

"Yes, rangers. Finish us!" Diabolico mocked.

"You may knock us down, but you can't destroy us!" Loki taunted.

"You are like mosquitoes that need to be squashed." Diabolico said.

"Let's squash 'em!" Loki suggested.

"Star Power: Star Blast!" Diabolico said.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, no!"

"Brace yourselves!"

The blast shot forward and hit the megazord. Energy crackled over the megazord's armor. The rangers had been able to move in time enough to the side to not be decimated by the blow. From up in space, Burai saw a chunk missing from the megazord's left "hip".

"Uh-oh..." Burai said before trying to divert more power to the left side to compensate. He wanted to wait before pulling the rangers from the fight. He didn't want to make that a precedence for all of their battles.

"I'm thinking I may have discovered another attack." Alliance Pink said.

"Oh?" Alliance Blue replied.

"Just follow me on this one..." She said, typing into the console the impressions she was receiving from the zord.

"Climhazzard: Duplex!" The rangers said together.

Rushing forward with blinding speed, the Alliance Megazord placed both of its blades together and impaled Diabolico through the belly.

"Diabolico!" Loki yelled.

The Alliance Megazord then jumped into the air, dragging the blade up with it. The blade jaggedly cut Diabolico through the middle. When the megazord landed, Diabolico's organs and skin began reattaching to their cut parts.

"Impossible!" Alliance Red yelled.

"Not the right type of metal, foolish rangers. You aren't equipped to beat us!" Diabolico said, slowly beginning to approach the megazord as it lost power exponentially.

"We have to do something!" Alliance Yellow warned.

"We fight." Alliance Red said, mimicking her comment earlier.

Looking down, Alliance Yellow nodded. She brought her head back up and said, "Right! Let's do this!"

Picking up the blade and separating it into its dual mode again, the megazord slowly walked forward. The rangers knew they were heading to their doom.

"DIABOLICO. LOKI. JINXER. STOP WASTING TIME AND REPORT TO LIARIA AT ONCE!" A voice could be heard echoing through the sky. The three giants looked up to see Maligore's face projected in the sky.

"Who's that?" Alliance Green asked.

"But, Maligore, we are about to-" Loki started.

"THIS IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW. REPORT TO LIARIA IMMEDIATELY." Maligore commanded, disappearing from the sky as he finished.

"Until next time, rangers..." Diabolico said, disappearing.

"You won't be so lucky next time!" Loki threatened before following suit.

From down on the ground, Jinxer could be heard by the rangers saying, "You have incurred demon fury! Soon, you will be destroyed! Haha!" And with that he, too, vanished.

Burai sat there, hand hovering over the button to recall the rangers. He breathed a sigh of relief. He thought about how the break in needing to run from their battles would subconsciously give the rangers more confidence in future battles.

"Okay, rangers." Burai said to them through the megazord's communicators. "Say goodbye to Kadix and get back here. Set the megazord in the Holding Bay. We're making a course for Liaria."

. . .

"So... you're going to do this?" Villamax questioned his team.

"Yes. We are." Marvelous said defiantely.

"What about all the training I have given you up to this point? Are you all just going to throw it away!?" Villamax demanded.

"We are going to use it to help others. Not ourselves." Luka said. She kicked a box of treasure over to Villamax.

"What's this!?" Villamax asked.

"Payment. For your training. Also, for this vessel." Joe replied.

"She's not for sale."

"We weren't asking. Now take the money and leave." Marvelous said, grinning.

"Then you leave me no choice." Villamax said, pulling out his sword.

"There's six of us... you can't think you can win!" Doc advised.

"I'm your teacher. I know I can."

"Wow... who would've thought we would need to defeat our master..." Guy thought aloud.

"Uh... he's only been your mentor for hardly any time at all..." Joe said to Guy.

"But it's felt like so long..." Guy said, truly sad to need to fight his "mentor".

"Ready?" Marvelous said, pulling out his morpher.

The others did the same, and they all shouted, "Gokai Change!"

"Gokai Red."

"Gokai Blue."

"Gokai Yellow."

"Gokai Green."

"Gokai Pink."

"Gokai Silver!"

They all produced their weapons. They were on the top deck of the Galleon, ready for the battle to start. The blackness of space being cut only by the luminous light projecting onto the deck by the Galleon, and the shining of distant stars.

"Heeyah!" Villamax cried as he struck.

The six rangers surrounded him, swinging at their former mentor. He quickly stopped each attack. His speed was mind numbing, even to Gokai Blue.

"You have no honor!" Villamax cried as he kicked Gokai Red in the stomach.

Gokai Pink stopped and took off her helmet to stare at Villamax. "Maybe not to this... pirate thing we've been doing. But that's only because something more important has presented itself. Others. We do have honor: to those who cannot defend themselves across the universe!"

"Hmph." Villamax said as he punched Gokai Yellow and held a flailing Gokai Green's head under his armpit. "You need to look out for yourself. Mark my words, Ahim... I mean Princess Miha: your wish to protect the weaker people will end in your destruction!"

Gokai Red stood up with Gokai Silver's help, then addressed Villamax. "That may be so, but I guarantee you that one day you will get yourself in a situation that will culminate in your destruction, because of the company you wish to surround yourself with. Then, when you lie there, dying, think of what you accomplished in your life. Then, think of me. Think of what we, the Gokaigers, accomplished by helping others. Then we'll see who led a more fulfilling life."

Villamax gripped his sword in anger. "Gokai Pink... put on your helmet. I will not fight you until you do so."

Miha reached up and pulled a white flower from her hair. She handed it to Villamax with a smile on her face. "Please... join us. Take this flower as a symbol of the new life you will have with us!"

He slapped her hand, sending the flower flying. It landed in the treasure chest meant for him. Gokai Silver saw that and, thinking he was trying to attack Miha, dived forward.

"Noooo!" Gokai Silver yelled. As he lunged, he tried charging his attack when suddenly his fake Dilithium Crystal started cracking. It couldn't handle the tinkering Guy had done to it before. He was losing his power.

With hardly any energy left, all Gokai Silver could could do was push Villamax overboard. As their mentor was falling, Gokai Green tossed him a life jacket. Villamax grabbed it and turned on its thrusters, allowing him to cruise through space. Luka closed the treasure chest and tossed it out to him.

Villamax looked at the six rangers as they demorphed, clutching the treasure chest tightly to himself. "Very well. If this is what you want, then so be it. Fare thee well, my students!" And with that, Villamax sailed into the darkness of space.

"Now what?" Joe asked to Marvelous.

"I wasn't joking before. That big lava guy was a jerk. We're going to hunt him down and give him a dose of his own medicine. Where did your energy tracker say he went, Doc?"

"A planet called Liaria."

"Are we almost there?" Luka asked.

Doc pointed into space at a green planet. "Yep. There it is. We'll be entering its atmosphere in about five minutes at this speed."

"Perfect. Okay, everyone: get ready." Marvelous said.

As everyone finished prepping, Guy looked at his morpher. The crystal inside had a very large crack. He shook his head in disappointment. He feared for what would happen to him during the next battle.

As they approached the planet, they observed a huge mass of ships from Master Vile. Miha pointed at one in particular. The one that helped destroy her homeworld.

"Novact is here..." She said, pointing at the Dark Wave.

"We'll get him. Don't worry." Marvelous said.

"How will we get past them?" Guy asked, worried.

"By driving fast." Marvelous said as he waved goodbye, running below deck. Morphing, he grabbed the wheel to steer the ship.

On the Dark Wave, Novact smiled as he saw the pirate ship. "Kegler... isn't that the ship that got away during our final strike against M51? When we were bombing Corsair?"

The scientist, who had transferred recently from Vile's Skull Ship, squinted out the window. He then waddled back to Novact, saying, "It does look familiar now that you mention it."

"Good. No one gets away from me. Set the lasers on it and fire until there's nothing left to fire at." Novact commanded.

Right then, however, the Dark Wave shook.

"What was that!?" Kegler inquired nervously.

"We're being attacked!" Someone yelled in the command deck. Running to the teleprompter, Novact saw the firing from the opposite direction of the Galleon.

"Target them, too! Tell all the ships to-"

He was interrupted by more blasts.

"What now!?"

"A small fleet of Alliance ships have appeared, and they are blasting at all of us. Sir, Rita hasn't arrived yet... We were told to wait for her to attack the planet... What are your orders?" Kegler said, insinuating they should attack now.

"We dive down now without Rita. We don't need her. You finished a Madam Woe, right?"

"Yes. She is on standby to be sent down. Her Spirit is already in the new vessel."

"Perfect. Give the order. We go down now."

Burai, on the Alliance Rangers' main ship, saw the evil army begin to descend to Liaria.

Claire furrowed her brow. "Open a communication to Gerlit. Tell him they've struck and for him to hide whatever artifact he and Gosei are protecting."

"Yes, ma'am!" Reon said as he began typing.

"We gotta go down." Rahp said, tapping Reon on the shoulder.

"Okay. Just finished. Let's go." He replied.

"Wait, I'm coming, too." Claire said, walking to her teammates.

"Are you sure?" Filcar said.

She smiled at him. "Yes. I figured I can still help in a more... hands on way."

"Okay, guys. Let's make it down to the teleportation pad. I just sent them the coordinates that we need to go to." Priscilla said.

"Wait! Look!" Reon said, pointing to the monitor. On screen was Captain Marvelous.

"What do you want?" Claire spat.

"To help. As a sorry, we give you this gift. We hope you like it." Marvelous said.

Suddenly, the screen went blank.

"Look out there..." Priscilla said. They all followed her gaze out into space. There, they saw the Galleon blasting its way through the ranks of the ships flying down.

"Huh. Who wooda thunk?" Reon said.

"They're giving us time. Let's head on down!" Rahp commanded.

As all this occurred, the Ragnarok landed undetected on Liaria.

"Stay here, you two." Tria ordered to Yoral and Trinity.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Yoral protested.

"The Ragnarok needs to be protected. I trust you guys." Tria explained.

"Yes, ma'am!" Trinity said, saluting her jokingly before turning to Yoral. "Get in here, you idiot! " She further said, pulling Yoral into the ship.

"Are you sure they'll be okay?" Zordon asked.

"We have to be sure of it." Dulcea said. "We all have a role to play."

Zordon turned to Saba. "You loop around and meet us from the opposite direction. If something happens to us, you can still get Gerlit out of here."

Nodding, Saba turned around and began running. He dropped down on all fours as he did. Soon, he was out of sight.

"Before we go, let me do one spell." Dulcea said.

The other two nodded.

"By the power of the Order of Meledon, let the power of the Nathadians protect us!" Dulcea said.

"What will that do?" Tria asked as red streams coursed over them.

"Don't know. It's a spell Sentinel Knight taught me. I guess we'll find out soon." Dulcea replied.

"One last thing." Tria said. She pulled out three badges. She placed one on her.

"What is this?" Zordon asked impatiently. He looked down to see a "30" on the badge, along with a big V. The V was obviously a reference to the Alliance's battle cry for "victory" (*Author's Note: It is the symbol of the 30th anniversary of Super Sentai for those of you who know it).

"It's a little token Trinity made. It designates we are a team. The thirty represents the thirty systems that comprised the members of the United Alliance." Tria explained.

Zordon placed it on his left breast. Using his connection to Saba for the first time since they had been reunited, he summoned his red saber. Tria summoned her Gold Power Staff and Dulcea produced her fighting staff.

As they investigated the area, trying to find Gerlit, Trinity and Yoral sat in the Ragnarok.

"Boring!" Yoral said, kicking a table in anger.

"Oh, please calm down!" Trinity said, walking to him.

"It's just that... I can't fight and I'm stuck babysitting!"

"What!?" She said, offended.

"No, not you. The ship."

She glared at him. "That better be it..."

"Also... man... I'm sick and tired of hiding. Your sister won't flip out! I promise!" Yoral said.

Remembering Zordon's words to her, she winked. "Don't make promises you can't keep." Then she sighed. "Trust me... she'll freak out if we told her."

He leaned in close to her. He placed a hand on her face and brushed her hair to behind her ear. He looked into her eyes.

"Well, I guess being here with you isn't so bad..."

He then leaned in, kissing his secret girlfriend. As they kissed, they didn't notice the console beeping, telling them an intruder had entered the ship. The Fake Gold Ranger looked in from the window on the door to the room, calculating the next move.

Meanwhile, Zordon looked at his wrist tech. He had the energy signature Gosei gave him programmed in, keyed into the artifact Gerlit was protecting. According to the wrist tech, they were rapidly approaching Gerlit's hidden base.

"Thank you, good soldiers." They heard from above. They looked up to see a dark purple cloud descend in front of them. The trio gripped their weapons tight. The cloud spun until it became a being holding a big, three eyed scythe.

"Who are you?" Dulcea demanded.

"I am Azazel, the Great Demon Lord. My queen has released me for a momentous occasion. I am to follow you and retrieve the Greatest Treasure in the Universe." He said casually.

"Not on my life!" Tria cried out.

"That's right. Your life no longer belongs to you. Demons: your vessels await." Azazel said, raising a hand.

Suddenly, dark black clouds swooped down from the sky and headed toward the three fighters. In each cloud was the essence of a Demon, ready to take control of their new host bodies. As the clouds approached, the red energy of the Spell of Meledon coursed through the rangers and prevented the Demons' entrance. The clouds returned to the sky as they found themselves unable to enter their targets.

"Interesting... Nathadian Magic... It has been quite a while since I have seen that." Azazel said, laughing.

"You know the Nathadians!?" Dulcea cried out in surprise.

"You could say that. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Well, if you will not allow me to use your minds, I guess you serve no purpose. Prepare to be destroyed..." Azazel said, putting his wicked scythe in position.

"It's morphin' time! Gold Ranger power!" Tria yelled, becoming her Zeo Ranger counterpart. The "30" badge could be seen on her gold shield.

"Hmm... I saw something like you long ago... I guess that Alpha was able to spread his genes somehow..." Azazel commented, lost in thought.

"Prepare to fall. In the name of the Alliance. Attack!" The Gold Ranger commanded.

Zordon's eyes glowed white. The White Energy flowed through his hands into his saber. A red and white blast erupted from the lion head at the end of the weapon. It hit Azazel, yet he didn't seem to budge.

Dulcea leapt forward and struck Azazel in the face. The Demon did not move an inch. Dulcea backed away, shocked.

"Power Staff!" The Gold Ranger shouted. Gold orbs erupted from the staff and hit Azazel. That, as well, seemed to do the Demon Lord no harm.

"My turn." Azazel said, not sounding in the least bit threatened or even interested in the battle. His scythe glowed with a purple color. He swung it, causing a horizontal crescent to fly out and strike the three fighters. Dulcea jumped out of the way while Zordon and the Gold Ranger took the brunt of the blast.

"No!" Dulcea yelled. She ran over to where they had been standing.

"Now for you, warrior." Azazel said.

As Dulcea got to the spot she found Tria, blood dripping down her face and demorphed. Dulcea helped her up. She looked around for Zordon but found no trace of him. Tears began to stream down her face. She then stared at Azazel.

"You may defeat us, but there is nothing you can do to get the artifact. More of our warriors are coming and they will crush you!" Dulcea yelled in anger.

"Hehe... I doubt they will know how to defeat me. Now, prepare for your destruction!"

"Stand down."

Dulcea and Tria looked up to see a man in red flip forward in between them and Azazel. He wore a collar and was in red from the top of his helmet to his boots. Tria was the first to notice the badge on his chest. The same badge Dulcea had passed out just moments earlier.

"Is that...?" Tria started.

The red ranger produced his weapon: a red saber with a lion head on the hilt. He got into a fighting position.

"I know your weakness, Azazel, the Great Demon Lord. I know all about your kind. The knowledge of the Nathadians courses through me! Prepare to be destroyed!"

For the first time, Azazel was frightened. "Who are you!?"

"I, Zordon Zoltar of Eltar, am the Meledon Ranger."

(*Author's Note: Meledon Ranger's suit is that of the Sentai Ranger AkaRed)