Chapter Twelve: Magna - Psychotic

Magnus looked at Dulcea, Tria, and Zordon. They had arrived on Magna shortly after Magnus had defeated Master Vile. He was surprised to see them. They were standing in a grove near where he and Toro had stood their ground.

"I appreciate you wanting to help, but as you can see... I have things covered here. It would be best for you three to continue your journey and not waste anymore time here."

Zordon nodded. "Makes sense. No sense in staying here when you are here, keeping guard."

Tria thought to object. Tria of Heart wished to stay as long as was needed to ensure the people of Magna stayed safe. The other two parts to her conscience, representing Courage and Wisdom, knew Zordon was correct and we're adamant that they not waste anymore time

"What do you know about Ivicar, then?" Tria asked, listening to what she decided were the voices of reason.

Magnus looked down, lost in thought. "He went out on an expedition. Gosei and Gerlit had been convinced they found some mythical artifact, and Ivicar went to visit Earth to see if he could confirm their suspicions. I received a transmission from him when he was halfway to Earth. He said he was ambushed by Master Vile himself. The transmission ended. I sent a scout team. All we found was the ship, empty. But... all the escape pods were deployed. I don't know if he escaped or if he was captured."

"Knowing Ivicar, he most likely escaped. He's tough." Dulcea said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that..." Someone said from behind a tree.

Magnus pulled out his sword. "Who's there!? Show your face!"

"Calm yourself, brother. It is only me." Estro said, slithering out from behind the tree he had teleported behind.

Tria, Zordon, and Dulcea shot straight up. Zordon sneered as his red saber appeared in his hand.

"He's a traitor, Magnus." Tria said, locking her eyes onto Estro's. Seered into her memory was him standing in the midst of a fire on one of Triforia's moons, waving at her and blowing kisses.

"Hmmm... that makes sense. He always was a little worm. It explains what happened on Triforia between you and me as well." Magnus said, clutching his sword in his hand.

"Now, now. No need for name calling!" Estro said as he stepped forward.

"Not another step." Dulcea warned.

"My, my... touchy, are we? I just came down to meet our resurrected friend here." Estro replied, pointing at Zordon. "And lo and behold, he has new powers. You may be one of the strongest beings in the universe right now! How about you and me... team up, hmm? I'm sure together we could take downSentinel Knight."

"Dream on." Zordon spat. "Now, what do you know about Ivicar."

"I am so offended!" Estro said, crossing his arms and putting on a pouty face. "No one even asks me how I'm doing. Well, I'll tell you anyway! You see, Power Rangers are popping up everywhere it seems. So, since I love power and I wish to regulate it for myself, I figured why not have my own!?"

"Estro... what have you done..." Zordon said, worry showing in his voice. At that, Dulcea produced her staff and began looking around them.

"Well, let me show you... Oh, children!" Estro said, clapping his hands together twice. In what seemed like a bolt of lightning, five people appeared in front of Estro, staring at Zordon, Magnus, Tria, and Dulcea.

Zordon's jaw almost dropped. "You were all students under Dr. Finster. You were-"

"Fired. By you!" Dr. Pedro said, fury in his eyes.

Dr. Flora smiled. "Isn't it ironic we were fired for doing what you guys are doing right now? Imagine what would have happened if you had listened to us! Perhaps Decrof wouldn't have fallen and we'd still have M51. Ha! Perhaps the Final Siege would have never happened!"

"We were doing the best we knew how to maintain order. Your team didn't care. You purposefully disobeyed. Your current company shows what lies deep in your hearts: greed. Lust for power. You sicken me." Magnus said, defending Zordon.

Dr. Fogo scoffed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, hypocrites. You made your bed, now you get to sleep in it. And guess what? We just came over to crash your slumber party."

Tria and Dulcea exchanged a look that seemed to say, "not the best use of wit". Magnus and Zordon kept their eyes glued on the five. They knew what was coming.

"Ready, guys?" Dr. Vesgarta asked.

"I thought you'd never ask..." Dr. Gelo said, smiling.

"Estro has helped us realize our true potential. Now we get our revenge on you, for ruining our lives, Zordon of Eltar!" Dr. Fogo said, fire in his eyes.

"Get ready to morph, everyone!" Zordon advised.

"N-Drive: Fire!"

"N-Drive: Rock!"

"N-Drive: Predator!"

"N-Drive: Ice!"

"N-Drive: Nature!"

"Ninjetti Power: Spirit unleashed!"

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

"Defender Mode: Activate!"

"Ancient Source: Meledon Force!"

"Psycho Red."

"Psycho Blue."

"Psycho Black."

"Psycho Yellow."

"Psycho Pink."

"Green Owl Ninja!"

"Gold Ranger!"

"Magna Defender!"

"Meledon Ranger!"

"Psycho Rangers!"

Meledon Ranger flicked his collar. "Fighting to preserve the universe..."

"Team Victory!"

Explosions occurred throughout the entirety of the super powered introduction. The explosions were caused by the excess Morphing Energy created from their morphs. Being in such close proximity, the explosions were greatly amplified. Estro, squinting through the blazes, made his way in between each set of rangers, clapping. "Wow! Just... wow! I'm excited to see how bad you guys get pummelled. See ya!" And like that, Estro vanished.

"Time for your demise, Zordon!" Psycho Red declared, rushing toward him with lightning speed, sword in hand. Meledon did not move, but accepted the impact. He parried the attack easily.

"Power Staff!" Gold Ranger declared. "Time to get dirty!" The Gold Ranger swung her staff, attempting to slash Psycho Black. He swung his mighty weapon and blocked her attack.

"Hi-ya!" Green Owl cried, unable to connect her kick on Psycho Yellow.

"You are seriously going to have to do better than that if you think you can stop me." Psycho Yellow said, sincerely offended by what she thought was a bad attack.

"It's on..." Green Owl said, diving into her, shoulder connecting to the psycho's belly.

"I am so going to enjoy beating down a Morphing Master!" Psycho Blue said, laughing.

"Come forward and meet your demise, you disgusting pig!" Magna Defender said, beckoning him with his index finger.

Meledon Ranger was surprised to find himself having difficulty in blocking Psycho Red's slashes. "Hmm... you fight like a man possessed."

"I'm not just a man... I'm a psycho!" The evil ranger declared, slashing Meledon's chest. Sparks flew everywhere.

"Ahh!" Gold Ranger screamed as she flew backward, being the recipient of a roundhouse kick from the most powerful of the Psycho Rangers, Psycho Black.

Green Owl flew through the air, attempting to grab Psycho Yellow by the head. Psycho Yellow, upon Green Owl getting close, dropped down to do the splits. As Green Owl sailed overhead, she used her sling shot like weapon and hit Green Owl with an Energy Pellet. Green Owl's trajectory was greatly altered and she flew headfirst into a boulder.

"Couldn't have done it better if I'd planned it!" Psycho Yellow said, pleased with herself.

Psycho Blue swung his axe, but it was blocked by Magna Defender.

"Prepare to be destroyed." Magna Defender warned. He thrust the axe up into the air and kicked Psycho Blue in the stomach. He then transformed his sword into its blaster mode and began shooting the Psycho Ranger as he flew through the air. Psycho Blue fell in a lump on the ground. Smoke ascended from his body.

Magna Defender approached the body cautiously. As he did, he kicked at it. No sign of life.

I must help the others. He thought.

As he turned, he suddenly found himself falling on his face. He looked to his feet to find Psycho Blue holding his ankles, laughing.

"Gotcha!" The evil ranger said, jumping to his feet. Still with the Defender's ankles in his hands, he began twirling him in a circle. He let go, sending Magna Defender flying into the Team Victory as they attempted to regroup.

"Haha!" Psycho Red laughed as his team convened in front of the fallen fighters. He folded his arms as he began to address them. "Behold our power! We are the mightiest rangers there ever was!"

Meledon dug his blade into the grass under him and propped himself up. He began scanning the Psycho Rangers. He came up with nothing.

"We will defeat you, Fogo. I don't know why you've decided to betray the United Alliance, but it seems to be trending now so I won't question it. All I do know is... you won't defeat us!" Meledon said heroically.

As he finished speaking, his teammates were on their feet as well. They got into their fighting stances ready to fight.

"Hahaha!" Several arrows flew from the trees, raining down on the rangers. They fell back onto their backs, worse off than they were before. Psycho Pink jumped down from her hiding place and took her place with her team.

"Sorry it took me so long: I couldn't find a perch that I liked." Psycho Pink said, laughing.

"What are we going to do!?" Gold Ranger asked desperately.

"We have to dig deep!" Magna Defender said.

"I can do that!" Green Owl said, diving into the ground below her.

"Wha!?" Psycho Blue said.

"I got this." Psycho Black said. He thrust his fist into the ground and, after feeling around for a moment, pulled Green Owl from underground and tossed her into a tree.

As she hit the tree, the only thing that hit the ground was her uniform.

"Wow!" Psycho Blue exclaimed. "She slammed so hard she dematerialized!"

"Don't be stupid." Psycho Red said, looking around. "You're a scientist for crying out loud. Stay on the lookout! She's around here somewhere..."

"Meledon Fire Storm!"

"Ahhh!" The Psycho Rangers yelled, being hit by several cascading balls of fire.

"The art of distraction. Haha!" Green Owl said, appearing suddenly next to Gold Ranger.

"Ha!" Magna Defender yelled, firing blasts from his gun. The Psychos fell again, hurt badly.

"Watsaw!" Gold Ranger cried as she entered Shadow Mode. She pummelled the down villains several times.

"Looks like fun. Wait for me!" Meledon Ranger said, going into his own Shadow Mode. It was predominantly red, with white accents, as opposed to Gold Ranger's black with gold accents. The two rangers dived continually into their enemies. When she felt as if she was approaching the threshold of safety for such an attack, Gold Ranger returned to Green Owl and Magna Defender, while Meledon Ranger followed suit.

"What just happened!?" Psycho Yellow complained.

"We got rocked." Replied Psycho Blue.

"We need to train harder." Observed Psycho Black.

Psycho Red shook his head. "We will get our revenge, Zordon. Psychos? Attack!"

The five warriors charged forward, hate dripping from their screams. Their targets stood, staring at their upcoming doom.

"What do we do!?" Green Owl asked.

"Toro, charge!" Magna Defender commanded.

The giant bull appeared suddenly, stampeding toward his new friend and his allies. He saw the Psycho Rangers and knew they were his target. He bowed his head and plowed forward.

The evil rangers froze when they saw him.

"We have nothing to fight something like that!" Psycho Pink exclaimed.

"Psychos: retreat. This is only the beginning, Zordon." Psycho Red warned. The five warriors then, like lightning, bounded away out of sight.

"Alright!" Gold Ranger shouted.

"We did it!" Said Green Owl.

"Leave. Now." Magna Defender ordered.

"What!?" Gold Ranger said, surprised.

"I get it." Meledon said, nodding. "We brought these guys to you. Their problem is with me, not you. We're putting your planet in danger."

"We were doing fine up until now. Please, leave now before my planet is threatened even more." The Defender said, turning his back to them and walking away. Toro walked beside him slowly, the ground shaking slightly with each deliberate step. He was walking slowly to ensure he didn't outrun Magna Defender.

"Magnus... we meant no harm! We wanted to help!" Green Owl said.

"I understand... and I appreciate it. For now, though, I'd prefer to live my life here with my people. Away from the fighting. I will let you know if I need you." Magna Defender said, never turning to look at Team Victory.

"Goodbye, then, Magnus. Until we cross paths again." Meledon Ranger said.

"Goodbye, old friend." Green Owl said.

"Good luck! Until next time!" Gold Ranger said, choking back tears. She and Dulcea had known him the longest. Every time they said goodbye to someone from the old Alliance, it felt as if they were confirming that part of their lives was indeed destroyed by the forces of evil, and that in and of itself stung.

"Let's head back to the Ragnarok. The others must be worried." Meledon Ranger said. His comrades agreed. They turned and began to walk back to their ship, unsure of whether they would ever see Magnus again.

. . .

Michael looked at the planet from the Astro Megaship. He squinted at it, almost as if he had hoped what he was seeing wasn't happening. He then looked at his modified wrist tech and shook his head. It had been a while since he ran across a reason to morph, but it was getting to be time again.

"Let's see..." He said, looking at the wrist morpher. He punched in a number and waited for a response.

A familiar voice came from the wrist tech. "Michael, my old friend. How are you? It had been too long." Kamen said, happiness in his voice.

"I'm afraid I do not call with good news." Michael said, feeling guilty. He knew Kamen had enough on his plate, but he felt as if he needed his help regardless.

Sounding as if he'd aged ten years in that moment, Kamen said, "What do you need?"

"I have found a planet in distress. I need back up. You game?" The young man asked.

"Yes. Where is it?"

"Great. It's a small planet named Regda 2. I'll be waiting for your arrival."

. . .

"Approaching Corsair." Doc said, reading his control panel.

"Thank you guys again." Guy said.

Luka smiled. "Of course! You'd do the same, I'm sure." Ever since the Gokaigers had rejected their pirate teachings, Luka had felt more like herself. Although the weight of responsibility was back in her heart, she felt good about it. She hadn't realized it until after the fact, but she had felt hollow as a cutthroat pirate.

Joe laughed. "Just make sure once we get your power back you keep contributing. No reason to have you become dead weight."

On the deck of their ship, Miha stared into the starry backdrop of the universe.

"What are you thinking about?" Marvelous asked, propping himself beside her.

"What's up?"

"Just thinking..."

"About what?"

"Life."

"Vague?"

"Hehe... I'm thinking about how we got to this point. It all started on Corsair. Now... we're going back."

"Yep. And we're going to start over again. This time, the right way."

She smiled. "That'd be great. I'd like a fresh start." She then rested her head on his shoulder. They both stared off into the universe, ready for whatever it had to offer.

. . .

"We need megazord power. Now!" Alliance Red said, trying to reach the ship in orbit.

Suddenly, the Alliance Megazord descended down from space.

"Let's go!" Alliance Red said, jumping into the megazord. The other Alliance Rangers followed suit.

"I will crush you!" Scorpina cried in her monster form.

"Dual Blade Beam!" The Alliance Rangers cried out. The vertical crescent waves soared to the monster. She swung her sword and destroyed one, while her stinger destroyed the other.

"We're in trouble!" Alliance Green shouted in fear.

"Get a grip, soldier!" Alliance Yellow ordered.

The megazord swung its blades, but was countered at each hit.

"We gotta do something different" Alliance Yellow screamed.

"I don't know what!" Alliance Red replied in anger. They had been fighting Scorpina for what had seemed like hours while the animals and Paid Zhua were fighting hordes of villains from the Underworld. The Alliance Rangers were hanging onto their last nerve by a thread.

"I'm coming guys! Don't worry!" Leon cried out, rushing to the rangers. He had just broken away from the other fight. He had seen the Alliance Rangers attempt to tackle Scorpina, and when they disappeared from his sight he became worried. He was glad to have found them.

"What was that!?" Alliance Pink asked, startled.

"It's one of the lions!" Alliance Blue answered.

"Jump on my back!" Leon yelled to the megazord. He had a plan.

"What does he want?" Alliance Red asked.

"I dunno, but he sure is roaring a lot! It must be important!" Alliance Green commented.

"Come on! Jump!" Leon shouted again. He winced as Scorpina slashed the megazord's chest.

"Let's go over to him." Alliance Yellow suggested.

As the megazord found its way to Leon, the big red lion bowed down in front of the megazord. The rangers stared for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Why is he bowing? He's king of the jungle!" Alliance Green said.

"What does he want!?" Alliance Red said in frustration.

"Time to destroy you!" Scorpina yelled, running toward the rangers.

Leon nuzzled the megazord's foot and bumped it. He tried fitting himself under the megazord.

"I think he wants us to ride him!" Alliance Blue said.

"Alright, then." Alliance Red said. "Ride on!"

The Alliance Megazord jumped onto Leon's back. It put its two blades together and pointed it at the oncoming Scorpina.

"Charge!" Leon cried as he ran toward the villainess. He ran right to he and the rangers slashed her across the chest as they ran by.

"Argh!" Scorpina said, falling to a knee. Then she got back up.

"Impossible!" Alliance Yellow declared.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" The monster screamed as she teleported away.

"Good job, everyone. Let's return and report." Alliance Red said.

"Thank you, lion!" Alliance Pink yelled to the beast.

"Not a problem!" Leon said, happy with himself. He roared up to the sky as the Alliance Megazord flew back into space.

. . .

The Queen sat on her throne, pensive. She had been thinking quite a deal about her current situation. Everything had gotten much more complicated and she did not know why. Going over recordings of Power Rangers battling and defeating her generals, it reminded her of the Alpha that had appeared so long ago. His appearance, as it seemed, was a precursor for things to come.

The Queen stood up in her private chamber and walked around. She hoped pacing her room would help her think better. She had meticulously planned everything for millions of years, slowly placing her pieces into play. Once she thought everything was ready, she had begun her full scale attack. Every stage of her attack had a specific plan which needed implementation. She was currently supposed to be finishing up the final part of her plan: the release of her old Demon comrades and the final assault on the universe. She was then going to hold several planets hostage, forcing Sentinel Knight to try and free them. Once he did that, as she predicted, she would use the power sources that she should already had gathered by that point (the Zeo Crystal, Orb of Doom, and Greatest Treasure) and destroy Sentinel Knight's physical body to temporarily slow him down, long enough for her to collect the jewels of the Corona Aurora.

But now, things were not close to what she had envisioned. She had thought her plan was so meticulous that she could not have erred. She was needing to change her plans somewhat and deal with the new threats: the Power Rangers and the eventual resurgence of Beelzebub. She knew how to deal with the Demons, for she had been one for millions of years. For the Power Rangers, she could only guess they had the same fatal flaw that Sentinel Knight had: they would sacrifice themselves for those weaker than themselves. She smiled to herself. With that thought, she knew she just needed to be more aggressive with her tactics. Destroy a few planets now, more than she had intended, and the Power Rangers would become desperate. She knew this would cause her to lose more soldiers than she had planned, but she figured it wouldn't be too much of a loss. She knew she had what she needed to regain her footing.

She walked over to a mirror in her room and smiled at herself. She would pass the decree to her followers to start destroying planets until she told them to stop. She would place bounties on planets and give out rewards to those who caused their destruction. Her reign of terror would force their hand, and she would hold entire systems hostage for the powerful artifacts she so dreamed of having. The Extreme Crystal would be hers.

She nodded at herself in the mirror. "I, Queen Bansheera, rule the universe! There is no one who can stop me!"