Chapter Fourteen: Regda 2 and Corsair - Eternal Fate

Azazel's yellow eyes flashed wildly as he stared at the seal on the wall. Bansheera had placed many cloaking spells on the location of the tomb, and Azazel had spent his time since his escape from her power searching his long lost master. He was very pleased with himself for having found it. He slowly approached the seal and simply scratched at it. A break in one of the lines could be seen.

"Beelzebub... Prince of the Air... I have freed you!" Azazel said with pride as the room filled with red smoke from behind the wall. Azazel could hear deep laughter. He turned to see Beelzebub stretch his monstrous body. He had been stuck in his vapor form for so long it took a moment for him to grow accustomed to seeing with his spiritual eyes.

"Azazel, my most trusted general..." The beast said in a very low and resounding voice. "What form do you possess?"

Azazel smiled. "That of a human."

"Why... them?"

"They are now one of the leading species of the universe."

"...Interesting..." And with that, a cloud of red smoke enveloped Beelzebub. When the smoke dissipated, a man stood where the massive Demon had once been. He smiled and twirled around, putting his arms out and lifting an eyebrow as he presented himself.

"What do you think?" Beelzebub said in an eerily normal sounding voice.

"You have such power! You truly live up to your title as the Alpha Demon!" Azazel said, bowing down to him.

Beelzebub smiled. "Well, Mom would be proud, now wouldn't she? So... tell me... how are things in this universe? We're still in our universe, correct?"

"Yes, we are. There seems to have been one major temporal shift, but it was actually to our benefit. I seem to remember from the other timeline that Bansheera actually amassed great power and had conquered the universe." Azazel explained, leaning against the walls of the room in which the two Demons found themselves. It was a truly odd scene had anyone walked in on them. They looked like two old pals catching up on old times.

"Wow... that sounds awful! Who would have thought she could've accomplished something like that!" Beelzebub said, making a face before shrugging. "Geez, that Witch is a pain. I am sooo going to make her pay for imprisoning me for...?" He looked to Azazel for help on a timeframe.

"165 million years... give or take 12,000 years..." Azazel said, waiting to see Beelzebub's reaction.

"Wow! That's... a lot of payback I owe her!" He said, eyes wide open while shaking his head. He placed his hands up behind him and blew out a long stream of air as he thought about what he had missed.

"Okay, Azazel, where in the devil have you been all this time!?"

"Trapped in Bansheera's stupid gold box."

"Ouch."

"Yeah..."

"How do you know all this, then?"

"I kept my ears open. I knew one day I'd get out. I gathered all the info I could so I could pass it on to you."

"How loyal... what's in it for you?"

"I can't beat Bansheera on my own, plus she has all the Demons on her side. Those who refused to join her, like me, were put under some spell that junctioned ourselves to her. It was awful."

"Okay. Well, I can't say I won't need the help. You're hired. But, gosh dang it... All of my loyals are brainwashed. That really irks me, ya' know?"

"Putting a Demon in a Demon Trap and then letting them out seems to break the spell. That's how I was freed, anyway."

"Demon Trap!? Who used a Demon Trap? Is Michael free!?" Beelzebub asked, starting to get agitated.

Azazel laughed. "No, it wasn't him. It was some guy who is powered by Magic from those Nathadian characters."

Beelzebub rolled his eyes. "Oh, them. Are they still bothering people?"

"No, Bansheera... took care of most of them." Azazel winked.

"Oh, that's devilish!" Beelzebub said, laughing. "Okay, so we aren't completely waist high in Sanzu waters yet! Hehe... How are my other generals? AM Dragon? Goresakubo?"

Azazel frowned. "AM Dragon is still brainwashed. Goresakubo just fell in battle."

Beelzebub sneered. "Must have been powerful to take down Goresakubo... that sucker was one strong Demon, you know. Came from a good stock! Sheesh... hate to lose the good ones. Oh! What about that other guy? The one who made that deal, you know? He worked for us?"

"Mythical Master?"

"Yeah! He's brutal! How's he?"

"I haven't seen or heard from him since Bansheera started her little empire."

"Drat! Well, let's keep our eyes open for him, got it? He was useful to help us in, you know, non-Demon ways."

Azazel nodded, making a mental note of the assignment.

Beelzebub continued his questioning, "What about that clown, Lothor?" His eyes darkened as he thought about him.

"He's gone." Azazel answered.

Beelzebub let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! That's good news. That guy really creeped me out. Who ended up axing him?"

Azazel shrugged. "Don't know. I was busy trying to find you when all that mess went down on Earth."

"Okay... what about Michael's bunch? How much of a pain are they being?"

Azazel shook his head. "They are inactive."

Beelzebub's eyes grew wide. "What!? Why!?"

"Some holier than thou, superiority complex. They feel like they're better than the rest of the universe, so they've secluded themselves from everyone else on Eden."

Beelzebub howled with laughter. "Are you serious!? After everything we went through? After that stupidity that was the Holy War? Really?"

Azazel shrugged as a response. He didn't know what else to tell him. In fact, it was literally all he had heard on the situation.

Beelzebub shook his head. "Man... I guess we need to work fast then. I'm sure once my energy signature pops back on their radar, they won't be so 'secluded' anymore..."

"Agreed."

"What about them Dinosaurs? What's up with them? I can't imagine they serve Humans!"

"Actually... it's worse..."

"How!?"

"They're gone. Pfft. Destroyed by an asteroid about 100 million years after you were sealed away."

Beelzebub laughed hard at that bit of news as well. "Yeah... an asteroid... like that was an accident! So, they're all gone? Mesogog? Dracul? Even those goodie goods?"

"It appears that way."

"Man... so much can change in a measly 165 million years..."

"Give or take 12,000 years..." Azazel reminded, being cheeky.

"Okay, well let's try and get our old contacts back up and running. Can you get a hold of the following Alphas? Djinn, Vampire, Shapeshifter, Skinwalker, Werewolf, and Leviathan."

"I cannot do that..." Azazel said, knowing that news would hurt Beelzebub. "No one knows what has happened to Alphas. It is believed they were destroyed. The Monster Realm is actually in quite a bit of turmoil."

"Impossible! You said Michael was still sealed away. There's no way his followers would be able to track all the Alphas."

"Well, there was that other Alpha that appeared before..."

"That one with the suit and the helmet? Seriously? Lothor and his band of misfits didn't wipe the floor with him?"

Azazel shook his head again. "That warrior became a hunter of the Alphas and other Monsters. Rumor is he spent the rest of his life hunting the Alphas. One day... there was just nothing. No sign of any Alphas in the universe. People believed they destroyed themselves."

"He was that powerful!?" Beelzebub asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, and..."

Beelzebub gave Azazel a look that said, "you're not telling everything". He motioned his hand to get Azazel to keep talking.

"...Well, he has progeny."

"What!? Holy mother of sin!"

"A band of them were actually the ones responsible for Goresakubo's demise."

Beelzebub sneered. "That's dangerous... what do they call themselves?"

"Power Rangers."

"Then we take them on, too. They're on our 'list'."

Azazel nodded as Beelzebub lifted a finger. He was signaling that he had another thought.

"How are the Morphing Masters?"

"Well... Bansheera has succeeded in all but destroying them, however... just their organization really. Many of them still live and actually constitute a good number of those who call themselves Power Rangers."

"Hmph. Then we definitely need to focus on them if the Morphing Masters are involved. Azazel? We need to destroy the Power Rangers."

. . .

Rita stirred in her slumber. The same recurring dream, haunting her more and more.

Who is that little girl? Is she me? Who are those people yelling at me, then? She thought consciously as she watched the dream play for what seemed to be the millionth time since she had seen her first vision of the couple in the Caves of Deception, when she and her father Master Vile had attempted to take the Zeo Crystal on their first assault on the Moon Palace. The spell Dulcea had placed on the caves to protect the crystal had triggered these visions.

Are these memories? Rita thought, confused.

Her head burned as she tried to remember. She then awoke at the same moment she usually did: when the shadow came over the little girl. The echoing of the little girl's screams continued, seemingly, in her ears. She wiped tears from her eyes, not knowing why she was crying.

The first thing her mind wandered to, once she had gathered herself, was to contact Eye Guy and see how things were on Regda 2.

When she had made a connection through her crystal ball, Novact was the one to answer. She sighed in disappointment.

"What is it, Rita?" Novact said, sounding annoyed.

"Remember who is the higher ranking officer here, Novact!" Rita warned.

"What is it, Empress Rita?" Novact said, correcting himself.

"How are my fighters doing?"

"Goldar has picked up the pace, so on that front I'll have to report... better. Eye Guy is doing masterfully! He is collecting all of the children on the planet and trapping them in his dimension. You should soon have a little army of nose picking brats at your disposal." Novact reported.

"Any snags?" Rita asked, sure that nothing in that time would go so smoothly. There seemed to be new factions popping up almost daily.

"Well, Decade and the Black Space Ranger did appear, but Goldar and Eye Guy have been more than enough for them. Goldar and my army of Batlings are doing a good job of keeping the two at bay while Eye Guy finishes taking the children."

A tightness made itself apparent in Rita's chest. Tears streamed down her face and she knew not why. She felt prompted to give Novact an order, and before she could stop herself, she heard herself say, "Do not destroy the people of Regda 2. That is an order. Once we have taken the intelligence of the children, use them as hostages. Order the people to leave the planet and stand down from fighting. If they vacate the planet, we will give them back their children. And we won't go back on our word."

"What!? Why!?" Novact demanded.

"Because..." Rita thought for an excuse. "Because we want witnesses to our evil. I want the world to hear of what we did to Regda 2, and not just guess. These people will tell everyone first hand what we have done! Hahaha!"

"But-"

"That's an order, General."

"...Yes, my mistress..."

As the communications ended, Rita slumped in her chair, exhausted. She looked down at her hands. Blue Energy coursed over her hands. They were trembling. One word kept reeling through her head as the Blue Energy began to disappear back into her:

Hope.

. . .

'Warriors, you have fought well!" Goldar said, laughing. He pointed his sword at Black Ranger and Decade.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Black Ranger said, getting into a fighting stance.

"And I'm not going to! Haha! I have a message from Empress Rita. It involves those children you have been trying so hard to save." Goldar said.

As he did, a hologram appeared in the sky. All of the children Eye Guy had captured so far were shown in a pocket dimension of his. They were trapped in spinning orbs as their intelligence was downloaded. Normally, the orb would also cause the children to be brainwashed to serve whoever had hired Eye Guy for the particular mission, but Rita's orders had ended that protocol.

Eye Guy was a mercenary for hire. He had been active for many years, capturing children from planets for those who were interested in this particular service he offered. He was intrigued that he was asked to not brainwash any child on this mission, but he figured he wouldn't get involved in the politics of the generals of this war. He had a job to do and he would do as he was told.

His method of detaining the children involved using what he termed his Main Eye. He had immense powers, using his Magic to maintain a small pocket dimension where he kept his machinery. He originally just used his power to hold children for ransom, similarly to what Rita had asked him to do for this assignment. Over the years, he had been able to steal technology and piece it together to create his current "brain drain and upload" system, as he termed it. He would download any information the child had in their head, then upload a bio program into the brain to override their thoughts, forcing the child to have their allegiance be to whoever Eye Guy wanted that child to serve.

Decade frowned behind his visor. "What about the children?"

Eye Guy made his presence known to the Rangers. They hadn't seen him since he had first arrived on the planet. Goldar and the Batlings had been keeping them busy. "I offer a trade for the children: If you surrender and you and all of this planet's citizens vacate immediately, we will return your children. No strings attached."

"Why should I trust you?" Black Ranger demanded, staring at the many eyed Monster.

Goldar laughed. "Because you don't have any other choice! Collect the refugee camps and escort them out of here, or you'll never see your loved ones again! Hahaha!" Goldar said as he vanished in a ball of flames. Eye Guy similarly teleported away, leaving the Batlings to watch over Decade and the Black Ranger.

"What do we do?" Decade asked.

"We go to the refugee camps and instruct them to leave the planet. It's the only thing we can do."

. . .

"Alright, guys. We have to stick together. We can take whatever this guy throws at us!" Gokai Red said, trying to reassure his teammates.

As he said this, Master Vile leapt from his Skull Ship ship, landing mere feet from the pirates.

"You have a death wish, don't you?" Gokai Blue said, pointing his saber at the powerful monster.

"It is you who will be destroyed! Hahaha!" Master Vile yelled, pulling out a shiny ball. He thrust it into the ground.

"What is that!?" Gokai Green asked nervously.

Gokai Yellow shook her head. "I don't know... I have a bad feeling about this."

"Guys! You need to get out of there! There is some huge energy coming from that thing!" Guy yelled over their communication network.

"We can't. We need to finish this idiot first." Gokai Red said. He got into a fighting stance.

"Haha! You fools will never defeat the likes of me! I'm too cunning and powerful. Regardless, you won't get the chance. My Orb of Doom here will ensure you and everyone here on Corsair will be reverted back to dust!"

"Guys. We gotta get out of here now! Deal with Vile later!" Guy yelled at his team.

"Vile!? Wuddya doin'!?" Captain Mutiny said, trying to stand. He had just awoken from the concussive shot he had taken from Gokai Green moments earlier. He rubbed his head with his hook as he saw the Orb of Doom light up. A purple stream of light erupted from it and shot to the sky.

"I'm purging this planet of its pathetic inhabitants. There is only room for one leader in this galaxy, and it's me. So long, Captain Mutiny!" Master Vile said, laughing.

"I'm gunna wring yer neck, Vile!" Mutiny said as he began racing toward his adversary.

"Guy's right. We need to get out of here while they're distracted!" Gokai Pink said, rushing toward the Galleon. The Gokaigers followed after her.

Guy ran up to the deck, happy to see his team had made it. "I'm so glad you're okay! Now, let's get outta here while we can!"

As Guy said this, he felt the planet begin to shake.

"It's starting..." Gokai Blue said ominously.

"I'm going below deck to drive us out of here." Gokai Red said, dashing down to the wheel.

"Okay." Guy said as they ran to their main room. "Doc? I'm gonna need you to look over the radar while I try to get that Dilithium Crystal working on my morpher. Wait... where's Doc!?"

The Gokaigers, still morphed, began looking around.

"He was just here!" Gokai Yellow said, sounding nervous.

Gokai Blue walked over to the console where he could read the radar screen. He shook his head. "Guys? Doc is outside."

Guy ran to the communication module and began talking to Doc. "Doc!? What are you doing!?"

Gokai Green was crawling on the ground, searching frantically. "I dropped it! I'm sorry! I dropped it!"

"Dropped what!?" Gokai Pink asked.

"Guy's crystal! I dropped it. I'm so sorry! I can't find it!"

Guy then noticed something on the radar. A giant ping rushing toward the green dot fast.

"Doc! Watch out!"

It was too late. Gokai Green found himself flying through the air. He slammed into the side of the Galleon.

"Uh... What was that?"

"You are intruders on my planet! You have brought Master Vile here to destroy our gang. My name is Barbarax. I am the right hand man to Captain Mutiny. Prepare to be destroyed!"

"Doc! Get out of there! You can't take him on alone!" Gokai Blue warned.

"No... I will do this. I will find Guy's crystal."

Suddenly, Gokai Red's voice could be heard over all the others. "Can you guys hear me now!? Geez! Listen! Doc? YOU GAVE ME THE CRYSTAL ALREADY! IT'S IN MY POCKET! Now get back on this ship, ya' loon!"

"Oh... right... I forgot." Gokai Green said as he leapt onto the ship. The Galleon immediately began to fly off as soon as Guy told Gokai Red it was okay to leave.

"You're not leaving! Not if I have anything to do about it!" Barbarax yelled, rushing to get onto the Galleon.

"Wait! Barbarax." Treacheron said, having awoken as well.

"What is it, Treacheron?"

"Mutiny needs you here to help him with Vile." Treacheron said, pointing. Mutiny and his Swabbies were battling Vile and a group of Goat/Men Hybrids.

"Right. You get those wannabe pirates then!" Barbarax ordered, running toward his captain.

"On my honor!" Treacheron yelled, leaping onto the deck of the Galleon.

This is taking too long... Master Vile thought, looking at the Orb of Doom.

He had studied the powerful artifact when he first acquired it. He had discovered that unless the orb was placed in just the right spot, it would not yield the type of results the orb was supposed to be used for. He frowned. From what he knew, he was certain he had done something wrong. He hadn't placed the orb in "quite the right spot".

"My soldiers. Let us return to our vessel!" Vile said as he teleported himself and his henchmen back to the Skull Ship. Barbarax arrived just as Vile vanished.

"That scallywag!" Captain Mutiny yelled. He had swiped his blade right where Vile had been, missing him by a half moment. Both he and Barbarax looked upon the Orb of Doom. Suddenly, they felt someone else approach them from behind. They turned to see their liaison with The Queen, Hexuba. She shook her head.

"I have a bad premonition about this..." She said, joining the other two. They stood side by side as an energy wave rippled out from the orb.

From the sky, Master Vile pointed his scepter at the Orb of Doom. "Return to me!" He ordered. Suddenly, it was back in his hand. To his surprise, Corsair continued seizing.

"Get us out of here!" Vile screamed as loud as he could. The Skull Ship then turned and followed the Galleon out into space. Once they had arrived out in space, both ships could not help but stare down at the planet. A purple mist filled it up and surrounded it. As it billowed up, it almost seemed as if it would reach up and permeate into outer space. Once it reached Corsair's atmosphere, though, it stopped. Then, in the blink of an eye, the planet was gone.

"Where did it go?" Gokai Blue asked.

Guy shook his head. "All energy readings... everything... it's just... gone!"

"Well, we got what we came for. Let's bust out of here before Vile remembers we exist." Gokai Red said, steering the ship out of the wretched M51 Galaxy.

Master Vile sat on the throne in his ship. He looked at the spot where Corsair had once been. "Where... where did it go? I feel no energy residue, so it wasn't dematerialized. So... where did Corsair go!?"

. . .

Decade slashed at a Batling, with seemingly no effect. He collapsed from exhaustion, falling to a knee. Nearby, the Black Space Ranger followed suit.

"We did what you asked! The people are gone! Why are you still attacking us!?" Decade yelled in frustration. He had given all he could. He did not wish to fall there on Regda 2. He wanted to get back to his people. He knew they needed him.

Goldar then appeared, howling with laughter. "My mistress told me to get rid of the people on this planet and return their children to them. I have done what I was told. This planet now belongs to Rita Repulsa. However, she never told me what was to be done with you! Ah-haha! You two will be my reward! Batlings, you have done enough. Now, warriors... prepare to meet your doom!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" The exhausted warriors heard as a red blur slammed into Goldar. It materialized in front of them, in a fighting stance.

"With the power of the Nathadians... Meledon Ranger!"

"Huh?" Decade said.

"Who are you?" Black Ranger demanded, struggling to his feet.

"Zordon of Eltar... I'll... explain later..." He said, rushing toward some Batlings.

"Well, today is just full of surprises, now isn't it?" Black Ranger asked, head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Meledon Conversion: Iron!" Meledon Ranger said. With his iron powers, he swung and destroyed three Batlings in one hit. His mind then rested on a thought.

Pointing to a pond nearby, he yelled, "Meledon Conversion: Water Sanctification!" A beam of red shot out from his hand. It quickly diffused into the water. He then punched a Batling, sending it flying into the pool. It almost instantly was destroyed.

Meledon Ranger turned to his comrades. "I'll take on Goldar. You can defeat these Batlings now. They are... uh... allergic... to sanctified water." He then bolted toward the gold plated monkey as he regained his footing.

"Sounds good to me." Black Ranger said.

"Dimension Slash!" Decade yelled as he hit two Batlings. He positioned the hit to ensure they fell into the water, which they did. They were destroyed. "Works for me..."

"Zordon?" Meledon Ranger heard over his communicator.

"What is it, Tria?"

"I've verified the inhabitants of Regda 2 are indeed safe. They are traveling out of this solar system as we speak. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Right. Zordon out." Meledon said, swinging at Goldar with his red saber.

"How dare you defy my mistress Rita!?" Goldar yelled, blocking the blow with his golden sword.

"She and I go back. It's an old school rivalry." Meledon said, kicking Goldar in the chest.

Novact then appeared behind Goldar, his sword in hand. He smiled as his eyes glowed with Yellow Energy. "Zordon... red looks good on you. Now, Goldar? We are to go. We got everything we needed from this planet."

"But, I-"

"Now, you idiot!"

And with that, Goldar, the Batlings, and Novact were gone. Meledon Ranger slammed his fist into the ground.

"Okay, Zordon... you have a lot of explaining to do." Black Ranger said as he and Decade approached the red ranger.

. . .

Michael, the former Morphing Master and current Black Space Ranger, stared from the Astro Megaship as Kamen, in his small shuttle, and the Ragnarok sped away into space. He had gotten a chance to meet "Team Victory". He and Kamen had sat down on the Ragnarok and learned of what had happened to Zordon since they had last seen him. Due to having been expelled from The United Alliance before the Final Siege, the two former Morphing Masters were giving specifics of the Final Siege as well. How Rito had been destroyed, Master Vile had attempted to use the Orb of Doom, and how Zordon had been transported six months into the future.

Michael rubbed his eyes. It all seemed so fantastic to him. From his beginnings on KO-35 to becoming a Morphing Master, to being branded a traitor and becoming a "Power Ranger", it was almost as if it were a dream. Adding on people being zapped with ancient mythical artifacts and time travel... he didn't know what he had gotten himself into.

If Zordon hadn't shown up, we would've been done for... If he had shown up earlier, maybe we could have saved Regda 2...

But that's not fair. Team Victory can't be everywhere... If I had more people with me to begin with, though...

"DECA?" Michael asked, snapping out of his train of thought.

"Yes?"

"Do you still have the schematics for my morpher?"

"I do."

"Get ready, then. We're commissioning more."