Chapter Sixteen: Rashon, Aquitar, and Edenoi - Down for the Count

"Ahh!" Delphine cried out. One of her attacker's blasts grazed her leg. She knew if she dived back into the waters of Aquitar that she'd be okay, but she was deep inland, in the middle of the jungle. The restorative properties of the quasi-magical waters of her planet were of of no use to her as she and her squad plowed their way forward.

Aurico, the squad leader, knelt down beside his injured comrade. "Are you okay, Delphine?"

"I'm fine. We must keep going. If the Land Dwellers meet up with Yuki-Onna, we're in worst shape than before." Delphine said, standing up. She could hear blasts from nearby.

"Alright then. Corcus is leading the rest of the troops up ahead. Let us catch up with him." Aurico said, nodding.

From underwater, Cestro monitored things at his console. On his radar, he could see many enemy blips surrounding the Aquitian troops, with Aquitian dots disappearing one by one. He shook his head and sighed. He then turned on his computer's communicator.

"This is Cestro. Do you need more back up?"

Corcus was the first to answer. "No, we do not. We do not know what Vile has up his sleeve. I do not want to leave our base unguarded."

"I agree." Aurico piped in. "Our mission is not more important than protecting the entirety of our city."

A few days earlier, General Yuki-Onna had appeared on Aquitar, beginning her own attack. The Aquitians fought as hard as they could and were doing well, until the Land Dwellers decided they were going to use the opportunity to attack as well, to get the upper hand in the Civil War they had started.

Delphine had been mostly dealing with political affairs since the Final Siege, not feeling worthy to fight. Although she knew she had done what was necessary when she had used her blood bending technique back on the Morphing Masters' main base, she felt as though she were still responsible for the uprising of the Land Dwellers response to her actions. She had technically broken the treaty they had. If she stayed in the background and did not do battle, perhaps that would help in appeasing the Land Dwellers.

Cestro, the day before, had tapped into Yuki-Onna's communication feed. He deciphered information stating that the evil general was planning on creating an alliance with the Land Dwellers. The Aquitians knew that if both forces attacked, coordinated one with the other, they would not be able to stop the massacre that would ensue. If they could stop the rendezvous from occurring, that would be in their best interests. Delphine had decided to go with Aurico's soldiers, to act first in a peaceful manner. If the Land Dwellers refused to hear her out, Aurico and his men would commence an attack.

When they had first made it out to land, Yuki-Onna's forces made their way straight to them and began attacking. Aurico pushed his soldiers into the jungle, hoping they could use the trees for cover as they went forward, attempting to find the Land Dwellers before Vile's army. They had lost about half of their men by the point in which they found themselves with an injured Delphine.

"How far?" Aurico asked Corcus as he and Delphine rejoined the main group.

"Too far..." Corcus said, pointing to the wrist tech he wore. Cestro had reverse engineered Delphine's wrist tech and distributed it to a few soldiers. They were in the middle of a war, and could not afford to mass produce equipment. Only one wrist tech had been given out per troop.

"We must keep going!" Delphine said. A blast erupted behind her as she ended her statement. She, Aurico, and Corcus were sent flying. The three soldiers who had been standing with them were no longer there, having been vaporized by the explosion.

"Nooo!" Corcus yelled, pulling himself up.

"We have to keep going!" Aurico screamed.

At that moment, General Yuki-Onna appeared in front of them. She laughed. "Oh, silly Aquitians. I have been looking for you for quite a while. Master Vile has a bounty on your head, Delphine. He has a score to settle with you. Something about his son. Sound familiar?"

Delphine's heart sank. She remembered watching Rito erupting in a blast of energy during the Final Siege. She had just finished what she thought of as her "dirty deed", joining the rest of the Morphing Masters, when it had happened. She knew Vile wanted revenge.

"You will never take us!" Delphine said, standing up defiantly.

"That's right. I'm only taking you. These other two are going to be turned to space dust! Hahaha!" She cried. "Then, after I get you, and now that I know you are secure, I'm going to use my frost powers on your little world. All of your lakes will be frozen, along with your people and cities!"

Aurico grunted as he stood up. "We will not go down without a fight."

Cestro heard all of this and kicked a chair. It flew through the air and slammed into a wall. He grit his teeth in frustration. His thoughts went back to the trial they had been apart of, and the haunting judgment passed by the Elders.

"After careful deliberation, we have decided that we do not wish to cause war within our own ranks. We have enough to deal with. If the Anti-Ranger Coalition, or ARC as they wish to be called, wishes to allow the use of Cestro's schematics, then this court believes it would be in Aquitar's best interests to follow the universal trend and have Power Rangers of its own. If ARC continues to resist, then we will keep the peace of our people and continue to outlaw this technology. In summary... Master Delphine? The choice is in your hands..."

Cestro looked at his radar screen. He shook his head. More and more enemy forces were gathering around Delphine, Corcus, and Aurico. He knew soon the only ping left would be Delphine's, and then should would disappear, being teleported up into space. And there was nothing he could do to help her.

"Huh?" Cestro said, looking at his monitor. More dots had appeared on screen, with different energy readings. They were approaching fast.

"Are you ready for the end, Aquitians!?" Yuki-Onna said, now playing with her foes. Suddenly, she found herself being pummelled with blasts.

"Arrgh!" She yelled, flying backward. Tenga Warriors ran out from behind the jungle covering and circled their general, hoping to protect her from the anonymous attack.

"Right on target!" Someone said, zipping by overhead. "That's why you study physics, kids!"

Aurico squinted into the sky, his vision obstructed by the canopy made by the large leaves of the jungle trees, along with the blaring sun. "Who's there? Who are you?"

A black vessel descended into the area. Michael jumped off of it. He turned to face the Tenga Warriors.

"Michael!" Delphine cried out. She hadn't seen him since he had bern branded a traitor by The United Alliance. She had never been more happy to see him.

"Hello, Delphine. Nice to see you again. Now, stand back. Let us handle this."

"Us?" Corcus asked. As he said this, five other people appeared, jumping off different colored gliders themselves.

"We just cleared the sector of the enemy. This is the last area." One of the men said.

"Let's rip these guys apart." One of the women suggested, fire in her eyes.

"Let's rocket." Michael said. As he did, five of them revealed their wrist techs. From Delphine's point of view, it looked as if they were inputting some numbers into it. The sixth one pulled out a small device, leaving it in his hand as he plugged in digits as well. What the Aquitians did not know was that these devices were the result of Michael's experiments. The difference between the main five and the sixth morphing device Delphine noticed was that the sixth device was an experiment to see if Michael could increase the morphing power's attack statistic. It was based on an internal, extra battery within the morpher itself.

"Space Rangers!" The team cried out.

Cestro, seeing a surge of power appear on the screen, and hearing the words "space rangers" over the network, smiled. One way or another, Aquitar had Power Rangers to protect it.

"Ugh!" Gokai Red grunted, hitting the railing on the deck of the Galleon with his stomach as Treacheron pushed him away.

"Hi-yah!" Gokai Pink and Gokai Yellow yelled as they simultaneously attacked the ship's intruder. He ducked Yellow's kick and, after Pink's punch did not connect, swung his blade upward, slashing Pink on her torso, sending sparks flying.

"Give me your ship, pirates, and we will have no other problems."

"So much for having honor!" Guy yelled from the other side of the deck. Gokai Green stood next to him, acting as a bodyguard in case Treacheron charged them.

"This has nothing to do with my honor!" Treacheron screamed in frustration. "You invaded my planet, bringing Master Vile with you! Had you not appeared, I would still have a home! I am solely trying to seek rectification for what you did."

Gokai Red laughed. "Ha! Sounds like an excuse to justify being evil. We came onto your planet in peace and you know it!"

Gokai Red, Yellow, and Pink charged toward Treacheron. The villain knew they were desperate, and acting on impulse. Noting their bad technique due to their rage, he capitalized on it. He stepped left quickly, slashing the Yellow Ranger in the back. He then tripped Gokai Red with his foot. He went to slash Gokai Pink but was surprised when she produced her Gokai Saber, parrying his attacks.

"Not again, Treacheron." Gokai Pink said as she came face to face with the villain.

"Impressive, Pink Ranger." Treacheron said as he pushed off. He got into a fighting stance, ready to attack. "You can't possibly wish to defeat me, though!"

"I think if she had a friend she could do it." Joe said, landing on the deck. He threw off his life jacket.

"Joe!" Gokai Pink said, running to him. She gave him a hug. He smiled. Gokai Pink then raised a hand to where her mouth should have been in shock, looking at the bruises on Joe's face. "What happened to you!?"

"I was taught a lesson. The universe has too many bullies in it, and it's up to us, the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, to ensure they don't take control." Joe said, turning to face Treacheron. "And you are one of them! Gokai Change!"

At that moment, Treacheron stood, facing off with Gokai Pink and Gokai Blue. He carefully circled his way toward the two pirates.

"Ready?" Gokai Blue asked.

Smiling behind her helmet, Gokai Pink nodded. "Always."

They rushed forward. Gokai Blue went down to a knee. Gokai Pink stepped on his ready hands, then jumped. Gokai Blue helped throw her up, catapulting her. He then shot forward, using his sword to slash at Treacheron's waist. As Treacheron blocked Gokai Blue, Gokai Pink flew down and slashed him across the chest.

"A slash for a slash!" Gokai Pink said, exacting her revenge from the previous blow she had received from her opponent.

Treacheron stumbled a little, but held his ground. His blade was still blocking Gokai Blue's. The Blue Ranger then produced his blaster, placed it up against Treacheron's ribcage, and fired. Treacheron flew backward, flipping over the railing. Gokai Blue grabbed his life jacket from the floor of the deck and ran to where Treacheron had fallen overboard. He used his increased strength from being a ranger and tossed the jacket to the floating villain.

"And don't come back, or we won't be so nice!" Gokai Blue shouted as Treacheron slipped the jacket on, flying off into space.

"You have some nerve, Joe..." Gokai Red said, appearing behind Gokai Blue.

"Oh, yeah?" Gokai Blue said, standing face to face with the Red Ranger.

"Yeah... that's two life jackets we've lost now to saving villains. It's almost as if we have compassion." Gokai Red said, placing a hand on Gokai Blue's shoulder. He then laughed and gave him a hug. "Welcome back, buddy."

Smiling, Gokai Blue returned the gesture. Breaking his hug with Gokai Red, he nodded and turned to face Gokai Pink. "Yeah, it's good to be back with you guys... my family."

A tear ran down Gokai Pink's face, this time from joy. She was happy to have her big brother back.

"Now what?" Guy asked, running forward.

Gokai Blue gave him a playful shove. "First, you gotta finish fixing your morpher!"

"Right." Gokai Red said. "By the way, Joe. What happened to you?"

"I met up with the Fake Gold Ranger. She wiped the floor with me."

"That evil ranger has caused a lot of problems. She keeps popping up and ruining things!" Gokai Green said.

Gokai Red nodded. "Then it's settled..."

"What's settled?" Gokai Yellow asked.

"Our next mission, before getting back to Rashon." Gokai Red said. "We need to find and take down the Fake Gold Ranger."

"Why, hello, Dregon. It's been a while..." Lord Zedd said, landing on the top of the Count's ship in orbit around Edenoi.

Dregon smiled. "It's interesting you gave me a warning that you were coming for me. It seems you wish to battle me honorably, to prove who the best fighter really is."

Zedd nodded, unconsciously tapping the chrome rim around his exposed brain. "Yes, and now that I am recharged, you will feel my full wrath!" The Z Staffappeared in Zedd's hand. Dregon smiled.

This should be good... Dregon thought. He smiled as he saw a blast of silver Zeo Energy mixed with Red Energy approach him.

"Get out of our way!" Psycho Red demanded. He swung his Psycho Sword out in front of him, defying the Alliance Rangers.

"Not a chance. Now who are you? What do you want?" Alliance Red asked, starting to feel nervous.

"We're the Psycho Rangers. Now move and let us get to that sword or else!" Psycho Yellow threatened, her Psycho Sling in hand.

"Hey! I got one of those!" Alliance Green said, holding up his weapon, the Green Menace.

"This is a crime scene. This is Alliance jurisdiction. Step off this planet unless you want to be under arrest." Alliance Blue said, producing his weapon, a bow and arrow codenamed Blue Cherry.

"It looks like we have a lot of duplicate weapons." Psycho Pink said, conjuring her own Psycho Bow.

"We don't want to fight!" Said Alliance Yellow, but still causing her Yellow Striker to come out of her visor, just in case.

Psycho Black retaliated by producing his Psycho Rod. "But we do."

Alliance Pink produced her weapon and Psycho Blue showed off his Psycho Axe. The ten rangers stared at each other, with the mysterious sword standing behind the Alliance Rangers.

"Stand. Down." Alliance Red repeated.

"Hmph. Alliance puppets. They use you until they don't need you anymore. Is that the kind of life you want to lead?" Psycho Black asked.

"It's better than going around, destroying people's lives for your own enjoyment." Alliance Blue replied.

"Hahaha! You're so brainwashed by the Alliance you don't even see it!" Psycho Yellow mocked.

Yeah, those fools are brainwashed, just like- Psycho Pink thought. As soon as her memory hit a certain trace back to the event when the team had been taken over by Estro, the N-Drive turned on and blocked the memory again.

"Ugh!" Psycho Pink said, grabbing her head.

"What is up with you?" Psycho Red demanded.

"Do you need medical attention?" Alliance Pink asked.

Psycho Pink grunted and pointed her arrow at Alliance Pink. "No, but you will!"

From up in orbit, Estro laughed as he watched the scene from his ship as he ate an apple. The ten rangers, each representing complete opposites in the war occurring in the universe, charged at each other. He monitored the Psycho's brainwaves as they fought.

"Excellent!" He said as he saw the brainwave blocked from Psycho Pink. "Yes, yes! It is working! This tech Zen-Aku made is better than I could have imagined! Just a little bit of tinkering here and there, and voilà! It works better than he could have hoped."

He studied the energy signals coming from Rashon and the sword. He frowned. "That sword looks so familiar... Where have I seen it before?" Estro said. A large amount of lifeforce was emanating from it. He wanted the sword for himself. Orange Energy began emanating from his hands.

"Ah. Geez." He said, waving his hands. The energy dissipated. "Anyway, let's see how my rangers are doing!"

Looking back on the monitor, he saw the Alliance Rangers fallen to the ground, smoke dancing from their suits. The only one still standing was Alliance Red.

"I won't let you win!" He cried.

"It's too late! We've already won." Psycho Red said, laughing. He looked at the others. "I'm going to prove that I'm the Red Ranger. Let me take him alone."

The others nodded. With lightning speed, Psycho Red rushed his Alliance counterpart. He swung the Psycho Sword several times. Alliance Red had no way of stopping the blows. He fell to his knees, placing his hands down to brace himself. Psycho Red then kicked him in the head, cackling all the while.

"Alright!" Psycho Pink exclaimed.

Orange Energy radiated from Psycho Red. "That was great! Remember those other rangers we fought? Led by Zordon? We can show them up, too!"

"Yeah!" The other Psychos agreed.

"See ya later!" Psycho Red said. He and the other Psychos bounded up and away, disappearing with lightning speed.

"Serious?" Alliance Blue asked.

"That was too close..." Alliance Pink muttered as she stood up.

"This won't be the last time we see them..." Alliance Yellow prophesied.

Up in space, Burai was glad about what he had been hearing over his wrist tech. They were alive and unharmed. He had been in the teleportation bay, ready to help his team. He sighed. He was glad he didn't have to go down and abandon his ship. He looked down at the object in his hand. He had been ready to use it. He carefully slipped the Dragon Coin back into his pocket.

"No!" Estro yelled in frustration. "You were supposed to finish them, and bring me that sword!" He was trying get a hold of the Psychos, but it seemed as if their communicators were off. "LISTEN TO ME!" He yelled, sweat appearing on his brow. He was extremely anger. He tried punching in controls to force the Psycho Rangers to return to him. The computer kept giving him an error message, though, stating the Rangers' N-Drives were no longer connected to his network.

"What happened?" He wondered aloud, plopping down on a table nearby. He shook his head. "I lost them... They're no longer in my control... The Psycho Rangers are on the loose."

AM Dragon lurked in the shadows, bounding from dark spot to dark spot to stay undetected. He watched as Diabolico and Loki looked around.

"This is where the last distress call from AM Dragon was heard. What do you think happened?" Loki asked.

"No doubt that weasel Azazel got to him." Diabolico replied. "The best we can do is find him and bring him back to The Queen."

Suddenly, they felt themselves hit a solid, invisible wall. Diabolico instantly knew what was happening.

"Huh?" Loki asked, confused. He tried running back but hit another invisible wall, falling onto his back. Diabolico walked over to him and helped him up.

"It's a Demon Trap." Diabolico explained. "We're stuck."

"That's right..." AM Dragon said, coming out of the shadows. "And now it is time for you to have your minds freed from Bansheera, to join our cause once again!"

With that, AM Dragon knicked out a portion of the Demon Trap with his spear. Diabolico and Loki stepped out slowly. AM Dragon extended his hand to shake Diabolico's.

"Yah!" Diabolico shouted, kicking AM Dragon in the chest.

"What!?"

"You think we are under mind control? Don't make me laugh. We chose The Queen over Beelzebub!"

"Why? Why would you betray him?" AM Dragon demanded.

"Because all Beelzebub cared for was his stupid feud with the Ethereals. The Queen has a real goal: universal conquest." Diabolico answered.

"Do you think the Ethereals will allow Demons to pursue such a venture? Beelzebub wishes to destroy them first so we can have a free way to universal conquest!" AM Dragon attempted to rebuttal.

"If only that were true... Beelzebub would sacrifice universal conquest in a heartbeat if it meant he could destroy Michael, and you know it!" Diabolico countered.

AM Dragon looked down. "I put my trust in Beelzebub's plans." And then, thinking quickly, added, "I know when he is released, he will prevail."

"Ha! You'll never find him!" Diabolico said, getting into a fighting stance.

"No, I will not fight you. Not today. We have too much of a history. Next time, though... we battle." And with that, AM Dragon disappeared into the shadows.

"Aw, man! We only had him back for such a short time! I was looking forward to fighting alongside AM Dragon." Loki complained.

"As was I, old friend." Diabolico said. "It is a shame to lose a great fighter like him. It seems to me an omen..."

"Of what, Diabolico?"

"Of what is yet to come."

. . .

Kamen was closing in on Edenoi. He had been travelling slowly since he parted ways with Zordon's crew, trying to conserve every bit of energy he could. Edenoi was not in a position to squander their resources. As he approached, he noticed energy surges coming from somewhere in orbit. He frowned.

"This is bad. Computer: set a course for the energy spike. Don't get too close. I just wish to observe."

His shuttle got close enough to watch. He saw Lord Zedd and Count Dregon shooting powerful blasts one at another. Kamen stood up.

If I can attack them both when they are not looking, I can rid the universe of two horrible fiends. I must act quickly. Kamen thought. He grabbed his Decade Morpher and made his way to a shuttle door to step out into space.

A ways away, standing on Edenoi's moon, the Psycho Rangers looked on.

"Wow. You were right." Psycho Blue said.

While wandering space in their search for Zordon, the Psycho Rangers had felt a powerful surge of energy from Kamen's shuttle after they had left Rashon, while they had been travelling in the shuttle they stole from Estro. They had decided to follow it.

Psycho Red nodded. "Yes. We can now not only take that guy's powers, but also of those fighting on that ship."

Psycho Pink laughed wickedly. "Oh, yeah! Let's do some damage! The Psycho Rangers are here and we're going to rule the universe!"