A/N: Please read and review?
Shoutouts:
Nuyen55: Rocky and Vera maybe be exes, but they're still close friends and have seen each other often over the years, and Vera's sons also see Rocky as an Uncle figure.
kathmanw19: Yeah, it is. That's actually where I got the idea for Vera's post Ranger life.
In the Command Center, Billy and Alpha stood by a panel, as the screen showed Kat at a junkyard.
"You were right, it's just what we need." she said.
Billy nodded, before he turned as he heard a noise, seeing Minh and the other Rangers arrive, then he turned to Kat.
"The others just got back from the Youth Center." he explained, as Alpha turned around. "So, we'll head over and get set-up soon."
He turned as the others all approached him and Alpha.
"Okay, great. See ya." Kat said.
Minh looked around in amazement, as Zack and Sophie stood by the viewing globe.
"Awesome place." Minh said. "Who knew Cranston Tech was hiding all this?"
Rocky approached a panel as Billy approached Minh, who turned to him.
"No the public, and not my employees." he said, as Zack and Sophie approached them. "This place is secret, so, let's keep it that way, okay?"
Minh held up her hands and walked off, as Rocky began to work on the panel behind her.
"She's gonna need a talk." Zack realized, as he and Sophie came towards Billy.
"You should do it. You're her guardian, Zack, and after Kim, you're the one she gets along with the most." Sophie said.
Zack nodded.
"Can I help?" Billy asked.
"Thanks, I got this." Zack assured. "The plan needs you, Billy. It's urgent."
"Agreed. Alright, we'll be back soon." Billy promised, pointing at Rocky.
He touched Zack's shoulder as he walked past him, as Sophie turned around, before they and Rocky all stood near each other, Rocky holding a case and some wire.
"Let's do it." Sophie said.
They all pressed their communicators and teleported away.
Minh looked at one of the panels, as Alpha walked towards her.
"Pleasure to meet you." Alpha said. "I am-"
Minh turned to him, before Zack got between them.
"I'm sorry. Alpha, can we have the room?" Zack asked.
"No problem, Zack." Alpha said, before he walked off. "My sensors are detecting a vibe."
Minh looked at Alpha as Zack stood near her.
"Come on?" he said, holding his hand out. "Give it to me?"
Minh sighed and took her Mom's Power Morpher from her jacket pocket, then handed it to him. He scoffed slightly as he pulled the handle down.
"If I thought this was gonna get you in trouble, I never would've told you the truth." Zack said. "But Billy and Soph-"
"What?" Minh asked.
"They insisted." Zack explained. "They thought it'd be good for you, closer and all that. Sophie even said that's what Trini would've wanted. But here we are, in a full-on crisis, and you're trying to play Ranger!"
"What's wrong with that?" Minh asked, rudely. "All of you and Mom did exactly the same thing. I'm just following her example. Isn't that a good thing?"
She walked off towards a pillar while Zack sighed and turned around.
"What do you think it means to be a Ranger?" Zack asked, putting Trini's morpher down on a panel.
Minh stopped as he approached her.
"Kicking butt? Cute quips? Having fun?" Zack asked, as she turned around. "It's hard."
"I know." Minh said. "But someone needs to draw justice on the bad guys. Rita killed Mom."
Zack sighed and shook his head slightly.
"She needs to go down, and I'm ready." Minh said. "I'm happy to do it, whatever it takes. So why won't that thing let me morph?"
She pointed at her Mom's morpher.
"Minh, what you're feeling, what you want, it's not justice. It's revenge." Zack explained. "Like Sophie told you, Rangers use their power for personal gain or for revenge, as it's against what we stand for. When I was your age, my mentor told me that only monsters seek revenge. That's what Robo Rita's doing now. She was defeated by the Rangers, and now she wants to even the score and hurt us as much as she can. That's why she...did what she did to Trini. A mission for revenge can never end well. That's not what I want for you."
Minh sighed.
"What about what I want?" she asked. "Maybe it's not your call."
She turned around and walked off.
"You wanna be a hero?" Zack said, making her stop. "It's a selfless path. It's not always easy, but I do my best."
He touched her shoulder, making her turn around.
"Look, setting aside your ambitions can be a good thing." he explained. "Like me, making sure that you have a good life and a home."
"It was worth giving up your career in congress...for me?" Minh asked.
"You are absolutely worth it." Zack assured, resting his head on hers.
He wrapped his arm around her, before he led her away.
"And if you can understand that, then you can understand how hard Billy is trying to fix what he set emotionally." Zack said.
He pointed at the tube as he led her towards the main panel.
"Zordon sacrificed himself for us long ago." he explained. "You never met him. He was our mentor, but almost...a father figure."
Minh turned to him, then to the tube.
"Billy's trying to bring him back. He didn't know this would happen." Zack explained.
"Like Sophie said...I...I didn't know that's how he felt." Minh admitted, guiltily.
Zack nodded. "Just, stay here while we execute our plan, okay?" he asked.
"Yeah." Minh said.
"And don't worry. We saved the world before." Zack said.
Minh smiled as he turned and walked off, before she turned to the tube, thinking about what he told her.
Meanwhile, Billy, Rocky, Sophie and Kat were all at the junkyard, Kat standing outside a crane control car, while Rocky and Sophie both stood near it. Billy moved around a large magnet the end of the chain was attached to, scanning it with a device, before turning it off.
"That'll really pack a punch." he said, before moving towards the others. "Alright, Kat, lift her up."
Kat held her thumb up and entered the crane control car, then powered up the crane and lifted up the magnet as Billy approached Rocky and Sophie.
"So, uh, this thing's used to sort old scrap, huh?" Rocky inquired.
"Yeah." Billy said.
"I hope so, 'cause Bob and I both did a report for the Newspaper on this place about a couple of years ago." Sophie said. "Good thing it's magnetic."
"Well, Minotaur and Snizzard sure fit that discerption." Rocky said.
Billy nodded, before Kat stopped the crane, holding the magnet over her friends.
"Alright, we're set." Billy said.
Kat got out of the crane and moved towards the others.
"Let's bait the trap." she said.
The others nodded, before Billy walked forward. (Sophie being on Rocky's right)
"It's morphin time!" Billy shouted, as they put their hands behind them.
One by one, they pulled out their Power Morphers and held them in front of themselves.
"Triceratops!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
"Camptosaurus!"
Their morphers glowed and morphed them up, then Billy picked up his scanner.
"Alright, we're set." he explained. "They could be here any second, so look sharp."
Kat nodded.
"Always do." Rocky said.
"You said it." Sophie said, nodding.
On the Moon palace, Robo Rita's machine was now filled with more Rangers on both shelfs, the one on the left being full with 9, while the right one had 8 on, as Robo Rita herself stood in front of it.
Beneath Jason, Tommy and Kimberly on the right, were Ravi Shaw, Ashley Hammond and Merrick Balton, the Blue Beast Morphers, Yellow Space and Lunar Wolf Rangers, while beneath them, was the Phantom Ranger and Karen Wilson, formally Costa, the Purple Wild Force Ranger. The left one had Devon Daniels, Carlos Vallerte and Nate Sliva on the top shelf, the Red and Gold Beast Morphers and Black Space Rangers. Beneath them was Kai Chen, Leo Corbett and Demon Henderson, the Blue, Red and Green Galaxy Rangers, while beneath them, was Conner McKnight, Melanie Swanson, formally Forrester, and Trent Fernandez, the Red and White Dino Thunder and Orange Space Rangers.
"Every Ranger we capture gives us another boost to the finish line." she said, putting Tanya Sloan, the Yellow Zeo Ranger on beside Karen.
Snizzard and Minotaur both stared at her.
"It's funny." she said. "I never believed in their whole teamwork thing, but together, they are more. More power for me that is."
Beeping came from Minotaur's shield, who looked at it, and saw four blips on it.
"Another four Rangers just morphed in Angel Grove." he explained.
"Shall we?" Snizzard suggested.
"Just go then." Robo Rita said.
Minotaur and Snizzard both vanished.
"Ooh." Robo Rita said, turning to her machine, as the dish powered up. "Higher power levels than I thought."
At the junkyard, the four Rangers kept waiting, until Snizzard and Minotaur both showed up.
"Bingo." Billy said quietly.
"Surprise, Rangers." Minotaur sneered.
"Ah, right there is perfect." Billy said, holding up a remote.
"What?" Snizzard gasped.
The magnet powered up and lifted both him and Minotaur up, trapping them on it via their backs.
"Ah!" they gasped.
Rocky laughed while folding his arms.
"What...is...this?" Snizzard demanded.
"Like your hairy friend said, a surprise." Kat joked.
"Yeah, but for you instead of us." Sophie joked.
"Ah, thanks." Minotaur snarled. "I hate it."
"Bye, now." Kat said.
The Rangers all touched their morphers, then held their right hands up, teleporting away.
A little later, in the Command Center, the Rangers were looking at a panel screen, which showed Minotaur and Snizzard on the magnet at the junkyard, with Minh behind them.
"Yes, the trap's holding." Rocky grinned.
"Affirmative. The powerful electrical-magnetic field will prevent them from teleporting away." Billy explained.
"Phase 1 dusted." Kat joked.
She and Rocky high-fived each other as Sophie smiled.
"Yes." Kat said.
"Good job." Zack said, patting Billy's shoulder.
"Time for phase 2 then?" Sophie assumed.
"Affirmative." Billy said. "Let's get sorted."
He began to work on the panel as the others turned around and approached another one, as Minh came towards him.
"Wait, hold up?" she asked, as Sophie turned around. "You're letting them live?"
Billy turned to her as Sophie approached them.
"That doesn't seem right, does it?" Minh asked. "What if they get loose?"
"This is the plan." Billy explained. "Look, all our destruction is rarely the most optimal strategy."
Minh turned away, looking unconvinced, before Sophie touched her left shoulder, getting her attention.
"We might need them alive for now." she explained. "They might hold to key to freeing our friends, so we can't destroy them for now. Does that make sense?"
Minh sighed and nodded, reluctantly.
"Now, where are those stealth-tech projectors?" Billy asked, approaching the others.
Sophie turned to him, as did the others, when Alpha came over with a small octagon tray, with had six tubes on it.
"Sorry. I got lost in the vault again." he apologised.
The five Rangers approached him.
"These are one use only, so be careful." Billy advised, picking one tube up.
The others all picked up a tube, which had a button on.
"Click here, and it projects a subatomic diffraction field that covers infrared and ultraviolet light." Billy explained.
"So, we'll be invisible? Kat inquired.
"Yep." Billy answered.
"Ah, love it." Rocky said.
"Good thing to know." Sophie said.
"Rita will never see phase 2 coming." Alpha joked.
"Robot's got jokes." Minh smiled.
"We'll be back soon, and when that happens, I need you to be here." Zack told her. "Alpha will keep you company."
Minh muttered and looked at them all, before they pressed the buttons on their tubes, turning invisible.
"Nice." Rocky said.
Minh looked around, shocked by what she just saw.
"Let's make it quick." Billy said. "Alpha, send us to Rita's lair."
"On it." Alpha said.
He began to walk off towards a panel.
"Ah!" Rocky yelped, as Alpha stood on his foot. "That's my foot!"
"Oops." Alpha said, backing away.
"Ow!" Kat yelped.
"Sorry." Alpha said, turning around, then approaching the panel. "I know I have heavy feet."
"Maybe we should've turned invisible after Alpha was at the panel, but before he could teleport us." Sophie said.
"Good point." Zack agreed.
Alpha put the tray on a stool seat, then began to work on the panel, before the five Rangers teleported away.
"Better get ready for what's coming." he said, working on the panel.
Minh turned around to the screen that showed Snizzard and Minotaur, who remained trapped on the magnet.
"AHH!" Snizzard hissed.
"Uncle Zack told me what being a hero means." Minh said.
"Guess I'll warm up the volcano, and make sure the waterfall's alright." Alpha said.
Minh turned and moved towards the tray, grabbing a tube.
"Mind if I borrow this?" she asked.
"I don't think that that's a good idea." Alpha began.
He turned around as she approached her Mom's Power Morpher, then picked it up.
"Thanks. Bye." Minh said, ignoring him.
She walked off and pressed the button on her tube, turning invisible.
"But... Ay-Yi-Yi-Yi-Yi!" Alpha exclaimed. "Zack's gonna freak when he finds out!"
Minh walked off towards the doorway, determined to help the Rangers, regardless of what Zack, Sophie and the others would say.
A/N: Karen and Mel are both married by this point, which is why they have different surnames, and I had a reason for choosing to add them among the captured Rangers over the others I've created. Mel, so all my Zordon era Rangers could appear, and Karen, to make sure Merrick isn't the only Wild Force Ranger. And also, apart from Beast Morphers, I've done all the seasons the others come from, so it helped when trying to decide.