Copyright: Power Rangers, the names and characters are owned by Saban, Dairanger is owned by Toei/Bandai Japan.
***2 Years Earlier***
"Tommy, look out!" Katherine panicky screamed.
"Don't worry, Kat." Tommy responded calmly, as their car almost hit a rock on the road, managed to avoid it with one of his skillfull maneuvers. "...this is not the first time I've done this you know."
"Well, excuse me." Kat began sarcastically. "I just don't like the idea of surviving a galactic empire invasion, but not surviving a simple road trip."
"You are a bunch of nerves, take it easy! You know I've been looking forward to this reunion just as much you, if not more so."
"Yeah!" Kat sighed after calming down.
It was a nice quiet sunny morning on the road just outside Angel Grove. Usually by noon it was filled with traffic, so if anyone wanted to get where they were going, they had to go pretty fast before Zero-hour came. Despite that it wasn't much different from any other road in the world, however for some strange reason, on this day it saw a bigger movement from the the four cities that the road connected; namely: Angel Grove, Briarwood, Reefside and Silver Hills. It had been eighteen years since the first team of Power Rangers was formed on Earth; and as some of them will say: 'There is no need for a new threat to the Earth, Galaxy and Space time continium; so that we can see each other.'.
"Sure is going to be nice to see the others again." Kat remarked.
"Sure is." Tommy also sighed, as he recalled his first years as a power ranger. "It will be great to see the originals: Billy, Zack, who I don't think you ever got to meet?"
"Never had the pleasure."
"You will love him, I heard that he is trying to break into the rapping buisness. He even has been in negotiations with 32 Cent to do a duet." Tommy said with a smile.
"Didn't you say the exact same thing about a year ago, when you two talked on the phone?"
"Yeah, negotiations are slow."
"Aw, it is a real shame Tanya can't be with us, because it sounds like those two could make a pretty cute couple."
"Always trying to hook people up, typical Katherine." Tommy joked.
"Why? Don't you think it would work?"
"Not at all. The Yellow Ranger marries the Black Ranger and they can give birth to the Orange Ranger."
Kat giggled and then became a bit more serious. "Do you think that Jason and Kimberly will be there?"
"I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be." Tommy replied calmly, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about that. "Why, are you worried?"
"It's just that I wonder if they took offense after we missed their wedding." Kat said with remorse. "We took weeks to prepare and in the end, we missed it because I had to get sick then of all days." After, she put her hand on her forehead to keep herself steady.
"Hey!" Tommy said while putting one hand on her shoulder. "Were both at fault here, I am the one who suggested we ditch the warm clothes because they were too heavy, if were a bit smarter you wouldn't have gotten sick."
"I just hope they don't take this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?"
"To them it may sound like I kept you away from the ceremony on purpose…" But before Kat could continue Tommy cut her off.
"We've been trough this, just because me and Kimberly had something all these years ago, doesn't mean we have something still going. We are friends, comrades. And we both moved on, she is married, and I am engaged to the woman I love. Kat?" Tommy told her softly as she looked at him. "I love you!"
Kat returned his smile. "I love you too!" Tommy moved closer to give her a kiss. "LOOK OUT!"
Tommy quickly, pulled the car over, as he almost ran over a possum on the road. Kat was out of breath from the sudden stop. Meanwhile Tommy got out of the car to check on the animal. Kat soon followed, she warned him about speeding and he still refused to listen.
"Easy, little fellow." Tommy told the little critter as he held it and put it outside the road. "There you go little guy, now go play in the forest." The possum ran off towards the nearest forest, as Tommy turned to Kat. "That was lucky we didn't hit him. Did you know that these animals are endangered?"
However Kat wasn't in a mood to learn. "Not anymore they are not! Keys, please!" Kat demanded.
"Aw, come on babe. Did you know that this is a special breed of Trichosurus Vulpecula with a red line on their tales? I wonder how it got here." Tommy said in the most innocent yet educational way possible, but to no avail.
"The keys, Tommy!"
"Did I mention how beautiful you look, when you are angry?" When all else failed Tommy tried to use his charm on her.
"That is good, because you are going to be seeing this face a lot!" Kat said almost in a master-like way as she took the car-keys from Tommy's hand. "Now get in the car!"
"Yes ma'am!" Tommy wasn't going to argue, so he quickly got into the passenger seat, as Kat took over the driving seat.
But before Kat started the car, she leaned over and gave Tommy a kiss. "I love you!" After they drove off towards their destination.
Years later, the rangers would look back on this day, as they remember the calm before the storm...
Chapter 1: Shooting Stars
***At the forest near Briarwood***
The possum ran into the forest, the place was known to be filled with strange occurrences, and it seemed that today it wasn't going to be any different. As the possum finally reached a small rock it looked towards the skies. Strangely enough, the little creature stood there for about ten minutes just looking at the skies, as if it was waiting for something. Finally, there from the clear skies appeared five shooting stars. Four of them felled mere inches from the critter, but the last one actually hit the creature.
"Arise Pink Prime!"
A strange voice whispered and the possum was immediately transformed into a human. She was Caucasian, about 1.75 meters tall with red hair and green eyes. As she arose from her prone position she looked at the other four stars that were now floating around. Soon enough one of stars began shaking and almost became transparent, until it finally took form.
"Arise Green Prime!"
From the star emerged a man that had a slightly darker skin, about 1.78 meters, with black hair and brown eyes. Then another one of the stars began shaking, only this one seemed to be filled with electricity as it started shooting sparks until finally it took form.
"Arise Yellow Prime!"
A tall blonde girl arose, she was also Caucasian and just as tall as her red-haired companion, but her eyes we navy blue. The next star began to shake; it started to twirl as it was creating a shield by itself.
"Arise Blue Prime!"
A tall brown haired man that was almost 1.85 meters, his skin suggested that he was probably from a Latin origin. Finally the last star began to shake and was soon surrounded by fire until a tall figure made its way out of the smoke.
"Arise Red Prime!"
The man from the smoke looked around himself and his companions. Even though he didn't look much different physically; he was Caucasian, with blue eyes and hair that was silver colored, obviously since he was too young to have gray hair, but his posture and the look of confidence in his eyes suggested that this was no guy you wanted to mess with.
"Is everyone OK?" The silver-haired man asked as he looked at his companions.
"Still a bit dizzy, but overall OK." The brown-haired man answered.
"Where are we?" Asked the blonde girl, as she looked at her surroundings.
"I sense there is something in this forest that differentiates it from other forests." The black haired man said, as his Indian accent shined through.
"Do you think this is the right place?" Asked the red-haired girl.
"It has to be!" Their leader said. "The lord sent us here for a reason!"
"OK, I would just feel better if we knew where we are." She talked back.
"I will be doing the worrying around here!" He responded in a calmly matter, it wasn't so much as if he was disrespecting her, but more so because he wanted to keep the moral up. "The only thing you should think about is accomplishing our objective!"
"Yes, sir!"
"So then, what is our first step?" The brown haired man asked.
"We are going to…." But he went silent after listening in and hearing a very strange sound in the distance.
"Long ago in ancient times, was a school of magic rhymes…"
The creature that was singing was Phineas, a half-goblin, half-troll and he was also a friend of the Mystic Force Rangers. He was a very friendly person, despite being once resented for the way he looked, and even after the defeat of the Master, he would still occasionally be given a few mean looks, but he still remained his cheerful self.
"Oh, hey uh…" Phineas said as he noticed the five strangers. "You are not from around here are you? I can tell. See you have different clothes on. Most people around here usually have more ripped ones, not this pretty. Oh! By the way my name is Phineas, friends! Well it's just Phineas and not Phineas Friends, I am Phineas and you are friends, so um… Hi!"
"What are you?" Unfortunately, the silver-haired one didn't share his cheerfulness. "Are you some kind of retard?" But before the silver-haired man could continue he was cut off by his red-haired companion, who put her hand on his chest, signaling him to be quiet, after she made her way to Phineas.
"Hello, Phineas!" She began in a friendly tone. "I am sorry, you will have to excuse my friend, he is a bit grouchy!"
"Ah, so I see." Phineas responded.
"Allow me to introduce myself." She continued. "My name is Miranda and these are my friends: Yuri, Lyzander, Khalil and Ivelise." She said while pointing at the silver-haired, brown-haired and black-haired boy and blonde-haired girl respectably. Phineas nodded at each of them, and they nodded back, with the exception of Yuri, who clearly had no desire to talk to this 'brain-dead troll'.
"A pleasure to meet all of you! So…um… what brings you to my neck of the woods? No pun intended." Phineas said in his usually friendly attitude.
"Well…" Miranda responded. "We are looking for some people; do you think you can help us out?"
"Of course I will!" Phineas answered very enthusiastically. "I know everybody here, the people, the fairies, the elves and even...the magicians. Heh!"
"Great!" Said Miranda. "Is there a chance that you may happen to know the…Power Rangers?"
"The Power Rangers?"
"You HAVE heard of them, haven't you?" Lyzander asked.
"Of course I have heard of them!" Phineas responded in a happy manner. "Something more… (He looked around)… they are my friends. My amigos, best buds. We used hang together, work together we defeated the Master together." He pointed out with pride.
"The Master you say?" upon hearing this Khalil went into a weird state, physically he was still standing there but his mind was clearly traveling somewhere else, finally his visions took form in his head: 'Together, we believe in magic! (Rangers morphing and roll call) We call fourth the magic! Together as one! United for all times! Power Rangers: Mystic Force!' after this his visions faded away. Once he regained his composure he looked at Yuri. "The Mystic Force. (Then he looked at Phineas) Do you know where we can find them?"
"Of course I do, I can take you to them, if you want that is."
"Lead the way!" said Yuri.
"Great! Follow me!" Phineas said as he gave them a hand-signal to follow him. Phineas was always helpful and trusting of others, so he immediately offered his help. "I will take you to Rootcore, which is where they usually hang around."
"Thank you so much, Phineas!" Miranda responded in a very friendly way.
"It is a pleasure milady!"
Yuri looked at his companions and gave them a nod, signaling them to follow their unconventional ally. As each of them moved, Yuri began to move at the end of the pack. As they journeyed through the forest he thought to himself:
'So, the Lord chose that our quest begins with the Mystic Force! Good, I look forward to seeing this legendary Red Mystic ranger, that they call 'The Light'!'
***Meanwhile at the reunion hotel***
The hall they had hired was medium large, in the centre there was a big table with exactly ten seats and each of them had a different color: red, blue, yellow, black, pink and green. The walls were covered with MMPR posters. The rangers themselves never publicly acknowledged their secret identities, but at this point they were fairly indifferent as to who knew of them. It had been 10 years since the rangers were together. Some of them had never even met each other, so this was a great opportunity for them to meet their successors. The hall was still relatively empty; the only two guests that were there early were Rocky and Adam, who were in charge with setting the whole thing up. The original idea of having a reunion party with all former MMPR rangers was Adam's. A few months ago when Kat and Tommy were traveling to Angel Grove, they stopped by his Dojo. It was Tommy's remark that it is a shame that the former rangers don't get to see each other often that prompted Adam to suggest a reunion. They quickly made a few calls and everyone was fully on-board with doing it, still it took a while to set it all up, since all of the rangers had their own lives now, and the reunion would be pretty pointless if they weren't going to get a good part of them in there.
"My part is all set!" Adam told Rocky as they were hanging a big 'Morphenominal' sign from the roof. "Watch it there, you don't want to fall and break your head on this big day." He noted, because Rocky was a shacking his ladder a little. "If you want to I can do it?"
"No man, its Ok I got it!" Rocky said as he attached the final string. "There you go! Picture perfect!"
"Sure is, I hope the others like it as well."
But before they could finish admiring the fruits of their labor, the hall began to shake. Rocky couldn't hold on to the ladder and fell straight into the table, luckily his fall was softened by the various salad dishes on the table.
"Rocky, are you hurt?" Adam asked as he rushed to help his friend.
"Yeah!" Rocky got up holding his head. "Good thing we hadn't set the knives and forks yet!"
As they were talking an orb of blue light appeared in the hall, it reminded them of the teleportation technique they used back in the day, however this one had some differences: It looked like a triangle with three orbs at each side. This was the main teleportation technique for the people of the planet Aquitar, which could meant only one thing:
"Hi guys!" Billy said as he emerged from the orb. "Long time no see!" He said with a smile as he shook Adams hand.
"It's good to see you again Billy."
"Yeah man, likewise!" Rocky said while still trying to get up. Billy was reluctant to ask why he was laying on the table, until he overheard a very familiar voice form the kitchen.
"Ayayayayayayayayayay! Was that electromagnetic signal the same electromagnetic signal I thought it was?" Alpha 5 emerged from the kitchen to welcome their new guest.
"Alpha?" Billy was pleasantly surprised to see his old robot buddy. "This is a surprise! But I thought you were deactivated?"
"Oh Billy, you know that nothing can keep a good robot down."
"I reactivated him a while ago to help the Overdrive rangers." Adam explained to Billy. "These days he helps me with my dojo."
"I heard about that. You and your friend did a great job defeating Zedd and Rita's son."
"I just hope they don't have any other children that might plot to take revenge on the Power rangers."
"I wouldn't worry too much. Times have changed; we have more than enough rangers to battle whatever evil threatens the world."
"Amen to that!" Rocky interjected himself, while still trying to clean the salad from his face.
"Ayayayayayayayay! Rocky what have you done do the salad meals?" Rocky scratched his head, trying to think of an excuse. "Now I have to start all over again. Ayayayay!"
"Don't worry Alpha Ill take care of it." Adam said.
"Yeah, he will take care of it, chill Alpha!"
"DID I HEAR THAT SOMEONE WAS CHILLIN'?" Zack had finally arrived at the building and greeted his former colleagues. "What is up my homies?"
"Hey Zack. I am surprised to see you come here alone." Billy said.
"What do you mean 'alone', man? Just look at the two kids I picked up along the way!" Zack pointed at the doorway where Kat and Tommy entered.
"Admit it Tommy! You were enjoying seeing me nearly crash the car in that tree!"
"I'm sorry babe, I just know you're not used to driving with manual gears; next time – leave it to the pros!"
"Excuse me?"
"Hey c'mon guys, make a peace treaty and come greet us!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry guys! Pleasure to see all of you again!"
"Likewise my friends."
"Hey guys!" Rocky went up to go greet them when he noticed that his hand was covered in mayonnaise and salad dressings.
"You have a weird choice of make-up, my friend." Tommy remarked.
Slowly but surely the hall began to fill up, as the former ranger were almost all present and accounted for. While the men began to share different stories about their adventures for the past few years, Kat felt a little left out since there wasn't any female company for her.
"Hello, guys." A soft feminine voice said from the entrance way.
Kat's worries were gone once Aisha finally arrived, all the way from Africa. When she walked into the room, Zack was stunned by this beautiful girl and instantly abandoned everything that he was doing and went to greet her.
"Hello! And who might this wonderful creature be?" Zack courteously asked her.
"Aisha."
"Aisha?" he responded with a smile, as he held her hand and courteously kissed it. "The pleasure is all mine!"
"Haven't we allready met, Zack?"
"Believe me, I would remember a beautiful and smart girl like yourself!"
"Whatever…" she would usually be nicer, but the long flight and 5 hour drive to the hotel didn't feel like it.
"Hi, Aisha." Adam and Rocky both came over to greet her and she was very happy to seem them, and gave them both a hug.
"Rocky? Do you know that you have some salad dressings on you shirt?" Rocky was searching for a quick answer. Aisha smiled and took out a handkerchief from her purse, which she used to clean him up.
"Always ready for anything, I see." Adam noted.
"Lets go guys!" Aisha grabbed both Rocky and Adam's hands and made her way to their seats. Zack looked on slightly jealous:
"Dang, you lucky S.O.B's!"
"Feeling déjà vu, Zachary?" Billy said jokingly.
"Heh, nice one dude!" they exchanged a high-five and took their places.
The meeting was almost ready to begin when Alpha turned out worried.
"Ayayayayayay. Rangers we have a problem of gigantic proportions!"
"What is it Alpha?"
"I made a miscalculation when setting up the dishes. I am I can't prepare anything fast enough. Ayay."
"Don't worry, Alpha, I said I will come help out." Adam suggested.
"Yeah, let's go!" Rocky added.
"I don't think that is a good idea. I mean all this is a little your fault."
"What! Is it my fault that alien teleports like to blast everything around them?"
"Easy, Rocky." Billy interjected. "I would come and help Adam, but I have completely forgotten the human ways of cooking."
"Tommy, why don't you go help them, show them what you learn from the school picnics." Kat asked.
"Well it will be a little difficult considering that I have to make something for people that I ACTUALLY like; but OK."
"Good; all we need is just one more person and we can save the day!"
"Sorry we are late!" Like clockwork they were interrupted by the arrival of the final guests: Jason and Kimberly Scott.
***Briarwood Hospital***
Madison was sitting on a hospital chair. She had sustained a minor wound in her right arm after falling off of Nick's bike, luckily her arm wasn't broken, but still needed to see a doctor to clean up her wound.
"There you go Miss Rocca, though I would advise you to be more careful next time you try to ride a motorcycle. Those things are dangerous."
"I will, thank you doctor!"
"Anytime. Now I just need to fill out your papers and you can leave this place."
Once the doctor left, Madison turned to her two friends in the room – Nick and Xander.
"That was a close call." Said Nick.
"Too right, mate!" Xander responded. "You're real lucky to have such a nice woman! Any other would kill you for making her do something like that."
"I sure am!"
"Don't get too happy, sunshine!" Madison said with a smile. "Vida is on her way and once she gets here… There is going to be trouble."
"Come on, Maddie. After everything I've been through these past few years, do you think that I would be scared of someone like Vida?"
At that moment Chip and Vida entered the room.
"Here is your chance, mate. Show her what you're made of!"
"Hey Vida, how are…" but Nick was quickly silenced when Vida grabbed him by the throat.
"WHAT DID I SAY THAT I WAS GOING TO DO TO YOU, IF YOU HURT MY SISTER?"
"Easy V, I…"
"You've got some mouth on you!"
"Come on sis, leave him alone! It was my fault, I wanted to see if I riding a motorcycle would be easy… and I guess its not."
"You hear that V?" Chip asked as he was trying to pull Vida from Nick. "There is no need for violence."
"Yeah, what they said!" Nick said while Vida continued to choke him. "Xander, how about helping out?"
"No way. Miss V is in Dangerous Mode. I don't want any trouble!"
Lucky for Nick, their cell phones began to ring.
"Woaw! Saved by the awful ring-tone!"
They all answered. It was Leanbow, Nick's father and mentor to all of them.
"Rangers, I need you to return to Rootcore, as soon as possible!"
"What is wrong, dad?"
"I can't talk now, just come! It is urgent!" and then he hang up.
"What was that about?"
"What about the doctor?" Madison asked. "I still need to get my papers to check out."
"We will go." Vida said, pointing at Chip, then she pointed at Nick and Xander. "You two – make sure everything with my sister is sorted out! Or else!"
"Yes, commander!"
"Roger that!"
After Vida and Chip left the room, Nick turned to Madison.
"Maddie, no offense, but your sister is out of whack!"
***At the reunion***
"I am surprised you didn't offer to help the guys out, Zack. Do not tell me that your life of luxury has spoiled you." Billy joked.
"No way, man! This cooking thing, it is a woman's job!" However when Aisha and Kat gave him some rather mean looks, he felt the need to backtrack. "Do not worry, ladies! That doesn't include you."
"Why? Aren't we women too?"
"No! I meant that… um. Hey Billy, my man, is it true you are going out an alien?"
"I believe I had mentioned that before, but it is true. Me and Delphine have been together for a while. And it is serious."
"That is so sweet Billy." Kat said.
"True, however I've always been curious to ask you of…well… how do you… you know what?"
"Zack!" Aisha bumped him slightly, signaling him to not ask such uncomfortable questions.
"What? I'm just curious." Zack responded.
"Well, I am pretty sure that no one else is interested in such meddling into someone else's personal life!" Aisha responded, trying to avoid sounding rude.
"I'm curious, too!" Rocky said, but was quickly cut by Aisha, who gave him a bump on the shoulder as well. "Hey, I'm just worried that our friend may get some weird infection or something."
"Easy guys don't worry!" Billy began with his usual calm voice. "While it is true that the Aquitian anatomy is very different from that of the human body, but that is why all Aquitians mate in a telepathic way, therefore they can mate with just about every species."
"Cool!" Zack nodded. "Didn't get half of the things you said, but still cool!"
"So that means they can mate with cats and dogs as well?" Said Rocky who was remaining blissfully clueless, only this time he got some weird look from everyone in attendance. "Um… Hey, what is taking the other so long?" Rocky now desperately wanted to change the subject.
Zack watched this with a smile and laid back. "Finally, the heat isn't on me this time!"
Kimberly was standing next to the window and observed with amusement the activity at the dinner table. She was about to take a drink when Kat tapped her on the shoulder.
"Kimberly? Can I talk to you?"
"That is it? No pink ranger love? No hug?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry." The two gave each other a friendly hug.
"Now what is bothering you, Kat?"
"I wanted to talk to you about… well… about why we missed your wedding." Kimberly looked confused. "I wanted to apologize for not attending your wedding. It was my fault for getting sick just a few days earlier and when it came time for the wedding I wasn't allowed to travel and Tommy opted to stay with me."
"Hey, don't worry, it is no problem, I forgive you!"
"I knew you would… I just didn't want to leave the wrong impression on you."
Kim instantly realized what Kat was hinting on. "Hm… you know what? I don't forgive you!"
"What?"
"If you want me to forgive you, you will have to do something for me!"
Kat felt a little nervous. "What is that, Kim? I would do anything!"
"I want to be maid of honor on your wedding! And if your first child is a girl I want you to name her Kimberly!"
"Deal!" and they both laughed it off and hugged.
Meanwhile at the kitchen things were going on well. While Alpha still did most of the work, Adam, Tommy and Jason had a chat to make time go by faster.
"So, how was you honeymoon, Jayce?"
"I was hoping you would ask! It was perfect!" Jason smiled. "That is until we spent 10 hours on an airport, waiting for a delayed flight."
"Ouch!"
"Don't worry my friend, this is just the beginning!"
"There is more?"
"Oh, yes. After we got on the plane to Paris, we got a signal that the plane was out of fuel; so we had to land in the nearest airport… in Dublin!"
"That is a little far away from Paris."
"You think?" Jason said sarcastically. "And that is not the best part!"
"There is more?"
"After we waited for some two hours, do you know what happened?"
"There was a malfunction and you had to wait 2 more hours?"
"No." Jason laughed. "That happened on the way home! No, it turned out that we weren't out of fuel after all, it was a pilot mistake."
"Wow!"
"And then the funniest part. After we finally got to Paris and reached the hotel, do you know what they said?"
"I can't wait to hear it."
"'We are sorry, monsieur. Your reservation for the royal suite was cancelled, because of an unexpected visit from the Prime Minister, and because you were late with about 4 hours.' Still, at least they gave us an OK room, but still felt cheated."
"At least you got the privilege of being close to the French Prime Minister!"
"Nah, it turned out that he reserved a room in a different hotel at the last minute."
"Damn! That is some story, man!"
"Yeah well, still nothing compared that what used to happen to us in the old days! Anyway how have you've been, Tommy? How is life in the high-school?"
Tommy looked at the ground and muffled. "Not very good."
"Why? What is wrong?"
"Well…" Tommy sighed. "I was laid off about a month ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"I know, I haven't told Kat yet. I spent the last month going from interview to interview, but nothing seems to come up. I want to settle down and start a family with Kat, you know, but if my finances keep declining… I don't know what to do."
"Kat isn't anything like that!" Adam said. "I think you should just be honest with her, I'm sure she will understand."
"Probably. Maybe I can start my own martial arts dojo; follow in your footsteps."
"I wouldn't suggest that if you need finances. Truth is: my dojo doesn't have as many customers to make it profitable. I do it mostly because I love teaching kids the art of martial training."
"If only we had revealed our identities when we first became Power Rangers. We could have made millions from licensing toy sales." Jason joked in an effort to lighten up the sad direction that their conversation was steering towards. "Come on, guys, I suggest we forget our worries and just enjoy this day!"
"I hear that!"
After a few more minutes, dinner was finally ready to be served and everyone took their places on the table. Of course the ones on the two opposite ends of the table were the two leaders: Tommy and Jason.
"SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!"
"Ok, ok, settle down!" Not wanting to disappoint, Jason stood up, holding a glass of white wine. And what a better way to start off a reunion, but the words of the original leader. "Friends, loved ones, my fellow Rangers, it is an honor and privilege to stand here with you, on this momentous occasion. Eighteen years ago, to the day in fact, that the inter-dimensional being Zordon chose five teenagers with attitude to protect Earth from an evil sorceress and… dare I say it? They kicked her a*s!" The comment was followed by a big applause. "Time went by, old rangers left, new rangers came, villains changed, teams changed, but the one thing that remained the same was that whenever evil decided to invade our home, we were always there to protect it! And that is why we are gathered here today, to celebrate those of us that started this tradition. To the Power!"
"To the Power!"
"Now, I know things have changed over these eighteen years, it is kind of sad that we spent our childhood was mostly spent fighting monsters, but let me tell you something – If I could go back and change time, I wouldn't change a thing!" Another round of applause. "Because if it weren't for those friendships that we made then, we wouldn't be here now to celebrate it! This brings me to some sad things to talk about. As you know, next month will be the one-year anniversary of the death of our good friend – Trini Kwan. It was a major blow for me personally, because I remember talking to her on the phone and reacquainting for the first time in 6 years, just 2 weeks before the incident. She was a great person, a great friend, it is a tragedy that a woman that fought all of these monsters for years and survived, was beating by something so insignificant. But I know that as long as we remember her, she will always have a place in our hearts! For Trini!"
And everyone chanted as one: "For Trini!"
"Thank you, for your time!" And they all took a drink.
***Downtown Briarwood***
Chip and Vida ran towards the tree in front of the Rock-porium so that they can use it to teleport to Rootcore. The whole way Vida was keeping in touch with her sister.
"Sis, what happened? Are you OK? Do you think you can get here?" Vida said to Madison via her cell-phone/morpher.
"I told you I'm fine V! The doctor said that there wasn't a bone break, but I still need to protect the arm for a few days. I just signed the papers and can join you at anytime."
"Do you think you can come any time soon?"
"No problem, we are all set and can be there in about 10 minutes." Maddie responded.
"OK, take your time and we will see you at Rootcore." After which Vida hanged-up her phone. "Lets go Chipster!"
"What do you think this urgency is all about?" Chip asked, since this was not the first time Daggeron and the other had staged a little drill course for the rangers.
"I don't know; I just hope the illusion monsters they make this time a better than the previous ones. The first fifteen times was fun, but after the big snail-monster you know they just aren't trying anymore."
"Speak for yourself! When that thing jumped on my head I almost had a heart attack!"
Vida began to laugh. "Your pants felt a lot heavier after that experience, didn't they Chipster?"
"Very funny!" Chip responded sarcastically. "You would have the same reacting if a worm started to eat your head!"
"Yeah I suppose you're right! Let's just get this thing over with!"
Without thinking too much, Chip and Vida walked into the tree and were instantly transported to Rootcore.
"All right monster, I'm ready for you!" Chip began in his usual tone but was immediately left stunned as he and Vida witnessed Rootcore burning down. Both in an instant lost their cheerful faces and began to savage through the ruins to find out where the others were.
As Chip rushed towards the entrance Vida opened up her cell-phone.
"Sis I told you, we can't come any faster!" Maddie spoke calmly, unaware what had really happened.
"Maddie, listen to me: this is not a joke, Rootcore is burning and there is no sign of…"
"VIDA!" Chip screamed as he saw Leanbow and Udonna's dead bodies on the ground.
"Madison, get over here now!" Vida shouted at the cell phone and rushed towards the bodies.
Chip tried to sense their pulses and even attempted and RP, but to no avail. Neither one could have imagined what could have done this, they had battled all kinds of monster and even the ten Terrors themselves, and none of them could do what this force here had done.
"Chip? Where is Dageron?" Vida asked, almost afraid of the answer.
Chip looked around and noticed a vulture descending from the sky, probably looking for food and landed near Dageron's body and next to it was Clare's body. Chip and Vida quickly scared off the bird and went to see if either one of them was still breathing. Chip was heart broke to see his old mentor just lying there dead, while Vida was more angry than sad and began to hit the ground in frustration.
"Who did this? WHERE ARE YOU? SHOW YOURSELF!" Vida shouted in anger, unaware that the vulture was right behind her. "COME FIGHT US YOU COWARD!"
"Help…" A weak voice was heard from nearby, it was Phineas voice, he was lying on the grass with a deep wound in his chest. Chip and Vida both ran to his side.
"Phineas?" As Chip held him he noticed the big wound in him, he knew that there was nothing they could do for him, so he tried to at least get him to talk. "Who did this, Phineas? What happened?"
"They came… they were too strong… they had dark magic…" Every time Phineas tried to talk, he would cough and choke on himself. Vida held his hand.
"Phineas, I swear, to you, to Leanbow, Uddonna, Clare and Daggeron, whoever did this, I am going to make them pay for this! You have my word!" Vida said with determination as she saw Phineas pass away. "I swear Chip, I will make those f**** pay for this!"
"I don't think you will get the chance, honey!" The vulture surprisingly began to talk and then transformed itself into a human, it was Miranda. Vida was caught off-guard and tried to defend herself, but without success, as Miranda stabbed her with her dagger.
"Vida!" Chip screamed as Vida fell to the ground, he instantly took out his morpher and attempted to morph. However his phone was shot at point-blank right out of his hand by a bolt of fire that also burned his hand.
The pain he felt was killing him, normally he would think that a battle scar like this would be 'awesome', however he couldn't feel that way now, when his friend was dying.
"Don't bother getting up Yellow Ranger!" Out of the smoke appeared Yuri along with Lyzander, Khalil and Ivelise and they all surrounded Chip. "I'm sure you would prefer this to end quickly."
"I prefer to end you!" And then he jumped straight at Yuri but before he could do anything a bolt of yellow lightning surrounded him and a few moments later he also fell, it was Ivelise, who had just used her super-speed ability to stab him. Chip fell to the ground and never moved again.
"Three to go!" said Yuri as he walked out from the tree line. "Do your thing and let's finish this!"
Ivelise and Miranda stood above Chip and Vidas bodies and began chanting some magic words, it seemed that they were extracting the ranger powers from their victims. When the ritual ended, Chip and Vida's powers took the from of a small yellow and pink crystals that the two women put in their pockets.
***Meanwhile in the city***
Nick, Xander and Madison were hurrying through the city at such a pace that they almost got hit by a passing truck. After an intense run they reached the tree in front of the Rock-Porium.
"This is it!" Nick approached the tree they used to teleport to the forest. "Let's go!"
As they got set to enter through the tree, their path was blocked by Yuri.
"Going somewhere?" He walked out of the tree with cold faced grin and holding a red dagger in his hand. At his side were Khalil and Lyzander with their own daggers in hand.
"Who are you? Are you the ones causing trouble?"
"That would be us. Yes!"
"Oi, you better get out of our way, or we are going to hurt you… seriously!"
"I don't think you are taking us seriously!" Yuri turned around and called out his other two companions. "Ivie! Miranda!"
Out of the tree came out Ivelise, holding Chip's body and Miranda, holding Vida's body. They joined Yuri's side and threw the bodies of the two dead rangers in front of them.
"Chip!"
"Sis!" Maddie screamed and rushed towards Vida's body.
"What have you done to them!" Nick said in a threatening voice, and noticed Yuri laughing at him. "Where is my mother and father!"
"What? You didn't expect us to carry ALL of the bodies did you?"
"NO!" Nick fell to his knees. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh, you are not even going to ask about Solaris Knight?" the remark caught the others attention. "How about that clumsy wizard girl? Even that goblin freak, he really was gullible! I am really disappointed in you!"
"Why you!" In a move that caught the five off guard, Nick cast a fire bolt at them.
Yuri barely managed to stop the bolt with one of his own fire balls. "Perhaps you ARE as powerful as they said you were!" And within a second he launched another one of his fireballs. "Let's see if you can stop this!" Yuri mocked Nick as his fireball was approaching his target.
However it did not reach its target because its path was blocked by a magic barrier.
"HA! What are you going to do now?" Xander taunted as he had just morphed into the Green Mystic Ranger and cast a spell to protect Nick. "Now, take this!" then he cast another spell that made the roots of the tree attack, knocking the five down.
"Great job my friend!" Nick told Xander, then pulled out his Magic Morpher. "Magical Source: Mystic Force!" And in an instant was transformed into the Red Mystic Ranger. "Maddie, are you OK?" He tried to get Madison's attention, but she was still crouched in shock next Vida's lifeless body, she couldn't move and she couldn't talk, all she could do was cry. The sight of the woman he loves crumbling down set a fire inside Nick. "You bastards are going to pay for what you did!" With a single look he rallied Xander and they both charged at the five with intense anger and thirst for vengeance.
The five had just got up and awaited Yuri's orders, he didn't respond immediately as he was completely focused on the enraged Green and Red Mystic Rangers. While the other four seemed to be a little nervous at the sight, Yuri was the one that didn't seem intimidated. Yuri looked at his comrades and gave the order:
"Let's do it!"
And in a heartbeat they all screamed in unison:
"AURA MORPHERS!"
Nick and Xander were frozen in their tracks as the five strangers were being enveloped in a strange aura of light, and soon it was followed by a minor explosion. Both rangers covered their faces since the aura had blinded them for a fraction of a second, but once they were able to see again they couldn't believe what was standing in front of them. It was a group of Power Rangers.
Yuri: "Red Ranger, the burning Fire star, Red Prime!"
Khalil: "Green Ranger, the howling Illusion star, Green Prime!"
Lyzander: "Blue Ranger, the shaking Gravity star, Blue Prime!"
Ivelise: "Yellow Ranger, the galloping Time star, Yellow Prime!"
Miranda: "Pink Ranger, the blowing Wind star, Pink Prime!"
Together: "The five stars always shining in the skies, Five-star task force: Dairangers!"
Xander, Nick and Madison were frozen in their places, they were stunned by the fact that there was another team of Power Rangers, not only facing them, but trying to kill them as well. But who were they, where did they come from and most importantly, why were they fighting their own kind. Nick was determined to get answers from them.
"WHAT ARE YOU?" Nick shouted furiously, then he looked at his fallen comrades. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US?"
The five just stood there, now they weren't intimidated at all. They completely ignored Nick and Xander shouting at them until finally Yuri looked at Nick and said as cold as possible:
"We want you dead!"
"Not if we kill you first!" Xander yelled before charging at Yuri.
Yuri just stood and watched as Xander charged at him, but before he could reach him, he was cut off by Khalil. The two green rangers fought each other briefly and it appeared that Xander was getting the best of him. That is until Khalil put his hands together and in an instant he duplicated himself. Xander was shocked to see himself surrounded by dozens green Dairangers, he knew that this was some kind of trick, but he didn't have much time to think because they were closing in on him, so he just grabbed his MagiAxe and started attacking the holograms. But to no avail, as Xander had defeated merely a quarter of these holograms, Khalil snuck in from behind and stabbed him with his own axe.
"NO!" Nick shouted as he watched Xander's body fall to the ground. He tried to perform an attack but was quickly cut off by another fireball of Yuri. This one was even more powerful than his previous ones, because it managed to demorph Nick.
As Khalil extracted Xander's crystal, Yuri looked on with pleasure:
"I expected a bigger challenge for our first task."
Nick realized that this was a battle they couldn't win, so he grabbed Madison and they both retreated.
"You can run, but you can't hide!" Yuri simply mocked the two.
Nick and Madison ran into a dark alleyway, they held each other tightly, both in fear and in sadness.
"I can't believe this is happening!" Maddie cried.
"Don't worry; we will get through this somehow." Nick tried to calm her down, but even he couldn't believe what he was saying.
"How can we get through, when all of our friends are dead!" Madison didn't want to panic, but couldn't help it. She didn't even notice that the wound in her arm had bloodied up again.
"Maddie please; you have to be strong… For us! Please!"
"Nick I…"
"Aw, how touching!" The two were quickly cut off from Yuri who was standing just a few feet away. "Don't worry, young lovers, you will see your friends soon enough!"
"YOU MOTHER******!" Nick could feel the hatred in him, it was almost as like he could sense his impending doom and without anything to lose drew his Magi Sword and once again morphed. "Come on! Come on…"
"As you wish!" Yuri said with an evil grin as he stabbed Nick in the back.
Madison looked at the alleyway and saw the four Dairangers appear, the figure of Yuri that was talking to them a minute ago was an illusion that acted as a diversion, created by Khalil, while the real Yuri had sneaked in behind them.
"I expected more from the so-called 'Light'!"
"You haven't seen everything yet!" Nick said with his last breath, he could feel himself getting weaker, but was determined to take the five Dairangers down with him. "Maddie, use the shield spell!" He whispered and with once last breath he engulfed himself in flame, Madison wanted to help him but he gestured to her to run. Even though running seemed useless, once she saw what Nick was going to do she had no choice.
As the Light began to fade away a giant explosion happened right were he was. The explosion was massive, and was sure to have destroyed everything that was close to it.
***Somewhere on the Highway***
After several hours the reunion was over and all the rangers were getting ready to go home. Billy teleported back to Aquitar, Adam managed to win himself a lift in Tommy's car, while Rocky got a ride in Jason's car. Zack, being a gentleman, offered Aisha a ride to town on his motorcycle. She was hesitant at first, but agreed anyway. The traffic on the road was heavy, and there appeared to be a traffic jam. People had gotten out of their cars and were looking towards the city of Briarwood. It was like a nuclear explosion went off. The shockwave could be seen clearly from the highway.
"Zack, look at that!" said Aisha, who was riding on the back of Zack's bike.
"That can't be good!" he instantly stopped his bike and looked on along side tens of bystanders, who had also stopped their cars to witness this phenomenon.
Tommy and Jason's cars also stopped.
"We have to do something!" Adam was the first to get out of his car and rushed towards Briarwood.
"He is right! People could be in danger! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" and Jason also ran of in the direction of the explosion.
"Right behind you!" Tommy and soon the other former rangers began to run.
***Back at Briarwood***
Madison was laying on the ground, knocked back by the fierce explosion that Nick cause. The explosion itself was one of the most powerful spells known to magic users; it could devastate an opponent at an incredible range, yet leave fellow magic users completely untouched. She barely managed to get up off the ground, she was still in shock about what had happened in the past ten minutes, but she was determined to find her friend. It didn't take long to find him, unfortunately it was too late. Nick was dead. Maddie who was already in an unstable emotional state fell on her knees and began to cry. She was praying that this was all just a bad dream and that soon she will wake up in her bed and everything will be OK, but it was not to be.
"Don't worry my dear! It is almost over!" The sound of her tears was interrupted by Yuri. He and the other Dairangers were covered with an aura shield that Lyzander made to protect them from the blast. "Lyz, be a gentleman and put her out of her misery!"
With that Lyzander drew out his dagger and slowly approached Madison, who barely managed to stand up. Realizing that she had nowhere to run nor hide, she drew out her Mystic Morpher and prepared herself for one last battle.
"Magical Source…!" But before she could finish Lyzander super-kicked the morpher right out of her hand, and proceeded to lift her up by the throat.
"I'm sorry, it is nothing personal!" Lyzander reached for his dagger to deliver the final blow.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" (Karate yells)
Adam jumped from seemingly nowhere and kicked Lyzander to the ground.
"Pick on someone your own size!" Adam told Lyzander.
"Why you…"
As Lyzander was trying to get up, the other Power Rangers began to surround him. They were all in unmoprhed form, but by this point they were experienced enough to not feel uncomfortable while facing someone in such a state.
"It is punks like you that give Power Rangers a bad name!" Jason began.
"You want to fight? Bring it on!" Tommy finished.
"I will teach you to…" Lyzander reached for his dagger and was ready to charge in, only to be surprisingly stopped by Yuri, who grabbed him by the shoulder.
"It is too late! Another day!" Yuri told him.
"What do you mean? Our task isn't done yet!"
"It is over when I say it is!" Then surprisingly Yuri looked at the Mighty Morphin Rangers almost as if he was glad to see them. "Besides, we don't fight our own!"
"Huh?" they mumbled to themselves.
"Don't be ridiculous! You are murderers; you can never be part of the Power Rangers!" Kimberly screamed at them.
"Don't make me laugh!" Yuri mocked her. "We are the Five-Star Taskforce Dairangers! We are here to end your reign of… should I say Power! Soon, you will all be a part of us! But your turn hasn't come yet!" Then Yuri turned back and signaled his companions to leave, they seemed to be confused as to what he was referring to as 'their own'. Lyzander was furious because he didn't want to leave before finishing off the Blue Mystic Ranger, but Yuri was in no mood to argue around and just pulled him by the arm. The five Dairangers were transformed into stars and then disappeared. However before Yuri was ready to leave he turned towards the Power Ranger with a smile: "See you around, comrade!" and then disappeared.
"Who was he talking to?" The rangers were confused, but didn't have time to think of it.
Adam was the first to help Madison to get up. "Are you OK?" then he noticed the M sign on her jacket. "You are Madison, right? The blue Mystic Ranger?" she was still in shock and couldn't talk but still nodded in response. "My name is Adam, the black ranger; me and Xander worked together a few years ago; what happened to him?" the only way that Madison could respond was by crying. Adam turned around and saw Nick's body on the ground and judging by her reaction it is likely that Xander had shared his fate. "I am sorry!" and he nodded his head as a sign of respect.
Meanwhile a huge group of people were gathered near the Rock-porium. Zack was trying to make his way through the people. He finally saw that the people were gathered around the bodies of the Green, Yellow and Pink Mystic Rangers. The people could not believe what had happened, there were cries and panicked screams everywhere.
Zack quickly came back to let the others know what happened. They were all baffled as to how could something like this take place. Madison still couldn't get a hold on herself, she was sitting on a bench and shaking.
"Thank you!" she told Kat, who handed her a cup of water.
"Madison, you have to tell us everything that happened here." Jason told her. "These guys are dangerous, and we have to stop them!"
Madison tried to talk, but was still breathing heavily from her sorrow.
"Jason, I don't think now it is a good time to talk to her about this." Said Adam.
"No." Madison said in a low tone. "I will tell you everything. If they are after the other rangers… then only you can stop them!"
And thus Madison began to explain to them what happened.
***Location Unknown***
The five Dairangers walked in a strange temple, settled in an area that was bare for miles, the skies were gray and filled with dark clouds. The temple itself was huge, almost as big as the Sistine Chapel, however the interior was nothing more than a few benches near the walls and everything else was bare gray. When the five walked in they directed themselves to the darkest spot in the temple. When they reached the altar in the middle they all bowed down, as if to pray. After some time from the shadows emerged a figure wearing a dark cloak that covered his entire body.
"En Taro Ismail!" The five chanted in unison.
"At ease my friends!" Said the dark clothed man, known as Ismail. "Did you finish your first task?"
"Yes master, we took down the Mystic rangers." Yuri said, while avoiding looking Ismail in the eyes.
"Ah yes, the Mystic Rangers, keepers of the ancient art of magic. I trust you took them by surprise?"
"Their magic managed to slow us down, but it didn't help them much in the end!" Yuri responded.
Ismail smiled. "I see! Bring forth the crystals you took from them, we are ready to begin the ceremony!" After which Ismail stood back, as each of the five Dairangers brought forward their crystals. Ismail began:
"Yuri, wielder of the sacred flame, you shall command the power of the Wolf Warrior and Red Mystic Ranger, with these crystals you shall be the ultimate Fire Master! Arise Red Prime!" And with that the crystals evaporated into sparks and became part of Yuri.
"Miranda, offspring of the sky, you shall command the power of the White and Pink Mystic Rangers, with these crystals you shall be the ultimate Sky Master! Arise Pink Prime!" After, the crystals broke into snowflakes and became part of Miranda.
"Ivelise, the lady in time, you shall command the power of the Solaris Knight and Yellow Mystic ranger, with these crystals you will strengthen your hold on the very fabric of time! Arise Yellow Prime!" Out of nowhere a mystical lightning bolt hit the two crystals, as they became a part of Ivelise.
"Khalil, the man of a thousand illusions, you shall command the power of the Green Mystic ranger, with this crystal your illusions shall become even stronger than they are! Arise Green Prime!" Once again the crystal sliced itself into two halves as it became a part of Khalil. Finally came Lyzander's turn, however it would not turn out well for him since his task was to bring the crystal from the Blue Mystic ranger, but obviously he couldn't because she was still alive and the crystals could only take form if their previous holder was dead. When Ismail came over to him, Lyzander was shaking, he was scared to death of what could he do to him, now that he failed his first task.
"Lyzander?" Ismail began calmly, as Lyzander tried to avoid eye contact. "Do you mind giving me your crystal?"
"I… don't have a crystal." As he said it, he felt shivers down his spine, and despite Ismail's calm tone, he knew that that was only a cover, for deep within him his was pure evil.
"You don't have a crystal? Correct me If I am wrong, but weren't there eight Mystic Force rangers? That is eight, which equals to eight crystals. Yet I see only seven here." Ismail could feel Lyzander's fear, who was obviously feeling what was about to come. "You let her get away didn't you? Leave us!" Ismail ordered the other four Dairangers and they all left, Ivelise was reluctant to leave at first but she still left like the others. Finally Lyzander and Ismail were alone.
"My Lord, I just want to say that…" Lyzander started but was quickly cut off.
"What did I say when I gave you your task?"
"I…"
"WHAT DID I SAY?"
"That failure to deliver would have dire consequences!" Lyzander's entire body was shaking.
"Yes, that is right! And what did you do?"
"I failed!"
"Exactly!" And that very same instant Ismail grabbed Lyzander by the throat and threw him into the wall, the impact was painful and it even left a crack in the wall.
"Please my Lord." Lyzander tried his best to ignore the pain, but was unsuccessful. "I couldn't get it only because Yuri ordered us off the field."
However Ismail was not in a mood for excuses, and once again picked him up and this time punched him with such force that when he hit the floor there was a big puddle of blood on it. Ismail looked at Lyzander's helpless body; he could have killed him in an instant, but obviously wanted him to suffer before doing so. Ismail was an adept magic user, so he rolled up his arm and created a stroke of lightning aimed at Lyzander. He quickly noticed the lightning directed at him so he used his power to create another force shield around him, however to no avail as Ismail's magic was too strong and abruptly hit him. Lyzander was rendered completely helpless, he could do nothing but watch as Ismail walked over to him and grabbed him by the throat, no doubt to deliver the final blow.
"Don't cry, weakling! Soon, it will be all over!" But before Ismail finished him he noticed something that fell from Lyzander's pocket, and that thing finally caught his attention. "What is this? WHAT IS THIS?"
"It is mine!" Lyzander answered, only to get punched again.
"May I ask where did you get the Saber-tooth Tiger Power Coin?"
"What does it matter?"
"It matters if you want to live!" Ismail screamed.
"It was given to me by Trini, the first Yellow Power Ranger, a little before she died."
He let go of him for an instant while he examined the coin. "Fascinating!" Ismail said with a grin, he took a few moments to look at the coin and then back at Lyzander. "Even though, you should have told me about this earlier; maybe you are worth keeping around for a little while longer." With that Ismail let him go and promptly called Ivelise back in. "Today is you lucky day, my daughter, for now you shall command the power of the Yellow Mighty Morphin Ranger."
"Thank you, father!" Ivie bowed down and thanked her master, but when she looked at Lyzander's tortured body she could feel shivers running down her.
"Now go rest my apprentices, because your next task will soon be at hand! You will no longer have the element of surprise at your side, so your tasks will only get more difficult from now on!" Ismail said calmly.
Ivelise went to help Lyzander to his feet and they both left the temple.
"Are you OK?" Ivie asked him.
"Thanks, I am fine… I just need to be alone for a while."
"Take your time!"
With that Lyzander ran off. As he was running through the bare wasteland he could feel something inside his head, it was Ismail talking to him telepathically:
'Not many people have the fortune that you do youngster! From your next quest I expect no less than two blue ranger crystals! If you fail to deliver… then there shall be drastic consequences!'
Ismail continued to look on as Lyzander felt his thoughts in his head. He was then approached by a man in a very distinguishable purple armor.
"I never tough I would see you show mercy towards failure!"
"Do not worry, Koragg. Everything is going according to plan!"
To be continued…