Author's Note:

This is the final part of Phase 1! I shall be writing multiple parts in one go (Based on how I have written this FanFic so far) So the next update my be further apart than previously. I had the first 3pt parts written (in One big chunk) before I uploaded this initially. So stay tuned and may the power be with you fellow Rangers!

Mamba smacked him across the face with his bone-stick. The slithers didn't let him fall, he could feel the warmth in his mouth. Zane spat at Mamba's feet. May as well be defiant till the end. The stick rose again, Zane braced for the pain. Instead two small explosions, followed by smoke distracted his enemies. The tail's holding him in place loosened as Zane heard the two slithers drop to the floor either side of him. A second wind took hold, Zane rolled backwards, using the momentum to stand. Leaping back he raised his guard once more.

As the smoke cleared, Mamba looked furious. Stamping his feet around like a child having a tantrum. Two knives had dropped the slithers, following where he thought there trajectory originated. Zordan sat, legs dangling on the edge of roof. Zane watched him point to his head, heart then hold his hand out in front of him.

"Where had he seen that type of pose before?" Then the memories hit him. The original Zordan, the face in the tube. He had spoke of the devices their potential and their use. Zane then realised the drum was still pounding, only now he could tell it was more of a thrumming. The device was in his pocket, it was vibrating with power. All suddenly became clear, knowing exactly what to do. Zordon was right, hope was missing from everyone. That's what their eyes said. Now though he realised, that look had never been in his eyes, his own eyes had always held hope.

Zane held the device forward, it glowed red. The symbol of the plague doctor changed, the mask being replaced by the bat. It seemed the morphin grid still used a source to direct its power through. A hunter in the night, seemed rather fitting. The words formed in his mouth almost against his will. They came naturally like breathing, as if he had always known them.

"It's Morphin time." Zane saw Mamba stumble back in shock. Actually dropping his sticks in the process.

Zane was enveloped by a strange light. Around him he could see strange lines, green in colour, like a spiderweb. A light burst into life before him. It was red, power overflowing. Again it pulled him, willing him to come closer. Without hesitation he reached forward, planting his open fist into the light. It reacted in glorious fashion. The light shifted and swirled, forming a flying creature, a large bat. It had no detail, made only of pure energy. Zane watched it swoop round heading straight for him.

The collision threw him backwards, into the air. As he flipped over the energy formed over his body, up to his neck. He landed in a crouch, then his mask fell free, his face briefly on show before the light engulfed his head. A helmet formed. A visor sat across his eyes, the rest was completely red. The bat form showed itself with small slicked back ear shapes on either side of his head, small fang like shapes resting slightly over the visor from the top and bottom.

Zane stood, the material felt soft and flexible yet looked strong and tough. Over his chest a piece of body armour that slightly resembled his jacket sat. Sleeveless and gold trimmed where the edges off an undone jacket would usually have buttons or a zipper. It was closed though, at his belt the device, no coin like in his vision but a flickering hologram of a bat. He was reborn.

"Red Ranger power!" Zane could feel the energy surging around his body. At his wrists he could see familiar mechanisms, the ones he used to hide daggers. Over his shoulder he could feel his hood resting soundly at his back. It felt right, familiar, as if his whole life he was missing a piece of himself, a piece he had now found.

"Impossible! The king himself proclaimed the rangers powers dead! This is a trick, it cannot be so!" The hiss from Mamba sounded panicked, frantic. The tables had turned.

"Believe it snake, it's about time the predator become the prey." Zane stood firm. Mamba screamed an order to attack. Zane no doubt in his mind now charged forward. Taking off into a jump to engage the reorganised army.

Zane had danced before, now he slaughtered. His speed seemed to have increased again, his punches hit harder and his new armour made any hit from the slithers tickle. Add the fact his wrist devices provided him with an almost infinite supply of daggers, now with tinted red handles and a bat symbol engraved into the base of each blade. He felt unstoppable.

Zane let loose a dagger taking a slither out a short distance away, at the same time he dodged and connected with a punch. Following it through with a kick. A new dagger slid into his hand at will and he used both hands now to cut down another two slithers in his path. Zane noticed the defeated slithers dissolved into the ground. Mamba seemed to be really worried now, he scrambled on the spot. Hissing and screaming his anger towards his now powerless foot soldiers. Zane decided to speed up his mission towards Mamba.

"Flying Blade Frenzy!" Zane announced, leaping into the air the two symbols on his wrists, accompanied by the one at his belt glowed. For a moment he seemed to pause in the air, then he swooped past the gathering of slithers below. To the onlookers it would appear he merely flew past, nothing happening. In actual fact during the swoop Zane had unleashed a hailstorm of daggers. A bombardment like a downpour of arrows on a battlefield. The result a field small sparks and hisses as the remaining group of slithers were impaled. There remains disappearing into the earth below.

The final battle was about to begin. Mamba couldn't seem to compose himself. Zane decided to capitalise on that. Touching his belt he flipped his hood up.

"Night hunter, dancing daggers" Zane again announced. He wasn't why, it felt right to call out the power as he accessed it. The hood seemed to activate that power. Immediately the world changed, it become tinted. Mamba looked around frantically, the crowd gasped in shock. Invisibility, how useful this would have been during the last few years of his life. ZAne dashed forward, two daggers glowing in his hand. Mamba never saw him coming, his first strike connected through his stomach. The second down his back in one fluid motion. The creature seemed to spark, small explosions occurring with each connection of his blade. Zane connected with multiple following strikes, ensuring to shift his position encircling Zodiac captain.

In a panic Mamba let loose on his drums. Sending a shockwave in all directions. It threw him back, shattering his invisibility and throwing the watching crowd to the floor in the process. Zane simply used the force to turn himself in the air landing on his feet a short distance away. Zane instantly sent two daggers flying, glowing with energy. They connected exploding on impact taking Mamba off his feet. Zane watched as the beast he once feared struggled to stand, smoke rising off it's body from the wounds he had inflicted. Mamba reached for his sticks. Zane let loose a dagger, exploding on Mamba's wrist stopping him reaching his weapons.

"Ranger," Mamba hissed, struggling to speak. "You think you will fair any better than the previous rangers? Prince Zedd and Princess Moira will not stand for this treachery they will come and you will be destroyed!" The words screeched out.

Zane thought for a moment. The Prince and Princess, left to rule in King Zeals place. They would certainly come for him now. That is exactly what he wanted. This power had certainly given him hope, he hoped he could now make a stand. Alone if needed he would take the fight to the empire. It would crumble at his feet.

"Let them come. I look forward to meeting them. Unfortunately monster you won't be here to see it." Zane proclaimed his final move. The power whispered, guiding him. Two daggers graced his palms. He crossed them over his belt, which glowed in response.

"Red Ranger power, night hunter blades!" The two daggers transformed, two smallish swords now. Each had a crimson handle the blade curving slightly at the top. Zane again dashed forward. Leaping into the air, his blades glowed with energy as he crossed them over his chest. In mid air he swung them outward, his shadow below appearing as if he had wings.

In a rush of speed he shot forward cutting through the now standing Mamba in an X shaped slash. Zane stood swinging his blades behind his back, again in an crossed over position. Mamba collapsed in a fiery explosion, his body gone in an instant. Zane had won.

The crowd filled quickly with murmurs and whispers. They stood unsure of what to do, of what had happened. Hell even Zane didn't really know what had just happened. Had he really just defeated a member of the Zodiac Empire? Zane stared at the smoking patch of dirt at his feet.

He looked to where Zordan had sat but found nothing. Unsure of what to do next Zane simple scanned the crowd. They were all looking at him. Something was different, there was a changed in them. There eyes all looked towards him not filled with despair or lifeless. Instead something new burned, hidden deeply but still noticeable.

That new fire was hope.

That is what he had given them. In his actions, in defeating the local Captain. Suddenly the power left him. The power suit vanished is a soft glow and he was left standing back in usual clothes, hood down, mask on. Zane disappeared down a nearby street away from prying eyes. The was an odd silence. Zane realised it was because there was no hissing, at all. Apparently the defeat of Mamba had meant the defeat of the area's slither population.

"No turning back now," Zane let himself relax slightly. "This is only the beginning I have started something here, there is no running now." That was fine by him. There was an odd comfort in the whole situation. No longer was he just moving from day to day. Getting by, surviving.

Finally in all the despair he had lived in his whole life. Finally he let was able to let himself hope, even if that hope had only just been ignited.

A/N:

There you have it! Our first Ranger, Zane - The Red Ranger - Bat. I actually changed my mind during writing this. Originally I had intended to have the rangers be slightly different using powers related specifically to themselves. (The Plague Doctor theme for Zane) I may still use that Power I had a nifty look where the eye holes and beak from the doctor mask appeared and that was some special mode. I may reintroduced this later on but for now I felt more comfortable going down a more traditional route. With the Zodiacs all being themed on animals as well.

Stay tuned for Phase 2 - Beauty or Brawn?

May the power protect you fellow rangers.

- End of Phase 1 -