Prince Vekar woke up in his chambers with a pounding headache. The bachelor party had gone long into the night, and the drink had flown from the stores like a tidal wave. Prince Vekar had even, in a show of charity normally unseen for him, opened his own private reserve, allowing the kind of vintage normally unavailable to any but the Royal Family to end up in the hands of his Commanders. This generosity had come with a rather inevitable cost though.
"Good Morning Your Highness." Damaras greeted him as he came in, turning on the light. Vekar just groaned.
"Turn out that light; it's brighter than the sun." He complained. "And why must you talk so loud?"
"Sire, I allowed you a little extra time to recuperate after the festivities." Damaras told him. "I even took the liberty of having your serving droids attach a drip to get some fluids into your system to ease your suffering..."
"This isn't even the worst of it?" Vekar asked him. "Oh by the Gods my head hurts..."
"I have this concoction from Earth that is said to help such things. I have already tested it and it should work in your body." Damaras told him. "It is called an aspirin."
Prince Vekar drank the solution, tossing the glass aside where it shattered. He looked to Damaras.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"It's almost midday." Damaras informed him. "The wedding will take place in four hours."
"FOUR HOURS?" Vekar screamed, throwing off the covers and getting up. "And you let me sleep in like this? We need to get ready!"
"The droids are preparing the cargo bay as a hall for the ceremony as we speak." Damaras assured him. "The medical droids have been working around the clock with Lavira to ensure she is fit enough to go through with the ceremony."
"My little muffin is so brave, I should check on her." Prince Vekar stated, before stopping at the door. "No, wait...if she's getting ready, then the dress. I can't see her in the dress, it'll be bad luck!"
"Like none of this isn't bad luck already." Damaras muttered under his breath. Vekar looked his way.
"What was that Damaras?" He asked. Damaras just looked to him.
"Perhaps it would be best if you allowed the medical droids to handle it for now." Damaras suggested. He had already checked on Lavira, knowing that with Transfercer's demise, she would be back in her own body. He was relieved that Marv was gone before he could cause any harm, but it now placed him in a difficult position. "Your Highness...I have some important matters to address..."
"More important than my wedding?" Vekar shrieked. Damaras just sighed. That was his biggest issue right now, but not for the reason Vekar thought. He looked to the Prince, thinking quickly about his cover story.
"Transfercer was defeated during the festivities last night." Damaras told him. "I was..."
"Oh, what does one more dead Commander mean on a day like this?" Prince Vekar asked. Damaras just shifted a little uneasily. He had to think again, before a moment of inspiration came to him.
"In all the commotion of the bachelor party and dealing with the fallout and paperwork of Transfercer's demise, I haven't had a chance to rehearse my speech!" He rushed out. "I haven't even had a chance to run it past anyone to ensure it is worthy of you My Prince!"
"Then what are you standing around here for? My droids can dress me!" Prince Vekar told him. "Go and sort it out Damaras! This day has to be perfect!"
As he left the room, Damaras went to his chambers, ensuring he wasn't being followed and locked the door, before disabling any surveillance. He opened up your secure line.
"This better be important Damaras." Vrak growled. "I'm almost finished my little project, I can't afford any..."
"My Lord, your brother has accelerated his plans!" Damaras told him. "He is getting married TODAY!"
"WHAT?" Vrak screamed. He knew this was a bad development, one that threatened to completely de-rail a plan he'd had in the works now for years. While hearing of his brother's infatuation for his Science Officer had provided him some troubling mental images, and some amusement, together with a welcome distraction for Vekar while he moved his pieces into place, a wedding was a different matter. His plan hinged on the fact that at present, he would be the next in line to the throne. If Prince Vekar married, then Lavira would be spring-boarded into position as being a member of the Royal Family...and above him on the line of succession. The one thing he was banking on was that his brother was...to put it mildly...a moron! Lavira was no fool; her choice in partner notwithstanding, it would be no easy task to fool her into a position to be taken out. She might even...he shuddered to think about it...keep Vekar alive long enough to sire his own heirs! He could see his opportunity slipping away. "How did this happen? Why didn't you...?"
"My Lord, your brother made me his Best Man!" Damaras protested. "He dragged me to his bachelor party; this is the first chance I've had to get some time alone to contact you!"
"Well, I don't care WHAT you have to do Damaras; I don't care what you have to risk, but this wedding CANNOT HAPPEN!" He yelled, smashing a fist into his console.
"Lord Vrak?" He asked as the line went dead. "Vrak? Damn it!" Damaras exclaimed. He just sighed and shook his head. "And what exactly does he intend me to do?"
On the Red Galleon, the Rangers were up and about, and a little more upbeat than they had been. While they still had no idea what they were meant to be doing, or when they could expect to see Gosei again to complete his plan, they were all elated to be back in their own bodies.
"Never let it be said that I don't like learning new things." Jake said as he poured himself some candied monstrosity that he called a breakfast cereal, together with some milk. "But sometimes, it's great just being me."
"I am definitely not going to miss that appetite." Gia chuckled. "Seriously, what do you eat, like your entire bodyweight in sugar and meat?"
"I burn it off." Jake replied with a shrug.
Just then, they heard a disturbance outside. Jake, Noah, Jordan, Emma and Gia all quickly gathered.
"Uh...isn't Orion praying outside?" Gia asked.
"Orion, is everything alright out there?" Emma asked. Orion just poked his head down the hatch.
"Uh...guys?" He asked. "There's...something weird going on with the sky." He told them.
"It's not another storm is it?" Tensou asked, noticeably shivering. He still hadn't forgotten being hit by lightning a short time ago. Orion just shook his head.
"If it is, it's not like any storm I've ever seen." He responded. "It's more like someone's...ripped open the sky...like a handkerchief."
"What?" Noah asked. He pushed his way past the others, and started to head up the stairs to see for himself. The others quickly followed, just as curious to see what Orion was talking about. It didn't sound like anything they had seen before.
When they all got out on the deck, they all craned their necks skyward to see. They all stood open-mouthed as their mouths hung open in shock. There was red lightning in the air, arcing into a deep, blue swirling mass, which started to increase in size. It did indeed look like someone was tearing open the very sky.
"I've heard of holes in the ozone layer, but the SKY?" Jake asked.
"I have a really bad feeling about this." Emma said, looking a little uneasy. Gia just nodded in agreement.
"Noah, Jordan, any ideas what that thing is?" She asked.
"Um...you're more of an expert on cosmic events Mr Eltarian." Noah conceded. Jordan just gulped.
"Half-Eltarian." He reminded them. "If I'm not mistaken...it's some kind of trans-dimensional gateway."
"A worm-hole?" Noah asked. Jordan just nodded.
"Well, this is definitely new." Jake stated. "Vekar has never..."
"I think this is a little out of Vekar's reach." Jordan interrupted him. "Um...make that...a LOT out of Vekar's reach. If he could pull something like this, he'd have an entire flotilla here in minutes!"
"So who's doing it?" Noah asked. "And why?"
Just then, their morphers bleeped. The Rangers all knew that very few had access to their communications links. If they were honest, as far as they knew, all six of the only ones that used their communications were standing right on that deck. Gia opened her morpher, hearing a broken, crackling communication.
"...Rangers...help...vital...hurry...innocent lives..." She furrowed her brows.
"OK, this doesn't sound good." She commented. "It's coming from through that portal."
"Wait, someone wants us to go through that thing?" Jake asked. "Oh, hell no! I've seen enough of Noah's crappy sci-fi shows to know that going through some weird portal only ends up landing the good guys in some hell world full of daemons or aliens or killer robots or something."
"Before all of this, I'd have said he was watching too much sci-fi...but given all we've seen, I kind of have to go with him on this." Emma conceded.
"Guys...who else has access to Ranger communications?" Gia asked. "This could be a real call for help!"
"...come...Corinth...hurry...!" The communicator crackled out. Jordan just looked to the communicator then back to her.
"Corinth?" He asked. "The home of the RPM Rangers?"
"Wait, we have their Ranger Keys!" Jake reminded them.
"We got them from this dimension's counterparts." Noah added. "They never became Rangers here remember?"
"But their powers were still in the keys, which means if we have them...they don't!" Emma concluded. "If something's happening in Corinth, they'll be sitting ducks!"
"Guys, we can't seriously be thinking about..."
"Come on Jake, other Rangers have helped us when we needed it." Gia reminded him. "If we called for help, we'd get it."
"It's kind of like being a Made Man." Jordan told him. "If you're a Ranger, and you need help, you just call and others will help you." Gia just glared at him.
"Did you SERIOUSLY just compare us to the Mafia?" She asked him.
"Well, we do have our own code of silence, kind of like Omerta." He replied.
"OK, that aside, we did get a distress call from Rangers." Gia said, ignoring his comment. "We...kind of have to go don't we?"
"I guess so." Emma replied. "They came to our dimension to help the Samurai once; I guess it's time to return the favour."
"Yeah, no matter where they're needed, the Rangers go right?" Jordan asked.
"OK, I guess it'd be pretty cool to see another dimension." Jake replied. "So...how do we do this?"
"Baton down the hatches guys." Gia instructed them, pulling out her Ranger Key. "And it's best to suit up. We don't know if this'll be a smooth ride or not."
With that, they all morphed and headed back below deck, steering the ship into the portal. They didn't notice that on the ground, a mechanical figure was watching them.
"Ah, my plan is working perfectly. I've arrived on Earth undetected." Professor Cog stated. He watched the ship disappear into the worm-hole. "Those lousy do-gooders are so predictable. They've just flown right into my trap!"
He raised his weapon, firing a lightning bolt at the rift, at which it closed up.
"Enjoy Corinth Rangers, because you're never coming back!" He declared as the worm-hole sealed itself behind them. "And thank you for taking all the Ranger Powers with you! Now with no Black Samurai...the world will be helpless against my machines!"
Inside the worm-hole, the Rangers were marvelling at what they saw. It was like a tunnel, made of blue, swirling energy, through the very fabric of time and space itself. It turned out that the ride was nowhere near as rough as they believed, so Emma, Gia and Orion had returned to the deck. Emma had taken her camera and some recording equipment with her, promising to take some recordings and photos for Noah, who reasoned that it would be the first time anyone would be able to see real life shots from inside a worm-hole. Orion was mesmerised by it.
"I thought I'd seen everything by now, but this is incredible." He commented.
"It really is amazing!" Emma agreed, snapping some shots. Gia smiled.
"It looks like something from Doctor Who." She said, earning her some looks from Emma and Orion. "I guess the Red Galleon beats the shit out of a police phone box."
She realised they were staring at her and suddenly flushed.
"What?" She asked. "Oh come on, I'm not allowed to like Doctor Who?"
"I just think it's interesting to see that you're a closet geek." Emma giggled.
"I'm guessing this would mean more to me if I knew who the hell Dr Who is." Orion stated. Emma just laughed.
"Trust me, you aren't missing much." Emma assured him.
"Guys, we've reached the end of the worm-hole!" Jordan told them. "Hang on for re-entry!"
As they came through, they were shocked by what they found. They burst through, finding themselves flying over a desert, one that was strewn with wreckage, and that seemed to extend for miles around. Orion noticeably tensed up.
"This...this is their dimension?" Gia asked. "I thought Corinth was at peace for years!"
"How...how could things get like this?" Emma asked. She noticed Orion, and came over to him, touching his shoulder. "Orion..."
"This...it just..."
"It brings back memories?" Emma asked him. "Of Andresia?" He just nodded wordlessly.
"This is a whole different dimension, one where The Armada didn't come to Earth." Orion said dejectedly, looking to her. "Is this...is this what it's like everywhere? Is it inevitable that no matter where people are, someone's going to come along and ruin it?"
"Sometimes people will try." Emma told him, knowing her words weren't exactly comforting. If she'd been in Orion's shoes, she had a feeling she'd feel the same way. Gia pointed into the distance.
"Guys, check it out!" She called out. They could all see one of the few real structures that were still standing, a gigantic dome, rising high into the sky, and extending for miles around. Just outside it were the ruins of whole neighbourhoods and farms.
"They brought the dome back up." Emma gasped. "But...the Samurai said they'd been here, they said that they were expanding..."
"It looks like something forced them back into the dome." Gia answered, noting the ruins just outside the dome. "Alright, so now we're here, how do we get in?"
Gia's morpher bleeped, and she answered it, figuring it had to be whoever made the distress call.
"Unidentified vessel, this is General Scott Truman of the Corinth Defence Force and Mayor of Corinth City." A voice on the other end stated. "State your identity and purpose or we will treat you as an enemy and open fire."
"Uh...I'm Gia...Captain of the Red Galleon and Yellow Corsair Ranger." Gia began. "We're Power Rangers from another dimension, answering a distress signal from this dimension. We've come to help."
"Distress signal? What distress signal?" Scott asked in the lab at The Garage. He looked to his wife, the woman formerly known as Doctor K, who was at her computer. She shook her head. "No distress signal was sent from here!"
"But we got a distress signal from Corinth!" Gia insisted. "You're the Red RPM Ranger...or at least you were, it has to have been you!"
"Their energy signature is consistent with the universal bio magnetic field that powered our suits." Dr. K confirmed. "And there are biological life signs on the ship, six of them. No sign of Professor Cog's tech."
"But we didn't send a signal!" Scott reminded her.
"Professor Cog...we lost his signal a few days ago, right after he released the Turbo Falcon!" She stated. "It must be one of his schemes."
"We need to straighten this out." Scott grumbled. "Call the others here. We need to get to the bottom of this."
He got back on his communicator.
"Alright, in the spirit of trust and co-operation, we're letting you in." Scott told them. "I'm sending a signal to guide you somewhere you can land your ship. We'll send an escort to bring you to our headquarters. They will be under strict instructions to show you no hostility as long as you show them the same. As a sign of good faith, I'm asking that you allow our escort to bring you here unmorphed."
"I don't like it." Gia stated. "The odds are in their favour if we aren't suited up."
"They're just scared." Orion told her. "Looking at what happened here, can you blame them?"
"He has a point." Emma added. "Besides, we can still have our morphers on us. It'll only take a second to morph."
Gia just nodded.
"We accept your terms." Gia told him. "If your people don't make any moves, then neither will we."
"Thank you. I'm sending you your flight path now." Scott answered, cutting off the communicator. He looked back to Dr K. "Well, you've always been right up until now. Let's hope this isn't the day the streak ends."