A/N: This series will stretch from Mighty Morphin to In Space or Lost Galaxy. The premise is that the Rangers will add more members rather than Ranger members leaving. This story will take a darker tone than the series. Although I am keeping the original six Rangers on the team, I may change things around anyway as I continue. I include Lightspeed Rescue because they are a team of professional adults, which would be a nice contrast to the Mighty Morphin team. This story has the Jason/Trini and Tommy/Kimberly pairings. I will be keeping the major arc episodes, like the Ninja Encounter, including Promethea from the comics. This story starts from The Ninja Encounter.
Please let me know if I need to change anything :).
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or the characters in it. Saban owns the characters from the TV series. Boom! Studios own Promethea and Grace Sterling.
Now for the story :)
Date: November 2, 2002
The six Rangers were hanging out at the Juice Bar. Jason saw Billy looking intently at a packet of papers, and Jason asked, "Are you thinking of going to that Peace Conference?"
Billy looked up and asked, "Huh?"
Jason pointed at the packet.
Billy said, "Oh, this? No. I was actually working on my application to Promethea."
Trini looked up from her Peace Conference application, and asked, "Promethea? Do you mean that high-tech company in Silicon Valley?"
Billy nodded, and said, "Affirmative. They do a lot of good things there!"
Jason said, "That's a perfect fit for you. I say go for it!"
Billy sighed, and said, "Normally I would, but…." He pointed at his communicator, and added, "If I left, I feel like I would be abandoning the team."
Jason said, "Hey, you're part of the team. You won't be abandoning us!"
Trini thought for a moment, and said, "He has a point. It will be tough to fight Lord Zedd while he's working for Promethea."
Billy pointed at Trini's Peace Conference application, and said, "Yet here you are, filling out an application for the Peace Conference."
Trini glanced over at Jason, and said, "I'm filling it out because he wants to go as well."
Zack teased, "Aw, Trini can't be away from her boyfriend for a few seconds!"
Trini glared at Zack, and Zack just laughed.
Kimberly said, "I am worried about what will happen to us if one of us leaves. We will be short one person. Or possibly even three, if you three end up leaving."
Their communicators interrupted the Rangers. The Rangers walked to a secluded spot, and Tommy said, "Zordon, this is Tommy. What's going on?"
Zordon said, "There has been a development, and you need to return to the Command Center immediately."
Jason said, "Sounds serious."
The Rangers teleported to the Command Center, and they saw Alpha 5 running around frantically.
Alpha 5 cried, "Ay ay ay, we may be in more trouble!"
Tommy asked, "Is it Lord Zedd again?"
Zordon said, "Worse. I fear that Lord Zedd's presence has alerted the United Alliance of Evil. Alpha 5 has detected activity in a nearby star system, and we have confirmed that it is indeed the United Alliance of Evil."
Tommy asked, "What is the United Alliance of Evil?"
Zordon said, "It is a vast interstellar force of evil, and their mission is to destroy all life in the galaxy. In order to combat this, we need to recruit more Rangers."
Jason asked, "More? How many more will we need?"
Zordon said, "That is difficult to predict. Alpha 5 has advised me we will probably need multiple teams."
Billy said, "Multiple teams? Won't that do bad things with the Morphing Grid?"
Zordon said, "We won't have any problems as long as each Power Ranger team uses a different power source. We can have two Red Rangers, but they can't use the Red Ranger power coin simultaneously. Alpha 5 has looked for more sources of power. Thankfully, this planet has a lot of them."
Tommy asked, "What can we do to help?"
Zordon said, "Your task is to look for additional Rangers to recruit. They must be skilled in martial arts, and they must be good at heart."
Tommy said, "Understood. We will find them." He paused, remembering how he joined the team, and added, "Or they will come to us."
Jason asked, "How are we supposed to recruit them without telling them who we are?"
Billy said, "That's easy. We appear in our morphed forms and take them to the Command Center."
Zordon said, "That's the ideal situation. I will warn you, you may be up against more Power Rangers. There is another Power Ranger team in operation."
Jason asked, "More Power Rangers?"
Alpha 5 led them to the Viewing Globe, and they saw a Megazord fighting a giant monster.
Zack said, "It looks like someone took a bunch of emergency vehicles and shoved them all together."
Jason said, "You're right. It does."
Zordon said, "This Ranger team has been active for two years. They fought against Queen Bansheera, another member of the Alliance of Evil. They defeated her two years ago in a tremendous battle. Now, they are fighting some of Lord Zedd's monsters."
Tommy asked, "Do they know about us?"
Zordon said, "They have been observing us, just like we have been observing them. When we recruit more Rangers, we may get their attention."
Tommy said, "We will be ready. What should we do if we see them?"
Zordon said, "Assist them, but do not invite them to the Command Center yet. We do not know whose side they are on, nor do we know their intentions. We must be cautious."
Tommy said, "Understood."
Zordon said, "Good luck, Rangers."
Later that day, Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy waited for the Ninja Tournament.
Kimberly asked, "What do you two think of the kids we met earlier?"
Tommy asked, "Do you mean the ones who helped us save Mr. Anderson's baby from the stroller earlier today?"
Kimberly nodded, and she said, "They seem really nice."
Billy said, "Yeah, they do. I hope Jason, Trini, and Zack get to meet them."
Tommy said, "They will. I asked Jason if he had wanted to come to watch the tournament, but he said no. He told me he and Trini have things they need to work out."
Kimberly sighed, and said, "Yeah. Trini didn't seem entirely on board with the Peace Conference thing."
Billy said, "At least they're talking about it. Did you see Angela's explosion at Zack earlier today?"
Kimberly shuddered, and said, "That girl shrieked like a banshee when Zack told her he wanted to go to the Peace Conference. I think Zack is trying to make things right, but I don't think there's any hope for him."
The lights dimmed, signaling the start of the tournament. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha entered the ring on one side, and three other kids entered the ring on the other side. The bell rang to signal the start of the match, and they watched the fight. Zack entered the spectator seats, and he sat down next to Billy.
Billy looked over at Zack, and whispered, "You okay?"
Zack growled, "Angela broke up with me, and she shredded the application. It looks like I'm not going after all."
Billy asked, "You can fill out another one, can't you?"
Zack shook his head and said, "No. I planned to surprise Angela by taking her to the Peace Conference, but she didn't let me tell her. There's no point in me going anymore."
Zack saw a look of relief on Tommy's face. Zack felt annoyed and asked, "Why are you so relieved, man?"
Tommy said, "I'm relieved because we will only be short one or two Rangers, not three. Now shush, I'm trying to watch the tournament!"
The Rangers went back to watching the tournament. They had good timing because they saw Rocky throw one kid out of the ring. He flexed his arms and roared, "Yeah! That's how we do it!"
Aisha yelled, "Little help here!"
Rocky saw Aisha holding another kid in a headlock, and the kid was trying to break free. Rocky ran over to help Aisha.
Tommy said, "Good teamwork. Although Rocky let himself get distracted for a moment."
Kimberly looked over at Tommy, and teased, "Oh, and you don't?"
Tommy's face turned a little red, and he said, "I don't let myself get distracted for too long."
Kimberly giggled, and said, "If you say so."
Rocky and Aisha defeated the kid Aisha was fighting. Now it was three against one. The one remaining kid looked between Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.
Rocky said, "Three against one. Bad odds for you."
The one remaining kid charged at Aisha, assuming that she was the weakest of the three. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha responded by swiftly defeating the kid with overwhelming force. The four Rangers all winced, and then they cheered.
Zack said, "Damn, I'm glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that!"
The announcer held up Rocky's, Adam's, and Aisha's hands, and he yelled, "We have a winner! The Stone Canyon High team has won!"
Everyone cheered once more. Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy congratulated Rocky, Adam, and Aisha on their victory. After the introductions, Tommy introduced Rocky, Adam and Aisha to Zack. Billy glanced over at Zack, and he was happy that Zack had a small smile on his face.
An hour later, Jason and Trini were still in a conversation about the Peace Conference. The two Rangers were sitting on Jason's bed.
Jason said, "I'm rethinking my decision to go to the Peace Conference."
Trini asked, "You are?"
Jason nodded, and said, "Sure, we get to see the world, but that would mean leaving the others."
Trini said, "That's true. What made you change your mind?"
Jason said, "Zack and Angela's breakup got me to think about it. What if something happened, and I wasn't there to help?"
Trini held Jason's hand, and said, "They can take care of themselves. They will be fine."
Jason said, "I let down Tommy once. And Zack, well, I will have to talk to him about Angela later. I will not let down another friend. Never again!"
Trini said gently, "Hey, it's okay. It worked out. Tommy became the White Ranger, and Zordon said that Tommy is stronger than when he was the Green Ranger."
Jason said, "That still doesn't change the fact that he lost the Green Ranger powers. I failed him, Trini. I won't fail anyone ever again. I promise you that. So no, I won't be going to the Peace Conference. If something happens again, I want to be there to help."
Trini let herself smile, and said, "Good, I'm glad to hear that. I was thinking earlier about how much I would miss Kimberly if I left and how much I would miss everyone else!"
Jason nodded, and said, "Nothing will make us uproot ourselves and move away from our friends, especially not now!"
Jason turned to his communicator and said, "Tommy? It's me, Jason."
Tommy yelled, "Jason, get Trini and come over here now! The Z-Putties have appeared at the Ninja Tournament, and Goldar has kidnapped the champions!"
Jason cried, "What!? Why!?"
Tommy said, "No idea! We need your help!"
Jason and Trini gave each other a small smile, and then Jason said, "We're on our way!"
Jason and Trini morphed, and they arrived at the Ninja Tournament. The other four Rangers were already morphed and fighting the last of the Z-Putties. Zack punched one of them really hard, and he kicked the other one really hard. Zack let out an aggressive scream, and the other Rangers ran up to him.
Jason asked, "Are you okay?"
Zack said, "I'm still a little sore about the breakup, but hey, punching the Z-Putties helped a lot!"
Tommy said, "We still need help, though. Goldar kidnapped the three champions and their teacher, Mr. Anderson! We got two monsters attacking Angel Grove!"
Jason said, "Of course, there are two monsters! One just isn't enough!"
Tommy said, "Come on, let's go! Follow the screaming!"
The six Rangers ran off towards the screams of terrified civilians. They arrived at a park, and there was a cave not too far away. Tommy got a glimpse of Rocky, Adam, and Aisha hiding in the cave. He scanned the park, searching for the two monsters. He saw the Terror Blossom and the Hatchasaurus. He also saw six adults charging towards the two monsters! The six adults yelled, "Lightspeed Rescue!"
The six adults morphed into six Power Rangers, and Tommy's team stared in disbelief.
Kimberly asked, "Lightspeed Rescue?"
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger waved at Tommy's team, and he yelled, "Give us a hand!"
Tommy said, "Right! Let's go, Rangers!"
The twelve Rangers rushed into battle against the Terror Blossom and the Hatchasaurus.
The Terror Blossom laughed, and yelled, "It doesn't matter how many of you there are! You can't stop me!"
The Hatchasaurus laughed as well, and he attacked the Rangers. The battle quickly became a flurry of punches, kicks, and jumps. Sometimes one Ranger would land a hit, and sometimes they have to retreat. Whenever a Ranger needed to retreat, another Ranger would jump in.
Kimberly and the Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger punched the Terror Blossom square in the face. The Terror Blossom roared, and it stumbled backward.
The Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger said, "Nice one!"
Kimberly said, "Thanks!"
The Terror Blossom cackled, and yelled, "That was barely a scratch!"
The twelve Rangers looked up and saw two grenades fall towards them. The grenades landed in front of the two monsters, and they popped open. The two monsters laughed, and they grew to an enormous size.
Tommy yelled, "We need the White Tiger Zord and Thunder Megazord now!"
The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers yelled, "We need the Lightspeed Megazord now!"
Time seemed to slow down when the two sets of Zords appeared. The Zords that formed the Thunder Megazord roared and combined to form the Thunder Megazord.
Zack got a glimpse of the Lightspeed Rescue Zords forming the Lightspeed Rescue Megazord, and muttered, "It really is a mashup of rescue vehicles."
Another Zord appeared, and it was clearly a Lightspeed Rescue Megazord as well. The Titanium Lightspeed Rescue Ranger jumped into the Zord and he yelled, "Max Solarzord, ready!"
The other Rangers got into their respective Megazords, and they faced off against the two monsters.
Jason yelled, "Now it's four against two! Let's see how you like these odds!"
The four Megazords stormed over to the two monsters. Terror Blossom charged at the Thunder Megazord first. The Thunder Megazord slashed the Terror Blossom with its sword. The Terror Blossom roared, and it turned around. At that moment, the Lightspeed Megazord took out its own saber, and it slashed at the Terror Blossom.
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger yelled, "We got our own sword!"
The Terror Blossom yelled out, "Hey! That's unfair!"
The two Megazords looked at each other and charged towards the Terror Blossom. Both Megazords swung their swords at the Terror Blossom, and the Terror Blossom exploded. The two Megazords turned towards the Hatchasaurus, which was currently under attack by the White Tiger Zord and the Max Solarzord.
Jason asked, "Do you need a hand?"
Tommy yelled, "Yes, please!"
The two Megazords walked over to the Hatchasaurus, taking out their swords.
The Hatchasaurus yelled, "You can't beat me! You tried to kill me once before, and I came back!"
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger yelled, "Well, they didn't have us this time! Let's finish him!"
The two Megazords swung their swords at the Hatchasaurus, killing it. The Hatchasaurus blew up, and the Rangers all cheered.
Tommy yelled, "Now we can go get the hostages!"
All the Rangers jumped out of their Zords and entered the cave. The four hostages stared at them with wide eyes, clearly surprised to see twelve Power Rangers entering the cave. Kimberly got down next to Mr. Anderson, and she undid the restraints.
Mr. Anderson asked, "You're a Power Ranger?"
Kimberly said, "Yes, I'm a Power Ranger. You're safe now."
Jason walked over to Mr. Anderson, and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Mr. Anderson stood up, and said, "No, thank you. I must return to my son!"
The Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger said, "I will take you to your son, sir."
The Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger walked out of the cave with Mr. Anderson. The Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger returned a couple of minutes later and said, "The police are taking care of it now."
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger said, "Good."
Meanwhile, Jason, Zack, and Trini undid Rocky's, Adam's, and Aisha's restraints. The three freed teens stood up and rubbed their wrists.
Aisha said, "Wow, thank you! I appreciate it!"
Rocky said, "What a day. We win the Ninja Tournament, and then we see how many Power Rangers? Twelve?"
Adam said, "Yeah, there are twelve of them in here. Good thing they're on our side."
Aisha whistled, and said, "Wow. No one would believe us!"
The Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger walked up to the three teens, and she quickly checked their bodies for injuries. She said, "You three are safe. Can you get home?"
The three teens looked at each other. Rocky said, "I don't even know where we are."
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger said, "We can take you three home." He turned to Jason and asked, "What about you and your team?"
Jason said, "We're fine, thank you."
The Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger said, "Good. I hope we can meet again someday soon."
Jason said, "Me too, Sir."
The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers left with the three teens. Tommy and his team teleported back to the Command Center.
Zordon said, "Alpha and I have watched you and the other Rangers on the viewing globe. The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers seem to be good at heart. We will run a background check on them, to be sure."
Billy said, "Tommy, Kimberly, Zack, and I watched Rocky, Adam, and Aisha in that Ninja Tournament earlier. They fight really well, so they may be good additions to our team."
Zordon said, "I agree with your assessment. Alpha, run a background check on the three teens as well. This attack by Lord Zedd tells me that Lord Zedd is interested in recruiting these three teens. We must beat him to it."
Jason asked, "What should we do if we meet the other Rangers again?"
Zordon said, "Assist them if they need help, but do not reveal your identities. Not until Alpha has determined who these Rangers are and what their mission is."
The Rangers said, "Understood!"
Alpha 5 looked up from his console and he said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the three teens' backgrounds are clean! There isn't any mention of evildoing."
Kimberly said, "That sounds wonderful to me. What's the bad news?"
Alpha 5 said, "There is nothing on the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers. Your government is determined to cover up all of its activities. One coverup story claimed the Megazord people saw was actually a huge cloud of swamp gas."
The Rangers looked at each other.
Billy said, "Swamp gas? That makes little sense!"
Zack joked, "I guess another coverup story claims that a Megazord sighting was actually a sighting of a weather balloon?"
Alpha 5 said, "Yes. These coverup stories make no sense, yet people just accept them!"
Tommy said, "I don't like this. Whoever these Rangers are, they really don't want to be found. They just appear, defeat whatever monster showed up, and then leave."
Alpha 5 said, "There is also a place in the ocean that has no information on it. People claim something is there, but your government insists that nothing is there at all."
Jason asked, "Should we investigate?"
Zack looked uncomfortable, and said, "Something tells me they will come to see us before we go see them. Zordon, I feel like they are watching us."
Kimberly shuddered, and said, "Yeah. In fact, I'm worried they may track our school and our homes."
Zack remarked, "Well, now I will not sleep at all tonight."
Zordon said, "If anything happens, I will alert you. For now, keep an eye out for Lord Zedd's forces and the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers."
