Author's notes – there's a couple of scenes where Rangers from other teams make short cameos. To new readers, my stories focus on the MMPR team, and I take a broad-strokes attempt at incorporating other aspects of PR canon into my series. The scene in chapter two was a gem to write. But it stands to reason that the threat of the Shadow King is so great that, by this point, the Rangers are calling in every favour they can.

They're terrified of this guy.

Remember all the mentions, the last few chapters, of Brendan not getting any sleep?

Enjoy!

Part Eleven

Chapter One

1 month ago

"So what's the deal Zordon?" Brendan asked. "Why the late summons?"

It had been a cool May night. An autumn storm had settled over the coast, and the twelve of us had been finishing our homework and turning in for the night when our communicators had chimed. We'd answered the call and teleported to the Command Centre, and now stood around awkwardly in our pyjamas. Some of us had shown up with even less, I thought, as Zac leaned back against the console beside me dressed only in his boxer shorts.

Zac noticed my expression. "I just got out of the shower when my communicator beeped," he explained. "I thought the world was ending! Geez," but he lowered his voice. "Alpha, could you maybe turn up the heat a bit?"

"I'm sorry to call you so late," Zordon's voice boomed through the building. "But it was something that couldn't wait. A short time ago, Alpha and I finished translating the historical records you recovered from Dragon Island regarding the Shadow King. We thought to bring you in as soon as possible."

"The Shadow King?" Trini repeated. A hushed silence fell over the room. Without realising, Kimberly took a step closer to the Yellow Ranger. I glanced to Jason and he met my gaze, while across the room, Ian looked to Brendan, but the Grey Ranger's expression fell. Hearing the Shadow King's name, Brendan had taken two steps away from everybody else. "It was a good idea you called us in," Trini continued.

"I didn't go with you to Dragon Island," Tommy began, "but the last few weeks, I can't stop thinking about this case. Teresa, when you fought Luna, you said the Shadow King was close to escaping?"

The younger White Ranger nodded. "He'd been imprisoned with four chains, but two of them had broken," Teresa replied. "And that was back in February. Whatever else is going on, we don't have a lot of time."

"So what do we actually know?" I asked.

"We did the best we could," explained Alpha. "But ayeyiyi Rangers. The vast majority of the stories from the dragons' archives were from second-hand sources. It was hard to know what actually happened, and what was nothing more than embellished legend. And what little there was needed to be cross-translated three times! We're dealing with languages that don't even exist anymore."

"But we learned enough," Zordon began, then took a breath before continuing. "The Shadow King's story begins thousands of years ago, Rangers, before Rita or I were even born, back when humankind was still barely in its infancy. We guessed right, Rangers. He's been here before. The story goes that on an otherwise unremarkable day, the Shadow King and his acolytes appeared on Earth. The early tribes had no idea who or what he was, just that he fell from the stars and unleashed a reign of terror. His capacity for cruelty was unmatched. Those early peoples didn't have the words to describe the evil that appeared before them. With his minions free to ravage the world, the Shadow King took four brides and had four children, no doubt the demigods you've already encountered."

"What happened to the brides?" Sarah asked.

"Trust me Rangers," Zordon replied. "You're happier not knowing. But for all his power, the Shadow King never imagined that he was underestimating the people he was terrorising. Even then, humans had begun to master primal magic forces. The tribes united and fought back. On a day when several sources described the sun growing dark, a great battle was fought. The most powerful wizards, witches and spell-casters of the age came together to defeat the Shadow King."

"The records were vague on the exact location," added Alpha. "They spoke of a valley where two great rivers met, in the shadow of three titans. We think it corresponds to somewhere in modern-day Ethiopia, but that's guess-work."

"The records say that the Shadow King's most powerful subject saw the battle was going poorly and fled to the stars, never to be seen again," Zordon continued. "In any event, the tribes succeeded. Using their power, they created a pocket dimension, and banished the Shadow King and his legions. The Shadow King was imprisoned with four unbreakable chains and the dimension was sealed shut and protected from ever being found. But the victory came at a great cost and few of the mages survived. As we know, the Shadow King's imprisonment wasn't as permanent as they would've hoped."

"Whoa," Ian murmured. "Did you find anything else?"

"There was an intriguing reference to a citadel that had been built to safeguard against the Shadow King's return," Zordon replied. "A watchtower of some kind. I assume it was constructed near the site of the final battle."

"At least we know something about this guy," Zac offered.

"But not enough," Kim said. "We don't know how to stop him."

"But we don't need to," Scott said. "We just need to seal the desert dimension so he can't escape. Zordon, is there any chance we could just reforge the chains?"

"I'm afraid not," Zordon said. "The magic used is so ancient that Alpha and I could not possibly replicate it. The only people who would even know how to passed away, millennia ago. That's simply not an option."

"What about the follower who escaped into space?" Jason asked. "Do we know who that was?"

"No, but I imagine it was the fourth one of his children," Zordon said.

"Zordon is correct," agreed Billy. "Every other aspect of our opponent involves multiples of the number four. We're all aware how archaic magic relies on symbolism."

"Yeah, there's definitely another son out there," Zac nodded.

"Or daughter," Teresa added brightly. "And another minion as well."

"It's good to know all this," Jason said. "But I wish it was more. All year, the Shadow King has been attacking us via proxy. The crown, his children, even Luna. But he's still locked away and we can't get near him." He turned to the Aqua Ranger. "Brendan, when you were possessed back in Normandy, do you remember anything?"

Brendan blinked, suddenly finding every eye in the room on him. He shrank back. "Oh! Um, not really," he stuttered. "Just a slideshow of awful things, and that voice, telling me things it couldn't know. I knew I wasn't in control. All I could do was watch."

"It's late," Trini began. "Let's go home, get some rest, and we can brainstorm some ideas later in the week. Maybe there's an angle to this that we've missed?"

"That's a good idea Rangers," Zordon said. "We'll keep you updated if we uncover any new information. Good night." With that, we began teleporting home.

To be continued.