The holographic form shaped into what Ally and Aziz could only assume was a robot. Jordan in fact recognized almost recognized it as Alpha, but something about this was off. Then sound emerged, "Oh, Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi." He got out worriedly. "If you're watching this then despite all of my hopes, Zordon's worse fears have been confirmed. Despite Wonderland's wish for neutrality it has become involved in the troubles between Auradon and what will become the Isle of the Lost."
"Who is that?" Ally asked softly.
"His name was Alpha Five." Jordan answered just as softly. "He was Zordon's friend. As far as I knew he had been destroyed on his home planet of Eltar when Dark Specter invaded and abducted Zordon, leading to the death that Andros spoke of." She also knew that explained the writing on the wall as he was built on Edinoi by the then King of the planet Lexian.
"Jabberwock must have been rebuilt or resurrected and has come to power." Alpha Five's image got out. Nothing was said about the Red Queen, which showed that possibility that she was not the threat people were worried about though that might have been a mistake. "We've reviewed as much history as we could of Wonderland and after careful consideration Zordon has authorized me for this…"
With that the wall lifted up to reveal its treasures to the three teens…
Audrey awoke and found her arms tied up above her and her waist tied as well. She tried to shift herself and gritted in pain as her broken leg came back to bite her, at least sort to speak. How foolish of me to forget that Jabberwock was kind enough to do that. She thought icily as she hissed a bit in pain. None the less her legs were bound as well, which was not a comfortable sensation.
"Audrey." She turned to the right to see Mal looking at her, bound as she was. To Mal's right was Ben and Lonnie, also bound. A slight glance to her left showed Jay, Evie, Carlos and Jane in the same situation. She was sure Jane would be in the similar pain when she regained consciousness since her arm had been broken too. All eight teens had been powered down.
She bit her lip a bit to fight the pain. "I'm here Mal…sort of." She answered. The pain in her leg was getting a little worse but she suspected it wouldn't matter too much since she was sure Jabberwock would be killing them soon. In fact it occurred to her to wonder why they were still alive at all. "Not that I'm complaining exactly, but why are we still alive?" She asked.
"I've wondered that too." Mal admitted. "We were thoroughly trounced in that fight."
"Bragging rights, or trophies maybe." Jay suggested from her other side. She hadn't even known the black ranger was awake right now.
"So far no one has shown up to brag about this." Mal noted. "I don't know what to make of that."
Audrey gritted her teeth, not sur how long she would be able to stay conscious before the pain of her awkwardly broken leg would force her into darkness again. She never would have given herself such credit for having a high pain threshold, but between this and Chad beating her not too long ago that was something else she had learned about herself. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "Who else is awake?" She asked.
"I am." Ben replied as he tried to move and was of course not able to. Like Mal he didn't look to worse for the wear, all things considered. He noticed the expression on Audrey's face and frowned in sympathy. "How long are you going to be awake?"
"As long as I can." Audrey promised. She found if she didn't struggle she could ignore the pain a little better. "Glad to see you okay too Ben. Anyone else?"
"Lonnie was." Mal answered. "She's been fighting to stay conscious. No one else has stirred as far as I can tell." She glanced over at her chosen sister. "I haven't even seen Evie stir." She added softly. She could see the rise and fall of her chest so at least he knew the blue haired girl was still alive, but for all the purple haired girl knew she could be in a coma.
"They have your iPhones along with my sword and shield over there." Ben informed them all as he nodded his head toward a small table on the opposite side of the room. There was no mention of the magic wand Jane used to morph; Audrey didn't know what that meant. "I guess they didn't want us getting to our powers so easily even if we could somehow escape these bonds."
Jay laughed a little harshly. "This reminds me of being bound in front of Chad, Reviveslime and those Psycho Rangers. But I guess the Space Rangers won't be coming to bail us out this time." He remarked dryly.
"What about a spell miss half fairy?" Audrey asked Mal, smiling just a little to show the purple haired girl it was a joke to try to lighten the mood.
Mal returned the small smile, glad that the brunette princess was trying to make the effort, especially despite the pain she must be feeling, or maybe it was in spite of it. "Sorry sleeping princess but whatever these binds are made out of it blocks magic." She answered somberly.
A side of the chambers opened up and they saw Jabberwock come out of it, followed by several figures that looked like playing cards. In any other circumstance Mal and Jay probably would have had a good chuckle over that one. Then behind them was a figure they assumed to be the Red Queen and beside her was the one and only…
"Maleficent." Audrey gasped.
"Mom." Mal echoed.
"I always told you that if started to behave it would get you into trouble." Maleficent chided her daughter. "And now look where you are now. You and your miserable little friends." She looked around at her team, both Auradon and Isle teens. She rolled her eyes. "Aren't you all just a good show of diversity?" She drolled.
"I will be more than happy to end their existence Maleficent." Jabberwock said.
"In time." Red Queen told her lieutenant and enforcer. "Let Maleficent enjoy this moment." In truth the Red Queen herself got a sort of sadistic pleasure for this as well. Nothing like seeing the hero wannabes of the piece revel in their final loss.
"Oh this won't do at all." Maleficent mused as she noticed that she only had half an audience, not to mention she could tell that her nemesis daughter might not make stay conscious for that much longer. She went around to each of them, hitting them in the head with her wand.
"What the hell was that for?" Audrey demanded to know, right before she realized the pain her leg had numbed away to nothing. She looked down to see her leg was still broken and was close to panic. "What did you do to me?"
Maleficent waited until the other rangers started to stir and see their predicament as well. "You sure did a number on them Jabberwock." The evil fairy mused with amusement. "A broken leg on the princess over there, a broken arm on the little wannabe fairy there, and three concussions; one of which could have led to brain damage." She laughed as she looked at Evie with that one. "To say nothing about the three teens who died when you attacked."
"It's a pity about the human girl." Red Queen added. "It ruined my moment, but I suppose that is what happens when mortals play in a game meant for warriors." She shrugged. "No matter, since it is no longer relevant we can move on." She snapped her fingers and two more Card Guards entered with Alice Liddell, also bound.
Alice didn't understand what was going on here. She had spent over a week in one of the Queen's cages. "What is the meaning of this? What are you trying to accomplish?" She asked.
"I wanted your daughter to come after you only to watch you lose your head." Red Queen told her old nemesis rather simply. "A rather fitting punishment, being able to do nothing as your child watches you die. But our friend here had other plans, and now your daughter's burnt and possibly mangled corpse is rotting somewhere in the waters of Wonderland."
Alice shook her head in denial but fear for Ally was already in her heart. "No. You're lying." She whispered.
"She is not." Jabberwock told her. "I am that friend who made it happen. She fell to the roaring rapids with two others and were swept away." He waved one of his weird paw like appendages dismissively.
"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that." Maleficent said dismissively as well. "You'll be joining your daughter soon enough." She looked again at the eight bound warriors. "Oh what a pretty picture this would make for Paradias, I will have to remember every detail." She looked to Audrey. "Chad might be disappointed to see you go this way, with no hand from him, but," She shrugged nonchalantly. "Ce le vie."
"Let us go mother." Mal demanded.
Maleficent laughed. "You have always been a self-important demanding little brat." She mused and then looked to Ben. "I can't imagine what you see in her."
"You seem to be blind to a lot of things." Ben replied with a glare.
"How did you even get here?" Jane asked wearily. Like Audrey she wondered if the sudden loss of feeling to her broken limb was really a good thing or not. "What part did you play in this?"
"Why I'm the one who orchestrated the power that changed Wonderland." Mal answered with a flourish. "I was given what the Red Queen needed to make this world her own, just as she will help me to with Auradon." She laughed. "With all of you little brats out of my way, Fairy Godmother can't stop me from doing as I please."
"You're wrong." Evie snapped at her. "Even without us there good will find a way."
"If only your mother could see you now, no longer some meek little worm, eager to please the woman who gave her life." Maleficent mused. She looked to Mal. "She would be as disappointed as I am."
Mal glared daggers at Maleficent. She may be the purple haired girl's mother but she was quickly realizing she was more than happy to disappoint her. She would rather worry about making someone noble like Belle proud to have her as a daughter than this woman who was all but ready to kill them off now.
"Evie is right Maleficent." Lonnie said, displaying the same bravery that the others imagined her mother Mulan had displayed. In fact Alice knew for a fact it was. She mused Mulan would be proud to see what her daughter was becoming. "Even though you will strike us down, we will still have more power than you could ever dream of." The Asian girl thought of Mal's conversation with Amber, about the legacy that they held and the mantle they carried. She only wished it wasn't coming to an end so soon, or like this.
"Enough with this." Maleficent said impatiently. "Say good bye to whatever deity, or loved one," She looked to Evie whose thoughts went to Doug. Jay and Audrey looked at each other though the girl also thought of her mother and father, as did Mal and Ben though the king also thought of his own parents. Carlos and Jane looked to each other though each also spared a thought for mother and pet respectively. "Or whatever else you care about, because this is your end."
Jabberwock laughed and started to power up a fire blast to deliver to the eight bound warriors and Alice when a rock smacked him in the face. It threw off his focus as they turned to the source.
Standing in a small crevice was Ally, Aziz and Jordan.
"Ally!" Alice called excitedly. Tears reflected in her eyes.
"Mom!" Ally gasped happily. The daughter's face mirrored the mother's.
"I guess my plan is a go after all." Red Queen said gleefully. "Bring her to me."
Two Card Guards leapt up to get Ally. One never made it as a jolt of magical energy from Jordan sent it straight down again. The other got both feet on the ledge just for Aziz to knock his elbow into its jaw hard and sent it plummeting straight down. Jordan than used her magical energy to bring the three of them down to the ground.
"Your mistake." Red Queen said maniacally. "Jabberwock, destroy them."
"No!" Alice exclaimed.
Jabberwock powered up another huge fire ball and shot it straight out at the three teens. Smoke filled the nearby area.
Maleficent turned away from the area and looked back at Alice, her daughter, and the rest of her team. "Now where were we?" She asked mockingly. "Oh yes, I was ordering your end, my daughter and friends." She started to laugh.
Audrey interrupted her. "No way." She said in shock, but she wasn't referring to Maleficent.
"Wow." Mal breathed. "Awesome."
Jay laughed. "This fight is still on guys."
"Totally wicked." Ben said and looked to Mal. "No pun intended."
Maleficent was already feeling something was wrong but the Jabberwock's growl of annoyance and the Red Queen's gasp of surprise finally sealed it. She turned only to see what the commotion was. Jordan, Ally and Aziz were still standing…and glowing.
Jordan glowed in gold. Aziz glowed in silver. Ally's glow was almost translucent. It seemed similar to the glow that came from the other rangers when their iPhones, more importantly the gems in their iPhones, bonded to them. Jane could just make out a gem in each of their hands.
"Go." Red Queen ordered her Card Guards. "Bring me their heads." They started toward the three teens.
"I don't think she gets it yet." Aziz said with a smile at the girls. "What is that Mal would say again?"
Jordan laughed. "Let's get to work." They didn't have the iPhones to channel their powers but it seemed as if the gems might have understood anyway because they transformed into rangers themselves, their suits looking exactly like their now team mates. Jordan was obviously in gold while Aziz was obviously in silver. Ally meanwhile again seemed almost a shiny and almost translucent opaque.
"Like a Crystal ranger." Evie breathed. "So cool."
The first Card Guard to approach received a nasty kick from Aziz, his natural strength being augmented by their powers. He was after all the third best tourney player after Ben and Jay. He had even been better than Chad but his former team mate hadn't cared since he wasn't from the island like Jay was.
"We can't do this on our own." Jordan declared. "We need the other rangers." She had to think for a only a moment before realizing the truth here. "We need the other members of the team."
"Give me a pathway and I'll free them." Ally promised.
"You two do that." Aziz said. "I'll keep them busy." He held out his hands and in them formed a long object with a very sharp point; a spear. Like Jay had learned to use a sword from his father, or more accurately his top minion Razoul, he had learned from his father how to use the weapon he now wielded. He started to go at the Card Guards.
Jordan originally had very little in common with Evie save a predilection to magic, though as a genie hers was much stronger than Evie's tentative connection to a magic her mother possessed that had none the less been blocked off from the Island of the Lost. Now she had two more things in common with the blue haired girl. The first was being a power ranger, the second was that she had come with her own weapon; in this case it was pretty much her living space as well. She summoned her lamp which grew into a two handed weapon. She channeled her magic through her body and into the lap where it was released in a huge stream of power that blasted several Card Guards. "You're clear Ally."
Ally started quickly over to her friends and her mother. From a small pouch on her waist she removed what looked like a pack of crystalline cards. She threw them all toward a few Card Guards and the binds that held her friends. The impacts took out the guards and freed their friends.
"Not today." Maleficent said and moved in to intercept the crystal ranger.
Then Mal was in front of her, eyes glowing green as they had when she faced her mother down at the coronation. "Not so fast mother." She replied.
Jay had gathered Audrey in his arms as Carlos gathered Jane in his arms. "We have to take care of them before we can morph." Jay said to Ally as she approached.
"We heard Maleficent bragging about that." Ally promised them. That was why they had let Maleficent go on as long as the evil fairy had; Jordan had concocted potions to mend their bones. She gave one to Lonnie and one to Evie. "Give that to them."
"I'm getting the iPhone and my weapons." Ben announced.
Ally nodded. "I'm coming with you, to back you up." She looked again to the girls. "Get them ready; things are going to get worse before they get better." Then the crystal ranger and the young king ran off, with one of their newest rangers drawing out her crystalline cards.
There was another explosion of magic as Jordan took out more Card Guards with her Lamp Cannon and Aziz fought them as well with his Spiral Spear.
Jane wasn't really in a shape to take hers on her own, her unbroken arm around Carlos's neck and her broken arm at her side. Audrey could have but she didn't argue the assistance. Lonnie helped her fellow princess while Evie helped her fellow intellect.
"You don't know what you're doing Mal." Maleficent said to her daughter dangerously.
Mal shook her head. "No, mother. I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm working to save this world…all worlds from the likes of you and those like you." She retorted. Both of their eyes glowed green in a magical stare down.
Audrey was the first to recover, she slid out of Jay's arms though took a moment to pat his arm affectionately as she felt her leg with no pain. "You've always had my back ever since this all started." She said to him almost lovingly. Whatever else that could have been said would have to wait.
Jane was not far behind and Carlos set her down. "Feel better?" Carlos asked her. As the girl nodded he added, "The magic wand didn't seem to be with our iPhones and stuff."
"I know." Jane answered, her voice sounding stronger than it had since her arm had broken. It still in fact felt a little sore but it was useable and the pain was gone without the lost feeling. "When I was forced to power down the wand returned to its place on my waist. If I could have reached it and fought the pain I might have been able to morph."
Ben reached his sword and shield and took them. He considered it ironic; not long after being liberated from Paradias's control by Mal and their friends he had almost considered giving up his powers, he could barely stand the weight of them after what had happened. Now he felt much better with them finally in his grasp again, there was no way now he could give up being the Auradon Knight if he could help it. Ally took the iPhones in her hands. "Get them to Mal and the others." He told the blonde. "I'm going to lend Jordan and Aziz a hand."
"You fight for evil and yourself. I fight for good, for my friends and the innocents of this world." Mal said to her mother. "And that makes me, makes us unbeatable." The green in her eyes glowed brighter, this time interlaced with purple. The combination of her own innate powers and the purple ranger powers sent her mother rolling backwards hard…and what Mal didn't know was it wasn't just her power as the purple ranger but from those that came before her as well, a power her mother Maleficent could never understand.
"Will do." Ally promised and started toward the others.
"Not so fast." Jabberwock unleashed a huge fireball straight at the crystal ranger but Jordan turned her Lamp Cannon to the fireball and unleashed a stream of her own magic that turned the fireball into steam. "Not so fast yourself you metal faced freak." The genie girl shot back.
The seven rangers turned as Ally approached them and handed each of them their iPhones. Audrey, Lonnie, and Evie exchanged a very quick hug with their new ranger as they got their iPhones and Jane smiled broadly at her. Mal took her iPhone and smiled. "I'm glad to have you on the team, Ally." She said happily.
"I am glad to be here." Ally said.
"Go see your mom a second." Mal advised, feeling a slight pang of…something as she considered the opposing relationships she had developed with her own mother. "We have a costume change to make."
"Don't jump the gun yet." Ally said. "Morph and we have to join Jordan for the second surprise." She then went over and both mother and daughter embraced.
Audrey looked to Mal, guessing what she was thinking. "Are you okay M...Mal?" She asked. She had almost called the purple haired girl M as Evie had done but felt that might have been crossing a line. They had gotten closer since becoming rangers but she didn't know just how much.
"Just fine." Mal said with a small smile. She would have been okay with that, it was becoming clear now that while Evie might be her first chosen sister, the blue haired girl wouldn't be the last. She made a note to address that later, and not just with Audrey. She looked to the team. "Let's get to work."
The six rangers took out their iPhones, input their numbers and transformed. Jane took out her wand and transformed. They met with Ally and the nine rangers ran over, kicking their way through the Card Guards. Jordan turned and used her magic to take Alice to the crevice where they had come from.
"This time I will crush you rangers." Jabberwock promised as he started toward them, heedless of the minions in his way.
Jane again focused her energies and froze time. "It should hold longer than the last one." She said, though of course Jordan, Ally and Aziz had no way of knowing what that meant. The white ranger looked to their brand new gold ranger. "Whatever surprise you have, you better hurry."
"Aziz found a journal saying that some original hero killed Jabberwock with a vorpal sword." Jordan told the rest of the team. "It's a special coating." She took out a velvet bag. "And thanks to Zordon and his assistant Alpha Five not only does Auradon have three more rangers but we have vorpal to add to our weapons, so we can destroy Jabberwock."
Lonnie laughed a little. "Oh, yes. Time for some payback." She declared as the team held out their weapons. She looked their new rangers. "You guys in too?"
"We don't need it." Aziz told her with a smile in his voice. "Since this Alpha guy saw this coming, our weapons are already coated."
"Then let's get ready team." Mal said with a smile at her team mates, and a big one for Ben. Jordan coated the weapons with the vorpal dust which was absorbed into their weapons. They could feel the power boost practically thrumming inside their weapons.
It was good timing as the spell broke and Jabberwock was coming toward them now. "I'm getting really tired of this thing." Audrey declared and launched an arrow straight into their large adversary's eye. It stuck in for a moment but he shook it free.
"He still has a size advantage." Evie noted. "What do we do about that?"
"Compensate with power." Jordan answered simply.
Jabberwock shot another fire ball at the team. Evie moved in with her mirror shield and this time reflected the blast right at him. The fire might have been worthless on its own but the addition of the vorpal boost caused the mirror's power to work just as it was intended. "I missed that." Evie said sincerely as she looked down at her weapon.
"Got something else you've probably missed." Ally noted as she gave Carlos and Audrey back their blasters. "Let's make sure these weapons get put to good use."
Jabberwock charged them again and they dodged; Mal, Audrey, Evie, Carlos, Jay and Lonnie to one side while Jordan, Ben, Aziz, Ally and Jordan to the other side.
"Mal, bring them together!" Jordan called out to their purple ranger. "We'll keep him occupied."
"Got it." Mal replied and looked to her team. "Our new vorpal coated blaster combined with the neon powers should do it." She said. "So let's bring them together."
Ally unfurled several of her crystal cards and tossed them t Jabberwock. They circled around and slashed him multiple times, it was kind of like lots of annoying flies buzzing around but it was enough of a distraction, combined with the cards own vorpal coating, to do some damage to the monster.
Jordan channeled her magic again into her lamp cannon, hoping that using this as a weapon didn't ruin her home, and channeled it into a blast. The outside of the lamp had been given a vorpal coating, further allowing it to damage Jabberwock.
"I want in on that magic tirade." Jane said to Jordan, and both magical girls exchanged a laugh. Then Jane used the magic wand and sent a burst at Jabberwock, sending him stumbling back again.
"Hey Ben." The silver ranger said to the silver encased knight, it was kind of neat actually. "How about a classic double team?"
The knight nodded. "Let's do it." He agreed. Ben powered up energy into his vorpal coated sword as Aziz gathered energy into his spear. Then the two charged forward and rammed their weapons straight into the large creature.
During all of that Audrey laid her bow on Mal's staff. That was followed by Evie's shield behind them. Jay placed his scimitar down, followed by Lonnie's tessens and Carlos's claw daggers on either side. They could feel the new energy in their blaster and that was before they started sending their neon energies into the weapon. They unleashed a blast at Jabberwock, who fell back hard and rolled, but did not die.
"What are we doing wrong here?" Jordan asked in frustration. "We have the vorpal energy to damage it, we have power…"
They heard Alice from above them where the genie girl had left her. "The fire, aim for the fire in its belly and put it out. That's what keeps Jabberwock alive and extinguishing it will kill him off." She shouted down to her power ranger daughter and her friends.
The groups merged together. "Alright, we've got to put out that fire then." Mal stated. "Any ideas?"
"Double team." Jane answered. "I think Jordan, mine and Ally's weapons can come together just as yours do." She looked to Ben. "You and Aziz will have to do that double team thing that you did so well before."
"We're on it." Ben said. "You can count on us." Aziz agreed, with both of them fist bumping and laughing in agreement. They then turned toward the Jabberwock, powering up their weapons.
"This I have to see." Evie noted as she looked to the white, gold and crystal rangers.
At a nod from the white ranger, the gold ranger held up her lamp cannon. "The cards Ally." Jane instructed and the crystal ranger placed her cards on the tip of the lamp and then placed her hands on the cannon. Jane placed the wand against the top of the cannon and placed her other hand on the bottom of it. "Whenever you're ready guys." Jordan said coyly to Mal and the others.
The six rangers again assembled their weapons. "Remember, aim for the fire." Audrey said and then shouted out, "Ben, Aziz, move."
The two boys scattered on opposite sides to throw off Jabberwock's aim. As he was trying to decide which silver coated warrior to go after the two rangers groups unleashed their own weapons, this time aiming not at the chest or the face but at the stomach of the creature, the energy and magic destroying the metal in front of the monster and then dissipating the fire.
With a roar of...perhaps it was protest or anger or defiance, they would never know, most of the flesh of the monster seemed to fade to nothing as the mechanical components fell to the ground in a massive dust sweeping landing. Some of the fire seemed to reside for just a moment before fading away as well.
"That's the end of Jabberwock." Mal said proudly. "And it serves him right."
"Where'd Maleficent go?" Aziz asked. They looked to see that the purple ranger's mother was nowhere to be seen. But the Red Queen stood at the end of the chamber.
"You're next." Ben said as they turned to the Red Queen.
"So it has indeed come to this." The Queen stated solemnly. She took a step forward. "But it won't be nearly as simple to defeat me as you'd like."
The ranger team took a few more steps toward the queen before the rock wall beside her exploded and their stood the Guardian, the very same large Card Guard that had first taken their magic carpet down when they were journeying down the proverbial rabbit hole.
"Oh, no." Carlos murmured as they looked up at the large creature.