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"... and there. That's the last one." Nero says as he lays down the last piece.
We see Alpha 5's pieces laying out on the bio-bed like a freaky science experiment.
"You know, I get the feeling that Dark Specter does not like this robot." Nero remarks.
"Well he was Zordon's pet android. He would do more harm than good if he was left online." Astronema said.
Nero picks up a tiny, tiny piece of wire. "Yeah, but did they have to tear him apart to the point they unintentionally made the universe's biggest puzzle?"
Astronema throws a piece. "It'll take us decades to put him back together."
"Or a minute." Nero corrects her.
Astronema looks at Nero. "Are you saying you have a-"
"Yup!" Nero exclaims.
Astronema has a hand on her hip. "Do you have a form for everything?"
"I like to think so." Nero says before slamming the dial.
In Nero's place is a small Gremlin-like alien with four-fingered hands, three-toed feet, and a devil-like tail. He is small in stature, only about as big as a human head. His eyes have black pupils, his ears are spiked, his sharp teeth jut out of his mouth, and has a big nose. He also has a spike on his chin and one near each of his eyes. His skin is crimson-red and wears a black and white cap with dark green goggles. He wears a green, black, and white bodysuit with two black and green gauntlets as well as a backpack. The Omni Ranger symbol is located on his right gauntlet.
"JURY RIGG!" Nero exclaims, his voice sounds high-pitched and scratchy.
"Not… what I was expecting." Astronema remarked.
"Um… is he supposed to be tiny?" Elgar asked.
Juryrigg jumps on the bio-bed. "FIX! FIX! FIX!" The gremlin creature begins grabbing random parts and puts them together before moving to other pieces and putting those together as well.
It doesn't take long before the android's body is fully assembled, much to Astronema's shock and awe.
"Heheheh, and now, for my next trick!" Juryrigg slams the dial and now he's even smaller. He's a small, frog-like humanoid with gray skin and big green eyes. He wears a green, white, and black chest plate attached to a bodysuit down to the thighs with green and black gloves, as well as black strappings. The Omni Ranger symbol is located on his back.
"Hm, if I am correct, this should go here… then this piece will create a data pathway…" Nero mutters as he continues to work on his contraption. "Eurika!"
Astronema looks at Nero's creation. It looks like some kind of data port. "What is it?"
"You're about to find out." Nero grins as hops on Alpha's back and inserts the device on its port. He hops off the bed and returns to normal. He takes a power cable and connects it to Alpha. "Alright Elgar, flip the switch."
"Here goes nothing!" Elgar flips a switch which causes the lights inside to go out.
Nero facepalms. "That's the wrong switch, you idiot!"
"Um, oops! Sorry." Elgar blushes in embarrassment as he turns the lights back on. "This should do it." He flips the switch next to it.
Energy travels through the cable and directly into Alpha, causing the android's body to spasm out of control.
"... shut it off. Shut it off now!" Nero ordered.
Elgar does so and flips the switch off.
For a while nothing happened. The android sat perfectly still like a statue. The two villains look at each other with concern. Did it fail? Was there a key component they missed when they stole the robot?
Everything was quiet until…
"... AI YI YI YI YI! WHERE AM I!?" Alpha 5's voice rings out, catching everyone by surprise.
"It worked!?" Astronema exclaims in clear surprise.
Nero huffs. "Of course it did. Never underestimate my genius." He walks towards the robot. "Hello, Alpha."
Alpha turns to Nero. "Nero! Boy, am I glad to see you!" He hugs him.
"How do you feel, Alpha?" Nero asks as he helps Alpha off the bed.
"That was a wonderful rest. But I'm ready to get back on duty." Alpha said.
Nero chuckles. "Alright, Alpha. It's good to have you back."
Astronema walks up to Nero and leans closer. "What did you do to him?"
Nero grabs her and pulls her back. "Remember that little device I made? What it basically did was scramble Alpha's memories and replaced them with false ones. And I can control them through my helmet's interface."
"You erased all of his memories of the Power Rangers and Zordon?" Astronema asked.
"Replaced them." Nero corrects her. "They're still in there but they're locked in a file deep in his subconscious. Besides, I couldn't get rid of them. Alpha's knowledge on the Morphin Grid is second to none, on par with Zordon's. Deleting them would be madness!"
Elgar steps in between them. "What are you all whispering about?"
Astronema glares at Elgar and pushes him away.
"Hey, what was that for!?" Elgar asked.
"Your ugliness disgusts me." Astronema states.
Elgar scratches his face. "Yeah, that's fair."
The princess straightens herself. "Well then, I will return to the Dark Fortress. If there are any new developments, report them to me immediately." She and her Quantrons teleport out.
Elgar stands up. "What she said!" He teleports out as well.
"Well, Alpha, let's get started." Nero said as he and the android got to work.
Meanwhile
Andros was uncomfortable in the car. His time on Earth hadn't exactly been all that fruitful. His friends suggested going to school with them in order to get better acclimated to their customs and open up with others. While in the Surf Spot, he met a trio of humans who seemed to have taken a liking to him. He helped them get in their car and they offered him a ride which he gladly accepted. However, as he looks out the window his mind is trying to solve so many mysteries.
For one thing, Alpha doesn't remember who kidnapped him. His memory chips seemed to have shorted out by some kind of power surge. Whatever Astronema did put a real strain on the poor robot.
The second was his missing sister. He thought she had returned to their colony KO-35 after all this time, but it turned out to be a trap set by Ecliptor. If it wasn't for Carlos, he would most certainly be dead.
In the end… he was still not close to finding her.
The last and most concerning was the Omni Ranger. Why would a Power Ranger, a defender of good, side against them with Astronema, the Princess of Darkness? Many theories on their relationship played in his head: blackmail, amnesia, and slavery just to name a few. And what's worse, he seems to know them personally.
Just who is this guy?
However, his thoughts are halted by an odd phenomenon at a nearby power station.
"... stop the car." He taps the driver's, Chuck's, shoulder.
"Huh?" Chuck said.
"I said stop the car." Andros demanded.
Chuck scoffs but stops the car, and Andros immediately runs off.
One of the teens, David, gets out of the car. "Need a hand?"
Andros runs inside the power station and after a bit of wondering, he sees something draining the electricity. It looked like some kind of bipedal jellyfish with insect-like features. Its body is primarily white in color with its big bug eyes and the bits at the ends of its tentacles orange.
"Let's Rocket!" Andros morphs.
3-3-5
Morphing Complete.
Andros jumps and shoots the monster with his blaster. He lands and puts his blaster back in its holster. "Okay, Voltage Hog! It's time to pull your plug!"
"Careful red ranger, when I'm charged up I got a short fuse!" Voltage Hog warned.
"Spiral Saber!" Andros summons his signature weapon and the two rush forward.
Andros starts off with a couple of strikes causing sparks to fly on the monster's body. He goes in for another attack but the monster catches it and throws the ranger back with its strength. The voltage monster tries to hit the ranger but he blocks the punch with his weapon before kicking him back to make some distance.
Voltage Hog then sends a roundhouse kick but Andros blocks it and delivers his own roundhouse kick which causes the monster to collapse on the ground. He quickly gets up only to get struck down by the red ranger once again.
"Had enough!?" Andros said.
Voltage Hog glares at the ranger. "I'll be back!" His body is engulfed in electricity before he vanishes.
"Huh!?" Andros was not expecting the monster to retreat so easily. "What's he up to…?" He activates his communicator. "Alpha, you and D.E.C.A. keep a lookout for that monster. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him just yet."
"You got it!" Alpha confirmed.
Andros de-morphs and runs back to the thieves. He sees their car but there's no sign of them. He goes into a nearby junkyard and quickly finds the trio working on a white ban.
One of them, a girl named Suzy, sees him standing there. "Andros!"
"Hey, that's Adelle's missing ban!" Andros walks up to them but is stopped by Chuck.
"She loaned it to us. Permanently."
Andros looks around and sees all of the cars spread throughout, all of them stripped apart and left to rot.
"You? You're the thieves." Andros surmised.
"Took ya long enough." Chuck said.
"I thought we were becoming friends." He looks at the other two. "David? Suzy?" But they just look away.
Andros' glare is full of disappointment. "These cars are going back to their owners." He walks off.
Chuck scoffs, "back to their owners? That's crazy." He walks after him but is suddenly grabbed by David.
"Just leave him alone." David told him.
Chuck stares at him with contempt before he knocks him back and goes after him, leaving Suzy to take care of David.
As he runs after Andros, he freezes up as Voltage Hog appears.
He slowly turns around and sees the scared human in front of him, "hehehe…" He charges forward and before Chuck can run, he is grabbed by the collar and lifted upwards.
"Let me go!" Chuck begged.
"Since you asked so nicely." The electro monster hurls him forward and Chuck crashes onto one of the nearby cars.
The thief tries to get up only for Voltage Hog to grab him and throw him again. He repeats this a couple more times, all the while the monster laughs at his victim's pain.
"SOMEBODY! HELP!" Chuck screams out as the monster throws him again.
Just then, David and Suzy run in and see the monster over Chuck.
"CHUCK!" The two run towards him and help their leader up.
"Hahahaha! Aren't you in for a SHOCK!?" Voltage Hog slowly closes in on them.
"HYYYAA!" Suddenly Andros appears and gives the monster a flying kick, sending him backwards.
He lands in front of the thieves. "If you want them, you'll have to go through me!"
"That's fine by me!" Voltage Hog exclaims and the two begin to fight.
"C'mon!" Chuck orders his crew as they run away, however, David and Suzy stop while Chuck hides behind a pile of scrap.
"He saved us. We can't just leave him." Suzy states and David nods. They go looking for something to use and grab a spare tire and an oil barrel.
Andros tries his hardest but he is eventually pushed back and overwhelmed by Voltage Hog. The monster moves in to finish him but he is interrupted by a tire and barrel thrown at him.
"C'mon!" Suzy and David help Andros up and lead him away to a pile of cars.
Voltage Hog gets up. "Where did they go!?" He stomps around like a child. "You won't get away from me that easily!" He turns into static electricity and disappears.
Andros takes in deep breaths. "I guess… you two aren't so bad afterall."
"We need to leave. That monster is probably looking for us." Suzy said.
"You guys go. I still need to catch my breath." Andros told them.
"You sure?" David asked.
Andros smiles. "I'll be fine, don't worry."
Without much of an option, the two run away as fast as they can.
Andros looks on as he quickly loses sight of them before he straightens himself. "Let's Rocket!"
3-3-5
Morphing Complete.
Andros tracks down Voltage Hog and finds him siphoning power from the power plants.
"HYA!" Andros jumps in and throws a punch at the monster's face, stopping the draining process. However, as he moves in for an attack, laser beams appear from nowhere and hit him in various places.
Andros gets up and sees his attacker. "Ecliptor!?"
Ecliptor menacingly walks towards the red ranger. "This time I'm going to finish you once and for all. Soon, Astronema will rule the Earth. Hahahahaha!"
"I don't think so, Ecliptor! That will never happen as long as the Power Rangers are around to defend it!" Andros counters.
"Hmph, perhaps they won't be around for as long as you think."
"Oh yeah? And who's gonna stop us!?"
"That would be me." Ecliptor declares.
"Never!" Andros states as the two take a fighting stance. They encircle one another before charging at each other. Andros throws a punch but Ecliptor blocks it with ease before throwing the red ranger to the ground. Andros attempts to retaliate but every time he attacks Ecliptor simply counters it and throws him to the dirt.
Andros takes out his Astro Blaster and shoots Ecliptor, but the shots bounce off his body as he fires his laser eyes at him.
"Aaaahhh!" Andros screams in pain, but he refuses to fall. "Is that all you got!?"
"You haven't seen anything yet." Ecliptor raises his hand and traps Andros in an energy field. He then uses it to lift Andros off the ground and toys with him. He then lets him go and the resulting surge of energy injures him.
Andros stands up though only barely. "That's it! Spiral Saber!" He summons his sword, "you're history!" He jumps at Ecliptor only for the android to catch his attack with ease. "!"
"I think you're the one that's history." Ecliptor pushes on the sword only to then snap it in half. He smacks the ranger and lands on a nearby pond.
"Pathetic. Is this the power of a so-called 'defender of the Earth'?" Ecliptor taunts as he pushes Andros' head deeper into the pond.
"Andros!"
Ecliptor turns and sees the other rangers running towards them.
"Perfect. You saved me the trouble of hunting you all down." Ecliptor fires his eye beams at the rangers and they all fall.
"We better do something, fast!" Ashley said.
Cassie gets an idea. "Carlos, use the Quadro Blaster!"
"Good idea!" The rangers all combine their weapons. "Quadro Blaster, online!" The rangers grab on his shoulders for support. "Fire!" An energy orb shoots out of the blaster and hits Ecliptor.
"Aaaahhh!" He is sent flying by the resulting explosion and warps away.
Andros slowly gets up as the rangers help him get his footing.
"Are you okay!?" Carlos asked.
"I will be… nice aiming Carlos." Andros praised the black ranger. "C'mon, we're not done just yet."
The rangers run towards Voltage Hog.
"Blaster power!" The rangers take out their Astro Blasters and shoot at the monster, but the shots simply bound off its body before sending a powerful electrical current at the rangers.
"Man, that guy packs a punch!" Carlos remarks as the rangers get up.
"Yeah." TJ agrees.
"While we were busy with Ecliptor, Voltage Hog was charging up!" Andros exclaims.
"Hahaha!" Voltage Hog fires its eye beams at the rangers, but they manage to dodge them.
Carlos turns to Cassie. "Cassie, try to distract him with your Satellite Stunner."
"Right!" Cassie takes out her weapon and fires a sonic wave that disorientates the monster.
"Carlos, let's combine your Quadro Blaster with my Astro Blaster." Andros suggests.
"Right." They both fire their weapons at the monster, destroying its tentacles.
Dark Fortress
"Fire satellasers." Astronema orders.
A green beam fires from the ship and onto the Earth.
At the same time
The beam envelops Voltage Hog causing it to grow into a giant!
"Astro Megazord power, now!" Andros calls out.
On command, the hull of the megaship splits into two, revealing the Astro Megashuttle docked inside. As the hull makes its way to the back end of the ship, the shuttle disembarks and flies off. The rangers take a step back as the shuttle lands in front of them.
"Let's go!" The shuttle opens its doors and the rangers run inside. They arrive in the cockpit and take their respective seats. The shuttle takes off as it arrives at the nearly completed torso.
"Initiate final docking sequence." The front part of the shuttle moves upwards, revealing the robot's face as the thrusters move to the bottom. The head slowly descends and links with the rest with torso, completing the transformation.
Voltage Hog looks at the descending Megazord. "Oh look, here comes desert!" It launches its tentacles and wrap themselves around the robot's neck.
"Careful, this desert fights back!" The mech grabs one of the tentacles and uses it to fling the monster around, before letting him fall into the ground.
"Astro Megazord Saber!" The Megazord summons its saber and throws it, stabbing Voltage Hog on the shoulder.
"Saber ignition ready!" Andros presses a button to activate the saber.
The saber lodged on the monster lights up with yellow pixelated energy, overloading it with more energy than it can handle before promptly exploding.
Andros sighs. "It's over."
"Great job, rangers. I knew I could count on you." A voice praised coming from the loud speakers.
"I know that voice…!" Carlos said.
"Over there!" Ashley points to a nearby building.
The megazord turns to see the Omni Ranger standing on the edge of a skyscraper.
"It's you!" Andros exclaims.
Nero bows. "The Omni Ranger. At your service."
"What are you doing here?" Andros demands.
Nero looks hurt. "Can't a ranger watch his friends fight a villain?"
"You are not our friend!" Cassie yelled.
"Ow, now that hurts. Really, Cassidy, did our time together mean nothing to you?" Nero asked.
"You bastard!" TJ yelled.
Nero chuckles. "So, how's Alpha 6? I hoped that our little endeavor didn't damage him too badly?"
"So, it was you who kidnapped Alpha." Ashley surmised.
Nero waves. "Guilty as charged!"
"But why would you kidnap Alpha?" Andros asked.
"Simple really. Alpha has something I wanted, so I took him to get it." Nero states.
"And what is it?" Cassie asked.
If the rangers could see the Omni Ranger's face, they would see that he's smiling. "I'm so glad you asked, my dear!" He snaps his fingers.
*ROAR!*
The megazord turns around as a portal opens as something flies out of it. It is a red bird-like robot seemingly modeled after a phoenix.
As it soars through the air, four more figures run out of the portal. The first is black and green bull with golden tusks pulling a mobile turret that has two eyes. It sports two top-mounted blasters and a pair of swiveling cannons, one on each side. The second is a blue/golden mechanical lion with its appearance modeled after the mythological sphinx pulling another mobile turret with a single, but powerful cannon on top and five missile launchers on each side.
"Those look like Zords. But where did he get them?" Andros asked.
Astro Megaship Bridge
"Ai Yi Yi Yi Yi! This can't be! How did the Omni Ranger get a hold of those Zords!?" Alpha exclaims.
"Let's do it!" Nero jumps upwards and lands on Phoenix Zord's cockpit. "Omni Morpher overwrite!" He places his left hand on the port in front of him. The symbol on the Omni Morpher glows as does the rest of the Zords.
"Overwrite success! Initiating the Zeo Megazord assembly, now!" Nero takes a dive downwards. The chains on the sphinx and the bull separate letting the two Zords run freely while the chains are reel back to the turrets.
Zeo Zord I flies upwards passing above Zeo Zords I and II as the cannons are moved behind them.
Zeo Zords III and IV jump high into the clouds. The sphinx's hind legs split open and extend forming the arms and upper torso while IV's body collapses forming the hips and upper legs.
Nero flies by and can't help but feel tingly all over. "This is so much more fun than I imagined!" He watches the hips and torso attaching themselves. "Beginning final docking sequence."
The upper body descends on the two Zords below, revealing them to be the robot's legs. The wings of the Zord fold themselves as it makes its way down, its upper body splits revealing a robot's head with red eyes as it docks on the empty cavity on the robot's back. The tail part of the Phoenix detaches itself from the main body and flies upwards before descending on the robot's head revealing it to be the helmet.
"Zeo Megazord, assembly complete!" Nero yelled.
Needless to say, the space rangers were completely dumbstruck.
"No way!" Carlos said.
"It can't be!" TJ adds.
"He has his own Megazord!" Andros exclaims.
Nero smirked in triumph. "Not bad for a new guy, eh? You might as well give up now. There's no dishonor in retreat."
"Oh yeah!? Let's get him guys!" The Astro Megazord marches forward with its saber in hand. It tries to attack its fellow mech but it dodges the attack with relative ease.
"Is that all? I can see how Zordon was captured so easily." I taunt them.
"I'll make you eat those words!" Andros yelled. The Astro Megazord sends a fury of slashes, but none of them seem to land.
"How is he moving so fast!? That Megazord looks like it should belong in a museum!" TJ said.
"There's got to be a weakness to it, we have to find it!" Cassie adds.
"Yeah!" Carlos agrees.
"Rangers, we need to get out of here!" Alpha's voice rings out in the cockpit.
"Alpha? What are you talking about?" Andros asked.
Astro Megaship Bridge
"That Megazord is far too powerful! We need to retreat before it's too late!"
"But why? We can take him!" TJ said.
"Listen! At our current capacity, the Astro Megazord is no match for it! We must retreat!"
Astro Megazord Cockpit
"Sorry, Alpha, but we can't back down. There's just too much at stake here." Andros said.
"What!?"
"It's true. If we back down now, then it'll just give the Omni Ranger more power over us." Cassie said.
"We can't fall. We made a promise to protect the Earth." Ashley adds.
"Because we're the Power Rangers!" The rangers yell all at once.
The Astro Megazord takes a fighting stance. "Come on, Omni Ranger! Show us what you got."
Nero stares at them. "... your resolve is admirable, albeit foolish. You are truly worthy of the mantle of Power Rangers. But I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short." He presses a button. "Activating Zeo Megazord Saber."
The headpiece on the helmet lights up as the mech summons a sword into its hands. It charges at the space mech and with one swing it snaps the saber in two.
"Zeo Megazord Saber, power up!" The Megazord raises its sword as it lights up with power. The robot's eyes glow as it brings down, causing an explosion that sends the Astro Megazord flying.
"Aaaahhhh!" The rangers scream in the cockpit as their robot falls to the ground with a heavy thud. Sparks and fire fly from the large gash on the megazord's torso; right across the M.
Astro Megaship Bridge
Sparks fly as debris falls from the roof and cables hang lifelessly above the computer banks.
"Mega armor compromised. Shields disabled. Mega Decks 2 through 5 have taken significant damage. Engine failure imminent." D.E.C.A. states.
Alpha slowly gets up. "And the rangers? How are the rangers, D.E.C.A.?"
"The rangers suffered no life threatening injuries, however, they seem to be unconscious." D.E.C.A. replies.
One of the consoles caught fire. "There's no time! Quickly D.E.C.A. activate thrusters! Get us out of here!"
"Rerouting auxiliary power to shuttle thrusters."
The Astro Megazord slowly rises as the thrusters on its back roar to life and it blasts off into the sky.
"... Alpha, open an Invisiportal." A green vortex appears above the Megazord and gets sucked into it.
Later
Astronema walks into the control room of the Dark Fortress. "Status on the Power Rangers."
"They appear to have fled the planet. We can no longer track them." Ecliptor states.
"Then track them! We can't waste this chance my ranger has given us!" Astronema sneers.
Elgar pops in stage left. "Wait, did you just call him your ranger?"
Astronema blushes. "I… shut up!"
Just then, one of the computer banks started to make beeps.
"Incoming transmission from the Power Chamber." Ecliptor states.
"Patch it through." Astronema sees the face of the Omni Ranger on her main screen. "Nero. I would like to start by congratulating you. Not only have you retrieved a powerful weapon, but you have sent the Power Rangers running like cowards."
"Thank you, your highness. But the reason for this call wasn't to boast about my victory." Nero states.
Astronema arches an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what is the purpose of this call?"
"I'd like to ask you a question."
A question? She supposed it's a good enough award considering he always brought success unlike the rest.
"Very well, I'm in a charitable mood right now. Speak your question, Nero." Astronema orders.
Nero stays silent for a moment. "... would you like to go out with me?"
"... eh?" It's the only thing that came out of Astronema's mouth.
Transformations:
Jury Rigg - Ben 10
Grey Matter - Ben 10
Author Notes
Finished! The Zeo Megazord is back and Nero sent the Power Rangers packing! They should have listened to Alpha when they had the chance.
And now Nero has asked Astronema out on a date! Oh, what's going to happen next!?
I had fun writing this chapter.
Peace~