As it has been observed countless times throughout the eons, history repeats itself. And on that fateful day, the rhythmic flow of continuity reached a mighty drum that would soon pick up and evolve into a ground-shattering fever pitch.
And naturally, it would begin on the Cimmerian Planet, with a slew of fearsome characters all crowded around a wide wooden table.
"My friends, my most atrocious allies," the head of the table began. Silence settled as all eyes fell upon Lord Zedd, the Emperor of Evil. "It is with great pleasure that I thank each and every one of you for attending this meeting. The first of hopefully many, as we work towards reclaiming what is our birthright to own!"
Monsters from across space all whooped and cheered excitedly. Lord Zedd studied his companions, most had been resurrected by Scrozzle's reanimator and some clever purchases from the infamous Onyx Tavern.
"By that metric, I should be running the show here!" Former prince, Vekar, exclaimed. "After all, the Armada alone single-handedly had most of the universe under our rule."
"You forget, young brother," Vrak said with a pitch of satisfaction. "It was Father who did all of the heavy lifting on that front."
Vekar grew silent, his molars grinding loud enough for even Zedd to hear it across the table.
For a brief moment the Emperor of Evil almost wished he'd opted for compliance collars, certainly, it would make the more obnoxious of his guests more tolerable, but after his own experience with the infernal device, he decided on saving them only for absolute necessities.
"The sniveling loudmouth does accidentally bring up an interesting point," Lord Arcanon said. "How would we go about splitting up the universe? Because," he continued with a side eye directed towards Sledge and his crew. "There are certain individuals I'd rather not find myself neighboring."
There was a murmur of agreement among the monsters, maybe of whom had bad blood accumulated through past conflicts.
"We shouldn't worry ourselves over petty matters such as that," Evox said in a calculating tone., "There will be plenty of intergalactic real estate for us to divide amongst ourselves. Our first priority should be conquering Earth," the machine's voice took on a darker, more urgent tone. "Because if we don't take that blasted planet out of the equation we will assuredly fail."
Lord Zedd nodded slowly. Not only was he thankful for Evox skillfully breaking up the growing conflict but he also knew that he was very correct.
"Absolutely!" The shrill voice of Rita Repulsa explained. "Without Earth, the rest of the universe won't stand a chance. And besides, I want revenge for what they did to my beautiful new body!"
The rest of the monsters finally noticed the head of Robo Rita for the first time. It sat, with a cracked face and leaking wires, atop a pole beside Lord Zedd.
This also seemed to invigorate their spirits. After all, each and every one of them had some sort of score to settle with the warriors of Earth. Rita seemed to act as a beacon of those dormant feelings, a literal manifest of their enemy's force.
"I propose a toast," Lord Zedd said. "To our great Alliance of Evil and the eventual annulation of those pathetic power dweebs!".
There was a grand cheer and a raising of glasses.
"Speaking of Rangers…" Rita said as her glowing red eyes fell upon the only glass left untouched. "Why don't you finally reveal yourself!"
The cloaked figure responded immediately, jumping atop the table and discarding their formed disguise. A silver Power Ranger lay underneath.
"You!" Vrak and Vekar exclaimed in unison.
Orion, the Silver Megaforce Ranger, turned towards the brothers and shrugged. "Guilty as charged."
Hidden behind his grill, Lord Zedd's gruesome lips formed a tight smile. In truth not only had he been expecting something like this, he had been counting on it.
"Orion," the Emperor of Evil spoke jovially. "So nice of you to stop by."
"No problem," the Rangers said. "But sadly, I gotta jet!" With a press of a button and a Ranger Key already loaded into his Morpher, Orion transformed into the Silver Astro Ranger and summoned his Galaxy Glider.
But just as the Ranger began to gain some air Lord Zedd arose from his chair with his staff pointed forward. A bolt of crimson lighting struck the Silver Ranger in the back, knocking him from his glider and causing a tidal wave of spilled liquid and broken glass as he slid across the table.
"What should we do with our most esteemed guest?" Madam Odious asked excitedly.
"I say we auction off his little collection one key at a time," Sledge suggested, "and keep his helmet as a mantle piece."
"A fine suggestion," Lord Zedd said. "However, I already know exactly what I want to do with this silver pest, and it's something I think you're all going to find acceptable."
It took everything Gia had not to collapse as soon as she heard the news. After a solemn moment to steel herself, she finally got the room to stop spinning.
Orion was gone, captured by none other than Lord Zedd himself.
"What are we going to do?" She asked the enigmatic being known as Gosei. "We've got to save him before…" she trailed off, unable to finish her own sentence.
"Worry not Gia, we will save Orion," Gosei promised. "However, the road to doing so won't be as straightforward as you might like."
Her stomach dropped at her mentor's dark words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"We all have a role to play," Gosei said. "And yours is not directly saving Orion."
"Gosei!" She exclaimed. "You can't possibly expect me to go off on some stupid side quests while Orion is in the grasp of the most evil being in the universe."
"There is no other way," Gosei said. "Your task will be to collect a team capable of staving off the United Alliance of Evil."
'But… that-that's-"
"Imperative," Gosei interrupted with a heavy tone. "If you cannot succeed on that front then there will be more daunting things to worry about than Orion."
Gia nodded slowly, knowing, even if she didn't want to, that Gosei was right.
This wasn't Vekar, or Vrak, or even Mavro, this was an evil far beyond their scope. A being whose villainy has transcended past its own selfish hunger.
She looked at Gosei, unblinking. She pushed her emotions aside. Swallowed her gnawing uncertainty. Then asked the massive face resting upon the ancient wall, "What do I need to do?"
"You need a team," Gosei spoke. "A group of fearless warriors such as yourself. A spearhead to plunge deep into the grotesque heart of Lord Zedd's plan."
Naturally, Gia wanted to object, wanted to say that going on some goose chance while Orion was still in the clutches of evil was wrong. But she removed herself from her nauseating feelings.
If there was any solence to be found it would be with the fact that Orion himself would advocate for whatever kept the planet he'd come to call home as far away from the twisted fate that had befallen Andrasia all those years ago.
"Alright," Gia said with an air of cold finality, still distantly feeling like she was throwing a noose around her friend's neck. "Where do I need to go first?"