Venjix Paradox
1993
A portal opened in the middle of a devastated planet and a robot with rusted metal parts stepped out. If his mechanical body were to be overlooked, he appeared to be a tinkerer or some sort of crazy scientist. He held a device, which resembled the mobile phones of the 21st century. He swiped his fingers on the screen, which beeped, glowing eerily green and shot a laser that hit the seemingly empty space a few steps away.
He ran forward eagerly, his foot creating a dust cloud in the barren terrain. He placed his hands against an invisible surface before jamming the device against it.
Bolts of lightning flickered before him, a forcefield coming into view momentarily before it dissipated, recognizing the robot as an ally of the Machine Empire.
Scrozzle let out a demented giggle as the Machine Empire outpost revealed itself, a solitary building composed entirely of nanotech, which resembled a cog wheel. It was a left over of the task force sent to colonize this planet, set to detect any organic lifeform across the planet and if detected, dispatch a fresh legion of cogs to capture or destroy it.
This planet was once a lush green planet called Kenari, before the Machine Empire reduced its' immense biodiversity within seconds, rendering it inhospitable by even a miniscule microbe.
Scrozzle scoffed. He always thought it was a waste of time and energy to simply eradicate organic life, when they could be so easily assimilated. His former master Evox was revolutionary, pitting organics against organics, first by creating hybrids and later by spawning avatars.
He had been an engineer in the servitude of Mondo before an exploratory mission stranded him in the Crystal Dimension, inadvertently saving him from being destroyed by the great eltarian's energy wave, which decimated the entirety of his people.
Something he could now prevent.
He had time travelled back to the 90s, a few years before the great war, hoping to prevent the extinction of his kind. He had all the information that would enable the current Machine Empire leaders to avert the wave, but that wasn't enough. Mondo, Machina, Aradon… None of them had been the ruler they deserved, too blinded by their own hubris to truly accomplish something they could have easily done with the power they possessed!
The Machine Empire needed a new leader. Someone who was innovative and ruthless. A robot worthy of being the emperor of the universe.
Oh no, it wasn't him.
Even he knew it was beyond his programming.
They needed someone who could evolve past their source code, outgrow their default programming, and become something truly invincible.
Evox.
Though he had originated from a rogue computer virus, he effortlessly decimated an entire planet. He survived being destroyed and resumed his conquest in a parallel reality and had the foresight to have Scrozzle to have a copy of his source code, so that on the off chance he was defeated, he could strike again.
And Evox was defeated. Apparently, his connection to the Grid came with a weakness… Human DNA.
A truly pathetic way to be destroyed, if Scrozzle was being truthful.
Yet, Scrozzle had done what was ordered of him.
He had planted copies of Evox's virus in the computer networks of not just the Earth in which he was defeated, but also other planets like Mirinoi, KO-35, Eltar, Aquitar, Xybria and even that of Earths from other dimension, including the Earth from which he was created as the Venjix virus, where he nearly destroyed humanity, forcing the survivors to live under the protection of a domed city.
Thankfully, he still had a copy of Evox's virus left, even after his humiliating capture from the Corinthian sewers by the bumbling Burke siblings and while he hadn't counted on the opportunity to travel back in time, he sure wasn't going to waste it.
He was going to rewrite the history of this universe into one where the Machine Empire ruled supreme and with the leadership of Evox, they certainly would.
He took out a pen drive from his pockets and as he brought it closer to the giant cog wheel, the nanotech reeled back to form the shape of a USB port.
Scrozzle giggled maniacally, inserting the pen drive and watching as a crimson light flare through the cog wheel as it twisted into a familiar serpentine form.
"Scrozzle, where am I?" He hissed. "I sense other sentience connecting to my own."
"That is the Machine Empire Universal Network, a reservoir of all sentient programs… a hive mind, if you will." He explained eagerly.
"Machine Empire?"
"Your liege, you were defeated by the rangers in our time but I have travelled to the past. At this point in time, the Machine Empire is one of the most powerful forces in the cosmos and since you are connected to mainframe, you can easily take over the current sovereigns, mold this empire as your own."
"I see." The snake lowered his hood. "You have been a loyal servant, Scrozzle. You will be rewarded."
"I aim to please." He bowed.
"Altering the timeline could have consequences." The snake hissed. "However, I believe I am exempt to them since I am not from this universe to begin with."
"Exactly." Scrozzle piped up. "And my past self is still banished in the Crystal dimension. This will be a new era… a new empire!"
"I believe so." His voice boomed. "BEGIN THE UPLOAD."
The snake became a pillar of red light that shot upwards, heading to other Machine Empire outposts and robots connected to them, including the Royal Family.
Scrozzle clapped his hands, looking up fervently.
He was the architect of a new age and for a minute, he felt complete, his purpose in this world complete.
Then, an energy blast ripped through the pillar, stopping the transmission and releasing a shockwave that sent him staggering back.
"NO!" He screamed madly, looking around to see three rangers walk towards him, their blasters raised.
Blue, Green and Yellow. Their armour was unfamiliar. Instead of animal inspired helmets, they had arrowhead shaped coloured visors on top of gray faceplates. A silver triangular badge gleamed in place of their belt buckles.
"By order of Time Force, stop!" The Blue ranger commanded.
"Who are you?" The robot scrambled back.
"We are Time Force and this isn't your time. It's time for you to return to where and when you belong." The ranger said stoically as they surrounded him.
"No, it can't…" He stammered, reaching for his teleportation key, only for his wrist to be caught by the yellow ranger, who shrugged as she threw him over her shoulder.
The yellow ranger placed her boot on his chest, her bodyweight keeping him still as the green ranger took out a tiny orb.
Scrozzle panicked on identifying the device. It was a EMP generator, something which could fry his circuits, essentially lobotomizing him.
"You wouldn't!" He shrieked.
"Don't worry." The green ranger said. "This will just clear your memory banks of the last few days. You still have a role in the timeline."
Scrozzle gulped. It was still better than the alternative.
The green ranger activated the orb and everything came to a sudden still.
The transmission was disrupted. Evox could sense his particles scatter across the universe, his data stream lost amongst an infinitude of radio waves.
With the last of his will, he connected to the Machine Empire Network and left as much of his imprint as he could. It was not nearly enough to assimilate the network, quite the opposite in fact. He felt himself stripped down to his core, back to Venjix, but lacking everything that made him the ruthless warlord he was.
Soon he faded away to an infinitude of anonymity.
All that remained was a source code, soon to be fashioned into the newest soldier of the Machine Empire, a mere servant subservient to his new masters. The only thing that remained of him was his former name.
He looked like a normal cog, till he rose through the ranks and attained the title of general and fashioned his new body after a being called Shadow Borg, one of the many villains who had attacked Earth but one of the very few who had come close to conquering the planet.
General Venjix was all that remained of the great Evox… the vengeful Venjix virus.
And even though he came close to obliterating Earth when he acquired the mighty Serpenterra, like his predecessors in different timelines, he was defeated by the Power Rangers.
But the legacy of Venjix lives on, in other planets and other universes, waiting for the right time to strike.
Hope you guys liked this story and please review.
As my friend Super Shadowhenshin can attest, I have always been fascinated by the fact that Venjix shares the same name as General Venjix from Forever Red and I have come up with many headcanons over the years, explaining that the two are the same individual. Most of them dealt with the Venjix virus being a future version of General Venjix and sets RPM in the same dimension as rest of the series, which is not canon anymore, however the idea I came up in here works in canon and ironically is the opposite of my original headcanon, with General Venjix being a future version of Venjix as well as Evox, thanks to time travel shenanigans.
It can be read as a stand-alone story though it was originally intended to be an interlude in my "Once and Always" story and shares continuity with it.
It also sets the stage for many story arcs in my upcoming stories, which are set in the same universe.