Chapter Nine:
A Message to the World
Out in New Tech City, Yoselin and Tomas pulled up outside of the indistinct office building that acted as Ranger HQ.
"This should be the place," Yoselin said.
Tomas squinted up at the building skeptically. "Are you sure?" he asked.
Yoselin followed his gaze. "Pretty sure," she said. "This is the address my contacts gave me. Come on."
She got out and walked up to a small callbox attached to the wall, pressing a button on it. "This is Agent Yoselin Jimenez of the FBI. I have been working with Rio Higueras for the last six months."
She waited a few seconds for a response. Then she pressed it again. "Please," she said. "I understand things are probably complicated right now, but we can help. And we just want to know if he's alright. Hello?"
They waited another couple of seconds. Then a small screen clicked to life on the wall above them, showing what looked like a small hamster sniffing at the camera.
Tomas stared. "A . . . hamster?"
Yoselin reached out with her hand to press the button again when a dark shadow fell across them. In the sky above, the image of an enormous golden creature with large wings and mandibles appeared, slightly transparent like a hologram. Its mandibles clicked and it started to speak in perfect English.
"Humans of Earth," it boomed. "Your day of reckoning has come. I am Great King Ikros, general of the Vader Clan, and I hereby claim this planet for my people and the glorious Queen Hedrian."
Far away, near Turtle Cove, Joshua Cage and Katie Young carried the last of their boxes into a nice large house on the lake, Katie's parents and brother helping them move in.
"And that should be the last of it," Katie said, setting her box down and looking at her husband proudly. "Welcome home, Mr. Cage."
Joshua smiled. "Welcome home, Mrs.—"
Ikros's booming voice cut them off. They looked up to see him leering through their big bay window. "In time, the queen and all her forces will arrive to subjugate this planet and make it our new home. In her absence, it is my divine duty as her emissary to prepare this world for her arrival."
Out in Reefside, Sean and Tammy Cassidy sat in a small family clinic near their farm as a doctor looked over Tammy's belly. "Everything looks good, Mrs. Cassidy," the doctor said.
Ikros's voice reached them too, shaking the walls of the clinic. "My first order of business will determine the fate of your species upon the queen's arrival, whether you will live as slaves or face total annihilation."
Out in San Angeles, the Owens-Hernandez family were celebrating a family reunion in the local park, Dayton Owens and his boyfriend of several months in attendance, Dayton passing the time by wrestling several of his cousins out on the warm grass. He looked up from the headlock his cousin Ernesto had just put him in as Ikros appeared in the sky.
Ikros's image changed as the image of the Black Cross Fuhrer took his place. "I'm sure you recognize this being. His name is Soto, an esteemed officer of the Vader Clan high court and my sworn blood brother. He was murdered two years ago by five members of your race."
Out in Mariner Bay, Peggy Madison jumped out of an armored truck wearing a special police uniform that read "BOMB SQUAD." She hefted a large bag of equipment and hurried inside a local mall. "Everyone out of the way," she shouted as she approached the large crowd of people surrounding a mysterious package. She dropped to her knees and started opening her bag.
"Can we get all these people out of here?" she shouted in annoyance. "This could be a bomb, for Christ's sake."
As she set to work, she glanced up at the image through the skylight anxiously. It changed this time to show the faces of the five rangers, both in and out of their masks. "I believe you call them Power Rangers," Ikros said. "It these five are turned over to me within the next three hours, you will be spared total destruction."
Out near Harwood County, Kenny worked in the veterinary tent of a pet fair being held in the local park. He smiled as a little girl brought in a Maltese puppy. "Is this the one you picked out?" he asked.
The little girl nodded excitedly, letting him take the puppy. "And what's her name going to be?"
"Cece," the little girl said.
"Cece, huh?" He held up the puppy, who licked his nose. "Well, Cece, let's make sure you're ready to head to your forever home." He took her over to his counter and started looking her over. He tried to focus on his work and not glance up at the sky.
"If they are not turned over to me in that time," Ikros said. The scene changed to show the city of Tokyo from above. "My readings tell me that this is the most populous city on the planet."
Ikros held out his golden arm, the Shine clutched in his talons. He focused it at the city's tallest building and blasted a beam of light energy so powerful it blew the building apart like it was made of cardboard, vaporizing everything inside of it.
All five rangers stared at the destruction as it unfolded in the sky, their eyes going straight to the places they kept their morphers.
"Expect more of that if my demands are not met," Ikros said. "You have three hours."
His image disappeared.
Back in New Tech City, Yoselin and Tomas pressed against the wall of the building, staring up at the cloudy sky. Had they really just watched all those people die? The pair looked at each other.
"Oh, my god," Tomas said, his face pale.
Yoselin looked back up at the screen showing the hamster still sniffing around. "Please, let us in," she said. "We want to help."
The hamster didn't respond, and all was silent for a few seconds. Then a door appeared in the wall to their right, popping open.