Piggy's Palace was the best place to get burgers East of New Tech City. It was also the best place for the humans of New Angel to get a taste of "authentic" alien cuisine. For those brave enough to try it anyway.
Ace and J.J both stuck to hamburgers.
"So," Ace said with a bit of ketchup on the corner of his mouth. "What did you want to talk about?"
For a moment J.J was reminded of the days after the Paradox War, when he suddenly found himself so alone.
"My parents died in the legendary battle," Ace said with a withering voice. "I've… lost a lot of people… The thing I've learned is that no matter who you lose or how many times it happens you can't shut yourself off from the world."
From that turbulent moment the image of Ace's saddened eyes burned itself into J.J's mind. A vistage perfectly replicated as he stared back at the man before him.
That made J.J even more nervous about discussing what was on his mind.
He took a deep breath, then sighed. "Do you think we can trust Commander Oliver?"
"Yeah, of course," Ace said. "He's Tommy Oliver, the best Ranger that's ever lived."
"Right, right," J.J said.
But, there was still a nugget of doubt, though he couldn't exactly place why. Maybe it was because, no matter what, this Tommy would never be his Tommy.
His dad.
Ace raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"I just…" J.J froze as an awful sickening feeling welled up inside.
Commander Oliver wasn't his dad. But he was the closest thing J.J had left.
"Can you keep a secret?" J.J asked.
Ace flashed a serious expression. "Of course."
"Earlier today I was taken somewhere called the Hall of Legends."
Ace's cheeks flushed red. "Was there someone who called himself the Omega Ranger?"
"N-no," J.J said, feeling uneasy under Ace's intense gaze. "He called himself the Guardian. He told me that Hexagon was putting the entire morphin grid at risk."
"And you're sure there wasn't an Omega Ranger there?"
The look on Ace's face was terrifying. It made J.J instantly regret ever opening his mouth. He wanted to lock it all away and never think about it again.
"What else did he tell you?" Ace demanded.
Ace was staring at J.J like he was a fifty-foot monster in need of megazord action. Never in five years had he seen so much raw anger in the Ranger.
"You need to tell me!" Ace urged.
"He… he…" words choked in J.J's throat. His heart bounced around like it was trying to ricochet up his esophagus.
"He didn't tell me anything else," J.J finally found the strength to say. "I told him I wasn't interested in betraying you or hexagon."
"Good," Ace said with a sigh that deflated much of his intensity. "But you need to tell the Commander."
J.J shook his head. "No."
"No?" Ace asked with a concerned look. "If you're worried about them coming after you for it, Hexagon will keep you safe."
"It's not that…" J.J said. He wanted to say rest but couldn't find the words.
Nevertheless, Ace understood. And it left him with a grave expression.
"J.J," he said in a measured tone. "You can't let those guys get in your head."
"I'm not," J.J lied.
Not that Ace was convinced. "I'm serious," the Ranger said gravely. "I let those creeps in once and it cost me someone who meant everything to me."
"Your brother?"
"No," Ace said distantly. "Her name was Destiny."
Destiny? Ace had never mentioned that name before.
"She was… my love," Ace said. "She was my world."
"What happened to her?" J.J asked.
Ace shook his head. His eyes grew red as he blinked back some distant memory.
"She's gone," was all he said.
Then the red ranger shook his head. "Back to this Guardian. If you don't tell the Commander I will."
"Ace, please," J.J said. "Just- just- just…"
His mind whirled like a failing electric motor. He grasped at straw, he grasped at the thin stringy residue of straw.
And then, as the sadness on Ace's face was replaced with something far more disturbed, an idea finally occurred to J.J.
Good or bad? No real time to determine. He just opened his mouth and went for it.
"What if I join them as an undercover agent," he said. "And we figure out exactly what their plan is before we tell the Commander."
"No, absolutely not," Ace said. "That's dangerous and stupid."
"But it could also be our best shot at stopping them for good," J.J said. He tried to convince himself along with Ace. "An opportunity like this won't come again."
"But why not tell Tommy?" Ace asked.
"Do you really think he'd agree to it?"
Ace sighed.
"At the first sign of danger you need to promise me you'll call for help."
"I will," J.J said, hoping desperately to sound convincing.
"Alright," Ace said, much to J.J's relief. "But there's one stipulation."
"What's that?"
"If you see Omega, you need to let me know immediately," Ace said in a voice that made J.J pray he never crosses that bridge.
When Minh returned to the Vault the energy inside was decidedly palpable. Solon and Finster-Five were sitting at a small square table playing a game that resembled chess, only the pieces were shaped like rangers.
Finster-Five moved his pink ranger diagonally.
"You know," he said. "It might be in your best interest to forfeit before any inevitable embarrassment. My processor can predict five billion possible movements."
"Ooooh impressive," Solon teased playfully. After a moment of contemplation she moved her blue ranger forward blocking his pink, then her black ranger sideways, taking out his yellow before sending her red ranger shooting straight for his green ranger.
"Okay, okay, you win!" Finster-Five exclaimed.
"You might have newer software," Solon said. "But that can't trump experience."
Finster-Five groveled as he handed Solon her prize, a box of Krispy Cream donuts before lowering his head in shame.
"Oh Minh," Solon said as she opened the box and retrieved a donut. "We have exciting news." Then, she offered a piece of her loot to Finster-Five.
"That's right," Finster-Five said before putting the pastry in his massive mouth. "Dr.Cranston has built the first prototype."
"Wow, that was fast," Minh said. In her hand was a foam cup. "I'm going to go check it out."
"Donut?" Solon offered Minh.
The young woman smirked, and said "Sure", before reaching for the box.
"No fair," Finster-Five groaned as he watched Minh snag two.
"Don't be a sore loser," Solon warned.
The two continued to bicker, but their voices grew more and more distant as Minh entered the laboratory.
Dr.Cranston's eyes lit up at the sight of Minh. "Perfect timing, I can't wait to show you what I've done."
Sitting before Dr.Cranston was something Minh had never seen before, yet knew exactly what it was. Her breath caught in her throat.
"I brought you coffee," Minh said as she pulled her gaze back to the man. "And, uh, a donut from Solon."
"Thank you," Dr.Cranston said with a weak smile.
Years ago, when she was still in school, Billy used to come over and help her with homework. Forever the smell of coffee and warm printer paper reminded her of him.
She smiled back as he took a careful sip.
Zack, Billy, and every other morphin ranger had gone missing in the wake of the Paradox War
Five years.
No body.
No trace.
Nothing.
"Black…light sugar… half decaf…" Dr.Cranston said. "How'd you know?"
Minh shrugged playfully, "Lucky guess."
"You have your mom's smile," Dr.Cranston said abruptly. Smile… that was the word that choked in his throat.
"So, the prototype," Minh said as she swallowed the knot in her stomach. "Does it work?"
"Kind of," Dr.Cranston said. "In its current state it will function… however… it may result in harm to the user."
Minh studied the device, it was like a cross between a bracelet and a glove. A black and gold band that wrapped around the hand of the wearer.
"What kind of harm?"
"The Morphin Bracelet is a marriage between science and magic," Dr.Cranston explained. "I only have the understanding to construct the science half and without the magic system to feed into the loop the Morpher will drain life energy from the user instead."
"So you become the battery," Minh said. "What happens when you… run out of juice."
"You die," Dr.Cranston said in a dark voice. "But that's why you and Olivia are going to go where you can acquire the magic components needed to complete the Morphers."
Minh felt a sharp pang of fear, and it wasn't just at the proposal of being stuck with Olivia.
For a moment she simply stared at the morpher before her, studying the half coin resting inside the nearest prototype. The golden disk had a distinct zigzag shape, like the other half had been chipped off.
She looked away, trying not to imagine how it would feel to have your life energy sucked dry.
"So, uh, where are we going?"
"A town called Briarwood."
The town known for being home to magical creatures? Yeah, that checks out.
"Sounds simple enough," Minh said.
"There is one complication," Dr.Cranston said.
"What's the catch?"
"They don't know us," Dr.Cranston explained. "And I have no way of making contact with them."
Minh frowned, "So what am I supposed to do?"
"If the archives are anything to go off of, I'd say check out the Rock Poriem."
The copper moon cast yellow light across Angel Graves. J.J stood in the heart of what had once been a warehouse district, transformed into total ruin. Nobody cared to fix it, and quite likely nobody ever would. Instead it would sit and rot, destined for nothing but a slow degradation.
The young man took a deep breath.
"Guardian…" he spoke into the quiet air. "I've changed my mind. I'm ready to talk."
For a few moments he simply stood there, waiting.
But nothing decided to happen.
He sighed. What the hell did he expect? Was the Guardian supposed to be some ominepidant being?
Welp there goes that idea…
J.J turned back towards the lights in the distance, where New Angel sat waiting for him. Maybe in time he'd come up with a better plan. Or perhaps the Guardian would summon him for another offer.
But for now there was nothing more for him to do.
He took a slow, defeated step towards home.
Then he heard the scream.
It was a shrill, throat tearing exclamation of existential panic, and J.J was rushing towards it without a second thought.
What J.J found was far beyond what he imagined. It was no mugger or nefarious thug. No. It was a fully fledged monster.
The towering insectoid was half crab and half luchador. It was seven feet tall, with a brown exoskeleton molded to resemble a six pack and six insectile legs. Its face was vaguely humanoid with two massive fangs.
In its giant clawed hand was a rather ragged looking tenga.
"Please don't eat me!!" The avian denizen exclaimed.
"I'm sorry but Clawstrosity needs the protein to bulk up before the next galaxy warrior audition." the insectoid said
"How about you boil some chicken instead," J.J shouted to the monster.
"Why would I ever do that?" Clawstrosity asked as he turned towards J.J, "When I have a perfectly good fowl right here?"
"I have a wife and kids!" The tenga exclaimed. "Well… I have a cat… and a crush on the morning cashier at the gas station down the road from my house."
"Don't care," Clawstrosity said as he pulled the struggling tenga over to his open maw.
J.J scanned his surroundings, desperately searching for a possible weapon. Anything. But to his dismay there wasn't even a piece of stray rebar or wooden beam.
Oof.
J.J grabbed a nearby rock and tossed it at Clawstrosity, only for the softball sized chunk of stone to strike the tenga in the head.
"Way to hit me when I'm down, asshole!" the tenga asked.
"Sorry…" J.J said meekly.
Clawstrosity laughed. "Thanks for tenderizing the meat for me."
J.J scowled. His teeth grinding together. Clawstrosity licked his lips excitedly as the tenga moved closer and closer to its untimely demise.
Weapon or no weapon, J.J needed to do something. So he simply charged forward.
Large black eyes rolled J.J's way. A smile crept around the fangs.
"Are you offering to be my appetizer?"
No time for helplessness. No time for panic. J.J pulled his fist back.
Then a spear of energy shot over his head and struck Clawstrosity in the massive claw.
The monster recoiled as the tenga fell to the ground.
"Who dares interrupt my meal?" The smoking crustation asked.
When J.J first spotted them he couldn't believe it.
Three figures. Black, yellow and red.
Could it really be?
The black figure with armor designed after the mastodon offered suppressive fire.
Meanwhile a yellow figure clad in the visage of the sabertooth tiger and a red figure whose helmet resembled a tyrannosaurus rex each charged forward with their weapons at the ready.
Were they truly the Power Rangers? The mythical figures who worked alongside his parents.
No. They weren't quite right.
The yellow warrior slashed her daggers against the hard chitin of her opponent. Sparks of energy danced across the monster's body.
Clawstrosity turned his twitching body towards the adversary, his massive claw raised.
But as the torso sized appendaged fell downward it was met with the bladed bo staff of the red warrior.
J.J was beyond impressed with the effortless teamwork of the team. Their moves were so refined that they operated flawlessly with zero telegraphing.
"Any day now," the red warrior called as his black comrade loaded another cartridge into his rifle.
"If you could stay out of my line of sight I'd pull the trigger," the black warrior called.
"Excuse me," the red warrior spat back. "I'll try to be more considerate next time I'm doing all the work!"
"Can you guys quit bickering like a married couple?" The yellow warrior exclaimed.
"Hey, I could do way better than him!" The black warrior exclaimed.
"And I'd never marry someone with such smelly feet!" The red warrior retorted.
"Smelly feet?" Black snapped back.
"Yes! I'm surprised your socks don't stand up by themselves when you peel them off your feet," Red said as he delivered another shocking strike with his staff.
"Come on man!" Black said. "That's harsh!"
"Well… he's kinda right on the money," Yellow replied.
"Ugh! Not you too!" Black groaned.
Okay, maybe these guys weren't as in sync as J.J initially assumed. But they were still impressive.
And their armor.
It was so similar to that of the original Power Rangers. They had to be a Grid Anomaly. The biggest difference was how militaristic their armor was. They were covered in plates of bulky battle-worn armor.
"I got it now!" The black soldier exclaimed. "Nobody move!"
"Easier said than done!" The red soldier said as he dangled by his cape firmly in the grasp of Clawstrosity's claw.
"Keep up the good work!" Black exclaimed as he finally pulled the trigger.
A super charged blast of energy exploded from the muzzle of his rifle and sent a spear of light flying towards the monster.
The blast struck Clawstrosity in the chest and an explosion of bright arcs of light danced across his body before he collapsed with a ground shaking thud.
The tenga promptly ran from sight, leaving only J.J and the three soldiers.
"Wow," J.J said. "That was awesome."
"All in a day's work," The red warrior said.
"Who are you guys?" J.J asked the trio of warriors.
"We're the Guardians of Angel Graves," The red warior declared triumphantly.
"Hey, we never agreed to that name," The black warrior said.
"But it sounds totally awesome," the red warrior said. Then turned back to J.J. "Don't you agree?"
"It has a nice ring to it," J.J said.
"See!"
"By the Masters you two are children," the yellow warrior said. She then turned to J.J. "I'm sorry for them."
J.J just shrugged. "I'm just glad you guys showed up when you did."
"We do our best," the woman said. She pulled off her helmet to reveal a purple hued face with white hair. "My name is Kiya by the way. And this is Bulk and Skull."
"Sup," said Bulk, the red warrior.
"Ditto," added Skull, the black warrior.
"Are you guys Rangers?" J.J asked.
"Not exactly," Kiya said. "This armor used to belong to the Sentries of Drakkon but Dr.Cranston modified them to run off Morph-X batteries so we could use them to protect Graves."
A spark of hope flared in J.J's chest. "Dr.Cranston? Like Billy Cranston?"
"Kind of," Kiya said. "But that's a long story."
"Can you take me to him?" J.J asked.
"The Doctor really doesn't take visitors," Kiya said
"But I'm J.J Oliver," he said.
Kiya frowned. "Oliver… like Commander Oliver?"
"Yes!" J.J said, then caught the immediate unease. "Well… kind of… it's a long story."
"We got time," Kiya said. "Which is good for you, because I won't even think about bringing you to the Doctor unless it's good."
The last place Zen-Aku expected the demon to take him was outer space, yet there he was, aboard a massive skull shaped fortress that sat hidden in the asteroid belt.
Accompanying him was the purple ranger and a small fleet of Moogers, though they were far from the only ones in attendance.
More monsters than Zen-Aku had ever seen in his life surrounded him. From warlords to mercenaries to former Squid Inc laborers who lost their benefits packages post merger with Broodwing Co.
Broodwing himself was even in attendance, standing to the left of the stage with a Varox guard.
Not that Zen-Aku was aware of any of this. To him each and every one of the creatures surrounding him might as well be scraps of meat between his teeth.
That was, until the woman stepped up upon the stage.
She was clad in spiked golden armor shrouded in an elegant red cloak.
The sight was unmistakable to Zen-Aku. She was a warrior.
"Greetings to all who could attend," the woman spoke. "As you know our numbers shrink by the day."
"Meanwhile you hide in your castle, Empress Vile," a massive hairy brute with wings spat.
The empress rolled her almond eyes towards the armored beast, "Brywnzor, is that correct?" She asked.
"So you recognize me," the brute spoke. "Do you remember the rest of my clan?"
"Ah yes," she said. "The pathetic worms that fell to SPD a few cycles ago."
"Do not disrespect my clan!" Brywnzor exclaimed as he drew his flaming axe.
Zen-Aku reached for his curved blade but it quickly became apparent the empress didn't need his assistance.
All she needed to do was raise her staff upward and the warrior was lifted helplessly from the ground.
Brywnzor struggled desperately, thick ropy muscles straining with all of his strength, but to no avail.
"Do not disrespect your Empress," the woman growled as she unleashed dark wisps of evil magic.
Brywnzor unleashed a powerful throat tearing scream as his body could do nothing but twitch under the Empress's might.
Her wicked smile poured malic and joy as she watched her disciple plead with desperate eyes.
Finally she had enough fun and lowered him back to the ground. Brywnzor collapsed as if his joints had melted. His gasps were sharp and labored.
"Would anyone else like to challenge me?" She asked.
Not a soul pierced the tense silence.
"Fantastic," she said with a smirk. "Now, how about we continue?"
Her eyes scanned the crowd carefully, leaving Zen-Aku convinced she lingered on his form for several brief moments.
"As I was saying," she spoke. "Our numbers dwindle by the day. Hexagon has united their front and are systematically destroying everything we've ever known."
An energy washed over the crowd. An electricity that grew stronger with each passing word.
"If we don't make a stand NOW, we may never get the chance again," the Empress spoke.
"We need to pull this weed straight from the root," her voice took a darker, more grave tone. "We need to destroy Hexagon."
Suddenly it was like a spark had ignited a room full of gunpowder. Monsters of all shapes and sizes roared with excitement.
Fists pumped in the air and a chorus of voices screamed, "Down with Hexagon! Down with Hexagon!"
The energy was infectious as it bubbled through the crowd like a slow boil quickly picking up steam.
Even Zen-Aku felt compelled by it though he stayed as reserved as possible.
"So, Mr.Tall-and-Stoic," the ranger said. "What do you think about all of this?"
Zen-Aku chewed over his words in a careful silence.
Then, using his Org strength, Zen-Aku leaped into the air and landed in front of the Empress.
He could feel the magic burning from the staff in her hands. Dark forces send her cloak fluttering about her armored form.
"Explain yourself, welp!" She demanded.
Memories not his own played in Zen-Aku's mind. A burning love he'd never understood. Until now.
The Org dropped to a single armored knee. "My Empress," he breathed. "I am here to serve you."
Her wicked smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
"I have fought in countless wars and served in countless armies," Zen-Aku said. "I am here to lend all of my experience to you. To become your noble blade, and pierce the heart of Hexagon."
