Just beyond our world, past the veil of dreams and magic, lies the fairytale realm of Everafter. Here, the legends and fairytales of old are alive and well, living in harmony for countless centuries. However, all that changed when the evil forces of the Marchens invaded, transforming many into mystical Wonder Charms while those that survived escaped into our world. Now, under the guidance of the great wizard, Merlin, a small group of these survivors tap into the power of the Wonder Charms to face the Marchen menace. Full steam ahead, it's morphin' time! Power Rangers: Wonder Force!

Episode 3: Metal and Wood

As the woodshop class started Arthur looked over to his new friends. It had been about a week, and he still could not believe he was a power ranger, working with some of his favorite literary characters to defend the world from an evil empire. Or maybe army, his friends were sometimes inconsistent with the terminology. Attendance was called and they were paired up to begin the group project. All the while Arthur continued to reflect on the recent events that had made him a ranger.

The inconsistences also extended to his new friends as well. Namely they mostly had to use fake names. Snow White for instance was known as Sonia Winters, though everyone called her Snow. Jack didn't have a last name, so it became Thornsly. And of course the name Sun Wukong would raise eyebrows, so Sunny, as he preferred to be called, had the assumed identity of a foreign exchange student named Sheng Waung.

The exceptions were Dorothy Gale and Alice Liddell. Despite the fact that they shared the same origins, being humans who were born in the mortal realm and moved to Everafter, and the fact that they both held positions of royalty in there realms, one would be hard pressed to find a pair of individuals more different that the duo.

Dorothy was, without a doubt, the most normal of all the refugees of Everafter. She had no real quirks that marked her as different and had proven herself to be a prodigy in academic matters. She had quickly earned the nickname of teachers pet, and for good reason. She was well on her way to being an honor student, and always asked teachers for instruction and then followed them to the letter.

Alice meanwhile was the strangest of the new students from Everafter, even considering the fact that Sunny tended to use his bare feet as an extra set of hands. Her wonderland unlogic manifested as outright cartoony effects, seeming more like a loony toon character than a student. The fact that her name was identical to a famous literary character (no one knew she was said character) was ultimately the least weird thing about her. Arthur heavily suspected the reason no one commented on the strange physics defying antics that Alice did so often was because no one wanted to be the one who mentioned them, for fear of them being deemed crazy. On the plus side the consumption of alcohol and recreational narcotics were at an all-time low ever since Alice came to Red Brook, so that was good.

Suddenly the teacher said, "Dorothy, that is a great birdhouse!" The entire class turned and were all surprised at what Dorothy had wrought. It was a fully made expertly crafted birdhouse. Arthur realized it was a few minutes to the final bell, once again having been distracted by his thoughts. A different student, the previous golden boy, yelled out, "There's no way she built that!"

However even a cursory glance revealed that she had in fact built it. There were obvious signs of a relatively new wood worker making the birdhouse. It was not perfect, but there was no sign that Dorothy had somehow managed to purchase a birdhouse and pass it off as hers.

The bell rung and the students filed out, leaving the jealous student to seethe. He could not believe that a new student had so easily surpassed him. He was normally a very understanding person, and one who loved a challenge. But not even a saint could go from being unchallenged in their craft to being defeated in mere moments by an amateur without some jealousy.

Then a voice rang out, "I can give you the ability to show up that girl." The student whirled around to face the voice and saw a strange sight. A hobby horse was laying upon a nearby table, in front of which was a medal emblazoned with the image of a cyclops. The presence of the toy was most unusual, given that no one had a hobby horse, or would bring it to school.

The savage voice spoke from the toy, "Metal is stronger than wood. Take the charm and you will be able to forge creations the likes of which have not been seen before!" The student could only conclude that he was dreaming and working under that belief that it was a dream he grabbed the medal.

This was a mistake, and he screamed as his body became that of a Marchen beast.


As Arthur crossed the street, a misfortune common to those who wore glasses afflicted him. The classes slipped off his face. Given that he had roughly the same amount of vision as Velma Dinkley did without glasses, he dropped to the ground, desperately searching for them.

A car came down the street, but it was driving oddly. The sound of conga music blared from the radio as the car moved its back left tire out in time to the music in a manner straight out of a loony toons cartoon. The driver was non other than Mr. Toad, who was absolutely furious at how his car was behaving. He muttered to himself, " I never should have let Alice drive my car. I'll pull over and call triple-a or something."

He pulled over and noticed Arthur searching for his glasses. Being a gentleman, Mr. Toad picked up the glasses and pulled Arthur out of the way of oncoming traffic. When Arthur's sight was restored he said, "Thank you so much Mr." Arthur realized he did not know his saviors last name. The man replied, "Toad. Mr. Toad actually."

Arthur blinked and asked, "Did you come with the others?" Mr. Toad blinked and then realized who he was talking to, "Oh, your Arthur Paperink, the new red ranger aren't you?" Arthur nodded and Mr. Toad's grin grew wider. He spoke again, "I have been eager to meet you. I am hoping we can be friends." Arthur smiled and said, "Of course. Oh, do you mind if I ask you about your story?" Mr. Toad genially said, "Not at all."

The two began to walk towards Arthur's home, having deemed Mr. Toads car as needing at least a mechanics checkup due to its sudden conga line behavior. While they walked Arthur asked questions about how Mr. Toads actual experiences differed from Mr. Toads Wild Ride.

They were interrupted by a sudden attack of Tin Troopers. At its head were two monsters. The first one was distinctly equine in appearance wielding a hammer that ended in the shape of a horse shoe. The equine monster let out a savage whinny, clearly being the leader of the forces. In a voice as savage as his manner he barked out a declaration of his identity, "I am General Trample of the Marchen Army! And you are the Red Ranger whose been giving us trouble!" He pointed his strange hammer to Arthur as he said the second part.

The second monster was elephantine in appearance, with the head of one of those great beasts. It's body was stout and strong, bringing a blacksmith to mind. In its hands was a great hammer and its let out a trumpet as fire shot from its trunk. It spoke then, "I am the savage tale of the one eyed giant! I am Cyclops Marchen!"

The two monsters charged, and Arthur morphed while Mr. Toad ran to get the other rangers. Arthur summoned the Whirlwind Blade and met his foes in combat. The Cyclops Marchen and General Trample quickly proved overly strong for Arthur, even as he channeled his wind powers through his sword,

Suddenly the monsters were enveloped in the tie dye colors that were the signature of Alice's temporal manipulation powers. The two slowed down, leaving them unable to dodge the incoming shots from the Beanzooka.

The explosions forced the two back as the rangers engaged the Tin Troopers. Each ranger showcased there power, and once the Tin Troopers had been destroyed the two monsters beat a hasty retreat. As Alice jumped around happily shouting there victory, the other rangers were left puzzled. Each knew, either from Merlin briefing them or from personal experience that Trample was the general who took the most effort to drive off. Whatever he had planned wasn't good.


In the Dark Keep the Cyclops Marchen was hard at work, with Crusher and Trample watching. Crusher spoke up, "I am amazed at how smart your plan is." Trample rounded on his fellow general, "If you ever forget that I can be smart, I will do this to you." He punctuated that sentence by smacking Crusher with his Misfortune Shoe Hammer.

Crusher, after wincing in pain, said, "Ok, I probably deserved that. But still, this plan is brilliant!" Tramples annoyance having been spent, he held his head high, "It is indeed." The haughty voice of Fracture rang out as she entered alongside Grizzle, "There you two ugly ingrates are!" Grizzle bellowed in his usual harsh manner, "You ran off without barely any fight. Have you become a coward?"

Crusher interjected, not so much to defend Trample as to one up Grizzle, "For your information the Cyclops Marchen is hard at work. He is creating a suit of armor that will be immune to the Rangers powers and attacks." This stunned Fracture and Grizzle into silence, Fracture recovered her wits first, "You mean, what that brute is making, is the key to our victory?" Crusher nodded, "It won't be ready until tomorrow. But come the morrow, the rangers." Trample finished the sentence, "Will be crushed!" Trample let out a harsh whinny to punctuate the statement.


The next day was a field trip to the rock quarry at Red Brooks edge. It was a part of the towns history but was mostly a day for the teachers and students to get a much needed reprieve from the educational institution. Not that Snow White saw it that way.

"Why do we have to go to a dumb quarry for a field trip? What does it even have to do with what we are learning?" As Snow said this, Arthur whispered to her, "You are lucky you're a new student, otherwise that sort of comment would hurt your standing as a class president candidate."

The teacher called role ignoring the students murmuring, with Arthur only really hearing his own name and the fake names given to three of the Everafter rangers. "Sonia Winters?" Snow raised her hand and said, "Here." The teacher continued, "Sheng Waung?" Sunny raised his hand and replied, "Here." The teacher called, "Jack Thornsly?" Jack did the same as his two companions, raising his hand and saying, "Here."

The tour was soon interrupted by a pack of Tin Troopers, marching in perfect lockstep. The attack sent the civilians scrambling, while Dorothy and Gary both went with the fleeing students and faculty to ensure that there was a reason they weren't with the others. Arthur called out, "Its morphin time!"

The rangers morphed and began there roll call. Arthur shouted first, "The Keeper of the Tales, Wonder Ranger Red!" Alice went next, "The Monarch of Wonderland, Wonder Ranger Blue!" Sunny was next, "The Great Sage conquering the West, Wonder Ranger Yellow!" Snow White went then, "The Fairest Princess, Wonder Ranger White!" Last but not least was Jack, "The Slayer of Giants, Wonder Ranger Black!" All together they shouted, "Full steam ahead! Power Rangers Wonder Force!"

A harsh whinny rang out, which put Sunny on edge, if only due to his deep hatred of equines. Over a nearby hill came General Trample and the Cyclops Marchen. But the Marchen Beast was different, for it wore a dark suit of armor. The armor was as black as a lightless night, every bit as brutal as the beast who forged it and as brutal as the one who made the beast. Trample proudly shouted, "I think you will find that the power will not protect you!" The monsters charged in, and battle was started.

As the Cyclops Marchen charged, Alice yelled out, "I think you need to slow down!" As she launched her time manipulation power, the magic shattered upon the monsters armor. Alice could only yell out, "What the hey?" The wonderland queen was sent flying by the Vulcan Hammer. The others saw this, though Sunny could not help, engaged as he was with General Trample. While usually a general of the Marchen Army required two of the rangers to hold off, the ancient hatred that Sun Wukong held for all beings that counted as horses, or even just resembled horses, meant his already enhanced strength was boosted. The ancient slight of the Shen still burned greatly in the Monkey King, and this rage allowed him to access a little more of his godly strength, stripped from him by the perfidy of General Crusher.

However, the other rangers quickly proved the armors effectiveness at defending against there attacks. Be it Arthurs wind, Jacks plants, Sunny's strength when he could spare even a glancing blow, or Snows ice, all were useless against the armor. There weapons proved no better, nothing they had being able to even scratch the armor of the Cyclops Marchen.

With the Vulcan Hammer, the fire from its trunk, and the inability to be harmed by anything the rangers could muster, the Wonder Force Rangers could not win. Only Sunny was not being trounced by a mere Marchen Beast, fighting against the general who had conquered the realm of Perrault from which both Jack and Little Red Riding Hood originated.

Loosing his patience, Trample yelled, "I'll destroy you Ranger!" He brought his hammer to the ground and yelled out, "Misfortunes collision!" The hammer print blazed with blue fire, and from it came an energy projection of a Nightmare, the hellish horse charging at Sunny. Under his helmet he smiled, and so he ran.

The Nightmare chased him, and he led it to the Cyclops Marchen. With an expert maneuver, he used the As You Will Staff to pole vault over the Marchen Beast, leading to the Nightmare slamming into the beast. There was the sound like a shell cracking, and the invincible armor disintegrated.

All who saw this were shocked, but they recovered quickly. The generals of the Marchen Army raged in the Dark Keep, while Trample entered what amounted to a trance state. The rangers took the opportunity, destroying the few Tin Troopers that remained and pressed the attack on the Marchen Beast.

Soon enough the beast was weakened enough for the finisher. The Rangers shouted in unison, "Wonder Force Blaster!" The Rangers combined there weapons, the Beanzooka formed the main barrel, the As-You-Will Staff and the Whirlwind Blade form the stand and trigger respectively, and the Mirror Shield and Clock Buster Hammer form the outer casing.

The blaster charged up, the Mirror Shield glowing a brilliant gold and the clock faces upon the Clock Buster Hammer ticked until both hands reached the twelve, which on both were replaced with the phrase "Times up." Arthur shouted, "End the tale!" as he pulled the trigger.

A beam of golden energy shot towards the Cyclops Marchen, and the image of a wolf appeared in the beam, the energy and the claws destroying the beast. The innocent was sent back to his bed while the rangers claimed the Cyclops Charm.

This got Trample out of his trance, and seeing this he roared, "Yaga! Come forth!" Suddenly many portals opened to the Dark Forest. Through one skipped a Marchen nigh identical to Baba save that her face was that of a racoon, and instead of the bag of growth cookies at her side, Yaga had a strange hammer that Sunny recognized as the Compaction Expansion Hammer, stolen from its temple home in the Mountainous East.

The much more ominous threat was the massive host of Tin Troopers. From each portal came one hundred Tin Troopers all marching in unison. There were one thousand in total, and the rangers knew they would have a hard time fighting so many.

Yaga yelled out, "Time to do my thing!" A gong rang out as she brought the hammer down on air. Suddenly all of the Tin Troopers were crushed. All save Sunny were surprised, with Arthur muttering, "Well, that was easy." Sunny merely said, "Its not over yet."

The former god was quickly proven right, as each of the battalions became a giant monster, Trample laughed and said, "Rangers, meet the Tin Titans! One hundred Tin Troopers become a Tin Titan! Now they shall be your doom!" He and Yaga left at this point, leaving the rangers to fight these giants.

Each Tin Titan was similar to a Tin Trooper, but different. Where a Tin Trooper resembled an old British soldier (like a redcoat) rendered in tin, a Tin Titan was the rotted body of said soldier. A skeletal beast clad in the tattered remnants of a military uniform. It was as if a moldering old body of an old British soldier was clad in tin and set off to fight. Ten of these monsters had been made by Yaga, and they all made haste to attack the city.

Seeing the threat the rangers called out, "Summon the Zords!" Arthur called out, "Red Wolf Zord!" An armored red wolf manifested, Arthur jumping into its cockpit. Alice called out, "Blue Rabbit Zord!" A blue rabbit with a clock upon its back and its floppy ears being slightly reminiscing of a bulldozer, Alice jumping into its cockpit. Sunny called out, "Yellow Monkey Zord!" A yellow monkey with a strange head reminiscent of a UFO manifested, and Sunny jumped into its cockpit. Snow yelled out, "Apple Dwarf Zord!" A mechanical apple upon tank treads with a turret protruding from it manifested, and Snow jumped into the cockpit. Finally Jack yelled out, "Cloud Giant Zord!" A black ogre manifested and charged forward in a manner reminiscent of the Red Ape Ninja Zord made by Ninjor in times long past.

All the Rangers shouted, "Zords combine!" The Cloud Giant Zord formed the legs and lower torso, while the Red Wolf Zord formed the upper torso, the tail detaching and becoming a sword. The Yellow Monkey Zord became the upper arms while the UFO head became the helmet, now more like the helm of a knight. The Blue Rabbit Zord formed the right forearm, the clock face detaching to become a shield while the arm grabbed the sword. The Apple Dwarf Zord formed the left forearm, the tanks turrets becoming wrist mounted while the shield rested upon it. The Rangers shouted in unison, "Wonder Force Megazord!"

However, once the size advantage of the Tin Titans was removed, they were ultimately as weak as there normal sized counterparts. While there frightening visages and massive size did cause a lot of panic, they were effortlessly taken down by the Wonder Force Megazord. Not even a final strike was really needed. Once the last Tin Titan went down, Arthur said, "Victory is ours!" The other rangers looked askance at his new victory catchphrase. Alice said, "Stick to saying end the tale." Arthur sighed and said, "Ok."


In the Dark Keep Trample was receiving a beating from the three other generals. As all three beat him with there respective weapons, they were also verbally haranguing him. It was Crushers turn, "We could have won definitively. But you ruined it!"

Madame Oshka's imperious voice rang out, "Enough!" The generals all bowed to there leader, who spoke firmly and with conviction, "The goal of our invasion of Earth is not to defeat the Rangers. It is to gather Mayhem Energy. Tramples attacks and the Tin Titans have done so, and as such we have won. Dealing with those pesky refugees is important, but it is nothing compared to our mission of gathering Mayhem Energy. Remember that my subordinates."

All four generals nodded and retreated to there own rooms in the keep to plan there next attack.

Author notes

Thanks to Krockman18 for letting me use his ideas and for beta reading this story. Go check him out

Some voice actors (credit to MaMcMu)

General Grizzle has the voice of lord hater from wander over yonder

Madame Oksha has the voice of Endive from Chowder

Lord Umbrace has the voice of Dr. Facilier from the princess and the frog movie.

If you know who Lord Umbrace is, then I am sure you agree with the voice actor pick (MaMcMu just said Keith David). If you do not know who Lord Umbrace is, you clearly have not been looking at Krockmab18's deviantart profile. Do so people! These stories wouldn't be possible without him!

Not much else to say here, so some random notes.

Madame Oshka has a Russian accent.

The Tin Troopers and Tin Titans have the theme of tin soldiers and the gashadokuro. The Tin Troopers I wrote as leaning more to the tin soldier theme, while I had the Tin Titans lean more to the Gashadokuro theme.

Ok, gonna work on Star Strikers next.