Chapter 1: The Lesser Evil
SPD Down: Red War Invasion, Destiny 2 OST
Theme Song: Power Rangers Psycho by Venom 7895
-Somewhere in space-
In the depths of space just outside the Sol system, a fleet of alien warships flew through the soundless void. They were intent on claiming one world for their empire: Earth. They were the Cabal, and they conquered all they saw.
On the capital ship, the leader of this assault stood on the command bridge. He wore white colored armor with some banners adorning it and a breath mask. He was taller than most around him, was noticeably albino and had an aura of power.
"Dominus, we are nearing the system that the energy spikes originate from. It is the same system that decimated the Truvian Empire." A Cabal dressed in a minimalist red pressure armor informed the larger male as the ship neared the Sol system. "What are your orders, sir?" He questioned.
"Upon arrival, all forces are to concentrate on establishing our staging area." The Dominus declared. "From there, we will conquer the rest of the planet." He added.
"At once, Dominus." The same Cabal nodded as he went to relay the orders given. "All will tremble before the might of Ghaul." He added.
(Elsewhere)
-Earth, 2035-
Meanwhile, on Earth, there stood the SPD HQ. This was the main operations center of the greatest law enforcement agency in the galaxy, and the home of the Space Patrol Delta Rangers.
Here on Earth, which was now a hub of intergalactic peace, the defeat of the Truvian empire and their leader Emperor Grum was now ten years ago–but now there stood a power vacuum, and many big time galactic criminals were eyeing the chance to fill it, with slathering jaws.
This meant that the SPD was dealing with more crime than they had in a decade, even before Grum was gone–leaving the current team: Former B squad, now Current A Squad, led by Sky Tate–And their commander, Kebechet "Puppy" Cruger, daughter of current SPD Supreme Commander Anubis "Doggy" Cruger, completely overworked.
"Ugh… I wish we could take a vacation…" Syd groaned.
"Unfortunately, that seems pretty unlikely." Zee sighed, leaning back on the chair she was in.
"That is a sad reality to all of this." Kebechet sighed as well as she joined them. "Something interesting, Bridge?" She questioned the SPD Blue Ranger.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Boom showed me this conspiracy theory site awhile back and I've been reading it a lot recently." The Ranger explained. "But right now, one particular article has my attention." He continued. "Do you guys remember the Psycho Rangers?" He asked.
"What about those crazy guys?" Sky asked with a raised eyebrow at the mention of the group in question.
"Well according to this forum, apparently after they were destroyed the second time by the Space and Lost Galaxy Rangers, some gem enthusiasts gathered up their pieces and pressed them down into artificial gemstones, then made totem necklaces out of them–hoping to sell them." Bridge explained, showing them pictures of several gem animal totem pendants of various animals in various colors.
The red gem took the form of a Dragon.
The silver gem took the form of a wolf. Someone must've been a fan of The Witcher, since it took the form of said group's emblem.
Those were just two of five.
"Where are they now?" Zee asked.
"That's the thing. No one knows. They were actually supposed to be sold at an intergalactic auction, but were stolen by Broodwing not long before–and then were never seen again after that." The young man responded.
"Well that's unsettling." Syd muttered.
"Let's just hope we don't have to deal with another occurrence of Psycho Rangers…" Bridge groaned.
It was then that alarms started going off all over the base.
"What the devil?" Kebechet questioned right as images of ships suddenly started popping up on every screen–including one that was in the shape of a six pronged star–which was headed straight for the Morphin' complex–the building that housed the main connection to the Morphin Grid.
"What's going on?! Who are these guys?!" Sky demanded as he looked at the various monitors.
"It can't be…" Their commander said before she had the monitors zoom in, and saw a red symbol that looked like a rectangular double arch. "The Red Legion. The elite forces of the Cabal Empire." She uttered.
"The Cabal?" Syd blinked. "I remember reading about these guys. They're like if the whole Roman empire made a steroid infused gene enhancement serum." She noted.
"Worse than that, they blow up planets and moons just for getting in their way." Bridge gulped.
"A squad, suit up and disable their main ship, I'll divert B Squad to crowd control." Their commander said.
"Yes Ma'am!" The team nodded as they ran off.
(Elsewhere)
-Liramax SPD Maximum Security Penitentiary, Hellas Basin, Mars-
In a spice mine in the largest prison on Mars, prisoners were doing labor work mining spices.
Specifically they were mining a rare spice mineral that only appeared on red planets like Mars called Red Rock Salt, which was immensely prized on the intergalactic market, going from as low as $50 to $100 a pound, depending on the quality.
Liramax was a prison that was exempt from the standards of practice on Earth, hence its lack of adhering to the Geneva convention on child labor and Prison labor. The prisoners ranged from minors to adults and were separated by age range, but beyond thad, men and women all were in the same prison–Make of that what you will.
Some of the teenage prisoners grumbled as they did their assigned work, all of them clearly hating their experience.
One was a nineteen year old boy with caucasian skin, platinum, almost silver blonde hair, green eyes, a knife scar on his left cheek that extended down his jaw to his neck, and a scar over his right eye.
He was working beside a pair of girls who were gathering up the salt that he mined away and hauled it to various hovering carts.
One of the girls was one with fair skin, brown hair, amber eyes, a ripping gunshot wound scar on her right cheek extending down to her neck. While the other had caramel skin, red hair, apple green eyes, a small scar going across the bridge of her nose.
They rolled the carts to another girl, who pressed a button and made them drop onto a plate, which took them to the surface.
She had pale skin, black hair, brown eyes and seemed to have what looked like several messy braids tied all through her hair, giving her a wild appearance.
The carts then went up, and were subsequently kicked down a track that rolled them to a storage area and then were cataloged by another boy.
The one doing the kicking was a caucasian skinned boy, with short dyed green hair, blue eyes, and two scars across the smile lines of his mouth from an animal attack, and a Joker card tattoo on his collar bone.
The one doing the cataloging was a tan skinned boy with blue eyes, black hair, a scar from a past injury going across his forehead. He also seemed to have a shamrock tattoo on the nape of his neck.
These were Vergil Northwest, Nadia Kujo, Laura Keney, Saddie Marston, Arthur "Art" Flekk, and Patrick John "PJ" O'Malley respectively.
They would have been in any jail for a slew of different things–but what landed them in Liramax was particularly severe.
Vergil was guilty of assaulting a B squad SPD Ranger–and actually nearly strangled him to death–that failed to save his parents during the Truvian Invasion, holding them responsible for their deaths, he had a very deep rooted desire for revenge for all he held responsible.
PJ was convicted of several charges of extortion, intimidation, money laundering, running a collection racket, and attempting to Blackmail the former SPD Supreme Commander Birdie. All for the Irish Mafia, which his family was a part of–he'd been at this since he was a kid–having very little self control.
Nadia, meanwhile, was convicted of aggravated assault when she beat the crap out of the guy who tried to and nearly succeeded to convince her sister into committing suicide, actually managing to permanently paralyze him.
Her heart was in the right place, but her methods were far from desirable.
Laura was actually framed for embezzlement despite the fact that she was only pulling strings to get her parents better pay. Sadly, she was unable to prove her innocence in the matter.
Saddie, meanwhile, was the worst out of the girls–as she was convicted of a countless number of counts of things ranging from petty theft, grand larceny, and trespassing. To assault, battery, hoarding, tax evasion, burglary, grand theft... everything. To even assaulting SPD cadets, and stealing classified info, weapons, smuggling, etc.
All for the sake of her own quote "self preservation" which seemed to be her only concern.
And Arthur… He was by far the most unapologetic, as he gleefully got himself convicted of Arson, Destruction of property, resisting arrest, several traffic violations, theft, disturbing the piece, possession of high explosives with intent to use, false alarms, etc. and anything else remotely similar–that was done all in the name of sheer carnage and chaos.
Not all of these kids fucked themselves over, but they did have some serious marks on their records.
"Damn it, I hate this shit…" Laura grumbled as she dusted herself off.
She wanted to take a moment to rest, but one of the guards–a male Gorlian, which were gorilla adjacent aliens–struck her on the back, causing her to fall on the ground as he growled at her to keep moving.
"Hey!" Nadia yelled as she grabbed his arm. "She can barely move as it is, so you beating her isn't gonna help things!" She shouted, only to get backhanded into a cave wall and was about to get her skull smashed in–when Vergil stepped in, putting his 6'4" heavily muscled Guts-like physique between the two–and caught the guard's club.
"Don't you know it's uncouth to assault women?" He stated before he dropped the guard with a single punch to the face.
"Ugh… Thanks, Vergil…" Nadia groaned as she got back up.
"If we don't look out for each other, who will?" He questioned as he helped her, before doing the same with Laura. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"I'll live." The caramel skinned girl said while Saddie just watched.
"Ya know, you could have helped." The fair skinned girl hissed at the paler girl.
"Nah. Not good for my health." The culprit of a ton of crimes deflected.
As this was going on, PJ, Arthur, and Vergil resumed their work in case more guards came, resolving to explain the unconscious guard as having been hit with a stray chunk of rock.
But as they worked–the rock face they were chipping away at suddenly fell to pieces–revealing something underneath.
"Ooh, what do we have here?" Patric hummed with a grin as the group looked at their find.
What was it they'd found?
Five crystal totems.
The first was a red dragon.
Second, a Blue Shark.
Third, a yellow eagle.
Fourth, a black Mammoth.
Fifth, a Pink Fox.
And Sixth was a green monkey.
"What the–? What are these doing here?" Vergil wondered with a blink as he picked up the dragon totem.
Before they could say anything else, though, the whole mine began to shake as alarms blared, causing everyone to immediately start evacuating.
The prison was under attack.
"Shit! Grab the totems and let's get thefuck outta here!" Laura exclaimed as she snatched the mammoth totem, the others grabbing the remaining totems and bolting.
(Elsewhere)
Back on Earth, it was a straight up wardrobe everywhere you looked. Cabal were destroying everything, the Power Rangers were trying to fight them off and evacuate the civilians… It was hell.
The ships were also bombarding everything, including SPD Main HQ.
"Everyone with me–NOW!" Sky yelled as everyone gathered around him as he used his powers to create a force field that blocked the initial bombardment, but with each hit, his defense began to slip more and more.
Kebechet clapped her hands over her head, causing a sword of pure sunlight to form, her Sun Saber, before she started slashing apart debris and sending wave after wave of power–before she was tackled through a rock and into the shield.
"I retire for ten years, and this is what I come home to?" Jack, the former red ranger, questioned.
"Glad to see you're keeping in touch!" Sky called–right before his shield finally broke and they were all sent flying.
And outside, the star shaped ship finally reached the giant sphere that was the Morphin Grid core–and slowly started doing something to it.
(Elsewhere)
Back on Liramax, as the prison was attacked, whoever was assailing it was keeping the guards from getting it to go into lockdown, which meant that a lot of the prisoners were now attempting to escape.
"Well! Looks like today's our release day!" PJ called, putting on his pendant as he ran.
"No shit! Let's get the fuck outta here before whoever's attacking catches us!" Saddie exclaimed, putting on her own pendant.
"You're all a bunch of degenerates." Vergil growled as he bashed a man out of the way, having already put his pendant on.
"Whoo! Now this is the chaos I love!" Arthur laughed, reveling in the chaos happening around him as his pendant started glowing.
He then suddenly leapt into the air with superhuman capability and then proceeded to wall run like he was doing something straight out of Warframe or Metal Gear.
"What the–?! How's he doing that?!" Saddie gasped in surprise.
"Wait, his pendant is glowing! It must give us powers or something!" Nadia called.
"Alright, let's see what I can–WHOA!" PJ said as he concentrated while running, only to fall through the ground as his pendant glowed blue–causing the ground under him to become water-like, which he started swimming in.
"Okay, this is–" Vergil started to say before he let out an unexpected burp, causing him to breathe fire.
"Awesome!" PJ exclaimed before he dove back under.
"Look out!" Laura exclaimed as she pushed Nadia out of the way–before a giant rock fell on top of her–which she actually caught with her bare hands!
"Whoa! Thanks for the save." Nadia sighed in relief. That slab of rock could've killed her.
But rather than hitting the ground, she soon noticed that she was floating, and soon enough, she actually started flying all over the place.
"Woo hoo! This is great!" She laughed in spite of the prison being attacked.
As the teens made their way through the levels, they passed by Cabal actually executing guards and prisoners indiscriminately–right until a Centurion cut them off.
"You're not going anywhere!" The Centurion barked.
Though as he pointed a blaster at them, he failed to notice a reed bar floating behind him, before it impaled him through the back as Saddie became visible again, before she assumed its appearance and took its weapon.
"That was rather altruistic of you." Nadia noted sarcastically.
"Don't read too much into it, you guys are my best way of staying alive." The girl said.
"I was being sarcastic." The flying teen stated.
"Let's just go before someone else tries to kill us." Vergil interjected.
(Later)
The teens finally made their way to the top transport level that would get them back to Earth, and standing in their way wasn't the Cabal–as they were now elsewhere in the prison–but none other than former Emperor Grum, Broodwing, the SPD traitor Icthior, and his General Benaag.
"Uh oh, we got company." PJ gulped, popping his head out of his self made ground water.
"This just keeps getting better and better…" Laura groaned.
Vergil, meanwhile, was shaking, quivering even. But not with fear, no, but with complete and utter hatred and rage at the sight of the now hornless emperor.
"GRUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!" He roared as he suddenly erupted in a menacing crimson light and brilliant vermillion flames, changing shape right before everyone.
When it died down, he was surprisingly clad in a Power Rangers uniform.
It consisted of black boots with white trimming, similarly colored gloves, a black suit under a black and red vest, a white belt with a gold buckle and a wicked looking helmet befitting a demon.
"What is this?" Grum questioned.
"No, it can't be!" Broodwing exclaimed. "Those teenagers–They're in possession of the Psycho Totems!" He gasped in horror.
"That's what these are?" PJ blinked, looking at his totem.
"It won't matter what they are when I'm through!" Vergil roared, reached behind his back and drew out a giant chainsaw sword that looked like it came straight out of Warhammer 40K–That was set ablaze. "You killed my mother, you killed my sister! So I will take your life in exchange! This prison could not stop me! The SPD could not hold me! And you will not see the end of this day!" He bellowed, pointing his weapon at Grum. "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" He roared.
"You lack the strength to try!" The former Emperor scoffed… right before he had to dodge an attack from the pissed off teen. "Whoa!" He gasped..
"We gonna help him?" PJ questioned.
"Those other guys will be in our way if we don't, so let's do it." Saddie said, taking off the top of her jumpsuit and tying it off.
"Agreed." Nadia sighed as she popped her neck.
"Critical OVER!" Art called as his body was engulfed in green light before he transformed into a green rendition of Vergil's costume. "Oh yeah! This feels good!" He purred in glee.
"Let's go!" Laura exclaimed as she was surrounded by black ice before it shattered and she was revealed to be in a pitch black version of her own uniform with gold accents. "Now this is the good shit!" She laughed.
"Dive!" PJ whooped as he was surrounded by water, revealing a blue costume.
"Here we gooooooo!" Nadia yelled as she spun around, creating a tornado as she assumed a yellow costume.
"If beating you helps me live another day, then I'm down." Saddie nodded as she assumed a pink version of her costume–before they all lunged at their opponents.
(Elsewhere)
Back on Earth, the A Squad Rangers had just gotten aboard the capital ship, and were fighting through it.
"Anyone else think that this doesn't make sense?" Bridge questioned as he kicked a Phalanx in the shield and sent it flying, knocking it out with its own weapon.
"How so Bridge?" Zee questioned, elbowing a legionary in the jugular, causing its suit to depressurize.
"The Cabal conquers systems by blowing up worlds to force surrenders when a campaign becomes too tiresome, right?" The brainiac stated, knocking out a psion. "So aside from the strategic value of disabling the main order keepers to cause chaos and make things a bit easier–why attack SPD headquarters?" He wondered as they kept running.
"They're trying to acquire something." Sky deduced, snapping a Psion's neck.
"Okay, that's obvious, but what could they be after?" Syd questioned as they reached a door, where they forced it open, and then their resident leader tumbled towards them.
"Commander!" They gasped.
"Rangers." She nodded as she got up, using her solar blade to reduce some Cabal to ash. "I assume you were able to grab your morphers before HQ went down?" She questioned.
"Just barely, but yeah." Syd nodded in reply.
"Where's Supreme Commander Cruger?" Zee asked.
"I just heard from my mother, he was captured by the Cabal when Supreme HQ was hit." Kebechet growled as she put her shoulder back into place. "He's likely somewhere on this ship. So let's morph and find him." She told them.
"Roger that." Sky nodded as everyone morphed and continued onward.
(Elsewhere)
Back on Liramax, the now newly assumed Psycho Rangers were in the middle of fighting the former Truvian Regime for control of the prison transmat system, and right now–the former emperor and his companions weren't doing so well.
For one, all the Rangers were armed with weapons of their own while the former emperor and his allies were bare handed.
It was an uneven fight, but due to the fact that these men had conquered worlds, it was far from an unfair one.
"Foolish boy. You fail to realize that the loss of your attachments is what makes you strong. Just look at how powerful you are with your rage alone, you should be thanking me." Grum growled as he caught and held Vergil's chainsaw sword in a clash.
"Thank you for taking away the people that mattered to me?! Fuck you, you murderer!" Vergil yelled furiously. "Chainripper!" He roared as he caused his sword's chain to rev up and slice Grum's arms off–before he bisected him in half like a giant log.
"Emperor!" Ichthor exclaimed, only to be brought back into the fight by PJ and Arthur, who now held a trident-like glaive and a pair of gunchucks respectively.
"You're next!" Arthur cackled.
"Fat chance of you getting out of here!" PJ laughed as the two charged.
This then led to Arthur forcing the SPD traitor back, just enough for PJ to impale him through the back with his glaive, and then blast him, creating a giant hole in his stomach as he fell to the ground.
"Oh no…" Broodwing gulped, knowing exactly what was coming.
"Better watch where you're standing!" Laura yelled as she came flying in, wielding a giant hammer.
Broodwing quickly spun out of the way of the attack as it left a divet in the ground.
"Now I recognize you, you're the girl I was going to pay for getting me the money that I was owed. So, how's the charges been treating you?" He sneered.
"Bite me, fucker! You screwed me over!" The black clad girl snarled, swinging her hammer at him over and over, trying to cave in his skull.
The bat criminal kept dodging, trying to tire her out. However, after one dodge, he tripped over seemingly nothing and fell to the ground.
Then Nadia reappeared, wielding two fans.
"Need a hand?" She questioned as she performed a spin attack, which sent Broodwing crashing into a wall in a flurry of sparks, allowing Laura to bring her hammer down on his head, flattening it like a pancake.
"Stay dead if you know what's good for you." Laura spat at the dead body with a glare.
And lastly Bannag had been fighting Saddie, but the girl disappeared, and as he tried to find her–a sword that was the spitting image of the original Savage Saber ran him through the back–killing him within seconds as she reappeared.
"Well, that's it." She stated nonchalantly. "Now let's get outta here!" She yelled as she ran for the transmat.
"Damn right, let's go!" PJ exclaimed as everyone got into the transmat and were beamed to Earth.
(Elsewhere)
Back on earth, the SPD Rangers were now in the command ship's shield generators and were busy trying to destroy them.
"Damn it, where are some explosives when you need them?!" Bridge yelled as he stabbed a legionary in the head.
"We may not need them!" Sky called as he pulled out his Delta Blasters. "Delta Blasters!" He yelled as he fired on the turbines in rapid succession, causing everything to go down. "Alright! Shields down!" He laughed.
"Jack, come in! The command ship is ulnerable–call in the megazords!" Zee said, but got no response."Jack?!" She questioned.
"Kat, Boom, do you read?" Kebechet questioned, but getting nothing but static as they all ran outside, and saw that the Morphin Core was now surrounded by cables coming from the star shaped ship.
"Uh, I really don't want to be a debbie downer here, but how are we supposed to come back from this?" Syd questioned.
"You don't." A voice they didn't recognize told her, causing them to turn and see the Dominus himself walking into the deck, flanked by two elite Centurions. "Welcome to a world without the grid." He declared, causing them to look and see the star shaped ship project a barrier over the Morphin Grid Center.
Then the group gasped as their suits vanished, their connection to the grid cut off. They also felt a strong pain that brought them to their knees.
The larger Cabal made his way to them as Sky weakly looked up at him, causing the Dominus to growl.
"Do not look at me, creatures!" He barked as he kicked them clear across the deck. "You are weak! Undiscaplined! You cower behind walls!" He snarled. "You don't deserve the power you were given. You are not brave. You have merely forgotten the fear of death." He continued, leaning down to their levels. "Allow me to reacquaint you." He added.
"You're… Just… A… Thief…" Sky bit out in defiance.
"I am no thief. I am Dominus." The cabal retorted, backhanding him as the others rushed to him. "I am Ghaul. And your Power? Is mine." He added, pointing at the Morphin Core before he shoved them off his ship with his foot, causing them to fall down back to ground level.
It was going to be a painful landing…
(Elsewhere)
The Psycho Rangers staggered a bit when the transmat system sent them where they needed to be, and that place was… a room in a ruined building.
"What the–? What happened here?" Vergil blinked.
"It must've been the Cabal." Laura noted.
"You mean SPD was taken down by a bunch of aliens?" PJ questioned. "Alright! That means all their ground and resources are ripe for the picking!" He grinned.
"And we're still in danger, because we could be caught and killed." Saddie groaned.
"Thanks for the update, captain obvious." Nadia deadpanned.
As this was going on, Arthur was taking some popcorn and cooking it before grabbing it, a soda, and a chair before he pulled it to the outside window, and started watching the chaos and carnage unfold like it was his favorite movie.
"This is gonna be fun!" He laughed before Vergil slapped him on the head.
"No it isn't, Art. Especially if we're killed." He deadpanned.
"Party pooper! How can you not like this? Look at it!" The green haired teen said, gesturing as he watched the world burn. "It's glorious!" He added.
"Not all of us are chaos lovers, you dumbass." Laura huffed.
"Let's just get out of here while we can." Nadia interjected.
"You won't hear me arguing." Saddie nodded as they bolted.
(Timeskip)
Hours later, a storm poured rain over the decimated cities whilst the Red Legion searched for any survivors and taking prisoners, ship's sweeping the area.
As this was going on, Sky and the other rangers came to, their bodies roaring in pain at what just happened to them.
"Agh… Damn it…" The A Squad leader groaned, barely able to stand without pain hitting him.
"This is awful…" Syd groaned.
"This can't be happening." Bridge muttered, still in shock.
"Rangers." Kebechet groaned as she limped towards them. "The Red Legion have started to execute powerless rangers and cadets." She uttered, using her sheathed sword as a crutch. "We need to get out of here, regroup…" She added, limping towards the gap for them to escape through.
"We need medical treatment, too…" Bridge groaned as he limped after his superior.
(Timeskip)
Both the SPD and Psycho rangers traveled out of the city into the wilderness in different directions, doing their best to stay out of sight of the Red Legion.
The SPD group found a camp of cadets, but they had all been executed.
"These cadets never stood a chance." Zee muttered.
"That could be us." Syd nodded.
"The Cabal are monsters…" Sky sighed sadly as he picked up a rifle, as did the others.
"We can't access our powers, so we'll need to fight the best we can with what we have and be very careful." Their commander said, right as howls were heard in the distance.
Then a pack of red scaled alien hounds emerged from a nearby hill, barking and snarling at them.
"Oh great. War Beasts…" Syd groaned.
"Fire!" Sky yelled as they all started shooting.
(Elsewhere)
"All I'm saying is, now that we know that SPD has fallen and that the Rangers are powerless, we could basically start a settlement of people, and then use this situation to our advantage over them and SPD." PJ stated as they traveled together in a commandeered SPD jeep.
"Do you even know how to start a settlement?" Saddie questioned.
"Hey, the Irish mob ran plenty of them when the towers went down, and during all of the other Ranger related fiascos." The teen stated.
"I'm more concerned about my family, making sure they're okay." Laura said.
"Same." Nadia nodded.
"Mine ditched me." Saddie scoffed, looking out the window. "Never even had the decency to say why." She added.
"I'm sorry." The caramel skinned redhead said softly. "No one deserves that." She told her.
"Screw your sympathy, I don't need it." The Psycho Pink ranger muttered.
The car soon became quiet after that, the group deciding not to open up anymore old wounds.
(Timeskip)
Back with the SPD Rangers, they now reached an area called Twilight Gap, after having traveled on foot for a week straight.
Their wounds had healed, though it wasn't by much. They still felt pain every now and then, especially when they need to make a jump.
It was bitter cold too, so on top of being injured and unable to move very quickly due to their injuries, they were also cold and wet as well.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…" Syd groaned as she leaned on Zee for support.
"I know… I'm not sure how much more I can take, either…" Sky groaned in agreement, unable to stop the strain in his voice.
As if this wasn't bad enough, they now had to scale a mountain side as well, but as they did, Kebechet noticed a falcon watching them from a rock.
It was a normal looking Falcon, but it looked at them with something almost akin to sympathy or pity, cocking its head as it peeped at them.
"Who's falcon is that…?" She whispered to herself as the bird flew off.
"I think it wants us to follow it." Bridge noted, waving his hand in order to read its aura.
"I mean I've heard worse ideas." Sky shrugged as the group did so, following it through steep rock faces and pathways.
It wasn't easy in their current states, but they pulled it off.
Dropping off a ledge to the ground, they all collapsed in a heap from exhaustion, a lack of sufficient food, water and exposure.
It was then that another figure appeared.
"Damn, you guys are wiped." The figure remarked in a male tone.
"Jack?!" Zee gasped as she shot up. "Oh my god, you're okay!" She exclaimed as she hugged the man she considered a brother as a kid.
"I got out through the Delta Runner jump before HQ went down, glad to see you guys got out." Jack nodded, gesturing to the zord vehicles. "They've sustained enough damage that they can't become a megazord, but they should still work as transports." He told them.
"Okay, good. We could use a ride, honestly." Sky sighed as he headed to his own zord.
"What about you?" Zee asked.
"I got my own ride." The former red ranger said, pointing back at an SPD motorcycle.
(Timeskip)
A few hours later…
"Well, this is it." Jack said as he, the rangers, and the refugees got out of their vehicles. "This is the Samuels' family farm, their home away from home. We're laying low here until we can figure out what to do next." He explained.
The farm was modest, but well equipped. It had a house, several barns that were probably being used for vehicle storage and some wind turbines providing power to everything.
Then there were the people guarding the place…
"What in the name of…?" Kebechet uttered as she saw several people who she and the Rangers put away personally, and although their helmets were off–the rangers were able to immediately recognize their suits.
"Why are several delinquents wearing the Psycho Ranger suits?" Bridge questioned, narrowing his eyes.
"That's because they found pendants that gave them their powers, they fought their way out of Liramax when the Cabal invaded it and started executing prisoners, and now since SPD can't help, they're protecting us in exchange for letting them stay." Jack explained.
"That feels like a bad idea, given what they were guilty of…" Syd remarked.
"But we don't have much of a choice right now, sadly." Zee sighed as they reached the barn, where two familiar faces were.
Specifically Ally Samuels, now Ally Landors, Jack's friend, partner and then wife. And Isinia Cruger, wife of Anubis Cruger and Kebechet's mother.
"Mother!" The SPD's second Shadow Ranger exclaimed, rushing to and embracing her.
"Oh Puppy, I'm glad you're safe." The woman sighed.
"Not that I'm trying to sound like an ass here, but are you serious here?" Sky questioned Jack. "Psycho Rangers as protectors, do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" He questioned. "Especially given who they are. We got robbery, battery, assault, arrest, resisting arrest." He listed. "One of them is a collection agent for the mob, and two of them were in for serious time." He added.
"Look, they're the best at what they do, their powers aren't cut off because they draw on the Dark Grid, and you of all people should know that criminals can change." Jack stated, looking over at Zee who was running to one of their oldest friends, an alien by the name of Piggie.
"Yeah, but some don't." Bridge grunted.
"Some were probably innocent, too, so there's that." Syd commented.
"Well I'm not so optimistic." Sky stated. "We spend billions of dollars a year on defense, have–had the best and most advanced tech on several planets, and here we are. The fate of the world–the galaxy even, is in the hands of a bunch of juvie bound retards I wouldn't trust with a potato gun." He added, right as Jack saw that Vergil was right behind him.
"Oh really?" The Psycho Black Ranger hummed, spooking Sky slightly. "That's rich coming from someone who couldn't save my family when they needed SPD the most." He snarled.
"It was an invasion and we couldn't be everywhere at once!" The A Squad leader snapped.
"Tell that to my mother and sister!" The teen snarled, his mouth igniting before Jack got between them.
"Okay, let's all chill here." He said. "Look, we're all under a lot of stress, so let's just take a breath." He nodded before looking at the silver haired teen. "So, what's the verdict? You guy's willing to help beat Ghaul?" He asked.
"... Yeah, but we have some conditions that we discussed when we got here." Vergil grunted.
"Oh boy, here we go…" Kebechet groaned, facepalming.
(Elsewhere)
Back on Ghaul's ship, the Dominus was overlooking the cities he had conquered, the Morphin core in particular.
"Hmmm." He hummed. "Hear me, spirit of Zordon, will of the Grid. See all that I have done." He mused, looking at the sphere. "Grace me with your power, take your place at the center of my empire. And the Red Legion will be your true Rangers." He said, as if hoping that the spirit of the great Wizard and first Ranger would hear him.
It was then that the Consul entered.
He was an elderly Cabal adorned in red armor with a cape made of black scales, and had a necklace as well.
"Dominus, the planet is secure. Those that have fled are being hunted, and those who remain in the largest cities are being executed as we speak." He reported. "Victory, as in all things, is yours to claim." He added.
"This victory is just as much yours, as it is mine, old friend." Ghaul nodded.
"All that remains is the completion of the cage around this great machine. Then we can channel its power and put it to its rightful use." The Consul stated.
"The Morphing Grid. They refer to it as if it has a will of its own." The Dominus mused. "A will guided by the spirit of its first champion." He stated.
"I would contest that other civilizations are more precise in their naming." The Consul said. "Its functions can be contained and exploited, as we've so clearly proven." He added.
"Yet they believe it to be the extension of a god's hand." Ghaul hummed.
"Dominus." The old Cabal said. "Ghaul. We have spent our lives, you and I, to reforge our people. To rebuild an empire nearly destroyed by Calus's greed and corruption. There is nothing in this universe greater than you." He proclaimed, pointing at his apprentice. "The Red Legion will have this machine's power, you will be called emperor." He added. "What more would the Dominus have?" He asked.
"I would have words with our guest." Ghaul hummed as a mechanism lowered itself, revealing a bound Anubis Cruger, clearly worse for wear. "So you are the one who leads the Rangers…" He trailed off.
Dragon Emperor0: … Well, I haven't seen the first episode of a Power Rangers season get this dark since the first episode of RPM. I mean, I get it, the Terminator x Mad Max inspired season was bound to be dark, but damn did this bring back some depression from back during Destiny 2 Vanilla.
ThermalsniperN7: No kidding. It's a shame that it was called forever a few years later, so now the new lights will never experience it. But still, we can keep the Red Legion alive as the antagonists of this story.
Dragon Emperor0: Speaking of, this story has been on the back burner for little over a year now because while we were able to get the profiles of our rangers done rather easily, the concept of what this story would be eluded us. Thank god for nostalgia trips. Anyway, what originally inspired me to make this in the first place was the Original Power Rangers concept theme song listed at the top of the chapter, which is this story's theme song. And as for why we chose SPD, it's because it seemed to make the most sense.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, you'll be the brainiac behind this one, much like how I'm in the same role for Infinite Soul. Anyway, our protags are delinquents who got their hands on some Ranger Totems… well, they're mostly delinquents. One is a frame job victim, and one just wanted to protect her sister. Now, there is gonna be a Silver Psycho Ranger, but she won't join for a bit.
Dragon Emperor0: There's also the Psycho Emerald and Gold Ranger, but we haven't decided if we're even going to use them yet. Also, quick clarification so that no one asks in the reviews. The Dark Grid is the evil counterpart to the Morphin Grid that, if I remember right, was brought up in one of the comic runs–explaining how characters like Casey Jones, Lord Zed and various other 'evil' characters have gained ranger powers without having to abide by typical ranger rules. The Psycho Rangers are another example of individuals who draw on its power.
ThermalsniperN7: Not all of our protags are pricks, though, but that can come later. Anyway, see you guys next time.