Sometimes, I think about how endless the war between good and evil is. Uncle Adam says that the balance between both sides is important to maintain. When does it end? When would I be allowed to be done with it? Can I ever be done?

- An Excerpt from the Diary of Tobias Cook, found in the debris.

10/24/23

Obi crossed his arms and sat down on top of a picnic table, the moon shining on a cloudless night. Due to this, brilliant moonbeams stained the empty playground Obi sat near. He was wearing a red sweater, with the hoodie pulled over his head.

"Obi," A calm voice called out of the darkness.

Obi looked up to acknowledge the voice's owner. He was much taller than Obi, standing at about 6'2 with a wider, stronger frame. He had dirty blonde hair and stormy, dark eyes. He wore a blue windbreaker and black sweatpants.

"Hey, Finn." Obi replied with a soft voice.

"We're glad you're okay," Finn, the Blue Crystal Ranger, told his friend as he patted him on the shoulder. Finn then took a seat at the bench part of the table. "Any idea who sent it?"

Obi shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

A moment, later more three more people arrived at the Picnic table.

Finn casually waved his hand, "Hey, guys. Lance couldn't make it?"

"He's off world," The only boy of the three said. "We're not enough for you?" He joked with a grin.

This boy was slightly shorter than Finn and his skin was much tanner. He had a thinner, more lean frame which complimented his devilish smile. His brown eyes, while warm, carried a sense of unbridled confidence. He was the Yellow Ranger, Santiago, or 'Santi' for short.

One of the girls was a girl with sharp eyes, long black hair, and delicately light skin. She wore a green sweater, black sweatpants, and sneakers. Her name was Sasha, the Green Ranger.

She announced, "Obi's not the only one who was attacked."

"What do you mean?" Obi asked, perking up.

"A monster attacked another Ranger. When it was killed, it turned into stardust."

"Who?"

The second girl, Kaya the Pink Ranger, stated with almost a whisper, "Troy Burrows, the Red Megaforce Ranger." Kaya's short, strawberry blonde hair that was tied in a pony tail. Her complexion, like copper, helped her bright green eyes stand out to anyone who looked her way.

"Is he okay?" Finn asked with worry.

"He's okay," Kaya nodded, "His teammates weren't that far away from him."

The trio took their seats at the picnic table. It had been a few months since they had all been together as a team, yet their conversations flowed effortlessly as if no time had passed.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Troy and Obi are both Red Rangers?" Santi pitched, his left hand massaging his chin as he focused.

Sasha replied, "It could be possible. I mean, it could be tied to Red Energy?"

Obi looked up and said, "But if it had something to do with the Red Spectrum of the Grid, we'd be hearing about more Red Rangers getting attacked."

"True."

The five sat in silence for a few moments, pushing for a mental breakthrough.

"I got nothing," Santi admitted in defeat. It didn't take too long for the rest of the team to go along with him.

"There's gotta be a link that we're missing," Obi stated as the five walked away from the playground.

"Whatever it is," Finn replied, "We gotta find it soon."

Hushed agreements fell across the group when Obi suddenly felt an energetic pulse - like a heavy heartbeat that wasn't his own. It was the Grid.

"Obi?" Sasha asked, getting closer to him. "You okay?"

A pit found its way into Obi's stomach. His hairs began to stand on end.

"Something's coming."

As if on cue, about 30 feet away, a tear in the fabric of space-time appeared a few meters off the ground. A figure crawled out of it and landed on its feet. It was slender and feminine. It had scaly armor and its eyes glowed a bright yellow.

"I know her…" Kaya's eyes widened, "From the archives. That's Trakeena!"

"Crap…" Santi whispered, standing up.

"I don't recognize you," Trakeena pointed out. She summoned her staff and glared with intent. "But I do know Rangers when I see them."

Obi took charge and materialized his Morpher. "Then you know what happens next. You guys ready?"

"Ready!"

"Vortex Power Crystalize!" In a flurry of light and energy, the Crystal Ranger suits formed on their hosts from the ground up before finally flashing on their helmets.

"Let's take her down." Obi commanded, summoning his weapons. The five charged forth as Trakeena matched them. Obi and Kaya clashed with Trakeena first, sparks flying off of their weapons with each strike. Santi jumped and stepped off of Obi's shoulders and went high into the air. He fired down upon his enemy with rounds from his blaster while Finn and Sasha came around the side. There was an opening in Trakeena's defenses, and the two slashed her from both sides, making her grunt in pain. The energy rounds kept coming and continuously hit their mark. Kaya kicked Trakeena in the stomach, which left an opening for Obi to front flip over his friend and slash downwards as he landed, striking the revived villain with a solid blow.

Trakeena grunted in frustration. "Not bad, Rangers." She glowed with a sickly green color and transformed into her more insect form. "How about this?" She ran at the Rangers with speed and ferocity, striking them over and over. Within moments, the Rangers were all sprawled out on the ground.

"She's a fast one." Finn muttered as the five stood in a circle facing outwards.

"Not as fast as me," Sasha quipped. She focused her Ranger energy into her legs. Within a second, she sped off as a bright green blur. To her teammates, Sasha and Trakeena moved as speeding blurs, striking anywhere and everywhere around them.

"Let Sasha score us an opening," Obi instructed his team. "Get ready."

"Right!" The others replied. While Sasha clashed with Trakeena, her team combined their swords with their blasters. Grinning under her helmet, Sasha managed to get behind Trakeena and strike her back, stunning her.

She jumped away from her enemy as Obi gave the order to attack. They fired from their weapons, vaporizing their target on the spot. With a howl of pain, Trakeena burst into stardust…

The Rangers sighed and demorphed together. Each shared a glance that mixed confusion with concern. Whatever was going on was definitely about to get worse.

Please let me know your thoughts! I'd love to read them.

New Face Castings:

Finn Shepherd, Crystal Blue - Jacob Elordi

Kaya Golding, Crystal Pink - Isabella Crovetti

Santiago Aguilar, Crystal Yellow - Michael Ronda

Sasha Spier - Zendaya