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Twice Chosen

"Well… yeah, I guess that's the case here," I said, nodding in cautious response to Johanna's comment before I turned to look at Peeta and Glimmer. "Blue, Black, you deal with the introductions; Yellow, Pink, we… need to talk."

I didn't want to give the impression that there was any disagreement in the team about what was going on, but if we were about to bring one of the most notoriously violent Victors onto the team in Gale's place I wanted to be sure we weren't making a mistake. The fact that Zordon hadn't appeared at least suggested to me that Johanna hadn't been filled in on everything yet, but I wanted to be sure of the situation before I shared anything more with her. Having led Peeta and Glimmer to the door of the main meeting room, the three of us stepped outside and the door closed behind us.

"OK," I looked between my original District teammate and our team's Career, "first question; where's Rue?"

"Taking a break in our quarters," Glimmer indicated the door to the room in question. "We didn't want Johanna to meet anyone when we weren't wearing armour until she had your approval to join the team."

"…Thanks," I said, still surprised at these moments when the others were so open about wanting my approval before I focused on the more immediate matter. "OK, when we've all agreed that we can't let Gale keep the Green coin because of his issues, what exactly prompted you to choose Johanna Mason as a candidate?"

"Well," Peeta began, his whole manner reflecting a new sense of caution as he addressed me, "we… started out with the idea that we should focus on Victors to get someone who we knew could hold their own in a fight…"

"Sensible," I conceded.

"So," Glimmer took up the explanation, "from there we had to knock off some of the Victors who can't actually fight any more- seriously, Six's last few Victors are just constantly high these days- and then cross off some of the others if we basically felt that we couldn't work with them."

"Why?"

"Either they're too old and wouldn't take you seriously as a leader, or you just wouldn't like them," Glimmer said. "I mean, I think we can agree Cashmere and Gloss wouldn't really click with the team."

"Yeah…" I nodded, recalling the notorious brother-sister Victors from District One as I looked at Glimmer. "I mean… well, no offence-"

"I get it; Careers get a rep even before they become Victors and they're more often the pro-Cap guys after the fact," Glimmer nodded at me in understanding. "One reason we went for Johanna; she's not exactly vocal about it, but she's also never exactly been in favour with the Capitol."

"And that was before we spoke with her about all this…" Peeta said with a slight shrug. "I mean, we haven't explicitly told her why we want her to be the Green Ranger or where all our gear came from, but she knows that we're fighting the Capitol and only the Capitol."

"So she accepts that we're not going to go on a wild rampage against the innocent like what Gale's doing?"

"She actually said she wouldn't do that," Peeta smiled. "She commented that Snow already took away so many people she loved, and she wouldn't let herself put other people through that if they didn't deserve it."

"You're sure she meant that?"

"I… think so," Peeta conceded. "It's your call, of course… and obviously I just met her… but-"

"Then let's get on with it," I said, my mind made up. Turning back to the door, I walked resolutely back into the control room, Peeta and Glimmer just behind me. Johanna was standing in cautious silence on the other side of the room from Liv, Thresh, Tyzonn and Trey, as though none of them were sure what to say in this situation even if none of them outright objected to Johanna's presence.

"All good?" Johanna asked, looking curiously at me.

"…Yeah," I said, nodding in acknowledgement at the previous Victor. "OK, my… associates… have explained why they brought you here, but I need to ask what you know about this situation."

"I get that you've all got some freaky ideas about taking down the Capitol with your weird armour and giant robots," Johanna said, waving her hand at the ship around her. "I also get that the current Green guy's basically gone a bit kill-crazy and doesn't care about collateral damage?"

"And that is the main problem," Trey said with a pointed nod. "A Ranger should care about collateral damage; we are here to stop those who would seek the power of the Zeo Crystal, but that doesn't give us the right to forget that we're also here to protect the innocent."

"I can get behind that," Johanna said. The actual words were said in a fairly blunt manner, but there was a tentative smile on her face that made me think she was a bit more interested in that part of the argument than she would let herself say out loud.

"So," I looked at the District Seven Victor with a firm gaze, "can you confirm that you won't do what the current Green Ranger is doing if we gave you that chance?"

"Cutting to the heart of things, aren't you?" Johanna said, even as her slight smile suggested she wasn't that concerned about it.

"We have to be sure we're not just creating a new kind of problem," I said, pausing before I decided to get to the heart of the matter. "My colleague told me that you… that Snow took away your family; I'm… sorry about that-"

"Did you kill them?"

"No, of course not-"

"Then don't apologise," Johanna said, before she gave me a firm stare. "What I want to know right now is if you mean it when you say you'll give me a chance to hit that bastard back."

"Only if you promise that you will only attack known enemies," I responded, hoping I gave off the right sense of authority as I looked at the older girl. "We might not be able to keep everyone safe, but we won't deliberately attack those whose only crime is living in territory controlled by the Capitol."

"Don't hit them unless they hit me first?" Johanna said, a brief smile on her face. "Given what you guys can take in those suits, I can go with that."

"…What do you think?" I said, turning back to the seemingly blank wall behind me.

"I agree," Zordon said, the large head appearing in front of us. I couldn't stop myself smiling as Johanna jumped back in shock, but to her credit she soon calmed herself as she looked at the large face. "Johanna Mason?"

"That's… that's me," the District Seven Victor said, tensing herself up as she looked back at him. "So… who are you?"

"I am Zordon," Zordon responded, giving his equivalent of a nod. "I have guided the Rangers of Earth since they received their powers, and if you will adhere to the rules, we would all be proud to have you join their ranks."

"What rules?"

"Never use your powers for personal gain, never escalate a fight unless your enemy forces you to do so, and never reveal your identity to others."

"I can do that," Johanna nodded at Zordon, before turning back to look at me. "So does that mean-?"

In response, I adjusted my helmet to open my visor and reveal my face, the other Rangers following my example. To Johanna's credit, her only reaction to learning our true identities was a brief widening of her eyes, before she settled her gaze on me.

"So," she said with a slight smile, "you guys weren't just 'saved' by the Rangers, huh?"

"It seemed like a good way to tell everyone we were alive without breaking the rule about having secret identities," Peeta shrugged awkwardly at her.

"So where's the kid?"

"Rue?" Glimmer answered. "She's in another room; we only had five coins at first, and she wasn't a good fit to be Green, but we weren't going to kick her out because she was a tagalong."

"Makes sense," Johanna nodded at the Pink Ranger before indicating Trey and Tyzonn. "So who are they?"

"Rangers from another world here to help us transfer the Green coin from its current bearer to you," Zordon explained.

"Another world?" Johanna repeated, looking at the other two with a new sense of surprise. "So… you're aliens?"

In response, Trey reached up and removed his helmet, revealing his three distinct faces as he looked at Johanna.

"…Yeah, that's definitely not human," Johanna nodded, before she held up her hands defensively. "No offence meant; sure you're probably a perfectly nice guy… guys?"

"My faces have our own perspectives, but we consider ourselves a singular individual," Trey explained as he placed his helmet back on. "My own Ranger team consists of assorted races banded together to assist in protecting a new colony world intended to promote galactic peace."

"Sounds neat," Johanna gave an acknowledging nod. "I take it that's why you're not sticking around?"

"We're only here to supervise the use of the Sword of Light to facilitate the power transfer-" Tyzonn began, before an alarm began to blare throughout the base.

"And it's time for you all to act," Alpha said, indicating the central globe as it displayed the Dragon mounting another attack. "If you can take down the Dragon, that should overwhelm the Green Ranger's link to the coin long enough for you to use the Sword of Light."

"OK," Tyzonn nodded at the other Rangers as he tightened his hold on the Sword. "So you all take down the zord, and the new girl and I can take out the rogue."

"Just you?" Thresh looked at Tyzonn in surprise.

"If you're getting into a zord fight, Trey will provide a useful edge," Tyzonn said, sounding amused at his own words. "Trust me; this is the best way."

"Agreed," Zordon affirmed.

"You know?" Peeta looked at Zordon in surprise. "What Trey can… what they're talking about?"

"I have access to a range of intergalactic databases, which includes records on the zords possessed by the Rangers of Mirinoi," Zordon said. "Trust each other and you will prevail."

"You should probably wear these," Alpha put in, passing Johanna a green Ninjetti costume. "Whatever happens, we can't let anyone see you with the Rangers."

"OK," I smiled at the rest of the team, "Trey will join us taking on the Dragon; Johanna and Tyzonn can join us once she's changed."

"A fine plan," Zordon nodded, as Trey moved to join the rest of us as we gathered in the middle of the room. "Good luck, and may the Power protect you."

"Back to action?" Peeta looked at me as our helmets snapped closed once more.

"Let's go," I grinned, before I nodded at Zordon. "Send us out there."

When we arrived in the middle of the latest District under attack, the smile vanished from under my helmet as I saw Gale, watching with pride as the Dragonzord lashed out at the Academy I had only briefly glimpsed during my previous visit with Glimmer. Evidently his previous attack on District One had only been postponed rather than halted by our previous attack, although I wondered if he had been provoked by the revelation that Glimmer was one of the Rangers.

"That was quicker than I'd expected," Gale noted, his tone far colder than anything I'd heard from him before as he turned to face us, his gaze soon focusing on Glimmer. "I thought taking action against your home would draw attention…"

"What; so you can make it clear that you're against us?" Glimmer countered, her tone cool despite the tension in her shoulders. "Pretty sure you already did that when you kept fighting even after your friend asked you to stop."

"I don't listen to traitors-"

"The only traitor here is you," Trey stepped forward, raising his own weapon of a strange staff with a six-pointed symbol on its end. "You are defying the purpose and duties of a Ranger by attacking the innocent-"

"They are not innocent!" Gale yelled as he stepped towards us, only for Thresh to pull out his axe and hit him in the side of the head with the flat of the main weapon.

"There's always someone innocent," the Black Ranger said, moving to stand over my old friend with a harder tone to his voice. "If you can't see that, Gold's right; you're the problem."

"When I'm the only one who's willing to do what has to be done right now?" Gale countered as he got back to his feet, raising his dagger in a threatening manner. "You can't stop me from punishing these monsters!"

"You're really going to use that to attack us?" Liv looked at Gale in shock as the Dragon turned to face us. "Isn't that a bit… overkill?"

"If you're not going to help me-!"

"We're not going to help you hurt innocent people; that doesn't mean we're not going to help you stop the Capitol!" I cut Gale off, shifting into a defensive stance. "Stand down and let us take that coin before-!"

I was only just able to draw my sword before Gale lunged towards me, leaving me to parry the attack and knock Gale back before Thresh shifted the axe into its gun form and fired a blast that sent him flying. The Dragon let out a roar and continued to advance towards my team, prompting an urgent glance between us before we all nodded and sent the signal to Alpha to send in the zords.

"Trey?" I glanced over at our visitor as he looked at our approaching zords. "I don't mean to sound-"

"Never escalate a battle, remember?" Trey smiled at me. "Test what you can do and I'll step in once I'm sure you need me."

"Fair enough," Peeta said, before he looked back at me. "Let's go."

Decision made, I led the rest of my team in leaping towards our zords, settling into our cockpits as we turned our attention on the Dragon. Glimmer fired a few quick blasts from her zord to start the attack while Peeta, Liv and Thresh took up position surrounding the large green robot, leaving me to move the Tyrannosaurus zord to face my old friend.

"I don't want to do this, Green," I said, turning on the radio to address the other zord. "You still have a chance to-"

When the Dragon let out an enraged roar and swung its tail, destroying part of the Academy with an easy blow, I knew that there wasn't time to try and talk Gale down before more damage was done. Transmitting a signal to the others, I fired energy blasts from my zord's cannons before Liv and Thresh charged the Dragon from either side, sending it spinning before the Sabretooth Tiger pounced on its back. The Dragon crashed to the ground, allowing Peeta's zord to slash at its back while the other two zords moved over and began to stamp on its wings and tail. With Glimmer flying overhead, I allowed myself a moment to hope that we could pull this off, but then the Dragon's wings suddenly flexed and the other three zords were sent essentially flying off, each zord crashing into the battered buildings nearby. I was only just able to keep my own zord on its feet as the Dragon fired some kind of energy attack from its mouth, before a new attack from the Pterodactyl forced the green zord back.

"Rangers of Earth," Trey's voice said over the radio as the rest of my team got back to their feet. "I have confirmed that the Dragon and the Green Ranger are drawing power from an external source to further boost their own energies."

"In other words, a bit too powerful for us to take on with our usual resources?" Liv asked.

"Exactly," Trey affirmed, before another screen on my display activated, this one displaying the five zords and a sixth, larger form I didn't recognise. "It's time for me to step in."

"Step in?" I asked, before the radio shifted and Trey's voice echoed around the area.

"Green Ranger of Earth!" the alien Gold Ranger declared, somehow standing in front of me and staring up at the robotic Dragon. "I give you this final chance to stand down, before things get very unpleasant for you."

"These people deserve to die-!" Gale began.

"Maybe they're guilty of doing nothing, but you don't have the right to make that kind of decision about an entire country!" I cut in, a part of me still wanting to give Gale the chance to stand down and be the friend he had been for so many years. "We're not asking you to stop fighting them, we're asking you to focus on-"

"They did nothing for decades; they deserve this!" Gale yelled, the Dragon letting out a roar as though it was supporting its master's rage.

"Then you deserve this," Trey replied, his tone resigned but firm as he raised his strange staff. "I call upon the power of Pyramidas!"

With that command, a golden beam emerged from his staff and burst into the sky, which suddenly became filled with dark clouds before an even darker form descended from the clouds to touch the ground. This new form seemed to be as wide as the Academy behind it, but the blackness covering it swiftly seemed to 'fall' away, revealing a large golden pyramid that made me think of a cornucopia design that had been featured in a few desert-themed arenas in past Games.

"Wow…" Peeta said over the radio, echoing my own thoughts as Trey leapt from the ground towards the pyramid.

"Do you think that is going to stop me?" Gale yelled, the Dragon apparently deciding to ignore us as it turned to face the new zord. "I'll trash that pyramid like these animals!"

"Maybe your master's power boost could let you pull that off, but I doubt he gave you the power to compensate for this," Trey countered, as the display screen I'd noted earlier lit up, this time showing our zords and Trey's initiating a new combination. "Rangers of Earth, prepare for Pyramidas Ultrazord sequence!"

"Ultrazord?" Liv repeated, even if her tone failed to hide her eager grin at the term.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Thresh grinned as the five zords rapidly moved towards Pyramidas, which had extended a long platform out of its lower half as a couple of panels seemed to open up on the point at the top. The Mastodon and Triceratops zords settled into position at the front of the extended portion of Pyramidas while I found my own zord taking up a position just behind them, the upper body bent over and extending out between the other two zords with the cannons sticking out of my shoulders. The Sabretooth Tiger was squatting behind me, essentially lying on my zord's tail with its front legs reaching up towards my cannons, while the Pterodactyl perched on the top of the pyramid with the weapons pointing forwards.

"Do you think that's going to change anything?" Gale said, as the Dragon roared at us once again. "You couldn't beat me alone-!"

"But now we channel the power of Pyramidas through all five of these other zords," Trey affirmed, as I saw my zord's energy levels being boosted further. "That's what makes a team of Rangers so powerful, Green; when we come together, we can more than equal any challenge."

"And you drove us to this," I said, still refusing to let myself say Gale's name over the radio as I reached over to activate the weapons. "Everyone, lock on and fire everything!"

I couldn't let myself feel satisfaction as I watched Gale's zord being bombarded by energy blasts from our own weapons, the gold-charged energies sending the Dragon staggering as its armour cracked. Finally, the barrage drove the zord to the ground, sparking off a series of small explosions as the Dragon's eyes dimmed.

"NO!" Gale yelled in outrage.

"He's weakened now," Trey said over the radio. "I'll call Tyzonn and your friend; the rest of you go for it!"

"On it," I said, jumping from the zord cockpit to hit the ground in front of Gale, the rest of my team falling into position alongside me.

"How could you-?" Gale glared at me.

"You're the one who started hurting people," I countered firmly. "We gave you a chance to stop-"

"They all have to pay-!"

"And the right people will pay," Peeta said, stepping forward to hold out a hand to Gale in a gesture that I wished I could believe would be reciprocated. "If you help us stop the Capitol without hurting the innocent-"

"None of them are innocent!" Gale yelled, diving towards me in outrage, only to be deflected away when I drew my sword and forced him back. The rest of the team drew their own weapons and moved to attack Gale, Glimmer and Thresh firing a couple of blasts from their weapons before Peeta and Liv moved in to deliver their own blows. I was just wondering if I should attempt some other move when two new figures arrived on the scene, the one in blue armour holding a golden sword while the figure in green cloth stood slightly back. Gale just had time to turn around before the Sword of Light was suddenly rammed through his body, prompting a shocked yell from my old hunting partner as he stared at the blade in his chest. I was briefly horrified at the idea that I was about to witness Gale's death, before I realised that the sword had basically passed through his body without actually damaging the armour or with any sign of blood on the protruding blade.

"Huh," Liv said with a smile as she looked at the impalement before turning to Tyzonn. "I guess that's why it's the Sword of Light?"

"Quite," Tyzonn said with a nod, even as his helmet continued to stare in Gale's direction. "When required, the Sword of Light is an intangible weapon, allowing me to draw the power from the target into the Sword without causing them physical harm."

"Nice," Thresh said, glancing around the battlefield at the currently still zords before he looked back at Tyzonn and Trey. "So shall we finish this back at the base?"

In response, Trey raised his staff, and the zords, including the Dragon and Pyramidas, all flew off into the open air and vanished, before I felt the teleportation energies envelop us once again.