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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Final Mix
Episode Nine: Double the Pink (Part Two)
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Rita Repulsa]
Rita was in awe.
Zordon's Black and Pink Rangers were on the left and right side respectfully of the body of her Green Ranger, all three of them in a deep sleep. She didn't know how it could have happened but Knasty Knight, Swan Song, and Death Rose were able to do it.
"I cannot believe you three were able to succeed in your task!" Rita exclaimed as she stared at the three monsters with pride.
"It was all due to my plan, Lady Rita," Swan Song boasted as Death Rose nodded in agreement, which caused Knasty Knight to shake his head in annoyance.
"How pathetic," Knasty Knight muttered before holding his side in pain. "He may have planned it but it nearly failed. It was the combination of Death Rose and I that made it succeed, Lady Rita," The knight stated as he leaned against the wall that was behind him.
"All the same, I thank all of you for your hard work. Because of your determination, we have two rangers and possibly the key to awakening our warrior," Rita said, her tone showing pride in the monsters before her.
Rita turned to Goldar with an excited grin on her face and said, "Do you have them?"
Goldar held out his right fist and opened his palm to reveal the mastodon and pterodactyl coins. "The power coins," Goldar said with a grin.
Rita grasped the coins, letting her hand linger in Goldar's for a moment, and then said, "Thank you, Goldar."
Rita stared at Goldar's red eyes and for a moment, she saw his gaze soften. "You are welcome, Lady Rita," Goldar responded. "Are you ready for this?"
"I am ready Goldar…For this is the day we truly defeat that pesky wizard and his pathetic team," Rita responded. She turned away from Goldar, grabbed her scepter, placed the two coins against the ruby, and said, "Let us hope this works."
Rita held her scepter into the air and shouted, "For 10,000 years after the great war, you have laid dormant within the cold glaciers of the North Pole. But now I, Empress Rita Repulsa have freed you from your prison. Now Barza, Holder of the Dragon Ranger powers, awaken!"
The ruby within her scepter shined hotter than the brightest sun, causing the five monsters with her to shield their eyes from the fierce light of the ruby and the coins.
Ruby lightning shot out from the ruby and collided with the power coins, causing black and pink lightning to swirl around the red bolt of lightning before the three bolts slammed into the golden armored chest of the ranger on the table.
The entire body began to hum as wisps of crimson, pink, and black energy flowed from the aura around the body but then it faded away.
The four around the table waited with bated breath in wonder but after several seconds, the ranger didn't move, nor did the ranger take a breath.
Rita sat down her scepter, looked to Finster, and commanded, "Check if he has a pulse."
Finster nodded and started to make his way towards the body.
[Location: Earth (Ten Thousand Years Ago)
POV: Dragon Ranger Barza]
With his Dragon Dagger at his lips, Dragon Ranger Barza played a gentle but sad tune on it, his face morphed into a calm expression as he stood on the edge of the mountain as the sun began to set.
His snow-white hair and the two bangs swayed to the left as a gentle breeze swept across his pale sky-blue body.
The breeze also caused the black cloak that was around his body to gently float behind him, revealing his green chest armor that had gold accents within it, tracing the shape of the dragon's claw that was held in the middle of the armor.
The male was also wearing a white skintight shirt beneath the armor and white baggy pants that had green and gold metal on the sides of the pants which had a green and gold belt with a holster around his waist and finally, a pair of green metal boots with gold accents on the boots.
This was it.
He could see the end of the war between Lady Rita and his father coming and he was all but ready for it.
He was so tired of fighting and the countless lives lost between both sides but he knew that more would come before it would all end….
But when it was over, he would have gotten his vengeance on his brother/former teammate, Aura Red, as well as his former leader, the mentor of the Aura Rangers, Zordon himself.
The male continued to play his flute as these thoughts flowed into his head but then he heard a twig snapping behind him.
Immediately, Braza twisted his body as he switched his grip on his Dragon Dagger, ready for a battle. However, he lowered his guard when saw a pale-skinned woman with a leather red, and black corset with a golden breast plate over the corset.
She also had her left arm and both legs hidden in golden armor and finally, there was a black metal helmet on her head which had a golden scorpion etched around it, the stinger of the golden scorpion going down her face.
"Lamie…Don't you ever announce yourself?" Barza sighed.
The warrior, now known as Lamie, rolled her eyes, walked toward Barza, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well, I wouldn't be here if you hadn't disappeared. Lady Rita and Goldar were requesting your presence. I offered to find you. What are you doing out of camp, Barza?" Lamie sternly asked.
Barza turned his head and looked at the sun setting, his piercing icy blue eyes narrowed as he replied, "I needed to think."
"What are you thinking about?" Lamie asked him while taking a step closer to him.
Barza shook his head as he continued to gaze out at the sun. "It's nothing," he sighed.
Lamie shook her head and slightly nudged him forward. "We both know that is not true Barza…You have been distant quite distant with our men….With me…" Lamie responded.
Barza turned around and gently took her right hand into his own. "I am sorry for being so distant with you Lamie…" Barza apologized. "I've just been thinking about what we'll do once Zordon and his forces lose this battle… I didn't mean to keep you at arm's length. Forgive me?"
Lamie didn't respond with words but instead, she fell against him and pressed a small kiss upon his lips, which he returned with a small smile on his lips where she then said, "Yeah…I forgive you but if you keep wandering off like this, I'm not going to be so nice next time."
Barza let a small grin form on his lips as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Perish the thought," Barza said as the two walked away, with Lamie leaning on Barza's left shoulder with a small smile.
[Location: Command Center (Ten Thousand Years Ago)
POV: Dragon Ranger Barza ]
The final battle between Zordon, the Aura Red Ranger, and Rita's forces was a tough one.
Many sacrifices were made but in the end, Rita's top commanders in Lamie and Barza, along with a myriad of putties, had finally broken off inside of Zordon's base, preparing to capture Aura Red.
After a brief kiss of hidden promises, Lamie changed into her monster form known as Scorpina and Barza morphed into the Dragon Ranger, and together, the two warriors led a group of putties into the large building.
But instead of the final ranger, the two found themselves locked onto a different figure.
The figure was a cyan-colored ranger.
The suit had metallic gold boots and gold armor sleeves that were attached to the gold gauntlets that were around his wrists that also had white gloves beneath them and a golden belt.
On the ranger's chest was a gold and white breastplate with a large "Z" in the middle of the armor. The armor also had a white and gold armored shoulder pad on the right side of the armor and a flowing cyan blue cape was attached to the armor but inside the cape was gold as well.
Finally, His helmet was cyan-colored with a thin "V" shaped gold-colored visor with intricate gold and white armor around the visor that bulged out from the armor along with smaller gold visor spikes beneath the larger visor.
"You've arrived," The figure softly said as he turned to face Scorpina and the Dragon Ranger. The Ranger let out a faint sigh and said, "I hoped that Rita and Goldar would be the ones to face me. But for them to send my son and his beloved…It's a tragedy."
"You gave up the right of being my father when you gave Galon the powers of Aura Red instead of me," The Dragon Ranger hissed out as he summoned the Sword of Darkness and his Dragoon Dagger. "We end this once and for all, Zordon!"
"Very well…" The ranger replied with remorse as cyan-colored lightning began to build in his hands. "Then Lamie of Planet Scorpia. Barza, Disgraced Prince of Planet Eltar... Come and face your better."
"Putties! Attack!" Scorpina shouted, causing the putties to run towards Zordon but the ranger merely lifted his hands, and with a snap of his finger, a brief burst of cyan-colored light rippled through the room and all of the putties changed into dust.
"You must do better than that," Zordon told the pair. Dragon Ranger growled and launched himself at Zordon as he swung the Sword of Darkness but Zordon caught the blade with his left hand and held his right hand to the Dragon Ranger's armored chest.
"Your rage is what caused me to gift Galon the power of the Aura Red Ranger. The very same rage that allowed me to do this." With those words, Zordon blasted Dragon Ranger backward through the Command Center's wall and outside into the desert.
"Why you!" Scorpina screamed as she lunged her weapon at Zordon but like the Dragon Ranger, he caught her blade and easily blasted her out of the Command Center as well, sending her skidding to a stop beside him.
Scorpina looked up and saw the ranger step out of the hole and remain standing, his cape flowing in the breeze.
Scorpina hissed as she stood alongside the Dragon Ranger and with a nod, the pair dashed towards Zordon and began a fierce battle with the strong wizard but no matter what they threw at him, he was easily able to avoid or counter them.
Finally, Zordon ducked a roundhouse kick from Scorpina and launched her away with his Cyan lightning to the chest, which sent her soaring backward away from the pair. She rolled to the ground and lost her monster form, putting her back in her Lamie form.
She whimpered in pain as lightning streaked across her body
"Lamie!" Dragon Ranger exclaimed and with rage-filled eyes, Dragon Ranger entered a brutal exchange with his father. He was suddenly blasted into the air by cyan-colored lightning. Dragon Ranger screamed in agony as green and gold sparks flew from his body.
He felt the lightning redirect him to the ground, causing a large explosion of the green flash, followed by fire.
"Barza!" Barza heard Scorpina scream as he demorphed.
Barza twisted his body and watched as Zordon removed his ranger helmet and sat it on the ground. "I never wanted this," Zordon solemnly said as he slowly advanced.
Barza crawled backward away from the wizard, his clothes ripped and torn and the green armor on his chest that went to his shoulders was cracked and broken and there was blood flowing down his forehead.
Once he gained some distance, Barza stood on his shaky feet and let a brief streak of green lightning form through the space of his fingers.
Unfortunately, Zordon was quicker as launched a powerful burst of lightning toward him.
"Barza, look out!"
Barza had to watch in horror as Scorpina jumped in between him and the attack. With a burst of bright light, a large explosion rocked the area, causing him to fly away from the force of the explosion, and where his body skidded across the ground until it rolled to a stop.
Barza lifted his head with some difficulty to look at where Scorpina was but to his horror, he saw Lamie, out of her monster form, the armor around her left arm and right leg completely gone, revealing her bleeding legs as well as her helmet being completely gone, revealing her long dark violet hair.
She wasn't breathing.
"L-Lamie…" Barza murmured in shock as he looked at her still form with dread forming in his gut which then turned into pure horror as her body changed into golden sand, still in the shape of the warrior before the harsh winds began to blow to sand away.
"Lamie!"
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Rita Repulsa]
Finster was seconds away from placing his fingers against the neck of the Dragon Ranger before a flash of green and gold lightning shot from the coin of the ranger, which caused Finster to flinch in surprise.
"La…" A rough voice growled out as more bolts of gold and green lightning streaked from the coin of the Dragon Ranger.
Goldar instantly pushed Rita back and withdrew his blade while Death Rose and Swan Song grabbed the bodies of the unconscious rangers as the lightning became more frequent and violent.
"Lamie…" The rough voice yelled as the Dragon Ranger's body lurched off the steel table beneath him, his body glowing violently.
"Lamie!" The voice roared as the streaks of lightning then formed into a giant orb of green energy with flickers of gold lightning around the orb but the monsters and Rita herself could see the visor of the Dragon Ranger glowing a bright white within the orb.
Rita and her loyal monsters could hear the furious roar of the ranger within the orb as it began to float into the air, the gold bolts of lightning now shooting out from the orb and colliding with anything around it.
"We need to stop this before it gets worse, Lady Rita!" Goldar exclaimed as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as a bolt of lightning streaked closer to them.
"You're right, take him down!" Rita shouted as she gripped the armor of her protector.
Goldar held his blade up and placed his index and middle finger against the top of the blade while he placed his thumb against the bottom of it. Slowly, Goldar slid the three fingers up the blade, causing blood-red energy to appear on the blade before it shined brightly.
Goldar lifted the blade into the air, gripped the blade with both hands and then swung his blade in a downward arc. Blood-red energy left his blade in a crescent shape slammed against the green energy orb, and slid it in half, instantly calming the powerful storm that was raging.
The energy orb exploded out of existence, leaving the Dragon Ranger to hover in the air. The ranger demorphed into the heavily wounded Barza, who instantly fell to the ground, all while the Morpher with the dragon coin within it fell at Goldar's feet.
"Finster…" Rita started slowly with a worried gaze.
Finster immediately rushed to Barza's side and kneeled to feel for a pulse. "He is barely alive. However, he is extremely wounded, not only from Goldar's attacks but possibly from his battle 10,000 years ago," The monster told everyone in the room.
Goldar sheathed his blade and said "Good. Take him to the healing chambers now. " Finster nodded and lifted the warrior and quickly shuffled out of the room, leaving the five alone in the room.
Goldar kneeled and grabbed the golden Morpher of Dragon Ranger. He held out the Morpher to Rita, who grasped it. "Lady Rita, we no longer need to get the clone dragon coin from Loriyan's corpse at the temple," Goldar said as he stood.
Rita smiled.
"Yes…But, we can still make due to getting the clone coin, while also creating clones for these two Power Coins," Rita said.
"You expect us to lose these coins?" Goldar asked.
"I count on it," Rita smirked. "Zordon is nothing, if not predictable. We can sabotage the coins with some of Death Rose's power."
"Sleeper agents," Goldar realized.
"But, that is for later," Rita said as she held the coins out to Finster, "Clone these coins and bring them back to me. I will need them to enact my plan."
Finster nodded and walked away.
"Now, that we have the true coin, we must find the perfect warrior to wield it until Barza returns," Rita said.
"But the question is who? None of our soldiers can wield the full power of the coin. It would shred them apart," Goldar stated.
"Lady Rita, Commander Goldar," Death Rose interrupted with a step forward, causing the two to glance at her. "What shall we do with these two rangers?" Death Rose asked as she motioned to the two unconscious rangers, each of them now being held by putties.
Rita opened her mouth to answer the monster until an idea struck her. "Wait…Sit them on those tables, I have an idea," Rita ordered with a grin on her face.
The putties placed the two rangers on the tables. Rita walked toward Zack's head, placed her palms on the side of his temples, and said, "We may not have an idea about who shall wield the coin…But these two rangers just might."
[Location: Command Center
POV: Katherine Hillard]
With a gasp, Katherine's body lurched up from the rather cold steel table beneath her, her breathing coming out rough and heavy.
Her mind was racing from the dream that she just had but then she realized something.
It wasn't a dream.
That had all happened.
Kimberly and Zack were the Pink and Black Rangers respectively and they were both captured by that night that had fought them.
"Where am I now?" Katherine asked as she looked around.
This place looked like a high-tech medical room that wouldn't look out of place in Star Wars. It was at this time she noticed a large tank with strange aqua-colored liquid that was within the pod but the person that was in the pod shocked her.
"Billy…" Katherine whispered in horror. Katherine quickly got up from the table, limped towards the tube, and banged on the glass tube as she shouted his name in worry.
"Billy! Hold on Billy, I'll get you out of there!" Katherine exclaimed as she quickly looked around to see if there was any blunt object that could break the glass but when she didn't find one, she merely gritted her teeth.
Katherine took two steps backward, lifted her right leg, and aimed a hard kick against the glass.
The glass didn't budge.
She, however, immediately buckled and fell backward on the table behind her.
"Damn it," Katherine hissed out.
"Are you done kicking at the healing pod?" a familiar voice asked. Katherine turned her head to see Trini watching on with a strained but amused look on her face.
Katherine pushed herself up onto the table and said, "Well…It seemed good at the time, considering the circumstances."
Trini nodded and replied, "I know but you seem to have bounced back somewhat."
Katherine laughed at this but the laugh sounded hollow as she slowly shook her head. "I…I didn't bounce back," Katherine said. "If anything, I just don't know how to cope with everything that's happened. Zack and Kimberly are rangers and they both were captured and I couldn't do anything to save them."
"That is true but you are alive and we will save them," Trini responded.
Katherine could see that Trini was trying to calm her down but somehow, the last few words Trini said to her angered her.
"Save them?" Katherine asked while her eyes shined with anger. "You all could have saved them! You are all Power Rangers. You could have transported us here or you guys should have been able to save us before Kimberly and Zack were taken. Where the hell were you guys anyways when we needed you?!"
Trini seemed slightly surprised by this outburst but Katherine could see Trini restrain any word that wanted to come from her mouth. Instead, Trini said, "At least I know you're smart enough to put together the pieces…."
Katherine frowned.
"Look, we tried to get to you guys and either get you out or get us there but something was jamming our systems. The closest we could get was to that hair salon that had a cop car in it," Trini said. "I know that doesn't make up for your anger, but that's the truth."
Katherine wanted to be angry or blame someone for what had happened but she couldn't. They got there as quickly as possible and even just looking at Trini, she could see that the ranger was wounded as well.
"I'm sorry…I just…" Katherine started but Trini lifted her hand to stop her.
"I get it. You're frustrated, shocked, and angry about what's going on. I tend to get like that too sometimes but no worries," Trini told her, which made Katherine feel slightly better about her outburst. "Now sit tight, I want to get you bandaged up before you meet Zordon."
Katherine blinked in confusion.
"Zordon?" Katherine questioned.
"Who is Zordon?"
Katherine could see the small smile appear on her lips but the Australian teen realized that the ranger had not answered her. Instead, she watched as Trini walked over to her and grabbed some medical wrap from a pantry as she said "He's the one that gave us our powers as Power Rangers."
"It must be exciting huh? Fighting these monsters…Saving the world," Katherine said as she hid another wince that wanted to leave her mouth.
"You would think so and sometimes, it is but…It would be easier if there were more rangers other than the five of us. I mean, how many monsters have we taken down? Several and yet more keeps coming…Despite our suites giving us damn near superhuman abilities, we are still human…" Trini stated but Katherine couldn't help but hide a smile.
'My parents would love to hear that then…' Katherine thought to herself. Her parents would already freak due to her knowing the Power Rangers and they would have heart attacks if they knew she was right in their base with them and who knows what could occur.
But then her happy thoughts quickly changed into thoughts of guilt.
Her mind shouldn't be on her parents and their jobs in creating rangers right now. Not when Zack and Kimberly were in the hands of the enemy.
Just then, Jason came walking into the room, with his right arm hugging his mid-section, and said, "Trini…Katherine…Get Billy out of the pod…Zordon needs to talk to us."
[Location: Twilight Valley (Memories of Kimberly Ann Hart)
POV: Kimberly Ann Hart]
"God, this place is such a jewel!"
Kimberly looked at her mom and felt herself frown at the woman's cooing of this place. Since her parents divorced, her mom had been filling the time by going to the best shopping malls in America and her mother had decided to drag her along for the ride.
And as much as Kimberly loved shopping and her mom, she loved shopping in Angel Grove, not in these strange cities…Not without her friends.
But at least this was their last stop.
"The wonderful harbor city, Twilight Valley…" Kimberly muttered to herself as her car whizzed by the large green sign welcoming them to the city.
"I have to tell you, Kimberly, this is surely going to be great!" Her mother exclaimed in excitement while Kimberly placed her head against the cool window beside her.
After stopping off at their hotel, the two Hart women soon found themselves in one of the largest malls in America known as "Twilight Spree Mall."
The moment they walked into the giant mall, Kimberly's mom said, "Alright, you look around, I'll be gone for a few hours. We'll meet up at the food court! See you later sweetheart!"
Kimberly barely opened her mouth when her mother immediately abandoned her at top speed, which caused Kimberly to lower her gaze to the ground with a sigh.
'No matter…I'll just make the best of it,' Kimberly thought to herself as she attempted to perk herself up to find a store to check out in this huge mall.
It was when she looked to her left where she saw a store on the second floor of the mall that caught her interest.
"The Pink Dragon…Sounds like my type of store," Kimberly chirped in excitement before she walked up the large stairs that were to her left before rushing through the large entrance but the moment she did, she slammed into another female, which sent them both to the ground.
"Oh my," Kimberly muttered with a small groan but the other woman could only groan in front of her.
Kimberly quickly crawled to the teenager in front of her and asked "Are you ok?" The female uncovered her face and shook her head briefly.
"That seems to be my luck honestly…I'm always slamming into people," The teenager muttered before she looked up to Kimberly and said "I'm alright. That's what I get for running at top speed out of the store."
Kimberly sighed in relief and stood up before she offered the female her hand, which the female gladly accepted as Kimberly said "I know I need to learn the lesson of not running into a store when someone is running out of it."
The female laughed a bit and dusted off her pink button-down shirt before she added "Well, we learned something new today."
Kimberly laughed as well and took a good look at the girl.
The girl was Korean-American with her ebony-colored hair in two ponytails while on her body was a button-down pink shirt with a pair of black slacks and some dress shoes.
"We sure did. Sorry for bumping into you…" Kimberly paused, not sure of the teenager's name.
The girl laughed and said, "Cassie Chan's the name, super shopping is my game. And you are?"
"I'm Kimberly Ann Hart. The top super shopper of Angel Grove," Kimberly introduced herself before she and Cassie shook hands with a smile.
"Angel Grove eh? One of the best malls in the nation. Total respect for that place. So that means you're from out of town then, yes?" Cassie asked once the handshake ended.
Kimberly nodded and answered, "Yeah. I'm here with my mom but she kinda abandoned me the moment we stepped foot in here. So it's just me, myself, and I up until now."
Kimberly could feel the hint of somberness at her words but quickly shook them off and turned to the Pink Dragon and asked "So, any good sales in there?"
Cassie snorted and thumbed the store and answered with "Nothing but old antiques that are pink. No clothes. All tacky. It sucks too because it looks so awesome on the outside."
Kimberly looked bummed by this news and said "No wonder you don't have any bags in your hands."
Cassie nodded and let a pout appear on her face as she replied, "Yeah. Well, no matter. There are dozens of awesome clothes shops here. Not to mention a banging food court." Cassie then swung an arm around Kimberly's shoulder and said "Stick with me Kimberly and I'll show you the best mall in all of the US of A!"
Kimberly grinned at this and responded, "You had at me Super Shopper."
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Loyal Knight Goldar]
The lair was as silent as the grave as Goldar rested his back against the stone pillar that was across the body of the unconscious Pink Ranger, sleeping somewhat peacefully while his queen sat at the top of the stone bed in front of the ranger's head.
Goldar stared at the face of his queen in silence as the faint crimson bolts of lightning flickered in and out of existence between Rita's palms and the ranger's temples, Rita's eyes glowing a bright pink.
Thanks to Rita's spells as a top sorceress, she was currently watching the memories of the Pink Ranger. She had previously looked through the mind of the Black Ranger but from everyone he knew, none of them would fit the role of the new Dragon Ranger.
Goldar wasn't sure if his queen would be able to find a suitable fighter for the new bearer of the Dragon coin and deep down, he couldn't care less. As a monster, he found pride that he and his race could defeat the rangers without recruiting one of their own.
The original Dragon Ranger had defected to their side after some cruel deed that the foolish wizard had caused and despite being displeased by this, he could understand why his queen accepted Barza to their ranks.
But to offer a mere human a chance is bizarre.
No human would sell out their entire race and then assist with ruling it…They would have to do some serious mind-warping to be able to get a human to join their cause…
Or…Lord Zedd's cause.
Goldar was shaken from his internal thoughts when he heard Knasty Knight's voice beside him.
"Commander Goldar, I request an audience with you."
Goldar turned his head to see Knasty Knight bowed on one knee before him before the other monster stood up to face him. "Speak your mind, Knight. For your actions since returning to us, that is the least I can ask of you to do," Goldar truthfully told the monster.
Knasty Knight may have failed in killing the ranger in his first outing but he succeeded in capturing two of them on his own.
"Thank you, Commander," Knasty Knight said solemnly before he began to speak. "The reason I have come here is a simple one. I failed in killing the Mastodon Ranger when I came here…Now that we have captured him, I would want nothing more than to fight him and kill him in combat."
"I see," Goldar responded. "Well, due to your success in bringing them both here, I do not see why I shouldn't grant you this request."
"Well I do," Swan Song suddenly responded, causing both Knasty Knight and Goldar to face the swan-like monster.
"You have nothing to do with this Swan," Knasty Knight snarled, his golden eyes glowing ominously.
"Oh, I have a lot to do with it, you measly squire," Swan Song retorted, his voice as vicious as the knight's voice. "It was by my plan that allowed you to bring them here. If not for that, your success wouldn't have happened."
"Your plan had gone south the minute the other rangers arrived," Knasty Knight stated with a scowl. "Why are you even here?"
Swan Song sneered at the black knight before he turned to Goldar and said, "I have a better idea than to feed the Black Ranger to your ilk."
Goldar took note of the absolute rage that crossed Knasty Knight's visage but he turned his attention to the monster before him and said "Speak up then."
"Well…My Commander, I feel as if we're going about it the wrong way. See, my plan was simple. To use the two rangers to cause discord within the team by overwriting their personalities to rend them asunder," Swan Song said. "But I realized that the best course of action is to use Death Rose's technique to have them kill their friends."
"Similar to how Death Rose managed to warp the mind of the Aura Pink Ranger to fight for us and eventually die for us, correct?" Goldar asked, his interest increasing the more the monster spoke.
"Exactly! But this time, we would not only have another Pink Ranger, but we would also have a Black Ranger as well! Think of the endless possibilities we could do with two rangers on our side. Not to mention the eventual holder of the Dragon coin and the three cloned Power Coins…We would be unstoppable!" Swan Song exclaimed.
Swan Song then took a step close to Goldar and said, "And considering I nearly drove them apart the first time, this plan cannot fail..."
Goldar had to admit, that was a good plan. But his empress had another plan in mind already, he shouldn't interfere with that.
But, Swang Song's plan was sound.
It had worked for them in the past and it would no doubt work again, especially if the Yellow and Black rangers were to fight, as the former had nearly done it and as good as Knasty Knight was, this was the better option between the two.
And instead of having sleeper agents, they could have permanent agents….
"Swan Song…Your idea is very sound…I will grant your request," Goldar said to the swan monster, who laughed in victory.
"You cannot be serious Commander!" Knasty Knight stated with shock. "I was the one who bought them back to you at the risk of my own life. And you take his idea over what I was bred to do from the very start?"
"It may have been you who fought but he came up with the plan to fight. As much as I understand your need to kill the Black Ranger, we have a bigger priority to destroy all the rangers. Swan Song's suggestion can eliminate two rangers for the price of your one…" Goldar responded swiftly before he looked toward his empress."That is all that matters to us…And to her…"
"So you throw away my meaning of existence because of his better plan? I was born to kill the Black Ranger, Commander. You told me this when you trained me to kill the Aura Black Ranger. You gave me this purpose and yet at the moment where I can finally do what I was born to do, you snatch it away?!" Knasty Knight snarled at the second-in-command.
Goldar shut his eyes and said, "I understand your anger, Knight…We are a proud race of warriors that do everything to complete our mission but our priority is to our empress first and foremost. Swan Song's plan will benefit her greatly and anything that benefits her comes before our needs."
Goldar stared Knasty Knight, who looked as if he had been insulted to the highest degree, right in the eyes and said, "So put what your empress thinks will be right above your sole mission of killing the ranger and let it be…Am I understood?"
Red eyes clashed with enraged gold for a solid minute before the knight managed to hiss out a "U-Understood Commander," before he turned around and stormed out of the room.
Swan Song bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Commander. I shall take the ranger to our healing room so he is fully ready for his new role."
"Very Good," Goldar responded before he turned back to face his queen, keeping a constant vigil before she returned to the land of the living, not bothering to watch as Swan Song to the ranger and carried him out of the room.
"I hope you return from your memory trip my Empress…" Goldar whispered as he gazed upon her once more, a look of longing flashing in his bright red eyes.
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Knasty Knight]
Knasty Knight had felt many emotions in his lifetime but anger was the one that he loathed the most.
As Goldar taught him long ago, anger leads to rashness and rashness leads to death.
Knasty Knight had done all he could to distance himself from the pathetic emotion so when he was forced to deal with it, it never ended well for anyone involved.
But this feeling wasn't just anger.
No…This was pure wrath.
Being in the state of Wrath was something he had never been in before but as his soul swirled with this evolved form of anger, he felt a power building within him that he had never felt before.
So now, as he sat in his chambers in the shadows, with the only light in the room being his glowing golden eyes, he whispered, "I was born…and trained to kill any Black Ranger that crossed my path…And I will complete that mission…"
The golden glow in his eyes then began to change to a blood red.
"And I will…"
[Location: Command Center
POV: General]
"What…The…Hell?!"
Those were the first words Katherine let out when she saw Zordon for the first time, her eyes widened in shock and awe.
This had to be the most surreal day she had ever had in her life but when this big blue head said "Hello Katherine," It caused her to nearly faint from surprise.
This thing knew her name?
"We reacted the same way," Billy said with a small chuckle at her stunned expression, his body leaning against the console behind him.
"We shouldn't be sitting here," Jason murmured with a small frown on his face. "We're missing two rangers and Rita may be capitalizing on our weakness as we speak," Jason continued, his frown changing into a deep scowl.
"Well way to go Jason. You effectively ruined a semblance of a light mood in here," Trini commented with a raise of her eyebrow towards the red ranger, her arms crossed against her chest.
"But he's right," Katherine said with a heavy frown, her eyes gazing down at the ground while clenching her fist.
It was her fault that Zack and Kimberly were beaten and then captured by that damned knight.
She should have fought harder against Kimberly when she tried to run off to help the officers!
She should have fought to help Zack when he fought to defend her!
But she didn't and because of her, they were both gone. "I should have stayed there to help her but I was too weak…" Katherine said as a bitter tear slipped down her cheek.
"You can't possibly be blaming yourself for being kidnapped, could you?" Billy asked as he took a few steps forward to Katherine, who continued to look down at the ground with a frown. "You stepped in to help them when they weren't able to. You fought as hard as you could against beings that you shouldn't have been able to fight off and helped them escape for a long time. If you hadn't been there, they would have fallen earlier…"
Billy placed his hands on her shoulders and let a gentle smile appear on his face as he added, "Kimberly and Zack chose to protect you and anyone else in danger. Knowing the two of them, they would be devastated if something happened to you or anyone else."
Katherine looked up at Billy in surprise after the ranger spoke his peace but as she opened her mouth to speak, an alarm began to blare, causing Katherine to jump in surprise from the sudden noise.
"What was that?" Katherine asked the ranger, who instantly narrowed his eyes and moved away from her to join Trini and Jason, who were already in front of the globe.
And that's when she heard the three gasp in shock.
Katherine quickly got to the globe and pushed Jason and Trini aside to see what they saw and when she did, she gasped as well.
On the screen before them, a Swan-like monster and a rose-like monster were standing at the Angel Grove National Forest with six putties with them but what surprised them was the Black Ranger but his uniform was different.
The diamonds on the ranger's gloves and boots were no longer black but they were blood red, along with the diamonds that were on his chest, and instead of his black visor, his visor was now blood red.
And he stood between the swan monster and the rose monster, wisps of blood-red energy flowing from his body.
"W-What the hell is going on?" Billy asked with horror in his voice, trying to make sense of the image he was looking at.
"I don't know Billy but something isn't right. Zack wouldn't betray us…" Jason replied with narrowed eyes, trying to understand this image just as much as Trini was.
"Of course not. It's obvious that Rita did something to him when he was kidnapped," Trini murmured with a tone of annoyance in her voice before she asked, "But where is Kimberly?"
"I don't know but we need to go down there and help him. If she appears, we will help her too…" Jason answered with a strong tone in his voice but Katherine could see in his eyes that he was nervous.
Katherine saw both Billy and Trini nod at this before she asked "So you guys are going down there?"
"Of course," Trini responded stoically.
"Then take me down there as well," Katherine responded, her eyes showing determination within them. "It's my fault that he and Kimberly are in this mess. I can't stay here while I watch you guys clean my mistake."
"It's too dangerous for a civilian to be in the middle of our battle. No matter how good you are," Billy told her softly as he pulled out his Morpher. "But do not worry. We'll bring him back. Just sit tight for a few minutes."
"I-I…." Katherine stammered, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I need to go down there to save him…You guys can't just leave me here!"
"We must. You could get hurt or worse down there. The fact that you are in one piece after all the shit you went through is a miracle in and of itself," Jason told her with a stern stare, his Morpher in hand.
"But now it's time for us to do what we do and save our friends…So as Billy said, do not worry because we'll all be up here laughing about this shortly," Trini added on as she held her Morpher in her hands.
Desperate, Katherine turned to Zordon and pleaded, "Can't you say anything to stop them? I can't be left here while they fix my mess!"
"Katherine…I understand your frustration with them but in the end, they are correct. You aren't equipped to battle the forces of evil like they are. Many scenarios could occur if you go with them as you are and none of them end well for any of us. The best thing to do is to remain here for now," Zordon softly told her, which only caused Katherine to huff out in anger.
"Fine! Go without me! But you guys will regret it when you come back!" Katherine growled out before she walked out of the chamber, leaving the three rangers alone with Zordon.
Billy watched her leave with a frown on his face and said, "I know that we are in the right in forcing her to remain here but…I wish there was an easier way to bring her with us."
"She cares for her friends," Zordon responded. "I have been put in this position as well and as I said…Many scenarios occurred and it caused me to lose so much…. It is better this way."
The three rangers nodded solemnly before Jason said, "Well then guys…Let's get this done and save our friends!"
In unison, the three teens moved their morphers against their chest, and with a thrust forward, all of them shouted, "It's Morphin time!"
[Morphing Grid
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]
(Theme of Morphing - Infinity Mijinion Stage from Megaman X6)
Jason, Billy, and Trini found themselves falling down the black void, their bodies glowing in their respective colors when each of them saw their power coins in the middle of a glowing orb, each one in their individual colors.
The three teens dove down and slammed into the orbs at top speed, causing three streaks of lightning to shoot down to the ground.
Moments later, a blue streak of lightning slammed a few feet away from Pink. It formed a male form before it rose and forced the energy away, revealing Blue with his Power Lanc. Blue twirled the lance in the air before slamming it on the ground as he shouted, "Triceratops!"
A yellow streak of lightning slammed into the ground beside Blue to form into a female form. With a burst of energy, Yellow rose from the ground with her Power Daggers and twirled the right dagger in her hand before kicking the air twice, giving a roundhouse kick, then landed on the ground as she shouted, "Saber-Tooth Tiger!"
Finally, a minor streak of red lightning slammed in between Yellow and Blue in the shape of a sword, and moments later, a large streak of red lightning slammed behind the blade.
A hand reached out of the lighting as it reached out and grabbed the hilt, and the moment it did, the lightning exploded, revealing Red, who was kneeling on one knee.
Red slowly stood up from the ground and pointed it into the air as he shouted, "Tyrannosaurus!" As he did, each of the Rangers' zords appeared behind them and roared in victory.
[Location: Command Center
POV: Katherine Hillard]
In the place of the three teens, stood three of the five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, brief flickers of lightning of their respective colors shooting across them.
"Alright guys," Red said as he turned his head to Yellow and then to Blue before he said, "Let's go get 'em!"
With a nod from Blue and Yellow, the three rangers began to flicker their respective colors before the three streaks of red, blue, and yellow flew toward the ceiling and out of the command center.
But what they didn't know was that while Katherine had stormed out back into the medical room, she had watched the three morph and transport of the command center and after the shock subsided, she whispered, "Come back safely…All of you…"
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: General]
With a flash of red, blue, and yellow, three out of the five Power Rangers landed at the docks of Angel Grove, right before the monsters and their controlled friend.
Red immediately stepped forward and said, "Release him now!"
Swan Song chuckled at this as he took a step forward. "How rude Red Ranger. Not even a single "Hello" before making such a foolish request."
"It's no request," Red exclaimed as he balled up his fist before he then growled out "Release Black and be destroyed…"
"Don't you mean "Or be destroyed?" dear Ranger?" Swan Song asked with a tilt of his head. He quickly received her answer when Red dashed forward and nearly struck Swan Song in the face with his fist but the controlled Black appeared and blocked the blow by grabbing Red's fist.
Swan Song laughed.
"You should have known you would have to go through him to get to us," Swan Song stated before Black pulled Red close and slammed his foot into Red's gut as he let go of Red's fist, allowing Red to skid backward on his feet from the blow.
Black quickly dashed towards Red and threw a jab but Red smacked the left fist away and responded with a right jab of his own. Black grabbed the fist again, twisted his body right so his body was against Red's outstretched arm, and slammed the back of his right hand against Red's helmet.
Red fell to the ground but quickly rolled to his feet and blocked Black's left knee then pushed it back. As Black stumbled, Red jumped into the air and aimed a punch at Black's helmet but Red found that his fist was caught in Black's grasp.
Red was tossed over Black's shoulder, but Red was able to recover in the air and landed in a crouch before Blue and Yellow.
Red turned around and looked at Black, who was now standing upright while facing the three, and shouted, "Black, you need to wake up! It's us!"
Swan Song laughed from a distance and said, "Trust me, there is no trace of your friend in our ranger killing machine…We made sure of it!"
Red scowled and yelled, "Bullshit!"
"It is true and I will show it!" Swan Song said before he snapped his fingers and said "Black Ranger, kill all of them!"
Black summoned his Power Ax and quickly dashed towards the three rangers.
[Location: Twilight Valley (Memories of Kimberly Ann Hart)
POV: Kimberly Ann Hart]
"Man, as much as I hate to admit it, my mom was right! This place is amazing!" Kimberly laughed as she and Cassie skipped out of a clothing store known as "Starfire Styles" and Kimberly couldn't have been happier.
She and Cassie had so much in common with their love of pink, and their prowess for the best style at the lowest price.
Despite it being a few hours, Kimberly felt she had known Cassie for her entire life.
"See what you were missing while in Angel Grove?" Cassie said as she bumped her left shoulder with Kimberly's, who laughed and bumped her back.
"Apparently a badical mall down here," Kimberly countered as the two teens sat down at the food court where she then sat down the shopping bags on the ground and added, "So…What else is there to do here?"
Cassie sat down next to Kimberly and stretched lazily before she said, "Well…We have the Twilight Valley Aquarium, the Twilight Valley Space Museum, th—"
"My place, I do have a comfy bed," A rough, male voice stated, causing the two girls to turn around to face a white teen male with a crimson tank top and black baggy pants.
And by his side was a black teen with black hair which was styled in a Mohawk, wearing a navy blue long-sleeve shirt, black shorts, and a scar on his left cheek.
"Or we could go to my place. No sense in Ritchie getting in on all the fun," The navy blue-wearing teen stated with a cocky smirk.
Kimberly and Cassie looked at each other, back at the two boys, and then laughed. The two males looked insulted by this but it was the white teen, Ritchie, who asked, "What's so funny?"
"I-It's just," Cassie giggled. "You really think we're going to take you seriously after that dumb line?"
"Dumb?" Ritchie mouthed to his friend before a cocky smirk appeared on his face and said "Well, it was good enough to get you two lovely ladies to laugh."
"Well…Laughing at how goofy it sounded," Kimberly chuckled before she glanced at Cassie. "Come on, we should get out of here."
"Oh?" The black male asked. "So where are we going?"
Cassie blinked at this and motioned for Kimberly to stand up as she said "Well, me and my friend are leaving. You two can do whatever you want."
"And why is that?" Ritchie asked as he grabbed Kimberly's left arm. "We only want to get to know you girls a little better…I mean, Curtis and I don't bite."
Kimberly frowned at this breach of personal space, forced her arm away from Ritchie's grasp, and said, "Do not touch me. I do not know you like that and you have no right to do so."
Ritchie took a closer step to Kimberly and said, "But you can."
Kimberly scoffed at this and replied, "And yet I won't. So step back before you get to know the bottom of my Nikes."
"And that goes the same for me," Cassie said as she elbowed Curtis in the gut when he tried to swing his right arm across her shoulders.
Ritchie laughed at this and turned to Curtis, who was holding his gut and scowling at Cassie, and said, "You hear this man? She just threatened me."
Curtis snorted at this and said, "Heh, these two dare to mess with the Dragon Fang's strongest members? They should be begging for mercy now."
"Is that supposed to scare us?" Cassie asked with a snarky tone before she turned to Kimberly and asked "Are you scared, Kimberly?"
"I'm shaking in my sneakers," Kimberly replied with a sneer as she and Cassie took a few steps back from the two males, plenty aware of how everyone was watching but not doing anything.
How Kimberly loathed that.
Having people watch instead of stepping in when something is going down not that these clowns were an issue of course. Jason had taught her quite a bit of martial arts so she had no fear of them and from Cassie instantly stepping into a martial arts stance, she had no worries about her either.
But it was the point that everyone was gawking at them instead of rising and stopping these two were very telling.
Curtis and Ritchie smirked at this but it was Curtis who stated, "I think they want to fight regardless of our excellent skills…Well, who are we to turn down a challenge?"
"Move the tables!" Ritchie exclaimed.
Kimberly and Cassie looked at each other briefly before turning their attention back to the two males as a group of people began to move the tables around the four teens.
'Really? They'll move the tables for a fight but won't interfere in one?' Kimberly thought to herself in mild annoyance as the tables were completely removed from away from the four teens.
"Well, then ladies…" Ritchie said with a smirk. "Last chance to back down."
Kimberly opened her mouth to respond but it was then she heard, "So…You two have sunken so low to use my father's style for this?"
Kimberly turned her head and watched as the crowd parted to see a white teenage male standing in the crowd.
He wore a nice fitting black suit which held a green button-down shirt and black tie beneath the pitch black suit jacket.
His short chestnut brown hair was gelled back and his eyes were hidden behind black glasses but the teen held a small grin on his face.
Kimberly felt her heart stop in her chest as she stared at the handsome teen standing in between the two groups of people.
He was handsome.
But what Kimberly didn't see was the sudden fear that Ritchie and Curtis suddenly had on their faces.
"Instead of honoring my father's words and trying to turn your lives around, I find you pressuring these two women into going with you…When they refuse to even stand next to you…How sad," the teen said with a low chuckle as he stepped through the crowd, unbuttoning his suit jacket to fully reveal his button-down green shirt.
Ritchie sneered and said, "And look who steps down from his pedestal once again. What's up, Tommy? Finally decided to grace us with your presence?"
The teen, now known as Tommy, laughed as he stood in between Kimberly and Cassie and replied, "Well…I was in the neighborhood before I saw you two preying on these two ladies so I had to interfere."
Curtis scowled at this and exclaimed, "Well get out of this neighborhood! This is none of your business Oliver!"
Tommy removed his glasses and folded them, to reveal his angered brown eyes as he said, "When you bring the name of my father's academy into bullying these ladies into going with you, it becomes my business."
"Tch…We didn't drop out. We left!" Ritchie exclaimed. "All because of you and your "Holier than thou" attitude!"
"I'm sorry but I guess obeying the rules that my father created like "Don't use your skills to steal" or "Don't use your skills to hurt those that are weaker than you" along with many others is being holier than thou…"
Tommy smirked.
"Then I suppose I have every right to be," Tommy finished.
"Regardless! We no longer need to abide by your old man's fucking rules, rich boy!" Ritchie shouted. "So there is no reason in us holding back in kicking your ass along with theirs!"
Tommy smirked and said to both Cassie and Kimberly "Ladies…I hope you don't mind if I step in from here…I have a few unruly former students to attend to."
"By all means…" Cassie said with a grin on her face.
Tommy grinned at her before he handed his glasses and jacket to Kimberly and said "I'll be back for this…"
Kimberly's mouth felt dry as she stared at his face before she nodded faintly.
Tommy's eyes seemed to stay connected with hers before he finally turned away and began to walk forward, his hands rolling up his sleeves as he said, "Well since you two feel that my father's rules are allowed to be broken…Then allow me to rectify that by breaking the first rule."
"And what rule is that?" Curtis snidely asked as he glared at the teen.
Tommy only smirked and replied "Don't use your skills to hurt those that are weaker than you,"
Curtis scowled and ran towards Tommy to throw a punch but Tommy effortlessly smacked the fist away before backhanding Curtis in the face.
As Curtis staggered to the side from the smack, Ritchie rolled in front of Tommy and tried to sweep him off his feet but Tommy leaped over the sweeping leg while simultaneously landing a solid knee to Ritchie's face.
As Ritchie was sent falling back, Curtis quickly threw two quick fists at Tommy, who blocked the two punches and as Curtis went for a roundhouse kick, Tommy grabbed the ankle of the left leg of his opponent with his right hand and punched the back of Curtis' knee.
Curtis howled in pain from the punch but it only got worse due to Tommy kicking Curtis' Achilles' heel on the leg that was keeping Curtis upright, which sent Curtis falling onto his back where Tommy then tugged on his leg hard enough to get Curtis off the ground and slammed his left fist into Curtis' face.
Tommy let go of Curtis' leg and rolled on top of Curtis as Ritchie came charging forward, picked up the teen by his shirt, and kicked Curtis in the back to make the teen stumble to his friend.
The moment Curtis slammed into Ritchie, Tommy ran forward and leaped into the air, and drop-kicked Curtis in the back, forcing both Curtis and Ritchie to fall to the ground.
The crowd cheered as Tommy flipped to his feet, dusted himself off, and said, "How shameful. It's like you two didn't learn a thing from my father's teachings."
Ritchie and Curtis rose to their feet and quickly launched themselves at Tommy, deciding that double teaming would be a better option than going one-on-one.
Tommy took a step backward to avoid Curtis' rather sloppy haymaker and blocked Ritchie's left forward kick before leaping up and kicking both Curtis and Ritchie in the face, causing them both to stumble.
Tommy landed on his back and flipped to his feet briefly before he rolled forward and swept Ritchie off his feet.
As Ritchie fell, Tommy hopped up and kneed Ritchie in his jaw hard enough to send Ritchie in the air before slamming on his back hard.
Curtis took his chance to tackle Tommy off his feet and to the ground but Tommy managed to wrap his arm around Curtis' neck and used his weight to drive Curtis's head down to the ground the moment his back hit the ground, slamming the crown of Curtis' head to the ground.
Tommy saw Ritchie rise and quickly rolled away from Curtis and got to his feet just as Ritchie got to his feet and instantly moved to the side to avoid another flying kick.
When Ritchie landed, Tommy hit his stomach to make Ritchie stumble back before Tommy faked a right elbow strike to get Ritchie to respond with a block, and the minute he did, Tommy slammed his palm in the middle of his opponent's face.
Ritchie staggered back and held his face in pain as Curtis stood up beside him and said "Y-You haven't seen the last of us…Let's get out of here!" before he and Ritchie ran off with their tail between their legs.
The crowd parted to let the two run off before they all cheered for Tommy, who grinned and basked in the glory of putting on such a performance as he said "You guys are far too kind."
But it was Kimberly who cheered for Tommy the loudest.
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: General]
Goldar watched in concern as Rita's youthful face contorted as her pink eyes continued to glow, watching the memories of the unconscious Pink Ranger, hoping that she would come back as soon as possible.
He knew that this was necessary due to wanting to find her Green Dragon Ranger but he… 'No…' Goldar thought to himself as he banished the words that wanted to form in his head.
Rita was his empress.
He wasn't supposed to feel this feeling of longing for her return.
It was inappropriate for him, her loyal bodyguard, to want his empress to come back to be with him.
And no matter how much he tried to deny himself this feeling, it still panged helplessly in his chest.
But fate would be on his side as the pink glow of Rita's eyes faded away, to reveal her black pupils, which seemed hazy for a moment before they became clear.
And the first thing she saw was Goldar….
Rita couldn't stop her smile from growing when she saw his glowing red eyes staring at her, the smile that he wanted to show fighting to stay hidden as she watched him walk to her slowly.
"Lady Rita, you have returned," Goldar said to her softly as he held out his hand to her. Rita took the hand and let Goldar pull her up and merely smiled at him.
"It is good to be back here…" Rita said gently, her mouth wanting to add "With you." Before she said, "The mind of this human was truly aggravating but I believe I found the perfect human to hold the Dragon Coin."
"Have you?" Goldar had asked her as he removed her hand and for a moment, Rita wished he had kept his hand with hers.
"Yes…I will need to test him thoroughly however to make sure of this," Rita said with a grin before she asked, "So, what is going on with the rangers?"
Goldar only smiled and led her to a large screen that Squatt and Baboo had set up and as Rita watched, a large smile appeared on her face.
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: Mighty Morphin Red Ranger]
Sparks of electricity shot out as the controlled Black swung his Power Ax diagonally across Red's chest.
Red staggered backward and took three more slashes at his chest from Black before he slammed his sword against the ax and pleaded, "Come on Zack, you need to snap out of this!"
"Die Ranger," Black darkly responded as he pushed Red's Power Sword away and struck him once again in the chest with his ax, making Red stumble backward again.
The battle between Red and Black, in Red's opinion, had to be the most difficult fight that he had ever faced.
Not only due to how skilled Black was, but it was due to that Black was his best friend since they were little kids.
How could he fight him when Red couldn't get mad at Black for anything in the world?
Red knew that if he went all out in fighting Black like he would with a monster, Black could be hurt, or even killed and Red would not let that happen.
He had to hold back as much as he could so Black could snap out of it and return to normal.
Red fell to his knees and panted as he held his chest and took a deep breath before he stood up.
Red turned his head and watched as Blue and Yellow battled the putties before Death Rose and Swan Song and said, "Stay safe you two…"
But as Red turned his head to face his opponent, Red found himself blocking the ax of Black with his sword, causing red and black sparks to fly from their weapons. "Perish…" Red heard Black hiss out as he gripped his hilt tightly.
"Come on Zack, please wake up," Red pleaded. "This isn't you man! This is not what you are about! You're my best friend and a ranger! Fighting for the enemy is not you!"
For a few moments, Red thought he had gotten through to Black with his pleading due to him not making a move. "Come on Zack…Just step down…" Red told him gently as he began to lessen the pressure that was behind his sword.
Suddenly, Black leaned his head back as far as possible before lunging it forward and colliding his head with Red's, causing Red to stagger back in pain.
Red was stunned for a brief moment by the rather sudden head butt but Black took advantage of this by grabbing Red by his neck, lifting him in the air as high as he could, and slamming him to the ground hard.
Red felt the ground beneath him rise slightly once he collided with it and for a moment, Red felt his vision blur for a moment before he felt the ground moving beneath him and soon, he found himself in the air, still gripped by his neck but now Black had both hands around Red's neck.
Red began to struggle in the air as he was being choked by his friend.
Red dropped his Power Sword and clawed at Black's gloved hand to try and release the hold but after two more minutes of trying to fight the hard grip around his neck.
Red angled his eyes to look down to the left and saw his left leg hanging there and with a grit of his teeth, Red swung his leg with all his might into the side of his friend.
Red felt Black's body bend against his leg while the grip around his neck loosened slightly. Red let out a strangled yell and slammed the front of his leg against Black's side once again and this time, Black loosened his grip enough for Red to raise both legs and kick Black in the chest.
Red and Black both slammed to the ground back first and as Black held his side, Red began to cough and wheeze violently, trying to get as much air back to his lungs as possible.
Red forced himself to his feet and panted lightly as Black got onto his feet as well and without any hesitation, Black dashed towards Red, his Power Ax appearing in his hand with a dark purple flash.
Red managed to avoid the wide swing of the ax with a duck before he grabbed Black's legs, lifted him into the air, and tilted his own body back, which sent Black crashing into the ground face first.
Red rolled forward to a knee and then rose to his feet but as he did, Black twisted his body around and pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet for a moment before Black, leaped up to Red, wrapped his left arm around Red's neck while in the air.
Due to the momentum of Black's sudden leap forward, Red involuntarily twisted his body around to relieve the pain that came from Black trying to twist his neck and that was when Black forced himself to fall to the ground, planting the top of Red's head into the ground hard.
For a moment, Red had completely blacked out due to the sudden and impact-filled move but Red quickly came back into consciousness when he felt Black lift him by his head to his unsteady legs before Red's head was released.
Red was then shoved back enough for him to stumble for Black's Power Ax began to strike at his chest and torso, causing more sparks to fly from Red's defenseless chest.
After the fifth strike to his chest, Red took a shaky step forward and fell to his knee, smoke rising from his scarred-up chest and as Red lifted his head, he saw it.
The barrel of Black's Power Cannon.
Pointed directly at his face.
Red could see wisps of energy flowing within the barrel and for a moment, Red couldn't believe that this was going on.
No matter how much Red had pleaded with him, Black had ignored it all and continued to assault Red without any mercy until this very moment.
Was this it?
Was Red truly going to die this way?
"Z-Zack…" Red whispered shakily as his eyes flashed toward the controlled ranger standing tall before him.
Red could see the gleam of Black's red visor but at that moment, it was like Red could see his friend's face within that visor.
And all that Red saw was the blank face of his best friend but something was different.
Instead of the playful chocolate brown eyes and the playful grin on his face, Red could see that his best friend's eyes glowing a bright red as he stared down at him blankly.
And it was then that Red realized something.
Zack wasn't in there right now.
It was their enemy.
Their enemy had trapped Zack within his mind and let this…monster take his place.
The only way for Red to save his friend was not by holding back as he had before. The only way he could save him was to beat him enough so Black could take back control.
But it was all too late…
He was going to die at his friend's hands and there was nothing he could do about it.
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: General]
"This is irritating!" Yellow snarled as she shot her blade blaster through the head of a putty that was soaring towards her.
Blue had just flipped a putty that was running toward him into the air behind him when two more putties came charging toward him. Blue ran forward and tackled them both off their feet before he rolled forward and clotheslined a third putty that had run towards him.
"I concur, this is truly bothersome," Blue responded once he rejoined Yellow, who blasted another putty in the face with her blaster.
"It is almost over Blue. The sooner we can defeat the last two, the quicker we can defeat those two monsters," Yellow responded before her eyes stared down Swan Song, who smirked in her direction and motioned for her to come to him.
Yellow hissed, "That monster has been staring at me since this all started…"
Blue turned to look at Swan Song and for a moment, he felt that he had seen that monster before but he was drawing a blank on why he felt that way.
But that was when he heard it.
That dark, amused yet victorious laughter that left the monster's lips.
'Wait…' Blue slowly thought.
He recognized that laugh.
He recognized that monster!
This was the monster that had torn apart Zack and Trini…The same monster that had caused the many cracks that were currently separating his friends…no…his family.
Pure rage then filled Blue's veins as he said, "It's you…" With such a dark tone in his voice, Yellow turned to him in surprise.
Before Yellow could speak, however, Blue dashed towards Swan Song with an angered shout, his blade blaster, in blade form, slashing at the putties that tried to get in his way until Swan Song was right before him.
But just as Blue swung the blade down, a rose whip wrapped around his right wrist to stop his strike. "Now, now Blue Ranger…" Death Rose cooed, a hint of anger in her voice. "You have no right to try to attack my beloved."
Death Rose swung her right arm in the air sharply, which caused Blue's right arm to be pulled into the air and it was then that Swan Song summoned a black feathered ax and swung it down at Blue's chest, causing sparks to fly from his chest.
Seeing Blue being double-teamed, Yellow ran forward and then leaped in the air before kneeing Death Rose in the middle of her face as hard as possible, sending Death Rose stumbling backward on one foot.
Yellow landed on the ground behind the rose-made monster grabbed her outstretched arm and tossed her over her shoulder to send Death Rose soaring away from her.
But Yellow had forgotten that Blue was trapped in Death Rose's whip and as she went flying, so did he with a yell.
Both Death Rose and Blue slammed into the ground twice before the two skidded to a slow stop.
"Sorry, Blue!" Yellow shouted before she heard a chuckle from the still-standing monster a few feet away from her.
Yellow scowled beneath her helmet and asked, "What the hell are you laughing at?"
The swan-like monster continued to chuckle before he shook his head and replied, "I used to think you rangers were such a threat but I now realize that you are all a bunch of children."
Yellow's scowled deepened as she holstered her blaster, summoned her Power Daggers, and said, "We have been beating you and your sorry as Empress at every turn. Don't you dare insult us!"
The monster laughed fully at this, which only made Yellow angrier at the monster before her, "Very well…Don't think I didn't warn you!" Yellow yelled as she rushed forward.
Swan Song could only smirk as Yellow charged toward him. He wielded his ax and muttered, "Very well Trini Kwan…Show me how my words of truth were incorrect."
[Location: Command Center
POV: Katherine Hillard]
Katherine was angry.
She felt that she had every right to be.
First, her new friends she realized were the Power Rangers.
Second, two of her friends were taken by their enemies thanks to her.
And last but certainly not least, her remaining friends are now fighting Zack, one of the two that had sacrificed himself to protect her and they didn't let her come down to help.
It angered her.
It was her fault that he was like and they didn't even let her come to help. Katherine found herself limping out of the medical bay, peeked out of the corner and found herself looking at the large globe.
Within the globe, Katherine could see Jason and Zack fighting one another, and with a brief wave of static, she saw Trini and Billy fighting those grey soldier things and then the rose monster and swan monster.
But seeing that only infuriated her further!
Her three friends were losing their battles!
It wasn't right!
She should be down there helping.
But…Katherine knew that as much as it angered her, she knew that what Zordon had said earlier was true.
"Katherine…I understand your frustration at them but in the end, they are correct. You surviving against all odds when no human other than they has is a miracle but the fact of the matter is that this isn't your battle. You aren't equipped to battle the forces of evil like they are. Many scenarios could occur if you go with them as you are and none of them end well for any of us. The best thing to do is to remain here for now."
But she couldn't just remain there…
She had to help them as soon as she could before they all died!
"There has to be a way to help them," Katherine said to herself.
"But how?"
Just as those words left her lips, she heard a whisper coming from behind her.
"C…Co…Come…"
Katherine looked behind her and didn't see anything out of the ordinary but as she squinted her eyes, she saw a flicker of a pink haze.
And then she heard that voice again.
"F…Foll…ow…"
Katherine could make out a soft feminine voice within the static sounds that overlapped the voice and as much as Katherine was disturbed by hearing this in the med-bay of all places, something was drawing her further into the med-bay.
As Katherine went further into the med-bay, the pink haze seemed to float in front of the healing tank that Billy had previously occupied and suddenly, the pink haze floated through it and that was when Katherine heard "Pre..ss….button…"
Katherine looked at the healing tank for a moment before she turned her head and noticed that within the inside of the tank, there was a small button against the wall.
"I must be going insane…" Katherine said to herself as she stared at the button. "But then again, this whole day seems like something out of a TV show or book…Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt…"
With those words, Katherine pressed the button within the tank before she stepped away from it. After a solid minute of silence, Katherine said "See…It didn't even do anything. I knew I was going insane."
Just then, an opening beneath the tank appeared to her surprise and slowly, the tank sank into the crevice below, revealing a door behind it. "Me and my big mouth," Katherine said with a sigh and a helpless grin.
Well…Now that she was proven wrong, should she go inside of it?
What if this door led to some dark shit that she was not expecting like some chained-up monster or something of the like.
Then again, what if it led her to something that could help her friends?
"Well…As my mom always told me… "If you're not careful, curiosity will kill you," however...I can't let this opportunity pass…" Katherine muttered before she reached out and opened the door and the moment she did, there was a flash of pink light and Katherine was gone.
[Location: Abandoned Aura Chamber
POV: Katherine Hillard]
"My aching head…" Katherine groaned before she looked up and blinked in surprise.
Instead of the Med-Bay, Katherine found herself sitting in a large empty chamber and it would be completely dark, if not for one lone glowing beam of light glowing a few feet away.
Pink.
These five lights were glowing bright enough for Katherine could see what was in the chamber…
There were cobwebs everywhere within this chamber, which were covering the broken consoles that lined up the walls to the east and west of her. She could see the various old and grey torn cords sticking out in the various places on the consoles.
As she walked to the glowing beam of light, she could make out an insignia on the dirty floor.
The insignia was a silver, stylized "Z" and in front of the large "Z" was a golden-colored "5" and around these two was what looked like an electric blue aura.
"W…Where am I?" Katherine asked herself in confusion as she looked back up at the pink beam of light.
But as she looked at the beam, she noticed that there was now the silhouette of a figure standing in front of the pink beam.
The figure wore a pink spandex suit with white sleeves and a pink wristband that connected with the Pink gauntlets which had white gloves beneath them. The figure also wore pink boots with a thick white lining on the edge of the top of the boots and a thick white line going down the front of the boots, a white belt that arched down to a "V" shape when it hit the front of her waist.
The figure also had a pink dress with white trim on the edge of it, a white "V" shape going down the top of her chest and back with a pink crest that held a silver "5" inside of it.
And finally, the figure had a pink helmet with a white outline around a butterfly-shaped visor along with a black orb that was above her visor.
Pink fog flowed around the area as Katherine stared at the silhouette of the ranger, who seemed to waiver in and out of existence in shock.
She knew this had to be a ranger…But why was the ranger here of all places?
The ranger seemed to stare into her soul for what seemed like an eternity before the ranger motioned to the beam of light behind her and said, "Your…Fri…Friends…Use m-my pow..er…Save them…"
Katherine continued to stare at the ranger in shock as she registered her words.
What was she saying?
Use her power?
The ranger then turned to the beam of light and whispered, "You…are the only…c-chance…" before she walked into the beam of light and disappeared within it as if the light had torn her to shreds.
The beam of light then began to morph into a large orb which then shrunk into a tiny ball and without warning, the small ball of pink light shot out towards Katherine's left wrist.
When the light faded, on her wrist was a silver and pink colored Morpher that held a large red "V" on top of it, and in the middle of the "V", there was a single pink crystal within it.
Katherine traced her finger against the Morpher and muttered, "W-What…What is this?"
Before Katherine could get another word out, images of a pink silhouette crouched slightly to her left as she placed her bent left arm to her side.
The silhouette then swung her right arm to her left side and pressed the pink crystal in the middle of the "V" as the echoing female voice shouted, "Aura Change: Awaken Pink Ranger!" within her mind.
In her mind, Katherine watched as the pink silhouette raised her left hand after her shout before a bright pink flash of light caused Katherine to blink in confusion.
Was the ranger that was here telling her how to morph into her?
Katherine looked at the Morpher again and for a moment, she began to think about it. If she did this…If she followed what the image in her mind had done, she would be a ranger…And she couldn't step back into regular civilian life ever again.
Could she do that?
Images of her new friends appeared in her mind, each of them in their regular form and then their ranger forms.
They tossed their civilian lives away willingly to become rangers, she knew that just at how they selflessly fought against the forces of evil.
They were doing it to protect the world.
They deserved a friend who would toss that life away to save them from what she had caused.
"Then that's that..." Katherine whispered. "Well…Time to go to work!"
Katherine crouched to the left with her left arm bent at her side, swung her right arm to her left side, pressed the pink crystal before she raised her left arm into the air, and shouted "Aura change: Awaken Pink Ranger!"
[Morphing Grid
Katherine Hillard]
(Theme of Aura Morph - The King of Fighters 2002 UM – Destiny)
The moment Katherine's left arm was raised into the air; her body was engulfed in white energy that wrapped around every ounce of her body.
The white energy covered Katherine then felt watched as pink energy shards appeared in the air all around her and began to quickly dart out at her.
The pink energy slammed into her torso and legs, forming the pink spandex suit while the remaining shards slammed into her wrists and feet, forming the pink gauntlets and boots.
Another pink shard slammed into her chest to form a pink crest that held a silver "5" inside of it.
And last but not least, dozens of pink shards slammed into Katherine's head to form the pink helmet and another shard slammed into the front of the forehead to make a black orb above the space where her visor would go.
And when Katherine opened her eyes to reveal her glowing pink irises, one final pink shard slammed into the helmet, creating the butterfly-shaped visor that covered her eyes.
And with an explosion of pink energy, the Pink Aura Power Ranger stood proud.
[Location: Abandoned Aura Chamber
POV: Aura Pink Ranger]
Aura Pink looked at herself in pure shock, her gloved hands touching every ounce of her body. "Whoa…No way," She muttered to herself in amazement.
She was a Power Ranger.
There was no way this could be happening right now!
But it was.
She was standing in an empty, abandoned chamber, a Pink Ranger.
But now begs the question…
What happens now?
The new Aura Pink's answer appeared when a small pink light floated before her and shined brightly and when the light faded, she was gone
[Location: Command Center
POV: Zordon]
"Have you had any luck of locating Kimberly, Alpha?" Zordon asked in concern towards the small robot, who was pressing several buttons on the console as quickly as possible.
"There is no luck at all Zordon…I feat that we may never find Kimberly," Alpha said sadly as he lowered his head in shame.
From the moment the rangers had left, Zordon and Alpha immediately began their search for Kimberly and nothing has been found yet.
It seemed that their command center didn't have enough power. The last time this occurred, one of the rangers used their power coin to locate Zack, who was trapped in another dimension.
However, with all of the rangers in battle, and the Rahonavis Power coin not being strong enough to increase the abilities of their search, they were out of options.
But they couldn't give up just yet.
They just needed a little more power.
Without warning, pink light seemed to shine beneath the floor of the large room they were in, which caused Alpha to freak out, going "Aye-Ai-Ai! Zordon, what is this light and where is it coming from?"
At first, Zordon believed this to be a figment of his imagination but when the screens on the console flashed the image of the Aura Rangers, Zordon knew it wasn't his imagination.
An Aura Ranger was online.
But how could this be?
Suddenly, Pink lightning shot up through the ground and crawled up through every inch of the chamber until it met in the middle and that was when the shade of the Aura Pink Ranger appeared through the bright light of pink that shined from beneath them.
Zordon couldn't believe his eyes.
The shade of the Aura Pink Ranger was standing before him but now her helmet was off, revealing a faded light blue skin and platinum blue eyes and despite her image wavering in and out of existence, Zordon could see a smile on her face.
"Smile father…" The shade whispered. "She…will…h-help…"
"I-Ilia…" Zordon whispered softly as he gazed at the image of his long-gone protégé and daughter, longing to want to gather her up in his arms.
The shade smiled once again and before she looked up and faded away and just as she did, everything went dark.
Just then, a single console lit up with a single location coordinate, which was then followed up with the entire command center reactivating.
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: General]
"Amazing…" Rita said with a laugh of joy leaving her face as she watched the total chaos going down right now with her beloved warrior Goldar by her side.
On the large screen before her was the Red Ranger battling the Black Ranger, who was under the control of Death Rose, meanwhile, Death Rose herself was fighting Blue, and finally, Swan Song was battling Yellow.
And the Rangers were losing.
"It is," Goldar whispered to her gently and said "I was originally going to have Knasty Knight kill the Black Ranger but Swan Song managed to convince me to do this plan instead. I must say, I am glad that I went with Swan Song's plan."
"As am I Goldar," Rita replied. "Because now, we have exactly what we need. All that's left is to find this Tommy Oliver and retrieve our own Ranger."
Goldar nodded as he crossed his arms and said "But who shall go to find him?"
Just as Rita opened her mouth to answer, A dark energy suddenly exploded from behind her and Goldar and she knew Goldar felt it as well due to his red eyes widening at the intense power.
The two turned around to see Knasty Knight standing behind them but his look was entirely different.
His pitch-black armor now had glowing crimson cracks embedded from the top of his head to the toes of his boots and all the cracks from every part of his body met in the middle of his torso, where there was a crimson glowing head of a roaring lion that had formed on his chest armor.
The shoulders of his armor were the heads of crimson lions and his gauntlets, metal gloves, and boots were crimson as well. Last but not least, Knasty Knight's eyes were fiery crimson as well.
"Knasty Kni-" Goldar started but he was immediately sent through the screen before him by a beam of crimson energy that shot out through the head of the lion on his chest.
"What is going on here?!" Rita exclaimed but Knasty Knight quickly shot out a beam of energy at her as well but Goldar quickly appeared in front of her with his blade drawn and shielded Rita from the beam with his sword.
Knasty Knight stopped the attack and held his right hand out, which instantly morphed into the head of the lion where an orb of crimson energy burst into existence with a scream of "Die!" he shot the orb towards the two.
Goldar's red eyes widened in horror before he turned around, grabbed Rita, and started to transport but just as the process started, his back was hit by the crimson orb, which exploded upon impact.
When the smoke cleared, Goldar was seen lying across Rita's body, both of them unconscious. Knasty Knight laughed darkly and said "I am no longer Knasty Knight. I am Violent Knight!"
The newly named Violent Knight then turned to the unconscious Pink Ranger walked towards her, held out his right hand, and morphed it into the head of a crimson lion. "And it is time I start killing every ranger I see…"
[Location: Command Center
POV: Zordon]
"Aye-ai-ai! Zordon, I have located Kimberly!" Alpha exclaimed excitedly, his arms moving up and down rapidly.
The moment that the lightning had faded and everything had turned back on, they managed to find her immediately.
Zordon seemed distracted but still very relieved and happy by this news and said "Good work Alpha…Now we must get her back here this instant so she can assist the other rangers. Transport her immediately."
Alpha pressed a few keys on the console before him and shouted, "Transporting now!"
[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Violent Knight]
"…Starting with you, Pink Ranger," The knight finished with narrowed glowing eyes as he growled.
The knight's crimson orb pulsated with amazing power as it focused down on Kimberly's unconscious form but just as he was about to shoot, her body changed into pink energy and the energy flew out of the palace.
Baboo and Squatt came rushing out of the palace with a group of putties following them and just as they saw the knight.
Baboo saw the knight standing there with the crimson orb then saw Goldar and Rita unconscious and quickly put two and two together but as he opened his mouth to say "Attack!" Violent Knight growled and shot the orb regardless at the group, vaporizing Baboo, Squatt, and the large amount of putties as well as destroying a good chunk of the palace.
Violent Knight laughed. "Now is my time! I will kill anyone that stands in my way!" With those words, Violent Knight launched himself out of the large hole in the palace and transported away.
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: Might Morphin Yellow Ranger]
Metal clashed with metal as Yellow's Power Daggers collided with Swan Song's black feathered ax.
So far in their duel, the two had been evenly matched but then Swan Song had started with the taunts.
First, it was about how humans were nothing but children.
Then it became how Rita would rule the Earth and enslave everyone.
Yellow was able to ignore those and continue to battle him…But it was then that he began to talk about her family that got Yellow to really become angry.
"Come on Yellow Ranger," Swan Song said as their weapons clashed once more. "Surely you can put up a better fight than that. Then again, you could barely handle me the first time we fought."
Yellow growled and broke the clash and thrust her right arm forward to stab Swan Song in the right side of his stomach before her left arm reached over and slashed at his face.
Swan Song hissed in pain and delivered a brutal straight kick to Yellow's chest, which sent her skidding backward on her feet before he raised his left hand and set a dozen white feathers towards her rapidly.
Yellow rolled to the side to avoid the stream of feathers but what she didn't expect was for Swan Song to dash to the same side she had rolled to and shoot out another stream of feathers, which managed to hit her, causing sparks to fly from her body as the razor-sharp feathers sliced across her.
Yellow fell to her knees in pain as Swan Song lifted his right hand and laughed boisterously before he said "You have definitely grown weaker since our bout two weeks ago. And to think, I went through all that trouble to study you and him."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Yellow said as she got on her feet, dismissing her Power Daggers for now in order to hold the right side of her body.
Swan Song stopped his laughter and said "You don't know? Well, don't I feel insulted?" Swan Song then let out another laugh and pointed his ax towards her before he said "Well maybe this should remind you!"
Swan Song quickly dashed towards Yellow, who quickly took one step back before she leaned back to avoid the wide swing of the ax before she forced herself to fall backward to avoid his downward slice.
Yellow rolled backward to avoid the swing of the ax and when she rose to her feet, she hopped up and kneed Swan Song in the face with her left knee. When she landed on the ground, she grabbed him by the neck and punched his chest three times before she twisted her body and slammed her elbow into his gut.
Swan Song took a step back and blocked Yellow's next three punches and her right hook with the flat side of his ax before he used his left leg and kicked her right leg from under her before he attempted to knee her in the face.
Yellow bent backward to avoid the knee and quickly grabbed his standing leg with her two legs and tugged hard, which forced Swan Song onto the ground. The minute he landed, she rolled on top of him and started to rain down several hard punches to Swan Song's face.
After the fifth punch, Yellow summoned her Power Daggers and attempted to stab at the monster's chest, only for Swan Song's body to suddenly explode into black feathers, leaving her to stab the ground.
As the feathers blew all around her, Yellow's eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of the feathers.
But they were strangely familiar…But where did she see this before?
Just then, Yellow felt something hard collide with the back of her head, sending her slamming face-first into the ground but she quickly rolled away before Swan Song's ax could find a home in her back.
Yellow got to her feet and dashed backward while pulling out her blade blaster and firing several shots toward Swan Song. However, he quickly dispersed into an explosion of black feathers to avoid Yellow's shots.
Yellow watched the black feathers fall to the ground harmlessly before a dark realization set in. Just then, Yellow heard the laughter of Swan Song, who was now standing a few feet behind her, which caused her to swiftly turn around.
But instead of Swan Song, she saw Black standing there.
Yellow's eyes flashed to where Red and Black were and saw Black holding the Power Cannon to Red's kneeling form before her eyes flashed back to the Black that was before her.
"I told you before," Swan Song said cockily with Black's voice. "You wanted a fight…I'm giving you a fight."
"You…" Yellow whispered, malice thick in her voice as Swan Song, Still in Black's form, Swan Song laughed loudly.
"Yes me," Swan Song said with a bow. "It was so easy to play you and your pathetic friend against one another. All I had to do was change myself to him and lock him away and it was all over from there."
Yellow's fist shook in rage as she stood there in silence as Swan Song laughed once again. "You were so pathetic that day! You were my puppet and you played your part well. Because of you and your dislike of the Black Ranger, you Trini Kwan nearly killed your own teammate!"
Swan Song took a step forward and asked "Tell me something Trini…How close were you to killing him? How close were you to killing an innocent warrior for your enemy? Do you feel pathetic in knowing how easily you played into my plan?"
Swan Song leaned back with his right hand on his hip, returning back to his original form with a flash of black feathers as he stared at Yellow and said "Such a silly human," before he began to laugh again but that laughter swiftly stopped.
Yellow's head snapped up when she heard gurgling and that's when her eyes widened beneath her visor.
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: Might Morphin Blue Ranger]
With a panicked scream, Blue was sent crashing to the ground on his back with Death Rose's Rose whip around his neck and right arm as the sound of her laughter reached his ears.
"How pathetic baby Blue," Death Rose shouted as Blue suddenly felt himself be yanked off the ground and into the air where he was then forcefully sent hurdling toward Death Rose, who instantly grabbed him and attempted to powerbomb him to the ground.
But Blue quickly wrapped his legs around her neck so when she tried to bomb him to the ground, he was able to adjust his weight so he was able to pick her off her feet and slam her into her back with his legs.
Once the two landed on the ground, Blue grabbed his blade blaster and switched it to blade form, cut the whip from around him and flipped to his feet while he changed the blade to its blaster form and shot several shots at Death Rose just as she rose to a knee.
Three bolts of energy slammed into her chest but she was able to deflect the rest with another rose whip before launching the whip towards Blue. Blue quickly rolled to the right to avoid the whip and then leaped into the air and shot his blaster once again.
Death Rose got pelted with the bolts of energy but managed to deflect the last one before launching the whip towards Blue and wrapping it around his torso before she swung him to the ground hard enough for him to cause a small crater around his body.
Death Rose laughed at this and dragged Blue to her and rammed her foot against his chest hard with a royal-sounding laugh. "Look at my dear baby Blue. Trapped underneath my foot as you should be!"
Blue growled in both anger and pain but Death Rose paid no mind to it and instead said "Now it's time for you to die, my dear Ranger…" But then the two heard Swan Song's loud laughter before it was quickly cut off.
Blue could see the horrified look on Death Rose's face and slowly, he looked up to see this glowing black and crimson knight standing a ways away from Yellow while Swan Song fell on his knees.
But all Blue was concerned about was Yellow.
He felt the foot on his chest ease up as Death Rose let out a furious yell before she dashed away from him and towards the knight as she shouted "Black Ranger: Élencho (control)!"
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: Might Morphin Red Ranger]
"Z-Zack…" Red whispered shakily as his eyes flashed toward the controlled ranger standing tall before him.
Red could see the gleam of Black's red visor but at that moment, it was like Red could see his friend's face within that visor.
And all that Red saw was the blank face of his best friend but something was different.
Instead of the playful chocolate brown eyes and the playful grin on his face, Red could see that his best friend's eyes glowing a bright red as he stared down at him blankly.
And it was then that Red realized something.
Zack wasn't in there right now.
It was their enemy.
Their enemy had trapped Zack within his mind and let this…monster take his place.
The only way for Red to save his friend was not by holding back as he had before. The only way he could save him was to beat him enough so Black could take back control.
But it was all too late…
He was going to die at his friend's hands and there was nothing he could do about it.
But that's when he heard Death Rose's voice shout "Black Ranger: Élencho (control)!" from the distance. Red watched as Black turned around and ran off as well.
Red watched Black run off and felt his anger grow towards the monster that had his friend under her control.
To be used like some puppet.
He had to free him.
With a growl, Red got up on his feet and ran off after him as fast as possible.
[Location: Angel Grove Docks
POV: General]
Swan Song had fallen to his knees as blue blood flowed from his shoulders but his head was no longer on his shoulders.
Instead, Swan Song's head rolled away from his body, his yellow eyes widened in shock before she looked at the hunched-over form of Violent Knight, whose crimson-colored blade was touching the grass with blue blood splattered on it, with the unconscious Kimberly over his right shoulder.
The knight leaned up and looked down at the twitching form of Swan Song with disdain and taunted, "That was always your weakness Swan Song! You always talked about your victory before actually obtaining it! And now you are dead!" The knight laughed before he calmed down and spat on the corpse. "Good riddance." The corpse then changed back into the white and grey feathers that floated away in the wind.
Violent Knight's eyes flashed to the Yellow Ranger across from him and said "Now that I have taken care of him…I shall kill you as well…"
He saw the Yellow Ranger take a step back before she said "You can try but I won't let you succeed!" Violent Knight growled in approval and dismissed his sword, quickly launched himself toward Yellow, and elbowed her in the face, sending her sailing backward.
Violent Knight ran towards the soaring ranger, grabbed her head as she was mid-flight and slammed her entire body through the large boulder, causing it to shatter and then explode.
Violent Knight saw a brief yellow light before Trini was unconscious on the ground, her body leaning against a large shard of a bolder. With a dark laugh, Violent Knight took three steps backward and held both hands out.
Both hands changed into the heads of lions as crimson orbs began to form in the mouths of the lions but as he was going to fire the orbs, he felt a powerful blast hit his back.
Violent Knight turned around to see Death Rose and the controlled Black, holding the still-smoking Power Cannon in his hands.
Violent Knight laughed and said "You bought him right to me…Good," before he charged towards the two.
"You monster! I will make you pay for killing my beloved!" Death Rose hissed darkly as she slapped her whip to the ground and shouted "Élencho!"
Black changed his weapon to the Power Ax and charged towards Violent Knight but just as the two were going to meet, Violent Knight struck Black hard with his blade before he leaped into the air towards Death Rose.
Death Rose shot two rose whips toward him and as he sliced through one, the other pierced his side but it didn't stop him and with eyes filled with glee, his crimson blade sliced at a downward angle from Death Rose's left shoulder down to her midsection.
Death Rose screamed in agony but then she hissed with anger in her eyes and with gritted teeth, she summoned a small rose seed in her hand and rammed it into the wound that was caused by her whip and said with a cruel smirk "You may kill me but you will be following me to the underworld very soon!"
Violent Knight looked her in her anger-filled eyes and shouted, "Then save a nice spot for me!" before he held his left hand up against her chest and when his hands morphed into the head of a lion, crimson energy swirled in the open mouth and the beam came flying out and vaporized the top half of Death Rose's body.
Violent Knight lowered his hand and turned around to see Black stagger forward with crimson lightning causing dozens of sparks to fly from his body before he demorphed back to Zack, who instantly dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Violent Knight quickly aimed his lion hand at Zack's unconscious form but was immediately tackled off of his feet and slammed into the ground by Blue.
Blue leaned up and hit two hard punches to the knight's face but Violent Knight caught the right fist of Blue and aimed his lion hand right in front of Blue's face but just as he was going to fire, Red tackled Blue off of the knight at the very last second, causing a beam of crimson energy to shoot up into the air.
Red and Blue fell to the ground but quickly rolled to their feet where Violent Knight stood up slowly and laughed loudly. "You rangers are truly agitating," Violent Knight muttered darkly before he turned to face the two and hissed, "Now prepare to die…"
Just then, a large pink orb slammed into the chest of Violent Knight, sending him flying backward into the air but he managed to recover and land on his feet just fine.
"What the hell?" Red muttered in shock as he and Blue stared at the large pink orb in front of them.
The orb floated above the ground briefly before it landed and once it did, the orb exploded to reveal a Pink Ranger that they had never seen before in their life.
But the moment she spoke, the two knew who that voice belonged to.
"Sorry, I'm late…Took me a while to get used to this," Aura Pink stated as she looked back at the two.
"Katherine?!" Blue exclaimed in shock while Red's eyes bugged out from behind his visor. Aura Pink laughed and placed her finger on her helmet, exactly where her mouth would be located.
"Now, now…Don't yell out my name," Aura Pink stated before she turned her head to see Violent Knight standing up from the ground and said, "Aura Pink Ranger is now reporting for duty and I will be taking over from here."
Red shook his head and placed a hand on Aura Pink's right shoulder and said "I don't think that is a good idea at all. I don't know how you became a ranger but you need to step back and leave this to us."
"Well as Dad always said, High Risk equals high reward!" Aura Pink shouted before running up to the monster only to duck to the right to avoid the left jab of the monster and took a step and slammed her shoulder against its side with as much force as possible, causing the monster's body to briefly flash as he stumbled to the side quickly to gain some distance.
Seeing this, Aura Pink quickly ran up and delivered three quick punches which two landed on the chest and neck of the monster, causing another flash of blue on his body, but the third punch was blocked by Violent Knight, who swiftly retaliated by aiming a kick at Aura Pink's chest.
Aura Pink caught his leg and punched the monster in the face as hard as possible three times before leaping over the leg and kicking it in the mask with both feet.
The two opponents landed on the ground but the two flipped up to their feet. Violent Knight quickly aimed his left lion hand at Aura Pink's chest but Aura Pink struck the knight's right leg with her right fist before trying to kick Violent Knight in the chest.
The monster struck Aura Pink's leg to the side with his left fist and quickly landed three rapid punches to Aura Pink's stomach before leaping up and landing an elbow at her head then finishing the combo by landing a hard left fist to her head, sending her to the ground.
Aura Pink fell to the ground on her back but quickly flipped to her feet only to block a roundhouse kick aimed at the left side of her head with her left forearm then used her left hand to smack a kick that was aimed at her right side away before launching the same hand to strike the monster's face.
But Violent Knight managed to catch her hand and kicked her in the midsection twice, causing sparks to fly from her suit before it let go of her hand and punched her head, sending Aura Pink flying to the side.
Aura Pink quickly flipped to her feet, dusted herself off, and let a small grunt before turning to face Violent Knight only to block three kick kicks that were aimed at her stomach, chest, and head respectfully before she sidestepped to the right and landed a strong right hook to the monster's head.
Aura Pink then jumped up and landed a sidekick to the monster in the chest, causing another flash to appear as the monster flew backward.
Violent Knight flipped back to his feet in record time, launched itself toward the ranger, and began to deliver a rain of punches and kicks at the ranger. At first, Aura Pink was able to block them and return the attacks but soon she found herself being overwhelmed by the rapid jabs and soon, sparks were flying from her body from the blows before she was finally kicked in the head, sending her soaring backward to the other rangers.
Violent Knight ran towards the downed ranger but Blue swiftly leaped in front of the monster and engaged it in combat while Red ran over to Aura Pink and helped her to her feet, asking "Are you ok?"
Aura Pink nodded and let a small grin form on her face as she said "Oh I'm just fine. I was able to confirm why he is so powerful…And now I know how I can beat him."
"You mean you intentionally got into this battle just to confirm something about him?" Red asked with a tilt of his head, confusion in his voice.
Aura Pink nodded at this and moved away from the ranger and said "Sometimes you have to take risks to get the reward. I learned that from my father a long time ago. I knew I could get creamed by this guy but I had to know if my hypothesis was correct."
"And what did you learn?" Red asked curiously.
"Simple, did you notice how when we started battling, we were equal?" Aura Pink said while taking a step forward and keeping her eyes on Blue and the Violent Knight trading quick blows.
"Yeah but then things started to shift in his favor…" Red replied while narrowing his eyes in thought but then his mind quickly latched onto where Aura Pink's mind was at the conclusion. "You mean to tell me that he can absorb attacks and apply them to his own?!"
"Exactly…" Aura Pink answered with a nod, watching as The Violent Knight began to get the upper hand on the Ranger. "And now that I know that…I know how to defeat him!" Aura Pink shouted before she ran off.
Blue and the monster were trading blows back and forth but Blue was slowly losing his edge. The monster just seemed to get stronger and faster after each blow that was landed and he was finding himself getting hit instead of blocking them and it was making him madder.
"Stand still you darn pest," Blue exclaimed as he aimed his hard chop toward the head of the monster but the being grabbed Blue's wrist and laughed before punching Blue twice in the chest, causing the Ranger to grunt in pain as sparks flew from the spot of impact.
"And now to end this," Violent Knight said as he held his hand in front of Blue's head.
Blue's knee slammed into the side of Violent Knight's relentlessly to try and force the monster to let his wrist go before aiming a fist at the being's face but Violent Knight caught the fist and landed a hard knee to Blue's gut, causing his body to bend around the knee of the monster before Blue fell to one knee, gasping for air.
"It's over Ranger!" Violent Knight shouted while letting go of Blue's arms before the glowing fist lunged out at Blue's head.
But suddenly, Aura Pink quickly pushed the fist of the monster away into the air before grabbing the monster's wrist, causing Blue to look up at Aura Pink in shock while holding his stomach.
"Sorry, but this is my fight and I'd like to continue it," Aura Pink said before she swept the monster off its feet and tossed it over her shoulder, causing it to land hard on its side.
Violent Knight leaped up from the ground and tried to kick the chest of the ranger but Aura Pink tilted her body back to avoid it then grabbed the ankle of the monster, pulled it close, and tripped the other leg, causing it to once again to fall on its back.
Aura Pink quickly let go of the leg, took several steps backward, and watched as the monster leaned up from the ground. The knight stared at her for a moment before getting to his feet and saying, "Impressive…"
"I tend to be," The monster laughed in reply and charged towards the ranger and threw a crisp right jab but Aura Pink deflected it with her right hand, pushing it aside before taking a step and slamming the side of her shoulder into her opponent's chest, sending him stumbling back.
Violent Knight dashed forward and aimed another quick jab towards her chest but once again, Aura Pink used her left hand to deflect it before taking a step forward and slamming her left elbow against the knight's head.
As the knight stumbled back, Aura Pink twisted her body sharply to build up momentum for her backhanded fist to slam into the head of Violent Knight.
Violent Knight fell to his knees from the blow but leaned down to the ground and tried to trip Aura Pink. She lifted her right leg high into the air to avoid being tripped before slicing her leg down to the ground to hit his head but the monster quickly moved away, causing Aura Pink's foot to slam against the ground.
Violent Knight leaped up from the ground and quickly aimed a kick to her midsection but Aura Pink moved with the kick by stepping backward before her hands grabbed the leg and pulled it toward her, causing the Violent Knight to slide closer to her where she quickly slammed her fist into the mask, not only making the monster's head fly backward but it also caused the mask to crack.
Aura Pink quickly pivoted her body to the right so her back was right against his while letting go of his leg and placed her hand on his chest and shoved his chest hard, sending the monster slamming into the ground hard enough to cause him to skid on the ground.
Violent Knight stood up, took a step back let out a shout of anger as he ran toward the ranger and began to aim punches at the ranger. Aura Pink would deflect each strike by smacking his fists away with her opened palm but when he aimed a fist to her stomach, she slapped it down with the back of her left hand and quickly backhanded him with the same hand, making him stumble backward.
"Man…She was getting so beaten before but now, that damn monster can barely touch her," Blue noted with pride in his voice.
"Yeah…It's amazing, to be honest," Red added with a small nod in agreement. "We need to help her out quickly before she gets overrun!"
Aura Pink swayed side to side almost effortlessly to avoid the quick and aggravated attacks of her opponent and when she ducked the wild haymaker from Violent Knight, she tucked her body forward and raised her leg backward to nail Violent Knight in the head, making the monster stumble backward.
She then leaped up as if she was going to kick it but instead slammed her feet on its left foot. Violent Knight growled in pain and tried to punch the ranger but Aura Pink used her hands to catch the fists before forcing them to the side harmlessly and began to slam her palm against the chest of the monster repeatedly before she grabbed the head of the monster and tossed Violent Knight over her shoulder by the head, sending the being to the ground on its back.
Aura Pink hopped backward to gain some distance and stepped into a more relaxed stance but not before flipping off her opponent.
"Come on, surely that can't be all you've got," Aura Pink yelled out rather cockily while Violent Knight rose to his feet and held his chest in anger.
How was this possible?
Before he was able to match her blow for blow and even used her power to overwhelm her but now he couldn't touch her.
She was like a floating feather and he couldn't catch her.
"You are truly starting to anger me ranger," Violent Knight said as he summoned his sword which was pulsating with blue energy.
"I suppose it's a part ranger rulebook to piss off monsters," Aura Pink countered smoothly while crossing her arms with a tilt of the head, a smile on her face.
Violent Knight let a rather angry growl leave its lips as it gripped its blade tightly but before anything could be done, Red and Blue leapt over Aura Pink and kicked him hard in the chest, sending Violent Knight stumbling back.
"It's time to finish this…" Aura Pink said as images of a large blade appeared in her mind as a voice shouted in her head "Aura Saber!" and "Aura Saber: Pink Flash Strike!" within her mind.
"Well…Time to follow the voice in my head!" Aura Pink held out her hand and said "Aura Saber!"
With a pink flash, a large saber appeared in Aura Pink's hands and when Red and Blue landed on the ground, Aura Pink quickly ran up and jumped onto Blue and Red's shoulders before she jumped off of them and stayed in the air and shouted "Aura Saber: Pink Flash Strike!"
As Aura Pink raised her sword in the air, pink and white energy swirled around her blade as she got closer to the knight below her.
Violent Knight summoned his crimson sword and suddenly, a black and red aura shot around the blade and said "Time to finish this duel!" With a swing of both of their weapons, the two glowing swords clashed.
The two energies swirled and light blue lightning shot out of the two clashing weapons and swept against random spots on the ground around them. "It seems a ghost from the past just can't stay dead," Violent Knight hissed out.
"As they always say, you can't keep a good ranger down!" Aura Pink shouted as well but she knew that she couldn't hold this clash up for long. As good as she was, she could feel the power slowly ebbing away from her the longer she kept this up.
But all of a sudden, Violent Knight roared out in pain and that was when Aura Pink looked down to see that Red and Blue had their respective weapons, the Power Sword and Power Lance, stabbing straight through the monster's body.
And that was when he felt it.
His energy was weakening drastically.
At first, he didn't understand why this was happening until his eyes widened.
"You may kill me but you will be following me to the underworld very soon!" Death Rose's voice echoed within his mind.
Knasty Knight could see his blade starting to crack under the pressure of Aura Pink's blade and he could feel the two weapons in his body getting deeper within.
And then his sword completely shattered before his very eyes.
"I will not die here!" Violent Knight shouted with fury in his voice. The knight gritted his teeth in anger as he forced as much power as he could out of his body to force the three rangers away from him.
The three rangers flew away from the large burst of crimson energy that enveloped Violent Knight's form and immediately after the final burst, Violent Knight growled and said "This is not over!"
With those words, Violent Knight transported himself out of the area, leaving the heavily battle-scarred national park and three very exhausted rangers behind.
Blue and Red immediately fell to their knees while Aura Pink fell on her back between the two, the three of them breathing heavily. "Well…I'm going to be feeling this tomorrow…" Aura Pink panted out heavily.
Blue laughed softly and said, "It's like that the first time around…"
Aura Pink smiled to herself and said "Well…That's good to know…" before she shut her eyes and said as she drifted off "I think…I'm going to get some shut-eye…I'm exhausted…"
And with a pink flash, Katherine was seen sleeping in between the two rangers…And the Aura Morpher that was around her wrist was now the color of ash and as the wind blew, the Morpher disintegrated and floated away.
And for a moment, Red and Blue heard the faint words of "Thank you Katherine…" floating through the gentle breeze.
All while Katherine wore a smile on her sleeping face.
