The Phantom Princess
A Power Rangers In Space Fic
By: Malaizjan P.J. Shultz
***Since I normally write Batman Beyond and Young Justice fics, I had this fic collecting dust in a notebook. When my fellow DC co-author Reina Grayson decided to re-write her PR fic, I decided to take a break as well and get my own PR fic out. And she has helped me improve a few parts so it's way better than what I wrote WAAAAAAYYY back in 2000... I don't own Power Rangers or any of its seasons because if I did…it would have had at least a PG13 and above rating…As such, my fic is rated teen. And thanks to Reina for helping me fix a scene in this chapter. ***
Chapter 5
The Gold Ranger hide outside of Justin's garage as he sat in Storm Blaster, hoping that the vehicle could locate Cerina or the Omega Ship. His turbo comm went off again so he answered it. "Hello?"
"Justin, it's TJ. Listen, can you come meet us at the new Dojo-Dance studio that opened up last month?"
"Yeah. I know where it is. I'll have Storm Blaster drive me over. See you soon!" Justin then patted Storm Blaster and it took off toward the location after Justin put it into the GPS system.
Meanwhile, back in the future…
The robotic medical center was bustling with activity around the fallen Machine Empire Queen, Archerina. Sitting next to her were her husband Gasket and child, Archera. Both awaited the news that the doctors were able to revive the Queen.
Gasket noticed the twitching in Archerina's fingers.
Then her onboard computer started up.
Her eyes then snapped open. Anger and rage filled them.
Which was impossible when you're a machine. But those enhanced gears that she and Gasket found years ago gave them more than protection against Zordon's power; they had emotions. They were essentially alive.
Archerina sat up. "I want her dead! Mount an attack! DESTROY ELTAR!" she screeched.
"Easy my love. We already captured her Captain of the Guard!"
"I DON'T CARE! I WANT QUEEN CERINA DEAD AT MY FEET!" she yelled.
The beaten Justin heard Archerina all the way in the dungeons under the palace. He knew that Cerina was in danger. And he knew that the end was near.
Back in the past…
After parking Storm Blaster down the street, Justin headed over to the dojo-dance studio on foot, cutting through a section of the small park. On his way to the Dojo/dance studio, Justin felt that something was wrong. He may only have been a ranger for a little while, but one thing all rangers learn is to always be aware of your surroundings. The young ranger looked around, and that's when it hit him….a kick to the head. The kick threw Justin back a bit, and when he saw his attacker was a ranger, he knew something was wrong and he needed his ranger powers.
"Shift into Turbo!" Justin cried out as his morpher activated. This black and gold clad ranger wasn't really fazed and was able to blast Justin with his staff to stop him from morphing. With the ex-blue turbo ranger distracted; this visitor got close, but Justin tried on more time to morph.
"You think I'm going to give you the chance; the Gold Ranger never gives mercy or fair play," Justin's attacker remarked.
Justin managed to kick the gold ranger in the gut and the he was forced to back up. Justin then slides his key into his morpher. "Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"
After getting to a full grown size ranger, the Gold Ranger held up his gold staff once more and launched energy blasts at Justin.
Justin dodged them but got punched in the helmet by gold ranger and Justin fell into a tree. He dodged a kick but an elbow to his knee made him cry out.
Then the Gold Ranger kicked at his wrist and his morpher sparked, making it malfunction.
Justin demorphed. The look of fear and disbelief in Justin's eyes had the evil Gold Ranger bask in his victory.
"Hey, didn't anyone ever tell you not to mess with a kid?" A voice said.
From the side leaped a shadowed figure and the Gold Ranger was effectively pushed into a tree, breaking that tree.
The figure turned and saw the boy in pain, so she helped him up. "Hi."
Justin then saw who it was. "Cerina?!"
The purple space ranger looked confused. "You know me?!"
"You don't age much over the next twenty years."
"What?!"
The Gold Ranger then sent another set of blasts at them.
Cerina sent a blast of light and the blasts collided, putting on one hell of a light show.
The Gold Ranger's stance was an angry one.
"I don't know what's wrong with you Trey, but I'll beat it out of you!" Cerina showed him her morpher. "Let's rocket!" Seconds later, she was the Purple Space Ranger. With her own Space Sais, she rushed the Gold Ranger.
"You think I'm Trey; you only WISH that I wasTrey." The Gold Ranger met the Purple Ranger's attack head on.
The two attacked and countered each other in a fury of dominance.
Kicks and counter kicks got more determined and fierce as they were missed.
Justin got to his feet and watched the fight with worry.
Not Far Away at the Dojo/Dance Studio
Tommy Oliver still paced, even as Trini relayed what she knew of the robot assassins.
"The Mercerites had lasers come from their eyes, but it wasn't all of them..." Trini relayed to the others.
"How did they move?" Tommy asked
"As if they were normal, speed to match. They could counter some things that Cerina and I did."
"I've seen them before." Tommy interrupted.
"What are you talking about?" Kimberly asked.
Tommy sighed, he couldn't believe he was about to talk about this again, but he had an idea of who sent the Mercerites. "When Gasket brainwashed me."
The others were stunned, but they knew Tommy wasn't done. "He took my abilities and added them to a monster of his, and my mind was foggy. When I woke up, he told me I was the leader of the Machine Rmpire and that the rangers were my enemies."
"I remember that. I had to go after you," Jason added.
"Yea, then I beat the crap out of you."
"That wasn't easy and you know it," Jason teased.
"True, but Gasket pitted me against my friends. If it weren't for Kat, I would probably still think I was the King of the Machine Empire."
"Kat had the right idea, after that thrashing you gave all of us….but Kat only started it, I saw that it was working and so I told the others to trust in her judgment," Jason said.
Tommy chuckled. "It wasn't easy to take out the Gold Ranger."
"Wait. Trey's the Gold Ranger; how did an Earth Ranger get his powers?!" Andros asked.
"King Mondo's troops had attacked Trey and he was so injured that he split into his three selves. Before the ranger power was lost, it had to be transferred, so Jason agreed to accept the burden until Trey could pull himself together."
"In a literal sense?" Kimberly asked.
"Yes, Triforians have three parts to themselves. Heart, Wisdom; and Courage." Billy added. "I was there when the power was transferred. I would have done it, but after that incident where the whole world was thrown into reverse and I was able to become my proper age….I couldn't wield ANY kind of ranger power anymore."
"Wow..." Zach commented.
"So Jason was the Gold Ranger for a while, but then the power started to take its toll on him and it was transferred back to Trey," Tommy added
"So while you were 'king' of the Machine Empire...?" Zhane said.
"I saw the Mercerites. Only one was completed according to Gasket. He said it would be decades before an army of them were ready."
Carlos whistled in disbelief. "Looks like that army is ready."
"And it's trying to take out Zordon's daughter."
"So we HAVE to find her." Andros commented.
"And we will." Zhane said, but there was a mix of anger and sadness in his voice now.
"Trey calling Andros. Come in Andros."
"I'm here," Andros said into his morpher.
"I picked up Omega's engine trail. I've been following it for the past hour. Even in Invisi-Mode, I can track it."
"Great! Let me know if anything changes. Andros out."
"What is taking Justin so long?" Tej asked.
"I hope he isn't walking," Ashley piped in.
Just then an explosion from nearby caught their attention.
"Let's go!" Jason was the first one out the door.
Both Cerina and the Gold Ranger were still going at it, both having minor injuries. The Golden Staff was no match for the Space Sais and neither ranger was going to give up. Justin was edging away from the fight; he knew Cerina needed reinforcements.
"Justin!" came TJ's voice called out from a distance.
"TEJ! Over here!" Justin cried.
"Looks like we're stalemated." the GR told Cerina.
"Not yet!" Cerina pressed her hand to the helmet of the Gold Ranger. She sparked it.
Crying out, the Gold Ranger kneed her in the gut, then slammed his staff into her helmet. As she fell to her knees, he punted her over near Justin. He then sprinted away as TJ and Tommy burst through the trees.
Cerina weakly got up and demorphed then walked over to Justin. She helped him up as Tommy and TJ were at their side.
"You ok?" TJ asked.
"Yeah." Justin smiled at Cerina. "Thanks to her."
Both stared at Cerina.
"And that's my cue to go." Cerina turned and paused in her steps.
Zhane stood there. He glared at her, his anger all too apparent in his face.
Cerina knew why that anger was there. Her eyes watered.
Zhane's face changed. He wanted to so badly take her into his arms and protect her, but her step backwards warned him away from that.
"You can't go," Justin told her.
"I have to Justin..." Cerina told him, only after learning his name so quickly.
"They know about the Mercerites." Trini added as she stepped to the front of the gathered group.
"We can protect you." Andros appeared behind her.
"No you can't!" Cerina glared at Andros. "You two nearly died the first time you went up against them!"
"Let us try anyway!" Tommy told her.
"Why should I trust you?"
"I was a ranger. Half of us are former rangers."
"I can't take that risk," Cerina said.
"We're not letting you leave." replied Shadow with determination. He was off to her left.
"Those Mercerites are from the future; and the Gold Ranger that beat that poor kid senseless….it wasn't Trey."
"You said I was your only hope at stopping the remnants of the Machine Empire; let all of us help you."
Cerina stared at the young boy. "I did?"
"Look, your dad saw something in me when I became a ranger, and I know he did in you too. We can help, just trust in us."
"Wait...you said the Machine Empire...Gasket and Archerina! They're still alive?!" Cerina cried.
"Cerina...I thought you were done running?" Trini told her. She was hoping Cerina would stay.
"They sent the Mercerites after me...now this is personal." Cerina took another step back. "And no. I don't need your help. Ask Trini what happened when she helped me."
Zhane, Andros and Shadow took a step closer to her.
She knew what had to be done. And she was going to hate herself for it.
"We're going to sit and talk," Zhane told her, advancing.
"How about seeing spots instead?" Cerina then glowed brightly, blinding them all instantly.
The rangers cried out.
Cerina ran off to Omega. She had to leave that second. She needed to go far away from Earth so she could entice that Gold Ranger from the future out. It took her a few seconds to realize that the Gold Ranger she had been fighting was from the future. And she pieced together what was going on in such a short period of time. She needed to find Gasket and Archerina. The bomb she had taken from her mother's home was going to go to a larger purpose now.
It took two minutes to get to her ship and as she ran on board, she ordered a hard take off.
Cerina made it to the bridge as Omega left orbit. She staggered to a chair and sat. Her tears spilled over as she thought about her escape.
Beta placed a metal hand on her shoulder. "You did what was necessary."
"He was so mad..."
"Do you blame him?"
"No..."
"Cool! Nice bridge!" came a familiar voice.
Cerina turned in her chair. She stared in disbelief at who was there. "Oh no..."
Justin grinned as he stood there. "I wasn't going to let you go away."
Cerina let out a sigh. "How did you get here!? Never mind-let's get you fixed up. Then you're going back."
"No way! I have a morpher. I can help."
"Justin...you're what? 14?"
"13."
"Then you have no business being a ranger."
"I did it to help out Tommy; his friend Rocky had hurt his back and couldn't continue as the Blue Ranger."
"You still shouldn't have stayed as a ranger." Cerina knew all too well how hard it was to be the youngest ranger, and she couldn't believe that her father allowed this boy to be one as well.
"But you and I were the youngest rangers ever! C'mon! If Gasket and Archerina are as tough as you said, then you need help." He figured out why Cerina was upset that he was only 13. She had been a young ranger as well. She spoke from experience.
Cerina sighed. "Fine. Infirmary first. And wait-who told you I was a young ranger too?"
"Him," Justin said, pointing to Beta. Justin then eyed his morpher. It still sparked.
"What's wrong with your morpher?"
"Gold Ranger kicked it."
"I'll fix it. I'm good with morphers." Glaring at Beta, Cerina and Justin headed to the Infirmary.
Fifteen Minutes Later
Completely healed, Justin was escorted by Beta to Cerina's lab. She was bent over his morpher, fixing it. "It looks...more powerful."
"It was already powerful to begin with...after all; my father did make the originals."
"Thanks for fixing it." Justin said.
"My pleasure."
"How come you can fix it?"
"I still have a connection to the morphin grid. It's not as strong as my father's was, but if I want, I can restore a few former ranger powers. But that takes too much out of me…" She then fixed one last connection on the turbo morpher.
Justin looked around her lab and his eyes settled on an item inside a glass box. Inside of it was a green dagger that looked like a flute. "No way..."
"What?" Cerina asked, looking up.
"Is that...the Dragon Dagger?! Tommy told me about it one time," Justin said as he walked over to the glass box.
"It is. It use to belong to my brother; Fadus."
"I thought that Rita Repulsa had the green powers till she used them on Tommy then Jason and the other originals helped him become good?"
"I wondered what she did with that coin after taking it from my brother." Cerina held out Justin's morpher. "And here you go."
"Cool! Thanks!" Justin put his morpher back on his wrist.
"This Tommy...would he be happy if he knew that the Dragonzord was fully restored?" Cerina asked.
"Totally...but without the green power coin, isn't it offline?"
"Nope! There was enough green energy around the dagger to fully restore Dragonzord's power source. No coin needed; just the dagger now. It's attached to the morphin grid directly."
"Oh man; he's going to be glad to hear that."
"You really look up to him." Cerina remarked.
"I do."
"How so...besides the fact that he was a ranger?"
"Besides the other fact that he's cool?...Tommy's a natural leader and he and the others even entered a tournament to keep a shelter from closing, and Kat and Tanya helped out there, that's how I became such good friends with them."
"Oh wow...I need to take you back home Justin." Cerina had tears in her eyes.
"You ok?"
"You remind me of myself when I was starting out as a ranger with Zhane and Andros."
"Then take me back…and stay."
"I...I can't..." Cerina walked away from her tools, the lab.
Justin wanted to follow but Beta stopped him.
"Give the young princess some time."
"Ok. So...can I get a tour?" he asked. "This is my first visit to a spaceship."
Back on Earth…
Zhane was the first to see normally again. "She did NOT just do that!" he growled.
Tommy rubbed the spots out of his eyes. "How can she do that?"
"It looked as if she bent the light around her and redirected it into a blast of pure sunlight," Billy explained, his eyes able to see again.
"I've never met anyone who could explain my sister's ability so perfectly," Shadow said.
"Billy's the resident genius in our group," Jason remarked.
"We need to take this inside." Zach cautioned. "Too many ears."
"I agree."
TJ looked around. "Where's Justin?"
Ashley looked around. "JUSTIN?!" she yelled.
The others called out for him but he never responded.
Trini realized what happened. "How important is Justin's mission?" she asked.
No one said anything.
"I'll give you three guesses where he went."
"Crap." Kimberly murmured.
"He's a ranger alright." Zach remarked.
"I hope Cerina has enough sense to bring him back," Andros said with worry.
"He's persuasive...we need to find him." Tommy said and TJ agreed with a nod.
Trini then gave two short whistles, then a long one followed up with three quick whistled.
A revving was heard and out of the sky was a glittery yellow dirt bike looking vehicle with lightning bolt covers over all of the mechanical parts. A huge clear dome-like cover extended itself from the handles to the rear of the one-seater bike.
"Wow!" Tommy commented.
"Everyone...this is Wind Rider. She can track Omega down," Trini said proudly.
Wind Rider flashed her triple headlights 3 times.
"Track down Omega, but keep your distance." Trini instructed.
The seat on Wind Rider opened and something was injected from the seat. Trini caught the small, square item.
Wind Rider then settled the seat back in place and then took off, the wheels flipping sideways for flight mode. It was quick to the upper atmosphere in 3 seconds.
"This is a tracker. I track Wind Rider, she tracks Omega."
"Then let's go get them!" Zhane cried.
"Zhane...before we go...she never stopped loving you." Trini remarked.
Zhane paused.
"Cerina still loves you. She only wanted you guys safe." Trini continued.
"I know," he said softly.
"And Billy...you can tell me all about Aquitar." Trini teased.
So all of the rangers, even Shadow and the former Rangers, boarded the Astro Megaship to chase after the Omega Ship.
Inside Omega's Bridge (which is similar to the Astro Megaship's bridge)...
Cerina stood behind Justin as he sat at the helm, piloting the Omega Ship. The young Turbo Ranger enjoyed the chance to fly a ship in space. Cerina was doing a round-about trip back to Earth, so Cerina was showing some other planets and relating what she knew of them.
Justin soaked it up like a sponge.
"I will get dinner prepared. What would you like?" Beta asked.
"Let's try Michin soup with a roasted Closja." Cerina said.
"What?!" Justin asked.
"It's similar to potato and mushroom soup and roasted turkey." she explained.
"Oh. I'll try it then."
Beta left to fix dinner.
Justin smiled as Earth showed up as the furthest object in the area. "So I can't convince you to go to Eltar, can I?"
"No. But keep trying."
"You're future self said that I had to get you, Shadow and Fadus back to Eltar...I'm not giving up."
Cerina chuckled. "I'm still being chased by Mercerites. I won't endanger a planet. Not even to save the future."
"I'd be the one saving the future, but you have a role in this too."
"No." Cerina looked about to say something but she stopped. She looked around.
"What's wrong?"
"Hide in the vent. Now!" Cerina whispered.
"Why?" Justin whispered.
"Just do it."
Sighing, Justin went to the only vent on the bridge and pulling off the cover, went in and replaced it.
Cerina backed up, as to leave the bridge. But she knew something was wrong.
"We meet officially at last." The Gold Ranger appeared at the other entrance to the bridge.
"Who are you?" Cerina asked.
"Not who you think." he responded.
"Why me?" she asked.
"It's what my master wants."
"Bull. No way your master knows your here." Cerina backed up slightly.
"King Gasket ordered this, girl; and I intend to see it through." The Gold Ranger advanced with caution.
"Then catch me if you can!" Cerina ran in the opposite direction.
The Gold Ranger gave chase.