Chapter 20
"On August 28th, 1993, a Villain group calling themselves 'The Evil Space Aliens' attacked the city of Angel Grove, California, in the USA. This was the first of a series of attacks by various villain groups, Most claiming to be extra-planetary or supernatural. These invasions finally came to an end on June 28th, 2017. And in each case, the Villains were opposed by a group of Heroes collectively and colloquially known as the Power Rangers,"
Izuku began his speech with more confidence than he felt. He had been looking forward to giving the lesson to his classmates. Then, while he was working on the lesson plan, All Might informed Izuku that any lesson 1-A had, would also have to be given to 1-B. That worried the Ranger-in-training slightly, but All Might also told him that it would be a single lesson for both classes, rather than needing to give it twice and separately. Unfortunately, that was only the tip of iceberg. After the second year Sports Festival on Tuesday, Advisory reviewed Izuku's plan with the young man. And that was when she dropped the bomb.
Izuku was looking out over almost four hundred of the approximately six hundred fifty UA students. All six of the Hero Courses were required to attend the lecture. The rest of the student body had choice between Izuku's lesson and silent study hall. Most had chosen the lecture.
There were two things that helped Izuku keep his nerves in check. The first was that Izuku was not alone on the stage. All Might, Advisory, and Eraserhead were seated behind him. Izuku didn't think his classmates would risk Aizawa-sensei's infamous punishments. Or would want to make fools of themselves in front of All Might. And with Advisory watching, there was little chance they would get away with anything.
But there was something even more important than that. Directly in front of him, in the fourth row and the center seat. Shining blonde hair and bright blue eyes. They were locked on to him, full of affection and pride.
"Let me ask you a question," Izuku addressed his fellow students, "Before the announcement of this special class, who had even heard of the Power Rangers?"
Though he didn't count, it looked like a little over half of them raised their hands. That was a higher percentage than the general population. But these were Hero students, living on one of the cities that hosted a Ranger team.
"And how many of you believe the Rangers were real?"
Most of the hands dropped. Of course Melissa's was still up. 1-A students classmates Ashido, Kodai, and Kirishima also kept their hands raised. Izuku also recognize Hado Nejire and Togata Miro, two of the most famous and popular third years, and the second and first place in yesterday's third year Sports Fest. Izuku didn't know any of the others with their hands up.
He also wondered if any of them were on the True Believers site.
"Now let me ask another question," Izuku shifted his gaze across them, before focusing on Melissa again, "Much of the information about the Rangers has been lost or descended into myth. Their equipment and abilities seem fantastical, even compared to Quirks and bleeding edge science. But what if some of that really is a myth? What if truth, rumor, and fiction have been blended and distorted over the intervening centuries? How many of you are willing to accept that the Power Rangers are real, but that maybe some of the common knowledge about them is wrong?"
"Or to put it another way," the greenette grinned slightly, "I doubt anyone here believes the Abe Shinzo: Werewolf Fighter movies are factual history, but I also hope no-one would deny that Abe-sama existed and was Prime Minister."
A few more hands went up, and some of the crowd chuckled.
Izuku clicked the a button on the pointer slash mouse. An outline appeared on the screen behind him.
"That concludes my introduction," the boy said, "Next we will address 'The Elephant in the Room'. After that is the 'Power Rangers Introduction'. Then I will go into the individual Power Rangers teams and their enemies. Tomorrow, we will discuss Ranger tech, including covering what is known fact and what has likely been sensationalized over the years. We will also go over the fictional versions of the Rangers, and some of the proof that the Rangers were real."
He paused for a second, then launched into second first major topic.
"The Elephant in the Room, is one word. Aliens. As I said, the first Ranger team fought a group calling themselves 'Evil Space Aliens'. More than half of all the Ranger's various enemies were also extraterrestrial threats. That, in turn, is one of the most frequent and popular arguments against the Rangers being real. Ranger deniers say that aliens aren't real, so the Power Rangers must not be real, either. However, this is a logical fallacy on at least two levels."
The next slide was split in two. Izuku pointed to the right side.
"This is Klepto Derange-o, a Polish Villain from twenty-two years ago. She claimed to be a magic user, and due to the nature of her power, many people believed her. But when she was captured by the Krakow police, they tested her, and confirmed she was just a Quirk user."
Given what he had learned from Zack and Rita, the Dai clans, and Madison; Izuku wondered if Derange-o's Quirk was one of the ones that manipulated mana.
"The fact that she wasn't a wizard didn't somehow undo her crimes or absolve her of them."
The red dot shifted to the left side of the screen.
"These are the Old Gods of Asgard, a band from the 1970s. Even though one of the members later suffered dementia and believed he was a god, they were not gods. That didn't make their music less loved or upset their fans."
"My point, if it wasn't clear, is that even if the Evil Space Aliens were not really aliens, it doesn't mean that they were not a threat, and that the Power Rangers did not fight them. Dismissing the Rangers because one does not believe in aliens is an 'Argument from Fallacy'."
A brunette, sitting near Melissa and a few other 2nd years Izuku was familiar with, raised her hand. The Ranger-in-training stopped, and pointed to her.
"Midoriya-sensei," she said nervously, looking at Eraserhead, "If they weren't aliens, what were they."
"They were aliens," Izuku said, "Which I will get to in a moment. But as a thought experiment, they could have been mad scientists. One of the Ranger teams fought an insane geneticist and his experiments. They could also have been per-emergence Quirk wielders."
Izuku hit one of the secondary buttons on the remote, bringing up one of his back up slides.
"While not covered in our history class, or relevant here, there are theories that the Glowing Baby was not the first Quirk bearer. For example, Hercules, rather than being the son of Zeus, may have been an early bearer of a strength Quirk. If you wish to learn more about PEQW theory, you may check the links here."
Izuku paused for a moment, letting the students record the sparse info on the slide and the URLs for research into the PEQW theory. Then he clicked to another page.
"The idea that the Evil Space Aliens could not be aliens, because aliens do not exist is multiple fallacies rolled into one. It requires one to ignore or discount the science that shows, even if we may not have found it yet, there must be other life in the universe."
"Aliens came to Earth. They said they were aliens. The scientists at the time also were able to genetically analyze some of the Rangers enemies, and show that they had no Earthly counterparts. The aliens had tech that was far above what we have even now. Which could contribute to why the Ranger's tech was also superior. Doubters say that it was faked, or just not proof. I have to wonder, what it would take for them to believe it? If aliens saying they are aliens and proving they are aliens isn't enough, what would be enough?"
"Maybe they don't like the fact," Monoma cut it, "That after decades of supposed invasion attempts, the aliens just suddenly vanished."
Izuku was ready for that, if annoyed by the interruption.
"As we will get to shortly, some of the invasions had a specific goal, and ended when that goal was removed," Izuku said flatly, "Beyond that, multiple invasions were stopped by small teams of Heroes. Maybe they decided coming to Earth was not worth it. Or maybe circumstances out there changed. Your suggestion is another fallacy. You might as well say 'no-one wears leather armor in combat anymore, so our ancestors didn't either'. Things change over time, and that doesn't invalidate the past."
Izuku waited a moment for any more questions. Then he continued.
"So who were the Power Rangers? On a personal level, we don't know most of them. The Rangers' armor covered them from head to toe, and they guarded their identities. Some of them were discovered, while others revealed their identities for their own reasons. But most of them are unknown guardians. We can't even confirm that certain Rangers didn't serve on multiple teams. We know it was not just the same six people across the various teams. There were times when multiple teams were active at the same time, or even fought together. But we also know of at least one Ranger who served on four different teams."
Izuku did in fact know that most of the Rangers were different people, even if Tommy hadn't told him most of their names. But like many other secrets, the substitute teacher would not take the lesson beyond common knowledge. Thus his lecture did not include the member changes in the Mighty Morphin' team. The latter Might Morphin' team becoming the Zeo team. Or Karone replacing Kendrix on the Mirinoi team.
Izuku clicked a button, and a 3D rendering of the original six members of Mighty Morphin' Team appeared in front of the screen.
"The Ranger teams generally had six members, however there were some teams that varied. Each team had its own style of uniform..."
He switched to a new image, the five members of the Zeo Ranger team.
"Though each Ranger had their own unique color. They also had weapons. Most teams carried either an energy sidearm or dagger, as well as an individual weapon. The individual weapons are generally melee weapons, though there were a few bow users. The Rangers were also martial artists. Some were genuine masters, but all of them could hold their own in a fight."
"The Rangers also had combat vehicles," Izuku continued, "Some teams had motorcycles. But all of them had large combat vehicles. The distortion of time tells us these vehicles were transforming and combining mecha. We will talk about that more tomorrow, but the few clear and verifiable surviving images show large armored automobiles, like hybrids of cars and tanks."
"That is a basic rundown, before we start talking about the individual teams. Any questions?"
"Why do you think that the Ranger's vehicles couldn't be transforming mecha?" Momo asked after raising her hand.
"Megazords are every engineer's dream," Hatsume Mei answered before Izuku could, "But in reality the power requirements and connecting joints are not worth the loss of stability and hardened armor."
"Thank you, Hatsume-san," Izuku acknowledged her, "While we can't prove that the Ranger's vehicles could change forms or combine in some way, we also can't disprove it. And current materials and engineering tell us it isn't worth it. I'm getting ahead of myself, but we do know that at least some of the Rangers' vehicles had swappable equipment. That may have contributed to the idea that they could transform and combine."
"What's a Megazord?" someone else asked.
"The Ranger's vehicles were called Zords," Izuku answered, "And when the Zords combined, the resulting machine was called a Megazord."
"Why were they called that?" Mineta complained, "Zords?"
"Which I think will segue nicely into the first Ranger team," Izuku took back control.
"The Might Morphin' Power Rangers were assembled by an alien, Zordon of Eltar. The fact that the Rangers' vehicles are called Zords was due to their leader. That said, it is unclear if Zord was a word in the Eltaran language and Zordon was named for it, or if Zordon's name doesn't have a related meaning, and his name was just applied to the machines. Or both."
"The Evil Space Aliens were the followers of Lord Zedd, the self proclaimed Emperor of Evil. One of Zedd's top generals was Rita Repulsa. Rita and Zordon had been enemies for centuries, and when Rita was sent to Earth by Zedd, Zordon followed her and set up the Power Ranger team to stop her."
"The Rangers were able to hold off, and even push back Rita's forces. Until Rita unleashed her secret weapon. At some point in the past, Rita was able to steal the Green Ranger equipment. Having a Ranger of her own gave the Aliens an edge. The Rangers would have lost, except that the Green Ranger was unstable, and frequently had to retreat before the battles were over."
"The Rangers learned that the Green Ranger was a student named Tommy Oliver. Oliver-san was chosen by Rita due to his martial arts skills, and brainwashed to work for her. The Rangers were able to break the brainwashing, and Tommy was deeply regretful of his forced crimes. He joined the Rangers, and things were going well. But the damage Rita had done to the Green Ranger could not be undone. Tommy was forced to leave the team for his own safety. The still working Green Ranger equipment was distributed amongst the rest of the team."
"Rita's inability to defeat the Rangers upset her master. Lord Zedd came to Earth, and banished Rita. Zordon was forced to enhance the Ranger's armor and weapons to deal with the greater threat of Zedd. And even that was not enough, so Zordon started a secret project to create a new sixth Ranger. The White Ranger. Though the project took time and was a distraction to the Rangers, in the end it was a success. Zordon offered the White Ranger powers to Tommy, who returned to the team."
Izuku realized he dragged on a bit, and tried to speed up.
"Then Rita returned, and used a love potion on Zedd. Though the potion was neutralized, Zedd was enamored with the fact Rita was evil enough to do that, and married her anyway."
"This was when the Rangers learned the main reason Lord Zedd targeted Earth. He was after the Zeo Crystal. The Crystal was an artifact holding tremendous power. Zedd wanted Rita to conquer Earth so he could unseal the Zeo Crystal at his leisure. Rita failed, so Zedd came to Earth, and continued to attack. But the attacks were a distraction while he wrestled with the Crystal's defenses."
"Learning this, Zordon sent the Rangers to retrieve the Zero Crystal, and move it to a new hiding place."
"The battles between the Rangers and the Evil Space Aliens continued until February 17th, 1996. On that day, Zedd's lieutenant and Rita's half-brother Rito Revolto was able to sneak a bomb in the the Power Ranger's Command Center. While the Rangers and their allies were able to escape unharmed, the building was destroyed and the Rangers lost their abilities."
"But Zordon was prepared for this. He had prepared a second headquarters. Zordon then sent the Rangers to retrieve the Zeo Crystal as a power source. At the same time, Zedd's forces were attacked one of his evil rivals, The Machine Empire. Zedd had lost too many troops against the Rangers, and was forced to flee."
"April 20th 1996 was the first battle between the newly minted Zeo Power Rangers and the Machine Empire. As the name implies, the Machine Empire were a robotic race, ruled by King Mondo and Queen Machina. Unlike the Evil Space Aliens, the Machine Empire sought to conquer Earth merely for the fun of doing so. Initially, they were amused that the Rangers opposed them."
"The Machine Empire was also fighting the Triforia Kingdom, an alien species and government. When the Triforians learned that the Machines were attacking Earth, their Gold Ranger chose to come to Earth to help. He saw it as a chance to finally defeated the Machines."
"At one point, the Rangers were able to destroy King Mondo. This caused chaos in the Machine Empire. The Gold Ranger of Triforia asked the Zeo Rangers for help liberating one the worlds the Machine Empire had conquered, and Zordon and the Rangers agreed, since the world was an important source of metals for the robots."
"While the Zeo Rangers were offworld, one of Zedd's other generals decided to take his own stab at conquering Earth. The fish-man Verto launched an attack on Paris, and and started transforming people into fish-men slaves. "
"Zordon had recovered and repaired much of the Mighty Morphin' team's equipment, wanting to enshrine it. But with Verto's attack, he was forced to reactivate it. A team was recruited in Europe, and became the Neo Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers."
"It only took a few weeks for the Neo team to defeat Verto and restore his victims. Which was fortunate, because the Neo MM powers were unstable. But the team proved popular in Europe, and ensured the Power Rangers' legacy on that continent, particularly in France."
"Then the Machine Empire's Prince Gasket arrived on Earth and took control of the Empire's forces. The Zeo Rangers quickly returned to Earth, and the battle between the Rangers and the Machines resumed."
"Then King Mondo reappeared, having been rebuilt. But it wasn't enough, and the Rangers defeated the entire Machine Royal family, sending the rest of the Empire scrambling. Mondo claimed they would forever be rebuilt. Which would happen, but the Machine Empire never returned to Earth."
"The fight with the Machine Empire drained the power of the Zeo Crystal, and it was estimated it would take at least 200 years for it to recharge. Zordon and his assistants planned for this. After the Machines left, they had Rangers test out the new power set, one designed around velocity and race cars. The original Rangers decided to move on, and a new team was recruited to act as the Turbo Power Rangers."
"The Space Pirate Divatox came to Earth to free and marry the demon Maligore."
"What's with all the evil alien women and husband hunting?" Hagakure-san complained.
"I imagine it is hard to find an evil lover you can trust," Melissa countered. Her voice was sarcastic, but the ire was not directed at her invisible junior.
"Unlike Rita, Divatox was not able to get married," Izuku told them, "The Turbo Rangers defeated Maligore as soon as it was released. In revenge, Divatox attacked the Turbo Rangers and Earth."
"The battle between Divatox and the Turbo Rangers lasted about seven months. However about a month into the conflict, Zordon received a worrying message, and left Earth to investigate. The Rangers were able to hold off Divatox without their mentor, until one of Divatox's minions followed the Rangers back to their base. This allowed her to launch an all out attack on the Rangers. The Rangers were defeated and their powers destroyed. But they were left alive to watch their planet suffer."
"Divatox was planning to plunder Earth, when she received a summons. She left Earth, leaving the Rangers confused. And worried that she might come back. One of the Rangers had a contact with NASA. The US Space Agency had been working in secret with Zordon on a prototype space shuttle. The Rangers supplied a missing part from their destroyed base, and NASA agreed to let them use shuttle to seek out Zordon. But the shuttle only had room for four Rangers, so the fifth had to stay behind."
"Before they could find Zordon, the Rangers encountered another space craft. The Astro Megaship, from the planet KO-35 and captained by the Red Space Ranger, Andros. They learned that four of the other Space Rangers had died in battle, and the sixth Space Ranger was in a medical coma. They also discovered the reason Divatox suddenly left Earth."
"Dark Specter, the Grand Monarch of Evil, had summoned all the evil forces in the local galactic cluster to him. The Evil Space Aliens, the Machine Empire, Divatox's Space Pirates, and other evil groups and independent Villains who had no history with Earth. He showed them that he had captured Zordon. Dark Specter told the Villains he was assembling a United Alliance of Evil. That they could be his lieutenants, or they could be his slaves. He appointed a young woman named Astronema his second in command."
"Andros did not want to work with the Earth Rangers. But he did not have much choice; they were there, they were willing, and they had experience as Rangers, and fighting Divatox. They also had information on the Evil Space Aliens and the Machine Empire. So Andros gave the four of them the powers of the four fallen Space Rangers."
"The Rangers soon learned that Astronema was Andros' younger sister Karone, who had been kidnapped roughly a decade earlier. When she learned this, Astronema betrayed Dark Specter and tried to help the Rangers. But she was recaptured, and implanted with cybernetics to force her to be evil."
"The Rangers and their allies were slowly losing. Dark Specter was preparing his final attack, when one of his lieutenants betrayed him. A plant alien named Darkonda stole a boom... err bomb designed to destroy a planet. The missile killed Dark Specter, but Darkonda was caught up by his master's death throws and died as well."
"That did not mean that the United Alliance of Evil was done. Astronema ordered the villains to launch their attacks. She led the attack on Earth, and the Space Rangers fought her."
"During the battle, Andros snuck away, onto Dark Specter's ship. It was lightly defended due to the battle, and he was able to reach the imprisoned Zordon. Dark Specter tormented Zordon by setting up monitors to show the Ranger's mentor all of the attacks. So Zordon was fully aware of the situation. And he had a solution. Only, when Zordon told Andros the plan, the Red Space Ranger refused to help. But as the two watched as their friends and allies were overwhelmed, Andros was forced to agree.
Zordon shut off the defenses of his bio-extension tube. And Andros destroyed the tube, and Zordon with it.
This unleashed a burst of energy, called the Z-Wave. It engulfed the local galactic cluster. According to the Rangers, the Z-Wave destroyed or redeemed all evil it touched. This seems unlikely, or at least exaggerated, because there were other evils, even here on Earth, that were unaffected by the Z-Wave. It has been suggested that the Z-Wave only affected those who were touched by Dark Specter's power. Or that it was like a specialized EMP, and only destroyed the technology the UAE was using. This is considered likely, because not only was the Machine Empire eliminated, but also their backups and factories."
Izuku paused for a moment. He glanced at the clock, and realized he had rambled again, and was further behind schedule.
"Whatever the truth of the Z-Wave, it did end the Alliance. Astronema and Divatox were both freed from the cybernetics that forced them to be evil. And if any of the UAE survived, their overwhelming numbers vanished, and the Heroes were able to deal with those who remained. Andros asked the Earthlings if they were going to stay on Earth. But they decided to continue serving as the Space Rangers, since even though the war was over, there were plenty of worlds that would need support in rebuilding."
"This was in August of 2000. After that, there were no supernatural or extraterrestrial threats for over two years. Or at least not active ones, though there were enemies making plans under the surface."
"In April of 2003, Demons attacked Washington DC. Technically it was Mariner Bay, Maryland, a city in the Washington DC Metropolitan area, but most people haven't heard of Mariner Bay, so it is easier to just say Washington. The Demons were opposed and ultimately defended by the Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers. Lightspeed was a think tank, loosely affiliated with the US Government and dedicated improving technology for dealing with disasters. This secretly included researching Ranger tech, for when a new enemy appeared."
"Interesting factors for the Lightspeed team was that they used the local train system to transport their Zords around the city, and that the Sixth Ranger, the Titanium Ranger, was originally under the influence of the Demons, until the other Rangers freed him and showed him the truth."
"Then in 2005, about five months after the Demons were defeated, the city of Blue Bay Harbor, California was attacked by an alien ninja named Lothor. He was opposed by the Wind and Thunder Ninja academies near the city. They created the Ninja Storm Power Rangers team to fight Lothor, who was ultimately revealed to be a former student of the Wind Ninja school, exiled for his evil ambitions."
"While the Ninja Storm Rangers were fighting Lothor, a group known as the Gorma Clan attacked Kyoto, here in Japan. If you are familiar with ancient Chinese Mythology, you might recognize that name. This Gorma clan claimed to be the same evil wizards from the old myths. Whether this was true or not, they were a threat, and were stopped by the Squadron Ranger Team. The Squadron Rangers were of note because they were the first team to have all six members from the the start, rather than starting with a smaller team and recruiting others later. They were also the most secretive team. While all of the Power Rangers kept their identities secret from the public and even the government, the Squadron Rangers kept their identities secret even from the other Rangers."
"Shortly following the defeats of both Lothor and the Gorma, a new enemy appeared in Reefside California. Mesogog was the result of failed genetic experiments, and wanted to restore the age of dinosaurs and destroy humanity. He was fought by the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. The Dino Thunder team stands out because the Dino Thunder Black Ranger was Tommy Oliver, the Mighty Morphin' Green and White Ranger, now a Doctor of Paleontology. "
"Next came the Mystic Force Power Rangers in Briarwood, in New Zealand. As their name implies, these Rangers used magic as well as Ranger powers, to fight a magical enemy known as the Morlocks."
"The Operation Overdrive Power Rangers came next, and they fought two enemies at once. Aliens Flurious and Moltor came to Earth, both seeking gems from an ancient crown, the Corona Aurora. Fortunately for the Rangers, the two villains and their forces fought and sabotaged each other as much as the Rangers, so the Rangers were not outnumbered."
"Then another alien threat came to Earth, this time attacking Tokyo. They were the Tube Empire. They wanted to terraform Earth to be darker and colder like their home world. The Lightning Rangers fought them, and eventually learned that the King leading the Tube Empire was a usurper and impostor. After the villain was defeated, the rest of the Tube Empire left in peace."
"At the same time, the evil spirit Dai Shi escaped from the Pai Zhuq temple in Ocean Bluff, California..."
"Again?" someone in the audience groaned.
"Yes," Izuku nodded, "The warriors of the Pai Zhuq formed the Jungle Fury Power Rangers team to stop Dai Shi and his minions. The Jungle Fury team started with only three Rangers,
but grew to be the largest team with eight Rangers and five other Pai Zhuq users fighting with them by the end."
"The second to last team where the Samurai Power Rangers. They fought against the Nighloks..."
"The undead monsters from Japanese Mythology?" one of the second years blurted out incredulously.
"The same," Izuku nodded, "Or at least they claimed to be. After the Nighloks were banished back across the Senzu river and sealed away, the ancient samurai responsible traveled the world, and added additional seals. Eventually, they found the place where the Senzu was the the most narrow and shallow, thus the seals were weakest. So they settled there, to prepare for the Nighloks' return. And of course, that place was in; say it with me now..."
"California," most of the students repeated in amusement. Except a handful, who were to cool, incredulous, or enraged.
"Panorama City, California, to be precise," Izuku confirmed, "The Samurai Rangers were the decedents of the original Samurai warriors who defeated the Nighloks, and had been training their whole lives for this. Ultimately, the Rangers were able to destroy the Nighloks leader, and reseal the others. Though as he faded, the leader did promise the other Nighloks would return some day."
"Which brings us the the final Ranger team, the Mega Force. They had the unique ability to temporarily duplicate the powers and equipment of the past Ranger teams. This gave them incredible flexibility in dealing with their enemies, Emperor Mavro and the Armada."
"Initially Mavro sent one of his legions, called 'Warstar' to attack the Earth. The Mega Rangers had a few tough fights, but ultimately decimated Warstar, even forcing them to recruit reinforcements twice. After Warstar was completely defeated, the Armada came to Earth with their main force. The Rangers received an upgrade to their powers, made greater use of the Legendary Powers, and even had some direct help and training from the past Rangers. While the Armada prime was much stronger than Warstar, the Ranger were still able to win, and destroyed Emperor Mavro."
"For any other team this would have been the end. But Mavro was especially self-important and vengeful. He didn't care what happened to the rest of his empire if he died. So when he was defeated, all of the Armada, the troops and ships that were controlling the other planets he ruled, were called to Earth. The Empire would collapse and the rest of his subjects could revolt, but whoever defeated him would be crushed."
Izuku stopped speaking and turned to the display. The current lecture slide was showing the Mega Rangers in their Super mode, as well the three categories of Armada foot soldiers. Izuku clicked the remote and it switched to a video.
"Miss Ziktor..." Senator Jack Johnson from Georgia addressed the expert witness.
"Doctor Ziktor," another Senator, his nameplate not visible, angrily cut off Johnson.
"Doctor Ziktor," Johnson looked annoyed but inclined his head slightly to acknowledge his colleague, "while you did work in aerospace and collaborate with NASA on the Terra Venture project, that was over fifteen years ago. Since then you have been running a cybercafe. Why should we be taking your advice on how to handle this impending invasion?"
"On the whole, you shouldn't," the brunette genius admitted, "I'm not an expert on military strategy. You should only listen to me on the specific question at hand. As to my qualifications? In the past fifteen years, I have published four peer-acclaimed scientific papers on energy shielding, the Morphin' Grid compared to electrical energy, and FTL flight. I also worked directly and closely with the Dino Thunder Power Rangers."
Hayley dragged out her statement, trying to buy time.
"Doctor Ziktor," the politician who had defended her earlier spoke up again, "Can you explain, in non-technical terms, why launching nuclear weapons against the Armada fleet will not be effective?"
"There are too many assumptions in this plan," she answered, "The plan fails to take into account the distance between the individual ships, expecting larger numbers to be within range of the initial explosion. The plan expects the Armada's shields to be down, or at least in transit mode. It hopes that the resulting EMP will have any effect on the ships or the X-Borgs operating them. And finally it completely ignores potential after effects of the attack."
"Then," the unnamed Senator asked before anyone else could, "What would you say the results of a nuclear strike would be?"
"Best case scenario, the Armada completely underestimates us. Their shields are down and they don't try to evade the missiles. The first set of explosions each take out about a dozen ships. Maybe three hundred total out of the seven thousand en route. Then the rest raise their shields, shoot down the remaining missiles if they are worried, and continue to Earth. We've created a radioactive cloud in space for a fraction of the enemy."
"Most likely scenario, nothing happens. The nuclear explosions might knock force a few of their ships into minor course corrections from the shock waves, but that is all."
"But the worst case scenario? They are able to use the energy from the blasts to recharge. And they collect the particles from the nukes, so instead of fighting X-Borgs, the Power Rangers will be fighting irradiated X-Borgs."
"And how did you come to this conclusion?" Johnson butted in again.
"I have been able to examine disabled Armada X-Borg and Bruiser class mooks, alongside Doctors Hartford, Fairweather, and Fairweather. I was also able to test the remains of a destroyed Armada spacecraft, though that was in much worse shape."
Johnson looked defeated, "So what do you want us to do? Just stand aside while one team of five Power Rangers takes on an invasion force of thousands?"
"It won't just be one team," a new voice answered from the back of the gallery.
"It's about time," Hayley muttered under her breath.
"Who is that?" Johnson demanded, rising out of his seat to see.
"These are my colleagues," Hayley said, "Doctor Thomas Oliver, Director Carter Grayson, and Pai Zhuq master Casey Rhodes."
"The Director of Lightspeed," one of the Senators off screen said, "Does that mean that the Lightspeed Rangers will be supporting the Mega Rangers?"
"It is a bit more than that," Carter said. Then he looked at Tommy. Tommy glanced at Casey, who nodded.
"It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy declared.
"Lightspeed Rescue!"
"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleash!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
There was a bright flash of light, and the three men were transformed. The three Rangers removed their helmets, revealing they where the same people.
"All of the veteran Rangers have regained their powers," Tommy said, then he changed into Mighty Morphin' White Ranger.
He then added sardonically, "And I trust this proves Hayley's association with the Dino Thunder Ranger team."
"The Mega Rangers will have support from all of the past Rangers," Casey told the Senators, "As well as many of our other allies."
"What can we do?" another Senator asked, "Just stay out of it?"
"I think the best thing the government can do," Carter answered thoughtfully, "is to be ready to help the civilians. Rescue and evacuations."
The video ended there, and Izuku faced the audience again.
"On a side note, Ranger doubters claim the flash of light was an effect added to cover the editing of the video, to make it appear they underwent an immediate transformation. But the video also clearly shows twenty-one US Senators. It is unlikely that many Senators would participate in such a deception."
"Two days later, the Armada landed. The Legendary Battle was the first fight of the Ranger War, all of the Rangers against the Armada landing party. The Rangers won the Battle, and pushed the Armada back."
Izuku noticed the clock on the back wall of auditorium. He blinked in surprise.
"The Ranger War lasted eight days. It comprised of more ground battles, and also space battles between the flying Zords and the Armada ships. The Rangers won all of the major conflicts, and ultimately the war."
"With that we are out of time. Tomorrow we will be covering the fictionalized version of the Rangers, the Morphin Grid and the Ranger's equipment, and the evidence of the Ranger's existence. And we should have time for questions."
A few of the students finished up notes that they were taking, but most just rushed out of the auditorium at the perceived dismissal.
Nezu entered the Echo Command Center, only to find it completely dark. A moment later, Tommy's tube flared to life, and the main lights turned on.
"Good evening, Nezu," the AI said.
"Good evening, Tommy," the bear-mouse answered, then added, "I'm surprised the others aren't here. I expected Izuku would want to tell you how his class went, and hear what Toshinori and Melissa thought."
"Izuku and Melissa are at the Midoriyas' apartment," Tommy explained, "Inko said Izuku has been spending too much time here, and she also wanted to hear how his lesson went. She also wants to get to know Melissa better. So the Rangers will be having dinner there. And as for All Might, he is on a case. An argument that turned into a large scale brawl, with Quirks involved."
Nezu nodded.
"That said, I'm glad you are here," Tommy told him, "I have something for you to take a look at."
Tommy pointed to the main screen. A video started playing. It looked like an animated Picasso painting, speaking Simlish. But if Nezu looked carefully, the pattern of grey, yellow, and peach, with splashes of blue and red almost looked familiar.
"Is that... Karone?" Nezu asked tentatively.
"It is," Tommy confirmed, "they brought the prototype Grid Repeater to Titan a few hours ago. Like the last time, our regular communications worked fine once they were close enough. But when we tried using the Grid Repeater, the signals in both directions looked like this. The only upside is that these garbled transmissions worked out to Proxima. We didn't test any further, since it isn't working."
"Still," the genius animal mused, "At least we know we are on the right track. We only need to figure out what is crossing the streams. Did they give you anything else?"
Tommy nodded, "They sent the scrambled version of my transmission, as well as the clear side of their transmission, so we can compare what we got to what it should have been. And also a schematic scan of the prototype."
"Excellent," Nezu smiled, "Shall we get to work?"
After dinner, Izuku and Melissa had returned to the dining table. They were going over Izuku's plan for the second day of the Power Ranger lesson. Inko was on the other side of the split room, watching the news. Izuku had been briefly distracted by the report of All Might breaking up a fight at a swimwear photo shoot. Melissa was amused and happy that her boyfriend was only interested in the Number One Hero's exploits and the Quirks involved, not in the scantily clad models using those Quirks.
"Izuku," Inko suddenly and fearfully called out, rising off of the sofa.
"Mom?" Izuku prompted back. In response, Inko turned up the volume.
"..ter nearly thirty hours in surgery, the doctors believe that Ingenium will live," the report was saying, "But he will not be able to return to Hero work. It is unlikely Iida-san will ever be able to walk without a prosthesis and a cane. Tokyo PD has refused to comment on this active case. However one of the surgeons, who asked to remain nameless, told us that the wounds are consistent with other attacks by the villain Stain the Hero Killer."
Inko muted the TV, and looked at her son.
"You said one of your classmates in Ingenium's brother, didn't you?" Ink asked.
"Iida Tenya," Izuku confirmed.
"I hope he's okay," Melissa said softly, "I hope they're both okay."
Izuku wanted to talk to Iida-kun before the Friday class started, but wasn't able to find the speedster. So the Ranger-in-training hurried to the auditorium and took his position on the stage.
"One of the main reasons that many people assume the Power Rangers were not real," the greenette lectured, "is because of the fictionalized version of the Rangers. I am setting aside the numerous Power Rangers video games..."
"Why?" Bakugou interjected, "You think the games can't be used as proof they were fake?"
"WLB 2239 is coming out next month," a skinny, sullen third year countered, "Are you saying that makes the World Baseball League fake?"
"All Might appears as a playable character in Nippon Heroes Musou Four," Izuku scolded, "But Endeavor does not. And as a result, in the Nagoya fight against the Frost Brothers the default Hero is Best Jeanist instead of Endeavor. Who are you saying is fake in that case?"
Bakugou's teeth clicked as his mouth snapped shut.
"The other forms of media definitely had an impact," Izuku returned to the original point, "Particularly the TV shows, since they had people instead of drawing and pixels, and some had special effects that looked more real than the footage of the Rangers taken by bystanders."
"The first TV show was Power Rangers Time Force. Production design and scripting began after the defeat of the United Evil Alliance, though the show did not air until after the Lightspeed Rangers defeated the Demons. Time Force featured Rangers from the year 3000, coming back to the year 2000 in pursuit of escaped criminals. The setting was developed so that any differences between the real Rangers' abilities and the Time Force could be attributed to the time travel aspect."
"The second Power Rangers TV series was here in Japan, and had a unique element of reality. Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger was created using footage of the Dino Thunder Rangers' battles. TV Asashi purchased news and bystander footage, and then hired Japanese actors to play the Rangers and wrote their own scripts about what was happening. For example, because there was no footage of Mesogog until his final battle with the Dino Thunder team, Abaranger created a their own villain for the series. The Dino Thunder Rangers were aware of Abaranger, and enjoyed the series. Though the Red Ranger was upset at first."
"The next series was Power Rangers SPD, short for Space Patrol Delta. This series was also set in the future," Izuku grinned unconsciously, "The distant future year of 2025. Though it is 200 years in the past for us, it was18 years in the future for them. SPD envisioned a world where aliens lived openly on Earth, and the Power Rangers evolved into an intergalactic police force. The five Rangers were Human, but had Quirk-like abilities. And their leader was dog-like alien, while their technical director was a swan-like alien."
"Arguably the most interesting part of SPD was that they hired the actors from Abaranger, and created a pair of crossover episodes, where one of the two teams time traveled and they fought together."
"The next TV series was Dengeki Sentai Blitzranger," he continued, "Also here in Japan. Unlike Abaranger, Blitzranger was entirely made up, like the American shows."
"Then the Americans made a theatrical movie based vaguely on the original Mighty Morphin' team. It was in production when the Ranger War started, and was released after. They didn't know the first five Rangers' names, so they made them up. But since Doctor Oliver had revealed his identity, they hired him to be an extra, and used his name in the sequel stinger. Unfortunately, the movie did not do well in the wake of the Ranger War, and there was no sequel."
"The last TV series was Power Rangers Ninja Steel. It came out after the Glowing Baby was born in 2018. It was not well received, and with the lack of real Rangers after that, it basically spelled the end of Power Rangers on TV."
"That said there were two online streams that also contributed to the Power Rangers being mythologized and discounted. While the Jungle Fury team was active, there was a YouTube channel named 'Jungle Fran'. This channel featured phone footage of the Power Rangers' fights, but with additional sound and visual effects added."
"The second was Power Rangers Hyper Force. Hyper Force was a live-stream of a role playing game. It was a sequel to Time Force, and the actress who played the Time Force Pink Ranger was a frequent guest on the series. One of the main players in the game was Farkas Bulkmeier, who frequently interacted with and was a fan of the Mighty Morphin' and Zeo Rangers. And Doctor Oliver also appeared playing himself in the series."
"That, unfortunately, is another reason people claim the Rangers are fake. Doctor Oliver's appearance in the movie and in the RPG live play. They claim that a real Ranger wouldn't do that. Just like no Pro Hero would ever do that."
That last line was one of the most deeply sarcastic things Izuku had ever said.
Izuku explained the Morphin' Grid to his students. He wasn't a genius, or a dimensional physicist. And Nezu told the boy not to mention Grid Bronze, not wanting the rare alloy to become known and sought after. But Izuku told them everything else, to the best of his knowledge and ability.
Midoriya talked about the Ranger's uniforms. He referenced research papers, showing how the materials used in Pro Hero costumes were imperfect recreations of the Rangers' gear.
He told them about the Rangers' side arms, which had stun and lethal modes, with the lethal modes being based on the type of weapon most effective against each team's enemies.
Then Izuku explained about the Super Modes that certain teams had, and the Battlizers that many of the Red Rangers had.
The Zords were the last tech topic. The common design elements and equipment. Known information about how Zord combination into Megazords worked. As well as the arguments against it.
"Which brings us to the last topic," Izuku said, "Proof. Items and research that is in favor of the Rangers' existence. And the first item is right here in Japan, in Kyoto."
He clicked to the next slide. It showed a slab of white marble at the edge of the forest.
"This monument rests inside the grounds of Nanzen-ji, one of the Buddhist Temples in Kyoto. It lists those who died in the final battle between the Squadron Rangers and the Gorma clan, as well as the emergency workers who helped. While it doesn't mention the Rangers, it does have the Squadron Ranger's logo on it. The temple and UNESCO both allowed the plaque to be placed. And whoever approved it must have believed that the Rangers were real and participated. It may not be evidence of what they could do, or how they helped. It shows that they were some sort of group. But that is not what I want you to see."
The image advanced. The camera moved past the memorial, onto a rough path leading into the forest. Then the woods cleared, and the camera panned over a large slab of blue metal.
"This is a piece of armor from the Blue Squadron Ranger's Kirin Zord. The Zord was functionally destroyed in the final battle. The day after, the Rangers arrived and removed most of the tech attached. Then the government came in, and tried to remove the armor for study. But they couldn't damage it. Plasma torches, lasers, diamond tipped saw, water jet cutters. Nothing even marred the surface. They tried to lift it out with helicopters, it is too heavy. Neither the temple nor UNESCO would let them take down the fence or any more trees to bring in cranes to try to lift it. So it is still sitting there, 221 years later. Not a hint of corrosion or erosion on its surface. And the government has a records of additional attempts to disassemble it, using improved technology or more recently Quirks. Totally unchanged."
Izuku then went on to talk about the Power Rangers Museum in Angel Grove. He connected to the museum's virtual, online tour. He showed them the various Ranger and monster artifacts. Testimonies of their origins and authenticity. Scientific studies performed on each object.
"All of this, of course, barely scratches the surface," Izuku addressed them confidently, "If you are interested in learning more about the Power Rangers, I suggest you start with..."
He brought up a book cover. It had the picture of a lanky man in an expensive suit.
"... 'Friend of Power', the autobiography of Eugene Skullovitch. He was a fan of the Power Rangers while they active, and interacted directly with the Mighty Morphin', Zeo, and Space teams. And if you doubt that..."
He clicked, to flip the book over to the back jacket.
"... for anyone who can't see it, it says 'Self-aggrandizing, but factual and well written; Dr. Thomas Oliver (confirmed Power Ranger)'."
"And that is what I have for you. Does anyone have any questions?"
Yui immediately raised her hand.
"Yes, Kodai-san?" Izuku pointed to her.
"Is there a reason you did not mention the Aquitar Rangers?" she asked. Despite her normal, emotionless tone, Izuku detected a hint of accusation.
"Partly just for time," Izuku said, "But mainly for lack of evidence. To explain for those not familiar, at one point the Mighty Morphin' team were supposedly reverted to children and lost their connections to the Morphin' Grid. So Zordon asked the Rangers from the planet Aquitar to fill in while they restored the Earth Rangers. The Aquitar Rangers are real, they fought against the UAE on their homeworld and came to Earth to help in the Ranger War. But there is no proof that they came to Earth be for that. No images or surviving artifacts. The only evidence is testimonies. While I believe that did happen, if anyone wants hard proof, there isn't any."
Kodai nodded, mollified.
"Who was the strongest Ranger?" a second year, who Izuku didn't recognize, demanded sarcastically.
"That is subjective, especially depending on how you define 'strongest'," Izuku mused, "But there are three main contenders. The Zeo Team is frequently called the strongest team, since they drew on both the Morphin' Grid and Zeo Crystal for their powers. And the Gold Ranger was the strongest member of that team. The strongest Ranger on the strongest team could be the strongest."
"The second option is the Red Mega Ranger. You should remember from yesterday that the Mega Rangers could copy the other Ranger's abilities. There were more Red Rangers than other colors. And while there isn't proof, the Red Mega Ranger could also use the past Red Rangers Battlizers, on a limited basis. That flexibility and temporary power boosts could make Mega Red the strongest Ranger."
"Lastly, and getting my personal vote, is Doctor Oliver. He was a Ranger on four teams. He had the most combat experience of any Ranger. And during the Ranger War, he had the Master Morpher, which allowed him to take on any of his five Ranger forms, and switch between them instantly. While he didn't have the variety of forms the Mega Red had, Dr Oliver did not have the restrictions the Mega Rangers had."
The gallery was silent for a moment. Then Advisory raised her hand. Melissa and a handful of other students pointed to her.
"Boenkyodo-sensei?" Izuku glanced back, and then called on her.
"Are you a Power Ranger?" she asked her student gently.
Izuku shrugged and gave her a melancholy smile.
"What am I supposed to say here?" he countered, "If I say 'no', is that the truth? Or am I just denying it to protect my identity, like the past Rangers did? If I say 'yes', why am I violating the Ranger code? Is there something coming? Or am I a liar like Red Steel? Or just delusional?"
"For the record, I deny it. I am not a Power Ranger."
'yet,' he added silently.
"Does anyone else have any questions?"
Mineta opened his mouth, but Monoma put a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder and inclined his head towards the seemingly asleep Eraserhead.
"Okay," Izuku confirmed a minute later, "Then I guess everyone can have twenty minutes back."
"But to clarify," Aizawa said without opening his eyes, "You need to stay here until the lunch bell. And try not take make too much noise."
Melissa bounded up to the stage. And a few others followed.
"Good afternoon," Nezu announced his arrival.
This time the Command Center was fully lit up. Tommy was visible in the tube. Melissa and Izuku were sitting next to each other at the larger table. And each teen had a large stack of papers in front of them.
"Going through your internship requests?" the dog-bear asked them.
"For starters," Melissa replied with a saucy grin at her boyfriend, "We are sorting them by city. So we can take offers that will let us stay close."
"Teenagers," Nezu shook his head in mock dismay. Then he smiled brightly, "But if that is the case, that makes this easier for me."
He reached into his vest, and took out two stapled documents. They hadn't been folded, but somehow also had not been visible under the small teacher's clothing.
"What are these?" Izuku asked as Nezu handed them to the Rangers.
"A late internship offer."
"'UA Special Research Internship'? What's that?" Melissa asked after reading the title aloud.
"A unique internship proposal," Nezu explained, "You can read them, but the short version is that Shield Melissa and Midoriya Izuku will intern under a portion of the UA staff. Primarily, Melissa will be working with me to study, understand, and replicate Izuku's abilities. To balance the internship, Izuku will also patrol with All Might, to gain practical Hero experience. And finally, both of you will also have martial arts lessons with Advisory. She worries the two of you are being forced to fight down to your classmates' level,. That you are not gaining as much from her class as you could. So she wants to give you more specialized and more advanced lessons."
"She also wants to see the two of us together, doesn't she?" Melissa smirked.
"She didn't mention it," Nezu said evenly, "Though I wouldn't doubt it."
Izuku and Melissa looked at each. If he hadn't known better, Nezu might have thought they had developed telepathy.
"We'll have to review the other offers, of course," Melissa said.
Nezu nodded his understand.
"But consider this a soft yes from us," Izuku confirmed for both of them.
"Excellent," the awoken animal said happily.
Author's Note: The reasons specific teams were omitted or made internally fictional has been covered before. But respectful reviews asking why will be answered. Generally the answer boils down to 'time travel' or 'alternate dimension'.