[FangRX]

LAST TIME ON POWER RANGERS UNLEASHED

“Alright, Furyblaze. Enough,” Thomas said, spinning his blaster around. The entire team had morphed already, each of them lowering their blasters.

“Thomas. You had promise, young man. What happened?”

“Ask the man you call “Lord”. But…first things first, old friend. Its time to settle this,” Thomas said, holding his saber up. “Rangers…we end this quick, you’ll get your explanations from me. I won’t let this bastard run free anymore.”

“Fair enough. Let’s rumble,” Artemis said, knowing that this was something that had to be done, even if Thomas did have to fight his old friend to stop his rampaging.

“I doubt you’ll live to tell that tale, Thomas. You never could stand up to me in combat, what makes you think you can do it now?” Furyblaze asked, rushing forward and locking swords with the Red Ranger, a resounding crash and a blinding white light forcing the Rangers to close their eyes or be blinded….

Chapter 3: Death and Resurrection

Thomas yelled as he flew backwards, landing on his back with Furyblaze’s sword in his chest. “Ah!” he growled, handing Alec his sword and Richmond his blaster. “Finish…him…”

Artemis and Andrea swapped weapons, the siblings looking down as Thomas died, Furyblaze laughed as he stepped forward. “Who’s next?” he growled, retriving his sword from the fallen Red Ranger’s chest.

“Bastard!” Artemis yelled, rushing forward and ducking a few swings, firing rapidly from her twin blasters, several of her shots connecting…with his sword. “FUCK!”

“Yes, Pink Ranger. You are fucked,” Furyblaze growled, slashing up at the two blasters to knock them out of Artemis’ hands. He heard her scream as her hands were cut to drop her weapons, and he slashed down again, his sword causing the Pink Ranger to crash to the ground, her Ranger Key skittering away as her blood pooled around her.

“Arty!” Andrea yelled, tears in her eyes as her little sister killed. “You bastard!”

Alec clenched the hilts of his swords, anger and fury in his eyes as he and Andrea both ran forward, not wanting to give Furyblaze a chance to attack. “I will have your head for what you did, Furyblaze!” the Blue Ranger snapped, swinging around before Furyblaze ducked his swords, turning his back to Alec. He felt the sword before he saw it, plunged deep within his stomach, falling off of the blade.

“Why!?” Andrea yelled, unleashing her anger for the death of her sister and her two teammates into her swords.

“Why not? You attack me, I kill you. I was tasked with killing the Rangers, and that is what I’m doing,” Furyblaze chortled, disarming Andrea before stepping back. “I will give you both, the last two Rangers, ten seconds to start running. Consider it…a momentary escape from the harsh truths you shall endure when I catch the pair of you.”

“Like hell,” Richmond said, stepping up beside Andrea, a Black Ranger in his hand. “I won’t let this go without revenge, asshole.”

“Too bad. It was a one time offer,” Furyblaze said, swinging his sword in a wide arc. It looked like he missed the pair, but as soon as the Green Ranger stepped forward, their suits exploded in sparks and fire, the final two Rangers lifeless bodies falling beside their comrades. “Lord Dimas! It is done!”
________________________________________________

The Rangers looked around, each one clad in white garments, the seams stitched in their Ranger color. Surrounded by a sea of people each wanting to greet them, Artemis recognized each of them from the computers and stories from when she was a girl, taking her sister’s hand.

“Andy…I think we’re dead,” the Pink Ranger said, feeling Alec’s hand on her shoulder, Thomas nodding from the side.

“Artemis, I think you’re right,” the captain admitted, looking around. “Morphing Grid. Rangers version of Heaven. But…why?”

“Because Furyblaze struck all of you down,” a voice said, one of the Rangers stepping out of the light. Her hair was a striking blonde, clad in black pants with a black jacket and a yellow tee. “We watched the fight. We had hoped that you would have stopped him and let Pan Central thrive.”

“Wait…you’re Gia. The Megaforce Yellow Ranger,” Andrea said, remembering the Key she’d had in her hand a few days before. “We’re dead…and the city?”

“Almost destroyed. After the death of the Power Rangers, the Battlesnare Empire moved right in. Geeps took your bodies and the Galleon into space, hiding on the moon,” another said, stepping up. His arms clad in tattoos, Artemis almost squealed at the mixtures of red, white, green, and black on his karate Gi. “What are you guys going to do now?”

“We’re going to find a way back, and stop the Empire for good,” Thomas said, a collective murmur from the Rangers around him agreeing.

“Then you will be needing my help,” a third voice said, stepping forward. The crowd of Rangers parted like the Red Sea, an old man stepping through, the lightning bolt of the Power Rangers carved into the top of the staff he used to walk.

“And who are you?” Richmond asked, Alec nodding his head in agreement.

“The Aura is familiar, but…the body is different,” the Blue Ranger noted, stepping forward. “Are you--?”

“Yes, I am Zordon,” the elderly Eltarian Wizard said, a smile on his face. “Welcome to the Morphing Grid. I did not think our newest hope would be defeated so swiftly, but as it is the case…we must remedy this.”

“How?” Alec asked, stepping up from the back. “How do we expect to fix this and make sure that we’re not going to stay dead when, the last time I checked, dying was permanent.”

“Watch your tone, boy,” a Ranger with long brunette hair and blonde streaks snapped, stepping up. “You will have respect.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Andros,” Gia said, shaking her head. “The five of you are going to have a quote-unquote “coach” to help you gain your bodies and lives back.” She stepped to the side, five colored doors appearing behind her and Zordon. “Step through your respective doors, and find your Coaches. It won’t be easy, Rangers, but if it was, then it wouldn’t be a challenge.”

Thomas nodded, looking at the four Rangers. “Let’s go,” he said, leading his team forward. As the five stood in front of the doors. They turned the knobs, stepping into the blinding lights.
______________________________________________

Stepping through his door, Thomas barely brought a sword up to block a red-hilted sword that had been lunged at him. “I thought so,” he said, pushing the Ranger in front of him backwards.
______________________________________________

Her door closed behind her, and Artemis barely got jumped backwards before a pink arrow shot right over her left shoulder. “Of course,” the Pink Ranger said, holding her blaster up before pointing it at the form in front of her.
______________________________________

Richmond looked around, bringing his blaster up and blocking the short sword that was directed at his head, kicking the figure backwards before holding his weapon up, seeing one pointed at him. “Would have figured this would happen,” he said, smirking.
______________________________________

Andrea ducked backwards, seeing a pair of laser blasts sail over her head, drawing her sword before blocking two more. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” she muttered, getting thrown backwards before skidding on her back. “Batter up.”
______________________________________

Alec sighed, looking around at the music store he’d stepped into. “Damn,” he growled, hearing the rush of a wave behind him, spinning around before getting soaked. “You really want to do this, little girl?”
______________________________________

“How did you determine that it’d be myself fighting you, Thomas?” the Red Ranger, his suit the very first Red Power Ranger on Earth, falling from his body in a flash of red light.

“Jason Scott. Why am I not surprised?” Thomas asked, lowering his sword. “So why are you my teacher? Do I need to learn something?”

“Leadership,” Jason said. “I know that it’s tough to lead a team as diverse as you five are. Especially for you who was never in a leadership position before now. What did you do with the Empire?”

“I was…second in Command of Furyblaze’s troops,” Thomas said, the Juice Bar around them shimmering into the depths of the Empire’s Flagship.

[I]”Alright, listen up. This time, I’m not going to go easy on you, Thomas. You need to focus and you need to learn these in case I die and cannot be resurrected. Understand?” Furyblaze asked, a bit of a playful tone in his voice instead of the gruff jerk they’d been fighting.

“I can learn this, Commander! I just….can’t focus on the movement of your sword,” Thomas said, holding his own sword up to try and deflect the silver tinged blasts. “You need to give me a chance to get ready to block!”

“Your enemies won’t wait! Why should I?” Furyblaze growled, rushing forward, blocking Thomas’ sword before throwing him backwards.

The “training” kept up for a while like that, Thomas attacking then having to quickly defend before getting cut and bloodied up. Finally, the scene turned from gray to color, Thomas looking at his past self.

“WHat the hell?” the Red Ranger asked, looking up.

“In order to completely learn, Thomas, you must defeat your past to have a better future,” Jason said, stepping to the side.

The past version of Thomas leapt forward, the Red Ranger drawing his sword again to defend himself from his pasts attacks.

“Why are you fighting, Thomas?” Jason asked, watching the Red Ranger fight with his past self. “Why!?”

“To make amends for what I did as an agent of the Empire!” Thomas yelled, watching his past self stab him. He never felt the blade, though, just how cold it felt passing through him.
______________________________________________

“And you are?” the Pink Ranger asked the woman in front of her.

The Galaxy Ranger dropped her morph, her Quasar Saber in her hand before pushing up her silver glasses. “I’m Kendrix Morgan, Artemis. And…let’s just say you’re in for a crash course,” she said, lowering her sword.

“Crash course on what?”

“How you can work with that team of yours,” Kendrix said, smirking softly. “We’ve been watching you five, Artemis. Myself and four other Rangers. Zordon gave us the task of making sure you were all properly prepared.”

“So…what do I have to do?” Artemis asked, lowering her own sword. “I don’t have to fight you, do I?”

“No. Not yet. You need to try and remember what happened to you in the past to want to be a fighter like this,” Kendrix said, sitting down on the floor of her lab on Terra Venture. “Sit, please.”

Artemis nodded, sighing softly. “How do I work on remembering?”

“Just close your eyes and concentrate,” Kendrix said, the Pink Ranger in front of her closing her eyes.

Artemis, after closing her eyes, sighed as she remembered her father’s “tough love”, even though the mental and emotional scars never healed.

”Dad! Please stop hitting her like this!” Andrea’s voice yelled, trying to fight her mother’s grip on her. She was sick of her father beating her and her twelve year old sister every single day. She‘d hear her mothers screams at night when she‘d get hit, and it made her stomach churn. “STOP IT!”

“SHUT UP!” Artemis’ father yelled, throwing Artemis to the floor before heading towards her older sister.

“Leave her alone,” Artemis growled, getting up and spitting out some blood that had pooled in her mouth. “Get away from my sister.”

Her father turned around, slapping Artemis again before grabbing Andrea by the hair. Artemis reached over to the table beside the couch and opened a lock box, drawing her fathers pistol. Drawing back the hammer, she stood up shakily.

“I said…leave her alone,” Artemis muttered, coughing as she got up. Her father turned, seeing his handgun pointed directly at his head.

“You don’t have the strength to pull that trigger, Artemis. You’re weak, and that’s all you’ll ever be is weak,” her father said, slapping his oldest again before dropping her as he turned back to his youngest.

“Leave them alone…and I’ll put the gun down. If you hurt my mother or my sister again…I will kill you,” Artemis growled. Her father reached out to slap her again, but she pulled the trigger, falling backwards from the kick before a second body hit the ground, her fathers blood pooling around his head. “I warned you…”

“Arty!” Andrea yelled, running over and taking the gun from her sister, picking her up. “Are you ok?”

“No…I don’t think I’ll ever be ok again, Andy,” Artemis whispered, burying her face against her sister’s neck and crying, her entire body shaking.

“I killed my father to save my family…my mother took the blame, and Andrea and I were made to live with my grandparents,” Artemis said, opening her eyes. “That was when I knew I wanted to keep people safe so that they didn’t get hurt by people like Robert…” She wiped her hand against her cheeks, sniffling softly. “I still see it every night when I close my eyes…”

“Why’d he hit you?” Kendrix asked. “There had to be a reason.”

“Because he wanted a son. Before I came along, Andrea was the poster child for good kids. My mom got pregnant with me, my father said, “I’d better get a son so I can have a kid to actually like.” Well, the prick got me,” Artemis chuckled. “He liked me until I was….five, I guess. Then it got bad. Mom was scared of him, Andy hated him…and I was the only one to stand up to him at any point. It cost him his life, and…it cost my mother her freedom…”

“Don’t blame yourself for it,” Kendrix said, taking Artemis’ hand in her own. “It’s alright, Artemis. As long as you remember that feeling, wanting to keep people safe despite what it might do to yourself. That’s what being a Ranger’s about.”
________________________________

Alec sighed as he sat down, having put his sword away. The woman in front of him letting her morph go. “Madison,” Alec said, looking at the Blue Ranger in front of him. “Why am I dealing with you?”

“Because you need to learn something about yourself, Alec. Just like I had to,” Madison said, looking at the man in front of her. “Do you have a reason to fight?”

Alec took a chain from his neck, a small figurine attached to it carved out of a diamond. “I did,” he whispered, closing his eyes. The Rockporium around him shifted, going back to his home planet of Ryzan. “I had a wife, a three year old daughter…and a great position in my village…”

”Papa!” Alec’s daughter, three year old Cam’ron laughed, jumping up into his arms as he came to pick her up from her best friend’s house.

“Oh, that’s my big girl!” Alec said, smiling as he kissed her cheek. “Did you have fun with Ziva and Katty today, klimka?”

“Yeah! I played Dolls and we went to the creek with her Papa and caught a sersin, and then we had it for lunch,” she giggled, snuggling into her father’s arms. “What Papa does today?”

“Well, I made sure that the outer borders were more secure in case the Warin Tribes start marching this way, and then I went home to have lunch with Mama. After that, I went back to work and was bored for my afternoon. When work ended, I couldn’t get out fast enough to come pick up my favorite girl,” Alec said, smiling as he started down the road towards his house.

“Wows! How’s Mama? I not seen her all day!” Cam’ron asked, giggling as she poked her fathers cheek.

“I’m gonna bite that finger if you don’t stop poking me,” Alec snickered, making a chomping like he was a shark.

As he reached the house, all hell broke loose. Timbaks fell from the skies as they darkened with Battlesnare Empire ships, none of his village knowing what to do. Alec ran faster towards his house, yelling as he and his daughter got thrown backwards, a blast enveloping the house, his wife’s screams coming from inside.

“NO!” Alec yelled, standing up. He felt Cam’ron fall out of his arm, and when he looked down, he saw a piece of shrapnel sticking out of her forehead, her blood on him. “I will kill them for this…” He picked up his fathers knife which had been blown out of the house, and he stuck it in his belt, anger radiating in once peaceful blue eyes…

“The Empire attacked my home and killed my family. I fight for the people I’ve lost,” Alec said. “I don’t have any other reasons.”

“I know firsthand that fighting for revenge against someone isn’t the answer,” Madison said. “It’s how I died. My sister was killed by Furyblaze and his sister, Serpen. I wanted to kill them both, but instead I got killed. You need to use that anger you feel to help you out, but not to let it be the only reason you fight. Do you understand?”
_______________________________________

Richmond sighed, looking at the Green Ranger in front of him. “Let me guess. SPD?”

“How’d you know?” the Green Ranger asked, his morph falling to reveal Bridge Carson.

“Your team showed up on my home planet once,” Richmond admitted. “So…why am I here?”

Bridge smiled, turning his back to Richmond before planting his hands at the base of the wall, flipping up and looking up at his distant successor. “Come on. Stand like this and I’ll tell you why,” Bridge said, nodding his head at the spot beside him.

“A handstand? You really are odd,” Richmond chuckled, flipping up anyway. He was glad his hair was pulled back, because he really didn’t fancy it being in his eyes.

“So, I have to ask. Why ae you a Ranger, and why do you fight?” Bridge asked, looking at the Ranger beside him.

“My grandmother. She…was a medic in one of the wars that took a lot of my planets farmland. She knew that being a fighter wasn’t for her, and she tried to instruct that into me a lot,” Richmond admitted, remembering a time long ago that made his heart swell with pride.

“Gran, you have to at least let me try and be a soldier,” a young Richmond said, tugging on his grandmothers worn and batter-splattered apron, the smell of chocolate cookies and other sweets filling his nose. “Please!”

“Richy, I told you why I can’t let you do that, sweetheart,” his grandmother said, kneeling down beside her grandson. “War is an ugly affair, honey. It’s not something you want to get mixed up in.”

“But I want to be like you! I want to do my training and then go to the hospital and work there! I’m the only one from school that’s not going,” Richmond said, pouting as he flopped onto the floor. “Please please please?”

“Richmond Diamond West, that is enough. I told you no, and htat’s the end of it,” his grandmother snapped, making her grandson flinch back. “I’m sorry, love. I lost your father to the Wars, and I don’t want to lose my only grandson as well.”

The scene shifted, a few years later being the timeframe. Richmond was struggling to get his grandmother, who felt the need to carry her twelve cookbooks in a burlap sack, out of the burning house after a bomb set fire to the kitchen when the Battlesnare Empire attacked. “Gran, come on!” he pleaded, trying to drag his only relative out of the house.

“Not without my cookbooks, Richy!” she said, fighting her grandson to get her books. “All of these were passed down from my grandmother! I won’t let them go!”

“Damn it, Grandma! You know all of those! So do I! Let’s go!” Richmond snapped, lifting his grandmother up and slinging her onto his back before running from the kitchen as the roof caved in. “Goddamn it!”

“Damn you!” she screamed in his ear, fighting to get off of his back before falling down, slapping him hard in the face. “Those were my cookbooks, you idiot!”

“You think I don’t know that?! I know they were your fucking cookbooks! I helped you organize them! I know all of those! And I think you’re more important to me then some goddamn paper!” Richmond yelled, tears falling down his eyes. “You’re the only family I’ve got!”

His grandmother sighed, lowering her eyes. “I know, Richmond…but you don’t need to save me. I’m an old woman that’s lived her life. And I’ve had a great life, my grandson. And I wouldn’t trade any of it at all,” she said, hugging her grandson tightly.

It was the last time Richmond hugged his grandmother. She died a few days later from smoke inhalation from when the house caught fire. After burying her in the cemetery, Richmond signed up for the Medicorps, planning on making sure the Empire never killed anyone’s families again.

“It was a few months after that I met Thomas and Alec, joining the crew. We traveled to Earth, picking up the sisters before taking off,” Richmond said, sitting down from his position at the wall. “It…gave me the confidence I needed to start being a bit braver.”

“So…the answer is you fight for families to stay together. It’s a beautiful answer, my friend,” Bridge said, hopping down and sitting beside the wall.
____________________________________________

Andrea sighed, looking at the Yellow Ranger in front of her. “Turbo Yellow Ranger,” standing up.

“Someone that recognizes the suit,” she said, her morph dropping to reveal Tanya Sloan, the former Zeo and Turbo Yellow Rangers. “Welcome to your trial, Andrea.”

“Trial?”

“Yes. You need to determine what makes you fight, and why,” Tanya said, sitting down beside Andrea and offering her a cup of coffee.

“I don’t need to determine anything. My sister’s the reason I fight. To make sure that what happened to her as a child doesn’t happen again to anyone else,” Andrea said, sighing. “We were abused as kids, but we were too scared to do anything about it. Artemis finally had enough when our father came after me. She…she drew his pistol from the lockbox in the living room, telling him to back off. When he went after her again, she shot him. Mom took the fall for it, leading us to live with our grandparents until I turned eighteen, and then we moved back to Pan Central.”

Tanya listened, nodding as Andrea spoke. “You’ve got a beautiful reason to fight, Andrea. I know that Earth will be in good hands with the five of you as Rangers,” she said, smiling.
__________________________________________

As the five Rangers determined why they fought, the doors reopened, leading them all back into the main area where the other Rangers and Zordon were gathered. The old Wizard stepped forward, smiling softly at the five Rangers in front of him. “Without my help now…you will not be able to return. I have enough energy to send the five of you back. You know the reasons you fight now, and you need to keep those reasons at the forefront of your minds,” he said, holding his staff out.

“We do this, we have to keep the fight going no matter what happens,” Thomas said, looking at his team. “Understood?”

“Got it,” the sisters and Richmond said, Alec nodding his head.

“The world is very lucky to have you, and so am I. May the Power Protect you, Power Rangers Unleashed,” Zordon said, thrusting out his staff and enveloping the five Rangers in a black light, sending them through the Morphing Grid before each of them woke up in turn.
___________________________________

Artemis groaned as she sat up, holding her stomach. “We’re back,” she mumbled, helping her sister up.

“And we’ve got a job to do,” Thomas said, standing up and holding his Ranger Key out. “Let’s get him.”

“Unleashed Engage!” the five yelled, the morph enveloping them before they ran off, slashing down Timbaks as they went. After ten minutes of looking for their quarry, Thomas stopped in front of Furyblaze.

“Alright, old friend. It’s time to stop this,” the Red Ranger said, stepping up at the head of a ‘pyramid’ formed by the Rangers.

“You have no hope in stopping me, Thomas! You’ve always been weak!” Furyblaze yelled, firing several rounds of fire at the five. What made him stop was when they cut the fireballs in half. “Impossible!”

“Oh, no. Anything’s possible,” Andrea said, smirking under her helmet. “Thomas, what do you say we give this guy a blue period?”

“I resent that remark,” Alec chuckled.

“UNLEASHED ENGAGE!”

“You think that a little palette swap can save you?” Furyblaze asked, rushing around to stop the Rangers for good this time.

“Cosma Claw!” Artemis yelled, jumping out of the air and slashing down with the Lost Galaxy Rangers’ Transdagger in Claw Mode, dousing Furyblaze in a torrent of water. “Sis!”

“Got it!” Andrea yelled, standing still before blasting her own attack at Furyblaze, the Commander spluttering from the constant onslaught of water. She ran forward, slashing with her Mystic Staff as well, knocking him forward. “Rich!”

“Spin Sword!” Richmond yelled, drawing the Samurai Sword from his hip. Opening his belt buckle, the Green Ranger grabbed the Dragon Disk from inside before putting it on the end of the sword closest to his hand. “Dragon Splash!” Slashing forward, the water took the shape of a dragon before ensnaring Furyblaze.

“You can’t be serious!” Furyblaze yelled, fighting against the dragon he was ensnared by.

Alec was next in line. “Rescue Blaster!” he yelled, firing several red-tinted energy blasts from the standard sidearm of the Lightspeed Rangers. Keeping his fire concentrated, he nodded to Thomas.

“We are serious, Furyblaze! We’ve had enough of the destruction to this planet!” Thomas yelled. “Sonic Fin!” Using the signature weapon of the Blue Ninja Storm Ranger, his suit--thankfully--missing the skirt, Thomas fired several blasts that knocked Furyblaze around, the dragon that Richmond created dropping after a few minutes. “Alright, guys. Let’s go with a fury.”

“Ah….I’ve had enough of this for the day,” Furyblaze growled, vanishing in a burst of fire.

“Coward,” Thomas growled, letting his suit return to his usual Red Ranger look.

As the others released their secondary and initial morphs, three of them took off in different directions. “Hey…” Artemis called, running after her sister. “Andy, where are you going?”

“He lied to us, little sister. I’m leaving. I can’t work with someone that’s going to keep secrets like this, even if it means I have to abandon you,” Andrea said, sighing sadly as she moved past her sister.

“I’m leaving, too,” Alec said, putting his hand on Artemis’ shoulder. “I joined this team to fight the Empire, but I can’t fight if the person leading me is still one of them.” He headed towards the center of town, leaving the Pink Ranger standing alone with Thomas.

“I’m sorry, Thomas….I can’t lose my sister,” she said, giving the Red Ranger a sad look. “I…I’m sorry…”

“No, I…I understand, Artemis. I really do. Go,” Thomas said, sighing. “You got with Andrea. You have to.”

Artemis nodded softly, hugging Thomas tightly. “I thought you’d be a good captain. I don’t care about the past…all that matters is your future and how you live it,” she whispered, taking off after her sister.

“How I live the future…” Thomas muttered, heading back towards the Galleon.

With the team separated, it’s going to be easy for the Empire to pick them off one at a time. Can Thomas find a way to fix his team and make up for what happened in the past? Only time will tell as the Rangers experience life away from the Galleon…