[FangRX]

Rated PG-13 for Course language throughout

The Power Rangers were defeated. The Battlesnare Empire, a force from around the galaxy that seemed to be a successor to the Galactic Alliance of Evil, had conqured the planet. The Ranger Powers were scattered to the stars, being transformed into Keys that held each Power that the Rangers possessed. Now, a group of ragtag Pirates from around the universe are all that stand between the Empire and the remainder of the Galaxy.

Cast

Rangers/Allies:

Josh Hutcherson as: Thomas James
Chris Pine as: Alec Craven
Emma Watson as: Andrea Blaine
Corbin Bleu as: Richmond "Rich" West
Bonnie Wright as: Artemis Blaine
Jared Padalecki as: Drake Holmes
Zoe Saldana as: Demi Howell
Jaime Chung as: April Chang
Emma Roberts as: Destiny Stewart

David Tennant as: The Voice of Geeps






Enemies:
John Stamos as: Dimas
Steven Segal as: Furyblaze
Charlize Theron as: Serpen
Robert Downey Jr. as: Unknown




Chapter 1: Pirates Unleashed
Chapter 2: Fury of the Phoenix
Chapter 3: Death and Resurrection
Chapter 4: Blue Memories
Chapter 5: Grandmothers Wishes
Chapter 6: Forgotten Family
Chapter 7: Fallen Comrade
Chapter 8: Scroll of Empowerment, Descend!
Chapter 9: Megazord Initiated!
CHapter 10: Power in Pink pt. 1
Chapter 11: Power in Pink pt. 2
Chapter 12: Sting of Silver pt. 1
Chapter 13: Sting Of Silver Pt. 2: Rangers in Time
Chapter 14: Atonement
Chapter 15: ROokie of the Year
Chapter 16: Black and White
Chapter 17: Keys Unbound
Chapter 18: Endgame Pt. 1: Darkness
Chapter 19: Endgame Pt. 2: Twilight
Chapter 20: Endgame Pt. 3: Hope

[FangRX]

The battlefield had been drawn. On one side, the Battlesnare Empire with its top commanders Lord Dimas, Serpen, and Furyblaze surrounded by tens of thousands of Timbaks and Golbaks; on the other, the Power Rangers, led by Jason Scott. The Rangers started out strong, taking out as many of the Timbaks and Golbaks that they could manage.

After fighting for what felt like days, Megazords and Megazord parts littered the streets of Pan Central City. The Rangers, knowing that they couldn’t win by normal means, gathered together, Jason standing in the middle of the crowd of Rangers. Battlesnare fleets rose on the horizon, starships coming down as well.

“Rangers! We don’t have a choice!” Jason yelled.

Turning to face him, a Ranger in Green--later determined to be Tommy Oliver--nodded, putting his hand on his long time friend’s shoulder. “You’ve got a point, old friend. We don’t have a choice,” he said, sighing.

“What’s he talking about?” a yellow Ranger asked, looking at Tommy. Her name was Kira Ford, a former student of Tommy’s.

“Sacrificing our Powers…and our lives to stop the Empire’s assault.”

“If we have to, we have to,” a Blue Ranger said, stepping up beside his team. The blue “2” on his suit designated him as SPD: Space Patrol Delta. “It’s the fate of the world. Our lives, or over seven billion.”

“Gather your powers into one, Rangers!” Jason yelled, closing his eyes and focusing his energy into his entire body. Soon, every single Ranger gathered, numbering one hundred and two total rose into the air all glowing a bright gold. “For the Earth!”

“FOR THE EARTH!” they all yelled, flaring out in different directions before blowing up the Empires fleets on Earth.
___________________________________________

That was the last time that anyone saw the Power Rangers. Their essences were scattered across the Galaxy, soon reforming into “Power Keys”, each taking a similarity to a Ranger, but more compact. Scattered across the Galaxy, these Keys were the….Key…to Earths survival. Deep within space, Lord Dimas, the leader of the Battlesnare Empire, was pacing his control room as his flagship, the Blizkon, headed towards Earth.

“With nobody to defend this planet, it shall be easy to take its resources for our own, leaving the planet barren,” he growled, standing behind his communications drone. “Time to the Third Planet?”

“Five minutes, sir. And…there are reports of a vessel coming from the starboard side,” the drone said, pulling up a monitor.

“James,” Dimas growled, his hand tightening around the handle of his sword. “Target the Uchuu Galleon and fire all weapons on the starboard side!”

As all cannons fired, a direct hit was scored on the Galleon coming up fast. “Direct hits, my Lord.”

“Good. Now…reset the course for--” Dimas started, but was abruptly cut off.

“My Lord! They’re…still alive,” the Drone said, his voice cracking in fear.

“WHAT!?” Dimas screamed, turning to the viewer where the Uchuu Galleon Megazord was running on the surface of the Moon, slashing down ships from the fleet left and right.

“Finish them off!” Dimas yelled, slamming his hands down on a console again. The Galleon Megazord seemed to shrug off every attack, finally slashing part of the main ships engine. Growling Dimas gave the order to retreat, giving the newcomers a win--for whatever side they were on.

As the Megazord collapsed in on itself, five Rangers appeared in the middle of the interior cabin, each one in a different color suit.

“Ah!” the one in Green said, stretching as he let go of his morph, revealing a young darker toned man with a very full head of hair. “Won’t they ever learn?”

“I don’t think so, Rich,” the one in Yellow said, following suit and letting go over her own transformation, a blonde haired woman taking her place. “It’s the Empire. They never learn.”

As a pink clad Ranger stepped up, she put her arm around the Yellow Ranger. “Drea, you should know that by now bad guys never learn!” she giggled.

“True,” Drea--or Andrea--said, shaking her head. “Artemis, even you should know that Evil doesn’t take a vacation.”

The Red Ranger, named Thomas, shook his head as he watched his team interact. The Pink and Yellow Rangers were the only ones from Earth--the very same planet they were heading back to. “Alright, guys. Settle down. The Megazord worked beautifully, so let’s just head to Earth, find the Empires commanders, and end this occupation once and for all. We need to get our homes back,” he said, sitting in a winged-back chair in the middle of the room. “Geeps!”

From a perch in the wall, a mechanical bird flew out and landed in Artemis’ arms. “Oh, what the bleeding hell do you want now?!” he chirped, looking over at the Red Ranger. “I ain’t searching for more treasure if that’s what you’re wanting! I already spotted these four! The hell else you want out of me?!”

“Chicken wings,” the Blue Ranger--who had up to this point been mostly silent--chimed in, drawing a knife from his pocket before he began sharpening it. “Because, if you don’t listen to the Captain, that’s what I’ll make you.” As if to prove his point, he threw the blade in his hand and caused it to sail past Geeps’ head and land in the base of the Mast going to the top of the ship.

“Alright, alright! Keep your toga on!” Geeps said, shaking his head. “Last time my sensors were activated, the Empire was heading BACK to Earth. I don’t know why, so don’t ask!”

“Moody ass bird,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “Well, looks like we’re heading back to Earth, guys. Let’s hope we can end this fight once and for all.”

“Let’s go!” Artemis cheered, flopping down on the couch before watching her sister disappear into the kitchen with Rich to start working on something to eat.

As the Rangers mingled, Thomas couldn’t help but worry that Earth was going to come under heavy fire in the coming weeks in the war with the Empire. He started looking over the Ranger Keys, taking a sixth one that looked like theirs in his hand. “Silver…” he muttered. “Maybe on Earth we’ll find the one this Key belongs to.”

Later that night, the ship descended into the bay on the southern side of Pan Central City. Artemis ran to the window, grinning as she looked out. “Ahh! It’s so pretty! I forgot what PC City looked like at night!” she said, looking out of the porthole. The skyline was lit up with the lights on inside and out of buildings, cars speeding down the highway trying to get home or to a friends, some even headed for the bars after a disastrous day at work.

“Don’t get to comfy, Ms. Blaine,” Alec said, making the Pink Ranger turn her head.

“Why?” she asked, her eyebrow cocked. When she got a “are you kidding me?” look from Alec, she slapped her head. “Duh! I’m stupid.”

“No comment, little sister,” Andrea said, putting her arm around her sister’s shoulder. “It is beautiful.”
__________________________________________________________

On the Blizkon, Dimas was fuming as he slammed his hand on a button on his console. “CHORHA! GET IN HERE!” he yelled, pouring himself a stiff drink.

The door opened a few minutes later, a robotic looking minion walked in. “Lord Dimas! How nasty to see you again,” he said, bowing his head.

“Cut the shit, Chorha. What do you know of Earth?”

“Plant life is tasty, some of the meatier species are gamy, but enough seasoning and they’ll be fine. Their water is disgusting, the air is dirty and smells like those machines they drive. Why?” Chorha asked, his hands behind his back.

“Because I want you to go and destroy the city. Start in Pan Central City. Shouldn’t be too hard, no?”

“No, my Lord. I’ll be off at once,” Chorha said, bowing as he turned to leave. As he headed towards the exit, he looked down the hall. “Timbaks! With me! It’s time for some fun!”
__________________________________________

The next morning as the Rangers settled in for something to eat--courtesy of Richmond himself--Geeps woke up and flew towards the Rangers. “OI! You lot! We got trouble! Dimas’ sent down one of his Commanders, Chorha! Get movin’!”

“Where is he?” Andrea asked, getting up and grabbing her Unleashed Caller before tossing her sister her own.

Thomas hit the screens, his fingers flying over the keys. “South part of PC City. Heading right for the finance district. Let’s go!” he yelled, grabbing his Caller from Alec as he headed towards the lower decks, unveiling five motorcycles, each one based on a different shark. “I call them the UQR. The Unleashed Quick Riders. Let’s go!”

As the Rangers each climbed up onto one of the motorcycles, Richmond tried to start ranting off about safety. “Guys! Obey the traffic rules and put helmets on! Don’t need you getting screwed up before we get to the fight.”

“Richmond?” Artemis asked.

“What?”

“SHUT UP!” the Pink Ranger snapped, looking back at her Green counterpart. “Let’s ride!”

Dropping out of the ships hold and landing on the ground with tires spinning, the five Rangers took off towards Pan Citys Finace district. After several minutes of riding and breaking traffic rules--much to Richmond’s dismay--the Rangers skidded to a halt near the city’s biggest bank.

“Chorha!” Thomas yelled, stepping off of the bike and pulling out his Unleashed Caller.

“Well, it’s about time, Thomas! I was beginning to think you didn’t want to come out and play!” Chorha laughed, snapping his fingers as Timbaks surrounded the Rangers. “My friends and I want to have a little fun. What do you say?”

“How about, “You and your Empire get off my planet, bitch!”? Work for you?” Artemis asked, her eyes blazing in anger.

“Hey! That ain’t nice to say!” Chorha pouted, acting hurt by Artemis’ words.

“Well, dumb ass, you didn’t say you wanted us to be nice,” Alec smirked. “Captain, let’s say we put the hurt on this punk. End it and get back before breakfast gets cold?”

“A man with some smarts!” Andrea grinned, taking out her own Caller.

Thomas nodded, and he and the Rangers stood shoulder to shoulder in line. Each of them grabbed a key from their pocket, flipping the legs up as they flipped open their Callers.

“Unleashed! Engage!” all five yelled, slamming the Keys into the slot on the Callers and turning them, the top of the Caller splitting to reveal a Key and Crossed swords.

Thomas found himself in a raging sea on a Red ship, similar to the Galleon. He swung his arms around, his suit appearing in his hands before he pulled it on like an overcoat, adjusting the gloves before the helmet snapped closed over his head.

Alec was under water, the water enveloping him like a shield that formed his suit. Adjusting the collar, the helmet snapped over the Blue Rangers head similar to how a clam would close. The Blue Ranger then popped up out of the water onto a cliff, overlooking a sunset.

Andrea jumped out of the ground, her suit being formed pieces at a time by the rocks that surrounded her in the air. She grabbed a larger rock and hit it, her helmet forming from the remains in her hand before she threw it into the air, leaping up and letting it secure. She hit the ground and adjusted her skirt as she did.

Richmond ran through the jungle, his suit forming from pieces of the underbrush before he blasted out into a clearing, kicking up a dust storm. He formed his helmet from the sand and pebbles, snapping it closed over his head. Rolling his shoulders, he started to hop like a boxer.

Artemis spun in the air, clouds forming her suit before she grabbed the sun, closing her hand around it and taking the light to form a helmet. She threw the helmet down, following in a dive that would make an Olympian Swimmer jealous before landing on her feet, the helmet closing around her head. She fixed her sleeve, snapping her fingers.

After all five Rangers had transformed, they stood ready to go, each one holding their Saber or Gun.

“Unleashed Red!”

“Unleashed Blue!”

“Unleashed Yellow!”

“Unleashed Green!”

“Unleashed Pink!”

Chorha, who at this point had been waiting patiently instead of attacking like he should have, stood open mouthed at the five Rangers in front of him. “NO! This isn’t right! You’re not supposed to be Rangers!” he yelled, snapping his fingers. “Timbaks! ATTACK AND KILL THEM!”

“Rangers! Ready!?” Thomas yelled, smrking under his helmet.

“GO!” the other four replied, rushing out to meet the Timbaks head on.

Each Ranger took on a separate group of them. Thomas used both his sword and gun to block slashes from the Timbaks he was fighting, shooting htem when their guard was down. He drove a kick into one’s chest, knocking him into several of it’s buddies. “Stay down!” he yelled, driving his sword through the robot drone’s chests just to make a point.

Alec was hard at work cutting down his own Timbaks, growling as he tried to shoot them from a distance but missing terribly. “Hate the gun!” he growled, slamming the hilt into one’s face before shooting it under the chin, wires and hardware falling out of it’s destroyed head. He saw the sword whip by him, stabbing one Timbak in the chest before he looked at his gun, nodding to Thomas who was busy with just his gun.

Richmond--who had taken to the high wires and resulted in some wrestling moves--drove his feet into one of the Timbaks before slashing it on the downward swing. “Have a nice flight!” he yelled, grabbing another by the neck and launching it into the air. He looked over at Thomas who gave him a nod. He flung his sword, Alec flinging his pistol before the Blue Ranger took up the captain’s sword. Thomas spun quickly, kicking the second pistol at Richmond as he caught the sword, slashing a few more down. Richmond grabbed the pistol, cheering as he blasted several of the Timbaks, knocking the back.

Andrea and Artemis were working together, each of them slashing or shooting several of the grunts in a row. “Little sister!” Andrea called, waving her pistol before tossing it up and over some of the grunts.

“Now you’re talking!” Artemis grinned, throwing her sword up and catching the pistol before going full out. She started working faster, shooting several rounds before jumping back and split kicking a pair of Timbaks. She landed on her back and laid still, pretending to be taken down. She looked down out of her helmet, seeing one of the Timbaks trying to lift her skirt. “HEY!” She snapped her leg up and twisted, breaking the Timbaks’ neck before jumping up and shooting more of the Timbaks’ back. “Hey, you wanted to look up my skirt!”

Andrea laughed, shaking her head at her sister. She drove forward, grabbing the hooks on the end of her swords before throwing them out, using the hooks to hold the swords before slashing down the rest of the Timbaks she was fighting.

After a few more minutes, Chorha got angry and stamped his foot on the ground like a little kid. “DAMN YOU! You took out my friends!”

“Well, they weren’t much fun,” Thomas said, smirking.

“Oh, I’ll get you for this!” Chorha yelled, running forward before kicking the two sister Rangers back, knocking them away from the boys before he hit Alec in the chest. He barreled forward and hit Richmond in his legs, snapping his legs back and making the Green Ranger hit the floor before throwing Thomas around like a rag doll.

After the Rangers picked themselves up from the onslaught of Chorha, Thomas looked at his gang of Rangers and nodded. “Let’s Change this up,” he said, hitting his belt as another Ranger Key popped out, this time the Key being that of the Mighty Morphin’ Rangers.

The other four followed suit, taking out the rest of the first team of Rangers. “Unleashed! Engage!” they yelled again, performing the same actions as when they morphed for the first time.

ITS MORPHIN’ TIME!” the Callers rang out, the image of the five Dinosaurs the first Rangers were based on coming out of the Caller before enveloping the Rangers.

“WHAT?! They’re dead!” Chorha yelled, firing several blasts from a gun turret in his chest.

“Sure they are! That’s why we use their Ranger Powers. We’re Pirates after all, so this is a pirate version of the Power Rangers!” Artemis said, drawing Kimberly Hart’s Power Bow before firing several Energy Arrows at Chorha, some of them getting stuck in his turret.

“Power Lance!” Alec called out, separating the staff at the middle before slamming the pointer ends into Chorha, knocking him backwards.

Richmond, in Black, summoned the Power Axe before slamming it against Chorha’s back as he came flying backwards into it. He lifted Chorha up, throwing him into the air before seeing Andrea. “Go for it, Drea!”

“You got it!” Andrea yelled, slamming her Power Daggers into Chorha’s back, sending him back to the ground. “Captain! Finish it!”

“Power Sword!” Thomas called, the Red Rangers signature sword in hand as he started slashing and cutting Chorha down to size.

After the onslaught, Chorha got back up and growled, his entire body surging with energy. “I’ll kill all of you in a single blast!” he yelled, his face splitting to reveal an even uglier face under it.

The Five Rangers reverted back to their Unleashed suits, taking their five Unleashed Keys in hand. “No, you won’t, Chorha,” Thomas said, hitting the switch at the bottom of his sword, the others doing the same. As they slotted the Keys, each ones hilt glowed with their respective color, the color filling up the blade. “Unleashed Slash Strike!” The five Rangers jumped into the air, slashing down with their swords as the energy was released, hitting Chorha square in the chest.

“NO!” Chorha yelled, hitting his back. “LORD DIMAS! Forgive me!” The last syllable carried as an explosion engulfed Chorha’s robotic body, leaving a smoldering pile of mechanical parts on the ground.

The Rangers let go of their transformations, standing together with smiles--or in Alec’s case a smirk--on their faces. “Alright!” Artemis grinned, pouncing her sister. “We did it!”

“Yeah, but now the Empire knows we’re on Earth. They won’t let us go that easy,” Thomas said.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ve got the Rangers powers and our own. We’ll be ready,” Richmond said, putting his hand on Thomas’ shoulder. “For now, let’s go back to the Galleon and have some lunch. I’m more then willing to bet that breakfast either got cold, or Geeps at it all.”

The Five Rangers laughed as they climbed back on their bikes, racing back towards the Galleon, feeling like the world was alright for a change as they basked in the glory of their first win against the Empire.
____________________________

High on a building in the middle of the city, a figure in a black cloaked closed his glowing white eyes. “Soon, Rangers. Things will get tougher for all of you.” he whispered, vanishing against the sunlight.

[FangRX]

The first fight was the Battlesnare Empire was over. The Rangers had won against Chorha, but it did not feel like a victory to them. Thomas sat back against the main pillar in the lower decks, turning the Red Ranger Key in his hands.

“It’s been three years,” the Red Ranger muttered, sighing. “Three years and this is the first time we’ve seen the Empire since they sacrificed themselves. What the hell is going on to make them what to come back to Earth?”

“Captain?” Artemis asked, kneeling down to avoid getting hit by a crossbeam. “You alright? You’ve been down here since we got back from the fight.”

“Just thinking, Artemis. Trying to think of a reason why the Empire wants to destroy Earth after three years of absence,” he said, standing up.

“We’ll figure it out, Thomas. I know we will,” Artemis said, putting her hand on the Captain’s shoulder. “Come on. Richmond’s working on some lunch, so we need to get back up there before my dear sister eats all of it again.”

“She does have a bit of an endless stomach, doesn’t she?” Thomas laughed.

“You have no idea!” Artemis laughed, shaking her head. “Come on.”
________________________________________________________________

Deep within space, a shuttle dropped out of warp near the Battlesnare fleet. Stepping off of the ship and into the corridor that connected the main ship to the smaller shuttle, a man who’s body could only be described as on fire stepped through, a pair of talons stretching back on his head, one looking like a nose on his face. Black, lifeless eyes stared straight ahead as he entered the bridge.

“Lord Dimas,” he said, bowing.

Turning, the Lord of the Battlesnare Empire laughed. “Furyblaze! It’s about time, old friend. I was starting to worry if this immortal phoenix was ever going to rise from his ashes,” Dimas said, shaking Furyblaze’s hand. “After the Great Legend Battle on this backwater planet…”

“I was unsure of my resurrection as well, my Lord. It took longer then usual for my body to reform itself. But…tell me. Is there any word of my sister, Serpen?”

“I’m sorry, Furyblaze. I haven’t heard of your sister in these long three years,” Dimas said. “For now, get yourself acquainted with the ship. Be prepared. Rangers have returned, and it’s time that we stop them once and for all.”

“Very well,” Furyblaze said, bowing his head and turning to head out.

“He’s changed…” Dimas mused.

Perhaps it can be due to the fact that it took three years for his body to reconstruct after being destroyed by the Sacrifice Wave. a voice said. A person in a black cloak shimmered into the bridge, his face covered in a black hood.

“Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?!” Dimas demanded, holding his sword out at the intruders neck…or what he thought was the neck.

“My name is unimportant right now. As for how I got in, let’s just say I have a few powers that would make my help in destroying the Rangers beneficial in the long run. Now, lower your sword,” the intruder said, holding a black glove covered hand up. Dimas, unknown to him how, felt his hand and arm moving, the sword falling away. “That’s better. Now…if you’re willing to listen…”
___________________________________________

Back on the Galleon, Artemis and Thomas walked back upstairs into the main room, Andrea sitting against the computer with her book in hand, the other two men nowhere to be found. Artemis smirked, winking at Thomas before heading towards her sister and grabbing her book.

“Hey!” Andrea yelled, trying to get her book back from her sister.

“How can you read this smut?” Artemis asked. She looked at the page her sister was reading, and she started reading aloud. “James felt Tacari’s hand trail down his bare chest, feeling her heat against his body. His body couldn’t help but react to the woman sitting in front of him. He felt her hands sliding further down his body, and--”

“Artemis!” Andrea muttered, burying her face against her arms. “Jerk.”

“Where did you get this?” Artemis asked, marking her sisters page with the yellow bookmark that had been through hell and back in fifteen years. “Seriously?”

“Umm….well…remember my English Lit teacher my senior year? She gave it to me,” Andrea admitted.

“Ms. Rhoades! Hanna Rhoades? The hot one with the legs that came up to her neck, with the great rack?” Artemis asked, watching Thomas’ head turn.

“Yes!” Andrea yelled, stealing her book back. “Don’t ever take it again. Please?”

“Fine,” Artemis whined playfully, hugging her sister. “Where’s Richmond and Alec?”

“Alec…went below deck to train with his swords--though I don’t know why. And Rich…I think he’s in the kitchen,” Andrea said, watching her sister head off towards the kitchen. She closed the book and sighed, sitting on it. “Why does she have to do that, Thomas? Act like such a jerk to me?”

“She’s your sister, Andrea. I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t relate. But just don’t get so angry at her. She just wants to be seen,” Thomas said, putting his hand on Andreas shoulder. “Just give her a little room to wiggle.”

“Yeah, right,” Andrea snickered, shaking her head.

In the kitchen, Artemis was sitting on the counter across from Richmond who was busy whipping up some onion rings, mushroom steak, and garlic bread. “Where the hell did you learn to cook?” she asked, looking at the Green Ranger.

“My grandmother. My dad was always off fighting in the Corps and I didn’t have much else to do. The majority of my planet was destroyed and uninhabitable thanks to the Caokin outbreak, so I learned how to cook and patch up wounds from my grandmother,” Richmond said. “It’s come in handy, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t trade those days for nothing.”
_________________________________________________

Back on the Battlesnare’s ship, the mysterious intruder was still standing in front of Dimas while he explained his plans.

“You want to use my forces to take out the Power Rangers once and for all? Why should I trust you?” Dimas asked.

“Because, my Lord, if you do not trust me, the Rangers will one up you and end your Empire for good. Do you understand that?” the hooded man asked.

“One question,” Dimas said, standing up again. “What do I call you for now? Since you refuse to give a name.”

“Dricos. For now. Until a time I deem my name worthy to be given,” the hooded figure said, a cold smile under the hood. Hiding his face had its benefits, especially since his identity was one that he did not want revealed at that time.

“Dricos. SO be it. We will double our attack on the planet,” Dimas said. A thought crossed his mind, and he knew that his newest addition could be the one that brings Pan Central City to her knees, as well as destroying the Rangers for good. “Furyblaze.”

A few minutes later, Furyblaze came in, looking to be eating a fireball lined with rocks. “Interesting…the volcanoes on this planet might not be so bad,” he mumbled, covering his mouth as he burped. “Pardon me, my Lord. You summoned me?”

“Yes, my dear General. I need the city destroyed in order to draw out the Rangers,” Dimas said. “I figured you could also use this as a chance to stretch your legs since you took three years to regenerate, my friend.”

“Thank you, Sire,” Furyblaze bowed, turning on his heel and walking out of the room and snapping his fingers for the Timbaks and Golbaks. “Let’s go. We need to destroy these Rangers.” As he teleported to the surface of Pan Central City, he began to wonder if his memories would return to him.
_____________________________________________

After a hearty lunch provided by Richmond, the Rangers were sitting and talking with each other, trying to get Alec to spill something about his past.

“You wont’ get anything out of me. I promise,” Alec said, polishing one of his knives. “Not now, not until this war is over.”

Artemis stood up, walking over to Alec, every eye in the room--even Geeps--facing her as she sat behind Alec on the bench he was perched on, her hands going along his back. “Come on, Alec…just a little bit?” she asked, her voice low and slightly seductive.

Before anyone could say anything about the Pink Rangers attempts to seduce the Blue, Geeps squawked. “Oi! You lot, we’ve got trouble! It’s a new Commander. It’s….my, god! Furyblaze,” the mechanical bird chirped, the Rangers standing up.

“Let’s go,” Thomas said, hitting the release for the UQRs, the five bikes landing on the ground while the Rangers lowered down onto them. As they sped off, the two sisters of the team couldn’t help but worry that things were about to get bad.

Soon, they pulled up to where Furyblaze was flinging fireballs around, people burned on the ground, several of them trying to get the fires put out. “Rangers,” the Phoenix-themed warrior said, turning and letting his fires die down slowly. “Why don’t you just put down your Keys and go back to your planets? If we’ve left them habitable.”

“Go to hell!” Alec growled, his Unleashed Caller and Blue Key in hand. “Cap?”

“Let’s Ranger up,” Thomas said, his own Caller and Key in hand.

“Unleashed! Engage!” all five yelled, slamming the Keys into the slot on the Callers and turning them, the top of the Caller splitting to reveal a Key and Crossed swords.

Thomas found himself in a raging sea on a Red ship, similar to the Galleon. He swung his arms around, his suit appearing in his hands before he pulled it on like an overcoat, adjusting the gloves before the helmet snapped closed over his head.

Alec was under water, the water enveloping him like a shield that formed his suit. Adjusting the collar, the helmet snapped over the Blue Rangers head similar to how a clam would close. The Blue Ranger then popped up out of the water onto a cliff, overlooking a sunset.

Andrea jumped out of the ground, her suit being formed pieces at a time by the rocks that surrounded her in the air. She grabbed a larger rock and hit it, her helmet forming from the remains in her hand before she threw it into the air, leaping up and letting it secure. She hit the ground and adjusted her skirt as she did.

Richmond ran through the jungle, his suit forming from pieces of the underbrush before he blasted out into a clearing, kicking up a dust storm. He formed his helmet from the sand and pebbles, snapping it closed over his head. Rolling his shoulders, he started to hop like a boxer.

Artemis spun in the air, clouds forming her suit before she grabbed the sun, closing her hand around it and taking the light to form a helmet. She threw the helmet down, following in a dive that would make an Olympian Swimmer jealous before landing on her feet, the helmet closing around her head. She fixed her sleeve, snapping her fingers.

After all five Rangers had transformed, they stood ready to go, each one holding their Saber or Gun.

“Unleashed Red!”

“Unleashed Blue!”

“Unleashed Yellow!”

“Unleashed Green!”

“Unleashed Pink!”

Furyblaze shook his head as he rolled his eyes. “Pathetic. Timbaks, allow me the pleasure,” he said, drawing a six foot saber from his chest, brandishing it outward. As he rushed the Rangers, his anger swelled to fuel his fires again, knocking Richmond, Alec, and Artemis backwards, cutting their legs from under them before slamming Artemis hard in the stomach, causing the Pink Ranger to fall onto her back, fear in her eyes. “I can smell your fear, little girl. It’s something that smells delicious. I would taste your fear, but…I don’t see the sense in killing you just yet.”

Andrea rushed forward, knocking Furyblaze away from her sister. “Get away from her!” she growled, her eyes blazing under her helmet. “Stay…away from my sister.”

“A fighter. It’s about time,” Furyblaze growled, locking swords with Andrea, the Yellow Ranger not going in until she kicked the Battlesnare General in the stomach, knocking him backwards.

“Thomas! Let’s change it up!” Artemis yelled, standing up and pulling a Red Ranger Key from her belt.

“Let’s go!” the others yelled, doing the same.

”Unleashed Engage!”

Lets Rocket!

Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!

Go Go Samurai!

Zeo Ranger 5, Red!

Magical Source! Mystic Force!

After the five flashes of red light dissipated, the Rangers stood clad in the uniforms of five previous Red Rangers. Thomas stood as the Red Space Ranger, his Spiral Saber in hand. Next to him was Alec as Ninja Storm Red Ranger, holding the Hawk Blaster. Standing aside of Alec, Andrea stood as the Red Samurai Ranger--complete with a skirt on her suit--holding her Spin Sword. Richmond was beside her, clad in the uniform of the Red Zeo Ranger, the Zeo Sword in his hand. Artemis finished off the five, standing clad in a feminine version of the Red Mystic Force Ranger, her MagiStaff in hand.

“Five Red Rangers? Looks like I’m seeing Red,” Furyblaze smirked, rushing forward and meeting all five Unleashed Rangers head on, swords crashing together. “Come on, then!” He quickly threw all five around like rag dolls, standing solid while the Rangers hit their backs, each one groaning in pain.

“What the fuck is this bastard?” Artemis growled, using her Saber to stand up. She saw Furyblaze lighting up another attack, and she stood shakily. Tapping into her suits power, she managed to cast a single spell. “Reflectus Targo!”

The fireballs rebounded, knocking Timbaks over and lighting some on fire. As the smoke cleared, Furyblaze ran forward before seeing the Rangers had vanished, using the smoke from his attack as a shield. “Damn!” he snapped, slashing a Timbak down for the hell of it. He snapped his fingers, his forces vanishing in a blast of black fire.
_____________________________________________

“What the hell is he!?” Andrea screeched, sinking into a chair and holding her arm that had been burned. Richmond, who hadn’t been burned as severely, started looking over Andrea’s arm. “Thanks, Rich.”

“No problem,” Richmond said, smiling softly before applying a burn cream, rubbing it into her arm before moving over towards Alec who’s shoulders were scorched.

“Andrea…to answer your question. His name is Furyblaze, and he’s one of the top four Commanders in the Battlesnare Empire,” Thomas said, looking at the computer.

“Top four? Isn’t it usually top five?” Artemis asked.

Thomas sighed, and he pulled up a file on the computer. “Five years ago…I was in the Battlesnare Empire. That’s how I know Furyblaze. He was my commanding officer. I…” he sighed, turning and looking at the Rangers. “He’s full of anger, hatred, and rage. His power over fire is too great for us to handle. As we found out.”

Artemis got up, despite the burns on her arm and shoulder, and she hauled off and slapped Thomas in the face, knocking him backwards into the computer. “How dare you,” she growled. “How dare you keep that you were one of them from us!” There was a general murmur of agreement, though Thomas couldn’t blame them.

“There was a reason I didn’t say anything, guys. And you know why?” Thomas asked, looking at the four that were angry with him, though they had every right to be. “I hid this because I was afraid. Alright? You’re the first friends I’ve had in ten years, so yeah, I hid a bad part of my life, big deal. Right now, though, we got bigger things to worry about!”

“He’s right,” Alec said, his voice low. “We can kick his ass later for lying to us about being one of them, but right now, we need to focus on Furyblaze.”

“And how the hell do we do that, exactly? He’s got freaking FIRE POWERS!” Artemis snapped, looking at Alec.

“Water,” Richmond said, looking at the treasure chest that sat on top of a shelf. He grabbed it and set it on the table. As he sat it down, he opened it up, taking the Mystic Force, Ninja Storm, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, and Samurai Blue Ranger keys out of it. “Five Rangers that dealt in Water.”

“Smart,” Artemis said, smirking. “He’d never expect that, would he?”

“But after we douse him, then what?” Andrea asked. “Use these?” She pulled out the set of Jungle Fury Rangers, each one having their own Kung-Fu style. “Think it can work?”

“Let’s hope,” Thomas said, sighing as he considered the chance to stop his former Commander.
______________________________________________________

Furyblaze, never one to sit still, paced the bridge. His mind was buzzing, trying to determine the best way to destroy the Rangers for good. “This is going to be perfect,” he mumbled. “Lord Dimas, I am returning to the surface in order to destroy the Rangers once and for all.”

“Very good, Furyblaze. Finish them, and then we celebrate the destruction of Earth,” Dimas said, nodding as Furyblaze walked off.
________________________________________________________

After his arrival onto the surface, Furyblaze charged up and swung his sword around, setting fire to several of the buildings, people running and screaming. “Can none of you fight back?” he asked, laughing as he severed bodies.

A few minutes later, his waiting and taunting was answered by the Rangers, each one blasting at him and knocking him back a few centimeters. “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….

TO BE CONTINUED….

[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…

[FangRX]

It was roughly a week after the last battle with Furyblaze and the Rangers had separated, going their separate ways. Alec Craven, the Blue Ranger, sighed as he looked out over the water. “Remembering my wife and daughter…something I haven’t done in a long time,” he said, sitting down at the edge of the water.

They didn’t know how it happened. The two sat at the water’s edge, his head in his female companion’s lap, looking up at her as she moved some brunette hair out of his face.

“Alec’ander, why do you not trim your hair? It’s getting unruly again,” she giggled, smiling down at him.

“I was under the impression you enjoyed my hair this long, my dear De’lia,” Alec chuckled, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles, smiling as he did. “If you wish me to cut it before the ceremonies, I’m sure that my father would be happy to oblige.”

Shaking her head, De’lia leaned down and kissed Alec, smiling against his lips softly. “I like it,” she whispered. “I was just asking a question, my love. If you wish it to be cut, you can get it cut. I like your hair either way.”

“I’ll let it grow a bit more,” Alec said, smiling up at De’lia. “I still don’t know what you see in me, love.”

“I love you. Is that not enough?”

“It is,” Alec said, smiling softly.

“De’lia….I miss you so much,” Alec whispered, looking over the lake as he felt the Ceremony knot on his hand again, knowing it was a mirage.
________________________________________________

Filmas, the newest addition to the Battlesnare fleet hovering over Earth, stepped onto the bridge. “Lord Dimas!”

“Filmas. It is always a pleasure to see you in the fight. Tell me; what are you going to do this time? A pocket dimension?” Dimas asked, Dricos stepping up beside him.

“Oh, no. Something much worse,” Filmas said, holding up a picture of the Blue Ranger. “I plan on torturing this bastard for what he did to my friends during the battle on Onyx.” His hand clenched around the staff in his hand, the camera shutter on the top moving dangerously.

From beside Dimas, Dricos lowered his hood, revealing a mass of brunette hair. “Filmas. Come,” he said, holding his hand out. He pushed Filmas to his knees, wrapping his right hand around the newcomer’s neck, his left hand against the forehead. “I am imbuing you with some of my power. It will help you in your endeavor. Please do not take this lightly. My power will return to me when you have completed your task or if you are destroyed. Understood?”

Filmas felt a surge in his own power, nodding his head at the raven-clad leader in front of him. “I understand, Master Dricos,” he said. He stepped back, Dricos pulling the hood over his head again. “If it’s the will of the Lord, I will take my forces down to the surface to have my fun with the Blue Ranger.”

“May you succeed. I am starting to get annoyed at the losing streak we seem to have developed,” Dimas said, looking at Furyblaze, his face unreadable as usual.

“Don’t look at me. I killed the Rangers. They’re the ones that came back to life somehow,” Furyblaze said, holding his hands up. “Filmas. Take my subordinates with you. I have plenty to spare.”

“Thank you, Lord FuryBlaze!” Filmas said, bowing his head. “I will take my leave now.” He turned on his heel, walking out of the room hurriedly in order to begin his assaults.

Dimas looked at Dricos, knowing something was different about the face under the hood, but there was a time and place to ask, and this was neither. Not when there was a fight to be had.
______________________________________________

Alec had been lost in his own thoughts whenever he heard the initial screams. He stood up, looking around before seeing the cause of the disturbance. “Filmas,” he snarled, taking off at a run and making sure people got out of the area so they didn’t get killed. “Filmas! Ready for round two?”

Filmas laughed, his voice squeaking as he started to speak. “Right now, Blue Ranger, all I want is revenge for what you did on Onyx!”

“Hey, that wasn’t just me,” Alec chuckled. “Unleashed Engage!” As his morph took place, he rushed forward swinging his sword around, trying to destroy his enemy from so many years ago.

“How does it feel!? Being weaker than before when you took out an entire squad of my soldiers!?” Filmas asked, ducking a swing and knocking Alec backwards.

“COME ON!” Alec yelled, holding a sword out and slashing down Timbaks as he rushed forward, dropping backwards when he slashed one’s legs out, jumping over two more and cutting their heads off before aiming for Filmas. “Empire bastard!”

“Aww…..someone pissed off about what we did to his wittle pwanet?” Filmas laughed, driving his staff forward and hitting Alec hard in the chest. “Too bad, loser. It’s only one that we’ve conquered, and only one that’s going to be used as a factory for our soldiers!”

“No…” Alec whispered, standing up and holding his chest. “I won’t let you turn my home into a goddamn smog ball!”

Filmas laughed, rushing forward again and trying to cleave Alec’s head off, only to be met with a Ranger Saber, the wielder’s arm in red. “Unleashed Red!”

“I can do this myself!” Alec growled, shoving past the Red Ranger. “Filmas…I will kill you!”

“Maybe not today you won’t,” a female voice said, a woman in a black cloak stepping out of the bar across from where the fight was taking place. Her hair was that of snakes, her nails pointed and deadly looking. “I think today is going to be a day where nothing good happens to you, Alec’ander.”

“How do you know who I am?” Alec asked, stepping forward as he lowered his sword.

“All will be revealed in time, my dear. For now…enjoy the rest of your life,” the woman said, snapping her fingers and taking Filmas with her in a puff of black smoke.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Alec growled, turning on the Red Ranger as he shoved him out of the way. “I had it handled!”

“The way you were handling it was going to get your ass killed,” the Red Ranger said, dropping his morph. “My name’s Thomas. I can help you…”

Alec groaned, standing up weakly. “And now I plan on stopping you,” he growled, glaring at Filmas.

“Too bad! You won’t get that chance if I kill that woman,” Filmas laughed, firing several bombs from his staff’s upper camera.

Alec didn’t even think twice. He ran after the bombs, tackled the woman to the ground and watched as the bombs sail over his head, exploding harmlessly in the middle of the air.

“Curses!” Filmas whined, turning and vanishing.

“Hey! Get off me!” the woman under Alec cried, shoving the Blue Ranger off of her. “What’s your problem, man?!”

“Sorry,” Alec said. “I guess this is the thanks I get for saving someone else’s life.” He got up and turned to walk off, but he felt the woman’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry….I was playing my game, Malevolent Mallards, and I wasn’t paying attention,” she said, lowering her eyes. “Can I make up for my attitude to you somehow?”

“You can start by letting me have your name,” Alec said, a warm smile playing at his lips. The woman in front of him was tall, almost as tall as he was, striking black hair that seemed to glimmer in the sun. Her eyes, Alec noticed, were the most beautiful sapphire blue he could ever imagine.

“Demetria. But everyone usually calls me Demi. Demi Howell,” she said, holding her hand out.

“Alec. Alec Craven,” the Blue Ranger said, shaking her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Demi, and I’m sorry about the tackle. Really I am.”

Shaking her head, Demi smiled. “It’s nothing. I’ve got three brothers. Getting tackled is nothing new to me,” she giggled.

“Three brothers? How did you not go nuts?” Alec laughed, shaking his head.

“Very carefully, my friend,” Demi giggled. “Come on. I’ll buy you a burger.” She took Alec’s hand, leading him down the road towards her oldest brother’s restaurant. “Well, come on, Alec. Don’t make me have to drag you in here.”

Alec smiled, having been lost in his thoughts before following Demi inside.
_____________________________

Filmas hit his back as Furyblaze knocked him down again. “Lord Furyblaze! Please! I retreated so I could rethink my strategy!” he begged, trying to run.

Dimas stood and held his sword out, blocking Furyblaze from killing Filmas. “Give him some space, Furyblaze. If he has a plan, I suggest we let him stick to it. If it fails, then we kill him,” Dimas said, stepping back. “Do not fail me again, or I will let Furyblaze kill you.”

“Yes, Master,” Filmas cowered, wiping the dust from his legs. “I’ll…I’ll go prepare. I have one last trick I want to try.”

“Then prepare. I do not want you to fail me again, Filmas. Your Trickery spells are some of the greatest in the Empire. I would hate to see you fail,” Dimas said.

“As would I, Filmas,” Dricos said, a Cheshire like grin under the hood. “I’d hate for you to prepare for a winning day and then end up on the shit end of the stick.”

Filmas nodded, turning and running out of the room, heading towards his own room in order to prepare. “I remember what we did to your planet, Alec. And I plan on making you relive that moment a thousand times!”
_________________________________________

Alec laughed as Demi kept talking. “And then I told him! I don’t know how the elephant got in my pajamas!” she laughed, the two almost spilling their sodas on each other as they laughed, earning a few glances from the other patrons. She wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard, and she took a deep breath, watching the way Alec seemed to relax. “You’re serious that you haven’t been with anyone since your wife died?”

“I’m telling you the honest to Grotz truth,” Alec said. “When De’lia died, I thought my world had ended. I couldn’t see myself with anyone else. My daughter died the same time, and…I felt disconnected. I knew I wanted revenge on the people that killed my family, so a simple councilman with no history of violence took up his father’s dagger from when he was a kid and started going to war…”

“Alec…” Demi said, reaching over and placing her hand on his. “Please don’t feel bad. I know it’s hard losing people you love, but they’re never truly gone. They’re always with you. Right here.” She moved to sit beside him, turning where she could see him face to face. She put her hand over his heart, feeling how rapidly it started to pound against his chest. She blushed a bit, feeling his hand on her free one. “Alright?”

Alec smiled softly, nodding. “I know, Demi,” he said, sighing softly. “It’s been almost ten years, and I still miss them.”

“I know, but think about something. If you died with them, you wouldn’t be sitting here with me having a good lunch and laughing. And it looks like laughing is something that you haven’t done in a long time,” Demi said, putting her hand on Alec’s cheek, smiling softly as he blushed.

“I haven’t,” he admitted. He couldn’t help but enjoy the warmth of her skin against his. He wondered if all of her was that warm… ”Snap out of it, Alec…you’ve got a job to do on Earth. You can’t afford to get attached…” he thought to himself, lightly pulling away. “Demi…”

“Alec, what’s wrong?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but he spotted the Empire’s forces marching down the street causing trouble. “Stay here,” he said, standing up and tossing his napkin down on the table. He felt her hand against his, the feel of her hand wanting to make him stay. “Demi, please…I need to go right now, or there won’t be a tomorrow. You have to trust me.”

“Make me trust you,” Demi whispered.

Alec pulled his hand out of Demi’s lightly, taking his Mobirate and Key in hand. “Unleashed…Engage…” he mumbled, turning the Key and transforming into his Blue Ranger persona.

“No….freaking…way!” she exclaimed, standing up. “Promise me…that you’ll come back to me.” She looked into his eyes, praying he’d be alright.

“I promise, Demi. I can’t leave my newest and so far only friend alone, can I?” he asked, giving her hand a final squeeze before running out, having a renewed reason to fight.

Jumping over the Timbaks that were blocking the road, Alec kicked Filmas hard in the back, knocking him forward. “Ah!” Filmas laughed, standing up. “Ready for round two?”

“Round three, Filmas. The final curtain is being drawn right now,” Alec growled, his sword in hand. “And I’ll make sure that you can’t come back this time.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Filmas taunted, stamping his staff on the ground. “Filmography Rewind!” A black cloud leached out of the staff, small bolts of lightning snaking their way through before ensnaring Alec, the Blue Ranger hitting his knees and yelling out, feeling his mind being separated from his body. The last thing he heard was Filmas laughing at him.

Alec awoke back on Ryzan, looking around the room that used to be his Council chamber. “What?” he muttered, looking around as he stood from his desk. He reached for his Caller, but found that it was missing. He ran out of the room, knocking a few people over. “Me’gan! Con’nor! I’m sorry, guys.”

“It’s alright, Alec’ander. What are you running towards in such a hurry?” Me’gan asked, standing up with her friends help.

“I…don’t know,” Alec admitted. He looked at his robes, seeing how he was clad. “Goddamn.”

“Your wife was here earlier,” Con’nor said, looking at the Blue Ranger. “She said she wanted to see you at the house.”

“Thank you,” Alec said, heading towards the front entrance for the Council building. “Something isn’t right…this is all too familiar.”

As he made his way down the road, he looked around, taking in the ornate decorations on the various buildings. The entire village knew everyone, always looking out for each other. Alec couldn’t help but smile as he watched the children playing Konlin with a ball in the field in the center of the square, mothers with their babies sleeping while they conversed with friends. He heard a giggle that he recognized, and he turned around, catching a glimpse of his daughters auburn hair. He felt a pang in his chest, continuing on his way as he tried to ignore it.

“Papa!” Cam’ron cried, her voice cracking with tears. “Papa, why you no wanna play?”

Alec lowered his head, tears in his eyes. “I can’t, Cam’ron…none of this can be real…it can’t be,” he whispered.

“What you means not real?” she asked, climbing up her father’s back and resting her head against his, her big green eyes quizzical.

Alec sighed softly, looking at his daughter. “I say that, Cammy, because…because Papa’s in a fight to save his new home, and…Papa lost you a few years ago, sweetheart.”

“Papa, no say that,” Cam’ron whimpered, curling up in her father’s arms. “Come on! We go find Mama and has Tikini Fishy for lunch!”

Alec bit his tongue to keep from hurting her again with his words, and he nodded. “Alright,” he whispered, heading down the road again towards his house, stepping through the door. “De’lia?”

“Alec’ander!” his wife called from the kitchen, coming out and wiping her hands off on a towel attached to her apron.

After kissing his wife, he was told to sit at the table with his daughter beside him, his wife serving up the fish with an assortment of native vegetables.

Alec ate in silence, hoping he could figure out what was wrong. “Oh, shit,” he said, his eyes widening. “Filmas…”

“Who?” De’lia asked, getting up and wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck. “Who’s Filmas, dear?”

“An old enemy,” Alec said, lowering his eyes. “One that I have to destroy.”

“Papa, I never seen you fight before. You must be awesome fighter!” Cam’ron giggled, biting a piece of her fish before nibbling on a carnok, a carrot-like vegetable.

“I’m fair,” Alec said, smiling. He heard a voice, one that he wasn’t sure he knew on his planet.

”Alec! Alec, come on! Snap out of it!” Demi’s voice called out, urgency in her voice. “Alec! Come on!”

“Demi…” Alec said, his mind racing. “That bastard. He separated my mind and body and sent me back to Ryzan.” He looked back, seeing De’lia holding a knife and coming right for him. He blocked with one arm, wrenching the knife out of her hand with the other. “I knew you were behind this!”

“Of course I was,” Filmas’ voice laughed from De’lia’s lips. “I separated your mind and body, and now you’re at my mercy. And don’t worry. We’ll take good care of your little crush.”

“Leave her alone,” Alec growled.

Demi’s voice was faint, but he could still hear her begging for him to wake up. “You have to wake up, you idiot…please,” she whispered, shaking his shoulder.

Alec felt something against him, realizing the warmth he was feeling was Demi, even though he didn’t have his physical body. “That woman is full of surprises,” he chuckled. He lashed out, knocking his wife’s apparition backwards, the scene vanishing as his eyes snapped open…

Alec growled, trying to fight against the restraints that he was tied up in, seeing Demi hanging beside him. “Demi!”

“I’m alright,” she whispered, groaning a bit as she lifted her head up. “He attacked me…knocked me out and tied me up beside you.”

“I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this, Demi. I’m sorry,” Alec said, turning his head.

Shaking her own head, Demi smiled despite the pain in her side and left leg. “Don’t be. I’ve never done anything worth really being called “Fun”, but I’ll admit, being kidnapped by someone as ugly as him is kind of fun,” she chuckled.

“You’ve got a weird sense of fun,” Alec admitted, yelling when a sharp pain seared up his side. “Bastard.”

“Thank you,” Filmas giggled, jumping around a bit before slamming his staff against Alec’s stomach, making him convulse. “And to start, I’m going to kill your little girlfriend!”

“I am not his girlfriend!” Demi yelled.

“She is not my girlfriend!” Alec yelled at the same time, both overlapping each other. “Damn it, I wish Thomas was here to get my ass out of this mess.”

As if an answer to a prayer, a red tinged blast sailed through the air, undoing Alec’s restraints as well as Demi’s. Alec hit the ground, helping Demi down. “Are you alright?” he asked, looking into the blue eyes he couldn’t tear away from.

“I am now,” she whispered, hugging him tightly and shaking softly. “I am now that you’re alright…”

“I need you to hide. I’ll find you soon. I promise,” Alec said, returning the hug. He closed his eyes softly, feeling her lips against his cheek. “Demi…I will find you. I won’t let what happened to my wife and my daughter happen to you.”

“It won’t,” Demi said. She put her hand on his cheek, kissing him softly. “Be safe, and come back to me.” She turned and ran off, smiling softly to herself as she did.

“I will,” Alec said. He watched as Thomas ran out, standing beside his captain. “About time, Captain. What do you say we finish these bastards off?”

“Sounds like a fun idea,” Thomas said.

"Unleashed Change!" As the flashes of light died down, the two Rangers stood ready to fight, Alec cracking his neck.

“Let’s make it wild,” the Blue Ranger said, rushing forward and starting to slash down Timbaks before firing several. “Thomas, I’ll take Filmas!”

“Go for it!” Thomas yelled, slashing down quite a few Timbaks that came towards him.

Alec ran through the Timbaks, knocking them out of the way as he went straight for Filmas. He jumped up and kicked him in the back, knocking Filmas over. “You want to end this? Then let’s end this,” he growled, holding his sword up. “Because I’m sick of you taunting me.”

“Then let’s make this a hell of a show,” Filmas laughed, bouncing around and hitting Alec in the chest with his staff, knocking the Blue Ranger over. “Thought you were supposed to be a fighter?!”

Alec growled, standing up and firing several blasts, each one missing by a wide margin. “Looks like I have to change it up,” he said, hitting his belt and taking a Key from the Belt. “Unleashed Change!”

[COLOR=“#FF0000”]Magical Source, Mystic Force![/COLOR] As his suit changed, Alec took the Mystic Staff from his side and changed it into its sword mode, slashing Filmas’ staff before attacking him directly, knocking him backwards.

“Why are you trying to kill me? I thought you’d be happy to see your family again!” Filmas laughed, trying to scramble away and get his staff.

“I did want to see them again, but I learned something else. Family is important, but learning when to let go and move on. I found that out today, and it’s something I knew I needed to do,” Alec said. Thomas ran up beside him, the Blue Ranger nodding to his Red Ranger leader. “Thomas. Even though you were a part of them, it isn’t something we should hate. It’s something to be accepted and worked past. And what do you say to teaming up to kill this son of a bitch?”

“Works for me,” Thomas said.

Taking two Keys from their belts, the two Rangers flipped open their Callers, and slotted the Keys. RPM! GET IN GEAR! the phone-like devices called out.

As the two men ran forward, they called on their Cloud Hatchets before slashing at Filmas. “Let’s do a couple combos,” Alec said, standing solid in a male version of the RPM Silver Ranger suit, Thomas in Gold beside him. “Level Five! Laser Strike!” He flipped up the switches labeled “#2 and #3”, the Cloud Hatchet announcing the attack before he slashed down, several rounds of laser fire lashing out and striking Filmas hard in the chest.

“Level Four! Energy Slash!” Thomas yelled out, hitting Switches One and Three. He watched his Hatchet charge with energy, and he swung his arm to the right, one arc of energy unleashing before slashing down and making a second arc that connected, sailing forward and embedding into Filmas again.

“Ah!” Filmas yelled, hitting his back and flipping around, standing up shakily. “Is that the best you can do?!”

“Actually, I think we can do one better,” Thomas said, his RPM suit falling away and revealing his Red Unleashed Suit again. “Give me your blaster.”

Alec handed his blaster over, taking Thomas’ sword in hand. Grabbing the Blue Unleashed Key and the Blue Mighty Morphin’ Key, he flipped them up and put them in the swords, closing the hilts. The Swords glowed with Blue energy, Thomas repeating the process on his guns, his Red Unleashed and Mighty Morphin’ Key in the barrels instead.

"Unleashed Double Strike!" they called out, Thomas firing both blasters and unleashing Red energy rounds. Alec slashed down with his swords, the energy bands connecting and hitting the bullets, all the bits of energy connecting with Filmas.

“NO!” Filmas yelled. “Lord Dimas! Master Dricos! I’m sorry!” He fell back and exploded, a raging fire standing where Filmas had moments before.

Thomas and Alec both let their morphs go, shaking hands. “You gave me a second chance back on Onyx, Thomas, and when you trusted us enough to tell us the truth, I walked. Forgive me. My mind was…clouded at the time,” Alec said, smiling.

“All is forgiven, and all will always be forgiven, my friend,” Thomas said. “Though that girl you found is cute.”

“Stay away from her,” Alec laughed. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat.”
_________________________________________________________

Dricos growled as he felt his power return to him, standing up and leaving the deck of the ship before returning to his quarters, slamming his hand against the wall. “Goddamn Rangers. I will kill you yet,” he growled, a serpent’s hiss being heard from under the cloaks hood…

[FangRX]

Richmond sighed as he watched the clouds from the hotel room he’d rented, remembering happier times when he’d watch with his grandmother while they waited for the pecan pies or cobblers to get done. Sometimes he’d surprise her with something, like when he was seven.

“Grandma…I wish you could see me now,” he whispered. He chuckled at the thoughts of his first time trying make a cake solo in the kitchen to surprise his grandmother. “God, that was a disaster!”

”Richy, what are you doing, honey?” Angelica asked, giggling at her grandson covered head to toe in flour.

“I was trying to make you a cake. But it went wrong,” Richmond said, pouting as he put the pan in the sink and put water on it. He shook his head off, flour falling to the floor.

“Here, sweetheart,” Angelica said, smiling as she lifted her grandson up and put him on the counter before wetting a paper towel and wiping his head. “I’ll help you this time.” She kissed his forehead, making him smile. “There. There’s my boy’s big special smile.”

As Angelica helped her grandson, Richmond couldn’t help but laugh as they worked on cakes all afternoon. After finishing the last one, the young boy couldn’t help but take a spoon and the bowl of left over frosting to the table.

“Richmond,” his grandmother said, raising her eyebrows at her grandson. “What did I tell you?”

“Not to,” he said, his face falling as he put the bowl back on the counter.

“That’s right. But this time, it’s not to without me, silly,” Angelica said, kissing her grandson’s head. “Go sit down and I’ll bring a glass of Koran Milk when I sit down.” She watched him grab the bowl and run back to the table, hopping up in his chair beside hers.

“Grammy? How come you won’t let me go and see Dad?” Richmond asked.

Angelica sighed softly, lowering her eyes and busying herself with her work at the counter. “I told you, Richmond.”

“I know, but…”

“No buts! You aren’t allowed to see him in that war torn, godforsaken place! Do you understand me?” she snapped, turning and looking at her grandson.

Richmond nodded, ducking under the table and running off to his room, hiding in his closet.

“I never did find out what happened to my father,” Richmond said, sighing as he grabbed a green jacket and swung it on, heading out into the cool early May weather. He watched families walk and play, laughing as they threw footballs and Frisbees, chasing their dogs around before gathering around a picnic table for a grilled hot dog or a burger.

“Richmond?” a voice asked, knocking the Green Ranger out of his thoughts. “Thought I saw you sitting here.”

Looking up, the Green Ranger couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Alec. Good to see you, man,” he said, shaking his friend’s hand. “And who is this lovely woman?”

“Demetria Howell, this is my friend and the best chef I’ve ever known other then you, Richmond West,” Alec said, watching his friends shaking hands and getting acquainted. “How come you’re out here, man?”

“Got bored sitting in the hotel watching reruns of Military dramas. Earthies need some new shows,” Richmond laughed.

“Hey!” Demi laughed, shoving Richmond’s shoulder playfully. “We do not need new shows. We need GOOD shows.”

“That’s true, too,” Alec said, smiling as he took Demi’s hand. “We were going to get some lunch. Care to join us?”

“Alec, I wouldn’t want to intrude. I’d feel like a third wheel,” Richmond said. “I was--”

“No excuses, no made up lies. You’re coming,” Demi said, shutting Richmond up. “Don’t argue with me. He found that out the hard way.” She reached back and elbowed Alec in the gut, making both men laugh.
______________________________________________

Prancing into the deck of the Empire’s main ship, Draela, the Clone Warrior, bowed in front of Dimas and Dricos. “Hello, my lords!” she said, her voice bubbly despite her devilish looking appearance. “How can I be of service today?”

“Welcome, Draela. It’s….always interesting when you show up, my dear,” Dricos said, smirking under his hood. His silver eyes glimmered under the hood, and as he stepped forward to Draela, a sinister grin crossed his face. “Who is your intended target today?”

“The Green Ranger of course. I owe him a debt,” Draela said, rubbing her left arm where a long silver scar was seen. “A debt I intend on taking by force.”

“What kind of debt?” Dricos asked.

“He cut my arm in a duel on Sarkasin Six near Eltar. I plan on taking his life in return,” Draela said, smirking. “And maybe some other parts to use as toys after I come back to celebrate.”

Dricos, Dimas, and Furyblaze all cringed, knowing exactly what Draela was talking about. “Thou truly are a heartless bitch, my dear,” Furyblaze said, his hands crossed in front of him. “I think we should send her down to the surface to start some destruction.”

“Of course, my lords. This is going to be fun,” Draela giggled, skipping out of the room and taking some Timbaks with her as she went.
_____________________________________________

“You tackled her?” Richmond asked, his eyebrows disappearing into his let down mass of black hair. “Jesus, man.”

“It was either tackle me or let me blow up,” Demi giggled, taking a French fry off of Alec’s plate. “And I’ve made sure to thank him a few times for saving my life twice.” She wiggled her eyebrows, the Blue Rangers face turning red.

“Ok, that’s enough info on that one,” Richmond laughed, shaking his head. “Good god. So other then finding someone to shag, Alec, you gone back to the Galleon?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been staying around much, though. Demi’s been having me stay with her. Though Geeps does inform me of trouble,” Alec admitted.

“Did he ever answer how we ended up back on Earth after Furyblaze killed us?” the Green Ranger asked, breaking to take a long drink of his lemon water. “Because I thought the past Rangers said we were on the far side of the moon where the Empire couldn’t detect us. We woke up and we were in the middle of downtown.”

“Geeps. He’s connected to the Morphing Grid apparently, whatever the hell that is, and….apparently one of the smarter Blue Rangers was able to contact him and had him put our bodies back in the middle of downtown where we wouldn’t have so far to go to find Furyblaze,” Alec said. “The explanation doesn’t make much sense to me, considering I can’t think in mechanics like that, but if it makes the brains happy, then that’s the story.”

“And you’ll stick to it,” Demi said, kissing Alec’s cheek.

“So basically a Blue Ranger got in Geeps’ head and said, “We’re bringing them back to life. Dump the corpses in downtown Pan Central”, we get resurrected, and we split after what Thomas told us,” Richmond said. “Makes sense to me.”

“Like I said, if it makes the brains happy,” Alec said, chuckling. “Isn’t your friend supposed to be here soon, Demi?”

“April? Oh, yeah,” Demi said, looking around before spotting her friend. “April!”

“Demi!” the new girl squealed, rushing over and hugging her best friend. “Oh, I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“I know! We seriously need to stop waiting years before seeing each other,” Demi said, smiling. “April Chang, these two fine gentlemen are Alec Craven and Richmond West. They’re the two I told you about. But hands off Alec. He’s mine.”

“Yeah, last time I tried to steal one of your boyfriends, I thought I was going to lose a limb!” April laughed. At five foot six, she matched Richmond in height. Her darker Asian features mingled well with her silver, almond-shaped eyes. She was unsteady on her feet just standing still even in the two inch heels she was wearing, and more then once Richmond watched himself help steady her before guiding her into a chair. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Richmond said, smiling softly. No sooner had the words come from his mouth before a bad feeling ran up his spine. “Alec.”

“Yeah, I know,” the Blue Ranger said, the same feeling creeping it’s way up his. “We need to go.”

“Do you have to?” Demi asked, frowning softly. “Or is it duty calling?”

“It’s the call of duty,” Alec said, kissing Demi softly. “I’ll be back. We’ll be back. I promise.”

As the two men ran outside, April raised an eyebrow. “What are they exactly?” she asked, looking at Demi who was smiling.

“April, they’re heroes,” Demi said, watching as Alec and Richmond ran out.

The two Rangers, having morphed on the run, stopped downtown and looked around. “I don’t see anything,” Richmond said, looking at his Blue counterpart.

What they didn’t see was lurking in the shadow. Draela, having told her forces of Timbaks to stay back, yanked out a lock of her hair, whispering ancient words into it before watching it glow silver. She flung it forward, watching it spear through Richmond, absorbing his memories. The lock of hair vanished, a small puff of smoke where it had been after passing through Richmond. The Green Ranger stumbled a bit, shaking his head.

“Weird…” he mumbled.

“What?” Alec asked, putting his hand on Richmond’s shoulder and helping him stand. “Richmond, I’ve been your friend for almost three years, and I know when something’s wrong. What’s up, man?”

“Nothing. Just…guess I was more tired then I thought,” Richmond said. “Tell the girls I’m sorry. I’m going back to my hotel to crash for a bit. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“No problem, man. Give me a shout if you need anything,” Alec said, clearly worried for his Green friend. He headed back to the café where the girls were waiting, and as he sat down he noticed April looking at him.

“Where’s Richmond?” she asked, sadness crossing her eyes.

“He said he wasn’t feeling good. He was going back to his hotel for a bit to sleep,” Alec said.

“Oh. Ok,” April said, her eyes lowering.
____________________________________________

Richmond sighed as he laid back on his bed, sweat dripping off of his face again as he thought back to when he lost his grandmother. “Gran…it’s been so long…” he muttered, his eyes closing. His mind wandered, a small smile on his face.

”You have to help her. Please,” Richmond begged the doctor, taking her arm. “Please…she’s the only family I’ve got.”

“I’m sorry, Rich,” Dr. Kenna said, putting her hand on her oldest friends cheek. “I can’t help her, Richy. Her lungs are black from all the smoke she inhaled when the apartment caught fire. I can’t help her. There’s only so much I can do…”

Richmond sighed softly, nodding. “I know, Kita. I just…thought she’d live forever.” He looked at his friend, the warmth in her eyes uncomforting for him. “Can I see her?”

“She’s been asking for you since we brought her back,” Dr. Kenna said, taking her friend’s hand and leading him back. “I’m sorry, Rich. Really.”

“It’s alright, Kita. She…knew her time was coming anyway,” Richmond said, sighing as he opened the door to his grandmothers room. “Grammy.”

Angelica’s head lifted lightly from the pillow, smiling at her grandson, though her usual light of a smile wasn’t there. “Richy,” she said, her voice hoarse. She sat up as best as she could, coughing violently as she did. “Damn lungs.”

“Grammy, take it easy,” Richmond said, sitting beside her on the bed and taking her old hand in his. “If you hadn’t gone back for your stupid cookbooks.”

“Shut your mouth,” Angelica snapped, her eyes hurt at her grandsons words. “Those cookbooks were my grandmothers. And they were supposed to be yours.”

“Grammy, I know all of those books inside and out,” Richmond said, sighing as he looked down at his grandmother. “I’m going to miss you, Grammy…you’ve been the only family member I’ve known.”

“Richy, listen to an old woman who’s been around the world,” Angelica said, rubbing her grandson’s hand. “You’ve got a lot of potential, sweetheart. I know that you can do great things. You just don’t know what they are yet. I love you so much. And…I’m always going to be with you, Richmond.” She laid her head back, closing her eyes. Richmond sang softly, tears streaking down his face. “Goodbye, sweetheart.” Her breathing ceased, and Richmond felt the last bits of life leaving his grandmother.

“Bye, Grammy,” Richmond whispered, tears falling from his eyes. He leaned up and kissed his grandmothers’ forehead, leaving the room before heading outside.

Richmond’s eyes opened from his sleep, and he sat up. “Damn,” he muttered. He went into the bathroom and washed his face, looking at the haunted look in his eyes. “What’s wrong with you, man?”

A knock on the door broke the Green Ranger from his thoughts, and as he pulled his jeans and a shirt back on, he kept his Caller and Key ready. Opening the door, the two items in his hands fell to the floor. “Grammy?”

“Richy,” Angelica whispered, hugging her grandson tightly.

Richmond blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Grammy, what the hell?” he asked, stepping back.

Angelica stepped into the hotel and closed the door, sitting down in a chair beside the bed. “Is that any way to talk your grandmother?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Ok, let me rephrase. Grammy, what are you doing alive? I buried you. I was there when you died. What….huh!?” Richmond asked, confused. He pulled his Caller off of the floor, typing a few numbers. “Alec? Yeah. Can you break away from the girls and get to my hotel? I…think I’m losing it, man.”

A few minutes later Alec showed up, walking in. “What’s up?” the Blue Ranger asked. Richmond pointed, standing in the corner. “That’s…”

“Yeah. My dead grandmother,” Richmond said. “Something isn’t right.”

What nobody seemed to see was across the street. On top of a nearby building, Draela watched with interest at how Richmond was reacting, the Green Ranger seeming to stumble around the room, bumping into things. “Hehehehehe, this is great!” she giggled, taking a bite of popcorn as she watched the ‘show’ she’d decided to create.

“You’ve got that right,” Alec said, sitting Richmond in a chair. “What was the last thing you said to your grandson?” He turned to Angelica, looking at the woman in the chair.

“I said I’d see him one day,” Angelica said, looking up at Alec like he was dirt on the floor. “And don’t try and criticize me, skinny boy. Could do with some meat on them flabby bones!” She grabbed Alec’s arm, pulling a bit.

“Grammy, let him go,” Richmond snapped, watching his grandmother drop his friend’s arm. “And that isn’t what you said. You said, “Goodbye, sweetheart.” I may have been pissed off and sad that you’d died, but I know what I heard.”

“Richmond, you know I told you once I’d never die,” Angelica said. She stood and put her hands on her grandson’s face, holding tight.

“It’s not logical,” Richmond muttered, looking at Alec. “Grammy, get off of me.” He shook her off of his face, and he sighed as he stood up. “There’s really only one way to make sure she’s real, Alec.”

“Richmond, you can’t,” Alec said, knowing what the Green Ranger was about to do.

“Unleashed Engage,” Richmond said, turning his Green Key in the Caller, shifting into his Green Ranger look, holding up his pistol. “If you’re real, you’ll bleed.” He pointed it at his grandmother, closing his eyes as he pulled the trigger, hearing something hit the ground as well as Alec‘s slight gasp of exasperation.. He opened his eyes again, letting go of his morph before bending down and picking up the clump of hair. “Draela.”

“Who?” Alec asked, kneeling beside his friend. “Who’s Draela?”

“An old enemy of mine. When I was on Sarkasin Six, I was part of the Army Intergalactic Medicorps, or A.I.M. as we called ourselves. I ended up being drafted for a skirmish so that my team could get wounded out. Well, the Empires troops were being led by Draela. She and I got into a fight, and I seared her left arm with a plasma charge. She gave me a return scar on my left pectoral muscle,” Richmond said, sighing. “After that, her forces were called back, and she ended up vowing to get revenge one day. Well, I’m guessing that since this is from her head, she’s out for the revenge she wanted back then. It’s been three….almost four years since that battle, I think. Why she picked now to find me and fight, I don’t know. But it looks like it’s time to draw the past to a close, huh?” Richmond asked, standing up.

“You got it,” Alec said, nodding. “And I’m going to be fighting beside you, my friend. It won’t be you alone.”

“Then let’s go find this bitch,” Richmond said, clenching his fists.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Alec said, Richmond running out of the hotel room before he did.

As the two looked around outside, a deep giggle came from a shadowed spot. “HI, Richy!” Draela giggled, skipping out of her hiding spot. “Did you miss me?”

“No, not really,” Richmond said. “Missed the chance of getting to kick your ass, bitch.” He held up his Caller and Green Key again. “Alec?”

“Let’s do it,” Alec said, smirking.

"UNLEASHED ENGAGE!" the two Rangers yelled, transforming into their Green and Blue Ranger forms.

Swapping weapons as Draela snapped her fingers, the two Rangers rushed in, swinging around at the hoards of Timbaks and the several Golbaks. Richmond got thrown backwards, losing his weapons in the process. Alec landed beside him, holding his right arm.

“We need to make a change,” Alec said, looking at his friend in the Green. “What do you suggest?”

Standing up and hitting his belt, Richmond dove to the right as Draela threw a mass of hair at him, watching it attempt to spear them. “How about these?” he asked, holding up the Black Megaforce Key.

“Sounds good,” Alec said, holding up the Blue Key.

"UNLEASHED ENGAGE!" the two called out again, turning the two Keys in their Callers.

GO GO MEGAFORCE! the Callers rang out, the symbols of the Black and Blue Megaforce Rangers appearing before covering the two Rangers up, coating them in Black and Blue.

Taking the Gosei Morphers from their belts, they opened up the mouths. Opening their belts, they summoned out one Card a piece, putting them in the Morpher before closing it again. SUMMON BATTLE GEAR

“Snake Axe!” Richmond said, taking the Axe from the air before slamming it into some of the Timbaks, breaking them apart before hurling it, slashing down more of them before using his Mega Blaster with the Snake Zord attached to it, firing several blasts. “Snake Blast!”

Using Richmond’s cover fire, Alec summoned his own weapon. “Shark Bowgun!” he said, taking the crossbow type weapon in hand before firing several shots around, jumping back and flip shooting one in the back, landing beside Richmond. “Nice shooting, man!”

“Not too bad yourself,” Richmond said, catching his Axe as it came back to him. “What do you say we go for the big boss now?”

“I don’t think so!” Draela yelled, firing several black shots from her hands. Her anger was clouding her eyes, not allowing her to get a clear shot at her target in the Green Ranger. “Stand still, damn you!”

“How about not?” Richmond asked, jumping backwards. “Alec!”

“Got it!” the Blue Ranger called, landing beside his counterpart, taking another Key from their belts. They flipped up the legs and turned the Keys, changing forms again.

SHIFT INTO TURBO! the Callers rang out for a third time, changing Alec and Richmond into the Blue and Green Turbo Rangers.

“Turbo Thunder Cannon!” Richmond called, spinning around and taking the two-handed cannon from the air, pointing it at Draela before opening fire, sending several large blasts at her that connected and knocked her backwards. “You’re up, brother!”

“Turbo Hand Blasters!” Alec called, groaning as he gripped the twin guns in hand. “Ok, I am sick of being the Ranger that gets the guns!” He fired several blasts, holding the triggers before charging up and releasing a bigger blast.

Draela hit her back, skidding across the courtyard as she did. “Ah! You bastards!” she growled, standing up and glowing with black energy. “I’m going to incinerate this entire town!”

“Don’t count on it,” Richmond growled, back in his Unleashed Green. Taking the Black Mastodon and Green Unleashed Keys from his belt, he put them in his Blaster and Saber, closing the cylinders on the barrel and hilt. "Unleashed Shoot and Slash." He pulled the trigger of his blaster, the bullet gaining some velocity before he slashed down, the green energy built up on the blade of the saber combining with the bullet, spinning before slamming into Draela, causing her to stumble.

“NO! It can’t end like this!” she screeched. “I WILL HAVE MY VENGENCE OF YOU, BOY!” She fell backwards, her screams and sobs of anger being drowned out by the resulting explosion, Richmond dropping his morph to reveal his eyes closed.

“Rich?” Alec asked, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You alright?”

“I wished she had of been real, Alec. I…had a lot I wanted to say and apologize for that I never got the chance,” Richmond said. “Now I won’t get that chance.”

“Yeah, you will. Stopping the Empire, the people that killed her, that’s apology enough. Two days ago…I had to fight someone from my past, Filmas. He used my family’s images against me, taking me home to Ryzan where I almost gave in, man. If I got the chance to make amends with my past and what happened to my wife and daughter, you’ve got to use what happened today to make amends with your Grandmother,” Alec said. “Come on. Let’s go find the girls and see if we can’t salvage that lunch from before.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, Alec,” Richmond said, smiling. “And thanks for being my backup today, man.”

“Oh, no problem,” Alec smirked. “Come on.”
_________________________________________

On the bridge of the Blizkon, Dricos slammed his hands into the console he was standing at, anger surging through him. “NO!” he yelled, denting the metal. “This isn’t happening!” The hood feel from his head, his black eyes shining dangerously. “Curse these goddamn Rangers! What is it going to take to get them to die?!”

“My lord,” Dimas said, stepping forward. “Control your anger. Perhaps it requires a more…personal approach?”

“Deal with them ourselves,” Dricos said, his voice low. His anger shrunk, and with the anger dissipating so did he. “It might just work, Dimas. Prepare the Upgrade Station for the Golbaks into Eternaks. We will be starting our assault first thing tomorrow.”

Dimas bowed, turning on his heel. “Soon, Dricos. It will be just I,” he said once he was out of earshot, traversing through the halls…

[FangRX]

Andrea shook her head as her sister laughed at the cartoon she was watching. The sounds of fighting erupted on the screen, the two characters starting to duke it out. She growled as her sister started talking to the characters on the screen, watching the fights with interest.

“Oh, come on, Connor!” Artemis yelled, shaking her head and throwing popcorn at the screen. “You’re going to let Kaldur win!? Lame! AH!” She watched as one of her favorite characters mind raped Kaldur, watching him hit his knees. “M’gann! What did you do!?”

“Seriously…will you shut the fuck up?” Andrea asked. “Dear lord, didn’t you watch that enough when it was on?”

“Shut up!” Artemis laughed. “You know I like this show. Just because I thought Connor and Kaldur were cute.”

“There is a fine line between acceptable and ridiculous, and…you stepped that line a few days ago, moron,” Andrea said, turning and heading upstairs. Being back in their old house, having the means to buy it back, it gave Andrea a sense of coming full circle. Since having to leave and live with their grandparents, she’d almost forgot what it was like to be in her own house. Running from the Empire, always running, hiding from whatever forces came through town that day, to ending up sailing the stars with three odd men and her sister, the Yellow Ranger was enjoying a few days of peace without fighting. She’d heard about Alec, Thomas, and Richmond all being involved in fights, but she knew they could handle themselves.

A knock on the door brought her out of her reverie, and Andrea sighed as she swung off of her bed, opening the door a crack. “What, Artemis?”

“I’m heading into town for a bit. I want to get a bite to eat. Come with?”

“Nah. Not this time,” Andrea said, smiling a bit. “You go. Enjoy some time by yourself.”

“Alright,” Artemis said, hugging her sister before turning and skipping down the stairs, sliding down the banister near the bottom. She turned and closed the front door of the house behind her, jumping on her skateboard and sailing down the street, a dark gleam in her eye.

Andrea sighed as she flopped back on her bed, staring up at the green galaxy stickers she’d put up when she was three. She remembered begging for the stickers despite her room being pink and blues with ponies and rainbows and dolls lining the walls.

”Mommy, please!!” a three year old Andrea begged. “Mommy, it’s just a few stickers! I wants them! I be extra special! Please, please, please!”

Her mother, Denise, smiled softly, shaking her head. “Andy, you know Daddy’s going to say I shouldn’t,” she said, kneeling beside her daughter who looked ready to cry.

“Don’t care! Not with Daddy!” Andrea said, looking at the sticker package before stuffing it back on the shelf in the store, crossing her arms. “Stupid Daddy and his stupid rules…” She wiped her eyes from the tears that had been forming, and she sighed softly.

Denise bit her lip nervously, putting the package in the cart before picking up Andrea. “We’ll keep it our secret,” she said, kissing her daughters cheek and hearing her giggle. “Ok?”

“Okis!” Andrea giggled, hugging her mother’s neck.

Later that night, Andrea huddled down under the blankets in her room, hearing her father slapping her mother around and yelling at her.

“Dylan! Stop!” Denise yelled, hitting her back on the floor, holding her cheek were red handprints were making themselves known. “She asked me for them! I wasn’t going to tell her no! It’s just some stupid stickers!”

“I don’t care!” Dylan yelled, slapping his wife again before throwing her against the dressers, mirrors and perfume bottles shattering as they hit the floor. “She’s a girl, not a fucking boy! She doesn’t need boy things! I thought I fucking made that clear?!”

“AH!” Denise yelled, hitting her head on the wall. “Alright! I’m sorry….just…please stop…”

Andrea cried herself to sleep, the images of her mother being hurt embedding themselves in her mind. She felt bad since that day, having gotten the stickers despite knowing what her father would do to her mother. She hugged Denise tighter the next morning, kissing the red handprint on her face.

“Damn it,” Andrea growled, getting up before heading into her parents old room, opening the door and stepping onto the dust covered floor that tickled her nose. She sneezed twice, holding her nose and mouth to keep them covered as she remembered the last time her father was alive.

”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.

Andrea sighed as she walked back out, closing the door behind her before slamming her hands against it, breaking the hardwood at random spots, splinters flying out of the door into her hand and face. “I hate you,” she growled.

She ran downstairs, picking up a photo album and started looking through it, sighing as she found one set in the Pan Central Cemetery. Her eyes widened, seeing the headstone behind her mother. “No…”

On it was written:

ARTEMIS BLAINE
OCTOBER 12, 1995--OCTOBER 13, 1995

“Ok…I’m confused,” Andrea said. “I remember my sister being there doing all that stuff. Running, playing soccer in the backyard, hanging out at the Twisty Freezer. What the hell is going on?”

Making a snap choice, Andrea jumped up and ran for the door. She grabbed her coat and backpack, shoving her Caller into her pocket before putting the Ranger Key in her breast pocket, sighing as she ran out of the house, heading towards the Cemetery. “I need answers,” she mumbled, running through town.

After getting to the Cemetery and asking for help finding the gravestone in question--which held her mother and father on either side--she knelt down and brushed the dust away. She dropped the picture in her hand, her heart snapping in half. “It’s the same thing,” she mumbled. “What the hell is going on here!?”
_____________________________________________

Stepping out of the shadows near downtown, Dricos and Dimas were planning their assault as they went, knowing that a war would bring the Rangers out. “Dimas, be a sport and start slashing down these pitiful humans. They’re eyesores,” Dricos said, lashing his hand out and blowing up a building fairly close, peoples screams filling his ears.

“Yes, my Lord,” Dimas said, bowing and slashing down with his sword, sending several large shockwaves out and killing a plethora of humans that were foolish enough to try and run. Turning around, Dimas sent a few more energy waves, tinted black as his heart, searing through more humans, their bodies separating in gruesome ways before blowing up their cars.

“Dimas!” a voice yelled. As Dricos and Dimas turned around, Thomas, Alec, and Richmond stood together.

“Rangers! You seem to be missing someone, don’t you?” Dricos asked, smirking under his hood.

Andrea ran up, standing behind the two. “We’re only missing one, but it doesn’t matter where my sister is. We’re more then able to take you down,” she growled. “Let’s do this!”

“Unleashed Engage!” the four Rangers yelled, each one changing into their Ranger persona with a burst of colored light from their Callers.

“Are you sure it does not matter where your sister is?” Dricos asked, turning to Andrea behind him and taking a Ranger Key from his sleeve, throwing it at the Yellow Ranger’s feet. “Or does this prove you wrong?”

Picking up the Ranger Key, Andrea opened her hand to reveal the Pink Ranger Key that her sister held. “What did you do?”

“Nothing she didn’t want,” Dricos laughed.

Andrea’s hand tightened around her Sabre, anger surging through her veins. “I’ll kill you,” she growled. “You’ve taken someone close to me. Why should I leave you alive?!”

Dricos laughed, rushing forward and kicking out at Andrea, the Yellow Ranger dodging and slamming her fist into Dricos’ chest, throwing him backwards. She leapt forward into Dricos, hitting him hard in the stomach, anger and rage driving her.

Down the street, the other three Rangers were busy with Dimas. Alec swung low, catching Dimas in the chest before launching him backwards into Richmond, the Green Ranger stabbing Dimas in the back before slashing against him as he pulled his sword out, knocking him to the ground.

“Thomas!” the Green Ranger called out, watching Thomas rush forward before slotting a Key into his Sabre.

“UNLEASHED BREAK!” he yelled, driving his sword into Dimas’ shoulder. “That’s for manipulating my friends.”

“Ha….you think you’re right,” Dimas growled, launching himself up and knocking the Rangers off of him. “You think that I’m the one that manipulated your friends? You couldn’t be more wrong, son.” He slashed Thomas backwards, kicking him in the chest and sending him spiraling into Alec. Richmond fired several shots, Dimas blocking each of them before slashing Richmond, knocking him down. “If you know what’s best, Rangers, do not get up again.”

Andrea, having been distracted watching the fight between her friends and Dimas, got a knee to the face courtesy of Dricos, shattering her helmet’s visor. Landing on her back, Andrea thought fast and fired several rounds from her blaster, each one tearing at the hood on Dricos’ face. He landed on his stomach, growling as he held the strips of what used to be his hood down, not wanting his face to be seen.

“Bitch!” he growled, jumping back up and driving a kick to Andrea’s stomach, sending her sprawling out onto the ground. “Dimas! Retreat for now!” Snapping his fingers, he and Dimas both vanished, Andrea losing her morph before getting up and screaming to air.

“BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!” she yelled, slamming her hand into a car window and shattering the glass, hitting her knees as tears fell from her eyes.

“Andrea,” Richmond’s voice whispered, the Yellow Ranger feeling his arms around her. “Come on, Andy. Let’s go back up to the Galleon. I’ll make you a hot drink.”

“I don’t want a hot drink, Richmond! I want my sister back!” she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks and staining his shirt. “But…can I bend some ears?”

“Uh…sure,” Richmond said. “Thomas, Galleon?”

“Coming’ up!” Thomas said, hitting a few numbers on his Caller that summoned the ship to them, teleporting them up into the main galley. After everyone sat down, Andrea sighed as she put the Pink Ranger Key on the table in front of her, biting her lip. “Andrea?”

“That’s my sisters,” Andrea said, looking at the Key. “She’s dead.”

“Um…” Richmond started, having been standing at the main console for two minutes tapping away as he waited for things to come to light. “I don’t think so.”

“What are you talking about?” Andrea asked, getting up and going to her friend in Green. “What do you mean she isn’t dead?”

“Her signal isn’t on Earth, but…it’s in Space,” Richmond said.
_____________________________________________

“Those accursed Rangers!” Dricos yelled, slamming his hand into a Timbak and shattering its spine before it fell to the ground. “Again! They screwed us over again!”

“My lord Dricos. Please calm yourself,” Dimas said, putting his hand on his Masters’ arm. “We will destroy these Rangers once and for all.”

“And how do you suppose we do this, Dimas?” Dricos asked, shedding the cloak. The Bridge crew turned away, none of them allowed at the time to see their Masters true form before a second cloak was drawn around him. “Waltz up to their ship and blow them out of the sky?”

“That is exactly what we do,” Dimas said. “The Galleon is a weapon in and of itself, my lord. We destroy their home, they are powerless.”

“The Key,” Dricos smirked, a dark chuckle tearing itself from his throat.

“The Key,” Dimas confirmed. “We must acquire its parts from the Outlying, but we might have a chance of bringing everything together soon for the Deletion.”

“Excellent,” Dricos said, a sadistic grin on his face. “Let the operations commence. I have some things to attend on the surface. I will alert when the time is right for the Forces.”

“Yes, sire,” Dimas said, bowing his head and walking away to leave Dricos to his plans.
_______________________________

“So you’re saying that your sister’s dead, but someone’s impersonating her?” Thomas asked, having taken a cup of hot tea from Richmond. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” Andrea said, sighing as she looked into her own cup. “I don’t fucking know, Thomas. All I know is I want some damn answers.”

Richmond nodded, thinking before he pulled up a few files. “I found some of the Empire’s files on their soldiers that impersonate,” he said, throwing them onto the big screen. “Tranias, Lokie, Tsunika. All of them impersonators, but none of them have the power to manipulate memories.”

“What about Her?” Alec asked. He pulled a file of his own up, showing a feminine figure with purple skin and serpents for hair.

“Serpen,” Thomas said, his mind buzzing. “It’s possible. One of her Snakes Bites does induce memory manipulation. It’s possible that she’s behind a lot of this and she’s been playing us from the start.”

No sooner did the words leave the Red Rangers mouth then an alert tone rang out. “That’s my phone,” Andrea said, taking a cord from Richmond that allowed her to plug into the ship directly. “Who are you?”

”Yellow Ranger, I’m the one that holds your sister alive. For now. Come alone to the West side warehousing. I’ve got something special in mind. Speaking of your sister, scream out, little Pinky,” the voice on the other end laughed, Artemis’ screams tearing through the phone and speakers of the ship. ”One hour little girl. Otherwise she loses another body part!” Another demonic laugh and a click later, Andrea heard the sounds of a dead line, fear in her eyes.

“What do I do?” Andrea asked.

“Fight,” Alec said. “All you can do, Andrea.” He sighed, putting his hand on her shoulder. “It’s all any of us can do at any given time. Though I’ll have a fight on my hand if I’m not careful tonight.”

“Had to blow off your date with Dem, did you?” Richmond asked.

“Yep,” Alec said, shaking his head. “She understands, but it still hurts her when I do.”

“Ok, relationships aside, I need a plan if things go south,” Andrea said. “Thomas, bring me that chest. I have an idea that just might work. It’s fucking nuts, but it might work.”

“Oh, boy,” Richmond snickered, watching Andrea start pulling out sixteen Keys. “What are you thinking?”

“Follow my lead today, and you’ll find out,” Andrea said. “I need my bike. I’m going.”
_____________________________

One hour later, Andrea was standing in front of the warehouse, thinking about how, “It’s always warehouses. Why not a pizza joint?” She opened the door lightly, sticking her head in. “Hello?” she asked, looking around, her Ranger Blaster in hand.

“Come in, come in,” Dricos laughed, flooding the room in searchlights, illuminating it with thousands of LED’s to brighten the warehouse. “Are you going to fight me?”

“Only if you don’t give back my sister,” Andrea growled.

“She’s already dead. That scream was prerecorded,” Dricos laughed, smirking under his hood. “SO…what are you going to do now, little girly?”

“This,” Andrea said, her hand tightening around her Caller. "UNLEASHED ENGAGE!" She morphed in a burst of yellow light, throwing her Blaster out of the window, catching a Sabre on return. “You didn’t think I’d really come alone?”

“Dirty fighter,” Dricos snickered, rushing Andrea as the sounds of battle came from outside, Timbaks and Golbaks taking the fight to the other three Rangers.

Dodging a punch, Andrea leapt up, cutting the sleeve of Dricos’ cloak, the fabric tearing as she pulled back, using her grappling hooks on the ends of the sabers to hook more of the cloak. “Time to get into the light, bitch!” she growled, yanking hard and flipping Dricos over her head, sending him flying through the air. He crashed through the window, knocking some of his own forces down as he landed. Andrea ran out, standing beside her teammates. “Let’s make a change.”

Taking a Key from their belts, the Rangers flipped up the legs and inserted them into the Callers. “Unleashed Engage!” they cried out. Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed! The sounds of roaring and a howl ripped through the street, a violet disk of energy from Richmond severing several Timbaks.

“Wahoo! Love a Wolf Disk!” the Green turned Violet Ranger laughed, driving a knee into one more.

Leaping up, Andrea, now clad in a different yellow, slammed her Jungle Bo into Dricos’ chest, throwing him around into another wall, cracking the wall several feet up. She retracted her Bo from Dricos’ chest, slamming it into a Golbak that had taken aim at her head, his blast backfiring and blowing him up instead.

“Do you think you can win, little girl?” Dricos asked, growling as he slid down the wall, holding his chest. “I’ll kill you like I did your sister.”

“Like hell you will,” Andrea growled. “Boys! You doing good?”

“Just fine!“ Alec was taking the Jungle Tonfa, slamming them around in circles and beating in heads of more Timbaks’, Thomas beside him with the Jungle Chucks. “Not a lot of sharp weaponry, is it?” Alec asked.

“Kung-Fu Fighters that used their fists more. Weapons were an afterthought,” Richmond said. “How about another one?”

“Unleashed Engage!” Dino Thunder Power Up!

Sailing through the air on paper thin wings, Andrea grabbed Dricos up and slammed her Thunder Blaster into his chest, firing at point blank range before dropping him into his soldiers below. Richmond took the Dino Staff in hand before twisting the dial around.

“Fire Inferno!” the Green Ranger cried out, engulfing several of the Timbaks in flame.

“Tricera Shield!” Alec called, slamming his tri-horned weapon into the Golbaks, kicking one back before throwing the shield and watching it spear several more.

“Tyranno Staff!” Thomas summoned, slamming the staff down on some of the footwork, spearing his staff through them.

“Dricos,” Andrea growled, picking up the villain and pointing her Thunder Blaster at his head. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off.”

A burst of fire broke Andrea’s concentration, Furyblaze appearing beside Dricos. “My Lord,” he said.

“You!” Thomas growled.

“Hello, Thomas,” Furyblaze. “Dricos. You must hurry. The Outlying are beginning to mobilize as you requested of Lord Dimas.”

“Thank you, Furyblaze,” Dricos said, holding his hand out and forming a ball of silver energy. "Etrigan Solar Storm!" Throwing the ball of energy, the force of a thousand suns knocked into the Rangers, sending them back into their original Ranger suits. Andrea rolled to a stop in front of Richmond, her visor broken and revealing a pair of angry brown eyes. “Oh, look. One of them shows an emotion. Pitiful humans.”

“You’ll think pitiful humans,” Andrea growled. She stood again, taking a Key from her belt. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Pray tell, dear. What is that?” Dricos asked, smirking as he pulled at the tatters of his cloak. “And I’ll have you know that these cloaks aren’t cheap.”

“Who cares? Being someone that used to love expensive clothes…they don’t mean shit when you don’t have a friend to wear them with or to share. That’s what you took away from me….you took away my sister, my best friend, and the only family I had left. Assholes like you always take people that don’t deserve to die, and…I’m going to make sure that you don’t hurt anyone else. Unleashed Engage!” Andrea snapped, slotting a final Key. "Go Galactic!" it rang out. “Quasar Saber!” She lunged forward again, slashing and hacking at the cloak, tearing it off of Dricos before kicking him back. She let go of the Lost Galaxy suit, complete with a skirt thanks to the Keys properties, landing on her feet beside Richmond.

Dricos growled, realizing his cloak was gone. “You bitch!” he snapped, turning and standing up as he did. When he stood, instead of a man like everyone thought--or some galactic equivalent of one--they were met face to face with a mess of tangled red hair, blue eyes shining brightly despite the anger on her face.

“Do you know what you’ve done!?” Artemis yelled, holding her stomach where silver blood was pooling on her fingers. “Do you know what the hell you’ve done?!”

Andrea’s Sabre and Blaster fell from her hands, her suit dematerializing as she hit her knees, looking at the woman she thought was her younger sister. “Who the hell are you!? WHO ARE YOU!? ANSWER ME!”

An eerie silence crept over the street, the Rangers dropping their morphs beside Andrea, Richmond kneeling beside Andrea. Thomas had his hand clenched, anger surging through him. Alec didn’t know what to do or say, so he stood behind everyone, his hand on his Caller just in case.

“My name is….”

[FangRX]

The unthinkable had finally happened. They’d lost one of their own. It happened so fast, nobody understood how it happened. One minute she'd been fighting with them and the next she was gone. Richmond had been the first to find their friend, seeing what happened to her. He'd prayed he was wrong, but he hadn't been. He had known. Now, standing outside in the thunderstorm gathered around a trio of gravestones, the Rangers were experiencing their first real loss thanks to the Empire. Demi and April, given the means to help fight if they had to, were standing with Alec and Richmond, the girls giving their support in the only way they knew how.

“Now what?” Richmond asked, turning and looking at Thomas. “We need a plan, Thomas.”

“Now?” Thomas asked. The Red Ranger was the one that was taking the death and betrayal the hardest, and he’d barely said three words since seeing his friend on the ground. “Now, Alec? How the hell do you expect me to know?”

“Because you know her,” Alec said. “Because you understand her motives, her inspirations, her reason for wanting to do what she’s doing. Because you’re our Red Ranger, and that’s what matters most.”

“Right now…we take the fight to her,” Thomas growled. He couldn’t but keep thinking about they’d gotten to Andrea’s funeral, his mind flashing him back to that moment when they’d found out about Artemis and leading up to the last few hours…
__________________________________________

TWO DAYS BEFORE

“Do you know what you’ve done!?” Artemis yelled, holding her stomach where silver blood was pooling on her fingers. “Do you know what the hell you’ve done?!”

Andrea’s Sabre and Blaster fell from her hands, her suit dematerializing as she hit her knees, looking at the woman she thought was her younger sister. “Who the hell are you!? WHO ARE YOU!? ANSWER ME!”

An eerie silence crept over the street, the Rangers dropping their morphs beside Andrea, Richmond kneeling beside Andrea. Thomas had his hand clenched, anger surging through him. Alec didn’t know what to do or say, so he stood behind everyone, his hand on his Caller just in case.

“My name is….”

“Serpen,” Thomas growled, his knuckles turning white. “Why? Just…why?”

“Well, my son…you should know,” Artemis growled, her appearance shifting into that of a woman who looked molded after a serpent, her hair snakes that flowed down her back until they wiggled to life, hissing as they looked around. Her hands grew small claws, her body varying shades of purple. “You should know why I did this.”

“I don’t,” Thomas said. “And you need to tell us.”

“I don’t have to tell you shit, boy,” Serpen growled. “Besides, in a few hours, none of you will even matter much in the long run because when you’re dead, that’s it. That’s the end of the Rangers for good. And I’ll take all of those Keys and use them for the real purpose they were created for!”

“You’re lying,” Thomas said, helping Andrea up from the ground.

“Thomas…we can’t defeat her. We need to run,” the Yellow Ranger said, her voice breaking. “Please….please!”

Thomas looked ready to kill, but he knew that Andrea was right. “Alright,” he said, hitting his Caller and summoning the Galleon. A burst of fire from one of the port side cannons distracted Furyblaze and Serpen, allowing Geeps to get the Rangers back on board.

“Son of a bitch!” Serpen growled, anger in her eyes as she ran forward, seeing the scorched pavement where the fire was dying down. “Why is he still alive, Furyblaze? I told you what you needed to do to him.”

“I did kill him once, Serpen. I sent you with him, or did you forget your trip into the Morphing Grid?” Furyblaze asked. “He will die soon enough. But…first we deal with the Yellow Ranger. Correct?”

Serpen smirked, nodding slowly. “Yes, my devilish dear, we will,” she said, kissing Furyblaze. “Together. The two greatest powers in the known universe. Snakes and Flames will destroy everything, and then…”

“We will have what we want,” Furyblaze said. “The Deletion will commence, and once the Outlying return with the pieces of the Babylon, then things will go our way. For now, let’s return to the ship.”

Serpen nodded, snapping her fingers and taking herself and Furyblaze back onto the main deck of her ship, throwing Dimas out of the Commander’s Chair. “Listen up, maggots. There’s a new head bitch in town, and I plan on making some fucking changes around here,” she growled.
________________________________________

The mood inside of the Galleon was somber, and that was putting it mildly. The Rangers were tired and worn out, none of them having any strength to even speak. Andrea had put her Caller and Key into the Chest, looking down at the book in her hand, the title showing brightly to read: Jungle Fever. She sighed softly, remembering a time when her sister--no, she corrected herself, not Artemis--Serpen teased her for reading it.

“Hey!” Andrea yelled, trying to get her book back from her sister.

“How can you read this smut?” Artemis asked. She looked at the page her sister was reading, and she started reading aloud. “James felt Tacari’s hand trail down his bare chest, feeling her heat against his body. His body couldn’t help but react to the woman sitting in front of him. He felt her hands sliding further down his body, and--”

“Artemis!” Andrea muttered, burying her face against her arms. “Jerk.”

“Where did you get this?” Artemis asked, marking her sisters page with the yellow bookmark that had been through hell and back in fifteen years. “Seriously?”

“Umm….well…remember my English Lit teacher my senior year? She gave it to me,” Andrea admitted.

“Ms. Rhoades! Hanna Rhoades? The hot one with the legs that came up to her neck, with the great rack?” Artemis asked, watching Thomas’ head turn.

“Yes!” Andrea yelled, stealing her book back. “Don’t ever take it again. Please?”

“Fine,” Artemis whined playfully, hugging her sister. “Where’s Richmond and Alec?”

“Alec…went below deck to train with his swords--though I don’t know why. And Rich…I think he’s in the kitchen,” Andrea said, watching her sister head off towards the kitchen.

Finally the silence was broken. “What do we do?” Richmond’s voice asked. The voice was soon followed by the Green Ranger’s body, holding a tray filled with sandwiches and glasses of tea that he passed out. “I mean…Serpen is the ultimate in bad guys. Thomas?” The Red Ranger in question looked into his tea glass, shattering it as his hands clenched, dousing the floor in shards of glass, ice, and tea that was soon mixed with blood. “Thomas.”

“I don’t know,” Thomas admitted. “For the first time in my life…since I started fighting…I don’t know what to do at all. I have no fucking clues whatsoever of what to do, no semblance of an idea, no motivations to keep fighting…I don’t--”

Andrea got up, wrapping her arms around Thomas and holding him tightly. “It’s alright to not know, Thomas. We’re not asking you to just have a solution instantly. This isn’t television…we don’t know what we can do right away,” she said, strangely being the voice of reason. “We just have to…press on, I suppose. Together. We’re a team, aren’t we? We can make the best of this.”

“But for now, let’s get that hand cleaned up,” Richmond said, leading Thomas to the table. “I do have one thought though.”

“What?” Alec asked, taking to cleaning up the mess from Thomas.

“Andrea, grab the chest and bring it over here,” Richmond said as he pulled a pair of tweezers from his lab coat and started to slowly pick the glass out of Thomas’ right hand. When she did, he flipped it open. “Take out these Keys.”

As the Rangers planned, Thomas had retired to his room, sighing as he found an old paper from his days in the Empire. His mind flashed back to the days of “old” as he called them, remembering some of Furyblaze’s training when Serpen would be watching.

”No, no, no!” Furyblaze snapped, throwing Thomas’ sword back to him as Thomas stood up, his lip bleeding. “Put more force into the thrusts. Like this!” Furyblaze leapt forward, slashing down with his sword, his arm stretching out before snapping into a solid line, the sword like an extension of his body. “Feel the sword. Make it an extension of yourself. Train yourself daily, Thomas. Become the sword. Fifteen lunges and then six sets of ten thrust-parry combos. Begin!”

As Thomas started his training again, his mind did what Furyblaze said, becoming one with the sword. He followed what Furyblaze said, lashing his arm our and snapping it into a solid line, feeling like his hand was melding in with the blade. “Like that?” he asked, holding his stance.

“Exactly,” Furyblaze said, nodding in approval. “One day, Thomas, you will be leading these Timbaks into battle. Keep yourself conditioned for anything.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Thomas said, bowing and crossing his arm over his chest in the usual salute of the Empire.

Thomas sighed as he sat up, heading back out into the main area where Richmond and Andrea were working with Alec to plan out their attack for whenever Serpen and Furyblaze came back. “Hey,” he said, leaning against the wall.

“Hey, man,” Richmond said, looking back at Thomas before moving to the side, twelve Ranger Keys set up in different formations. Noting the look on his Red Ranger’s face, Richmond began explaining. “We’re doing some setting up for the next fight. Here’s what we’ve got planned…”
_______________________________________

On the Blizkon Mk. 2, Artemis was pacing around her controls, anger searing her silver eyes as a section of bandages were pressed to her right side, the slash marks from Andrea’s attack with the Quasar Saber having run deep. “Bring him in!” she snapped, looking at the Timbaks that were sitting around waiting for orders. “Now!”

Coming through the door, his blood red horns eliciting gasps from the crew, several Timbaks wetting themselves in fear. Strolling through the door with a sense of empowerment, a warrior with a red body, blue at certain intervals with six dark yellow eyes that seemed to pierce the soul, teeth as yellow as his eyes, a bone handled sword in a sheath that looked to be made of real flesh at his hip, his fingers ending in long yellow claws, Artemis smirked at her newest arrival.

“Skelecron,” she said, standing in front of him. “It’s been far too long. Have you revived the Styxerians on Miranoi yet?”

“I am close to my lord Reapus’ return, Lady Serpen. Though I must say that your…Terran look is oddly serving of yourself,” Skelecron said, bowing lightly at Artemis.

“Skelecron, don’t flatter yourself,” Artemis chuckled, allowing her “human” form to melt away into her true look as Serpen. “Ten years in that body, I’ve become comfortable with her. She was a good experiment, but it wasn’t one I had planned for so long.” Cracking her neck, Serpen took her place behind the console, tapping a few keys and forming a map of the Galaxy, black dots against a white square representing where the Empire had struck.

“What worlds are left to conquer?” Skelecron asked. He found his home of Miranoi, crushing the holographic planet in his hands. “Other then Miranoi and Earth?”

“Eltar, for one. We’ve a task force there now attempting to get past Megas and his Aurora Team, Aquitar is putting up a decent resistance, though they’re close to being crushed. Also resisting is Triforia, the Tri-Beings’ putting up resistance particularly well for a group that does not like fighting,” Serpen said. “Miranoi is next on the Invasion’s itinerary, and then we’re heading for KO-35. Most of the United Alliance fell when the Rangers sacrificed themselves for a pointless planet. Though the sooner Earth falls, the sooner we move on with the Deletion.”

“You’re going through with that, then,” Skelecron said. “Seems that the Outlying have been lying to me when I have asked on the status of the Key. Let us hope it works better here on Earth then it did on Anubis, my Queen.”

“Stop with the flattery, Skelecron. It won’t work,” Serpen said. “You know what you must do. Did you remember the Conversion chamber for the Golbaks?”

“Yes, Lady Serpen. It is already being assembled in the labs downstairs,” Skelecron said, nodding his head. “I shall take some troops to the surface and begin my assault. Let us see if I cannot draw out the Rangers and cause their destruction.”

“Bring the Yellow to me. I have my own plans for her,” Serpen said, melting back into her human disguise. “Ugh, why do I keep returning to Artemis? She was supposed to just simply be an undercover face…”

Having a suspicion but wishing to remain silent lest he lose his life, Skelecron walked out, taking a hoard of Golbaks with him onto the surface, preparing for his time to destroy.
___________________________________

Having let Thomas in on their plan, the Red Ranger was surprisingly alright with it. Suddenly--as usual--the alarms rang out as the Rangers had set out some food. “Never fails,” a very disgruntled Andrea growled. “Geeps. Who is it?”

The mechanical bird flapped out of his perch, hitting the computer keys and bringing up a security feed from the city. “Oh, by the Allspark,” he groaned. “Thomas. You’d know ‘im.”

Thomas ran over to the computer and his blood ran cold. “Skelecron,” he whispered, visible fear on his face.

“Skelecron?” Richmond asked. “You don’t mean--”

“I do mean,” Thomas said, looking back at a confused Yellow Ranger. “He’s a Styxerian from the planet Miranoi’s darkest depths. He’s been on a mission to revive his master, Reapus, but when he tries, there’s always people that stop him somehow. There haven’t been Rangers on Miranoi since the late twentieth century, and they died saving Earth the first time.”

“So…how bad is he, exactly?” Andrea asked.

“He’s bad enough to make me scared,” Thomas said. “And you know that isn’t easy.”

“You? Scared? Jesus…I didn’t think it was possible,” Andrea admitted. “So…are we going? Because I would really like to hit something right now.”

Thomas nodded, inputting the coordinates where Skelecron was reeking havoc downtown. As they jumped down from the Galleon’s underbelly, Alec and Richmond were surprised to see Demi and April swinging around pipes and rebar at Timbaks, knocking several of them down and stabbing them through.

“Damn!” Richmond chuckled, stopping April from spearing him with her pipe. “Easy, April. You and Demi get the hell out of here. I don’t need you guys getting killed right now. Go!”

April nodded, hugging Richmond tightly before kissing him, watching Demi lean up and kiss Alec--kisses which the two men returned eagerly--before they headed away, taking cover under a small bridge near the park. “They’ll be alright…right?” she asked, looking at Demi who had a worried look on her face. “Demi?”

“I sincerely hope so, April. I sincerely hope so,” Demi whispered. “Otherwise I will kill Alec with my bare hands if he dies.”

After the girls had left, Thomas stood ready with his team, each of their hands clenched around their Ranger Key. “Skelecron!” the Red Ranger yelled, hiding the fear in his eyes.

“Ah…Rangers,” Skelecron smirked. “Come to die? It can be arranged. Though three of you are going to die. I’ve got orders to bring one of you back to Lady Serpen.”

“I won’t go,” Thomas said, having an idea it’d be him.

“Oh, not you, Red Ranger,” Skelecron smirked. “She wants the woman.”

“She can have me,” Andrea growled, stepping up as her Key turned in her Caller. “Once I’m dead.” She rushed forward, slashing down several Golbaks before kicking one in the head, wrapping her legs around his face and dragging him to the ground, slinging it backwards.

“Andrea!” Thomas yelled, morphing and firing on one of the Golbaks before rushing Skelecron. “Andrea, calm down!”

“No!” the Yellow Ranger yelled, slamming her fist into one of the Golbaks’ chest, her hand coming away in blue blood with a beating heart that she crushed, staining her glove before she fired one shot into his head that splattered her suit with brains and more blood, sending his lifeless body down. “Come on, bitch!”

Skelecron rushed forward, locking blades with Andrea, neither of them giving any inch at all. Andrea kicked Skelecron below the belt, making everyone flinch as they watched the Yellow Ranger go full on Amazon on their enemy. Andrea leapt up, kicking Skelecron hard in the chest so he got thrown backwards.

“Unleashed Engage!” Andrea snapped, slotting another Key into her Caller. YELLOW AQUITAR RANGER POWER it rang out. Andrea ran forward, a silver handled sword in hand as she slashed around at Skelecron, drawing black blood from his side. “Go to hell!”

“Andrea!” Richmond yelled, diving under a Golbak and kicking it in the crotch, sending it flipping around before popping up, trying to get to his friend in the Yellow.

“You first,” Skelecron snapped, lashing out and slugging Andrea hard in the stomach, hitting her hard in the face with the butt of his sword, her head snapping back and knocking her down, her suit vanishing from the force of the blow. “Golbaks. Fall back. We’ve got what we came for.”

As they vanished into the air, Thomas ran forward and grabbed Andrea’s Unleashed Yellow Key that had fallen onto the ground, his hand clenched around it. “Damn it!” the Red Ranger snapped, kicking a trash can over.
________________________________

Waking up and feeling cool air against her skin, Andrea jerked a bit, her arms feeling sore as she realized she was just in her underwear, her clothes in tatters on the floor. “What the--” she groaned, her legs restrained at the ankles while her arms were held together at the wrists. “Let me go!”

“Actually, we won’t,” Skelecron smirked. “Not until you’re dead, little Yellow.” In his hands was a bullwhip, each of the lashes tipped with sharp glass. His arm came back, but as Andrea closed her eyes for the blow, the sound of a hand stopping Skelecron was heard in stead.

“I said not to hurt her,” Serpen said, taking the whip from Skelecron and putting it down. “Andrea.”

“Bitch!” Andrea growled, lashing her legs out and kicking Serpen hard in the face, anger clear on her face. “Go to hell, you fucking bitch!”

“You know nothing of hell,” Serpen growled, lowering Andrea to the ground before her body melted back into that of Artemis. “You don’t know a damn thing of hell.”

“I know enough,” Andrea whispered, curling up against the corner, trying to make herself small. “Why’d you do it?”

“Do what? Masquerade as your deceased sister, love you and be loved in return, kill your father? Is that what you’re talking about?” Serpen asked, sitting down. “Because I wanted to see what it was like to have a family that knew love. Manipulating memories is easy, but rewriting a lot of them is a challenge. I had to find a way to know what humans were like. As you’ve noticed, I’m not human.”

“No shit,” Andrea muttered. “But why me?”

“Andrea, there are things that even I don’t know why I do them,” Serpen said, looking at Andrea. “But I did love you. I truly did.” She put her hand on Andrea’s face, holding the Yellow Ranger’s head in place before kissing her, Skelecron chuckling in the shadows. “Goodbye, Andrea. It was…a great adventure to get to be your sister.”

Andrea spat on the ground as Serpen stood up, trying to force the taste out of her mouth. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked.

“Not what I’m going to do,” Serpen said, her hand on the open door. “What Skelecron is going to do. Like I said…goodbye, Andrea.” With that, she turned and closed the door behind her, and the next thing she heard was Andrea’s screams and the crack of the whip, closing her eyes as a single tear ran down her cheek.

Skelecron, with his dark laughter echoing throughout the ship, took sick pleasure in his torture of the Yellow Ranger, switching his whip for just his hands, beating Andrea hard. He slammed her head into the wall, knocking her back onto the ground. “How’s it feel, bitch? Being the one getting your ass beat within an inch of your life,” he growled, kicking her in the stomach.

“Go…to hell…” Andrea coughed, spitting out some blood and a couple of teeth.

“You first,” Skelecron growled, his sword swinging down point first as he drove it into her heart.
___________________________

“Now what?” Richmond asked, still rooted in the same spot he was when Skelecron left with Andrea. He felt a hand in his, and he let his suit fall as he looked at April, the young woman looking fearful having watched the entire fight.

“We find Andrea,” Thomas said.

“What if she’s already--” Alec started, Demi’s arms around his, her body shaking.

“Then we fight harder,” Thomas replied, looking at the Yellow and Pink Ranger Keys in his hand.

“Thomas,” a soft voice said, Demi stepping forward. She put her hand on the Red Ranger’s, her had covering the Yellow Ranger Key. “I can help you. You need someone to fight.”

“Demi,” Thomas whispered. “I can’t put you in danger.”

“Dude, they were holding off the Golbaks before we got here. I think they’ll be fine,” Richmond said, stepping up with April at his side. “You know it as well as I do.”

Thomas sighed, closing his eyes and weighing the options. On one hand, he knew that they needed a Pink and Yellow Ranger and he knew that Demi and April were fighters and could hold their own. On the other, he didn’t want to put two civilians in even more danger. He pulled the last two Callers out of his coat, motioning for Demi and April to come forward. He held out the Callers and Keys, Demi taking Andrea’s while April took Andrea’s.

“Welcome to the team. Don’t get yourselves killed,” Thomas said, nodding his head.

“No problem,” Demi said, giving Thomas’ arm a squeeze. April hugged him softly, one he returned before stepping back. “Now…do we hunt this bastard down or wait?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Skelecron’s voice laughed, dropping out of the sky carrying a familiar body, scantily clad and bloody. “Because, I’m here to finish you all of.” He threw what he was carrying, the body rolling to a stop and revealing it to be Andrea, her body whipped all to hell with a single stab wound over her heart.

“What did you do to her?” Richmond asked, stepping forward and lifting Andrea’s body and feeling how cold she was to his fingers. He set her body off to the side, hiding her behind a dumpster and standing beside his friends.

“Nothing I wasn’t allowed to my Mistress Serpen,” Skelecron smirked, cracking his neck. “Now…it’s time to finish this.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Alec growled. “Captain. Call it.”

“Let’s do this,” Thomas said, holding his Caller and Key up. “Girls, just follow what we do.”

“Got it, boss,” Demi and April said, standing beside Alec and Richmond respectively.

“UNLEASHED ENAGE!” the five Rangers called out, each one morphing in a flash of colored light.

Demi and April drew their weapons, the Yellow Ranger smirking under her helmet. “Alright, this feels good!” she grinned.

“Well, let’s get to this,” April said, feeling good in Pink.

Not wasting time with words anymore, Skelecron drew his sword, several feet long with razor sharp edges, the handle crafted from several bones and held together with various pieces and colors of rotting flesh. He rushed forward, locking blades with the Green and Blue Rangers, neither of them giving up any ground as they pushed.

“Is that all you’ve got, little Rangers?” Skelecron asked, missing three people get behind him before they blasted, Richmond and Alec getting out of the way as Skelecron tumbled forward, skidding along the ground. “What?!”

“Keep all eyes open, asshole,” Thomas smirked, holding his smoking blaster. “Otherwise you’re open for an attack like that.” He jumped up and landed with both feet on Skelecron, planting him further into the ground. “Now, girls!”

"TWIN FRIEND STRIKE!" Demi and April yelled, firing two rounds and having two sword slashes connect with them as the girls dropped out of the air.

“Thomas, what do you say we change it up?” Alec asked, holding up a Key.

“For Andrea,” Demi said, a Key in her hand as well.

“You got it,” Thomas said, the Rangers standing around the crater that was Skelecron at the moment.

“Unleashed Engage!” the Rangers yelled out as they turned five Yellow Keys in their Callers.

“Rescue Drill!” Richmond yelled out, launching forward with the Yellow Lightspeed Ranger’s weapon, the drill from the Rescue Bird spinning rapidly on the end of his Rescue Blaster. “Lightspeed Crash!” He drove through Skelecron, leaving a bit of a gap on his right side that bled black.

“Zeo Power Double Clubs!” Demi summoned, using the signature weapon of the Yellow Zeo Ranger and swinging the nunchuck inspired weapon around before grabbing Skelecron and flipping him over near April and Thomas.

“Quasar Saber! Thunder Crash!” Thomas announced, several large blasts of lightning spearing out and slamming into Skelecron, knocking him around. Slashing with his Saber, he knocked Skelecron’s sword away, ending up point down in the ground five feet away. “Alec!”

“Power Daggers!” the Blue Ranger called out, throwing the two daggers into Skelecron, embedding them in his chest before driving them up, charging them with energy. “Tiger Strike!” He ripped them out of the Styxerian, throwing him backwards. “April!”

“My pleasure!” April smirked under her helmet. “Star Slinger!” As she jumped into the air, she let several blasts fly from the Slinger, each of them slamming into Skelecron hard. She kicked him in the head, yelping when he grabbed her leg and flung her backwards, knocking her into Demi. “Sorry, Dems.”

“No problem,” Demi groaned, moving her best friend off of. “NExt time, though, don’t put your ass in my face. Save that for Richmond.”

“Hey!” Richmond laughed. “Thomas, let’s finish this.”

“My thoughts exactly,” the Red Ranger said, landing beside his team and taking two Red Ranger Keys from his Belt. “Let’s use the finale.”

The Rangers nodded, Skelecron standing up and taking his sword from the ground, yelling out and forming a blast of black energy around him that charged itself into his blade. “BLOOD BRINGER!” Skelecron yelled, throwing his slash out at the Rangers.

“Unleashed Scramble!” Thomas called, the five Rangers firing their blasters before slashing down with their swords. The two attacks sailed towards each other, colliding in the middle of the street, smoke filling up the area…
___________________________________________

“Guys,” Thomas said, snapping back into reality before putting his hand on Andrea’s headstone, situated between her mother’s and sister’s. “You know after this there’s no going back, right? Skelecron’s still out there, and so are Serpen and her duo of dicks. We need to get stronger, and…I’ve got an idea of how to do that.”

“How?” April asked, pressed into Richmond’s side under the umbrella. “Tom?”

“We need a Silver Ranger…” Thomas said, holding up the Silver Unleashed Key. What nobody saw was a man standing on the hill beside a black motorcycle, his hands in his pockets as black lines ran down his face…

[FangRX]

Two hundred miles off of the coast of Reefside, California, an inflatable boat with an outboard motor seared across the ocean, tearing the clear blue water in half as they sailed along, the boat’s two passengers engaged in conversation.

“Why are you making me be in on this? Uncle is going to be so pissed off after we find him. IF we find him,” one woman said to her companion. “Besides, you know how a wetsuit hood janks up my hair.”

“Oh, quit whining, Marah,” the other woman said, groaning and rolling her eyes. “You honestly whine too damn much.”

“Well, you know I hate things covering my head,” Marah growled. “Damn it, Kapri!”

“Marah, you never complained about having things covering your head when you were sleeping with Dustin,” Kapri said, her sister shutting up at that comment. “That’s what I thought.”

Soon the two arrived at their destination, a black mass under the crystal blue water. “Do you even think he’s down there?” Marah asked, her tone quizzical as she looked at her sister. “I mean…we haven’t even seen Uncle since the Dino Thunder team and Dustin and the guys teamed up.” She pulled a locket from her bag on the floor of the boat, opening it up to reveal her and Dustin after they got married a few years before, clutching it to her chest. “Kapri…I don’t know…”

“Marah, it’ll be fine,” the pink haired girl said. “Trust me.”

“I will…but this is the last time, sister.”

Diving down into the water, the sisters started looking around with floodlights to find what they were looking for. Marah pointed, tapping her sister’s shoulder. She dove deeper down, finding the metallic door to the old island lair of Mesogog’s, using a piece of rebar to pry it open with Kapri’s help.

Finally, the two women made inside of the island fortress, their boots clacking against a solid metal floor, the oceans crushing depths no longer pressing on them. Marah started looking around for a light when Kapri took her oxygen mask off. “Mar, we can breath normal. Surprisingly, there isn’t any water in here,” she said, looking around.

Marah nodded, taking her mask off and lowering the mesh hood before sighing. “It’s definitely in need of Stanley Steamers, that’s for sure,” she said, making a face. “Not even the ship was this disgusting.”

“Shut up. Look for Uncle,” Kapri snapped, moving some rubble. “Uncle, where are you?”

After a while of searching, Kapri wasn’t sure how much time had passed, she groaned as she moved a last piece of metal, laughing. “I found him!” she said, lifting up a glass jar that had been cracked, several kinds of fluids pouring from the container. “Let’s go back to the surface and find a way to fix him.”

“You found him, Kapri. Isn’t that enough?” Marah asked, looking at her sister. “Please…you know how he treated us.”

“I don’t care. He treated us better then how our father would have,” Kapri growled, stuffing the container holding her uncle into her water proof bag. “You just want Uncle to stay down here, don’t’ you!?”

“YES!” Marah snapped, yelling out as a blast of silver lightning hit her from Kapri’s hand. “What are you doing?”

“What I should have done years ago, sister,” Kapri sighed. “I should have known you’d grow soft. I’m sorry.” With a mighty yell, she started causing rubble to fall on her sister, Marah scrambling backwards. “Goodbye, sister.”

“Kapri!” Marah screamed, her screams ceasing when a large piece of metal landed on her chest, crushing her instantly and killing her.

Vanishing from the underwater laboratory, Kapri reappeared on the beach, Serpen walking towards her. “Lady Serpen,” she said, bowing as her wetsuit shifted into her original outfit when she terrorized the Rangers.

“You have him, yes?” Serpen asked.

Nodding, Kapri pulled Lothor’s glass case from her bag, handing her uncle over. “He was easy to find,” she said. “The scent of evil energy drew me to him. But how do I know that you will not double cross me?”

“You don‘t. Since you found Lothor for me so easily, you won’t mind this,” Serpen growled, trusting her hand out and catching Kapri off guard, her arm wrist deep in the woman’s chest. She pulled out Kapri’s heart, squashing it with a burst of blood. “Thank you for your service, but we no longer need you.”

Kapri’s lifeless body thumped against the sand overlooking Reefside Bay, Serpen smirking to herself. “Now…the real fun begins,” Serpen growled, vanishing from the beach in a blast of black fire that left the area where she was standing into glass.
_____________________________________

Meanwhile, back on the Galleon, all five Rangers, including the two newest additions in Demi and April, were making themselves comfortable again with a slight lull in attacks. Thomas, however, was engrossed in looking over possible human candidates for a Silver Ranger.

“…And that’s how you travel faster then light,” Richmond’s voice carried, April standing beside him as the two walked out of the lab, Richmond in a white lab coat with goggles around his neck.

“Really? That’s how easy it is?” April asked, clearly impressed. She looked over at Thomas who seemed lost in thought, tapping him on the shoulder. “Boss man? You ok?”

“Huh?” Thomas asked, looking up from his console screen and sighing. “Yeah, I’m just trying to find a Silver Ranger. It’s…becoming a difficult task.”

“Have you eaten?” Richmond asked. “Or slept?”

“No. Not since the funeral,” Thomas admitted. “I can’t. Every time I close my eyes to sleep, all I see is Andrea being tortured by Skelecron or being hurt by Serpen. And I Have to keep telling myself that Artemis died as a baby, and that she was never real…”

“Yeah, that’s going to take some time,” Alec said, looking at the wall where a picture of Andrea had been hung, Geeps sitting beside it most of the time. “But we have to keep fighting. Even if it is just to make sure the world Andrea loved keeps spinning. Because…”

“You too, huh?” Richmond said, taking April’s hand.

“Though it could be the company,” Alec said, Demi giggling as she sat down in his lap with a jar of cherries. “Are you going to eat that whole jar?”

“Maybe,” Demi smirked, popping a cherry in her mouth before putting one in Alec‘s mouth, kissing his cheek. “I might share.”

“Not like we don’t share enough,” Alec smirked. He heard Thomas snicker, the Red Ranger shaking his head. “What?”

“You,” the Red Ranger said, sticking his tongue out. “Look…we know who we’re dealing with now, we know what we’re dealing with. How do we stop her?”

The room fell silent, the only sound being April rusting through Ranger Keys. “What’s the strongest team of Rangers?” she asked.

“They were all strong in their own ways. If you’re looking for a team that was strong in Martial Arts, then Jungle Fury. Good with swords, Lost Galaxy. Quick responding times, Lightspeed Rescue and SPD,” Demi said. “Everyone had their own strength, so there wasn’t a “Strongest” overall, April.”

The Pink Ranger nodded, thinking a bit. “How does any of this stuff work?” she asked. “The Keys, I mean. Because honestly, I’d have figured that any Ranger that had a skirt would have stayed skirted.”

“Not true,” Alec said, patting Demi’s leg softly and wiggling out from underneath her. “Let me see the Mystic Force Blue, Samurai Green, and your Pink Ranger Key.” He took the three Keys as April handed them over, laying them on the table. “If you’ll look, the Blue and Pink Keys have lines where there should be a skirt, but there isn’t one on the Green Ranger. Watch. Unleashed Engage!” Twisting the Mystic Force Key, Alec soon became clad in the outfit of that specific Ranger. “We don’t know how it works, but I guess the Morphing Grid senses what gender you are and adjusts the suit to fit.”

“Cool,” April said, taking the Green Ranger Key before twisting it, becoming clad in the Green Samurai Ranger’s outfit, the Spin Sword on her hip hovering over a skirt. “Ok…that’s cool. And it does it with any Key?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Thomas said. “We’ve never figured out the mechanics behind it, and since Geeps is the only one that has any idea and he isn’t spilling, we’ve been having to figure things out for ourselves.”

“Hey, I was told not to tell anyone anything until the time was ri--” Geeps started.

“Geeps?” Demi asked, rubbing the mechanical bird’s wing with a concerned look on her face. “Geeps!”

“--oh, bollocks!” Geeps sighed. “He’s been found.”

“Who?” Richmond asked.
______________________________

“Lothor,” Serpen grinned, holding up the glass jar before taking the glass off of it, leaving a perfectly preserved action figure model of Lothor before setting it on the desk. “Leave. Now.” When the Timbaks left, all that was left in the room other then Serpen was her loyal right hand man, Furyblaze and Dimas. “Serpent Sting! Regen!” As a snake-tipped hair tendril lashed out and bit down on Lothor, a silver venom ran from the fangs into the man’s shoulder, infusing him with energy that was determined to destroy whatever block had been put on him years before.

After minutes of waiting, the figure on the stand fell backwards, growing into a fully grown form again, only as he did he mutated. Instead of the usual black and red tinted attire, Lothor’s body seemed to mutate, taking on the form of his Zord from his final battles with the Ninja Storm Rangers. Stretching his limbs and cracking bones, Lothor growled as he took in his new surroundings.

“Fancy,” he huffed. He looked around, his eyes landing on Serpen who had a sick grin on her face. “And who the hell are you? Medusa?”

“I am Serpen, the leader of the Battlesnare Empire. And you will show respect, Lothor,” she growled. “Otherwise you’ll be returned to your miniature state from before.”

“Yeah, sure,” Lothor said. “So, what do you want with me? I mean, you’re the leader of an Empire, don’t think you’d need a space ninja’s help.”

“Actually, I do, Lothor,” Serpen said, sighing a bit. “My SatLasers haven’t been fully operational since my assault on Eltar four years ago when Megas and his team of Mages stopped us dead in our tracks. I seem to recall you having a device that allowed to enlarge your army when the Rangers would defeat them, yes?”

“The Tenjen Scroll, yes,” Lothor said, nodding. “I have the remote for it here somewhere, and I supposed I could use it for your Empire.” He looked at the gathered forces, a smirk on his face. “Vexacon, Shinmazu. I require them both for this instead of your forces, Lady Serpen.”

“Good. I’ll send for them from the Aquitian and Triforian Sectors. Expect their arrival tonight,” Serpen said, nodding to a Timbak who was awaiting his orders at the communications station on the back of the bridge.

As the transmission was relayed throughout a subspace signal, Lothor looked down at the glowing orb of Earth, his sights locked in on his target. “Soon…I will finish that which I started over a decade ago,” he growled.
_________________________________

“He who?” Demi asked.

“Lothor,” Thomas said, looking up. “He’s one of the only villains in Power Rangers history to actually succeed in winning against his opponents, the Ninja Storm Rangers.”

“These guys?” April asked, holding up the Red Ninja Storm Key.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “If Lothor’s back…then we’re going to need the Ninja Storm Keys.”

Geeps sighed a bit, fluttering back to his perch in the wall. “I wish that Lothor had stayed dead. After your first run out with the Megazord on the moon, you bloody idiot Red Ranger, I haven’t been able to reconfigure the Combinlocks at all to make the Megazord stay together. It’s a Lego brick of a Megazord that’s going to shatter if hit once!”

“Oh, so it’s my fault?!” Thomas yelled. “You told me to use the fucking thing!”

“No, I bloody well did not!” Geeps squawked, slapping Thomas hard in the head and knocking the Red Ranger onto his back. “I told you do not activate it, you bleeding fool! Because of you, I haven’t slept in weeks trying to fix your bloody fuck up!”

“Stop it,” Demi whispered, her eyes cast to the hardwood floor. “Stop it!” All other activity ceased, all heads turning to the Yellow Ranger. “Just stop fighting! It’s what Artemis wants! Don’t you fucking get it?!” She turned and ran out, dropping out of the ship and running into downtown, heading straight for a familiar place.

“What was that all about?” Richmond asked.

“No idea,” Alec sighed. “I’ll go find her.” He headed out after Demi, following her signal on his Caller.
___________________

After Demi stopped running, she slumped against the wall of a daycare center, getting her breath before she opened the door, the sounds of kids playing and laughing, some of them coloring or playing with clay filling her eyes and ears with happiness she wished she’d have. Her face broken out into a smile when she heard a lovely voice in the crowd.

“Mama!” a young girl giggled, running over and hugging Demi’s legs. Demi, picking up her daughter, tapped her nose.

“Hi, Selly. You have fun today?” Demi asked, signing her out of the Center before going back outside, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

“Yes! We made clay bunnies. Mine looks deformed,” Selena giggled, snuggling into her mother’s arms. “I gonna paint him red, Mama.”

“Like your favorite character on the TV,” Demi said, smiling as she hefted Selena up in her arms a bit. She stopped when she saw a familiar shadow, and she frowned. “I didn’t want to be followed, Alec.”

“I just wanted to know what was wrong, sweetheart,” the Blue Ranger sighed. “I mean…you ran out in such a hurry, and I’ve never seen you yell like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Demi whispered. “I just couldn’t handle Geeps yelling at Thomas like that.” She felt Selena curl up in her arms, looking up at the Blue Ranger. “Stupid me. Alec, this is my daughter, Selena Katasha Howell.”

Alec smiled softly at Selena, holding his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, watching her look at his hand before putting hers in his.

“It’s nice to meet you, as well,” Selena said, smiling. “Mama, he’s cute.”

“I know,” Demi giggled. “He’s the man I’ve been helping with his friends. He’s my best friend next to April.”

Selena giggled, smiling. “Well, can he stay forever?”

Alec raised his eyebrow, looking at Demi. “I don’t know, honey. Only if he wants to,” Demi said, giving her daughter a squeeze. “But for now, I need you to do me a favor.”

“What’s that, Mama?”

“I need you to stay with Uncle Danny and Aunt Dinah, ok? Because Mama’s fighting along with Alec and his friends to save Earth, and I need you to stay out of the way of fire.”

Selena frowned softly, but she knew her mother just wanted her safe. “Yes, Mama. I’ll stay and be a good girl. But you gots to promise me you’ll come back and we’ll all go out for an ice cream!”

“I promise, honey,” Demi said, kissing her daughter’s cheek. “Let’s go get one right now. Maybe we can go see a movie, too.”

“Yay!” Selena giggled, hugging her mothers neck.

As the three walked along, Alec couldn’t help but be reminded of his own wife and daughter from Ryzan. Demi had to have noticed, since she dropped back and took his hand. “You ok?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Yes, dear,” Alec said. “Just watching you and Selena reminds me of Cam’ron and De’lia. That’s all.” He smiled softly, giving her hand a squeeze before he had a bad feeling. “We need to go. Something’s wrong.”

“Sorry, sweetheart. The Ice cream’s going to have to wait,” Demi said, frowning softly.

“It’s ok, Mama. You go be a hero!” Selena grinned, kissing her mother’s nose. “Besides, Uncle Darrell’s café’s right there. I’ll go hide there.” She jumped down and ran, ducking into the café before getting up in a booth and looking out of the window. “Go, Mama.”
____________________________________

Lothor, having gotten tired of waiting, grabbed several Timbaks and Golbaks, shoving past Furyblaze who tried to waylay him. “Get out of my way,” Lothor growled. “I’ve got some revenge to take care of. Let’s go, boys.” In a burst of silver smoke, Lothor vanished from the Blizkon and reappeared in the middle of the City, alerting the Rangers to the danger.

“Great,” Thomas growled, getting up and steering the Galleon around before he alerted Demi and Alec, unaware the Blue and Yellow Rangers were already on the way towards the disturbance. “Rich, April, get ready. It’s about to get heavy.”

“Good. I’ve been waiting for something to slug,” Richmond said, cracking his neck. “You ready, April?”

“Hell yes,” April smirked, shrugging a thin jacket on and sticking her Caller in her back pocket.

“Let’s go,” Thomas said, jumping down out of the belly of the ship before landing on the ground, Richmond and April on his right as Alec and Demi appeared on the left. “About time.”

“Don’t start,” Demi sighed, looking around. “Where is it?”

Stepping out of the air, dark clouds raged around the city, a clap of thunder following a bolt of lightning that hit several yards behind the newest arrival. Thomas and the other Rangers stiffened as Lothor walked out, mutated and looking ready to murder.

“Lothor,” Thomas growled. “How you did survive Mesogog’s lab imploding?”

“Even I don’t know. But I do know I have my idiot nieces to thank for my coming back. And Serpen for using her own venom to revive me. Though I could have done it myself with all of the chemicals and whatnot I’d been doused with. But let’s not talk. Boys! Let’s make this a fun as hell party!” Lothor laughed, a silver crossbow appearing in his hand as he pointed it at the Rangers. “Why don’t you all just die and we’ll have fun with Earth?”

“Don’t think so,” Thomas smirked. “Let’s do it!”

“Unleashed Engage!” the five Rangers yelled, turning their Keys into the Callers and twisting them, their suits materializing around them before Thomas and Alec rushed forward, the girls and Richmond giving cover fire which started tearing down the Timbaks.

Thomas and Alec locked Lothor in combat, neither Ranger trying to give any quarter to their Ninja-based enemy. “Alright, this ain’t working!” the Blue Ranger called out.

“Got any ideas?” Thomas asked, kicking Lothor below the belt before jumping up and wrapping his legs around Lothor’s head, driving him into the ground with a well-placed flip.

“One or two,” Alec laughed, throwing his sword back towards Demi. “Duck!” When she did, the sword plunged into one of the Timbaks’ heads, dropping him like a stone.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Demi screeched, holding her head as she stood up. “Jesus!” She kicked a Golbak hard where it’s nuts would be, causing it to fall before blowing it’s head off. “Oh, I’m going to kill you for that!”

“Yeah, doubt it, babe,” Alec laughed, Lothor getting up and launching a wave of energy that knocked the Rangers backwards into a pile, Richmond making the base while Demi and April landed on him, each girl on various parts of his anatomy, Thomas and Alec landing next, the girls groaning in pain.

“Thomas, get your head out of that!” April coughed, shoving the Red Ranger out from between her legs. She got up and helped Demi up, the Yellow Ranger straddling Richmond’s head before Alec could complain. “I’ve got a thought.”

“Same one I’ve got?” Richmond asked, rubbing his stomach. “Changing our styles?”

“Damn right,” Demi growled, holding her arm. “And I think it’s a ninja type of day.”

“Which Ninjas?” Thomas asked, holding up two Red Ranger Keys. “Ninja Storm or the Alien Rangers?”

“RPM!” Demi snapped. “What do you think!?”

“Now, now, don’t quarrel on my account,” Lothor laughed, watching the Rangers bicker. “Either way, whatever you choose is just going to get you all hurt.”

“Unleashed Engage!” the Rangers yelled, having decided on a team.

NINJA STORM RANGER FORM

THUNDER STORM RANGER FORM

After a flash of multicolored light, the five stood clad as the Ninja Storm Rangers, Yellow baring a skirt as did Navy, the Keys changing the suits to accommodate the genders of the Rangers.

“That’s impossible,” Lothor growled, clearly uneasy to be facing down his oldest opponents once again. “They’re dead. Serpen’s army made sure of it.”

“Of course they are,” Richmond growled in return, the Crimson Blaster in his hand while April held the Navy Horn ready. “But, we’re pirates, dude. Get used to it.”

“Ninja Shadow Battle!” Thomas called out, a massive screen covering the area and shrouding the Rangers in darkness, each of them jumping around and slashing at Lothor, hitting him with the Ninja Swords and Ninja Staffs, each one of the Rangers unleashing a special attack as well before the screens vanished in a puff of smoke.

“No! I won’t be defeated here!” Lothor snapped, taking his crossbow in hand again before firing a thousand arrows, some of them striking the Rangers before making them roll to a stop, Thomas’ suit smoking as he stood up. “Won’t you just die?!”

“Not a chance,” the Red Ranger growled, his glove squeaking against the metal handle of his Hawk Blaster. “Let’s put these together. Thunderstorm Cannon!”

As the five weapons assembled, Thomas stood behind the cannon, his finger on the trigger, Alec on his left with Demi on Thomas’ right. At the front, Richmond was in front of Demi, April in front of Alec, all of them holding up the Cannon. “Thunderstorm Blast!” they shouted in unison, Thomas pulling the trigger as a combined blast of energy--tinted the five Colors of the Rangers--blasted out, colliding with Lothor before he stumbled backwards, parts of him on fire.

“It won’t end like this!” Lothor yelled. “NOT AGAIN!” Pulling a device from his pocket, he flipped open the remote-like controller. He hit several buttons, smirking. “Scroll of Empowerment! Descend!”

The sky darkened again, a weathered scroll appearing in the sky before it opened up, the Japanese script on it glowing before it hit Lothor, forcing his body to grow to gigantic proportions. Laughing, the newly giant villain started smashing buildings, hearing screams be silenced before he kicked down a school, burning the children inside.

“Now try and stop me, Rangers!” Lothor laughed, stomping towards the five Rangers who were steadily retreating.

“Geeps…let’s hope you’ve got the Combinlocks calibrated again,” Thomas mumbled, taking his Caller in hand to summon the Rangers last hope…

[FangRX]

“It won’t end like this!” Lothor yelled. “NOT AGAIN!” Pulling a device from his pocket, he flipped open the remote-like controller. He hit several buttons, smirking. “Scroll of Empowerment! Descend!”

The sky darkened again, a weathered scroll appearing in the sky before it opened up, the Japanese script on it glowing before it hit Lothor, forcing his body to grow to gigantic proportions. Laughing, the newly giant villain started smashing buildings, hearing screams be silenced before he kicked down a school, burning the children inside.

“Now try and stop me, Rangers!” Lothor laughed, stomping towards the five Rangers who were steadily retreating.

“Geeps…let’s hope you’ve got the Combinlocks calibrated again,” Thomas mumbled, taking his Caller in hand to summon the Rangers last hope.

As the Galleon sailed into view, the five Rangers leapt up and grabbed ropes that were lowered down, flipping up into the cargo hold of the ship. Running into their individual cockpits, Demi and April took a minute to get familiar with everything.

“Launching!” Thomas yelled out, hitting a few controls and sending the other four Zords out of the hull. “Uchuu Galleon, ready for battle!”

“Uchuu Jetter, flying up for a fight!” Alec said, clicking a few controls and getting his stabilizers ready once again.

“Uchuu Carrier, haulin’ ass!” Demi smirked, adjusting her seat and making her ride more comfortable.

Taking his seat in his Zord, Richmond grabbed the controls. “Uchuu Racer, ready for action!” Tapping a few buttons, he managed to get April. “You ready, girly?”

Smirking to herself as she sat down, April took control of her wheel and nodded to the monitor where Richmond’s face was. “You know it!” she said. “Uchuu Sub, nice stereo.”

Shaking his head, Thomas led the fleet of Zords through town, keeping his cannons pointed and firing in Lothor who was busy taking on Alec in the Uchuu Jetter. Alec fired several blasts, keeping himself in a far pattern around Lothor. Demi zoomed in with her Carrier, ramming into Lothor.

“Bitch!” Lothor growled, kicking Demi’s Carrier away, the Yellow Zord rolling backwards and to a stop, the young woman inside growling as she managed to get flipped upright.

“Oh, you ain’t seen a bitch yet, ugly!” Demi snapped. “If I didn’t have this helmet on, these earrings would be comin’ off!” She fired several blasts from her lasers, opening a channel to Thomas. “Can we take his ass out already?”

“Way ahead of you, Demi,” Thomas said, tapping a few keys on his controls before the Zords lifted up. “Unleashed Combine! Megazord Mode!”

As the Galleon lifted up higher to accommodate the space needed to make the legs form, the head of the ship separated, forming giant shoulder pads as the main mast compacted onto the chest. The Sub lifted up, it’s cockpit splitting in half like a mouth, forming the right leg of the Megazord, the Carrier’s trailer flipping up and latching into place on the cab, forming the left leg as the Racer’s back wheels spun down, the axel forming a hold that kept it in place as it became the left arm. The Jetter didn’t have much of a transformation, just the pirate hat unclipping from the back as the right arm formed. As every Zord connected, the Rangers were moved from their individual cockpits into the main cockpit behind the blue eyes on the Megazord. Five steering wheels, similar to what used to be on Pirate ships, appeared before the Rangers, each one holding onto the wheel in front of them.

“Unleashed Omnizord!” the five yelled out, twin Hyper Swords in the hands on the Megazord.

Thomas, however, looked around. “Something….doesn’t add up,” he mumbled. “Lothor.”

Out of the skies, a shadow grew larger. As Lothor tackled the Megazord, sparks erupted from the shoulder joints. “Have you hugged these things lately?” he laughed, driving his knee into the chest of the Megazord. Leaping backwards, he stood ready for the Rangers, hoping to have some fun. “Come on, little dudes. You think you can beat me with that brick!?”

“Thomas, pressure’s dropping in the left leg. We can’t keep the combo together long,” April said, furiously flying her fingers over some keys. “Micropressure in the red. We’re losing power!”

“We have to hold on,” Thomas growled. “We can’t let him get back to Serpen alive.”

Lothor laughed, firing several blasts from his crossbow. “All the kiddies watching at home want me to win! I got cheated years ago by the Ninja Storm Rangers, and since I can’t take pleasure in killing them like I wanted, I’ll have to settle for their cheap imitations! It’s like a bad Chinese bootleg.”

“THOMAS!” April yelled, Demi screaming as her console blew up in her face, the Yellow Ranger shielding her eyes from the blast.

“Damn it!” Thomas growled, spinning his wheel and throwing one of the two Hyper Swords. “Get out! Now!” He didn’t give the Rangers a chance to argue, ejecting his teammates before rushing Lothor who vanished. “Come out, bastard.”

“Sorry, Red Badge of Bloody!” Lothor laughed, standing in his normal sized look on a building a few feet from the Omnizord. “The Scroll’s power only works for a little bit on me. But it’ll be a nice gesture if you blow up right now!” As Lothor laughed and vanished in a burst of black smoke, the Megazord seemed to implode on itself, shrinking back down as the Zords collected back inside of it.

Thomas felt himself fly out of the cockpit, landing hard on the ground, his suit falling from around him as Demi and Richmond helped him up, anger in the Red Ranger’s eyes. “I’ll kill him,” he growled. Wrenching himself away from the Yellow and Green Rangers, he started towards the ship, hitting his knees about five feet away.

“Easy,” Richmond said, sighing as he helped Thomas up again. Flipping open his Caller, he opened a channel to Geeps. “Geeps?” After a few minutes, the mechanical parrot didn’t respond. “Geeps? Geeps, come in.”

“Still nothing?” April asked, looking Richmond. “Let’s get onto the ship and find out what’s going on.”

As the five Rangers ran back to the ship, Demi turned and saw a glint of silver on the horizon, running the other way. “Um, guys?”

“Not now, Demi,” Thomas said.

“Guys, listen to me!”

“DEMI! Not right now!” Thomas snapped, the Yellow Ranger flinching back and dropping back behind April.
_____________________________

Stepping back into the main chamber on the Blizkon, Lothor landed into the wall as Dimas knocked him backwards. “Why did you not kill the Rangers!?” the former leader of the Empire asked.

“Because I’d like to test them at full strength,” Lothor growled. “I do need answers, though.”

“To what?” Serpen snapped, her snake headed hair growling and hissing. “What answers could a lackey need?”

Lothor picked himself up out of the wall, cracking his neck. “For one, who killed the Ninja Storm Rangers? Two, you said my niece was working for you. Why? Three, where the hell do you get off thinking you can order me around?”

Tapping on her keyboard, Serpen brought up footage of the Legends War, all of the Rangers fighting to save their planet. “In one of the first assaults on the planet, the Rangers themselves charged all of their power up to destroy the fleet. The Commanders, consisting of myself, Furyblaze, Dimas, and Dracon, were able to escape before the Wave. It killed the Rangers, and their powers were turned into those Keys that they use,” she said. “As for your niece, she came to me wanting the power to find you. After a few weeks of “training”, she went to find Marah. They found you in Mesogog’s laboratory, which led to today. And I get off on ordering you around because this is my Empire, and unless you wish to be a FOOTNOTE on that Empire, I suggest you shut up and fall in line, you bastard!”

Lothor nodded, bowing his head. “My apologies,” he said. “I was merely curious.”

“Lady Serpen,” Dimas said, stepping forward. “Vexacon and Shinmazu’s ships are arriving. Landing Bay one.”

“Thank you, Dimas. Go and meet them. I have something in the Sci-Lab to see to,” Serpen said. “And take the sniveling freak Lothor with you. Seeing as he wanted them here.” She stood and stepped around Lothor, heading down three levels in the ship towards the Science Labs. “Is he almost ready?”

“Just about, Lady Serpen. A few more modifications, and the first CyborEx will be ready,” the head of the Lab said, bowing his head in respect. “On a plus note, the Eternaks conversions have been going smoothly, and we have two dozen of them ready for battle.”

“Thank you, Mitagas. Finally it is some good news out of this Empire,” Serpen sighed, shaking her head. “Between the idiots in my employ and the morons that we’ve gathered lately, it isn’t often that we get good news.”

“It is my pleasure to give good news, my Lady,” Mitagas said, turning back to his work. “If you would excuse me, my Queen, I need to return to the CyborEx chamber and continue the conversion.”

“Go,” Serpen replied. “I must see to our newest arrivals.”

In the Landing bay, Lothor and Dimas watched, one with baited breath and the other with hated exasperation as the two ships landed, their occupants stepping out and looking exactly like Vexacus and Shimazu.

“Lothor!” Shinmazu, the more brightly colored and exuberant of the two exclaimed, shaking the mutated ninja’s hand. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you, Shinmazu. Vexacon! You look good as ever,” Lothor said, shaking the shark-headed ninja’s hand.

“I feel better then the last time you saw me, Lord,” Vexacon said, nodding his head. “Tell me. Why are we here instead of on your ship?”

“Ah….that would be a tale best for another time. Let’s just say that had twelve legs and came in assorted colors.”

“The Rangers,” Shinmazu laughed. “The six Ninja Storm Rangers, yes?”

Lothor, growling at the same time, just nodded. “Now I’m afraid we’ve bigger fish to fry. More of the Skittles Rainbow has sprouted, and this time it’s only ten legs with the Rainbow. Our goal is to destroy them.”

“Are you not the one giving the orders?” Vexacon asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Lothor admitted, anger in his eyes. “This time I am merely a pawn in the bigger picture.”

“Oh, demotion!” Shinmazu laughed.
___________________________________

Running into the ship, Thomas covered his face as sparks flew from broken mechanical hinges and shattered screens. “The hell happened?” he asked, looking around before he and Alec pried open the door to the main room.

“Lothor, probably,” Demi said, sighing. She looked around, seeing Geeps’ wing sticking out of some rubble. “Geeps!” She ran over and started moving the fallen planks and walls, finally uncovering the mechanical parrot. “Geeps, say something. Please.”

“Bloody hell, that hurt,” he groaned, flapping his wings and sitting up in Demi’s hands. “Thomas, I told you that the Combinlocks were not ready to be used, you damn fool. So what’s the first thing you bloody do?! You activate the Megazord. What the hell is your problem!?”

“I did what I had to in order to try and save the freaking city,” Thomas said. I don’t care that the Links weren’t working. I had to act fast, and I wasn’t about to let more people die. I’ve seen too much death and been the cause of too much of it! I can’t let it happen again! Do you understand that!?”

The room fell silent, nobody speaking or looking at the Red Ranger as he and Geeps confronted each other. April stood with her head down beside Richmond while Demi had put the parrot on the table, walking out towards her room. Alec sighed, shaking his head.

“You both are pig headed lunk nodes,” the Blue Ranger said, looking between his leader and the bird. “And you both need to grow up.”

“Oi! I’m the one that he asked for help about the Megazord. If he wants to get all of you killed and cause this ship to blow up and lose your powers with it, then so be it. I was trying to make sure that nothing bad happened,” Geeps said, flapping his wings and going to his perch, steam coming from his beak.

“If you want to blame it all on me, then blame me, but I won’t be held responsible for anyone else’s death!” Thomas snapped, throwing his Caller at Geeps and knocking him off of his perch.

“ENOUGH!” Richmond snapped, standing in the Red Ranger’s way as he lunged before throwing Thomas backwards. “Thomas, that’s enough. Go cool off. And Geeps, you should know Thomas’s past enough to know when he’s going to do something brash.”

Everyone stood by sheepishly looking down and away from Geeps as Thomas’ door was heard slamming. “What the hell was that all about?” Demi asked. “Clearly someone has issues, but we don’t know that Thomas is the one with the issues.”

Richmond and Alec shared a look, both men starting to work on repairing the monitors. “He used to work for the Empire,” Alec said, Demi and April gasping in surprise. “He’d been born and raised around there. But…one day he suddenly grew a conscience and left the Empire. It was after the Legends War, I know that much. But…the problem is he doesn’t like to talk about it. He says, “It was the worst times of my life, and the less you know about me the better. I’m not what you think I am.” Shaking his head, the Blue Ranger looked at the two women who were looking very shocked. “He isn’t such a boy scout, is he?”

Demi sighed softly, looking at her hands. “It’s not that. It…why doesn’t he want us to know?” she asked. “I mean…we’re his team. We’re his friends. I’d have thought we’d have had a right to know.”

Alec shrugged and sighed, looking at his friend in the Yellow. “I don’t know,” he said. “I just know that…there’s something that happened that he doesn’t want to talk about.”

Geeps, after being silent and listening to the conversation, flapped and fluttered over to the Rangers, landing on the console. “So, I’ve got something to tell you guys,” he said, his head lowering as regret went through him.

“What, Geeps?” Richmond asked.

April, who had gone to find a way to figure out how to fight against Lothor, screamed out . “The Silver Ranger Key’s gone!”

“What?” Richmond asked, running over and looking in the chest. “Goddamn it!”

Demi kept her head down, her arms around her stomach. “I tried to tell you,” she whispered. “When we were running back to the ship, I…”

Thomas, who had heard April’s exclamation, ran out and got in Demi’s face. “Why didn’t you say something before?!” he yelled, making the Yellow Ranger flinch backwards again. “Why!?”

“I tried,” Demi whispered, steeling herself before looking up at Thomas. “I tried to tell you, but you fucking yelled at me that it wasn’t a good time to tell you what I saw!”

Thomas stepped back, sighing. “Go into town and find it,” he said. “We split up. Anything happens, call the others and we’ll meet up there.”

“Like hell,” Alec said, tapping against the keys on the main console, pulling up a map. “Each Key has an energy signature. Look. Here’s ours.” He pointed to a concentrated section of the map, several rings of energy flashing around in several different colors. “And…here’s Silver.” He dragged the map and enlarged an area, the Silver ring of energy flashing around a small restaurant on the south end of town.

“We know where we need to go,” Richmond said. “Let’s move.”

Thomas nodded, looking at Geeps. “Geeps…I’m sorry. I should have listened to you the first time, and…it almost cost our lives.”

Geeps scoffed in surprise, shaking his head. “It takes a big man to admit he was wrong, Thomas. Something you’ve done several times over the last two years. I’ll get the Repairgram online and get everything working smoothly, making the Combinlocks one of the top priorities. Right now, get that Key back. Or bring him here. Whichever works,” Geeps said. “Go. Now!”

Thomas nodded, leading his Rangers out of the ship again and through downtown. Hearing a guy laughing about how he’d stolen from a group of Rangers, April growled as she led the Rangers through the crowd. “Hey!” the Pink Ranger snapped, standing in front of the guy in the middle of the crowd.

“Speak of the devils!” the man laughed, pointing at the five Rangers. “Ah…let me guess. You want this back?” He held up the Silver Ranger Key and the Silver Cell, putting the Key into the main case of the Cell. “Silver Shift!”

In a flash of Silver light, the young man was swiftly transformed into the Silver Unleashed Ranger, a six foot long spear in his hand. Thomas growled, holding his own Key in hand. “You need to return that,” the Red Ranger said, stepping forward. “Now, please.”

“I don’t think so,” the Silver Ranger said, lunging forward and slamming into Thomas, knocking the Red Ranger backwards before he skidded to his feet.

“Let’s Ranger up!” Thomas said, flipping open his Caller and letting his Key flip up into its Key Mode.

"UNLEASHED ENGAGE!" the five Rangers yelled out, their suits forming around them in multi-colored flashes of light.

Rushing forward, Thomas locked his Saber with the spear the Silver Ranger had, trying to gain the upper hand, but Silver was proving an unmovable force.

“Is that really all you’ve got, Red?” Silver asked, kicking Thomas backwards. “For being born into the Empire, you’re really pathetic. No wonder Fury was told to kill you.”

“What?” Thomas growled, holding his side. “What do you know about the Empire?”

“Little boy Red doesn’t even know his own history!? Oh, this is rich!” Silver laughed, lunging again.
_______________________________________

“Vexacon, Shinmazu. We need to being our assault on Earth. You have the Poisons that I need, yes?” Lothor asked. When he didn’t get an answer, he spun around. “Vexacon! Shinmazu! Wake up!”

Snorting and jumping up from their chairs, the two newest Generals nodded to Lothor. “We’ll summon the Kelzak Poisons, sir!” Vexacon said, bowing at the waist before running out, Shinmazu on his heels.

“Idiots,” Lothor growled. “My idiot nieces would have been better…”

“Discord in the ranks, Lothor?” Dimas asked, stepping around the corner with a solid smirk on his face. “If that’s the case, I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

“Agreement about what, Dimas? Other then you being Serpen’s lap dog?” Lothor asked, pushing past Dimas who grabbed the former Ninja Leader’s arm. “Release me or lose that arm.”

“You cannot even comprehend what we’re planning. The Outlying are nearing this Sector every single day, and when they arrive, the Deletion will commence. Once I have the Keys of Babylon, my Lady Serpen,” Dimas spat with hatred, “will be nothing more then a footnote in the Empire’s history. If I can convince my brother to return to the Ranks, and bring his Rangers with him, then we will be the last remnants of the Empire to stand.”

“What is the Deletion?” Lothor asked, clearly intrigued. “Or is it a need to know while I don’t need to know?”

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough, my friend,” Dimas said. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Stepping towards the door, Dimas unsheathed his sword and swung it around, Lothor blocking easily with his crossbow. “Not bad for an old washed up mutant.”

“Tell me something, boy,” Lothor growled, shoving Dimas back. “Does Serpen know you plan to betray her?” Firing several rounds, he rushed Dimas and slammed into him, causing him to drop his sword. “And don’t let this appearance fool you. At least I wasn’t beaten by some pirates. Ninjas, on the other hand…that’s a different story!” He kicked Dimas hard in the chest, earning a slug to the crotch for his trouble.

“But these Pirates are a lot more then you think,” Dimas growled, diving down and grabbing his sword before breaking Lothor’s kneecaps. “This time…you won’t be coming back.” Lothor’s yells of agony were music to his ears, and as he looked over the blade of his sword, he pointed it at Lothor’s neck.

“What are you--!?” Lothor started to ask, his words cut short by the blade slashing his head from his shoulders, his body falling to the ground as his head rolled away.

“Vexacon,” Dimas said, the shark-headed soldier coming from around the corner. “Dispose of this trash and then get to Earth. Scans picked up a sixth Ranger. Kill him, and bring the main five here.”

“Yes, sir,” Vexacon replied, turning and dragging Lothor’s body off, the head stuffed under his arm. Throwing the body into the furnace, he closed the door and smirked, watching the fires for a moment. “An ill fitting end, Lothor. Especially for you.”

Motioning towards the end of the hall, Vexacon stood near Shinmazu, nodding to his friend and ally. “Let’s go,” he said, snapping his fingers and taking himself and Shinmazu, as well as the Kelzak Poisons, down to the surface of the planet again.
________________________________

“Stop it!” Demi yelled, trying to get in the middle of the fight with the Red and Silver Rangers only to get elbowed in the gut by Silver and knocked backwards into Alec. “Thomas! Goddamn it, stop! We’ve got bigger problems right now! And weren’t you the one that said we needed a Silver!?”

Thomas slammed his elbow into Silver’s throat, making him hit the ground and cough. “Concede.”

“Like hell!” Silver growled, sweeping Thomas’ legs out and knocking the Red Ranger onto his back. “I’m keeping the Key. You don’t know what the Empire did to my family…to my planet.”

“They’ve screwed us all over in a lot of ways,” Thomas said, getting back up and standing beside his team again. “Why? Why steal the Key? And why should we let you keep it?”

“I stole it because…I needed a way to fight. I can’t do much with my hands, but I’m a hell of a fighter,” Silver said. “Yellow said it best. You need a Silver if you want to stop Serpen and Dimas, right? You’ve got someone standing five feet in front of you holding onto that Key. Why can’t you just say “OK, You can join” and let it be?”

Thomas, knowing that Silver had a point, nodded and shook his head. “I hate when people are right. For now…we need to keep an eye out for Lothor. No telling when he’ll be back,” he said.

“Lothor won’t be coming back!” Vexacon laughed, landing in front of the Rangers, while Shinmazu landed beside him, white bodied Kelzaks right behind them. “Not for a long time.”

“Vexacon,” Silver growled, his hands clenched around his Staff. He went to move forward and kill Vexacon, only to get stopped by Thomas. “Get out of my way. He deserves to die.”

“Then work with us,” the Red Ranger said, looking at Silver. “He does deserve death for what he’s done, but we work together.”

Growling, Silver nodded rather reluctantly. “Fine,” he said, looking at the Rangers. “Let’s end him.”

“You can’t win against us,” Vexacus laughed. “Shinmazu, let the Poisons go!”

As the multi-colored ninja thrust his arms forward, the Kelzaks--weapons in hand--rushed the six Rangers. Shinmazu, taking the chance to attack as well, drove towards Demi and April, catching the Pink and Yellow Rangers off guard. Thomas and Silver started slamming around at Kelzaks, their weapons turning a rusted maroon as they slashed and hacked, not even their Blasters doing any good.

“What the hell are these things?” Thomas growled, Richmond throwing his sword to the Red Ranger.

“Kelzak Poisons!” Shinmazu laughed, dodging a swing from Demi before “tripping” and falling forward, his hands catching the Yellow Ranger’s chest. Being the perverted clown that he was, he couldn’t help but squeeze, Demi’s yell of harassment making him laugh.

“Hey!” the Yellow Ranger yelled, driving her foot out and kicking Shinmazu right in the crotch, his pained laugh worth it before blood soaked her chest. “Um…didn’t think I kicked him that hard.” Turning her head, she saw Alec standing beside her with his sword covered in blood, Shinmazu’s severed left arm laying on the ground. “Oh…that’s what happened.”

“Help April and Richmond with Vexacon. I’ll deal with the clown,” Alec growled, his voice dangerously low. His hands seemed to shake, and Demi just nodded, knowing it was a good idea to just go before Alec really blew his top.

“Can’t we talk about this!?” Shinmazu asked, trying to snap his fingers to get some Kelzaks to help but to no avail. “Guess not. Breath Blast!” He jumped backwards and fired a poison cloud from his mouth, cloaking Alec in it before he landed, kicking the Blue Ranger hard in the chest and knocking him backwards.

“Ugh, that’s nasty!” Alec growled, shaking his head to get the fuzziness out of his mind. He rushed forward again, driving his fist into Shinmazu’s head, knocking him backwards.

Demi, having been keeping an eye on Alec as she fought beside April and Richmond, slashed backwards and cut off Shinmazu’s head piece, multicolored tendrils falling to the ground. “Nice haircut,” she laughed, driving her foot backwards into Vexacon’s crotch, April slamming her elbow into the back of his neck.

“Nice kick, Kanojo!” the Pink Ranger laughed, throwing Vexacon into Shinmazu, Richmond getting several shots off at the two while they stood up slowly and shakily.

“Thomas! What do you say about getting some new hardware?” the Green Ranger asked, driving a kick into a Kelzak’s chest, knocking it away from the Silver Ranger. “Let’s make Time ours.”

“Oh, I like that idea,” Thomas said, hitting his belt and taking the Red Time Force Key.

"UNLEASHED ENGAGE!"

TIME FOR TIME FORCE!

As the Rangers transformed once more into a new set of Rangers entirely, each one took out their weapons.

“Chrono Sabers!” Thomas, Richmond, and April called out, summoning the twin swords of the Red, Green, and Pink Time Rangers.

“V-Blaster!” Alec and Demi cried, summoning the rather large guns of the Rangers before firing several shots. The two provided cover fire for the three with the short range weapons, each one timing their shots for under the Rangers’ arms.

“Time Strike!” Thomas yelled out, an image of a red clock appearing around him before he slashed down, killing several of the Poisons in the slash.

“Time Strike!” April called, slashing her arms in different directions and causing Shinmazu to yell out in pain.

“Silver!” Richmond called, slashing around before throwing one of his Sabers past Silver and spearing another Poison that was trying to sneak up.

“Whoa!” Silver yelled, spinning around. “Thanks, dude!” He slammed into a Poison, knocking it backwards before flipping up and clipping one from behind as it went after Demi.

“Change up!” Thomas yelled out, driving his foot into the back of Vexacon who landed hard on the ground before Thomas caught up with his team.

As the Rangers went to summon new Keys, the sky darkened as a weathered scroll appearing in the sky before it opened up, the Japanese script on it glowing before it hit Shinmazu and the remaining Poisons, forcing them to grow to gigantic proportions. Shinmazu’s arm with sickening crunches and bones sprouting, causing him to yell out in pain.

“The Scroll,” Shinmazu growled, looking around as Vexacon ran off, the device Lothor used in his hand. “Bastard!”

“Sorry, old friend. I’m not going out like my father did,” he said, vanishing.

"Rangers! Good news!" Geeps' voice called out from the Callers. "The Omnizord is ready to go! Everything is set and nothing is going to break this time!"

“Awesome!” Demi said, grinning. “Thomas, let’s do this!”

Thomas nodded, hitting his Caller and summoning the Galleon, Silver looking up in wonder. “Awesome,” the Silver Ranger said, smirking as the Rangers leapt up into the Ship. “Hey! What about me!?”

“We don’t have one for you, I’m afraid,” Thomas said, looking down at Silver. “Sorry, dude. Unleashed Combination! Megazord Mode!”

As the Galleon lifted up higher to accommodate the space needed to make the legs form, the head of the ship separated, forming giant shoulder pads as the main mast compacted onto the chest. The Sub lifted up, it’s cockpit splitting in half like a mouth, forming the right leg of the Megazord, the Carrier’s trailer flipping up and latching into place on the cab, forming the left leg as the Racer’s back wheels spun down, the axel forming a hold that kept it in place as it became the left arm. The Jetter didn’t have much of a transformation, just the pirate hat unclipping from the back as the right arm formed. As every Zord connected, the Rangers were moved from their individual cockpits into the main cockpit behind the blue eyes on the Megazord. Five steering wheels, similar to what used to be on Pirate ships, appeared before the Rangers, each one holding onto the wheel in front of them.

“Unleashed Omnizord! Online!” the Five Rangers called out, Shinmazu not really impressed.

“Really? That’s the best you’ve got to deal with me?” he asked, drawing a pair of daggers from behind his “cape” and rushing the Megazord, not intimidated until getting kicked in the chest as his daggers went flying. “It isn’t possible!”

“Oh, it’s possible,” Thomas growled. “Chest Cannon!” Spinning his wheel, the center mast fell and revealed a cannon. The sides and front of the individual Zords opened up to reveal several dozen cannonballs, each one loading and firing at the same time.

Landing backwards, his anger reaching new heights, Shinmazu stood and launched himself forward, colliding with the Megazord and breaking the cannon before throwing the Megazord into some buildings, the explosions engulfing the Rangers. “Suck on that!” Shinmazu growled, standing away from the flames as rubble shifted. “No! Come on, don’t you people ever die!?”

“Once,” Alec growled, helping stand the Megazord up with the rest of the team. “Thomas. We need to use the Advent Mode.”

The Red Ranger nodded, holding up a Key. “Guys, take this set of Keys,” he said, holding one up.

“Got it,” the rest chimed in, taking a Key from their belt.

"UNLEASHED ENGAGE!" they yelled as they slotted the five Keys into the Steering wheels.

GALWIT MYSTO UNIOS the Megazord’s consoles rang out, a Mystic Circle appearing around the Megazord before it descended, changing the entire thing.

“Titan Megazord!” the five Rangers called out, the Megazord pushing up its “Magician’s hat” and holding the Mystic Saber in hand.

“That’s new,” Shinmazu said, impressed this time. “But it still won’t help you. Magic against a Ninja? Ha!” He rushed forward, slamming against the Megazord before getting bounced backward, not able to budge it this time. “Ok…”

“Are we through playing around?” Demi asked, leaning over her console and looking down at Thomas. “Leader-man?”

“Oh, yeah,” Thomas said, the Rangers spinning their wheels and slamming the fist of the Megazord into Shinmazu’s face, making the Ninja fighter spit out a mouth full of broken and bloody teeth.

“My smile! My beautiful smile!” he wailed, slamming his fist into the roof of an office building, the occupants inside screaming as their lives were snuffed out. “I’ll kill you for that!”

“I don’t think so,” Richmond said. “Turn the Keys a second time! That’ll let us do an even stronger attack.”

Turning the Keys again, the Megazord drew up it’s Saber. “Ancient Titans! Mystic Spell Seal!” the Rangers called out, slashing down with their right arms as the Seal came from the wings of the Megazord, flying through and slashing into Shinmazu again, his screams echoing as he fell backwards and became engulfed in a burst of fire.

As the Rangers leapt out of the Megazord, they landed beside Silver who seemed very impressed. “Not bad,” he said, letting go of his Morph and revealing a young man of roughly twenty five, a silver shirt covering a chiseled chest. Alec and Richmond growled lightly when they noticed Demi and April staring, both of them starting to drool.

“Hey,” Alec growled, kicking Demi in the ass and making her jump. “His eyes are up here!”

Silver laughed lightly, shaking his head. “Sorry. It happens every where I go. I’m Drake Holmes. And…I’m sorry for taking the Key,” he said, holding his hand out with the Key in his palm. “You can have it back…I don’t deserve to be fighting with you guys. Not when you’re a lot more courageous then I am.”

“Keep it,” Thomas said, nodding to Drake. “You earned it today. Come on. Let’s all go back to the ship and get something to eat. All the fighting made me hungry.”

“We hear that!” Demi laughed, hugging Alec and kissing his cheek. “Hey, you know I’ve only got eyes for you. I thought he was cute.”

“Yeah, sure,” Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes.

Drake laughed, shaking his head as he walked back towards the ship with the five Rangers, hoping he could fit in.
____________________________

On the Blizkon, Vexacon handed Serpen the device that summoned the Scroll of Empowerment, and he stepped backwards. “You have my undying allegiance, Lady Serpen.”

“Good. Now…the CyborEx program is just about complete, Eternaks are ready for combat, and the Outlying are reaching this Sector with every passing minute. Things are going according to plan,” Serpen laughed, looking out of the window of her ship, stars twinkling in the distance.

Deep within the belly of the ship, a soft groan was heard, as well as a body falling from a table…