The Once And Future Rangers

CHAPTER ONE All was quiet on the surface of the moon. A foreboding castle, usually alive with the screams and rants of a psychotic witch, was now calm and silent. Inside the castle, in a dark chamber, the witch slept. In another part of the castle, a ferocious warrior clad in gold armor also lay deep in slumber, his limp hand resting on his mighty sword. On the castle's observation deck, reality began to tear. The fabric of existence was ripped open as two humanoid figures stepped through. One was a rotund, blue and silver mechanical creature. His chubby, metallic face housed two glowing, empty eyes which scanned the room, and a gear-shaped crown silently spun on his head. In one hand, the robot clutched a large staff. In the other, he held a mysterious crystal sphere. The other being was a slender, orange and silver robot, on whose shoulder a small, white and black robot with a round head perched like some sort of pet. The tear in reality closed behind them. The witch detected the strangers, and she immediately rose from her slumber and swung open her door. She marched to the observation deck as she smoothed her flowing robe and straightened the two large cones of hair which projected out from her head. She entered the observation deck and caught sight of the intruders she had sensed. "Who dares intrude upon the domain of Rita Repulsa?" the witch screamed in a voice which was the equivalent to fingernails on a chalkboard. The golden warrior groggily emerged from his quarters, wielding his large sword. "Goldar!" the witch cried out. "Dispose of these two!" Goldar tightened his grip on his sword as he emitted a deep growl, then charged the robotic trespassers. The larger robot calmly raised his staff, and a powerful bolt of electricity burst forth and struck the golden beast in the chest. Goldar was thrown back several feet, where he smashed into the witch's array of observation equipment. The warrior collapsed and vanished under the heap of broken equipment. "Rita Repulsa," the rotund robot spoke in a noble and dignified voice, "I am King Mondo, ruler of the Machine Empire. I have a proposition for you and your husband." Rita raised an eye. "Husband?" "Yes," Mondo said, "Lord Zedd. Is he around?" A grin slowly spread across the old witch's face. She began chuckling quietly, but soon she began laughing outloud. Within several seconds she was roaring with hysterical laughter. Tears rolled down her face as she pounded uncontrollably on the guardrail of the balcony, her wild laughter echoing throughout the castle. Goldar looked around with a blank look on his face, and the two robots gave each other confused glances. Rita collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach and wiping the tears from her face. Finally calming down, she emitted a slow groan with a few final chuckles. Using part of her dress as a handkerchief, she sighed, "That's rich. Now, you said something about a proposition?" As Adam walked down the hallway of lockers, he looked around. "Hey," Adam said to Kat, who walked beside him, "they painted the lockers!" "You're right," Kat agreed. "I wonder when they did this." Adam approached his locker and said, "They had to do it all last night." Grabbing the padlock on his locker, he said, "I mean, they weren't like this yesterday." Kat stood next to Adam as he entered in his combination. She glanced down the hall and noticed Bulk and Skull coming their way. Interrupting Adam's grumbling about how his combination didn't work, Kat nudged the Green Zeo Ranger in the shoulder and said, "Look at Bulk's hair!" Adam looked up from his locker, and his frown of frustration turned into a look of surprise. Kat remarked, "Is that a ponytail? I never pictured Bulk with long hair!" "His hair used to be that long before he got his head shaved," Adam told her. "But how'd it get so long again?" Bulk walked up to Adam, Skull tagging along close behind. The larger of the leather-clad duo sneered and placed a tight grip on Adam's shoulder. "What's the matter," Bulk snarled, "you got a staring problem, geek?" Skull chimed in, "Yeah, geek!" Adam pushed away Bulk's grip. "Cut it out, Bulk. What's gotten into you?" Bulk growled, poking his index finger into Adam's chest. "Listen, pipsqueak, maybe you don't know who you're talking to." Skull cackled, "Ha ha ha ha, you tell him, Bulky!" Kat stepped forward with a smirk on her face. "Don't you two have some ‘official police business' you should be attending to?" Bulk burst into laughter. "Us, cops? Bwa ha ha, that's rich!" Skull gleefully chimed in, "Rich!" At that point, Bulk and Skull discovered Mr. Caplan standing behind them. The troublemakers grinned weakly. "Well, hello, boys," Mr. Caplan grinned. "I'm glad I found you. I've been meaning to talk to you about those detentions you owe me." The principal grabbed them by the collars of their leather jackets and hauled them off down the hall. Adam said to Kat, "Well, that was weird." Rocky and Tommy strolled into the library. As Rocky seated himself at a computer terminal, Tommy pulled up a chair beside Rocky and said with a grin, "You're telling me there's a fan group of the Power Rangers on the Internet?" Rocky, tapping a few keys, replied, "Yeah, isn't it cool?" Tommy smiled. "I wonder what people are saying about us." Rocky continued to tap keys, surfing the ‘net. Tommy seemed distracted by something across the room. Rocky stopped typing and looked at his friend. "What's wrong, Tommy?" Not removing his gaze from the object of his interest, Tommy whispered, "Doesn't that guy look like Billy?" Rocky rose up slightly in his seat to peek over the monitor. Across the room, a young man in blue overalls and a white and blue striped shirt was seated at a computer. Rocky whispered back, "Hey, it does look a lot like him! But... smaller." "And with glasses," Tommy added. "And darker hair." "Billy doesn't have a younger brother, does he?" "I didn't think so," Tommy responded. Suddenly, Tommy leaned forward in his chair. "Whoa, look at that!" Rocky looked at Tommy and then back at the Billy lookalike. "What?" Tommy turned to Rocky and told him, "He's wearing a communicator!" "Billy" now shyly glanced up from his computer and looked at the two teens. Rocky and Tommy sank back into their chairs. "I'll have a vanilla shake, Ernie," Tanya heard a male voice beside her say. She looked up from her drink. Down the juice bar from her stood a well-built African-American teen wearing a yellow vest and black pants. His gaze met hers, and they both smiled. "Hi, I'm Zack," he said. Miles away, in the desert near Angel Grove, a small robot named Alpha Five scurried around the small fortress that was the headquarters of the Power Rangers. "Ay yi yi yi yi!" he exclaimed. He paused to collect himself. "I don't know what to make of these readings, Zordon." He looked at the data on the display infront of him. "Our sensors indicate that the Earth was just struck by a small blast from the..." Alpha paused, as if to make sure he was reading the data correctly. "...the Orb of Doom." The large blue head replied in a deep and echoing voice, "Send one of the Rangers to investigate." "I don't know what's wrong with it," Adam sighed as he fumbled with the padlock attached to his locker. Kat offered, "I'll go see if I can find the custodian to open it. Keep trying." Adam tugged on the lock and sighed in despair. "Having locker trouble?" Adam turned to see an Asian girl standing next to him. Adam jumped - she was beautiful. Her long, flowing hair looked like it was as soft as silk, and her gentle eyes and gorgeous smile were more than enough inspiration for Adam to forget about his locker. When Adam realized his mouth was moving but he was saying nothing, he blushed and managed to say, "Yeah... I think it's stuck." He smiled and awaited some sort of acceptance from her. As he studied the girl, he vaguely remembered seeing her face before. She reached out and opened the locker next to Adam's. Placing a book into the locker, she smiled. "Mine does that every once in a while." She shut her locker gently. "My name's Trini." ‘Trini,' Adam thought. ‘Even the name's familiar. Who is she?' As he tried to remember, he smiled at her for a few seconds before realizing he'd forgotten to tell her his name. "I'm Adam," he blurted out. She smiled. "Did you just move to Angel Grove?" Adam was prevented from answering by the chiming of his communicator. He winced - how would he explain it? He looked at the communicator on his wrist and noticed that the lights on the device were darkened and inactive. That meant his communicator hadn't gone off. He looked up at Trini and saw the anxious expression on her face as she looked up at him and hid an arm behind her back. Trini said, "Nice meeting you, Adam. I'm sorry, but I need to go do an assignment I forgot about." She turned and rushed off down the hall. As she did, Adam caught a glance of the arm she had tried to hide. On her wrist was a communicator. Adam blinked. ‘Oh, man! Now I remember!' Adam thought. ‘Trini was the Yellow Ranger before Aisha! How could I have forgotten?' "Leo," Tanya said. "I'm a Taurus, myself," Zack told Tanya. She smiled. "I haven't seen you around here before," he said. "Yeah," Tanya told him, "well, I don't come in here a lot. I study in the library." "No, I mean, around school. Did you just move here?" "A couple of weeks ago, yeah." Before Zack could ask any more questions, a muscular young man in a white tank top and red jeans walked up behind him and placed his hand on Zack's shoulder. Zack turned around and smiled. "Hey, Jayce, what's happenin'?" "Not a lot, bro," the muscular teen replied with a smile. He looked at Tanya. "Who's this?" Zack looked at Tanya and then back to his friend. "Oh, sorry. Jayce, this is Tanya. Tanya, this is my friend Jason Lee." Tanya smiled. "Hi." Jason playfully punched Zack's arm. "Hey, me and a couple guys are gonna play a game of basketball in the park. You wanna join us?" Zack looked at Tanya again and obviously wanted to go, but he didn't want to leave Tanya. "Ummm, well..." At that moment, Tanya's communicator blinked and chimed. She quickly put her hand over it and said, "No, that's okay, you go ahead. I've got to run anyway." Standing, she said, "Nice meeting you two," then quickly walked off. Jason and Zack looked at each other, stunned. Rocky sighed. "Man, where is it? Alt.fan.power-rangers was here yesterday, now it's gone!" Rocky found he was talking to himself, for Tommy's mind was elsewhere as he stared out into the hallway. When Tommy realized Rocky had been talking to him, he looked back at his friend and began to stand. "Sorry, Rocko," he said, gently slapping Rocky's arm, "I'll be back in a second." As Tommy began to quickly walk off, Rocky asked, "What is it?" Tommy replied without looking back, "A memory." And he was gone. Rocky stared at the doorway for a moment, then glanced at "Billy" before returning his attention to the computer terminal. "Weird," he muttered. Trini slipped into Miss Appleby's empty classroom and whispered into her communicator, "I read you, Zordon." On the other side of campus, Tanya was about to speak into her communicator when Zordon began talking. "There is an energy disturbance on the north side of Angel Grove Park. Are you able to morph and investigate the situation?" Trini replied, "I'm on it." "No problem," Tanya answered simultaneously, her signal being overridden by Trini's. Trini pulled out her morpher, and across campus, Tanya pressed her Zeonizer wristbands together. "Sabertooth Tiger!" Trini yelled. "Zeo Ranger Two," Tanya called out, "yellow!" Flashes of yellow light enveloped the two Yellow Rangers, and they simultaneously soared into the sky as streaks of energy. Tommy's heart jumped when he saw her. He didn't know how it was possible, or why she looked slightly younger than he had remembered, but there she was, opening her locker. Actually, it was her old locker from two years ago, but Tommy didn't pay any attention. She was back, and that was all that mattered. It was Kimberly. Two yellow bolts of energy converged on the park. The two Yellow Rangers solidified within fifteen feet of each other. Tanya gazed at the Yellow Power Ranger, recognizing the suit from the gallery in the Power Chamber. "Aisha?" she asked. Trini assumed a defensive stance. "What's going on here?" Tanya replied, "That's what I'd like to know!" Suddenly, ten grey humanoid beings appeared behind Tanya. Five were a dull grey with darker boots and gloves, black stripes along their ribs, and dark, blank faces with hollow, red eyes. The other five were shinier, and they wore gold masks with circular, black eyes. They wore black belts and no stripes on their sides. "Putties!" Trini shouted. "Cogs!" Tanya cried out. The clay and mechanical drones surrounded Tanya yet did not attack. One of the Cogs spoke in a monotonous voice, "We await your orders, Zeo Ranger Two." Trini's stance grew more aggressive. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "So you're behind this disturbance! One of Rita's goons, no less!" Tanya looked at the grey beings surrounding her as they prepared to attack Trini. "But..." Trini leapt into the air with a fierce battle cry. She landed directly infront of the Putties and Cogs, causing them to attack. Two Cogs swung at Trini, and she blocked the punches with her forearms. She then kicked one in the ribs and threw the other aside. Next, a Putty rushed in to fill the space the Cogs had occupied and tried to kick Trini. She blocked the kick and then knocked the creature off its feet with a mighty sweep. As Trini continued to battle the goons, Tanya shouted, "That's enough! I command you to return to the moon this second!" Much to Tanya's surprise, all ten of the creatures stopped instantly, and within two seconds they had teleported away without a trace. Trini now faced off with Tanya. "You'd better head back to wherever you came from," Trini demanded, "because you'll never defeat the Power Rangers!" Tanya's head was spinning. This was all too much. ‘I've got to tell the Rangers about this,' she thought. Collecting her wits, she managed to focus enough to transform into a streak of energy and teleport away. Kimberly gently put her books into her locker. Tommy approached her from the side and said, "Hey, Kim! It's great to see you!" Kimberly looked up at the well-built, attractive young man talking to her. Tommy continued, "Look, I think we really need to talk." The Pink Ranger squinted and looked out of the corner of her eyes, as if trying to remember something. She looked back at Tommy with a weak smile. "Um, do I... know you?" Tommy felt his heart drop down into his stomach. He tried to say something, but no words came out. What was she doing? Was this some cruel joke? It couldn't be - Kim would never do anything like that. "Uh," Tommy managed to say with a frown, "it's me, Tommy." Kim said, "Oh, hi. I don't think we've met." She extended her hand and glanced at his hand, her eyes passing over the communicator on his wrist. Tommy was beyond confusion. He heard himself say, "Kimberly Hart? Tommy Oliver? Hi, we dated for two years, you broke up with me by mail out of the blue, remember me?" She looked lost. "Let's see, you were born in Seattle, your birthday's Valentine's Day, you love strawberry yogurt, and your favorite class is theatre arts." Kim looked aside nervously. "Um, I'd better go," she said. She shut her locker and quickly walked off. Tommy watched as she disappeared into the crowd. Zack and Jason were jogging along the path that led to the basketball courts, a path that took them through the woods. Zack suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "What is it, bro?" Jason asked. Zack ducked below a cluster of bushes and motioned for his friend to do the same. Jason looked around for a second before ducking as well. Zack whispered, "It's Goldar!" Jason was silent for a moment. He then whispered to Zack, "Listen, he's saying something." Standing in the woods not thirty feet from the two Rangers, the golden warrior growled into the air, "Yes, Empress. Our evil Zeo Rangers have been sent to Earth. They will try to convince the Power Rangers that they are on their side. Then, once the Zeo Rangers catch them offguard, we will be victorious!" Rita's voice screeched out from nowhere in particular, "Those Power Twerps will finally be out of my hair!" This was followed by hearty laughter from the witch and her golden warrior. Jason looked at Zack and whispered, "We've got to go tell the others!" Zack nodded in agreement, and the two teens quietly ran off in the direction of the Youth Center. Goldar turned and watched as the Red and Black Rangers ran off. He grinned, exposing his glistening fangs. "Adam Park?" Adam offered again. "Nope, sorry kid," said the heavy, middle-aged custodian. He scanned the pages of his clipboard, a set of keys dangling from the metal clip. "You're not assigned to this locker." Adam and Kat glanced at each other, confused. "But," Adam started, "I know this is my locker." "Well, if it makes you feel any better," the man told Adam, "we can check the computer records." Kat and Adam followed the custodian to the main office of Angel Grove High School. The secretary looked up from her desk as the trio walked in. "Hello, Miss Burnett," the custodian said with a smile. "Aren't we looking lovely today." She smiled back. "What can I do for you, John?" "Look up this guy," he said, looking at Adam. "His name is Adam Park." Adam looked at Kat, then Miss Burnett, who was searching through the school's records on the computer. She looked up with a frown. "How do you spell that?" Adam blinked and wondered how else you could spell it. "A-D-A-M," he spelled out, "P-A-R-K." Miss Burnett shook her head. "You're not in here." Kat and Adam looked shocked. "Look up Katherine Hillard," Kat offered. After Kat spelled her name, Miss Burnett came up with nothing. "Rocky DeSantos?" Nothing. "Tanya Sloan?" Nothing. "Tommy Oliver?" Nothing. Adam and Kat sighed simultaneously. What was going on? Finally, Kat threw out one last name. "Billy Cranston?" "Close," Miss Burnett answered, "I've got a William Cranston. Sophomore." "Wait," Kat said, "Billy's a junior. Well, he was," she corrected herself, "but now he's graduated." "I'll call Mr. Caplan in," Miss Burnett said, picking up the phone. "No, no," Adam protested, "that's okay, we have to leave anyway..." "Piano lessons," Kat added. The teens awkwardly excused themselves from the office. As they walked down the hall, Kat sighed, "Something weird is going on here." Kimberly walked into the Youth Center and sat down at her usual table. A friendly, overweight man in a Hawaiian shirt, jeans, and a white apron served her a glass of mango juice. "Thanks, Ernie," she said as he walked away. Kimberly anxiously scanned the Youth Center as she thought about this Tommy fellow. Who was he? What did he want? How did he know so much about her? "Kim!" called out a voice behind her. The voice startled her, and she snapped to attention, spilling some of her mango juice onto the table. Billy walked up from behind her and had a seat at the table. "Are you feeling okay, Kim?" he asked. "You appear to be nervous about something." "Yeah," she told her friend, "well, I think some guy's stalking me." Billy looked around the room. "Where?" "No, he's not here right now. I met him in the hallway," she explained. "I was at my locker, and he came up to me and acted like I was supposed to know him." Billy squinted slightly, listening. "And get this," she continued. "He thinks we've been going out for two years!" "We have?" Billy asked, surprised. Kim smiled slightly. "Not me and you. Me and him." "Interesting," Billy commented. "And he knows a lot about me," she added. "It's kinda scary. I mean, he knows my birthday, he knows where I was born... heck, he even knows my favorite flavor of yogurt!" "Perhaps you should tell Mr. Caplan if the problem escalates," Billy offered. As Kim nodded and took a sip of her juice, she had a flash of realization. She choked on her juice and quickly put down the glass so she could cover her mouth as she coughed. Several seconds later, she said, "He was wearing a communicator!" "What?" Billy gasped. "He was wearing a communicator," Kimberly repeated. "I didn't even think a thing about it until now!" "How is that possible?" Billy wondered outloud. At that moment, Trini entered the Youth Center. She quickly sat down at the table and whispered, "You guys, something weird just happened in the park." "Oddities abound," Billy commented. She continued, "There was a girl in a yellow suit sort of like our suits, and she was in command of the Putties. And there were also shiny new Putties that I've never seen before." "Did they attack? Are you okay?" Billy asked, concerned. Trini shook her head. "No, I'm fine, they didn't attack. The girl made the Putties leave, and then she teleported away." Kim said, "Weird." The conversation ended as Jason and Zack ran in and took the remaining two seats. "Guys," Zack said inbetween gasps for breath, "we've got big trouble." Jason, having a little more breath than Zack, continued, "Rita's made her own evil Rangers..." He took another breath. "She calls them the Zeo Rangers..." Trini said, "Yeah, that's what she was called, Zeo Ranger Two." Zack asked, "Whoa, you saw one?" "In the park," Trini answered, "with some Putties." "Oh, man," Jason half-growled. "Oh, and you wanna know something else weird?" Kim added. "Some guy with a communicator is stalking me." "Whoa," Zack said, "that's really weird. Jayce and I just saw a girl in here with a communicator!" Billy thought aloud. "Perhaps they're the Zeo Rangers...?" Jason suggested, "We'd better talk to Zordon about this." At once, the five teenagers stood up from the table and walked out. "There you guys are!" Tanya said, joining the Green and Pink Zeo Rangers. "You won't believe what just happened!" "What is it?" Adam asked anxiously. She excitedly began, "Well, Zordon told me to..." She stopped for a moment and looked around for people nearby. In a much quieter voice, she started over. "Zordon told me to go to the park to check out some disturbance. And what I found was the old Yellow Ranger!" "What do you mean?" Kat asked. "There she was, the Yellow Power Ranger!" Tanya tried to explain. "Aisha?" asked Kat. "Trini," Adam answered. "Who?" the two girls asked. Adam realized they didn't know who he was talking about. "Trini. She was the Yellow Ranger before Aisha." No one said anything, so Adam added, "I saw her at school today. She's wearing a communicator. She must be the Yellow Ranger you saw." "How is that possible?" Kat asked. "The Power Coins were destroyed." Adam looked down the hallway. "Look, here comes Rocky." Rocky approached the group and said, "Hey, guys. Tommy went down by the lake, and he's really bummed out about something." "Maybe we should go talk to him," Kat suggested. "Good idea, Kat," said Adam. As the four teens began to walk toward the exit, Adam asked, "Hey, Rocky, do you remember Trini?" "Zordon," Jason said to the large, blue head as he stood infront of the other four Rangers in the Command Center, "do you know anything about Rita's Zeo Rangers?" All was silent for a while. Eventually, Zordon spoke. "The day I have feared has arrived. Rita has managed to harness the power of the Zeo Crystal." --- CHAPTER TWO As Rocky, Adam, Kat, and Tanya walked down the grassy hill leading to the lake, Rocky said, "Trini's not the only one with a communicator. In the computer lab, there was a guy who looked a lot like Billy, and he had one too." The four teens approached Tommy, who was sitting at a picnic table overlooking the lake. He looked up to see his friends siting down at the table. "Hey, guys," Tommy said, trying to hide his sadness. "Tommy," Kat said gently, "what's wrong?" Tommy sighed. "I saw Kimberly at school." "What?" Rocky asked. "She pretended like she didn't even know me!" Tommy added. "I mean, I know she's found someone else, and that's okay, I guess... But I thought she at least wanted to stay friends!" "This is really weird," Rocky said. "Tell me about it," agreed Tommy, looking down at the picnic table. "No, that's not what I'm talking about," Rocky said. "We saw Billy in the computer lab, you saw Kimberly, and Tanya and Adam saw Trini!" Tommy looked up. "You did?" Adam smirked. "All we need now are Zack and Jason." "Zack and Jason," Tanya said, "those were the two guys I met at the Youth Center." "Shh," Tommy said. The Rangers grew quiet as Tommy had requested. The Red Zeo Ranger appeared to be listening to something. He got up and began to walk toward the nearby woods. The teens gave each other confused glances, then got up and followed Tommy as he slowly crept up to the woods. "Do it louder," a squeaky voice said from the trees. A Scottish voice said loudly, "Aye, your majesty, the restoration of the Power Coins has let us create evil clones of the original Rangers." "Klank and Orbus," whispered Tommy to the other Rangers. "Excellent," came the voice of King Mondo, "those pathetic Zeo Rangers will be so surprised to see their old friends, they won't know what hit them!" "So that's what's going on!" Tanya whispered. "They're evil clones working for the Machine Empire!" Suddenly, a large crowd of Putties appeared, surrounding the Rangers. "Oh, man, just what we didn't need," Tommy said. "It's morphin' time!" The five Rangers held their arms by their sides, and black wristbands known as Zeonizers materialized on their arms. As the teens touched their Zeonizers together, each summoned his or her Zeo power. "Zeo Ranger One," Kat shouted, "pink!" "Zeo Ranger Two," Tanya cried, "yellow!" "Zeo Ranger Three," Rocky yelled, "blue!" "Zeo Ranger Four," Adam invoked, "green!" "Zeo Ranger Five," Tommy called out, "red!" Waves of energy poured over the teens, suiting them up and transforming them into the Power Rangers Zeo. The Rangers struck martial arts poses and shouted "hiyah" in unison. "Who are these guys?" Kat asked, swatting off a Putty's punch. "Putties!" Tommy replied, kicking a Putty in the chest. "These Putties look different," Rocky noted, blocking a kick and following with a punch. "There's no Z!" "They look like Rita's old Putties," Tommy told him as he ducked a punch and delivered a sharp punch to a Putty's ribs. "Whatever they are," Adam said, sweeping a Putty's feet out from under it, "they're going down!" Kat flipped over three Putties and kicked two of them to the ground while they were still trying to figure out where she had gone. As she approached the third, a Putty kicked her from behind, and she stumbled to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tommy leap in and take out the Putty behind her. She rose and pummeled the creature infront. As she turned around, she saw Tommy being restrained by two Putties as a third pulled back to punch him. Kat grabbed the third Putty's hand and threw him aside, then kicked the second in the ribs. This left one Putty still holding onto Tommy. The Red Zeo Ranger effortlessly threw the creature into a pile of unconscious Putties. "Thanks," Tommy said with a nod. Kat nodded in return. "No problem." Tanya had successfully taken two Putties out when she was grappled from behind by a third. Rocky, after finishing off a Putty with a roundhouse, rushed over to Tanya. The creature released Tanya to take on the Blue Zeo Ranger, at which point he was clobbered by the combined efforts of Rocky and Tanya. At the edge of the nearby woods, two robotic heads could be seen protruding from behind a shrubbery, watching the battle. "Ach, you've seen one fight, you've seen ‘em all, ne?," said the orange and silver robot known as Klank. "How true," squeaked the black and white robot called Orbus. "When does the real action start?" Adam had managed to fend off four Putties, but two more had ganged up on him, sending him to the ground. About to be tackled, Adam foot swept one of his attackers, buying him enough time to jump up and clobber the second. Kimberly asked, "What's the Zeo Crystal?" "The most powerful object known to man," Zordon replied. "It was buried under Rita's castle thousands of years ago in the Caves of Deception. If Rita has retrieved the Zeo Crystal and created a team of evil Rangers, the universe is in great danger." A single Putty remained. Tommy leapt into the air and shouted, "Zeo Five Power Kick!" For a moment, time appeared to stand still as gleaming energy radiated from the Red Zeo Ranger. Tommy struck the pose of a jump kick, and he cut through the air toward the lone putty like an arrow. "We'll stop them, Zordon," Jason assured their mentor. "Just show us where they are." "Behold the viewing globe," Zordon instructed. As the five teens turned around, an image formed in the viewing globe. They watched as the Red Zeo Ranger dove toward a lone figure. Right on time, the Putty shimmered and transformed into the disguise of a helpless old man. Tommy managed to whisper a single word before impact: "No." Tommy's foot struck its target with the force of a speeding bus. The "old man" was lifted off his feet as he soared away from the Red Zeo Ranger. Tommy planted his feet into the ground and watched as the man passed through the trunk of a nearby tree, equally demolishing both the tree and the man. On the moon, King Mondo watched intently. "What timing," he said. "Wouldn't you agree, Rita?" The witch grinned evilly. "Divine." Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Trini, and Billy watched through the viewing globe as the dust and splinters settled. Trini put her hand to her mouth, and Kimberly trembled, her arms crossed. Billy looked down at the floor, and Zack's face was contorted into a grimace of anguish. "That poor guy," Zack managed to whisper. Jason clenched his fists together and gritted his teeth. "Rita's gone way too far this time," he spoke calmly, yet with a growl deep in his throat. "It's morphin' time!" The five teens pulled out small metal devices known as Power Morphers and summoned their dinosaur spirits. "Mastodon!" Zack yelled. "Pterodactyl!" Kimberly called out. "Triceratops!" Billy summoned. "Sabertooth Tiger!" Trini cried. "Tyrannosaurus!" Jason shouted. Flashes of energy burst from the Power Morphers and transformed the five teens into the Black, Pink, Blue, Yellow, and Red Power Rangers. The superheroes transformed into streaks of energy and vanished from the Command Center. Tommy inspected the remains of the tree. There was a bit of unrest in him. ‘What if it was just an old man?' he kept asking himself. Before he could convince himself it really was a Putty, a powerful foot planted itself in Tommy's ribs, sending him crashing to the ground. Tommy clutched his side and looked up at his attacker. Standing over him was the powerful form of the Red Power Ranger. "You're going down!" yelled Jason. "Ah, now this is more like it!" Klank commented. Adam looked up to see that he, Rocky, Tanya, and Kat were being confronted by the original Black, Blue, Yellow, and Pink Power Rangers. In the background he saw the Red Ranger standing over the fallen Tommy. "The Power Rangers are here to put a stop to you!" Trini shouted, waving her finger at the Zeo Rangers. "You call yourselves Power Rangers, huh?" Rocky retorted. "You're an insult to the Great Power!" "We'll see about that," Zack said. Simultaneously, the four Zeo Rangers and the four Power Rangers charged each other. Tommy rose to his feet, and the two Red Rangers began circling each other. Each waited for the other to make the first move, circling as they scanned over one another. Four complete revolutions later, the two crimson warriors rushed toward each other, and the battle had begun. Once the other eight Rangers had begun to fight, they instinctively paired off with their matching colors, except in the case of black and green. Kat and Kimberly, Rocky and Billy, Tanya and Trini, and Zack and Adam were engaged in one-on-one combat. As the Pink Rangers battled, it appeared that Kat and Kimberly were evenly matched, although at times it seemed that Kimberly was able to maintain an upper hand in the fight. As the Blue Rangers began to fight, it seemed Billy was being beaten by Rocky. However, a lucky backflip and foot sweep quickly gave Billy the upper hand. Adam and Zack were perhaps the most evenly matched among the eight Rangers; on the other hand, it seemed the fight between the Yellow Rangers was the most obviously uneven match. Trini was able to stay one step ahead of the Yellow Zeo Ranger, and Tanya soon realized she was outmatched. Kick for kick, punch for punch, Tommy and Jason seemed perfectly equal in skill. Neither managed to deliver a successful attack. After a while, both combatants grew tired of the stalemate. "Maybe we should take this to a higher level," Tommy said as he delivered yet another punch that failed to connect. "I read you loud and clear," Jason agreed, stepping back a pace from the Red Zeo Ranger. "Power Sword!" yelled the Red Rangers in unison. The forming of the Power Swords caused a chain reaction among the other eight Rangers, and they too summoned their Power Weapons. "You're going down, sister!" Kimberly yelled as she leapt into the air and released an arrow from her archer's bow. As Kat deflected the arrow with her shield, she said, "You'll have to try harder than that, ‘sis'." Meanwhile, neither Adam's hatchets nor Zack's axe proved to be a tiebreaker. Nearby, Rocky and Billy seemed to be equally matched, neither being able to land a hit with arm blades or lance. Behind the Blue Rangers, Tanya and Trini fought. Just as it seemed Trini would defeat the Yellow Zeo Ranger, Tanya scored two lucky hits with her nunchuks, knocking the daggers from Trini's hands. Trini was stunned for a moment. However, Tanya's failure to act quickly in Trini's moment of weakness cost Tanya her one free shot. Trini quickly collected herself and delivered a swift kick to Tanya's stomach. Nearby, the Red Rangers soon discovered that they were as equally matched swordsmen as they were hand-to-hand combatants. Countless clinks of metal echoed from the battle as the Red Rangers' swords made contact. Neither Ranger could possibly win. Tommy noticed that fatigue was beginning to grip his body. He was not sure how much longer he could last. There seemed to be no weakness in his foe. Just as Tommy considered regrouping, Jason stepped back. "All right, Rangers," Jason called out, "let's bring ‘em together!" As the Power Rangers fell back from their fights and regrouped, the Zeo Rangers did the same. Tommy told them, "Okay, guys, it's time for the Zeo Blaster." One by one, the Power Rangers joined their weapons together to form a powerful cannon known as the Power Blaster. Similarly, the Zeo Rangers combined their weapons to form the Zeo Blaster. The two groups of Rangers stood within thirty feet of one another, their blasters aimed at the opposing group - for a while, all was calm. Without warning, Jason called out, "Fire!" Both groups activated their conglomerate weapons, releasing streams of energy which sliced through the air toward their targets. The blasts made contact, and a tremendous explosion flung the Rangers back like rag dolls. Reality seemed to drift away from Tommy for a moment. He was weightless, and there seemed to be no sense of up or down. A sudden impact smashed against the Red Zeo Ranger, and he realized he was underwater. He collected himself and swam in the direction he thought was up. He surfaced and took a breath, realizing the explosion had knocked him into the lake. Rocky, lying flat on his back, saw there were trees all around him. With a loud groan, the Blue Zeo Ranger sat up and realized the blast had sent him flying into the forest. Zack felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He clutched his helmeted head and sat up. The Black Ranger was sitting in a large heap of wood. As he brushed the splinters of wood from his suit, he remembered that a few moments ago, there had been a picnic table where he sat. Kimberly groaned and sat up. Fortunately for her, she had not hit anything other than the ground. Several feet away from her were the remains of a tree, through which she had seen the Red Zeo Ranger kick an old man. She looked away from the tree, afraid she might see the broken body of the old man. However, curiosity got the better of her, and she looked back to the tree's remains. What she saw was not a body, but instead, tiny bits of greyish matter. She got to her feet and slowly approached the devastated tree. She bent down and picked up one of the grey pieces. Squishing the substance between her finger and thumb, she noticed it was soft and malleable. Beneath her helmet she mouthed the word, "Putty." Eventually the ten Rangers collected themselves and returned to the site of the blast, where a small crater had been created. The Zeo Rangers and the Power Rangers stood facing each other, not sure what to do next. Suddenly the sky grew dark. Lightning forked through the sky. Two bolts of energy dove down from the heavens and struck the earth near the Rangers. They solidified into the forms of Rita Repulsa and King Mondo. "Well well," Mondo said, "what a surprise!" "A party," Rita added, "and no one invited us!" "What?" Rocky yelled. "Rita working with King Mondo?" "Whatever you're up to this time, we're gonna stop you two!" Tommy told the villains. Rita and Mondo looked at each other. "Ooh," Rita cried out. "Stop! We might start to be intimidated!" "Wait a minute," Billy thought aloud. "The Zeo Rangers aren't working for Rita?" "What are you talking about?" Adam asked. "I thought..." Before Adam could complete his sentence, Rita and Mondo had raised their staves into the air. A bolt of lightning ripped through the air from their staves and struck the ground infront of the Rangers, who flipped back to avoid the blast. "Yes, well, these mind games certainly have been fun," Mondo said. "What a pleasant way to soften you up. And now it's time to rid the world of you pathetic Rangers!" Tommy saw the villains charging up for a second blast. "Rangers," he yelled, "we need to regroup!" "Right!" Jason agreed, generally surprising everyone. "To the Command Center!" The ten Rangers raised their arms into the air. Each transformed into a bolt of energy and vanished. "No!" Rita screamed, stomping her foot. "We were so close!" "Relax," Mondo said calmly, "there's still plan B." Several hundred feet beneath the Command Center, in a small cavern, Tommy, Kat, Adam, Tanya, and Rocky materialized, holding their helmets under their arms. They looked around, stunned. "What happened to the Power Chamber?" Tanya gasped, her voice echoing in the rocky cavern. "It's gone," Rocky said. "How could this happen?" Kat wondered. Standing apart from the others, Tommy gazed at a small gem glowing a bright red in his hand. "Guys," he said softly yet with a tone of urgency, "come look at this." The four teens huddled around Tommy, looking at the glowing object. "It's my Zeonizer Crystal," Tommy told them. "But it's never done this before." A beam suddenly emerged from the crystal, creating the ghostly image of Billy. Their Billy, with lighter hair, more muscles, and no glasses. He wore bluejeans and a black turtleneck. "Hey, guys," the Billy hologram spoke casually. "You're probably wondering what's going on." Rocky cracked, "That's an understatement." "Well, for starters," Billy said, "you're two years in the past." The Rangers blinked. Billy paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "Remember when Rito planted the Orb of Doom and turned back time?" The Rangers listened intently to the hologram. He reluctantly admitted, "Well, we kinda left it there." Tommy mentally smacked his forehead. "King Mondo found it, and he used it to go back in time two years. He planned on teaming up with Rita and defeating us... the original Rangers," he explained. "With no Rangers in the past, Queen Machina could easily conquer the Earth. Zordon found out about this, and we figured out how to use the Zeo Crystal to travel back in time. You guys went back to prevent Rita and Mondo from destroying the Rangers." Billy paused for a moment, as if to give them a chance to think about it. He continued, "I sent this hologram with you in the likely event the time travel caused partial amnesia, and you believed you were still in the present. You must stop Mondo and Rita from altering the past. Good luck, and, um..." He seemed to be searching for the right ending. "...may the Power protect you." Billy appeared to reach for a control that wasn't there, and the hologram ceased to exist. The Rangers stood in silence for a moment as their memories slowly returned. Eventually, Tommy said with a nod upwards, "C'mon, we'd better go have a talk." The teens nodded in agreement and teleported. Above, in the Command Center, the helmetless Power Rangers were in the middle of a discussion. Zack said, "Okay, so the Zeo Rangers aren't working for Rita. But how do you explain what they did to that old man?" Kimberly rubbed her fingers together. "It was a Putty in disguise." As Trini was about to ask about King Mondo, the Zeo Rangers appeared in the Command Center. The five Power Rangers jumped with surprise. Tommy admitted, "We've got some explaining to do." Klank and Orbus stood behind a cluster of bushes. "You heard the man," Klank said to his robotic friend. "Time for plan B." He grasped a chain connected to Orbus and began to swing the small robot around. After three revolutions, Klank released his friend, and Orbus went flying over the bushes, landing right at King Mondo's feet. A ray of green energy projected from the small robot, and Mondo's size began to increase. At the same time, Rita clutched her staff with both hands and shouted, "Magic wand, make my body grow!" She thrust the staff into the ground and began to expand. --- CHAPTER THREE "Whoa," Kimberly said, forming a T with her hands, "time out. You guys are Power Rangers from the future?" "Pretty much," Kat said with a weak smile. The conversation was interrupted by the squealing of the Command Center's alarms. The viewing globe was filled with the image of monstrous Rita and Mondo destroying downtown Angel Grove. "Ay yi yi!" Alpha whined. "Rangers," Zordon said, "Rita and Mondo have grown and are tearing Angel Grove apart. You must stop them." "Man," Rocky said, "I sure hope we remembered to pack our Zords." "Back to action!" Tommy announced. The ten Rangers vanished from the Command Center. The Power Rangers and Zeo Rangers returned to the lake, fully morphed. Off in the distance, the teens could see Rita and Mondo razing their city. "We need Dino Zord power," Jason yelled, holding his hand into the air. Trini, Kimberly, Billy, and Zack mimicked his motion. "Now!" The Zeo Rangers watched in awe as the five robotic dinosaurs appeared on the horizon. Tommy vividly remembered the great Dino Zords. Rocky and Adam had seen them when the Thunder Zords powered up, but they had never seen the behemoths in action. For Kat and Tanya, this was their first view of the legendary Dino Zords. As the Zeo Rangers gazed at the ancient robots, the Power Rangers leapt high into the air to rendezvous with their Zords. Tommy raised his hand into the air, followed by the other four Rangers. "We need Zeo Zord power, now!" The five teens waited anxiously, desperately hoping their Zeo Zords would be there for them. In the distance, the five mythical creatures appeared. The Zeo Zords had arrived. A collective "Yes" was whispered from the teens, and they jumped into the air to meet with their Zords. The two packs of Zords converged into a single group of mighty fighting machines. "Tyrannosaurus online," Jason called out. "Triceratops online," Billy announced. "Sabertooth Tiger online," Trini said. "Mastodon online," Zack spoke. "Pterodactyl online," Kimberly stated. "Zeo Zord One," Kat said from the powerful tank Zord, "online." "Zeo Zord Two," Tanya said from her tank, "online." "Zeo Zord Three," Rocky said from the agile sphinx, "online." "Zeo Zord Four," Adam said from the mighty bull, "online." "Zeo Zord Five," Tommy said from the noble phoenix, "online." "Power Rangers!" the teens yelled. "Look who's here," King Mondo told Rita as he stepped on a house. Rita sneered as she caught sight of the squad of fighting machines speeding for them. "Okay, here's the plan," Tommy said over the Zord communications system. "Split up into groups of two. Phoenix and Pterodactyl, Sphinx and Sabertooth Tiger, Bull and Mastodon. Kat, you're with Billy. And Tanya, you take Jason." As per Tommy's instructions, the Zords branched off and formed five pairs. Instinctively, the Zord pairs went into a formation. The Mastodon and Bull were the front line of the assault force. On their left were the Sabertooth Tiger and Sphinx. On the right were the Triceratops and Zeo Zord I. In the rear were the Tyrannosaurus and Zeo Zord II, and flying high above were the Pterodactyl and Phoenix. The Sabertooth Tiger and Sphinx ran around to the right side of Rita and Mondo. As the villains projected bolts of electricity from their staves at the pair, the Triceratops and Zeo Zord I had worked their way around the other side. Kat released Zeo Zord I's ten minimissiles, striking the villains. As Rita and Mondo turned around to return fire, the Triceratops launched its two large horns like grappling hooks. Rita managed to catch them in midair, and the witch gave the chains a sharp tug, causing the Triceratops to jerk forward violently. Mondo fired a blast toward Zeo Zord I, missing. As Billy tried to free himself from Rita's grasp, laser fire from the Sphinx and Sabertooth Tiger blasted away at the witch's back. Rita jerked on the chains again as Mondo turned to fire at the Sphinx and Sabertooth. The mechanical king was stopped dead in his tracks by the icy blast of the Mastodon, encasing his lower half in a layer of ice. As the Bull charged for Mondo, Rita slung the Triceratops through the air, smashing it into the side of the Bull. The witch released the chains and turned her attention to the Mastodon, which she kicked aside like a toy. "Tommy - Billy, Zack, and Adam are down!" Rocky radioed to the Red Zeo Ranger. "I read you," the Phoenix responded. "What's the situation?" "Zeo Zord Four is on its side. There's no way for it to get back up." "I read you," Tommy told Rocky. To the Pterodactyl, he ordered, "Kim, cover me, I'm going down." The two birds began to dive. The Tyrannosaurus released crackling bolts of energy from its eyes, blasting Rita in the arm. As the witch raised her staff to fire at the dinosaur, Zeo Zord I released a powerful burst of energy from its mighty cannon, striking Rita in the side. Tanya saw that the witch was off-balance, and two successive blasts from the bazookas of Zeo Zord II were able to knock her down. Mondo released a blast toward the Sphinx and Sabertooth, which were continuously showering him with a barrage of laser fire. The bolt of electricity hit the Sphinx hard in the shoulder. "I'm hit!" Rocky shouted as sparks flew from his controls. Rita managed to get back on her feet. She looked up to the sky and saw the Phoenix and Pterodactyl swooping down. She raised her staff to fire, but laser fire from the Triceratops was able to distract her. The Phoenix extended its talons and landed on the overturned Bull. Gently grasping the metallic hide of the Bull with its claws, the Phoenix turned it upright. "Thanks, Tommy!" Adam called out. The Phoenix had released its grip on the Bull and was preparing to fly off when King Mondo raised his staff at the Phoenix. The Pterodactyl, circling overhead, released twin bolts of energy at Mondo, diverting his attention and allowing the Phoenix to fly up to a safe height. A powerful cannon blast from Zeo Zord I struck Mondo in the shoulder, followed by laser fire from the Triceratops, Sabertooth, and Sphinx. Mondo released a blast at the Triceratops, striking it directly in the head, and was preparing to release a second when the powerful jaws of the Tyrannosaurus clamped onto his arm. Rita fired at Zeo Zord I, causing no damage to the Zord, and turned around to see the dinosaur attached to Mondo's arm. Despite the hail of laser fire striking her, she raised her staff and delivered a crippling blow to the Tyrannosaurus' head, sending it to the ground. The Bull took advantage of Rita's preoccupation and slammed its horns into her legs, failing to knock her over. The witch looked down at the Zord and clutched her staff like a spear, preparing to impale the Bull's neck like a matador. The Phoenix swept down out of the sky, lasers streaking from its eyes, striking Rita directly in the face. As the Bull backed away from the witch, Mondo returned fire at the Phoenix. Zeo Zord II released dual bursts of energy from its bazookas, striking Mondo. The Phoenix had begun to circle around when a lucky shot from King Mondo clipped its right wing. Tommy struggled to remain in control as smoke billowed from his Zord's wingtip. He managed to bring the Zord back under control and discovered the wing had suffered minimal damage. As the Tyrannosaurus attempted to stand, Mondo struck the side of its head with his staff, sending the dinosaur careening into the Sphinx and Sabertooth. Meanwhile, the Triceratops and Bull both charged at Rita. The witch fired a blast which struck the ground, and the two Zords slammed their horns into her legs, returning her to the ground. By now the Mastodon had worked its way over to Rita's side, and began to spray her face with liquid nitrogen. She shrieked and backhanded the mammoth aside. At the same time, the Sabertooth Tiger had climbed out from underneath the downed Tyrannosaurus and pounced on Mondo's back, embedding its claws into his metallic hide. The tyrant wildly waved his staff about and spun around, trying to remove the tiger from his back, yet the beast held on tight. The tiger reared its head back and plunged it down, impaling Mondo's back with its tusks. The king bellowed in pain and managed to reach behind him and grab onto the Sabertooth. Holding it by its neck, he flung it into Zeo Zord II, toppling the mighty tank. Rita had since returned to her feet and was unsuccessfully trying to shoot down the Pterodactyl as it bombarded her with laser fire. The lasers of the Sphinx, which had recently crawled out from under the Tyrannosaurus, caught Rita's attention, and she began firing at it instead. The agile Sphinx sidestepped the first two blasts, but a third caught it square in the back. Rita was hit by three successive cannon blasts from Zeo Zord I before she realized what was hitting her. She released a blast at the tank, striking it. The Phoenix and Pterodactyl dove side-by-side toward Mondo, ripping away at him with their lasers, causing Mondo to shoot at them. The birds quickly parted, and the blast sailed harmlessly between them. By now, the Triceratops had been able to return the toppled Mastodon to an upright position, as had the Sabertooth done for the overturned Zeo Zord II. "This is getting us nowhere," Jason's voice said to the Rangers. "We need Megazord power!" "Right!" agreed Trini, Kimberly, Billy, and Zack. "I'm with you," Tommy agreed. "Initiating Zeo Megazord assembly." As the Zeo Zords and Dino Zords attempted to assemble, blasts from Rita and Mondo made forming the Megazords impossible. The Phoenix circled Rita and Mondo. "Jason," Tommy radioed, "go ahead and bring the Dino Zords together. The Zeo Zords will cover you." Following Tommy's plan, the Zeo Zords split up to cover the Dino Zords. The Sphinx and the Bull moved directly infront of the Dino Zords, Zeo Zord I stayed on Rita and Mondo's left, and Zeo Zord II moved to their right. As the Phoenix flew dangerously close to the villains, Zeo Zords I and II were bombarding them from the sides. As Rita blasted in vain at the Phoenix, Mondo was ineffectively shooting at Zeo Zord II. The Sphinx and Bull held their fire, hoping not to attract Rita and Mondo's attention toward the Dino Zords. "Okay, Rangers," Jason said, "we need Megazord power!" The Tyrannosaurus docked with the Sabertooth Tiger and Triceratops, and the Mastodon unfolded and attached to the Tyrannosaurus' back, forming the Megazord's arms. The conglomerate stood, using the Sabertooth and Triceratops as legs. The Tyrannosaurus' head folded down, revealing the warrior head of the Megazord. The Pterodactyl completed the procedure by docking on the chest of the Tyrannosaurus. The five Rangers appeared in the central cockpit of the Megazord. "All right," Jason said as he took the controls, "let's buy some time for the Zeo Zords." The monstrous robotic warrior took giant steps toward Rita and Mondo. As the villains noticed the Megazord's presence, they directed all of their fire on it. The Megazord took a step back as the blasts buffeted its chestplate. "Shields ninety-six percent and dropping," Zack informed the others. As the Megazord was being blasted, the Zeo Zords regrouped behind Rita and Mondo. "Initiating Zeo Megazord assembly!" Tommy called out. The Sphinx unfolded into the torso and arms of the Megazord and attached to the top of the Bull, which had collapsed lengthwise. Zeo Zords I and II stood side-by-side as they folded in their weapons. The Bull floated down and docked on top of the tanks. The phoenix folded in its wings, flipped down its head to reveal the head of the Megazord, and docked onto the back of the Sphinx. The assembly of the Zeo Megazord was completed as the red warrior helmet of the Megazord slid onto the head. The Zeo Megazord marched around the villains and stood beside the Dino Megazord. Upon seeing the two Megazords, Rita and Mondo charged, ready to beat upon the Megazords with their staves. Mondo took a swing at the Zeo Megazord, which ducked the blow and returned with a backhand to Mondo's stomach. The king took another swing, which was caught in the powerful hand of the Zeo Megazord. The Megazord followed with a punch to the king's face and a kick to his midsection. Rita's shortcomings in hand-to-hand combat were compensated by her powers of magic. As the Dino Megazord approached her, the witch waved her staff through the air. Enormous snakes bound the robot's arms to its sides. The witch cackled with glee and shot a bolt of lightning into the restrained Megazord, buffeting its body with explosions of sparks. "Jayce, man, she's got us trapped!" Zack told the Red Ranger. Jason raised his hand into the air and called out, "We need the Power Sword!" Mondo stumbled back. Sparks flew from the head of the infuriated robot. He released a burst of energy from his staff, striking the Zeo Megazord in the chest. The Megazord stumbled back from the blast, then began to charge the king. Mondo drew back his staff and smashed the Zeo Megazord in the side of the head. The king then gave the robot a fierce jab in the stomach with the tip of his staff. The Zeo Megazord attempted to kick the king, but Mondo blocked the attack with his staff, then swung it upwards, smashing the robot in the chest. The king laughed mockingly at the Rangers. "Zeo Megazord Saber," Tommy called out, ready to end this fight, "power up!" The Zeo emblem on the helmet of the Zeo Megazord pulsated with energy, forming a powerful golden sword in the robot's hand. Nearby, a gleaming silver sword plunged down from the heavens, slicing the snakes restraining the Dino Megazord, then stabbing itself into the ground. The robot grasped the handle of the sword and removed it from the ground. As Rita swung her staff at the Megazord, the robot blocked the attack with the Power Sword. A second swing was also easily blocked. The Megazord began to walk toward the witch, waving its sword around threateningly. Rita backed up and released several bursts of energy from her staff. The Megazord continued to march toward her, unfazed by the explosions around it. Rita began to grow pale. Mondo made a desperate swing at the Zeo Megazord with his staff. The powerful robot easily dodged the attack and slashed its saber across the king's stomach. Sparks erupted from the mechanical monarch, and he clutched his gut. The Megazord followed with a diagonal slash across Mondo's chest, then another, perpendicular to the first. The king stumbled back in a daze. "You're done for!" Tommy yelled. Nearby, the Dino Megazord took a swipe at Rita with its sword. The witch raised her magical staff to block, and the sword sliced the staff in two. Rita dropped the two pieces, stunned. "You're going back where you came from, Rita!" Jason shouted. In unison, the Megazord duo raised their gleaming swords into the air. Energy crackled around the robots as their sabers charged up for their finishing blows. Perfectly synchronized, the Megazords swung their swords, slicing through their nemeses. King Mondo looked down at the glowing slash which completely bisected him vertically. Slowly, his two halves began to drift apart, falling earthward. They continued to fall, until, as they impacted on the ground, the king's halves were decimated in a violent, thundering explosion. At the same time, Rita shrieked in agony as a red line streaked across her midsection. As energy pulsed through the witch, her size began to decrease. "I'm shrinking," she groaned, "shrinking...." She continued to grow smaller and smaller, shrinking beyond her ordinary human size. Once she had been reduced to the size of an action figure, a final ripple of energy pulsed from her body, surrounding the witch with an open bronze canister. Meanwhile, on the moon, Goldar looked up from Rita's telescope. "Uh oh," he growled. Suddenly, the floor of the castle began to tremble. The golden warrior struggled in vain to remain standing as the entire structure ripped away from the surface of the moon, soaring toward the Earth. Goldar landed with a painful thud on his chest, and he was soon covered by falling bookcases, telescopes, and shelves. The castle plunged into the Earth's atmosphere and headed for Angel Grove, California. Goldar couldn't see a thing - he was well buried. As the warrior flailed his arms through the wreckage that surrounded him, his hand made contact with a curiously smooth and round object. He wrapped his fingers around it and guessed that it was some sort of crystal sphere. He suddenly realized that he could feel the raw power pulsing within it. A wicked grin slowly spread across the warrior's bestial face. The castle soared down towards the small, bronze canister out of which the tiny Rita was trying to climb. The witch looked up to see the castle rapidly approaching. The enormous structure shrank to the size of a small dollhouse and plunged into the bronze canister. A top with a sparkling ruby formed on the canister, and Rita and her castle were sealed in. "Congratulations, Rangers of present and future," Zordon proudly told the ten teenagers standing before him. "You have defeated two of the most evil beings in the universe. What are your plans for the future?" "We're going to Disneyland," Zack cracked, causing all of the teens to chuckle, except for Billy, who was deep in thought. Smiling from Zack's joke, Tommy said, "Hey, it was great seeing you guys one last time." He glanced at Kimberly. "I wish we could stay longer, but..." He was interrupted by Billy. "Tommy, why won't we be Rangers in the future?" he asked, gesturing to the other four Power Rangers and himself. Tommy made a face. Before he could answer, Zordon said, "One must never know too much about his own future." Tommy nodded. "We'd better go." "Yeah," Adam agreed. "It's been fun," Rocky added. "Bye," Kat said with a wave. "Nice meeting you," Tanya said in Jason and Zack's direction. Tommy turned around to face the Zeo Rangers. "All right," he said, "let's power up the Zeo Crystal." The five teens formed a small circle and joined hands. "Tommy, wait," Kimberly pleaded. The Zeo Rangers turned and looked at the Pink Ranger, surprised. Tommy looked back at his friends for a moment, then broke off from the circle and joined Kimberly in the center of the Command Center. "Kim, I..." Tommy tried to speak. "Tommy, look," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I ran off. It must've really hurt you. I understand now what you're going through. I wish I could do something, Tommy, but... I don't know you. I haven't even met you yet. But it'll be okay. I believe you - that one day, we'll be together." She thought for a moment. She touched a single finger to her chest. "In the future..." Then she touched the finger to Tommy's chest. "...in the past..." She dropped her hand. "It all depends on how you look at it. There will be, or was, or is a time when we're together. And those moments are timeless." Tommy gazed deeply into her eyes. Her words made more sense than she could possibly know. "Here's to the future," she said, extending her hand. Tommy gave her a warm handshake. He smiled as he held her hand in his, wishing with all of his being that they could be together again. "Bye," she whispered. "Goodbye, Kim," Tommy said. He reluctantly let go and returned to the Zeo Rangers. "Ready?" he asked, trying to cover his sadness but failing miserably. The others nodded in silence as the Power Rangers of the past watched them form their five-person circle. "Okay," Tommy said, then took a deep breath. "Zeo Five," he called out, "power of the star!" Suddenly a glowing red star formed on Tommy's chest, casting a crimson hue onto the room. As Kimberly watched, she could swear that she could see the image of a ghostly white falcon within the star. "Zeo Four," Adam said next, "power of the square." A green square formed on his chest, within which Kimberly could make out a black frog. "Zeo Three," Rocky summoned, "power of the triangle." Kimberly watched as a blue triangle appeared on his chest, along with a spectral red ape. "Zeo Two," Tanya said, "power of balance." Two parallel, horizontal bars formed on her chest, and Kimberly saw a golden lioness within. "Zeo One," Kat finished, "power of the circle." A gleaming pink circle appeared, within which Kim saw the image of a beautiful pink mare. Five colored beams shot out from the Rangers' chests, converging in a stunning burst of white light in the center of their circle. The light solidified into a large, tapered chunk of crystal. The Zeo Crystal, Kim presumed. The field of white light surrounding the Zeo Crystal intensified, swirling out from the crystal until it enveloped the Zeo Rangers. All that could be seen of the five future teens was a warm, white light encompassing the group. Instantly, the light was gone, and so were the Zeo Rangers. --- EPILOGUE As the white light faded, Tommy took in the surroundings. A barren wasteland surrounded him. Sand whipped around him, stinging his eyes. Where were the others? He squinted through the sandstorm. Where was he? A pink figure emerged from an opening in the ground and began to run toward him. As she neared him, Tommy could see that she was clad in the original Pink Ranger suit. She threw off her helmet. Just as Tommy realized that the girl was Kimberly, her arms were around him and her lips were against his. He was momentarily stunned, but then he held on to her and returned the kiss. "Tommy Oliver," she said sternly, pulling back, "don't you ever do that again!" He studied her face. It wasn't the Kimberly from the past - he could tell that this was the older Kimberly of his time. But how was it possible? "You scared all of us," she said gently, hugging him. "Hey, look who's back," a familiar voice said. It was Jason's voice, Tommy was sure of it. Was Tommy still in the past? Tommy and Kim parted, and Tommy saw emerging from the ground four helmetless Power Rangers - Jason as the Red Ranger, Adam as the Black Ranger, Aisha as the Yellow Ranger, and Rocky as the Blue Ranger. Standing beside them was Billy, dressed in a black bodysuit. Tommy suddenly became aware that he was wearing the White Ranger suit. "Did you leave any Putties for us?" Aisha asked with sarcasm. The teens crowded around Tommy as they began to ask him all sorts of questions, but Tommy wasn't listening. He stared at his white glove intently. "C'mon," Jason said, patting Tommy on the back, "let's go back to the Power Chamber." As the group began to walk to the spot where the teens had emerged from the ground, Tommy was baffled. What time had he ended up in? "What's the date?" Tommy asked, interrupting the teens' slew of questions. They were silent for a few seconds. "April 12, 1996," Billy answered. The group stopped where they had come from the ground. An unseen lift platform descended, and the teens vanished under the sand. As the lift plunged down a dimly lit tunnel, Tommy stood in disbelief. He was in the right time, but this was definitely not the way he'd left it. All but two of the original Rangers were still Rangers. "What happened to Trini and Zack?" he asked. The teens all grew extremely uncomfortable at the mention of the names. "Boy, they must've hit you pretty hard, huh?" Rocky asked Tommy with a smile. "That's what you get for taking on a whole Putty Army by yourself," Aisha told him with a mock sense of sternness. Tommy looked at Rocky and frowned. Rocky had never worn the suit of the Blue Power Ranger in his timeline. "Rocky," the White Ranger said, "why are you wearing that suit?" The teens looked at Tommy, concerned. "Just refresh my memory?" he requested. Billy spoke. "Tommy, you remember Goldar, right?" "Of course I remember Goldar," the White Ranger answered. "Okay," Billy continued. "Well, when he summoned the Blue Candle, it drained my powers. And Trini and Zack went to Goldar's castle to try to stop the candle before Goldar took the blue power for himself. Do you remember that?" Tommy blinked. "No." "Um, okay," Billy said, not sure what to say. He chose to continue with the story. "Well, Trini and Zack never made it out," he said with a bit of effort. "Just when it seemed Goldar would have the blue, yellow, and black powers for himself, we discovered that transferring the powers to new people would prevent him from taking them. So we made Rocky, Aisha, and Adam Rangers." He stopped talking and looked at Tommy, as if to ask if he remembered. In response, Tommy shrugged. "Wait, you made it sound like Goldar's in charge," Tommy pointed out. Kimberly put a hand on Tommy's arm and asked, "Tommy, are you sure you're okay?" Jason spoke up, deciding to be blunt. "Tommy, Goldar is in charge. He's driven the human race underground; we're the only thing stopping him from completely ruling the earth." Tommy's mouth dropped. "But," he protested, "how could this happen?" As Kimberly inspected Tommy's head for wounds, Jason glanced at the other Rangers, then answered, "When we defeated Rita, Zordon said that we had fulfilled our duties as Rangers, and he shut down the Command Center. But none of us knew that on the moon, Goldar was loose, and he had a new source of power." Tommy mentally smacked himself in the forehead. "The Orb of Doom," he sighed. He couldn't believe he'd left it behind a second time. And now look what had happened. "The what?" Adam asked. "That's Goldar's source of power," Tommy said. "Go on." Jason thought for a moment, then continued. "Goldar's first move was to destroy Zordon and the Command Center. This was about the time you moved to Angel Grove. When we joined our powers together to make you the White Ranger, Goldar was so angry that he began to destroy Stone Canyon." "My family?" Tommy asked. "Lost in the attack," Jason reluctantly replied. He continued, "With Stone Canyon being destroyed, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha fled to Angel Grove, and they became valuable friends and allies." "Wait," Tommy said. "What happened that made everyone go underground?" Jason was silent, as if it would have been too painful to answer. Instead, Billy replied, "Goldar's Fifty Days of Darkness. Only the people who could make it underground survived." Before Tommy could ask more, the lift stopped. The teens stepped out, and Tommy looked around to find himself in an enormous cavern - strange technology and various computer displays were scattered about the place. "Tommy, welcome back," a female voice foreign to Tommy said. The White Ranger watched as a stunningly beautiful woman walked toward him. She had long, curly hair that was a light brown color, and she was clad in a revealing green outfit that could only be described as an armored bikini. As Tommy tried not to stare at the woman, Jason said, "Dulcea, can you check Tommy out?" "Yeah," Billy agreed, "it's possible he has a case of selective amnesia." ‘Amnesia?' Tommy thought. ‘What if the time travel made me remember things wrong? What if this is how things really are?' Dulcea walked Tommy to a metal table and had him lie on it. The teens watched from nearby. As the woman operated a control panel, Tommy asked, "What happened to the Zeo Rangers?" Dulcea looked up. Billy answered, "The Zeo Rangers came from the future to help us. We haven't seen them since." "Maybe one day we'll become the Zeo Rangers," Rocky said. Dulcea added as she continued operating the control panel, "The Zeo Crystal remains undisturbed beneath Goldar's castle." Tommy sat up. "I've got to go get it. That's the only way I can go back and stop this from happening!" "What are you talking about, Tommy?" Adam asked. "I don't belong here," he explained. "I'm from a different timeline, where Rita was never defeated, where she married Lord Zedd, where I was the Green Ranger, then the White Ranger, then when the Machine Empire scared Rita and Zedd away, Rocky, Adam, Kat, Tanya, and I used the Zeo Crystal to become the Zeo Rangers, and Mondo went back in time to destroy us in the past, so we went back to stop him, and we ended up defeating Mondo and Rita, and we were going back to our time, and now I'm here in some weird timeline that I don't belong in, and..." Dulcea cut him off in a calming voice. "Tommy, if what you are saying is true, then Adam and Rocky should remember this as well, should they not?" Tommy thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so." "Rocky, Adam," Dulcea asked, "do you remember this happening?" The Black and Blue Rangers looked at each other and shrugged. "Nope," Rocky said. "Sorry," Adam added. Dulcea looked at Tommy. "Why would you be the only one to remember? According to your story, your memories should have changed as time changed," she said as she put a hand on his chest. "Unless you can tell me why..." She stopped and looked at Tommy's chest. Her hand seemed to sense something located over Tommy's sternum. "Tommy," Dulcea said in awe, "there is something of great power right here. What is it?" Tommy blinked and tried to think. Suddenly he said, "Oh! My arrowhead!" Dulcea waited for him to explain. He continued, "When I was on my quest for my piece of the Zeo Crystal, an Indian shaman gave it to me." "Somehow, your arrowhead has allowed you to remember," Dulcea said. Tommy stood from the table. "I've got to go get the Zeo Crystal and set things right." He began to walk toward the lift. "In my timeline, Zordon's still alive, and Goldar hasn't driven the human race underground, and Trini and Zack are alive..." He realized that Kimberly stood between him and the lift. He stopped. "In your timeline," Kim began to ask as she took his hands in hers, "what happens to us?" Tommy looked into her eyes. "There will be, or was, or is a time when we're together," she had said. And she was right. He sighed and couldn't answer her. "Tommy," she said, "I love you. Don't leave me again." Tommy looked back at the lift... THE END