"Twenty-five years ago," Mayor Jerome Stone said as he sat behind his desk, staring directly into the camera, "the final battle between the Power Rangers and the United Alliance of Evil took place in our fair city of Angel Grove."
Pausing for dramatic effect, Mayor Stone rested his hands on the desktop before continuing. "That day saw the defeat of the Alliance but also marked the last time our brave heroes have appeared in battle as well. Some of them have returned to a civilian life, withdrawing from the public view to maintain their privacy. Others, as we well know, have embraced the spotlight and gone on to do great things with their well-deserved fame and fortune."
He paused again, tilting his head upwards slightly in a way that made him seem like he was looking at something far in the distance above. "Some have headed out into the stars, either to return to their home on another world or to seek out new life and new civilizations."
His face grew sadder as he resumed looking at the camera again. "And of course we cannot forget, we must not forget, the ones lost to tragedies unrelated to the battles they fought on our behalf for five long years."
The mayor's memorial speech continued on the television, but Jason Oliver had to stop paying attention as a rolled up white towel was flung at the back of his head. Grunting in annoyance at the impact, he narrowed his brown colored eyes and turned to glare at the one who had thrown the towel at him.
"Come on, Jason," his sister Sarah taunted, bouncing from foot to foot on the practice mat that was in the center of the work-out area of the Bulk Up Gym and Juice Bar, "We've only got an hour until we have to go meet dad and we still need to settle what we're getting for lunch."
"Okay okay," Jason grumbled as he smoothed out the front of his red karate gi and turned away from the television behind the main juice bar.
The Bulk Up was a relic of an older time. Its neon colored walls and floors were overpoweringly bright with cut-outs of palm trees and neon tubes of many colors molded into the shape of "tropical" suns on them that were remains of the time it had been called The Surf Shop. It was TOO much color, in Jason's opinion, and he preferred going to the gym that was in Stone Canyon, even though that was not currently an option.
Straightening out her own dark green colored gi before reaching back to make sure her equally dark, black hair was secure in its long ponytail, Sarah waited for Jason to take his place on the other side of the practice mat. The two then bowed to each other before they both adopted a fighting stance and Sarah beckoned Jason towards her with a wave of her hand.
Jason carefully approached, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet before lashing out with a forward kick that Sarah blocked with a sweep o fher left arm. She counter attacked with a right straight punch, which Jason just barely blocked with his own right arm before he took a step back. He then attempted to go for a surprise sweep, crouching down as he swung his left leg to try and strike hers.
Sarah almost casually hopped over the sweeping kick and then lashed out with a kick of her own aimed at Jason's chest while he was still in a crouching position. Jason managed to bring both of his arms up to prevent the blow from landing but the force of the strike was still enough that he lost his balance and fell onto his back.
"Not a bad idea," Sarah said as she took several steps back, "but you're still hesitating when you crouch down before you do the kick. You have to do it fast and smooth or your opponent will see it coming a mile away."
Jason frowned slightly before doing a kip up to get back to his feet. The two of them once again took on their fighting stances before Jason took the offense again, throwing three quick jabs with his left fist before trying a knee strike aimed at Sarah's stomach. His sister blocked all of his attacks before she crouched down and lashed out with a sweep of her own that was so fast Jason barely had time to register she was doing it before his legs were knocked out from under him and he was flat on his back again.
"See?" Sarah commented with a small smirk.
Slapping the mat in frustration, Jason did another kip up and barely waited for Sarah to get back into position before attacking again, aiming a roundhouse kick at her side. Sarah caught his leg coming in, taking hold of his ankle and leaving him hopping on one foot as she stared at him firmly. "Still need to work on getting frustrated too easily,"she noted.
Jason intended to retort through gritted teeth but before he could Sarah suddenly shoved his leg backwards. Going with the motion,Jason used the momentum to do a back flip and pull his leg free of her grip. He intended to land on his feet in a ready position but instead he staggered about awkwardly for a moment before dropping to one knee. "I see you've been practicing that counter I taught you last year," Sarah said, "just loosen up a little on the landing and you'll get it."
"Hey, guys!" the lanky young man working behind the main juice bar yelled at them, "The news just said they're doing some construction today on the west highway. You should probably start heading out now if you want to be able to spend time with your pops!"
"Thanks," Jason sighed as he got back to his feet, "We'll do that."
Sarah and Jason went back to their separate sides of the mat and bowed to each other again. "The spicy chicken bucket from Cluck Hut again?"Jason asked.
"You still haven't managed to land a hit yet," Sarah replied, "So yes."
Jason sighed again and started walking towards the locker room. "Hey, Jason!" Sarah called out, "You are getting better! Just keep at it!"
He waved over his shoulder to indicate that he had heard her but did not turn around as he pushed open the men's locker room door and let it swing shut behind him.
"He okay?" the man behind the counter asked, "He looked a little miffed."
"He'll be fine ," Sarah replied,letting out a sigh of her own, "Just needs a day or two to adjust to being here. Again."
"Maybe he just needs a blanket that smells like him to take in the car when he gets driven over!"
Sarah gave the man a flat look. "He's my brother, not a dog."
The man replied with a high pitch laugh that ended in a pair of snorts.
//
It was only the start of summer, so there was still a cool spring breeze in the air. Jason enjoyed the feel of it on his face as he stepped out of the Bulk Up wearing a red tank top and blue sweatpants. He looked over at Sarah, who was wearing a dark green t-shirt and black slacks, and said, "Mom sent enough money to my account so I can get a Zuum driver to take us instead of the bus."
"Nah," Sarah replied, "We already have a ride."
After looking around for a moment,Sarah waved at one of the cars in the parking lot. In response, the engine of an old looking, sky-blue colored Beetle sputtered to life before pulling out of its parking spot and drove up to the curb to meet them.
Something about the car looked familiar to Jason but he was unable to place it until the driver rolled down their window and he got a good look at the face of the woman clad in a blue turtleneck sweater and blue jeans behind the wheel. "Amber!" he exclaimed, "You finally got this old clunker running?!"
Amber smiled shyly, not looking Jason in the eye as she pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose and replied, "Affirmative. Phenomenus' Repair Emporium had the reproduction or otherwise compatible parts I needed. Even the right color of urethane auto paint I wanted too."
Sarah and Jason walked to the other side of the car to enter through the passenger side door. Sarah moved quickly to cut off Jason so she could slide into the backseat. "You got shotgun, bro," she said.
Jason shrugged, took the front seat,and buckled himself in. As he did so he failed to notice Amber giving Sarah a panicked look and Sarah giving her a smirk and a wink in response. "I'm glad I remembered finding that place last time I was here so I could let you know about it. But all the parts in the world wouldn't mean a thing if you weren't such a good mechanic," he said once he had secured himself, "I knew you could do it."
"Y-Your continued positive belief in my automotive restoration capabilities is appreciated," Amber replied, managing to calm herself as she put the car into gear, started to drive, and added under her breath, "Massively appreciated."
After several seconds of silence as Amber pulled the car out of the lot and onto the road, she asked, "So where to first? Diva's Pizza?"
"Cluck Hut," Sarah replied as Jason winced in annoyance.
"I see," Amber all but whisperedbefore clearing her throat, "So how long are you in town for this visitation, Jason? Just the weekend?"
"Actually," Jason replied, his expression further souring, "it might be most of the summer. Mom had to go to Europe to cover this year's Teen World Peace Conference."
"Prodigious!" Amber exclaimed happily before noticing Jason's displeasure, "I mean, this will provide us time to participate in activities together. If you want."
After another short pause she added,"A-And we could invite Buff and Rich to hang out too. If you feel that would be more conducive to your comfort."
Jason smiled sadly, looking out the window of the car as he replied, "We'll see."
Sarah frowned as she lightly kicked the back of Jason's chair, earning her a glare from her brother before she nodded her head in Amber's direction. A look of confusion came over Jason's face for a moment until he looked at Amber as well and saw the dejected expression she had in response to his noncommittal answer.
"But I appreciate the invitation,"he hastily said, "Thank you. Maybe we can go to Diva's tomorrow or some--"
The words died on Jason's lips and a look of confusion washed over his face as he saw something out of the corner of his eye and he turned to look out the window at it. At first, he had thought it was some kind of jet leaving behind a vapor trail as it cut through the sky. When he followed the trail to its source, he was shocked instead to see what looked like a flying car instead.
The flying car appeared to be the same model as the one he was currently a passenger in except it was a dull white color, had what looked to be some kind of extra external engine attached to the back bumper, and was in mid-air instead of driving along the road. The car was moving so quickly that by the time Jason rubbed his eyes and looked back to verify what he had seen, it was already out of sight.
Sarah, concerned with her bother's odd behavior, asked, "You okay?"
"I thought I saw--" Jason stopped,shaking his head, "Never mind. Probably just a weird cloud or something."
//
The engine of the flying car began to rattle as it picked up speed. "Hope this is the right place,"the driver said as she pressed her foot down harder on the gas pedal, her voice having a slightly distorted quality like she was speaking underwater, "I don't think we'll be able to get back into space if it's not."
"It should be on the mountain top just outside of the city," the being in the passenger side seat replied, "or at least what's left of it."
The driver was dressed in a simple pink jumpsuit and could have almost passed as a young woman in her late teens. The top of her head,instead of having hair, had gray flesh with purple blotches. A large ridge of bone covered the back of her skull, wrapped around the sides, arched around her ears and encircled the top half of her face like a domino mask. A small white pearl rested in the spot between her lavender colored eyes, both flickering in annoyance as she grumbled, "Let's hope what's left is enough."
The passenger could not have passed for human in any capacity as he was a robot. His rectangular torso was a deep shade of blue with a large, glowing green lightning bolt in the center. The robot's arms and legs were made from similar looking, rounded segments that were covered with a protective silver coating of flexible metals to hold them together. His hands were human-like with thick fingers, his feet were large, flat, and round,and his faceless, gold colored head was an ovular dome with a black sensor bar front and center. A green light moved back and forth on the bar in time with his words as he said, "What we have of the Z Archives hasn't been wrong yet, Valestera. I don't even want to compute what it would mean if they were now! We're running out of time!"
A loud bang emanated from under the hood of the flying car and Valestera's eyes widened as the car began to lose altitude. "Hang on,Delta!" she exclaimed, "The flight compensator is failing! We need to set down and drive the rest of the way!"
"Oh my my my!" Delta cried as his arms wrapped around the cylindrical object on his lap, "That's going to give us even less time to work with!"
To Valestera the object Delta clutched so tightly looked like nothing more than a small metallic space dumpster. Yet, if the Z Archives were right, that space dumpster held the key to protecting the universe.
//
"Welcome to Cluck Hut! Home of the Big Buck-Buck-Bucket! How can I help you?"
The teenaged boy behind the counter was dressed in his work uniform of a black dress shirt that had the company logo embroidered on the right side breast and a name tag that said "Rich" pinned to the left. On his head was a black baseball cap that had large, cartoon eyes embroidered on the front and a large red rooster comb sewn on the top.
While he did not seem completely miserable in the clothing or at work, the smile he gave as part of his greeting was obviously less genuine than it could have been. That changed when he finally took stock of the customers before him and his face lit up in legitimate happiness. "Jason!" he exclaimed as he reached over the counter to exchange a high-five. "Good to see you, man! What time did you get in?"
"Late," Jason replied, "or maybe early depending on how you look at it. Mom had to catch a red eye flight out of AGI to Geneva."
"And instead of driving in a day early and getting a hotel room, she decided it was a better idea to just drive through the night and wake me and dad up at too early o'clock to drop him off," Sarah added as she leaned against the wall next to the cardboard cutout of the anthropomorphic black rooster carrying a bucket of fried chicken under its wing that was Cluck Hut's mascot.
"She's going to GENEVA?!" Rich all but screamed, slapping his hands down on the counter as his jaw dropped open in shock, "That means she's covering the Peace Conference! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Should I have?" Jason asked,sharing a confused look with Sarah.
"Yes!" Rich exclaimed, "Two of the ORIGINAL Power Rangers are going to be there this year! Two of the three who went to the very first one! They almost NEVER make public appearances! The only ones you see less of are the first Blue Ranger and the last Red and Yellow Rangers! And that's because they... y'know.. live on other planets!"
"Don't think even Jas' mom could talk them into signing one of your copies of Red 2 Blue, dummy."
The three turned their heads towards the source of the voice as Rich replied, "I know THAT, Buff! Just... ANY signature or even just a picture of them would be AWESOME!"
Jason had always been impressed by how much Buff generally lived up to his nickname in terms of his physique. The yellow t-shirt he wore strained again his large chest muscles and the black leather jacket over it had the sleeves ripped off to display his muscular arms. He smirked at the group from where he sat at one of the booths near the front window and said, "Only really little kids or old geezers are into Power Rangers anymore. What are you? Nine or ninety?"
"Leave him alone," Sarah said flatly.
As if only noticing her at that moment,Buff smiled widely, popped a french fry in his mouth, and said in an overly cheerful voice, "Hey there, Muscle Head. How's it going?"
Sarah took a deep breath and then suddenly matched his smile and overly cheerful tone as she replied, "I'm doing just fine, BUFFORD."
Deciding to ignore the situation for the moment as Sarah and Buff continued flashing their tense, strained smiles at each other, Jason turned back to Rich. "Mom said she'd try and call us when she gets to the hotel. I'll ask her about it when she does. Promise."
Rich looked at Jason in awe, his eyes misting up as he sniffed and said in a quivering voice, "You are an incredible human being. I mean that, man. This is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"PLEASE," Buff interjected,over-dramatically sticking his finger in his mouth, "I'm trying to eat here."
"Your need to mock everyone and everything is a real problem," Sarah said flatly.
"Hey!" Buff replied, picking up a french fry to point at Sarah for emphasis, "I don't have a problem! I can stop mocking people anytime I want!"
"And if someone else wants you to stop?"
Buff's smile grew warmer as he raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay, THAT might be a small problem."
The four of them laughed, Sarah rolling her eyes as she groaned, "You're hopeless."
//
Amber drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited in the car. As much as she enjoyed the company of her friends, sometimes she just needed a little bit to be alone with her own thoughts.
Those thoughts turned towards the weather, which had suddenly started to change. What had once been clear blue skies became dark with heavy, rippling storm clouds that blotted out the sun. Lightning regularly arched across the sky,followed by loud claps of thunder that caused the car to shake and Amber began to worry that Jason and Sarah would be caught in the downpour that threatened to start at any moment.
A loud bang from something other than the sky caught her attention and Amber looked over to see a car that looked much like her own pulling into the next parking spot. It was the same model but painted white, had what looked to be some form of extra engine stuck to the back, and had smoke puffing out from under the hood. Amber watched in concern as the car shook in place, as if the occupants were moving about frantically, before the driver's side door opened and someone stepped out.
The person was dressed in a pink jumpsuit, which was unusual enough on its own, as well as a baseball cap with the brim pulled down as far as it could go, heavy looking sunglasses, and a medical mask covering their mouth. Amber noticed that the person looked highly distressed as they swiftly moved to the front of the car. They tried to lift up the hood but quickly pulled their hands back as they burned their fingers on the hot metal.
Slowly stepping out of her own car,Amber overheard the person saying to the smoking vehicle, "We're so close! Why couldn't you hold out thirty more minutes?! Dad is going to be so mad..."
"E-Excuse me," Amber said softly,causing the other person to start slightly in surprise, "Do you require assistance?"
"No!" the person shouted, making Amber jump slightly at the volume despite the muffling effect of the mask, "It's fine! I'm fine! We're fine!"
"A-Are you positive?" Amber asked,"From the coloration and consistency of the smoke, combined with the sounds the engine made as it halted and your reaction when you attempted to inspect under the hood, I'd hypothesize it's overheated."
As the person continued to look at her with very impatient looking body language, Amber hastily added, "O-Or I could just contact your preferred form of roadside assistance..."
"Can an overheated engine be fixed quickly?"
Surprised at the person's change intone, Amber noticed their stance had become less hostile and more appraising. "Potentially," she replied, "It would hinge on if it was simply a matter of resupplying its coolant or if it had run hot long enough that there is structural damage that would need to be repaired..."
"Hey, Amber!" Sarah called out as she and Jason exited the Cluck Hut, the latter carrying a large bucket of chicken under his arm,"What's up?"
"Just seeing if..." Amber paused,looking at the person with a questioning look.
The person grunted once before saying,"Vales-- no. Val! Just call me, Val!"
"Just seeing if I can assist Val before it starts raining."
"What's with that, anyway?" Jason asked as he looked up at the dark clouds, "It was supposed to be clear skies all day."
Sarah looked up as well, chuckling softly. "They say, back in the day, when the weather turned like this, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd were up to something on the moon. Spooooky."
"Yeah, kinda doubt that's happening,"Jason said.
A loud beeping noise drew everyone's attention back to the white car, which Jason realized looked exactly like the one he thought he had seen flying earlier. The sound was emanating from something covered by a heavy blanket in the passenger seat and he noticed that Val looked nervous as she started to back step towards the other side of the car. "Excuse me," she said, "I need to turn off the alarm on my... my..."
She cast a quick look at the covered object and the shape it resembled as she finished by saying, "My lamp! The alarm on my lamp!"
Jason shared a confused look with Sarah and Amber and, once Val was on the other side of the vehicle, he leaned closer to them and whispered,"Guys, this is going to sound hard to believe but I thought I saw that car flying in the sky before."
"You're right," Sarah replied ass he whispered back, "That is hard to believe."
"Especially since that vehicle seems barely capable of ground traversal," Amber added.
"I know, I know," Jason said, "It's just... weird."
As the three conversed, Val leaned in the passenger side window and harshly whispered, "Delta! What are you doing?!"
"What's going on out there,Valestera?" the hidden robot whispered back, "I'm suddenly getting multiple Grid Compatibility readings nearby and a massive spike in Dark Energy!"
"Grid Compatibility?!" she hissed as quietly as she could despite her surprise, "There's three humans here but--"
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the concrete of the parking lot only a few feet away from the group. Val looked up in alarm as Jason, Sarah,and Amber all scrambled back from the point of impact.
"Prodigious!" Amber gasped, "This is an unusually volatile storm front for this time of year!"
Three more bolts of lightning hit the ground close to the group, making them flinch back further away from where they hit. The door to the Cluck Hut swung open and Buff leaned out of it to shout, "Get in here, morons!"
"Sounds like a good idea to me!"Jason shouted before looking over at where Val was standing up, "C'mon! It's not safe out here!"
"You have no idea," Val replied as she looked up at the sky, "It looks like we were too late."
"Too late?" Jason asked, "What's that supposed to mean?!"
The answer came in the form of one final bolt of lightning lancing downwards and forking into twelve smaller bolts that surrounded the four of them and the white car. Instead of crashing into the ground, the electricity began to twist into humanoid shapes before there was a final flash of light that quickly faded to reveal a group of creatures the transformed energy had left behind.
The humanoid creatures were covered from head-to-toe in black feathers, their wing-like arms leading down to clawed fingers, and their faces resembling the sharp beaks and beady black eyes of a crow. All of them were dressed in identically molded purple armor that, combined with how similar their faces and builds were, made them seem more like mass produced things rather than individual beings.
"Found ya, little fishie," one of them squawked as the others began to caw threateningly, "Hand over the robot and the dumpster and you'll be the only one who gets hurt!"
"And if I refuse?" Val asked as she got into a combat stance.
"Then everyone else gets hurt first!"
Sarah had been staring at the monsters in shock but at their words her eyes narrowed and she asked, "Jason, that thing just threatened us, didn't it?"
"Yeah," Jason replied, shaking off his own surprise as he placed the bucket of chicken on the ground, "It did."
"I'm sorry to drag you into this,"Val said, "but can the three of you fight at all?"
"My brother and I can," Sarah replied as the two of them took up their own combat stances.
"Negative," Amber all but whispered nervously, "I prefer avoidance to direct combat."
"We'll have her stick behind us,"Sarah said to Val.
"You're gonna be okay," Jason said to Amber, "Promise."
"Let's make a liar out of him, boys,"the talking bird monster shrieked, "Get 'em!"
At the door to the Cluck Hut, Buff's eyes were bulging wide and his jaw had dropped so low it appeared to be threatening to separate from the rest of his skull. "What ARE those things?!"
He received an answer in the form of nearly being bowled over by Rich as the smaller teen raced past him and began making a beeline for where the fight was starting. "TENGAS!" he all but squealed, "THOSE ARE REAL TENGAS!"
Three of the Tengas broke from the circle to charge forward, the first lashing out with a swipe of its talons aimed at Jason's face. Jason only just barely pulled his head back in time before countering with a straight punch to the Tenga's chest. He then lashed out with a kick aimed at the monster's stomach and, once that blow landed, followed it up with two jumping spin kicks that hit the Tenga flush on the side of its beak.
Jason felt a surge of confidence at how easily he had hit his early offense but it quickly faded as he saw the Tenga seemed merely annoyed instead of hurt by his attacks. The bird monster then slashed at him two more times, which Jason was again hard pressed to avoid, before it lashed out with a kick of its own that hit him hard enough that he was sent flying into the side of the white car.
"Jason!" Sarah cried out in alarm before she was forced to pay attention to her own attacker.
The Tenga approaching her went for an overhead chop, which she blocked with both arms. Sarah grit her teeth as the force of the blow threatened to send her to her knees. She shifted her hands so that she could grab the Tenga's wrist and used its own strength to flip it onto its back. The bird-like monster quickly hopped back up to its feet but Sarah struck it again with a spinning back elbow that hit it in the solar plexus area.
Sarah's eyes widened in surprise as the Tenga staggered back a few steps before shaking off the blow. It then jumped into the air, lashing out with both feet in a dropkick that had enough force to send her flying back against the car as well despite her managing to block the worst of the impact with her arms.
Val did not wait for the Tenga rushing towards her to make the first attack. Instead, the second it drew close enough, she thrust her arms forward to land a double palm strike into its gut that knocked the Tenga over. Once it was down Val dropped to one knee and punched it in the chest twice, followed up with four elbow strikes to the same spot and, when she stood up again she raised her right leg to bring it down in a crushing ax kick.
As the Tenga slowly rolled away from her, Val cast a brief look over her shoulder at Jason and Sarah. "I've fought these things before,"she snapped, "They're tough at first but you can wear them out! Don't let up for a second!"
"You okay?" Sarah asked Jason as she readied herself for battle again.
"Yeah," Jason replied as he did the same before yelling over towards Val, "Thanks for the tip!"
The brother and sister nodded at each other before both leaped into the air, landing a double flying kick on the chest of the Tenga that had initially attacked Sarah. As the Tenga was falling over they turned to face the one that had first attacked Jason. Sarah ducked low with a leg sweep aimed at the Tenga's shins while Jason went high with a jumping roundhouse kick aimed at the back of its head. The Tenga, unsure if it needed to jump or duck,was hit by both moves and landed flat on its face.
By that point, Sarah's Tenga had gotten back to its feet. Jason and Sarah then aimed twin side-kicks that hit it on the jawline area of its head before turning on their heels to do the same to Jason's Tenga once it stood up again. They then alternated between throwing left and right punches simultaneously until the Tenga flopped onto its backside and looked over at more of its fellows that had remained in the circle. "I guess they're tougher than they look," one of the Tenga in the circle said, "You want us to take over?"
"We outnumber them," the Tenga that had rolled away from Val snapped as it finally got back to its feet, "Why are we attacking one at a time?!"
The other Tenga looked at each other,shrugged, and then began to slowly advance inward.
"Oh, this isn't good," Jason muttered.
Sarah looked over at Val as the three of them regrouped for the monsters next attack. "Any more advice?" she asked.
"Not really," Val replied trying to keep the nervousness over the fact she had never fought this many at one time before out of her voice.
One of the Tenga stopped short on its approach as it felt a tug on its arm. Looking towards the source, it squawked in surprise to see Rich inspecting the wing. The young man was in awe as he ran his fingers over the feathers. "Wow,"he whispered reverently, "They're softer than they look."
"Thanks?" the Tenga responded in confusion, "I try to preen at least twice a da-- WAIT A MINUTE!"
The monster yanked its arm away before trying to backhand Rich as it snarled, "Let go of me, human!"
Rich was still smiling as he ducked the blow by going down into a split and then hopping back up again. "Took you a second there,"he commented, "Maybe your IQ really is under ten."
The Tenga growled as it tried to swipe at Rich again but he avoided it by shifting his upper body from side to side. He lightly bounced on his feet as if he was moving to unheard music, still grinning from ear to ear. Sniffing the air he added,"And you kinda do smell like spoiled fish on a hot summer's day."
"Oh I have HAD it with y--"
A large, meaty fist smashed into the side of the Tenga's beak causing it to stagger back. Buff, who was the source of the blow, turned to glare at Rich as he snapped, "What are you DOING, you DORK?!"
Still swaying from side to side, Rich replied, "Hiphopkido."
"That's not what I--" Buff turned back to punch the Tenga between the eyes as it charged, "Never mind. The rest of the dweebs need our help!"
As the fight continued, Amber had slowly slipped around the white car and tried to use it as cover. She bumped against the passenger side door and was startled to hear a muffled voice coming from the "lamp" under the large blanket. "Valestera?! Oh my my my! You're worrying me!"
Surprised, Amber reached into the open window and yanked the blanket down to expose Delta's domed head. The two stared at each other for several seconds before Delta said, "You... aren't Valestera."
"And you're a fully-sentient multifunctional automaton," Amber replied, reaching up to adjust her glasses.
Delta continued to stare until a loud beep emanated from his body and he exclaimed, "You're also one of the Grid Compatibility readings!"
"Grid Compatibility?" Amber asked in confusion.
As they conversed, two of the Tenga looked at each other quietly before each brought their fingers to their beaks in a shushing gesture before they slowly began sneaking on their tip-toes towards Amber. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the reflection of the sneaking Tengas in the rear view mirror. Reaching in the car, she grabbed hold of the blanket resting on top of Delta. Once the Tenga were close enough, she suddenly yanked the blanket out the window and threw it over their heads.
Caught off-guard, the Tenga struggled as they flailed against each other under the cloth in their attempts to shrug it off. While they were distracted Amber rushed over and rammed her shoulder into the wriggling mass. Off-balance and disoriented, the two Tenga tripped over each other and fell to the ground, entangling themselves in the blanket even more. Throwing open the car door, Amber helped Delta out as she exclaimed, "This vehicle is insufficient for continued safety! Let's try to get to mine!"
"My my MY!" Delta exclaimed as he got to his feet, clutching the dumpster in his arms tighter as he looked over at the still struggling Tenga on the ground, "I overheard you saying you couldn't fight."
"Like I said," Amber replied as she started guiding Delta, "I prefer avoidance to direct combat!"
As Amber and Delta tried to skirt around the fight, Val found herself flanked by two Tengas. The one in front of her charged and she landed a forward kick to its stomach before she attempted a spinning backfist on the one coming up from behind. To her surprise, the Tenga managed to catch her arm and held it in an iron grip. As she struggled to free herself, the other Tenga moved back in to punch her in the gut and then smacked her with a backhanded blow that sent her hat and sunglasses flying.
Seeing that she was visibly dazed, the Tenga holding her arm let go so that it could strike her with a kick aimed at the small of her back. The force of the impact sent her staggering forward several steps before she started to fall forward. Managing to catch herself at the last second, Val turned the fall into a forward roll that let her get some distance from her attackers. She got up to one knee and winced from how her spine and stomach ached before she cast a quick glance in Jason and Sarah's direction.
The brother and sister continued to fight side-by-side, sandwiching a Tenga's head between a pair of opposite side roundhouse kicks. They quickly followed up with a pair of open palm strikes that knocked the Tenga down before they briefly paused to look at each other.
"We need to regroup," Sarah snapped, seeing another Tenga approaching them from the left.
"Good idea," Jason agreed, seeing another Tenga approaching from the right, ""We've got a better chance if we can all watch each others bac--"
He was cut off as a Tenga that had taken to the sky swooped down, wrapped its talon-tipped feet around his shoulders, and jerked him up into the air.
"Jason!" Sarah cried out in alarm,the distraction costing her as the two approaching Tenga and the one she and Jason had been fighting simultaneously kicked at her torso.
The combined impact was enough to knock the air from Sarah's lungs and sent her flying backwards into the side of the white car for a second time. She fell to her knees, wheezing and coughing before noticing the still kneeling Val to her right. The two stared at each other for several seconds as Val realized her alien nature was now fully on display.
"Still processing... the bird guys,"Sarah gasped, "React to you... later."
"If we make it," Val glumly replied as she pulled off the medical mask that no longer served a purpose, "You can gawk all you want."
Sarah managed to draw in a deep breath as she struggled to stand. "I will, thank you."
Buff hit the Tenga in front of him with two left jabs and then a right cross. In response, the monster covered its face with its arms and Buff continued jabbing away as he taunted, "You're why this move's called 'Rope-a-DOPE'!"
He was so focused on his offense that he failed to notice another Tenga moving in from the side until it swept out his legs from under him. Landing hard on his back, Buff looked up at the two Tenga with wide eyes. "If I'm a dope," the Tenga he had been punching taunted back as they reached down and bodily lifted a struggling Buff over their heads, "then you're an airhead! So we're gonna give you a LOT of air!"
"Th-That's really unnecessary guys,"Buff exclaimed, "So could you just put me down?!"
"Okay!" both Tenga chirped before tossing him with all their might towards Val and Sarah.
"Someone catch meeeeeee!" Buff shrieked as he soared through the air.
Sarah, who had gotten back to her feet,lunged forward to try and do so but she was half a second too slow and he crashed onto the asphalt in front of her. "Sorry Buff," she groaned sheepishly.
"You... tried... Muscle Head," Buff grunted in reply before rolling over and sitting up.
Rich was a whirling dervish of motion as he ducked, dodged, weaved around, and otherwise avoided the swiping blows of the two Tenga that chased him. Trying to get some distance, Rich began a series of back flips. The Tenga paused for a moment to watch and when Rich stopped, he wondered if he had somehow impressed them with his agility.
That line of thought faded as he was grabbed from behind in a hammerlock by a third Tenga and the first two resumed their approach. He tried to lash out with his feet but the Tenga in front of him each caught one of his legs.
"Uh oh," he muttered as the three Tenga began rocking him back and forth, building momentum until they tossed him towards the other humans.
He landed stomach first on Buff's lap,the larger teenager looking down in concern as he asked, "You okay, you dummy?"
"Touched Tenga feathers," Rich wheezed in reply, "Almost worth it."
Up above, Jason's constant struggling as he reached up and grabbed hold of the ankles of the flying Tenga ensured it did not fly too high. The height was still a concern however, and Jason yanked down as hard as he could while letting his body become dead weight. "Put me down, feather face!" he snarled.
"You humans REALLY need to be more careful when you say that," the Tenga responded.
It then managed to pull one of its feet free and kicked down at Jason's head. The blow was strong enough that he lost his grip on the Tenga's other ankle and Jason began to fall.
Two things prevented the fall from being more harmful than it could have been. The first was that the act of kicking down had caused the Tenga to dip lower in the sky, reducing the height of the decent. The second was that they had maneuvered over the white car, so the roof that Jason landed on was just high enough to cut off his momentum before it became too dangerous.
It was still a painful impact as Jason hit feet first, sending a wave of pain bouncing from the bottom of his soles to the top of his skull. His momentum carried into a forward tumble that caused him to roll down the front of the car and land in a heap on the ground. "Ow," he groaned as he sat up, "Everyone okay?"
"No," Buff and Rich chimed in together.
"Been better," Sarah said, glaring at the Tengas as they slowly started to close in on them now that they were mostly cornered.
"You're all in this spot because of me," Val said softly, her fists clenching tighter in frustration,"I'm sorry."
Jason noticed that behind the Tenga,Amber and the strange little robot she had gotten out of the white car were almost to the blue one. He grit his teeth as he staggered back to his feet. "C'mon guys,"he said, "I'm not giving these chicken lips the satisfaction of just giving up."
"I hear that," Buff said as he shoved Rich off him so he could stand up as well, "If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging."
"You're not going anywhere without me," Rich added as he stood up as well, "If we're fighting Power Ranger monsters, may as well make a Power Rangers-like last stand, right?"
Val bit her lower lip for a moment before she said, "You... all seem like decent people."
"So do you," Sarah said, a grim smile coming to her lips as she readied herself, "Can't leave a decent person hanging, now can we?"
"We're almost there," Delta whispered to Amber as they crept towards the blue car and watched the others brace for the Tenga's advance.
"But... my compatriots," Amber whispered back, "They're trying to protect us. Protect me. Isn't there some course of action we can undertake?"
"Oh my my my my my," Delta all but sighed, "I don't know. I--"
Suddenly, the robot's head perked up as if an idea just struck it. "There may be something," he said, "I'm getting five Grid Compatibility readings so it could work. And the influx of energy to the Morphing Grid might--"
"We don't have time for prolonged hypothesizing!"
At Amber's hushed shout, Delta pointed the lid of the space dumpster in his hands towards her. She noticed a small number pad in the center of the silvery object as Delta said, "You're right. I would have liked to have done this under more controlled circumstances but we're out of time. If you and your friends are what I think you are, then I need you to enter the code three-three-five-six-three-four-two and then hit the star key."
"And if we're not?" Amber asked nervously as her hand moved towards the keypad.
"Then it was very nice meeting you for these few minutes."
Amber nodded and tapped in the code,pausing just a moment before hitting the star key.
"Grid Compatibility confirmed," a robotic voice calmly said as the lid of the space dumpster suddenly dropped to the ground, "Code accepted. Beginning Amalgamation."
The next thing anyone knew, five beams of different colored light shot out of the open space dumpster. The beams, which were red, black, blue,yellow, and pink, rose up into the air before arching back down and descending towards the ones beneath them. The humans, alien, robot, and Tengas all looked up to marvel at the sudden light display, the monsters drawing back as four of the beams struck members of the group in front of them and the fifth struck at the one behind them.
Jason marveled as the beam of red light hit his waist, a strange sensation rippling through his body that made him feel like his skin was on fire but also like he had been invigorated with a rush of power unlike anything he had ever felt before. From how Buff, Rich, Val, and Amber were reacting to being hit by the yellow, black, pink, and blue beams in the same manner, he imagined they were feeling the same way.
He saw Sarah looking at them in confused horror as the colored lights began to spread over the rest of their bodies, paralyzed by shock as she began to shout, "Jason! Guys! What's happening to--"
And then his vision momentarily went white.
//
When the light faded Jason, Amber,Buff, Val, and Rich found themselves looking at another place. The five stood in a darkened,futuristic looking, circular room filled with control panels thatbeeped softly and were all labeled with alien looking lettering. Behind them was a large, circular monitor resting on a pedestal and in front ofthem, suspended high off the ground, was a large tube of softly glowing blue energy.
"Where are we?" Jason gasped, a feeling of numbness washing over his body as if the nerve endings on his body had shorted out.
"And why does everything feel so..."Buff started to ask, wriggling his fingers as he searched for the right word, "... mushy?"
"Because we're not someplace else," Val answered, the jewel on her forehead glowing softly, "Not physically at least. This is a Psychic Time Dilation Message."
"Using the name to form a hypothesis," Amber said as she looked around nervously, "I'm presuming this is something occurring rapidly in real time but is being displayed to our conscious minds at a rate that it will be more conducive to processing and understanding the information it is trying to convey."
"Pretty much," Val said, flashing Amber a small smile, "We could be in here for an hour and barely a second will pass outside."
"So we'll have to wait until we're done to get pecked to pieces," Buff grumbled, "Good to know."
"Guys," Rich whispered almost reverently as he took stock of their surroundings, "This place we're in but not in looks like how the Command Center was described in Red 2 Blue."
"The Command Center?!" Buff asked in surprise, "You mean the place that floating head guy lived? What was his name again?"
A loud humming noise coming from the energy tube caught the group's attention. Looking up at it, the five saw a giant, bald, floating head appear within it. The head was so large that it almost filled up the entire tube but what struck them the most was its benevolent but tired looking eyes.
"Zordon," Jason said breathlessly.
"Greetings to whoever may be viewing this message," Zordon began, his calm but loud voice silencing everyone else, "I hope it finds you living in a better time than the one in which I am recording it."
He paused to let out a weary sigh. "As I speak, the Alliance of Evil is sweeping the planet for my location. It is only a matter of time until they find me and I no longer have means to escape when they do."
"This must have been recorded around the time the Turbo Ranger powers got destroyed," Rich said.
"I have managed to craft one last line of defense for the current crisis," Zordon continued, "but if it does not hold, I will have no choice but to try and unleash the Z-Wave."
"That's what saved the universe in the end," Rich said.
"He sacrificed everything that he was," Val added, "Shattering his energy tube so that his raw lifeforce would purify or disintegrate every last member of the Alliance."
"But even that," Zordon said, his expression growing even sadder, "will ultimately be a temporary measure. The mass removal of so much evil energy, as well as my own, will severely damage the Morphing Grid, rendering it and all connected to it powerless. It will naturally mend itself whole in time, but it could be only a few years or many centuries before it begins to do so."
"So the giant head blew up all the good and evil powers because evil was about to win," Buff commented, "What's that got to do with us and the bird guys?"
"I think he's getting to that,"Jason replied.
"That mending will not only allow the slow return of the forces of good, but of the forces of evil as well," Zordon said, "and among them will be a villain who will attempt to ensure the powers of darkness become the dominant force ofthis new Morphing Grid. Corrupting it as it rebuilds to transform it into the Dark Grid."
"I know Zordon was supposed to be this source of great wisdom," Rich said, "but how does he know that's happening now since he's...y'know... not really here for it?"
"Probably some similar... reset... happened a long time ago. Maybe even before his time," Val replied before she smiled faintly, "Or it maybe as my father used to say. Don't question how the floating head sage knows things. Sometimes he just does."
"Were I to simply do nothing beyond winning the immediate battle," Zordon continued, "I would be selfishly dooming the future for the sake of the present. I cannot... I will not... be so irresponsible to the ones who have yet to be born. With that in mind, I shall ensure the survival of my final creations. The Z Archives, a collection of all my knowledge gathered over the centuries. Delta-3, built in the image of my dearest friend and programed with the functions necessary to carry out this mission. And the Nanomorph machines I will place inthe space dumpster that I still have enough time to jettison to safety along with this message."
Zordon's head tilted down slightly and all five of the group were left with the impression he was staring directly at them. "These Nanomorph machines," he proclaimed, "will create the final team of Power Rangers I will ever design. Now look down at yourselves."
Doing as requested, the five teenagers gasped as they saw that each of them now had something wrapped around their waists. The objects were five identical looking belts that had a bulky, ovular device in place of the buckle. The device was a smooth, silver color with a visible slot at the top and a circular white jewel in the center on the front. Etched onto the jewel were five, square-shaped lightning bolts aimed at the center where their tips met, giving them a pinwheel appearance.
"These are your Morph In Belts,"Zordon explained, "They are now a part of you and will use your compatibility to the Morphing Grid to allow you to morph into your Ranger forms when combined with the Power Chips I will now place in your hands."
Holding out their right hands, the group watched as a different, crystalline square appeared on each of their palms.
"There have been five versions of thePower Rangers before you," Zordon continued, "each having drawn from a different facet of theMorphing Grid. Each creating a new link to it that can be tethered to all of you. While you will individually resonate more closely with one aspect over the others, your powers will ultimately be anamalgamation of them all."
Buff looked over his yellow colored Chip that had the image of a roaring Allosaurus head on it while Rich poked at his black Chip that had a five-sided, elongated chevron at its center. Val held her pink Chip up to the light to examine the oval shape on it while Amber turned her blue Chip over so that she could look at it from both sides. She tried to figure out if the pair of angular rectangles with three smaller circles inside of it that was drawn upon the Chip resembled LED headlights as much as she thought it did. Jason looked down at the red colored Power Chip in his hand, wondering why the image on it was the relatively simple design of a stylized tablet computer.
The tired look in Zordon's eyes fully spread to the rest of his head language. "If this message is being viewed. If these powers are needed. Then it means that I am gone and, even if the current evil has been vanquished, I have endangered the well-being of those to come in this universe. It is my hope that this final gift I have to give will help heal the damage I have caused and allow you to protect your world from those who would seek to only consume and corrupt everything for their own selfish gains."
One of the panels began to beep frantically and Zordon regarded it for a moment. "It seems I must end my message here. I wish you luck,Rangers. While I am sad that I shall never personally know you, I have faith that if you have been chosen then you have the strength, wisdom, skill, and bravery to be the heroes your world will need."
A warm gentle smile that only partially banished the sorrow in his eyes spread across his giant face. "And as your powers will be five elements united as one to build a complete whole, I know in my heart that you five Rangers can work as one for the same end. Whoever you may be, may the Power protect you... now and forever."
//
"-- you?!"
Jason blinked as the vision unceremoniously snapped out of existence and he realized Sarah had only just finished the sentence she had been saying before the message had begun. He looked around at the others to see they were equally disoriented but quickly recovering and each had their Morph In Belton with their Power Chips in hand. He saw the Tenga hesitating, confused by the show of light and, behind them, Amber standing up with her Belt and Chip ready.
"Jason?" Sarah asked, "Tell me what just happened and why you all have those new fashion accessories."
"We'll give you the exposition dump later, Muscle Head," Buff said, "Right now, we got some business to get to."
"What?" Sarah asked.
"Thank you for the help earlier,"Val said, "but I think this time you're the one who needs to get behind us."
What?!" Sarah asked.
"Can I say it?" Rich asked, visibly shaking with excitement, "Pleeeeaaaase?"
"WHAT?!" Sarah asked.
"Like Buff said, we'll explain later," Jason said, a look of grim determination coming to his face as he stared down the still uncertain Tenga."but right now... IT'S MORPH IN TIME!"
As one the five took their Power Chipsand slammed them down into the open slot at the top of their Morph In Belts. Rich's was the first to activate, the jewel in the center turning black in color as a voice from within the device proclaimed, "ZEO RANGER POWER!"
Val was next, her Morph In Belt's jewel turning pink. "NINJA RANGER POWER!"
Amber's jewel turned blue. "TURBO RANGER POWER!"
Buff's jewel became a yellow color. "MIGHTY MORPHING RANGER POWER!"
As Jason's jewel turned red, he noticed the voice from the device sounded like Zordon's. Perhaps, he thought, it was one last way the old alien had wanted to let them known he was with them. "SPACE RANGER POWER!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" Sarah asked, her nerves momentarily frayed as she tried to comprehend the change in the appearance of her friends and brother who had looked normal one second and the next, they were completely different.
All five of them wore full-body suits that were each the same color as the glowing gems on their Morph In Belts. They each had the same design of a large white diamond that filled the front of the torso. In the middle of the diamond was a line of five small squares that, from left to right, were blue, pink, red, yellow, and black. Around the neck area was a thick, square-shaped black band with a thin yellow lining on the inside, with the rest of the material going inwards being white up to the point where the suit connected with their helmets.
The gloves they wore over their hands had thick black bands covering the wrist area which were framed on the top and bottom by gold rings that were etched with a design that somehow combined the look of ancient writing with computer circuitry.
Their boots were white with black soles and had a thin black line going all the way down the front and back that made them look like pieces of car paneling put together. At the tops were more gold bands with the same markings as the ones on their gloves.
Amber and Val's suits had the addition of a skirt that was the same color as the majority of the body suit with the same black, panel-like lines their boots had running down them. The only other variations were Val having a katana strapped to her back while the rest had different sidearms in holsters on their right hips, and the individualized helmets each of them wore.
Rich's helmet was pure black with the molded outline of a scowling mouth on its lower half. A five-sided,elongated chevron shaped, shaded visor with a white outline took upmost of the front of the face mask.
Val's pink helmet resembled the smooth shape of a ninja mask and cowl, with a golden strip evoking the lookof a headband over the top of the shaded visor that covered her eyes. In the center of the strip was an indentation in the shape of an oval.
Amber's blue helmet had a silver mouthpiece with a scowling mouth, a black mirrored top, small chrome hubcap-like designs on the sides, and a wide, triangular, shaded visor over her eyes. The visor was surrounded with chrome that resembled a car's bumper guard with LED-like headlights where eyebrows would be, and a smaller pair of circular headlights at the center.
Buff's yellow helmet had the same kind of silver mouth design as Amber's but his shaded visor was outlined with a white strip that had black triangles drawn on it to resemble teeth. It gave the upper part of his helmet the appearance of a roaring mouth, which was further enhanced by the small, black, dinosaur shaped eyes near the top on each side.
Jason's red helmet was mostly taken up by an angular, wide visor surrounded by a white outline. Over the mouth area was a small, smooth, silver plate and on the top of his head was a black display that momentarily glowed with the green image of a stylized tablet computer.
Sarah began to open her mouth to ask another question but was cut off as Amber suddenly jumped high into the air, flipping over where the still confused Tenga watched to land next to her and the rest of the transformed teenagers. "Prodigious,"Amber gasped, "I feel so powerful."
"They call 'em POWER Rangers for a reason!" Rich quipped.
"New Power Rangers?!" one of theTenga squawked, the monsters all taking several steps back, "It can't be!"
Jason pointed at the Tenga as he shouted, "Looks like it is! C'mon guys! We've got some feathers to pluck!"
Sarah backed away from the new team of Power Rangers. "You better mean it when you say you'll explain later," she warned.
Jason nodded, letting his sister get back a little more before he and the others jumped towards the Tenga. The battle was now about to truly begin.
TO BE CONTINUED