The darkness and wickedness of Rumlar filled the room of the building that was previously known as the "President's Palace," but it was now known as Rumlar's "Hall of Unior." During his invasion, he placed his enormous covenant ship on top of the White House like it was its throne then built around the two. After the construction was completed, it resembled the Hall of Doom from Superfriends with spikey pillars surrounding the area. The people that worked in the White House were given a chance to work for Rumlar or be destroyed.
Some began working as the staff, preparing food and other things for the generals. A male waiter placed a large serving of purple squid in the middle of the large table. The table was long with it reaching both sides of the dining room that was lit by the sun. Other kitchen employees came out of the kitchen with food on plates that normal people wouldn't dare to eat even if it was the only remaining food on the planet. From birds to dogs and from snakes to sharks.
With the sound of the wind entering the room, the doors slammed opened as Kroekan stomped into the dining room with his hands dangling like he lost the ability to control of them. His face was pale even for a bug-like alien and his two antennas were connecting with tension. The kitchen staff placed the remaining food on the table and stared at Kroekan. Kroekan shook off the oncoming eerie feeling he was getting from Rumlar every time he entered his chamber. He began to notice the staff looking at him like he was the center of attention.
"What are you all looking at?" Kroekan slapped his hands together. "Get back to work and bring out some drinks. Do you want my fellow generals to be thirsty?!!"
The employees shook their heads in fear. "Then bring out those drinks humans call wine...BEER!!!!" Kroekan shouted as he grabbed a purple squid tentacle and stuck his teeth into the chewy food.
"Oh Kroekan, how dirty of you to touch the food without washing your hands...." A calming voice came from behind Kroekan as he turned around to see an alien with a staff. He was green and purple with red eyes that stuck out more than the two tubes that were on top of his head. He rubbed the things that resembled ribbons coming out of his mouth.
"Qurreo...." Kroekan slammed the tentacle on the table. "I don't have to time for you, I'm must attend to Rumlar." Kroekan began walking towards Qurreo and past him until he was stopped by the scientific alien.
"You know it more than anyone else that Rumlar likes to do some things on his own." Qurreo said. "If you try to help him place on his clothes, he will strike you without any hesitation....like last time."
"I was created to serve Rumlar and I will do what it is necessary for him to recover."
"Even putting on his clothes like he's some type of weak human?" Qurreo chuckled.
"YOU think of him as a weak human...maybe Rumlar should destroy you just for thinking lowly of him." Kroekan leaned closer to Qurreo. "And maybe I should tell him about your mysterious conversations with multiple colonels and your interesting machine transfer to an abandoned building on the other side of the world humans like to call Asia.
Querro gulped. "So?"
"The interesting thing is that the building is not listed as water facilities or food warehouses."
Qurreo lowered his red eyes. "Have you been looking at my teleportation records and calls?"
Kroekan chuckled. "Maybe I have."
"You should stay out of other people's business before you barge into things that you're going to regret." Qurreo voice changed as Kroekan began to laugh as he suddenly stopped.
"What are you hiding, Qurreo?"
"BOYS!!!" The two aliens turned their attention to a female blue alien with two blue eyes going downwards in the center of her face. "I hope you two aren't fighting again..."
"Of course not, Plolua."
"Good because we don't want another uprising happening again during the meeting. Isn't that right, Blilso?"
A yellow alien peeked from behind Plolua like he was hiding from Querro and Kroekan. "Right!!!"
Plolua turned her attention away from the two aliens to the table. "Why is this table so long? We aren't housing a small-inhabited planet!!" Plolua waved her hands. "Change the table humans!!" She commanded.
Querro sighed. "Plolua, we do not have time to change the table. Rumlar will be down shortly."
"And I can't have him coming down here and expecting a whole civilization to eat with us. CHANGE IT!!!"
The human employees looked at Kroekan for the "ok" as he slowly shook his head. More staff came out of the kitchen to take the food off of the table and fold it in half so it would be easier to move. Three employees placed the folded table on a roller and rolled it out of the dining room with more employees coming in with a more small and circular table with cloth already on the surface. They placed it in the middle of the room and put five chairs around the table. They placed the food back onto the table and left the room quickly.
"Is that better?" Kroekan asked.
"Very!!!" Plolua slammed her fan onto Querro as he grabbed it and Plolua began moving towards the table with Blilso following her like a dog.
"Oh, how I feel sorry for Blilso, such a shame that he was badly injured during the invasion and now he must regenerate slowly." Querro said.
"And because of that, he's acting like Plolua's dog." Kroekan glanced at Querro. "I'm not done with you, Querro. I will find out what you're hiding and when I do---"
"Gentlemen...." A figure entered the room, but he was not alien. Instead, he was a human of some sort with his skin a different color than normal humans have. A shade of red that could send chills down people's spines and his hair was wavy pitch black. He wore a black and red robe with spikes on the shoulders.
Querro and Kroekan bowed. "Rumlar Dred..."
"Stand up..." Rumlar commanded as the two aliens did. "Now, let's take our seats....we have important things to talk about."
______________
After the generals were done eating, the table was covered with trash and what remained of the food. They ate the disgusting aliment like it was their last meal on Earth and got straight to business afterwards.
"So...Plolua." Rumlar slammed his hand on the table, revealing the peeled skin and the reddish flesh. "How's your control over South America, any humans causing you trouble?"
Plolua sat down her beer and chuckled. "Of course not, Rumlar. The humans know better than to rebel against me or they will feel my deadly illusions. I actually have a very interesting tale--"
Rumlar raised his right hand. "In due time Plolua."
Plolua gulped. "Of course, Rumlar."
"How about everyone else, any signs of rebellions happening?"
"Pardon me Rumlar, but why are you asking about rebel activity. Is something happening?" Querro asked.
"Yes indeed." Rumlar sighed with a grim look on his face. "Of course I'm sure all of you have known about the rebellion in this area." Everyone nodded their heads. "They weren't much of a problem. Stealing items and destroying facilities, that I can deal with since we killed so many of them in the process."
Rumlar jumped up with his chair flipping over. He grabbed his glass of beer and walked over to the window as he took a small sip and lowered the glass. "But when they have Power Rangers amongst them, then that IS a problem."
"Power Rangers?" Plolua stood up along with Blilso who took cover behind her. "Let me deal with them. I'll have them killing each other in no time."
"Yeah.." Blilso muttered.
"No, I already insisted that I take care of them!!!" Kroekan said.
"If I'm not mistaken Kroekan, you were the first one to encounter the Power Rangers and you let them get away." Querro said.
Kroekan puffed. "So?"
"So, you didn't kill them."
"They didn't get away with any water, that's important."
"BUT THEY STILL HAVE THE FUSION CORES!!!" Rumlar's glass of beer shattered with the beer dripping from his hand and pieces of glass scattered on the floor. Rumlar turned around to reveal his glowing red eyes with his face shifting from alien to human and black mist spawning out of his body.
"Rumlar, you must calm down or you will collapse again." Kroekan said.
Rumlar took a deep as the mist went away and his human face stayed steady. "If the Power Rangers do have the fusion cores, does that mean that they have the ability to kick us off of Earth?" Plolua asked.
"Indeed." Querro started to rub the small ribbons. "If you don't mind, I have a suggestion."
Rumlar closed his eyes. "Yes, of course. Out of anyone, your plans are the best, Querro."
Querro stood up with one of his hands behind his back. "Ever since we've set our course for Earth, I've been studying the humans like you said and discovered that throughout time and history, humans always have a way of betraying or killing each other."
Kroekan crossed his arms. "Get to the point, Querro!!"
Querro sighed. "I suggest that we hold a broadcasting throughout the world, warning the humans that if the Power Rangers do not turn themselves in, we will stop all resources and they will starve to death."
Rumlar grinned. "That will force the humans to turn on each other and result in the Power Rangers not being able to stop their own people. Excellent Querro, I can always count on you."
"Wait a minute!!" Kroekan glanced at Querro. "If we take the Power Rangers head on, we'll destroy them faster and easier. If humans turn on each other, they will probably kill each other and there will be no one left for us to rule."
"Hm, you make a good point Kroekan." Rumlar walked back to the table. "We have no choice but to vote." Rumlar cleared his throat. "All in favor of Kroekan's plan?"
Surprisingly, Rumlar raised his right hand as he waited for others to raise theirs. Plolua was about to raise her hand when she suddenly glanced at Querro who gave her a death stare which made her remember what he actually did for her. She slowly lowered her hand as did Rumlar, but Blilso raised his. "All in favor of Querro's plan?"
Plolua quickly raised her hand, but she was the only one as Kroekan began to chuckle. "Well, that's that."
Querro narrowed his eyes. "I see..."
"Kroekan, you are in charge of this operation. If you fail me---" Rumlar's eyes glowed red.
Kroekan gulped. "Yes, Rumlar. I will recruit my toughest pupils." Kroekan bowed and immediately left the room to plan out the operation.
Rumlar turned to Querro. "Do not worry Querro, if Kroekan fails, I would like for you to summon one of the giants."
Querro chuckled. "As you wish, Rumlar."
____________
The room was badly lit with the blinds closed and the lamp and tv turned off. The only thing that was happening was a person snoring and Thunder by Imagine Dragons playing in the background. The alarm went off with the beat of the song as the boy rolled over to the other side of his bed and slammed his palm on the stop button. The song stopped as the boy rubbed his eyes and jumped out of the bed. He walked to his desk and opened the drawer as he took out a blue toothbrush and toothpaste. He opened the door and was greeted with a bright light from the hallway. The light revealed the boy to be HJ who groaned as he grabbed a towel and placed it over his shoulder.
He stepped out with his eyes covered with his hand and proceeded down the hall. It was 4:30 in the morning and no one was in the hallway except for people who missed their working shift or others who decided to stay up all night. HJ never got used to waking up early. He'd always used this time to get into the bathroom before others did since it was always chaotic at seven. He had a routine. First, brush his teeth and admire how beautiful he is in the mirror. Second, grab something to eat from the kitchen, but be wary since the people working in the kitchen staff knows that he steals food. And finally, he gets an early workout in before he eats again and settles down.
HJ walked past his brother's door which was decorated with stuff from his gym and stuff from his girlfriend so you could know that it was his room. At first, HJ didn't hear anything and thought Darren was sleeping or was probably out talking to Alastair, but he began to hear mumbling coming from the other side of the door. The closer HJ got to the door, the clearer the voices were.
"I didn't need your help." One voice said. HJ recognized it as Darren's voice.
"You were about to die." HJ placed his head against the door but still couldn't make out whose voice that was.
"I would've shot him in the face and he would have let me go."
"Are you sure about that?"
HJ heard someone pacing around in the room. "I appreciate your help, but I can take care of myself."
"No, you cannot." The other voice said. "All the times that you've had...we've had on the battlefield, were the times that you had a near-death experience and I've always saved you from death."
"And again, I say thank you."
"Just remember...if you die...I die." The voice said. "I will always protect you."
There was a moment of silence in the room and HJ was already intrigued with the conversation that he didn't want to leave the door.
"Someone is listening from behind the door." The voice said as HJ's face turned pale. HJ slowly backed away from the door and ran down the hallway with his towel flying off of his shoulder and hitting the marble floor. He quickly grabbed it and turned the corner as Darren turned the knob and opened the door. He peeked out with his head looking down both ways of the hall.
"There's no one here." Darren muttered.
"There was someone." The voice said, but it was fainted than before. Darren pulled his head back into the room and closed the door shut.
___________
HJ licked the last of what was ice cream on his finger as he entered the training room and turned on the lights with his water bottle in one hand. The crimson walls were bruised with black spots and marks all over the place. At least the training equipment was alright except for the punching and torso training bags that were tore to shreds by HJ himself.
HJ rubbed his hands against the punching bag. Kroekan made him look weak in front of the soldiers, Tia, and even Darren. He did a toll on the punching bag on the day he got back from his first mission. He had to let his anger somehow, but not on the people he works with and cares for.
"Hello!" HJ jumped up and raised his fists as he saw a young man come from behind the climbing wall.
"Greg?" HJ lowered his fists as Greg walked towards him with his hands behind his back. "Buddy you've gotta stop doing that, it's creepy and it scares people."
"Like you?"
HJ looked to the side. "No...." HJ noticed Greg staring at him like he was staring into his soul. "So uh, what are you doing here? You don't seem like the workout type."
"Oh, I sleep here."
"Excuse me?"
"What?"
"Isn't it like sixty degrees in this room at night?" HJ asked.
"Yes and I quite like it. It has a lot more space than my room does. More space I have...the better I can think."
"So you never sleep in your own room?"
"No, I use my room as my personal lab for experiments...that Alastair would not like."
HJ was about to ask what type of experiments, but knew his boundaries and even if he'd ask Greg would give a full informative speech. "Ok..." HJ took a sip of his water. "Alright, don't mind me, I'm just gonna get a few workouts in before the day starts."
"Hermas."
"HJ..."
"Hermas."
HJ sighed. "Yes?"
"Do you ever think of the possibility of your brother dying on the battlefield?" Greg asked.
HJ was going to tell him the truth and say "yes," but remember that fainted voice saying: I always protected you from death and I'll always save you. HJ had the voice and words stuck in his head. He wanted to know who it was and the only way to find out was to talk to Darren.
"No..." HJ muttered.
"Oh..." Greg looked at the ground. "For a few weeks now, I've come to the realization that my own brother may be dead."
"Uh, What makes you think that?"
"I haven't seen or talked to him since I graduated high school and when the invasion started, I hypothesized that he may have died on the battlefield."
"But what made you come to the realization that he may be dead?" HJ asked.
Greg lowered his eyes. "China told me one of Rumlar's generals were successful with capturing a ton of US soldiers. If China's right then the general is torturing them for information on the rebel base."
HJ blinked with shock. "Wait, China didn't tell me or Tia about this."
Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Oh right....I wasn't supposed to tell you...."
"I'm glad that you did." HJ thought about the soldiers getting tortured. People who severed for his country and are now being afflicted with pain. "We have to save them."
"We can't, it's too dangerous and Alastair and China are still mad at you guys for leaving our Jeeps."
HJ sighed. "Seriously, it was just some Jeeps."
"Jeeps are cars and cars are valuable and rare in this day and age." Greg took his hands from behind his back and began to hit himself with a rubber band that was around his wrist.
"Why are you doing that?" HJ asked.
"It keeps me from saying bad stuff about you."
HJ thoughtfully rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna get to work."
Greg placed his hands in his pockets and walked to the door. "Ok, have a successful structured regime of psychical exercise."
"Ok...." HJ placed on his boxing gloves as Greg left the training room.
__________
After a great and successful workout, a fantastic breakfast, and an amazing shower, HJ barged through the doors of the now crowded command center. Alastair and China were doing their usual thing, intercepting calls and figuring out locations of water facilities and other things that Rumlar's union is keeping from the humans.
"China!!" HJ shouted as China ducked behind the holographic table.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"HJ!" Tia appeared from the crowd of people who were decoding messages and teleportation. "What is it this time? Did they run out of fish sticks again?"
HJ glanced at Tia who grinned and crossed her arms. He reached the center of the command room as he slammed his hands on the table and looked at Alastair with an angry look on his face. "What is wrong, Hermas?" Alastair asked as she placed her tablet down on the table.
"Why didn't you tell me or Tia about one of Rumlar's generals capturing a group of US soldiers?"
"What?!" Tia uncrossed her arms and looked at Alastair.
"It is none of your concern--"
"None of my concern." HJ's eyes blazed with fire. "These are soldiers who fought for our country, they deserve to be saved."
"We can not risk using supplies and vehicles for a mission that will lead to deaths."
"You don't know that. People have died trying to protect this country..this Earth." HJ bald his fist and remembered the sadness on Greg's face. "Friends...families are worried about their loved ones. They don't know if they're dead or alive."
Tia stared at Hj with a worried look. "HJ..."
HJ swallowed his sorrow. "If we have a chance to bring soldiers back to their families...their loved ones then we should take it."
Workers in the command center glanced at HJ and Alastair whose expression was hard to read. "No.."
Tia gulped. "No?"
HJ chuckled with anger. "Of course you'll say know, you don't know the value of love because you never experienced it."
"HJ...don't.." Tia commanded.
"You're an alien that doesn't know the value of a human life!!" HJ shouted as the room went silent. "If you cant value love or human life than how can we trust you?"
Mumbling and chatter erupted in the room with people questioning HJ's accusations towards Alastair. Alastair and HJ stared at each other for a couple of seconds like they were having a staring contest, but most of the time HJ glanced at Tia who's eyes widened with shock.
Alastair slammed her hand on the table. "How dare you say that of me?!!"
"Oh boy..." a worker muttered.
"I've saved this Earth from the meteors when your wretched human defense mechanisms we're destroyed in a matter of seconds."
"I—"
"I've set you and Tia on the path to becoming rangers and I was the one who took up leadership when neither of you wanted to. I also decided to turn this old base into a rebel hideout along with China." China finally stood up as she cleared her throat and grabbed her tablet.
HJ looked down at the table in shame. "Uh..."
"I felt love, I've experienced it and saw it get taken away from me!!"
"I'm sorry—"
"Get out!!!"
HJ gulped and glanced at Tia who slowly nodded her head. HJ looked at the workers as they turned back around and continued to work while Alastair held her forehead as she felt a headache incoming.
China began to rub her back. "You're weak Alastair, you need to rest."
"I'm sorry..." HJ muttered as he left the room.
_________
Thump thump thump!! HJ slammed his hands on the door of a room and stomped his feet. What the hell was he thinking? Barging into the command center and making allegations towards Alastair. After all, she was the one who saved him and Tia from their first run-in with an alien and she was right, she was the one who set Tia and him on their paths.
HJ began to hear the wheel turning inside as he just remembered that he slammed on the door of someone probably sleeping. He backed away slowly as the door opened and Greg peaked his head out.
"Greg?"
"Hermas—"
"HJ." HJ corrected.
"Hermas, I knew you would come."
"How'd you—-I knocked on your door by accident."
Greg slowly nodded his head. "Sure you did." He opened the door as the room was dark. "Come in."
"Uh, no thanks. Gotta report to my brother...I'll catch you later—"
"Ok then, if you say so." Greg crossed his arms. "You won't get an early preview of the cool weapon that I'm developing for you and Tia."
HJ's eyes widened. "New...weapon?"
_____________
HJ rubbed his hands across the finished model of the weapon Greg developed for him and Tia. It was blue and pink, of course, and a bunch of sticky notes were all over it. "What's with these sticky notes?" HJ asked.
"I've been trying to develop a name for it, but can't finger it out." Greg scratched his head as he snapped his fingers. "Speaking of names, I thought of a name for the morphers. Space Deleters!!"
HJ grinned. "Space Deleters?"
"Yeah since you guys are destroying aliens and are pretty much deleting them from existence...and plus...space."
"Ok..." HJ took his attention away from the beautiful weapon and examined Greg's room. Greg was right after all. He uses his room specifically for secret experiments and creations as HJ saw a whiteboard that started at the door and reached the other side of the wall. He also saw a big machine in a place where the bed would be and another machine connected with it. The desk was large against the wall and held the new weapon, drawings, measurements, pens, pencil, and something else that was cloaked.
"What's this?" HJ asked.
"Oh." Greg placed on a crooked smile. "Last week, I asked Tia if I could see her solar blaster to see if it was compatible with her fusion core and your fusion core."
"Ok..."
"And when I asked you for your fusion core, this is the reason why—" Greg took the cloak off to reveal two blue rectangles like weapons. They had tracks and truck-like wheels at the end of them with a symbol resembling the one on HJ's fusion core at the bottom.
"Ah!!!" HJ rubbed his hand against the weapons. "You got me two rectangles?!"
"What?! No!!" Greg grabbed the weapons by the handle. "They are the Space Boners!!"
HJ's eyes widen. "Greg, do you know what boner means?"
Greg tilted his head. "No..."
"You should really look it up."
"I will add that to my agenda." Greg placed the weapons back down on the stands.
"So, did you make them?" HJ asked.
"No, I tapped into your fusion core and pretty much forced them out so I could make the new weapon."
HJ placed his hands on the new weapon again. "So this weapon didn't come from our fusion cores? You made it?"
"Yes, and in conclusion, you and Tia will have the ability to combine your weapons to make this one which gives you guys the ability to make a final blow on an alien."
HJ pounded the table with his fist. "Yes, that will give the chance to destroy that jerk. Will it be finished before our next mission?" He asked.
"Yes, I just need to code the weapon into the Space Deleters and—"
"HJ!" Tia appeared in the doorway with a tough and tiresome look on her face. "Alastair just approved of a mission."
______________
Darren was giving the small debrief of the mission to his soldiers in the garage. The soldiers hurdle up around him by the lockers as he snapped his fingers. "Alright, I'm sure we'll do better than last time am I right?"
Some of the soldiers nodded their heads. "Alright, let's go save some soldiers."
"Hopefully we don't lose any Jeeps this time." One of them said.
"No worries, we're going on foot." Darren said as he grabbed an assault rifle and checked the magazine.
"What?" A soldier walked up to Darren. "Does Alastair know that it wasn't our fault that we lost two Jeeps?"
"Yes, she does...but we can't risk losing anymore."
One of the soldiers puffed. "I bet we're walking because of those two kids. If it wasn't for them—"
"We'd be dead or getting tortured with our hands cut off and our bodies in a tub full of ice." Darren said. "Now get ready."
The soldiers nodded their heads as they placed on their armor, grabbed their weapons, and closed their lockers. HJ and Tia walked into the garage placing on their morphers at the same time while Greg followed shortly behind them.
"Good job brother looks like you pissed off Alastair so much that she approved the mission." Darren said with a grin.
"It was an accident." HJ sighed. "I didn't mean to make accusations and get her angry."
"Yeah...sure...keep telling yourself that."
"Darren, I've sent the coordinates to your gauntlet. We should warp now so we can have an analysis of the area before we attack."
"No can do Tia, Alastair said we have to walk on foot."
"What? I'm guessing it's because of us?" She asked.
Darren shrugged his shoulders which pretty much said yes. "But you're right. We should get going so we can map out the area and come up with a plan."
"Alright, let's go." The soldiers lined up with Darren.
Greg fumbled with his fingers. "I....would like to go."
Tia looked at Greg. "Greg, it's too dangerous and you don't have any experience in battle."
"Neither did you guys until last week."
"Yeah, but we've trained since we've met Alastair." Tia said.
HJ placed a hand on Greg's shoulder. "He needs to come."
"HJ...." Darren crossed his arms.
"If one of the US soldiers ends up being Greg's brother, then his brother needs to be met with warm arms from him."
"HJ—" Being HJ's brother and all, Darren knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Alright...but you're in charge of him, HJ." Tia said as she pulled out her fusion core and placed it on top of her morpher all while Darren raised his eyebrows and gave her a look. "Oh, don't look at me like that. He would have followed us anyways."
"Yes, Yes I would have." Greg said. "I had a plan and everything."
"Greg, grab yourself an armor plate and meet us at the door."
"Ok." One of the soldiers handed him an armor plate as he immediately dropped it and they began to laugh.
"Hey HJ, before we leave out...I wanted to ask you something." Tia said as she pulled him away from the others.
"I wasn't the one who ate your share of the pound cake." HJ said. "I swear."
"What? No." Tia glanced at Darren who tapped his watch. "Have you been getting weird dreams lately?"
"Weird how? Like wet weird dreams? Because I've been having these dreams about the new lunch lady and—"
"NO!!!"
"Tia...HJ, we need to go!!" Darren shouted across the garage.
Tia sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."
Greg and the soldiers grouped up with Darren with Tia and HJ behind them. "Alright guys, were about to walk through the forest. We'll be easy targets out there so be wary and always have your guns ready." Darren said as everyone nodded their heads. Darren pulled down the lever as the garage doors slowly opened and the sun shunned bright in their faces.
__________________
They've been walking for minutes, but Tia could feel that it was hours as they finally reached the center of the forest. They were getting to the town as she began to see the buildings in the distance. The towering trees covered most of the town, but the waterway where the lake came from was completely treeless.
"Tia.." HJ whispered from behind her. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?"
Tia began to rub the back of the neck as she began to think about weird but scary dreams she had. They felt more like flashbacks than dreams, but images roam free during her sleeping state. "Last night, I dreamt of the day of the invasion. It was scary and gruesome...."
"Yeah...I'm sure a lot of us have the same dream."
"But it turned away from a dream." She said.
"What do you mean?" HJ asked.
"I mean the meteors didn't strike the town—the Earth. Rumlar Dred and his army never invaded the planet so not a lot of lives were lost."
"I've dreamt of the same thing, what would have happened if the alien invasion never happened—"
"No, this felt real like I was there....continuing my normal first day of college."
HJ scratched his chin in confusion. "So what you're trying to tell me is that you dreamt of an alternate reality where Rumlar never invaded Earth?"
"I didn't dream it....I lived it like it was real."
Greg stopped and stared back at HJ and Tia. "According to some theories, there's a possibility that hundreds of people in the world have the ability to predict the future in their dreams."
"You were listening?" HJ asked.
Greg began to hit himself with the rubber band. "Well, you two aren't very quiet—"
"But I didn't predict the future. I looked into the past."
"Alternate realities is something that needs to be proven in order to complete that hypothesis, but dreams or flashbacks or whatever they were, have a way of trying to tell you something and I have a feeling that it has something to do with that." Greg pointed to the fusion core as Tia stared at it.
"Huh.." HJ was confused as ever. He'd never heard of such a thing occurring in dreams but then again, aliens invaded earth and they turned into Power Rangers last week. "So in this alternate reality, do I look good like right now?" HJ stopped and struck a pose.
"No...." Tia began to chuckle. "You look way better than you do now."
"Hey!!!"
"Shhh!!!" Darren held his finger to his mouth as he looked back at HJ. "We've arrived."
_______________
The rangers, Darren, the soldiers, and Greg crouched down behind a burger diner. "Pop's Shack," was the name of it and of course it was abandoned by the owner due to the aliens. Darren was the first one to take a peak from behind the wall as he saw usual aliens patrolling the streets and making sure the humans aren't bending or breaking the rules.
With Rumlar's approval, the humans set up a small marketplace at the center of the town. People used this marketplace to sell, trade, and steal if they had the guts to do it. Darren saw one grunt pulled a normal guy into the alley and punch in the stomach as the guy stumble down. An apple dropped out of his pocket and began to roll towards Darren as he immediately pulled his head behind the wall and raise his gun. He placed his finger against his lips to signal the others to be quiet, but HJ had a hard time due to him being the unlucky one and sitting right next to a garbage container that hasn't been emptied in months.
Mumbling came from the grunt as the apple stopped at the corner of the wall and the grunt crouched down to pick it up. HJ face began to his turn red from holding his breath in and his eyes began to get watery from the smell of dirty wrappers and burger buns.
"Ahh!!" HJ exhaled. The grunt turned and saw them as Darren quickly hit it on the head with the back end of his assault rifle. "Someone can't keep quiet for just twenty seconds." Darren said as he quickly grabbed the grunt and pulled him behind the wall.
"Well sorry....it's not my fault that someone can't empty their garbage container."
"HJ, it's the alien apocalypse....no one has time to empty garbage cans." Tia said as she began to search the grunt.
"What are you doing?" Darren asked.
Tia began to pat on the grunt's chest and shoulders. "I've read up on China's examinations of the grunts." She touched the grunt's head but felt nothing as she made her way down towards their pockets. "And they usually have a tracking device on them."
She felt something in its pockets as she pulled out a small black device. She placed it on the ground. "Would you Darren?"
Darren flipped his gun over and smashed the small device into pieces with the backend. "Nice work Tia."
"GET OUT THE WAY!!!" Kroekan yelled as he shoved a civilian so hard that they flew into a stand full of apples. He walked the dirt path with men in camouflage cargo pants following behind him. They were in chains that connected from ankle to ankle and had black duffle bags over their heads to cover their sight and identities.
"That must be them." HJ whispered. "What's the plan bro?"
"We wait and figure out where they're heading."
"What? That's a bad idea." Tia whispered. "What if they're heading to Rumlar's palace?"
Darren pointed to Rumlar's palace. "If they were, they would've turned back around and started walking, but they're heading somewhere else."
"Probably a warehouse where they're going to torture them." HJ said as the soldiers looked at him. "Sorry..."
"No, you're right." Darren took a peak and looked at the rooftops on the buildings. "We gotta get up on the rooftops and follow them from up there."
________
Kroekan and the captured soldiers finally reached the warehouse HJ was right about. It was isolated from the town and hidden by towering trees, but the sun shunned bright in the empty building as they entered through the front doors.
Darren stationed his assault rifle by his side as he was on lookout while the others came down the side stairs of a health insurance building. Darren examined the building and noticed there weren't any grunts on patrol. "It's a trap....I know for sure this time." He said.
"What do we do?" One of the soldiers asked.
"We barge in." HJ answered.
"Bad idea...next—"
"No!!" HJ yelled as a group of civilians turned and glanced at the group's position, but didn't see anything as the turned back around. Tia punched HJ in the gut as he lowered his voice. "If we barge in together, I'm sure we can take on anything that they throw at us." HJ raised his morpher. "We still don't know the full potential of these fusion cores....maybe they can help us."
"So you expect us to rely on alien technology if we get cornered?" The soldier glanced at the others. "You are insane."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Yeah, we wait here and call the command center for backup."
"No..." Darren pierced his lips. "We can't call for backup since Alastair expects us to do this on our own and plus this mission was HJ's idea so I'm sure she would definitely not accept the backup request."
"So HJ's plan is the only one we have.." Tia sighed. "Great..."
"So it's settled then?" Darren nodded his head as the soldiers slowly followed. "Alright, Let's go!!"
___________
Darren kicked the doors opened with military boots as the soldiers barged into the empty lobby with their guns pointed in every direction. The lobby was messy with papers all over the floors, phones dangling from desks, vines covering the sign and logo of the building, and seats being ripped open. A staircase sat in the middle of the lobby and led up to the second floor.
"This is a stupid idea." One of the soldiers whispered. "We're going to get attacked like the last time."
"Quiet Williams." Darren commanded. "They must be on the second floor."
The group made their way to the staircase and began to climb as HJ and Tia looked behind them to make sure no grunts were hiding in the shadows. The second floor was an empty office with the windows being broken and the wind entering the building with the sound resembling the sound of small whistles.
"Where the hell are they?" Tia asked. "We saw them come in here-—"
A whistle came from the left of the group as grunts appeared from behind pillars and stood in front of them in a line formation. They crouched and began to move and act like a tribe doing a ritual. "If it isn't the pesky rebels!!" A medium sized alien appeared in the center of the line. He resembled the grunts but wore brown armor and a mask to symbolize its ranking. "You've been causing trouble these past few months. Stealing gallons of water, boxes of food, and killing a lot of our comrades."
"Well technically, it's not stealing because it belongs to us humans." Tia said as she counted the grunts while Greg looked at the entrances on both sides of the floor and noticed that they were both opened which meant that the grunts and the commander came from one way while Kroekan and the soldiers went the other way.
"Where are the soldiers?" HJ asked.
Greg nudged HJ. "They went out the left doors." He muttered.
"How do you know?"
"Soldiers wear sturdy boots with tough bottoms and I can still see their shoe prints on the carpet."
"Enough talking, capture them!!!" The grunts ran towards the group as the soldiers and Darren fired, hitting half of the grunts and the others grabbing ahold of them like zombies. HJ looked behind him and saw more grunts heading up the stairs.
"Greg, hide behind the pillar!!" HJ commanded. Greg nodded his head as he ran to the nearest pillar while ducking his head from the bullets. The others tried to shoot as many grunts as possible while Tia was fighting with as much energy as she had, but she felt the grunts closing in as she threw a grunt into another grunt.
"HJ, we need to morph now!!" Tia shouted. HJ nodded his as he ran over to her and the two stood behind Darren and the soldiers. The two flashed their morphers and fusion cores as a grunt grabbed ahold of Darren's rifle as he kicked it in the gut.
"It's morphing time!!" The two slapped the fusion core disks on top of the morphers.
VENUS....MERCURY!! The morphers shouted. Space Music began to play out of the morphers.
GALACTIC READY!!! Red lights flickered under the disks as the commander alien grunted from the space music.
"STOP THEM!!!" He yelled, but the grunts were too busy following the first order he had given. "UH!! I'll do it myself." The commander summoned an axe as he stomped towards HJ and Tia.
"IT'S MORPHING TIME!!!" The morphers announced.
"GO GALACTIC!!!" HJ and Tia yelled as they spun the wheel and started to glow white signaling the morphing sequence. A hexagon appeared over Tia and HJ, it slowly came down on them with electricity following. The hexagons slammed down on their bodies and made them glow white. The glow went away to reveal them in silver suits with belt buckles and colorful boots. They were regular suits until color appeared on them one by one. Pink accents appeared on Tia's silver suit while blue accents appeared on HJ suit. Gauntlets and neck cuffs with turtlenecks appeared next on their bodies. Electricity came and struck them across their chest, but it didn't hurt them. It placed a medium sized striking gold "S" on the right side of the upper body with a belt buckle attacking to it and going around the back. Their suits now looked somewhat similar to an astronaut suit, all that was left were the helmets. The helmets formed around their heads with a symbol at the top of both visors. HJ's was a symbol of Mercury while Tia's was a symbol of Venus. Now, the morphing sequence was complete.
HJ looked down and examined the silver and blue suit. "I'll never get tired of this!!"
The commander came out of nowhere and swung his axe at Tia as the pink ranger dodged it and HJ stepped in to kick the commander back. "Tia, go help Darren and the others...I'll deal with this Rumpleforeskin."
"Rumpleforeskin?"
"Just go!!"
Tia nodded her head as she raced towards the grunts and punched one in the face. The commander shook off the pain coming from his stomach and let out a groan. "You're dead!!!"
"Don't think so turkey."
"I am not a turkey." The commander ran towards HJ as the blue ranger spun his wheel and pressed the third button on the side of his morpher.
Summoning Blue Knuckles!!
HJ's arms glowed blue as the weapons Greg showed him appeared. The commander swung his sword as HJ blocked it with one of the weapons as the track at the end grinded against the axe. HJ raised his other weapon and punched the commander in the face as the track let go of the axe and hit the alien in the chest. The commander tumbled as HJ flipped his weapons around in a taunting manner. "Giving up already?" He asked.
The commander looked up and chuckled. "Nope." He placed his hand inside of his mask and whistled as roaring and yelling came from outside. The noise surrounded the building and stopped the soldiers and Darren from attacking.
"The heck is that?!!" Darren shouted as he turned to the wide window and saw something large destroying the towering trees and making its way to the building. Darren shoved the grunts out of his way as he picked the commander up by the neck. "What is that?!!" He asked.
"Master Rumlar wants the Power Rangers gone by all means necessary." The commander began to laugh like a madman as Darren began to figure out why he was.
"Tia...HJ...Greg, get out of here!!" Darren shouted.
"What I'm not leaving you, bro."
"That's an order HJ!!" Darren punched the commander in the gut with all of his strength and turned to HJ. "Rumlar is afraid of the Power Rangers and if he's going all out just to destroy you two, then that means that the rebellion has a chance."
"Wha---"
"Get out of here HJ, take Greg with you. Me and my soldiers will hold out." Darren lifted his assault rifle and checked the magazine as he placed it back into the gun.
"NO!!!" HJ grabbed Darren's shoulders and shook him. "You're getting out...we're all getting out alive. We dont have to leave anyone behind."
"HJ, this isn't up for debate. NOW GO!!!" Darren shoved HJ away from him as he noticed a large hand grabbing the last big tree and throwing it behind him. "That's an order."
"And you know that I don't follow orders!!"
"HJ!!!" Tia shouted. "Greg's gone!!"
_________________
Tia and the others made their way to the rooftop as they saw Greg standing in front of Kroekan who had the US soldiers surrounded by grunts. "If it isn't the Power Rangers." He chuckled. "We meet again!!"
"Let the soldiers go!!!" Greg commanded.
Korkean laughed and touched his antennas as the grunts began to laugh as well. "Don't give me orders you puny human!! Because as you can see----" A large alien appeared behind Kroekan and the grunts as one of the soldiers looked down and saw grunts and other aliens surrounding the building. "You're outnumbered!!!"
Greg gulped as he stepped forward. "Greg, what are you doing?" Tia asked as she watched the grunts place their daggers closer to the US soliders' necks.
"Jeffery....I don't know if its anyone of you, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry....for everything." Greg fumbled with his hands as he began to shake.
A soldier stood up from the ground. "Greg?"
"Jeffery!!!" Greg took another step as a grunt kicked his brother in the leg as it sent him to the ground and the grunt placed the dagger around his neck. "NO!!!" Greg ran towards the aliens as the grunt moved its dagger in a horizontal line and slit the soldier's throat. Greg stopped and stared at the blood as he heard his brother struggle to stay alive. The soldier fell over and laid still as blood came from his neck and reached the ground. Greg ran towards Kroekan and punched him, but the attack didn't even make Kroekan flinch as he grabbed Greg by the neck and carried to the cliff.
"NO!!!" HJ took a step forward.
"Move and his body splatters on the ground!!!" Kroekan shouted as the rangers swallowed their anxiety. "Actually, he's gonna die anyway---" Kroekan chuckled as he let go of Greg's neck making him fall to his death.
"NO!!!" Tia pointed her morpher at the grunts as the morpher flew off of her gauntlet like a small jet and began to hit the grunts that were holding the remaining soldiers while HJ ran towards Kroekan with his weapons and Darren began shooting the large alien.
"You're gonna pay!!!" HJ swung his left knuckle and hit Kroekan's armor. With a clinging sound, Kroekan laughed as he shoved the weapon away from him and grabbed HJ by his shoulders. The blue ranger kicked off of the alien's armor and landed in front of him as he swung both of his weapons and clashed with Kroekan's arms. "You're not gonna beat me this time!!!"
"Oh, the little blue ranger brought toys and now he thinks he can beat me!!!" Kroekan pushed HJ and stomped his feet as the rooftop shook and cracks appeared under his feet and were making their way to HJ.
Tia's morpher landed on her gauntlet as she saw Darren and his soldiers being thrown off or grabbed by the giant. She then noticed the cracks forming a circle around HJ. "HJ!!!" Tia ran towards him, but it was too late. The ground disappeared under HJ's feet as he began to fall into the building. Before Tia even had a chance to react, Kroekan stretched one of his antennas and pushed it through HJ's chest killing him instantly. His body hit the third floor as Darren was the last soldier standing and Tia saw the giant make its way towards him.
"DARREN!!" Darren shot at the large alien's mouth, but the bullets pop off like fireworks. The giant let out an angry grunt as it slapped the rifle out of Darren's hand and picked him up. The giant turned around and threw him across the forest as Tia could see a bright glow in the sky the same glow she saw on Darren's back before.
"I'll do you a favor pink ranger. Give me your fusion core and I'll let you live......until we arrive at Rumlar's palace." Kroekan reached out his hand while the giant waited on standby.
Tia detached her pink fusion core from the morpher as she demorphed. She grasped the medium size disk and stared at Kroekan. She thought about her parents, Alastair, China, and the humans who struggled from Rumlar's ruling. She couldn't give up and let the last hope that humans have disappear, but what can she do? She remembered what Greg first said about the fusion cores and how they possess the same hazardous level of a large bomb.
"You want it?" Tia stared at Kroekan and gripped the core as it glowed pink.
"YES!!!!"
"Guess what---" Tia reached out her hand and revealed the core as Kroekan ran towards her. "NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!" Tia slammed her hands together as the fusion core let out a burst of energy that entered the bodies of every being surrounding the building and then-----
-------------------
"HAAAA!!!!" A girl yelled in the darkness of her bedroom. She laid up in her bed and began to breathe heavily as she looked around the room for comfort. Her rapid breathing faded away as she soon realized where she was. "What the---"
A light turned on across the room as another girl laid up and took off her eye mask. "Oh please don't tell me you scream in your sleep...cause I will immediately go to the counselor and request for another roommate because I refuse to be partnered with a girl who yells while she's having wet dreams.
The girl narrowed her eyes for a better vision. "China?"
"Oh no." China got out of bed slowly walked towards the other girl's bed. "Is it one those cases where you wake up from a dream and forgot everything that you know?"
"N---"
"Well, my name is China, the beautiful but yet kind...and entitled girl. And you are Tia, a weird tomboy and---" Tia took her attention away from China and looked around the room. She couldn't believe that she was in her dorm, her dorm that isn't destroyed by the meteors. Tia got out of bed and walked to the window. She saw the normal and undamaged campus and some students sneaking out of their dorms to go into the town. The sky was beautiful with the moon lighting the dark campus. Tia grabbed her phone from her dresser and looked at the time and date. It was 11:30 at night and the date was September 10, the day after the meteors hit Earth and her first day of college.