Power Ranger Origins: The Reign of the Morphing Masters

[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Ten: The Intergalactic Conference

Master Michael, in his cyan robe, urged Zordon to follow quickly. Zordon and Michael were assigned to head security at the Intergalactic Conference. Zordon looked down at his wrist tech, re-reading the assignment parameters and which team he would lead. Heading South Wing was Commander Zedd. Zordon had North Wing, while the newly promoted Commander Rahp was assigned to East Wing. West Wing would be guarded by Master Michael and his troop.

As Zordon took position with his team, he saw a rainbow of robes march to their places on the stand: Sentinel Knight in red; Ivicar in blue; Dulcea in green; Tria in black; Gerlit in pink; King Estro in yellow; Orion in gold; Delphine in silver; Kamen in violet; Animus in orange; Magnus in crimson; Dimitria in brown; Gosei in gray.

Sentinel Knight walked to the audio station, placing the voice amplifier and language synchronizer to his throat. He began speaking to the leaders from around the galaxy who had gathered to listen to counsel from the Morphing Masters. Sentinel Knight's speech seemed to be a precursor to the Gold Warrior drama for those in attendance: it touched on the importance of following laws which were already established, and the consequences on an intergalactic scale for not abiding by the laws.

Very intelligent... Zordon thought. In case the Gold Warrior incident became a widespread thing, Sentinel Knight was already influencing the people to side with him. He looked at each member of the council. Tria wore a disgusted look on her face.

Zordon chuckled to himself. Apparently Tria has caught on to his intent as well.

He then saw Master Estro. He kept glancing at a door in Commander Rahp's sector. When Zordon looked at it, a feeling he could not describe descended upon him.

Dread...? He thought. It washed over him. Looking back at the council, he noticed Master Ivicar was staring at the door as well, with a look of concern on his face. What settled things for Zordon was when he heard Sentinel Knight stumble in his words as he, too, looked to the door.

Zordon tensed. He pushed a button on his wrist tech to send a message to Commander Rahp to investigate. As he did, a message flashed on the screen telling him his communications were blocked. He stared dumbfounded at the screen. It made no sense to him, since Research and Development were the ones responsible to ensure communications were working before the conference. He and Burai had double checked everything immediately before the conference. That was why he was late in meeting with Master Michael in the first place.

Zordon tried communicating to Michael. He received the same error message. Zordon's eyes began to glow with White Energy. He focused all he had on Master Michael. Michael's head jerked up, sensing Zordon. Zordon had not practiced this mental capacity in a while, so he was happy to discover it was working. Michael looked at Zordon, puzzled. Zordon pointed at Rahp's sector and motioned for him to go toward it. As Michael began to move, Zordon rushed to the door.

The Masters must've felt it, too... What is happening!? How did this happen!? Who could've had access to the communications to jam everything? Zordon jumped over seats and zig-zagged through aisles, at times having to push people out of his way. Michael was in a similar situation.

By that time, people began to notice the commotion. Commander Zedd sent a few of his men over to where it appeared Zordon and Michael were heading. Rahp noticed as well, and asked for a few men to follow him to the door in his sector.

Sentinel Knight decided to address the situation: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure our securi-" He got to that point in his sentence simultaneously with two other events: Commander Rahp and his men arriving at the door; the door exploding, with ten Blue Globbors pouring in, and a platoon of Tenga Warriors.

The conference hall erupted in shouts. Zordon plowed his way through the crowds, but the sheer number began to overwhelm him. His eyes were glowing and his arms pulsing with energy he had charged up as he saw the explosion. The masses of people continued to prevent him from reaching Commander Rahp.

In the presence of danger, the greater good must be upheld... Zordon thought to himself. He sent out a blast from his person, sending people and Tengas alike flying about, slamming into walls and into others who were surprised to find themselves victims of a second blast whose origins they could not pinpoint.

Michael ran to Zordon. "Where did that blast come from!?" Zordon pushed him out of the way and kept running, yelling back at him to stop wasting time and to destroy the enemies.

The battle raged on. Innocents were attacked by Blue Globbors, causing many soldiers to stop in their tracks, not wanting to hurt civilians and intergalactic leaders who were junctioned to them. Zordon began charging his arms to attack them, yelling at the soldiers as he did. "Don't let this become like Decrof! Attack!"

The soldiers still hesitated. Suddenly, a blast from seemingly out of nowhere caught Zordon in the thigh. Zordon fell to the ground, clutching his thigh and screaming in pain.

Zedd, from up in his makeshift sniper's nest, lowered his blaster. "There is a fine line between getting things done, and doing them right..." He muttered to himself as he left his post. He had seen how Zordon had blasted innocent people out of his way to get to the Blue Globbors, and he did not want Zordon to continue running about in his current temperament. He ran to Zordon.

"Master down! Someone get medical he-!" Before he could finish his sentence, Zedd flew into the closest wall. When he looked up, he saw Master Vile standing over Zordon.

"Vengeance is mine! Your little conference was the perfect target. Now, surrender to me the Zeo Crystal, or I crush this Master under my feet!" Vile placed his foot on Zordon's head upon finishing his hostage demands. Zedd tried to stand, but couldn't.

Magnus and Kamen, who had been battling nearby, took down some Tenga Warriors and approached Master Vile. Vile wagged his finger at them, saying, "No, no, no! Not another step!"

Kamen got into his fighting stance, looking down at Zordon. "Who said I care what happens to him?"

Magnus chuckled and lifted up his sword. "Defender helmet!" Electric currents surrounded him as his helmet appeared. He ripped off his robe to reveal full body armor. Magnus' people had come together and commissioned the Alliance to outfit their best fighter, Master Magnus, with an electronic suit to assist him in battle. Orion placed his stamp of approval on the project and Zordon had finished it a mere three months earlier. He also modified Magnus' sword to become a blaster if needed. This was a part of the Alliance's initiative to create a defender specifically outfitted to fight Master Vile and his forces. Magnus was the prototype of the Defender Initiative.

The armor was blue in color. There was a silver faceplate in place, with a slot serving as a visor on the helmet. A pair of horns protruded from the helmet, one horn on each side. An emerald gem was found on the helmet as well as the belly of the torso. He wore a blaster on his belt that had the ability to become a blade, and a long flowing cape tied around his neck.

Kamen produced a glowing saber from a pouch on his belt, activating it. He lifted it up and yelled, "Now!" Armored Magnus turned his blade into a blaster and began firing as Kamen charged toward Vile.

As they did, they suddenly found themselves in a foggy wasteland. They turned to find a figure laughing at them.

Kamen gripped his saber. "Madam Woe..."

Magnus, voice more gravel-like through his helment, laughed. "This should be fun..."

Meanwhile, back in the main plane of existence, Master Vile looked around. "What!? No one else!?"

At this provocation, a rustling could be heard. Beaten and bruised, Commander Rahp lifted himself up from debris and rubble. He limped forward.

"Let... him... go..." Rahp slowly lifted up his blaster to shoot. Master Vile pointed his staff and shot the blaster out of Rahp's hand. Clutching his scorched hand, Rahp continued to limp forward.

"Give up, human!" Vile ordered.

Determined, Rahp continued. Zedd tried to shout to Rahp, to tell him to stop, but he couldn't gather enough breath to do so.

"Vile: stand down! Your troops have fallen! Now, let Master Zordon go and we will ensure you won't be hurt." Master Dulcea yelled this from the doors through which Vile's troops originally appeared. She, Gerlit, and Dimitria had run to the North Doors and wrapped around to attack the enemy from behind when the explosions had first begun. Upon their success, they entered to save whoever was still trapped in the conference hall.

"Tsk, tsk." They heard, but were too late to react. Novact and Rito slid out from their hiding places with blasters pointed at the Masters. More Tenga Warriors ran in, almost as if on cue.

"Where is my crystal!?" Master Vile screamed, growing more impatient.

Zedd wished he could do something. He knew it was hidden in Lightning Cruiser, who was being fixed in the main Research and Development lab. He, however, was still unable to speak, let alone move. He would've sacrificed the crystal to ensure Zordon stayed alive, who already risked so much to save him on Solaris 8's moon. He felt he owed him. Because he could not speak to reveal the Zeo Crystal's location, he also felt as if he had failed him.

Master Vile applied more pressure on Zordon's head. Blood started trilling out from his nose. The Masters stared at Vile and the forces around them.

Novact sneered at the Masters. "Give up now, and I will only punish you with what you offered me: solitary confinement for life." He laughed. He felt his betrayal of the United Alliance was finally paying off. He hoped that soon, he would be able to see all of the Morphing Masters either behind bars, or destroyed.

[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Eleven: Vigilante Defined

Tria ran to the door. She hoped she could head the beasts off to a corner so she could transform into the Gold Warrior. As she ran forward, she saw Rito and Novact, disappearing without a trace. She noticed each held a golden cog in their hands.

"Drat! Someone saw us!" Rito said, irritated. The invisible Rito lumbered over to Tria and hit her on the head, knocking her out cold.

Rito turned to Novact. "Okay. Now that she's outta the way, when do we start?"

"When I give the signal. This must all go according to Master Vile's plan." Novact said to Rito. The two humans stayed in their positions outside the door in East Wing, awaiting their time to attack.

Tria heard shouting. She had been discarded behind some rubble in the conference hall by Rito before the attack. As her eyes focused, she peaked from behind where she was. She saw Novact pointing a blaster at Masters Dimitria, Dulcea, and Gerlit. She heard his raspy voice snarl something she couldn't quite make out. He seemed very proud of himself.

Looking a ways down the aisle the masters were looking at, she saw a man in a white robe, head buried under a foot belonging to Master Vile.

Zordon... She thought. Master Tria snuck back behind her hiding place. Well, I guess now's as good a time as any...

She focused her mind on the image of her Power Staff. The king insignia floated in her mind. She felt the power coming, beginning to surge through her body.

"Well... I guess it's morphin' time..." Gold Zeo Energy swam through her arms. She could feel the power suit envelop her body, with the gold armor landing on her chest. Suddenly, she was the Gold Warrior. She focused on Shadow Mode and bounded up, nearly touching the ceiling, giving her a brief moment to process her plan.

As she came down, she directed herself onto Rito, who screamed as he fell backward. She projected herself then onto Novact and used that momentum to ricochet onto Master Vile. She exited Shadow Mode and nimbly landed in between the fallen Zordon and her other comrades. As soon as they could process what had occurred, the Morphing Masters began their attack on the Tengas surrounding them. Zordon pulled himself out of the aisle, clutching his injured leg.

Tria pointed her Power Staff at Master Vile as he stood up.

Sentinel Knight's teleportation landed him, Master Animus, and Master Gosei in the Morphing Master council room. He turned to the two. "I am the protector of the Corona Aurora. I cannot let anything happen to it. It is likely Master Vile is trying to distract us with trying to get the Zeo Crystal, with his true motive being the Corona Aurora. I need to stay vigilant." Sentinel Knight then produced the Corona Aurora in his hands.

Master Gosei had only heard of its existence and never thought he would actually see it in person. He stifled the urge to say, "Wow!"

The crown disappeared. "I currently have it junctioned to me. As long as I have the Morphing Masters around me to sustain me in my calling as guardian of the jewels, I know they are safest with me."

Master Animus and Master Gosei nodded their heads at Master Sentinel. They sat in the room, awaiting word from the other Masters that they had resolved the battle.

Master Delphine looked at Master Orion. Orion sat in a hospital bed in the infirmary adjunct building of the Academy's Medical School. It was the most prestigious, and heavily guarded, medical school in the United Alliance. She knew they would protect the injured Orion.

He grunted. "I gotta help the others... ow..."

Orion tried to get out of bed but fell back, the pain from his injuries still being there although the physical manifestations had been long gone due to the Morphing Grid. There was some science about how the Morphing Grid took a longer time to heal internal injuries, but Master Delphine did not know much about it. She was more a politician herself.

"Okay, Master Orion, " Delphine said in her aquatic voice. "Now that you are secure, I will be heading back to help the others."

Orion chuckled. "Well, at least one of us is of use... Thank you for getting me here safely. May the Power protect you." Delphine nodded and teleported out.

Orion shook his head. "They didn't teach me to be a mama's boy back in Andrasia... ow... ow..." He whimpered as he tried to readjust himself in his hospital bed.

Kamen flipped through the air, trying to avoid Madam Woe's braids from capturing him. The Defender tucked his body into a ball and rolled closer to her.

"You will never keep us here, you know." He prophesied as he shot her with what he affectionately named his Magna Blaster. She swiveled midair to see him. She charged toward him.

It's working. Perfect. The Defender thought.

The best way, he knew, to take on a Madam Woe was to divide and conquer. Fighting a Madam Woe one on one would prove to be very difficult, and only one who had great determination and a powerful fighting spirit could hope to wrestle themselves out of the situation. The Defender, Master Magnus, looked up to see Master Kamen swipe down Madam Woe's back.

"Arrgh!" She yelled, writhing in pain.

The Defender converted his blaster into a sword and then jumped into the air, tucked into a ball once again, using his connection to the Morphing Grid to spin continuously, building up Morphing Energy in his sword. Once he charged, which was a quick process, he slashed at his opponent's face. A blue jewel dropped.

"Well, well." Master Kamen said, approaching the jewel casually. He turned and pointed at Madam Woe. "I guess we know what this means. Bye, bye, pocket dimension." Kamen crushed it in his hands, reverting them back into the conference hall.

"AHHH!" Tria yelled as she, in Shadow Mode, bounded into Madam Woe. She had originally been aiming for Master Vile, but when the Defender, Kamen, and Madame Woe suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, she did not have time to redirect her course, slamming into the villain unwittingly. The Gold Warrior shifted out of Shadow Mode after the collision and did a backflip to land balanced. Madam Woe sparked with electricity and exploded.

"Now's our chance. Let's get out of here!" Master Vile yelled at Novact and Rito.

"But, Dad! I-"

"Quiet, boy! The Gold Warrior is on the threshold of destroying all three of us. Now, come!" And with that, the three teleported back onto their ship in orbit, cloaked from the Morphing Masters' scanners.

The Gold Warrior pounded her fist into the wall next to her. I almost had him!

The Defender approached her. "My apologies, Gold Warrior. We did not mean to interfere. It was... happenstance..."

The Gold Warrior turned to face him. She understood it wasn't his fault. She nodded and, learning from her mistake with Master Orion, did not say a word. She focused on Shadow Mode and bounded away.

"Well, she's mysterious. Right up your alley, Magnus." Kamen said, winking.

The Defender helmet disappeared and Magnus was left only in the armor he rarely took off. The ever ready combatant turned to his friend and laughed. "I'm dating someone, moron." He then pushed Kamen playfully. He pointed to Zordon in a corner trying to stop his own bleeding, but his concentration had been rattled and he couldn't focus fully into his tap of the Morphing Grid.

"Let's help the kid out, shall we?" Kamen grinned at Magnus.

Magnus chuckled again and they headed toward Master Zordon as the other masters attended to Rahp and Zedd, and to anyone else they could find in the destruction.

Sentinel Knight stopped. He looked at Animus. "I feel something in the Morphing Grid. Do you?"

Animus was nowhere near as sensitive to Grid fluctuations as was the seasoned presiding Master, so he had to consciously focus. As he did, he felt a transformation.

Sentinel Knight assumed a battle stance. Gosei continued to get a strong reading, but could only feel the slightest hint at something... new. Upon seeing Animus imitate Sentinel's sense of urgency, he followed suit with his own ready position.

A golden beam appeared, teleporting someone into the room. Before them stood the skirted Gold Warrior. Sentinel decided to speak first. "What is it you want?"

The fighter's weight shifted from leg to leg. Suddenly, the warrior twisted back. When the Gold Warrior lunged forward, a large golden ball of Morphing Energy was shot out at the Masters. Animus and Sentinel were able to dodge the blast charged from the Grid, but Gosei was unable to feel the Grid quick enough and was blasted into a desk.

"I want the Corona Aurora..." Hissed the Gold Warrior. Sentinel Knight started circling toward the enemy, sure to not just lunge forward, giving up his stance.

Animus stayed in his stance. He looked over his opponent and decided to up the stakes. "Defender Helmet: Activate!"

Animus pulled off his orange robe to reveal his own Defender armor. His helmet descended on him. It was very similar in design to Magnus' suit, except slightly bulkier, with red being the main color instead of black. Animus was the only person to sport the Defender suit outside of its prototype phase. For the United Alliance, the Animal Realm was an obvious choice for the Defender Initiative: they were a displaced people, making them extremely vulnerable to the likes of evil empires, like that of Master Vile's.

The Animal Defender charged at the Gold Warrior, fully aware of what the consequence would be. Let's hope Zordon made this to withstand a Grid powered blast... Animus thought.

As predicted by Animus, the Warrior turned and, in defense, blasted him. This gave Sentinel Knight the edge he needed. As the Gold Warrior turned back, Sentinel Knight performed a roundhouse kick to his opponent's helmet.

At that moment, Master Delphine arrived. "I sensed a disturbance. I see..."

The Warrior stopped and looked at the Masters circling around, ready to attack. The Warrior lifted up an arm and was teleported out in a flash of gold.

"Who was that?" Gosei asked as the Animal Defender assisted him up.

Sentinel Knight clenched his fist. "I have a good guess..."

The council met again after the conference. Sentinel Knight was playing it safe by making it appear as if he had no leads, so he asked Kamen and Magnus to report on what they found when they investigated the energy mass outside the Lost Galaxy.

They said they observed the mass from as far as they felt comfortable. They said from what they could calculate, the mass they had codenamed "the Dark Cloud" was on a direct course to Mirinoi. They announced they would be leaving to Mirinoi the next day to try and stop the thing and that they would be selecting people to accompany them.

Although important, Sentinel was focused on his next task. He was ready, and so was his trap. He passed the time to Master Ivicar. Ivicar gave medals of war to Zordon, Dimitria, Dulcea, Gerlit, Kamen, and Magnus for bravery. He mentioned Zedd and Rahp would be equally honored at a ceremony the next weekend. He then thanked those Masters for pulling him, Master Michael, Master Estro, and Master Tria from the rubble.

Once Ivicar concluded, Sentinel Knight stood. He looked at the council. "As some of you have heard, the Gold Warrior attacked me and attempted to take the Corona Aurora."

Tria felt shocked. This was the first she heard of this. That's impossible! I was nowhere near here!

She thought back to after she defeated Madam Woe. She had snuck under some rubble and pretended she had just gained consciousness, after having people help her out of the debris.

As she recalled this, she slid her hand into the pocket of her robe. She felt the gold cog Rito had used to become invisible. He had dropped it during his scuffle with Tria. When she went to rejoin the others after the battle, she had noticed it on the ground and snatched it up for herself.

Sentinel continued. "This individual thought they were smarter than the council." He produced a remote from his red robe and pushed a button. Suddenly, Tria felt several stabs of pain. Before she could react, she was split into three.

"The Warrior was a female, and sported the Triforian king's insignia. Tria recently was in possession of the Zeo Crystal. There is no point in lying." Sentinel looked down at her three selves, crouched in pain.

Dulcea stood. "... Sentinel... it was I who wrote your report of the incident for the archives. At the time you say the Gold Warrior attacked you, Master Tria was helping me dig out Master Michael from the destruction. I had my wrist tech on: it recorded everything if you need proof."

Sentinel Knight was shocked. I have never been so wrong before... He quickly released Tria. She slowly reconnected her three selves.

Sentinel walked to her. "I am sorry. I thought if it were you, I shouldn't give you a chance-"

Ivicar stood and placed a chance hand on Sentinel's shoulder. "That's enough. I believe you should sit."

As Sentinel Knight took his seat, several of the council gave him cold stares, while the others knew not how to handle what they had seen. It was odd for them to not only see Sentinel Knight make a mistake, but also for him to get rebuked, although passively, for it. Zordon, though, was of the mind Sentinel Knight had good evidence and acted appropriately.

Gosei had seen what this Gold Warrior fighter could do. He fully supported the decision to attack first, ask questions later, as well: it was war, after all. On the other hand, Master Gerlit, the Liarian, was very against what Knight had done, for expressly the situation Knight found himself in: "what if you are wrong?" Gerlit was in the same line of thought as many of the other Masters.

Ivicar walked to the center of the room and turned to the others. "In light of recent events, it is obvious council statutes take precedence: No vote needed. The Gold Power Ranger is a vigilante and must be captured."

[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Twelve: The Lord Born

Zordon sat in Lightning Cruiser. Beside him in the passenger seat was Master Magnus. He didn't say much during the trip, and that's the way Zordon preferred it. He felt as though the trip to Mirinoi should be spent focusing on the mission. Getting one's mind "in the zone", so to say.

In Storm Blaster sat Master Orion at the driver's seat, with Master Kamen in the passenger seat, mirroring his good friend Magnus coincidentally. Behind them sat Masters Tria and Dulcea, facing the opposite direction. Orion and Kamen joked about some of the things they encountered together when they fought side by side in the M51 war against Master Vile. They went through a lot in those battles, and although their relationship would never "gel" like how Kamen's did with Magnas, they were close nonetheless.

Dulcea turned to Tria. "You know... I admire the Gold Warrior. I have dreamt to fully access the power the Morphing Grid has. I saw the good she did. I did not feel anything bad from her." She stopped talking before looking around to see if anyone was listening in. "I don't agree that we have automatically counted her as a vigilante and a scourge to the United Alliance. She must have a good reason for wanting the Corona Aurora. She saved me and my group. She saved Zordon and his group on Solaris 8's moon... I don't know... It makes no sense for her to be bad! It doesn't feel right!"

Tria didn't know what to say. She thought: You are one hundred percent correct! It doesn't make sense because it wasn't the Gold "Ranger"! How do I know? Because I'm the Gold Ranger.

Instead of confessing her soul to Dulcea, though, she gave her a smile and said, "You have a good point there. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Only time will tell..."

The two female Masters looked forward, seeing the War Star armada ships following them. After some extensive healing treatments, Commander Rahp was ready to go in one of the battleships. Commander Zedd was also enlisted into the battle in a ship he was over. Filcar, who had shown great perseverance in the previous battles when not protecting the Zeo Crystal, had also been promoted to be a Commander and joined the others in his own battleship. The Alliance was fearful of what this mission may mean, so they were careful in their selection of fleets and chose those who had shown great courage and allegiance to the Alliance in the recent outings. Especially due to the events at the Intergalactic Conference, with the communication systems getting hacked, the Alliance was beginning to believe there may be a mole in their organization, so they were selecting those who were trustworthy to complete the new assignments.

Tailing the armada was Commander Risp, a human from KO-34. She was a hard commander and ran a "tight ship". The Alliance placed her as the commanding general for this mission because although Zedd, Rahp, and Filcar had proven themselves through diligence and field exams, they were fairly new to running their own unit. The Alliance did not want to leave that to chance. She was known far and wide for her incredible skills and expertise. If anyone were to ensure the mission's success, the Alliance knew that Risp was the woman for the job.

Wanting to support the mission in any way his planet could, Kamen provided the only ship and commander he could spare from Edenoi, but he did not squander: this commander was known for being decisive and cunning. He once was able to, with just his ship and ingenuity, push back half of Dregon's fleet.

Kamen opened a communication link to his commander's ship. "Storm Blaster to Scorpion Stinger. Storm Blaster to Scorpion Stinger. Do you copy?" Kamen had received reports that the closer one got to The Dark Cloud, the more likely communications would get jammed.

"We read you loud and clear. We are good to go and ready for action. Commander Scorpius out."

. . .

It floated through the space it found itself in. It was intrigued by everything it saw, because everything was new to it. It did not know how it came into being; it knew that it was hungry, and what it wanted was more power. It was a being with some form of sentience, yet no learning. It was a giant mass like nothing anyone had ever before seen.

This being floated by an asteroid and absorbed it. It felt like it was approaching something which might quench its hunger for more than just a moment, though. Something big.

A planet... The mass thought. It did not know how it could think, or rationalize, or know words like "planet", but it could. The first vessel it attacked, it felt guilt because it realized some of the objects it was absorbing seemed to be alive and sentient. After feeling the satiety they gave it, though, it did not care. It would rather destroy any and every living thing before feeling hungry again.

It even gave itself a name. I am the Dark Lord. It thought to itself. It knew it was approaching its destination soon. Suddenly, an image and a name popped into its mind.

It audibly laughed. If anyone had been around, what was a laugh to the Dark Lord would've been comprehended as a sound which would come close to being able to define what evil sounded like. Thinking on the image, it was able to think of the name that popped into its mind again.

Mirinoi...

Future: Omega Ranger stared at the monitor. "Dark Lord? I've never heard of it... That's what Magnus was saying appeared outside the Lost Galaxy. That same thing that attacked that Alliance ship. They called it the 'Dark Cloud'...

"Computer: Search all files for 'the Dark Cloud'. Oh, and please remember that I shouldn't be locked out of anything- this is project related." He added, hoping to bypass the restrictions which had been placed on him in the Hall of Legends.

"There are no files for the Dark Cloud."

Omega sat for a moment. "Computer: Are there any files on 'the Dark Lord'?"

"One file found. Report by Katie Walker. Playing audio now."

Omega listened as the familiar voice of the Yellow Time Force Ranger rang in his head. "I am having problems sending Time Force cameras to the point when the Dark Lord first surfaced. Its exact nature is unknown. It actually absorbed a Time Force camera when the camera tried to get close enough to run a mass composition scan. Whenever we sent one to the moment we have calculated as its 'birth', some sort of massive energy obliterates the camera. The risk of leaving more tech floating in space in the past is too great. For now, until Trip can find a solution, we are aborting the mission to ascertain the Dark Lord's origin."

And with that, Omega Ranger stared at his screen. "What are you? You know things something of your nature should not know. This makes no sense..."

Hoping to plow through his duty as quickly as possible, he resumed the archived footage.

. . .

Master Vile paced the command room of the Skull Ship. He was frantic, trying to think of a way to stop the Gold Warrior from foiling his plans.

Rito, sitting back in a chair, swiveled around to face his father. "You know, we could always ask Dischorida for help."

Vile chuckled. "As amusing as it is to see Dischordia forcing the Alliance to act like buffoons, I'm not in a position where I can play with my prey. The Gold Warrior is a serious threat, boy. And what are you doing, just sitting around!? Did I not give you an assignment!?"

"Already done, Daddio!" Rito said, swiveling back to the ship's console. He went to resume the game he been playing.

Master Vile was glad to hear this. "Good, good. Once your sister is done summoning Madam Woe into a new vessel, I will send her down again. It is imperative she gets a fighter in a solo fight. I have yet to see someone clever enough to defeat her without support."

Novact entered the room, a smile on his face. "Master Vile. I have tracked down the Zeo Crystal. It is being loaded onto a ship near the Morphing Master's headquarters."

"Excellent! Now we wait!" Master Vile turned and started walking toward his throne.

Novact's face dropped, confused by Vile's statement. I'm giving you a gold mine here! Let's attack now, you moron! Novact thought.

"But... Master... Should we not attack now?" Novact hid his displeasure with years of practice at pretending not to feel, which was necessary to survive the years of abuse he had to endure from bullies while growing up. Master Vile approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, no, my loyal servant. It will be easier to attack them away from the Morphing Masters, where they plan to unload the artifact. I do admire your enthusiasm, though. You're still a little too impulsive for my taste. You'll become a much better general if you learn patience!" And with that, Master Vile went and sat on his throne.

Once again, Novact felt the sting of not being good enough. His whole life, he knew what it meant to not measure up to what was expected. While working with Master Vile, and being trusted with this new power, he felt as if he was someone important. Being a failure, in any capacity, was not a possibility Novact wanted to face. He felt his stutter begin to return. He could hardly begin a rebuttal. He wanted to argue with Vile, to force Vile to see things his way. In fact, Novact did not care if he was right or wrong at that moment: he only cared that Vile agreed with him. If he failed afterward, he would deal with that, but it was more important to have approval and notoriety than to do things right.

Master Vile turned his attention to his protegé. He saw him, bubbling with energy and wanting to get things done no matter what. Vile chuckled. "Oh, dear. It looks as if you have gotten yourself all flustered. Listen, the enthusiasm is great! Once you learn some more tactics, under my wing, you will be one of the best. With your eagerness to perform, you will be like a... a dark wave, crashing down on your opponents."

Novact regained his composure. He liked what he was hearing. He also realized, for the first time in his life, he did not need anyone else's approval to get something done, or to feel good about himself. Hearing that he had the potential to beat down anyone in his path was appealing to him. Master Vile's words planted a seed in his mind which couldn't be easily unearthed. Novact looked at the being he once thought of as his master. "A dark wave, huh?"

"That's the spirit! You are dismissed, Novact!"

Novact walked out of the room, feeling pleased with himself.

. . .

Burai looked out the window of the armada cruiser. It had been a while since he had been sent on assignment. He turned around and looked over the Droid he and Zordon had packed into the ship. He was to monitor its energy expenditures, and all other relevant vitals during the Droid's premier battle.

Zordon had told Burai what to look out for and how to manage the equipment from the war ship. The ability to broadcast long range was still under development, so the ship would need to stay fairly close to the action. Even though it's to be a lackey... I am glad I get to finally see some action. I am a member of The Top, after all...

He thought of how irregular it was that he and Cestro did not see much action as of late. He thought that perhaps the Alliance was trying to ensure the Morphing Masters always had a pool to pick from. This matter, however, deemed itself too important to the Morphing Masters, so they sent all of The Top to this incident. Burai turned to see Cestro working on final adjustments while the new member who had taken Zordon's place, Margaret, observed fluctuations on the monitor.

Margaret was from the ill-fated planet, Decrof. She had been a key element in helping the Alliance during the war in the M51 Galaxy. Through her research she had been able to ascertain that the weakness of the Blue Globbor was sunlight. Although she only showed her findings to the forces of the United Alliance at a point in which Decrof could not be saved, her reveal greatly aided the forces to be able to inhibit Vile spreading rapidly through M51, eventually slowing him down so that he did not progress outside of that system.

Turning and flashing a big smile to Burai, Margaret greeted him. Burai's stomach was in a knot. He found her very attractive, from her appearance down to her intellect. She was witty and kind to everyone around her. Her silver hair swung around her as she turned. "Oh, Burai! I have another question about the Morphing Masters: what type of animal is Animus? He looks very humanoid to me, albeit hairy... how does that make him from the Animal Realm? I mean, for an Animal he's very... uh... short. When I think of an Animal, I think of someone like the leader of the Animal Warriors, Black Lion."

Burai shrugged. "Apparently he is some sort of ape-like creature... now. One of Animus' abilities he gained from the Morphing Grid is that he is able to store some of his self in the Morphing Grid. Since he can do this, if he falls in battle, he can be reincarnated later on, at an undetermined time. His Willpower slowly can seep out of the Morphing Grid and it will inhabit the body of an infant, or in utero... I don't know. When's a baby a baby? Right?" Burai felt silly for starting to ramble. He wanted to answer all of her questions, but also to show some personality.

"Oh, interesting! Anyway, I think the Droid is ready to go!" Margaret grabbed Burai by the hand and pulled him toward the machine. Ever since Margaret became an official member of The Top, Burai was glad he had not been picked to become a Morphing Master. Although he felt the sting over being overlooked, and was still bitter over it, working with Margaret was worth not receiving the honor.

. . .

The Dark Lord saw the planet Mirinoi. It was pleased. The planet was everything it thought the planet would be. The Dark Lord knew its hunger would be quenched for quite some time. It descended upon the planet, compressing itself into a mass smaller in diameter, but just as powerful.

When the beast looked down, its black and smoky tendrils reached and ripped chunks of earth out of the ground. As the mass absorbed the chunks, it felt pleased. The Dark Lord imagined how it would feel when it had finished the whole planet.

Suddenly, the Dark Lord felt a blast hit its side. It was able to perceive a group of people running toward it and getting into formations around it.

The Alliance... The Dark Lord thought, anger beginning to fill its being. It did not know why those beinga spelled bad news for it, but it knew they did. The Dark Lord whipped out a tendril holding a boulder and chucked it toward one of the soldiers. The soldier yelled out something and was suddenly adorned in some special armor.

That soldier, Master Orion, yelled, "Charge Up Mode!" and fired a giant ball of Light Energy at the Dark Lord. It thought the energy would feel good, but instead of absorbing it, the Dark Lord felt pain. It grew angrier.
Another enemy suddenly charged the Dark Lord, blasting at it.

The Defender... It thought, looking at Magnus in his Defender Armor. He looked over the armor, at the bluish hue it had, the emerald pentagonal gem on the torso, and the horns on the helmet. It was truly an intimidating piece of hardware. Reaching out one of its tendrils, the Dark Lord tried to absorb the Defender, but the Defender was too fast and avoided the black whipping appendage.

Zordon, having joined the fight with other Alliance soldiers, shot currents of White Energy from the Emotional Spectrum at the Dark Lord. Landing in the area as well, Dulcea and Tria pointed their blasters. All of the soldiers were unleashing a storm of fire on the beast, not knowing if it meant anything. The mass of evil swung it tendrils about all the while, trying to destroy everything in its path. It was pleased that it finally grabbed a soldier, absorbing it into its ever hungry "body". The Dark Lord felt some of its vigor return, but it wasn't enough to heal everything it was getting bombarded with.

Meanwhile, Commander Scorpius looked at his troops. This is my chance to prove myself to the Alliance. I'll rise the ranks in no time and finally rid myself of that horrid Edenoi! Scorpius thought.

Sneering, Commander Scorpius pointed at the creature he was instructed was called the Dark Cloud. It truly did resemble a cloud to him, albeit with something that seemed to be a gelatinous shell acting as a casing. "Fire everything you have!"

The soldiers under Scorpius' command blasted the beast. The Dark Lord felt pain shooting throughout its membrane covered body. To try and heal some of the damage, and to rid itself of some of its attackers, it began throwing tendrils out to absorb Edenites.

From a ways out, Command Risp spoke into her communicator to her troops as she surveyed the battle. "... Move out. Ensure the enemy is taken out. Do all you can to protect the other troops."

Claire Risp's eyes stared at the Dark Lord as her troops swarmed around her toward their target. She pulled out her sniper blaster and began taking shots at each of the tendrils. Some of the tendrils broke, releasing their victims. Very quickly, however, the tendrils were fully formed again.

What is this thing made of? This is not good... Risp thought to herself. She stared at her fighters, hoping the best for them.

"Droid Number Five: Activate!" Zordon commanded into his wrist tech. Zordon feared he was too close to the Dark Cloud, but was glad to see the communication went through. A red, humanoid battle bot teleported from the War Star ship nearby onto the battle area. It had black accents around its body, silver shoulder armor pads and white wrist mounted gauntlets which were programmed to be able to shoot lasers. A yellow light shone from the Droid's chest, being from its internal energy core. It's large eyes shone with the same color. Blue accents were designed around the light emanating from the yellow core on the chest. Getting into formation, Commanders Zedd, Filcar, and Rahp wrapped around the feet of the Droid to act as support.

Filcar smirked. "Nice to be back, guys. Ready to tear this thing apart?"

The two of his comrades nodded. Seeing their troops start to succumb to the Dark Lord, they feared for their own lives themselves. Zedd thought about how all of this had started: they were recruited into the forces of the United Alliance because they were good at their jobs. They had once been innocent archaeologists who had been caught in the crossfires of history. One thing each of them vowed was that they would be able to return to their normal lives one day.

Zordon, having teleported himself into Droid Five, sat in the pilot's seat. His Droid leapt forward toward a tree, stretching out a leg. As the leg approached the trunk, the Droid flapped its arms, sending its torso up ahead of the leg. As the Droid's body began to pass the tree, the foot landed on the tree's trunk and the Droid propelled itself toward the Dark Lord.

Master Magnus shot Morphing Energy blasts meanwhile, while Kamen absorbed the blasts from his friend with his electro saber before redirecting it with better concentration and precision to hurl them at the Dark Lord's membrane. Kamen knew that the more the enemy was distracted by outside attacks, the more efficient a direct hit from Zordon in his Droid could be, since it would go unblocked. The Morphing Masters hoped Zordon's vehicle would be up to the task.

Seeing that Kamen and Magnus' distraction was working, Zordon had Droid Five reach out and punch through the Dark Lord's membrane, puncturing it to reach deep into the its core. Before the Dark Lord could react, Droid Five opened its hand and released what it had secretly been holding in its closed fist: an implosion device. As Zordon finished the task, the Droid performed a flip midair and landed yards away from the opponent. All the while, Zedd, Filcar, and Rahp shot at it and threw plasma grenades.

What is this inside me...? The Dark Lord thought.

"Everyone: run!" Master Zordon ordered, indicating the deed was done.

Burai, on the ship, knew what this meant. He turned to Cestro. Cestro nodded and pushed the detonator. Turning to Margaret and Burai, he said, "It is done."

An explosion went off in the beast. Zordon looked up to see no effect of the blast in sight. "Huh? Everyone, are we okay?"

Zedd was the first to answer. "It seems the blast did not work..."

What no one knew was that the blast had actually gone off as planned and had indeed damaged the Dark Lord, but only from the inside. The blast did not escape the membrane surrounding the beast's nucleus. For all intents and purposes, Master Zordon's plan had worked. All of the systems inside the Dark Lord were severely damaged and beginning to fail.

"Everyone... look." Master Magnus ordered, pointing at the Dark Lord with his blaster. "It appears the Dark Cloud is faltering..."

As he said this, the Dark Lord fell to the ground with a mighty thud, its smoke like body looking odd plopping down. Its membrane kept its inner parts floating like a mosaic. I must survive. I cannot let this be... my end.

Suddenly, an instinct programmed into this being made itself aware of its only possibility. Only possibility for survival. The Dark Lord discovered it had a parasitic nature. It knew what its next move, its only move, was.

"Fire!" Master Orion yelled the exact moment he noticed movement from the Dark Lord: a smoky tendril lifted itself up.

The soldiers' intent was to protect themselves from the attack. What they could not foresee was how they were helping the beast: The Dark Lord lifted a tendril so it could puncture its own membrane. Coupled with Alliance fire, the tendril flew down and poked a hole in itself. Black smoke shot out from the hole, deflating the body.

No one knew what to do. Unseen by the heroes, the Dark Lord had scanned the crowd surrounding it, looking for susceptible, yet powerful, potential hosts. After finalizing its quick scan, the Dark Lord had its target, and the troops knew not how to defeat this beast, now in the form of a black smoke cloud.

Seeing this, Master Tria slipped behind some trees. She focused on the Power Staff, feeling the Zeo Morphing Energy pumping into her. "... it's morphin' time..."

Becoming the Gold Ranger, she ran out from her hiding spot and rushed toward the Dark Lord's smokey body. She had planned to only become the Gold Ranger if absolutely necessary: she feared becoming an intergalactic incident, because she knew that would cause the entire Alliance military to have her on their most wanted list. She saw the smoke fly out of the Dark Lord's membrane in mind numbing speed.

It shot toward Filcar, Rahp, and Zedd. She pointed at them and yelled, "Get out of here! Run!"

The troops ran every which way, forgetting their training. In a mass of confusion, chaos created by the basic instinct each soldier had to survive, soldiers ran about in terror, running into each other and around each other. They no longer cared for the well being of their comrades: only in themselves. Meanwhile, the smoke that the Dark Lord had become approached Commanders Zedd, Filcar, and Rahp, getting closer and closer. It had its target amongst the three. Just as it had calculated, the slower of the three, Filcar, was in reach. It would soon have its host.

Zedd looked back. Filcar, you idiot! Speed up! He thought. He could see that although only slightly slower than his comrades, Filcar was going to fall to the Dark Lord within a matter of moments.

Commander Zedd pulled out his blaster and turned around. Flashes of the interview he had conducted with Filcar passed through his mind when the man, Drew Filcar, had given his application to join Zedd's archaeologic team. Zedd sneered as he stopped on a dime and spun around, pointing his blaster at the cloud that was the Dark Lord. I got you guys into this mess... I'm not letting anyone fall! He charged the smoke beast.

From the position she had designated as he sniper's nest, Commander Risp took aim and took one shot at the smoke beast. She had no effect on its approach or speed. The blast wisped past quickly out of her scope. She pulled her sniper blaster back and stared as Zedd began to charge toward the smoke beast. "Troops, close in on the beast. Commander Zedd is in trouble."

"Filcar! Drop!" Zedd ordered. Hearing Zedd's voice, Filcar automatically did what he was ordered to do. As he dropped, Zedd unleashed everything his blaster had into the encroaching monster. The energy blasts, too, passed through the Dark Lord, not doing any damage at all.

"Argh!" Zordon screamed, sparks flying from his Droid: He had done the opposite of what the troops and along with most of the Morphing Masters had done: he was still giving chase. Zedd's blasts flowed right past the Dark Lord's smokey body and hit Droid Five by accident and, almost as if directed by fate, hit vital collateral circuits in the Droid's system.

"All systems down!" Cestro screamed from his console onboard the War Star armada ship.

"Divert energies to another part of the system, Margaret!" Burai ordered.

Turning to Burai, Margaret shook her head. "I am unable to do it, Burai... All systems down!"

Burai sneered. Impossible! I checked those systems myself! There should have been a backup to at least divert the energies in Droid Five to help in case of system failures...

"Are you sure, Margaret!?" Burai demanded as he began to rush over to her.

"There's no time to double think people, Burai!" Cestro yelled. "If Margaret is going to be a member of The Top, you'll need to trust her judgment! Now get back to your post!"

Burai stopped and nodded. "I'm sorry, Margaret, I-"

Margaret winked at him, but quickly turned back to her console. "Don't worry about it! But we gotta get back to work and fast!"

Meanwhile on the battlefield, the Gold Ranger in Shadow Mode bounded toward Zedd and the Dark Lord to help the commander. Masters Orion, Kamen, and Magnus stopped their onslaught of long distance attacks as they were shocked to see the shadow signifying the Gold Ranger.

Dulcea, too, stopped when she saw the shadow. She's here... I need answers! Who is she!?

The Dark Lord's remnant shot forward, unaffected by any of the blasts. It saw Zedd, who it just thought of as 'the body', before it. It realized it wasn't its original target but, recognizing Zedd from its initial scan, thought: The fool is stronger and allowed itself to be caught. My gain...

Commander Scorpius watched through his binoculars from a distance, observing his men running around with the others, unsure of what to do. He watched as the Dark Lord gave chase to Zedd, Filcar, and Rahp. He watched as Zedd confronted the Dark Cloud. Scorpius hoped his studying of the beast's movements would help him find a pattern to defeating it. Using the troops on the field as bait seemed like the best option to him. What he saw next, though, when the Dark Cloud advanced upon Zedd, changed his life.

Zedd could not react. He felt his nose and mouth fill with thick, black smoke. He couldn't move. He tried to scream, run, call for help on his communicator. Nothing happened. He saw the Gold Ranger land in front of him. He saw the Morphing Masters run up, falling in line behind her. They stared at him, unsure of what to do. He saw through his eyes Alliance troops gather around him as he felt himself fall to the ground onto his back.

Suddenly, he "heard" something. Zedd, is it? That's a nice name. You were a dedicated soldier. I thank you for keeping this vessel in such good shape. Now watch me run your reputation through the mud...

Zedd felt his eyes dart around. He felt his brain drudging up battle tactics he had learned from the time he entered the Academy to that point. He suddenly recalled all of the battle formations and strategies the Academy employed.

Zedd felt his mouth curl into a smile. His voice, uncontrolled by him, flowed out of his mouth. It sounded like a combination of his voice with this deep, otherworldly, raspy tinge.

"Prepare to feel my wrath, Morphing Masters." He felt his hand lifted up to be in front his face, digits slowly moving as he spoke. "I am your worst nightmare: I am Lord Zedd!"

[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Thirteen: The Letter of the Law

The new Zedd recognized the formation his opponents were forming. He shot Black Energy from his hand and ripped through a large portion of fighters. Screams could be heard from the smoke and ash the blast left behind. As that happened, Zedd clutched his left arm.

...That was too much energy... I can’t do something like that again... The Dark Lord thought.

<Ha. It looks like your plan didn’t work exactly as you had figured, huh?> Zedd mocked the beast inhabiting his body. Zedd then felt the Dark Lord begin to think. Images flashed through Zedd’s mind. The thoughts ended upon the term “power regulator”.

The Dark Lord, ignoring Zedd’s words, began searching for the next part of his plan. While this was happening, he was using an extreme amount of power, hopping from area to area. The Gold Ranger was right on his tail. As she got closer to him, Lord Zedd got closer to what he spotted: a target to appease his need for a power regulator.

From the ship nearby, Burai looked at Cestro. “They need our help. What can we do?”

Cestro considered for a moment before answering. “We can always use Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser.”

Burai nodded. “Excellent! Margaret, stay here and monitor the systems. We’ll need someone to remain safe, in case...” He let his words trail off, not wanting to confirm the worst for those around him. Margaret nodded and turned to her computer. She moved her silver hair out of her line of vision, tying it into a ponytail.

Meanwhile, Scorpius watched as Lord Zedd easily evaded the Gold Ranger and the Morphing Masters. Such power! What I could do with a power like that...

Scorpius realized he was half jealous that power was being wasted on a grunt from the United Alliance. He considered what that power would’ve meant, seeing how Zedd’s persona changed, but after a moment realized his free will would’ve been an ample sacrifice to be so powerful.

Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser flew overhead, unable to pinpoint Zedd with their blasts. Cestro had made a point of putting their vehicle’s blasters on stun, so they could see what they could do about separating Zedd from the parasite within him. The Gold Ranger, still in Shadow Mode, could not move fast enough to catch Lord Zedd. Perhaps if she knew in what direction Zedd would go she could at least keep up, but losing time trying to also process his rapid directional changes, she could only keep him in her sights.

I have to get to him. She thought. I can’t let someone innocent fall to a fate of... this!

In the meantime, Commander Risp had finally reached the battlefield. She found herself next to Rahp and Filcar. They looked at her and saluted. She noticed Filcar looked as if he had been crying. Rahp approached her first.

“Commander Risp. We have our men reorganized. They are attempting to secure Commander Zedd. Permission to speak freely?” He looked at Risp in the eye for the first time.

“Permission granted.”

He relaxed and started speaking his intents to her. “I am afraid for Zedd. What can we do to help him? I mean, who would’ve thought that thing would have...?” He looked down at the ground.

Risp was one of the few outside Zedd’s platoon who knew the story behind the formation of Zedd's group: they had found some sort of artifact and were “commissioned” to protect it for the Alliance until the Morphing Masters decided what they would do with the artifact. Commander Risp was the one who led the team who gathered the archaeologic team and later interrogated them, “recruiting” them to the cause.

Personally, she did not agree with the Alliance’s tactics, but orders were orders. She knew Sentinel Knight had made a tough decision to quarantine Zedd's group and "volunteer" them to be soldiers to guard the Zeo Crystal. She knew he and a select few other Morphing Masters had weighed the pros and cons and had decided that the crystal's secrecy was more important than the comfort of the archaeolic team. Regardless of all that, a stab of guilt for being a key part of Zedd and his people becoming entangled with the military hit her, leaving Risp with a sense of loyalty to the intent of rescuing Zedd from his predicament.

Placing a hand on Rahp’s shoulder, Risp said, “We will find a way to get to him. We just need to wait for the Morphing Masters to assess the situation further.”

Rahp looked up, a fire in his eyes. “No. I have waited long enough for the Morphing Masters. Nowhere in the Alliance creed does it say soldiers need to wait for the Morphing Masters. I am a commander in this mission, and I say we hit hard now and do what we can to get back our fellow soldier. He is a hostage, and the Alliance does not negotiate for hostages: they save hostages.”

Filcar looked up at Rahp’s powerful words. They struck a cord in Risp as well. She looked at this man, exuding leadership in a time of uncertainty. She nodded. “Attention!”

The two of them straightened up and faced their commander. Looking at Paul Rahp, Commander Risp said, “I am turning over the role of general commander to Rahp. What are your instructions, commander?” She then fell back to attention. She had realized with Rahp’s connection to Zedd, and his determination to get the job done, he would be a perfect fit for this mission.

Meanwhile, Master Magnus as the Defender and Master Kamen did the best they could to keep up with the superpowered beings, but could not keep up. As that occurred, Dulcea dropped down from some trees as they stopped to catch their breath.

“Nice of you to join us.” The Defender said through his helmet. Dulcea looked at the black blur that was the Gold Ranger chasing the red blur which was Lord Zedd.

“It would be nice if we could keep up with them...” Dulcea looked at her two fellow councilmen.

Kamen placed his hand behind his head, elbow pointing up. “I hope you’re not insinuating what I think you’re insinuating...”

Dulcea looked down, and then back to the two fighters. She had been insinuating something: connecting to the Morphing Grid, to become warriors similar to the Gold Ranger.

Before they could give her thought further consideration, Lord Zedd found his target. As he landed, he sent a shockwave out from his self. Unfortunately for him, it caused his body to start to shut down again. The Dark Lord used all his remaining energy to keep the body he was inhabiting from completely failing. Zedd could hardly stand the pain and his brain caused his consciousness to go “unconscious”, leaving the Dark Lord as the vessel's sole pilot.

Lord Zedd looked to find the Gold Ranger trying to recover. He pointed his hand at the target of his desires on one of Mirinoi’s trees: what would help become his power regulator. The power from Zedd hit the target and teleported it into his hands. As he did, he found himself surrounded by Dulcea with her staff, the Defender, Orion wearing the Light Armor, and Kamen with his saber. The Gold Ranger jumped in with the others, Power Staff in hand.

Lord Zedd cackled. As he did, he leaned back, his body fully involved in the laugh. He showed his enemies what he held: a giant snake. “Prepare to meet my wrath!” Lord Zedd then focused his energies into the snake, much like Master Tria had done with the Zeo Subcrystal and her Power Staff. The snake then transformed into a large, metallic staff. A giant Z was found at the staff's head.

As the warriors encircled Lord Zedd, Master Zordon finally approached the group, having abandoned the totaled Droid Five. As he did, he saw everyone sporting their weaponry. Zordon spied Lord Zedd and his new Z Staff.

“AHHH!!!” Lord Zedd yelled as he used the staff to blast those around him. The Morphing Masters quickly darted out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting vaporized. Lord Zedd was glad he had the staff: his powers were too much for his mortal frame, and was quickly destroying it. The Dark Lord turned the snake into a staff to serve as his power regulator, to not destroy his vessel. He feared if his vessel were destroyed, because his essense was junctioned to it he, too, would be destroyed.

The Morphing Masters reassembled, with Zordon in the middle. He knew he would have to up his game. He had intended on saving the equipment he was thinking of for a later time, because Sentinel Knight had passed a law for the Alliance stating explicitly how the Morphing Grid was not to be used as a direct power source for fighters. Zordon in his research, though, had found a way to mimic certain features of the Morphing Grid. He had actually proven all beings and objects have some sort of connection to the Grid, though the depth of the connection varied from person to person. He had been planning on sharing his findings before he had been promoted to be a Morphing Master. After the promotion, though, things had escalated and he hadn't found the time to reveal his findings. And, with those findings... his secret.

Well, I guess impressing investors isn’t the forefront of my responsibilities anymore. Zordon thought. Hopefully Sentinel won’t suppress this idea. I wanted to have time for him to process this before unveiling it to the public.

Zordon looked at his comrades. He stared at Lord Zedd: the man Zordon swore to protect on his first mission with the Morphing Masters. The man who he felt he had failed. The man I will bring back from the clutches of evil.

Zordon extended his hand. “Saba! Come to me!”

A red saber appeared in Zordon’s hand. It seemed to have a tiger head on the end of the hilt. The blade extended a bit as Zordon gripped it upside down. The Defender tilted his head, unsure of what he had witnessed.

“Nice parlor trick, Master Zordon. Let’s see what it can do.” Lord Zedd taunted.

“Everyone stand back: he’s mine.” Zordon charged forward.

“Zordon, is this wise?” The head on his saber said.

“I need your help right now, Saba. We can talk logic later.” Zordon replied as he rushed his opponent.

“Oh, my...” The head, Saba, replied.

Zordon swiped at Lord Zedd. Lord Zedd easily parried the attack with his staff. He then pointed the staff at Zordon and sent the rookie Morphing Master flying back. Zordon performed a flip midair, correcting himself and landing back beside the Defender and the Gold Ranger.

“Attack!” Rahp yelled. He and the other militants had been in hiding, waiting for their commander to give the order. Commander Rahp had assigned all the troops to set their blasters to a stun setting, in hopes of retrieving Zedd. Once he saw Lord Zedd had dropped his guard, he ordered everyone to storm the field.

The Morphing Masters followed in step, with Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser flying overhead.

“Cestro, are you ready?” Burai said over his dashboard communicator, sitting in Lightning Cruiser.

“Ready!” Cestro replied in his underwater-esque voice.

Burai felt bad he had not been much help up to that point: Lord Zedd’s shockwave had temporarily taken a lot of the vehicle’s systems offline, including targeting. It seemed as though the staff was amplifying Lord Zedd’s attacks, making them more concentrated and controlled. It was Cestro's opinion that it not only regulated how much output came from Lord Zedd, but also allowed it to not “splash” everywhere. All the same, the two vehicles seemed safe from permanent damage.

Scorpius, now the only person not involved in one way or another in the fighting, continued to watch from afar. He continued to be in awe of the might Zedd had received. “Amazing! Absolutely amazing!”

The gem on Scorpius' forehead, which all people native to Edenoi had, recorded everything he saw into a format he could later transfer to a computer. He wished to analyze all of the data he saw later, hopefully to see how to defeat Lord Zedd himself and rip his powers from him. He was awestruck by Zedd’s new ability to take on six Morphing Masters, the Gold Ranger, and four different Alliance subunits. “I need power like that!”

Risp was amazed at Lord Zedd’s agility. His movements were fluid, like a beautifully choreographed dance. He had a counter to everything the Alliance threw at him. What no one knew was the Dark Lord was accessing all of Zedd’s Alliance training and was able to, due to his nature, recall everything faster than mortals could normally process, being able to fully regulate ion channels and Zedd’s entire nervous system in general. He was like an enhanced myelin sheath throughout Zedd’s neural network.

Filcar did the best he could to keep up. What little energy he could use to tap the Morphing Grid, he did. He flung small rocks and debris at Zedd while trying to get closer. This was supposed to be me! Let Zedd go! Take me! If I had been stronger, Zedd wouldn't have been taken! Andrew Filcar thought frantically. The burden of the recent events was taking its toll on him. He did not want the guilt on his shoulders.

Master Orion, in his Light Armor, was able to get close to Lord Zedd. He exchanged blows with the beast before being flung into a tree. Not by coincidence, Lord Zedd had flung him into a tree in which Master Dulcea was situated, prepping for an aerial attack. Master Orion slammed the tree hard enough to knock her down to the ground.

Zordon shot lasers out of Saba’s “eyes”. Lord Zedd seemed to be able to absorb them with his staff. Lord Zedd then began to laugh. “Fools! You will never destroy me!” He then sighed. “I am tired of this. Time to explore the universe!” And with that, he simply vanished.

Everyone looked around to see the damage. Friends had fallen; many others were injured. Master Kamen was the first to notice what was due to become a big deal: “Everyone, look!”

The Gold Ranger had her hand to her shield. She was glowing a bright gold color. It was an odd sight: the suit seemed like it was vibrating around her. Then, suddenly, she demorphed.

What? How!? No! Tria, demorphed looked around at everyone stunned. Her secret was out.

Dulcea was pleased: seeing Tria was the Gold Ranger concreted to her the ranger was in the right and not the villain Sentinel Knight had painted her to be. The Defender and Kamen were divided: they had seen how the Gold Ranger saved them in the conference hall, but also heard of her attack on Sentinel Knight.

Zordon was shocked. He looked at her, almost pleading that it wasn’t so. “But, why!? You are supposed to uphold the law, not destroy it!”

Tria shook her head. “I did not break any laws! I--”

“You attacked Sentinel Knight! He said he felt you tapping the Morphing Grid!”

“That doesn't even make sense! I'm usin' a Zeo Subcrystal. I didn’t tap the Grid! That wasn’t me!”

“Oh, so there are two gold rangers now? How convenient!”

“You are so ungrateful! I saved you back on Solaris 8 and--”

“Me, ungrateful!? I am extremely grateful... to the Alliance! They are the ones who maintain order in the universe, but when anarchists like you start running around, everything is put into jeopardy!”

Master Orion sent a ball of Light between the two debaters, narrowly missing them, to get their attention. “Stop it, you two. We need to work things out. Tria, you will need to come back with us for questioning.”

“Of course, Master Orion.” Although Tria outranked Orion in the council, his words and her law breaking gave him precedence and authority over her.

“That’s not enough!” Zordon yelled. “I have the law on my side: Tria, as the Gold Ranger you have broken Alliance Law: You are under arrest!”

Kamen sighed and shook his head. And to think only moments ago we were battling for our lives against a brainwashed Alliance commander. Now we're battling each other.

“Zordon, I think you are taking this too--” Dulcea started. Before she could finish, though, Zordon pointed Saba at Tria.

Tria summoned her Power Staff and as she did, Zordon fired. Tria rolled out of the way.

“It’s morphin’ time!” Tria yelled out of habit. She found she was able to morph faster when she performed similar habits before each morph, as if a memory trace had been formed to help her access the power quicker.

The Gold Ranger stared at her friends. Zordon pointed Saba again and fired. She went into Shadow Mode and bounded away.

[PRangerX]

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