Chapter 1: Rising Stars: Part 1
Chapter Text
The day Earth changed forever began like any other, men and women went to work, children played in the park, and depending on where you were, the birds sang and the sun shined. Everything was as it should be, at least until the skies across the world were suddenly filled with innumerable moai-like flying vessels, the likes of which the world had never seen. As those vessels appeared, so too did the colossal, flickering purple projection of a figure in all of Earth’s major cities. The figure wore a white and gold robe, its hood pulled up so shadows obscured the entirety of its face aside from its yellow eyes. It raised one arm, making a sweeping motion in front of it before speaking with a low, raspy monotone, “Denizens of this pebble, this world is not for you. Your planet, and everything on it is henceforth under control of the Dark Matter Empire.” Then, without any further fanfare, the figure disappeared.
Nations around the world panicked, and deployed their militaries to put an end to the mysterious invaders. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain against the advanced technology used by the invaders, and the Dark Matter Empire’s stranglehold on Earth began with several of the larger moai ships landing and subsequently drilling into the ground, becoming ominous, looming towers that scarred the skyline of every city they had situated themselves in. It had been a year since then, and the Empire’s iron grip had only grown stronger…
“C’mon Neil, wake up! We’re gonna be late!”
Neil Astra opened his eyes and rolled out of bed at the sound of his younger brother’s voice outside his bedroom. Light passed through his window, shining on his mahogany-colored skin and his short, curly black hair. Rubbing his pale blue eyes to get rid of his sleepiness, he quickly threw on a red shirt and black pants before exiting his room. Standing outside the twenty-year-old’s door was Arthur, his twelve-year-old brother. He had an annoyed look on his bespectacled face as he stared at him, paying no attention to the mass of metal scraps he was masterfully fiddling with in his hand. Arthur liked to tinker with things quite a bit, and often tried to salvage old Imperial technology to experiment with. Arthur’s skin was dark like his brother’s, a stark contrast to the cyan jacket he was wearing.
“Morning,” Neil said as he looked down at Arthur before walking past him and heading towards the kitchen of their apartment, “How long did I sleep in?”
Arthur thought for a moment, “Fifteen minutes.”
Neil got out a bowl of cereal and took a seat at the kitchen table before beginning to eat it, “That’s not too bad.”
“You know how Mr. Dandevil is, if you don’t show up to class early you might as well haven't shown up at all,” Arthur sighed as he slid on his backpack and placed the mess of mechanical scraps on the counter.
Neil rolled his eyes at the mention of Dandevil, the blue, long-necked alien that acted as both the Marquis of the nearby tower and the “Head Educator” of just about every educational facility close to it. “Ugh, right, him.” Neil quickly finished eating the rest of his cereal before looking at Arthur, “You ate anything yet?”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I grabbed a muffin.”
“Good,” Neil replied as he got up and put his bowl in the sink, “Let’s get going then, I doubt my boss would be happy with me being late either, gotta pay for this apartment somehow.” He gestured for Arthur to follow him to the door, quickly beginning to put on his shoes as he got there, but after a moment he froze.
“What’s wrong?” Arthur questioned once he reached the door.
Neil slid off his shoes and bounded towards his room, rushing into it and grabbing a small object off of his dresser before just as quickly leaving. He held it up for Arthur to see as he came back to the apartment’s door, his younger brother already having gotten his shoes on, “Almost forgot this.” The object in question was a red globe with a metal base, so small that multiple could fit in his cupped hands. Most interestingly, the red orb had a shape that resembled the head of a lion within it.
Arthur rolled his eyes and chuckled a little as Neil put on his shoes, “I swear, if the apartment was burning down and I was trapped in it, you’d still make sure to grab that thing first.”
Neil slid the globe into his pocket and chuckled as they walked out the door, “Hey, mom said this thing was in her side of the family for generations, so I’m gonna make sure I take good care of it. Besides…” He paused for a moment, they lost their mother early on in the invasion, they didn’t like to talk about it, but this globe was one of the last things she had given him before she died. In a way, it made him feel like she was still with them. Neil shook his head before continuing, “I like to think it’s some kind of good luck charm, y’know? And believe me, you’re still more important.” He gave his younger brother a light noogie as they walked.
Arthur gave a small snort as they left their building and made their way onto the streets, “Stop it!”
“Fine,” Neil replied with mock disappointment.
People shuffled from place to place as the two of them walked, all under the watchful eyes of Greyders and Flatborgs, the Dark Matter Empire’s Soldiers. The Greyders were human-like, wearing black jumpsuit-like outfits highlighted with various colors and wielding short blades that were capable of firing lasers. Their heads were grey and almost mechanical, with a single red eye wrapping around the circumference of their heads. The Flatborgs were much bulkier, and acted as commanders of the Greyders, with red heads that had glowing yellow eyes, a spade-shaped piece of armor behind it, and some kind of black metal combat skirt. Countless Greyders and Flatborgs populated the area around wherever a tower was, acting as enforcers of that tower’s Marquis. For the most part, they simply made sure people didn’t try to do anything to go against the Marquis, but they also served the Marquis in other ways, at least from what Neil had heard.
Neil didn’t like it at all, how they patrolled the streets and made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to, constricting what people could do and what they could enjoy. He desperately wanted something to happen to them, for them to be chased off and for things to go back to the way they were before. “Hey, Arthur,” Neil said, making Arthur turn his attention back to him as they walked.
“Yeah?” Arthur asked.
Neil thought for a moment, “Do you ever wonder if anything could happen to get rid of them? The Empire, I mean.”
Arthur sighed, “Neil, you know that’s probably never gonna happen.”
Neil shook his head, “Hey, that means there’s still a chance it could.” A lot of Earth’s populace had come to accept that the Empire’s rule probably would never end, not Neil though, in his heart he still believed something could be done. Neil paused for a moment, “I just… wish I could do something about it, y’know?” He reached into his pocket, fiddling with the red globe inside it.
Arthur sighed again as they continued walking down the street, though Neil still had the ghost of a smile on his face. Unbeknownst to either of them, the globe in Neil’s pocket emitted a soft red glow for a few moments at his words.
It was a few hours later when a large object blinked into view just outside of Earth’s exosphere. It was a spacecraft the size of a small city, pale grey and shaped like a horizontal egg. At the rounded front was a statue-like structure of a man’s torso, holding up a club-shaped object covered in windows in front of it. Surrounding the structure were nine large circles, evenly spaced around the statue and each other. Six of the circles lacked color, and were a slightly darker grey than the rest of the ship, but three of them were colored with white symbols on them. One was yellow, and its symbol depicted a swordfish, the second was black, and its symbol depicted a bull’s head, the final one was green, with its symbol depicting a chameleon.
Three people looked at the Earth below them from a window as they walked down one of the ship’s brightly-colored hallways on their way to the bridge, their anticipation palpable. On each of their left arms they wore a red device, a large star shape at the center of it.
“So, that’s Earth. It’s a lot more… blue than I was expecting,” the first said. He was a man in his late twenties, with olive skin and short brown hair that was swept to the side, being more blond towards the tips. He wore a blue jacket with a few yellow highlights, an asymmetrical star pattern on the shoulders.
“It’s pretty green too. For something called Earth I was expecting a lot more brown,” the second chuckled, his voice deep and gruff, but still playful. While the first at least looked human, the second was far from it, being a large robot that resembled an anthropomorphic black bull with a jagged mouth and orange horns. Like the first, he had a jacket, though his had black highlights instead of yellow, and it was slung over his shoulder like a matador’s cape.
“I like it, reminds me of home a bit,” the third said with a smile on her face. She was a young woman, around eighteen, with long black hair done up in a ponytail. She looked East Asian, though since she wasn’t from Asia, or Earth for that matter, it would be a slightly inaccurate descriptor. Like her compatriots, she wore a blue jacket, though hers had green highlights as opposed to yellow or black. She was practically vibrating with excitement as they made their way down the hallway.
The bull robot chuckled, “You’re in a chipper mood today, Alura.”
The man chuckled, “Of course she’s happier than normal, Aster. This is our first mission for the Revolution!”
The woman, Alura Palleon, smiled, “Not just our first mission for the Revolution, Brando, our first outing as Power Rangers too, the saviors of the universe!” From her jacket’s pocket she produced a small green globe with a metal base, a chameleon-like symbol inside of it. She lifted it up to look at it, “It’s so surreal, you know? Just a year ago we were all cadets, just expected to do regular things for the Revolution, but then we end up being chosen by those three Nova Spheres the Revolution had found who knows how long ago, then suddenly we’re a third of the saviors spoken about in some ancient prophecy and getting roped into the Revolution’s new “Power Ranger” program.”
The man, Brando Pesce, thought for a moment, “Well, when you put it like that, yeah, it is, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited. I can make a difference for who knows how many people.” He pulled out a globe of his own, yellow, and with a swordfish-like symbol inside it. He looked down at it and smiled.
“Yeah, it feels great to know, I’m sure a lot of our buddies back from training are proud,” Asterion, the bull robot said, removing his globe from a compartment on his leg. It was black, with a symbol resembling the head of a bull inside it.
“Shame that we can’t see them because we’re on the Orion with our own special team now,” Brando interjected, sliding his sphere away back into his pocket.
“I’m sure they’ll miss your cooking a lot,” Alura replied, putting her sphere away, “but enough about then, let’s keep going, don’t want to keep Commander Long waiting.”
Aster and Brando nodded as they continued to walk, Aster putting his globe back in its compartment after another moment. The sound of footsteps and metal hooves hitting the floor filled the hallway as they continued on, eager for their first mission to begin.
Soon, they entered the Orion’s bridge, which was no less gaudy than the hallways were, which could be blamed on the Commander’s taste in interior design. The room was spacious, with several cushioned chairs scattered throughout it, with a table capable of generating all kinds of holographic data at the center of the room. Behind the table was the Commander’s seat, and behind that was the pilot’s seat, which was currently occupied by the Commander’s secretary, Birdie-8. She was an android built to resemble a young woman, with pink “hair” done up in a bun, and white “skin.” A dial was present on her forehead, as well as the ends of two “braids” that extended down to her shoulders. She appeared to wear red glasses, her yellow eyes taking up the entire space behind the lenses. Like Alura, Brando, and Aster, she wore a blue jacket, though hers had pale pink highlights.
Birdie seemed to have taken notice of their arrival as they moved towards the table, turning to look at them and getting up from the pilot’s seat as they did so before speaking in a soft, cheerful voice, “It’s nice to see you three. I assume you’re ready for your first mission?” Despite her face not being capable of properly emoting, the sheer range of emotion she had in her voice more than compensated for it.
“Are we ever! This will be the appetizer for the Empire’s destruction,” Brando chuckled, making one of those food-related comparisons he was so fond of.
“Yup,” Aster replied, giving a thumbs up, “They don’t stand a chance, we’ve got justice on our side!”
Alura nodded enthusiastically, “Me too, but, uh, one thing,” she looked around the room, “where exactly is the Commander?”
Birdie picked up a datapad before walking towards the table, “Commander Long is currently in his office finalizing a few things, he should be here any minute no-”
“Hello everybody!” Birdie was immediately cut off as Shen Long, Commander of the Orion and leader of the Revolution, suddenly burst through the bridge’s doors, arms held out wide. In one of his hands he held his purple, black, and gold cane with a dragon-like decoration near the grip, giving it a twirl before moving it back to the ground.
Commander Long resembled a humanoid, purple-scaled Eastern Dragon, with the scales on the front of his chest and neck being magenta instead. His horns looked metallic and had golden caps on the tips. His eyebrows and beard were a steely grey color, while the hair on the back of his head was white, a testament either to his age or to the stress he had as the leader of the Revolution. He wore a long, ornately decorated red coat, with fur lining the edges and a star on the back. “Excited for your first mission?” he asked. His voice was low, but playful, inviting even.
“We sure are, Commander Long,” Alura replied, nodding along with Brando and Aster at the question.
Shen chuckled, “That’s good to sphere!” Alura rolled her eyes at the pun while Brando and Aster chuckled and Birdie facepalmed. After a moment Shen shook his head, “But you know how I feel about being called “Commander Shen” or “Commander Long,” it makes me feel old! Just call me Shen or “Boss” if you’re feeling formal.”
“Alright, “Boss.” So, what’s the mission? What’s so special about Earth?” Alura asked.
Shen made his way over to the table, “As you know, during my time as the leader of the Revolution, I’ve found the locations of several Nova Spheres inside their respective systems, we’ve got quite the un-ball-ievable collection!” He chuckled and paused for a moment before continuing, “But, during my nineteen years of service as the Revolution’s commander, I’ve only been able to find three of the Nova Spheres that the legends have spoken about, the ones said to be capable of quelling any darkness.” He gestured to Aster, “The Taurus Nova Sphere,” he gestured to Alura, “the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere,” he gestured to Brando, “and the Dorado Nova Sphere.”
“So there’s a Nova Sphere here?” Aster questioned.
Shen nodded, “You’d be correct, recently I’ve developed a way to pinpoint the energy signatures of Nova Spheres, which should streamline our hunt for them. Me and Birdie have discovered a very strong energy signature coming from Earth, and after I ran some tests comparing the strength of the signature from Earth compared to the energy of the Nova Spheres in your possession, it appears that they’re just about identical.”
Alura’s eyes widened and she gave a look of excitement, “Does that mean-”
“You’d be correct,” Shen replied, “it seems one of the Nova Spheres of legend is here on Earth.” He tapped his cane before speaking again, “Birdie, if you would.” Birdie pressed a button on her datapad, and a hologram of Earth appeared above the table, with a red dot on the East Coast of North America.
Birdie pointed at the dot, “It should be around here.”
Brando stroked his chin, “But why is it here? Aren’t the Nova Spheres supposed to be in the system they represent?”
“It’s true, it doesn’t seem to make much sense,” Shen said, “especially since every piece of information I’ve found about Earth says that it was completely uncontacted by the rest of the galaxy until the Empire’s recent takeover of it.” Shen absentmindedly looked at his clawed hands, “That being said, the legend does state that Nova Spheres could appear before the one they deem worthy of wielding them, so it’s not star fetched to say that happened here.”
Birdie facepalmed again at the pun, “Commander, would you please take this seriously?”
“Oh come on, Birdie,” Shen chuckled, “keeping morale up is important! Besides, when it comes to puns, I’ve been on the ball today.”
Ignoring Birdie’s groan of annoyance, Alura spoke up again, “Anyway, our mission is to retrieve this Nova Sphere and the person it’s chosen? Ooh, I can’t wait!”
“Correct,” Birdie replied, “but it’s probably in your best interest to keep as low of a profile as possible.”
Shen nodded, “For some reason, the Empire has a star-tilingly strong influence here, a lot more than on many other planets, so try to avoid confrontation unless absolutely necessary.”
“Aw man,” Aster pouted, obviously disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to teach the Empire a thing or two.
The hologram above the table disappeared as Shen produced a small rectangular device with a screen on it, handing it to Alura, “This should help you locate the Nova Sphere, I made it to be a more precise but shorter-ranged version of what I used to find it.”
Alura looked over it for a moment before sliding it into her pocket, her more professional demeanor returning, “You’ve got it, Boss.”
Birdie grabbed a suitcase-like object, handing it to Brando, “And this is a Supernova Morpher like the ones you’re wearing. If this Nova Sphere has chosen someone, give this to them so that they can join you.”
Shen gave a spin before pointing a clawed digit at the Bridge’s door, “Now go get changed, don’t want the Empire realizing you’re with the Revolution because of your jackets, that would be embarrassing.”
“Got it,” Alura nodded before looking at Aster and then to Brando, “let’s get ready.”
Aster and Brando nodded in agreement before the three of them made their way towards the. “Be safe you three! Me and the Commander are here to help if things go sideways down there,” Birdie chirped up.
Brando smiled, “Thanks Birdie, we appreciate it.”
Shen gave a thumbs up as they passed through the door, “Good luck! If we can find that Nova Sphere, it will really help turn the battle against the Empire a-round!” Birdie shook her head as she walked out of the bridge, she had other things to check up on, leaving Shen to laugh at his own pun. After a moment, Shen stopped laughing and turned to look out the bridge’s window at the Earth below. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pale blue Nova Sphere, a symbol resembling a large, roaring bear on it. He lifted it up to look at it, a solemn expression on his face, “Be careful down there you three, for my sake.”
“So how was school today?” Neil asked as he and Arthur walked towards the park.
Arthur shrugged, “Same as usual, why?”
Neil chuckled a bit, “Just trying to make conversation.”
Arthur chuckled, “Alright then, how was your day?”
“I got laid off,” Neil sighed.
Arthur’s eyes widened, “From that frozen yogurt place?”
“Yeah, they said there were going to be some changes in management, and that I wasn’t gonna be needed anymore. They’re giving me my last paycheck soon,” Neil replied.
“Oh that’s bad, how are we gonna keep the apartment now?” Arthur asked as they entered the park, walking down a pathway.
Neil shook his head, “We still have money in the bank that mom left us. Besides, it’s not all bad, I didn’t even like working there to begin with, I can probably get a better-paying job somewhere else now.”
Arthur sighed, “I swear you can see the silver lining on anything.”
A smile crept up on Neil’s face, “I’m more concerned about you than the apartment to tell you the truth. I don’t want us to be separated because I can’t provide for you, so I’m gonna try and apply for a new job ASAP.”
“Thanks, it’s… nice to know that,” Arthur smiled a bit.
Neil gave a small laugh, “You’re welcome.”
As they continued to walk through the park, a large gathering of people caught Neil’s eye. It appeared to be a group of protesters against the Empire’s rule, many of them holding signs with crossed out versions of the Empire’s insignia, a hand holding some kind of black vortex in it, the fingers on the hand made to resemble a pair of hands cupping the vortex. Signs of protest like this weren’t uncommon, even if it usually ended with the protesters being apprehended by Greyders and Flatborgs.
Arthur seemed to have taken notice of them as well, shaking his head, “Let’s hurry up, I don't want any Imperial goons passing by to think we’re with them.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Neil replied, though he paused for a moment, reaching into his pocket.
“What are you doing?” Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.
Neil reached into his pocket, raising it up to his face and looking back at the protesters before speaking quietly, “Good luck, you guys.” Just as Neil was about to put the globe back in his pocket, he froze, taking a moment to take a closer look at it. It was different somehow, a faint red glow coming from it. Neil looked at it with a confused expression, “What the?”
“So, are we close to it yet?” Aster asked as he, Brando, and Alura continued to walk through the park. The three of them had removed their jackets before arriving, with Alura wearing the green shirt-sleeved shirt that was under hers and Brand wearing the yellow dress shirt that was under his. Besides that, all three of them were wearing their Supernova Morphers.
Alura shook her head as she kept her eyes trained on the screen of the device in her hands, “We should be.” Personally, Alura found Earth to be quite interesting, sure it was low-tech compared to many other planets she had visited, but there was an odd charm to this planet, maybe it was the sound of birds chirping or the verdant greens that reminded her so much of her own homeworld, but regardless of what it was, she liked it. She grinned a bit, “We probably would have found it by now if Brando didn’t take like fifteen minutes looking at street food.”
“Hey!” Brando said as he put his free hand on his hips with mock offense, knowing that Alura was just teasing, “As a chef I’m obligated to investigate the local cuisine whenever I head somewhere new, besides, it brings back memories.”
Alura and Aster chuckled a bit before the latter spoke up, “I wonder which Nova Sphere the one we’re looking for is anyway.”
Alura punctuated her next step with a spin, excitement palpable, “I’m pretty excited too, there’s just so many possibilities! Leo, Scorpius, Lupus, Libra, Ophiuchus, or Aquila, I can’t wait to see!” She smiled as she looked at the sonar-like detector on the screen, they were so close, “It’s right up ahead, let’s go!” She ran forward, eyes still trained on the screen in case it moved.
“Alura,” Brando yelled from behind her, “look-”
Alura promptly slammed into someone she hadn’t noticed due to her focus on the screen, “-out.”
Neil stumbled back a bit as the young woman bumped into him, nearly knocking the globe out of his hand, but he quickly managed to regain his footing before he could fall and keep the globe in his hand. The young woman also managed to recover before she could fall, but with much more grace than Neil did. Arthur glared at her, “Hey, watch where you’re going, you almost took my brother out!”
Neil just laughed, “It’s fine, Arthur, I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” He looked at her, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Alura responded as Brando and Aster caught up with her.
Neil’s eyes widened a bit as he saw Aster, “Woah, what’s that?” He was used to seeing all kinds of aliens since the Empire took over, even ones that didn’t serve the Empire, but he had never seen anything quite like Aster before.
Arthur rolled his eyes, “It’s a robot, obviously.”
“Oh, me? Yeah, I am. I’m Asterion, or Aster for short,” Aster replied, chuckling.
Brando seemed to take this as an opportunity to introduce himself as well, “I’m Brando, Brando Pesce.”
Seeing that her teammates had decided to introduce themselves, Alura figured that she might as well too, “And I’m Alura, sorry for running into you.”
Neil chuckled a bit, “It’s no problem Alura, no harm done. I’m Neil, by the way, and this is my younger brother.”
“I have a name, you know,” Arthur rolled his eyes, “I’m Arthur.”
Aster smiled, “Nice to meet you guys.”
“But seriously Neil, I’m sorry for running into you, I really should have paid attention to what I was doing,” Alura replied apologetically.
“Like I said, it’s fine,” Neil smiled.
Arthur looked at the trio, “What were you doing anyway?”
Alura gave a small chuckle, “Us? We were just looking for some…” she trailed off as she noticed the globe in Neil’s hand, it was the Nova Sphere they were looking for.
“Alura, what’s wrong?” Brando asked, freezing up once he realized what she was looking at.
“Oh my stars,” Aster muttered as he saw the globe.
Arthur gave a confused look, “What’s going on?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” he lifted the globe up, “Is it this thing?”
Alura smiled wildly as she grabbed Neil’s shoulders and began shaking him, “You! You’re the one!”
“Woah, woah, woah, calm down, what’s going on? What’s so special about this thing?” Neil asked, freeing himself from Alura’s grip and taking a step back.
Alura regained her composure after a minute, “Right, sorry, I got a little excited there.” She took a deep breath before speaking in a much quieter voice, “The three of us? We’re with the Revolution.”
Neil gave an intrigued look, “The Revolution?”
“Shh!” Alura quickly raised her index finger to her lips, obviously not wanting anyone else to hear about this.
Neil gave a sheepish look, “Right, right, sorry.”
Arthur tapped his foot before speaking quietly, “What’s the Revolution?”
“The Revolution is an intergalactic resistance that wants to bring justice back to the universe by crushing the Dark Matter Empire,” Aster explained, voice quiet but full of enthusiasm.
Brando nodded, “As you can probably guess, your planet isn’t the only one on the Empire’s plate, they’ve conquered most of the galaxy, and we’re trying to retake it.”
“Really? That’s awesome!” Neil said quietly, but excitedly.
Arthur raised a hand to his chin, giving an incredulous look, “Okay, so you’re fighting back against the Empire, but what does that ball my brother has have to do with this? And how do we know you’re not working with the Empire and trying to get us arrested for wanting to turn against them?”
Alura took a deep breath, “That ball Neil has is a Nova Sphere.”
“A Nova Sphere?” Neil asked curiously.
Alura nodded, “A Nova Sphere. Each one is the concentrated power of one of the eighty-eight constellation systems that make up the galaxy. There’s a legend that nine of those Nova Spheres, Leo, Scorpius, Lupus, Libra, Taurus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, Aquila, and Dorado, would each choose someone to wield their power and become warriors, and that when those nine chosen ones work together, they’d be able to defeat any darkness in the universe.”
Neil lifted the globe up to his face, looking at it mesmerized. If what Alura was saying was true, he was holding the power of an entire constellation in his hand. He looked back at Alura, Aster, and Brando, “Okay, but like Arthur said, why should we trust you?” Arthur gave a small smile at that.
“Because,” Alura said as she reached into her pocket, with Brando doing it too as a compartment on Aster’s leg slid open, “we’re like you.” The three of them produced their Nova Spheres, holding them up. “The three of us have already been chosen, and judging by the glow coming from yours, so have you.”
Brando nodded, “The three of us were sent to find you, well, your Nova Sphere, and bring you to the Revolution.”
“With you, we’ll have gotten about half of the chosen together!” Aster added cheerfully.
Neil thought for exactly one moment before speaking, “Alright, I’ll join you guys.”
“What?” Arthur said, shocked.
“Well that took a lot less convincing than I expected,” Alura replied.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, you definitely sound eager.”
A determined look appeared on Neil’s face, “Ever since the Empire showed up, I’ve hoped for something, anything to happen to them that would make things go back to the way they were before, to free everyone under them, and now you’re telling me that I can fight back and make a difference? Count me in.”
Arthur looked at him, “But Neil, what about-”
“The only thing I want is for Arthur to come too,” Neil said, cutting him off, giving his brother a soft look. “I’m the only family he has left, and I’m not leaving him.”
Arthur smiled a bit, “Thanks, someone’s gotta keep you out of trouble, after all.”
Everyone laughed before Aster spoke up, “We’ll see what we can do, our Boss is pretty lenient.”
Alura lifted up her arm with her Supernova Morpher on it, bending her arm so it was in front of her face, “Good news, Boss, we found the Nova Sphere and the person it’s chosen, and he’s willing to join us!”
Arthur’s eyes widened as he saw the device, “Woah, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Aster chuckled, “Yeah, it’s pretty neat!”
Shen’s voice rang back through the device after a moment, excitement evident, “That’s great Alura! Bring him back up to the Orion, I’d love to talk to this guy, show him a-round too.”
“Your boss sounds… interesting,” Arthur observed.
Alura sighed, “Our Commander is a lot less by-the-book than I’d like, but he’s surprisingly good at leading when it comes down to it.” She shook her head, “Anyway, Brando, could you give him the Morpher please?”
Brando nodded, opening the case he was holding and presenting the red gauntlet-like device inside to Neil.
Neil slid it onto his wrist, looking at it curiously, “So is this thing a communicator or something?” Arthur poked the side of the device, trying to get some kind of reaction from it.
“Well it is, but it’s more than just that,” Alura replied, “this is a Supernova Morpher, made by our Commander to better harness the power of the Nova Spheres, and transform us into forms that resemble the warriors that the legend spoke about. It also works as a blaster.”
Neil continued to look over it, “That’s pretty neat.”
“Yeah, it is,” Alura said, preparing to insert her Nova Sphere into the slot on her Morpher, “Now, let’s head back to base, just follow our le-”
“Hey, you guys are fighting against the Empire, right?” Arthur asked, looking off in the distance.
If Aster had an eyebrow he would’ve cocked it, “Yeah, we aren’t the Revolution for nothing.”
Arthur pointed off to where he was looking, “Well you should probably stop those guys then.” He was pointing at a horde of Greyders led by two Flatborgs that had just entered the park, who were in the process of marching towards the protesters.
“This is bad, they might be in some real danger,” Neil said, subconsciously getting into a fighting stance.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, the Empire doesn’t take too kindly to dissenters.”
Alura lifted her Morpher up to her mouth again before speaking into it, “Commander, some civilians are in danger, permission to engage?”
The line was quiet for a moment before Shen’s voice came through, “Permission granted, Alura.”
Aster pumped a fist in the air, “Finally, some action!”
Brando gave a determined grin, “Let’s serve those Imperial meatheads a hot plate of punishment.”
“Yeah, let’s show them what we’re made of,” Neil added, raising his arm with the Morpher on it over his chest.
Alura looked at him wide-eyed, “You want to fight too?” Do you even have any experience fighting?” There was genuine concern in her words, she wasn’t sure if Neil could handle it.
“She has a point,” Brando nodded.
Neil shrugged, “There’s a first time for everything.”
Just as Alura was about to protest, Birdie’s voice rang from her Morpher, “The Commander wants to see what this new chosen can do, so let him join, please.”
“Fine,” Alura sighed before turning to look at Neil, “Just do what we do and try not to do anything too stupid.” With that, Alura, Aster, and Brando charged towards the crowd of Imperial soldiers.
Neil looked at Arthur for a moment, “Just stay back here and keep yourself safe okay?”
“Got it,” Arthur replied. Just as Neil was about to run to join the other three, Arthur spoke again, “And Neil?”
“Yeah?” Neil asked, giving an inquisitive look.
“Be careful,” Arthur said, a small smile on his face.
Neil nodded, “I will.” With that, Neil ran towards the crowd of Imperial troops as well.
On the bridge of the Orion, Shen looked at Birdie, who was currently in the pilot’s seat once more. Shen had a grin on his draconic face, his anticipation palpable, “Birdie, could you get us visuals down there? I don’t want to miss the star-t of our Rangers’ first fight!”
If Birdie’s eyes were capable of rolling, she would have done so, “Right away, sir.” She pressed a few buttons on the console before a large screen appeared above and behind the console, displaying what was happening on the surface.
Shen twirled his cane and gave a laugh, “Now we’re talking!”
Neil, Alura, Aster, and Brando slid into a line between the troops and the protesters, the distance between the two latter groups still decently significant. “If you want to get to them, then you’ll have to go through us first,” Alura commanded, though there was a hint of excitement in her voice.
One of the Flatborgs chuckled as it waved its tonfa-like weapon, its voice was low, almost robotic, “And what exactly are you planning on doing?”
Aster raised his Morpher in front of his chest, “How about we give you guys a hands-on demonstration?”
“A little something to whet the appetite of the rest of the Empire,” Brando nodded.
Alura smiled, “It’s time to show you what the Revolution can really do!”
“You guys better get ready, because we’re gonna free the galaxy!” Neil said confidently as he stepped forward.
Alura, Brando, and Aster inserted their Nova Spheres onto the slot on their Morphers.
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
In unison, the three of them flicked their Nova Spheres towards the Morphers’ nozzles and flicked down a part on the side before pulling a trigger next to it. “Star Charge!” the three of them said in unison before being enveloped in a black, green, and yellow glow. When the light dimmed, the three of them seemed to be wearing some kind of helmeted spandex costumes with asymmetric stars centered on the left sides of their chests and glittering black visors.
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!” Aster’s lower body remained mostly the same, but the black costume covering his upper body was noticeably bulkier than Alura and Brando’s. His visor resembled a bull’s head, its horns extending off the sides of the helmet.
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!” Alura’s costume was green, with the visor of her helmet being oval-shaped with a spiral shape on top. A pair of bumps were on the top of her helmet, vaguely resembling a chameleon’s eyes. Around her waist, her costume seemed to have a short skirt.
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!” Brando’s costume was yellow, with its visor being roughly diamond-shaped, jutting forwards several inches off the helmet in a sharp point.
Following their lead, Neil inserted his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
Neil performed the actions with the Morpher that the others did before shouting, “Star Charge!” In an instant, he was enveloped in red light, which quickly subsided.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!” Neil’s costume was red, with its visor being asymmetrical and depicting a lion roaring in profile.
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they said in unison, a colorful explosion appearing behind them.
Neil looked himself over, “Woah, this is so cool!”
“You can gawk later, we gotta take these guys down first,” Alura said, glancing over at him. She looked back at the troops, smiling under her helmet, “Let’s get this party started!”
Without an ounce of hesitation, Aster rushed forward, arms extended outwards to his sides. As he charged forward he knocked several Greyders to the ground as his outstretched arms collided with their heads. The other three joined the fray immediately after, with Neil grabbing the arm of a Greyder and tossing it to the ground before hitting another in the face with a right hook, Alura delivering a high kick to another’s head before spinning to sweep the leg of another, and Brando dodging the swing of another Greyder’s short blade before retaliating by slamming his pointed visor directly into another’s head before throwing it to the side.
Alura gripped a small red device in her right hand, which appeared to be the grip of a weapon. She flipped her grip on it, extending a blue pole-like portion from it, “Star Rapier!” With her weapon in hand, she delivered a series of skillful thrusts with it to several Greyders in front of her, finishing them off with a sweeping slash which caused them to explode as they collapsed.
Brando used his Morpher to fire several yellow energy blasts at the Greyders in front of him, before attaching a blue and grey blade to the top of his own device, “Star Saber!” He used it to block the blade of a Greyder, kicking it in the chest to knock it away before slicing through several others, “Eat this!”
Aster punched a Greyder charging at him in the face, the force knocking it back into several others, making them all fall to the ground. He attached a black and blue axe-like blade to the head of his device, “Star Axe!” He spun around in a circle, the blade hitting several Greyders that had surrounded him making them explode.
Neil ducked under a Greyder’s blade and nailed it in the stomach with a punch before noticing the weapons the others were holding. He looked at the device in his hand for a moment before attaching the black and blue axe-like blade on the top, before putting the grey and blue blade on top of that, “Star Sword!” He swung the sword in a wide arc with one hand, cutting down several Greyders effortlessly before gripping it with two to deliver a devastating upward slice to another.
From behind a tree a safe distance away, Arthur watched wide-eyed as the quartet sliced through the Greyders effortlessly, each of their attacks punctuated by several Greyders exploding as the protesters ran somewhere safer. “They’re fighting the Empire and winning? I’ve never seen anything like this!” Arthur said with an expression of shock, maybe the Empire could be stopped like Neil said, maybe there was a chance. He shook his head half-heartedly, no, that was ridiculous, there were just four of them and this was just a small patrol they were fighting, that was nothing compared to the rest of the Empire. Still, that hope clawed at the back of his brain as the fight continued.
Shen grinned widely as he looked at the screen showing what was happening on the surface, tapping his cane on the floor excitedly, “Are you seeing this Birdie?”
“Yeah, they’re amazing!” Birdie said cheerfully as she typed away on a datapad while she watched the screen.
Shen chuckled a bit as he watched Aster, Alura, and Brando cleave through several more Greyders, “I knew we could count on those three, they’re everything I imagined.” He turned his attention to Neil, whose combination of one-handed and two-handed swings were slicing through the Greyders in droves, “And this guy, the Star Sword is one of the hardest modes of the Star Weapon to master, and he’s swinging it around like a pro.” He watched on intently, smiling, “Just who is this guy, and how did the Leo Nova Sphere choose him?”
“It’s weird,” Birdie replied, “I thought the legendary Nova Spheres were supposed to choose someone from the system they embody, that’s how the legend goes.”
Shen nodded, “They are, but this guy’s from Earth, it makes me wonder...”
Neil had just finished off the last of the Greyders when he was nailed in the chest by a fireball, sending him flying backwards. Thinking fast, he planted his sword in the ground, his grip on it being strong enough to halt his momentum, allowing him to hit the ground early and recover. The Flatborgs stared at him, smoke emitting from the tip of one of their tonfa. “Nice shot,” the other said.
Neil got to his feet, charging at the two of them. He took a swing with the sword, but one of them responded too quickly, using its tonfa to block the attack. The second pointed its tonfa at him, energy gathering near the tip. Before it could fire, Alura blinked into existence next to it, slicing at it with her Rapier, causing it to stagger back and misfire before walking right into a punch from Aster.
Neil kicked the Flatborg he was facing in the chest, knocking it back a bit. He glanced over at Alura momentarily, “You can turn invisible?”
“Just because me and Brando look like you doesn’t mean we are like you,” Alura replied. Using the opening Neil provided, she delivered a series of thrusts at the Flatborg. Neil delivered a series of slashes at the Flatborg as Brando and Aster sliced and punched at the other, eventually knocking both of the Flatborgs to the ground.
“Let’s finish this!” Aster said confidently as the four of them stepped into a line. Aster, Alura, and Brando all attached their Nova Spheres to the hilts of their weapons, with Arthur following their lead.
“Aldebaran Strike!” Aster’s axe was cloaked with black energy before he swung it, sending a spinning black energy axe at the Flatborgs.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!” Alura’s rapier was cloaked with green energy. She pointed it at the Flatborgs, causing it to extend and lash towards them like a whip.
“Doradus Strike!” Brando held his saber forward, moving it in an arc in front of him. As he did so, five yellow energy blades formed. He swung his saber, sending the blades flying forward.
“Regulus Strike!” Neil’s sword was wreathed in red energy. He swung it forward, sending a large red energy slash flying towards the Flatborgs.
Their attacks collided all at once, ending the Flatborgs with a massive explosion. Underneath his helmet, Neil grinned widely, “That was awesome!”
“Yeah!” Aster added, slinging an arm over Neil’s shoulder.
Brando nodded, “We certainly made them eat their words.”
“Oh absolutely, that was so cool!” Alura added excitedly. She froze for a moment before speaking again, her more serious demeanor returning, “We need to get back to the Orion though, the people are safe and we found the Nova Sphere, our mission is done, and we need to get out of here before the Empire sends more troops to Earth.”
Neil gave a curious look, “Is it like, in space or something? How am I going to get there?”
“You’ll see,” Aster chuckled. He, Alura, and Brando inserted their Nova Spheres into their Morphers again, flicking their Nova Spheres to the left before pressing a button next to the part that flipped down.
“Taurus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The three were quickly surrounded by energy, which soon transformed into larger versions of their Nova Spheres. The Spheres flew into the sky, connecting to a huge black mechanical bull, green mechanical chameleon, and yellow mechanical swordfish respectively, which soon disappeared into the sky.
“That was awesome!” Neil exclaimed as he watched them fly away.
“Neil!” at the mention of his name, Neil turned to see Arthur running up to him. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
Neil shrugged, “I dunno, it just kinda came to me, I guess.” He shook his head, “But Alura said that we need to go now.”
“But what about our stuff at the apartment?” Arthur questioned.
Neil thought for a second, “We can come back for it some other time, hopefully.”
Arthur sighed, “Alright, let’s go then.”
“Stand close to me,” Neil said. Arthur complied, getting closer to him.
Neil inserted his Nova Sphere into his Morpher before doing the series of actions he had seen the others do.”
“Leo Zord!”
The two were suddenly engulfed in red energy, before being enveloped in a larger version of Neil’s Nova Sphere, a cockpit inside it. It obviously wasn’t meant to fit two people, forcing Arthur to sit on his older brother’s lap. The sphere flew upwards, connecting to a huge red mechanical lion. Compared to the Zords the other three had, this one was different, not only was it bigger, but its cockpit was near the center of it, unlike the other three where it was at the back.
After testing the controls for a moment, Neil flew towards where he had seen the others take off too, breaking through the atmosphere and into space, where the other three were waiting.
“Woah, your Zord is huge!” Brando’s voice rang through the comms.
He heard a chuckle from Aster, “What’ve you been feeding this thing?”
“Yeah, that thing’s massive! Pretty cool!” Alura said excitedly. After a moment she spoke again, “Anyway, follow us, we’ll take you to the Orion.”
“Got it,” Neil replied as the other three flew off. He followed them, taking in the view around him. He had seen pictures of space in books, but actually being there, seeing this sea of stars around him, it was mesmerizing, “It’s beautiful.”
Arthur looked around, equally captivated, “I never thought I would ever see this in person.”
Neil grinned under his helmet, “Y’know, I think this is gonna be the first day of something entirely new.”
“Yeah, it is,” Arthur said, still looking at the stars.
Neil gave a small chuckle, “On the bright side I don’t think I’m gonna need to look for a new job now.” Arthur just rolled his eyes.
Light years away near the core of the galaxy floated a colossal artificial planet, the Dark Matter Empire’s insignia emblazoned on it, easily the size of a continent. This was Ukhu Pacha, the capital of the Dark Matter Empire. At the center of the insignia was the Emperor’s Throne Room, which was currently occupied by eighty-nine figures. Sitting on the throne positioned in front of a colossal window was the Emperor of the Dark Matter Empire, Karna Rog. His face was obscured by the hood of his white robe as it usually was, only his yellow eyes visible. Compared to many others in the room, he was very short, even when he wasn’t sitting down, but his presence made him seem much larger. He tapped his dark, bird-like hands against the arms of his throne. “Dukes and Duchesses of the Empire, I have called you all here today to discuss a pressing matter,” he said, his voice low and raspy, not showing a hint of emotion at all. “I have received a report from Marquis Dandevil of Earth, and it appears that the Revolution has found four of the ones chosen by the Nova Spheres.”
The Dukes and Duchesses, the ones in charge of overseeing each constellation system, spoke among themselves from where they sat, either from the tables placed throughout the throne room or from the second floor above that opened into the room. The only Duke that didn’t speak stood right next to Karna Rog, a figure taller than him wearing a black tunic, crimson and gold cloths tied around the waist, and a crimson scarf. The figure also wore some kind of apparatus above its shoulders, consisting of shoulder armor and a helmet with a blond ponytail sticking out at the back, a golden mask with red eyes covering the face. This was Duke Ankaa of Phoenix, who also served as the Emperor’s bodyguard.
“These Nova Spheres are more than capable of harming me, and putting an end to our glorious Empire once and for all,” Karna Rog said. Despite his knowledge that the Spheres could harm him, the Emperor’s tone was as disinterested and lackadaisical as ever.
“So, you want us to make sure they don’t cause any more problems?” Duke Antares of Scorpius asked, crossing his arms. His upper face was completely obscured by a red mask, all except his left eye, beneath it his lower jaw was visible, which had several needle-like teeth. His body was hugged by a grey skintight suit with red plates, and he wore a black sleeveless coat with purple highlights and intricate ring-like patterns toward the edges, the back of it split in two. Black insectoid limbs with purple tips sprouted near his shoulders and curling onto his back, making pauldrons. His hair also appeared to be made of insect limbs, and a black and purple scorpion-like tail extended down behind him.
“Correct, Duke Antares,” Karna Rog rasped out, “they are to be hunted and put down with extreme prejudice.”
“Then I shall do it, after all, I am your top Jester,” Antares replied.
“You are still but a child, I have far more experience dealing with the Revolution, and especially the one leading them,” Duke Felis of Hydra replied. He was covered from head to toe in red armor, with some of the armor on his chest resembling a gaping mouth.
“You upstart little nothing! Unlike you I actually had to work for my position here!” Antares hissed.
The two of them quickly devolved into an argument, before someone towards the front of the room spoke, “My liege, as one of your Knights, I would be proud to hunt them down for you.” The speaker was Duke Alderamin of Cepheus, and one of the Knights of Andromeda, the Emperor’s three top generals. His body was metallic, with a long neck and a bronze mustache, with his arms resembling steel chains. He didn’t have a left hand, instead having a flail that was currently resting on his shoulder. On his other shoulder was a gold pauldron depicting a sea beast, a symbol of his status as a Knight. He wore a cape as well, mostly white, but with a blue wave-like pattern towards the bottom and an Imperial insignia on the back.
“Oh please Aldie, you just got back from conquerin’ that planet in the Lupus system,” Duchess Schedar of Cassiopeia and his fellow Knight replied, lifting up a small datapad to take a selfie, “someone else should do it, like yours truly. My fans would love it. What do you think, chat?” Her body was pink and brown, with the part of her head above her mouth resembling a mushroom. A head resembling a triceratops jutted out of her chest, and just below that was a pink skirt. Like Alderamin, she had a golden sea beast pauldron on her right shoulder, and had a white and blue cape, though hers only came down to her waist.
Alderamin gave her a look of disbelief, “Are you seriously posting in the middle of an incredibly urgent meeting? That is completely unacceptable!”
“Oh come on Aldie, it’s not like the Emperor minds,” Shedar replied, chuckling, “Besides, you’ll say you want me to be the one to hunt them.”
Alderamin froze for a moment upon hearing Schedar’s words, his red eyes turning a hot pink, “I want Schedar to be the one to hunt them.” He shook his head, his eyes returning to normal, “Did you just use your powers on me? That is unacceptable!”
The two devolved into an argument as well, causing Karna Rog to rasp out, “Silence.” The arguments between Felis and Antares and Alderamin and Schedar stopped immediately.
The third and final Knight who had been sitting next to Alderamin and Schedar raised his right hand. This was Duke Mirfak of Perseus. The left half of his body was completely mechanical and covered in red tubes, with the ones on his chest and back plugging into the sides of a mechanical snake head on his left shoulder. His left forearm and hand were replaced by a massive gold-plated cannon with four claws at the edges. His right side was more reptilian, covered in brown scales with a few blue feathers as well. Like Alderamin and Schedar, he had a gold sea beast pauldron and a white and blue cape, which almost obscured his mechanical tail. “With all due respect, my liege, I should be the one to hunt them. After all, I was the one who oversaw the conquest of Earth,” Mirfak said slyly.
“Your magnificence, I must protest,” Duke Kaus of Sagittarius suddenly stood up from where he was sitting above. He wore a green coat and black, pointed boots, both of which appeared to be covered in plating. His head and hands, the only exposed parts of his body were metallic, his hands were clawed, and his head had gold highlights directly above his eyes that resembled antlers and wrapped around the sides of his head, with another gold highlight between them that looked like the fletching of an arrow. The top of his head was also indented, and all of this combined gave him an almost robotic appearance. A strange, gold bow-like growth jutted forward from his mouth, complimenting his golden bow-shaped shoulder pads and black and red cape. “Despite Sir Mirfak’s status as one of the Knights of Andromeda and your head scientist, at times his loyalty to you is questionable at best. And in my personal opinion, it would be severely unwise to immediately send one of your top enforcers to deal with them if they are as dangerous as you say they are.”
Mirfak glared at Kaus, “How dare you call my loyalty into question! I have served Emperor Karna Rog for-”
“Silence,” the Emperor said, cutting him off. “Duke Kaus has made a point. While I question his statement about your loyalty, Sir Mirfak, he is correct in saying that sending any of my Knights against them is unwise.” After a moment, he spoke again, “Duke Kaus, you shall be the one to hunt them down, but I expect results, tangible results.”
Kaus bowed, “I shall not fail you, your magnificence.”
“Good, destroy them before they have the opportunity to…” the Emperor froze for a moment, “harm me.” Unlike his usual tone of voice, there was a hint of emotion in the last part of his statement, an odd wishfulness. The Dukes and Duchesses had learned to not question these slips of emotion, as the consequences for doing so during these meetings were often dire.
“Duke Ankaa,” Karna Rog said after a moment. The golden masked Duke moved from where he was standing beside the Emperor so he was directly in front of him, kneeling down. These movements were unnatural, almost robotic with their precision and intent. The Emperor put a hand on Ankaa’s shoulder before speaking, “Send more forces to Earth, our control on that pebble will remain until it crumbles to dust. I trust that you can do that.” There was an odd affection in the Emperor’s voice and actions which caused the Knights of Andromeda to give unimpressed looks. This affection disappeared the moment Karna Rog removed his hand, Ankaa nodding his head afterwards.
“Meeting adjourned,” the Emperor said immediately afterwards, causing every Duke and Duchess to begin filing out of the throne room, including Ankaa, intent on performing his Emperor’s orders. After everyone else was gone, Karna Rog sat in silence for a few moments before looking to the side. He chuckled, though it was off, there wasn’t a hint of amusement in it at all, just an imitation of a laugh, “I wouldn’t be so confident.” There was a beat of silence before the Emperor spoke again, “As amusing as your optimism is, it changes nothing.” There was another beat of silence, and Karna Rog laughed that awful almost-laugh again, “They will be cast into the void, I can assure you that, and there is nothing you can do to change that.”
Neil and Arthur sat at a table in the Orion’s bridge, eating some food that Birdie had given them. Once they arrived in the Orion, Birdie had whisked Aster, Alura, and Brando away for a meeting with the commander in his office. She was gone for a bit, during which time the Orion felt like it was moving faster, much, much faster. Afterwards she had returned, properly introducing herself to Neil and Arthur before offering to give them a tour of the ship. They had agreed, and Arthur was practically stupefied the entire time, taking in all of the technology surrounding him. Towards the end of the tour, she had taken them to the bridge, giving them some food from the Orion’s canteen before disappearing off again. The food wasn’t like anything Neil or Arthur had ever seen, that being said, it was delicious nonetheless.
Just as they had finished off their food, the door to the bridge opened again, and Birdie entered. “Hello again, you two!” she said cheerfully.
“Hello to you too,” Neil grinned.
Arthur gave a rare smile at the android, “Nice to see you again.”
Birdie chuckled a bit, “I wasn’t gone that long.” She looked at their empty plates, “Seems like you two enjoyed the food.”
“Sure did,” Neil replied.
Birdie gave a small laugh, “That’s good to hear. Brando made it himself last night. He always makes sure to make some food for everyone, even if me and Aster can’t eat it, but it’s the thought that counts.”
“Yeah, Mr. Pesce seems like a pretty great guy,” Arthur said.
Birdie nodded, “He certainly is.” She pulled out a datapad and began typing on it, “But anyway, Commander Long sent me to take you to his office, he wants to speak with you two.”
Neil got up from his seat, stretching a bit, “Sounds good to me, let’s meet this Commander we’ve heard so much about.”
Arthur stood up as Birdie nodded, exiting the room. The two of them followed her through the winding corridors, before eventually coming to a door. The three of them passed through the threshold, and into the Commander’s office. Like the rest of the Orion’s interior, the office was brightly colored, though unlike the rest of the ship, the office seemed to have an actual color scheme in mind, purple, pink, and grey. Model ships and dragon figurines were displayed along the shelves, while various detailed paintings depicting the commander decorated the walls. Towards the back of the room was a desk, with a window behind it showed space outside. The desk had picture on it, facing the window, and was covered with several origami cranes, as well as a blue origami bear. Standing behind the desk was Shen, who gave a little wave to Arthur and Neil as they entered the room. Aster, Alura, and Brando were also present, standing close to Shen’s desk.
Shen waved the two of them over, which they complied. “So, you must be Neil and Arthur. I have to say, Aster, Alura, and Brando have told me a lot about you. Especially you, Neil,” Shen smiled, extending a hand for them to shake.
Neil grinned, firmly shaking his hand, “Nice to meet you, Commander Long.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Long,” Arthur shook his hand immediately after Neil, “You look really cool.”
Shen laughed, “Well thank you, but there’s no need to be so formal, just call me Shen.” Shen twirled his cane before taking a seat, “But I suppose I’ll have to be formal, at least for a bit anyway. I’m Commander Shen Long, the leader of the Revolution, and formerly its head scientist.” He paused for a moment before speaking again, “I’ve been the leader of the Revolution for nineteen years, and in that time I’ve searched a-round the galaxy for the Nova Spheres, especially the ones spoken about in the legend.”
“So the ones like the four of us have?” Neil asked.
Shen snapped his clawed digits, “Correctamundo!” He laughed before speaking again, “Though I must ask, how exactly did this one come a-round to you?”
“Our… mom, she gave it to me. Said it had been passed down in her family for generations,” Neil replied, voice a bit quiet.
Brando raised an eyebrow, “Really? That’s weird.”
“Was she aware of what it was?” Shen asked curiously.
“I-I’m not sure, she never told me much about it before…” Neil trailed off, obviously struggling to form the words.
“Mom died pretty early into the invasion,” Arthur said, speaking for his brother. “The building she was working at was crushed by one of those ships, though it was a lot bigger, with three points instead of one. It didn’t really stay long, just kind of… left after the rest of those towers came down.”
Shen was quiet for a moment, reaching a hand into his coat pocket and fiddling with something, “…I’m sorry to hear that, the others did mention you two said you only had each other.”
“It’s fine,” Neil replied, “could we just… speak about something else though?”
Alura spoke after a moment, “You did say you wanted to speak about him about his performance down there, Comman-Boss.”
“Right, thank you for reminding me Alura,” Shen’s mood was back to being chipper again. “I saw how you battled those Imperial forces down there, and I must say, I’m impressed. I invented the Star Weapon, and its Star Sword mode is one of the hardest to use, and you were swinging it around like it was nothing. You really made their heads roll.”
Neil gave a sheepish look, “Oh it’s nothing, I just kind of went with the flow.”
Shen grinned, “If that was you just going with the flow, then who knows what you can do with proper training. You did tell the others you wanted to join us, didn’t you?”
“He did,” Aster said, nodding, “He seemed pretty eager about it too.”
“Yeah, I did say that,” Neil himself said.
Shen stroked his beard for a moment before giving a small chuckle, “Well Neil, with that being said I don’t think I have anything else to say except welcome to the Revolution.” He grinned, “I look forward to working with you from here on out.”
“Thanks,” Neil said, “but what about Arthur?”
Arthur shrugged, “I guess I’ll just stay here on the ship.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Birdie added cheerfully. “Me and the Commander will keep an eye on him while the four of you are on missions.”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “I’m twelve, I don’t need to be supervised like that.”
“Well aren’t you just a big man,” Shen chuckled teasingly.
Neil was caught off-guard a bit as Aster slung an arm over his shoulder, “Welcome to the team!”
“I think this deserves a bit of a celebratory dinner,” Brando said, smiling.
Alura crossed her arms and smirked before speaking excitedly, “You know, I think the four of us are going to make a great team!” She froze for a moment, “Just, try not to slack off or anything.”
Neil laughed, “I won’t trust me.” Neil smiled as he spoke again, “Once we find those other legendary Nova Spheres, the Empire won’t stand a chance!” The others smiled and cheered as he pumped his fist in the air.
On a sand-covered planet in the Scorpius system, a tan-skinned man wearing a white cloak gazed wistfully as a pointed necklace in one hand, an orange globe with a scorpion symbol in it in the other.
On a forested planet in the Lupus system, a blue-furred, wolf-like alien gazed at a burning village, clutching a blue globe with a wolf symbol on it attached to his necklace
On an advanced, urban planet on the border between Libra and Ophiuchus, a young man with silver hair and patches of silver scales speckling his skin and a gold mechanical life form with a pair of beams and weight pan-like accessories attached to his head discussed their newest scheme in a diner as they looked at a picture of a gold and silver gem.
Chapter 2: Rising Stars: Part 2
Notes:
This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but it’s still pretty important, as it helps create a few more character dynamics and establishes things that will be brought up later down the line. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Neil let out a groan as he hit the padded floor of the Orion’s training room face-first for the upteenth time that day. It had been two days since he and Arthur had boarded the Orion, two days since he learned he was going to be one of the ones destined to save the galaxy. For the most part, he and the others had a lot of free time, especially Brando, seeing as he was the ship’s chef and all, but time still needed to be made for training, which led to Neil’s current position.
“Ouch,” Arthur said, looking up from the datapad he was holding from where he was sitting a few feet away. Ever since they boarded he’d been tearing through every piece of information he could about the galaxy at large, its species, its planets, its cultures, but especially its technology. Understanding it was all thanks to the translator chips Shen had injected into them after their first meeting, microscopic supercomputers that allowed you to understand and be understood by just about every species in the galaxy.
Alura, who had just finished flipping Neil like a pancake again, extended her hand to help him up, “Hey, you’re doing a lot better than before, I suppose.”
Neil grabbed her hand, getting to his feet, “Thanks, good to know I’m getting better, still not as good as you though.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re doing better against her than we did when we started training, even if she’s just holding back,” Brando replied, practicing with a waster against a dummy.
Neil chuckled a bit, “You must be pretty strong then.”
Alura gave a small smile, “Thanks.”
“She’s the best fighter out of all of us, which is really crazy since she was the last one of us to join the Revolution before you,” Aster replied, lifting a few dumbbells as steam shot out of his mechanical nostrils.
“That’s crazy,” Neil replied.
Arthur looked up from his datapad for a moment, “Wait, you’re a robot, does weight training even do anything?”
The robotic bull shrugged, “Helps me destress at least.”
“Anyway, how about one more round?” Alura said, getting into position.
Neil gave a smile, “Sure, why not?”
Just as they were about to begin again, the door to the room opened and Birdie stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt, but Commander Long sent me to get you,” Birdie said, typing away at a datapad.
“What for?” Neil asked, his posture relaxing.
“Probably a new mission,” Brando replied, putting the waster away.
Birdie nodded, “Yep, the Commander has a new mission for you four, and he seems awfully happy about it.”
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Aster said excitedly as he put his dumbbells away.
The four of them quickly filed out of the room, with Birdie trailing behind them. “Hey, wait for me!” Arthur said as he got up from his seat, running out of the room and following them.
As they walked, Neil slid on the jacket he had taken off a bit earlier, it was like the ones Aster, Alura, Birdie, and Brando wore, though his had red highlights. They continued through the Orion’s corridors before entering the bridge, watching as the Commander appeared to be in the process of a little dance as they entered. “You seem happy uh, Boss, happier than usual,” Alura said as she took a seat.
Shen gave his cane a twirl, “Of course I am, I just found something amazing!”
“Well don’t leave us starving for details, what is it?” Brando asked curiously.
“I have found…” Shen paused dramatically, rapping his hands on the table to make a drumroll, making Birdie facepalm, “the location of another one of the legendary Nova Spheres!”
“Already?” Alrua said with wide eyes, though she regained her composure after a moment.
Aster pumped his fist in the air, “That’s great!”
“Yeah it is!” Neil said, smiling, “Where is it?”
Birdie tapped a button on her datapad, causing the hologram of a forested planet with an icy moon to appear above the table, “We have triangulated its location to the planet Fenrisulfr in the Lupus system.”
Shen nodded as Birdie moved towards the pilot’s seat, “Fenrisulfr has been mostly uncontacted by the galaxy at large, but from rumors I’ve heard floating a-round that the Empire recently launched an invasion of it.”
“So they should be careful?” Arthur said.
“Yes, they absolutely should,” Shen said, looking at Neil, Aster, Alura, and Brando. “Now, get seated, we’re about to activate the warp coil to go to Fenrisulfr,” he slid on a pair of goggles, taking a seat and buckling in.
Everyone followed Shen’s lead, taking a seat and buckling up. Once that was done, Birdie pressed a few buttons and then the stars seemed to stretch backwards as everyone was forced backwards, floating a few inches off of their seats. A few moments later, it was over, and Fenrisulfr could be seen in the distance.
Neil unbuckled himself and stood up, “Well that felt weird.”
“Hey, that was nothing, I read that earlier versions of that could turn you inside out if you weren’t careful,” Arthur said as he unbuckled as well.
Shen chuckled as he got up from his seat and removed his goggles, moving towards Arthur and patting his shoulder with a chuckle, “Seems like someone’s been doing his research! You’re a pretty smart kid.”
“Thanks,” Arthur said, giving a small smile.
Shen nodded before grabbing the Nova Sphere tracker and one of the cases containing a Supernova Morpher, handing the tracker to Neil and the case to Aster, “This should help you find it, and if it’s already bonded to someone, then give them this.”
“Got it,” Neil said, taking both of them.
Alura froze for a moment, “You’re giving him the tracker? Boss, he just joined, what if something happens?” Neil was caught off-guard by Alura’s comment for a moment, she had been cold to him at times since he boarded, but this was another level. It was odd, sometimes she was all bubbly and excitable around him, other times she seemed intent on giving him the hard shoulder. Sure she had a point, but it was still surprising.
“He’s just carrying it a-round, Alura, even if he loses or breaks it I can just make another,” Shen replied.
“Alright then,” Neil said, walking toward the doorway, “what are we waiting for? Let’s head down there and find that Nova Sphere!”
The four of them made their way toward the door as Aster spoke, “See ya!”
Birdie smiled as they got to the door, “Good luck!”
“Be safe,” Shen added.
Arthur thought for a moment, “Try and bring me back something.”
“We will, and I’ll try,” Neil smiled as he and the others exited the bridge.
The Leo, Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords flew down to one of Fenrisulfr’s beaches, the Nova Spheres on them detaching and landing on the ground, Neil, Aster, Alura, and Brando emerging from them as they dissipated. “Woah,” Neil said, looking around the beach, “it’s hard to believe I’m standing on a completely different planet.”
Aster chuckled a bit, “Trust me, you’ll get used to it.”
“Alright, let’s find that Nova Sphere, wonder which one it is,” Alura said as Neil pulled the tracker out of his pocket.
Brando chuckled, “Well, I imagine it would be the Lupus one, don’t you think?”
“You never know,” Neil said, walking towards where the device was detecting the Nova Sphere as Alura gave a sheepish look for a moment. He walked forward and away from the beach, towards the treeline behind it.
After a few moments of walking Alura promptly spoke up, “Neil, stop!”
“Wait, what is it?” Neil froze, hearing a crunch underneath his foot as he took one last step. He looked down and moved his foot out of the way, seeing some kind of doll made of wood underneath it, partially burnt. He looked around him and realized just where the four of them were. All around them were the burnt out remnants of wooden buildings, black scars against the otherwise verdant landscape.
The four of them looked around in horror. “Oh my stars,” Brando muttered quietly.
“This is horrible,” Alura said, lifting a hand up to cover her mouth.
Neil looked at the scorched remains of the settlement around him, taking in the devastation. Sure, a lot of destruction had happened on Earth when the Empire invaded, and it could be argued that there was more destruction there, but this, this was something else entirely. There was no sign of anyone, and it was hauntingly quiet.
Aster picked up a wooden spear with a sharp stone tip from the ground, “Whoever lived here must’ve fought hard, right until the end.” He gave a huff, exhaling steam, “The Empire are monsters, every last one of them.”
“We need to look for anyone that might still be alive,” Brando said, trying to calm himself down.
“Agreed,” Alura replied. After taking a moment to compose herself, she lifted up her Morpher before speaking into it, “Commander, we’ve found the remains of a village that’s been destroyed by the Empire, we’re… we’re going to try and look for survivors.”
It was quiet for a moment before Shen’s voice came through the Morpher, noticeably more solemn than he usually was, “Okay, look everywhere and try to make sure if there’s anyone that’s okay. Finding the Nova Sphere is important, but making sure that any civilians are safe is our top priority.”
Neil thought for a moment before looking at Alura and speaking, “How about we divide and conquer? I can look for the Nova Sphere while the other three look for anyone.”
Shen hummed for a moment, “That sounds like a good idea, it would let us waste less time looking for the Nova Sphere after. I’ll allow it.”
“Got it, we won’t let you down,” Alura said before lowering her arm. She gave Neil a small smile, “I agree with the Commander, that’s a pretty solid plan you have.”
Aster nodded, “Yeah, it’s definitely gonna make things go a lot quicker.”
Neil smiled for the first time since entering the settlement, “Thanks guys, I appreciate it.”
“Just be careful, there’s no telling what’s in that forest, and one of the Nova Spheres’ chosen falling victim to some venomous animal or something would be pretty embarrassing,” Alura said, her voice possessing a slightly teasing tone.
“I will,” Neil replied with a nod. “I’ll meet up with you guys later,” he said, moving towards the forest as the tracker directed.
Unbeknownst to the four of them, they were being watched. Standing near the treeline some ways away was a thirty-five-year-old blue-furred wolfman wearing baggy, patchwork clothes. He gave a small growl as he saw Neil approaching the forest before ducking back into it himself.
Neil continued through the woods, heading in the direction the tracker was pointing him in. Compared to the deafening silence of the village, the forest was full of life, with all kinds of chirps from what Neil assumed to be birds filling the air. He was almost entranced by the beauty, only being snapped out of it by the sound of Shen’s voice coming from his Morpher, “Neil?”
“Yeah Boss?” he replied, lifting the Morpher up to his face.
“Well I was just wondering about why you seemed so eager to split off on your own, besides just having the tracker I mean,” Shen said as Neil continued to walk.
Neil thought for a moment before deciding to tell Shen what was on his mind, “Well, I guess I just wanna prove myself to Alura.”
“Prove yourself?” Shen questioned.
Neil was quiet for a moment before speaking, “Well, sometimes she just acts really cold towards me, I’m not really sure if she likes me as a teammate or not.”
“Oh there’s nothing to be worried about, that’s just how Alura rolls,” Shen chuckled. “She might be a bit prickly, but from what I’ve heard it’s mostly because of her upbringing. She’ll probably warm up to you eventually.”
Neil grinned, “Thanks Boss, I’ll keep that in mind.” Neil froze as he looked ahead, in the middle of a small clearing was a rock, and on top of that was a blue Nova Sphere. Neil gave a wide grin as he approached it, “Sweet! The others are gonna be so-”
Before he could say more, Neil was knocked to the ground with a yell by a blue blur.
“I wonder how Neil’s doing?” Aster said, thinking aloud to himself as he dug through scorched wood.
Brando nodded as he looked through a small opening into a mostly intact house a few yards away, “Yeah, hopefully he’s cooking up an interesting find, what do you think, Alura?”
“Hope he’s doing well,” Alura said calmly as she looked around the area, trying to see if anything was amiss. Despite the calmness in her voice, Aster and Brando knew she was just putting on an act.
Aster would’ve rolled his eyes if he could have, “Oh come on Alura, we’re your friends, no need to put on that mysterious act around us. We know it’s a bunch of bologna anyway.”
“Alright, fine,” Alura responded. “It’s Neil. I just don’t think he’s ready to fight alongside us just yet. I mean, I’ve been training him to try and help him get better, and he has a fight under his belt, but it just feels like he isn’t ready yet, you know?”
Brando looked over at her, “I don’t think there’s any use in getting worked up over it Alura, he’s trying to get better, and the training you’re giving him is helping a lot.”
Alura thought for a moment, “I guess you’re right, maybe I’m underestimating him, but it just feels so weird to throw someone who just joined into the battlefield.”
“Hey, he kicked some major Imperial butt, I think he at least knows what he’s doing, and I think the Boss knows what he’s doing sending him out with us too,” Aster added.
Alura thought for a moment before speaking, chuckling a bit, “You’re right, I should probably stop worrying so much, maybe the Commander sees something in him that I just can’t.”
Neil looked up at the wolfman that had pinned him to the ground, his claws splayed. The wolfman had heterochromia, his left eye red and his right eye blue, he had a white hair swept to the left, and a few white markings were painted on his blue fur. “Who are you? Are you with them?” the wolfman growled.
“The Empire?” Neil assumed that they were the “them” the wolfman was speaking about, “I’m not with them at all, me and the others who came here are trying to take them down, actually.”
The wolfman’s eyes widened, “You are not with the one with the steel skin and long neck?”
“I don’t even know who you’re talking about,” Neil replied, trying to calm him down.
The wolfman got off of him, allowing him to get to his feet. Neil noticed the wolfman was quite a bit shorter than him, which surprised him a bit. The wolfman circled around him, “I am sorry, I thought you and your friends were with them.”
“It’s no problem, man,” Neil replied, “I’m Neil, by the way.”
“I am Sirius of clan…” Sirius trailed off for a moment, “Freki.”
Neil gave a smile, “Fitting name.”
“Why do you say that?” Sirius gave a confused look.
Neil shook his head, “Nevermind.” He watched as Sirius grabbed and picked up the blue Nova Sphere, which was attached to a string, making it the decoration of a necklace. It didn’t glow, much like Neil’s did up until recently, but he knew that its power was still there. Neil’s eyes widened, “Hey! Me and my friends were sent to find that, and you too.”
“Why, why do you need it?” Sirius growled and held the Nova Sphere closer to his chest.
Neil thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the legend to him, but after a moment he gave up, “Uh, listen, my friends can explain it better than I can, so just follow me, okay?”
“All right, I shall go with you, but I expect an explanation,” Sirius replied, easing up a little.
Neil nodded, “Sounds like a plan, let’s go then.” With that the two of them made their way back towards the village, though Neil noted that Sirius didn’t appear to need directing back to it.
In another part of the galaxy, an Imperial ship flew through space. It resembled the moai-like tower ships, though this one was much larger, and resembled three connected together around a central unit, a large ring encircling the whole thing. It was green, a modification made by the Duke commanding it, Kaus. The Ojikazoan made his way down one of the corridors of the ship, holding a golden halberd. The halberd’s head was designed to resemble a bow, while the bottom of the shaft was decorated to resemble the fletching of an arrow. Sensing an electrical field behind him, Kaus turned to see a Flatborg approaching him, “What is it?”
The Flatborg took a knee, “Duke Kaus, a Revolution ship has been spotted near the planet Fenrisulfr in the Lupus system.”
Kaus used one of his clawed hands to stroke his chin, “Strange, I do believe that Sir Alderamin just finished conquering that world.” He paused for a moment, “Regardless, it seems our hunt is already coming to an end. Pity, I was hoping for it to last longer.” He gave a small hand motion, “Set a course for the Lupus system, we’re ending them today.”
The Flatborg nodded as it got to its feet, “Right away, Duke Kaus.”
Kaus gave a barely audible chuckle, “I’m sure his magnificence will be pleased to know that these thorns in his side will be dealt with in a very short order.”
“-and that’s the general gist of it,” Alura finished explaining the legend to Sirius. He and Neil had arrived a few minutes ago, and after a short introduction between Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Brando, Alura had begun explaining the situation to Sirius.
Sirius nodded, “I see, so this sphere has the power to defeat the ones who did this to my home.”
“Yeah, it does,” Neil replied. “But anyway, what about this long-necked guy with steel skin you were telling me about?”
Sirius sighed, “He and his warriors appeared a few days ago and began laying waste to our lands, we tried to stop them, but it was all in vain.” He picked up a stick and began etching a drawing in the dirt, “He looked like this.”
Brando looked at the drawing before lifting up his Morpher to speak into it, “Birdie, do you know who this guy is?”
“That would appear to be Duke Alderamin of Cepheus, the Butcher of Cepheus himself. He’s one of the Knights of Andromeda, the Emperor’s three top enforcers,” Birdie explained. “Of the three, he’s the most proactive in leading the Dark Matter Empire’s forces, and has led the conquest of many planets.”
“So that guy is some major bad news, good thing we’ve found another chosen to help us, right guys?” Neil said, smiling. There was an awkward silence as Aster, Alura, and Brando looked at him, “Right guys?”
Alura sighed, “Neil, Sirius isn’t chosen.”
“What? But he has a Nova Sphere, doesn’t he?” Neil said with a look of confusion.
“It’s not glowing,” Aster said, “if it was then that would mean it’s chosen someone.”
“Oh,” Neil replied, “so now what? Do we just take it and hope we can find someone that it does choose?”
“No!” Sirius suddenly growled, making all four of them recoil, “I won’t let you take it!”
“Okay, okay!” Neil said, backing up and raising his hands.
Alura looked at Sirius, “Why do you need it?”
Sirius thought back to the battle between his people and the Empire, how they fell one by one to the seemingly never ending hordes. “It is… a gift from my wife when we first got married. She found it in the woods one day. I lost her in the invasion, this Nova Sphere as you call it is all I have left.” There was a look of unimaginable sadness on Sirius’s face as he clutched the Nova Sphere, holding onto it like his life depended on it.
“Oh,” Neil said, realizing what Sirius meant, “I’m… sorry to hear that.” Neil thought for a moment before speaking, “But maybe you can still join us? Maybe we could end up helping you get chosen by it then.”
“Yeah,” Brando added, “just because you aren’t chosen now doesn’t mean you won’t be in the future.”
Sirius looked down, staring at the wolf symbol inside of the blue Nova Sphere, “I… I cannot.”
Neil looked at him, “What? Why?”
Sirius sighed as he gazed at the Nova Sphere, “I have nothing left to fight for, everything and everyone I cared about is gone, my clan, my home, and the woman I loved. What reason do I have to carry on?” Sirius seemed to be on the verge of tears now, “I tried to fight them, but that did not change anything, I.. I could not protect them, I… could not protect her.”
“You’re wrong, Sirius,” Neil said, a look of conviction on his face, “you do have a reason.” Aster, Alura, and Brando watched as Neil approached Sirius.
“I.. I do?” Sirius said, confused. He peeled his mismatched eyes away from the Nova Sphere to look at Neil, an inquisitive look on his face.
Neil nodded, a fire in his eyes, “The Empire took your home, they took your people, and they took your wife, are you really going to let them do it all over again to others somewhere else? You can still fight for your people, fight to bring the Empire to justice and take down this Alderamin guy so they can find peace, and fight to make sure no one has to suffer the way you did. Just because they’re gone doesn’t mean they aren’t still with you, you can still make them proud.”
“Neil’s right, you can give them justice, they can be your reason,” Aster added, sounding unusually solemn.
Sirius looked at the Nova Sphere, his eyes widening as he took in Neil’s words. “You… you are right, they are still with me, still here.” He closed his eyes before giving a determined look, “I will fight for them, I will make the Empire pay for what it has done!”
Suddenly, the Nova Sphere began to emit a brilliant blue light, making Neil, Aster, Alura, and Brando cover their eyes and step back. A few moments later, the light subsided and Sirius looked at the Nova Sphere in confusion, “What.. What was that?”
“The Nova Sphere, it’s chosen you!” Aster excitedly said, pumping his fist in the air, “Five down, four to go!”
Alura grinned, “Welcome to the Revolution, Sirius.”
“It’s good to have another cook in the kitchen,” Brando smiled, shaking Sirius's clawed hand.
Sirius turned to look back at Neil, “Thank you, Neil, for helping me realize there is still something worth fighting for.”
“It’s no problem, Sirius, but I was just saying what I was thinking,” Neil replied, smiling.
Alura spoke into her Morpher, “Great news, Boss. We found the Nova Sphere, and its chosen too!”
“That’s incredi-ball! Bring them up here ASAP,” Shen’s voice rang from the Morpher.
Alura nodded, “Aster, could you give him the Morpher?”
“Sure,” the robotic bull replied, opening the case he was carrying. Sirius looked at the gauntlet curiously for a moment before sliding it onto his right arm.
“Now just follow what we-” Alura began to say before being cut off.
Sirius pointed off toward the ocean, “What is that?” Hovering above the ocean was a massive ship with three drills on it pointing towards them. Neil recognized it, while it might have been a different color, but it was the same kind of tower ship that crushed the building his and Arthur’s mother was in.
“That’s an Executor-class Consumoai,” Brando said with wide eyes, “The Duke of every constellation system has one, this is bad.”
On board the Consumoai Kaus looked at the display in front of him showing the Rangers from where he sat at the ship’s control seat. “Looks like they’ve made friends with one of the locals,” Kaus said to no one in particular as he noticed the wolfman standing with them, “No matter, fire on them and mobilize our forces.”
Energy beams promptly fired from the Consumoai’s drills, hitting the ground around Neil, Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Brando and causing several large explosions. The group fell to the ground, but quickly got to their feet just as a massive horde of Greyders led by a handful of Flatborgs appeared. “There’s a lot more of them than before,” Brando observed.
Aster slammed his fists together, “Fine by me, I’m hoping that it lasts longer this time.”
“Guess we’re all ready then,” Alura said, a confident look on her face.
“Let’s go!” Neil said confidently. At that, the four of them inserted their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
The four of them performed the steps on their Morphers before all shouting in unison, “Star Charge!” They were enveloped in light, and when it subsided they emerged in their suits.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
Sirius’s eyes widened as he saw them change, “What in the name of the spirits?” He quickly shook his head, regaining his focus and putting his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
Sirius mimicked the actions the others did, “Star Charge!” In an instant, he was enveloped in blue light. The light vanished, and Sirius emerged.
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!” His suit was blue and unlike the suits the others wore, his seemed to be made mostly of a fuzzy blue material as opposed to the spandex-like one that comprised the suits of the others. His gloves and feet ended in claws, and white fur poked up around his neck. His helmet had a pair of raised ear-like sections on it, and the visor was shaped like a howling wolf viewed from the side.
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the five of them said in unison as a colorful explosion occurred behind them.
Neil turned to look at Sirius for a moment, “Woah, you look sick!”
Sirius gave him a confused look, “But I feel perfectly fine.”
“We can teach you about figures of speech later, let’s take these guys down first!” Alura exclaimed.
“Right, let’s go!” Neil said as the five of them began charging at the horde.
“So that guy’s the new Ranger?” Arthur asked, looking up from his datapad to look at the screen displaying what was happening on Fenrisulfr’s surface.
Birdie nodded, “Our readings indicate that he is.”
“He might have the Lupus Nova Sphere, but with five Rangers with us now, I’m sure the Empire will find him un-bear-able,” Shen chuckled as he spun his cane, “Let’s see what this guy can do!”
“Star Sword!”
“Star Axe!”
“Star Rapier!”
“Star Saber!”
Neil, Aster, Alura, and Brando deployed their weapons as they charged at the horde, slicing and stabbing through the dozens of Greyders that stood in their way. Neil charged at a Flarborg, jumping high into the air and performing a front flip before slicing through the Flatborg from above, the resulting explosion taking several other Greyders out of the equation as well. Aster sliced and punched several Greyders, even grabbing one and throwing it into a Flatborg. Several Greyders and even a Flatborg fell to the ground and exploded seemingly because of nothing, though it was clear that Alura was responsible. Brando fended off several Greyders as well, blocking their blades with his saber and skillfully retaliating with quick slices, “Eat this!” Unbeknownst to him, a Flatborg was approaching him from behind.
Before the Flatborg could land a hit, Sirius lunged at it, gripping onto the front of it and clawing at it as he growled, “I will tear you apart!” The Flatborg tried to throw him off, but he had already leapt off. Sirius jumped up, delivering several devastating kicks with his clawed feet and making the Flatborg collapse. He looked at the horde of Greyders surrounding him, and looked at the Star Weapon in his hand. He took the axe-like blade and folded it up so its blades were parallel before attaching it to the front of the grip, “Star Claw!” Using his new weapon in conjunction with his clawed gloves, he began tearing through the Greyders with unpredictable, animalistic force.
“What? I was told there were only four!” Kaus said with annoyance as he watched the wolfman tackle, claw, and kick through his forces while ducking under any swings or shots directed at him. Kaus took a moment to compose himself before issuing a command to the Greyders and Flatborgs still present, “Ready the Moriders and attack their ship, even if they do survive our attack it will mean nothing if they are stranded on this backwater planet.”
Dozens of moai-shaped ships with rings on top of them shot out of the Consumoai’s three drills, with all of them flying upwards along with the Consumoai itself moments afterwards. Sirius leapt and spun out of the way of a Greyder’s blade before delivering a claw swipe to it and a few others nearby before looking at the Consumoai, “Where are they going?”
The team’s Morphers suddenly rang, prompting Brando to respond as he ducked out of the way of a Flatborg’s tonfa, “What is it?”
“The Orion is under attack! Requesting immediate assistance!” Birdie said panicking as the Orion’s bridge rocked from the impact of a Morider’s blast. Shen was currently holding onto some of the bridge’s railing while grabbing onto Arthur so he wouldn’t be tossed around the room.
“Arthur!” Neil said as he thought about what could happen to his brother, swinging his sword in a wide arc and destroying several Greyders in the process.
“We need to finish this fast,” Alura said, stabbing a few Greyders in short succession.
Aster kicked a Greyder in the chest, sending it flying, “Agreed.” He was quickly surrounded by more of them, which all swung their blades down at him, he ducked down, using his axe to block it before quickly rising up, making their blades stop connecting and making them dragged back. Spinning in a circle with his axe, Aster promptly destroyed them.
Neil, Aster, Alura, and Brando plugged their Nova Spheres into their Star Weapons and readied themselves.
“Regulus Strike!” Neil gave a downward swing with his sword, sending a large red energy slash at a pair of Flatborgs, creating a massive explosion on impact.
“Aldebaran Strike!” Aster swung his axe, the path of the black energy axe curving like a boomerang and destroying dozens of Greyders.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!” Alura’s rapier glowed green and extended. Alura pointed it in front of her, lashing dozens of Greyders repeatedly and making them explode.
“Doradus Strike!” Five yellow energy blades appeared in front of Brando, and with a swing of his saber he launched them forward in a large arc, destroying every Greyder they hit.
Seeing what they did Sirius decided to try it out for himself, plugging his Nova Sphere onto his Star Claw, “Lupi Strike!” He swung with the claw, sending a pair of blue energy blades spinning forward like boomerangs, destroying what few Greyders remained.
“That’s the last of them, let’s get to the Orion,” Alura said. She, Neil, Aster, and Brando inserted their Nova Spheres into their Morphers, flicking their Nova Spheres and pressing the button to call their Zords.
“Leo Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The four of them were quickly encased in their enlarged Nova Spheres, which promptly flew off and attached to their respective Zords. Sirius gave a determined look, “Alright, my turn!”
“Lupus Zord!”
Sirius was quickly surrounded by his Nova Sphere, which flew off to connect to a massive grey and blue mechanical wolf. Like the Taurus, Chameleon, and Dorado Zords, the cockpit of the Lupus Zord was at the back of it in place of its tail. Using the Zord, he charged into the air after the others.
Chaos erupted as soon as the Rangers reached the Orion in space, an all-out dogfight with the Empire’s forces occurring immediately. The Zords zipped around, blasting Moriders to pieces with colorful energy blasts, but also dispatching them in more unique ways as well. Neil fired several missiles from the Leo Zord’s forelimbs, which seeked out Moriders to blow to smithereens. Sirius used the Lupus Zord’s claws to rip through hulls, and in more than a few cases make them explode. Aster took a more direct approach, ramming the Taurus Zord through the Moriders. Alura extended the cable-like tongue of the Chamaeleon Zord, wrapping around a few and crushing them. Lastly, Brando made good use of the Dorado Zord’s “beak,” using it to slice Moriders to pieces.
Neil noticed the Consumoai, and took aim at it. A large cannon extended from the mouth of the Leo Zord, firing a large blast of energy at the ship. While the Consumoai was rocked by the shot, it immediately retaliated by firing blasts at the Chamaeleon Zord and the Dorado Zord, sending them spinning out of control. Neil heard yells of surprise from Alura and Brando over the comms as he flew towards them, “Guys, don’t worry, I’m coming!” He looked at his Morpher, “There’s gotta be something I can do.” He flicked the Nova Sphere to the right, “Let’s try this!”
The Leo Zord’s cockpit rotated ninety degrees forward before rotating one hundred and eighty degrees to the side, meaning Neil was looking directly out of its back. The forelimbs of the Zord flipped upside down, revealing that there was a pair of circular slots on the underside, which the cockpits of the Chamaeleon Zord and Dorado Zord moved towards and slipped into, Alura and Brando giving sounds of surprise as they did so. Finally, the Leo Zord’s head rotated much like the cockpit did, its mouth opening to reveal a metallic face inside. The three Zords were now like parts of a humanoid robot, with the Leo Zord forming the torso, the Chamaeleon Zord forming the left arm, and the Dorado Zord forming the right arm.
Alura gave a sound of surprise, “I didn’t know they could combine! Did you Brando?”
“No, not at all,” Brando responded, sounding equally surprised. “They were cool enough already, but them being able to do this just adds a little extra kick!”
Neil chuckled, “Well then, let’s see what this thing can do!” Neil throttled forward towards the Consumoai, zipping around it as Brando used the Dorado Zord to slice into it.
The Consumoai’s control room shook violently as Kaus watched the chaos unfold outside, “Impertinent little-”
A colossal hologram of the Emperor promptly appeared before Kaus, filling most of the room, “Duke Kaus, I trust your hunt for the Rangers is going well?” The Emperor’s voice was as dull as ever.
“Your magnificence, I implore you for some assistance, they are far more troublesome than I anticipated,” Kaus replied.
Karna Rog gave a small nod, “Consider this a blessing, Duke Kaus.” The hologram promptly disappeared.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, the Emperor raised an arm, Ankaa not even reacting from where he stood next to him. “I believe we should make this little scuffle a bit more fair, what do you say?” Karna Rog said flatly, though he didn’t seem to be addressing Ankaa. In one fluid motion, the Emperor gave a crisp, resounding snap with his taloned digits.
A dark cloud formed over the Consumoai, barely visible against the void of space. In an instant, a bolt of pitch black lightning shot down from the cloud, striking a Flatborg on the outside of the ship. The Flatborg dispersed into a mass of dark energy swirling around before growing larger. After a moment the Flatborg reappeared, now the size of a skyscraper.
“Woah!” Neil said, shocked at the dramatic increase in size.
“It’s gigantic!” Alura added, equally surprised at how colossal the Flatborg now was.
Brando took a few slices at the Flatborg with the Dorado Zord, “Now’s not the time for gawking! We need to finish this thing now!”
“Right!” Alura said, using the Chamaeleon Zord to punch the Flatborg a few times.
By now, the Flatborg decided to retaliate, slamming its tonfa into the combined Zord’s chest with enough force to send it careening towards Fenrisulfr’s icy moon.
“We’re gonna crash!” Neil shouted.
“Oh no you won’t!” Aster responded through the comms. Suddenly, the Lupus Zord and Taurus Zord appeared flying towards the combined Zord, their positions shifting and their cockpits sliding into circular indentation on the underside of the Leo Zord’s hind legs, forming a pair of legs, the Taurus Zord the right and the Lupus Zord the left. With its new legs, the combined Zord landed on the moon with little issue.
“Thanks for the save you two!” Neil said thankfully.
Sirius growled, “It is no problem, we just finished dealing with the last of those ships.”
“That’s good to hear!” Alura exclaimed.
Just then, the Flatborg jumped from the Consumoai, landing some ways away from them and brandishing a glowing multi-tailed whip in addition to its tonfa. “Looks like we’re not out of the frying pan just yet,” Brando said as the “beak” of the Dorado Zord moved upwards, making it more like a sword in the combined Zord’s hand.
“Well then, we’ll just have to show them what this Supernova Megazord can do then,” Neil said, moving the Megazord into a fighting stance.
“That’s incredible!” Arthur said, looking at the Megazord as he pushed himself against the window of the bridge.
Now that they weren’t under fire, Birdie turned to look at Shen, “Commander Long, were you aware that the Zord were capable of doing this?”
Shen shook his head and tapped his cane against the floor, “No, not at all, but with this new development it’s sure to turn this fight a-round!”
The Supernova Megazord charged at the enlarged Flatborg, using the “beak” of the Dorado Zord as a sword to slice at it. The Flatborg responded immediately, using its tonfa to block the attack. Unfortunately for it, it wasn’t able to block the next few slices, sparks shooting from it as it was cut. In retaliation it slammed its tonfa into the Megazord’s chest, making it stagger back, though thankfully for Neil it didn’t break the Leo Zord’s cockpit.
“Want a test of strength?” Aster asked confidently as he fiddled with the controls of the Taurus Zord, “Bring it on!” The treads of the Taurus Zord began to spin, propelling the Megazord forward as it stabbed the Dorado Zord into the Flatborg’s chest, pushing the Flatborg along with it and crashing through several ice spikes. After a moment the Megazord stopped, making the Flatborg stagger back before delivering another slice.
Alura wasted no time with using the controls of the Chameleon Zord, “How about we get this wrapped up?” The wire-like tongue of the Chameleon Zord shot forward, wrapped around the front of the Flatborg’s tonfa. Alura grinned under her helmet, “Gotcha!” With one firm yank, the tonfa was liberated from the Flatborg’s hand and sent flying.
“You’re toast!” Brando said, using the Dorado Zord to deliver a flurry of quick stabs to the Flatborg.
Sirius growled, “For clan Freki!” The Megazord spun around before performing a heel kick with the Lupus Zord, the Zord’s clawed limbs slicing into the Flatborg’s face and chest. The Flatborg staggered back, falling and collapsing into some ice spikes.
“Let’s finish this!” Neil said, flicking his Nova Sphere back a few times.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of each Zord began to glow, the light soon flying away from them and to the Megazord’s sword, which began to glow a brilliant yellow light. A beam of energy shot forth from the blade as it delivered a devastating downward slice, meteors roaring down and crashing into the Flatborg as well. A few of the meteors hit the Consumoai as well, sending it spiraling down to Fenrisulfr. Electricity crackled around the Flatborg as an icy chasm opened beneath it, causing the Flatborg to fall into it before creating a massive explosion. “Oh yeah, we’re gonna take the galaxy back!” Neil exclaimed.
“No time to celebrate guys,” Birdie’s voice rang from their Morphers, “you need to get back here now, we’re gonna warp jump before any more Imperial forces arrive.”
“Got it,” Alura said. With that the Megazord separated into its component Zords, which promptly flew towards the Orion. A few moments after they had all landed on it the warp jump was performed, and the Orion seemed to blink out of existence.
A few hours later, the Consumoai was back in space, and in its control room Duke Kaus bowed before a hologram of the Emperor. “Your magnificence, I apologize deeply for my failure to terminate the insurgents,” Kaus said ready to for his reprimand from Karna Rog, “Not only have I failed to put a stop to them, but they have also gained a new member.”
Karna Rog was quiet for a moment, “Yes Duke Kaus, you did fail me, however, I believe this could be a blessing in disguise.”
“Your magnificence, I’m afraid I do not follow,” Kaus said with surprise and confusion in his voice.
The Emperor raised his hand, seemingly to stroke his chin, “It will be far easier to wipe them out if they are all together. Continue to hunt them, but be aware that it would probably be much easier for you to gather them together before putting them down.”
“Of-of course your magnificence,” Kaus responded, “I will not let you down, you have my word.” With that, the Emperor’s hologram disappeared.
“Your condition is worsening, my liege,” Mirfak said, rolling his head around as he stepped into the throne room moments after the Emperor’s communication with Kaus was finished, “three hundred years ago you wouldn’t have hesitated to reduce a subordinate that failed you to ashes.”
Karna Rog looked at the Knight of Andromeda, “Duke Kaus’s loyalty to our cause is second to none, Sir Mirfak. It would be foolish to dispose of such a loyal asset for one failure.”
“You are correct my liege, but you still cannot deny your condition is getting worse,” Mirfak said lifting his organic hand to his chin as he walked closer to the throne, Ankaa watching him like a hawk from where he stood beside it.
The Emperor tapped his digits against his throne, “That I cannot, but it will not matter once Project Wormwood is completed.”
“Work on it is progressing well, I suppose I should take my leave to check on Dogolem and the Doctor, and to avoid running into Dame Schedar. I am not taking part in the production of her propaganda posters ever again," Mirfak replied.
Karna Rog nodded, “Good, keep me informed.”
“I will,” Mirfak said as he began to exit the room.
“I hate you,” the Emperor said suddenly. His voice was filled with venom, a far cry from its usual stoicism.
Mirfak sighed, resting his head in his organic hand, “As I said, it’s getting worse.” With that, he left the room.
It was quiet for a moment before Karna Rog turned to look to his side, opposite to Ankaa, “It doesn’t matter how many of them there are, they’ll fall to me all the same.”
“So, what are the Zords anyway?” Arthur asked from where he was sitting in the bridge, catching Shen’s attention. The Rangers were currently showing Sirius around the Orion, so at the moment only Arthur, Shen, and Birdie were in the bridge.
Shen stroked his metallic beard, “Well, we don’t entirely know actually, but I have run a few tests.”
“And what did you find, Mr. Long?” Arthur asked curiously as Birdie typed away at a datapad.
“Well,” Shen said, “the energy they give off is similar to the Nova Spheres, we believe they’re connected in some way, possibly as other manifestations of a constellation system’s power. Though we don’t know for sure. We discovered the Dorado Zord first, and I modified the Morphers to tune into the same frequency they operate on to immediately call them to the Moepher’s location, regardless of whether we've found the Zord or not.”
Arthur nodded along, “Interesting.”
“Not every system has a Zord though, it seems like only the ones spoken about in the legend do,” Shen added.
Arthur shook his head, “That’s a shame, it’s pretty cool how you know all that though.”
Shen chuckled, “Thanks, it’s nice that someone finds this old man’s ramblings interesting.”
“Commander Long, you’re only forty, and I listen to you all the time,” Birdie said, looking up from her datapad.
Shen chuckled, “That is true, Birdie, but it’s nice to have someone else a-round too.” Birdie facepalmed, but Arthur gave a small chuckle.
“So, how did you go from being the Revolution’s head scientist to its leader?” Arthur asked curiously.
Shen froze, reaching into his pocket to fiddle with something, “That is… a story for another time.” Shen’s voice lost its usual goofy tone, instead being much more solemn, and Arthur wondered what could elicit such a reaction from the Commander.
The door to the bridge opened, and the Rangers strolled in, though Sirius had a bit of a dazed expression on his face, now wearing a jacket like the others, his had blue highlights that were a different shade of blue than the rest of the jacket. Immediately after coming in, Sirius took a seat. “You okay buddy?” Neil asked, looking at the wolfman.
“Yeah, you’re looking pretty out of it,” Aster added.
Sirius took a deep breath and rubbed his snout, “I am sorry, this is just..”
“Jarring?” Alura suggested.
“Yes,” Sirius said, “I.. never imagined a place like your ship could exist.”
“Yeah, I imagine it’s pretty different from what you’re used to,” Brando said.
Birdie looked at him, “Don’t worry Sirius, we’ll try to provide for you and ease you in as best as we can.”
“Yes, you’re part of the team now, and we’re the Revolution, we accept anyone, we’ll be more than happy to accommodate you,” Shen said.
Sirius seemed to have pulled himself together by now, and he smiled, well, as best as he could, having a snout, “Thank you, all of you. He turned to look at Neil, “Especially you, Neil.”
“Oh it’s no problem,” Neil said, scratching the back of his head.
“Now, how about we all have some well deserved r and r?” Shen said, smiling.
Neil grinned as the team prepared to leave the room to go unwind, “Sounds like a plan, Boss.”
Notes:
Comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 3: Gold and Silver
Chapter Text
On the planet Sigama on the border between the Libra and Ophiuchus systems, a young man with pale skin, short silver hair, grey reptilian eyes, a few patches of silver scales on his face, and wearing a silver outfit sat in a diner beside a golden robotic being, a pair of golden, diamond-shaped growths dangling from the sides of their head like the weight pans of a scale. A screen affixed to the roof of the diner played a news report, the metallic being looking at it intently, “In other news, the Power Rangers are still at large. These spandex wearing hooligans have killed many brave men and women serving the Dark Matter Empire. Anyone who can contribute to the capture or termination of them has been asked to come forward.”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous, don’t ya think, Hydra?” the golden being turned and pointed at a bounty poster on the wall, “These guys just come onto the scene, and their bounty is already ten times ours.”
The young man, Hydra Trabem, laughed. It wasn’t a laugh of annoyance or disbelief, it was just a laugh. After a moment he stopped, his expression becoming neutral as he turned to look at his partner, who was looking at him with mild disappointment, “Judging by your expression, I assume that wasn’t how I was supposed to respond, Tip?”
“Well, kinda?” the golden being, Tip said, “I mean, you can laugh, just put a bit more annoyance or disbelief into it in a situation like this, anger is what you should be feeling.”
Hydra nodded, trying to grimace, “Right, I’ll keep that in mind. Emotions are hard.”
“Oh come on, you’re getting better!” Tip said, chuckling.
“So to conclude,” Birdie said, holding a pointer and standing beside the bridge’s table, which was currently displaying a triangle separated into colorful sections, “the lowest part of the Empire's hierarchy are the combatants like Greyders and Flatborgs, above them are the Marquises who oversee planets, above them are the Jesters who act as the Empire’s assassins, above them are the Dukes and Duchesses who govern the eighty eight constellation systems, above them are the Knights of Andromeda, and above them is the Emperor himself.” She was quiet for a moment before turning to look at where Neil, Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Brando were sitting, “Any questions?”
“And you said there were three of these Knights of Amoeba?” Neil asked.
Birdie gave a small groan, “Knights of Andromeda, and yes, there are.”
This lecture to brief Neil and Sirius seemed to have been going on forever, Sirius was listening intently, but Neil seemed to be grasping the general gist of the more complex things being said. Meanwhile, Aster, Alura, and Brando sat quietly, all in states of disinterest as they had heard this all before, Aster in particular was reading a magazine. Sensing Birdie’s irritation, Brando spoke up, “Don’t get mad Birdie, he’s getting it.”
“Right, right, sorry,” Birdie replied, “this is taking longer than I thought it would.”
“Yeah, you seem to be getting out of it a bit,” Aster added.
Alura nodded, “Why don’t you take a breather?”
“Alright, alright, I will. I hope you found my explanations informative, Neil and Sirius,” Birdie said, taking a seat herself and putting her pointer off to the side.
Sirius nodded, “I did, it is always important to know your enemy.”
“Yeah, I think I get the general idea too,” Neil added.
Birdie gave a thumbs up, “I’m glad I could be of assistance.” With that, she took out a datapad and began typing away on it.
“Good news, everybody!” Shen said as he suddenly entered the bridge, Arthur in tow.
The Rangers turned to look at him, “What is it?” Brando asked.
“Well,” Shen said, “the Nova Sphere tracker was going off the fritz, so Arthur here helped me recalibrate it.”
Neil looked at his brother, a smile on his face, “Really? That’s awesome Arthur! I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders.”
“Heh, thanks,” Arthur said, giving a small smile as he pushed his glasses back up.
“And that’s not all!” Shen added, giving a small dance in place, “The recalibration also located two Nova Spheres, which seem to be legendary ones at that too!”
“Two?” everyone said in unison, surprise on their faces.
Shen chuckled, “Yes, two.” He looked at Neil, “I swear you and your brother are some kind of good luck charm, Neil. Ever since you joined, we’ve been on a roll with finding the legendary Nova Spheres.”
“Well thanks, I guess,” Neil said sheepishly.
“Birdie, set a course for the planet Sigama, that’s where we’re detecting it,” Shen continued.
Birdie nodded as she got up from her seat and moved towards the pilot’s seat, “Right away, Commander.”
Brando smiled, “Sigama eh? I love that place! It’s always got the best ingredients money can buy.”
“What is this Sigama like?” Sirius asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
“I think I read about it,” Arthur said suddenly, “It’s one of the galaxy’s most important trade hubs, and a melting pot of all kinds of cultures.”
Alura nodded, “Yeah, that tracks from what I’ve heard about it.”
“Wonderful place, just need to keep away from anyone suspicious,” Aster said, delicately using a pencil to trace a path through a maze on one of the magazine’s pages.
Brando looked at him, “Oh, you’ve been?”
“A few times,” Aster nodded.
Alura shrugged, “I guess you learn something new everyday.”
“Then I’m sure you two will be a big help with navigating it,” Neil smiled.
“Alright everyone, you know the drill,” Shen said after a moment, “find the Nova Spheres and if they’ve chosen anyone, find them too. We’ll be making the warp jump to Sigama shortly.”
“Got it!” the Rangers said in unison.
A few minutes later, the Rangers landed on Sigama, though they weren’t wearing their Revolution jackets, wearing them in such a populated place was bound to attract unwanted attention. The entire planet seemed to be a sprawling metropolis, with towering buildings and near constant hustle and bustle, though there was an obvious dark side, Imperial Propaganda posters plastered on walls here and there. The moment Sirius’s Nova Sphere cockpit disappeared, he froze. “Sirius?” Aster asked, turning to look at the wolfman, “Are you okay?”
Sirius inhaled through his mouth before responding, “So many sounds, so many smells, it is just so overwhelming.”
“Hey,” Neil said softly, “do you want to wait this one out?”
Brando nodded, “Yeah, you can head back to the Orion if this is too much.”
“No,” Sirius said, taking a moment to compose himself, “it is fine, I can get used to it, it is just surprising.”
“If you say so,” Neil said, looking at the case he was holding that had a pair of Supernova Morphers in it, “Alura, any idea where the Nova Spheres could be?”
Alura pulled out the Nova Sphere tracker, looking at it. After a moment she turned to look towards a Harvester-class Consumoai, the most generic kind. “The energy signature seems to be coming from inside it,” Alura said after a moment.
“So what’re we waiting for, let’s just head in and grab them!” Neil said excitedly.
Steam shot out of Aster’s nostrils as he shook his head, “Neil, as much as I like fighting, even I think that’s a bad idea.”
Alura nodded, “Aster’s right, there’s no telling how many Greyders and Flatborgs are in that Consumoai, there’s probably all kinds of traps too, and that’s not even mentioning the fact that there’s a Marquis on it.”
Neil sighed, “You’re right, we gotta be delicate here.” Neil thought for a moment, “Say, do we know who the Marquis running the show around here is?”
“I’ll check with Birdie,” Brando said, lifting his Morpher up to speak into, “Birdie, any info about the Marquis of this place?”
On the Orion’s bridge, Birdie grabbed a datapad, typing on it, “Let me see.” After a few moments, she found what she was looking for, “His name is Betutt, he’s a Tutanian from the Lacerta system, meaning he has a long, powerful, and flexible tail. He’s apparently pretty greedy, and his preferred way of keeping the populace complacent is by stealing the important cultural artifacts of many different species to rob them of their culture.”
“Sheesh, this guy sounds like a nasty piece of work,” Shen said from behind her, currently in the process of tinkering with some kind of device with Arthur.
“Alright, thanks Birdie,” Brando said.
“It’s no problem,” Birdie replied.
“Alright then, so what is the plan?” Sirius asked.
Neil thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, “Well obviously we need to sneak in.”
“Big surprise there,” Aster snarked playfully.
Alura nodded, “But how are we supposed to do that? We don’t even know a way in.”
“Alright, so we’re breaking into the Consumoai the same way we always do?” a man with silver hair said to the shorter golden robotic being next to him as they walked past the Rangers.
“Absolutely!” the shorter machine replied, excited.
The Rangers went slacked jawed at the sheer convenience of this coincidence. “Sounds like we have our answer,” Neil said, smiling, “Hey! You two! Wait up!”
They turned to face him, “Who are you?” the young man asked.
“We’re the Power Rangers, we’re part of the Revolution, and we want to get in there too, we could work together,” Neil whispered.
“Oh absolutely not!” the golden being said, their eyes widening, “You guys stole our thunder!”
The young man spoke after a moment, “Calm down Tip, you’re angry. I think this would be a good idea as long as their goals do not interfere with ours.”
“But Hydra…” Tip pouted.
Alura’s eyes widened, “Wait a minute, you’re Hydra Trabem and Tip, two of the most infamous thieves in the galaxy!”
“Yes,” Hydra responded bluntly.
“Right on the money!” Tip said, striking a pose.
“Neil, we can’t associate with criminals!” Alura said, grabbing Neil and shaking him.
Tip chuckled, “Hey, technically you guys are criminals too.”
Alura stopped shaking Neil, “No we’re not!”
“According to Imperial order seven line three, it states that any insurgents against the Dark Matter Empire are to be treated as top-priority criminals,” Tip responded.
Alura looked at them, flabbergasted.
Tip shrugged, “What? I’m from the Libra system, the Empire has done most of its judicial stuff there for years, law is a mandatory part of the curriculum there.”
“Listen,” Neil said, “I think we got off on the wrong foot, how about we find somewhere to eat and try to figure out something that can benefit all of us?”
Hydra nodded, “That does sound like a good idea, it has been hours since I last ate.”
“I am pretty hungry too,” Sirius added.
Brando smiled, “I wouldn’t mind trying out some of the local cuisine.”
Tip sighed and shrugged, “Well, I guess me and Hydra know a place, come on.” They gestured for the others to follow them, which they did, though Alura didn’t seem too happy about it.
Sitting at a chair in a lavishly decorated room in the Consumoai was Marquis Betutt. He was a heavyset purple alien with a vaguely mammalian face and a red beard. He wore a red suit, with blue and gold growths jutting out of it at points, with a pair of eye-like markings on the ones near his chest, almost making it look like some huge Egyptian artifact was growing out of him. Currently he was observing a long staff with an axe-like head decorated with several crystal globes that he was holding. “Ooh, the staff of the kingdom of Troobia, think of all the kings and queens that have held it… and now it’s mine!” he handed the staff to a nearby Greyder, “Take this to the vault.”
As the Greyder left with the staff, a new figure entered the room, “Greetings, Marquis Betutt.”
“Duke Kaus, what do I owe the pleasure of being in your presence to?” Betutt got up from his seat and took a knee.
Kaus looked at his clawed digits, “I have been assigned by Emperor Karna Rog himself to hunt down the Revolution’s so-called “Power Rangers,” and I have reason to believe they are on this planet.”
“Truly?” Betutt asked.
Kaus nodded, “Correct, and I expect you to help me hunt them down.”
“But sir, I can’t do that, I have enough on my plate already with trying to stop thieves from interfering with my-our operations,” Betutt replied.
“Then make room for it,” Kaus said, glaring as the lights in the room suddenly flickered, “the hunt continues, and I have no intention of letting my prey escape.”
“Of-of course sir, I will mobilize forces to look for them immediately,” Betutt said as he stood up and exited the room.
“Good,” Kaus chuckled.
“So, let’s run through the plan one last time,” Tip said, looking at the Rangers from where they sat beside Hydra in the diner. They pointed at Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Brando, “You three will stay outside and do your… Power Ranger-y stuff to get everyone outside.” He looked at Neil, “From there, you, me, and Hydra will sneak into the Consumoai, then we’ll just get what we need, get out, and say our goodbyes.”
“So you want us to act as bait,” Alura deadpanned.
“Pretty much, but hey, you’ll get those Sphere things you’re looking for, and me and Hydra will get the jewel we’re after,” Tip replied.
Hydra nodded, “It’s something we will all benefit from.”
“You are not very expressive,” Sirius said as he tore into a meal he had ordered like a wild animal.
Neil looked at him, “Sirius, you can’t just say that!”
“It’s fine, and he’s correct,” Hydra replied, “I’m from the Ophiuchus system, and the people of my planet have suppressed all emotion to eliminate conflict.”
Brando looked up from his meal for the first time since he received it, obviously intent on seeing how good the food here was, “Huh, that’s interesting.”
“Why are you guys after this jewel anyway?” Alura asked again.
“We steal stuff from the Empire to make a living,” Tip replied, “apparently people are paying top credit to return that jewel to its homeworld.”
Alura was quiet for a moment, “Well, I guess since you’re stealing stuff from the Empire I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Anyway,” Neil said, looking at the other Rangers, “what do you guys think about the plan?”
Aster looked at him, “Sounds fine by me, I’m not really one for stealth anyway.”
“The plan they’ve cooked up sounds good,” Brando added.
Sirius shrugged, “I like it.”
“Alright,” Neil said, nodding, “then let’s get this show on the road.”
A little while later, Neil, Hydra, and Tip hid beside a part of a building that was under construction, waiting for the other team to make their move. “Mind telling me a bit about yourselves, y’know, to pass the time?” Neil asked.
“What would you like to know?” Hydra asked, as deadpan as ever.
Neil shrugged, “Like how you guys met and became thieves, you two seem like polar opposites.”
“I wanted to have emotions,” Hydra said after a moment, “and that is a very major offense on my planet, as it could possibly lead to major conflict. I was arrested and brought to the Libra system to stand trial.”
“And that’s where he found me!” Tip said helpfully, “I was the aid of the judge presiding over his case, but I thought the charges were a bunch of bologna so I decided to help him!”
“We’ve been on the run since then,” Hydra added.
Tip used one of their hands to pat Hydra’s shoulder, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way! This is so much more fun than being stuck in a stuffy courtroom all day.”
“And I have tried to understand emotions better, I wish to one day feel the same emotions most other species feel,” Hydra said.
“Well, I wish you luck then,” Neil said, spotting the other Rangers getting into position, “seems like it’s almost time to make our move.” Neil lifted up his Morpher and spoke into it, “Boss, we’re about to enter the Consumoai and retrieve the Nova Spheres inside it.”
Shen’s voice rang from the comm, “Alright, let’s get rolling then, and be careful.”
“Got it,” Neil smiled.
“Ready?” Alura asked, looking at Sirius, Aster, and Brando.
Aster picked up a piece of loose concrete, holding it in his hand, “As I’ll ever be.”
“Let us show these things what we can do,” Sirius said, getting into an animalistic stance.
Brando nodded, “Let’s filet these guys.”
“Alright then,” Alura said, turning to look at Aster, “Aster, if you would?”
The bovine robot chuckled, steam shooting out of his nostrils, “With pleasure.” He took aim at one of the Greyders patrolling the perimeter before hurling the piece of concrete at it. The hit connected, making the Greyder go down like a sack of bricks. In moments they were quickly surrounded by dozens of Greyders, a few looking down at them from nearby catwalks. The Greyders aimed at them.
“Looks like that got their attention,” Sirius observed. The Rangers readied their Morphers as the Greyders prepared to fire.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
A few moments later the Greyders fired, but the Rangers were ready, “Star Charge!” The blasts hit moments after they were surrounded by light.
The moment after the light faded, the Rangers got to work dealing with the Greyders. Sirius charged forward, grabbing a Greyder’s head and using it as leverage to leap up to a catwalk. From there, he clawed and kicked many of the Greyders on it, “Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
On the ground, Aster punched a Greyder in the chest, staggering it. From there, he kneed another in the chest before swinging his arm back and punching it in the face, sending it flying backwards, “Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
A Greyder staggered back, seemingly having been hit in the face by some kind of invisible force. A few moments later another was flipped, falling face-first on the ground as Alura blinked into existence, “Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
Brando grabbed another Greyder before plunging his pointed visor into its neck, making it fall to the ground. He grabbed another as it charged at him, casually tossing it to the side, “Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
As the fight raged outside, Neil, Tip, and Hydra snuck through a corridor inside the Consumoai. “So we’re just splitting up after all this is done?” Neil whispered as they approached the room that Tip and Hydra had said the jewel and Nova Spheres probably were in.
“It is the most beneficial conclusion,” Hydra whispered, “Tip is upset with you, and the woman named Alura does not seem too happy with our occupation.”
“Oh come on,” Neil said, “Alura said it herself, she’s fine with you since you guys are going after the Empire, and what do you mean that Tip doesn’t like us?”
As Tip reached a door, several wires extended from their arm, plugging into the door’s control pad, “Well, I kinda did, mostly just jealous of you being the Empire’s main target after we’ve worked for years to solidify that position, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Hydra looked at them, “You have?”
“Well, before I met you guys, I thought you were just a bunch of stuck-up goody two shoes that have the moral compass of justice incarnate who’d probably arrest us if they had the authority to. But after meeting you guys, well, you’re probably one of the only people that isn’t an employer who hasn’t tried to rat us out. Honestly, I think you’d make pretty good friends," Tip replied.
“Tip, what is a friend?” Hydra asked.
Neil froze for a moment, “Well, a friend is someone you’d do anything for, and someone who’d do anything for you. Most of the time it’s someone who likes the same things as you, but not all the time, you just need to care about each other.”
Hydra nodded as Tip continued with the door, “I see, so it is what me and Tip are, I didn’t know there was a word for it aside from “partners” and the like.”
“Wait, Hydra, did you just call me your friend?” Tip asked.
“Yes,” Hydra replied.
Tip was quiet for a moment, “Wow, I… never thought I’d hear that from you, Hydra, I mean for the most part you just act so professional.”
“I do, but it’s odd, it’s a sort of feeling that isn’t quite an emotion, I don’t know how to describe it, but I know you are my friend,” Hydra replied.
If Tip could smile they would have, “Well thanks, Hydra, that really means a lot.” After a moment, the door slid open, “Bingo!”
“How’d you do that?” Neil asked.
“It’s simple, being a machine life form means I can interface with machines,” Tip explained.
Neil nodded as they entered the room on the other side of the door, “Huh, neat.”
The room on the other side of the door was like a massive warehouse with countless relics stored in it, and they were standing on a catwalk above. They looked around for a moment until Tip spotted what they were looking for inside a glass case on the ground, “There!” Inside the case was a gold and silver jewel, exactly what they and Hydra were looking for.
“Alright, let’s head down there and-” Neil was cut off as a horde of Greyders emerged onto the catwalk. “Oh, no.” After a moment to compose himself, he lifted up his Morpher, “You two go down there and get that thing, I’ll hold these guys off.”
“Understood,” Hydra said, jumping over the catwalk’s railing alongside Tip.
Neil inserts his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, “Star Charge!”
He was engulfed in red light, which quickly disappeared to reveal him in his suit, “Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Star Sword!”
From there, he decided to bring out the big guns early, attaching the Nova Sphere to his sword, “Regulus Strike!”
He swung the sword, sending out a red energy slash and destroying the Greyders in front of him before spinning around to deliver another energy slash to the Greyders approaching from behind. Finally, he delivered a final energy slash to destroy the Greyders on a slightly higher catwalk. “How’s that?” Neil taunted before being slammed in the side by a blue and gold tail, knocking him off the catwalk and onto the ground below. Neil looked up to see Marquis Betutt looking down at him as Tip and Hydra extracted the jewel from its case, “Neil, let’s go!”
“Oh no you don’t, no one steals from Marquis Betutt’s personal collection and gets away with it!” Betutt roared, “Greyders!”
“And that’s the last of them!” Aster cheered as he watched a Greyder he just threw a barrel at explode.
“We really let them have it!” Brando added.
“We’re so awesome!” Alura said, skipping around for a moment before composing herself.
Their celebration was cut short as light descended onto a catwalk high above, quickly fading to reveal Kaus. “Greetings, Power Rangers, I am Duke Kaus of the Sagittarius system.”
“A Duke?” Sirius said in disbelief.
“What’s an Imperial big wig like you doing here?” Brando said, equally shocked.
Kaus looked at his clawed digits, electricity dancing between them, “I have orders from Emperor Karna Rog himself to hunt down and terminate you insurgents.” He looked at them, “Though it appears that one of you is missing.” Kaus leaned his halberd back, resting it against his shoulder, “Fine by me, it’ll just prolong the hunt.”
Sirius growled, “We will see about that!” Sirius charged forward, leaping high into the air with a front flip and landing on the catwalk right in front of Kaus. Sirius swiped a claw at Kaus, but Kaus was too fast, raising his hand to block Sirius’s. Immediately afterwards, Kaus thrusted his hand into Sirius’s chest, knocking Sirius off the catwalk and tumbling to the ground. Kaus jumped down after him, electricity crackling around him on the way down.
Aster moved into position beside Kaus, just in time to avoid two slashes of the Duke’s halberd directed at Alura and Brando, the slashes leaving trails of green energy in their wake and creating a shockwave. Thankfully, Alura and Brando moved out of the way just in time to avoid the attacks. Aster tried to grab ahold of Kaus’s halberd, but Kaus moved it in such a way that he promptly broke his hold on it before Kaus extended his hand forward and sent Aster tumbling back with a shockwave of green energy, his suit sparking. From there, Alura and Brando engaged with him, rolling out of the way of his swings, though Kaus responded almost immediately, using the other end of his halberd to knock Alura to the ground. Kaus raised it above her and prepared to strike.
“Alura!” Brando shouted, diving forward and covering her to take the swing instead. The halberd hit him in the back and Kaus was just about to take another swing when Sirius, who had now recovered, clawed at the Ojikazoan, forcing Kaus to dodge it. A moment later, Kaus was lifted into the air as electricity crackled beneath him before landing on another catwalk.
“I forgot how I enjoyed hunting the most dangerous game,” Kaus mused, “no matter, the price for standing against his magnificence shall be paid in blood.” He used both arms to lift his halberd upwards and pointed it towards them, the bow-like head glowed yellow, grew, and stretched backwards as the arrow-like shaft glowed green, the arrow’s head growing larger.
In an instant the Rangers were blasted by a barrage of green energy arrows, nailing them in the chests and knocking them back. Clearly outmatched, they began to run as Kaus fired more arrows. “We need to go!” Alura shouted.
“But what about Neil?” Brando yelled.
Alura took a second to think as an arrow whizzed inches away from her head, “We’ll have to come back for him! This guy’s too dangerous for just the four of us!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
Kaus stroked his chin as the Zords flew off, “No matter, they shall be dealt with in due time.”
Dozens of Greyders appeared in front of Neil, Tip, and Hydra, “Ooh I can’t wait to put an end to you! I’m sure you’ve got some interesting things on you!” Betutt chuckled. The Greyders pointed their weapons forward and prepared to fire, but suddenly Betutt and every single Greyder in front of them froze, but still twitched.
“Nice save, Hydra!” Tip cheered, giving a thumbs up with their free hand, the gem in their other.
Neil looked at the two of them with a look of confusion on his face, “What was that?”
“It’s something everyone from Gorgonia can do, they can hijack the control of others bodies if they maintain eye contact,” Tip explained, “Though Hydra’s a bit inexperienced with it so he can only hold them in place.”
“Sick!” Neil said.
“You two, go,” Hydra said with a matter-of-fact tone.
“What?” Neil and Tip exclaimed in unison.
“We cannot hope to defeat a Marquis, and we already have what we came for, Tip, I’ll hold them off, go,” Hydra elaborated.
Tip thought back to a conversation they had early on in their partnership…
“We did it! Alright!” Tip said as they and Hydra ducked into an alley after their first heist. They looked at the stoic expression on Hydra’s face, “Come on, enjoy it a little!”
“Enjoy? Is that an emotion?” Hydra asked.
“Yup!” Tip replied.
Hydra seemed to think for a moment, “What is it like?”
“Well, it’s like happiness, I guess,” Tip replied, “but it’s more on the outside.”
Hydra nodded, “I see.” He thought for a moment, “then I suppose since I want emotions, then they would be something I enjoy.”
“Yeah, they would be,” Tip said.
“Thank you for helping me understand what emotions there are, Tip,” Hydra said, “I hope one day I can feel them, to cry, to get angry, to laugh.”
Tip gave a small laugh, “I promise we’re not gonna go our separate ways until you feel at least one.”
“No!” Tip said, extending sparking wires from their arm and using it to whip at the frozen Greyders in front of them, making them collapse.
“What?” Hydra asked, turning around, making Betutt and the Greyders unfreeze.
“After our first heist, I promised you we wouldn’t be splitting until you felt something, anything, and I’m not leaving my friend behind,” Tip said, sternly.
“Tip…” Hydra said, expression softening, a small smile creeping on his face, “thank you.”
Suddenly the gold and silver gem Tip was holding began to glow, and a pair of glowing orbs appeared out of it, one gold, one silver. The gold one moved towards Tip, turning into a gold Nova Sphere with a symbol resembling a pair of scales depicted on it, while the silver one moved towards Hydra, turning into a silver Nova Sphere with a symbol depicting a cobra on it. “What the?” Tip said, looking at the one in front of them.
Hydra promptly grabbed the one in front of them, “These are Nova Spheres, like the ones Neil and the others have.”
Neil grinned widely under his helmet, “That’s amazing! Seven down, two to go!”
Neil quickly handed the two of them the case, “There’s Morphers in here, take them!” He lifted up his Morpher, speaking into it, “Commander, I found the Nova Spheres and the chosen of both of them!”
“Really? That’s un-ball-ievable! Great job Neil!” Shen’s voice said excitedly.
Betutt suddenly cleared his throat, “If you’re done, I think it’s about time that I destroy you for stealing from my collection!”
“Your collection?” Neil said, pointing an accusatory finger at Betutt, “None of this is yours at all!”
Hydra stepped forward, he and Tip having put on their Morphers, “Neil’s right, you have taken these from their rightful owners to indulge your own greed.” His voice was still mostly neutral, but there was an ever so slight hint of anger in it.
“And I think it’s about time that we gave them back!” Tip added.
Neil looked at them, “Ready you two?”
“Absolutely!” Tip exclaimed as Hydra nodded.
“All right then, let’s get these guys,” Neil said.
Tip inserted their Nova Sphere into their Morpher.
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” In an instant they were enveloped in golden light.
Hydra did the same, inserting his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Star Charge.” He was surrounded by silver light.
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!” Tip’s gold helmet was more angular than the rest of the Rangers’, with a visor resembling a pair of scales. Their suit was gold, and much like Sirius’s, theirs didn’t appear to be made of that spandex-like material, instead appearing to be much more robotic.
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.” Hydra’s suit was silver, with the visor of his helmet resembling a slithering cobra. Another notable feature of his suit was the scale-like patterns covering its silver spandex-like material.
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they said in unison.
Betutt looked at them in shock, “Three Rangers? Well it doesn’t matter how many of you there are or how shiny your costumes are, you’re not leaving this place!”
“We’ll see about that!” Neil shouted, he, Tip, and Naga beginning to fire on the remaining Greyders with their Morphers, blasts of red, gold, and silver energy lighting up the room.
A shot from Neil and Hydra hit one of the room’s walls, opening up a path outside. “Alright!” Tip shouted as the three of them ran towards it, planning on taking the fight outside.
Outside, they were immediately accosted by Greyders firing from a building being constructed, leading to a firefight. “Hey!” Neil said, moving towards Tip, “How about you try out a weapon, like my Star Sword here?”
Tip nodded, “Sure!”
“Star Sword!”
Neil took a swing at a few of the Greyders charging at the two of them, easily knocking them down. Tip took a few swings at them too but they were far more clumsy, it seemed the Star Sword was well out of their weight class. “I can’t work with this,” they said, taking it apart. “Maybe this will work,” they put the axe-like blade on the front of the handle, but didn’t fold the blades up to make the Star Claw.
“Star Crossbow!”
“Now this is more my style!” they said happily, looking at their new weapon. Tip jammed its pointed ends into a few Greyders, before firing a few gold arrow-shaped energy blasts at a few more, making the Greyders hit the ground and explode. “Oh I love this!” they laughed, “Hey Hydra, why don’t you try this-”
“Star Scythe.”
“Oh, looks like you already figured it out!” Tip said, looking at Hydra’s weapon. The blue pole at the bottom was extended, much like how it was when Alura used it for her Star Rapier, but unlike Alura, he didn’t flip it upside down, instead he attached the sword-like blade to the top and rotated half of it down, making a hook.
Hydra used the blade to hook a Greyder’s neck and pull it closer, “Get over here.” Hydra kicked another Greyder away before delivering a slice with the scythe to another The two of them moved closer to each other, Hydra slashing at a few more as Tip flipped another onto the ground and fired into its chest repeatedly, the Greyders’ defeat causing a large explosion.
“Yeah!” Tip said, raising a hand, which Hydra high-fived after a moment.
“Awesome job you two!” Neil yelled as he ran towards them, having just finished off the rest of the Greyders.
Their celebration was abruptly cut short, “Do you have any idea how many of my artifacts you could’ve damaged with your little stunt?” Bettut appeared, his tail elongating as he swung it at them. The three of them managed to duck under it, making it hit the exterior wall of the Consumoai. “Those things are irreplaceable!” Betutt promptly slammed his tail down where they were standing, but the three of them managed to jump out of the way, the impact of the slam leaving a hole in the concrete they were just standing on.
Seeing an opening, Hydra rushed forward, slicing at the Marquis, but Betutt jumped back a foot, making Hydra undershoot his swing. Hydra took another swing, but Betutt grabbed the scythe, only for his hold on it to immediately be broken by Hydra spinning it. Hydra took another swing at Betutt, making him jump back again, and then went for another swing, only for Betutt to duck under it and move to the side. Hydra quickly recovered though, hooking his blade around Betutt’s head and forcing him down. “What?” Betutt said with surprise.
“Here it comes!” Tip said, running forward a few steps before getting down on their knees and using the momentum to slide the rest of the way forward. They stopped right in front of Betutt, and pointed their crossbow right at the Tutanian’s chest, firing at it repeatedly before Hydra went in for a swing, the combined attacks knocking Betutt back and onto the ground.
“Alright!” Neil said, running forward, “Let’s finish this!”
The three of them pointed their Morphers at Betutt, flicking their Nova Spheres back and flipping down the section on the side.
By now Betutt had gotten back to his feet and looked at the Rangers with confusion, “What are you doing?”
“All Star Shot!” The three of them fired at Betutt, large spheres of red, gold, and silver energy launching from their respective Morphers, energy trailing behind them like comets. The three shots collided with Betut, creating a massive explosion. Once the smoke had cleared, Betutt was visible on the ground, not moving.
“See ya around,” Neil said, giving a thumbs up.
Tip gave a thumbs up as well, “Yeah, see ya.”
Hydra didn’t respond until Neil elbowed him in the side, giving a thumbs up too.
Neil lifted his Morpher up before speaking into it, “Birdie, call the others, we’re gonna get the artifacts outta here.”
“Got it,” Birdie responded, looking up from what she was writing on her datapad. “Sirius, Aster, Alura, Brando, Neil and the two new Rangers have defeated Marquis Betutt, and he wishes for your assistance in retrieving the artifacts inside of the Consumoai.”
The Lupus, Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords flew back towards the Consumoai. “Two new Rangers?” Alura mused, “Could it be-”
“Who cares if it is them?” Sirius asked, “Two new Rangers is two new Rangers.”
“Besides, they’re obviously pretty good if they helped Neil filet that Marquis,” Brando added.
“Yeah, they must be pretty strong,” Aster interjected.
Alura shook her head, “We can figure it out later, right now we’ve got to get those artifacts.”
In the Emperor’s throne room on Ukhu Pacha, Karna Rog and Ankaa looked at a projection in front of them showing what was occurring on Sigama. The Emperor raised his left hand, giving a disinterested look at the golden ring on its ring finger before lowering it, “Don’t think your problems are over just because you’ve found two new Nova Spheres, Rangers, because they’re about to get bigger, much bigger.” Karna Rog raised his right hand and snapped his taloned digits.
A dark cloud formed over the Consumoai, pitch black electricity crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Betutt’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into Betutt some distance away, now a giant, “It’ll take more than that to keep me down!”
Neil looked up, “Looks like we’ll need the Megazord!”
“Leo Zord!”
Neil flew away in the Leo Zord, leaving Tip and Hydra back on the ground. The other Zords flew towards the Leo Zord as it flew up into the air. “Looks like it’s Megazord time!” Aster exclaimed.
The five of them flicked their Nova Spheres to the right, the Leo Zord shifting and the other Zords sliding into the same places they were last time.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!” the Rangers exclaimed in Unison.
“Let’s get this guy!” Neil said.
Betutt glared at them, “You’ll never take my relics, and you’ll never take my Consumoai either!” With that, the rings near the top of the Consumoai started spinning faster before it took off into the air.
“We have got to stop this guy fast!” Sirius said.
Neil raised the Megazord’s blade, “Then let’s slice him to pieces!”
The Megazord took a swing at Betutt, making his chest spark as it was sliced. Betutt responded almost immediately by headbutting the Megazord in the chest. Brando retaliated by using the Dorado Zord to stab Betutt in the chest.
Betutt staggered back, spinning around to slam his tail into the Megazord, knocking a few buildings that were under construction over and sending the Megazord crashing into another.
On the ground, Tip and Hydra watched the fight go on. “We should help them,” Hydra said, as deadpan as ever.
Tip gave a thumbs up, “Great idea!”
The two of them flicked their Nova Spheres.
“Libra Zord!” Tip was surrounded by a massive golden Nova Sphere, which flew up into the air towards a golden scale-like machine. The Nova Sphere plugged into the top of the machine, and as it did the machine quickly shifted into a more human-like appearance, the cockpit in its chest.
“Ophiuchus Zord.” Hydra was surrounded by a silver Nova Sohere, which flew towards a machine that resembled a silver snake head. The Nova Sphere attached to the back of it, and like the Libra Zord, the Ophiuchus Zord shifted into a more humanoid form.
The two Zords leapt into the air with a spin before delivering a pair of devastating kicks to Betutt. The two Zords landed on the ground, the bodies quickly spinning to burrow into it as Betutt swung his tail at them. Luckily, they were already underground, meaning they were able to avoid the attack, and a few moments later they shit out of the ground, the Ophiuchus Zord back in its snake head form and the Libra Zord’s pans positioned forward, spinning like buzzsaws. The Zords launched themselves at Betutt’s tail, connecting with it and slicing off a majority of its length as Betutt roared in pain.
“Alright!” Tip exclaimed.
“His main offense has been dealt with,” Hydra added.
“Main, but not only!” Betutt yelled as he pulled out a blaster and pointed it at the Zords, firing a barrage of coin-shaped energy projectiles. Before the projectiles could connect, the Megazord got in the way, taking the blow for them, Alura giving a yell as an explosion occurred very close to her cockpit.
“How about we mix things up?” Brando suggested, “Me and Alura will go after the ship, while these two take our place on the Megazord.”
“Good idea!” Neil exclaimed, the Dorado and Chamaeleon Zords sliding out of their sockets to be replaced by the Ophiuchus and Libra Zords. The Ophiuchus Zord took the place of the Dorado Zord, returning to its snake head-like form while Libra Zord took the place of the Chameleon Zord, its weight pans shifting to become a shield.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“So you’ve got a few more tricks, but that’s not gonna save you!” Betutt fired at the Megazord again.
“Oh no you don’t!” Tip exclaimed, moving the Libra Zord’s spinning weight pans up to block the attack. The Megazord rushed forward, using the Ophiuchus Zord to bite down on the arm Betutt was holding his blaster with. Betutt managed to rip his blaster away and prepared to fire again, only for a swing from the Ophiuchus Zord to knock it from his hand.
Up above, Alura and Brando managed to suck the rest of the relics inside the Consumoai into the cargo holds of the Chamaeleon and Dorado Zords. “That’s the last of them, let’s go!” Alura exclaimed as the two began to fly away.
“Don’t want to be cooked when this thing goes down,” Brando added.
“This should be enough,” Hydra said as he moved the controls in his cockpit forward, the Ophiuchus Zord extending from the Megazord on a snake-like neck. The head twisted to the side, biting down on Betutt’s sides before throwing him into the air towards the Consumoai.
“How about we rub a bit of salt in the wound?” Brando asked as he and Alura watched Betutt fly towards the Consumoai.
“I like the way you think,” Alura replied. With that, the two of them flew close to the ground and opened their cargo holds, the relics inside pouring out, “Time to return these to the people!”
“No!” Betutt roared as he slammed into the Cosumoai, making them both begin to fall out of the air, “My collection!”
“Let’s finish this!” Neil said, the Rangers in the Megazord flicking their Nova Spheres back and flicking down the section on their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began glowing as the pans of the Libra Zord grew larger before being thrown forward, attached to the rest of the Megazord by strands of gold energy like a yo-yo. The scales spun like buzzsaws, slicing through Betutt and the Consumoai with ease, causing them both to explode.
“And that’s that,” Neil said, watching the explosion.
“You wanted to see me, Emperor?” Schedar said in her usual country accent as she skipped into the throne room.”
Karna Rog looked at her, “Ready a new propaganda cycle, the Rangers have terminated one of our Marquises.”
“So the usual?” Schedar giggled and gave a twirl, “Paint him as a hero of the Dark Matter Empire who died fightin’ those vicious insurgents?”
Karna Rog nodded, “Precisely.”
“Then I’ll get started on cookin’ up somethin’ real good!” Schedar said as she skipped out of the room, “I’m sure you’ll enjoy this, chat!”
Karna Rog tapped his fingers on his throne, “Try all you want Rangers, but no matter what you do, I shall win in the end.”
“Do I look good or what?” Tip said, entering the Orion’s bridge. Blue metallic paint was applied to their chest, obviously intended to mimic the jackets the Revolution had.
Hydra was putting on his own jacket, one that was blue and silver as he turned to look at Tip before speaking in a forced tone of shock, “It looks good!”
“Hydra, you’re not supposed to act surprised,” Tip said as they walked towards the table, “Hey people!”
Alura looked at him, “Yeah, you look pretty good, that metallic blue goes really well with the gold.”
“All you did was change your paint job,” Sirius said as he rubbed his snout, obviously not understanding the excitement. “But we did get two new Rangers, that is our Neil alright.”
Neil smiled as Aster spoke up, “I’m starting to think the Boss was right about you being a lucky charm.”
“Don’t even need to crack him like a wishbone for it either,” Brando teased, patting Neil’s shoulder.
“As good as this is, there’s still two left to find, so be ready for anything and expect the unexpected,” Birdie said helpfully.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting our newest additions to be two of the galaxy’s greatest thieves, no offense.”
“None taken,” Hydra said.
Tip chuckled, “Why would we take offense when it’s the truth?”
Shen twirled his cane and gave a laugh as he slid a hand into his coat pocket, “Well, my father used to tell me that some of the best things can come from the most unexpected places.”
Neil smiled before hearing Arthur speak up beside him, “Hey Neil?”
“Yeah?” Neil asked, turning to look at Arthur.
Arthur fiddled with the device in his hands, “I just wanna say that you’re awesome, I’ve been watching your past couple missions from here, and well, you’re amazing. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to take down the Empire, but seeing you and the others these past couple days, I’m glad to know you’re able to do something like you wanted.”
Neil grinned, ruffling his brother’s hair, “Thanks, but I think we can, we’ve found seven out of nine, and if the legend is right then once we find those two others, the Empire won’t stand a chance!”
On a desert planet light years away, a man in a cloak looked at a Consumoai planted in the ground, a pointed necklace in one hand and an orange Nova Sphere in the other.
Notes:
Betutt: Portmanteau of Bet (because he’s partially money-based), Tut (as he’s based on the mask of King Tutankhamen), and Hutt (since he reminds me of the Hutts from Star Wars).
Anyway, we’ve got another SPD Easter egg this chapter, and a relatively obvious one at that, think of it as my way of making up to you guys since the Dekaranger crossover isn’t being adapted. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 4: Sting of the Scorpion
Notes:
Supernova Megazord (New Formation)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Aster sat motionless on the Orion’s bridge, green eyes dimmed as the other Rangers, Birdie, and Arthur chatted amongst themselves. Despite that, his mind was racing.
His thoughts were fragmented and came in flashes, but all of them were of the same event. The rain hit his chassis as a cloaked man with a scorpion tail walked forward in front of him, a limp figure slung over his shoulder. He remembered laying on the ground trying to crawl forward as another cloaked figure walked past, following after the first.
Neil watched as Aster stirred, taking a step towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder, “You okay big guy?”
Aster’s eyes suddenly lit up as he stood up from his seat, seemingly ready to deliver a blow to Neil before freezing and lowering his guard, “Oh, it’s you, Neil.”
Neil, who had taken a step back to avoid the perceived attack, looked at Aster with confusion as the rest of the team turned to look at the commotion, “What was that all about Aster? You seemed upset.”
Aster shrugged as he walked towards the table, “It’s nothing, just a dream.”
Brando and Alura exchanged a look of knowing worry before Arthur spoke up, looking at Tip, “I didn’t know robots could dream.”
“Well I’m a mechanical life form, not a robot, so don’t look at me,” Tip said, turning to look at Arthur.
Arthur gave them a confused look, “What’s the difference?”
“Robots are made fully built, while mechanical life forms such as yours truly develop over time like organic ones do,” Tip explained.
“Huh, that’s pretty neat actually,” Arthur said.
The doors to the bridge opened and Shen stepped inside, holding a suitcase, “Incredi-ball news everybody!”
“What is it Boss?” Neil asked, turning to look at him.
“Well first,” Shen said, moving towards the table and putting the case down on it, “it took awhile, but the Revolution’s headquarters was able to give us these bad boys.” He flipped it open, revealing dozens of Nova Spheres of varying colors placed inside of it, “Ta-da!”
Neil looked at it, wide-eyed, “Are all of those Nova Spheres?”
“Yup!” Shen said helpfully.
“They’re not like the ones you have though,” Birdie added, “only the nine legendary Nova Spheres allow for morphing, these grant you special abilities instead.”
“That seems useful,” Sirius said, examining them.
Brando nodded, “Me, Alura, and Aster practiced using a lot of these while we trained in the Power Ranger program.”
“Yeah, the firepower they have is nothing to sneeze at,” Alura added.
Hydra nodded in understanding, “I see.”
“And second,” Shen paused for a moment, “well, do you want the good news or bad news first?”
“Good,” Neil said immediately.
Shen twirled his cane as a hologram of a planet appeared over the table, “We’ve located another legendary Nova Sphere! It’s here on the planet Serket.”
Alura suddenly pointed at the hologram, “Look! That planet’s running low on Gaiaium!”
Shen sighed, “And that’s the bad news.”
Neil gave a puzzled look, “What’s Gaiaium?”
“Gaiaium is a vital resource that plays a key role in the formation of planets and their ability to sustain life,” Birdie explained, “The Empire harvests it from hundreds of worlds for reasons we don’t know.”
Brando stepped forward, “And the biggest problem is that once a planet is drained of Gaiaium, it becomes completely incapable of supporting any life and shrivels into a grey lifeless rock.”
Neil’s eyes widened, “What the heck? That’s horrible!” Earth, his and Arthur’s home was in grave danger, it, everyone, and everything on it.
“In order to prevent this, we need to destroy the Consumoai draining the Gaiaium,” Birdie added.
Neil’s eyes widened further, “The Consumoai are what’s doing that? Earth has dozens of them! We need-”
Arthur promptly grabbed Neil’s jacket and shook him, “Neil, calm down, we need to focus on what’s going on here.”
“How can I calm down Arthur? Our world’s turning into a lifeless wasteland as we speak!” Neil replied.
“Your brother is right, Neil, we need to focus our efforts on Serket for now,” Hydra replied.
“Neil, I promise that once we retrieve the Nova Sphere and deal with the Consumoai here, we’ll return to Earth. I’ve been meaning to check it out more anyways,” Shen said, putting a hand on Neil’s shoulder reassuringly.
Neil took a deep breath before speaking again, “Okay, how long do we have to stop this thing?”
“My calculations say that you have about three hours,” Birdie replied.
“Then what are we waiting for? We know how to stop this thing and we’re only wasting time! Let’s go!” Neil said, preparing to head down to Serket with the rest of the Rangers.
“All right then Rangers, move out and be careful,” Shen instructed.
A few minutes later they landed on Serket, the ground beneath them dry and lifeless as they looked at the Consumoai in the distance. “Serket is supposed to be a desert planet, but it looks even more lifeless than I expected,” Brando said.
“It will be even worse if we do not stop it,” Sirius added.
Suddenly, the eyes of the Consumoai lit up and a swarm of Greyders appeared before the Rangers. “Oh just great, they must be starving for some action,” Brando said, rolling his eyes.
“Just our luck,” Tip added.
“It doesn’t matter Tip, we will stop them and save this planet,” Hydra replied.
“Let’s hurry up, we don’t have time for these guys!” Neil interjected.
“Right!” Alura said.
The seven Rangers inserted their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” all of them said in unison before being engulfed in light which promptly faded.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they said in unison before charging at the horde of Greyders, engaging in melee combat with them.
“They’re handling things quite well down there,” Birdie stated as she looked at the fight unfolding down below on a screen.
Shen stroked his metallic beard, “Then the ball is in our court.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said, tinkering with a device, “they’ll stop the guys here, they’ve dealt with worse before.”
“Rasalhague Strike,” Hydra said, the blade of his scythe glowing silver before swinging it to launch a blade of spinning silver energy at the Greyders.
“Zubeneschamali Strike!” Tip said, firing into the air as the sides of their crossbow glowed gold, a massive barrage of golden energy arrows hit the Greyders that Hydra had just hit from above and caused them to explode.
“Doradus Strike!” Brando sent a barrage of yellow energy blades at even more Greyders, causing them to explode.
“Chameleontis Strike!” Alura used her rapier to lash at even more.
“Aldebaran Strike!” Aster launched a spinning black energy axe at the Greyders.
“Lupi Strike!” Sirius launched a pair of spinning blue energy blades at the same Greyders, causing a massive explosion.
There were still dozens left, but Neil prepared to rectify that as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword, “Regulus End!” Neil swung his sword forward, a projection of the Leo Zord made of red energy being launched forward and colliding with the remaining Greyders, triggering a colossal explosion. “That’s the last of them, let’s-”
Neil froze when he saw a cloaked figure in the distance approaching them, “Who’s he?” The rest of the Rangers surrounded him, “Guys, be careful!”
The man casually turned to the side, revealing an orange, scorpion-like tail curling up behind him. Suddenly, the tail shot forward dozens of feet, jabbing Tip in the neck. Tip gave a cry of pain before hitting the ground, their suit disappearing.
Hydra and Neil ran towards Tip, “Tip!”
“It stings!” Tip cried out.
The man looked at them, “Do not worry about them, it’s not lethal.” The man pulled down his hood and the cloth covering his face, revealing that he had dark skin, black hair, and closely-trimmed facial hair, just enough to not be considered stubble, and he appeared to be in his early twenties.
“You!” Neil said, turning to look at him, “Who are you?”
“Leiurus is my name,” the man, Leiurus said.
Aster froze, the cloak, the tail…
He remembered seeing the man’s face as he walked past him while he tried to crawl forward, just visible underneath his hood. The man said nothing as he walked forward, intent on following the other man carrying the limp but twitching body.
“You!” Aster yelled.
Leiurus said nothing, lifting up a glowing orange sphere with a symbol resembling a scorpion on it. Alura’s eyes widened under her visor, “He’s been chosen by a Nova Sphere?”
Leiurus slid his right sleeve up, revealing a Supernova Morpher under it. “He has a Morpher too?” Brando said with disbelief.
The man plugged the Nova Sphere into the Morpher.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere.”
He said it calmly, seemingly intentionally unlike Hydra did. After performing the actions needed to Morph, he spoke again, “Star Charge.” Leiurus was engulfed in orange light, which quickly faded.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger.” His costume was orange, with his visor resembling a scorpion. His tail remained, extending out of his suit.
“Wait!” Neil said, extending an open hand forward, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, we’re on the same side!”
“I don’t think there’s a misunderstanding, I’m on my side,” Leiurus replied.
Aster took a step forward, “If that’s the case, then I’ll make you pay for taking the Professor!”
“Professor?” Neil said before being knocked to the ground by a charging Aster, “Aster!” Aster took a few swings at Leiurus with his axe, but the orange-clad man dodged every attack. Neil got to his feet and ran forward, “Aster, what’s going on?”
“Back off Neil, this is my fight,” Aster growled as he turned to face Neil, only for Leiurus to elbow him in the back of the head to make him stagger back.
“We have to help Aster!” Alura commanded, charging forward. The others tried to get around Aster, only for Brando to be pushed away, “No! He’s mine!” He moved towards Leiurus, pushing Hydra out of the way and trying to hold Sirius back, only for Hydra, Alura, and Brando to try and hold him back.
While the others were distracted, Leiurus’s tail launched forward at Alura, whose position was shifted so her back was turned. It jabbed into her side, making her seize up and fall to the ground much like Tip, her suit disappearing. In quick succession, Leiurus also stabbed Brando in the back and Hydra in the back of the neck, making them fall to the ground too. His stinger shot forward at Sirius, who was still restrained by Aster, but Sirius managed to break free, rolling out of the way of the stinger. The stinger slammed into Aster’s chest, but it simply bounced off. Neil charged at Aster, grabbing him and pulling him to the side, “Aster! Calm down!”
“Get out of the way!” Aster said, pushing past him.
“Their life signs are dropping rapidly!” Birdie said, panicked.
Shen pinched the space between his eyes, “Dang it Leiurus, when I told you to make it look convincing I didn’t mean this convincing!”
“What?” Arthur said, looking up from the piece of machinery he was taking apart.
Shen sighed, “I’ll explain later, right now they need to get out of there.”
“You need to withdraw now!” Birdie commanded.
Neil and Sirius stopped trying to restrain Aster, instead preparing to call their Zords.
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
Leiurus tried to stab at them, but the cockpits had already formed, making his stinger bounce off of them uselessly. The Leo Zord flew towards the ground, a section on the bottom opening up and scooping up the remaining Rangers on the ground as it flew by.
Leiurus watched as the Leo and Lupus Zords flew off, his costume disappearing as they vanished into the distance.
On his Executor-class Consumoai, Kaus looked at a screen displaying the scuffle that had unfolded on Serket’s surface. “Fascinating,” he said, stroking his chin, “Perhaps not all of the Nova Spheres’ chosen oppose his magnificence, perhaps we can use this to our advantage…”
“It’s neurotoxin,” Birdie explained, as she looked at the unmorphed Neil and Sirius, who had gotten all the poisoned rangers seated and covered in blankets, “it’s messed them up pretty badly, but it doesn’t appear to be life-threatening.”
Neil sighed, “Well that’s good. Is there any way to cure it?”
Birdie shook her head, “Not with what we have on board, it would probably be best to wait until their bodies deal with it naturally.”
“We do not have that kind of time, Serket is crumbling as we speak!” Sirius interjected.
“Yeah, it could be days before they’re ready to fight again,” Arthur added.
“That stupid bug!” Aster shouted before slamming a fist down on a nearby table and storming out of the bridge.
“Aster!” Neil shouted as Aster charged out of the room.
Sirius gave a confused look, “Ever since we encountered Leiurus he has been acting strange, more aggressive. What has gotten into him?”
Shen gave a sigh as he rubbed a sky blue Nova Sphere with the symbol of a bear on it, “Aster has a bit of a personal reason for joining the Revolution, a reason that he’s shared with me, Birdie, Alura, and Brando.”
“Really?” Neil asked, “What is it?”
Shen shook his head as he slid the Nova Sphere into his pocket, “It’s not my place to share Aster’s demons with you without him knowing. It would probably be best to go ask him about it yourself.”
“Well, let’s go find out what’s going on with him,” Neil said.
“But what about Serket?” Sirius asked.
“Sirius,” Neil said, “if we want to save this planet, we need to find out what’s going on with Aster, since then we can try to make sure this Leiurus guy doesn’t get in the way again.”
Sirius thought for a moment, “You are right, we cannot allow for any distractions.”
The two of them ran out of the bridge and towards Aster’s room. When they got there the door slid open and they stepped inside, spotting Aster sitting and staring intently at his Nova Sphere. “Aster?” Neil said, looking at him, “is everything okay?”
“It’s my fault they’ve been poisoned,” Aster stated bluntly.
Sirius took a step forward, “You said you wanted revenge, you know this Leiurus man?”
“Do I know him? I’d never forget him,” Aster replied, “He’s the one who helped kidnap my creator, my father, Professor Minos Ain.”
Neil looked at him curiously, “Your creator?”
Aster nodded, “Professor Ain wanted to fight against the Dark Matter Empire, but he was too old. So he built me, and taught me what it meant to be alive, to have a heart, so that one day one of the Nova Spheres might choose me. He raised me like his own son.” Aster thought back to shortly after his creation…
He stood in a lab on the planet Crete in the Taurus system. He was surrounded by all kinds of machines and dohickeys as the Professor walked towards him, wearing a lab coat that hid his bovine tail, the only part of him that suggested he wasn’t human. The Professor lifted an arm up to place a hand on his shoulder, “Asterion,” he said in a fatherly tone, “no matter what happens, never forget who you are and who you’re fighting for.”
“Why, Professor?” Aster asked curiously.
“Because,” the Professor responded, “if you lose sight of your desire to protect, to love, then you’ll be no different than any other machine.”
“He wanted to protect the universe from the Empire more than anyone I’ve ever known,” Aster continued.
“He sounded like a good man,” Sirius replied.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, he was.” He sighed, steam shooting from his nostrils, “But then he was taken from me, on the day I defended my title as Crete’s robotic wrestling champion for the ninth time…”
Aster walked out into Crete’s rainy streets, his championship belt slung under his arm. “Professor!” Aster shouted excitedly as he approached where he and his creator had promised to meet up, “I won again!” It was unusually quiet as he walked forward, “Professor?”
Suddenly, he saw movement out of the corner of his optic, a cloaked man with a scorpion tail and cloak carrying Professor Ain’s limp, twitching body over his shoulder as he approached an alleyway. Aster dropped the belt, running after him, “Professor!”
He ran into the alleyway, watching as the man continued forward, “Get back here!” Suddenly, he felt something stab into the back of his neck, puncturing a bundle of wires and making him fall to the ground. “Get back here!” he yelled again as he tried to crawl forward, another cloaked man with a scorpion tail walking past him, “Get back here!”
Aster looked at his Nova Sphere, “Leiurus was the man who knocked me to the ground, and I know the Empire were the ones who kidnapped the Professor.” Steam shot out of the bull robot’s nostrils again, “I joined the Revolution to hunt them down, and to save him.”
“And you’re sure Leiurus is the guy who did this?” Neil asked, curiously.
“How could I forget? I’m gonna defeat Leiurus and bring him to justice,” Aster replied.
Neil thought for a moment, “But he’s still got a Nova Sphere, doesn’t he? Capable of defeating any darkness? He can’t be that evil if a Nova Sphere chose him.”
“It must have been some kind of fluke then!” Aster replied.
Sirius stepped forward, placing a hand on Aster’s shoulder, “Aster, I know how you feel. I lost my wife to the Empire too. She was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, she was loving, funny, and was the most kind woman I have ever met, and I would do anything to bring the Empire to justice.”
“I feel like there’s gonna be a but,” Aster deadpanned.
Sirius nodded, “But we cannot let revenge get in the way of our mission. Serket is hours away from becoming completely lifeless, and while I find your desire for justice honorable, we need to focus on saving the planet right now.”
“Sirius is right,” Neil added, “I understand why you want to take down the Empire, but right now we’ve gotta look at the bigger picture, right now the three of us are the only ones who are in the condition to take care of the Consumoai.”
“But-” Aster said before seeming to calm down a bit, “No, you’re right, the Professor would want me to put Serket above rescuing him, he wanted me to do as much good as I possibly could.” Aster pumped his fist into the air, “Alright, let’s get down there and stop that Consumoai!”
“That’s the spirit!” Neil cheered.
Aster turned to Sirius, “And Sirius, thank you for helping me see that well, some things are more important than revenge.”
Sirius gave a rumba up with one of his clawed digits, “It is no problem, Aster.”
“Alright,” Neil said, “let’s get going!”
Leiurus sat on a rock near a towering stone hill when he felt a blade touch the side of his neck. Immediately he positioned his tail to prepare to strike at the threat behind him, not even looking back.
“I would highly advise against doing that if I were you,” Kaus said, looking at the stinger aimed at him as he held his halberd to the side of Leiurus’s neck. “Your stinger will not be effective against the metallic skin of an Ojikazoan such as myself. Furthermore, even if you did try to sting me, the electricity my skin conducts would ensure that your maneuver would hurt you far more than it would hurt me.”
Leiurus spoke calmly, “You sound awfully confident about that.”
“Do not get lippy with me, boy,” Kaus replied, “I have been instructed by the Emperor to hunt down any and all Power Rangers.”
Leiurus glanced back at him, “So why haven’t you done anything yet?”
“Because,” Kaus replied, “you have gained my interest. Tell me, why do you oppose your fellow Nova Sphere wielders?”
“I have my reasons, reasons that don’t concern you,” Leiurus replied.
“You’re an interesting one,” Kaus said, “Humor me Ranger, what is your name?”
“Leiurus Calchas,” Leiurus said after a moment.
Kaus froze for a moment, “Calchas?” He stroked his chin with his free hand, “You wouldn’t happen to be related to anyone named Eurypto, would you?”
“He’s my older brother,” Leiurus responded, “how do you know that name?”
“Interesting,” Kaus said, “your brother just so happens to be the Emperor’s top Jester.”
“Jester? I didn’t take my brother for being one to entertain,” Leiurus replied.
Kaus shook his head, “That is the name of the Empire’s assassins, furthermore, your brother has recently been promoted to Duke of the Scorpius system. Though he goes by Antares now, it’s standard protocol for one’s name to change when they become a Duke or Duchess.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Leiurus asked, not sounding especially interested.
“Because I have a proposal for you, Leiurus,” Kaus replied, “Join me in terminating the rest of the Rangers, and not only will I ensure that you’re only stripped of your Nova Sphere when this is over, but I might be able to pull some strings to set up a meeting between you and your brother.”
Leiurus thought for a moment, “You have my attention. I accept your conditions.”
“Good,” Kaus chuckled, moving the halberd away from Leiurus’s neck, “though keep in mind, you still are a Power Ranger, should you attempt to do anything to go against his magnificence, I will not hesitate to put you out of his misery.”
A few minutes later, the Leo, Lupus, and Taurus Zords landed not too far from the Consumoai, with Neil, Sirius, and Aster exiting them. “All right, let’s get this over with,” Neil said, cracking his knuckles.
“You’ll need to get past me first then,” Leiurus said, stepping into view.
“You!” Aster said, pointing an accusatory finger at him.
“Aster, remember what we talked about, he is not with the Empire,” Sirius replied, trying to calm him down.
“Actually I am now,” Leiurus responded, “and you’re not getting anywhere near the Consumoai.”
“What?” Neil said, shocked.
Steam shot out of Aster’s nostrils, “Guess that just gives us an excuse to take him down.” He slid his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, with Leiurus doing the same.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere.”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” the two said in perfect unison, being enveloped in light before reappearing in their costumes. In an instant, the two charged at each other, with Leiurus trying to punch Aster, only for Aster to hook their arms together and toss him to the ground. Aster tried to punch him in the head, only for Leiurus to roll out of the way. Once Leiurus got to his feet Aster charged at him, only for Leiurus to stop his momentum and punch him in the side. Aster retaliated by grabbing Leiurus’s throat, with Leiurus grabbing his hand before blocking his other hand as Aster tried to punch him.
“Why are you after me?” Leiurus questioned.
“For taking Professor Ain!” Aster shouted.
“Oh, that was you,” Leiurus replied, his voice going softer, “I’m sorry for your creator, and that’s one of many crimes I have yet to atone for, but I don’t have time to waste with you.”
“No excuses!” Aster kneed Leiurus in the chest, making him stagger back. Leiurus retaliated immediately, his tail wrapped around Aster’s neck, grabbing the stinger and pulling it to lift Aster into the air. From there he grabbed Aster, lashing him with his tail and tossing him to the ground.
“Please, stay out of this,” Leiurus said, launching his tail forward as Aster was prone on the ground. Neil ran forward and with reflexes that were almost supernatural, grabbed Leiurus’s tail just below the stinger, giving it almost no wiggle room to sting him. Sirius ran forward as well, delivering a dropkick to Leiurus and knocking him to the ground.
“Thanks for the save you two!” Aster shouted
Sirius looked at him, “It is my pleasure.”
“I think it’s time we join in too,” Neil added.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” Leiurus tried to swell them off their feet with a swing from his tail, but they jumped into the air as they did so, appearing in their costumes as they landed. The two immediately engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Leiurus, who despite facing two opponents at once, was managing to avoid their attacks decently well.
Aster got to his feet just as Neil slammed a fist into the side of Leiurus’s visor. “Why are you working for the Empire anyway?” Neil asked.
The three separated, making their weapons.
“Star Sword!”
“Star Claw!”
Leiurus attached the sword attachment to the top of his handle and slid out the pole underneath it.
“Star Spear!”
Neil and Leiurus’s blades collided as Leiurus positioned the spear’s pole to block a swing from Sirius. Leiurus looked at Neil, “My apologies, but I needed to make this look convincing.”
“What?” Neil said, shocked, with Sirius looking equally surprised.
“Wait, what did he say?” Aster asked, charging forward.
Before anyone could reply, a Flatborg with purple decorations flanked by two other Flatborgs and a horde of Greyders. The Empire often used specialized Flatborgs as Marquises, and the purple Flatborg was no exception. “We can take it from here, Leiurus. Charge!” the purple Flatborg said, sending its forces forwards.
Neil, Sirius, and Aster, who had just made his Star Axe clashed with the Greyders and Flatborgs as Leiurus stood off to the side and watched. “We shall destroy them before all of this world’s Gaiaium is depleted!” The purple Flatborg gloated, only for Leiurus’s spear to land a few feet away from it.
“This is my job, you are not going to interfere,” Leiurus said.
“Leiurus?” Neil said with shock.
Leiurus charged at the purple Flatborg, landing a few hits and dodging the swings of its tonfa before retrieving his spear and using its shaft to block a swing, retaliating with a series of thrusts.
Meanwhile, Birdie hurtled towards the ground with a parachute. “Neil, Sirius, Aster! The Commander sent me to give you these!” She shouted, holding three Nova Spheres.
“Thanks a lot Birdie!” Aster said as he slammed his axe into a Flatborg.
“A little extra firepower never hurts!” Neil added, slicing through a few Greyders.
“Let us see what these can do,” Sirius added, leaping at another Flatborg.
Birdie tossed the Nova Spheres down, one to each Ranger. The one Neil caught was teal, depicting a pair of twins in it. He plugged it into his Morpher.
“Gemini Nova Sphere!”
Suddenly an exact copy of Neil appeared, wielding its own Star Sword and Morpher. “Sick!” the two of them said in unison before slicing through Greyders twice as effectively.
Sirius grabbed a pale blue Nova Sphere depicting a Dolphin.
“Delphinus Nova Sphere!”
He pointed his Morpher forward as it released a massive burst of sound, knocking dozens of Greyders and a Flatborg in front of him back dozens of feet.
Aster grabbed a green Nova Sphere depicting a furnace.
“Fornax Nova Sphere!”
A blast of flames shot out of him, incinerating the Flatborg he was fighting and several surrounding Greyders.
Birdie, who had just landed on the ground dozens of yards away watched the fight unfold, “Amazing…” She watched as the two Neils sliced through even more Greyders, “Oh what I’d give to be as cool as all of them are.”
Soon, only the Purple Flatborg was left, who was promptly confronted by Leiurus and the Neils. “Let’s finish this, right Leiurus?” they said in unison.
Leiurus said nothing, instead plugging his Nova Sphere into his spear.
“Regulus Strike!” the Neils struck first, delivering a pair of red energy sliced to the purple Flatborg and making it stagger back.
“Antares Strike,” the tip of Leiurus’s spear glowed orange before he swung it, sending a slash of orange energy at the purple Flatborg.
“Leiurus you traitor!” the Flatborg said as it hit the ground before exploding.
“And that’s that!” the Neils said before the clone disappeared, leaving only the original.
“Good news Neil!” Shen’s voice rang through Neil’s Morpher, “The others have recovered, now get the Supernova Megazord together and take that Consumoai down!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
Leiurus prepared to call a Zord of his own.
“Scorpius Zord,” Leiurus was surrounded by an orange Nova Sphere cockpit, which promptly attached to the back of a huge, orange mechanical scorpion, just below its arched tail.
Sensing that Leiurus might be up to something, Aster called on his own Zord, “Oh no you don’t!”
“Taurus Zord!”
The Lupus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords flew towards the Leo Zord as Neil spoke over the comms, “You three feeling better?”
“Indeed,” Hydra replied.
“Much better than before, it feels nice to move again!” Alura added.
“Just peachy!” Brando finished.
Sirius growled, “All right, let’s take this thing down.”
Meanwhile, the Scorpius and Taurus Zords clashed, ramming into each other. The Taurus Zord tried to knock the Scorpius Zord into the air, which it succeeded at, but it promptly retaliated by jamming its stinger into the Taurus Zord.
“Good luck everyone,” Birdie said wistfully as she watched the Zords approach the Consumoai.
“Alright, Megazord time!” Neil said, flicking his Nova Sphere and causing the Leo Zord to shift into position. The Lupus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords slid into their usual spaces as the left foot, left arm, and right arm respectively, but with the Taurus Zord gone the Ophiuchus Zord took its place as the right leg.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Time to tear that Consumoai to pieces!” Sirius exclaimed as the Megazord approached it.
Inside the Consumoai, a Greyder took a seat at its cockpit and pressed a button.
The Consumoai rapidly shifted into a more humanoid form, the ring surrounding it attaching to its back as a good portion of its front became a massive lance. “This might complicate things,” Hydra deadpanned.
“Nothing we can’t handle,” Alura replied.
“No matter how it looks, we’ll be serving this thing up either way!” Brando added.
The Megazord slashed at the Cosumoai, making sparks shoot off its chest before going in for another swing, only for the Consumoai to block it with its lance. Using its right leg the Megazord kicked the Consumoai in the chest, knocking it back a bit.
“My turn!” Alura said, shooting the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue at the Consumoai’s lance and wrapping around it. Alura tried to pull the lance out of its hand, but it quickly grabbed it with two, and with a single yank ripped out the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue.
“Switch with me,” Hydra commanded.
“Sounds like a plan!” Alura responded. The Ophiuchus and Chameleon Zords quickly switched places, the Chamaeleon Zord becoming the right leg while the Ophiuchus Zord became the left arm.
The Ophiuchus Zord bit down on the Consumoai’s lance as it tried to swing it, and after the Consumoai managed to get it free it was immediately sliced in the chest by the Dorado Zord and then bit in the chest by the Ophiuchus Zord. Hydra pulled a lever in the cockpit forward, making the Ophiuchus Zord extend forward and bite down on the lance, ripping it from the Consumoai’s hands before biting it in the chest hard.
“Let’s finish this!” Neil shouted. The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the section on the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits began to glow before the glow was transferred to the Dorado Zord’s blade, which quickly elongated. The Megazord swung at the Consumoai several times, the energy covering its blade acting like a whip with which to lash at it.
“And that’s that!” Neil exclaimed.
As that happened, the Scorpius Zord tossed the Taurus Zord back as Leiurus looked at the Consumoai’s defeat. Just as the Taurus Zord began charging at it again the Scorpius Zord fired a laser from its stinger, knocking the Taurus Zord into the air. Taking an opportunity to retreat, the Scorpius Zord burrowed into the ground and out of sight.
“Coward,” Aster growled as he recovered.
“Your magnificence, I come to you with most exciting news,” Kaus said, kneeling in the control room of his Consuomai as a hologram of Karna Rog appeared before him.
The Emperor spoke after a moment, his tone as disinterested as ever, “Say your piece Duke Kaus, I am curious to hear how your hunt is going.”
“I have yet to terminate a single Ranger,” Kaus explained, “however, it appears that not all of them oppose you. I have come into contact with the wielder of the Scorpius Nova Sphere, Leiurus Calchas, and he opposes the others, he even managed to debilitate all but three of them, not to mention he claims to be the younger brother of Duke Antares. Luckily, I have convinced him to join us.”
“Excellent,” Karna Rog responded, “perhaps a Ranger of our own is just what we need to turn the tides.”
Kaus nodded, “Indeed, sir.”
“Be aware though, once he has served his purpose I expect you to terminate him,” the Emperor continued, “we cannot allow any Nova Sphere wielders to live, it is far too dangerous to me.”
“Understood, your magnificence,” Kaus said as the hologram disappeared, taking a moment to get to his feet. A few minutes later, he sensed a new electric field entering the command room, prompting to turn to see Leiurus. “Hello Leiurus, how was your confrontation with the Rangers?”
Leiurus leaned against a pillar, “It was going well until the Marquis decided to interfere with our fight, as much as it pains me to say it I formed a temporary alliance with the Rangers to deal with that fool.”
“It was a Flatborg Marquis wasn’t it? I don’t blame you, personally I despise those mass-produced idiots. They shouldn’t be holding such a lofty position but no, Mirfak says they’re more intelligent than the average Flatborg,” Kaus replied. Kaus sighed, “My apologies for my little tangent, but that snake’s been weighing on my mind a lot lately.”
“It’s fine,” Leiurus responded.
“Regardless,” Kaus said, “should you work with the Rangers again I will terminate you, in fact I already would have if it wasn’t for your potential usefulness, so consider this your first and only warning.”
Leiurus nodded, looking at his Morpher as he did so, “I understand.”
Alderamin and Antares walked through the halls of Ukhu Pacha a few hours later. “I must say Antares, I am quite the fan of your work, it’s nice to be able to talk with you outside of a meeting,” Alderamin said, craning his long neck to look at Antares.
“It is my pleasure, Sir Alderamin,” Antares replied, “I’m quite surprised myself, running into one of the Emperor’s famed Knights of Andromeda.”
Alderamin shook his head, “That’s a blatant lie Antares, you speak with Dame Schedar all the time.”
“I suppose I do,” Antares responded. “Still, it is nice to know another one of the Emperor’s foremost subordinates has an appreciation for my art,” Antares added, extending his tail and dangling his stinger in front of his face to look at it.
“I would love for you to work under me at some point, but I get the feeling you’d find such a proposition unacceptable,” Alderamin said, looking at the stump where his left hand would be.
Antares nodded, “Yes, as effective as your tactics and conquests are, they’re not really my style. Not to mention I know that little pet of yours that you call your second-in-command isn’t particularly fond of any of us.”
“Chupasangre?” Alderamin chuckled, “I put him in his place once, and I’m more than capable of doing it again.”
Antares shook his head, “Still, I’d much rather avoid working with someone such as him if possible.”
Alderamin hummed, going quiet for a moment before speaking again, “Did you hear that Duke Kaus was able to get one of those Power Rangers on our side?”
Antares looked at him, “Truly? That’s an interesting development.”
“That’s not all, this one claims to be your brother,” Alderamin added.
Antares froze, turning to Alderamin and giving a look of confusion, “I don’t have a brother, what are you on about?”
Alderamin gave a knowing chuckle, “Oh right, how could I forget? Silly me.”
“So Serket’s safe now,” Brando said, handing out plates of food to everyone on the bridge, “that’s good.”
Neil thought for a moment, “So will Serket ever return to normal?”
“It should,” Birdie replied, “With the Consumoai destroyed, all the Gaiaium it drained will be absorbed back into the planet and return it to normal. Though to be fair, it wasn’t all that different to begin with.”
“True,” Alura chuckled.
Tip nodded, “Anyway, what was up with that Leiurus guy?”
“Yes, is he an ally or enemy?” Hydra asked.
“Obviously an enemy,” Aster replied, lifting a dumbbell.
Sirius nodded, “And just how did he get a Morpher anyway?”
“Yeah, didn’t the Boss make them? How does he have one?” Alura added.
Arthur looked at Shen, “I think Mr. Long knows the answer, he seemed pretty upset when you guys were poisoned and thought that what Leiurus did was a bit too convincing.”
“Too convincing…” Neil thought for a moment, “That’s what Leiurus said back down there! That he was sorry but he needed to make it look convincing!”
Aster looked at Shen, “Boss, what’s going on?”
Shen tapped his cane on the ground from where he sat in the Commander’s seat, “Well, the good news is that I was going to tell you anyway once the mission was over, I just didn’t expect Leiurus to have the Nova Sphere we were tracking, personally I thought we might’ve tracked down the Aquila Nova Sphere.” Shen stirred for a moment, “I might’ve told a little white lie, the Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Nova Spheres weren’t the only legendary ones the Revolution had.”
“What?” Aster, Alura, and Brando said in disbelief.
Shen stroked his metallic beard, “Well, a while before the three of you joined, I met Leiurus, and he had already been chosen by the Scorpius Nova Sphere. He opposed the Empire greatly, and was looking for his brother, Eurypto. So I convinced him to join the Revolution, and kept it a secret since if the wrong people found out we already had a Ranger before we were ready, we’d have been toast.”
“Well if he’s working for the Revolution and you, then why did he attack us?” Aster questioned, steam shooting from his nostrils.
“I’m getting a-round to that, it’s because I sent him to infiltrate the Empire,” Shen explained, “his personality is a bit… rough, but it makes him an excellent spy, since he’s more willing to do things that most of the Revolution might consider… unreasonable.”
Steam shot out of Aster’s nostrils again, “And kidnapping the Professor was one of those things?”
Shen shook his head, “I never sent him to do anything like that, and he never told me that he did anything like that. Then again he never really told me much about his past aside from his hatred of the Empire and his search for his brother. He was already on his way by the time you came around and told me about what happened to Professor Ain, so I couldn’t exactly ask him about it then either.”
“And his attack on us was just to make him look more legit to the Empire?” Tip said.
Shen nodded, “Yes, I gave him instructions to make his opposition of the Revolution look convincing, I just didn’t think that he would go that far with it. I’m sorry for what happened to the four of you, once he reunites with us I’ll be sure to give him a very strong reprimand.”
“So this Leiurus is an ally then,” Sirius stated.
Aster huffed, “Doesn’t mean I’ll like him.”
“I’m not asking you to like him Aster,” Shen said, wagging a finger, “but when he comes back we still need to work with him if we want to take down the Empire.”
“But what about Serket? He almost got it destroyed,” Tip said.
“Serket was his home planet and he was already there before we showed up, odds are he was going to deal with the Consumoai if we didn’t,” Shen replied, “Leiurus might be rough around the edges, but he has a heart of gold, he wouldn’t just let a planet be destroyed while he could stop it, let alone his own homeworld.”
Birdie nodded, “I can corroborate Commander Long’s statements, despite Leiurus’s actions towards you, he is just as dedicated to vanquishing the Empire as the rest of you are.”
“I believe you,” Neil replied, “He was obviously chosen by the Scorpius Nova Sphere for a reason. I don’t know how the Nova Spheres choose people exactly, but given that everyone else they’ve chosen wants to take down the Empire and are amazing people like you guys, I don’t see why he’d be any different.”
“But Neil, he helped take Professor Ain!” Aster reminded him.
Neil sighed, “Aster, I’m not going to pretend to know why he did that, and I believe you when you say you know he did it. But maybe once he’s done spying, he can tell you why he did that, I’m not saying it was for a good reason, but maybe it’ll help you understand what happened more. Maybe it’ll even help you find the Professor.”
Aster gave a huff, “I guess.”
“You should all probably go rest up,” Shen said, “you’re all obviously exhausted after what happened today, and we’re heading a-round to Earth early tomorrow.” He looked at Tip, Hydra, Alura, and Brando, “Especially you four, there’s no telling if your bodies have completely gotten rid of the venom yet.”
The seven of them nodded as Neil spoke up, “Got it Boss, goodnight.” They filed out of the room, and headed for their quarters.
After watching them depart for a moment, Shen slid a Nova Sphere out of his pocket. It was different from the other one, this one was grey, and had a purple dragon-shaped symbol on it. He looked at it for a moment, clearly pondering something before sliding it back into his pocket and looking at Birdie, “Birdie, would you mind refreshing this old geezer’s memory and telling me where you were made?”
Birdie looked up from the datapad she was typing on, “Commander Long, you’re forty, that’s not that old. As for where I was made, it would be at the Olympia Corporation’s Production Station 283 in the Aquila system.”
Shen stroked his beard for a moment as the gears in his head turned, “Thank you Birdie, that’s all I needed to know.”
Notes:
Professor Minos Ain is named after King Minos is Greek mythology, who was the husband of Pasiphae, who gave birth to the Minotaur and is the one the Minotaur gets its name from, while Ain is a star in Taurus. The detail of him having a bovid tail is a reference to the Huldra of Norse myth.
And that’s it for this chapter! Honestly, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and while keeping it close to Kyuranger Episode 3, also making it my own thing as well. Also decided to add a new finishing move since the Kyuranger’s have like five dozen already, with Neil’s Regulus End being a bit of a reference to Ghira’s Ohger Finish. Don’t worry, we’ll get to see the End move of everyone. While we’ve gone off script compared to what happened in Kyuranger more than a few times already (like the entirety of chapter 1, the Consumoai infiltration in chapter 3), the next chapter goes off script a lot, so I’m curious to see what you’ll think of it. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 5: Learning to Fly
Chapter Text
Neil staggered backwards, falling to the ground alongside Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Brando as Kaus glared at them. “What is this guy made of?”
“I don’t know, but if this keeps going then it’s over!” Alura said as she struggled to get to her feet.
“We’re gonna be toast!” Brando added.
Kaus chuckled, giving a few experimental swings with his halberd, “Indeed Rangers, it is time to put an end to the annoyance you’ve caused the Emperor.” Kaus prepared to aim at the Rangers with his Halberd, only for Birdie to jump towards him, grabbing his Halberd and forcing it away from the Rangers before kicking him in the chest and making him stagger back. Birdie jumped back onto a nearby hill as the Rangers got to their feet.
“Birdie?” Sirius said with surprise as he looked up at her.
“That was amazing!” Aster exclaimed as he looked up at her as well.
“Thanks guys!” Birdie said cheerfully, “I may not be a Ranger, but I’m still going to help take the Empire down!” She raised her hand and gave a little wave as an explosion of pink smoke appeared behind her. She jumped down from her perch, the thrusters on her legs launching her towards Kaus and staggering him. “Take this!” she shouted, punching Kaus in the chest and knocking the Duke to the ground. “I will help take the galaxy back!”
Looking down at what she was writing on her datapad, Birdie gave a small hum as she lifted a hand up to her chin, “Alright, that sounds good, but what next? Fight scenes are a lot harder to write than I thought they’d be.” She spoke quietly so as not to draw Arthur’s attention or distract him, as the twelve-year-old was currently typing away at a console, working on a small project that Commander Shen had entrusted to him before the next mission.
Birdie contemplated for a few moments more until one of the bridge’s doors opened as Shen entered, “Thanks for getting us to Earth, Birdie, there’s not a single person I trust to pilot the Orion more than you.”
Birdie quickly closed her writing, pulling up another tab on her datapad as she looked out the bridge’s window at the Earth below, “It’s my pleasure, Commander Long, I’m glad you appreciate it.”
Shen chuckled, “That’s good to sphere!” Birdie groaned and Arthur chuckled before Shen turned to look at the latter, “How’s the program coming along Arthur?”
“I just finished it Mr. Long,” Arthur said with a smile, turning to look at the draconian alien, “should be ready for use right now.”
Shen twirled his cane and gave a thumbs up, “Excellent, I just called the Rangers down here to brief them on today’s mission, so your timing couldn’t have been better!”
As if on cue the seven Rangers entered the bridge, with Neil leading the way, “Man it’s nice to see Earth again! So what’s today’s mission, Boss?”
Shen turned to look at them as a hologram of Earth appeared over the bridge’s table, “Today’s mission is probably gonna be a bit slower than usual, it’s just a bit of reconnaissance.”
“Reconnaissance? What for?” Sirius asked.
Shen stroked his beard, “To figure out why the Empire’s so interested in Earth. Readings show that it’s loaded with more Gaiaium than the average planet, which explains why it has so many Consumoai, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s deeper than that.”
“What do you think it is?” Brando questioned.
Shen shook his head, “I’m not entirely sure, but whatever it is, it’s big, I can feel it.” He pointed at a section of the hologram that was somewhere in Japan, “You’re going to investigate the area around this Consumoai.”
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Tip said excitedly.
Shen shook his head again, “Not so fast Tip. From here on out there’s gonna be a bit of a change when it comes to how we do missions.”
“What would that be?” Hydra questioned.
Shen rapped his cane against the floor, “Well from here on out, only five of you will be going on a mission at a time.”
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “Why’s that boss?”
“Well, first of all coordinating all of you at once will end up being a real hassle. Second, if something ends up happening on a mission it would ensure at least some of you are safe. Lastly, well, there’s a lot of budget concerns, y’know?” Shen explained.
Arthur walked up to stand beside Shen, “So Mr. Long had me create a program to randomize who goes on missions. Everyone’s got an equal chance to go. Well, aside from Neil, yours is slightly higher.”
“Huh?” Neil said with confusion, “Why me?”
Birdie looked at her datapad, “As the Leo Zord is needed to form the Supernova Megazord, it’s fundamental that your chance to go on missions is higher.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Alura said, shrugging.
Shen grinned, “Alright, let’s see who’s going on today’s mission!” A holographic screen displaying the Ranger’s Nova Spheres appeared at the front of the room as the lights of the rooms dimmed and music started blaring. Shen started dancing along as the Nova Sphere on the screen started spinning in a circle, the Rangers watching on with blank expressions as Birdie clapped along to the beat halfheartedly while hanging her head. Suddenly the lights turned back on, the music stopped, and the Nova Spheres on the screen stopped spinning, with the Libra and Ophiuchus Nova Spheres blacked out. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
Neil smiled and pumped his fist, “Oh yeah!”
“Sirius!”
Sirius, who was still a bit dazed from all the lights and sounds, looked at Shen, “Me?”
“Aster!”
“Well if it’s recon then it’s probably going to be pretty boring. Ah well, I guess I don’t mind if I’m with the others,” Aster said, shrugging.
“Alura!”
Alura grinned, “Recon eh? Now we’re talking!” She calmed down and regained her composure.
“Brando!”
“Alright, let’s see what intel can rustle up!” Brando said.
Shen turned to look at Birdie, “And Birdie?”
“Yes Commander Long?” Birdie said, looking up at him with mild surprise in her voice.
“I’d like you to accompany them down there,” Shen replied.
“Really?” Birdie responded, surprised but also excited. “Oh man, I’m going on a mission too? I can’t believe it!”
Shen nodded, “Yes, I’d like to perform a performance assessment soon and I want you to observe how they do down there and take some notes, those kinds of things.”
“Of-of course Commander Long,” Birdie said, happy that she was going on a mission too, even if it was just to keep an eye on the Rangers.
Shen grabbed a case, “Oh, and take this, it’s got a little surprise in case you run into trouble.”
“Of course, Commander Long, thank you,” Birdie replied, taking it.
“What about me and Tip?” Hydra asked.
Shen looked at the two of them, “I’d like the two of you to work with Arthur to get the transporters in the Ranger’s belts hooked up, it’ll streamline the transport of Nova Spheres from the ship to the Rangers.”
Tip gave a salute, “Alright, Boss, we won’t let you down!”
Neil turned to look at Sirius, Aster, Alura, Birdie, and Brando, “Alright guys, let’s go!”
“Be careful,” Shen said as they left the bridge and prepared to head down.
The Rangers exited their Zords and landed on the ground, with Birdie emerging from the Leo Zord alongside Neil. As per usual for missions on more urban planets, no one wore their jackets. “So this is Earth,” Sirius said as he looked around the street where they landed before he and the others began to walk.
Neil grinned, “Nice place isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Sirius replied.
Aster looked around before ripping a flier of Imperial Propaganda off a wall that depicted monstrous distortions of their Ranger uniforms, “Depends on what you consider nice.”
“I dunno, I’ve never been to Japan,” Neil replied.
Brando gave a concerned look as they passed by crowds of people, “Something’s wrong.”
Alura nodded as they reached a plaza, “Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it but there’s something wrong with the people here.” Civilians walked to and fro with disinterested looks on their faces while others worked halfheartedly, clearly unenthusiastic about what they were doing. It’s like something had sucked out their personalities and left only wayward husks in their place.
“There’s not a whiff of justice in the air,” Aster commented.
“Let’s focus on the mission,” Birdie said after a moment.
Neil nodded, “She’s right, how do you think we should do this?”
“Maybe we should split up, we could cover more ground that way,” Alura suggested.
Neil grinned, “That sounds like a good idea, let’s buddy up and meet back here in an hour.”
“I’ll go with Birdie,” Brando said.
“Thanks Brando,” Birdie said cheerfully.
“I will go with Aster,” Sirius replied.
“Sounds good to me,” Aster responded.
“Guess that just leaves you and me,” Alura said with a sigh as she looked at Neil.
“Fine by me,” Neil said, “be safe.”
Inside the nearby Consumoai, Kaus and Leiurus walked through its halls, heading towards its control room. “Mind telling me why we’re here?” Leiurus asked.
“I do believe the Rangers are on this planet, and more specifically in this area. They’ve made my job much easier being here,” Kaus replied.
Leiurus gave an interested look, “Why’s that?”
“My previous plans to hunt the Rangers have consistently failed, no matter what I sent after them. I believe a different approach is needed, something more subtle and insidious. A good hunter knows how to be crafty, and the abilities of this sector’s Marquis suit my needs perfectly,” Kaus said as they came to the door of the control room. The door opened to reveal a white room decorated with marble pillars and all kinds of other various objects, the floor carpeted in colorful balloons. The two of them stepped inside before Kaus spoke again, “Marquis Bakueave.”
A pink and blue alien that resembled a cross between a tapir and a crocodile stepped into view, a second mouth at the end of its snout. “Hiya Duke Kaus!” Bakueave said, his voice sounding like that of a clown.
“I must say, I’m impressed with what you’ve done, none of your subjects are even capable of comprehending rebelling,” Kaus said, pleased. Bakueveave took a look at Leiurus, taking a step closer. Kaus glared at him, “You are not to touch him, Marquis Bakueave, but I do have a job for you.”
“Ooh! What is it?” Bakueave said excitedly.
“See anything yet?” Aster asked, turning to look at Sirius as they walked down a street.
The wolfman shook his head, “No, not at all.”
“I dunno what we’re even supposed to be looking for in the first place, I mean, the Commander’s got a bunch that there’s something here, but we don’t even know what it is!”
Aster continued to talk as Sirius smelled something good coming from a nearby food stall. It had been a while since he had last eaten, and all the training before the mission and all this walking was making him hungry. “No, I cannot get distracted, I must focus,” he said under his breath, “but it will only take a moment.” Giving into the temptation, he moved towards it, only for Bakueave to slink out of a nearby alley, brandishing a trident that appeared to be topped with a dream catcher with three spikes pointing out of the top.
“Mind telling me your dream, my furry friend?” Bakueave chuckled, his eyes emitting a yellow flash.
Sirius’s eyes emitted a yellow flash as well before he began speaking, “I want to defeat the Empire to avenge my wife and my clan.” A cloud appeared above Sirius’s head which was promptly snapped up by the mouth at the end of Bakueave’s snout as Sirius gave a blank stare.
Bakueave gave a sound of contentment as he patted his stomach, “Delicious!”
Aster, who by now seemed to notice Bakueave, charged at him, “Sirius!”
Bakueave chuckled, “Ooh a robot! I’ve never tried my powers on one of you before, let’s see if it works!” Just as Aster was about to punch Bakueave, he spoke again, “What’s your dream?” His eyes gave another yellow flash.
Much like Sirius, Aster’s eyes gave a yellow flash as well, “My dream is to rescue my creator, Professor Minos Ain and bring his kidnappers to justice.” A cloud appeared above Aster’s head which was again chomped up by Bakueave.
“That was delish! I hope the other Rangers’ dreams were as good as these two’s,” Bakueave said with delight.
Kay’s appeared alongside Leiurus, moving towards Bakueave, “Excellent work, Marquis Bakueave.”
“What did he do to them?” Leiurus said, trying to hide his concern. He looked at Sirius and Aster, who were staring blankly ahead.
Kaus stroked his chin, “Bakueave has eaten their dreams. All of their hopes and desires are gone, leaving them shadows of their former selves.” He turned around, “Now to find the others.”
Not too long after, Neil, Alura, Birdie, and Brando met up in the plaza. “You two find anything?” Neil asked.
Brando shook his head, “Not a crumb of evidence unfortunately.”
Birdie looked at Neil and Alura, “What about you two?”
“Aside from more people acting weird, nothing,” Alura replied, shaking her head.
Neil cocked an eyebrow, “What’s up with that anyway? They just seem so… broken.”
“Yeah, it’s strange, what could have happened here,” Brando looked at the wayward husks, “and what can we do to fix it?”
Birdie nodded, “I agree, while the mission itself is important, helping civilians is what Rangers are meant to do.” She gave a wistful sigh.
“You’re right,” Alura added, lifting up her Morpher, “Boss, I know this is a recon mission, but the people down here really seem to need our help, we’re going to shift gears to focus on helping them.”
“Of course Alura, I understand,” Shen from where he was sitting next to Tip, Hydra, and Arthur, working on the transport system.
“I think we’re pretty close to getting done!” Tip said cheerfully.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, I think it’s very nearly complete.”
“Good,” Shen chuckled, “from the sounds of it they’re gonna need it.”
“I wonder if Sirius and Aster have found anything,” Brando said, wondering aloud.
Alura looked around, “Where are those two anyway?”
Birdie pointed off in the distance, “There they are!” The two of them walked slowly towards the others before coming to a stop.
Neil grinned, “Hey you two, did you find anything?”
Sirius’s head rolled to the side before he spoke with an apathetic voice, “No.”
“Not really,” Aster added, equally as apathetic.
“Well we’re going try and find out what happened to everybody here now, so let’s get started,” Neil said.
“Fine,” Aster said, clearly not caring at all.
“Sure I guess,” Sirius said, shrugging.
The four of them were all caught off-guard by the sudden change in demeanor of their team’s two oldest members. Alura gave a confused look, taking a step back, “What’s gotten into you two?”
“Whatever happened to the people here must’ve happened to them too,” Birdie said, slightly panicked at their change in attitude but still trying to come up with an explanation.
Brando gave a determined look, “Then that’s all the more reason to find what’s doing this, they’re not gonna mess with these people and our friends and get away with it!”
“You won’t have to look very far, Rangers,” the four of them looked to the center of the plaza, and standing there was Kaus, Leiurus, and Bakueave.
Birdie gasped upon seeing Bakueave, “Oh no!”
Neil looked at Kaus, “Who is this guy?”
“That’s Duke Kaus of Sagittarius, we fought him back on Sigama and he wiped the floor with us,” Alura replied.
Brando looked at Bakueave, “Who’s your new friend?”
“I am Marquis Bakueave! You can thank me for your friends’ current condition, and you’ll be joining them soon!” Bakueave cackled.
“Not if we have anything to say about it!” Neil exclaimed.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
The three of them rushed forward, creating their weapons.
“Star Sword!”
“Star Rapier!”
“Star Saber!”
Leiurus gave an unimpressed look before morphing as well.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Star Spear!”
Kaus gave a hand motion as Leiurus charged, “Greyders!” A patrol of Greyders immediately appeared. Brando sliced through a few Greyders, Alura engaged Leiurus, and Neil engaged Kaus himself.
“Come on you two!” Birdie grabbed Sirius and Aster, dragging them with her as she went away from the fighting.
Kaus blocked a swing of Neil’s sword with the shaft of his halberd, “You’ll have to try better than-”
Neil cut him off by firing his Morpher as the blade was blocked, hitting Kaus in the chest and sending him staggering back, “That good enough for you?” Kaus gave a swing with his halberd as Neil used his sword to swing at it, locking the blades together.
“Not this time!” Alura said, ducking out of the way of Leiurus’s stinger before slicing at him, but he used his spear to block it. However, he couldn’t block the kick she nailed him in the chest with.
“Eat this!” Brando spun in a circle, blade outstretched. It sliced several Greyders, making them stagger back and explode.
“Maybe I could too, someday,” Birdie whispered to herself as she watched the Rangers clash.
Amidst the chaos, Bakueave took notice of Birdie, his nostrils flaring, “Oooh, that smells delectable.” He leapt towards her, “That dream of yours smells amazing! Shame I’m going to have to destroy you and your friends here once I take it!”
Birdie glanced back at Sirius and Aster, “N-no, I’m not going to let you destroy them! I.. I can fight too!”
Bakueave chuckled, “Oh yeah? You’re just an Olympia secretary droid, what could you possibly-”
Birdie swung the case she was holding into his snout with all the strength she could muster, making him stagger back a bit. Despite not being made for combat, a swing from a machine still hurt. She gasped in surprise at what she just did.
Bakueave glared at her, “You… How dare you!” He pointed his trident at her, “I won’t even give you the honor of having your dreams eaten by me!”
“Birdie!” Brando leapt away from the Greyders he was fighting and landed between Birdie and Bakueave, swinging his saber and making Bakueave back away. “Back off!” Brando said as Bakueave very narrowly avoided his slices. Alura and Neil looked away from their respective fights, firing their Morphers at Bakueave, who very narrowly dodged them.
Kaus and Leiurus used the distraction to knock their opponents away. “Leiurus, it is time for us to take our leave,” Kaus said as Leiurus ran up to Kaus before the two of them vanished in a beam of light.
“Looks like I should get out of here too!” Bakueave exclaimed before performing a series of jumps from building to building and off into the distance.
“Are you okay?” Alura said, unmorphing as she turned to look at Birdie.
Birdie nodded, “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Birdie, what you did was really risky,” Brando said sternly.
“I needed to keep Sirius and Aster safe Brando,” Birdie replied, “otherwise that Newnean could have destroyed them without issue.”
“You could‘ve been destroyed too!” Brando pointed out.
Neil raised an eyebrow and tried to change the subject, “Newnean?”
Birdie nodded, “They’re from the planet Newne in the Cetus system, and are considered a fairly rare species. They don’t consume physical food like most species do, they consume the dreams of others, which seems to have been what happened to Sirius and Aster.”
“So what you’re saying is that this Bakueave guy is some kind of psychic vampire or something?” Neil asked.
Birdie nodded again, “In layman’s terms, yes.”
“That can’t be right,” Neil said, turning to look at Sirius, “come on Sirius, don’t you want to take down the Empire so your clan can have justice?”
Sirius just shrugged, clearly disinterested, “I do not know, why would I want to?”
Neil gave a panicked look before looking at Aster, “Aster, don’t you want to rescue Professor Ain?”
Aster just gave a halfhearted sigh, “I dunno.”
Neil’s eyes widened, “What the heck?”
“Well, is there any way we can get their dreams back?” Alura asked curiously.
Birdie nodded, “We could, but it involves breaking his stomach open.”
Neil shrugged, “Doesn’t sound too bad.”
“We’re down forty percent of our team,” Brando replied, gesturing to Sirius and Aster who were staring off into the distance.
“What about Tip and Hydra?” Neil asked.
“They’re still on the Orion helping the Commander and your brother, it’s possible they can’t afford to come down right now,” Alura responded.
“So it’s just the four of us then,” Neil replied.
Brando sighed, “So what now?”
“Well, any idea why Bakueave went after Birdie?” Neil asked.
“Well, uh,” Birdie stuttered, “I believe I may be malfunctioning.” Neil gave a confused look. “I was made to be a secretary and a pilot, but recently I have felt the desire for something more, that being to fight alongside you all, I was not programmed to feel this, and I don’t know what compelled me to attack Bakueave either,” Birdie explained.
Neil smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, “Birdie, that’s not a malfunction, it’s a dream, and a pretty awesome one at that.”
“So this is what a dream feels like,” Birdie responded, contemplating, “I… think I like it, and I do want to fight alongside you.”
Brando sighed before speaking, concern in his voice, “Birdie please be reasonable here, you can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Alura asked, “We’re working together, we need to help each other out.”
Brando sighed, "It’s because it’s too dangerous, Alura, she’s not built to fight.”
Neil thought, “Then we can upgrade her or something."
Brando sighed and began to walk off, “I need a minute.” He began to walk into an alleyway.
“Brando!” Birdie called, as he walked away.
Neil put a hand on her shoulder, “Let’s give him time to think.”
Alura nodded, “I think we should too, he made some good points.”
In the alleyway Brando lifted his Morpher up to his mouth with a sigh, “Hey, Boss.”
“Brando? What’s wrong?” Shen’s voice replied from the other end.
Brando sighed again, “It’s just that things have gotten kinda messy down here, and well, I’m just kind of worried about Birdie.”
“Why’s that?” Shen asked.
“Well, she says she wants to help us fight the Empire, but I’m just worried, she’s not built to fight, and she doesn’t even have a Nova Sphere,” Brando replied.
Shen gave a hum, “I see, you make a good point, but I think you’re not putting enough trust in her.”
Brando raised an eyebrow, “Come again?
“Sure, she’s not built for combat, but that doesn’t mean she can’t fight, she’s smart, dedicated, and one of the most reliable people I know,” Shen said, “just because someone was made to do one thing doesn’t mean they can’t do another.” Shen paused for a moment, “Y’know, I still remember how happy she was after she first met you. She said that you were the first person besides me and my…” Shen got quiet for a moment, “predecessor to treat her as more than just a machine.”
Brando thought back to their first meeting at the Revolution’s headquarters, back when he was just a cadet…
“Oh! I'm so sorry!” Brando exclaimed, looking down at the android he had accidentally bumped into, which had made the files she was carrying scatter across the floor.
She looked up at him as she tried to gather the files, “Oh no, it’s fine! I should’ve paid attention to where I was walking.”
He bent down, “Here, let me help you.”
“Thank you,” Birdie said with a bit of surprise, “no one’s ever offered to do that before.”
Brando gave a small chuckle as he helped her get the last of her papers, “It’s no problem! I’m Brando Pesce by the way.”
She got to her feet, “It’s nice to meet you Brando, I’m Birdie-8.”
Brando’s eyes widened, “She really said that?”
“Yes, she did,” Shen replied. “So please Brando, put some faith in her, she might just surprise you.”
Brando nodded, “You’re right, I need to apologize to her right now, thank you Boss.”
Shen chuckled, “It’s no problem!”
With that Brando ran out of the alley and rushed towards Neil, Sirius, Aster, Alura, and Birdie, “Birdie!”
She turned to look at him before speaking with a sad voice, “Yes, Brando?”
“Birdie,” he said, his eyes and voice softening, “I’m sorry for being so harsh, I was just worried. I just saw you for what you were instead of who you were, and I shouldn’t have done that. What I was saying was no different from Bakueave, I was trying to take your dream away from you. I’m sorry for acting like that, and I’ll do anything to help you reach your dream.”
“It’s fine, Brando,” Birdie replied, her cheerful demeanor returning after a moment, “we were talking while you were gone and you made some good points, it is pretty dangerous, and well I wasn’t made to fight. Maybe we could come to a compromise?”
“Of course! You can follow your dream, just please be careful while doing it,” Brando replied.
Alura chuckled, “Good to see you two could work things out.”
“Now,” Neil said confidently, “let’s go get everyone’s dreams back!”
“Why would we want that?” Aster asked, disinterested.
Sirius gave a halfhearted nod, “We are just fine.”
“We need to fix this fast,” Brando said before being cut off by a buzz from his Morpher, “Yes, Boss?”
“I know I told you that what was in the case was for if you sphered for your lives, but I think now’s a good time to open it,” Shen chuckled.
Birdie clicked the case open and gasped, inside of it was a Supernova Morpher. “I-I can’t believe it! My very own Supernova Morpher!” Birdie said with a joy as she slid it on, “I may not be able to morph, but who cares? My dream is coming true! I’m going to fight alongside you guys!”
“It really is,” Brando smiled, “and as your friends, we’ll do everything we can to help you reach it.”
Suddenly, a bright pink light appeared in front of Birdie, solidifying into a pink Nova Sphere that depicted an eagle. Everyone in attendance save for Aster and Sirius gasped and looked on with wide eyes as the glowing Nova Sphere floated to rest in one of Birdie’s mechanical hands. “The Aquila Nova Sphere…” Birdie said, looking at it with reverence, “It… it’s chosen me.” She sounded like she was in shock.
“I think your desire to obtain your dream made it choose you,” Brando said, looking at it with a smile.
Alura grinned and pulled Birdie into a hug, “Oh I’m so happy for you!”
“Now once Leiurus joins back up with us, we’ll have everyone!” Neil exclaimed.
“You’re… you’re right,” Birdie said, seemingly in shock, “everyone’s here.” She suddenly raised her fist into the air, “Let’s get our friends’ dreams back!”
In the Orion’s bridge, Shen laughed and gave a little dance as he looked at what was unfolding down on Earth, with Tip and Arthur looking on in surprise as Hydra looked on with interest. “Commander, did you know this would happen?” Hydra questioned.
Shen shrugged, “I had a bit of a hunch, Birdie was made in the Aquila system, which according to legend, would make her a valid choice for the Aquila Nova Sphere.”
“So a Nova Sphere chooses someone from its respective system to be its chosen?” Arthur asked, “If that’s the case, then how come the Leo Nova Sphere chose Neil?”
“Your brother was really an alien all along!” Tip chuckled.
Shen shook his head, “I don’t know, and I doubt he does either, it’s got my head spinning and I intend on finding out why…”
Arthur looked intently at the screen showing Birdie holding her Nova Sphere, “So she can fight too,” he whispered.
“Come on guys!” Birdie yelled, leading them into an abandoned warehouse district, “Let’s go!”
“We’re coming!” Neil shouted as he and the others followed her, dragging Sirius and Aster along with him.
“Geez even I wasn’t this excited,” Alura said.
Brando chuckled, “Hey, I think it’s nice.”
They were cut off by a series of three pink energy beams, stopping them in their tracks to narrowly avoid them and turning to see Bakueave pointing his trident at them, accompanied by a pair of Flatborgs and a squad of Greyders. “Hello again Rangers! Prepare to have those delectable dreams munched on!” Bakueave cackled.
“Dream on Bakueave, we’re gonna get the peoples’ dreams back!” Birdie exclaimed, pointing at him.
Bakueave chuckled, “The Rangers are down two members and you’re just a secretary robot, what are you going to do to me?”
Neil, Alura, and Brando raised their Morphers to their chests. “How about a demonstration?” Neil asked.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” The three of them were surrounded in light before appearing in their costumes.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
Birdie confidently inserted her Nova Sphere into her Morpher, “Aquila Nova Sphere!” She performed the actions on her Morpher, “Star Charge!” She was enveloped in pink light.
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!” Birdie appeared as the light faded, now in her Ranger Costume. It was pink and had a skirt, much like Alura’s. Her visor was shaped like an eagle looking to the right, but the most notable feature of her suit was the pink wings attached to its back.
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
Birdie looked herself over for a moment before speaking in an excited voice, “Oh this is so cool!”
“I knew you could do it!” Neil shouted.
Bakueave chuckled, “You think a change in wardrobe is gonna-”
“Star Blaster!”
Birdie pointed the grip of her weapon at Bakueave, not attaching anything and pulling the trigger to shoot him in the chest with a pink energy blast, cutting him off. She spun the blaster in her hand, “Let’s show these guys what we can do! In the name of Aquila, I will punish you!”
“Birdie,” Brando said, turning to face her, “let’s take this guy down together.”
“Right!” Birdie shouted.
“Well then, let’s go!” Neil exclaimed.
“Star Sword!”
“Star Rapier!”
“Star Saber!”
The four Rangers charged forward towards the Marquis and Imperial troops.
“Go!” Bakueave shouted, “We’ve got numbers too!” The Greyders charged forward as well.
The four of them engaged in combat, with Neil and Brando slicing through Greyders as Alura delivered precision stabs with her rapier and Birdie fired shots from her blaster and Morpher, adding in a few kicks for good measure as well.
“This is the Orion,” Hydra said through their Morphers.
“The Nova Sphere transporter is up and running!” Tip added.
“Mr. Long is sending one down right now for you, Mr. Pesce!” Arthur finished.
Brando hit a button on the front of his belt, making a red Nova Sphere depicting a crab come out of the side. He wasted no time plugging it into his Morpher, “This Nova Sphere just so happens to be one of my favorites to serve up a hot plate of punishment with!”
“Cancer Nova Sphere!”
A massive crab claw made of red energy emerged from the Morpher, gripping several Greyders in front of him. With one fluid motion he flung all of them into the air, sending them flying off into the distance.
Suddenly, Bakueave fired more beams from his trident at Birdie and Brando while Neil and Alura sliced through more Greyders while protecting Sirius and Aster. Luckily, Brando managed to block the beams with his saber, while Birdie fired her blaster and Morpher, the blasts of which collided with Bakueave’s midair. “I’ve had enough of this! Flatborgs, get them!” Bakueave commanded as the two Flatborgs moved in front of them, aiming their Tonfas at Birdie and Brando.
The Greyders fired, launching missiles at them, but the two of them leapt out of the way, Birdie punctuating hers with a flip. “Come on, you can do better than that!” she taunted.
The Flatborgs took particular offense to that and both of them fired at her, but she dodged out of the way again. When the smoke from the explosions cleared, she was nowhere to be seen on the ground, now she was in the air above where she once stood, flapping her wings.
“You can fly?” Brando said with excitement, smiling under his helmet.
The Flatborgs on the other hand didn’t falter at this revelation, and instead fired more missiles at her. Birdie flew downwards with surprising agility, turning and soaring into the warehouse she was next to as the projectiles trailed after her. Inside the warehouse she gracefully weaved around support beams, easily outspeeding the missiles and using her blaster and Morpher to shoot a few out of the air. She doubled back around as a few more missiles trailed after her before flying towards a support beam, landing on the side of it momentarily to before pushing off to execute a sharp turn, making the missiles hit the beam. From there she flew towards the exit, misdirecting a few more missiles along the way. Once outside she shot straight up and fired directly down at a few more missiles trailing her, blowing up a few more and obscuring herself in the resulting explosion.
“Ya ha ha! We got her!” Bakueave chuckled, looking up at the explosion along with the Flatborgs.
“That’s what you think,” Birdie chuckled in return, not that they would hear it. From her belt she extracted a blue Nova Sphere depicting a telescope which she promptly plugged into her Morpher.
“Telescopium Nova Sphere!”
She aimed her Morpher forward, the Nova Sphere creating a blue holographic scope above it which clearly displayed Bakueave and the Flatborgs even from this distance. She aimed her blaster towards where Bakueave was on the scope, “I’ll be taking my friends’ dreams back, Bakueave!”
She fired, and Bakueave had no time to react before a pink beam of energy nailed him in the stomach, causing clouds to fly out of it and towards Sirius and Aster as well as all the civilians he had eaten the dreams of. Bakueave screamed in pain, “There goes my lunch!”
“Birdie is amazing!” Sirius said, finally able to process the excitement of Birdie becoming a Ranger
“She sure is!” Aster replied excitedly, “Let’s help them out!”
Sirius nodded, “Agreed.”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
Birdie landed as Neil, Alura, and Brando rushed forward. “That was one heck of a shot!” Alura said excitedly.
“Yeah, it was amazing!” Neil added.
“Sorry for ever doubting you,” Brando said, looking at her.
“It’s fine Brando, you were just looking out for me,” she replied.
“Hey guys!” Aster said as he and Sirius rushed forward.
“Sirius, Aster, you’re back to normal!” Neil said, grinning under his helmet.
“It is all thanks to Birdie,” Sirius replied, looking at her.
“It’s no problem guys. Now…” she said, turning to look at Bakueave, who was being helped back to his feet by the Flatborgs, “let’s finish this!”
The six of them pointed their Morphers at Bakueave, flicking their Nova Spheres back and flipping the side sections of their Morphers down. Energy the color of their respective Nova Spheres began to coalesce around their Morphers.
“All Star Shot!” They fired at Bakueave, spheres of red, blue, black, green, pink and yellow energy with tails like comets flew towards the Marquis.
“You two can handle this!” Bakueave shouted, pushing the Flatborgs in front of him to take the blasts, with the Flatborgs exploding as they were hit and knocking Bakueave back.
The Rangers struck a pose with Birdie giving a thumbs up, “Shine on!”
Bakueave got back to his feet, “This isn’t over yet, Rangers! I’m going to put you all to sleep for good!” Bakueave suddenly leapt far away and out of sight. A few moments later the area’s Consumoai shifted into its more humanoid form.
All of them looked up at it before Neil spoke, “Looks like it’s Megazord-”
“Aquila Zord!”
Neil was cut off by Birdie’s shout as she was encased in her pink Nova Sphere cockpit, which promptly flew upwards towards a giant mechanical eagle. It was primarily black, but it also had a few pink highlights on its head and wings. The cockpit attached to where its tail would be. “You’re going down!” Birdie shouted inside the cockpit, ramming the Aquila Zord into the Consumoai before flying back and doing it again.
“Wow, she is not messing around!” Neil exclaimed.
Brando chuckled, “She knows exactly what she wants to do and wants to get right to it.”
Suddenly a new horde of Greyders appeared, led by another Flatborg. “More of these guys?” Aster said, annoyed.
Alura flourished her rapier, stepping towards them, “You guys go help Birdie, I’ll take care of things down here.”
“Are you sure?” Sirius asked.
Alura nodded, “Trust me, now go help Birdie!”
“Right!” Neil, Sirius, Aster, and Brando said in unison.
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
As they flew off Alura made a beckoning motion with her hand at the Greyders and Flatborgs, “Alright, who’s first?”
Up above the Zords began to combine to form the Megazord, with the Lupus, Taurus, and Dorado Zords attaching to their regular spots as the Aquila Zord formed the left arm.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
Birdie wasted no time getting to work, swinging at the Consumoai with the Aquila Zord and slicing it with the Zord’s bladed wings. “I’ve spread my wings and now my dream is no one’s but my own!” Birdie shouted.
Brando followed up Birdie’s slices with a few of his own using the Dorado Zord before the Consumoai charged at the Megazord. It tried to swing its lance down but Birdie moved the Aquila Zord to block it before slicing at the Consumoai’s head. “I got him!” Birdie cheered.
“Now let’s filet him!” Brando exclaimed. Brando swung the Dorado Zord forward, sending a barrage of yellow energy slashes at the Consumoai, making it stagger back.
“Let’s finish this!” Neil shouted. The Rangers in the Megazord flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the section of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before the glow transferred to the blade of the Dorado Zord, which was positioned to be pressed against the Aquila Zord which had its wings flipped back, making the two Zords a makeshift bow. “I am the arrow of light that pierces the heart of darkness!” Birdie shouted as a beam of orange energy fired from the blade, pink energy spiraling around it as well. The shot nailed the Consumaoi in the chest, making it spark as energy crackled around it.
“I’ll remember this!” Bakueave shouted, jumping out of the Consumoai before it exploded.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil exclaimed before looking at his Morpher, “Hey Alura, how are things going down there?”
On the ground Alura spun her rapier around as she looked at the flames that were all that remained of the Greyders and Flatborgs, “I don’t think these guys are going to be bothering the people around here for the foreseeable future.”
Neil chuckled, “That’s good.”
“We were awesome!” Birdie cheered, standing up and accidentally hitting her head on the top of her cockpit.
The others chuckled a bit. “Good work!” Brando said.
From the top of a nearby building, Kaus and Leiurus watched. “Well that was a waste of time,” Kaus said with disappointment.
“It was a good plan, not your fault that the android interfered,” Leiurus responded, trying his best to hide his smile.
Kaus shook his head, “No matter, this hunt is not over yet.” Kaus tapped the bottom of his halberd against the ground before the two of them vanished in a beam of light.
“Out of the question!” Mirfak snarled at Felis as he barged into the throne room, the Duke following close behind him.
Felis gave a snarl of annoyance, “You’re being unreasonable.”
“Me and my scientists have far more important things to attend to that don’t involve dropping everything we’re doing to help you take out your little grudge,” Mirfak responded.
Karna Rog lifted up a hand to rest his chin on, “May I implore you to explain as to what is going on here?”
Mirfak turned to look at the Emperor, rolling his head around before leaning it forward to glare at Felis, “My liege, I was working with the Doctor and Dogolem when Duke Felis stormed into our lab demanding that we help him search for that entity he’s so obsessed with.”
“It would easily turn the tide in our favor Mirfak, those Rangers wouldn’t stand a chance,” Felis replied angrily.
Mirfak shook his head, “It is a waste of time and resources!”
Felis’s sword materialized in his hand, pointing it at Mirfak, “The only thing wasting time around here is you!”
They were silenced as they heard Ankaa unsheathe his blade, with Mirfak taking a step back in fear. Karna Rog put a hand on Ankaa’s shoulder gingerly, “That is quite enough Ankaa.” Ankaa gave a small nod, sheathing his sword and stepping back to where he was before. The Emperor froze before speaking again, “Duke Felis, as welcome as your idea is, it is obvious that your desire for revenge against that old friend of yours has blinded you. If these Power Rangers continue to be an annoyance I shall allow it, but for now this is Duke Kaus’s battle.”
Felis hung his head and nodded, “I understand sir.”
“Now leave, both of you,” Karna Rog commanded. The two of them complied, exiting the room. Karna Rog looked to the side, “I tire of your interference at times like this, but you do make a good point.” It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, “It might save the Rangers now, but I assure you they will still fall.”
Outside of the throne room Mirfak chuckled, careful to make sure no one heard him, “While I’m not fond of the Emperor’s current state, he is still useful to rid me of annoyances like Felis. I suppose I’ll keep playing along for now until I find a way to truly get rid of Karna Rog.”
“You were amazing down there!” Tip said excitedly as they looked at Birdie, slinging an arm over Hydra’s shoulder.
Birdie giggled as she looked at her datapad, “Thanks Tip!”
Shen smiled, “Yes Birdie, you were very much on the ball down there.”
Brodie gasped, “I completely forgot about the notes I was supposed to take!”
Shen smiled and gave her a pat on the shoulder, “It’s fine Birdie, I didn’t even intend for you to take notes down there anyway.”
“What?” she said, confused.
“I figured you’d probably be just the right person for the Aquila Nova Sphere to choose, I just used the performance review thing as an excuse to send you down,” Shen chuckled.
“Really? Thank you Commander!” Birdie said, overjoyed.
“So now we have everyone,” Sirius stated, tapping his foot.
Hydra nodded, “Indeed we do.”
“Now all we have to do is wait for Leiurus to join up with us!” Neil added.
Aster grumbled, “I guess.”
“Hey guys, I whipped up a little something to celebrate Birdie becoming a Ranger!” Brando said, entering the room and carrying a few plates.
Alura walked over to him, taking one, “Thanks Brando.”
“Yeah, thanks Mr. Pesce,” Arthur said, taking one as well.
Once everyone had taken their plate Birdie walked up to him, “Brando, thank you for helping me with my dream. I knew you were worried about me, but thank you for helping me get there in the end.”
Brando smiled, “It’s fine Birdie, I’d do anything for a friend.”
“Yeah, fulfilling a dream can be hard sometimes, but with friends like you guys, I know that anything’s possible!” Birdie chuckled and pumped a fist in the air.
In his Consumoai’s control room, Kaus bowed before a hologram of the Emperor. “So, they’ve managed to obtain their last member,” Karna Rog said, “then that means wiping them out all at once will be all the easier.”
Kaus nodded, “Correct your magnificence. I will find a way to end this all very soon.”
“Good,” the Emperor replied, “I have faith in you, Duke Kaus.” With that the hologram disappeared, leaving Kaus alone in the control room.
“I assume the meeting went well?” Leiurus asked, stepping into the room.
Kaus nodded, “Indeed Leiurus, with all of them together, dealing with them has become significantly easier.”
Before Leiurus could respond Bakueave entered the room, wailing, “They ripped my stomach open!”
Kaus made a sound of annoyance before whacking Bakueave with the blunt side of his halberd, “Oh stop your sniveling, you already lost us a Consumoai!”
Kaus moved to the control seat, sitting down in it, “I sense this hunt is drawing to a close and with it, the lives of those imbeciles as well.”
Notes:
Bakueave: Portmonteau of Baku (what he’s based on) and weave (as in dream weaver)
I must say, I really enjoyed giving my own spin on this episode, since I figured there was a lot of unused potential in the source material since we had a monster that ate dreams and not a single Ranger was effected by it, so I changed that here. I decided to keep the lottery system to help manage the cast better, but I decided to give it my own little spin as well. I also decided to keep Birdie’s flight scene from the source material because it’s just too cool not to. While this chapter diverged a lot, next chapter will be quite a bit closer to Kyuranger, but I’ll still try to give it my own spin. As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 6: Nine Stars of Hope
Chapter Text
The Orion’s bridge was filled with activity, Sirius was eating some kind of meat out of a bowl, Tip was talking with Hydra, who was trying to learn disappointment, Alura and Aster chuckled together as they spoke while Aster was lifting some dumbbells, Birdie typed away on her datapad, and Shen just watched. “Sure was nice for you to give us a day off, Shen,” Sirius said, looking up from his bowl.
Shen grinned, “It’s no problem Sirius, I figured you all deserved a bit of a break, you’ve been on a roll these past few days.”
“I’m not complaining, it’s just felt like mission after mission after mission lately,” Aster replied.
“I mean we are destined to save the universe, can’t exactly rest that often,” Alura replied.
“Still, it’s nice when we can,” Neil replied. He turned to look at Arthur, who was currently looking over a datapad himself, “Find anything interesting?”
Arthur nodded, “Just looking to see what species are out there in the galaxy.” His tone shifted as he spoke again, seemingly trying to insinuate something, “There’s a surprising amount that look a lot like humans, pretty neat, right Neil?”
Neil grinned, “Or maybe we look like them.”
“Good point,” Arthur said, smiling slightly.
Neil slung his arms behind his head, his elbows pointing outward, “Anyway, how do you feel about this?”
“About what?” Arthur asked.
“Y’know,” Neil said, “everything. The Nova Spheres, the Rangers, the Revolution.”
Arthur thought for a moment before chuckling a little, “It’s just kinda surreal I guess. I didn’t expect to be on a ship traveling the stars and find out that my brother is one of the people destined to defeat the evil galactic empire that enslaved our planet when the year started.”
“Yeah, it’s a bit hard to believe the Empire only took over Earth last year, it feels like it’s been a lot longer,” Neil replied, “I think mom would’ve liked to be up here.”
Hydra suddenly turned away from Tip to look at the two of them, curious, “Why is that?”
“Our mom worked for NASA,” Arthur replied, “it’s basically the people on Earth most dedicated to studying and exploring space.”
Alura looked at the two of them, “That sounds interesting.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, she loved the stars, always told us about the stories and myths behind the constellations and stuff.”
Shen chuckled, speaking up for the first time in a while, “It sounds like your mother and my father would’ve gotten along swimmingly! He did the same thing for me, taught me all about the constellation systems, though his stories were probably different from your mother’s. I’m sure the two of them would’ve had a ball though.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “she was pretty easy to get along with.”
“Sounds like they would’ve been fast friends then,” Tip commented, “Or maybe even-”
Tip was just about to finish their tease when Brando entered the bridge, “Hey guys, I’m going to head down to Earth to see what food I can use to cook with back up here, anyone want to come?”
“Sure!” Neil exclaimed, “I can help you pick stuff out, I am from there after all.”
Aster spoke up as well, “I’d love to take a better look around the place, really soak everything in this time since Bakueave made it kind of hard to do that.”
“I would like to see what Earth is like too,” Hydra added, standing up.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, I liked it down there, I’d love to see more of it.”
Arthur shrugged, “It’s been a while since I’ve been off the ship, especially since there’s no mission going on.”
“Yeah, exploring other planets and fighting the Empire is nice and all, but I’d like to just hang out on earth for a bit. I mean, this is our home after all,” Neil added.
“What about the rest of you?” Brando asked.
Sirius shook his head, “I would rather stay up here for a while, my people know that rest is important, otherwise you cannot be as strong as you could be.”
“Nah, I’ll just stay here,” Tip replied.
“I would really like to, but I’m in the middle of writing a very important scene right now,” Birdie replied.
Brando nodded, “Alright, we’ll see you guys later then. Enjoy yourselves!”
Birdie gave a wave as the six of them made their way out, “Have fun down there!”
“We will!” Neil said cheerfully.
A few minutes later Shen looked out the bridge’s window, watching the Leo, Taurus, Ophiuchus, Chameleon, and Dorado Zords fly towards an area on Earth that he believed was called New Jersey. He gave a smile, “Have fun, you guys deserve it.”
A few hours later on Kaus’s Consumoai a Flatborg approached the Duke of Sagittarius, “Sir, the Power Rangers have been reported on Earth.”
Kaus tapped his fingers against his control seat, “How many?”
“Five, and a human as well,” the Flatborg said.
“I see,” Kaus said, “Leiurus, Bakueave!”
The two entered the room, “Yes Kaus?” Leiurus asked.
“We’ve found the Power Rangers, five of them. Prepare yourselves, we’re putting an end to this hunt,” Kaus said sternly.
“Of course sir!” Bakueave said with sadistic cheer.
Leiurus gave a halfhearted nod, “Of course.”
Kaus turned to look at Bakueave, “Bakueave, you lure them out.”
Bakueave nodded, “Right away!”
“What about the other three?” Leiurus asked as Bakueave exited the control room.
Kaus chuckled, “Do not worry yourself Leiurus, I have just the plan to bring them all together so we can make them fall like domino, one after the other.”
Leiurus said nothing more, simply pulling his pointed necklace out of his pocket and looking at it.
“This sure looks good, Neil,” Brando said, looking at the cuts of meat in the bag he was carrying.
Neil chuckled as he carried a bag of his own, filled with various food items, “It’s no problem Brando, I just picked out some things I thought the others would like.” A few moments later Aster, Hydra, Alura, and Arthur showed up on the street the two of them were walking on, meeting up with them. Neil turned to look at Arthur, “So how did the shopping with Aster go?”
“It went good,” Arthur replied, pulling a magnet out of the bag he was carrying and putting it in his pocket.
Aster nodded, pulling a Rubik’s cube out of the bag of assorted puzzles and brain teasers he was carrying, “Thanks for the spending money, Neil!”
Neil smiled, “It’s no problem Aster, I figured you’d want to buy something.” Neil looked at Hydra and Alura, “How was you guys’ time?”
“I went to a library and looked around. I believe the experience is what you’d consider enjoyable,” Hydra said.
Alura nodded, “I went to a park, it was pretty nice. It reminded me of my homeworld, Tokage, though not as warm and with fewer trees.”
Neil grinned, “Glad to see that everyone’s enjoying themselves here!”
“Feels nice to have solid ground beneath my feet again,” Arthur said after a moment of silence.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, as great as the Orion is, it's always nice to be planetside.”
“Especially on a planet as nice as this one,” Hydra added, making Arthur roll his eyes.
Aster looked at a Consumoai in the distance, “Only issue here being the Empire.”
Brando smiled, “No need to worry Aster, we’ll deal with that thing tomorrow.”
Before anyone else could say anything more screams erupted down the street. Marching forward and leading a horde of Greyders was Bakueave, currently draining people’s dreams and tossing their limp bodies to the side. “Ugh, not this guy again!” Alura complained.
“You might see an issue, but I see payback! Let’s get this guy!” Aster exclaimed.
“Right!” Neil said, handing his bag off to Arthur, “Keep out of the way Arthur.”
“Got it,” Arthur responded as Aster and Brando handed him their bags as they ran after Neil, Hydra, and Alura.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers ran as they morphed, sliding to a stop in front of Bakueave. “Ah, there you are, Rangers!” Bakueave cackled.
“You’re not getting away this time Bakueave!” Neil exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Marquis.
“Here we go!” Alura exclaimed as the Rangers charged forward.
Bakueave looked at the Greyders, “Well? Go and get them!”
From there the Rangers promptly engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Greyders, dispatching the Grey-like foot soldiers with ease. A trio of them charged at Brando, only for Alura to appear behind one and choke it out before attacking the others. “Leave the Marquis to me!” Neil said, charging at Bakueave. Neil dodged the thrusts of the Marquis’s trident before kicking him back against a wall. Neil fired his Morpher at the wall behind Bakueave, making the Marquis flinch before he realized none of the shots hit him.
“Ha! You missed” Bakueave laughed. A portion of the wall that Neil shot promptly collapsed on him, breaking on impact and leaving Bakueave dazed. After a moment he recovered and gave a growl, “I’m out of here!” With one huge leap Bakueave vanished into the distance. With Bakueave gone and the Greyders dealt with, the Rangers unmorphed.
“We need to leave,” Hydra stated.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, the Marquis of this place is probably going to come to check out what the commotion was.”
Arthur ran up to them, taking a moment to catch his breath and pointing off to the side, “There’s a quarry not too far from here, if we head there we can probably get back up to the Orion without any problems.”
Neil smiled, “Good idea Arthur!”
“Let’s cut to the chase then!” Brando said, the Rangers running off towards where Arthur pointed a few moments afterwards.
On his Consumoai, Kaus looked at a screen that showed the Rangers’ escape, “Good, Bakueave has done an excellent job.” He spun around, “Ready to head down Leiurus?”
Leiurus gave a small nod, “Of course, Kaus.”
“Then let us go then,” Kaus chuckled.
Arthur and the Rangers ran past an abandoned mining facility at the quarry, now fully outside of the city’s limits. “Alright,” Alura said as she prepared to plug her Nova Sphere into her Morpher, “let’s-”
Alura was cut off as electricity began to crackle around them, branching upwards towards a catwalk where Kaus and Leiurus stood. The electricity began to shape into a massive crackling arrow which was then hurled at the Rangers. They dodged out of the way, with Neil grabbing Arthur and tossing both of them to the ground to shield his brother.
“Greetings, Rangers,” Kaus said, placing a hand on the catwalk’s railing.
“Kaus!” Alura exclaimed, fear in her eyes.
“Rangers, you shall be terminated,” Kaus leapt from the catwalk, electricity branching below him.
“We’re not going to run, Kaus!” Aster said, steam shooting from his nose as he took a moment to glance up at Leiurus.
Kaus chuckled, taking a step forward and moving towards them slowly, intent on taking his time, “A pity, the chase is the best part.”
The Rangers quickly inserted their Nova Spheres into Morphers as Kaus broke into a sprint, eyes like a crazed animal, “Star Charge!” They finished morphing just in time to narrowly avoid a wide swing from Kaus’s halberd. Kaus’s halberd shifted into its bow mode, and he used it to nail Hydra in the chest with an energy arrow before pointing at Aster, a bolt of electricity shooting from his finger and making Aster stagger back.
“Leiurus, get down here!” Kaus commanded, using a shockwave from his hand to send Alura flying back.
“Of course,” Leiurus jumped down from the catwalk before landing and plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, “Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Star Spear!”
Leiurus, now morphed, rushed at the Rangers, trying to make the intentional misses with his spear and stinger convincing to Kaus. Aster swung at him with his axe, but Leiurus used the shaft of his spear to block it. By now, all the Rangers were focused on Leiurus, dodging his attacks and trying to not hurt him too badly, well, aside from Aster. Hydra took a swing at Leiurus’s head, making Leiurus duck and sweep Hydra’s leg.
Arthur, who had retreated a safe distance away, watched on as the Rangers fought Leiurus, noticing that something was off, “Where’d Kaus go?”
“Hello child,” Arthur spun around to see Kaus standing directly behind him. Before Arthur could do anything Kaus slammed the flat side of his halberd’s blade into the side of Arthur’s head, knocking Arthur to the ground.
Aster was just about to slam his fist into Leiurus’s back when Kaus suddenly shouted, “Nobody move!” Everyone turned to look at Kaus, who was holding Arthur’s limp body up by the collar of his blue shirt.
“Arthur!” Neil yelled, preparing to sprint forward.
“Move any closer and I will send 200 milliamperes into this boy’s body,” Kaus commanded, “I’ve heard that’s a sufficient enough amount to put an end to any human.”
Alura glared at Kaus, “He’s not involved in this!”
“Let him go!” Aster shouted, now paying no attention to Leiurus.
“No,” Kaus said simply, slamming his halberd shift into its bow form, which promptly shot a single energy arrow into the air. The arrow exploded, erupting into countless more arrows which rained down from above, nailing all of the Rangers except for Leiurus with a series of explosions, making them unmorph and fall to the ground.
Kaus lifted his halberd up to Arthur’s neck, and Leiurus seemed like he was going to run forward for a moment before stopping, seeing that Kaus was not going to harm him yet. “If you want to see this child alive again you will do exactly as I say,” Kaus said, looking at the Rangers.
“Wh-what is it?” Neil looked up, struggling to speak.
Leiurus walked up to Kaus, unmoprhing as the Duke handed him Arthur. Trying to be discreet, Leiurus gave the Rangers a wink, careful so as not to let Kaus see. “You are to come here tomorrow, all eight of you. You will bring your Nova Spheres and you will not do anything else,” Kaus replied.
“And if we don’t?” Hydra said, trying to get to his feet.
Kaus looked at Arthur, “Then the boy dies.”
Brando glared at Kaus, “You wouldn’t.”
“I could care less if he was an infant,” Kaus replied, “he is with you, and Imperial law states that all insurgents are to be terminated.” Kaus looked at his claws, “Of course, I’m willing to be merciful just this once. If you value this child’s life, then you will do as I say. We will be here tomorrow, and unless you are absent then no harm will come to him.” Kaus pointed his halberd at them, “Me and Leiurus will now be taking our leave to give you time to make your decision.”
Neil got to his feet, “Leiurus please!” He began to charge forward, only to stop when Leiurus fired his Morpher at the ground just in front of him.
“I work for the Empire, but I am not a monster, Leo Ranger. No harm will come to him as long as you comply,” Leiurus stated, moving beside Kaus. Just before Leiurus, Arthur, and Kaus vanished in a beam of light, Leiurus seemed to mouth something to them, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him safe.”
“Arthur!” Neil screamed running forward, but they were already gone. As the others got to their feet, Neil fell to his knees.
“We need to do something!” Neil said, slamming a first down on the bridge’s table.
“Neil, you are angry,” Hydra said as Tip tended to his wounds.
Neil turned to look at Hydra, “Of course I’m angry! The Empire has my brother and we’re just here sitting around!”
Birdie looked at him before speaking comfortingly, “Neil, you have to calm down, Arthur’s in good hands at the moment.”
“Yeah,” Tip added, nodding their head, “we’ve gotta keep a cool head about this.”
Alura looked at him, “They’re right Neil, we have to stay calm if we want to save your brother.”
Neil took a deep breath, “Right, I’m just so scared. Arthur’s the only family I have left, and if something happened to him then…” Neil trailed off, seeming close to tears.
“Neil,” Shen said as he stepped forward and put a comforting hand on Neil’s shoulder, “we will rescue Arthur, mark my words.”
Brando nodded, “The Commander is right Neil, we aren’t gonna back down until your brother’s rescued.”
“Yes,” Sirius replied, “Arthur is part of our clan too, and we will not allow him to be harmed.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s do something!” Neil said, raising his voice.
Alura shook her head, “It’s too risky to go in right now and launch an assault on them while they have Arthur. As much as I hate to say it, we'll have to play by Kaus’s rules if we want to rescue him.”
“We don’t even know if Kaus is gonna uphold his end!” Neil replied.
Shen shook his head, “Leiurus is there with him Neil. I guarantee that he’s not going to let Arthur get hurt.”
“Even if Leiurus is as nice as you say he is, he’s still just one guy,” Aster replied, steam shooting from his nostrils, “Who knows what could happen if he tries to stop it.”
“No,” Neil said, trying to regain his composure, “I trust Leiurus. If anyone can try to help Arthur right now, it’s him.”
Tip nodded, “I think so too. I mean, I was a thief and all, I’m pretty good at reading a person’s true intentions, and he seems like he’s not gonna let that happen.”
“I agree,” Hydra added, glancing over at Tip, “and besides, if the Commander trusts him, we should probably give him the benefit of the doubt at the very least.”
Aster puffed out steam, taking a seat next to Sirius, “I guess.”
Shen patted Neil’s shoulder, “I’ll try to get into contact with him to see what’s going on.”
Neil gave a sigh, wiping his eyes, “Okay, please.” He muttered under his breath, “Please be okay Arthur.”
“Here,” Leiurus said, tossing a piece of bread into the cell Arthur was being held in on board the Consumoai, “Eat up.”
Arthur picked it up and looked it over before taking a bite, “So, you’re Leiurus.”
“Just be quiet and eat,” Leiurus responded.
Arthur rolled his eyes, moving closer towards Leiurus and whispering, “You can cut the bad boy act, I know you’re a spy.”
Leiurus sighed before whispering back, “Alright, but why are you with the other Rangers anyway?”
“The Leo Ranger, Neil, he’s my older brother, the only family I have left,” Arthur replied.
Leiurus nodded, “Your brother is a good fighter.”
“I’m sure he’d be flattered to hear that,” Arthur chuckled, “He’s probably worried sick right now though.”
“You have a good brother then,” Leiurus replied.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, he is. What about your brother? Mr. Long told us you were looking for him.”
Leiurus thought for a moment…
“Here,” Eurypto said as he handed a younger Leiurus a pointed necklace, a purple spherical gem in it. Eurypto had a bit of a beard, and his long hair was done up in a bun as his purple scorpion-like tail hung behind him. The two of them were on Serket in a settlement consisting of countless tents, a result of their people’s nomadic lifestyle.
Leiurus looked up from where he was sitting, the nine-year-old looking up at his nineteen-year-old brother, “What is it?” He took the necklace from him, looking it over.
“It’s some of my venom,” Eurypto replied, looking at his younger brother with affection, “I know I won’t always be around for you, so I want you to take this. It’s so that even when I’m somewhere else, I can still be with you.”
Leiurus grinned, “Thank you brother, I love it!”
Eurypto gave a smile before ruffling his younger brother’s hair, “You’re welcome, Leiurus.”
Leiurus sighed, “It’s… complicated. We were a lot like you and Neil, we were the only family we had. He was a good brother back then, but one day he disappeared and when he came back he just… snapped.”
A twenty-two-year-old Leiurus watched as his village burned. Greyders and Flatborgs were everywhere, many of which he had subdued with his spear. Their leader had to be around here somewhere. Soon, he came to a stop and stared on with horror as he saw his brother standing in front of a Morider. “Eurypto! What is going on?”
Eurypto, now thirty-two, looked at him with confusion before stepping into the Morider, “Who are you?”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Arthur said solemnly.
“It’s fine,” Leiurus replied, “I’ve spent the past three years looking for him, and trying to find out what happened to him.”
Arthur nodded, “Well, good luck.”
“Thank you…” Leiurus said, trailing off.
“Arthur,” Arthur replied.
Leiurus nodded, “Arthur, I appreciate it.”
Kaus and Bakueave walked into the room, with Bakueave making a beeline towards Arthur, “Oooh, children’s dreams are just the tastiest!”
Kaus promptly whacked Bakueave with his halberd, “You are not to touch the boy, we’re going to kill him whether the Rangers appear or not, but if they do I doubt they would take the fact that we harmed him lightly.”
“Yes,” Leiurus replied, “that would be unfortunate.”
Kaus nodded, “I have quite good news, Leiurus.”
“What would that be?” Leiurus asked curiously.
“Should the Rangers appear, his magnificence and the Knights of Andromeda wish to view it. Performing such a task as executing the Rangers before them will be a great honor,” Kaus replied.
“I might even be promoted to a Duke!” Bakueave said excitedly.
“Wait, the Emperor and the Knights are coming here?” Leiurus said, slightly surprised.
Kaus shook his head, “As much as I would like his magnificence to be present, he and the Knights are far too busy, but it will be broadcasted to them.”
“Oh, I see,” Leiurus said, regaining his composure. “I’m curious Kaus, why are you so loyal to the Emperor anyway?”
“I have my reasons,” Kaus replied, “reasons I don’t want to share with you just yet.”
Leiurus nodded, “I see.” He began to walk out of the room, “I’m heading to my quarters, I need to rest up for tomorrow.”
“Understood,” Kaus said. “Be ready.”
Leiurus left the containment wing and went to his quarters. “Good thing I looked for any bugs when I got here,” Leiurus said, lifting up his Morpher. “Commander, it’s Leiurus.”
On the Orion’s bridge a screen displayed Leiurus looking at everyone currently there. “Yes, Leiurus, what is it?” Shen asked.
“Is Arthur okay?” Neil immediately interrupted.
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, your brother’s safe, but Kaus is planning on executing him even if you show up tomorrow.”
“Is it possible for you to extract him?” Shen inquired.
Leiurus shook his head, “I don’t think it’s possible, the security here is incredibly tight, if I tried to get him out I’d probably be swarmed in seconds.”
Aster gave a huff, “Coward.”
“He has a point, Aster,” Sirius replied.
“So what’s the plan then?” Tip asked curiously.
Leiurus seems to think for a moment, “I’ll have to play along a bit longer, but I think once we’re back down on Earth for our little rendezvous I should be able to help him escape while Kaus is focused on you.”
“Yeah, he knows that all of us are probably gonna show up, but I doubt he’ll anticipate you turning on him,” Brando said.
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, but I still wouldn’t do anything too stupid.
“Why’s that?” Alura asked.
“In case you couldn’t tell, this is a trap,” Leiurus replied. “He wants to get you all together and take you all down at once.”
“Noted,” Hydra said.
“Try not to get yourselves killed,” Leiurus said bluntly before the screen shut off.
“Haughty little bug,” Aster grumbled.
Early the next day the rendezvous point in the quarry had been set up. Kaus stood alongside Bakueave and Leiurus, accompanied by a horde of Greyders and a few Flatborgs. Arthur was behind them, restrained to a metal pole by Leiurus’s tail. “You sure they’re going to show up?” Bakueave asked curiously.
“They will,” Kaus replied, “unlike many things I’ve hunted, the Rangers are the type to come back for their weakest member.”
As if on cue the eight Rangers appeared, walking towards the Imperial forces. “We’re here Kaus, now let Arthur go,” Neil commanded.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog, Ankaa, Mirfak, Schedar, and Alderamin watched the events transpire. “I can’t believe we are about to witness the end of the Power Rangers,” Alderamin said, chuckling.
“This is gonna be entertainin’ for sure!” Schedar said, skipping around. She pulled out her datapad and began to record herself, “Ooh this will sure to make for an interestin’ reaction video, my fans will love it!”
Mirfak rolled his head around and stroked his chin, “I just hope they’re left mostly intact afterwards, I’d love to examine those Morphers of theirs.”
“I’ve heard that one of the Rangers comes from a planet you conquered, Aldie. Right chat?” Schedar said cheerfully.
Alderamin turned to look at her, “I’ve conquered very many planets, Schedar, you’ll need to be more specific.”
Schedar just waved her hand, “Nevermind, forget I said anything Aldie. Alright, chat, let’s see how this plays out!”
“I am quite interested to see how this plays out,” Karna Rog said with his usual deadpan tone, looking at the projection.
“Drop your Nova Spheres,” Kaus ordered, glaring at them.
The Rangers produced their Nova Spheres, holding them in their hands.
Leiurus turned back to look at Arthur, “When I let go, move quickly and quietly,” he whispered. Arthur nodded. Leiurus quickly retracted his tail, letting Arthur go with the Imperial forces none the wiser. Arthur moved quickly towards the treeline of a nearby forest.
“I said drop them,” Kaus said, clearly irritated.
“Nah,” Tip replied as the Rangers pointed their Morphers forward, firing upon Kaus, Bakueave and the Imperial troops.
Kaus promptly pointed his halberd forward, firing a barrage of energy arrows from it at the Rangers and knocking them to the ground. “You imbeciles, your foolishness will cost you. The boy dies now!” Kaus turned to where Arthur was, only to be greeted with nothing, “What?” He turned to look at Leiurus, rage in his voice, “You.” He walked up to Leiurus, smacking the Serketian in the face.
“I don’t kill children, especially not ones my allies care about,” Leiurus growled as he recovered.
“Allies?” Bakueave said with surprise.
Kaus brandished his halberd, “You insignificant little wretch! How dare you!” He prepared to strike Leiurus with his halberd, only for Leiurus to shoot him in the face, making him stagger back. Using the time Kaus need to recover as an opening, Leiurus ran towards the other Rangers, using his tail to neutralize the Greyders that surrounded them, allowing them to get to their feet.
“Well that was a turn of events!” Schedar said, gasping, “Chat, is this real?”
“Traitor!” Alderamin shouted. “This is unacceptable behavior!”
“It appears that despite being a scorpion, this Ranger is more snake-like than we anticipated,” Mirfak commented, lifting his organic hand up to grip the mechanical side of his neck as he tilted his head to his right.
The Emperor merely sat quietly as the events unfolded, merely tapping away at the side of his throne.
Mirfak looked at him, “You’re acting awfully calm about this, I was expecting this to ruffle your feathers a lot more, my liege.”
“This will just make things more interesting,” the Emperor rasped, “and all the more satisfying when they fall.”
“Thanks for saving Arthur,” Neil said, getting to his feet.
Leiurus got into a fighting position, “Now’s not the time, we’ve got bigger things to worry about.”
“Duke Kaus!” Bakueave said, helping the Ojikazoan to his feet.
If looks could kill, Kaus would’ve ended them all several times over already. He pointed “You traitorous worm! Who do you think you are, thinking you can betray the glorious Dark Matter Empire?”
“I’m a Power Ranger,” Leiurus said, looking at Kaus with disdain.
“Just cause you’re a Ranger doesn’t mean I’ll like you,” Aster grumbled.
Leiurus looked at Aster with an apologetic look, “I’ll make no excuses for what happened that night, but if you want to know why I did what I did, I’ll tell you later.”
“Fine,” Aster replied. “Let’s just cut to the chase and take these guys down already!”
“Right,” Alura nodded.
“You’re toast!” Brando added.
“You will pay for what you have done,” Sirius growled.
Hydra narrowed his eyes, “I want to feel, but I won’t feel a thing when we take you down.”
“Now that’s a pretty cool line there, Hydra!” Tip said cheerfully.
Hydra nodded, looking at them, “Thank you, Tip.”
“No one hurts a friend of ours and gets away with it,” Birdie said, clenching a fist.
“Ready?” Neil asked.
“Ready!” they all said in unison, inserting their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!” they all shouted in unison, becoming engulfed in a flash of colorful light which rapidly faded.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
They all struck a pose as a massive colorful explosion erupted behind them, “Power Rangers Supernova!” The Rangers charged forward, Bakueave, the Greyders, and Flatborgs firing at them. The Rangers proceeded to return fire, taking down a few Greyders in the process.
“Star Sword!”
“Star Spear!”
“Star Claw!”
“Star Crossbow!”
“Star Axe!”
“Star Scythe.”
“Star Rapier!”
“Star Blaster!”
“Star Saber!”
Sirius leapt at a Flatborg, tearing into it with the claw while Leiurus fought another alongside Aster, much to the latter’s annoyance. Tip fired at a few Greyders, destroying them as Hydra sliced through several more. Birdie soared by, blasting large groups of Greyders and turning them into fiery explosions. Brando and Alura dealt with some Greyders as well, slicing and stabbing them as Alura blinked in and out of sight.
From some distance away, Arthur watched the battle unfold as people suddenly appeared, watching and filming the battle as well. “Who are they?” one younger woman asked.
Arthur grinned as he looked at her, “They’re the Power Rangers, the saviors of the galaxy.”
Neil ran along the side of a hill, cleaving through dozens of Greyders before locking blades with a Flatborg’s tonfa. With a single swing of his sword in a circle and a flash of red energy, Neil destroyed two Flatborgs and dozens more Greyders. Spotting Kaus, he charged and swung at him, only for Kaus to block the attack with his Halberd, “I’ll make you regret laying your hands on my brother!”
Meanwhile, Sirius, Aster, Biride, and Brando had cornered Bakueave, the Marquis firing blasts of energy from his trident at them and trying to stab them. They managed to dodge his attacks, with Aster grabbing Bakueave’s arm to hold him in place, “You won’t be taking anyone’s dreams anymore!”
“Really?” Bakueave asked, panicking, “Mind telling me your-”
Birdie delivered a series of rapid-fire shots from her Morpher and blaster into Bakueave’s chest, cutting him off, “Can it!”
Brando walked up to Bakueave, his saber in a reverse grip. “Eat this!” he said, slicing into Bakueave’s chest.
“Ow!” Bakueave yelled in pain.
Sirius ran up towards him, slicing him in the side with his claw, “You think you will get away this time? In your dreams!”
Aster tossed Bakueave to the side, making the Marquis hit the ground hard. As Bakueave tried to get to his feet Birdie pointed her blaster at him, plugging in her Nova Sphere, “Time to tuck this guy in!”
“Altair Strike!” Birdie fired a supercharged beam of pink energy from her blaster, exploding on impact with Bakueave. As the smoke cleared, Bakueave could be seen lying on the ground, motionless. Birdie spun her blaster, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that too much pink energy is dangerous?”
Neil dodged a swipe of Kaus’s halberd before using his sword to block another swing, “Nice try!”
“Foolish Ranger,” Kaus growled as the bow-like growth on his mouth glowed before it shot a barrage of small electric arrows at Neil’s face, making him staggering back and allowing Kaus to stab at him with his halberd, making Neil’s suit spark as he was launched back. Neil got to his feet as the other Rangers arrived, having dealt with just about everything else. “In the name of his magnificence Emperor Karna Rog, you shall perish for your treachery towards the Empire, Rangers!” Kaus snarled, firing a barrage of energy arrows from his halberd at them.
The Rangers avoided them, charging through the resulting cloud of smoke at Kaus, “Go ahead and try to stop us!” Neil yelled. Kaus swung at Neil, who blocked it with his sword before using his halberd to block a swing from Brando’s saber, retaliating by swinging his green energy-infused halberd in a circle around him, though the Rangers dodged it. Brando swung at Kaus again, with Kaus blocking the attack once more, only for Sirius to charge up behind Brando, flipping up over him and landing behind Kaus, swinging at him with his claw.
Kaus quickly positioned his halberd to block the attack while still blocking Brando, “Do you not realize the entire galaxy belongs to the Dark Matter Empire!” Kaus pushed Brando forwards before tossing Sirius forward as well, not noticing that Birdie was flying nearby, Alura holding onto her foot. The two fired at Kaus, making the Duke stagger back.
“Antares Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
“Rasalhague Strike.”
Leiurus, Aster, and Hydra hurled an orange energy slash, a spinning black energy axe, and a spinning silver energy slash at Kaus, staggering the Ojikazoan before Leiurus restrained him with his tail. Leiurus began spinning Kaus around before Neil delivered a leaping slash with his red energy-infused sword, making Kaus hit the ground as Leiurus released his grip on him. “Get ready Kaus, cause we’re gonna show you what the Nova Spheres can really do!” Neil said, slinging his sword over his shoulder as the other Rangers surrounded the Duke. Kaus glanced around him as the Rangers pointed their Morphers at him. “Time to wrap this up!” Neil said.
“All Star Shot!” the Rangers exclaimed, firing their Morphers at Kaus. A massive star appeared below Kaus, launching a pillar of colorful energy into the air in a circle around it. As it disappeared Kaus fell to the ground into the middle of the star the attack had scorched on the ground, sparking. A pillar of light appeared and in an instant Kaus was gone.
“This has gone on long enough Rangers!” Kaus snarled in the control seat of his Consumoai which had appeared overhead, ascending into space after a moment.
Neil pointed upwards, “You’re not going anywhere!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The Zords’ cockpits attached to them as they flew into the air.
“They really gave Kaus a beating,” Alderamin grumbled.
Schedar lifted a hand up to her mouth, “Oh poor Kaus!”
“Yes, yes, poor Kaus,” Mirfak repeated, trying to hide the joy in his voice.
The Emperor stared at the projection, “Rangers, if you want to put an end to this, then I’m afraid you’ll have to dream a bit bigger.” Karna Rog snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the quarry, pitch black lightning crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Bakueave’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into a giant Bakueave some distance away, “How’s this for a recurring dream?”
Seeing the giant Bakueave made Alura speak up, “Let’s divide and conquer!”
The other Rangers all gave some affirmation of the command, with the Libra, Ophiuchus, Aquila, and Dorado Zords joining the Leo Zord in flying towards Bakueave as the Scorpius, Lupus, Taurus, and Chamaeleon Zords went to pursue the Consumoai.
“Come on!” Neil shouted as he, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, and Brando flicked their Nova Spheres to the right, the Zords positioning themselves to form the Megazord.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This configuration featured the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Aquila Zord as the left arm, the Ophiuchus Zord as the right leg, and the Libra Zord as the left leg.
“Let’s go!” Neil shouted.
Birdie nodded, “The time is now!”
“Let’s finish off this appetizer and help the others with the main course!” Brando added.
The Megazord took a swing at Bakueave with the Dorado Zord, slicing him and following it up with another slice from the Aquila Zord, making Bakueave stagger back. The Megazord jumped into the air, delivering a flurry of kicks with the Libra and Ophiuchus Zords to Bakueave, making him drop his trident before the Megazord backflipped onto the ground.
The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Megazord’s cockpits began to glow before the light transferred to the Ophiuchus and Libra Zords. The Megazord leapt into the air, the Ophiuchus Zord shifting so its snake head was biting and the Libra Zord shifting so its weight pans were spinning like buzzsaws. They extended forward, the Ophiuchus Zord biting Bakueave before the Libra Zords pans sliced into him.
“You’re giving me a stomachache!” Bakueave yelled as energy crackled around his body, collapsing to the ground with a massive explosion.
“Time to help the others!” Neil said. The Megazord separated, its component Zords flying into the air to deal with the Consumoai.
“Did we keep you waiting?” Tip said once they arrived, flying the Libra Zord around and blasting golden energy beams at Moriders.
“Here we are,” Hydra added, biting into a few other Moriders with the Ophiuchus Zord.
Kaus growled, “Do you think those machines will do you any good?”
“They will!” Neil replied, “Because…”
“All nine Rangers are here now!” they all said in unison.
The Zords fired a massive blast of energy at the Consumoai, destroying every Morider in the way and severely damaging it. From there the Zords zipped around it, firing at it from all angles. “Megazord Time!” Neil shouted as he, Leiurus, Sirius, Aster, and Alura flicked their Nova Spheres to the right, their Zords moving into position.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This configuration was almost entirely new, with the Scorpius Zord as the right arm, the Taurus Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg.
“Curse you Rangers!” Kaus snarled.
Leiurus pointed the Scorpius Zord forward, “I’ll handle this.” A beam of orange energy shot forth from the Zord’s stinger, blasting the ring surrounding the Consumoai.
“I’m not letting you steal all the fun,” Aster grumbled. He pointed the Taurus Zord forward, firing out an energy beam of his own from it, destroying the Consumoai even faster as the control room inside of it began to spark.
“Let’s end this!” Neil shouted. Every Ranger flicked their Nova Sphere back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord All Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of every Zord began to glow before each fired a beam of energy at the Consumoai, causing a multitude of explosions and making the Executor-class Consumoai break apart into the three Consumoai that appeared to make it up. The control room was engulfed in flames and collapsed, and Kaus, seemingly ready to accept his fate, spoke again, “Glory to the Dark Matter Empire! Long live his magnificence, Emperor Kana Rog!”
The Consumoai’s pieces hurtled towards Earth, with two of the largest ones landing off the east coast while a third large piece hurtled towards New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
“We did it!” Neil exclaimed.
“We’re awesome!” Birdie added.
“That was so cool!” Alura cheered.
Sirius growled, “The Empire doesn’t stand a chance!”
“Teamwork makes the dream work!” Tip said enthusiastically, pumping one of their fists in the air.
“I think the emotion I’m feeling is satisfaction,” Hydra said with a faint smile under his helmet.
“Hey Leiurus?” Aster said, more calmly than usual when it came to talking to or about the Serketian in question.
“Yes?” Leiurus replied.
“You did pretty good out there, I guess,” Aster responded.
“Incredi-ball job everyone!” Shen said excitedly through their comms, “With all of you together, there’s nothing to sphere!”
“Yeah Boss,” Neil said, “the stars of hope still shine!”
“They destroyed a Duke, that’s rather impressive,” Alderamin said.
Schedar giggled, “Oh they’re some tough cookies for sure! It’ll just make breaking them all the more fun! Right, chat?”
“A pity, Kaus was the best of us,” Mirfak said, trying to hide his sarcasm.
The Emperor suddenly spoke, his voice different. It was no longer its usual monotone, now it was filled with excitement, “They’re amazing! You don’t stand a chance!”
Karna Rog suddenly shook his head, his voice returning to its usual disinterested tone, “I believe it is time that I make my presence known, they will not terminate one of my most faithful subordinates and suffer no repercussions.”
The Rangers celebrated before a colossal projection of the Emperor appeared before them, his white and gold robe a stark contrast to the blackness of space. The Rangers all responded with shock as the projection appeared, easily dwarfing the Megazord in size, “What the?” Neil said with surprise.
“Rangers,” Karna Rog rasped, “I am Karna Rog, Emperor of the Dark Matter Empire. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”
“You’re the Emperor?” Alura said, regaining her composure.
“Indeed,” the Emperor replied, his piercing yellow eyes never once blinking, “and I am here to warn you. You have terminated Duke Kaus, he was among the most loyal of my subordinates, so his death will not be taken lightly.”
“Why? You worried we're gonna defeat you like we did him?” Aster questioned.
Sirius growled, “All nine of us are together now, your darkness will be defeated like the legend said!”
Karna Rog laughed, an awful almost-laugh with no emotion behind it. He made a sweeping motion with his left arm, the ring on his ring finger glinting as the Zords were knocked back, even the Megazord breaking into its component parts. “I was there when that legend was made, and it was nothing but the final words of a dying man. He might have empowered your Nova Spheres into what they are now, and I respect their power, but to claim they can defeat any darkness is but hubris.” He pointed at the Leo Zord, “I am despair, I have seen the ends of countless lives, countless worlds, countless stars. What can nine motes of light hope to illuminate within an infinite void of despair? Hope is precious Rangers, but it is fragile. Put an end to this frivolous crusade, if you continue to meddle in my affairs then you shall die. This is your only warning.” With that the projection faded out of existence, leaving the Rangers to contemplate what just unfolded.
In the throne room Karna Rog looked at the Knights of Andromeda, “Mobilize a few Jesters, put an end to the Rangers.”
“Ooh, I know just the ones!” Schedar said enthusiastically.
Mirfak nodded, “I assume you’re referring to Skragen and Calamartia? That’s not a bad idea.”
“Yes, given their previous accomplishments I have a certain level of respect for them as well,” Alderamin added.
Karna Rog nodded, “Very well, dispatch them at once.”
“I’ll start a new propaganda cycle too!” Schedar giggled as she ran out of the room.
“Do you think what the Emperor said was true? About the legend?” Hydra said, wondering aloud.
Alura shook her head, “I’m not sure, that would be a weird thing to lie about but at the same time maybe he would just to intimidate us.”
“Regardless of if it's true or not we can’t let it get to us,” Brando replied, “He was obviously trying to break our fighting spirits by telling us that and showing us just how strong he is.”
Neil nodded, “Brando’s right, we can’t let the Emperor get to us, sure he might be strong, but he said he respected the power of the Nova Spheres. Maybe he’s afraid of them? Even if he’s telling the truth and the legend isn’t entirely accurate, the Nova Spheres are obviously powerful.”
Shen tapped his cane on the ground, “Let’s look on the bright side! The Rangers are all together, Arthur is safe, and Kaus is done for! You should be proud of yourselves!”
“Yeah, we shouldn’t be moping around!” Tip agreed.
The door to the bridge opened and Birdie and Arthur stepped inside. “I finished looking over Arthur, and the good news is that he doesn’t appear to have suffered any injuries during his time as Kaus’s prisoner,” Birdie said cheerfully.
“Arthur!” Neil ran up to his younger brother, pulling him into a hug, “Oh my gosh, I was so worried!”
Arthur hugged back, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine Neil, you can thank Leiurus for that.”
Neil turned to look at the Serketian, “Leiurus, thank you so much for helping my brother, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
“It’s fine, I just did what was right,” Leiurus responded.
Aster gave a puff, “Maybe you aren’t so bad after all. Maybe.”
Leiurus turned to look at Shen, “Commander, I’m going to head back down to Earth, I’m going to try and figure out why the Empire is so obsessed with this planet.”
“But you just got here!” Sirius said, surprised.
Hydra nodded, “And with the Emperor wanting our heads, it would probably be best to stay here for a while.”
Leiurus thought for a moment before sighing, “Well I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get to know the rest of you guys.”
“Yeah,” Neil said, “I think we’d really like to get to know you too.”
Hydra nodded and gave a faint smile, “Yes, I am just as interested in you as I am in Earth. I quite like this planet.”
Shen laughed, “Not to worry, we have plenty of time! With the Empire’s interest in Earth, I think we’ll be here for a while.”
In the Pine Barrens, a hatch on the Consumoai’s rubble opened up, and a clawed metallic hand gripped the edge.
Notes:
I’m really happy with this chapter. Sure it’s pretty similar to the source material, but I like the alterations I made to it to make it my own. I decided to add that little scene with the Emperor and the Rangers to give Karna Rog a bit more stage presence and add some exposition, and in case you were wondering, no, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Kaus. As for Leiurus and Arthur, while Arthur is related to Neil, I still kind of want them to have that brotherly bond they had in Kyuranger. Expect to see everyone’s favorite homicidal husband and wife duo next chapter (yes, Ikagen and Madakko are married here). Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 7: Green With Envy
Chapter Text
“So just to refresh,” Birdie said, pacing in front of the bridge’s table, with Shen, Arthur, and all of the other Rangers aside from Leiurus present as well, “Marquises use their Consumoai to drain worlds of Gaiaium for the Empire, as well as subjugating the population.”
Brando nodded, “And since Earth’s a relatively uncontacted planet, there’s basically no resistance, meaning they can guzzle down as much as they want with no issue.”
“Today, we’re going to be freeing the sector you went to yesterday,” Birdie continued, “It’s under the control of Jervil, a Jersaoan from the Monoceros system.” A projection of Jervil appeared over the table; he was a long-necked green and orange alien with upside-down wings, large ears, and feet that were angled upwards, brown hair underneath them.
Arthur eyes widened, “Hey, that guy looks a lot like Dandevil, the Marquis of where me and Neil are from.”
“Now that you mention it, he does,” Neil said, nodding, “Just a different color and without the hat.”
Birdie nodded, “It’s because the two of them are the same species. According to our records, the two of them are apparently brothers as well.”
“So what’s this guy capable of?” Alura inquired, “It’s good to know your enemy.”
“Yes, what can he do?” Sirius asked.
Neil replied immediately, “Well Dandevil had this pointer thing, and when he pointed it at you it shot this beam. After then he read from this book he had, and whatever he said you had to do.” Everyone looked at him, “What? Sometimes I gave him some very stern words during conferences when he was talking to me about Arthur, I guess he didn’t like that very much.”
“That’s a very accurate description of how a Jersaoan works, Neil,” Birdie replied, “through the use of a conduit such as Jervil’s whip or Dandevil’s pointer, they’re able to control the actions of others, but they can only control the body, not the mind. Though Dandevil’s powers seem to be exceptionally powerful for his species, and seem to work a bit differently than most.”
“Well we know what he does, let’s take him down!” Tip exclaimed.
Shen wagged his finger, “Actually, there’s one last thing I want to say before we see who’s going on today’s mission.”
“What is it?” Brando asked with a smile.
“Well,” Shen said, “since everyone’s here, I figured it was time to choose someone to lead the team on the field.”
“Oh yes!” Alura said giddily, obviously enthusiastic at the potential of being the field commander.
“Who will it be?” Hydra inquired.
Shen grinned, “Neil!”
“Me?” Neil said with shock.
“Him?” Alura said with surprise.
Aster pumped a fist in the air, “Oh yeah!”
“Good job, Neil!” Sirius cheered.
Neil looked at them, sheepish and confused, "Uh, thanks, I guess.”
Alura looked at Shen, “Commander, why him?”
“Yeah,” Neil said with shock, “why me? I mean, I am pretty new here.”
“Well,” Shen replied, “Neil works very well with the rest of you, he’s dedicated, and he’s very adaptable, Sigama and Serket were examples of that.”
Neil nodded a bit, “Yeah that makes sense, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Alura sighed, “let’s figure out who’s going on today’s mission.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Great!” Neil said, trying to move past the confusion he felt earlier.
“Sirius!”
“I am ready,” Sirius said calmly.
“Tip!”
“Booyah!” Tip said, pumping one of their fists in the air, “I’m finally on for once!”
“Alura!”
“Yay,” Alura said, sounding downtrodden.
“Brando!”
“Let’s serve up some justice!” Brando said with a smile.
Neil shrugged, “Alright team, I guess we head out.
The five of them exited the bridge with Alura staying behind the others, catching Shen’s attention, “Are you okay Alura?”
“Just fine Boss,” Alura said, saying with a fake cheerful voice as she left the room.
“Woah, this place is amazing!” Tip said as they and the others walked through the streets of the city in New Jersey, “I thought this place was gonna be a total snoozefest when I got down here yesterday.”
Neil chuckled, “That’s just because you only saw that rundown quarry.”
“Let’s just focus on the mission,” Alura said, sounding like she was trying to follow her own advice given the tone in her voice.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we better sniff this Jervil guy out.”
Tip looked up, “But who knows where this guy is, he could be anywhere!”
“I could probably find out, if I knew what he smelled like,” Sirius said.
Neil thought for a moment, “Well Dandevil kinda had this earthy scent, with like a hint of pine too.”
Sirius tilted his head, “Pine?”
“Like those trees near the quarry,” Neil elaborated.
Sirius stopped as his nostrils flared, “I can smell him.” He pointed down a street before running down it, “This way!”
“Great job Sirius!” Neil cheered.
“Let’s go,” Alura added. With that the four others charged after Sirius.
Eventually they came upon a small courtyard in front of but some distance away from the Consumoai, with several people standing in a grid looking towards it. In front of them all was Jervil, currently pacing back and forth. “I am very disappointed and unhappy with all of you,” Jervil said, disappointment present in his otherwise tired voice, “All I ask that you do is for you to do your jobs around here, and you all decide that you’re gonna take an unannounced day off to stick it to the man.” Jervil stopped pacing, gripping his whip and pulling it taught in front of him, “I have enough work on my plate too, but you just have to go and make more.”
Jervil shook his head with a sigh, “Just get back to work.” Electricity cracked through his whip before he cracked it on the ground, sending a wave of electricity crawling across it. The electricity leapt up the people’s bodies before they all turned to look away. After a moment they began to walk away in perfect sync, presumably to head back to their jobs.
“Stop right there Jervil!” Alura said, stepping forward and pointing at him.
Jervil sighed, “Oh great, more civilians. Guess that means more work for poor Jervil.”
“Oh you wish we were more civilians!” Tip laughed.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers stepped forward, getting into a fighting stance. Jervil groaned, “Power Rangers? I don’t get paid enough for this. Greyders!” A horde of Greyders promptly appeared, readying their weapons.
“Hey Boss, how about a Nova Sphere?” Neil asked, raising his Morpher.
Shen looked down at a light grey Nova Sphere in his hand, one which depicted a Pegasus. Shen grinned at it, “It’s been a while since you’ve had some fun, now go down there and help!” A section of the bridge’s table lifted up before Shen put the Nova Sphere inside of it, afterwards the section lowered itself back down.
Neil extracted the Nova Sphere from his belt, “Sweet!” He promptly plugged it into his Morpher.
“Pegasus Nova Sphere!”
A field of grey motes of light appeared, making Neil look around before a swirling, galaxy-like energy coalesced over his chest. After a moment, the light was gone, and a silver Pegasus-like chest plate now covered him, its wings making shoulder pads.
“Armor? Sick!” Neil exclaimed, looking it over.
The armor suddenly chortled, “Thank you young man!” His voice was playful, much like Shen’s but not as deep.
“You can talk?” Neil asked with surprise.
The armor chuckled, “Of course I am, I’m Pegasus!”
“A talking Nova Sphere?” Brando said with disbelief while still trying to hold back his laughter.
Alura shook her head, “Enough of that, we need to focus on Jervil!”
“Star Rapier!”
She charged forward, weaving through the Greyders to reach the Marquis.
“Alura, wait!” Sirius called out.
“Star Claw!”
He charged after her, swinging at a few Greyders as he did.
Brando glanced at Tip, “What do you say about giving these guys a little appetizer?”
Tip laughed, “With pleasure!”
“Star Crossbow!”
“Star Saber!”
The two of them got to slicing and blasting Greyders as Alura and Sirius battled against Jervil, managing to get a few good hits in. “How about we join in?” Neil asked, glancing down at Pegasus.
“I thought you’d never ask! I’ve been dying for some action. Neil was suddenly launched forward, slamming into a Greyder and knocking it to the ground. From there Pegasus launched him at another Greyder, then another.
“This is awesome!” Neil said once he got used to the rhythm of it, using the launches to deliver powerful kicks and punches.
While Brando and Tip plowed through Greyders with little issue, the same couldn’t be said for Sirius and Alura. Jervil dodged a few attacks before retaliating by lashing at Sirius with his whip and knocking Alura off her feet with his neck.
Alura let out a groan of pain as she and Sirius hit the ground, prompting Tip and Brando to help them up. Neil came to a stop just beside them, looking around to see that Tip and Brando seemed to have successfully dispatched the remaining Greyders, “Let’s get this guy!”
“He’s mine!” Alura said, charging forward with her rapier, ready to deliver a stab to Jervil. Suddenly a group of civilians came between her and Jervil, making her slide to a stop and lower her weapon, “Using civilians as shields? That’s low Jervil!”
“They’re just doing their job,” Jervil chided. Suddenly the civilians separated to reveal a quartet of Greyders, their blasters trained on her. With no hesitation they shot her repeatedly, knocking her to the ground for a moment.
“Alura!” Neil cried, helping her to her feet, “Are you okay?”
Alura glared at Jervil, “I will be once I take that Marquis down!”
“I have no intention of staying here any longer than I have to,” Jervil grumbled, spreading his wings. The Rangers aimed at him, only for the civilians to form a ring around them, blocking their view. This gave Jervil just enough time to fly away before the Rangers were accosted by the Greyders, who took shots at them from the gaps between the civilians.
Neil staggered back a bit,recovering from a shot to one of his arms, “We need to fall back! We have to figure out a way to take this guy down without hurting any civilians!”
“You are right,” Sirius growled.
Brando nodded, “Yes, we don’t want to cut anything we don’t intend to.”
“Man, using human shields is totally unfair!” Tip pouted.
“I guess,” Alura grumbled.
Pegasus gave a puff, “And just when the fun was getting started too!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The formation of the cockpits pushed the civilians and Greyders back before the colorful spheres flew into the air, attaching to their respective Zords and flying off.
A few minutes later the Rangers walked into the bridge, and despite Neil now being unmorphed, Pegasus was still present on his chest. Upon seeing Shen, Pegasus laughed, “Shen, looking good as always!”
Shen smiled, “Nice to see you too Pegasus! Impressive work as always down there!”
“You two know each other?” Neil said with confusion.
“Of course we do!” Pegasus exclaimed.
Shen nodded, “I’ve been a-round to many constellation systems over the past nineteen years looking for the Nova Spheres.”
“One of them being the Pegasus system of course,” Pegasus added.
Shen smiled, “Indeed.”
“His desire to defeat the Empire was honestly quite inspiring, so I decided to let him find me,” Pegasus replied.
Tip moved closer, looking Pegasus over, “So what are you anyway?”
“That’s a secret,” Pegasus chuckled.
Shen spoke up, “Well, he’s sort of like a Zord, but also not. Like the Zords he’s connected to the power of the constellation systems, though his connection is stronger since he’s connected to a Nova Sphere more directly.”
“That’s pretty interesting,” Arthur said, “I wonder if there’s more like him.”
Hydra looked around, “Where is Alura?”
Now that Hydra mentioned it, Alura wasn’t in the bridge at all. “Is she still down there?” Brando said, mild panic in his voice.
“No,” Sirius shook his head, “she is still on the Orion, I can smell her.”
Tip looked at the wolfman, “Well where is she?”
“I think she is in her quarters,” Sirius replied.
Birdie gave a confused look, “Why would she be there? I figured you guys were going to figure out a way to deal with Jervil.”
“I dunno,” Neil said, shaking his head, “she’s been acting really gung-ho ever since the mission started, it’s like she’s a completely different person.”
Shen sighed, “I think this might be my fault, I guess I didn’t consider how Alura’s past could factor into her reaction to me assigning Neil as the field commander.”
“Ya think?” Aster replied.
Brando grimaced, “Oh yeah, that’ll do it.”
“I need to go talk to her, try and sort things out,” Shen said, heading towards the door.
Neil looked at him, “I’m going too, since this involves me I should try and help.”
Shen gave a small smile, “All right then Neil, if you insist.” With that the two of them exited the bridge.
At the quarry Leiurus examined a piece of Kaus’s Consumoai that had crashed there. It was a piece that seemed to have separated from the three largest pieces as they broke through the atmosphere. “I’ve been searching for hours and still nothing,” Leiurus sighed, leaning against a rock, “For Karna Rog’s most loyal subordinate he didn’t seem to have much information on why the Empire’s so interested in Earth.” He shook his head, “I don’t even know why I came to check out this wreck anyway.”
“Quite foolish indeed, don’t you th-ink dear?” a vaguely Scottish voice said from behind him.
As Leiurus turned around a series of projectiles quickly hit the ground in front of him, forcing him to roll to the side. He looked towards where the shots were coming from and spotted two figures.
The taller figure wore a blue coat with a high collar, with the bottom of it resembling tentacles. His head seemed to be made of white tentacles with yellow suckers, with his upper jaw being what appeared to be a blue crystal skull with tentacles coming out of the eye holes, while his lower jaw appeared to be two tentacles. On his knees and shoulders were similar blue skull-like crystals, each surrounded by blue tentacles the same color as his coat, with tear-shaped crystals on the back of each of his hands. Two spherical golden crystals were on his chest, and near the top of his head was another blue crystal, a white tentacle spiraling around it. In his hand he held a short rifle or shotgun, its stock a blue blade.
The shorter figure was more feminine looking, with a body composed of red tentacles that became blue towards the end. The top of her head resembled a military beret, with a few short tentacles under it forming hair, and a longer tentacle was flung over her shoulder like a braid. She wore brown boots that seemed to be covered in metallic barnacles, a grey-shoulder cape on her left shoulder that reached down to her waist alongside a shoulder pad that resembled an octopus mantle, and what seemed to be a breathing apparatus on her face. Her left hand rested on her waist, while in her right she held some kind of rifle with some kind of bronze octopus-shaped attachment skewered on it, its tentacles splayed out around the barrel.
“Who are you?” Leiurus asked, readying himself to fight.
The shorter, octopus-like figure gestured to the taller squid-like one before speaking with a sultry contralto, “This is Skragen.”
The taller one, Skragen, gestured to her and slung his weapon over his shoulder before speaking with a polite tone, “And this is my darling wife, Calamartia. Just wonderful isn’t she?”
“Oh stop it!” Calamartia chuckled, elbowing her husband playfully.
Skragen chuckled in response before turning his attention back to Leiurus, “We are Jesters of the Dark Matter Empire, and we have been sent to eliminate you and your friends for your insurgence against the Empire and the murder of Duke Kaus of the Sagittarius system.”
“You and your jelly-brained friends are gonna die, bug,” Calamartia said, playing with the tentacle that hung over her shoulder.
Leiurus inserted his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Leiurus said, looking at them, “Star Charge.” Leiurus was engulfed in orange light, reappearing in his Ranger costume.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger.”
He assembled his weapon, “Star Spear.” He pointed the spear at them, making a beckoning motion.
Skragen and Calamartia looked at each other, the former putting her gun away. “Ladies first,” Skragen said, taking a step back, bending down a little, and gesturing for his wife to go first.
“Oh what a gentleman,” she chuckled, stepping forward and producing two weapons. In one hand she held a mace with orange spikes and in the other she held a sword, its blade was black with what seemed to be a pressure gauge embedded in it, several wires connecting it to the blade’s handle, opposite to its steel side guard. “Pacificrusher and Caribblade thirst for blood,” she said, obviously referring to her weapons, “and I’m sure yours will match that spandex nicely too.” She readied her weapons before rushing forward with a battle cry.
She made a downward swing with her weapons, but Leiurus lifted his spear up horizontally to block them. He kicked her in the abdomen, making her stagger back. He used the opening to launch his stinger towards her and charge forward, but she reacted almost immediately, batting the stinger away with her mace. Leiurus took a stab towards her head, but she tilted her head out of the way, making it stay inches away from the side of her head. “You missed me, boy!” she chuckled.
Leiurus immediately proved her wrong, turning the bladed side of the spear towards her and running to the side, slicing into her head and knocking her to the ground.
Skragen watched the fight wordlessly, a hand in one of his coat pockets.
Calamartia laughed as she got up, “Come on boy, hit me again! It’s not a real fight unless I get hit a few times!”
“With pleasure!” Leiurus said, stabbing her in the chest with his spear. She staggered back, but otherwise didn’t seem injured. He gripped his spear with both hands and performed an angled slice downward at her, making her stagger back again.
She cackled, “Now that’s more like it!” She sliced at him with her sword, but he spun out of the way. However, he was unable to dodge her follow up swing with her mace, hitting him in the side. He shot her in the face with his Morpher in retaliation, hitting her several times and making her hit the ground after staggering back. He charged towards her, readying his spear to hit her before she could get back up. He was stopped short by a shot hitting the ground in front of him, creating a cloud of dust. He turned to see Skragen pointing his rifle at him, a hand in his pocket.
“Trying to stop the Empire is ink-oncievable, Ranger,” Skragen chuckled, taking a few more shots at Leiurus. The Serketian ran towards him, weaving between his shots and taking a stab at him. The golden crystals on Skragen’s chest glowed and he turned to the side, nonchalantly dodging the attack with a hand still in his pocket. Leiurus lifted his spear up, performing a slice angled downward. The moment the Leiurus lifted his spear up the crystal on Skragen’s shoulder facing him glowed, with Skragen leaning forward to dodge the attack before Leiurus performed it. As Skragen stood back up and turned his back to face him Leiurus took another swing at him. Skragen ducked to the side, casually dodging another attack.
Leiurus thrusted the spear forward, just beside Skragen’s neck, which Skragen turned to look at. Leiurus turned the blade to face Skragen like he did with Calamartia before slicing in a circle around him. Before the attack could connect, Skragen leaned back almost ninety degrees, the slice whizzing just above his face. “What the?” Leiurus said with surprise.
“Your mind is an open book, Leiurus Calchas,” Skragen chuckled, straightening himself.
Leiurus had no time to ponder, as Calamartia began firing at him, having replaced her sword with her gun. Using his tail he blocked the bullets before she shouted, “Jelly brain!” She fired to the side of him, the shots progressively getting closer, meaning Leiurus had to run to the side. Skragen intercepted him, now holding his rifle by its barrel to use its bladed stick as a melee weapon. Skragen and Leiurus’s blades clashed as Calamartia ran up behind the Scorpius Ranger, mace ready.
Spotting her approach Leiurus ducked away from Skragen, using his spear’s blade to block her mace’s swing with a shower of sparks. Leiurus ducked out of the way of one of Skragen’s slices before blocking another swing from Calamartia, using his spear to block a shot Skragen fired at him from his rifle immediately afterwards. “I’m sorry Leiurus, but your life ends here,” Skragen said as the crystal on his head began to glow, an invisible force tossing Leiurus back.
Leiurus got on all fours as the two Jesters fired at him, kicking up a dust cloud. They fired at it repeatedly, but when it dispersed Leiurus was nowhere to be seen. “Where’d he go?” Calamartia growled, “I didn’t even get to rip that bug’s tail off.”
“Now, now honey,” Skragen said, patting his wife’s shoulder, “we’ll get him and all his friends in due time. Maybe we could even turn that Fenrisulfrian into a nice rug.”
“Ooh you always know how to cheer me up Skraggy!” Calamartia said cheerfully as the two of them made their way out of the quarry.
From a nearby hill Leiurus watched on, “Those two are strong, I need to warn the Commander and the others about them when I get back.”
“Alura? Can we come in?” Neil asked as he knocked on the door to Alura’s room.
“You sure she’s here?” Pegasus asked.
Shen shrugged, “Don’t know where else she could be.”
“Come in,” Alura sighed after a moment. The door to her room opened and Neil and Shen stepped inside. She was currently sitting on her bed, looking out the viewport to the stars outside with a sad look.
“Alura, could you tell us what’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange since the mission started,” Neil asked.
Shen nodded as he sat down next to her. “Yes, we’re here to help, no need to sphere.”
Alura chuckled for a moment before sighing, “Well, I guess it’s because I’m kind of mad that you chose Neil to be the field commander.”
Neil’s eyes widened, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “like don’t get me wrong Neil, you’re a great guy and I’d probably feel the same way if any of the newer Rangers were assigned it, but I just don’t feel like you should be burdened with such a big position after you just joined.”
Shen sighed, “You’re right Alura, I didn’t really think that through, you have a point.”
Alura shook her head, “I mean, you have some good points too. Neil, you do work well with others and are a lot more flexible than I am. I can be pretty stubborn and inflexible, back on Sigama a way into the Consumoai was practically handed to us on a silver platter with Tip and Hydra and I was more concerned about working with criminals.”
“So why are you so down about it if you understand?” Pegasus asked suddenly.
Alura shook her head, “Well, it’s kinda hard to describe really, it’s like… training so hard for something for so long only to end up failing, I guess.”
“What do you mean?” Neil asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alura thought for a moment, “Well on my homeworld, my mother was the leader of the village I lived in. Leadership there was passed down from mother to daughter, so my mom started training me from a very young age to eventually take over for her. It’s also why I seem so serious sometimes, I was raised to become the head of my village and take things seriously. I kind of resented it though, I just never felt like I had the personality to be one even though I wanted to be.”
“Is that why you were so adamant on taking down Jervil? To prove yourself?” Pegasus.
“I guess,” Alura shrugged, giving a forlorn expression, “I worked so hard to get where I am, even back in training, it just feels like all of that work was for nothing. I know it might seem selfish of me, but I’m just… jealous.”
“So you’re upset that you were raised to be a leader but couldn’t become one here? Yeah, I’d be upset too, it would be like all that training went towards nothing, even if you were raised to lead the village and not lead us,” Neil replied. Neil turned to look at Shen, “I think she should be the field commander too Boss. I mean, I don’t even know the first thing about being a leader or making plans or anything like that.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself!” Pegasus said, “Shen told me that when he became the leader of the Revolution, he didn’t really know what to do either, but he grew into it. You already seem like a great leader Neil, coming to check on Alura, you just need some more confidence!”
Neil thought for a moment, “Maybe you’re right, I might grow into it, still would be nice to have some help and pointers on what to do though.” Neil froze, “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” Shen asked, confused.
“I think I’ve figured out a way for everyone to come out of this with what they want,” Neil said.
Alura’s eyes widened, “Really?”
“You have the practical knowledge, I have the personality, what if we work together as field commander? Maybe I can help smooth out the edges of your personality, and you can help me with the planning and other stuff,” Neil replied.
“That’s not a half bad idea Neil! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that,” Shen said, “Plus on the off chance that you don’t get picked it would be a good idea to have another field commander just in case.”
Pegasus chortled, “Yup, that’s a real good idea right there! You’re a better leader already, compromising and coming up with solutions on the fly!”
“So that’s a yes?” Alura inquired.
Shen smiled, “Indeed it is.”
Alura smiled and pumped a fist in the air, “Alright! Thanks so much!”
Shen chuckled, “You should be thanking Neil.”
Alura turned to look at him, “Neil, thanks for this, I swear that ever since you got here you’ve been nothing but amazing.”
Neil gave a small grin, “Aw, thanks.”
Her expression turned serious, “Now, let’s focus on Jervil.”
Neil nodded, “Right, we need to figure out how to get to him without hurting anyone.” Neil thought, “Anytime we could land a blow on him he just makes people get in the way, there’s gotta be a way around it.”
“Yeah, there’s a major problem right there, we can’t hurt him without potentially hurting anyone innocent,” Alura responded.
Neil thought for a moment, “Maybe we could distract them? Or maybe perform a sneak attack? You can turn invisible, right? I dunno, I’m just spitballing here.”
“Actually,” Alura said, “you might’ve just given me an idea. I don’t think we can distract them, but I think there might be another way we can get past them.”
“Well don’t leave us hanging, what is it?” Pegasus asked.
“Let’s get to the bridge, that way I can explain it to Sirius, Tip, and Brando too,” Alura responded, “Pegasus, you can strengthen Neil’s leaping too, right?”
“Yeah I can, why?” Pegasus inquired.
Alura smiled, “Great!”
“Ooh I like the sound of this!” Shen said excitedly.
Neil looked at her, “I can’t wait to hear what you’ve come up with, Alura.”
“Hey, you came up with it, I’m just helping with the finer details,” Alura chuckled.
Neil nodded, “Well let’s head to the bridge, I’m interested in what those finer details are.”
“Hey Jervil!” Neil said a few hours later as he walked through the city streets, Pegasus still attached to him, “Hey Jervil, last I checked Toys R Us went bankrupt in the U.S.!”
“What?” Pegasus asked.
Neil shook his head, “Right, he probably wouldn’t get that one.” He thought for a minute, “Hey Jervil, your head seems like it’s in a real race to get away from your body!”
Suddenly Jervil appeared, accompanied by controlled civilians and Greyders, “You again? I have very important business to do with running this sector, I can’t just drop everything every time you spandex-wearing hooligans show up.”
“Well if you’re so busy, how about you send those friends of yours to stop me?” Neil said, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Now in costume, Neil stepped forward. Jervil chuckled, “So now you don’t care about civilian casualties, well in that case go get him!” The controlled civilians ran forward, fists clenched.
“Ready Pegasus?” Neil asked, glancing down.
“Ready!” Pegasus responded.
Neil retrieved a green Nova Sphere with a peacock symbol on it from his belt, plugging it into his Morpher.
“Pavo Nova Sphere!”
Neil then jumped and with the bost Pegasus was granting him it allowed him to jump dozens of feet in the air. As he was coming down he pointed his Morpher upwards before firing, a shimmering burst of bright light erupting from it. Jervil, the Greyders, and the controlled civilian promptly covered their eyes, the flash temporarily blinding them. As Neil landed on the ground he called out, “You guys’ turn!”
Sirius, Tip, and Brando ducked out of some nearby alleys, all three of them already Morphed and holding Nova Spheres. Sirius had a yellow one with a ram symbol, Tip had a dark blue one depicting a sculptor, and Brando had a grey one depicting a woman and chains.
Sirius plugged his into his Morpher and aimed it at a few of the controlled civilians.
“Aries Nova Sphere!”
A puff of smoke issued from the Morpher as it fired a few small yellow orbs, each hitting a civilian. In contact they yawned before falling to the ground (though thankfully not hard), the Nova Sphere’s power having put them to sleep.
“Sculptor Nova Sphere!”
Tip pointed their Morpher at the road, firing it at the road near a few controlled civilians that Sirius didn’t hit. Four walls made of asphalt shot up out of the road, boxing a few civilians in. “Sorry! They should be gone by the time we beat this guy!”
“Andromeda Nova Sphere!”
Brando pointed his Morpher at the last of the active controlled civilians before firing, a long chain firing out of his Morpher. The chain wrapped around the civilians, restraining them.
With all the civilians dealt with but unharmed Neil pointed his sword at Jervil, “No one to hide behind now Jervil!”
Jervil growled, “That’s what you think! Geyders, get them!” The Greyders charged forward brandishing their weapons as they engaged in melee combat with the Rangers. Jervil spread his wings, “Time to find some more slackers and get them back to work.” Jervil began to fly away towards his Consumoai.
“Not this time!” Alura yelled, blinking into view.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
The blade of her rapier glowed green, becoming more like a whip than a spear. She lashed it up towards Jervil, but instead of lashing him with it repeatedly like she usually did, she used it to bind his foot. Gripping the handle with both hands she established her footing so as not to be dragged along with him.
“You’re going to make me late!” Jervil growled.
“Not my problem!” Alura replied, “Tip, now!”
Tip stabbed their crossbow into one Greyder and spun to shoot another in the head, “On it!” They pointed their crossbow upwards, plugging in their Nova Sphere.
“Zubeneschamali Strike!”
They fired a single golden energy arrow into the air where it exploded into dozens more, all of them raining down on Jervil. The arrows knocked Jervil out of the air, making the Marquis come crashing to the ground.
As Jervil started to recover Brando glanced at Sirius, “Let’s finish these guys and get to dealing with the main course.”
Sirius nodded, “Agreed.”
“Lupi Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
A series of five yellow energy blades and two spinning blue ones cleaved through the rest of the Greyders with a massive explosion, with Sirius and Brando running toward Jervil immediately after. Sirius, Tip, Alura, and Brando surrounded Jervil, slicing and stabbing at the Marquis. Jervil took swings at them with his whip, only for them to dodge or run out of the way. Jervil tried to swipe at them with his neck, but Brando to slice him in the process.
Neil suddenly launched himself forward with Pegasus’s help, slicing into Jervil’s side and landing on the exterior wall of a building before pushing himself off and slicing into Jervil from the side with blinding speed, making the Marquis stagger into a swipe of Sirius’s claw. Sliding to a stop, Neil plugged in the Pegasus Nova Sphere to his sword.
“Enif Strike!” Neil’s sword began to glow with white energy before he swung it, launching a crescent of white energy at Jervil. It sliced into Jervil and sent the Marquis flying backwards, crashing into a wall.
“Your days of controlling innocent people are over Jervil!” Alura said, taking a step forward and plugging her Nova Sphere into her Rapier.
“Chamaeleontis End!” Alura lashed her Rapier forward, a projection of the Chamaeleon Zord made of green energy forming around it. Its tongue shot forward, wrapping around Jervil before flailing around, slamming him into several nearby walls before slamming him into the ground as it disappeared.
“Let’s deal with that Consumoai,” Neil stated, looking up at the machine. Around them the civilians began to wake up, the chains disappeared, and the asphalt walls crumbled.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, that’s a prudent idea.”
“Well what are we waiting for?” Pegasus asked, “Let’s go!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
As the Zords flew away, Jervil got to his feet, “Curse them, at least I can still protect my Consumoai.” He flew off towards the machine in question.
The Rangers approached the Consumoai, which rapidly shifted into its humanoid form, ready to fight.
“I assume it is Megazord time?” Sirius inquired.
Neil chuckled, “You read my mind!” The Zords quickly got into position and slid together.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This formation had the Dorado Zord in its usual spot as the right arm, the Libra Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg.
“I’ll make you pay for the overtime you’re making me put in!” Jervil roared. The Consumoai charged forward and swung its lance only for it to be blocked by the Dorado Zord.
“How do you think those people felt?” Alura replied, confidence in her voice.
From some distance away Skragen and Calamartia watched the fight intently from the top of a building. “So these are the supposed Power Rangers Supernova,” Skragen said, watching on, “I can’t say that I’m impressed.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate our targets dear,” Calamartia replied, “I’m usually the brash one and even I know that.”
“She is correct,” a voice from behind them said. The duo turned around to see Kaus walking towards them, using his halberd for support, “to underestimate them is to welcome death.”
“Duke Kaus,” Skragen said with a bow, “it’s a surprise to see you here.”
“We were told you were dead,” Calamartia added bluntly.
Kaus scoffed, “Well as you can see, I am still alive. Now if you two wouldn’t mind, I have injuries that need to be tended to.”
Skragen nodded, “Of course sir, we’ll help to the best of our ability.” The three of them walked off, with Skragen and Calamartia supporting Kaus as they did so.
“Better watch your step!” Alura said as she extended the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue forward, wrapping it around the Consumoai’s foot. She moved the Zord back, making the Consumoai trip and sending its lance flying.
Neil glanced down at Pegasus, “Hey, want to help us finish this?”
“I would love to!” Pegasus replied.
Neil promptly plugged the Pegasus Nova Sphere into his Morpher, making the Leo Zord’s cockpit turn grey. The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flicked down the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Pegasus Breaker!”
The Megazord’s cockpits began to glow before the light gathered at its chest and back, creating Pegasus’s head on its chest and his wings on its back. The Megazord flew forward so it was in front of the Consumoai before spinning and slicing into it with Pegasus’s wings.
“I’m not sure I can call in sick for this one!” Jervil exclaimed as the Consumoai sparked before exploding.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil exclaimed as Pegasus’s head and wings disappeared from the Megazord.
On Ukhu Pacha, Alderamin entered a greenhouse filled with all varieties of poisonous and carnivorous plants and insects. He spotted the Emperor standing there, a large, black butterfly-like insect resting on one of his digits. Alderamin looked down at the Emperor before taking a knee, “My liege.”
Karna Rog turned to look at him, “Do you know what this is Alderamin?”
Alderamin looked at the insect in the Emperor’s digits, “No sir, I’m afraid not.”
“This is a shadewing from Verona in the Corvus system,” Karna Rog said, an odd affection in his voice, “a mature specimen like the one you see here is completely harmless, but in their larval stage their behavior is quite similar to our current situation.”
Alderamin gave a confused look, “How so?”
“Shadewing larvae prey on colonial insects on their home planet,” Karna Rog replied, “they sneak in, kill the queen, and then the rest of the colony falls.” Karna Rog looked at the Shadewing, moving it closer to his face before suddenly snapping it into his shadow-obscured jaws. After a moment he tilted his head back with a few small jerks, swallowing it
“Well now that you mention it, it does. The larvae are probably as ugly as the rangers are,” Alderamin replied, not seeming particularly concerned by the Emperor’s little snack. “If you don’t mind me asking, where is Ankaa?”
“He is in the science sector, currently being infused with more Gaiaium,” Karna Rog replied, “it is important to keep him fueled so his abilities continue to work.” Karna Rog glanced at Alderamin, “So, why did you come to see me?”
“I was recently contacted by Skragen and Calamartia, and according to them Kaus is alive,” Alderamin replied.
The Emperor was quiet for a moment, “Truly? That’s quite interesting. I shall contact him soon, thank you for informing me, Sir Alderamin.”
“It is my pleasure, my liege,” Alderamin said before exiting the greenhouse.
“Well it’s been fun, but I think it’s time for this old horse to get some shut eye,” Pegasus replied once the Rangers were back on the Orion.
Neil smiled, “Thanks Pegasus, hope to see you soon.”
“I hope so too!” Pegasus chuckled before he began to glow, vanishing an instant later.
“Here you go Boss,” Neil said, handing Shen the Pegasus Nova Sphere.
Shen smiled, taking the Nova Sphere from him, “Thank you Neil.”
Alura walked up to Neil, “I’d like to thank you too Neil, I really look forward to you know, teaching each other about being a leader and stuff.”
“Yeah, working together is gonna be awesome,” Neil replied.
“I suppose we’re kind of like a constellation like that,” Hydra said, “individually we are all stars, but when we come together, we can make something even greater.”
“Yep!” Neil replied enthusiastically as Leiurus entered the room.
“Commander, may we go to your office? I need to tell you something,” Leiurus said seriously.
Shen nodded as he got up from his seat, “Of course Leiurus, I can make time.”
The two of them exited the bridge and headed towards Shen’s office, with Shen taking a seat behind his desk once they were inside. “So, what did you want to tell me about?” Shen asked, leaning forward.
“While I was on the surface I was attacked by a pair of the Empire’s Jesters,” Leiurus replied.
Shen froze before speaking very quietly after a few moments, “Who were they?”
“They said their names were Skragen and Calamartia,” Leiurus replied.
Shen gave a black stare, looking off at nothing for a few moments before speaking again, “Thank you Leiurus, that’s all I needed to know.” Leiurus promptly left the room, though he did give a quick glance back at Shen. Once Leiurus was gone Shen pulled the blue Nova Sphere out of his pocket, “Please, not them, anyone but them…”
Notes:
Jervil: Portmonteau of Jersey and Devil since he’s based on the Jersey Devil.
And that’s a wrap! Honestly I loved writing Skragen and Calamartia this chapter, they really stole the show in my opinion. As for what the others were doing I wanted to keep it close to the original but give my own little spin on it and give some context as to why Alura acts the way she does. Also to show Neil isn’t necessarily perfect and has his own doubts. As for Jervil’s personality, he wasn’t particularly enthused at the Ranger’s bickering so I turned that up to 11 here. Next chapter will be… interesting since the Marquis of the Week has a completely different ability than in the Sentai, so that should be fun. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 8: Precious Memories
Chapter Text
On the bridge the Rangers and Shen looked at the holographic display over the table as Arthur tinkered with a small device. The hologram displayed pictures of Skragen and Calamartia, which Shen glared at before speaking in an unusually serious tone, “Yesterday Leiurus was attacked by Skragen and Calamartia, two of the Empire’s most vicious Jesters.”
“Jesters?” Tip questioned.
Alura turned to look at them, “That’s what the Empire calls its assassins, probably to keep with the naming theme of the others.”
“Do you know them, Boss?” Aster asked as he fiddled with a Rubick’s cube.
Shen hesitated for a brief moment before speaking, “Yes, they’ve slaughtered countless members of the Revolution under orders from Karna Rog. They are an incredibly dangerous duo.” Shen took a deep breath, “They will kill you if you encounter them and they will not hesitate. If you run into them you are to retreat at the earliest possible opportunity, that is an order.”
The Rangers were caught off-guard by Shen’s serious tone, it was rare to not see the Commander with a smile on his face, but none of them said anything. Shen breathed in before speaking again, a smile returning to his face as he spun his cane, “Anyway, for today’s mission you’ll be going to a place I believe is called England.”
“England?” Arthur looked up from what he was tinkering with, “Aw man, if this wasn’t a mission I’d totally want to go down there with you guys.”
Neil chuckled, “Don’t worry, Arthur, once we clear out whatever Marquis is down there I’ll be sure to take you.”
“On that note, who is the Marquis of this place?” Leiurus asked.
The hologram displaying Skragen and Calamartia changed to display a robotic being, the upper part of its torso was ring-shaped with four sections on the side jutting out of the sides and back with thrusters on them. The area around its head had a few large spikes tipped with red lights, two smaller red lights just in front of its vertical-mouthed head. “This is Marquis Stonhinge,” Birdie said, gesturing to the projection. “He’s from Sarsenia in the Ara system and he’s a mechanical life form much like Tip is.”
“Much less good-looking though,” Tip replied, earning a smirk from Hydra.
“Now, as a Sarsenian he’s able to fire beams from his lights. If you’re hit by one it’ll take your memories and give them to him, he uses it to make it harder for dissenters to try and rebel, though he appears to be rather reclusive most of the time,” Birdie continued.
“So his species basically makes other people’s memories theirs?” Arthur asked.
“Usually it’s done consensually and without taking every memory, only a few small ones. His species craves new experiences and memories from others can give them that, but he’s just using his powers to wreak havoc,” Birdie replied.
Arthur thought for a moment, “I’ll have to read up on Sarsenians, they sound interesting.”
“Back on topic,” Alura said.
“Yeah, we gotta chop him to pieces if he’s doing stuff like that,” Brando added.
Neil nodded, “So I guess our plan is to try not to get hit.”
“Sounds like what you are always supposed to do in a fight,” Sirius replied, earning a few laughs from the others.
“Now, let’s see who’s going on today’s mission!” Shen exclaimed. One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Yes!” Neil said excitedly.
“Leiurus!”
“Fine by me,” Leiurus said as he leaned against some of the bridge’s railing.
“Tip!”
“Woohoo!” they shouted.
“Hydra!”
Hydra turned to look at Tip, “It’s been a while since we’ve been on a mission together.”
“It sure has!” Tip said, patting the Gorgonian’s shoulder.
“Alura!”
She pumped her fist in their air, “Alright guys, let’s get going!”
The Rangers quickly made for the door as Shen pulled out the blue Nova Sphere with a bear on it from his pocket, looking at it intently as Birdie gave a nod of understanding, “Please be safe.”
In an abandoned building Skragen put a small holographic projector on the ground in front of Kaus, who by now was beginning to recover from the crash a few days ago. “Me and Calamartia will be trying to locate the Rangers, you can stay here to contact the Emperor, sir,” Skragen said politely.
Kaus nodded, “Thank you Skragen, now you best be on your way, no one but Dukes are allowed to contact the Emperor, but I suppose you already knew that.”
“Indeed I do,” Skragen said as he began to walk away, leaving Kaus to himself.
Once Skragen was gone Kaus turned on the projector, a hologram of the Emperor appearing from the top of it. The hologram was significantly smaller than it usually was, being much closer to the Emperor’s actual height, meaning it was a bit shorter than Kaus. “Your magnificence,” Kaus said, taking a knee.
“Duke Kaus, Alderamin informed me of your survival and I must say that I am shocked,” Karna Rog rasped, not sounding surprised in the slightest.
Kaus nodded, “I am as well, it was very close, and I sustained several major injuries from it.” Kaus grumbled a bit, “Once I have finished recovering I will continue my hunt for the Rangers.”
“I admire your dedication, Duke Kaus,” the Emperor said as emotionless as ever, “You shall continue to lead the hunt for them while Skragen and Calamartia assist you.”
Kaus nodded, “Of course your magnificence, I will not fail you this time.”
“I would hope not,” the Emperor said before the hologram disappeared, leaving Kaus alone again.
Kaus growled as he stood up, “Mark my words Rangers, the next time we cross paths I will not be so easy to defeat.”
The Rangers walked through the streets of a city in England where Sonhinge’s Consumoai was, looking for any sign of the Marquis. Currently they had no luck, but the effects of Stonhinge’s abilities were glaringly evident as they saw more than a few people walking around aimlessly, confusion on their faces.
“Do you know who I am?” a man said, walking up to them, worry on his face.
Alura shook her head, “No, we don’t, but when we’re done here I’m sure you’ll remember.” Neil gave the man a pat on the shoulder as they continued to walk.
“So do we have a plan for finding Stonhinge?” Leiurus asked, “If we don’t then odds are we’re gonna end up not too different from these people.”
Hydra nodded, “Leiurus makes a good point.”
“Well Birdie said that he doesn’t like to show that ugly mug of his too often,” Neil said, “we’re going to need to find a way to get him to show himself.”
“Maybe we could use someone as bait,” Leiurus said.
“What?” the other Rangers said in unison.
Leiurus shook his head, “It’s probably the only sure fire way to get him to show up.”
“Oh no, we aren’t gonna risk having someone get hit by a memory wipe,” Neil replied sternly.
Alura sighed, “Leiurus is right Neil, if we want to put a stop Stonhinge it’s a risk we’re gonna have to take.”
“Oh alright,” Neil replied, “but we are going to take some precautions. Once Stonhinge shows up could you paralyze him, Hydra?”
Hydra nodded, “Of course.”
“So I guess that just leaves us to figure out who the unlucky one acting as the bait is,” Tip said.
Alura thought for a moment, “Well Birdie said that Sarsenians like him crave interesting experiences, so does anyone have any that are particularly interesting?”
Tip shrugged, “Well we are all Power Rangers, that’s pretty interesting.”
“Well that goes without saying,” Leiurus said, “I’d say I’ve had some interesting ones, though probably not the kind that Stonhinge wants.”
“I worked at a frozen yogurt place, I doubt he’d be interested in that,” Neil replied.
Tip shrugged after a minute, “Guess I’ll be the bait!”
“What?” Hydra said, turning to look at them with shock on their face, “You can’t do that.”
“Yeah, why are you volunteering?” Neil asked.
“Well,” Tip said, “me and Hydra have been all over the galaxy while we were thieves, so we’ve seen a lot, and I've seen my fair share of legal drama. Not to mention I’m technically three hundred.”
Neil gave a confused look, “What do you mean technically?”
“Tip is from Iustitia,” Hydra explained, “it’s much closer to its star than Earth is, meaning years are much shorter there, they’re actually around twenty, but I doubt Stonhinge knows that.” Hydra glanced at Tip and gave a look of what seemed to be concern, “Are you sure about this? What if something happens?”
Tip chuckled and patted Hydra’s shoulder, “It’ll be fine! Besides, you’re not gonna let him do anything, it’ll be easy peasy!”
Hydra gave a look that suggested unease, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Oh boy, in my three hundred years of life I’ve never seen anything as cool as this place!” Tip said, wandering through a mostly empty mall. “Though I have to say, that beach planet that me and my friend stayed at for a few days was pretty close.”
From some distance away the other Rangers followed, trying to act inconspicuous. “I don’t feel good about this,” Hydra commented, looking at a purple Nova Sphere he had Shen send down to him a few minutes ago.
Neil put a hand on Hydra’s shoulder, “It’ll be fine, we’re not gonna let anything happen to them.”
“Yes, I promise that we won’t let them get harmed,” Leiurus added, “I’m sorry that we have to do this, but this is the best option.”
“I hope you’re right,” Hydra said as Tip approached the mall’s central plaza.
Alura sighed, “It’s been almost half an hour, you’d think he’d-”
The skylight on the plaza’s roof shattered and Stonhinge came crashing through it, thrusters blazing. He landed on the ground with a three-point landing, getting to his feet and looking at Tip as several Greyders appeared. “I must say, I’m dying to experience what I’ve heard you say!” Stonhinge said, his voice possessing a faint mechanical drone.
“So you’re Stonhinge, guys like you give us mechanical life forms a bad name,” Tip said, getting into a fighting stance.
Stonhinge laughed, “And what are you going to do about it? It’s just how my people work.”
“How about we show you?” Neil asked as he and the other Rangers slid to a stop beside Tip.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Power Rangers?” Stonhinge said with surprise before a pair of pink triangular blades extended from his arms, “No matter, I’m sure I can get some interesting experiences from you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Hydra said as he and the others readied their weapons.
The Rangers charged forward, engaging in combat with the Greyders as Stonhinge stayed back, sharpening his blades against each other. After a few moments he began to approach Tip, who was currently blasting and shoulder-checking a few Greyders. The lights near Stonhinge’s head began to glow before Hydra promptly came between him and Tip, paralyzing the Marquis with his gaze.
“Can’t… move,” Stonhinge said, visibly shaking but not moving otherwise.
“Watch my back and deal with him,” Hydra said to the other Rangers who were currently fighting the Greyders. One Greyder came dangerously close to stabbing Hydra, only for Tip to shoot it in the head.
“Got it!” Neil said, slicing through a few Greyders.
“We’ll be right there!” Alura added, stabbing and slicing a few Greyders.
Once the last of the Greyders were dealt with, the other Rangers ran forward towards Stonhinge, unaware that Skragen and Calamartia had now entered the building and were standing several feet behind them. The cephalopod assassins pointed their guns forward and opened fire, but the Rangers reacted immediately despite not facing them, ducking out of the way so the shots only hit a few mannequins.
“Why hello there, Rangers,” Calamartia said, putting a hand on her hip as the Rangers (sans Hydra) turned to face her and her husband.
Skragen nodded, “We’ve been looking for you.”
“Be careful!” Leiurus yelled, preparing his spear.
Skragen slung his weapon over his shoulder, “Are you ready to meet your makers?”
On the Orion’s bridge Shen glared at the screen displaying what was happening in the mall. “Get out of there now!” he roared as the others present on the bridge looked at the screen with equal worry.
“Easy for you to say!” Neil said as he raised his sword to block a swing from Calamartia’s sword and mace. Leiurus, Tip, and Alura went to engage her, but she easily blocked a jab from Alura’s rapier before dodging out of the way of Leiurus’s spear, spinning around with her weapons outstretched and making him roll out of the way to avoid it. Tip tried to jab at Calamartia with their crossbow, but she struck them in the chest with her mace, making them stagger and fall to the ground to recover.
As Leiurus got ready to get back to his feet he noticed Skragen’s shadow behind him, making him quickly get up and slash at him while spinning. Skragen causally took a step back, avoiding the slash, “Nice to see you again, Leiurus Calchas.” Skragen pointed his blade at the Serketian, “Unfortunately you won’t be leaving this place alive.” He took a slice at Leiurus with one hand behind his back, but Leiurus was able to block it, making Skragen run forward and making himself move backwards in response.
“What is her problem? I can’t cut her at all!” Alura said as she and Tip ran forward to try and slice Calamartia, only for the assassin to do the splits to avoid their swings, rolling out of the way of their follow up attacks and getting to her feet.
“Don’t you get it? I’m invincible!” Calamartia cackled before firing her gun at them, making a shower of sparks spew from their costumes.
Leiurus ducked out of the way of one of Skragen’s swings as Neil ran up behind the crystal-covered assassin, taking a swing at him. The crystals on Skragen’s shoulders glowed before the assassin stepped to the side, avoiding Neil’s back attack and making the Leo Ranger slice Leiurus instead.
“Hey!” Leiurus yelled as he staggered back.
Neil gave a look of surprise, “Sorry!” He turned to look at Skragen, “How did you-”
Skragen promptly put his blade to Neil’s neck with a chuckle, “Greetings, Neil Astra.” Skragen wagged his finger, “Your minds are simple, so simple that I know what you’re going to do before you even do it. Nothing you do could possibly surprise-”
Skragen promptly staggered back and away from Neil with a yell as some invisible force sliced him in the side. “Not even that?” Alura asked, blinking into view.
“You’ll pay for laying your hands on my Skragen!” Calamartia shouted as she was hit by a jab from Tip’s crossbow. Paying the hit no mind she began to fire at Alura, who skillfully blocked the shots with her rapier, “Better keep that up if you don’t want to be made into a holey figure, girl!”
By now Skragen had managed to recover, pointing his blade at the Rangers, “I’m impressed you managed to land a hit on me, but I won’t let you land another.” He looked at Alura as the crystal on his head glowed, an invisible force sending her flying outside. After that he looked at Hydra, launching him outside as well and breaking his eye contact with Stonhinge.
“Now that was an experience!” Stonhinge said as he used his blades to fire a pair of pink energy crescents at Neil, who used his sword to block it.
From there the battle spilled out into the parking lot, with Neil and Leiurus fighting Skragen, Tip and Alura fighting Calamartia, and Hydra attacking Stonhinge. Stonhinge blocked an attack from Hydra before kicking him in the chest to knock him back and turning his attention to Tip, “Let’s see what you’ve been through!” He fired a pair of beams from his foremost lights at Tip, hitting them for several seconds before collapsing as a red light shot out of them and coalesced into what appeared to be a floppy disk. The disk levitated towards Stonhinge, whose chest opened up before he plugged the disk into it, twitching as he did so, “Ooh that was a lot less than I thought it’d be, but it’s good nonetheless!”
“Tip!” Hydra shouted as he watched his friend hit the ground.
Stonhinge turned to look at Neil, “I’m sure a field commander has some interesting experiences too!” He fired the beams at Neil, but Hydra struck him with his scythe in the process, meaning the beams didn’t hit Neil for as long as they hit Tip. Neil still staggered back as red energy shot from him and turned into a floppy disk, much smaller than Tip’s though. Stonhinge batted Hydra back and plugged it in, “That might not be much, but it sure was interesting!” Stonhinge’s thrusters began to activate, “I’m not gonna risk getting any more right now.” Stonhinge began to fly off.
Hydra scowled, plugging a purple Nova Sphere with a reticle on it into his Morpher.
“Reticulum Nova Sphere!”
He fired a shot of purple energy at Stonhinge, which hit him despite not reacting to it. That being said it produced a shimmering purple reticle around him that promptly faded.
“Rangers, retreat immediately! That is an order!” Shen growled.
Neil was still a little dazed from the attack but still replied as he dodged a swing from Skragen’s blade, “On it!”
“Leo Zord!”
Neil was promptly surrounded by the Nova Sphere cockpit which then attached to the Leo Zord. He flew it downwards, the hatch on the bottom opening and scooping the other Rangers up before flying off.
“Aw nuts, they got away!” Calamartia said with disappointment.
“Don’t worry dear, Marquis Stonhinge has debilitated two of their members, if you want to we can take our time,” Skragen chuckled as he said the last part, as if it was some kind of inside joke.
Calamartia laughed, “I like the sound of that!”
As the Rangers entered the bridge Shen immediately ran forward, looking them over and giving a sigh of relief, “Oh thank the stars you’re not hurt!”
Hydra looked over at Tip, whose limp form he was carrying, “Not completely, Tip and Neil had their memories wiped.”
“Oh right,” Shen said, turning to look at Neil, “Okay, your name is Neil Astra, you’re from Earth, Arthur Astra is your younger brother, and you’ve been chosen by the Leo Nova Sphere.”
“I’m fine boss,” Neil shook his head, “I… don’t really feel that different. I don’t really know what I’ve forgotten.”
Arthur looked at him, “I read up about Sarsenians while you were gone, apparently the amount of memories they take are directly proportional to how long their beams hit you. Since Hydra interrupted him when he hit you it probably only took a memory or two.”
“Very astute Arthur,” Shen said with a smile, producing a candy with a purple wrapper from his pocket and handing it to him, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders for someone your age.”
”Indeed,” Leiurus added.
Arthur smiled back, “Thanks Mr. Long, thanks Leiurus.”
“Yeah, mom would be proud of having such a smart son,” Neil said, ruffling his brother’s hair.
Arthur laughed, “And I’m sure she’d be proud to have a son so awesome he was chosen by a cosmic artifact.”
Neil chuckled before freezing, “Oh… oh no.”
“What is it Neil?” Sirius asked.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, what’s wrong?”
“I think I just remembered what I forgot,” Neil said, eyes widening, “Stonhinge made me forget how mom died. I remember the funeral, I remember taking care of you after it, but I don’t remember what happened.”
“The building she was in was crushed by an executor-class Consumoai,” Arthur said, trying to help his brother.
Neil nodded, looking downtrodden, “Well thanks for telling me, but it’s just not the same. I know it’s an important memory, but I want to remember it myself.”
Before anyone else could say anything Tip began to stir, “Ugh, where am I?” The moment they noticed Hydra holding them up they leapt away and looked around the room, “Who are you people?”
“Tip, please calm down,” Hydra said, trying hard not to frighten his friend and taking a pose that showed that he meant no harm.
“Am I Tip?” they asked, seeming to calm down a little.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, you’re Tip, and I’m Hydra Trabem, I’m a friend of yours, a Marquis of the Dark Matter Empire named Stonhinge took your memories, but you've been chosen by the Libra Nova Sphere to become the Libra Ranger and fight against it.”
“Libra Nova Sphere?” Tip said, tilting their head, “You mean this thing?” They produced the golden Nova Sphere.
“Yep!” Aster said cheerfully.
“Well thanks uh, Hydra, for explaining that to me, but all this information is a little… much,” Tip said.
Hydra sighed, “Tip told me that an emotion in a situation like this would be called frustration or maybe even anger.” Hydra gave an angry look, “And I think I feel very angry that Stonhinge took their memories. We need to get them back.”
The others seemed shocked at the sudden display of emotion that Hydra was showing, “I think so too,” Brando said after a moment, putting a hand on Hydra’s shoulder.
“But how do we get them and Neil’s memories back?” Sirius asked.
“That’s a question with a pretty simple answer actually,” Birdie said, “All you need to do is knock those disks out of Stonhinge.”
Arthur nodded, “Then after that you need to smash the disk.”
“But how are we supposed to find Stonhinge?” Alura asked.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, I don’t think we can risk another mind wipe to lure him out.”
“Luckily I planned ahead,” Hydra said suddenly, “Just before we engaged with Stonhinge I had Shen send down the Reticulum Nova Sphere, which I hit Stonhinge with.”
Shen nodded and twirled his cane, “From my research with the Nova Spheres, I’ve learned that if someone hits something with a shot from it, then they know the precise location of what they hit for the next twenty-four hours.”
“So you know where this Stonhinge guy is hiding, Hydra?” Tip asked, “Man, you seem pretty cool for planning ahead like that!”
Hydra looked at them with a hint of sadness, “Thank you, Tip.”
“Well we shouldn’t take our time,” Neil said, making Shen freeze up for a moment, “Let’s go get me and Tip’s memories back!”
Shen shook his head, “Unfortunately it’s too risky, Skragen and Calamartia are still out there.”
Alura looked at him, “But Commander-”
“No buts!” Shen said, rapping his cane on the ground, “I am not letting a single one of you risk your lives by possibly facing them again.”
Birdie looked at her datapad, “Actually it appears that according to Imperial reports, they’re on their way back to New Jersey at the moment, if you head down there now you could possibly avoid running into them.”
Shen sighed, “If that's the case then I suppose I can’t stop you.” Shen thought for a moment, “I was going to let you go down when the coast was clear, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”
“Really?” Alura asked, “Thanks Boss!”
Shen nodded, “It’s no problem, it’s important that every Ranger is in top condition to fight, I was just hesitant to send you out again if Skragen and Calamartia were still there, but since they’re not, you guys can probably roll out again.”
“But what about Tip?” Hydra asked, “They don’t remember anything.”
Tip thought for a moment, “Well I think I still know how to fight, muscle memory and all that, but you’ll probably need to fill me in on the specifics of how to be a Ranger or whatever you said it was.”
“Of course,” Hydra said with conviction in his eyes, “I’ll tell you everything you need to know, and I will help you get your memories back.”
“Alright then,” Neil said, “let’s take a trip down memory lane.”
Back in England, Neil, Leiurus, Tip, and Alura followed Hydra’s lead down a street. “So, you must’ve cared a lot about me, huh?” Tip said, trying to make conversation.
Hydra gave a sigh, “Indeed. You rescued me from a trial because I was arrested for wanting to have emotions, and you taught me a lot about them afterwards, after that we became thieves who stole from the Empire.”
“Really?” Tip asked, “That’s pretty cool! Man, I must’ve been awesome.”
Hydra nodded, “You were, and I’m going to make sure you remember that, no matter what it takes.”
“Hey, I think I would’ve been proud,” Tip said after a moment, “You said you wanted to have emotions right? Well you sound pretty angry right now.”
“You’re right, I think I am. You are my friend Tip, and Stonhinge took all of your memories so you don’t even remember me. Not to mention you trusted me to protect your memories, and I couldn’t even do that,” Hydra replied with a sigh.
Tip put a hand on Hydra’s shoulder, “Hey, you obviously tried hard to do it, even if it didn’t work out you still tried your best.”
Leiurus nodded, “They’re right Hydra, you left Stonhinge wide open, the only reason why we’re in this situation is because Skragen and Calamartia showed up, if it weren’t for them Stonhinge would’ve already been dealt with.”
“Yeah, it’s not your fault things went sideways, you did everything you could to stop Stonhinge,” Neil replied.
“And since Skragen and Calamartia probably aren’t gonna show their ugly mugs again, it means we have basically nothing to worry about this time,” Alura added.
Hydra thought for a moment before nodding, “I suppose you are right, Tip losing their memories isn’t my fault.” Hydra shook his head, “But enough moping, let’s find Stonhinge and get Neil and Tip’s memories back.”
“How close are we to Stonhinge, Hydra?” Tip inquired.
“We’re close,” Hydra replied, “Just a bit further.”
Soon they came to the street where Stonhinge was at, the Sarsenian in the process of draining the memories of a few more people as others ran in terror. Hydra stepped forward, pointing at the mechanical life form, “You!”
Stonhinge turned to look at them. “Rangers again? No matter, it’ll be interesting to see what experiences you’ve all had, I just hope they’re as interesting as yours, Neil.”
Neil looked furious, “What’s so interesting about knowing how my mother died?”
“Because I know who killed her!” Stonhinge chuckled.
“Who?” Neil said, stepping forward.
Stonhinge chuckled, “Sir Mirfak of Perseus! He was sent to oversee the conquest of this world! He was the commander of the Consumoai your mother was crushed under!”
“Mirfak?” Neil asked.
Alura turned to look at him, “Mirfak? The Maniac of Perseus himself? Neil, he’s another one of the Knights of Andromeda and the Empire’s head scientist!”
“Indeed!” Stonhinge chuckled, “You should be honored to have some connection to one of the esteemed Knights of Andromeda!”
Neil glared at Stonhinge, “The only honor I’ll feel is the honor of being the one to take Mirfak down!”
“Neil, let’s do this,” Hydra said, stepping up beside him.
Neil nodded, “Agreed.”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The two of them ran forward with their weapons drawn, slicing at Stonhinge who blocked their attacks with his blades.
“We gotta help them!” Tip exclaimed.
Leiurus nodded, “Right, follow our lead.”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Leiurus and Alura rushed forward with their own weapons as Tip watched, “Alright, I think I’ve got it!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Tip ran forward, lashing at Stonhinge with a wire extending from their arm. Stonhinge staggered back a bit, allowing the other Rangers to slice at him. “Even after I take your memories, I’ll make sure this experience is seared into your minds!” Stonhinge said, slashing his blades and launching a pair of pink energy crescents forward at Tip.
Hydra quickly plugged his Nova Sphere into his Scythe.
“Rasalhague Strike!”
He swung his scythe forward, the spinning silver energy crescent that launched from it clashed with the pink energy crescents before exploding.
“I knew you had my back!” Tip said, running forward and kicking Stonhinge in the chest.
Stonhinge growled as he staggered back, “Let’s see how well you fare without your memories!” The lights in front of Stonhinge’s head began to glow. Stonhinge fired a pair of red beams at Hydra, who promptly rolled out of the way, giving Leiurus and Alura an opportunity to stab and slice at him.
Stonhinge knocked them to the side, turning to face each and firing his beams at them, though each of them dodged it. Neil promptly slashed into him as well, running out of the way of a slice of Stonhinge’s blades. With a growl he turned his attention back to Hydra, swinging his blades repeatedly and sending a flurry of pink energy crescents at him. While Hydra managed to block a few there were just two many, with a few nailing him in the chest with a flurry of sparks and knocking him to the ground. As Hydra struggled to get back to his feet the lights near Stonhinge’s head began to glow.
“Oh no you don’t!” Tip lashed their wire at the lights, shattering them and making Stonhinge give a yell of pain. It seemed that they were using their wire out of instinct, as they probably forgot how to assemble their Star Crossbow.
“Curse you! Stonhinge screamed. He stabbed at Tip, pink energy surrounding a blade and extending its reach. The stab hit Tip in the chest making them cry out in pain before Stonhinge tossed them to the side as the energy disappeared. “You might’ve broken those two, but that doesn’t matter, I’ve got plenty more!” Stonhinge said as the lights on the pillars surrounding his head began to light up, firing beams at Neil, Leiurus, Hydra, and Alura. Hydra managed to dodge out of the way, but the other beams nailed Neil, Leiurus, and Alura for several seconds. Red light shot out of the Rangers, forming floppy disks that inserted themselves into Stonhinge’s chest as the Rangers fell to the ground. “Hah! Just try and fight back now!” Stonhinge chuckled.
“I think I will,” Hydra said, catching Stonhinge off-guard and slicing into his chest. “You took my friends’ memories, you took who they were, I won’t let you get away with it!”
“How about you join them then?” Stonhinge said, firing his beams at Hydra. Hydra reacted immediately, spinning his scythe in front of himself to block them. Stonhinge retaliated by kicking Hydra back, staggering him as the lights on the began to glow again.
Before Stonhinge could fire Tip raised an arm up and extended a wire before spinning around, smashing the rest of Stonhinge’s lights as Hydra ducked under it, “Hydra, I know I should know you and I’m sorry I don’t, but if you’ve got my back then I’ve got yours!”
“Tip,” Hydra said, looking at them, “even if you don’t remember me, I’m glad I remember you. You promised me that you’d be by my side until I got emotions, and I will make sure you remember that.”
“Thanks,” Tip said with a chuckle, a bit of affection in their voice.
“No!” Stonhinge gave a yell of pain, “Do you have any idea what you've done?”
Hydra pointed his scythe at Stonhinge, “I know what they’ve done. They’ve made sure that you can’t abuse your powers any more.”
“Yeah,” Tip said, taking a step forward, “memories, experiences, they’re some of the things that make people who they are.”
Hydra nodded, “We might’ve been thieves, but we wouldn’t have taken those even if we had the power to.”
Tip nodded, “Now how about we give this guy a beatdown he’ll never forget?”
Hydra smirked under his helmet, “I like that idea.” The two of them ran forward, with Tip lashing at Stinhinge with his wire as Hydra sliced at the Marquis, dodging Stonhinge’s own swipes. Stonhinge tried to slice at Hydra’s head with both of his blades only for Hydra to use the blade of his scythe to block them, kicking Stonhinge back and making him hit the wall of a building. Hydra charged forward, stabbing his blade into Stonhinge’s chest and positioning it to pry it open. With some exertion he was able to make the hatch on the Sarsenian’s chest pop open, revealing dozens upon dozens of the floppy disks inside. Hydra took a swing at them, only for Stonhinge to move to the side to dodge it, his back to Tip.
Tip took the opportunity to cast their wire forward, wrapping it around Stonhinge’s waist before giving a firm tug, making Stonhinge fall back onto the ground as the disks flew out of his chest. The disks hit the ground as Stonhinge spasmed, “No!” Hydra took a step forward, looking at the disks on the ground before promptly crushing each and every one of them, making them dissolve into red energy that promptly flew away to their owners. Four of those energies flew towards Tip, Neil, Leiurus, and Alura, the latter three rubbing their heads as they got off the ground.
As Tip’s memories returned they looked at Hydra before running up to him, “Hydra I…. I remember everything!” Tip said as they pumped a fist in the air, “You got my memories back!”
Hydra shook his head, “No Tip, we got your memories back.”
“Great job guys!” Neil said as he readied his sword.
Alura pointed her rapier forward, “Now let’s take this guy down!”
“I agree,” Leiurus said, spinning his spear before pointing it forward.
“You fools!” Stonhinge said, getting to his feet, “I’ll make you experience pain the likes of which has never been felt!”
“We’ll see about that!” Tip said, assembling their crossbow, “Ready guys?”
Neil took a step forward, “Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the five of them said in unison before rushing at Stonhinge. The Marquis tried to slash at Neil, who blocked the attack and made an opening for Leiurus to slash at him, only for Stonhinge to block it with one of his blades. Tip tried to jab at him immediately after, only for Stonhinge to block that as well, dodging another stab from Tip’s crossbow. Tip quickly retaliated by ramming the tip of their crossbow into Stonhinge’s chest, rolling out of the way of a retaliatory slice from the Marquis as Alura slashed at him herself. Stonhinge prepared to perform a pair of swings to launch energy crescents at Tip, only for Hydra to step forward and use his scythe to block the swing.
Hydra kicked Stonhinge away, allowing Alura to perform a front flip at the Marquis, slashing into him several times before running to the side as Neil and Leiurus ran forward. Stonhinge launched a few energy crescents forward, only for the Leo and Scorpius Rangers to avoid them, slicing him as they ran past and spinning around to slice him in the back. The Marquis fell to the ground with a roll as Hydra and Tip stepped forward as he tried to get to his feet. “How about we finish this, Tip?” Hydra inquired.
“You read my mind!” Tip chuckled, pointing a finger gun at Hydra, “Man I’m glad I remember you now!” Tip plugged their Nova Sphere into their crossbow and pointed it upwards.
“Zubeneschamali End!”
They fired their bow upwards, sending a single energy arrow into the air. As it made its way back down towards Stonhinge it became a spinning projection of the Libra Zord’s scale form made of golden energy. It spun like a buzzsaw as it made contact with Stonhinge, making the Marquis stagger back before it disappeared. Immediately afterwards Hydra plugged his Nova Sphere into his scythe.
“Rasalhague End!”
A projection of the Ophiuchus Zord’s snake head form made of silver energy appeared directly in front of Stonhinge. Hydra made a few swings with his scythe, the projection matching the slices as it bit down on Stonhinge repeatedly. Hydra delivered one last downward slash, the projection biting down on Stonhinge. “I didn’t want an experience like this!” Stonhinge yelled, staggering backwards before a massive explosion erupted. As the smoke cleared Stonhinge’s body could be seen lying limp on the ground, motionless.
“Shine on!” Tip said, stepping forward and giving a thumbs up.
“Shine on,” Hydra repeated, copying Tip.
“Now let’s deal with that Consumoai!” Alura said cheerfully.
Neil nodded, “After we deal with the giant Stonhinge.”
“Why do you say that?” Tip asked.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room Karna Rog watched Stonhinge’s defeat, “What an accurate observation, Neil Astra.” The Emperor turned to the side opposite to where Ankaa was standing, “How about we see if they remember how this works.” Karna Rog snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the city, pitch black lightning crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Stonhinge’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into a giant Stonhinge some distance away, “I’ll make sure this is the last memory all of you will have!”
“Ah,” Tip said, “yeah it always seems to happen when we actually destroy one.”
“Enough talking, it’s Megazord time!” Neil exclaimed.
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
Third cockpits flew into the air, connecting with their Zord’s that promptly got into formation, attaching to each other.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This formation of the Megazord had the Scorpius Zord as its right hand, the Chamaeleon Zord as its left hand, the Ophiuchus Zord as its right leg, and the Libra Zord as its left leg.
“The suffering you’ll experience will be legendary!” Stonhinge said, sharpening his blades against each other before running forward.
“Ready to show this guy what we’re made of?” Tip asked.
Hydra nodded, “Absolutely.” The Megazord leapt into the air, landing on Stonhinge’s head for a moment and making him stagger back. As the Megazord turned around Stonhinge had recovered, spewing some kind of foam from his mouth and covering himself with it. Stonhinge promptly used his thrusters to launch himself at the Megazord.
“Let’s see how you like some anti-conductive foam!” Stonhinge smashed into the Megazord, covering its upper body in the foam.
“My controls are frozen!” Neil said, struggling to move the Leo Zord’s controls.
“Mine too!” Alura replied.
“Not much better for me either!” Leiurus added.
Stonhinge promptly took several slashes at the Megazord as its upper body struggled to move, making it stagger back and crash into a building.
“We can’t take much more of this!” Alura yelled.
Hydra thought for a moment, “Me and Tip can handle this. There’s no foam on our Zords.”
“Good idea Hydra!” Tip exclaimed.
The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords detached from the Megazord, flying up into the air and assuming their humanoid forms. The two Zords performed a jump kick, knocking Stonhinge back into his Consumoai.
“Time to finish this,” Hydra said.
Tip chuckled, “With pleasure!” The two of them flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the side of their Morphers.
“Emotion Shimmer!”
The cockpits of their Zords glowed, shifting so their tops were pointing towards Stonhinge before firing a pair of beams at the Marquis. The beams connected, making Stonhinge cry out in pain as electricity crackled across his body, “I’ll remember this!” Stonhinge exploded, destroying himself and the Consumoai in the process.
The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords connected back to the Megazord, as Tip and Hydra spoke in unison, “The stars of hope still shine!”
In the depths of Ukhu Pacha, Mirfak entered one of the artificial planet’s laboratories, a room filled with all kinds of devices, chemicals, and miscellaneous science equipment. At the front of the room was a window that displayed a massive room that was mostly empty aside from the massive mechanical sphere easily the size of a skyscraper at its center with thick metal beams connecting it to the edges of the room. “Doctor, Dogolem, progress report,” Mirfak said as he looked around the room.
“Everything is progressing well within our expectations, Sir Mirfak,” Dogolem said. Dogolem resembled some kind of robot, primarily grey and gold with pronounced shoulders, gold, blue, and red gears visible on the inside and outside of them. His upper legs were smiler, but no gears jutted out of them. His head was wide and possessed a single red eye, sharp teeth, and some kind of fur that ran the length of his upper jaw.
“According to our calculations, Project Wormwood should be completed by the year’s end,” the Doctor said, his voice sounding like a text to speech program. The Doctor was also a machine, composed of red wires and covered in white plating on his torso and black plating on his limbs. His feet terminated in bronze hooves, and what appeared to be a cannon was a part of his right shoulder. The back of his hands also had bronze hooves, with small guns on the tip of each. His eyeless head was primarily bronze, with pink tubes connecting it to the top of his upper body. His mouth was filled with flat, bronze teeth, with his lower jaw hanging open. From the top of his head several pink tendrils extended, noticeably thicker than the ones connecting his head to his body.
Mirfak nodded, “Excellent, continue to infuse Gaiaium and dark matter at the rate we are going and do not stop.”
“Of course, Sir Mirfak,” Dogolem replied, “the Emperor’s wishes for a peaceful universe will soon come into fruition.”
Mirfak rolled his organic eye and gave a dismissive hand gesture, “Yes, yes, a more peaceful universe, you and I both know what Project Wormwood will actually do.”
The Doctor nodded, “Technically, it will make the universe a more peaceful place, especially for the Emperor.”
Mirfak sighed, “Thank you gentlemen, that is all I needed to know.” Mirfak exited the room, grumbling to himself, “I understand Karna Rog’s desire to destroy the universe, but I still find it foolish. Once I find a way to dispose of him permanently, then I shall make sure to get rid of the project, even if it has cost us three hundred years of work.”
“I take it that they’re still alive?” Kaus asked, turning to look at Skragen and Calamartia as he sensed their electrical fields enter the room.
“Regrettably,” Skragen answered.
Calamartia grumbled, “Those jelly brains got away before we had a chance to finish them.”
Kaus gave a sigh, pinching the space between his eyes, “Why am I not surprised? Though given that the two of you are still alive I assume you actually managed to harm them in some capacity.”
“As my wife said, we were able to force a retreat out of them,” Skragen said, glancing at his wife.
Calamartia nodded, “Yeah, we made them run off with their tails between their legs.”
“I see,” Kaus said, looking at his claws, “I’ve heard this isn’t your first time facing the Rangers.”
Skragen shook his head, “It’s our first time facing the actual Rangers.”
“And yet you couldn’t defeat that fake one,” Kaus shook his head, “Nonetheless, given your current performance I believe the Rangers have met their match, and I believe I will fully recover by the time they go on their next escapade.”
“Oh they have, and when you join us they'll be sure to meet their end!” Calamartia chuckled.
“You guys did great down there!” Aster smiled as the other Rangers entered the bridge.
Sirius nodded, “Indeed, you did well against Stonhinge.”
“You really gave him his just desserts,” Brando chuckled.
“And you recovered everyone’s memories,” Birdie added.
Tip nodded, “Not only that, but I think Hydra felt his first emotion too!”
“I am still curious as to how I was able to feel that towards Stonhinge,” Hydra wondered aloud.
Tip thought for a moment, “Well there’s a lot of things that can make you feel anger, Hydra. Things you don’t like or something happening to someone you care about. I guess you really care about me if Stonhinge wiping my memories was enough to make you angry for the first time.” Tip chuckled.
“I suppose you’re right,” Hydra said with a small grin, “Thank you, Tip.”
Tip slung their arm over Hydra’s shoulder, “It’s no problem, man!”
“Congratulations Hydra!” Alura said enthusiastically.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, congrats!”
“I’m happy for you,” Leiurus said with a small grin.
Birdie looked at Neil, “Well if that’s all done, Commander Long would like to see you in his office, Neil. He says he has something important to talk to you about.”
“Sure,” Neil shrugged, turning to exit the bridge, “See you guys later.” He exited the room and began to make his way to Shen’s office.
When he entered he saw Shen sitting behind his desk, with Arthur standing off to the side of it. Paying no mind to his younger brother, he took a seat, “You wanted to see me, Boss?”
Shen nodded, “Correctamundo Neil, there’s something that’s been bugging me a bit that I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
“It’s been bothering me too,” Arthur added.
Neil gave a confused look, “Okay, what is it?”
“It’s about the legend,” Shen said bluntly, “more accurately, about who qualified for being chosen by a Nova Sphere in it.”
Neil looked more confused, “Don’t they just choose who they think is right or pure of heart or something?”
“Well,” Arthur said, “that’s part of it.”
Shen nodded, “But there’s something else as well. I’m sure you’ve noticed a bit of a pattern about the other Rangers.”
“Pattern?” Neil asked curiously.
“Every Ranger comes from the system of their respective Nova Sphere,” Shen elaborated, “except for you, Neil. You’re an outlier. By all accounts, your Nova Sphere should’ve chosen someone from the Leo system.”
Neil’s face fell, “So am I… am I the wrong one? Should I not be the Leo Ranger?”
“Oh no,” Shen said, trying to sound comforting, which appeared to work, as Neil no longer looked upset, “a Nova Sphere isn’t just going to pick the wrong person, in fact it concerns me that you’re the right person.”
Neil cocked an eyebrow, “Why’s that?”
“From what Mr. Long told me about the legend, the Nova Spheres will pick someone from their respective system, or the descendant of someone from their system,” Arthur explained.
Neil’s eyes widened, “So what you’re saying is…”
“Either you’re not human at all, or you are, but just not as much as you thought,” Shen explained, “Personally I think it’s the latter.”
“Why’s that?” Neil asked.
“Because mom had the Leo Nova Sphere and said it was in her family for generations, she might’ve been from the Leo system or was the descendant of someone from it,” Arthur replied.
Neil gave an even more confused look, “But why would someone from the Leo system even come to Earth in the first place?”
“I don’t know,” Shen shook his head, “but if you two want to try and find out, I’ll be more than happy to try and help.”
Neil looked at Shen, “Huh? Why?”
“As the Commander of the Revolution it is important that I make sure everyone is well and to try and help them with problems that they might have, and this whole scenario sounds like it would be a shock to most,” Shen replied.
Arthur turned to look at Shen, “I’d say you’re right, it certainly is crazy knowing part of our family came from space.”
“Indeed,” Shen responded, “besides, the two of you kind of remind me of a younger me, an inventive young man that would do anything to free the universe.” Shen fiddled with the blue origami bear on his desk.
“Really? Thanks Boss,” Neil said with a smile, which promptly vanished, “I also figured out who killed mom.”
“Who?” Arthur asked.
“Stonhinge said that Sir Mirfak of Perseus was the one who did it, he was the commander of that Consumoai,” Neil replied.
Shen’s eyes widened, “Mirfak? He’s one of the Knights of Andromeda, and the most calculating and pragmatic one at that.”
“When I’m through with him he’ll be a former Knight of Andromeda,” Neil said.
Shen thought, “It’ll probably take you a while to be strong enough to face him, but when you are I wish you luck.”
“Thanks Boss,” Neil said, “I’m glad you’re gonna try and help us get this all sorted out.”
Shen nodded and gave a small chuckle, “It’s no problem. Now how about you two go back and hang out with the others, I’ve got a bit of paperwork to finish up at the moment.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Long,” Arthur said.
Neil smiled as he and Arthur walked out of the room, “See you later!”
Shen grinned, “I’ll see you a-round!” As they left the room Shen turned his attention to a photo on his desk, running a claw over it with a sad look on his face, “They’re such nice boys, you would’ve loved them.”
Notes:
Stonhinge: Corruption of the word “Stonehenge,” which is what he’s based on.
Dogolem: Portmonteau of Dogū (which is what he’s based on) and golem.
Honestly the biggest problem of this chapter was figuring out what to make Stonhinge’s ability to make him more threatening, though as you can guess I ultimately settled on making his powers memory-related given how old Stonehenge is. Also I figured I’d properly introduce Dogolem and the Doctor this chapter seeing as how I’ve name dropped them a few times already, they’ll make a handful of future appearances but they aren’t really major antagonists themselves. I also figured now would be a good time to clarify that Mirfak was responsible for the death of Neil and Arthur’s mother, much like how Kukuruga was (supposedly) responsible for the death of Lucky’s father in Kyuranger. While Tip didn’t have their memories for a good portion of this chapter, I’m still really happy with the interactions between them and Hydra. Anyway, the next two chapters are some of the ones I’ve been looking forward to writing the most, so I really, really hope you guys will enjoy them. Anyway, comments are welcome and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 9: Eyes of the Dragon
Chapter Text
In his bed, Shen stirred, his mind in a whirlwind.
His dream was disjointed, filled with flashes of memories, but all of them were of the same event. He remembered being suspended a few feet off the ground, unable to move. “He’s helpless now,” a polite voice commented.
Another voice laughed, this one female, “Then I suppose we can take our time then.”
“Of course dear,” the first voice chuckled. Suddenly a flash of light blue rushed past, and the voices gave sounds of surprise as he hit the ground hard.
“Go now!” a new voice commanded authoritatively. The last thing he remembered was glass shattering, littering the ground in front of him.
“No!” Shen yelled as he shot up, reaching an arm forward. He panted heavily and clutched his chest as he looked around his quarters. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. After getting his breathing under control he gave a sigh, and got out of bed, “No use in trying to sleep again now.” He slid on his clothes and carefully slid on his coat before grabbing his cane and exiting his quarters, making his way to the bridge.
It was dark, most of the crew was probably sleeping right now, so Shen tried to pass by while making as little noise as possible. Eventually he entered the bridge, only for his eyes to widen as he passed through the door, “Sirius?”
“Hello, Boss,” the Fenrisulfrian said from where he sat at one of the seats near the bridge’s table.
Shen walked up beside him, “What are you doing up this early?”
“I could ask the same of you,” Sirius said, looking up at him.
Shen shook his head and gave a sigh, “Bad dream.”
“It is the same for me,” Sirius said, giving a sad look, “Ever since I lost my wife and village, it has been difficult to sleep.”
Shen patted Sirius’s shoulder, “I understand, but we’ve got a big mission coming up, so you should at least try to rest a little.”
“I suppose,” Sirius replied, “but what about you?
Shen just chuckled, “Trust me Sirius, I’ve operated on much less rest than this. Now get some shut eye.”
Sirius grumbled, “I guess.” He didn’t move from where he sat, just closing his eyes, “Was your dream like mine?”
“What?” Shen asked.
“Memories that haunt you, things you regret,” Sirius asked, “you must have seen some things you would rather forget during your time as Commander.”
Shen just shook his head and moved towards his seat, “I’d rather not say.”
“I understand,” Sirius said, giving a small nod as he seemed to drift off to sleep.
Shen watched before musing to himself, “You’re more correct than you’d think, Sirius.”
A few hours later the Rangers and Arthur stood in the bridge, looking intently at Shen. “So what’s today’s mission, Boss?” Brando asked curiously.
“Today, we’re going to be going to the city named Charleston in the area known as West Virginia,” Shen replied as Birdie tapped her datapad, producing a hologram showing five Consumoai above the table. Shen looked it over before speaking, “we are going to destroy these five Consumoai.”
Alura cocked an eyebrow, “So we’re just dealing with the Consumoai today?
“But what about the Marquises?” Brando asked, “Destroying the Consumoai will do nothing if the Marquises are still subjugating people.”
“It’ll slow down Earth’s destruction,” Neil replied, “the more of those things there are, the faster me and Arthur’s home is destroyed.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I’d like to avoid my planet becoming a lifeless rock.”
Leiurus put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “We won’t let that happen, I promise.”
“Thanks Leiurus,” Arthur said with a small smile.
Birdie paid no mind to the look Neil gave Leiurus, instead adding on to what Neil said, “According to our files, the Marquises here are simply modified Flatborgs as well, meaning even if they aren’t destroyed in the initial attack, we can deal with them without much issue later.”
“I guess,” Brando said with a reluctant nod.
Shen turned to look at Tip, Aster, and Hydra, “Not you three though, I’ve got a special assignment for you.”
“What is it?” Hydra said, giving a curious look.
“I’d like for the three of you to head to the Revolution’s base, there’s schematics of things I was working on there that I’d like for the three of you to pick up,” Shen explained, “Me and Arthur were able to install warp drives in the Zords, so you should be able to get there yourselves.”
Aster nodded, “I know where the stuff he wants is, so you guys just follow me.”
“Okie dokie!” Tip said with a thumbs up.
Shen nodded, “Alright then, let’s get this mission star-ted!”
The Rangers flew their Zords towards a Consumoai as a dark cloud formed overhead, signaling that something was about to be enlarged. Black lightning struck and after a cloud of dark energy stopped swirling a massive Flatborg appeared, its armor a bid different than usual, “You’ll have to pry this Consumoai from my cold, dead hands!”
“With pleasure!” Birdie exclaimed as Brando fired a yellow energy beam from the Dorado Zord’s beak before flying through the Consumoai, doing significant damage to it but not destroying it.
The Flatborg growled and fired several shots from its Tonfa at Brando, who managed to avoid one shot before the Leo Zord flew in front of him to block several more, “Thanks for the save, Neil!”
“No problem Brando, I can’t let you have all the fun after all!”
“Trust me, the others are definitely having fun too,” Brando replied. Off in the distance, the Scorpius, Lupus, Chamaeleon, and Aquilla Zords accosted another Consumoai.
Neil promptly fired a barrage of missiles from the Leo Zord’s forelimbs at the Flatborg, making it drop its Tonga and stagger back.
“Ready flash fry him?” Brando inquired.
“With pleasure!” Neil replied, firing a barrage of missiles at the Flatborg and Consumoai before Brando sliced through the former, making them both go up in large explosions.
Brando smiled beneath his helmet as he watched, “One down, four to go!”
As the two of them approached the second Consumoai with the others, it promptly shifted into its humanoid form.
“Protecting their Consumoai is among the most important tasks a Marquis has!” the modified Flatborg that was piloting it said with conviction.
“I’ll distract it!” Brando flew forward firing a few beams from the Dorado Zord at it, which the Consumoai promptly blocked with its lance.
“Seems like it’s Megazord time already,” Leiurus observed.
Neil chuckled, “It sure is!” Neil, Leiurus, Sirius, Alura, and Birdie all flicked their Nova Spheres to the right, making their Zord’s shift into place.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This configuration of the Megazord had the Scorpius Zord as the right arm, the Aquilla Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg.
The Consumoai pointed its lance forward, firing off several red energy beams from its tip. The Megazord quickly lifted up the Aquila Zord, using its wings to block the shots, before retaliating by firing a blast from the Scorpius Zord’s stinger, knocking the lance out of its hand. The Megazord took a step forward before Leiurus used the Scorpius Zord to stab it in the chest, with Birdie following it up with a slice from the Aquila Zord’s wings, making the Consumoai stagger back.
“Let’s finish this quick!” Neil said as he and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow as it pointed the Aquila Zord forward, a spiraling mass of pink energy appearing in front of it and floating in place. The Megazord pointed the Scorpius Zord forward, firing a blast from it and shooting the pink energy forward as a massive slice of energy, making the Consumoai stagger back before exploding.
“Two down!” the Rangers said in unison.
“Two Consumoai in a row with barely any problems? These guys might be a more interesting fight than I thought,” Calamartia said from where she sat atop a nearby building, Kaus and Skragen standing just a few feet away from her. “Then again, it might also be because of how jelly-brained these sorry excuses for Marquises are.”
Kaus gave a barely audible chuckle, “Well I’m glad someone shares my sentiments towards these things, personally I think that all of Sir Mirfak’s claims about them are unfounded at best.”
“I assume you had a hand in this?” Calamartia asked.
Kaus nodded, “A good hunter always knows what bait their prey will chase, Skragen suggested to me that we lure the Rangers out, so I used my influence to do just that. I had these Consumoai repositioned to make them as tempting as possible for the Rangers, even though it appears that only six are present.” Kaus shrugged, “Regardless, it has still lured two-thirds of them into our grasp.”
“Oh what a great plan dear!” Calamartia chuckled.
“Thank you, honey,” Skragen said with a chuckle, watching the Zords move away. “Is it just me, or are they rushing things?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Calamartia nodded, “I think you’re right dear.”
“It seems as though their Commander might have some suspicions about what’s going on here,” Kaus said after a moment, “If that’s the case then we must make our move soon.”
Skragen nodded, “Indeed, we must strike before they have an inkling of what’s going on.”
“Sounds good to me, I can’t wait!” Calamartia laughed.
Aside from Arthur and Shen the bridge was mostly empty, devoid of its usual activity. Arthur watched the screens displaying what was happening down below intently, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Shen clenching his cane with a death grip. “Mr. Long, are you okay?” Arthur asked curiously.
Shen’s eyes widened, “No Arthur, everything is fine.”
“If you say so,” Arthur shrugged.
The Dorado Zord pierced through another Consumoai before the Megazord fired another Star Breaker at it, destroying it. “That is the third!” Sirius said with excitement.
Brando glanced to the side, noticing a modified Flatbrog being flanked by Greyders marching towards an apartment building, malicious intent obvious as people ran to the sides to let them through. “Those people…” Brando said to himself quietly. He turned the Dorado Zord to the side, which caught the notice of the others.
“Brando? What are you doing?” Alura asked.
“People are in trouble, I just can’t sit by and let it happen!” Brando replied.
“But the plan! There’s still two Consumoai left to deal with!” Shen said as Brando flew off.
“Someone needs to go after him!” Birdie exclaimed.
“I’ll go,” Neil said, breaking the Megazord’s formation.
Alura nodded inside her cockpit, “I’ll go too, the rest of you go deal with the last of the Cosumoai!”
Sirius nodded, “Got it, make sure to give him a piece of your mind while you’re at it.”
“Oh trust me, I will,” Alura replied before she and Neil flew off.
“So it really is just the three of us,” Birdie said to Leiurus and Sirius, “Are you guys sure we can do it by ourselves?”
Leiurus shook his head, “There’s no other option, we’ll just have to be careful and hope for the best.”
“I can’t believe him!” Shen said, all but slamming his hands down on the table, “Going against orders is one thing, but doing it and running off when we have a pair of the Empire’s deadliest assassins on our tail is just… it’s…” Shen was visibly having trouble trying to put his thoughts into words.
“Beyond stupid?” Arthur suggested.
Shen took a sigh and tried to compose himself after remembering the preteen was in the room, “I wouldn’t say it that harshly, but yes.”
Arthur gave him a concerned look, “Are you okay Mr. Long? I’ve never seen you this worked up.”
Shen gave a deep sigh, “No, I’m not okay Arthur. I understand that Brando wants to do the right thing, but it’s putting himself and the others at risk.” He looked at Arthur intently, “Listen Arthur, sometimes disobeying orders is necessary, but not now. If something goes wrong then a single act of insubordination can do untold damage. Do you understand?”
Arthur gave Shen a concerned and suspicious look, “Yeah, I do.” Inside, he wondered what would compel Shen to talk about that with so much conviction.
Kaus heard a beep coming from the holographic projector in his pocket, pulling it out and placing it on the ground, “You two, leave now.”
“Of course, Duke Kaus,” Skragen said as he and Calamartia made their way down the stairs that led to the top of the building they stood on.
Once they were gone the projector roared to life, a hologram of Karna Rog appearing before him, “Greetings, Duke Kaus. How are your efforts to kill the Rangers progressing?”
Kaus took a knee, “Skragen and I have formulated an effective plan that has lured six of them out. It is likely to cost us five Consumoai, but that is a necessary sacrifice.”
Karna Rog gave a barely visible nod, “I see. Where are Skragen and Calamartia? I wish to speak to them.”
“Directly?” Kaus said with surprise, “I can just pass-”
“No,” the Emperor said, cutting him off, “I will speak with them directly, Duke Kaus.”
Kaus gave a small nod, “Of course, your magnificence.” He turned to look at the stairway, “Skragen, Calamartia, Emperor Karna Rog wishes to see you.”
The duo came back up the stairs, moving towards Kaus and the Hologram before each of them took a bow. “Emperor Karna Rog,” Skragen said, a hint of reverence in his voice.
“It is an honor,” Calamartia added.
Karna Rog simply shook his head, “You two are to go and wipe out the Rangers. I have faith that you shall be able to accomplish that.”
“Of course, Emperor Karna Rog,” Calamartia said.
Skragen nodded, “We shall do it immediately.”
“Good, do not fail me,” Karna Rog said just before the hologram disappeared.
Kaus turned to look at the two of them, “You should be honored, normally Dukes such as myself are the only ones permitted to interact with the Emperor directly.”
“It certainly is, right dear?” Skragen said, turning to look at Calamartia.
Calamartia nodded before looking off in the distance, “Looks like they’ve spit up.”
“It seems they have, how curious,” Skragen said with a hum, “It would probably be prudent to strike now.”
Kaus nodded, “Then I suppose I shall leave you to it.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Calamartia questioned.
Kaus shook his head, “If the Emperor trusts you to do this then I see no reason to interfere for now. If things get particularly messy I will get involved.”
Skragen nodded, “Understood.” He turned to look at Calamartia, “How does going after the ones in the Zords and using them as bait to lure the others in sound?”
“As long as it involves a fight at some point I’m willing to do anything, honey,” Calamartia replied.
Skragen chuckled, “So it’s settled then.”
On the ground Brando was in front of a table, fish stew to the dozens of people that had just been forced out of their apartments. “Brando!” He turned to see the source of the voice, Neil, who was running up to him along with Alura.
“Alura? Neil? What’re you doing?” Brando asked, handing some seafood to an older woman as he turned to look at them.
“I should be asking the same thing, Brando,” Alura said sternly, “we are in the middle of a mission, why in the name of the constellations did you run off? And we’re did you get all these pieces of food from?”
“A Marquis has hurt these people, Alura,” Brando replied, “I can’t just twiddle my thumbs and let them be oppressed!” Brando paused for a moment, “And if you must know I used the Pisces Nova Sphere to make the fish and the Aquarius Nova Sphere for the broth, they’re some of my favorites so I try to keep them with me on missions. Sure the Pisces Nova Sphere is better at launching biting fish projectiles, but apparently they taste pretty good.”
“No one is asking you to do that,” Alura replied, rolling her eyes, “we were going to deal with the Marquises later, right now we gotta focus on the Consumoai!”
“Even when the Marquises are hurting innocents as we do it?” Brando fired back, leaning across the table towards her, “A Marquis just kicked all of these people out of the apartments they live in, we can’t just leave them here!”
“These people are going to be in even more trouble if they have no planet at all!” Alura replied.
Neil was quite frankly shocked by the argument unfolding before him, Alura and Brando always seemed to get along so well, to see them like this was jarring to say the least. “Calm down, both of you!” Neil commanded suddenly, making the fighting stop. “Brando, I understand that you want to help people, it’s what us Rangers are supposed to do, but running off by yourself to do it while we’re focused on other things is dangerous,” he turned to look at Alura, “Alura, as your co-field commander I understand why you’re upset, and you’re right that the Consumoai are more important, but protecting people more directly is what we should do too.” He took a deep breath, “That being said, Alura is right, we’re on a mission and we need to help the others.” Neil thought for a moment, “You seem pretty passionate about protecting civilians, even more than the rest of us, why is that?”
Brando sighed, “It’s because of my childhood.” Brando thought for a minute before speaking again, “I’m from Bahamut in the Dorado system, it was a beautiful ocean world before the Empire came and began oppressing its residents, at least that’s what I’ve been told, I wasn’t born yet when the Empire took over.”
“I see,” Neil replied with interest, Alura on the other hand paid no mind, having already heard this story before.
“The Marquis of Bahamut, Nozzie, always took valuable resources away from the population, meaning people had to do everything they could just to scrape by, and my family was no different, we were incredibly poor, our whole town was, we could barely afford any food. It’s why I decided to pick up cooking, to help provide for my community by making food for them to make things just a bit easier,” Brando sighed, “That’s why I try to help people so much, so they never have to go through what me and the people on my planet did.”
Neil took in what Brando was saying before nodding, “That’s very noble of you, Brando. I see why you’d want to do what you do, what you went through sounded bad.”
“Yeah, he gave me and Aster a version that was a bit more detailed, but we can save that for another time, right now we need to take down this Marquis and get back to the others,” Alura said.
Neil glanced at Brando, “I understand why you’d want to help people, Brando, but we’re part of a team, we gotta work together. What if Calamartia and Skragen showed up while you ran off?”
Brando sighed, “I guess you’re right, sorry.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Neil said, putting a hand on Brando’s shoulder, “We’ll stop the Marquises soon, and at least these people have a warm meal for now.”
“We should probably call the Boss and tell him we’ve caught up with you, then we need to hurry back to the others,” Alura said immediately after.
“I’ll call him,” Brando said, lifting up his Morpher, “Boss, I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have run off like that, I let my own feelings get in the way of what I was supposed to do, I shouldn’t have disobeyed your orders.”
“Insubordination is almost always a bad idea, Brando,” Shen said with an unusually stern voice, “there’s no telling what could have happened or what can happen. I understand your concerns, I really do, and I appreciate that you’re helping these people, but you were playing with fire since Skragen and Calamartia are running around.”
Brando gave a sigh, “Right, I shouldn’t have let this happen, the three of us will go meet up with the others now.”
“Good, don’t keep them waiting, and be careful,” Shen said, his tone softening.
Brando gave a small nod, lowering his Morpher, “Alright, let’s-”
“There you are!” The modified Flatborg Brando had seen earlier came forward, flanked by several Greyders as people ran away. The Flatborg’s shoulder pads were more pronounced than usual, being yellow much like the crest on its head that it had instead of the spade-shaped hood most Flatborgs had. “You’re the Rangers aren’t you? I’ll make you pay for destroying my Consumoai!”
Neil smirked, “Seems like we’ll get to deal with the Marquis right now after all, Brando.”
“Fine by me,” Brando replied before pointing at the Marquis, “You’re not gonna get away with taking these people out of their homes!”
Alura gave a sigh, “Alright, but let’s make this quick!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Get them!” the Modified Flatborg said as it pointed its tonfa at them. The Greyders began to charge forward as the Rangers readied their weapons, charging at them as well.
“Any idea what we’re looking for?” Tip asked as they, Aster, and Hydra looked through Shen’s office in the Revolution’s space station-like base.
Aster shrugged, “Just grab anything that’s a blueprint and looks important.”
Hydra lifted up a blueprint of what seemed to be some kind of double-sided Nova Sphere, “The Lux Nova Sphere, seems like the Commander’s been trying to develop some kind of artificial Nova Spheres, interesting.”
“That sounds worthwhile, grab it,” Aster said.
Tip gave a curious look, “How would you make artificial Nova Spheres anyway?”
“It says that once the shell is built, a large amount of celestial energy, either light or dark is supposed to be infused into it, allowing it to produce effects similar to that of other Nova Spheres that grant special abilities,” Hydra said, “doesn’t seem like you can make one that’s capable of making someone morph though.”
“Huh, interesting,” Aster said with interest, “I’m sure the Boss would like to have that one.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, seems like something like that could be useful in the future.”
“Yeah,” Hydra replied, “it does.”
The Scorpius, Lupus, and Aquila Zords fired beams at another Consumoai, destroying it. “And that is four,” Sirius stated as he and the others flew off towards the final one.
“Just one left!” Birdie said cheerfully.
Leiurus nodded, “Indeed.”
Leiurus suddenly heard a call come through his comm. “Yes?” Leiurus asked.
“It’s me, Arthur,” Arthur said.
“Mind telling me why you’re contacting me?” Leiurus asked, a barely noticeable hint of playfulness in his voice.
“Because I wanted to tell you about just how much you rescuing me changed my view on things,” Arthur said with passion in his voice which quickly faded, “Nah, Mr. Long wanted me to check in on how guys were doing, he’s busy monitoring the others right now.”
Leiurus nodded, “I take it that trouble’s found them?”
Arthur gave a bark of laughter, “I’d say running into a Marquis would qualify.”
“They can handle it,” Leiurus said, smiling under his helmet.
“Oh I know they can,” Arthur replied as Leiurus and the others approached the final Consumoai, firing on it several times and making it explode.
“That’s the last of them,” Leiurus said as he and the other began to fly away, “We’ll be back-”
Suddenly the Zords were hit by rounds of projectiles, triggering their automatic eject systems to detach the cockpits, sending them towards the ground.
“Nice shot, darling,” Skragen said, glancing at his wife as they walked towards where the cockpits had landed.
Calamartia laughed, “It was mostly the electromagnetic rounds I fired, but thanks for the compliment.”
“I’ll never get tired of complimenting you, honey,” Skragen replied.
“Ugh, what was all of that?” Sirius said, getting to his feet. The three had landed at some kind of scrapyard, rusty metal all around them.
“Nothing good,” Leiurus replied.
“It came out of nowhere!” Birdie said, looking around.
“Well hello again,” Skragen said from where he and Calamartia stood on a nearby catwalk.
“Skragen, Calamartia!” Sirius growled as the three of them turned to face the Jesters.
Calamartia laughed as she jumped down, producing her mace and sword, “Let’s begin!” She charged forward, with Skragen leaping down and following after.
“Mr. Long, we have a problem!” Arthur said, looking away from the screen he was staring at.
“What is…” Shen turned his head away from the screen displaying Neil, Alura, and Brando just in time to see a shower of sparks erupt from Leiurus, Sirius, and Birdie’s suits, “Oh no.”
Birdie dodged a swing from Calamartia’s sword before speaking into her Morpher, “We’re under attack! We need assistance now!” Calamartia had just sent Sirius staggering back with a slice from her sword, giving Birdie enough time to shoot her with her blaster and Morpher, making her stagger backwards.
“Two can play at that game!” Calamartia quickly switched her sword out for her gun, nailing Birdie with several rounds before slamming her mace into her chest.
Leiurus seemed to have learned from his previous fights with Skragen, fighting more defensively than before, blocking Skragen’s slices with his spear. He tried to sting Skragen in the head, but Skragen quickly tilted his head to the side to avoid it, kicking Leiurus away. As Skragen approached Leiurus with his blade in hand, Sirius suddenly took a swing at the Jester with his claw, though Skragen quickly avoided it. There was something strange about it though, Skragen’s dodge wasn’t nearly as nonchalant as usual, it honestly seemed panicked.
Sirius rolled towards a wall and used his gathered momentum to leap off of the side of it towards Skragen, swinging with his claw. Skragen stepped out of the way hastily, bringing his blade down on Sirius as he tried to recover, only for Sirius to block it with his claw. “Why must you be so difficult, you stupid mutt?” Skragen said, his normally polite voice filled with irritation.
Sirius growled, using his free hand to claw at Skragen’s chest, an attack the assassin did not avoid. Skragen gave a yell of pain as he staggered back, the crystal on his head glowing as Sirius was tossed back into Birdie, the two of them tumbling to the ground and unmorphing, unconscious.
Leiurus took a slice at Calamartia from the side, who promptly did the splits to avoid it before blocking another swing from Leiurus’s spear with her mace. She used a leg to sweep at Leiurus’s feet, making him step back and give her enough time to get to her feet. She charged forward at Leiurus with her sword, only for him to sidestep it and get behind her, lifting the shaft of his spear up to her neck to restrain her. “You’re done,” Leiurus stated as he raised his stinger.
“No, I th-ink you are,” Skragen said as he grabbed just behind the stinger and moved it out of the way, thrusting his blade forward between Leiurus’s neck and shoulder. Leiurus fell back, unmorphing and unconscious.
Calamartia looked over the Rangers’ unconscious forms, “That was fun.”
Skragen nodded, “And now we wait.”
Meanwhile, Neil and Alura battled the Greyders as Brando combated the Marquis, who had just jabbed him in the chest with his tonfa, making him stagger back. Suddenly he got a call from his Morpher, it was from Shen, “Leiurus, Sirius, and Birdie are in trouble, disengage now and go help them!”
“Guys, the others are in trouble, we need to save them!” Brando said, only to get nailed in the chest by a yellow beam fired from the Marquis’s head. He staggered back, but luckily Neil and Alura were able to grab him before he fell.
“Disengage now!” Shen repeated.
“No, I can’t! Not when this Marquis is oppressing people, I can’t just run away and let it happen!” Brando said, pointing his saber at the Marquis.
On the bridge, Shen’s eyes widened, as if reminiscing about something.
“We’ll save them, we’ll just finish this guy first!” Brando continued as he and the other two readied their weapons. Neil and Alura fired their Morphers at the Marquis, making him stagger back and letting Brando slice him several times in the chest before kicking him back. As the Marquis staggered back he and the other two flicked their Nova Spheres back before flicking down the sides of their Morphers.
“All Star Shot!” they fired at the Marquis, tails like comets trailing their shots. Upon impact with them the Marquis exploded, leaving nothing but a small fire behind.
“We’ve wasted enough time, we gotta go help the others!” Alura exclaimed as they unmorphed.
Neil nodded, “Right, let’s go, we don’t have much time!”
Shen paced back and forth as worst-case scenarios ran through his head, the possibilities were getting worse by the minute. “No, I can’t lose them, I won’t lose them,” Shen whispered as he pulled the blue Nova Sphere with a bear on it out of his pocket, clutching it tightly, “I’ve worked too hard to find them all, I won’t let those two take them after everything they’ve done.” He clutched the Nova Sphere like his life depended on it, “I promise.” He gingerly slid it back into his pocket before retrieving the grey Nova Sphere with the purple dragon symbol on it from the other, “It’s been nineteen years, but I’ll have to do it again, for them.” He quickly sprinted towards the door to the bridge.
“Mr. Long?” Arthur said with surprise.
“Arthur! You’re in charge!” Shen said as he ran through the door.
“Me?” Arthur said with surprise, “What do you want me to do? I’m twelve!”
“Just make sure nothing explodes!” Shen’s voice said from down the hallway.
Aster finished putting quite a few blueprints into a few file folders before looking at Tip and Hydra, “Alright, grab any last folders that you can, the hallways are going to be busy pretty soon.”
Tip deflated, “Come on man, you’ve already grabbed everything!”
“Not everything,” Hydra said, moving towards Shen’s desk and gingerly opening up a blueprint on it that had been folded up. “It seems to be for his cane,” Hydra observed as he looked it over. After a moment he froze, his slitted eyes widening, “Wait a minute…”
Neil, Alura, and Brando entered the scrapyard, spotting Leiurus, Sirius, and Birdie’s limp forms which were tied up to a large rusted pole. “Guys!” Neil shouted, running towards them. He was stopped in his tracks by a shot hitting the ground between him and the others as Skragen and Calamartia stepped into view. “You two…” Neil said, glaring at them, “give them back now!”
“No, I don’t think we will,” Skragen said before gesturing to Sirius, “Especially not this flea-ridden hound of yours.”
“He’s my friend!” Neil said, venom in his voice.
“Oh come on honey, lighten up a little,” Calamartia said, putting a hand on her husband’s shoulder before looking at Neil, “If you want them, then you’re gonna have to take them.”
“Our pleasure,” Alura said, looking to Brando
“These guys are tough, but if we want to save our friends we have to at least try,” Brando responded as the three of them readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The three of them ran forward with their weapons drawn as Skragen and Calamartia fired at them. The Rangers used their weapons to deflect the shots, causing a few explosions around the Rangers as they continued to run forward. A large explosion erupted in front of them before Neil leapt through it, preparing his sword to perform a downward swing. “I’ll deal with squid head over here, you two deal with Calamaria or whatever her name is.” The golden crystals on Skragen’s chest lit up as he repositioned himself to avoid Neil’s swing.
“Her name is Calamartia,” Skragen corrected as Neil swung at Skragen’s side, the Jester quickly raising the barrel of his gun to block it just before impact.
“Whatever,” Neil said, grabbing Skragen’s arm and pulling him to the side.
Calamartia ducked under a swing from Alura’s rapier before ducking again to avoid a swing from Brando’s saber, spinning around to face them. She swung her sword at Alura, who promptly blocked it with her rapier.
“It’s funny that you th-ink you stand a chance,” Skragen said as he clashed blades with Neil. Neil pulled his sword back to perform a downward swing, only for Skragen to lift his blade up to block it.
“If it means saving my friends, I know I stand a chance,” Neil said as he grabbed onto the handle of Skragen’s weapon. Skragen reacted immediately, spinning to break Neil’s grip on it before slicing the Leo Ranger in the chest.
Calamartia thrusted her mace forward at Brando, who blocked it with his saber. “Scared to get a little hurt?” she inquired as Alura took a swing at her. Calamartia promptly used her sword to block it, allowing Brando to break away and take another swing at her. Calamartia swung her mace, sparks flying as it collided with the saber. She spun around and tried to swing her mace at Alura, but the Chamaeleon Ranger blocked it with her rapier. Calamartia swung at Alura’s head with her sword, the hit connecting and making Alura stagger back. Calamartia quickly spun around to block a slice from Brando with her mace.
Alura, who had recovered fairly quickly, plugged her Nova Sphere into her rapier. “I dunno, what about you?” she exclaimed.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
She lashed her rapier’s whip-like blade forward, snaring the arm Calamartia was carrying her mace with. Brando took the opportunity to bring his blade down, severing Calamartia’s forearm from her body. Calamartia staggered away and clenched the stump of her arm as Alura ran up towards Brando, fist pumping him as they turned their blades towards Calamartia, “Let’s see how well you can fight with one less limb!”
“Now let’s make her live up to her name and turn her into calamari!” Brando added with a nod.
Calamartia turned to face them as steam poured out of her arm, “We’ll see about that, jelly brains!”
The two of them looked at her with surprise as Calamartia’s severed arm quickly elongated into a tentacle that lashed towards them, ensnaring the two Rangers. Calamartia turned her back on them and lifted the stump of her arm outward, a new forearm growing to replace the old one in mere seconds. Alura and Brando looked on with surprise as Calamartia turned to face them, wiggling the fingers of her regrown arm, “Can’t you see? I’m invincible! You can cut off whatever you want but it’ll just grow back!”
She pointed her gun at them, firing repeatedly at their restrained forms as the tentacle restraining them exploded, making them fall to the sides and unmorph as they hit the ground with faces of pain.
“Alura! Brando!” Neil said, turning to face them momentarily and leaving him open to a slice from Skragen, knocking him back and onto the ground.
“It seems like you still don’t get it,” Skragen said, slinging his weapon over his shoulder as he approached Neil, “Your mind is a book, Neil Astra, one that I can open and read as I please. Nothing can surprise me, no matter what you try and do, I’ll know exactly what your next move will be. So how about you make this easier for the both of us and just stop fighting?”
Neil got to his feet, “Never!” He lifted up his Morpher, he took a swing at Skragen, who ducked out of the way.
“I told you,” Skragen said, “nothing can catch me off-guard.”
“That’s a lie and you know it!” Neil said, swinging at Skragen’s head, who leaned back to avoid it, “Alura sure seemed to catch you off-guard last time!”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Skragen said with irritation.
“I don’t doubt that some species can read minds, but either you’re lying or it’s not as powerful as you say it is,” Neil dodged out of the way of Skragen’s blade, “Boss, we need a Nova Sphere now!”
Arthur’s eyes widened and he gritted his teeth, “Mr. Long just left a few minutes ago, I have no idea where he is!”
“Just great,” Neil said, ducking under Skragen’s slashes as the assassin ran at him.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” Skragen said, flipping his weapon around and firing a shot at Neil. Neil quickly lifted his sword in front of him, positioning it so its wider side was pointing forward. While the sword did block the shot, it sent Neil staggering back a bit.
Neil recovered quickly, “That sounds like a big problem, for you anyway.” He thrusted his sword at Skragen, who turned to the side to avoid it. Neil followed it up with a series of slashes. He took a swing at Skragen’s foot, but Skragen simply stepped over it as he maneuvered behind him. He brought his sword down, but Skragen stepped to the side before putting his foot down on the blade, preventing Neil from moving it.
“That didn’t go so well, for you,” Skragen said as Neil tried to free his sword from under Skragen’s foot. Neil gave one last pull back, separating the sword blade from the axe blade and turning his Star Sword into a Star Axe, which he promptly sliced at Skragen with. Skragen seemed surprised by the attack and was unable to dodge it in time, the blade slicing across the upper part of his chest near his right shoulder, making him stagger back.
Underneath his mask, Neil grinned, “I knew it!”
Skragen managed to recover after staggering back, the crystal on his head glowing “Enough of this.” He pointed his rifle at Neil, who was unable to move because of some invisible force before firing, the shot hitting Neil square in the chest. The shot sent Neil flying backward, unmorphing as he hit the ground next to Brando and Alura. Skragen and Calamartia began to walk forward brandishing their weapons. “Sad, don’t you th-ink, honey?” Skragen said, turning to look at his wife.
“At least these jelly brains didn’t run away this time,” Calamartia looked over her sword as she walked, running her free hand over the blade.
“You won’t… get away with this,” Alura panted as she tried to get to her feet.
Skragen shook his head, “I regret to inform you that we already have, Alura Palleon.” He slung his rifle over his shoulder, “Neil Astra, Alura Palleon, Brando Pesce, for your crimes against the Empire, you are to be executed.” He looked at Calamartia, “Darling, I assume you would like to do the honors?”
Calamartia laughed as she put her sword away, “You know me so well!” She pulled out her gun, “We’re gonna deal with the other three after that.”
“Indeed,” Skragen nodded.
“Oh I’m going to enjoy this,” Calamartia said as she pointed her gun at the Rangers, sadistic glee in her voice.
From some distance away Kaus watched the scene unfold, a small grin on his face, “It seems as if I overestimated the Rangers.” He thought for a moment, “Then again there’s only six this time.” He looked at where Leiurus was restrained, “It’s just a shame I won’t be the one finishing you off, Leiurus Calchas.” He shook his head and slung his halberd over his shoulder, “Regardless, I am sure this execution will be significantly more successful than the previous one.”
Just as Calamartia was about to pull the trigger several shots hit the ground, kicking up a few dust clouds that separated her and Skragen from the Rangers. “Someone else wants in on the action?” Calamartia said as she and Skragen turned to face where the shots had come from.
“Huh?” Brando said as he, Neil, and Alura looked to the where the shots came from as well, a figure approaching.
“Who… is it?” Neil sputtered out.
By now Birdie seemed to have reactivated, looking at the approaching figure, who she recognized instantly, “Commander Long…”
From the distance, Kaus watched on with interest, “Seems like their Commander has finally decided to show himself, interesting.” He wasn’t as mad as he expected to be at the execution being interrupted, instead he was eager to see what would happen.
The figure was still several yards away, but the purple scales and draconic features assured everyone that it was Shen Long himself. He carried his cane peculiarly, mostly because the handle at the back of its head was angled backward, making it more like a rifle. He moved the handle back to its regular position, glaring at Skragen and Calamartia, “You two… let them go now.” Shen’s voice was filled with seriousness and barely-contained rage, a stark contrast to his usual pun-loving, almost fatherly self.
Calamartia looked at him, holding her gun down to her side and tilting her head to the side, “Are we supposed to know you?”
“Well, well,” Skragen said, looking at Shen, “if it isn’t our old friend, the First Hero of the Revolution himself.”
“First Hero of the Revolution?” Alura wondered aloud.
“Oh right! Now I remember,” Calamartia turned to look at her husband, “thank you, Skraggy.”
Skragen chuckled, “Any time, dear.”
“You two make me sick,” Shen growled, “and Skragen, with all those eyes of yours you’d think you’d see that I consider you anything but a friend.”
“Oh, so you know my secret then?” Skragen said with interest, “Well I might as well show you, it’s not like anyone but me and my wife are going to be leaving here alive anyway.” The suckers covering Skragen’s body began to blink as the crystals on him began to glow.
“Gross!” Brando said with disgust.
“That must be how he knows where attacks are coming from when he isn’t looking,” Alura said, “It’s because he’s always looking!”
“That doesn’t explain how he reacts so quickly though,” Neil said, still struggling to get to his feet.
After a moment the suckers stopped blinking and the crystals stopped glowing as Skragen turned to look at Shen, “Shen Arctos was it? A pleasure to see you again. I quite enjoyed the entertainment you gave me and my wife on our honeymoon.”
“Keep that name out of your mouth, you spineless clowns,” Shen growled, “I am Shen Long.”
Calamartia snorted, “Change your name to separate yourself from your failure of a-”
“Be quiet!” Shen roared, catching everyone present by surprise, it was like the Jesters brought out an entirely different side of the Commander, “You invertebrates will not slander his memory!”
Skragen sighed and pinched where his nose would be on his skull-like upper face before speaking with a tone of mild irritation, “It’s been nineteen years, Arctos, get over it.”
If looks could kill, Skragen would be dying until the end of time. “Skragen, you have a good memory, don’t you?” Shen asked with a calm voice that held unfathomable rage just below the surface, though he seemed to already know the answer to his question. He opened the mouth of the golden dragon head opposite to the cane’s handle, the black portion of it momentarily glowing red.
Skragen gave a hum, “You could say that, yes.”
Shen pulled out the grey Nova Sphere with the dragon symbol on it, inserting it into the mouth of the dragon head and clamping the upper jaw down on it as the black part flashed red again, performing the whole process without breaking eye contact with Skragen and Calamartia.
“Draco Nova Sphere.”
“Commander Long has a Nova Sphere?” Brando said with disbelief.
“What’s he going to do with it?” Alura said with wide eyes.
Neil paid them no mind and instead yelled out, “Boss, run! They’re too dangerous!”
Shen paid no attention to Neil’s protests, focusing solely on Skragen, Calamartia, and getting the Rangers out of there. “Then you best remember this, nobody lays a hand on my Rangers!” he roared.
He slammed his cane into the ground, “Eltanin!”
He slammed it into the ground again, “Rastaban!”
He lifted the cane up, “Eyes of the Dragon!” Shen was surrounded by violet light.
Birdie watched on with awe, “He hasn’t done this in years!”
When the light dissipated Shen stood there, now in a Ranger suit of his own. It was primarily purple, with white gloves and boots, as well as black shoulder pads, with a small portion of white between his shoulder pads and under his helmet. Like the other Rangers he had a star symbol on his chest, though his was different, being more symmetrical and centered on the middle of his chest, purple, but outlined with gold. At the center of the star was half a sphere like the other Rangers had, though his didn’t depict the symbol of his Nova Sphere, instead being grey and clouded. His helmet was purple, with its visor resembling a dragon spreading its wings. Uniquely, the visor was outlined with gold. “Draco Ranger!” Shen roared
“The Boss is a Ranger?” Brando said, his jaw dropping.
“I can’t believe it!” Alura added, equally surprised.
“Why didn’t he tell anyone?” Neil asked, flabbergasted.
Shen moved with lightning speed, closing the considerable distance between him and the Jesters in an instant. Calamartia swung at him with her sword, “We’ll put you down for good this time!” Shen said nothing as he dodged the attack, his hand sliding down his cane towards its tip. He promptly swung it, slamming the grip of the cane into the side of Calamartia’s head, making her stagger back with a cry of pain.
Skragen swung at Shen who reacted immediately, blocking it with his cane. He promptly spun the cane around so it was horizontal and moved it down the barrel of Skragen’s rifle, stopping on one of the golden tentacles that decorated it. He pushed Sktagen backwards before spinning his grip on the cane, holding it so its shaft was positioned like the blade of a sword. He jabbed Skragen in the chest with it, making the Jester stagger back as he reversed his grip on the cane again. “Looks like your age hasn’t slowed you down one bit,” Skragen said with annoyance.
Shen took a swing at Skragen, who stepped back to avoid it, “But it seems that you still struggle to land a good hit on me, you were just lucky the first time.” It took a moment for Skragen to realize that Shen had paused mid-swing, the tip of Shen’s cane pointed at his chest. Shen gripped down on a trigger on the cane’s handle, firing several shots directly at Skragen’s chest. Skragen gave a cry of pain as he staggered back, smoke emitted from where Shen shot him.
“You’ll pay for that!” Calamartia yelled as she ran up behind Shen. Shen spun around quickly, shifting his grip on his cane again before delivering an upward slice, the cane’s pointed tip slicing off the arm Calamartia was holding her sword with. The arm and sword flew into the air, with Shen catching the sword in his free hand as it fell. “Give that back!” Calamartia snarled as she swung at Shen with her mace, her lack of an arm not even slowing her down unlike before. Shen blocked the attack with Calamartia’s sword before jabbing her in the chest with his cane and making her stagger back. Immediately afterwards he delivered a series of slashes with the sword and cane, even performing a spin with them outstretched. The flurry of strikes made Calamartia stagger back and fall to the ground, “Jelly brain! I’m not done yet!”
Calamartia’s severed arm elongated into a tentacle and lashed forward at Shen, who promptly sliced it in half with his cane, the pieces flying off to the sides.
“Now I have you,” Skragen said, approaching Shen from behind with a downward swing, with Shen quickly maneuvering his cane behind him to block the attack. He spun around, thrusting his cane just beside Skragen’s head before quickly maneuvering it so the shaft was behind the Jester’s head. Skragen gave a sound of confusion before realization set in, Shen’s cane meant he couldn’t dodge backward, and Shen’s arm meant he couldn’t dodge to the side, so when Shen swung at him with Calamartia’s sword from the other side, there was nothing he could do. The sword slammed into Skragen’s shoulder, chipping the crystal there and making Skragen produce a sound of agony.
“You pest!” Skragen said as he tried to regain his composure, the crystal on his head glowing and tossing Shen several yards backwards. Shen didn’t seem to mind though, firing shots at Skragen as he was launched back before plunging his cane into the ground to stop it himself. By now Calamartia had recovered and was standing beside Skragen, both of them training their guns on Shen. They fired as Shen ran forward, spinning his cane to block their shots as the other Rangers watched on with awe.
Notes:
Honestly, I’m pretty happy with how I handled what Brando did here while also giving him a bit of backstory. Honestly it was kind of hinted that he had a tragic backstory in Kyuranger but it just never really went anywhere. But anyway, on to the main event, I absolutely loved writing the entire section from where Shen confronted Skragen and Calamartia to the end, writing him going full Papa Wolf to protect the Rangers was an absolute blast and it might honestly be one of my favorite exchanges of dialogue so far. As for his morphin’ call, Eltanin and Rastaban are two stars that are the “Dragon's Eyes” of the Draco constellation. All in all, this is one of my favorite chapters that I’ve written, but trust me when I say it, I’m sure chapter 10 will be even better. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 10: A Father’s Love
Chapter Text
Shen sliced at Skragen and Calamartia, making them fall to the ground. By now, Neil, Alura, and Brando had gotten to their feet, watching on with bewilderment. “He’s amazing!” Neil exclaimed excitedly.
“Well,” Alura panted, “we need to help.”
“No!” Shen exclaimed, blocking some swings from Skragen and Calamartia, who had recovered by now. “Take the others and get out of here! I’ll handle these two!”
Brando tried to protest, “But Commander-”
“That is an order Brando!” Shen roared, slicing at Skragen and Calamartia with his cane and Calamartia’s sword, the former very narrowly dodging the attacks while they connected with the latter, making her stagger back, “Get the others to the Orion, now!”
Brando hesitated before Neil spoke up, “Got it!” He looked at Alura and Brando, “Let’s go!” The three of them ran towards where Leiurus, Sirius, and Birdie were restrained, avoiding where Shen, Skrgen, and Calamartia were brawling. Quickly, the three of them began to undo the restraints of the other three, with Leiurus and Sirius beginning to regain consciousness.
Brando thought back to what Birdie said earlier as he freed her, “Wait, what did you mean by this being the first time he’s done it in a while?”
Birdie got to her feet as Brando freed her, “Now’s not the time to explain, we need to get out of here now.”
“What is going on?” Sirius asked deliriously as Neil freed him.
Leiurus got to his feet as Alura freed him, equally delirious as he looked at Shen, “Who’s that?”
“Shen,” Birdie replied.
“Shen is a Ranger?” Sirius said, eyes widening.
Leiurus watched as Shen fought, using a few moves to misdirect Skragen into dodging at the wrong time, “And a really strong one too from the looks of it!”
“He has a lot more stamina than I expected,” Calamartia panted as she staggered back.
Skragen staggered back as well, “We just need to last a bit longer, then he’ll be helpless.”
“Not if I finish you two off first!” Shen growled.
Brando gave a curious look, muttering under his breath, “Does he have some kind of time limit?”
Shen fired repeatedly at Skragen and Calamartia, making them stagger and fall to the ground. “It’s time that I finish this,” Shen growled, approaching them and swinging Calamartia’s sword around experimentally. Before he could finish them off a green energy arrow nailed him in the chest, sending him staggering back as the Rangers reacted with surprise.
“What was that?” Neil said with shock.
“Nice shot, sir,” Skragen said as he and his wife got to their feet.
“Thank you Skragen, I pride myself on my marksmanship,” Kaus said as he stepped into view.
“Kaus?” the other Rangers said with surprise at the sight of the Duke of the Sagittarius system.
“We thought we killed you!” Neil said, regaining his composure and pointing at the Duke.
Kaus gave a few swings of his Halberd as he took a step forward, “You very nearly did, but a good hunter always knows to make sure.” He took a swing at Shen, who quickly blocked it. Skragen and Calamartia charged forward now too, swinging their weapons at Shen, who dodged and blocked the attacks.
“Commander!” Brando yelled, beginning to run forward.
“Stay back!” Shen commanded, blocking Skragen and Calamartia’s swings and ducking under a swipe from Kaus, “Go! All of you!”
“We can’t leave you here, Commander!” Birdie exclaimed.
Shen turned to look at them, “I am not losing a single one of you! Go now!”
“We can’t try and fight back, we’re too weak! We need to fall back!” Neil commanded, inserting his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Zord!”
The Zord swooped down before flying off, taking all of the Rangers with it, everyone except Brando. “I’m sorry guys,” Brando mused, “but this is all my fault, I’m not gonna let the Commander sacrifice himself because of the mistake I made.” He ran forward.
Shen was able to block an attack from Skragen and Calamartia, but was unable to defend himself from a jab delivered by Kaus. Shen staggered back still managing to stay on his feet. Suddenly purple energy began to crackle around the Nova Sphere near the handle of his cane, making Shen glance at it as the energy began creeping up his arm, “No! Not now! I just need a little longer!”
Shen tried to take a step forward, but as he did so he unmorphed before collapsing face-first on the ground. Shen laid there, unmoving. Calamartia walked forward, removing her sword from his hand, “I’ll be taking that.” She held the blade close to her face, running her hand over it, “Oh poor Caribblade, did that mean old Ladonean hurt you?”
“Sometimes I th-ink you care about your weapons more than you care about me,” Skragen said, clenching the chipped crystal on his shoulder.
Calamartia snorted, “That’s a lie and you know it, there’s nothing I care about more than you, dear, but my weapons come very close.”
“Oh I know,” Skragen chuckled.
Kaus just shook his head, looking at Shen’s prone form, “Still alive?”
“Let me check,” Calamartia responded, poking Shen in the side with the tip of her blade, making the Ladonean stir a little, “Yep.”
Skragen took a step forward, readying his rifle, “Well I was planning on double-tapping him anyway.” After a few more steps he stood in front of Shen, the crystal on his head glowing as Shen was lifted into the air, being held a few feet above the ground by some invisible force. Shen opened his eyes as Skragen pointed his rifle at Shen’s head, “You know, I believe we’ve found ourselves in this position before.”
Shen began hyperventilating trying to break free, but it was no use.
He remembered the fluorescent lights illuminating him as he was lifted into the air. “He’s helpless now,” Skragen said, turning to look at Calamartia.
Calamartia laughed, “Then I suppose we can take our time then.”
“Of course dear,” Skragen chuckled.
Shen suddenly hit the ground as Brando tried to tackle Skragen, who stepped out of the way, turning his attention to him. “Brando?” Shen with surprise, “I told you to go!”
“You have a time limit, don’t you?” Brando said, looking at him and getting in a fighting stance, “I’m not going let you die because of my stupid mistake!”
Brando suddenly felt a long red tentacle wrap itself around his waist before he was suddenly pulled towards Calamartia, “That’s enough out of you, boy!” She quickly grabbed hold of him, restraining him.
Kaus promptly slammed the blunt side of his halberd into Brando’s head, making him go limp. “I do believe that it’s time we took our leave,” Skragen said as he stepped towards the other two.
“But we’ll be taking your precious Dorado Ranger with us,” Kaus replied.
Shen had gotten to his feet by now and began to run towards the Duke and Jesters, “Don’t you dare!” Calamartia spat a jet of ink into the air, and as it fell over her, Skragen, Kaus, and Brando, they disappeared. Shen came to a stop right where they once stood before falling to his knees. He slammed a fist into the ground, giving a roar of despair and rage.
“What happened out there?” Aster asked as the other Rangers entered the bridge, he, Tip, and Hydra having returned and standing next to Arthur.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, we got back literally just before you did, you guys look rough.”
“Tip is correct in their statement, we got back here about three minutes ago,” Hydra replied.
The other Rangers looked exhausted, but Neil was the first to speak up, “Well we just had a bunch of bombshells dropped on us.”
“Metaphorically and almost literally,” Birdie added.
“Turns out Kaus is alive,” Leiurus said.
“He is?” Tip said with surprise, “I thought that his ship breaking apart definitely would’ve dealt with him.”
“Well it looks like it didn’t,” Alura said, shaking her head, “Not to mention that Commander Long has some history with Skragen and Calamartia.”
“Who called him the First Hero of the Revolution,” Neil added.
Alura nodded, “Not to mention that Long isn’t apparently his original last name, it’s Arctos.”
Birdie froze up a bit before Sirius spoke up himself, “And Shen is a Ranger as well, and had strength that would no doubt impress the heroes of my people’s legends.”
“The Draco Ranger to be exact,” Neil clarified, waiting for a reaction from Tip, Aster, Hydra, and Arthur, but none came, “…You don’t really sound surprised at that.”
Arthur shrugged, “I was in the bridge the whole time, so I saw what was going on down there. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you guys were.”
“And Hydra found a blueprint of Shen’s Draco Morpher while we were in his office at the base,” Tip replied.
“Didn’t know he ever used it though,” Aster added.
Hydra seemed to think for a moment, “Wait a minute, I thought only the nine Nova Spheres that were in the legend allowed for morphing.”
“Birdie seemed to know what was going on,” Neil said before turning to look at the android, “Birdie, what was all of that? How was he able to morph? What was going on between him and those Jesters?”
Birdie gave an apologetic sigh as she shook her head, “I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Why’s that?” Arthur inquired.
“All of this is a very… sensitive subject for Commander Long, I shouldn’t be the one to tell you what he’s gone through,” Birdie elaborated, “Trust me, I would if I could, but it would be inconsiderate for me to tell you that.”
Neil nodded, “I understand, whatever it was is obviously affecting him a lot, we should hear it from him.”
“Yeah,” Aster responded, “I’d be unhappy if someone told people what’s happened to me without me knowing.” He glanced at Leiurus for a moment before looking away.
As if on cue Shen entered the bridge, looking downtrodden. He made his way to his seat, with Birdie putting a hand on his shoulder and walking with him. “Boss, what’s wrong?” Alura asked.
Shen gave a defeated sigh as he sat down, “They captured Brando.”
“What?” everyone said in unison, surprised.
“He tried to come and help me fight Skragen, Calamartia, and Kaus, but they captured him,” Shen slammed a fist down on the table.
“Oh my stars, I didn’t even realize he wasn’t on the Leo Zord!” Alura said with worry.
“I think me and Leiurus were too delirious to notice either,” Sirius added.
“Well what are we gonna do?” Neil said, panicking slightly.
“I… I…” Shen gave a sigh, “I don’t know.”
“Commander,” Leiurus said after a moment, his tone much softer than usual, “what was all of that?”
“Yeah, how were you able to morph?” Tip asked.
Neil noticed, “And what was going on between you and the unholy matrimony down there?”
Shen closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking over his Nova Sphere, “I suppose I owe you an explanation, all of you.”
“Yes, we would appreciate that,” Sirius said.
“The Supernova Morphers are a relatively recent invention, I made them shortly after Leiurus joined, seeing as he was already chosen by a legendary Nova Sphere,” Shen explained as he extended his cane forward, “I based much of them off of this, though the Supernova Morphers are much more perfected since the legendary Nova Spheres allow for an indefinite morph.”
“Yeah, I remember you working on the Morphers after I joined,” Leiurus stated.
Hydra raised an eyebrow, “Indefinite morph?”
Shen nodded, “As you know I was the head scientist of the Revolution. Nineteen years ago I just felt the need to be more involved in the fight against the Empire, so inspired by the legends I made the Draco Morpher. It’s capable of harnessing Nova Spheres for attacks, but I remembered the depictions of those chosen by the Nova Spheres as well, which is what inspired me to figure out a way to invent morphing in the first place.”
“But how were you able to do it?” Aster asked.
“The Draco Morpher was designed with a slightly different system in mind,” Shen said, looking the cane over, “I figured it would take an inconceivable amount of energy to morph, one that would only be capable of being provided by the legendary Nova Spheres.” He took a deep breath, “But I discovered a way to morph without them, by using other Nova Spheres. Unfortunately the process was far from perfect, so I could only stay morphed for a limited time, and once that happened I was exhausted afterwards.”
“So you were the first Ranger?” Alura inquired.
Shen nodded, “Yes, and while it wasn’t perfected, I was still strong. Before I invented it the Revolution had a hard time combating the Empire, but afterwards we were making significant progress, so much so that people called me the First Hero of the Revolution.”
“Wow, you must have worked really hard to figure that out,” Alura said.
Shen gave a barely noticeable laugh, “Thank you, Alura.”
“Well that explains that,” Neil said, “but what about Skragen and Calamartia?”
Shen closed his eyes, “Let me tell you a story,” he said, a hint of despair in his voice, “about how I became the leader of the Revolution, and the man who founded it and led it before me.”
The Rangers waited for a few moments for Shen to begin his tale, “It was because of me that the Dark Matter Empire started taking the Revolution seriously.” Shen took a breath before continuing, “They sent two of their Jesters to the first Revolution base on the planet Libertas in the Columba system, the base before our current one.” Shen sighed, “To this day I have no idea how the Empire found it, it was hidden in plain sight, and was hidden for several decades without being discovered.”
“The Jesters, I assume they were Skragen and Calamartia?” Neil inquired.
Shen nodded, “Yes, they were sent to assassinate the Revolution’s leadership. They killed many good men and women in the process and forced a full-scale evacuation.”
Shen took a deep breath, his voice shaking slightly as he continued, “I was there and I… I made a mistake, a horrible, horrible mistake.”
Aliens of all kinds ran to evacuate the base as sounds of gunfire filled the halls. “We need to do something!” Shen said, standing in front of a tall, cyan-furred, humanoid bear wearing an ornately decorated red coat with white fur lining it and a star on the back, this was the leader and founder of the Revolution, Theodore. Shen himself wore a black uniform, a purple bandanna around his neck.
“Out of the question, Shen!” Theodore said, looking down at the Ladonean, “Your transformation isn’t perfected yet, it’s too risky!”
Shen gave a small growl, “We can’t just let people die! People are getting away, but what about the ones in the line of fire?”
“Shen…” Theodore said, looking at Shen sternly.
Shen took a step back, hesitation on his face, which was quickly replaced by determination, “I’m sorry, but I need to help them.” Shen plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
Before Theodore could stop him he broke into a sprint, tapping his Morpher on the ground as he ran.
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
Shen turned a corner, a flash of purple light flashing for a moment as Theodore reached an arm forward, “Shen!”
Shen swung at the Jesters before he was slashed across the chest by Skragen before being kicked by Calartia, sending him staggering back. They were in one of the hallways of the base, a window running the length of the wall on the right side giving a view of the darkened city below. Suddenly purple energy began to crackle around his Nova Sphere, “Not now!”
He unmorphed, falling to his knees as Skragen and Calamartia approached. “I must say, you’re probably the best fight the two of us have gotten on our honeymoon so far,” Calamartia said, tossing her long, braid-like tentacle to the side.
Skragen chuckled, “I’m glad you enjoyed it, dear.” The crystal on his head began to glow as Shen was lifted into the air, restrained. “He’s helpless now,” Skragen said, pointing his rifle at him.
Calamartia laughed, “Then I suppose we can take our time then.”
“Of course dear,” Skragen chuckled.
Suddenly Theodore rushed forward, his arms extended out to the sides which caused Skragen and Calamartia to stagger back and fall to the ground. “Don’t you dare touch him!” Theodore growled.
Shen tried to speak up, but the words died in his throat, despite this Theodore seemed to know exactly what he ws going to say. “Yes Shen, it’s me,” Theodore said, his voice softer as he craned his neck to look at Shen, “Get out of here!”
Skragen and Calamartia took the opportunity to shoot Theodore square in the chest as the two of them got to their feet. “No!” Shen cried out.
Theodore staggered back, the wound clearly severe. Despite this he grabbed Skragen and Calamartia, putting them in headlocks before turning to face Shen. “Shen, you’re the leader now,” Theodore struggled to say, “Find the Nova Spheres and their chosen, protect them, and free the galaxy!”
Shen reached an arm forward as Theodore gave a sad look, “I’m sorry.” Theodore charged towards the window, still holding onto Skragen and Calamartia as he self defenstrated while holding the two Jesters, plummeting to the ground hundreds of feet below.
“No!” Shen said, running towards the window and falling to his knees as he looked down, “No…”
It was quiet for a moment, with Shen’s in particular being absolutely deafening. “So Theodore… he died protecting you?” Neil said tinily.
Shen gave a small nod, a melancholy look on his face as Birdie patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Yes, he died saving me that night.” He seemed to be getting choked up, “If… if I had just followed his orders, if… if I hadn’t disobeyed, he would still be alive.”
“Boss…” Neil said softly, “I’m… I’m so sorry.”
Shen gave a small shake of his head, “It’s not your fault, Neil, you weren’t there.” Shen gave a sigh, “It’s no one’s fault but mine.”
“You must’ve really cared about him,” Arthur said quietly.
Shen gave a small smile, but it did little to hide the pain in his eyes, “Yeah, I did, I didn’t just care for him, I…” Shen took a deep breath, “There’s no reason why I wouldn’t care for him.”
The Rangers nodded, all looking solemn. “But what about what Skragen called you, Shen Arctos?” Alura asked.
Shen gave a sigh, a sad look in his eyes, “There’s a good reason for that.”
“Well, what is it?” Aster asked.
Shen closed his eyes, “It’s because Theodore Arctos was my father.”
Forty years ago Theodore Arctos walked through the remains of a town on the planet Ladon in the Draco system, shaking his head, “It always pains me to see things like this.” He gave a sigh, “I just hope there are survivors.” He spoke into his comm, “Have you found anyone yet?”
“Not yet, Commander,” a woman’s voice said from the other side.
Theodore shook his head, “Keep searching, there have to be survivors.” He looked at one of the town’s many stone buildings seemingly carved out of solid rock just like the rest, though unlike many other buildings in the town it was still mostly intact.
He moved towards it, “If there’s anywhere that survivors would be, it’s there.” He stepped inside, looking around. It was devoid of life, not a single sign of movement present. Theodore gave a sad look and prepared to leave, but before he could leave he noticed a small nest with a single black egg inside it, small enough to fit in both of Theodore’s hands
Slowly, Theodore made his way towards the egg, looking at it with a small smile, “At least you’re okay, let’s get you somewhere safe.” He picked up the egg gently, looking it over. Suddenly, a crack formed in the egg, almost making Theodore drop it. Regaining his composure, he gave a small laugh, “You certainly chose a convenient time to hatch, little one.”
The top of the shell broke, and from it emerged a small purple reptile, its underbelly magenta. It looked around for a moment before looking up at Theodore, its eyes were wide with red irises. It tilted its head to the side, giving a small affectionate chirp as it finished looking him over. Theodore felt his heart melt upon seeing the hatchling, its wide eyes filling his heart with joy. After a moment it nuzzled into his cyan fur, giving a soft coo. Slowly, he helped the hatchling out of its shell, cradling it in his arms as it nuzzled into his chest. He couldn’t just leave it here, alone and afraid. He held it close, smiling as he exited the building with a chuckle, “I love you.”
“He… he wasn’t my father by blood, but he was in every other way,” Shen said, trying to hold back tears.
“Oh Boss…” Neil said softly.
“We… we weren’t even the same species, but you know what? He… He still saw me as his son,” Shen said quietly.
“Why are we out here, dad?” a ten-year-old Shen asked as he and his father walked through the dark forests of Theodore’s homeworld, Maritimus.
Theodore chuckled as they came to a clearing, looking up in the sky, “Look up, Shen.”
“Woah,” Shen’s eyes widened, looking up at the night sky.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Theodore asked with a smile.
Shen nodded, “It is!”
Theodore gave a small chuckle, pointing up at a cluster of stars, “You see those stars there? That’s the Draco system, where I found you.” Theodore smiled, “Some say it’s what’s left of the dragon that created the universe.”
“Really?” Shen asked, “That’s so cool!”
Theodore nodded, “Well that’s what some people believe anyway.”
“You always say that when you tell me about a constellation!” Shen chuckled.
Theodore smiled, “Well it is just what some people think.”
Shen shook his head, “I love it when you tell me about the stars, dad.”
Theodore laughed, “I love it too.”
“So that’s who you were talking about when you told us about your dad,” Aster realized.
Shen nodded, “Yes, and as I grew older I began to hold onto the same beliefs that he did, to free the galaxy from the Empire’s grasp. I worked up the ranks by making plenty of inventions, eventually becoming the head scientist out of pure experience.” Shen chuckled, “I still remembered when I showed him my Morpher for the first time.”
“Hey dad, you know how we’ve found a few Nova Spheres, right?” a twenty-year-old Shen said, entering his father’s office.
Theodore took off his reading glasses, looking at his son, “Yes, what about it?”
“Well,” Shen said, producing his Draco Morpher, “I’ve been working on a little something, and I think I’m ready to show it to you.”
Theodore stood up, “Alright, let me see it.”
Shen opened the mouth of his Morpher, inserting the Draco Nova Sphere into it.
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
He tapped his cane on the ground.
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
Shen was promptly engulfed in purple light, and when it faded he was in his Ranger form. Theodore’s eyes widened, “Incredible…” he mused, “You look just like the legend’s depictions of the Nova Sphere’s wielders.”
Shen chuckled a bit, “Yeah, I had them in mind when I made this. It makes me a lot stronger, faster, and more resilient, and I’m going to use it to help you and the Revolution.”
Theodore smiled, “Amazing, and you did this all by yourself?”
“Yeah,” Shen replied, “it took me a while, but this is all mine.” Suddenly energy crackled around the Nova Sphere and Shen demorphed, falling to his knees.
Theodore rushed forward towards his son, “Shen! Are you alright?”
Shen let his father help him to his feet, “Yeah, it’s a bit of a flaw at the moment, it doesn’t last long. If I tweak it just a bit it should last longer, but not indefinitely.”
Theodore put a hand on his shoulder, “Well I’m so proud of you regardless. Shen, you’re probably the smartest person I know, and I’m so lucky to be your father.”
“Aw, thanks dad,” Shen chuckled.
By now Shen was sobbing, “I just… I miss him. I miss the one person who was... always there for me, no questions asked.” He took a deep breath, wiping tears from his eyes, “...I just miss my dad.”
“Boss,” Aster said softly, putting a hand on Shen’s claw, “I know how you feel, I miss Professor Ain so much.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said, “me and Neil miss our mom too, we understand.”
Shen took a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes, “Do you see why I hate Skragen and Calamartia so much now? He was the best father I could ever ask for, he could teach me everything I ever wanted to know about. He was always kind, always gentle, and my father in every way that mattered.”
“It’s okay, Commander Long,” Birdie said, still patting his shoulder reassuringly.
Shen took a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes, “All of you head back to your quarters, I need time alone to figure out a way to rescue Brando, the tracker on his Morpher is still active, so it should be easy to find him.”
There wasn’t a sound of protest at all as the Rangers left the room, obviously understanding that Shen needed some time to himself after everything he had told them, and all the wounds it had opened up. “I feel so bad for him,” Arthur said, “underneath all the goofiness and puns I wasn’t expecting him to carry around all of that.”
Neil put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “Me too, but he’s strong, and well, I’m proud he doesn’t let the past define who he is now, even if it still hurts him like that.” Neil sighed, “I just hope he’ll be okay.”
Arthur nodded, “Me too.”
“So,” Skragen asked, “what do we do now?” He, Kaus, Calamartia, and Brando were in an abandoned office building, with Brando restrained between two support pillars.
Calamartia shrugged, “Maybe we could interrogate him or something? I’m sure I could get him to speak with a bit of… convincing.”
Brando snorted, “Dream on, you Octopuss-”
Skragen backhanded him, “Don’t talk to my wife like that!”
Kaus just facepalmed as Brando recoiled in pain, “I don’t think that’s too bad of an idea.”
“Alright,” Calamartia said, walking up behind Brando, “Now where’s my Blue-Ringed Whip?”
“Actually let’s not do this,” Kaus hastily said.
Calamartia shrugged, “Suit yourself.”
“Alright, what do you want from me?” Brando asked.
“To be bait of course,” Skragen replied, “Your friends aren’t just going to leave you at our mercy, they’ll come, and if we’re lucky, that Commander of yours will come too.”
“What is up with you two and him?” Brando said, gritting his teeth.
Calamartia sighed, “Oh he’s just upset because we killed his dad, major overreaction if you ask me.”
“You killed his dad?” Brando said with surprise.
Skragen shook his head, “Old fool killed himself and would’ve killed us if it weren’t for how soft our bodies are, it was quite the nasty fall.”
“I will commend him for his sacrifice, I would do something very similar for his magnificence if it came down to it,” Kaus added.
“You're all monsters,” Brando said, “the others will make you regret all of this.”
“For taking advantage of your mistake? Don’t make us laugh,” Kaus said. “The moment they come here is the moment your life ends.”
“I’m just worried,” Arthur said from where he sat at the desk in Neil’s room, “I feel like Mr. Long’s going to do something risky.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, me too.”
“I mean, didn’t he say that his dad told him to protect you guys? He’s definitely going to try and rescue Brando by himself, I just know it,” Arthur said.
“What are you two talking about?” Leiurus said, entering the room. Since his and Neil’s quarters were right next to each other, he probably heard the conversation.
“We’re worried about Mr. Long,” Neil said, explaining the conversation.
Leiurus nodded, “I see what you mean, the Commander was… he was one of the first people aside from my brother to actually really care about me. He… made me feel appreciated.”
“Yeah, he’s always looking out for me, finding me things I can be engaged in,” Arthur said.
“And he was super supportive during our meeting a few days ago,” Neil added. He thought for a moment, “Let’s go to the bridge, we need to go check on him.”
“Yes, let’s,” Arthur agreed.
The three of them promptly exited Neil’s quarters, heading for the bridge. “Commander?” Leiurus asked as they entered, but the Ladonean was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh no,” Neil said quietly.
Arthur sighed, “I hate being right.”
Neil rushed toward the intercoms, turning it on and making an announcement, “Everyone get to the bridge now!”
About a minute later the other seven Rangers entered the bridge, confusion on their faces. “What is it Neil?” Alura asked curiously.
“Shen is gone,” Neil replied, looking around the room.
“He’s gone?” Tip said with surprise.
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Hydra asked.
“I mean he’s not here,” Neil replied.
Birdie thought for a moment, “Oh no, he’s probably gone to rescue Brando!”
“Neil, can you get in contact with him?” Aster asked.
Neil shrugged, “I can try.” Neil lifted up his Morpher, speaking into it, “Boss, what are you doing?”
On the ground Shen breathed in the cool night air as he lifted his cane up, speaking into it, “I’m going to rescue Brando. Stay on the ship, all of you.”
Neil began to protest, “But Boss-”
“My decision is final,” Shen commanded, “I was told to protect you, all of you, and I’m going to do just that. I’m not losing a single Ranger to Skragen and Calamartia.”
“Boss? Boss?” Neil asked, “Dang it, he hung up on me!”
“What are we gonna do?” Tip asked.
“I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do,” Arthur said suddenly, conviction in his voice, “You’re gonna go down there and save da-Mr. Long. He’s one of us too, and we can’t just let him risk his life like this!”
Neil paid no mind to the minor slip up that Arthur almost performed, simply nodding his head, “Arthur’s right, the Boss is part of the team just as much as everyone else is. He’s always there for us and wants to protect us, so it’s only fair that we’re there for him too.”
Sirius nodded, “A clan member never gets abandoned.”
Leiurus nodded, “Exactly what I was going to say.”
“Right,” Alura said, looking at the others, “Let’s go down there, and rescue Brando and the Boss!”
“I’m ready,” Hydra said.
Aster nodded, “Let’s show them why you never mess with our team!”
“Here’s the location of Brando’s Morpher,” Birdie said, pulling up a holographic map above the table, “Commander Long is likely nearby.”
“Then let’s go,” Neil said, “we’ve got teammates to save.”
Shen entered the darkened building, a squadron of Greyders charging at him. He readied his Morpher, blocking several attacks from their blades before retaliating with several slices and stabs, dealing with them with cold efficiency.
“Brando!” he yelled, entering the room where the Ranger was restrained, slicing off his restraints.
“Boss?” Brando said, getting to his feet.
“Are you alright?” Shen questioned.
Brando gave a small shrug, “Could be worse.” He took a breath, “I’m sorry, for all of this.”
“You can apologize later,” Shen replied, “right now we need to leave!”
The two of them ran out of the building, only to immediately be confronted outside by Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia, the trio flanked by two modified Faltborgs, presumably the Marquises of the last two destroyed Consumoai. “Greetings, Commander Long,” Kaus said. He glanced at Skragen and Calamartia, “You two, deal with them.”
“Of course,” Skragen said, pointing his rifle forward.
Calamartia laughed as she pointed her weapon forward as well, “With pleasure!”
The two of them fired, with Shen tossing Brando to the side, “Get down!” Shen narrowly avoided the shots, but the ensuing explosions still knocked him to the ground.
“Finish them,” Kaus commanded.
Calamartia ran towards Brando with her gun, kicking him in the chest and preventing him from getting to his feet. Meanwhile the crystal on Skragen’s head glowed as Shen was lifted into the air, with the Jester walking towards him with his rifle as Shen hyperventilated. “Send my regards to your father in the next life, Shen Arctos,” Skragen chuckled.
Before Skragen and Calamartia could finish the two of them off they were suddenly bombarded by a barrage of colorful projectiles, making the Jesters stagger back and fall to the ground.
“Back off!” Neil said as he and the other Rangers ran onto the scene, Alura and Birdie helped Brando to his feet as Neil and Leiurus helped Shen.
“You all, I told you to stay on the Orion!” Shen said once he was back on his feet.
“And let you risk your life? No way!” Neil said, putting his hands on Shen’s shoulders.
“I’m supposed to protect you!” Shen growled.
Neil looked at him, “Your father gave his life to protect you, I didn’t know him, but I know he loved you more than anything. He wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself like this!”
Shen froze up, trying to say something before Neil spoke again, “You’re just as important as the rest of us. You’re part of our team too, and as a team no one gets left behind!”
“No one gets left behind!” Leiurus repeated.
“No one gets left behind!” Sirius said, stepping forward.
“No one gets left behind!” Tip nodded.
“No one gets left behind!” Aster pumped his fist.
“No one gets left behind,” Hydra said.
“No one gets left behind!” Alura commanded.
“No one gets left behind!” Biride said, taking a step forward.
“No one gets left behind!” Brando said as he finished recovering.
“All of you…” Shen said quietly.
“Boss, we’re with you, and we’ll help you take these guys down!” Neil exclaimed. Suddenly Neil’s eyes flashed white as energy began to gather around his and the other Rangers’ Nova Spheres. Motes of energy flew out of them, flying towards the Draco Nova Sphere and being absorbed into it. As they did so, the grey on the Draco Nova Sphere turned a deep purple. “What the?” Neil said with surprise.
“What was all of that?” Sirius asked, equally surprised. The other Rangers seemed confused by what happened as well, even Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia seemed surprised.
“What did you do?” Calamartia said, taking a step forward.
“It did something to my Nova Sphere,” Shen said, “It feels… more powerful somehow.”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room the Emperor and the Knights of Andromeda looked on curiously. “Is that what I think it is?” Alderamin asked.
“I can’t be,” Schedar replied, “no one should be able to do that! Chat, are you seein’ this?”
Mirfak looked on curiously, “Fascinating, I’d very much like to learn more about this, it shouldn’t be possible, not now.”
Karna Rog suddenly laughed, an actual, genuine laugh, “I can’t believe it! This changes everything!”
Karna Rog promptly shook his head, looking off to the side opposite to Ankaa for a moment before speaking with his usual monotone, “Interesting, perhaps there’s more to this Leo Ranger than I thought.”
“A little more power changes nothing, Shen Arctos,” Skragen said, “you shall die all the same.”
“Not if we have anything to say about it!” Neil exclaimed, “Ready guys?”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
Shen plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Shen tapped his cane on the ground before lifting it up.
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
They were all engulfed in colorful light that illuminated the night, which promptly faded to reveal them in their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!” Shen exclaimed. His outfit was different now, with the white boots now purple, his gloves shorter, his belt now gold, and his torso now more predominantly white. A purple trench coat with gold edges and a white inside now seemed to be part of his uniform, extending down from the black sections on his torso. The strange cloudiness on the sphere on his chest was gone, now proudly displaying the symbol of his Nova Sphere.
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
“Woah, you look different, Boss!” Neil said, turning to look at him.
Shen nodded, “It a-spheres that I do.” Shen thought for a moment, “I feel… stronger, what did you do?”
Neil shook his head, “We can figure it out later, right now let’s deal with these guys!”
“Right,” Shen nodded, he looked at Calamartia and Skragen, “I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done, both of you.”
“Oh no,” Calamartia shook her head with mock terror, “what are you gonna do, cry to daddy?” She laughed, “Oh wait…”
Shen gave a rage-filled growl, “Leave those two to me, I know their tricks.”
Alura nodded, “Got it!”
The Rangers charged forward, with Kaus and the Flatborgs doing the same. Suddenly Shen rushed forward with unnatural speed, moving past the Duke and Flatborgs to appear right in front of Calamartia and Skragen, slicing at them. Skragen and Calamartia blocked the attack with their blade and mace, with Calamartia pointing her gun at Shen, who grabbed the gun with his free hand and pointed it away. “You think a costume switch is gonna change anything? You’re still the time-reliant lizard you were before!” Calamartia shouted.
“We’ll see about that!” Shen said, maneuvering to the side, forcing Calamartia’s gun up and making her stagger back as he thrusted at Skragen with his cane.
The fight between the other Rangers against Kaus and the Flatborgs spilled into a nearby building, with Sirius, Tip, Aster, Hydra, Birdie, and Brando fighting the Flatborgs as Neil, Leiurus, and Alura fought Kaus. Sirius clung high on a nearby wall, firing at the Marquises as Birdie delivered a kick to another, making it stagger back into a shot from Tip. Hydra used his scythe to pin the tonfa of the other to the ground, allowing Aster and Brando to slice at it.
“I was caught by surprise before, but I won’t be now!” Kaus stabbed forward twice with his halberd, which Leiurus and Alura managed to dodge as Neil ran forward with his sword. Kaus leapt back with a spin, delivering a slice as he did so.
Neil rolled back to avoid it, readying his sword, “Sure!” The three of them sliced at Kaus, who blocked it with his halberd. The antler-like patterns on Kaus’s head began to glow, electricity arcing from them to the Rangers, making them stagger back. Kaus thrusted his halberd upward, making a series of arrow-shaped energy spikes appear on the ground under the Rangers, who quickly rolled out of the way.
Inside the parking garage Shen fought on, blocking a slice from Skragen with his cane, forcing the blade back and spinning himself and the cane as Skragen recovered. Skragen and Calamartia swung at his legs with their blades and mace, but he slammed his cane into the ground to block them. He forced the two of them back, swinging his cane and making them fall to the ground. “Still think it’s just a new costume?” Shen asked.
“I must say, you’re stronger at least,” Skragen said as he got to his feet. He pointed his rifle forward at Shen, firing it as Calamartia fired at Shen from where she was on the ground. With unnatural speed Shen dodged the shots, a massive fireball erupting from where they hit.
“It doesn’t matter! We just have to last a bit longer!” Calamartia said as she got to her feet, her and her husband firing at Shen again. Shen shifted his cane into its rifle mode, spinning to avoid the shots. The Jesters fired again but Shen fired as well, blasting the projectiles out of the air and nailing Skragen and Calamartia in the chests. He fired a few more times, steam and sparks shooting off of them.
“Wow,” Arthur said with wide eyes as he watched the screen displaying what was happening, “he’s really teaching them a thing or two, and he’s not even part of the legend!” Arthur seemed to think for a moment, “Maybe we can defeat the Empire, maybe Neil is right.” He thought for a moment, “Maybe I could… Nah, that’s ridiculous.”
“All Star Shot!” Outside the Rangers fired at the Marquises from all around, a massive star symbol burning into the ground as a pillar of light erupted from it, explosions erupting inside of it. As the pillar disappeared the Marquises fell to the ground, motionless.
“Time to take down Kaus for real!” Alura exclaimed as the Rangers rushed at the Duke. Kaus spun his halberd in front of him, neutralizing the shots fired at him from Tip and Birdie. Kaus blocked and spun away from the slices and stabs from the others, retaliating with a few slices.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
Alura lashed her rapier at Kaus, wrapping it around him and pinning his arms to his sides, with Leiurus doing the same with his tail. Electricity crackled around Kaus before it traveled down the tail and rapier, making Leiurus and Alura stagger back. Kaus spun his halberd so it was upside down, slamming it into the ground. Dozens of energy arrows appeared above the Rangers and began to fall one by one, the Rangers dodging out of their way. The bow-like growth on Kaus’s mouth glowed before firing a barrage of small electric arrows forward, hitting a few Rangers who were unable to dodge them and the energy arrows at the same time.
“Jelly brain!” Calamartia yelled, charging at Shen with her mace and sword. Shen shifted his rifle back into a cane, blocking her attacks before swiping at her leg with it, making her jump back before charging at him again. Shen sidestepped it, grabbing her arm and bringing his cane down over them and plunging it into the ground, restraining her. Skragen walked up from behind a pillar, rifle aimed at Shen. Shen noticed him and quickly shifted position, getting behind Calamartia and lifting his cane in front of her neck, grabbing the handle and tip. He spun her in front of him just as Skragen fired, hitting her instead.
“Honey!” Skragen said with shock, “You’ll pay for that!” Shen tossed Calamartia to the side, firing several shots of energy at Skragen and making him stagger back. Calamartia charged at Shen, but he jabbed her in the chest, making her roll and fall into the ground.
“What’s going on? You should have demorphed by now!” Calamartia said with rage. Shen just laughed, making Calamartia’s eyes widened with terror, “Unless… don’t tell me-”
Shen gave a spin, “Yup, it’s gone.” Shen pointed his cane forward, “I suppose I can take my time then.”
Calamartia growled before speaking, but there was still a tinge of fear in her voice “Don’t mess with me, jelly brain!” Her eyes glowed before a barrage of yellow orbs were launched from her body at Shen. Shen spun his cane in front of him as her ran forward, neutralizing the projectiles before jabbing her in the chest, sending her tumbling out of the building.
Shen stepped outside, his cane ready. He shifted it into its rifle mode, aiming it at Calamartia’s prone form. He pointed at her, “You’ll pay for what you did to my dad.” He opened the dragon’s mouth before clamping it back down, the black part of its head glowing red. He readied himself as Calamartia got to her feet.
“Eltanin Strike!” he fired at Calamartia, purple energy coursing towards the tip of his cane. Once it reached the tip, a dragon made of purple energy flew out of it towards her. It collided with her before continuing to fly through her, making her body spark as it exited.
“I can’t believe this jelly brain beat me!” Calamartia yelled before going up in flames. All that was left of Calamartia was a single singed tentacle on the ground.
Shen stepped forward, aiming at the tentacle, “Time to finish this off.”
“What?” Skragen said with surprise as he came into view, “Calamartia!”
Shen turned his attention away from the tentacle to look at Skragen, “You’re next.”
The crystal on Skragen’s head glowed as he ran forward, tossing Shen back. Shen fired at him, but the Cryskullian dodged the shots, picking up the tentacle as Kaus strolled into view.
Shen slammed his cane into the ground as the other Rangers ran up behind him, ready to finish off Skragen and Kaus.
Karna Rog looked at the fight unfolding, lifting a hand, “I suppose if you add a new member, it’s only fair that I even the odds.” The Emperor snapped his fingers.
Due to it being night, the Rangers didn’t notice the dark clouds forming. “Time to finish off both of you!” Neil exclaimed, pointing his sword at them.
Skragen shook his head, “I’m afraid we’ve had quite enough action for today.”
“Though I suppose they can keep you occupied,” Kaus pointed his halberd at the two giant modified Flatborgs in the distance. The Flatborgs fired their tonfa at the Rangers, making the Rangers dodge out of the way and covering Kaus and Skragen’s escape.
“Until we meet again,” Skragen said as he and Kaus escaped.
“Stop!” Shen said as he tried to run forward, only for the Flatborgs’ shots to cut him off. He looked at his cane and then at the Flatborgs, “I wonder…” He clamped the dragon head on his cane down, “Draco Zord!” Shen was engulfed in a purple Nova Sphere cockpit, which flew off into the distance.
“The Commander has a Zord?” Leiurus said with surprise.
“It appears so,” Sirius said with surprise.
A long, purple, mechanical eastern dragon wearing some kind of golden helmet with antlers flew into view in front of the moon. Shen’s cockpit flew towards it before being clenched by the Draco Zord’s forelimbs.
“Let’s test this out!” Shen exclaimed, flying towards the Flatborgs. The Marquises fired at it, but were unable to hit the Draco Zord, which appeared to be swimming through the air. “Take this!” Shen said, shooting a blast of fire from the Draco Zord’s mouth, creating a series of explosions that made the Marquises stagger back. Shen laughed as he flew between the Flatborgs, the Draco Zord scratching up their sides with showers of sparks, “Oh I’m on a roll now!” The cockpit detached as the Draco Zord continued to fly, circling back around and wrapping itself around one of the Flatborgs, squeezing it. It tightened its hold until the Flatborg erupted in a massive explosion. After that the cockpit attached back, “Oh this thing is really on the ball!”
“Hey Boss!” Neil exclaimed as the Supernova Megazord stepped into view. The Dorado Zord formed its right arm, the Aquila Zord formed its left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord formed its right leg, and the Scorpius Zord formed its left leg.
“Couldn’t let you have all the fun!” Brando said.
“Let’s take this thing down together!” Birdie said excitedly.
Leiurus nodded, “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too,” Alura replied.
“Well then,” Shen said as the Draco Zord coiled up behind the Megazord, “let’s do it!”
“Supernova Megazord Draco Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Supernova Megazord began to glow, transferring to the blade of the Dorado Zord as it pointed it and the Aquila Zord forward. The Draco Zord’s cockpit also began to glow a magnificent white, like a second moon. The Supernova Megazord fired a winged, arrow-like beam at the Fltaborg as the Draco Zord charged forward as well, engulfed in crackling purple energy. Both of them pierced through the Flatborg, making it stagger back before exploding.
“Well then, the stars of hope still shine!” Shen said after a moment, flying back towards the Megazord.
“A new Ranger and a new Zord? Unacceptable!” Alderamin growled.
Schedar shook her head, “I’m still havin’ a hard time believin’ it too!”
Mirfak pinched the space that separated the organic and mechanical halves of his head with his organic arm, roughly where his nose would be, “This is going to be problematic.”
“The Rangers’ defeat might have been a failure,” Karna Rog rasped out, “but we have gained invaluable knowledge because of it.” He looked at Ankaa, “We’ve seen this song and dance before, I just didn’t expect to see it again.” He looked back to the Knights of Andromeda, “This Leo Ranger, this Neil Astra, he intrigues me. After all, it’s been three hundred years since we’ve seen someone do that.”
“So what’s this mean for the legend?” Alura questioned once they were back on the Orion.
“I’m… not quite sure,” Shen said looking over the Draco Nova Sphere and the blue one depicting a bear.
Neil thought for a moment, “I guess we just roll with it. I mean, we’ve established that it might not be entirely accurate, but we do know they can do something to Karna Rog.” He looked at Shen, “If anything, a tenth member will help us even more.”
Shen nodded, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Boss, listen,” Brando said after a moment, “I’m sorry for getting us into this mess.”
Shen shook his head, putting a hand on Brando’s shoulder, “It’s fine, Brando, I don’t fault you trying to do the right thing. Just be more careful next time.”
Brando nodded, “Alright, I will, I promise.”
“Quick question,” Tip asked, “why were you going after Calamartia’s tentacle?”
Shen sighed, “Because she’s a Vivifican, they have extremely powerful regenerative abilities, even if their body is destroyed they can come back if even a small piece remains untouched.” Shen shook his head, “It means this won’t be the last time we see her.”
“Well we’ll be ready for her next time,” Hydra said.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, we know how she works now, that just makes it easier!”
“It certainly does,” Leiurus added
“So,” Sirius said after a moment, “what happened with Neil?”
“Yeah,” Arthur said, “What did you do to the Draco Nova Sphere?”
“I…” Neil thought for a moment, “I dunno. It's just… it’s hard to describe, I don’t understand it either.”
Shen put a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “Don’t worry Neil, we’ll help you figure out what’s going on, I promised you and your brother that.”
Neil looked at Shen, smiling, “Thanks, I appreciate it, really.”
Shen chuckled, “It’s no problem.”
“So, should we call you Shen Arctos now?” Hydra asked.
Shen shook his head, “No.” He looked at them, “I’ve been Shen Long for a long time, and while initially I made it to separate myself from the guilt of losing my father… it’s who I am now. He always wanted me to not feel the need to live up to him, so Shen Long… I feel like it fits. I’m still Shen Arctos, but I’m also Shen Long, your pun-loving, supportive Commander who’d never let any harm come to any of you.”
Neil smiled, “Got it, thanks, Commander Long.”
"It's no problem, Neil," Shen chuckled. Slowly, he made his way to the bridge’s window, looking out towards Ursa Major before speaking quietly, “I hope I'm making you proud, dad.”
Notes:
Well, here it is, one of the chapters I’ve been most excited to write since I decided to write this. I’m beyond happy with how Shen’s backstory came out, and his fight with Skragen and Calamartia was all the more satisfying because of it. I know Shen’s backstory took up a good portion of the chapter, but unfortunately that’s a sacrifice that needed to be made. As for why I decided to change Theodore and Shen’s relationship here, well, I mostly did it because Shen’s rivalry with Skragen and Calamartia lasts a lot longer here, and I needed something to justify that, besides, Draco and Ursa Major are part of the same family of constellations. As for Theodore’s name, well, a shortened version of Theodore can be “Teddy.” While I said Koguma Sky Blue would be introduced later, I ultimately changed my mind, as given my plans for that episode, I can tie up Shen’s arc with it, at least for now, as Shen’s line about not knowing how the Empire found the base is not just a throwaway line and will be explored in “season 2” (chapters 23-44). I really hope you enjoy this chapter, because I had a blast writing it for sure. Comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 11: Papa Bear
Chapter Text
“Whatcha doing?” Neil asked, looking over Alura’s shoulder from where she sat on the bridge, looking at a datapad.
Alura shrugged, “Just looking at the news, always important to stay up to date with the Empire.”
“That’s a good idea,” Neil replied, nodding.
Alura looked at the datapad with wide eyes before speaking with an exasperated voice, “Oh my stars.”
“What is it?” Neil looked at the datapad, seeing the thumbnail of a video titled, “TENTH RANGER? SHOCKING DEVELOPMENTS ON EARTH!” The thumbnail displayed a picture of Shen as the Draco Ranger, with Schedar’s head edited next to it with her hands on her cheeks as she gave an expression of surprise. It looked like every clickbait thumbnail Neil had ever seen, “Who is that?”
Alura sighed, “That’s Schedar, the Witch of Cassiopeia and the last of the Knights of Andromeda.”
“The Knights of Andromeda have social media?” Neil asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alura shrugged, “Well she does anyway, makes a bunch of reaction videos and stuff, I think it has something to do with the fact that she’s the Minister of Propaganda, she’s pretty good at making people support the Empire.”
“There is some good news though,” Shen said, organizing the ability Nova Spheres on the table, hesitating a moment before taking the blue one depicting a bear out of his pocket and placing it among them, “Apparently there’s all kinds of broadcasts about us Rangers on Earth, we’re getting pretty popular!”
“We’re borderline celebrities!” Tip added.
“Indeed, we are becoming quite well-known,” Sirius said.
Hydra looked at Shen, “What’s today’s course of action?”
Shen counted off the Nova Spheres on the table before looking at Hydra, “Nothing at all! With that Consumoai that Neil, Sirius, Tip, Aster, and Birdie took down yesterday, a good portion of Earth has been liberated! We can just stay sphere today if you all want.”
“Eh, I’m itching to see some things, bet there’s plenty of interesting stuff down in that Point Pleasant place,” Aster said, lifting a dumbbell.
“I was meaning to go down with Birdie, Tip, Hydra, and Sirius too, pick up some ingredients,” Brando added.
“Might just go with you then,” Aster said, seeming to itch himself.
Shen nodded, “Sounds good, does anyone else have any plans?”
“Well…” Arthur said quietly, “I think I’d like to learn how to use a Supernova Morpher.” Everyone in the room looked at him with surprise. “Not to morph of course,” Arthur elaborated after a second, adjusting his glassses, “just to, y’know, protect myself if push comes to shove.”
“Arthur,” Alura said, “a Supernova Morpher isn’t a toy.”
Leiurus looked at him as well, “She’s right, it’s a weapon. Why would you even need to protect yourself anyway?”
“You seem to have forgotten about how you and Kaus kidnapped me awful quick,” Arthur deadpanned.
“Oh right,” Leiurus said sheepishly, “that.” Aster gave a snort in response.
Arthur shook his head, “The point is, I wanna stand up for myself a little, y’know?”
“I think it is a good idea,” Sirius said after a moment, “the cubs of my clan were taught how to defend themselves from a young age, I cannot say how many lives that saved.”
Shen nodded, “Arthur is remarkably mature and intelligent for his age, yes. I trust that he can handle it responsibly. Besides, I have plenty of spares.” He turned to look at Neil, “Of course, as his brother this is your call.”
Neil thought for a moment, “Well, I think it could be useful for him to know how to operate at the very least. Maybe not let him have one right away, but still show him how to properly use it.”
“That sounds acceptable,” Leiurus nodded.
“We’ll probably have to do it on Earth though, don’t want to risk blowing a hole in the Orion,” Alura responded.
Neil nodded, “Hey, since you’re probably the best fighter out of us, how about you teach him?”
“Really?” Alura said, surprised, “Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind it.”
“I suppose I’ll come along too, just to make sure nothing happens,” Leiurus said.
Shen nodded, “I will as well, maybe we could even test a few Nova Spheres down there too.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Birdie said.
Arthur gave a nod, “I’ll grab a few.” He grabbed a few handfuls of the Nova Spheres on the table, putting them into his pockets.
“While you guys do that, me and the others will get some stuff for dinner tonight,” Brando said.
Neil nodded, “All right then, see you guys later then.”
“Nice shot, Arthur!” Alura congratulated as Arthur hit another target. Arthur and the four Rangers were in a scrapyard in Point Pleasant as the sun began to set, with the twelve-year-old just having learned how to properly use a Supernova Morpher’s functions. Currently Arthur was practicing aiming and shooting, and Alura had to admit he was a rather crack shot.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, you’re doing great!”
“You’re un-ball-ievable!” Shen said with pride.
Arthur gave a small chuckle, “Thanks, Mr. Long.”
“I have to say,” Leiurus said, “you’re pretty good at this.”
Neil laughed, “That’s Arthur for you! The Empire’s lucky he isn’t a Ranger, because if he was then he would seriously mess them up!”
“Yeah,” Arthur gave an awkward laugh, “lucky them.”
“He might even be better than you,” Leiurus said to Neil.
“Oh please, Neil’s pretty awesome too, I mean, he was chosen to be field commander with Alura for a reason, not to mention what happened a few days ago,” Arthur said, thinking back to what happened with the Draco Nova Sphere.
Shen laughed, “He sure is!”
“Anyway, Arthur, you’re doing super well, just need to get the stance down a little more and then we can probably move on to firing while running and a few other things that are a little more advanced,” Alura said, looking him over.
Arthur nodded, “Got it, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“But before we do that,” Shen said, “how about we test out a few of those Nova Spheres you picked up first?”
“Am I able to use them?” Arthur asked, “I mean, I’m not a Ranger or anything.”
“They can be used by anyone, Ranger or not,” Shen clarified.
“All right,” Arthur said, “let’s try some out.”
“Well that took longer than I expected,” Aster said as he, Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, and Brando exited a store.
Hydra thought for a moment, “I do believe we could’ve left sooner if Brando hadn’t decided to stop that customer from yelling at the cashier.”
“Hey!” Brando retorted as the five of them walked down the street, bags in hand, “That poor young woman was being borderline assaulted for the heinous crime of the store not having pre-made cake.”
“You ruined my child’s birthday!” Tip said, imitating the complaining woman.
Birdie chuckled a bit, “Hey, at least you managed to calm her down.”
“True,” Brando hummed.
Sirius thought for a moment, “Cake?”
“Oh right,” Brando said, “you probably don’t have cake back on Fenrisulfr. Though as the Orion’s head chef I’ll make sure you’ll get to try some at least once.”
“I think that would make him happy,” Hydra said as he walked, “Tip has told me that cake is often seen as something associated with happiness despite being a food. Right Tip?” He, Brando, and Sirius turned to look back at Tip, Aster, and Birdie, who were just standing there, “Tip?”
The mechanical being, robot, and android pointed their Morphers forward before firing on Sirius, Hydra and Brando, who promptly rolled to the side. “What are you doing?” Sirius growled.
“What’s gotten into you three?” Brando asked, concern in his voice.
Tip, Aster, and Birdie all plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers, preparing to morph. “Star Charge,” the three of them said in unison, being engulfed in light and reappearing in their Ranger forms.
Hydra thought for a moment as Tip, Aster, and Birdie marched forward, “They’re not in control.” Aster promptly flipped over a car as he approached.
“There is no telling what these three will do,” Sirius growled, getting to his feet.
Brando nodded, “Right, we need to stop them!”
Sirius, Brando, and Hydra plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“So the Hydra Nova Sphere can repair and regrow things, interesting,” Shen said as he watched Arthur fire a blast from the Morpher at a broken beam, which promptly put itself back together after being hit. “Hmm, I’ll make a note to perform further testing with it, this could be useful to help us heal injuries after missions.”
Alura nodded, “Yeah, it definitely sounds useful.”
“How many are left to look through?” Neil asked curiously.
Arthur took a moment to check through his pockets, “Let’s see… one.” He pulled it out, the Nova Sphere was blue and depicted a large bear.
Shen went slack-jawed and wide-eyed for a moment, reaching a hand into his coat and rustling around in it for a moment. “Arthur, where did you get that?” Shen asked severely.
“I just grabbed a few off the table,” Arthur said, giving a panicked look, “Why, what’s so important about this one?”
Shen gave a sigh, “I must’ve laid it down while I was taking inventory of the untested Nova Spheres and forgot to pick it up, sorry.” Shen took a deep breath, “That is the Ursa Major Nova Sphere, the second one the Revolution ever obtained, and one of the ones I found. I gave it to my father since he was from the Ursa Major system and after… after he died, I’ve kept ahold of it.”
“To keep a piece of him with you?” Leiurus asked, pulling out his pointed necklace and looking at it.
Shen sighed, “I suppose you’re right, it’s just a way to keep him with me.”
Arthur took a step forward, preparing to hand it back to Shen, “I’m so sorry, here.”
“It’s not your fault, Arthur. I should’ve kept a closer eye on it,” Shen said, preparing to take it. Before he could take it, the Ladonean heard a beep from his Morpher. He lifted his cane up, speaking into it, “What is it?”
Hydra blocked a jab from Tip’s crossbow with his scythe before speaking into his Morpher, “Something strange is going on. Tip, Aster, Birdie, they’ve all gone berserk.” Sirius narrowly dodged a swing of Aster’s axe, which instead hit a car as Brando blocked shots from Birdie’s blaster and Morpher with his saber. “Tip, it’s me,” Hydra said, trying to appeal to the Iustitian, but to no avail.
“That sounds bad,” Neil said.
Alura nodded, “It does, I wonder what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Leiurus said, “We need to get there and help.” He looked at Arthur, “And you’re going to stay safe while we do it.”
Arthur gave a sigh, “Understood.”
Shen nodded, “Alright then, let’s-”
Shen was promptly hit in the back of the head by the blunt side of Kaus’s halberd from behind, making him fall to the ground, unconscious.
“Dad!” Arthur shouted.
The others paid the comment no mind, instead focusing on Kaus. “Greetings, Rangers,” Kaus chuckled.
He was accompanied by a particularly strange alien, with long clawed arms that reached down to its feet and covered in black fur with a purple sheen. It wore a green tunic with some strange metallic collar, and its head was in some kind of pink cage-like structure, with a green crest at the top of it resembling a pair of leaves or fluffy antennae. Inside of the strange cage-like growth was a pair of circular orange eyes. “Nice to see you, Rangers!” it said. Its voice was gravelly, but still distinctly feminine.
“Who’s your new friend, Kaus? Got tired of Skragen and Calamartia?” Leiurus inquired, taking a step forward.
Kaus shook his head, “Unfortunately not, Skragen is still trying to recover from the damage to his crystal, and Calamartia hasn’t finished regenerating, so that means it’s up to me to deal with you. Just like old times, isn’t it?” Kaus glanced at the alien next to him, “I’d like to introduce you to Marquis Mothema, you destroyed her Consumoai yesterday, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Let me guess, you’re the reason why Tip, Aster, and Birdie are going berserk,” Alura said.
Kaus shook his head, “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“But I can!” Mothema replied, “Remember what happened yesterday, Red Ranger?”
Neil thought back to yesterday…
The Supernova Megazord battled a Consumoai in its robot mode outside of Point Pleasant near the West Virginia Ordnance Worrks. The Consumoai swung at the Megazord, clashing the Aquila Zord with its lance. This formation of the Megazord had the Taurus Zord as the right arm, the Aquila Zord as the left arm, the Libra Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg.
The Consumoai suddenly fired forth a blast of purple electricity, with Neil promptly plugging a blue Nova Sphere into his Morpher and activating it.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
The Leo Zord’s cockpit turned blue as a large circular shield made of blue energy appeared in front of the Megazord’s blocking the attack. Suddenly the shield began spinning, launching itself forward at the Consumoai. The Consumoai began to spark before exploding, but not before Mothema flew out of it, green moth-like wings extending from her back. She flew above the Megazord and out of sight, sprinkling scales above the Megazord before disappearing. “Well that was weird,” Neil said, “Anyway, the stars of hope still shine!”
“Neil, she’s a Calypsoan from the Aquila system!” Arthur exclaimed, “Her scales can form a connection with electronics and control them!”
Neil narrowed his eyes, “So that’s what you did, control the others to defeat us!”
Kaus hummed, “Not entirely, even if for some reason you do manage to get your comrades back under control, the damage has already been done. No matter what you do now I’ll benefit from it.”
“What are you talking about?” Leiurus said, readying his stinger.
Kaus looked at his claws, “Your friends are raising Cain as we speak, it’s just a matter of time before the news breaks that the “heroic” Power Rangers were terrorizing this place’s populace.”
“We’ll see about that,” Neil said, taking a step forward alongside Alura and Brando.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers ran at Kaus and Mothema, with Neil glancing back at Arthur for a moment, “Arthur, get Shen to safety!”
Arthur nodded, “Got it!” He carefully moved Shen away, making sure not to sit him up.
The Rangers rushed Mothema, slashing at her. A few of the hits connected, but she ducked under some of the others, retaliating with swipes from her long arms. “It doesn’t matter if you defeat me,” she rasped, “the people of this planet will hate you!”
“So we just need to defeat her to free the others!” Neil said, using his sword to block a swing from her claws.
“A pity that she revealed her weakness to you,” Kaus said, swinging his halberd in a large arc that the Rangers managed to narrowly avoid, “but she is correct.”
Seeing that Kaus was the more immediate threat, the Rangers turned their attention to him. Alura somersaulted through the air to slice at Kaus, but the Duke blocked the slice with his halberd before knocking her back. He pointed his halberd forward as it shifted to be more bow-like before firing a barrage of energy arrows at the Rangers, who managed to either deflect, block, or dodge out of the way of them. Kaus stomped on the ground, creating a massive shockwave of green energy with intent on knocking the Rangers back. The Rangers reacted quickly, planting their weapons on the ground and gripping them to keep their footing. Once the shockwave subsided they all charged at Kaus, stabbing and slicing at him.
Meanwhile Mothema was trying to take the opportunity to slink away unnoticed, at least until Arthur spotted her, “Hey!” She turned to look at him with surprise as he pointed the Supernova Morpher at her, firing a few shots at her. Not expecting the attack, she staggered back.
“You little brat!” Mothema snarled, beginning to approach him. Arthur fired a few more shots at her, but as she was expecting them now she was able to brace herself, reacting much less to those attacks.
“Arthur!” Neil yelled, turning his head away from the clash of blades he was having with Kaus to look at his brother. This gave Kaus the opportunity to get the upper hand, kicking Neil in the chest and knocking him to the ground.
Arthur fired a few more shots, but to no avail. He panicked as he looked around, searching for anything he could use to stop Mothema. She was mere feet away now, raising her arms to strike. Arthur quickly remembered the Ursa Major Nova Sphere in his hand, wasting no time plugging it into the Morpher, “Here goes nothing!”
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened for a moment until a flash of blue light appeared from the trigger. A cyan-furred humanoid bear wearing a red coat and possessing a sky blue glow rushed forward at Mothema, clawing at her repeatedly and making her stagger back. After that the bear slammed into her, sending her flying back and colliding with Kaus.
Arthur looked on with wide eyes as the Rangers turned to look back at him. “What was that?” Neil asked, now having gotten to his feet.
“I don’t know!” Arthur replied.
Kaus growled as he got to his feet, “Enough of this. Mothema, if you would.”
The lights of a relatively intact car came on as it sped away from the other ruined cars it was next to, heading right towards the Rangers. The Rangers leapt to the sides to avoid it, but after it missed them it turned quickly to make another attempt. As it sped towards them again Neil readied his sword, delivering a downward swing. The car was split in half, its pieces keeping their momentum as they sped to the sides before crashing into piles of junk. The Rangers turned their attention back to Mothema and Kaus, but the latter was long gone, and the former could be seen flying off as the sun continued to set. “Dang it,” Leiurus said with frustration as the Rangers unmorphed, “they got away.”
“We’ll get them next time, right Neil?” Alura said, turning to look at her co-field commander, but Neil was busy looking at the bear that had emerged from Arthur’s Morpher.
“You, you’re Theodore Arctos, aren’t you?” Neil said quietly.
The bear chuckled, “Indeed I am.”
“But how?” Arthur said with shock, “Shen said you’ve been dead for years.”
Theodore shook his head, “I am, but the Nova Spheres seem to work in mysterious ways. The Ursa Major Nova Sphere was on me when I died, and it seems to have done something to keep me around.” Theodore knelt down next to Shen’s unconscious body, gently rubbing his head, “Not that I ever minded, it just gave me an opportunity to continue watching over my son.”
“So you’ve been connected to the Ursa Major Nova Sphere since you died?” Arthur asked.
Theodore nodded, “I have, though it seems the Supernova Morpher was able to give me a tangible form.” Theodore chuckled, “Leave it to my boy to find out a way to bring back the dead.” He turned to look back at the Rangers, “There’s no need to introduce yourselves, I know who you are.”
“Given that you know what was happening outside of the Nova Sphere I’d hope so,” Alura said.
Theodore nodded, “I’m proud he was able to find the Nova Spheres and by extension, all of you.”
Neil laughed, “Thanks!”
“This is nice and all,” Leiurus said, “but I think we’re forgetting that Tip, Aster, and Birdie are going nuts.”
Theodore nodded, “That’s a good point, Ranger, Mothema is still a threat. I hope she hasn’t messed Birdie up too much, she was a dear friend of mine.”
“Really?” Neil asked with curiosity.
“She was made a few years before my passing, she worked as my secretary much like how she does for Shen now,” Theodore replied.
“So that’s how she knew what happened,” Arthur realized.
“Back on topic, we need to stop Mothema,” Alura said, “what’s the plan?”
Neil thought for a minute, “Me and Leiurus will go after her, you and Arthur take care of Shen.”
“Hold on,” Arthur said, “I’m going with you two.”
Leiurus looked at him, “No. This is incredibly dangerous, Arthur, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“Let’s hear him out, Leiurus, I doubt he’d want to come along for no reason,” Neil replied.
“He is a child Neil, he can’t hold his own in a fight,” Leiurus responded.
Theodore nodded, “Leiurus makes a compelling argument.”
“He didn’t even say he wanted to fight, besides, I know him better than anyone, he can handle himself,” Neil retorted.
Arthur was quiet for an awkward moment before he spoke, “Yeah, it’s not like I wanna fight or anything… I’ve read up on Mothema’s species back on the Orion, I know exactly what she can do, so I can tell you her weaknesses.”
“That’s a great idea! That way nothing can catch us by surprise!” Neil said confidently.
Leiurus sighed, “This is a bad idea, Neil. I don’t like involving a kid with this.”
“In Arthur’s defense he’s been involved for a while now, and with Birdie and Shen out of commission we need someone to give us information about Mothema,” Alura said.
“I suppose you’re right, Alura,” Theodore turned to look at Neil, “and I’ll take your word for it, Neil.” Theodore paused for a minute, “I will come along too I suppose, I can’t move too far from the Ursa Major Nova Sphere, unfortunately.”
“Well not that that’s settled, how do we find Mothema?” Neil asked, “Without Sirius to sniff her out she could’ve gotten anywhere.”
“Actually,” Arthur said, grabbing a grey Nova Sphere depicting a hound on it, “we’ve got the next best thing.”
“Didn’t you say that one is the Canes Venatici Nova Sphere?” Neil asked.
Arthur nodded, handing it to Neil, “Yeah, it was one of the first ones we tested out and it enhances your sense of smell, it should help us track her down.”
“Two steps ahead as always then, Arthur,” Neil said, ruffling Arthur’s hair as his brother gave a look of annoyance. Neil plugged it in to his Morpher.
“Canes Venatici Nova Sphere!”
Neil promptly began sneezing, “Oh there’s so many scales!” Neil continued sneezing for a few more moments before pointing off in the distance, “That way!” he said stuffily.
“Alright then,” Leiurus said, “let’s go.”
Before they left, Arthur pocketed the Nova Spheres they brought down with them as Theodore looked back at Alura, who was crouched down next to Shen, “Please, take good care of him.”
Alura gave a small nod, “I will, I promise.”
Sirius ducked under a swing from Aster’s axe, making it get stuck in a lamppost, “Aster, I do not want to have to harm you!” Aster didn’t seem to care, punching Sirius in the helmet and sending him flying back.
Brando blocked a few more shots from Birdie as he tried to get closer to restrain her, “Birdie, what did the Empire cook up that did this to you?” Birdie swung her kicked inward, knocking Brando off his feet and making him hit the ground hard.
Hydra spun his scythe in front of him, blocking shots from Tip’s crossbow. “Friends do not hurt each other,” he said as he ran forward, using his scythe to hook onto the crossbow before tugging it out of Tip’s hands. Tip retaliated by extending a wire and lashing it at Hydra, who spun out of the way. “I hope the others are close to putting a stop to this,” he said, panting.
Not too long after, the quartet found themselves near Point Pleasant’s Mothman statue. “She’s close,” Neil said, “I know it.”
“Lucky that she decided to target us in the way she did,” Leiurus said, “If I were her I would’ve taken control of the Orion to crash it into the Sun or something.”
Arthur shrugged, “In all fairness the Imperial higher-ups seem to be the only ones with functioning brains.”
Leiurus chuckled, “You’re not wrong about that.”
Theodore nodded, “I must say, your tongue is almost as sharp as your wits.”
“Anyway,” Leiurus said, “When Mothema shows up, get to safety.”
“But I can still shoot her at least,” Arthur said.
“No, it’s too dangerous,” Leiurus said.
Theodore gave Arthur a concerned look, “He’s right, a child should not be fighting in a war like this.” He sighed, “What’s gotten into you, Arthur? You’re acting different.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, you seem pretty eager to rush into this, is something on your mind?”
Arthur sighed, “No, it’s nothing.”
“Arthur,” Neil said, putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “you can tell me, I won’t judge.”
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, you’re a part of the team too, we can help.”
“All right,” Arthur sighed, “I wanna help you guys, more directly I mean. I wanna help fight.”
Leiurus sighed, “Arthur…”
“I know, I know, I’m just a kid, but the other day when I saw Shen fighting, I realized that maybe… maybe we can actually defeat the Empire, and I want to be part of it!” Arthur said confidently.
Neil grinned a bit, “That’s the spirit, Arthur!”
Theodore laughed, “You remind me so much of Shen.” He shook his head, “But the battlefield is no place for children.”
Arthur tried to protest when Mothema suddenly landed close by, “I’m sure they’ll never find me here!”
“You know we can see you, right?” Neil said casually.
“Eek!” Mothema said with surprise, spreading her wings.
Arthur demented to think for a moment, contemplating something before quickly plugging a purple Nova Sphere depicting a goat’s head into his Morpher.
“Capricornus Nova Sphere!”
“Don’t move!” he commanded, making Mothema raise her arms up and retract her wings.
Neil, Leiurus, and Theodore looked at him with surprise before Leiurus spoke, “Arthur, what are you doing?”
“Just trust me,” Arthur whispered over his shoulder before looking back at Mothema, “You know what this thing is?”
“The Capricornus Nova Sphere?” Mothema replied.
Arthur nodded, “Exactly, and do you know what it does?”
Mothema shook her head, “No, not really.”
“It can squash bugs like you flat,” Arthur replied.
Mothema looked even more panicked now, “No!”
“That’s not what the Capricornus Nova Sphere does,” Leiurus whispered to Neil and Theodore.
Theodore gave a small nod, “I know, what’s he planning?"
“Let him do his thing,” Neil shushed them.
“If you don’t want that to happen, you’re gonna explain what you did to the others,” Arthur said with surprising conviction.
Mothema seemed to relax a bit before laughing, “Oh it’s simple, my species can control machines with our scales, so since three of the Rangers are machines I used my scales to take them over to wreak havoc and frame them.”
Arthur lowered his Morpher as Leiurus pushed him back, “You’ve done enough, Arthur. Get somewhere safe.” He looked at Neil, “Let’s take her down.”
Neil nodded, “Agreed!” The two of them plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The two of them ran at Mothema, weapons brandished. Mothema cackled, “Well now at least I have a chance at survival!” A horde of Greyders and two Flatborgs appeared, charging at the Rangers. Neil and Leiurus hacked, slashed, and stabbed their way through the horde, dodging, blocking, and deflecting lasers with ease.
Meanwhile Arthur ran with Theodore trailing close behind him. “You seem eager to pull yourself away from the action now,” Theodore stated.
“It's because of my plan,” Arthur replied as he ran towards a news station. “Alright, can you turn invisible for a second or something?”
“I can try,” Theodore said before vanishing.
Arthur nodded, “Alright, time to clear the Rangers’ names.” He ran into the news station, panting.
“Hey kid, could you leave? We’re about to run a report about how the Power Rangers are causing all kinds of mayhem,” someone who appeared to be an anchorman who was talking to the receptionist a few seconds ago said.
“That’s what I’m here about,” Arthur replied, “I’ve got an inside scoop that will blow this story wide open…”
Neil hacked through another Greyder before spinning to slice a Flatborg, making it stagger back from the hit and into a stab from Leiurus. Leiurus quickly spun around, slicing the Flatborg and surrounding Greyder’s and making them go up in flames.
Neil delivered a ferocious upward swing to the second Flatborg, sending it reeling and allowing him to knock its tonfa from its hand. From there he sliced it repeatedly before stabbing it in the chest, making it stagger back and explode. “Alright, time for the bug,” Neil said as he and Leiurus turned to look at Mothema.
Mothema, who had been watching the fight the entire time, chuckled, “I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we test it out!” She extended her wings, flapping them and sending a cloud of scales at the Rangers.
Aside from it momentarily blocking their vision, it didn’t seem to have any immediate effects, at least not until their Morphers started sparking. “My Morpher!” Neil said as the Morphers’ sparking suddenly climaxed, making the two Rangers suddenly unmorph.
Leiurus tried to morph again, but even with the Nova Sphere in it and the proper steps done it didn’t react at all, “She jammed our Morphers!”
“Let’s see how you do without those fancy gadgets of yours!” Mothema chuckled as a new wave of Greyders materialized.
Neil and Leiurus glanced at each other before the two of them assumed fighting stances, Leiurus extending his tail. “Just because we can’t morph doesn’t mean we can’t fight!” Neil said confidently.
Mothema laughed, “Then go right ahead!”
“I must admit, that was quite the clever plan,” Theodore said, floating next to Arthur as the twelve-year-old ran back to where the two of them had come from.
Arthur adjusted his glasses, “Thanks!”
“Now all the others need to do is defeat Mothema,” Theodore nodded in response.
They arrived back near the Mothman statue to see an unmorphed Neil and Leiurus fighting against a horde of Greyders some distance away. The two of them were fighting well, but it was clear the Imperial forces were beginning to overwhelm them. “Guys!” Arthur yelled, aiming his Morpher forward. Theodore suddenly forced the Morpher down, making Arthur glare at him, “What are you doing?”
“Arthur, as clever and as capable as you are, I can't allow a child to fight,” Theodore said, giving him a steely look, “I couldn’t stop Shen from fighting, and that left him without me. I’ve seen how much my death hurt him, and I will not allow anyone to feel the same pain he felt because of it.”
“Well what else am I supposed to do, let them die? Neil’s my brother and Leiurus… Well, he’s like another brother I always wanted,” Arthur replied, throwing his hands up. “Tip, Aster, and Birdie are being controlled, Sirius, Hydra, and Brando are trying to stop them, Shen is unconscious, and Alura’s trying to take care of him, and even if she left to come help she probably wouldn’t make it in time.”
“Arthur…” Theodore said, lowering his voice.
“No, I don’t care! A couple weeks ago I thought the Empire was unstoppable, but now, after everything I’ve seen, I think the galaxy can be freed after all, and I want to help do it!” Arthur said with surprising conviction, “Yeah, I am a kid, but you’re never too young to fight for what you believe in!”
Theodore froze for a moment, “You truly remind me of Shen when he was your age, a smart, courageous young boy who wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he thought was right.” He sighed, “And you truly want to do this?”
Arthur nodded, “Without a doubt.”
Theodore thought for a second, “Then I will not stop you, let us do this together.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Arthur took a step forward, “I’m going to save the galaxy, and I’m going to save my family!” Arthur’s eyes suddenly glowed white as a cyan galaxy-like swirl of energy appeared before him, condensing into a Nova Sphere. It was the same color as the Ursa Major Nova Sphere, but it depicted a smaller bear.
Neil and Leiurus’s Nova Spheres glowed before releasing energy. “Huh?” Neil said with surprise as the energy flew off as he battled the Greyders.
Elsewhere, Sirius, Tip, Aster, Hydra, Birdie, and Brando’s Nova Spheres released energy too, flying off. Sirius, Hydra, and Brando gave confused looks while Tip, Aster, and Birdie paid them no mind, turning their focus back on fighting.
Alura was tending to Shen’s unconscious form in the scrapyard when their Nova Spheres released energy too. “Is that Neil again?” Alura asked herself as the energy flew off.
The energy was promptly absorbed into the new Nova Sphere, making it glow as Arthur looked at it with surprise as his eyes stopped glowing. “A Nova Sphere?” he said, wide-eyed.
“It’s like what your brother did the other day,” Theodore started, looking at it.
Arthur shook his head, “We can worry about that later, right now we need to help the others!” He gripped the Nova Sphere, “It feels… powerful.” He looked at his Morpher, “Maybe…” He plugged the new Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
He readied himself, “Star Charge!” He was engulfed in cyan light as Theodore looked on in surprise. Soon, the light faded, and Arthur stood there.
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!” Arthur’s suit was light blue, with its visor taking up most of his helmet and depicting a bear, with a pair of ears on the top. Tied around his neck was a scarf colored similarly to his costume, which felt oddly strong and elastic. He looked himself over, “Woah.”
“You’re a Ranger?” Theodore said, almost reverently.
“Looks like it,” Arthur replied, “but we can figure all this out later, right now I’ve gotta stop Mothema.”
Theodore nodded, “I’ll hang back and give you help if things go south.”
“Got it,” Arthur replied, running forward.
Neil and Leiurus fell to the ground, exhausted as more Greyders continued to surround them. Neil tried to get to his feet, but he was too weak to do so, “We’ll still stop you, I know it.”
Mothema laughed as she walked forward, “I’d like to see you try, Rangers!” She raised her claws up, intent on finishing off the two of them, “Sometimes you squash the bug, and sometimes the bug squashes you!” Before Mothema could attack she was lunged at from the side by Arthur, slicing at her with claws that extended from his gloves.
“What?” Neil said with surprise.
“Another Ranger?” Leiurus said, equally shocked.
Arthur spun his scarf around like a whip, the light blue of his costume a stark contrast to the orange of the setting sun. Arthur cracked his scarf like a whip and spun it around him, knocking several Greyders to the ground. Mothema leapt back, using her wings to boost her jump, “A new Ranger? No matter, I’ll fry your Morpher like I did the others!” She began beating her wings, sending a cloud of scales forward.
Arthur quickly plugged a white Nova Sphere depicting a whale on it into his Morpher.
“Cetus Nova Sphere!”
A whale made of energy appeared in front of Arthur and shot water into the air which quickly came down, making the cloud of scales disappear and making Neil and Leiurus’s Morphers stop sparking. “What did you do?” Neil said with surprise.
“And who are you?” Leiurus asked.
Arthur glanced at them, “Water neutralizes Calypsoan scales, as for your second question, it’s me, Arthur.”
“Arthur?” Neil’s eyes went wide. The new Ranger was around Arthur’s size, so Neil supposed that made sense.
“How?” Leiurus said, equally shocked.
“I’ll explain later, right now we need to stop Mothema!” Arthur replied.
Neil glanced at Leiurus, “He’s right, let’s go!” The two of them plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The two Rangers readied their weapons and ran forward, cleaving through the Greyder horde like butter. A Greyder tried to stab Arthur, but he grabbed its arm and twisted, making it stagger off to the side. He gripped both sides of his scarf, spinning them around like flails and mowing down a few more Greyders.
Amidst the chaos, Mothema extended her wings. “Time to exit stage left!” Wings extended behind her as she began to fly off.
“Oh no you don’t!” Arthur whipped his scarf upwards, making it extend towards Mothema and wrap around her foot.
“Hey!” Mothema said with annoyance. She tried to struggle free, but it was no use with Arthur using both hands.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Antares Strike!”
With energy crescents flung from their weapons, Neil and Leiurus finished off the last of the Greyders. “Neil! Take this!” Arthur tossed Neil a teal Nova Sphere depicting a lizard on it, with his brother promptly plugging it into his Morpher.
“Lacerta Nova Sphere!”
Neil ran towards a building near where Mothema was with a sword in hand, running up the side of the exterior wall thanks to the Lacerta Nova Sphere before spinning and slicing Mothema, making her fall to the ground. “No!” Mothema wailed as she tried to get to her feet.
Theodore appeared beside Arthur, “Get out the Ursa Major Nova Sphere, I have an idea.”
Arthur nodded, “Sure thing.” He produced the Nova Sphere in question.
Theodore extended a ghostly hand towards it, making it glow, though not as brightly as the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere was. “Try it now,” Theodore said, looking at Arthur.
“Got it,” Arthur nodded, plugging it into his Morpher.
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
Arthur suddenly became as tall as a house, towering over Mothema. “Woah!” Neil said with excitement. Arthur began to try and stomp Mothema, but the Marquis just kept running out of the way. He suddenly leapt in front of where she was running before bending down to nail her with his fist, sending her flying past Leiurus, who slashed her as she hit a wall.
Arthur returned to normal size as he prepared his weapon, attaching the sword blade on top of the axe blade and attaching it to the top of the handle, making the Star Sword, but he didn’t stop there, flipping down the blue shaft on the bottom as well, “Star Glaive!”
Arthur began to approach Mothema, who had gotten back on her feet, “Do your worst! Your reputation is already ruined and there’s nothing you can do about it! It’s your words against your actions!”
Arthur laughed and shook his head, “Actually, it’s your word against our actions.”
Mothema gave a confused look, “What?”
Arthur tossed Neil the Capricornus Nova Sphere, glancing at him for a second, “Neil, if you would.” Neil plugged it into his Morpher.
“Capricornus Nova Sphere!”
A purple orb shot out of the Morpher, quickly becoming a large holographic screen which displayed what happened earlier.
“Don’t move!”
“You know what this thing is?”
“The Capricornus Nova Sphere?”
“Exactly, and do you know what it does?”
“No, not really.”
“It can squash bugs like you flat.”
“No!”
“If you don’t want that to happen, you’re gonna explain what you did to the others.”
“Oh it’s simple, my species can control machines with our scales, so since three of the Rangers are machines I used my scales to take them over to wreak havoc and frame them.”
Mothema looked at Arthur with shock, “You little brat! You lied to me!”
“That’s hardly anything compared to what you did to the others,” Arthur replied, pointing his glaive at her, “I took this bad boy to the news station and showed everyone there exactly what was going on, looks like your boss’s little frame-up failed.”
Neil pumped his fist in the air, “Woohoo! I knew you were up to something, Arthur!”
“Yes, that was quite clever,” Leiurus nodded.
“No!” Mothema screeched.
From a nearby rooftop Kaus watched on, stroking his chin, “So he pulled the age-old “engineered public confession” trick. I can’t even say I’m mad, that was honestly quite ingenious.”
Arthur plugged the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere into his glaive, ready to attack.
“Polaris Strike!” Blue energy surrounded the edge of the blade as he swung it forward, sending a light blue energy crescent at Mothema.
The attack collided as Mothema began to spark, “Oh Mothballs!” Mothema promptly went up in flames, and when the smoke cleared there was nothing left of her.
As the moon began to rise above Point Pleasant, Arthur gave a thumbs up, “Shine on!”
“Arthur!” Neil said, unmorphing and running up to him, “That was amazing!”
Arthur laughed, “Thanks, I thought it was pretty cool too.”
“No kidding!” Neil said, “You really saved our skin back there.”
“I agree with Neil,” Theodore said calmly, “your quick-thinking saved the Rangers from a world of trouble."
Leiurus walked up to Arthur, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Arthur, I’m… I’m sorry for underestimating you. I see now that you can take care of yourself perfectly well.”
Arthur just shook his head, “It’s fine, Leiurus, you kind of had a point.”
“So are the others okay now?” Neil asked.
“They should be,” Arthur replied, “With Mothema gone they shouldn’t be under control anymore.”
Tip, Aster, and Birdie suddenly reeled back from the fight they were having with Sirius, Hydra, and Brando, looking shocked and unmorphing. “What’s going on? Why were we all fighting?” Tip questioned.
“The Empire did something to the three of you,” Sirius said as he unmorphed alongside Hydra and Brando.
“It must’ve been the Marquis from yesterday,” Birdie said, trying to get a handle on the situation.
“Yeah, those scales were kind of making me itchy,” Aster replied.
Brando just sighed, “It’s good to have the three of you back, good thing no one was hurt.”
Hydra patted Tip’s shoulder, “Yes, it’s a relief that you’re all okay.”
Sirius suddenly lifted up his Morpher, speaking into it, “I understand.” Sirius looked back at the others, “It is Neil, he says he has something to show us at a “Mothman” statue.”
Brando looked at Tip, Aster, and Birdie, “You three feel good enough to walk?”
“I think so,” Tip replied.
“Definitely,” Aster added.
Birdie nodded, “Yep!”
“Then let’s go see what Neil has to show us,” Hydra said.
Shen woke up, looking around groggily, “What happened?”
Alura rushed over to him, “Boss, are you okay?”
“Just peachy,” Shen replied, getting to his feet.
Alura thought for a moment, “Good, do you feel well enough to walk?”
“I think so, why?” Shen asked.
“Neil said he has something he wants to show us,” Alura responded.
“I see. Well, let’s not keep him waiting,” Shen replied as they began to leave.
The hologram projector in the abandoned building in New Jersey that Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia had turned into a makeshift base hummed to life, projecting an image of the Emperor before the kneeling Kaus and Skragen. “So,” Karna Rog said with his usual deadpan, “it appears that there is now an eleventh Ranger, is there not?”
“Unfortunately it is true,” Kaus said with a professional tone, “it appears that the human boy has become the so-called Ursa Ranger.”
Skragen nodded, “He was responsible for the destruction of Marquis Mothema and the foiling of Duke Kaus’s plan.”
“My sincerest apologies, your magnificence, I was so close to putting an end to them this time if it weren’t for Mothema’s loose tongue,” Kaus replied, shaking his head.
“There is no need to apologize, Duke Kaus,” Karna Rog said, “However, given the lack of results, I feel that it is necessary to send others to deal with the Rangers as well.”
“Which others?” Skragen asked curiously.
“Duke Antares…” Karna Rog froze for a moment, like that was all he was going to say until something hit him mid-sentence, “and… Duke… Ankaa.” He sounded oddly unsure of himself.
“Duke Ankaa?” Kaus said with surprise, “Isn’t he your… Nevermind, I understand, your magnificence.”
Skragen nodded, “I look forward to working alongside Antares, I’m sure my wife will as well.”
“Duke Ankaa will be arriving soon, but Duke Antares is currently out on an assignment from me, so he will join up later,” Karna Rog explained.
“Understood,” Kaus said, thinking for a moment, “might I request one more thing?”
“State your desire, Duke Kaus,” Karna Rog said.
“I would like for a Conqueror Worm to be transported here,” Kaus replied.
“You are asking for a lot, Duke Kaus, but I will allow it,” Karna Rog replied before shutting off the transmission.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room Karna Rog looked at the Knights of Andromeda, “Dame Schedar, how is Antares’s progress so far?”
“It’s goin’ well! He should be back in a few days!” she said, giving a twirl.
“Excellent,” Karna Rog said before turning his attention to Mirfak, “Sir Mirfak, ready a Conqueror Worm and charge Duke Ankaa.”
Mirfak froze up, “With all due respect my liege, charging Duke Ankaa is a fairly simple task, surely Alderamin can do that while I ready a Conqueror Worm.”
Alderamin glared at Mirfak, “Are you calling me simple?”
“No,” Mirfak responded, rolling his head around before raising his organic hand to his chin, “of course not, I just want more time to finish with the Conqueror Worm.”
Karna Rog nodded, “I understand, Sir Alderamin, go charge Duke Ankaa.”
“It’s bad enough that I have to deal with Felis’s tantrums about the Draco Ranger, but now I have to do Mirfak’s job too, unacceptable,” Alderamin muttered under his breath. Ankaa walked down from where he stood next to the Emperor’s throne, standing next to Alderamin, with Mirfak moving as far away from him as he could.
“You seem to be in an awful big rush to get rid of these Rangers now, Emperor,” Schedar said.
Karna Rog gave a barely noticeable nod, “Even if they weren’t originally part of that foolish legend, all Nova Spheres have the capability to harm me…” slowly, he produced a Nova Sphere, smoky grey and depicting a crow, “Well, aside from one, as you know.”
Sirius, Tip, Aster, Hydra, Alura, Birde, Brando, and Shen arrived at the Mothman statue, with a few of them waving at Neil and Leiurus. Arthur was still morphed, but Theodore was nowhere to be seen. “Wait, who is this?” Sirius asked, looking at Arthur.
Neil smiled, “This is the newest addition to our team, the Ursa Ranger.” Arthur gave a small wave.
“He’s the one that put a stop to Mothema and prevented a major blow to our reputation here,” Leiurus said, putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “so he’s the reason why Tip, Aster, and Birdie stopped going on a rampage.”
“Really? Cool!” Tip said excitedly.
Hydra nodded, “Then I owe you my thanks, Ursa Ranger.”
“Yeah, thanks man,” Aster said, giving Arthur a fist bump.
“Yes, thank you,” Birdie said, “but who exactly are you?”
Shen nodded, “Yeah, you’re a little on the short side.”
“Neil, did you make a new Ranger again?” Alura asked.
“No!” Neil raised his hands, “Not at all. But as for who it is, why don’t we let him show you?”
Arthur nodded before unmorphing, looking at everyone’s shocked faces afterward. He gave a small wave, “Hey guys.”
“Arthur’s a Ranger?” Brando said with surprise, “I certainly wasn’t expecting that on today’s menu!”
“Arthur did all that?” Alura said, sounding surprised but also a tad skeptical.
Leiurus nodded, “Trust me, I had a hard time believing it too,” he ruffled Arthur’s hair, making the younger boy give a look of annoyance, “but he can really hold his own in a fight.”
“Oh Arthur,” Shen said, coming forward and putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “I’m so proud of you.”
Arthur chuckled, “Thanks da-I mean, Mr. Long.”
“But how exactly did he become a Ranger in the first place?” Sirius asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
Arthur thought for a moment, “It was… kinda like what Neil did the other day. The Ursa Minor Nova Sphere just appeared in front of me and seemed to get power from you guys’ Nova Spheres.”
“So whatever this ability is, it appears to be hereditary,” Hydra commented, “that’s one piece of the puzzle solved.”
“It a-spheres so,” Shen said, nodding, “but I think we can worry about that a bit more later, right now we should get back to the Orion.”
“But before that, there’s just one thing I want to do first,” a voice from behind Shen and the others said.
They turned to face it, and Shen dropped his cane, “Dad?”
Theodore chuckled a bit, “Yes Shen, it’s me.”
Shen immediately broke into a sprint, pulling himself into his father’s partially corporeal form, “Dad!” Shen was practically bawling as he buried his face in his father’s chest, “It’s been… so long.”
Theodore patted Shen’s back, “You’ve grown so much, it’s hard to believe that you’re that hatchling I found all those years ago.”
“I’m sorry, dad,” Shen whimpered, pulling himself closer, “I’m so, so sorry!”
Theodore rested his head on his son’s shoulder, “It’s okay, Shen, you were just doing what you thought was right, I’m not mad.”
“You’re… you’re not?” Shen said quietly.
“Shen, I could never be mad at you, you’re my only son, and I would do anything for you,” Theodore said comfortingly, “Even as I died, I was hoping that you were still okay.” He patted Shen’s back, “You’ve made me so proud, Shen. You found where the Nova Spheres of legend were and the Rangers shortly after, you’ve done a wonderful job of leading the Revolution. Shen, I am so proud to be your father, and I have been since the moment you hatched.”
“Dad…” Shen said, shaking.
“I’ve been watching over you for years, Shen, and I will continue to do so, because having you as my son was the best thing to ever happen to me,” Theodore said quietly.
“Dad… I… I love you, I love you so much!” Shen said, sobbing.
Theodore nodded, “I love you too, Shen, and I’d die again and again if it meant keeping you safe, no parent should ever feel the pain of outliving their child.”
Shen was quiet, sobbing into his father’s chest.
“Shen, when this war is over, I want you to do something for me, okay?” Theodore asked.
“What… what is it?” Shen replied.
“Share your love of the stars with others, just as I did with you, spread those legends across the galaxy,” Theodore said quietly.
“I… I will dad,” Shen replied, “I promise.”
Theodore nodded, “Thank you Shen, I never could’ve asked for a better son.” Slowly, Theodore began to disappear, dissipating into motes of cyan light that drifted through the cold night air before moving upwards, towards the stars.
Everyone was dead quiet as Shen wiped his tears away, watching the motes disappear. “I’m… I’m so glad I could talk with you one last time, dad,” Shen said quietly.
Slowly, Arthur walked up to Shen, the Ursa Major Nova Sphere in hand, “Mr. Long?” Shen turned to face him as he held the Nova Sphere out, “Here.”
Shen shook his head, “Keep it, Arthur.”
“But I thought this meant a lot to you?” Arthur asked.
Shen nodded, “It does, but after everything that’s happened today, I trust you with it. I’ve made my peace with my father’s death, but I’m still going to make Skragen and Calamartia pay for what they did.” Shen paused for a moment, “You know, before I passed out I heard you call me dad.” Arthur gave a look of panic as Shen chuckled, “I’m not mad, Arthur, I just wonder why you’d call me that.”
“Our dad skipped town before he was born,” Neil replied, “he never got to know him, it’s been twelve years since I’ve seen him too.”
“Yeah,” Arthur replied, “you’ve just been so nice to me and Neil, always indulged my interests, I guess you’re like the dad I never had.”
“I see,” Shen said, ruffling Arthur’s hair affectionately, “well I don’t mind being called that, not at all, and if you see me like that, well, I’m not gonna stop you.”
Neil grinned at Shen, “Aw Boss, you don’t have to.”
Shen just laughed, “You can call me that too, Neil. If I’m Arthur’s dad then that definitely means I’m yours too!”
Neil smiled, “Oh come on, Boss.” He wasn’t against the idea, Shen had always been there to reassure him and give guidance before, and he supposed Shen was quite fatherly in a way.
“Go on Neil, call me dad!” Shen laughed.
Neil gave a small grin, “Alright dad, let’s head back to the Orion.”
Notes:
Mothema: Portmanteau of Moth (since she’s based on Mothman) and Anathema (which is something someone dislikes). (She was originally male in the Sentai but I changed it so there’s more female villains)
And that’s the end of Shen’s arc for now. Honestly, I’m pretty proud of Arthur’s roll call being “Binary Star” since binary stars are stars that orbit each other and he’s based on two constellations, and also because he’s the tech whiz of the team. As for the Star Glaive, it’s meant to be a combination of the Star Sword and Star Spear, the weapons of two people he looks up to the most. As for that scene at the end with Neil, Shen, and Arthur, it wasn’t actually planned, I just kinda noticed how I was writing Shen’s interactions with them and went “What the hell, let’s do it.” Mothema’s ability wasn’t all that different from the Sentai, I just decided to have her use it in a different way, while having Leiurus homage the original way with throwing the ship into the sun. As for those of you curious about the villains, Ankaa, Antares, Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia are more or less the arc villains for “season 1” (chapters 1-22). They’re not the main antagonists in the grand scheme of things, but for now they will be the most active ones, and you will be seeing Ankaa in action next chapter, which I’m super excited for.
As an aside, now that we’re a quarter of the way in so far, I want to hear you guys’ thoughts. Anything you like so far? Dislike? Things that you’re interested for me to explore or show my take on?
Chapter 12: The Man in the Mask
Chapter Text
“Skragen,” Kaus said, turning to look at the Jester.
“Yes, Duke Kaus?” Skragen replied as Greyders and Flatborgs worked inside their makeshift base. It had taken a while, but the crystal on his shoulder had repaired itself, he was thankful it was only chipped.
“Duke Ankaa has arrived,” Kaus replied, turning to look at him, “I would like you to rendezvous with him, here are the coordinates.” He handed Skragen a datapad.
Skragen looked it over momentarily before looking back at Kaus, “Of course sir, Calamartia is nearly done regenerating as well, I will take her with me, since it’s likely she’ll finish it during the rendezvous.”
“Good,” Kaus replied, “now go meet with him.”
Skragen nodded, picking up Calamartia’s tentacle from where it was wrapped in a cloth on a nearby table, “Right away, sir.”
On the Orion, everyone was gathered on the bridge, looking at Birdie, Shen, and Arthur intently. “You wanted to see us, dad?” Neil said, not quite used to calling Shen dad yet, it had only been a day after all.
“Yes Neil,” Shen replied, spinning his cane, “me and Arthur have… rather concerning news.”
Alura looked at them curiously, “Like, how concerning?”
“Something just caused a massive spike in Gaiaium on Earth,” Birdie replied.
Shen nodded, “And the Nova Sphere locator went completely haywire! It was picking up a Nova Sphere on Earth that was emitting more energy than ours!”
“More energy than the legendary Nova Spheres?” Aster said with surprise, “How is that possible?”
Hydra nodded, “Surely there must have been a mistake with the readings in that case.”
“I agree, there must have been some kind of miscalibration,” Leiurus added.
“Whether it was a mistake or not, the Nova Sphere locator is so scrambled you could serve it with hotcakes and a cup of coffee for five ninety-nine,” Arthur replied, adjusting his glasses as Neil gave a small snicker, “Regardless, we should focus on the Gaiaium readings, since we at least know those exist.”
“So today’s mission is to find out what was cooking up those energy readings?” Brando asked.
Shen nodded, “Precisely.”
“It must be pretty important if it’s able to create a spike in Gaiaium like that,” Tip said.
Sirius nodded, “Might be dangerous as well.”
“Well we’re going to have to stop sphere-ing the worst and see for ourselves,” Shen said, looking at Birdie, “Birdie, if you would?”
Birdie tapped her datapad, making a hologram of Earth appear above the bridge’s table, with a small red dot visible on the United Kingdom, “Our sensors say the Gaiaium readings are coming from the place known as Edinburgh in Scotland. It has no Comsumoai, so that shouldn’t distract from the mission.”
“Sounds pretty simple to me, find out what’s causing these readings and get out, right?” Neil inquired.
Shen nodded, “And put a stop to it if need be.”
“Sounds good to me, there’s nothing that we can’t handle!” Neil pumped his fist in the air.
Shen chuckled, “I must say, I admire your enthusiasm, Neil.” He turned to look at Arthur, “Now let’s see who’s going on today’s mission!”
Arthur nodded, “Sure thing, dad.” Arthur moved up to the bridge’s control panel and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Yeah!” Neil said enthusiastically.
“Leiurus!”
Leiurus nodded, “I won’t disappoint.”
“Aster!”
“I’ve been dying for some action!” Aster slammed his fists together before looking at Leiurus, “Just stay out of my way.” Leiurus just rolled his eyes.
“Brando!”
The Bahamutian smiled, “Let’s serve up some answers.”
“Me!” Shen spun and twirled his cane, “Now this is gonna be fun!”
“Arthur!” Shen froze for a moment, “Wait… Arthur?”
Arthur thought for a moment as everyone looked at him, “Oh! I must’ve forgot to recalibrate it last night when I added mine to it, so it chose six instead of five, sorry.”
Shen patted his shoulder, “No, it’s no problem, you can fix it when we get back. Besides, we don’t know what’s causing this, so an extra team member could make all the difference.”
Neil nodded, “Especially one as capable as Arthur.”
“Yeah, a little extra help never hurt anyone!” Aster said cheerfully.
“I think so too,” Leiurus added.
Aster snorted, “Probably the first thing we’ve ever agreed on.”
“It’s always good to have another chef in the kitchen, no matter the circumstances,” Brando said, trying to keep Aster and Leiurus’s animosity down.
“Well with all that settled, let’s go!” Neil said confidently.
A few minutes later the Rangers arrived in Edinburgh, with Arthur riding alongside Neil in the Leo Zord. They landed in a small section of the city that was a bit lower than the rest, with a staircase leading up to the rest of it. No one was around, and aside from the trees, nothing living was around either, it was like this entire part of the city was devoid of all life. “Any idea what we’re looking for?” Aster asked.
“Unfortunately not,” Arthur replied, “we have no leads as to what’s causing this, it could be anything.”
Brando sighed, “This is gonna be harder than finding the right ingredients for a fancy dish, isn’t it?”
“It can’t be that hard,” Leiurus replied, “If something is causing that much interference, whatever it is must be pretty obvious.”
Shen nodded, “That is a possibility, yes. But we have to expect the unexpected.”
“Yeah,” Neil replied, “there’s no telling what could happen.”
As if on cue a swarm of Greyders materialized, brandishing their weapons. “Ugh, not these guys!” Arthur said with annoyance.
“I get the feeling that if we want to get to the bottom of this, we’ll have to deal with these guys,” Neil said, assuming a fighting stance.
“In that case, let’s finish this quickly!” Leiurus replied as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
They were engulfed in multicolored light which quickly faded to reveal their Ranger forms, and they promptly charged at the Greyder horde.
Skragen watched on from the top of a nearby building, “What a coincidence that they’d show up right where I need to be.” He shrugged, “Ah well, there’s so many ways they can be disposed of now.” He felt Calamartia’s tentacle squirm in his hand, lifting it up to look at it, “I know dear, you’re itching to get your hands dirty, but you won’t have to wait much longer.”
On top of the staircase, Aster was slicing at Greyders with his axe and punching them off the staircase, making them hit the ground hard. Neil, Leiurus, Brando, and Shen were busy hacking into Greyders on the lower area, with Shen taking down a few at once with a swing of his cane, which was flipped so it was being held more like a sword. Neil sliced through a few Greyders, using his sword to block a swing from one before delivering a spinning slice to finish it off. Arthur was running through a horde of Greyders, lashing at them and with his scarf. One tried to charge at him, but with a quick lash he knocked it off his feet and stomped on it immediately after. Another Greyder rushed at him, but he nailed it in the chest with his scarf before pulling out the Ursa Major Nova Sphere and plugging it into his Morpher.
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
Arthur grew, towering over the Greyders as he began kicking them away and leaning down to swipe at them with his arms. They Greyders were sent flying, bursting into flames as they impacted walls or the ground. Once a few were dealt with he shrunk down to normal size, piecing together his glaive and running towards Leiurus, slicing and stabbing through the Greyders.
“Impressive moves back there,” Leiurus said, slicing through a few Greyders before extending his tail and stinging another.
“Thanks!” Arthur said, ducking under a Greyder’s blade and spinning around with his glaive, slashing a few more surrounding Greyders. “You know, I’ve been wondering about something.”
Leiurus stabbed another Greyder, “What is it?”
“About how morphing works,” Arthur replied as he sliced through a few more Greyders, kicking another away. “Like, I’m still the same size as I always am when I morph and you keep your tail…” he spun his glaive above himself to destroy a few more surrounding Greyders, “But Sirius, Tip, Aster, Birdie, and dad, how does it work for them? I mean, there’s no way their heads can fit in these helmets, Sirius and dad even lose their snouts!”
Shen blasted a few Greyders with his cane before glancing back at them before speaking, sounding noticeably uncomfortable, “I’m not going to answer that.”
“Me neither!” Aster said, leaping down from the staircase to join the others.
“Is it just like, cramped in there or something?” Neil asked, delivering a downward slice to a Greyder before joining up with the others.
Brando laughed, “Come on Boss, don’t leave us starving for details!” He sliced through the last of the Greyders, lining up next to the other five Rangers.
“That seems to be the last of them!” Neil said, pumping his fist in the air, “Now to see what’s causing all those energy readings!”
“Uh, Neil?” Arthur said curiously.
Neil glanced over at Arthur, “Yeah?”
“What about that guy?” Arthur pointed at a man wearing a black tunic and red scarf several yards away, dozens of crows surrounding him, and while he wasn’t facing them, they could see his arm was lifted up with another crow perched on it as the figure stroked the underside of its beak. There was an odd aura about the man, like unimaginable heat and power were emanating from him.
Leiurus gave a confused look, “Who is that?”
“I’m not sure,” Shen said, sounding equally confused.
“Hey buddy!” Neil yelled at the figure, making him stop stroking the bird’s beak, “There might still be Greyders around here, you’ll probably want to leave!”
The crows promptly flew off, the figure lowering its arms immediately after. He turned to face them, showing his red eyes and golden mask, revealing himself to be Ankaa.
“Good gravy!” Brando said with surprise.
Under his helmet Neil was equally shocked, “What is that thing?”
“I dunno,” Arthur said, getting into a fighting stance, “but whatever it is it can’t be good.”
“Agreed,” Leiurus said, readying his spear.
Ankaa positioned one arm in front of his chest and took a step forward as he held his other arm out, giving a theatrical bow but not saying a word. “I don’t like this,” Shen said, changing his Morpher into its rifle mode and pointing it at Ankaa, “He seems… powerful.” Ankaa stood back up as another horde of Greyders appeared behind him. “Okay,” Shen said, trying to stay calm, “I really don’t like this.”
Aster brought his fists together, “This guy can’t be that tough. Besides, Greyders are nothing that we can’t handle.”
The Greyders began to rush forward, making the Rangers begin to charge forward as well. Suddenly, the Greyders stopped when Ankaa extended his arms out to the sides, with the Rangers stopping in place as well, confused. “What’s he doing?” Brando asked, saber ready.
Ankaa slowly lowered his left arm and moved his right arm to the sword sheathed on his left hip, touching his fingers to the pommel before sliding them down to the grip. Suddenly Ankaa disappeared in a swirl of flames that quickly dissipated, leaving nothing but embers in his place. The Rangers looked on in surprise, with Neil looking for any sign of him, “Where’d he-”
Another swirl of flames erupted mere feet from them, Ankaa unsheathing his sword and slicing at the Rangers horizontally as it occurred. The Rangers quickly raised their weapons, blocking the slice and producing a wave of sparks as the sword struck their weapons one by one. Despite blocking the swing, the Rangers still staggered back a little. “Woah!” Neil said with surprise, “He can teleport?”
“Just means he’s a coward who doesn’t like to get hit!” Aster swung at Ankaa with his axe. Ankaa took a small step forward and thrusted his sword at Aster’s chest, flames erupting on impact and making Aster stagger back before the axe could hit him.
“Aster!” Brando yelled, slicing at Ankaa with his saber. Ankaa promptly raised his sword to block it before moving his left hand forward to show Brando his palm. Fire began to form there, turning into a swirling ball that was launched at Brando, creating a burst of flames and launching Brando back.
Shen thrusted his cane at Ankaa, but the Duke grabbed the shaft, forcing it downward and kicking Shen in the chest to stagger him. Leiurus tried stabbing Ankaa next, who spun out of the way before grabbing the spear’s grip right next to where Leiurus was holding it. Leiurus gave a look of surprise as Ankaa twisted the spear, the force of the spin sending Leiurus spinning into the air and hitting the ground. Ankaa prepared to deliver a downward swing when Arthur’s scarf wrapped around his blade, preventing it from moving downwards. Ankaa promptly swung his sword back with both hands, sending Arthur flying back behind him.
“Arthur!” Neil yelled, charging at Ankaa and delivering a downward swing. Ankaa quickly raised his left hand, grabbing the blade between his index and middle finger. “What?” Ankaa flicked his arm to the side, sending Neil flying and hitting the ground.
The Rangers got to their feet and charged at Ankaa from all angles. Ankaa didn’t seem fazed at all, ducking and raising his sword to block the downward swings the Rangers performed. Ankaa promptly disappeared in a swirl of flames, making the Rangers’ weapons collide with the ground. Leiurus quickly glanced around, spotting where Ankaa had reappeared and lashing his tail towards him. The stinger pierced Ankaa, making him stagger back and seize up for a moment before brandishing his sword again. “That should have incapacitated him!” Leiurus said with shock.
“What are you?” Neil demanded, pointing at the Duke.
“Since he’s evidently more of the silent type, I th-ink I should introduce him,” Skragen stepped into view with his rifle slung over his shoulder, moving to stand next to Ankaa.
Shen growled, “Skragen!”
“Nice to see you too, Shen,” Skragen said before gesturing to Ankaa, “This is Duke Ankaa of the Phoenix system, and the bodyguard of Emperor Karna Rog himself.”
“This guy’s the Emperor’s bodyguard?” Aster said with surprise.
“Indeed he is,” Skragen said, “I’m unsure as to why someone as powerful as the Emperor would need a bodyguard, but there’s no one better for the role than Duke Ankaa.”
“Doesn’t matter what he is,” Arthur said, pointing his glaive at Skragen and Ankaa, “you guys are going down!”
“You know,” Skragen said, “I don’t think six against two is quite fair. How about I even the odds?” He threw Calamartia’s tentacle into the air, which quickly grew a new body.
Calamartia landed on the ground before standing up and looking at the Rangers, “Hello again, boys. Seems like you’ve got a new member, shame it won’t change much.”
“Nice to see you again, dear,” Skragen chuckled.
Calamartia laughed, “You too, honey. Now…” she brandished her mace and sword, pointing the former forward, “how about we celebrate my return with a bloodbath?” She, Skragen, Ankaa, and the Greyders charged forward.
“Get ready everyone!” Shen commanded as the Rangers charged as well. Calamartia thrusted her mace forward at Brando, who blocked it as the two of them began to run back. Aster punched a Greyder in the face, making it stagger back into a slice from Arthur.
“Trying to face me again? Don’t you th-ink this is getting a bit repetitive?” Skragen said, casually ducking under a swing from Leiurus’s spear. Leiurus charged at him, making Skragen duck and move forward. Now that Skragen’s back was turned Leiurus jumped upwards to perform a downward swing. The crystal on Skragen’s left shoulder lit up as the Cryskullian sidestepped it, pointing his rifle at Leiurus’s chest. “How predictable.” Leiurus lashed at Skragen’s legs with his tail as he took another slice at him, though Skragen sidestepped the lash and ducked under the slice.
“Let’s see how well you do against someone who knows your tricks,” Shen growled, thrusting at Skragen’s right arm from behind. The crystal on Skragen’s right shoulder glowed as he lifted his arm up to avoid it, only for Shen to immediately slice him in the side of his chest when his cane was positioned next to it.
Meanwhile Neil clashed blades with Ankaa. “What is your problem?” Neil swung his sword at Ankaa, only for the Duke to block it with his sword and force Neil’s to the ground. Neil fired at Ankaa with his Morpher, hitting the Duke in the chest and making him stagger back, but aside from that the shots didn’t seem to harm Ankaa at all. Ankaa extended a hand forward, sending a jet of flames towards Neil, who dodged out of the way. Ankaa began using his free hand to begin flicking fireballs at Neil as he charged towards him, but the Leo Ranger managed to avoid them. “You must think you’re pretty hot stuff, being the Emperor’s bodyguard and all,” Neil said, slicing in a wide arc. Ankaa said nothing, simply flipping his sword into a reverse grip and holding it in front of him to block the attack.
Ankaa immediately retaliated by kicking Neil in the chest with a flame-cloaked leg, sending him flying back and hitting the ground. “Neil!” Arthur and Shen yelled in unison. Arthur rapidly hacked through Greyders before running towards Neil. Shen prepared to deliver a downward slice at Skragen, who preemptively spun to the side, only for Shen to change the angle mid-swing to slice him and make him stagger to the ground before Shen ran towards Ankaa.
Leiurus prepared to attack Skragen while he was on the ground only for Calamartia to appear, swinging at him with her sword and mace, “Don’t you dare touch him!” Leiurus blocked the attacks with his spear as Brando and Aster ran forward towards them, slicing at the Vivifican. All the Greyders were gone by now, leaving Ankaa, Skragen, and Calamartia as the only Imperial forces left.
As Shen and Arthur ran towards Ankaa he raised his sword as he looked at Neil. In an instant fire began to swirl around before coalescing around Ankaa’s sword, creating a massive blast of searing heat that knocked Shen and Arthur back as the blade was engulfed in flames, making it appear to become even larger as surrounding trees burst into flames.
Neil got to his feet, plugging his Nova Sphere into his sword.
“Regulus Strike!”
He swung his blade forward, sending a large red energy crescent towards Ankaa. Ankaa brought his own sword down, sending a wave of flames towards Neil. The Regulus Strike and the flames collided, creating a colossal explosion. As the smoke cleared Ankaa pulled his sword out of the ground and got to his feet, brushing himself off. Neil likewise got to his feet, though he was noticeably less stable than his opponent was. “Come on!” Neil shouted, “I’m… I’m not done… yet!”
Inside the abandoned building in New Jersey, Kaus looked at a hologram of Mirfak with annoyance, “Has the Conqueror Worm arrived yet, Sir Mirfak?”
Mirfak rolled his head around before nodding, “Yes, Dogolem has deployed one, but due to a minor miscalculation in trajectory it landed some distance away from its intended target.”
Kaus shook his head and pinched the space between his eyes, “Well where is it now, Mirfak?”
“Due to the fail-safe implants we gave it, we were able to get it to head back to its intended target, it should be there right about…” Mirfak paused for a moment, “now. I cannot wait to see those Rangers defeated.”
“That’s one thing you and I seem to agree on, Mirfak,” Kaus growled before Mirfak’s hologram disappeared.
The ground underneath the Rangers, Ankaa, Skragen, and Calamartia began to shake. “What the?” Neil said as everyone tried to keep their footing, aside from Ankaa, who wasn’t fazed in the slightest. “What’s going on?” Neil yelled to Shen, who had gotten to his feet alongside Arthur. Suddenly, three massive, brown, worm-like creatures with glowing green mouths full of needle-like teeth burst through the concrete with a horrendous screech. One of the heads burrowed back into the ground as the other two arched down, seemingly looking around.
“What is that thing?” Arthur yelled.
“Conqueror Worm!” Shen yelled, “Everybody get back!”
On the bridge the other Rangers watched on with worry, aside from Sirius, “What exactly is a Conqueror Worm?”
Birdie turned to look at him, “Conqueror Worms are incredibly dangerous bio-weapons genetically engineered by the Empire for scorched earth tactics.”
“I do not understand what you mean by that, but I assume it is bad?” Sirius replied.
Alura nodded, “What Birdie means to say is that they’re living weapons created by the Empire, and incredibly dangerous ones at that. If push comes to shove when it comes to conquering or maintaining control of a planet they dispatch one, since they’re capable of devouring all life on a planet in a matter of days.”
“Kaus must be getting desperate if he brought one in,” Birdie said.
Skragen looked at Ankaa, “Duke Ankaa, with all due respect, I believe it would be wise to retreat.”
Ankaa nodded as Calamartia looked at Skragen, “Under most circumstances I would like to stay and fight, but I am not dealing with that thing.” Skragen and Calamartia shot tentacles out of their bodies at the top of a nearby building, pulling themselves up on top of it. Ankaa turned away from Neil and took a few steps, the blond ponytail sticking out of the back of his helmet swishing from side to side before he vanished in a swirl of flames.
“Wait!” Neil yelled, but they were already gone.
The Conqueror Worm’s heads lashed about, one of them ripping a scorched tree out of the ground and swallowing it. “We need to stop that thing!” Arthur shouted, taking a step forward.
Leiurus grabbed Arthur’s shoulders pulling him back to narrowly avoid one of the Conqueror Worm’s heads slamming into him, “We need to stay back!”
“I hate that I’m agreeing with you,” Aster said, running up to the two of them. Suddenly the Conqueror Worm’s heads began to glow purple and slinked back into the ground before something leapt out of the concrete once again. It looked like the Conqueror Worm, but it was more humanoid, with two of the Worm’s heads on its shoulders, possessing a purple glow that promptly faded. It had arms and legs as well, though its arms seemed to be thick tentacles. The Conqueror Worm slammed back into the ground from its leap, disappearing under the concrete a few feet away from Leiurus, Aster, and Arthur as the ground beneath them broke open, making them fall into a hole.
“Leiurus! Aster! Arthur!” Shen yelled, extending a hand forward.
Neil rushed towards the hole, “Arthur!”
“I’m curious to see if the Conqueror Worm can kill them,” Skragen said, looking down at the hole below from the roof.
Calamartia looked at him, “So why is there a Conqueror Worm here? And why is Duke Ankaa here too?”
“I’ll explain in a bit, dear. Right now let’s see what happens,” Skragen said.
Neil, Brando, and Shen were gathered around the hole, unmorphed, with Neil visibly injured. “What’re we gonna do, dad?” Neil asked, “We need to rescue them!”
Shen turned to look at Brando, “Me and Brando will rescue them and stop the Conqueror Worm, you’re too injured to fight again for now.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Neil said, clenching his arm, “I need to help Arthur.”
Brando nodded, “The Boss is right, Neil, you’re in no condition to fight.”
“Well I’m not just gonna twiddle my thumbs and wait for something to happen!” Neil exclaimed.
“Neil,” Shen said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Me and Brando will rescue him, and I’m not asking you to not do anything.” He thought for a moment, “I’ll tell you what, how about you keep looking for whatever caused those Gaiaium readings?”
“Sure, I guess,” Neil shrugged, “Just make sure the others are okay.”
Brando nodded, “We will, I promise.”
“Be safe out there, Neil,” Shen said as Neil began to walk off.
Neil nodded, “I will, dad.”
In an underground tunnel under Edinburgh, Leiurus was looking Arthur over for injuries, “Looks like you’re okay, I wouldn’t want you to be hurt.”
Arthur grinned a bit, “Thanks, Leiurus.”
“Yeah, things could’ve gone a lot worse,” Aster replied.
“What about you, Aster? You didn’t get damaged, did you?” Leiurus asked, turning to look at him.
“I’m fine,” Aster said as steam shot from his nostrils, “Why are you so worried? You didn’t seem to mind stinging me back on Crete.”
Arthur sighed, “Oh for the love of-”
Leiurus cut him off, “Listen, I’m sorry for what happened on Crete. I owe you an explanation.”
“You sure do,” Aster replied.
“The man who took your father, he’s my older brother, Eurypto. Years ago, something… something happened to him that made him join the Empire, become one of its Jesters. He massacred our village, and since then, I was on the hunt for him,” Leiurus explained, pulling out his pointed necklace.
“Go on,” Aster said.
“I tracked him to Crete, where I found him taking your father. I tried to catch up with him, but he got away,” Leiurus continued.
“And you decided to sting me why?” Aster said, annoyed.
Leiurus shook his head, “That… wasn’t my proudest moment, I’ll admit. I thought you were with Eurypto, so I figured I needed to get past you.”
“And you just expect me to believe that?” Aster huffed.
“Aster, when I was captured by Kaus he told me the same thing, I believe him,” Arthur interjected.
Aster shook his head, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
The heads of the Conqueror Worm suddenly shot out of the ground further down the tunnel, giving a roar. “Oh great,” Leiurus groaned, “get ready!”
“Guys!” Brando yelled as he and Shen appeared from a nearby tunnel. The Conqueror Worm moved its heads back to strike as Brando plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a vase pouring water into his Nova Sphere.
“Aquarius Nova Sphere!”
His Morpher fired a high-pressure jet of water at the Conqueror Worm, pushing its heads back and making it shriek as it shrunk down to its humanoid form. The Conqueror Worm extended the heads on its shoulders upwards, creating an opening to the surface as it broke through the ceiling before pulling itself up after it.
“We need to go after it!” Shen said, changing his Morpher into its rifle mode.
“It’s a good thing that I have just the thing to help!” Aster said, plugging a pink Nova Sphere depicting a rabbit’s head into his Morpher.
“Lepus Nova Sphere!”
The Rangers legs began to glow pink as they jumped into the air, the power of the Nova Sphere allowing them to exit through the hole dozens of feet above.
“What was up with that Ankaa guy?” Neil wondered aloud as he wandered through Edinburgh’s outskirts, “I get that he’s the Emperor’s bodyguard, but that whole thing was nuts!” He shook his head, “Eyes on the prize, Neil, we gotta find out what caused those readings.” As he turned a corner he spotted Ankaa, Skragen, and Calamartia walking down a street near a sandlot, “You three!”
“Why hello again, Neil Astra,” Skragen said as the three turned to look at him, “I knew I felt a wayward mind around here.”
“Cut it with the mind-reading schtick,” Neil demanded, “we all know it’s mostly because of all those eyes.”
Skragen’s suckers blinked and his crystals glowed, “Oh these? These just give me a little extra vision. And as you said, the eyes only mostly contribute to it.” Skragen slung his rifle over his shoulder, “But I don’t th-ink I’ll tell you the other part.”
“Not that you’ll ever get to know the second part of my husband’s talent,” Calamartia said, pointing her mace at Neil, “you’ll be dead long before that.”
“Permission to engage, Duke Ankaa?” Skragen turned his head to Ankaa as his crystals stopped glowing and his suckers stopped blinking. Ankaa nodded.
“Good,” Calamartia growled as she readied her mace and sword, “time for some fun!”
“The only fun I’ll have is telling dad about how I sent you two running,” Neil replied.
Skragen tilted his head, “I can only assume you’re talking about Shen Arctos. Seems like he picked up his father’s habit of adopting children from other species.”
“Oh that just makes it even better!” Calamartia laughed, “First we killed his father, and now we get to kill his son!”
“We’ll see about that!” Neil plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Ankaa stepped back while Neil ran towards them with his sword in hand Calamartia pointed her mace forward, the spikes on it shooting off and curving to head towards Neil, exploding as they hit the ground in front of him while new spikes appeared on the mace. Neil wasn’t fazed at all, still charging at them. He swung his sword at them, but Skragen ducked under it as Calamartia blocked it with her sword and mace. Calamartia tried to retaliate by thrusting her weapons at him, but Neil quickly blocked it with his sword before spinning back and slicing her, making the Jester stagger back. With one hand behind his back, Skragen swung his blade down on Neil, who blocked that as well.
Neil spun to break the locking of blades, slicing down at Skragen while holding his sword in one hand. The crystal on Skragen’s head glowed as he sidestepped the slice, “You’ll need to try harder than-”
Neil promptly lifted up his Morpher and fired at Skragen, who obviously wasn’t anticipating that. The Jester staggered back, extending a long white tentacle at Neil to knock him back too. Neil dodged the tentacle as Skragen lifted his blade upward, the crystal in his head glowing as concrete was ripped out of the ground and flew towards him. Skragen took two slices with his sword, leaving crescents of blue energy behind. The concrete and the crescent were promptly launched at Neil, who plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword.
“Regulus Strike!”
He sliced several red energy crescents forward, colliding with the concrete and blue energy crescents to create an explosion as Ankaa watched on.
In a field a long distance away the other Rangers ran up towards the Conqueror Worm. “There it is!” Arthur shouted.
“Worms are usually fish food, but that suits me just fine,” Brando said.
“Ready, Aster?” Leiurus said, glancing at him.
Aster seemed to pay him no mind, “Let’s see how tough this thing really is!”
“All right team, let’s do this!” Shen exclaimed as he and the other Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and emerged in their Ranger costumes.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they yelled before charging the Conqueror Worm. The Conqueror Worm began flailing its arms at them, but it was uncoordinated, and they were easily able to dodge it. Aster ran up behind it and spun it around, punching it repeatedly in the chest before grabbing its head to toss it to the ground.
“If you’re so hungry, then eat this!” Brando ran past it as it got to its feet, slicing it with his saber.
Shen spun as he converted his Morpher into its rifle mode, pointing it at the Conqueror Worm, “Take this, worm!” He fired at it repeatedly, making it stagger and spark before it tried to duck into the ground.
“Oh no you don’t!” Arthur shouted, plugging the Ursa Major Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
Arthur grew and moved over to the hole in the ground the Conqueror Worm had made, reaching into it and grabbing it as it tried to struggle out of his grip, “You’re not worming your way out of this!”
“You’re staying right here,” Leiurus burrowed his tail into the ground and toward the hole. A moment later Atrhut pulled the Conqueror Worm out, aided by Leiurus’s stinger pushing it out.
The Conqueror Worm hit the ground hard, flailing on the ground as Arthur turned to look at Leiurus, “Thanks for the help, man!”
Leiurus nodded, “It’s no problem.” Leiurus and Arthur charged at it, with Leiurus slicing at it with his glaive and moving to the side as Arthur lashed at it with his scarf. The Conqueror Worm tried to lash at Arthur’s head, but he ducked under it, with Aster promptly punching it in the face, making it stagger back and fall to the ground.
“Time to finish this!” Shen opened and closed the mouth of his Morpher as the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped the sides of their Morphers down, all of them aiming at the Conqueror Worm.
“All Star Shot!” They fired spheres of energy with tails like comets at the Conqueror Worm, colliding with it and creating a massive explosion. The Conqueror Worm fell to the ground, giving a small twitch before going motionless.
“Shine on!” the Rangers said in unison, giving a thumbs up.
In Ukhu Pacha’s laboratory, Mirfak watched the Conqueror Worm’s defeat with annoyance, “They might’ve defeated it, but they’ll be worm food yet.” He rolled his head and raised his organic hand to his chin before turning to look at Dogolem, “Activate the dark matter size alteration implant, now.”
“Isn’t Emperor Karna Rog the one who usually enlarges our forces?” Dogolem asked.
Mirfak narrowed his organic eye, “Dogolem, remind me who made these implants.”
Dogolem looked around cautiously, “You did, Sir Mirfak.”
Mirfak took a step forward, raising his cybernetic arm to look at his cannon as red energy formed in it, black electricity with red outlines crackling around it, “And who is the head scientist of the Empire?”
Dogolem seemed to panic, “You are, Sir Mirfak.”
“Then when I tell you to activate the implant…” Mirfak threw Dogolem to the ground with his organic arm, “you do it!”
“I’m activating it right now,” the Doctor said, pressing a button.
Mirfak rolled his head around as he turned to look at him, “Thank you, Doctor. I’m glad that at least someone has a shred of competence around here.”
The Conqueror Worm’s body dissolved into swirling dark energy, flying off into the distance before a colossal Conqueror Worm head appeared. “Woah! Brando exclaimed.
“Looks like it’s time for the Zords,” Shen said.
“Time to see if I have a Zord then!” Arthur exclaimed excitedly.
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off to attach to their Zords. Arthur’s attached to the back of a cyan mechanical bear that had wheels instead of feet, almost like an ATV. In a slot on top of it was a smaller mechanical bear that had a single wheel at the bottom. “Sick!” Arthur exclaimed as the Zords charged towards the Conqueror Worm. The Scorpius Zord, Dorado Zord, and the Draco Zord fired at the Worm.
As the Draco Zord flew towards the Worm it quickly wrapped around the mech mechanical dragon, preventing it from moving. Shen struggled in its cockpit to free himself. Leiurus promptly fired at the Conqueror Worm’s head, freeing the Draco Zord as it recoiled and allowing the Taurus Zord to slam into the Worm.
“My time to shine!” Arthur said, firing a beam from the Ursa Zord’s at the Worm and making it give a screech of pain, “Yes!” Arthur promptly pressed a button in the cockpit, “Ursa Minor Zord, go!” The smaller bear detached and flew towards the Worm, energy spikes forming on its wheel. It sped across the Worm, slicing off a part of its head and making its humanoid body emerge from the ground.
“Hmm, I’m curious about something,” Shen clamped down the mouth of his Morpher, “Leiurus, Arthur, care to indulge my theory?”
“Of course, Commander,” Leiurus replied.
“Sure thing, dad,” Arthur responded.
The Draco Zord seemed to fold in half down the middle, sections on the back splaying out to reveal a pair of sockets as a head with a red visor was revealed. It seems to be the body of a robot, just missing the arms, with the tail of the Draco Zord forming the right foot and its head forming the right. The Scorpius and Ursa Zord’s attached to it, the Ursa Zord forming the right arm and the Scorpius Zord forming the left as the Draco Zord’s helmet slid over the visored head.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
“A new Megazord? Sick!” Arthur said excitedly.
“Let’s test this out then!” Shen said, moving the Draco Star Megazord towards the Conqueror Worm. It punched at the Worm with the Scorpius and Ursa Zords, punctuating some attacks with blasts from the Scorpius Zord’s stinger. The Worm lashed at them with its tendrils, but the Megazord was consistently able to block the attacks, retaliating with punch after punch.
“A new Megazord… who would’ve thought?” Leiurus mused as he thrusted the Scorpius Zord’s stinger at the Worm, making it stagger back as sparks shot from its chest.
“Seems just as strong as the Supernova Megazord even though it has less parts!” Arthur observed as he swiped at the Conquerer Worm’s head with the Ursa Zord.
“I’d say it’s even fancier looking too!” Shen exclaimed.
It lashed a tendril forward, only for the Scorpius Zord to position itself so it wrapped around its stinger, allowing Arthur to send it reeling with a punch from the Ursa Zords. It tried to lash at them after recovering, but the Draco Star Megazord spun around, kicking the Worm in the chest. It spun and slammed the Ursa Zords into it again, their wheels turning again and digging into the Worm’s flesh and making it screech as it staggered back.
“Hey, this thing shrunk when Brando hit it with water earlier, maybe it’s sensitive to that,” Arthur thought aloud.
Leiurus thought for a moment, “Good idea, let’s find out.” He plugged the Aquarius Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Aquarius Nova Sphere!”
The Scorpius Zord was pointed forward, firing a jet of water at the Worm, making it screech as its body started to spark. “Seems like your hypothesis was correct, Arthur!” Shen said excitedly, “Now let’s finish this thing off.”
“Right!” Leiurus and Arthur said in unison. Shen opened and then clamped down the mouth of his Morpher as Leiurus and Arthur flicked back their Nova Spheres and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits began to glow before the light left, swirling around the Draco Star Megazord and into the Ursa Zords. The Megazord pointed the Ursa Zords forward before firing a huge beam of orange, purple, and cyan energy at the Worm, making its body erupt in a massive explosion. “The stars of hope still shine!” Shen declared.
“Well, at least the implant is proven to work,” Mirfak said as the Conqueror Worm was destroyed for good, “I suppose the only test left to run is if it can affect inorganic matter, but I suppose we can test that later.” He looked at Dogolem and the Doctor, “I’ll be taking a break, I trust that you two can run this place in my absence.”
“Indeed,” the Doctor droned.
“Of course, Sir Mirfak,” Dogolem replied.
“Good,” Mirfak said as he exited the room and entered the hallway, talking to himself quietly and raising his organic hand to his chin, “So the implants work, but if I want to defeat Karna Rog, it will take much more than that…”
While the others battled the giant Conqueror Worm, Neil looked at Skragen and Calamartia on the other side of the sandlot, sword at his side. “I must admit,” Skragen said, “you’re much stronger than before.”
“But that still won’t save you now!” Calamartia said, flourishing her weapons.
Neil flourished his sword in response, “We’ll see about that!” Before Neil could charge forward, Ankaa appeared in front of Skragen and Calamartia, arms outstretched.
“Duke Ankaa, do you wish to deal with him yourself?” Skragen inquired. Ankaa nodded.
“Oh come on! Just when it was getting good too!” Calamartia said with annoyance as she and Skragen moved out of the way, leaving the Duke to deal with Neil.
“So, you want a rematch?” Neil asked, pointing his sword forward, “Hope I don’t disappoint.”
Ankaa unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him horizontally before wrapping his free hand around the blade and sliding it down it, causing the blade to ignite. He spun the blade around for a moment before holding it out in front of him, gripping it with both hands. With their weapons now drawn, Neil rushed forward. Ankaa kicked his foot, sending sand flying. The sand seemed to glow before solidifying into a jagged glass spike jutting forward that Neil managed to roll out of the way of just in time to avoid being impaled. “Hey, that’s not fair!” Neil yelled, getting to his feet.
Ankaa had picked up a handful of sand as Neil got to his feet, throwing it at him. The sand became superheated mid-air, becoming a jagged glass projectile. Neil swung his sword, shattering it before impact and running at Ankaa. He sliced at the Duke, who disappeared in a swirl of flames before impact. Neil quickly spun around and thrusted his sword forward, instinctively knowing that Ankaa was behind him. The stab connected, piercing through Ankaa’s chest and running the Duke through, “Yeah! Gotcha!”
Ankaa glanced down at the sword before slowly looking back up at Neil, removing one hand from his flaming sword to give a small finger wag before kicking Neil back, removing the sword from him as well. As Neil got to his feet, Ankaa casually brushed off his front, “What are you?”
Ankaa gripped his sword with both hands before swinging, sending a flaming crescent at Neil. Neil rolled to the side, charging at Ankaa and locking blades with the Duke. They each swung at each other again and again, until Ankaa spun to break the lock, delivering a spinning slice that Neil rolled back to avoid. As Neil got to his feet, Ankaa stabbed directly at his head before he could react.
The blade shattered the entirety of Neil’s visor, leaving his wide eyes exposed as he, Skragen, and Calamartia gasped. The blade’s flaming tip was inches away from his face. He kicked Ankaa back, getting the sword away from his face in the process. Breathing heavily, he fired at the Duke rapidly, but Ankaa constantly blocked the shots with his flaming sword. Ankaa promptly sheathed his sword and stood there, not moving for a moment. “Tired already?” Neil said, trying to sound confident.
Ankaa slid his sword out of its sheathe a little, disappearing in a swirl of flames. Neil turned to see another swirl of flames behind him, Ankaa appearing and sheathing his sword again. As the sword was sheathed fire erupted across Neil’s chest, making him fall back to the ground and unmorph, heavily injured.
Skragen and Calamartia looked on with shock, obviously not expecting the brutality of the attack. “So this is the strength of the Emperor’s bodyguard…” Skragen said quietly.
“Oh I love his style,” Calamartia said after a moment, composing herself.
Slowly, Ankaa made his way towards Neil, unsheathing his sword and putting it in a reverse grip. Neil tried to get to his feet, but it was no use, he was far too weak. Ankaa was soon standing above Neil, tilting his head to the side as he looked his unmorphed form over, curious. That curiosity soon died as he gripped his sword with both hands, bending his arms back and preparing to end Neil with a single stab.
“Neil!” Shen yelled from the Draco Zord’s cockpit.
“Someone do something!” Brando yelled.
Arthur panicked for a moment before pressing a button, “Let’s try this!” The Ursa Minor Zord was launched and landed at the sandlot, directly in front of Ankaa and Neil. Noticing the new development, Ankaa backed off as the Ursa Minor Zord scooped Neil up into its chest compartment before leaping back to the Draco Star Megazord.
“We need to retreat,” Leiurus stated.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Aster replied, not even trying to disagree.
“Yeah, we need to get Neil to safety now,” Brando responded.
The Draco Star Megazord promptly separated into its component parts, and the Scorpius, Taurus, Dorado, Draco, and Ursa Zords flew off into the sky moments later.
In Kaus’s New Jersey base, he, Skragen, and Calamartia kneeled before a hologram of the Emperor as Ankaa stood behind them. “It appears that Ankaa has arrived at your base of operations without incident,” Karna Rog looked down at them.
“Indeed, your magnificence,” Kaus replied, “he even came incredibly close to killing one of the Rangers.”
“I’m aware, Duke Kaus. I saw the footage of Neil Astra’s battle with him, Skragen, and Calamartia,” Karna Rog replied, turning his attention to Ankaa, “I expected nothing less from my right hand.” There was a twinge of affection in Karna Rog’s voice as Ankaa gave a theatrical bow.
“When should Antares arrive, your magnificence?” Kaus inquired.
“Duke Antares should be arriving soon, he has completed his latest assignment, so it is just a matter of time,” Karna Rog replied.
Calamartia gave a small nod, “I cannot wait to work with him, after all, he’s the most esteemed Jester of the Empire.”
“Indeed, it’s not every day a Jester is promoted to the position of Duke or Duchess,” Skragen replied.
Karna Rog gave a barely visible nod, “Indeed. I would recommend that you prepare to transfer your base of operations to Duke Antares’s Executor-class Consumoai when it arrives.”
“What about Duke Ankaa’s Consumoai, your majesty?” Calamartia questioned, but Karna Rog didn’t respond, his hologram disappearing. With the meeting over, Ankaa exited the room.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog looked directly in front of him. He was quiet for a moment before speaking, “You are quite lucky that I found dispatching Ankaa to be a good idea after the fact, I’m not particularly fond of what you did yesterday, but you already knew that.”
It was dead quiet for a moment.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Karna Rog rasped, “I can tell that you realized it was a bad idea now, after seeing what he did to the Rangers, especially Neil Astra.”
It was quiet again.
“Don’t lie to me, I can see the fear in your eyes,” Karna Rog replied, tapping his talons against the throne, “You are scared of Ankaa.”
It was silent once more.
The Emperor laughed his emotionless laugh, “You are fortunate I’ve upheld my terms of our deal for as long as I have, given your continued interference.”
Shen and Arthur paced back and forth on the bridge worriedly, waiting for Birdie to return. “Calm down, both of you,” Sirius said, trying to sound comforting, “I am sure Neil will be okay.”
“Well of course he is,” Arthur replied, “I mean, Birdie took the Hydra Nova Sphere to heal him.”
Shen nodded, “But that doesn’t change the fact that Ankaa was seconds away from killing him. If you hadn’t intervened when you had…”
Arthur patted Shen’s shoulder, “It’s okay, dad, Neil’s still okay.”
“Yeah,” Alura replied, “at least everyone made it out alive.”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, that could’ve gone a lot worse.”
“Yeah,” Aster replied simply.
The doors to the bridge opened as Neil and Birdie stepped inside. Birdie held up the Hydra Nova Sphere, which was grey-blue and depicted a snake’s head with its body coiled around it, “I have successfully healed Neil’s injuries. Physically, he is okay.”
“Oh thank the stars,” Shen said with relief.
Brando nodded, “You’re a lifesaver, Birdie.”
Neil slumped down in a chair, giving a sigh, “I might be a-okay physically, but man am I exhausted.”
“Hey, you were doing pretty good against that guy,” Tip said, trying to boost Neil’s morale.
Neil gave a tired smile, “Thanks, Tip.”
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “you did good out there.”
“It’s just…” Neil thought for a moment, “that guy is way out of our league, he’s the Emperor’s bodyguard for crying out loud!”
Sirius shook his head, “Neil, just because we cannot overcome an obstacle now does not mean we cannot in the future. If we continue to train and get stronger, we will be able to face him.”
“I guess,” Neil said, “Did we ever figure out what was causing that Gaiaium spike?”
Birdie looked at her datapad, “It appears that the spike has moved from Scotland to New Jersey.”
“How is that possible?” Hydra asked, giving a confused look.
“I think it’s worth cross referencing what happened during your mission to stop Stonhinge a little while ago. When Skragen and Calamartia left after your confrontation, they went back to New Jersey,” Birdie explained, “and since the spike obviously wasn’t coming from them or Kaus, it was obviously coming from Ankaa.”
Arthur gave a confused look, “From Ankaa? How’s that possible?”
“Who knows,” Shen replied, “he is an enigma, we don’t even know what he is.” He gave a sigh, “But whatever he is, we can’t let him stand in our way of freeing the galaxy.”
“You’re right,” Neil said, looking at him, “and now that we know he’s here, he won’t catch us by surprise next time.”
Arthur nodded, “You’re right, at least we know some of the stuff he’s capable of.”
Shen looked at Neil and Birdie, “I think you need to rest up, Neil, you’ve been through a lot today. Birdie, could you take him to his quarters?”
Birdie nodded, “Of course, Commander Long.”
Neil nodded, “I’ll try. Goodnight guys.” Birdie helped Neil to his feet and the two of them left the bridge.
A few hours later an Executor-class Consumoai blinked into view within the limits of the solar system. Inside its control room Antares looked at a hologram of Schedar, nodding his head as she spoke, “Well Antares, I wish you luck in dealin’ with those pesky Rangers.”
“Thank you, Dame Schedar,” Antares nodded, “I’m interested in seeing how they fare against me, especially the one who claims to be my brother.”
“Yeah,” Schedar nodded, “I don’t know what he’s gettin’ at. Well, I mean there is a possibility, but you and I both know it ain’t very likely.”
Antares nodded, “Regardless of whether it’s true or just a delusion, I’ll put an end to him just the same for opposing the Empire.”
Notes:
Conqueror Worm: Based on the Mongolian Death Worm and named after “The Conqueror Worm” a poem by Edgar Allen Poe
This chapter might as well been called, “The Reason why Mirfak is Scared of Ankaa.” On that note, Ankaa’s movements before attacking the Rangers (that being preventing the Greyders from charging) were meant to homage General Schwartz’s first confrontation with the Rangers in ToQger’s episode 6. Honestly, Lucky’s rivalry with Ikagen in the source episode felt really forced and ultimately made it so Shou never really got closure for what happened, which is a big reason why Ankaa fills Ikagen’s role this episode. I mostly inserted that little banter between Arthur and Leiurus about morphing because someone was bound to notice it eventually. As for Calamartia’s regeneration this episode, as much as I found Madakko’s gimmick of getting a new personality every time she regenerated interesting, ultimately it makes her hard to get invested in as a character since she’s a different person every three episodes. As such, Calamartia’s personality is staying the same the whole time, and if you couldn’t guess is based on Madakko’s original personality, since it’s the one me and many others like the best. As for choosing Scotland as this chapter’s setting, it’ll be made more clear later, trust me. The lack of the Argo is also something I’m sure a few of you will notice, and it’s mostly because like I said in the first chapter, this isn’t going to be 1:1 with Kyuranger, with that being a more notable difference alongside… well, Ankaa in general. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 13: Venom
Notes:
Supernova Megazord (New Formation)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ankaa, Antares, and Calamartia walked through the halls of a Consumoai in Kansas City, heading towards the control room. “I must say,” Antares began, “I’m quite glad you’re accompanying me while the others are getting situated back on my Consumoai.”
“Well, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to get to know Duke Antares of Scorpius, head Jester of the Dark Matter Empire himself,” Calamartia replied, “Me and my husband really look up to your work.”
Antares just chuckled, “Funny, I quite look up to you and your husband myself. After all, you two have been in this line of work way longer than I have.”
Calamartia snorted, “If we were as good as you, we’d be Dukes and Duchesses already. Not that it matters to me, I get to see a lot more action as a Jester.”
“Well, to each their own, I suppose. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from doing something else while you’re a Duchess, just look at me and Ankaa,” Antares gestured to the gold masked Duke.
“Still too much desk work for my liking, I need to feel my blood pumping,” Calamartia shook her head as they stepped into the Consumoai’s control room, “Why are we here anyway?”
Antares looked at the modified Flatborg who acted as the Marquis of this place before lashing his stinger at it, making the Marquis fall to the ground and twitch as its body began to deform, “I figured I should give myself a little welcoming party.”
“So, what’s today’s mission, dad?” Neil asked as he and the others walked onto the bridge.
Shen thought for a moment, “Well, I’m just gonna star-t this off by saying it’s a bit of a weird one.”
“Weird?” Alura asked, “Weird how? Can’t be that strange compared to some of the things we’ve dealt with so far.”
Birdie typed on her datapad, pulling up a screen displaying the streets of Kansas City, where people and Greyders were viciously attacking each other, “Something has caused untold aggression in the people of this city, aggression that’s quickly spread to the Imperial forces as well.”
“That’s good, right? Less of the Empire for us to deal with,” Tip replied.
Shen shook his head, “It’s not that simple, the people down there are attacking each other too, and we don’t know why.”
“So it’s up to us to put a stop to it,” Aster said.
Birdie nodded, “Precisely. We also need to figure out what’s causing this too.”
“Well let’s get down there and see what’s going on,” Neil said confidently.
Arthur nodded, “The sooner we get this all done with, the better.”
“Then we should see who is going on today’s mission then,” Sirius stated.
Shen spun around, “Hit it, Arthur!” Arthur pressed a button on one of the bridge’s consoles.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Yeah!” Neil pumped his fist in the air.
“Leiurus!”
Leiurus just nodded.
“Aster!”
“Of course I get paired up with him again,” Aster grumbled a bit.
“Hey, it’s just one mission, it’s not gonna kill you,” Alura replied.
“I guess,” Aster replied.
“Alura!”
“Got it, Boss!” Alura said excitedly.
“Me!”
Shen gave a spin, “Everybody ready?”
“Yeah!” the other selected Rangers said in unison.
“Then let’s go!” Neil exclaimed.
The Rangers were in Kansas City a few minutes later, walking through the streets as sickly-looking people and Greyders with purple stripes on their uniforms shambled around. “What’s up with everyone?” Aster asked as the people and Greyders began to shamble towards them.
“They’re acting like zombies,” Neil observed. The group looked around, with Shen coming from the rear to keep an eye on anything around them. After a moment they spotted a modified Flatborg shambling towards them, purple spikes jutting from its body.
“What’s the chance he’s the source of this?" Aster asked.
Alura shrugged, “Pretty high.”
Leiurus fired at the Marquis, making it fall over before it promptly stood back up, seeming to exert no energy and not even using its hands to help it get back up. “Oh I hate that!" Shen declared.
“So creepy,” Alura added. Seeing that the horde of people and Greyders now almost completely surrounded them, the Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
As the Rangers were about to fight the zombified Greyders, several Greyders that weren’t zombified appeared, swinging their blades and obviously trying to stop the chaos, only to be clawed at by the Marquis, making them fall to the ground as the stripes on their uniforms turned purple. The Greyders got back up, now clearly zombified.
“Seems like the Marquis is the cause of this,” Neil said, readying himself.
Alura nodded, “Try not to get hit by anything though, the Marquis seems to be able to do it, but there’s no telling if the others can do it too.”
“But what made the Marquis like this to begin with?” Aster said as he punched a Greyder away, stepping away from a civilian that tried to grab at him.
The Rangers quickly got to work dealing with the Greyders, trying to avoid harming any civilians in the process. They made sure to keep their distance from the Marquis, attacking it only when necessary. After a bit of fighting, Leiurus lashed his tail at a Greyder, the purple draining from its uniform as it fell to the ground. “Interesting,” he mused as he noted what he had sucked out of it, “We should fall back, I think I know what’s going on.”
“Really?” Aster said curiously, dodging a swing from the Marquis before swinging his leg to kick it without even looking back.
“Trust me,” Leiurus nodded as the group began to back away from the zombies. Leiurus quickly plugged the Scutum Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
He fired it repeatedly, forming a wall of energy shields that the zombies continually threw themselves against. “That should keep them occupied,” Leiurus said before turning to the others, “Let’s get going, I think I know how to fix this.”
Antares, Ankaa, and Calamartia watched from the top of a nearby building. “So they’re just running off now? Cowards,” Calamartia said, rolling her eyes.
“Hmm, that Scorpius Ranger, I’ve seen him before,” Antares said to himself, “That night, when I destroyed the tribe that exiled me, he fought off our forces, and he knew my name.”
“So you’re familiar with him?” Calamartia replied.
“Indeed, and if he is the one from that tribe…” Antares thought for a moment, “well, then maybe his claims about being my brother aren’t so unfounded after all.” He looked back at Ankaa and Calamartia, “Let’s keep watching, for now at least.” As the Rangers retreated, he thought back to his earliest days as a Jester…
“Here he is,” Schedar said as she led Eurypto into Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, the Serketian following behind her, “our glorious leader, Emperor Karna Rog himself!”
Eurypto, who still resembled a regular Serketian, took a knee as Schedar stood beside him, “Your majesty.”
“So, you are Eurypto,” Karna Rog said, leaning forward, “Schedar has told me quite a bit about you, destroying the tribe that exiled you with no mercy.”
“Indeed,” Eurypto nodded, “I must thank you, as your forces assisted me greatly.”
Karna Rog gave a barely visible nod before glancing over at Ankaa and looking back at Eurypto, “Eurypto Calchas, I sense great potential in you. Swear fealty to me, and I shall grant you great power.”
Eurypto nodded, “Of course, your majesty, I owe you for allowing me to take my revenge. I will save every drop of venom in my body for enemies of the Empire.”
“Good,” the Emperor said as he raised a hand, lifting his index finger as a sliver of black energy appeared above it. Schedar stepped to the side as Karna Rog flicked his finger forward, sending the sliver of energy flying towards Eurypto and stabbing him in the chest. Eurypto let out a cry of pain as he was engulfed in black flames. As the flames subsided he was now in his current form, looking away from the Emperor as he panted heavily.
Karna Rog raised his finger again, a red mask materializing above it before he flicked it towards Eurypto, who caught it mid-air before putting it on. “Serve me well, Eurypto Calchas, and one day you shall become a Duke,” Karna Rog rasped.
Schedar chuckled as Eurypto got to his feet, “Congratulations, Eurypto!”
The unmorphed Rangers stood inside of an abandoned warehouse, looking at Leiurus. “Alright,” Aster said, tapping his foot, “what’s going on?”
Leiurus lifted his stinger in front of his face, “I extracted venom from that Greyder, it’s a potent cocktail of adrenaline and other stimulants that raise aggression and prevent higher brain functions.”
“Venom?” Neil inquired, “How do you know it’s venom?”
“Serketians such as myself can easily change the composition of our venom, but if we were to suck it out, we can still tell that it’s from one of our own kind, and that feeling is even stronger when it’s from one’s own kin,” Leiurus explained.
“So there’s another Serketian on Earth then, one related to you?” Alura inquired.
“I think it’s my brother, Eurypto, he… for some reason he became the Empire’s top Jester, and apparently he’s recently become the Duke of the Scorpius system, he goes by Antares now, from what I’ve heard,” Leiurus replied.
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “So this brother that you claim kidnapped Professor Ain, he’s here?”
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, that seems to be the case.”
“That’s good to know,” Shen said, “but right now we need to focus on the people who’ve fallen victim to his venom.”
Leiurus lifted up his Morpher, “I’m sending the formula for the antidote up to the Orion now.”
“You figured out the formula already?” Alura said with surprise, “Like, just on the fly?”
Leiurus nodded as he lowered his Morpher, “While my people were admittedly a bit primitive, and we had only recently discovered space travel when Eurypto turned on my tribe, we are very knowledgeable when it comes to chemicals.”
“Good,” Neil replied, “once we get that antidote, we can put an end to this Night of the Living Dead stuff.”
Antares, Calamartia, and Ankaa looked down from the top of a building at the chaos unfolding below, Antares’s arms crossed over the railing as he leaned forward. “It never gets old, using my venom like this,” he said wistfully.
“It is fun watching the healthy ones run scared,” Calamartia chuckled, almost hiding the groans and footsteps of a zombified Flatborg that was approaching them from behind.
Antares quickly spun around to face it, wrapping his tail around his leg in the process so his stinger was on top of his foot. Calamartia and Ankaa turned to look at the Flatborg as well, with Calamartia giving a look of confusion as Ankaa tilted his head to the side curiously. Antares moved with blinding speed, kicking the Flatborg in the chest and knocking it back, pinning it to the exterior wall of the stairwell that led to the roof. The Flatborg’s body began to turn purple, which spread to the all behind it as Antares removed his foot from the Flatborg’s chest and began to walk back towards Ankaa and Calamartia. The Flatborg’s body began to bubble before dissolving in a burst of purple sludge, a sigil burned into the wall as well.
“What was that for?” Calamartia said, putting her hands on her hips, “I thought these jelly brains were on our side.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t control those affected by my venom,” Antares explained, “they’ll lash out at anything not under its influence. Thankfully they can’t spread the venom to me, and due to the regenerative abilities of you two, I doubt it will affect you either. Still, if they try to lash out at us, feel free to dispose of them.”
Calamartia chuckled, “More blood to spill is never a bad thing!”
“We have the antidote,” Sirius said as he, Tip, Hydra, Brando, and Arthur brought in several cases of the antidote.
“Me, Tip, and Hydra made it,” Arthur explained, “It should work like a charm!”
Shen nodded, “Good, we need to get this a-round to the people under the venom’s influence immediately.”
“There’s still a lot of Greyders and Flatborgs affected by it too,” Hydra said, “we saw them as we were coming down.”
Tip nodded, making a sweeping gesture with their hands, “There’s just hordes of them still roaming the streets, dozens upon dozens!”
“Sounds like we’re gonna have to deal with them too,” Aster cracked his knuckles, “Fine by me, just means there’s gonna be more action!”
“We should group up,” Leiurus stated, “it will allow us to cover more ground, and due to the way the venom spreads it would be unwise to operate on our own.”
Aster grumbled, “Of course he’s calling the shots.”
Neil looked at him, “Aster, Leiurus obviously knows how to handle this better than the rest of us do.”
“Yeah, Leiurus knows what we should be doing, and as his teammates we should trust his judgment,” Alura added.
“You, me, and Tip are the only ones the venom is unlikely to affect, but we can’t rely on just the three of us when my brother is still probably around here,” Leiurus said to Aster.
Aster growled, stepping towards Leiurus and looking down at him, “And if we do run into this brother of yours, what’re you gonna do to him? And you better not say that you’re gonna try to talk some sense into him, not after everything he’s done.”
Leiurus looked up at him with a serious expression, “I’ll… do whatever the situation calls for.” Leiurus’s voice was calm, but there was a hint of uncertainty.
“We can worry about this later,” Shen said, “right now we need to focus on dealing with the problem at hand.”
Neil nodded, “He’s right, we need to quit the bickering and help people.”
Alura nodded, “Sirius, Tip, Hydra, and Brando, come with me. We’re going to administer the antidote as a group.”
“Of course,” Sirius nodded.
“Got it!” Tip said with enthusiasm.
“Understood,” Hydra replied.
“Let’s cleanse these people’s palates!” Brando said excitedly. The five of them left the building, carrying a few cases of the antidote with them.
Neil looked over at the remaining four Rangers, “Then that means you guys are with me.”
Leiurus wasted no time leaving the building to get to work, leaving the rest of them. Aster seemed to glare at him for a moment before grabbing a case of the antidote and storming out as well. “Would it kill them to get along?” Arthur sighed.
Shen just shook his head and put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “I don’t blame Aster for his anger, maybe he thinks Leiurus could’ve stopped Eurypto before Professor Ain was kidnapped.”
“Maybe you’re right, dad,” Neil nodded, “but we’re a team, we can’t just let things go on like this forever.”
Shen nodded, “You’re right Neil, I don’t think Aster sees that Leiurus has his own problems pertaining to this situation, I’ll need to straighten things out between them. It might not fix everything, but hopefully it’ll help bring the antagonism down.”
“Well let’s get going, the people need us,” Arthur said, changing the subject.
“Right,” Neil nodded, “let’s go.”
In a plaza infested with zombies, Sirius ran through it on all fours, drawing the attention of several zombified people and making them chase after him, “Come on! I am right here!” While many of the zombies in the plaza chased after him, there were still a few that remained, wandering around aimlessly.
After a few moments the color returned to the skin of a few of them as they collapsed, with Alura blinking into view afterwards, holding an injector, “Brando, how are you doing?”
Brando jabbed an injector into a zombie’s chest, making the color return to her skin as she passed out before gently placing her on the ground, “Just fine!” He spun out of the way as another zombie tried to grab him, jabbing it in the shoulder before jabbing another zombie in the hip.
Birdie spoke from where she sat in the Orion’s pilot seat, having stayed behind to keep an eye on the ship while the others had left, “Good job down there! Now call your Zords to get the civilians away from there, we don’t have enough antidotes to use if they get infected again.”
Brando spoke into his Morpher, “Got it!” He looked at Alura, “Let’s get them out of here!”
Alura nodded, “Right!” They plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
Their respective Zords flew down and scooped up the civilians before flying off as Alura and Brando turned to look at the zombified Greyders and Flatborgs. “Ready to filet these guys?” Brando inquired, glancing at Alura.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Alura responded, readying her Morpher as the Zombies shambled towards them.
“Follow me! This way!” Sirius growled as he ran down a street, the horde chasing after him, “Come on! Just a bit further!” He spotted Hydra step out from behind a car and ran past him.
“I’ll take it from here,” Hydra said calmly, looking at the horde and making them freeze in place, twitching a bit as they tried to move forward.
“Antidote time!” Tip said excitedly as they stepped into view, extending several wires from their arms. The wires went forward and jabbed the zombies, making them collapse to the ground as Hydra broke his hold on them. The three of them plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
The Zords spirited the civilians away as the three Rangers readied themselves to battle the zombified Imperial forces approaching them.
Leiurus calmly walked past a few zombies near an office building, stinging them with his tail to administer the antidote. He pulled his necklace out of his pocket as the zombies fell to the ground, looking at it sadly, remembering his brother’s words, “I know I won’t always be around for you, so I want you to take this. It’s so that even when I’m somewhere else, I can still be with you.”
He sighed, “What happened to you, Eurypto?”
“Leiurus!” Leiurus turned to see Arthur running towards him with injectors in his hands, “I came to help, the others are close by.”
Leiurus nodded as he looked at the unconscious civilians, “Thanks Arthur, but I’ve got things under control here.”
“Seems like it,” Arthur said, looking around before glancing back at Leiurus, noticing the necklace he was holding, “Are you thinking about-”
“My brother? Yes,” Leiurus sighed.
Arthur nodded, “You don’t want to hate him, do you?”
“I…” Leiurus paused for a moment, “I don’t know. He’s done horrible things, so many horrible things. But at the same time…” he sighed, “he’s still my brother, still the only family I had for twenty-two years of my life, and a part of me knows that he wouldn’t do something like this of his own free will. I guess a part of me just hopes that…” Leiurus trailed off.
Arthur nodded, “Hopes your brother is still in there somewhere?”
“Yeah,” Leiurus replied, turning to look at Arthur, “Arthur, promise me something, okay? Promise to look after Neil, make sure that he never becomes what Eurypto is now. Look after him the way he’s looked after you.”
Arthur nodded, giving an understanding look, “I understand, Leiurus.”
A few yards away, Neil and Shen helped usher a few civilians to safety. “Thank you so much!” a woman said gratefully as she he helped lead her daughter away.
Neil laughed, “It’s no problem, ma’am!”
Aster stood nearby, looking at Leiurus and grumbling, “I can’t believe he’s even considering keeping Eurypto or Antares or whatever he’s called alive after all of this.”
Shen sighed as he turned to look at Aster, “Aster, when I first found Leiurus, he was searching far and wide for his brother, even performing some rather extreme actions to try and find where he was. But after he joined the Revolution, it gave him time to really look back at his past, and that’s when those doubts began to form, and I don’t blame him.”
“Why? How can he even consider giving him an inch after Eurypto destroyed his home? He’s delusional!” Aster grumbled.
Shen shook his head, “Because Leiurus is still his brother and was the only family he had for a long time. Of course he’s going to have doubts about killing him, he knew Eurypto in a way that the rest of us don’t. It’s going to be hard to hurt someone you love, even if they have done terrible things.” Shen took a deep breath, “Aster, if this was Professor Ain instead of Eurypto, would you feel the same way? Feel that same reluctance and doubt?”
Aster froze for a moment, obviously taking in what Shen had said, thinking back to Professor Ain’s words, “Because, if you lose sight of your desire to protect, to love, then you’ll be no different than any other machine.”
“I… I….” he trailed off, “I would, Professor Ain made me, of course it would be hard for me to hate him.”
Shen nodded, “That’s exactly how Leiurus feels. Like it or not, Eurypto is just as much his problem as he is yours, it’s important that we take him into consideration when it comes to dealing with Eurypto.”
“You’re right,” Aster said, defeated. “I need to go talk to him,” Aster ran off towards Leiurus as a massive horde of zombified Imperial troops led by the Marquis began to shamble towards Neil’s group.
Leiurus blasted a Greyder with his Morpher as Arthur helped the last of the civilians to safety. Arthur quickly spun around, shooting another Greyder. Leiurus was just about to get hit by the swing of another Greyder’s blade when Aster blasted it in the face. Leiurus looked at him with surprise, “Aster?”
“You said you wanted to find Eurypto or Antares or whatever it is he calls himself, right?” Aster asked as he fired alongside Leiurus and Arthur.
“Yes,” Leiurus replied.
“And you said what you’d do whatever the situation calls for to stop him?” Aster responded.
“Of course, and I will kill him if the situation calls for it,” Leiurus nodded.
“I don’t think so, I know you have your doubts about it, seeing as he’s your brother and all. But regardless if you can or not, I’m gonna help you take him down,” Aster told him.
“No, he’s my brother, his crimes are my own, he’s my problem,” Leiurus said angrily as he shot another Greyder while Neil and Shen arrived.
“You seem to forget that I hate him too,” Aster replied, “he took your tribe, and he took my creator, I have just as much a reason to go after him as you. He’s not just your responsibility.”
“You… you want to help me?” Leiurus said curiously.
“Well duh,” Aster replied.
Leiurus glanced at Aster as Neil and Shen joined in firing at the Greyders, “Well then, I’m not going to stop you.”
Arthur grinned, “I’m glad to see you two getting along finally.”
“Yeah, now that you’re not butting heads, you two will be unstoppable!” Neil exclaimed.
Shen nodded as he shot another Greyder, “Yes, it’s good to see you two have finally set aside your differences.”
Leiurus lowered his Morpher and pulled out his Nova Sphere, with the others following his lead.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
They were surrounded by light, which disappeared to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they yelled in unison, drawing their weapons and slicing at the zombified Greyders and Flatborgs.
“Alright, Scorpius Ranger,” Antares said as he slung an arm over the guardrail at the top of a building overlooking the area where the Rangers were fighting, Ankaa and Calamartia standing close by, “let’s see just how strong you are.”
Neil ran past a few Greyders, blasting them before kicking another in the chest and knocking it to the ground. Another Greyder was shambling up behind Neil, only for Arthur to lash at it with his scarf and sending it reeling. Arthur promptly leapt onto a nearby table, lashing at nearby Greyders from higher ground. Shen fired at a few Greyders with his rifle, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by one that had crept up behind him and giving a yell before stabbing it in the chest. A Greyder swung at him with its blade, but he quickly blocked it with his rifle before shooting in the chest, spinning to shoot a Greyder that was about to swing at Arthur from behind. “Thanks for the save, dad!” Arthur exclaimed as he lashed at another Greyder.
“Oh it’s no problem,” Shen said as he shifted the rifle back into a cane, slashing a few more Greyders.
Meanwhile, Leiurus and Aster were combating a pair of zombified Flatborgs, hacking, slashing, and stabbing them. Aster punched one in the face, making it stagger back into a slice from Leiurus, “Nice one, partner!”
“Partner?” Leiurus said with confusion as he swung at the Flatborg with his spear.
Aster sliced at the other Flatborg, sending it reeling, “Well we’re gonna hunt down your brother together, aren’t we? Might as well set the mood.”
Leiurus delivered a spinning slice to the Flatborg he was fighting, “If you say so.”
As Shen was fighting off a few Greyders, the zombified Marquis was shambling towards him, and raised its arms to claw at him, only for Neil to shove it to the ground before slicing at a few more Greyders with his sword, blocking their oddly limp swings. Neil promptly shot a dead Greyder in the head, making Shen give a look of confusion, “What was that for?”
“These are zombies,” Neil replied as he kicked a Greyder in the chest before slicing another, “it never hurts to double-tap.”
Arthur spun around with his glaive, taking down a few more Greyders, “It’s like rule one of a zombie apocalypse.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Shen said as he sliced at another Greyder with his cane, speeding away from it to swing at another Greyder.
Aster spun around, slicing at the Flatborgs and sending them staggering back as Leiurus leapt forward to deliver a downward swing, using his tail to trip them up as he landed. Aster quickly grabbed the arm of one of the Flatborgs, flipping it onto the ground and allowing Leiurus to stab it in the chest.
Antares stepped back from the railing, crossing his arms, “I’ve seen enough, I’m satisfied.” He drew a spear with a shaft made of black metal with purple metal at its point that had a hole in the middle of it, around its middle which formed a grip, and at the back, which looked like a claw with the upper half swept back. He looked at Ankaa and Calamartia, “What do you say we have a little fun of our own?”
Calamartia produced her sword and mace, “Now you’re speaking my language, let’s teach those jelly brains a lesson.” Ankaa said nothing, simply giving a nod that was barely noticeable.
As the Rangers battled the zombified Imperial forces, they didn’t notice the arrival of Ankaa, Antares, and Calamartia, who were beginning to beat through the zombies as well. Calamartia jabbed a Greyder in the chest with her mace before spinning around and slicing a few more with her sword. Ankaa was much more restrained, simply walking up to Greyders and putting his hand on them, making them burst into flames. Antares stood with his back to Leiurus and Aster, stabbing and slicing at Greyders with his spear in a manner that almost perfectly synced with the attacks Leiurus was performing on the Flatborgs. After a moment he moved off to the side, observing Leiurus’s attacks. A Greyder began to creep up behind Antares, but he swung his spear back to slice it, not even looking back as it fell to the ground.
Leiurus and Aster delivered a pair of powerful slashes to the Flatborgs, making them go up in flames as Neil, Shen, and Arthur defeated the last of the Greyders in a similar manner, leaving only the zombified Marquis behind. “Time to finish this!” Aster exclaimed as he readied his Morpher.
Leiurus nodded as he readied his as well, pointing it at the Marquis, “Right.” The Rangers pointed their Morphers at the Marquis.
“All Star Shot!” They fired at the zombie, spherical projectiles with tails like comets flying at it. The projectiles connected, creating a massive explosion. As the smoke cleared the Marquis could be seen on the ground, its body giving a small twitch before going motionless.
“Shine on!” Aster said, giving a thumbs up.
Leiurus nodded as he did the same, “Shine on.”
The Rangers suddenly heard clapping from behind them, turning to see Antares leaning up against a wall with Ankaa and Calamartia standing beside him. “Bravo,” Antares said, “You did better than I expected.”
“Who are you?” Neil said, pointing his sword at him.
Antares took a step forward, “I am Duke Antares of the Scorpius system, and the top Jester of the Empire. I’ve been assigned here to assist in your termination for your treason against the Empire.”
Leiurus’s eyes widened underneath his helmet as he looked Antares over, “Eurypto? What happened to you?”
Antares rolled the eye that was visible through his mask, “Hello, Scorpius Ranger. I’ve been told that you claim to be my younger brother.”
“Claimed? Eurypto, I am your younger brother, it’s me, Leiurus,” Leiurus said, lowering his weapon.
Antares shook his head, “You know, I was pretty skeptical about your claims at first, no one ever told me I had a brother, but then when I saw your face… well, I remembered that you were there the night I destroyed that tribe that exiled me.”
“Exiled? Eurypto, what are you talking about? You left to go hunting and when you came back you had Imperial forces with you, you were never exiled!” Leiurus said with confusion.
Antares rolled his visible eye, “That’s what the Empire told me, and many people there corroborated it, obviously that’s what happened.” There was a barely noticeable hint of uncertainty in his voice as he said that.
Leiurus was flabbergasted, “Eurypto you’re-”
Aster stepped forward and put a hand in front of Leiurus, “Leiurus, this guy’s obviously delusional, negotiating ain’t gonna work.” Aster growled, “So you’re the one who took Professor Ain.”
Antares nodded, “Indeed. I must admit, I’m more comfortable with killing as opposed to capturing, but personally I didn’t mind that job.” Antares pointed his spear forward, “But enough chit-chat, I have a job to do.”
Calamatia charged forward at Shen, swinging at him with her mace, but Shen managed to dodge it, allowing Arthur to slice at her from the side with his glaive and sending her reeling. She growled, “You jelly-brained brat!”
“Nobody talks to my son like that!” Shen swung his cane at Calamartia, who blocked it with her sword.
Ankaa appeared in a swirl of flames in front of Neil, bringing his sword down on the Leo Ranger. Neil sidestepped it, breathing heavily as Ankaa turned to look at him before swinging his sword again, which Neil blocked with his own. Ankaa promptly disappeared in a swirl of flames, appearing some distance behind Neil and throwing a fireball. Luckily Neil turned just in time to see it and roll out of the way before speaking with a low voice, “You again.”
Antares thrusted his spear forward at Leiurus and Aster, who leapt to the sides to avoid it. Antares immediately followed it up by delivering a spinning slice, which the Rangers hastily blocked. Antares stabbed forward a few more times, but both attacks were blocked, causing him to leap back with a spin and slash a purple energy crescent at the Rangers. Leiurus and Aster rolled out of the way before charging at Antares, with Leiurus lashing his stinger towards him. Antares extended his own stinger, clashing it with Leiurus’s as he blocked an attack from Leiurus and Aster. He pushed the two of them back before spinning around with his spear, slashing all around himself as he lowered himself to his knees before getting back up.
Antares promptly wrapped his tail around his leg, launching himself forward at Leiurus and Aster with blinding speed as he performed a flying kick. The Rangers blocked the kick with their weapons, making Antares spin back and away from them. He kicked his leg forward, sending a spray of venom at them from his stinger, which they promptly dodged out of the way of, making the venom hit the concrete where they stood. The venom burned into the concrete, making it steam and bubble.
Calamartia did the splits to duck under a swing from Arthur’s glaive, quickly raising her sword and mace to block the slices that Shen and Arthur followed it up with. She forced them away, rolling and getting to her feet, “A middle-aged man and a child, you must be joking.”
Shen promptly shot her in the chest, making her stagger back, “You must’ve forgotten that this middle-aged man almost killed you not too long ago.”
Arthur swung his scarf forward, making Calamartia raise her weapons to block it, allowing Arthur to slash her with his glaive, “And that this child took down a Marquis!”
Ankaa teleported around Neil with swirls of flames, swinging at him rapidly with his flaming blade. Neil was able to react to each and every slice, blocking them of dodging out of the way. He ducked under a swing from Ankaa’s sword and retaliating before the Duke could teleport again, slicing him across the chest. Ankaa didn’t react at all, with the tear in his tunic sealing itself immediately. “Dude, what are you made of?” Neil said with annoyance.
Ankaa gripped his sword with both hands, moving it to make a circle in front of him, flames trailing behind the tip of a blade. When he was done a ring of fire was in front of him, which he swung his sword into. A vortex of fire erupted forward from the ring towards Neil, who rolled out of the way to avoid it and making it hit the wall of a nearby building, which it melted a hole through.
Antares performed a roundhouse kick around himself, his stinger leaving a trail of purple behind the motion. Leiurus and Aster blocked the attack, but where unable to block the swipe from the spear, making them stagger back. “Why are you doing this?” Leiurus snarled.
Antares pointed his spear forward, “Because the Dark Matter Empire is more of a home to me then that tribe could have ever been.”
Karna Rog watched the battle on a screen in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, nodding his head, “Excellent, I expected nothing less from my greatest Jester.”
Schedar raised a datapad to take a selfie before looking at the Emperor, “Well of course he is, you’re lucky that I discovered him!”
“Possibly the most useful thing you’ve ever done,” Alderamin grumbled.
“That’s a lie and you know it!” Schedar said as she gave a spin. Her voice was cheerful, but it still oozed venom.
Mirfak looked at the screen, “They won’t last much longer at this rate.”
“Yes, it’s just a matter of time, nothing will stop their demise now,” Karna Rog rasped. He was quiet for a moment before clutching his head, “Yes, that’s an excellent idea.” He raised a hand, “What was it you said, Neil Astra? That it never hurts to double-tap? You should’ve followed your own advice.” He snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the city, pitch black lightning crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking the zombified Marquis’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into a giant zombified Marquis some distance away. Antares looked up at it, “I think it’s time that we take our leave.” Ankaa and Calamartia disengaged, moving beside him before they disappeared in a beam of light.
“Eurypto, wait!” Leiurus yelled as he ran forward, but Antares was already gone.
“We’ve got bigger problems to deal with,” Aster said, glancing up at the Marquis.
Shen glanced at Leiurus and Arthur, “What do you say about the three of us dealing with this?”
Leiurus took a deep breath, “Of course.”
Arthur nodded, “Right away!” The three of them prepared to call their Zords.
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
Their cockpits formed around them as they flew off to attach to their Zords, with Shen opening and closing the mouth of his cane as the Zords moved into the positions they did before, forming the Draco Star Megazord.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Marquis charged forward, brandishing its tonfa. Arthur used the Ursa Zords to quickly bat it away before Leiurus stabbed it with the Scorpius Zord, which was quickly followed up by a swing from the Ursa Zords that knocked the Marquis back. As the Marquis got to its feet, venom spewed out of its side.
“Great, it’s still a zombie,” Shen said with annoyance.
Arthur nodded, “It probably won’t effect the Megazord, but just in case…” Arthur pressed a button in the cockpit, launching the Ursa Minor Zord forward, “Ursa Minor Zord!” The Zodd zipped forward, firing at the Marquis repeatedly. The Marquis staggered back as the Scorpius Zord was pointed forward, firing a beam of orange energy at the Marquis and staggering it further.
“Great job!” Shen exclaimed before the Draco Star Megazord was hit by several red energy beams. The Megazord turned to the side as the robot mode of Kansas City’s Consumoai approached brandishing its lance.
“Another one,” Leiurus said with annoyance as the Consumoai rushed towards them.
Suddenly, the Leo, Lupus, Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords flew into view, positioning themselves to form the Supernova Megazord’s default combination, with the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the left arm, the Taurus Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Neil said through the comms as the Supernova Megazord stabbed the Consumoai in the chest with the Dorado Zord, sending it staggering back. The Marquis suddenly rushed forward, clawing at the Supernova Megazord and bludgeoninging the Draco Star Megazord with its claws. The Consumoai had recovered by now, and fired several blasts at the Megazord’s as the Marquis continued to wail on them.
The cockpits of both Megazord’s shook as Alura spoke into the comms, “This is bad!”
“We’ll be toast if we don’t figure out something quick!” Brando added.
Neil and Shen thought for a moment before Neil spoke into the comms, “Dad, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I believe I am, Neil,” Shen replied. The Supernova Megazord and the Draco Star Megazord punched the Marquis back with the Chamaeleon and Ursa Zords respectively. After that the arms of the Megazords swapped, with the Dorado Zord and Chamaeleon Zords becoming the Draco Star Megazord’s right and left arms while the Ursa Zords and Scorpius Zords became the Supernova Megazord’s right and left arms.
“Ready?” Neil inquired.
“Ready!” the other Rangers responded. The Rangers who possessed Supernova Morphers flicked their Nova Spheres to the right while Shen opened and closed the mouth of his cane on his Nova Sphere. The Draco Star Megazord’s helmet detached as it pointed its arms forward and lifted them up, attaching to the back of the Supernova Megazord as its helmet attached itself in front of the Leo Zord’s cockpit, creating a dragon’s head on the Megazord’s chest. Now completed, the Dorado Zord and Chamaeleon Zord were positioned above the Ursa Zords and Scorpius Zord, forming a pair of cannons as the cockpit of the Draco Zord stuck up from behind the Supernova Megazord.
“Roar to the stars, Dragonova Ultrazord!”
“Awesome!” Neil exclaimed.
“This thing is sick!” Arthur added.
Shen nodded, “Now let’s see if this thing is as powerful as it looks!”
The Chamaeleon and Dorado Zords promptly fired projectiles at the Marquis and Consumoai, creating massive explosions of sparks as the Ultrazord moved towards them. The Ultrazord swung the Scorpius Zord forward, slashing an energy crescent that collided with the Marquis and Consumoai and knocked them back. The Ursa Zords were used to perform a punch, sending a blue sphere of energy flowing forward and creating a shower of sparks as it collided with the Marquis and Consumoai.
“Time to finish this!” Neil exclaimed, the Rangers flicking their Nova Spheres back and flipping the sides of their Morphers down as Shen opened and closed the mouth of his cane.
“Dragonova Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of all eight Zords lit up before all of the light was transferred to the cockpit of the Leo Zord, which began to glow brighter and brighter before firing a massive beam of colorful energy from it and through the Draco Zord’s helmet, the force of the beam making the Ultrazord slide back a little. The beam shot through the Marquis and Flatborg, creating a series of explosions on their bodies. As the beam subsided the Marquis and Consumoai fell to the ground, creating a colossal explosion.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil and Shen exclaimed.
“My liege, with all due respect, why did you enlarge the Marquis? It just made Antares believe that it was going to finish off the Rangers,” Alderamin inquired, obviously finding that maneuver less than ideal.
Schedar nodded, “Yeah, Antares was havin’ no trouble dealin’ with them.”
Karna Rog produced the smoky grey Nova Sphere depicting a crow, his yellow eyes narrowing as he looked at it, “That is a question that you should already know the answer to.” He glanced off to the side before speaking to what appeared to be nothing, “I am not pleased with your interference.”
Mirfak rolled his organic eye and crossed his arms, “Your condition is worsening.”
“Correct, Sir Mirfak, I am being held back. If I had my way, then I would’ve gone to dispose of the Rangers myself,” Karna Rog rasped.
“I still question why you agreed to that deal to begin with,” Mirfak said.
Alderamin glared at him, “Our liege had his reasons, questioning his actions in such a way is unacceptable.”
“Calm yourself, Sir Alderamin,” the Emperor rasped, “no one could’ve anticipated his willpower, and while that has certainly led to complications, it did allow us to gain Ankaa at the very least.”
Mirfak froze up for a moment at the Duke’s name, “Right, him.”
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter,” Karna Rog rasped, “due to the nature of my goal I will succeed, no matter what these wielders of the Nova Spheres try to do.”
“Alright,” Shen said, “everyone get ready, we’re leaving soon.”
Just about everyone on the bridge aside from Birdie looked at him with confusion. “Leaving? Why are we leaving?” Brando asked.
“Yeah, there’s still Consumoai on Earth, we can’t just leave it!” Neil exclaimed.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, if we leave now it won’t stop the draining of Earth’s Gaiaium.”
“Well,” Shen said, “there’s a few reasons actually.” Shen took a deep breath, “The first is that we’ve already dealt with a lot of Earth’s Consumoai, so it will take a lot longer for Gaiaium to drop to critical levels, allowing us to focus our efforts elsewhere.”
“That’s a good point,” Alura nodded.
“Which leads to the next reason,” Shen continued, “I think that we’ve focused too heavily on Earth lately. While it’s important that we find out why the Empire is so interested in it, the rest of the galaxy is still under their control, there’s still countless other worlds that need to be liberated, which we’ve neglected to do while we focused on Earth.”
Birdie nodded, “Indeed, we are supposed to protect the galaxy, and while Earth’s a part of it, there’s still other planets that need help.”
“Oh right,” Neil said as realization dawned on him, “Well I guess if Earth’s safe for a while then I guess we can go.”
Arthur nodded, “Hey, we’ll come back and finish things here in no time.”
Shen nodded, “Right, Arthur,” Shen took a deep breath before speaking again, “And the last reason, well, I just think Earth’s gotten too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous?” Tip tilted their head.
Shen sighed, “Let’s face it, Earth isn’t exactly a safe haven at the moment.” Shen paced back and forth across the bridge, “Ankaa, Antares, Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia, three Dukes, three of the most vicious Jesters the galaxy’s ever seen, and the bodyguard of the Emperor himself, all on one planet with the express purpose of killing us.” Shen shook his head, “It’s just too risky to stay here any longer.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Brando replied.
Leiurus promptly spoke up after a moment, “Commander, I would like to stay here and operate independently.”
Aster nodded, “Me too.”
“Let me guess,” Shen said, “this is about Eurypto, isn’t it?”
Leiurus nodded, “I’ve been searching for him for three years, and now I finally know where he is, I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by.”
“And it gives me the chance to find out what happened to Professor Ain, and avenge him,” Aster added.
Shen gave a concerned look, “Are you sure? This could be very dangerous.”
“Yes,” Sirius growled, “there is no telling what could happen.”
“We can handle ourselves just fine,” Aster said, cracking his knuckles.
Leiurus nodded, “There’s no reason to worry about us.”
Shen sighed, “In that case, I wish the two of you luck.”
“Yeah,” Neil said, “good luck.”
“Yeah, be careful out there,” Arthur added.
Leiurus nodded as he and Aster prepared to exit the bridge, “We will, I promise.” The two of them exited the bridge, leaving the others to look around at each other.
“I hope they’ll be okay,” Brando said, obviously worried.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, I hope so too.”
In the control room of Antares’s Consumoai, he, Ankaa, and Kaus sat in control seats arranged in a circle, the control room having modified itself when Ankaa and Kaus entered. Skragen stood in the center of the circle, while Calamartia stood off to the side of Antares, whose head was propped up on his hand as he sat with his legs crossed. “We’ve gotten reports that the Rangers have apparently left Earth,” Skragen stated, “aside from the Scorpius and Taurus Rangers, who have recently landed back there.”
“Then I suppose we deal with those two and continue to go after the others afterwards,” Kaus suggested.
Antares shook his head, “No, I wish to be the one to dispatch the two of them.”
“So you’re suggesting that we split up?” Kaus said, nodding, “I suppose that wouldn’t be a terrible idea, it would allow us to complete this faster. What do you think, Ankaa?”
Ankaa nodded.
“Then it’s settled,” Antares replied, turning to look at Calamartia, “Calamartia, you will accompany me on the off chance that I need help.”
Calamartia nodded, “Of course.”
“Oh I’ll miss you, honey,” Skragen said sadly as he turned to Calamartia.
“Oh calm down you jelly brain, it’ll only be for a few days,” Calamartia teased.
Skragen just chuckled, “Oh I know, still doesn’t mean I’ll like it.” Kaus rolled his eyes and glanced at Ankaa.
“Just make sure to pick up something for me while you’re out,” Calamartia replied.
Skragen nodded, “Oh I’ll make sure to, honey.”
“Now if everyone’s done saying their goodbyes,” Kaus said, “I believe we should put our plan into action.”
“Of course,” Antares said as he got up from his seat, “I’m interested in seeing those two Rangers again.”
Notes:
And that’s a wrap for this chapter! The Dragonova Ultrazord was introduced here to at least keep in line with the Sentai footage a bit. As for the villain team-ups, it’s mostly to keep in line with the Sentai for the most part as well, at least with Antares and Calamartia anyway, Kaus, Ankaa, and Skragen never interacted in the Sentai at all, so every scene with them is completely original. Also this marks the end of our time on Earth, at least for now. “Season 1” mostly focuses on Earth, but we will be spending time on other planets again, and in “season 2” we’ll barely be here at all. Since this is an adaptation, it also allows me to get a lot more creative with the visuals of the planets we're going to as well. Not really much else I wanna say for this one. Comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 14: Wild Hearts
Chapter Text
Sirius sat in one of the bridge’s seats, looking at his Nova Sphere intently. His expression went solemn, and he gave a small sigh as his mismatched eyes drifted over it. “What’s the matter, Sirius?” Neil suddenly asked as he approached the wolfman.
Sirius glanced at him, “I am just… thinking.”
Neil remembered what Sirius had told him about his Nova Sphere when they had first met on Fenrisulfr, “It’s about your wife, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sirius nodded, “it is s hard not to think about her, about my clan.”
Neil was quiet for a moment, “If you don’t mind me asking, what was she like?”
Sirius’s snout gave an imitation of a smile as he gave a sad look, “We knew each other since we were pups, we were practically inseparable, even back then. She was always braver than me, more adventurous.” Sirius gave a small laugh, “I had to get her out of trouble a lot as a pup, but I did not mind. She was everything that I was not and I just… miss her.”
Neil nodded as he put a hand on the wolfman’s shoulder, “Well even though you can’t bring her back, you’re still doing a good job fighting the Empire to let her and your clan rest peacefully.”
“I suppose I am,” Sirius said, wrapping his paws around his Nova Sphere and closing his eyes, “When we face Alderamin, I will make him pay for everything he has done.”
“And we’ll be right there to help you,” Neil added.
Sirius nodded, “I cannot thank you and your brother enough for everything you have done for me.”
“Yeah, isn’t he tutoring you about the galaxy and stuff?” Neil asked.
Sirius nodded, “Indeed. I cannot thank Arthur enough for it, even if it makes me worry that others might see me as a fool for being from an uncontacted planet.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sirius, you’re plenty smart!” Neil replied.
Shen entered the room a few moments later, spinning his cane, “Alright everyone, time to tell you about today’s mission.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Alura said as she and the other Rangers gathered around the bridge’s table.
Birdie tapped a button on her datapad, pulling up a hologram of a nearby planet. It looked arid in a way that Neil and Arthur would probably compare it to the Wild West. “This planet is Fronterra, home of the Empire’s galactic menagerie.”
“Galactic menagerie?” Brando asked.
“A menagerie is basically a zoo,” Arthur explained.
Shen nodded, “Correct, and this one is also the home base of the Marquis Mooeffoh.” Birdie pressed another button on her datapad, pulling up a hologram of the Marquis. He seemed mechanical, with several yellow stacked discs making up his limbs and neck. The top of his head looked like a flying saucer, with four orbs at the edges. Underneath that was his face, which had one eye and a vertical mouth. His body was covered in black and white plating, the patterning of which brought to mind a cow. Furthering the connection was his left forearm, which vaguely resembled a cow head, with two horns jutting up near the elbow and a ring placed behind his wrist.
“Mooeffoh is a Angusian from the planet Angus in the Taurus system,” Birdie explained, “his kind have the ability to attract and repel objects at will. He pays top credit for exotic species from all over the galaxy to display in his menagerie, and quite a few of those species are sentient and forcefully taken from their homeworlds.”
Brando gave a look of disgust, “That’s rotten!”
“They must be treated like animals,” Sirius growled, “It reminds me of those legends my clan used to tell, about nature spirits taking people away to serve as pets.”
Alura froze up for a moment, obviously thinking about something before speaking again, “Yeah, my village has pretty similar legends. My mom used to tell me I was lucky I wasn’t spirited away as a kid.”
“So our mission is to free the people being held hostage there?” Hydra inquired, changing the subject.
“I mean, what else would we do, leave them there?” Tip snarked, elbowing Hydra.
“Yup,” Shen responded, “it’s important that we free them and deal with Mooeffoh’s Consumoai as well.”
“Alright then, who’s going on today’s mission, dad?” Neil inquired.
“Let’s see,” Shen spun to look at Arthur, “hit it, Arthur!” Arthur pressed a button on one of the bridge’s consoles.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Oh yeah!” Neil exclaimed.
“Sirius!”
The wolfman nodded, “I am ready.”
“Tip!”
“Booyah!” Tip said, giving Hydra a fist bump.
“Hydra!”
The Gorgonian gave a thumbs up, “I will not disappoint.”
“Brando!”
“I’ll make sure to serve up some justice,” Brando nodded.
“So,” Neil said, “how exactly are we gonna get everyone out of there?”
Birdie pulled up a map of the menagerie’s layout, it was a massive glass dome with a Consumoai just outside of it. Birdie pressed another button, highlighting a tower near the center of the menagerie, “There should be a release switch in this tower, pulling it should open all the enclosures. Unfortunately, it’s very heavily guarded, so you’ll need a way to sneak inside.”
“Well, why don’t we hand Sirius over?” Hydra asked.
“What?” Everyone said with looks of shock.
Sirius narrowed his eyes, “I will not just be handed over to them.”
“Oh I’m sure Hydra didn’t mean it like that,” Tip said, leaning on the Gorgonian, “right, Hydra?”
Hydra nodded, “Obviously, he won’t actually be in any danger, but I think he would be considered an exotic species, which could allow him to possibly get to the release switch.”
“Hmm, that’s actually not too bad of an idea,” Alura said after a moment, “it could allow us to infiltrate the menagerie’s control center without drawing too much attention.” She looked at Sirius, “Assuming it’s okay with you, of course.”
Sirius thought for a moment before speaking, “Well, if it is the best option to free those captured by the Empire, then I will go along with it.”
“But how are we gonna hand him over?” Neil asked, “Someone’s gonna notice that the rest of us are Rangers.”
Shen pulled out a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a fox, “Luckily, I have just the thing!” He held the Nova Sphere out for the others to see, “This is the Vulpecula Nova Sphere, it can produce all kinds of illusions. You can use it to disguise yourselves.”
“Man, there’s a Nova Sphere for everything, isn’t there?” Neil laughed.
Shen shrugged as he handed the Nova Sphere to Tip, “Just about.”
“Why don’t we just disguise all of us to sneak into the control room?” Hydra inquired.
“Simple,” Shen explained, “Someone needs to deliver the “exhibits” and bringing multiple at once would certainly draw some suspicion.”
Neil nodded, “Good point.” He glanced at Tip, “Alright, let’s test this thing out.”
Tip plugged the Nova Sphere into their Morpher.
“Vulpecula Nova Sphere!”
The five Rangers were enveloped in a flash of yellow light, and when it faded all of them but Sirius looked completely different, with Tip even appearing to be organic now, looking rather androgynous too. The only one who didn’t change that much was Sirius, whose clothes now seemed more tattered and simple. In addition, their Morphers were all hidden as well. Birdie stepped forward, handing Sirius a pair of fake handcuffs as the other Rangers looked themselves over, “These are easy to break out of, so when the opportunity arises you should be able to break them with no issue.”
Sirius nodded, “I understand.”
“While Sirius is doing that, we’ll scope out the rest of the place, just in case push comes to shove and something happens,” Brando suggested.
Neil nodded, “That sounds good, let’s head out, everyone.”
The Leo Zord, which was currently disguised by an illusion from the Vulpecula Nova Sphere, landed at the ship parking outside of the menagerie’s dome. The disguised Rangers exited it, with Sirius exiting behind them with his arms “handcuffed” behind him. They made their way to the entrance, passing through the threshold before approaching the check-in, which was manned by a secretary android. “Um, hello,” Neil said, getting the android’s attention, “we would like to present a new exhibit to the Marquis, do you know where we can speak with him?”
The android typed something on its computer, “There’s an opening right now actually, I will inform him of your presence and he should arrive shortly afterwards. What name should I book you under?”
Neil froze up for a moment, “Mr. Skywalker is fine.”
Arthur promptly facepalmed and groaned as he looked at the screen that displayed what was currently happening, with the others on the bridge giving him a confused look.
The android finished typing on its computer, “He should be here shortly.”
“Alright,” Tip said, stretching, “So I guess we should just make ourselves comfortable.”
“Alright, what do you have for me?” Mooeffoh entered the check-in as soon as Tip finished speaking, marching over towards them.
“A Fenrisulfrian,” Brando replied.
Mooeffoh’s eye widened as he looked at Sirius, extending a hand forward as Sirius was forced towards him, “Ooh! We’ve never had a Fenrisulfrian here at the menagerie before! It’s certainly going to make for an interesting exhibit. Not to mention that we have a special guest here at the moment who’s sure to be interested in seeing one of you.”
“Special guest?” Neil asked curiously.
Mooeffoh just shook his head before handing Neil a card that was worth several thousand credits, “Don’t worry about that. Enjoy your time here, I’ve gotta get this mutt house broken.” Mooeffoh began to lead Sirius away, who glanced back at the other Rangers.
“Good luck,” Neil mouthed.
“Be safe,” Brando mouthed as well.
Hydra looked at the other three, “We should begin scouting, and seeing just how bad things are here.”
Neil nodded, “Good idea, let’s get going.” The four of them checked in before entering the menagerie proper. It was all laid out around the tower at the center, with countless paths sprawling out from it that split into more paths that led to the various enclosures, some indoors, some out, but all of them were tightly secured.
The four of them began to walk, momentarily glancing at each enclosure. Neil recognized the environments of a few of them, a tundra, a desert, and a jungle, but others were distinctly more alien, and he didn’t know exactly what to call them. After a moment, Neil glanced to the side, spotting an enclosure with several Newneans in it, all of them wearing collars, “Hey, aren’t those the same species that Bakueave guy was?”
Brando looked over at the enclosure as well, “Yeah, they are. Birdie did say they were a pretty rare species.” The Newneans seemed to be moping around, not really doing much as people just lined the outside of the enclosure, looking at them. A few Greyders appeared near the enclosure, firing their blasters near the Newneans. The Newneans scrambled away, obviously trying to at least look like they were doing something interesting now.
Neil gave a look of disgust, “This place is worse than I thought.”
“Yeah, Newneans might eat peoples’ dreams, but no one deserves to live like this,” Hydra replied.
Tip patted Hydra on the shoulder, “Hey, they’ll be free soon enough, I’m sure Sirius is gonna break these guys out just fine.”
“Yeah, at least they won’t have to endure this much longer,” Neil nodded, “Sirius is gonna save them, I know it.”
Underneath the menagerie, Mooeffoh led Sirius through a hallway, flanked by a few Greyders. There were several containment chambers lining the walls, each with an animal or person sitting in it, looking downtrodden and wearing collars in the case of the people. “This is where we keep exhibits that don’t have enclosures yet,” Mooeffoh explained, “you’ll be staying here for a while.”
Sirius just gave a low growl, prompting Mooeffoh to look back at him, “You don’t even know what I’m saying, do you?” Mooeffoh shrugged, “Wouldn’t surprise me, uncontacted primitives such as yourself aren’t really known for their intelligence.”
Sirius wanted to speak up and correct Mooeffoh, but he held his tongue for now, speaking might blow his cover, so it was probably best to be quiet unless absolutely necessary. “Eh, I just hope you’re smart enough to recognize our special guest,” Mooeffoh said as they rounded a corner. Sirius’s jaw almost dropped. Standing there, looking at a containment chamber was Alderamin. Standing beside him was a large, muscular, green reptilian alien with a red face and red spikes on his limbs, with a pair of red claws on the back of his arms. Tooth-like growths jutted out of the green scales around his face. Dozens of tube-like dreadlocks protruded from the back of his head and torso. He wore a waist cape, and wielded some kind of polearm with two blades attached parallel to each other.
Sirius glared at the Knight and mentally prepared himself to attack, but he quickly shook his head and muttered to himself as quietly as he possibly could, “No, I am not here for him, I must save the ones trapped here.”
“Sir Alderamin, I must thank you again for visiting our establishment today, you and your associate,” Mooeffoh said, taking a bow before looking at the green alien, “What was your name again?”
“I am Chupasangre, Marquis of Chuppa, executioner of the Empire, and Sir Alderamin’s right hand,” Chupasangre replied, his voice having a Mexican accent, lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever and sounding annoyed.
“I appreciate your hospitality, Mooeffoh,” Alderamin said, “It’s been awhile since I had some time off, I figured I’d come to see if there’s any species that I’ve conquered here.”
Mooeffoh chuckled, “Well you’re in luck, Sir, we’ve just received a new exhibit, a Fenrisulfrian.”
Alderamin glanced at Sirius, “A Fenrisulfrian? Interesting.” He took a step towards Sirius, glancing down at him, “They were easy to conquer, a lot of them just ran scared when we invaded. Of course there was one tribe that tried to fight back… I had a lot of fun dealing with that one.” It took all of Sirius’s willpower not to lunge at Alderamin as he continued speaking, “I will give them credit, at least they fought back.” He took a closer look at Sirius, “In fact, one of the Power Rangers is a Fenrisulfrian as well.”
Sirius tried to hide his panic as Alderamin looked him over, “You look familiar, actually.” Chupasangre gave Sirius a sympathetic look.
The executioner promptly tapped the bottom of his polearm on the ground, “I am sure it’s nothing, I believe you said you wished to continue looking around for a while, Sir Alderamin.”
Alderamin turned back to look at Chupasangre, “Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t be too worried, let us continue to look around.” Alderamin and Chupasangre began to walk down a connected hallway, with Alderamin glancing back at Sirius for a moment before continuing to walk.
“Thank you again for coming, Sir,” Mooeffoh said as he waved at Alderamin and Chupasangre’s departure. He turned back to look at Sirius, extending a hand and forcing Sirius towards him, “Now, let’s find you a nice cell,” Mooeffoh pulled out a collar, electricity sparking around the inside, “and don’t even think about escaping, otherwise you’ll be in for a shock.”
Sirius’s eyes widened as Mooeffoh brought the collar towards his neck, he needed to think fast, “Wait.”
Mooeffoh’s eye widened, “You can talk?”
“Dang it,” Sirius muttered under his breath before speaking again, “Yes.”
Mooeffoh chuckled, “Seems like you’re not as unintelligent as I thought. Tell me, do you have a translator chip?”
“What is a translator chip?” Sirius lied.
Mooeffoh gave an intrigued look, “So you don’t have a translator chip. In that case, tell me how you learned to speak, mutt.”
“I was with Mr. Skywalker for a while, I picked up what he was saying,” Sirius responded, “I could tell more, if you want.”
Mooeffoh thought for a moment as he put the collar away, “You intrigue me Fenrisulfrian. Follow me, we will discuss this more somewhere else.”
“What about the control room?” Sirius suggested, “I would like to get a better look at the rest of this place, if I am to stay here.”
Mooeffoh contemplated for a moment, “I don’t see why not. If that’s your last wish before you are put up for exhibition, then I will fulfill it. Follow me to the control room.”
“Yes, there,” Sirius muttered under his breath before replying, “I will follow you.”
Mooeffoh began to walk again, with Sirius and the Greyders following behind him, “Do not think this will keep you out of a cell, Fenrisulfrian, I’m just curious as to how such a primitive creature can speak so fluently.”
Sirius nodded as he entered an elevator alongside Mooeffoh and the Greyders, “I understand.” The elevator went up, and when the doors opened they were in the menagerie’s control room on top of the tower. The room was mostly circular, with the elevator in the middle of it. A window ran the outside of the room, allowing for view of the entire menagerie and the Consumoai outside of it. There were numerous switches, levers, and buttons, but Sirius spotted a particularly large red switch under a glass panel, “That must be the release switch,” he muttered.
Mooeffoh took a seat at a table, with the Greyders sitting Sirius down across from him, “Alright, speak. Give me the specifics of how you learned to speak, mutt.”
Sirius thought for a moment, formulating an idea before speaking again, “Would you not want to record this? If I am as much of an oddity as you say I am, surely more people would be interested to know.”
“Hmm,” Mooeffoh looked down for a moment, contemplating the thought, “You’re pretty intelligent for a primitive, if I was to record and publish this, then I’m sure some of the higher ranking members of the Empire will notice. I might even be able to serve alongside Dogolem, the Doctor, and Sir Mirfak himself!” Mooeffoh got up from his seat and moved towards the elevator, “I will go get a recording device, don’t move until I come back, do you understand, Mutt?”
“Of course,” Sirius lied.
“Good,” Mooeffoh said as the elevator doors closed.
Sirius gave a bark of laughter before his expression became neutral again, “Just as I had hoped, time to free everyone here.” The Greyders looked at him, tilting their heads curiously before pointing their weapons at him as he got to his feet. Sirius promptly broke his cuffs and readied his claws as the Greyders began firing at him, though he rolled to the side before lunging at a Greyder, clawing at it before spinning and bringing both of his claws down on another, ducking under a Greyder’s blade afterwards. He leapt onto another Greyder, holding himself onto it with his legs before leaping off of it and onto a control console. He leapt from the console as a Greyder tried to slash at him kicking a Greyder in the chest before landing and clawing through a few more.
Kaus looked back at Skragen as the two of them and Ankaa walked through the menagerie. Skragen was carrying a few keepsakes from the menagerie as Ankaa glanced at him for a moment. Kaus shook his head, “We shouldn’t waste our time with souvenirs, Skragen. The Rangers’ ship is in this planet’s orbit and this is the only place they could be, we need to keep our eyes open.”
Skragen shook his head, “I am keeping an eye out for them, Duke Kaus. There’s not anywhere that I’m not looking at, they can’t escape my notice. So it doesn’t matter if I pick up a little something for Calamartia, don’t you th-ink?”
“I suppose you’re right, I forgot. My apologies,” Kaus replied.
“Oh it’s perfectly fine,” Skragen replied before giving a hum.
“What is it?” Kaus asked, not bothering to look back at him.
“The Rangers are some of the Empire’s most wanted, correct?” Skragen asked rhetorically, “If they’re here, surely someone would’ve noticed them already.”
Kaus came to a stop, with Skragen and Ankaa coming to a stop as well as Kaus looked back at Skragen, “You make a good point, Skragen. Surely some loyalists would have recognized them by now and reported them. Perhaps they’re disguised.”
“In that case, it will make our jobs much harder, right, Duke Ankaa?” Skragen said, turning his head to the Duke. Ankaa gave a small nod.
“Yes we easily could’ve passed them…” Kaus froze as he detected a powerful electric field from a rather androgynous person nearby, who stood next to three men, “…already.”
Skragen tilted his head, “What seems to be the issue, Duke Kaus?”
Kaus looked intently at the visitor with the strong electric field, pointing at them, “The electric field that one is producing is far too strong for an organic. It’s as strong as the one that Libra Ranger gives off.”
Skragen hummed, “So you’re suggesting that they’re the Libra Ranger?”
Kaus shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not,” he pointed his halberd at them as it shifted into its bow form, “but it’s a theory worth testing either way. Even if they aren’t the Libra Ranger, I’m sure this will attract our prey to us.” Kaus fired a barrage of energy arrows at them.
“Get down!” Neil yelled as the Rangers dodged the barrage, their disguises dissipating as the menagerie’s visitors began to run away. The Rangers began to get to their feet, looking at Ankaa, Kaus, and Skragen.
“It appears that your theory was correct, Duke Kaus,” Skragen turned his head to the Ojikazoan as he produced his rifle and pointed it at the Rangers.
“You three,” Brando said with a frown.
Skragen chuckled, “Fancy seeing you again.”
“We see you like, every week,” Tip replied, sounding unimpressed.
“It will take more than fleeing Earth to escape us, Rangers,” Kaus said, with Ankaa nodding afterwards.
“The only ones fleeing this time will be you and your pals, sparky,” Tip snarked, putting a hand on their hip.
Neil nodded, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher alongside the others as Kaus began walking towards them, “Time to teach these guys a lesson!” Kaus broke into a sprint, halberd primed to swing.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The four of them were engulfed in light, emerging from it in their Ranger costumes and wielding their weapons. Ankaa, and Skragen promptly charged forward as well, brandishing their own weapons. “I can handle this,” Hydra said, focusing on the Dukes and Jester, who promptly froze.
“Curse that Gorgonian!” Kaus growled, trying to move.
Skragen wasn’t moving at all, “Stupid Gorgonians, I forgot how much of a pain they are to deal with for my kind!”
“Alright, the rest of you get them,” Hydra said, not looking away from Ankaa, Kaus, and Skragen. The other Rangers prepared to charge, but stopped as they saw Ankaa’s leg twitching more than normal. Slowly and laboriously, the Duke took one step forward, then another. Hydra’s eyes widened.
“What?” Brando said with surprise.
Neil readied his sword, “How is he doing that?”
“People with sufficiently strong wills can resist a Gorgonian’s gaze,” Tip explained, but they sounded equally shocked.
Ankaa moved to position himself between Hydra, Kaus, and Skragen, breaking Hydra’s line of sight with them and allowing them to move again. Ankaa swung at Hydra, who promptly rolled out of the way.
“Ankaa is his magnificence’s bodyguard for a reason,” Kaus said, swinging his halberd at Hydra and Tip, “He has served almost as long as the Knights of Andromeda have.”
Tip dodged the attack while Hydra blocked the swipe with his scythe, trying to use its blade to pull the halberd out of Kaus’s hands. Electricity snaked from Kaus’s hands to his halberd, leaping onto Hydra’s scythe. The shock made Hydra stagger back, smoke coming from his hands and scythe. Tip retaliated by firing shots from their crossbow, but Kaus promptly extended his hand towards Tip, creating a shockwave that deflected the shots, “A crossbow? How gauche, it’s simply a weapon for those who can’t use a real bow.”
“That halberd doesn’t look much like a real bow either,” Tip ran forward and tried to jab Kaus, who quickly blocked it with his halberd.
“It has all the capabilities of a real bow,” Kaus replied, kicking Tip back, “it simply functions as a halberd and produces its own arrows, my shots with it are nothing but pure skill.”
Brando ran forward and took a few swipes at Skragen, who walked backwards as he dodged each of Brando’s attacks, a hand in his coat pocket. “Why don’t you stand still?” Brando asked, “I’ve learned a few cephalopod dishes I’ve been dying to make.”
Skragen ducked under a swipe from the saber, giving a hum, “I’ll have to pass on that, unfortunately.” Skragen sidestepped another slash, retaliating with one of his own, which Brando quickly blocked.
Neil blocked several of Ankaa’s slices as the Duke teleported around him, trying to get in hits when he could. Neil swung his sword after Ankaa lingered a bit too long after a slice, the Duke quickly blocking it with his own sword and forcing the blades to the ground as a ball of fire ignited in his hand. Neil quickly forced his sword up with all of his might, sending Ankaa’s sword flying out of his hand and embedding itself in the pavement a few feet away. The fireball disappeared as Ankaa staggered back, allowing Neil to stab him in the chest. Neil quickly forced the blade down with all his might, slicing through Ankaa’s torso and making the Duke fall to the ground, motionless. “One down, two to go!” Neil yelled as he turned his attention to Kaus and Skragen.
Unbeknownst to him, red energy began to flow through Ankaa’s body from the apparatus attached above his shoulders, sealing his wounds and the damage to his clothing as he sat up, extending his right arm to the side. Ankaa’s sword turned into a swirl of flames that flew towards his hand, reforming into a sword as Ankaa gripped it and got to his feet, wings made of fire-like red energy blazing behind him for a moment. Neil took a swing at Kaus, sending him reeling before Ankaa sliced the Leo Ranger across the back, flames erupting from the slice. Neil staggered back and spun around, looking surprised to see Ankaa, “How are you still alive?”
Ankaa raised his hand to his mask to make a shushing gesture before lowering it and running it along his sword’s blade, igniting the sword before charging at Neil.
Sirius slammed the last Greyder’s head against a console before sprinting over to the release switch, flipping the casing over it up before pulling it, “Let us get this party started.”
The gates to the various enclosures and containment cells opened, allowing everything inside to spill out in a mad dash to escape. A massive wave of them ran towards where the Rangers were fighting Ankaa, Kaus, and Skragen, with the Rangers quickly unmorphing and running with the crowd. The Dukes and Jester glanced around, having lost sight of them. As they ran, Neil spoke into his Morpher, “Dad, Sirius has freed everyone, we’re gonna meet up with him to deal with the Consumoai.”
“Understood,” Shen said from the other end, “I’ll send Alura, Birdie, and Arthur to evacuate them All the other visitors seemed to have already left, so there’s no need to worry about them.”
Neil nodded, “Got it!”
“All right you three, you heard me. Let’s get a-round to saving those people!” Shen exclaimed as he twirled his cane.
“But how are we gonna get them all to calm down? Some of them are animals,” Arthur asked.
Shen promptly pulled out a pink Nova Sphere depicting a young woman, “This is the Virgo Nova Sphere, it can charm people for a limited time and make them more open to suggestions.” He tossed the Nova Sphere to Birdie, who caught it.
“Understood, Commander Long,” Birdie nodded before looking at Alura and Arthur, “Let’s go!”
“It appears they’ve escaped again,” Skragen said with mild annoyance as Ankaa brushed off the front of himself.
Kaus shook his head and growled, “It will be impossible for us to find them now, they could be anywhere at this point.” He sighed, “I suggest we fall back.”
Skragen nodded as he moved next to Kaus, “Understood, sir.” The two of them promptly disappeared in a beam of light, with Ankaa disappearing shortly after in a burst of fire.
Inside the menagerie’s control center, Sirius lifted up his Morpher as Neil’s voice came through it, “We’re heading out to take down the Consumoai, we’ll meet up with you there and put an end to this.”
Sirius nodded, “Of course, Neil.”
“Fetch.”
Sirius spun to look at the elevator, where the source of the voice was, reacting just in time to roll out of the way of a red spiked ball attached to a similarly red chain, which smashed through the window behind where he was standing just moments before. The chain retracted as Sirius looked back at the elevator, Alderamin and Chupasangre standing right in front of it, with the flail Alderamin possessed no longer attached to his shoulder as his pauldron shined under the light. “Alderamin,” Sirius growled.
“You might’ve fooled my subordinate, Lupus Ranger,” Alderamin said as Chupasangre rolled his eyes, “but you didn’t fool me, those heterochromatic eyes of yours were a dead giveaway.” The chain of Alderamin’s flail was now significantly shorter as he spun it at his side.
“You will pay for what you did to my clan,” Sirius snarled, readying his Morpher.
Alderamin chuckled, “You must be a good deal braver now then, Lupus Ranger. I don’t recall seeing you fighting against my forces. Then again, the faces of the ones we thought all blurred together after a while.”
“I am not a coward!” Sirius howled, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher as the illusion covering him vanished.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Sirius appeared in his Ranger form with a flash of blue light, holding the Star Claw in his right hand as he fired at Alderamin with his Morpher. Alderamin quickly positioned his arm to spin his flail in front of him, neutralizing the blasts before extending the chain and swinging it downward at Sirius. Sirius quickly rolled out of the way, the flail crushing a console Sirius was standing in front of and in his mind, he knew a direct hit meant certain death. Alderamin swung the flail around a few more times, wrecking the control room as Sirius avoided them while charging at him.
Sirius swung at Alderamin with his claw, but the Knight quickly raised his arm to block it as he retracted his flail, the slash doing minimal damage against his steel skin. Alderamin promptly flicked his left arm to the side, the chain of the flail wrapped around Sirius’s neck as he grabbed the spiked ball with his right hand, pulling his arms apart to tighten the chain, “Let’s see how long it takes for a Fenrisulfrian to run out of breath.”
Sirius was struggling to breathe as the chain dug into his neck, so he thought fast, flipping himself forward and kicking Alderamin in the face in the process. Alderamin staggered back as his grip was broken, allowing Sirius to free himself. He got to his feet as Alderamin completely retracted the flail so that the spiked ball was attached directly to the stump where his hand would be. He took several swings at Sirius with his fist and retracted flail with his cape billowing behind him. Luckily, Sirius was able to avoid them, but Alderamin still easily punched through whatever he ended up hitting. “Chupasangre, devour this fool,” Alderamin commanded.
Chupasangre gave a sigh, “Of course, Sir Alderamin.” Chupasangre’s yellow eyes flashed as several of his dreadlocks lashed forward like tentacles. Sirius dodged a few of them and batted a few others away, making them hit a few Greyders. The Greyders seemed to be sucked into the dreadlocks, though the dreadlocks didn’t get any thicker as they did so.
“Taste the power of a Knight of Andromeda!” Alderamin yelled as he raised his right hand, a small fireball resembling a miniature sun forming in it. The fireball grew in size massively as he hurled it at Sirius, who narrowly avoided it.
The elevator door promptly opened, and Mooeffoh stepped through holding a small device, “All right, I’ve got the recording…” he looked around the room, noticing Sirius and immediately putting the pieces together, “You! You lied to me, you mutt!” He dropped the device and extended a hand forward, a force sending Sirius flying out the window.
Sirius fell dozens of stories down, the ground approaching rapidly. He maneuvered himself towards the tower’s exterior wall, jamming the Star Claw into it, which slowed his descent before eventually stopping it. “I cannot hope to face Alderamin now, I must help the others,” Sirius growled. He stopped a safe distance from the bottom of the tower, so he leapt off it and began running towards the Consumoai outside the menagerie.
Alderamin glared downward as he watched Sirius escape, attaching his flail back to his shoulder. “My exhibits are gone and the control room is a wreck! How am I supposed to recover from this!” Mooeffoh bemoaned.
Alderamin glared at him, taking a step towards him and firmly grabbing his shoulder, “You insolent fool! This is completely unacceptable! Not only did you interrupt my glorious battle with the Lupus Ranger and allowed him to escape, but now you’re more worried about this stupid menagerie? Go find the Rangers and stop them now!” He spun around and flung Mooeffoh out the window before turning back to Chupasangre, “It is time that we take our leave, we must return to my ship, the Emperor will want to hear of this.” Chupasangre gave a half-hearted nod as he and Alderamin disappeared in a cloud of dark energy.
The Chamaeleon, Aquila, and Ursa Zords flew down outside of the menagerie, where a large number of the former prisoners had gathered and were obviously not getting along with each other in the slightest. “We better hurry things up before someone gets hurt badly,” Birdie said in the comms.
“Right,” Alura replied, “ let’s get that Nova Sphere fired up.”
Birdie promptly plugged the Nova Sphere into her Morpher.
“Virgo Nova Sphere!”
The Aquila Zord’s wings began to glow pink before flapping them forward, sending the pink energy forward in a cloud towards the people and animals, dissipating after a few moments.
“Alright everyone,” Arthur announced, “everyone get aboard, and no fighting!” The people and animals glanced among themselves for a few moments before the Zords landed, approaching and getting aboard the Zords’ cargo holds a few moments later.
Meanwhile the other unmorphed Rangers met in the arid plains outside the menagerie and near the Consumoai, readying themselves to deal with it. “Nice that you could join us, Sirius,” Hydra stated.
“Hope you didn’t have too much trouble,” Neil said.
Sirius hesitated for a moment, “I will tell you later, now we need to deal with the Consumoai.”
“Right,” Brando nodded as he and the others prepared to call their Zords, only to be thrown back several meters.
Mooeffoh approached them, “You ruined my menagerie! I don’t have any more live exhibits at all, so I guess I’ll have to settle for taxidermy of some Rangers!” He pointed at Sirius as the Fenrisulfrian got to his feet, “Especially one of you, you backstabbing, moronic mutt!”
“Hey, this mutt’s obviously pretty smart if he was apparently able to backstab you,” Tip replied.
Sirius growled, “You will pay for all the lives you’ve taken away.” The Rangers quickly plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The five of them were engulfed in light, appearing in the Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they yelled in unison, readying their weapons. They immediately charged forward, slashing at Mooeffoh. Mooeffoh spun out of the way of Neil, Sirius, and Brando’s swings before crossing his arms to block Hydra and Tip’s. He promptly extended his hands forward, sending Hydra and Tip flying back. This left an opening for Sirius to slash him in the back, sending him staggering forward. Tip recovered quickly, slicing at Mooeffoh with their crossbow again, only for it to be blocked again. Tip reacted quickly, moving the crossbow away and swiftly slashing Mooeffoh across the chest and making him stagger into a slash from Brando. Neil delivered a jumping slash as Hydra ran past Mooeffoh, slashing him as he did. Tip and Hydra took another slash at him as he staggered back, only for the Marquis to duck under it and move back.
“Let’s see how you like my whip!” Mooeffoh yelled, a long, cable-like whip extending from his left forearm. He lashed it at the Rangers, who all ducked or rolled to avoid it, but it did manage to trip Neil up, making him hit the ground. Sirius leapt over the whip initially before using his claw to block a few more lashes, bringing his claw down to pin it to the ground. Sirius leapt onto the whip, which was stretched taught, leaping up off of it, and landing behind Mooeffoh. “My whip’s stuck!” Mooeffoh said with annoyance. Sirius clawed at Mooeffoh’s back repeatedly before delivering a kick, knocking Mooeffoh to the ground and sending him rolling.
As Mooeffoh got to his feet he produced a small device, pressing a button on it, “Try this on for size!” The nearby Consumoai shifted into its humanoid form before firing a barrage of energy blasts at the Rangers, sending them reeling.
“They’re in trouble, I’ll go help them,” Shen said to Alura, Birdie, and Arthur, who had just returned to the bridge after getting the people and animals aboard the Orion, “keep an eye on the people and animals, okay?”
“Of course, dad,” Arthur said as Shen rushed out of the bridge.
The Draco Zord appeared in the sky a few moments later, with Neil looking up at it before glancing at Tip and Hydra, “You two, help dad deal with the Consumoai, the rest of us will deal with this guy!”
“Got it!” Tip said.
“Right away,” Hydra replied. They readied their Morphers.
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
They flew off towards the Draco Zord as it shifted into the Torso and legs of the Draco Star Megazord, with the Libra Zord becoming the left arm and the Ophiuchus Zord becoming the right arm.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Consumoai swung at the Megazord with its lance as Neil, Sirius, and Brando fired at Mooeffoh. The Megazord quickly moved the Libra Zord to block the attack, using the Ophiuchus Zord the knock the lance out of the way to deliver a punch to the Consumoai. Shen pulled a few switches, making the Megazord leap into the air and perform a spinning kick, knocking the Consumoai to the ground.
Mooeffoh staggered back before narrowing his eye and extending a hand forward, “Let’s see how well you do without your weapons!” The Rangers’ weapons were promptly ripped from their hands, falling to the ground at Mooeffoh’s feet.
“Fine by me,” Sirius growled, charging forward and avoiding the lashes of Mooeffoh’s whip. He leapt at the Angusian, knocking him to the ground and viciously clawing at him. He leapt back, grabbing his claw from off the ground as he did so. After a moment he stood back with the other Rangers, plugging his Nova Sphere into his claw.
“Lupi End!”
Shen clamped down the mouth of his Morpher as Tip and Hydra flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
Energy swirled around the Megazord, gathering in the Ophiuchus Zord.
A large projection of the Lupus Zord made of blue energy appeared in front of Mooeffoh, and Sirius began swinging his claw. The Lupus Zord projection synced it itself with the swipes, delivering a flurry of swipes with its claws before biting down on Mooeffoh and disappearing as the Marquis staggered back, his body sparking.
The Draco Star Megazord fired a blast of silver and purple energy from the mouth of the Ophiuchus Zord, nailing the Consumoai in the chest and making its body spark.
“I guess the only taxidermy is gonna be me!” Mooeffoh declared as he and the Consumoai exploded in unison.
Sirius thought for a moment before giving a thumbs up, “Shine on.”
“The stars of hope still shine,” Shen declared as the Megazord lowered its arms.
In the control room of Antares’s Consumoai, Alderamin entered, prompting Kaus and Skragen to take a knee as Ankaa stood off to the side. “Sir Alderamin, what do we owe you the pleasure of your visit?” Kaus asked.
“I have come to contact the Emperor,” Alderamin replied, “I saw your ship was here too, so I supposed I should check in on your progress with hunting the Rangers.”
“It… could be going better, Sir,” Skragen replied.
Kaus nodded, “They were able to evade us during the chaos caused by the enclosures’ opening, I apologize for the failure.”
“There is no need to apologize to me, Kaus,” Alderamin replied, “you should be apologizing to the Emperor.”
Kaus nodded, “Yes, of course.”
“Though I expected more from you, Ankaa,” Alderamin said as he looked at the Duke, running his right hand over the stump of his left hand, “especially given your previous accomplishments.” Ankaa said nothing, and didn’t react in any way.
A large hologram of the Emperor appeared in the control room, looking at the ring on his left hand before turning his attention to Alderamin and sounding as disinterested as ever, “You have news, Sir Alderamin?”
“Aye, my liege,” Alderamin said, taking a knee, “I engaged one of the Rangers on Fronterra, the Lupus Ranger. Unfortunately he was able to escape due to the stupidity of this planet’s Marquis.”
Karna Rog gave a barely noticeable nod, “I see. Thank you for informing me of this. I shall not punish you for this failure, Sir Alderamin, as it was because of circumstances out of your control. The Rangers are formidable opponents as well, so I cannot say that any of you are incompetent either. The Emperor glanced back at his ring, “I look forward to your return to Ukhu Pacha, Sir Alderamin.”
“Of course, sir,” Alderamin nodded as the hologram disappeared. He looked at Ankaa, Kaus, and Skragen, “I must take my leave now, but I wish you luck in your efforts to kill these Power Rangers.”
“I appreciate it, Sir Alderamin,” Kaus said as the Knight left.
A few hours later, the Orion began to fly away from the Revolution’s base as Shen spoke to Leiurus and Aster on the screen, “Well, you two be safe.”
“Understood,” Leiurus replied.
Aster nodded, “Got it, boss.”
The screen turned off and Shen spun around to face Birdie as she entered the room, “Is everyone safe?”
Birdie nodded, “Yup, everyone’s back to their home planets.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Neil said.
Shen nodded, “What’re the rest of you up to?”
“Sirius just told us about how we was able to get to the release switch,” Alura replied.
“Indeed,” Hydra replied, “it was quite the endeavor from the sounds of it.”
Sirius froze for a moment, “Well, there is one thing I have neglected to mention.”
“What is it?” Arthur asked.
Sirius took a deep breath, “Remember how I told you Alderamin was there? I was forced to confront him before I could meet up with you.”
“What?” the other Rangers said in unison with surprised voices.
“You fought a Knight of Andromeda?” Alura said with disbelief.
Sirius shook his head, “I had to, if I had not I would have been killed. The moment an opportunity arose to escape I took it. I want revenge on him, yes, but I do not have a death wish. I know when I am outmatched.”
“Well,” Shen said after a moment, “you’re okay, and that’s all that matters.”
“Yeah, you must be a certified cool guy to survive an encounter with one of the Knights,” Tip said reassuringly.
Brando nodded, “I’ve heard Alderamin’s the strongest of them as well.”
“Still, I wish to defeat him eventually, and make him pay for what he’s done to me,” Sirius murmured, “I wish I was strong enough to defeat him.”
Neil patted Sirius’s shoulder, “I promise Sirius, we’ll help you stop him. You were awesome today, you know?” So what if Alderamin’s still alive? You saved all those people in the menagerie through your quick thinking, I’m sure you’re making your clan proud.”
Sirius looked at Neil, giving a smile, “Thank you, Neil, I needed to hear that.” He looked at the others, “I cannot wait to fight alongside you to stop Alderamin once and for all.”
“I can’t either, pal,” Neil smiled, “I can’t either.”
Notes:
Mooeffoh: A a portmanteau of Moo (since he’s based on cows) and a corruption of the word UFO (since he’s also based on those).
Chupasangre: A combination of the Spanish words Chupa (sucker) and Sangre (blood). It’s also meant to bring to mind “Chupacabra” which is what he’s based on.
Happy last chapter of the year! This chapter diverges pretty heavily from the source material, but honestly, I really like how it ended up coming out. Aside from most of the fight at the end, this chapter is almost entirely original. Sirius hasn’t gotten a lot of time to shine so far, so I hope this chapter gave him a much needed spotlight. As for Alderamin, he’s here simply because of how important he is to Sirius’s backstory, and just to give a taste as to how dangerous the Knights of Andromeda are. As for how weird Chupasangre is acting, well, I have plans for him later down the line, since he’s not really a MotW here, not entirely anyway. I figured a zoo setting filled with all kinds of abducted aliens just felt right given what Mooeffoh is based on, and I think it just helps show just how evil the Empire actually is. And yeah, Neil actually killed Ankaa for an hot second there. There’s also a bit of a funny bit of irony here, seeing as how I imagine that Alderamin would be voiced by John Tui, who played Cruger in SPD, who was a character very much like Sirius is here. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 15: Storm Surge
Chapter Text
Brando was currently cleaning up the Orion’s kitchen after everyone had eaten breakfast, rinsing dishes off and putting them in the dishwasher. At that moment, Birdie walked in, typing on her datapad, “Do you need any help, Brando?”
Brando shook his head, “Nah, I’m fine, but thanks for the offer.”
“It’s no problem,” Birdie replied, nodding, “the others seemed to enjoy your cooking, as per usual. I’m surprised you didn’t go professional before joining the Revolution.”
Brando chuckled a bit, “I did, actually.”
“Really?” Birdie said curiously.
Brando nodded, “I had a restaurant back on Bahamut, it’s pretty popular.” Brando chuckled a bit, “The Marquis of the place was always limiting access to resources, so ever since I was a kid I dreamed of opening a restaurant to help people affected by him. Once I got older, well, I made it come true thanks to some hard work.”
“Huh,” Birdie said as she typed on her datapad, “that’s pretty neat.”
“Thanks,” Brando said, starting the dishwasher, “Are you writing again?”
Birdie nodded, “Yep. Coming along pretty good.”
“Didn’t you say you planned on like, publishing some stuff after the Empire’s defeat?” Brando asked.
“Yeah,” Birdie replied.
Brando gave a nod, “Well, good luck on that, I’m sure people will love whatever you write.”
If Birdie could smile she would’ve, “Thanks, I hope you have a good time back at your restaurant when this is all over.”
Brando smiled, “I sure will, nothing’s better than serving up smiles after all.”
Birdie nodded before glancing down at the datapad and then back up at Brando, “I just got a message from Commander Long, we’ve got a mission to go on.”
“Gotcha,” Brando replied, “let’s get going then.”
The two of them arrived on the bridge a few minutes later, with Birdie promptly pulling out her tablet and moving next to Shen as the other Rangers got situated. “Alright, so what’s today’s mission, Boss?” Brando asked.
“Well, I think it’s one you’re sure to be interested in, Brando,” Shen replied, “Today we’re going to be liberating your home planet, Bahamut.”
“Really?” Brando said with surprise, “Well I volunteer to be part of the away team today then.”
Shen nodded, “I figured you would.”
“So we’re going to Brando’s homeworld today?” Neil asked, “That’s pretty neat, I can’t wait to see what it’s like there.”
“It’s a planet covered in oceans and beaches,” Birdie replied, “with many settlements on the surface and in the depths below.”
“You guys live underwater?” Arthur asked curiously, looking at Brando.
Brando shrugged, “It’s pretty easy for us to build down there.” A series of gills opened on the sides of his neck, “We can breathe underwater, after all.”
“Woah,” Neil said, his eyes widening, “that’s pretty sick.”
Brando chuckled, “Thanks.”
“So, who’s the guy running this place?” Tip asked.
“Nozzie,” Brando replied.
Birdie nodded as she pressed a button on her datapad, “Yup.” A hologram of a being wearing some kind of brightly-colored diving suit-like costume appeared above the bridge’s table. The suit was primarily white with some pinks and blues, with flippers on the feet. His head was quite strange, appearing almost metallic and kind of resembling a plesiosaur, with his head separated in two by a circular growth that brought to mind rippling water above his eyes. Below it seemed to be the lower body, with pink flippers extending down from the corners of his head while the “tail” formed his chin. Above it seemed to be the upper body, with the “head” and “neck” of the “plesiosaur” facing backwards. “He’s a Nessan from the planet Ness in the Piscus Austrinus system. They’re known for their ability to manipulate water, especially fog,” Birdie explained.
“On top of making it harder to access resources, he also used fog to produce all kinds of illusions to terrorize my people,” Brando added.
“So we’re dealing with kind of a trickster,” Neil replied.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we just gotta keep our eyes on the prize.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Hydra said, “a bit of smoke and mirrors is pretty simple compared to what we’ve dealt with before.”
Sirius nodded, “It will take more than a bit of simple trickery to defeat us.”
“Alright then, who’s going on today’s mission then?” Alura inquired.
“Well, since Brando’s got a bit of a history here and already volunteered to go, he’ll be going on today’s mission,” Shen said, “meaning we’re only randomly selecting four others to go.”
Neil shrugged, “Sounds fine to me.” The rest of the Rangers nodded as well.
“Alright then,” Shen said, “hit it, Arthur!” Arthur moved up to one of the bridge’s consoles and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the others going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
Neil nodded and gave a smile, “Got it, dad!”
“Hydra!”
“Understood,” Hydra replied.
“Alura!”
“Sure thing!” Alura said cheerfully.
“Birdie!”
Birdie put her datapad down and gave a nod of affirmation, “Of course, Commander Long.”
Neil gave a smile, “Alright, let’s get going!”
Birdie walked up to Brando as they exited the bridge, “I can’t wait to see what Bahamut’s like. I’ve read about it, but it’s a bit different than seeing the real thing, you know?”
“Yeah,” Brando replied, “you sound pretty excited to see it.”
“Well I’ve never gotten to visit many different planets, being the secretary of the Revolution’s leader and all,” Birdie said, “So I’m pretty excited to visit them, and yours sounds pretty nice, all things considered.”
Brando laughed, “I’m sure you’ll love the place, Birdie. Trust me.”
The Zords landed on one of Bahamut’s beaches a few minutes later, the Rangers emerging from them. “Wow, this place is beautiful,” Birdie said, looking at the rolling ocean and pristine beach. Just at the edge of the beach was a lush forest, covered in trees that vaguely resembled palm trees. On the ocean were a few settlements floating on the water. A few lights could be seen under the water farther out, signaling the presence of the underwater settlements that Brando had told them about.
“It’s like something out of a postcard,” Neil nodded.
“It reminds me of another planet me and Tip visited while we were thieves, though that one was more like a resort,” Hydra stated, “I’ve often been told that beaches are quite enjoyable and bring people happiness and excitement. Maybe I should’ve brought something to help me enjoy the beaches here.”
Birdie gave a little laugh, “I’m sure you can go back and get something once the mission’s done. We’ll probably stay here for a bit once we’re finished anyway.”
Alura finished looking around, “Man, you’ve got a nice planet here, Brando.”
“Thanks,” Brando chuckled before looking off into the distance, “The town I’m from isn’t too far from here. Well, part of it is, the rest of it’s under the bay. Nozzie loved to terrorize it, so we should probably head there if we want a chance at finding him.”
“And check in on some of your old friends?” Birdie chuckled.
Brando smiled, “Yeah, that too.”
“Do you know where the Consumoai is then?” Hydra asked.
Brando thought for a moment, “It’s in the ocean near my town, a lot of people have seen it while they were swimming.”
“Well that makes our job easier,” Alura said.
“Alright then,” Neil said as he lifted his arms up and placed his hands on the back of his neck, “lead the way, Brando.”
Brando nodded, “Sure thing.” The Rangers began to move forward before suddenly stopping as an orb of water shot out of the ocean, hitting the ground a few feet in front of them and exploding.
“What was that?” Hydra said, not appearing particularly fazed by the orb.
“That would be me!” a Scottish voice called out from the ocean. Nozzie leapt from the water, landing in front of the Rangers. He held a colorful trident in his right hand, its points metal in contrast to the rest of its colorful appearance. The central point curved towards one of the points on the side, making it almost like a hook.
“Nozzie,” Brando said, getting into a fighting position alongside the others, “I hope you’re ready to be seared.”
“Well if it isn’t the Power Rangers,” Nozzie gave a hearty laugh, “I figured you’d come here eventually after I heard one of you was a Bahamutian, and it looks like you’re the famed Brando Pesce too.”
“He’s about to be even more famed when we take you down,” Birdie said confidently before glancing at the others, “Let’s do this!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Greyders!” Nozzie raised his trident as Neil, Hydra, Alura, and Brando charged at him, causing a horde of the Imperial foot soldiers to appear. Birdie stayed back and shot them with her Morpher and blaster as the others hacked, slashed, and stabbed through the rest of them. Alura dodged a slice from a Greyder before slicing it across the chest. Meanwhile, Brando went straight for Nozzie, slicing at him with his saber. “You’ll need to do better than that, lad!” Nozzie chuckled as he blocked the slices with his trident.
Nozzie spun back, launching a high pressure jet of water from his hand. Brando avoided the attack, making it hit a Greyder instead, causing the Greyder to be knocked back before sparking and exploding. Nozzie pointed his trident at Brando, firing a few beams from it at him, which Brando used his saber to block.
By now the other Rangers had dispatched the Greyders, allowing them to turn their attention on Nozzie. “Let’s fry this fish!” Brando declared. Nozzie took a step back as fog began to roll in over the beach, a colossal sea beast appearing in the water.
“What is that thing?” Neil yelled, readying his sword.
“It’s gigantic,” Hydra said.
Alura readied her rapier, “Whatever it is, it sure chose a convenient time to show up.”
Brsndo shot at it, making it dissolve into fog. Neil lowered his sword, “It wasn’t real?”
“It must’ve been one of Nozzie’s mist illusions,” Birdie stated as the fog began to clear, with the Marquis nowhere in sight.
The team unmorphed as Brando gave an annoyed look, “Dang it, he got away.”
“We’ll get him next time,” Birdie said reassuringly.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll show his ugly mug again soon.”
“Brando!” a girl yelled as she ran up to the Rangers. She looked to be a year or two older than Arthur, with tanned skin and long brown hair that became blonde towards the tips.
“Alessia?” Brando said with a smile, pulling her into a hug, “you’re a lot taller than when I left!”
Alessia chuckled, “I sure am!”
Neil gave a puzzled look, “Do you know her, Brando?”
Brando laughed as he glanced back at them, “Of course I do! This is my sister, Alessia.”
“Oh right,” Alura said, nodding, “you did mention her a few times back during our training days.”
“She was mentioned on your file as well,” Birdie added.
“So, why’re you here? I thought you were helping the Revolution or whatever it was,” Alessia asked.
Brando smiled, “Oh I am, we got assigned on a mission here, actually.”
“Really? Awesome!” Alessia said with a smile, “Is it to defeat Nozzie?”
“Indeed,” Birdie said.
Brando nodded, “We were just about to head to town since he shows up there a lot, but we got a little sidetracked since he showed up early.”
“Did you beat him?” Alessia asked curiously.
Birdie shook her head, “Unfortunately, he got away before we could do any damage.”
“Well that sucks,” Alessia responded, “but if you’re going back to town, I can help lead you there.”
“We would appreciate that,” Hydra replied, nodding.
Brando smiled as he looked at Alessia, “Alright, the two of us will lead the way.”
In a room on one of Earth’s Consumoai, Calamartia thrusted her sword forward, inches away from Antares’s neck. Antares simply lowered his spear, giving her a nod, “I think that’s enough sparring for today, I expected nothing less from one of the Emperor’s best Jesters.”
“Thank you, Duke Antares,” Calamartia said as she put her sword away, “you’re no slouch yourself. No wonder the Emperor likes you so much.”
Antares nodded, “Yes.”
The two of them exited the room they were training in, making their way to the Consumoai’s control room. “You were sloppy,” Calamartia said suddenly.
“What?” Antares said with confusion, looking at her.
Calamartia shook her head, “Any jelly-brained idiot can tell that you’ve been acting weird all day. You weren’t giving it your all while we were sparring. Something’s on your mind.”
Antares glanced at her. “I do, Calamartia, but I have no reason to explain it to you.”
“Fine then,” Calamartia said as they entered the control room, “as long as it doesn’t mess with your fighting while dealing with the Rangers.” She looked at a puddle of purple sludge on the control room floor, “Awful nice of our Marquis friend to lend us this Consumoai.”
Antares glanced at the puddle, “It was just a Flatborg Marquis, no one will miss it.”
“Least of all me and Duke Kaus,” Calamartia replied.
Antares nodded as he sat down at the Consumoai’s control seat, “Would you mind leaving for a bit, Calamartia? I have some rather private matters to discuss.”
“Of course, Duke Antares,” Calamartia responded as she strutted out of the room.
A large hologram of Karna Rog appeared before Antares, “Duke Antares, I have something rather important to inform you of.”
“Yes, my liege?” Antares asked.
“I am sending a large fleet of Consumoai to Earth to drain its Gaiaium, it will take a while, but they will arrive,” the Emperor explained.
“I see,” Antares nodded, “I must ask, my liege, what is your fascination with this planet? I’ve heard several other Dukes and Duchesses say that there’s some secret on this planet.”
Karna Rog shook his head, “There is no secret to this planet, Duke Antares. My desire to see it turned into a lifeless rock is for more personal matters.” Despite his monotone voice, Antares knew what he was saying was true.
“Personal?” Antares tilted his head curiously, “What could possibly be the reason for you to care about its destruction? You aren’t the kind to care much about anything.”
“That is none of your concern, Duke Antares,” the Emperor said, “now, I must attend to other matters.” Karna Rog’s hologram disappeared. Antares sighed, pressing a button on the control seat and making a hologram of Schedar appear.
“Oh, hello Antares! Is there anything I can do for ya?” Schedar said cheerfully. She held a microphone stand in one hand, it had a blade at the bottom, with four blades splayed out to the sides, and a pink microphone with a face painted on the sides of it at the top.
“Dame Schedar,” Antares said, “I engaged the Scorpius Ranger the other day, and what he told me about my past… they were quite different from what you said. It worries me, so you think he was being truthful?”
Schedar thought for a moment, “Of course not, I found you alone and without your memories, remember? You remember that’s exactly what happened, and he doesn’t. He doesn’t know as much as he likes to think.”
“Still,” Antares said, “I feel uneasy about this whole thing.”
Schedar chuckled, “Oh you worry too much, Antares! Nothin’s gonna happen!” She lifted her microphone in front of her mouth, “Now, remember what your mission was, go and kill those Rangers.”
Antares’s visible eye glowed pink before returning to normal, “Of course, Dame Schedar. I won’t let you or the Emperor down.”
The group walked into the town, looking around and taking in the sights, being right next to the vast oceans of Bahamut, it was quite nice. The buildings were mostly made of wood, with the houses appearing to be huts. There were a few concrete buildings and paved streets with vehicles on them too, seemingly mixing the modern and the traditional. It would make for a picturesque vacation spot, if it weren’t for how unhappy all the people there looked. “What happened, Alessia? This place has never looked so… down, I guess,” Brando asked, looking at his sister.
She froze for a moment, “It’s because of,” she shook her head, “Nevermind, it’ll be easier to show you.”
Brando nodded, “Okay then, show me.”
Alessia looked rather hesitant, “Well, okay.”
Brando decided to change the subject, “So, where are mom and dad?”
“They left a few hours ago to deal with some stuff out of town,” Alessia replied as she led the way, “they should be back later.”
“I see,” Brando nodded, “thanks for dishing out the details.”
“Yeah, it’s uh, no problem,” Alessia said as she led them down a street.
“Hey, we’re getting pretty close to my restaurant,” Brando chuckled as he looked back at the others, “I can’t wait to show you it.”
“Really? That’s pretty cool!” Neil grinned.
Alura gave a smile as she nodded, “Yeah, he told me and Asted all about it, it’s gonna be pretty cool seeing it in person.”
“I knew he was a chef, but I was unaware he had a restaurant,” Hydra said, “I’m interested in seeing it.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see it, Brando,” Birdie said cheerfully.
Brando grinned, “Oh trust me, you guys are gonna love it.” They turned a corner, coming to a burned out building, completely wrecked. Brando’s face fell, “Is that-”
“The Golden Swordfish? Yeah, it is,” Alessia said sadly.
“Alessia,” he said, looking at her, “what happened?”
“Nozzie came in a few days ago and wrecked the place, obviously he didn’t like that it was helping get food to people,” Alsssia replied, looking at the shocked and upset face her brother was making, “I’m sorry, Brando. Mom and dad left to try and find some people who could help fix it or rebuild it, so maybe it’ll be all better soon.”
“Yeah, thanks for telling me!” Brando said, putting on a very forced smile, “Why don’t you head back to the house, me and the others will get this wrapped up quick, okay?”
Alessia gave a concerned look before nodding her head, “Okay, I guess.” She began to walk off, glancing back at her brother momentarily before continuing to walk.
Laura gave a sad look, putting a hand on Brando’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry, Brando.”
Brando gave a forced laugh, “It’s fine, we just need to focus on stopping Nozzie, right?” He quickly broke into a sprint, yelling back at the others, “We’ll split up and look for Nozzie, call if you find anything!”
“Brando, wait!” Birdie yelled, but Brando was already gone.
The Rangers glanced back and forth between each other before Hydra spoke up, “He’s clearly upset, and is doing a poor job at hiding it.”
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “he always loved talking about his restaurant and all the good it did for his community, to see it like this… I can’t imagine how hard it is for him.”
“You’re right, he’s not taking this well at all,” Neil sighed, shaking his head.
Birdie thought for a moment, “I can go speak to him, the rest of you should focus on Nozzie.”
“Are you sure, Birdie?” Hydra asked.
Birdie nodded, “I’m sure, tell me when you find Nozzie, and I’ll be right there.”
Neil gave a look of affirmation, “Sounds like a plan then.”
Alura nodded before looking at Birdie, “Just make sure you try to help him, okay?”
Birdie gave an understanding nod, “I know how close you, him, and Aster are, I’ll help him, I promise.”
“Okay,” Alura said with a small smile.
“Alright then,” Neil said, “let’s find our friend and stop this fishy freak.”
Birdie found Brando a few minutes later, spotting him in an alleyway. He had his arm raised in front of his eyes, and appeared to be crying. “Brando?” Birdie asked curiously.
Brando quickly turned to face her, trying to quickly regain his composure, “Oh, hey Birdie. Shouldn’t you be looking for Nozzie?”
“The others are doing that,” Birdie replied, “I’ve come to talk to you. The others are worried.”
Brando gave a small laugh, “Worried? Worried about what? I’m fine.”
“Your eyes are red and I heard you crying,” Birdie promptly replied.
“Oh,” Brando responded, looking sheepish.
Birdie shook her head, “Hey, there’s no shame in that.”
“I guess,” Brando replied, “But I’m supposed to stay positive, keep everyone’s spirits up.”
“Well you can’t do that if your spirits aren’t up,” Birdie replied, “So, do you want to talk about it?”
“I guess,” Brando replied, “It’s just that the restaurant meant so much to me. I bought the property and renovated the whole thing by myself, just so I could help my town deal with Nozzie by providing food while he was limiting and taxing resources. Even when I was gone I knew it was helping people, so to see it destroyed is…”
“Hard?” Birdie suggested, “Yeah, it definitely would be.”
Brando sighed as tears started welling up in his eyes, “It’s just… how can I help people here now? One of my greatest accomplishments is burned to the ground, so now what? It was always my dream when I was younger to open a restaurant to help my town, and now it’s all just gone.”
Birdie thought for a moment, “Well, losing a dream after it’s already come true can hurt a lot. If I somehow stopped being a Ranger, well, I wouldn’t know what to do.” She put a hand on Brando’s shoulder, “But just because a dream is gone doesn’t mean you can’t get it back or reinvent it.”
“What do you mean?” Brando asked, giving an intrigued look.
“You can always rebuild it,” Birdie replied, “or maybe you can help your town in a different way, a new way.” Birdie looked him in the eyes, “Your dream might be gone, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make a new one, but one that’s not too different from the one that you had before.”
“You’re… you’re right,” Brando said, giving a small smile before shaking his head, “but it still hurts, you know?”
Birdie nodded, “Of course it does, and it’s okay to feel bad about it. It’s a dream you had ever since you were a kid, losing something you dreamed of for that long is bound to hurt.”
“Thanks, Birdie,” Brando said with a smile, wiping a tear away, “but you’re right, I can help my people, I can make this a better place for them, even without what I worked so hard for.” He gave a determined look, “I can defeat Nozzie, and take care of what’s hurting people at the source. I might be a chef, but I’m also a Power Ranger, and that means I can make a bigger difference than I ever could before!”
Birdie gave a chuckle, “That’s the spirit!”
Brando smiled, “Thanks, Birdie. I really needed to hear that, all of it.”
“It’s no problem,” Birdie replied, “you helped me reach my dream, so it’s only fair that I help you reach your new one, and because it’s the right thing to do for a friend.”
Brando gave a nod, “Thanks, Birdie. You’re really like another sister to me, you know?”
Birdie gave a chuckle, “Well I didn’t know that, but yeah, I guess I saw you as a brother I never had, being an android and all.”
Brando gave a laugh before he got a call from his Morpher, lifting the device up to his mouth, “What is it?”
“Brando?” Neil’s voice said from the other end, “Alura’s found Nozzie, he’s on the beach and heading for the dock. Seems like he’s going to inspect a cargo ship that just arrived.”
“He’s probably going to sift through it to see what he should be taking from it or what to tax, it’s gonna cause a lot of problems here regardless,” Brando explained, not looking particularly pleased.
“Me and Hydra are going to meet up with Alura to go fight him and make sure that doesn’t happen,” Neil replied.
Brando nodded, “Me and Birdie will be right there.”
Brando glanced at Birdie, who gave a nod before speaking with a determined voice, “Alright, let’s make that Marquis regret messing with your dream!”
Brando nodded, “You know it! Let’s go and serve up a hot plate of punishment!” The two of them broke into a sprint, heading towards the beach.
“I think it’s about time we check on how Leiurus and Aster are doing,” Shen said, spinning his cane around, “Arthur, can you get in touch with them?”
“Sure thing,” Arthur nodded, pressing a button on a console.
In a field on Earth, Leiurus lifted up his Morpher, “Yes, Commander?”
“How’s the search for Antares going?” Shen asked.
Aster crossed his arms, “Could be going better.”
“We haven’t found him yet, but we’ll keep on looking,” Leiurus replied
Shen gave a hum, “Keep looking, I’m sure you’ll find him a-round there somewhere.”
“How is Aster doing?” Sirius asked.
Aster chuckled, “I’m doing pretty good, thanks!”
“That’s good to hear!” Tip said excitedly.
A small smile crept up on Leiurus’s face before he spoke again, “We’ll be heading out soon to keep looking, we’ll call if we find anything.”
“Got it,” Shen said, “be safe.”
Leiurus lowered the Morpher as Aster spoke, “Ready to find this guy, partner?”
Leiurus nodded, “As ready as I’ll ever be.” The two of them began to walk away, with Leiurus pausing for a moment to glance at his necklace before continuing on.
“Apparently those jelly-brained Rangers have been reported nearby, Duke Antares,” Calamartia said as she looked at Antares, who was sitting in the Consumoai’s control seat.
Antares raised a hand to stroke his chin, “I see.” Antares closed his visible eye for a moment, thinking, “I think I’ve got a plan to deal with them.”
“Better bring me along, I’d like another good fight,” Calamartia replied.
Antares chuckled as he stood up, “You’ll get one in due time, trust me. Now, as for my little plan…”
Nozzie hummed a little tune to himself as he walked along the beach towards the docks, accompanied by several Greyders. “I can’t wait to see what I can do to make these wannabe merpeople’s lives miserable today,” Nozzie chuckled, swinging his trident in front of him limply. Nozzie was hit in the side of the head by a rock, making him touch the side of his head as the Greyders gathered around him, checking to make sure he was okay, “Who did that?”
“That’s what you get for messing with my brother’s restaurant!” Alessia yelled, preparing to throw another stone.
“Oh, you’re a kiddo, are ya? And the sister of Brando Pesce too, from the sounds of it,” Nozzie said, tapping the shaft of the trident against his palm, “Well, I don’t really mind harming kiddos like you if they get in my way, lass.” A few Greyders began to approach her.
The Greyders were suddenly hit by a barrage of projectiles, making them fall to the ground as the Rangers rain in front of Alessia. “Hey, how about you pick on someone your own size!” Neil declared, glaring at Nozzie.
“Get out of here, we can deal with this,” Brando said, looking back at his sister. She nodded before running off. Nozzie looked like he was about to run after her, but Brando shot him with his Morpher, making the Marquis stagger back.
Nozzie just laughed, “It’ll take more than that for you lads and lasses to beat me!”
“Let’s test that theory,” Hydra said.
Alura nodded, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Let’s do this!” Birdie declared as she and the others plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
They emerged from the flash of light in their Ranger costumes.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” The Rangers charged forward, with Birdie and Brando focusing on Nozzie while the others dealt with the Greyders. Brando sliced at the Marquis a few times, and while Nozzie managed to block the attacks with his trident, it allowed Birdie to score a few hits on him with her blaster, spinning it around in her hand after each shot.
Nozzie slashed at Brando in response, giving a growl. Brando quickly rolled out of the way, slicing a Greyder as he got back to his feet. “When I’m done here, the people here will be back to having everything they need!” Brando declared.
“And how do you plan on doing that without your fancy restaurant?” Nozzie chuckled.
“He doesn’t need one to put a stop to you!” Birdie tried to kick Nozzie in the head, but the Marquis leapt back to avoid it.
“Uh, I’ve had enough of you two! I’m out of here!” Nozzie jumped up several feet in the air, landing in the ocean’s water and disappearing under it.
“Oh no you don’t!” Brando yelled, leaping in after him. Under the waves he maneuvered behind Nozzie, who tried to knock him back with a jet of water fired from his hand, but Brando managed to avoid it before swimming directly at him. Nozzie swung at Brando, who blocked it with his saber, slicing at the Marquis in retaliation. Nozzie swam back to avoid the slice, allowing Brando to swim forward and slice again, which Nozzie swam back to avoid again. The process repeated itself a few more times until they were both back on the beach.
Nozzie fell back, the remaining Greyders joining him, “You’re all so irritating! Can’t a man subjugate another world in peace?”
“Not while we’re around!” Birdie replied, striking a pose.
Neil nodded, raising his sword, “Wherever there’s injustice caused by the Empire, we’ll be there!”
“How heroic,” Nozzie said, not sounding amused, “Well then heroes, time for a little lesson in trickery! One that will be your downfall!” He raised his trident, making fog surround himself and the Greyders. When the fog cleared, the Greyders were gone and replaced by several Nozzies, and all of them were standing in different positions than before.
“Great, now there’s more of him,” Alura said, sounding annoyed.
Brando readied his weapon, “It’s just a bunch of fog illusions, it’ll take more than that to stop us from turning this guy to toast!”
“Yeah!” Birdie yelled as she and the other Rangers charged at the Nozzies. They hacked through them, making the illusions covering them disappear and revealing their true Greyder selves as they hit the ground. Birdie shot one Nozzie in the face, making it fall to the ground as its illusion disappeared before shooting another, making it stagger back with a cry of pain, but the illusion didn’t disappear that time. “This one’s the real deal!” Birdie shouted.
The Rangers quickly dealt with the fake Nozzies as Birdie kept pressure on the real one, not allowing him to slip away. Alura somersaulted through the air, slashing Nozzie with her rapier before ducking out of the way so Neil could swing at him, making the Marquis stagger back and into a slash from Hydra’s scythe. Nozzie stomped on the ground, sending a wave outwards that knocked the Rangers back. Luckily, Birdie took to the air just in time to avoid it, and Brando simply leapt through it.
“You’re tougher than I thought, Brando,” Nozzie growled as Birdie landed on the ground.
Brando pointed his saber at him, “I had to be given the stats you’ve put this planet in.”
“Well then, let’s see just how tough I made you!” Nozzie fired a few beams from his trident, which Brando managed to avoid. He sliced at the Marquis, who blocked it with his trident. He spun back, slicing Nozzie again, the Marquis unable to react this time. Brando spun the saber in his hand, reversing his grip on it before lunging at Nozzie, stabbing the Nessan in the shoulder. Nozzie gave a howl of pain as he tried to slash at Brando with his trident, though the Dorado Ranger was quickly able to block it.
“I’ll put an end to the suffering you’ve caused, Nozzie, no matter what it takes!” Brando kicked Nozzie away, making the Marquis begin to stagger back. Birdie then canceled Nozzie’s momentum by shooting him with her blaster and Morpher.
“Got him!” Birdie said cheerfully.
“Thanks!” Brando replied before plugging a blue Nova Sphere depicting two fish on it into his Morpher.
“Pisces Nova Sphere!”
Brando fired at Nozzie, a swarm of fish-like creatures emerging from his Morpher and biting onto the Marquis almost instantly. “Get them off!” Nozzie yelled, trying to rip the fishes off of himself. Brando ran up, slicing at Nozzie several times while he was distracted, kicking the Marquis back and onto the ground as the fishes disappeared.
Birdie fired at Nozzie as the Nessan got to his feet, though he quickly moved his trident’s blade to deflect the energy shot into the water. “Seems like we’ll need a bit more firepower then,” Birdie observed before plugging her Nova Sphere into the back of her Morpher and pointing it at Nozzie.
“Altair End!”
Birdie fired a projection of the Aquila Zord made of pink energy at Nozzie, creating a massive explosion as it collided with him and sent him flying into the air. She quickly turned to face Brando, “Your turn!”
“Got it!” Brando nodded, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Doradus End!”
A projection of the Dorado Zord made of yellow energy appeared next to Nozzie as he flew through the air. Brando sliced several times with his saber, the Dorado Zord’s projection syncing with the slashes and cutting into Nozzie. Brando finished with one downward swing, with the Dorado Zord delivering one last downward swipe with its beak, slicing into Nozzie and creating a massive explosion, with Nozzie’s body hitting the ground a few moments later. “Shine on!” Brando and Birdie said in unison, both giving a thumbs up.
“Great job you two!” Neil exclaimed, running up to them.
Brando nodded, “Thanks, I couldn’t have done it without Birdie.”
“It’s no problem!” Birdie chuckled.
Alura gave Birdie a fist bump, which the android returned without hesitation, “Good work out there.”
Hydra nodded, “Now all we have to do is destroy the Consumoai.”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog watched on, tapping his taloned digits against his throne. “It appears that yet another Marquis’s claims about being able to defeat the Rangers is debunked,” he said, as indifferent as ever. He raised, “Let us bring him back from extinction to see if he yields better results.” He snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed over the sky, blocking out the sun’s rays and plunging the beach into darkness. Dark energy crackled before a bolt struck Nozzie’s body, making it dissolving into swirling dark energy and which flew above the ocean, reforming into a giant Nozzie that shot up from the water, “Hope you’re all ready for a storm surge!”
“Oh great, I forgot about that,” Brando said, scowling.
“Looks like it’s Megazord time then!” Birdie exclaimed.
Neil nodded, “Right!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The Zords flew into the air and got into formation to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
The Megazord landed in the water, and prepared to face Bakueave. This version of the Megazord had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Aquila Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Aquila Ophiuchus Zord as the left leg.
“Alright then, let’s get down to business!” Nozzie exclaimed as fog began to roll in, “How about a blast from the past?” The fog coalesced into giant copies of Betutt, Bakueave, and Stonhinge.
“Nice try!” Birdie said, swinging the Aquila Zord through the fog clones and dispelling them. Nozzie swung at the Megazord with his trident, but Birdie quickly maneuvered the Aquila Zord to block it, allowing Brando to stab Nozzie in the chest with the Dorado Zord. The Marquis was sent reeling.
“Ya daft brats!” Nozzie yelled, firing a jet of water at the Megazord and pushing it back.
“Eat this!” Brando raised the Dorado Zord as the Megazord began to make its way forward, using the swordfish-shaped Zord to slice Nozzie with yellow energy crescents. Nozzie blocked a few, but a few others nailed him in the chest, sending sparks flying into the water below.
Nozzie leapt forward, performing a downward slice with his trident. Birdie quickly raised the Aquila Zord, using it to block the attack before Hydra used the Ophiuchus Zord to kick Nozzie in the chest and send him stagger back. Nozzie pointed his trident forward, firing a barrage of beams at the Megazord and making it spark as it took a step back. “How do ya like that?” Nozzie laughed, raising his trident in the air before pointing it forward again, preparing to fire once more.
“Oh no you don’t!” Alura yelled, pushing a lever in her cockpit forward. The Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue shot out, wrapping around the Trident. The Megazord then kicked the Chamaeleon Zord back, ripping the trident from Nozzie’s hands.
“You daft Rangers!” Nozzie growled.
Let’s finish this!” Neil shouted. The Rangers in the Megazord flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the section of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before the glow transferred to the blade of the Dorado Zord, which was positioned to be pressed against the Aquila Zord which had its wings flipped back, making the two Zords a makeshift bow. A beam of orange energy fired from the blade, pink energy spiraling around it as well. The shot nailed Nozzie in the chest, making him spark as energy crackled around him. The arrow kept going, curving downward into the water and pinning Nozzie to the Consumoai under the waves. “I’m really beached now!” Nozzie bemoaned before exploding, taking the Consumoai with him.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Brando said with a smile.
A few hours later, Brando’s parents returned with building supplies to help rebuild the Golden Swordfish as Brando and Birdie were handing out food to people at a table, Alessia watching them. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better now,” Birdie stated, looking at her friend.
“Yeah,” Brando nodded, “it was good to get some closure with Nozzie.”
Alessia nodded, “Yeah, now everybody can get everything they need when they need it.” She looked back at her parents, “I’m gonna help mom and dad, they probably need some extra hands.”
“You do that,” Brando said as Alessia ran off with a smile. Brando looked at Birdie again, “Birdie, thanks again for talking to me back there, it means a lot to me, really.”
Birdie just chuckled, “It’s no problem, you’re one of my closest friends, after all.”
“I don’t think I could’ve asked for a friend better than you, honestly,” Brando smiled as he handed out a bowl of food to a man in front of him.
Birdie gave a smile, “Thanks, Brando.”
A few feet away, Tip walked up to the other three Rangers alongside Sirius, holding a few colorful inflatable pool toys as they walked up to Hydra, “Ready to hit the beach?”
Hydra nodded, “Of course, it’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”
Tip looked at Neil, Sirius, and Alura, “Any of you three want to come?”
Alura shook her head, “Nah, I was just going look around the place, maybe do a bit of shopping. Brando used to tell me and Aster about all kinds of cool shops and landmarks here.”
“As much as I appreciate the offer, so must decline as well,” Sirius said, shaking his head as well, “I do not particularly like getting soaking wet unless it is for a shower.”
Alura glanced at him, “Wanna go with me? I’m sure we could find something you’d like.”
“I believe I will, thank you, Alura,” Sirius nodded.
“What about you, Neil?” Hydra asked, looking at the human.
“I’m supposed to meet up with Arthur and dad when they get here, but we might drop by in a little bit,” Neil replied.
“Suit yourself,” Tip said with a shrug as they and Hydra began to walk away, “Catch you later!”
“Yeah, see you around Neil,” Alura said as she and Sirius began to walk away as well.
“See you guys later!” Neil said, noticing Arthur approaching him with a thousand-yard stare on his face a few moments later, “Arthur? What’s wrong?”
“I’m so sorry Neil, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen,” Arthur said shakily.
“Who? Who wouldn’t listen, Arthur?” Neil asked, preparing his Morpher in case there was some kind of threat.
“Oh come on, Arthur, it’s not that bad!” Shen chuckled as he came into view from around a corner, making Arthur cover his eyes as Neil’s own eyes widened. Shen wasn’t wearing his usual attire, instead wearing a purple Hawaiian shirt with a floral pattern on it, shorts, and sunglasses.
“Dad? What are you wearing?” Neil said, flabbergasted.
Shen lowered his sunglasses, giving a confused look, “What? Might as well dress to impress!”
“Dad, you’re sticking out like a sore thumb,” Neil said, almost pleading.
“Hey, this is a pretty warm planet, so some lighter clothing is needed for a reptile like me. Besides, I wouldn’t be your dad if I didn’t embarrass you a little bit, right?” Shen chuckled, giving Neil a playful shove.
Neil gave a small chuckle, “Well, guess I can’t argue with that!”
“So,” Leiurus said, turning to look at Aster as they walked through the city of Las Vegas, looking at the Consumoai in the distance, “I’ve been wondering about what happened with Eurypto the other day.”
Aster looked at him, “What about it?”
“The way he reacted to what I told him, you know? How his version of events were different from mine,” Leiurus replied, “it’s like he didn’t remember anything.”
Aster grumbled, “He’s probably just doing it to mess with you.”
“I guess,” Leiurus replied, “still, it just bothers me more than it should.”
“Well we can’t let it get to us, we’ve still gotta stay focused on taking this guy down,” Aster said.
Leiurus nodded, “I guess you’re right, we can worry about this later.”
“I think you should worry about this now,” the two of them spun around to see Antares, who was accompanied by Calamartia and a squad of Greyders, “Hello again, Leiurus, Aster.”
Notes:
Nozzie: Portmanteau of Nozzle and Nessie (since he’s based on the Loch Ness Monster).
This chapter is pretty different from the source episode, which focused on Alura’s counterpart. However, given Nozzie’s theming, I figured it would be more appropriate for this to be a Brando focus chapter, with Some Birdie in it as well. Fear not though, Alura will be getting a focus chapter in due time, and one that’s pretty important to explaining some of the things that are going on as well too. Overall, I’m okay with how this chapter turned out, I just feel like there's something missing from it though. That being said, I’m pretty excited for the next one too. Comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 16: Toxic Love
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Antares,” Aster growled, readying his Morpher.
Antares chuckled for a moment, “A pleasure seeing the both of you again.” He looked at his claws, “I’ve been looking for the two of you, you know.”
“I’ve been looking for you two as well, looking for a chance to make you die screaming that is,” Calamartia said, playing with her braid-like tentacle.
Leiurus heisitated for a moment before speaking, looking at his brother, “Eurypto…”
“Nice seeing you again, little brother,” Eurypto said, “a shame I couldn’t pull together a better welcoming committee for such an occasion.”
Aster pointed directly at Eurypto as steam shot out of his nostrils, “You’ll pay for taking Professor Ain!”
“Eurypto…” Leiurus said, looking at his brother with a hesitant look for a moment before it quickly turned to determination, “as your younger brother, I’m here to save you.”
Aster glanced at him before speaking with an annoyed voice, “Save him? After everything he’s done? You’re out of your mind!”
Leiurus shook his head, “Not like that, I’m going to save him from the monster he’s become.”
“In that case, let’s get this guy!” Aster exclaimed as he and Leiurus plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers as they ran forward.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Leiurus slashed through a few Greyders as Aster sliced at Antares, who spun back away from the slash. He swung at Antares with his free hand, though Antares blocked the swing with his arm. “Take this, jelly brain!” Calamartia swung at Aster with her mace, forcing Aster to block it and move away from Antares as he blocked a few more swings. Leiurus charged forward, swinging his spear at his brother, who quickly blocked it with his own spear. Antares spun away, swinging at Leiurus, who blocked it with his spear. Antares forced Leiurus’s spear to the side and swung at him with his spear, only to stop mid-swipe to avoid a spinning kick from Leiurus. Antares responded with a kick of his own, which Leiurus blocked with his spear before spinning around to clash spears with Antares again. Their spears were held above them, which Antares forced to the ground before kicking Leiurus back, forcing the Scorpius Ranger to his knees. Antares thrusted his spear forward just as Leiurus thrusted his own spear up at him, each of them holding their spears next to each other’s necks.
“Seems like spear skills run in the family,” Antares noted.
Before Leiurus could respond, the neary Consumoai began to fly into the air, catching the attention of the Rangers, Antares, Calamartia, and the Greyders. “What’s going on?” Leiurus said with confusion. The Consumoai exploded, catching Leiurus and Aster off-guard.
“What just happened?” Aster said with surprise as his and Calamartia’s weapons were locked together.
“Just as I hoped,” Antares said, spinning away from Leiurus’s spear to look at Calamartia. He lashed his tail forward at her, stinging her in ther sternum and injecting venom into her body.
“Duke Antares?” Calamartia said as she fell to the ground, with Leiurus and Aster looking on with shock, “Why?” Her eyes dimmed as she went limp.
Leiurus gave a confused look as he got to his feet, looking at Antares with shock, “What the? What did you do to her?”
“Fast-acting neurotoxin, sure to outpace her regeneration,” Antares replied, readying his spear as the Greyders looked at him before charging forward. He stabbed one in the chest before slicing with his spear a few times, launching purple energy crescents from it that made Greyders spark and explode on impact. He raised his spear above him and spun it around, slicing any Greyder that dared to come too close. He transitioned into crouching down and thrusting his spear towards a Greyders that was farther away, purple energy appearing around his spear’s tip and extending its reach to stab the Greyder in the chest. He spun around, slicing at Greyders with his lengthened spear and making them fall to the ground before exploding. He coiled his tail around his leg, jumping into the air and piercing through the remaining Greyders with a forceful kick, a purple sigil flashing on contact. Antares slid to a stop and got to his feet with his back to Leiurus and Aster as the Greyders exploded into purple sludge. He quickly tossed a small metallic card back at Leiurus, who caught it between his fingers. “Come to those coordinates tomorrow, I want to talk to you,” Antares said.
“Why should we?” Aster asked with anger and skepticism as he crossed his arms.
“And why did you do all of that? Those were your allies,” Leiurus added.
Antares shook his head before raising his right hand to take off his mask, lowering it down to his side with his back still facing them, “I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day, Leiurus, about how you said that my version of events was different than what happened. I’ve been wondering about what you meant by that, about how I might be looking at things the wrong way.”
Leiurus’s eyes widened behind his visor, “Really? You actually want to know?”
“I don’t buy it,” Aster grumbled, pointing his axe at the Duke.
“I know you’re hesitant to trust me,” Antares said, “but if what Leiurus says is true and the Empire did take advantage of my amnesia, then maybe knowing will allow me to atone for those crimes. Assuming you’re not trying to take advantage of me yourself.”
“I’m not,” Leiurus said quickly, “I would never try to do something like that. I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
Antares, “I see. Consider this a temporary truce, one that might become more permanent depending on how things unfold. I will see you tomorrow.” Antares put his mask on and walked away leaving Leiurus to look at the metallic card.
“Coward!” Aster yelled, preparing to run after the Duke.
“Aster, Stop,” Leiurus said.
“And let him get away?” Aster said, “This is clearly a trap!”
“Even if it was, it at least will make it easier to find him again, we know where he’ll be, and he’ll probably be coming alone,” Leiurus replied.
Aster sighed, “You just want a chance to talk him out of this, don’t you?” Leiurus said nothing, prompting Aster to give a sigh, “I figured. Fine, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he tries anything, anything at all, then we’re putting him down.”
“Right,” Leiurus said, giving a small nod, unmorphing and pulling out his necklace to look at as he and Aster began to walk away.
“I still think this is a really bad idea,” Aster said as he sat down at his and Leiurus’s makeshift camp outside of Las Vegas, “he’s obviously trying to take advantage of you.”
“Maybe he is,” Leiurus, “but maybe he isn’t, and it’s… it’s a chance I think we’ll have to take.”
Aster sighed, “Did you forget that he tried to kill us a few days ago? Or that he was holding a spear to your throat literally minutes ago?”
“That was before he had time to think about it, and I attacked him first,” Leiurus replied.
Aster shook his head, “Listen, I’m not gonna let you get hurt because you thought it was a good idea to trust your brother who’s done nothing but try to kill us.”
“What?” Leiurus asked, “Why?”
“Because you’re my best shot at getting Professor Ain back,” Aster replied, giving a sigh, “Listen, we can’t just throw caution to the wind, this guy is one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy.”
Leiurus gave a sigh, shaking his head, “You’re right, I guess. But we should probably still give him the benefit of the doubt. And if push comes to shove, at least it’s the two of us against him. We should at least try to see what’s going on.” Leiurus took a deep breath, “Besides, he’s the only family I have, just like Professor Ain is the only family you have. You’d do the same, wouldn’t you?
Aster thought for a moment before groaning, “You’re right, I guess we should at least try to hear him out, but we should call the others, just in case.”
Leiurus nodded, pulling out a ration packet, “I’ll call once I’m done with dinner.”
Aster gave a chuckle, “Some dinner you’ve got there.”
Leiurus gave a snort of laughter, “Well we can’t have Brando’s food every day. Besides, you don’t even eat.”
“Eh, you got me there, I guess,” Aster shrugged, “Where are we supposed to meet him anyway?”
Leiurus tapped the mechanical card, which projected a holographic map. “From the looks of it, Edinburgh,” Leiurus said.
“Again?” Aster chuckled, “Think it’s a coincidence?”
“Probably,” Leiurus nodded, “I don’t know what could be there that he could use to his advantage.”
“You never know,” Aster said.
Leiurus put the card away and pulled out his necklace, looking at it, “Yeah.”
Antares walked towards Calamartia’s body as night fell across Las Vegas, looking down at the Vivifican’s limp body. Her leg suddenly shot up before she shifted her position to sit, getting to her feet immediately afterwards, “You could have given me a bit of a warning.”
“The Consumoai exploding was the warning, we went over that,” Antares replied, “Besides, you can’t die, so it’s not that bad.”
Calamartia stretched her arms forward, weaving her fingers together, “Just because I can’t die doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, I can still feel some of your venom.” She looked at it, “Given that you’re still standing I assume your little ploy worked.”
Antares nodded, “They did, well, at least Leiurus did. It was like taking candy from a baby.”
“So we head there tomorrow and slaughter them then,” Calamartia laughed.
“I don’t think it would be wise to assume it will be that easy,” Antares replied, “that mechanical bull definitely suspects my intentions aren’t as pure as Leiurus thinks, even though I wasn’t technically lying. I wouldn’t be surprised if they called in help from their little friends.”
“You’re making it very hard to stay patient now. I need to kill somebody or I’ll go insane,” Calamartia said, sounding annoyed.
Antares laughed, “Don’t worry, you’ll have your fun soon. Contact the others, it would be a smart move to have them here in case the other Rangers do show their faces. It’ll give you an excuse to talk with that beloved hubby of yours too, if you want.”
Calamartia snorted, “Don’t need to tell me twice, but what about you?”
“Me?” Antares replied, “I’ll practice a bit to make things sound a bit more convincing.” There was an odd uncertainty in his voice as he said that.
“So we’re heading back to Earth?” Arthur asked Shen as the Rangers all returned to the Orion’s bridge.
Shen nodded, still wearing his Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sunglasses, the last of which he took off and put on the bridge’s table, “Yup, we’re going to star-t our trip back there. Leiurus and Aster are going to have a meeting with Antares, and they want us to stick around in case anything happens.”
“You’re telling me they’re meeting with that lunatic willingly? Are they crazy?” Alura said with wide eyes.
“From the sounds of it, it was mostly Leiurus’s idea,” Shen replied.
Sirius gave a nod, “Love can often make people act irrationally.”
Hydra gave a nod as well, “That I have heard.”
“Yeah, it tends to work like that,” Tip said, patting Hydra’s shoulder.
“Well we need to keep on guard, if this is what Leiurus wants, then we’ll have to help him, even if this whole thing seems really suspicious,” Neil said.
“Yeah, Brando replied.
“We’re his friends, it’s the least we can do,” Birdie added.
Arthur nodded, “I just hope Leiurus will be okay.”
“Aster too,” Sirius added.
“I hope so,” Shen said, “I’ve got a bad feeling about tomorrow.”
“So, we’re returning to that backwater planet, are we not?” Kaus asked, glancing at Skragen from where he sat in the Executor-class Consumoai’s control room, Ankaa sitting in another control seat.
Skragen nodded, “Yes, Duke Kaus. My darling wife just called to inform us that Duke Antares would like us back on Earth for assistance with his plan. He would like us to distract the other Rangers if they appear while he deals with the Scorpius and Taurus Rangers.”
“I see,” Kaus said, stroking his chin, “a shame I won’t be the one to kill Leiurus for his betrayal, but I suppose if it manages to put an end to them and pleases his magnificence, then I don’t mind.” He looked at Ankaa, “And I do believe our friend would enjoy confronting that Leo Ranger again.” Ankaa nodded.
Skragen tilted his head, “Why is he so interested in him anyway?”
“Perhaps he sees the Leo Ranger as a worthy opponent,” Kaus suggested.
Skragen nodded, “Perhaps that is the case. Though I doubt we’ll ever know for sure, seeing as he’s more of the strong, silent type.”
Kaus gave a sound of agreement before looking at a Greyder, “Prepare to warp to Earth, we mustn’t waste time if we want our trap to be successful.”
The next day, Leiurus and Aster arrived outside of an abandoned warehouse next to an junkyard in Edinburgh. “Couldn’t have picked a less suspicious place to meet us,” Aster said, looking at the warehouse.
“Probably wants to make sure we aren’t interrupted,” Leiurus said.
Steam shot out of Aster’s nostrils as they walked closer toward the warehouse, “Well since the others are coming, it seems like that idea’s gone down the drain.”
“Yeah,” Leiurus said, pausing for a moment before speaking again, “Listen, thank you for helping me hunt Eurypto down, it really means a lot to me. I know we got off on the wrong foot and I should have explained earlier, but I’m glad we were able to work past that, I think.”
Aster looked at him, “It’s no problem, Leiurus. You’re giving me a chance to find my creator, and maybe get revenge on the guy who took him. And you know what? You’re not such a bad guy after all, it’s pretty brave to try and stop Eurypto, even if he is your brother.”
“Thanks,” Leiurus said, glancing up at the sky and watching the other Rangers’ Zords land, “Looks like there here.”
The other Rangers rushed towards them a few moments later, with Neil giving a wave as he did so, “Hey guys! It’s been a while!”
Aster gave Neil a fist bump, “It’s only been a few days, Neil.”
“So?” Neil shrugged, “It feels weird without having everyone.”
“Man, your brother really chose the sketchiest meetup spot possible, huh,” Tip said, arms behind their head as they walked forward.
Aster gave a chuckle, “That’s what I said.”
“Leiurus,” Shen said as he caught up with the others, back to wearing his usual outfit, “are you absolutely sure about this?”
Leiurus closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, “Yeah, I am. There’s something weird going on, and I want to get to the bottom of it, and at the very least find out what made my brother into what he is now.”
“You should be careful though,” Birdie said, “there’s a very high possibility that this is a trap.”
“Yes,” Sirius growled, “You should probably stay on your toes.”
“We will,” Aster said as he and Leiurus prepared to enter the warehouse.
“We’re going to head in now,” Leiurus said, “the rest of you should probably keep an eye on things out here.”
“If we’re not out in an hour, bust in,” Aster said.
“Alright,” Alura said, “be safe, you two.”
Arthur nodded, “Good luck, guys. I hope things go well, Leiurus.”
“Yeah,” Neil said, “good luck. We’ll make sure nothing interrupts this family reunion of yours.”
Leiurus turned to look back at them, “Thank you, all of you.”
Aster nodded as well, “Yeah, thanks you guys.”
“It’s no problem,” Hydra said calmly.
Brando smiled, “No need to stay and compliment the chefs, go in there and do whatever you need to.”
“Right,” Leiurus nodded.
“Let’s get going,” Aster said as the two of them walked through the warehouse’s entrance.
The inside of the warehouse was mostly abandoned, with countless empty shelves reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The middle of the warehouse had barely any shelves in it, instead having a desk and a chair where Antares sat, leaning back in the chair and resting his feet on the top of the desk with his arms behind his head, “There you are, I was starting to think you two wouldn’t show.”
“Alright Eurypto,” Leiurus said, “explain yourself.”
Aster stopped his foot on the floor angrily, “And tell me what happened to Professor Ain!”
“Aster,” Leiurus turned to face him, whispering, “we aren’t going to get anywhere if we get aggressive, it might just make him attack us.”
“Right,” Aster whispered back sheepishly, “sorry. I’m not really good with this interrogation thing, at least when it comes to him.”
“It’s fine,” Leiurus whispered back.
“Are you two done?” Antares asked, looking at one of his black chitinous hands, “If I’d known you two were more interested in each other than me I would’ve rescheduled or not even have bothered coming.”
“It’s not…” Leiurus sputtered, “Listen, you were curious about what I said, right? Well if you want me to tell you more then you’re going to answer my questions first.”
“Our questions,” Aster corrected as Antares got up from his seat, “and get rid of the mask, I wanna see the face of the man who took my creator.” Antares just laughed, doubling over before standing back up straight, still laughing. Aster glared at him, “What’s so funny?”
Antares just laughed for a moment more, “You don’t want me to do that.”
“Why not?” Leiurus asked, feeling the tension between all of them.
“Apparently a lot of people find my visage disconcerting, can’t blame them really,” Antares shrugged.
“Who cares, just show that ugly mug of yours,” Aster commanded.
Leiurus shook his head, “It can’t be that bad.”
Antares chuckled, lifting a hand and placing it on his mask, “If you insist.” Antares removed his mask and brought it down to his side, exposing his upper face and making Leiurus and Aster recoil with disgust.
“Oh my stars!” Leiurus said with shock.
“Looks like your outside is just as nasty as your inside,” Aster said, revolted.
The upper half of Eurypto’s face, which was previously obscured by his mask, was nothing short of nightmarish. Tan skin around Eurypto’s yellow eye was the only thing that remained, the rest of his face was covered with black chitin, and purple-tipped chelicerae and scorpion-like legs replaced his teeth. His other eye was orange and beady, like a scorpion’s. “I told you,” Eurypto chuckled, his teeth-legs twitching and curling as he spoke.
“Eurypto,” Leiurus said slowly, “what happened to you?”
“This?” Eurypto asked, “Emperor Karna Rog made me this shortly after I was brought to Ukhu Pacha.”
“Well I can see why you wear that mask now, freak,” Aster said with disgust.
Leiurus took a moment to regain his composure, “Disregarding… all of that,” Leiurus said, gesturing to Eurypto’s face, “what exactly happened? What do you remember?”
“I remember waking up in the desert on Serket, alone,” Eurypto replied, “and then a woman found me. She took me in, gave me food, and told me what had happened to me. That was Dame Schedar.”
“Schedar?” Aster said with shock, “The Duchess of the Cassiopeia system and the Empire’s Minister of Propaganda herself?”
“What other Schedar could I have been referring to?” Eurypto replied.
“She’s a master manipulator, you might not have known it then, but you should now,” Leiurus said.
Eurypto scoffed, “I’m well-aware of Dame Schedar’s ability to compel anyone to do anything. I’ve seen her do it, and I would know it if she did it to me.” He shook his head, “She told me I was unfairly exiled from my tribe for going against a decision by our leader that would’ve caused us to go to a land without food, where we’d waste away and die. She said she could help me get revenge, and pay them back for what they did.” Eurypto paused before speaking again, “So tell me, what do you remember happening?” He sounded genuinely curious.
“Eurypto, I told you before, you were never exiled. You went out to go hunting on your own to get food for me and then you just disappeared,” Leiurus replied.
Eurypto nodded, “That’s what you told me, yes. But many of the Empire’s members have corroborated the story, it’s unlikely my version of events is untrue.”
Leiurus took a moment to try and speak, but no words came out, so Aster decided to speak for him, “Alright, what about Professor Ain? Where is he?”
“The Professor? Still alive, last I heard,” Eurypto replied, “I was instructed to bring him in alive, and I doubt the Empire would decide to kill him after that. After all, his intelligence supposedly rivals that of Sir Mirfak himself.”
“Why do they need him?” Aster asked, tapping his foot.
Eurypto shrugged, “To make weapons and other gizmos I assume. Personally I didn’t bother to keep tabs on him after I brought him in.”
“He’d never make something for the Empire to use, never!” Aster stomped his foot.
“He’s probably not doing it willingly,” Eurypto said before he turned his attention back to Leiurus, “But back to the topic at hand. Is there anything you can do to prove your version of events? I want to believe you, but I’ll need some evidence first.”
Leiurus reached into his pocket, gently removing his necklace and holding it in front of him, “I have this, you… you gave it to me when we were younger, it has your venom in it. You… you said that it’s so I could always have a part of you with me.” He looked at Eurypto intently, waiting for the Duke to respond.
Eurypto’s yellow eye widened as he took a step back, gripping his mask tight. Memories flooded back to him of when he gave Leiurus that necklace all those years ago.
“Here,” Eurypto said as he handed a younger Leiurus a pointed necklace, a purple spherical gem in it. The two of them were near their tribe’s tents on Serket as the sun hung high in the sky.
Leiurus looked up from where he was sitting, the nine-year-old looking up at his nineteen-year-old brother, “What is it?” He took the necklace from him, looking it over.
“It’s some of my venom,” Eurypto replied, looking at his younger brother with affection, “I know I won’t always be around for you, so I want you to take this. It’s so that even when I’m somewhere else, I can still be with you.”
Leiurus grinned, “Thank you brother, I love it!”
Eurypto gave a smile before ruffling his younger brother’s hair, “You’re welcome, Leiurus.”
Those memories were quickly blocked off and vanished into darkness as Schedar’s words echoed in his brain before being blocked off and vanishing as well, “Now, remember what your mission was, go and kill those Rangers.” Eurypto took a step back, clenching his deformed face.
“Eurypto, what’s wrong?” Leiurus said, panicking and preparing to take a step forward.
“Yes, I remember now,” Eurypto said, regaining his footing as his eyes momentarily flashed pink.
“Really?” Leiurus said with a hopeful expression, “What is it?”
Eurypto put his mask back on, covering his deformed face, “I remember that this is when you die.” He produced his spear and swung it, sending a purple energy slash at the Rangers.
They dived out of the way, with Leiurus’s face giving a look of shock, “Eurypto…”
“I knew we couldn’t trust this guy!” Aster growled, firing his Morpher at Antares, who blocked the shots with his tail.
Antares held his spear up from the hole in its tip, looking at them, “I’ve heard enough. Regardless if what you say is true or not, let me make one thing clear, my loyalty is with the Empire, always has been, and always will be. I was sent to kill the Power Rangers, and I intend on fulfilling that request, even if it means killing my own little brother.”
“You… you tricked me,” Leiurus said, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
Antares shook his head, “Not entirely. I did want to find out what you had to say about my past, but I also lured you here to pick you off myself.” There was an odd uncertainty in Antares’s voice as he said that last part.
“You don’t even have an ounce of sympathy for your own brother? Not one shred of love? You’re a monster!” Aster said, enraged.
Eurypto was quiet for a moment before replying, “…No.”
Aster glanced at Leiurus, “Let’s get this guy!”
Leiurus shook his head, trying to regain his composure as he wiped his tears away, “You’re right.” He glared at Antares, “I’m going to put you out of your misery today, brother.”
“You’re welcome to try,” Antares chuckled, readying his spear as Leiurus and Aster readied their Morphers.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Aster swung at Antares, who spun out of the way to avoid the attack before blocking a swipe from Aster’s axe and retaliating by slicing him across the chest and making the robot stagger back.
Antares ducked under a swing from Leiurus’s spear before locking his own spear with Leiurus’s as the latter tried to perform a downward swing. “It doesn’t matter what you try now, Eurypto, you’re outnumbered. The others are outside,” Leiurus growled.
Antares kicked him back, chuckling, “Did you really think I didn’t take that into account?”
“Wonder what they’re doing in there,” Neil wondered aloud, looking at the others. Before anyone could respond, a flaming cross-shaped slash flew towards the other Rangers, erupting into flames as they all rolled to avoid it. They looked towards its source, spotting Ankaa, Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia, the latter two having their arms locked around each other. In addition to them, they were also accompanied by two Flatborgs.
“We meet again, Rangers,” Kaus declared, pointing his halberd at them, “it seems that Antares’s plan worked exactly as intended.”
“So this was a trap,” Sirius growled as he and the others got to their feet.
“Correct,” Skragen nodded, slinging his rifle over his shoulder, “one that Leiurus Calchas fell for hook, line, and s-ink-er.”
Calamartia laughed, patting her husband’s shoulder, “Duke Antares is probably smearing their insides on the wall as we speak!”
“Then we’re gonna go save them!” Arthur retorted, raising his Morpher.
Kaus shook his head, “I’m afraid we cannot allow you to do that.”
“Then we’ll take you guys down first!” Neil said, readying his Morpher, “Ready guys?”
“Ready!” the other Ranger said in unison as they inserted their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
They emerged from the resulting flash of light in their Ranger uniforms before speaking in unison, “Power Rangers Supernova!” Tip and Birdie hung back and fired at the Flatborgs as the other Rangers charged forward. Ankaa, Skragen, and Calamartia began to move forward as well, with the latter two charging forward while the former walked at a brisk pace. Shen, Hydra, and Arthur attacked Skragen, Alura and Brando went after Calamartia, and Neil and Sirius engaged Ankaa. Neil and Sirius both sliced at Ankaa, who blocked it by quickly raising his sword. He disappeared in a burst of flames, appearing behind Sirius and kicking him to the ground. He then sliced at Neil, who backflipped out of the way.
Skragen sidestepped, ducked, and spun out of the way of Hydra and Arthur’s slices at him with a hand behind his back. The crystal on his head glowed before Arthur was tossed to the side and Hydra’s arm was forced to the side, allowing Skragen to slice him across the chest and send sparks flying. “You won’t get away with that,” Shen growled, flipping his cane so he was holding it more like a sword. He held it back, appearing ready to thrust it forward at Skragen. The crystals on Skragen’s chest began to glow as he stepped and turned to the side just as Shen began to attack. Shen didn’t actually perform a thrust, instead slicing in an arc, hitting Skragen and making him stagger back.
“That’s not fair!” Skragen said with annoyance.
Shen pointed his cane forward, firing a shot at Skragen and nailing him in the chest, “That’s rich coming from someone with your skill set.”
Calamartia thrusted her mace forward at Alura, who blocked it with her rapier. Alura promptly spun around, making the Jester stagger back and allowing her to slice Calamartia in the chest. Brando then tried to stab at her, and as he did she sliced at him with her sword. The attacks collided with their intended targets, making Brando stagger back while Calamartia simply flinched. “It’ll take more than that to hurt me, jelly brains!” Calartia laughed.
Alura blinked into the view beside her, jabbing her in the side with her rapier and knocking her back, “That good enough for you?”
Kaus hung back, routinely firing energy arrows at the Rangers while they were dealing with their own opponents, forcing them to dodge them and potentially allowing for openings that their opponents could exploit. Birdie and Tip spun out of the way of the Flatborgs’ swings before firing at Kaus with their weapons and Morphers. The attacks hit Kaus, making him stagger back with a growl, “Impertinent little rodents!” He tapped the base of his halberd on the ground, making it shift into its bow form and fire a single energy arrow in the air, which erupted into dozens more that rained down on the junkyard. The Rangers were forced to dodge or block the barrage with their weapons, with Birdie and Tip shooting a few arrows out of the air.
Skragen casually stepped out of the way of the arrows, and while a few hit Ankaa and Calamartia, they quickly recovered and appeared to be no worse for wear. The same couldn’t be said for the Flatborgs, which were nailed by several energy arrows each, making them go up in flames.
Leiurus and Aster’s fight with Antares spilled outside, some distance away from the others. Antares hit Leiurus with the back of his spear, knocking his younger brother back before lashing at Aster with his tail. Aster batted the tail away with his axe before plugging his Nova Sphere into it.
“Aldebaran Strike!”
He flung a spinning black energy axe at Antares. Antares raised his spear to block it, producing sparks as the axe collided with the shaft of the spear. Antares brought the spear downward, dispelling the axe before slicing a purple energy crescent at Aster, who rolled to the side to avoid it. Leiurus lashed his tail at Antares, who spun out of the way to avoid it before gripping his spear with both hands and holding it in front of him to block a downward slice from Leiurus’s spear. “I used to think there was still a part of you left in there, Eurypto,” Leiurus said, his voice a mixture of anger and sadness, “but now I see there’s nothing but lies and bloodlust!”
Antares forced his spear forward, making Leiurus stagger back before raising his free hand, “You’re right about one thing, I have no problem with killing, but lies? I never lied to you. The most I did was engineer that little confrontation yesterday to make it look more convincing. I’m sure the Emperor won’t be happy about losing another Consumoai, but it was a necessary sacrifice.” He pointed his spear at Leiurus and Aster, “Everything I told you in there and everything I told you yesterday, it was true.”
“You expect us to buy that? You don’t even care about your own brother!” Aster growled, slicing at Antares. Antares used his spear to block it before forcing Aster’s axe to the side, stabbing him with it and knocking him back.
Aster regained his footing before glancing at Leiurus, “Let’s end this guy, partner!”
Leiurus gave a hesitant nod before looking at Antares, “You’ll pay, brother, for everything you’ve done.” The two of them charged at Antares.
Antares quickly coiled his tail around his right leg, raising it to block Leiurus and Aster’s slashes. With frightening speed he kneed Leiurus in the chest before kicking Aster in the chest as well, making them both stumble back. Antares then performed a spinning kick around him, leaving a trail of purple in its wake in a large circle around him. Leiurus and Aster were caught in the middle of it and the two of them were sent flying back, writhing in pain on the ground before unmorphing.
“As much as I appreciate everything you’ve told me, I have orders to fulfill. You two will be the first of the Rangers that will meet their demise,” Antares said, holding his spear up from the hole in its tip, his black coat billowing in the wind.
“Do it then,” Leiurus snarled.
Antares’s yellow eye widened as Aster spoke, shock in his voice, “What?”
“It was stupid of me to think that you were still in there. I was too naive to think you wouldn’t still see me as your brother after everything you’ve done,” Leiurus said, trying to hold back tears, “I thought you would after everything we’ve been through, I thought you would since we were the only ones each other had.” Leiurus was sobbing now, “But now I see that I have nothing, no one at all. So do it, do whatever you need to do.”
“Leiurus, I…” Antares’s voice went softer, shock and hesitation filling it before his exposed eye flashed pink again, “I’ll honor your request.” Antares knelt down, putting his right leg forward and looking at Leiurus’s limp form.
Meanwhile, Skragen staggered back after being sliced across the chest by Sirius, who had switched places with Hydra mid-fight. As he staggered back he noticed Antares knocking Leiurus and Aster to the ground with his spinning kick some distance away. He glanced over at Kaus, “Duke Kaus, I believe it’s time for us to go.”
Kaus blocked a jab from Tip’s crossbow, kicking them back before noticing Antares as well, “Yes, it would appear so.” He swung his halberd at the Rangers once last time, sending a green energy slash forward that they managed to avoid as Skragen and Calamartia ran up to him, “Farewell, Rangers. I expect to see less of you from here on out.” The three of them vanished in a beam of light. Ankaa was currently locking blades with Neil before forcing the Leo Ranger’s to the side and slashing him across the chest, fire erupting from the strike as Neil staggered back. Ankaa then vanished in a swirl of flames as Hydra attempted to slash him.
“What was all of that about?” Tip asked.
Brando nodded, “They seemed to be in a hurry to get out of here."
Neil looked in the direction of where Kaus glanced, his eyes widening under his helmet, “Guys, look!” He pointed at Antares, who had knelt down by now.
“Leiurus!” Arthur yelled.
Sirius growled, “Aster!”
“We need to go help them!” Alura commanded.
“Let’s hurry!” Neil yelled as the Rangers began charging forward.
It took a few moments, but Antares leapt into the air before launching himself at Leiurus, his right leg with the stinger wrapped around it pointed forward to deliver a kick. Leiurus closed his eyes and prepared for the impact. “Leiurus…” Aster muttered under his breath as he watched Antares hurtling forward.
Suddenly, Professor Ain’s voice filled his mind, “Because, if you lose sight of your desire to protect, to love, then you’ll be no different than any other machine.”
Aster quickly got to his feet, “Partner!” He ran in front of Leiurus, putting himself between the Scorpius Ranger and Antares.
Leiurus’s eyes shot open and he reached an arm forward, “Aster, no!”
The Rangers’ eyes widened in horror under their helmets, freezing up in shock as they saw what Aster was doing.
“Aster!” Sirius yelled, extending a clawed hand forward.
“No!” Alura and Brando yelled in unison.
Birdie was the first to recover, pointing her blaster forward, “Tip, now!”
“Got it!” Tip replied, pointing their crossbow forward before firing alongside Birdie.
Moments before Antares collided with Aster, a golden energy arrow and a pink energy beam nailed the Duke in the side, sending Antares flying off course with a cry of pain. Antares recovered mid-air, performing a three-point landing as a single drop of purple venom flew towards Aster from where Antares was moments before. The venom hit Aster in the chest, making steam flow from his chest’s metal plating as the venom began to eat a hole through it. Aster staggered back, falling back to the ground. “Aster!” Leiurus yelled, getting to his feet and leaning over Aster, extending his tail and trying to suck the venom on Aster’s chest into it. “Why did you do that?” Leiurus yelled.
“You’re wrong, you know,” Aster said with a grunt, putting his hand on Leiurus’s.
“About what?” Leiurus sobbed, now trying to detach the black metal plating from Aster’s chest before the venom could burn through anything else.
“About having nothing and no one,” Aster replied shakily, “you were wrong about that.”
Leiurus’s tear-filled eyes widened, “What? What do you mean?”
“You have us, Leiurus. Me, Arthur, Neil, everyone,” Aster said, “You’re not alone. I used to think that too, after I lost Professor Ain. But after I joined the Revolution, I realized I did have someone.”
“Aster…” Leiurus choked out as the venom thankfully stopped burning through the metal plating. “Oh thank the stars,” Leiurus said with relief.
“It’ll take more than some amnesiac psycho’s venom to keep me down,” Aster joked, but he still clearly sounded in pain.
Leiurus turned to glare at Antares, who had gotten back to his feet, “You monster! I hate you! I wish you’d keel over and die! I hate the fact that I ever even loved you at all!”
Antares’s eye widened, taking a step back. While his upper face was obscured by his mask, it was clear from his body language and the look in his eye that he was genuinely hurt, “L-Leiurus, I… I-”
“Shut up!” Leiurus roared, getting to his feet.
Antares was promptly nailed in the chest by yellow and green energy orbs as Alura and Brando marched forward with their Morphers pointed at Antares. “No one messes with Aster!” Alura yelled.
“He’s our friend!” Brando added.
“You won’t get away with this, Antares!” Neil yelled, as every morphed Ranger pointed their Morpher at the Duke, who took a step back.
“All Star Shot!” The Rangers fired beams of light from their Morphers, which flew towards Antares. Suddenly, a Conquerer Worm in its humanoid appearance leapt out of the ground, taking the hit instead. A star shape was burned into the ground under the Conqueror Worm before a pillar of light shot up from it, engulfing the Conqueror Worm as a series of explosions happened inside of it. The Conqueror Worm fell to the ground as the pillar faded, making the Rangers look on with confusion.
“What was that?” Neil yelled.
Antares’s eye flashed pink, “I had heard reports that the Conqueror Worm that you killed here potentially laid an egg before its demise, so I figured I’d come here to use it as a fail-safe just in case.”
“Well now your meat shield is gone! You’re toast now!” Brando yelled as the Rangers prepared to fire at Antares again.
Before they could fire, they were interrupted by a series of red energy blasts from above, creating a series of explosions between them and Leiurus and Aster, making the Rangers stumble back. “What was that?” Arthur said with confusion as he regained his balance.
“Perhaps it was that,” Hydra said, pointing up at an object in the air. Flying towards them was what appeared to be a large space shuttle of some kind. It was primarily black and gold, with a few red flame decals on it.
“I’ve never seen an Imperial ship like that before,” Shen said as the ship fired a few more red beams from under its nose, forcing the Rangers to dodge them. It swooped downward towards Antares, taking him with it as it flew back up.
Karna Rog watched the events on Earth transpire on a screen in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room. “Quite the shame, isn’t it? Antares was so close to dealing with those two,” the Emperor said, looking at an empty part of the throne room in front of him. “No matter, he did well. Now, I’m sure the Rangers will appreciate a bit of a parting gift,” Karna Rog said, raising his hand and snapping his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the junkyard, with pitch black electricity crackling through it. After a moment a pitch black bolt of lightning shot down from it to hit the Conqueror Worm’s body, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy which flew away before reforming into a giant Conqueror Worm. “Oh great, of all the times for this to happen,” Aster said with a grunt of annoyance.
Neil glanced back at the others, “Me, Hydra, Alura, Birdie, and Brando will deal with this thing, the rest of you get Aster back to the Orion!”
“Got it!” Arthur yelled as he, Sirius, Tip, and Shen ran towards Leiurus and Aster.
“Let’s finish this quick!” Alura yelled.
“Right!” Neil replied as he and the remaining Rangers prepared to call their Zords.
“Leo Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off and attached to their respective Zords, which then got themselves into position to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
The Megazord was the same as the combination used yesterday, and wasted no time charging at the Conquerer Worm. The Conqueror Worm charged as well, with sparks flying as it and the Megazord collided. The Megazord used the Ophiuchus Zord to kick the Conqueror Worm back before slicing it with the Dorado Zord. The Worm gave a screech as it swung both of its tentacle arms downward, with the Megazord raising the Dorado and Aquila Zords to block the attack. The Megazord forced the arms apart before slicing it with the Aquila and Dorado Zords in quick succession.
The Worm staggered back before spinning, its arms outstretched. The Megazord was lashed repeatedly by it, sending sparks flying. The Worm stopped spinning a few moments later, seemingly having gotten dizzy after all the spinning. The Megazord took the opportunity to slash it again with the Aquila Zord, making it stagger back. The Worm screeched as it extended its arms forward, wrapping them around the Dorado and Aquila Zords, thus restraining the Megazord’s arms.
“This is bad,” Brando said.
“How are we supposed to hit it now?” Birdie asked.
Alura pulled a lever in the Chamaeleon Zord’s cockpit forward, “Leave this to me!” The Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue launched forward, lashing the Conqueror Worm’s chest repeatedly, backing it release the Dorado and Aquila Zord’s as it staggered back.
“Good move, Alura,” Hydra said.
“Now, let’s finish this off!” Neil exclaimed as the Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before the light was transferred to the Aquila and Dorado Zords. The Aquila Zord was swung in an arc in front of it, creating a large, stationary pink energy slash. The Dorado Zord was swung down on the energy slash, sending it flying forward alongside a yellow energy slash of its own, intersecting with the pink one to create a cross-shaped energy slash that flew towards the Conqueror Worm, cleaving through it and making it explode.
“We need to get back to the Orion now,” Alura said.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we need to see if Aster’s okay!”
“Got it,” Neil said as the Megazord disassembled itself, with its component Zords flying off into the sky.
Antares walked into the control room of his Consumoai, Ankaa walking beside him.
“I assume your extraction of Antares went well, Ankaa,” Kaus said, looking at the gold masked Duke. Ankaa simply nodded.
“Oh it’s so nice to see you again, honey,” Skragen said with a chuckle.
Calamartia laughed, “Sure is, jelly brain. Did you pick up anything for me?”
Skragen nodded, “Of course I did, I wouldn’t want to disappoint my wonderful wife.”
Kaus shook his head, “Anyway, while we weren’t able to terminate the Rangers, we have taken one of them out of commission, at least for a while.” He looked at Antares, “I must applaud your work, Antares.”
Antare simply nodded, “Yes, thank you, Kaus. I appreciate it.” Antares shook his head, “I need some time to myself for a bit, I’m exhausted.”
Kaus nodded, “Of course, Antares.”
Antares nodded before exiting the control room and beginning to wander the halls of his Consumoai, clenching his head. “I’m supposed to kill him, he’s supposed to be just another target to me. So why does him calling me a monster and saying he hates me feel so… bad?” Antares wondered to himself, tapping his clawed digits on the side of his leg. He shook his head as his eyes flashed pink for a moment, “It’s probably nothing.”
Schedar skipped into the throne room, chuckling, “I knew sendin’ Antares was a good idea, chat! Ever since I found out that Scorpius Ranger was his brother, I couldn’t wait to work my magic!” She lifted up her datapad, “Victory selfie!”
“Yes, excellent work, Dame Schedar,” Karna Rog rasped, “not once have you ever made me question my decision to make you one of my foremost subordinates. Your skills with propaganda and psychological warfare are second to none.”
Schedar twirled, giving a chuckle, “Thank you, Emperor!”
“Now, I must ask you to leave, I have a meeting with Sir Mirfak.”
Schedar gave a curtsy, “Of course, Emperor.” She skipped out of the room as Mirfak entered.
“You wanted to see me, my liege?” Mirfak said, gripping the mechanical side of his neck before cracking it and rolling his head.
“Yes, Sir Mirfak,” the Emperor replied, “I sent you to oversee the invasion of Earth, and now I ask you to oversee its destruction.”
“I’m busy with that new project you gave me, but I suppose I can make time to monitor the destruction of that pebble. Quite frankly it’s been the source of too much trouble,” Mirfak said, crossing his arms.
Karna Rog nodded, “Excellent, I anticipated that you would be the most eager of my Knights to undergo this assignment.”
“While I wouldn’t agree with destroying a planet out of a personal grudge under most circumstances, I agree with your desire to destroy Earth after all the pain it’s been responsible for,” Mirfak said, running his hand over the mechanical side of his face.
“Good, we shall send a fleet of Consumoai to drain the life of that planet in a few days’ time, I expect you to be prepared,” the Emperor replied.
“Of course, my liege,” Mirfak said before exiting the room.
Leiurus sat outside the maintenance bay as the other Rangers exited, all looking rather solemn. “Hey, he’s gonna be okay,” Alura said, patting Brando's shoulder.
“Well yeah, but it still hurts to see him like that,” Brando replied.
Shen nodded, “I’m sorry, I understand how close you two are with Aster, so it’s understandable that you’re upset, but he’s still here.”
“I do not know much about robots,” Sirius said, “but his desire to give his life was admirable.”
“What he did,” Hydra said, “must be one of the best examples of bravery that I’ve ever seen.”
“Yeah,” Neil replied, “he’s a fighter, and no matter what happens he’ll stand up for whatever’s right.”
“I hope we can fix him soon,” Arthur said as they continued to walk.
The last of the Rangers to exit were Tip and Birdie, and Leiurus quickly got up from his seat to speak to them, “Is he okay?”
“He’s still online, but it’s unlikely he’ll be able to go on missions for a while,” Birdie said.
Leiurus gave a confused look, “Can’t the Hydra Nova Sphere repair him?”
“No can do,” Tip replied, “it can put things back together and close organic wounds, but the venom completely burned through his plating, so there’s nothing that it can put back together.”
Birdie nodded, “We’re gonna have to get supplies from headquarters if we want to fix this. But once we do he should be good as new.”
“I see…” Leiurus said, looking off to the side.
“He wants to talk to you, you know,” Tip said.
Leiurus’s eyes widened, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Birdie replied, “said he wanted to talk to you by himself.”
Tip nodded as they and Birdie walked off, “We’ll leave you to yourselves.”
Leiurus took a deep breath and looked at the maintenance bay’s door, walking in. Aster was sitting there on a table, his chest plating removed, with some of the wires behind them visibly singed as well. “I’m sorry,” Leiurus said immediately as he noticed Aster.
“Leiurus…” Aster said quietly as he looked at the Serketian.
“Whatever you’re going to say, don’t,” Leiurus said as he walked closer, “I was naive to think that Antares was being honest, and I was ignorant not to listen to you. You were right about it being a trap, but I was so blinded I didn’t listen. And now you’ve paid the price for my ignorance and naivety.” There were tears in his eyes as he pulled out his necklace and held it in a death grip, his hand shaking.
Aster sighed, “Leiurus, it might’ve been your fault, but I don’t blame you for it. If I was in your shoes, if Professor Ain was evil and I got the chance to maybe talk some sense into him, I would’ve done it too.”
“I almost got you killed, Aster,” Leiurus replied, “if it wasn’t for Birdie and Tip…”
“But I’m not,” Aster replied, “it’s my fault too, I should’ve tried harder to stop you or just did something to stop him differently.”
“Why?” Leiurus asked, “Why did you do that?”
Aster gave a sigh, “Because Professor Ain said that if I lost my desire to protect, to love, then I’d be no different from any other machine. You’re my partner, Leiurus, and I wasn’t gonna let you die back there, and I wasn’t gonna let you think you had no one. I told you back there that you weren’t such a bad guy after all, and well, maybe I am starting to actually like you.”
“Aster…” Leiurus said, “I’m so sorry this happened, all of it. I should’ve stopped him.”
“Oh cut it out,” Aster said, annoyed, “you weren’t the one who shot venom at me, Antares was. You’re not the one who tricked us, Antares was. You’re not the one kidnapping and killing people for the Empire, Antares is. The only thing you’re guilty of is caring too much for that piece of trash, and he took advantage of that to trick you. You’re better than him, Leiurus, though I guess that isn’t a very high bar.”
Leiurus took a deep breath and thought for a moment, “You’re right, his crimes are his own, not mine. I’m not him, I’m me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to stop him, for you and everyone else he’s hurt.”
“Hey, I’m not dead yet,” Aster replied, “I’m just stuck here for a bit until I can get fixed. Kinda sucks I won’t be seeing some action for a while though.”
“Yeah,” Leiurus said, putting a hand down next to Aster on the table, “once you’re okay, we’ll stop him, I promise.”
Aster chuckled, putting one of his hands over Leiurus’s, “Sounds like a plan, partner.”
Notes:
And there’s the end of the dreaded chapter/episode 16. I must say, I really liked how this one came out, all things considered. Antares/Eurypto’s face is of course very different than Scorpio’s mostly because I’m not a fan of Scorpio’s face at all, so I decided to make it less monstrous. As for what happened with Aster, well, it’s mostly because I really didn’t want to fridge him for a few chapters, so the venom burn was invented to take him out of commission for a few chapters but still allow him to interact with the others. Sure it might not’ve been the same as Kyuranger’s emotional gut punch, but hey, this is my adaptation. Next chapter will be a bit longer since it’ll be almost completely original, and will be a case of episodes being switched around timeline wise, as I should be adapting episode 17 next chapter, but instead it’ll be adapted in chapter 18, and with chapter 17 taking the place of the Dekaranger/Space Squad crossover. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 17: Trust
Chapter Text
“I don’t know, Aster,” Leiurus said, shaking his head from where he stood next to where the robot sat in the maintenance bay, “it’s just… I still wish I wasn’t so naive.”
Aster sighed, “Oh my stars, Leiurus. You’re not naive, you’re just someone who listens closely to their heart.”
“And doing that almost got you offlined,” Leiurus sighed, “I should’ve listened to you, I shouldn’t have been so trusting, I shouldn’t be so trusting.”
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “No one’s asking you to not trust anyone, sooner or later you’re going to have to open up again.”
“Why should I trust anyone new that I meet again?” Leiurus asked, “My brother, the only family I had for the longest time, stabbed me in the back and almost destroyed you.”
Aster shook his head, “You know not everyone is like Antares, right?”
Leiurus opened his mouth to speak when Neil suddenly entered the room, “Hey, Leiurus.”
“Yeah?” Leiurus spun to face the human.
Neil crossed his arms, “Dad’s got a mission for us, wants us on the bridge.”
“Got it,” Leiurus nodded as Neil began to walk off, with Leiurus beginning to follow him.
“Leiurus,” Aster suddenly said, making the Serketian stop, “Please don’t forget that it’s important to trust people.”
“I trust the rest of the team with my life,” Leiurus replied.
“I mean trust people outside of it,” Aster clarified.
Leiurus shook his head with a sad look, “I can’t guarantee that.” Leiurus exited the maintenance bay before Aster could say anything else.
“So, what is the mission of today?” Sirius asked once Leiurus had arrived on the bridge.
“Today’s mission involves the planet Cybrith in the Norma system,” Shen said as Birdie tapped a button on her datapad, pulling up a hologram of a planet with intersecting metal rings over the bridge’s table. “It’s recently been taken over by the Empire, and a Marquis was recently reassigned to it from Earth.”
“What’s the Marquis then?” Alura asked.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, what are we going up against?”
Shen shook his head, “That’s where the problems arise.”
“The reports we received don’t mention the Marquis by name, they just say that they’re reassigned from Earth,” Birdie explained.
Hydra did his best to frown, “That’s a lot less information than I like.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” Shen said, twirling his cane, “this our chance to strike before the Empire gets a major hold on another planet. If we deal with this now, then there’s no need to sphere about it again in the future.” Birdie groaned at the pun as Leiurus rolled his eyes.
“So, the plan is to go bananas on the Marquis before they can do anything?” Brando inquired.
Shen nodded, “Exactly.”
“Alright, let’s find out who’s going on today’s mission then!” Neil said with a smile.
“Right!” Shen snapped his fingers, “Hit it, Arthur!” Arthur moved up to a console and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Yes!” Neil said, pumping a fist in the air.
“Leiurus!”
Leiurus snapped back to reality after having been looking off at nothing for a while, “Right, of course.”
“Tip!”
“Aw yeah!” Tip said excitedly.
“Me!” Shen twirled his cane, “Oh I can’t wait!”
“Arthur!”
Arthur nodded, “Got it, dad.”
“Alright then, let’s head out, guys!” Neil exclaimed.
Their Zords landed on Cybrith a few minutes later, with the five of them looking around as they got out. The planet was very technologically advanced, with towering buildings and roads high off the ground. Several fancy looking lights on the structures began to glow as the sun went down as well. The streets and roads were empty, and music could be heard blaring from inside of a few nearby buildings, with colorful lights flashing through the windows as people partied.
“Are people… partying?” Arthur said with confusion.
Tip chuckled, “Good to see that everyone can still have a good time!”
“Are we sure this is the right place?” Leiurus said, looking at Shen.
“It has to be,” Shen replied, “the Consumoai isn’t too far from here, so even if the Marquis’s influence hasn’t reached the rest of the planet yet, it should be in full-force here.”
“In that case, we should probably head to wherever the Consumoai is, the Marquis would definitely be hanging out around there,” Neil said.
“We should keep our guards up though, there’s no telling what we’re going against,” Leiurus said.
“Right, stay on your toes, everyone,” Shen said as the Rangers began to make their way through the streets.
Inside a club building close to the Consumoai, Kaus and Skragen maneuvered through a crowd of all kinds of aliens towards the DJ table, which was manned by a blue-skinned alien with a purple armored skirt and a head that resembles a totem pole, with a red, visor-like organ where his eyes would be. He took notice of the Duke and the Jester before speaking with a voice that sounded like a stereotypical surfer, “Kaus, my man! How’s it hanging?” He approached the two of them as he had a Greyder taker over the DJ table.
“Totemask, my old friend, it’s a pleasure seeing you again. I’m doing just fine,” Kaus chuckled.
Skragen tilted his head to the side, “You two know each other?”
“Of course we do!” Totemask replied, “We worked together a lot when the two of us joined the Empire.” He looked at Kaus, “So, dude, what brings you to my humble abode?”
“We’ve tracked the Power Rangers to this planet,” Kaus replied, “I assume that you’ve heard that me and a few others such as my comrade here have been assigned to hunt them.”
Totemask nodded, “Yeah, man, I’ve heard. Do you need my help like, defeating them or something?”
“I th-ink that would be a good idea, yes,” Skragen replied.
“Yes, that is exactly what we need you for,” Kaus said with a nod.
Totemask laughed, “Sure thing, dude. Leave this to me, I know just how to do it.”
“I would hope so, you are one of the most competent Marquises the Empire has, after all,” Kaus replied, “I’m surprised you haven’t been promoted to Duke yet.”
“Eh, I don’t really feel all that interested in all the extra work,” Totemask gave a dismissive gesture. “Anyway, I’ll get to work right now, man. They’ll probably be coming here, which is just where I need them to be, y’know?” Totemask chuckled.
“You think this is the place?” Leiurus asked, looking up at the towering club building next to the Consumoai.
“It’s big, it’s obvious, and it’s right next to the Consumoai, I’d be surprised if the Marquis wasn’t there,” Arthur said.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, most of the Marquises we’ve dealt with aren’t exactly subtle.”
“Still, we should be careful, we don’t know what this guy’s capable of,” Neil said, giving the others a serious look.
“Neil’s right,” Shen said as he and the other Rangers moved towards the entrance, “be ready for anything.”
As they entered the building, they were immediately greeted by countless dancing people and blaring music. “Uh, what’s that sound?” Arthur said, clenching his eyes shut alongside Neil and Shen.
Leiurus gave a confused look, “What sound? The music?”
“No,” Tip said, shaking their head, “it’s like a weird buzzing.” Despite not clenching their eyes (probably because they physically couldn’t), it seemed to notice it as well.
Neil nodded as he slowly opened his eyes, “I almost don’t notice it at all, but it’s there.”
“Yeah,” Shen said, “it’s like a ringing at the edge of your sphere-ing.”
Leiurus shook his head, “We need to focus, if you guys are right then the Marquis has to be around here somewhere.”
“Hey dudes! I’m Totemask, this place’s DJ! What’re you guys doing here?” Totemask laughed as he approached them.
“We’re here to stop the Marquis of this planet, do you know who they are or what they’re doing?” Arthur asked as Leiurus gave Totemask an uneasy look.
“Afraid not, little dude,” he looked them over more closely, “Hey, aren’t you the Power Rangers? You guys are awesome!”
“Don’t be so loud!” Leiurus hissed.
“What if Imperial forces hear you?” Arthur questioned.
“Right, sorry,” Totemask replied, “that’s just how Totemians like me are, dudes.”
“Loud and boisterous?” Neil inquired.
“Yeah, that,” Totemask chuckled, “Hey, you dudes have been working yourselves to the bone lately, right? Why don’t you enjoy yourselves here? There’s plenty to do.” He looked at Arthur, “Even for someone as young as him.”
“Sorry, but we’re busy,” Leiurus looked at the others, “right guys?”
“I… don’t see why not,” Tip shrugged.
Leiurus rolled his eyes, “Commander, Neil, can one of you straighten them out?”
“Oh come on, Leiurus, don’t be such a stick in the mud,” Neil playfully shoved him.
“We have plenty of time to deal with the Marquis, what’s the worst that can happen?” Shen smiled.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I think we should have some fun, we deserve it.”
Leiurus’s eyes widened, “Wait, what? What about the mission?”
“Well I’m glad the four of you dudes wanna stay!” Totemask said excitedly as Leiurus glared at him, “How about I get some guys to show you around?” A few Greyders walked up and began leading the others away, gesturing and pointing out various things as they did so. “What about you, man? You wanna stay for a bit too?” Totemask said, leaning forward so his face was directly in front of Leiurus’s.
Leiurus had his hand in his pocket, gripping his Nova Sphere, “I’m fine, I don’t need a tour.”
“You sure?” Totemask inquired, “This is one of the best hangout spots in the galaxy, you really want to miss the opportunity to chill here, dude?”
“What’s going on?” Leiurus narrowed his eyes.
Totemask chuckled, “Oh nothing, but seriously, man, are you sure? I can give you a behind the scenes look if you want, it’s to die for, dude.” Totemask got even closer to Leiurus.
Just as Leiurus was about to attack Totemask, a young woman approached them. She looked human, with white skin and short black hair and wearing a short skirt and a white shirt. The only thing that suggested she wasn’t was her right forearm, which was covered in white plates with a hand ending in sharp claws. Jutting out of the back of her wrist was a short, drill-like spike pointing forward. “Hey, DJ!” the young woman yelled.
Totemask turned to face her, “Yes? What do you need?”
“Well, my friend over there is a fan of yours, and she’d really like an autograph, you know? She’s a bit shy though, so she wanted me to come ask you,” the woman replied, pointing off at a crowd somewhere in the distance.
Totemask visibly hesitated for a moment before responding, “…Sure, I can do that.”
“Thanks! She might be a bit difficult to find though, she’s pretty easily intimidated,” the young woman said.
“It’s no problem,” Totemask shrugged, looking at Leiurus before walking away, “I’ll be right back.”
Leiurus looked at the woman with a confused look, “Who are-”
Before he could finish, the woman grabbed his arm and began running towards an elevator, dragging him along with her.
“So, where‘s our first stop?” Neil asked one of the Greyders as they continued walking through the building.
“I just can’t wait to see everything here!” Tip said excitedly.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, there’s bound to be some pretty cool stuff.”
“Shame Leiurus couldn’t come though,” Shen said, shaking his head.
“Wonder why he didn’t come along?” Neil asked as they were led away from a majority of the other people at the club. Before anyone could react, the Greyders spun around and clobbered each of the Rangers with the flat sides of their blades, making them all fall to the ground.
“Excellent,” Kaus said, stepping into view alongside Skragen, “it appears Totemask’s plan has worked flawlessly.”
“Well, almost flawlessly, at least in my opinion,” Skragen said, looking over the Rangers’ prone forms.
Kaus nodded, “Yes, it appears that we’re missing one,” he shook his head, “No matter, it won’t change much in the grand scheme of things.” He looked at the Greyders, “Take them away.” The Greyders nodded, picking up the Rangers and carrying them off towards an elevator.
“Alright, who are you?” Leiurus asked as he and the young woman exited the elevator, now several stories higher on the building.
She turned to look at him, “I’m Buccina Manus, I’m from the Monoceros system.”
“I guess that explains the arm,” Leiurus said, looking at the horn jutting out of the back of her wrist, “I’m Leiurus, Leiurus Calchas. I’m from the Scorpius system.”
Buccina nodded, “Yeah, I know, pretty much everyone knows who the Power Rangers.”
“Alright, Buccina, why did you do all of that back there?” Leiurus said, looking her over with a suspicious look on his face.
Buccina shook her head, “Why wouldn’t I? You and the other Rangers just met Cybrith’s Marquis, and now the others could be who knows where. Not to mention he didn’t exactly seem all that happy that you weren’t under his thrall back there.”
Leiurus raised an eyebrow, “Totemask was the Marquis? I had a feeling that he was. But what do you mean about being under his thrall?”
“Ever since he showed up, everyone here’s been doing nothing but partying nonstop,” Buccina explained, “I don’t think he likes that you’re not doing it too.”
“So that’s why the others were acting so weird,” Leiurus mused, “I need to find out what’s going on and put a stop to it.”
“I know my way around this place,” Buccina replied, “I can help.”
“Listen, I appreciate the save back there, but I can handle this on my own,” Leiurus said, shaking his head.
Buccina gave a look of disbelief, “This place is crawling with Imperial forces, even for a Power Ranger, that’s basically hopeless. I know the ins and outs of this place like the back of my hand, you can trust me, I’ve been trying to figure out how to stop this since he got here.”
“How do I know you’re not working for the Empire too?” Leiurus responded, “How do I know that Totemask didn’t send you to trick me if I didn’t fall under his influence? How are you not under his influence? Your timing was awfully convenient, and what’s a native of the Monoceros system doing in the Norma system anyway?”
Buccina groaned, “Of all the Power Rangers I could meet it just had to be the most hard-headed one imaginable, didn’t it?” She shook her head, “Listen, that last part is the worst point I think I’ve heard about anything, ever. People move from system to system all the time, that’s like, the least suspicious thing imaginable. Besides, Totemask was literally inches away from your face when I showed up. As for how I’m not influenced, I don’t know, and I’m not sure why you aren’t either.
“Listen,” Leiurus replied, “after some of the stuff I’ve dealt with lately, I have every right to be suspicious. My brother stabbed me in the back and almost got my…” Leiurus hesitated for a moment, “best friend killed because I was naive enough to trust him after everything he’s done.”
“Oh,” Buccina replied, “yeah, that makes sense. I don’t really blame you for that.” She gave a somber look as music continued, “Y’know, I kinda went through something like that. Being stabbed in the back I mean.”
Leiurus’s eyes winded, “You did?”
“Yeah, I…” she trailed off as she noticed a few Greyders approaching before glancing back at Leiurus. Thinking quickly, she opened a nearby door into an employees only area and pushed Leiurus inside, who gave a quick yell as he did so. The Greyders surrounded her, looking her over before she spoke again, “Oh that guy I was with a few minutes ago? He ran off, I think he went to the first floor again actually. He might’ve already left.”
Leiurus’s eyes widened as he heard her speak to them through the door before whispering quietly, “She could’ve turned me in just now, but she didn’t.”
Before Leiurus could give it any more thought, he jumped a little as he heard Totemask’s voice from a nearby room, “Alright, four Rangers down, one to go!” Leiurus crept over to the entrance to the other room, looking through a crack in the door to see the other Rangers bound and gagged in chairs while Kaus, Skragen, and Totemask stood around them, with Kaus looking out a window at the city below.
Kaus turned around, “Why hasn’t Leiurus been retrieved yet then? You said he was the last one of the Rangers sent here.”
“Y’know how all the music that’s playing has like, subliminal messages in it and stuff to make people do nothing but party so they can’t resist?” Totemask replied, “Well I think that Serketians like him can’t like, hear the frequency the messages are on. I’ll need to split and go change the frequency then.”
“So that’s what’s causing all of this, the music,” Leiurus whispered to himself, “that noise the others heard must’ve been the messages.”
Skragen hummed, “Well that’s quite problematic.”
“Yes, it would be wise to do that, I doubt the Emperor will be pleased if a Ranger slipped through our clutches when we had the opportunity to deal with one more,” Kaus replied, stroking his chin, “But you did a good job, a good portion of our prey has been captured.”
Totemask tilted his head, “Hey dude, it’s been awhile, so could you remind me why you’re like, so loyal to the Emperor?”
“Well I suppose it has been awhile,” Kaus said, thinking for a moment before speaking again, “As you know, I was the king of Ojikazo when I was younger and before it was contacted by the Empire. My people were hunters by nature, perfect hunters, too perfect unfortunately. Many species on Ojikazo were unfortunately hunted to extinction, creating a series of famines that left my people suffering. I couldn’t bear to see my subjects like that, it was my responsibility to help them after all. So when the Empire made contact with us and started providing us resources, I was relieved. Thanks to them my people were saved, and the rest is as you know, history.”
“Oh riiight,” Totemask said, nodding, “I forgot about that.”
“Interesting story,” Skragen replied, “I suppose that explains quite a bit.”
“So he’s working for the Empire because they saved his people? Leiurus whispered, “Well for all his faults, I guess treachery isn’t one of them.” Suddenly, the door Leiurus initially came through cracked open, and Bucxina’s left arm came into view through it, beckoning him out. Carefully and quietly, he exited the employees only area.
“You okay?” Buccina asked, looking him over as they moved away from the door.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, I found the others, they’re captured by Duke Kaus of Sagittarius, the Jester Skragen, and Totemask. I also found out how Totemask’s compulsion is working, and it doesn’t seem to be something he does himself.”
Buccina gave a curious look, “How? Is there a way to stop it?”
“It’s the music,” Leiurus replied, “there’s some kind of subliminal messaging in it, the others mentioned hearing it, but I couldn’t.”
“Yeah, it just sounds like music to me too,” Buccina responded.
“Is there any control panel or something that can shut all of this down?” Leiurus asked.
Buccina pointed across the glowing dance floor to a DJ table with all kinds of cords sticking out of it, “It’s over there, never would’ve thought it would’ve been that easy to stop all of this.”
“Alright, I shut that down, then go free the others,” Leiurus said before taking a minute to think, “But the music shutting down will just get Kaus, Skragen, and Totemask’s attention, dang it!”
“I’ll do it,” Buccina replied.
Leiurus’s eyes widened, “What?”
“If you shut down the music, I can free the other Rangers,” she replied, raising her arm to show off the spike on the back of her wrist.
Leiurus tried to sputter out an answer before thinking back to how she distracted Totemask earlier and hid him just a few minutes ago, “Alright, sounds like a plan.” He looked at her intently, “But before you go, could you tell me what you were going to say earlier? About being stabbed in the back?”
She took a deep breath, “Well, back when I was younger, I never really knew my parents, in fact, I was raised on a completely different planet than the one my species was from. As I grew up, I started to wonder why none of the people in the town I was living in ever tried standing up to the Empire. One day, when the Marquis in charge of the planet came to oversee the management of my town, I snapped at him, and he… didn’t really like that.”
“What happened next?” Leiurus asked.
“Well, he started taxing the town even more, even had some Greyders and Flatborgs rough people up. The people I knew started blaming me for what was happening and said I just should’ve stayed quiet. I ended up getting ran out of town afterward. It hurt, having the people closest to me turn on me like that.”
Leiurus gave a sad look, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Buccina replied, “It messed me up pretty bad, and I had a hard time trusting people after that.” She took a deep breath, “But you know what? I found people who I could trust, and slowly I let people back in, and those people helped get me here. It hurts to not be able to trust people, sure, there are people you shouldn’t trust, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust anyone. All it does is make things harder.”
“You’re… you’re right,” Leiurus said after a moment, “It does hurt. I… I should be more trusting, but know when not to.” He shook his head, “Anyway, we have to save the other Rangers and put an end to Totemask’s mayhem.”
“What’s the plan?” Buccina replied.
Leiurus thought for a moment, “Go back to the place you shoved me into, when I smash the table, it’ll probably get the attention of Kaus, Skragen, and Totemask. Once the three of them are out of there, go in there and there should be another room that connects to where the others are.”
“Got it,” Buccina said, preparing to set the plan into motion, “Good luck.”
“Good luck to you too, I’ll see you in a bit,” Leiurus said softly as Buccina began to walk off. He turned to face the DJ table and pulled his Star Weapon out. He shifted it into its Star Spear mode and began making his way towards the table, walking past partygoers who didn’t seem to notice at all. He soon reached the table and raised his spear to slice it, only to spot a Greyder pointing at him from the corner of his eye, several more Greyders joining it. “Just great,” Leiurus sighed, readying his spear as the Greyders charged, “better make sure no one accidentally gets hurt.”
He blocked a swing from one Greyder’s blade, forcing the weapon to the side before slashing the Greyder twice before jabbing it in the chest. He spun around, slicing another Greyder in the process before stabbing another. He gripped his spear lower on the shaft with both hands, delivering a wide swipe that took down three more. As he turned his attention back to the DJ table his tail lashed towards the last Greyder, stinging it and making it fall. Leiurus raised his spear, and with one downward slash he split the table in two, making the music stop.
Leiurus looked at the partygoers, who now seemed quite bored, “Alright everyone, party’s over. Time for everybody to head home.” The partygoers all gave each other tired nods before they began to file towards the elevators.
Just as the last of the partygoers began to leave, Totemask’s voice rang out, “Hey, Leiurus, my man, what’re you doing? It’s pretty rude to mess with a DJ’s equipment, dude.”
Leiurus turned to see Totemask, with Skragen and Kaus standing beside him. He pointed his spear at the three of them, “Sure, you might be a DJ, but you’re also a deceiver and a Marquis, and it’s my job as a Power Ranger to put a stop to Imperial despots like you.”
“Aw man, you figured it out!” Totemask groaned, “I totally thought I did a good job tricking you.”
Skragen chuckled, “If you th-ink that knowledge will change how this will go now, then I th-ink you’re sorely mistaken, Leiurus Calchas.”
“Indeed,” Kaus said, pointing at Leiurus and taking a step forward, “you’re outnumbered and without allies.” He pointed his Halberd at Leiurus with one hand, “Your life ends here, traitorous bug.”
“Don’t be so confident,” Leiurus said, readying himself as the three approached him.
While that occurred, Buccina snuck through the door, maneuvering into the room where the Rangers were restrained. She looked the four of them over, “Don’t worry guys, Leiurus sent me. I’ve got this.” Carefully, she used the spike on her wrist to cut through the ropes holding the Rangers to the chairs, freeing them and letting them remove their gags.
“Thanks a bunch!” Tip exclaimed, “Man, it feels good to talk again.”
“How did the gag even stop you from speaking?” Arthur asked, “You don’t even have a mouth.”
“Oh, right,” Tip said sheepishly.
“Where’s Leiurus?” Shen asked, looking at Buccina intently.
“He shut down the Totemask’s influence here while I rescued you guys, right now he’s busy dealing with Totemask and those other two,” she replied.
“He’s facing them by himself?” Shen asked with panic in his eyes.
“We need to help him!” Neil exclaimed before looking at Buccina, “Thanks for the help, but you should get to safety now.”
“Got it, good luck you guys,” Buccina said as the Rangers rushed out of the room.
A morphed Leiurus was nailed in the chest by a green energy slice by Kaus, knocking him back and making him unmorph as he hit the ground. “Leiurus!” Arthur yelled, running up to him as Neil, Shen, and Tip helped him get to his feet, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Leiurus panted as he stood up, “I’m just fine.”
“Seems like the rest of you have escaped,” Kaus said with annoyance, “Ah well, I suppose it will just make things more interesting, right, Totemask?”
“Yeah, dude!” Totemask said, pointing a yellow sword covered in colorful markings forward.
Skragen nodded, “I can’t wait to know what their last thoughts will be before we kill them.”
“Don’t be so confident,” Neil said as he and the others readied their Morphers, “Let’s-”
Kaus and Totemask extended their free hands forward, with electricity branching out from Kaus’s as a blast of sound was launched from Totemask’s. The blasts hit the Rangers, sending them flying out the window behind them.
The Rangers landed on one of the raised roads outside, taking a moment to get to their feet as the light of Cybrith’s three moons shined down on them. “Arthur, dad, are you okay?” Neil yelled as he got to his feet.
“Yeah, I’m just fine,” Arthur said as he stood up.
Shen nodded, “Could’ve been worse, my poor old man bones could’ve broken.” Neil just rolled his eyes as Leiurus and Tip got to their feet as well.
Kaus, Skragen, and Totemask leapt down from the club building, landing on the road some distance away from the Rangers. “Odd, I thought that would’ve killed them,” Skragen mused.
“They’ve survived far worse than that, Skragen,” Kaus replied.
“And it will take a lot more than whatever you three can dish out,” Leiurus said as the Rangers prepared to Morph. Kaus began walking forward towards them.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
Kaus broke into a sprint as the Rangers were surrounded by light, reaching them and taking a swing at them just as they finished morphing. Neil and Tip raised their weapons to block the attack, with Kaus then running forward and forcing the two of them to run backwards due to their weapons being locked. Shen and Arthur dodged a few shots from Skragen’s rifle before charging at him, leaving Leiurus to charge at Totemask.
Neil ducked under a swing from Kaus’s halberd, standing up and using his sword to block another swing. He forced the halberd to the ground before shooting Kaus with his Morpher and slicing Kaus across the chest with his sword, making the Duke stagger back. Neil struck a pose, “Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
Leiurus raised his spear to block a swing from Totemask’s sword, spinning back and slicing the Marquis. He extended his tail and lashed at Totemask with it, who quickly blocked the attacks. Leiurus posed, “Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
Tip spun and fired several golden energy arrows at Kaus from their crossbow, but the Duke quickly extended a hand, producing a shockwave that deflected the projectiles. Tip extended a wire forward, wrapping it around Kaus’s arm and forcing it away before firing at Kaus again, with the projectiles actually managing to hit this time. Tip posed, “Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
Shen blocked a swing from Skragen’s blade, positioning his cane so its tip was pointed at Skragen’s feet. Shen pulled the trigger on his cane’s grip, firing a projectile at Skragen’s feet. The crystals on Skragen’s knees flashed, and he took a step back to avoid it with an almost supernatural reaction time. Shen gripped his cane with both hands, swinging it and nailing Skragen in the chest with the grip. “Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!” Shen said with a pose.
Arthur swung at Skragen with his glaive repeatedly, though the Jester casually dodged and blocked each attack with a hand behind his back. Arthur ran forward with a growl, punching Skragen in the chest with his left hand and firing his Morpher repeatedly, making Skragen stagger back. “Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!” Arthur exclaimed, striking a pose.
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the Rangers yelled in unison. Leiurus dodged a cyan energy slash that Totemask launched at him with his sword before slicing at the Marquis with his spear, though Totemask quickly blocked it. Leiurus spun back to deliver another slash, but Totemask grabbed his spear and forced it to the side before kneeing him in the chest. Totemask extended a hand forward as Leiurus tried to recover, sending a Sonic blast forward and knocking Leiurus back.
“Ugh, how do you hit this guy, dad?” Arthur groaned as Skragen sidestepped another swing from his glaive, forcing Arthur to block the Jester’s retaliatory strike.
“You can’t,” Skragen chuckled, “I can see everything and I know everything you’ll do, Shen Arctos is just lucky.”
Shen looked like he was about to deliver a slash with his cane, making Skragen preemptively duck, but Shen quickly spun around, flipping his grip on his cane and jabbing Skragen, making the Jester stagger back. “Oh cut it out, your ability isn’t as flawless as you’d like to think,” Shen groaned before looking at Arthur, “His species has a photographic memory, and he uses it to memorize his targets’ fighting styles. He uses that and all the eyes on his body to know exactly how to avoid their attacks! Change your weapon, or at least try to fight differently!”
Leiurus’s eyes widened under his visor, “So that’s why he has Calamartia fight first, she can soak up attacks while he learns how someone fights. And he was annoyed with Sirius since Sirius’s fighting style is so animalistic it’s impossible to memorize!”
“That’s unfair,” Skragen said with annoyance. He took a swing at Shen, who promptly blocked it.
“Being able to dodge any attack thrown at you with no effort seems pretty unfair to me!” Arthur replied, detaching the blade and axe heads of his glaive and flipping his grip on it, turning it into a Star Rapier. He delivered several slashes with it at Skragen, who was unable to dodge them before finishing it off with a jab, sending Skragen staggering back.
“You brat!” Skragen said, raising his blade as the crystal on his head glowed. Several nearby cars were lifted into the air and slammed together into a massive metal ball that was then launched at Shen and Arthur.
Shen quickly shifted his cane into rifle mode before opening and closing its jaw, pointing it at the ball of debris.
“Eltanin Strike!”
Shen fired, sending a dragon made of purple energy flying through the ball, making it explode.
Kaus tapped his Halberd on the ground, making it shift into its bow mode and fire a single energy arrow into the air. “Oh no you don’t!” Tip yelled, firing an energy arrow of their own at it, creating an explosion in their air.
“Pest,” Kaus growled, thrusting his halberd into Tip’s chest before it shifted to fire several energy arrows at them, sending them flying back as Kaus spun to block a swing from Neil. Kaus fired several small electrical arrows from the growth on his mouth, making Neil stagger back and allowing Kaus to slash him across the chest, producing a shower of sparks.
Leiurus landed a few hits on Totemask, making the Marquis stagger back. “It’s time for you to face the music!” he exclaimed, leaping into the air to deliver a downward slash. To his confusion, the blade stopped a few inches away from Totemask, as if the blade had collided with an invisible wall. “What?” Leiurus said with confusion.
Totemask chuckled, “How do you like my Sonic barrier, man? It’s like, invincible!” Totemask grabbed Leiurus’s spear, forcing it upwards and lifting Leiurus into the air. Totemask quickly gave a swing of his sword, sending out a cyan energy slash that immediately collided with Leiurus and sent him flying backwards. Leiurus rolled for a few feet before recovering, firing his Morpher at Totemask a few times, but the orange energy spheres it fired once again collided with an unseen barrier. Leiurus threw his spear with all his might, but it once again collided with the barrier, making the air where it hit shimmer before it fell to the ground.
“Dang it, I’m gonna need some extra firepower,” Leiurus growled. He lifted up his Morpher, “Birdie, I’m gonna need a Nova Sphere that can break through a barrier.”
“Of course, Leiurus,” Birdie said from where she stood on the bridge, “I’ll send something down for Neil too.”
Neil pulled a familiar Grey Nova Sphere out of his belt, “Nice seeing you again!”
“Pegasus Nova Sphere!”
Pegasus promptly formed around Neil’s torso with a swirl of grey light, “Oh, hey Neil! Nice seeing you again!”
“Nice seeing you too, Pegasus,” Neil said, “Now let’s take this guy down!” Using Pegasus, Neil blitzed around Kaus, slashing the Duke repeatedly and making him stagger into a few shots from Tip.
Leiurus himself pulled out a purple Nova Sphere depicting a unicorn’s head from his own belt, quickly plugging it into his Morpher.
“Monoceros Nova Sphere!”
Purple motes of light formed around Leiurus’s right arm, forming blue and purple armor on it with a large drill on the forearm. Leiurus leapt forward at Totemask, spinning rapidly with the drill pointing at the Marquis. The drill collided with the sonic barrier, making the air shimmer as Leiurus continued to spin.
“It’ll take more than that, dude!” Totemask chuckled.
“How about this then!” Leiurus began to spin faster as the air began to shimmer more and the resistance preventing Leiurus from reaching Totemask began to falter. With one last shimmer of the air Leiurus broke through, drilling Totemask in the chest before flipping back and landing on the ground. Leiurus swiped at Totemask, who blocked it with his sword, but was unable to block the second swipe. Leiurus swiped again, but Totemask blocked it before forcing the drill away, but Leiurus quickly recovered, slicing Totemask across the chest before spinning and kicking the Marquis back.
Leiurus held the drill back before suddenly sliding across the road towards Totemask, sparks forming near his feet. He sliced Totemask with a flash of orange light before slashing at Totemask’s legs. Leiurus tried jabbing Totemask in the head, but Totemask moved his head out of the way. Leiurus spun back, slashing Totemask across the chest in the process. Totemask grabbed Leiurus’s tail as the Scorpius Ranger gave a yelp, lifting him in the air and spinning him around. Leiurus quickly retaliated, slashing Totemask and making him drop him.
Leiurus got to his feet as Totemask sent several sonic blasts at him, which he blocked with the drill. He ran forward at Totemask, maneuvering around him and slashing him several times before jabbing him in the chest and knocking him back, rolling across the road.
As Totemask got to his feet, Leiurus used the drill to flick the Monoceros Nova Sphere back and flip down the side of his Morpher. He positioned the drill backwards as purple and orange energy gathered around it.
“Monocerotis Strike!”
Leiurus spun around before thrusting the drill forward, sending an orange and purple drill-shaped energy projectile flying towards Totemask. The drill seemed to encounter another sonic barrier before it could collide, but it shattered through it almost immediately, continuing forward and blowing a hole through Totemask’s torso.
“No!” Kaus yelled as Totemask staggered back, energy crackling across the Marquis’s body.
“Sounds like it’s the end for me!” Totemask declared before going up in a massive explosion.
“You’ll pay dearly for that, Leiurus Calchas!” Kaus yelled, batting Neil and Tip away with his halberd. Before he could attack, the nearby Consumoai shifted into its robot mode.
“Oh great,” Tip said with annoyance.
Kaus narrowed his eyes, growling, “You won’t be so lucky next time we cross paths, Rangers. Especially you, Leiurus. Totemask was a dear friend of mine.” Kaus and Skragen disappeared in beams of light, leaving the Rangers to deal with the Consumoai.
Shen looked at Leiurus and Arthur, “You two, we’re going to deal with this!”
Leiurus nodded, “Of course.”
“Got it, dad!” Arthur replied. The three of them got ready to call their Zords, with Leiurus using the drill to interact with his Morpher.
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The cockpits formed around them and flew off, attaching to their respective Zords that then got into position to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Megazord was in its default combination, with the Ursa Zords as the right arm and the Scorpius Zord as the left.
The surrounding buildings were much taller than they were on Earth, meaning there was a lot less room to move around, but it would have to do. The Consumoai charged forward with its lance, ready to jab the Megazord. Arthur quickly used the Ursa Zord to bat the attack away before Leiurus used the Scorpius Zord to jab the Consumoai in the chest.
The Consumoai staggered back, slashing the Megazord across the chest as it did so and sending sparks flying. Leiurus retaliated by firing a blast from the Scorpius Zord, producing a large explosion on impact. The Draco Star Megazord ran forward, bludgeoning the Consumoai with the Ursa Zord a few times. The Consumoai kicked the Megazord back before launching a beam of purple electricity at it.
“I’ve got this,” Leiurus said, firing an orange energy beam from the Scorpius Zord. The beam clashed with the electricity, but the electricity seemed to be winning out, drawing closer and closer to the Megazord.
“This doesn’t look good,” Shen said with concern.
“I’m diverting power from the Ursa Zords to the Scorpius Zord, that should give it the power we need!”
“Incredi-ball idea, Arthur!” Shen exclaimed, “I’ll divert power too!”
The beam suddenly won out, pushing back rapidly and nailing the Consumoai in the chest, making it stagger back. “Thanks for the help,” Leiurus nodded.
“It’s no problem,” Shen said, “Now, let’s finish this.” The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers, with Shen opening and closing the mouth of his cane and Leiurus using the Monoceros Nova Sphere as opposed to the Scorpius Nova Sphere.
“Draco Star Megazord Monoceros Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord glowed as orange, purple, and cyan energy swirled around it, gathering in the Scorpius Zord. The Megazord held the Scorpius Zord back before thrusting it forward, sending a spinning drill made of orange, purple, and cyan energy flying forward and colliding with the Consumoai, making it stagger back and explode. “The stars of hope still shine!” Shen declared.
“Hey, Commander,” Leiurus said, “I’ll be back with you guys on the Orion in a bit, there’s just something I have left to do here first.”
Shen nodded, “Of course, Leiurus, we’ll be waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” Leiurus said as he detached the Scorpius Zord from the rest of the Megazord, flying off.
A few minutes later on Cybrith’s streets, Leiurus spotted Buccina and ran up to her, “Hey, Buccina!”
“Leiurus?” Buccina said curiously, “What are you doing here? You guys just dealt with Totemask and the Consumoai, right?”
“Well,” Leiurus said, “I just came to say thank you.”
“Thank me? For what?” Buccina said with confusion.
“For helping me have trust in others again,” Leiurus explained, “After what my brother did… it just felt like I shouldn’t trust anyone again, that I should only trust the other Rangers. But after everything you did to help me back there, I think I was wrong. I should trust people, but only if they’ve deserved it, and I’m glad you helped me realize that early before it could cause any problems. Thank you, really.”
Buccina smiled, “You’re welcome, Leiurus. I’m glad I could help one Power Rangers. You know, I think I misjudged you, you’re not nearly as hard-headed as I thought.”
Leiurus gave a confused look, “Thank you, I think?”
“Anyways, thanks for getting rid of Totemask, now that he’s dealt with, everyone’s going back to normal, and my new home is back to being free,” Buccina said with smile.
“It’s just what us Power Rangers do,” Leiurus grinned, “Anyway, I should probably get going now, thanks again for what you did.”
“You’re welcome,” Buccina said, “See you, Leiurus. Hope we cross paths again someday.”
Leiurus looked at her and stroked his short beard, “I hope so too. I’ll keep an eye out.” He waved goodbye before his cockpit formed around him and he flew off in the Scorpius Zord.
“Shame this is the only Nova Sphere that can’t harm Karna Rog, if it was any other one I could’ve made a move by now,” Mirfak said as he held the Emperor’s grey Nova Sphere that depicted a crow in his right hand, looking it over as he walked towards the throne room. He entered the throne room and looked at Karna Rog, who appeared to be in the process of talking to Alderamin. “My liege, I hate to intrude, but me and the rest of the scientists are nearly done with that new project you gave us. All that’s left to be done is to infuse some dark energy. So you can have this back,” Mirfak said, holding the Nova Sphere forward.
“Excellent news, Sir Mirfak. I knew the Corvus Nova Sphere would be invaluable to our scientific developments,” Karna Rog said, extending a hand forward and making the Corvus Nova Sphere fly out of Mirfak’s hand and into his. He looked it over for a moment before speaking again, “And no, you’re not interrupting anything. I was going to summon you regardless.”
Mirfak rolled his head around before placing his hand on his chin, “And why would that be?”
“Because the Consumoai fleet that you’re to oversee is almost ready,” Alderamin replied, “I went over the plan extensively with each and every crew. They’re all to be in position when Ankaa, Kaus, and Antares use Antares’s Consumoai to activate them.”
“So they’re the ones actually doing the destruction?” Mirfak asked, “That’s fine by me, just gives me more time to work on some of my other projects that I could bring along.”
“Yes,” Karna Rog rasped, “but you are still to report any and all interference that they encounter. Your job is to observe and record.”
“As a scientist, that’s a job I can do quite well,” Mirfak replied.
“And that’s another reason why you were decided to be best for the job,” Alderamin said, “Not that I have a problem, I’d much rather be doing it myself than just watching, especially given that’s the homeworld of the one person who was the biggest annoyance to us before these Power Rangers were.”
“Don’t talk about him like that!” Karna Rog suddenly growled, his voice changing as Mirfak and Alderamin glared at him.
“Oh be quiet, you shouldn’t let a little comment ruffle your feathers so much. You’re lucky he’s still alive,” Mirfak said, rolling his organic eye.
Alderamin nodded, “This doesn’t concern you.”
The Emperor narrowed his eyes, “Of course it does! He’s-”
Karma Rog promptly shook his head before speaking with his usual monotone again, “I apologize. Now, Sir Mirfak, I would recommend you get ready. You will be leaving in a few days.”
“Of course, my liege, I will be there when preparations are complete,” Mirfak said, exiting the room.
“Excellent,” Karna Rog rasped.
Kaus growled, tossing a Greyder across the control room of Antares’s Consumoai, “How dare he! Totemask was a dear friend of mine, and he cut him down like he was nothing!”
Ankaa just watched silently as Kaus continued to rage. “At least he had a warrior’s death, fighting right until the bitter end,” Calamartia said, crossing her arms, “I wouldn’t mind that.”
“I mind it, Calamartia!” Kaus snarled, “He was among the first people I met that wasn’t from my planet, and he did an excellent job explaining the galaxy to me. He shouldn’t have died at all!”
“They’re getting stronger, all of them are. When me and Calamartia initially battled Leiurus, we forced a retreat out of him, but now there’s no doubt in my mind that he could hold his own against the two of us,” Skragen mused.
“It doesn’t matter, I will make him pay for betraying me and killing Totemask, and there’s nothing that will stop me from doing that” Kaus hissed.
“That makes two of us,” Antares replied from where he leaned up next to a wall. “I…” he paused for a moment before his eyes flashed pink, “I’ll make an example of him too.”
Kaus stroked his chin for a moment, “Yes, he’s ours. We will be the ones to deal with him, understand?”
“Yeah,” Calamartia replied.
Understood,” Skragen said.
Ankaa nodded.
“Good,” Antares said, his yellow eye filling with excitement.
“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better now,” Aster chuckled from where he sat in the repair bay.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, I’m glad that Buccina was able to get through to me.”
“I swear, you’re more hard-headed than I am sometimes,” Aster said, “I’m surprised she was able to get through to you, especially after you just met her.” He laughed, “Does someone have a crush?”
“What? No. I don’t even like women like that,” Leiurus replied.
“I’m just messing with you, partner,” Aster chuckled.
“Very funny,” Leiurus replied, rolling his eyes, “Anyway, when are you supposed to be out of here?”
“Probably tomorrow from the sounds of it,” Aster replied, “though I won’t be able to go on missions for a few more days until those replacement parts arrive.”
“Well, at least you won’t be stuck in here much longer,” Leiurus replied.
Aster chuckled, “Hey, it’s not too bad, at least I get visitors.” He watched the door to the med bay open as the other Rangers entered, “Speaking of which.”
“Hey, big guy! How’s it going?” Tip asked cheerfully.
Sirius nodded, “Yes, how are you feeling?”
“Better than before,” Aster responded.
“Well that’s good to hear, you’ll be back to kicking Imperial butt in no time!” Neil exclaimed.
“Yup, you can star-t going on missions again very soon,” Shen added.
Alura pulled out a few magazines, “Oh, by the way, me and Brando picked up a little something for you.”
Aster took the magazines out of her hand, “Ooh, puzzles! Thanks, guys.” Aster chuckled, and Leiurus smiled.
“It’s nothing, just a little something to starve off the boredom,” Brando chuckled.
“Yes, I apologize for the lack of stimulation here, but it shouldn’t be a problem for too much longer,” Birdie apologized.
“Oh it’s fine, Birdie,” Aster chuckled.
Deciding it would be best to let Aster talk to the others, Leiurus waved goodbye to Aster and exited the maintenance bay. Unbeknownst to him, Hydra had exited too, catching him by surprise when he spoke, “You like him, don’t you?”
Leiurus spun around, looking at the Gorgonian, “What?”
“Aster, you like him,” Hydra clarified, “You’ve spent more time visiting him than the rest of us combined.”
“Of course I do, I’m part of the reason why he’s there in the first place,” Leiurus sighed.
“I see, you still must care for him a lot,” Hydra replied.
“Yeah,” Leiurus replied, “I do.”
Hydra tilted his head to the side, “Do you love him?”
Leiurus gave a confused glance, “What? How do you even know that? Didn’t your people cast off their emotions?”
Hydra shrugged, “Why wouldn’t I? Tip’s tried to date pretty much everything.”
Leiurus sighed, “Well, I do like him, I guess. He’s someone who I can talk to about my brother that I know will understand, he’s a pretty nice guy all things considered, and he… you know.”
“Tried to sacrifice himself for you?” Hydra said.
Leiurus nodded, “Well, yeah. Bottom line is that, yeah, I think I do. Just don’t tell anyone about this okay? We need to focus on stopping the Empire, not workplace drama.”
“I understand,” Hydra replied, “and for the record, I hope you two will be able to get together at some point. I think he likes you too.”
“I hope so,” Leiurus said, giving a small smile, “Thanks, Hydra.”
Hydra tried to give a smile, “It’s no problem.”
Notes:
Totemask: Portmonteau of Totem (as he’s based on a totem pole) and mask (as his head is the part based on a totem pole). His association with sound and his friendship with Kaus is a reference to his original name, Thunderbird.
Sorry for how long it took to get this chapter out, not only is it almost completely original, I got pretty sick while writing it. Anyway, Cybrith I imagine is very visually similar to N’kosopa. Here’s Kaus’s backstory too, I know it’s not much, but it at least explains why he’s like that. That other caveat to Skragen’s abilities was also made to make them a bit more balanced and handwave away why he sometimes gets hit, good news is that now they know his weakness. Buccina, while different from Mika, was a fun character to write. She might make a reappearance at some point but I haven’t finalized anything yet. As for the bit at the end, don’t worry, while there will be romance (some people probably could’ve guessed as much from the tags) it won’t be a major point in the story (for the most part) and will just be something a little extra. Overall, I’m pretty happy with this chapter, and in my opinion I really think I got the Toku vibe for it. Next chapter will probably come out much sooner as it won’t stray too terribly far from the source material compared to this one. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, especially feedback.
Chapter 18: Shining, Shimmering Star
Chapter Text
The Orion was in the Ara system when Arthur walked onto the bridge. All of the Rangers were currently gathered there aside from Leiurus, Aster, Birdie, and Shen. Arthur looked at Tip, “So, is Aster almost ready to leave the maintenance bay yet?”
Tip nodded, “Yup, Leiurus went to get him a few minutes ago! The big lug should be back in here soon.”
“I’m glad the two of them are getting along now,” Brando said, “I never really liked it when Aster’s angry, especially not with a teammate.”
Alura shrugged, “At least they’ve found some common ground, now that they have it just means that we’ll work together even better.”
“Sucks that the common ground cost Leiurus his home and Aster his creator though,” Neil sighed, “but at least they seem to be connecting with each other in ways that don’t involve that, I think.”
“I wonder what will happen once Antares has been dealt with,” Hydra said, “since both of them seem to want him dead now. I wonder what the two of them will do afterwards, since a majority of their connection comes from Antares.”
“I dunno, I’m just glad Leiurus decided that killing Antares is the best option now,” Tip shrugged.
Sirius narrowed his eyes and growled, “Why would you be glad about that? Leiurus will have to kill his own kin, that is horrible.”
“Did you forget that Antares tried to kill us and almost killed Aster?” Tip replied.
“It is still heinous that he has to kill his own kin,” Sirius replied, “I would not let things go this way if I were him.”
“Then how would you like them to go?” Tip replied, their usual cheerful demeanor falling as they seemed irritated by Sirius’s response.
Alura sighed, “Guys, could you two knock it off? This isn’t our problem.”
“I hate to say it, but it became our problem when Antares almost killed Aster,” Neil replied, shaking his head.
“Yeah, Antares made it personal first,” Brando said with a small nod.
The doors to the bridge opened up as Leiurus and Aster stepped inside. “Hey, guys!” Aster said cheerfully.
“Hey, Aster! Good to see you’re doing better,” Alura said with a smile.
“Yes, it is good to see that you have recovered,” Sirius nodded.
“Thanks for the concern,” Aster chuckled again.
Leiurus gave a small smile, “You know you just saw him yesterday, right?”
Neil shrugged, “Still good to see that our friend’s okay.”
“Yeah, especially after the damage he suffered,” Hydra added.
Shen and Birdie then entered the bridge, with Shen twirling his cane around, “Alright everyone, time to get ready for today’s mission!” He quickly glanced over at Aster, “Except for you of course, sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Aster groaned.
“So, the mission,” Hydra said, looking at Shen.
Shen nodded as he moved up to the table, “Right.” Birdie pressed a button on her datapad, pulling up an image of a ringed purple planet. “This is Tartarus, one of the most important planets to the Dark Matter Empire,” Shen explained.
“Tartarus?” Arthur inquired, “I think I’ve read about that place.”
“Yeah,” Alura replied, “didn’t the Empire convert it into a prison world?”
Birdie nodded, “Correct, it’s where the Empire keeps its most important prisoners. Quite a few very important Revolution members are being held there while they await their execution.”
“So our mission for today is to liberate the place?” Neil inquired, “Sounds simple enough.”
“That’s the issue though, very little is known about what goes on there,” Birdie replied, “the most we know is the warden, and even he’s a weird case.” She pressed a button on her datapad, pulling up a projection of a tall, dark creature with sharp claws that appeared to be wearing a suit and a hat. “This is Marquis Umbrim, a Nyxian from the planet Nyx in the Lynx system,” Birdie explained.
“What can they do?” Tip asked.
Birdie shook her head, “They’re a very elusive species, with very little recorded information on them. The most that’s known is that they like the dark, and another odd detail is the black, city-sized dome covering where the Consumoai is. According to reports that should be where the Revolution captives are held.” She pulled up a hologram of a titanic dome made of some dark material.
“That’s why I’ve decided to finish work on a little pet project of mine, the Lux Nova Sphere,” Shen explained.
“The Lux Nova Sphere? That was one of the blueprints that me, Aster, and Hydra got for you a bit ago, right?” Tip inquired.
Shen nodded his head, “Indeed, it’s an artificial Nova Sphere that aims to harness the power of sunlight and moonlight, which should be good given the Nyxians’ apparent affinity for the dark. It shouldn’t take too much longer to finish, but I want you all to still go down there first, both to scout the place out and see if you can handle Umbrim on your own.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Neil nodded, “Alright, who’s going today?”
“Let’s find out!” Shen exclaimed, twirling his cane, “Hit it, Arthur!” Arthur moved up to one of the bridge’s consoles and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present (except for Aster) as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Oh yeah!” Neil said enthusiastically.
“Sirius!”
Sirius nodded, “Of course, Shen.”
“Tip!”
Tip pumped a fist in the air before almost immediately deflating, and pointing at Sirius, “Ah man, I have to go with him?”
“I’m not sure what’s gotten into you guys, but you need to stop,” Alura groaned.
“I have not done anything,” Sirius grumbled.
“What’s their problem?” Aster whispered to Leiurus.
Leiurus shrugged, “Beats me.”
“Alura!”
Alura nodded, “I won’t let you down, Commander.”
“Birdie!”
“Got it, Commander Long,” Birdie replied.
“Alright, but what about the dome? Do we just pass through it or something?” Neil inquired.
“The Revolution has attempted to breach the dome before, but it seems to resist just about anything thrown at it,” Birdie explained.
Tip tilted their head, “Then how do we get in?”
Alura thought for a moment, “I have an idea that just might work.”
“Good,” Shen said with a nod, “while the five of you are looking a-round down there, I’ll finish up work on the Lux Nova Sphere.”
“I’ll help too, dad,” Arthur said with a nod.
Shen chuckled, “Alright, Arthur. I suppose an extra set of hands wouldn’t hurt.”
Neil nodded, “Alright everyone, let’s go!”
Skragen looked at a screen in the control room of Antares’s Consumoai as Greyders and Flatborgs moved to and fro, “Hmm, it appears that the Rangers are attempting to breach the dome of Tartarus’s Consumoai.” He turned his head to where the three Dukes were standing, “Duke Ankaa, Duke Kaus, Duke Antares, should we intervene?”
“I don’t believe that is necessary, Skragen,” Kaus replied.
Antares nodded, “Due to what goes on within the dome and the nature of Umbrim’s abilities, it’s very likely he will be more than a match for whatever Rangers are sent there. Speaking of, is Leiurus among them?”
“Yes,” Kaus growled, “is the insect one of the ones assigned to this?”
Skragen shook his head, “Not as far as I can tell.”
“A pity,” Kaus replied.
“The real pity is that I’m not going to see any action today,” Calamartia grumbled.
“Oh come on, honey,” Skragen said, walking up to his wife, “it’s just one day.”
“You said that before you and Kaus left the other day!” Calamartia said, throwing her arms up.
Ankaa simply shook his head.
“You’ll get your chance to get your hands dirty eventually, but for now let’s see how the Rangers do against Umbrim,” Kaus replied, “I’m curious to see if the powers of the stars have blinded them to the powers of darkness.”
On the inside of the dome, the Chamaeleon Zord burst through the ground, with the Rangers getting out of it a few moments later. “Great plan, Alura,” Neil said, looking at her.
“It’s no problem,” Alura replied as she looked around, “Man, it’s dark in here.” The entire inside of the dome seemed to be locked at nighttime, with darkness filling the sky.
“I am thankful my eyes can see through all this darkness,” Sirius said.
Birdie looked around, “This is quite strange, outside it was daytime.”
As if on cue, the sun appeared, illuminating the inside of the dome and revealing that the entire place was like a city-sized prison yard, with watch towers and other buildings dotting the inside of it alongside walls topped with barbed wire that appeared to be made of blue energy. The sun itself seemed to produce no heat, and was currently positioned just to the side of a large black disk high above the Consumoai. “What the heck?” Tip said with confusion.
“It became day just like that?” Neil said with wide eyes.
Alura looked at the disk, “What’s that?”
“We have other things to deal with,” Sirius growled, “Look!”
A transport shuttle zoomed towards the Rangers, forcing them to jump out of the way before it came to a stop. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” Tip yelled as the shuttle came to a stop, the door on the side of it opening. “I’m gonna go give them a piece of my mind,” Tip said, marching into the shuttle with the others following them.
Inside the shuttle, everyone aboard was passed out and wearing prison uniforms, including the driver. “What’s going on here?” Birdie said, looking everyone over.
“Hey! Watch where you’re driving, man! You could’ve run us over!” Tip said, shaking the reptilian driver awake.
“Sorry,” the driver said, momentarily opening his eyes, “it’s the warden, makes us work for twenty-two hours a day. Meaning I have to drive everyone else to their job sites and then drive to mine and work again.”
“Twenty-two hours?” the Rangers said in unison, incredibly shocked.
“That’s insane!” Neil exclaimed.
“That’s just how it works,” the driver grumbled, pointing up at the did above the Consumoai, “Only time we get to rest is when the sun reaches that disk and disappears. Then it just reappears, keeps on going to the edge, then reappears at the other edge.” The driver then passed out.
“Hey, wake up, man!” Tip said, shoving the driver and trying to awaken him.
“Just let the poor guy rest, Tip,” Neil replied, “he probably needs it, and we need to focus on the Marquis.”
Sirius nodded, “Neil is probably right, we need to focus if we want to stop this.”
“Oh alright,” Tip sighed as they and the others exited the shuttle.
“This place is ridiculous,” Birdie said with concern, “barely any species can operate on two hours of rest, and that’s not even counting the time needed for meals and personal hygiene.”
“Pretty ingenious, isn’t it?” a raspy British voice said from a dark alley nearby, prompting the Rangers to turn and see Umbrim standing there.
“Umbrim!” Neil said with confidence, narrowing his eyes at the Marquis.
“Seems like the new prisoners already know my name, that’s always good,” Umbrim chuckled.
“What’s with all the sleep deprivation?” Alura said, pointing at him.
“It’s quite simple actually, keep the prisoners busy every waking hour, and they’ll have no time to try and escape. Work them that much, and they’ll be too exhausted to try and plan anything outside of what they’re told,” Umbrim laughed, raising a clawed hand to his chest, “And if they drop dead from exhaustion? Well, it’s not my problem, they were scheduled for execution anyway.”
“You are a monster!” Sirius growled.
“Yeah, that’s not cool, man!” Tip added.
“These people deserve freedom, Umbrim! The only crime they’re guilty of is standing up to the Empire!” Neil said with conviction, “Alright guys, let’s light him up!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The five of them were surrounded by light and reappeared in the Ranger costumes, ready to fight. The Rangers charged Umbrim, prompting the Marquis to laugh, “Catch me if you can!” Umbrim seemed to sink into the shadows he was standing on, making the Rangers stop in their tracks.
“Where’d he go?” Tip said with confusion.
Something that the Rangers couldn’t see hit all of the Rangers across the chests, making them fall to the ground as sparks flew.
“What was that?” Birdie asked as she got to her feet, only to be knocked down with a shower of sparks again.
As Alura got to her feet, she instinctively turned invisible, making Umbrim’s voice growl from all around them, “I won’t stand for this!”
Alura braced herself for an attack, but none came. “He didn’t attack?” Alura said with confusion as she appeared again. By now, the other Rangers had gotten back to their feet, and stood in a circle around each other with their weapons drawn. “Everyone keep your eyes peeled and stay in formation!” Alura commanded from where she stood adjacent to Neil and Birdie, “No one gets inside!”
Sirius looked around, and for a split-second he saw a dark shape leap from the shadow of a wall to the shadow of a lamppost, prompting him to fire at it with his Morpher. “Sirius, what was that?” Neil asked, glancing at Sirius momentarily.
“I saw something moving in the darkness,” Sirius growled.
“Keep your eyes on the shadows, everyone!” Neil commanded.
“I hope you enjoyed this little bit of recreation, because yard time is over!” Umbrim chuckled from behind the Rangers, prompting them all to spin around to look at the middle of the circle they made, only to see nothing.
Neil gave the others a confused look, “Where is-”
Before he could finish, the unseen force attacked him, Alura, and Birdie, sending sparks flying off their chests as they were launched into the air and far into the distance, out of view of Sirius and Tip.
“Guys!” Tip yelled, looking at where the others were launched off to.
Sirius growled, “We must find them!”
“Unfortunately for you, you’re leaving as well!” Umbrim chuckled before Sirius and Tip were attacked by the unseen force, sending them flying off into the distance in a different direction than the others. Umbrim emerged from a shadow and looked off in the distance, “Unfortunately for you, I’ve got a prison to run. But don’t worry, I’ll deal with you soon enough.”
Sirius landed in a street far away, unmorphed. “Ugh, that hurt,” he growled as he got to his feet, only to be knocked back down when Tip landed on him.
“Thanks for breaking my fall!” Tip said as they got to their feet, helping Sirius to his as well.
“Of course I get stuck with you,” Sirius rolled his eyes, “Let us go find the others.”
Tip tilted their head and gave a look of confusion, “Are you still bent out of shape about what happened back on the ship?”
“We can deal with it later, we need to find Neil and the others,” Sirius growled as the two of them walked.
“Listen, man, I didn’t really mean to offend you or anything,” Tip shrugged, “I mean, I thought you would have been fine with it too, everyone else was.”
“Well I am not, to kill another member of your clan, that is inconceivable, no matter what they might have done,” Sirius replied, looking back at Tip, “And I do not like that it seems to be something you would not mind doing.”
“Woah, I’m not saying I’m okay with it, just that if I were in his shoes I’d probably wouldn’t feel much guilt about it,” Tip replied.
Sirius took a deep breath, “I understand why Leiurus wants to kill Antares, Aster is my friend, and Antares has harmed many. But I do not understand your attitude towards what Leiurus needs to do, and why you would have such an easy time doing it.”
Tip sighed, “Sometimes you need to cut someone out of your life, even if they are your clan. And if Leiurus thinks that killing him is what he needs to cut him off, well, then that’s on him.”
“So like exile,” Sirius responded, “that is how we dealt with those who harmed our clan.”
Tip nodded as they put an arm up to a pole with a camera on it, “Yeah, like that.” Tip looked up at the camera, with their eyes flashing momentarily. “I see…” they whispered.
“You speak as though you have experience with the subject,” Sirius stated as Tip began walking again.
Tip sighed, “Yeah, I do.” They looked at Sirius, “My family… they weren’t the best to me. I come from a long line of well-respected people in the justice system, and my family really never got that I wasn’t really interested in that stuff, even though I’m pretty good when it comes to laws. No matter what I did, they never really paid attention to how I felt and what I wanted, even forced me to a job as a judge’s aid.” Tip chuckled, “I guess I should thank them, after all, that’s how I met Hydra and eventually started carving my own path.”
“So that is why you are not really opposed to the idea of killing them if you have to?” Sirius asked.
Tip shook their head, “I mean, if push comes to shove and they start working for the Empire to hunt us down and hurt someone, then yeah. But I’m not just gonna do it because I can, I’m a thief, not a murderer. It’s why I understand why Leiurus wants to kill Antares, I would too if I was in his shoes.”
“I see,” Sirius said with a nod and a guilty look, “I am sorry for questioning your feelings regarding the matter, I was not aware of your relationship with your family.”
“Yeah, I think I should’ve been more considerate to you back on the ship too, after all, not everyone has a family as sucky as mine,” Tip replied, “I guess I did come off as weirdly bloodthirsty.” Tip looked back at him, “So, clans must be pretty important to you guys, right?”
“Yes,” Sirius said, his attitude now much positive, “they are like family, even if most of its members are not related. They live together, care for each other, and fight to protect each other. Everyone pitched in to help raise their young as well.”
“Huh,” Tip replied, “that’s pretty neat. Families in Iustitia are a bit more like human families from what I’ve heard, two parents and a few kids. The parents share their own blueprints with each other, then use those to make blueprints for the kids.”
“Interesting,” Sirius said, nodding. He sniffed the air for a moment before speaking again, “We are close to the others now.”
“Really?” Tip asked, tilting their head, “How’d you know?”
“I can smell them,” Sirius replied, “Surely you must have noticed I have been leading us this entire time.”
“Oh right!” Tip replied, “I forgot about that. Man, that’s a pretty useful thing to be able to do.”
“Your ability to control technology has certainly come in handy as well,” Sirius chuckled as they were about to round a corner.
“Wait! Not that way,” Tip said, grabbing Sirius’s shoulder.
Sirius glanced back at them, “Why not?”
“I got into this place’s camera system back there,” Tip explained, “if we head that way we’ll be ambushed by some Greyders and a Flatborg, I can see them in the cameras.”
Sirius peeked around the corner, spotting the Greyders and Flatborg before looking back at Tip, “It seems that you proved my previous statement correct, thank you.”
Tip shrugged, “It’s no problem.”
Sirius nodded as they turned to go in a different direction, “It appears we will need to go a different way then.”
“I hope Tip and Sirius are alright,” Neil said as he, Alura, and Birdie walked on a promenade beside a lush courtyard, one of the few sources of color within the dome.
“Yeah, there’s no telling what Umbrim is doing to them back there. I mean at least we got away pretty unscathed thanks to Birdie grabbing us in the air, those two are probably still dealing with that shadowy freak,” Alura said before looking back at Birdie, “Thanks again for that, by the way.”
The android in question chuckled, “Oh it’s fine.”
“Hey guys!” Tip yelled as Sirius and them came into view, running towards them.
“Hey guys! Are you okay?” Neil asked once the two of them were closer.
“We were knocked away shortly after you were, but we are otherwise fine,” Sirius replied.
“Well it’s good to see that you two are okay,” Birdie said with a nod.
“Yeah, that’s good to know,” Neil added.
“But since they were knocked away just after we were, it means we don’t know anything new about Umbrim,” Alura said with a sigh.
“Actually, we do!” Tip said while striking a pose.
“We do?” the other Rangers said, tilting their heads to the side.
“I checked this place’s camera systems and found something pretty interesting,” Tip said, gesturing up to a massive screen displaying an Imperial emblem. They extended a cable from their arm, plugging it into the screen, “Check this out.”
The screen displayed a prisoner digging a hole before laying it to the side and bending over, panting. Suddenly, Umbrim’s voice rang out before the prisoner fell to the ground and quickly grabbed their shovel as they got back up, “Get back to work!”
The Rangers looked on with confused expressions as Tip looked at them, “Didn’t see it? I don’t blame you, so let’s slow things down a bit.” The video played again, but this time it got much slower when the prisoner fell over, allowing the Rangers to see Umbrim leaping out of a nearby shadow, knocking the prisoner to the ground, and ducking into the prisoner’s shadow.
“So he can move super fast when he’s in shadows?” Neil said, titling his head.
Alura nodded, “Makes sense, we did see him hide in shadows before, and since I don’t cast a shadow when I’m invisible he couldn’t attack me.”
“And that black shape that I saw must have been him,” Sirius said, thinking back to what happened before.
“That must also be why it’s only night when the artificial sun would be at its highest, since the shadows cast then would be too small for Umbrim to use,” Birdie stated.
Neil gave a confident look, “Well at least now we know how he works, so that should make dealing with him now a lot easier.”
“And once the Commander gets the Lux Nova Sphere down here, it’ll be even easier!” Tip whooped.
“Hopefully we can encounter him again,” Birdie said, “he’s probably back to monitoring the rest of the planet though.”
Alura cracked her knuckles, “Sounds like we’ll just have to get his attention then.”
“But how do we do that?” Neil asked, scratching the side of his head.
“I think I have an idea,” Sirius said, “but we will need the Aries Nova Sphere to do it.”
“Use the Aries Nova Sphere to make some prisoners fall asleep so Umbrim will have to come wake them back up? I like the way you think!” Tip chuckled.
“Thank you,” Sirius nodded.
At a worksite near in a park where prisoners were slaving away doing physical labor, the five Rangers hid behind a few trees, preparing to put Sirius’s idea into action. “Ready?” Neil asked.
Sirius nodded, “Yes.” Sirius plugged a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a ram’s head into his Morpher before peeking around the tree he was standing behind.
“Aries Nova Sphere!”
Sirius pointed his Morpher at a few prisoners that wouldn’t be seriously injured if they suddenly fell asleep, firing a few yellow orbs from his Morpher at them. The prisoners struck by the orbs fell unconscious, closing their eyes and lying on the ground. “Let’s see if he takes the bait,” Tip whispered.
Sure enough, Umbrim began to emerge from a shadow a few moments later, stretching his claws out, “Get back to work!”
Umbrim staggered back as shots from Sirius and Tip’s Morphers hit him, making him spin around to face the Rangers, who were now out in the open and preparing themselves to fight. “Rangers, I should’ve known my newest prisoners were behind this,” Umbrim growled.
“How about you give your prisoners a little time off? You’re definitely violating at least one labor code,” Neil said, readying himself.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, the Sigama labor treaty says that manual labor as punishment is illegal, it also says more than a few other relevant things, but I doubt you’d have time for all of them.”
Umbrim gave an unimpressed look, “You’re right, how could I have been so stupid? I’ll fix it right now. Not.”
“Looks like we will have to deal with you the more messy way,” Sirius growled as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The five of them emerged from the resulting flash of light in their Ranger suits.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Power Ranger Supernova!” The Rangers readied their weapons and prepared to rush at Umbrim.
Umbrim sighed as he maneuvered towards a wall’s shadow, “I don’t have time for this.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Alura exclaimed as she plugged her Nova Sphere into her rapier.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
Her rapier’s blade was surrounded by green energy and became more like a whip, which she lashed at Umbrim with, which became wrapped around his arm. Now that she had a hold of him, Alura began pulling him away from the shadow. Umbrim snarled and clawed at the rapier to no avail. He placed a foot under the rapier’s elongated blade, deliberately moving his foot to its shadow and disappearing into it, leaving the rapier to fall to the ground and retract. “Dang it, he got away!” Alura said with annoyance, “What a lazy coward.”
A dark shape leapt from her shadow and clawed her chest, knocking her back. “I take offense to that,” Umbrim snarled as his dark form jumped to the shadow of a tree, “I have a very important job, a job that I can’t do if I’m dead, and I definitely put in more work than prisoners like you.”
Tip thought for a moment, “Sure, we’ve taken down a lot of Marquises like you, and you’ve done what? Look over a dome?” Tip was promptly slashed too, but they quickly steadied themself, “So, he doesn’t like insults, keep doing it so he doesn’t run off!”
“I’m more precise with my attacks than you,” Birdie said before being attacked.
“You must hide in the shadows to hide that hideous face of yours,” Sirius growled before being sliced.
“You’re probably the worst warden I’ve seen,” Alura said, turning invisible when she suspected Umbrim would strike, allowing her to avoid the attack.
“It’s working!” Neil exclaimed.
“Thanks again for the help, Arthur,” Shen said as he got up from a desk in the engineering room of the Orion, holding up a unique-looking Nova Sphere to his face. It had two bases, one on the top and one on the bottom, one red and one yellow. The two sides of it matched the bases in color as well, with one side being red with flame shapes jutting out of it, while the other was yellow and mostly smooth aside from a few grooves.
Arthur smiled from where he sat, “It’s no problem, dad.”
Shen chuckled and patted Arthur’s head, “I need to go get this to the others.”
“Got it, be safe,” Arthur said as Shen began to exit the room.
“I will,” Shen smiled as he exited. As he walked the halls of the Orion, he lifted up his cane and spoke into it, “Me and Arthur have finished work on the Lux Nova Sphere, I’ll bring it to you now.”
“Thanks, dad,” Neil said from the other end, panting, “but why can’t you just send it through the transporter?”
“It hasn’t been calibrated to the transporter yet, meaning I’ll have to deliver it the old-fashioned way,” Shen explained, “hold tight, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Got it,” Neil said before Shen cut the communication.
“I hope they’re okay down there,” Shen mused as he continued walking.
“Hmm, it appears we might have an issue,” Skragen said, looking at a screen in the control room of Antares’s Consumoai.
Antares looked at him, his visible eye narrowing, “What is it?”
Skragen moved out of the way of the screen, which showed the Draco Zord flying towards the dome on Tartarus. “It seems like Shen Arctos is trying to interfere,” Skragen stated.
“Ugh, him again? Can’t that jelly brain just keel over and die already?” Calamartia groaned.
Kaus looked at the screen, “He will need to be dealt with before he can cause any problems. Ankaa, would you mind going with Skragen and Calamartia to deal with him?”
Ankaa nodded.
“Finally some action!” Calamartia laughed excitedly.
“Yes, it’s wonderful, don’t you th-ink? Especially since we can pay a visit to our old friend again,” Skragen chuckled.
As night began to fall on Tartarus, a morphed Shen flew through the city-like prisons that covered the surface of the planet on his way to the dome. Without warning, the Draco Zord was suddenly rocked by a series of blasts. “What was that?” Shen asked himself, looking at a screen in his cockpit and seeing that strange, space shuttle-like craft that had taken Antares the other day, now accompanied by two Mordiers.
A screen appeared in the Draco Zord’s cockpit showing Skragen’s face, “Hello again, Shen Arctos.”
Another screen appeared, this one showing Calamartia’s face, “Nice seeing the purple-scaled jelly brain himself again.”
Shen growled before groaning, “I don’t have time for this clown show.” He weaved the Draco Zord between prison buildings as the shuttle and Moriders continued firing. A few of the shots collided with the Zord, but Shen powered through, spotting the large hole that Alura and the others had used to enter the dome. Shen pulled out his cane and spoke into it, “Neil, meet me at the tunnel you and the others used to enter the dome, I’ll be there soon.”
Neil got off the ground as he spoke into his Morpher, “Got it, dad!” He looked at the others, who were trying to avoid Umbrim’s attacks, “I’m gonna get the Nova Sphere, can you guys keep him busy?”
“Sure can!” Tip exclaimed, “Man, you suck at this trying to kill us thing.” Tip was slashed by Umbrim again.
Sirius nodded, “Go now!” He looked around, “Your attacks are almost as irritating as a flea.” Umbrim knocked him to the ground.
“Don’t be so cocky,” Umbrim chuckled, “Soon it’ll be lights out for you Rangers!”
Neil broke into a sprint while the others distracted Umbrim, heading back towards where they had initially entered.
“Almost there,” Shen said under his breath as he managed to avoid a few more blasts. Unfortunately for him, a camera showed that the shuttle seemed to be preparing a strong attack. He reached the hole just as the shuttle fired, making the Draco Zord tuck its limbs close and shoot straight downward into the hole, making the beam hit the exterior of the dome. Shen gave a sigh of relief, “Man, that was a close one.”
“Dang it, we can’t reach that jelly brain now!” Calamartia yelled, slamming her hand down on her Morider’s control panel.
“I’m sorry, dear, we’ll get him next time,” Skragen said, shaking his head, “I suppose we’ll just have to fall back for now.”
“Jelly-brained lizard,” Calamartia grumbled as she, Skragen, and Ankaa began to fly back towards Antares’s Consumoai.
“Technically he’s a dragon,” Skragen replied.
“He’s got scales, doesn’t he? Who cares?” Calamartia said with annoyance.
Skragen shrugged, “I guess.”
Ankaa tilted his head back to imitate silent laughter.
As Neil reached the hole, the mouth of the Draco Zord suddenly shot up from it, with Shen emerging shortly afterwards, holding the Lux Nova Sphere in his hand. Neil looked it over, “So this is the Lux Nova Sphere?”
“Made by your brother and yours truly,” Shen chuckled, “It’s got two modes, Solar and Lunar, just flip it to change it.”
“Sounds like the perfect thing to deal with Umbrim,” Neil nodded, “but what about you?”
Shen thought for a moment, leaning on his cane, “I’ll deal with the Consumoai once I get the rest of the Draco Zord out.” Shen chuckled for a moment, “Now, you should probably be getting back to the others and star-tle Umbrim with the power of the Lux Nova Sphere!”
“I sure will!” Neil said as he ran off.
The other Rangers fell to the ground as Umbrim chuckled, leaning up against an archway, “I don’t know why you try to keep fighting. Just give up, hand over your weapons, and get to work, and I might forgive all the trouble you’ve caused me today.”
“No,” Sirius growled as he got to his feet, “I will not allow Tip’s work to figure out your ability to go to waste.”
Tip looked up at the Fenrisulfrian, “Sirius…”
“Suit yourself,” Umbrim said as he prepared to attack, only to be nailed in the head by a shot from Neil, who rushed on to the scene.
“Guys! Are you okay?” Neil asked as he tried to help the others to their feet.
“Could be better,” Birdie replied as she stood up.
Alura spotted the Nova Sphere in Neil’s hand, “Hey, is that the Lux Nova Sphere?”
“It sure is!” Neil smiled, “Let’s test this thing out!” He plugged its red base into his Morpher, making a sun pattern in the Nova Sphere light up near the edges, leaving a crescent silhouette that wasn’t illuminated.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
Sun-like light swirled around Neil and coalesced around his helmet, making a few red spikes jut out of it as bright light filled the area, making Umbrim recoil.
“Shining Star, Solar Leo Ranger!”
“Awesome!” Tip said, looking him over.
“How’s it feel?” Birdie asked, tilting her head.
Neil pumped a fist in the air, “I feel real fired up!” He pointed at Umbrim, “Time to smoke this guy!” Neil charged forward, making every shadow he approached shrink away.
“No! The shadows!” Umbrim yelled before Neil punched him, the Leo Ranger’s fist punctuated with flames. Umbrim tried to claw at him, but Neil grabbed the Nyxian’s arms and forced them up before striking Umbrim in the chest with a flaming knee. Umbrim recoiled before he was struck multiple times by flaming punches and kicks, before being hit by a flaming uppercut that knocked him into the air and onto the ground.
“Birdie, into the air!” Neil yelled.
Birdie nodded, “Got it!” She flew towards Neil and lifted him high into the air, the light coming from him like a second sun, with every remaining shadow fadi by moments after.
“Stop! Stop it!” Umbrim snarled as he writhed in pain.
“Wow, Neil’s really giving him a run for his money!” Tip exclaimed.
“Yeah!” Alura said before looking at them, tilting her head, “Hey, Tip? You’re glowing really brightly, is that supposed to happen?”
She was right, Tip’s golden suit was glowing brightly, incredibly so. Tip looked themself over, “Oh this? Yeah, Iustitia is really close to its star, so we developed a way to gain power from the sun. Seems like Neil’s really kicking it into overdrive now though!”
“Well if he’s powering you up, let’s put that to good use!” Alura said.
“No problemo!” Tip said, their eyes flashing through their visor momentarily. They charged forward with nothing but their fists, ready to pummel Umbrim to a pulp.
“Stay back!” Umbrim yelled, but it did nothing to stop Tip. They punched him in the chest once, pausing for a moment before delivering a flurry of punches that sent Umbrim flying back with a yell of pain.
“Alright,” Shen said inside of the Draco Zord’s cockpit, “just a bit further.” With one final jerk forward the Draco Zord burst out of the ground and into the air inside of the dome. “I’m on a roll now!” Shen laughed as he flew the Draco Zord towards the Consumoai. Shen rubbed his hands together, “Now, time to deal with that thing!” The Draco Zord fired a massive fireball at the Consumoai, making it explode and causing the dome to shatter into pieces.
Umbrim was sent reeling as Neil delivered a strike with his flame-wreathed sword, laughing while he hit the ground as the dome shattered. Without the dome, it was now nighttime, with the only source of light being Neil.
“It’s night?” Birdie said with curiosity, looking up at the sky and seeing stars.
“Why are you laughing?” Sirius growled, glaring at Umbrim.
“You fools, I am the darkness, and now all you’ve done is give me more to work with!” Umbrim laughed as he got to his feet, extending several shadowy tentacles from his chest towards the Rangers.
“Let’s switch things up a bit!” Neil yelled as he flipped the Lux Nova Sphere upside down and plugged the yellow base into his Morpher. The previously dull crescent now was illuminated yellow, resembling a crescent moon, while the sun symbol was now dimmed.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Lunar Mode!”
Shimmering yellow energy began to swirl around Neil as the spikes on his helmet disappeared, which were then replaced by asymmetrical halves of a crescent pointing upward. The glow was much calmer now, far more gentle than the roar of the Solar mode.
“Shimmering Star, Lunar Leo Ranger!”
Neil extended a hand forward, producing a flash of light that dispelled the tentacles and made Umbrim stagger back while covering his eyes. “You look a bit goofier than before,” Tip commented, the glow no longer making their suit shine brightly.
“Just because it looks sillier doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful!” Neil said, pointing his sword forward. Neil swung his sword forward several times, sending slices of red and shimmering yellow energy at Umbrim with each swing. Every attack collided and made Umbrim stagger back with a shower of sparks each time.
“What a sick way to fight,” Sirius growled, his breathing becoming more rapid.
“Sirius?” Neil asked, looking back at him, “Are you alright?”
Sirius looked at Neil’s head and the light shining off him before giving a howl, his heterochromatic eyes flashing through his visor.
“What’s going on?” Alura said with concern.
Tip shrugged, “Well he is a wolf, and they’re generally associated with the moon, so I guess it’s giving him a power boost too.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re all going to the slammer!” Umbrim said as he pointed his claws at the Rangers. The claws were suddenly cloaked in shadows, and began rapidly extending towards the Rangers. Sirius viciously batted them away before speeding towards Umbrim in the blink of an eye, delivering swipes with his claws that created blue shockwaves on impact with the Marquis, who cried out in pain.
“Man, you and Shen sure cooked up something amazing, Arthur,” Brando said as he looked at a screen on the bridge displaying what was happening on the surface.
Arthur chuckled in response, “Thanks, Mr. Pesce.”
There was a vague look of excitement on Hydra’s face as he put his hand up to a patch of scales there, “This Nova Sphere’s power is incredible. I thought it would just create light, but I didn’t expect all the other things it’s doing.”
Aster chuckled and nudged Leiurus, “I wonder if I’d get a power-up from being near that.”
Leiurus gave a hum, “We’ll have to check. Now I’m wondering about it too.”
Umbrim fell to the ground and slowly got back to his feet as Neil pointed his Morpher at him. “What are you doing?”
“Lighting you up!” Neil exclaimed, flicking the Lux Nova Sphere back and flipping down the side of his Morpher.
“Eclipse Shot!”
Red and yellow orbs swirled around Neil before forming into a symbol depicting the moon, and a symbol depicting the sun. The two symbols intersected in front of the Morpher as Neil pulled the trigger, sending an orb of red and yellow energy at Umbrim. It collided with the Marquis, engulfing him in an orb of fire that suddenly got darker and darker, as if it was the sun being eclipsed by the moon. Once only the faintest bit of light was visible, a massive explosion erupted, making Umbrim scream, “No! Not into the light! It burns!”
Umbrim’s body fell to the ground as the crescent on Neil’s head disappeared. “That was amazing, Neil!” Birdie exclaimed, running up to him.
“Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without Tip and Sirius,” Neil chuckled.
“Yeah,” Tip said, helping to steady Sirius, who seemed to be a bit woozy, “you did great, man.”
“You too,” Sirius said, steadying himself as he and Tip looked at Umbrim’s body.
“Shine on!” the two of them said in unison, both giving a thumbs up.
Karna Rog watched the Rangers celebrate on a screen from where he sat in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, tapping his talons against his throne. “A shame, even before my little deal, I always had a fondness for Nyxians,” the Emperor said with a sigh. After a moment, he gave an emotionless chuckle, “You might wield the power of the stars, Rangers, but you’re forgetting one thing. As long as there is light, the shadow remains cast.” He snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed over where the dome once stood, pitch black electricity crackling through it, barely visible in the night sky. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Umbrim’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into Umbrim some distance away, now a giant, “The warden is back on duty!”
“Oh great,” Alura sighed.
Neil heard a beep from his Morpher and lifted it up to speak into it, “Hello?”
“I’ll deal with Umbrim, my Zord’s already sphere after all,” Shen’s voice said from the other end.
“We’ll help!” Tip said, looking at Sirius.
Sirius nodded, “Of course.”
“Well the more the merrier!” Shen’s voice chuckled.
Sirius and Tip were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off and attached to their respective Zords.
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
The two of them got into formation with the Draco Zord, and proceeded to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
This Megazord combination featured the Libra Zord as the right arm and the Lupus Zord as the left arm. Now combined, the Megazord prepared to fight Umbrim.
The Megazord charged forward, making Umbrim snarl, “Just a bigger prisoner to detain!” Umbrim fired yellow energy beams from his eyes.
“Try this on for size!” Tip said, using the Libra Zord to block them. Sirius then growled, thrusting the Lupus Zord into Umbrim’s chest and making him stagger back.
“Let us hit him as one,” Sirius said into the comms.
“Sounds good to me!” Tip replied. The Libra and Lupus Zord’s were thrust forward at once, making Umbrim stagger back as they collided with him. As Umbrim tried to recover, the Megazord kicked him, producing an explosion and making him fall to the ground.
“Time to end this,” Shen said, opening and closing the mouth of his cane as Sirius and Tip flicked their Nova Spheres back and flicked down the sides of their Morphers.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before each of them fired a beam at Umbrim, who by now had gotten to his feet. The beams struck him directly, and his body sparked as he staggered back. “Hello darkness my old friend!” Umbrim cried out before exploding.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Shen declared as the Megazord lowered its arms to its sides.
Mirfak walked the halls of Ukhu Pacha, when suddenly he encountered Felis, who didn’t seem pleased at all, “So you can find the time to make an artificial Nova Sphere, but you can’t help me.”
Mirfak scoffed, “I had orders from the Emperor himself for that project. And I outrank you, so do not believe you have the authority to boss me around.”
“Yes, because that is so much more powerful than what I believe will help,” Felis growled.
Mirfak rolled his organic eye, “I will be leaving in a few days to oversee a planet’s destruction, and if I hear from Dogolem or the Doctor that you tried to strongarm them into assisting you, then the consequences will be dire.” He raised his cannon-arm, a red energy with black electricity around it forming in it, “Do I make myself clear, Felis?”
Felis groaned, “Oh fine.” He began to walk away, muttering under his breath, “Stupid snake.”
“I heard that,” Mirfak said casually, narrowing his organic eye at the Duke.
In the control room of Antares’s Consumoai, Kaus, Antares, Skragen, and Calamartia knelt before a large hologram of the Emperor as Ankaa leaned against a wall off to the side. “I have a new assignment for the five of you that you are to partake in a few days from now,” Karna Rog said.
“And what would that be, your magnificence?” Kaus asked.
“I want you to partake in the destruction of Earth,” Karna Rog said, causing Ankaa to quickly turn his head to look at him, “I have already told Duke Antares the specifics of what will happen. But you need not to worry yourselves with such affairs right now. You will be informed of when you are to come in due time. Until then you are to continue your hunt for the Rangers.”
“Of course, my liege,” Antares said with a nod.
“Good,” the Emperor replied before his hologram disappeared.
“I must say, it’s quite the privilege for the Emperor to select us to have a hand in a planet’s destruction,” Skragen said.
“Yeah, it’s a shame we can’t kill everyone on Earth one by one though,” Calamartia said.
Kaus shook his head, “We should be proud, once we succeed, the Emperor will be incredibly pleased.” He turned to look at Ankaa, “Isn’t that right, Ankaa?”
Ankaa didn’t react for a moment until he gave a small, hesitant nod.
“I must say, you all did excellent down there,” Shen said as he and the other Rangers ate a few snacks laid around the bridge’s control table.
“Thanks, Boss,” Alura said with a smile.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, you guys went crazy down there! It was awesome!”
“It was pretty cool, yeah,” Birdie chuckled.
“The Lux Nova Sphere will definitely help us deal with the Empire a lot better from here on out,” Leiurus said from where he stood next to Aster.
“Yeah, that thing packs a lot more of a punch than I thought it would,” Arthur said as he fiddled with some scrap metal.
Neil smiled as he elbowed his brother in the shoulder, “We’re lucky to have people as smart as you and dad on the team.” Arthur grinned.
Shen chuckled, “Regardless, you all did good today. The Revolution has finished picking up the last of the prisoners on Tartarus, which will be a major setback for the Empire since it doesn’t have its main prison world anymore.”
“Yeah, now we’re one step closer to stopping the Empire for good!” Neil said, pumping a fist in the air.
Sirius looked over at Tip as Hydra stood beside them, watching, “Once again I must say that I am sorry for judging you, you are an ally we could not do without.”
“It’s fine, man,” Tip chuckled, “Anyway, you were pretty awesome back there. Y’know, with all the crazy attacks and stuff.”
“I appreciate the compliment, but I was not really in control at the time,” Sirius replied, “It was honestly very strange.”
Tip patted him on the shoulder, “But it was definitely the good kind of strange. The kind of cool that just makes you wonder how that happened, y’know?”
Hydra finally spoke up, “You both seem quite happy.” He smiled, “I’m glad for that.”
“Wait, you’re glad? Hydra, that’s an emotion, I’m so happy for you!” Tip said excitedly.
“Maybe even glad, right?” Aster teased, eliciting a chuckle from Leiurus.
Alura just smiled as she watched the others talk to each other, but she froze as she heard a voice. It was feminine, and she vaguely remembered it, “Alura.”
Alura’s eyes widened, “Did someone call my name?”
The rest of them looked at her with confused looks, with Birdie tilting her head to the side, “No?”
“Sorry,” Alura said, chuckling awkwardly, “Just thought I did.” She grabbed a plate and took a seat, “It’s probably nothing.”
Notes:
Umbrim: Portmonteau of Umbra (the darkest part of a shadow, due to his powers and the fact that he’s based on Shadow People) and Brim (as in the brim of a hat, as he’s more precisely based on the Hat Man variety of Shadow Person)
Honestly, this chapter was a lot of fun. Sure it’s mostly filler aside from the Lux Nova Sphere being introduced, but I had fun adapting this episode. I like how Sirius and Tip’s conflict turned out, since it’s quite a bit different than the conflict in the source episode since Aster’s still around here. Next chapter is probably one of the more important ones, as it’s pretty lore-focused and will explain a few things about what’s going on, and it’s mostly Alura-centric too, so yay! It might take a bit longer to come out, but that’s mostly because I’ll probably need to flesh out the dialogue a bit. So just keep your eyes peeled for that. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 19: Answers
Chapter Text
“And then I ask if he’s got anything buttery!” Tip chuckled as they recounted some escapade that they and Hydra went on in the past, earning laughs from the rest of the Rangers on the bridge.
Hydra nodded, “Yeah, a lot of people there found it funny.”
Birdie laughed, “I swear that the two of you have seen more of the galaxy than all the rest of us have combined.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Tip snickered.
Neil leaned back in his seat with a smile, “Man, I love days like these, no missions, no Marquises, and no fighting.”
“Yeah,” Brando added, “gives me more time to hone my cooking skills.”
“And I have more time to tinker,” Arthur said, fidgeting with a disassembled device.
Shen grinned and chuckled, “Well it is important to keep morale up, after all, and these past couple days have been pretty hectic.”
“They sure have been,” Alura nodded. She began to stand up, but she froze when she heard the voice from the other day.
“Alura, come home, come to Tokage,” it said. It didn’t sound sinister, in fact it seemed kind and inviting.
“Alura, are you feeling well?” Sirius asked, noticing how she froze up.
Alura looked at Shen, “We need to go to my homeworld, Tokage.”
Aster gave a confused look, “What, why?”
“What’s so important about it?” Leiurus asked.
“I heard this voice in my head, and it was telling me to go there, and… and I feel like we’ll get answers if we do,” Alura said, trying to put what she was thinking into words.
“Answers to what?” Shen asked, tilting his head.
Alura shook her head, “I’m not sure, but I just know that it’s important and that we need to head there now.”
“I believe you, Alura,” Neil said with a nod, “Besides, no harm in checking the place out, right? At the very least we can deal with the Marquis there if it has one.”
“Well we are pretty close to Tokage anyway, so we might as well,” Shen said, “Sorry everyone, but it looks like break day is over.”
Hydra shook his head, “I don’t really mind, at least we might find something out.”
“Yeah, I wonder what answers we could get,” Arthur nodded.
“Alright then, I’ll pull up some information about it,” Birdie said, pressing her datapad. A hologram of a forested planet appeared above the bridge’s table, “This is Tokage.” She pressed her datapad again, and a hologram of a creature made of mismatched carved stones appeared above the table. It was covered in vines, and its oversized head was sandwiched between the carved stones on top of its shoulder, and it looked like a human’s with the Empire’s insignia on its forehead.
“And this is Olmecha, the Marquis of Tokage,” Alura said, “Forests are very important to my people, so he focuses a lot on deforestation. The damage he was causing was a big reason why I even joined the Revolution to begin with.”
“Guess we can thank him for you then,” Aster chuckled.
Birdie looked at the hologram, “Olmecha is a Ventan, a silicon-based life form from Venta in the Caelum system. They’re known for their strength, but don’t have any other notable abilities.”
“Sounds pretty cut and dry then,” Tip said.
“Yes, but I would still exercise caution, there’s no telling what we could find that contacted Alura,” Shen said, “On that note, she’ll be going on today’s mission, since this is her home planet and it would probably be a good idea to have her with you in case you’re contacted again.”
Alura nodded, “Got it.”
“Well, let’s see who else is going with her then,” Neil said.
Shen gave a thumbs up, “Right, hit it, Arthur!” Arthur walked up to a console and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present (except for Aster) as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Yeah!” Neil said, pumping a fist in the air.
“Tip!”
“Ah yeah!” Tip said excitedly.
“Hydra!”
Hydra looked at Tip, “Seems like we’re working together again.”
Tip moved behind him and patted him on the shoulder, “Fine by me! We’re the best duo here!”
“Brando!”
“I’m ready,” Brando said with a smile.
“Alright guys, let’s head out,” Alura said as she and the other selected Rangers began to exit the bridge.
In the control room of Antares’s Consumoai, the Duke in question sat in a control seat and looked at a screen showing the Rangers’ Zords approaching Tokage, “Now is an excellent chance to strike at them.”
“Yes,” Kaus said, “a forested planet is always a pleasure to hunt on.”
Antares chuckled as he stood up, “And it will be a pleasure watching the light fade from their eyes as they succumb to my sting.” He looked at Calamartia and Ankaa before speaking again, “Calamartia, with me. You can come too, Ankaa. Your powers in a place like this will definitely lead to an absolutely agonizing death in an inferno for the Rangers, not to mention the devastation to the locals.”
“Oh I can’t wait for this,” Calamartia said, chuckling.
“Have fun, honey,” Skragen said, turning his head to his wife.
“Oh I will,” Calamartia said, blowing her husband a kiss.
Ankaa gave a nod to Antares.
Antares gestured for the two of them, “Let’s go.” He began to leave the control room, with Calamartia and Ankaa following him, “I’ll have fun facing the rest of them.” He sighed before speaking again, “Just a shame that my dear brother isn’t with them this time.”
“Man, I missed this place,” Alura said as she and the other Rangers walked through Tokage’s forests, “I almost forgot how beautiful all the green here was.” She smiled as she glanced at a few flowers, “I’m glad to be back here.”
“Yeah, this place is quite nice,” Hydra said, looking up at the towering trees and spotting a few animals skittering amongst the branches.
“Speak for yourself,” Tip said, holding Hydra’s hand to guide them since their eyes fogged up due to the humidity.
Neil laughed, “Hey, this place might be a bit humid, but this place is pretty beautiful. Nice to be in a place so natural after all of the urban planets we’ve been to.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to be back in a place like this, surrounded by nature as the eye can see,” Alura smiled, looking around.
Tip chucked as they tried to wipe the condensation off their eyes, “I didn’t peg you as a treehugger.”
“Only because we’ve never been to a forested planet,” Alura replied, “I always loved the forests here. Loved them so much that my mom told me she had to save me from a forest spirit after I wandered off into it when I was little, though it was a pretty nice forest spirit.”
“A forest spirit?” Tip chuckled, “Get out.”
“Tip, we saw the ghost of Shen’s dad, how is a forest spirit not believable?” Neil smiled.
“It just isn’t!” Tip retorted.
“I don’t really think so,” Brando chuckled.
Alura chuckled, “I kinda remember it still, actually.”
“Oh right,” Brando said, “you told me and Aster about that, didn’t you.”
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “but I think the others should hear it too…”
An eight-year-old Alura sprinted through the forests of Tokage as a creature behind her growled. “Help! Please!” Alura yelled as she ran before coming to a stop in front of a large stone wall that stretched off into the distance. “Stay back!” Alura screamed as the foliage rustled.
Suddenly, whatever was chasing her gave a yelp, and the rustling in the underbrush began to move away, only for something new to emerge from the bushes. It was tall, feminine, and ethereal, with chalk white skin and a white dress the same color, making it hard to tell where its body ended and its dress began. It had green eyes, no mouth, and flowing hair that looked like it was made of gold. “Are you alright, little one?” it asked, bending down in front of Alura and looking her over. Its voice was soft and motherly.
“Who are you?” Alura asked with awe.
“I am Audumla,” the figure said, “you seem to be far from home.”
“I was exploring,” Alura replied, “I got lost.”
Audumla nodded, “I see. You’re quite the fearless little one, aren’t you?” Alura giggled as Audumla placed a hand on her shoulder, “I can sense a great potential in you, I think you will go on to do great things.”
“Really?” Alura asked with wide eyes.
“Alura!” Alura’s mother shouted, appearing behind Audumla and swiping her arm through her, making the entity dissolve into mist. Alura’s mother knelt down in front of her, “You had me so worried! Are you okay?”
“And that’s the gist of what happened,” Alura said.
“Interesting,” Hydra replied, nodding.
“Sounds spooky,” Neil added.
Tip chuckled, “Yeah, I’m sure that happened.”
“Okay, my memory about that might be a bit fuzzy, but I know that happened,” Alura stated as they continued to walk before freezing. Up ahead, several Greyders were cutting down trees, with Olmecha overseeing them. Alura scowled, “These guys, cutting down trees when they know how important they are to my people.”
“We’ll just have to deal with them then,” Neil said, cracking his knuckles before he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers ran forward, hacking and blasting at the Greyders as they charged through them. This caught Olmecha’s attention, “Power Rangers? Me Olmecha destroy you!”
“Not the sharpest rock in a bag of rocks, is he?” Neil said, kicking a Greyder away.
Olmecha took a swing at Alura, forcing her to block it with her rapier, but it still staggered her a bit. She spun back and plugged a pink Nova Sphere depicting a chisel into her Morpher.
“Caelum Nova Sphere!”
“Caelum? That is where me Olmecha is from!” Olmecha said as a pink energy chisel formed on Alura’s Morpher. She fired it at Olmecha’s face as a new chisel formed, letting her repeat the process several more times.
Stone around Olmecha’s eyes were chipped away, making them wider, “Stop messing with me Olmecha’s face!” He swung at Alura, forcing her to duck under it. She sliced at Olmecha, but the attack did little against his stone body.
Brando leapt into the air and tried to swing at the Marquis, only for Olmecha to bat him away into the trunk of a nearby tree. “Brando!” Alura yelled before looking back at Olmecha, “Now you’ve done it!” She sliced at the Marquis rapidly, managing to slightly scratch Olmecha. She groaned, “Neil, I think I’ll need something that packs more of a punch!”
“With pleasure!” Neil yelled, kicking a Greyder away before running up to Olmecha and slicing at him with his sword. Olmecha seemed to realize that Neil’s sword would probably do more damage than a rapier, and clumsily dodged the swings. By now the rest of the Greyder’s had been dealt with, allowing all the Rangers to focus on Olmecha, slicing and shooting at the Marquis with varying levels of effectiveness.
“Me Olmecha don’t like this!” Olmecha yelled before jumping high into the air and off into the distance.
“Dang it, he got away!” Tip yelled.
Hydra patted their shoulder, “We’ll get him next time.”
“State your business here,” the Rangers heard a voice behind them and turned to face it, spotting a middle-aged woman who looked a lot like Alura wearing a kimono. She was flanked by several figures all dressed in black without an inch of skin showing, each wielding swords.
Alura unmorphed, her eyes widening as she smiled, “Mom!”
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, “Alura?”
Near a stream, Olmecha was moping around, “Me Olmecha’s face is ruined, even if me Olmecha can see better…”
“The Rangers did this to you, didn’t they?” Antares said, making the Marquis turn to face him, Calamartia, and Ankaa, the latter of whom was currently stroking the beak of a black, bird-like creature perched on his arm.
“Yes, Rangers did this, how you know?” Olmecha asked.
“Call it a hunch,” Antares said, “How about we team up? We can help you destroy the Rangers, and in return you act as our guide.”
Calamartia tapped her mace against her open hand, “Yeah, with our help we’ll clobber those jelly brains.”
Olmecha nodded, “Yes, me Olmecha will help you for what Rangers did to me.”
Antares chuckled, “That’s good to hear. Now, let’s begin the search.”
In a wooden city built high around a huge tree in the middle of a clearing, the Rangers sat in the city’s largest building as Alura spoke with her mother as the others ate. “Yeah, I’m the co-field commander of our team. We’ve taken down a lot of the Empire’s forces since I left,” Alura explained.
“That’s good, I’ve been worried about you ever since you left for one of Tokage’s more advanced cities to leave the planet. I’m glad you’re putting the leadership skills I taught you to good use,” Alura’s mother said.
“She’s probably the best fighter out of all of us too, or at least the most trained one,” Neil nodded.
“Yes,” Alura’s mother said, “we train hard to hone our stealth and combat abilities, my people pride themselves on it.”
Hydra tilted his head to the side, “Like ninjas?”
Alura’s mother shrugged, “I suppose you could say that, yes.” She looked back at her daughter, “I’m proud of how far you’ve come, Alura. There’s just one task left for you to do before you can be considered my heir as leader of our city. All we need to do now is for one of us to witness you perform an incredible feat of leadership, combat, or stealth.”
“Right, forgot about that,” Alura said, “I’ll probably end up doing it once we’ve dealt with the Empire.”
Alura’s mother nodded, “I see. I have no doubt that you’ll do exceptionally.”
Alura grinned, “Thanks, mom.” She suddenly froze up.
“Alura, come,” the voice in her head said once again. Now, she recognized it, and knew exactly what it was.
“Audumla?” Alura said under her breath before speaking up, “I need to go, now.”
“What, why?” Neil asked with surprise.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, what’s the big idea?”
“Are you feeling well, Alura?” her mother asked.
“No time to explain, we need to go,” Alura said before rushing out of the building.
“Alura!” Brando yelled, but she was already gone.
“We’ll go after her, don’t worry,” Neil said, looking at Alura’s mother.
Alura’s mother nodded, “Thank you, I do hope she’s alright.”
Alura jumped down from the city, landing on the ground below and quickly made a sprint into the less inhabited woods surrounding her settlement. She ran through the woods, seeming to know exactly where she needed to be heading. “Audumla!” she yelled as she ran through the trees.
Eventually, she came to a clearing, and standing inside of it was Audumla. “Hello again, Alura,” Audumla said, beckoning her forward.
“”It’s been so long,” Alura said as she approached the pale being.
Audumla chuckled, “Indeed it has. About a decade if memory serves.”
“Why now though? Why call me here?” Alura asked.
“I will explain in a moment, Alura, first we must wait for the others to arrive,” Audumla explained.
“Alura!” Neil yelled as he and the others rushed into view. They all looked at Alura before noticing Audumla, making them all give surprised looks.
“Good gravy! What is that?” Brando asked with wide eyes.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hydra said, tilting his head to the side and sounding genuinely surprised.
Audumla gave a curtsy, “Greetings, wielders of the Nova Spheres of legend, I am Audumla, the spirit of all things good in the universe.”
“Audumla? You mean that you’re that forest spirit that Alura met?” Neil asked.
Tip gave an even more shocked response, “You’re real?”
Audumla chuckled, “Indeed I am.”
“Spirit of all things good in the universe,” Alura mused, “Audumla, I don’t mean to sound rude, but what do you mean by that?”
“It is exactly as it sounds, I am the embodiment of hope, love, and happiness, all good thoughts given physical form through matter,” Audumla explained.
“Well if you’re all things good, then why haven’t you stopped the Empire?” Hydra asked bluntly.
Audumla shook her head, “I did three centuries ago alongside many others, but we were not enough to defeat Karna Rog. I have been severely weakened by the despair and agony taking the place of what I represent, and I was forced to bind myself to this planet to prevent myself from fading away completely, I cannot even leave the planet now, and I’ve only grown weaker since the Gaiaium of this planet began being harvested.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Alura said as she looked at the being, “Why did you save me all those years ago?”
“Because it was the right thing to do,” Audumla explained, “and as I told you, I felt a great potential in you, a potential to do amazing things. Seeing as you now wield the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere, it appears as though I was correct.”
Alura pulled out her Nova Sphere and looked it over, “You knew I would be chosen? That I would’ve been one of the ones in the legend?”
“Yes, the legend,” Audumla chuckled, “I sensed that you held great potential to be the new wielder of the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere.”
“What do you mean by the new wielder of the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere?” Brando asked.
Neil nodded, “And you said you battled alongside a lot of others to fight Karna Rog, what about all of that?”
“I suppose I owe you all an explanation on everything that’s happened,” Audumla said, “It will likely allow you to understand the bigger picture.”
“Yeah, we’d kinda like to know that,” Tip said.
“Alright,” Alura said, “tell us.”
Audumla seemed to take a deep breath, “It all began three hundred six years ago, shortly after I gained consciousness. It’s the tale of a warrior from the place on Earth known as Edinburgh in Scotland, Kenneth Faulkner.”
“Earth?” Hydra said with wide eyes.
Neil gave a shocked look, “Edinburgh?
“Yes, he was human,” Audumla said as her form began to shift. After a few moments, she had changed to look like a tall, muscular man wearing armor. The man had shoulder-length blond hair and a beard, alongside eyes that were brownwith a reddish tint. After giving the Rangers a few moments to soak it in, she shifted back to her regular form, “He fought valiantly for his country, and in one such battle he was close to death’s door, until he was taken by the Fenghuangians from the Phoenix system.”
“He was abducted? That sounds oddly stereotypical,” Neil said.
“While it might be cliche, it did happen,” Audumla continued, “They allowed him to live, so long as he allowed them to perform a procedure with the Phoenix Nova Sphere they had in its possession. It was always quite strange, back then it possessed far more astral power than the other Nova Spheres, which happened when the Astrographers created it.”
“Astrographers? What are those?” Alura asked.
“The Astrographers were a group that could manipulate cosmic energy in a variety of ways,”Audumla explained, “They created the Nova Spheres millennia ago as a means to help maintain peace throughout the galaxy.”
“So they’re the reason why the Nova Spheres have their powers?” Brando asked curiously.
Audumula nodded, “Indeed, and the Phoenix Nova Sphere was a particularly strange one, even the Astrographers themselves knew little about it. The Fenghuangians studied it extensively once it was entrusted to them, and they believed that it could grant what could be described as immortality. But they needed someone to test it on. So when they were traveling by Earth, they found the perfect candidate in the form of Kenneth.”
“Well,” Tip asked, putting a hand on their hip, “did it?”
“Indeed it did,” Audumla replied, “It bonded with him and healed his wounds, along with halting his aging. It was quite miraculous, and from then on the Fenghuangians taught him about the galaxy and everything it had to offer, as a means of helping him understand what was going on.”
Neil gave an intrigued look, “What then?”
Audumla continued, “He eventually decided to travel on his own and help people across the galaxy, and that’s when he encountered Ptolemy, a man from the Orion system and the last known Astrographer. He took a liking to Kenneth’s goal to help the galaxy, and produced a sword and shield that would allow him to harness the power of the Phoenix Nova Sphere more completely, allowing him to become the Phoenix Knight, a precursor to your Ranger forms.”
“He was a Ranger?” all the Rangers exclaimed in unison.
Neil spoke into his Morpher, “Dad, you need to hear this!”
On the Orion’s bridge, Shen spoke into his cane as the remaining Rangers devolved into chaos around him. “I’ve got visuals and audio down there, I’m already hearing it. Honestly I’m having trouble believing it too,” Shen said.
“Another Ranger?” Arthur said with wide eyes, “How have we never heard about that before?”
Birdie nodded, “Yes, I haven’t seen any records of someone like that.”
“I cannot believe that there was someone before us,” Sirius mused.
“Must’ve been pretty strong, I would’ve loved to meet the guy,” Aster said.
Leiurus shrugged, “She said he was immortal, maybe he’s still around somewhere.”
“He wasn’t a Ranger of course, at least not back then, but I suppose you could consider him that now. Ptolemy even used the Phoenix Nova Sphere’s power to create a series of what you call Zords for him to utilize,” Audumla explained, “He used his power to help defend the weak and help those in need, he became a legendary hero after just a year. A year later he ran for president of the Galactic Federation of Free Systems, since he thought it would let him help more people.”
“Galactic Federation of Free Systems?” Alura asked, “I haven’t heard of this Kenneth guy before, let alone that.”
Audumla hummed, “I’m not surprised, the Empire probably did all it could to hide everything it could regarding Kenneth and the Federation.” Audumla shook her head, “Anyway, he ended up winning, and while his intentions were pure, he was frequently involved in… scandals due to being a newcomer to galactic politics. Regardless, he was a beloved president. But after five years the Dark Matter Empire began to take form, which is when I first met Kenenth.”
“I assume he wasn’t too happy with the Empire,” Hydra stated.
Audumla nodded, “You’d be correct. He saw the threat they posed and got to work fighting them. He united the galaxy to oppose them, and gathered me and eighty-seven warriors from the other constellation systems aside from Phoenix, each wielding a Nova Sphere of their own, with Ptolemy wielding the Orion Nova Sphere. We made a lot of progress against the Empire, and eventually confronted Karna Rog himself.”
“It didn’t go well, did it?” Brando said, seemingly realizing where this was going.
“You’d be correct, Karna Rog slaughtered our forces in droves, and nothing Kenneth did seemed to harm him. So in a desperate gambit, Kenneth made a major sacrifice,” Audumla said.
“A sacrifice? What kind?” Alura asked with curiosity.
Audumla sighed, “He sacrificed his immortality for power, and with it, he was able to defeat Karna Rog before he fell unconscious.”
“Wait, he defeated Karna Rog? Then how is Karna Rog still around?” Hydra asked.
“Is it a copycat?” Tip inquired.
Audumla shook her head, “He defeated Karna Rog, he didn’t kill him. The Emperor is a being much like me, though instead of being made of hope, love, and happiness, he is made of despair, hatred, and suffering, all held together by dark matter. Karna Rog’s physical form was destroyed, but his metaphysical one survived, albeit severely damaged by Kenneth’s attack. The power of the Nova Spheres is capable of destroying the dark matter that holds his metaphysical form together, meaning Kenneth very nearly reduced him back to what he was before he gained sentience.”
“So that’s why he respects the Nova Spheres, they’re the one thing that can actually kill him,” Neil said.
“Interesting, are you getting this, Arthur?” Shen asked, looking away from the bridge’s screen to look at him.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I’m taking notes.”
“Ptolemy was fatally wounded and saw that Karna Rog wasn’t destroyed, so he made a sacrifice of his own using all the power he had left,” Audumla said sadly, “He used every last bit of strength he had to empower the Nova Spheres of the nine warriors who were still just barely alive, Leo, Scorpius, Lupus, Libra, Taurus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, Aquila, and Dorado.”
The eyes of every Ranger standing before her and on the Orion widened before Alura spoke, “Wait, are you saying…”
“Yes, Ptolemy was the creator of the legend, the one who made your Nova Spheres able to dispel the darkness,” Audumla said, “He told them to spread the legend that once the nine of them would choose warriors to wield them and dispel any darkness, a legend to ensure that at least some hope remained that the Empire would be defeated. He used his power to transport the other Nova Spheres to their respective systems, and realizing that the remaining warriors were so badly injured that they were unlikely to battle Karna Rog again, transported them and me across the galaxy, as well as making the Zords on the planets they appeared on.” She sighed, “Ptolemy burned his soul away to give the nine Nova Spheres of legend their powers, to give the galaxy at least some hope against the Empire, since that was all there was left to give.”
The Rangers were silent, unsure of what to say. After a moment, Neil spoke up, looking at the other Rangers, “He sacrificed everything in the hopes that someone in the future would be able to save the galaxy, I can’t even imagine the bravery that took. We can’t let Ptolemy’s sacrifice be in vain.”
Alura gave a confident nod, “You’re right, we have to defeat the Empire and Karna Rog, for everything he gave up to make it possible.”
“He died a hero, and closed up shop on his own terms, we can’t let his memory die,” Brando said with conviction.
Tip thought for a moment, “So I guess that’s what the Emperor meant when he told us that the legend was the final words of a dying man.”
“Yes,” Hydra said, “I was wondering about that, at least now we know what he meant. It also explains why he’s so obsessed with Earth, since the man who destroyed his physical form was from there.”
“Audumla,” Alura said, turning to look at the being, “Thank you, for all of this, it’s opened my eyes so much about everything and how we fit into all of this.”
“How the nine of us fit into this,” Hydra said, “we still don’t know what happened with Shen and Arthur becoming Rangers.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, I don’t really understand what me and Arthur did to the Draco and Ursa Minor Nova Spheres...” He shook his head, “We’ll worry about that later, but while we’re on the topic of unanswered questions, I’m sure we’ve got a few, and right now we’ve got a source of a ton of information about how we can make the galaxy go back to the way it was before the Empire.”
“Go ahead, I will answer any questions that you have,” Audumla said.
“Why didn’t Pegasus tell us anything, he was around back then, wasn’t he?” Brando asked.
Audumla chuckled, “He knows, he’d probably just chastise you for not asking. He never liked to dwell on the past that much.”
“Alright,” Alura said, “you said that Ptolemy was the last known Astrographer, does that mean there could be more?”
“Possibly,” Audumla replied, “the wielder of the Leo Nova Sphere back then was Ptolemy’s wife, and she was pregnant with their child at the time. It’s possible a descendant of him exists and possesses powers.”
“One last question,” Neil asked, “what happened to Kenneth?”
“Probably dead,” Tip said, “it’s been three hundred years and he did give up his immortality.”
Audumla shook her head, “Honestly, I don’t know, the last memory I have of him was him lying unconscious before I was teleported by Ptolemy.”
A flaming slash suddenly sailed in from the side, slashing through Audumla’s and making her dissolve into mist. “Audumla!” Alura yelled, reaching a hand out.
The Rangers spun to the side, spotting Ankaa holding his sword in a reverse grip from where he stood alongside Antares, Calamartia, and Olmecha. “You guys again?” Neil sighed.
“Were we interrupting something?” Antares chuckled.
Calamartia nodded with her mace slung over her shoulder, “If we were, then tough luck, jelly brains.”
“As a matter of fact, we were just getting spoon-fed some answers to things before you showed up,” Brando said.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, you could’ve at least waited until we were done.”
“The others are not happy with what you did, and I am too,” Hydra said, attempting to scowl.
Alura took a step forward, pointing at Olmecha, “And you’ll pay for wrecking my planet!”
Olmecha punched a nearby tree, making it fall over, “Oops, me Olmecha is very sorry.” Olmecha did not sound very sorry.
“Enough of this, time to deal with you guys!” Neil said confidently as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
They were surrounded by light and emerged in their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” The Rangers charged at Ankaa, Antares, Calamartia, and Olmecha, who began to charge as well, aside from Ankaa, who simply walked at a brisk pace.
“Antares,” Leiurus growled as he got to his feet from where he sat, looking at Shen, “I’m going down there.”
“No, you’re not,” Shen replied, “I understand how you feel, but the last time you went in all gung-ho led to Aster’s current state, we need to approach this more calmly.”
“Oh come on, Boss,” Aster said, “I was the one who decided to block the attack.”
“That might be true but I still think it would be best to see how the others handle this before sending anyone else down, just in case,” Shen replied.
Leiurus gave a defeated sigh, “I understand, but if push comes to shove I will be heading down there.”
Shen nodded, “Of course.”
Neil took several swings at Antares, who skillfully ducked under and dodged each one before blocking the final slash with his spear. He quickly countered, twirling his spear around as it was locked with the sword, putting Neil in the position of blocking. “I hope you haven’t forgotten the terror of my sting,” Antares chuckled.
“Oh I remember it, but it’s not terrifying,” Neil said, forcing Antares’s spear upward and slashing at the Duke several times, forcing Antares to dodge and block the swings. “And I also remember how you lied to Leiurus and almost destroyed Aster!”
Neil took a swing at Antares, who leapt into the air and spun back to avoid it. “Lie?” Antares said as he pointed his spear at Neil, “I did many things, but I didn’t lie.”
“You’ll need to try better than that, jelly brain!” Calamartia laughed as she dodged a swing from Brando’s saber before retaliating by slamming her mace into him.
Brando staggered back as Calamartia kicked at him, her leg extending into a long tentacle. He ducked under it. Before leaping at her, slashing her across the chest and making her stagger back, “That enough to whet your appetite then?”
She scowled as she pointed her mace forward, the spikes on it flying off like missiles as they flew towards Brando. Brando quickly plugged his Nova Sphere into his saber.
“Doradus Strike!”
He moved his saber in front of him, sending five vertical slashes made of yellow energy flying forward over a wide area, destroying the missiles and colliding with Calamartia, sending her flying back.
Alura blinked in and out of sight as she slashed at Olmecha. She maneuvered around him as he swung at her, dodging each swipe with ease. “You are unfair to me Olmecha!”
“It’s pretty unfair to me that you’re wrecking my planet!” Alura retorted, thrusting her rapier into Olmecha’s chest with all the strength she could muster, making the Marquis stagger back. He swiped at her, but she dodged under it, slashing upwards and making Olmecha fly through the air and land against a tree.
“I forgot how strong you were,” Hydra said as Ankaa blocked a swing from his scythe. Ankaa tilted his head to the side before delivering a flaming punch to Hydra’s face, making Hydra fly back.
“Hydra!” Tip yelled before looking at Ankaa, “You’ll regret messing with my pal!” Tip fired several energy arrows from their crossbow at Ankaa, who raised his free hand to block them, not seeming fazed at all. He disappeared in a swirl of flames before reappearing in front of Tip, flipping his sword into a reverse grip and slashing Tip across the chest.
Neil staggered back as Antares pushed him away before the Duke jumped into towards him, thrusting his spear forward. Neil held his sword to block the attack, but it still knocked him back, making him drop the sword in the process. “Trust me, Leo Ranger, it’s nothing personal. The Scorpius Ranger is the only one I have any interest in,” Antares said as he swung his spear experimentally.
“You have a lot of nerve still being interested in him after everything you did!” Neil shouted as he got to his feet, producing the Lux Nova Sphere from his belt and plugging its red base into his Morpher.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
The red spikes formed around Neil’s helmet as he ran at Antares, raising his hands to his helmet and making it emit a bright light that forced Antares to cover his eyes. Neil leapt towards Antares as the light faded, delivering a series of flaming punches and kicks that Antares had to quickly react to in order to block and dodge. Neil swept his leg at Antares’s, making the Duke jump into the air to dodge it, only for Neil to jump into the air as well and deliver a flaming kick with both of his legs that sent Antares flying back and hitting the ground next to Olmecha.
Brando delivered a series of slashes to Calamartia, who wasn’t quick enough to dodge them. She slashed at him with her sword, but he quickly used his saber to block it. Just as she was about to slam her mace into him, he kicked her back, making her land next to Antares and Olmecha.
Due to Neil using the Lux Nova Sphere, Tip and Hydra’s suits began to shine. “Hydra? I didn’t know it could work on you too!” Neil said with surprise.
“My species are related to reptiles, we quite like the sun,” Hydra replied as he swung at Ankaa as Tip tried to jab the Duek with their crossbow. Ankaa raised his sword to block the attacks, but they still made him stagger back. Tip rushed up to him and began to deliver a rapid flurry of punches, which visibly affected Ankaa as his head tilted back. Once the flurry was done, Ankaa’s head shot forward as he jabbed Tip in the chest with his sword, sending them flying back.
“Tip!” Hydra yelled as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his scythe.
“Rasalhague Strike!”
He swung his scythe, sending a spinning silver energy crescent at Ankaa. Ankaa caught it on his sword, lifting it up and spinning his sword slightly as the crescent was enveloped in flames. He hurled it at Hydra, creating a fiery explosion as it collided with him and making him hit the ground next to Tip.
“Guys!” Neil yelled as he grabbed his sword off the ground and charged at Ankaa alongside Alura and Brando. They all swung their weapons at him, which he blocked with his sword before forcing them away and slashing all three Rangers at once, making them fly through the air and land next to Tip and Hydra, the spikes on Neil’s helmet disappearing.
Ankaa teleported to stand between them and the other Imperial forces. He raised his sword as flames began to swirl around it.
“We’re toast!” Brando yelled, recognizing the attack from their previous encounter with Ankaa.
“Oh no we’re not!” Neil quickly plugged the Leo Nova Sphere into his Morpher, flicking it back and flipping down the side.
“Regulus Shot!”
He fired a red sphere with a tail like a comet, striking Ankaa in the face and making him stagger back as he clutched his mask, the flames disappearing as he lowered his sword.
By now, Antares had gotten to his feet alongside Calamartia and Olmecha, visibly limping, “Olmecha, help Ankaa deal with them.” He promptly extended his tail, jabbing Olmecha with his stinger and making Olmecha’s eyes go red.
“Olmecha!” the Marquis growled.
“He stung his own ally!” Brando said with horror as he and the other Rangers got to their feet.
“Even I know how heartless that is,” Hydra said.
“I look forward to seeing you again,” Antares said, grasping his arm.
“I’ll be leaving too,” Calamartia said, “even I don’t particularly like dying.”
“Cowards,” Neil said.
“It might be cowardly to you,” Antares said, “but we have a very important job that we need to be alive to do. One that involves the destruction of your home planet, Leo Ranger.”
“No!” Neil yelled. Antares and Calamartia just laughed before disappearing in a beam of light.
“Don’t worry Neil, whatever they’re doing, we’ll stop it,” Alura said. Olmecha gave a growl before leaping far into the distance. “Oh no,” Alura said, realizing where Olmecha was going, “he’s heading towards the city!”
Neil pointed his sword at Ankaa, who was still clutching his mask, “You guys deal with Olmecha, I’ll handle Ankaa!”
Alura nodded at him, “Got it.” She looked at the other Rangers before breaking into a sprint, with the other Rangers following behind her, “Let’s go!”
Neil looked at Ankaa, “Seems like it’s just you and me again.” Slowly, Ankaa lowered his hand away from his face, making Neil gasp.
Neil’s attack had broken off a chunk of Ankaa’s mask off around his left eye, revealing skin and a brown eye underneath. Ankaa flipped his sword into a reverse grip and held the flat side to his face, looking at himself in its reflection. He raised a hand to poke at the skin underneath, intrigued by it for a moment before holding his sword in front of him and running his hand along it, making it ignite as he gripped it with both hands. He teleported in front of Neil, slashing at him and forcing Neil to block it as he narrowed his exposed eye. “What are you?” Neil asked as he pushed the Duke away, Ankaa spinning as he did so.
Ankaa slashed his sword, sending a vaguely-bird shaped wave of flames at Neil, which he promptly dodged.
Near the base of the tree that the city was built on, the other Rangers did their best to defeat Olmecha “You know, some species find rocks a delicacy!” Brando said as he slashed at Olmecha.
“Olmecha!” the Marquis roared as Tip shot at him. Hydra ran up to him and slashed him across the chest, making him roar. He spun around viciously, knocking Tip, Hydra, and Brando to the ground, but Alura was nowhere to be seen. “Olmecha?” Olmecha said as he looked around himself, confused.
Suddenly, Alura appeared behind him, jabbing him in the back before disappearing. Olmecha spun around, but she was gone again. She appeared behind him again, slashing the Marquis across the back. Olmecha quickly spun around, but once again she was gone. Suddenly, she appeared directly in front of him, slashing him across the face and making him stagger back.
Alura’s mother watched the fight from the city above, “Hmm, stealth…”
Alura leapt back from Olmecha’s next attack before plugging her Nova Sphere into her rapier.
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
Her rapier’s blade was surrounded by green energy and became like a whip, which she lashed forward at Olmecha, wrapping around his torso. She angled her grip upwards a bit and began to spin, spinning Olmecha around before slamming him into the ground on his back. As he tried to get up, Alura leapt onto his chest, stabbing her rapier into it before jumping back.
Alura’s mother grinned, “Combat…”
By now, the other Rangers had gotten back to their feet alongside Olmecha. Alura looked at Brando, “Hold him still!”
Brando nodded, “Got it!” He plugged a red Nova Sphere depicting a crab into his Morpher.
“Cancer Nova Sphere!”
A massive crab claw made of red energy extended from the Morpher, gripping Olmecha. However, Olmecha held his arms out as it clamped down on him, preventing it from gripping him completely. “Olmecha!” the Marquis snarled, forcing the claw apart, making it shatter and knocking Brando back.
“Dang it, I almost had him,” Brando said as he got to his feet.
“Don’t sweat it! After all, rock does beat scissors,” Tip said, “Super disappointing.”
Alura looked at Tip, “As for what beats rock…”
Tip nodded, “I like the way you think!” They plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a shield into their Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A shield made of blue energy appeared in front of Olmecha as he threw a punch at them, stopping the attack. Olmecha threw several more punches, but none of them dented the shield. After a few more strikes the shield dispelled, making Olmecha stumble back onto the ground.
“Paper wins!” Hydra suddenly exclaimed as he held a flat hand out.
“Alright everyone, let’s finish this!” Alura said as Olmecha got to his feet.
“Olmecha!” Olmecha roared as he looked at them. The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“All Star Shot!”
The four of them fired spheres made of gold, silver, green, and yellow energy with tails like comets at Olmecha, colliding with the Marquis and creating a large explosion, Olmecha’s body falling to the ground.
“Shine on!” Alura said, giving a thumbs up.
“Leadership,” Alura’s mother said with a smile, “I knew you’d go above and beyond.”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog gave an unimpressed look as Olmecha was destroyed and Ankaa fought Neil with a chunk of his mask missing. “Come on, Neil, just a little more,” Karna Rog said, his voice sounding different from usual.
He suddenly shook his head, his voice returning to normal as he watched Ankaa, “This could be problematic.” He looked back at Olmecha’s scorched body, “I suppose it’s time to put them between a rock and a hard place.” The Emperor snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed over the forest, pitch black electricity crackling through it, barely visible in the night sky. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Olmecha’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into Olmecha some distance away, now a giant, “Olmecha!”
“Looks like it’s time for a Megazord,” Alura said, looking up at Olmecha.
“Let’s hope Neil notices too,” Brando said.
Hydra shook his head, “Regardless, we need to go.”
“Right!” Tip nodded as they and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres to the left.
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
The cockpits of their respective Zord’s formed around them as they flew off, connecting to their appropriate Zord.
Neil staggered back as Ankaa slashed him across the chest, spotting the giant Olmecha for a moment as he recovered. “That’s not good,” Neil said, looking up at the giant Marquis. He looked at Ankaa for a moment, “It’s been fun, but my team needs me.” Ankaa began to charge at him with his flaming sword as Neil flicked his Nova Sphere to the left.
“Leo Zord!”
The cockpit formed around Neil, blocking Ankaa’s attack before flying off and connecting to the Leo Zord. Ankaa watched it fly away for a moment before sheathing his sword and looking around. He walked to a different part of the clearing and picked up the pieces of his mask that had broken off, fitting it back into place. He ran his finger along the cracks, producing heat to seal it shut. Satisfied with his work, Ankaa disappeared in a swirl of flames.
In the distance, the Zords got into formation to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This formation had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the left arm, the Ophiuchus Zord as the right leg, and the Libra Zord as the left leg. Neil noticed a Conusmoai in the distance, just behind Olmecha, “Pretty lucky that they’re this close.”
“Just means we can take both down at once!” Alura said. The Megazord charged at Olmecha, swinging the Dorado Zord at him, but Olmecha batted it away. Olmecha delivered a series of punches to the the Megazord’s chest before it could react, producing a shower of sparks as it staggered back.
“Woah!” Tip yelled as all the cockpits shook.
“Olmecha!” the Marquis roared, winding up another punch. When the Marquis punched forward, the stone comprising his fist detached, flying forward and hitting the Megazord in the chest as more sparks flew.
“If he wants punches, then how about we use kicks?” Neil said, plugging the red base of the Lux Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
The red spikes formed on Neil’s helmet again, making the Leo Zord’s cockpit begin emitting bright light.
“Now that’s the stuff!” Tip exclaimed, holding their arms up.
“Yes, it’s very nice,” Hydra added.
“Alright, let’s do this!” Neil pressed the top of the Lux Nova Sphere.
“Eclipse Shot!”
The Megazord leaped into the air so it was horizontal to the ground, delivering a flurry of kicks to Olmecha with the Libra and Ophiuchus Zords, pushing the Marquis back with each kick until he was close to the Consumoai.
“Time to finish this!” Neil said, the spikes disappearing from his helmet as he removed the Lux Nova Sphere and plugged into the Leo Nova Sphere. After that, he and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before beams of energy fired from the cockpits of the Chamaeleon and Dorado Zords, pushing Olmecha back against the Consumoai. “Olmecha!” the Marquis roared before the beams pierced through him, causing both him and the Consumoai to explode.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil said confidently, pumping a fist in the air.
“So, everyone’s fine?” Alura asked her mother as she and the other Rangers walked through the tree city.
Alura’s mother nodded, “Yes, thankfully no one was hurt. You did well Don there, Alura.”
Alura smiled, “Thank you. It’s really been nice being here again.”
“Yes, I wish you luck on your journeys throughout the stars,” Alura’s mother continued, “And one last thing before you leave; congratulations.”
“Congratulations?” Tip said, tilting their head to the side.
Alura sounded equally confused, “Congratulations for what?”
“You’re now my proper heir,” Alura’s mother said, looking at her daughter, “me and many others saw your battle with Olmecha. You displayed incredible stealth, combat abilities, and leadership.”
Alura looked at her with wide eyes, “Really?”
“Alura, that’s amazing!” Neil congratulated her.
Tip nodded enthusiastically, “Congrats!”
“I knew you had it in you,” Brando smiled.
Hydra nodded, “I am happy for you.”
Alura smiled, tears in her eyes, “Thanks, guys.”
“I am proud of you, Alura,” Audumla said, suddenly appearing before all of them.
“Forest spirit!” Alura’s mother said, getting into a fighting stance.
“Mom, calm down, she’s not here to take any kids away,” Alura said, looking at Audumla, “…She’s a friend, and she helped us understand a lot about what was going on.”
Alura’s mother calmed herself down, “I see.” She looked at Audumla, “My apologies.”
“It is fine,” Audumla said, “I should have revealed myself sooner. I mean no harm.”
Alura looked at her, “Thanks again, Audumla, for everything.”
“You’re welcome, Alura, I wish you luck in defeating the Empire, all of you,” Audumla said, looking over each Ranger in turn.
“What will you do now?” Brando asked.
Audumla thought for a moment, “I will do everything I possibly can at the moment, which means keeping Tokage and all of its people safe from here on now that the Consumoai isn’t draining this planet’s power.” She gave a small nod, “Good luck, Rangers. May the stars protect you.” Audumla disappeared, leaving the Rangers alone.
On board Antares’s Consumoai, the Duke in question walked the halls, holding a hand to his mask as he walked, thinking back to his previous encounters with Leiurus. He winched, “I’m supposed to kill him, be loyal to the Empire, so why does it feel so wrong?” He shook his head, his visible eye flashing pink, “No matter.”
He entered the control room, spotting Skragen and Calamartia talking as Ankaa leaned against a wall. “Ah, Antares, nice of you to join us,” Kaus said, “we’ve just received orders to head to Earth and rendezvous with Sir Mirfak to receive further instructions.” Kaus’s voice was notably annoyed as he spoke about the Knight.
“Personally, I’m quite excited,” Skragen said, “to th-ink, this will be the first time I’ve seen a planet die.”
“Would be more fun if we slaughtered everything on it one by one,” Calamartia grumbled.
Antares nodded, “I see.” He turned to look at a Greyder, “Set a course for Earth, we best not keep Sir Mirfak waiting.”
Ankaa’s body language became uneasy for a moment, but that quickly faded.
“So, at least we know a bit about what the bigger picture is now,” Alura said from where she sat on the bridge.
“Yeah, it’s all pretty weird, but at least we know for a fact now that the Emperor had a weakness,” Arthur said.
Aster nodded, “And if he had a weakness, then that means we can send him packing!”
“Yeah,” Neil said softly from where he sat, “now we definitely know we can get things back to normal.”
Shen seemed to notice the strangeness of Neil’s tone, “Neil, are you okay?”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, dad. I’m just… thinking.” He took a deep breath, “I broke a piece off of Ankaa’s mask, and when I did it seemed like there was a person behind it.”
“A person?” Brando said with confusion.
“Yeah, I saw skin, and an eye,” Neil said.
“That’s concerning, I thought he was some kind of machine,” Hydra said.
“And I thought you were gonna say you were worried about what Antares said, about Earth being destroyed,” Tip added.
Neil shook his head, “Yeah, I’m worried about that too, any idea what he meant?”
“Let me check,” Birdie said, pressing up a button on her datapad and making a screen appear, showing a massive fleet of Consumoai approaching Earth, making everyone in the room react with horror, “Oh my stars!”
“There must be hundreds of them,” Leiurus said with wide eyes.
“If those things activate, they would rob Earth of Gaiaium almost instantly,” Sirius growled.
“We need to do something!” Neil exclaimed, looking at the fleet with horror.
“Neil, calm down, please,” Arthur said, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Calm down? Arthur, our home’s gonna be destroyed!” Neil yelled.
“And we won’t let that happen,” Shen said.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we’re Power Rangers, we’ll stop it, don’t worry.”
Birdie nodded, “With the eleven of us together, the Empire won’t stand a chance.”
“Eleven?” Alura asked curiously, “Isn’t Aster still damaged?”
“Not for long!” Aster chuckled.
Leiurus nodded, “We got Aster’s replacement parts from headquarters while you were gone.”
“Really?” Brando said, “That’s great!”
“Yes, it is very fortunate,” Sirius nodded.
“We can repair him on the way there,” Shen said before looking at Neil and Arthur, “And don’t worry, we’ll save Earth, I promise.”
Arthur grinned, “Thanks, dad.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded as he stood up. “First we save the Earth, then we save the galaxy!” Neil said confidently, pumping a fist in the air.
Amidst the fleet of Consumoai approaching Earth was a particularly strange one. It appeared to be six Consumoai arranged in a ring, with another six Consumoai stacked on top of them. Three large rings circled it, one near its base, one near its middle, and one near the top, with the one in the middle being the largest. Rings also circled the tops of the tops of each of the six upper Consumoai. This was a Capital-class Consumoai, a new model to be used by the Empire’s highest-ranking members.
“I assume you have reached Earth, Sir Mirfak?” a large hologram of the Emperor said in the Consumoai’s control room, looking down at where Mirfak sat in the control seat.
Mirfak cracked his neck and rolled his head around, “Of course, my liege, I’ve called for the presence of Ankaa, Kaus, Antares, Skragen and Calamartia as well. They should arrive soon.”
“Excellent,” Karna Rog rasped, “I have faith that this will all go according to plan.”
Mirfak nodded, “So long as we don’t encounter any unforeseen variables, I do as well.”
“And if there are any, report it to me immediately,” Karna Rog said before his hologram disappeared.
Mirfak gave a sinister chuckle, “Of course, my liege.”
Notes:
Olmecha: Portmonteau of Olmec (as he’s based on the Olmec giant heads), Omega, and Mecha.
Audumla’s name comes from the cow in Norse Mythology that licked the grandfather of the gods into existence from ice. This is meant to contrast Karna Rog, whose name is an anagram of Ragnarok.
Ptolemy’s name comes from the Ancient Greek astronomer who discovered many constellations.
And that’s it for this chapter. Personally, this is a chapter I’ve been dying to work on, and I really hope it explained a lot of questions you guys have had up until now. I feel like Audumla might’ve fallen into “Exposition Fairy” territory, but I feel like that was a necessary sacrifice given how much had to be explained. I haven’t explained everything yet, mind you, but I don’t feel like I revealed too much in this chapter either, which I felt was good. I really like how Alura turned out here, and I feel like the focus on lore didn’t really detract from her focus this chapter. So now we’re in the endgame of “season 1,” just three more chapters left, and they’re gonna be action packed. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 20: Antivenom
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Antares’s Consumoai was near Earth, with the Serketian himself in its control room, sitting at a control seat looking at a hologram of Schedar in front of him. “So,” Schedar giggled, “are you excited?”
“Yes,” Antares said with a nod, “it’s a nice change of pace. But I want this to be over quickly so I can get back to hunting the Rangers again.” He shook his head, “Though I have been feeling odd when it comes to the Scorpius Ranger.”
Schedar giggled, holding her microphone up to her mouth and speaking into it, “Oh don’t you worry about that, just stay focused on destroyin’ Earth and huntin’ the Rangers, right chat?”
Antares’s visible eye glowed pink before returning to normal, “You’re right, Dame Schedar, I should stop worrying about that and focus on having some fun dealing with those Rangers.”
Schedar gave a twirl, “I knew you’d see things my way. Anyway, y’all should be gettin’ a message from Mirfie really soon, so I won’t waste anymore of your time.”
Antares nodded, tapping his clawed digits against his seat, “Of course, Dame Schedar.” Schedar gave one last giggle before her hologram cut.
“Finished your little chat with Dame Schedar?” Skragen asked, entering the room alongside Ankaa, Kaus, and Calamartia, with the other two Dukes sitting down at the other two control seats.
“Yes,” Antares nodded, “she just informed me that we should be getting a call from Sir Mirfak soon.”
Kaus groaned, making the lights in the control room flicker, “Of course we are.”
“At least we won’t be sitting around much longer,” Calamartia said from where she stood next to Skragen.
Skragen nodded, “Yes honey, I can tell you’ve been getting pretty antsy waiting for this to start.”
“You know me so well,” Calamartia chuckled.
A hologram of Mirfak appeared in the center of the control room, his arms behind his back, “Good to see that you’re finally here. We can begin the mission shortly.”
“Yes,” Kaus sighed, “what do you need us to do?”
Mirfak paid no mind to Kaus, instead continuing to speak, “The fleet of Harvester-class Consumoai has landed on Earth and awaits activation to begin harvesting Gaiaium. You are to enter Earth’s atmosphere and use your Executor-class Consumoai to connect to the Harvester-classes and activate them when I give the signal. According to my calculations, they should harvest all Gaiaium from Earth within two hours of activation.”
“I understand, Sir Mirfak,” Antares nodded as he tapped his fingers against his seat, “Is there anything else you need to tell us about?”
Mirfak cracked his neck and rolled his head around before nodding, “I will send a pair of Conqueror Worms to assist in the defense of your Consumoai. They were just made and aren’t fully mature, but they should serve your purposes well.”
“Of course,” Kaus nodded as he rolled his eyes.
“Oh, and one last thing,” Mirfak said, “I would like you to station yourselves above the city known as Edinburgh in the region called Scotland.”
Ankaa’s head shot forward, looking towards Mirfak.
“And why is that necessary?” Calamartia asked, playing with her braid-like tentacle.
“For reasons that don’t concern you,” Mirfak said before continuing, obviously not wanting the topic to be pushed further, “I will oversee your progress and intervene if I deem it necessary. Do not disappoint me, or you will disappoint the Emperor himself.” The hologram disappeared.
“Of course now he decides to act loyal to the Emperor,” Kaus grumbled.
Skragen shook his head, “We have no time to complain, Duke Kaus. We best get going.”
Antares nodded “Yes, we have a job to do, and I have no intention of waiting to do it until the last second.” Antares glanced at a passing Greyder, “Set a course for Edinburgh now.” The Greyder scampered off.
Meanwhile, Ankaa just sat and watched, his body language slightly uneasy.
“How are you feeling?” Sirius asked as Aster entered the bridge, the plating on his chest now replaced. The Orion had just finished warping to Earth, floating near the edge of the exosphere.
“Good enough to kick some Imperial butt!” Aster chuckled, flexing his arms as steam shot from his nose.
“That’s good to hear,” Shen said with a smile, “I’m glad you’re back to tip-top shape!”
“Yeah,” Leiurus nodded.
Brando smiled, “It’s good to have you back in the kitchen, man.”
“Yeah, no more sitting around for you!” Alura grinned.
Neil nodded from where he sat next to Arthur, “Good to have you back.” He looked at Birdie and Shen before speaking again, “So, how bad are things down there? What do we need to do?”
Birdie pulled up a screen showing Earth’s major cities, each one with several Consumoai dotting them. “They’re all over the place, but thankfully they’re inactive, for now at least,” Birdie said.
“They’re not activated?” Arthur asked before looking at Neil, “That means we still have time to stop them before they can start destroying Earth!”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, now we have a good shot at stopping them!” He looked at Shen, “So dad, what exactly do we need to do?”
“We can’t destroy all those Consumoai before they activate,” Hydra said.
“Yeah, but the time we deal with a city’s worth, Earth will be a dust ball!” Tip added.
Shen shook his head, “Not if we have anything to do about it.” He looked at Birdie, who tapped her datapad and pulled up a screen showing Antares’s Consumoai, which had landed in Edinburgh Castle, with several other Consumoai around it. “We just need to wait for that to activate the Consumoai,” Shen explained.
“What?” Brando said with shock.
“That’s crazy!” Aster said, slamming a fist down on the bridge’s table.
Neil was horrified, “You want those things to start destroying the Earth?”
“It’s the best option,” Leiurus said, “and a risk we’ll have to take.”
“Oh,” Arthur said, “I see what you mean, I read about this.”
“About what?” Neil asked his brother.
“An Executor-class Consumoai can connect to all the Consumoai on a planet, activating every inactive Harvester-class Consumoai on the planet at once and speeding up already activated Consumoai,” Arthur said.
Birdie nodded, “But if the Executor-class Consumoai is destroyed while it’s still on the planet…”
“Then the backlash will cause every Consumoai it’s activated or sped up on the planet to explode!” Shen exclaimed.
“So our best bet to save Earth involves a massive risk,” Alura commented.
Neil gave a determined look, “But it’s a risk we’ll have to take then.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, we’re not losing our home.”
“Alright, while our attack will begin when the Executor-class activities the Harvester-classes, we’ll need to be in position before we do that,” Shen explained, “We’re all going, and will split up into two groups. We’ll try to infiltrate the Consumoai before it activates the others and destroy it when it does.”
“And if we cannot do that?” Sirius asked.
Shen shook his head, “If push comes to shove we’ll destroy it with the Zords, but I want to avoid as much collateral damage as possible.”
Leiurus nodded, “So who’s going with who?”
“You, Aster, Alura, and Brando will be heading with me,” Shen explained, “Neil, you’ll be going with Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, and Arthur.”
“Alright,” Neil said, “let’s go save the world!”
Neil’s group walked through the streets of Edinburgh, heading towards Antares’s Consumoai. “Alright, this is it. We’re gonna save the world!” Neil whispered to himself confidently.
“We’re gonna be so famous for this!” Tip chuckled, “It’s gonna be great!”
“And it will certainly help make others stand against the Empire as well,” Hydra added.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, people like who I used to be, people who just kinda accepted things the way they were. But now I know we can change things, and can defeat the Empire.”
“Yeah, people like that,” Neil smiled.
Birdie chuckled, “This will make some great inspiration for some of my future writing. Maybe an autobiography too.”
“I’d read that,” Hydra said as he attempted to smile, earning laughter from Tip, Birdie, and Arthur.
Sirius looked at Neil with soft eyes, “Neil, I must thank you again for inspiring me to fight again, to live again. I am not sure where I would be without you.”
Neil smiled as they continued to walk, “It’s no problem, Sirius. I’m glad I could help.”
“Yes, I… know I cannot bring my clan back or my wife back by being a Ranger, but you helped me realize I can still fight for their memory, thank you again,” Sirius said.
“Hey guys, look!” Arthur pointed to a store with TVs in its windows where a crowd of people had gathered, the TVs currently displaying Antares sitting in a seat in his Consumoai with Skragen and Calamartia standing to either side of him.
“People of Earth, soon you will suffer for the actions of the Power Rangers,” Antares said, “the Dark Matter Empire cannot continue to let them interfere, so we’ll show them what will happen to the planets they liberate. Enjoy your last day alive before your planet is turned into a lifeless rock.” The feed cut off, leaving the people to talk amongst themselves. Some thought the Rangers would stop it, but many others seemed angry and horrified about what the Rangers had caused, a few of them noticing the Rangers and actively yelling at them.
“Let’s get going,” Neil said as he and the other Rangers began to walk away.
Arthur glanced away from Neil and at the other Rangers, “I’m sorry about that guys, humans can be real jerks sometimes.”
“It’s fine,” Birdie reassured, “it’s not surprising that a few of them would lash out given what they just heard.”
Sirius nodded, “They just heard that everything and everyone they have ever known will be lost. I would not be able to contain my anger either.”
“Besides,” Tip said, “me and Hydra have heard a lot worse during our time as thieves when people spotted us,” they elbowed Hydra, “right?”
Hydra nodded, “Yeah, it could be that pretty bad sometimes.”
“Well, who cares what the people think?” Neil said, “We’ll still do what’s right and stand up for them, even if they hate us, because no one deserves to live under the Empire.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded.
“No matter what they might think of us, the people come first,” Birdie replied.
“We must not let their words bring us down, we are heroes, through and through,” Sirius growled.
Neil smiled a little as he looked at Antares’s Consumoai in the distance, “Let’s keep going, we gotta get closer to that thing to shut everything down.”
The others nodded and gave various other signs of affirmation as they walked on, determination on their faces and in each and every step they took. Neil was quiet before whispering to himself after a moment, pulling out his Nova Sphere and looking at it, “I hope I’m making you proud, mom.”
In a mostly abandoned part of Edinburgh, Ankaa walked the streets, running a hand over the walls of the buildings lining it as he walked, occasionally sparing glances at the walls. He continued walking, entering Edinburgh’s Old Town and looking around. He tilted his head to the side as he looked the place over, clearly finding it quite curious.
“Welcome to the Old Town, sir. This part of the city is over one thousand years old!” a young woman said as she approached Ankaa from behind. He quickly turned to face her, revealing his golden mask. The young woman gave a scream as she ran off, making Ankaa shrug as he took a seat on a bench.
A crow landed next to him, not being scared in the slightest, instead looking more curious as it looked up at him. Slowly, Ankaa reached his hand under the crow’s beak and began to scratch it, with the crow obviously being pleased with the gesture before flying off. Ankaa sat there alone, looking around as small fragments of memories resurfaced which he quickly shook away.
“Alright everyone, we can’t drop the ball now,” Shen said as he and his team walked uphill on one of Edinburgh’s winding streets.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, one slip up and Earth’s toast.”
“I can’t believe the Emperor would destroy a planet just because of something that happened centuries ago,” Alura said before immediately shaking her head, “Scratch that, I can definitely believe it.”
Aster scoffed, “Come on guys, there’s no use worrying over a worst-case scenario. We’ve stopped the Empire plenty of times before, what makes this different?”
“I guess you have a point,” Brando replied with a hum.
Alura gave a thoughtful look, “Yeah, now all eleven of us are together, they won’t stand a chance.”
“You’re right,” Shen nodded as he looked at Aster, “with all of us working together, nothing the Empire throws at us will slow us down.” He turned to look at Leiurus, “Right, Leiurus?”
Leiurus, who up until now seemed to have been lost in thought and stayed towards the back of the group, snapped back to reality, “Oh yeah, right.”
“That’s good to sphere! We’ll save Neil and Arthur’s home, I know it!” Shen smiled as Aster slowed down so he was walking alongside Leiurus, having noticed Leiurus’s silence.
“Credit for your thoughts, partner?” Aster asked, glancing at Leiurus.
Leiurus gave a small nod as he pulled out his pointed necklace from his pocket, clenching it tightly in his fist, “Yeah.”
“I’ll take a wild guess and say it involves Antares,” Aster replied.
Leiurus gave a quick chuckle, “How’d you guess?”
“Call it a hunch,” Aster replied, “What about him are you thinking about?”
Leiurus sighed, “I’m still gonna put an end to him, but I just… wonder what happened to make him into what he is now.” He took a deep breath, “He just used to be so different.”
An eight-year-old Leiurus sat in a tent at his tribe’s camp, waiting for his older brother to return. He heard his brother enter the tent after a moment, turning to look at him and seeing that he was holding a bowl of stew in one hand. “Hey, I brought dinner,” an eighteen-year-old Eurypto said with a smile.
“Foul-Claw soup? That’s my favorite!” Leiurus grinned.
Eurypto chuckled, “I found a Foul-Claw while I was hunting with the others, and I know it’s your favorite so I just had to.”
“Thank you, brother,” Leiurus said with a smile as he began to eat the soup.
“It’s no problem,” Eurypto chuckled before speaking again, “Did you keep out of trouble while I was gone?”
“Yes, of course,” Leiurus replied with a grin.
Eurypto smiled, “That’s good to hear.” He was quiet for a moment, “I’ve heard that some other kids are picking on you for only having a brother as family, is that true?” Leiurus looked uncomfortable before Eurypto spoke again, “It’s okay, you can tell me.”
“Yes,” Leiurus replied, looking down at his soup.
Eurypto sighed, “Of course it is.” He looked at Leiurus intently, “Hey, look at me, okay?” Leiurus looked up at his brother, who began to speak again, “If they’re picking on you again, just tell me. I’ll talk to the elder and get them sorted out, okay?”
Leiurus nodded, smiling, “Really? Thank you, brother.”
Eurypto chuckled as Leiurus continued to eat, “It’s no problem.”
Aster sighed, “I used to think you were a monster who didn’t deserve my trust, but now… now I see that I was wrong.” He looked at Leiurus intently, “You’re strong, Leiurus, stronger than I would be if I was in your shoes. I don’t think I would be able to go through with killing him if I were you.” Aster seemed to take a deep breath, “I hated you, a lot, but now, well, I really like you. You’re helping me bring Professor Ain’s kidnapper to justice and you stay loyal to what you believe in. I admire that.”
Leiurus gave a small nod, “Thanks, Aster, I… I really like you too.”
Aster thought for a moment, “You wanna talk about this more when we’re done here?”
Leiurus paused, contemplating his options for a moment, “Sure, I’d like that.” He looked at Aster with a smile, staring at the robot intently. “And one more thing,” Leiurus said after a moment.
“Yeah?” Aster asked.
Leiurus looked at him, “Once we deal with Antares, I want to help you look for your creator.”
“Really?” Aster said with surprise.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, I figure it’s only fair after everything you’ve done to help with Antares.”
Aster just looked at him with surprise, “I… Really? Thank you so much, Leiurus!”
Leiurus smiled, “It’s no problem.”
“Come on you two!” Shen yelled from ahead, “We don’t have any time for lollygagging around!”
“Coming!” Aster yelled as he and Leiurus picked up the pace. Shen’s team continued towards Antares’s Consumoai, intent on putting an end to the Empire’s reign on Earth once and for all.
Inside Antares’s Consumoai, Skragen gave an unamused hum as he looked at a screen. “What is it?” Kaus asked.
“It would appear that the Rangers have arrived here to put a stop to us,” Skragen replied, moving out of the way of the screen that displayed the two groups of RangersZ
“They’re here already?” Antares asked with surprise, looking at the screen, “I didn’t expect them to get here so soon.”
Kaus sighed, “It would seem that we need to deal with them before they can interfere.”
“Finally some action!” Calamartia said with excitement, chuckling as she did so.
“I’ll stay here in case Sir Mirfak asks for the activation,” Kaus said with annoyance before looking at Skragen, “Skragen, go after the team of the Leo Ranger. I have a feeling that Duke Ankaa will decide to stop with his little break and come help you as well.”
Skragen nodded, “Of course, I’ll make sure they don’t stand an inkling of a chance.”
Antares glanced at Calamartia, “You’ll be coming with me to deal with the Draco Ranger’s team.”
“Of course,” Calamartia nodded.
“Have fun, dear,” Skragen said as he began to exit the Consumoai.
Calamartia blew a kiss to him, “You too, honey.”
“Let’s go,” Antares said, “my brother is with the leader of the Revolution, and I’m itching for a little family reunion.”
Standing on the steeple of the Hub building in Edinburgh, Ankaa watched as Neil’s team made their way towards the Consumoai. He looked at the crow perched on his arm, giving it one small scratch under the beak before motioning for it to fly away, which it did without any fanfare. Ankaa tilted his head forward a bit, giving the impression that his masked face was glaring at the Rangers.
“Alright, just a bit further,” Sirius growled as they continued forward.
“I hope the others are doing okay,” Birdie commented as they continued down the street.
“We just need to hurry up and get inside,” Hydra said.
Tip nodded, “And when we do, it’ll be the end of the line for them!”
“My apologies, but I th-ink it will actually be the end of the line for you, Rangers,” Skragen said as he emerged from an alleyway with his hands behind his back, turning to face the Rangers.
Neil got into a fighting stance, “Skragen!”
“Can’t you see we’re busy?” Arthur said, preparing to fight him alongside the other Rangers.
Skragen chuckled, “Hello again, Neil and Arthur Astra. I was hoping the adopted sons of Shen Arctos would show up here, it’ll make it all the easier to break his spirit when I kill you.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but we know your weakness and you’re outnumbered,” Tip said, placing a hand on their hips.
Skragen shook his head, “I’m afraid you’re wrong about one of those.” Skragen nonchalantly took a step back.
A massive fireball came out of the sky like a meteor, landing between Skragen and the Rangers in a fiery explosion. As the fire cleared, Ankaa could be seen kneeling before he got to his feet and drawing his sword.
“Ugh, you again?” Neil said with annoyance, “This is getting real old, Ankaa.”
Ankaa didn’t answer, but the ground next to him began to shake before a Conqueror Worm burst out from it with a screech. “A Conqueror Worm too!” Birdie said with shock.
“I don’t need to be a mind reader to know you’re not happy,” Skragen chuckled as pointed his blade forward, “I’d recommend giving up if you want this to go well for you.”
“You must be out of your mind if you think you think you can stop us from saving Earth,” Neil said with a scowl.
“This world will be rescued from the clutches of the Empire,” Sirius growled.
Hydra nodded, “And there’s nothing you can do to stop that.”
The Rangers readied their Morphers. “Ready guys?” Neil asked.
“Ready!” the others replied.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers rushed forward, with Neil, Sirius, and Birdie running towards Skragen while Hydra and Arthur went after the Conqueror Worm and Tip fired their crossbow at Ankaa. Ankaa immediately teleported in a burst of flames before reappearing in front of Neil, avoiding the shot and taking a swing at the Leo Ranger. “Why are you so obsessed with me?” Neil asked as he used his sword to block the swing before kicking Ankaa in the chest and making him stagger into a jab from Tip’s crossbow, though that didn’t seem to affect Ankaa that much.
“Of course I have to deal with this unpredictable mutt,” Skragen groaned as Sirius dodged several of his swings before blocking his blade with his claw. The crystal on Skargen’s head glowed as the arm Sirius was holding his claw with was forced to the side by an invisible force, leaving Sirius open to an attack. Just as Skragen was about to slice Sirius, Birdie zoomed past the Jester and slashed him in the side, making him stagger back as Birdie looped around to land beside Sirius, holding a Star Saber in a reverse grip.
“Seems like you aren’t much of a dog person,” Birdie said as she flourished her saber. Skragen made a sound of annoyance before extending his free hand and sending a tentacle lashing at them from under his coat sleeve. The two Rangers rolled to the side, with Sirius using his momentum to launch himself an exterior wall that he rolled into to leap at Skragen. He swiped at Skragen with his claw, making Skragen block it with his blade. Sirius grabbed the arm Skragen was holding the blade with, twisting Skragen’s arm and moving to the side as he gripped it to hold Skragen in place.
“Now!” Sirius growled. Birdie ran up to the restrained Skragen, slicing him across the chest repeatedly before kicking him as Sirius let go, making Skragen stagger back.
“Curse Shen Arctos for revealing the limits of my ability!” Skragen snarled before slicing in an arc at Sirius and Birdie, who used their weapons to block the attack.
Hydra and Arthur both ran by the sides of the Conqueror Worm, making it let out a screech. It spun around to face them, holding its arms out and extending them in an attempt to hit the Rangers in the process. Hydra and Arthur ducked under it before attempting to slash it again, but it slammed both of its arms down, forcing them to roll to the sides. Arthur lashed his scarf at the worm a few times, making it stagger back a few feet.
“Good thing you’re a worm, it’ll help with your dirt nap!” Arthur said as he slashed the Conqueror Worm across the chest, making it stagger back as Hydra ran behind it to deliver a downward swing with his scythe. The Conqueror Worm spun around, smacking Hydra to the side. It turned back to face Arthur, only to be stabbed in the chest by his glaive.
“You’re not off the hook yet,” Hydra said as he got back to his feet and hooked his scythe around one of the heads that extended from the Conqueror Worm’s shoulders before forcing it to the ground with a yank. The Conqueror Worm flailed on the ground as Hydra and Arthur began stomping and kicking it.
Tip fired a few energy arrows at Ankaa, but the Duke easily blocked them with his sword. He sent a flaming slash flying at Tip, making them roll out of the way as Neil ran up behind the Duke. Neil sliced at the Duke, who flipped his sword into a reverse grip as he blocked it. Neil forced Ankaa’s sword out of the way before slicing Ankaa across the chest repeatedly, finishing the attacks off with a stab that made Ankaa stagger back into Tip’s crossbow, who fired repeatedly into the Duke’s back.
“Bet you weren’t expecting to be backstabbed!” Tip exclaimed. Ankaa disappeared in a swirl of flames before appearing behind Tip, stabbing them in the back with his sword. As Tip recovered, Ankaa raised his free hand and wagged his index finger. He waved his sword in front of him, producing several blades made of fire in the air that flew towards Neil. Neil quickly used his sword to block them, before charging at Ankaa, slicing him across the chest.
“I don’t know who or what you are, but I won’t let you get in the way of saving my home!” Neil yelled as Ankaa ran his hand over his blade, igniting it and grabbing it with both hands and charging at Neil, their blades locking.
In the Capital-class Consumoai stationed by the moon, Mirfak looked at a screen displaying the fight occurring with Neil’s team in its control room. “Oh Ankaa, sometimes I regret following Karna Rog’s orders to make you,” Mirfak said, rolling his head around, “How ironic that a creator is afraid of his own creation. But I suppose there’ll be some satisfaction in making you a witness to Earth’s destruction.”
A hologram of Karna Rog appeared in the control room, looking at Mirfak, “Sir Mirfak, I trust that the destruction of Earth is going well.”
Mirfak cracked his neck and nodded, “Indeed, my liege. The Power Rangers are attempting to intervene, but our forces are handling them. I’ll call for the activation of the Consumoai stationed there soon.”
“Very good,” Karna Rog rasped with disinterest.
“That planet has produced more thorns in our side than any other,” Mirfak said, “I’ll take great pleasure in wiping it from our star charts.”
“Is Duke Ankaa doing well?” the Emperor rasped, “It has been a while since I spoke to him.”
“Yes, Ankaa is doing just fine,” Mirfak replied with a grumble, cracking his neck.
Karna Rog nodded, “I will leave you to your own devices now, Sir Mirfak. Very soon peace across the universe will come.” The hologram disappeared.
“Yes,” Mirfak said sarcastically, “peace across the universe.”
“Okay everyone, we’re almost there,” Shen said as his team approached St. Giles’ Cathedral.
“This’s been easy,” Alura said, “too easy.”
Brando chuckled, “Oh come on, Alura. Why’d you have to go and jinx us like that?”
“Oh come on, Brando, what could possibly happen?” Aster asked the chef.
“How about us?” Antares said from behind them, making the Rangers spin to see him and Calamartia.
Leiurus narrowed his eyes, “Antares…”
“Calamartia…” Shen growled.
“Looks like it’s the twice-orphaned lizard himself,” Calamartia chuckled, her gun slung over her shoulder.
Shen growled louder as Aster took a step forward, pointing at Antares, “You’re not getting away this time!”
Antares laughed as he pointed his spear forward, “Only one of our groups is walking away from here alive, and it won’t be yours.” He spun his spear around, “First you’ll die, and then this backwater planet will.”
“We won’t let that happen!” Brando exclaimed.
“Let’s go, everyone!” Alura yelled as the Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The Rangers charged at the two of them, with Leiurus and Aster going after Antares as Alura, Brando, and Shen went after Calamartia. Calamartia extended her free hand forward, morphing it into a tentacle that wrapped around Brando before swinging him into Alura. Shen was on her in seconds, zooming directly in front of her and slashing her with his came repeatedly, making her stagger back as she put her gun away and pulled out her mace and sword.
Antares’s tail lashed forward at Aster and Leiurus, but Aster batted it to the side with his fist before he and Leiurus brought their weapons down on Antares, who blocked the attack with his spear. He forced their weapons away before wrapping his tail around his right leg. He delivered a spinning kick, leaving a trail of purple energy in its wake that stretched well beyond the reach of his leg. Leiurus and Aster immediately ducked under it and swung their weapons upward, sending Antares flying back.
Antares narrowed his visible eye as he landed, “You’ve gotten better, but let’s see how you handle this!” He swung his spear, sending a purple energy slice flying towards them. The two of them blocked it with their weapons, attempting to slice through it to much resistance. After a moment, their weapons cut through it, dispelling it. Aster promptly shot at Antares with his Morpher, but the Duke dodged it. “Enough of this, I don’t particularly like you interrupting our family time,” Antares growled.
The ground behind the two of them began to shake as a Consumoai emerged from it with a shriek, lashing its arms at them, which Aster blocked with his axe. “I’ll handle this thing, you deal with Antares!” Aster yelled.
“Got it!” Leiurus replied, turning and running at Antares. Leiurus slashed aggressively at his brother multiple times with both hands, with the Duke dodging each swing in a panic before blocking the last one with his spear. “I thought there was still some good left in you,” Leiurus scowled as their weapons locked, “but you’re nothing but a monster, I don’t know how I ever thought there was still a part of you that still cared!”
“Leiurus…” Antares said, his voice softening as his eye widened. Leiurus removed one hand from his spear and punched Antares in the face, making the other Serketian stagger back before Leiurus gripped his spear with both hands again and slashed him across the chest. Antares growled, his eye flashing pink as he kicked at Leiurus with his tail-wrapped leg, but Leiurus backflipped out of the way.
Calamartia kicked at Alura, Brando, and Shen, her leg extending into a long tentacle to lash at them. While Brando and Shen ducked out of the way, Alura somersaulted over it and slashed Calamartia across the face before landing and delivering a flurry of jabs that sent Calamartia reeling.
The octopus-like Jester laughed, “Go on, jelly brain, hit me harder!”
“With pleasure!” Alura said as she swung at her with her rapier, only for Calamartia to bat it to the side with her sword and slam her mace into the side of her chest, knocking her to the side.
Brando slashed at her, making her stagger back a bit before slashing at her again, though she quickly responded by blocking it with her mace and slashing him across the chest with her sword, knocking him back as sparks flew from his suit. Calamartia laughed, “Can’t one of you jelly brains give me a real fight?”
Shen sped in front of her, slashing her across the chest with his cane sending her flying back. “With pleasure,” Shen snarled, shifting his cane into rifle mode and firing at her repeatedly before she could get up.
Leiurus and Antares’s fight spilled into the cathedral, with their spears locked as they ran through the doors as Leiurus forced Antares backwards. Antares spun, switching places with Leiurus before forcing his brother’s spear to the side and kicking him in the chest with his tail-wrapped leg, sending Leiurus flying back in front of the cathedral’s altar.
“Is there anything you can do that could possibly turn this fight around for you?” Antares said as he pointed his spear at Leiurus, who was in the process of getting to his feet, “Just give up, little brother. I promise I’ll make this quick and painless if you do.” Antares chuckled, “Well, mostly painless.”
“Not a chance!” Leiurus panted as he moved his spear into his left hand, “And for what I can do to change this fight around…” He plugged a purple Nova Sphere depicting a unicorn’s head into his Morpher.
“Monoceros Nova Sphere!”
Purple motes of light formed around Leiurus’s right arm, forming the purple and blue armor with the drill on it on his right arm. He leapt into the air before spinning forward at Antares at rapid speed, his drill arm pointing forwards. Antares quickly spun out of the way before Leiurus got to his feet after hitting the ground. Leiurus slashed at Antares with his spear, but Antares quickly blocked it with his own. “You’ll need to try better than that,” Antares chuckled.
Leiurus moved his right arm back before thrusting the drill into Antares’s chest, sending the Duke flying backwards.
The Conqueror Worm swung at Aster, but Aster simply batted it away with his free hand before slashing the Conqueror Worm across the chest, making it stagger back with a screech. It flailed its arms at Aster wildly, but Aster swung his axe each time to block the swings before kicking it in the chest, making it stagger back and hit the ground. Aster leapt on it with an elbow extended, crashing down onto it and making it screech. Aster got to his feet and moved back as the Conqueror Worm got to its feet, plugging his Nova Sphere into his axe.
“Aldebaran End!”
He swung his axe, sending a massive projection of the Taurus Zord made of black energy flying towards the Conqueror Worm, forcing the monster back and crashing into a wall before exploding. “Alright, time to help Leiurus,” Aster said, running into the cathedral.
Karna Rog watched the fights unfold from where he sat in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room. “I suppose I could create a distraction to give a bit more time for Sir Mirfak to get ready,” Karna Rog rasped, raising a hand and snapping his fingers.
Dark energy swirled through Edinburgh, forming into a pair of massive Flatborgs. Alura, Brando, and Shen sliced Calamartia simultaneously, sending her flying back before noticing the giant Flatborgs.
“Uh oh,” Alura said, looking up at them.
“We better ice those things quickly!” Brando exclaimed.
Shen glanced at Calamartia, who was in the process of getting back to her feet. He scowled at her before looking back at the Flatborgs and nodding, “Right, we need to deal with them.” The Rangers readied their Morphers to call their Zords.
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
Their cockpits formed around them, flying into the air and connecting to their respective Zord as they got into formation to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
This formation had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, and the Chamaeleon Zord as the left arm. The Megazord got into a fighting position as the Flatborgs charged at it.
The Megazord used the Dorado Zord to block the swing of one’s tonfa before the other used the opening to jab it, making the Megazord stagger back. The two Flatborgs then rammed their tonfa into the Megazord’s chest in unison, making it stagger back. The Flatborgs began to charge forward again.
“Man, their teamwork is really on the ball!” Shen said.
“Commander, now’s not the time for puns!” Brando replied.
“Don’t worry guys, I’ll handle them!” Alura exclaimed. The Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue extended downward, snaking between buildings so it was right into front of the Flatborgs’ path, acting as a tripwire. One tripped and fell, but the other leapt over it, swinging its tonfa at the Megazord, which then used the Dorado Zord to block it. The Megazord forced the tonfa away before slicing the Flatborg across the chest and kicking it back.
“Time to finish this!” Shen said as Brando and Alura flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers as he opened and closed the jaw of his cane.
“Draco Nova Megazord Star Breaker!”
Purple, green, and yellow energy swirled around the Megazord. Energy coalesced around the Dorado Zord, which was then pointed at the Flatborg, its blade extending and shooting through the Flarborg’s chest, making it explode.
A Consumoai nearby shifted into robot mode, moving up beside the other Flatborg which had now gotten to its feet.
“A Consumoai now? It’s just one thing after another,” Alura groaned.
“We’ll just have to roll with it!” Shen replied.
The Conqueror Worm that Hydra and Arthur were fighting staggered back as the other fights around them steadily grew more chaotic as countless Greyders joined the fray. Arthur plugged his Nova Sphers into the back of his glaive.
“Polaris End!”
A projection of the Ursa Zords made of cyan energy appeared in front of the Conqueror Worm, with the Ursa Major Zord swinging its front wheels at the Conqueror Worm repeatedly before the Ursa Minor Zord leapt into the air as spikes formed on its tire. The Ursa Minor Zord’s tire spun, cutting into the Conqueror Worm and making it explode.
“Got it!” Arthur exclaimed as he and Hydra turned to dealing with the Greyders, hacking and slashing through. Skragen had disengaged his fight with Sirius and Birdie and walked up to Arthur, slicing at him with his blade. Arthur sidestepped it, glaring at Skragen.
“Would you care to tell me why you still bother to fight?” Skragen asked, “Your people hate everything the Power Rangers stand for now.”
Arthur shot him with his Morpher, making Skragen stagger back, “Because it’s the right thing to do. I’m not losing my home, no matter what someone thinks of me. I fight because now I know the Empire can be defeated!” He removed the blades from his halberd, turning it into a rapier and charging at Skragen.
Neil sliced a Greyder before turning his attention back to Ankaa, who swung at him with his flaming sword. Neil blocked it, kicking the Duke away and allowing Sirius, Tip, and Birdie to slice and stab at him with their weapons. Ankaa staggered back further before plunging his sword into the ground, creating a massive explosion of flames that sent the three Rangers flying back.
Neil ran forward and slashed Ankaa across the chest, making the Duke stagger backward before extending a hand forward and sending a jet of flames at Neil, who promptly dodged it.
Antares slashed Leiurus across the chest, sending the Scorpius Ranger flying back and hitting the ground hard. “I must admit, you put up a much better fight than I thought you would,” Antares said as he walked forward, “A shame that your life is coming to an end very soon, but at least you were entertaining.”
“Monster,” Leiurus said as he tried to get back on his feet.
Antares chuckled, “Well brother, I suppose you can reunite with the rest of the clan that exiled me in the next life.” Antares raised his tail-wrapped leg, purple energy beginning to gather around it as he lifted up the right side of his coat. He froze for a moment, looking at Leiurus’s prone form before shaking his head as his visible eye flashed pink.
“Hey, chump,” a voice behind Antares said. The Duke quickly turned around, and was promptly punched in the face by Aster, who sent him flying across the cathedral. Aster ran up to Leiurus, helping him to his feet, “You okay, partner?”
“Leiurus nodded, yeah, just fine,” he said as he and Aster turned to look at where Antares had landed, the Duke now getting to his feet, “Let’s end this.”
“You stupid machine,” Antares growled before he rushed in front of them at a breakneck speed. He swung his spear, but the two of them blocked it with their weapons. Aster forced the spear out of the way before Leiurus slashed Antares across the chest repeatedly with his spear before jabbing him with his drill.
Antares sliced the two of them as he staggered back, but they recovered quickly as Antares took another swing at Leirus, who blocked and dodged the swipes as Aster maneuvered behind the Duke. Aster put Antares in a headlock, allowing Leiurus to stab and slice at him with his spear and drill before spinning back and lashing Antares across the chest with his tail.
Antares gave a grunt of pain as he kicked his tail-wrapped leg back, knocking Aster back. Leiurus lashed his tail towards Antares’s feet, making Antares leap into the air to avoid it, allowing Aster to shoot the Duke in the air and making him tumble back. Antares hit the ground some distance away from them, kicking his leg forward as he got to his feet and sending a spray of poison at the two Rangers.
Aster quickly plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a shield into his Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A shield made of blue energy appeared in front of the two rangers, blocking the poison before disappearing. “You two will not survive this, no matter what you try, you will succumb to my venom,” Antares growled, his spear glowing purple as he raised his tail-wrapped leg as it began to become wreathed in purple energy.
Leiurus extended his tail up behind him, holding his drill arm back and pointing his spear at the Duke, “Antares, it’s time for you to face justice for all those you’ve killed, for all the pain you caused,” Leiurus took a deep breath and thought back to their time on Serket before speaking again, “and for hurting Aster and betraying me.”
“And for taking Professor Ain!” Aster said, steam shooting out of his nostrils before looking back at Leiurus, “I’m with you, partner.”
“Of course, partner,” Leiurus nodded before the two of them ran at Antares, their weapons drawn as the Duke launched himself forward, his tail-wrapped leg and spear pointed at them.
Notes:
Well folks, here it is, part one of the two part climax of season 1. We still have two chapters left before the finale of course, but the finale is more falling action than anything. This chapter is shorter than most, but given how fast-paced this entire chapter was, I feel like it doesn't detract too much from everything. Next chapter is going to be absolutely wild, and things are gonna change a lot after it, so fasten your seatbelts for that one. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 21: Ignition
Chapter Text
Leiurus and Aster moved to the sides of Antares as they ran, slashing at him as they moved past him. The slashes sent Antares spiraling out of control and hitting the ground some distance behind them. “I’m… losing?” Antares growled as he got to his feet, “Impossible!”
“Oh it’s very possible!” Aster said as they turned to face him. Antares swung his spear several times, sending a barrage of slices made of purple energy and black flames flying at them. The two Rangers quickly plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons.
“Antares Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
Leiurus sliced with his spear several times, sending a barrage of orange energy crescents flying forward as Aster swung his axe, launching a spinning axe made of black energy. The duo’s attacks collided with Antares’s, creating a massive explosion. As the smoke cleared, Leiurus leapt through it, performing a downward swing, with his spear and drill, which Antares blocked with his spear as the two of them spun and switched positions. Aster leapt in from the side, making Antares turn to look at him before being sliced across the chest with his axe, sending the Duke reeling and allowing Leiurus to strike Antares across the chest repeatedly, making him give grunts of pain before Leiurus and Aster sliced him with all their weapons in unison, sending him flying backwards through the air and hitting the ground between a row of pews. The Duke tried to get up, but it was clear that he was too weak.
Aster looked at Leiurus, “Let’s end this, partner.”
“Yes, let’s,” Leiurus said as they began to approach Antares.
Antares snarled, “You filth! How dare you!”
Leiurus just shook his head as he and Aster prepared to bring their weapons down, “I’m sorry, brother.”
Before they could finish off Antares, they were suddenly hit by a pair of large red energy spheres, sending them flying back towards the cathedral’s altar as they unmorphed. “Forgetting about someone?” Calamartia asked as she walked forward, her gun trained on their prone forms. She glanced at Antares, “I’ll handle these two, Duke Antares.”
“Ugh, I can’t get up,” Leiurus said as he and Aster failed to get to their feet, obviously exhausted from their fight with Antares.
“Me neither,” Aster panted.
Calamartia chuckled, “A shame, I was hoping for more of a fight!”
Antares watched as she approached the Rangers, seeing the fear in Leiurus’s eyes. “Leiurus…” he said softly, thinking back to the necklace the Ranger showed him, his memories of the past flooding back to him, only for Schedar’s voice to begin drowning them out as his visible eye got a bit pinker.
“Oh don’t you worry about that,” Schedar’s voice said, “just stay focused on destoryin’ Earth and huntin’ the Rangers.” His memories began to fall to the wayside as Schedar’s voice began to echo through his head.
“No!” Antares growled, clutching his head as his eyes stopped getting pinker, “I need to protect him, I need to protect my brother!” Antares snarled, ripping off his mask to expose his deformed face as he grabbed onto a pew to get to his feet before smashing the red mask underfoot, “Get out of my head!” He scowled as his eye returned to its original color, “You tricked me! I’m not your puppet, and I won’t hurt my brother!”
Purple energy gathered around Eurypto’s tail wrapped leg before he launched himself at Calamartia, delivering a devastating kick that sent her flying through a cathedral wall as she gave a sound of surprise. Eurypto panted as he looked at Leiurus as tears filled his more human-like yellow eye, “Leiurus,” he said quietly, “I’m so, so sorry, I’m… I’m a monster.”
“So Antares has decided to go turncoat,” Kaus scowled from where he stood in the control room of the other Duke’s Consumoai, staring at a screen that displayed what was happening in the cathedral. He snarled, “A traitor, just like his brother. I’ll show him the consequences of betraying the Empire.” He began to walk out of the control room, the lights in it flickering around him.
The Draco Star Megazord swung the Dorado Zord, slicing the Flatbrog and Consumoai across the chest and making them stagger back. “We’ve got them on the ropes now!” Alura exclaimed.
“These guys are toast!” Brando added.
“Then let’s finish them off,” Shen said as he and the two other Rangers prepared to deliver the finisher.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
Purple, green, and yellow energy swirled around the Megazord, gathering on the Dorado Zord. It pointed the Zord forward, sending a hook made of yellow energy flying out of it. The Chamaeleon Zord extended its tongue, now wreathed in green energy, grabbing the hook and spinning it around above it before slashing through the Flatborg and Consumoai and making them explode.
“You really think we’re gonna fall for this trick again?” Aster scowled as he and Leiurus got to their feet, looking at Eurypto, “He’s out of his mind, right, Leiurus?”
Leiurus gave an uneasy look as he looked at Eurypto, he looked like he was going to get into a fighting stance, but he suddenly lashed his tail forward, stinging Eurypto in the chest. Eurypto stopped crying and recoiled back, “What was that for?”
“I made my venom a truth serum,” Leiurus explained, “that means Antares will have to respond truthfully to whatever we ask.”
“You’re gonna try to negotiate with him again? After everything he did?” Aster was flabbergasted.
“Something seems different this time, just please trust me on this, partner,” Leiurus pleaded.
Aster gave a hesitant nod, “Well okay,” he pointed his Morpher at Eurypto, “but if he tries anything I won’t hesitate.”
“Alright, do you remember anything now?” Leiurus asked Eurypto.
The chitinous legs making up Eurypto’s upper teeth twitched, “I… I do, yes.”
Leiurus narrowed his eyes, “Well, what happened the day you disappeared during that hunt before coming back to the village with the Empire? Why did you betray our people?”
Eurypto closed his humanoid eye, trying to think, “I’ll tell you, I… I remember now, I know Schedar lied about what happened…”
Eurypto wandered through a sandstorm by himself, barely able to see anything, “Hello? Anyone? I’m over here!” Eurypto sighed, “They’re probably as lost as I am. This sandstorm came out of nowhere.”
He called out again, “Hello? Somebody?”
“I’m somebody,” a feminine voice behind him chuckled. Eurypto turned to face it, seeing Schedar and jumping back in horror.
“What are you? Stay back!” Eurypto said, raising his tail and preparing to strike her.
Schedar chuckled, “You won’t do that.”
Eurypto’s eyes flashed pink as he lowered his stinger before shaking his head and giving a confused look, “What did you do?”
“Oh nothin!” Schedar chuckled, “I just figured a guy like you could help little old me and my boss, right, chat?” She raised her microphone and spoke into it, “You’re going to fall asleep right now, and when you wake up you won’t remember anything. You also won’t recognize when I’m controlling you with my voice.”
Eurypto’s eyes closed as he fell to the ground.
“When I woke up, that’s when she gave me that whole spiel about being exiled from the tribe,” Eurypto finished.
“Schedar,” Leiurus scowled, “I had a feeling she had more to do with this than it seemed.”
Aster looked at Leiurus, “And you said you made your venom into a truth serum?”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, everything he just said is the truth.”
Aster looked back at Eurypto and slowly lowered his Morpher, “So you were brainwashed?” Aster exhaled steam, “I don’t forgive you, not after everything you’ve done, but I guess it’s good to know that you weren’t yourself.”
“I don’t blame you, I’ve done so many bad things, horrible things,” Eurypto shook his head.
“How did you break out of the brainwashing anyway?” Leiurus asked.
Eurypto sighed, “I remembered that necklace you showed me, it helped me remember well… everything. And you were in danger, so there was nothing Schedar’s powers could do to stop me.”
Leiurus gave a small smile and pulled his brother into a hug, “I’m just… glad that you weren’t in control. A part of me… it hoped that you didn’t become a monster by choice.”
Eurypto gave a sad chuckle as he closed his human-like eye, “It might not have been by choice, but I was still a monster.” A single tear spilled from his closed eye, “I’m sorry your only family became something like me, something…” he sobbed, “something that tried to kill you.”
“Eurypto, it’s okay, you weren’t in control, if anything it’s that witch’s fault, giving you amnesia and using her powers on you,” Leiurus replied as he pulled out of the hug, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder., “You might’ve been the perpetrator, but you were also a victim.”
“Yeah, you were a murder, but I guess it wasn’t entirely your fault,” Aster replied with a huff.
The legs on Eurypto’s face twitched, “I guess you’re right, but… I still feel like I deserve some consequence for everything I did.” He looked at Aster, “Like taking your father.”
“Well, were you being true when you said he was still alive?” Aster asked as he put his hands on his hips.
Eurypto nodded, “Yeah, he should be.”
“Well, I guess that’s better than you killing him,” Aster replied with a shake of his head.
Leiurus looked at him, “You did some inexcusable things, things that are probably gonna put a target on your head once the Empire is dealt with, but maybe you can join us? It might make things easier for you after this is all over.”
“Yeah,” Eurypto nodded, “I’d like that.”
Calamartia got to her feet outside, groaning, “What was all of that about?”
“He’s a traitor,” Kaus growled, stepping into view.
Calamartia narrowed her eyes, “Him? A traitor? I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t know why he did that, but I’ll handle him and that other traitorous insect,” Kaus said, stroking his chin.
Calamartia gave a hesitant nod, “Of course, Duke Kaus.”
“I always knew you’d do great things, Leiurus,” Eurypto said, attempting to smile with the legs making up his upper face, “I just didn’t expect you to be one of the ones in the legend.”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy, isn’t it?”
“He’s also an amazing partner,” Aster chuckled.
Eurypto’s human-like eye widened, “Oh, so are the two of you-”
“Uh, no,” Leiurus replied immediately, “well, not yet anyway.”
“Yeah, I mean we are considering it, but for now we’re just work partners, y’know?” Aster added.
“Ah, I’m happy for you, Leiurus,” Eurypto said, attempting to smile before looking at Aster, “But if you do get together, I will put you in the ground if you hurt him.”
“Okay, geez,” Aster replied raising his hands to appear nonthreatening.
Leiurus chuckled, “I’m glad you’re concerned, Eurypto.”
“Oh he has every right to be concerned, he’s just directing it at the wrong thing,” Kaus said as he entered the cathedral.
“Kaus!” Leiurus yelled as he and Aster tried to ready their Morphers, but it was clear that they were exhausted from their fight with Antares.
“Today is the day you die, Leiurus Calchas,” Kaus said as he pointed his halberd forward, shifting it into a bow and firing a barrage of energy arrows directly at Leiurus and Aster.
The arrows were mere seconds away from hitting the both of them until Eurypto got in the way, “Leiurus!” He blocked their path, taking each and every arrow to the chest.
“No!” Leiurus yelled as his brother fell to the ground, smoke pouring from his wounds, “Eurypto!” Aster rushed forward, looking down at the Serketian and visibly struggling to try and figure out what to do.
Eurypto looked up at his brother before speaking weakly, “I’m sorry, Leiurus, for everything.”
“Eurypto, why?” Leiurus sobbed, trying to lift his brother up.
“I… I needed to, I… can’t lose you, Leiurus, and the others, they need you too,” Eurypto choked out.
Leiurus slammed his fist on the ground as tears filled his eyes, “Eurypto, you idiot! I just got you back and now I’m losing you all over again!”
“I know, Leiurus, I’m… I’m sorry,” Eurypto managed to say, “but I couldn’t bear seeing you get hurt when I could’ve done something.”
“Brother!” Leiurus sobbed as he pulled Eurypto into his arms, “Please!”
“At least you’re safe… at least… I could make up for what I did and… protect you one last time,” Eurypto choked out, “I’m sorry… for… for everything.” Eurypto’s human-like eye closed.
“Brother?” Leiurus said with tears in his eyes, shaking him but getting no reaction, “Eurypto!” His eyes widened in realization, “No…no, no, no, no!”
Aster turned to look at Kaus, growling as steam shot from his nostrils, “Why did you do that, you monster?”
“Well I was going to kill him anyway, I just didn’t anticipate that he would get in the way,” Kaus replied, “Ah well, not that it bothers me. What’s that old saying, and eye for an eye? Leiurus took my friend Totemask, so I suppose it’s only fair that I take his brother.”
Aster glanced back at Leiurus, who was still sobbing against Eurypto’s body before growling, “I didn’t forgive him for what he did, but now I know why he did it I know he didn’t deserve to die for it. You hurt my partner, and now I’m gonna make you face justice for it.”
Kaus gave a few swings with his halberd as he walked closer, “The only justice here is what you’ll face for opposing his magnificence.”
Aster huffed out more steam as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, charging forward.
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
He swung his axe down as Kaus raised his halberd to block it before charging and forcing the Duke to move backwards as their weapons locked.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog, Schedar, and Alderamin watched a projection of what was happening on Earth. Schedar chuckled as she looked at Leiurus, who was still sobbing over Eurypto’s body, “Can we get an F in the chat?”
“We just lost one of our greatest assets, Schedar,” Alderamin growled, “The fact that you’re not taking this seriously is completely unacceptable.”
“Well I suppose I do feel a bit bad,” Schedar said, “but given that it absolutely devastated his brother emotionally, I’d consider that a win in my book.”
Karna Rog looked at his taloned hands with disinterest, “We still lost a valuable asset, Mirfak will likely initiate the Consumoai to make sure we do not lose any more.” Karna Rog looked back at the Knights, “And when that happens, it will lead to peace on one more planet.”
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai in space, Mirfak leaned to the side in his control seat, resting his head on his organic hand as he watched the fight in the cathedral unfold on a screen. “So Schedar’s control over Antares faltered, quite the pity,” Mirfak said, “Though I doubt she cares.” He straightened himself up, “I suppose the time for waiting for the right moment has ended, it is time to take that planet out of my misery.”
Calamartia stood in the control room of the Executor-class Consumoai when a hologram of Mirfak appeared, prompting her to speak, “Sir Mirfak, it’s time, isn’t it?”
Mirfak nodded, “Yes, activate the Consumoai now.”
Calamartia nodded as a small pillar with a button on it rose from the floor, which she quickly pressed.
The Executor-class Consumoai rose into the air from Edinburg castle, sending out a barely visible wave of energy that made every inactive Consumoai across the globe activate and sped all the previously activated ones up.
“Now, just to prevent any interference,” Mirfak said as he pressed a button on the control seat of his own Consumoai, making its six points spark with energy that danced between each other as the Consumoai shifted into position. It fired down a beam at the Executor-class Consumoai, creating a massive purple energy bubble around it.
“We need to stop that thing quick!” Shen said as he maneuvered the Draco Star Megazord towards the Consumoai.
“I’ll handle this!” Alura said, using the Chamaeleon Zord to punch the bubble but to no avail, “Dang it!”
Brando readied the Dorado Zord, “Let me try!” He sliced the bubble, but it did nothing either.
Shen tilted his head forward before speaking with a concerned voice, “This could be a problem.”
Skragen staggered back after being sliced across the chest by Birdie before noticing the Consumoai, turning his head upwards as the Rangers sliced through more Greyders, “Duke Ankaa, I believe it’s time we took our leave.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Neil said as he sliced at Ankaa, who blocked it with his sword before kicking Neil in the chest.
“It’s been a pleasure, but unfortunately we have other business to attend to,” Skragen said as the crystal on his head glowed, sending all the Rangers flying back. “Goodbye,” Skragen said as he disappeared in a beam of light while Ankaa vanished in a swirl of flames.
“Is everyone okay?” Neil asked as he got to his feet.
Tip groaned, “Could be better.”
“I am well,” Sirius said as he leapt to his feet.
Neil nodded, “That’s good.” He looked up at the Consumoai floating overhead, “We need to find the others fast.”
“Yeah, we need to figure out a way to stop that thing!” Arthur exclaimed.
Birdie lifted up her Morpher, “I’ve got the coordinates of the others’ Morphers.”
“That’s good to hear,” Hydra deadpanned.
“Well let’s not waste any more time,” Neil said, “Let’s go!”
Aster and Kaus’s fight spilled outside, with Aster narrowly avoiding a slice from the Duke’s halberd. Kaus thrusted his halberd forward, striking Aster’s chest and making him stagger back. “This hunt ends here,” Kaus said as he readied his halberd to fire at Aster.
Before he could fire, he was suddenly struck by a barrage of shots as the other Rangers (sans Leiurus) ran into view, aiming their Morphers at him.
“Back off!” Neil said, preparing to fire at the Duke.
Kaus looked up into the sky, spotting the Consumoai overhead. He scoffed, “I suppose I will. There’s no reason to stay any longer.”
He disappeared in a beam of light, leaving the Rangers behind. Neil looked at Aster, “Are you okay?”
Aster nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”
Suddenly, a large projection of the Emperor appeared in front of the cathedral, “Hello Rangers, it’s been awhile.”
The Rangers got into fighting positions as Neil spoke, “Karna Rog!”
“Hello again, Leo Ranger,” Karna Rog rasped, “I’m quite pleased that peace will be coming to you and your brother’s world very soon.”
“Peace?” Neil said as pointed his sword up at Karna Rog, “You’re gonna to destroy it!”
Karna Rog chuckled emotionlessly, “Those are not mutually exclusive.”
“Whatever,” Alura said, “we know what you are, and we know how to defeat you!”
The Emperor narrowed his eyes, “So, you’ve heard about my origins then? Good, perhaps you will succeed where the Phoenix Knight failed in defeating me.” His tone as he spoke the last sentence was odd, there wasn’t any sarcasm in it at all. “Regardless, this planet will soon meet its end, for it has been the origin of far too many problems, Kenneth, and the two of you, Leo Ranger and Ursa Ranger,” Karna Rog rasped.
“Not if we have anything to say about it!” Arthur yelled.
“Then try, child,” the Emperor replied, “Perhaps it will amuse me, if that.” Karna Rog narrowed his eyes, “I look forward to the first failure of the Power Rangers.” Karna Rog’s projection disappeared, leaving the Rangers alone.
“Dang it, we have to hurry and do something!” Neil exclaimed as the other Rangers tried to recover from the shock of seeing Karna Rog.
Shen looked up at the Consumoai, “We need to get back to the Orion and plan our next move quickly, there’s no telling how much time we have left.”
“Yeah, the eleven of us need to put our heads together and…” Arthur looked around, “Wait, where’s Leiurus?”
The doors to the cathedral opened as Leiurus exited it with tears in his eyes, holding Eurypto’s body.
“So, Duke Antares is dead?” Skragen asked from where he stood in the Consumoai’s control room, tilting his head.
Kaus nodded, “Unfortunately yes, I was forced to kill him.”
“Well that sucks, we really looked up to him,” Calamartia said, “turns out he was just as jelly-brained as the rest of the Rangers.”
Ankaa stood in the corner, nodding.
“Glad you agree, Duke Ankaa,” Calamartia said.
“So, what do we do now?” Skragen asked.
“Now?” Kaus replied, “Now we just wait for this planet to become a lifeless rock.”
“… and that’s the gist of what happened,” Aster said, finishing explaining what happened with Antares to the other Rangers on the bridge, though Leiurus was nowhere to be seen.
“Wow,” Neil said, crossing his arms, “I can’t believe Antares, I mean Eurypto was brainwashed the whole time.”
Sirius nodded, “Yes, it is terrible that his ability to control himself was taken away from him.”
“Well, at least he’s in a better place now, I know I’d do the same to protect my younger sister,” Brando said.
Alura shook her head, “Still, I don’t blame him for locking himself in his room when we got back.”
“Yeah, he’s going through a hard time right now, no doubt,” Shen said, “but we need everyone here to be able to discuss our next move, time is of the essence.”
Birdie nodded as she looked at her datapad, “According to my calculations, we have a little under two hours until Earth is depleted of Gaiaium.”
“Two hours?” Neil said with panic, “We need to hurry!”
“I’ll go talk to him,” Aster said, “he’s my partner, it’s my responsibility to try and help him.”
“I’ll go too,” Arthur said, “Since I was the first of us he really got to know.”
Neil nodded as he tried to calm himself down, “If Arthur’s going, then I’m going.”
“Good luck, you three,” Hydra said.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, I hope you guys can get through to him.”
“We’ll try,” Aster said as he, Neil, and Arthur exited the bridge.
“Leiurus?” Neil asked, knocking on the door of the Serketian’s room.
“Can we come in?” Aster asked.
“Sure,” Leiurus said tiredly from the other side of the door as it opened. Leiurus just sat on his bed, staring at nothing in particular with red eyes.
“Leiurus, I’m so sorry,” Arthur said quietly.
Leiurus shook his head with barely any energy, “It’s not your fault, Arthur.” He sighed as tears formed in his eyes, “It’s just… Why did he do that? He was the only family I had, and the moment I get to see the brother I remember again after so long he gets ripped away from me.”
“He did say he was happy to be able to protect you one last time,” Aster said, kneeling down and putting his hand on Leiurus’s.
“I know Neil would do the same thing for me, Leiurus,” Arthur said, “You’re the only family he had, of course he’d want to save you.”
Leiurus sighed, “I know it’s that, it’s just…” Leiurus trailed off, “I dunno, a part of me is still kind of confused that he’d do something like that after everything he did, even if he wasn’t in control of himself.”
“Yeah, I’m still not sure how to feel about all of that either,” Aster said, “But in the end, I can tell that he loved you, so much, he cared about you more than anything if he gave his life up for you.”
Neil nodded, “There’s only a few things stronger than the love between people that are the only family each other has.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Leiurus said, “but even knowing he loved me… it still hurts, so much.”
“Well, it’s not going to go away probably, and I’d feel the same way if Neil did something like that,” Arthur said, “but it’ll hurt less in time, you can live again, but it’ll still be with you, and change you as a person.”
“I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but it’ll all get better, I promise,” Aster said, squeezing Leiurus’s hand.
“And I’ll tell you what I told Sirius when we first met,” Neil said, “Eurypto may be gone, but his memory is still with you, and you can honor him and make him proud, wherever he is now.”
“Yeah, you can still be someone who can make your brother proud,” Arthur said.
“I know it’s hard, Leiurus, losing someone who was your only family for most of your life, I felt the same with Professor Ain. But this is gonna be okay, partner, things will get better, I know it,” Aster said softly.
Leiurus looked up at them, “I.. I guess you’re right, he’s gone, but I still have all my memories of him, the good and the bad. I guess he is still with me, I guess things can get better.” He took a deep breath, “Maybe I can still make him proud.”
“And he still is probably watching over you right now,” Aster added.
“Yeah,” Leiurus said, a small smile forming on his face.
“Besides, you can still get justice for him,” Arthur said, “Kaus and Schedar are still out there.”
“You can make sure they can’t hurt anyone ever again, and make sure Eurypto’s death wasn’t in vain by showing the Empire who’s boss,” Neil said.
“And we’ll be right beside you to help you do it,” Aster said, “because while he was your only family for a long time, we’re your family now too.”
Leiurus looked at Aster, “Aster I… I love you.”
Aster chuckled as he held Leiurus’s hand, “I love you too.”
Leiurus got to his feet, newfound confidence on his face but still holding Aster’s hand, “Alright, let's take the Empire down.”
“And save Earth,” Neil added, “Let’s head to the bridge to see what Shen has to say.”
“Okay,” Leiurus nodded, “Let’s go.” The four of them exited the room, with Leiurus still holding Aster’s hand.
The Rangers entered the bridge, making everyone take notice. “Leiurus, are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, at least for now,” Leiurus said as he still held onto Aster’s hand.
“Alright, so how exactly do we deal with this thing?” Neil asked, looking at a projection of the Executor-class Consumoai and the energy bubble surrounding it above Edinburgh castle that was above the bridge’s table.
“Well, according to our readings, the shield is incredibly tough, I doubt the Draconova Ultrazord would even be able to scratch it, and even then only smaller things like Moriders can enter and exit it freely,” Birdie said as she typed on her datapad.
“So there’s nothing we can do?” Neil questioned, “I don’t believe that, I’m not giving up hope on saving Earth!”
“Hold on, Neil, I get the feeling that there’s a but,” Arthur said.
“But,” Birdie said as she typed on her datapad, “the further a part of the barrier is from the beam, the weaker it gets.” The projection zoomed in on the bottom of the barrier above the castle, “Meaning the very bottom of it is the weakest point. We might be able to break in through there.”
“So that’s our best shot at saving Earth?” Neil said, “That’s good!”
Shen shook his head, “Yes, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll work, and even if it did it’s likely to be very heavily guarded.”
“Well that’s better than nothing, isn’t it?” Neil replied confidently, “It’s our best shot at saving Earth, and as long as we have hope, we have a chance.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, even if it doesn’t work, we at least have to try.”
“The fate of Earth itself depends on it,” Sirius growled.
“And as Power Rangers, it’s our duty to stop the Empire, no matter what it may take,” Alura added.
Aster let go of Leiurus’s hand and brought his fists together, “Then let’s go and show the Empire that justice will prevail for the galaxy!”
Leiurus nodded, “and for Eurypto…”
“And serve up a defeat they’ll never forget too!” Brando exclaimed.
“I feel a sense of anticipation, but it’s… nice,” Hydra said, giving a small smile.
Tip chuckled and patted Hydra on the back, “That’s excitement! I’m feeling that too!”
“I think this will be something pretty interesting to write about,” Birdie said as she tapped at her datapad, “Let’s make this something that goes down in the history books!”
“We’ll make sure everyone who fought the Empire didn’t die in vain,” Shen said, looking at Arthur sadly, “Today’s the day we show the Empire what us Rangers and the Revolution can really do!”
“Karna Rog is wrong, this won’t be our first failure, this will be a major blow to the Empire,” Neil said as he put his hand in front of him, “Let’s do this, guys.”
“Yeah!” the other Rangers said in unison as they all put their hands on his.
“Alright, let’s go!” Neil said as he and the other Rangers raised all their hands in unison.
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
The Rangers entered Edinburgh Castle and began making their way through it, heading so that they were directly underneath the Consumoai in the castle’s Crown Square. They looked up at the bottom of the barrier, confidence in their eyes. “Alright guys, let’s try and bust this thing open!”
In the Consumoai’s control room, Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia looked at a screen displaying what was going on below as Ankaa leaned against a wall. “Do those jelly brains really think they can break the barrier?” Calamartia laughed mockingly.
“They probably could, Calamartia,” Kaus responded, “that’s the weakest point of the barrier.”
Skragen hummed, “So if they make the right moves, I th-ink they could probably break through it.” Mirfak’s hologram appeared in the control room, making everyone in attendance turn to face it. “Sir Mirfak, the Rangers are attempting to break the barrier,” Skragen explained.
Calamartia crossed her arms, “You want us to go down there and grind them into paste?”
Mirfak raised his organic hand to his chin, “Yes, if the barrier is broken it will take awhile to gather enough energy to produce another one, which will leave your Consumoai vulnerable, go deal with them now.”
“At least I agree with you on this,” Kaus grumbled as the hologram of Mirfak disappeared.
“All eleven Rangers in one place,” Calamartia chuckled as she looked at Skragen, “This will be fun, won’t it, honey?”
Skragen nodded, “Yes, it’ll be interesting.”
“Then let’s put an end to this hunt once and for all,” Kaus said before exiting the control room with Skragen and Calamartia, Ankaa following just behind them.
A beam of light shot down from the Consumoai into the Crown Square, with Ankaa, Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia appearing from it. “Well hello again, Rangers,” Skragen chuckled.
The Rangers turned to face the four of them, with Neil narrowing his eyes, “You guys, huh? You’re not gonna stop us from saving Earth!”
“Such arrogance,” Kaus replied, “this planet will die, much the same as you.”
Leiurus glared at Kaus, “I won’t allow you to destroy this planet, and you won’t get away with killing Eurypto either!”
“He was rewarded as traitor deserved, Leiurus, and you will too,” Kaus replied, pointing his halberd forward.
“Leiurus will make you pay for what you did,” Aster said as steam shot from his nostrils, “and I’ll be right there to help him!”
“We might not be thieves anymore, but we’ll still steal the win! Right, Hydra?” Tip asked as they turned to look at the Gorgonian.
Hydra nodded, trying his best to give a smile and a determined look, “Yeah, their defeat will definitely bring me joy.”
“When we’re done with you, you’ll be toast!” Brando said.
Calamartia laughed, “Your confidence will just make it all the more satisfying to crush you, we’ve already killed plenty of important Revolution members before, what’s eleven more?”
“The only one being crushed will be you,” Sirius growled, “First you, and then the rest of the Empire.”
Birdie nodded, “And we’ll show the people that there’s still hope!”
Shen nodded as he looked at Skragen and Calamartia, “And don’t think I forgot what you did to my father either. I’ll make sure that he’s avenged, and that the reign of terror you two have caused the Revolution you two have made will end.”
“I’ll show people that everyone can fight back, and make sure that my dad can get some closure too,” Arthur added.
“We’re warriors of legend, with a duty to protect the universe, and we’re not gonna back down!” Alura exclaimed.
“We’re shining stars of hope that illuminate the darkness of despair, so don’t think for a moment you can snuff us out!” Neil said confidently as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers, “Let’s go!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
The Rangers pulled the triggers of their Morphers, “Star Charge!”
Shen slammed his cane on the ground a few times, “Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The eleven of them were surrounded in multicolored light, which faded to reveal the rainbow of color that was their Ranger suits.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all yelled in unison before charging forward, their weapons ready. Kaus, Skragen, and Calamartia charged forward as Ankaa simply walked forward, drawing his sword before disappearing in a burst of flames.
The Duke reappeared in front of Neil, making the Leo Ranger stop in his tracks while the other ten Rangers continued to charge forward. Neil readied his sword, “I assume you’re here for our final fight?”
Ankaa readied his sword as well, nodding. Suddenly, for the first time, the Duke spoke, “Leo… Ranger.” He seemed to possess a Scottish accent, but it was hard to tell given how hoarse his voice was, like he hadn’t spoken in centuries.
Neil’s eyes widened underneath his helmet, “You can talk?” Neil shook his head, “Whatever, you’re going down!” Neil swung his sword at Ankaa, who quickly blocked it with his own sword before taking a swing at Neil, who quickly ducked under it.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Schedar and Alderamin gave confused looks as they looked at the projection displaying the fight. “That’s weird, I thought Mirfie said he suppressed Ankaa’s ability to speak or somethin’ like that,” Schedar said.
Alderamin nodded, “He did, so why is he doing it now?”
Karna Rog thought for a moment, “This is the longest he’s been away from Ukhu Pacha. Perhaps unforeseen factors are altering his behavior.” He shook his head, “No matter, as long as he deals with the Rangers, I don’t care.”
Hydra and Brando took swings at Calamartia, who quickly blocked them with her sword and mace. “Come on, you can do better than that!” she laughed before Tip shot her in the face, making her stagger back and allowing Hydra and Brando to slash her. She gave a huff before kicking her leg at Tip, extending it into a tentacle and wrapping it around them. She spun around on one foot, forcing Hydra and Brando to duck to avoid Tip. After a moment she released her grip, sending Tip flying into a wall at high speed.
“You’ll regret hurting my friend,” Hydra said as he got to his feet before slicing at Calamartia. She raised her sword to block it, but Hydra hooked his scythe on it and forced it to the side before slashing across her chest.
Tip got to their feet and quickly plugged a green Nova Sphere depicting twins into their Morpher.
“Gemini Nova Sphere!”
A second Tip appeared, and the two fired their crossbows at Calamartia, making her stagger forward into a slice from Brando. “Thanks for the help!” Brando yelled.
“No problem! Two’s always better than one!” the two Tips replied before a barrage of energy arrows were fired at them, forcing the original Tip to roll out of the way while the copy was dispelled after an arrow whizzed through them.
Leiurus and Aster swung at Kaus, forcing the Duke to turn his attention back to them as he blocked the swings with his halberd. “I don’t understand why you oppose his magnificence, he’s helped far more than he’s harmed,” Kaus said as he pushed the two of them back and thrusted his halberd at them, but the two of them blocked it. He spun his spear around before thrusting it forward again, but the two Rangers forced it to the ground with their weapons.
“You’re only saying that because they helped you!” Leiurus replied.
Aster nodded, “You’re lucky they didn’t slaughter your people!”
Kaus forced his halberd up and leapt back with a spin, slicing with his halberd and sending a green energy crescent at them in the process, striking them both in the chest and making them fall to the ground. “The Empire is more than happy to help those who do not oppose it, which I didn’t. I saw the merits of what they would do for my people, and I joined willingly. But as for insurgents like you…” he pointed his halberd forward as it shifted into its bow form, “they’re to be terminated with extreme prejudice.” He fired a barrage of energy arrows at the two of them.
The arrows were about to collide with the two of them when a series of pink shots hit them in the air, destroying them before they could hit. Birdie leapt in front of the two of them as they got to their feet, glancing back at them, “Mind if I join?”
“The more the merrier!” Aster chuckled. He and Leiurus charged at Kaus again as Birdie flew into the air, firing her blaster and Morpher at Kaus, forcing him to spin his halberd to block the shots. Birdie swooped down at him and narrowly avoided an energy shot flying at her, kicking Kaus in the chest in unison with slices from Aster and Leiurus, making the Duke stagger back.
Skragen quickly turned, flipping his rifle to use it as a blade to block a swing from Arthur, who was wielding a Star Sword. “You know, I’m curious about something,” Skragen said as he forced the sword to the side and slashed at Arthur.
Arthur blocked the swing, “And what would that be?”
Skragen kicked Arthur back, “The way your father will react when I kill you.”
Before he could slice at Arthur, Alura suddenly appeared beside the Jester, slashing him across the side of the chest and staggering him. “Like that’s gonna happen!” she yelled.
“You won’t hurt him!” Sirius said, leaping at Skragen and swinging his claw. Skragen quickly sidestepped it before putting his blade on Sirius’s shoulder as he tried to get up, pulling the blade back and creating a shower of sparks as Sirius rolled back across the ground, but as he did he was able to slash Skragen across the leg, making Skragen stagger back.
Skragen chuckled, the crystal on his head glowing as Sirius got to his feet. Chunks of the surrounding architecture were ripped out by an invisible force, hovering in the air before being tossed at the three Rangers.
The three of them quickly moved out of the way, with Arthur quickly plugging a grey Nova Sphere depicting a dove into his Morpher.
“Columba Nova Sphere!”
A flock of doves made of white energy flew out of the Morpher and towards Skragen. Skragen tried to swing at them and bat them away as they flew past him and blocked his vision, and once the last of them had flown past he had no time to react as Shen sliced him across the chest. “If you lay a hand on either of my boys, I’ll make you wish I’d destroy you,” Shen growled as he thrusted his cane forward, with Skragen stepping back to avoid it. Shen quickly pulled the trigger on his cane’s grip, shooting Skragen in the chest.
A fireball formed in Ankaa’s hand, which he hurled at Neil. Neil ran forward and sliced the fireball in half before delivering an upward swing to Ankaa, making the Duke swing back to avoid the attack, but the slash still sliced off a large portion of his blond ponytail. He quickly ignited his sword by running a hand over it and then gripping it with both hands to swing at Neil, who quickly blocked it. Ankaa forced Neil’s sword to the side before slicing him across the chest, making the Leo Ranger stagger back as flames erupted from his chest.
“It’ll take more than a little heat to stop me!” Neil exclaimed. Ankaa swung his sword repeatedly, sending a barrage of flaming slashes at Neil before spinning around and slashing in a wide arc to deliver a particularly wide one. Neil charged forward, weaving between the slashes and jumping over the last to deliver a downward swing to Ankaa, staggering the Duke.
Ankaa disappeared in a swirl of flames, and Neil quickly spun around to block another swing from the Duke.
Calamartia staggered back after Hydra and Brando slashed her across the chest, “You jelly brains!” Hydra ran at her, but she slammed her mace into the side of his head, knocking him to the side and onto the ground.
“Hydra!” Tip yelled as they fired several energy arrows at the Jester, who cartwheeled out of the way before standing back up. Her eyes flashed as dozens of yellow energy spheres appeared out of her body and flew forward at Tip. The spheres exploded on contact with them and knocked them to the ground.
“Time to make you live up to your name!” Brando yelled as he ran up behind her, slashing her across the back. She spun around as Brando tried to stab her, but she spun to the side and maneuvered behind him and put him in a headlock.
“There’s going to be blood in the water very soon!” Calamartia laughed as she raised her sword to the front of his chest, but before she could stab him Birdie shot her in the face, allowing Brando to flip the Jester over him and onto the ground.
“Nice shot!” Brando yelled up at Birdie.
“No problem!” Birdie responded before she was knocked out of the air by a barrage of energy arrows, making her hit the ground.
As Birdie got to her feet, Aster swung his fist at Kaus, who blocked it with his arm before putting his hand to Aster’s chest, creating a shockwave from it that sent Aster stumbling back. “Ow!” Aster yelled as he tried to regain his footing.
Leiurus ran up to Kaus from behind, slashing the Duke across the back before moving in front of him and lashing his tail forward, wrapping it around Kaus’s halberd. “Let go,” Leiurus said as he tried to yank it from Kaus’s hands.
“No,” Kaus responded bluntly, sending a jolt of electricity from his hands to his halberd, making Leiurus release his hold on it as he was shocked. The growth on Kaus’s mouth began to glow as he prepared to fire electric arrows from it at Leiurus. He was stopped by a kick to the face from Birdie, making him stumble back as she pressed her Morpher and blasted against his chest, firing them repeatedly and making him stumble back into a punch to the back of the head from Aster.
“I’m sure that came as a shock,” Birdie chuckled.
“Don’t touch my partner,” Aster growled.
Leiurus recovered, slicing Kaus across the chest alongside Aster as Birdie fired at his head. Kaus staggered back and hit the ground, holding himself up with one arm. “That’s enough,” he snarled as the antler-like markings on his head began to glow, sending out electricity that knocked the three Rangers to the ground as he got to his feet.
Alura blinked in and out of view around Skragen, slashing him from every side before he had a chance to react. “What’s the matter? Your eyes can’t keep up?” Alura said as she kicked him into a slice from Sirius’s claw.
Sirius slashed Skragen across the chest again, making the Cryskullian stagger back, “You will never see our attacks coming!”
“And you’ll never see mine, mutt,” Skragen said as he spun around with his blade outstretched, slicing Sirius and Alura across the chests.
Arthur lashed at Skragen with his scarf, but the crystals on Skragen’s chest glowed and he nonchalantly avoided the attacks. Skragen then slashed a blue energy crescent at Arthur, knocking him back.
Shen slashed Skragen across the chest repeatedly, clearly enraged, “Hands off!” While Skragen managed to block and dodge a few attacks, a majority of them hit him, and even more began to connect as the other three Rangers recovered and began slashing at him as well.
“Enough of this,” Skragen said with irritation as the crystal on his head began to glow, lifting Shen into the air and sending the other Rangers flying back. Shen pointed his rifle at Shen, “It’s time to end you” Skragen chuckled as Shen’s limbs were forced outward as the Ladonean began to hyperventilate.
Ankaa staggered back as Neil sliced him across the chest. “Not so tough now that I’ve fought you so many times!” Neil said confidently. Ankaa disappeared in a swirl of flames before reappearing in front of Neil, delivering an upward slash that sliced over his chest and shattered his visor. Neil hit the ground, trying weakly to get up only to collapse as Ankaa continued to approach him. He look around, seeing Tip, Hydra, and Brando not meaningfully damaging Calamartia in any way, Leiurus, Aster, and Birdie laying on the ground as Kaus’s feet, and Sirius, Alura, and Birdie scattered about as Skragen was about to shoot his adoptive father in the chest while the Consumoai above continued to function. Neil sighed as he lowered his head, “It’s no use, we can’t do this.”
“Oh don’t say that, where’s that Neil with overwhelming confidence and optimism that I remember?” a voice suddenly said, with only Neil seeming to hear it. It was soft-spoken and vaguely British, with a small hint of nervousness in it.
Neil lifted his head up, “Who… who said that?”
“L-listen,” the voice stuttered out, “it doesn’t matter who I am, what matters is that you can still win this.”
“How?” Neil asked as he looked around, “There’s nothing we can do, Earth is doomed.”
“What did you say before? Something about hope being a chance?” the voice inquired.
Neil tried to nod, “As long as there’s hope, there’s a chance.”
“Well if you lose hope now, you lose your only chance to win this,” the voice replied, “You’re the Leo Ranger, the Brave Star, you can’t give up now, not when you’re so close to saving Earth.”
“You’re… you’re right,” Neil said as he began to get to his feet, using his sword to help him up, “I can’t let them win now, not after everything we’ve done.” He stood up and narrowed his eyes at Ankaa, “We can still do this!”
“That’s the spirit!” the voice exclaimed, “Listen, focus on Ankaa’s mask. If you can break that, then everything will be much easier.”
“Why’s that?” Neil asked, only to receive no response, “Whatever, it’s time to take you down!” Neil charged at Ankaa.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog looked away from Schedar and Alderamin and at an empty space, narrowing his eyes. “Be quiet,” he rasped.
Tip, Hydra, and Brando ganged up on Calamartia, slicing and stabbing at her. She blocked a few attacks, but they quickly began to overwhelm her, slicing her repeatedly. “Will you jelly brains stop it?” she yelled.
“Sorry, but we won’t stop until you’re toast,” Brando replied as he and the other two Rangers attacked Calamartia all at once, sending her flying across the castle grounds.
Leiurus got to his feet before Aster and Birdie did, readying his spear and panting. “You still continue to fight? You’re more of a cockroach than a scorpion,” Kaus said as he pointed his halberd at him.
Leiurus closed his eyes and whispered to himself as he thought back to how Eurypto could wrap his tail around his leg, “Eurypto could do that move, so maybe I could try too.” He wrapped his tail around his leg before suddenly speeding at Kaus, kicking him across the chest before slicing him with his spear.
“What is this?” Kaus growled as he tried to recover, only to be kneed in the chest.
“Looks like he’s taking a page from his brother’s book,” Birdie chuckled as she and Aster got to their feet.
“That was awesome, partner!” Aster exclaimed before looking at Birdie, “Let’s go help him!” Birdie nodded as the two of them charged forward.
Leiurus delivered a few more kicks to Kaus, complimenting them with stabs and slashes from his spear. He delivered a particularly devastating kick after a slash, sending Kaus staggering back, only for his momentum to be halted by a shot from Birdie. Aster rushed in, hacking Kaus across the chest repeatedly before punching him towards Leiurus, who delivered an upward slash that sent Kaus staggering back.
Just as Skragen was about to shoot Shen, Alura appeared beside the Jester, forcing his rifle back at his face just as he pulled the trigger. Shen hit the ground as Skragen gave a scream of pain and staggered back from the shot, all the eyes on his face aside from the one that resembled an upper jaw being destroyed, including the crystal eye on his forehead.
“Oops, misfire,” Alura said as Skragen staggered.
“How dare you!” Skragen roared, slashing at her, only to miss.
Sirius lunged at him, slashing his shoulder and shattering the crystal there before kicking the crystal on Skragen’s knee, shattering that one as well. Skragen gave a howl of pain. “I think your vision is not all that it used to be,” Sirius said as he slashed at Skragen again, destroying dozens more eyes with each slash, including a crystal on his hand and chest.
“When we’re done with you, dad will have a cakewalk beating you!” Arthur said, doing what Sirius did and slashing at Skragen’s eyes. He shattered the other crystal eye on his chest, the one on his other shoulder, the one on his other knee, and the one on his other hand with well-placed slashes. Skragen roared in pain as he staggered back, Arthur and Alura slashing at him more and destroying more of the sucker-eyes across his body, leaving only his jaw eye left.
“You’ll pay for this, all of you!” Skragen roared, his polite demeanor completely disappearing as he slashed wildly at the three Rangers.
Shen quickly got to his feet and rushed beside Skragen, slashing at him repeatedly with his cane. Skragen blocked a few slashes, but without all of his eyes, Skragen was unable to see Arthur turn his sword into a glaive and run up behind him, holding the shaft of the glaive in front of his neck and holding him in place.
“Nice work, Arthur!” Shen said as he slashed Skragen across the chest repeatedly.
Arthur nodded as he tossed Skragen to the side and onto the ground, “No problem, dad!”
Neil slashed at Ankaa, slicing the Duke across the chest and making him stagger back. Ankaa teleported behind Neil, but the Leo Ranger performed a spinning slash, making the Duke stumble before stabbing him in the chest.
Ankaa was sent flying back, but the Duke landed on his feet as the flames on his sword vanished. Ankaa seemed to scowl at Neil as he raised his sword, flames swirling around it and making it appear to become larger, a blast of heat shooting forth from him.
Recognizing the move, Neil quickly plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword.
“Regulus End!”
Leiurus looked at Kaus, who was in the process of getting to his feet. Leiurus whispered to himself as Aster and Birdie stood next to him, “Eurypto, I’m about to give you justice.” He plugged his Nova Sphere into his spear.
“Antares End!”
As Skragen got to his feet shakily, Shen shifted his cane into rifle mode, opening and closing the mouth of his cane as Sirius, Alura, and Arthur stood next to him.
“Eltanin End!”
Leiurus hurled his spear at Kaus, a protection of the Scorpius Zord made of orange energy appearing around it so the spear was in its stinger. The Scorpius Zord thrusted its stinger forward into Kaus’s chest, disappearing and leaving the spear jutting out of Kaus as the Duke’s body began to spark. Kaus laughed maniacally, “My death means nothing, Rangers! The Empire will still destroy you! Glory to the Dark Matter Empire! Long live his magnificence, Emperor Karna Rog!” Kaus promptly went up in flames, leaving nothing behind.
Leiurus took a deep breath, “You’ve been avenged, Eurypto.”
“This is for you, dad,” Shen said as a massive projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy appeared behind Skragen, its jaws wide open. Suddenly, it clamped its jaws down on the Jester before disappearing, leaving Skragen stumbling back and sparking.
“Curse you, Shen Arctos!” Skragen yelled before exploding, his body hitting the ground.
Ankaa swung his sword, sending a massive wave of fire in the vague shape of a bird towards Neil. Neil swung his own sword, sending a massive projection of the Leo Zord made of red energy flying towards the flames. It dispersed them as it flew through them, hitting Ankaa and creating a massive explosion, the force of which hit the bottom of the barrier around the Consumoai and shattered it. As the smoke cleared, Ankaa could be seen still standing up, a massive piece of the apparatus on his chest missing. Slowly, cracks began to form across his mask as he fell to the ground face-first, sending the pieces of it all across the ground around him while his sword fell to his side.
Mirfak looked at the fight unfolding below from a screen in his Consumoai, “So the barrier’s been destroyed, Kaus and Skragen are dead, and Ankaa’s mask has been shattered. This could be… problematic.” He hummed, “Though given their strength, perhaps I could make use of these Rangers…”
“Well that could’ve gone better,” Schedar said simply from where she stood in the throne room.
Alderamin scowled, “We lost a Duke, a Jester, and Ankaa’s mask! This is completely unacceptable!”
“Oh you’re in trouble now!” Karna Rog laughed, his voice more soft.
He suddenly shook his head as his voice returned to normal, “Let us just hope the Leo Ranger killed him.”
Neil looked at Ankaa’s body, waiting for it to move, but nothing happened. He raised his sword into the air triumphantly, “We did it guys!”
“That is three less problems we will have to deal with,” Sirius said.
Birdie pointed upwards at the Consumoai, “And look! The barrier’s broken!”
“Then that means we can put an end to all of this now!” Arthur said excitedly.
“Alright, let’s go!” Alura exclaimed as she and the others readied their Morphers.
Suddenly, Calamartia stumbled back into Crown Square, pointing her sword forward as she looked around, “Alright, you jelly brains are-”
She froze as she noticed Skragen’s body, dropping her mace, “Skragen?” She ran forward, kneeling down and shaking his body, “Honey, get up!” She slapped him across the face as she began to sob, “Get up!” She turned her attention back to the Rangers as she stood up, pointing her sword at Shen, “Shen Arctos! I will stain this place with your blood!”
Shen shook his head, “Calamartia, we don’t have time for this.”
“But will you have time for this, I wonder?” Karna Rog snapped his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the castle, pitch black lightning crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Skragen’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into a giant Skragen some distance away, “I see you!”
Calamartia’s sobs soon turned to laughter, “You’re in for it now, Rangers!”
“We need to deal with him quick!” Neil exclaimed, looking up at the giant Skragen. “It’s Megazord time!” Neil exclaimed as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The cockpits formed around the Rangers, flying off and attaching to their respective Zords, with several getting into combination to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Supernova Megazord was in its default combination, with the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the left arm, the Taurus Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg. The Draco Star Megazord was also in its default combination, with the Ursa Zords as its right arm and the Scorpius Zord as its left arm. The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords stood to the sides of them as the Aquila Zord flew above. “Let’s finish this guy and save Earth!” Neil exclaimed.
“We have to hurry, we only have five minutes left!” Birdie said, looking at her Morpher.
“Then let’s finish him quickly,” Shen growled.
Skragen swung his weapon over his shoulder as he spoke with an enraged voice, “A little rain will be perfect to drown out your screams!” His body began to glow blue as jets of ink shot from his body into the air, darkening the clouds and creating a torrential downpour.
“I can’t see anything through all this rain!” Alura exclaimed, putting hands to the edge of her cockpit.
“Prepare to die!” Skragen roared as he slashed at the Megazords, making them spark as the hits connected. Skragen blocked a swing from the Draco Star Megazord with his blade before ducking under a swing the Supernova Megazord made with the Dorado Zord. Skragen ducked under another slash before slicing at the Megazord’s wildly, making them stagger back.
“Ugh, this rain is a problem,” Leiurus said with irritation.
Kenneth Faulkner woke up and got to his feet, looking at all the shards of gold metal around where his face once laid on the ground, “Ugh, my head.” He spotted a crimson globe depicting a phoenix on it, among some metal in front of him, pulling it out. He held it in his hand, “Why do I feel more powerful?” He looked around, realizing he was in the Crown Square of Edinburgh castle, “and why am I back in Edinburgh?” He looked up, spotting the Consumoai up above, “Good grief, that doesn’t look good.” He spotted the Megazords battling Skragen, “Megazords, what’s going on here?”
“Ankaa,” Calamartia said, taking notice of him, “good to see you’re okay at least. I can’t wait to see the Rangers die!”
“Ankaa?” Kenneth gave a confused look, “Rangers?” He took a closer look at Calamartia, “You’re with the Empire, aren’t you?”
Calamartia chuckled, “Well duh, did you hit your head or something, jelly brain? I’m surprised you could even speak to begin with.”
“I guess killing Karna Rog didn’t put a stop to them,” Kenneth whispered as he narrowed his eyes, “In that case…” he held a hand out, Ankaa’s sword disappearing in a swirl of flames and moving towards his hand. It formed into a shield with a hollow section in the middle, with a sword sitting in that section. The sword itself had a trigger on its hilt and a hollow section in its cross guard, the size of a Nova Sphere. The sword and shield were mostly grey, with some gold highlights. Red flaming patterns that vaguely resembled a bird were also present all over it, with wings on the shield and the pommel of the sword resembling a bird’s head. Kenneth moved the Nova Sphere towards the slot in his shield, “I guess I’ll have to finish you.”
Calamartia seemed to realize Ankaa wasn’t Ankaa anymore. She laughed as she pointed her sword at him, a horde of Greyders and a pair of Flatborgs appearing, “I’d like to see you try!”
Kenneth smirked, “I’ll take that as a challenge.” He plugged the Nova Sphere into the slot in his shield.
“Phoenix Nova Sphere.”
He pulled the trigger on the sword’s handle, making the Nova Sphere spin around in its socket.
“Ignition.”
He pulled the sword out of the shield, making the blade ignite as small wings made of fire appeared behind him. After a moment, he was enveloped by flames that quickly began to fade.
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!” His costume was quite a bit different than the other Rangers, being primarily black with stars speckled across it with some red highlights. He had an asymmetrical star on his chest, but it was much more jagged than the other Rangers’. His helmet was red and had a silver microphone attached in front of the mouth, like an aviation headset. There seemed to be a slight dome of glass in front of his visor, which resembled a phoenix with its head facing to the left with three-feathered wings extending to each side.
Mirfak’s organic eye widened as he saw Kenneth morph, slamming his organic hand down on the control seat, “Son of a glitch!”
“Another Ranger?” Calamartia said with surprise before shaking her head, “Whatever, Earth’s gonna die anyway, get him!”
The Greyders charged at Kenneth, who just chuckled, “Could’ve at least given me a bit more of a challenge.” He casually blocked a few Greyders’ swings with his shield. He teleported behind them in a burst of flames, delivering a wide slash and making several Greyders explode in one hit. More Greyders charged at him, but he ran through them, blocking their swings and hitting them with his sword and shield, making each explode on contact. He blocked the slash from one Greyder with his shield, batting the blade down with his sword and slashing it across the chest. He delivered a spinning slash, making every Greyder around him burst into flames as the two Flatborgs fired at him with their Tonfa.
He raised his shield to block the shots as flames continued to swirl around him before pointing the bottom of his shield at the Flatborgs. He fired a pair of spinning gold projectiles at them, hitting the Flatborgs and making them explode.
“Alright,” Calamartia said as she pointed her sword at him, “you’re pretty good, but let’s see just how well you do against me!” She charged at him.
“I think I’ll do pretty good, all things considered,” Kenneth replied as he readied himself, “Hopefully you put up more of a fight.”
Tentacles extended from Skragen’s body, wrapping around the Megazord before grabbing them to slam the Megazords together twice before lashing at them with the tentacles repeatedly, “Drown in a sea of agony!”
“We can’t keep this going forever!” Arthur exclaimed.
“We’ll be iced if this keeps up!” Brando added.
Aster nodded, “There’s gotta be some way to stop this!”
Sirius growled, “If he can change the weather, then there must be a way to change it back.”
“Tip, Hydra, Birdie, can you guys do something?” Neil asked.
“We sure can!” Birdie replied.
Hydra nodded, “Leave this to us.”
“Time to say rain, rain go away!” Tip added.
The Libra and Ophiuchus Zord shifted so the top of their cockpits were pointed at the clouds, firing beams at them as the Aquila Zord flew into them, dispelling the rain.
“So you got rid of my rain, like it’ll make a difference!” Skragen laughed.
“We’ll take it from here,” Shen said to the Rangers that weren’t currently part of the Megazords.
“Maybe a little shuffling is in order,” Neil said as the arms of the two Megazords’ arms switched places, with the Dorado and Chamaeleon Zords becoming the right and left arms of the Draco Star Megazord and the Ursa and Scorpius Zords becoming the arms of the Supernova Megazord.
“Let’s go!” Neil exclaimed as the two Megazords charged forward.
Kenneth dodged several slashes and thrusts from Calamartia’s sword without even trying, even putting his sword back in his shield. She flourished her sword wildly before thrusting it at Kenneth, who caught it between his index and middle finger. Calamartia’s eyes widened, “What?” Kenneth shifted to jab her in the chest with the bottom of his shield. She panted, “Who do you think you are?”
“The man who’s going to make sure to put an end to the Empire for good this time,” Kenneth responded. He bashed his shield into the bottom of Calamartia’s blade, sending it flying into the air. He quickly pulled his sword out of his shield and brought it down on her, leaving a massive glowing slash down the middle of her body.
She spun around as explosions began to erupt from her body, “Honey, avenge me!” She exploded just as Kenneth sheathed his sword back into his shield, leaving only a singed tentacle behind.
“Well, this is gonna be a problem,” Schedar said, shaking her head.
Alderamin snarled, “All that work to put Kenneth on a short leash was for nothing, this is unacceptable!”
“Oh the Empire’s done for now!” Karna Rog chuckled, his voice different again.
He shook his head, his voice returning to normal, “This will certainly throw a wrench into our plans.”
On the Consumoai, Mirfak facepalmed, “Okay! This looks unwinnable!” Mirfak sighed, “But to stay in Karna Rog’s good graces I might as well at least try to terminate him.” He spoke into the comms, “All units, terminate this insurgent now.”
Dozens of Moriders were deployed from the Executor-class Consumoai, firing at Kenneth. “Okay, I guess you want a piece of me next,” Kenneth said. With a burst of flames, Kenneth shot into the air, slashing through several Moriders and making them explode. He landed on the side of another, stabbing into it repeatedly and darting on top of another as it exploded, crashing through several more and making them explode.
He landed on top of another Morider and stabbed into the top of it several times as more shots were fired at him, leaping onto the side of another of Mordier as it exploded. He slashed the side of the next one before darting to another as it exploded too. He slammed his sword into the front of another Morider, cutting down through it before jumping off as it exploded. He stabbed another one and made it explode before leaping down on another, slicing down and bisecting it vertically.
The two Megazords stumbled back as Skragen lashed them across the chests again. “We need to think of something quick!” Alura exclaimed.
“Dad, we’ve tried two Megazords and they’re not working, but do you know what’s better than a Megazord?” Neil asked.
Shen tilted his head, “What?”
“An Ultrazord!” Neil replied.
Shen laughed, “I like the way you think! Everyone get ready!”
The two Megazords got into position to combine, their pieces coming together.
“Roar to the stars, Dragonova Ultrazord!”
“This changes nothing!” Skragen said, extending a hand and blasting electricity at the Ultrazord, but it did absolutely nothing as it continued to move forward.
“Let’s go!” Neil exclaimed as the Ultrazord swung the Scorpius Zord, severing the tentacles from Skragen’s body before the Chamaeleon and Dorado Zord cannons blasted a barrage of shots at Skragen, sending him staggering back.
“No!” Skragen roared.
“Shall we, dad?” Neil asked.
“With pleasure, Neil!” Shen replied as he opened and closed the mouth of his cane while the other Rangers in the Ultrazord flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
“Dragonova Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of all eight Zords lit up before all of the light was transferred to the cockpit of the Leo Zord, which began to glow brighter and brighter before firing a massive beam of colorful energy from it and through the Draco Zord’s helmet, the force of the beam making the Ultrazord slide back a little. The beam hit Skragen in the chest, pushing him back into the waters of the Firth of Forth as his body sparked. “Curse you, all of you! Calamartia, avenge me!” Skragen roared before going up in flames.
“Now time to deal with the Consumoai!” Neil exclaimed.
“We need to hurry, there’s only one minute left!” Birdie replied.
Kenneth landed on top of another Morider, delivering a slash around him that destroyed every deployed Morider, including the one he was standing on, leaving only the disk on top of it behind. As the disk fell to the ground, Kenneth plugged his sword back into his shield and pulled the trigger.
“Ankaa Strike.”
He pulled his sword out of the shield, its blade now flaming as he leapt in front of the Consumoai, delivering a vertical slash down the middle of it. As Kenneth free falled towards the ground, the Consumoai exploded, and once that happened, every Consumoai across Earth began to explode as well. “Dang I’m good,” Kenneth chuckled.
Mirfak just sighed as he turned to look at a Greyder, “Pack everything up and set a course back to Ukhu Pacha, we’re done here.”
The Rangers all watched in shock as the Executor-class Consumoai exploded, with the other Consumoai exploding in sequence around it. “What just happened?” Alura asked, “Tip, Hydra, Birdie, did one of you guys do that?”
Birdie shook her head, “Don’t look at us!”
“Then who did that?” Sirius asked.
“Who cares?” Neil said happily, “It’s destroyed, gone, done for! Earth’s safe, and I think that calls for a celebration!”
“I think so too!” Arthur exclaimed.
“All right then, let’s head back to the Orion and have some fun, we all deserved it,” Shen smiled.
“Yeah,” Leiurus nodded, “but first, there’s one thing I have left to do…”
Kenneth unmorphed as he landed back in Edinburgh castle. “Man, Corvile would’ve been tearing his feathers out if he saw me pull that stunt,” Kenneth gave a sad chuckle as he took off the glove on his left hand, looking at the ring on his ring finger. He shook his head, “Actually, how was I able to do all of that anyway? Even when I gave up my immortality I could never do anything like that before.” He looked off in the distance, watching as the Ultrazord disassembled and flew off, “Maybe they know.”
That night, at the Firth of Forth, Leiurus put Eurypto’s body into a small wooden boat and cast it into the water, watching it drift away. Carefully, Arthur handed him a bow and a flaming arrow. Leiurus gave a small nod as he pointed the arrow into the air and fired it at the boat, hitting it and setting it alight. Aster put a comforting hand on Leiurus’s shoulder from where he stood behind him, “It’s gonna be okay.”
Leiurus gave a sad look, “I know, at least I got justice for him.” He turned to look at the others, “Sorry for being such a downer, guys.”
Shen shook his head, “No, Leiurus, it’s your right to mourn a loss as monumental to you as Eurypto’s.”
“Yeah,” Alura said, “it’s your grief.”
Sirius nodded, “And we did not get where we are now without loss.”
“I have heard that many see sadness as a negative emotion,” Hydra said, “but to me, it is a necessary one.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, it means you really care about something.”
“I’ll make sure to have a nice warm meal cooked up for you when we get back,” Brando comforted.
Birdie nodded, “And I’ll try to find anything that can help with dealing with grief.”
“Just tell us if you need anything, a party is something that we want, but if help is something you need, we’ll be right here,” Arthur smiled.
Leiurus gave a small smile as he turned to ruffle Arthur’s hair, “Thank you, all of you.”
After a while, the flames from the boat began to die, and Neil turned to look at Leiurus, “You okay to go back?”
Leiurus gave a smile, “Yeah.”
Neil nodded as he and the others turned to walk away, only for a figure to appear, a figure whose costume Neil recognized very well. “Ankaa!” Neil yelled as he readied his Morpher.
“Why does everyone call me Ankaa now?” Kenneth asked as he raised his arms up, “I’m Kenneth Faulkner. Now would someone mind telling me what is going on here?”
Notes:
And here it is, the longest chapter of this fic so far. Honestly, I know this was kind of a clusterfuck at points, but this is the climax of season 1, so I suppose that’s to be expected. All of our “active villains” aside from Calamartia are now dead too, paving the way for the Knights and Karna Rog to be more active in season 2. Skragen being killed by Shen was something that I decided to do here because seriously, why not? It was downright questionable why Shou wasn’t the one to kill Ikagen in Kyuranger tbh. As for Eurypto being brainwashed, well, in my opinion, did Scorpio really deserve a last minute redemption after everything he did? The brainwashing was mostly here to make it more understandable and to keep the emotional beats.
Now for the elephant in the room, Kenneth Faulkner. I’ve been planning this twist since when I came up with this adaptation. I figured it would be a more interesting way to introduce him than the Argo, and could lead to some pretty interesting character interactions between him and the others. It kinda helps that Don Aslan and Houhou Soldier share very similar color schemes (primarily black with some red highlights, and a few metallic parts). Also, it means that all 12 Rangers appeared in chapter 1 (even though I kind of consider Ankaa to be a separate character than Kenneth). I also gave him his own morphing call since it was strange that Shou had one when Tsurugi didn’t. All in all, I’m incredibly happy with this chapter, and there’s not too much I’d do differently with it. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, since I’d love to hear your thoughts on this chapter.
Chapter 22: From the Ashes
Chapter Text
“…And that’s the general rundown of things,” Neil finished explaining, looking at Kenneth. Aside from Birdie, Shen, and Arthur, all the Rangers were on the bridge and looking at the Phoenix Knight.
Kenneth sat with his legs on the bridge’s table and his arms behind his head as he looked at Neil curiously, and not just because of the information that was shared. He had switched out of the black tunic and other clothes that he wore as Ankaa, now wearing jeans and a black tank top with a crimson jacket that noticeably wasn’t one of the Revolution’s over top of it. He looked at Neil with intent and curiosity, “So let me get this straight,” he began, “it’s been three hundred years since my battle with Karna Rog, and not only did I not even manage to kill him, I was also made into his bodyguard during that time while he went on to conquer the rest of the galaxy.”
He moved a hand to gesture to the Rangers, “And after I fell unconscious, Ptolemy sacrificed himself to strengthen a few Nova Spheres and tell our few surviving forces to spread a legend, Nova Spheres that you have and a legend that you’re a part of. Am I getting this right?”
Tip nodded, “That’s kinda what Neil told you, yeah.”
Kenneth shook his head and fidgeted with the ring on his left hand, “Good grief.”
“This must all be pretty hard to swallow, huh?” Brando asked as he put a plate of food in front of Kenneth.
Kenneth shook his head, “No, it’s fine. I needed to hear all of this, so thanks for telling me.”
“You are welcome,” Sirius said.
Aster nodded from where he sat next to Leiurus, an arm slung over the Serketian’s shoulder, “Just sorry we didn’t tell ya last night.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, sorry that we kind of got wrapped up in that little party, yesterday… it was just a mess.”
“Yeah, if it weren’t for me rushing in to save the day against that Consumoai, who knows what might’ve happened,” Kenneth said with a smirk, “But it’s fine, a little boost in morale never hurts.”
Hydra gave a curious look, “How did you even do that anyway?”
Kenneth thought for a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t know. Even back when I sacrificed my immortality I never had that much strength, and I don’t know how I’d survive without my immortality for three hundred years either.”
“Or how you survived after I sliced you in the chest,” Neil added.
Kenneth looked at him with wide eyes, “What?”
“In his defense, you were trying to kill us,” Tip replied.
“Any idea why Ankaa was so into going after me anyway?” Neil asked curiously.
Kenneth thought for a moment, “I’m not sure, my memories during my time as Ankaa aren’t all there,” Kenneth looked at Neil and Arthur, “I mean, you do kind of seem familiar to me, but I’m not sure if that’s because of my time as Ankaa or if he felt it too.” He shook his head, “Anyway, do people still use cryosleep? That’s the only way I could imagine being around as long as I have now.”
“I don’t think so,” Leiurus replied, “I’ve heard that that kind of stuff is really outdated.”
Suddenly, Birdie, Shen, and Arthur entered the room. “Alright Kenneth, we finished running our scans on the Phoenix Nova Sphere and that apparatus you wore as Ankaa,” Shen explained.
Arthur handed the Phoenix Nova Sphere back to Kenneth, “Here you go, I guess.”
“Thanks,” Kenneth said as he looked back at Shen, “So what did you find?”
“Well,” Birdie said, “the mask part of the apparatus seems to have been responsible for the brainwashing, there’s small screens positioned very close to the eyes that send in subliminal messages.”
“As for the rest of the apparatus, we found something very… interesting,” Shen added.
Neil gave an intrigued look, “What would that be?”
“Well, the whole apparatus has a ton of tubes in it that connect to where the Phoenix Nova Sphere was in it,” Arthur began to explain, “We ran some tests, and there’s trace amounts of Gaiaium in them, our working theory is that it was made to circulate Gaiaium to and from the Nova Sphere.”
Birdie nodded, “And it also explained why there was always a massive spike in Gaiaium whenever Ankaa showed up.”
Kenneth nodded his head as he gave a look of realization, “I see.”
Alura looked at him, “What, do you know anything about that?”
“Well, it’s been awhile, but I remember that Ptolemy told me something interesting about the Nova Spheres,” Kenneth explained, “He said that by infusing one with Gaiaium, its powers would grow stronger. So the Gaiaium circulating in the apparatus must have reactivated my immortality somehow, and gave me the strength to destroy the Consumoai.”
“Really?” Arthur asked, “that sounds interesting.”
Shen nodded, “And why it overloaded our Nova Sphere detector when Ankaa arrived on Earth.” Shen stroked his metallic beard, “It also explains our recent readings on the Phoenix Nova Sphere.”
Kenneth cocked an eyebrow, “What’s up with it?”
“Well, its energy readings have been going down, now it’s only slightly stronger than the rest of ours,” Arthur replied.
Kenneth shook his head, “That’s a shame.”
“Anyway,” Shen said after a moment, “There’s one last thing we need to do on Earth before we leave.”
Sirius tilted his head to the side, “What is it?”
Birdie pressed a datapad, pulling up an image of a Consumoai in Seattle, “It seems that one Consumoai somehow survived the destruction of all the ones on Earth. It’s in Seattle, Washington. It might’ve somehow disconnected from the Executor-class for some reason.”
“Seattle?” Neil and Arthur exclaimed in unison.
“That’s where we used to live,” Neil said as he looked at the familiar Consumoai.
Aster chuckled, “That’s funny, we’ll be heading back to where we had our first mission on Earth for our last mission on Earth.”
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “that’s some symmetry.”
Arthur turned to look at Shen and Birdie, “Anyway, is Dandevil still in power there?”
“Yes,” Birdie replied as she pulled up an image of a Jersaoan, much like Jervil, though this one was different. Instead of being green and orange, this one was blue and white with a graduation cap on its head and what looked to be a tie around its neck as well as a monocle. It also held a red pointer.
“This guy’s basically taken over every school in Seattle,” Neil said, “Basically feeding the kids a ton of Imperial propaganda.”
“Well at least we know his powers,” Tip said, “Jervil wasn’t that hard to deal with, how tough can this guy be?”
“Well, as I said before, his control powers are apparently much stronger than the average Jersaoan, including his brother,” Birdie said, “It’s powerful enough that he can cause minor alterations to the fabric of reality.”
“Someone threw a paper airplane in the classroom once,” Arthur said, thinking back, “so he zapped him with his pointer, opened his book, and said that any more paper airplanes that guy threw would just come around and hit him. Next time he tried to do it, the airplane just changed direction midair after it was thrown at Dandevil and hit the guy in the eye. There wasn’t even a breeze or anything.”
“Well, at least we know what to expect and how to avoid it,” Neil said, “Alright, so I think the plan should be-”
“Actually, I’ll take it from here,” Kenneth said suddenly, standing up.
“What?” all the Rangers said in unison, shocked.
Kenneth shook his head, “Listen, I don’t doubt any of your abilities in the slightest, but from here on out things are going to get a lot worse. Karna Rog’s probably not happy that I’m back, and I don’t want to risk anyone getting caught in the crossfire, so I’ll be dealing with the Empire from now on, you can all just stay back, do whatever you want to do that doesn’t involve fighting.”
“My Rangers are more than capable of handling themselves,” Shen gave a barely audible growl.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, we’ve fought so hard already, and we’re not gonna stop now.”
Kenneth sighed as he fiddled with his ring, “Listen, I don’t want anyone else to lose their lives in this fight. Karna Rog… his power is beyond what you could imagine. So once I’m done liberating Earth, I’ll get right back to where I was stopping the Empire.”
“You really think you can do this alone?” Alura asked, “Are you crazy?”
“Are we sure there’s still not some leftover shenanigans with your brain after being Ankaa?” Arthur added.
“Even without my immortality and the strength I sacrificed it for, I know how to fight against him, better than the rest of you do,” Kenneth said, “Let me handle this. I’ll show you I can do it by putting an end to the Empire’s reign on Earth. I suppose it’s only fitting seeing as I’m from there.”
“Did you just forget that me and my brother are from Earth too?” Neil asked.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, we’re just as human as you are.”
Kenneth shook his head, “Still, I want you all of you to stay out of this fight, it’s between me and the Empire.” Kenneth proceeded to exit the bridge.
“Hey, wait!” Neil yelled, but Kenneth was already gone as the door closed.
Arthur sighed, “You know, a part of me liked him better when he was trying to kill us.”
“So,” Hydra asked, “what do we do now?”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of everyone staying here and twiddling their thumbs.”
“Well we’re not going to,” Shen said, narrowing his eyes, “just because he was the former president of some Galactic Federation doesn’t mean he can just tell us to stop.”
“Yeah, we’ve already done so much to kick the Empire’s butt, and I don’t wanna stop now!” Aster exclaimed.
Neil nodded, “Especially not when we’re so close to saving Earth completely.”
Hydra thought for a moment, “I agree, though I think working with him will make dealing with the Empire much easier.”
“Yeah, I don’t mind him helping,” Arthur said as he pushed up his glasses, “but he’s crazy if he thinks we’re going to hang back when me and Neil are so close to saving our home.”
Shen looked at Neil and Arthur, “Since he’s likely going after Dandevil, do you know where we’re likely to find him hanging a-round?”
“Well, he tends to go to different schools and colleges throughout the day,” Arthur said, looking at a datapad he picked up, “but right now he should be at Seattle University teaching his “History of Galactic Politics” class.” Arthur thought for a moment, “Though he could’ve changed his schedule at some point and might be somewhere else since it’s been awhile since I’ve been there.”
“Alright,” Shen said as he tapped his claws against the top of his cane, “Birdie, Brando, you go check this Seattle University place. Neil, you and Arthur will search any more academic buildings that he might be at. If you find Kenneth, make sure to help him, he’s on our side, even if he’s a bit… prickly.”
“Got it, dad,” Neil said with a nod.
Arthur nodded as well, “Sure thing.”
“We won’t let you down, Commander Long,” Birdie added.
Brando smiled, “We’ll be sure to serve up a beating for Dandevil.”
Shen nodded as the Rangers exited the bridge, “Be careful.”
“So to conclude,” Dandevil said, walking back and forth in front of his whiteboard in a college classroom, only to suddenly stop as a young man yawned. Dandevil turned to look at him, scowling, “I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior in my classroom, young man.”
He pointed his pointer at the offending student, sending a purple beam of energy flying at him. The student’s eyes widened as Dandevil pulled out a book bearing the Empire’s emblem and began to read from it, “You aren’t going to yawn or close your eyes again.”
The student’s eyes shot open as he tried to blink, but he was unable to do so. Dandevil turned his attention back towards the rest of the class, “As I was saying, that concludes our lesson on the various acts that the Dark Matter Empire and Emperor Karna Rog have done to improve the galaxy as its first and longest-running government body.”
“Oh that’s a lie and you know it,” Kenneth said, having entered the room and moved to stand in the back row of seats, leaning against the wall.
Dandevil looked up at Kenneth before looking back to the rest of the class and speaking with venom in his voice, “Class dismissed. Now don’t bother me, I have a very important meeting to attend…” The class began to file out of the room, obviously not wanting to get involved. The student Dandevil hit still tried to blink as he exited the room, but his attempts were fruitless.
“So, you’re Dandevil then,” Kenneth said as Dandevil turned his attention back to him once all the students left the classroom.
Dandevil tapped the shaft of his pointer agains his open palm, “That’s Mr. Dandevil to you, Kenneth Faulkner.”
Kenneth snorted, “Good to see at least someone remembers me around here without having to be told by some cosmic embodiment of emotions.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Dandevil replied, “After all, I was the one put in charge of scrubbing every last trace of the Galactic Federation of Free Systems from history.”
“You were the one who did that?” Kenneth said, pointing at the Marquis with a glare, “You erased everything the Federation ever did from history, everything I did to make the galaxy a better place too!”
Dandevil nodded as he extended his arms out to the sides, “Indeed I did, a few decades ago I was ordered to use my abilities to erase every record that showed the Federation ever existed. From there I went on to teach that the Empire was always in power and… “re-educate” anyone who claimed otherwise. Under orders from Dame Schedar of course.”
“Schedar’s still around?” Kenneth said, rolling his eyes, “Well I guess if any Knight were to survive it would be her.” He shook his head, “Regardless, I’m going to make you regret messing with my legacy, and take my planet back from the Empire too.”
Dandevil pointed his pointer at Kenneth, “Well then, Mr. Faulkner, bring it on.”
Kenneth extended his hand as a jet of fire that vaguely resembled a bird soared into the classroom, flying into his hand and becoming his Morpher. “It would be my pleasure,” Kenneth said as he plugged the Phoenix Nova Sphere into his sheathed sword.
“Phoenix Nova Sphere.”
He pulled the sword’s trigger, making the Nova Sphere spin around.
“Ignition.”
He morphed in a burst of flames as he unsheathed the sword from the shield, disappearing in a blast of heat threat shot towards Dandevil. He sliced at the Marquis, who quickly spun to the side to block it. Kenneth swung again, but Dandevil responded by blocking it with his pointer. “I think it’s time for recess,” Dandevil said as he ran out of the classroom, his weapon still locked with Kenneth’s.
Outside of the campus, Kenneth blocked a swipe from Dandevil’s pointer with his shield before moving behind the Marquis and swiping at him a few times. Dandevil swung his pointer to block the swings before swiping at Kenneth’s leg, forcing the Phoenix Knight to leap over it as Dandevil continued moving forward. “You're a pretty good fighter for a teacher,” Kenneth said.
“Well I do teach PE on occasion,” Dandevil replied as he spun and sliced at Kenneth, who vanished in a burst of heat before reappearing in the air a few feet back and landing on the ground with a spin. “I think it’s time for some disciplinary measures!” Dandevil exclaimed as he aimed his pointer at Kenneth, shooting a blast of purple energy at him.
“I think I’m good,” Kenneth responded, blocking the shot with his shield before moving it to the side and charging Dandevil.
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Arthur said as he and Neil walked away from another college, “he’s probably just where he always is.”
“Yeah,” Neil replied, “but look on the bright side, Birdie and Brando are probably gonna find him and Kenneth if that is where he always is.” Neil looked around as they walked down one of Seattle’s streets, “Besides, it’s nice to be back home.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded, “Man, how long has it been since we got wrapped up in all of this?”
Neil thought for a moment, “Two, two and a half, maybe three months?”
“Yeah,” Arthur shrugged, “that sounds about right.” He shook his head, “It’s been awhile. Hard to believe that you were working at a fro-yo place while I was at school, and now we’re kicking the Empire’s butt to liberate the galaxy.”
“And got adopted by a purple alien dragon,” Neil added with a smile.
Arthur laughed, “Yeah, how could I forget?” He took a deep breath, “You know, I still miss mom, but dad… I’m glad we met him, he’s great. He’s not trying to replace her, but he’s still trying to look out for us.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded sadly, “maybe it’s because he knows what it’s like to lose a parent, and I am pretty close to the age he was when his dad died.” He shook his head, “Maybe once this is all over, we can get him to legally adopt us.”
“I’d like that,” Arthur said before laughing, “You think he would’ve married mom? Has he even mentioned if he likes women?”
Neil shrugged, “I asked him about that once, and he said, and I quote, “No one in the universe can comprehend my preference.” Not sure what he means by that.” Suddenly, he got a call from his Morpher, which he promptly lifted up, “Hello?”
“Neil, we found Dandevil and Kenneth!” Birdie exclaimed from next to Brando some distance away from where Kenneth and Dandevil fought.
“He’s handling him all on his own too!” Brando added.
Neil’s eyes widened, “Really? That’s amazing!” He took a deep breath to calm himself, “Me and Arthur will be right there.”
“And we’ll help Kenneth with Dandevil!” Birdie said cheerfully.
“Got it,” Neil nodded before turning to look at Arthur, “Think you’re up for a class reunion?”
Arthur smiled, “I’m more than up for it.”
Neil grinned, “Then let’s head out!” The two of them broke into a sprint.
“Alright, let’s get going!” Birdie said as she looked at Brando.
Brando nodded, “Got it!” The two of them plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Kenneth rolled out of the way of an attack from Dandevil as Brando slashed the Marquis across the chest with his saber, staggering Dandevil as Birdie tried to smack him with her blaster. Dandevil blocked the attack as Brando ran up behind him, ducking under the Dorado Ranger’s slash before moving out of the way of the two of them. “Rangers!” Dandevil snarled, “You’ll pay for killing my dear brother, Jervil!”
Brando slashed at Dandevil as Birdie punched with her Morpher, but Dandevil blocked it before the Two Rangers forced him back.
By now, Kenneth had gotten back to his feet and simply watched the two fight the Marquis, raising his weapons in confusion, “I thought I told you guys to stay out of this.”
“We’ve already worked hard to bring the Empire down, and we’re not gonna stop now!” Brando exclaimed as he sliced at Dandevil, who sliced at him in turn, making Brando move to the side.
Birdie gracefully moved around Dandevil’s swipes, grabbing his pointer before shooting him in the chest, “And I’ve always dreamed of helping defeat the Empire, and be more than just a secretary! I’m not giving up my dream!”
Kenneth tilted his head to the side and pointed his sword forward, “Please, leave this to me. I’m not going to let anyone get hurt that doesn’t need to.”
“We’re supposed to fight, it’s what your friend wanted!” Brando exclaimed before getting shoved towards Birdie by Dandevil. Birdie quickly avoided him as he hit the ground, but was promptly slashed by Dandevil’s pointer, sending her flying against a small tree and falling to the ground.
“Good grief,” Kenneth said with disappointment.
Brando quickly got to his feet and ran over to Birdie, trying to help her up. “You’re wide open!” she yelled.
“I don’t care!” Brando said as he tried to help her up, only to get nailed in the back by a purple energy shot from Dandevil’s pointer. He quickly stood up and looked at his back, “It… didn’t do anything?”
Dandevil pulled out his book and began to read from it, “Any attacks directed at me will instead hit Kenneth Faulkner.”
“Yeah right!” Brando fired his Morpher at Dandevil, sending three yellow energy spheres flying at the Marquis. Suddenly, the shots stopped right in front Dandevil before suddenly changing direction at Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield.
“Why did you do that?” Kenneth yelled, “Didn’t that Arthur kid already tell you how his ability worked?”
“Sorry!” Brando yelled as he ducked under a swing from Dandevil as Birdie blocked it with her blaster. The two of them maneuvered around, forcing Dandevil’s pointer up before red and cyan energy blasts hit the Marquis as a morphed Neil and Arthur arrived. They plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Polaris Strike!”
Red and cyan energy crescents flew at Dandevil, striking him in the chest and making him roll across the ground before getting to his feet and clutching his chest. Dandevil scowled, “Well, it’s been awhile since I taught math, but five against one are hardly good odds. I suppose that concludes today’s lecture.” Dandevil suddenly shot into the air and flew away.
“Of course, he just had to get away,” Kenneth sighed as he, and the others unmorphed. He looked at Birdie and Brando, “I was handling him just fine.”
“Listen,” Neil said with surprising annoyance behind his words, “we aren’t just gonna sit around and do nothing while the Empire’s still taking over Earth. Ever since I found out that the Empire could be stopped, I’ve wanted to be someone that helps bring it down, and I’m not gonna let some three hundred-year-old guy who tried to kill us multiple times while he was brainwashed tell us what to do.”
“That wasn’t my fault and you know it,” Kenneth replied, “I’m just trying to keep you and everyone else safe.”
“We can handle ourselves,” Arthur replied.
Brando nodded, “We’ve cleaned up plenty of Imperial forces before, a Marquis is hardly an appetizer at this point.”
“You might be able to handle Marquises, but you’re still no match for the Emperor,” Kenneth replied with narrowed eyes, “I can handle him, you don’t need to get involved.”
Neil gave a skeptical look, “You can handle him? The last time you fought him you ended up getting brainwashed.”
“What Neil means to say,” Birdie replied, trying to de-escalate the situation, “is that even if you’re as strong as you say you are, fighting alone again isn’t a good idea.”
“Again?” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes, “I never fought Karna Rog alone before, I fought him alongside warriors from the other eighty-seven constellations, friends of mine from across the galaxy, and do you know what happened to them?” He clenched his fist and looked down at his left ring finger, “They died, aside from the ones you said Ptolemy was able to help escape, they all fell to Karna Rog one by one. I watched my friends fall against him trying to help me, and I’m not going to let anyone get hurt by him again.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment before Kenneth sighed, “Fine, you can fight if you’re going to keep bugging me about it, but only for now. After this we are splitting up and you’re going to stop. Do I make myself clear?”
“Well, I guess it’s better than nothing,” Birdie shrugged with a sigh.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, that’s kind of what we were sent to do anyway. Help you out.”
“But we’re not stopping after this,” Arthur replied.
Neil nodded at his brother before looking back at Kenneth, “And don’t think you can do anything to stop us from doing it either.”
Kenneth sighed, “Fine, Birdie, Brando, come with me. You other two look around somewhere else for him.” He promptly began to walk off.
“Hey, wait!” Neil yelled, but by then Kenneth was already gone.
“Don’t sweat it Neil, we’ll help him,” Brando said comfortingly.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, we’ll try and talk some sense into him.”
Arthur looked up at Neil, “Besides, it would probably be a good idea to keep you away from him for a bit.”
Neil sighed, “Yeah, I guess I could use some time to calm down.” He looked at the two of them, “Be careful you two.”
Brando nodded, “Don’t worry Neil, we will.”
“Yeah, no need to worry about us,” Birdie said.
Neil watched as the two of them began to walk off and gave a small smile, “Be safe.”
Kenneth sighed and shook his head as he continued to walk, glancing back behind him at Birdie and Brando before mumbling, “Why do you insist on putting yourselves in danger like this? I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”
Mirfak entered the throne room of Ukhu Pacha, where his fellow Knights and Karna Rog were already gathered. “Well if it ain’t Mirfie,” Schedar said as Mirfak walked towards them, “Man, that apparatus you made to control Kenneth was really flimsy.”
“Be quiet, Schedar,” Mirfak said with annoyance, “This mess is hardly my fault and you know it.”
“Mess?” Alderamin chuckled darkly before his voice became serious, “Mirfak, this isn’t a mess, a mess would be someone spilling a drink on the break room floor. This is a fiasco, and a completely unacceptable one at that!”
“Silence, all of you,” Karna Rog rasped, making the Knights take a knee as he pulled down his head to reveal his face, “Our current situation is an unfortunate one, and one that must be dealt with as soon as possible.” He looked his Knights over before speaking again, “You are to go hunt the Rangers personally. I’ve already called several Dukes and a Duchess to assist you in this endeavor.”
“Of course my liege,” Alderamin said respectfully.
Schedar nodded before speaking cheerfully, “I’ll make sure those pesky Rangers pay!”
“I will bring the Doctor and Dogolem with us, there’s still a few experiments I need to oversee the completion of,” Mirfak stated.
Karna Rog narrowed his eyes, “Then who will oversee Project Wormwood?”
“I can set up an automated system to keep it going just fine,” Mirfak replied.
“Well, if you’re confident, I suppose I will allow it,” Karna Rog rasped.
Alderamin spoke suddenly, looking up at Karna Rog, “With all due respect, my liege, what are you planning to do? Kenneth Faulkner is one of your greatest enemies, surely you’d want to be more involved in his defeat.”
Karna Rog gave an emotionless chuckle, “Do not worry, Sir Alderamin. I have my own plan in mind, a plan that will get me close to the Rangers and let me tear them apart from the inside.”
The Emperor’s voice suddenly changed and he seemed to panic, “No, you can’t do that!”
“And what are you going to do to stop me?” Karna Rog’s voice returned to normal. “The three of you are dismissed,” he said, looking back at his Knights.
“Of course, Emperor,” Schedar said as she and her male counterparts exited the throne room.
“So, you said you’re a secretary android, right?” Kenneth asked as he looked at Birdie, who was walking behind him alongside Brando.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, I was designed and built by the Aquila Corporation to serve as a secretary and pilot, don’t think they had me being a Ranger in mind though.”
Kenneth gave a hum, “Well, for someone who wasn’t built for fighting, you do a pretty decent job at it.”
“Oh, uh, thank you,” Birdie replied.
“Yeah, she’s a pretty crack shot with her blaster,” Brando smiled.
Kenneth nodded, “You’re no slouch with your saber either, I assume you picked your cutting skills up from being a chef?”
“Sure did,” Brando replied with a grin.
Kenneth smiled, “I have a talent for piecing things together, well, most of the time anyway.” He sighed before he stopped walking and looked back at them, “Listen, I’m… sorry for what happened back there. I don’t want anyone else to die in all of this. I’ve already lost too many people, too many friends to Karna Rog already, and I don’t want to add eleven more to that list. So please, let me deal with the Empire, I really don’t want you to end up like all the others that fought him. Well, aside from me and the other nine that got away.”
Birdie shook her head, “You said it yourself, we can fight, we don’t need to be held back.”
“I know, I know,” Kenneth sighed, “It’s just… I don’t want you to be victims of the Empire.”
“Kenneth,” Birdie said, “we’ve messed with the Empire plenty of times already, they want to see us dead regardless.”
Brando thought for a moment, taking a deep breath, “And we’re chosen by Ptolemy, your friend, to defeat the Empire. He gave his life to give the galaxy one last bit of hope to defeat the Empire. He sacrificed everything so the Empire could be defeated. Did you forget that? We aren’t going to let his sacrifice be in vain.”
Kenneth’s eyes widened, “Oh, OH.” He looked to the side, “I… remember Neil saying that, but… I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t fully process it.”
“It’s fine, Kenneth, there was a lot to process. I mean, you didn’t know anything that was going on for the past three hundred years,” Brando comforted.
“Yeah, I guess that I… didn’t fully consider that,” Kenneth sighed and shook his head, “I’m sorry, Ptolemy was a very dear friend to me, if he… chose you, then I guess I shouldn’t try and stop you then. I guess I should give you a chance to help, to help honor his memory at least.”
“You should give us a chance because of our skills, not because we were chosen because of your friend,” Birdie replied.
“Yeah,” Kenneth nodded, “I guess I should.” He looked at the two of them, “Alright, let’s find Dandevil and see what you guys can really do.”
Suddenly, Neil and Arthur ran into view. “Oh, hey guys, did you sniff out Dandevil yet?” Brando asked.
Arthur shook his head, “Sorry, but we didn’t find anything.”
Kenneth sighed as he looked at Neil and Arthur, “Listen, I’m sorry for what I said earlier, about not being able to deal with Karna Rog. I should’ve seen and realized that you’re capable of helping me deal with him. You have your own reasons for wanting to keep fighting, and it was incredibly inconsiderate of me to try and make you stop, especially after you freed me from my brainwashing.”
Neil thought for a moment, “Well, I guess it’s good that you changed your mind. I mean, I get that you were worried and everything, but you really felt a little too overprotective.” Neil sighed, “But I guess if you’re not gonna try and stop us from fighting anymore, I guess I can accept your apology. From one Earthling to another, let’s just focus on saving Earth.”
“Yeah, let’s work together to get us done, even if one of us is a child,” Kenneth said, looking at Arthur, “If he was able to help damage the Empire as much as the rest of you have, I guess there’s no reason to stop you.”
Arthur nodded, “I have helped a lot if I do say so myself.”
Kenneth smiled, “Well, I look forward to seeing you in action.” He froze up before grabbing Brando’s arm with his Morpher on it, pointing the Dorado Ranger’s arm off to the side and firing it.
“Hey, what was that for?” Brando exclaimed.
“Ow!” Dandevil said as he staggered back, obviously having attempted to get the jump on the Rangers while they were talking.
“Dandevil!” Arthur shouted, pointing at the Marquis.
“Arthur Astra?” Dandevil said with confusion, pointing his pointer at the Ursa Ranger, “You were one of my best students, it’s such a shame to see you fall in with such a bad crowd.”
“A bad crowd?” Arthur replied, “The only bad crowd around here is you!”
“Time to take him down!” Birdie yelled, pointing at Dandevil with a hand on her hip.
Kenneth nodded as he looked at the other Rangers, “Alright, time to see what you can do.” He plugged his Nova Sphere into his shield as the others plugged theirs into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The five of them were surrounded by light and flames, which quickly faded to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the four Rangers of the Revolution exclaimed in unison before all five of them charged.
“Looks like recess is over,” Dandevil stated as a horde of Greyders and a single Flatborg appeared, “Attack!” The horde charged forward towards the Rangers, who began slicing and blasting through the crowd with their weapons.
Kenneth slashed a Greyder across the chest before disappearing in a blast of heat and reappearing behind another one, slashing it across the back of the head. He quickly slashed at Dandevil, who blocked it with his pointer. “I think it’s time I teach you what I can do,” Kenneth said as he charged forward, forcing Dandevil back as they ran off.
“Brando, Birdie! You guys help Kenneth, me and Arthur will deal with these guys!” Neil exclaimed, spinning himself in a circle with his sword outstretched, slicing through several surrounding Greyders as they tried to slash him. Meanwhile, Arthur lashed at a Greyder with his scarf before slashing another with his glaive.
“Got it!” Brando said.
“Leave it to us!” Birdie added before the two of them ran off.
Neil blocked a slice from a Greyder before swiping his sword in an arc, striking down a few Greyders in front of him. Arthur ducked under a Greyder’s swing before slicing upwards, “Man, there’s a ton of these things!”
“Yeah,” Neil said, “it doesn’t feel like we’re thinning out the crowd at all!” He slashed another Greyder. “But we need to keep going!”
The brothers continued slashing through Greyders, making them fall one by one until only a few were left alongside the Flatborg. The Flatborg glared at them as it fired a few missiles at them from its Tonfa, with the duo quickly rolling out of the way.
“Better deal with that guy fast!” Arthur exclaimed as he batted a Greyder away before charging at the Flatborg alongside Neil. They slashed at the Flatborg repeatedly making it stagger back. The two slashed at a few more Greyders around them, bringing their numbers down further.
“Alright, let’s end this,” Neil said as he and Arthur plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Polaris Strike!”
The Flatborg swung at the Rangers as it moved back towards them, but they quickly avoided it, moving so it was in between the two of them. The two Rangers quickly slashed at the Greyders that were approaching them with their energy-imbued weapons, making them explode. They quickly spun around to face the Flatborg, bringing their weapons down at once. The two slices cleaved through the Flatborg, making it explode.
In a junkyard some ways away, Birdie flew through the air and blasted at Dandevil as Kenneth teleported around the Marquis as he slashed him, eventually tossing Dandevil to the ground. Birdie landed beside Kenneth as he looked at Dandevil’s prone form, the human glancing at her, “Nice job.”
Birdie gave a salute, “Thanks!”
”Such overconfidence,” Dandevil growled.
Kenneth chuckled as he pointed his sword at the Marquis, “It’s only overconfidence if you can’t back it up, and you know I can.”
Brando stood at the top of a pile of junk, aiming his Morpher at Dandevil, “Time for me to serve up some punishment too!” He fired at Dandevil as the Marquis got to his feet, but the Marquis chuckled as the shots stopped right in front of him before flying at Kenneth, who quickly blocked them with his shield.
“Good grief, you really need to stop doing that,” Kenneth said with a groan.
Dandevil chuckled, “I told you, any attacks that would hit me are going to hit Kenneth Faulkner instead. That lack of memorization will cost you on the finals!”
Brando thought for a moment, “Well in that case…” He frontflipped off the pile of junk and ran at Kenneth, slashing at the Phoenix Knight.
Kenneth avoided the slashes before blocking one with his sword and forcing Brando’s saber to the side. “Oh, I get it,” Kenneth said, recognition in his voice.
Brando nodded, “Then let’s make this guy toast.” The two of them ran towards Dandevil, slashing their blades at each other and making sparks as they collided. Kenneth maneuvered in front of Dandevil, pushing him back as Brando moved so Kenneth and Dandevil were lined up right in front of him. He fired his Morpher at Kenneth, who ducked to the side so the shot hit Dandevil in the neck.
Brando then moved forward, kicking his leg through the air at Kenneth, who ducked under it so it collided with Dandevil and knocked him to the ground.
“What is the meaning of this?” Dandevil said with irritation, “How are you twisting the lesson I taught you?”
“Seems like Brando’s already directing his attacks at Kenneth,” Birdie observed, “so they can’t be redirected at him.”
Dandevil groaned as he got to his feet, with Kenneth once again getting between Brando and the Marquis. He held his shield in front of him at Brando, “Now!”
Brando slashed at Kenneth twice, with Kenneth blocking the first attack with his sword and the second with his shield. Brando then delivered a kick at Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield before using the force to spin around and slice Dandevil across the neck with the bottom of it.
Dandevil rolled across the ground before getting to his feet, raising his pointer to see that half of it had been snapped off by Kenneth’s attack. “No! Now my lessons will lose effect!” Dandevil said with horror.
“Nice one, Brando!” Birdie cheered.
Kenneth nodded as he looked at the yellow Ranger, “Yes, that was a pretty impressive plan.”
Brando glanced at Kenneth, “Thanks.” He looked at the Phoenix Knight intently as he continued to speak, “I hope this showed you that we’re capable. Don’t forget that we’re Power Rangers, and we’ve been chosen to protect the galaxy just like you are.”
Kenneth nodded, “I promise I won’t.”
Neil and Arthur quickly arrived, running up to the other three Rangers. “Looks like he’s on his last legs!” Neil exclaimed.
“Yeah, we were just about to finish him off,” Birdie said as she looked at the two.
Kenneth nodded, “Care to join?”
“Yeah,” Arthur said with a nod, “I think it’s time that we taught him a lesson.”
Neil chuckled, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.” The five Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons.
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Strike!”
Kenneth slashed his sword, sending a jet of flames that resembled a bird flying at Dandevil. Neil and Arthur slashed their weapons as well, sending a red and cyan energy slashes at Dandevil. Brando swung his saber, sending a flurry of yellow energy crescents forward. Birdie fired her Blaster, firing a powerful blast of pink energy at Dandevil.
The shots collided with the Marquis, making him stagger back as his body began to spark. “Jervil, my brother, I’m sorry!” Dandevil called out before being engulfed in a massive explosion, his body hitting the ground.
Arthur gave the body a pitiful look,”I feel bad, he was trying to avenge his brother up until the end.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, if I was in his shoes, I would too.”
“Yeah, I would too,” Arthur said sadly.
“Even if he was evil, he still cared for his brother,” Brando said sadly.
“At least he had some good in him, I’ll give him that,” Kenneth said, shaking his head.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, he was somewhat nicer than some of the other Marquises we dealt with, I guess.”
Neil glanced at the body, “Well, I can only hope that they’re back together, no matter where they may be.”
Karna Rog watched Dandevil’s defeat from a screen in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, “Such a shame, but it’ll be a bit before you can see your brother again, Marquis Dandevil.” He raised his clawed hand, “After all, I still need you to teach the Rangers and Kenneth Faulkner a lesson they’ll never forget.” He gave a snap.
A dark cloud formed above the junkyards, with pitch black electricity crackling through it. After a moment a pitch black bolt of lightning shot down from it to hit the Dandevil’s body, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy which flew away before reforming into a giant Dandevil, “Looks like school is back in session!” Off in the distance, Dandevil’s Consumoai shifted into its robot mode as well.
“Looks like it’s Megazord time!” Neil exclaimed, “Let’s do this, guys!”
“Actually,” Kenneth said, looking at the four other Rangers, “Would you mind if I show off a little something of mine? I’m sure you’ll find it amazing, no doubt.”
“Well then, let’s see it!” Neil asked.
Kenneth nodded, “Of course.” He plugged his sword into his shield, pulled the trigger, and pulled it out, becoming surrounded by a large red Nova Sphere cockpit that flew into the air, aided by what appeared to be thrusters underneath it. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble as a mountain split open. Inside of it was the ship that Ankaa had piloted, though its black coloration had now become white, with its Nova Sphere just behind the nose cone and its wings folded in front of it. It sat atop of a large black launchpad with treads.
“Phoenix Launcher, begin ignition sequence!” Kenneth declared as it rolled out of the mountain, moving forward before coming to a stop as the shuttle’s wings unfurled to the sides. Kenneth pulled a pair of levers in the cockpit, shifting its interior so it was facing upwards.
“Phoenix Zord!” Kenneth exclaimed as the shuttle began to take off. “Three! Two! One! Liftoff!” The Zord flew into the air, burning as it exited the atmosphere. The shuttle approached some kind of massive red and gold satellite with blue panels. The satellite appeared to be mostly hollow from the bottom to the top, with a hexagonal opening surrounded by gold on the front of it.
Kenneth pulled the trigger on his sword, pulling it out of his shield as the Nova Sphere in it began to spin. “Phoenix Satellite, begin combination!” The satellite shifted so the Phoenix Zord could fly into the opening at the bottom of it, which it proceeded to do so the nose cone of the Phoenix Zord was sticking out of the top of it and the cockpit was visible through its hexagonal hole.
The sides of the satellite flipped down, with hands flipping out of them. The lower half of the Phoenix Zord split open as the wings folded so they were flat against its sides, becoming a pair of legs. Pieces of the Phoenix Satellite’s panels detached and flew into the hands becoming a pair of blades. A blue section on the back of the nose cone slid up, becoming the visor of a face that appeared to be a breathing apparatus.
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
The Megazord re-entered the atmosphere, landing some distance away from Dandevil and the Consumoai. “Let’s hope the two of you don’t burn up on re-entry!” Kenneth declared as the Solar Flare Megazord swung its swords around before pointing one at the Marquis and machine.
“Good gravy! He can make a Megazord all by himself?” Brando said with surprise.
“That’s incredible!” Birdie exclaimed.
Arthur looked upwards, “It’s gotta be super strong then!”
“Okay, maybe this guy is pretty cool,” Neil said with awe.
Dandevil charged with the Consumoai at the Solar Flare Megazord, who began to charge in turn. The Megazord blocked a swing from the Consumoai’s lance before spinning out of the way of Dandevil’s repaired pointer and slashing the Marquis. It slashed at the two of them again before they could react, running between them as they staggered. The Megazord took a few more swings at the Consumoai before blocking an attack from the machine’s lance and Dandevil’s pointer before forcing the two of them back.
Kenneth pulled a lever, using the thrusters that were on the Megazord’s feet to propel itself forward as it slashed at Dandevil and the Consumoai. It flew back at them again, firing at them from the back of its head and slashing at them as it flew between them, making their bodies spark as it landed back on the ground.
“Well, I think you have the answer to this question, why not volunteer?” Dandevil said as he pushed the Consumoai in front of him.
Kenneth pulled the trigger on his sword from where it was inserted into his shield, causing the flame patterns across the Megazord to create actual flames before they jumped to its blades.
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The Megazord swung both of its blades, sending a massive X-shaped slash made of fire flying towards the Consumoai. The Consumoai tried to block it, but it cut through, making it explode and sending Dandevil flying off to the side.
“I guess I’ll just have to make you get back to your seat!” Dandevil declared, pointing his pointer at the Megazord and launching a barrage of purple energy blasts at it. The Megazord avoided most of them until the Phoenix Satellite detached itself and flew into the air as a pair of beams flew at it. The Satellite absorbed the shots with its panels before sending them flying back at Dandevil, striking the Marquis before the Satellite flew down on Dandevil, holding him in its hollow section and restraining him. “No! Now I can't move!” Dandevil yelled.
“You know, as a president, I found the idea of burning books to be unforgivable, but I think I can make an exception when it comes to you!” Kenneth said as the Phoenix Zord flew towards Dandevil at breakneck speed. He pulled his sword out of his shield.
“Solar Flare Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Phoenix Zord became wreathed in flames as it continued forward, colliding with Dandevil in a massive explosion. In the process, the Phoenix Zord and the Phoenix Satellite combined again, landing some distance behind the explosion. “Class Dismissed!” Dandevil yelled his final words.
“Looks like you couldn’t take the heat,” Kenneth said as the Solar Flare Megazord lowered its weapons.
The Capital-class Consumoai returned to Earth, hovering in the atmosphere above Edinburgh as Alderamin appeared there in a swirl of dark matter. He made his way down a street, looking through alleyways before spotting what he was looking for and entering it, “Well hello, Calamartia.”
Calamartia’s eyes widened before she took a knee, “Sir Alderamin, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“The feeling is mutual, Calamartia,” Alderamin replied.
Calamartia looked up at him with a confused look, “Sir, may I ask why you are here?”
“I simply came to see if you were still alive,” Alderamin replied, “Me and the other Knights have been assigned to hunt the Power Rangers, and I figured you’d make for a valuable asset.”
“You’ve been assigned to hunt the Rangers?” Calamartia gave a look of realization, “Are you saying that-”
“Your husband and Kaus are dead, yes,” Alderamin replied bluntly.
“No!” Calamartia screamed, slamming her fist on the ground, “Curse those jelly brains! Curse them and everything they stand for! Skragen was my best friend! No, he was more than that!”
Alderamin simply moved forward and patted her on the shoulder with his right hand, “That’s another reason why I came to look for you, I figured you’d be interested in taking revenge against the Power Rangers.”
“Of course I do!” Calamartia exclaimed, “They killed the man I loved! So now I’ll kill everything they love!”
“Excellent, your services will be… acceptable,” Alderamin chuckled before he disappeared with Calamartia in a swirl of dark energy.
“So, Earth is freed from the Empire now,” Sirius said happily.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, seems like all our hard work finally paid off.”
“And it also means another planet is out of the Empire’s grubby hands!” Tip said excitedly.
“Man, we’ve really been kicking their butts lately, haven’t we, partner?” Aster said, looking at Leiurus, who currently had the robot’s arm slung over his shoulder.
“Yeah, each and every day we’re doing more and more damage to them, it won’t be long before this is all over,” Leiurus said with a smile and a hopeful sigh.
Hydra thought for a moment, “This is quite the accomplishment, and I’ve heard that many people often celebrate to express their excitement about things like this.”
“I could whip up some more food in that case, my treat,” Brando smiled.
Birdie seemed interested in that, “Ooh, mind if I help?”
Brando nodded, “Sure thing!”
“I hope it will be good, I am starving,” Sirius said.
“Hey, Kenneth wanna help us?” Birdie asked.
Kenneth, who had been looking out the window at Earth, turned around to look at the two of them, “Cooking? I’m not sure, that’s probably one of the few things I’m not good at.”
Brando chuckled, “Oh come on, you can’t be that bad at it, besides, you have me to help.”
Kenneth chuckled, “Alright, I guess I can indulge.”
“Great! Follow us!” Biride said as she grabbed Kenneth’s arm and led him out of the bridge with Brando.
Shen laughed before turning his attention back to the other Rangers, “Alright, once everyone’s done with their food, we’ll leave and head a-round to another planet. No use in staying here any longer.” He smiled as he looked at the Rangers, “I’m proud of you, all of you, for everything you’ve done these past few months, and I hope you’re just as proud of yourselves as I am of you.”
All of the Rangers with mouths smiled, and it was easy to tell that even the ones who didn’t would be given their body language. Neil smiled before speaking, “Hey dad, can me and Arthur take one last look at it?”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, it’ll probably be awhile before we’ll be back again.”
Shen nodded, “Of course you can, I know just how important this place is to you two.”
“Thanks,” Neil grinned as he and Arthur maneuvered behind the pilot’s seat, looking at the Earth below as Shen came up behind them, putting his arms around their shoulders.
“And I’m especially proud of the both of you. There's no doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have without the two of you. You’re the best sons an old coot like me could ever ask for,” Shen said softly and affectionately.
Arthur giggled a bit as he looked up at the draconic alien, “Thanks, dad, you’re the best dad me and Neil could ever ask for too.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, you’re awesome. I might’ve known who my real dad was, but ever since he left mom, Arthur and me, I don’t consider him that. To me, you’re my real dad. Thanks for helping us get our planet back.”
“Oh it’s no problem,” Shen chuckled, “I’ll always be here to help with whatever you need, because I love the two of you.”
“Thanks,” Arthur smiled.
Neil grinned as he nodded, “Yeah, thanks, dad. With all twelve of us, the galaxy’s gonna be freed, no matter what.”
“Earth must be really weird now, huh?” Birdie asked Kenneth as the two of them alongside Brando made their way to the kitchen.
“Why do you say that?” Kenneth asked, tilting his head to the side.
Brando shrugged, “Well, it has been three hundred years since you’ve been there, it’s bound to be different.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Kenneth said after a moment, “now it doesn’t really look all that different to some of the more primitive planets the Federation contacted. It’s strange, but not something I wouldn’t have imagined.”
“How was basically being the president of the galaxy anyway?” Birdie asked before chuckling, “Maybe I could be your biographer.”
Kenneth chuckled, “Oh trust me, there was never a dull moment, there was always some kind of political drama or feud between planets or something, sometimes it felt like being a glorified babysitter.”
“Can’t imagine how difficult that would be, not to mention boring. I’ve never really been one for politics,” Brando said with a smile.
“Yeah, it could be hectic at times, but there was always someone there to help out,” Kenneth smiled, looking down at the ring on his left hand as he continued to walk.
In the depths of space, a pod floated through the void aimlessly, a being frozen solid within it. Despite the inactivity of the being’s body, the same could not be said for its mind.
“It’s foolish to think you can stop my plan,” a voice that sounded like Karna Rog’s said in its mind.
“Well I have to try. I won’t let you hurt him, I won’t let you hurt any of them,” a softer voice replied, the same one Neil had heard yesterday.
“It doesn’t matter, he will die alongside all of the others,” Karna Rog responded.
“Why are you even doing this? We had a deal!” the other voice questioned.
“I’ve altered the terms of the deal because of your intervention about Ankaa’s true nature back at Edinburgh,” Karna Rog replied.
“You two-faced slime! I won’t let you get away with this!” the other voice said, “I won’t let you hurt them, not Neil or Arthur or… Or…”
“…Kenneth.”
Notes:
Dandevil: Portmonteau of Dandy and Devil (as he’s based on the Jersey Devil)
And here it is, the final chapter of season 1. Apologies for the delay, I needed a bit of time to regain my energy after last chapter. Anyway, we get to see a bit more of Kenneth this chapter, and it shows how he’s a bit different than Tsurugi, since while he’s also very confident, he’s also a lot more open with his worries than Tsurugi is. Don’t worry though, they’ll still be a bit more friction left to deal with between him and the other Rangers next chapter. I decided to have some focus on Neil and Arthur this chapter as well, since this is the chapter where the Empire is finally run off of Earth, as well as the last chapter that we’ll be on Earth for for a while. Oh, and for Karna Rog’s face reveal, I deliberately didn’t describe what he actually looked like, since I feel like if this was an actual TV show, the camera would be very deliberately positioned during that scene to never show his face. Overall, I’m really happy with this chapter. As an aside, I’ll be going on a bit of a hiatus for a while to focus on finalizing some aspects of season 2. Now, since we’re officially halfway through, I really want to hear your thoughts about everything so far, so comments are especially welcomed and appreciated today. Hope you’re enjoying everything!
Chapter 23: Earthlings
Notes:
Supernova Megazord (New Formation)
Supernova Megazord (New Formation)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“And that’s another win for me!” Neil exclaimed as he played a video game on one of the holographic screens on the Orion’s bridge along with Sirius and Tip. Hydra and Alura watched on with interest as Arthur continued tinkering with some kind of device and Leiurus was helping Aster with some kind of puzzle on a sheet of paper.
Tip threw their arms up, “Dang it! I was so close!”
“You seem frustrated, Tip,” Hydra said with his usual deadpan, “I’m sure you’ll win next time though.”
Tip gave a defeated shrug, “I guess.”
“You are quite good at this, Neil,” Sirius said as he put his own controller down.
Arthur looked up from what he was working on, “Yeah, Neil’s pretty great with just about any game you give him.”
“I’m not surprised, you’re a pretty quick learner, Neil,” Alura said.
Neil chuckled and put a hand against the back of his head, “Thanks.”
“I’d say Arthur is too,” Leiurus said, looking up from the paper and glancing at the human in question.
Arthur shrugged and adjusted his glasses, “What can I say? I just like to learn.” Suddenly, Shen entered the room, “Oh, hey dad.”
“Hey, Arthur,” Shen chuckled, ruffling the Ursa Ranger’s hair before turning to look at the rest of them, “Can someone look a-round for Kenneth? We’ve got a mission today and we’ll need him to help with it.”
Neil looked back at his adoptive father, “I sure can. Do you want me to get Birdie and Brando too?”
Shen shook his head, “I’ve already talked to the two of them and told them to head here. We just need Kenneth.”
“I will go too,” Sirius said, moving towards Neil and looking at him with a nod, “I have not fully memorized his scent, but I do recognize it.”
Neil gave a stretch as he made his way to the bridge’s exit alongside the wolfman, “Good idea, Sirius. He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
Kenneth stood in one of the Orion’s corridors keeping his eyes on the stars outside through a window. He closed his eyes for a brief moment…
He remembered the smoke and fires burning around him as he stood in the plaza of an ancient city with towering stone buildings, the limp forms of his comrades littered the ground around him. He was panting, barely able to stand and weakly gripping his sword and shield.
His opponent stood some distance away, its dark silhouette standing in front of a fire and its yellow. The figure lifted up one of its hands and seemed to hold the brim of what appeared to be a fedora on its head before walking forwards slowly, a wicked scythe in its other hand.
“Kenneth, are you okay?” Neil asked, suddenly snapping the former president back to reality.
Kenneth turned to look at Neil and Sirius, fidgeting with his ring momentarily as he did so, “Oh, hello you two, I was just…” he glanced down at his ring, “thinking about the good old days.” He promptly shook his head and crossed his arms, “Nevermind, what do you need that’s worth my time?”
“Dad’s got a new mission for us,” Neil replied, “wanted you for it.”
Kenneth nodded, “Well now I’m interested, let’s get going.”
“Of course,” Sirius said with a nod before the three of them made their way back to the bridge, with Kenneth looking the Fenrisulfrian over, catching his attention, “What is wrong?”
“I don’t mean to sound rude,” Kenneth said as they continued to walk, “but what are you? I’ve interacted with many species during my time as the president of the Galactic Federation, but I’ve never met one that looks like you.”
“Oh, he’s from Fenrisulfr,” Neil explained, “Given that he’s from the Lupus system, I guess the way he looks makes sense.”
“The Fenrisulfrians were able to develop space travel?” Kenneth asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Sirius gave a confused look, “No, we did not.”
“Why’d you ask?” Neil inquired.
“Oh good grief, I'm used to the way the Federation did things, sorry,” Kenneth apologized, “The Federation had some important protocols for establishing first contact, like not doing it with any species that hadn’t developed space travel so that species can mostly live in peace. The Fenghuangians got into some real deep trouble for taking me.”
“Well, the Empire were the ones who established contact on my planet, and it was not exactly… peaceful, at least for my clan,” Sirius said sadly, “Everyone I knew was killed, including my wife. It took Neil telling me that I could get justice for them to really try and start fighting.”
“I’m… sorry to hear that,” Kenneth said quietly, momentarily glancing down at his ring. The three of them entered the bridge shortly after that, the other nine Rangers already gathered there.
“So, what’s today’s mission, dad?” Neil asked, taking a seat near the bridge’s table.
Shen looked at Birdie, who pulled up a picture of a metal-covered planet before the Commander spoke, theatrically pointing to it with his cane, “This is Telecom, the planet that serves as the Empire’s communication hub that broadcasts propaganda across the galaxy.” He looked at all the present Rangers, “Today, we’re going to show the galaxy the truth about the Empire’s propaganda, and who better to do it than the one who knows its origins better than anyone?”
Kenneth smirked and crossed his arms, “You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”
“Who else?” Shen chuckled.
Brando gave a confused look, “But isn’t Dandevil toast? Shouldn’t history have been fixed?”
Shen shook his head, “While the original bits of history that Dandevil altered were fixed, the retellings in things like history books and the like weren’t since he didn’t alter those, they were just based on what he altered.”
“So basically we’re rewriting history again to be the way it should?” Alura asked.
Birdie nodded enthusiastically, “Yep, we’ll be taking back the narrative from the Empire.”
“So what’s the plan to show people the Empire is full of bologna? My money’s on hijacking a broadcast,” Tip said from where they sat, crossing their legs and leaning back.
“Correctamundo!” Shen gave a thumbs up before gesturing to Birdie.
Birdie then pulled up a screen displaying a building on the planet’s surface with dozens of satellite dishes, which seemed to be a staple of the architecture there, a Consumoai some ways away from it, “This is the main production studio for their broadcasts. We’re going to infiltrate it and take over one.”
Shen nodded, “And of course, a few of you will be going to help as well.”
“Well, how about we find out who?” Neil asked with a grin.”
“I was just about to get a-round to that,” Shen chuckled, “Hit it, Arthur!”
“Sure thing!” Arthur said as he moved over to one of the bridge’s control panels and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning as Kenneth gave a confused look before Shen spoke, “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Oh yeah!” Neil exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
“Sirius!”
Sirius nodded, “I will do my best.”
“Alura!”
“Let’s do this!” Alura said excitedly.
“Birdie!”
“I won’t disappoint, Commander Long,” Birdie said with a nod.
“Brando!”
Brando grinned, “Let’s get cooking then!”
“Alright, let’s get going,” Neil said, preparing to leave.
“Wait,” Kenneth said, prompting Neil to look back at him, “there’s probably civilians working in there too. We should probably focus on getting them out of the way in case things go sideways.”
Shen nodded, “Yes, there’s a good chance that civilians could get dragged into the crossfire, since I doubt the Empire will just let us take over a broadcast. We’ll need to take them into consideration.”
“Good point,” Neil said with a nod, “since there’s six of us, we can split into two groups of three.”
Kenneth looked at Birdie and Brando, “Would you two mind coming with me to help with the broadcast?”
“I’d love to!” Birdie chirped.
Brando nodded, “Sure, I might not be able to work a camera as well as I work a knife, but I can try.”
“Guess that leaves the rest of us to get the civilians out of there,” Neil said looking at Sirius and Alura.
“Fine by me,” Alura said, putting her hands on the table, “I mean, helping people is our job anyway, this is just more direct than usual.”
Sirius nodded, “Yes, I have no problems with this either.”
Neil nodded, “Well, now that all of that is settled, let’s go!”
“Good luck with getting those cameras rolling!” Shen said cheekily. Neil laughed as he and the others exited the bridge.
A few minutes later in one of the building’s recording studios, Birdie and Brando stood above a pile of unconscious Greyders as Kenneth kicked one that was sitting behind a news anchor desk to the ground. “That looks like the last of them,” Birdie said, looking around to see that no Greyders were left.
“Let’s get this started then!” Brando said excitedly as he got behind a very advanced looking camera pointed at the desk.
Kenneth took a seat, grinning, “Now this brings me back. Reminds me of all the times I’d make presidential addresses.”
“Man, I’d love to hear about all of that, there’s bound to be some interesting stuff to write about,” Birdie said.
Kenneth laughed, “Well if I ever need a biographer, I’ll know who to call.”
Brando fiddled with the camera, “And this is going to show up across the whole galaxy?”
Kenneth nodded, “It should given what Shen said, and even if it doesn’t, I’ve got the Phoenix Satellite in place to make sure it does.”
Brando nodded, “Alright, we’re live!”
The Capital-class Consumoai orbited above Telecom, with the Knights of Andromeda, Felis, Calamartia, and Chupasangre in its control room. Alderamin was currently patting his gold pauldron as Schedar looked at hers. “So, these new things you installed in these are supposed to help us grow without the Emperor?” Schedar said to Mirfak as she sat down in one of the ship’s three control seats.
“Correct, they’ll allow us to alter our size without his input,” Mirfak replied, taking a seat as well as he lifted his organic arm up to his neck and cracked it.
Felis grumbled as he leaned up against a wall, “Ugh, you have the time to make these, but you don’t have the time to help me, of course.”
“Oh would you shut up?” Alderamin said, smacking Felis upside the head, “All you do is complain about Shen and complain about Mirfak not helping you, it’s completely unacceptable.”
“Yeah,” Calamartia said, crossing her arms, “even I don’t whine about that jelly brain Shen as much as you do, and I have a better reason to.”
Felis produced his sword, pointing it at her, “Be quiet!”
Suddenly, a holographic screen showing Kenneth appeared in the control room, getting the attention of everyone present. “People of the galaxy, the Empire has been lying to you,” Kenneth said, “I’m Kenneth Faulkner, the former president of the Galactic Federation of Free Systems, the governing body of the galaxy before the Empire, and the only one to have bested Karna Rog in combat.”
As Kenneth continued to talk, the Knights all glanced at each other before Calamartia spoke, “Isn’t that the jelly brain that Ankaa really was?”
“Indeed it is,” Alderamin replied.
“Seems like he’s taken tryin’ to show people our true colors,” Schedar said with annoyance, stomping her foot, “That sure is annoyin’, right chat?”
Suddenly, a large projection of the Emperor appeared in the control room as the screen disappeared, prompting everyone present to bow. Karna Rog looked slightly different than usual, with his black digits now chalk white, and appearing to be slightly taller, even though his projection was usually already much taller than he was. “Emperor Karna Rog, I assume you saw the transmission?” Alderamin asked.
“Indeed I have, Sir Alderamin,” Karna Rog rasped, “this could radicalize the rest of the galaxy against us, and make it harder to maintain control.” He narrowed his eyes, “One of you go down there and cut the feed now.”
“Of course my liege,” Mirfak said with a nod before the projection disappeared.
“Oh, I’ll do it!” Schedar said excitedly as she got to her feet, pulling out a datapad and taking a selfie, “After all, he is messin’ with my line of work.” She paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating something, “Actually, maybe all three of us should go.”
“Why?” Mirfak asked, looking at her.
“Oh nothin’, I just think Kenneth will be surprised to see us again is all,” Schedar said with a giggle and a twirl, “Why? Are you scared?”
Mirfak shook his head, “The only reason why I disliked Ankaa was because he was considerably more powerful than Kenneth was, and if the apparatus failed we’d have major trouble on our hands. Of course, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Alderamin nodded, “I am interested in going against him again, I want to see if he’s as good of a fighter as he was back then.”
Schedar giggled as she skipped out of the room, “Then let’s go!”
Alderamin and Mirfak followed behind her, with the former glancing back at Chupasangre, “Chupasangre, you’re in charge.”
Chupasangre gave a tired sigh as the Knights exited, “Of course, Sir Alderamin.”
“And that’s it,” Brando said, turning off the camera.
Kenneth nodded as he stood up, “Good work, Brando. This is sure to show the people what’s really going on.”
Birdie walked up to the human, handing him a glass of water, “You did a good job with explaining everything the Empire’s been lying about. Did you just come up with that whole speech on the fly?”
Kenneth nodded, taking a sip of water, “I don’t like scripted speeches, always felt more comfortable with saying what my heart’s telling me, felt more genuine.” He took a deep breath, “But regardless, we should be ready to fight, I don’t think the Empire’s going to be happy about what we just did.”
As if on cue, a modified Flatborg with a black head crest, pink shoulder armor, a pink scarf, and lacking a spade-shaped hood looked down at them from a balcony that had a spiral staircase leading down from it to the floor. “Hey, get off the set! That’s for production staff only!” A Greyder ran into view, pointing a camera at the Marquis as he walked down, “Keep the lights on and keep me in focus, let people see what happens when you mess with my show!”
Brando laughed, “Don’t worry about this guy, Kenneth. Flatborg Marquises are small potatoes to us.”
The Marquis charged forward, “I might be a director, but I can still do my own stunts perfectly fine!” He took a swing at Kenneth, who ducked under it before pushing the Marquis into a stack of boxes.
“Good grief,” Kenneth said, shaking his head, “and here I thought I was going to fight someone who’s actually a challenge.”
“Ah well, at least there’s going to be one less Marquis causing problems,” Birdie said as she and the other two readied their Morphers.
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Flatborg got to his feet as the light and flames surrounding the three Rangers disappeared, “Rangers? Well not only am I going to destroy you, I’ll do it live!” He charged forward, dodging and spinning between attacks from Birdie and Brando before trying to punch Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield. “Get them!” the Marquis yelled.
Several Greyders ran into the room, making a beeline for the three Rangers. One took a swipe at Kenneth with its blade, only for Kenneth to block it with his sword before slashing it across the chest. “You’d think that their forces would be stronger after three hundred years,” Kenneth said, blocking a swing from another Greyder with his shield and slicing it across the chest as Birdie kicked a Greyder in the face and Brando slashed one across the chest as well.
The Flatborg Marquis prepared to swipe at Kenneth from behind with his tonfa, but he was shot in the head by a red energy blast, making it stagger back. Neil, Sirius, and Alura had entered the room, taking a few shots at the Greyders before Neil looked at Birdie, Brando, and Kenneth, “All the civilians are out!”
Brando ducked under a swing from a Greyder before jabbing it with his pointed visor, “Sorry we started having fun without you then!”
Sirius shook his head as he clawed a Greyder, “We had plenty of fun getting here.”
“Yeah, this isn’t the only part of the building with Greyders,” Alura said as she flipped a Greyder onto the ground before she, Neil, and Sirius readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The three Rangers rushed forward as they morphed, and quickly began tearing into the rest of the Greyders. Sirius slashed one across the chest with his claw, Alura jabbed a few with her rapier, and Neil destroyed several with a wide swing from his sword.
“I assume dealing with a Marquis like this one is a slow day for you?” Kenneth asked as he looked at Neil. He lifted his shield up and pointed the bottom of it at a Greyder running at him from the side, firing a crimson energy shot from it that knocked the Greyder to the ground without even looking at it.
Neil forced a Greyder’s blade down before elbowing it in the face, “Yeah, they don’t really put up much of a fight.” He and Sirius charged at the Marquis, slicing at him only for the Flatborg to avoid their swings.
“Well, you five are probably having more fun with this than I am, so I’ll leave you to it,” Kenneth said, sheathing his sword and leaning up against a water tank, resting his arm on it.
Suddenly, a massive fireball crashed through the roof of the studio, making everyone in attendance look at where it landed, smoke rising into the air. “Kenneth Faulkner! By order of Emperor Karna Rog, you shall die!” Alderamin stood up from the smoke as the other Rangers, Greyders, and the Marquis looked on with surprise. Without warning, the flail on Alderamin’s shoulder detached and retracted to his hand before he pointed it at Kenneth and sent it flying towards him as the chain extended.
Kenneth rolled out of the way before impact, unsheathing his sword, “Alderamin? I killed you!”
“You did an absolutely unacceptable job at it is what you did,” Alderamin said, looking at the stump of his left arm, “But I did admit I didn’t leave without scars.”
Sirius growled and ran at the Knight, “Alderamin!” Alderamin spun around with his arm outstretched, sending his extended flail flying around the room and forcing everyone in its path to duck under it. Sirius himself leapt over it and prepared to swing his claw at Alderamin, only for the Knight to bat him to the side with his right arm.
Alderamin chuckled, “It seems you already know who I am, but I suppose a refresher won’t hurt. I am Sir Alderamin, Duke of the Cepheus system and one of the Knights of Andromeda.”
On the Orion’s bridge, Shen looked at a screen displaying what was happening below with concern, “This is bad.”
“One of the Knights of Andromeda?” Leiurus said, “Karna Rog must not be messing around anymore.”
“Must not be? He obviously isn’t messing around if he sent one of his highest-ranking officers,” Hydra said.
“So this is like, super bad news, right?” Tip asked.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, especially since Alderamin’s supposed to be the strongest of them, right?”
“And an amazing military strategist to boot,” Shen added.
Steam shot from Aster’s nose, “He might be tough, but I’m sure they can fight him on equal footing at least.”
“I hope so,” Shen nodded before speaking into his cane, “Try not to escalate things down there, and try to get out as soon as you can.”
Neil looked at his Morpher, “Got it, dad.”
Kenneth tried to slash at Alderamin, but the Knight avoided it before throwing a punch at Kenneth, who quickly raised his shield to block it. While it blocked the hit, the force still made Kenneth stagger back a bit. Kenneth ran forward again, slashing at the Knight, who blocked it with his arm before punching again, with Kenneth once again blocking it but not staggering back. “It’s nice seeing you again Kenneth, after all, you’re one of the few people that I consider to have acceptable fighting skills.”
Kenneth spun back before speaking, anger in his voice, “How are you not dead?”
“You’re one to talk,” Alderamin said, spinning his flail next to him.
Alura and Sirius slashed through a few Greyders as they ran at Alderamin from behind, preparing to strike the Knight. Suddenly, a curved, four-pointed blade made of purple energy flew past them and slashed them across the chest before curving past Alderamin and flying back to its source. Schedar stood with the base of her microphone stand pointed forward, the blade of energy returning to the blade at the bottom of it.
Schedar held a datapad in front of her face as she walked forward, “Howdy y’all! It’s me, Dame Schedar, Duchess of the Cassiopeia system and a Knight of Andromeda!” She spun around, holding her microphone stand out and forcing Birdie and Brando to step out of the way of it, Schedar never once looking away from her datapad, “Alright chat, today I’m with my besties, Aldie and Mirfie, and we’re gonna take down those nasty Power Rangers!”
“Schedar?” Kenneth said as he nonchalantly slashed a Greyder across the chest, “Well at least I knew you were alive.”
Schedar giggled as she positioned her datapad towards Kenneth, “And this here is Kenneth Faulkner, someone who's been tryin’ to beat down the Empire for a long time. Say hello, chat!”
“What?” Kenneth said tilting his head, “What are you saying?” He suddenly froze, “Wait, did you say Mirfie? You can’t possibly mean-”
“Oh, but she does,” Mirfak said from the balcony that the Marquis was standing on before, deliberately positioned so only the right, organic side of his body was showing, “I’m the last of the Emperor’s Knights of Andromeda, Sir Mirfak, Duke of the Perseus system. A pleasure to meet you, Rangers.”
Neil glared at Mirfak and pointed his sword at the Duke, remembering what Stonhinge had said about Mirfak being the one responsible for the death of his and Arthur’s mother, “You!”
The fighting had halted for a moment as Kenneth looked up at Mirfak, sputtering as he spoke, “You… you shouldn’t be alive, not after what I did! I… I cut you clean in half!”
Mirfak raised his hand to his face with a chuckle, “Nothing that Karna Rog can’t fix, besides…” he turned to face the Rangers completely, making the six of them gasp and give sounds of shock as they saw the mechanical half of his body, “I got myself a few upgrades.”
Kenneth snarled and fired a blast from his shield, but Mirfak quickly raised his arm cannon to block it. He then moved his right hand to his left hip, where a blue glass panel was. The panel glowed, and a sword appeared in Mirfak’s hand. The sword had a gorgon-like face on the center of its crossguard and four red wires like the ones that covered the left side of his body formed the sides of the crossguard, with one of them curling around the blade slightly and plugging into it near the bottom. The blade itself was metallic, but had a blue section near the middle running the length of it to where the wire plugged in. The pommel, like the crossguard, had a pair of red wires extending from it, one slightly longer than the other. He pointed the sword at Kenneth, its blade enveloped in a white-blue glow. Suddenly, a projection of the blade appeared around the blade itself, widening and extending rapidly towards Kenneth, who quickly rolled out of the way.
“So, how’s it feel, Kenneth?” Schedar asked as Mirfak’s blade projection retracted and disappeared, “Knowin’ that you didn’t really harm the Empire at all?”
“Shut up!” Kenneth yelled, slashing a Greyder across the chest.
“You’ve lost everything, Kenneth, your immortality, your friends, your position,” Schedar chuckled, “Funny ain’t it?”
Kenneth slashed at her, but she spun out of the way. “Stop it,” Alderamin suddenly commanded, “I’ll deal with him.”
“Of course Alderamin, if you insist,” Mirfak said, grabbing the edge of his cape and lifting it up as he spun back, disappearing in a swirl of dark energy.
“See y’all later, and have fun Aldie!” Schedar chuckled as she turned around and skipped away, disappearing in a cloud of dark energy as well.
Alderamin wasted no time after that, swinging his flail at Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield as quickly as he could. The chain of the flail lengthened considerably, with Alderamin lashing it around the studio wildly at the Rangers before swinging it in an arc and forcing them duck. He turned his attention back to Kenneth, who blocked his flail with his shield before a hit to his side knocked him to the ground. “Kenneth!” Birdie yelled.
Alderamin gave a grunt of annoyance, “Seems like you’ve gotten a bit rusty, a pity.” His flail retracted back into his arm as he pointed at Kenneth, launching it at him.
“No!” Birdie yelled, running to get in the way. It hit her in the chest, knocking her to the ground and exposing some of the inner workings of her suit.
“Birdie!” Sirius yelled, running back up to her.
Kenneth thought back…
“No!” he yelled as a figure ran in front of him as fires blazed.
Kenneth snarled and leapt to his feet, slashing quickly and wildly at the Knight. Alderamin was forced to move back, narrowly avoiding some strikes but not others, “Now there’s the Kenneth I remember!”
“Kenneth!” Neil yelled as he helped Birdie to her feet, some of her wiring exposed from a tear in her suit, “We need to go!”
Kenneth glared at Alderamin, “I’ll finish this later.” He plugged his sword into his shield.
“Milky Way!”
A cloud of yellow energy flew out of the shield and between the Rangers and Alderamin, and when it flew past they were gone. “Just my luck,” Alderamin groaned as the Marquis ran up to him with a Greyder holding a camera.
“Sir Alderamin, can we have an interview?” the Flatborg asked. Alderamin gave a huff of annoyance before punching the camera in the lens.
Shen led Birdie back into the bridge, where all the other Rangers aside from Kenneth were waiting. Brando quickly rushed up to her, looking her over, “Birdie! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m doing better now,” Birdie replied with a nod.
“I used the Hydra Nova Sphere to repair her, she should be as good as new,” Shen said reassuringly.
“That’s good to hear,” Neil said, relieved.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, all three Knights of Andromeda? That could’ve gone a lot worse.”
“Yeah, Schedar could’ve made you guys tear each other apart and we would’ve been helpless to stop it,” Leiurus said with a scowl.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, we’re lucky only Alderamin stuck around.”
“I just wish I could have done more against him,” Sirius growled.
Neil nodded, “And I should’ve given Mirfak a piece of my mind.”
“I don’t think doing that would’ve been a good idea,” Hydra said logically.
“Yes, trying to further engage them wouldn’t have ended well,” Shen said as he shook his head.
“Well, at least you guys got your job done, Kenneth’s speech is trending!” Tip said happily as they looked at a datapad.
“Well that’s great! Now people are definitely gonna see more problems with the Empire!” Aster exclaimed, throwing an arm around Leiurus’s shoulder, “But where is Kenneth anyway?”
Alura shook her head, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him since he brought us back.”
“He didn’t seem happy to see Alderamin and Mirfak again, especially since it sounded like he already defeated them,” Birdie said.
“He didn’t seem to like it when Birdie took that hit for him either,” Brando added.
“I hope he’s okay,” Neil said, “I mean, you saw the way he attacked Alderamin after he hit Birdie, he wasn’t just angry, he was out for blood!”
Shen nodded solemnly as he put his free hand on the table, “Yes, I’m worried about him, especially since no one’s seen him since you got back.” He looked at Neil and Sirius, “Could the two of you look a-round for him again and see if he’s okay?”
“Sure thing, dad,” Neil replied.
Sirius nodded, “Of course.”
“Wait,” Birdie said suddenly, “can me and Brando go too?”
“Yeah,” Brando said with a nod, “we’ve probably hung out with him the most out of all of us, and something’s obviously eating away at him. We want to help.”
Shen thought for a moment before replying, “Sure, now get out there and make sure he’s okay.”
“Got it, dad,” Neil said with a nod before exiting the bridge with Sirius, Brando, and Birdie.
In one of the Orion’s hangars, Kenneth was in the process of packing food and utilities into the hold of the Phoenix Zord, a distraught look on his face. “Kenneth?” Neil asked as he and the other three Rangers entered the hangar, prompting Kenneth to turn around.
He gave a sigh of relief as he saw Birdie, “Oh Birdie, it’s good to see you’re okay.”
“Thanks Kenneth,” Birdie said cheerfully before noticing what Kenneth was in the process of, “But… what are you doing exactly?”
Kenneth sighed, “I’m leaving.”
The Rangers’ eyes shot open, “Leaving?”
Kenneth shook his head, “It’s too dangerous to have me around, the Empire and Karna Rog probably have me as their highest-priority target, and what happened on Telecom only proved it. One Knight is bad enough, but all three?” Kenneth gave a defeated sigh, “Especially since at least two of them shouldn’t even be here.”
“Kenneth, I thought we worked this stuff out?” Brando replied reassuringly.
Sirius nodded, “Yes, we can handle ourselves.”
“And besides, you’ll be safer with us, we can all watch each others’ backs,” Neil added.
“That’s the problem, I’m not going to allow you to throw your lives away to protect me,” Kenneth responded, gravitas in his voice as he looked at Birdie, “Birdie, you’re incredibly lucky that Alderamin didn’t kill you when you took that hit for me.”
Birdie seemed flabbergasted by that response, “Then what would you want me to do, just let you die?”
“Listen, my life isn’t worth the lives of the eleven of you, I’ve got nothing left, no immortality, no presidency, no…” Kenneth glanced down at his ring, “friends. Everything I sacrificed, everything I fought for was for nothing, Karna Rog is still alive, the Knights are back, and on top of it all no one who I knew before is still alive aside from Audumla. I’m not going to stay and let you sacrifice yourselves for someone who's already lost everything and whose actions meant absolutely nothing.”
Brando was taken aback by the statement, “Kenneth, what are you talking about? You-”
“No!” Kenneth exclaimed, “I’m not letting anyone give up their lives for me,” he glanced down at his ring, “not again.”
Neil took note of the ring, his eyes widening before putting a hand on Kenneth’s shoulder, “Kenneth, come on man, just tell us what’s wrong. Pretty much everyone here is screwed up in some way or another, we won’t judge.”
Kenneth sighed and sat down on a crate, momentarily glancing at his ring, “I guess it’s time I tell you all about one of the most important people in my life three hundred years ago…”
In an ancient city filled with towering, intricate stone buildings, a morphed Kenneth fought alongside Audumla and the other eighty-seven Nova Sphere wielders against hordes of Greyders and Flatborgs. Soon, only a few Greyders and Flatborgs were left standing, with one Flatborg suddenly creeping up behind Kenneth. It was suddenly enveloped in a sphere made of dark smoke, a symbol depicting a crow flashing on it before it disappeared alongside the Flatborg. Kenneth spun around, unmorphing as he looked at the source of the sphere with a smile, “You know I can handle this, right?”
The last Greyder was promptly stabbed in the chest with a sai. It was held by a short, anthropomorphic crow-like alien with yellow eyes, a silvery beak, taloned hands, and was covered in black feathers that had a purple sheen. He wore baggy black pants, black boots, and a black tunic. Over the tunic was bronze armor decorated with yellow dots, metal vambraces on his arms, alongside a green cape, and on his left ring finger was a plain gold ring. “Nonsense, Kenneth,” the alien said, his voice soft and possessing a British accent, “as your advisor, I’m supposed to help you to the best of my ability.”
Kenneth chuckled, “Corvile, you’re supposed to help me make decisions, not help fight.”
“You didn’t complain when I had to save you from those space pirates that were holding you hostage,” Corvile replied, sliding his sai onto his belt where another sai was, “Besides, Ptolemy chose me to wield the Corvus Nova Sphere, so I’m going to help you defeat Karna Rog, no matter what it takes.”
Kenneth sighed, “Corvile, I’m perfectly fine when it comes to handling this, I’m immortal, remember? Even though I wish Ptolemy chose someone else instead of you so you could at least stay out of the fighting.”
Corvile shook his head, “Kenneth, I would’ve been out here helping you, Nova Sphere or not.” Corvile looked up at Kenneth before speaking again, more uncertainty in his voice this time, “B-besides, if what Audumla said is true, then there’s no telling what Karna Rog is capable of, he might be able to rob you of your immortality or… or something.”
Kenneth just chuckled, “Corvie, there’s no need to be so pessimistic, we’re going to take this guy down.”
Corvile gave a small nod, “I know… but I still want to help you, just in case.”
Kenneth smiled at the smaller alien and slung an arm over his shoulder as they began to walk, “Alright Corv, just don’t do anything too crazy, okay?”
“Kenneth, you know as well as I do that I should be the one saying that to you,” Corvile chuckled.
“Yeah right,” Kenneth laughed, elbowing the crow-like alien.
An unmorphed Kenneth swung his sword at the scythe-wielding figure approaching him, sending a flaming slash that illuminated the darkened city flying at it.
The figure caught the slash on its scythe, spinning it around on the blade. He swung the scythe, sending the slash flying back at Kenneth, knocking him to the ground with a fiery explosion. “Sacrificing your immortality, a brave gambit, but an ultimately futile one,” Karna Rog rasped, as monotonous as ever, seeming to adjust his fedora with his free hand. His scythe disappeared in a swirl of dark energy before he held his hands closer to each other, pitch black energy dancing between them, “Still, you have my respect, Kenneth Faulkner.”
Kenneth struggled to get to his feet as the energy building between Karna Rog’s hands was coming to a climax, this was it, this was how he died. Suddenly, Corvile lifted himself off the ground from beside Kenneth, shaking his shoulder, “Kenneth, you can’t give up, not now! I’ll try to buy you some time, and use that chance to strike him down!”
Kenneth’s eyes widened, “Corvile, you’ll die!”
“Kenneth, please trust me!” Corvile retorted, “You’re our best shot at defeating him, and I’m not going to let you die here!”
“Corvile, it’s too dangerous!” Kenneth yelled.
“Kenneth please! I’ll be okay, I promise,” Corvile said, pressing his head to Kenneth’s before getting to his feet. Karna Rog sent forth a blast of pitch black electricity from his hands towards Kenneth, prompting Corvile to take one last glance at him before moving into the way, “I’m sorry!”
“No!” Kenneth screamed as the blast hit Corvile square in the chest for several seconds before the crow-like alien fell to the ground, motionless. Kenneth’s eyes widened and all was quiet for several moments as he tried to process what had happened before giving a blood-curdling scream, “Corvile!”
Kenneth didn’t think as he sheathed his sword, pulled the trigger, and pulled it out, becoming enveloped in flames before emerging in his Ranger form. He immediately began charging at Karna Rog, wielding his flaming blade with fury. The Emperor extended a hand, issuing a wave of darkness from it towards Kenneth, who cleaved through it with his flaming blade as wings of fire appeared behind him. Kenneth swung at Karna Rog, who attempted to block with the shaft of his scythe, but Kenneth’s blade cleaved it in half.
Kenneth gave howls of rage as he hacked at Karna Rog relentlessly, leaving massive burning slashes across his body. Karna Rog staggered back as the wounds glowed brightly. “Your strength, Kenneth Faulkner, extraordinary,” Karna Rog rasped weakly before his body went up in flame, threads of smoke and shadow leaking from it.
Kenneth panted as the flames faded and his fire wings vanished before unmorphing and falling to the ground unconscious.
The Rangers were quiet as Kenneth finished telling his story, all giving sympathetic looks to the man. “So your advisor, Corvile, died protecting you from Karna Rog?” Neil said softly.
Kenneth gave a small nod, “Yes, he did. He… sacrificed his life for mine.”
“He sounded so dedicated to you, he must’ve been a great advisor,” Birdie replied, sadness in her voice.
“He was, he… was the best advisor I could’ve asked for, always keeping me out of trouble. But he was… more than that too,” Kenneth said, tears threatening to form in his eyes as he fidgeted with his ring, “We were also…” he took a deep breath and pulled out some kind of necklace made of colorful beads and decorated with black feathers, “we were engaged.”
The melancholy feeling in the room only grew at this revelation, with Brando being the first to speak after its reveal, “Oh Kenneth, I’m so sorry.”
Sirius gave a sad nod, “I know how you feel, Kenneth, I lost my wife to Alderamin’s forces, the pain… it is something I know well.”
Kenneth gave Sirius an understanding nod before sighing and standing up, “Now do you see why I’m leaving? My fiancé, the man I loved and who was always there to help me, sacrificed himself in vain for me, and I refuse to let any of you do the same. I couldn’t defeat Karna Rog, and I couldn’t even defeat the Knights for good, everything I’ve done against the Empire hasn’t mattered, and the only thing I succeeded at was becoming brainwashed. I’m not worth sacrificing your lives for.” He took a deep breath before walking away, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish packing.”
Neil seemed to think for a moment as Kenneth walked away with their back to them, before the Leo Ranger suddenly spoke up, “You’re wrong, you know.”
Kenneth stopped walking and turned to look back at him with a glare, “What did you just say?”
“I said you’re wrong, about not doing anything to the Empire anyway,” Neil clarified, “I mean, you helped save the Earth when it was just about to be destroyed, helped us free Earth from the Empire, and that broadcast you made? It’s made a lot of people realize just how bad the Empire is now.”
Kenneth tilted his head, “They have?”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “Sure, you might not’ve been able to do anything back then, but now you’ve done so much. And Corvile’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain, he saved you, and none of what you’ve done now would’ve have been possible without you.” Neil took a deep breath, “And it’s our duty to protect the galaxy, and like it or not, you’re part of the galaxy too, Birdie would’ve done that regardless of who was in your position.”
Birdie nodded, “Right!”
“Kenneth, if you think you can fight the Empire by yourself, you’re wrong. With Corvile, Ptolemy, and Audumla, you almost beat him before, and you were the only Ranger back then! Now there’s eleven more of us, so who knows what we can all do if we stick together!”
Kenneth froze, contemplating what he was hearing, “You know, you might be right. I… hadn’t really considered what I’ve done now, I was just so wrapped up in the past. Maybe…” he glanced at his ring, “maybe Corvile’s death wasn’t in vain, and I… I can make sure of that.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “you can, and we’ll help you every step of the way. I mean, I don’t think there’s a single reason why someone like you doesn’t deserve to be protected.”
Kenneth gave a chuckle, “You know Neil, you remind me a lot of myself before everything with the Empire happened, optimistic, good-natured, wanting to make the galaxy a better place, and.” Kenneth closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Alright, I guess I’ll stick around for a bit longer at the very least.”
“Really?” Birdie asked.
Brando smiled, “That’s great!”
“I am glad that you will still be here,” Sirius nodded.
“Yeah,” Kenneth said, looking at Sirius before looking back at the others, “But there’s one condition. If you need to protect me, you’re going to do it in a way that doesn’t put yourselves at risk, okay?”
“Got it,” Neil said with a nod.
Kenneth gave a small smile as he fidgeted with his engagement ring, “Thanks Neil, sorry for acting like such an idiot before when I wanted to leave.”
Neil shook his head, “Ken, you’re not an idiot, you had your reasons for wanting to leave, and just wanted to make sure no one got hurt trying to help you, that’s not stupid to me.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Kenneth said with a small nod before looking back at Neil, “Also, you’re not calling me Ken, only close friends get to call me that.”
“Can me and Brando call you that?” Birdie asked.
“Eh,” Kenneth said, giving a “so-so” hand gesture.
Brando chuckled, “Guess we better up our game then.”
Sirius looked at Neil, “It seems your way with words has helped us yet again, Neil.”
“Thanks Sirius, but I was just trying to help, y’know?” Neil said with a smile before his Morpher rang. “Yeah?” he asked, lifting it up to speak into.
On the bridge, Shen spoke into his cane as he looked at a screen displaying the Marquis from before sending a transport shuttle flying with his tonfa on Telecom’s streets, “It seems our Flatborg friend isn’t too happy that we hijacked his broadcast, and it looks like he wants to make that everyone else’s problem.”
“We just sorted things out with Kenneth, we’ll be right there,” Neil replied.
“That’s good to sphere!” Shen exclaimed before giving a spin to look at Alura, “Alura, since I’d still consider a part of today’s mission, would you mind going too?”
Alura gave a salute, “Got it, Boss.” She made her way out of the bridge immediately after.
“So,” Neil said, “you guys ready to take this Marquis off the air for good?”
Brando laughed, “The only air he’ll be getting is an air frying!”
“I am quite good at frying,” Kenneth said, crossing his arms.
“Alright then,” Neil said, “let’s go.”
The Rangers arrived on the planet’s surface, and wasted no time fighting through the hordes of Greyders accompanying the Marquis, not even morphing to do it. “Hello again, Rangers, I think it’s time for your closeup!” the Marquis yelled, firing a missile from his tonfa.
The Rangers immediately rolled out of the way of it. “Guys, I think it’s morphin’ time!” Neil yelled as he got back to his feet.
“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Kenneth nodded as he slashed a Greyder across the chest while Sirius rolled across the ground before delivering a lunging kick to another Greyder. The six Rangers proceeded to plug their Nova Spheres into their Morphers as they continued to fight.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
Neil slashed a few Greyders across their chests and grabbed their arms as they tried to swing at them before kicking them away. With a spinning slash, he destroyed several more surrounding Greyders, “Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
Sirius flipped another Greyder onto the ground before leaping onto another, holding onto its shoulders with his legs and clawing at its head as it spun to try and get him off, “Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
Alura jabbed a few Greyders in the chests with surgical precision, ducking under several of their swings at once and slashing them across the chests, “Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
Birdie flipped over a Greyder, spinning as she landed before punching another Greyder in the chest before spinning out of the way of a blade, “Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
Brando punched a Greyder in the chest a few times before turning to punch another in the head, spinning around to slice yet another, “Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
Kenneth ran forward, blocking a Greyder’s blade with his sword before immediately slashing it across the chest before blocking another Greyder’s attack with his shield, kicking backwards at the Greyder he slashed to send it stumbling, “Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
From a nearby rooftop, Alderamin watched on, a Conquerer Worm with metallic skin standing next to him. He glanced at it, “Alright, let’s see if Mirfak’s claims about you being an upgrade hold any water.” He extended his right hand as the Conqueror Worm leapt off the roof and curled into a ball, “Go, Chrome Conqueror Worm!”
The Conqueror Worm landed on the ground, shattering the pavement it landed on before unfurling itself to stand upright while screeching.
“What is that thing?” Kenneth asked, slicing another Greyder without even looking at it.
“We’ll explain later!” Neil said, trying to slash at the Marquis, only to miss.
Birdie looked the Conqueror Worm over, “This one looks different than usual.”
“Yeah, stay on your toes!” Alura replied.
Neil ran forward, “I’ll handle it!” He swung downward at it, only for it to turn and block it with a tendril arm, creating sparks on its metal skin. Neil slid his blade back as Kenneth did so as well, having appeared beside the Leo Ranger. The Conqueror Worm staggered back with a screech.
“How about us reds have a bit of a competition?” Kenneth asked before charging the Conqueror Worm, “First to beat this thing wins!”
“Oh you’re on!” Neil said, charging as well.
Kenneth appeared and disappeared in bursts of flames around the Conqueror Worm as he slashed it before Neil swung downward at it, making it stagger. Seizing the chance, Neil pushed it to the side, Kenneth appearing and slashing it as it staggered.
Sirius and Birdie attacked the Marquis as Alura and Birdie dispatched the last of the Greyders. Sirius slashed at the Marquis as Birdie grabbed him, before the wolfman grabbed him to hold him in place as well. Alura and Brando spun around, firing their Morphers at his chest repeatedly.
Neil and Kenneth slashed at the Conqueror Worm, with Neil bringing his sword down on it as Kenneth moved out of the way. The Worm blocked the attack, but was unable to block the slice Kenneth delivered to its chest. The two Rangers delivered a pair of powerful slices to it as they moved back. The Conqueror Worm gave a screech, its arms extending and wrapping around their weapons to try and disarm them. Unfortunately for it, their grips were strong, and they ran forward to stab it in the sides.
Alura and Brando ran up at the Marquis from behind, slashing him and running to the sides as Sirius and Birdie ran up and hit him with their claw and blaster respectively, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Meanwhile, Neil and Kenneth attacked the Conqueror Worm in unison, first with a pair of downward slashes and then with a pair of thrusts, each attack creating a shower of sparks as the Conqueror Worm fell to the ground beside the Marquis.
“Great, now my ratings are gonna plummet!” the Marquis said as he got to his feet.
“Sorry, but it sounds like this script is getting left on the cutting room floor,” Kenneth replied. He sheathed his sword.
“Let’s do this guys!” Neil exclaimed as he and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers.
Flames gathered around Kenneth’s sword.
“Ankaa Strike!”
The other five Rangers pointed their Morphers at the Marquis and Conqueror Worm.
“All Star Shot!”
“Now that’s a nice shot!” the Marquis said, raising his fingers to make a frame as spheres of red, blue, green, pink, and yellow energy as well as a flaming slash vaguely resembling a bird flew at him at the Conqueror Worm, creating a massive firey explosion on impact before their bodies hit the ground.
“Shine on!” Neil exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
“Seems like I was just too hot to handle,” Kenneth said as he sheathed his sword.
As the smoke began to clear, a new figure became visible, one wearing a familiar white robe. Despite looking taller than usual, it was clear who it was.
“Karna Rog!” Neil yelled, pointing his Morpher at him alongside the other five Rangers.
Kenneth unsheathed his sword, preparing to charge forward and attack, “Karna Rog, you look different than last time. Wearing that hood to hide your hideous face?”
Karna Rog waved a pale hand dismissively, “It’s a pleasure seeing you again too, Kenneth Faulkner. It’s been awhile since I last saw your face as well.”
“Why are you here?” Neil asked, his eyes narrowing under his helmet.
“I just wanted to say hello to the ones who pose the biggest threat to my plans of universal peace,” Karna Rog rasped, a dark short sword materializing in one of his hands as he raised it to look it over. Its pommel had a spike, and the part that connected the handle to the blade itself was strange, being circular with a silver, eight-pointed star shape in the middle. A single spike like the one on the pommel jutted out of one side of the circle, while on the opposite side was a curved section that stuck out a bit with four more spikes on it. The blade itself was triangular, with the inner part being red in contrast to the metal that comprised the rest of it.
“And universal peace involves destroying life on planets? You’re insane!” Birdie retorted.
Karna Rog hummed, “Perhaps.”
“Karna Rog, as the Phoenix Knight, I and the other Rangers will put an end to you!” Kenneth snarled.
“Maybe someday,” Karna Rog said with disinterest, “but not today.” He suddenly threw the short sword directly at Kenneth with lightning speed.
“Kenneth!” Neil yelled, firing his Morpher at the sword and knocking it out of the air as the other Rangers fired at Karna Rog. Karna Rog seemed to flinch and wince as the shots hit him, but they didn’t seem to affect him aside from the dark tendrils that rose from his body at the sites of impact.
“A shame,” Karna Rog rasped as the firing stopped before snapping his fingers twice, “As much as I loved this indulgent little meeting, I unfortunately have other matters to attend to. I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting, Rangers.” Karna Rog disappeared in a swirl of dark energy as dark clouds began to form overhead.
“Get back here, you coward!” Kenneth yelled, charging at Karna Rog as he disappeared, but the Emperor was already gone.
“Kenneth, we’ve got other things to deal with,” Neil said as the dark clouds raged overhead.
Pitch black electricity crackled through the clouds before bolts of black lightning struck the bodies of the Marquis and Conqueror Worm, making them dissipate into dark energy that swirled off into the distance. The energy grew larger before it finally coalesced into giant versions of the Marquis and Chrome Conqueror Worm. The Conqueror Worm roared as the Marquis laughed, “Looks like my work’s finally on the big screen!” Shortly afterwards, the nearby Consumoai shifted into its robot form, moving towards the Marquis and Flatborg. “Looks like we’re doing a creature feature here!”
“Great, three giant monsters!” Alura said with a groan.
“Good thing we have three Megazords now!” Neil exclaimed before speaking into his Morpher, “Hey dad, can we get some help down here?”
“Gotcha!” Shen replied before spinning to face the five remaining Rangers on the bridge, “Hydra, Arthur, with me!”
“Got it dad!” Arthur replied as the three of them exited.
Kenneth sheathed his sword and was surrounded by his cockpit, which flew off to attach to the Phoenix Zord.
“Phoenix Zord!”
“Three! Two! One! Liftoff!” The Phoenix Zord flew off of the Phoenix Launcher and flew into space, approaching the Phoenix Satellite. “Phoenix Satellite, begin combination!” The two Zord’s came together.
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
The Zords of the other five Rangers flew into view, alongside the Ophiuchus Zord, Draco Zords, and Ursa Zords. The eight Zords gathered into two groups and prepared to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Supernova Megazord’s current combination had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Aquila Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Lupus Zord as the left leg. Meanwhile, the Ursa Zords became the right arm of the Draco Star Megazord, while the Ophiuchus Zord became the left arm. The three Megazords stood together, preparing to face the Imperial forces.
“Now things are getting interesting!” Kenneth laughed.
“Keep those cameras rolling!” the Marquis commanded, “This will be the fight of the century!”
The Solar Flare Megazord slashed at the Conqueror Worm, the Draco Star Megazord blocked a swing from the Consumoai’s lance, and the Supernova Megazord clashed the Dorado Zord’s blade with the Marquis’s tonfa. The Solar Flare Megazord blocked a swing from the Conqueror Worm’s arm with one of its blades before repeatedly slicing it across the chest.
“If it’s a show you want, then it’s a show you’ll get!” Shen exclaimed as the Supernova Megazord slammed the Aquila Zord into the Consumoai in sync with the Draco Star Megazord slamming the Ursa Zords into it, making it stagger back.
“Let’s finish this!” Neil exclaimed as he and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back and flipped down the sides of their Morphers while Shen opened and closed the mouth of his cane.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Dorado, Aquila, and Ursa Zords began to glow before the two Megazordsfired a powerful energy beam at the Marquis, making his body spark on impact. “And cut!” the Marquis yelled before exploding.
The Solar Flare Megazord continued slicing at the Conqueror Worm, but it seemed that whoever was piloting the Consumoai didn’t want to stick around for much longer, as it shifted out of its robot mode and flew off.
“Get back here!” Neil yelled.
“Don’t worry guys, I can handle this!” Birdie exclaimed, “Hydra, take my place!”
“Got it,” Hydra said monotonously.
The Aquila Zord detached from the Supernova Megazord before attaching to its back, creating a pair of wings as the Ophiuchus Zord detached from the Draco Star Megazord and became the Supernova Megazord’s left arm.
With its new pair of wings, the Supernova Megazord flew into the air after the Consumoai as the Dorado Zord’s blade began to glow. With a single slice, the Supernova Megazord destroyed the Consumoai.
“You really cooked right there, Birdie!” Brando exclaimed.
“It’s no problem! I’ve been meaning to try out something like that!” Birdie replied.
The Solar Flare Megazord looked up, restraining the Conqueror Worm. “Guess it’s just you and me now!” Kenneth exclaimed. He brought the Solar Flare Megazord’s arms up, pushing the Conqueror Worm back before wildly slicing at it. It brought one sword down next to its head, but all it did was create a few small sparks. “This thing is more durable than I thought,” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes, “Let’s see how you handle this!”
The Phoenix Satellite detached from the Phoenix Zord and began to spin wildly like a buzzsaw, flying at the Conqueror Worm and slicing both of its arms and secondary heads off before reattaching to the Phoenix Zord. The Solar Flare Megazord slashed the armless Conqueror Worm across the chest, creating a massive shower of sparks as the beast staggered back.
“Time to end this,” Kenneth said, unsheathing his sword.
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The Solar Flare Megazord swung both of its flaming blades, sending an X-shaped slash made of fire flying at the Conqueror Worm, creating a massive explosion and destroying it on impact.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil and Shen said in unison.
“Looks like you couldn’t take the heat,” Kenneth chuckled.
“Well that was a waste of time,” Alderamin grumbled from where he stood on a roof, “Ah well, at least that was one of the more interesting fights I’ve seen. Seems like you haven’t lost your edge, Kenneth Faulkner.”
“So, does this mean you're officially joining the Revolution now?” Leiurus asked Kenneth, who was currently leaning back in one of the bridge’s seats, his arms crossed. Everyone was on the bridge at the moment, happily celebrating the day’s victory.
Kenneth nodded, “Indeed I am. You’re the best chance the galaxy has at defeating Karna Rog,” he smiled, “and to be honest, I think I’m starting to get fond of you guys.”
“That’s good to sphere!” Shen chuckled as he twirled his cane, “I’m sure you’ll be a big help!”
“Thank you, Shen,” Kenneth said with a grin, “it’ll be great to work with you too.”
“Must be weird,” Alura said, “y’know, not being the president of the Galactic Federation anymore.”
“Not really,” Kenneth replied, shaking his head, “I’m a soldier first and foremost.”
“Still, it’s great having you on the team!” Tip exclaimed, “Funny that you have fire powers, because you’re just made of cool!”
Kenneth just chuckled, “Thanks.”
“I’d love to spar with you sometime! See how strong you are with my own eyes!” Aster laughed.
Leiurus snorted, “I thought you agreed that we were sparring partners.”
“Leiurus, it’s not like that and you know it!” Aster gave the Serketian a shove.
Hydra gave a chuckle, “I must admit, love is certainly an emotion I’m interested in learning more about.”
“Yeah, it’s really something,” Birdie chuckled.
Brando smiled, “Anyway, I think this calls for a celebratory dinner.”
“Make sure to make some of that soup I like,” Arthur requested.
Brando chuckled before exiting, “Of course, Arthur.”
“You know, Neil,” Kenneth said, glancing at his fellow human, “I think I’m really going to like being here.”
Neil smiled, “Yeah, every day’s something new, always a mission that has stuff we haven’t done before.”
“Sounds fun,” Kenneth chuckled.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, me and Arthur are happier here than we’ve been for a long time. I guess us Earthlings are good with changes.”
“Yeah, I’d say we are,” Kenneth said with a nod and a smile.
“Sir Mirfak, our project is completed,” the Doctor said with his synthetic voice as he entered the Capital-class Consumoai’s control room, where Mirfak, Schedar, and Alderamin were waiting.
Mirfak nodded as he took what the Doctor was holding, “Thank you, Doctor. Go tell Dogolem that his work is appreciated too.”
“Of course, Sir,” the Doctor said before exiting the room.
“Ooh, what is it?” Schedar said excitedly, snatching the object from Mirfak’s organic hand.
Alderamin crossed his arms, “It better be more useful than that Chrome Conqueror Worm.”
“It is, Alderamin,” Mirfak grumbled before looking at Schedar and trying to take the object back from her, “Give me that.”
Schedar held the object out of Mirfak’s reach, finally allowing everyone to get a good look at it. It was a Nova Sphere, though quite different than usual, its base was a metallic pinkish-purple, and the sphere itself was dark grey, depicting a claw. “Ooh, pretty!” Schedar said as she looked it over, “It’s a Nova Sphere, ain’t it?”
“Indeed,” Mirfak replied, rolling his head around, “this is the Void Nova Sphere, the first of two prototype Nova Spheres I’ve been working on.”
“An artificial Nova Sphere, eh?” Alderamin replied, “Well, what does this Void Nova Sphere do?”
“It was designed to empower its wielder with great amounts of dark energy, enough to potentially take on the Power Rangers by themself,” Mirfak explained, “In a sense, it’s the antithesis to their own Nova Spheres. They were created by great amounts of light celestial energy, while this one was created using great amounts of dark celestial energy.”
“And hypothetically speakin’ what would happen if the Rangers were to use it?” Schedar asked, looking it over.
Mirfak cracked his neck and thought for a moment, “Well, being in such close proximity to the other Nova Spheres for a prolonged period of time would weaken it, but its wielder would still be extraordinarily powerful, and would probably empower their existing morph as well, much like the Pegasus, Monoceros, and Lux Nova Spheres would.”
“What are you getting at? You’re planning something unacceptable, aren’t you?” Alderamin asked Schedar, sounding irritated.
“Ain’t it obvious, Aldie?” Schedar chuckled, “We get a Ranger on our side, give them this, then set ‘em loose on the others to destroy them!” She gave a twirl, “After all, they’d already be skilled enough to go against the others, so this would only make it easier to deal with them, and I doubt they’d fight back seriously against a friend of theirs, it’s a great idea, chat.”
“And how do you propose we do this?” Alderamin questioned.
“Seems like you forgot my little talent!” Schedar giggled and held out her microphone in front of her, “It’s the perfect plan, ain’t it Mirfie?”
Mirfak thought for a moment before speaking up, “It certainly is an intriguing plan, and you do make quite logical points, I suppose we can indulge it.” He rolled his head around, “And it’s the perfect opportunity to see if the Void Nova Sphere works as intended, and if it doesn’t then it’s not like we’ll lose anything.”
“Oh thank you Mirfie!” Schedar laughed, lifting the hand she was holding the Nova Sphere with into the air before giving a twirl, lowering her arm and looking at it intently, “Now all we need to do is find a Ranger who’s willin’ to help…”
Notes:
And here it is, the first episode of season 2, of Power Rangers Hypernova if you will. Honestly, I had a lot of fun with the character dynamics in this chapter, and I’m pretty happy with the extra stuff I gave to Kenneth, and I also loved doing the Knights introductions. Honestly, there’s not much I really wanna say about this chapter, just that I’m really happy with how it turned out and the things it sets up. From here on out though, chapters will be releasing a bit more irregularly, since they’ll be getting a bit more complex, so keep that in mind.
Also, as some of you might’ve noticed, Karna Rog’s design here doesn’t match any of Don Armage’s forms, which is because it’s completely original. As such, there’s no real art I can show to help visualize what it looks like. So, I decided to come up with something, if any of you are interested in drawing the form, you can hit me up on my tumblr so I can give you the details ahead of time, and I’ll look at the submissions to see which I like the best. The winner will have their art posted in the notes of the chapter this new form makes its proper debut, and it of course it will be credited, so if you’re interested in doing that, feel free!
Anyway, likes and comments are appreciated!
Chapter 24: Void
Chapter Text
Hydra looked out one of the bridge’s windows at a silvery planet down below, a forlorn expression on his face as the other eleven Rangers chatted among themselves.
Suddenly, Tip appeared beside him, patting him on the shoulder, “Hey Hydra, you okay?”
“Oh yes, I’m just… thinking,” Hydra replied, turning to look at them.
Tip tilted their head, “Is it because today’s mission is on Gorgonia?”
Hydra shook his head, “No, well, not entirely. It’s just that coming back here, it’s made me realize that my quest for emotions hasn’t gone far.” He sighed, “I feel them sometimes, but I’ve never been able to consistently feel them.”
Tip patted him on the shoulder reassuringly, “Hey, that’s a step in the right direction, right? You’re getting there, man, just give it some time. Heck, you sound pretty frustrated right now.”
“Yeah,” Neil added, “you sound a lot more emotional than when we first met.”
Arthur nodded, “From what I’ve read about Gorgonians, you’re pretty emotional for one too.”
Hydra gave a nod, “I suppose you’re right, I should try and take it one step at a time.”
Tip chuckled, “That’s the spirit!”
“I’m glad to hear that you’re trying to develop emotions, Hydra,” Kenneth said, looking away from Birdie, who was currently showing him some of her writing.
Hydra tilted his head, “Really?”
Kenneth nodded, “Yeah, the Gorgonians government elected to get rid of emotions when I was president, and I didn’t like it at all. Getting rid of feelings and individuality because your leaders said so, even if it was for peace, doesn’t sound good. I tried to intervene, but I couldn’t do anything because of the rights of a planet’s government or something like that.”
“Well, thank you for trying anyway,” Hydra said with a nod and a faint smile, “I would’ve been very happy if you succeeded.”
Alura turned to look at Shen, who was sitting in the Commander’s seat, “Anyway, what’re we going to be doing on Gorgonia? Destroy the Consumoai and defeat its Marquis like usual?”
Shen shook his head, “There hasn’t been any confirmed Imperial activity here, but there have been rumors about-”
“Wait just a moment,” a voice called as the doors to the bridge opened, a Iustitian entering. He looked similar to Tip, but was much more angular and had a pointed head. He was accompanied by a pair of Gorgonians holding spears and wearing silver suits, each having silver hair, patches of silver scales, and snake-like eyes much like Hydra.
Sirius growled and got into a defensive stance as everyone else looked on with surprise, “Who are you and how did you get here?”
“Yeah, you better answer quick, I don’t wanna hurt ya,” Aster added, cracking his knuckles.
“Dad?” Tip said with surprise.
The Iustitan chuckled, “Yes, I’m Tip’s father, Themis Darian, and I’ve been looking all over for them to bring them home.”
Tip tilted their head forward and pointed at him, “If you think I’m gonna come back with you, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Tip, you’re a Darian, we’re the most influential judges on Iustitia, you can’t be fraternizing with all of these criminals!” Themis replied, gesturing around the room.
“Oh right, I forgot you were a complete Imperial shill!” Tip shot back.
Themis slammed his hands down on the table, “They’re the governing body of the galaxy, and as Iustitans it’s our duty to uphold the laws they set in place and the laws of other planets!”
“Even when those laws are eradicating entire planets?” Kenneth interjected, glaring at him. Kenneth wasn’t the only one doing it either, everyone in the room was practically glaring daggers at Themis, especially Shen.
Themis gave a dismissive wave as he continued looking at Tip, “And of course you’re friends with that delusional madman who was ranting about some Galactic Federation, I shouldn’t be surprised given you chose to associate with a Gorgonian who could possibly cause a war back on his homeworld.”
“Hydra is just one person, and that law is stupid anyway!” Tip replied.
“It’s still a law we have to enforce, it’s our job! We can’t just run around with criminals! That’s why I’m bringing you home!” Themis shot back before seeming to sigh, “Listen, if you just come back with me, I could pull some strings to get Gorgonia to drop their charges against your friend here, will that convince you?”
“He’s my friend, Themis, they all are, and I’m not just gonna leave them because you’re telling me to!” Tip yelled.
Themis was practically boiling over with rage now, “Fine, if that won’t convince you, then I might just have to use my connections to find wherever the Revolution’s base is, would be a real shame if the Empire knew where it was.”
Shen shot out of his seat and sprinted forward, only for Neil and Arthur to quickly grab him, “You wouldn’t dare! If you do that then I’ll-”
“Dad, calm down!” Neil said, trying to stop Shen.
Arthur nodded, “Please, it’s not worth it!”
“People will die if he does that!” Shen snarled.
“Fine!” Tip shouted before speaking more quietly, “I’ll go.”
“What? No!” Hydra said, eyes wide.
Birdie nodded, “Tip, we need to stick together to defeat the Empire!”
“And how are we gonna do that if the people helping us get killed because of Themis’s pettiness?” Tip replied.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Leiurus interjected.
Tip shook their head, “I’m not gonna let my dad take out his anger on completely uninvolved people, I’ll have to do this.”
“There’s gotta be another way,” Alura said.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we just need time to prepare another option.”
Tip sighed before turning to look at their father again, “I’ll go with you, but only so they stay safe, got it?”
“Of course,” Themis nodded, “I’ll give you until tonight to say your goodbyes, after that we’ll meet on Gorgonia’s surface and take you home. I’ll see you there.” Themis promptly exited the room, to two Gorgonians accompanying him following behind.
“Tip, why would you do that?” Hydra asked, shaking the Iustitian.
“Because my dad is absolutely nuts!” Tip retorted, “He wasn’t lying about telling the Empire where the base was either, he’s done it to tons of smaller resistance cells, so he wouldn’t hesitate to do it here.”
By now, Neil and Arthur had let go of Shen, who began speaking again, “Tip, as much as I appreciate you trying to protect the base, I can’t help but feel like this is a bad idea.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel right for you to leave,” Alura said solemnly.
Arthur nodded, “Besides, who’s to say he won’t reveal it even after you go along?”
Tip shook their head, “Because he probably wouldn’t be that stupid, if he does it and I find out, I would just have to make him look for me all over again.”
“You’re still going away Tip, please we can find another way to do this, we’re your friends,” Neil replied.
“And as your friend, I’m not gonna let my dad push you guys around,” Tip replied before sighing, “Guys, this is my decision, can you please respect it? I’ll find a way to get back, ‘kay?”
Kenneth gave an unconvinced look, “Good grief, well if you’re that set on doing it.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment before Brando spoke up, breaking it, “Well, uh how about we throw a farewell party? Might as well make the best out of a bad situation, right Hydra?”
Hydra, who had been zoning out up until this point, snapped back to reality, “Right, of course. There’s plenty of nice spots on Gorgonia we could have it at.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, I guess it would be nice to see some of the stuff on your homeworld before I head off for a while.”
Aster gave a defeated sigh as Leiurus patted him on the shoulder, “Well I guess it’s settled then.”
Birdie gave a sad nod, “Yeah, it looks like it is.”
Gorgonia’s surface was covered in sleek, silver buildings, but the Rangers sat closer to a very forested park, having set up a few tables with food and a cake on them alongside a few gold balloons which read “Goodbye Tip” as other Gorgonians went about their day. Despite the balloons, delicious food, and colorful tablecloths, it was dead quiet and miserable, the only sound coming from a balloon that had come undone and went flying around before hitting the ground. Birdie picked up the deflated balloon with a sigh, throwing it away as the other Rangers aside from Hydra, Alura, and Kenneth, spoke to Tip and ate. “I don’t know Tip that well, but they were one of the ones that the Nova Spheres Ptolemy empowered, so it’s hard to see them go,” Kenneth said, shaking his head sadly.
“I know it’s their decision,” Hydra said with a neutral look on his face, “but I just wish there was something I could do.”
“I’m sure Tip will figure something out,” Alura said, “but it’s good you care enough about them to want to try and do something to help, that’s a pretty good emotion to have, and I’m sure you’d do whatever it would take to help them if you did find a way.”
Hydra nodded, “Yes, it is. I just wish I could do something to help Tip stick around and be here when I do manage to get my emotions for good.”
“Hey, I’m sure they won’t be gone for that long, right?” Kenneth said.
Leiurus walked up to them, joining in on the conversation, “Yeah, it’s not like they’ll be gone forever. It was a hard decision for them to make, but it’ll keep people safe, and I’m sure they wouldn’t make it without having a plan to get away from their dad.” Leiurus sighed, “But truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated to make that decision if I were in their shoes if it meant keeping the Revolution safe. They did a good thing.”
“I suppose, but they’re still my friend, I don’t want to say goodbye to them after everything we’ve gone through,” Hydra said, looking at the ground.
Neil suddenly maneuvered up behind him, patting his shoulder as he bit into a cookie, “Yeah, it must be pretty hard for you to say goodbye to them, but we’ll help you through it and find a way to fix it, I promise.”
“And if you can think of a way to help them, then do it. He’s your best friend, so don’t hesitate to help, no matter what it takes,” Alura added.
Hydra gave a slow nod, “If I find a way to, then I will.”
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, the Knights of Andromeda looked at a screen displaying what was happening on Gorgonia’s surface. “Ooh, that one, that one!” Schedar giggled as she pointed at Hydra, “He’ll be perfect for our little plan!”
“Schedar, you can compel any Ranger, why specifically him?” Mirfak said, raising his organic hand to the mechanical side of his neck and cracking it.
Schedar gave a spin and took a selfie with her datapad, “Well, you know how much I like manipulatin’ without my voice, I’ll just use my voice at the end to make sure he does help.”
Alderamin sighed, “Your unacceptable desire to twist the knife is going to cost us someday, Schedar.”
“Not today though, right chat?,” Schedar giggled, “Anyway, what’s the plan for doin’ this?”
“You don’t have a plan?” Mirfak said, rolling his head.
Schedar shook her head, “I only came up with the idea.”
Alderamin grumbled, “Well I might as well come up with it then.” He glanced at a Greyder, “Go get Calamartia, she’ll be assisting us with this strategy.”
The Greyder nodded before exiting the control room. Schedar laughed, “Those pesky Rangers will never know what hit ‘em!”
As the party (if one could call it that) went on, Hydra took a sip from a disposable cup, taking a look around to see how miserable everyone else was. He gave a sad sigh and shook his head, “Everyone’s sad… I don’t really like that,” he inhaled and closed his eyes, “but I guess no one should be more sad but me… but I don’t.” He narrowed his eyes, “If Tip doesn’t end up coming back, then I at least want to feel sad if they do.” He gritted his teeth, “I wish my emotions lasted longer, it’s almost worse than having none at all.”
Tip suddenly walked up to him, “Credit for your thoughts?”
Hydra shook his head, “I just don’t want you to leave, and I’m not really feeling anything about it even though you’re my best friend.”
Tip patted him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Hydra, I’ll be-”
A blast of red energy surrounded by black electricity with red outlines struck table with the cake on it, creating a massive explosion and forcing the Rangers to roll out of the way. “What was that?” Neil yelled, looking around as he recovered and spotting the perpetrators.
Mirfak stood some distance away, standing so the mechanical side of his body was facing them, his cannon arm pointed at them while his sword was slung over his shoulder. Beside him were Alderamin, whose flail was resting on the ground, and Calamartia, who held her mace and sword out to her sides, alongside two Flatborgs. Mirfak lowered his cannon arm and turned to face them properly as he rolled his head around, “Hello there, Rangers.”
“Mirfak!” Neil and Arthur yelled in unison.
Aster grumbled as he pointed at the Imperial forces, “You’ve got some nerve showing your faces now of all times!”
“Why? Upset we crashed your literal pity party?” Calamartia said.
“Shut up!” Tip yelled.
Alderamin chuckled, “At least you spared us the trouble of hunting you down one by one, that would’ve been completely unacceptable! This battle will be talked about for years!”
“We’ll slaughter you Rangers, especially you, Shen! You’ll pay for what you did to Skragen!” Calamartia snarled.
“Well, I do not think we will be going down without a fight,” Hydra said as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The twelve were surrounded by a blinding blast of light that disappeared to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” The twelve Rangers changed forward, splitting off from each other to combat the Imperial forces. Neil and Kenneth brought their swords down on Mirfak, who blocked them with his own sword and claw before running forward, forcing the two of them to move backwards. Alderamin took a wide swing with his mace, making Sirius, Tip, Birdie, and Brando leap over it. Calamartia brought her sword down on Shen, who blocked it with his cane before she was sliced in the sides by Leiurus and Arthur. Aster punched one Flatborg in the face, while Hydra and Alura slashed at the other, making it stagger back.
Hydra was slammed in the side of the chest by the Flatborg’s tonfa, sending him rolling to the side towards the treeline. As he got to his feet, he spotted movement between the trees. “Yoo hoo! Ophiuchus Ranger!” Schedar called out from the trees with a little wave before skipping deeper into the woods.
“Guys, there’s someone else we need to deal with here!” Hydra called out.
“A little busy at the moment!” Birdie said as she ducked under a punch from Alderamin.
Sirius slashed the Knight across the chest, making Alderamin stagger back, “Seems like you’ve gotten stronger.”
“And I will not stop getting stronger until you pay for what you did to my people,” Sirius growled before lunging at him.
Hydra seemed to think for a moment, weighing his options before running into the woods after Schedar.
In a street some distance away from the others, Mirfak sliced Neil across the chest and jabbed Kenneth with the claws of his cannon arm, making the two Rangers stagger back. Mirfak swung his sword, sending a white-blue energy crescent at them that forced the two to roll to the sides. “You’re a lot stronger than before, you went down the easiest,” Kenneth said as he got to his feet, “Alderamin’s species has fire powers, so they’re gifted steelworkers, and Schedar has her voice, all you had was your sword and your brain.”
“I told you I got a few upgrades,” Mirfak replied, “All of my own design of course, much like your apparatus.”
“That was you?” Kenneth scowled.
“You’re going down!” Neil yelled as he ran forward, delivering a downward swing to Mirfak, only for the Knight to block it with his sword.
“You seem to have quite a bit of animosity towards me, but I don’t believe we’ve formally met before,” Mirfak said.
“You killed me and Arthur’s mom,” Neil growled.
Mirfak tilted his head to the side, “You say that, but it doesn’t really narrow it down.” He kicked Neil away with his mechanical leg before blocking a swing from Kenneth’s sword with his own.
Neil swung at him, but he quickly ducked under it before blocking another swing with his mechanical leg while slicing at Kenneth, forcing the Phoenix Knight to block it with his shield. The two Rangers moved out of melee distance before Neil quickly plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword as Kenneth sheathed his sword, pulled the trigger on its handle, and unsheathed it.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
The two sent a pair of slashes flying at Mirfak, one made of red energy and the other made of flames. Mirfak quickly extended his cannon arm forward, sucking the attacks into it. “He can absorb our attacks?” Neil said with surprise.
“Not just that,” Mirfak replied, “What do you humans say? Oh yes, what goes around comes around.” A pair of thrusters on Mirfak’s mechanical leg activated and shot him forward towards Neil and Kenneth at lightning speed, swinging his cannon arm to the side and sending the flaming slash flying and colliding with the Rangers before swinging it downward and sending the red energy slash out to hit them. A moderately-sized explosion was produced, sending the Rangers tumbling to the ground.
“Good grief, he can redirect them too!” Kenneth groaned.
“Go ahead, try and hit me again,” Mirfak said as he walked forward, rolling his head.
Neil snarled, “We’ll finish this later.” He pulled out the Lux Nova Sphere and plugged its red base into his Morpher.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
The Morpher created a bright flash of reddish light, making Mirfak cover his eyes with his organic arm. Once the light died down, Mirfak lowered his arm to see they were gone. “Looks like they got away,” Mirfak rolled his head as he turned around and walked away, “No matter, it’s not like we need them dead for this to work, and besides, I need them alive for my plan…”
In the woods, Hydra looked around for a moment before spotting Schedar waving at him, making him run at her and give a swing of his scythe, but she quickly blocked it with the stand of her microphone. “Well now, that’s an awful rude way to treat someone who just wanted to have a nice chat,” Schedar giggled.
“You expect me to believe that?” Hydra replied monotonously, trying to pull the microphone out of her hand with his scythe, but her grip was too strong, “You brainwashed Leiurus’s brother, why should I even consider listening to you?”
“Because,” Schedar replied, “I think I can help you with your lil’ problem regardin’ your pal and emotions.”
“Again, why should I bother listening? You’re the enemy and you’re in charge of the Empire’s propaganda, so you’re probably lying too,” Hydra responded.
Schedar chuckled, “You know us Acámbaroans, we can make people do things.” She gestured to her microphone, “And this here just makes my powers stronger. I can use it to let you feel emotions, if you want.”
Hydra seemed to contemplate it for a moment before responding, “That’s a tempting offer, but you’ll need to try better than that.”
Schedar hummed as her microphone was still locked with Hydra’s scythe, “Well, like I said, I could also help you with your pal, the Libra Ranger. You don’t want them to leave, right chat?”
“Leaving… that’s Tip’s choice, it would be selfish of me to try and get them to stay,” Hydra replied as he pulled his scythe away, the tone of his voice making it clear he wasn’t believing what he was saying.
“Selfish?” Schedar chuckled, “Don’t tell me you actually think that. When I was watchin’ you, it didn’t seem like Tip wanted to leave either. Makin’ sure they don’t leave ain’t really a selfish choice now, is it?” She held her microphone behind her horizontally, “Besides, even if it was, what’s the problem with bein’ a little selfish? They’re your best friend, aren’t they? Helpin’ you try to get emotions, right?” Surely you want to make sure they’re okay, especially given how nasty their dad seems to be. I can help you stop them leavin’, trust me.”
Hydra thought for a moment, “I… I don’t have time for this.” Hydra sprinted back towards the park, now not paying the Knight any mind.
“Well, my offer’s always open! Come back here later if you change your mind!” Schedar chuckled as Hydra ran off, “I might not be able to get him now, but I’m sure he’ll come around.”
Hydra rushed back, with the first thing he did after arriving was slashing a Flatborg across the chest, making it stumble into a punch from Aster. Neil and Kenneth had also returned, helping fight Alderamin. “You find anything?” Aster asked.
“No,” Hydra lied as he slashed at the Flatborg, making it stumble back into the other and fall to the ground.
Calamartia swung her mace and sword at Leiurus and Shen wildly, forcing them to use their weapons to block the attacks. Arthur suddenly ran past her, slicing her in the side and causing her to stagger. Leiurus and Shen then used the opening to slice her at once, making her stagger back more.
“Nice one, Arthur!” Leiurus said.
Arthur chuckled, “No problem!”
Alderamin spun around in a circle with his flail extended, forcing everyone to duck under or dodge it before it stopped after hitting Kenneth’s shield. “For Clan Freki!” Sirius growled, swiping at Alderamin with his claw. The Knight responded instantly, using his right arm to block the swipe as his flail retracted so it was attached directly to his arm before slamming it into Sirius’s chest and making him stagger back.
Alderamin raised his right hand, a small ball of fire resembling a miniature sun forming in it. He threw it forward at the Rangers, causing it to become significantly larger as it did so, making them roll out of the way before it collided with the downed Flatborgs in a massive explosion. “We’re done here,” Alderamin said as Calamartia ran up to him.
“See you later, jelly brains!” she said before she and the Knight disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
The Rangers unmorphed, panting. “Is everyone okay?” Neil asked.
“More or less,” Tip replied.
Sirius was holding the side of his chest, “Could be worse.”
“Well at least we’re all okay,” Kenneth said, “that could’ve been a lot worse, especially since we weren’t prepared.”
“Yeah, wonder why they left though,” Arthur asked, “It’s not like they were losing.”
“We can worry about that later, we should all get back to the Orion and star-t patching up any injuries,” Shen said.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, we all likely need rest.”
Alura moved towards Hydra as they began to walk away, “What did you see in the woods that made you go after it?”
Hydra shrugged, “It was… nothing.”
In the Capital-class Consumoai’s control room, Alderamin walked in to see his counterparts waiting. “Since the Ophiuchus Ranger came back to fight again, I can only assume your desire to twist the knife instead of using your power proved to be an unacceptable idea,” Alderamin said as he sat at a control seat.
“Don’t be such a downer, Aldie,” Schedar said as she gave a twirl, taking a selfie with her datapad, “I got into his brain, picked at those worries and wants of his just enough that he’s considerin’ it. Lettin’ him get away to mull it over will just make our success all the more satisfying. Right chat?”
“I find that excuse unacceptable,” Alderamin shot back.
Mirfak raised his organic hand to the mechanical side of his neck and cracked it, “I would have more faith in Schedar if I were you, Alderamin. She understands what makes people tick better than most. If she says that he’s mulling it over and will likely come back, I believe that she’s correct.”
“Perhaps,” Alderamin replied, “but for now our work has had no tangible results.”
Schedar giggled, raising her arm and holding her hand limply, “Oh don’t worry Aldie, they’ll be very tangible very soon.”
“Well,” Mirfak said, rolling his head around, “I’ll go work on the other Nova Sphere we’re making.”
“Oh I can’t wait to see what it’ll do!” Schedar giggled as she held up the Void Nova Sphere between her thumb and index finger, “I’m sure it’ll be just as useful when it comes to dealin’ with those nasty Rangers as this one…”
The Rangers all gathered around the exit to the bridge as Tip stood there, their head hanging low. “Well guys, it’s been fun, but I guess I’ll have to go now, Themis probably wants me there early, y’know?” Tip said, not sounding happy in the slightest.
“Well, it’s been nice knowing you, I hope this isn’t the last time we’ll see you,” Neil said with a sad nod.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, I know I might not’ve been the nicest when we first met, but it’ll be hard to see you go.”
“Yeah, the place isn’t going to feel as alive without you now,” Aster added.
Brando handed Tip a small bag, “Here, I know you don’t really eat, but I just felt like you needed it anyway.”
Tip nodded as they took the bag from him, “Thanks man, I appreciate it.”
“I wish I got to know you better, but I wish you luck and safety, no matter where you might end up,” Kenneth said with a small smile.
Shen gave a small nod, “It’s been an honor to have you serve alongside us, Tip. You’ve been an amazing help to us, all of us. If something happens, just know that the Orion will always be a home to you, no matter what.”
“Thanks guys, I… I really appreciate it. I dunno if I’ll be able to come back here, but if I can then I won’t hesitate to do it,” Tip said sadly, “I’ll miss you guys,” Tip said before glancing at Hydra, who was frowning, “especially you, Hydra. I hope you can get your emotions, man. I’m happy I was able to help you with them, even if it was just a bit.”
“Tip…” Hydra said as sadly as they could, their words trailing off, “I’ll find a way to help, I promise.”
“Thanks Hydra, I really appreciate it, but this is something we can’t get around without people getting hurt,” Tip moved towards Hydra and put their hands on his shoulders, “I’ll try to keep in touch, I promise. You’re my best pal, I’ll try my best to see you again, no matter what it takes.” Hydra gave a small nod before Tip moved back towards the door, looking at the other Rangers one last time, “Bye, guys.”
“Goodbye,” every Ranger said in unison sadly except for Hydra. Tip gave one last nod before exiting the room.
“I can’t believe this is how the team ends,” Arthur said, “not in some epic battle, but because of some jerk of a dad.”
“They’ll be missed, but the team isn’t over,” Leiurus replied from where he stood next to Aster, “we’ve still got eleven of us.”
Birdie shook her head, “They were still a part of the team, and one of the original nine at that.”
Hydra paid no mind to what the others were saying, instead thinking back to what Alura had said about being sure he'd do whatever it took to help Tip, and then to Schedar’s words about being able to help get Tip back. Narrowing his eyes, he made up his mind and began walking towards the bridge’s exit as the Libra Zord could be seen flying past the bridge’s window.
“Hydra, where are you going?” Alura asked as everyone was starting to settle down.
“Alura…” Hydra said slowly, “back on Gorgonia, you said you knew that I would do whatever it took to help Tip if I found a way, right?”
“Yeah,” Alura said, narrowing her eyes as everyone else turned to look at Hydra, “why?”
“Then please… forgive me for this,” he said, staring at the other ten Rangers and making them freeze in place.
“What are you doing?” Neil yelled as Hydra began to walk backwards towards the door. Kenneth was able to try and slowly move forward, only to suddenly lose balance and fall to the ground alongside the other Rangers. Before they could recover, Hydra sprinted out the door.
“Hydra!” Shen yelled, but the Gorgonian was already gone.
“What has gotten into him?” Sirius asked as he got to his feet.
“I don’t know,” Neil replied as the Ophiuchus Zord flew past the bridge’s window.
“Well whatever it is, I don’t think it’s going to be good,” Arthur said.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, trouble’s definitely cooking.”
“Birdie, can you get a read on where he’s going?” Alura asked, looking at where the Android stood next to the pilot’s seat.
“Got it!” Birdie exclaimed as she typed on the control board, “Got it! His Morpher’s location is heading back to where we were before!”
“What could he possibly want there?” Leiurus asked.
Neil shook his head, “I dunno, but Arthur’s right, something bad is definitely gonna happen. We gotta find him before he does something he’ll regret.” He looked around before speaking, “Leiurus, Alura, Brando, Kenneth, come with me. We gotta find him.”
Kenneth nodded, “Agreed, we must make haste.”
“Let’s get going, there’s no telling what he could be doing,” Alura said. The five Rangers quickly made their way to the bridge’s exit, not wanting to waste any time.”
“Be careful, all of you!” Shen called out as they exited.
Hydra returned to the spot in the forest where he found Schedar before, finding the Knight taking a selfie and holding her microphone in her other hand. After a moment she seemed to notice Hydra’s presence, lowering her datapad and giggling, “I assume you’re here to take me up on my offer?”
Hydra narrowed his eyes and glanced to the side for a moment before speaking, “Yes, I am.”
Schedar gave a twirl, “Oh I knew you’d come around! I can’t wait to help you, we’ll make an amazin’ team!”
“Don’t get it twisted,” Hydra replied monotonously, “I’m not on your side, I’m only doing this to help my friend and get my emotions. Once that’s done we’re back to being enemies, got it?”
Schedar gave a dismissive wave with her hand, “Right, sure, of course. Anyway, how about we get those emotions out first? I’m sure your pal will be super happy to see you’ve got them when you see them again. That would be an amazin’ surprise, right chat?”
Hydra seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking, “Yes, I’m sure they will be.” Hydra took a deep breath, “Alright, do it.”
“Just a second,” Schedar giggled as she held her datapad out in front of her, “Howdy y’all, it’s me, Schedar! I’m comin’ to you live from Gorgonia in the Ophiuchus system!” She gave a spin, “I’m sure y’all know that Gorgonians don’t really have emotions, but today I’m gonna be usin’ my powers to help one feel them! Ain’t that amazin’?” She positioned herself next to Hydra and held the hand she was holding the datapad in our so Hydra was in frame, making the Gorgonian give a confused look, “I’m sure y’all know him, chat, but just in case you don’t, this here’s Hydra Trabem, infamous thief and the Revolution’s Ophiuchus Ranger! Say hello, Hydra!”
“Hi,” Hydra said awkwardly, waving his hand.
Schedar spinned away before facing him again, “Alright, let’s get this started! Ready, Hydra?”
Hydra took a deep breath, “I’m ready.”
“Alrighty then!” Schedar laughed as she positioned her microphone in front of her mouth, still holding her datapad out. She began to speak, each word creating dark sound waves from her microphone that moved towards Hydra, “You can feel your emotions, but they’re all incredibly strong, and you’ll be helpin’ the Empire from now on.”
Hydra’s eyes widened as he held an arm forward, “Wait, stop!” It was far too late though, the sound waves collided with Hydra, making his slitted silver eyes flash pink.
“Hydra! Where are you?” Neil called out as he and the other four Rangers moved through the woods, “Come on man, we just wanna talk!”
“Hydra please, we’ll think of something!” Kenneth yelled, “I’m sure we’ll find a way to keep Tip around!”
“At least feed us an answer about where you’re going!” Brando added.
“Come on, what are you planning to do that you tried to stop us from following?” Leiurus asked.
“Hydra, please, we can help!” Alura called out.
Suddenly, the sound of sobs rang out through the forest, prompting everyone to turn on the direction it came from. “What was that?” Brando asked.
“Someone’s in trouble, let’s go,” Kenneth said with no hesitation, rushing off towards the source with the others following him.
When they arrived, they found Schedar standing there with her microphone behind her back, “Howdy Rangers!”
“Schedar!” Leiururs snarled, narrowing his eyes at her.
“You did something to Hydra, didn’t you?” Alura accused, pointing a finger at the Knight.
Neil scowled, “Wherever he is, bring him here!”
“If you insist,” Schedar giggled as she turned to the side, “Oh Hydra!”
Hydra emerged from behind a tree, wiping his eyes as he stood next to Schedar before giving a wicked grin, “Hey.”
“Hydra, are you okay?” Brando asked, preparing to move forward.
“Oh I’m more than okay, Dame Schedar here helped me unlock my emotions, and is gonna help me help Tip! Isn’t that great?” Hydra said, his eyes wide as he gave a disturbing cackle.
“Oh no,” Neil said, realization sinking in, “we’re too late.”
“Hydra, she’s using you! She doesn’t want to help you!” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes.
“And you do?” Hydra said, tilting his head to the side as his smile turned into a scowl, “She’s already done more to help me get Tip back than you ever have. None of you even tried to come up with a way to stop them from being taken, nothing at all!”
“Hydra, we really wanted to, but you heard what Tip’s dad said, people would be in danger,” Alura replied, “Please, you don’t have to do this!”
Hydra burst into disturbed laughter, “Why shouldn’t I? None of you helped my friend, but here comes the Empire, the bad guys, and it seems they care more about them than you do!” He chuckled, “Please guys, I’m not just doing this for me, I’m doing it for the team? We’ve got to stick together, no one gets left behind, right?”
Kenneth narrowed his eyes, “This is the worst way this could have possibly turned out.”
“I think you mean the best way!” Hydra cackled, “Now I know how to help Tip, and I’ve got emotions too, isn’t that great?”
“No, it isn’t, not like this,” Brando chimed in.
Neil took a step forward, “Hydra, if you keep this up then we’ll have to fight you.”
Hydra shook his head, “If it means keeping the team together, then I don’t mind.” He looked towards Schedar, “If you would.”
“Of course!” Schedar giggled, handing him the Void Nova Sphere.
The Rangers' eyes widened. “A Nova Sphere?” Neil said with surprise.
“I’ve never seen one like that before,” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes.
“Void Nova Sphere,” Hydra plugged the Nova Sphere into his Morpher, making the gauntlet’s red and blue become black and purple as he flicked the Nova Sphere forward and flipped down its side. “Dark Charge!” he laughed as he pulled the trigger in the side. His body seemed to convulse and sway as darkness swirled around him, coming to an apex as a yellow spotted eye sigil flashed, dispelling the shadows.
“Ophiuchus Void,” Hydra said, rubbing his fingers together. His costume was similar to his Ranger form, but there were some differences. The tongue of the snake on his visor was now red as opposed to silver, there was a maroon scarf with yellow stripes around his neck, a large ornament resembling a serpent’s eye was placed over where the orb on his chest would be, and there was also a cloth tied around his waist, similar in color to his scarf.
“You people aren’t going to get between me and my friend,” Hydra said as he fired his Morpher, sending cloudy dark energy shots at the Rangers and forcing them to roll out of the way.
“Looks like we don’t have any other choice,” Neil said as he and the others plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by colorful energy that dispelled as they got into fighting positions. Hydra put his sure together, and like his Morpher, it was colored differently, its red now black and its blue now purple. “Void Scythe!” Hydra ran forward, scythe resting on his shoulder.
He swung at Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield, with Neil quickly trying to pull Hydra away only to be shoved to the ground. “Hydra, please stop!” Alura pleaded as she, Leiurus, and Brando all grabbed onto him, only for them to be tossed to the ground. Kenneth took a swing at Hydra with his sword, and Neil threw a punch, but he blocked the former with his scythe and grabbed the latter’s fist, but they were able to push him back.
“Hydra, snap out of it!” Kenneth said as Hydra forced Neil to the ground.
“No!” Hydra roared, swinging his scythe at Kenneth’s head and forcing him to duck under it before dodging out of the way of another swing. “Schedar has finally opened my eyes!” Hydra declared as the pupil of the snake eye on his chest widened before firing a purple energy beam. Hydra spun around, the beam colliding with Neil, Leiurus, and Kenneth and forcing Alura and Brando to duck under it. The Rangers were then accosted by a massive explosion of purple energy slices from behind as the beam faded, knocking them to the ground.
“Most impressive,” Karna Rog said from the throne room in Ukhu Pacha, “It seems that Dame Schedar’s little gambit has more than paid off. I’m curious to see where this will go.”
“Hydra, why?” Neil questioned.
“I told you, none of you thought to do anything!” Hydra declared angrily.
“That’s not true!” Alura declared as she got to her feet.
Hydra plugged the Void Nova Sphere into his scythe.
“Abyss Strike!”
“No!” Neil yelled, tackling Hydra to the ground and sending the resulting purple energy slash flying off course, slicing a nearby tree and causing it to nearly fall on Alura.
“Get off, Neil!” Hydra said as his scarf coiled around the Leo Ranger before slashing him twice with his scythe, knocking him back against a tree.
“Neil!” The others ran to his aid, trying to help him off the ground.
“Abyss Strike!”
Hydra slashed another purple energy crescent, cutting into the other Rangers in a massive explosion and creating a large explosion.
Schedar clapped as she skipped forward, “That was simply amazin’, Hydra!”
Hydra nodded, “Thank you, Dame Schedar.”
“Now, let’s pay your friend Tip a visit!” Schedar giggled as she skipped away, Hydra in tow.
“Stop!” Alura yelled as she got to her feet alongside the other Rangers, only for Alderamin and a pair of Flatborgs to appear.
“You won’t be going anywhere,” Alderamin snarled.
“Good grief, you again? Get out of the way,” Kenneth said, sheathing his shield and pulling the trigger. He vanished in a burst of flames. Appearing in the air and swinging his sword.
“Ankaa End!”
A projection of the Phoenix Zord was sent flying at the Knight and the Flatborg, creating a massive explosion on impact. Alderamin seemed relatively unfazed though, simply staggering back from the attack as the Flatborgs’ bodies hit the ground. “Seems you haven’t lost your touch, Kenneth,” Alderamin chuckled.
“I suppose it will be fun to keep them occupied a bit longer,” Karna Rog chuckled, snapping his fingers twice.
A dark cloud formed over the forest, pitch black electricity crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking the Flatborgs’ bodies and making them disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming some distance away, now giants.
Alderamin chuckled, “In that case…” Alderamin’s golden sea beast pauldron began to glow before he disappeared in a swirl of golden energy, reappearing as a giant.
“This is bad!” Brando called out.
Neil glanced at Kenneth and then back at Alura, “Me and Kenneth will deal with these guys, you go and try to find Hydra!”
“Got it!” Alura said before she, Leiurus, and Brando ran off.
Kenneth glanced at Neil, “Let’s do this!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
The two were surrounded by their cockpits, attaching to their respective Zords before the Phoenix Zord was launched from its pad. “We’ll defeat you, and once we do, we’ll get our friends back, both of them!” Neil said, “Hydra was right, we should’ve tried to do something, but we’ll do it now, because no Ranger gets left behind, not now, not ever!”
Neil’s eyes suddenly flashed white underneath his visor.
The Nova Spheres of Leiurus, Alura, and Brando were promptly ripped out of their Morphers and flew into the distance. “Hey!” Brando exclaimed.
“What’s going on?” Alura said with confusion as they flew away.
On the Orion’s bridge, something similar happened to the other Rangers’ Nova Spheres. “Oh my stars!” Shen exclaimed as their Nova Spheres flew out the door.
“What was that all about?” Aster asked.
Arthur shrugged, “I dunno.”
“They seem to be heading towards Neil and Kenneth!” Birdie exclaimed from where she sat.
Tip’s Nova Sphere was ripped from their hand as they looked over it while they walked the streets of Gorgonia, looking on with confusion as it flew away, “Huh?”
Hydra’s Nova Sphere flew off as well, making currently morphed Ranger look on with confusion, “What was that?”
“Oh it’s probably nothin’,” Schedar replied as they continued moving forward.
The Nova Spheres, now cockpit-sized, circled around the Leo and Phoenix Zords. “Good grief,” Kenneth said with exasperation, “what is it now?”
“I dunno,” Neil replied, “but it feels good somehow.”
“Well if that’s the case,” Kenneth said, unsheathing his sword from his shield. The Phoenix Satellite flew down, and the Phoenix Launcher rolled into view as the Phoenix Zord’s upper half detached from its lower half, with the lower half then splitting down the middle.
The Leo Zord shifted into position so it would form a torso, with the Dorado Nova Sphere plugging into its right arm socket, the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere plugging into its left arm socket, the Taurus Nova Sphere plugging into its right leg socket, and the Lupus Nova Sphere plugging into its left leg socket. The Phoenix Launcher split in two, its two halves attaching below the Taurus and Lupus Nova Spheres and revealing additional sockets on the. The thrusters on the two pieces of the bottom half of the Phoenix Zord flew in and attached to the Dorado and Chamaeleon Nova Spheres, revealing sockets on them as well. The Phoenix Satellite shifted as the Phoenix Zord attached to it, plugging into the back of the Leo Zord as its hexagonal front plugged itself in front of the Leo Zord’s cockpit.
The remaining seven Nova Spheres flew into view, the Aquila Nova Sphere plugging into the the right part of the Phoenix Zord’s bottom, the Scorpius Nova Sphere plugging into the left half of the Phoenix Zord’s bottom, the Libra Zord plugging into the right half of the Phoenix Launcher, the Ophiuchus Nova Sphere plugging into the left half of Phoenix Launcher, the Draco Nova Sphere attaching to the right of the head, the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere attaching to the left of the head, and the Phoenix Nova Sphere attaching to the top of the head as a helmet with an golden asymmetrical star on it appeared on the Megazord’s head.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
“Neil, could we always do this?” Kenneth asked with surprise.
Neil shook his head, “I dunno!”
“Well regardless, this might be just what we need to take on a Knight of Andromeda!” Kenneth exclaimed as the Ultrazord began to move forward.
A few spikes from around Alderamin’s flail pointed at the Ultrazord, firing bullets at it as the Flatborgs fired blasts at it, but it didn’t slow the Ultrazord down in the slightest. The Flatborgs swung their Tonfa at it, but it bashed them away with its arms, pushing Alderamin to the side as he tried to slam the flail attached directly to his arm into it. “Let’s see how you like this!” Neil said as the Ultrazord held its arms out, spinning to block the attack and knocking the Flatborgs back after it collided with them too.
“Now!” Kenneth called out. The Ultrazord punched Alderamin back before bringing both of its arms up, sending the tonfa the two Flatborgs were thrusting at it flying into the air as they backed into Alderamin.
“Time to end this!” Neil called.
Kenneth nodded, “I’ll handle this.” He sheathed before unsheathing his sword again.
“You two can deal with them,” Alderamin said, disappearing in a swirl of yellow energy and leaving the two Flatborgs alone.
“Big Bang Ultrazord Star Booster!”
The thrusters on the Ultrazord’s arms began to fire out beams of crimson energy that collided with the Flatborgs continuously. As the beams subsided, the Flatborgs’ bodies began to spark before erupting in a colossal explosion.
“Good grief, Alderamin just left them to take the heat for him,” Kenneth said with disappointment, “Well, at least this thing’s probably going to come in handy from now on.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “but right now we gotta find the others and Hydra, we can’t just let him run around like that unchecked.”
“Yeah,” Kenneth replied, “We better get going.” The Ultrazord disassembled itself, the unused cockpits returning to their rightful owners.
“Birdie,” Neil said into his Morpher as he and Kenneth began to fly away, “do you guys have any idea where Hydra is?”
“I’m afraid not,” Birdie replied, “that Void Nova Sphere completely scrambled our trackers in the Morpher.”
Neil gave a sigh, “Well thanks anyway.”
“So we have no idea where he is?” Kenneth asked.
Neil shook his head, “Not entirely…”
As night fell across Gorgonia, Tip made their way to the ship where Themis was waiting, the older Iustitian accompanied by a pair of Gorgonian guards like before. “Glad to see you could make it, Tip,” Themis said.
“Yeah, can we just… go already?” Tip replied sadly, looking at their gold Nova Sphere.
“Of course, come along now,” Themis said, extending a hand to beckon Tip forward.
Suddenly, several shots of dark energy were fired forward, knocking the guards to the ground and making Themis step back in panic. Tip quickly spun around, instinctively plugging their Nova Sphere into their Morpher, “Who’s there?”
In the distance, he could see Schedar and a morphed Hydra, holding his Void Scythe with the dark Morpher on his arm pointed forward. Hydra moved his arm to the side before speaking, a smile in his voice, “Hey Tip.”
“Hydra?” Tip said with confusion and shock.
Notes:
And that’s it! Honestly, I’ve been pretty excited to adapt this arc, especially given how I decided to have Tip have their own kinda character stuff too. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s really much to say about this chapter, I’m pretty happy with it overall. Anyway, comments are welcome and appreciated.
Oh, and don’t forget about that Karna Rog design contest, haven’t got any contacts about it yet.
Chapter 25: Charmed Snake
Chapter Text
“Hydra, you look different,” Tip said as they looked over the costume of Ophiuchus Void before looking at the Gorgonian guards who lay prone on the ground, “But what are you doing here? And why did you attack those guys? And why is Schedar with you?”
Hydra stopped pointing his Morpher at them and gave a wave, “Tip, I’ve got great news! I have emotions now, isn’t that amazing?”
“You do?” Tip said with surprise, “Hydra, that’s great news! I’m so happy!”
“Yes, yes, very good news, but Tip’s still coming with me,” Themis said as he stepped forward, brushing himself off.
“Oh, that reminds me. I’m also here for another reason,” Hydra said as Schedar gave a giggle from beside him, “It’s because my scythe has the name of a certain Iustitian judge on it.” Hydra charged forward, pushing the Gorgonian guards to the ground before preparing to slice at Themis, the judge recoiling and seeming to brace for impact.
Tip grabbed the scythe before impact, giving Themis time to run away while screaming, leaving Tip to deal with Hydra. “Hydra, what are you doing?” Tip said with panic.
Hydra tilted his helmeted head to the side, “I was under the impression that you’d be fine if something happened to your father.”
“Not if you’re the one to do it!” Tip replied, forcing the scythe to the side, “Hydra, what’s going on? What’s doing this?”
“Oh I am, silly!” Schedar giggled, “I gave him a new lease on life, one that means he’ll be helpin’ the Empire now!”
“No!” Tip yelled before pushing Hydra away, “Hydra, please stop this!”
“Tip, I’m doing this for you and the team! I’m making sure you don’t have to go away!” Hydra replied.
Tip shook their head, “Well you don’t need to be controlled by the Empire to do it!” Tip looked at Hydra sternly, “Hydra, I’m gonna help you, I promise.” They inserted their Nova Sphere into their Morpher.
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Hydra looked Tip over before sighing, “Please just get out of the way, Tip, I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
“Well this isn’t you, Hydra, and I’ll do anything I have to to get you back to the way you were before,” Tip replied as they readied their crossbow.
“The way I was before?” Hydra asked, narrowing his eyes, “You mean without emotions? I thought you wanted me to get them.”
Tip tilted their head forward before speaking with an unsure voice, “I did, just… just not like this.”
Hydra shook his head, “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but trust me, Tip, this is for your own good. I can’t let you get in the way of keeping the team together.” He readied his scythe, “I don’t want to hurt you, but I'll do it if I have to.”
Tip pointed their crossbow at him, “Then bring it if it means getting you back to normal.”
“Ooh, this is gonna be interestin’, chat! Make sure to get the popcorn!” Schedar giggled.
Hydra made the first move, slashing at Tip’s chest with his scythe. Tip quickly reacted rolling backwards before getting into a crouching position and firing their crossbow at Hydra. Hydra blocked the golden energy arrows by spinning his scythe in front of him to make a makeshift barrier. He promptly returned fire with dark energy blasts from his Void Morpher, but Tip quickly shot them out of the air. Hydra charged forward and swung at Tip again, but they ducked under it before blocking another swing with their crossbow.
Schedar crossed her arms, resting them on her microphone as she watched on, “This is so much fun! I can’t wait for my perfect little plan to be the thing that’ll destroy these pesky Rangers!” Several shots of energy of varying colors came flying at her, and she promptly spun back out of the way to avoid them as she looked at the source, “Well howdy, Rangers!”
Neil, Leiurus, Alura, Brando, and Kenneth said nothing as they charged at her, swinging their weapons. Schedar ducked under swipes from Brando and Alura, used her microphone to force Leiurus’s spear to the ground as he swung it at her before kicking him away, and then held her microphone out to block a pair of swings from Neil and Kenneth. “Seems like you guys and gal aren’t messin’ around now, are you?” Schedar asked.
“Turn Hydra back now,” Neil said.
“Or else we’ll be making sure that what we’ll do to you is twice as worse as what you did to him,” Kenneth added. Kenneth pointed the bottom of his shield forward as Neil pointed his Morpher forward, and the two of them fired into Schedar’s chest, making her stagger back.
“I’d really love to, but I can’t do that,” Schedar replied as she flicked the bottom of her microphone forward, sending a copy of the blade at the bottom made of purple energy flying at the Rangers.
Neil quickly plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a shield into his Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A shield made of blue energy appeared in front of the Rangers, blocking the blade as it continued to slice into it. After a few moments, the spinning blade dissipated. Schedar spun back just as Tip ducked under one of Hydra’s swings, slamming the blades base of her microphone into their chest and making the Libra Ranger stumble to the ground. “Well Hydra, this could get pretty sticky if we hang around any longer. We should head out, don’t ya think?” Schedar asked as she looked at the Gorgonian.
“Of course Dame Schedar,” Hydra replied with a nod.
“Stop!” Neil yelled as he ran at them.
Schedar giggled as she moved next to Hydra, “So long, Rangers!” The two of them then disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
“Tip!” Brando yelled as he and the other Rangers unmorphed and ran to their friend’s aid, helping the Iustitian to their feet as they unmorphed.
“Are you okay?” Alura asked.
Tip gave a small nod, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Fighting Hydra must’ve been horrible, I’m so sorry,” Neil said, putting a hand on Tip’s shoulder.
“Schedar, just as manipulative and heartless as she was back then, seems like things never change,” Kenneth said with a scowl.
“She’s twisted, no doubt about it,” Leiurus said angrily as Tip looked at the ground.
Neil patted their shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry, we’ll get Hydra back, I know it.”
“Thanks man, I’m happy to hear that,” Tip hopefully with a small nod.
Alura looked around, “We should head back to the Orion, we need to come up with some kind of plan to deal with this.”
“Agreed,” Kenneth replied.
Neil smiled at Tip, “Seems like you’ll be sticking around after all.”
“Yeah, I guess there is some silver lining to all this,” Tip replied with a chuckle before sounding a bit sad, “Heh, silver…”
Schedar skipped into the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai with an unmorphed Hydra in tow, the Gorgonian now wearing blacks and purples. Mirfak immediately took notice of their arrival, cracking his neck, “So, this is the so-called Ophiuchus Void. I must say, I’m rather impressed. It’s good to see the Void Nova Sphere functions exactly as I designed it to.”
Schedar giggled as she took a selfie, “Thanks again for that Mirfie, it’ll definitely help turn the tides on those Power Rangers.”
“I must admit, your plan seems to be much more effective in practice than I expected, Schedar,” Alderamin replied from where he sat.
“Well, it’s nice to see all of you,” Hydra said with a too-wide smile, slashing a passing Greyder across the chest with his scythe and making it fall to the ground, limp.
Mirfak shook his head, “Regardless, I’m sure you’ll be a useful asset to us.”
Suddenly, a hologram of Karna Rog appeared in the control room, prompting Hydra and the Knights to take a knee. “Emperor Karna Rog, to what do we owe the visit?” Alderamin asked.
“I would assume you already know why,” the Emperor rasped, “I am here to congratulate your success in turning one of the Rangers into a new pawn for us to use. It was a magnificent plan indeed, Dame Schedar.”
Schedar giggled, “Oh thank you, Emperor!”
Karna Rog looked at Hydra, “I have a great amount of faith in you being able to fulfill your task, Hydra. I trust that you won’t disappoint.”
“Of course,” Hydra nodded with a grin, “I will take care of Themis and reunite my team, even if it means that the only way we’re ever together again is if it’s in the next life.”
The Rangers gathered on Orion’s bridge with Shen and Birdie standing in front of the table. Tip hung their head low as Shen began to speak, “I hope you all got a good night’s rest, you all needed it after that fiasco yesterday.”
“Yeah, we did,” Neil replied, “Anyway, what’s the plan for getting Hydra back?”
“Well, the first thing we’ll need to do is track him down,” Birdie replied.
Sirius thought for a moment, “Well, if he was after Themis, he would probably still be on Gorgonia, would he not?”
“I don’t think Themis actually left, so maybe,” Aster replied.
Alura nodded, “Plus, if he wants us to all be together again, then he probably wouldn’t have left until he knows we’re not here.”
“Yeah, all together…” Tip said sadly before Neil put a hand on their shoulder reassuringly.
“So what’s the plan?” Brando asked, “Should we serve up some kind of move first or wait for something to happen?”
Shen stroked his metallic beard, “Well-”
“Found him,” Birdie cut in as she looked at her datapad.
The Rangers looked at her with confusion. “Already?” Leiurus asked.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, looks like he and Schedar are looking for us and Themis in one of Gorgonia’s cities.”
“That was weirdly fast,” Neil replied, “How do you know where he is?”
Birdie just shook her head as she swiped her datapad, making a holographic screen appear on the bridge. It displayed Schedar and Hydra walking down the streets of one of Gorgonia’s silver cities as Gorgonian civilians calmly walked away. Judging by the angle they were displayed, it seemed like Schedar was filming with her datapad. “Hey chat! It’s me, Schedar, and today I’m with my new bestie, Hydra Trabem! Say hello, Hydra!” Schedar giggled as she angled the camera towards him.
“Hello everyone!” Hydra said happily, a wide grin on his face.
The camera was angled back towards Schedar as she continued to speak, “Today, we’re lookin’ for the rest of those nasty Power Rangers, so wish us luck, chat!”
The screen disappeared as everyone stared blankly at where it once was. It was dead silent before Arthur spoke up with an unimpressed monotone, “Wow.”
“The audacity to vlog herself causing chaos, I’m almost impressed,” Neil said, still trying to process what had happened.
Kenneth looked confused, “Is she… usually like this now?”
“Pretty much,” Alura replied.
“Well at least we know where Hydra is now!” Tip exclaimed, “Come on guys, let’s stop messing around here and go get him!”
“Tip, as much as I understand your concern, we must be careful with this,” Sirius said.
Shen nodded, “Yes, we don’t know what this Void Nova Sphere is fully capable of yet. We need to handle this delicately, for his sake and ours.”
Tip gave a small, sad nod, “Of course, Boss.”
“Alright,” Shen replied, giving a nod in turn, “I don’t think we’ll have time for the computer to generate a team today, so I’ll do it instead.” Shen took a deep breath before continuing, “Neil, Sirius, Alura, Arthur,” he turned to look at Tip before speaking, “and of course you, Tip.”
“Thanks, Boss, I need to help him, so I’m happy to go along to get him back,” Tip replied.
“You’re welcome,” Shen chuckled.
Neil took a step forward, “Alright, let’s get Hydra back.”
“Yeah!” Tip said with confidence as they prepared to leave alongside the other Rangers.”
“Be careful everyone,” Shen said, “If things go south you’re to retreat, got it?”
Neil nodded, “Got it!”
The five unmorphed Rangers arrived as Hydra blasted the sides of a few buildings with his Morpher, giving a wicked grin as he looked at Schedar and laughed. “Hydra, we’re here!” Neil called out.
“Oh, it’s nice to see you guys again,” Hydra replied, looking the five of them over as he grinned.
“Hydra, I’m back with the team now, okay? You don’t need to keep working with her anymore!” Tip replied, holding their hands to their chest.
Hydra cackled before looking at them and the other Rangers, “Oh Tip, I’m really sorry, but there’s been a slight change of plans.” He looked all of them over before speaking again, “Y’know, I figured out a way for us to never have to split up again! You know what it is?”
“What?” Neil said, narrowing his eyes.
“By killing you, of course!” Hydra said as he plugged the Void Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
Tip reached a hand forward, “Hydra, stop!”
“Void Nova Sphere!”
“Dark Charge!”
Hydra’s body convulsed as it was surrounded by darkness, which quickly dissipated to reveal him in his Ophiuchus Void form. He wasted no time running forward and taking a slice at Tip. “Get down!” Neil yelled, pulling Tip to the ground to avoid the attack.
The other Rangers quickly plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers, not even wasting time saying their names. Before Sirius, Alura, and Arthur could morph, Hydra slashed several dark energy slices at them, forcing them to dodge before morphing. Neil and Tip quickly got to their feet, morphing without any fanfare as well. Hydra slashed at them all repeatedly and lashed at them with his scarf, but they repeatedly ducked and dodged the attacks. “Would you hold still for five seconds?” Hydra snarled, “I promise it’ll be quick and painless!”
“Hydra, please snap out of it!” Arthur yelled as he tried to restrain Hydra’s arm, only to be thrown to the side.
“Hydra, she is controlling you!” Sirius said as he tackled the Gorgonian to the ground. Hydra punched Sirius’s helmet, making him recoil and allowing Hydra to force him off.
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t let you hog all the fun!” Schedar giggled as she skipped into the fray, holding her microphone so its pointed bottom was facing forward. She swiped at Arthur with it, but he was able to dodge, she then sliced it into Alura’s side before swinging it back at Arthur and knocking him to the ground. She swung at Neil, but he was able to grab it and hold it in place.
Meanwhile, Hydra was focusing on Tip, slashing at them repeatedly, but they ducked under some swipes and blocked a few others with their crossbow. “Hydra please! This isn’t you!” Tip said as they thrusted their Crossbow forward to block a downward swing.
“Isn’t me?” Hydra replied happily, “Tip, this is the real me! This is me with my emotions, this is who I always wanted to be!”
“No it isn’t!” Tip replied, pushing Hydra away, “The Hydra I know, he’d never act like this, even if he did have emotions!”
“You must not know me as well as I thought then,” Hydra replied, slashing Tip across the chest before they could react.
“Hydra, I don’t want to have to hurt you!” Tip replied as they clutched their chest, pointing their crossbow at him.
“Then that’ll make things easier at least,” Hydra replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll all be together again very soon.” He charged at Tip.
Scehdar ducked under a slice from Arthur’s glaive and spun out of the way of a lunge from Sirius before speaking, “You know, there is a way to get your friend back to normal.”
“Why should we believe that?” Neil replied as she blocked a swing from his sword with her microphone stand.
“Why even try and tell us when we aren’t gonna believe it?” Arthur added.
“Because, it’s true, but it ain’t something you’ll enjoy doing,” Schedar giggled as she spun back from Neil.
Alura pointed her rapier at her, “Fine, then tell us.”
“You gotta hurt him,” Schedar replied, “You gotta hurt him so bad, that it makes him stop focusin’ on what I told him to do.”
Artgur narrowed his eyes under his visor, “Yeah right!”
“We’re not gonna hurt him,” Neil said as he pointed his sword at the Knight.
Schedar shrugged, “Suit yourself!” The Rangers charged at her again, but she elegantly dodged and blocked the attacks, even managing to retaliate with a few of her own. She stood next to Hydra as the Gorgonian kicked Tip away, “It’s been fun, Rangers, but I think we’re gonna have our fun somewhere else now!”
“No!” Tip said, extending their arm forward from where they were on the ground, but Schedar and Hydra disappeared in a swirl of dark energy again.
Alura kicked a stone, “Dang it, they got away again.”
“We’ll get them next time, but I think we should head back to the Orion and regroup for now,” Neil said.
“Yeah,” Tip said sadly.
“I never knew fighting could be so much fun!” an unmorphed Hydra cackled as he sliced at a few Greyders and Flatborgs. His attacks were vicious, and none of the Flatborgs and Greyders were able to land a hit on him.
Schedar stood some distance away, filming with her datapad, “I figured you’d like a bit more fun when we got back! Hope you’re enjoyin’ it!” She giggled as Hydra slashed a Flatborg’s shoulder.
“Why did you leave?” Mirfak asked, looking at Schedar as he and Alderamin entered the room.
Scehdar giggled, “Oh it’s simple, we gotta make this fun! No use dealin’ with them if it ain’t satisfyin’, right?” Hydra kicked a Greyder to the ground and repeatedly stomped on it.
“And what exactly do we gain from twisting the knife in this case?” Alderamin asked, crossing his arms.
Schedar giggled, “I already told you, to make it fun!” She tapped her chin for a moment, “They think they could have a way to get Hydra back to normal, and I have a feelin’ they’ll at least try it, and when they figure out that it doesn’t work, it’ll absolutely crush their fightin’ spirit! They just attacked their friend for nothin’!” Hydra grabbed a Flatborg from behind, repeatedly slashing its back with a crazed grin on his face.
Alderamin huffed, “You do realize that unless all of them come next time, we’ll only be finishing off five. This plan is completely unacceptable.”
“It would still eliminate half of their current members,” Mirfak replied and rolled his head around, “Even if I highly doubt it’ll break their fighting spirit, it will at least weaken them enough to finish them off.”
“I still think you’re making this needlessly complicated and compromising its effectiveness just so you can have a bit of fun,” Alderamin replied as he looked at Schedar.
Schedar giggled and took a selfie, “What can I say? I like to make my enemies squirm every chance I get.” Schedar watched as Hydra repeatedly slammed a Greyder’s head against a wall, “Oh this is gonna be fun!”
“I can’t believe that Schedar thought we were gonna believe that hurting Hydra would get him back to normal,” Arthur said from where he sat on the bridge.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, that’s probably the most half-baked attempt at a lie I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, she’s the one controlling him, even if she’d get some sick satisfaction out of it, why even tell us that?” Neil asked.
Alura shrugged, “Maybe she’s hoping we take him out so there’s one less of us to deal with.”
“That does not make sense,” Sirius replied, “Hydra is very powerful like this, it would be a waste to try and dispose of him.”
“You obviously don’t know Schedar very well then,” Kenneth interjected, “Cruelty is the point for whatever she does, regardless of if it’s beneficial or not.”
Tip sighed and hung their head, “Man, this is a huge mess. My best friend is trying to kill us, and we have no idea on how to save him.”
“He’s our friend too, and we're gonna find a way to save him,” Neil replied with a determined look on his face, “After that, we can keep fighting against the Empire to make sure they never do stuff like this again.”
“Well, don’t we have any information about Schedar’s species? Anything that could point towards how to snap him out of it?” Alura asked, “Kenneth, you’ve dealt with her before, do you know anything?”
Kenneth shook his head, “Acámbaroans weren’t really well-known back in my time, and I doubt they’re any less illusive than they were back then. Even then, her powers don’t act like an average Acámbaroan. Her microphone enhances her ability to compel others astronomically, so even if we did know it probably wouldn’t work in Hydra’s case because there’s no telling how much harder the microphone makes it to break the compulsion.”
“Well that’s just great,” Aster huffed, steam shooting from his nose.
Birdie gave a thoughtful look as before looking up from the datapad she was typing on, turning her attention to Leiurus and Aster, “You two were there when Eurypto broke out of Schedar’s control, how exactly did he do it?”
“Well, he did say that seeing me in danger and wanting to protect me was what broke through it,” Leiurus replied, scowling a bit.
“Huh,” Shen said, “that’s both easier and harder than I thought it’d be.”
“So we just need to find a way to get through to him then,” Arthur said, “If we can do something to appeal to the little bit of Hydra that’s still in there, it might be able to snap him out of it.”
“Uh, well, there might be a slight problem,” Aster interrupted.
Everyone turned to look at him, with Brando being the first to speak, “What is it?”
“Leiurus, you do remember what happened before Eurypto broke out of it, right?” Aster asked, turning to look at his partner.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, we were just about to finish him off.” Leiurus froze, “Oh.”
“Well that’s just great,” Tip deadpanned, “So Schedar might actually be telling the truth and we do have to hurt him. Our only lead puts us back to square one.”
“Calm down Tip,” Shen said gently, “Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, it could be pure coincidence.”
Tip shook their head, “We have two different things that say we need to hurt him. Sounds pretty cut and dry to me, the only way we can get him back is by hurting him, but I want another way.” Tip thought for a moment, “Wait a second, didn’t Eurypto say that wanting to protect you was what snapped him out of it? If the pain was what did, he would’ve said that, right?”
“I guess,” Leiurus replied, “Either that or the pain weakened the compulsion just enough for those feelings about protecting me to completely break it.”
Neil groaned, “This is getting nowhere, we haven’t figured out how to save him yet, let alone made a plan for how to do it. Hydra needs our help now.”
“Neil’s right, we can’t just keep on operating off of assumptions,” Alura replied, “We need to use what’s all but been proven already, even if that’s not what we want to hear.”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, it seems like the only way we can do this is if we hurt him.”
“Come on, there has to be another way!” Tip shot back.
Shen shook his head, “I’m sorry Tip, but it’s our best shot. It’s not my ideal scenario either, but it has a good shot at working, and we don’t have the time to come up with anything else.”
“Yeah man, I’m sorry, I don’t really like this either,” Neil replied.
Tip sighed before looking up with a newfound determination, “Fine, we’ll do that, but I’ll be the one to snap him out of it okay? I’m not going to let him get hurt any more than he needs to be.”
“And we’ll be right there to help,” Neil said reassuringly.
“Uh, guys, sorry to ruin the moment, but we’ve got trouble!” Birdie said as she gestured to a holographic screen showing an unmorphed Hydra and Schedar wreaking havoc on Gorgonia’s surface.
“We gotta go then,” Neil said as he, Sirius, Tip, Alura, and Arthur made for the door, “We need to help the people down there.”
Tip nodded, “And save Hydra.”
The five Rangers rushed into view to confront Hydra and Schedar. “Schedar, this ends now!” Neil exclaimed as he pointed at her.
Schedar giggled, “Howdy Rangers!”
“Hey guys, nice to see you again,” Hydra added as he looked at them, “We were just looking for Themis.”
“Hydra, I can deal with him on my own,” Tip replied, “I didn’t need you to do this, so that’s why I’m gonna help you snap out of it.”
“I’m sorry Tip, but this is really for your own good,” Hydra replied.
Alura glanced at Tip, “We’ll handle Schedar, you focus on Hydra.”
“Got it,” Tip nodded as they and the other four Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The five of them were enveloped in light before appearing in their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the five of them yelled in unison.
Hydra smiled as he plugged his own Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Void Nova Sphere!”
“Dark Charge!”
Hydra convulsed as darkness swirled around him before it dissipated, revealing him in his costume.
“Ophiuchus Void!”
“Let’s go!” Neil yelled.
Schedar blocked a swing from Alura’s Rapier and Sirius’s claw before spinning to block a swing from Arthur’s scythe. Tip punched Hydra, who blocked it with his fists and grabbed Tip’s arms, “Why don’t you want me to help you?”
“Because you’re doing it the wrong way!” Tip replied as Hydra pushed them away and spun around behind them.
“Then what is the right way?” Hydra swung at Tip repeatedly with his scythe, but the Iustitan repeatedly avoided the attacker
“Not this!” Tip replied before they were hit in the side by the scythe and kneed in the chest, making them fall to the ground.
Schedar blocked a swing from Sirius’s claw and pushed him away, “I wonder if you’re considerin’ listenin’ to what I said?” She blocked a swing from Neil’s sword, “You need to hurt him bad to get him back to normal. Why, it might even kill him!” She spun back away from Neil.
“We’re gonna get him back to normal, and we’re not gonna kill him!” Neil replied as he swung at her again.
Tip grabbed at Hydra and tried to force him to the ground, but Hydra tried to do the same, causing them both to fall down a nearby flight of stairs arranged in an amphitheater-like fashion. Tip got to their feet and swung their fist at Hydra’s face, knocking him onto the stairs before getting up and jabbing Tip in the chest with the shaft of his scythe. Tip staggered a bit before Hydra slashed them across the face, sending them tumbling down the next section of stairs. Tip hit the ground at the bottom and glanced up to see Hydra jumping down at them with his scythe ready to swing. Tip quickly got to their feet and grabbed the blade of the scythe with both hands before it could, forcing them into a crouching position. Hydra grabbed the scythe with both hands now, intent on overpowering Tip.
“Hydra, this isn’t you! What happened to my friend? My best pal? The one who wanted emotions so he could cry, so he could smile?” Tip questioned, sounding like they were on the verge of tears.
Hydra’s grip on his scythe tightened, “I got what I wanted, and now I can use it to help you.”
“No you don’t!” Tip shot back, “This isn’t what you would’ve wanted, to be turned into a puppet for the Empire, to hurt us! You wanted emotions, I know that, but I also know you wouldn’t have wanted to get them if it meant hurting the ones you cared about!” Tip forced the blade of the scythe to the side and punched Hydra a few times before he could react before grabbing him and tossing him to the ground.
Tip got on top of him and held him to the ground before plugging a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a bow and arrow into their crossbow.
“Sagittarius Nova Sphere!”
Tip stood on top of them, aiming their crossbow at him with both hands, “Please Hydra, don’t make me do this, please just snap out of it!”
Hydra’s helmeted face looked up at them, “You’re not going to shoot, are you? I know you wouldn’t, you care about me just as much as I care about you.” Hydra’s eyes suddenly flashed pink before he cackled, “Do it, I know you’re too much of a wimp to!”
“I will, Hydra,” Tip responded, holding their crossbow tighter, “If it’s really the only way to get you back to normal, I will do it.” Tip continued to look down at them, “And yeah, I do care, Hydra. You’re my best friend, we were a team before we even joined the Revolution, you had my back, and I had yours.” Tip seemed to take a deep breath, “Which is why I’m not gonna let you suffer alone!” Orange-gold energy glowed around the blades of Tip’s crossbow as they pointed it in the air, firing dozens of similarly-colored energy arrows in the air that slowly began to rain down.
“Tip what are you doing?” Hydra exclaimed in a panic as they tried to crawl away, only for Tip to toss their crossbow to the side and pin him to the ground, forcing the two of them to look up as energy arrows began to fall down on the street they were on, progressively getting closer to the two of them and creating a massive explosion that the were soon enveloped in.
The other four Rangers looked on in shock as the fight they were having with Schedar abruptly came to an end.
“Tip!” Arthur exclaimed as Alura tried to help him to his feet.
“Hydra!” Sirius yelled, his claw and Neil’s sword blocked by Schedar’s microphone stand before she pushed the two of them away.
“Now that was quite the pyrotechnics display!” Schedar giggled.
Tip and Hydra fell to the sides, unmorphing in the process. Slowly, Tip recovered and began to crawl towards his friend, “Hydra… are you okay?” Hydra spasmed on the ground in pain as Tip got to their feet once they were close enough to him, “Hydra, I’m here, it’s okay!”
Hydra suddenly lunged forward with his scythe, slashing Tip across the chest and making them stumble backwards and fall to the ground. “It… it didn’t work?” Tip said shakily with disbelief.
“Tip, how could you say that? I am the Hydra you know!” Hydra snarled as they laid on the ground still, “Do you not think I’m me? Do you think I’m a worse person because I got what I wanted?”
“Hydra, no! That’s not it at all!” Tip said as they tried to get to their feet again, only to collapse once more.
The other four Rangers looked at Schedar, who was just giggling away. “You lied…” Neil said, his voice low and unusually calm.
“And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker!” Schedar said with a twirl as she pointed at Neil, “Oh watching Tip do all of that for nothing was so much fun!” She laughed, “You’re so naive!”
“That monster!” Leiurus snarled from where he stood on the bridge.
Brando looked shocked and horrified, “All we did was hurt Hydra.”
“We could’ve killed him!” Aster said with a mix of anger and horror as steam shot from his nose.
“I thought as much,” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes, “this was exactly the kind of thing she would do.” Kenneth shook his head, “Good grief.”
Birdie looked at Shen and shook him, “Commander Long, what do we do now?”
“I… I don’t know,” Shen said quietly as he drummed his fingers on his cane nervously, the failure obviously leaving him defeated.
Kenneth shook his head and patted Shen’s shoulder as he looked up at the holographic screen, “Well, it looks like they know what they’re going to do.”
The four Rangers stared at Schedar silently as they gripped their weapons. Without a word they plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons, making their blades become enveloped in red, blue, green, and cyan energy respectively. They charged at her, with Sirius and Alura swinging at her with their energy-imbued claw and rapier. “Looks like I struck a nerve!” Schedar giggled as she ducked under them with a spin. Arthur gave a downward swing with his glaive, making her jump back to avoid it as the force of the impact sent pieces of the ground flying.
Neil swung at her with his sword, causing her to raise her microphone stand to block it. She did block the attack, but the force of the swing still sent her staggering back. The four Rangers swung their weapons, sending red, blue, green, and cyan energy crescents flying at her. The mouth of the triceratops-like head on Schedar’s torso opened, letting out a massive sonic blast that deflected the energy.
“Seems like you’re not messin’ around anymore,” Schedar giggled as she sent purple sound waves from her microphone flying at the Rangers, who rolled to the side to avoid it as Sirius lunged at her. Sirius slashed at her repeatedly with his energy-imbued claw, but she dodged the attacks before slashing him with the base of her microphone. Arthur ran up behind her and positioned his glaive in front of her neck to restrain her, allowing Sirius to slash her across the chest.
Schedar quickly leaned forward, forcing Arthur forward as well and making him hit the ground. She prepared to swing at him with her microphone, but Alura blinked into view beside her and jabbed the Knight in the side, staggering her. Neil took the opportunity to swing at her as well, but she quickly swiped at his legs with her microphone, knocking him to the ground as she stood over him with the bladed base of her microphone positioned over his chest. “Looks like it’s curtains for you!” Schedar giggled, “How about you stop movin’ to make this easier?”
Neil’s eyes flashed pink for a split-second, but they glowed white just as quickly as he kicked her off of him. She stumbled backward towards the other Rangers, whose weapons were already drawn. They slashed her in unison, sending a massive shower of sparks flying off of her body as she staggered back.
“Regulus End!”
Schedar spun around to see Neil’s sword raised over his head, a projection of the Leo Zord made of red energy above it. He swung the sword and sent the projection flying at Schedar, creating a massive explosion that sent her flying back as it collided with her. She landed next to Hydra, who himself was struggling to get to his feet.
The Rangers approached them, with Arthur helping Tip to their feet as they did so. “It’s time to end this!” Alura said as she and the others plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers and flicked them back twice, even Tip, who wasn’t currently morphed.
“All Star Shot!”
The Rangers fired spheres of red, blue, gold, green, and cyan energy with tails like comets at Schedar as she got to her feet. Before they could collide with the Knight, Mirfak appeared in front of her, holding his arm cannon forward and absorbing the projectiles with it. “Mirfak!” Neil and Arthur yelled in unison, leaning forward with their weapons ready.
Mirfak fired the projectiles back at Rangers, forcing them to dodge it and the massive explosion it created. Mirfak looked at Schedar and Hydra as the Rangers tried to recover, rolling his head around, “Well, it looks like your plan to break the Rangers’ spirits was more effective on paper.”
“We’ll still get them, Mirfie!” Schedar retorted.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, Sir Mirfak, just give us a bit more time!”
“You two are in no condition to continue fighting, and I highly doubt that Emperor Karna Rog would be pleased to lose one of his Knights and one of his most useful new assets,” Mirfak said as he shook his head.
“Oh come on Mirfie, Hydra can handle it!” Schedar retorted.
Mirfak shook his head, “I still think it would be wise to leave before the Rangers realize that appealing to the memories and feelings of your little toy will break your control on him.” Everyone was dead silent as they looked at Mirfak, who appeared to realize his mistake, “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Schedar was shaking with rage as she pointed at her fellow Knight and stomped her foot on the ground, “Mirfak you idiot! Why did you tell them that? Now they’ll know how to really break it!”
Mirfak shook his head, “My sincerest apologies, Schedar, it was simply a slip of the tongue.” He looked at the Rangers, holding his arms behind his back, “Not that it’ll matter, they’ll either think it’s another lie, or they’ll be dealt with before they have a chance to do it.”
Neil looked at Mirfak, “Why would we think it's another lie if you said we’ll probably assume it’s another lie?”
“It’s a lie! He’s tryin’ to mess with you! There’s actually no way to undo it!” Schedar exclaimed in a panic.
Tip pointed their crossbow at her, “Why are you acting so defensive all of the sudden?”
“It’s-no, nuh uh!” Schedar stuttered out, “Let’s just go!”
“Hydra!” Tip yelled as they ran forward, but they were too late, as Hydra and the two Knights disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
“Dang it!” Arthur yelled.
“We need to get back to the base, you need help, Tip,” Neil said as he looked Tip over, who was visibly struggling to stand.
“Okay, yeah, and we need to figure out a new plan,” Tip panted.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog raised a clawed hand to his chin, “While I find the incompetence of revealing the way to undo Schedar’s control to be absolutely heinous, I do agree with you, Sir Mirfak. The Rangers will be dealt with before they have a chance to use that knowledge.” He snapped his digits twice.
A dark storm swirled above the silvery city, dark energy crackling through it. The storm seemed to split in two before each half began to coalesce, becoming a pair of giant Flatborgs. The Flatborgs pointed their tongs at the Rangers, firing a pair of giant fireballs at them. The Rangers avoided the attacks, with Neil looking at Arthur, “Get Tip to the Orion, I’ve got an idea for how to handle these guys!”
“Got it!” Arthur said, supporting Tip and heading off.
Neil pulled out a teal Nova depicting a pair of twins and plugged it into his Morpher.
“Gemini Nova Sphere!”
Neil dodged away from another fireball along with Sirius and Alura before he fired a pair of teal energy beams at the two other Rangers, which duplicated both of them. “Cool idea Neil!” one of the Aluras said.
“Now we’ve got twice the firepower,” the second nodded before high fiving the other Alura with both hands.
“This is strange,” one Sirius said, looking at the other.
The other Sirius gave the first a high five, “But in a good way.” They put an arm around each other’s shoulders.
“Alright then, let’s go!” Neil said as he and the two sets of duplicates readied their Morphers.
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
They were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off to connect to their respective Zords, the Lupus and Chamaeleon Zord’s seemingly having been cloned along with their owners. The Zords then got into position to combine.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This combination had the Chamaeleon Zord as its right arm and right leg, and the Lupus Zord as its left arm and left leg. “Alright, let’s go!” Neil exclaimed.
The Chamaeleon Zord making up the right arm extended its metallic tongue, holding the pair of Flatborgs together before the Alura pulled a lever back, pulling the two of them towards the Megazord. The Chamaeleon and Lupus Zords making up the arms jabbed the Flatborgs in the chests, making them stumble back.
“We might be duplicates, but we are still enough for a pack,” the Sirius piloting the Lupus Zord that made up the left arm said to his clone, “Let us time this right.”
“Of course!” the other Sirius replied. The Lupus Zord making up the left arm batted a Flatborg’s tonfa away as it tried to swing at them, with Lupus Zord making up the left leg then kneeing it in the chest. Another Flatborg then moved in from the other side, and the Sirius duplicates repeated the process with that one.
“Time to end this!” Neil exclaimed as he and the two sets of duplicates flipped down the sides of their Morphers and flicked their Nova Spheres back.
“Supernova Megazord Twin Breaker!”
The cockpits of each Zord began to glow before the ones comprising the arms fired off beams from their cockpits, one red and one blue. The beams collided with the Flatborgs, making them explode.
Mirfak entered the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, where he was immediately accosted by Schedar, “Why in the name of the stars did you think revealin’ how to snap him out of my control was a good idea? Because I know that wasn’t just a slip of the tongue.” She held the bladed base of her microphone stand to Mirfak’s neck.
“Because Schedar, it’s all part of my own plan to defeat the Rangers,” Mirfak replied.
“Your own plan? So your plan involves sabotagin’ mine?” Schedar said angrily.
Mirfak rolled his head around, “As I said Schedar, it’s unlikely they’ll last long enough to use that information. This plan was made with the intention of using it should the Rangers succeed.”
“So you told them exactly how to do it so they could get this plan of yours started? That’s asinine!” Schedar snarled.
Alderamin looked at Mirfak, “What is this plan of yours anyway? How does handing the Ophiuchus Ranger back to the rest of them help deal with them in any way?”
Mirfak cracked his neck before he shook his head, “I could explain all the logistics of it, but it would be far too complex for you to understand.”
“With all due respect, Sir Mirfak, I highly doubt that,” Hydra deadpanned.
Mirfak seemed to glare at Hydra for a moment before speaking again, “Oh right, I almost forgot why I came here in the first place.” He reached his organic arm behind himself, producing a Nova Sphere similar to the Void Nova Sphere as he held it back in front of him. It was almost exactly the same as the Void Nova Sphere, with a metallic pink-purple base and a dark globe supported by it, but instead of depicting a claw, the globe depicted a dark vortex. “May I present to you the Black Hole Nova Sphere, the second of the Nova Spheres we’ve created using dark celestial energy,” Mirfak explained, “I can assume you can guess what it can do.”
“Ooh!” Schedar said, her mood completely changing as she took the Nova Sphere from his hand, “This will be great, won’t it, Hydra?”
“Yes, I can’t wait to use it,” Hydra said with a sadistic grin.
As the two of them looked it over, Alderamin approached to look at it as well, giving Mirfak the opportunity to slink away into one of the Consumoai’s corridors. “Good, they don’t suspect a thing. I need those Rangers alive for my plan to defeat Karna Rog to come into fruition, and I cannot afford to let the others figure that out,” Mirfak mused to himself.
“Well, at least we have an actual good lead on how to get Hydra back now,” Neil said from where he sat on the bridge.
Leiurus shook his head from where he sat next to Aster, “Can we really say that though? It could easily be another lie.”
“I don’t think so,” Arthur chimed in, “Schedar got really defensive once Mirfak said that, she was screaming at him and everything. I doubt she’d be acting like that if it was something she planned beforehand, since she seemed genuinely upset.”
“Besides,” Birdie added, “since we know the pain was a lie, we know that what Eurypto said was true, meaning that what Mirfak said is also true, just worded differently I guess.”
“Well that’s great!” Tip said from where they say, “We can just head back out, find Hydra again, get me to talk to him again, and snap him out of it!”
Shen shook his head, “Tip, I know you want to help Hydra, but even with the repairs down by the Hydra Nova Sphere you’re in no condition to go out again, at least not for today anyway.”
“No, I can go out,” Tip replied, trying to stand up, “He’s my friend and now I know how to save him, so I’m not gonna waste a minute waiting around. Besides, it’s kinda my fault why he’s like this anyway.”
“Tip, do not say that, this is not something you did,” Sirius said.
Tip shook their head, “Yes it is, well, at least some of it is. If I had just stood up to my dad then Hydra wouldn’t have turned to the Empire to find a way to get me to stay.”
“Tip, none of us could’ve seen this coming,” Alura said, “we never knew this would’ve happened, you never knew this would’ve happened.”
“Yeah, Hydra deciding to do that came out of nowhere,” Brando said.
Tip shook their head, “It still doesn’t feel like I made the right choice.”
Kenneth patted their shoulder, “I know a thing or two about making tough decisions. While I know that you don’t think so, I think you made the right choice. You made a choice that would hurt the least amount of people based on what you knew, and I find that commendable.” He took a deep breath, “We’ll still get Hydra back though, I swear on it. We’ll make this end the best way it possibly can, right guys?”
“Right!” Asted exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air, “Hydra is our friend too!”
Alura nodded, “And that means we’ll fight to get him back just as hard as you are.”
“We’ll do anything to help you Tip, just say the word,” Neil said with a smile.
“Thanks guys,” Tip replied, their voice now sounding less somber than it did before.
Shen looked back at Tip, “You go and rest up, we’ll come up with a plan.”
Tip nodded as they finally managed to stand up, “Got it, Boss!” They made their way to the bridge’s exit.
The door opened once Tip got in front of it, and on the other side of it was Themis, “Hello again, Tip.”
Notes:
And with that, we’re two-thirds of the way through the Ophiuchus Void arc! I’m really happy with how this chapter came out, especially that conversation between the Rangers about if Schedar was actually being truthful about Hydra could be snapped out of her control. I know Karna Rog hasn’t been as prevalent these past few chapters, but that’ll change very soon. Speaking of, I’m super excited for next chapter, as it includes another rather large deviation from Kyuranger, one that I’m sure you guys will like quite a bit. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated!
Chapter 26: Snake in the Grass
Chapter Text
“Dad, get out of the way!” Tip said, trying to shove past their father.
Themis shook his head and moved to block Tip again, “You’re not going anywhere, you’re coming back home with me.”
“No I’m not, my friend is in danger, and even when they’re not I won’t be heading back with you after this whole fiasco!” Tip replied, pointing a finger at their father accusingly.
Themis seemed to scowl, “Are you blaming this on me?”
“Yeah, I am!” Tip nodded, “None of this would’ve happened if you didn’t force me to try and come with you!”
Themis shook his head, “I am trying to look out for you, Tip! It’s a father’s responsibility to care for their child!”
“You don’t care! You’ve never cared!” Tip yelled, “If you cared, you wouldn’t have forced me to pursue some judicial work instead of accepting that I wanted to be an engineer!”
“You’re excellent at understanding the law and how it should be upheld, Tip!” Themis retorted.
Tip crossed their arms, “Yeah, because it’s a required part of school! You’re only trying to force me to continue to force the family business!”
“It’s honorable work, Tip! We’re in charge of making sure everyone follows the law!” Themis yelled back.
“The same laws that the Empire made to destroy planets and persecute people? Those laws?” Tip shot back, and Themis didn’t respond. Tip looked back at the other Rangers, who were all smiling approvingly, with Neil giving a nod, “Besides, why would I want to come back after you’ve tried to force me to leave my friends and my best friend behind, and caused Hydra to get brainwashed! And you wonder why I hate you!”
Themis seemed to glare at Tip, “Tip…”
“Don’t you “Tip” me! Get out of my way!” Tip said as they shoved their father to the side and rushed out of the bridge, “My friend needs help!”
“Tip!” Neil yelled, standing up and reaching an arm forward, the other Rangers looking a bit shocked as well.
Themis looked at the other Rangers, “Well, go after them! Get them back to me unless you want your base to be revealed to the Empire.” Themis crossed his arms and tapped his foot as the ten remaining Rangers glared at him.
Shen seemed to snarl as he got up from the Commander’s seat, gripping his cane tightly, “Get off my ship.”
“What?” Themis replied, sounding enraged.
Shen took a few steps forward, “One of my men is being controlled by the Empire because of you, and you’re treating your own child like garbage and made them rush off into danger to get their friend back alone, you have no right to be called a father, and you have no right to stay on my ship. Get. Off. Now.” Shen sounded like it was taking all his strength to stop himself from beating Themis to a pulp right then and there.
Themis got in Shen’s face, “Listen to me, I have enough connections to squash your little revolution flat with just one call, do you understand that?”
Shen grabbed Themis’s shoulders, his clawed digits digging into them as he moved closer to Themis’s face, making Themis lean his head back, “If even one of my men gets hurt, let alone killed by you doing that, I will make you wish that you were an enemy of the Empire instead of an enemy of me, do you understand?”
Themis’s composure was completely shattered as he seemed to give a nervous gulp, “Yes.”
“Then get out now,” Shen growled, letting Themis go. The Iustitian ran for the door, exiting the bridge.
“Wow dad, that was awesome!” Neil said, giving a whistle.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, you really told him!”
“If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s bad fathers,” Shen replied before looking back at the Rangers, “But we have more important business to attend to, we need to find Tip and give them backup in case something happens.”
“Alright, got it Boss,” Alura replied with a salute.
Neil looked at Alura and then the other Rangers, “Brando, Kenneth, you’re with me and Alura, let’s go and help Tip!”
“Got it!” Brando replied.
Kenneth nodded, “Of course, I’m not going to lose one of my new friends now.”
“Be careful out there,” Shen said solemnly, “and get Hydra back here safely, I’m not losing any of my men, and I’m certainly not losing any Rangers.”
“Got it dad,” Neil replied before pumping a fist in the air, “Let’s go and get our friend back!” Neil exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, Hydra and the Knights of Andromeda watched a screen that displayed Tip walking through Gorgonia’s streets as Chupasangre stood in a corner alongside Calamartia. “Ooh, looks like your little pal is out there all by themself, ain’t that sad?” Schedar giggled as she looked at Hydra.
“Yes,” Hydra nodded, “ it is. I should go down there and keep them company.”
Schedar gave a twirl, “Ooh, that’s a great idea! And it’ll let us test out the Black Hole Nova Sphere! Two birds with one stone!”
“Yes,” Alderamin said from where he sat, “I am quite interested in seeing what it’s capable of. Hopefully its abilities are acceptable.”
“Oh they will be,” Hydra said with a wicked smile before looking at Schedar, “You can sit back and relax, Dame Schedar. I can handle this myself.”
“Oh I’m sure you can!” Schedar giggled, “Have fun down there, and don’t let those Rangers try to talk you out of havin’ your fun!!”
“Crush that jelly brain into paste!” Calamartia yelled with fervor.
Mirfak nodded and got up from his seat, “Well, while you’re doing that, I suppose I might as well get around to searching for what Felis wants so he’ll finally be quiet.” He moved toward the exit of the control room and left.
“I suppose I’ll be leaving too,” Hydra said as he walked towards the exit as well, a cruel smirk on his face, “Don’t worry Tip, soon the team won’t have to split up ever again.”
Tip ran through the streets of a Gorgonian city as its citizens watched on with what could only be described as their own version of confusion. “Hydra! Hydra!” they yelled as they ran around, hoping to draw the attention of the brainwashed Ranger. After a few moments, they stood beside a tree and appeared to try and catch their breath, “Where is he?”
“Maybe you should try looking a bit harder,” Hydra’s voice replied, prompting Tip to lift their head up to see him standing in front of him.
Tip looked him over as they stood up straight and raised their arms to appear less threatening, There you are! Listen, I came to talk-”
Hydra promptly shot them in the chest, making them stagger back as he smirked, “Cut the chit-chat, I don’t really care about what you’ve got to say right now.” Before Tip could get another word in, Hydra plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Void Nova Sphere!”
“Dark Charge!”
Hydra’s body convulsed wildly as it was surrounded by darkness, which was quickly dispelled to reveal his Ranger form.
“Ophiuchus Void.”
Hydra quickly ran forward and swung his scythe down, making Tip roll out of the way to avoid it. “Hydra, please listen to me!” Tip said as they ducked under another swing.
“I can’t hear you!” Hydra replied as Tip dodged another swing, “Just stay still so the team doesn’t have to split up again!”
“Hydra, you don’t have to do this just so we don’t split up!” Tip replied, “Dad’s not gonna try and split us up anymore, I won’t let him!”
“He might not try, but what if something else happens? I’m not going to leave my friend!” Hydra gave a downward swing at Tip, who jumped back to avoid it, “But I’ve got to thank you for just talking and not fighting back, it makes things a whole lot easier!”
Tip spun back away from another slash and pulled out their Nova Sphere, “Hydra, I already hurt you before, and I don’t wanna hurt you again, but if defending myself is something I gotta do so I can keep talking and get through to you, then I’ll do it.” Tip plugged their Nova Sphere into their Morpher.
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Tip was surrounded in golden light, finishing morphing just in time to block a swing from Hydra’s scythe with the blades of their crossbow. Hydra moved back and performed a spinning slash, which Tip ducked under. “Hydra, please just give me a second to talk!” Tip said as they stood back up.
“La la la la la la, I can’t hear you!” Hydra mocked before firing a massive energy beam from the eye ornament on his chest. Tip quickly responded by plugging a blue Nova Sphere depicting a shield into their Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A shield made of blue energy appeared in front of Tip before the beam could collide, lasting until the beam stopped. Hydra quickly plugged the Void Nova Sphere into his scythe.
“Abyss Strike!”
Hydra slashed his scythe repeatedly, sending several spinning dark energy crescents flying at Tip. Tip leapt through the space between the crescents, landing in front of Hydra and rolling to the side to avoid a downward swing from his scythe.
Neil, Alura, Brando, and Kenneth ran into view just as Tip avoided another slash. “Good grief, looks like they found him sooner than expected,” Kenneth said with a scowl.
“We better hurry then,” Alura replied.
Brando nodded, “Let’s help Tip while they cook up a way to get Hydra back!”
“Let’s go guys!” Neil exclaimed as he and the other Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The four Rangers ran forward as they morphed, only to stop in place as Schedar appeared in front of them in a swirl of dark energy. “Howdy y’all!” she giggled.
“Schedar, we don’t have time for you!” Neil said with annoyance.
Schedar gave a twirl, “Well it’s not like I’m just gonna stand on by while you take away one of my new toys. Y’all already took Eurypto, which was annoyin’ enough, and I already like Hydra here a lot more than I ever did him.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to finish you off for good this time!” Kenneth said as he pointed his sword at her.
Schedar chuckled, “I’d like to see you try!”
“Oh we will!” Neil swung his sword at her but she leapt back before leaping forward with a spin, slashing Neil with the blades base of her microphone stand and making him stagger back.
She proceeded to swing at Kenneth with her microphone, who blocked it with his shield before slashing at her head. She ducked under it and maneuvered behind him, positioning the microphone stand behind his neck and forcing him to the ground. Brando slashed at her, forcing her to move away from Kenneth and block the slice with her microphone. Alura then appeared behind her, ready to strike. Quickly, Schedar jabbed Brando in the chest, making him stagger away before she spun around to block a slash from Alura.
She kicked Alura back before blocking some swings from Neil with her microphone, spinning it around in her hands as she swung it to block the attacks. As the other three Rangers charged at her, Schedar spun the microphone around above her, keeping them away to avoid being hit as she leapt back and swung her microphone, sending spinning dark energy blades that staggered the Rangers as they exploded after hitting the ground behind them. “You’ll need to try harder than that Rangers! Right, chat?” she laughed.
Deep inside a void in Hydra’s mind, he was kicked to the dark ground by Schedar. “Man, it’s been so easy to keep you on a leash, y’know? Without emotions of your own, it just makes my control all the easier!” Schedar giggled.
“Stop, please,” Hydra said in his mind as he tried to get to his feet, “I didn’t want this, any of this.”
Schedar gave a spin, “Oh but you did! That’s why you came back to me.” She lifted his head up with her hand so he was looking at where her eyes would be, “Like it or not, this was your decision.”
Hydra scowled, “No, you’re the one who put it in my mind, and I didn’t want it, not like this!”
“Too bad, this little compulsion I put in your head is just too strong, there ain’t a way to get rid of it!” Schedar giggled, “You’re under my control, the whole way.”
“Was… this what it was like for Eurypto? Trapped in his own mind for you to torment him?” Hydra said with a glare.
Schedar shook her head, “You’re lucky that I’d know even though I ain’t the real Schedar. But kinda, it was a bit like this, not completely though. He still had some control over himself, and even if parts of you are still there that can break through, you’re under my control almost completely. I think it has somethin’ to do with your lack of emotions, after all, I only gave them to the new you fightin’ the others right now, not you yourself.” She shook her head, “Not that I mind, it just means you get a front row seat for the best part!” In the otherwise featureless void, the outside could be seen at one end, seemingly through the point of view of Hydra’s body, who was currently slashing at Tip repeatedly. Schedar turned his head with her hand so he’d look at it, giving a small giggle as she did, “Your pal Tip’s gonna die, then and all the other Rangers, and there ain’t a single thing you can do about it!”
Hydra looked on with wide eyes as Tip narrowly avoided a slice aimed at their head. Horror washed over his face as he continued to watch the fight unfold, “This is… all my fault.”
Schedar let go of his head and gave a twirl, “Yes, yes it is!”
Mirfak tapped his fingers against a console somewhere in the Capital-class Consumoai absentmindedly, pulling through file after file of energy readings in hopes of noticing anything unusual that might denote the location of what Felis was looking for. “Hmm, if I was less wise I’d start to suspect that Felis is doing nothing but chasing a fairy tale,” he murmured before rolling his head around and shaking it, “but I know better. After all, most legends do have at least a grain of truth to them.”
He suddenly paused as he pulled up a file showing the energy readings of the Hercules system, noticing an abnormally large spike near the border between it and the Lyra system. He cracked his neck, “Strange, there’s not much in that area of the system aside from…” realization seemed to sink in as he changed to a different screen showing the Hercules system, zooming into where the energy spike was, a planet covered in lush jungles and ocean. Mirfak gave a chuckle, “I should’ve considered this sooner. After all, it is where the first Astrographers came from, so I suppose it would make sense that they’d keep their most dangerous creation on a tight leash.”
Mirfak rolled his head around as he stood up, “And it saves me the trouble of leading them to two different places, meaning bringing my plan into fruition will be that much easier. I would have gone after this eventually, but I suppose now wouldn’t hurt either.” He began to walk out of the room he was in, “I might as well tell Felis, he’ll be a useful tool seeing as his goal will help further my own.”
Tip dodged a swing from Hydra’s scythe before ducking as Hydra’s scarf lashed forward at them. Hydra took another swing at them with his scythe as they stood up, but Tip reacted quickly, kicking the scythe out of his hand and sending it flying some distance to the side. “Alright, you’re disarmed, can we talk now?” Tip asked.
“No,” Hydra laughed as they shot Tip in the chest with his Morpher, sending the Libra Ranger rolling back across the ground. Hydra pulled out the Black Hole Nova Sphere as Tip got to their feet, plugging it into his Morpher.
“Black Hole Nova Sphere!”
“Black Hole Nova Sphere?” Tip said with confusion as Hydra flicked the Nova Sphere back twice and aimed his Morpher at Tip, dark energy swirling and gathering around the front of the Morpher.
“Void Shot!”
A massive ball of dark energy was fired from the Morpher, wind, leaves from the street’s trees, and loose objects being pulled into it, even Hydra had some trouble maintaining his footing. The ball collided with Tip, creating a massive explosion as it collided with them, sending them flying back and causing them to unmorph as they hit the ground. Off to the side, Scehdar released a massive blast of sound waves from her microphone, colliding with the other four Rangers and making them tumble to the ground and unmorph next to Tip.
Hydra looked at his Morpher disappointedly as he picked up his scythe, “I was expecting something a little more impressive from something called the Black Hole Nova Sphere.”
Schedar skipped over to him, looking at the Rangers as they tried to get to their feet before looking back at him, “Seems like it did a pretty good job to me.” She gave a twirl, holding her microphone behind her horizontally, “Anyway, how about we finish this up, right chat?”
“Yes,” Hydra said with a chuckle and a nod, plugging the Void Nova Sphere into his scythe, its blade becoming imbued with dark energy.
“No!” Neil yelled, extending an arm forward from where he lay prone.
“Don’t!” Brando exclaimed.
“Hydra please!” Alura pleaded as she tried to get to her feet, only to collapse.
“Curse you Schedar!” Kenneth snarled.
“Be quiet,” Hydra hissed, “pleading won’t help you.”
Just as Hydra was about to swing, Tip spoke up, making the Gorgonian freeze, “Wait, Hydra! Before you do this, can I at least say goodbye?”
“What are you doing? He’s not gonna listen!” Neil yelled.
“Yeah, don’t listen to them, Hydra!” Schedar added with a giggle.
Hydra shook his head, “No, they’re my friend, I at least want to hear them say goodbye.”
Schedar stopped a foot, “But Hydra-”
“No,” Hydra said, cutting her off, “this is my job, you were only helping.”
“Fine,” Schedar huffed as she looked down at Tip, “but don’t you try anything.”
Hydra looked down at Tip before speaking calmly, “Speak.”
Tip tried to pull themself up a bit, “Well… I just wanna say that you’re the best partner someone like me could’ve ever asked for.” Tip gave a sigh, “I mean, you’ve been with me through thick and thin. We’ve gotten each other out of a lot of sticky situations, yeah?”
Inside Hydra’s mind, Hydra gave a small nod from where he laid on the ground, “Yeah.”
Tip gave a small chuckle before they continued, “Like, remember that Stonhinge guy who took my memories? Man, you weren’t pulling any punches when it came to taking him down, prying his chest open and smashing those memory cards was pretty cool!” Tip seemed to think for a moment, “Or that time you paralyzed all those Imperial goons so me and Neil could escape, but I ended up taking like, a ton of them down? Man, those were the times.”
Inside his mind, Hydra gave a faint smile, “Yeah, they really were.”
Tip seemed to take a deep breath, “The point is, I’ll miss you, man. You mean everything to me, really. I know that this isn’t the real you, but I’m at least glad Schedar didn’t kill you or anything. Listen Hydra, I’m sorry my dad almost took me away, I’m sorry I almost left you behind after everything we did for each other, everything we’ve been through. What I mean to say is that you didn’t deserve that, even if I probably would’ve found a way to get back.”
Inside his mind, Hydra was silent, slowly getting to his feet as he continued to listen to Tip. Schedar chuckled, obviously excited to see Hydra’s body finally kill Tip.
“You’re my pal, Hydra, I care about you, I really do, I’d never leave without trying to come back,” Tip said, sounding choked up, “You didn’t need to do all of this, go help the Empire, get emotions that weren’t the way you wanted, get more power, I would’ve figured something out, we would’ve figured something out. We’re a team, all of us are, and no Ranger gets left behind, especially not you.” Tip looked at them pleasingly, “I made a promise, remember? And I’m not gonna break it.”
“Thank you for helping me understand what emotions there are, Tip,” Hydra said, “I hope one day I can feel them, to cry, to get angry, to laugh.”
Tip gave a small laugh, “I promise we’re not gonna go our separate ways until you feel at least one.”
In Hydra’s mind, Tip’s words made Hydra remember that conversation they had oh so long ago, filling him with determination as he looked at Schedar, “I’m leaving.”
Schedar giggled, “And why’s that?”
“Because I’m not going to let you hurt them, not Tip or any of the others,” Hydra said, raising a hand to his chest, “I realized my mistake the moment you spoke into that microphone, but now I know I can fight back, for them, for Tip. I am Hydra Trabem, and my friend Tip made a promise to me, a promise that I’d get emotions, it is only fair that I return their kindness whenever I can.”
“But I did give you emotions, duh!” Schedar said, seemingly contradicting her previous statement.
“No you didn’t, and even if you did, these aren’t the way I’d want to feel them. I want to laugh with others, not at them, I want my emotions to not hurt anyone, but the ones you gave this new me, they’re not like that,” Hydra took a deep breath, “Tip is my friend, my partner, and as much as I’d hate for them to leave me with their father, I’d much rather that happen to them than for me to kill them, I see that now, sometimes… it really is best to let go.”
“Well la-di-da, bravo for figurin’ that out, want a prize or somethin’?” Schedar said mockingly, “And what exactly are you gonna do to get out of here anyhow?”
Schedar looked at Hydra, who was still holding his scythe back to prepare a swing, “Well, what are you waitin’ for? Kill them!”
Hydra gave a nod as he began to wind up a new swing, “Of course, Dame Schedar.”
“Come on Hydra, come on!” Tip pleaded under their breath.
“I know what to do,” Hydra said, taking a deep breath, “I’ll get you out of my head.” Hydra ran forward, his scythe materializing in his hand as he swung it at Schedar before she could react, “Now go.”
Hydra began to swing his scythe forward at the Rangers.
The scythe slashed Schedar across the chest, creating a massive slash that glowed silver across her chest.
Hydra’s eyes glowed pink under his visor before fading as he closed his eyes. He spun around mid-slash, delivering a devastating dark energy-infused slash to Schedar with his scythe, sending her tumbling back as the other Rangers aside from Tip gasped. “I knew I could get through to you, pal,” Tip said quietly, a hopeful tone in their voice.
“What are you doin’?” Schedar said with rage as she got back to her feet.
“Saving my friends from you,” Hydra said, his voice back to its usual monotone, but there was a slight hint of anger and protectiveness. His suit dematerialized in a swirl of darkness, leaving him in his civilian outfit with his Morpher returned to normal.
“Hydra!” Brando exclaimed as Hydra helped him and the others get to their feet.
“You’re back!” Alura added.
“Great job back there,” Kenneth said, patting him on the shoulder as he got up.
Hydra gave a nod, “Thanks, but I wouldn’t have been able to snap out of it if it weren’t for Tip.”
“It’s no problem,” Tip chuckled, “You’re my best pal after all.”
“Yeah, it’s great to have you back, Hydra,” Neil said with a smile before he and the other five Rangers turned their attention back to Schedar, “Now let’s finish this off!”
“Ugh!” Schedar huffed, stomping a foot on the ground, “Six against one is totally unfair! How about we even the odds a little?” A horde of Greyders materialized, alongside a modified Flatborg. It looked incredibly similar to a regular one, but its body was almost entirely blue and red. “Rangers, this here’s a brand new, fresh outta the oven Flatborg design with tons of dark matter infused! Mirfak’s put plenty of new tricks in this one!”
“Tricks that will be very useful in destroying you!” the Flatborg said, pointing at the Rangers.
“You fight one Flatborg, you’ve fought them all! Let’s take these guys down!” Neil said as he and the other Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The six Rangers were surrounded by light and flames which quickly died down to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all yelled in unison before charging forward. Tip and Hydra ran towards Schedar, only to stop in their tracks as the Flatborg fired blue energy beams from its hands right where they were about to be as it ran towards them.
Seeing that the two of them had other problems to attend to, Neil charged at Schedar, “I’ll deal with her! You guys focus on everything else!”
“I’d like to see you try! Stop moving!” Schedar said as he swung his sword at her, freezing for a second as his eyes flashed pink before quickly flashing white as he finished the swing, slicing her across the chest. “Dang it, why did I think usin’ that was gonna affect you when it didn’t last time? Guess I forgot how that works,” Schedar bemoaned.
Neil swung at her with his sword, but she quickly blocked it with her microphone stand, “Forgot how what works?”
Schedar giggled, “Oh Leo Ranger, you have no idea, do you?” She forced his sword to the side with her microphone stand before swinging its bladed base at his head, forcing him to duck.
Brando slashed a Greyder with his saber before slamming an open palm into another’s chest with an open palm and making it stagger back. From behind him, another Greyder flipped its blade upside down and fired several red lasers from it. Before they could hit Brando, Kenneth appeared between them in a blast of heat, blocking the shots with his shield before pointing the bottom of it at the Greyder and firing, knocking it to the ground. “Nice save!” Brando said appreciatively.
“Of course it was, I did it after all,” Kenneth said, slashing another Greyder with his sword before bashing another with his shield. A pair of Greyders leapt at them from the side and prepared to bring their blades down, only to be knocked to the ground by a few green energy shots. Alura appeared clinging high on the wall of a building with her Morpher aimed at the Greyders before jumping down and blasting a few more in the chests.
“Your invisibility always gives these fights a nice kick!” Brando complimented as he kicked a Greyder in the chest.
Alura delivered a flurry of slashes to another Greyder with her rapier before concluding by jabbing it in the chest, “Thanks!”
Hydra slashed at the Flatborg repeatedly, but it continuously managed to block his attacks with its arms. What it wasn’t able to dodge however was a stab directly to the back by Tip’s crossbow. This managed to catch the Flatborg by surprise, throwing off its rhythm and allowing Hydra and Tip to slash at it a few times before kicking it away. It tried to swing at them with both arms, but they caught them with their weapons and forced the Flatborg forward before slicing it across the back. The two of them quickly flicked their Nova Spheres back and took aim at the Flatborg.
“All Star Shot!”
The two fired a pair of gold and silver energy spheres with tails like comets at the Flatborg, exploding on contact with it and making it tumble to the ground.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
The remaining Greyders were bombarded by a wave of five vertical yellow energy crescents, a barrage odd lashes from Alura’s glowing green whip-like rapier, and finally a flaming flash that vaguely resembled a bird, creating a massive explosion that destroyed the last of the Greyders.
“Nice moves, you two,” Kenneth said as he looked at his fellow Rangers.
“Thanks, you did pretty great too!” Alura replied.
“Yeah, you really roasted them!” Brando added, patting Kenneth on the shoulder.
Neil blocked a swing from Schedar’s microphone before forcing it to the side as he spun around making Schedar stagger back. Neil made use of this opening, slashing her across the chest twice before delivering an upward swing that sent her flying backwards.
“Ugh, you made me chip a nail!” Schedar yelled as she clutched the triceratops-like head on her chest.
Suddenly, Hydra stepped into view, looking at Neil, “Care if I join in?”
Neil looked at him, “The more the merrier!”
Hydra looked at Schedar, “You drove me into darkness, Schedar. So it’s only fair to use that darkness to fight for what’s right.” He plugged the Void Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
Schedar looked on with surprise, “You still have that?”
“Void Nova Sphere!”
Hydra was surrounded by dark light, which quickly vanished to reveal his suit was altered, it had the scarf and waist cloth of Ophiuchus Void, but it lacked the serpentine eye ornament, and the mouth of his cobra-shaped visor was no longer red.
“Twilight Star, Void Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Sweet!” Neil smiled, looking at him.
“We can celebrate later, now’s the time to end this,” Hydra said as he plugged the Black Hole Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
Neil gave a quick nod as he plugged the Leo Nova Sphere into his own Morpher, “Right!” The two of them aimed their Morphers at her.
“Regulus Shot!”
“Void Rasalhague Shot!”
The two of them fired, sending a red sphere with a tail like a comet and a dark energy globe flying towards Schedar. Thinking fast, she grabbed the modified Flatborg and shoved it in front of her. The spheres collided with it, creating a massive explosion that tossed Schedar back and left the Flatborg motionless on the ground.
“Shine on!” Neil, Hydra and Tip exclaimed in unison, the Iusitian having arrived to join them alongside the other three as the alterations to Hydra’s suit disappeared.
“You think you’ve won?” Schedar chuckled as she used her microphone stand to help herself get to her feet, “Well guess what? This Flatborg’s got one last trick up its sleeve! Here’s a taste of the power of dark matter!”
The Flatborg’s body dissolved into dark energy that rapidly swirled around and grew, flying into the distance and coalescing into a giant Ophiuchus Void. It was a bit different looking though, with the scarf and spandex parts of its suit being black.
“Have fun!” Schedar giggled before disappearing in a swirl of dark energy.
“Great, a giant me,” Hydra said monotonously as he looked up at it.
“Well, let’s take this thing down,” Neil said.
“I think an Ultrazord is in order,” Kenneth suggested.
“Good idea!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others prepared to summon their Zords.
“Leo Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
They were surrounded by their cockpits, which attached to their respective Zords before the other six cockpits appeared and began to combine.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
“Hey Kenneth, does this thing feel stronger to you?” Neil asked.
Kenneth contemplated for a moment, “Yeah, it does.”
“I think we’ve got bigger problems!” Alura said as the giant Ophiuchus Void rapidly slashed at the Ultrazord, but the effects were negligible. Ophiuchus Void performed a flip off of the Ultrazord, but it still barely did anything. The Ultrazord responded immediately, kicking Ophiuchus Void and creating a shower of sparks as the clone staggered back.
“Wow, this almost feels unfair,” Alura said.
“Hey, I’m not complaining!” Tip replied.
Hydra seemed to think for a moment, “Perhaps the more pilots it has, the stronger it is.”
Ophiuchus Void charged forward again, only to be slapped to the side by the Big Bang Ultrazord, making it hit the ground.
“Might as well avoid drawing this out any longer than it needs to be,” Kenneth said as he pulled his sword’s trigger and unsheathed it.
“Big Bang Ultrazord Star Booster!”
The thrusters on the Ultrazord’s arms began to fire out streams of crimson energy that continuously collided with Ophiuchus Void. As the beams subsided, Ophiuchus Void’s body began to spark before exploding.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil said enthusiastically.
“Looks like it couldn’t take the heat,” Kenneth chuckled.
Schedar slammed her foot down inside the Consumoai’s control room as she screamed, “Chat, can you believe this? We lost our Ranger, our two Nova Spheres, and the Rangers are even stronger now! This is like, so unfair!”
“I told you that playing with your food was completely unacceptable,” Alderamin replied from his control seat, “and now your pettiness has cost us.”
“Your obsession with making cruelty the point is getting a bit grating, Dame Schedar,” Felis replied from where he stood in a corner, his arms crossed.
Schedar snarled, “You’re one to talk about obsession, Felis! You’re lucky I haven’t made you throw yourself out an airlock yet!” Mirfak suddenly entered the room, making Schedar promptly direct her ire at him, “Well Mirfie, thanks to you we’ve lost all our new advantages! Congratulations! I don’t suppose you have any other Nova Spheres layin’ around, do ya?”
Mirfak cracked his neck and shook his head, “Unfortunately we only had the resources available to work on two during this mission to hunt the Rangers. We’ll be able to finish up a few more once we return to Ukhu Pacha.”
“So what you’re saying is that we have nothing to replace our losses with?” Alderamin deadpanned.
Schedar got close to Mirfak, pointing at his face, “This is all your fault! Everything was goin’ smoothly until you opened your big mouth! Now we have no gadgets or gizmos that could give us the upper hand on those Rangers!”
“Not quite, Schedar,” Mirfak said, using his organic hand to move her’s away from him, “There is something I’ve found that could give us the upper hand now.”
Alderamin seemed curious about this development, “And what would that be? It better be an acceptable solution.”
“I think that it’s one you’d be very interested in, Felis,” Mirfak said as he looked at the Duke of the Hydra system.
Felis crossed his arms, “And what would that be? Something to taunt me with while you continue to work on your own projects instead of helping me?”
“I’d watch my tone if I were you, Felis, and no, it’s not something I intend to taunt you with,” Mirfak replied as he spread his arms up and open, “I’ve finally done what you’ve requested, and located the hiding place of the cosmic deity of desolation, Cerberus, the Beast of Ruin.”
“Alright, I’m going to go look through the ships files in case there actually is anything about Schedar’s species so something like this doesn’t happen again,” Kenneth said before exiting the bridge.
“Good luck!” Arthur grinned.
Tip sat beside Hydra, looking at him intently, “So, how are you feeling now?”
“Better,” Hydra said before giving a sigh, “Listen, I’m sorry… for all of this, I thought working with Schedar was the only way to get you to stay. I didn’t think it was a good idea, but you’re my closest friend and I just… didn’t want to say goodbye.”
“Hey, it’s okay, I probably would’ve done the same thing for you, you know,” Tip replied.
Hydra shook his head, “I still like I’ve just caused so much trouble that could’ve been avoided.”
“You know we are not mad, Hydra,” Sirius interjected.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, it’s good to have the team back together.”
“Yeah, I’m glad to have you back,” Tip said, pulling Hydra into a hug.
Hydra gave a small nod, “Thank you Tip, I’m glad to be back too.”
“So, did you like, keep any emotions from when you were controlled?” Tip asked curiously.
Hydra shook his head, “I’m afraid not. When I was controlled… well, the one you fought could barely be considered me.”
“Oh,” Tip said, “that kinda sucks. I at least thought you got the chance to feel them.”
“It’s fine, I wouldn’t have wanted to feel that cruelty to begin with,” Hydra replied, “The only emotions I’m interested in are ones that I’ll get with you.”
“Oh Hydra,” Tip chuckled.
Suddenly, there was a loud thud from the bridge's window, making everyone’s heads snap around. “What was that?” Sirius asked urgently as everyone watched some kind of metallic pod drifting away from the bridge’s window.
“It looks like some kind of escape pod,” Alura noted.
Tip shook their head, “It can’t be, not unless it’s a really old one, that’s way too bulky.”
“It looks to me like a cryosleep pod, but those haven’t been used since forever from what I’ve read,” Arthur added, “Looks like it was modified so it could operate without being hooked up to any other machinery too, maybe that’s why it’s so bulky.”
“Well it looks like the power’s still on,” Neil observed, noting the various lights on the pod, “I wonder if anyone’s in it.”
Shen stroked his metallic beard for a moment, “Well, I don’t see any harm in checking.” He turned to look at the other ten Rangers, “Could one of you bring that into a landing bay so we can crack this bad boy open?”
“Of course Commander,” Leiurus said with a nod before exiting the bridge.
A few minutes later, the eleven Rangers were gathered in one of the hangers, with Kenneth still off pouring through the ship’s records. The pod was positioned in front of them, its metallic surface gleaming under the lights of the hanger. “I wonder what’s inside this thing,” Brando mused as he looked it over.
“Hopefully somebody or something strong! Maybe we can get them to help us,” Aster added.
Neil nodded, “So, how are we gonna open this thing?”
Hydra looked at Tip, “Seeing as you can control machines, would you mind doing the honors?”
“With pleasure!” Tip said cheerfully, extending wires from their arms that plugged into the pod. It was dead quiet before the front of the pod opened, sending chilled, pressurized air flying out of the gaps. The front of the pod split down the middle and slid to the inside sides of it, revealing a crow-like creature with a green cape and a bronze chestplate, the purple sheen of its black feathers dulled by the frost covering them, a stark contrast to the gold ring on its left hand and the necklace made of locks of blond hair around its neck. It stood perfectly upright despite seeming to be unconscious.
“What is it?” Sirius asked, tilting his head to the side inquisitively.
Birdie raised a hand to her chin, “It looks like a Veronan, from Verona in the Corvus system.”
The frost covering the Veronan’s body began to dissipate, and it suddenly opened its eyes before stumbling forward, prompting everyone to take a step back and prepare themselves in case it was hostile. The crow-like alien looked around before raising its taloned hands, trying not to seem like a threat. “Um, pardon me,” the alien said, its voice masculine, soft, and had a British accent, “but could you mind telling me where I am, or rather, when I am?”
“Um, 2023,” Neil said after a moment.
“2023?” the alien replied, “I can’t believe it’s been that long! Has the Empire been defeated? Have the ones chosen by Ptolemy defeated Karna Rog yet?”
“Uh,” Leiurus said, scratching the back of his head while the other Rangers looked just as awkward.
Arthur spoke up after a moment, “We’re working on that.”
“So you’re the ones chosen by the Nova Spheres?” the alien asked as he looked at them before giving a small bow, “It’s an honor to meet you, all of you.”
“Well, it’s nice to see you too, I suppose. Always good to see someone who supports our cause,” Shen said with a nod, “Anyways, what’s your name?”
“And how do you know about Ptolemy?” Alura added, crossing her arms.
The alien spoke again, “Well, I’m-”
Kenneth suddenly entered the room, “What are you all…” Kenneth’s eyes widened upon seeing the Veronan before speaking with a soft, quiet voice, “C-C-Corvile?”
“Kenneth?” Corvile said with surprise, looking at the human.
“Corvile!” Kenneth yelled, running forward and pulling the small, crow-like alien into a hug as tears rolled down his face, “I thought I lost you!” He pulled away for a moment, looking down at the smaller alien, “But… but how? I saw you die, how are you here?”
Corvile put a hand on his fiancé’s shoulder, “It’s simple, I-”
Corvile suddenly gave a yelp as Leiurus’s tail pierced his side before pulling away quickly. “What was that for?” Kenneth said with barely hidden rage as he turned to look at Leiurus and the others, narrowing his eyes.
Leiurus shook his head, “It’s just some truth serum, don’t worry.”
“And why did you need to jab me with it?” Corvile asked as he rubbed his side.
Alura looked at the Phoenix Knight, “Kenneth, you said he died, but here he is, alive and well. Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”
“Can we just let them have their moment before we do all of this? It seems rude if this really is him,” Neil stated.
Sirius nodded his head, “I agree.”
“Well, they make a good point, we still need to do it,” Birdie said.
“Yeah,” Arthur added, “what if he’s a shapeshifter or something?”
Kenneth looked at his fiancé as he took a step away, “Well, I guess they do make a good point, I… I want to know if it’s really you, Corv.”
Corvile gave a sad nod, “I understand, Kenneth.” He turned to look at the Rangers, “Well then, what is it that you wish to know?”
“Like Kenneth said,” Aster replied, “how are you alive?”
Brando nodded, “You took an attack from Karna Rog, you should be toast!”
Corvile shook his head, “Really I’m not too sure either. I did survive it, but only barely. Since he was aiming for Kenneth, who was already on his last legs, while I was doing slightly better, he must’ve not made the attack powerful enough to actually kill.” Corvile took a deep breath, “After that I woke up, saw that everyone else was dead or gone, and tried to get back in contact with the Federation, and while I did get some information the Federation was being wittled down, so I decided to throw myself into cryosleep to help fight Karna Rog in the future when the Nova Spheres found their chosen.”
Shen looked at Leiurus, “And this is all true? Everything he said?”
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, it should be.”
Tears streamed down Kenneth’s cheeks as he pulled Corvile into another hug, “It’s you… it’s really you.” He kissed Corvile’s beak and smiled, “I missed you so much!”
Corvile chuckled, “I missed you too, Kenneth.”
Kenneth nodded before his look became more stern, “Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
Corvile nodded and nuzzled his head into Kenneth’s shoulder, “I won’t, I promise.”
“You still have your Nova Sphere?” Kenneth asked.
Corvile nodded as he was still being hugged, pulling out a smoky grey Nova Sphere depicting a crow, “I do.”
Kenneth smiled as he continued to hug his fiancé, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t lose it.”
The Rangers smiled as Kenneth continued to hug his fiancé, with Neil speaking first, “I’m happy for him.”
“Yeah, given everything he’s gone through, he deserves it,” Arthur added.
Sirius gave a nod, “I am very thankful he has found his partner again, he is a very lucky man.”
Suddenly, Corvile lurched over. “Corv, what’s wrong?” Kenneth asked, trying to help keep him steady.
“Oh it’s nothing,” Corvile replied as he straightened himself up, “probably just the side effects of getting out of cryosleep.” He looked at Kenneth, “I would like to know where a bathroom is though, just in case.”
Kenneth nodded as he pointed to an exit for the hangar, “Down the hallway to the left, do you need me to go with you?”
Corvile shook his head, “No, no, I’m fine.”
“Got it, be safe,” Kenneth said with a smile as Corvile exited.
“You must be very happy, Kenneth,” Hydra said as he looked at the human.
Kenneth nodded with a grin, “Yeah, I am. I just… thought I’d never see him again.”
“Yeah, you’re quite the lucky guy,” Tip chuckled.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, we’re happy for you, really.”
“Yeah, this is a big thing for you,” Aster added.
Kenneth’s grin grew wider, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Corvile rapidly staggered into the bathroom and towards a mirror, his taloned digits scraping the sides of the sink underneath it. “How did you let me get past the truth serum?” he said, looking at the mirror intently.
His reflection wasn’t his own, instead, it was the white-robed figure of Karna Rog, who began to rasp out a response, “It’s quite simple, I merely altered your memories to make what you said the truth. They should be back to normal now.”
Corvile learned in closer to the mirror and pointed a talon at the Emperor, “I never gave you permission to go messing around in my head!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “You seem to have forgotten that this is our head, Corvile. It has been ever since you agreed to that deal.”
“Why do you even need me here anyway?” Corvile said accusingly.
“Because,” Karna Rog replied, “I wish to use you to keep an eye on the Rangers, and plunge them into the deepest depths of despair when the time comes.”
Corvile pointed at Karna Rog in the mirror again, “I’m not doing that, I’ll tell them everything.”
“And what would that accomplish? All it would do is get you killed and do nothing to me, I will simply exit your body before they have a chance to damage me,” Karna Rog replied.
“I don’t care, if it means that I can put a stop to you, I’ll do it,” Corvile replied before turning away and preparing to exit.
Karna Rog shook his head, “Then you go and do that.” Karna Rog paused for a moment until Corvile was just about to exit before speaking again, “I’m a bit curious as to how Kenneth will react though.”
Corvile spun around to look at the mirror again, “How Kenneth will react?”
“Yes, tell him, let him know that you let me live. He’ll despise you, I know it. You’ll die with him having nothing but contempt for you,” Karna Rog rasped.
“That’s not… no, he wouldn’t!” Corvile said shakily.
Karna Rog shook his head, “He would and you know it, and even if he didn't, I will act as their escort out of this life if you say anything.”
Corvile gave a hesitant look before finally responding, “…Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Good,” the Emperor rasped, “Keep an eye on them and play along for now. I will intervene if I find it necessary.”
Corvile gave a hesitant nod, “Of course.” He turned away and exited the bathroom, seeing Kenneth standing a few yards away from it.
“Are you feeling better Corv?” Kenneth asked, smiling softly.
Corvile gave a small nod, “Well of course, you’re here now after all.”
“As romantic as ever I see,” Kenneth chuckled, “Let’s head to my room, I’ll catch you up to speed on stuff, how’s that sound?”
Corvile saw the white-robed figure of Karna Rog out of the corner of his eye, but Kenneth didn’t seem to notice him. Corvile buried his presence in the back of his mind as he looked at Kenneth’s grinning face, “Yes, I’d like that, Kenneth”
“Alright then, I’ll lead the way,” Kenneth grinned, holding Corvile’s hand as they walked away.
“I won’t let him hurt you, not after everything I’ve done, I promise,” Corvile thought to himself as he looked up at his fiancé affectionately.
Notes:
Oh boy oh boy, this was a fun chapter to write, especially the end, which I’ve been planning for a long time now. This chap also brings an end to the Ophiuchus Void arc, which overall has been really fun to write. There’s… really not a lot I wanna say here aside from the fact that the next three chapters are almost completely original, so it will of course take a while to get them out. On that note I apologize for how late this chapter was, school’s been kicking my ass lately. Also, I’d like to thank you guys for over 1,000 hits, you’re all amazing! Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated!
Chapter 27: A Seed of Doubt
Chapter Text
“I must say, Birdie, you’re quite the writer,” Corvile said, looking over Birdie’s shoulder as she typed away at a datapad.
Birdie giggled, “Thank you Corvile, once the war is over I’ve been wanting to get some of it published.”
“Well I wouldn’t mind proof-reading,” Corvile hummed.
Kenneth smiled from where he sat, “You’d be good at that, you’ve always had a way with words.”
“Well one of us has to have that, Ken,” Corvile said with a chuckle.
Neil tilted his head to the side, looking up from the plate he was eating from, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh good grief, Corvie please don’t,” Kenneth deflated and rolled his eyes as he spoke.
Corvile shook his head, “Too late, dear, I’m afraid I’ll have to tell them.” Corvile took a deep breath before looking at the other Rangers, “Kenneth’s always had a bit of an issue when it comes to his choices and well, mouth,” he chuckled, “You wouldn’t believe the amount of times I had to run damage control for him because of his words or actions.”
Sirius tilted his head to the side, "Such as?”
Kenneth gave his partner a playful glare, “Most of those were accidents and you know it. I didn’t mean for most of that to happen, and most of it wasn’t that bad.”
“Yes, unintentional, of course,” Corvile chuckled, “Punching the ambassador of the Tutanians in the face, completely unintentional.”
“Oh my stars, you did that?” Aster laughed as he lifted a dumbbell.
“He was suggesting the exploitation of an uncontacted planet’s inhabitants, he deserved it,” Kenneth said, crossing his arms.
Hydra gave a nod, “It sounds like you would’ve punched him harder if you had the chance.”
“A two-for-one knuckle sandwich special!” Brando chuckled.
“Sounds like laws about uncontacted planets are something the Empire decided was too boring,” Tip said, “Sounds like they were a good idea though!”
“They were, and as president I was doing the right thing by upholding them,” Kenneth said with a smirk.
Corvile chuckled as he looked at Kenneth, “You were, but there were more appropriate ways of doing it than punching an ambassador in the face. I was tearing my feathers out trying to come up with an explanation so an intergalactic incident didn't happen. It was a bit of a recurring theme that you did the wrong things for the right reason.”
Kenneth smiled, “But you did like how I tried to make things better for everyone, even if there were a few hiccups.”
“There were more than just a few,” Corvile retorted before giving an affectionate sigh, “but you’re right. I’m just saying that if it weren’t for me there would be a lot more people who disliked you. You already had a fair share of assassins who went after you, and you were incredibly lucky the Phoenix Nova Sphere let you survive it, could you imagine more of those?”
“It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” Kenneth laughed before his face turned curious as he looked at Arthur, “But speaking of Nova Spheres, how are you and Shen able to morph? I don’t remember hearing that Ptolemy gave power to eleven Nova Spheres, just nine.”
Arthur shook his head as he momentarily paused tinkering on something, “I dunno, me and Neil’s eyes just glowed and the power from the other nine were put in the last two.”
“I see…” Kenneth said, looking at Corvile with a knowing look, his fiancé giving a nod in return, “that certainly sounds strange.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, it felt… weird.” He shook his head as he recalled the feeling.
“Sorry to rain on everyone’s parade, but I’ve got some… not so good news,” Shen said, entering the bridge and spinning his cane around.
Leiurus looked up from his datapad at Shen as Aster moved over and slung an arm over the Serketian’s shoulder, “What is it Commander?”
“Well,” Shen explained as he tapped his cane on the floor, making a hologram of a planet covered in lush jungles and oceans appear above the table, “the Empire has made a rather strange move. The Capital-class Consumoai used by the Knights of Andromeda has appeared in the Hercules system near the planet of Samos. From our records, there should be nothing of interest a-round there, but there must be if the Empire has set its sights on it.”
“Samos…” Neil mused quietly as a flash of light filled his mind and a strange feeling overcame him. He shook his head and looked at Shen, “So today’s mission is to find out what the Empire’s doing there?”
Kenneth exchanged a look with Corvile, “Actually, we already know.”
Shen glanced at the two of them, “Really, what?”
“Yeah, don’t leave us starving for details!” Brando added.
“Well, given from what Kenneth’s told me about the Empire wanting to scrub all of galactic history from before they gained power, it’s no surprise there’s no records about Samos, especially because that’s where Karna Rog battled Kenneth,” Corvile replied before glancing off to the side momentarily. Sirius gave a confused look.
Kenneth nodded, “Ptolemy told me that Samos is the planet where the very first of the Astrographers came from. It was a very important location to them, and even after they spread out to the rest of the galaxy they still came back often.”
“Mostly because Astrographers reached full power by the time they turned eighteen,” Corvile clarified, “they went there to hone and master their abilities.”
“So what, the Empire’s there to steal ancient Astrographer information and techniques or something?” Tip asked.
Alura shook her head, “I’m not sure, it doesn’t seem like something they’d do, and they had to have had plenty of opportunities to do it before now.”
“And seeing as how they could manipulate the power of the stars, the very same things that can hurt Karna Rog, I’m not sure why they’d need information about that when all the Astrographers that can use it are gone,” Birdie added.
Corvile shook his head, “I highly doubt they’re after those, but there is something there that they probably would want.”
“What would that be?” Arthur replied, curious.
“Ptolemy told me a secret about Samos,” Kenneth said as he took a deep breath and stroked his beard, “It wasn’t just the home and training ground of the Astrographers, it was also a prison for their greatest mistake.”
“They created a beast that rampaged throughout the galaxy and destroyed everything that crossed its path, one that even the strongest Astrographers failed to control, forcing them to seal it away on their homeworld,” Corvile explained, “the Cerberus Zord.”
“The Cerberus Zord? The cosmic deity of desolation? The Beast of Ruin itself?” Shen replied with surprise and recognition in his voice.
Kenneth’s eyes widened, “You know about it?”
“My father told me the legend about it, though nothing about where it came from or where it was sealed,” Shen replied, “Back when I was the head scientist of the Revolution, I was trying to locate where it could be so the Revolution could use it against the Empire. Gave up looking after I became the leader of the Revolution. Seems that it was lucky that I never found it.”
“So this Cerberus Zord, how strong is it exactly?” Alura asked.
“According to the legend, it singlehandedly wiped several planets from the face of the galaxy,” Shen replied with a matter-of-fact tone.
“Dang, I can see why the Empire would want that,” Tip said with a whistle.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, the Empire getting their hands on it would be disastrous.”
“Even if they can’t control it, it’ll still wreak havoc across the galaxy, and there’s no Astrographers left to seal it away this time,” Leiurus added.
“Which is exactly why we can’t let them get it!” Neil said enthusiastically, “So let’s head there and stop them!”
“Indeed, we must do everything we can to keep it out of their clutches,” Sirius responded.
Shen gave a nod, “Alright everyone, get ready to star-t looking for Cerberus once we’re there. Birdie, set a course for Samos. We’ll all split up once we’re there, it should let us cover more ground.”
“Of course, Commander,” Birdie replied as she moved to the pilot’s seat.
Corvile tapped his talons on the table before glancing to the side, noticing the robed figure of Karna Rog standing there and looking at him. He quickly turned his head away to look at Kenneth.
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, Mirfak, Schedar, and Alderamin sat in their seats, overlooking the surface of Samos. Calamartia and Chupasangre stood in the corners as Felis stood towards the back of the room, near the exit. He was currently in the process of addressing two figures, “Aquaereo, Yetton, as my two most trusted Marquises, you’re to accompany me on this mission to find the Cerberus Zord.”
“Of course, Duke Felis, it’s an honor to leave our posts and accompany you,” Aquaereo replied. He wore a black and green jumpsuit, but his head was very different from Greyder’s, being green and looking like some kind of hybrid between an insect and a fish with yellow eyes above his maw. His mouth was open, exposing fangs with four larger ones at the outer corners of his mouth, the fleshy interior of which extended around the sides of his head with three yellow orbs on each side. Frills ran along the upper sides of his head, ending in a long “tail” off the back of his head. He wielded a strange sword as a weapon, its blade a pole made of five square-shaped segments, a pink spike of energy coming out of the left and right sides of each.
“Yetton will crush anything that stands in your way!” Yetton added. He was a hulking, blue-skinned alien with fur covering his upper chest, shoulders, and forearms. Chains adorned his chest, coming up and over his shoulders and ending in a pair of ice crystals dangling in front of it. His face was bestial, simian almost, possessing yellow eyes with red markings around them and a pair of large tusks that jutted up from his lower jaw. Jagged ice framed his face, forming a crown on the top of his head. He wore an armored skirt, much like a Flarborg’s, the only difference being that it was purple.
Felis nodded, “Good, now we shall embark and retrieve Cerberus, then Shen Long and his worthless Revolution will be crushed!”
Schedar made a mocking gesture with her hand, “Blah, blah, blah, is there anything you do that doesn’t involve tryin’ to get back at your ex?”
“He is not my ex!” Felis roared, “I have a perfectly justified reason for wanting to see him suffer, and it’s not that!”
“Sure,” Schedar said as she typed away at her datapad.
Alderamin got to his feet, “I will be accompanying you. Since this mission is what could be considered rather high-profile, it is necessary for one of us to oversee it.”
Felis gave a sudden nod, “…I understand, Sir Alderamin.”
“That is acceptable,” Alderamin replied before looking at Calamartia, “Calamartia, you will be coming too. Chupasangre, if anyone wishes to see me, then attend to them until I return.”
“Of course Sir,” Calamartia replied.
Chupasangre gave a sigh, “Yes Sir.”
Mirfak looked at Felis, rolling his head around, “So Felis, you said that the key to Cerberus’s prison was a Nova Sphere? I’ll look into that, perhaps I can help triangulate its location while you search for it.”
“Thank you, Sir Mirfak, I would greatly appreciate the assistance,” Felis said as he turned his attention to the Knight. “Now then,” Felis said as he turned around and prepared to exit the control room, “let the hunt for the Beast of Ruin begin, and with it, the beginning of the end for the Revolution!”
The Orion exited warp space near Samos, the bridge of the ship overlooking it. Neil gave a confused expression as he looked at the planet, the planet’s sun and the stars off in the distance suddenly becoming much brighter to him, “I feel… weird.”
Shen suddenly spoke up, “Alright everybody, let’s roll out and start looking for the Cerberus Zord.”
“Quick question,” Aster asked, raising a hand, “What exactly should we be looking for?”
Leiurus smirked at his partner, “A Zord can’t be that hard to find, Aster.”
“It’s been hidden pretty dang well actually,” Kenneth replied, “I’ve been to Samos a few times before the Empire showed up, and even I wasn’t able to find it.”
“Regardless, if we want to keep it out of the Empire’s hands, then we shouldn’t be looking for the Zord itself,” Corvile replied, “Ptolemy told us its Nova Sphere is hidden somewhere on the planet, and that’s the key to its prison.”
“Ah, I remember that the legend mentioned that the key to its prison was a Nova Sphere on the planet where it was sealed,” Shen said, stroking his beard, “Never gave any details about the planet though.”
“So if we get the Nova Sphere, the Empire can’t do anything about it?” Hydra asked.
“Exactly,” Kenneth replied.
Neil thought for a moment, “Sounds easy then, we just use the Nova Sphere locator to find where it is.”
Shen shook his head, “I don’t think it’ll be that easy, the Nova Sphere is tied to the Cerberus Zord, which is powerful enough already. If we try to use the Nova Sphere locator it might just end up fried.”
“So we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way? Fine by me,” Aster chuckled.
“Ptolemy said that a lot of important things were in the capital city of Stellarum, we should probably check there first,” Kenneth said, looking at Shen.
Shen gave a nod, “Alright, that’ll be our first stop. Everyone head there and spread out. We’re bound to find it with everyone looking.” Shen paused for a moment, “Corvile, would you mind sticking a-round and keeping an eye on the ship?”
“Of course,” Corvile replied with a nod before looking at Kenneth, “Be careful down there.”
“Corv, I’m always careful,” Kenneth smiled.
Corvile looked at him quietly for a moment before giving an unconvinced, “Sure.”
“Good thing we’re not like that, eh Leiurus?” Aster chuckled as he nudged his partner.
“If thinking that helps you sleep at night,” Leiurus replied bluntly, but there was a playful smirk on his face.
“Alright guys, enough talking, we’ve got a Nova Sphere to find!” Neil said confidently before he and the others filed out of the room.
Corvile watched as the twelve Rangers left, “Good luck, all of you.”
“This could prove to be problematic,” Karna Rog rasped, prompting Corvile to spin around and see the Emperor’s white-robed form sitting at the Commander’s seat.
“What could be?” Corvile said with disdain.
Karna Rog looked at his clawed fingers, “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Corvile. He’s already noticing things, if he’s to be left unchecked there’s a high probability he’ll discover the truth, and if he does, the consequences will be severe…”
The Leo Zord landed in a long-abandoned plaza in Stellarum, exiting the Zord and landing on the ground. Stellarum was covered in intricately-carved skyscraper-sized stone towers which had long since been overtaken by vines and trees. The sky was blue, but despite that the stars were still visible. Neil looked around, taking in the abandoned city, “Woah, this place is beautiful.”
As he took a step, images of stars and constellations began to flash through his mind, making him freeze momentarily. He shook his head as he lifted a hand to it, “There’s that feeling again.”
He pulled up his Morpher and began to speak into it as he walked, “Hey, Arthur.”
“What is it, Neil?” Arthur asked into his Morpher as he made his way down an abandoned street.
“Have you been feeling weird since we first got near Samos?” Neil asked curiously.
“No, not really, but I’m assuming you have?” Arthur’s voice replied.
“Yeah, been kinda spacing out a bit,” Neil responded as he continued to walk.
“Spacing out? Man, I really thought you were better than that given how much time we spend around dad,” Arthur chuckled.
Neil shook his head, “Really funny, Arthur, but I have been feeling weird.”
“Should probably run by the med bay after we’re done to get checked out,” Arthur’s voice replied.
“Yeah, I probably should, see you later,” Neil said as he began to lower his Morpher.
“Bye,” Arthur’s voice called one last time before going quiet.
Neil took a deep breath, “I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s probably nothing,” Neil was quiet for a moment, “…probably.”
Suddenly, a group of Greyders appeared in the air and landed in front of Neil, brandishing their blades. Neil gave a small smile, “Well I guess this will help take my mind off of it.” He charged at the Greyders, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Kenenth wandered through the city, hoping to find anything suspicious, but was met only with silence. “As many bad memories as this place has, I’m going to have to put them aside for the sake of this mission,” Kenneth mused to himself, running a hand over a stone wall momentarily before he came across what appeared to be an overgrown park. Despite the towering, twisted black tree now growing in it, to Kenneth, the location was unmistakable. This is where he last fought Karna Rog, the exact spot.
“You knew Ptolemy lived here three hundred years ago, you knew he was a threat, that’s why you came,” Kenneth muttered to himself as he looked at the twisted tree. “Someone sacrificed themselves to stop you then, and I won’t let that happen now,” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes before he walked away.
“Just because Corvile is back doesn’t mean I’ll stop fighting to make sure everyone you’ve hurt receives justice, including myself. You will be defeated,” he said to himself, putting his hands in his coat pockets as he looked up at the starry blue sky, “and if what I think is true, then Neil will be the one to do it.”
Neil flipped one Greyder onto the ground before spinning out of the way of another’s blade and slashing it in retaliation. He blocked the blade of another Greyder, forcing the blade to the side and kicking it back. He jabbed his sword between a Greyder’s arm and body, leaping into the air and over the Greyder while still gripping it and holding it to the Greyder, landing on the other side of it and delivering a large slice.
He ran past a few more, slashing them as he did so before spinning around and plugging his Nova Sphere into his sword.
“Regulus Strike!”
He swung his sword and sent a red energy crescent flying towards the Greyders, making them explode as it cleaved through them. With the Greyders dealt with, Neil unmorphed with a grin, “Man, didn’t expect to see those guys so soon.” Neil stretched, “Alright, back to looking for that Nova Sphere.” Neil took a few steps before he got a call on his Morpher, prompting him to lift it to his face, “Hello.”
“Oh Neil, it’s me, Corvile, I was just checking to see how things were going for you,” the Veronan’s voice replied.
“Nothing so far,” Neil replied,” but it looks like the Empire’s already in Stellarum. We’ll have to pick up the pace.”
“Yes, that sounds quite problematic, I’ll have to inform the others about it,” Corvile replied before going quiet for a moment, “Actually, since I’m already speaking to you, would you mind if I ask a bit of an odd question?” His voice changed a bit, becoming slightly lower and raspier, but Neil didn’t notice.
Neil gave a smile, “Shoot.”
“Well, I was just curious, what makes you special?” Corvile asked.
Neil seemed confused by the question, “What makes me special? Well I’d say being chosen to save the universe makes me pretty special.”
“I meant to say what makes you special among the others,” Corvile replied, “Sirius is quite agile and has strong senses, Leiurus has a stinger, Tip can control machines, Aster is easily the strongest of you, Hydra has his eyes and a new Nova Sphere, and so think you get the point. What exactly do you have? I mean, even your own brother has the Ursa Major Nova Sphere.”
Neil was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to reply, “I… I don’t know. I mean, I might be the field commander, but even I share that with Alura.” Neil’s face became slightly forlorn, “What am I good for?”
“Neil, are you okay?” Corvile asked, voice returning to normal momentarily and sounding apologetic, “I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just wondering if you could do anything unique that could come in handy.”
“No no,” Neil replied, taking a deep breath, “it’s… fine. I mean, that’s a good question. Just don’t know the answer, I’ll have to think about that one, I… never really thought about that before.”
Corvile didn’t seem convinced, “Are you sure you’re fine? You sound-”
“Yeah, I am, I totally am!” Neil said with a chuckle, “I’ll get back to you Corvile, I’ll keep on looking a bit more.”
“If you say so,” Corvile said, sounding skeptical.
“See ya!” Neil said, lowering his Morpher and giving a sigh, thinking back to that conversation he had so long ago with Shen, if he really was supposed to be the Leo Ranger, “So am I… am I the wrong one? Should I not be the Leo Ranger?”
“That’s ridiculous, I am supposed to be the Leo Ranger, sure I don’t know how I might be a descendant of someone from the Leo system, but I have to be, it’s the only way it would make sense, I was chosen for a reason,” Neil said confidently to try and reassure himself, only for his face to fall again as he thought for a moment longer, “…But even if I was supposed to be chosen… was I the right choice? I mean, the others can do things I can’t, or do things I already can. What if something happens? What if there’s a problem that I can’t fix but someone else could if they were the Leo Ranger? What if… what if someone else would do better than me?”
Corvile shook his head as he turned to look at Karna Rog on the other side of the bridge, “I can’t believe that you made me say that to him.”
“Plunging him into despair is the best option to keep him out of the way,” Karna Rog rasped in reply, “and that begins by sewing a seed of doubt.”
Corvile continued to stare at him as he took a seat, “Even if Neil is disposed of, Arthur will grow to be able to be just as dangerous, you know that.”
“And you know that Project Wormwood will come into fruition long before that occurs,” Karna Rog rasped, “and it is highly unlikely his abilities will be strong enough to do anything before he comes of age, he already expended a great deal of power to transport and empower the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere. Even though he was able to focus his powers like that, he won’t be able to do that again for a long while.”
Corvile seemed to scowl at Karna Rog, “You’re scared of him, aren’t you?”
Karna Rog shook his head, “Hardly. Even though I shall succeed no matter what the Rangers do, the outcome I’d prefer is something that would be impossible to accomplish if I were to perish.” Karna Rog flexed his fingers, “Ultimately, even if Neil Astra discovers his true nature, nothing will change in the end, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow him to.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’ll succeed in the end, they’ll still defeat you, and we’ll win too,” Corvile said confidently.
Neil’s head hung low as he continued to walk through the overgrown streets of Stellarum, “What’s the point? Does the team need me? Am I really the best pick? Just some guy from Earth who might have some alien genes but they’re so small they might as well not matter?” He gave a sigh and shook his head, “Focus, Neil. You can have an existential crisis later, right now you need to focus on finding the Cerberus Nova Sphere.” He took a deep breath, “Well… at least I’ll try not to focus on it.” Neil looked around, “First this planet and now what my purpose is, is there anything today that isn’t gonna make me feel horrible?”
Suddenly, some underbrush in an overgrown alley rustled, prompting Neil to ready his Morpher, “Who’s there?” It was quiet for a moment except for the rustling, prompting Neil to continue aiming at it until something burst forth from it.
It was a tiny red lion Zord, small enough for Neil to pick up with his hands. It looked more like a lion than the Leo Zord did, having distinct legs with white paws and a large white mane. The only odd part of its appearance was a large shaft sticking out of its back at a backward angle. It leapt from side to side and growled, trying to get Neil’s attention as he lowered his Morpher with a look of surprise on his face, “A Zord?”
The Zord seemed to nod its head before rushing up to Neil and pressing its forepaws against his leg to stand up and look at him with a purr. “Hey, you’re pretty cute,” Neil grinned as he looked down at the small red lion and stroked the bottom of its chin, “Didn’t think Zords came in fun-size.” He scratched the back of its mane, “Guess I’ll have to ask Kenneth about it.”
The Zord seemed to nod before getting off of Neil and taking a few steps forward before turning to look at Neil, focusing on his Nova Sphere before looking back down the overgrown street and giving a growl. “Huh, what is it? Is something wrong?” Neil asked, tilting his head to the side.
The Zord turned back towards him and seemed to shake its head, looking at his Nova Sphere and giving three strange-sounding short growls in quick succession. Neil laughed, “Those were some weird noises, little guy, they almost sounded like…” he froze as realization dawned on him, “…barks.” He looked at the Zord intensely, “You know where the Cerberus Nova Sphere is?” The Zord seemed to nod, making Neil grin, “Take me to it then.”
The Zord ran off, prompting Neil to tail behind it, “Hey, wait up!”
In a room aboard the Capital-class Consumoai, Mirfak looked at a screen that displayed Neil running off, the small Zord directly in front of him. Mirfak tapped his fingers on his desk as he rolled his head around, “Well this is quite lucky, seems as though that little pet’s still alive after all this time. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by that. Regardless, I’m sure it’ll help greatly in furthering my plan.” He stood up and continued looking at the screen, “Still, it’s necessary that I inform Felis if I wish to keep this masquerade going, so I suppose I’ll have to see where he is going.”
Neil followed the Zord through overgrown ruins before the Zord stopped outside a large, circular stone platform adorned with eighty-eight stone pillars each depicting a Nova Sphere’s symbol and surrounding a triangular pyramid-shaped altar at the center, a slot for a Nova Sphere on each of its three sides. “So this is where the Cerberus Nova Sphere is supposed to be,” Neil mused before raising his Morpher, “Hey dad, I think I found where the Cerberus Nova Sphere might be.”
“Really? That’s great to sphere!” Shen’s voice exclaimed from the other end.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, I’ll send the coordinates so you can bring everyone else over while I try to get it.”
“Of course, good luck and be careful!” Shen said excitedly.
“I will,” Neil replied before lowering his Morpher and looking at the small Zord, “So do I like need to perform some kind of ritual for it to show up or something?”
The Zord tapped its foot on a nearby section of the platform, prompting Neil to look and see an inscription written on the ground in some kind of language that Neil’s translator chip was able to decipher after a moment. Neil began to read it aloud, “To unlock the key to Cerberus’s cage, a song will be played that reaches the graves. A maiden’s bane shall break the chains, while a powerful warrior shall take the reins.” Neil thought for a moment, “Weird how it rhymes perfectly in English.” The lion Zord growled, prompting Neil to look at it, “Right, gotta focus.”
Neil moved towards the altar and looked it over, taking note of the Nova Sphere slots, “So we’ll need to put three Nova Spheres in here, but which ones? There’s a ton of combinations that it makes! It might even need ones we don’t have!” Neil sighed, “Man, I wish Arthur was here, he was always the smart one out of us.” Neil froze for a moment, “But… maybe I can figure it out, mom told us all about the constellations, I… I think I can figure this out! Arthur’s not the only one who knows this stuff!” Neil froze for a moment, “…but I guess I’m not either.”
The Zord growled at him, snapping him back to reality, “Right, I need to focus.” He took a deep breath, “A song will be played that reaches graves. Well, the only constellation that relates to music is Lyra.” Neil produced a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a lyre and plugged it into one of the slots, making it glow. “Looks like I was right!” Neil said, pumping his fist in the air before taking a deep breath, “A maiden’s bane shall break the chains. A maiden’s bane huh? Well, the only thing that could be considered a maiden’s bane would be Cetus, let’s just hope the Astrographers had Greek myths in mind,” Neil said as he plugged a white Nova Sphere depicting a whale into another slot, making it glow as well.
“Two down, one to go!” Neil said with a grin, “A powerful warrior shall take the reins, that either means Perseus or Hercules, but since we don’t have Perseus, well, I guess we’ll just have to try Hercules.” Neil plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a muscular man holding a sword into the final slot, making it glow. Energy began to swirl at the top of the altar, forming into a teal Nova Sphere depicting three canine heads. “The Cerberus Nova Sphere…” Neil said, reaching out to grab it, energy crackling between it and his hand as he got a hold of it, “the Empire’s not getting a hold of you anytime soon.”
Neil thought for a moment, “You know, I wonder why I even opened it, I mean, without the Nova Spheres it’s not like the Empire could have gotten it open,” Neil wondered aloud as he looked the Nova Sphere over before shrugging, “Then again, the Empire’s made its own Nova Spheres before, I guess I wouldn’t put it past them to figure out a way to get this anyway.”
“Neil!” Sirius yelled as he and the other Rangers suddenly came into view.
“There you are!” Aster exclaimed.
“Guys!” Neil smiled as he ran towards them, holding out the Cerberus Nova Sphere in front of him, “I got it!”
“That’s great Neil!” Birdie said excitedly.
Arthur nodded as he grinned at Neil, “Awesome!”
Shen patted Neil on the shoulder, “Great job Neil, I’m proud of you.” He looked the Nova Sphere as Neil held it, chuckling, “Kind of funny that my son was able to find something I looked for for so long. Guess the universe has quite the roundabout sense of humor!”
Birdie facepalmed as Neil smiled and laughed along with the others while ruffling Arthur’s hair, “Thanks guys.”
“How’d you find this place anyway?” Alura asked as she looked around, “It’s almost like something you’d find on Tokage.”
Neil grinned, “Well I got less here by this little…” Neil turned to look at where the small red lion was, only for it to be nowhere in sight, “…Zord.” Neil gave a look of confusion, “It was right here, just a second ago, it was like, a red lion like the Leo Zord except way smaller.”
“It’s okay Neil, we believe ya!” Tip said reassuringly.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, we have all seen much stranger than just a miniature Zord.”
“A little red lion Zord,” Kenneth mused, “I think I know what it was actually. I’ll tell you about it when we get back to the Orion.”
Neil grinned, “Really? That’s great! Let’s get going then!”
Leiurus nodded, “Besides, it’ll probably be a good idea to leave now anyway.”
“Yeah,” Brando replied, “there’s no telling when the Empire will show up and spoil our hard work.”
“Good point,” Alura responded, “we shouldn’t waste time, the Cerberus Nova Sphere will be a lot harder for the Empire to get if it’s on the Orion.”
Neil grinned at Alura, “You read my mind. Alright guys, let’s get ready to-”
A few yards away, Calamartia suddenly became visible, extending an arm forward. A tentacle extended from it and lashed towards Neil, wrapping around the Cerberus Nova Sphere and freeing it from his grip as it retracted back towards the Jester rapidly. “Should’ve had a stronger grip, jelly brain!” Calamartia laughed.
“Calamartia!” Shen yelled.
“Give that back!” Sirius snarled.
Calamartia laughed, “Just try and make me.”
Alura raised her Morpher, “There’s twelve of us and one of you, I think we’ll do more than try.”
“Yeah!” Birdie affirmed.
“You jelly brains sure are confident!” Calamartia laughed as a massive fire ball struck the ground in front of the Rangers, and while it didn’t hit them it did make them stagger back.
Alderamin emerged from the forest with Felis at his side, Aquaereo and Yetton following behind him. Sirius growled, “Alderamin…”
“Excellent work, Calamartia,” Alderamin said once he was next to her, “Thanks to you the Cerberus Zord is now almost within our grasp.”
Felis laughed as he pointed his cleaver-like sword at Shen, “It seems like in the end, I’ll be the one to awaken the Cerberus Zord, old friend.”
“That voice…” Shen said quietly before realization crept up on him, “Cassius?”
Felis chuckled, “I go by Felis now, the Duke of the Hydra system.” Felis removed his helmet and held it to his side, revealing his face. He had pale skin with small, tightly packed circular markings on his cheeks. His eyes were a cold blue, with medium-length white hair covering his ears, but the ears themselves seemed to be quite long, as they poked out of his hair towards the back at an angle, being pointed.
Arthur looked at Shen with surprise, “You know this guy, dad?”
“Yeah dad, do you know who he is?” Neil asked.
Felix chuckled, “Dad? I didn’t know you wanted children. Oh well, it won’t matter much.”
“Cassius Bodmin,” Shen said as he looked at the Duke, “He was a childhood friend of mine, even joined the Revolution like I did. He helped me look for and research the Cerberus Zord.”
“Until you kicked me out of the Revolution,” Felis snarled, “after that I had nothing.”
Shen pointed at Felis, “Because your plans for the Cerberus Zord were horrific! You wanted to use it to wipe out Imperial-controlled planets with no regard for all the innocents caught in the crossfire!”
“It’s a war, Shen, people die all the time!” Felis retorted, “It’s not my fault you and your idiotic father were too afraid to do anything drastic! It’s thanks to you that I realized how pathetic the Revolution really was, that the Empire might not be so bad!” Felis laughed as he gestured to Aquaereo and Yetton and put his helmet back on, “Now I have allies who get it better than you ever did. Say hello to Aquaereo and Yetton!”
“Yetton crush Power Rangers!” Yetton growled.
Aquaereo seemed to sigh, “Must you always act so brutish?”
“I won’t let you awaken the Cerberus Zord, Cassius,” Shen said as he glared at Felis, “I’m not going to let the Empire abuse its power.”
Alderamin laughed, “You’re foolish to think you can oppose the will of Emperor Karna Rog! We’ll crush you all like the insects you are!”
“We don’t think we can stand up against the Empire, we know we can stand up against the Empire,” Neil said confidently as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers, “Let’s go!””
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
"Aquila Nova Sphere!"
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
After a moment, the Rangers were in their suits.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the twelve Rangers declared in unison.
Alderamin looked at Aquaereo and Yetton, “You two, call down your Consumoai.”
“Of course,” Aquaereo replied.
Yetton nodded, “Yetton will!”
A pair of Consumoai descended, shifting into their robot forms.
Neil looked up at the Consumoai before looking back at the others, “Tip, Hydra. Alura, Brando, wanna help me deal with this?”
Tip struck a pose, “Sure thing!”
“Let’s do it!” Alura added.
Kenneth nodded, “I’ll go too.”
“Alright!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others readied their Morphers, “Let’s go!”
“Leo Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
“Say goodbye to your son, Shen!” Felis yelled as he pulled out a double-barreled blaster, one barrel on top of the other. He fired it at Neil, but the cockpit formed around Neil and blocked the shot. The six cockpits began to fly away and attached to their respective Zords.
The Zords got into position to combine, with the Phoenix Zord flying into space to connect to the Phoenix Station.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
This formation of the Supernova Megazord had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Libra Zord as the left arm, the Ophiuchus Zord as the right leg, and the Chamaeleon Zord as the left leg. The Megazords got into fighting positions as the Consumoai did the same.
“Felis!” Shen snarled as he charged at Felis alongside Arthur, “You made a mistake trying to hurt Neil!” He swung his cane at the Duke who blocked it with his sword.
Felis chuckled, “You’ve gotten rusty, Shen.”
Shen pulled the trigger on his cane in response, hitting Felis in the upper chest with a shot and making him stagger back and get hit in the head by a lash of Arthur’s weighted scarf. “I don’t think so!” Arthur exclaimed.
Felis growled as he angled himself properly as his sword was enveloped in crimson and black energy, swinging it to send a crimson and black energy crescent flying at Shen and Arthur. Shen zipped around it at breakneck speed, while Arthur rolled under it before continuing to charge at Felis.
Birdie fired several shots from her Morpher and blasted at Aquaereo, who rolled to dodge a few before blocking a few more with his sword. He got to his feet and leapt forward at Birdie with a downward slice, but she leapt backwards to avoid it. He got up and slashed at her again, but she blocked it with her blaster. “You’re quite the impressive fighter,” Aquaereo said before punching her in the chest to stagger her.
“I don’t need compliments from you!” Birdie said before slapping him with her blaster and kicking him in the chest before leaping back and taking to the air.
“Then let’s see how you like this!” Aquaereo angled his sword upward and held his hand flat under it before a thruster at the bottom of the handle activated, making it shoot into the air towards Birdie. Birdie flew out of the way, but it changed direction towards her again. Birdie continuously flew out of the way to avoid it and green blasts of electricity Aquaereo was firing from his hands.
Meanwhile, the Supernova Megazord blocked a swing from a Consumoai’s lance with the Libra Zord before slashing it twice with the Dorado Zord, making it stagger back. “How are you doing, Kenneth?” Alura asked.
“Just fine!” Kenneth replied as he swung at the other Consumoai, but he was blocked by its lance. “Looks like I’ll need to try a different approach,” Kenneth mused. He swung both blades of the Solar Flare Megazord into the side of the lance, forcing it to the side and allowing the Megazord to slash it across the chest twice.
On the ground, Aster swung at Yetton with a fist, only for Yetton to block it with his arm. “Yetton strong!” Yetton growled.
“Let’s test that then!” Aster said as he grabbed Yetton’s arm and forced it behind him as he maneuvered behind the Marquis. Yetton responded by elbowing Aster in the chest, forcing Aster to let go and allowing Yetton to move back and spin around. Yetton took a deep breath before exhaling a freezing cloud, freezing Aster’s legs in place.
“Snow white, oil black!” Yetton snarled as he slammed his fist into the ground, sending a wave of ice spikes out of the ground towards Aster. The spikes connected, sending Aster flying back.
Aster looked at Yetton as he got to his feet, “Man, you’re tougher than I thought!”
Calamartia swung at Leiurus repeatedly with her mace, with Leiurus managing to duck under or block any attack she threw at him with his spear. “Hold still!” she yelled as she forced the spear to the side and hit Leiurus in the side of the chest, making him stagger. As Leiurus recovered, Calamartia thrusted her sword and mace at his head in an x-shape. Leiurus ducked under the attacks, spun around to slash Calamartia with his spear and lash her with his tail, then got back up to face her as she staggered back all in one swift movement.
“You’ll need to try better than that!” Leiurus taunted as he ran at Calamartia, spinning as he approached before stopping once he was in front of her and delivering an upward slash that sent her flying backwards.
Alderamin’s fist was surrounded by yellow-orange energy as he punched forward, sending a projection of it extending towards Sirius. Sirius leapt to the side to avoid it before batting Alderamin’s flail to the side with his claw. Alderamin spun in the direction the flail was knocked to keep the momentum going, forcing everyone else present to duck as it smashed through the platform’s pillars. Once the flail passed over him again, Sirius lunged at Alderamin with a snarl, “You’ll pay for what you did to my people!”
“Their lives were a small sacrifice,” Alderamin replied, lashing his flail at Sirius, hitting him in the chest and staggering him, “I will give them credit for putting up a good fight!”
Arthur swung his glaive a few times as Felis swung his sword at him repeatedly, blocking the attacks by knocking the sword to the side each time. “I can’t wait to hear Shen’s screams of despair once I kill you!” Felis snarled as he brought his sword down on Arthur, who raised his glaive to block it.
“Sorry, but I don’t really like the idea of dying!” Arthur replied. Felis chuckled as he pointed his blaster at Arthur while he was busy blocking his sword, shooting Arthur in the chest and making him stagger back.
Shen snarled as he swung at Felis from the side, who quickly turned to block the attack with his sword, “Leave him alone!” Felis pointed his blaster at Shen much like he did Arthur, but Shen forced the sword to the side and swung his cane at the blaster, forcing it to the side as well before jabbing Felis in the chest.
Sirius slashed Alderamin across the neck, making him stagger back and raise his hand, a fireball forming in it, “Fetch!” He threw the fireball, making it grow in size rapidly as it flew towards Sirius. The wolfman jumped to the side, making it whizz past him. Seeing the fireball flying towards them now, Birdie too to the air while Aster spun out of the way, not wanting to let it distract them from their opponents. However, the fireball was now flying directly towards Shen and Felis. Thinking quick, Arthur plugged a cyan Nova Sphere depicting a large bear into his Morpher.
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
Arthur promptly grew several stories tall and positioned himself between Shen and the fireball, kicking the fireball and sending it flying towards the side of Leiurus and Calamartia. Leiurus quickly rolled backwards to avoid the attack, but Calamartia couldn’t react in time, the fireball colliding with her and sending her flying in a massive fiery explosion.
“Watch where you’re kicking that thing, brat!” Calamartia yelled as she got to her feet, looking at Arthur.
“Antares Strike!”
Calamartia turned just in time to see Leiurus leaping at her, the blade of his spear enveloped in orange energy. Leiurus threw the spear mid-air, sending it flying through Calamartia and embedding itself in the ground behind her, leaving a large wound that glowed with orange energy on her torso. “You jelly brain! I wasn’t even looking!” Calamartia said, holding her arms up in an exasperated manner before exploding.
Two things were sent flying through the air because of the explosion, the first was a singed tentacle that landed at Alderamin’s feet. The second was the Cerberus Nova Sphere, which Felis caught as he dodged a swing from Arthur and Shen. He blocked a swing from Arthur as he turned to look at Alderamin, “Sir, I think we should leave now.”
“And why didn’t we leave earlier, Felis?” Alderamin said with annoyance.
“Oh I just wanted to mess up Shen a little before we left,” Felis replied as he dodged a swing from Shen.
Alderamin shook his head as he tossed Sirius to the side and picked up Calamartia’s tentacle, “Unacceptable behavior.” He disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
Felis chuckled as he looked at Shen, waving the Cerberus Nova Sphere at him as he spoke tauntingly, “See you soon, Shen. I’m sure Cerberus will just be dying to eat you!”
“Stop!” Shen yelled as he charged at Felis, but the Duke, Aquaereo, and Yetton had already vanished in pillars of light. “No!” Shen roared, anger in his voice.
The Supernova Megazord delivered a sweeping kick forward with the Chamaeleon Zord, its tongue extending to lash the two Consumoai and sending them stumbling into the large stone buildings of Stellarum.
“Time to wrap this up!” Neil declared as he and the other five Rangers prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
Energy coalesced around the Supernova Megazord’s cockpits before transferring to the blade of the Dorado Zord and the pans of the Libra Zord, making them glow. It swung them, sending a yellow energy slice at one Consumoai while sending a pair of golden energy buzzsaws from the Libra Zord. The Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming blades, sending an x-shaped flaming slash flying at the Consumoai. The attacks collided, making the two Consumoai go up in flames.
As the Megazords lowered their limbs, a holographic screen displaying Shen appeared in the Leo Zord’s cockpit, “Neil, we’ve got a big problem, get back to the Orion immediately.”
Neil nodded, “Got it, dad.”
In the control room of the capital-class Consumoai, Felis laughed as he looked over the Cerberus Nova Sphere, “After all this time I finally have it, the Cerberus Nova Sphere! The Beast of Ruin’s freedom is just within our grasp!”
“Yup!” Schedar said as she got out of her seat with a twirl, “Now all we need to do is find Cerberus itself, right?”
“Exactly,” Alderamin replied, “and when we do, the Dark Matter Empire shall reign supreme!”
“In that case,” Mirfak said, cracking his neck as he moved towards the door, “I’ll get to work on locating it then.” Mirfak exited the room and made his way down one of the Capital-class Consumoai’s hallways, muttering under his breath, “So we’ve managed to get the Cerberus Nova Sphere then? Well that complicates things, but I am certain that something will come along that I can use to my advantage.”
“So we couldn’t get the Cerberus Nova Sphere back from the Empire,” Hydra said from where he sat on the bridge, all the Rangers now having returned to the Orion, “That’s a cause for worry.”
“Indeed it is,” Sirius said with a nod, “it means they are one step closer to unleashing Cerberus.”
“There is some silver-lining though,” Kenneth interjected.
“What is it?” Aster asked.
Shen nodded, “Yes, telling us anything else you know about this could let us get a head star-t on our next move.”
“Well,” Kenneth replied, “the Cerberus Zord is still hidden. Sure they might have the key, but it doesn’t mean anything if they don’t know where the lock is, right Neil?”
Neil, who had seemed to have been in a daze ever since they had returned was snapped back to reality, “What? Oh yeah, absolutely.” Everyone gave Neil a concerned look before he spoke again, “Hey Kenneth, what about that lion Zord I saw? What was up with that?”
Kenneth put his legs on the bridge’s table, “Judging by what you said it looked like, it’d have to have been the Leo Minor Zord.”
“The Leo Minor Zord?” Alura said with a curious look on her face.
Corvile nodded, “Ptolemy made it to act as a companion for his and Regulina’s child. Uh, Regulina being his wife.”
Kenneth nodded, “Made it for her because she was from the Leo system. Also the one who originally wielded the Leo Nova Sphere three hundred years ago.”
“I still can’t believe that she decided to fight Karna Rog while pregnant,” Corvile said with exasperation in his voice.
“Were you going to try and stop her?” Kenneth retorted with a chuckle.
“I think we should get back on topic,” Arthur said, shaking his head.
“Agreed,” Birdie added.
“Aw man,” Tip pouted, “I wanted to hear more.”
“Hey, you can probably ask again later,” Brando said.
“Anyway,” Shen said, “Why don’t you all take a little break while I try to come up with a plan?”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Leiurus replied with a nod as he and the others began to exit the room.
“I’ll swing by later and see if I can help with anything, I’ve been told I’m quite the good strategist,” Corvile said as he exited the room.
“Yeah, I’m the one who tells you that,” Kenneth chuckled.
Shen gave a snort, “I’ll keep that in mind, Corvile.”
Soon, Neil was the only one left in the room, walking up to Shen once everyone else was gone, “Hey dad, I know you’re busy right now and probably trying to work through your own things like Felis, but could we talk for a minute?”
Shen nodded and took a seat, sitting Neil down too, “Of course we can, I can always make time for one of my boys.”
“Thanks,” Neil said with a nod and a sad look on his face, “Well, lately I’ve been wondering if there’s anything about me that’s special, if there’s anything special I bring to the table, if I’m really the right pick for the Leo Nova Sphere.”
Shen took a deep breath, “Well I think you’re plenty special, Neil. You’re resourceful, flexible, understanding, brave. You’ve done a lot for us, you helped Sirius get chosen, you got Aster to give Leiurus a chance, made me realize I didn’t need to sacrifice myself, and you freed Kenneth, and that’s just off the top of my head. Besides, the Leo Minor Zord must’ve showed itself to you for a reason.”
“Well yeah,” Neil nodded, “but what if something happens? What if something happens that could be fixed if I wasn’t the one chosen?”
Shen shook his head and put a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “Neil, there’s a lot I don’t know about how the Nova Spheres work, but I know they wouldn’t be wrong. Even if you have no special abilities, it doesn’t mean you’re the wrong choice. When push comes to shove, I’m sure one day you’ll be the one to save all of us.”
Neil gave a small nod as he stood up, “Thanks dad, I… really needed to hear that.”
“It’s no problem, Neil, now go on and unwind a little,” Shen said comfortingly.
Neil gave a nod as he exited the bridge and made his way down the hallway, looking out at the stars outside sadly, “I hope you’re right, dad.”
Notes:
Aquaereo: Portmanteau of Aqua and Aereo, as he’s based on Skyfish/Rods
Yetton: Portmanteau of Yeti and ton
And here we have it folks, a mostly original arc that focuses on Neil and Shen! I apologize for the delay for this chap, things have been pretty hectic in my life lately, and the next two chapters will probably be decently long as well, so it’ll probably take a while for them too. Regardless, I’m very happy with this chapter, and I’m quite excited to write the rest of this arc since it feels like it’s been awhile since Neil’s gotten some focus despite being our red. Felis, while being from a separate continuity, I imagine he’s the same species as good ol’ Kat Manx from SPD. Also, the new form for Karna Rog shows up next chapter, so if anyone’s interested in illustrating it, now’s your chance to ask on my tumblr. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 28: Flower of Despair
Chapter Text
Leirurus, Sirius, Aster, Alura, Brando, and Arthur all sat at a table in one of the Orion’s break rooms. Aster was lifting a dumbbell with Leiurus looking at him and smiling as Brando put a plate of snacks on the table, which Sirius and Alura promptly began eating. Arthur meanwhile had a contemplative look on his face as he tinkered with something, something that Sirius took notice of once he finished wolfing down what he was eating. “Arthur, does something trouble you? You look upset,” Sirius observed.
Leiurus turned his attention from Aster to look at Arthur’s face, noting the thoughtful look on Arthur’s face as well, “Yeah, is something wrong?”
“Just thinking about Neil,” Arthur replied, adjusting his glasses as he looked up from the pile of metal, “Ever since we got back from the mission half an hour ago, he’s just seemed… weird. You guys noticed it when we got back too, right?”
Alura thought for a moment, “He did look like something was bothering him back there now that you mention it.”
“He was awfully quiet then too,” Aster added, “Think something happened that he didn’t tell us?”
“Definitely,” Brando nodded, “but what could’ve it been? Neil’s not normally one to hide what he thinks, his thoughts always come fresh out of his mind when he thinks them.”
“Well, we’re his team, so if he has a problem, we’ve gotta help him through it,” Alura said authoritatively.
“No duh, do you really think we’re the kind of people who’ll sit around while my brother’s having a problem?” Arthur replied.
Leiurus got up from where he sat to put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “We’ll find out what’s going on with Neil, I promise. At the very least I’m sure he’ll be glad you noticed something was wrong.”
“Think it might have something to do with Samos,” Arthur said after a moment, “He said he’s been feeling weird ever since we got here. I… kinda felt it too, but Neil seemed bothered enough by it to call me.”
Aster lifted his dumbbell again, “Well that’s a good jumping off point once we find him.”
Neil entered the break room, his head hanging low as he made his way to grab a drink from the fridge. “Hey guys,” he said with a sudden smile as opened the fridge.
“Oh, hey Neil, we were just talking about you!” Aster said happily, giving a wave with his free hand.
Neil gave a smile as he took a sip of his drink, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Arthur said with a nod, “well, the thing is that we’re kinda worried about you.”
Neil froze before giving a laugh, “Worried? Why’s that?”
“You were acting strange once we returned, and have not spoken much either,” Sirius responded.
Brando nodded, “We just wanted to know if something happened while you were searching for the Cerberus Nova Sphere.”
Neil shook his head after a moment, “Nothing happened, I mean, there were a few Greyders that showed up, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“You sure Neil?” Arthur replied, “I mean, you said you’ve been feeling weird once we got on the planet.”
“Yeah, I’m sure, probably just some difference in the air there that made me a bit spacey for a bit,” Neil promptly replied.
Leiurus shook his head, “That doesn’t explain why you’ve been acting weird since we’ve got back.”
“Neil, this might be coming from someone who can turn invisible, but you’re terrible at hiding stuff,” Alura deadpanned.
Neil sighed, “Guys, I’m glad you’re worried about me, but it’s fine, really. I already talked to dad about it, I just need some time to myself, okay? You don’t need to worry about me.”
Sirius began to protest, “Neil, something is wrong, please just let us-”
“I said it’s fine!” Neil suddenly replied with a more commanding tone, “I’m perfectly okay, nothing’s wrong. I already said me and dad talked through it.”
Arthur gave Neil an unconvinced look, “Alright, fine, we’ll drop it if you already talked to dad about it.”
“But if something's happened you’ll tell us, got it?” Leiurus added.
A smile came back to Neil’s face, “Alright,, see you guys later.” Before anyone else could reply, Neil had exited the room and moved into the hallway, giving a sigh as he muttered under his breath, “Sorry guys, but I don’t want you to have to worry about me on top of everything else going on. This… you wouldn’t get it. I’m not sure there’s anything you could say that would help anyway, I mean… dad already spoke to me and I still don’t feel better, what else could happen?”
Inside the break room, Sirius turned to look at the door, tilting his head down to give a sad look, “Neil… I heard that.”
Dogolem entered the bridge of the Capital-class Consumoai, holding a datapad in his hand as Mirfak, Schedar, Alderamin, Felis, and Chupasangre took note of his appearance. He walked towards Mirfak and handed him the tablet, “Sir Mirfak, the Doctor and I have managed to use the Cerberus Nova Sphere’s energy signature to trace the Cerberus Zord’s location.”
“Thank you Dogolem,” Mirfak said as he grabbed the datapad with his organic arm and cracked his neck, “go inform the Doctor that I appreciate his contributions as well.” A holographic screen displaying the location popped up, a tall stone pyramid-like structure in Stellarum.
“Of course Sir Mirfak,” Dogolem said before exiting the room.
Felis looked at the Knights, “Well what are we waiting for? We should go and awaken it now!”
“Your lack of respect for strategy is completely unacceptable,” Alderamin replied from where he sat. “Simply rushing in will likely result in the Rangers noticing and interfering.”
“Then what do you propose we do, Aldie?” Schedar inquired as she looked at her datapad.
“Since the Rangers aren’t already there, it’s likely they don’t know its location,” Alderamin responded, “and that’s something we can take advantage of. We can split our forces, one group will head to the actual location, while the other goes somewhere else. The Rangers will need to check both if they want to prevent the awakening, and since they’ll likely split up to do it, the problems they could cause would be much more manageable.”
Mirfak rolled his head around, “An excellent plan, Felis, you and your little friends will go together while us Knights go to the false location.”
Felis sighed and gave a nod, “Of course, Sir Mirfak, I’ll go tell them now.” Felis proceeded to exit the control room, grumbling under his breath.
Alderamin turned to look at Chupasangre, “Go keep an eye on him, make sure his unacceptable attitude doesn’t get out of hand.”
Chupasangre sighed, “Of course, Sir.” He moved to exit the control room as well.
Once Chupasangre had exited, Corvile appeared in a swirl of dark energy, prompting the Knights to take a knee. “I assume you’ve devised a plan to obtain the Cerberus Zord?” Karna Rog rasped.
“Of course, Emperor,” Schedar giggled as she looked at Corvile, “Ain’t gonna tell ya because of the obvious though, sorry.”
“A wise decision, we cannot allow my vessel to know so he can try to use it to assist the Rangers,” Karna Rog replied, “but that is not the only reason why I am here.”
“What’s the other reason, Sir?” Alderamin inquired.
Karna Rog looked at his talons, “I have planted a seed of doubt in Neil Astra’s mind that has already begun to blossom, but we can still not risk allowing him to discover his true nature. If you encounter him, make sure to try and dispose of him.”
Alderamin nodded, “Of course sir.”
“Got it, Emperor!” Schedar giggled.
Mirfak was quiet for a moment before rolling his head around and giving a slow nod, “…As you command, my liege.”
“Excellent,” Karna Rog rasped before Corvile disappeared in another swirl of dark energy.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, the Emperor’s white-robed form tapped his white claws against his throne, “And if he does discover the truth, then I always have this proxy body to dispose of him myself…”
Neil sighed as he walked down a hallway before Corvile exited a bathroom, turning to look at him before speaking with a hint of concern in his voice, “Oh, hello Neil.”
Neil gave a smile and a wave, “Hey Corvile.”
“Listen Neil, I just want to apologize again for what I said, I shouldn’t have made it come out that insensitively,” Corvile said.
Neil shook his head, “I told you, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologize.”
“If you’re sure,” Corvile said skeptically before looking down the hallway, “Anyway, I’ll be heading to speak with your father and see if I can help formulate a plan. I’ll see you soon.”
“Good luck!” Neil waved as Corvile made his way past him. Once the crow-like alien rounded a corner, he gave another sigh, “What’s the point of me having the Leo Nova Sphere anyway?” Suddenly, Neil felt a hand on his shoulder, making him yelp and turn around to see who had done it, “Sirius? Arthur?”
“Sirius told me he heard you talking outside the break room after you left,” Arthur said, pushing up his glasses and crossing his arms.
“Neil, you are hurting,” Sirius stated softly, “why is that?”
Neil gave a long sigh, “Listen guys, I don’t think you’d know how to talk me through this, I mean, dad already tried and I don’t feel any better.”
“Then let’s just listen,” Arthur replied, “sure we might not be able to help you through it, but maybe listening will help.”
Neil shook his head, “Like I said, I already told dad about it and I don’t feel better, I don’t think telling someone else is gonna make a difference.”
“Neil, you listened when I told you about the loss of my wife and my people, and you helped me through that, please just let us listen to you now,” Sirius said comfortingly.
Neil gave a deep inhale before speaking again, “Alright, fine.” He opened a door to an adjacent storage room and took a seat as Sirius and Arthur followed him in. Neil took another deep breath, “The problem is… I just don’t feel special, I feel like I shouldn’t be the one to wield the Leo Nova Sphere.”
Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but Neil cut him off, “I know you’re gonna say something like, everyone’s special in some way, but this… this isn’t about just that. I’m worried, worried that I won't bring anything unique to the table that can actually help if something happens.” Neil took a deep breath as tears began to form in his eyes, “And I don’t want to lose any of you guys because of that. I already lost mom, and you guys are all like a family to me, and I don’t want any of you getting hurt because of me, especially not dad or you, Arthur.”
“Neil, that desire to protect others, I feel it too,” Sirius said, putting a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “I see the others as a family much the same way.”
Arthur shook his head, “Neil, what situation could we possibly find ourselves in that we couldn’t get out of unless you had some ability?”
Neil sighed, “The point is I feel like I don’t contribute anything special to the team that helps, anything that can keep everyone safe. I know the Leo Nova Sphere chose me, it wanted me, but I just wonder if I was really the best choice.”
Sirius was quiet for a moment before stepping back, “Neil, just because you think you cannot do anything unique, doesn’t mean you cannot protect us. You have proven to be an incredible warrior. Do you not remember holding your own against Ankaa and eventually defeating him?”
“Don’t you remember how hard you fought against Kaus for what he did to me? Or when you fought Antares on Tokage for what he did to Aster and Leiurus, you gave both of them a heck of a fight!” Arthur added.
Neil thought for a moment, “I… I did.”
“Neil, you always wanted to put a stop to the Empire, do you really want a little doubt to get in the way of that?” Arthur continued.
Neil took a deep breath, “No, no I don’t.” Neil looked at the two of them, a small but sad smile forming on his face, “Thanks guys, I… I think I’m feeling better kinda.”
“That is good,” Sirius replied, “Thank you for letting us listen.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, at least we know what’s going on now, we were more worried when you weren’t telling us what was wrong.”
Neil shook his head, “Sorry guys, I guess I’ll try to be more open with you all when I feel like this. And thank you for worrying and hearing me out when I thought you guys shouldn’t.”
Arthur and Sirius gave a nod before the Morphers of all three Rangers came on, with Shen’s voice coming through it, “Everyone star-t getting to the bridge, we’ve got a big problem!”
“Sounds like we’ve gotta go,” Arthur said as he looked at the other two Rangers.
Sirius nodded, “This does not seem good.”
“Let’s not leave Shen waiting then!” Neil replied before he and the other two Rangers exited the storage room and made their way to the bridge. As they moved onwards, Neil muttered under his breath, “Remember, you don’t need to be special to protect them, remember that, don’t think you can’t, don’t try and focus on that.”
The three Rangers entered the bridge, where the other nine Rangers and Corvile were waiting with concern on their faces. “Dad, what’s going on?” Neil asked as he moved towards the table, “Is it the Empire?”
Shen nodded, “Yes it is, and it looks like they’ve gotten a-round to looking for the Cerberus Zord already.”
“Well they’ve got a lot of the planet to cover don’t they?” Tip asked as they tilted their head to the side.
Hydra nodded, “Yes, Kenneth said it would probably take a while for them to find it.”
Shen shook his head, “Unfortunately, that “probably” was doing a lot of heavy lifting.” He turned to look at Birdie, “Birdie, if you would.”
“Sure thing” Birdie replied as she tapped her datapad, causing a hologram of Samos with a pair of screens next to it to appear over the table. One screen showed a large number of Greyders near a pyramid-like structure in a stone city, while the other showed a similarly large group of Greyders congregating around a large stone sphere in a different stone city. Neither city was Stellarum, with the city with the pyramid being made of lighter stone while the city with the sphere had darker stone. “The Empire is focusing its forces at these two locations and only these places, no activity anywhere else,” Birdie explained.
Corvile nodded, “Which leads us to believe that they have a hunch that the Cerberus Zord is at one of these two places.”
“Well, they might have a hunch, but that doesn’t mean it’s right,” Kenneth said, leaning back in his seat, “but we should still probably take this seriously.”
Shen nodded, “Exactly, we can’t afford to risk it even if these don’t end up being where it is.”
Leiurus looked at one of the screens, “Seems like we’ll need to split up to deal with this.”
“Yeah,” Alura replied, “there’s a lot of them at each, but splitting up would be the best option.”
Neil thought for a second, “Wait, why don’t we just use the Gemini Nova Sphere to clone ourselves and head to one and the clones to the other?”
Shen shook his head, “Unfortunately, the clones created by the Gemini Nova Sphere don’t last long, and I doubt they could operate that far away from us even if they did, so we’ll have to head out of sphere and split up.”
“Well dang,” Neil said with disappointment as his shoulders slumped.
“So who’s going with who then?” Aster asked curiously.
Shen thought for a moment before responding, “Leiurus, Aster, Birdie, Brando, and Kenneth, you’ll be coming with me to investigate the pyramid.”
“I’m ready to serve up some justice, Boss, just say the word,” Brando said enthusiastically with a nod.
Kenneth grinned, “Sure thing, Shen.”
“Of course, Commander Long,” Birdie replied.
“Guess that just leaves me, Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Alura, and Arthur to check out the sphere then.”
Shen looked at Corvile, “Would you mind watching the Orion again while we’re gone?”
“Of course,” Corvile replied.
Shen gave a nod, “Alright then everyone, let’s head out, and be careful, all of you.”
The Leo, Lupus, Libra, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, and Ursa Zords landed near the sphere, which had been surrounded by Greyders standing near an opening to it. The Greyders turned to face them, readying their blades.
“Let’s do this guys!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers were enveloped in light, which quickly faded to reveal their Ranger suits as they charged forward.
Meanwhile, Shen and his group encountered a similar situation outside the pyramid, but Felis, Aquaereo, and Yetton were there with the Greyders as well. “Well Shen, back to see your old friend again?” Felis said as he readied his sword, “At least you spared me the trouble of hunting you down.”
Shen gave a nod as he readied his Morpher alongside the others, “Felis, we might’ve been friends once, but that’s not gonna stop me from being the one to walk away from this alive.” Shen looked at the other Rangers, “Ready everyone?”
“Ready!” they replied in unison except for Kenneth.
“Well I was hoping for the Knights of Andromeda, but I guess these guys will do,” Kenneth said with disappointment.
“Then let’s get started,” Shen said with determination.
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
As the lights and flames around the Rangers faded, they ran forward towards the Duke, Marquises, and Greyders.
Neil ran past several Greyders, slashing them with his sword as he did so. A few swung their blades at him, prompting him to duck before spinning around on the ground and standing up to deliver a wide slash.
Sirius lunged at a Greyder, knocking it to the ground before using his star claw to slash it. Another Greyder brought its blade down on him, but he quickly rolled out of the way to avoid it, kicking another Greyder in the leg as he got to his feet.
Tip spun out of the way of a Greyder’s blade before shooting it in the chest with their crossbow. After that, they pointed their arm to the left and right, shooting Greyders that came from either side. A Greyder approached from behind them, but froze in place before Tip spun around and jabbed it in the chest with their crossbow before spinning back around, “Hey Hydra, thanks for the save!”
“It’s no problem,” Hydra replied with a deadpan as he blocked a swing from two Greyders with his scythe before forcing the arm of one down with his scythe and slashing it across the chest and kicking the other one away.
Alura somersaulted through the air, landing to jab a few Greyders in the chest while gracefully dodging their attacks, finishing with a slash. She disappeared from view, and after that happened several Greyders fell to the ground from what seemed to be nothing.
Arthur lashed at one Greyder’s legs with his scarf, knocking it to the ground before turning to the side to slash another with his glaive. Several Greyders began to surround him, and he began to spin with his scarf and glaive held out, slashing and bludgeoning everything around him.
As the last of the Greyders fell to the ground, the Knights of Andromeda emerged from the entrance to the sphere. “You’d think an observatory would have more to look at,” Schedar said as she took a selfie.
“Schedar!” Tip said angrily as they took a step forward alongside Hydra.
Hydra pointed his scythe at her, “You’ll regret turning me against the others.”
Alderamin chuckled, “Well if it isn’t the Rangers, your timing is completely unacceptable!”
“Alderamin!” Sirius snarled before charging at him, “I will make you pay!”
“Sirius, wait up!” Alura said as she ran behind him towards the Knight.
Flames erupted from a pair of thrusters on Mirfak’s left leg, and with breakneck speed he propelled himself towards Neil and Arthur, slashing at them with his sword and cannon, but the Rangers dodged it, “What a pleasant surprise seeing you here, Leo Ranger.”
“It won’t be pleasant for long, Mirfak!” Neil roared angrily as he swung his sword at the Duke, who quickly blocked it with his own.
“This is for mom!” Arthur yelled as he brought his glaive down on Mirfak, who blocked it with his cannon as he blocked Neil’s sword.
Mirfak looked at both of them before speaking again, “I assure you it wasn’t anything personal or deliberate.”
Meanwhile, Leiurus fought off the Greyders at the temple rather economically, slashing and stabbing at a few with his spear while his tail lashed out to sting a few others, even going at their feet to knock them prone.
“Yetton crush!” Yetton roared as he swung his arms at Aster, who blocked them with his axe and arms.
“Not the brightest bulb in the bunch, are ya?” Aster replied as he swung a fist at Yetton, who staggered a bit as it hit. Aster swung his axe at the Marquis, but Yetton blocked it by holding his arms in front of him. Aster retaliated by slamming his head into Yetton’s, sending him reeling.
Birdie ducked under a swing from Aquareo’s blade before delivering a high kick, knocking Aquaereo back before smacking him in the face with her blaster, “Doesn’t matter how polite you are, you’re going down.”
“You’re pretty good,” Aquaereo replied as he swung at her again, making her backflip before shooting him with her blaster and Morpher. Aquaereo quickly blocked the projectiles with his sword.
“Eat this!” Brando exclaimed as he held his saber in a reverse grip and swung it at a Greyder, making it fall to the ground. He spun around to block a swing from a Greyder with his saber before sending it reeling by chopping it with his arm.
Shen forced Felis’s sword to the side with his cane and quickly moved it to slash the Duke across the chest, making Felis flinch. “Seems like you’ve gotten rusty, Cassius,” Shen said before Felis blocked a swing from his cane.
“Shut up Arctos!” Felis snarled before leaping back and swinging his sword to send a black and crimson energy slash flying at Shen, who promptly dodged it.
Kenneth teleported between a few Greyders, blocking their slashes with his sword and shield before slamming his shield into a few to stagger them and then slashing them with his sword. He sheathed his sword and pulled the trigger on its handle as he pulled it out, making the blade ignite.
“Ankaa Strike!”
He swung his sword, sending a vaguely bird-shaped wave of flames tearing through the remaining Greyders and making them explode.
Sirius clawed at Alderamin repeatedly, but the Knight kept on blocking them with his arm and retracted flail. Alderamin swung at him with his flail, but Sirius rolled backwards to avoid the attack. Alderamin pointed his flail at Sirius, but before he could launch it at him Alura appeared beside the Knight and forced his arm to the side, causing the flail to shoot out in a straight line away from Sirius. “Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled as he swung at Alura with his fist, who ducked under it.
“Hope you like this!” Tip exclaimed as they fired several golden energy arrows from their Crossbow at Schedar, who quickly spun her microphone stand in front of her to neutralize the shots. She leapt at Tip to swipe at them with the blade of her microphone stand, but Hydra got in front of them and blocked the swing with his scythe.
“Fancy seein’ you again, Hydra!” Schedar giggled as she forced the scythe to the side and spun backwards.
“The only thing I fancy is seeing you defeated!” Hydra said with an unexpected yell as he swung at Schedar again.
Neil’s sword was blocked by Mirfak’s cannon as Arthur’s glaive was blocked by Mirfak’s mechanical leg. Mirfak forced Neil’s sword to the side and spun back as his sword began to glow and a massive energy projection of the blade formed around it. “As you humans say, en garde!” Mirfak declared as he swung the sword at Neil and Arthur’s side. The brother’s raised their weapons to block the attack, and while it stopped them from being injured, the swing kept on going and forced them between a wall and the blade.
The energy blade disappeared as Mirfak pointed his cannon at them, making them roll to the sides as a blast of red energy surrounded by black electricity with red outlines came flying at them, exploding on contact with the wall. “It’ll take more than that to stop us!” Neil declared as Arthur plugged a grey Nova Sphere depicting a woman and chains into his Morpher.
“Andromeda Nova Sphere!”
A long chain was fired from the Morpher towards Mirfak, who promptly sliced it in half with a blue-white energy slash from his sword. This allowed Neil and Arthur to close the distance between them and the Knight, bringing their weapons down on him. Mirfak leapt back far with aid from his leg thrusters, thus avoiding the attack.
Outside the pyramid, Yetton swung wildly at Leiurus and Aster, making Leiurus duck as Aster blocked the swing. The two promptly retaliated by delivering a pair of upward swings to the Marquis, making sparks erupt from where he was slashed as he flew through the air and onto the ground.
“Nice one, partner!” Aster said excitedly.
Leiurus shrugged, “No problem.”
“Yetton freeze you solid!” Yetton roared as he got to his feet, and slammed a fist into the ground, sending a wave of ice spikes towards the two of them as they plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons.
“Antares Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
The two swung their weapons, sending an orange energy slash and a spinning black energy axe cleaving through the ice spikes before they reached them.
Brando swung his saber repeatedly to block Aquaereo’s swings, with Birdie standing off to the side and peppering the Marquis with projectiles.“This is quite unfair,” Aquareo said with annoyance as he flung his blade at Birdie, its thrusters activating as it flew towards her.
Birdie rolled to the side to avoid it as it flew towards her but it quickly changed directions to fly at her again from behind. “Birdie, watch out!” Brando yelled as Aquaereo ducked under one of his swings.
Birdie rolled to the side again in response dodging the blade as it returned to Aquaereo’s hand. “Thanks Brando!” Birdie replied as she got back to blasting Aquaereo again.
“No problem!” Brando replied as he blocked a swing from Aquaereo.
Shen blocked a shot from Felis’s blaster as Kenneth appeared in front of the Duke in a burst of flames, the swing of his sword blocked by Felis’s blade. “Good grief, you’re a better fighter than I thought,” Kenneth said with a mild amount of respect in his voice.
“This isn’t about you!” Felis snarled as he batted Kenneth’s sword away as his own blade became engulfed in black and crimson energy, swinging the empowered blade at Kenneth. Kenneth blocked the swing with his shield, but the force of the swing still made him stumble back a bit.
Shen ran forward and brought his cane down on Felis, but the Duke blocked the swing with his blaster. “So this is what you are now, Cassius?” Shen said, glaring at Felis through his visor, “A madman obsessed with getting revenge on me and making me suffer?”
Felis laughed as he batted Shen’s cane away, “That sums it up nicely. Even though I’ve made you suffer more than you ever have before doesn’t mean I’m done with wanting to see you be miserable.”
“Before?” Shen said with confusion as he blocked a swing from Felis’s blade, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh Shen,” Felis cackled as he forced Shen’s cane to the ground under his sword, “who do you think was the one who revealed the location of the Revolution’s base to the Empire nineteen years ago?”
Shen froze, his eyes widening under his visor as realization sunk in, “…My father died because of you.”
“The Empire took quite the liking to that,” Felis replied, “ended up getting me immediately promoted to the Duke of the Hydra system.”
Shen snarled as he freed his cane from under Felis’s blade, slashing the Duke across the chest and sending him stumbling, “I hate you!”
Back near the observatory, the other Rangers and Knights ducked under a wide swing from Alderamin’s flail, who proceeded to swing it downwards at Sirius and Alura. Sirius rolled back and Alura rolled to the side to avoid the attack as Alderamin gave a yell of “Unacceptable!” As Alderamin pulled his flail out of the ground, the two Rangers charged at him, slashing him across the chest.
Schedar batted Tip’s crossbow to the side as they tried to jab her with it, before jabbing them in the chest with the bladed base of her microphone stand. She spun around and twirled the microphone stand around, “That was pretty pathetic, right chat?” Hydra charged at her, prompting her to swing her microphone and send a spinning dark energy blade that resembled the one at the bottom of her microphone at him.
Hydra rolled under it and leapt in the air to bring his scythe down on her, but she maneuvered her microphone to block it, making the blade hit the stand’s pole. With the scythe now hooked on her weapon, Hydra forced it down as he turned to look at Tip, “Tip, now!”
“Got it!” Tip replied as they shot Schedar in the chest repeatedly, making her stumble back.
Mirfak dodged a swing from Neil’s sword before jabbing Neil in the chest with the claws on his cannon, sending the Leo Ranger flying back onto the ground.
“Neil!” Arthur yelled as he looked at his brother’s prone form. With anger in his movements, Arthur plugged the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere into his glaive.
“Polaris Strike!”
“Arthur, wait!” Neil yelled, but he was too late, as Arthur had already swung his glaive and sent a cyan energy slash flying at Mirfak. The Knight extended his arm cannon forward, causing the attack to be sucked into it. Mirfak then swung his cannon, sending the attack flying back at Arthur, colliding with him and knocking him to the ground. Mirfak approached Arthur, rolling his head around as he approached the young Ranger.
“Stop! Leave him alone!” Neil yelled with rage in his voice, “You won’t take him away from me too!” Neil’s eyes began to glow white again as 12 spheres of energy condensed into a sphere of incandescent energy with a ring around it just above his head. In an instant, the sphere grew in size and curved to the side before flying towards Mirfak, narrowly missing the Knight.
Mirfak slowly turned to look behind him, seeing that the sphere had blown a massive, almost perfectly circular hole through the building behind him, a large patch of trees behind that, and finally a mountain behind the trees. The fighting completely stopped as everyone took a moment to process what had just happened, allowing Neil and Arthur to get to their feet.
“What the heck was that, chat?” Schedar said with confusion and shock.
Alura turned to look at Neil, “Neil, what did you do?”
“I don’t know!” Neil yelled back in response.
Mirfak put his sword away as he stepped closer to the damaged tower, raising an organic hand to his chin as he murmured with a pleased voice, “Excellent.”
“Arthur, let’s finish this!” Neil yelled as he ran up to his brother.
Arthur gave a nod as he readied his glaive, “Got it!”
The two of them ran towards Mirfak, who turned to face them and blocked a swing from Arthur’s glaive at his head with his cannon, allowing Neil to slash him across the chest. Mirfak swung his cannon at Neil, who ducked under it as Arthur moved back and ran forward, slicing the Knight across the face. Mirfak swung his cannon at Arthur in retaliation, but Arthur swung his glaive and blocked it before Neil slashed Mirfak across the chest, making the Knight stumble back as a massive glowing red cut formed across his chest.
Mirfak looked down at it, raising his organic hand to the wound as he whispered, “It seems my hypothesis was correct, Neil Astra.” He turned to look at his fellow Knights, “We need to go now.”
“That is acceptable,” Alderamin replied hastily.
Schedar nodded, “No arguments here!”
Mirfak looked at Neil, “I look forward to our next meeting, Neil Astra.”
“Get back here!” Neil yelled as he charged at the Knight, but Mirfak, Schedar, and Alderamin had already disappeared in swirls of dark energy. “Dang it!”
“We were so close to getting him too!” Arthur said with annoyance.
Tip shrugged, “Well I guess Cerberus isn’t here if they jumped ship so fast.”
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and a colossal Conqueror Worm emerged from the ground in the distance.
“We will have to worry about that later!” Sirius exclaimed.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with!”
“Guess it’s Megazord time then!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off into the air to combine with their respective Zords, which got into position to combine as the Ophiuchus Zord flew off to the side.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
This formation of the Supernova Megazord had the Ursa Zord as the right arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, the Lupus Zord as the left arm, and the Libra Zord as the left leg.
“I suppose I’ll start this off,” Hydra said from the Ophiuchus Zord, which was in its humanoid form next to the Megazord.
“Go for it!” Neil exclaimed excitedly.
The Ophiuchus Zord leapt forward, slashing at the Conqueror Worm’s chest with the upward facing spikes on its arms, making the Conqueror Worm screech.
“Now it’s time for the real action!” Tip said excitedly as the Megazord moved towards the beast.
The Conqueror Worm lashed its tentacle-like arms at the Megazord, but the mecha batted them to the side with the Lupus and Ursa Zords before punching the Conqueror Worm in the chest, making it stagger backwards.
The Conqueror Worm spun around with its arms outstretched, slamming them into the Megazord repeatedly.
“Ugh, this is annoying!” Arthur bemoaned.
“Alura, can you hold this thing still?” Neil inquired.
“You know I can!” Alura replied, making the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue lash out and pin the Conqueror Worm’s arms to its sides. The Megazord slammed the Lupus and Ursa Zords into it a few more times before the tongue retracted, freeing the Conqueror Worm’s arms.
“Time to wrap this up!” Neil exclaimed as the other Rangers prepared to deliver the finisher.
“Supernova Megazord Star Breaker!”
The cockpits of the Megazord began to glow before it was transferred to the Lupus and Ursa Zords. The Megazord held the arms forward, blue and cyan energy fangs appearing in front of the Zords before biting down on the Conqueror Worm, whose body began to crackle with energy before exploding. “Alright guys, let’s head to help the others, the Cerberus Zord is probably where they are,” Neil ordered.
“Of course Neil,” Sirius said as the Megazord split into its component pieces, which began to fly away alongside the Ophiuchus Zord.
“You’re toast!” Brando exclaimed, slashing Aquaereo with his saber as Birdie slammed her blaster into the Marquis’s chest, making him fall to the ground in front of the pyramid.
“I think it’s time for you to tag out!” Aster yelled as he and Leiurus slashed Yetton across the chest, making the Marquis fall down next to Aquaereo.
Kenneth bashed Felis with his shield, making the Duke stumble towards an enraged Shen. “You! Killed! Him!” Shen snarled, punctuating each word with a slash from his cane. Felis tried to block an attack with his blaster, but Shen’s cane cut clean through it and made him stumble back and hit the ground between Yetton and Aquaereo. “Time to make you pay, Cassius!” Shen snarled as he shifted his cane to rifle mode.
“Dad!” Arthur yelled, running up to the other Rangers alongside Neil, Sirius, Tip, Hydra, and Alura.
Shen turned to face them, “Arthur, Neil! It’s good to see you, did you get rid of the Empire at the other site?”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, it doesn't seem like the Cerberus Zord was there though.”
“I see,” Shen replied as he looked away from his adopted sons to look at Felis with a snarl, “I have managed to find who revealed the location of the Revolution’s base nineteen years ago though.”
“Of course you weren’t able to find it there,” Felis laughed as he looked at Neil, “because the Cerberus Zord is here!” Felis held the Cerberus Nova Sphere above his head, “Oh cosmic god of desolation, oh Beast of Ruin, awaken and lay waste to the galaxy once more!”
The ground began to rumble, with the Rangers trying to maintain their footing as the pyramid began to collapse and three howls pierced the air.
“Oh good grief,” Kenneth said, shock in his voice.
“Cassius, do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Shen said with horror.
Felis laughed maniacally, “Of course I have!”
From the pyramid’s rubble emerged a massive teal Zord. It had a red-eyed, husky-like head, and structurally it was similar to the Leo Zord, but in place of claws on its forelimbs, there were instead two heads. It’s right head resembled a green-eyed bulldog, while the left head resembled a doberman with a yellow, visor-like eye. The Zord howled as it flew off into the distance, firing beams from its heads that corresponded to each’s color. The beams collided with the stone city’s towers, making them crumble to the ground like toys.
“This planet will be the first of many razed to the ground by the almighty Cerberus Zord!” Felis cackled. The Cerberus Zord began to turn around to face the Rangers, flying towards them as Felis cackled, “Yes, destroy them Cerberus!”
The Cerberus Zord began to open all three of its mouths, energy gathering within them. “This is it, we’re smoked!” Brando said with a panic.
“Cerberus stop!” Neil yelled, extending a hand towards the Zord as his eyes suddenly began to glow white. The Cerberus Zord froze for a moment before suddenly firing the energy at Felis, Yetton, and Aquaereo. Massive chunks of the ground were blasted into the air as smoke filled the impact site as the Duke and Marquises tried to get to their feet, though they were obviously seriously injured.
Shen looked at Neil with surprise, “Neil, what did you do!”
“I don’t know!” Neil replied.
“Seems to be a pretty common question and answer,” Tip replied with a shrug.
“I… I think I can control it! Neil said excitedly, “Alright Cerberus, take these guys down!”
On the Orion’s bridge, Corvile looked at what was happening on a screen with excitement, “It looks like Neil’s finally beginning to gain control of his power! You won’t last much longer at this rate!” He turned to look at Karna Rog’s white-robed form.
Karna Rog seemed to sigh and shook his head, “I wished to avoid this scenario as much as possible, but it appears as though my hand has been forced, it is time to plunge Neil Astra into the deepest pit of despair.”
“Wait, no!” Corvile yelled, but Karna Rog was already gone.
On Ukhu Pacha, Karna Rog’s white-robed form got to its feet before rasping out, “It’s time for this proxy to perform the role I had planned.” Without any further fanfare, Karna Rog disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
As Cerberus prepared to fire at Felis, Yetton, and Aquaereo again, Karna Rog tossed off his cloak and moved forward, obscured by the smoke. Karna Rog lifted a hand, extending his index finger forward and holding his thumb up as the Knights of Andromeda appeared beside him in swirls of dark energy. “Bang.”
The ground in front of the Rangers erupted, as if it was hit by some kind of invisible projectile. Neil’s eyes returned to normal, and as that happened the Cerberus Zord gave a howl and flew away.
As the smoke began to clear, Karna Rog’s true form was revealed, making Felis crawl back before disappearing with Yetton and Aquaereo in a pillar of light.
Karna Rog’s true form appeared to be wearing armor that vaguely resembled a dark grey business suit, with the back of his sleeves extending ever so slightly over the back of his clawed, chalk white hands. He appeared to wear some kind of blue tie, a yellow imperial emblem on it. His head looked like and had the color of a skull, with narrowed yellow eyes with black circles around them and red teeth. He appeared to be wearing a fedora the same color as the rest of his suit, but upon closer inspection it could be seen that it was a part of his head, and had a pair of short black antennae with yellow tips sticking straight up near the front of it. The crown of his hat was tall and angled back, with what appeared to be exposed brain matter on the sides. In his right hand he held a massive scythe. Like his swords, it had a silver, eight-pointed star near the blade and a few spikes opposite to the blade, with the blade itself having a wicked curve and a red streak on it.
“Karna Rog,” Kenneth snarled as he saw the Emperor.
Karna Rog paid him no mind as he spoke as monotonously as ever, “Rangers, since the moment I came into existence I have felt nothing but hatred, despair, fear, suffering, and emotions that you have no name for. Since the moment I became able to think I despised it. I have seen innumerable wars, disasters, and tragedies, seen the misfortune of countless lives. Everyone in this galaxy is diseased, cursed to suffer throughout their lives, and as such, it is better to end that suffering early, for their sake and mine. I cannot allow you to continue interfering in my affairs, Rangers, as even though your Nova Spheres can put me out of my misery, I do not wish to do that until my plan comes into fruition.”
“What are you talking about? There’s more to life than just pain, despair, and suffering!” Neil exclaimed as he prepared to fight.
Karma Rog turned his attention to the human, rasping out a response, “And as for you, Neil Astra, the Leo Ranger, the last fully-realized Astrographer, I offer you but a taste of everything I feel.” Karna Rog flicked countless strands of dark energy at Neil, being absorbed into his body as his horrific images of his mother’s death assaulted his mind.
Neil’s body began to spasm as he let out a blood-curdling scream, “STOP! STOP IT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! IT HURTS!” Neil’s vision went dark and he collapsed, unmorphing as he hit the ground while Shen and Arthur’s yells filled his brain.
As Neil woke up and got to his feet, he realized he was where he was before the ground scorched and the sky grey as Cerberus’s howls filled the air, the city around him in ruins. He looked ahead, spotting Karna Rog, but his heart dropped as he looked around him. Laying motionless around Karna Rog were the limp unmorphed forms of the other Rangers, dead. Karma Rog’s skull-like face seemed to grin as tears filled Neil’s eyes, and the Emperor lifted up the helmets of Shen and Arthur, “It’s your fault this happened.”
Notes:
And here it is! Looks like that offhanded mention of Shen not knowing how the base was found in 10 came back with a vengeance. Also, yeah, Neil is straight-up not having a good time right now. Karna Rog’s design here was meant to invoke the Men in Black, and you guys also get to see why he’s doing all of this to begin with. Anyway, likes and comments are welcomed and appreciated, thoughts and prayers for Neil especially.
Chapter 29: Incandescent Miracle
Chapter Text
“Neil!” Shen yelled as he and Arthur ran towards Neil’s limp form, crouching down next to him as the other Rangers looked on in shock.
Arthur began shaking Neil’s unconscious form, desperately hoping for a reaction of any kind, “Come on, wake up!” Neil didn’t stir, but his breathing proved that he was alive.
Shen turned to look at Karna Rog and roared, “What did you do to my son!”
“I have already told you,” Karna Rog rasped out with his usual lackadaisical tone, “I have given him a taste of what I feel. He’s trapped within his own mind, cast into the deepest pit of despair.”
Schedar giggled from where she stood beside him, “One he’ll never escape from!”
Mirfak shook his head as he mumbled, “A pity.”
“Monster!” Kenneth spat out angrily between panicked breaths before charging at the Emperor, his sword primed to swing and his shield held in front of him.
Karna Rog extended his free hand forward and pointed at Kenneth with his thumb up, “Bang.” A blast of sparks erupted from Kenneth’s from Kenneth’s shield, making him stagger back and fall to the ground, making him give a groan of pain. “As for the rest of you…” Karna Rog continued as he held his scythe back, its blade becoming wreathed in dark energy, “I suggest that you prepare to leave this mortal coil.”
“Someone do something!” Alura yelled out to the other Rangers.
Birdie quickly pulled out a light pink Nova Sphere depicting a bird of paradise, “On it!” Birdie plugged it into her Morpher, flicked it back, and flipped down the side of her Morpher as Karna Rog swung his scythe, sending a massive spinning dark energy crescent flying towards the Rangers.
“Apus Nova Sphere!”
A pink bird of paradise emerged from the Morpher and flew behind the Rangers, a trail of pink energy appearing behind it. It flew around to the front of the Rangers at breakneck speed, making them disappear as it passed by them before disappearing itself, causing the crescent to hit where they once stood.
Karna Rog released his grip on the scythe, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy as Schedar gave a groan of annoyance, “Dang it, they got away!”
“Very astute observation, Schedar,” Alderamin said with annoyance before turning to look at Karna Rog, “What should we do now, sir?”
“We shall allow Cerberus to continue its rampage and oversee it,” Karna Rog rasped, “While Cerberus may pose a threat to me, I understand that allowing it to destroy this planet is for the best, it’s far too much of a liability given what was here.”
Mirfak rolled his head around and nodded, “A very good idea, my liege. I’ll retrieve Felis and his Marquises to assist us.” Mirfak then disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
Karna Rog turned and began to walk towards where Cerberus had gone, lifting a hand to hold the brim of his hat, Schedar and Alderamin following behind him. “I’m curious to see how you fare without your greatest asset, Rangers,” Karna Rog mused, a faint hint of interest in his voice.
Neil staggered back with tears in his eyes as he saw Karna Rog holding Shen and Arthur’s helmets, “You killed them! You killed all of them!”
Karna Rog gave a nod as he took a few steps forward past the bodies of the others, tossing the helmets to the ground. “Indeed I did,” Karna Tog rasped, “perhaps they would still be alive if you had gotten up sooner.”
“I’ll kill you!” Neil roared with teary eyes as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Despite performing the steps correctly, Neil failed to morph, looking at the device with confusion and shock, “What? Why didn’t it work?” The Leo Nova Sphere was dull, no longer the vibrant red it once was.
“It would appear that the Leo Nova Sphere realized its mistake in choosing you,” Karna Rog rasped as he continued approaching.
Neil clenched a fist and swung at the Emperor, “Shut up!” The fist collided with Karna Rog’s chest, but he didn’t react to the blow at all. In one swift movement, Karna Rog tossed Neil to the ground next to Shen, Arthur, and Kenneth.
“Your dream was to free Earth from my Empire, was it not?” Karna Rog said as he turned to look at Neil, “It’s a nice dream, a good dream, but some dreams are meant to be broken.”
From above, an Executor-class Consumoai began to descend on Neil as he screamed.
On the Orion’s bridge, all of the Rangers aside from Birdie and Tip sat quietly, with forlorn expressions on their faces. Corvile stood beside Kenneth’ patting his fiancé’s shoulder as the Phoenix Knight’s head rested in his hands. Shen paced back and forth rapidly, fidgeting with his cane and occasionally glancing at Arthur, whose eyes were wide and expressionless, the youngest Ranger seemingly in shock. The door to the bridge opened, with Tip and Birdie entering as Shen immediately turned to face the duo and spoke urgently, “How is Neil? Is he alright?”
Birdie hesitated for a moment, “Well, physically he’s fine, but…”
“He won’t wake up,” Tip added, not a hint of humor in their voice.
Arthur’s face fell further as he looked at them, “So what you’re saying is that he’s… he’s in a coma?”
“I’m sorry Arthur and Commander Long,” Birdie said, “we tried everything we could.”
Tip took notice of Arthur in particular, walking toward him and extending a hand, “Don’t worry, it’ll be-”
“It’s not fine!” Arthur yelled back, startling everyone present. “My brother is in a coma, the Cerberus Zord is going berserk, and the Emperor’s decided to show up, this is as far from fine as it gets!”
Shen maneuvered beside him and put a hand on his shoulder before speaking comfortingly, though his voice made it clear he was having a hard time keeping it together as well, “Arthur, breathe, we’ll… we’ll figure something out.”
“He’s my brother, dad! After mom died he was the only family I had for a year!” Arthur replied with anger.
Shen nodded, “Arthur, I know, but we…” Shen’s voice cracked, “we have to have hope.”
Kenneth lifted his head up, “At least… at least we might be able to get him back, that’s better than what happened three hundred years ago.” He slowly turned to look at Corvile, “Corvile, do you think your Nova Sphere could help him?”
“Why?” Aster asked, “What’s the Corvus Nova Sphere do?”
“The Corvus Nova Sphere has the power to plunge others into a world of despair,” Kenneth explained, “Sure it’s a morbid power, but since Neil’s already in the deepest pit of despair, maybe the Corvus Nova Sphere can get him out.”
Corvile shook his head, “Or it could make it worse or lock him in there permanently, Kenneth, I don’t want to risk it. I can release people from the Nova Sphere’s world of despair, but there’s no telling if it could do that to Karna Rog’s.”
“He’s an Astrographer, it probably won’t affect him too much,” Kenneth replied.
“Oh right, I almost forgot that Karna Rog called him that because of… you know,” Brando said, beginning the sentence with a smile that quickly turned to a frown.
Arthur shook his head, “Does that mean I’m one too?”
“Yes,” Kenneth replied, “but it’ll be a few years before they awaken. I sort of had a hunch that you two were.”
Corvile nodded, “Me as well.”
“You knew?” Leiurus said with surprise that was shared with everyone else present.
“How?” Sirius added, just as shocked.
“Well, when you and Neil were describing what happened with the Draco and Ursa Minor Nova Spheres, it reminded me a lot of how Ptolemy’s powers worked,” Kenneth replied, “It doesn’t help that you both look a lot like Ptolemy. I don’t remember much while I was Ankaa, but I do remember being confused when I saw Neil’s face for the first time, maybe that’s why I was so fixated on him.”
Arthur looked at the two of them, “So me and Neil are descendants of Ptolemy if we’re Astrographers but he was the last one during your time?” Corvile nodded.
“And you didn’t tell us this, why?” Hydra inquired.
Kenneth scoffed, “What are the odds that after three hundred years I run into the descendant of one of my closest friends? Besides, it was just a hunch, I could’ve been totally wrong, I didn’t have enough details, and it took until Neil got control of Cerberus that I put it together.” He shook his head, “Besides, more pressing matters came up before I could think more about it.”
Leiurus took a deep breath, “Guys, Neil wouldn’t want us moping around like this and throwing a massive pity party, we’ve got way bigger problems.” He pointed out the window to Samos, with flames covering a large portion of the planet’s surface, “We need to stop the Cerberus Zord before it’s done with Samos and moves on to any more planets.”
“Leiurus is right,” Alura said, getting to her feet, “Neil would want us to keep on fighting and protecting the galaxy, even if he can’t. He wouldn’t want us to be sad and twiddle our thumbs, he’d want us to stay positive and take action! So let’s head down there and put a stop to the Cerberus Zord’s rampage!”
“But it’s destroyed countless planets on its own,” Hydra replied, “what could we do to stop it?”
“There’s eleven of us and one of it,” Alura responded, raising an index finger, “Sure it’s powerful, but it can only focus on attacking three things at a time, so we can overwhelm it if we all work together.”
“Alura, this sounds really risky, I mean, we’d be smoked if something went wrong,” Brando interjected.
Sirius shook his head, “It is our duty to protect the galaxy, no matter how desperate it may seem. Neil knew that better than anyone. Neil wanted to protect us, so it is only fair that we protect him by pushing forward.”
“And I’m not gonna let him down by doing nothing,” Arthur added firmly.
Shen nodded as he looked at Alura and Leiurus, “Both of you are right, standing around here and doing nothing isn’t what Neil would want, he’d be rushing out to stop Cerberus the moment he could. Neil… Neil was the bravest of us, the most passionate of us, and even if he isn’t here now, we can still fight for him.”
“And that’s what we’ll do, he’ll be our reason to keep fighting, to stop Cerberus, to take the Empire down! Who’s with me?” Alura exclaimed. Everyone else present in the bridge gave yells of confirmation, with none being louder than Shen and Arthur’s. Alura looked between everyone before pumping a fist in the air, “Then let’s get down there and put the Cerberus Zord back in the pound!”
Leiurus thought for a moment, “Only question is where it is and where it’s going.”
Birdie tapped her datapad, pulling up a map of Samos with a red line on it, “Judging by the path of destruction, it’s on its way to Stellarum.”
“Let’s cut it off and give that ugly hound a beatdown!” Aster exclaimed before turning to look at Sirius, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Sirius replied.
Shen took a deep breath, “Alright everyone, let’s get going, we can’t afford to waste any time. Corvile, you’re in charge again.”
“Of course, Shen,” Corvile nodded before looking at Kenneth, who was leaving the room with the other Rangers aside from Arthur and Shen, “Be safe, please.”
Kenneth gave a nod, “I will.”
“One last thing before we leave, Corvile,” Shen said as he looked at the crow-like alien.
Corvile tilted his head to the side, “Yes?”
Shen took a deep breath before speaking with a shaky voice, “Please… take care of Neil.”
“Yeah, make sure nothing happens to him, please,” Arthur said, his voice giving a slight crack as he looked like he was trying to fight back tears.
Corvile gave a nod, “I will, I promise.”
Shen put a hand on Corvile’s shoulder, “Thank you.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said with a nod, “thanks.”
“Good luck out there,” Corvile said hopefully as Shen and Arthur exited the room.
Sunlight hit Neil’s eyes as he opened them and a breeze swept past. He took a moment to look around, finding himself at the top of a building on Earth. Neil gave a look of confusion, “I’m back on Earth?”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Karna Rog said, putting a hand onto Neil’s shoulder from behind. “That’s what most would think, but do you know what I see, Neil Astra?”
“What?” Neil replied shakily.
“I see the suffering of an untold number of beings, and I wish to give them mercy,” Karna Rog replied as the sky went dark and countless Consumoai landed on the ground and began drilling. “This is all your fault, Neil Astra. If you had done something sooner, than your friends, your father, your brother, they would still be alive and your world would not be on the verge of destruction.”
“Shut up!” Neil yelled as he saw glowing cracks beginning to spread across the ground away from the Consumoai. He spun around and prepared to hit Karna Rog, only for the Emperor to grab his fist as he swung it.
“Trying to harm me without your useless Nova Sphere is a foolish endeavor,” Karna Rog rasped.
Neil’s eyes widened, realization dawning on him, “You’re not Karna Rog.”
The Emperor chuckled, “What makes you say that?”
Neil pulled his fist away from Karna Rog’s grip as he stared at him, “Karna Rog, he might hate the Nova Spheres and fear them, but he also respects them. The real Karna Rog wouldn’t call a Nova Sphere useless, no matter what.”
Karna Rog chuckled, “How clever, it seems you’re smarter than you appear. You’re right, I am not the real Karna Rog.”
“Then what are you?” Neil questioned as he glared at the thing that wasn’t Karna Rog.
“I’m you,” Karna Rog chuckled, his body beginning to shift as the world around them disappeared into darkness. The figure finished changing once it and Neil were the only things left in the void of darkness, and Neil’s eyes widened once it did. Standing before him was a dark, twisted interpretation of his Ranger form. The white of its gloves, boots, and bracers were replaced with black, as were the red of his chest piece and helmet, the only remaining red parts there being the sphere on its chest and the outline of its visor. There was a short, black cape on its waist as well.
“I’m the worst part of you,” the Dark Neil explained, his voice now like Neil’s own, “All your fears, all your worries, all your hatred and despair.”
Neil looked at him, “So everything you showed me, it’s what I’m worried will happen?”
“Exactly,” the Dark Neil replied, “but with you out of commission and wallowing in your own pity, it’s more than likely it’ll happen.”
Neil glared at the Dark Neil, “Then let me out of here now! I’m not gonna let that happen!”
“Even if I did, then what would you do?” Dark Neil asked, “It’s pointless to fight against Karna Rog, even Arthur would probably fare better against him than you. Face it Neil, the only thing you have is a sword and a Morpher, what could you possibly do to even hurt him in any meaningful way?”
“That doesn’t mean I won’t try!” Neil responded, “I’ll keep on fighting, no matter what, the galaxy will be free!”
“And it will still end the same way,” Dark Neil replied sternly, “with you failing to protect the others and the galaxy. Maybe you’d be less useless being a human shield?”
“Shut up!” Neil yelled, tears in his eyes, “I’ll… I’ll find a way to help!”
“Maybe you will,” Dark Neil said as he began to walk away while Neil fell to his knees, “or maybe it’s already too late.”
The Cerberus Zord had already reached Stellarum and began laying siege to the outside of the city by the time the eleven morphed Rangers arrived in their Zords. “Me, Birdie, and Brando will go in to draw fire. Boss, you and Kenneth will focus on taking it down since you guys have the strongest firepower. Everyone else help the Boss and Kenneth by giving some extra firepower,” Alura explained over the comms.
“Understood!” Birdie chirped.
“I was hoping I’d be right in the action,” Kenneth chuckled.
“Got it!” Arthur replied.
The Chamaeleon, Aquila, and Dorado Zords flew towards the Cerberus Zord, drawing its attention as it howled. The three Zords zipped off to the side, prompting the Cerberus Zord to follow them as they weaved around its beams. From one side, the Lupus, Libra, and Ophiuchus Zords fired alongside the Phoenix Zord, while on the other side, the Scorpius, Taurus, and Ursa Zords fired alongside the Draco Zord’s fireballs. The Phoenix Zord slammed into the Cerberus Zord’s side, forcing it into the other direction where the Draco Zord was waiting. The draconic Zord quickly coiled around the Cerberus Zord, holding it in place.
“I’ve got it!” Shen exclaimed over the comms.
“Great job, Boss!” Brando said excitedly as the Chamaeleon, Aquila, and Dorado Zords turned to face the Cerberus Zord.
“Everyone, fire at will! Try not to hit the Boss!” Alura commanded.
“I don’t think so,” Karna Rog’s voice rasped despite not being present. Bolts of pitch black lightning shot up from the ground, striking the Rangers Zords and making them spark violently before their cockpits detached and went careening towards the ground. Inside each cockpit, the Rangers yelled and panicked.
Once the cockpits were close to the ground, they disappeared, making the Rangers fall out of them and demorph in the process as they hit the ground. The Rangers groaned as they got to their feet, with Sirius looking everyone over as he did so, “Are any of you hurt?”
“Well I don’t feel good, but hey, it could be worse,” Tip replied.
Kenneth took a moment to look around, taking note that they were back in the overgrown park where he had fought Karna Rog before, “So we’re back here again…”
“Ugh, what was that?” Aster asked as he stood up.
“A pleasure to see you again, Rangers,” Karna Rog’s voice rasped. The Rangers turned to face where his voice had come from, spotting the Emperor, Mirfak, Schedar, Alderamin, Felis, Aquaereo and Yetton standing in front of the park’s dark, twisted tree.
“Karna Rog!” Shen snarled as he readied his cane, “You’ll pay for what you did to my son!”
“If you want to fight him, then you’ll have to get through me, Arctos,” Felis said, stepping forward and pointing his sword at Shen.
Karna Rog looked at him, “That is not necessary, Felis.”
Felis looked back at him, “But-”
“I said you will not get involved,” Karna Rog said, a dangerous tone in his voice, “I will be the one to ensure they are defeated.” Felis lowered his sword and stepped back.
“Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, Cassius,” Shen snarled, pointing his cane at the Duke, “Once we’re through with Karna Rog, we’re coming for you!”
“No one messes with one of us and gets away with it,” Leiurus said with a scowl as he looked at the Emperor.
“And least of all Neil!” Arthur added.
“I hate you for what you did to him,” Hydra added with contempt in his voice.
“Yes, it truly is a shame,” Karna Rog said calmly, “But he was too much of a risk to my affairs.”
“You’re scared of him, aren’t you?” Kenneth questioned, “Just like you were of Ptolemy.”
Karna Rog hummed, “Perhaps, but that’s ultimately irrelevant.” Karna Rog crossed his arms over his chest in an x-shape, a pair of blades materializing in his hands, “Your interference ends today Rangers. You will perish on this forgotten planet, where no one will remember you.”
“We’ll see about that!” Alura said as she and the other Rangers readied their Morphers, “Let’s end this!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which dissipated to reveal their Ranger forms. Without wasting any time, the Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons, making their blades glow with energy, in Birdie’s case, the tip of her blaster began to glow pink, and Kenneth’s sword was wreathed in flames. The Rangers charged forward as the Knights of Andromeda, Felis, Yetton, and Aquaereo moved to the side. The Emperor pointed a sword forward, causing shadowy tendrils to lash out from under him at the Rangers, who dodged to the side to avoid them.
Aster swung his axe down on the Emperor, but Karna Rog blocked it with one blade before slashing Aster across the chest with the other, a trail of energy punctuating the slash as Aster was knocked back.
Sirius leapt at the Emperor with his claw, who quickly flipped a sword into a reverse grip and pointed the spiked guard at him, sending out a volley of small dark projectiles that curved to hit Sirius and knocked him out of the air.
“Eat this!” Brando yelled as he swung at the Emperor repeatedly with his saber, but the Emperor blocked every swing with his reverse gripped swords. Karna Rog jabbed him with the hilt of one sword, staggering him long enough to deliver a pair of inward slashes with his swords, knocking Brando back considerably.
From the sides, Tip and Birdie fired blasts from their crossbow, blaster, and Morphers, a few of which hit Karna Rog and made black smoke rise from his body. He quickly wised up, blocking their next shots with his swords before flipping his grip on them again and swinging them to deflect the shots. His swords became wreathed in dark energy and sent a pair of dark energy slashes flying at Tip, who was knocked back on impact. He then threw the swords themselves at Birdie, which slashed her sides as they went past her.
Leiurus kicked Karna Rog with his tail-wrapped leg, seeing that the Emperor was unarmed. Before the kick could connect though, a scythe materialized in Karna Rog’s hand, the pole of it blocking the kick. He then held one hand forward, creating a dark energy shockwave from it that sent Leiurus flying back.
“Hold still,” Hydra said as he slashed Karna Rog across the back, prompting the Emperor to spin around the slash at him with the scythe. Hydra ducked under it before delivering an upward slash with his own scythe, but Karna Rog extended a free hand forward, stopping the swing in place. Karna Rog casually swung his scythes causing surrounding debris to be sent flying as the slash collided with Hydra and knocked him back.
Alura appeared beside him and jabbed him with her rapier, staggering him significantly as more smoke poured from his body. She swung at him again, but he blocked it with his scythe before it could connect. Karna Rog spun back with his scythe outstretched, slashing Alura across the chest as a shockwave of dark energy extended several inches away from the blade.
Arthur charged at him and brought his glaive down on the Emperor, who quickly blocked it with his scythe’s blade by swinging it down as well, locking them together. Before Karna Rog could retaliate further, Shen and Kenneth ran past the sides of him, slashing him and making more smoke pour from his body. “That was for Neil!” Shen growled.
Karna Rog forced Arthur’s glaive to the side and flicked his finger at Arthur, sending the Ursa Ranger flying back. He turned around to face Shen and Kenneth, the blade of his scythe becoming wreathed in dark energy. He seemed to adjust his hat for a moment before lazily swinging his scythe with one hand, sending a spinning dark energy slash flying towards the two of them, creating a shower of sparks and sending them flying back as it collided with them. “You’ve gotten rusty, Kenneth,” Karna Rog rasped.
“Shut up!” Kenneth spat back.
Slowly, he and the other Rangers got to their feet, preparing to charge at the Emperor again. “It’s not over yet,” Alura panted as she readied her rapier and charged at Karna Rog with the others.
Corvile paced back and forth in the med bay a few feet away from Neil’s unconscious form, obviously worried. “This is bad, Karna Rog… I know they can defeat them, they have to, but at what cost? It’s not like defeating this avatar will do much anyway, even if he is controlling it directly,” he fidgeted with the Corvus Nova Sphere in his taloned digits. “And Neil, our greatest hope is in a coma. There has to be something I can do!” Corvile suddenly yelled as he slammed a fist down on a table, “I’ve done and sacrificed so much to defeat Karna Rog, I can’t let all of that go to waste.” Corvile put his hands to the sides of his head, obviously stressed.
Suddenly, Corvile heard a purr, and turned his attention to the med bay’s entrance to spot the Leo Minor Zord standing in front of the door. “What are you doing here?” Corvile asked. The Zord gave a roar that sounded distinctly like a lion’s. It took a moment, but realization dawned on Corvile, “You want to see Neil?”
The Zord seemed to nod. “Can… Can you help him?” Corvile inquired desperately, “Please, you know what he is as well as I do, I know the others are capable, but I don’t want them to risk themselves against Karna Rog when it won’t even matter.” The Zord gave a nod, making Corvile give a sigh of relief, “Oh thank you, thank you so much.”
The Zord looked at the Corvus Nova Sphere before looking at Neil, making Corvile tilt his head to the side, “You want me to use it on you to send you into the world of despair in Neil’s mind? I’m not sure, I don’t think it works like that…” Corvile trailed off before shaking his head and speaking more confidently, “but I guess that’s the only option I have, so I’ll have to try.”
Corvile gave a deep breath, “The most you can do in there is help Neil, in order for Neil to escape, well, he’ll have to do it himself.” The Leo Minor Zord seemed to give a nod before jumping on Neil’s chest. “Good luck,” Corvile said as he held the Corvus Nova Sphere forward.
“Corvus Nova Sphere!”
A sphere of dark smoke surrounded the Zord, the emblem of the Corvus Nova Sphere flashing on it before it shrunk around the Zord and flew into Neil’s forehead.
In the void of despair, Neil sat in a fetal position, tears on his cheeks as he sighed, “What’s the point? What can I do to help? What was I even made for?”
“Don’t say that,” a new voice said, soft but distinctly masculine.
Neil gave a confused look as he raised his head, “Who’s there? Is it me again?”
“No Neil, it’s not,” the new voice said as Neil finally was able to tell where it was coming from, spotting the Leo Minor Zord.
“The Leo Minor Zord? How are you here, and how are you talking?” Neil asked with a confused look, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“Because I’d stop at nothing to get to where a descendant of Ptolemy was, and I’m speaking because this is in your brain,” the Zord replied.
Neil gave a confused look, “I’m a descendant of Ptolemy? Well I guess that Karna Rog said I was an Astrographer, not that it matters.”
“Of course it matters,” the Zord replied, thinking back to watching Ptolemy charge towards Karna Rog with his mace, “It’s why you have the Leo Nova Sphere, your mother was a descendant of Regulina, who was sent to Earth after Ptolemy’s sacrifice. Neil, you’re a union of Leo and Orion! You have unimaginable power, power that gives Karna Rog pause!”
Neil sighed, “Well, Arthur’s a descendent too, he’s got that same power, I’m not special,” Neil seemed to be getting choked up, “I’ll never be special, and I’ll never be able to protect the others.”
The Zord shook its head, “Neil, his powers haven’t fully awakened like yours have, and even then it’ll take a few more years for that to happen. Karna Rog was correct in calling you the last fully-realized Astrographer, you are special, Neil.” The Zord looked at him intently, “And even if you weren’t, even if you thought you couldn’t protect your friends, you would still try.”
Neil froze, thinking back to when he went against Kaus after the Duke had kidnapped Arthur, going against Skragen and Calamartia to save Sirius, Leiurus, and Birdie, when he attacked Antares for what he did to Leiurus and Aster, and fighting Schedar for making them hurt Hydra. Realization dawned on Neil’s face, “I… I would, without a doubt.”
“Then why doubt yourself now?” the Zord asked.
“I… I don’t know,” Neil laughed, “I guess I was just worrying about what could happen if I didn’t. I don’t want to lose them, you know? And wondering if they could die because of me, I didn’t know how I’d feel.”
The Zord nodded before speaking again, “Well Neil, your friends and family are in grave danger, they’re battling Karna Rog as we speak while Cerberus ravages the planet. Your powers can turn the tides.”
“But how do I use them?” Neil asked, “Every time I’ve used them before, I didn’t mean too.”
The Zord thought for a moment, “Focus on what gives you hope, with that power, you should be able to control the Cerberus Zord itself.”
“But the Astrographers of the past couldn’t control it, what makes you think I can?” Neil asked.
“It’s still weak from just having woken up,” the Zord replied, preparing to continue speaking before it was quickly pulled into the void and vanished.
“That’s enough out of you,” the Dark Neil said as it stepped into view.
“You!” Neil said as he got to his feet.
The Dark Neil simply stared at him, “Even if you did try to protect them, what’s the point if you end up not being able to do it?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Neil said as he clenched the fist of his arm with the Morpher, “I care about them, all of them, and I care about them enough to fight alongside them and protect them, even if I know I won’t be able to. I have to hope, and if I have hope I have a chance.” Neil glared at the Dark Neil, “Arthur’s been with me since before mom died, and the others, they were the best things to happen to me after that, and that’s why I’ll fight, for them.”
Neil ran forward and slammed his fist into the Dark Neil’s chest, its screams drowned out by Neil’s own as the void began to disappear, “All of them!”
Neil opened his eyes and sat up, noticing the Leo Minor Zord sitting on his lap. “Oh my stars, it actually worked,” Corvile said with relief as he moved towards Neil, “Thank the stars you’re awake.”
Neil nodded as he stroked the Leo Minor Zord’s back, “Yeah, I’m glad to be awake, and now nothing’s gonna stop me from doing what I need to do.” Neil looked at Corvile intently, “The others, they’re in trouble, aren’t they?”
“Battling Karna Rog, yes,” Corvile responded, “Neil, did you know you’re an Astrographer? Your powers, they could help turn the fight in our favor.”
“Yeah, the Leo Minor Zord told me,” Neil replied, “and I’m gonna head out and keep everyone safe.” Neil prepared to get up, only for the Leo Minor Zord to drop something on his lap as it jumped off of him. Neil picked it up and examined it, revealing it to be a white Nova Sphere with a gold base depicting a bearded man holding a club. Neil looked at it curiously, “A Nova Sphere?”
“The Orion Nova Sphere,” Corvile clarified, “never really understood what that one did, but maybe it thinks it’ll be useful.”
“We’ll have to see,” Neil said as he got up from his bed and slid his Revolution jacket on with a determined face, “I’m heading out, it’s time to save my family and show Karna Rog that hope can overcome any despair.”
“Good luck,” Corvile said as Neil exited the room, “We’re all counting on you.”
In Stellarum, Kenneth fired a flaming shot from the bottom of his shield, Tip fired an energy arrow from their crossbow, and Birdie fired a shot from her blaster at Karna Rog. The Emperor raised his hand to block the shots, smoke pouring from his hand as it sent the attacks flying back at the Rangers, who narrowly dodged them. “Come on! Is that all you’ve got?” Alura demanded as she pointed her rapier at the Emperor.
“I’m growing tired of this,” the Emperor said calmly as he released his grip on his scythe, making it dissipate into dark energy before waving a hand in an arc in front of him. Instantly, countless blades made of dark energy appeared and hovered in the air around him.
“Perhaps I should intervene,” Mirfak murmured from the sidelines, preparing to take a step forward before pausing, “No, the Rangers will find a way to turn this around.”
Karna Rog extended a hand forward, sending the blades flying at the Rangers. They swirled around the Rangers like a vortex, with dozens of blades flying in to slash at the Rangers while the others continued to fly around. Tip and Birdie managed to blast a few away while the others were able to consistently block the swords slashing at them, but eventually the number became too overwhelming, slashing at their arms and legs before slashing their chests, making them fall to the ground and unmorph, convulsing in pain. “Now just lie down and allow me to act as your escort out of this life,” Karna Rog rasped as he seemed to adjust his hat.
“It’s not worth fighting anymore, Rangers!” Schedar giggled, “You’re done for!”
“No,” Arthur panted as he tried to recover and get to his feet, “we’re not.”
Kenneth shook as he got to his feet, memories of his previous battle with Karna Rog filling his mind as he plunged his sword into the ground to support himself. “We won’t stop, not until there’s nothing left of your Empire,” he said as he got up.
“Not until everyone a-round the galaxy is free to live their own lives,” Shen said as he got to his feet.
“A shame you won’t be around to see that, Arctos,” Felis spat, “even more of a shame that it’ll never happen to begin with.”
“Unacceptable,” Alderamin grumbled, “even the most persistent warrior knows when to give up.”
Alura grinned as she got to her feet, “That’s because we’re not warriors.”
“We’re Power Rangers,” Leiurus said as he assumed a fighting stance.
“And we’re not gonna stop fighting,” Aster added as he got up, pointing at Karna Rog.
Tip nodded as they got to their feet, striking a pose and speaking with excitement, “Not until we steal the win!”
“Then no one will cower in fear of you again, and everyone can be free to do what they want!” Hydra said with conviction, glaring at the Emperor.
“You delude yourselves, Rangers,” Karna Rog rasped, “Once I reach my goal, the galaxy will be free, freer than it ever will be if you succeed, free of despair, of war, of pain.”
Birdie put her hands on her hips, “Yeah, and all that’ll take is the death of everything and everyone? Doesn’t matter how good your intentions are, in every story, the bad guys lose!”
“So prepare yourself for a taste of justice, Karna Rog!” Brando exclaimed as he stood up.
“For Neil and everyone else you have hurt,” Sirius growled as he and the others prepared their Morphers.
“Such dedication to Neil Astra, it’s admirable,” Karna Rog said as he raised a hand to the air, a massive globe of dark energy forming within it, “But what, if anything, can he do for you now?” He extended his hand forward, sending the sphere of dark energy flying at the Rangers, who braced for impact.
“This!” Neil’s voice called out as the Cerberus Zord flew over from behind a few stone towers, firing beams from its mouth that struck the sphere. The sphere exploded, making the Rangers cover their eyes. The Cerberus Zord swooped downward, with Neil leaping from it to stand in front of the other Rangers. He looked back at them with a smile, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Impossible!” Schedar yelled.
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin exclaimed.
“Yes,” Mirfak mused excitedly, “just as I hoped.”
“Neil!” Arthur yelled, pulling his brother into a hug. The rest of the team seemed surprised as well, but also relieved.
Shen quickly ran forward and pulled Neil into a hug as well, sounding like he was on the verge of tears, “Oh thank the stars you’re alright. I… I was worried you’d never wake up.”
“But how? What happened that woke you up?” Alura asked with curiosity and relief.
“Yeah, you were out cold!” Tip added.
Neil shrugged and grinned, “I just realized what I had to do.”
“So you woke up, quite the shame,” Karna Rog rasped, “Oh well, at least I have another chance to try and deal with you.”
“Listen up, Karna Rog,” Neil said, pointing a finger at the Emperor, “You might think that making me fall into despair would separate me from the others, but you were wrong.” Neil narrowed his eyes, “They’ve always been important to me, because together, we’re not just stars, we’re a constellation, a constellation of hope that can cut through any despair!”
“Get ready!” Neil declared as he closed his eyes and extended a hand forward. In his mind he pictured a galaxy without the Empire, a Galaxy where the twelve Rangers and Corvile sat around a table at Brando’s restaurant on Bahamut and laughed and smiled. Neil opened his eyes, which were now glowing white.
White emerged from the Orion Nova Sphere, flying into Neil’s palm as colorful light emerged from the other Rangers’ Nova Spheres as well, encircling it as the other Rangers looked on with surprise. After a moment, the lights solidified into a white Nova Sphere in Neil’s hand. It was different from the other Nova Spheres, being much larger with a red base and a blue ring with nine colorful orbs at an angle around it.
“A new Nova Sphere?” Aster said with surprise.
Karna Rog looked at the Nova Sphere intently, “So you’ve finally realized your true power.” He pointed at Neil, “Very well then, let us see if you know how to use it.”
“Oh I do,” Neil said, plugging the Nova Sphere into his Morpher, making it flash between colors rapidly as a symbol with a lion’s face inside a star appeared on it. Neil pressed a blue button on the top of the Nova Sphere, making it settle on white.
“Supernova Sphere!”
Neil spun the ring around the Nova Sphere.
“Star Charge!”
A blue ring appeared around Neil with twelve colorful spheres on it, much like the one on the Nova Sphere itself. Colorful proportions of the twelve constellations of the Rangers appeared around Neil before a white projection of Orion appeared in front of him as he was surrounded by a flash of light.
“Incandescent Star, Leorion Ranger!” Neil exclaimed. His suit was white with a gold belt and red stripes running down the sides. He had a chest piece that had a red asymmetrical star on it and a red sphere at the center, much like the one on his regular costume, with a collar piece that had colorful spheres on it and a white cape extending from behind each shoulder. His helmet resembled his previous one, but was white and had a white stripe on the forehead, with the lion-shaped visor being pushed to the left slightly to accommodate a similar looking human head shaped part of the visor opposite to it, creating a sense of symmetry.
“Good grief Neil, you look amazing!” Kenneth exclaimed as he looked Neil’s new costume over.
“You look legendary,” Sirius added.
“Incredi-ball!” Shen said with shock.
“Fascinating,” Mirfak murmured.
Karna Rog looked at the Knights, “You deal with the rest of them, I’ll handle the Astrographer.”
“Of course, sir,” Alderamin replied, giving a salute.
Schedar giggled, “Got it!”
“…Of course, my liege,” Mirfak said after giving a slow nod and cracking his neck.
The Knights charged forward, brandishing their weapons as they ran towards the rest of Rangers. Neil extended his hand and moved it in a circle, creating a portal with a blue border that the Knights were unable to stop themselves from running into in time, ending up back in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room.
“Woah, that was weird!” Schedar exclaimed as she looked around.
“He sent us all the way back here? Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled.
Mirfak looked back behind him to see the portal close, raising his organic hand to his chin as he rolled his head around, “Fascinating.”
“Woah, that was awesome!” Tip exclaimed as they watched the portal close.
“Where did you send them?” Leiurus asked as he turned to look at Neil.
Neil shrugged, “Somewhere far away.”
Karna Rog turned to look at Felis, Aquaereo, and Yetton, “You three, deal with the others.”
“Finally! A chance to deal with Shen!” Felis exclaimed as he readied his sword, stepping forward with the two Marquises as a horde of Greyders appeared.
“Guys, I can handle Karna Rog, you guys can take care of everyone else,” Neil said, turning to look at the others.
“Neil, are you sure?” Arthur asked in reply.
“Trust me,” Neil answered.
“Alright then,” Alura said as she and the others prepared to plug their Nova Spheres into their Morphers, “Let’s go!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The other eleven Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which disappeared to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the twelve Rangers all exclaimed in unison. Every Ranger aside from Neil charged at the Duke, Marquises, and Greyders, while Neil calmly walked towards Karna Rog as the Emperor seemed to adjust his hat. A scythe materialized in the Emperor’s hand before he extended his free hand forward, firing a beam of purple light at Neil. Neil moved to the side with blinding speed, his legs not even moving. Karna Rog fired at him again multiple times, but Neil continued speeding around the Emperor.
Meanwhile, the other Rangers plowed through Greyders, slashing, stabbing, and blasting them on their way to the Marquises while Shen’s cane clashed against Felis’s sword. “You’ll die here, Shen!” the Duke snarled as he and Shen ran past each other, with Shen blocking his sword with his cane before spinning to dodge a downward swing.
“The only one who’s going to leave this time is me, Felis!” Shen growled as he swung down at Felis, but the Duke blocked it with his sword before Shen held his cane to Felis’s side as the Duke held the blade to his shoulder. Both of them slashed each other, making them both stagger back.
Neil zipped into a portal as Karna Rog fired another beam at him, emerging behind the Emperor. He moved his left hand to his side as if to unsheathe a sword, a white portal with the Leo Nova’s Sphere’s emblem appearing behind it and the Star Sword emerging from it handle-first. Neil grabbed the sword and slashed at the Emperor with it, but Karna Rog quickly spun around to block it with his scythe. “I expected nothing less from an Astrographer,” Karna Rog said as he pulled his scythe away and swung at Neil, purple energy punctuating the slash as Neil ducked under it. Karna Rog swung at Neil again, making him jump back and flourish his sword before zipping at Karna Rog again.
Aster’s axe was locked with Aquaereo’s blade as he forced the Marquis back. “You will need to try better than that!” Aquaereo said as he pulled his blade away and swiped at Aster’s leg, who raised it in time to avoid the slash. Aster swung downward with his axe, but it was blocked by Aquaereo’s blade.
“Oh yeah? Try this on for size then!” Aster said as he plugged his Nova Sphere from his Morpher into his axe.
“Aldebaran Strike!”
The axe’s blade was surrounded with black energy as he batted Aquaereo’s blade to the side and out of his hands before slashing down at Aquaereo and making him stumble back as Alura and Brando ran forward.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
Alura and Brando swung their energy-infused weapons downward, sending the Marquis rolling back across the ground as his body sparked. “Duke Felis, my apologies!” Aquaereo exclaimed before going up in flames.
Birdie blocked a swing from Yetton’s arm as she, Tip, Hydra, and Arthur surrounded the Marquis before all four of them pointed their Morphers at him and began firing rapidly. Yetton swung at them as they all spun around him before pointing their Morphers at him again.
“All Star Shot!”
Yetton was engulfed in a pillar of gold, silver, pink, and cyan light as his body sparked. “Yetton has met his match!” Yetton declared before erupting in a massive explosion that the four Rangers backflipped away from as Yetton’s body hit the ground.
Karna Rog swung at Neil with his scythe, but the Leorion Ranger shot back away before the attack could connect. Karna Rog glanced back to where Yetton once was. “I suppose it’s time that I raised the stakes,” Karna Rog declared before snapping his fingers.
Dark clouds began to form over the stone city, dark electricity crackling through them before a bolt of black lightning struck Yetton’s remains, making them dissolve into dark energy. The dark energy flew off and grew, coalescing into a giant Yetton, “Yetton crush!”
“Two can play at that game!” Neil said as he reached his free hand into a portal that had appeared beside him, pulling out the Cerberus Nova Sphere.
“What?” Felis exclaimed, glancing back at Neil as he blocked a vicious swing from Shen, “How did you get that?”
“Doesn’t matter how he got it,” Shen said as he moved his cane away before slashing Felis across the chest, “What matters is that you don’t have it!”
“Sirius, catch!” Neil yelled as he tossed the Nova Sphere at the Fenrisulfrian, who was currently fighting through Greyders alongside Leiurus and Kenneth.
Sirius quickly spun back from a Greyder and leapt to catch the Nova Sphere mid-air. “I have got it!” Sirius declared before slashing a Greyder across the chest, “Aster, Hydra, Alura, Brando, will you help me?”
“Of course!” Aster exclaimed happily.
“Count me in too,” Kenneth said as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher as the other five did, with Sirius plugging the Cerberus Nova Sphere into his.
“Taurus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
“Cerberus Zord!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, with Sirius being surrounded by a pearlescent on, which flew off to connect with their Zord. “Hey, do you think this thing can form a Megazord like the Leo and Draco Zords can?” Aster inquired.
“If it can, then we’ll really be cooking!” Brando exclaimed.
“Then let us find out,” Sirius asked as he prepared to initiate the combination sequence, while Kenneth was already in the process of his.
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
Much like the Leo Zord, the Cerberus Zord’s center head rotated and opened to reveal a face with a mouth guard, the heads on the side rotating forward as well. The Dorado Zord became the right arm, the Chamaeleon Zord became the left arm, the Taurus Zord became the right leg, and the Ophiuchus Zord became the left leg.
“Destroyer of darkness, Gamma Burst Megazord!”
“Let us put Cerberus’s power to good use,” Sirius declared as the two Megazords approached Yetton.
“Yetton crush!” Yetton roared as he stepped forward, blasting frigid air from his mouth at the Solar Flare Megazord and making it stagger back. The Gamma Burst Megazord approached quickly, slashing Yetton with the Dorado Zord before punching him with the Chamaeleon Zord. The Marquis staggered back, appearing ready to charge.
“Brando, Alura!” Sirius shouted over the comms.
“On it!” Alura replied.
“Way ahead of you!” Brando responded.
The left and right heads of the Cerberus Zord opened, firing beams of energy that created massive blasts of sparks around Yetton as they collided with him, making him stagger back against a stone tower.
“The light within you burns bright, Neil Astra,” Karna Rog rasped as he repeatedly swung at Neil with his scythe, only for the young Astrographer to continuously dodge him. Neil delivered an upward slice with his sword, but before it could connect Karna Rog teleported in a swirl of dark energy, appearing several yards away. “Unfortunately, that light must be snuffed out to rid this galaxy of its pain.” Karna Rog swung his scythe, sending a slash of dark energy flying at Neil, who didn’t react at all.
Before the slash could hit Neil, it was stopped and dispelled by gold and purple energy slashes. Karna Rog gave a confused look as two white portals appeared beside Neil, one bearing the Draco Nova Sphere emblem on it with the Draco Morpher floating in front of it, and the other bearing the Libra Nova Sphere’s emblem with the Star Crossbow floating in front of it. “There’s more in the universe than just suffering, Karna Rog,” Neil declared, “and here’s something you should know…” Neil moved his free hand in a circle, opening ten more portals, each bearing a Nova Sphere’s sigil. The weapons of the other Rangers emerged from the portals, the Star Spear, Star Claw, Star Axe, Star Scythe, Star Rapier, Star Blaster, Star Saber, Arthur’s scarf, and the Phoenix Sword and Shield the latter two each emerging from two different portals.
“Our weapons?” Birdie said with surprise as she avoided a Greyder’s attack.
“That’s awesome!” Arthur exclaimed as he whipped a Greyder with his scarf.
“Light isn’t just white,” Neil said as he held his arm in front of his chest, angling his hand so the sword was pointed at Karna Rog. The sword flew from his hand alongside all the other weapons, flying at the Emperor all at once.
Karna Rog blocked the attacks of the flying weapons with little difficulty, “Your mastery over your powers is impressive, but I cannot allow you to stand in my way.” Karna Rog batted the Star Spear away, with Neil catching it as it flew towards him.
Neil began to walk towards Karna Rog as the Emperor dealt with the flying weapons, “All of Kenneth’s comrades gave their lives to defeat you. Ptolemy, he sacrificed himself so that you might be defeated. I’m not going to let their sacrifices be in vain!” Neil jabbed at Karna Rog, but the Emperor leapt to the side, avoiding the Star Saber in the process as well. Neil jabbed at Karna Rog again, but the Emperor knocked it out of his hands before slashing at him with his dark energy imbued scythe, but the Phoenix Shield moved to block the attack. Neil grabbed the Star Crossbow, firing it at Karna Rog’s chest as the Shield moved out of the way and Arthur’s scarf restrained Karna Rog’s arm, preventing him from blocking with his scythe.
The weapons swirled around the Emperor as he staggered back, with Neil quickly grabbing the Star Rapier and jabbing Karna Rog in the chest as the scarf released the Emperor. Karna Rog retaliated, swinging his scythe upwards and knocking the rapier from Neil’s hand.
“This is over, Cassius!” Shen snarled as he repeatedly slashed at the Duke with his cane, “My father, my comrades, everyone that died that day because of you will be avenged!”
“Don’t make me laugh, you senile idiot!” Felis roared as he slashed Shen across the chest, leaving a trail of crimson and black energy in its wake as it sent Shen rolling across the ground. Shen recovered quickly, getting to his knees as he opened and closed the dragon’s mouth on his rifle, sending purple energy coursing through it.
Felis raised his sword, imbuing it with a massive amount of black and crimson energy, “This will make you regret turning your back on me! Once I’m done with you, those precious boys of yours are next!”
“Don’t. Touch. My. Boys!” Shen snarled as he aimed at Felis.
“Eltanin Strike!”
Shen fired off a projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy from his rifle as Felis sent a massive crimson and black energy slash flying at Shen. The attacks clashed, sending sparks flying everywhere before they moved past each other, striking their intended targets. Shen was merely grazed by the slash, but Felis was struck directly in the chest by Shen’s attack, making his body spark wildly.
“Goodbye, old friend,” Shen said sternly as he began to walk away.
“Curse you, Shen Arctos!” Felis snarled before going up in flames.
The Solar Flare Megazord maneuvered behind Yetton as the Marquis tried to block swings from the Gamma Burst Megazord, grabbing the Marquis from behind and holding him in place as the Gamma Burst Megazord continued to pummel him.
“I think it’s about time that we wrap this up!” Kenneth said over the comms.
“Then let us handle this,” Sirius replied.
Hydra nodded, “I’m curious to see what it’ll look like.”
The Solar Flare Megazord tossed Yetton to the side, making the Marquis crash into a few stone buildings as the Rangers inside the Gamma Burst Megazord prepared the finisher.
“Gamma Burst Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Megazord’s cockpits began to glow as it held the Dorado Zord’s blade in front of it. The Cerberus Zord fired beams from its three mouths onto the blade, surrounding it in a colossal blade of swirling red, green, and yellow energy. “Yetton not like this!” Yetton exclaimed once he got to his feet. The Megazord swung the colossal energy blade, cleaving through towers before slicing Yetton and making him explode.
“Now that was impressive!” Kenneth said with a laugh as the Solar Flare Megazord and Gamma Burst Megazord flourished their blades.
“We can talk about it later, let us get down there and check on the others,” Sirius said over the comms.
Alura nodded, “Good idea.” The Megazords separated, their components flying away as their cockpits moved to the ground below.
Neil continued battling Karna Rog as the other Rangers watched on, mystified. Neil spun around and slashed at Karna Rog with the Star Axe, but the Emperor blocked the swipe with his scythe. Karna Rog maneuvered his free hand to point at Neil, “Bang.”
Neil flipped backwards in the air and sent the Star Axe returning to the cyclone of weapons flying around as an explosion erupted behind him. Neil landed on his feet and held his hand forward, making his capes stretch as they shot towards Karna Rog, wrapping themselves around his scythe and ripping it from his hands. Neil grabbed the Star Sword from out of the air, swinging it down on Karna Rog’s shoulder. A small burst of sparks erupted from the Emperor’s shoulder as Neil held the sword there before continuing his slice, a massive blast of sparks shooting from Karna Rog’s suit-like chest as the slice was punctuated by red energy. Neil slashed again horizontally, which was punctuated with red energy and sparks again as the Emperor staggered back.
“Neil’s really giving him a run for his money!” Tip said with surprise.
Shen chuckled before speaking with a hint of pride in his voice, “He’s really turned this fight a-round.”
“This ends here, Karna Rog! The galaxy’s about to become free, like it’s supposed to be!” Neil said as he pointed his sword at the Emperor.
Karna Rog stared blankly at Neil before speaking with his usual calm, lackadaisical tone, “Do what you wish with this avatar, its destruction changes nothing.” Karna Rog’s body suddenly went limp but continued to stand.
“Maybe,” Neil said as he narrowed his eyes, “but it’ll still be one less problem for the galaxy.” Neil pressed the button on top of the Supernova Sphere, making it flash colors again before releasing a blinding white glow, and after a moment Neil began to glow as well before a burst of white energy came from him. The light began to dim as the sky grew dark, appearing to change to night as the other Rangers looked up to see the constellations, bright and clear.
Neil spun the ring on the Supernova Sphere, making it glow brightly.
“Constellation Crash!”
The stars shot out of the sky at Karna Rog, striking the Emperor’s body while not appearing to change size at all. Light shot out of Karna Rog’s body before it erupted in a colossal explosion of color.
Neil unmorphed, revealing a smile as he held his thumb up, “Shine on.”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Alderamin and Schedar looked at a holographic display with shock. “Chat, are you seein’ this?” Schedar asked with surprise.
“He defeated one of the Emperor’s avatars? Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled.
“Impressive, I expected nothing less from an Astrographer,” Mirfak mused from where he stood to the side before addressing his fellow Knights, “It was just an avatar, we all know that those are nowhere near as powerful as the Emperor’s true body.”
Alderamin turned to face the Quetzalcoan, “Even still, taking this power lightly is completely unacceptable.” Alderamin looked at the exit to the throne room and proceeded to walk towards it, “I will be contacting the Capital-class Consumoai to come and retrieve us.”
“Ooh, I’m comin’ too!” Schedar giggled as she skipped up beside Alderamin, making him groan as to two exited.
“I suppose I’ll go and check on how the automated process for developing Project Wormwood is doing,” Mirfak said as he walked towards the exit a few moments later, muttering under his breath, “It seems my plan is developing as I had hoped, with some luck, it’ll soon be complete.”
“Neil, you were incredible back there!” Tip exclaimed as they and the other Rangers entered the bridge where Corvile was waiting.
Brando nodded with a grin, “You absolutely smoked him!”
Neil grinned and gave a small laugh, “Thanks guys, but it was nothing really, I just wanted to make sure you were all safe.”
“You’re ready saying that was nothing?” Aster chuckled as he sat down.
“Neil, defeating the Emperor’s avatar and helping us get the Cerberus Zord isn’t exactly nothing,” Leiurus added as he sat down next to Aster.
“Yes, it was quite the impressive feat of strength,” Sirius added.
“You really saved our skin, thanks Neil,” Alura smiled and nodded.
“It’s definitely gonna give me a few new ideas with my writing,” Birdie chuckled.
Neil smiled, “Thanks guys.”
“I’m sure Ptolemy would be proud,” Kenneth gave a small smile as he looked at Corvile, “right?”
Corvile nodded and chuckled, “He definitely would.”
Neil pulled out the Orion Nova Sphere and looked it over with a grin as he sat down, “He would be proud of all of us.”
Suddenly, a small red blur rushed into the room. “What was that?” Hydra asked, trying to sound panicked as the Leo Minor Zord jumped onto Neil’s lap.
“You’re still here?” Neil said with a smile as he ran his hand down the Zord’s back, “I thought you would’ve left by now, little guy.”
“Seems like you two got a little more acquainted,” Kenneth grinned.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, it helped me get out of my coma, if it weren’t for it…”
Arthur moved to scratch the underside of the Zord’s chin, a grateful look on his face, “Thank you so much for helping my brother.” The Zord purred happily in response as it looked around the room before noticing Corvile and giving a growl, looking to the side of him.
“What’s wrong?” Alura asked with confusion as the Zord continued to growl.
“I’m not sure,” Neil replied, “it didn’t seem to mind him earlier.”
Arthur shrugged, “Well it is a cat and he’s a bird…”
“Fair enough,” Neil replied as he continued to pet the Leo Minor Zord, trying to calm it down.
“Maybe I should leave then,” Corvile said as he maneuvered towards one of the bridge’s doors.
Kenneth slung his arm over his fiancé’s shoulder, “Oh come on Corv, you don’t have to.”
“It’s fine Kenneth,” Corvile replied as he shook his head and got out of Kenneth’s grasp, “I was just about to head to the restroom anyway.”
“Alright,” Kenneth said as Corvile exited the room.
As the conversation shifted elsewhere, Neil pulled out the Supernova Sphere and smiled, “With this new power, I know we’ll take the galaxy back.”
In one of the Orion’s restrooms, Corvile stood in front of a mirror, Karna Rog’s white-robed reflection staring back at him. “It seems the Leo Minor Zord senses my presence, it appears this day has no shortage of issues,” Karna Rog rasped.
“For you of course,” Corvile retorted.
“Looking through your memories shows that you’re responsible for the most major issue of all; Neil Astra’s awakening,” Karna Rog replied monotonously.
Corvile glared at the Emperor, “I did what I had to do, I wasn’t going to let you hurt Kenneth or any of the others.”
“That may be, but Neil Astra has become a major obstacle because of you,” Karna Rog replied, “I will have to work around him, and I’m sure you’re aware of how skilled I am at that…”
A few hours later, Neil was sitting on the bed in his quarters, stroking the Leo Minor Zord’s back when he heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” Neil called out. The door opened, to reveal Arthur and Shen, who Neil greeted with a smile, “Oh, hey dad, hey Arthur. What’s up?”
“Neil,” Shen said softly as he approached, “you did incredi-ball today.”
“Yeah, you really came in clutch towards the end there,” Arthur grinned.
Neil smiled as he got up, the Leo Minor Zord leaping off of him as he did so, “Don’t mention it, I’m just glad I was able to protect you guys in the end.”
“And that’s why we’re here, to thank you,” Shen chuckled, “in the end, it looks like I was right about you being the one who’d be able to save us all.”
“I’m not sure what Karna Rog showed to you,” Arthur said, “but whatever it was, I’m glad you could push through it, no matter how awful it was.”
“Aw, thanks guys,” Neil said sheepishly.
Shen pulled Neil into a hug, “I’m so proud of you, Neil.”
Neil grinned as Shen pulled away, “Thanks dad.”
“Hey, maybe when I turn eighteen you could show me how to do that stuff too,” Arthur smiled.
Neil ruffled his brother’s hair, “No promises.”
Arthur gave an unamused look, prompting Neil and Shen to bust out laughing before Arthur joined in as well.
Notes:
Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the debut of the Shishi Red Orion counterpart! I have to say, even though this chapter took awhile to make, I’m very happy with it, and I think it wraps up this little arc pretty well. Also don’t worry guys, the Gamma Burst Megazord will not just appear in only this chapter, so keep that in mind. Overall, I’ve been happy with this past couple chapters, but we will be getting back into the MotW format kinda for a bit again starting next chapter, so yay for that. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 30: Collision Course
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, the Knights of Andromeda sat at their seats while Chupasangre stood off to the sides. “Well at least we won’t have to worry about Felis’s whining anymore,” Schedar giggled as she took a selfie.
“Thank the stars, that jelly brain would not shut up about Shen, even I don't hate him that much and I have a better reason to,” Calamartia scoffed.
“If there’s one acceptable thing that came from that fiasco, it would be that,” Alderamin replied.
Suddenly, the door to the control room opened, and Dogolem walked through with his arms held out to the sides, “Sir Mirfak, I have wonderful news!”
Mirfak turned his attention to his subordinate, “Inform us of what this wonderful news is, Dogolem.”
Dogolem detached a large ornate red canister from his back, a pair of pliers, a spanner and a hammer with long handles, and some kind of sword with a crooked metal beam for a blade and a drill tip attached to it. “Behold!” Dogolem said as he opened the canister’s lid as the Knights got up to look into it. Inside of it was a purple slime that emitted a faint glow.
Schedar tilted her head, “Chat, what exactly am I lookin’ at?”
“My masterpiece, the Cybrax!” Dogolem exclaimed, “A self-replicating multicellular organism that has the ability to interface with hardware and take control of its functioning! It puts the Conqueror Worm to shame!”
Schedar looked confused as she put a hand on her hip, “An’ in non technobabble terms that means?”
Dogolem’s arms fell to his sides and he gave a sigh, “It takes control of any electrical equipment it comes in contact with.”
“Interesting,” Alderamin said as he raised his left hand to his chin, “and why did you come to tell us about this? What benefits does it have that a Calypsoan doesn’t?”
“As I said, it’s self-replicating,” Dogolem explained, “if something electrical comes in contact with something the Cybrax has interfaced itself with, it’ll spread to that as well, Calypsoan scales have no such ability.” Dogolem turned to look at Mirfak, “As for why I came to tell you, I’ve got a plan to use it to deal with the Power Rangers in one fell swoop or at least deprive them of most of their resources, and I wanted to come and see if that’s alright with you, Sir Mirfak.”
Mirfak looked at Alderamin and Schedar before speaking reluctantly, “…I’ll allow whatever your plan is, but Calamartia will be accompanying you since I know you’re not one for fighting.”
“Oh thank you, Sir Mirfak!” Dogolem said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together, “Today will be the end of the Power Rangers!”
As the Orion orbited near Earth, all the Rangers were on the bridge, simply relaxing. “Man, it’s good to have a break after that whole ordeal,” Neil said contentedly as he looked up at the ceiling from where he sat while stroking the Leo Minor Zord’s back.
“Yes, these past few days off have been much needed,” Sirius said as he ate from a bowl.
Aster chuckled as he lifted a dumbbell while Leiurus watched, “Gives me plenty of time to work out!”
“Would you guys stop talking about how great this is?” Alura smirked, “You’re gonna jinx it or something.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, now something’s definitely gonna happen.”
“Pretty nice being back to Earth for a bit too,” Kenneth nudged Corvile, “might have to show you around.”
Corvile chuckled, “Kenneth, you’ve only been here twice since after you were brought out of your brainwashing.”
The two of them laughed as Brando walked up to Birdie, who was currently typing on a datapad, “You know, I’ve been wondering, what made you start writing in the first place?”
“Well, given all the time I spent writing down things as Theodore and Commander Long’s secretary, I figured I’d try writing some stuff for myself,” Birdie replied.
Shen nodded, “That’s around the time she started growing beyond her programming too.”
“Grow beyond your programming?” Laura said as she looked at Birdie, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well,” Birdie replied, “like I said before, Olympia Corp androids were programmed to act as pilots and secretaries, nothing more, but I think my time with the Revolution helped me develop a sense of individuality, I’m pretty thankful for that. Though I guess I still thought my desire to fight was a malfunctioning since it’s so different than what I usually did.”
“Can’t imagine how weird that was,” Aster replied, “I mean, I was made with a sense of self.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, me too. Well, obviously not “programmed” like you guys were, but still.”
“That’s pretty neat,” Brando grinned, “Pretty glad that happened, I mean we probably wouldn’t have you as a Ranger if it didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Birdie chuckled. Suddenly, alarms began to blare in the bridge, making everyone jump as a holographic screen displaying Dogolem, Calamartia, and a horde of Greyders appeared above the table, with a holographic globe showing it was occurring in Japan.
“The Empire, of course,” Leiurus sighed as he looked at the screen.
Alura raised her hands as she looked at him, “Well, what did I say was going to happen?”
“Alura, we have to focus,” Hydra replied.
Alura nodded, “Right.”
“Just great,” Kenneth sighed, “Earth gets freed and the Empire decides to come for round two not long after.”
“Well we’ll deal with them just the same as always!” Neil exclaimed, “Who’s going down there?”
“Let’s see!” Shen replied, “Let’s do this quick, Arthur.”
“Got it dad,” Arthur replied as he moved over to a control panel and hit a button.
Kenneth elbowed Corvile, “Oh you’re going to love this.”
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning as Corvile gave a confused look before Shen spoke, “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Aw yeah!” Neil responded as he pumped a fist in the air.
“Leiurus!”
“Got it,” Leiurus nodded.
“Sirius!”
“Let us make sure the Empire does not come back after this,” Sirius growled.
“Hydra!”
Hydra gave a small smile, “I’m ready.”
“Alura!”
“Ready to go, Boss,” Alura said with a salute.
“Birdie!”
Birdie gave a nod, “I won’t disappoint, Commander Long.”
“Well that was really… something,” Corvile said with confusion.
Kenneth smiled before looking at Shen, “Hey Shen, mind if I join in too? I want to help make sure the Empire gets the message.”
“Of course, Kenneth,” Shen replied as he spun his cane, “Now go out there and show the Empire your fighting sphere-it!”
Alura shook her head and Birdie groaned as Neil chuckled before the seven Rangers exited the bridge.
Various appliances hurled themselves at civilians, who ran as Dogolem walked down the streets, flanked by Calamartia and a horde of Greyders. “You’re sure this scheme of yours will deal with those jelly brains?” Calamartia said, a hand on her hip.
“Of course it will, it’s foolproof!” Dogolem responded.
“Hey!” Neil exclaimed, running into view alongside the other Rangers, “We’re not gonna let you take over this Earth again, not after everything we’ve done to free it!”
“And what do you know there they are!” Dogolem exclaimed before giving a bow, “Greetings Rangers, I am Dogolem, one of Sir Mirfak’s foremost servants. I assume you’ve already seen the handiwork of my newest creation, the Cybrax!”
“The appliances?” Alura replied with confusion.
“Correct, machines are mine to command! This technology-dependent world won’t stand a chance!” Dogolem chuckled.
“We’ll see about that!” Neil exclaimed as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The morphed Rangers charged forward, with Neil and Kenneth charging at Dogolem while Hydra and Alura engaged Calamartia and Leiurus, Sirius, and Birdie dealt with the Greyders. Dogolem pulled out his spanner and hammer, using them to block swing from Neil and Kenneth’s blades before swinging them at the Rangers, forcing Neil to block it with his sword and Kenneth to block it with his shield.
“You jelly brains aren’t going to destroy me this time!” Calamartia declared as she batted Hydra’s scythe away with her mace before jabbing her sword at Alura, who backflipped away. Hydra took the opportunity to hook her sword on his scythe before yanking it out of her hand. Alura leapt forward, jabbing Calamartia in the chest with her rapier.
“How’s it feel to be so wrong all the time, Calamartia?” Alura retorted.
Sirius clawed at Greyders wildly, dropping down and clawing at the legs of one that tried to swing at him before pouncing at another. Leiurus jabbed another in the chest with his spear before cartwheeling out of the way of another’s blade and spinning around to slice another one. Birdie held her blaster and Morpher out at her sides and began spinning around as she fired them, mowing down the remaining Greyders with ease.
Dogolem brought his hammer down on Neil, how blocked it with his sword before jabbing at Kenneth with his spanner, only for it to be blocked with his shield. Neil took the opportunity to jab Dogolem in the chest with his sword’s handle, making the scientist stagger back. Dogolem clanged his weapons together before bringing his weapons down on the Rangers again, but Neil and Kenneth blocked him before kicking him in the chest in unison, sending him flying through the air. Dogolem got back to his feet, putting his hammer and spanner away before pointing his pliers at the Rangers. “I hope you’ll enjoy being the test subjects for my next experiment!” Dogolem declared as appliances came flying at the Rangers.
A fan flew around Leiurus as he tried to slash it, “This is probably the strangest thing we’ve fought yet!”
“Why is this so cold?” Hydra asked as a refrigerator’s doors continuously slammed into him.
A vacuum was in front of Sirius, not moving at all as he snarled and barked at it.
Alura was stuck in an upturned washing machine as it spun around, “Can someone help? I’m getting dizzy!”
“Good grief, this is ridiculous,” Kenneth sighed and shook his head before a rice cooker launched itself at him and latched onto it.
Neil cleaved a TV in half as Birdie shot a toaster out of the air that came flying at her. “Guess it’s just you and me then!” Birdie exclaimed.
“Let’s get this guy!” Neil declared.
“Oh no you don’t!” Calamartia yelled as she swung at Neil with her mace. Neil dodged it and Birdie grabbed her arm, flipping her onto the ground before they ran at Dogolem.
Neil swung at Dogolem with his sword, who blocked the attack with his pliers. Neil forced the tool out of the way before slashing Dogolem across the chest twice. “Aquila kick!” Birdie yelled as she swooped towards Dogolem, nailing the scientist square in the chest and making him stagger back significantly.
Dogolem laughed as he got to his feet and held his free hand forward, “Eat this!” An orb of Cybrex appeared in his hand, which was fired forward at Birdie. The attack hit Birdie in the chest, making her body spark wildly before she unmorphed and fell to the ground.
“Birdie!” the other Rangers yelled in unison, with the other five destroying the appliances that were attacking them while Neil ran towards her.
“See you soon, Rangers! Dogolem cackled as he ran off, waving his hammer and spanner at them as he did so.
“Looking forward to our next fight, jelly brains!” Calamartia added as she ran off as well.
“She is not moving!” Sirius declared as he looked down at her.
“This is bad,” Alura added, panic in her voice.
“We need to get her back to the Orion immediately,” Neil commanded. He raised his Morpher.
“Leo Zord!”
The red leonine Zord swooped down, picking up the seven Rangers before flying off again.
The Rangers sat around the bridge’s table, which Birdie had been carefully laid down upon, still unresponsive. Brando paced back and forth nervously as Tip looked her over. “So, what’s wrong with her?” Brando asked.
Tip shook their head, “I dunno, doesn’t look like anything’s out of the ordinary.”
“That Cybrax stuff must’ve fried her systems or something,” Neil said as he looked at her.
“Let’s hope that all the damage wasn’t too bad then,” Leiurus replied, “No telling how badly it could’ve affected her mentally.”
“System reboot complete!” Birdie’s unconscious form said suddenly and with enthusiasm. Birdie suddenly sat up and looked around the room, “What happened?”
“Oh thank the stars you’re okay!” Shen said, giving a sigh of relief.
Leiurus looked at her, “You were battling Dogolem with us when he hit you with his Cybrax, it made you shut down.”
“I see,” Birdie said before shaking her head, “I don’t understand why I did that.”
Hydra gave a confused look, “Did what?”
“Fighting,” Birdie replied, “I’m not programmed to do that.”
Everyone present in the room froze, “Birdie, what do you mean? That has not stopped you before,” Sirius asked.
Birdie shook her head, “I am programmed to be a secretary and a pilot, I was not meant to fight.”
“What about writing? Do you do that?” Alura asked, slight panic in her voice.
Birdie nodded, “Of course, I will write whatever I’m told to, but nothing more than that.”
“Oh no,” Alura said, realization dawning on her.
“The Cybrax must’ve reset her programming,” Arthur said, trying to make sense of the current situation.
“Birdie, I… I just,” Brando tried to say, but the words couldn’t come out, “Come on, don’t you remember everything we’ve been through?”
“Oh I do, my memory bank is perfectly intact,” Birdie replied casually, “I just don’t understand why I did those things, they’re not what I was programmed to do.”
“Tip, you’re our tech person, isn’t there something you can do to help?” Aster asked.
Tip shook their head, “I’m only good with tech that isn’t sentient, if I tried to do something there’s no telling what it’d do to her. Besides, I’m not even sure how this Cybrax stuff works to begin with.”
Birdie looked around the room before speaking, “If you’re done trying to figure out how to fix my perfectly fine programming, then I’ll be heading to Commander Shen’s office to organize.” Birdie began to leave the room.
Brando extended a hand forward, “Birdie wait!” Unfortunately, Birdie was already out the door before she could hear him.
“This is bad,” Shen said as he fiddled with his cane, “Birdie’s out of commission and Dogolem is still down there.”
Kenneth glanced around the room, “Me and the others can head back down while someone tries to fix this.”
“I can stay,” Neil said, “Birdie’s a friend, I’m gonna help her get back to normal.”
Kenneth nodded, “Got it, alright everyone, let's head out.”
“I don’t remember you becoming field commander,” Alura snarked.
Kenneth smirked as the Rangers began to leave, “Shut up.”
“Good luck,” Corvile called as his partner left.
Brando looked at Neil, “Neil, can I help? Birdie was one of the first friends I had in the Revolution, I want to help her too.”
“Sure, the more the merrier!” Neil replied enthusiastically.
Shen gave a nod, “I have faith that the two of you will get her to come a-round. If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you two.”
Leiurus, Sirius, Hydra, Alura, and Kenneth were on Earth, searching through the streets of the city in Japan they were at before for any signs of Dogolem and Calamartia. Around them, people continued to be attacked by appliances. “Shouldn’t we help them?” Hydra inquired.
Leiurus shook his head, “We can deal with his all quicker if we deal with Dogolem first.”
Alura nodded, “Yeah, good point.” She looked at Sirius, “Can you sniff out where they’d be?”
“I am not sure about Dogolem, but as for Calamartia…” Sirius replied, sniffing the air before pointing at the top of a stairwell, “she is there.” Coming into view at the top of the stairwell looking down at the Rangers.
“Well that was easier than I expected,” Kenneth said, readying his sword and shield.
“You jelly brains sure are persistent,” Calamartia said, pointing her gun at them.
Dogolem waved his hand around, “A pleasure seeing you again, Rangers.”
“Dogolem, your tampering ends here!” Alura declared as she pointed at him.
Dogolem laughed, “We’ll see, Rangers! Soon Earth will be mine to command!”
“We’ll see about that!” Kenneth declared as he and the other Rangers ran forward, readying their Morphers as Calamartia fired at them.
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers finished their morphs as they engaged Dogolem and Calamartia, with Hydra and Kenneth going after Calamartia while Leiurus, Sirius, and Alura went after Dogolem. Kenneth slashed his sword at Calamartia, who batted it away with her mace before thrusting it at him, prompting him to block it with his shield. Hydra ran at her from the side and she began firing at him, making him block the shots with his scythe. Kenneth forced his shield forward, bashing Calamartia and sending her staggering into a slash from Hydra.
Dogolem spun back to avoid a slash from Leiurus’s spear, holding his hammer out as he did to give extra momentum as he swung it at Sirius’s head. Sirius ducked to avoid it, slashing at Dogolem’s legs as he did. Dogolem fell to his knees as Alura jabbed at him with her rapier, but he quickly blocked it with his spanner and hammer as he got to his feet. Alura moved forward as her rapier was locked with Dogolem’s weapons, forcing him to move backwards.
“Kenneth,” Hydra said, tilting his head towards the others as they moved away.
Kenneth turned around as Calamartia blocked a swing from his sword with her own sword and mace, “Let’s make sure she doesn’t get in the way then.” He kicked Calamartia in the chest, making her stagger back as Hydra inserted a grey Nova Sphere depicting a woman and chains into his Morpher.
“Andromeda Nova Sphere.”
A long chain shot from the Morpher, shooting towards Calamartia and ensnaring her. “You jelly brains! Let me go now!” Calamartia said as she lost balance and fell to the ground.
“Don’t move, we’ll deal with you soon enough,” Kenneth said.
“I don’t think she can move,” Hydra replied.
Kenneth shrugged, “True. Now let’s get going.” The two Rangers ran off to join the others as Calamartia yelled and struggled on the ground.
In Shen’s office, Neil and Brando entered, seeing Birdie filing next to the shelves of model spaceships and dragons. “Hey Birdie?” Neil asked as he walked closer to her.
“Yes, Neil?” she asked as she looked at them, “Are you here to ask about my programming again?”
Brando nodded, “Yeah, we are.”
“Oh fine,” Birdie said, giving a light sigh, her shoulders slumping.
Leiurus sliced at Dogolem, who moved back to avoid it before Kenneth slashed at Dogolem, who blocked it with his hammer as Kenneth moved to the side. Alura swung her rapier at him, but he blocked that as well as he moved to the side to avoid a swing from Hydra’s scythe. Dogolem ran towards the courtyard of an office building, as Leiurus slashed at him, the scientist quickly turning around to block the attack. Once inside the courtyard, the Rangers ganged up on him, slashing and stabbing at them as he blocked a few of their attacks.
From a balcony above, Mirfak watched on. “Dogolem’s plan might be at odds with mine, but I suppose it could bear fruit beneficial to me under the right circumstances. Besides, at the very least make my charade look convincing.” He pointed his arm cannon forward, “Hey, Rangers.” The fighting momentarily paused as the Rangers and Dogolem looked up towards Mirfak, who promptly fired a blast of red energy surrounded by black electricity from his cannon at the Rangers. The shot hit the ground and created a massive explosion, knocking the Rangers prone.
“Sir Mirfak!” Dogolem exclaimed as he pointed his hammer up at the Knight, who rested his cannon on the balcony’s guardrail before shifting to rest his organic arm on it.
Kenneth sighed as he looked up at Mirfak, who raised a hand to his chin as he rolled his head around, “Great, him again.”
“I recommend that you, as the humans say it, get out of dodge,” Mirfak said as he drew his sword. He leapt down from the balcony, his sword’s blade becoming surrounded by a massive white energy version of itself as he swung it downward. The Rangers rolled out of the way as the blade hit the ground, creating a massive explosion and dissipating on contact. Mirfak got to his feet, holding his sword to the side as he approached the Rangers.
“The thing is Birdie, you’ve fought and written stuff on your own before, even when you weren’t programmed to do that. So why’s it matter now?” Neil asked, leaning up against one of the walls in Shen’s office.
“B-because those were just glitches,” Birdie sputtered out, seemingly upset that Neil and Brando wouldn’t drop the subject, “those were not the norm at all, don’t you see that?”
Neil thought for a moment, “Then why can’t that be the norm?”
“Like I said, I wasn’t made for that,” Birdie replied, “I am a pilot and secretary, not a fighter, not an author.”
Brando gave a skeptical look, “So? Who’s to say you can’t be those things?”
“My programming, obviously,” Birdie replied, “Even if I wanted to, I wasn’t built to do that. Only reason why I did it was because of that glitch.”
Neil shook his head, “So? Why does it matter if you weren’t built for that? I mean, you can always be more than what you were born for.” Neil gestured to himself, “I mean, I never figured I’d become a rebel with ancient powers fighting against an evil galactic empire, but here I am.”
“Birdie, it wasn’t a glitch either,” Brando added, “I mean, you’re making it sound like it was some one-time thing, when it wasn’t like that at all.”
“I… don’t quite follow,” Birdie replied, shaking her head.
“Birdie, come on,” Neil said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “You constantly helped us and fought by our side, there’s no way you were glitching that often that you’d be willing to go whenever we had a mission.”
“Sometimes glitches are long-lasting!” Birdie retorted.
Brando gave her a soft look, “Birdie, you’re forgetting one important thing, the Aquila Nova Sphere chose you.” Brando pulled out his own Nova Sphere, looking it over, “Birdie, the Nova Spheres don’t make mistakes, it wouldn’t have chosen you unless it knew you were the right one, you weren’t some glitching android with half-baked programming, you were the one the Aquila Nova Sphere decided to show itself to after three hundred years.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “that’s all the proof I need to know that you’re not just a secretary and a pilot. Believe me, I… kinda felt the same you feel now before. Well, not exactly, but I have had trouble figuring out what my purpose is.”
“Like when Karna Rog put you in that world of despair?” Birdie asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Yeah, back on Samos I just kept on wondering what my purpose was, if I even mattered, and you, well, you think you’re nothing more than your purpose,” Neil shook his head, “You’re wrong. No one’s made just to do something, not even androids.” Neil took a deep breath, “Sure, you’re a pilot and a secretary, but you’re allowed to be more than that.”
Brando nodded, “Birdie, you told us your dream was to fight alongside us, and I remember how happy you were when you finally did. I remember how much you enjoyed writing your little stories. Birdie, those weren’t glitches or anything, that was you, all of it, no matter what you try to say to convince yourself otherwise.” He looked at her with a smile, “You’ve always been hungry for action, Birdie, that’s who you are.”
Birdie pulled out her Nova Sphere,” I don’t know…” she was quiet for a moment before muttering, “but maybe you’re right.” She looked over the Aquila Nova Sphere, “I was programmed to be a pilot and secretary, and I like doing those things, but maybe… maybe I could do more than that, like I did before.” Birdie seemed to take a deep breath as she clutched the Nova Sphere before looking back at Neil and Brando, “Alright, I’ll try.”
“Great!” Neil exclaimed.
Brando grinned, “Thank you, Birdie.”
Suddenly, a flash of pink light emerged from Birdie’s hand, making Neil and Brando take a step back in shock as Birdie’s body began to glow pink. After a moment, purple mist began to rise from Birdie’s body, dissolving in the air as the glow faded.
“Neil, what the heck was that?” Brando asked, looking at Neil.
Neil shrugged, “I don’t know!”
“You’re the Astrographer here, don’t leave me starving for details,” Brando replied.
Neil shook his head, “Do you expect me to know just because I’m an Astrographer? I have the powers but I don’t have the knowledge.”
“I think the Nova Sphere’s power must’ve fried the Cybrax,” Birdie said quietly after a moment, looking the Aquila Nova Sphere over, “It’s not messing with my programming anymore!”
Neil grinned, “Really? That’s great!”
“Yeah!” Brando nodded, “No more expired programming!”
Birdie looked at Neil, “Kenneth and the others are down on Earth fighting Dogolem, right?”
“Yeah, they should be fighting him right now,” Neil replied.
Birdie gave a nod before speaking with a determined voice, “Then let’s go down there and give him a piece of my mind!”
“Sure thing,” Neil grinned, “he’s not gonna mess with one of us and get away with it.”
“Let’s go!” Birdie said as she prepared to leave Shen’s office with Neil.
“Birdie, wait!” Brando called out to her, prompting her and Neil to turn around.
Birdie spun around to look at him, “Yes, Brando?”
“Be careful out there, I don’t want to have to serve you up a speech again,” Brando chuckled lightly.
Birdie gave a nod, “I will, Brando, I promise.” With that, she and Neil exited Shen’s office.
Outside of the courtyard, Dogolem plunged his spanner into the ground, creating a series of orange shockwaves and small explosions across the ground that staggered the Rangers. Dogolem then swung his hammer, creating a massive arc of energy between the Rangers as they fell to the ground.
“It seems as though you weren’t expecting my interference,” Mirfak said as he stepped forward, aiming his cannon at the Rangers as he brought the other arm up to steady it. He fired his cannon, sending a blast of red energy surrounded by black electricity with crimson outlines flying at the Rangers. The shot collided with their prone forms, sending them flying back and unmorphing as they hit the ground again.
“First I deal with you, then I deal with your friends!” Dogolem laughed as he prepared to plunge his spanner into the ground again.
Mirfak muttered to himself, “I predict there will be some kind of interference right about…” Mirfak paused for a moment, “now.” Mirfak sidestepped a sphere of red energy, while a sphere of pink energy struck Dogolem in the chest and made the scientist stagger back.
“Guys!” Neil called as he and Birdie ran onto the scene, unmorphed.
“Your timing is as impeccable as always, Neil Astra,” Mirfak said as he looked at him.
“Leave them alone!” Birdie yelled at Mirfak and Dogolem.
“Birdie!” Alura exclaimed.
“You are okay!” Sirius added.
“Sure am!” Birdie replied happily, helping Neil get the others to their feet.
Kenneth chucked as he stood up, “Took you long enough.” He turned to look at Birdie, “but at least you’re back to normal again.
“Indeed,” Hydra nodded.
Leiurus cracked a knuckle, “Now let’s get around to dealing with these guys.”
“Sir Mirfak, I can handle this!” Dogolem said as he readied his spanner and hammer.
“Idiot,” Mirfak muttered under his breath and shook his head before speaking, “If you are confident.” After a moment, the Knight vanished in a cloud of dark energy.
Birdie pointed at Dogolem, “Dogolem, you’ll regret trying to stop me from helping the others!”
Dogolem held his hammer and spanned out to the sides, “It doesn’t matter, Rangers. I’ve already won.”
“Sure you have,” Neil said sarcastically as he plugged the Supernova Sphere into his Morpher while the others plugged theirs in. He pressed the button on the top and spun the ring of the Nova Sphere as the others initiated their own activation sequences.
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by flames and blinding light, which quickly faded to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Incandescent Star, Leorion Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the Rangers declared in unison before running at Dogolem, with Neil pulling his sword out of a portal. Dogolem swiped at them with his spanner and Hammer, but they all managed to dodge out of the way. Hydra and Kenneth blocked his swings with their weapons, but Dogolem moved them away and swung again, forcing Kenneth to block.
Sirius ran past the scientist, slashing his hand and making him drop the spanner before Leiurus slashed him across the chest, making him stagger back into a portal opened by Neil. Dogolem emerged next to Neil, who promptly slashed him across the chest as well. “This isn’t going the way I hoped,” Dogolem snarled, dropping the handle of his spanner before throwing his hammer at Alura, who deflected it with her rapier. “Prepare to face the fury of one of the Empire’s best scientists!” Dogolem declared as he pulled out his pliers and drill sword. Sirius swung at Dogolem with his claw, but was blocked by the pliers as Neil took his own swing at the scientist, but Dogolem swung his drill sword to knock it out of the way.
Dogolem swung at Alura as she moved past him, but she ducked under it and swung at him with her rapier, but he blocked it with his drill sword. “Why do you have so many weapons?” Alura asked with exasperation.
“This is my first time fighting, I wanted to look cool!” Dogolem replied as he shoved her away.
Birdie swooped down, firing several pink energy beams from her blaster, making Dogolem stumble back, “You’re not gonna try to reset my programming and get away with it!” She fired a few more times, “Everything I’ve been through that changed me, it almost meant nothing because of you!” She kicked Dogolem in the chest as she swooped down. Dogolem blocked the attack, Birdie backflipping as Dogolem blocked swings from Leiurus and Hydra. Dogolem moved forward and swung at Birdie, but she blocked it with her blaster before trying to aim at Dogolem’s head. Dogolem moved his head to the side and raised his drill sword, but Birdie forced it down and slammed her blaster into his face.
Dogolem regained his footing and swung the drill sword at Birdie’s head, but she ducked under it with a spin before shooting him in the chest with her blaster and shooting him in the legs. Birdie spun and brought herself down to the ground before bringing her blaster to Dogolem’s chest and firing it point blank. Dogolem was sent staggering back and tumbling to the ground. “Time to end this,” Neil said, getting into position with the others as Dogolem got to his feet.
Neil pressed the button on the Leorion Nova Sphere, Kenenth sheathed his sword and pulled the trigger, and the other Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back.
“Constellation Crash!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
The area surrounding the Rangers and Dogolem seemed to become a map of the night sky, displaying the eighty-eight constellations as light shined down from above. Neil spun the ring on the Supernova Sphere before he and the other Rangers attacked, sending colorful orbs of energy forward. The orbs surrounded a large white orb fired by Neil, becoming blue and red rings that rapidly revolved around it before colliding with Dogolem. “This experiment isn’t over!” Dogolem declared before going up in flames, his body hitting the ground afterwards.
“Shine on!” the Rangers said, holding their arms forward and raising their thumbs.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, a new avatar of Karna Rog looked at a holographic display showing what was happening on Earth. “You’re correct, Dogolem, this experiment isn’t over yet,” Karna Rog rasped, raising a clawed, white-robed hand. “Show them the claws of your little pet project,” Karna Rog continued, snapping his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the city, pitch black lightning crackling through it. After a moment a bolt of black lightning shot down from it, striking Dogolem’s body and making it disperse into dark energy, swirling into the air before reforming into a giant Dogolem some distance away, “Let’s see if this experiment is repeatable!”
“Neil, think this calls for an Ultrazord?” Alura asked.
Neil nodded, “Probably, best bet at making sure the Cybrax doesn’t hack us.”
“Alright, then, let’s go!” Kenneth said as he and the others prepared to call on their Zords.
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
They were surrounded by their cockpits, which were attached to their respective Zords before the other six cockpits appeared and began to combine.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
“Do your worst!” Dogolem laughed as he pointed at the Ultrazord, “You have already lost!”
“What are you talking about?” Birdie demanded.
“This!” Dogolem cackled, raising an arm before pulling it down.
The Orion violently shook. “What was that?” Corvile asked, slightly panicked.
“I don’t know, but whatever it was we shouldn’t chicken out about it,” Brando replied, trying to stay calm.
Tip looked out the bridge’s window, “Uh, no offense Brando, but I think we should.”
“Oh no,” Aster said as he looked out the window, seemingly in shock as he watched the Earth begin to get closer.
“We’re gonna crash!” Arthur screamed.
“Everyone hold onto something!” Shen yelled as he ran towards the controls, trying to use them to no avail, “The controls are jammed!”
Dogolem looked behind him, seeing the Orion enter the atmosphere before spinning around to face the Ultrazord, “Your android spread the Cybrax to the rest of your ship when she got on it, and now it’s on a collision course with Earth! When it collides, it’ll cause a planet-wide extinction event unless you destroy it!”
“What?” Sirius exclaimed with shock.
“No!” Alura yelled.
“You’re insane!” Leiurus said with horror.
“Dad, Arthur, and the others are still on there, and since their cockpits are here they can’t use their Zords!” Neil realized, terror in his voice.
“Corvile!” Kenneth said with panic.
“You!” Birdie declared, rage filling her voice, “So not only did you reset my programming, but you also used me to bring the Cybrax onto the Orion? You’re going down!”
Hydra nodded, “I believe Birdie’s right, we need to focus on taking Dogolem down so he doesn’t try and get in the way.”
Neil gave a deep inhale before speaking very sternly, “Alright, let’s get this guy.”
The Ultrazord took a step forward, prompting Dogolem to hold his hands forward, an orb of Cybrax forming between them, “You’ll lose anyway, but it’ll still be satisfying taking you down with my own two hands!” He fired the orb at the Ultrazord, which raised the thrusters on its arms and incinerated the Cybrax before it could hit. The Ultrazord slammed an arm into Dogolem.
“Let’s make this quick,” Kenneth snarled, moving a pair of handles in his cockpit forward a few times. The Ultrazord slammed an arm into Dogolem as he swung his spanner at it, Dogolem then swung his hammer at the Ultrazord, but the attack had little effect, and Dogolem was slammed with an arm again, knocking the hammer from his hand.
“Let’s finish this,” Neil said angrily as he and the other Rangers prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Big Bang Ultrazord Star Booster!”
The thrusters on the Ultrazord’s arms began to fire out streams of crimson energy that struck Dogolem. “Looks like this experiment has been a success!” Dogolem cackled as his body sparked before exploding.
“Okay, he’s done for, now what?” Birdie asked urgently.
“I’m thinking!” Neil replied, “Uh, first let’s get the others out of there!” Neil moved his hand in a circle, opening portals to his and Kenneth’s cockpits as well as the five unoccupied ones.
“Looks like that’s our ticket out of here!” Tip exclaimed as seven portals opened on the bridge.
Shen looked around the room as everyone else got through the portals, Corvile heading through the portal to Kenneth’s and the Leo Minor Zord heading through the one to Neil’s, “Arthur, do you have the-”
“Nova Spheres? Already ahead of you!” Arthur replied before he and Shen entered the portals to their cockpits.
“Is everyone okay?” Neil asked as the portals closed, the Leo Minor Zord sitting on his lap.
“Just peachy!” Brando replied from his cockpit
“Pretty good, you’re a lifesaver, Neil!” Aster added.
Corvile stood to the side of the Phoenix’s Zord’s cockpit so as not to get in Kenneth’s way, “I’m fine, just a little cramped.”
“I don’t mind,” Kenneth chuckled.
“Everyone, focus!” Alura commanded, watching as the Orion breached the atmosphere and continued hurtling towards Earth, “We need to figure out how to stop it!”
Shen took a deep breath and shook his head, “As much as it pains me to say it, our only option is to destroy it.”
“Commander, you cannot be serious!” Sirius said with shock.
“It’s our home!” Aster replied.
“Guys, Commander Long is right,” Birdie said urgently, “we don’t have time to remove the Cybrax from it, and it’ll just change course again if we deflect it, destroying the Orion…” Birdie trailed off, her voice solemn, “Is our only option!”
“As much as it means to us, it can be replaced, but Earth can’t,” Neil said sadly before looking up, “So let’s put an end to this.”
The other Rangers gave reluctant nods, with Neil pressing the button on the Supernova Sphere and spinning its ring, Shen inserting the Draco Nova Sphere into his cane before opening and closing its mouth, Kenneth put his sword into his shield, pulled the trigger, and pulled the sword out, and the remaining Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back twice.
“Big Bang Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
The twelve cockpits began to glow, the sigils of their respective Nova Spheres appearing in front of them before firing giant versions of their Nova Spheres made of energy from them. The Nova Spheres arranged themselves in a line as they flew towards the Orion, colliding with it. In an instant, the Orion exploded in a colossal eruption of color, parting the clouds and creating a colorful shockwave that incinerated all the remaining Cybrax in clouds of purple smoke once it reached the ground.
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, Shedar giggled, spinning around before taking a selfie, “Didja see that, chat? That was amazin’!”
Mirfak scoffed, “A shame about Dogolem, though I suppose he’s been the most successful against the Rangers out of everyone thus far.”
“Yes,” Alderamin replied, “despite not being a warrior, he had an honorable death that yielded very acceptable results. He has my respect.”
“That’s quite the compliment from you, Aldie,” Schedar chuckled.
Alderamin looked at Chupasangre before glaring at his fellow Knight, “Be quiet.”
Mirfak gave a sigh as he stood up, cracking his neck, “I suppose I’ll go inform the Doctor that he’ll be taking over Dogolem’s duties.”
“And I’ll go retrieve Calamartia,” Alderamin added, standing up as well.
“Have fun, boys!” Schedar giggled as Alderamin disappeared in a cloud of dark energy and Mirfak exited the room.
Mirfak rolled his head around and muttered under his breath as he walked down the hallway, “Even though Dogolem’s plan was to kill the Rangers, I will admit, simply destroying their ship could lead to some benefits that’ll help my plan.”
The Ultrazord remained motionless from where it stood in the city, with those in its cockpits remaining dead silent as the last of the explosion faded from view. “It’s gone,” Alura said with shock.
“All the memories we made there and we were forced to destroy it,” Aster said, sounding very upset, “Is there no justice?”
“I’m sorry, everyone,” Birdie said quietly, “it’s my fault it’s gone.”
“Birdie, don’t say that,” Brando said reassuringly.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, none of us could’ve known that’s what he was planning.”
Birdie gave a slow nod, “I… I guess you’re right.”
“He won,” Leiurus said with disbelief in his voice.
Hydra shook his head, “But we didn’t lose.”
“What do you mean?” Sirius asked.
“Well,” Hydra replied, trying to sound confident, “we’re still alive and the Earth is still intact. We did what we were supposed to do, protect the galaxy, even if we lost something because of it.”
Kenneth was quiet for a moment, “That’s actually a good point.”
Corvile nodded, “Would this be considered a pyrrhic victory then?”
“Maybe?” Arthur shrugged.
Tip chuckled, “Thanks for pointing that out, Hydra!”
“Thank you,” Hydra nodded with a small smile.
“Yeah,” Neil replied, “I guess at the very least there is some silver lining to all of this.” Neil looked at a screen displaying Shen’s cockpit, “Alright dad, what do we do now?”
Shen took a deep breath, thinking for a moment, “I guess we head back to the Revolution base, it’s the best place to regroup. The warp drives me and Arthur installed on the Zords should let us get there.”
“Good idea,” Neil nodded, “Alright everyone, let’s get going. Anyone who knows where it is should lead the way, the rest of us will follow.”
The Rangers gave a nod as Corvile gave a nervous glance at the reflection of Karna Rog in the Phoenix Zord’s cockpit, but he said nothing.
The Ultrazord split into its component pieces, the cockpits attaching to their respective Zords. The Scorpius, Libra, Taurus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, Aquila, Dorado, and Draco Zords led the way, the Leo, Lupus, Ursa, and Phoenix Zords following them into the sky.
Notes:
And here we have it, the end of the Orion and an actual win for the Empire. While I’m not completely happy with this chapter, I think it succeeds in what it sets out to accomplish, focusing on Birdie and giving the Empire a win after how badly they were trounced on Samos. I know the emotional beats in Kyuranger regarding the Orion aren’t here, but I still think it hurts the Rangers, just in a completely different way since they were the ones forced to destroy it. Anyway, next chapter will be completely original, so it’ll probably take a bit longer to finish, so keep that in mind. As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 31: Breach
Chapter Text
In the Revolution’s colossal space station headquarters, Neil exited his quarters, giving a yawn as he began to make his way down the hallway it connected to. Much like the Orion, the hallways of the base were brightly colored, no doubt to fit Shen’s design sensibilities. Neil yawned, passing by several other Revolution members with the Leo Minor Zord strolling beside him before suddenly bumping into Sirius. “Oh, sorry Sirius!” Neil said apologetically.
Sirius shook his head, “It is fine Neil, I am not hurt.”
“Don’t know why dad scheduled a meeting so early today, I mean, we just got here late yesterday,” Neil replied, giving a yawn as he began to walk alongside the Fenrisulfrian.
Sirius looked him over, “I assume you did not sleep well?”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “It just didn’t feel right not sleeping in my own bed.”
“I see,” Sirius replied sadly, “It was difficult for me to sleep as well, it just made me realize that I lost my home for the second time.”
“Oh,” Neil replied softly, “I’m sorry, Sirius.”
Sirius shook his head, “It is fine, Neil. At least we are all still alive.”
“Yeah,” Neil said before stopping and looking around, “Uh, by the way, do you have any idea of where dad’s office is here?”
Sirius tilted his head to the side, “No?”
“Just great,” Neil sighed, bringing a hand to his face as the Leo Minor Zord seemed to roll its eyes.
“Morning guys!” Aster exclaimed from behind, prompting them to spin around.
“Hey Aster!” Neil replied with a smile, scooping the Leo Minor Zord into his arms, “Do you know where dad’s office is? This place is a maze.”
Aster snorted, steam shooting out of his nostrils, “Sure do! And even if I didn't, I do like a good maze.” He moved ahead of them and made a beckoning gesture, “Come on!”
“Thank you Aster,” Sirius said gratefully as he and Neil began to follow the robot.
A few minutes later, the three of them entered the room. Shen sat at his desk, the other Rangers and Corvile having already arrived. “There you three are,” Shen said as he tapped his claws on his desk, “I hope you all had a good night’s sleep.”
Alura gave a shrug as Tip gave a so-so hand gesture before speaking, “Eh, could’ve been better.”
Leiurus shook his head, “Didn’t bother me too much.”
“Fine for me,” Kenneth said, slinging an arm over Corvile’s shoulder before the crow-like alien shot him a look.
“What did you need us for, dad?” Neil asked, moving to stand next to the others with the Leo Minor Zord in his arms.
Shen fiddled with a picture on his desk, “Well now that you’re all here, I should get a-round to telling you.” Shen gave a sharp inhale, “I suppose it shouldn’t surprise you all to know that until further notice, we’ll be operating from here.”
“Obviously,” Hydra replied, trying to sound snarky.
Shen cleared his throat, “The good news is, the Revolution’s been building a brand new, state of the art ship for a while now.”
“Really?” Alura asked with interest.
“Yep,” Shen said with a nod, “construction on it star-ted a few months back, the Orion was a pretty old vessel, so this one will have a lot of new features and doohickies.”
“That’s sweet!” Brando exclaimed.
“Can’t wait to see what those are,” Arthur grinned.
Leiurus nodded before looking back at Shen, “When should it be ready?”
“Commander Long talked to the construction crew last night,” Birdie replied, typing on her datapad from where she stood next to Shen, “and from what they said, it should be ready in a week’s time.”
“It’s some ways away from here, since it’s being constructed undercover to make sure the Empire won’t roll up and get in the way,” Shen continued, “but it shouldn’t take too long to get there when it's done.”
“That sounds good,” Corvile said with a nod.
Shen cleared his throat again, “One more thing, I’d like to take your Morphers, though you can keep yours, Kenneth. It won’t be long, I just need to look them over for a bit.”
Kenneth gave a confused look, “Why do you need to do that?”
“Is something wrong with them?” Sirius replied.
“Hopefully not!” Shen chuckled, “I just can’t remember the last time I did maintenance on these things, they’re probably due for a tuneup at this point.”
Aster nodded, “Ah, good point.” The eleven Rangers using Supernova Morphers took them off their arms, placing them on Shen’s desk.
“I’ll let you look over your own, Kenneth,” Shen said as he looked at the human, “You probably know your way a-round that thing better than I do.”
“Of course I do,” Kenneth smirked.
“Then that’s about everything for this meeting,” Shen concluded.
Neil gave a confused look, “Really? Nothing else? I thought there would be more if you called all of us this early.”
“Yep, that’s it,” Shen replied with a chuckle, “you’re free to go off and do whatever you want now, get breakfast, look around, anything. You deserve a break after everything that’s happened lately, stars know you need it.”
“Thanks Commander,” Alura said with a small smile.
Brando looked at her and then at Aster and Birdie, “So, once we’re done eating, wanna check in our old pals here?”
“Sounds good to me,” Alura replied, “it has been a while.”
Birdie nodded, “I would like to see how well things have been going here without Commander Long.”
“Sorry guys,” Aster said, shaking his head, “I actually wanted to spend some time with Leiurus, maybe we could meet up later though.”
Leiurus looked at him, “I’d like that, Aster. Things have been so hectic lately it feels like we haven’t really had any time to be a couple.”
“Sure thing,” Brando replied with a grin, “have fun, we’ll catch you two later, I’ll get some work done in the kitchen too.” He, Alura, and Birdie exited the room, with the others beginning to exit as well aside from Arthur.
“See ya!” Tip exclaimed as they exited the room, pulling Hydra along with them.
“Hey dad, could I help you with the Morphers?” Arthur asked, “I’d like to see how they work.”
“Sure thing!” Shen said with a nod, prompting Arthur to give a thumbs up.
Neil gave a grin as he looked at Sirius, “Wanna try and look around here?”
“Of course,” Sirius nodded before he and Neil exited the room, being the last two to do so.
Shen gave a chuckle, “Have fun.”
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, a projection of Karna Rog’s white-robed form overlooked the kneeling forms of the Knights of Andromeda, Calamartia, and Chupasangre. “I am pleased with the destruction of the Ranger’s ship, while it cost Dogolem his life, I am proud of what he was able to accomplish, and I am pleased you helped him facilitate his plan.”
“Thank you, Emperor!” Schedar giggled.
Alderamin looked at the Emperor, “With all due respect, sir, surely you’ve come here for some other reason than to just congratulate us.”
“Your assumption would be correct, Sir Alderamin,” Karna Rog rasped, “I have a new task for you.”
Mirfak cracked his neck before replying, “What would that be, my liege?”
“I have managed to locate the headquarters of the Revolution,” Karna Rog responded, as a holographic screen displaying the base’s location appeared, “go there and destroy it.”
“Of course, sir,” Aldermamin replied.
Karna Rog nodded his head, “Excellent.” Without any fanfare, the projection disappeared and everyone in the room got to their feet.
“Well let’s get goin’ an’ smash ‘em to pieces!” Schedar giggled, giving a twirl.
Alderamin looked at her, “An unacceptable idea, Schedar. If we attack them full force, it’s likely that they’ll try to get their base away to somewhere else. We need to be smart about this.” Alderamin seemed to think for a moment, “Perhaps we could infiltrate the base and bring our forces in that way, but how could we do that?”
Mirfak hummed, “Actually, the Emperor sent us a Duke who would be perfect for the job.” Mirfak pressed a button on a control panel, speaking into it as his voice boomed throughout the Consumoai, “Duke Sculptoris, report to the control room now.”
A few moments later, the door to the bridge opened, and a new alien entered. His body was red, blue, purple, and black, with a strange square-shaped piece of armor on his upper body, a black cape with gold edges covering his upper arms. His face was blue and was surrounded by red portions, which seemed to create a sort of hat on his head and a mustache on his blue face. A triangular missile launcher was attached to the side of each of his legs, and a pair of square-shaped missile launchers each with nine missiles sat atop his shoulders. Holstered on the sides of his waist were a pair of blasters, each of which had a long blade on both sides of the barrel. “Ooh, the Knights of Andromeda want to commission a work from me?” Sculptoris asked excitedly.
“Indeed,” Mirfak replied, rolling his head around.
“Ooh, Sculptoris!” Schedar squealed, “He’s one of the best artists in the galaxy!”
Alderamin looked the Duke over, “Well, what can you do that’s of use to us?”
Sculptoris spread his arms out to the side, “I’m from the planet Tula in the Sculptor system, and my species can recreate perfect copies of anything from sand!!”
Mirfak looked at his fellow Knights, “Aside from the constructs instantly crumbling when they come in contact with water, Greyders and Flatborgs made by him are no different than how they normally are.”
Schedar gave a twirl before taking a selfie, “That’s pretty interestin’, right chat?”
“Hmm, I agree, Mirfak, he does sound like the perfect option for this mission,” Alderamin replied as he paced back and forth, “If we send him in, he can create an entire army inside the base before anyone in it can react, giving us an opening while they’re distracted, it’s a very acceptable plan. The only issue now is finding a way to get him in there.”
Mirfak cracked his neck before heading to exit the control room, “I will go speak with the Doctor, the two of us should be able to come up with something.”
“Good luck!” Schedar chuckled.
Mirfak entered the connecting hallway, muttering to himself as he walked, “Another attack of this caliber will certainly hurt the Rangers, but I’m certain they can deal with it, so there’s no use in disagreeing.”
“Kinda weird seeing so many people around here,” Neil said as he walked down a hallway, Sirius walking with him to his side while the Leo Minor Zord followed behind them.
Sirius nodded, “Yes, it is quite strange given that we were the only ones on the Orion, now it seems like there are people everywhere.” Sirius gave a low chuckle, “Not that I mind.”
“Really? Why’s that?” Neil asked with curiosity as they entered what appeared to be an indoor garden of some kind, where several other Revolution members were currently relaxing.
Sirius gave a sad look, “It reminds me of how bustling my clan was, how lively the streets were, how everyone lived together.”
Neil gave a nod, “Yeah, I can see why you’d miss that.”
“I suppose that it is not all bad though,” Sirius said for a moment, looking at a tree in the garden, “I have a new clan now, you and all the others.” Sirius took a deep breath, “I miss my old clan dearly, and I miss my wife, but you and the others, you have helped fill that void. I still want to defeat Alderamin to avenge them, but I know I will not have to do it alone, thank you, Neil.”
Neil gave a grin as he patted Sirius on the shoulder, “It’s no problem man.” He looked off in the distance, “I’m pretty happy I got to meet you guys too.” Neil gave a small chuckle, “I mean, after mom died, I only had Arthur and he only had me, now look at us. We’ve got an amazing adoptive father and an awesome team that’s helping us free the universe. I don’t think I could ask for anything else.”
Sirius gave a nod as the two of them exited the garden and entered another hallway, “Me as well, Neil.”
“And hey,” Neil said as he held his arms behind his head so his elbows faced outward, “I’ve learned so much about myself and my family because of it.” He chuckled, “I mean, it’s kinda hard to believe me and my brother are the last space wizards or whatever.”
“Yes, holding such power must be strange,” Sirius replied.
Neil laughed, “Tell me about it, you can’t imagine how weird it feels to know I took down Karna Rog’s avatar by myself.”
“It was quite impressive, I will admit,” Sirius nodded, giving a slight chuckle.
Neil was quiet for a moment, “Hey Sirius, I’ve got a question. While we’re on the topic of families, did you ever want kids?”
“Of course,” Sirius replied, “I would’ve loved to have had them, but now, without her I’m not sure I do…” Sirius trailed off before continuing, “Why do you ask?”
Neil shrugged, “Just wondering, you seemed like the kind who would.” Neil patted Sirius on the shoulder reassuringly before picking up the Leo Minor Zord, “I’m sure you would’ve made an awesome dad.”
Sirius looked at Neil for a moment before giving a deep inhale and speaking, “Thank you, Neil. That means a lot coming from you.”
Neil smiled as they continued walking, “It’s no problem.”
Meanwhile, in the headquarters’ training room, Leiurus and Aster were currently sparring, exchanging blows with each other. After a few moments, Leiurus panted and took a step back, wiping sweat from his forehead before giving a chuckle, “I should’ve known your idea of a date would’ve involved something like this.”
Aster laughed, “Hey, we could be doing a puzzle or something, I don’t just like fighting you know.”
“How could I forget,” Leiurus smiled briefly before giving a frown, “sorry you probably lost a lot of them when the Orion was destroyed.”
Aster shook his head, “Eh, they’re just puzzles, I can always go and get more if I want. Besides, I have plenty in my quarters here.”
“I still cannot believe you tried to give me a tour of this place even though I’ve been here before,” Leiurus grinned as he moved towards a table at the side of the room, taking a sip out of a water bottle placed on it.
Aster crossed his arms and gave a playful grumble, “Hey, not my fault you left before I came here, pretty easy to forget that if you ask me.”
Leiurus gave a laugh before a voice came from the room’s entrance, “Fancy seeing you here, Leiurus.”
Leiurus spun around to see who had spoken, spotting a woman with a white-plated right forearm with a spike jutting out of the back of the wrist. “Buccina?” he said with surprise.
“Long time no see,” Buccina said, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.
Aster looked at Leiurus and tilted his head to the side, “She a friend of yours?”
“Yeah,” Leiurus said before gesturing to her, “this is Buccina Manus, I told you about her after that mission on Cybrith.”
“Oh yeah!” Aster recalled, “Now I remember her.”
Leiurus gave a nod before looking at Buccina, “This is Aster, he’s that best friend I told you about, we’re actually dating now too.”
“Pretty cool,” Buccina said with a grin and a nod before looking at Aster, “Nice to meet you. Sorry if I was interrupting something.”
“It’s fine! We were just about to take a break anyways,” Aster chuckled, “Nice to meet you too.”
Leiurus gave her a curious look, “Anyway, why are you here?”
“Well, after our encounter on Samos, I decided I wanted to be a little more proactive in taking down the Empire,” Buccina replied, “So I decided to join the Revolution.”
“That’s pretty great!” Aster exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, it’s good to have someone like you helping us.”
Buccina grinned, “Thanks guys, but I’ll get going, got things to do around here, you know?”
“See ya!” Aster said excitedly as she exited the training room.
Leiurus looked to his partner, “Nice to see her again.”
“Nice to meet her too,” Aster added as he gave a stretch, “So, whaddaya wanna do now?”
In the main lobby of the base, Tip and Hydra looked around, taking note of the multiple floors the lobby led up to. “Man, this place has some crazy security in here,” Tip said, taking note of all the cameras, guards, and doors that could easily be sealed if needed.
Hydra nodded, “Outside too.”
“Man, the Empire’s gonna have a hard time getting into this place!” Tip laughed, “If they can find it that is!”
Hydra gave an uncomfortable look, prompting Tip to tilt their head to the side, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just thinking,” Hydra replied, “do you really think your father would find this place’s location and give it away to the Empire?”
Tip thought for a moment, “Nah, from what I heard the Boss scared the tar out of him, I don’t think he’s gonna try anything. I mean, even if he did then I’m sure this place has like, a plan for that kinda stuff, right?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Hydra said, giving a slow nod, before speaking again, “You know, I’m a bit happy the Orion was destroyed.”
“What?” Tip said with confusion, “Hydra, you’re not supposed to feel happy about that kind of stuff!”
“Let me explain,” Hydra replied quickly, “I’m happy because the Empire going after it makes me feel like they’re taking us more seriously than ever, that they’re worried that we might be able to actually defeat them.”
Tip tilted their head to the side, “That… actually kinda makes sense. I don’t think you should say that to the others though. I mean, they’re still torn up about it.”
“Of course,” Hydra nodded.
Tip gave a laugh, “But I am happy that you’re starting to develop emotions more. Keep it up!”
“Thank you,” Hydra said with a small chuckle and a grin.
“Man, it feels like lunch came around fast today,” Brando said from where he stood behind the cafeteria’s counter, Alura and Birdie standing off to the side so as not to get in the way of anyone.
Birdie nodded, “Guess helping you get the kitchen ready made it go faster.”
“Definitely took longer than it usually does,” Alura shrugged.
Brando nodded, “Guess it just took a bit to get used to being back here.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to be back though,” Birdie nodded.
Alura gave a displeased look, “Even if the circumstances aren’t exactly good.”
“Yeah…” Brando replied, scratching the back of his head.
Suddenly, someone called out from across the cafeteria, “Hey everybody! Brando’s back!”
A crowd of Revolution members rushed towards the counter, prompting Alura and Birdie to move further out of the way. “Seems like your cooking is as popular as ever,” Birdie chuckled as she looked at Brando.
“Good to know!” Brando laughed as he began serving food.
As Brando handed out lunch, a few people began speaking, “Man, it’s pretty great to have these guys back.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty awesome!”
“Didn’t know Birdie could fight that well, and fly too!”
Despite Birdie not having the ability to change her facial expression, she seemed to give a bashful look. “Like hearing that stuff?” Alura asked with a grin.
Birdie gave a nod, “Yes, I do. Most of the time I was just seen as Commander Long’s secretary, so it’s good to see that people here are seeing me as more than that.”
Alura gave an awkward look, “Honestly, I think me, Aster, and Brando felt the same way at times too, guess it wasn’t until you socked Bakueave in the face that I really saw more. Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” Birdie replied, shaking her head, “Discovering that part of me was surprising for me too.”
“Well, I’m glad that you did, you’ve gotten us out of some pretty sticky situations before,” Alura grinned.
“Thanks,” Birdie chuckled.
“So this is where the Revolution’s research goes on?” Arthur asked as he walked beside Shen, entering an open area that connected to several laboratories.
Shen twirled his cane, “Yep! Here we are… and d!”
“Wow dad, just… wow,” Arthur groaned, shaking his head.
Shen chuckled as they entered an unoccupied lab, “What? I thought it was pretty funny.” Shen looked at Arthur as he put the ten Supernova Morphers on the table alongside his own, “Besides, I’m your dad, it’s my job to embarrass you!”
“Yeah, sure…” Arthur rolled his eyes playfully before looking back at the Morphers, “Anyway, I still think it’s pretty cool that you made these Morphers all by yourself.”
Shen nodded as he picked up one of the Morphers and looked it over, “Thank you, I’ll admit I star-tled myself a little being able to actually make them, especially the Draco Morpher.”
“It’s a pretty effective prototype though,” Arthur grinned.
Shen shook his head “I wouldn’t really call it a prototype, they’re pretty different even if the Supernova Morphers use a more refined version of its technology.”
“A lot more compact too,” Arthur added, looking from the Draco Morpher to the Supernova Morphers.
Shen chuckled before giving a slightly solemn look, “You know, I wonder what my dad would think now, it’s… been awhile since we talked, and things have changed a lot.”
“Don’t think he’d be any less proud,” Arthur replied as he looked over a Morpher, “I mean, you’ve been a great Commander and a great dad.”
Shen gave a slow nod before speaking, a hint of happiness in his voice, “Thank you, Arthur, it’s good to hear that.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded, “I think mom would’ve liked you too for everything you’ve done for me and Neil.”
Shen seemed to give a small smile as he put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “I’m glad.”
“Corvile, where are you?” Kenneth asked as he walked down a hallway before muttering under his breath, “I don’t know how on Earth I lost him.” Kenneth gave a small chuckle, “Normally he’d be the one to yell at me for not telling him where I’m going.”
He continued walking, but froze as he heard Corvile’s voice coming from behind the closed door of a supply closet, “It doesn’t matter what you say, Kenneth will defeat you, the Rangers will defeat you. It doesn’t matter if you’re fine with being destroyed, the galaxy will be a better place.”
Kenneth gave a look of confusion as he opened the door to reveal Corvile, who spun around to look at him, startled, “Kenneth!”
Kenneth gave a confused look, “Corv, who were you talking to?”
“Myself!” Corvile replied with no hesitation, “I was uh, just trying to come up with what to say to Karna Rog when we finally face him for the last time, since you all do that, especially you.”
Kenneth gave a small chuckle, “Ah, trying to hype yourself up?”
“Uh, yes, that!” Corvile replied with a quick nod.
Kenneth shook his head as he put a hand on Corvile’s shoulder, “Oh come on Corvie, we don’t need help when we face him, I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way again.” Kenneth looked at Corvile with sad eyes, “I already thought you died once.”
Corvile shook his head, “Kenneth, you know he’s made me suffer too. I lost you, and it wasn’t until I woke up from my cryosleep that I got to see you again. I have every right to want to help take him down for what he did to you.”
“I guess you have a point there,” Kenneth sighed, “but if you’re going to help, just please do it in a way that keeps you safe, alright?”
Corvile gave a slow nod, “Alright, if that’s what you want, then I’ll do it.”
Kenneth grinned for a moment, “Anyway, apparently this place has quite the library. Figured you’d want to check it out.”
“You know me so well,” Corvile chuckled.
Kenneth gave a laugh, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
As they began to walk again, Shen’s voice came over the intercom, “Alright Rangers, maintenance on your Morphers is done! Come a-round to r and d to pick them up!”
Kenneth looked at Corvile with a grin, “Good thing my Morpher isn’t one of them, otherwise I couldn’t spend as much time with you.”
Corvile rolled his eyes and gave an affectionate groan, “You’re such a sap, Kenneth.”
Deep in the depths of headquarters, where little light was available and even less people were present, Sculptoris appeared, the air around him distorting before returning to the way it was previously. “Now, it’s time to get to work on my magnum opus!” Sculptoris chuckled. The missile launchers covering his body fired, their explosions being relatively small and quiet, with two Flatborgs and a horde of Greyders seemingly being created from them.
“Hmm, still a bit too minimalist for my taste,” Sculptoris continued as he raised a hand to his chin, “A little repetition will do this piece some good.” He fired more missiles, spawning a few more Flatborgs and dozens more Greyders. Sculptoris raised his hands in front of his face and used his thumbs and index fingers to create a frame to view the Imperial forces through. “Perfect!” he exclaimed with a nod, “Now, let’s get to work.”
“Thanks for checking them out, dad,” Neil said as he slid his Morpher onto wrist alongside the other nine Rangers who used Supernova Morphers.
Shen chuckled as he put a clawed hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “Oh it’s no problem Neil, but I can’t take all the credit. Arthur here helped a lot too.”
“It’s no problem, dad,” Arthur replied, giving a small grin.
“Well, now what?” Tip asked, putting their hand on their hip
Shen waved a hand, “Just go back to whatever you were doing. Like I said, we’ve still got a week left to go before the Orion’s replacement is done. Just enjoy yourselves for a while.”
“Sounds good to me!” Aster chuckled as steam shot out his nose before turning to Leiurus, “Hey partner, how about we-”
The entire room suddenly rocked, throwing everyone off-balance and forcing them to grab something. “Good gravy! What was that?” Brando asked as he tried to get to his feet, only for another shockwave to knock him off balance again.
Shen quickly lifted his cane up and spoke into it once he regained balance, “Security, report!”
“A Capital-class Consumoai has begun firing on us sir!” the voice on the other end replied.
Birdie seemed to panic, “It’s the Knights of Andromeda, this is bad!”
“Get the emergency protocols ready, make sure everyone gets to a safe room and activate the shields to buy us some time!” Shen declared before quickly tapping his cane on the ground and speaking into it again, “Control, get us out of here now!”
In the control room of the headquarters, a horned woman looked back at a console as Greyders barged into the room, “Sir, I’m afraid we’ve been compromised!”
“Dang it,” Shen huffed under his breath.
Neil gave a concerned look as he picked up the Leo Minor Zord, “Sounds like they aren’t messing around.”
Immediately after Neil spoke, a platoon of Greyders broke down the door to the lab the Rangers were in, brandishing their weapons. The Rangers immediately whipped around and fired on the Greyders with no hesitation. The Greyders fell to the ground, crumbling into piles of sand as they did.
“Strange, they do not usually do that,” Sirius said with confusion.
“Bigger question is how they got in here so fast,” Arthur said, glancing at the others.
Shen tapped his cane on the ground before speaking with a fire in his voice, “We can worry about that later. The base is under attack, the shields will only last so long, and I refuse to let it end like last time!”
Neil moved forward and put a hand on his father’s shoulder, “We won’t let it dad, I promise.”
“Alright,” Alura said, taking a step forward, “I say we split up, one group of us heads to the control room to get things fixed there, the rest of us start dealing with all of these Greyders. We should also try and meet up with Kenneth too, he’s probably handling things too.”
After a moment, Shen gave a nod, “Good plan, Alura.” He turned to look at the other Rangers, “Neil, Leiurus, Aster, Brando, Arthur, with me, the rest of you go with Alura.”
“Got it,” Alura replied.
“Alright everyone, let’s go!” Neil declared as he and the others ran out of the room.
Inside the Capital-class Consumoai, Alderamin watched as an energy field formed around the headquarters, “They’ve activated a shield, that’s unacceptable.”
Schedar giggled and gave a twirl, “Oh don’t worry, Aldie. We’ll smash through it in no time!”
“And even then, Sculptoris will keep them occupied until we do,” Mirfak added.
Alderamin gave a chuckle, “Excellent point, they can’t hide behind that shield forever.”
“Good grief, this doesn’t look good,” Kenneth said with exasperation as Greyders and a pair of Flatborgs stormed into the library, causing just about everyone there to panic.
Corvile gave a surprised look before muttering under his breath, “Oh no.”
Kenneth turned to face his fiancé, “Corv, can you get everyone else to safety while I handle them?”
“Of course,” Corvile nodded before darting away.
Kenneth turned to look at the Greyders as a bird made of fire flew towards him, becoming his sword and shield in his hand, “Interrupting time between me and my fiancé isn’t something I like much, so I guess I’ll have to teach you that.”
He plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword.
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
He pulled the trigger on his sword’s grip and unsheathed it from his shield.
“Ignition!”
Kenneth was surrounded by flames, appearing in his Ranger form when they had died down. He ran forward with no hesitation, slicing and bashing Greyders with his sword and shield. Several Greyders thrusted their blades forward at him, but he ducked under them, spinning around to slash their legs and make them crumble into piles of sand.
“Sand…” he noted curiously as he casually slashed another Greyder, “I can use this.” He kicked the sand forward at several charging Greyders, superheating it mid-air and making it solidify into glass spikes that pierced the Greyders and made them crumble as well.
Kenneth hummed as he sheathed his sword, taking a look at the two Flatborgs that remained, “Well if you’re made of sand too, then that makes things a lot easier.” One of the Flatborgs ran at him, swinging its Tonfa, only for Kenneth to swing his shield to block it, making the Flatborg stagger back slightly. Kenneth took the opportunity to put his hand, glowing with heat, on the Flatborg’s chest. The Flatborg’s body began to grow rigid and glow slightly, until after a moment it was nothing but a colorful glass statue.
The second Flatborg began to charge forward, preparing to strike. “Let’s hope you don’t crack under pressure,” Kenneth said as he slammed his shield into the Flatborg statue, making it shatter and sending its shards flying at the second Flatborg. The shards hit the Flatborg, making it stumble back onto the ground and crumble.
“That’s the last of them here,” Kenneth mused as he looked around, “I better go look for more, I doubt that’s the last of them.”
He took a step outside the library as Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Alura, and Birdie were moving down the hallway. “There you are Kenneth,” Birdie chirped upon seeing him.
“I had thought I had smelt you,” Sirius nodded.
Kenneth held his shield down to the side, “Figure you’re trying to deal with these Imperial idiots too then.”
“Yesiree!” Tip replied.
Alura nodded, “We’re heading to the control center to get the base away from here, the Knights are outside bombarding us.”
“I’ll come along with you,” Kenneth replied, “a little extra help won’t hurt. I’m not going to let anyone get hurt because of this either.”
Hydra looked at Kenneth, “We must hurry then.” He turned to look at Alura and Birdie, “Where is the control room.”
Birdie pointed down the hall, “Right this way, follow me!” The six Rangers broke into a sprint down the hall.
A crowd of Greyders and Flatborgs filled the lobby, Sculptoris was at the crowd’s center, spinning around to look at the crowd and laughing, “This might just be my greatest work yet! My magnum opus! Nothing I ever make from now on will compare to this!” Sculptoris was suddenly hit in the chest by a purple energy shot, making him stagger back.
“I’m afraid you won’t be making much from now on,” Shen said from one of the higher floors of the lobby, Neil, Leiurus, Aster, Brando, and Arthur standing to the sides of him as he pointed his rifle down.
After recovering, Sculptoris looked upwards at them alongside the Greyders and Flatborgs, “Well what do we have here, the Power Rangers? I suggest you stay in your lane, critiquing art is a whole different beast than what you deal with.”
“Doesn’t take a professional to see how bad yours is,” Aster said, steam shooting from his nostrils.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, this art is distasteful at best.”
“Which is why we’ll be wrapping this exhibition up,” Neil said as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The six of them were surrounded by multicolored light, emerging in their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all declared in unison before all of them except for Shen began making their way down to the base of the lobby, slashing through dozens of Greyders at a time. Meanwhile, Shen remained still, firing his rifle at Sculptoris, who kept spinning out of the way or grabbing Greyders and using them to block the shots.
Arthur took notice of the Greyders crumbling into sand as he slammed his scarf into a Flatborg, “This guy’s a Tulan! They can control the sand they store in their bodies!”
Sculptoris gave a laugh, “It’s nice to see someone understands my style, but I’m not just any Tulan. I am Sculptoris, Duke of the Sculptor system!”
“A Duke? Well isn’t that just peachy,” Brando said with exasperation as he blocked the blade of a Greyder before jabbing it with his visor.
Aster kicked a Greyder in the chest before spinning around to punch a Flatborg, staggering it before slashing it with his axe, “We’ve taken down plenty of Dukes before, what’s one more at this point?”
“Especially now that we’re stronger than ever before,” Leiurus replied, blocking the blades of a few Greyders with his spear before forcing them back and slashing them, his tail lashing at Greyder’s behind him and making them crumble. He turned his attention to the Flatborg Aster was facing, wrapping his tail around his leg and running forward to deliver a swift kick to the Flatborg in conjunction with a slash from Aster’s axe. The Flatborg crumbled almost instantly upon impact, but as they were about to turn their attention elsewhere, Sculptoris fired his bladed blasters at Leiurus, making him stagger back as his suit sparked.
“Leiurus!” Aster yelled before Sculptoris fired volleys of red lasers from the missile pods covering his body.
Sculptoris laughed as he pointed one of his blasters forward, “I’m afraid I can’t let you ruin my masterpiece! The scorched remains of this station will make quite the statement!”
Sculptoris was promptly nailed in the chest by a shot from Shen, who growled from his vantage point, “I won’t let you!”
“And neither will we!” Neil declared as he charged at Sculptoris, who was still reeling from Shen’s shot. Neil swung his sword downward, but Sculptoris blocked it with the blades of his blasters before spinning back to deliver a series of slashes. Neil swung his sword in turn, countering each slash before ducking as Sculptoris swung both blades inward. As Neil stood up, he delivered a devastating upward slash, making the Duke stagger back significantly.
Arthur slashed a Flatborg across the chest before turning to face Sculptoris now that a large amount of his forces were gone, “Now that we’ve auctioned off your art project, it’s time for all of us to take you down!”
“We’ll see about that!” Sculptoris laughed before clapping his hands, “How about I try a different technique!” All of the piles of sand pooled upwards, reforming into Greyders and Flatborgs again.
“Well that’s just great,” Neil said with a sigh.
Outside the control room of the headquarters, Alura glanced at the other Rangers in her group, “Ready everyone?”
“Ready,” the others responded in unison.
“Then let’s do this,” Alura said as she and the other unmorphed Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and emerged in their costumes. Sirius maneuvered in front of the control room door as Tip extended a wire into a nearby panel. “Let us show them what we are made of,” Sirius declared as Tip opened the door. Sirius immediately leapt forward, tackling a Greyder to the ground and slashing it with his claw as the other Rangers rushed into the room.
Kenneth took a quick look over the room, taking note of the Revolution members still in the room before turning to Alura, “I’ll get the hostages out of here.”
Alura nodded as she readied her rapier, “Good plan.” Kenneth ran off as Alura gave a leap forward, jabbing a Greyder in the chest before blocking the blade of another and slashing it, making both Greyders crumble.
Hydra hooked his scythe on a Greyder’s blade, forcing it to the side before casually slashing the Greyder across the chest and making it crumble. He then deflected a Greyder’s slash with one of his own before kicking it towards a few others and a Flatborg. He focused on them, making them freeze in place.
“Thanks for the opening, Hydra!” Tip said excitedly as they readied their crossbow.
“No problem,” Hydra replied, not taking his eyes off the Imperial forces.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!” Tip declared as they shot energy arrows at the Greyders, making each crumble in a single well-placed shot. “Eight, nine, ten!” Tip continued as they shot the Flatborg, taking three shots to go down.
Birdie whipped a Greyder across the face with her blaster before turning around to spot a few Greyders running at the Revolution members Kenneth was evacuating, “Oh no you don’t!” She fired her blaster and Morpher at the charging Greyders, cutting them down like weeds and making them crumble.
Neil panted and used his sword to steady himself as Sculptoris reformed the Greyders and Flatborgs yet again. Aside from Aster and Shen, the latter of whom had begun engaging Greyders that reached his vantage point, were beginning to get exhausted. While the Greyders and Flatborgs weren’t that strong, they just kept coming back.
Sculptoris chuckled, “Seems like you’d be having more fun watching paint dry!”
“We can’t keep this going!” Leiurus said as he slashed a few Greyders across the chest, exerting the minimum amount of energy necessary with the attack, “This is a war of attrition and we’re losing!”
Brando deftly deflected several Greyders’ blades with his dagger, but they were quite sloppy, “Yeah, we’ll be toast if this keeps going!”
“We can’t give up now!” Shen growled as he slashed a Greyder with his cane and knocked a Flatborg over a guardrail, “Not with so many lives at stake!”
Aster punched another Flatborg in the stomach, sending it reeling, “Yeah, we gotta keep going!”
Neil blocked a few shots from Sculptoris’s blasters before turning around to slash a few Greyders, “There’s gotta be a way to stop them from coming back!”
“Come on Arthur, think!” Arthur said to himself as his glaive cleaved through multiple Greyders, making them crumble. “Right, sand, what can we do with that?” he wondered aloud before glancing around, taking note of Brando, “That’s it!” He quickly plugged a white Nova Sphere depicting a whale into his Morpher.
“Cetus Nova Sphere!”
A whale made of energy appeared above the lobby, shooting a jet of water into the air.
“No!” Sculptoris yelled, shoving Neil away and watching as the water came raining down, making every Greyder and Flatborg present dissolve. Sculptoris clapped his hands once, and the sand tried to reconstruct itself into its previous forms, but simply collapsed instead as the missile pods covering his body began to spark.
“Nice going Arthur!” Neil exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
Sculptoris snarled, “You little brat! You’ve ruined my work!” He fired his blasters at Arthur, who quickly blocked it with the blade of his glaive.
Sculptoris was then nailed in the chest by a shot from Shen, who had made his way down to the lobby as he shifted his rifle into its cane mode. He growled, standing beside the other Rangers as Sculptoris recovered, “Your little art expo ends now.”
Sculptoris took a step back, “I don’t like these odds.” He spun around, breaking into a sprint down a hallway.
“After him!” Neil yelled as he and the other Rangers ran after the Duke.
“Alright, everyone’s safe now, time for a bit of fun,” Kenneth said, cracking his knuckles as he entered the control room where the other Rangers were engaging the Greyders and Flatborgs. Kenneth vanished in a burst of flames and reappeared next to a Greyder, touching it with his hand and turning it to a glass statue like the Flatborg from earlier.
He disappeared in another burst of flames before doing it to another Greyder, then a Flatborg, continuing the process until all the Greyders and Flatborgs present where glass statues, including the ones the others were fighting.
“Wow, what a show off,” Tip snarked.
Kenneth chuckled, “You’re just jealous you couldn’t do that to them.”
“Focus!” Sirius exclaimed.
Alura nodded as she looked out the window, noticing cracks forming in the shield outside, “He’s right, we need to hurry. Birdie?”
“Already on it,” Birdie replied from where she sat at a console, preparing to press a button, “Everyone hold onto something!”
The other Rangers quickly grabbed onto any fixed objects they could as the headquarters leapt through space and the shield went down.
“Dang it!” Schedar said, spinning away from the window they previously saw the headquarters through and throwing her hands in the air.
Alderamin huffed, “Sculptoris failed his one and only job, unacceptable.” He gave a sigh, “We’ll just have to cut our losses this time.”
“Tragic,” Mirfak responded sarcastically, his hand and cannon behind his back.
Hydra let go of what he was holding onto, “Alright, it seems we’re safe now.”
There was a buzz from Alura’s Morpher, prompting her to lift it up, “What is it?”
“Could you maybe warn us next time before you do that? Ow,” Neil’s voice said from the other end.
Alura sucked in air through her teeth before responding with a sheepish, “Sorry Neil.”
“Anyway, we’re after the guy who got all these Greyders and Flatborgs in, we’re heading for one of the Hangars,” Neil continued.
“We’ll be right there,” Alura replied before looking at the others, “Let’s go guys.” The six of them stormed out of the room without a moment of hesitation.
Sculptoris ran into the hangar, blocking slashes from Leiurus and Brando with his blasters quite skillfully. Aster responded by quickly swinging his axe down, forcing the blasters out of the way and allowing Leiurus and Brando’s next hits to connect, staggering the Duke as sparks erupted from his chest. “Why must you desecrate my beautiful art like this!” Sculptoris shrieked.
In response, Neil, Shen, and Arthur ran forward, jabbing him in the chest with their weapons and sending him tumbling to the ground. “Maybe because beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Neil shot back, pointing his sword at the Duke.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Kenneth said as he and the remaining five Rangers entered the hangar.
“Nice to see ya!” Aster exclaimed.
Shen took a step forward, “Alright, now that everyone here, let’s get star-ted on finishing this guy off!”
“Took the words right out of my mouth, dad,” Neil replied.
The Rangers surrounded Sculptoris in a circle, with Shen opening and closing the mouth of his cane, Kenneth sheathing his sword before pulling the trigger and unsheathing it, and the remaining Rangers flicking their Nova Spheres back.
The area around them seemed to turn into star-filled space.
“Ultimate All Star Shot!”
A massive star shape appeared under Sculptoris as Kenneth swung his sword and the other Rangers fired their Morphers, sending beams of energy colliding with Sculptoris. “This must be my deathbed portrait!” Sculptoris bemoaned before going up in flames, his body hitting the ground a few moments later.
It was quiet for a moment, “That was kinda excessive, right?” Arthur asked.
Neil shrugged, “I mean, I guess.”
Nearby, Corvile peeked into the hangar, a slight glow in his eyes. “This piece isn’t done quite yet, Rangers. That was just the line work,” Karna Rog rasped before holding his arm down to his side and snapping his fingers.
Sculptoris’s body dissolved into dark energy which flew out of the hangar and to the outside of the headquarters, reforming into a giant Sculptoris that stood on the side of the station. “A bigger canvas will do this piece a world of good!” Sculptoris laughed, firing a few missiles that formed Greyders and Flatborgs.
“Looks like we’ll need a lot of firepower for this one,” Neil stated before looking at Shen, “Hey dad, it’s been awhile since we brought out the Dragonova Ultrazord, think now would be a good time?”
“When else?” Shen replied with a nod as the Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
“Phoenix Zord!”
The Zords flew out, with several getting into position to combine, including the Leo, Draco, and Phoenix Zords.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
This formation of the Supernova Megazord had the Taurus Zord as its right arm, the Ursa Zords as its right leg, the Scorpius Zord as its left arm, and the Lupus Zord as its left leg. Meanwhile, the Draco Star Megazord had the Dorado Zord as its right arm and the Chamaeleon Zord as its left arm.
”Ultrazord time!” Neil exclaimed as the Supernova Megazord and Draco Star Ultrazord began to combine.
”Roar to the stars, Dragonova Ultrazord!”
“I’ll deal with the Duke, you handle the mooks,” Kenneth said over the comms.
“Sounds good to me!” Shen replied.
The Ultrazord engaged in a melee with a few Greyders, slashing them with the Scorpius and Taurus Zords as the Chamaeleon and Dorado Zords fired and staggered the Flatborgs. The Libra, Ophiuchus, and Aquila Zords also assisted, harassing a few other Greyders by themselves.
Meanwhile, the Solar Flare Megazord was exchanging blows with Sculptoris, each combatant using their blades to deflect the other’s.
“You’ll need to do better than that!” Sculptoris laughed as he kicked the Megazord away.
“Oh I will!” Kenneth replied as he swiped Sculptoris’s blasters out of the way and slashing him across the chest twice.
Meanwhile, the Ultrazord swung both arms at once, sending out a black and orange energy slash that made every Greyder present crumble. It swung both arms again, sending out another energy slash alongside shots from the Dorado and Chamaeleon Zords, destroying the remaining Flatborgs.
“Take this!” Sculptoris yelled, firing his blasters at the Ultrazord, but it did virtually no damage, and the Ultrazord began to attack the Duke as he continued firing.
Inside his cockpit, Aster cracked his knuckles, “I’ll handle this!” Without any warning, the Ultrazord socked Sculptoris in the face with the Taurus Zord.
“I think it’s time we finish this up!” Neil said as he, Kenneth, and the Ultrazord’s other pilots prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
“Dragonova Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The cockpits of the Ultrazord lit up before all of the light was transferred to the cockpit of the Leo Zord, which began to glow brighter and brighter before firing a massive beam of colorful energy from it and through the Draco Zord’s helmet, the force of the beam making the Ultrazord slide back a little. Meanwhile, the Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming swords, sending an x-shaped flaming slash. The attacks collided with Sculptoris, making his body spark wildly.
“My dreams are crumbling like a sand castle!” Sculptoris yelled before going up in flames.
“The stars of hope still shine!” Neil said confidently as the Ultrazord lowered its arms.
“Seems he couldn’t take the heat,” Kenneth added as the Solar Flare Megazord lowered its swords as well.
A bit later, Corvile and the Rangers had gathered in Shen’s office. “Well, crisis averted!” Neil said, leaning back in a chair next to Shen’s desk.
“Yeah, that could have gone in a much worse direction,” Sirius nodded.
“It’s just… I can’t understand how the Empire found us,” Shen said, shaking his head, “We were hidden so well.”
“Maybe Tip’s jerk of a dad revealed it like he said he would,” Kenneth suggested.
Shen slammed his hands down on his desk and stood up, “When I get my hands on him I’ll-”
“I actually don’t think it was him,” Tip chimed in.
Hydra turned to look at them, “Why’s that?”
Tip shrugged, “Eh, I know him well enough that he’d probably have done something to taunt us during it or something.”
“Maybe there’s a mole then, someone on the inside who’s working for the Empire,” Alura wondered, making Corvile give a sharp inhale.
“Not a bad suggestion you’ve cooked up,” Brando added as Corvile began to breathe quickly but quietly.
Leiurus nodded, “It’s not out of the question.”
Shen shook his head, “Impossible, our screening programs, psych evals, and security are too rigorous for a mole to slip through.” Corvile gave a quiet sigh of relief.
“So what, the Empire somehow accidentally ran into the base?” Arthur said skeptically.
“Only explanation that fully makes sense,” Shen replied.
“But we’ll stay quiet for a while,” Karna Rog’s voice rasped in Corvile’s mind, “we don’t want them to doubt that assumption.”
“Well on a lighter note, there seems to have been zero casualties!” Birdie chirped as she looked at her datapad.
“That’s great!” Aster exclaimed.
Corvile nodded, “Yes, that’s very good news.”
“We did it dad, things were different this time,” Neil said, getting up from his seat to put a hand on Shen’s shoulder.
Shen gave a nod, “Yes, you’re right, they were, thanks to us.” Shen looked around the room, “We should all be proud of ourselves.” Shen gave a small chuckle, “Alright everyone, you can get back to what you were doing, I’ve got some work to attend to.”
“I can help, Commander Long,” Birdie replied, looking at Shen.
Arthur nodded, “Me too.”
Shen laughed, “Alright you two, thanks. The rest of you are dismissed.”
The Rangers began to exit the room, with Kenneth walking next to Corvile, “Sure you helped a lot with that zero casualties thing.”
Corvile gave a chuckle, “Thank you, Kenneth.”
“Sorry about all that Imperial nonsense, want to go back to the library?” Kenneth asked, leaning down to kiss Corvile’s beak, “You were in the middle of reading something after all.”
“I was,” Corvile nodded and gave a laugh, “found a few things you might like too.”
Kenneth grinned, “Sounds like a yes to me.”
Corvile chuckled and nodded, “You’d be right.” Kenneth smiled at him as they continued walking, making Corvile look at the ground with a frown, “I hate having to lie about what happened…”
Notes:
Sculptoris is modeled after the Atlantean Figures at Tula
So sorry for the lack of updates, I’ve graduated high school, got a half decent part-time job, and have mostly been using the Summer to wind down before college, hopefully new chapters will be able to come out faster. Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the more character-centric nature of this chapter and the developments it brings, especially with Kenneth and Corvile. Other than that, there’s not much left to say. As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 32: A Twist of Fate
Chapter Text
A Revolution ship landed in a forest on the planet Alexandria in the Orion system, its side opening for its occupants to exit. “Thank you, Buccina,” Leiurus said as he exited and passed by the cockpit alongside the other Rangers and Corvile.
“No problem, Leiurus,” Buccina replied, “You guys be safe.”
“We sure will!” Aster exclaimed enthusiastically in reply. Buccina gave a nod and a thumbs up before the ship lifted off and flew away.
“So, this is where the Orion’s replacement is?” Neil asked, turning to look at Shen as he held the Leo Minor Zord in his arms.
“Yup!” Shen replied, “Not too far from here.”
Alura looked through the woods, “Guess we should get a move on then.”
Corvile turned to look at Kenneth, “Try not to burn down anything this time.”
“That was one time and it was an accident,” Kenneth scoffed.
Tip laughed, “You burned down a forest?”
“It was just a small patch, we handled it,” Kenneth rolled his eyes.
Corvile chuckled, “You were lucky I was able to smooth that over.”
“I am starting to doubt that Kenneth was as effective as a president as he said he was,” Sirius stated.
Arthur gave a snort, “Yeah.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Corvile shook his head, “It’s just that he made quite a few mistakes that I enjoy teasing him about.”
“Sounds like it,” Birdie chuckled as she walked.
“Anyway, this is one I wouldn’t want to burn down,” Kenneth continued.
Neil turned to face him, “Why’s that?”
Kenneth gave a small smile, “Well, this is Ptolemy’s homeworld, and where I first met him.”
“Really?” Quite the coincidence if you ask me,” Shen chuckled.
“Pretty crazy to think we might be walking on the same ground our ancestor did three hundred years ago,” Arthur said with interest.
Neil nodded, “Yeah.”
“Well I’m sure he’d be very impressed with what you two have done,” Kenneth said with a sad smile as he looked at Neil and Arthur before giving a small sigh, prompting Corvile to pat his shoulder.
Hydra spoke up, trying to break the awkwardness, “Perhaps we should focus on getting to the ship.”
“Not a bad serving suggestion,” Brando replied.
Shen nodded, “Yup, less talkie more walkie!”
Inside the Capital-class Consumoai, Alderamin entered the control room, “I have some important news.”
“What is it?” Mirfak asked.
Schedar didn’t look up from her datapad, “Are you gettin’ surgery to shorten your neck?”
Alderamin glared at her, “No, Schedar.” Alderamin took a seat, “We’ve gotten reports that a Revolution ship was spotted in the Orion system. Odds are it’s the Rangers.”
“Well, who else would it be?” Schedar asked, putting her datapad to the side.
Mirfak cracked his neck, “Obviously they’re there for a reason. I suggest we send in a Duke to see what’s happening, maybe one of us too for good measure.”
“Which is why I’ve already selected one to go down there,” Alderamin replied, gesturing to the door.
In walked a silver, purple, and gold alien that seemed to be metallic. A pair of spoons with bent handles appeared to be attached to its back, with what looked to be a golden ram horn on the bottom of them alongside a black and purple cape. A second, two-ended spoon curled around its neck, with the ends covering its chest. Another spoon with various holes in it formed the face of its elongated head, its curved handle forming a chin. “Greetings, I am Duchess Hamal of the Aries system! I’ve come to help you deal with the Rangers, as was foretold!” Hamal said, her voice having a theatrical flair.
“Duchess Hamal’s extrasensory powers will no doubt be of great value to us when it comes to dealing with the Rangers,” Alderamin stated.
“Extrasensory powers huh?” Schedar said curiously, “Mind tellin’ me my future them?”
Hamal put a hand to her head, “You will do something that will help the Empire greatly very soon, something about… a cow?”
“A cow?” Mirfak said with confusion.
“Ooh that sounds amazin’!” Schedar exclaimed, “I’ll have to have you on one of my streams when you finish this mission!”
“Speaking of the mission,” Hamal said as she turned to look at Mirfak, “Sir Mirfak, perhaps you could accompany me on it?”
Mirfak gave her a look, “Why me specifically?”
“It came to me in a vision,” Hamal immediately replied.
Mirfak gave Alderamin and Schedar a look of disbelief, prompting Schedar to laugh before Mirfak turned to look back at Hamal, “…Alright, sure.”
“Excellent! The Rangers’ fates end today!” Hamal said enthusiastically.
Meanwhile on the surface of Alexandria, the Rangers came to the mouth of a cave. “Uh dad, you sure this is where it is?” Arthur asked.
“Yup!” Shen replied, “Built it underground, figured it would keep it away from the Empire’s prying eyes.”
Brando nodded, “Not a bad course of action.”
Alura tilted her head, “Pretty dark in there.”
“It is not for me,” Sirius replied, giving a confused look.
“Well, not everyone’s as suited to seeing in the dark,” Arthur replied.
Neil shrugged and put the Leo Minor Zord on the ground., “Good thing we have this.” Neil pulled out the Lux Nova Sphere, placing its red base on his Morpher.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
A beam of light shot from the Nova Sphere into the cave, illuminating the path ahead. Neil gave a grin as he picked up the Leo Minor Zord again.
“Well, in we go,” Alura stated as Corvile and the Rangers made their way inside.
As the Rangers made their way through the cave, Brando turned to look at Shen, “Have to say, this is a pretty good hiding place, Boss.”
“Thank you, Brando. It’s sure to star-tle the Empire when we use it against them,” Shen chuckled.
Suddenly, Sirius’s ears perked up, making him turn around and yell, “Get down!” The Rangers and Corvile quickly ducked, just in time for a blast of red and black energy to fly over them.
After recovering, they spun around to see Mirfak, Hamal, and a squadron of Greyders. “Well what do we have here? A pleasure to see you again Rangers,” Mirfak said, taking a step forward and rolling his head around.
“Mirfak!” Arthur and Neil snarled.
Kenneth readied himself, preparing to unsheathe his sword and morph, “Who’s the new face?”
“I am Duchess Hamal of the Aries system, and your doom has already been foretold, Rangers!” Hamal exclaimed in reply.
“We’ll see about that!” Neil replied, turning to look at the others, “Leiurus, Sirius, Aster, Birdie, dad, and Arthur, you guys go on ahead, the rest of us will hold these guys off.”
Kenneth nodded, “Corvile, go with them.” Corvile nodded as he, the other Rangers, and the Leo Minot Zord ran deeper into the cave. This left only Neil, Tip, Hydra, Alura, Brando, and Kenneth, who readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers charged forward as they morphed, with Neil and Kenneth slashing at Mirfak. “You have a lot of nerve showing your face on this planet!” Kenneth yelled as Mirfak deflected Kenneth’s sword with his own sword and Neil’s sword with his arm cannon, creating a few bursts of sparks. The two Rangers pushed forward, forcing the Knight back.
Meanwhile, Alura and Brandi had grabbed a few Greyders, dragging them out of one of the cave’s entrances while locking blades with a few more Greyders. Meanwhile, Hydra and Tip followed behind as they fought Hamal, the Duchess blocking the swipes of Hydra’s scythe with her bare hands and ducking under a swipe of Tip’s crossbow from behind.
Neil and Kenneth stumbled out of another cave entrance as Mirfak emerged from it, holding his arms to his sides, “Now, what brings you to the homeworld of your old friend, Kenneth?” Neil and Kenneth got to their feet, swinging their swords down on Mirfak, who blocked both with his own. “I’m curious, is it sentimentality, or something else?” Mirfak continued as he forced the swords out of the way and slashed both across the chest, creating a burst of sparks.
“Witness my great mystical power!” Hamal said as he held her hands out towards her sides at Tip and Hydra. Yellow flashes of light appeared from her hands, and Tip and Hydra were suddenly knocked back by explosions.
“Tip!” Brando yelled as he and Alura ran next to the Iustitian, helping them to their feet.
Alura plugged her Nova Sphere into her rapier, “I’ll hold her still!”
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
Her rapier-blade glowed green and became whip-like, lashing at Hamal.
“Psych!” Hamal laughed as she extended her hand forward, another yellow flash appearing from it as Alura’s attack curved away from the Duchess.
“Eat this!” Brando yelled as he fired his Morpher at Hamal while Tip fired their crossbow.
“Psych again!” Hamal exclaimed as she held her arm upward, making the shots curve over her and hit Hydra, who was behind her.
Tip took a step forward, “Hydra!”
“I’m fine,” Hydra replied as he got to his feet.
Hamal laughed, “You all underestimate the abilities of a Utensian! I can twist anything, even your minds!” Hamal held both hands forward at Tip, Alura, and Brando, engulfing them in a flash of yellow light, their bodies distorting momentarily as they unmorphed. Once unmorphed, the three looked confused for a moment.
Hydra ran forward, shoving past Hamal to stand in front of them, brandishing his scythe, “What did you do to-”
“Hydra, are you okay? That was a pretty nasty attack you got hit with!” Alura asked, an uncharacteristic amount of passion and concern in her voice as she put a hand on Hydra’s shoulder and looked him over.
“Oh he’s fine. Alura, he’s almost as tough as me, and that’s saying something!” Brando replied, his voice containing an excessive amount of confidence and bravado.
Tip took a small step forward, pointing a finger at Hamal before speaking with a strangely refined tone, “Excuse me Miss Hamal, but your actions qualify as aggravated assault, that’s a major felony.”
Hydra looked at the three of them before speaking, his usually monotone voices filled with genuine confusion, “What?”
“I twisted their minds, dearie, they’re like whole new people!” Hamal chuckled.
“Despite my curiosity I can’t seem to get an answer for why I’m here, perhaps you can tell me now then,” Mirfak said as he stepped into view next to Hamal.
“Guys!” Neil yelled as he ran into view next to Kenneth, their weapons readied.
Kenneth scoffed, “Good grief Mirfak, I thought you were smarter than that. There’s no way we’re gonna tell you-”
“What’s the harm in doing it? We’ll beat these guys if they know or not!” Brando shot in unexpectedly, barging past Neil and Kenneth.
Alura shoved past Neil and Kenneth to look at the former as she spoke, “Yeah, whatever the Boss has whipped up is going to be super duper awesome at taking them down!”
“As I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I agree that the ship that Shen Long had built under here to replace the Orion is sure to be quite powerful,” Tip continued as they stepped past Alura and Brando.
Neil and Hydra gave looks and gestures of disbelief as Kenneth sheathed his sword to facepalm, “Good grief…”
“Thanks for the tip,” Mirfak said, cracking his neck before he and Hamal vanished in a swirl of dark energy.
Neil sighed, “We need to get to this new ship fast.”
“Let’s hope the others have gotten to it,” Hydra said with a nod.
Neil suddenly got a call from his Morpher, prompting him to lift it to his mouth, “Yeah?”
“Neil, me and the others have reached the Orion Carrierzord,” Shen’s voice came from the other end.
“Got it, we’ll be right there,” Neil replied before lowering the Morpher. “Alright everyone, we need to go,” he said quickly.
“Alrighty, let’s go everyone!” Alura said peppily.
Brando broke into a sprint, “I’ll get there first!”
“Be careful!” Tip called, “I’m not sure if we have workers’ comp… even though we probably should.”
Neil looked at Hydra, “This is gonna be a long day.”
Some ways away, Mirfak spoke to a projection of Alderamin produced by a hologram projector in his cannon arm, “Yes, an Executor-class Consumoai and a few Harvester-classes should be sufficient for what I plan to do.”
“I suppose I’ll prepare a few and send them down then, your plan is quite acceptable, Mirfak,” Alderamin replied.
“Thank you,” Mirfak said with a nod before shutting off the projector and turning to Hamal.
“So, you plan to open fire on where the Rangers are and bury them alive?” Hamal asked, “I did foresee that the Rangers start of the Rangers’ doom would by being crushed by something.”
Mirfak cracked his neck, “If you knew what was going to happen, then why didn’t you tell me about why the Rangers were here? In fact, I don’t recall precognition being an ability your species possesses.”
Hamal gave a flourish of her hands, “That’s because they’re not as gifted as me! As for your question, my visions are often vague, and usually only make sense after they either come to pass or if I get enough outside information to properly infer them, if they happen at all.”
“So what you’re saying is that there’s a chance your supposed prediction won’t even happen?” Mirfak asked, sounding unimpressed.
Hamal shrugged, “Maybe, might not even be their doom. I mean, being crushed usually is a bad thing so I think it might be their doom, but they might escape it.” Hamal tilted her hand from side to side, “It’s about fifty-fifty.”
Mirfak rolled his head around and sighed as he began to walk away, “I need a moment.”
“Take your time!” Hamal exclaimed in reply.
Once Mirfak was out of earshot he began muttering to himself, “Well I know that supposed prediction is false. I specifically chose this plan because I know it wouldn’t be the end of the Rangers. They’ve faced far worse things than some rocks, they’ll survive, and it will make it appear as though I’m attempting to eliminate them.” He gave a small chuckle, “And keeping the Rangers alive while appearing loyal is exactly what I need.”
Deep in the cave system, Neil, Tip, Hydra, Alura, Brando, and Kenneth met up with Corvile and the other Rangers. “Alright, we’re here, let’s get going!” Neil said urgently as he picked up the Leo Minor Zord.
Corvile gave a confused look, “Why the rush?”
“Sirius!” Alura exclaimed, running over to the Fenrisulfrian as she began to pet his head and scratch behind his ears, “Who’s a good boy? You are!”
“Alura, what are you doing?” Sirius asked with mild confusion.
Tip spoke up, sounding scandalized, “Don’t do that, that’s demeaning!”
“Actually,” Sirius replied, leaning into the pets and scratches as his left foot thumped on the ground, “I do not think I mind this.”
Brando elbowed Tip as Alura continued to pet Sirius and give him scratches, “See? He doesn’t mind it. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill, man.”
“This is hysterical!” Aster said as he burst into laughter, doubling over and slapping his knee.
Shen turned to look at Neil, Hydra, and Kenneth as he pinched the space between his eyes, “Could you please explain what’s going on here?”
“That Duchess, Hamal, she twisted their personalities,” Hydra said with a slight scowl, clenching a fist.
Birdie shook her head, “Not surprising, Utensians like her have powerful psychic powers.”
Kenneth stroked his beard, “Well is there any way to undo it?”
“From what I’ve read on them, if they alter someone’s personality, it’ll stay that way until a Utensian undoes it, or the Utensian who did it dies.”
Leiurus gave a slow nod as he helped Aster stand upright again, “Sounds like the latter option is our best shot then.”
“Right now, we’ve got a much bigger problem though,” Neil said with a serious look, “Mirfak tricked them into telling him why we’re here. He knows the ship’s down here now.”
Arthur gave a look of disdain, “That snake!”
“We’ll need to get moving then,” Shen replied, “the Orion Carrierzord is right behind us.”
Birdie nodded, “Data from the Scorpius, Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords were used to engineer it.”
Shen chuckled, “All done by yours truly.”
“Sick!” Neil said enthusiastically.
“Ooh I can’t wait to see it!” Alura said with uncontrollable excitement as they moved into a massive cave.
Inside the cave was a massive, navy blue, rectangular ship with four sets of treads, two at the front and two at the back. Three launchpads were arranged in a crossbow-shape at the top of the ship near the front, opposite to a control tower. Attached to the front of the control tower was a piston, bridging the gap between it and the launchpads.
“Dang, that thing’s awesome!” Aster exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
Brando gave an impressed look, “Man, that thing looks like it could shrug off a meteor!”
“Most ships need to be able to do that by law,” Tip replied, wagging a finger.”
Alura leapt in the air, “So cool!”
“Impressive,” Corvile said with a nod from where he stood next to Kenneth.
Arthur grinned at his adoptive father, “You really outdid yourself this time, dad.”
“Thanks,” Shen chuckled, ruffling Arthur’s hair.
Leiurus looked the ship over before speaking, “Alright, let’s get on board.”
“I agree,” Hydra nodded sagely.
A few minutes later, the doors to the bridge opened and the Rangers stepped inside, looking around. The lights were off, but they could still see the room decently well, allowing them to see that aside from a larger control panel, the room was exactly the same as it was on the original ship. Neil placed the Leo Minor Zord on the ground and moved towards the table at the center of the room, running his hand along the edge of it, “Man, from the inside, it’s hard to tell this is a different ship at all.”
Aster moved towards the edge of the bridge, taking note of a rack of dumbbells, “Really thought of everything from the looks of it.”
Corvile nodded, “Quite the impressive recreation if you ask me.”
“Yeah boss, this place is sick!” Alura said excitedly to Shen.
Shen gave a chuckle as he twirled his cane, “Thank you, it’s a pretty last-minute addition, I’ll admit. I only got a-round to requesting it when we got back to the base. Figured it would make adjusting easier.”
“Hey, could we get a light on in here? It’s not exactly easy to see you know,” Brando asked, an unimpressed look on his face.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I almost tripped on the way here.”
“I’ll be right on it,” Birdie said, stretching her hands out in front of her as she made her way to the pilot’s seat, sitting down and pressing a button. Following that, a low hum began to fill the ship. “Power should be on in about ten minutes, then we’ll be ready for takeoff,” Birdie explained.
“Waiting that amount of time seems really impractical,” Tip stated.
Kenneth nodded, “Yeah, especially since Mirfak knows we’re here.”
Shen shook his head, “Listen, this thing wasn’t exactly cheap to make, a few budget cuts had to be made.” Shen took a deep breath, holding his hands together in front of his face, “Listen everyone, just hold tight until we take off. After that we’ll hunt down Hamal to get Tip, Alura, and Brando back to normal.”
“That’s right!” Alura exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
From there, the Rangers began to settle in, with Neil walking up to Kenneth as he leaned against a wall while Corvile stood next to him. “You know, I’ve been wondering, what was Ptolemy like anyway?” Neil asked, giving a curious look as he momentarily pulled out the Orion Nova Sphere to look at.
“I assume you finally got around to asking that seeing as we’re on his homeworld now?” Corvile replied.
Neil chuckled and shrugged, “Got me there.” He felt the Leo Minor Zord nudging his leg, prompting him to pick it up.
“Well,” Kenneth replied with a smile, “he was a bit like if you mixed Arthur and you together. Compassionate, friendly, smart, but not afraid to have a sharp tongue either. You both would’ve liked him.”
“I like a lot of people anyway,” Neil laughed as he petted the Leo Minor Zord before giving a sad smile, “I don’t think I’d ever be able to thank him enough if I met him. The whole reason why we have a chance to fight back is thanks to him.”
Suddenly, a large blast shook the dormant control room. “What was that?” Leiurus asked as he and the others managed to regain their footing.
Brando shrugged, “Eh, it was probably nothing, maybe the engines or something.”
“Ooh, maybe!” Alura replied.
Birdie quickly got up from her seat and looked at her datapad, “This is bad, there’s an Executor-class Consumoai and three Harvester-classes firing on us!”
“That’s a much more logical explanation, is it not?” Tip asked as they looked at Alura and Brando.
Shen glanced around, “Don’t panic everyone! We just need to hold them off until we can get in the air!”
Kenneth immediately moved towards the door, “I’ll deal with the Executor-class.”
“Be careful!” Corvile yelled as Kenneth exited.
Neil nodded and put down the Leo Minor Zord, “I’ll head out too.”
“Me too, we gotta show the Empire who they’re messing with!” Brando said, striking a pose.
Alura nodded, “I’ll go too, the more the merrier!”
“Since there is a chance we could encounter Hamal again and defeat her, I will accompany you as well,” Tip added.
“In that case, I’ll go too,” Hydra replied.
Aster brought his fists together, “If Alura and Brando are going, then I’m going!”
“Sounds good to me,” Neil said with a nod, “let’s head out!”
As they exited, Shen turned to look at those who remained on the bridge, “Alright, everyone except Birdie come with me to make sure nothing was damaged.”
Arthur gave a nod, “Got it, dad.”
Outside, the Phoenix Zord flew and fired at the Consumoai, weaving between the Harvester-classes and avoiding their attacks. “Throttling up!” Kenneth declared as the Zord flew upwards and got in position to combine with the Phoenix Satellite.
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
The Megazord landed on the ground, prompting the three Harvester-classes to shift into their robot modes and land as well, one to each side of the Megazord and one in front of it. The one in front fired a barrage of lasers from its lance, but the Megazord swung its blades outward from in front of it, deflecting the shots and making them hit the other two Consumoai, which staggered back. The Megazord readied its blades again before charging at the Consumoai that had fired at it.
“You two, stop!” Neil yelled as he and the other five Rangers ran into view of Mirfak and Hamal.
Hamal shrugged, “Alright, sure.”
“Really?” Alura asked enthusiastically.
Mirfak raised his cannon and fired it, making the Rangers duck under the shot before he spoke, “Of course not, we’re not idiots.”
“I suppose we’ll have to do this the hard way then,” Hydra said, looking at Neil.
Neil nodded, “Don’t have a problem with that.”
“Let’s show these guys what we’re made of!” Brando said, eyes filled with determination.
Aster laughed and pumped a fist in the air, “Took the words right out of my mouth!”
“Then let’s do this as safely and with as little extralegal activities as possible,” Tip said as they and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
Libra Nova Sphere!”
Taurus Nova Sphere!”
Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light, which died down to reveal them in their suits.
“If the hard way is what you want, then the hard way is what you’ll get!” Hamal chuckled as a horde of Greyders appeared.
Aster charged forward immediately, slashing the Greyders with his axe and punching them, “I’ll handle these guys, you focus on those two!”
“Got it!” Neil exclaimed as Aster pushed the Greyders deeper into the woods. He and the other Rangers readied themselves, drawing their weapons before charging at Mirfak and Hamal.
Tip, Alura, and Brando went after Hamal, who dodged their attacks or made them curve out of the way just enough to avoid hitting her. Meanwhile, Neil and Hydra confronted Mirfak, who jerked his head around violently for a moment before blocking Neil’s sword and Hydra’s scythe with his own sword and cannon. The Knight shoved Hydra to the side to focus on Neil, ducking under and leaping over two swings from his sword before ducking under a roundhouse kick and blocking a slash with his cannon. He swung his sword down at Neil, who grabbed the Knight’s arm and forced it to the side before it could collide, but Mirfak began moving forward, forcing Neil to move back due to holding Mirfak’s arm and having his sword locked with Mirfak’s cannon.
Hydra had engaged Hamal by now, jabbing his scythe at her head only for her to dodge. Tip tried to swing at her with their crossbow, but she ducked under that as well.
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, Schedar, Alderamin, Calamartia, and Chupasangre watched a few screens displaying the fight on Alexandria’s surface. “Those jelly brains underground are gonna get crushed. Good, at least it’ll give that stupid lizard an undignified end,” Calamartia said with irritation from where she leaned against a wall.
Alderamin seemed to give a nod, “As unacceptable as I find not defeating them in combat is, sometimes pragmatism is key.”
“Hm, well it ain’t a cow, but I guess it’s close enough. Right, chat?” Schedar mused as she looked at the screen that displayed Aster fighting the Greyders. Suddenly, she stood up.
Alderamin turned in his seat to look at her, “What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna need y’all to gimme a minute, ‘kay? I gotta do somethin’,” Schedar said as she held her palm at Alderamin, “Chupasangre, would you mind dealin’ with anyone who wants to see me?”
Chupasangre sighed and deflated, “Fine.”
“Great! I’ll be right back!” Schedar giggled as she skipped out of the control room.
Aster punched a Greyder in the chest before slashing another one, making them both tumble to the ground. Aster lowered his axe for a moment, “That’s the last of them, now time to get back with the oth-”
“Hiya!” Schedar exclaimed as she stepped into view from behind a tree, twirling her microphone.
“You!” Aster yelled, readying his axe.
Schedar giggled, “Is that anyway to treat an old friend? Pretty rude, right chat?”
“After brainwashing Eurypto and Hydra I’d call you anything but a friend,” Aster snarled, “What do you want?”
Schedar twirled her microphone around, “Well, a pal of mine said you’re pretty important, so…”
“No way!” Aster yelled, firing a few blasts from his Morpher at Schedar only for her to skip out of the way.
Schedar giggled as she spun her microphone so its blade pointed at Aster, “Oh don’t worry, I can be very convincin’.” Without any more fanfare, she changed at Aster.
Sparks erupted from Neil’s chest as he yelled out in pain, sending him tumbling across the ground on the hill his fight with Mirfak had moved to. “You know, Neil,” Mirfak said as Neil tried to get to his feet, “what happened with your mother, it wasn’t anything personal. It was a mistake on my part, if she’d been anywhere else, odds are she’d still be alive.”
“Shut up!” Neil yelled as he got to his feet. Mirfak immediately raised his sword, which had become enveloped in blue-white light, swinging it downward as a massive energy projection of the blade formed around it. Neil immediately rolled out of the way of the slash, breaking into a sprint after the energy blade dissipated with his sword brandished.
Neil roared as he viciously slashed at Mirfak, but the cyborg blocked each slash with his own sword before they could connect. Mirfak retaliated quickly, jabbing Neil in the chest with the spikes on his cannon and sending the Ranger stumbling back several feet. Neil recovered after a few moments before screaming and preparing to charge at Mirfak, who shifted position so the mechanical snake head on his left shoulder faced Neil. The eyes on the head flashed red for a moment before a blast of wind shot from its mouth, knocking Neil even further back.
Neil panted as he got to his feet, using his sword to steady himself, “Alright, you asked for it!” Neil pulled out the Supernova Sphere, pressing the button on top of it.
“I can’t let you do that,” Mirfak replied, swinging his sword and sending a blue-white energy slash flying at Neil.
Neil was moments away from plugging the Supernova Sphere in when the slash crashed against his Morpher before erupting in an explosion, sending Neil flying back, knocking the Supernova Sphere from his hand, and making him unmorph as he hit the ground.
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming blades, sending an X-shaped slash made of fire at the Consumoai in front of it, making it explode on impact. The Consumoai to the sides of the Megazord used the opening to fire lasers from their lances at it. The Megazord was unable to block the shots this time as sparks and two small explosions rocked it.
Hamal, who was now wielding a lance-like weapon with a handle on the bottom and the side, as well as a red tip with yellow spikes around, laughed as she extended a hand forward, “Your fates are sealed!” A yellow flash was emitted from her hand, and a series of explosions erupted in front of Tip, Hydra, Alura, and Brando, sending them reeling.
Beneath the ground, the Carrierzord was once again rocked by explosions, forcing everyone in the bridge to have to steady themselves. “This doesn’t sound good!” Arthur exclaimed as he tried to keep the Leo Minor Zord safe, as it was currently held in his arms.
“Birdie, how much longer until we’re able to get to the sky?” Shen asked urgently as he looked at the android.
Birdie glanced at her datapad and then back at Shen, “Eight minutes.”
“Eight minutes? We don’t have that kind of time!” Leiurus snapped.
Sirius nodded, “We shall be buried long before then.”
“Dad, shouldn’t we evacuate?” Arthur inquired, trying to regain his composure.
Shen shook his head solemnly, “There’s no telling how damaged the tunnels are now, like it or not this is the safest place we have.”
“Everyone calm down,” Corvile said, raising his hands, “There’s not a doubt in my mind that Kenneth, Neil, and the others will turn things around out there. We just have to have faith and wait a little longer.”
Sirius looked at Corvile and nodded, “You are right, they would not let us down.”
“Then I guess we just sit tight and hope for the best,” Shen exhaled.
Mirfak walked a few steps forward, rolling his head around and looking to the Executor-class Consumoai as Neil struggled to get to his feet, “You know, while what happened to your mother was incidental, this isn’t.” Neil glared as Mirfak chuckled, “Ironic that you’ll lose you brother and adoptive father the same way you lost your mother, crushed to death.”
Neil snarled as he shot to his feet, “You’re not going to do that, not while I’m still fighting!” Neil got into a fighting stance, “And I won’t stop fighting until the galaxy is free, and justice is given to everyone who’s suffered under you!” Neil’s eyes glowed white as he pulled out the Orion Nova SphereI’m not losing anyone to you any more!” He slammed the Orion Nova Sphere into his Morpher, making it glow blindingly as he flicked it forward.
“Orion Nova Sphere!”
“Just the reaction I hoped for,” Mirfak mused.
The Nova Sphere flew into the air, growing in size as a golden rod-like spacecraft appeared in a burst of light. The ship had a large blue star shape at its front, blasters at each point, and three wings arranged in an upside down Y-shape at the back. The Orion Nova Sphere plugged into the ship. “Say hello to the Orion Zord, Mirfak!” Neil declared.
The Orion Zord fired its blasters at Mirfak, who managed to avoid a few shots and deflect another with his sword before using the thrusters on his left leg to leap back. “Quite impressive indeed. You win this time, Neil,” Mirfak said, cracking his neck before disappearing in a cloud of dark energy.
“Dang it!” Neil scowled before taking a deep breath, “Focus, the others are still underground, you need to help them.” As if by command, the Orion Zord flew towards where the Carrierzord was. “Good thing I learned how to do that telepathic command thing with Cerberus,” Neil said before speaking to his Morpher, “Guys, the Orion Zord is on the way!”
The Orion Zord fired on the Executor-class Consumoai a few times before flying downward, maneuvering through a sizable hole in the ground that led to the cave the Orion Carrierzord was in. The Orion Nova Sphere detached from the Zord, attaching to the piston while Orion Zord landed on the middle launchpad.
A few moments later, the lights in the bridge came on, prompting everyone in it to look around. “What just happened?” Sirius asked.
“The Orion Nova Sphere, it’s supercharged the system!” Birdie replied as she looked at the control panel, “We’re ready for takeoff!”
“Then let’s roll out!” Shen declared, pointing a finger in the air.
Birdie nodded from the pilot’s seat, pushing a pair of handles on it forward.
The treads of the ship began to turn, and outside the ground rumbled, nearly making Tip, Hydra, Alura, Brando, and Hamal lose their footing as the Carrierzord burst forth from the ground. The Rangers present looked up in awe, with Brando making enthusiastic gestures, “Sick!”
“Oh thank the stars they’re okay,” Neil said, sighing with relief as he saw the ship.
“Now that’s a ship,” Kenneth chuckled from inside the Solar Flare Megazord.
“Birdie there’s something I want to try, direct all energy to that new Zord,” Shen commanded.
Birdie nodded, “On it, Commander Long.” She pulled a lever, extending the piston forward to connect the Orion Nova Sphere with the Orion Zord. Energy from the Nova Sphere pulsed forward into the Zord, gathering in a mass of incandescent energy at the star on the front. The panel in front of Birdie retracted, exposing a socket for a Star Blaster, which she plugged in.
“Gave this thing a little extra firepower if there’s a Zord!” Shen exclaimed as he put on a pair of goggles, “Might want to look away unless you have eye protection!” He looked at Birdie, “Fire when you’re ready.”
Birdie’s eyes darkened as she locked on to the Executor-class Consumoai, “Sayonara!”
She pulled the blaster’s trigger, sending a massive beam of incandescent energy firing from the Orion Zord, producing a blinding light in the bridge that made everyone but Birdie and Shen look away. The beam collided with the Executor-class Consumoai, destroying it instantly.
Kenneth gave a whistle as the Solar Flare Megazord kicked a Consumoai robot away, “Not bad.”
“That. Was. Awesome!” Alura yelled as she and the others looked up in awe.
“You should focus!” Hamal cackled as she gripped both of the handles of her lance, sending a barrage of projectiles firing from its tip. The projectiles struck the Rangers repeatedly, making them stagger back, fall to the ground, and unmorph. “Your fate was foretold long ago, Rangers,” Hamal said as she made a sweeping gesture with her hand.
“Not yet!” Neil said, running into view and helping the others to their feet, “You guys alright?”
“Course I am!” Brando replied.
“We aren’t done yet!” Alura exclaimed.
Tip shrugged, “It would be wise to check to make sure that’s true once we’re done though.”
Hydra nodded as he pulled out the Void Nova Sphere, “Let’s make this quick then.” He and the other Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Your fate is sealed!” Hamal yelled, firing her lance at the Rangers.
“Star Charge!”
An explosion erupted in front of the Rangers from the shot, and once it cleared the Rangers were now visible.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger! That’s who I am, for the record,” Tip said with a bow.
“Twilight Star, Void Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!” Alura exclaimed, giving two peace signs with her fingers.
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger, baby!” Brando said, flexing an arm.
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they exclaimed in unison before charging at Hamal. Hamal blocked swings from Tip, Alura, and Brando with her lance, but Neil was able to force it to the side with a swing from his sword, allowing Hydra to slash the Duchess across the chest.
Back on board the Carrierzord, Shen looked at Birdie, “Fire the missiles, it seems like Kenneth needs some help.”
“On it!” Birdie exclaimed, locking onto the two Consumoai that Kenneth was fighting.
Several missiles fired from sections of the control tower next to the bridge, making the two Consumoai stagger back.
“Thanks for the help, Birdie, but I can take it from here,” Kenneth said as the Solar Flare Megazord turned to face the Consumoai and Kenneth prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Solar Flare Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Megazord shot forward at breakneck speed, propelled by thrusters on its feet. It delivered a vicious slash to each Consumoai with its swords, making them explode before landing on the ground some distance away.
Tip and Brando slashed at Hamal, but she batted them away with her lance before blocking Alura’s rapier with it, only to be slapped across the face by her. Making her stagger back and get slashed by Tip and Brando. She swung her lance at them, but they managed to avoid it, giving Hydra’s scarf a chance to lash out and pull the lance from her hands.
“I didn’t foresee that!” Hamal exclaimed before getting nailed in the chest by several shots from Tip. Alura and Brando then took the opportunity to slash her across the chest twice, they tried to slice her again, but she batted the blades away with her bare hands. Unfortunately, this left her open to a jumping slash from Neil, which made her tumble to the ground.
“Impossible! Am I losing? This is twisted!” Hamal declared as she got to her feet, clenching her fists in front of her.
“Of course you’re losing, you’re up against us!” Brando declared.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, there’s nothing we can’t do together!”
“Now, fix what you have done to us,” Tip stated.
“Fate will decide that!” Hamal yelled.
Neil plugged his Nova Sphere into his sword, “Then you’re going down!”
“Regulus Strike!”
Neil performed a front flip as his sword became wreathed in red energy, sending a red energy slash colliding with Hamal, making her fall to the ground again.
“Let’s let her have it!” Brando exclaimed.
Hamal huffed as she got to her feet, “Fate dictates that I must leave!”
Hamal spun around and took one step forward before Kenneth leapt at her, performing a flaming slashing down at the Duchess, “I think fate has other plans!” Hamal tumbled to the ground as Kenneth looked at the others, “Hope you don’t mind.”
“The more the merrier!” Neil laughed, “How about we finish this?”
“Sure thing!” Alura exclaimed as she, Neil, Tip, Hydra, and Brando plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers while Kenneth sheathed his sword.
Kenneth pulled the trigger on his sword and unsheathed it, covering its blade in flames as energy gathered around the Morphers of the others.
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
Red, gold, green, yellow, and dark energy spheres with tails like comets collided with Hamal, making her stagger back as her body sparked. Kenneth then delivered two flaming slashes at her, making her go up in flames as he flourished his sword, her body hitting the ground a few moments later.
“Shine on!” Neil declared.
Suddenly, Tip, Alura, and Brando glowed again before unmorphing.
“Uh, that was so weird,” Alura said, clenching her stomach.
Tip chuckled as they struck a pose, “Who cares? We’re back to normal now!”
“Easy for you to say,” Brando wretched, “I feel like I just finished something I shouldn’t have.”
In the throne room of Ukhu Pacha, Karna Rog watched what was happening on a screen. “Don’t get it twisted, Rangers, we’re not done yet,” Karna Rog rasped before snapping his fingers.
A dark cloud formed above the forest, with pitch black electricity crackling through it. After a moment a pitch black bolt of lightning shot down from it to hit the Hamal body, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy which flew away before reforming into a giant Hamal, “How’s this for a plot twist!”
“Pretty unimpressive,” Neil replied before looking at the others, “Don’t worry guys, I’ll handle her.”
He pulled out the Supernova Sphere, plugging it into his Morpher and pressing the button on top.
“Supernova Sphere!”
He spun the ring around it, becoming enveloped in light and emerging in his Leorion form. “Time to put our new power to good use!” Neil said, pressing the button on the Nova Sphere again and spinning the ring. A portal opened above him that moved downwards, transporting him into the Orion Nova Sphere.
“Initiate transformation sequence!” Neil declared from the cockpit, pressing the button on top of the Nova Sphere once more and spinning the ring.
The Carrierzord’s piston connected the Orion Nova Sphere to the Orion Zord before the Zord took off, and the Carrierzord shifted to face downwards and spun around.
Everyone on the bridge was suddenly thrown forward as the ship shifted position.
The front of the Carrierzord beneath the launchpads split in half, becoming a pair of legs. A section on the left had a section slide down to become an arm, while the Orion Zord plugged into a section on the right, part of it rotating ninety degrees to become an arm and club. Lastly, a section near the top slid down to reveal a blue-maned face as the thrusters above it turned on to create a crown of blue fire.
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
The Battlezord flourished its club as Hamal extended her hands forward, “A new toy isn’t going to save you!” Yellow light flashed from her hands as nearby power lines shifted into a cage around her and the Battlezord. She then charged forward, wielding her lance once more. The Battlezord swung its club, knocking the point of the lance to the ground in a shower of sparks before it could collide and bashing her across the chest.
She then retaliated, grabbing the lance by both handles and jabbing it into the Battlezord’s chest, spinning backwards as Battlezord collided with the power line behind it. This barely slowed the Battlezord down, as it then immediately hit Hamal with its club again, knocking her through the power lines and onto the ground. The Battlezord rested its club in its hand as Hamal got to her feet, cackling as she held her lance with both hands and began firing it like a Gatling gun at the Battlezord.
The Battlezord powered through the shots, even blocking one with its club as it approached the Duchess. “Have a taste of this!” Neil declared as the Battlezord smashed through a few more power lines Hamal was near and then at her, but she backstepped the attack. Hamal then charged forward, only for the Battlezord to slam its club into her chest.
Hamal tried to charge at the Battlezord again, only for it to lean down and hit her with blasts from the thrusters on its head, creating a shower of sparks as she was knocked back.
“Time to end this,” Neil said as he pressed the button on top of the Supernova Sphere and spun its ring. Golden energy gathered in front of the Orion Battlezord, becoming a massive energy projection of the Orion Nova Sphere that hovered in front of it.
“Orion Dynamic Breaker!”
The Orion Battlezord swung its club, sending the energy projection flying towards Hamal. “Who could have foreseen this?” Hamal yelled as the attack collided with her and made her explode.
“The stars of hope still shine,” Neil declared as the Battlezord lowered its club.
A bit later, the Orion Carrierzord was in space, with the Rangers assembled in its bridge. “Alura, would you mind scratching my ear again? It felt quite good,” Sirius asked.
“Oh fine,” Alura replied with a smile, moving to scratch the Fenrisulfrian’s ears.
Arthur smirked, “Hey Tip, would you mind telling me a bit about manners when dealing with other species?”
“Ugh, you guys are never gonna let us live that stuff down, are you?”
Neil laughed, “Well, aside from you guys spilling the beans it was pretty funny.”
“Indeed,” Hydra grinned.
“Have to say, Neil, that Orion Zord of yours was pretty impressive,” Kenneth said, leaning up against a wall.
Corvile nodded, “Yes, there’s no telling what would’ve happened if you hadn’t made it, you might’ve just saved the Carrierzord.”
“Aw, thanks guys,” Neil said with a smile as he scratched the back of his head, holding the Leo Minor Zord with his other hand.
“Yup, if it weren’t for you, all the Revolution’s hard work creating this place would’ve been for nothing!” Shen replied.
Birdie sighed, “You know, I’ll miss the original Orion, there were a lot of great memories there.
“I will too,” Shen replied, putting a hand on her shoulder, “but I’m sure we’ll make a lot of new ones here.”
“Starting with a great meal!” Brando said as he pulled a cart of food into the room.
Birdie chuckled as the others began to dig in, “Nice to have you back, Brando, it was pretty funny seeing you act like you would have fun fighting Aster one-on-one though.”
“Yeah,” Brando chuckled.
Leiurus’s eyes widened and he froze up for a moment before speaking, “Wait a second, where’s Aster?”
On board a lab on the Capital-class Consumoai, Scehdar and the Doctor stood next to Aster, who was strapped down to a table and seemingly offline. “Well Doctor, think you can use him for somethin’ or another?” Schedar giggled excitedly.
The Doctor gave a nod, “I might be able to do something with the schematics of my own body and the schematics of his, but that would require resources we don’t have available here.”
“Then that settles it,” Schedar replied, “we head somewhere else immediately.” She skipped out of the room, “Ooh I can’t wait to tell the others, that future Hamal told me is about to come true!”
The Doctor gave a nod, his gaze lingering on Aster for a moment before he turned away to focus on something else.
Notes:
Hamal is based after spoon bending and other psychic abilities
Well, I have to say, I really liked writing this chapter. The changes to Tip, Alura, and Brando were fun, and Mirfak advances his plan a bit further. Like Mothema, I also changed Hamal’s gender from the Sentai to get another female MotW. Honestly, it feels like I’ve really got my energy back. That being said, I can’t guarantee 33 will be as quick to come out as this one, since I start college this Monday, but I won’t leave you guys hanging for as long as 31, that’s for sure. As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 33: Labyrinth
Chapter Text
Inside the Orion Carrierzord, Neil, Sirius, and Arthur stood outside of Leiurus’s room, with Neil carrying the Leo Minor Zord in his arms. “Leiurus, are you still in there?” Sirius asked, knocking on the door. No response.
“Come on, man, no one’s seen you in days, we’re getting worried,” Neil added. Still no response.
Arthur gave a concerned look, “Listen, we can talk about it if you want, we’re all worried.”
The door to the room opened, revealing Leiurus standing on the other side of the threshold. “Listen,” Leiurus said, shaking his head, “I appreciate it, I really do, especially since you guys have been searching for him the past few days. Aster… he’s probably the person I’ve been the closest with in a long time, and yeah, I am worried about him, more than you can imagine, but this is personal, it’s something I need to deal with on my own.”
“Aster was our friend too, do not be afraid to talk to us, Leiurus. Dealing with it alone might be what you want, but might not be what you need,” Sirius replied.
“You better not be planning to go off on your own again,” Arthur said sternly, “remember what happened last time?”
Leiurus hung his head with a sour look, thinking back to Antares almost offlined Aster, “How could I forget? But I’m not going to do that this time, it might put him in more danger if I do.” He shook his head before looking at the others again and gave a wave, “I’m glad to know you guys have my back, but I don’t need you right now, you can leave.”
“Actually, we also came to talk about something else,” Neil replied, “dad thinks we might’ve picked up a signal from Aster’s Morpher.”
Leiurus’s eyes widened as a hint of excitement filled his voice, “And you didn’t open with that why?”
Neil shrugged, “Figured it was more important to see if you were okay.”
“Whatever,” Leiurus shook his head, “let’s get going.” He maneuvered past the three of them, breaking into a sprint towards the bridge.
“Hey!” Arthur exclaimed.
“Wait on us!” Sirius added as he ran after Leiurus alongside the other two.
Leiurus burst into the bridge, immediately turning his attention to Shen, “Commander, you said you might have found where Aster is?”
“Well yes,” Shen replied as Neil, Sirius, and Arthur entered, “we got a very short signal from his Morpher on the planet Crete in the Taurus system, his homeworld as you know.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Leiurus asked, “No one gets left behind, right? Let’s go get him.”
Alura turned to look at him, “Well, we’ve been discussing the best course of action.”
Birdie nodded, “Seeing as he’s almost definitely captured by the Empire, this signal is more than likely a trap assuming it wasn’t some fluke.”
“Yeah, gotta be cautious and stuff,” Tip said, leaning back in a seat.
Brando gave a nod, “Better if we play it safe.”
“Guess so,” Leiurus said, taking a deep breath, “So what’s the plan then?”
“Well, I suggested we send down a small group to investigate,” Corvile replied, “Not enough to put everyone at risk, but not too few as to not stand a chance.”
Kenneth threw an arm over his fiancé’s shoulder, “Great at planning as always, Corvile.”
“It’s a very basic plan, Kenneth,” Corvile scoffed. Kenneth seemed to deflate at that.
Hydra shook his head, “Simple or not, it will no doubt be effective.”
“Alright,” Leiurus sighed, “but I will be on this mission.”
Shen twirled his cane, “Alright, Leiurus, I understand. Now let’s see who else is going. Hit it, Arthur!” Arthur moved up to one of the bridge’s consoles and pressed a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Neil!”
“Got it, dad!” Neil exclaimed.
“Sirius!”
The Fenrisulfrian nodded, “I am ready.”
“Arthur!”
“Got it,” Arthur replied.
“Kenneth!”
Kenneth smiled, “I’m sure I can help things go smoothly.”
“Alright Birdie, set a course for Crete,” Shen said, looking at the android.
Alura spoke as she and Brando walked up to Leiurus, “Good luck finding him down there.”
“Yeah, he’s our pal too,” Brando added, “we’d be going too if we spoke up quicker, didn’t think the Boss would start cooking up choices so quickly.”
Leiurus gave a nod, “I won’t let either of you down.”
In a laboratory on Crete, the Knights of Andromeda stood around an empty operating table, with the Doctor’s prone, lifeless form laying on the ground a few feet away. “Schedar, you idiot!” Alderamin roared, slamming his flail into a nearby wall and making Schedar jump back, “What have you done!”
“What she’s done is let the Ranger escape, get the Doctor killed, and allow for information about Project Wormwood to be given to the Rangers to recap,” Mirfak said dryly as he kicked the Doctor with his metal leg, sending a loud metal clang through the lab.
“He didn’t hear anything about the specifics!” Schedar retorted, anger evident.
Alderamin glared at her, “That’s still too much information! The Rangers know about it now, and there’s no doubt they’ll try to investigate it!”
“It’s impressive that we left to deal with affairs on the ship for so little time and yet you manage to do this much damage,” Mirfak said coldly.
Schedar stomped her foot and spoke with rage in her voice, “Shut up!”
Alderamin huffed, “Completely unacceptable. It seems your pettiness has finally cost us dearly.”
“Be quiet!” Schedar yelled, gripping the sides of her head.
Alderamin shook his head, “Both of you, leave. I’m handling this. I’ll terminate him before he has a chance to tell the other Rangers.”
“I’ll inform the Emperor of our situation, he should be made aware of such a massive risk to his plan,” Mirfak said, giving an almost inaudible chuckle.
Schedar huffed as her arms fell down to her sides, “Oh fine.”
Schedar and Mirfak disappeared in a swirl of dark energy as Alderamin turned to face a dark corner of the room. “You’ll be helping me with this,” he said as something moved in the darkness, punctuated with mechanical noises. “At least the Doctor was able to finish you,” he chuckled.
Elsewhere on Crete, Neil, Leiurus, Sirius, Arthur, and Kenneth walked through sprawling streets surrounded by towering buildings. “Aster!” Sirius barked out, “Where are you?”
“Aster!” Neil yelled, earning him and Sirius a few confused looks from passersby.
Leiurus shook his head, “This place is as much of a maze as I remember.”
“Labyrinth would probably be more accurate,” Arthur shrugged in response.
Kenneth nodded, “This is a very developed planet, we could be looking for a while.”
“We don’t have that kind of time,” Leiurus scowled, “Who knows what the Empire’s done to him already.” He looked at Neil, “There has to be a Nova Sphere that can lead us to him, right?”
Arthur shook his head, “You know we used the Pyxis Nova Sphere to try and find him after he left, but it can only find objects, not people.”
“And there are too many smells for me to try and find his scent,” Sirius said, covering his nose.
Leiurus sighed, “Just our luck, could this be any worse?”
“Rangers, it’s unacceptable that you show your faces here!” a voice from behind them called, making them spin around to see the source of it.
“Alderamin!” Sirius snarled, getting into a fighting position alongside the other Rangers.
Leiurus narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, “You’re the one behind this, aren’t you?”
Alderamin scoffed, “Taking your friend was Schedar’s doing, I’m just here to clean up the mess she made.”
“Of course it was her,” Leiurus grimaced.
Kenneth smirked, “Well we can’t let you do that. How about we defeat you for good this-”
Kenneth was cut off by a series of thick red lasers from a rooftop that struck near him and the other Rangers, knocking them to the ground. “What the heck was that?” Arthur asked, trying to recover.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” Neil replied, attempting to get to his feet.
From a nearby rooftop, the source of the blasts leapt down, landing on the ground before getting to its feet. It was a machine that greatly resembled the Doctor, but its head was noticeably different, being constructed more similarly to Aster’s, with a bovine skull-like upper jaw, red eye sockets, and a dark blue, mohawk-like crest on its head.
“What is that?” Sirius asked with confusion as he stood up.
Leiurus narrowed his eyes, “And why does it look like Aster?”
“Rangers, this is the Bovidrone,” Alderamin said, moving to stand next to the machine, “we used some of your friend’s schematics to help build it.”
Kenneth sighed, “Good grief, a new toy for the Empire to wreak havoc with, let’s hope this one won’t break as easily.”
“Oh it will,” Leiurus replied, “all this thing is is a cheap knockoff.”
Alderamin laughed, “Could the original do this?” The Bovidrone extended its arms forward and unleashed a hail of bullets from the hooves on the back of its arms at the Rangers' feet, making them move back to avoid them. As the Rangers tried to recover, the inside of the cannon on the Bovidrone’s shoulder began to glow before it was peppered with black energy projectiles in the face and chest. The attacks made the Bovidrone stumble backwards, its cannon seeming to shut down as it did.
The Rangers gave noises of confusion before looking up to see a morphed Aster on top of a smaller building.
“Aster!” Leiurus called out, relieved.
Aster didn’t say anything, leaping down from his perch with a growl and charging at the Bovidrone, punching it in the chest and making it stagger back slightly. The Bovidrone retaliated by making a sweeping shot with its laser, forcing Aster and the other Rangers to duck and cleaving through any lamp posts or vehicles unfortunate enough to collide with it.
“We need to help him!” Neil declared, readying his Morpher alongside the others.
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The morphed Rangers charged forward, but Alderamin was able to intercept Neil and Kenneth, swinging at them with his fist and retracted flail. Luckily, Neil deflected the flail by swinging his sword and Kenneth blocked the fist with his shield. “We’ll hold him off, you guys help Aster!” Neil ordered.
“Understood,” Sirius growled as he, Leiurus, and Arthur ran after Aster, who was managing to push the Bovidrone back.
“Bovidrone, terminate the Taurus Ranger!” Alderamin commanded as he blocked a swing from Neil with his left arm and then swiped Kenneth’s sword away mid-swing with his fist.
Neil and Kenneth fell back, with Neil plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher while Kenneth sheathed his sword, pulled the trigger, and unsheathed it.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
They swung their swords, sending a flaming slash and a red energy slash flying at Alderamin. The Knight responded quickly, tossing his flail onto his shoulder before firing a massive energy beam from the stump of his arm. The beam overtook the slashes before hitting Neil and Kenneth and knocking them to the ground. He approached them, conjuring a fireball in his hand and winding up to throw it as they got to their feet, “Say goodbye!”
Neil quickly pulled out a pink Nova Sphere depicting a bird of paradise.
“Apus Nova Sphere!”
A large pink bird of paradise appeared, a trail of pink energy trailing behind it just as Alderamin hurled the fireball, which instantly grew significantly bigger. The bird flew in front of Neil and Kenneth, making them vanish as it flew off, moments before the fireball could hit them.
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin roared, swinging his flail into a nearby building.
Some ways away in an alley, Aster had managed to grapple the Bovidrone, growling aggressively, “Just offline already!”
The Bovidrone retaliated by firing several short blasts from its shoulder cannon, forcing Aster to let go to avoid it, rolling out of the way of a blast that cleaved through the ground. Aster gave a yell as he ran forward and shoulder-checked the Bovidrone with incredible force, sending it flying through the air, out of the alley, and into the side of a building.
Aster unmorphed, steam shooting from his nostrils as Leiurus, Sirius, and Arthur ran into view. “Aster! There you are!” Leiurus exclaimed with relief.
“Get away!” Aster yelled after taking notice of them, “I don’t want to hurt you!”
Arthur gave a confused look, “Aster, what are you talking about?”
Aster didn’t respond, simply giving a huff and breaking into a sprint.
“Aster!” Leiurus yelled, extending a hand forward.
Sirius tilted his head to the side, “What has gotten into him?”
“The Empire must’ve done something to him,” Leiurus scowled. Suddenly his Morpher rang and he lifted it up to speak into it, “Talk.”
“Leiurus, how’s it going with the Bovidrone and Aster?” Neil’s voice asked from the other end.
“The Bovidrone got knocked through a building, but Aster ran off after saying he didn’t want to hurt us, I’m worried,” Leiurus said with a sigh.
“Don’t give up, Neil replied, “he’s gotta be around here somewhere.”
Leiurus closed his eyes and gave a nod, “I won’t.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for the Bovidrone and Alderamin,” Kenneth’s voice suddenly said from the other end, “You probably should too, there’s no telling what they’ll do to get to Aster.”
Leiurus nodded again, “I understand.”
“What do they even want with Aster anyway? They already have his schematics for the Bovidrones,” Arthur asked as Leiurus lowered his Morpher and Sirius sniffed the air.
Leiurus shook his head, “I don’t know, but judging by how worked up Alderamin was and what he said about it, it couldn’t have been good for them.”
“To be fair, a lot of things seem to work Alderamin up,” Arthur shrugged, earning a snort from Leiurus in response.
Sirius suddenly spun around, “I can smell him now, I know what path he has made.”
“Then let’s get going, lead the way,” Leiurus said urgently. Sirius gave a nod before heading down the alleyway Aster took, Leiurus and Arthur following behind him.
As they ran out of view, Alderamin walked up next to the building the Bovidrone had been knocked into. “Now where did that pile of scrap head off to?” he mused before the Bovidrone hit the ground a few feet in front of him.
“You lost? Unacceptable,” Alderamin growled as the Bovidrone mechanically got to its feet, “Hurry up, we need to keep looking.” Alderamin began to walk, the Bovidrone following close behind, “Focus on terminating the Taurus Ranger, once he’s been dealt with this fiasco will be over.” Alderamin grumbled as he continued to move forward, “We’ve come too far for galactic peace to be foiled now.”
Aster stood on a sidewalk next to a building, slamming his fist into it as steam shot from his nostrils while mumbling, “You idiot, you monster…”
“I see him!” Sirius’s voice suddenly rang out, prompting Aster to spin around.
“I told you to stay away!” Aster said once he saw Leiurus, Sirius, and Arthur. Without another word, he broke into a sprint.
Arthur quickly pulled out a blue Nova Sphere depicting a Centaur and plugged it into his Morpher before aiming at Leiurus, “I’ve got this!”
“Centaurus Nova Sphere!”
Leiurus’s lower body became enveloped in blue energy that resembled the body of a horse before rapidly galloping towards Aster. He tackled Aster to the ground, the energy dissipating as he did. “Leiurus, get off of me, please!” Aster said, trying to get Leiurus off of him, but it was clear he wasn’t using the strength he could have, “I don’t want to hurt you!”
“What are you talking about? Aster, you wouldn’t hurt us,” Leiurus said as Sirius and Arthur ran to join them.
“Yes, I will!” Aster yelled, distraught, making passersby give them confused looks.
Leiurus loosened his hold a bit, “I’m not letting go until you calm down and tell us what’s wrong.” Aster struggled a bit, making Leiurus give a sigh and put his head to Aster’s chest, “Listen Aster, it’s been days. You know I’m not usually an emotional person, but I’ve been worried out of my mind. So please, tell me what happened.”
Aster gave a sigh and stopped struggling before giving a sigh, “Alright, fine.” Leiurus gave a nod before getting off of Aster, allowing him to stand up before moving to sit next to a building, “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Arthur shook his head, “Aster, it’s like Leiurus said, you’re not gonna hurt us.”
“At least not intentionally,” Sirius added.
Aster shook his head and gave a sigh, “It… it doesn’t matter.”
Leiurus shook his head, “Alright Aster, can you tell us what happened there? What’s making you think all of that?”
“I don’t remember what happened for most of the time I was there, but I remember how I got out, and that,” Aster seemed to prepare himself for what he was going to say next, “that’s when everything happened.”
Aster switched on, finding himself on the laboratory’s operating table. He wasn’t strapped down, and it was fairly obvious who did that, as the Doctor stood beside him, attaching his Morpher to his arm. Aster noticed the Imperial emblem on the Doctor’s chest and immediately shot up, grabbing his arm and preparing to punch the Doctor with his other hand, “Where am I and what are you doing!”
“Please be quiet,” the Doctor said with what seemed to be concern in his text to speech voice as he raised his free hand to make a shushing motion, “I am trying to help you, Asterion.”
Aster huffed, “Why should I trust you?”
“Because the Empire already has what it wants from you, Alderamin has ordered you be dismantled,” the Doctor replied with a hint of guilt, “I was under Schedar’s control until then.”
“So she used her powers on you too then, typical,” Aster said, unimpressed, “but how do I know you’re not lying?”
“Because why would the Empire go through the trouble of tricking you and reactivating you when you were already going to be dismantled while deactivated?” the Doctor replied, sounding unimpressed.
Aster scoffed, “Because that’s the exact kind of thing Schedar would do.”
The Doctor was quiet for a long moment, “That is not entirely wrong.” The Doctor seemed to give some imitation of a sigh before putting his free hand to Aster’s shoulder, “I can explain this all in greater detail later, I don’t think we have much time now. I just need you to trust me, please, Asterion.”
“This feels familiar,” Aster mused as he looked at the Doctor’s hand on his shoulder. Slowly and hesitantly, Aster let go of the Doctor’s arm, “Alright, but if there’s any funny business this little truce is over, got it?”
The Doctor gave a nod, “I understand.” He moved to allow Aster to get off the table before speaking in a slightly sad tone, “I don’t blame you for the mistrust.”
As Aster got to his feet, he took notice of a deactivated Bovidrone standing in a corner, “What the heck is that thing?”
“Something I designed while under Schedar’s influence using elements of my and your bodies, it’s meant to be a weapon,” the Doctor said, shaking his head, “I can only hope I’ll be able to make up for it and everything else I’ve done under the Empire’s command.”
“Guess we’ll see,” Aster said skeptically, “could’ve at least made its head look like yours truly.”
The Doctor gave a chuckle, “Perhaps.”
As the two of them moved to exit the room, the door suddenly opened, revealing Schedar on the other side of the threshold. “Well hiya Astie! Didn’t expect to see you up and movin’ around!” she giggled.
“Oh no,” the Doctor replied monotonously.
“Schedar!” Aster growled, steam shooting from his nose as he got into a fighting stance.
Schedar gave a twirl as she took a step forward, “Looks like we got a little reunion goin’ on. Ain’t that sweet, chat?” She looked at the Doctor, “I assume you’re the one who turned him on?”
“Yes, I am,” the Doctor replied, “I am done being your puppet.” There was clear defiance in his voice under the mechanical monotone.
Schedar giggled, “Well that is a real shame! You’re one of my favorite people to collab with, especially since Eurypto went and became a pincushion.” She shrugged, “Unfortunately for you, I don’t really want that to happen. Ah well, would you at least mind doin’ one more for old time’s sake, right chat?”
Before Aster or the Doctor could do anything, Schedar spoke into her microphone, “Get him.” Purple sound waves issued from the microphone, hitting the Doctor.
The tendrils on the Doctor’s head glowed pink for a moment and he reached towards Aster, but froze part way, seeming to resist Schedar before more sound waves hit him, making him reach forward more. “Asterion… please… run,” the Doctor tried to say before taking a swipe at Aster.
Aster managed to sidestep the attack, “Listen, I don’t entirely trust you, but I don’t want to have to hurt you!”
“You don’t really have a choice!” Schedar chuckled, hopping from one foot to the other. The Doctor immediately began firing bullets from the back of his hooves, forcing Aster to break into a sprint and plug his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Star Charge!”
He sprinted at the Doctor, throwing a fist at him, but the Doctor blocked it. The Doctor retaliated immediately, firing a few blasts from his shoulder cannon to force Aster away from him. The Doctor then closed the distance, taking another swipe at Aster. Aster swung his own arm, forcing the Doctor’s out of the way before kicking the Doctor in the chest, making him stagger back into a table. Steam shot out of the arm Aster wielded his axe with, the space between his forearm and elbow glowing as he delivered a powerful swing, severing the wires connecting his head to his body and leaving a massive gash across his chest. The table collapsed, making the Doctor hit the ground.
The Doctor tried to get up, but it was to no avail as his limbs seized up. The tendrils sticking out his head glowed pink momentarily before slowly fading. “As-Aster-Asterion, I’m sor-sorry,” the Doctor said, his voice glitching, “I wish I cou-could help you now li-like I did then.”
Aster tilted his head confusedly, “What are you talking about?” After a moment, he slowly lowered his axe, “Were you a friend of Professor Ain?”
The Doctor’s voice stopped glitching for a moment as he spoke clearly, his text to speech voice gone, “No, I am Professor Ain.”
Aster dropped his axe to the ground and unmorphed, steadying himself on a wall as he froze up. “No. That’s not true. That’s impossible!” Aster’s voice was shaky before he yelled out the last part, despair and agony in his voice.
“As-Aster-Asterion, it is o-okay,” Professor Ain replied as his voice began to glitch again, trying his best to comfort his creation.
“No!” Aster yelled with anguish as he fell to his knees in front of the Professor, slamming his fist into the ground, “No! No!”
With some effort, the Professor reached out to put his hand on Aster’s shoulder, “Ev-ever-every-everything will be fine, As-Aster-Asterion. Please prom-promise me one thing.”
“What.. what is it?” Aster said shakily.
“Stop Pro-Project Worm-Wormwood,” Professor Ain said slowly, “Good-goodbye As-Aster-Asterion, I’m sorry.”
“Wait, what’s Project Wormwood?” Aster asked as Professor Ain went limp in his arms, “Professor? Professor? Professor!”
Aster gave a howl of sorrow and rage as Schedar giggled, “Quite the twist, right chat? It’s like a movie scene, ain’t it?”
Slowly, Aster turned to look at her before speaking with a low voice dripping with rage, “What did you do?”
“Well, he was one of the best Engineers in the universe, so of course the Empire wanted him, that’s why we sent Antares,” Schedar said with a twirl, “After that, I came in and used my powers on him to help us. His brain was what we wanted, ya see chat? So we also started gettin’ rid of all the unnecessary bits, didn’t stop him from makin’ a new body though.” She gave a giggle, “How’s it feel knowin’ you smoked him?”
“Get away!” Aster yelled, getting to his feet. He broke into a sprint before Schedar could react, tossing her to the ground and storming out of the lab.
“And that’s what happened,” Aster said quietly.
Leiurus, Sirius, and Arthur were quiet for a moment before Leiurus took a step forward and put a hand on Aster’s shoulder, “Aster… I’m so, so sorry.”
“That’s horrible,” Arthur said softly.
Sirius growled, “Everything Schedar does is horrible.”
“All this time I spent looking for Professor Ain… and now he’s gone,” Aster said softly.
Leiurus kissed the front of Aster’s snout, “It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah,” Arthur replied, “You were just defending yourself, and you had no way of knowing that it was him.”
Aster shook his head, “That doesn’t mean I still don’t feel bad about it. If I had trusted him a bit more, given him the benefit of the doubt a bit more, then maybe I would’ve tried to stop him from attacking in some other way.” Aster looked down at his lap, “I just wish I knew what he was thinking during all of it.”
“I know what you’re thinking, and he didn't blame you,” Leiurus said comfortingly, “He spent what time he had left trying to help and comfort you, he didn’t hate you, don’t think that.”
Aster sighed, “I’m not it’s just… I don’t know what to feel or what to do now. Feels like there’s no point in going on.”
Sirius was quiet for a moment before slowly taking a step forward, “Aster, do you remember what Neil told me when we first met?”
“Kinda? It’s been months though,” Aster gave a small shrug.
“The ones we lost can be reason enough to go on,” Sirius said, sitting down next to him, “You can give your creator justice, you can make sure his death and the help he gave you was not in vain. He created you to help people, did he not? I am sure he would be proud to know that despite everything, you are still trying to make the galaxy a better place.”
“And I’ll be right beside you to help you do that,” Leiurus said as he put a hand on Aster’s shoulder.
Aster slowly turned to look at him, “You’re… you’re right. I’m sure he’d want me to be sad, but not throwing this much of a pity party. I can fix this, make sure he can rest by taking Schedar down.” He stood up, holding his fist forward, “Thanks, Sirius, it means a lot to me.”
Sirius bumped his fist against Aster’s as he stood up, “It is no problem, you should thank Neil.”
“Speaking of Neil, we should probably call him and the others, that Project Wormwood thing you mentioned sounds pretty important,” Arthur replied.
Leiurus stood up, patting Aster on the shoulder before preparing to speak into his Morpher, “I’ll call him and Kenneth right now.”
Before Leiurus could say anything, several red energy beams struck near the Rangers, making them all stagger back and fall to the ground.
“That’s an unacceptable idea, one I can’t let you go through with,” Alderamin said, entering the scene alongside the Bovidrone.
“Alderamin!” Sirius snarled.
Alderamin looked down at Aster, “You know too much, and it’s absolutely unacceptable to let you live while you know that information.”
“You mean Project Wormwood?” Arthur questioned.
“Well then, it looks like none of you are leaving here alive today,” Alderamin scoffed as he pointed his right arm down at the four Rangers, energy gathering near the front of it while the Bovidrone charged up its cannon.
Before either of them could fire, they were peppered with projectiles, making them stagger back as the gathering energy dissipated. “Guys!” Neil said as he and Kenneth ran into view.
“Are you all okay?” Kenneth asked as he and Neil helped the others to their feet.
“Could be better,” Arthur replied as Neil helped him up.
“Nice to see you, Aster,” Neil said, helping him to stand after Arthur.
“Same here,” Aster chuckled.
Alderamin scowled at them, “Your timing is completely unacceptable!”
“You should be used to that by now,” Leiurus shot back.
Alderamin growled, “It doesn’t matter, I have a job to do.” Alderamin dropped his flail from his shoulder, “And I’m not going to stop until it’s done.”
“Guess we’ll just have to send you and that cheap knockoff to the scrapyard!” Aster declared.
“Let’s do this!” Neil declared as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light, which faded to reveal them in their suits.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they yelled in unison before charging towards Alderamin and the Bovidrone. As they approached, Alderamin raised his hand, and a pair of Consumoai landed some distance behind the Rangers in their robot forms.
As the Rangers spun around, Shen’s voice came through their Morphers, “Leave those two to me!”
“Got it, dad!” Neil replied before he and the other Ranger turned to continue charging at Alderamin.
On the bridge, Shen turned to look at Alura and Brando, “How about you two come with me since you weren’t picked?”
“Sounds good, Boss,” Brando replied.
Birdie tapped a few buttons on the control panel, “Initiating Zord deployment!”
From just behind the middle launchpad, the Dorado Zord emerged from a hatch and moved onto the launchpad. The enlarged Dorado Nova Sphere slotted into the piston in front of the control tower, which pushed it to connect to the Dorado Zord. “Dorado Zord, ready to order!” Brando exclaimed.
The Chamaeleon Zord emerged from a hatch to the right of the Dorado Zord, moving onto the right launchpad. Like before, the Chamaeleon Nova Sphere slotted into the piston, and the control tower turned to line it up with the Chamaeleon Zord before slotting it in. “Chamaeleon Zord, all clear!” Alura declared.
The two Zords took off as the bottom of the Carrierzord opened, allowing the Draco Zord to fly out of it and get in formation to combine with the other two.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
The Megazord landed near the two Consumoai, the Dorado Zord making up its right arm and the Chamaeleon Zord making up its left. The Megazord and the Consumoai charged at each other, with the Megazord slashing one Consumoai as it marched past it before kicking the other in the chest.
On the ground, Neil, Sirius, and Kenneth had engaged Alderamin. Neil slashed at the Knight, who blocked the attack with his retracted mace. Neil rolled past Alderamin, getting behind the Knight as he swung his flail at Sirius and swung his fist at Kenneth. Sirius batted the flail away while Kenneth blocked the fist with his shield. Immediately Alderamin kicked Kenneth’s shield, forcing him away as he swung his flail at Neil, hitting him across the chest as the Leo Ranger attempted a jumping attack.
A short distance away, the Bovidrone fired a barrage of projectiles from the hooves on the back of its arms at Leiurus, Aster, and Arthur, who blocked the attacks with their weapons. Aster fired a blast at the Bovidrone, but it took a step forward and seemed to disappear. “Where’d it go?” Aster asked, confused. A gust of wind pushed past them, and the Bovidrone was now behind the three Rangers, raising its hands up to its head and launching a spinning vertical dark energy slash at Aster from the crest on its head.
“Watch it!” Arthur said as he slashed the attack, dispelling it before charging at the Bovidrone and striking it across the chest.
Aster put a hand on Leiurus’s shoulder, “Hey, when we’re done here can you follow me back to that lab? I wanna give Professor Ain a proper burial.”
“Sure thing, and if you need to talk about anything, I’ll listen,” Leiurus replied.
“Sure thing,” Aster nodded before changing at the Bovidrone alongside Leiurus to help Arthur.
Meanwhile, the Draco Star Megazord slashed one of the Consumoai across the chest before spinning around to slash the other.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Lupus Strike!”
Neil and Sirius swung their weapons, sending a red energy slash and two spinning blue energy slashes at Alderamin. The Knight batted Kenneth away, throwing a fireball at the slashes that caused a sizable explosion. Neil and Sirius used the cover to charge him, slashing him across the chest twice.
“That was for my wife and my people!” Sirius snarled.
Alderamin roared, “I’ve served Emperor Karna Rog longer than any other! I won’t let his plans be foiled now!” Alderamin He slammed his foot into the ground, making patches of it near the Rangers seem to melt before shooting up and solidifying into massive spikes, which Neil and the others narrowly avoided. Alderamin then extended his flail, swinging it around wildly, forcing the Rangers to dodge it alongside debris from the spikes it smashed into.
“Looks like we struck a nerve,” Kenneth stated, “we’ll need to finish him off fast.”
“I’ve got just the thing to do it!” Neil exclaimed, pulling out the Supernova Sphere and plugging it into his Morpher, pressing the button on top.
“Supernova Sphere!”
He spun its ring, becoming engulfed in incandescent light before emerging in his Leorion Ranger form. Alderamin retreated his flail before launching it at Neil at high speed. Neil immediately opened a portal in front of him and another behind Alderamin, making the flail travel through it and hit the Knight in the back. Alderamin staggered forward into slashes from Kenneth and Sirius, who proceeded to kick him back into another portal Neil opened.
Alderamin appeared from the other end next to Neil, who slashed him as it closed and sent him staggering back. “Enough games!” Alderamin roared, firing a massive blast of energy from his left arm.
Neil and Sirius held their Morphers forward, sending beams of incandescent and blue energy forward while Kenneth pointed his sword forth, sending a beam of flames forward as well. The beams collided in a massive explosion that sent Alderamin staggering back.
Arthur ran forward and slashed the Bovidrone, moving out of the way as Leiurus came to stab at it with his spear before spinning around and lashing it with his tail, making it stumble back. Aster then plugged his Nova Sphere into his axe.
“Aldebaran Strike!”
The blade of his axe became engulfed in black energy as he swung it, sending a spinning black energy axe colliding with the Bovidrone and knocking it back significantly. It collided with Alderamin, knocking him to the ground alongside it as he gave a yell of, “Unacceptable!”
The six Rangers got together readying themselves for their next move. “Let’s end this!” Neil declared as the six of them prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Constellation Crash!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
“Time to wrap this up!” Shen said, opening and closing the mouth of his cane. Outside, the Cockpits of the Draco Star Megazord began to glow.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The sky became dark and star-filled as the Rangers fired a massive ball of ringed white energy at Alderamin and the Bovidrone. Alderamin’s sea beast pauldron began to glow before impact, making him dissolve into golden energy. The Bovidrone wasn’t so lucky, becoming engulfed in a massive explosion before its chassis hit the ground. Behind the Rangers, the Draco Star Megazord fired beams of energy from its cockpits, destroying the two Consumoai on contact.
“Shine on!” the Rangers declared in unison.
Unfortunately, the golden energy that Alderamin had turned into swirled and grew, coalescing into a giant version of the Knight, “This should be enough to crush you!”
On board the Capital-class Consumoai’s control room, Mirfak snapped his fingers, “Activate the Bovidrone’s dark matter size alteration implant.”
The Bovidrone’s inactive body dissolved into dark energy that swirled and grew, forming into a giant Bovidrone that stood next to Alderamin.
“Come on guys, we need to go help the others!” Neil declared, earning nods among the other Rangers as they called on their Zords. Cockpits formed around them, flying into the air and connecting to their respective Zords, which prepared to get into position to combine. Meanwhile, Neil spun the ring of the Supernova Sphere, prompting the Orion Carrierzord to begin to transform as well.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
The Two Megazords and the Battlezord stood alongside the Draco Star Megazord, with this formation of the Supernova Megazord having the Ursa Zords as its right arm, the Scorpius Zord as its left arm, the Taurus Zord as its right leg, and the Lupus Zord as its left leg.
“Time to show you what we’re made of!” Neil exclaimed.
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled, sending an orange energy projection of his fist flying forward as the Bovidrone fired its cannon. This didn’t deter the three Megazords and the Battlezord, who advanced forward through the attacks. Alderamin batted the Battlezord’s mace away, and smacked it with his retracted flail, only to be jabbed into the chest by the Supernova Megazord using the Scorpius Zords before getting smacked with the Ursa Zords, sending him staggering back.
Meanwhile, the Draco Star and Solar Flare Megazords had engaged the Bovidrone, with the Solar Flare Megazord swinging one of its swords at it while the Draco Star Megazord swung the Dorado Zord, but the Bovidrone grabbed both before they could hit it. They retaliated quickly, with the Solar Flare Megazord slashing it with its other sword while the Draco Star Megazord slammed the Chamaeleon Zord into it, making it stagger back. The two Megazords made use of this opening, slashing it across the chest in unison and making it stumble back more.
Back with the Supernova Megazord and the Orion Battlezord, Alderamin smacked the Scorpius Zord away from him before viciously slamming his flail into the Megazord over and over again, sending an eruption of sparks shooting out of the Megazord’s chest. The Battlezord pointed its mace forward, sending a barrage of projectiles from its top and making Alderamin fall back a bit as he tried to block them. This gave the Supernova Megazord time to recover and advance on Alderamin, delivering an uppercut with the Ursa Zords that sent him stumbling back.
To add insult to injury, the Draco Star and Solar Flare Megazords kicked the Bovidrone in the chest, sending it staggering into Alderamin.
“Alright everybody, let’s hit these two together!” Neil declared. The Supernova Megazord swung the Scorpius Zord and sent a red energy slash flying, the Draco Star Megazord swung the Dorado Zord and sent a purple energy slash flying, the Solar Flare Megazord swung one of its swords and sent a flaming slash forward, and the Orion Battlezord swung its mace which sent a blue energy swipe forward. The four attacks collided with the Knight and the Bovidrone, making their bodies spark violently.
“Hey Neil, I’ve got an idea,” Arthur informed, sounding interested in if it would work, “Why don’t we use the Battlezord as a weapon?”
“Not a bad idea, Arthur!” Neil replied, “Let’s test it out!” Neil spun the ring of the Supernova Sphere, making the Battlezord turn back into the Carrierzord, with the Orion Zord on its launchpad. In addition, the Aquila Zord had perched on the piston, and the Libra and Ophiuchus Zords perched to the left and right of the control tower respectively. “Say hello to the Orion Galactic Cannon!” Neil exclaimed, “Everyone, hold onto the Supernova Megazord!”
“Got it!” Shen replied.
“Let’s see what this thing can do,” Kenneth added.
The Draco Zord put the Chamaeleon Zord on the right shoulder of the Supernova Megazord while the Solar Flare Megazord put its hand on the other. The Supernova Megazord, which was standing behind the cannon, gripped the back of it with the Ursa and Scorpius Zords.
Energy began to gather at the front of the cannon, both from the Orion Zord alongside red and green energy from the front of the Carrierzord.
Alderamin glanced at the Bovidrone before grumbling, “At least these things are going to be mass-produced.” His sea beast pauldron began to glow again, and he once again dissolved into golden energy.
“Time to end this!” Neil said as the cannon locked on to the Bovidrone. Neil spun the ring of the Supernova Sphere, Shen opened and closed the mouth of his cane, and Kenneth sheathed his sword before pulling the trigger and unsheathing it.
“Orion Galaxy Breaker!”
The Zords perched on the cannon began to glow as the piston moved forward, firing two beams of red energy, two beams of green energy, and a beam of gold and blue energy at the Bovidrone. The beams collided, making an absolutely massive explosion.
“The stars of hope still shine!” the Rangers declared in unison.
Alderamin entered the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, prompting Mirfak to turn and face him, “Ah, Alderamin, you’re here. The Emperor has been informed of what has happened, and he wished to have a meeting once you got back.”
“That is acceptable, we need to plan our next course of action,” Alderamin replied.
Schedar turned to look at Calamartia and Chupasangre before snapping out, “You two, you know the drill, get!”
The two of them wordlessly left the room, the Knights all taking a knee once the doors had closed and a towering white-robed projection of Karna Rog appeared before them. “So, the Rangers are aware of the existence of Project Wormwood as you said,” Karna Rog rasped, his yellow eyes narrowing slightly.
“Correct,” Mirfak replied, “the Doctor is dead as well.”
Karna Rog turned his attention to Schedar, “I’m very disappointed in you, Schedar, I figured you had enough common sense to not jeopardize three hundred years of work, but it seems I was wrong.”
“I am so sorry, Emperor!” Schedar pleaded, “I didn’t think something like that would happen! Please, I’m beggin’ you, give me a second chance!”
Karna Rog, “I will give you a second chance, Schedar, you’re among my most powerful and useful subordinates, it would be idiotic to dispose of someone like you for one mistake, as major as it is.”
“Oh thank you, Emperor!” Schedar said with relief.
“I apologize for fleeing as well,” Alderamin replied, “I should’ve stayed to ensure they couldn’t inform the others, but there was no way I could win that fight.”
Karna Rog looked at Alderamin, “All is forgiven, you are more valuable to me alive than dead.”
“We’re getting off track,” Mirfak interjected.
Karna Rog nodded, “Correct, we must focus.” He was quiet for a moment before speaking again, “This entire situation is quite problematic, and we must handle it with care. While the Rangers might not know the specifics of Project Wormwood now, I do not doubt for a moment that they will learn of its true nature eventually.” He extended a hand forward, what appeared to be a black star forming in it, “We cannot allow for them to intervene, especially because of how close it is to completion.”
“What do you suggest, Sir?” Alderamin inquired.
Karna Rog seemed to think for a moment, the black star fading, “If you cannot terminate the Rangers, at least distract them. Keep them preoccupied so they do not interfere.” He narrowed his eyes, “It is something that I will work towards as well.”
The sun hung low over a field on Crete, where the Rangers and Corvile had gathered around a piece of metal with the name “Minos Ain” engraved into it. “I’m so sorry, Aster,” Alura said from where she stood next to him.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, this is just all so rotten.”
Aster shook his head, “Yeah, it hurts, it really does.” He sighed, “But it’ll be better, maybe not in a month, maybe not even years, but eventually, it won’t hurt as much.” He looked at the others, “But now, I need to keep pushing forward and do the next right thing, and make sure he gets justice.”
Shen put a hand on Aster’s shoulder, “Well if you ever need time off to deal with things, then just tell me, I understand.”
“And if you need someone to talk to, we’re all right here,” Neil said comfortingly as he held the Leo Minor Zord.
“Correct,” Sirius added.
“Thanks guys,” Aster chuckled.
“Welcome to the Schedar hate club, buddy,” Tip said, slinging an arm over Aster’s shoulder.
Hydra gave a bit of a disapproving look, “Tip, I think that’s a bit insensitive.”
“It’s fine, being part of that club is a badge I’d wear with pride,” Aster said with an awkward laugh.
“I’ll start researching this Project Wormwood thing once we get back to the ship,” Birdie said after a moment, “It sounds pretty important.”
Arthur nodded, “Given how Alderamin was reacting, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Karna Rog’s master plan.”
“In that case, it’s doubly important that we find out what it is,” Kenneth said.
A few feet away, Corvile looked at the white-robed figure of Karna Rog, who stood opposite to the setting sun. “Don’t let them interfere with it,” the Emperor rasped.
Corvile gave a weak nod as Kenneth put a hand on his shoulder, “Corvile? Are you okay?”
“Y-yes, Ken, I’m fine, just a bit tired is all, I didn’t particularly enjoy getting thrown around the ship while it transformed,” Corvile replied, trying to come up with a good excuse.
“Sorry about that,” Neil said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
Shen nodded, “It’s been a long day for all of us. We should all head back to the ship and rest up, you all deserve it.”
The Rangers prepared to call down their Zords, but Leiurus stopped Aster before he could call in the Taurus Zord. “Hey Aster?” Leiurus asked.
“Yeah?” Aster replied curiously.
Leiurus looked at him softly, “I was just wondering if you wanted some time to yourself when we got back to think things over, didn’t want to bother you if you did.”
Aster shook his head, “Nah, I’d rather have someone to talk to, would probably help with things, or at least take my mind off of it.”
“Alright then, let’s go, partner,” Leiurus said with a small smile.
Notes:
Bovidrone: Portmonteau of Bovid (since they’re based on cattle mutilation) and drone.
And here we are, 3/4ths of the way through Supernova! I’m pretty happy with how this chapter turned out and how it’ll get the plot going from here on out. I really like how Aster and Leiurus interacted this chapter, and it was pretty fun to write the fight scenes since they’re completely original here. I also get the sneaking suspicion y’all want Schedar dead. Overall, I hope you’re still enjoying this series. Comments are as always welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 34: Hypernova
Chapter Text
On the bridge of the Orion Carrierzord, the Rangers aside from Birdie sat around, relaxing while Birdie typed away on a console, looking for information on Project Wormwood. Neil played with the Leo Minor Zord, scratching under its chin as it gave a purr. Kenneth laughed from where he sat, an arm slung over Corvile’s shoulder, “He really likes you.”
“Just now noticing that?” Neil chuckled, “But yeah, he does. Makes sense since I’m one of Ptolemy’s descendants and you said he made him for his wife.”
“Their child, more specifically,” Corvile corrected.
Kenneth rolled his eyes, “Well obviously.”
Aster, who was currently working on a maze with Leiurus in an , spoke up, “She must’ve been pretty awesome if the only living Astrographer at the time married her.”
“Oh she was,” Kenneth replied, “Probably the most vicious fighter apart from me, a great representative for the Leo system, and a great ruler.”
Corvile chuckled, “She still probably could’ve won against you in a fight and you know it.”
“Shut up, Corv,” Kenneth snorted.
Alura lowered the drink she was taking a sip from to speak, “Wait a minute, ruler?”
“What do you mean by that?” Neil inquired curiously.
“What did she rule?” Arthur asked as he adjusted his glasses and looked up from what he was tinkering with, curiosity piqued.
Corvile raised a hand to his beak, “She was a member of the royal family on the planet Nemea.”
“So wait, Neil and Arthur are royalty?” Hydra inquired with a hint of surprise.
“Yep,” Kenneth said with a nod.
Neil stood up, pumping his fist in the air as the Leo Minor Zord leapt off his lap, “That’s awesome!”
Brando gave a whistle as he looked up from a cooking magazine, “Now that’s pretty sweet.”
Leiurus gave an inquisitive look, “Why didn’t you tell us before?”
Kenneth shrugged, “Figured we had more important things to deal with, and didn’t think either of you would be interested.”
Neil shook his head, “Well, you never know.” This earned a narrow-eyed glance from Arthur.
“Think you can let me into the treasury?” Tip said to Neil teasingly.
“Regardless, it is an honor,” Sirius said as he looked at Arthur and bowed.
Arthur shook his head, “Sirius, you don’t need to do that, it’s fine.” Arthur looked at Kenneth and Corvile, “So what, we can just go to that planet and Neil will be crowned its ruler?”
“Well, assuming the Empire hasn’t taken it over, in which case they’ll need to be dealt with first,” Corvile replied.
Shen hummed, “No need to sphere about that, I recently heard that the planet’s population recently deposed its Marquis by themselves actually.”
“Really? That’s pretty impressive,” Leiurus said with surprise.
Neil turned to look at Shen, “So does that mean we can head there?”
“Well,” Shen said, stroking his beard, “I don’t see why not. After all, we can still try and get a-round to figuring out what Project Wormwood is while you’re there.” He turned to look back at Birdie, “Speaking of, have you anything about it yet?”
Birdie looked back from the console and shook her head, “No dice, the only ones who have or had the clearance to view it are Karna Rog, the Knights, Dogolem, and Professor Ain. Not to mention this thing’s impossible to hack into.”
Tip cracked their knuckles, “Let me try.” They extended a wire from their arm to the console, only for a spark of dark energy to knock them back as it connected. “Ow,” they said as they got to their feet.
“Are you okay?” Hydra asked with concern as he looked them over.
Tip gave a wave, “Just fine.”
“I suppose we’ll have to try and find a different way to do it then,” Hydra said with a nod as he helped brush Tip off.
Neil sat back down and leaned back in his seat, “Well you guys can do that while me and Arthur are on Nemea.”
Alura narrowed her eyes, “Sure thing, Neil.”
“Yeah,” Arthur added, not sounding particularly interested.
On board the Capital-class Consumoai, the Knights sat in their control seats, pondering what to do while Chupasangre and Calamartia stood off to the side. “So, any ideas for gettin’ the Rangers’ attention?” Schedar asked.
“I’m not sure, Schedar,” Alderamin grumbled, “but in order for it to be acceptable it will need to be something they cannot possibly ignore.”
Mirfak looked at several holographic screens in front of him before swiping them away, “I believe I know what we can do.”
“Oh yeah? What?” Schedar inquired as she looked at her datapad.
Mirfak cracked his neck, “It appears that the Rangers are currently near Nemea. Probably there because the Nemeans got rid of our forces there and Regulus hasn’t sent any more.”
“Nemea?” Alderamin chuckled, “Now that’s a place I haven’t been to in a while, not since I conquered it after the Emperor brought us back.” He seemed to think for a moment, “An attack there would be very acceptable, since it will distract the Rangers, give us another chance to defeat them, and allow us to reestablish our forces there.”
“Ooh, that’s a great idea, right chat?” Schedar giggled.
The doors to the control room opened, and a Duke entered, “Nemea huh? Let me go, I’ve heard there’s all kinds of interesting ruins there.” The Duke that entered was a small pink alien that only consisted of a head along with tentacles coming out of the bottom of it. He wore sunglasses, a pilot’s cap, and a scarf bearing an Imperial insignia, as well as smoking a pipe. More notable however was that it was piloting a relatively small golden mech with a cockpit where the head would be. A Gatling gun was attached to each shoulder, and a large, red, triangular blade was attached to the back of each hand.
“Ah, Duke Altarf, thank you for volunteering,” Alderamin said, “as one of the galaxy’s best pilots, you will certainly be of use.”
Altarf gave a nod, “Thank you, Sir Alderamin, as long as I get to explore the planet a bit and find some artifacts, I’ll be satisfied. It’ll be a nice change of pace from ruling the Cancer system.”
Alderamin turned to look at Calamartia and Chupasangre, “Calamartia, you’ll be accompanying me and Altarf there, Chupasangre, deal with anyone who needs me.”
“Of course, sir,” Calamartia replied with a nod.
Chupasangre sighed as Alderamin, Altarf, and Calamartia began to exit the room, “Fine.”
Onboard the Carrierzord, which was now near Nemea, Neil gave a stretch as he got up from his seat, “Alright Arthur, let’s head out.”
Arthur gave a shrug, “Sure.”
“You two be safe down there,” Shen advised, twirling his cane.
Neil nodded, “We will, dad.”
Before the two of them could exit the room, alarms started blaring across the bridge.
“What’s going on?” Alura asked as she got to her feet.
Birdie rushed from one console to the pilot’s seat, “We’re getting a distress signal from Nemea! It looks like the Empire’s back and heading towards the capital, Panthera!”
“Here for round two, huh?” Aster said as steam shot from his nostrils.
“Sounds like it’ll be a lot more than just you and me going down there then,” Arthur stated.
Neil turned to look at Shen, “Dad, who else is going down there with us?”
“Let’s see!” Shen said as he moved towards one of the bridge’s consoles and hit a button.
One of the bridge’s screens lit up to display the Nova Spheres of everyone present as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Shen gave a little dance as the Nova Spheres on the screen spinned. The lights turned on, the music turned off, and the Nova Spheres stopped spinning. “Looks like the ones going on today’s mission are… Sirius!”
“I will be happy to help, Neil, Arthur,” Sirius said, looking at them.
“Aster!”
Aster nodded, “Could help take my mind off Professor Ain…” he shook his head before pumping a fist in the air, “Anyway, let’s do this!”
“Alura!”
“Alright, Neil,” Alura said, turning to look at him with a nod.
“Brando!”
Brando gave a nod, “Let’s give them a hot plate of punishment!” After a moment he chuckled, “Selection reminds me of our first couple missions.”
“Focus!” Alura snapped.
“Right,” Brando replied, looking sheepish.
“Alright everyone, let’s go!” Neil said as he ran out of the bridge with the others trailing behind him and Arthur at the rear. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Leo Minor Zord trailed along too.
The Rangers soon landed in the streets of Panthera a few minutes later. The planet was very picturesque, with rolling hills dotted with trees, and Panthera itself having Greek-like architecture. The populace had an olive skin tone, and long, lion-like manes of hair, with the women having shorter ones than the men. Neil looked around, “Alright, it doesn’t look like the Empire’s here yet, so let’s get to the ruler and tell them to get-”
Neil was cut off as the Leo Minor Zord bumped into his leg. “Well what are you doing here, little guy?” Neil smiled as he picked the Zord up.
“Must’ve stowed away on the Leo Zord,” Arthur suggested.
Suddenly, a woman gasped and pointed at Neil, “The King is here! Look at what he’s holding!”
The surrounding populace all gasped before converging on the Rangers, making noises of excitement. “Woah, hey!” Alura exclaimed as she tried to avoid all the people approaching.
“Personal space everyone!” Arthur said as he tried to get people away, “Please, we’re here to help, you can do this stuff later!”
Aster tried to move as delicately, “Careful! I don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone!”
“This is oddly flattering,” Sirius said with confusion.
Brando gave a bit of a chuckle,“Come on everybody, no need to swarm, there’s enough of us to go around!”
“Yeah, you can pet him,” Neil said with a grin as people began patting the Leo Minor Zord before turning to look at the others, “I kinda like this a bit.”
“We can tell,” Arthur deadpanned next to Alura, who gave a slightly concerned look.
Before Neil could say anything else, screams rang through the crowd, who began to run past the Rangers. It soon became clear what they were running from, as once the crowd cleared out, Alderamin, Altarf, and Calamartia were now visible alongside some Greyders . “Coming here to see how they defeated our forces we stationed here? Unacceptable.” Alderamin grumbled.
“We aren’t going to let you take over this planet again!” Neil declared as he put the Leo Minor Zord down as it growled at the Imperial forces.
“That’s what you think, jelly brains!” Calamartia laughed.
“This planet and all of its secrets will be ours! All kinds of stuff to put in a museum!” Altarf chuckled.
“Well we won’t let you!” Aster declared, stepping forward.
Neil glanced at the others and readied his Nova Sphere, “Let’s do this, guys!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers morphed and ran forward, engaging the Imperial forces that had charged at them in turn. The Rangers easily weaved through the Greyders, slashing a few as they engaged with the higher-ranking forces. Alderamin swung his mace at Sirius, but Aster slammed it into the ground with his fist. Thinking fast, Sirius pinned the chain to the ground with his claw before leaping and clawing at Alderamin, kicking the Knight into a punch from Aster. While Alderamin recovered, Aster slashed a Greyder across the chest with his axe while Sirius clawed another one, only to get socked in the chest by Alderamin.
Meanwhile, Calamartia swung her mace and sword down on Arthur, who used the shaft of his glaive to block it. He pushed forward, making her stumble back into slashes from Brando and Alura. “Jelly brains!” she yelled as she recovered, giving Arthur time to run at her with a slash, before it could connect, she grabbed a Greyder to block it.
Altarf swung his blades at Neil, who deftly batted them away with his sword. Altarf took a few steps back before firing his Gatling guns at Neil, who quickly raised his sword to block them. Altarf used the opening to slash Neil, sending him stumbling back as Altarf prepared to bring down both blades on him. “Are you an Utrom by chance?” Neil asked as he blocked both blades.
“What?” Altarf said with confusion.
Neil shrugged, “Eh, you wouldn’t get it.” He forced Altarf back before slicing the Duke across the chest, sending him tumbling onto the ground. A few Greyders began to swarm Neil, forcing him to turn his attention to them.
While Altarf recovered, he spotted the Leo Minor Zord. “A Zord? That’s better than any relic!” Altarf declared suddenly. Before the Leo Minor Zord could get away, Altarf had grabbed it as he got to his feet. It gave a growl as Altarf exclaimed, “Look what I’ve got!”
“Put him down!” Neil yelled before charging forward, only to get knocked to the ground by a strike from Alderamin’s mace.
Alderamin and Calamartia had disengaged with the other Rangers, moving towards Altarf. “Acceptable work, Altarf, this will surely be of great value to us,” Alderamin said as he and Calamartia stood beside the Duke.
“Thank you, Sir Alderamin,” Altarf said with a nod as he lifted up the struggling Leo Minor Zord.
Neil growled as he got to his feet, “Give him back!”
“Not a chance, jelly brain!” Calamartia laughed.
Neil ran forward and yelled, swinging his sword downward at Altarf. Unfortunately for him, they disappeared in a swirl of dark energy before the attack could connect, making his sword hit the ground. Neil tossed his sword to the ground as he unmorphed, “Dang it! Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!”
An unmorphed Sirius ran up to him as the others unmorphed and approached, “Neil, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, but they took the Leo Minor Zord,” Neil said, looking at the ground.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, I saw. Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, we’ll get him back,” Aster replied, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Brando gave a nod, “And if they laid a hand on him, we’ll grill them even more than usual.”
“Yeah, we know how important that little guy is to you, we’re not going to let them get away with this,” Alura said authoritatively.
Neil gave a slight smile as he looked at them, “Thanks guys, I’m glad to hear it. Really feels like he’s one of the few connections I still have to my mom.” He frowned a bit before shaking his head and speaking confidently, “He saved me from Karna Rog, so it’s time I return the favor.”
“Neil Astra, Arthur Astra, it’s a pleasure to meet you after all this time,” a woman’s voice said from beside them. The Rangers turned to see a woman wearing more ornate clothing than the rest of the populace, and she was taking a knee before Neil and Arthur.
“Uh, thanks?” Arthur said awkwardly.
Neil looked the woman over, “Thanks, who are you, by the way?”
“I am Shisa,” the woman replied courteously, “my ancestors were stewards to the royal family. Once I learned of someone wielding the Leo Nova Sphere, I helped stage a rebellion to take the planet back for when you’d arrive. I’ve been ruling in your stead since.”
“Really? That’s awesome!” Neil exclaimed before giving an awkward pause, “And uh, thank you for doing all of that.”
“It is my pleasure, my liege. Do you wish for me to take you to your castle so you and Prince Arthur can prepare to take the throne?” she inquired.
Neil nodded in reply, “Well, I’d love to, but the Empire took the Leo Minor Zord, and I’m getting it back before we do anything else.”
“Of course, your majesty,” Shisa replied, “I’ll wait at your palace for you and Prince Arthur’s return.”
“Got it, we’ll be right back,” Neil said as he began to walk away, “Let’s go, guys.” The Rangers followed behind him, with Arthur and Alura exchanging a glance.
Some ways away in a more forested area, Alderamin, Altarf, and Calamartia had gathered. Altarf held a small, kennel-like cage in his left hand, which contained the Leo Minor Zord. “Oh you’re absolutely adorable! I can’t believe I was able to find a Zord of all things! That’s almost as valuable as a Nova Sphere!” Altarf chuckled as he looked at the Leo Minor Zord, which growled at him.
“This will be quite the boon to us,” Alderamin replied, “The Rangers won’t be leaving this place until they have it back. As long as we have it, they won’t do anything else.”
Calamartia chuckled, “Which gives us plenty of time to pummel them into the ground!”
“Anyway,” Altarf said, “I’ve heard there’s a lot of ruins around here, bound to be some interesting relics to find while we plan our next move!”
Alderamin seemed to ponder for a moment before replying, “Normally I’d find a suggestion like that unacceptable, but I suppose we can make time. This planet’s populace won’t go down without a fight now, and they know what they’re up against, so I’ll need time to construct a new course of action.”
“Ah man, I was hoping for a bloodbath sooner,” Calamartia said, deflating.
Alderamin looked at her, “You’ll get your chance eventually.”
Near Panthera’s outskirts not too far away, the Rangers made their way down a street. “Any guesses on where Alderamin, Calamartia, and that other guy might be?” Neil asked.
“Beats me,” Aster shrugged.
“I just called the Orion, seems like forces around the planet haven’t conducted any more attacks,” Alura responded.
Sirius thought for a moment, “They must still be here though, correct?”
“Probably, I don’t see why they’d retreat already,” Arthur replied as he adjusted his glasses.
Brando gave a nod, “Yeah, I doubt they wouldn’t finish a meal they already started.”
“We’ll need to stay on our toes then,” Alura said, “if they’re not attacking immediately then it means they’re laying an ambush or planning something.”
“Yeah, keep your eyes peeled,” Neil responded as he looked around, “You know, I think I really like this place.”
Arthur and Alura gave each other a look before turning their attention to Neil before Alura spoke up with concern in her voice, “Neil, can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure,” Neil shrugged before looking at Sirius, Aster, and Brando, “You guys keep looking, we’ll catch up in a minute.”
Sirius nodded, “Of course.”
“We’ll come back if we see anything,” Aster replied
Brando gave a wave as he and the other two moved away, “See you in a bit.”
“Be safe!” Neil said as he waved at the three of them. He then turned to look at Arthur and Alura, “So, what do you want to talk about?”
“It’s about this whole royal family thing,” Arthur replied with a sigh.
Neil looked at them with confusion, “Yeah, what about it?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to become this planet’s king, even if you only come back here after we defeat the Empire,” Alura replied.
Arthur nodded, “And I don’t really want to rule over the planet either.”
Neil seemed to be even more confused, “Why?”
“You can go first,” Alura said, looking at Arthur.
Arthur gave another nod to Alura before turning to look back at Neil, “Well Neil, I just… don’t really feel like I’m cut out for that kind of thing.” He sighed, “I know I’m not meant to be a leader in any way, really. Plus having all that attention on me… it’s not something I’d like.”
“Arthur, the galaxy already has all of its attention on us, that’s not something to worry about,” Neil replied, “besides, I was-”
“That’s different, Neil,” Arthur cut in, “People will be breathing down our backs all the time if we become rulers, and I’m not comfortable with that, I don’t want to have my every action watched and judged by people I don’t know on a planet I’m not even from. It’s not like the Empire, it’s people who I might accidentally make not like me.” Arthur sighed, “I just don’t want to be put in an uncomfortable situation, but I don’t want to have to leave you either. So please, don’t do this.”
Neil’s eyes softened as he put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “Arthur, I’d never leave you, and I’d never force you into a situation you’re uncomfortable with, you know that.”
“Besides that, Neil, I think there’s another issue, and one that makes me worried too,” Alura continued with a concerned look. “Listen Neil, I really don’t think you can do this. Leading a team is one thing, but ruling over an entire planet? Neil, I think the stress from that would crush you.” She sighed, “Neil, I really respect you, as a friend, teammate, and co-field commander, and I don’t want you to put yourself into a situation that’ll hurt you like that.”
Neil continued looking confused for a moment before he began laughing uncontrollably, “What are you guys talking about? I don’t wanna rule this place!”
“Wait, what?” Arthur said with surprise.
Alura looked just as confused as Neil was a moment ago, “You don’t?”
“Well, yeah,” Neil replied, “Did you really think I’d be interested in doing that?”
“That’s… not a bad point,” Arthur said sheepishly.
Alura focused on Neil, “But if you don’t want to become its ruler, then why have you been so interested in this place since we got here?”
“Because, it’s neat to see where we’re from,” Neil shrugged,” Neil shrugged, “I mean, we wouldn’t be here without Regulina, so I wanted to know what this place was like, not like we got a chance to stick around on Alexandria too long.” He sighed, “Guess it’s not too different from one of the reasons why I want to save the Leo Minor Zord, because it’s a way to hold on to mom, you know?”
Arthur slowly gave a nod, “Yeah, I get it now, you just wanted to feel closer to mom again.” He shook his head, “Man, I’m stupid, I was so focused on the mission and distracted by that bombshell of being royalty that I didn’t think about why you were really doing some of this stuff.”
“Yeah, I should’ve realized too,” Alura said apologetically, “I mean, it’s not like you went out of the way to become field commander, so I’m not sure why I thought you’d want to lead Nemea.”
Neil gave an awkward laugh, “It’s fine, Alura, you were just trying to look out for me, and you just wanted me to take your feelings into consideration, Arthur. No one got hurt.” He shook his head, “I mean, I didn’t really do anything to correct you guys sooner either.”
“Guess that between Aster getting captured and learning about Project Wormwood, the stress has been getting to us,” Alura said with a sigh.
Neil nodded along, “Yeah, that’s probably it, I’ve been feeling a bit antsy about it myself. Probably another reason why I was so excited to come here, take my mind off of things.” He seemed to think for a moment before responding, “maybe we should plan something to help unwind when we get back, it’d probably do a world of good.”
“Good point,” Alura said, “guess we should take some time to learn to communicate a bit better too.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded.
Neil smiled, “Sounds good to me.”
Suddenly, Sirius, Aster, and Brando stepped into view. “Hey guys, we’ve found where the Empire is,” Brando said after a moment.
“Really?” Arthur asked, “that’s great!”
Aster nodded, “Yeah, it’s all thanks to Sirius.”
“I was able to pick up the Leo Minor Zord’s scent, it was not too far from here,” Sirius added.
Neil grinned, “Talk about lucky! Let’s head there, stop the Empire, and save the Leo Minor Zord!”
“Yeah,” Arthur said with a nod, “let’s make sure Nemea doesn’t have to deal with these guys again.”
Neil gave a nod before looking at Sirius, Aster, and Brando, “Lead the way.”
“Of course,” Sirius replied before he, Aster, and Brando broke into a sprint, with the other three Rangers following close behind them.
Near the outskirts of Panthera, the Rangers spotted Alderamin, Altarf, and Calamartia alongside several Greyders investigating some forested ruins on the other side. “There they are,” Arthur whispered.
“Good job, Sirius,” Alura said, looking at the Fenrisulfrian.
Sirius nodded, “Thank you, Alura.”
Neil glanced around before taking note of Altarf, who was looking through the ruins and holding the Leo Minor Zord in a kennel-like cage. “I see the Leo Minor Zord!” Neil exclaimed quietly.
“We should probably clobber them before they finish doing… whatever it is they’re doing,” Aster replied.
Arthur looked at Neil, “We’ll deal with Alderamin and Calamartia, you rescue the Leo Minor Zord from…” he was quiet for a moment, seemingly in thought.
“Altarf, he’s the Duke of the Cancer system,” Alura replied.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, him.”
“Portioning up this fight does seem like a good idea,” Brando added.
“Alright then, let’s do this,” Neil declared. The Rangers moved to stand at the end of the bridge before Neil spoke again, “You guys ready for round two?”
“Rangers!” Alderamin growled as he and the other Imperial forces turned to face them.
Altarf pointed his free hand at them, “How dare you interrupt my expedition! There’s artifacts for the taking!”
“Those belong to the people!” Alura declared, “Just like the rest of this planet!”
“And he,” Neil said, pointing at the Leo Minor Zord, “belongs to me!”
Calamartia groaned as she pulled out her sword and mace, waving them around slightly and pointing the mace at the Rangers as she spoke, “Uh, it’s always the same heroic monologues with you jelly brains. Can we just skip to the good part?”
“With pleasure!” Aster said as he and the other Rangers plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The Rangers were surrounded by multicolored light, which died down to reveal them in their uniforms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the six of them declared in unison before charging forward across the bridge. While the other Rangers engaged the Greyders on the other side, Neil cleaved through the Greyders to make a beeline for Altarf. Neil took a swing at the Duke, who quickly batted it away with the blade on his free hand. “Give me back my Zord!” Neil yelled as he took a few more swings at the Duke, who continued to block the attacks and even managed to get in a few retaliatory hits.
“What do I get out of it?” Altarf replied as Neil recovered.
“Absolutely nothing!” Neil yelled as he took another swing at Altarf with his sword, locking blades with the Duke and forcing him backwards.
Meanwhile, Alura ducked under a Greyder’s blade before kicking a Gredyer behind her and jabbing the one in front of her with her rapier. She cartwheeled out of the way of another Greyder’s blade before delivering a two-handed slash with her rapier.
A few other Greyders fired at Arthur, but he quickly responded by spinning his scarf around in front of him, which neutralized the shots. He proceeded to follow it up by lashing his scarf at them, knocking them to the ground.
Brando swept the leg of a Greyder and spun around to slash another Greyder before turning and jabbing yet another with his visor.
Aster lifted a Greyder above his head before throwing it at a few others, knocking them to the ground before slamming a fist into a Greyder next to him and slashing one with his axe.
Sirius drop kicked a Greyder in the chest, landing on his feet before slashing another Greyder with his claw. He leapt at another, but was knocked out of the air by a punch from Alderamin and sent tumbling across the ground.. “This ends here!” Alderamin said as he approached Sirius, who was busy getting to his feet.
“Hands off!” Aster yelled as he took a swing at Alderamin, forcing the Knight to back step to avoid it. Aster slashed at Alderamin with his axe, but Alderamin blocked it with his retracted flail before retaliating by kicking Aster in the chest, sending him staggering back. Unfortunately for the Knight, Sirius quickly closed the distance between them, managing to get in a few hits on Alderamin with his claw before he could react, and ducked under a swing from Alderamin’s no longer retracted flail once the Knight recovered.
Brando and Arthur had just finished mopping up the last few Greyders when Calamartia entered the fray, wielding her mace and gun. “Think fast, jelly brains!” she declared as she opened fire on the duo, making them use their saber and glaive respectively to block the shots, knocking them out of the air with swings of their weapons. As she continued firing, Calamartia tilted her head to the side in confusion momentarily, “Wait a second, where’s the green-”
“Right here!” Alura said as she appeared beside Calamartia, slashing the Jester with her rapier and sending her staggering. This gave Brando and Arthur time to close the distance, with Brando swinging at Calamartia alongside Alura. Calamartia batted their weapons away with her mace and gun, making Alura and Brando spin to the sides away from her. This gave Arthur an opening to deliver a running, two-handed slash with his glaive, which sent Calamartia flying through the air before hitting the ground hard.
Elsewhere, Neil gripped Altarf’s back hard, even with his sword in his hand in an attempt to stop the Duke from moving, “Let him go!” Altarf spun around, breaking Neil’s grip, and making Neil swing at the Duke with his sword. Unfortunately, Altarf swung the blade on his free hand, knocking the sword out of Neil’s grip, but that didn’t stop Neil, who kicked the Duke’s mechanical body to little effect. He tried to grab the cage, but the Duke was just too fast, moving around so Neil couldn’t grab it. Unfortunately, it left him open to being grabbed at the back by Neil again. “Give him back!” Neil yelled as he managed to pull the Duke back a few feet.
“Hey, do you know how long it took to get this suit right? No touching!” Altarf said as he levitated about a foot out of the suit’s cockpit before spinning around to repeatedly lash Neil’s head with his tentacles, sparks shooting from Neil’s head on impact. Neil stumbled onto the ground as Altarf returned to the cockpit, steam shooting from the suit as he turned to face Neil.
Neil got to his feet and took a few steps forward, glaring at Altarf, “I’m not stopping until you let him go!”
“Well I hunt for artifacts, and this has to be the greatest one I’ve found yet! Fat chance I let him go!” Altarf replied, shaking the cage the Leo Minor Zord was in.
“Then when I’m done with you, that suit will be a pretty neat artifact for someone else to find!” Neil said as he took a step forward.
“This suit is mine! All mine!” Altarf roared as he opened fire on Neil with the Gatling guns mounted on his shoulders. With nothing to block the attack, Neil was hit by the projectiles, making a shower of sparks shoot from his suit as he staggered back. As Neil tried to recover, the blade on Altarf’s free hand was enveloped in golden energy as he swung it a few times, sending three golden energy crescents flying at Neil. The first two grazed him, hitting the ground behind him and exploding, but the third was a direct hit, creating a large explosion as it collided with Neil.
As the smoke cleared, Neil laid on the ground, unmorphed. Upon seeing this, the Leo Minor Zord let out a small whimper. “This isn’t over, not yet,” Neil said as he got to his feet, glaring at Altarf.
“Uh, you’re still kicking? You can’t be serious,” Altarf said with a groan. “Listen, I’ll be sure to take good care of this little guy, just like what the Empire will do to this planet,” Altarf chuckled, lifting up the cage to look at the Leo Minor Zord before turning it so it would face Neil. “I’ll let you say goodbye to him, this is the last time you’ll ever see him after all,” Altarf continued.
Neil narrowed his eyes, “I won’t let you do that. This planet doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to the people who live here. They had the courage to stand up to the Empire, to try and take their planet back. Even though I don’t want to rule this place, it doesn’t mean I won’t fight for its safety.” He pointed at the cage Altarf held, “And I’m going to rescue my friend too, he’s done so much for me, and it’s time I return the favor.” He pulled out the Supernova Sphere, plugging it into his Morpher and pressing the button on top of it.
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Eat this!” Altarf said, sending another golden energy crescent flying at Neil as he spun the Supernova Sphere’s ring.
“Star charge!”
The golden slash collided with an energy barrier resembling the Supernova Sphere that had formed around Neil, creating a massive explosion. As the dust settled, Neil stood out as a pristine white silhouette.
“Incandescent Star, Leorion Ranger!”
Altarf laughed as he fired his Gatling guns at Neil, “A new costume isn’t going to save you!”
Neil moved his hand in a circular motion in front of him, opening a portal in front of him as another appeared to Altarf’s right side. The bullets whizzed through the portal, exiting from the one next to Altarf and striking the Duke repeatedly, making his body spark wildly as he staggered back. “W-what? How did you do that?” Altarf sputtered out, “That’s cheating!”
“I’m doing everything in my power to get my friend back,” Neil said as he moved his right hand to his left hip, pulling out his sword from a portal that had appeared there, “and my power is more than enough to deal with people like you, who hurt the ones I love.”
Neil broke into a sprint, charging at Altarf as his sword glowed with white energy. He swung at Altarf, who sidestepped it before slashing the Duke again, but Altarf ducked under this one as Neil moved to the side of him, with each slash being punctuated by white energy with red edges. Neil thrusted his sword forward at Altarf, who batted it away with the blade on his free hand. Neil moved the way the sword was batted, using the momentum to deliver a spinning slash that Altarf narrowly avoided by activating the thrusters on his suit and shooting into the air. Altarf chuckled as he landed on top of a nearby rocky outcropping, “Man, I’d probably have an easier time finding a mythical treasure than your sword does finding its target!”
Altarf lifted up the cage the Leo Minor Zord was in triumphantly, only for a portal to appear next to him. Neil’s hand emerged from the portal, yanking the cage from Altarf’s grip before being pulled back through. Altarf gave a look of surprise and confusion as Neil ripped the front of the cage off with one hand, the Leo Minor Zord landing on his shoulder. “I was holding back so I wouldn’t hurt him,” Neil said as he patted the Leo Minor Zord on the head before it leapt off his shoulder.
“What?” Altarf said with shock.
“Now you’ll get to see what happens when you don’t have that advantage,” Neil said angrily.
“Ugh! That Zord is mine!” Altarf screeched as he flew at Neil. Neil blocked a swipe of Altarf’s blades with his sword as the Duke flew past him. Altarf then came back around from the side, but Neil swung his sword around him, blocking the strike as a small sphere of red and white energy that showed the sword’s movements briefly appeared around him.
Altarf flew in front of Neil, shooting for the Leo Minor Zord, “Enough of you, I’ve got bigger fish to fry!” One of Neil’s capes shot towards Altarf, stretching forward and ensnaring the Duke’s foot, stopping him dead in his tracks. Neil pulled the Duke back as his cape retracted, delivering a devastating slash to Altarf as he flew past him. Before Altarf could hit the ground, a portal opened in front of him, sending him right back in front of Neil, who delivered a series of slashes that launched Altarf back and onto the ground.
Elsewhere, the other five Rangers continued their fight against Alderamin and Calamartia. Alura took a swing at Calamartia, but she blocked it with her sword before batting away Arthur’s glaive with her mace. Brando ran up behind her, slashing her across the back and making her momentarily stagger before thrusting her mace into Brando’s ches, knocking him back significantly. Alura and Arthur took the opportunity to stab her with their weapons, sending her tumbling onto the ground.
Alderamin held his fist forward, sending an energy projection of it flying at Sirius, who managed to sidestep it. Alderamin then turned to focus on Aster, swinging his flail about wildly, with Aster having difficulty blocking the strikes with his axe. Sirius charged at Alderamin, but before he could get close enough Alderamin extended his flail and spun around. The momentum and length of the flail made it difficult to stop or dodge, which Sirius and Aster found out the hard way as they were struck by it, knocking them to the ground.
“You put up a more acceptable fight than most,” Alderamin said as he approached them.
“This is not over,” Sirius growled.
Alderamin chuckled as he created a fireball in his hand, “Oh I believe it is.”
Before Alderamin could do anything, Calamartia was sent flying through the air, colliding with Alderamin and knocking him to the ground. “You guys okay?” Arthur asked as he helped Sirius up while Brando helped Aster
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Aster replied.
Brando nodded, “Well that sounds peachy.”
Alura turned her attention to Alderamin and Calamartia, who were trying to recover and get to their feet, “Let’s wrap this up.”
Sirius nodded as he and the others plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons, “Of course.”
“Lupi Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
“Polaris Strike!”
Alderamin quickly shoved Calamartia in front of him, forcing her to take hits from two spinning blue energy slashes, a black spinning energy axe, several strikes from a green energy lash, five vertical yellow energy slashes, and a cyan energy slash. After that, Alderamin shoved her away from him as her body began to spark. “Ugh, Really?” Calamartia said with exasperation before going up in flames. A tentacle was launched from the explosion, which Alderamin then caught.
“As unacceptable as it is, I should fall back for now,” Alderamin grumbled, “This isn’t over, Rangers.” Without any fanfare, Alderamin disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
“Coward,” Sirius growled.
“We can deal with him later, let’s see if Neil needs our help,” Arthur replied.
Alura nodded, “Good idea.”
Altarf took a few steps back as he looked at Neil, the Supernova Sphere flashing as Neil moved his arm in an arc over him. One by one, portals opened, and from them emerged copies of the other Rangers’ weapons. “This is it,” Neil said with barely-contained rage as he pointed his sword forward. The sword flew from his hands, shooting towards Altarf alongside the weapons of the other Rangers.
Altarf quickly reacted, batting the Star Sword and Star Axe away before they could strike him. Unfortunately, the Star Crossbow, Star Blaster, and Draco Morpher surrounded him, firing a few shots each before flying away as the Star Saber and Star Claw slashed him from each side. The Phoenix Sword and Phoenix Shield each struck him once, before joining the other weapons in a massive dome around Altarf. The weapons then shot inward, striking Altarf from every direction and creating a small explosion on impact.
As the dust settled, the weapons were gone, and Altarf’s suit sat slumped on the ground. The other Rangers then ran into view, with Arthur putting a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “Neil!”
Neil gave a slight nod, “Alright everyone, let’s finish this.” The other Rangers nodded in agreement, flicking their Nova Spheres backwards as Neil pressed the button on top of the Supernova Sphere and spun its ring.
“Constellation Crash!”
“All Star Shot!”
A map of the constellations formed across the sky as it grew dark, before concentrating in front of the Rangers. They fired their weapons, sending an orb of white light surrounded by a pair of blue and red rings flying at Altarf, striking the Duke. “Looks like the only thing I found on this expedition was trouble!” Altarf lamented as he exploded, his body hitting the ground a moment later.
“Shine on!” the Rangers exclaimed in unison, giving a thumbs up as Neil reverted to being the Leo Ranger.
“This expedition is far from over, Rangers,” Karna Rog rasped from where he watched in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, raising his hand and snapping his fingers.
A dark cloud with pitch black electricity crackling through it formed above the hills. After a moment a pitch black bolt of lightning shot down from it to hit Altarf’s body, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy which flew away before reforming into a giant Altarf, “Now I’m bigger even without the suit!” After a moment, he shot into the air using the thrusters on his mechanical suit and several Greyders ran into the clearing.
“I can handle the Greyders, you deal with the brainiac,” Arthur said as he readied his glaive.
Neil nodded, “Got it!”
Just then, the Leo Minor Zord ran up in front of Neil, a ball of flaming energy appearing in front of its mouth. The ball shot towards Neil, stopping just in front of him as its flames died down to reveal a Nova Sphere. Like the Orion Nova Sphere, it had a gold base, but this one was red and depicted a lion, though different from the one the Leo Nova Sphere showed.
“You wanna help take this guy down?” Neil asked with the Leo Minor Zord giving a growl of approval. “Alright then let’s do this!” Neil said as he grabbed and plugged the Leo Minor Nova Sphere into his Morpher, flicking it to the side and flipping down the side of his Morpher. Instantly, the Leo Minor Zord grew to the size of a regular Zord, just in time as Altarf’s massive form began flying at the Rangers.
“Awesome!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others looked up at the Zord with excitement. “Let’s take this to the next level!” Neil said as he and the others flicked their Nova Spheres to the sides and flipped down the sides of their Morphers, their cockpits forming around them, with Neil’s being the Leo Minor Nova Sphere now.
The Leo Zord swooped down as the Leo Minor Zord split in half lengthwise, with the Leo Zord positioning itself between the two halves. The Rangers’ cockpits plugged into where they were when they first formed the Megazord, and from there, the combination was nearly complete. The halves of the Leo Minor Zord attached to the bottom of the Leo Zord, with the Leo Minor Zord’s head moving up to cover the Leo Zord’s head before the top of its mane split and near the sides and shifted downwards before giving a roar.
“Now this is a Super Leo Zord!” Neil exclaimed.
“I like the sound of that!” Aster added.
The Super Leo Zord flew towards Altarf, clawing the Duke across the chest before flying away as the Duke began to struggle flying.
“He’s busy trying to correct himself, now’s our chance!” Alura exclaimed.
“Neil, do you think we can use the Leo Minor Zord in a Megazord combination?” Sirius inquired.
Neil thought for a moment, “Well I made the Orion Carrierzord be able to turn into a Megazord, so I think we can!”
“Well let’s whip it up and give it a taste test!” Brando exclaimed.
Neil flicked the Leo Minor Nova Sphere back and flipped down the side of his Morpher before pulling the trigger.
The Lupus, Taurus, Chamaeleon, and Dorado Zords flew into view, connecting to their respective cockpits as the Super Leo Zord shifted so it stood vertically, with the back half of the Leo Minor Zord detaching as well. The Dorado Zord Shifted so it was held forward, with the back half of the Leo Minor Zord attaching to it. The pillar on the back of the Leo Minor Zord flipped forward, becoming a massive arm-mounted cannon. The head flipped, opening to reveal the metallic face of the Supernova Megazord, with the Leo Minor Zord’s head giving it a more elaborate helmet.
“Hypernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Woah,” Arthur said, looking away from the Greyder he was fighting momentarily to take a look at the Hypernova Megazord.
“Are you seein’ this, chat?” Schedar asked from the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai.
Alderamin grumbled, “A new Megazord combination? Unacceptable!”
“It seems the Rangers are getting stronger than I initially anticipated,” Mirfak mused and cracked his neck from where he stood at the back of the room, “If my plan is to succeed, then I’ll need to become stronger as well.” He gave a slight hum, “Perhaps it would be best to fight fire with fire…”
“Pretty neat!” Alura exclaimed as she took in the Megazord’s appearance.
Aster shrugged, “Not as flashy as I was expecting.”
“It does not need to be flashy, it needs to be functional,” Sirius responded.
Brando gave a nod, “Yep, a little garnish goes a long way.”
“Let’s give this thing a test run then!” Neil exclaimed as he locked on to Altarf, who was still flying through the air. The Megazord fired at Altarf, who circled around them while laughing and returning fire. Altarf’s luck soon ran out though, as the Megazord was able to land three direct shots that knocked Altarf off-course, sending the Duke careening towards them.
“Nice shot, Neil,” Sirius congratulated.
“Can’t take all the credit,” Neil replied, “the Leo Minor Zord’s helping with this a lot.”
“I suppose I will do my part to help as well,” Sirius replied before using the Lupus Zord to kick Altarf before the Duke crashed into the Megazord, knocking Altarf to the ground.
“My thrusters! It’ll take forever for them to come back online!” Altarf bemoaned.
“Deploy the Moriders for assistance,” Alderamin commanded to a Flatborg.
A massive squadron of Moriders descended on Nemea, opening fire on the Megazord. “Ha, you can’t do much against these numbers!” Altarf cackled, trying to get to his feet as the Megazord was rocked by a shot from a Morider.
“How clever,” Alura said sarcastically, “not only are they trying to overwhelm us, but with all of these Moriders flying around it’ll make it harder to hit Altarf and it’ll distract us until he can get back in the air again.”
Aster cracked his knuckles, “So then we gotta wrap this up quick!”
“Let’s show them that they’ve bit off more than they can chew!” Brando added.
Neil nodded, “Alright Leo Minor Zord, let’s kick this into high gear! Rapid-fire mode activate!”
Neil flicked the Leo Minor Nova Sphere back and flipped down the side of his Morpher.
In response to this, the Hypernova Megazord began firing faster, unleashing an almost solid stream of projectiles that blew Moriders to pieces in the dozens.
“That’s the last of them!” Neil exclaimed.
“No!” Altarf exclaimed, “my thrusters haven’t come online yet!” Altarf was quiet for a moment before speaking again, “but that Zord, it’s power… who needs this sucky suit anyway?” Altarf levitated out of the mech he piloted, getting onto the Megazord’s head before the Rangers could react.
“Gross! There’s tentacles everywhere!” Neil said with disgust.
“Hey, hands off Neil’s Zords!” Alura declared, making the Megazord raise the Chamaeleon Zord before whacking Altarf with its tongue, sending Altarf flying off into the distance.
“Nice job, Alura! Now he’s got nothing to defend himself with and we have a clear shot!” Neil replied.
“Let’s wrap this up then!” Alura replied.
The Rangers flicked their Nova Spheres back twice, and the Megazord shifted its head towards the cannon, seemingly to target Altarf as energy gathered at the front of the cannon.
“Hypernova Megazord All Star Breaker!”
The Megazord fired a massive beam of energy from its cannon just as Altarf fell in front of his mech, striking both.
“This expedition is over!” Altarf bemoaned before going up in flames, with his mech falling backwards and exploding a few seconds later.
“The stars of hope still shine!” the Rangers declared in unison.
“And it’s all thanks to you, buddy,” Neil said, patting the Leo Minor Nova Sphere.
“Pull our forces out, we’re done here,” Alderamin grumbled.
Schedar tilted her head, “Huh, why?”
“There’s no use in wasting our resources here, even with the forces we have, with no foothold on the planet itself it’s meaningless, and the Rangers will stop any attempt at us trying to establish said foothold,” Alderamin replied, “It’s best to cut our losses. Besides, we kept them occupied long enough.”
Mirfak rolled his head around, “Well, since I’m presumably needed here, I’ll need to go check on something…”
“…So yeah, I’m not really interested in this whole, king thing,” Neil said to Shisa. He, the other Rangers, and Corvile had gathered inside of Panthera’s castle, though currently Kenneth was nowhere to be seen. “It’s just… responsibility that I’m not ready for, and I don’t think I ever will be ready for. I mean, I don’t know the first thing about being a ruler, and I’m worried that the planet would just be better off without a ruler than if it had me.”
Shisa gave a small nod, “I understand where you’re coming from, my liege.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to have me as a ruler just because I’m the one who should be ruling, who should rule this place should be someone who knows what they’re doing,” Neil continued.
Shisa thought for a moment, “Perhaps you’re right, maybe searching for a ruler is in order. I could arrange for an election or something of the sort to happen.” She smiled at Neil, “But even though you don’t wish to lead this planet, know that you and your friends are welcome here, not just because of your family history, but because of what you’ve done for all of Nemea today.”
“Thank you,” Arthur replied.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, it’s really no problem.”
“It is just what we do,” Sirius added.
“Regardless, feel free to spend the night in the castle if you want, I’m sure you all need rest for whatever you do next,” Shisa replied before beginning to walk away, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll need to begin discussing this potential election.”
Alura smiled, “Good luck!”
“A night in a castle, how cool is that?” Tip said excitedly.
Hydra gave a faint smile and tried to sound enthusiastic, “Yes, an opportunity like this doesn’t arise all the time.”
“Eh, I’ll probably stay on the ship, doubt anything they have here will support me,” Aster replied.
Leiurus shrugged as he looked at Aster, “Guess I’ll stay on the Orion too. Just in case you want to talk.”
Aster chuckled as steam shot from his nostrils, “Aw come on, you don’t have to do that.”
“I’ll probably stay on the ship too,” Birdie responded, “as much as this place is a nice change of setting when it comes to writing, I’d like to stay behind just in case something malfunctions.”
Shen chuckled, “Alright everyone, let’s pick out your rooms.” As the Rangers began to move, Shen maneuvered beside Neil, putting a hand on his shoulder, “That was a very responsible decision you just made. I’m very proud of you.”
Neil smiled, “Thanks, dad.”
Kenneth looked at the setting sun from one of the castle’s balconies as Corvile approached him from behind, “Kenneth, is something bothering you?”
Kenneth whipped around, “Hey Corv, I’m fine, just admiring the view.”
“Kenneth,” Corvile said, not sounding impressed as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot, “I’ve known you long enough and well enough to know you’re a subpar liar at the best of times. You can tell me what’s wrong, you know.”
Kenneth sighed, “It’s just that everything’s so different. I didn’t spend enough time on Earth to soak it in, but now that I’m here?” He sighed, “It’s just made me realize how different everything is, everything I don’t have any more. It all doesn’t feel right, I mean, you’re the only person from back then that still knows me aside from the Empire and Audumla from the sounds of it.”
“I know what you mean,” Corvile replied, “Nemea now is completely different from the one we knew back then. The galaxy moved on and we were left behind. I really don’t blame you for feeling this way, change…” Corvile sighed, “change is always the hardest thing, it’s something that’s always happening.”
Kenneth nodded, “And how do you deal with that?”
“Well, sometimes you just have to let things go,” Corvile replied, “but you don’t have to be upset, since sometimes, what you let go of finds its way back to you.”
Kenneth gave a small smile, his eyes slightly misty, “Like you.”
“I guess you could say that,” Corvile said with a small chuckle, “you can still remember things, care about what you don’t have anymore, you just can’t let it consume you.”
Kenneth gave a nod, “Thanks Corvie, I… I really needed that.” He bent down slightly, pressing a kiss to Corvile’s beak.
“It’s no problem, Kenneth, I am your advisor after all,” Corvile chuckled, “Now let’s go find ourselves a room to spend the night in, the others are already looking.”
Kenneth smirked, “Hopefully no one’s picked the one we usually stayed in.”
Corvile snorted, “Oh shut up.”
Notes:
Altarf is based on the Quimbya artifacts
I have to say, I have kinda mixed feelings about this chapter. On one hand, the first half was a real slog and I really wish I did it differently even if I didn’t know how, but I’m beyond pleased with the second half. Aside from that, there’s not much I really want to comment on from this chapter aside from this being why “season 2” is called Hypernova. Anyway, as always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter 35: Birthday Bash
Notes:
Draco Star Megazord (New Formation 1)
Draco Star Megazord (New Formation 2)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Higher! Higher! To the left! No, your other left, Sirius!” Arthur barked out orders as Sirius and Aster were currently in the process of hanging up a purple banner with gold lettering reading ‘Happy Birthday!’ on it. All around the bridge, everyone aside from Shen, Kenneth, and Corvile were busy decorating with balloons, tablecloths, streamers, and other similarly colored decorations.
Neil chuckled as he affixed a small purple, serpentine, paper dragon to the ceiling, “Man, you haven’t been messing around ever since you learned what today was.”
“Of course not, Neil,” Arthur said as he waved a clipboard around, “today is very important!”
Aster snorted as he helped Sirius with hanging up a banner, “You didn’t even know until yesterday when Birdie told you.”
Arthur shook his head, “That doesn’t matter, what matters is-”
“What’s going on here?” Kenneth interrupted as he and Corvile entered.
Corvile looked around, “Quite festive looking, wouldn’t you say?”
“Well, it’s September nineteenth on Earth, and if you translate that to the standard galactic calendar, it means today’s dad’s birthday,” Arthur replied.
“Hatchday,” Alura corrected.
Kenneth gave a smirk, “So this is what birthdays are like on Earth now?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Neil shrugged.
“Regardless of what it looks like, I feel quite excited,” Hydra replied, “This will be my first time celebrating a birthday with someone other than Tip, and they’re supposed to be very joyous occasions.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, Gorgonians don’t really do birthdays, at least not like everyone else does. Age is just another number to them,” Tip explained.
“Figures,” Leiurus replied.
Birdie shrugged, “Well, at least it’s giving us some time to destress a little and take our minds off things.”
“Yeah, taking a little time to not focus on whatever Project Wormwood is will do us some good,” Aster replied.
“How’s the cake going, Brando?” Arthur inquired, turning to look at him.
“Just needs a few more hours,” Brando replied.
Arthur’s eyes widened, “It’s not done yet? How?”
“You know making things like a cake takes time, Arthur,” Neil replied.
Arthur shook his head, “Whatever, we just need to keep dad out of here until-”
“Hello everybody!” Shen exclaimed upon entering the room. He took a moment to look around the room, his eyes settling on the banner and chuckling, “Now what’s all this sphere?”
“Ugh, dang it!” Arthur groaned, “This was supposed to be a surprise for your hatchday, birthday, whatever.”
“My birthday?” Shen replied curiously, “Oh right! I almost forgot it was today with everything going on.” He moved around the bride, taking note of the paper dragons affixed to the ceiling and running a hand over a purple tablecloth with gold stars on it before looking at Arthur, “And you did all of this for me?”
“No, I just planned it, everyone else helped set it up,” Arthur replied, fidgeting slightly, “Sorry if it’s a little underwhelming, I only found out about your birthday yesterday.”
Neil nodded as he moved to stand next to Arthur, “Yeah, haven’t finished getting everything up yet either. Probably should’ve got things done faster since you were gonna be in here at some point.”
“What are you two talking about?” Shen asked with a chuckle as he pulled his adopted sons into a hug, “I think you’ve knocked it out of the ballpark already. You two really outdid yourselves for an old coot like me.”
“Aw dad,” Neil said with a smile.
Arthur chuckled, “You’re only forty-one.”
Shen laughed in turn as he pulled away, looking at the others, “And I’m sure the rest of you played no small roll in getting this ready either.”
“Me and Kenneth found out about this about thirty seconds before you came in,” Corvile deadpanned.
Kenneth shook his head, “Can’t take any credit for this one, unfortunately.”
“You get the idea,” Shen said sheepishly before turning his attention back to Neil and Arthur, ”Sorry for barging in before you were finished and ruining the surprise. You really wanted this to be one, didn’t you?”
Neil nodded, “Well yeah, but it’s not your fault, dad, we probably should’ve done something to keep you occupied before we finished.”
Shen momentarily stroked his beard, giving a hum before replying, “Here’s an idea, we’re right next to the planet Theocra in the Cepheus system. It’s one of the biggest urban centers in the galaxy. How about I head down there for a while and roll back around once you’re ready?”
“That’s… not a bad idea,” Arthur replied with a nod as he adjusted his glasses.
“Yeah,” Neil added, taking a seat as the Leo Minor Zord jumped on his lap, “if that’s what you want to do then it sounds good to us.”
Kenneth turned to look at Shen, “Since Theocra is an urban center, would you mind if me and Corvile came along too? Haven’t picked out a gift for you yet given how short of a notice we were on.”
“Yeah, I haven’t managed to find a present yet,” Alura added, “don’t think Sirius or Hydra have either.”
Sirius scratched the back of his head, “I was unaware that this occasion involved gifts.”
“Well,” Birdie replied, moving towards him, “I’ve already got my gift picked out, but I can go down there to explain the basics and help you pick something out if you want.”
“Thank you Birdie, I would appreciate that,” Sirius said gratefully with a nod.
Shen chuckled, “So it’s settled then, alright everybody, let’s roll out!”
“Have fun!” Neil exclaimed as his father and the others exited the bridge.
“We’ll be ready when you get back!” Arthur added.
Shen turned to give the few a thumbs-up before exiting, “I will!”
Just as Corvile was about to exit the room, Karna Rog’s voice filled his mind, “Excellent.” He turned, spotting Karna Rog’s robed form standing beside the bridge’s table, “This will give me an opportunity to put into motion something I’ve wished to do for a while.” Corvile shook his head and turned around, exiting the bridge alongside the others.
On board the Capital-class Consumoai, a projection of the Emperor appeared before the Knights of Andromeda, prompting them all to take a knee while Chupasangre entered the room. “I come bearing news of the Rangers’ current whereabouts,” he rasped, “You will not need to do much today to distract them. They’re celebrating the birthday of their Commander and are occupied with that.”
“So we can turn our attention elsewhere?” Mirfak replied.
“Correct,” Karna Rog responded, “while a few are currently alone on Theocra, I don’t consider any actions against them to be necessary at the moment.”
“Theocra? In the Cepheus system?” Alderamin questioned irritatedly, “Unacceptable! How dare they intrude in my system. I’ll give them a piece of my mind right now!”
Schedar seemed a bit surprised at his outburst, “Woah Aldie! Cool your jets!”
“I agree with Dame Schedar, Sir Alderamin,” Karna Rog replied, “a general and strategist such as yourself should not let your emotions blind your judgment.”
Alderamin grumbled, “As the Duke of the Cepheus system it’s my responsibility to deal with any interlopers that appear there. Not to mention the fact that it’ll be easy to dispatch them while they’re separated and unaware.” He looked at the Emperor’s projection, “They’ve been a thorn in our side for too long, and I can’t stand it anymore. The threat that they pose is absolutely unacceptable!”
Karna Rog seemed to think for a moment, “I do believe I have a solution for this.”
“And what would that be, my liege?” Mirfak replied.
“I will allow you to dispatch a Duke to Theocra to deal with the Rangers if it concerns you so much,” Karna Rog continued, “Should they fail, I’ll allow you to take matters into your own hands.”
Alderamin thought for a moment before replying, “I find this proposal acceptable.”
“Excellent,” Karna Rog said before his projection disappeared.
As the Knights got to their feet, Schedar looked at Alderamin, putting her hands on her hips, “Well Aldie? Whatcha gonna do now? Who’ll be the lucky Duke?” She gave a twirl, “Any guesses on how it’ll be, chat?”
“Well seeing as there’s only one Duke that we were assigned left, it shouldn’t be a hard choice,” Mirfak replied, cracking his neck.
“Pollux! Get in here!” Alderamin yelled.
“You called? You called?” a masculine voice said twice as a figure entered the control room. was wearing brownish-red and green armor which gave him a very rounded silhouette. There was a noticeable motif of yellow crescents and circles. Most of his face was obscured by armor, which seemed to have a frown on it. There was a slit exposing pure blackness under it, alongside two red eyes, one half-lidded and the other a crescent. Pollux gave a bow, holding his hands in front of him as he did so.
“Pollux, we will soon be arriving at the planet Theocra. The Power Rangers are there, and your orders are to terminate each and every one of them,” Alderamin growled in response, “Get ready to go.”
“Of course sir. Of course sir,” Pollux replied, turning to exit the room.
Schedar giggled, “Oh he is gonna get slaughtered, chat!”
Mirfak turned to look at Alderamin, “You want him to fail, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Alderamin grumbled, “once he’s been dealt with I can finally put an end to the Rangers.”
Mirfak gave a nod before speaking as he rolled his head around, “Well, I wish you luck with that endeavor.” Without another word, Mirfak spun around and left the room.
In a plaza on the urban planet of Theocra, Shen and the other Rangers had gathered, the planet’s rings visible overhead. “Alright everyone, be safe, and good luck finding what you’re looking for,” Shen chuckled.
“Sure,” Hydra replied.
“We got it,” Alura added.
Sirius nodded, “We will.”
“Alright Sirius, let’s give you a rundown of how this works,” Birdie said as she walked alongside Sirius while Alura, and Hydra went their separate ways, leaving only Shen, Kenneth, and Corvile in the plaza.
“Mind if I join you?” Kenneth asked, turning to look at Shen.
Shen gave a nod and a laugh, “Sure you can! Any reason why you’re asking?”
Kenneth shrugged, “Eh, don’t really see the point in keeping whatever present I get a surprise, besides, I think it would be nice just to talk for a little bit.”
“I see how it is, don’t even want to talk with your own fiancé,” Corvile said teasingly, crossing his arms.
Kenneth gave his partner a playful shove in response, “Oh come on, Corvie, as much as I hate to say it, my life doesn’t revolve around you. Besides, it would be nice to have a one-on-one with someone else.”
“Well I don’t mind,” Corvile said, waving a hand dismissively, “there’s something else I need to get by myself anyway, and no Kenneth, you cannot ask what it is.”
Kenneth chuckled, “Alright, fine. Be safe though.”
“I will, Kenneth, no need to worry about that,” Corvile said as he gave a wave before moving away.
Kenneth gave a wave back as Shen chuckled, beginning to walk away, “You know, you’re lucky to have a partner like him. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen people who love each other as much as the two of you do.”
“I sure am,” Kenneth replied with a grin as he walked alongside Shen, “we’ve helped each other out a lot over the years, he knows me better than anyone else too. It’s nice to have him back after all of this at least.”
Shen nodded along, “The last time I was ever a-round on the dating scene was before I became Commander, too much work after that to really focus on it. Probably going to be too busy helping Neil and Arthur once the Empire’s defeated to focus on it then either.”
“Yeah, after the Empire’s defeated,” Kenneth said softly before shaking his head, “speaking of, I’d say you’re pretty lucky to have them too.”
Shen chuckled before speaking with a massive amount of affection in his voice, “Oh absolutely, they’re so talented, both of them.”
“Yeah, I mean, without Neil I’d still probably be trying to kill you all and Karna Rog would’ve killed us on Samos.” Kenneth gave a slightly sheepish look, “Sorry about that again.”
“Don’t star-t with that, it was hardly your fault,” Shen replied, putting a hand on Kenneth’s shoulder, “Arthur’s done a lot to help us too, he’s worked with me on plenty of things. Him and Neil are my pride and joy, and they’re…” Shen was quiet for a moment before speaking again, “probably the best things to happen to me in a long time.”
Kenneth gave a slow nod, sounding apologetic, “Yeah, I heard about how you became the Commander of the Revolution. I’m sorry for what happened.”
“It’s fine,” Shen replied, “I think I’ve been making some pretty good progress to get past it. Once Calamartia’s dead and the Empire’s destroyed, my dad will finally have justice.”
“Yeah, after the Empire’s defeated,” Kenneth mused softly before taking notice of a store for art supplies, “Give me a minute, think I know just what to get you.”
Shen chuckled as Kenneth moved towards the store, “Alright, I’ll hang a-round out here for a bit then.”
Elsewhere on Theocra, Birdie and Sirius exited a store, each of them holding a bag. “So that’s it. Think you’ve got it now?” Birdie chirped out.
Sirius gave a nod, “Yes, I believe I do. It is a bit strange, I must admit.”
“Why’s that?” Birdie asked curiously.
“Presents are not really given between friends by my people,” Sirius replied, “it is mostly done by those in a romantic relationship, or those who wish to be in one.”
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, cultural differences are like that. I know some species would consider a present a major insult.”
“The galaxy is quite strange, I never thought there would be this much beyond the confines of my village and forest,” Sirius replied.
“Well, I think you’ve been taking to it very well,” Birdie reassured.
Sirius gave a nod, “I hope that what I learn will be able to help my people interact with the galaxy when this is over.”
“Sounds like a good dream,” Birdie said happily.
“Hey guys, got everything?” Alura asked as she and Hydra came into view, holding bags as well.
“Yes, Birdie has helped me figure out how this works,” Sirius said, sounding a bit proud of himself.
Birdie looked at the two of them, “What about you two?”
“We’ve found what we needed too,” Hydra said, raising the bag he was holding, “I hope that Commander Long will enjoy it.”
“I’m sure he will, Hydra,” Alura said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Let me call Neil, see if everything’s done back on the ship yet.”
As Alura raised her Morpher to speak into it, several CD-like discs shot towards the Rangers. Each was bronze with gold dots and crescents decorating them, in addition to a single large hole towards the edge of each. The discs hit Sirius, Hydra, Alura, and Birdie, sticking to them and making them momentarily glow blue, silver, green, and pink respectively. After a moment, the Rangers disappeared and the discs clattered to the ground, the holes on each now filled with a gem, one blue, one silver, one green, and one pink.
Pollux stepped into view, chuckling to himself, “Too easy. Too easy.” He bent down, picking the four discs up and looking them over, “Don’t worry, I’ll put your skills to good use. Don’t worry, I’ll put your skills to good use.”
Kenneth exited the store, holding a bag in his hand as he walked towards Shen. “Got something artsy, I assume?” Shen inquired.
“Yeah, some paints, canvas, and paper,” Kenneth replied, “I saw all those paintings and origami back in your office on the old Orion, figured you’d want to make your new one look like it.”
“Quite the keen eye,” Shen chuckled, “I would like to get a-round to doing that, probably be on a roll doing it too.”
Kenneth smiled and nodded, “Glad to know you approve.”
“I wouldn’t have minded anything you or Corvile got me, honestly,” Shen replied as he and Kenneth began walking again, “I mean, you two haven’t been sphere too long, you aren’t obligated to get me a present, you know.”
“Oh I know,” Kenneth replied, “but you’ve done a lot. I mean, you’ve led the Revolution to fight the Empire like I did and welcomed me with open arms and gave me a place to stay even if I was a bit unpleasant at the beginning.”
Shen chuckled, “It’s no problem, Kenneth. It was just the right thing to do.” After a moment, Shen noticed an odd look on Kenneth’s face, “Something wrong?”
“This all just feels so weirdly… domestic,” Kenneth sighed, “and it’s making me wonder what I’ll do after the Empire.” He shook his head, “Sorry, just felt like I needed to talk to someone about it. I mean, I could talk to Corvile about it, but he’s my partner, not my therapist. Not to mention I think he’s dealing with his own problems, I mean I caught him talking to himself before.”
“It’s fine, Kenneth,” Shen reassured, “I’m no therapist either, but I think I’d like to listen to what you have to say.”
“Are you sure?” Kenneth inquired, “I mean, it’s your birthday, you shouldn’t have to listen to someone else’s problems.”
“It’s fine, I’ve always got time to help one of my Rangers,” Shen said as he moved, taking a seat on a bench and patting the space next to him, “Come on, sit.”
“Oh alright,” Kenneth replied, sitting down next to him. The Scotsman gave a sigh as he began to speak, “Truth is, once this is all over, I don’t know what to do. The galaxy I knew is gone, the position I used to have is gone, my immortality’s gone, and the only ones I have left are Corvile and Audumula.” He shook his head sadly, “What am I going to do when the Empire’s defeated when I have nothing to go back to?”
Shen raised a clawed hand to his beard, stroking it before taking a deep breath, “You know Kenneth, sometimes I feel the same way.”
Kenneth gave a snort, “At least you have Arthur, Neil, and an entire Revolution that respects you.”
“I’m not saying I don’t have anything to go back to,” Shen clarified, “what I meant is that I feel like I don’t know what to do when this is over.”
“Why do you feel like that then?” Kenneth replied.
Shen sighed, “Truth is, the Revolution’s always been a part of my life, even before I joined it when I was eighteen.” The Ladonean gave a chuckle, “Guess it comes with the territory of your father being its leader.” Shen shook his head, “Then I joined, became its head scientist, became the First Hero of the Revolution, and became its Commander. The Revolution isn’t something I can just be separated from.”
“So once the Revolution’s no longer needed, you don’t know what your purpose will be?” Kenneth inquired, giving an understanding look.
Shen nodded, “Exactly, even with Neil and Arthur, I don’t know what I’ll do afterwards besides write the book my father wanted to keep myths about the stars alive and support Neil and Arthur.” He sighed, “The point is, Kenneth, you’re not the only one who doesn’t know what’ll happen when this is all over.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Kenneth said quietly with a nod, “Guess it’s good to know I’m not the only one with that problem.”
“Want my advice?” Shen asked rhetorically, “Talk to Corvile about it. I know you said he’s your partner, not your therapist, but planning what you’ll do after this, it’s something that’ll need both of you. Keeping this information from him isn’t going to help when the two of you are going to spend the rest of your lives together.” He gave a shrug, “Who knows, maybe he’s already got something planned, or maybe he could help you decide.”
“Yeah, that’s a… good point,” Kenneth replied, realization sinking in, “Thanks, Shen.”
Shen patted Kenneth’s back, “No problem, just a little advice from one old soldier to another.”
Kenneth gave a nod, his gaze drifting to the bag in his hand. He thought for a few moments before speaking up, “You know, maybe you could take up art full time. You’re a good enough artist that a lot of people would probably like to buy what you make.”
“I’ll consider it,” Shen chuckled, “Feel any better now?”
“Yeah, I do,” Kenneth said with a smile.
Shen smiled as he gave a stretch, “Good to sphere. Well, enough lounging around, we should probably check up on the others.”
“Yeah,” Kenneth replied, getting up from the bench alongside Shen, taking a few steps forward beside the Ladonean.
As if on cue, Corvile exited a nearby jewelry store. He held a bag in his free hand, and was in the process of finishing stuffing something into his pocket as he approached his fiancé and the Commamder, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Nah, you’re fine Corv,” Kenneth said, shaking his head, “do want to talk to you about something later though.”
Corvile nodded, “I’m sure we can make time after Shen’s party.”
“You know you didn’t need to go to a jeweler’s just to get me a gift for my birthday, right?” Shen inquired, looking at the Veronan.
Corvile shook his head as he raised the bag, “Oh no, your present’s in here. The jeweler’s was for…” Corvile paused momentarily, “something else.”
“Alright,” Shen replied, “I just didn’t want anyone going a-round and spending too much on me.”
“Trust me, I didn’t,” Corvile replied, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kenneth did.”
Kenneth gave a look of mock offense, “It wasn’t that much.”
“Sure,” Corvile replied, his tone teasing and sarcastic.
“Alright you two, knock it off,” Shen chuckled, “let’s see where the others have run off t-”
Shen cut himself off, spinning around and slicing at the air with his cane. A few moments later, three discs hit the ground, each cut in half.
“That was close,” Shen growled, still holding his cane in preparation in case more were thrown.
Corvile looked over the discs curiously, “Are those-”
“Get somewhere safe,” Kenneth said, moving in front of him and drawing his sword from his shield. Corvile gave a nod, running backwards.
“Dang it, too fast,” Pollux said, stepping into view, “Dang it, too fast.”
“Seems like the Empire’s timing is as convenient as ever,” Shen sighed upon seeing the Duke.
Kenneth shook his head, “Good grief. Since you’re a Nebran I’m going to assume you’re the Duke of the Gemini system.”
“Correct. Correct,” Pollux replied with a bow, “I am Duke Pollux of the Gemini system. I am Duke Pollux of the Gemini system. It seems my sneak attack was ineffective this time. It seems my sneak attack was ineffective this time.”
“Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out,” Kenneth scoffed.
Shen growled, “What do you mean ‘this time’?”
Pollux chuckled and stopped before chuckling the same way as before, “Unfortunately for you, your Rangers are my puppets now, Commander Long. Unfortunately for you, your Rangers are my puppets now, Commander Long.”
As if on cue, Sirius, Hydra, Alura, and Birdie all stepped into view, morphed and holding their weapons while Pollux held four discs down to his side.
“I’m sorry Commander Long, we weren’t prepared!” Birdie exclaimed.
“Please, we do not want to have to hurt you!” Sirius added.
Hydra nodded, “There is not much time.”
“Please, get out of here while you still can!” Alura finished.
Pollux gave his repeated chuckle again before speaking, “If you want to hurt me, you’ll have to deal with your beloved Rangers first. If you want to hurt me, you’ll have to deal with your beloved Rangers first.”
Shen lightly shook his head disappointedly while Kenneth just rolled his eyes. They exchanged a glance before looking back at Pollux. “Alright,” Shen shrugged.
“Fine by me,” Kenneth added.
Pollux seemed shocked by this nonchalance, “Wait-”
Kenneth cut him off, giving a battle cry as he and Shen charged at the other Rangers. Shen engaged Alura, locking his cane with her rapier. “Commander, what are you doing?” Alura questioned.
“Oh cut it out,” Shen said, forcing her blade out of the way before kicking her in the chest. She staggered back, turning invisible in the process. Shen kicked his foot forward, creating a cloud of dust that settled to reveal Alura’s outline. Before she could respond, Shen slashed her across the chest, knocking her back, making her visible, and launching her rapier into the air.
Shen caught the rapier and spun around, using the blade of it and his cane to block a swipe from Sirius’s claw. Shen swiped the two blades down in an x, breaking the lock that Sirius’s claw had on the weapons before slicing him repeatedly as Sirius staggered back, concluding with a spinning slash from both.
“You really care about your Rangers that little? You really care about your Rangers that little? Are you sure we’re the bad guys? Are you sure we’re the bad guys?” Pollux chuckled before chuckling again.
“Good grief, can you just be quiet already? Your voice is getting on my nerves,” Kenneth replied as he approached Hydra.
“Well, if you care that much about defeating Pollux, then I suppose you can’t complain about what’s about to happen,” Hydra said, preparing to use his powers to hold Kenneth in place. Unfortunately, Hydra was too slow, and Kenneth was able to close his eyes before he was frozen. Despite not being able to see, he charged forward and engaged Hydra, deftly blocking all of the Gorgonian’s attacks and retaliating with his own. With one well-placed slash across the chest, Hydra tumbled to the ground.
Kenneth opened his eyes, spinning around to block a few shots from Birdie with his shield. “Sorry!” she yelled as she began to fly forward, poised to deliver a kick.
“Sure you are,” Kenneth scoffed, swinging his shield just as Birdie’s kick was about to collide and knocking her to the ground.
Some distance away, Pollux glanced at the discs in his hand, “They know how my really power works, I need to go. They know how my power really works, I need to go.”
Pollux glanced up from the discs just in time to see Shen charging at him, brandishing his cane alongside Alura’s rapier. Pollux had no time to react as as he was slashed across the chest in an x-shape with the blades, launching Pollux back and knocking the discs from his hand.
“Impossible, how did you know my power? Impossible, how did you know my power?” Pollux questioned as he got to his feet.
“Well, we’ve have a few Nebrans working for the Revolution, it’s only natural for me to know that you can transfer the looks and powers of someone to someone else,” Shen responded.
“And I worked with plenty of your kind while I was president,” Kenneth scoffed as he took a step forward, “Now if you said Schedar put them under the Empire’s control that would’ve been a lot more believable.”
“Ugh, dang it! Ugh dang it!” Pollux bemoaned, slamming a fist on the ground.
Shen paid no mind to Pollux’s tantrum, instead opting to stomp his foot down on the discs, shattering them. They began to glow, and Sirius, Hydra, Alura, and Birdie appeared on the ground a few moments later, unmorphed. Meanwhile, their prone morphed versions began to glow, which soon died down to reveal they were simply Greyders.
“Everyone okay?” Shen asked as he and Kenneth helped the Rangers to their feet, dropping the rapier.
“Could be better,” Alura replied as Shen helped her and Sirius up.
“That’s something I never want to feel again,” Hydra replied as Kenneth helped him and Birdie recover.
“Then let us make sure he never has the chance to do it again,” Sirius growled.
“Yeah!” Birdie replied enthusiastically.
Shen nodded, “Alright everyone, let’s do this.” He and the others produced their Nova Spheres, plugging them into their Morphers.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which died down to reveal them in their Ranger forms.
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all exclaimed in unison before charging at Pollux.
“Go! Go!” Pollux exclaimed, extending a hand forward as a horde of Greyders and a pair of Flatborgs appeared. The Imperial forces charged forward, clashing with the Rangers. Unfortunately, the Rangers were more than a match. Sirius swiped at a few Greyders with his claw, knocking them to the ground. A few Greyders proceeded to swing their blades at him, but he easily weaved through and ducked under the attacks as he slashed them with his clawed gloves.
Hydra causally slashed a few Greyders across the chest, spinning around to block the slash of another with his scythe. He used the scythe’s blade to yank the blade out of the Greyder’s hand before jabbing the Greyder repeatedly with his free hand and finishing off with another swing of his scythe.
A trio of Greyders swung their blades at Alura, who quickly blocked them with the blade of her rapier. She forced their blades to the side, taking the opportunity to stab each one with her rapier before delivering a roundhouse kick to the three of them, knocking them to the ground.
Birdie spun around as she fired her blaster and Morpher, mowing down surrounding Greyders with ease. A few Greyders returned fire with their weapons, prompting Birdie to somersault through the air towards them, avoiding the shots and closing the distance between them. She landed on her back, and wasted no time at all using her position in order to swipe the Greyders’ legs out from under them.
Shen swung his cane, slamming the blunt side of it into a Greyder before spinning it and shifting his grip on it to grab the handle and using its tip to slash another Greyder. As he was about to slash another Greyder, Pollux grabbed the shaft of the cane from the side, “Think fast. Think fast.” Pollux tried to twist the cane out of Shen’s hand but Shen shifted his grip on it again to prevent that from happening and took the opportunity to jab Pollux in the chest.
“That fast enough for you?” Shen asked as Pollux recovered, producing a pair of green chakram-like weapons with handles in the middle and decorated with gold circles and crescents. Pollux swung one at Shen, who batted it away with his cane before swinging the other chakram, but Shen batted it away too. Pollux then tried swing both at the same time, but Shen blocked them with his cane. He shifted his grip on his cane again, now holding it so the tip pointed forward before forcing the chakrams out of the way and slashing Pollux across the chest.
Meanwhile, Kenneth dealt with the Flatborgs, using his shield to block a blow from the tonfa of one of them. The other charged from the side, bringing its tonfa down on him, but before it could connect, he disappeared in a swirl of flames and the tonfa slammed into the ground. Kenneth reappeared behind the Flatborg, slashing it in the back repeatedly before it could recover from its attack and kicking it onto the ground.
Kenneth turned to face the others, speaking quickly, “I’ll finish the Greyders and Flatborgs, the rest of you help Shen with the Duke!”
“Got it!” Alura replied, slashing a Greyder across the chest.
Hydra nodded as he elbowed a Greyder behind him in the chest, “On it!”
“Sure thing!” Birdie said, kicking a Greyder in the chest before shooting another.
Sirius somersaulted through the air, drop kicking a Greyder in the chest, “Of course!”
The four of them disengaged, charging towards Pollux, who was currently being forced back by Shen, their weapons locked. Kenneth gave a nod before spinning around just in time to bat away a Flatborg’s tonfa with his shield. “You’ll need to do better than that,” he chastised before repeatedly slashing the Flatborg across the chest as it tried to recover from its attack being deflected.
The Flatborg staggered back, but by now the other Flatborg had gotten to its feet and was able to stop its compatriot from stumbling any more. The two Flatborgs quickly closed the distance, swinging their tonfa at Kenneth from opposite sides. Kenneth blocked the right swing with his sword and the left swing with his shield. He forced their tonfa to the ground before retaliating, slammed the bottom of his shield into the chest of one and slashing the other across the chest.
In a field near the city’s outskirts, the other Rangers pursued Pollux, who was currently managing to block their attacks with relative success. “I’m not going down that easily! I’m not going down that easily!” Pollux taunted as he used his chakrams to block slashes from Sirius and Alura before slashing Hydra across the chest. Birdie then fired on him, with the shots making him recoil enough that Shen was able to get a slash in before the other three followed suit.
“Let’s hope you’re ready to see double,” Shen said, preparing his next move alongside the others as Pollux tried to recover.
“This isn’t over yet. This isn’t over yet,” Pollux said as he got to his feet before throwing out four discs. They stopped mid-air and began to glow, which quickly died down to reveal four new Polluxes. “How do you like this? How do you like this?” they all asked in unison.
Alura sighed, “Well this is sure to be fun.”
The original Pollux charged at Shen, while each clone went after one of the other Rangers. Shen was holding his own, deflecting and blocking the slashes of Pollux’s chakrams before slashing him diagonally.
One of the clones kicked Sirius away, but Sirius immediately lunged at the clone upon landing, slashing it across the chest. The clone barely had time to recover when Sirius slashed its leg, making it stumble significantly. Sirius took a slash to the chest as he tried to attack the recovering clone, but he recovered quickly as he swiped at it with his claw. “It does not matter how many of you there are, you will be defeated,” Sirius growled.
Hydra repeatedly blocked the swings of a clone’s chakrams, but even then a few still hit. He brought his scythe down on the clone, but it simply cartwheeled out of the way. He turned to face it, making it freeze in place as it tried to charge him. “Perfect,” he said as he hooked his scythe near one of the chakrams’ handles, yanking it out of the clone’s hand before slashing the Duke’s clone.
Alura blocked a chakram of the clone she was fighting with her rapier, spinning out of the way of the clone’s other chakram. “Let’s see if you can keep up,” she taunted before turning invisible.
“Where’d she go? Where’d she go?” the clone questioned before its arm was twisted behind its back, Alura appearing behind it. She kicked the clone forward, allowing Sirius to slash it and the clone he was fighting at once.
Birdie elegantly weaved between the slashes of the clone she was fighting, ducking, spinning, and all other manner of evasive maneuvers. She performed a flurry of close-range fire with her Morpher and blaster, but this gave the clone the opportunity to grab her arms. “I have you now. I have you now,” it taunted.
“Oh really?” Birdie questioned. She used her wings to beat up a cloud of dust, sending the clone into a coughing fit and weakening its grip. She took the opportunity to perform a backwards flip, kicking the clone in the face in the process.
The Flatborgs staggered back into the remaining Greyders, colliding with them and making them fall to the ground. As they tried to get back to their feet, Kenneth sheathed his sword back into his shield and pulled the trigger.
“Ankaa End!”
The Phoenix Nova Sphere began to spin as he pulled his sword out of his shield, its blade now flaming. He prepared to swing it as the flames grew stronger, before delivering a slash. A flaming projection of the Phoenix Zord appeared, flying through the Flatborgs and Greyders, destroying them instantly. “Alright, time to help the others,” Kenneth said, sheathing his sword again.
Pollux held his chakrams in front of him, using them to block a swipe from the Draco Ranger’s cane. Shen quickly responded, thrusting his cane through the space between the chakrams’ grips and moving his cane to force the weapons out of the Duke’s hands. As Pollux tried to recover from the shock of that maneuver, Shen slammed the blunt side of his cane into Pollux, sending Pollux tumbling into a pile of his clones.
The Rangers regrouped as Kenneth entered the scene, moving to stand alongside them, “I hope you weren’t having a better time than I was.”
“Maybe,” Shen shrugged, “now let’s put an end to this, I have a party to get to.”
“This isn’t over yet. This isn’t over yet,” Pollux and his clones said as they got to their feet, each pulling out more discs. They threw the discs, and just like before they created more clones.
“More of them?” Sirius growled, readying himself.
Alura shook her head, “Just great.”
Pollux and the clones broke into a sprint towards the Rangers, each brandishing a pair of chakrams. “We need to deal with them fast, what do we do?” Hydra asked, mild panic in his voice.
Thinking fast, Birdie pulled out a blue Nova Sphere that depicted a river and plugged it into her Morpher.
“Eridanus Nova Sphere!”
A blast of foamy, glittering water struck Pollux and the clones, knocking Pollux to the ground. The clones were gone, with only countless discs littering the ground around the Duke.
“Nice job, Birdie,” Shen said, patting the android’s shoulder.
“What did she do?” Sirius questioned, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
“The Eridanus Nova Sphere,” Kenneth explained, “its waters wash away falsehoods of all kinds, leaving only the truth. Ptolemy told me that.”
“Interesting,” Hydra said with a nod.
“This isn’t looking good. This isn’t looking good,” Pollux bemoaned as he got to his feet.
“I think it’s about time this guy faces the truth,” Shen said, gesturing for the others to get ready. From there, everyone prepared to perform a finisher.
“Ankaa Strike!”
“Eltanin Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
Blue, silver, green, and pink energy spheres with tails like comets flew towards Pollux alongside a projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy and a wave of flames shaped like a bird. The attacks collided with Pollux, making his body crackle violently with energy. “I’m seeing double! I’m seeing double!” Pollux exclaimed before going up in flames, his body hitting the ground a moment later.
The Rangers lowered their weapons, each giving a thumbs up as Shen spoke, “Shine on!”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog watched the events unfolding upon Theocra. “Don’t get too excited Rangers, you should know by now it’s double or nothing,” Karna Rog rasped before snapping his fingers.
A dark cloud with pitch black electricity crackling through it formed above the field. After a moment a pitch black bolt of lightning shot down from it to hit Pollux’s body, making it disappear in a swirl of dark energy which flew away before reforming into a giant Pollux, “Time for round two! Time for round two!”
“Sirius, Hydra, with me!” Shen commanded. The two Rangers in question gave a nod as they prepared to call their Zords.
“Lupus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord.”
“Draco Zord!”
The three Rangers cockpits formed around them, connecting to their respective Zords as they got into position to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
This combination of the Draco Star Megazord had the Ophiuchus Zord as its right arm and the Lupus Zord as its left arm, raising both as it prepared to fight Pollux. Pollux charged forward, swinging a chakram at the Megazord, but it was knocked to the side by the Lupus Zord. The Megazord tried to retaliate by kicking Pollux, but the Duke managed to block the attack. The Megazord tried to swipe at Pollux with its leg again, but the Duke cartwheeled out of the way so it was behind the Megazord.
Pollux spun around momentarily before delivering a kick to the Megazord’s back. The Megazord spun around, only to be slashed across the chest by one of Pollux’s chakrams. The Megazord stumbled as Pollux ran at it, sliding over the Megazord’s back so he was on the other side, slashing it repeatedly once it straightened itself.
“Alright, change of plans. Alura, Birdie, roll out!” Shen commanded.
The two of them exchanged a glance and a nod, plugging flicking their Nova Spheres and flipping down the sides of their Morphers.
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
On board the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, the Rangers present watched as the Chamaeleon and Aquila Zords flew off.
“Where do you think they’re going?” Aster asked, confused.
Tip shrugged, “Eh, beats me.”
Once the cockpits attached to the Chamaeleon Zord and Aquila Zord, they exchanged spots with the Lupus and Ophiuchus Zords respectively.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
Shen chuckled as the Megazord lashed the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue about, “And these wings are gonna help take him down!”
Pollux charged forward, chakrams ready. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the chance to use them, as once he was close enough the Draco Star Megazord used the Chamaeleon Zord’s tongue to lash the weapons out of his hands, “Ow, Ow! Ow, Ow!”
Pollux readied his fists, but the Draco Star Megazord had already swung the Aquila Zord, its wings slashing across Pollux’s chest and making him stagger back.
“Kenneth, want in on the action?” Shen questioned.
Kenneth shrugged, “You’re handling this well already, but I can send a little help regardless.” He pulled the trigger on his sheathed sword.
The Phoenix Zord flew into view, its cockpit detaching as its lower half separated and split in two. The Chamaeleon and Aquila Zords detached but left their cockpits in place as the lower halves of the Phoenix Zord formed new arms for the Draco Star Megazord, with the cockpit for the Ophiuchus Zord attaching below the cockpit of the Aquila Zord and the cockpit for the Lupus Zord attaching below the cockpit of the Chamaeleon Zord.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
Pollux readied himself as the Draco Star Megazord propelled itself into the air with its arms thrusters before swooping down, repeatedly kicking the Duke and knocking him to the ground.
“Let’s wrap this up like a present,” Shen said as he and the others prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Kick!”
The Megazord once again propelled itself into the air using its thrusters, flying even higher than before and thus making its kick even more devastating when it connected with Pollux.
“Dang it!” Pollux yelled before exploding.
The Megazord slid to a stop, lowering its arms as Shen spoke, “The stars of hope still shine!”
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, the Knights all knelt before a projection of Karna Rog. “Sir, it appears as though Duke Pollux has failed. Do I have your permission to begin my operation?” Alderamin questioned.
“Yes, Sir Alderamin, you may now take any action against the Rangers that you deem necessary,” Karna Rog rasped, “I advise you to exercise utmost caution and refrain from underestimating them during this endeavor.”
“Of course, sir,” Alderamin replied.
Karna Rog nodded, “Excellent, but know if you fail at this task that you seem so certain in your ability to complete, you will find very little sympathy from me.” Without another word, the projection disappeared.
The Knights got to their feet, with Schedar giggling as she turned to face Alderamin, “Well Aldie, what’s the plan?”
“None of your business,” Alderamin grumbled, shoving Schedar to side as he made his way to the door, “I have matters to discuss with Chupasangre at the moment.”
Mirfak cracked his neck and shook his head as Alderamin exited, muttering to himself, “Ah well, at least the Ranger will spare me the trouble of tying up another loose end.”
Back on board the Orion Carrierzord, the Rangers (aside from Tip, Aster, and Birdie) sat around eating slices of the cake Brando had prepared. “So, how is everything?” Kenneth asked curiously.
“Well it’s about to be a lot better when we see the presents,” Tip replied, chuckling until Hydra elbowed him.
Hydra shook his head, “I don’t think he was asking you.”
“It’s fine, personally I’m having a ball,” Shen chuckled before looking at Brando, “the cake’s delicious by the way.”
“Thanks Boss, I’m glad you like it,” Brando smiled.
“Sure is nice to have after everything that happened today,” Alura said exhaustedly.
“Still can’t believe you didn’t call us down there,” Aster replied.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, we could’ve helped.”
“It’s fine,” Shen chuckled, “we had it under control.”
Neil shook his head from where he sat next to his brother and adoptive father, the Leo Minor Zord on his lap, “Still, it’s your birthday, you shouldn’t have to do all of that.”
“Yeah, could’ve at least tried to make your birthday a little more perfect after you didn’t get a surprise,” Arthur added.
Shen just shook his head as he took a bite, “Nothing’s perfect Arthur. There’ll always be something that isn’t right or goes wrong. But being able to spend my birthday with you, Neil, and everyone else? That’s as close to perfect as it gets.”
Neil chuckled, “Dad…”
“It’s true,” Shen said with a grin, “I’d rather not celebrate at all than celebrate without all of you.”
Arthur gave a small grin, “Thanks, dad.”
“It’s no problem, Arthur,” Shen chuckled.
Birdie scanned the room, taking note of everyone’s plates, “Well, Commander Long, seeing as it looks like everyone’s done with the cake, do you want to get started on the presents?”
Shen laughed and gave a small nod, “Sure thing.” He gave a slight stretch, looking over the pile of presents on the bridge’s table, stroking his beard as he contemplated which one to open first.
“Thank you again for retrieving our presents, Corvile,” Sirius said, looking at the crow-like alien.
Corvile shook his head, “Oh it’s no problem. Figured I might as well help while you dealt with the Duke.”
“A lifesaver as always, Corvile,” Kenneth said, putting an arm over his fiancé’s shoulder and earning him a playful elbow to the side.
“Hey dad, this one’s from me and Arthur, think you could start with it?” Neil said, taking a red present with a cyan bow on it from the pile and putting it in front of Shen.
Shen chuckled as he took the present into his clawed hands, “Alright, anything for my boys.”
Neil and Arthur watched intently as Shen opened the present, with Arthur speaking up, “We made it ourselves.”
Shen chuckled as he got the last of the wrapping off, “Well that just makes it even better!” Shen finished opening the gift, and Neil and Arthur watched as their adoptive father’s eyes widened and his hands began to shake as he pulled out its contents.
It was a white mug, with its handle being a purple dragon. The words ‘Galaxy’s #1 Dad’ was written on it in red, purple, and cyan. The symbols of the Leo Nova Sphere, the Draco Nova Sphere, the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere, and Ursa Major Nova Sphere. Shen held the mug gingerly before pulling his sons into a hug and giving a choked, “I love you two.”
Notes:
Pollux is based on the Nebra Sky Disc
Happy birthday, Supernova! It’s hard to believe that this series is a year old already, and I’m glad so many of you have stuck around to see this through. I figured a birthday chapter would be fitting for the series anniversary, and since this ep was Shou-centric in the Sentai, I figured it would be Shen-centric here. Little bit of trivia, Shen’s birthday, September 19th, was chosen because it’s my own father’s birthday. As for my favorite parts this chapter, it’s definitely the ending and the conversation between Shen and Kenneth. As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 36: Out for Blood
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
On the planet Chuppa in the Capricornus system, Alderamin and Chupasangre walked across its rust-colored, prairie-like surface. Alderamin turned to face Chupasangre before speaking mockingly, “It must be nice being back on your homeworld.”
Chupasangre was quiet for a moment before responding with his usual disinterest, though there was a hint of venom in his tone, “It would be nicer if you weren’t here.”
“You’re lucky I’m focusing on things that aren’t your unacceptable comment,” Alderamin replied before stopping. They stood some distance away from a Consumoai, which stood in stark contrast to the red sky behind it. “Now, I think it’s time we got the Rangers’ attention,” Alderamin said, glancing at the Consumoai momentarily before it exploded.
Chupasangre gave a sigh of relief as he watched the Consumoai go up in flames, prompting Alderamin to turn to face him, “Seems you found your Consumoai’s destruction acceptable. Well then Chupasangre, I’ve got a deal for you, one I’m sure you’ll agree to…”
Inside the Orion Carrierzord’s library, Sirius was seated at a table as he looked over a datapad, one of the many that lined the shelves of the room. He scrolled down after he finished reading a paragraph, only to find a picture of Alderamin holding his hand upwards as he commanded his forces in taking over a city. Sirius gave a snarl, glaring at the image, “Of course it was you, I had forgotten you had done this to worlds besides mine.” He shut off the datapad and put it back, fuming.
His mood immediately shifted as the doors to the library opened and Alura, Birdie, and Brando entered, prompting him to give a wave, “Oh, hello. It is a bit of a surprise to see you here.”
“Hey, Sirius,” Alura said, giving a wave back.
Birdie looked around, “We’re looking around to maybe find something that could help us figure out Project Wormwood. Either something that could tell us what it is or a way to access the plans for it.”
“Ah, that sounds like a good idea,” Sirius replied with a nod, “would I be able to help.”
“Sure thing,” Brando replied with a grin, “We’ve got a lot on our plate seeing as there’s so many datapads we need to go through.”
“Well each does have all of its processing power going towards being as in-depth on one topic as possible,” Alura replied.
Birdie nodded, “Or entire books.”
“Well, I would be happy to help make it easier.” Sirius replied.
“Thanks man,” Brando said as he and the others began browsing through the shelves.
Alura took a datapad off one of the shelves, scrolling through it from where she stood next to Sirius as she spoke, “Trying to learn more about the galaxy again?”
“Of course,” Sirius said with a nod as he pulled out another datapad.
“Good to know you’re hungry for knowledge, plenty to learn about the galaxy,” Brando chuckled as he looked over a datapad of his own.
Sirius gave a hesitant nod, “…Yes.”
“Something wrong?” Birdie inquired, sensing something was wrong.
Sirius shook his head sadly, “I was just reminded that my clan weren’t the only victims of Alderamin’s cruelty.” He sighed, “It is painful to know that so many others have suffered like I have.”
“Yeah, but look on the sunny side,” Brando replied, looking at Sirius, “we can put a stop to him and make sure he doesn’t do it to anyone else.”
“I agree,” Alura nodded, “you have a Nova Sphere like the rest of us, the power to destroy any darkness. I mean, it’s part of why you joined us, right? To fight Alderamin and make sure it never happens again.”
Sirius gave a slow nod in response, “Even so, the fact that there are others like me out there, ones that have been victims of his tyranny, it weighs heavy on my mind.”
“Yeah, I imagine it would, nothing like what happened to your planet ever happened to ours,” Alura said, “the invasions of me and Brando’s homes didn’t have Alderamin, and we’re still lucky we didn’t lose our loved ones.”
“I was there when Skragen and Calamartia attacked the Revolution’s headquarters too,” Birdie added, “I know what it can be like to lose so many people you’ve come to know.”
“We’re fighting for it too, Sirius,” Brando continued, “Slicing up the Empire to save everyone else.”
Sirius gave a slow nod before speaking again, his tone lightning up, “I suppose you are right. I often forget the hardships some of you underwent before we met. It is good to know I’m not alone in feeling that way.”
The other three Rangers gave nods before the door to the library opened again, Corvile standing on the other side of the threshold, “Do you have a moment?”
“Sure, what do you need?” Birdie asked.
“Shen wants everyone on the bridge, he seems to have a mission,” Corvile replied.
“Guess this research will have to wait,” Alura said, putting her datapad back on the shelf alongside the others.
“Unfortunately,” Sirius replied as he did the same.
Brando chuckled as he put the datapad he was holding away, “Last one there’s a rotten egg.”
“You wanted us, Boss?” Alura asked as she and the other three Rangers entered the bridge alongside Corvile, where the rest of the Rangers were waiting.
“Good to see you three, now I can star-t to explain,” he chuckled.
“So, what’s going on, dad?” Neil inquired from where he sat, petting the Leo Minor Zord as it sat on his lap.
“Well, we’ve received reports that the Consumoai on the planet Chuppa in the Capricornus system was destroyed, it seems like some kind of sabotage was done to it,” Shen explained as a hologram of a rust-colored planet appeared above the table.
Sirius gave a confused look, “Chuppa? I remember encountering its Marquis when I fought Alderamin on Fronterra.”
“Chupasangre? Don’t know much about him other than he’s usually off-world with Alderamin,” Birdie replied.
Kenneth sat back in a chair, resting his feet on the table with his arms crossed behind his head, “So I assume the plan for today is to investigate?”
“Correct,” Shen replied, giving a thumbs up, “could be a new resistance group we could help.”
“I dunno,” Arthur said cautiously, “it sounds kind of suspicious.”
Leiurus gave a nod, “Yeah, there’s no telling if it’s a trap..”
“No telling if it isn’t a trap either,” Tip interjected.
“I think we should all go together,” Hydra suggested, “it would probably be safer that way.”
Aster nodded as he cracked his knuckles, “Yeah, it’ll make it easier to clobber anyone who tries to mess with us.”
“Well, let’s get to serving up some answers on what’s going on,” Brando replied with a smile,
Sirius nodded, “Indeed.”
“Corvile, you’re in charge while we’re gone,” Shen said, looking at the crow-like alien.
“Of course,” Corvile replied with a nod.
The Leo Minor Zord leapt from Neil’s lap as he stood up, “Alright guys, let’s go.”
A few minutes later, the twelve Rangers had landed on the prairie-like surface of Chuppa, near where the Consumoai was once located. “We should be pretty close to where the Consumoai was,” Birdie said, pulling out a datapad momentarily.
“Let’s get to looking around then, Sirius, can you smell anything?” Neil inquired, looking at the wolfman.
“Yes, I smell…” Sirius replied, freezing after a moment, “Get down!”
The Rangers said nothing, immediately ducking under the swing of a long crimson flail before rolling to avoid a pair of red energy beams. “You’re here just like I planned, how acceptable,” Alderamin said as he and Chupasangre stepped into view.
“Alderamin!” Sirius snarled.
“So it was a trap,” Arthur said as he stood up alongside the others.
“Told you,” Leiurus said, looking at Tip.
Tip sighed, “I know.”
“Good news is at least we can have a chance to take these guys on,” Aster said, getting ready to fight.
“Let’s not get too confident,” Alura said, “just because there’s only two right now doesn’t change the fact that one’s a Knight.”
Alderamin extended a hand, “Good point, let’s even the playing field a bit.” A patrol of Greyders promptly materialized, brandishing their weapons.
Hydra turned to Alura, “I don’t think you should’ve said that.”
“Eh, fine by me,” Kenneth said, “Greyders aren’t exactly impressive.”
Brando nodded, “Just a few snacks before the main course.”
“Focus, everyone!” Shen said, tapping his cane.
Neil gave a nod, “Let’s go!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by multicolored light and flames, which quickly died down as the Rangers charged forward. Sirius made a beeline for Alderamin, but was blocked by Chupasangre as he swung his polearm at the Fenrisulfrian, forcing him to block it with his claw. “Your journey will end here,” Chupasangre said as their blades locked.
“I will not let it, not now,” Sirius growled in response.
Chupasangre scoffed, “It will, for my people’s sake.”
Sirius gave a confused look, but didn’t have time to say anything as Chupasangre began moving and forced him back.
Meanwhile the other Rangers had engaged the Greyders, with Birdie and Tip blasting them while the others fought in melee. Alura, Birdie, and Brando fought a few that were closer to Sirius and Chupasangre, while the others engaged the ones closer to Alderamin. Leiurus jabbed a few Greyders with his tail while slashing a few others alongside Arthur, Hydra hooked a Greyder with his scythe and brought it closer before slashing it, Aster punched a Greyder into a slash from Shen, and Neil and Kenneth slashed at Alderamin, who blocked their blades with his arms.
Chupasangre swung his polearm down at Sirius, who managed to dodge both it and the subsequent spinning slash that occurred after. Alura and Brando ran up behind the Marquis, attempting to get a hit in before he could react, but he quickly spun around and blocked both of their attacks before slashing them both. Birdie peppered him with shots from a range, and Chupasangre quickly responded by swinging his polearm and sending a pair of red energy slashes at her, forcing her to dodge it. Sirius swiped his claw at the Marquis, who blocked it with his wrist claw before slashing Sirius across the chest with his polearm and knocking him to the ground.
“Enough of this, it’s time to put an end to you!” Alderamin said as he swung his arms outward, creating a yellow shockwave that knocked Neil and Kenneth back slightly. As the two of them attempted to recover, Alderamin extended his flail and swung it, smashing it into the side of Shen’s head as he slashed a Greyder, which made him unmorph. He hit the ground, not moving aside from his breathing.
This drew the other Rangers’ attention, making all of them freeze as aside from Sirius, Alura, Birdie, and Brando, they were about to engage Alderamin since they finished off the Greyders. “Dad!” Neil and Arthur yelled with worry, each extending a hand forward.
“Chupasangre, end this,” Alderamin commanded.
“Fine,” Chupasangre grumbled. His eyes flashed yellow and in an instant, his dreadlock-like tentacles shot forward at the Rangers who still stood.
“Get down!” Sirius yelled, managing to tackle Alura, Birdie, and Brando to the ground next to Shen as the tentacles whizzed past them. Tip was the first to be hit, a tentacle hitting them square in the chest, while another one hit Aster, the tentacles sticking to their point of contact. Leiurus cartwheeled out of the way, only for another tentacle to hit him when he stopped.
“I’ll help you,” Hydra said, trying in vain to unstick the tentacle from Tip’s chest before another hit him. Neil, Arthur, and Kenneth were able to bat several away with their weapons, but there was still too many, and they were eventually hit too.
“What the heck?” Arthur asked as he tried to remove the tentacle from his chest.
Neil attempted to slice the one connected to him off, but his sword did no noticeable damage, “These things are tough!”
“Oh good grief,” Kenneth bemoaned, “this isn’t going to be fun, is it?”
“No, it won’t be,” Chupasangre growled. In an instant, the Rangers seemed to be sucked into the tentacles that hit them, with the tentacles not even changing size as they passed through them. With nothing to connect to, the tentacles retracted.
“Guys!” Alura yelled, extending a hand forward.
Brando looked on in shock, “What just happened?”
“I am not sure, but I have seen him do this before,” Sirius growled.
“Seems like you missed some,” Alderamin grumbled as he took note of the remaining Rangers, “unacceptable. Finish them now.”
“Rangers, know that I am only doing what I must,” Chupasangre said as his eyes flashed yellow again.
“Birdie, now!” Sirius barked out.
“Got it!” Birdie yelled from where she lay, shielding Shen’s body. She quickly plugged a pink Nova Sphere depicting a bird of paradise into her Morpher as Chupasangre’s tentacles shot towards them.
“Apus Nova Sphere!”
A pink bird of paradise emerged from the Morpher and flew behind the Rangers, a trail of pink energy appearing behind it. It flew around to the front of the Rangers at breakneck speed, making them disappear as it passed by them before disappearing itself, making Chupasangre’s tentacles hit the ground where they were laying moments before.
Alderamin turned to look at his subordinate, “I expected better results from you given the current circumstances. Instead you let five Rangers get away, unacceptable.”
“My apologies, Sir Alderamin,” Chupasangre said apologetically, a sharp contrast from his usual annoyed and disinterested tone.
Alderamin grabbed him by the neck, shaking him violently a few times before speaking, “Know this, Chupasangre, I have no intention of upholding my end of the bargain until all of the Rangers are dead, not just seven. You will remain here until they return, and hopefully by then the ones you’ve devoured will be little more than lifeless husks.”
“Y-yes, Sir Alderamin,” Chupasangre choked out before Alderamin tossed him to the ground, the Knight dissipating in a swirl of dark energy.
A few minutes later, Sirius, Alura, and Corvile had gathered on the bridge of the Orion Carrierzord, with the Leo Minor Zord giving a sad purr on Sirius’s lap as he petted it. The doors to the bridge opened, and Birdie and Brando entered, prompting Alura to turn to them, “How’s the Commander?”
“He’s out cold,,” Brando replied.
Birdie nodded, “Suffered a minor skull fracture, had to use the Hydra Nova Sphere to heal that. Other than that and the unconsciousness he’s stable. Should come to not too long from now.”
“That is good to hear,” Sirius replied, relieved.
Corvile looked at the two of them, “What about Kenneth and the others? You said they were sucked up by Chupasangre, yes?”
“I’ll have to do some quick research,” Birdie replied, moving to one of the bridge’s consoles, “I don’t know much about Chupparans off-hand.”
“It’s weird, don’t you think?” Brando said, taking a seat.
“What is weird?” Sirius inquired, tilting his head.
“Why Chupasangre’s there, I mean,” Brando clarified, “I mean it’s obviously because he’s its Marquis, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a planet being served up a Marquis that’s one of the species that lives there.”
Corvile nodded, “Now that you mention it, it is rather strange.”
“Maybe it’s because he’s not there a lot of the time?” Alura speculated.
“It does not answer why he was specifically chosen by Alderamin though,” Sirius replied, the Leo Minor Zord giving a slight nod.
“Guys, I think I found something,” Birdie said suddenly.
“What is it?” Brando asked, moving towards the console alongside the others, the Leo Minor Zord perched on Sirius’s shoulder.
“Says here that a Chupparan’s dreadlocks are actually specialized feeding organs,” Birdie explained, sounding slightly disgusted.
Sirius gave a confused look, “Feeding organs?”
“Like a mouth,” Alura replied.
“So he ate them?” Corvile said, horrified.
Brando gave a look of disgust, “That’s all kinds of messed up.”
“It seems like it’s less eating and more like drinking,” Birdie said, cringing.
“Drinking?” Alura asked, already not sounding particularly thrilled by what she was about to hear.
Birdie looked over what she was reading again, “Apparently, Chupparans’ diets consist entirely of blood. The ‘stomach’ that things go to when they’re sucked into their tentacles is specialized at draining the fluids of anything inside it. Once everything in it’s drained, it gets spat back out.”
“So my fiancé and the rest of the team is in the process of being exsanguinated,” Corvile laughed sarcastically, “wonderful!” He looked at Birdie harshly, “How long do we have to get them out of there?”
“And how do we get them out of there?” Brando added.
“Lemme see,” Birdie said urgently, scrolling down as she quickly processed what she read, “says here the Chupparan either needs killed, or convinced to spit it out prematurely. Says it takes about a few hours for it to finish completely, but whatever’s in there will probably be dead before then. Hopefully since the others were morphed when they got sucked in it’ll offer some level of protection.”
“Well that’s surprisingly easy,” Alura replied, not sounding too unhappy.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, all we need to do is filet him.”
“Wait,” Sirius said suddenly, “are we certain that is what is right?”
The other Rangers and Corvile all gave confused looks. “What?” Brando said, confused.
“What’re you talking about?” Alura added.
Corvile gave a nod, “Kenneth and the others are being drained, this is obviously the best choice.”
“Sirius, can you explain what you mean by that?” Birdie inquired.
Sirius thought for a moment, “Chupasangre, he was saying some strange things back there. He said that he was only doing what he must, you all heard that. But he also said that he was doing this for his people.”
“Yeah, I did hear that first part,” Brando said.
“So what you’re saying is that maybe we could convince him to spit them out instead of killing him?” Alura replied, “I dunno, Sirius, I don’t think we can afford to make an assumption like that.”
“Birdie,” Sirius said, turning to the android, “surely the Empire must have something that talks about Chupasangre.”
Birdie thought for a moment, “You mean like a file? I can try and hack into their systems and find one, yeah.” She pressed a few buttons, making the screen change to a file showing Chupasangre’s head. Birdie gave a hum as she looked it over, realization dawning on her, “I see.”
“See what?” Corvile inquired.
“Sirius, you might want to hear this,” Birdie said, turning around to face him.
Sirius tilted his head curiously, “What is it?”
“Well, it says here that up until five years ago, Chuppa was a low-tech uncontacted planet,” Birdie replied.
“Just like Fenrisulfr,” Sirius said, eyes widening.
“The Empire’s forces, lead by Alderamin, then arrived, and began doing their usual Imperial stuff, well, they would have, but there was one small problem,” Birdie continued.
Alura gave an intrigued look, “What was it?”
“Yeah, don’t leave us starving for answers,” Brando added.
“Well,” Birdie replied, “the file goes on to say that one of the warriors that lived near where the Empire first arrived challenged Alderamin in single combat.”
“Chupasangre?” Corvile inquired.
Birdie nodded, “Exactly. Seems like Chupasangre wanted the Empire to leave Chuppa alone if he won, while Alderamin was impressed by his audacity and wanted him to become his personal executioner if he won.”
“I guess we know which happened then,” Alura deadpanned.
“Yeah,” Birdie replied, “he installed Chupasangre as Chuppa’s Marquis, though he seems to very rarely be allowed to go there in case he attempts anything.”
“So that explains… basically everything,” Brando said, realization dawning on him before turning to Sirius, “Seems like your hunch was right.”
Sirius was quiet, processing what he just heard, “Me and him… we are… the same.” He took a deep breath, “Our planets, both uncontacted, both taken by Alderamin. The specifics are different but that does not change it.”
“He put everything on the line just for the chance that his people might be safe,” Corvile nodded, “that was an incredible act of bravery.”
“He sacrificed his freedom to protect his planet with no hesitation,” Sirius mused, “the bravery and willpower he had, it was far more than what I possessed when the Empire came to my world…”
He took a deep breath, clenching his fist, “but it is not more than what I have now. I am brave enough to know that I can help him, because he is not like the Marquises we have faced before. He deserves a chance to be reasoned with, to know that we can help him and his people escape from Alderamin’s tyranny because we have the power to do it.”
“But what if he doesn’t listen?” Birdie questioned.
Corvile nodded, “Yes, what if he thinks you’re lying?”
Sirius sighed, taking a deep breath as the Leo Minor Zord nuzzled into his neck, “Then I will be brave enough to put an end to him, for the sake of the others.”
It was quiet for a moment before Brando spoke up, giving a nod, “I’m with you.”
“Me too,” Alura replied.
Birdie stood up and nodded, “Yeah, if he needs our help, then we’ll do it. I’m sure the others would do the same if they knew.”
“Let us just hope we can convince him to release them,” Sirius added as he patted the Leo Minor Zord.
“Well we’ll need to get going anyway,” Alura replied.
Brando nodded again, “Yeah, there might not be much time before the others are toast.”
“Corvile,” Alura said, turning to face the Veronan, “keep an eye on the Commander.”
“Of course,” Corvile replied before speaking again softly, “please, no matter how this turns out, rescue Kenneth and the others.”
“We will,” Sirius said, putting a hand on Corvile’s shoulder as the Leo Minor Zord leapt down from his own. He turned to face the other three Rangers, “Let us go and make haste.”
“Chupasangre!” Sirius called a few minutes later once he and the other three Rangers were back on the surface of Chuppa, approaching the Marquis.
Chupasangre turned to face them with a growl, “I appreciate you coming to me, it’ll make things easier.”
“We are here to talk,” Sirius replied, holding a hand out.
Chupasangre scoffed, “What could you possibly want to talk about?” His eyes flashed yellow, and his dreadlocks began to shift.
“I’ve got this!” Alura said, producing her rapier and plugging her Nova Sphere into it.
“Chamaeleontis Strike!”
Chupasangre’s dreadlocks shot forward just as the blade of Alura’s rapier turned into a long, glowing green energy whip. She lashed it forward, striking Chupasangre’s dreadlocks repeatedly and stopping them in their tracks. She twisted her hand, making the whip wrap around the tentacles and ensnaring them. “Let me go!” Chupasangre snarled, trying to retract his tentacles, but Alura’s binding was too tight.
“We have heard about what happened to you, how you challenged Alderamin for your people’s safety,” Sirius said, cautiously taking a step forward.
“And that is why I continue to fight,” Chupasangre growled, “Once I finish you all off, Alderamin will pull the Empire’s forces from Chuppa.”
“So? We can help you free your planet too,” Alura replied.
“We’re out to save the galaxy, and Chuppa is a part of it,” Brando added.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah!”
Chupasangre scoffed, “You’ve freed planets before, but you haven’t defeated Alderamin. It’s a fool's errand to think trying to beat him to free Chuppa would be the better option than what he gave me.”
“Well, he hasn’t beaten us yet either,” Birdie replied, crossing her arms over her chest, “sure he made us retreat a few times, but we’re still here, aren’t we?”
Alura nodded, “Yeah, we’ve come closer to beating the Knights than a lot of others have.”
“Chupasangre,” Sirius said reassuringly, “I know what it is like, to have your world, your people fall victim to the evil of Alderamin.” Sirius sounded choked up for a moment before he regained his composure, “I lost everything to him, my clan, even… my wife, but I have learned something, that I can make a difference for the sake of bringing my people to justice, to make sure no one else has to suffer because of Alderamin and the Empire.”
“I’m… sorry for your loss,” Chupasangre said quietly and sympathetically.
He took a deep breath, “I know that you want justice too, for your people, to make sure everyone you care for is safe, it is something I want too.”
“Yeah, we know what it’s like to live under the Empire,” Alura added.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, you’re not alone when it comes to that.”
“We can help you!” Birdie added enthusiastically.
“So please, Chupasangre,” Sirius said, extending a hand forward, “let our friends go and let us help you save your people.”
For a moment, it was so quiet one could hear a pin drop, but eventually, Chupasangre spoke up, “I… trust you, but know that the consequences for if this fails will be dire for us all and my people. I will not forgive you for giving false hope.”
Sirius gave a nod, “I assure you, it will be very real.”
After a moment, Chupasangre lowered his tentacles slightly, and Neil, Leiurus, Tip, Aster, Hydra, Arthur, and Kenneth were deposited onto the ground, with all of them aside from Tip and Aster looking very weakened. “Guys, are you alright?” Brando asked as he and the other three Rangers ran towards them, with Alura letting go of Chupasangre’s dreadlocks.
“Could be… better,” Kenneth managed to say.
“Are you okay?” Arthur asked, shifting to look at Neil
“Fine, you?” Neil asked, trying to recover. “Is dad alright?”
“Good, but dad, is he… okay?” Arthur added, trying to stand up, but fell back on the ground.
“Be careful!” Birdie said, trying to support the human, “But yeah, he’s unconscious, but he’s still stable.”
Leiurus was in the process of being helped up by Aster, “That’s good to hear.”
Alura tried to help Neil to his feet, “You guys probably lost a lot of blood.”
“It… does feel like that, yes,” Hydra replied.
Tip helped Hydra to his feet, “Good thing me and Aster don’t have that, eh?”
“Heh, yeah,” Aster said as he tried to support Leiurus, whose legs were still shaky. Suddenly, he turned to face Chupasangre, seeming ready to charge at him, “You have a lot of nerve doing that to us!”
Sirius quickly ran in front of Aster, blocking his path, “Aster wait! He is on our side!”
“He is?” Arthur asked, confused.
Kenneth shook his head, “Well, that’s some good news, I guess.”
“We can serve up the details later,” Brando replied.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, we should focus on getting you guys back on the Orion for some blood transfusions before we do anything else.”
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin’s voice bellowed out, prompting everyone who was on their feet to quickly duck to avoid being struck by a swing of his extended flail.
Alderamin entered view, prompting Birdie to turn and look at Tip and Aster, “Get the others back to the ship, we’ll handle this.” The two of them nodded before grabbing Neil, Leiurus, Hydra, Arthur, and Kenneth and carefully leading them away.
“So, you’ve chosen to stand against me, Chupasangre? What an unacceptably idiotic thing to do when your planter depends on your servitude to me,” Alderamin said, fuming.
Chupasangre shook his head, “My planet will be freed, and the only role you’ll play in doing that is being defeated once and for all.”
Sirius nodded, moving to stand beside the ex-Marquis, “This ends today, Alderamin. All of those you have killed…” Sirius said quietly before continuing, “all of the planets you have conquered, they will finally find peace.” Sirius took a deep breath as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, “I, Sirius of Clan Freki, will make sure that no one will suffer because of you any more, for the sake of my clan and my wife, Romina.”
“And we’ll be right behind you,” Birdie said, putting a hand on Sirius’s shoulder before plugging her Nova Sphere into her Morpher.
“Yeah!” Alura said with a nod, readying her Morpher as well.
“This guy’s toast!” Brando added, pumping a fist in the air as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“This ends today,” Sirius declared.
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
They were surrounded by light, which quickly died to reveal them in their Ranger suits.
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they declared in unison before Sirius took a step next to Chupasangre.
“Let us do this,” Sirius said, looking at him.
Chupasangre nodded, “Agreed.” The two of them charged forward, while the other three Rangers began to flank Alderamin. Alderamin spun around with his extended flail, but his adversaries all managed to dodge it in some way or another.
Chupasangre quickly closed the distance, slashing at Alderamin with his polearm, but Alderamin quickly batted it and him to the side with his right arm. “Your turn,” Chupasangre said once he recovered.
With Chupasangre out of the way, Sirius was able to catch Alderamin by surprise and deliver a drop kick square to the Knight’s chest, the impact sending him staggering back significantly.
“Stupid mutt!” Alderamin snarled, hurling an expanding fireball at Sirius and Chupasangre that they narrowly avoided.
Alderamin created another fireball, preparing to throw it at the two before they could recover. Before he could throw it though, a pair of pink energy blasts struck him in the face, staggering him slightly and making the fireball dissipate. “He’s smarter than you are!” Birdie called from where she flew, obviously the source of the projectiles.
Alderamin prepared to swing his flail at her, but the opening gave Sirius and Chupasangre just enough time to close the distance and slash Alderamin across the chest at once, making sparks erupt at the site of impact. “For Clan Freki!” Sirius yelled.
“For the people of Chuppa!” Chupasangre added.
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled as the two slashed at him from the sides, but he blocked both by swinging his arms out and holding them in place.
Sirius responded quickly, changing which hand he held the claw with and slashing Alderamin across the chest with it. Alderamin stumbled back slightly, but thrusted his fist forward, a large orange energy projection of it forming around it. It collided with Sirius and Chupasangre, launching them through the air before tumbling to the ground.
Alderamin positioned his left arm to the side, spinning his flail around to gather momentum. Before he could swing it down though, Alura became visible right in front of him, “Now you see me,” she said, slashing him across the chest. The attack didn’t make Alderamin stagger at all, but it did mess with his flail’s momentum. He retracted it back to the stump of his arm, thrusting it forward at her. “Now you don’t!” she said as she became invisible, dodging the attack.
Alderamin glanced around, looking for her, only for her to appear behind him and kick him in the back, making the Knight stumble forward, disappearing by the time he turned around to face her again. Alura continued appearing around him, slashing him and disappearing before he could respond before he finally struck her with his flail, making her recoil in pain.
“Nowhere to hide now!” Alderamin bellowed before winding up to hit her with his flail again.
Chupasangre quickly slashed him from the side, “Not so fast!” The blow made Alderamin stumble to the side slightly, turning his attention from Alura to the ex-Marquis once he recovered.
Alderamin snarled as he charged at him, retracting his flail as he did so. “You unacceptable, traitorous slime!” the Knight bellowed, batting Chupasangre’s polearm to the side before wailing on the Chupparan with his fist and flail, “Once I’m done here, I’ll send a fleet of Consumoai to suck this pebble you call a homeworld dry of Gaiaium! The only apology I’ll find acceptable at this point is when this planet is wiped from our star charts!” He delivered a kick to Chupasangre’s chest, knocking him to the ground and making him convulse with pain.
Alura, Birdie, and Brando thought quickly, with Birdie peppering Alderamin with projectiles as Alura and Brando engaged him in melee, preventing Alderamin from attacking Chupasangre while dodging his attacks and retaliating with their own, but they had little effectiveness.
Chupasangre tried to get to his feet, but froze, clenching his chest in pain. Sirius quickly ran next to him, crouching down, “Please stop, you are in no condition to fight!”
“I have to, for my people,” Chupasangre snarled.
Sirius shook his head, “You do not deserve to become a martyr for your people, not after everything Alderamin has put you through. You deserve to live, to see your planet be freed, and there is no telling if you will if you keep trying to fight like this. Please,” Sirius pleaded, “let me continue this fight in your stead.”
Chupasangre was quiet for a moment before nodding, “Alright, do it. The people of Chuppa are counting on you, I’m counting on you.”
“As are the spirits of my wife and clan,” Sirius replied.
Alderamin batted Alura and Brando onto the ground before whipping around and hurling a fireball at Birdie, who dived onto the ground to avoid it. “This ends now,” Sirius growled, making Alderamin turn his attention back to him.
“Yes, it does!” Alderamin roared, stomping his foot onto the ground and making it shoot up in a wave of spikes towards Sirius. Sirius somersaulted over the wave before landing at Alderamin’s feet, slashing one of his legs with his claw. Alderamin gave a groan of pain as he fell to his knee. Sirius quickly got to his feet, swinging his claw at Alderamin’s prone form, but Alderamib blocked the slash with his retracted flail. Alderamin then slammed it into the ground, sending out a blast of orange-yellow energy that knocked Sirius back significantly.
Alderamin got to his feet as Sirius hit the ground, pointing his retracted flail at him. “Play dead!” Alderamin declared as the head of his flail shot forward At Sirius at high speeds like a cannonball. Sirius rolled out of the way, making the flail hit the ground and become lodged in it as Alderamin tried to get it unstuck.
Brando, who was now back on his feet, plugged a red Nova Sphere depicting a crab into his Morpher.
“Cancer Nova Sphere!”
A giant crab claw made of red energy appeared in front of the Morpher, clamping down on the flail’s extended chain and severing it before dissipating.
“My flail! Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled as he looked at the stump of his arm.
“Prepare to face justice, Alderamin,” Sirius snarled as he got to his feet, plugged a cyan Nova Sphere depicting the profile of a burly man wielding a large sword.
“Hercules Nova Sphere!”
Sirius’s body was outlined with cyan energy as he grabbed the end of the flail’s severed chain, pulling it out of the ground and spinning it around above him, hurling it at Alderamin. The flail’s chain ensnared the Knight, pinning his arms to his sides and preventing him from moving as he gave a sound of confusion, “Unacceptable!”
Now that they had all fully recovered, Alura, Birdie, and Brando plugged their Nova Spheres into their weapons.
“Chamaeleontis End!”
“Altair End!”
“Doradus End!”
A projection of the Chamaeleon Zord made of green energy appeared in front of Alura, lashing Alderamin with its tongue repeatedly, explosions punctuating each strike before the projection disappeared.
Birdie fired a projection of the Aquila Zord made of pink energy from her blaster, exploding on contact with Alderamin.
A projection of the Dorado Zord then appeared next to the Knight, slashing the Knight in sync with the swipes of Brando’s saber from some distance away, the last slash being punctuated with an explosion.
The attacks made Alderamin stumble back but he didn’t fall to the ground despite the chains ensnaring him. Despite this, he was obviously very injured as he barked out, “Is that all you’ve got?”
“No, it is not,” Sirius replied, plugging his Nova Sphere into his claw, “It is time for you to face the vengeance of everyone you have wronged.”
“Lupi Strike.”
A projection of the Lupus Zord appeared in front of Sirius, bounding towards Alderamin quickly. The projection clawed at the Knight in tandem with the swings of Sirius’s claw, before finally biting down on Alderamin, producing a massive explosion as Alderamin bellowed out, “Unacceptable!”
As the smoke cleared Alderamin’s body could be seen lying motionless on the ground, still trapped by his own flail. Sirius panted slightly, unplugging his Nova Sphere from his claw and bringing it to his chest, “Romina, you can rest now, all of you can.” Unbeknownst to anyone, the spectral form of a female Fenrisulfrian appeared behind Sirius, her fur paler than his and the white fur on her head longer than his. She hugged him from behind momentarily, before disappearing.
“You… you have done it,” Chupasangre said, shocked to see the Knight very clearly dead, “Chuppa… it is free.”
“And he won’t hurt anyone else again, “Birdie added with a nod.
Alura approached Sirius, giving him a high five, “Good job, Sirius.”
“Yeah, you did great back there,” Brando said, putting an arm over Sirius’s shoulder.
Sirius gave a small chuckle, “I would not have been able to do it without all of you.” He turned to Chupasangre, “Thank you, for helping me free your people and avenge mine.”
Chupasangre gave a nod, “It’s no problem.”
Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short as Alderamin’s sea beast pauldron began to glow gold, his body and severed flail dissolving into golden energy that flew skyward towards Chuppa’s craggy moon, gathering and forming into a giant Alderamin. “A chance to crush you again? Acceptable!” Alderamin bellowed, which could be heard all the way from Chuppa.
“Oh great,” Alura sighed, “why wouldn’t he come back?”
Brando glanced at her, “Just means we can give him a second course of pain.”
Birdie spoke into her Morpher, “Guys, is everyone okay enough to fight? I think we need the Big Bang Ultrazord.”
On the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, Neil spoke into his Morpher, “Should be, we’ll be right there.”
“Un-ball-ievable, one of the Knights is down for the count,” Shen chuckled.
Arthur gave a small chuckle, “Good to see that hit didn’t mess up your love of puns.”
“Eh, not that impressive,” Kenneth scoffed, “I mean I took all three of them down myself before.” Corvile elbowed Kenneth in the ribs.
“Regardless, it’s no small feat,” Leiurus added.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, those guys are tough.”
“The anticipation is killing me,” Hydra said with a small grin.
Tip chuckled, “That’s being excited!”
“Alright everyone, let’s go! Neil declared moving towards the bridge’s door alongside the others.
Sirius turned to Chupasangre, moving to help him sit down on a rock. “Do not worry, we will handle this,” he said reassuringly. Chupasangre gave a nod, and Sirius moved towards the other three Rangers, preparing to call their Zords.
“Lupus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
Their cockpits formed around them, flying off to connect to their Zords, which then began to fly towards Chuppa’s moon. The Zords of the other eight Rangers flew into view to accompany them, getting into position to combine.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
The Ultrazord landed on the moon’s surface, preparing to face Alderamin.
“How acceptable for you all to fight together, it’ll make it so much easier to wipe you all out!” Alderamin declared, grabbing the chain of his flail and swinging it around, producing showers of sparks as it hit the moon’s rock formations.
“That is where you are wrong, Alderamin,” Sirius replied, “we are never stronger than when we are together!”
Alderamin punched and struck the Ultrazord with his fist and flail, but the Ultrazord retaliated by swiping Alderamin across the chest, sending the Knight staggering back with a grunt. Alderamin grabbed the head of his flail as he recovered, hurling it at the Ultrazord.
The flail nearly hit Kenneth’s cockpit, but Kenneth responded quickly, the cockpit detaching and moving upwards to avoid the flail, staying there until the weapon retracted before reconnecting.
“What?” Alderamin said with confusion
“Separate and attack!” Kenneth commanded.
Leiurus, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, Shen, and Arthur’s cockpits separated from the Ultrazord, connecting to their respective Zords and charging towards Alderamin.
The Knight’s legs were assailed by the Libra and Ophiuchus Zords, while the Scorpius and Aquila Zords peppered him with projectiles, the Draco Zord struck him repeatedly as it flew by, and the Ursa Zords clawed at him furiously while jumping around. “Enough!” Alderamin yelled, batting the Zords away by spinning around with his flail, knocking them back and forcing the cockpits to return to the Ultrazord.
“Let me try,” Sirius said, plugging a teal Nova Sphere depicting a three-headed dog into his Nova Sphere.
“Cerberus Nova Sphere!”
The Lupus Zord’s cockpit changed color as it detached from the Ultrazord and attached to the Cerberus Zord, the Ursa Zords’ cockpit taking its place. The Zord flew around Alderamin, firing beams from its mouth that made him stumble back. Alderamin swung his flail at the Zord, but it bounced harmlessly off before it bit him with all three heads. The Cerberus Zord flew back to the Ultrazord, its cockpit returning to normal as it took its place back on the Ultrazord.
“Nice one, Sirius!” Neil declared.
Sirius nodded, “Thank you, Neil.”
“Prepare to face oblivion!” Alderamin declared as a massive orb of dark energy formed in front of him, which he launched forward with a punch from his retracted flail.
“Hey Aster, how’s that one saying go?” Tip inquired, “What goes around…”
“Comes around!” Aster chuckled as he and Tip controlled the Ultrazord’s right leg to kick the orb back at Alderamin. The attack hit the Knight, knocking him into the air where Leiurus and Alura used the Ultrazord’s left arm to deliver an uppercut.
Sparks erupted from Alderamin’s chest as he was knocked back significantly, crashing into several stone spikes.
“Alderamin, prepare for defeat,” Sirius declared as the cockpits of the Ultrazord began to glow, starting with the bottommost ones and ending with the topmost ones.
Alderamin chuckled as he got to his feet, “I have to say, you’re putting up an acceptable fight, but the idea you can defeat me is completely and utterly unacceptable!” He tossed his flail into the air, which quickly retracted back into his arm as he pointed it at the Ultrazord, red electricity crackling around it.
“Let us end this,” Sirius said as he and the others prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Big Bang Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
The twelve cockpits began to glow, the sigils of their respective Nova Spheres appearing in front of them before firing giant versions of their Nova Spheres made of energy from them. The Nova Spheres arranged themselves in a line as they flew towards Alderamin, whose flail that was now enlarged with dark energy shot forward at the Nova Spheres. The flail stood no chance against the attack though, forcing the flail back to collide with Alderamin alongside them.
“What? Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled as the attacks collided with him, a giant, translucent, upside down Nova Sphere forming around him.
Alderamin scoffed as energy began to crackle around his body, “This isn’t over Rangers! You might’ve stopped me, but you’ll never stop Project Wormwood and Emperor Karna Rog!” Alderamin disappeared in an explosive flash of light inside the Nova Sphere that was his prison.
“The stars of hope still shine,” Sirius said, satisfied.
In the control room of the Capital-class Consumoai, a projection of Karna Rog addressed the two remaining Knights of Andromeda, who knelt before it. “It appears as though Sir Alderamin has met his demise at the hands of the Power Rangers,” the Emperor rasped, examining his clawed digits.
“Oh poor Aldie,” Schedar said, not sounding particularly upset.
Karna Rog shook his head, “He knew the risks of confronting the Rangers alone with nothing but a Marquis with questionable loyalty for assistance. My sympathies are limited.”
“I assume you don’t intend to bring him back given how close Project Wormwood is to completion?” Mirfak questioned, “After all, according to my calculations it’s almost complete.”
“Correct,” Karna Rog rasped, “I also have a plan of my own to attend to, one I will explain the details of to you soon.” Without another word, the projection disappeared.
“Well Mirfie,” Schedar said, getting to her feet and turning to face her fellow Knight, “wanna join me in live streamin’ the five stages of grief?”
Mirfak cracked his neck and gave a dismissive wave, “I’ll pass.”
Schedar shrugged, “Your loss, just get outta here while I do it then.” Mirfak gave a nod, moving to exit the control room as Schedar raised her datapad, “Chat, I cannot believe it! One of my besties, Aldie, is dead! Please smash that subscribe button to help me through this hard time.”
Outside of the control room, Mirfak pulled out a datapad of his own, “Well, at least that’s one potential problem out of the way, and he kept the Rangers tied up long enough for me to locate something of great use to my plans…” He looked at the datapad, which displayed a grey-blue Nova Sphere showing a warrior in profile wielding a sword with swept-back spikes on his helmet.
“Sirius of Clan Freki, I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done for my people,” Chupasangre said, sitting on a rock as he looked at Sirius, who stood alongside the other eleven Rangers and Corvile.
Sirius shook his head, “There is no need to thank me, every world deserves to be free from the Empire.”
“Regardless, please know that the people of Chuppa welcome you with open arms, you will always find a home here,” Chupasangre replied.
Sirius nodded, “I will make sure to try and visit, once this is all over.”
“I wish you and your compatriots luck then, may your quest to free the galaxy be fruitful,” Chupasangre said, nodding.
“Thank you,” Sirius said gratefully as he and the others prepared to leave.
“Well Sirius, how does it feel?” Brando asked as they began to walk, looking at Sirius.
Sirius breathed deeply, “It feels… good, knowing that it’s over, that Alderamin can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“Not over yet,” Leiurus said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, not until the Empire’s done for good,” Arthur added.
“Still, taking down one of the Knights? That’s pretty impressive,” Neil said with a grin.
“I did have help, you know,” Sirius replied.
Alura shook her head, “Eh, we didn’t do too much.”
“Yeah, just gave you and Chupasangre a few openings,” Birdie added.
“Well, that’s still a pretty vital role if you ask me,” Shen chuckled in response.
“Gotta be strategic in a brawl after all,” Aster added.
Tip pumped a fist in the air, “Well, one Knight down, two to go!
“Yes, that’s generally how math works,” Hydra snarked, earning a laugh from the others in response.
“Well, with him out of the way, that means we can star-t focusing on trying to find out what Project Wormwood is again,” Shen said after a moment.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, whole mission kind of diverted us from that.”
Karna Rog’s robed form appeared beside Corvile, rasping to him, “Do it now.”
“Um, actually, can I ask you something, Kenneth?” Corvile asked, slightly nervous as he looked at his fiancé.
Kenneth turned to look at him, “Sure Corv, what is it?”
“Well, uh, ever since I learned the Knights were back, I uh… made a promise to myself to do this once one of them was defeated,” Corvile said, fumbling for something in his pocket.
Kenneth gave a small smirk, cocking an eyebrow, “Do what?”
Corvile got down on one knee, pulling out a small black box, he popped it open, revealing a golden ring with a black and red gem. Neil and Arthur gasped while Kenneth clasped a hand over his mouth, the other nine Rangers giving confused until Corvile asked the question, “Will you make me the happiest Veronan in the galaxy?”
Cheers erupted from the other Rangers, aside from Hydra, as Kenneth struggled to form words, “Corvile… I-I uh, I…” Kenneth took a deep breath, smiling as he laughed.
“Yes!”
Notes:
As you can probably guess, I am VERY happy with this chapter. I really love how much this chapter tied in with Sirius’s backstory, and how important it was to connect with Chupasangre. The first of the Knights is down, and don’t you guys worry, Schedar will be getting exactly what she deserves next chapter. As for the ending… well, you should be able to tell exactly what Toku episode genre next episode is. Comments are welcomed and appreciated, and since we got a TV Tropes page after last episode, feel free to contribute to that too.
Chapter 37: Love and Monsters
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, the crew of the Orion (save for Kenneth and Corvile) were busy decorating, getting food laid out, and the like. All of them were dressed a lot more formally than usual, with everyone wearing tuxedos or dresses aside from Aster, but even then he had a tuxedo jacket on his shoulder as opposed to his usual Revolution one. “It is quite nice that Edinburgh allowed us to use this place free of charge,” Hydra said, helping Leiurus, Tip, and Aster get the altar ready.
“I mean, we did kinda save Earth from turning into a lifeless wasteland and stopped the Orion from crashing into it, obviously they’d want to thank us for all that,” Tip said, striking a pose momentarily.
Neil looked back at them, smiling as he adjusted Arthur’s cyan bow tie as the Leo Minor Zord sat next to them, “Also pretty nice that Corvile got all this planned out already.”
“I mean, it helps that we didn’t need to order or hire anything either, Brando’s got the food ready and Alura will get the pictures,” Arthur said with a shrug as Neil finished adjusting his bow tie.
Brando smiled as he looked over a large cake with miniatures of Kenneth and Corvile on top, “Sure have!”
“Haven’t really done taking pictures before, but I’m sure I can figure it out,” Alura said as she finished putting a tablecloth on a table.
Sirius looked at Neil, adjusting the collar of his outfit and his blue bow tie uncomfortably, “Does human marriage usually take a long time? The marriage ceremonies of my people seem much quicker and less grandiose than all of…” he gestured around the cathedral’s interior, “this.”
Neil shrugged, “Eh, mostly just takes a long time to plan and stuff.” He grinned, “Either way, I’m pretty happy about all this.”
“Because you’re their Best Man?” Arthur inquired with a smirk.
Neil gave a small laugh, “Hey, you’re the Ring-Bearer, not like you don’t have something important to do. I’m happy for them though, those two deserve something happy after everything they’ve gone through.”
“Yeah, haven’t seen Kenneth this happy since Corvile showed up,” Aster added.
Birdie walked up and tapped Neil on the shoulder, prompting him to turn to face her as she held a basket of flower petals. “So Neil, all I really need to do is skip down the aisle and toss these around?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Neil replied with a nod before turning to face Shen, who was sitting at a table and looking at a computer, “How’s it going, dad?”
“Just about to get my digital license, then I’ll be ready to roll,” Shen replied, giving his adopted son a thumbs up.
Arthur smiled a bit as he adjusted his glasses, “You know we could’ve just hired someone to officiate, right? I mean sure it would take a bit but you don’t have to go through the trouble of becoming an Ordained Minister.”
“Well, Arthur,” Shen chuckled, looking at his younger adopted son, “I’ve officiated the weddings of a ton of Revolution members, regardless of customs, and I’m not about to stop now!”
Aster chuckled as he looked at Hydra, “Guess all this must be pretty weird for you, huh?”
“It’s not that strange,” Hydra shrugged, “I have been around the galaxy enough to know that this is important for many cultures, even if it isn’t for my own.”
“Yeah, I assume weddings aren’t really something Gorgonians do,” Aster replied.
Tip nodded, “You’d be right.”
“My people do not have romantic partners,” Hydra clarified, “genetic material is donated for the conception of more children.” Hydra shook his head, “Still, even I’m aware of how important and happy these ceremonies are for the couple and everyone in attendance.”
“Are you happy about this then?” Leiutus asked, sounding pretty disinterested.
“I… think I am,” Hydra replied after a moment, nodding, “and even if I wasn’t, I would want Kenneth and Corvile to be happy.” He looked at Leiurus for a moment, seemingly confused, “Is something wrong Leiurus? You don’t sound happy for this occasion.”
Leiurus shook his head, “It’s not that, it’s just…” he looked around the cathedral, “this is where Eurypto died.”
“Oh yeah,” Aster said quietly, “almost forgot about… that.”
Hydra was quiet for a moment, “I see, this place, it brings back bad memories.”
“Why didn’t ya tell anyone, man?” Tip said, confused, “We definitely could’ve probably had this somewhere else if you said something.”
“Because it would be selfish,” Leiurus replied, “this is about Kenneth and Corvile, I shouldn’t force them or anyone else to cater to me when it isn’t my wedding.”
Aster put a hand on Leiurus’s shoulder, “I don’t think it’s selfish, not liking this place isn’t something you can control.”
Leiurus shook his head, “Still, they should have their wedding the way they planned it.” He sighed, “Who knows, maybe being here for something happy will help change my opinion of this place.”
“I mean, if it’s anyone’s fault that you hate this place, it’s Schedar’s,” Tip shrugged, “I mean she’s the reason Eurypto was evil in the first place.”
“Ugh,” Aster groaned, “can we not talk about that gaudy pink ditz today?”
Hydra nodded, “I agree, Tip, as much as she’s hurt all four of us, I don’t think this is the time to dwell on it. We shouldn’t focus on her or Project Wormwood or anything else.” He closed his eyes as a small smile appeared on his lips, “The past has happened and the future isn’t here yet, so let’s focus on the present, and that’s being happy for Kenneth and Corvile’s love.”
The other three were quiet before Tip spoke, “Wow Hydra… that was really good.”
“Thank you, Tip,” Hydra said, still a slight smile on his face, “now, let’s finish getting this ready.”
Corvile paced around the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, wringing his hands. He wore a grey tuxedo with a crimson bow tie and a crimson flower in its breast pocket, no doubt in reference to his husband-to-be. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this, this is all…” Corvile gestured wildly as he addressed Karna Rog’s white-robed form, trying to find the right words, “wildly inappropriate.”
“Marrying the man you love is wildly inappropriate?” the Emperor rasped.
Corvile stopped pacing and gave Karna Rog his undivided attention, “You know exactly what I mean. I want to marry Kenneth, what I don’t like is you forcing me to do it now to distract everyone from Project Wormwood.”
“Sacrifices must be made to ensure the greater good happens, Corvile,” Karna Rog replied, “At least you will have the opportunity to do this before Project Wormwood comes into fruition.”
“Yes, the so-called greater good of wiping out all life in the galaxy to erase suffering,” Corvile grumbled, sighing as he put his hands down on the bridge’s table, “and I know what you’re planning to do during our wedding, so doing it now hardly matters anyway.”
Kenneth entered the room a few moments later, wearing a crimson tuxedo with a grey bow tie and a grey flower in his breast pocket, the same color as Corvile’s suit, while his hair was tied up in a bun. He quietly approached his Corvile from behind, wrapping his arms around his husband-to-be’s torso, “Hello, Corvie.”
Corvile jumped slightly from the sudden touch and voice, turning around and breaking Kenneth’s hold as he faced the taller human, “Kenneth! What are you doing?”
Kenneth smiled a bit as he brushed some of the feathers on the side of Corvile’s face aside, “Just coming to see how the man I love is doing.”
“Sappy as usual, I see,” Corvile joked, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “but I’m doing well, great even.” He chuckled, “Sounds like you’re doing well too, Ken. Excited?”
Kenneth smiled, “Do you even have to ask? We’re getting married today!” He gave a small leap, “Can’t thank you enough for planning all of this, Corv, you really didn’t have to.”
Corvile chuckled, “Well making appointments is something I’ve come to be very good at, you know.”
“Good point,” Kenneth smiled before shaking his head, “just a shame we aren’t going to be married in the Veronan way, well, at least not today.”
Corvile nodded, “Yes, the marriage customs of my people can take a while. That’s one of the reasons why I figured we’d do the human version first, well, that and because I figured if I was the one proposing it would only be fair if we use your customs first.”
“If it was still three hundred years ago, I’m sure people would be coming from across the galaxy to see this,” Kenneth smiled, “I mean, it’s not every day the president of the Galactic Federation gets married.”
“Well unfortunately we’ll just have to settle for the other Rangers, Mr. President,” Corvile joked, “Not like a lot of people were happy with the president being involved romantically with his advisor to begin with.”
Kenneth gave a dismissive wave, “Who cares what they thought? I mean, Ptolemy had an incredible moral compass and he didn’t think anything was wrong.”
“Fair enough,” Corvile replied, giving a small wave, “speaking of, I think we both agree he would’ve been our Best Man.”
“You’re absolutely right about that,” Kenneth said before giving a sigh, “Shame he isn’t around for today.”
Corvile nodded, “I’m sure he’s happy for us, wherever he is now.”
“Yeah,” Kenneth replied, “Neil will make for a good Best Man though, after everything he’s done I think he deserves it.”
“Defeating one of Karna Rog’s proxy bodies, I’m sure Ptolemy would be proud,” Corvile said, a smirk in his voice.
Kenneth nodded, “Sure would.” He chuckled a bit, “It’s still just so hard to believe this is happening.”
“I’d imagine,” Corvile replied, “a lot of people can feel that way from what I’ve heard, even on Verona.”
Kenneth shook his head, “Not just that, I mean, I didn’t think this would be able to happen not too long ago.” He gave a small frown, “I mean, I thought you were dead, that being able to do this with you… it would never happen.”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” Corvile questioned, putting a hand on his husband-to-be’s shoulder.
Kenneth sighed, “But what if you weren’t? Corvile, it’s incredibly lucky that you were able to survive Karna Rog’s attack. We wouldn’t be able to do this, to show how much we love each other.”
Corvile gave an aside glance before pressing his forehead against Kenneth’s chest, “Kenneth, listen, what I did that day…. I did it for you, because I love you. I knew I would probably die, but I didn’t care as long as it meant that you were safe. I showed you how much I loved and cherished you that day.”
Kenneth gave a sigh, pressing a kiss to Corvile’s forehead, “You could’ve shown me in a different way.”
“Maybe I could have,” Corvile replied, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here now, does it?”
“Yeah,” Kenneth said slowly with a nod, “it doesn’t matter what happened back then, what matters now is that I get the chance to spend the rest of my life with the man I love more than anything.”
He grabbed Corvile’s sides, lifting the Veronan up and spinning him around while he chuckled. “If you’re trying to impress me with your strength again, you should know by now that I have hollow bones,” Corvile said cheekily as he was put down.
“Oh I know, I also know you like seeing it,” Kenneth said, flexing a bicep.
Corvile rolled his eyes, “You’ll end up tearing the suit if you keep doing that.”
“We both know you wouldn’t mind that,” Kenneth snorted before pressing a kiss to Corvile’s beak.
Corvile nuzzled Kenneth’s neck, “Guilty as charged.”
They were interrupted by the sound of the bridge door opening, with Alura stepping inside. She glanced around for a moment before promptly rolling them as they settled on Kenneth and Corvile, “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything, but we’ve got everything set up. We can get this started whenever you two want.”
“Well Kenneth, ready to get this started?” Corvile asked, looking up at his husband-to-be.
Kenneth grinned, “I thought you’d never ask.”
A few minutes later back in the cathedral, Alura sat down where the other Rangers aside from Birdie and Shen were sitting, taking a seat next to Neil and Arthur. “They’re ready?” Neil asked, petting the Leo Minor Zord in his lap.
“Yeah,” Alura nodded, “should be coming on any second now.”
Arthur looked at the small box he was holding that contained the rings, “Better get ready then.”
From the row behind them where Leiurus, Tip, Aster, and Hydra sat, Hydra gave a slight frown, tapping his fingers against the seat. Tip seemed to notice this, turning their attention to the Gorgonian, “Everything okay, Hydra?”
“I’m just a bit worried,” Hydra replied, shaking his head, “I said that I thought I was happy earlier, but now I’m not so sure. Today is supposed to be a happy day, but I’m concerned that I might ruin it.”
Leiurus crossed his arms, shaking his head, “You’re not making any sense Hydra, Kenneth and Corvile both know about how Gorgonians are with emotions.”
“Yeah, they’re not gonna think you’re ruining it,” Aster added reassuringly.
“Y’know Hydra, maybe being worried about being unhappy is making you unhappy,” Tip replied, putting a hand on Hydra’s shoulder, “Maybe if you take your mind off that, you’ll start feeling happy?”
Hydra was quiet for a moment before nodding, “That’s a good point, if I turn my attention away from those thoughts, it might fix the issue. Thank you, Tip.”
“No prob,” Tip replied, patting him on the shoulder, “emotions can be complicated like that.”
“I’m aware,” Hydra nodded, “still, I hope it will be a happy day for them.”
One of Sirius’s ears twitched, “I hear them outside the door.”
“Ooh, it’s the moment we’ve been starving for all day!” Brando said excitedly.
A few seconds later, the doors to the cathedral opened, revealing Kenneth and Corvile standing beside each other with their arms locked, Corvile glancing around the cathedral. Birdie immediately began skipping down the aisle, with Kenneth and Corvile following behind her as she scattered crimson and grey flower petals and chanted, “Flowers, flowers, flowers!” A particularly large clump nailed Leiurus in the face, which resulted in him blowing off the ones that landed on his mouth as Hydra gave a small grin and everyone else laughed aside from Birdie, who gave an apologetic look.
After the momentary pause, Kenneth and Corvile continued to the altar, with Birdie ducking out of the aisle to take a seat next to Sirius and Brando. Kenneth and Corvile stopped in front of the altar as Shen stood behind it, turning to face each other. “I love you,” Kenneth whispered.
“I love you too,” Corvile whispered back.
“Alright, let’s get star-ted,” Shen said, clearing his throat and putting on a pair of glasses as he pulled up a piece of paper and brushed it off, “Family and friends, we’re gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Kenneth Faulkner and Corvile… uh…”
“Umbrax,” Corvile whispered.
“Corvile Umbrax,” Shen said, recovering from the fumble, “Against all odds, their love has endured, and is stronger than ever. Today is a testament to that, as they begin their journey as a married couple.”
Everyone watched on happily, with Aster wiping oil from his eyes as Kenneth and Corvile looked at each other adoringly. Shen took a deep breath, “Before we continue, I must know if anyone has objections to this union. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.” Unsurprisingly, there was not a sound from those in the pews, prompting Shen to continue after the pause, “Alri-“
The cathedral’s doors slammed open as Schedar entered, singing as she entered while flanked by a horde of tuxedo-wearing Greyders and a Bovidrone, “I chime in with a haven’t you people ever heard of closing the door?”
“Schedar?” the Rangers all exclaimed with shock, but Corvile only gave a sigh.
“That’s me!” she giggled, slamming a Greyder’s face into the wedding cake.
“The cake!” Brando said with agony, holding his face.
Hydra got to his feet, with the other Rangers following shortly after, “What are you doing here?”
She bounced from one foot to another, spinning her microphone around, “Well, a little bird told me told me there was goin’ to be a weddin’, and I figured I’d invite myself.” She pulled out a datapad, snapping a selfie with it, “This is gonna net me a lot of viewers, right chat?”
Kenneth glared at Schedar, snarling as he took a step forward and held his hand to the side as a bird-shaped wave of flames flew towards it transforming into the Phoenix Morpher. “I’m not letting you ruin this for me and Corvile!” Kenneth snarled as he plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher, pulling the sword’s trigger and pulling it out as it ignited. He swung the blade, sending a wave of flames at Schedar and the Bovidrone.
Before the attack could land, one of Karna Rog’s proxy bodies appeared alongside Mirfak in a swirl of dark energy, with the Knight absorbing the flames into his cannon. “She won’t be alone,” Karna Rog rasped as Schedar and Mirfak manuvered to stand at his sides.
“Indeed,” Mirfak said, cracking his neck.
“Karna Rog!” the Rangers yelled upon seeing the Emperor.
“Mirfak!” Neil and Arthur snarled immediately after.
Karna Rog mimed adjusting the tie of his suit-like body, “I had heard you would be having a wedding, Kenneth Faulkner, Corvile Umbrax, and I figured I’d invite myself, seeing as you neglected to do so despite our history.”
“Why in the stars’ name do you think we would?” Kenneth spat back.
Karna Rog locked eyes with Corvile before looking back at Kenneth, “I suppose you’re right.”
Schedar gave a giggle, “Shame ‘til death do you part won’t be very long.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Neil said with a glare, readying his Morpher alongside the others, “we aren’t letting you ruin this!”
Kenneth glanced back at Corvile, “Get somewhere safe.”
“Of course,” Corvile nodded before breaking into a sprint as the others prepared to morph.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The twelve were surrounded by light and flames, which died down to reveal their Ranger forms. They quickly ran towards the Imperial forces, vaulting over pews if they were in the way. The Imperial forces likewise advanced, with Karna Rog calmly walking behind his underlings.
The Rangers wasted no time in cutting through the tuxedo-wearing Greyders, with Birdie transitioning from a sprint to a slide across the ground as she blasted any Greyder she passed by on either side of her with her Morpher and blaster.
Brando blocked a few hits from Greyders with his saber, or deflected the blows with chops to their arms with his own before retaliating with slashes.
Alura weaved between slashes from Greyders, before spinning around to slash them all across the chests, taking them out of commission.
Sirius vaulted over a pew, slashing his claw and clawed glove outwards as he used the momentum to strike a few Greyders in front of him, before recovering as he hit the ground and slashed another across the leg.
“Neil, mind helping me deal with Karna Rog?” Kenneth asked as he blocked a Greyder’s blade with his shield before bashing it across the chest.
Neil deflected a few Greyders’ blades with his sword before slashing them in a wide arc in front of him, “Of course!”
The two sprinted at Karna Rog, with Neil plugging the Supernova Sphere into his Morpher and pressing the button on top as he did so.
“Supernova Sphere!”
He spun the ring and was enveloped in white light, which died down to reveal him as the Leorion Ranger. Neil and Kenneth brought their swords down on Karna Rog in tandem, but a scythe materialized in the Emperor’s hands before the blows could connect. Neil and Kenneth pressed forward, forcing Karna Rog out the cathedral door.
Meanwhile, while Sirius, Alura, Birdie, and Brando focused on the Greyders, it gave the other Rangers an opportunity to deal with the bigger threats. “Hey, Hydra,” Schedar giggled as the Gorgonian and Tip confronted her, “fancy seein’ you here.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the same sentiment,” Hydra said with what seemed to be annoyance as he pointed his scythe at her.
“Time to make this video bomb!” Tip exclaimed, firing their crossbow at the Knight.
Schedar spun her microphone stand in front of her, neutralizing the projectiles. Tip’s attack had given Hydra enough time to close the distance, swinging his scythe down on Schedar, only for her to block it with the bladed base of her microphone stand.
Tip ran at Schedar, intent on slashing her in the side with the bladed tip of their crossbow. Unfortunately, Schedar had seen it coming, angling her microphone stand to continue blocking Hydra’s attack while also allowing the microphone to block Tip’s. She giggled as she spun her weapon around, forcing the two of them back. She then quickly shifted her grip, spinning her microphone stand above her and allowing it to strike Tip and Hydra repeatedly.
Tip recovered first, ducking under Schedar’s swipes to jab her in the chest with their crossbow. This made Schedar stagger back, allowing Hydra to deliver a two-handed slash across her chest with his scythe. He attempted to slash her again, but Schedar transferred from staggering into a spin, slashing Tip and Hydra with the bladed base of her microphone as she had faced them again. “Nice try!” She giggled, wagging her finger before pulling out her datapad and taking a selfie.
The Bovidrone fired a barrage of projectiles at Leiurus, who ran towards it in a zigzag pattern to avoid them. Once he was close enough, he leapt at the Bovidrone to deliver a mid-air spinning strike, slashing it once with his spear before striking it again with his tail.
The Bovidrone staggered back slightly, allowing Aster to nail the Bovidrone in the abdomen with a punch, making it recoil. Aster swiped at it with his axe, but the Bovidrone promptly blocked it with its arm. The Bovidrone batted the axe out of the way before chopping Aster across the chest. It moved its hand to brace it against its cannon, preparing to fire it at Aster.
Thinking fast, Leiurus got between the two of them, stabbing the Bovidrone in the chest and preventing it from firing. He twisted the spear and kicked the Bovidrone in the chest, making it stumble back significantly.
“Nice save, partner!” Aster chuckled, putting a hand on Leiurus’s shoulder.
Leiurus nodded as he and Aster pointed their weapons at the recovering Bovidrone, “No problem.”
Off to the side, Mirfak took several swings at Arthur with his sword, but the young Ranger was consistently able to bat the strikes away with his glaive. “It seems you’ve improved since we last met,” Mirfak said as Arthur deflected another one of his strikes.
“Oh zip it! I don’t want to hear anything out of you!” Arthur said as he retaliated with a two-handed downward slash from his glaive.
Mirfak blocked the strike with his sword, rolling his head around, “But you haven’t improved enough.” He jabbed Arthur in the chest with the claws on his cannon, creating an eruption of sparks as Arthur staggered back. Mirfak prepared to attack with both his sword and cannon, but had to spin out of the way to avoid a slash from Shen’s cane.
“Don’t you dare touch him!” Shen growled, slashing at Mirfak, who blocked it by raising his metallic leg. By now, Arthur had recovered, slashing at Mirfak’s head with his glaive. The Knight ducked under the attack before promptly leaping back as Shen tried to slash at his legs.
Mirfak’s sword glowed with blue-white energy as he raised it above his head, the blade becoming surrounded by a larger energy projection of itself. He swung the blade down at Shen and Arthur, who ducked to the sides to avoid it as it cleaved through the pews behind them.
The two quickly closed the distance as the energy disappeared from around Mirfak’s blade, swiping their own weapons inwards at the Knight. Mirfak blocked Arthur’s glaive with his cannon and Shen’s cane, but was unable to block the synchronized punches to his chest, which distracted him long enough for the two Rangers to bring their weapons back and slash at him again.
Outside, barrages of white energy slashes, flaming slashes, and dark energy slashes flew around the courtyard. Karna Rog pointed his scythe forward, sending a blast of dark lightning shooting forward at Neil and Kenneth. Neil ducked through a portal, appearing a few feet away from Karna Rog while Kenneth disappeared in a burst of flames, appearing in front of Karna Rog.
Karna Rog said nothing, simply swiping his free hand in front of him and sending a horizontal dark energy slash flying at Kenneth. Kenneth swung his sword down, dispelling the attack.
Neil began charging at the Emperor, who turned his attention to him and extended his hand forward, sending out a barrage of shadow tentacles out from underneath him. Neil slashed through the tentacles, making them dissolve before slashing Karna Rog across the chest, producing a burst of sparks and smoke.
Kenneth appeared next to Neil in a burst of flames, slashing wildly at Karna Rog, who was unable to react as he attempted to recover from Neil’s slash. “This! Was! Supposed! To be! The! Happiest! Day! Of! My! Life! And you ruined it!” Kenneth snarled, punctuating each word with a slash to Karna Rog. He slashed at Karna Rog’s neck, but Karna Rog used his free hand to grab the sword’s blade and forced it to the side. He then extended his free hand forward, creating a shockwave of dark energy that knocked Kenneth back significantly.
Neil tried to slash at the Emperor, but the attack was blocked by Karna Rog’s scythe. “For all your talk about ending suffering, you don’t seem to have a problem causing it!” Neil spat out.
Karna Rog shook his head dismissively before firing a pair of yellow beams from his eyes that struck Neil in the chest and knocked him to the ground some distance from Kenneth. “I am the embodiment of the galaxy’s fear, hatred, suffering, and despair,” Karna Rog rasped, looking at the two of them as he adjusted his hat, “it is in my nature to sow those feelings despite my… distaste towards them.” He shook his head, “I dislike it as well, but to me, it is tantamount to breathing.”
“Of course you’ve got an excuse for why you’re not actually a hypocrite,” Kenneth spat out as he and Neil got to their feet.
Neil glared at the Emperor from under his visor, “And it’s no excuse for what you’ve done!”
“Perhaps, but this is beginning to drag long enough already,” Karna Rog said, running his hand over his scythe blade, “so I suppose we should get around to finishing this.” Cracks began to spiderweb across the ground beneath Karna Rog as he began to grow taller, becoming a giant in a matter of moments.
Neil glanced at Kenneth, “Megazord time.” Kenneth nodded.
“Phoenix Zord!”
“Orion Zord!”
They were surrounded by their cockpits, which then flew off to connect to their respective Zords as they got into position to combine.
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
Karna Rog fired a pair of yellow energy blasts from his shoulders, but the Orion Battlezord quickly neutralized the attack with a swing of its mace.
The Solar Flare Megazord then charged at the Emperor, brandishing its blades, but Karna Rog brought his scythe down on it, forcing the Megazord to block before forcing the scythe away. Karna Rog recovered quickly, slashing the Megazord across the torso. The Solar Flare Megazord fell back as Karna Rog batted away a swing of the Orion Battlezord’s mace before the Emperor spun around and slashed it across the chest again.
“This ends now!” Neil said, bringing the mace of the Battlezord down on Karna Rog, who hoisted up the handle of his scythe to block it. Karna Rog forced the weapon back before retaliating, slashing the Battlezord across the chest with a shower of sparks.
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming swords, sending an x-shaped flaming slash flying at the Emperor. “A noble attempt,” Karna Rog rasped as he hooked his scythe on the slash, swinging and releasing it so it collided with the Battlezord.
Meanwhile, inside the cathedral, Tip attempted to stab Schedar while Hydra attempted to slash her, but she spun back with a giggle. “Man, these guys are losers, right chat?” Schedar said as she swung the blade of her microphone stand forward, sending a spinning projection of the blade made of dark energy flying at Tip. It struck them in the chest, knocking them to the ground and making them unmorph.
“Tip!” Hydra exclaimed, looking at them with worry before charging at Schedar. He gave growls of anger as he slashed at her leg, but she lifted it up before it could connect.
She spun her microphone stand above her hoping to strike Hydra with it, but he ducked under it and prepared to deliver another slash. Schedar seemed to predict this though, bringing her microphone stand down and pinning the scythe to the ground. “It’s about time I smacked some sense into you!” Schedar declared before slapping and backhanding Hydra’s helmet repeatedly. The last smack was punctuated with a burst of dark energy, which knocked Hydra to the ground and made him unmorph.
Schedar seemed to think for a moment before turning to Mirfak and gesturing to Leiurus and Aster, who continued fighting against the Bovidrone, “Mirfie, mind dealin’ with them?”
“Fine,” Mirfak said, forcing Shen and Arthur’s weapons away before slashing them across the chests with his sword and making them stagger back. He turned his attention to Leiurus and Aster, the wires on his head and shoulder that possessed lenses at the ends bending to point the lenses at Leiurus and Aster. The lenses fired off a barrage of small, thin, blue-white energy beams, which struck Leiurus and Aster repeatedly, knocking them to the ground and making them unmorph next to Tip and Hydra as they cringed with pain.
“Ugh, dang her!” Aster spat out.
Hydra scowled at Schedar, “This isn’t over yet.”
“It’s about to be!” Schedar laughed, twirling her microphone around.
“Guys, can you cover us?” Leiurus said as he struggled to stand.
Tip nodded, “Yeah, just give us a second!”
“No worries!” Birdie said as she cartwheeled into view, having defeated the Greyders with Sirius, Alura, and Brando.
Brando nodded as he and the other two joined Birdie, “Yeah, anyone who gets close is getting minced!”
“Aw, it’s cute that you think that’ll help!” Schedar giggled, angling herself to look at Sirius, Alura, Birdie, Brando, and Arthur before speaking into her microphone, “Leiurus, Tip, Aster, and Hydra are traitors! Get them!”
Dark sound waves emanated from her microphone, connecting with the six Rangers who weren’t prone. Their eyes flashed pink under their visors as they stopped what they were doing and turned to face their comrades. “You turned on us, after everything we’ve been through?” Brando asked as he walked forward alongside the other five, brandishing their weapons, “Aster, I can’t believe I ever considered you a friend!”
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you two!” Alura said, pointing her rapier at Tip and Hydra.
“Guys, stop!” Tip pleaded.
Leiurus looked intently at them, “You’re under Schedar’s control!”
“Sure we are!” Birdie said sarcastically.
Shen shook his head, “I always thought you went too far when you first met the others, Leiurus.”
“Filthy bug!” Sirius snarled.
“Yeah, from the sounds of it you’re no better than your brother,” Arthur added.
“Shut up!” Leiurus snapped.
Aster put a hand on Leiurus’s chest, “Calm down, partner. We need to get through to them like Tip did to Hydra!”
“But how? There’s no way we can get through to them all at once fast enough!” Tip bemoaned.
Leiurus scowled, “I’m getting tired of her and the lies she forces others to believe.”
“Lies…” Hydra said, realization seeming to dawn on him.
Schedar pulled out her datapad as she moved to stand next to Mirfak and the Bovidrone on the altar, giggling, “Hiya chat! I’m back, and I’m about to deliver some amazin’ entertainment! Y’all are about to get a front row seat to the Rangers tearin’ themselves apart!” Mirfak rolled his head around, seeming unimpressed.
Suddenly, the Knights, Bovidrone, and the advancing Rangers all froze in place before anything else could happen. Hydra got to his feet, focusing his reptilian eyes on all of them, but especially Schedar. “No,” Hydra said, sounding genuinely angry, “that won’t happen.” He fumbled his pockets as he glared at Schedar, “Emotions are precious things, and you do nothing but toy with them. Me, Tip, Aster, Leiurus, you’ve done nothing but twist our emotions to hurt us, and now you’ve come to ruin the happiest day of Kenneth and Corvile’s lives.”
He scowled, “I won’t let you, not after everything you’ve put me and everyone else through. Get ready, Schedar, because this all ends today!” Hydra pulled a blue Nova Sphere depicting a river out of his pocket, plugging it into his Morpher.
“Eridanus Nova Sphere!”
A blast of foamy, glittering water hit the other Rangers, the Knights, and the Bovidrone as Hydra released his hold on them. The Rangers’ eyes flashed pink momentarily before it faded.
“Nice one, Hydra!” Tip said, giving him a high five now that they had gotten to their feet.
Leiurus nodded as Aster helped him up, “Yeah, smart move there.”
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “That really saved our skin.”
“What did you do?” Schedar demanded with a stomp, wiping some water from herself.
“The Eridanus Nova Sphere washes away all falsehoods,” Hydra replied, smirking, “including the one you compelled them to believe.”
“Sorry about what I said back there,” Brando said, looking at Aster.
Aster shook his head, “It’s fine, you didn’t mean it.”
“Same here, I mean, we probably wouldn’t have gotten out of her control if it weren’t for you two,” Alura said, looking at Tip and Hydra.
Shen patted Leiurus’s shoulder, “You’ll always be a valuable asset to our team, precious actions notwithstanding.”
“Yeah, you did save me from Kaus,” Arthur added.
“I apologize as well,” Sirius nodded.
“Not sure any of us actually thought what we said,” Birdie added.
Leiurus shook his head, “It’s fine, you weren’t in control of yourselves.”
Schedar stomped her foot, turning to Mirfak as she held her datapad in a death grip, “This is all your fault, Mirfak! If you hadn’t told them how to free Hydra, they’d all probably be dead by now!”
Mirfak scoffed, cracking his neck, “I needed to do it, my plan required making the Rangers stronger so they could defeat Karna Rog and I could take his place.”
The room fell deathly silent as everyone tried to process what Mirfak had just said. Schedar crushed the datapad, “What.”
“Son of a glitch!” Mirfak snarled.
Corvile peeked out from behind a column, watching the events that were transpiring before ducking back behind it. “I don’t think Karna Rog is going to like that,” he mused.
The Solar Flare Megazord slashed Karna Rog across the chest twice before the Orion Battlezord slammed its mace into him, creating a shower of sparks. The Emperor extended a hand forward, creating a shockwave of dark energy that made the two mecha stumble back. Karna Rog gripped his scythe with both hands and prepared to swing as dark energy infused its blade, only to freeze. “Give me a moment, I must attend to something,” Karna Rog rasped, smoke and shadows pouring out of his proxy body as it went limp.
“Any idea what that was about?” Neil inquired.
Kenneth shook his head, “Who cares, let’s just get rid of this thing.”
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
“Orion Dynamic Breaker!”
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming swords at the body, sending an x-shaped flaming slash flying at it while the Orion Battlezord launched an energy projection of the Orion Nova Sphere forward with a strike from its mace. The attacks collided with the proxy, making energy crackle around it before exploding.
A mass of black smoke with Karna Rog’s head materialized in the cathedral, floating above the ground as it looked at Mirfak. “So, you have chosen to betray me, Kulcon? Might I inquire as to why you would make such a decision?”
“Kulcon?” Arthur said with confusion.
“Must’ve been the name he had before Mirfak,” Leiurus replied.
Mirfak rolled his head around, “Because wiping out all life in the galaxy is simply illogical, doing that when you rule over everything already is asinine, despite what you might claim.”
“I see,” Karna Rog rasped, “kill him.”
“With pleasure, Emperor!” Schedar giggled as she prepared to launch a dark energy blade from the base of her microphone stand while the Bovidrone charged up its cannon.
“Enough!” Mirfak snarled, swinging his cannon and unleashing the flaming slash it had absorbed earlier. Karna Rog disappeared before it could hit him and Schedar leapt down from the altar to avoid it, but it hit the Bovidrone head on, knocking it to the ground. Mirfak looked at the Rangers, scowling, “You’ll pay for this.” Without another word, he disappeared in a swirl of dark energy.
“Well, that was weird,” Tip said with a shrug.
Schedar’s hands shook with rage as the Bovidrone got up and moved to stand next to her. “Alright Bovie, I can give you a ton of exposure for this collab, you just need to do one thing,” Schedar said after giving an inhale, seeming to calm down and put back on her regular persona, “slaughter them!” The Bovidrone began to advance, cocking the hooves on the back of its wrists.
Shen turned to look at Leiurus, Tip, Aster, and Hydra, “We’ll handle this, you do what you need to do.”
“Thanks, Boss,” Aster said, cracking his knuckles.
Sirius, Alura, Birdie, Brando, Shen, and Arthur descended on the Bovidrone immediately with no hesitation. Alura and Brando attacked it from the left, while Sirius and Arthur went in from the right. The attempted to slash at the Bovidrone, but it swatted Brando and Sirius away before blocking Alura and Arthur’s, holding them in place as its crest began to glow.
Before it could do anything, it was blasted in the head repeatedly by Birdie and Shen, making it stumble back, allowing Brando and Sirius to slash its sides before Alura and Arthur brought their weapons down in unison, knocking it to the ground. From there, the Rangers prepared to deliver the finisher.
“All Star Shot!”
The Rangers fired spheres of blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, and cyan energy with comet-like tails at the Bovidrone, destroying it in a firey eruption.
“Stupid Mirfie,” Schedar said, looking down at her destroyed datapad before shrugging, “Ah well, apparently the new model has better camera quality anyway.” She heard something approaching, turning to see Leiurus, Tip, Aster, and Hydra. She giggled, “Well if it ain’t my biggest fans. Here for an autograph?”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere.”
“Libra Nova Sphere.”
“Taurus Nova Sphere.”
“Void Nova Sphere.”
The four of them looked at her with pure contempt.
“Star Charge.”
The four of them were surrounded by multicolored light, which died down to reveal them in their Ranger forms, already holding their weapons.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger.”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger.”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger.”
“Twilight Star, Void Ophiuchus Ranger.”
“Ah, so you wanna play it that way,” Schedar giggled, “well, taking you guys down is sure to get like, a ton of views, so I guess I can collab!”
The four Rangers immediately broke into a sprint towards her, making her fall back towards one of the cathedral’s exits.
Once outside, Schedar chuckled as she ducked and spun past Tip’s stabs and Leiurus’s slashes as she continued falling back, “Too slow!” She batted away Aster’s axe with her microphone stand as she laughed sarcastically, “Scary!”
She came to a stop as Hydra ran up to her, but she didn’t stand still long, skipping to the side and slamming the bladed base of her microphone into Hydra’s chest, making sparks fly as he staggered back.
He recovered quickly, charging her from the front as Leiurus and Aster charged from the sides. She blocked Hydra’s scythe with the shaft of her microphone, while Leiurus’s spear was blocked by the microphone itself, and Aster’s axe was blocked by the blade. “Nice try you- Ah!” she taunted before being stabbed from behind by Tip’s crossbow, making her stumble forward slightly.
“That’s just unfair, right chat?” Schedar asked before spinning around, forcing the Rangers to fall back to avoid her microphone’s blade. They wasted no time once there was an opening, slashing and stabbing at her, only for her to weave between the blows.
Leiurus lashed his tail at her, making her leap to avoid it and allowing Tip to strike her with a shot from their crossbow, knocking her towards Aster. She recovered as she hit the ground, batting Aster’s axe out of his hand as he tried to slash her. She brought her microphone down on him, forcing him to grab it, “Not so tough now, are-”
Aster forced the microphone stand to the side, allowing him to headbutt her and make her stumble back significantly. The Rangers began to run at her from all directions, and the mouth of the triceratops head on her stomach opened and produced a massive sonic shockwave around her. The Rangers plunged their weapons into the ground so as not to be knocked back, getting back to their feet once the attack subsided.
“Man, this stream is lastin’ longer than expected, chat,” Schedar said, annoyed. The Ranger surrounded her again, but she continued to dodge and block their attacks. At least until Leiurus’s tail ensnared her microphone stand, forcing her to stand still. “Hey, give that back!” she said before getting slashed across the chest by Hydra, which was followed shortly by Hydra’s scarf lashing her head repeatedly.
Schedar ripped her microphone stand free from Leiurus’s tail just as Hydra attempted to slash her again, but she spun out of the way, getting behind him and putting him in a chokehold with her microphone stand. “How’s it feel knowin’ that powerup I gave ya won’t save ya now?” She chuckled.
Before she could do anything else, a golden arrow shot forth, striking Schedar’s sea beast pauldron and knocking it off her shoulder in a shower of sparks. “Hey!” Schedar said with surprise.
Hydra used the distraction to bend forward quickly, launching Schedar off of him. She got to her feet, but the Rangers didn’t give her an inch.
“Antares End!”
“For Eurypto!” Leiurus declared as he ran past Schedar and slashed her, the attack punctuated by a projection of the Scorpius Zord made of orange energy appearing around him and slashing her with its claw.
“Zubeneschamali End!”
“For Hydra!” Tip said, firing a projection of the Libra Zord made of golden energy from their crossbow, which spun rapidly so its pans cut into Schedar like a buzzsaw.
“Aldebaran End!”
“For Professor Ain!” Aster declared, slashing Schedar and making her stumble back, an attack that was punctuated by a projection of the Taurus Zord made of black energy appearing around him and hitting Schedar with a rear of its head.
Hydra held his scythe high as Schedar struggled to recover, dark energy gathering around its blade.
“Void End!”
“For everyone you’ve hurt!” Hydra said, swinging his scythe forward as a projection of the Ophiuchus Zord made of dark energy flew forward and bit down on Schedar.
“Looks like I’m hashtag cancelled!” Schedar yelled before going up in flames.
The four Rangers unmorphed as the flames of Schedar’s destruction died down, coming to give each other a much needed hug.
“My plan would be going flawlessly if that accursed Nova Sphere hadn’t compelled me to tell the truth,” Mirfak grumbled as he entered the Capital-class Consumoai’s control room.
“Not so fast, Kulcon!” Calamartia declared, holding her gun at Mirfak alongside a platoon of Greyders and Flatborgs, “You’re to be executed for treason against Emperor Karna Rog!”
Mirfak sighed, cracking his neck, “Just my luck.” He shot forward several feet with the thrusters on his leg, delivering a slash that destroyed the Greyders and Flatborgs and knocked Calamartia to the ground.
He pinned her to the ground with his mechanical foot, angling his cannon so it was pointed directly at her head as it gathered energy, “As long as I’m here, you take orders from me, understood?
“Yes… Sir Mirfak,” Calamartia choked out.
“Good,” Mirfak said, raising his cannon and moving his hand to type something on it, “Now set a course for the Perseus system.”
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog’s white-robed form looked down at a kneeling Flatborg. “So, from my understanding of what you’ve told me, Kulcon disabled the system that he had put in place to maintain Project Wormwood’s development while he was away.” The Flatborg nodded, making Karna Rog’s claws dig into his throne, but his tone didn’t change, “You are… dismissed.”
The Flatborg exited as Karna Rog brought a hand to his face, “This is greatly problematic, without the knowledge of how to reactivate the system, knowledge that only Kulcon likely possesses, my plan will be delayed indefinitely.”
Suddenly, a voice spoke up from one of the throne room’s darker corners that now possessed a faint cyan glow, “I do believe that I could be of assistance, your majesty.” The voice was masculine, calm, and had an English accent, along with a slightly sinister undertone.
“And who might you be?” Karna Rog inquired, turning attention to where the voice came from.
The figure in the darkness chuckled, “A friend, of sorts.” There was a pause for a moment, presumably the figure shaking its head, “But who I am matters little, what matters is why I’m here.” The figure hummed, “From the sounds of it, your plan to eradicate life across the galaxy has come to a halt.”
“You’re aware of Project Wormwood’s nature,” Karna Rog rasped, “very few are permitted to know that.”
The figure chuckled again, “I have my ways, your majesty. My master is very much interested in what you plan to do, so as I’m the scholarly type, he sent me to help remedy your little… dilemma.”
“You make many claims,” Karna Rog replied, “but why should I believe any of them?”
“What do you have to lose if you don’t?” the voice replied as its white-gloved hand came into view, curling all of its fingers but its pinky inward as it raised it to where its face would be, “At worst I’m unable to fix it, nothing’s lost. Besides, there’s no telling when an opportunity like this will present itself again, it could be decades at minimum before someone comes along with the intelligence needed to continue Project Wormwood’s development. If you allow me to help, your plans for galactic peace will come into fruition in no time.”
Karna Rog raised a hand to his white-robed face, thinking, “And what do you have to gain from this arrangement?”
The figure hummed again, “As I said, my master has an… interest in Project Wormwood, and as one of his subordinates, it falls on me to see it through.” He chuckled, extending his gloved hand as if to beckon, “Don’t you trust me?”
Karna Rog seemed to consider it for a moment, “I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt, but I expect results to back up your claims, you will not enjoy my displeasure.”
“I promise you, your majesty, the claims I make are substantiated, you will not be disappointed with the results,” the voice replied.
“Excellent,” Karna Rog, “now state your name, if you are to be working on one of the most important projects in the Empire’s history, then I should be informed of who you are.”
The voice chuckled, “You may call me Halyodor.”
“Speak now, or forever hold your peace,” Shen said, scanning the cathedral as everyone had settled back to where they once were. Everyone in the pews stood back up, aiming their Morphers at the Cathedral doors for a moment before settling back down.
Arthur got up, carrying the box with the rings in it and opening it between Kenneth and Corvile, who grinned happily as they each took a ring out and gave it to the other.
“Kenneth Faulkner, do you take Corvile Umbrax to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Shen inquired.
“I do,” Kenneth responded with a wide smile.
Shen turned to Corvile, “Corvile Umbrax, do you take Kenneth Faulkner to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Corvile nodded, “I do.”
Shen smiled, then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husbands! You may now kiss the groom!”
Kenneth pressed his lips to the front of Corvile’s beak as everyone cheered. Sirius clapped while Brando sobbed, holding onto Birdie who was patting him on the shoulder and handing him a handkerchief.
“Congratulations!” Neil cheered, petting the Leo Minor Zord as it gave chirps of happiness.
“I’m so happy for you!” Alura exclaimed.
From the row behind them, Hydra clapped as well, tears rolling down his face, “Me too!”
Tip turned to look at him, “Hydra, are you… happy?”
“Of course I am,” Hydra said, wiping a few tears from his eyes, “I’m glad to know that they’re happy, and that everything turned out alright in the end.”
“In no small part thanks to you,” Leiurus nodded.
Aster chuckled, “You really let her have it! Exposed Mirfak too!”
Tip shrugged, “Hey, gotta give some credit to Brando too for getting another cake ready that quick.”
The four of them chuckled before Leiurus spoke up, “Still, it’s good to know she’s gone.”
“Yeah, absolutely deserved everything she had coming,” Aster nodded.
“I might just have to delete her channel later, no kill like overkill and all that,” Tip joked.
Hydra laughed, “I’m glad we’re all in agreement, but let’s get back to focusing on the newlyweds.”
“Thank you everyone!” Kenneth said with a smile, “I’m so glad you all went out of your way to do this for us, I know it must’ve been a lot of work, but please now, you’ve made this the happiest day of my life.”
Corvile chuckled nuzzling into Kenneth, “Mine too.”
“Guess it’s time for the second-best part then,” Kenneth smiled.
Corvile looked up at him, “What would that be?”
Kenneth laughed, “The cake, obviously.”
Notes:
And thus the Megabitch dies! I have to say, I’m really happy with this chapter and everything that happened in it. I probably made a little fucky wucky with the wedding at some point, but honestly, it looks fine to me. Anyway, I’m sure a lot of you are happy that Schedar has finally died, and trust me, I am too. Of course, that means Mirfak is on the chopping block next chapter, and he’s not going down without a fight. As for our new mysterious antagonistic pal, Halyodor… well, you won’t be ready for him. Comments are welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the TV Tropes page.
Chapter 38: City of Stone
Chapter Text
Kenneth entered the bridge of the Orion Carrierzord, where everyone else aside from Shen and Brando were sitting around, entertaining themselves or in Birdie’s case, typing at a console. Kenneth grinned as he approached Corvile from behind, who was currently sitting and reading something on a datapad. Kenneth wrapped his arms over his shoulders from behind with a grin, “How’s my husband doing?”
“I’m doing fine,” Corvile chuckled, “but you don’t need to keep calling me your husband all the time.”
Kenneth shook his head, “But I like being able to do it now that I’m able to.”
“I suppose that’s a good point,” Corvile chuckled.
“Heh, those two haven’t been able to keep their hands off each other since the wedding,” Aster chuckled as he lifted a dumbbell next to Leiurus.
Leiurus gave a small nod, “I don’t blame them, personally.”
“Get a room, you two!” Tip chuckled from where they sat next to Hydra.
Sirius gave a confused look as he glanced up from the datapad he was reading from, “Do they not share a room already?”
“It’s a figure of speech,” Arthur replied.
Neil nodded as he played with the Leo Minor Zord on his lap, “Yeah, it’s supposed to be a joke to tell a couple who’s being especially lovey-dovey to take it somewhere else.”
“Then you don’t really have a problem with it?” Hydra asked Tip.
“Course I don’t, just messing with them,” Tip said with a dismissive wave.
Kenneth chuckled, “Good, because I don’t plan on leaving unless Corv wants to.”
“You’re ridiculous sometimes,” Corvile said affectionately as he shook his head.
Kenneth smiled, “Still love me though.”
“That I do,” Corvile said with a slight chuckle.
The door to the bridge opened, and Brando rolled in a serving cart with food on it, “Still have some leftovers from the wedding, does anyone want it?” He pulled out a box with a partially eaten cake in it, “Still got a lot of cake left.”
“I think it’s still a bit early for cake, Brando,” Alura responded, “should probably wait a few hours until dinner to offer it.”
Brando nodded, “Alright, guess I’ll take this back at least.”
“If it’s any consolation, I would’ve eaten the cake now if I could,” Birdie said, turning to look at him.
Brando chuckled a bit, “Thanks, Birdie.” Brando prepared to exit the room, but before he could the doors opened and Shen entered.
“Alright everyone, look sharp,” Shen declared as he moved towards his seat, “we’ve got an emergency.”
“An emergency?” Arthur inquired.
The Leo Minor Zord leapt from Neil’s lap as he turned to face his adoptive father, “What kind of emergency?”
“We’ve got a distress signal from a city on the planet Argos in the Perseus system,” Shen said, glancing at Birdie. Birdie moved away from the console, picking up a datapad and pressing a button that caused a hologram of the planet to appear above the bridge’s table.
“Argos huh?” Kenneth inquired, “Nice place.”
Corvile nodded, “Quite.”
Shen shook his head, “Anyway, from the looks of it the Capital-class Consumoai has shown up a-round there.”
“Must be Mirfak,” Neil said with a scowl.
Leiurus nodded, “Think he’s trying to get back into Karna Rog’s good graces?”
Arthur nodded, “Probably, the Emperor didn’t seem happy when he found out he helped us.”
Corvile glanced to the side before nodding, “…Yes.”
“Doesn’t matter if he helped us,” Kenneth shook his head, “he did it to benefit himself, not to mention all the other heinous stuff he did.”
“Which is why we need to take him down,” Neil said, bringing his fists together, “for mom and everyone else he’s hurt.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded.
“Alright everyone,” Shen said, standing up and twirling his cane, “get ready to roll out. Sticking together is our best shot at defeating him.”
“Yeah, Mirfak might be a scientist, but all those enhancements that he’s given himself definitely means he isn’t a slouch in a fight,” Kenneth replied, “at least not now anyway.”
“Yeah, ganging up on him’s our safest bet,” Tip nodded.
Neil thought for a moment, “Let’s try not to use energy attacks if we can help it either, that cannon he has basically means they’re useless.”
“So focus on him in melee,” Leiurus nodded, “got it.”
“Is there anything else we should worry about?” Sirius asked.
Neil shrugged, “Don’t think so, that cannon is most of the problem honestly.”
Aster pumped a fist in the air, “Time to teach that snake a lesson then!”
“Be safe out there,” Corvile said, turning to Kenneth.
Kenneth smiled as he prepared to leave with the others, “Don’t worry, I will.”
A few minutes later, the Rangers’ Zords landed on a street on Argos, the twelve of them emerging from them. They looked around taking in the Greek-esque architecture. “Awful quiet around here,” Brando noted as they began to move.
“Yeah, given that Mirfak’s supposed to be here you’d expect a lot more panic,” Alura added.
Leiurus looked around the undamaged buildings, “Destruction too.”
“This is strange,” Sirius said, noticing several statues on the street, all seemingly sprinting with terror on their faces.
Neil walked up to one of the statues, cringing, “I don’t like this.”
“Is it some kind of Argosian custom?” Aster inquired.
Kenneth shook his head, “Wasn’t when I was president. Clothes look a lot too modern too.”
“As far as I know, it’s not a new custom either,” Birdie replied.
Arthur gave a disturbed look, “So that means…”
The rest of the explanation remained unspoken, but everyone present knew the implication. “Let’s try not to damage any of these,” Shen said, snapping out of the silence with a shake of his head.
“Leave it to Mirfak to do some of the most twisted stuff imaginable,” Neil said with a scowl.
“Hey, we’ll take him down, I know we will,” Arthur said, moving next to him, “for mom.”
Neil nodded, “Yeah, but I’m worried, I’ve never seen him do something like this before.”
“Haven’t heard of him doing it either,” Alura added.
Hydra looked around, “Then we should keep our guard up.”
“At least we’ll probably see him before he sees us,” Tip said, folding their arms behind their head.
Shen nodded, “Be ready for anything.”
Soon, the twelve of them had found themselves at a plaza filled with even more statues alongside dozens of Greyders. At the center of the plaza, several statues had been arranged to form a “throne” that Mirfak was currently sitting on, resting his head on his hand. “Hello, Rangers. I’d been wondering when you were going to show up,” Mirfak said, cracking his neck.
“Mirfak!” Neil said, assuming a fighting stance alongside the others, “What did you do?”
“This?” Mirfak said, leaping down from the throne, looking around at the statues, “Just a test run for a new tool I recently obtained.” He lifted his organic hand up to the gorgon-like face on his left shoulder, producing a grey-blue Nova Sphere that depicted the profile of a warrior holding a sword and possessing a swept-back helmet from it.
“A Nova Sphere?” the Rangers said with surprise.
“Good grief,” Kenneth continued, not sounding amused.
Mirfak placed the Nova Sphere back in his shoulder, “I believed that obtaining a Nova Sphere would be prudent when it came time to face you, after all, you all ended up getting far stronger than I had anticipated.”
“So your plan to strengthen us worked a little too well?” Kenneth said, narrowing his eyes at the former Knight.
Mirfak cracked his neck, “Indeed, I had hoped you would manage to snap Hydra Trabem out of Schedar’s control to utilize my Void and Black Hole Nova Spheres, and I lead you all to Samos in hope that you’d gain control of Cerberus and that Neil Astra would awaken his abilities.” He shook his head, “But your Orion Battlezord and the Leo Minor Zord, I hadn’t anticipated that. I simply needed you to be strong enough to defeat Karna Rog, but weak enough that you’d be exhausted after so I could finish you off.”
“Well it looks like that plan’s gone up in flames thanks to Hydra,” Tip replied.
Mirfak rolled his head around, “Yes, thanks to the Eridanus Nova Sphere, my carefully laid plan has gone up in flames.” Mirfak shrugged, “At least Karna Rog won’t get what he wants, seeing as I disabled the mechanism maintaining Project Wormwood.”
“What even is Project Wormwood anyway?” Alura demanded.
“Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you now,” Mirfak replied, taking a few steps forward, “By combining Gaiaium and dark matter, we created an artificial star as black as the void between stars. It would emit enough darkness to drown out the light of every star in the galaxy, freezing planets over and extinguishing all life.”
“So that’s why you were using Consumoai to drain Gaiaium!” Shen exclaimed.
“Yes, not that it matters now though, Karna Rog will never complete it without me restarting it,” Mirfak replied, “Regardless, it’s time to focus on what I brought you here for, putting an end to you before I deal with the Emperor.” Mirfak casually pushed another statue over, making it shatter as it hit the ground as the Rangers gasped.
Neil narrowed his eyes, “You’ll pay for that, Mirfak! This ends today!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which died down to reveal them in their suits. Mirfak drew his sword and began to walk forward as the Greyders charged, prompting the Rangers to charge in response.
Neil and Arthur slashed through the Greyders, leaving them to the others to deal with them as they focused on Mirfak. Arthur slashed at the former Knight’s legs, but he jumped over them before ducking under a slash from Neil. Mirfak batted Arthur to the side with his cannon before spinning around and striking Neil in the abdomen with the pommel of his sword. “Still wrapped up about your mother, it seems,” Mirfak said.
“Shut up!” Neil said before swinging at him.
Kenneth slammed his shield into a Greyder, making it stumble into a slash from Brando while Shen blasted another group of Greyders that Alura slashed from behind. “I’m going to go help them,” he said, looking at Neil and Arthur as he casually slashed another Greyder with his sword.
“Got it!” Leiurus said, slashing a Greyder that Aster had blocked the blade of while Birdie blasted another that was promptly tackled by Sirius, while Hydra hooked another with his scythe and tossed it for Tip to shoot.
Mirfak staggered back as Neil and Arthur slashed him across the chest. Mirfak cracked his neck before slashing at Arthur, who blocked it with his glaive. “You’re going down, you snake!” Arthur spat.
“I beg to differ,” Mirfak replied, grinding his metal foot onto Arthur’s. Arthur gave a cry of pain, allowing Mirfak to slash him across the chest.
“Don’t touch him!” Neil yelled as Arthur staggered back. He slashed at Mirfak, who blocked it with his claw before being slashed across the side by Kenneth. He blocked another slash from Kenneth’s sword with his own before thrusting his cannon at Kenneth, who blocked it with his shield. Mirfak kicked the shield, holding his foot in place before activating the thrusters on his leg and launching Kenneth back and onto the ground.
Neil gave a yell as he performed a jumping slash on Mirfak, who spun out of the way and bludgeoned him with his mechanical tail as he hit the ground. As Neil tried to recover, Mirfak jabbed him in the chest with his cannon before slashing him with his sword. Neil blocked it with his sword, but Mirfak forced it to the side with his cannon before slashing again, launching Neil through the air before hitting the ground next to Arthur.
“Time to finish this,” Mirfak said, the lens-tipped wires covering his body angling themselves at the Rangers, who by now had finished off the Greyders. Beams of grey-blue light shot forth from the lenses, heading straight for the Rangers. Neil grabbed Arthur, rolling out of the way with him as Kenneth raised his shield just in time to block a beam and Shen spun out of the way.
The beams struck the other Rangers, but didn’t seem to have an effect on Tip, Aster, and Birdie. Leiurus, Sirius, Hydra, Alura, and Brando weren’t so lucky though, unmorphing as the beams struck them to reveal their petrified bodies.
“Leiurus!” Aster said with horror.
“Hydra!” Tip said with shock.
“Guys, no!” Neil said, reaching a hand out at them before snarling, “Turn them back now!”
Shen whipped around, aiming his rifle at Mirfak, as he snarled as well, “Undo this!”
Mirfak raised his hand to his chin curiously, “I see, so it doesn’t work on inorganic beings. Ah well, I suppose five out of twelve is a good start.” Mirfak aimed his cannon forward at the petrified Rangers, “Say your goodbyes.”
Neil began to hyperventilate, grabbing his sword and charging at Mirfak, putting himself between the former Knight and the other Rangers, “No! I won’t let you take anyone else!”
“He’s gonna get himself killed!” Arthur yelled.
“Do something!” Shen demanded, lowering his rifle.
“I’ve got it!” Kenneth said, plugging his sword into his shield.
“Milky Way!”
A cloud of yellow particles flew out of the shield and around the Rangers, causing them to disappear as it flew off. Mirfak lowered his cannon now that Neil and the others were gone, shaking his head before cracking his neck, “They’ll be back soon enough.”
On the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, Neil sat at a seat, gloomily petting the Leo Minor Zord while his fellow Rangers and Corvile looked over their petrified cohorts. “How in the stars’ name was Mirfak able to do that?” Aster questioned, looking at the petrified Leiurus.
“With that Nova Sphere, I’d imagine,” Arthur replied.
Tip shrugged, “Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”
“So what Nova Sphere does Mirfak have his hand on then?” Birdie asked, looking at Kenneth and Corvile.
“Has to be the Perseus Nova Sphere,” Kenneth replied, “it’s the only one with a power remotely similar to that.” Kenneth shook his head, “Good grief, of all the Nova Spheres for that snake to search out…”
“Surely the Astrographers would’ve made a way to roll-back the effects, right?” Shen inquired, “A power like that has to have a way to be reversed if it causes an accident.”
Corvile nodded, “The good news is that exposing anything petrified by it to energy from it again should undo the process.”
“So what, we just need to get Mirfak to hit them with those lasers again?” Tip asked.
“Since those lasers sound like they’re how Mirfak’s projecting the Perseus Nova Sphere’s energy, then yes,” Corvile replied.
Arthur looked at Neil, “Good thing Neil can use his portals to get those beams where they need to go, right?”
“What?” Neil said, snapping back to reality, “Oh right, I can.”
The other Rangers and Corvile all gave confused looks before Shen spoke up, concerned, “Neil, is everything alright?”
Corvile cleared his throat, “Perhaps the rest of us should go, this sounds like something Neil wants to discuss with his family privately.”
“I’m staying,” Kenneth replied, shaking his head, “Neil’s helped me through some problems before, so I want to help him now,” he turned to look at Neil, “If that’s alright with you.”
Neil gave a small shrug, “Sure.”
“Alright, hope this makes you feel better,” Aster said reassuringly as he began to exit with Tip, Birdie, and Corvile.
“Adios!” Tip added with a wave.
“Wishing you luck that things turn out alright,” Birdie continued.
Corvile gave a wave to Kenneth, “See you later, Ken.” With that, the doors shut behind them.
“Let me guess, this has something to do with Mirfak,” Arthur said, turning to Neil.
“Yeah,” Neil sighed, petting the Leo Minor Zord.
Arthur shook his head and adjusted his glasses, “C’mon Neil, you don’t need to worry, if we work together we’ll be strong enough to beat him.”
“Yeah, from the sounds of it, you did some good damage to him on Samos before you even got the Supernova Sphere,” Kenneth nodded.
Shen spun his cane, “Nothing to sphere if we work together!”
“It’s not that, it’s…” Neil sighed, shaking his head as the Leo Minor Zord nuzzled into him, “I’m not worried about not being able to beat him, I’m worried that I’m going to end up losing one of you guys.”
“Like with mom?” Arthur inquired.
Neil nodded sadly, “Yeah, I mean, Arthur, we already lost mom to Mirfak, I don’t wanna lose anyone else we care about to him, especially if it’s you or dad.” He looked at the petrified Rangers and sighed as tears seemed to well up in his eyes while his breathing became shallower, “Mirfak was so close to making sure we’d never see them again, if I hadn’t got between them, then…”
“Neil,” Shen said, putting a hand on his adopted son’s shoulder reassuringly, “take deep breaths, alright? Everything’s okay, the others are safe.”
“Yeah, they’re all still here, aren’t they?” Kenneth added.
Neil took a deep breath and closed his eyes, opening them before responding, “Yeah, they are, but what about when we go face Mirfak again? What if something happens to you guys? Or Tip, Aster, or Birdie? I… I don’t want to have to go through the pain of losing someone to him again, not after he already took me and Arthur’s mom…”
“Neil,” Arthur said, putting his hand on his older brother’s other shoulder, “I know that you were a lot closer to mom than I was, but you’ve got to stop worrying that we’ll end up like her.” He adjusted his glasses, “Worrying about us isn’t gonna stop Mirfak, it’s not gonna help the others or anyone else he’s petrified, and it’s not gonna bring mom justice.” He took a deep breath, “We couldn’t have done anything to save mom then, but now… now you’re exactly what we need to save the others.”
Neil looked up at Arthur, shaking his head before wiping his eyes, “Yeah… you’re right. I’m worried about you guys, and I hate that Mirfak’s what’s making me feel that way because of what happened to mom…” Neil stood up, a look of determination in his eyes, “but I can’t sit around moping and throwing a pity party, not when people need me, not when the others need me.”
“That’s the sphere-it!” Shen exclaimed, twirling his cane.
Kenneth grinned, “Good to hear. Can’t have our field commander getting cold feet.”
Neil grinned before turning to ruffle Arthur’s hair, “Thanks Arthur.”
“Cut it out!” Arthur said, forcing Neil’s hand away, “But it’s no problem.”
The doors to the bridge opened, with Tip, Aster, Birdie, and Corvile standing on the other side. “You guys done in here?” Aster asked.
“Yeah,” Neil replied, “Come on in.”
“Alright, so what’s the plan then?” Birdie inquired, taking a seat.
“Me and Arthur will be going down to deal with Mirfak,” Neil replied.
Arthur looked at Neil, “I think it’s going to take more than the two of us to take him down, Neil, he might be a scientist, but he’s no slouch.”
“I’ll go too,” Kenneth said, “I’ve still got a bone to pick with him for turning me into Ankaa.”
Shen nodded, “I’ll go too.”
“Really?” Neil inquired, “Thanks, dad.”
Shen chuckled, “Well I’m not gonna let my boys roll out and fight a former Knight of Andromeda by themselves.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Birdie inquired, “I mean, you’re all susceptible to the Perseus Nova Sphere’s effects.”
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “Yeah, one hit and it’s lights out!”
“Well, now that Mirfak knows you three are unaffected by the Nova Sphere, he won’t fire any at you,” Arthur replied, “If everyone who goes against him is organic, he’ll need to fire more beams.”
Neil nodded, “Which means there’s more for me to redirect to free people.”
“High-risk high-reward huh?” Tip replied, seeming to like the sound of that, “Now that’s my style.”
“Yes, I do see the merits of that plan,” Corvile nodded, “but be careful regardless.”
“We will, Corvile,” Kenneth grinned.
“Not to mention, we know what we’re up against this time,” Arthur added, “Only reason why his beams worked before is because we didn’t know how his power worked, but now we do.”
Shen looked at Tip, Aster, Birdie, and Corvile, “You four keep an eye on the others, got it?”
“Of course, Commander Long,” Birdie nodded.
Kenneth chuckled as he looked at Corvile, “Careful not to get hit when the beams come through.” Corvile gave a huff.
“Alright you guys, we’ve got a snake to slay,” Neil said, a determined look on his face.
Soon after, the four of them were down on a street in the city where they had previously been, mindful to pick a location with no statues. “Think he knows we’re here?” Arthur asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Shen shrugged before taking a deep breath and yelling, “Hey!”
Almost immediately, a blast of red energy surrounded by black lightning shot forward at the Rangers. They dodged as the blast hit the ground, creating a massive explosion. “Hello again, Rangers,” Mirfak said, appearing in a swirl of dark energy and pointing his sword at them before cracking his neck, “it seems you took the logical approach of returning with everyone susceptible to the Perseus Nova Sphere to make this easier for me.”
“We did it for you, yeah right,” Neil said sarcastically, “you better get ready, Mirfak… because this ends today!”
Arthur took a step forward, pointing at the former Knight, “You’re going down for what you did to me and Neil’s mom!”
“And turning me into a monster!” Kenneth added.
“You might be a scientist like me, but I know you don’t have the brains to take us down!” Shen taunted.
“A foolish claim,” Mirfak replied, “I’ve already defeated five of you, what’s four more?”
Neil plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher alongside the others, “Let’s do this!”
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by white, purple, and cyan light, alongside flames. They all died down to reveal them in their Ranger suits.
“Incandescent Star, Leorion Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all declared in unison before splitting into groups and charging at Mirfak. Neil glided across the ground next to Kenneth on the Knights left, while Shen and Arthur went to his right.
Mirfak rolled his head around, “Let’s make this quick.” Several lens-tipped wires aimed themselves at each Ranger before firing grey-blue beams at them.
“Oh no you don’t!” Neil exclaimed, swiping his hand and opening several portals in front of each Ranger that the beams shot into.
Five portals opened on the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, the beams flying out of them and striking each of the petrified Rangers, making the stone crumble off of them like a casing.
“Uh, that was weird,” Alura bemoaned, resting her hand on her head.
Brando nodded, cracking his back, “Tell me about it, I don’t want a second helping of that.”
“Alura, Brando!” Aster said excitedly, pulling them into a hug, “You’re alright!”
“Forgetting someone?” Leiurus said from the side.
This prompted Aster to spin around and lift Leiurus up, “Leiurus!”
“Is that what it feels like when I freeze someone in place?” Hydra questioned, looking at Tip.
Tip maneuvered to pat him on the back, “I dunno, neither has happened to me.”
“Are you alright, Sirius?” Birdie questioned, looking at the Fenrisulfrian who was bracing himself on the table.
Sirius nodded, “I am fine, but that is not a sensation I wish to feel again.”
Corvile chuckled as he looked at a screen that displayed what was happening on the surface, “Good job, Neil.”
Mirfak fired several more beams at the Rangers, but once again they flew into portals before exiting from portals above the city. “Redirecting my attacks to undo the Perseus Nova Sphere’s effects, I see,” Mirfak said, taking note of what was going on, “How clever.” Mirfak tapped his sword to the Gorgon-like head on his shoulder, engulfing its blade in grey-blue energy, “Let’s see how you redirect this then!” He plunged his sword into the ground, sending out a shockwave of energy.
“Everyone up!” Shen commanded, jumping over the wave alongside the others as the wave petrified any plants it came in contact with. Neil leapt down on the Knight from behind with his sword, but Mirfak slung his own sword over the shoulder to block the blow.
Mirfak spun around, making sure his blade was still blocking Neil’s as he pressed his cannon to the Leorion Ranger’s chest, gathering energy. “Not so fast!” Kenneth yelled, appearing in a burst of flames behind the Knight before slashing him across the back, with Arthur running by and doing the same a few moments later.
The attacks interrupted Mirfak charging his cannon, allowing Neil to kick Mirfak in the chest and send him stumbling back. Mirfak recovered just in time to be accosted by Shen, Arthur, and Kenneth. He blocked a slash from Kenneth with his leg, but this gave Shen the opportunity to stab him with his cane, firing a few projectiles from it to increase the damage.
Mirfak stumbled back, but recovered in time to leap over a slash from Arthur, striking and staggering him on the way down with his sword. He thrusted his cannon into Kenneth’s shield, firing it and launching Kenneth back significantly.
Shen took a jab at Mirfak’s organic leg, but the former Knight pinned it to the ground with his sword. “Well since I already took their mother, I suppose I’ll take their father next,” Mirfak chuckled darkly, his lens-tipped wires aiming themselves at Shen as they gathered energy.
“Absolutely not!” Neil yelled, shooting Mirfak in the face with his Morpher. Mirfak staggered back slightly, batting Shen to the side with his cannon before swinging his sword and sending a blue-white energy slash flying at Neil. Neil sidestepped into a portal, appearing to Mirfak’s side a few yards away.
“Once I deal with you, things will go much smoother,” Mirfak spat as he turned to face Neil, his lens-tipped wires firing beams at the Leorion Ranger.
“You’ll still have to deal with me first!” Neil declared as he made a circular gesture with his hand, opening a portal in front of him that the lasers shot into. Another portal opened in front of Mirfak, the lasers exiting through it. Mirfak extended his cannon forward, absorbing the lasers.
“A nice try, I’ll give you that,” Mirfak spat before firing the lasers out of his cannon. Neil opened another portal, once again redirecting the lasers back at Mirfak, who absorbed it. This process repeated several more times before Mirfak gave a snarl and fired again, “Enough of this!”
“Yeah, enough!” Neil yelled before once again opening a portal for the lasers to shoot through, but this time the exit portal didn’t appear in front of Mirfak, it appeared behind him. Before Mirfak could react, the beams had struck him from bending, petrifying the organic side of his body. “Guys, now!” Neil commanded.
Shen, Kenneth, and Arthur all charged at the partially petrified former Knight, but they weren’t fast enough. Mirfak’s lens-tipped wires aimed themselves at the left side of his body, making the stone flake away as he cracked his neck. “You’ll need to do better than that,” he taunted.
“How about this then?” Kenneth asked as he ran past Mirfak, slashing the gorgon-like head on his shoulder and producing an eruption of sparks as the Perseus Nova Sphere tumbled out.
“No!” Mirfak snarled, reaching for it.
“Neil, catch!” Arthur yelled, kicking the Perseus Nova Sphere out of Mirfak’s reach and into Neil’s hand.
“Nice one Arthur!” Neil exclaimed as he deposited the Nova Sphere into his belt.
“No matter,” Mirfak spat, “I’ll just get it back when I finish you.” Mirfak’s sword glowed with blue-white energy as he plunged it into the ground, forcing the Rangers back as energy projections of the sword erupted all over the street. Mirfak pulled his sword out of the ground, causing the projections to disappear as he swung it, causing a massive energy projection of the blade to form around it. Shen and Arthur ducked under the blade as it cleaved through the buildings behind them, before Neil and Kenneth brought it to a stop with their sword and shield respectively.
As Mirfak tried to continue his swing, Shen and Arthur closed the distance, with Arthur smacking Mirfak in the face with it while Shen jabbed the head of his cane into his abdomen. Mirfak gave a cry of pain and staggered back, the energy projection disappearing. Mirfak transitioned from the stagger into a spinning slash, striking Shen and Arthur across the chests before turning his attention back to Neil and Kenneth, firing a blast from his cannon at them.
They dodged to the sides, sliding across the ground and slashing Mirfak’s legs. Mirfak fell to his knees, plunging his sword into the ground.
Arthur charged forward, bringing his glaive down on Mirfak, but he rolled out of the way before getting to his feet. Mirfak shot forward, delivering a thruster-propelled kick to Kenneth’s chest, knocking him back before slashing Shen. He thrusted his claw and sword forward at Neil, who leaned back under it before spinning and slashing Mirfak across the chest.
Mirfak stepped forward, slashing at Neil, who sidestepped it. Neil batted Mirfak’s sword away with his own before spinning and preparing to stab Mirfak, who ducked to the side and ran to try and stab Neil, but he sidestepped it again before slashing Mirfak across the back. Mirfak spun around, allowing Neil to get another slash in. “Enough of this!” Mirfak yelled, thrusting his cannon at Neil, who backflipped out of the way.
Neil’s capes wrapped around Mirfak’s cannon, and with one strong tug it was torn from Mirfak’s upper arm, making the former Knight let out shrill metallic screech, “You wretched-”
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
Arthur had plugged the Nova Sphere in question into his Morpher, and now towered over Mirfak and his fellow Rangers. With a running start he kicked Mirfak, sending the former Knight flying down the street at high speed.
Mirfak was abruptly stopped by a stab from behind through Shen, piercing through the metal side of his torso. Shen kicked Mirfak forward, dislodged him from his cane.
As Mirfak stumbled forward, Kenneth appeared in front of him in a burst of flames. Kenneth quickly delivered four slashes to Mirfak, one horizontal, one vertical, and a diagonal one from each side. Mirfak snarled, kicking his mechanical leg back to strike Shen in the chest before bashing Kenneth upside the head with the pommel of his sword.
As the two Rangers were left reeling from their injuries, Mirfak glanced at the stump of his left arm, “I need to repair this now.” He broke into a sprint towards an alleyway.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Neil said as his capes ensnared Mirfak, slamming the former Knight into several buildings before slamming him into the ground and releasing him.
Mirfak spat out a green and black liquid, oil mixed with blood. He clenched the stump of his severed arm as he got to his feet, “You wouldn’t have been able to defeat me if I hadn’t led you to Samos, you know that, right? All the progress you’ve made since Kenneth being freed, it was because of me. Even if you do kill me… it doesn’t change the fact that you and all the others would be nothing without me.”
Neil pointed his sword at the former Knight, thinking a moment before speaking, “Mirfak, even though you lead us to more strength, you didn’t give it to us, we did that ourselves. And yeah, this strength might’ve gotten us far, but the bonds we have with each other have gotten us just as far.”
Neil swiped his arm, creating a series of portals that the weapons of the other Rangers emerged from. He pointed his sword forward, which flew from his hand alongside the other weapons and slashed Mirfak dozens of times before flying off.
“Eltanin End!”
Shen fired his rifle, a massive projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy appearing behind Mirfak before biting down on him with a sizable explosion.
“Polaris End!”
Arthur, now his regular size, ran past Mirfak and slashed him with his glaive, the attack punctuated with a projection of the Ursa Zords made of cyan energy swiping at Mirfak with one of its front tires.
“Ankaa End!”
Kenneth swung his sword, sending a projection of the Phoenix Zord made of flames flying and colliding with Mirfak in a fiery eruption.
Neil plugged the Supernova Sphere into his sword, pressing the button and making it light up and flash between colors before spinning its ring.
“Supernova Slash!”
The blade of his sword glowed with prismatic energy as Neil ran forward, slashing Mirfak and continuing to run past him as the symbols of the Rangers’ Nova Spheres appeared around the former Knight. Neil flourished his sword as the symbols coalesced on Mirfak, creating an explosion of blinding energy.
Neil moved to stand next to the others, turning around to give a thumbs up, “Shine o-”
“A word of advice, Kenneth Faulkner,” Mirfak said, struggling to stand as his body crackled with energy. Suddenly, he swung his sword, sending a slash of blue-white energy colliding with Kenneth’s chest, knocking him to the ground and making him unmorph. “I would recommend keeping your beloved Veronan at arm’s length,” Mirfak continued.
Kenneth looked at him as he tried to get to his feet, “What are you talking about?”
Mirfak didn’t respond, his mechanical eye dimming as he collapsed to the ground.
“You alright?” Neil asked, helping Kenneth to his feet.
“Could be better,” Kenneth hissed, clutching his side.
“What do you think Mirfak meant by that?” Arthur wondered aloud.
Shen shook his head, “Probably just trying to mess with us.”
The sea beast pauldron on the shoulder of Mirfak’s body began to glow, making Mirfak and his severed arm dissolve into golden energy, which grew in size as it flew upwards before solidifying into a giant version of Mirfak, “You really should’ve expected this by now.”
“Of course,” Arthur sighed.
Neil spoke into his Morpher, “Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, Brando, we’ll need some help down here, and someone needs to get Kenneth out of here.”
“I’ll get Kenneth,” Alura said, looking at the other Rangers that Neil had named.
“Got it,” Birdie nodded.
“Thanks Alura, you’re a lifesaver,” Birdie replied.
Corvile shook his head, “Possibly literally in this case.”
“Alright everyone, lunch break is over!” Brando declared as he left with the others.
Neil, Shen, and Arthur plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Minor Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off to attach to their respective Zords, the Leo Minor Zord combining with the Leo Zord. The three Zords got into position with the others that had just arrived, preparing to combine.
“Hypernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
This version of the Hypernova Megazord had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Ophiuchus Zord as its right leg, the Lupus Zord as its left arm, and the Libra Zord as its left leg.
Meanwhile, the formation the Draco Star Megazord had assembled itself into had the Ursa Zords as its right arm and the Aquila Zord as its left arm.
“Let’s see what those toys of yours can do!” Mirfak declared, approaching the two Megazords as they approached him. He slashed they Hypernova Megazord across the chest repeatedly, swinging his cannon to block strikes from the Dorado and Ursa Zords.
The former Knight fell back a little, striking the Hypernova Megazord with his cannon. Both Mirfak and the Hypernova Megazord pointed their cannons at each other, firing rapid-fire blasts of energy, with the Megazord’s striking Mirfak’s right leg while Mirfak’s struck the Lupus Zord.
Both parties fell back slightly before attacking again, thrusting their cannons at each other. The Megazord’s cannon rested over Mirfak’s shoulder, while Mirfak’s was pointed directly at the Lupus Zord as he fired.
“This does not look good,” Sirius growled as the Megazord staggered back. Mirfak charged forward with his sword, but the Lupus Zord angled itself forward, slashing Mirfak along the side as he ran past.
Mirfak staggered forward directly into a slash from the Aquila Zord, making him stumble back. The Hypernova Megazord brought the Dorado Zord down while the Draco Star Megazord brought the Ursa Zord down, but before they could connect Mirfak leapt back, making the two Megazords strike each other instead.
As the two Megazords tried to recover from the attack, Mirfak swung his sword at the Hypernova Megazord, but the Hypernova Megazord quickly blocked the attack with the Dorado Zord before blasting Mirfak in the face repeatedly with its cannon, creating a cascade of sparks.
While Mirfak was already reeling, the Draco Star Megazord added insult to injury, slamming the Ursa Zords into Mirfak’s abdomen.
The Megazords brought down the Dorado and Ursa Zords down again, but Mirfak blocked the Dorado Zord with his sword and caught the Ursa Zords with his cannon.
“Hey, a little help here?” Neil asked the Leo Minor Zord. The Leo Minor Zord momentarily disconnected from the Megazord, ripping off Mirfak’s cannon and making him stagger back before it reconnected.
“Time to finish this!” Neil declared as he and the others prepared a finisher.
“Hypernova Megazord All Star Breaker!”
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Hypernova Megazord fired a beam from its cannon, while the Draco Star Megazord fired a beam from the Ursa Zords, the two combining to create a single, massive beam of energy.
Mirfak swung his sword, sending a slash of blue-white energy at the beam, but it did very little, as it was quickly overtaken before the beam collided with Mirfak.
As energy began to crackle around his body, Mirfak spoke, “Just remember, you wouldn’t be where you are now if it wasn’t for me.” With that, Mirfak collapsed, going up in flames in the process.
The Megazords lowered their weapons as the flames of Mirfak’s defeat began to fade. “The stars of hope still shine!” Neil said with a grin.
On the Capital-class Consumoai, Calamartia watched Mirfak’s defeat from his usual seat. “Well, guess I’m in charge now,” she shrugged.
She got to her feet before grabbing a Greyder and shaking it violently, “One of you jelly-brains set a course for Ukhu Pacha.”
“It seems like Kulcon got his just deserts in the end,” Karna Rog rasped, watching as Mirfak was destroyed on a holographic screen in Ukhu Pacha’s throne room.
The screen disappeared as a patch of darkness began to emit a faint cyan glow, and Halyodor clapped his white-gloved hands together, “Your majesty, I have most excellent news. Project Wormwood is now continuing development.”
“That is good news, Halyodor,” Karna Rog rasped, “Tell me, when do you expect it to be completed?”
“In a few days’ time,” Halyodor replied, raising one of his gloved hands as he extended his pinky finger and curled in all the others, “Though I must confess that we ran into a slight… issue.”
Karna Rog looked intently at where Halyodor was in the darkness, “Elaborate, Halyodor.”
“Well, it would seem one of those incompetent Flatborgs that you had sent to monitor me caused a… minor security breach,” Halyodor replied, tapping his fingers together, “there’s a slightly probability that the knowledge of Project Wormwood’s revival could’ve made its way to the Rangers.”
Karma Rog’s claws dug into his throne, “And you claim one of my Flatborgs did this? I find that very hard to believe, Halyodor. I do not take well to those who go against my cause.” A sword materialized above Karna Rog’s throne before launching itself at the cyan glow, which disappeared before contact.
The cyan glow appeared in another patch of darkness as Halyodor spoke again, “Surely you have better things to do at this time than to execute a potentially duplicitous subordinate.” Halyodor lifted his hand again, curling all his fingers but the pinky, “Assuming that the Rangers do have the information about Project Wormwood, it would be far more prudent to begin preparing Ukhu Pacha for an attack, yes?”
“I’m more than capable of planning for an attack and snuffing out the life of a duplicitous subordinate at once,” Karna Rog rasped.
Halyodor gave a hum as the cyan light he was producing began to move, presumably from him walking, “Perhaps I can offer you my services in a different way then.” Halyodor once again raised one of his gloved hands, the pinky extended, “I may be a scholar, but I’m also quite the capable combatant. Should the Rangers arrive, I will demonstrate my trustworthiness by defending Project Wormwood tooth and… nail. I’m sure you’d find any help invaluable now, and I even have plans for a new defense system.”
Karna Rog raised a hand to his chin, thinking, “I will allow you to prove yourself to me, Halyodor. But know that if you disappoint me in any way…” Karna Rog made a throat-slitting motion with his index finger.
Halyodor chuckled, “Excellent, on behalf of my master, I promise you’ll find my performance satisfactory.”
On the bridge of the Orion Carrierzord, Brando wheeled in a freshly-made, golden-frosted cake alongside the leftovers of the wedding cake while Birdie worked on a console.
“What’s all this for?” Neil asked with a grin as he petted the Leo Minor Zord.
Brando chuckled, “Well, seeing as we just dealt with the last of the Knights of Andromeda, I figured I’d make a little something to celebrate the occasion.”
“Looks delicious,” Arthur said, “what flavor?”
“Vanilla,” Brando replied, “wanted to go for a gold color given their pauldron things.”
“I am glad that I will be able to eat it, unlike the wedding cake,” Sirius replied.
Alura shook her head, “Not Kenneth and Corvile’s fault that chocolate is a good flavor.”
Shen looked it over, “Well, I have to say you did an excellent job as always, Brando.”
Neil gave a grin, but it was clear it wasn’t just about the cake. Arthur took notice of this, “Happy that Mirfak’s finally done for?”
“Course I am,” Neil nodded, “the guy who took mom away from us is finally dead. It’s good to know we made sure he won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, it really is, isn’t it?”
Off to the side, Kenneth gave a forlorn look, staring blankly at the cake. He thought back to what Mirfak had said about Corvile, and how he found him talking to himself in that closet in the Revolution headquarters.
“Something wrong, Kenneth?” Corvile asked, snapping Kenneth from his trance.
“Oh, hey Corvie, it’s nothing, just thinking about something that Mirfak said,” Kenneth replied, shaking his head.
Corvile tilted his head, “Oh really? What did he say?”
Kenneth contemplated how to answer before shaking his head again, “It’s not something to worry about, probably just wait it to mess with me is all.”
“I see,” Corvile replied with a nod, “well if you decide to tell me, I’m all ears.”
Kenneth grinned, “You always are, Corv.”
Birdie stopped working at the console she was at, simply staring at the screen, “Uh guys, we just got sent something weird.”
“Weird?” Shen asked, taking a sip from the mug that Neil and Arthur had made for him, “Weird how?”
“It’s some kind of message from someone called H,” Birdie replied.
“H?” Aster replied, puzzled.
“What does it say?” Hydra questioned.
Birdie typed at the console for a few moments before replying, “It says here that the Empire was able to get Project Wormwood up and running again and will be ready in three days!”
The other Rangers gasped as Shen spat out his drink, “Already?”
Neil stood up and slammed his hands down on the table, “We need to stop it!”
“Hold on,” Leiurus said, stepping forward, “doesn’t this seem just a little bit suspicious? Mirfak said that he shut it down, but then all the sudden it’s up and running again.”
Sirius nodded, “It does seem suspect.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t put it past Karna Rog to do something like that to try and finish us off so we won’t get in the way when Project Wormwood gets up and running again,” Alura replied with a nod.
Neil shook his head, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a trap, we need to go investigate. We can’t risk thinking it’s fake when it could wipe out all life in the galaxy. This is something we need to take seriously even if it doesn’t end up being real.” Neil took a deep breath, we’re Power Rangers, chosen by the Nova Spheres to protect life all across the galaxy, what happens if all life is wiped out because we didn’t think this was worth looking into?”
“Neil’s right,” Kenneth replied, “this is something that we can’t afford to miscalculate, not when the lives of everyone and everything is on the line.”
“Good point,” Brando nodded, “if we don’t investigate, then we’d be letting down everyone who depends on us and put our faith in us.”
“And then everything we’ve fought for already will be for nothing,” Aster replied.
Shen shook his head, “We’re not going to let that happen, we’re going to come up with something to stop Project Wormwood once and for all, and then we’re going to put it in motion.
“Birdie,” Arthur said, looking at the android, “does the message say anything else, like where Project Wormwood is taking place?”
Birdie tapped at the console again before speaking, “It says here Project Wormwood was just transferred from Ukhu Pacha’s laboratory sector to its core.”
“Ukhu Pacha? You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Tip bemoaned.
Sirius gave a confused look, “Ukhu Pacha?”
Shen looked at him, “Ukhu Pacha is an artificial planet near the center of the galaxy, it’s the Empire’s capital and the Emperor’s seat of power.”
“So essentially, Project Wormwood is located at the single most dangerous planet in the galaxy for us,” Alura elaborated.
Brando nodded, “Consumoai fleets, uncountable numbers of Greyders, Dukes, the Emperor himself, it’s a smorgasbord of Imperial forces!”
“There is some good news,” Birdie replied, “whoever this H guy is also sent us Ukhu Pacha’s schematics, we should be able to map a way to the core since we know that’s where Project Wormwood is.”
“But that begs the question,” Corvile replied, “how can we neutralize Project Wormwood? Mirfak said it’s an artificial star, what could we possibly do to destroy it?”
Shen hummed for a moment, stroking his metallic beard before his index finger shot up, inspiration hitting him, “I think I’ve got an idea for something. It’ll take a bit to make, but I’m sure if I start work on it now we should still have two days left to stop Project Wormwood.”
Corvile glanced to his side, noting that Karna Rog wasn’t there before he muttered, “Must be focused more on preparing Ukhu Pacha than trying to use me to stop them, thank goodness.”
Neil grinned at Shen, “Alright dad, while you’re working on that, me and the others will start planning on how we’re gonna attack Ukhu Pacha.” He pumped his fist in the air, “Watch out, Karna Rog! We’re about to save the galaxy!”
Notes:
And Mirfak’s done for. I have to say, I really liked how this chapter turned out, between Mirfak using the Perseus Nova Sphere, Neil, Shen, Arthur, and Kenneth’s battle with him, and the fact that the Knights are all done with now, there’s a lot of stuff I had fun writing. From here, the Rangers are off to take the fight to the Empire, alongside that strange new subordinate of Karna Rog. Don’t worry, next chapter you guys will get to see what Halyodor really looks like, and it’s sure to knock your socks off. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the TV Tropes page.
Chapter 39: Final Frontier
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Alright everyone, we’re here,” Birdie said as she stepped away from the control seat of the Orion Carrierzord, Ukhu Pacha and a massive fleet of Consumoai and Moriders surrounding it just outside the window.
“Man, that’s a lot Consumoai,” Aster said, looking onward. He and the other Rangers aside from Shen were on the bridge with Corvile, preparing their attack on the Imperial capital.
“The Empire must have found out we know that Project Wormwood is back,” Sirius replied.
Alura nodded, “Good thing the Vulpecula Nova Sphere’s illusion powers are keeping us hidden.”
“I dunno, Alura,” Brando shrugged, “Consumoai are small potatoes to us at this point.”
Neil tapped his fingers rapidly on the table as the Leo Minor Zord sat in his lap, “Yeah, nothing we can’t handle.”
“You okay, Neil?” Arthur asked, taking note of his tapping.
“Yeah, just a little excited and anxious,” Neil replied, “We’re about to save the galaxy after all.”
“Alrighty everyone, it’s done,” Shen said, entering the bridge. “Ta-da!” he said, placing a silver device with a slot for a Nova Sphere on the top down on the table.
“So this is what’s gonna destroy that black star that Project Wormwood’s supposed to make?” Neil asked, looking it over.
Kenneth cocked an eyebrow, “It looks a little… small.”
Leiurus looked at Shen, “What’s it supposed to do, Commander?”
Shen turned to Hydra, “Hydra, mind giving me the Black Hole Nova Sphere?”
“Here,” Hydra said, producing the Nova Sphere in question from his pocket.
Shen took it from him, plugging it into the device, “This remote Morpher can activate whatever Nova Sphere it’s connected to from a distance. We just need to get this baby to Ukhu Pacha and activate it to have a black hole swallow up Ukhu Pacha and Project Wormwood.”
“No offense Boss, but I don’t think that’s gonna work,” Tip replied, crossing their arms, “it might make a black hole, but the one it creates doesn’t have a gravitational pull nearly strong enough to get rid of Ukhu Pacha.”
Shen shook his head, “That’s where you’re wrong. Mirfak said that Gaiaium is being used as a component for Project Wormwood...”
“And Gaiaium boosts the power of a Nova Sphere if it’s exposed to one!” Arthur exclaimed, “Dad, that’s genius! We turn the Gaiaium they’ve harvested against them!”
“But will it work?” Corvile inquired, “the Void and Black Hole Nova Spheres aren’t like the others, there’s no telling if Gaiaium will have the same effect on them.”
Shen shook his head, “It’s our best shot. We need to get to Ukhu Pacha’s core and transfer some Gaiaium from Project Wormwood to the remote Morpher.”
“Well, the good news is we found a way to Ukhu Pacha’s core,” Birdie said, tapping her datapad and pulling up a hologram of Ukhu Pacha that had a red dot on it.
“From the looks of it, Sir, this opening leads directly to the planet’s core,” Alura explained.
“Only thing between us and that is a shield generator not too far from it,” Kenneth continued, “once it’s gone we’ll have free passage in.”
Shen chuckled, “Then we better get moving, Project Wormwood will come online sometime tomorrow.”
“Yeah, we can’t waste any time,” Arthur nodded.
Aster looked out the window as he slung an arm over Leiurus’s shoulder, “But first we gotta get through all those Consumoai.”
“Well if we whip up every Megazord we can manage, we should be able to filet them in no time,” Brando suggested.
“Good idea, Brando,” Neil said, standing up as the Leo Minorzord leapt from his lap, “I’ll take the Orion Battlezord. Sirius, you, Leiurus, Aster, Alura and Brando take the Gamma Burst Megazord. Dad, you, Hydra and Arthur take the Draco Star Megazord. Kenneth-”
“Solar Flare Megazord?” Kenneth replied, “Obviously.”
Neil nodded before looking at the others, “Tip, Birdie, you guys stay on standby in case someone needs a replacement.”
Kenneth kissed Corvile on the side of his beak, “And you just sit and look pretty.”
Corvile just shook his head, “Good luck out there, Kenneth.”
“Alright everyone, let’s roll out!” Shen declared, twirling his cane.
The Rangers’ various Zords flew off from the Orion Carrierzord as it became visible and flew towards a field of asteroids between them and the Consumoai fleet before getting into position to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
“Destroyer of Darkness, Gamma Burst Megazord!”
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
The four mecha landed on various asteroids, readying themselves. This formation of the Draco Star Megazord had the Ursa Zords as its right arm and the Ophiuchus Zord as its left.
Meanwhile, the Gamma Burst Megazord had the Taurus Zord as its right arm, the Dorado Zord as its right leg, the Scorpius Zord as its left arm, and the Chamaeleon Zord as its left leg.
The Imperial Forces immediately descended, with the Consumoai and Moriders firing on the Orion Battlezord while a pair of Flatborgs confronted the Draco Star Megazord while a Bovidrone and Conqueror Worm faced the Gamma Burst Megazord and Solar Flare Megazord respectively.
“Alright guys, let ‘em have it!” Neil exclaimed as he blasted Moriders with the turrets at the front of its mace.
“Loud and clear, son!” Shen replied with a salute. The Draco Star Megazord kicked one Flatborg away before the other slammed its tonfa into the Megazord, creating a shower of sparks. This didn’t seem to faze the Megazord much though, as it quickly ripped the tonfa out of the Flatborg’s hands before slamming the Ursa Zords into its face.
“Let us not waste any time!” Sirius declared, slamming the Taurus Zord into the Bovidrone’s chest. The Bovidrone stumbled back before swinging its fist at the Megazord, but it was quickly batted out of the way by the Scorpius Zord before the Taurus Zord was once again slammed into it, staggering it.
“Let’s hope you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew!” Kenneth declared, slashing the Conqueror Worm across the chest. It screeched as it slammed its tentacle-like arm into the Megazord, making it stumble back before it swung both tentacle-arms at it. The Megazord swung its swords out, batting the tentacle away before kicking the Conqueror Worm to the ground.
“Time to wrap this up!” Neil declared, readying a finisher alongside the others.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
“Gamma Burst Megazord Star Breaker!”
“Orion Dynamic Breaker!”
The Draco Star Megazord launched a beam of Energy from the Ursa Zords, striking the Flatborgs and destroying them.
The Gamma Burst Megazord fired beams from its three canine heads alongside beams from the Taurus and Scorpius Zords. The five beams strike the Bovidrone, making it explode.
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its flaming swords, sending an x-shaped flaming slash flying forward at the Conqueror Worm, making it go up in flames.
The Orion Battlezord swung its mace, launching forth countless energy projections of the Orion Nova Sphere that struck the Consumoai fleet, which destroyed each and every one.
“Nice job, everyone,” Neil said as the Orion Battlezord lowered its arms.
“Everyone regroup back on the Orion Carrierzord,” Shen commanded.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog watched the fleet’s destruction from a holographic screen while Calamartia knelt before him and a cyan glow in a nearby patch of darkness revealed Halyodor’s presence. “Well that could’ve gone better,” Halyodor said with a slight chuckle.
“You think, jelly-brain?” Calamartia replied harshly.
“Silence,” Karna Rog rasped, “the Rangers will no doubt be arriving on Ukhu Pacha’s surface in short order. We cannot allow them to advance any further.” He looked at them with his yellow eyes intently, “The two of you are to defend the access point to Ukhu Pacha’s core with your lives.”
“Of course, Emperor Karna Rog,” Calamartia said with a nod before getting to her feet and exiting the throne room.
Halyodor chuckled, raising one of his gloved hands and extending a pinky, “As you command, your majesty. Though I promise that even if they get through they’ll still have to deal with that little project I’ve almost completed…”
“Alright, the Vulpecula Nova Sphere is online again, we’re hidden and heading for the entry point,” Birdie said as she stepped towards the others while Brando brought in a cart of food.
Everyone grabbed something to eat while Alura looked at a hologram of Ukhu Pacha over the table, “So, looking at it, splitting up is probably our best option.”
“Why do you say that, Alura?” Shen questioned.
“Well, once we go to deactivate the shield , there’s not a doubt it my mind a massive amount Imperial forces will be swarming us to try and stop it,” Alura replied, “so maybe we should split into groups, one to disable the shield, one to hold the Empire off.”
“Good point,” Neil nodded, “It’ll probably take all of us to get this done efficiently.”
“Who’s going to watch the Orion Carrierzord then?” Aster questioned, “None of us will be here.”
“You’re obviously forgetting about someone,” Corvile replied, tapping his foot.
“Right, sorry,” Aster said sheepishly.
“So what’s the plans for the teams then?” Tip asked curiously.
Shen seemed to think for a moment, “Me, Neil, Alura, Brando, Arthur, and Kenneth can go deal with the shield. The rest of you cover us.”
“Ah yeah!” Tip said, giving Hydra a high five.
Hydra grinned, “I don’t have a problem with this arrangement.”
“Hey dad,” Neil said, petting the Leo Minor Zord, “I think Sirius should be in charge of the other team. He’s the only one who’s got a Megazord in case things go south, y’know?”
Shen nodded, “Good point, Neil. Would you feel comfortable with that, Sirius?”
“I would be honored to fulfill such a role,” Sirius replied enthusiastically, “You will hear no complaints from me.”
“Alright, now that we figured all of that out, we should go,” Leiurus said sternly.
“Yeah, we know how we’re going to do this, we shouldn’t waste any time,” Arthur agreed.
“Time for step two of taking down Project Wormwood!” Neil declared as he began walking out of the bridge alongside the others.
Kenneth pressed a kiss to the side of Corvile’s beak as he passed him, “Be safe.”
“You too,” Corvile nodded.
The Rangers landed near a dam-like structure in what seemed to be some kind of artificial forest on Ukhu Pacha’s surface. The Rangers stood on one side of the Dam’s top, with Birdie pointing to a building connected to it near the other end, “The shield generator should be in there.”
Neil nodded, “Good to know.”
Aster looked over the dam’s, noting all the Greyders top, noting all the Greyders that stood between them and the building, “Guess we’ll have to mop these bozos up first then.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Kenneth said, cracking his knuckles.
“Alright everyone, let’s go!” Neil declared as he and the others ran forward, blasting the Greyders with their Morphers. Plenty of Greyders hit the ground before they could realize what was happening, but once they had they immediately engaged the Rangers in melee. Despite not yet having morphed, the Rangers were more than holding their own. Neil punched one in the gut, ducking under the swing of another before slamming it into the ground.
Alura ducked under another’s blade, spinning around and kicking her foot back to strike it in the chest.
Brando blocked another Greyder’s arm with his own, preventing it from swinging its weapon before headbutting it.
Shen swept the leg of a Greyder with his cane as it charged him, making it tumble into another before he turned around and slashed another few across the chests.
Arthur bobbed and weaved between Greyders’ blades, retaliating with various kicks and punches. He grabbed onto one, climbing it before relentlessly wailing on it with his fists.
Kenneth blocked a Greyder’s blade with his sword before forcing the blade to the side and slashing it across the chest, slamming his shield into another Greyder before stabbing a third.
“You go, we can handle this!” Sirius snarled.
“Got it!” Neil yelled as he ran down a stairway next to the connected building alongside Alura, Brando, Shen, Arthur, and Kenneth. Along the way they dealt with a few other Greyders though most of them ended up being shoved over the guardrails.
Meanwhile, a Greyder swung its blade down on Leiurus, who cartwheeled out of the way before elbowing another Greyder in the chest and lashing his tail at yet another.
A pair of Greyders charged at Sirius from either side, but he ducked under them, causing them to slash each other before collapsing to the ground. From there, he swiped the legs of another with his claws, making it fall as well.
Tip uppercutted a Greyder, knocking it down instantly. A large group of Greyders began to charge, as Tip laughed, “Not so fast!” Tip extended a pair of wires from their arms, tying them around the guardrails at each side of the dam and making the Greyder’s trip.
Aster put a Greyder in a headlock before shoving it at another with enough momentum to knock them both over. “Batter up!” he chuckled before grabbing another Greyder and suplexing it.
Hydra jabbed one in the neck with his fingers, making it collapse before he spun out of the way of another’s blade. He quickly used his powers to take control of it, using the blaster function of its blade to down a few more Greyders.
“In the name of Aquila, I will punish you!” Birdie declared as she swept the leg of a Greyder before elbowing another and delivering a spinning kick to several more.
More Greyders joined the fray, prompting Sirius to growl, “I believe now would be a good time to morph!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
The six of them were surrounded by colorful light, which died down to reveal their Ranger forms. They brandished their weapons, readying themselves before charging at the Greyder horde.
The other Rangers had found themselves inside the base of the dam, entering a very spacious concrete area that seemed like some kind of bunker. “Doesn’t seem like there’s any Greyders down here,” Neil observed.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Shen said, readying his rifle, “There’s no telling what could be down here.”
“Yeah,” Arthur nodded, “this seems fishy.”
“Guys, look!” Alura said, pointing down a nearby hallway to a room filled with consoles.
Brando grinned, “The control room, time to toast that thing and shut down the shield!”
“Let’s go!” Neil exclaimed, breaking into a sprint down the hallway with the others.
As he moved forward, Neil suddenly heard sounds of disgust from the others, turning around to see that a cyan gas cloud had enveloped them. “Guys!” he yelled, running towards them just as the cloud had dispersed, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Arthur coughed, “I think so.”
“I’m not sure, that could’ve been some kind of poison,” Alura choked.
Brando held his nose, “I’m not sure about poison, but man does it stink!”
“Yeah, I’ve smelled some disgusting things during my time as a scientist, but this is definitely one of the worst!” Shen said, wafting some air away.
“It’s just a little gas,” Kenneth scoffed, “let’s get-”
Kenneth’s eyes suddenly dilated along with the others that had inhaled the gas, and he found himself in a dark void, confronted with Karna Rog’s white-robed form.
“Kenneth Faulkner…” Karna Rog rasped, extending a taloned hand forward.
“Good grief,” Kenneth said, irritated, “I don’t have time for you!” He swung his sword, slashing Karna Rog across the chest.
Karna Rog collapsed to the ground, but as he did his robes disappeared, leaving Corvile laying on the ground with a slash across his chest, “Kenneth…”
Kenneth’s eyes widened in horror, “Corvile?”
“I thought you loved me,” Corvile choked out, “I never thought you’d kill me.”
“What, no! Corvile!” Kenneth yelled, scrambling down next to him, “No, Corvile! I didn’t-”
“Look at the blood on your hands, Kenneth,” Corvile choked out, “You did this to me after everything we’ve been through. I’ll… never forgive you for this.”
Kenneth looked at his bloodstained hands in horror before sobbing, “What? Corvile… no, I didn’t… Corvile!”
Neil backed away in concern as Kenneth sobbed, “Uh… guys?”
“Dad, no! Get away from him!” Shen yelled.
Arthur looked terrified as he backed up against a wall, “Neil please help! Neil!”
“Stop! Please!” Alura begged, lashing out at everything around her.
Brando clutched his head, “No! No! No!”
“Guys! What’s going on!” Neil asked, incredibly concerned at what was going on.
“It’s a hallucinogenic poison, jelly-brain,” Calamartia said as she stepped into view from the control room, holding a syringe filled with cyan fluid.”
“Calamartia!” Neil yelled, “What did you do to them?”
“Ugh, such an idiot,” Calamartia bemoaned, “Emperor Karna Rog’s newest subordinate did this, and he wants me to play a game with you for him”
“Antares Strike!”
“Lupi Strike!”
“Zubeneschamali Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
“Rasalhague Strike!”
“Altair Strike!”
The six Rangers sent an orange energy slash, two spinning blue energy slashes, a rain of golden energy arrows, a spinning black energy axe, a spinning silver energy crescent, and a pink energy beam flying at the Greyders. The attacks landed, destroying them in a massive explosion.
“That’s the last of them,” Hydra noted.
As the smoke began to rise, the sound of clapping could be heard from the cloud. “Bravo, Rangers. I expected nothing less,” Halyodor’s voice rang out as the smoke began to clear, exposing what he looked like.
He was tall and thin, draped in a beige and maroon gown with an orange interior and opened books as shoulder pads. Likewise, his neck appeared to be made of opened books, with his head being metallic and shaped like a graduation cap, complete with a tassel. A cyan visor-like eye wrapped around his head, with a vertical slit on the front making a T-shape. In his arm he cradled a nail-like staff, a golden Imperial insignia emblazoned on the top, much like the one on his head.
“A pleasure to finally meet you face to face after all this time I’ve spent watching you,” Halyodor said cordially.
The Rangers got into fighting stances, pointing their weapons at him. “Who the heck are you?” Tip asked, confused.
“Oh where are my manners?” Halyodor chuckled, giving a bow, “I am Halyodor, sent on behalf of my master to ensure Project Wormwood began progress again.”
“So you’re the one behind it!” Birdie exclaimed, pointing at him.
“Don’t you know you’ll die too?” Leiurus questioned.
Halyodor shook his head, raising his hand next to the front of his head and extending his pinky, “I assure you, I can leave at any time I desire, the only reason why I haven’t yet is because I haven’t had any… enrichment for a while.”
“We’ll show you some enrichment then, you twig!” Aster yelled as he charged across the top of the dam with the others.
Halyodor raised his hand and made a motion like he was blowing something off of it. At that moment, several cyan laser nails rained down between him and the Rangers, exploding as they hit the ground and forcing the Rangers to stop.
As the smoke cleared, it could now be seen that there wasn’t just one Halyodor, but dozens. “I assume you’re still confident in your abilities?” They all asked in sync, each raising a hand to the front of their head and extending a pinky.
“We are!” Sirius growled as he and the other Rangers charged, while the Halyodor horde began to as well.
Tip and Birdie blasted a few while the other Rangers slashed through more of them, but regardless of how they were hit they dissolved into cyan light. “Illusions!” Birdie said with surprise.
“Ugh, this kinda stuff always sucks!” Tip said as they blasted a few more.
Aster scoffed, “We’ll find him even-”
A strange cyan glow with slight rainbow streaks appeared in front of Aster, which died down to reveal Halyodor. Before Aster could react, Halyodor thrusted his staff forward, hooking its head on one of the horns of Aster’s visor and yanking him forward onto the ground. Halyodor hummed, “Perhaps you should've seen that coming.”
Before Halyodor could do anything else, Leiurus and Hydra charged at him swinging their weapons. Halyodor responded by angling his staff to block each of their attacks, punctuating one block with a spin. He swung his staff with both hands, but Leiurus and Hydra backed up to avoid it. Hydra was unable to block his next move, however. Halyodor angled his arms back before thrusting the pointed tip of his staff forward, striking Hydra in the chest and making him stagger back.
Halyodor transitioned from the thrust into another swing of his staff, striking Leiurus and knocking him back. As Leiurus tried to recover, Aster extended a hand to help, “Need a hand?”
Leiurus reached forward, but Aster dissolved into cyan light, making him stumble forward slightly as Halyodor shifted his grip on his staff to point its pointed end forward. A cyan beam shot forth from the tip, ensnaring Leiurus in a cyan energy bubble. Halyodor lifted his staff up, lifting Leiurus into the air before slamming him back into the ground.
Hydra moved his hand in front of his face, intent on paralyzing the strange being before him. Halyodor simply wagged his finger and chuckled, “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.”
“Let’s see if this does then,” Hydra said, charging at Halyodor. Halyodor sidestepped before Hydra could reach him, angling the pointed base of his staff to trip him.
“Too slow, I’m afraid,” Halyodor chuckled as he tapped his gloved hands against his staff, lifting it up and preparing to slam its pointed end down on Hydra.
Before he could strike Hydra, he was hit in the side by a golden energy arrow. No sparks were issued from the strike, instead there was a burst of black-brown blood. Hydra rolled away from Halyodor as he turned his attention to Tip, “I have to applaud you for that one.”
He acted like he was going to blow something again, and a Gatling gun-like barrage of cyan laser nails flew at Tip from Haylodor’s visor-like eye, striking them repeatedly and creating a cascade of sparks.
Halyodor sidestepped a downward swing from Aster’s axe, thrusting the pointed end of his staff into Aster’s chest and making him stumble back before blocking a slash from Sirius with his staff.
“What are you?” Sirius snarled.
“An angel,” Halyodor replied before getting struck by a pair of blasts from Birdie overhead, creating another eruption of black blood. Halyodor shoved Sirius back before swinging the pointed end of his staff upwards, creating a strand of purple energy before slamming the point into the ground.
Smaller versions of his staff surrounded by purple auras materialized in the air before shooting down into Birdie’s shadow, making her freeze in place mid-air. Halyodor extended a hand towards her, a jet of cyan gas shooting from it towards her before exploding with a snap of his fingers and making Birdie plummet to the ground.
Sirius charged at Halyodor, who blew another barrage of laser nails at him, but Sirius deflected them with his claw, making them hit the ground and explode. Halyodor ran a hand over the end of his staff, enveloping the pointed end and some of the shaft in cyan energy before swinging it at Sirius, who held his claw out to the side to block it.
Sirius slashed Halyodor across the face with his clawed glove, making him stagger back before swinging the head of his staff at Sirius’s legs. Sirius blocked it with his claw, and Halyodor spun back to thrust the pointed end at Sirius, who leapt back to avoid it.
The Rangers charged Halyodor from all directions, but before any of their attacks could connect, pressurized cyan gas shot out from all over his body, knocking them all to the ground. “This guy is ridiculous!” Tip exclaimed exasperatedly.
Halyodor raised a hand in front of his face, extending a pinky finger as he hummed, “I know you six aren’t done just yet.”
“That’s right,” Aster said as he and the others got back to their feet.
“We are not,” Sirius growled.
“What kind of game?” Neil asked, narrowing his eyes as he aimed his Morpher at Calamartia.
She shrugged, “Well, that jelly-brain said something about poisoning everyone you were with then forcing you to pick who to give the only antidote to.” She sighed as she put the syringe away, drawing her mace and tapping one of the spikes, “Sounds stupid to me though, mutilating you and your pals myself will be much quicker.” She chuckled as she pointed her mace at Shen, “I’ll make sure to take my time with your dear old dad after what he did to Skragen, though.”
Neil scowled, hands shaking, “We don’t have time for this, Calamartia. I’m not gonna let you hurt him, and I’m gonna get that antidote.” He plugged his Nova Sphere into his Morpher as he charged forward.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
He morphed as he ran at Calamartia, swinging his sword down at her and forcing her to fall back into the rather spacious control room to avoid it. “You really are a jelly-brain,” Calamartia scoffed, “even if you do get the antidote, you can’t use it on all of them.”
Neil gave a scream as he swung his sword down on her, but she rolled over the console behind her, making Neil’s sword embed itself in the panel. “I’ll… I’ll figure something out!” Neil yelled, as he held his Morpher forward and blasted Calamartia several times.
As she attempted to recover from the attack, Neil wrenched his sword free of the console before sliding over it. He slashed at Calamartia, who blocked his sword with her mace before batting the sword away and slamming her mace into Neil’s chest, making him stagger back and then immediately punching him in the face. “Once I’m through with you, Shen will be easy pickings!” she cackled.
Calamartia swung her leg inward at Neil, but he quickly kicked her other leg, knocking her off balance and allowing him to repeatedly slash her across the chest as he yelled with rage. Calamartia gripped her mace with both hands, spinning around and slamming it into Neil’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Calamartia lifted up Neil’s upper body with her free hand before headbutting him repeatedly, letting him go and causing him to roll back across the ground.
Neil snarled as he pulled out the Lux Nova Sphere and plugged its red base into his Morpher.
“Lux Nova Sphere, Solar Mode!”
Red spikes like the corona of a star appeared around Neil’s helmet as he got to his feet with help from his sword. He tossed his sword to the side, charging at Calamartia and swiping a flaming foot at the side of her chest. She gave a cry of pain as she stumbled into the side of a console, but she didn’t have much time to recover as Neil slammed a flaming fist into her head, slamming it against the console.
“Give me the antidote,” Neil snarled.
“Over my dead body, jelly-brain!” Calamartia yelled as she tried to knee him in the chest, but Neil spun to the side, avoiding it.
“Sounds like a plan!” Neil roared as he delivered a flaming uppercut to her, knocking her forward and backwards into the air. The antidote was knocked off of her, sailing through the air towards Neil. “Gotcha!” Neil yelled as he grabbed it, “Time to get you to the others!”
He broke into a sprint down the hallway, looking on as his fellow Rangers continued to writhe around and act terrified. He glanced from the syringe to the others before looking back at the syringe, “But who do I give it to? There’s no way there’s no way I can give this dose to all of them.” He brought a hand to his head, not noticing that it was flaming, “Think Neil, think!”
After a moment, he realized the flames coming from his hand, lowering it and looking at it as they died down, “Wait a second, that gives me an idea.” He pulled out the syringe’s plunger, leaving its top open. He gripped the syringe with one hand that began to glow with heat, “I might not be able to inject it into all of them, but maybe it’ll work if they all inhale it?”
The antidote began to bubble and boil, and after a few moments the cyan liquid had evaporated into a cyan gas that began to fill the hallway. As the others began to inhale it, their eyes returned to normal. Kenneth glanced around, confused, “Good grief, what was all of that?”
“Poison,” Neil replied, pulling them all into a hug once they were back on their feet, “apparently some Imperial goon poisoned you guys. Thank the stars you guys are okay.”
“You got the antidote?” Arthur asked, hugging him harder, “Thanks, Neil.”
Shen nodded, “Excellent job, Neil.”
Neil grinned under his helmet, “Thanks a lot, dad.”
“Just our luck that everyone who could be affected came here,” Alura said, pulling away and shaking her head.
Brando pulled out to pat her on the shoulder, “Hey, at least now we can get moving and filet that shield generator.”
“I don’t think so, jelly-brains!” Calamartia declared as she came into view at the end of the hallway, wielding her mace and sword.
Neil groaned as he let go of the other Rangers, “Uh, great. I knew I should’ve probably bothered to double-tap her.”
“At least we can fix that problem now,” Kenneth said, readying his Morpher
Shen nodded as he readied his own alongside Alura, Brando, and Arthur, “You’re right about that.”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The other five Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which died down to reveal them in their Ranger costumes.
“Shining Star, Solar Leo Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all exclaimed in unison.
Shen glanced at the others, “I’ll deal with her, the rest of you smash everything until we get told the shield’s down.”
“Got it, dad,” Neil nodded.
Shen charged forward at Calamartia, delivering slashes and stabs with his cane that forced her to fall back onto the control room to avoid them. The other Rangers ran past them to either side, immediately getting down to business slashing the consoles, with Neil now having retrieved his sword from where he had previously dropped it.
Shen swung his cane at Calamartia, who spun around to avoid it before swinging both weapons at Shen, who quickly maneuvered his cane to block it. “Finally a chance to make you pay for what you did to my Skragen!” she spat.
Shen snarled as he forced his cane forward, making Calamartia stumble back. He shifted his grip on it to hold it like a sword, delivering a vicious slash to her chest that was punctuated with purple energy. “You both took my father from me, you have no right to call yourself a victim after that,” Shen growled.
Calamartia yelled as she swiped her sword at Shen, who ducked under it as he shifted his grip on his cane again and slammed its head directly into her abdomen.
She stumbled into the back of a console, and Alura stabbed her from behind with her rapier before leaping over the console as the others joined Shen.
“Every console is toast!” Brando declared as he spun around and ducked down, slashing the stumbling Calamartia’s legs with his saber, making her groan with pain.
Arthur brought his glaive down on her, knocking her weapons out of the way as she tried to block with them before he stabbed her in the chest.
Kenneth brought his sword down on her, slashing her across the side before slamming his shield into her chest and making her stumble back.
“Here she comes, dad!” Neil declared as he delivered a two-handed spinning slash to Calamartia with his sword as she stumbled back, redirecting her momentum forward towards Shen.
“Thanks, Neil!” Shen said ecstatically as Calamartia stumbled into the point of his cane, which had now been changed into its rifle mode. He fired countless bullets into her chest point blank, each shot punctuated with a purple flash from the rifle’s tip.
The shots knocked her to the ground, sending her tumbling across it as the other Rangers moved to stand beside Shen. “It’s time to finish this, Calamartia,” Shen growled as he and the others prepared to deliver a finisher to her.
“I’m not out of the fight yet, jelly-brains!” Calamartia yelled before shooting ink onto the Rangers’ visors.
Shen gave a sound of surprise as Arthur yelled, “I can’t see!”
“Good grief, just great,” Kenneth said, sheathing his sword to free up a hand so he could wipe his visor.
“Wiping it off with the shape of mine is a real pain!” Brando said, not sounding particularly happy.
Once the Rangers had wiped off their visors and were able to see again, Calamartia was nowhere to be found. “Looks like she got away,” Alura said, unmorphing with the others.
Shen growled, digging his cane into the ground, “That slippery little-”
Neil put his hand on his adoptive father’s shoulder reassuringly, “It’s okay, dad, I’m sure you’ll get another chance to finish her off.”
Alura lowered her Morpher, “Corvile just called, said the shield blocking the entry point is down now.”
“Well that’s some good tea to hear, at least,” Brando replied.
“Let’s regroup with the others, then we get back on the Orion and put an end to this for good,” Shen said, tapping his cane on the ground.
“Sounds like a plan,” Neil said with a nod
The stars illuminated the black sky once they were back up on the dam, where they found all the others unmorphed and unconscious aside from Sirius. “Guys!” Neil yelled as he ran forward with the others towards them.
“Aster!” Alura and Brando exclaimed in unison, kneeling down next to him.
“Birdie!” Shen yelled as he ran towards her.
“Leiurus!” Arthur yelled, sprinting to be next to him.
Further along the dam, Halyodor blocked a swipe of Sirius’s claw with his staff, turning his attention to the arriving Rangers. “Ah, it appears the climax is approaching, the perfect time to raise this story’s stakes,” Halyodor chuckled, shoving his staff forward and sending Sirius tumbling back. A thin beam of cyan energy shot from his visor-like eye, piercing through Sirius’s abdomen. Sirius stumbled back, unmorphing before he hit the ground.
“Sirius!” Neil yelled with shock and pain. He fumbled the Leo Nova Sphere, plugging it into his Morpher.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
He swung his sword at Halyodor wildly, but each and every attack was blocked deftly by the strange creature’s staff, “Charmed to finally meet you in person, Neil. I’m Halyodor, a pleasure, I’m sure.” Neil didn’t react, continuing to slash viciously at him.
Kenneth turned to face the others, “Get them back on the Orion, I’ll help Neil and Sirius.”
“Got it!” Alura said, plugging a pink Nova Sphere depicting a bird of paradise into her Morpher.
“Apus Nova Sphere!” A projection of a bird of paradise made of pink energy appeared, a trail of pink energy behind it. It flew around all the Rangers aside from Neil, Sirius, and Kenneth, making them disappear before it flew off.
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Ignition!”
Kenneth moved towards Halyodor, who slammed the shaft of his staff into Neil’s side before hitting him in the neck with the staff’s head, making him tumble to the ground. Halyodor raised his hand to make a blowing gesture, sending a barrage of laser nails flying at Kenneth from his visor-like eye.
Kenneth raised his shield to block the nails, which became embedded in it as he closed the distance. Halyodor shifted his grip on his staff, holding it so its pointed tip pointed forward as he used it to block a swipe of his sword. Halyodor forced Kenneth’s sword to the side before swiping his staff at Kenneth, its pointed tip slashing him across the chest and making sparks erupt as he staggered back.
Halyodor ducked under a swing from Neil before leaping back to avoid another, finally blocking the third slash by holding his staff diagonally. “You’re the one from before, aren’t you? First you poisoned the others and then you did that to Sirius!” Neil snarled.
Halyodor chuckled, “I wouldn't be so dramatic, no one ever said the poison was fatal. Besides I made sure not to hit any of Sirius’s vital organs, there’s still time to save him.” He spun back, slashing Neil’s leg with the pointed end of his staff in the process, “But instead you’re choosing to take your anger out on me.”
“Neil, we need to go!” Kenneth commanded, trying to slash at Halyodor only to have the head of his staff slammed into his chest.
“Not yet!” Neil snarled, slashing Halyodor before he could react and creating a large eruption of black-brown blood on impact.
“Not bad,” Halyodor chuckled before Neil ran forward to slash him again, but Halyodor slammed his staff into the ground to block it. Halyodor twisted his grip on the staff as it was dug into the ground creating a shockwave of cyan energy that sent Neil stumbling back into Kenneth.
“Neil, please!” Kenneth pleaded.
Before Neil could respond, Halyodor had run his hand over the end of his staff, making the pointed tip and a bit of the shaft become enveloped in cyan energy. Halyodor ran forward, spinning and striking both Neil and Kenneth across the chests and making them unmorph as they hit the ground.
“This isn’t over yet,” Neil snarled, trying to get back to his feet and morph.
Halyodor raised a hand to his face, extending his pinky as he hummed, “True enough.” Halyodor kicked Sirius’s unconscious form next to them with one of his vaguely hoof-like feet, “Well, unless you have better things to do, that is.”
“You won’t get away with this, I won’t let you!” Neil spat as he moved to block Sirius’s body from Halyodor.
Halyodor seemed to shake his head, “I wouldn’t worry about protecting Sirius from me, Neil. Just consider him an… example of me holding back. Don’t assume I’ll be so lenient if you continue going forward.”
“We’ll finish this later, Neil,” Kenneth said, looking at him, “Right now we need to get Sirius medical attention.” He sheathed his sword and pulled the trigger.
“Milky Way!”
Golden particles flew out of Kenneth’s Morpher and around him, Neil, and Sirius. The particles dispelled after a moment, leaving them nowhere to be seen.
Halyodor watched as the Orion Carrierzord flew overhead, shifting so it was vertical to the ground to move through the entry point to Ukhu Pacha’s core. Halyodor turned to look off into the starry sky, “I do hope you found that enjoyable.” Halyodor chuckled as the space around him distorted in a swirl, disappearing.
In Ukhu Pacha’s throne room, Karna Rog tapped his clawed digits on the armrests of his throne as Calamartia knelt before him, Halyodor standing off to her side. “It appears as though the Rangers have been allowed to reach the path of Ukhu Pacha’s core,” Karna Rog rasped, “would you care to explain to me how they were able to do this?”
“It’s this jelly-brain’s fault, Emperor Karna Rog,” Calamartia said, glaring at Halyodor, “he had me prioritize playing some game with them instead of stopping them.”
“Calamartia, you and I both know you had no intention of going along with it, you still attacked Neil the moment I had poisoned the others, and despite that you still failed to defend the control room,” Halyodor replied, rubbing his middle finger and thumb together, “I on the other hand was able to handily dispatch the six outside on top of managing to potentially take one out of commission.”
Halyodor chuckled, raising a gloved hand to his face and extending a pinky, “I came far closer to dealing with them than many before me. This is especially true for you, I’m afraid. After all, you’ve been hunting them since near the beginning and still have nothing to show for it.”
Calamartia snarled as she stood up, preparing to grab Halyodor, “You jelly-brain! I’ll-”
“Silence, Calamartia,” Karna Rog rasped, quickly making her fall back in line, “While Halyodor has no right to demean someone of your seniority, he is correct in that he was able to deal a major blow to the rangers.” He shook his head, “Bickering will get us nowhere regardless, the Rangers will be reaching the core tonight. Halyodor, is that defense system you’ve been working on complete?”
Halyodor hummed, “I do believe it’ll be ready a few minutes after the Rangers reach the core. I believe a distraction will be in order to keep them occupied until I complete the finishing touches.”
Karna Rog looked at Halyodor intently, “And you are certain this will work?”
“I can make no guarantees,” Halyodor replied, “while its components will likely be… uncooperative, I believe I could coax them into being more productive. I’m unsure if it will be able to defeat the Rangers though, but at the very least it will slow them down.”
Karna Rog nodded, “Excellent. Do what you must to complete it, Halyodor. Calamartia, prepare our forces to defend the core.”
“Of course, Emperor Karna Rog,” Calamartia nodded as she got up and began to leave.
Halyodor chuckled as he followed her, “I promise I won’t disappoint.”
The Orion Carrierzord continued through the passage to Ukhu Pacha’s core as everyone aside from Sirius and Birdie had gathered on the bridge. Neil sat with a solemn look on his face, the Leo Minor Zord nuzzling his chest. The others all looked anxious, with Shen pacing back and forth.
The doors to the bridge opened as Birdie entered, everyone turning their attention to her. “Is Sirius alright?” Aster asked as he applied a bandaid to Leiurus’s face.
Birdie nodded, “He’s unconscious, but stable. It took a lot of our medical equipment to close the wound. We’re lucky the hole blown through him was as small as it was.”
“Ugh, this is all my fault,” Neil said putting his head in his hands, “If I hadn’t made Sirius the leader this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Don’t say that, Neil,” Alura replied, shaking her head.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, he probably would’ve fought him just the same even if he wasn’t.”
“There’s no need to blame yourself,” Shen said reassuringly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Neil sighed, “I guess so.”
“What the heck was that Halyodor guy anyway?” Tip asked, holding their arms up at their sides in a gesture of confusion.
Hydra shook his head, “Yes, I’m unsure too.”
“I’ve got records on all kinds of species across the galaxy, living and dead, and never once have I found anything remotely close to what he was,” Halyodor nodded.
Corvile nodded, “There was never anything like him three hundred years ago.”
“Maybe some uncontacted planet served him up?” Brando questioned.
Kenneth shook his head, “I’m not sure, he didn’t really act like he was from one.”
“Not to mention he was the one that Project Wormwood up and running again,” Hydra replied, “If he was from one he must’ve left it a long time ago like Sirius.
Leiurus gave a serious expression, “Whatever he is, he’s a major threat.”
“Not to mention weird,” Neil replied, “he… he said some weird things. When I fought him, he said the poison he hit Alura, Brando, dad, Arthur and Kenneth with wasn’t fatal, but the way he put me into that situation with the antidote made it seem like it was.” He shook his head, “Not to mention he basically told me that he deliberately missed Sirius’s vitals when he shot him.”
“Well yeah, he did say he wanted to make an example of him,” Kenneth nodded.
Neil shook his head again, “I don’t know if just… feels like he did it for some other reason, and that’s just what he told us.”
“You might be overthinking things, Neil,” Corvile replied, sounding slightly dismissive.
Aster nodded, “I mean, he might just not be taking us seriously.”
Tip nodded, “Yeah, he was tossing us around like ragdolls the entire time. We got like, two hits in on him.”
“You aren’t wrong about that,” Kenneth replied, sucking in some air through his teeth.
Neil shook his head, “I dunno, it doesn’t feel like that’s the reason, at least not the complete one.
“Anyway,” Shen said, “we need to focus. Halyodor’s a major threat and we should keep an eye on him, but we can’t forget why we’re here.”
Brando nodded, “Yeah, Sirius probably wouldn’t want us to keep on debating ourselves when the entire galaxy is at stake.”
“Yeah, he’d probably want us to focus on getting the job done first, and then worry about this Halyodor guy,” Tip added.
Alura turned to look at Birdie, “How long until we reach Project Wormwood?”
“Let me see,” Birdie replied, moving to the Orion Carrierzord’s control seat, “from the looks of things, the core of Ukhu Pacha isn’t too far from us now. We should be able to reach it in a few minutes’ time.”
Shen nodded, “That’s good to sphere!” He looked over at everyone on the bridge, “Hopefully, Project Wormwood ends tonight, we can’t possibly afford to risk stopping it tomorrow. Rangers, be ready, there’s no doubt in my mind that the core will be heavily guarded, so be on guard. This is the single most important mission we’ll ever go on, so be ready.”
Neil walked up to Shen, “Hey dad, can I take a break until we get to the core? I think I need some time to… process some things.”
“Of course Neil,” Shen replied with a nod, putting a reassuring hand on Neil’s shoulder, “but be ready.”
“I will dad,” Neil replied before moving to exit the bridge.
He walked down the hallway for a bit, giving a sigh, as he pulled out his Nova Sphere, looking it over. “The galaxy… if I screw up at all, everyone’s going to die and… and the Empire isn’t gonna give me an inch,” he said, clutching his Nova Sphere, “I can’t mess up, I can’t. Sirius’s already out of commission for a while, so we need to fight harder… I need to fight harder. But… but what if I can’t? What if I mess something up and everything we’ve fought for goes down the drain because of me? I mean, you focused more on Halyodor than helping Sirius…”
He shook his head, “You can’t let those thoughts get to you. What would the others say if they saw one of their field commanders questioning himself right before we fight a battle that has the whole universe at stake?” He took a deep breath, “Just put on a smile, Neil. Do it for them, alright? Make sure everyone’s morale is high even if you’re worried. You’re the last fully-realized Astrographer, you’re the galaxy’s best bet at being saved and you’re not gonna chicken out now.”
Neil closed his eyes before giving a forced smile, “Alright, just a little lap around the ship, and then back to the bridge, don’t want to make the others worry when we’ve got more important things to worry about.” Neil continued down the hallway, his lips twitching slightly as he forced himself to grin, “Be strong, be happy, for their sake.”
Notes:
Image by fantasydelta on the Toku Fanpedia discord.
Halyodor: Portmonteau of Halyomorpha (a genus of stink/shieldbug) and odor.
Well that was a fun chapter! Time to address the elephant in the room, Halyodor. I’m sure many are wondering why Kamejim is here (complete with his hand gesture that he used in the previous two chapters), and allow me to explain. King-Ohger is the last of the adaptations I have a solid idea of, and as a way to hype it up in a way, is to have Halyodor appear throughout the other adaptations (Kyuranger, Zyuohger, and LuPat), to screw with things. I’ll elaborate more on my Tumblr if asked. I’m most curious as to how long it took you to realize Halyodor is, and if you realized before the picture, I’d like to hear those responses. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the TV Tropes page.
Chapter 40: MAS Effect
Notes:
Supernova Megazord (New Formation)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Neil stood in the Orion Carrierzord’s med bay, looking down at Sirius’s unconscious form on the bed he was laid upon. The Leo Minor Zord sat next to his head, giving a chirp. Neil shook his head and patted the Leo Minor Zord’s head, “Sorry buddy, Birdie’s done everything she can already. We’ll just have to hope from here on out.”
The Leo Minor Zord gave a small growl before leaping down next to Neil. He looked away from it back to Sirius, “I’m sorry, Sirius. You probably would be feeling better by now if I’d focused on getting you out of there.” He thought back to watching Halyodor blasting a hole through Sirius before shaking his head and clenching his fist, “I won’t let him get away with it though, and I’ll keep a smile on my face, for the others.”
“Neil?” a voice called from behind him shortly after he heard the doors to the med bay open. He turned around, spotting Corvile peeking in.
A grin appeared on his face as he waved at him, “Oh, hey Corvile. Someone need me?”
“Well, we’re just about to exit the passageway, so your father wants you back on the bridge,” Corvile replied.
Neil gave a nod, “Alright, let’s go!” He exited the room alongside Corvile, the three of them heading back to the bridge.
“Alright everyone, who’s ready to kick some Imperial butt!” Neil declared with a fist in the air as he entered the bridge, his eye twitching slightly as he grinned.
The other Rangers gave him slightly odd looks for a moment before Aster pumped a fist in the air as well, “Sure am!”
Neil walked up to him, giving a high five, “Good to hear!”
“Well it seems like you’re in a good mood, Neil,” Shen chuckled.
“Sure am,” Neil replied, “we gotta focus on the plus side, we’re about to take the Empire down!”
Brando smiled and laughed, “Glass half-full, huh?”
“Yeah, right, uh, that,” Neil replied awkwardly.
Kenneth gave him a confused look, “You alright, Neil? Are you sure you can keep going on?”
“Of course!” Neil said, slamming his hands down on the bridge’s table as he grinned, making everyone flinch as the Leo Minor Zord leapt into the air before he regained his composure, “I’m just excited is all.”
Kenneth cocked an eyebrow, “Well, try to keep that excitement in check, Neil, we can’t risk acting recklessly at a time like this.”Neil’s eyes widened at that.
Birdie, seeming to sense the rather rude tone of Kenneth’s response, quickly tried to smooth things over, “What Kenneth means to say is that maybe a preemptive celebration isn’t the best idea.”
“Right, uh, good point,” Neil nodded hastily, “can’t get sloppy, even if it keeps morale up.”
“We’ll have plenty of time to celebrate once all that’s left of Project Wormwood is a black hole,” Arthur nodded before looking at Shen, “How much longer until we’re there?”
“Birdie?” Shen asked, looking at her.
Birdie pulled up her datapad, “We’re about to exit the tunnel now.”
“Be careful everyone,” Alura warned, “there’s no telling what’s on the other side.”
A few moments later, the Orion Carrierzord had entered Ukhu Pacha’s core. It seemed the planet was almost entirely hollow, the edges of its inside dotted with countless lights.
“Holy cow, it’s like a whole different galaxy in here!” Tip exclaimed in awe.
Hydra’s eyes widened, “Look at all those lights.”
“It’s almost hard to believe that the blueprints say those are all buildings,” Leiurus said.
The Rangers took note of several massive tubes that extended from various parts of the interior city, all connecting to a massive metallic sphere in the center. “So that’s Project Wormwood,” Neil mused, looking at a holographic screen that displayed the sphere, “guess all those tubes are pumping Gaiaium into it.”
“It must crack open like an egg when it’s ready to be used,” Corvile added.
A blast then rocked the bridge, making everyone stumble and grab onto something for support. The Rangers turned to look outside, spotting a massive fleet of Moriders flying around while a few Flatborgs, Bovidrones, and Consumoai in their robot forms were stationed around the inner city.
“Looks like we’ve found the welcoming committee,” Aster said as he let go of the railing he had grabbed.
A holographic screen then appeared on the bridge, displaying Calamartia sitting in a Consumoai’s cockpit, “That’s as far as you go, jelly-brains!”
“Calamartia,” Shen snarled as the screen disappeared.
“We’ll get her this time, dad!” Neil replied with a grin, “Let’s take those guys down!”
Shen nodded at his adopted son, “Right.” He turned to look at Hydra, Birdie, and Corvile, “You three, star-t finding a way for us to navigate to where those tubes are pumping Gaiaium to, that way we’ll know where we need to take the remote Morpher.”
“Got it,” Hydra responded.
“Of course, Commander Long,” Birdie replied.
Corvile nodded, “You can count on us.”
“Good,” Shen replied, turning to look at the others, “keep an eye out for Halyodor too, if he shows up, don't engage him if you can help it.”
“Alright, everyone else get ready to wipe the floor with those guys!” Neil declared as he and others exited the room, his eye twitching slightly.
The Rangers’ Zords flew out of the Orion Carrierzord, immediately engaging the fleet of Moriders. Neil managed to blast a few out of the air before the Leo Zord was rocked by a series of blasts from two Consuomai and two Flatborgs. Another group consisting of a Conusmoai, a Flatborg, and a Bovidrone fired on him as well.
“I’ll handle them, Neil,” Shen said as he prepared to deliver a finisher.
“Draco Star Breaker!”
The Draco Zord was enveloped in energy as it charged into the latter group, destroying them all in a firey explosion. “Leiurus, Arthur, with me,” Shen commanded as he prepared to get into formation.
“Of course,” Leiurus replied.
“Got it, dad!” Arthur nodded.
Kenneth got ready to bring his Megazord online too, “I’ll join, if you don’t mind.”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
“Light ‘em up, Solar Flare Megazord!”
The two Megazords landed on the ground of the inner city, with the Draco Star Megazord in its default combination with the Ursa Zords as its right arm and the Scorpius Zord as its left.
The Draco Star Megazord engaged a trio of Flatborgs. One attempted to swing its tonfa at the Megazord but it was promptly batted away by the Scorpius Zord before the tonfa of another was blocked by the Ursa Zords, each swipe sending the Flatborgs stumbling. The Megazord then leaned forward and kicked one of its legs back, striking the third Flatborg.
A Bovidrone opened fire on the Solar Flare Megazord, but it swung its blades outward to deflect the shots as it approached. The Bovidrone blocked the swings of the Megazord once it was in range, but it was swiped across the chest by another and knocked to the ground. The Megazord then spun around and swiped at a Consumoai, which blocked a few attacks with its lance before being knocked back by one it couldn’t.
“Supernova Megazord, burn bright!”
By now, the other Rangers had assembled the Supernova Megazord, with this formation having the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Taurus Zord as the left arm, the Chamaeleon Zord as the right leg, and the Libra Zord as the left leg.
Neil seemed rather out of it, only snapping back to reality once a Consumoai and two Flatborgs began blasting the Megazord. “Neil, what’s wrong?” Tip questioned once they had recovered.
“Neil!” Brando exclaimed.
“Hey Neil!” Alura added.
“We’re under fire here!” Aster bemoaned.
“Right! Sorry guys!” Neil apologized as the Megazord began advancing on the Consumoai and Flatborgs, blocking their shots with swings of its sword. The Two Flatborgs swung at it as they charged, but it blocked the attacks and slashed them before swinging at the Consumoai. The Consumoai blocked it, and the Megazord spun around to slash a Flatborg that had approached from behind.
The Draco Star Megazord swung its arms at a Bovidrone, which blocked the strikes before the Megazord forced its arms out of the way and struck its chest. The Megazord then spun around, blocking the attack from a Consumoai’s lance. “This ends here, Shen Long!” Calamartia said as a screen displaying her face appeared in Shen’s cockpit.
“Buzz off!” Shen snarled.
The Supernova Megazord slammed the Taurus Zord into a Consumoai’s chest before spinning around, slashing a Flatborg across the chest as well.
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Megazord shot a blast of energy from the Ursa Zords at Calamartia’s Consumoai, making energy spark around it. “You jelly-brain!” Calamartia spat as she disappeared from the cockpit in a swirl of dark energy before it went up in flames.
“Solar Flare Megazord Sun Slice!”
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its swords, sending out an x-shaped flaming slash that collided with the three Flatborgs the Draco Star Megazord was previously fighting, destroying them.
A pair of Consumoai blasted the Draco Star Megazord, rocking it. “This might be expected since we’re in the enemy’s home turf, but this is exhausting!” Shen growled.
“Let’s wipe them out all at once then!” Neil declared.
The three Megazords stood back to back as more Consumoai, Flatborgs, and Bovidrones surrounded them, with the Rangers readying their finishers.
“Triple Star Breaker!”
The Megazords all fired beams from their cockpits, striking the remaining Imperial forces and destroying them.
On top of a nearby building, Halyodor watched on alongside one of Karna Rog’s proxy bodies. “So, this defense mechanism is complete?” Karna Rog rasped.
Halyodor nodded, raising a hand to his head and extending a pinky, “Oh but of course.”
“Excellent, let it loose, and exterminate Neil Astra. He poses the greatest threat,” Karna Rog replied, disappearing in a swirl of dark energy.
Halyodor chuckled, “I’m afraid terminating Neil isn’t what my master wants, not right now, but I’ll make it look convincing for you.”
“Alright everyone, back to the Carrierzord!” Shen commanded as the Megazords prepared to disassemble.
“Wait, I’m picking up readings of something massive approaching very fast!” Birdie’s voice rang out from their Morphers.
“We’ll handle it!” Aster said, cracking his knuckles together.
Something colossal descended from above, towering above the three Megazords as it landed on the ground. The first thing the Rangers noticed about it was that it had the Knights of Andromeda’s head’s, Mirfak’s in the center, Alderamin’s on its right, and Schedar’s on its left. Other features of the Knights decorated it too, Schedar’s microphone was fastened near her head, Mirfak’s cannon was on its left arm, Alderamin’s flail was on its right, and Mirfak’s tail hung out behind it. The Knight’s sea beast pauldrons also seemed to be repurposed, with two acting as armor on its legs while the third was attached to the back with outstretched wings.
The rest of it was unique, however. Its torso was composed of a massive pink triangle pointing downwards, its inside lined with teeth like a grinder. The bottom of the triangle had what appeared to be an angular anchor attached to it too. Its shoulder pads were blue, with strange boat-like structures on top of them angled like they were sinking into water. Its feet were likewise blue, decorated with jet fighters that appeared to be sinking like the boats.
“What the heck is that?” Neil questioned, leaning forward in his cockpit.
“It’s gigantic!” Shen added, shocked.
“Good grief,” Kenneth said with disbelief, “is that the Knights?”
A holographic screen displaying Halyodor’s face appeared in all the Rangers’ cockpits, chuckling, “Rangers, I’d like you to say hello to the Master Attack System, or MAS for short. I built it myself from the remains of the Knights of Andromeda.”
“Halyodor!” Neil snarled, glaring at the hologram from under his visor before it disappeared.
“Neil, we can worry about him later, we’ve got bigger problems!” Shen yelled over the comms.
“Defeating me before was unacceptable!” Alderamin growled.
“Hiya, Rangers, it’s great to be back, right chat?” Schedar giggled.
“This will all be over soon, Rangers,” Mirfak chuckled.
“Oh, you’re mad at them? Schedar questioned, “That’s pretty surprisin’ seein’ as you were helpin’ them!”
“What?” Alderamin asked, surprised, “Unacceptable!”
“Yeah turns out he was helpin’ them so he could take over the Empire!” Schedar replied.
“It looks like Kaus was right about you,” Alderamin spat.
From the nearby rooftop, Halyodor looked up at the towering monstrosity, “Infighting isn’t going to get you anywhere. This is an opportunity to take your revenge on the Rangers. Surely it would be a considerably more productive way to vent yourselves.” Halyodor’s back began to glow cyan with various colorful streaks as it grew into what appeared to be a massive book, its spine attached to his back. The book opened, and he used it like wings to shoot into the air.
“I don’t know who you are, but I agree,” Mirfak replied.
“Yeah, you might’ve got me killed, Mirfie, but they were the ones who did it! Now look at me! I’m hideous, right chat?” Schedar said, faking a sob.
“I find this proposition acceptable,” Alderamin grunted.
The MAS swung its flail, striking the three Megazords across the chest, creating a cascade of sparks.
“Terror Triangulation!” the Knights exclaimed in unison as energy gathered in the MAS’s triangular grinder before firing a massive beam of pink energy.
Neil quickly plugged a blue Nova Sphere depicting a shield into his Morpher.
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A blue energy shield appeared in front of the Megazords, but it only momentarily stalled the beam before it shattered. The beam hit the Megazords in a massive explosion, making them split into their components. “Good grief, that thing’s strong!” Kenneth exclaimed.
“I think we’ll need the Big Bang Ultrazord for this one!” Alura replied.
“I’ll take the Orion Battlezord!” Neil replied, plugging the Supernova Sphere into his Morpher and changing into his Leorion Ranger outfit as he teleported to the Orion Zord’s cockpit.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
The Battlezord fired a burst of shots at the MAS from the tip of its club, making its upper half lean back slightly.
“Hopefully this will do it,” Kenneth said as he and the others prepared a finisher.
“Big Bang Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
The Ultrazord shot energy projections of the Nova Spheres at the MAS, arranging themselves in a line. It did nothing however, as the MAS sucked the attack into its grinder.
“That won’t work again!” Alderamin chuckled. The MAS leaned forward, the Knights’ heads shooting energy beams from their eyes or mouth in Schedar’s case. The attacks hit the Ultrazord and Battlezord, creating an explosion and making them both stumble back.
As Neil began to steady himself, Halyodor lowered himself into view in front of the Orion Zord’s cockpit, suspended by his book-like wings. “Halyodor!” Neil snarled.
“Hello Neil,” Halyodor replied calmly. He hurled his staff forward, its pointed tip shattering the outside of the cockpit as it shot inside, piercing one of Neil’s capes. The staff kept going, blowing a hole from the Orion Zord’s cockpit into the Orion Carrierzord that Neil was dragged into. Halyodor’s wings fluttered before he flew inside.
“Neil!” Kenneth yelled as the Orion Battlezord transformed back into its components, laying inert on the inner city’s ground.
Neil laid on his back in a storage section of the Carrierzord, pinned to the ground by Halyodor’s staff in his cape. The strange being approached him, his wings disappearing as he pulled his staff out of the ground, “Well? Get up.”
“Don’t think being polite is going to get you any favors!” Neil said, leaping to his feet and pulling his sword out of a portal.
Halyodor swiped at Neil’s legs with the point of his staff, but Neil leapt over it. Neil swung his sword as Halyodor swung the pointed end of his staff forward, their weapons locking together. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re paying for what you did to Sirius!”
“Such heroic nonsense,” Halyodor replied as he released pressurized cyan gas from all over his body, forcing Neil back.
He made a blowing gesture, launching a barrage of laser nails at Neil, who opened a portal in front of him and behind Halyodor. The nails flew through the portal, but before they could hit Halyodor, the section of his visor-like eye on the back of his head fired laser nails that struck and neutralized the ones coming at him.
Halyodor chuckled, “I was expecting more from someone who’s supposed to save the galaxy.
“Shut up!” Neil shot back.
Halyodor swung his staff at Neil, who was backed up against the side of a stairwell. Neil blocked the attack, forcing the staff out of the way and spinning to the side to move up the stairwell. Halyodor thrusted the pointed tip of his staff at Neil, who kicked it to the side as he continued up the stairwell while facing Halyodor.
The doors to the bridge opened as Neil came tumbling out, hitting the table and then the ground. “Neil!” Hydra, Birdie, and Corvile exclaimed in unison, turning to him.
Halyodor leapt into the room, preparing to stab Neil by slamming his staff down. Neil rolled out of the way and got to his feet to avoid it, blocking a swipe from the staff’s head with his arm and sidestepping a stab of the staff’s point.
Neil swung his sword wildly at Halyodor, who ducked under one swipe before blocking another. He forced his staff to the side, knocking the sword from Neil’s hands. He then slammed the head of his staff into Neil’s chest, making him stagger to the side. Corvile rushed in, grabbing Halyodor’s staff and holding it in place, “Get away from him!”
Halyodor chuckled before whispering, “Hello, your majesty.” He shoved Corvile out of the way, turning his attention back to Neil.
“We need to join in,” Hydra said, looking at Birdie.
Birdie nodded as she and Hydra readied their Morphers, “Don’t worry Neil, we’re coming!”
Neil leaned back onto the table to avoid a swipe of Halyodor’s staff. Halyodor, not to be deterred, made a blowing gesture and sent a barrage of laser nails flying at Hydra and Birdie. The two were knocked to the ground as the consoles behind them sparked wildly from the barrage.
“I believe that Neil wishes to do this alone,” Halyodor chuckled.
“Guys!” Neil yelled, kicking Halyodor away. Halyodor grabbed Neil’s shoulder and forced him to the side before slashing him across the chest with the pointed tip of his staff twice.
Outside, the MAS batted the Ultrazord’s arm out of the way with its cannon before striking it with its retracted flail, staggering it. The Ultrazord turned to look at the Orion Carrierzord as Kenneth spoke, “I’ll go help Neil, hold on!”
“Hurry!” Shen replied as the Ultrazord separated.
Kenneth’s Zords detached from the Ultrazord, the remaining components rearranging themselves.
“Roar to the stars, Dragonova Ultrazord!”
This version of the Ultrazord looked mostly the same as usual, but had the Libra Zord as its left leg.
“Have a taste of our combined power!” Mirfak declared as the MAS held its cannon forward, sending out a blast of red electricity that the Ultrazord powered through.
Back on the bridge, Neil was backed up against a guardrail, “I’m not done yet!” He moved forward, grabbing Halyodor’s staff. Halyodor shoved him to the side, knocking him onto the bridge’s stairs. Halyodor swung the pointed end of his staff at Neil a few more times, but Neil ducked under it and grabbed the staff again. Halyodor kneed him in the chest before jabbing him in the leg with his staff, making Neil stumble and fall in front of the table.
Halyodor chuckled, preparing to make a blowing gesture just as the bridge’s door opened and Kenneth stormed inside, making Halyodor turn his attention to him as he dodged a swing of Kenneth’s sword. They swung their weapons, the clash creating a shower of sparks. “Neil, are you alright?” Kenneth asked as he used his sword and shield to hold Halyodor’s staff in place.
“He’s fine,” Halyodor chuckled, “I didn’t rough him up too badly.” Halyodor swiped the head of his staff at Kenneth’s legs, only for Kenneth to bat it away with his shield.
Neil turned his attention to Corvile, who was currently helping Hydra and Birdie to their feet, “Guys, we need this thing in the air!”
Kenneth blocked a horizontal swipe of Halyodor’s staff by holding his sword up and forcing the staff to the side. Before Halyodor could respond, Kenneth slammed the bottom of his shield into Halyodor’s chest. With a heave he sent Halyodor flying through the air across the room and out one of the bridge’s windows. The moment Halyodor was out of the bridge, a shutter lowered to block the broken window.
Kenneth turned his attention to Hydra, Corvile, and Birdie, the latter of whom was in the pilot seat, “Get the Vulpecula Nova Sphere ready, we need to hide.”
“Got it,” Hydra said, plugging a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a fox into a console.
“Vulpecula Nova Sphere!”
The Orion Carrierzord blinked out of view as Halyodor got to his feet on a nearby rooftop, brushing himself off and chuckling, “I’m sure that master will find the final battle most entertaining.”
The Ultrazord blasted energy from the Scorpius Zords, the Leo Zord’s cockpit, and the Ursa Zords, blasting the MAS’s flail away after it was shot at them.
“Terror Triangulation!” the Knights declared in unison as they fired another pink blast from the MAS’s grinder.
“Fire back!” Shen declared as he and the others prepared a finisher.
“Dragonova Ultrazord All Star Breaker!”
A massive beam of colorful energy was shot from the Leo Zord’s cockpit and through the open mouth of the Draco Zord’s helmet, the force making the Ultrazord slide back.
The Ultrazord’s beam struggled against the MAS’s, eventually erupting in an explosion that sent both parties reeling.
“Everyone, fall back!” Shen commanded as the Ultrazord prepared to separate.
Once the MAS recovered it looked around, but the Ultrazord was nowhere to be seen. “They got away, unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled.
“Urgh! This is all your fault, Mirfie!” Schedar raged.
“Would you both just be quiet already?” Mirfak spat.
“Well, okay, that could’ve gone better,” Tip said, exhausted. The Rangers (aside from Sirius) and Corvile had all gathered inside the bridge, with Alura currently using the Hydra Nova Sphere to repair Birdie while Neil sat in a corner, absentmindedly stroking the Leo Minor Zord.
“Yeah, that MAS thing is no pushover,” Aster replied, steam shooting from his nostrils.
Arthur adjusted his glasses, “We’ll definitely need a plan to bring that thing down.”
“No doubt about that,” Birdie replied.
“Yes, I definitely believe that a more strategic approach is the only way that abomination will be defeated,” Corvile nodded.
“How to do it though?” Alura wondered aloud before looking at Neil, “Hey Neil, think you could do something with your Astrographer powers that could give us an edge?”
Neil seemed to snap back to reality, “Huh? What?” Everyone in the room looked at him, concerned.
“Neil, is everything alright?” Shen asked, worry in his voice.
“Yeah, everything’s just fine, dad,” Neil said as he gave a grin, his eye twitching slightly.
Kenneth tapped his foot, his arms crossed over his chest, “Neil, stop lying. You’re not alright, you froze up during the fight against those Imperial forces and you’ve been acting odd ever since we got past the shield.”
Neil glared at Kenneth and gritted his teeth as he stood up, the Leo Minor Zord leaping from his lap, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kenneth.”
“Neil, calm down,” Shen retorted, tapping his cane on the ground, “Kenneth’s worried, we’re all worried. We can’t let ourselves be blinded by our own problems when the galaxy is at stake. We need to operate as efficiently as we can, and letting your problems get the better of you could mean the Empire wins.”
“Stop pretending that everything’s okay, Neil,” Leiurus said, shaking his head, “hiding what you really feel isn’t helpful, and it makes it feel like you’re trusting us. Like me when it came to dealing with Eurypto.”
Hydra nodded, “We have many emotions for a reason, Neil, it’s to express ourselves. Hiding behind one… I don’t think it will do any good.”
Arthur looked at Neil intently, “Come on, Neil, spit it out already. We can’t help you if you don’t say anything. You’re acting just like you did on Samos, and back before we beat Mirfak too.”
“So please stop pushing us away so we can help you through whatever’s going on,” Shen added.
“Alright, fine,” Neil declared begrudgingly, grabbing onto a guardrail with a vice grip, taking a deep breath, “I’m just… I dunno, it feels like I’m being buried under everything that’s happened, everything that could go wrong… it’s just… everything is stressing me out okay!”
Brando looked at Neil, worried, “Neil, there’s nothing to worry about, we were chosen to save the galaxy, and we will.”
“You don’t get it,” Neil shot back, “I… I’m the strongest one here, I’m an Astrographer and someone who has beaten Karna Rog before by myself. The galaxy’s counting on all of us to stop this, but especially me. Do you have any idea how much pressure that’s put on me?”
He gestured around wildly, “And that’s not even getting into everything else I have to worry about, first it was Mirfak almost shattering you guys, thinking I could only save one of you while dying of poison, then Sirius almost dying, and now that MAS thing.”
Neil slammed his fist into a wall as he sobbed, “I’m just so stressed, okay? The fate of the galaxy is at stake on top of all kinds of problems and worries I’m buried under, and it’s only making those worries worse.” He continued, giving a slight choke, “Everything seems like it’s out to get, telling me that if the galaxy ends it’s because I was the only one who messed up because I’m a field commander and an Astrographer, I should’ve done better.”
He looked at the others tearfully, “And since I’m a field commander I didn’t want to worry you guys so… so I hid it with a smile, okay? I didn’t want you guys to start doubting yourselves at a time like this.”
Everyone watched as Neil quietly sobbed, letting him have a moment to himself. Alura was the first to to begin speaking again, her voice gentle, “Neil, you know as well as I do that isn’t just your responsibility, it’s all of ours. All of us have done something that got us to where we are now, not just you.”
“Yeah,” Aster replied, “sure you’re strong, but that doesn’t mean you should put pressure on yourself by thinking you’re the only one whose actions matter.”
Leiurus nodded, “Shen making the remote Morpher matters just as much as whatever you might do.”
Shen moved towards Neil, “Neil, I know how you feel. When I first became the leader of the Revolution… it felt like everyone in the galaxy depended on me to free them, and it got to me, just like it got to you.”
“But?” Neil inquired through sobs.
Shen put a hand on his shoulder, “But once I focused on my duties as a Commander instead of a scientist and the Revolution’s hero, I realized just how important I was to the Revolution when I was those things. Back then, the galaxy depended on me just as much, even if I wasn’t the one in charge.” He shook his head, “We’re all important Neil, you don’t need to carry the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders by yourself.”
“I was the president of the entire galaxy, and even I understood I wasn’t the only one who’s decisions mattered, that I had plenty of people around me that let me know that they’d help me with whatever problem I needed to deal with,” Kenneth said, slinging and arm over Corvile’s shoulder.
Corvile gave Kenneth a look, “Yes, he always let me and many others know that our decisions and input mattered to the people of the galaxy too.”
“Yeah, we’re all in this together,” Arthur nodded, “this is the responsibility of all of us.”
“No need to deal with this all in one sitting, portion it up for us so we can help,” Brando added.
The doors to the bridge opened, and Sirius stepped in, his abdomen covered with all kinds of fabric and the like that covered the injury he had sustained from Halyodor, “Yes, Neil. We are a clan, and everyone in a clan matters.”
“Sirius?” Neil said with surprise, turning to face him.
“Sirius, you shouldn’t be up! You’re injured!” Birdie scolded, stomping up to him.
Sirius shook his head, clutching his chest slightly, “I am fine, Birdie. I feel good enough to stand at least.”
“Well I’ll use the Hydra Nova Sphere on you just to be sure before you get back to fighting,” Birdie responded.
Sirius looked back at Neil, “We are with you Neil, you are not alone, and the galaxy depends on all of us.”
Neil took a deep breath, slowly wiping the tears from his eyes, “You guys… you’re right.” Neil shook his head, “I shouldn’t be thinking that all of this is only my problem. You guys are a part of this too, and I was just… so blinded by all the stress that I hadn’t seen that.” He exhaled, “Ptolemy chose us, not just me, and that makes us all equally important, makes us all of the last hope the galaxy has.”
Neil closed his eyes, “Thanks guys, that’s something I needed to hear, really.”
Shen patted him on the shoulder, “It’s no problem, Neil.”
“You’ve helped a lot of us before, after all,” Kenneth nodded.
Neil gave a nod, “So let’s make the Knights regret coming back and stop Project Wormwood.” A determined look appeared in his eyes, “We’re gonna save the galaxy, and we’re gonna do it together.”
“Now that’s the Neil we all know!” Tip laughed.
Shen chuckled, patting Neil on the back, “Sure is!”
“How are we going to deal with that thing though?” Hydra inquired.
Corvile nodded, “Yes, the MAS is obviously as powerful as all three Knights and then some.”
“Hmm,” Shen hummed, stroking his metallic beard, “well, this is running mostly on hypotheticals and information we don’t have yet… but I think I might have an idea on how to weaken that thing enough so that we can destroy it.”
Neil grinned at his father, “Well dad, let’s hear it.”
The Orion Carrierzord became visible as it approached Project Wormwood, only for the MAS to swoop down, grabbing onto it.
“It’s acceptable that you finally decided to show yourselves!” Alderamin declared.
Schedar giggled manically, “Got ya, Rangers!”
“I thought you’d be smarter than to show yourselves after what we did to you last time,” Mirfak added.
Suddenly, the MAS was struck by a series of red energy beams from the Hypernova Megazord, which was in its default combination. “Don’t be so full of yourselves!” Neil declared before firing another beam.
The MAS pulled away from the Orion Carrierzord to avoid it. “A surprise attack? Ain’t that cheeky?” Schedar replied, “But that didn’t hurt at all!”
On cue, the Draco Star Megazord in its default combination and the Solar Flare Megazord flew past the MAS, striking it and making it crack into the ground of the inner city. The Draco Star and Solar Flare Megazords then landed, standing to either side of the Hypernova Megazord as the MAS stood up.
“Looks like stage one of the plan was a success,” Kenneth declared.
“Now let’s see if the rest of it will come along without a hitch,” Shen added.
“Alright Knights, let’s see what you’ve got!” Neil declared. The Hypernova Megazord then fired its cannon at the MAS repeatedly.
“Thinking that’ll work is unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled as the MAS swung its cannon to block the shots before firing its flail like a cannon.
The Solar Flare Megazord came forward, crossing its swords to block the attack before being forced back, the flail’s chain then wrapping around the three Megazords and ensnaring them.
“Okay, we’ll deal with this first then,” Shen said over the comms.
The Knights chuckled before Mirfak spoke up, “Ganging up on us isn’t going to work this time.”
“Unlike you, we can actually work together!” Neil declared, plugging the Supernova Sphere into his Morpher, pressing the button and spinning its ring.
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
The Orion Battlezord combined, making the Knights turn their attention to it as it approached. The Orion Battlezord fired blasts from the tip of its mace, shattering the chain of the MAS’s flail. The MAS pulled its arm back, the chain now missing its head as Alderamin growled, “Unacceptable!”
The Megazords, now free from the Flail, prepared to attack. “Alright, Schedar’s microphone next!” Shen ordered.
The Solar Flare Megazord swung its swords and sent a flaming x-shaped slash forward, the Draco Star Megazord fired energy blasts from its cockpits, and the Hypernova Megazord fired its cannon. Unfortunately, the attacks were sucked into the grinder on the MAS’s chest as Mirfak chuckled, “How idiotic. It seems you forgot about the upgrades I gave myself!”
Mirfak’s organic eye flashed yellow as the MAS extended its cannon forward, the symbols of the Leo, Draco, and Phoenix Nova Spheres appearing behind the MAS. “I guess I’ll have to remind you!” Mirfak declared as the MAS swung its cannon in an arc in front of it, firing a massive energy beam that collided with the three Megazords.
The three Megazords fell to the ground, with Neil giving a grunt, “Okay, maybe we should use our attacks a little more precisely.”
The Orion Battlezord got between the MAS and the three Megazords as the tried to get back up, swinging its mace at the fusion of Knights. The MAS blocked it with the stump where the flail once was before slamming its cannon into the Orion Battlezord’s chest, making it stagger back.
“You might be able to resist my power, Leo Ranger, but how about we see if somethin’ you’re controllin’ can, right chat?” Schedar giggled. “Get the Rangers!” she said as the MAS moved to angle its microphone at the Orion Battlezord, sending dark sound waves flying from it.
The Orion Battlezord’s eyes flashed pink before it turned around, slamming its mace into the Draco Star Megazord as the Solar Flare Megazord flanked it. The Battlezord swung its mace at the Solar Flare Megazord, which blocked it with its swords before it turned and swung its mace into the Hypernova Megazord.
“Sorry guys! She’s hijacked my control of it!” Neil apologized before the Hypernova Megazord fired its cannon at the Battlezord’s mace mid-swing, disrupting the attack and allowing the Draco Star and Solar Flare Megazords to surround it.
“That’s it, tear ‘em apart!” Schedar chuckled as the MAS sent more dark sound waves at the Orion Battlezord, which batted the Draco Star and Solar Flare Megazords away.
On a rooftop some distance away, Karna Rog and Calamartia approached Halyodor, who was currently spectating the fight. Halyodor seemed to notice their presence, humming, “You know, Schedar very much reminds me of Medicina?”
“Who?” Calamartia asked, putting her hands on her hips.
Halyodor turned, giving a dismissive wave, “My apologies, an associate of mine that you wouldn’t know.
“Halyodor,” Karna Rog rasped, “I believe I ordered you to terminate Neil Astra.”
Halyodor hummed, raising a hand and extending a pinky finger, “Well, your majesty, I’m afraid the layout of the Leo Zord won’t allow me to isolate him like I was able to in the Orion Carrierzord.” Halyodor held his staff in front of him horizontally, “Besides, while the Rangers will surely defeat the MAS, they’ll likely be exhausted from it, meaning it won’t only stall them from getting to Project Wormwood, it will also make them easier to pick them off than they are now.”
Calamartia looked at Halyodor and Karna Rog, “What even is Project Wormwood anyway?”
“That is not something that concerns you, Calamartia,” Karna Rog replied, turning to her before looking back at Halyodor, “I suppose you raise some good points, Halyodor, but if you are confident the Master Attack System will only serve as a distraction, then we must divert our forces to Project Wormwood’s shell.”
“A wise decision, your majesty,” Halyodor replied, “I will prepare for the Rangers’ arrival there now. I’ll wait for you as well, I assume you’ll want to protect it yourself too, no?”
“Of course, Halyodor,” Karna Rog rasped, “once our forces are stationed there, Calamartia and I will join you.”
“Of course, your majesty,” Halyodor chuckled as the space around him distorted, making him disappear. Karna Rog and Calamartia turned around to walk away, disappearing in a swirl of dark energy.
“It looks like Schedar needs to keep reapplying her control over the Orion Battlezord,” Neil observed, “so maybe destroying that microphone will stop her from doing it!” He readied a finisher, “Hopefully this will be accurate enough to not get sucked in.”
“Hypernova Megazord All Star Breaker!”
The Hypernova Megazord took aim at the microphone, gathering energy in its cannon before it fired a beam of energy. The beam struck the microphone precisely, destroying it.
“Are you seein’ this, chat?” Schedar said with shock.
The Orion Battlezord’s eyes flashed pink temporarily before slowly fading, making Neil raise a fist in the air, “I’m back in control!” The Orion Battlezord turned back to face the MAS, leaning forward and launching a massive blast from the thrusters on the back of its head that sent the MAS stumbling back.
“One weapon left!” Shen declared.
“I’ll get it!” Neil declared, spinning the ring of the Supernova Sphere.
“Orion Dynamic Breaker!”
An energy projection of the Orion Nova Sphere appeared in front of the Orion Battlezord, which launched it forward with a swing of its mace. The attack collided with the MAS’s cannon, destroying it.
“Curse you, Rangers!” Mirfak spat, “You’re only making this more painful than it should be!”
“You’re not makin’ it outta here alive!” Schedar added.
Alderamin snarled, “There’s nothing you can do to stop Project Wormwood!”
“Oh yes there is!” Neil replied triumphantly.
“Alright, the Knights’ weapons are destroyed, plan’s going well so far,” Kenneth observed.
Shen nodded, “Once they use that beam attack we should be able to deliver the finishing blow without having to worry about that grinder sucking it up.”
“I think they were only able to do that because of Mirfak’s cybernetics,” Arthur replied, “Maybe now that it’s gone it can’t do that again.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to test to make sure,” Kenneth nodded.
The three Megazords and the Battlezord attacked, the Hypernova Megazord firing a blast from its cannon, the Draco Star Megazord firing beams from its cockpits, the Solar Flare Megazord swinging its swords and sending an x-shaped flaming slash flying forward, and the Orion Battlezord pointed its mace forward and fired forth a yellow star-shaped energy beam.
The attacks collided with the MAS, creating a series of sparking explosions to erupt over its body. “Stop that!” Schedar yelled.
“Looks like you were right, Arthur!” Neil declared proudly, “Guess that means we’re free to finish this thing off!”
Neil spun the ring of the Supernova Sphere, making the Battlezord turn back into the Carrierzord, with the Orion Zord on its launchpad. In addition, the Aquila Zord had perched on the piston, and the Libra and Ophiuchus Zords perched to the left and right of the control tower respectively.
“Orion Galactic Cannon!”
Meanwhile, the Leo Minor Zord detached from the Hypernova Megazord, making it the Supernova Megazord again. The Scorpius and Ursa Zords switched places on the Draco Star Megazord with the Dorado and Chamaeleon Zords of the Supernova Megazord. The Ursa Zords becoming the Supernova Megazord’s right arm, the Scorpius Zord becoming its left arm, the Dorado Zord becoming the Draco Star Megazord’s right arm, and the Chamaeleon Zord becoming its left arm.
The Draco Zord put the Chamaeleon Zord on the right shoulder of the Supernova Megazord while the Solar Flare Megazord put its hand on the other. The Supernova Megazord, which was standing behind the cannon, gripped the back of it with the Ursa and Scorpius Zords.
Energy began to gather at the front of the cannon, both from the Orion Zord alongside red and green energy from the front of the Carrierzord.
“Terror Triangulation!” the Knights declared, energy gathering in the grinder of the MAS
“You’re going down for good this time!!” Neil said as the cannon locked on to the Bovidrone. Neil spun the ring of the Supernova Sphere, Shen opened and closed the mouth of his cane, and Kenneth sheathed his sword before pulling the trigger and unsheathing it.
Inside the Orion Carrierzord, Birdie sat at the pilot’s seat, pointing her blaster forward as her eyes darkened, “It’s lights for you!”
“Orion Galaxy Breaker!”
The Zords perched on the cannon began to glow as the piston moved forward, firing two beams of red energy, two beams of green energy, and a beam of gold and blue energy at the MAS.
The MAS retaliated, firing a triangular beam of pink energy from its grinder. The beam collided with the ones from the Orion Galactic Cannon, but its attack was immediately overtaken, the MAS becoming engulfed in multicolored light.
“Unacceptable!” Alderamin yelled.
“Stream’s over thanks to you, Mirfak!” Schedar screeched.
Mirfak snarled, “Curse you Rangers! I hope Karna Rog slaughters you all!”
The MAS then went up in a massive explosion as the Megazords turned away from it, the Orion Galactic Cannon lifting off the ground and spinning as well. “The stars of hope still shine!” Neil declared.
Inside the bridge, Birdie sat at the control seat while Tip, Hydra, and Corvile stood to the sides. “Bad news, guys,” Birdie said over the comms, “the MAS stalled us really badly. We probably only have a few hours to stop Project Wormwood now!”
“We better hurry then!” Neil replied, panicked.
“Everyone, back to the Orion Carrierzord, we need to get to Project Wormwood now!” Shen commanded.
The Megazords disassembled themselves, their components flying towards the Orion Carrierzord that had begun approaching Project Wormwood.
Everyone had gathered on the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge around the table (aside from Birdie who was at the pilot’s seat), which showed a projection of Project Wormwood’s outer layer. A small section near the middle was highlighted, with Brando pointing to it, “So that’s where all that Gaiaium is being served up.”
“So that’s where we’ll put the remote Morpher then,” Arthur nodded.
“Looks pretty deep inside there,” Tip noted.
“Yeah, no telling how many guys we’ll need to clobber on the way there,” Aster added.
Leiurus shook his head, “Doesn’t matter how many there are, we need to get there and stop Project Wormwood’s darkness from swallowing the galaxy.”
“Just means we’ll have to be extra efficient then,” Hydra replied.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, we can’t get slowed down more than we already have.”
“I feel as though Karna Rog, Calamartia, and Halyodor will be there too,” Sirius responded, “What about them?”
Shen stroked his beard, “We’ll probably need to defeat them too, we can’t risk any Imperial finding the remote Morpher and destroying it before we can activate it.”
“We’ll probably need to all be there then,” Kenneth replied, “If all three of them are there our best bet would be for all of us to work on defeating them together.”
Corvile nodded, “I’ll stay behind and guard the ship. I’ve watched Birdie pilot it enough to know how to get it into the air once the remote Morpher is ready.”
“Be safe, Corv,” Kenneth said, kissing Corvile’s beak.
“You too, Kenneth,” Corvile replied.
“Tip,” Shen said, turning to face them as he held the remote Morpher, “take this. You stay out of close combat most of the time, and you’re good with technology, so I think it’s safe with you.”
“I’ll protect it with my life, Boss,” Tip replied with a salute, taking the remote Morpher from Shen. A compartment opened on their chest, which they placed the remote Morpher in before it closed.
“Get ready, everyone,” Birdie said as Project Wormwood got closer and closer, “this is gonna be a rough landing!”
The Carrierzord landed on Project Wormwood’s outer shell, everyone grabbing onto something as the ship landed.
“Alright everyone,” Neil said, standing in the middle of the room, “today’s the day we put an end to Project Wormwood and the Empire once and for all. We’re Power Rangers, chosen by the Nova Spheres to defeat any darkness and protect the galaxy. So let’s head in there and show the galaxy’s hope is stronger than any despair!”
“Yeah!” the others all exclaimed in unison.
The Rangers blasted through the gate, all twelve of them running into a concrete room with a few balconies and a locked gate in front of them. Greyders and Flatborgs surrounded them both on the ground and from the balconies, their blasters trained on them. They all readied their Morphers as Neil spoke, “Let’s show these guys what we’re made of!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Greyders and Flatborgs all fired as the Rangers were engulfed in multicolored lights and flames, which died down to reveal them in their Ranger forms, weapons at the ready.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
Leiurus charged forwards, blocking a few shots from Greyders before slashing a few others. His tail wrapped around his leg, which he used to deliver a powerful kick to a Flatborg’s chest.
Sirius spun around on all fours, dodging shots from Greyders above before breaking into a sprint towards a Flatborg on all fours. He leapt at the Flatborg, tackling it to the ground before slashing at its chest.
Tip fired their crossbow at a console on one of the balconies, a golden arrow hitting it and making the gate ahead open, the eruption of sparks also taking out a few Greyders.
Aster swung his axe at a Flatborg, which blocked the attack with its tonfa. Aster forced the tonfa away before slashing it across the chest. As the Flatborg staggered back, Aster grabbed a Greyder, shoving it towards the Flatborg and knocking both to the ground.
A pair of Greyders charged at Tip as they were focused on the Greyders on the balconies, but Hydra intercepted them. He slashed one across the chest before hooking his scythe on another’s neck and pulled it onto the ground.
A pair of Greyders swung at Alura from either side, but she turned invisible as they attacked, making them end up slashing each other. She became visible again, ducking under another Greyder’s blade and stabbing it with her rapier before using it to reflect a shot from one of the balconies, making the Greyder who fired it collapse.
Birdie swept another Greyder’s leg, knocking it to the ground before she knocked a Flatborg back by kicking it in the chest. She blasted a few Greyder’s with her Morpher, angling her blaster up to shoot a few Greyders on the balconies.
Brando weaved through the blades of a few Greyders, slashing them with his saber in the process. He blocked a shot from a Greyder with his saber before headbutting a Greyder with his pointed visor.
Shen deflected the shots of a few Greyders on the balconies with his cane, taking them out with their own attacks before spinning around to slash a Flatborg across the chest.
The Flatborg stumbled back into a slash across the back from Arthur’s glaive. The Flatborg fell to the ground as Arthur spun his scarf around to neutralize projectiles, bludgeoning a few Greyders with it in the process.
Kenneth blocked projectiles, blades, and tonfas with his shield as he charged through a horde of Greyders, slashing them with his sword and bludgeoning with his shield as he also blocked attacks. He stopped in front of a Flatborg, bashing it with his shield and making it stagger back before he slashed it across the chest.
Neil deflected a few Greyder lasers with his blade to a few Greyders around them, making them collapse. He batted other Greyders’ blades away with his sword before slashing them across the chests. He ducked down, spinning around and slashing the legs of several that surrounded him. They fell to the ground, exploding.
Neil stood back up, forming a line with the other Rangers as more Imperial Forces entered the room, “The galaxy will be saved!”
Notes:
The Master Attack System is based on the Bermuda Triangle as well as the mythical sea monster and constellation, Cetus.
And that’s the end of the Knights for good. Shoutout to Maswartz for helping me come up with the name for it. Anyway, I’m pretty happy with this chapter, the fight scenes, Neil’s issue this time, I think I did a pretty good job at getting it all done. Next chapter will of course be the Rangers versus Karna Rog, Calamartia, and Halyodor, so of course it’s gonna be action-packed. The final scene did take some cues from the Bionicle Inika commercial because Bionicle is great and Neil probably has a few. Also yes, the chapter title is a reference to exactly what you think it is. Comments are of course welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the Tv Tropes page.
Chapter 41: Event Horizon
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The Rangers continued hacking and blasting through the horde of Greyders and Flatborgs that was swarming them, not breaking a sweat as the Imperial forces continued to go down with little issue.
The Rangers all dodged the attacks of their adversaries in a variety of ways, retaliating and destroying the Imperial forces as quickly as possible.
“These guys just keep coming!” Aster declared, slashing a Greyder across the chest.
Alura swept the leg of a Greyder, turning to the others as Sirius leapt up and kicked another, “We need to get rid of all of these guys now!”
“Everyone, get in a circle!” Neil commanded. The others obliged, getting into a circle with their backs towards the center, warding off the Imperial forces as they did so.
“Alright everyone, Nova Spheres in your weapons!” Neil then said as he slashed a Flatborg across the chest.
“Regulus Strike!”
“Antares Strike!”
“Lupi Strike!”
“Zubeneschamali Strike!”
“Aldebaran Strike!”
“Rasalhague Strike!”
“Chamaeleonits Strike!”
“Altair Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
“Eltanin Strike!”
“Polaris Strike!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
Red, orange, and cyan energy slashes were launched at the Imperials alongside two spinning blue energy slashes, a barrage of golden energy arrows, a spinning black energy axe, a spinning silver energy crescent, a green energy whip, a pink energy beam, five vertical energy slashes, a purple energy projection of the Draco Zord, and a bird-shaped wave of flames.
The twelve attacks collided with the surrounding Imperial forces, instantly making each and every one erupt in an explosion.
As the flames died down, no more Greyders or Flatborgs approached, prompting the Rangers to lower their weapons. “It would appear those were the last of them,” Sirius observed.
“Good, let’s get going, there’s no telling how much time we have left,” Shen replied.
The Rangers began to run down the hallway in front of them, but as they did a mass of smoke and darkness appeared further ahead. A pair of partially overlapping yellow circles with a black spot in each appeared in the mass, which shifted to give the appearance of exposed teeth beneath the circles.
“What the heck is that?” Arthur asked, pointing a glaive at it.
“Ugh, it hurts to look at,” Leiurus said, gripping his head as he looked to the side.
The mass shot forward towards the Rangers, shadowy arms, scythe-like limbs, and tendrils grabbing the walls, ceiling, and floor ahead of it as it approached.
Once it was close enough, the mass swirled forward, concentrating itself into the form of one of Karna Rog’s proxy bodies, which stood before the Rangers with a scythe. “You will not be going any further, Rangers,” he rasped, seeming to adjust the hat-like structure on his head.
“Karna Rog!” Neil said disgustedly.
To Karna Rog’s side, Calamartia became visible, tapping the head of her mace on her hand, “You jelly-brains’ meddling in the Empire’s affair’s end here!”
The space to Karna Rog’s other side distorted as Halyodor appeared, raising a hand to his head and extending a pinky. “I’m afraid you’re much too late,” he chuckled, raising his arms and staff to his sides, “Project Wormwood will activate in a little under thirty minutes, we just have to keep you occupied until then, assuming you have something to stop it to begin with.”
“Yes,” Karna Rog nodded, “and then the black star will bathe the galaxy in darkness. The erasure of suffering and galactic peace will be achieved as all life succumbs to the cold embrace of the dark.”
Calamartia pointed her mace at the Rangers, “You heard him, the galaxy-”
She cut herself off, “Wait, what?”
Kenneth shook his head, “Good grief, you didn’t tell her?”
“Karna Rog’s planning to use Project Wormwood to wipe out all life in the galaxy to put an end to all of its suffering, because he feels all of it,” Shen snarled.
Calamartia scoffed, shaking her head, “You think I care about that? All I care about now is making you suffer for what you did to Skragen.”
“Figures,” Birdie sighed.
“Some people never change,” Tip nodded.
“We’re not gonna let that happen, Karna Rog!” Neil declared, taking a step forward. “Sure, there’s suffering in the galaxy…” he said looking down, “but there’s so much more to it than that, things you’ll never understand because you only ever looked at the bad!”
Hydra nodded, “There’s happiness, even if there is despair and sorrow.”
“And there are people trying to cook up a way to make the galaxy a better place!” Brando added.
“Yeah, like us!” Arthur replied.
Neil pointed his sword at Karna Rog, “And we’re gonna do that by taking you and the Empire down!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “I think you fail to understand that there will always be undeserved suffering and despair if life continues to exist. War, exploitation, betrayal, it will all continue to exist unless Project Wormwood activates.” He looked at the Rangers, “Tell me, are we not the same? We all wish the best for the galaxy, but unlike you I understand that sacrifice is needed to do so.”
Neil looked to the side for a moment before looking back, “You’re right, we want best for the galaxy too, but we value everything that lives in it!”
“Choking the stars with freezing darkness is not worth making sure no one suffers again!” Sirius snarled.
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “And don’t say we don’t know sacrifice! We’ve lost people too, people who died to free the galaxy from you!”
“So we’ll defeat you, for the galaxy and everyone living in it!” Neil declared.
Halyodor laughed, raising a hand to his face and extending his pinky finger, “Well, you can certainly talk the talk, but you’re wasting your breath and precious time with your little speech.”
“You’re right, Halyodor, so let’s show you that we’re not all talk!” Neil exclaimed.
Karna Rog extended a hand forward, making dozens of swords materialize and shoot towards the Rangers as Calamartia fired her gun and Halyodor unleashed a spray of laser nails.
Tip and Birdie blasted some of the swords and nails out of the air while the others dodged attacks or blocked them with their weapons.
Shen turned to Neil, “I’ll handle Calamartia, the rest of you stop Project Wormwood.”
“Got it, dad,” Neil nodded.
Shen shot forward and swung his cane down on Calamartia, who blocked it with her mace as she chuckled, “Just the jelly-brain I was hoping to fight. This ends here, Shen Arctos!” She couldn’t get another word out as Shen forced her back down a connecting hallway.
“I’ll be putting an end to you for good this time,” Kenneth said sternly as he readied his sword. He disappeared in a burst of flames before reappearing in front of Karna Rog as he swung his sword. The Emperor blocked the slash with his scythe, extending a hand forward and creating a dark energy shockwave that sent Kenneth stumbling back slightly.
Karna Rog swung his scythe, but Kenneth batted it away with his shield, but Karna Rog disappeared in a swirl of dark energy before Kenneth could retaliate, appearing further down the hallway. “If you wish for peace without Project Wormwood, then you will find it only in death,” Karna Rog rasped as he launched several dark energy projectiles from his hand that snaked through the air towards Kenneth.
Kenneth charged forward, blocking the projectiles with both his sword and shield as he closed the distance between himself and Karna Rog.
Alura turned to the others, “Leiurus, Hydra, Birdie, Arthur, help Kenneth!”
“Got it!” Arthur replied before he and the other mentioned Rangers ran down the hall.
Halyodor watched as the four Rangers ran past him before turning his attention to Neil, Sirius, Tip, Aster, Alura, and Brando, giving a hum, “It would appear as though I’m your opponent then.”
“Yeah, and we don’t plan on losing!” Neil replied, readying himself alongside the others.
Halyodor laughed, “You’re not the first to claim such things, but I trust that you’ll make for some fine amusement at least, no matter the outcome.” He moved his staff to his other hand, shifting his grip on it so its pointed tip was pointed forward as he held it with both hands, “I am Halyodor the Scholarly, the sower of discord whose manipulations and machinations spark conflict for all ensnared in them.”
“Let’s see if you can back all of that up!” Neil declared as he and the other five Rangers charged at him.
Halyodor released a cloud of cyan gas from the tip of his staff, which quickly ignited and stopped the Rangers from progressing. Immediately as the flames died down, Neil swung his sword at Halyodor, who blocked it with his staff. “Seems like you’re back to your usual self,” Halyodor hummed
“I am, and that means I’m not holding back this time!” Neil snarled.
Halyodor forced Neil’s sword to the side as he spun back and chuckled, “I was hoping so, it’ll make things far more entertaining this way.”
Shen backed into a room filled with massive storage tanks and pipes as Calamartia approached him, wielding her mace in one hand and her eight-headed whip in the other. “I’m going to make this as slow as possible for you, you jelly-brained lizard,” Calamartia chuckled, lashing her whip to the side, “I want you to feel every last agonizing second!” She swung her whip at him, its heads lashing forward like tentacles.
Shen blocked the attacks with his cane, the whips entangling themselves around it. Calamartia tried to force it from his hands, but he planted it into the ground. “I’m not planning on losing, Calamartia! I’m winning this, for the galaxy and my boys!” he growled as he ripped the cane from the ground, pulling the whip from Calamartia’s hands.
“And I’m winning this for Skragen!” Calamartia snarled as her eyes flashed and yellow energy spheres appeared from all over her body, shooting forward at Shen. Shen spun his cane around in front of him, neutralizing the projectiles. This gave Calamartia a chance to quickly close the distance, brandishing her sword alongside her mace.
She swung her blade at Shen, who blocked it with his cane. She kneed him in the chest, making him stumble back slightly before slamming her mace into his side. Shen staggered but didn’t fall, planting his cane into the ground to recover.
Calamartia swung her mace and sword at him, but he ducked under it. Sensing an opening, he grabbed Calamartia’s braid-like tentacle and pulled on it hard, making her fall forward slightly as he thrusted the head of his cane upward and into her chest. She gave a cry of pain, stumbling back, “You jelly-brain! That hurt!”
“I thought you found fights boring unless you got hurt,” Shen taunted as he zoomed in front of her in the blink of an eye, swinging his cane at her. She blocked and batted the attacks away with her mace and sword, eventually blocking a downward swing with both of her weapons.
Shen pulled his cane away and took a step back, spinning around to slash both of Calamartia’s legs with its tip. Calamartia stumbled back, snarling, “Let’s see how you like this!” She pointed her mace forward, firing its spikes at Shen. Shen zoomed to the side as the spikes hit where he stood, erupting in a large explosion.
As Shen turned to where Calamartia once stood, she fired her gun at him from on top of a catwalk above, which he promptly blocked with his cane. Shen ran towards the stairs leading up to the catwalk, blocking Calamartia’s attacks as he approached. He climbed the stairs and got onto the catwalk, charging at Calamartia as she fired at him before stabbing the tip of his cane downward into her chest, making her stumble back as a shower of sparks erupted.
Elsewhere in a vaguely foyer-like room, Leiurus, Hydra, Birdie, Arthur, and Kenneth battled Karna Rog, energy attacks of various colors flying around the room. “Bang,” Karna Rog rasped, pointing at the Rangers as an explosion erupted in front of them that they rolled to the sides to avoid. “Bang, bang, bang,” Karna Rog said as he continued performing the gesture, forcing the Rangers to continue to scatter. “Ban-”
Before Karna Rog could attack again, Birdie shot his hand with her blaster and Morpher, “Cut it out with that finger gun stuff!” She fired at Karna Rog a few more times, but he maneuvered the blade of his scythe to block the attacks before firing yellow beams from his eyes at her.
Kenneth ran in front of her, blocking the beams as Leiurus and Arthur charged at Karna Rog. They brought their spear and glaive down on him, but he blocked them with his scythe. “Let’s see how you handle this,” Leiurus wrapped his tail around his leg, kicking Karna Rog in the chest and making him stumble back.
“I’ve come too far to be foiled now,” Karna Rog rasped before retaliating, gripping his scythe with both hands and infusing the blade with dark energy. He spun around as he approached Leiurus and Aster, swinging his scythe at them. Sparks erupted from Leiurus’s chest as he was launched back, but Arthur had ducked under the swing and had moved to the side, swinging his glaive upwards at Karna Rog.
“Forget me?” Arthur asked as Karna Rog stumbled back.
Karna Rog swiped his arm at Arthur, sending a dark energy crescent at him, which Arthur dispelled by slashing through it. Karna Rog swung his scythe forward, releasing his grip on it and throwing it at Arthur like a boomerang. Arthur narrowly avoided the attack as the scythe whizzed around the room, striking Birdie and Kenneth as it flew past them.
Hydra swung his own scythe at Karna Rog’s as it approached him, knocking the weapon off course and causing it to embed its blade in a wall. “Time to show you the power that happiness has over despair!” Hydra exclaimed, charging at Karna Rog and swinging his scythe at him.
Swords materialized in both of Karna Rog’s hands, allowing him to block the attack. He forced Hydra’s scythe out of the way before slashing him across the chest twice with his swords.
As Hydra stumbled back, Kenneth pointed the bottom of his shield at the Emperor and fired a blast from it. Karna Rog narrowly avoided the blast before pointing a sword at Kenneth, “The fires of Revolution die today, Kenneth Faulkner.” Shadowy spikes shot towards Kenneth from under Karna Rog’s feet.
“Does it ever get tiring being wrong, Karna Rog?” Kenneth taunted as he disappeared in a swirl of flames, appearing behind Karna Rog. Karna Rog spun around and swung his swords, but Kenneth ducked under it and slashed Karna Rog.
Kenneth tried to get in another hit, but Karna Rog flipped a sword into a reverse grip, blocking the strike with it before using the other to slash Kenneth across the chest, making him stagger back. Kenneth recovered quickly, batting Karna Rog back. “I will not allow your burning light to taint Project Wormwood’s gentle darkness,” Karna Rog rasped as he began marching forward, swinging his swords repeatedly and sending barrages of dark energy slashes flying at the Rangers. The Rangers ducked and dived to avoid the attacks, which exploded upon hitting anything.
In a room that had a large downward shaft in the middle surrounded by guardrails, Neil, Sirius, Tip, Aster, Alura, and Brando battled Halyodor. “Think fast!” Tip exclaimed as they fired golden energy arrows at the strange being, who was currently weaving and blocking punches and slashes from Aster. Halyodor disengaged from Aster, blocking the arrows with his staff.
“Hey, eyes on me!” Aster exclaimed, throwing a punch at Halyodor, who ducked under it.
“I’m afraid you weren’t fast enough,” Halyodor chuckled, pointing his staff’s point at Aster as a cyan beam shot from it. Aster was enveloped in a cyan energy bubble and then launched back into a wall.
“Aster!” Brando yelled, running up behind Halyodor and slashing him across the back, producing a spray of black-brown blood. Brando went to slice him again, but Halyodor spun around and blocked his saber with his staff.
“Not bad,” Halyodor chuckled before Brando headbutted him, Brando pointed visor creating another burst of black-brown blood as Halyodor stumbled back. Brando prepared to charge at Halyodor, but Halyodor thrusted the pointed end of his staff forward, making Brando fall back.
A golden arrow hit Halyodor, making him dissolve into cyan particles. Brando gave a look of confusion as a cyan glow with rainbow streaks appeared beside him, Halyodor becoming visible. Halyodor spun around and slammed his staff into Brando’s side, knocking him to the ground.
Alura appeared beside Halyodor, swinging her rapier down at him, only for him to block it with the head of his staff. “Ah, invisibility, you’re a Ranger after my own heart, Alura,” Halyodor chuckled.
“I don’t need the compliment!” Alura retorted, pushing Halyodor back before turning invisible again. She reappeared some distance behind Halyodor, plugging her Nova Sphere into her rapier.
“Chameleontis Strike!”
The blade of Alura’s rapier became whip-like and engulfed in green energy. She pointed it at Halyodor, making it lash towards him. He spun around, blocking the strikes with his staff before extending a hand and shooting a jet of cyan gas at Alura from it. Alura rolled to the side just as the gas ignited, creating a large explosion.
Neil and Sirius ran at Halyodor, swiping at him with their sword and claw respectively. Halyodor blocked each swipe with his staff. “Good to see you’re back in fighting shape, Sirius,” Halyodor said.
“Yeah, now he can get some payback on you!” Neil exclaimed, swinging his sword at Halyodor. Halyodor locked the head of his staff against the blade, forcing it to the side before slamming the head into Neil’s chest, knocking him back.
Sirius snarled, “You will regret hurting Neil.” He leapt at Halyodor, swinging his claw down at him. Halyodor dodged the attack before stabbing his staff at Sirius, who batted the attacks away with his claw. He swung his claw downward at Halyodor, who blocked it with his staff.
With his claw now hooked on Halyodor’s staff, Sirius forced it down before tearing his clawed glove into Halyodor’s chest, creating a burst of black-brown blood as he stumbled backwards.
Tip took aim at Halyodor as the others charged at him with their weapons ready. “You’re just making it so easy,” Halyodor chuckled as his visor-like eye unleashed a spray of laser nails all around him. Neil quickly blocked the projectiles with his sword, but the others weren’t so lucky, sparks erupting from their Ranger suits as they were knocked to the ground.
Neil swung his sword at Halyodor, who retaliated by swinging the pointed end of his staff. The weapons clashed and deflected off each other with showers of sparks a few times before Halyodor batted Neil’s sword away and ran his hand over the pointed end of his staff, engulfing it in cyan energy.
Halyodor gripped his staff with both hands and angled his arms up and back, stabbing the energized tip into Neil’s chest before he could react. A cascade of sparks erupted from Neil’s chest as he stumbled back, unmorphing as he hit the ground.
“Neil!” the other five Rangers called as Neil hit the ground.
“Ugh, you're really getting on my nerves!” Neil spat.
“I’m finding you quite ungrateful for everything I’ve done for you,” Halyodor replied, cradling his staff in the crook of his arm as he tapped his fingers together, “especially seeing as I’m the one who let you know that Project Wormwood was back online.”
Karna Rog pointed the spikes of one of the swords he held in a reverse grip forward, thread-like dark energy ending in points shooting from them towards the Rangers. He swung his other sword as well, sending forth a dark energy slash. Birdie took to the air to avoid the attacks while the others dodged them. She swooped down to kick him, but he crossed his swords over his chest to lessen the blow, though the impact still sent him stumbling slightly.
Leiurus and Hydra charged forward, slashing their blades at Karna Rog, who flipped his other sword into a reverse grip as he blocked the attacks. He swung his swords at them in retaliation, but they used their own to block the attacks before falling back.
Karna Rog quickly slashed the two of them, making them stumble back slightly before they each struck him, knocking him back as well.
Arthur swung his glaive down on Karna Rog, who sidestepped it and made it hit the ground. Karna Rog turned to look at Arthur shaking his head, “Children fighting in conflicts for the sake of adults, you’re only proving why suffering should be erased.”
“Oh zip it!” Arthur shot back, “I joined in of my own free will! No one made me do anything!” He used his glaive’s handle to block swings from Karna Rog’s swords. “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me, and I’m not gonna let Project Wormwood cut that short!” He forced Karna Rog’s swords to the side before spinning around and delivering a horizontal slash to Karna Rog’s chest, making smoke pour from the wound as the Emperor stumbled back.
Kenneth charged in front of Karna Rog, swinging his sword at the Emperor. Karna Rog blocked the slash, and the two of them clashed their weapons a few times, each strike creating a shower of sparks. “I won’t make the mistake of letting you live this time, Kenneth,” Karna Rog rasped.
“Yeah, you won’t,” Kenneth replied, blocking one of Karna Rog’s swords with his shield, “but only because I’ll make sure you’re dead before you make it again!” He plugged his sword into his shield, pulling the trigger.
“Ankaa Strike!”
He unsheathed his sword as it became engulfed in flames, swinging it at Karna Rog’s chest. Karna Rog quickly swung a sword outward, batting Kenneth’s blade to the side. Thinking fast, Kenneth flipped his sword into a reverse grip as he swung it forward again immediately, creating a massive flaming gash across Karna Rog’s chest.
Karna Rog dropped his swords as he stumbled back, clutching the wound as black smoke poured from it. He clutched his head as he steadied himself, before raising his other hand to mine adjusting his tie. He extended a hand forward, his scythe flying out of the wall it was embedded in and into it. “Enough of this, you will all die here one way or another,” he rasped, a tinge of anger in his lackadaisical tone.
He extended his arms to his side, issuing forth a wave of dark energy from his body that sent the Rangers flying back as it hit them.
“What are you talking about?” Alura questioned, looking at Halyodor as she and the others got to their feet.
Aster nodded, “Yeah, you said you restarted Project Wormwood! You didn’t tell us anything about letting us know!”
Halyodor raised a hand, rubbing his thumb and middle finger together, “I did both, actually. I had assumed you’d have recognized what the H I signed on my letter was short for once we properly met.”
“Hold the phone, you restarted Project Wormwood and then you wanted us to stop it? Whose side are you on?” Tip demanded.
Halyodor chuckled, “I cannot say I am on anyone’s side. I’m simply an observer,” he ran his hand along the pointed end of his staff, “one who will stoke the fires of conflict if needed.”
“Spineless,” Sirius snarled.
Brando nodded, “Then we’ll douse our fight against the Empire, and you!”
“We’re getting past you and putting a stop to Project Wormwood!” Neil declared, readying the Supernova Sphere, “Get ready, Halyodor!”
“Supernova Sphere!”
Neil was surrounded by incandescent light, emerging from it as the Leorion Ranger. Neil pulled his sword out of a portal at his side, charging at Halyodor. Halyodor made a blowing gesture, unleashing a barrage of laser nails at Neil, who deflected them with his sword.
Neil swung his sword as Halyodor swung his staff, but Neil batted the weapon to the side before slashing Halyodor across the chest. Halyodor stumbled back as Neil swung at him again, but he ducked under it and spun to the side.
Aster, Alura, and Brando swung their weapons down at Halyodor, who continuously blocked their attacks before blocking a downward swing from each of them. Halyodor forced their weapons to the side, preparing to swing the pointed end of his staff at them, but Sirius drop kicked him in the side, sending him staggering.
As Halyodor recovered, Sirius plugged a teal Nova Sphere depicting a set of twins into his Morpher.
“Gemini Nova Sphere!”
Sirius fired a teal beam from his Morpher over Halyodor’s shoulder, which turned into a duplicate of Sirius behind him. Halyodor blocked a slash from Sirius’s claw with his staff, angling it to block a swipe from his clone as well. The two Siriuses pulled their weapons away, ducking down to slash Halyodor’s legs with their claws and clawed gloves. Halyodor spun around with his staff outstretched after recovering, making Sirius leap back to avoid it and dispelling the clone once it was hit.
Tip ran up behind Halyodor, stabbing him in the back with their crossbow. They ran into a portal Neil had opened as Halyodor whipped around, firing at him now that they were some distance away. Halyodor charged towards them, blocking their arrows as they plugged a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a cross into their Morpher.
“Crux Nova Sphere!”
They fired their Morpher at the ground in front of Halyodor, making several yellow energy crosses block Halyodor’s path.
Halyodor ducked under a swing from Aster’s fist, stabbing him with his staff and making him stumble back. Aster pointed his right arm forward, his right forearm detaching and shooting forward with rocket propulsion. Aster’s fist flew around, striking Halyodor repeatedly before Halyodor batted back at Aster with his staff.
Alura became visible in front of Aster, blocking the fist with her rapier. “Thanks, Alura!” Aster said, giving a thumbs up with his other hand.
“No problem!” Alura replied, running towards Halyodor. She slid across the ground, narrowly avoiding a strike from Halyodor’s staff as she slashed his leg. Halyodor thrusted his staff down at her as she came to a stop, but she flipped herself forward and onto her feet to avoid it, batting his staff to the side as Brando slashed him across the chest.
Brando rapidly slashed at Halyodor, who was only able to block a few of the attacks due to their speed. He slammed the head of his staff into Brando’s chest, which sent him reeling. As Brando recovered, he plugged a red Nova Sphere depicting a crab into his Morpher.
“Cancer Nova Sphere!”
A massive crab claw began to clamp down on Halyodor, who prevented it from closing by keeping it pried open with his staff.
The claw disappeared as Halyodor was shot in the head by a pink energy blast and sent stumbling back, Neil holding the Star Blaster alongside his sword. He fired the blaster at Halyodor as he charged at him, with Halyodor blocking the attacks with his staff. Neil brought his sword down on Halyodor, who blocked it with his staff. Neil forced the staff out of the way, blasting Halyodor in the chest with his blaster a few times before slashing him with his sword.
Halyodor was sent stumbling back against the guardrail around the pit at the center of the room as Neil pointed his sword forward. One of his capes extended, ensnaring Halyodor’s staff and ripping it from his hands, tossing it to the side of the room.
“I fail to see how cloth manipulation is a power an Astrographer should possess,” Halyodor said, not seeming impressed.
Neil took a step forward, shaking his head, “You’re obviously not a really good observer then,” portals opened behind him, the other Rangers’ weapons emerging from them, “because you should’ve seen by now that my power has no limits!”
Neil pointed his sword forward, which flew forward alongside the other weapons as he gripped his blaster. The weapons stabbed into Halyodor, embedding themselves into him as he grunted. He was pushed back through the guardrail, sending him plummeting into the pit.
The Rangers gathered around the pit, looking down into it, spotting no bottom. “Well, guess that’s one problem dealt with,” Tip shrugged.
Neil looked to the others, “Let’s go, we’re not too far from where we need to put the remote Morpher.” The others nodded before they ran out of the room.
In the middle of a massive cylindrical room with a massive pillar in the center that reached down into the room’s unseen depths, Neil, Sirius, Tip, Aster, Alura, and Brando had gathered. By now they had all unmorphed, with Tip opening a hatch on the pillar and pulling out a few wires. “Just a little more and…” Tip mumbled as they plugged the wires into the remote Morpher, the Black Hole Nova Sphere now glowing, “gotcha!”
“Alright!” Aster declared, pumping a fist in the air.
“The remote Morpher’s armed and ready to devour Project Wormwood’s darkness!” Brando said excitedly.
Alura shook her head, “We’re not done here yet though, the others might need help.”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, turning to Sirius, “Sirius, can you smell them?”
“I will try,” Sirius replied, sniffing the air for a moment before giving a confused look, “Odd, they smell very close.”
As if on cue, a door at the room’s edge opened, Leiurus, Hydra, Birdie, Arthur, and Kenneth stumbled back through it and across the bridge that connected it to the room’s pillar. They unmorphed as they steadied themselves as the others ran forward. “Guys!” Neil yelled, helping steady Arthur, “Are you okay?”
“Could be better,” Kenneth replied, clutching his side.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, Karna Rog isn’t messing around this time.”
“He’s fighting like a cornered animal right now,” Leiurus added.
“He’s obviously so scared of losing Project Wormwood that he’s doing everything he can to win,” Hydra replied.
Birdie looked at the others, “Is the remote Morpher ready?”
“Yeah, I just got it set up,” Tip replied, “We have a little over ten minutes to get out of here.”
Kenneth sighed, “Well that’s one less thing we need to worry about.”
“And here is one more,” Karna Rog rasped as he entered the room, scythe at the ready.
Neil glared at him, “It’s over, Karna Rog! We’re gonna stop Project Wormwood!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “I’m sorry, Neil Astra, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. For the galaxy’s sake, you must be stopped.”
“What makes you think you can speak for the galaxy?” Neil spat, “I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of life throughout the galaxy, and I know for a fact that not everyone’s gonna want to get caught in darkness and freeze!”
Karna Rog gripped his scythe tighter, “I can speak for the galaxy because I understand it better than anything that will ever exist.” He spun around, holding his arms upwards, “I know there’s a desire, no matter how minute, in all living things. A desire for the end. Many spend so much of their lives thinking about it, craving the peacefulness of death. It gnaws at them for the suffering to stop, to be free of this galaxy, this…” Karna Rog snarled, “this hell.”
Neil shook his eyes and shook his head, “I’m not gonna waste my arguing right now. You’re going down, and then we’ll stop Project Wormwood!” He and the others readied their Morphers.
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light and flames, which died down to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Incandescent Star, Leorion Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” they all declared in unison before charging towards Karna Rog, with Neil leading the attack. Neil brought his sword down, but the space in front of Karna Rog distorted as Halyodor appeared, blocking the attack with his staff. “I apologize for the interruption,” Halyodor chuckled.
“I should’ve known that fall didn’t kill you,” Neil said with annoyance. He forced Halyodor’s staff to the side before maneuvering behind him and shoving him towards Kenneth, who slashed him across the chest. Neil turned his attention back to Karna Rog, bringing his sword down as the Emperor swung his scythe.
“Die!” Calamartia screeched as she swung her mace at Shen, who ducked under it. Calamartia swung her leg out, knocking Shen up against the catwalk’s railing. Shen raised his cane to block a downward swing from her sword and mace, but she forced his cane out of the way before headbutting him. As Shen tried to recover, Calamartia swung upwards with her mace and sword, creating a shower of sparks as they hit his chest.
He was launched upwards from the catwalk, hitting and rolling across the ground below as he unmorphed. Calamartia leapt down from the catwalk, landing a few yards away from him. “Time for you to pay for what you did to Skragen, you jelly-brain!” Calamartia taunted, flourishing her sword and mace, “You’ll be getting to see your failure of a father again very soon.”
Shen snarled, his fists clenching as he grabbed his staff and got to his feet, “No, Calamartia, I’m not going to see my father again. As much as I love him, there’s someone else who I want to see again, and who needs to see me again.” Shen held out his cane, “I’m not letting you take Neil and Arthur’s father like you did mine, Calamartia! They will see me again!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Eltanin!” he snarled, slamming his cane into the ground. “Rastaban!” he continued, slamming it down again. “Eyes of the Dragon!” he finished, lifting it up and being surrounded by purple light which died to reveal him in his Ranger form.
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
Calamartia chuckled, “Still got some fight in you? Good, that’ll just make it more-”
She was cut off as Shen shot in front of her in the blink of an eye, slashing her across the chest with his cane. She stumbled back, regaining her footing before swinging her mace at Shen. He ducked under it, quickly using his cane to block a slash from her sword.
“You’ll never see those jelly-brained boys of yours again!” Calamartia roared before Shen forced her sword to the side, spinning around and slashing her, sending her rolling across the ground.
“Don’t you get it, Calamartia?” Shen asked, leaning on his cane, “The only jelly-brain around here is you. Me and the Rangers have beaten you plenty of times, but you still think you stand a chance.”
“Shut up!” Calamartia roared, charging at him and swinging her weapons only for him to duck to the side. “You are nothing, you jelly-brained lizard! Me and Skragen took everything from you!” she screeched as she swung her weapons at Shen wildly while approaching him, but he continuously managed to bat them to the side as he backed up.
Shen managed to get in a few retaliatory slashes against her as he backed up. He shook his head as he continued to block her attacks, “You’re right, Calamartia, you took my father from me, left me without a family again, but now I have Neil and Arthur.” He spun to the side, leaning up against a large storage tank, “They’re everything to me now, and once this is over, my life with them will finally star-t. You can’t take that away from me now, Calamartia.”
“Then I’ll take you away from them!” Calamartia yelled as she charged forward at Shen, thrusting her sword forward. Shen spun to the side, making the sword get stuck in the storage tank behind him as the mist of liquid nitrogen poured out of it. “What?” Calamartia exclaimed as her sword began to freeze over.
“I think it’s about time I put you on ice,” Shen said as he leapt over Calamartia, slashing the tank with his cane before landing on the other side of her.
Liquid Nitrogen flooded out, cascading over her as her body began to freeze. “You jelly-brain! That’s not fair!” Calamartia managed to choke out before she was reduced to a frozen sculpture.
Shen shook his head, plugging his Nova Sphere into his cane as he shifted it into its rifle mode, aiming it at Calamartia. “This one’s for you, dad,” he mused.
“Eltanin End!”
A massive projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy appeared and bit down on Calamartia, making her explode into innumerable frozen shards. A rather large shard, a tentacle, landed in front of Shen, who slammed his cane down onto it, breaking it to pieces.
He turned away from Calamartia’s remains as he began to walk away, “Time to help my Rangers.”
On the exterior of Project Wormwood’s shell, the other Rangers combated Karna Rog and Halyodor. Halyodor blocked slashes from Alura and Brando, spinning back as he made a blowing gesture, “Here’s a gift for you.” Kenneth appeared in front of Halyodor in a burst of flames, blocking the spray of laser nails with his shield before he and Halyodor both leapt back.
“We’ll take care of you for good this time!” Alura yelled as she and Brando charged Halyodor. He blocked their attacks with his staff again before forcing their blades away, but Alura stabbed him in the chest, knocking him back.
As Halyodor recovered, Brando held his saber to his throat, “You’re cooked!” Halyodor batted the blade away with his hand before blocking a slash with his staff. Brando spun to the side, slashing Halyodor and knocking him to the ground as black-brown blood erupted from the wound.
“Given how much he likes poison, I’m not sure cooking him’s a good idea,” Leiurus replied, moving next to Brando alongside Aster.
Aster shook his head, “Who cares? Let’s get him!”
The two of them charged Halyodor, who had by now gotten to his feet. “Perhaps you should stop to smell the roses,” Halyodor chuckled as he swiped his arm in front of him, creating an arc of cyan gas that promptly exploded. Leiurus and Aster powered through it though, slashing Halyodor. He recovered quickly, slamming the head of his staff into Leiurus’s helmet before stabbing its pointed tip into Aster’s chest, making them both stumble back.
Halyodor spun around to block a swing from Kenneth’s sword with his staff, tapping his fingers along it, “I assume you left your dear husband to fend off anyone trying to get on the Carrierzord. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“He knows what he’s doing,” Kenneth spat, “I don’t trust anyone more than him.”
“Trust?” Halyodor chuckled, pulling his staff back and spinning away, “Trust is nothing more than an appetizer for betrayal. Soon you’ll be plunged into the pits of despair and I’ll laugh at the results.”
Meanwhile, Neil, Sirius, Tip, Hydra, Birdie, and Arthur confronted Karna Rog. The Emperor fired a pair of energy blasts from his shoulders, making Neil disappear through a portal as the others dived to the side to avoid it. Neil reappeared on top of a nearby structure, firing a blast from his Morpher that sent Karna Rog stumbling.
Birdie fired her blaster as Sirius, Tip, and Hydra swung at Karna Rog, who blocked every attack with his scythe. He forced their weapons away as Tip ran forward to join, jabbing at Karna Rog with their crossbow. Karna Rog avoided the attack, knocking Tip to the ground by hitting him in the side of the head with the back of his scythe.
Birdie ran forward, knocking Karna Rog back with a kick before being repelled by a dark energy shockwave. Sirius swung his claw, but Karna Rog batted it away with his scythe, making Sirius spin back before plugging his Nova Sphere into his claw.
“Lupi Strike!”
He swung his claw, sending a pair of blue energy slashes flying at the Emperor. Karna Rog swung his scythe, sending a dark energy slash flying at the blue ones and forcing them back towards Sirius. Thinking fast, Neil ran in between Sirius and the attack
“Scutum Nova Sphere!”
A shield made of blue energy appeared and blocked the attack, the resulting explosion hurting no one.
“Tip, Hydra, now’s your chance!” Arthur called out.
“On it!” Tip replied as Hydra plugged a purple Nova Sphere depicting a coiled snake into his Morpher.
“Serpens Nova Sphere!”
Countless spectral snakes emerged from the Morpher and flew around Karna Rog, who managed to destroy a few with his scythe before one coiled around him and restrained him.
“My turn!” Tip exclaimed, plugging a yellow Nova Sphere depicting a bow and arrow into their Morpher.
“Sagittarius Nova Sphere!”
Several yellow orbs emerged from the Nova Sphere and into the air, arranging themselves into the shape of the constellation Sagittarius before unleashing a hail of yellow energy arrows down on Karna Rog, creating a series of explosions.
Karna Rog stumbled back, now free from the energy serpent as he turned to face the Rangers, “You fools, you absolute imbeciles, d-do you really think the galaxy will be better off with suffering every waking moment and no end in sight” Despite speaking with his usual monotone, Karna Rog was clearly exasperated. He was then nailed in the chest by a series of projectiles, making him stumble back.
Neil lowered the Star Crossbow and Birdie lowered her blaster as Sirius, Tip, Hydra, and Arthur ran to stand beside them. “It doesn’t matter if it would or wouldn’t,” Neil replied, shaking his head, “it doesn’t give you the right to choose the fate of everything in the galaxy. No matter how many bodies you make for yourself, we’ll keep beating you until no one has to worry about you ever again!”
“Such optimism is naive,” Karna Rog spat before Halyodor fell to the ground in front of him, with Leiurus, Aster, Alura, Brando, and Kenneth running to stand behind him.
“We’ll make sure you don’t have to endure this suffering anymore, by getting rid of you permanently!” Leiurus declared.
By now, Halyodor had gotten to his feet and stood with his back to Karna Rog, raising his hand to his head and extending a pinky as he chuckled, “I do hope you understand that destroying Project Wormwood won’t stop the Empire.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a start!” Kenneth declared as he and the others prepared to deliver the final blow.
Karna Rog’s eyes flashed as he raised his scythe, dark lightning shooting up from it and arcing down like a fountain, creating explosions that sent the Rangers stumbling or striking them directly.
Shen exited from the door on a nearby structure, assessing the situation before taking aim with his rifle. He fired and struck Karna Rog’s arm, making him drop the scythe as the lightning died down.
“Dad!” Neil and Arthur exclaimed in unison. Neil broke into a sprint, shooting through the remaining flames and striking Karna Rog with his sword, making him fall to his knees.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Shen said as he and. Neil moved to stand beside the others, “let’s wrap this up!”
“A shame, I thought you’d have expected something like that,” Halyodor chuckled as he looked down at Karna Rog.
“This isn’t over yet,” Karna Rog rasped, snapping his fingers before his body went limp.
“This ends now!” Neil exclaimed as he and the others prepared once again to deliver the final blow.
“Constellation Crash!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
The area around them appeared to become a star map for a moment before the Rangers launched a white orb with smaller orbs of various colors spinning around it at Karna Rog and Halyodor.
The attack collided, creating an explosion that destroyed Karna Rog’s body as Halyodor chuckled as he went up in flames too, “Well, my role here has finished, ciao.”
The flames of the explosion seemed to distort for a moment before they died down, with the Rangers giving a thumbs up, “Shine on!”
Shen turned to look at the others, “Is the remote Morpher ready?”
“Yeah,” Tip nodded
“Alright then, back to the Orion everyone, we don’t have much time,” Shen commanded.
Before anyone could go anywhere, a massive amount of dark energy poured out of the door Shen had come from, flying into the air and coalescing into a giant Calamartia, “I bet you jelly-brains didn’t expect me to come back like this!”
“Ugh, just what we needed right now,” Alura sighed.
“Karna Rog must’ve brought her back to buy Project Wormwood more time,” Leiurus said.
Shen shook his head, “Everyone get back to the Orion, I’ll deal with Calamartia and meet you there.”
“Mind if me and Arthur help?” Neil asked, looking at his father.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah no need to go at her alone.”
“Of course you can,” Shen chuckled as he readied his Morpher, “let’s get star-ted!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
“Orion Zord!”
The three were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off and connected to their respective Zords before preparing to combine.
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
This version of the Draco Star Megazord had the Orion Zord as its right arm, and the Ursa Zords as its left.
Calamartia laughed as she readied her mace and sword, “Looks like I’ll get to end the Arctos bloodline in one fell swoop!” She charged forward, swinging her sword, “Eat this, jelly-brains!”
“I’ve got this!” Arthur declared, batting her sword to the side with the Ursa Zords. Calamartia snarled, kicking the Megazord before slamming her mace into its chest, sending it staggering.
“My turn!” Neil declared as the Megazord fired a barrage of projectiles from the tip of the Orion Zord.
Sparks erupted from Calamartia’s chest as she staggered back. “You jelly-brains will need to do more than that!” she snarled as she advanced on the Megazord, performing a spinning slash.
As the Megazord staggered back, she swung both of her weapons in at it, but the Megazord blocked the attacks with its arms, holding them in place.
“I’ll tear you jelly-brains apart!” Calamartia snarled.
“You can’t even notice an opening you gave us,” Shen replied, shaking his head. The Draco Zord’s cockpit glowed before firing a beam of purple energy into Calamartia’s chest that sent her stumbling back.
The Ursa Zords were slammed into Calamartia’s side before the Orion Zord was swiped down on her, knocking her to the ground.
“Goodbye, Calamartia,” Shen spat as he, Neil, and Arthur prepared to land the finishing blow. “Send Skragen my regards.”
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Draco Star Megazord’s cockpits glowed before the energy was transferred towards the mace the Orion Zord had made. The energy swirled around the mace, becoming a massive projection of it made of purple, cyan, and white energy.
The Megazord swung the energy projection down on Calamartia. “Shen Long, you jelly-brain!” she screeched as it slammed into her, making her go up in flames.
“She’s gone for good this time,” Arthur declared, pumping a fist in the air.
“We can celebrate later, right now we have to get back to the Orion,” Shen replied.
Neil nodded, “Right!”
The Megazord split into its component parts, flying off.
Neil, Shen, and Arthur entered the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, where everyone else had gathered. “Alright everyone, we’re here!” Neil exclaimed.
“Good, because we’ve got a minute and a half until Project Wormwood activates!” Birdie informed from the pilot’s seat
Shen looked to her, “Get us as far away from Ukhu Pacha as we can get within the remote Morpher’s range.”
“Got it!” Birdie replied. The Orion Carrierzord shot from the exterior of Project Wormwood’s shell, through the tunnel to Ukhu Pacha’s surface, and past the asteroid field that surrounded the planet in a matter of moments.
Darkness began to leak from Ukhu Pacha, blotting out the stars behind it. “Now!” Shen declared.
Birdie pulled up her datapad, pressing a button. The Rangers waited with bated breath before Ukhu Pacha disappeared completely, a black hole and its event horizon appearing in its place. The Rangers all cheered, high fiving or hugging each other. “We did it!” Neil exclaimed as Shen hugged him and Arthur.
“Eat that, Karna Rog!” Brando cheered.
“We won!” Sirius howled.
Tip struck a pose, “And it’s all thanks to us!”
Shen pulled away from the hug he was giving Neil and Arthur to look at Hydra, “Sorry about the Black Hole Nova Sphere.”
Hydra shook his head, “It’s fine, Commander. A small price to pay for the galaxy’s safety.”
Corvile pulled away from a hug that Kenneth had pulled him into, clutching his head. “Corvile, are you okay?” Kenneth asked, reaching forward with concern.
Corvile shook his head, “Just give me a minute, Kenneth, I’m feeling a bit ill. I think I might need to go to the bathroom for a moment.”
Kenneth nodded, “Okay Corv, you do that.”
Corvile nodded back at Kenneth before exiting the bridge, stumbling down the hallway before entering the bathroom, grabbing onto the sink to stabilize himself as he looked in the mirror. “It’s over, Project Wormwood and Ukhu Pacha are gone, the galaxy is safe,” Corvile said, pointing an accusatory finger at Karna Rog’s yellow-eyed form in the reflection.
“Project Wormwood’s destruction is… a setback,” Karna Rog rasped with slight rage, “But there’s always next time, and next time I’ll ensure that nothing gets in the way of it. And that next time will be coming very soon.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Corvile questioned.
“I will reap the life of everything in the galaxy myself,” Karna Rog rasped, “starting with the Rangers, and I will be using my true power to do it.”
Corvile seemed panicked by this, stuttering out a response, “You… you don’t mean-”
“Yes, Corvile,” Karna Rog rasped, “I will be using you to do it.”
“No,” Corvile replied harshly, “I won’t let you. I don’t care if Kenneth will hate me if I tell him, I won’t let you hurt him!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “If you tell any of them before I am ready, I will make sure to kill them in the worst way you can imagine.”
“You won’t, the Rangers will defeat you before you kill even one of them,” Corvile spat.
Karna Rog shook his head, “Then it appears that I will have no choice but to alter your memories again, to ensure you don’t tell them.”
Corvile slammed his hands down on the sink, “No!”
“Goodbye for now, Corvile,” Karna Rog rasped as the mirror cracked, leaving Corvile’s fragmented reflection in its place.
Corvile shook his head as he exited the bathroom, finding Kenneth standing outside the door, leaning on the wall. “Feeling any better?
“I think so,” Corvile replied, moving to stand next to him.
Kenneth nodded, “Think you feel well enough to head back to the bridge? Everyone’s getting stuff ready to celebrate Project Wormwood’s destruction. Brando’s getting some food ready and the others are getting some games. Feel like you’re up for it?”
“Yes, Kenneth,” Corvile replied, “that sounds nice.”
Kenneth kissed the side of Corvile’s beak, “Love you, Corv.”
“I love you too, Kenneth,” Corvile replied with a chuckle.
“Um, Aster,” Leiurus said, “I think you’re breaking the controller.” Everyone had gathered on the bridge, playing various games or eating. Leiurus, Neil, and Aster were currently playing a game on a holographic screen when Leiurus had made that statement.
Aster looked down at his control, which had a large crack running along it. “Uh, oops,” Aster said, embarrassed.
“It’s fine, Aster,” Neil replied, the Leo Minor Zord resting on his lap, “sometimes you get so focused on a game you don’t notice anything else.”
Birdie shook her head, “Just try not to break anything else, we can’t replace them every time something like this happens.”
“I’m Aster’s defense, he usually knows his own strength pretty well,” Alura shrugged.
“Better than when Kenneth almost melted his,” Corvile replied.
Kenneth elbowed Corvile playfully, “That was an accident and you know it.”
“Still made the bridge smell like burned plastic for a bit,” Tip joked.
“Do not remind me,” Sirius grumbled.
“So dad,” Arthur asked, turning his father, “Do you think we could head to Earth for a bit? I mean, the Empire’s probably gonna be pretty disorganized without Ukhu Pacha, so maybe we could go there and help with cleaning stuff up there or something.”
Shen hummed, “I suppose we could, I’ll get the rest of the Revolution to roll out and deal with any other active Imperial forces while we’re gone.”
Neil’s eyes widened, “Oh my stars, I just realized me and Arthur never got our stuff from our apartment when we left Earth.”
“Or cleaned it,” Arthur realized, “there’s probably so much dust.”
“And spoiled food, oh the horror!” Brando added, sounding genuinely distraught by this revelation.
“Well, I guess we found what we’ll be cleaning first when we get to Earth,” Hydra deadpanned.
Shen chuckled, patting Hydra on the back, “You’re not wrong! But don’t worry Neil, Arthur, we’ll help!”
Neil grinned, “Thanks, dad.”
Notes:
And that’s the end of Calamartia and the last appearance of Halyodor, at least for Supernova. Obviously next chapter is gonna have some major shit going down, and the most I’ll say for now is that it kinda pushes the envelope for stuff in Power Rangers. Anyway, Calamartia getting frozen was a reference to Mistral’s death in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while Halyodor getting tossed down the shaft is a reference to the same thing happening to Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Also Halyodor using the word “ciao” is supposed to reference Evolt. Anyway, comments are welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the Tv Tropes page.
Chapter 42: Accomplice
Chapter Text
“Next, you do this,” Aster explained, solving a rubik's cube as Leiurus watched on intently, “See, partner?” The Rangers and Corvile sat at a few tables outside of a cafe in Seattle, talking amongst themselves or otherwise just relaxing.
Leiurus nodded along, “I think I’m getting it now.”
“Doesn’t look too hard, I’ve broken locks harder than that,” Tip interjected confidently.
Hydra shook his head, “That’s because you could hack them.”
“They would still do better than me,” Sirius replied, “at least you can properly see the colors.”
“Y’know, it’s nice being back on Earth again,” Neil chuckled, leaning back in his seat with his arms behind his head as the Leo Minor Zord rested on his lap.
“We were here for the wedding, Neil,” Arthur replied, “That was like, a week or two ago.” He sighed, “But yeah, it’s nice to be back.”
Shen nodded, “Sure is, it’s nice to get to know the place since I’ll be living with you two here from now on.” He grinned, “Since my ice puns left Calamartia in pieces, I’ll be able to focus on spending more time with you.”
Brando took a sip from his coffee cup before promptly spitting it back out, “Well I hope you can enjoy this place’s coffee more than I do.”
“I’m sure it's not that bad, Brando,” Birdie replied.
“It’s kinda weird that the only thing we’re really worried about at this point is how coffee tastes,” Alura replied, staring off at nothing in particular.
Sirius nodded, “Yes, it has been some time since we have stopped Project Wormwood, I had assumed the Empire would have made a move by now.”
Shen chuckled, “Mostly because the rest of the Revolution’s on a roll dealing with the rest of the Empire’s forces now.”
“I’d imagine,” Kenneth replied, an arm slung over Corvile’s shoulder, “The Empire’s main headquarters and a majority of its resources got sucked into a black hole, the Knights are gone for good, and from the sounds of it Karna Rog has been MIA since we destroyed his proxy on Ukhu Pacha.”
“Absolutely, the Empire’s incredibly disorganized right now since the Dukes have no real authority over each other,” Corvile added, “It shouldn’t be too long until the Empire’s completely wiped out.”
“Man, it’s weird knowing that the Empire’s done for,” Tip said to no one in particular.
Brando nodded, “Yeah, it lasted for over three hundred years, but once all of us got together we dismantled it in less than a year.”
“Just goes to show that justice won because of a team like us!” Aster laughed happily.
“Ptolemy would be proud of you,” Kenneth said with a sad smile.
Neil turned his head to look at Kenneth, “Hey, I’m sure he’d be proud of you too, especially since he actually knew you and let you become a Ranger in the first place.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Kenneth grinned.
“Guess we should start about what to do now, since everything’s pretty much over,” Hydra said, seemingly deep in thought.
Leiurus shook his head, “I wouldn’t be so sure. Karna Rog’s still out there. You saw how he went limp before we finished him and Halyodor off, he jumped ship.”
“Yeah, he might not have made a move since then, but as far as we know he’s still alive,” Alura added.
“Well, we’ll just have to send him running again if he tries anything,” Arthur replied.
Kenneth smirked, “Shouldn’t be too hard for us.”
“Still, I don’t think it would hurt to talk about what we plan to do after this anyway,” Birdie replied with a shrug, “Even if it is pretty obvious for most of us.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Neil replied with a grin, “How’s your writing coming, Birdie?”
“Pretty good,” Birdie replied, “Couldn’t work on it much lately for obvious reasons, but with the Empire on its last legs I’m trying to make up for lost time. What about you, Neil?”
Neil smiled, “Me? Well, I think I’m gonna try and attend college.”
“Imagine the bragging rights of being in a class with you,” Tip chuckled.
Neil rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Yeah, I mean, we are kinda celebrities at this point. We’re lucky we aren’t surrounded by people wanting to thank us right now.”
“That’s something that'll take some getting used to,” Arthur added, not seeming too enthused.
Tip chuckled, “Speak for yourself, I think this is gonna be pretty great.”
“It does feel nice knowing that people appreciate our efforts to make the galaxy a better place,” Sirius replied.
Kenneth smirked, “Well if any of you need help with dealing with it, don’t be afraid to call me. After all, I was in the galaxy’s public eye for quite a while, and I think I handled it pretty well all things considered.”
“To your credit, I’ll admit that even with the occasional slip-up you never let the pressure of being a public figure get to you,” Corvile chuckled.
Kenneth nodded, “It’s because I knew I had some of the most reliable people in the galaxy helping me every step of the way, even if I was doing pretty good to begin with.” He kissed the side of Corvile’s beak.
“How humble, Kenneth,” Corvile chuckled, “though I will admit I never did mind helping you even if some of the decisions you made weren’t… well, weren’t particularly well-thought-out.”
“So what’s next for you, Kenneth?” Shen asked, “Did you and Corvile figure something out since we last talked?”
“Plan on running for President again or something?” Birdie inquired.
Kenneth shook his head, “Good grief, no. I’m kind of exhausted after all this fighting with Karna Rog and running the galaxy. Me and Corvile have decided that we should probably settle down after all of this, either back on his home planet or here in Edinburgh.”
“Well, if you stay here then me, Neil, and dad will make sure to visit often,” Arthur replied, smiling.
Neil nodded, “Yeah, it’ll be nice to have someone we can try and visit regularly, it would probably be a nightmare to get all of our schedules to line up so we can all see each other at the same time.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Brando replied, “but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
“All that’s standing between us and that now is Karna Rog, and we’ll be ready for whatever he throws at us next,” Neil said with a determined look.
Corvile tensed up suddenly moving away from Kenneth slightly, “Can I tell you all something?”
Kenneth grinned, “Sure Corvie, what is it?”
Slowly, Corvile stood up and backed away, shaking slightly as the twelve Rangers turned their attention to him. Corvile’s hand shook as he tried to spit out what he wanted to say, before finally managing a choked, “I am Karna Rog.”
The Rangers stared at Corvile blankly before Neil deadpanned, “What?”
“Corvile, that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Kenneth added, shaking his head, “there’s no way you could be Karna Rog, there’s not a bad bone in your body.”
Corvile busted out laughing maniacally, making the Rangers’ blank stares change to looks of confusion and worry. “Uh, Corvile, is there supposed to be some kind of punchline?” Aster inquired.
“No, no,” Corvile said with relief between laughs, shaking his head, “I’m just… so glad I can finally stop lying to you all.”
Slowly, Kenneth got out of his seat and approached Corvile, “Corvile are you okay? You’re not making any sense. Do you want to go somewhere so we can-”
“Get back!” Corvile spat as he unsheathed one of his sai and pointed it at Kenneth. The Rangers eyes widened as Kenneth backed up because of Corvile’s outburst. Corvile shakily put the sai back as he seemed to regain his composure, “Just… just stay back, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want him to hurt you.”
“Corvile what are you doing?” Birdie asked with shock, getting to her feet alongside the others.
Shen gripped his cane tightly, “What’s gotten into you?”
“Who are you talking about?” Neil asked before realization dawned on him, his eyes widening, “Wait, he wasn’t-”
“Corvile, please calm down,” Kenneth asked calmly, keeping his hands forward to show he meant no harm and cutting off Neil, “you’re not gonna hurt anyone, just tell me what’s wrong, okay?”
Corvile shook his head as he gave a chuckle, “I already told you. I-”
“Am Karna Rog,” Karna Rog’s voice rasped from Corvile’s mouth, holding his hands forward. The Leo Minor Zord, which stood next to Neil, growled.
Kenneth’s eyes widened in shock as he shook his head, “What? No, how could you… it’s not possible… no!”
“This can’t be happening!” Arthur said with shock.
Karna Rog chuckled, “I assure you, this is very real, Rangers.” He turned his attention to Kenneth, giving a raspy, empty laugh, “Ever since you destroyed my physical form three hundred years ago, I’ve been using your beloved Corvile as my host, and my way of keeping my eye on you.”
“Shut up!” Kenneth spat as a vaguely bird-shaped mass of flames flew into his hand, becoming his Morpher as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it forward, “He didn’t want this… to-to be used as some puppet for you! Give him back… give him back now!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “He did actually, he allowed me to use his body willingly. In fact it was his end of a little… deal we made.”
“What?” the other Rangers all exclaimed in unison as Kenneth’s eyes widened, his grip on his sword shakey.
Corvile seemed to be back in control again, as the next time he spoke it was with his own voice, “Kenneth, I can explain!”
“You let him possess you? Willingly? After everything he’s done?” Kenneth spat furiously, “Corvile, how could you?”
“Kenneth please, I had no other choice!” Corvile pleaded, “I had to do it, things would be worse if I hadn’t! I had to do it, for the galaxy’s sake, for your sake!”
On Samos’s city of Stellarum, the yellow-eyed billowing mass of smoke and limbs that was Karna Rog watched as Ptolemy collapses to the ground before shaking his head, “While these supposed chosen of the Nova Spheres could be problematic, I shall worry about them later.” He turned to look at Kenneth’s unconscious form, gliding over the ground as he approached him, “Regaining my physical form is a much more pressing matter, and I believe you will make for a more than adequate replacement, Kenneth Faulkner.”
Karna Rog extended a long, spindly arm towards Kenneth before Corvile’s voice was heard, “N-no.” Karna Rog looked farther ahead, spotting Corvile lying prone and struggling to look ahead at him.
Karna Rog drifted past Kenneth as he rasped, “It appears as though you’re still alive.” Karna Rog stopped in front of Corvile, looking down at him, “It seems you’re hardier than I had assumed, but it matters little now, there’s nothing you can do to stop me from gaining a new body, even if your fiancé has left me in a severely weakened state.”
“You… might not survive possessing him,” Corvile choked, “the Phoenix Nova Sphere… it could burn what’s left of you up.”
“Then what do you propose?” Karna Rog inquired, “Assuming you are correct that it could destroy me.”
“Take me instead,” Corvile said with determination, “the Corvus Nova Sphere… its power is despair, it’s close to what you are, it… shouldn’t hurt you. Use me as your body instead, just… don’t… don’t hurt Kenneth.”
Karna Rog hummed, “I suppose it would be wise to inhabit the body of one whose Nova Sphere is less likely to destroy me before my plans come into fruition. I accept your offer.”
Karna Rog’s smokey body entered Corvile’s eyes and mouth. Once the process was completed, Corvile rose to his feet, chuckling with Karna Rog’s voice, “Thank you Corvile, I will make sure to put this body to good use.”
“See, Kenneth, I only did it so it wouldn’t happen to you!” Corvile said tearfully, “I couldn’t bear the thought of you being turned into his puppet, I had to do it for your sake!”
“Corvile, I…I don’t,” Kenneth sputtered out as his eyes softened.
Leiurus’s eyes narrowed, “But that isn’t what you said when I gave you the truth serum!”
“I simply altered his memories to make it the truth,” Karna Rog’s voice rasped, “As much as I have enjoyed this leisurely chat, it is time that I begin the long task of cleansing this galaxy’s misery.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Neil questioned, “Project Wormwood is gone, you’re not gonna kill the galaxy to stop misery from existing and die that way!”
Karna Rog shook his head, “I wish to die yes, but it would be preferable to eradicate the galaxy’s misery before that happens, and I won’t be deterred so easily.” He gave an emotionless chuckle, “As for how I will accomplish it, I will reap the life of every planet in the galaxy with my bare hands, starting with this one for your continued interference.”
“Kenneth…” Corvile said softly as he pulled out the Corvus Nova Sphere and held it to his chest, “please kill me.”
“Corvile!” Kenneth yelled, reaching forward as Corvile’s body suddenly sprouted six black wings and began to emit white light, making everyone in attendance shield their eyes.
As the light died down and the wings retracted, something new stood in Corvile’s place. It was covered in white armor and a black cloth skirt, a separate dark blue cloth at the front of its waist displaying a golden Imperial insignia. A pair of black wings extended from its back alongside two smaller pairs on its elongated skull-like head. A long metallic beak extended from its mouth, a tall crest with a slightly forked crest at the back of it.
“With my true body, I can give you a taste of my power that makes that of my proxies pale in comparison,” Karna Corvile rasped as Corvile’s sais materialized in its hands before dissolving into dark energy and reconstituting themselves into white and red versions of Karna Rog’s usual swords. Karna Corvile raised his swords to his sides, imbuing them with dark energy. “Die,” Karna Corvile said, swinging them both down and launching an x-shaped dark energy slash forward.
Kenneth quickly held his shield forward, but as the slash collided with it it created a massive explosion that launched all the Rangers onto the ground.
As the Rangers struggled to get up, Karna Corvile looked down at them, “Attempting to stop me now is ill-advised, it will only delay the inevitable.” A squad of Greyders and a few Flatborgs appeared before the Rangers as Karna Corvile flapped his wings, taking to the air.
“Corvile!” Kenneth yelled, shooting to his feet and plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Ignition!”
Kenneth was surrounded by flames before emerging in his Ranger suit, charging through some Greyders, slashing them with his sword and bashing them with his shield before disappearing in a burst of flames. He reappeared in the air in front of Karna Corvile, but he quickly darted away, prompting Kenneth to teleport again.
“Kenneth!” Shen yelled as Kenneth disappeared. Before the Rangers could do anything more the Greyders fired at them, prompting the Rangers to fall back as sparks erupted from the ground.
“I’ll help Kenneth with Karna Rog!” Neil declared, turning to the others.
Alura nodded as she and the others plugged their Nova Spheres into their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The Rangers were surrounded by light that died down to reveal them in their suits before they charged forward at the Greyders. The Rangers’ weapons clashed against the Rangers as the Rangers cut through the Imperial forces, with Neil slashing down a Flatborg before he forced his way through the horde and out the other side, breaking into a sprint as the other ten Rangers dealt with the remaining forces.
Some distance away, Kenneth ran down one of Seattle’s streets as Karna Corvile flew overhead, holding his swords in a reverse grip and firing white energy beams from their spiked guards. Kenneth blocked one blast before teleporting out of the way of another. After teleporting away from yet another he spun around and fired a blast from the bottom of his shield, which Karna Corvile dodged before Kenneth teleported again.
Karna Corvile flew down the street, blasting Kenneth again and again with Kenneth teleporting back further each time. After Kenneth fired at Karna Corvile again, a pair of Karna Corvile’s beams struck him, knocking him into the side of a car. Karna Corvile appeared directly in front of him, swinging one of his blades, making Kenneth dodge before promptly dodging another swing.
Kenneth blocked Karna Corvile’s sword with his own just as he swung it at him before forcing it to the side and forcing Karna Corvile back. “I’ll kill you!” Kenneth snarled, pointing his sword forward, “I’ll get rid of you for good this time!”
“Cute,” Karna Corvile rasped as dark energy gathered in a sphere at the top of his crest before launching it at Kenneth. Kenneth blocked the attack with his shield, expending significant energy before batting it away into the side of a nearby building and creating a large explosion.
Karna Corvile used Kenneth’s focus on his attack as an opportunity to close the distance, slashing Kenneth across the chest before staggering back. Kenneth roared as he batted Karna Corvile’s blades away, “You’re not getting away with what you did to Corvile!” He swung his sword at Karna Corvile, who blocked the swipe with his two reverse grip blades.
Kenneth yelled as he batted the blades out of the way, slashing Karna Corvile across the chest. “Why are you hitting me, Kenneth?” Karna Corvile said with Corvile’s voice as he staggered back.
Kenneth froze as Karna Corvile spread his wings, unleashing a barrage of black feather darts at him and making him stagger back as a cascade sparks erupted from his body.
With breakneck speed, Karna Corvile darted past Kenneth, slashing him before darting past him again with another slash, each attack punctuated with dark energy. The attacks sent Kenneth staggering forward significantly, barely managing to recover before he hit the ground. As Kenneth tried to recover, Karna Corvile flapped his wings, unleashing a cylindrical, vortex-like blast of dark energy at Kenneth. The attack struck him, creating a massive explosion and knocking Kenneth back, making him unmorph as he was sent rolling across the ground.
“Corvile…” Kenneth said softly as Karna Corvile approached him.
Karna Corvile flipped his swords to grip them regularly, imbuing them with dark energy as he looked down at Kenneth, “It’s time to put you out of your misery.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Neil declared, slashing Karna Corvile across the back. Sparks erupted from Karna Corvile’s back as he spun around, flipping his swords back into a reverse grip as the dark energy disappeared from them. Karna Corvile used the swords to block a swing from Neil’s own, batting it to the side before slashing the blades outward and striking Neil’s chest.
“This does not concern you, Neil Astra,” Karna Corvile rasped as Neil staggered back.
“Kenneth and Corvile are my friends and Earth is my home, it does concern me!” Neil declared as he fired blasts from his Morpher at Karna Corvile.
Karna Corvile swung his swords, blocking Neil’s projectiles before firing his own white thread-like energy projectiles from the spikes on the guards of his swords. The projectiles curved to hit Neil, but he angled his sword to block the attacks, the impact only forcing him back a few steps.
Karna Corvile shook his head, “I have wasted enough time indulging you. It is time to begin freeing this world of its suffering.” Karna Corvile took to the air, flying out of view.
Neil unmorphed as a single black feather drifted down from the air, landing in Kenneth’s hand as he still laid prone on the ground. Kenneth clutched it until his knuckles were white, tears streaming down his face as he gave a roar of despair, “Corvile!”
From the point in the sky where Karna Corvile had disappeared, dark clouds began to form, rapidly spreading to the horizons and blotting out the sun as dark lightning leapt from cloud to cloud and the wind picked up.
Neil turned his attention from the clouds to the others as they ran down the street, with Arthur carrying the Leo Minor Zord, “Guys, what’s going on?”
“Give me a second!” Birdie replied, pulling out a datapad and pointing it at the cloud. The datapad made a ping sound as Birdie lowered it, “It’s some kind of dark matter storm! This amount of it is gonna terraform the Earth and make it uninhabitable for anything in twenty-four hours!”
“Twenty-four hours? We need to do something!” Aster declared, steam shooting from his nose.
“Kenneth’s injured too, we need to get him patched up,” Brando added, having approached Kenneth and knelt down next to him, trying to support him.
Shen tapped his cane, “Everyone back to the Orion! Well plan our move from there!”
“Got it!” Neil replied, plugging his Nova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Leo Zord!”
The Leo Zord flew into view, a hatch on the bottom opening. It swooped down, scooping up the Rangers before flying off. Inside, Kenneth held the feather up, pressing his forehead to it as tears ran down his cheeks.
On the Orion’s bridge, Kenneth sat towards the back of the room, slack-jawed as he looked at his wedding ring. Meanwhile, the other eleven Rangers looked out the bridge’s window at Earth, which was now completely engulfed in a dark matter storm.
“It’s everywhere,” Arthur said with wide eyes.
“It looks more like a gas planet at this point,” Hydra added.
Neil looked to the others while holding the Leo Minor Zord, “We gotta find some way to stop this fast!”
“Birdie,” Shen said, turning to face the android, “try and get some readings on Earth and the storm, pronto!”
Birdie gave a curt nod before moving to a console, “Yes sir!”
The Rangers turned away from the window, with Brando turning his attention to Kenneth before approaching him, “Kenneth, are you-”
Kenneth didn’t allow Brando to finish before he spat out a harsh response, “What do you think, Brando!” Brando backed up slightly as Kenneth continued, “I just get the man I love more than anything back after I thought he died and am able to marry him, only to find out that he became Karna Rog’s vessel to protect me and now I have to kill him!”
“Kill him?” Tip questioned.
Alura nodded, “Kenneth, no one said anything about-”
“He did, Alura!” Kenneth snapped, “You heard what he said before he transformed, he either wants to stop being Karna Rog’s puppet, or wants us to stop Karna Rog regardless!”
Aster shook his head, “Kenneth, killing someone you love… it’s not something you can ever recover from.”
“He’s right, Kenneth, you have to understand what the consequences of this are,” Leiurus nodded.
“I was the Galactic Federation’s president, I know there are consequences!” Kenneth shot back.
“Surely this is not what you want, Kenneth,” Sirius said quietly.
Kenneth shook his head, “Of course it isn’t, I love him!” He sighed, “But it’s what he wants, I can’t imagine everything Karna Rog put him through for the past three hundred years, I just… can’t, he doesn’t deserve to suffer any more, and I understand that… that’s what he wants.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Kenneth,” Neil said, crossing his arms, “there’s no telling if Karna Rog made him say that.”
“So what if he did?” Kenneth responded, “It… it’s my duty to keep the galaxy safe, ever since I was president. Corvile… he understood that too, everyone assembled to fight Karna Rog… they… they understood they might die to stop Karna Rog. I know he’d… he’d lay down his life to keep the galaxy safe, just… just like he did for me.”
“Kenneth, Corvile is part of the galaxy too, you know,” Neil replied, “he deserves to be saved and protected too, even if he does know that.”
Shen nodded, “Besides, Kenneth, what if killing him doesn’t destroy Karna Rog? He’d have died for nothing.”
“What do you suggest then, huh?” Kenneth questioned, “Go on, give me another option to stop Corvile from suffering as Karna Rog’s puppet!”
Neil took a deep breath, “I… I don’t know.” He shook his head, “But we’ll figure something out Kenneth, like we always do. I know in my heart that everyone can live, and I’m not gonna let you think they can’t!”
“We need to be realistic here, Neil!” Kenneth spat, “I don’t want to have to do it… but for the sake of the galaxy Karna Rog needs to be stopped!”
“You’re sounding just like Karna Rog,” Neil said with a shake of his head, “all you’re doing is focusing on the bad, the most extreme scenario, you’re not even considering that there might be another way!”
“I am nothing like him!” Kenneth roared, tears streaming down his face.
Neil’s eyes softened slightly, “We’re the galaxy’s hope, Kenneth. It’s our duty to bring hope just as much as it is to stop Karna Rog. None of us would be here if we didn’t believe the Empire could be stopped, hoped that things could get better! Just like I believe that Corvile can be saved!”
Kenneth hung his head and sighed, “Neil…”
The bridge was dead quiet for a moment before Birdie spoke up, “Alright, from the readings I’ve got, it looks like Karna Rog’s still over Seattle, and it looks like he’s created a ton of Imperial forces there too.”
“Any ideas on how to stop the storm?” Arthur asked.
“Well, since the storm is dark matter, the Nova Spheres’ power should be able to destroy it,” Birdie replied, “but as long as Karna Rog is active he’ll probably just create a new one.”
Kenneth clutched Karna Corvile’s feather in one hand as he wiped his tears with the other, giving a sigh. He stood up, gripping his Morpher, “Then that… that settles it then.” Despite the hesitation in his voice, the Rangers all knew what he was about to do.
“Kenneth!” Neil yelled, running at Kenneth with an arm outstretched, Kenneth disappearing in a swirl of flames before he could reach him.
“We’ve gotta stop him!” Tip exclaimed before the Phoenix Zord flew past the bridge’s window towards Earth.
“Too late,” Leiurus replied, worry on his face.
Neil turned to face the others, “We gotta get to him fast, even if he thinks this is the right way to stop Karna Rog, there’s no way he’ll survive by himself.”
Shen nodded, “Neil’s right, everyone get to your Zords now!”
“Got it, dad!” Arthur replied as he and the others darted out of the bridge.
The Phoenix Zord flew through the dark matter storm, with Kenneth looking at a screen in its cockpit displaying anything obscured by the clouds. After a moment, Karna Corvile’s silhouette appeared on the screen, with Kenneth taking a deep breath before speaking, “Don’t worry Corvile, soon you won’t have to deal with him anymore.”
The Phoenix Zord fired blasts of energy from its “nose,” but Karna Corvile quickly flew to the side. Kenneth circled around, firing more and more blasts at Karna Corvile, but he consistently dodged the attacks.
“Your determination is admirable, but misplaced,” Karna Corvile rasped as he made a wrenching gesture with his hand, ripping the cockpit of the Phoenix Zord out and hurling it towards the city below.
The cockpit hit the ground hard, making it disappear as Kenneth unmorphed and was sent rolling across the ground.
Karna Corvile descended onto the ground as a massive horde of Greyders speckled with Flatborgs and Bovidrones surrounded Kenneth. “I’ll kill you for good this time!” Kenneth spat as he struggled to stand.
“It seems you are still willing to kill me despite your beloved Corvile being my host,” Karna Corvile replied, “at least, that’s what you’re telling yourself.”
“Because I will,” Kenneth snarled.
“I don’t think so,” Karna Corvile replied, shaking his head, “I am the galaxy’s negative emotions made manifest, and I can sense each and every one swirling in your mind. Your desire to kill me and Corvile because you think that is what he wants is nothing more than you trying to distract yourself from the pain of knowing he became my host because of you, and from the pain you know will come when you do it.”
“Shut up!” Kenneth snarled, preparing to charge at Karna Rog. Karna Rog swiped his hand down, pinning Kenneth to the ground with some invisible force.
Karna Corvile’s swords appeared in his hands as he stalked forward, “It is foolish and shortsighted, and only serves to mask your despair temporarily.” Karna Corvile raised his swords, imbuing them with dark energy as an aura of dark energy writhed behind him, “Allow me to make sure you never feel that despair again.”
Before Karna Corvile could swing his blades, he and several Greyders behind him were hit by energy blasts of varying colors, making the Greyders collapse as Karna Corvile stumbled back before deflecting a few attacks with his blades.
“Kenneth!” Neil yelled as he and the other Rangers ran into view, with Birdie rushing to help Kenneth up.
“What… what are you doing here?” Kenneth questioned.
Aster turned to him, smoke shooting from his nostrils, “What do ya think, ya hothead? Helping you!”
“Kenneth, even if you’re trying to do what you think is right, you can’t just run off and fight Karna Rog yourself!” Birdie chided.
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, you sure will be able to put Corvile out of his misery if you’re dead before you can do it.”
“And even then, I’ve got a plan for how to save him!” Neil replied enthusiastically.
“You do?” Kenneth questioned, looking to the side for a moment before speaking hesitantly, “Well fine, we’ll give it a shot, but if it doesn’t work then we’re doing things my way.”
“The only way I will be separated from Corvile is through death or my own volition,” Karna Corvile rasped, “but I am a touch curious to see what you think will be able to accomplish that.”
“How about we give you a demonstration?” Leiurus inquired.
“Yeah!” Tip added, striking a pose.
“Our friend will be free!” Sirius growled.
“And you’ll be toast!” Brando continued.
Hydra nodded, “You will regret messing with our friend.”
“We’ll fulfill our duty and free the galaxy!” Alura exclaimed.
Shen twirled his cane, “Let’s get this ball rolling then!”
“Get ready, Karna Rog!” Neil concluded as he and the others readied their Morphers.
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were engulfed in light and flames, which died down to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
The Rangers charged forward, slashing through Greyders while also beginning to engage greater threats. Neil and Kenneth charged Karna Rog, who fired white thread-like projectiles from the spiked guards of his sword, but the two Rangers powered through it. They swung their swords, which Karna Rog blocked with his own in a reverse grip. Kenneth pointed the bottom of his shield at Karna Corvile’s chest while Neil did the same with his Morpher, blasting Karna Corvile in the chest at once.
Karna Rog staggered back as he spoke with Corvile’s voice, “I thought you loved me!”
Kenneth froze for a moment as dark energy crackled between Karna Corvile’s short antennae before a blast of dark lightning shot forth from them. Neil tackled Kenneth to the side, allowing them to dodge the attack as it made a horde of Greyders behind them go up in flames.
Aster swung his axe at a Bovidrone, which blocked it with its arm. Aster grabbed it and forced it to the side before slashing the Bovidrone across the chest. “Your turn, partner!” he called.
“With pleasure!” Lieurus called as he ran forward, wrapping his tail around his leg. He slashed the Bovidrone with his spear, spinning around in the process to kick the Bovidrone in the chest with his tail-wrapped leg.
Birdie flew through the air, blasting through Greyders below. She landed and kneed a Flatborg in the chest, making it stagger back slightly before it swung its tonfa at her, forcing her to leap back to avoid it. “Nice try!” she taunted as it thrust its tonfa at her. She leapt to the side spinning through the air horizontally as she blasted the Flatborg with her Morpher and blaster at once.
The Flatborg raised its tonfa to block the shots, but Brando ran in from the side. “Eat this!” he called as he slashed the Flatborg’s arm, making it drop the weapon.
“For the future of the galaxy!” Sirius called as he ran forward, slashing the Flatborg across the face with his glove before slashing his claw across its chest.
Karna Corvile batted Neil’s sword away with his one before slashing the Leo Ranger across the chest, making sparks erupt from him as he staggered back. Karna Corvile quickly whipped around, using both his swords to block a swing from Kenneth’s.
“Your reign of terror ends today!” Kenneth snarled.
Karna Corvile shook his head, “Killing Corvile won’t change anything, I’ll simply find a new host.” Kenneth gave a growl as he prepared to bludgeon Karna Corvile with his shield, but the four wings on Karna Corvile’s head glowed with dark energy and then flapped. A forward-facing shockwave of dark energy was emitted, knocking Kenneth backwards.
Karna Corvile swung his dark energy-imbued swords at Kenneth, sending forth an x-shaped dark energy slash. Kenneth disappeared in a swirl of flames as the attack cleaved through the building behind him.
Neil performed a jumping slash, but Karna Corvile avoided it at breakneck speed as Neil’s sword hit the ground. Karna Corvile appeared behind Neil, preparing to strike. Neil quickly spun around, blocking Karna Rog’s swords with his own. “Well you’re wrong, we’ll save Corvile and stop you!” Neil declared as he batted Karna Corvile’s blades away.
Tip peppered another Bovidrone with shots from their crossbow, but it quickly returned fire from the guns on the backs of its hooves. “A little help?” Tip called as they dodged the shots.
“Got you!” Alura’s voice called, becoming visible in front of the Bovidrone before slashing it and stabbing it in the chest, making it stagger back.
“My turn,” Hydra said as he ran past the Bovidrone, slashing it in the side before spinning around and hooking his scythe on its leg and pulling it out from under it, making the Bovidrone hit the ground.
“I’m on a roll here!” Shen called as he deflected swings of a Flatborg’s tonfa with his cane. He blocked a swing of the tonfa before forcing it to the ground.
“Mind if I cut in?” Arthur asked as he leapt forward with his glaive aloft, striking the Flatborg with the butt of his glaive’s handle on the way down. The Flatborg staggered back slightly, giving Arthur the opportunity to deliver a spinning slash with his glaive.
The strike made the Flatborg stagger back into the two Bovidrones and the other Flatborg, with the Rangers maneuvering around them to surround them at all angles. The Rangers readied themselves to deliver a finisher, pointing their Morphers at the two Flatborgs and Bovidrones.
“All Star Shot!”
The Rangers fired beams from their Morphers, with a massive star appearing under the Bovidrones and Flatborgs as it launched a pillar of energy into the air. The Bovidrones and Flatborgs went up in flames as the pillar died down, a star shape burned into the ground where they once stood.
Neil and Kenneth fell back towards the others, with all of them turning to face Karna Corvile. “It’s over, Karna Rog!” Neil declared, “There’s twelve of us and one of you!”
Karna Corvile gave an emotionless laugh as his swords disappeared from his hands in waves of dark energy, “You have the potential to defeat me, yes, but as I have already stated, I am far stronger while inhabiting this body compared to those proxies you have dealt with before.”
“Enough talk!” Kenneth said, pointing the bottom of his shield forward and shooting red energy blasts as the others did the same with their Morphers. Karna Corvike raised a hand, a barrier made of dark energy appearing in front of him and blocking the Rangers’ attacks before disappearing.
Karna Corvile then held both of his hands forward, and issued forth from them a murder of dark energy crows. A cascade of sparks erupted from the Rangers’ suits as the crows struck them, making them stagger back.
“Though I do suppose you are right, you do have a numerical advantage,” Karna Corvile rasped, “So I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I called forth some assistance of my own.” Karna Corvile then raised his right hand, snapping his fingers.
A tornado of dark energy descended from the storm above, touching down some distance away. The tornado’s funnel shifted into a cylinder before finally coalescing into a giant Conquerer Worm, which gave a screech. It looked different than usual, not the usual brown but instead an eye-searing hodgepodge of purple, blue, red, and yellow-green, with a single green eye inside its central mouth.
Neil quickly turned to the others, “Leiurus, Hydra, Brando, Arthur, come with me to take that thing down, the rest of you deal with Karna Rog but don’t try to finish him off until I come back.”
Kenneth gave a slow nod, “Okay, Neil.”
“Leo Minor Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by the cockpits, which flew off to connect to their respective Zords. As the Leo Zord combined with the Leo Minor Zord, the Orion Zord and Orion Carrierzord descended, getting into position with the others to combine.
“Hypernova Megazord, burn bright!”
“Hero of history, Orion Battlezord!”
This formation of the Hypernova Megazord had the Dorado Zord as the right arm, the Ophiuchus Zord as the right leg, the Ursa Zords as the left arm, and the Scorpius Zord as the left leg.
The Conqueror Worm fired green energy beams from its three mouths at the Megazord and Battlezord, but they didn’t flinch, powering forward towards the Conqueror Worm. The Hypernova Megazord punched the Conqueror Worm in the chest with the Usra Zords as the Orion Battlezord slammed its mace into it, making it stagger backwards.
The Conqueror Worm let out a screech, causing dark lightning from the storm overhead to strike the Megazord and Battlezord, creating massive eruptions of sparks.
“Got a bit more ranged options than the usual Conqueror Worm, huh?” Neil asked rhetorically, “Well how about a taste of your own medicine?”
The Megazord fired its cannon as the Battlezord fired the turrets at the end of its mace, unleashing a flurry of projectiles that struck the Conqueror Worm and caused a cascade of sparks.
Just out the Seattle Space Needle, the other Rangers had engaged Karna Corvile. Birdie and Tip fired their weapons at him, but Karna Corvile swung his swords to block the projectiles. He then returned fire with white energy beams fired from the spikes of his swords’ guards, with Birdie managing to dodge one while the other hit Tip and sent them reeling.
Aster charged ar Karna Corvile with his axe, but Karna Corvile block the the attack with his swords before casually knocking Aster to the side and onto the ground.
“You will pay!” Sirius growled as he quickly closed the distance, swiping wildly at Karna Corvile with his claw and gloves and managing to duck under and weave between Karna Corvile’s sword swings. Finally, Karna Corvile blocked a swipe of his claw with one of his swords, giving him enough time to slash him across the chest with the other and send him staggering.
Karna Corvile was suddenly stabbed in the back as Alura appeared behind him. “How clever,” Karna Corvile rasped as he spun around and blocked slashes of her rapier with his swords.
Karna Corvile batted Alura away as he turned his attention to Kenneth, conjuring countless floating swords with a wave of one in his hand and launching them at Shen. Shen zoomed forward at breakneck speed before the swords could collide. He dashed past Karna Rog, slashing him with his cane before he was knocked to the ground by a slice to the chest.
Karna Corvile spun to the side to avoid a slash from Kenneth, who had just appeared in a burst of flames. “You’ll pay, Karna Rog, for everything you’ve done!” Kenneth roared as he blocked swipes of Karna Corvile’s swords with his shield or batted them away with his own.
“We shall see if you will be the ones to kill me, or if I will die once my plan succeeds,” Karna Corvile rasped as he batted away Kenneth’s sword and shield before jabbing him in the chest with both of his swords.
The Conqueror Worm lashed its tentacle-like arms at the Hypernova Megazord and Orion Battlezord, creating sprays of sparks on impact.
“Let’s see if this works,” Neil said as he backed the Hypernova Megazord away, making the Conqueror Worm focus its attention on the Orion Battlezord. It swung both arms, but the Battlezord was able to tangle them around its mace.
The Megazord opened fire on the Conqueror Worm, making it collapse to the ground as the Hypernova Megazord moved to stand beside the Orion Battlezord. “Time to finish this,”
“Hypernova Megazord All Star Breaker!”
“Orion Dynamic Breaker!”
The Hypernova Megazord fired a massive energy beam from its cannon as the Orion Battlezord launched an energy projection of the Orion Nova Sphere forward with a swing of its mace. The attacks both collided with the Conqueror Worm, making it immediately go up in flames.
Sirius, Tip, Aster, Alura, Birdie, Shen, and Kenneth all hit the ground as sparks erupted from their chests as Karna Corvile stalked forward. “Your suffering ends here,” he rasped as an orb of dark energy began to form at the top of his crest.
“Antares Strike!”
“Rasalhague Strike!”
“Doradus Strike!”
“Polaris Strike!”
Karna Corvile was suddenly struck by orange, silver, yellow, and cyan energy slashes, making him stagger significantly as the orb that had formed on his crest disappeared.
“Sorry to keep you guys waiting,” Arthur said as he appeared alongside Neil, Leiurus, Hydra, and Brando.
“You guys okay?” Brando asked as he ran to help the others.
Tip grumbled as they got to their feet, “Could be better.
Neil, noting that Karna Corvile was still recovering from the previous attack, quickly plugged the Supernova Sphere into his Morpher.
“Supernova Sphere!”
Neil was surrounded by incandescent light, which died down to reveal him as the Leorion Ranger. “Time to free Corvile,” Neil said, preparing to deliver a finisher.
“Wait, I thought you said you wanted to free Corvile without killing him,” Kenneth said, confused.
“Please, just trust me on this!” Neil replied.
“Constellation Crash!”
Neil fired a sphere of white energy surrounded by interlocking red and blue rings at Karna Corvile. Before the attack could hit, a cloud of smoke and darkness exited Karna Corvile, making his body glow white before it died down to reveal Corvile in its place.
Neil quickly opened a portal in front of the attack, making it pass through it before being shot into the sky by another portal.
Corvile stood there, seemingly delirious and standing with wobbly legs. Still, Kenneth gave a look of relief under his visor, “Corvile!” He turned to Neil, “How?”
Neil chuckled, holding his arms behind his head, “I always noticed that whenever we were about to finish off one of Karna Rog’s proxies, he left the proxy just before the attack hit. I figured he’d do the same here.”
Shen moved to rest an arm on Neil’s shoulder, “Pretty great plan if you ask me.”
Neil grinned, “Thanks, dad.”
Corvile seemed to regain awareness of his surroundings, turning his attention to Kenneth, “Kenneth?”
“Corvile!” Kenneth cheered as he began to run towards him, “Thank the stars!”
Suddenly, the cloud of smoke and darkness reappeared and descended on Corvile, entering his body through his eyes and mouth. Once the cloud was gone, Corvile’s body began to emit blinding white light once again, six black wings emerging from his back as the Rangers were forced to look away and Kenneth backed up. The wings retracted and the light died down as Karna Corvile once again stood in Corvile’s place. “Your attempt was commendable,” Karna Corvile rasped, “but I am afraid it wasn’t meant to be.”
“No…” Kenneth said quietly and shakily, disbelief washing over him once again, “no, no no!”
Neil readied his sword as the others aside from Kenneth readied their own weapons, “What? How?”
Karna Corvile gave an emotionless chuckle, “Corvile was right three hundred years ago, those in possession of a Nova Sphere other than the Corvus Nova Sphere are protected from my possession.” He shook his head, “That is something I learned when I tried handling the Phoenix Nova Sphere while inhabiting him.”
Shen was the next to speak, “So what you’re saying is-”
“Correct,” Karna Corvile rasped in reply, “because the Corvus Nova Sphere is unable to protect him, I can simply possess him again without issue.” He looked at Neil, “Your plan was quite ingenious, Neil Astra, but you made a grave error not accounting for that.”
Before the Rangers could do anything, a massive unfocused shockwave of unfocused dark energy was emitted from all over Karna Corvile’s body. The shockwave made them unmorph as it hit them, also forcing them to stumble back a few steps as well.
As the Rangers attempted to recover, Karna Corvile shot forward in a blur going at breakneck speed. He grabbed Kenneth by the throat, lifting him off the ground before he could react.
“C-Corvile…” Kenneth choked out, tears in his eyes.
“Let’s take this somewhere a bit more… private,” Karna Corvile said in Corvile’s voice as a sphere of dark smoke formed around him and Kenneth.
Neil immediately broke into a sprint towards them, holding his hand forward, “Kenneth!” Before Neil could reach them, a symbol depicting a crow flashed on the sphere of smoke before it disappeared, leaving behind only a swirl of black feathers that drifted slowly onto the ground.
Notes:
And thus we enter the final arc of the story, the Rangers Vs Karna Rog himself. There’s not a lot I wanna say for this chapter other than the fact that the internal reveal of Karna Rog’s identity is something I’ve been waiting to do for a long time. Trust me, Kenneth still isn’t done going through some major shit, and his reactions to Karna Corvile in particular are a reason I’ve been so excited for this chapter. Honestly, this if this was an actual PR episode I definitely feel like quite a few things would be changed since I’m pretty sure I’m pushing the envelope for what should be in PR here. Anyways, as always, comments are appreciated, as are contributions to the Tv Tropes page.
Chapter 43: Guiding Star
Chapter Text
“What the heck just happened?” Neil asked with surprise as he looked at the black feathers where Kenneth and Karna Corvile had just stood.
Tip turned to look at him, equally surprised, “Don’t ask me!”
“Me neither!” Aster added.
Arthur seemed to think for a moment before adjusting his glasses quickly, “Wait, I think I do!”
“Well?” Leiurus inquired, turning to face him.
“Corvile said that the Corvus Nova Sphere had the power to send people into a world of despair, and that crow symbol that showed up was exactly the same as the one on the Corvus Nova Sphere,” Arthur replied, “So he must’ve taken Kenneth and himself there.”
“Well that answers that question,” Alura replied, “but how do we get them out?”
Arthur looked at the pile of feathers, “I’m not sure, it looks like Karna Rog took the Nova Sphere with him.”
“We can figure something out shortly,” Shen replied, looking up at the stormy sky, “Without Karna Rog around, now’s our best opportunity to put an end to this storm.”
Neil nodded in reply, “Good point, dad. Let’s put a stop to this while Karna Rog isn’t around to get a new one started.” Neil raised his Nova Sphere, with the other ten Rangers doing the same. Neil’s eyes glowed white as the Nova Spheres shot pillars of light of their respective colors into the storm above. The storm dissipated, the horizon once again visible, but suddenly, a new storm formed, spreading outward just as quickly as the first one.
“Good gravy!” Brando exclaimed with surprise.
Hydra gave a look of confusion, “It came back?”
“But how?” Sirius asked with irritation.
Birdie tilted her head to the side, “I guess he must be able to keep controlling the storm even when he isn’t here.”
“Well what do we do now?” Leiurus inquired, “Kenneth and Karna Rog are gone and we can’t even stop the storm.”
Shen turned to the other Rangers, “We need to head back to the Orion, we can plan our next move from there.”
Neil nodded as he got his Morpher ready, “Good idea, dad. Let’s go.”
“Leo Zord!”
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Lupus Zord!”
“Libra Zord!”
“Taurus Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Aquila Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Draco Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which then lifted off to connect to their respective Zords before flying away.
In the Orion Carrierzord’s bridge, the Rangers had all gathered around the table at the center of the room, the Leo Minor Zord resting on Neil’s shoulder. “So what’s the plan then?” Alura asked, looking at Shen.
Shen turned to her, “Well obviously our first order of business is getting Kenneth and Karna Rog back. As long as Karna Rog is in that world of despair, there’s nothing we can do to stop the storm.” Shen shook his head, “But this issue is of course finding a way to get them out to begin with. From the sounds of it, this world of despair is some kind of pocket dimension, one that I don’t think we can access even with another Nova Sphere.”
“So what?” Aster replied, not sounding particularly happy, “We just let him wipe out all life on Earth and move on to the next planet?”
“The only way he’ll probably even leave the world of despair is when life on Earth is wiped out and needs to move onto another planet,” Hydra responded.
“There’s no way we’re letting that happen,” Arthur said sternly, “we have to find a way to get him out and stop the storm.”
Tip tilted their head, “But how? From the sounds of it we’re in a catch twenty-two, man, we can’t stop the storm without getting Karna Rog out and stopping him, but the only way he’ll probably leave is when the Earth’s destroyed.”
“We can’t even get Kenneth back either,” Brando replied sourly.
Birdie nodded, “There’s no telling what Karna Rog’s doing to him, and we can’t do anything to stop it.”
Neil was quiet, contemplating something. He took a deep breath before speaking, “Yes, there is.” His eyes passed over the others, a look of determination burning in them, “I’ve got an idea, an idea for how to save Kenneth and Corvile and stop Karna Rog, an idea for how to make everything turn out alright in the end.”
“Are you sure, Neil?” Leiurus, “I mean, with all due respect even if we could get everything else done, I’m not sure how we could still save Corvile.”
Neil shook his head, “The only reason why my plan didn’t work was because I didn’t think Karna Rog could just possess Corvile again. Now that I know that and that the Corvus Nova Sphere is what makes him vulnerable unlike us, I’ve got an idea on how to stop him from doing it again.” He took a deep breath as the Leo Minor Zord nuzzled his cheek, “I’m not sure if it’ll work, but what other option do we have? We have to at least try, for Kenneth, Corvile, Earth, and the galaxy.”
The other Rangers looked at each other, exchanging glances and nodding before Shen spoke up, “Alright Neil, what do you have in mind?”
“Well, we don’t have much time, so I’ll try and make this quick,” Neil replied, “I might be able to use my Astrographer powers to open a gateway to the world of despair without the need of the Corvus Nova Sphere, then I’ll get Kenneth and Karna Rog out of there.”
“Are you sure you’re able to do that?” Alura inquired.
Neil shook his head, “I’m not sure, but if Arthur was able to summon the Ursa Minor Nova Sphere from across the galaxy when he shouldn’t have been able to use his powers fully, I don’t think it’s out of the question.”
“Fair point,” Arthur nodded, “but it sounds like you’re going to do this yourself, doesn’t that sound pretty risky?”
“That’s because I need you guys here,” Neil replied, “I need you guys to clear out the rest of the Empire’s forces and get anyone who’s still in the city out of there.” Neil thought for a moment, “Bring the other Nova Sphere too, all of them, I’ll probably need them when I bring Kenneth and Karna Rog back.”
Birdie gave a nod of affirmation, “I’ll get them ready.”
“So what exactly is all of this supposed to do?” Tip inquired, curious.
“I see what he’s trying to do,” Shen said with a nod, “I’ll explain on our way back to Earth, I don’t think we should hold up Neil any longer.”
“Thanks dad,” Neil replied with a smile.
Arthur took a step forward, looking at Neil intently, “Be careful, Neil. It’ll be bad enough if we lose Kenneth there, I don’t want to lose you too.”
Neil put a reassuring hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “I will, Arthur, I promise.”
As Neil removed his hand from Arthur’s shoulder, Shen moved to pull Neil into a hug, “Good luck out there.”
“Thanks dad,” Neil smiled as he pulled away from the hug. He removed the Leo Minor Zord from his shoulder, which gave a small growl in protest. “Sorry little guy, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I will take him,” Sirius said, taking the Leo Minor Zord from Neil’s hands.
“Thanks, Sirius,” Neil said as he backed away from the bridge’s table. He took a deep breath before speaking as the other Rangers looked at him confidently, “I promise I’ll you guys again, and when I do Kenneth and Corvile will be with me.”
Neil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating. When he opened his eyes they gave a bright white glow. A sphere of dark smoke formed around Neil, engulfing him before a crow symbol flashed on its surface. The sphere disappeared with Neil vanishing along with it, leaving only a swirl of black feathers that slowly drifted down onto the bridge’s floor.
Neil appeared in what appeared to be the ruins of Seattle, the dark energy storm roaring overhead. He looked around, spotting the other Rangers lying around one of Karna Rog’s proxy bodies. Slowly, the proxy lifted up the helmets of Shen and Arthur before rasping, “It’s your fault this happened.”
Neil rolled his eyes, “If you want to try and slow me down, Karna Rog, then you’ll need to try something else other than this again.” Neil spun on his heel and began to walk away, the ruins of Seattle dissolving into dark smoke around him. He marched through the smoke, a determined look in his eyes.
The remaining ten Rangers ran through the streets of Seattle, coming to a plaza filled with Greyders, Flatborgs, and Bovidrones attacking the city’s residents.
“Alright, let’s not let Neil down,” Aster said, turning to the others.
Alura nodded as she readied her Morpher alongside the others, “Let’s get going, we don’t have any time to waste.”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
The Rangers were engulfed in light, which died down to reveal their Ranger forms.
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!” the ten Rangers exclaimed in unison before charging forward. They quickly engaged the Imperial forces, tearing through the Greyders with great efficiency.
Alura slashed a Greyder across the chest before spinning out of the way of a Flatborg’s tonfa and stabbing another Greyder. “Boss!” she exclaimed, turning to Shen.
Shen raised his cane, blocking the blades of a few Greyders before forcing the blades to the side and slashing the Greyders across the chests. He turned to Alura, “Yes?”
“You take a few of the others and get everyone evacuated, the rest of us will focus on cleaning things up!” she said, ducking under a Bovidrone’s fist.
Shen slashed a Flatborg across the leg, making it fall to its knees, “Got it. Sirius, Tip, Aster, Birdie, get ready to roll out!”
“Of course!” Sirius said as he held his claw up, blocking the downward swings of Greyders that had surrounded him. He forced the blades away before indiscriminately kicking and slashing the Greyders, making them collapse.
“One sec!” Tip called, blasting a few Greyders with their crossbow. A Flatborg tried to approach them from behind, but they spun around and stabbed it with their crossbow before firing into its chest point blank.
Aster batted a Greyder away before launching his forearm at a Bovidrone, which flew around and struck it repeatedly before reconnecting with him, “Sure thing, Boss!”
“Yes sir!” Birdie called as she kicked a Greyder back and held her arms out to her sides, firing blasts from her Morpher and Blaster to strike Greyders charging at her from her sides. She flapped her wings as she leapt backwards, propelling herself to stand by Sirius, Tip, Aster, and Shen before the five ran off.
Leiurus lashed several Greyders with his tail before charging at a Bovidrone and leaping forward, slashing it with his spear, “This shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Let’s hope so,” Hydra replied as he yanked a Greyder’s blade out of his hand with his scythe, the weapon hitting a Flatborg in the face as it soared through the air while Hydra slashed the Greyder it belonged to.
“It should be a piece of cake!” Brando added, blocking a Greyder’s blade with his hand before jabbing his visor into the side of its neck and tossing it into a few more.
As the Greyders recovered from their comrade’s body being thrown at them, Arthur charged forward, slashing one across the chest with his glaive. He held the glaive horizontally to block the attacks of Greyders to his sides before stabbing one with the bladed end and spinning around to slash the other. “Looks like it’s just Flatborgs and Bovidrones now,” he said as he fell back towards the others.
Alura looked over the handful of Imperial forces that remained before turning to the others, “If we want to finish this fast, we’ll need some extra firepower.” She pulled out the Lux Nova Sphere and gave it a little shake to urge the others.
“Good plan,” Hydra said, pulling out the Void Nova Sphere as Leiurus pulled out a purple Nova Sphere depicting a unicorn, Brando pulled out a light grey Nova Sphere depicting a Pegasus, and Arthur pulled out a cyan Nova Sphere depicting a large bear.
“Monoceros Nova Sphere!”
“Pegasus Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Major Nova Sphere!”
“Lux Nova Sphere, Lunar Mode!”
“Void Nova Sphere!”
Light and energy appeared around the Rangers, with Leiurus now having a drill on his arm, Brando having armor on his torso, Arthur now being the size of a house, Alura having a moon on her helmet, and Hydra now being the Void Ophiuchus Ranger.
“Hey guys! Long time no see!” Pegasus said from Brando’s armor.
“Nice to see you too,” Arthur replied with a nod.
“Sorry for not using you that often, but we’ll need all the help we can get,” Brando replied.
Pegasus chuckled, “It’s no problem.”
Hydra shook his head, “I think we can have this conversation later.”
Leiurus nodded, “Yes, we’ve got work to do.”
“Alright everyone, let’s go!” Alura exclaimed, charging forward as the others followed suit.
Arthur kicked a Flatborg into the air, sending it up and backwards. Brando then shot forward at breakneck speed into the air behind it, swinging his saber down and slamming the Flatborg into the ground with an explosion.
Leiurus blocked shots from the guns on the back of a Bovidrone’s hooves with his drill as he charged at it. He slashed the machine with his drill, making it stagger back before launching a spinning dark energy crescent at him with its crest. Leiurus spun to the side to avoid it before grabbing the Bovidrone’s shoulder. In one fluid movement he had impaled the Bovidrone on his drill before tossing it away as it exploded.
A pair of Flatborgs fired fireballs from their tonfa at Alura, who gracefully dodged them. She swung her rapier, launching crescents of green and shimmering yellow energy at the Flatborgs. They blocked the attack, but were sent stumbling back anyway. “Moonbeam!” she declared, spinning around and holding her rapier high before pointing it forward, firing a massive blast of green and shimmering yellow energy at the Flatborgs, destroying them instantly.
Suddenly, a massive beam of red energy was fired at her, forcing her to dodge it. It moved to try and strike her again and allowed her to see that a Bovidrone was the source. Before she could dodge again, Hydra’s scarf wrapped around its legs, pulling it to the ground. “I’ll take it from here,” Hydra said as he slashed a Flatborg, making it stumble to a Bovidrone. Hydra glared at them, making the Flatborg ram its tonfa through the Bovidrone’s chest before the Bovidrone destroyed it with its shoulder-mounted cannon as it collapsed.
More Greyders, Flatborgs, and Bovidrones entered the plaza, prompting a sigh from Alura, “These guys never learn, do they?”
Neil continued through the smoke of the world of despair, which swirled around him before slowly parting. Neil found himself standing in the ruins of Stellarum on Samos, the sky was dark, and the only source of illumination were blazing fires that revealed countless motionless bodies. Neil looked ahead, spotting a morphed Kenneth giving a battle cry as he charged at Karna Corvile.
“Kenneth!” Neil yelled, running forward as Kenneth swung his sword at Karna Corvile. A flash of light was emitted from Karna Corvile, and as the light died down, Corvile’s body hit the ground.
Kenneth took a step back, dropping his sword and shield in the process. Kenneth unmorphed, allowing Neil to see the shock on his face, how heavy he was panting, and the tears running down his cheeks. “Corvile!” he yelled with despair, falling to his knees and pulling Corvile’s body into his arms.
Neil ran forward, squatting down beside Kenneth and extending his hand, “Kenneth, it’s okay! There’s no way Karna Rog would let Corvile die given he needs him to keep things going, this isn’t the real Corvile, Karna Rog’s messing with you.”
“Get away!” Kenneth snarled, batting Neil’s hand away, “Who cares if it’s fake? It doesn’t change the fact that it could be real because of you!”
Neil was taken aback, “Kenneth, what are you-”
“You said you could free him, Neil!” Kenneth spat venomously, “You said your plan could save him, but it didn’t! All you did… all you did was give me false hope, all you did was make it clear to me I have no choice but to kill the man I love to stop this!”
Neil tried to process what Kenneth said before replying, “Kenneth I… I know my plan failed, alright? But I know how to do it this time, I’m sure of it! Please, just give me another chance! I know what I’m doing now!”
Kenneth just shook his head before turning back to Corvile’s body, holding it close. Neil extended a hand forward before Karna Rog’s voice spoke up from behind him, “I fear Kenneth Faulkner is likely too far into the pit of despair to listen to you now.”
Neil spun around to see Karna Corvile standing behind him, making him glare as he got to his feet, “Karna Rog.”
“Your tenacity is admirable, Neil Astra,” Karna Corvile rasped, “Though I suppose it’s to be expected by now.”
“If you’re really against despair as much as you say you are, you’d stop this and let him go,” Neil said intently.
Karna Corvile shook his head, “I came here to avoid confrontation with you while Earth is cleansed, unfortunately one cannot send themself this world alone, but they can be brought along with someone else. Do not mistake this for needless cruelty. Surely you can free him by yourself if you wish, can you not?”
“If so have to be the one to let him out, then I’m gonna help get back the will to fight first,” Neil replied.
“I see…” Karna Corvile rasped, his swords materializing in his hands in a reverse grip, “then I take it you’ll have no issue confronting me if that is what it takes.”
“You’re right,” Neil said, readying his Morpher, “I’ll take you down by myself if it means saving Kenneth and Corvile!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
Neil was enveloped in red light which died down to reveal him in his Ranger suit, already wielding his sword. Neil charged forward as Karna Corvile fired white energy blasts from the spiked guards of his swords, with Neil deflecting them with swipes of his own. Once Neil was close enough he swung his sword horizontally with both hands, but Karna Corvile blocked the swipe with both of his swords. “Holding back, I see,” Karna Corvile rasped.
“I might be fighting you, but I’m not gonna seriously hurt Corvile,” Neil shot back.
Karna Corvile pulled one of his swords back before stabbing Neil in the chest with the downturned blade, making the Leo Ranger stagger back. “I find it admirable how you continue to believe that there can be a good outcome, as naive as it is,” Karna Corvile rasped before spreading his wings and firing a barrage of razor-sharp feathers at Neil.
Neil rolled to the side before charging at Karna Rog, “It’s not being naive!” He slashed his sword at Karna Rog, who swung one of his own swords to deflect it. Using the momentum, Neil spun around, delivering a spinning slash that sent Karna Corvile stumbling back, “You just can’t understand that things can turn out alright!”
“You have not experienced existence the way I have,” Karna Corvile rasped, swinging his swords at Neil, forcing him backwards as he blocked the strikes. “I have felt every ounce of suffering, every gasp of pain, every scream of rage,” Karna Corvile continued, locking one sword with Neil’s before firing a beam of white energy into his chest that made him fall back onto the ground, “Show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy in this entire galaxy.”
Neil got back to his feet, subconsciously wiping the back of his hand on the sculpted lips of his helmet, “Alright then, I’ll show you mercy, and I’ll do it by making sure Corvile doesn’t have to die!”
Karna Corvile pointed one of his swords upward, causing an arc of similar swords to appear above him that pointed at Neil. The swords shot themselves at Neil one at a time as he charged forward, with the Leo Ranger responding by weaving between some blades and batting others away with his sword. Neil leapt forward at Karna Corvile, preparing to deliver a downward slash.
Karna Corvile flapped his wings, propelling himself backward and forcing Neil’s sword to hit the ground. Neil glanced at Kenneth momentarily, “Come on Kenneth! We can do this!” Kenneth glanced at Neil momentarily, giving a shake of his head with a disapproving look in his eyes.
Neil turned his attention back to Karna Corvile just in time to roll out of the way of a white energy beam, getting back to his feet at the end of the roll. He quickly got to charging forward, firing his Morpher at Karna Corvile as he closed the distance between them. Karna Corvile batted the projectiles away with his swords, pulling his attention away from Neil and allowing him to slash him across the chest once he was close enough.
Karna Corvile swiped his swords down at Neil in an x-shape, making sparks erupt from Neil’s chest before the Leo Ranger used his sword to block another pair of slashes from Karna Rog, locking their weapons together. As their weapons clashed, Neil looked back at Kenneth once again, “Please Kenneth, trust me! We can’t give up now, not when the galaxy depends on us! Not when we’re so close to saving Corvile and stopping Karna Rog for good!”
Kenneth turned back to Neil, his gaze lingering longer, and lacking the previous disapproving look in his eyes. This time, he didn’t look away.
“I’m growing tired of this,” Karna Corvile rasped before batting the wings on his head and knocking Neil back with a shockwave of dark energy. As Neil recovered he fired white thread-like projectiles from the guards of his swords. Neil raised his sword to block the attack, but to his surprise they curved around him, and the angle that they did so at allowed them to strike him in the back, creating an eruption of sparks
Neil dropped his sword and stumbled forward from the attack, directly into a slash from one of Karna Corvile’s swords before he was hit by another slash that sent him stumbling to the side.
“Neil!” Kenneth called, voice filled with worry.
Neil tried to get back to his feet, taking longer than usual without his sword to help support him. “It’s not… over yet,” Neil managed to say, pulling out the Supernova Sphere.
Karna Corvile shook his head as the sword in his left hand disappeared, “I will not allow for that this time.” Karna Corvile flicked his index finger, launching the Supernova Sphere from Neil’s hand and sending it flying through the air before landing on the ground next to Kenneth.
Before Neil could respond, Karna Corvile forced his open free hand downward, pinning the Leo Ranger to the ground. “You have reminded me that your comrades will no doubt continue to be a nuisance once I leave this place,” Karna Corvile rasped, his other sword disappearing from his right hand, “I suppose I should turn my attention to them for a moment.” Karna Corvile raised his right hand, giving a resounding snap with his fingers.
Several twisters descended down from the dark energy storm above, shifting into cylinders before solidifying into Flatborgs, Bovidrones, and Consumoai in their robot modes. Alura’s Morpher buzzed, making her lift it up as she rolled out of the way of a Flatborg’s tonfa, “What is it?”
“We’ve managed to evacuate the city,” Shen’s voice replied from the other end, “we’re going to get our Zords and deal with the forces the storm spat out.”
“Give us a second and we’ll be right there!” Alura replied, slashing a Flatborg across the chest and making it stumble into other Flatborgs and Bovidrones the Rangers knocked back. Alura turned to look at the other Rangers, “Arthur, send them flying, me, Leiurus, Hydra, and Brando will deliver the last hit. Let’s make this quick so we can help the others!”
“Got it!” Arthur replied, running forward and kicking the cluster of Flatborgs and Bovidrones high into the air as Alura and Leiurus readied their Morphers while Hydra and Brando plugged the Void and Pegasus Nova Spheres respectively into their weapons.
“Monocerotis Strike!”
“Void Rasalhague Strike!”
“Eclipse Shot!”
“Enif Strike!”
Alura fired an orb of red and yellow energy at the Bovidrones and Flatborgs, engulfing them in an orb of fire that got darker as if it was the sun being eclipsed by the moon. Leiurus launched forth an orange and purple drill-shaped energy projectile, which combined with the dark and grey energy slashes Hydra and Brando had launched. The combined attack collided with the Flatborgs and Bovidrones just as they were completely eclipsed, creating a massive explosion.
Arthur returned to regular size as the extensions to the other Rangers suits disappeared, with Leiurus being the first to speak, “Alright, let’s get moving.”
“Let’s wrap up everything Neil needed us to do,” Hydra said, readying his Morpher along with the others.
“Scorpius Zord!”
“Ophiuchus Zord!”
“Chamaeleon Zord!”
“Dorado Zord!”
“Ursa Zords!”
The Rangers were surrounded by their cockpits, which flew off to connect to their respective Zords. Once in the air, they were joined by the Libra, Taurus, Aquila, Draco, and Cerberus Zords. “Cerberus, huh?” Brando said approvingly, “You must really want to make sure these guys are toast.”
“Two Megazords are better than one, as you say,” Sirius replied, “Especially one as strong as the Gamma Burst Megazord.”
“Well let’s get to clobbering these guys!” Aster said excitedly.
Birdie nodded as the Zords got into position to combine, “Let’s make them regret ever showing their faces after we destroyed Project Wormwood!”
“Draco Star Megazord, spread your wings!”
“Destroyer of darkness, Gamma Burst Megazord!”
This formation of the Draco Star Megazord had the Ursa Zords as its right arm, while the Aquila Zord comprised its left arm. Meanwhile, the Gamma Burst Megazord had the Dorado Zord as its right arm, the Scorpius Zord as its left arm, the Taurus Zord as its right leg, and the Chamaeleon Zord as its left leg. The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords stood to the Megazords’ sides, having transformed into their robot modes.
The Imperial forces opened fire on the Megazords and two smaller Zords, but they powered through it unfazed. The Gamma Burst Megazord fired yellow and green beams from the canine heads on its shoulders, slashing across a few of the forces. The Draco Star Megazord launched the Ursa Minor Zord, which grinded its wheel against a Flatborg’s face before being recalled.
The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords, being smaller, closed the distance first. “Let’s take you for a spin!” Tip declared as the Libra Zord leapt up with its arms outstretched, its shields cutting into a Bovidrone’s chest like a buzzsaw. The Ophiuchus Zord also leapt up, but slammed its fists inward at a Consumoai’s head, the impact making it stagger back.
By now, the two Megazords had closed the distance and began to engage in melee. The Draco Star Megazord blocked a swing of a Flatborg’s tonfa with the wings of the Aquila Zord before punching a Bovidrone with the Ursa Zords. Off to the side, the Gamma Burst Megazord batted away a Consumoai’s lance with the Dorado Zord, following it with a stab from the Scorpius Zord’s stinger.
Another Consumoai got behind the the Draco Star Megazord, knocking it forward with a strike of its lance. Meanwhile, a Bovidrone grabbed the beak of the Dorado Zord mid-swing, punching the Gamma Burst Megazord in the chest. The Megazord wasn’t fazed by this, breaking the Dorado Zord free and using it to slash the Bovidrone.
“Give me a second, I’ve got an idea for how to finish these guys quick” Alura said as she gripped the Chamaeleon Zord’s controls. The Chamaeleon Zord was kicked out, its tongue extending and ensnaring all their Imperial forces, pulling them together into a clump before retracting back.
“Good job Alura! to wrap this up!” Shen declared, preparing to deliver a finisher alongside the other Rangers before the Flatborgs, Consumoai, and Bovidrones had a chance to get out of the way.
“Emotion Shimmer!”
“Draco Star Megazord Star Breaker!”
“Gamma Burst Megazord Star Breaker!”
The Libra and Ophiuchus Zords shifted position, firing beams of gold energy from the tops of their cockpits. The Draco Star Megazord held the Ursa Zord forward, firing a beam of pink, purple, and cyan energy from it. The Cerberus Zord’s three heads breathed energy beams onto the Dorado Zord’s beam, creating a massive blade of red, green, and yellow energy that the Gamma Burst Megazord then swung
The attacks collided with the Imperial forces erupting in a massive explosion as the two Megazords and the two smaller Zords turned away from it.
“Alright everyone, let’s get rolling and get back on the ground,” Shen commanded, “Neil and Kenneth will probably need our help when they get back.”
“Let’s hope things are going as good for him as they are for us,” Arthur said as the Megazords disassembled themselves.
“Regulus Strike!”
Neil swung his sword, sending a red energy slash flying at Karna Corvile. Karna Corvile swung both of his swords in response, sending an x-shaped slash of dark energy colliding with Neil’s. Karna Corvile’s slash pushed Neil’s back, making both collide with Neil. A massive explosion erupted on impact, launching Neil back through the air and hitting the ground next to Kenneth.
Neil tried to get back to his feet, but collapsed as Kenneth tried to help him, “Neil, are you okay? Stay with me, I don’t want to lose you too!”
“I will make your death quick, Neil Astra,” Karna Corvile rasped as he approached, “Do you have any last words before I act as your escort out of this life?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do,” Neil replied, looking at Karna Rog intently before looking at Kenneth, “You’re wrong, Kenneth, I didn’t give you false hope. Wanna know why? Because there’s no such thing as false hope.”
Kenneth gave a confused look, “What are you talking about?”
Neil gave him a look of determination as he slowly got to his feet, “Hope is thinking that things can get better, Kenneth, even if they don’t. Hope is the drive to keep going when the world tells you to stop. All hope is real, none of it is fake.”
Neil took a deep breath, “Remember what happened with Hydra? We didn’t give up trying to save him for a moment when he was under the Empire’s control, why should we give up on saving Corvile? Hold onto hope for him, Kenneth, it’s the strongest weapon we have!”
Kenneth seemed to think for a moment, the look on his face showing that he was trying to process what was being said. “You’re… you’re right, Neil,” Kenneth said slowly with his eyes closed, the sound of acceptance in his voice. “Giving into despair, that’s only letting him win,” Kenneth said, looking at Karna Corvile, “I might not be able to get Corvile back, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep trying.”
He looked to Neil, giving an appreciative nod, “Thank you, Neil, for helping me see that things don’t need to be so bleak.”
“It’s no problem, man,” Neil nodded in reply before turning to face Karna Corvile.
Karna Corvile shook his head, “I suppose I should’ve freed you from this mortal coil before you had finished speaking, Neil Astra. You have Corvile to thank for me not.”
“What?” Kenneth replied with confusion, “What are you talking about?”
Neil turned to Kenneth, “We can worry about whatever he’s talking about later, right now we have to fight him and save Corvile and Earth!”
Kenneth gave a nod as he looked at Neil, “You’re right, there’s more pressing matters at hand.”
“Get ready, Karna Rog!” Neil declared, readying his Morpher as Kenneth did the same.
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Ignition!”
The two were surrounded by flames and incandescent light, which died down to reveal them in their suits. Kenneth readied his sword while Neil pulled his out of a portal at his side.
Shadowy tendrils launched forward at the Rangers from the four wings on Karna Corvile’s head, with the two Rangers slashing them as they raced forward. Karna Corvile quickly brought up his swords to block Neil and Kenneth’s, but Neil pulled a Star Blaster out of a portal. Neil shot Karna Corvile with it, with Kenneth doing the same with his shield.
As Karna Corvile stumbled back from the attack, Neil tossed the blaster into a portal as Kenneth charged forward. Karna Rog swung his swords at him, and while Kenneth was able to block one blow, the other struck him, but he didn’t seem to react to it. Kenneth batted Karna Corvile’s swords out of the way before slashing him across the chest and rolling to the side. “Your turn, Neil!” Kenneth called.
“Got it!” Neil replied, pulling the Draco Morpher out of a portal. Karna Corvile tried to recover as Neil closed the distance between the two of them, slashing Karna Corvile across the chest with his sword and the Draco Morpher in its cane move. Karna Corvile fell back a step before retailing, trying to slash Neil with both swords. Neil blocked the attacks with his own weapons, spinning back towards Kenneth and tossing the Draco Morpher into another portal.
As Neil fell back to stand next to Kenneth, dark energy gathered in a sphere at the top of Karna Corvile’s crest. The sphere shot forward at the Rangers at high speeds, but the two Rangers swung their swords before impact, slashing it in two and making two explosions erupt behind them.
The two turned to the side just as Karna Corvile appeared in a swirl of dark energy beside them, preparing to slash them. The two swung their weapons at Karna Corvile before he could attack, but one of Karna Corvile’s wings extended in front of him, blocking the attack. “Not good enough,” Karna Corvile rasped, batting the two Rangers back with his wing. As the two Rangers tried to regain their footing, Karna Corvile slashed them both with his dark energy-empowered swords, launching them back through the air and onto the ground.
Neil and Kenneth got to their feet as Karna Corvile batted his wings, sending a cylindrical, vortex like blast of dark energy at Neil and Kenneth. Anticipating the attack, Neil ran into a portal he created to his side while Kenneth vanished in a burst of flames, the attack hitting the ground where they stood and creating an explosion.
Neil and Kenneth appeared to either side of Karna Corvile, swinging their blades at him. Karna Corvile quickly raised his swords to his sides, blocking the attacks with them. Karna Corvile fired beams of white energy from the guards of his swords, striking the two Rangers and making them stumble back. Karna Corvile spun around, producing a ring of dark energy with his outstretched swords, striking Neil and Kenneth with them.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” Karna Corvile rasped.
Neil and Kenneth dug their swords into the ground to steady themselves and get to their feet, with Neil speaking first, “You really think we’re just gonna lie down and let you win?”
“You should know better than that by now, Karna Rog, especially when it comes to me!” Kenneth added. Neil’s capes shot forward towards Karna Corvile, who responded instantly, slashing ribbons of them off with his swords as they tried to reach and ensnare him.
While Karna Corvile was distracted, Kenneth appeared at Karna Corvile’s side in a burst of flames, slashing him in the side of the torso with a diagonal slash.
Karna Corvile stumbled back significantly, slashing Kenneth as he did and knocking the Phoenix Knight back too. “I will not let you interfere with my plans any further,” Karna Corvile rasped, a tornado of dark energy forming around him, touching the ground just around his feet, forcing Kenneth and Neil to brace themselves. Karna Corvile then raised one of hos swords, producing a significant amount of more swords above him that shot forward at the Rangers.
The Rangers blocked and dodged the blades, which was made considerably harder by the vortex of dark energy. “I’ll handle the swords, you deal with that vortex!” Neil yelled, spinning around and swinging his sword to deflect a trio of flying blades.
Kenneth gave a nod, batting a few swords away with his shield, “Got it!”
Neil fell back, spinning around the block a sword in the process. He came to a stop and made an arc above him with his free hand, creating twelve portals from which duplicates of the other Rangers’ weapons emerged. The weapons flew forward, blasting, or clashing blades with the storm of swords swirling around. “Kenneth, now!” Neil called as he grabbed the Star Spear from out of the air, blocking the slashes of several swords that had flown at him with its handle.
“Understood!” Kenneth replied with a nod, plugging his sword into his shield and pulled the sword’s trigger.
“Ankaa Strike!”
He disappeared in a burst of flames, appearing high in the air with wings made of fire as he pulled his sword from his shield, its blade now burning bright. He swung it, sending a wave of flames in the shape of a bird flying towards the top of the dark energy vortex. The top of the vortex was ignited on impact, burning away as the flames crept lower and lower on it and until it was completely neutralized.
Now that the vortex was no longer working as a barrier, Karna Corvile glared at the still midair Kenneth, raising his swords and imbuing them with dark energy. Before Karna Corvile could swing his blades, Neil ran at him from behind with his sword, slashing Karna Corvile across the back, “This ends now, Karna Rog!”
Karna Corvile was sent stumbling forward by the attack, and had no time to respond as Kenneth appeared before him in a swirl of flames. “Give Corvile back!” he yelled as he swung his sword, slashing Karna Corvile in the side with the impact of the attack forcing him in that direction.
“I refuse to let you force this galaxy to keep suffering,” Karna Corvile spat, a hint of irritation in his voice. The flames around the fake version of Stellarum, leaving it almost pitch black aside from where Neil, Kenneth, and Karna Corvile were. Shadowy tentacles and spikes shot towards where Neil and Kenneth stood from all angles, leaving them with nowhere to dodge.
“And I refuse to let you kill everything in it!” Neil yelled with determination, charging towards Karna Corvile alongside Kenneth. The two Rangers swung their weapons, cleaving through the tentacles and spikes before they could strike. Kenneth’s blade ignited what he struck, burning away the darkness while Neil opened portals around them, redirecting some of the spikes and tentacles so he and Kenneth could focus on others.
Neil and Kenneth closed the distance and prepared to strike Karna Corvile in unison, but the Emperor raised his blades in preparation to block the attacks. Unfortunately for him, the two saw this coming, batting his swords out of the way with their own before performing a synchronized downward slash with their weapons.
A massive cascade of sparks erupted from Karna Corvile’s chest as the impact forced him backwards. Neil quickly made a circular swipe with his free hand, opening a portal behind Karna Corvile that he then stumbled through.
“Things are going good so far, we just need to meet up with the others and then we can save Corvile,” Neil said, turning to Kenneth, “for good this time.”
Kenneth nodded, “Alright Neil, if you’re absolutely sure, then I trust you.”
The two exchanged a nod before running forward into the portal.
The two Rangers exited from the portal, finding themselves in a park in Seattle where Neil had first battled the Empire, with Karna Corvile on the ground a few yards in front of them as he struggled to get up. “This isn’t over,” Karna Corvile rasped, “I will not allow you stop me until I erase this galaxy’s suffering.”
“You’re wrong, Karna Rog, this is over!” Neil replied, taking a step forward.
“Neil, Kenneth!” Shen yelled, running into view alongside the other ten Rangers.
“Guys!” Neil replied, turning his attention to them and giving a wave.
“Kenneth! You’re alright!” Birdie exclaimed, moving to stand next to him alongside Brando.
“Looks like Neil came through yet again,” Brando nodded.
Kenneth chuckled, “That he did.”
“Good job, Neil,” Arthur said, standing next to and looking up at his brother.
“Thanks, Arthur,” Neil replied, smiling underneath his mask.
Alura stood next to Neil, putting an arm on his shoulder, “Leave it to you to succeed on the most insane solo mission imaginable:”
“Well, Kenneth was there too,” Neil replied with a laugh.
“Guys? We’ve got trouble!” Aster yelled, snapping back to reality as he pointed at Karna Corvile, who had gotten to his feet by now.
Karna Corvile gripped his swords tightly, “Rangers, you will be the first to be spared from the misery of this wretched existence.”
Neil looked at the others for a moment, “Time to get the last phase of the plan going!” He took a step forward with a determined look, his eyes beginning to glow such a bright white that it was visible through his visor, “Let’s hope this works…”
He extended a hand forward as all the other Nova Spheres flew off from the other Rangers, including the Lux and Cerberus Nova Spheres but not including the Void Nova Sphere. Motes of colorful light flew off from the Nova Spheres, swirling through the air and flying towards Karna Corvile. Before they could reach him, dark smoke emerged from Karna Corvile’s body as it was enveloped in a burst of blinding light, leaving a dazed Corvile standing there with the Corvus Nova Sphere in his hand.
The motes of light flew into the Corvus Nova Sphere, which gave a bright shine as the last of the motes finished flying into it. Almost immediately after the dark smoke that was Karna Rog descended again, entering Corvile’s body through his eyes and mouth. Corvile was once again surrounded by blinding light as six wings emerged from his body. As the light died down and the wings retracted, Karna Corvile stood there once more, a sword in each hand.
“Neil…” Kenneth said slowly, turning to look at Neil.
Neil turned to face him, “Wait for it…”
A massive shockwave of dark energy was emitted from Karna Corvile’s body, launching the Rangers back significantly and making them unmorph as they hit the ground. “I expected more from you, Neil Astra,” Karna Corvile rasped as he approached him, small wisps of smoke emerging from the Emperor’s body, “I have already shown you that your attempts to separate me from Corvile are futile, yet you attempt to separate us with an attack yet again.”
Neil gave a smirk as he looked up at Karna Corvile’s skull-like, beaked face, “It wasn’t an attack.”
“Is that so?” Karna Corvile inquired raspily, “Then what was it then?”
“You remember what me and Arthur did to the Draco and Ursa Minor Nova Spheres, right?” Neil replied with a question of his own, though he was quick to answer it himself, “We changed them, made it so their powers weren’t like what they were when the Astrographers made them.”
Realization seemed to dawn on Karna Corvile, “Then you mean-”
“Yeah,” Neil replied, his grin growing even wider, “I changed the Corvus Nova Sphere’s power, now it can’t create a world of despair, and since that power was the only thing that stopped it from hurting you…”
The wisps of smoke emerging from Karna Corvile grew thicker, billowing out massive amounts of it in a matter of moments. He dropped both swords, grabbing Neil by the neck and lifting him off the ground. “Well played, Neil Astra,” Karna Corvile rasped, sounding genuinely impressed.
The smoke finished pouring from Karna Corvile’s body, which was then engulfed in a flash of light. Neil fell to the ground, landing on his back, a dazed Corvile standing over him as the dark matter storm above began to dissipate.
Neil gave a smile as he heard Kenneth’s voice ring out, “Corvile!” In a blur, Kenneth had ran towards Corvile, pulling him into a tight embrace.
“K-Kenneth?” Corvile said slowly, Kenneth’s hug seeming to have snapped him back to reality.
“Oh thank the stars you’re okay!” Kenneth sobbed as tears ran down his cheeks, “I thought… I thought… I thought I’d have to… have to kill you…”
“I’m… I’m sorry Kenneth,” Corvile sobbed as well, though his were significantly quieter, “for everything. I just… I just wanted to protect you, I just wanted to make… make sure you were okay.” Corvile looked at his face tearfully, “I know what I did… I know it was inexcusable, so if you hat-”
“Corvile, you idiot!” Kenneth sobbed, pulling him closer, “I’d never hate you! I love you, Corvile! I love you so much!”
Neil had gotten to his feet by now, standing alongside the other Rangers with a smile on his face as they gave Kenneth and Corvile some personal space. Shen put a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “Good job, Neil.”
Neil laughed, “Thanks dad. Is everyone out of the city?”
“Yes sir!” Tip replied, striking a pose.
Birdie nodded, “Yeah, Sirius’s sense of smell helped us find anyone who has hiding pretty easily.”
Neil turned to the Fenrisulfrian, “Really? Great work, man.”
“Thank you, Neil,” Sirius replied appreciatively.
“We also cleared out all the Imperial forces here like you wanted,” Hydra replied.
Leiurus nodded, “So from the sounds of it, everything worked out how you wanted.”
“Yeah,” Neil said in reply, giving a nod of his own, “Good job guys, without anyone around, Karna Rog didn’t have anyone to possess once I got him out of Corvile. Hopefully that destroyed him.”
“Eh, felt a little anticlimactic to me,” Aster replied.
Arthur looked up to the skies above, “Uh guys? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but…” He pointed to where a massive orb of darkness had formed in the sky, streams of black energy flowing into it.
Corvile pulled away from Kenneth, his eyes widening, “Oh no…”
All across the galaxy, living creatures of all kinds suddenly froze, their skin growing darker and their eyes glazing over as they began to move more sluggishly.
“Corvile, do you know what’s going on?” Neil asked running forward to stand next to him and Kenneth.
Corvile quickly turned to Neil, panic on his face, “Without me to hold him back, he’s using all the power he has!”
“What?” Kenneth asked, confused and worried.
“I was able to partially keep Karna Rog in check when I was his host by influencing him, it’s why he didn’t destroy you Rangers the moment you appeared, and why Ankaa was sent because I knew you could turn him back into Kenneth,” Corvile said hastily, “Now he’s magnified the galaxy’s negative emotions to construct a body even stronger than when I was his!”
As if on cue, the orb of darkness began to shrink and a vaguely humanoid figure appeared from it. Its body was a dark metallic grey, with exposed brain matter all over its body, most notably its upper torso and hips. Its face was skeletal and had yellow eyes, and its head was elongated and showed its brain, and the sides had two small antennae. It wore a black skirt with a piece of cloth at the front with a golden Imperial insignia, which extended down from its split-jawed skull-shaped waist. A pair of vaguely bat-like wings extended from its back, the bottoms each ending in two spiked tips.
A scythe materialized in Karna Rog’s right hand, and he ran his left hand over the blade as he turned to face the Rangers, letting out a rasp, “Rangers…”
Notes:
Happy Easter! Here it is folks! The penultimate chapter of Power Rangers Supernova. Honestly, there’s not much I wanna say for this one aside from that yes, I never planned on killing Corvile. He was intended to survive the series since I first conceptualized him. Next chapter is of course the Rangers’ final confrontation with Karna Rog, and the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. Comments are welcomed and appreciated, as are contributions to the Tv Tropes page, which just got a character page for it.
Chapter 44: Per Aspera Ad Astra
Chapter Text
“Karna Rog!” Neil yelled angrily at the Emperor hovering high above, “How are you still alive?”
Slowly, Karna Rog descended down into the park, standing a considerable distance from the Rangers. “You have forced me to use the full extent of my power to survive,” Karna Rog rasped, “Your actions have made me plunge the galaxy into the very despair I despise.”
“No one made you do that,” Sirius snarled.
Alura nodded, “Yeah, you have no one to blame for this but yourself.”
“I will admit, I suppose I am going against my morals by doing this,” Karna Rog replied, “but it’s a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.”
“Like you had a moral compass to begin with,” Leiurus shot back.
Hydra nodded, “It only makes you a bigger hypocrite.”
“Spare me your words, Rangers,” Karna Rog replied, “You’ve been thorns in my side for far too long. Without Corvile’s influence, it’s time I give you all deaths that have been long overdue.”
Steam shot from Aster’s nostrils, “Well you’re not getting rid of these thorns anytime soon!”
“Face it pal, you’re on your last legs,” Tip added, “now you don’t have Corvile or any proxies to hide behind!”
“We shouldn’t underestimate him,” Arthur replied, “You heard what Corvile said, since he magnified the negative emotions of everyone in the galaxy, he’s probably stronger than ever!”
“So what?” Kenneth scoffed, “We’ve dealt with him before, even if he’s stronger he’s not anything we can’t handle.”
Corvile looked at him aghast, “Kenneth, he’s drawing power from innumerable beings! He’s far beyond the Karna Rog you’ve thought before, even without the Corvus Nova Sphere!”
“Your husband is right, Kenneth Faulkner,” Karna Rog rasped, “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.” Karna Rog pointed the index finger of his free hand upwards, launching a mote of dark energy into the sky. There was a flash of dark energy in the air before beams of dark energy rained down on Seattle, annihilating any building they hit.
Several beams shot towards the Rangers, forcing them to leap out of the way as a massive explosion erupted from where the beam struck the ground that they stood on. “Is everyone alright?” Shen asked as he and the others got to their feet.
“Not exactly peachy, but I can handle it,” Brando replied.
Neil nodded as he got to his feet, “Yeah, dad, I’m alright.”
“At least we got off easy,” Birdie replied before pointing off into the distance, “look.”
“Oh my stars…” Neil said quietly as he took in the damage Karna Rog’s attack had done to Seattle.
“Do you see now?” Karna Rog inquired, “Even with the advantage the Nova Spheres give you, I doubt it will be enough.” Karna Rog pointed his finger forward, “Rangers, your deaths will be swift and possibly painless if you allow them to be. It’s more than you deserve, seeing as you’ve done nothing but continue to prolong the galaxy’s suffering.”
“Ugh, I’m getting sick of this, Karna Rog!” Neil replied, glaring at Karna Rog, “Do you really think wiping out all life in the galaxy is gonna make people happy when they don’t even get a choice?”
“Why yes, Neil Astra,” Karna Rog replied, “they will be happy, as there is no feeling but happiness exists outside of this mortal coil.”
“You’re delusional!” Neil shot back, “There’s more to the galaxy than just suffering, you’d know that if you took a look around for once! But you’re too wrapped up in the suffering that you’re experiencing to notice that!” Neil gave a determined look as he took a step forward, “It’s time we put an end to you for good, and let the galaxy live free!”
“It will not be free of suffering,” Karna Rog rasped, “without being free from it, nothing will change.”
“You’re right, Karna Rog, suffering will still exist,” Neil said with determination in his eyes, “but it’s a fact of life, and people deserve to live, to smile and to cry! Besides, even if suffering will still exist,” Neil said, glancing at the others, “we can get rid of a lot of it by putting a stop to you!”
“Yeah!” the other Rangers responded in unison.
“Corvile,” Kenneth said, turning to face his husband, “get to safety, alright?”
Corvile gave a hesitant nod, “Alright, Kenneth. Good luck.” Without another word, Corvile sprinted away from the twelve Rangers.
“Get ready, Karna Rog!” Neil called as he and the other Rangers got out their Nova Spheres, “For the final battle between hope and despair!”
The twelve Rangers broke into a sprint towards Karna Rog, readying their Morphers as they charged at the Emperor. Karna Rog extended his free hand, unleashing a branching blast of dark lightning at the Rangers. A large explosion erupted behind the Rangers, but they were unfazed by it as they continued their charge and prepared to morph.
“Supernova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
The Rangers were surrounded by flames and incandescent light, which died down to reveal the twelve of them in their Ranger forms as they continued to charge.
Alura and Brando struck first, with Alura stabbing Karna Rog while Brando slashed him. Karna Rog fell back a single step before raising his scythe, blocking their next strikes. From a yellow crystal on each shoulder Karna Rog fired a pair of yellow beams, striking Alura and Brando and making them stumble back.
“Hey ugly!” Aster yelled. He managed to grab ahold of the arm Karna Rog was holding his scythe with, holding him in place as Sirius delivered a pouncing slash.
Aster let go of Karna Rog’s arm as the Emperor stumbled back before charging forward to deliver a punch. Karna Rog caught Aster’s fist with his free hand, producing a dark energy shockwave from it that launched Aster back. Karna Rog then sidestepped a downward swing of Sirius’s claw, and as Sirius spun around to slash at the Emperor again, Karna Rog swung his now dark energy-embued scythe, the blade striking Sirius and sending him flying.
Further ahead, Birdie and Shen fired upon Karna Rog, Birdie firing her blaster and Morpher while Shen fired his cane. To the other side, Tip and Hydra fired as well, Tip firing their crossbow while Hydra fired his Morpher. The four Rangers’ attacks collided with Karna Rog, staggering him slightly, but he quickly brushed it off.
The four Rangers continued to fire, but Karna Rog blocked Birdie and Shen’s shots with a swing of his scythe before raising his hand to block Tip and Hydra’s attacks with a barrier of dark energy. Karna Rog swung his scythe and unleashed a slash of dark energy at Birdie and Shen, who leapt to the sides to dodge it. Karna Rog then fired a beam of dark energy from his outstretched hand and swung it at Tip and Hydra, who ducked under it as the beam cleaved through trees behind them.
Karna Rog was about to swipe his hand downward to strike Tip and Hydra with the beam when he was struck in the side by Leiurus’s tail-wrapped foot, the impact making the beam disappear from Karna Rog’s hand. He took a swing at the Emperor with his spear, but Karna Rog recovered quickly, batting Leiurus’s spear away with a swing of his scythe before delivering a spinning slash that knocked Leiurus to the side as sparks erupted from his chest.
Just as Karna Rog was about to bring the spiked tip at the base of his scythe down on Leiurus, Arthur ran past the Emperor’s back, slashing him in the process before continuing to run. Karna Rog shot into the air, hovering their for a moment before tentacles of dark energy extended from the spikes of his wings. Arthur managed to block them a few times as they lashed at him, but eventually they batted him to the ground.
Kenneth appeared in a burst of flames, higher in the air than Karna Rog was. He swung his sword down, striking Karna Rog and launching him into the ground. Kenneth disappeared in another burst of flames before appearing in front of Karna Rog as the Emperor got to his feet, swinging his sword. Before the blade could hit Karna Rog, the Emperor disappeared in a swirl of dark energy. Before Kenneth could react, Karna Rog appeared next to him, slashing him in the side with his scythe.
As Kenneth was sent stumbling, Karna Rog appeared in the direction he was stumbling towards, preparing to strike him again. However, a portal appeared in front of Kenneth that he stumbled into before Karna Rog could strike. “Heads up!” Neil called, dropping down from another portal that appeared above Karna Rog, performing a plunging slash that made a shower of sparks erupt from Karna Rog’s body on impact.
Karna Rog swung his scythe as he fell back, but Neil deflected it with a swipe of his sword. “Your power is significant, Neil Astra,” Karna Rog rasped as he extended his free hand, “but I will overcome that power and become the galaxy’s salvation.”
A trio of figures made of smoke and darkness that resembled Karna Rog’s proxy bodies appeared around Neil. They swung their scythes at Neil, but he leapt back before they could connect. Neil tossed his sword into a portal before pulling the Star Spear out of another and charging at the shadow proxies.
He blocked the swipes of their scythes with the spear’s shaft, batting the proxies’ weapons away. As they tried to recover, Neil slashed one across the chest, making the darkness and smoke that comprised it burn away. Neil’s attack gave the other proxies time to recover, with one delivering a horizontal slash with its scythe. Neil fell to the ground to avoid it before thrusting the spear forward, destroying that proxy as well.
The final proxy swung its scythe down at Neil, who rolled out of the way to avoid it. Neil quickly got to his feet and hurled the spear, passing right through the proxy and making it burn up. The spear continued to fly forward and embedded itself in Karna Rog’s chest, as he stood behind the last proxy. Smoke and shadows leaked from the wound the spear had created, and Karna Rog ripped the weapon out with his free hand before hurling it back at Neil. Neil made a circular hand motion, creating a portal that the spear passed into.
Brando charged forward, hoping to land a blow on the Emperor while he was distracted, “Eat this!” Karna Rog quickly swung his scythe at Brando, but he ducked under it before it could connect before slashing the Emperor and ducking to the side.
“For freedom!” Sirius called as her somersaulted through the air, slashing Karna Rog before landing on the ground next to Brando. The two swung their weapons at Karna Rog, but the Emperor extended a hand and created a dark energy barrier in front of him that blocked the attack. Karna Rog flicked his index finger, making the barrier shatter outwards and knock Sirius and Brando back.
“In the name of Aquila, I will punish you!” Birdie declared as she soared past Karna Rog, peppering him with projectiles.
On the ground, Shen did the same, firing a blast from his rifle that connected with Karna Rog, “Just roll over and give up! We’re not gonna stop fighting!”
“Then neither will I,” Karna Rog rasped as he extended his left hand. In the air, Birdie froze in place as she was held by an invisible force, making a sound of surprise. Karna Rog swung his arm, launching her down into Shen and making them both hit the ground.
Arthur charged at Karna, batting away Karna Rog’s scythe with his glaive as the Emperor swung it, “Leave my dad alone!” Arthur forced Karna Rog’s scythe out of the way before stabbing him in the chest, making him fall back slightly. Arthur swung his glaive again, but Karna Rog blocked it with his scythe as his freehand became imbued with dark energy. Karna Rog punched Arthur in the chest, launching him back as rings of dark energy were emitted from Karna Rog’s fist upon impact.
Aster swung his axe at Karna Rog’s back, creating a shower of sparks from the Emperor’s back. Before Karna Rog could spin around to hit him, Aster put him in a headlock, holding him in place, “He’s all yours, partner!”
“Thanks, Aster!” Leiurus called as he wrapped his tail around his leg and leapt into the air. Leiurus shot forwards and downwards, delivering a diving kick to Karna Rog’s chest with his tail-wrapped leg. Once the attack connected, Leiurus flipped back and stabbed Karna Rog with his spear.
“Your brother’s technique is far from enough to fell me,” Karna Rog said, shaking his head as the brain-like matter on his body began to glow.
Leiurus and Aster staggered back, clutching their heads. “Ugh, what is this?” Aster asked, sounding pained.
“It’s like my head’s being drilled open!” Leiurus cried with pain. Karna Rog gripped his scythe with both hands and spun around, slashing both and making sparks erupt from their chests as they were knocked back.
Hydra maneuvered to Karna Rog’s side, slashing one of Karna Rog’s wings before stabbing the tip of his scythe into the Emperor’s chest. Karna Rog turned to slash Hydra with his scythe, but Hydra quickly hooked his own scythe on the handle and pulled the weapon down, “Tip, you’ve got a clear shot!”
“Loud and clear, Hydra!” Tip called as they ran forward, shooting Karna Rog repeatedly. Once they were close enough, they stabbed the tip of their crossbow into Karna Rog’s chest and blasted him again. Karna Rog unhooked his scythe from Hydra’s as he staggered back, extending the index finger of his free hand upon recovering. Lightning shot forward from it, striking Hydra before leaping to Tip, creating eruptions of sparks before they fell back.
Alura became visible next to Karna Rog, stabbing him with her rapier. Karna Rog swung his scythe as he spun to hit her, but she was already gone. Alura then appeared in front of him, slashing him this time. She cartwheeled to the side and disappeared as Karna Rog swung his scythe down, avoiding the blow. She appeared behind him, stabbing him in the back, “Too slow!” she called before disappearing again.
Dark tendrils extended from under Karna Rog, extending and spinning around him. One tendril struck Alura, making her become visible as she was knocked to the ground.
“We’ll get rid of you for good this time, Karna Rog!” Kenneth declared as he appeared before Karna Rog in a burst of flames, batting Karna Rog’s scythe to the side with his shield. He slashed Karna Rog across the chest before spinning around to deliver a spinning slash. Before that could connect, Karna Rog disappeared and reappeared beside Kenneth, readying his scythe. Kenneth abruptly stopped and blocked the attack with his shield before slashing Karna Rog again.
“And I won’t make the mistake of letting you live again, Kenneth,” Karna Rog rasped before hooking his scythe on Kenneth’s shield and yanking it from his hand. Making use of Kenneth’s momentary surprise, Karna Rog slashed him across the chest, making him stumble back.
Karna Rog prepared to deliver another attack when an upward-facing portal appeared in front of him, which Neil appeared from and leapt high into the air. “This ends here!” Neil yelled as he delivered a downward slash to Karna Rog. Once landing, Neil delivered a few more slashes to Karna Rog, the last of which sent the Emperor stumbling back.
The Rangers used this as an opportunity to regroup, with all of them readying their Morphers. “Say goodbye, Karna Rog!” Neil declared as the others prepared to attack.
“Constellation Crash!”
“Ankaa Strike!”
“All Star Shot!”
The surrounding area seemed to become a star chart as the Rangers attacked, each sending forth projectiles that merged with an orb of white light surrounded by a pair of blue and red rings Neil had fired.
A sphere of dark energy appeared in Karna Rog’s free hand, which he then held forward, unleashing a massive beam of dark energy that shot towards the Rangers’ attack. The beam and sphere clashed for a moment before they erupted in a massive explosion, which made Karna Rog stagger back slightly and knocked all the Rangers onto the ground as the surrounding area returned to normal.
“I’m afraid you’ll need to try harder than that,” Karna Rog rasped, looking down at the prone Rangers.
“Good grief,” Kenneth managed to say as he tried to recover, “he managed to block our finisher!”
Shen nodded from where he laid, “It’s like we haven’t even hurt him at all.”
“It makes sense,” Birdie replied as she tried and failed to get to her feet, “he’s strengthened that galaxy’s negative emotions, which created a feedback loop to make him stronger and make those negative emotions stronger too!”
“Indeed,” Karna Rog rasped as he looked to the sky above, “and this power will make cleansing the galaxy of those emotions a simple affair.” He turned back to face the Rangers, “But I suppose that I’m getting ahead of myself, as important as saving the galaxy is, it’s prudent to deal with the more… immediate problem.”
Karna Rog gripped his scythe with both hands and raised it above him, its blade becoming enveloped in dark energy. Karna Rog slammed the blade into the ground, creating cracks emitting dark energy in the ground that spiderwebbed under the Rangers, who had gotten to their feet. Massive explosions erupted from the cracks, engulfing the Rangers. Once the flames had dissipated, the Rangers once again fell prone, though this time they unmorphed as they hit the ground.
Neil was heavily injured, but still attempted to get back up, but it was in vain. He glared at Karna Rog, gritting his teeth, “This… isn’t over… yet.”
Karna Rog sighed and shook his head as he took a step forward, “Rangers, before I-”
Suddenly, Karna Rog was struck in the side by a slash from Corvile, who was wielding the pair of swords that Karna Corvile used previously. “I’m not your puppet anymore, and I’m not letting you hurt them!” Corvile spat as Karna Rog recovered from the attack.
“Corvile!” Kenneth yelled, extending a hand forward.
Corvile flipped one sword into a reverse grip and hooked his arm on Karna Rog’s scythe with it, preventing the Emperor from swinging it inwards. With the other sword, Corvile stabbed him in the chest repeatedly, not stopping until Karna Rog had grabbed him by the neck, “That’s quite enough, Corvile.” Karna Rog tossed Corvile aside, making him land amongst the downed Rangers next to Kenneth.
Karna Rog turned back to face the Rangers, taking a step closer, “Rangers, before I kill you, I want you to understand all the misery you’re prolonging by opposing me, the negativity of the entire galaxy even before I empowered it.”
Karna Rog extended his free hand forward, immediately making the air around him and the Rangers ripple and distort. Immediately, the Rangers heads were filled with voices.
“I’m not good enough.”
“What’s the point of going forward?”
“Do you hear them?” Karna Rog rasped as the Rangers struggled, “They yearn for their suffering to end.”
“Why do I even exist?”
“I wish I was never born…”
Slowly, a determined look appeared on Neil’s face, and he shakily got to his feet despite the voices in his head, “You’re right, Karna Rog, I do hear them.”
Alura looked at Neil with shock, “Neil…”
Neil stared down the Emperor, “It’s something I’ve heard before, and something I’m sure everyone’s heard themselves think at some point.” Neil steadied himself, as he thought back to the feelings of inadequacy he had on Samos, “Everyone has a time where they’re hurt, where they’re miserable, where they wonder why they should even bother to keep going.”
Neil gave a deep inhale as he continued, “But you know what, Karna Rog? Us humans say that when you’re at rock bottom, the only way left to go is up! Just because you’re feeling bad now or in the past doesn’t mean things can’t get better!”
Shen dug his cane into the ground, using it to help himself stand as he thought about the death of his adoptive father and when the Rangers came to help him before his Nova Sphere was empowered, “Neil’s right, it’s never too late for things to start looking up!”
“And if you think it can’t,” Birdie continued, getting to her feet as she thought back to when she thought she’d never be able to become a Ranger, and then remembered when her dream had finally come true, “then you’ll never know how great it can be!”
Tip stood up next as they remembered how hard they fought to save Hydra when Schedar had brainwashed him, “Not to mention, giving up isn’t gonna make things better either!”
“Even if trying to find happiness is hard, there are people that can help you reach it!” Hydra added as he got to his feet, thinking of all the times Tip had taught him about emotions and when they had saved him from Schedar.
Sirius dug his claws into the ground to support himself as he stood up, remembering when his clan was massacred, and then Neil giving him a reason to fight, “Even if all seems lost, you can turn it into a reason to push forward!”
“Even if you can’t see happiness because of your pain…” Leiurus continued as he recalled his past with Eurypto before the bond he developed with Aster.
“Doesn’t mean it isn’t there!” Aster finished as he thought of Professor Ain and then back to his team.
Arthur remembered how he initially thought fighting back was pointless, and how that changed by the time he became a Ranger, “Sometimes, seeing others is enough to make you realize that happiness is worth fighting for!”
“Sometimes once you get going, happiness is easier to reach than it seems!” Alura declared as she remembered when Neil was made field commander over her, and then when the two worked together as co-field commanders.
Brando nodded as he thought back to when his restaurant was burned down, and how it was being rebuilt, “Sometimes you can lose your happiness, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it back!”
“If you give up, you might not ever get to see the happiest day of your life!” Kenneth added, recalling his wedding with Corvile.
Corvile was helped to his feet by Kenneth as he remembered his time as Karna Rog’s vessel, and then back to the freedom he had obtained just minutes ago, “Enduring hard times doesn’t mean you’re stuck with them forever, it means you can survive them until it gets better!”
By now, everyone was standing behind Neil, who looked at Karna Rog with fire in his eyes, “You’re right about one thing, Karna Rog, if we defeat you, we won’t be able to get rid of the galaxy’s misery, but you know what? We’ll still do our best to make it better, even if it isn’t perfect, and the first step to doing that is getting rid of you!”
Neil turned back to the others momentarily, “Let’s do this!”
“Brave Star, Leo Ranger!”
“Toxic Star, Scorpius Ranger!”
“Howling Star, Lupus Ranger!”
“Balancing Star, Libra Ranger!”
“Brawl Star, Taurus Ranger!”
“Slithering Star, Ophiuchus Ranger!”
“Shadow Star, Chamaeleon Ranger!”
“Soaring Star, Aquila Ranger!”
“Slicing Star, Dorado Ranger!”
“Dragon Ma-Star, Draco Ranger!”
“Binary Star, Ursa Ranger!”
“Burning Star, Phoenix Knight!”
“Power Rangers Supernova!”
The Rangers’ Nova Spheres flew out in front of them, creating a massive flash of light before flying back to them. The flash of light stopped the rippling and distorting of the surrounding air, and made Karna Rog fall to his hands and knees, a burst of smoke pouring off of him as he supported himself with his scythe.
Neil’s eyes flashed white as Karna Corvile’s swords disappeared from the ground, reappearing in his hands with some slight differences. For starters, all the white on them had become grey to match the blades, and the red coloring at their center had become a darker grey. Most notably, the handles now had triggers on them, and the silver stars on the hilts were gone, creating perfectly circular holes through them. “Hey Corvile, take these,” Neil said as he handed them off to the crow-like alien.
Corvile looked over them for a moment before looking back at Neil, “Thank you Neil, but what exactly did you do to them?”
Neil smirked, “Well, I told you I changed the Corvus Nova Sphere’s powers, and if anyone deserves a chance to help against Karna Rog, it’s you.”
“Are you serious?” Kenneth asked with a surprised smile.
Corvile seemed shocked by this as well, “You don’t mean-”
“Oh I do,” Neil replied with a smirk.
Corvile gave a nod, “Then I’ll be happy to help.”
“Good to hear!” Neil responded as he readied his Morpher by placing the Leo Nova Sphere in it, “Let’s save the galaxy!”
“Leo Nova Sphere!”
“Scorpius Nova Sphere!”
“Lupus Nova Sphere!”
“Libra Nova Sphere!”
“Taurus Nova Sphere!”
“Ophiuchus Nova Sphere!”
“Chamaeleon Nova Sphere!”
“Aquila Nova Sphere!”
“Dorado Nova Sphere!”
“Draco Nova Sphere!”
“Ursa Minor Nova Sphere!”
“Phoenix Nova Sphere!”
“Corvus Nova Sphere!” Corvile declared as he inserted the Corvus Nova Sphere into the hole of the right sword.
“Star Charge!”
“Eltanin! Rastaban! Eyes of the Dragon!”
“Ignition!”
“Blackout!” Corvile called as he grinded the blades of his two swords together.
The thirteen of them were surrounded by multicolored light, flames, and smoke, which died down to reveal them in their Ranger forms, a new member among the lineup.
“Ominous Star, Corvus Knight!” Corvile declared. He resembled Kenneth’s Ranger form, but with some major differences. In place of Kenneth’s red was dark grey, and his visor resembled a crow looking backwards so its head pointed to the right. A cape extended from its left shoulder, its outside was grey, but the underside was filled with space-like patterns, and the front edge of the cape had three four-pointed silver stars arranged in a vertical line.
Corvile took a moment to look himself over, “So this is what it feels like.”
“You look amazing,” Kenneth said breathlessly.
Corvile chuckled, “Because I look like you?”
“I thought it would be cute if you two matched,” Neil replied with a small laugh.
Alura looked at Kenneth and Corvile, “You two can flirt later, right now we’ve got an Emperor to dethrone.”
Karna Rog got to his feet, but he was still clearly weakened. He snapped his fingers, causing a massive horde of Greyders peppered with Flatborgs to appear in front of him. “Stall them until I can recover,” he commanded.
“Let’s go!” Neil called as he and the other twelve Rangers charged forward, engaging the horde, with Corvile turning into a jet of dark smoke. He weaved through the Imperial forces before stopping and solidifying, slashing a few Greyders that were caught off-guard by his appearance, each attack punctuated with dark grey energy.
A pair of Greyders ran at Corvile from his sides, brandishing their blades, but he quickly blocked them with his own before they could connect. He forced their blades down before whipping around to face one, slashing the other one with one of his cape’s stars in the process. He slashed both of his swords up at the other Greyder, knocking it upwards and backwards.
A few Greyders opened fire on Corvile, causing him to block the shots with his swords or dodge them before finding cover behind a tree. “Let’s see if this still works,” he mumbled as he flipped his swords into a reverse grip. He emerged from behind the tree, holding his swords so the blades pointed outwards. Each spike on the hand guards fired off a shot of dark grey energy, the two swords creating a spray of continuous projectiles that mowed down dozens of Greyders in seconds.
Suddenly, a Flatborg rushed him, swinging its tonfa. Before the attack could connect, Corvile dissolved into that quickly swirled up behind the Flatborg. Corvile landed on its shoulders in a sitting position, extending his swords out to his sides. The Flatborg spun around in an attempt to knock him off, but Corvile stayed steady as he used the spinning to hit more Greyders with projectiles, leaving a handful of Flatborgs in the area he had cleared out.
Corvile backflipped off the Flatborg, landing on the ground and slashing the Flatborg as the others charged at him. Corvile swung his cape forward, unleashing a massive cloud of smoke that confused the Flatborgs. They looked around to try and make sense of their surroundings as Corvile zipped through the cloud as smoke himself, passing by the Flatborgs and partially solidifying to slice them with his swords.
Once the Flatborgs had staggered into arranging themselves in a relatively straight line, Corvile shot past them, delivering a slash to all of them with both swords that was punctuated with a pair of dark grey energy streaks. Corvile emerged from the cloud and materialized as it began to dissipate and the Flatborgs went up in flames.
Corvile looked around, taking note that there were still a lot of Greyders and Flatborgs left. Corvile turned into a jet of smoke and shot towards Kenneth, materializing and slashing a Flatborg that his husband had been doing battle with, making it stumble back and into several Greyders.
“Nice one, Corvie!” Kenneth said with pride and affection.
Corvile gave a nod before speaking, “Thank you, Kenneth, now you and the others focus on Karna Rog! I’ll handle everything else!” Corvile flipped one sword into a reverse grip and used it to blast a few Greyders before using his other sword to slash another Greyder.
“Got it!” Kenneth replied, giving a thumbs up before vanishing in a burst of flames.
Neil closed the distance between himself and Karna Rog, blocking a pair of yellow beams fired from the crystals on the Emperor’s shoulders with his sword before delivering a spinning slash. Karna Rog swiped his scythe at Neil, who ducked under it and to the side.
Before Karna Rog could swing at Neil again, Alura became visible in front of him and Kenneth appeared in a burst of flames, each slashing him across the chest and sending him stumbling back.
Karna Rog swiped his arm, sending forth an arc of dark energy that Kenneth and Alura leapt to the ground to avoid, meanwhile, Birdie slid under it, firing at Karna Rog before Sirius somersaulted over the arc to slash him.
Karna Rog swatted Sirius to the side in time to get nailed in the face by a golden energy arrow from Tip, allowing Hydra to run past the Emperor from behind and slash him in the process.
Aster nailed Karna Rog in the side with a punch just as the Emperor was about to fire a blast of dark electricity as Tip and Hydra, sending him staggering into a slash from Brando’s saber.
Brando disengaged as the Emperor recovered, but Karna Rog received little reprieve from the onslaught as Leiurus and Arthur engaged him in Brando’s place. The two slashed Karna Rog across the chest in an x-shape, making the Emperor stumble back before swinging his scythe. The two blocked his attack with their before rolling off to the side, allowing Shen to shoot Karna Rog in the chest repeatedly.
Karna Rog disappeared in a swirl of black smoke, materializing behind Shen and raising his scythe to strike. “Oh no you don’t!” Neil called, intercepting Karna Rog’s scythe with his sword.
“Not good enough, Neil Astra,” Karna Rog rasped before extending his free hand, shooting a bolt of dark energy into Neil’s chest and creating a shower of sparks as he staggered back.
Before he could make another move, the other Rangers all descended on Karna Rog, striking him and weaving out of range before he could react and allowing time for Neil to recover, replacing the Leo Nova Sphere with the Supernova Sphere. He pressed the button on top of it, making it flash between colors before he spun its ring.
“Supernova Sphere!”
Neil was surrounded by a flash of white light, which died down to reveal him as the Leorion Ranger. He made an arc with his arm, producing fourteen portals above him that each beared the image on one of the Rangers’ Nova Spheres, their weapons emerging from them. Normally there was only twelve, but now there was two additional ones, each depicting the symbol of the Corvus Nova Sphere with one of Corvile’s swords emerging from each.
The other Rangers fell back from Karna Rog as Neil pointed his sword at him, which flew towards the Emperor alongside the other weapons. Karna Rog was blindsided by the attack, getting caught in a vortex of slashes, stabs, and projectiles that he clearly had difficulty reacting to. “We have him on the ropes now!” Aster declared.
“Not yet,” Karna Rog replied as he blocked the Star Sword with his scythe. His eyes flashed yellow as a massive dark energy explosion erupted from him, knocking the weapons out of the air and staggering the Rangers back significantly.
As the Rangers tried to recover, Karna Rog raised his free hand, a large orb of dark energy appearing in the air above him before he rasped, “Perish.”
By now, Corvile had finished off the last of the forces that Karna Rog had summoned and was charging at the Emperor from behind. He pulled the trigger of his right sword, engulfing its blade in dark grey energy before grinding the blade of his other sword against it, transferring it to that one as well.
“Gienah Strike!”
Karna Rog turned around just in time to see Corvile swing his swords, sending forth a pair of bird-shaped slashes made of smoke that collided with the Emperor. Karna Rog was launched back, making the dark energy sphere dissipate as he staggered towards the waiting Rangers.
“Ankaa End!”
Kenneth called, swinging his sword and sending a projection of the Phoenix Zord made of fire crashing into Karna Rog.
“Polaris End!”
Arthur called, slashing with his glaive and making a projection of the Ursa Zords made of cyan energy appear and swipe Karna Rog with one of their wheels.
“Eltanin End!”
Shen roared as he fired a projection of the Draco Zord made of purple energy from his cane, which bit down on Karna Rog.
“Doradus End!”
Brando yelled, swiping his saber repeatedly and causing a projection of the Dorado Zord made of yellow energy to appear and do the same to Karna Rog.
“Altair End!”
Bird shouted, firing her blaster and sending a projection of the Aquila Zord made of pink energy crashing into the Emperor.
“Chameleontis End!”
Alura called as she thrusted her rapier forward, a projection of the Chamaeleon Zord made of green energy lashing Karna Rog with its tongue.
“Rasalhague End!”
Hydra said as he swiped his scythe down, making a projection of the Ophiuchus Zord made of silver energy bite down on Karna Rog.
“Aldebaran End!”
Aster declared, swinging his axe and making a projection of the Taurus Zord made of black energy swipe its horns into Karna Rog.
“Zubeneschamali End!”
Tip called as they fired their crossbow upwards, making a spinning Libra Zord slice into Karna Rog with its pans from above.
“Lupi End!”
Sirius snarled as he swung his claw, making a projection of the Lupus Zord appear and swipe the Emperor with its own claws.
“Antares End!”
Leiurus yelled as he stabbed his spear forward, making a projection of the Scorpius appear and jab Karna Rog in the chest with its stinger.
The combined attacks sent Karna Rog stumbling back before falling into a portal that Neil had opened in the ground, the exit portal opening directly above it. Karna Rog continued falling through the portal again and again, gradually getting faster and faster as Neil plugged the the Leo Nova Sphere into sword. Suddenly, the portal above closed and reappeared far in front of Neil, launching Karna Rog towards Neil at breakneck speed.
“Regulus End!”
Neil roared as he swung his sword, sending a projection of the Leo Zord made of red energy flying at Karna Rog, and as the Emperor was already flying towards Neil, it connected almost instantly, creating a massive explosion.
As the smoke cleared, Karna Rog’s body could be seen lying on the ground, prompting the Rangers to slowly lower their weapon while still keeping their guard up. “Did we just win?” Tip asked after a few moments of nothing happening.
Suddenly, Karna Rog’s body began convulsing wildly, arcs of dark lightning shooting out from it, forcing the Rangers back. “Woah!” Arthur called as he narrowly avoided a bolt. In an instant, Karna Rog’s body erupted in a colossal pillar of shadows and dark smoke that shot upwards into the sky and out of sight.
Up above, a colossal monstrosity became visible in the atmosphere. It was comprised of dark smoke and shadows, and it had a skull-like head with piercing yellow eyes each the size of the moon. Its body was long and serpentine, lined with tentacles and scythe-like insectoid limbs, with one pair near the front being particularly large, like that of a mantis.
“What in the name of the stars is that?” Shen asked with confusion and terror.
“Ugh, it hurts to look at,” Alura groaned, clutching her head.
Corvile took a step forward, looking at the abomination above before speaking, “That’s Karna Rog. It’s his true, eldritch form, or at least the closest our minds can come to comprehending it without breaking. He’s even stronger than before, but without a physical body to protect him the Nova Spheres will be able to damage him even more than before.”
“And I thought he was ugly before,” Birdie said with disgust.
Kenneth nodded, “He must be desperate if he’s risking the Nova Spheres damaging him more in this form.”
Neil looked up with determination, “It doesn’t matter what form he takes, we’ll defeat him!” He turned to the others, “We need to make the Big Bang Ultrazord.”
“Got it!” Aster replied with a nod.
Neil looked at Corvile, “Corvile, I made you a Zord, but with what we’re facing now it’s probably not the best time to use it, go with Kenneth.”
“Understood,” Corvile replied.
“Let’s end this once and for all,” Neil said as he and the others readied their Morphers, their cockpits forming around them (with Corvile joining Kenneth in his) before flying upwards and attaching to their respective Zords.
“Ultrazord time!” Neil called as he and the others readied their Morphers, their Zords getting into position.
“Controller of creation, Big Bang Ultrazord!”
“Leg team!” Neil asked into the comms.
“Ready!” Sirius, Tip, Aster, and Hydra replied.
“Arm team!”
“Ready!” Leiurus, Alura, Birdie, and Brando responded.
“Shoulder team!”
“Ready!” Shen and Arthur said.
“Head team!”
“Ready!” Kenneth and Corvile said in unison.
“Then let’s go!” Neil called as the Ultrazord used the thrusters on its arms to shoot itself into space.
The Rangers exited Earth’s atmosphere, flying past the moon to reach Karna Rog’s eldritch form, which lowered its planet-sized head to glare at them, “Rangers, your continued propagation of the galaxy’s suffering ends now!” Karna Rog swung one of his colossal, sickle-like limbs at the Ultrazord.
“That’s rich coming from you!” Neil retorted as the Ultrazord fired a blast from one of its thruster pairs, dissolving Karna Rog’s limb, making the colossal mass of smoke and darkness recoil slightly.
“Things will be better once you’re gone!” Kenneth retorted, “The galaxy won’t have to deal with the pain of the Empire any longer!”
Karna Rog snarled, “Destroying me won’t solve anything.” Karna Rog swung his tentacles and scythe-like limbs, with the Megazord narrowly dodging their strikes. “Rangers, I have stood in trenches dug into fields of mud and bone, and felt my lungs burn. I was among the masses starved and murdered in a land perpetually frozen.”
“Watch out!” Arthur called as the Megazord narrowly dodged a stab.
Karna Rog continued, “I have seen a child’s shadow being burned into the brickwork, cloaked myself with the dust of fallen twins, and harvested oil from blood-soaked sand.”
“Now!” Corvile called as several limbs lashed towards the Ultrazord before being blasted into nothingness by the mecha’s thrusters.
Karna Rog gave a howl of pain before starting his rant again, sounding genuinely emotional, “The innocent, Rangers, the innocent! Corralled and wounded and gassed and starved and beaten and murdered and enslaved! That is only the past century of just this planet before I claimed it, and it will be the future of the entire galaxy without me!”
Neil was quiet for a moment before replying, “You’re right, Karna Rog, there’s always been suffering, and there always be suffering no matter how much we try and get rid of it. But you know what? There’s just as much happiness in the galaxy as there is suffering, and you have no right to rob others of their happiness by killing them and not giving those suffering a chance to be happy in this life!”
“Yeah!” the other Rangers responded in unison.
“How naive!” Karna Rog snarled, “Suffering shouldn’t exist in any capacity!” One of the tips of Karna Rog’s scythe-like limbs struck the Ultrazord across the chest, sending it spinning back.
“Woah!” Aster called as the Ultrazord tried to steady itself.
“Life is nothing but suffering, the only true peace is death!” Karna Rog roared as tentacles shot at the Ultrazord.
“Move!” Birdie called before the Ultrazord flew around, dodging the tentacles while taking opportunities to destroy them.
The Ultrazord came to a stop once the damage done to Karna Rog caused him to recoil and let out a howl of pain. “But suffering does exist, Karna Rog,” Neil replied with determination, “Sure, we won’t get rid of it completely, but we can do our best to make things better for people, even a little bit, which will be a better change than what you want to do!”
“What can thirteen motes of light hope to do to help a galaxy of quintillions?” Karna Rog snarled, opening his colossal maw and gathering dark energy in it.
“We can start by defeat you,” Neil said calmly as he and the other Rangers readied their Morphers.
“Big Bang Ultrazord Ultimate All Star Breaker!”
A massive amount of energy began to gather at the Ultrazord’s central cockpit as the symbols of the Nova Spheres appeared in a ring behind the Ultrazord and the constellations began to glow lightyears away.
A massive beam of dark energy was fired from Karna Rog’s mouth while the Ultrazord unleashed projections of the twelve Zords made of energy. The two attacks connected, clashing against each other as the Rangers gave a battle cry. Eventually, the Ultrazord’s attack overpowered Karna Rog’s, striking the Emperor’s eldritch form with immense force.
Karna Rog howled in pain as the entirety of his body began to dissolve, his limbs flailing about wildly. Once thrash from a sickle-like limb sent a barely noticeable more of darkness spiraling down to Earth, the rest of Karna Rog’s body dissolving thereafter.
“It looks like he’s done for now!” Hydra exclaimed with as much happiness as he could.
“I’m not sure, I think I saw something heading back down to Earth,” Shen replied.
“We should investigate it just in case,” Birdie added.
Leiurus nodded, “Yeah, better to be safe than sorry.”
“Even if Karna Rog survived that, we’ll keep fighting until the galaxy’s safe from him for good,” Brando replied.
“Indeed,” Sirius responded.
“Let’s go then,” Neil said as the Ultrazord turned around and flew back down to Earth.
The Rangers entered the park where they previously fought Karna Rog as the sun slinked below the horizon. A large circle of scorched grass was near the center of the park, a stark contrast to the surrounding greenery. They approached it, and as they got closer they saw Karna Rog’s prone form in the center. He was still made of smoke and shadows, but he was now a spindly humanoid, his yellow eyes dimmer than before. “It’s over, Karna Rog,” Neil said as he stood above the Emperor, holding his sword.
“I suppose it is,” Karna Rog rasped bitterly, “you’ve weakened me enough for the galaxy to regain most of its fleeting happiness.”
“And it’ll get even more back when you’re gone,” Neil replied, raising his sword overhead to prepare to strike.
Karna Rog gave a sigh, “If I can’t save the galaxy then I suppose being freed from this mortal coil will have to do.”
“I’m afraid that’s a mercy I can’t let you receive,” a female voice said as a flash of light appeared behind the Rangers.
The Rangers turned around to see a familiar ethereal figure with chalk white skin and a white dress. The Rangers all spoke in unison, with Kenneth and Corvile expressing the most surprise, “Audumla?”
“Indeed,” Audumla replied with a nod and a smile, “a pleasure to see you again after all this time, Kenneth, Corvile.”
Karna Rog looked up at her, “Finally came out of hiding, did you?”
“Indeed I have, Karna Rog,” Audumla replied; drifting forward towards him, “with the waning of the galaxy’s despair, I am strong enough to face you yet again, and ensure you receive the punishment you deserve.”
“Audumla,” Alura said, looking at her, “how are you going to do that?”
“My counterpart doesn’t deserve to find the peace he so craves,” Audumla replied, turning to her, “not after all the misery he’s brought over the past three hundred years.”
“You want him to live?” Corvile inquired with disgust.
“Indeed,” Audumla replied, “though without the freedom to cause any more pain.”
Karna Rog shook his head, “Foolish, you know that no prison can contain me.”
“Most can’t,” Audumla nodded, “but there is one, one I painstakingly forged after I had met the Rangers.” Audumla extended her hand and held her palm upward, a small flash of light appearing above it. Once the light had died down, a Nova Sphere with a completely clear globe could be seen in her hand.
“A Nova Sphere?” Kenneth inquired, surprised.
“Indeed, forged from the light of Tokage’s star,” Audumla replied, “not strong enough to destroy him, but enough to keep him from ever escaping it.”
“You wouldn’t,” Karna Rog snarled.
Audumla nodded, “You’re right, but that’s because I can’t. Even though I’ve regained much of my strength, I cannot control Nova Spheres the way an Astrographer can. I almost wasn’t able to even create this one.”
Arthur looked at her intently, “So you need Neil to do it?”
Audumla turned to him and nodded, “Correct, Arthur, your brother is the only one with the power to seal Karna Rog at the moment.” She turned to Neil, “Neil, may you-”
“No,” Neil replied, cutting her off.
“What?” Brando said with confusion.
Aster seemed taken aback, “Why?”
Neil took a deep breath, “Because we’re supposed to be the galaxy’s hope, the ones who are supposed to make sure the people of the galaxy don’t have to suffer.”
“So?” Leiurus inquired.
“Because even after everything he’s done, he’s part of the galaxy too,” Neil replied, “imprisoning him with no escape, leaving him to continue to feel nothing but the galaxy’s misery, it goes against everything that we stand for, everything we’ve fought for.”
Birdie gave a slow nod, “Yeah… you’re right.”
“It will only cause unnecessary pain, even for him,” Sirius responded.
“So what?” Tip replied, “We’re just gonna let him go?”
“Of course not,” Neil replied, “like I said, he’s done terrible things, and needs to be punished for them, but leaving him to suffer for eternity with no escape… it’s not something anyone deserves.”
Hydra looked at Neil, “So does that mean…”
“Yeah,” Neil nodded, “I’m still going to kill him, even if it’s giving him what he wants, it’ll still stop him from hurting anyone else.” He turned to Audumla, “I hope you understand, it’s just… imprisoning him when he’ll still feel the galaxy’s pain, even if we make it better, it’s cruel.”
Audumla was quiet for a moment before slowly nodding, the empty Nova Sphere disappearing from her hand, “I understand, Neil. If that is what you believe is the correct decision, then I will not stop you.” Without another word, she disappeared in a flash.
“Thanks, Audumla,” Neil replied quietly before turning to Karna Rog’s prone form, taking a few steps towards him and raising his sword.
“Neil,” Karna Rog rasped, “before you kill me, I want to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Neil inquired, lowering his sword slightly.
“I… see now that I was wrong,” Karna Rog rasped quietly, “I truly thought that there was nothing you nor the other Rangers could do to make the galaxy better than it was before I made the Empire. Yet you offer me peace and mercy after I have done nothing to deserve it, when you had every right to give me the punishment I deserve. I see now that the galaxy will be in good hands, and better than it ever was in mine, even if suffering will still exist.”
“It will,” Neil replied, giving a small nod, “but I promise that even though there will still be suffering, we’ll do our best to help deal with it, in any way we can.”
Karna Rog gave a slow nod before giving a gentle rasp, “Thank you, Neil.”
Neil nodded in turn as he raised his sword before plunging it through Karna Rog’s chest. Karna Rog’s frail frame began to glow brightly, dissolving into motes of light that the Rangers watched drift upwards into the sky as the sun set.
The Rangers unmorphed, with Shen being the first to pull his eyes away from what was left of Karna Rog. He put a hand on Neil’s shoulder, “You did the right thing.”
Neil turned to Shen, giving a slow nod and a smile, “Thanks, dad.” He looked up at the sky as the stars began to appear, “It’s finally over.”
One year later on Brando’s homeworld of Bahamut, he stood outside of his restaurant, the Golden Swordfish as the other Rangers aside from Neil, Shen, and Arthur approached, all dressed more casually. “Hey guys!” he called, giving a wave.
“Hey Brando!” Alura replied with a grin and a wave once she and the others were close enough.
Aster chuckled, his arm slung over the shoulder of Leiurus, “Long time no see!”
“Time sure does fly, huh,” Tip said, crossing their arms behind their head.
Birdie nodded, “Hard to believe it’s been a whole year.”
“I mean, it’s not like we haven’t seen each other since we defeated Karna Rog,” Leiurus replied, “we’ve had calls.”
“True,” Hydra responded, “but it’s not exactly the same as seeing each other in person.”
Sirius scanned the group before turning to Kenneth and Corvile, “Did Neil, Shen, and Arthur not come with you?”
“Just because we live on Earth too doesn’t mean we’d arrive at the same time,” Kenneth replied, holding Corvile’s hand.
Brando nodded, “Should probably wait for them to get here before we head in.”
“Thank you again for inviting us here, Brando,” Alura said with a small smile.
Brando smiled in return, “No problem, Alura, I figured we should have a little reunion to commemorate us defeating the Emperor.”
“Well, how about we catch up a bit while we wait for the others to arrive,” Corvile suggested, looking at his fellow Rangers, “it has been awhile since we last spoke.”
“Sounds good to me,” Aster replied, giving a thumbs up.
Birdie was the first to speak up, “Well, I finally finished my book about our time as Rangers for starters.”
“Oh yeah,” Alura replied, “I saw that.”
Corvile nodded, “I bought it when it came out, me and Kenneth quite enjoyed it.”
“Yeah, helped us catch up a bit on some of the stuff you got up to before we came,” Kenneth nodded.
Birdie chuckled, “Well it’s good to hear you two like it.”
“What about you two?” Tip asked, looking at Kenneth and Corvile, “You two up to anything new?”
“I’m afraid not, we’re still retired,” Corvile replied, shaking his head, “Helping get a new galactic government is exhausting work, especially after everything we’ve been through.”
“Well, there is the couple’s therapy,” Kenneth replied, “That whole thing with Karna Corvile was… a lot, but it’s helping us with it.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Alura replied.
“Speaking of couples,” Hydra continued, looking at Aster and Leiurus, “how are things going for you?”
Aster pumped a fist in the air, “Well, I still haven’t lost a match since we last checked in!”
“Sounds like you’re happy to be back in the ring,” Alura chuckled.
“Sure am!” Aster replied as he patted Leiurus on the back, “Especially with Leiurus here as my manager!”
Leiurus chuckled and kissed the side of Aster’s mouth, “It’s pretty different from a lot of stuff I’ve done, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. It’s nice how happy he makes everyone there.”
“I imagine you feel similarly, Sirius,” Hydra replied, “being Fenrisulfr’s representative in the galactic senate.”
“Indeed,” Sirius nodded, “I must admit, politicking is something that took a long while to get used to, but it is worth it for being able to help my people now that they’re a part of the wider galaxy.”
“Probably a more tolerable politician than a lot of the ones me and Corvile dealt with,” Kenneth replied with a smirk, prompting Corvile to chuckle.
“You’re a pretty big deal on your homeworld now too, aren’t you, Hydra?” Brando asked as he looked at the Gorgonian.
Hydra nodded, “Indeed, Gorgonia found my actions against the Empire to be incredibly heroic, so they’ve been passing legislation that no longer makes it illegal for my people to seek emotions if they so choose.”
“That’s great, Hydra!” Alura replied with a wide smile.
Leiurus nodded, “You should be proud of yourself.”
“Believe me, I am,” Hydra grinned, “and I’m especially happy with all the contributions Tip’s made to the galaxy in such a short time.”
Alura turned to look at Tip, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard you’ve been designing some pretty useful machines that the galaxy’s been using.”
“Yup!” Tip replied with enthusiasm, “Ever since a lot of my family got locked up for helping the Empire with their legal stuff, I’ve been free to pursue what I’ve always wanted!” They turned to Brando, “You just been running your restaurant?”
Brando nodded, “Yeah, there’s been a big boom in business since I helped defeat the Empire, people have been coming from systems away to eat here.”
“Workin’ ya to the bone, huh?” Aster chuckled.
Brando chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah, but I don’t really mind, just more people to serve smiles to.”
“What about you, Alura?” Sirius inquired as he looked at her.
“Leading my city mostly,” Alura replied, “I’ve been pretty busy since it’s been growing a lot, it’s basically Tokage’s capital now.”
“So what?” Tip asked, “You’re Tokage’s president now?”
Alura shook her head, “No, I just run this city, every other city is led by other people, and even though I’m on the council of city leaders, we don’t really have one singular leader.”
“Well, I still think that’s pretty cool,” Aster replied with a nod.
“Thanks, Aster,” Alura smiled, “I’m just glad that everything’s going well for you guys too.”
“Hey guys,” a familiar voice said from behind them, prompting the Rangers to turn around and see Neil, Shen, and Arthur. Like the others, the three of them were dressed more casually than when they fought the Empire. The Leo Minor Zord was also there, perched on Neil’s shoulder.
“Hey you three!” Alura called with a smile and a wave.
Kenneth smirked, “About time you three showed up.”
“Sorry, we could’ve rolled out sooner but Arthur had to put some finishing touches on a school project,” Shen chuckled.
Arthur groaned, “Dad…”
“It’s fine,” Brando chuckled, “we were just waiting for you three to get here before we went in to celebrate.”
“Thanks for that.” Neil smiled
“We were just catching up a bit,” Alura added.
Aster nodded, “Speaking of catching up, how are things going for you three?”
“School, mostly,” Arthur shrugged, “it is kinda weird being there though when your classmates know you helped save the galaxy.”
“Guess everyone wants you on group projects, huh?” Birdie chuckled.
Arthur groaned, “Hit the nail on the head.”
“What about you, Boss?” Tip asked, looking at Shen, “How’s being a stay at home dad treating you?”
Shen chuckled, “I don’t mind it, gives me plenty of time to spend with my boys, and let me have time to finish that book about constellation legends my father wanted me to write.” Shen turned to Birdie, “Thanks for the help with that, by the way. I didn’t know the first thing about writing.”
“It’s no problem, Commander,” Birdie replied.
Shen laughed, “You know you don’t have to call me that anymore.”
Birdie shrugged, “Force of habit.”
Alura moved next to Neil, “What about you, Neil? What have you been up to?”
“College, mostly,” Neil replied, “Now that dad’s around to take care of Arthur, I can finally start working towards a degree in astronomy.”
Corvile chuckled, “Quite the fitting field of study.”
“Yeah,” Neil laughed, “but I’ve wanted to study that even before all the Empire stuff, that’s what mom studied too.”
“I am sure she would be proud of you,” Sirius replied, nodding sagely.
Neil grinned, “Thanks, Sirius.”
“Well, now that everyone’s here, how about we head in and celebrate the one year anniversary of Karna Rog’s defeat?” Brando inquired.
“Sounds good to me,” Neil said with a smile.
The Rangers formed a line as they entered the Golden Swordfish, with Neil at the back. He gave a small smile as he closed the door behind him.
Notes:
Corvus Knight is a commission I had TurtoiseK make.
The head of Karna Rog’s Eldritch form is an edited version of an anomaly that appeared near Virgo in 2017 and was believed to be a sign of the apocalypse. His speech during the mech fight was also inspired by The Engineer’s final monologue in Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs.
And that’s it, Power Rangers Supernova! This was honestly something I really enjoyed writing, and I hope you all enjoyed it too! I can’t thank you all enough for the support you’ve given me, it really means the world to me. I do have plans for future adaptations, and while I’m unsure if I’ll ever get around to writing them, I’m glad that Supernova is something I managed to write. If you have any questions, check out my tumblr, and contributions to the Tv Tropes page are always welcome.
Comments are welcomed and appreciated.
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