Power Rangers 1. Before the Coins

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter One: **Before the Coins**

Sitting down on a stool in his lab Zordon of Eltar, Wizard of the High Council, Hero of The Zatman War, and scientist was busy trying to duplicate what he had seen on Phados. "Six, six, six, I'm having trouble making just one and Ninjor made six..." he mumbled under his breath. Resting on the table were six smooth gold coins. Littering the floor around him were several notes, sketches, charts, and text books. "Alchemy doesn't work here, and neither does transplants…"

_Phados_

A clash of power and Ninjor had seen enough. "Well Zordon you weren't lying when you said the Astro Powers were at least as strong as the Astro Megaship." Leaping back down from on top of the training piers was the Red Astro Ranger, but underneath the helmet was Zordon himself. His silver Eltarian hair still untouched even when Dulcea removed his helmet and took a swing at him; apparently Zordon really was what everyone said he was. Dulcea landed next to him, a bit disheartened that she couldn't land a single hit on the man, "I guess you really did fight Zatman and won."

The ninja master stifled a laugh as he quickly removed the near god-like status from the man, "Just how many fights were there before the final battle between the two of you?" The Eltarian blushed slightly, "Forty-seven if I remember, with most of them in his favor." '_He's quite_ _humble_' Dulcea thought to herself. "Tell me Zordon," Ninjor asked, "How you corrected the negative interface output of those morphers?"

There was a short pause before, "A perplexing predicament, for the longest time I couldn't find a way to keep the negative ions from building up in the morphers. During longer fights they would phase out, so my team and I would be left without power; still even more annoying was the morphers would lock-up pre-battle if enough static negatron energy built up. I eventually found that if I by-passed the emitter's gyro converter and connected a transmitter I could dispel all those ions into containment devices and wouldn't need to worry, or so I thought. Zatman did manage to find out about the containers but that was corrected as well. My team's specialist Zedd and I created five androids to deal with protecting the containers. With a little ingenuity we managed to place the containers inside of them and programmed them to work as a team, they began to act just like a power ranger team." The praise for his accomplishment was cut short with, "However the negative ions began to affect the programming and ended up changing them into something evil, they became an evil team of Rangers. They eventually found five weakened monsters and integrated with them to become even stronger, the Psycho Rangers nearly destroyed my team. With the help of Zedd and the sorceress Rita I was able to trap the Psycho's in another dimension with no chance of escape."

Impressed with what he had heard Ninjor proceeded to reveal what he asked Zordon to come see. "I've been rather jealous of the morphers and with the over all affect of the Power Rangers against evil, so I decided to create my own team." Zordon was already impressed with how far the Ranger concept went with Eltar but to hear that others were attempting to create them as well was amazing. "I heard that on Triforia they have attempted to create a new ranger using the Zeo Crystal and on Aquitar they have already developed the morphing suits and now are on their way to creating the henshin devices." Ninjor would have given his friend a large smile had it not been for the ninja wrappings on his face, "I have already created six ranger powers and zords."

Zordon couldn't help but smile with delight, _'These new powers will greatly help us in our plight against the Alliances of Evil' _Ninjor looked at the man's smile and could not believe he would have to wipe it completely off of his face. "I did manage to create an even more stable power source then you Zordon," The Eltarian furrowed his brow, "and it's all because of these." Lying before everyone at the arena were six golden coins, each engraved with an animal and charged with much power.

_Eltar_

_'With the power source separate from the morpher itself there is no worry of negative energy build ups and with the powers encased in the coins they can remove the coins and save them. If these powers are ever needed in the future all they need to do is create new morphers and not need to maintain any devices at all.' _The coins were perplexing as much as they were annoying; Ninjor purposely invited several dignitaries to the unveiling of these coins to embarrass Zordon and make him look like a fool. "That blasted ninja won't be laughing once I've created a set of coins as well…"

The door to the lab opened and Zedd entered, he too was an Eltarian but was born with red hair instead of the traditional silver. "I see that you're still trying to duplicate what Ninjor showed you on Phados, and I'm obviously wasting my time when I tell you that the council wants to see you because you're not listening to me."

"What?" Zedd shook his head and picked Zordon up from his chair and began to scold him, "The council wants to see you, and they seem to be worried about the Silver Morpher. I'm guessing they don't like the fifteen minute time restriction on it." Zordon looked to his friend, "Didn't they read the report? It clearly states in lines twenty-six through forty-four why there is the limit. If they read it they'd know about the correlation to the Psycho Ranger report and Negative Ion report. The time limit was created to prevent the possible release of the Psycho Rangers or creation of another one. Once fifteen minutes is over the morpher will disengage for a release of all negative ions." The two Eltarians began to laugh, "I'm glad to see that you're picking up your personality again; always restating what was forgotten and always fighting for his ideals even when his enemies are no where in sight." The two men walked across the threshold and into an open area where a transport beam launched the two of them to the first moon of Eltar where the council chambers were located.

_Council Room_

"…and as such we feel that the silver morpher is unsafe for any warrior to be active. We'd like to ask that you deactivate the morpher." The members of the council grew into a solemn state. "If I may speak…" Zedd's voice was slightly shaky and nervous in sound. "You may speak Zedd, Mechanic of the Eltarian Army, and Black Astro Ranger."

A beacon of light moved across the floor to where Zedd stood. "The Silver powers were meant to complete the required six members of a strike squad your lord and ladyships. The original Astro Morphers create negative ions during each use which ended up locking the morphers up after so many uses. We thought that sending these ions into containment units would be fine until Zatman, enemy of all that is free, found them and tried to integrate them into his body. We created androids to house and protect the containment units but instead creating five evil versions of the Astro Rangers. The fifteen minute time limit was meant to dispel the ion build up in a safe manner." Zordon stood and raised his voice, "If I may speak." The beam moved over to him. "Speak Zordon, Wizard of the Council, Scientist of the Eltarian Army, Master fighter, Red Astro Ranger, and Ranger program creator."

The light was slightly blinding and was obviously meant to confuse him in his defense. "Wonderful lighting job you've done here," a chuckle ran through the chamber, "I feel that the council must know that the time limit is temporary, and will be removed once we've discovered the proper way to dispel all negative ions safely from the morphers." The council turned and discussed the evidence as brought forth, "Until such a time I'd rather not have the Silver Morpher in use." Once again Zordon, who was still in the light, spoke, "I must protest because without the sixth morpher the Astro Rangers will not be considered a complete strike squad; as such, the council will then move to remove the Astro Rangers from the active duties list."

"I'm sensing some hostilities from you Zordon; do you believe the council is against you?" Zordon squinted his eyes as the light became even brighter and hotter, "I happen to find the council's constant acts against minor problems to deactivate the team a bit disturbing." The light continued to become even brighter and hotter until, "May I speak?" The light returned to Zedd. "Speak Zedd, Mechanic of the Eltarian Army, and Black Astro Ranger."

"I also see that the council is attacking Zordon and the Ranger program. I find the council's actions to be…" The council had heard enough, so each member focused energy blasts at Zedd. "I must protest this!" Zordon's voice could not be heard over the red haired Eltarian's screams.

"**3, 3, 5!**" The sudden flash of light and a blast from a side blaster stopped the council's insane attack. "This is quite enough of the abuse of council power!" Zordon had taken quick action and morphed to protect his comrade. "Zordon," the head of the council retorted, "you have out stepped your bounds in this council room. Need I remind you that you do not have say as towards the council's chosen path of discipline?"

"Of coarse not, but need I remind you that discipline shall not proceed without warning? Your sudden action against Zedd goes against the council's own rules; hence forth, I move for a vote of no confidence in the current council and move for a replacement of all members."

"Will the movement set forth by Zordon be recognized by the people?" Only a moment passed before an uproar from the people came, "Replace the council! Replace them all! Zordon to power! Zordon!" After a moment Zordon spoke, "I'm glad to hear your confidence in my choice and in me, but I do not wish to stand as a council member. I am much more confident in my ability to help you as a soldier and scientist."

The council members could see that they would not be able to revoke the motion set forth so they decided to the next best thing, "Zordon, to show good faith may the council still pass one last movement? Movement 136 of the Galerius Pact?" Zordon looked back into the council, the Galerius Pact was for simply passing minor laws such as trafficking and noise limits. "I see no harm in one last passing of a Galerius Pact."

"Very well, Movement 136 of the Galerius Pact is a reconfirmation and finalization for the permanent requirement of Movement 1326 of the Valcarian Pact. Movement 1326 of the Valcarian Pact revokes all privileges of the Astro Rangers; henceforth, Zordon is required to send off all Astro powers and equipment from Eltar and the surrounding region."

_Docking Bay Z17_

"You're going alone with this insane demand? Zordon it's not right!" Zedd's protest had been heard many times since the decision had been made, and Zordon would not be deterred from the action. "I allowed them to pass Movement 136 of the Galerius Pact which consequently invoked Movement 1326 of the Valcarian Pact; therefore I am bound to follow through with the actions implied by the movement."

The docking bay was packed with protesters who disliked the whole affair, "If Movement 1326 had been placed on the Decision Board then they were planning to remove the Astro Rangers all along!" Zordon looked to see Rita standing amongst the people, not just standing with them but leading the protesters against the whole fiasco. He looked away for a moment before responding, "I understand but I'm not going to fight this last movement, with a new council coming to power they will go for a repeal of Movement 1326 and the Astro Rangers will be returned. I understand your displeasure and must admit that I'm not happy with it myself, but I'm already working on another set of ranger powers." Rita looked at him with slight disapproval, _'Can't stop the man from following the laws. At least he's on his way to prepare another team but until he's done such we're all in grave danger; the forces of evil are building larger armies. Ivan Ooze is on his way to a far off planet and Triforia is under a looming threat from something called the Machine Empire. I just hope Zordon isn't very far from completing this new team.' _

"Ten seconds to launch, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… launch!"

The thrusters on the Astro Megaship fired and the shuttle left the hanger, and following behind were seven other shuttles and several smaller capsules. All of the Astro equipment and technology had been removed from Eltar and now was heading off into unknown regions of the galaxy. "Zordon," Zedd inquired, ", you do know where all the equipment is heading, right?"

Zordon watched his life's work shoot off into the depths of space for just a moment longer, "I know the approximate locations of where the equipment will end up; nevertheless, It will take many years for me to find and gather it all once I am allowed to do so." He turned to face the crowd, the saddened faces filled him with a slight feeling of guilt, and quickly he moved through the people back to his lab so he may finish the morphing coins. _'Time is of the essence; I must finish the new powers soon. Ivan Ooze is moving and I will not allow him to rebuild his empire.' _

Zordon's Lab

Rita and Zedd were standing just outside the lab at Zordon's request. Zordon could hear them talking, wondering, and speculating on everything that was happening. He didn't have time to listen; he was just barely ahead of schedule and was almost ready for his friends.

The door opened and the Rita and Zedd entered the room. "What is it that you need our help in?" The Eltarian wizard quickly finished the last component of his latest machine. "Zedd, I need you to monitor all input and output conduits." Zedd went over to the control center and manned the controls. "Rita, I need you to create a magi field." The two looked at Zordon with a perplexed wonder. "You're going to help me make my new rangers; I've found out how to create power coins."


	2. Not so Empty Words

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter Two: **Not so Empty Words**

Neither Zedd nor Rita knew what had happened or why it did but they did know that making the power coins had taken a heavy toll on all of them.

Once they had all recovered from their pains, Zordon picked up the first coin and placed it into one of the pre-made morphing devices and morphed into a red and white suit. Engraved on the helmet was a strange reptilian like creature. "What is it?" Rita's voice a bit shaken, "I've never seen that creature before."

"Tyrannosaurus. It's called a Tyrannosaurus. It's one of the creatures on the distant planet Ivan Ooze is traveling to. The odd natives call it Tyrannosaurus Rex. I've also created the Triceratops, Mastodon, Sabertooth Tiger, Pterodactyl, and the Dragon." As Zordon said each name he pointed to the respective coin.

As quick as they were finished he loaded each coin into a carrying case. "I'd like to stay but I'm off on a new mission. The new council already placed the new team on assignment." Zedd ran after Zordon, "So, what are we doing then?" Zordon glanced back over his shoulder and yelled, "Going on a separate mission… the council has more information for you!"

_Council Room_

Zedd and Rita stood before the council, awaiting their assignment. "I'm very glad you came," the new council leader started, "and would like to thank you for all the work you have done to help all free people.

"I know that sending Zordon off without your help is irregular, but I feel it would be best if you took on these next missions with your unmatched skills. Zedd, we, the council, would ask you if you would travel to Triforia and aid in the creation of a new zord. Rita, we, the council, would ask if you would travel Aquitar, there is to be a council of heroes there and ask of you to be our representative there." The two bowed to the council and left the chamber, both fearing the distance that they would have to traverse… alone.

"Oh Zedd," Rita sniffed, "I've never left Eltar without either you or Zordon. What if something happens? Then everyone will know, we haven't a license, and that'll mean—"

Zedd cut her off, not knowing if it was safe to talk in the open as they were. "This can wait, nothing will happen to you. Besides, we have a new council now… they'll understand. The marriage laws will change, everyone hated the old ones." He stopped himself from going any further, just down the hall he could see members of the old council. _'They're still looking for weakness amongst Zordon's friends, better watch what we say.' _

The two parted to their separate docking bay and Zedd could feel the woman he loved with all her dread departing for Aquitar. But as much as he feared for her sake he really needed to fear so much more, much much more.

_Aquitar_

Rita had never been to Aquitar so the first time she saw the forehead ridges on their heads she almost screamed for fear of some kind of monster. But the fear quickly subsided when she reached out into their minds with her magic, she could feel only good. Good and fear, even though they had just finished their personal morphing grid and now had a working team of Rangers they feared a roaming army of monsters that plagued the land. Of these monsters they feared one over all, Pyra. He was a red scaled lizard of some kind who had the power to evaporate the very water that the Aquitians required to live. She knew to save them she would personally have to go and fight Pyra, a task she was not grateful for in any way.

_The Great Aquitar Plains_

Another fireball was deflected with Rita's staff, Pyra was not about to lose to a pathetic Eltarian woman, but Rita wasn't an easy woman to deal with. Another fireball that landed too close for any beings comfort. Another shot knocked her over and then Pyra was on top of her. His claws ripped and tore at her body, finally drawing blood and leaping back with a mouth full of blood. A roar and the beast quickly returned for another mouth full of her flesh.

_'Not this time!' _Rita though and as quick as Pyra was on her she had raised her staff and fired an energy blast that ran through the monster. His body flew off into air and landed with a hard _**thud**_.

After several minuets Rita caught her breath and got back onto her feet. The air was still and filled with the scent of Pyra's burnt corpse. The smell reminded her of death so Rita quickly weaved a spell that wrapped the monster in an invisible cloth so that none of the body could contaminate the healthy water supply of the planet. While weaving the spell she didn't notice the movement of the remainder of the horde. As soon as she had finished sealing the body they leaped upon her and into an attack. Their blades flashed and soon were ripping flesh and covered in the blood of their enemy.

For the life of her she couldn't stop them, maybe if it had only been two or three, but not a dozen. Lucky for her one of them had been pulling back the others, his name was Goldar and he knew that Rita mustn't die. But even he was having trouble keeping them from killing her and began to draw back his sword to destroy the others. Just as he was ready to strike down the horde he heard a sound from behind him, recognizing the noise he quickly escaped.

_Aquitarian Hospital_

Rita woke several hours later, her head still spinning. All she remembered was suddenly being jumped and then nothing. "Is any one there?" her voice sounded crushed, "What happened?"

"Oh, we are so sorry that this happened to you," an Aquitarian voice was heard, "we should have been there sooner but the region wasn't clear, the team hadn't arrived yet… Pyra being there and all." Rita stopped listen to the voice, she was more concerned about her baby. In actually she was more concerned if they knew she was pregnant; her heart rate increased and the doctor took notice.

"Is there something we should know?"

"NO!" Her voice rose above all others, her fury became uncontained and she soon exploded with an unknown and unpredictable energy.

_Aquitarian Hospital Ruins_

A pair of claws reached down and lifted the crippled women out of the ruins and carried her over to a make shift medical area. The moment he laid her down an incredibly evil man strode over and placed his hand onto Rita's head. He reached in deep with his dark powers and then pulled back, very satisfied. "When she awakens tell me, I'm going to give her the option."

Goldar looked to his master, "Do you think she'll take it?"

"If she doesn't my name isn't Vile."

Goldar choked out a laugh. _'I wish to serve my master in the best way possible and if that means this woman then I will not question his want of her.' _He watched his master shift around pondered some more, he then took out a piece of parchment and began to scrap notes on to it. He stopped here and there.

"I've got it all planned here, even though I only want what she has for me but having Zedd on our side might make it a lot easier. A second role model would be nice… this is a bit complex but, if I want this done right I need to get them both otherwise it looks to be at least… blast, how long is an Eltarian… never mind!"

Goldar gave a snarl, Rita began to stir. Slowly she shifted until she was sitting up and looking at her two captures. Neither of them were familiar, "Who are you?" she questioned, "Neither of you look like agents of Dark Specter."

"My dear, my name is Master Vile. I hail from the M51 Galaxy, a place where evil always wins and good is no more. Does that interest you? Before you answer I've got an offer for you."

Rita looked at him with both interest and disgust, "What kind of offer, the kind where in return for my freedom I release someone from a prison or tell you where Zordon is? As if!"

Vile looked at her with a smirk of intrigue, _'Immediately she assumes that I want her as a once useable tool, she has no idea of what she's truly worth.' _He pulled a small black gem from his belt, rolled it in his hand for about a minute or two, he then handed it over to Rita, "What do you make of it dear? It's very rare and fun." She looked it over with both her eyes and magic. "From what I can tell it's a power booster for magic… a permanent boost if my observation is correct."

Vile smiled, "You are quite the appraiser, what a wonderful job!"

"However, it is filled with a horrible dark energy… plenty enough to kill me I'm guessing" She looked for a look of aghast upon Vile's face only to see a smirk on his face and in turned she gained the very look that was meant to be upon Vile's face.

"Close my dear. Yes there is dark energy in the gem but, it isn't meant to kill you. To tell you the truth I don't want you dead, I want you." Rita's face turned from horror to intrigue. "I see that you're in wonder, you are a wonderful young lady with extraordinary abilities, and I'm very interested in the genetics of Eltarians."

Rita quickly placed her hand upon the womb that housed her unborn child. Vile pointed to that exact point, "I know about your child, and I also know about the father… so I know that the child will not only have your magic and Zedd's mental abilities. That child is my main goal but I also see the value in having you on my side…"

Rita cut him off, "What reason do I have in turning over to your side?" Vile smiled a sadistic smile, "What reason do you have staying with them?"

"They're good and your evil!"

He chuckled at her, "But they set too many rules: marriage, fighting teams, everything… how much many more do you think you can put up with? What if the baby is born before you and Zedd are given a license? Won't the child be taken away and raised by some random family that will never let you see them again? Won't your and Zedd's chance of getting a license for marriage end? Isn't that also the end of your credibility? But I digress; I'll give you an hour. At the end of that hour you must choose whether you wish to join me or not. But to let you know, no matter what you choose I will be having the baby." Vile and Goldar turned from Rita and walked off into the hills to leave her with her thoughts.

_One Hour Later_

Vile stepped down the hill side and landed within 10 feet of Rita. "So my dear," he said in a callusing voice, "I've given you a full hour to question whether you wished to join me or not. So what is your answer?"

"I wasn't sure what it would all mean but I do now. You're right that I won't get what I want by staying good; however, it goes against my very principles to even consider what you're saying but, no matter what I choose you'll take my child. I won't let my child be raised without me, but in the end I feel the child will have a strong enough conviction to join the side of good. While I considered this I knew that if they didn't conform to your will that you'd kill them, unless I was there to save them from death."

Vile stopped himself from letting a smile cross his face, _'She sounds like she's ready to join me but I can't be too sure, what if she kills herself and the baby? Then all my plans were wasted.'_

"But in the end I knew I had only to options to save my child: join you or kill us." She paused for a moment and let a smile grow on her face. She stood up with her staff in her hand, and she raised it over her head. It looked as if she would rather die, which meant that Vile and Goldar would have to act fast to save them.

"My choice is to submit," she dropped her staff, "make me an agent of evil. I Rita of the planet Eltar swear to the evils of the universe my fealty."

She grabbed the crystal from Vile's hand and broke it open. The dark energy that flowed from it wrapped around her, she started to scream but stopped and began to laugh. After a few moments she bent over and picked up her staff and tested her new powers. She faced Goldar and hit him with a dark blast that sent him flying. Before Goldar hit the ground he stopped, in mid-air. She had given him wings.

"Now," she asked, "What's my first mission?"

Vile grinned, "Destroy Aquitar's Power Rangers. Lay waste to them all."


	3. Critical Mass

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter Three: **Critical Mass**

While Rita had fallen to the powers that Master Vile and his lackey Goldar had offered her, Zedd traveled to Triforia. The journey to the far distant planet was a long and quite one as Zedd was left alone in the ship. With the time given he started to study some of the Zord schematics that he had brought with him that might help with the new zord being made on the planet. He wasn't sure exactly what they were planning but he heard rumors that they were trying to utilize the power of the Zeo Crystal. But that was all he had heard and nothing more. But whatever that meant he didn't know.

_Triforia_

"Thank you for coming to our aid Zedd. We were in desperate need of some aid. The zord Pyramidas will aid so much in the defeat of the evil alliances." The king of the Triforians was both relieved at the sight of the Eltarian man and worried that his help would not be enough. But Zedd had no worry, he was confident that he could aid in the finishing of it that he jumped straight to the chance of working on it.

_Pyramidas Holding Bay_

Zedd had never been more excited on a project with the exception of building the main engine of the Astro Megaship then he was building the center gun on Pyramidas. The power that this thing could put out would take down any gigantic monster and even a wave of enemy monsters. He was never more proud of his skills then he was at this time.

No matter what task Zordon had placed before Zedd he had always completed the task with little to no problems but this was a different story; Pyramidas wasn't your run of the mill zord, in fact this single zord seemed to house more power than any of the Astro Zords. But then again everything isn't always what they seem.

"Something about this is all wrong," Zedd yelled down to the engineers, "this thing is capable of letting loose even more power then what it can generate!" The Triforians gave a laugh and one of them spoke, "That's because this thing can utilize the power of the other zords that we've got cooking." Zedd looked to them with an inquiring look, "Which ones?"

One of them pointed over to another side of the holding bay. He saw five geometric shapes held in scaffolding: Star, Rectangle, Triangle, a double bar, and an oval. He gave a look of concern. "I don't get how those zords work. Do they have an anti-gravity device and float around or what?"

The same Triforian that had pointed to the zords gave a laugh, "This is how we plan on housing them. They've got a humanoid form to do battle in. Plus they can combine into a Megazord. They are the zords that will join with Pyramidas and give its full power." Zedd gave a smile and almost giggled with glee.

_Inside Pyramidas, Engine Room_

Zedd looked at the engine and was very concerned. He didn't know how they expected him to make all of the main connections or how to even build up the last parts of the engine itself. "How?" he mumbled. A group of Triforian Engineers then came into the room carrying a large black case. They set the case down and opened it up. Inside Zedd could see a red visor and a silver exoskeleton. He was at first concerned but then relieved, the use of the exoskeleton would give him a shield to protect himself from the power that would radiate from the engine as he finished building it and the visor would provide him with a microscopic look at the parts as he put them in place.

The Triforians could see the smile on Zedd's face and left him to putting the exoskeleton on. Once he was done a few of the engineers looked over the suit's systems and then left the Eltarian to his work.

This made Zedd very happy and so he pushed onwards with his work for hours at end and soon found himself hating that this part of the project would be done eventually. This pang in his heart and his absorption into his own work made him oblivious to a moving shadow.

This shadow was named Finster and he was so excited to the thought of using his new invisibility device. He moved slowly closer and closer to the unsuspecting man and reached forwards. A sudden stop… Zedd reared back and with a wild look behind the visor he wore.

"Achoo!"

Finster breathed a very small sigh of relief; Zedd hadn't found him out. He quickly guided his invisible hand to the power switch on the exoskeleton and with a quick flip of his wrist had turned the unit off.

As fast as he had done this he ran from the room and looked for a hiding spot to let the cloaking device recharge. It took him only a minute to find a place to hide and turn his cloaking device off. The device whirred once and then a cross between a white Terrier and a goblin of some kind stood behind a box, this was Finster.

He took a moment to catch his breath and then switched on the device again. With another whirl the light waves warped and he was invisible again. Waiting to see if the coast was still clear he took a moment to contemplate the plan in his mind once more. It took less than a second and then he was off to return to the reactor room where Zedd worked.

Finster scanned the room and quickly found what he was looking for once again: the safety field for the reactor. He silently moved in and once he was in reach he went to work. This reactor wasn't anything like the ones he was used to but, the safety controls were the exact same as the one in his evil zord creations. He stifled a giggle, switched off all protective fields, raised the power output that the reactor was emitting so that it would reach a critical range in a few minutes and, before leaving, left a small magnetic device that would warp the energy to a critical mass. Quick as a flash Finster was out of harm's way and waited.

The burst of energy overloaded several of the electrical systems in the building and alerted several of the Triforians to the problem in Pyramidas. However, because the exoskeleton had been switched off by Finster, it was too late for Zedd. When he was hit with the critical mass of energy from the power core Zedd felt incredible pain; a pain that ripped his skin away and melted the exoskeleton into his flesh. When the other engineers has discovered Zedd they had to wait for the energy flux in the main power core to return to safe levels before they could make any attempt to rescue Zedd.

_Triforian Medical Center_

Zedd awoke to the sound of a doctor's voice. The voice seemed distant and muffled, and this worried Zedd; it worried him so much that he reached to his head to see if his ears were plugged with something or not. When he placed his hands on the sides of his head he felt the cold steel of the visor he had worn into the central power core.

"What happened? What's going on?" he asked in a frenzied panic.

"The power core went to critical mass and exploded on you," the doctor told him, "and for some reason the exoskeleton's energy barrier was deactivated so when the core exploded you took the blunt of the energy."

"I'm not sure what happened with the exoskeleton but I'd like to know why I'm still wearing the visor?"

"It… well… I'm not quite sure," the doctor's voice trailed off.

"Tell me what happened! I need to know!"

The doctor took in a deep breath of air and told Zedd exactly what happened to him with one exhale, "The exoskeleton and the visor have fused to your flesh."

"Well then," Zedd remarked, "once the metal has de-ionized then it will be a simple matter of reversing the graft polarity."

"I wish it were that simple; I wish that we could just reverse the graft polarity, but the exoskeleton hasn't just fused to your flesh. Your flesh has also fused into the exoskeleton."

"I'm not quite sure what you're telling me, what do you mean when you say my flesh has also fused 'into' the exoskeleton?"

The doctor then placed one finger onto a piece of the exoskeleton. He then placed his finger onto another part of the exoskeleton and then another and another, "Do you feel that Zedd?"

"Yes, you're touching my skin."

"No I'm not," the doctor gave another exhale; "I'm touching only the exoskeleton. When I told you that your flesh had fused into the exoskeleton this is what I meant."

"What you're saying is that the exoskeleton is part of my body now?"

"Unfortunately that is exactly what I am saying."

"Get out, I need to think."

The doctor left Zedd in the medical ward so that he would have time to think of what had just happened to him. While he was thinking, Finster, cloaked from view, entered into the ward. He looked over Zedd and the medical charts, smiled and then switched off his cloaking device. He came into view and waited for Zedd to notice him.

"What," Zedd commented when he saw Finster, "are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Finster, and I'm here on behalf of my master. He is the powerful Master Vile. He sent me to come here because he knew what was going to happen to you."

Zedd looked at Finster with disbelief, "He knew that the core would overload and reach critical mass? That seems very suspicious that he would know that, I think that he somehow caused my accident."

Finster walked about the ward and around Zedd's bed, "Well yes, he did have me cause the accident, but he had me do so because the Triforians are not known for letting their secrets out. After you had finished with the main power core it is most likely that you would have your memories erased."

Zedd looked at Finster with much disbelief. "The Triforians are not like that, they are peaceful and wish to help in the over throwing of evil forces."

Finster then turned to Zedd, "Tell me if the rumors are true, will they be using the Zeo Crystal to power Pyramidas?" The white goblin waited for an answer.

Zedd though for a moment, he wasn't sure. "They didn't tell me if they were using the Zeo Crystal to power the Zord. I know that they are doing something with the Zeo Crystal."

Finster chuckled a bit, "They plan on splitting the Zeo Crystal into five sub crystals. They will then use these sub crystals to power the Morphers of new rangers. They have no intention to power Pyramidas with the Zeo Crystal at all. Can you imagine a team of rangers powered with the Zeo Crystal? I think that they could over run the universe."

Zedd hid the worry on his face with a look of disapproval, but 'what if the Triforians were going to misuse the power of the Zeo Crystal?' he thought. Just as he hid his worry Finster put even more worry into Zedd's mind, "I'm more curious about why the Triforian doctors didn't try to use the Zeo Crystal to heal you; I think that it would be worth a shot." Zedd turned his head to the goblin like creature. "What do you mean?"

Finster then helped Zedd out of his bed and led him through the medical building and then into a very large building until they finally came up to a large vault door. Zedd gave a scoff, but Finster only smiled and then took out a tool that when he ran it over the lock there was a slight static scrambling sound. Only moments after the sound had ended did the locked vault door swing open and reveal its contents. Before Zedd and Finster was a brilliant crystal that radiated slightly.

"Well," Finster said, "touch it; touch it and tell me that it doesn't help you at all." Zedd wondered what the unknown Master Vile wanted to happen if Zedd touched the Zeo Crystal, and even though Zedd wondered this he also wanted to prove to Finster and his master that there would have been nothing that could have been changed by the Zeo Crystal.

Zedd walked into the vault and towards the crystal; the crystal floated in the exact center of the vault, it radiated slightly with a light energy and gave off a slight warm feeling. Finster watched with anticipation, hoping that the master's plan would work. Zedd's hand trembled as he reached out towards the Zeo Crystal, the closer his hand came to the crystal the warmer Zedd felt; just before Zedd's hand touched the Zeo Crystal a spark of energy arced between the crystal and the exoskeleton.

Zedd jumped slightly at the sight but placed his hand on the Zeo Crystal. The second his hand fell on the crystal a surge of power ran through his body and knocked him out. Finster picked Zedd up off the floor and dragged him out to a waiting shuttle craft. Finster loaded Zedd onto a medical table in the shuttle craft and began to perform the last steps of Master Vile's plan.

_Finster's Shuttle Craft_

Zedd awoke to a strange buzzing sound right next to his ear. Finster was operating a wielding reinforcing device along the visor that had been fused to Zedd's face. Finster noticed the Zedd was awake and then put down his wielding equipment.

"I see that you are awake now, I hope that you had a good rest and are ready to do your job."

Zedd tried to move his arms but couldn't. He looked and saw that his arms were strapped down to the table. Finster noticed this, "I see that you are concerned with being strapped down but I can explain."

"I sure hope you can explain, because I'm going to rip you apart."

"What I am doing is making sure that your exoskeleton won't fall apart on you. Even though the Zeo Crystal didn't heal you as one would hope it did do something good, it repaired much of your body. You're stronger then you were before and your mind can now think twice as fast."

Zedd did see how this was of much consolidation. Finster could see the discontent upon Zedd's face even behind the visor. "However, because your flesh body has been given new strength that doesn't mean that you exoskeleton component has been given the same strength. Because the exoskeleton has been bonded into your flesh it is part of you and thusly needs to be reinforced. If I didn't do this work on the exoskeleton it is possible that it would fall apart and what good would that do for you? That would be no good what so ever."

Zedd struggled with both his bonds and what he was being told. He didn't understand why Finster was going through with all of this. "I'd be willing to thank you for all that you've done," Zedd said, "but I don't see what good it will do you if I'm still alive, after all I do work for Zordon."

"That is a valid point but Master Vile thinks that you would love to hear this little bit of information; it was transmitted to me while I was working on reinforcing your exoskeleton." Finster hobbled over to a computer terminal and pressed a few buttons and brought up a recording.

"Finster I would like you to show this to Zedd when you are finished working on him." Master Vile's face covered the screen and looked down on to the table that Zedd was strapped to. "Greetings Zedd, my name is Vile. I suppose you are wondering why I have gone through all of this trouble to keep you alive when I easily could have killed you. Well, I must inform you of what has happened to your lovely Rita; Rita has given herself over to the power of darkness. If you were wondering why she would do this I will also tell you this. As you are well aware Rita is pregnant with a child, and she gave herself over to the darkness to keep her child. Now why would she need to protect the child this way?"

Zedd was filled with anger at the man on the screen, "The reason she had to give herself over was because of the child is this: I need that child. Why do I need that child? This child has great potential; it will have magical abilities granted to it because of his mother and even better than having magical abilities is to also have a mental capacity to utilize it to its fullest potential. This child, being not just Rita's but also yours, will have a mental capacity similar to yours.

"Now, I wanted this child to help further the goals of my evil empire and Rita did not want to be away from her child. I also want to extend the offer to you as well, be with your child and the woman you love. Finster has with him a device that will give you great power and unlock your darkest powers. If you do not except this gift then I can assume that you never want to see Rita ever again."

Zedd had a grimace on his face, he didn't want to give up Rita but he also didn't want to help anyone who worked for the darkness. Zedd considered what was happening when Finster pressed a button on the computer terminal and the recorded message continued. "In case you were wondering about Rita's state of mind I'll let you in on it. Rita thinks as I want her to think, she thinks that she is my daughter and there is nothing you can do to change that."

Vile hoped that by having Zedd listen to this it would make Zedd think that he could save Rita by joining the side of evil. Vile and Finster both knew that if Zedd made this deal willingly he would not be able to break out of the evil grip nor would he be able to free Rita. Zedd still thought of Rita and his love for her.

"Alright, I've made a decision," Zedd inhaled deeply, "I'm going to take Vile's offer." Finster looked at Zedd with a look of thanks. "It is a good thing that you chose to join us, because if you said no I would have had to kill you, and I don't like to have to kill anyone personally."

Zedd nodded his head and waited for Finster to give Zedd the dark power that would turn him over to the side of evil. Finster picked a small metal device from his pocket and pressed it to Zedd's chest. "I hope you know that you won't be breaking free of darkness nor will you be able to free Rita from it." Zedd looked at Finster with a wild look in his eyes as the device began to pour dark energy into his heart and soul.

Zedd began to scream out in pain as his thoughts were ripped from his head and were then forced into a dark haze. Finster walked away as the device finished filling Zedd with dark energy. The energy continued to travel through Zedd's body as Finster untied him from the table. Zedd rose from the table and looked about, "Tell me, what is it that I need to do to prove to Vile that I am worthy of seeing Rita." Finster smiled and handed Zedd a silver staff with a 'Z' on the top. Zedd took the staff from Finster and looked out the door. "I'll come back," Zedd's voice now filled with dark rage, "when I've done some heavy damage. I think I'll start with those zords and Pyramidas." Zedd walked off the shuttle craft and Finster chuckled slightly, "Oh what fun it is to be evil."


	4. Mission Earth, Day One

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter Four: Mission Earth, Day One

_Eltarian Cruiser, on course to Earth_

Zordon had been spending the last few hours preparing himself for a presentation to his new team about how to operate his newly crafted Ranger powers and to ready the team to utilize the Zords' simulation setting to give them some practice time before arriving at their destination.

While he finalized the data in a computer simulation of how the Zords could combine for different attack patterns Zordon began to wonder on the team he had been given would be up to the task at hand. Normally Zordon would be given time to go through files and meet with potential candidates in order to formulate a team, but with the change of the council and the loss of the Astro powers and the looming threats coming from every corner and angle of the universe he didn't have that luxury. He probably would feel better if he had Zedd or at least the majority of the old team but even that was less likely. When the council was replaced several people were beginning to lose faith in the leaders of Eltar and began to turn to talks of aiding Dark Specter and other villains; in order to prevent the citizens of Eltar from continuing on these disturbing paths of thought the council had to come up with as many victories for the side of good and thusly had Rita and Zedd go on separate missions from Zordon to increase their chances. While Zordon was fine with this he lost his closest allies when his traditional team was also sent out to help other troops.

This split of the team meant that in order for Zordon to have a fully operational team was to take anyone that was qualified enough to operate the equipment. Luckily for Zordon he still had Tarn, the Blue Astro Ranger, staying with him.

"Zordon," Tarn's voice came from behind him, "I hope you're ready for this. I mean it is a new team. I'm just not sure how you are going to handle this." Zordon turned to Tarn and placed his hand on Tarn's shoulder, "We somehow made it this far in life so, I'm quite sure that we'll make it the rest of the way. Now get some rest, I'll be giving my presentation in the main hanger in a few hours."

_Main Hanger_

Zordon looked over at the new team he had been presented with. They were the newest graduates of the academy and they looked like they were either ready for action or would crack under the pressure. Their bright faces reminded Zordon that he was no spring chicken (not that he'd know this saying yet as it had yet to be invented on Earth and Eltar does not have chickens).

"I'm sure you all know who I am and know what I'm about to say so it doesn't truly matter…" Suddenly the hand of one of the recruits shot into the air with great force, "I'm sorry sir," he mumbled, "but could you please say it anyways? We would all like to make sure we boarded the correct shuttle craft."

Zordon smiled slightly, "Alright, I guess I'll say it. You have been selected to join me as members of the Power Ranger team." The four cadets yelled and cheered for a moment. "You all know that I am Zordon and that this is Tarn, a former member of the Astro Ranger team. With the sudden rise of evil activity across the universe and the de-activating of the Astro powers by the former Council of Eltar the original Astro Rangers have been sent off on missions to other planets in order to aid the Allies of Eltar in the fight against Dark Specter and other villainous agents.

"With the de-activation of the Astro Rangers there was a requirement, nay an absolute need, for a new team of Rangers to rise up and take their place. I worked long and hard with my closest friends Zedd and Rita to replicate something that I had seen on the planet Phados. The wise and powerful Ninja Master Ninjor had discovered a way to condense the powers of a Ranger team into a set of golden coins. His great creation baffled me for quite some time until I too figured how to create such a marvel as a set of my own coins.

"While Ninjor had chosen the sleek and intense animals that represented the skills and abilities of the ninja, I chose to utilize the mighty beasts that roamed and lived on the planet Earth. I have been to Earth before and while there I met some of the 'primitive' people of the planet. These people were incredible for their location upon their own evolutionary line; they emanate the same power and even more potential then the mighty beasts that roam their planet. The people of the planet Earth are just as great if not… no they are greater than these beasts; the people of Earth are greater than the Dinosaurs.

"It is with the help of the people of Earth and with these Power Coins will we be able to defeat the vile and menacing Ivan Ooze. However, it will not be enough to hand over the power coins to you and run head on into Ooze's ugly face. I have been looking over your records and studying exactly what I need in each section of this team.

"I'm sure that you would not expect less than if I were to select myself as the leader of the team so I will be taking the designation of Red Ranger. I am also sure that you would expect me to put one of you as my second but, and I am sorry if you feel strongly against this, I would rather have Tarn take the position of second in command. He will take the position of the Green Ranger."

Zordon looked to the list for a moment, "Cadet… I mean, Ranger Sav." I strong looking Eltarian male with pitch black hair jumped up, "Sir!" Zordon smiled at him.

"You are quite strong and an expert in close physical combat. The other new Rangers look up to you so I feel that it would be best if you became the Black Ranger." Sav smiled at Zordon and accepted the Mastodon power coin. Zordon proceeded to give Kale, someone who thrived with computers, the Triceratops coin, Jalle, who is nimble as she is fast, the Saber Tooth Tiger coin, and finally gave the Pterodactyl coin to Azi.

Zordon then proceeded to watch the new Rangers test their new powers and become more familiar with the power weapons. Tarn walked over to Zordon and patted him on the back. "I know that this isn't the team that you want to be with," he calmly said, "and I know that I am not the first choice for your second in command but I'm glad to see that you are going to keep fighting."

"Tarn, how could I ever stop fighting? I do miss having Zedd on the team and I do miss having Rita's council but there are just some things that you have to do on your own. If I didn't let them go on the missions they are on and I didn't take on this new team, well… it isn't the spirit of Eltar if we don't move forward I guess, if we can't be willing to fight with new comrades and do what we can then we might as well let Dark Specter, Master Vile, and Ivan Ooze take over the universe."

Zordon looked quite happy and Tarn found this to be a good sign. He then looked to his lap and saw some blue prints, but Tarn knew that Zordon wasn't drawing up the blue prints because he didn't have faith in the team but rather because Zordon was always trying to further his scientific mind and help the universe become more at peace.

_Earth Surface_

The planet Earth was nothing like the new team had ever expected for a planet so desired by anyone. It was hot and muggy, the vegetation grew anywhere there was space, the mammalian life was small and the rest of the life was giant reptilian beasts. Off in the distance Tarn could see a herd of animals with lots of hair and a set a protrusions from the mouth. "Is that a mammoth? Like the one on Sav's power coin?"

"Why yes those are mammoths, and over there in the tree is a saber tooth tiger." The life on the planet was incredible and vast, but there was no time to take in the sights if they wanted to reach the human settlement before the sun set.

Zordon lead the way through the jungle until they came upon a small group of humans. They were dressed in colorful garments and carried what looked like metallic weapons. Zordon smiled. The humans approached with little caution and the one dressed in a red tunic stabbed his sword into the ground and walked up to Zordon with open arms.

"We've missed you great wizard Zordon," he said with surprising articulation, "ever since you left to return to your home Eltar we wondered if you would ever return. We still want to thank you for helping us make these clothes and for teaching us how to make metal tools." Five other warriors held up their weapons to show off how well they had crafted them. Tarn noticed that that colored clothes and the weapons that the humans were holding related to the team's colors and weapons.

"Zordon…"

"I see that you noticed the similarities between these humans and the new team Tarn. I told you that humans are impressive; in fact they were so impressive that I couldn't leave that inspiration out of the team's equipment. In fact our zords correlate to their tribal animals." The conversation about how much the humans had influenced Zordon went on for awhile longer when suddenly a flash of purple light shone brightly and blinded everyone. Once the light had subsided Zordon and the others could see an army, a small one but nevertheless an army, of purple men made of slimy purple ooze.

"I believe that this is Ivan Ooze's way of welcoming us to the planet. Rangers, Henshin!" With a flash of multicolored light the Eltarians had donned their Ranger suits and drawn their power weapons.

"Let's see how well these foot soldiers do against these new powers." With that Zordon lead his team straight into the legion of Ooze-men. Each strike with his Power Sword fell another foot soldier and lead into another strike. Tarn expertly utilized his Power Dagger, moving in and out of the enemy with each move cutting a new man down. The rest of the team, while green when it came to this kind of field combat, was proving their worth with each ax swing, lance blow, knife cut, and arrow shot another Ooze-man fell. The field was soon covered in purple goop and the human warriors watched on in amazement to the ability of the Rangers.

However, if the humans had been watching the ground they would have noticed the ooze move closer to them and reform until it became some kind of slime-like reptile. Tarn however did notice and leaped at it in order to protect the humans. His Power Dagger ripped across the beast's skin and caused it great pain.

"Not so tough are you, you purple puke!" The beast responded to the taunt with a roar and then dove into the rest of the ooze on the ground. His body absorbed all of the slime and several of the Ooze-men, this then lead to the beast growing in size until it was taller than even the trees. Tarn saw this as something that he would have to face and called for his zord.

"Dragonzord!"

At the call a giant metallic dragon rumbled out of the shuttle and toward the beast. Tarn leapt into the air and into his zord's cockpit. As Zordon had told him about before he removed his Power Coin from his belt and placed it into the control panel. The zord rumbled across the ground as the power cells charged up.

"Let's see how well you do against my zord. Activating finger rockets!" With the flip of a switch a set of rockets loaded into the launchers in the Dragonzord's fingers and then fired off, hitting the beast in the face. Tarn flipped another switch, activated the flamethrower, and launched a stream of fire across the beast's body. Twisting the control grips the Dragonzord spun around and hit the beast with its drill tipped tail.

"Not so tough now you little brute!" With another gloat Tarn rammed his zord's claws into the beast—but didn't notice the trace amounts of ooze that remained stuck to the claws permeate into the zord. Each strike and flame blast weakened the beast until it collapsed and exploded.

"No one can mess with the power of the Dragonzord."

Suddenly a purple claw struck from behind, crashing into Tarn's back and then into the control panel. Tarn grabbed his power coin and reinserted it into his belt to prevent the zord from moving. The beast struck again and again until the cockpit was completely ruined and then grabbed Tarn and leaped from the zord. Tarn reached for his Power Dagger and struck back as they fell. The beast, not wanting to lose, ripped at the Green Ranger's body. As they fell the ground seemed to rush upon them until they hit the ground.

Tarn bounced off a rock and the rolled into the grass while the beast landed on its feet. As it moved towards the fallen Ranger to finish him off the other ranger had combine their five weapons into the Power Cannon. Zordon aimed the weapon and fired off a blast, the beast stopped and then melted away.

"Tarn. Tarn. Tarn, are you alive?" They rolled him over to see his suit was fine; however, Zordon knew that he wasn't fine and couldn't undo the morph without killing him.

"What are we going to do? If we try to demorph him to treat him he'll die from the shock, but if we leave him morphed we cannot treat him and he'll die slowly. What are we going to do?" Zordon's voice was shaken and filled with anger. The human warrior dressed in green then stepped forward.

"If I hurry back to the villages I can get the Golden Armor, its magic should be able to heal his wounds enough that it could be safe to demorph him to treat the remainder of the injuries." Zordon gave him a nod that meant 'Hurry and get it then. Time is of the essence!' and watched the green clad warrior sprint off into the jungle.

_An Hour or so Later_

The green clad warrior raced along the ground at blinding speed with a golden chest piece upon his chest. With the Golden Armor his physical abilities were increased and he could run at speeds that he never would able to obtain normally. His enhanced vision spotted the other warriors and the Eltarian visitors so he quickened his step.

Out from the jungle he leaped and landed without a sound. He moved over to the Green Ranger and removed the armor. He at first was unsure how he would place the armor onto the Eltarian when the Golden Armor reacted to the Green Ranger power, turning into static and then appearing about the Green Ranger.

"This should help him recover. Where is Zordon?" The other warriors pointed to the Dragonzord, explaining that Zordon had gone there to try and fix the damaged cockpit. They said that Zordon cursed very loudly at first but then brought some equipment from the shuttlecraft out and took the Green Ranger's Power Dagger.

While this was happening Zordon was up in the cockpit of the Dragonzord. While he knew that it would be impossible to repair it like it had previously been with the equipment that he had, he knew that he could still bring the Dragonzord back to operational status. As he broke down several computer drives that had been brought along he also fitted several control devices into the Power Dagger. At first he was mad that he had to rebuild the cockpit the way he did but then he saw it as a new challenge that would be worth some kind of knowledge. However Zordon found making the zord remote controlled to be harder then he hoped. Unfortunately the computers he broke down to fix the zord would not accept drone programming and still operate the weapons, but he soon found that if he used a musical command key he could have to zord utilize its semi-sentience and have access to all of the weapons.

While Zordon changed the Power Dagger into the more aptly named Dragon Dagger the magic of the Golden Armor healed Tarn's body; as the armor did this it also bonded with the suit, making the Green ranger more powerful than it had previously been. And all the while that this was happening Ivan Ooze was putting the finishing touches on his newest weapons, the Ecto-Morphicons.


	5. Mission Earth, Politics

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter Five: Mission Earth, Politics

_Site of First Battle, Later in Day_

Zordon had been working for several hours when he finally had finished. He let out a sigh of relief and departed from the Dragonzord. Once he was on the ground found Tarn lying down as the Golden Armor healed his wounds.

"How do you feel Tarn?" Zordon asked his friend, "Well enough to pilot the Dragonzord again? I fixed the cockpit with what we had, your Power Dagger now works as a control device that utilizes music to activate the weapons and lead the zord. Seems moot to rename it but now it's the Dragon Dagger."

Tarn moved his hand to behind his back and pushed up, "Sounds great Zordon, I'm glad that you could fix it. I think you can take the armor off me now." But as the green clad human warrior reached for the armor it gave him a shock and flashed green.

"That's odd," both Tarn and Zordon muttered. Zordon pointed to Kale and then to the armor, wanting the Blue Ranger to try to take the armor off of him. Kale reached to the armor, the armor sparked once and then jumped onto Kale's body. Tarn reached his hand out to touch the armor and it returned to him.

"This is quite strange. Why won't it come off?"

"Perhaps it bonded with your suit Tarn. Did anything strange happen when you brought the armor?"

"Yes," the green clad warrior said, "it changed into a sparking energy and then equipped to the Green Ranger. It has never done that before." Zordon puzzled this for awhile.

"Might I guess that the Golden Armor is made of a gold ore that has been specially bonded with some kind of metal from space?"

"My father was one of the men who forged the armor," the black clad warrior said, "and he did use some kind of metal that fell from the sky. How did you know?" Zordon let out a sigh.

"The metal that I used to create the Power Coins was made of gold ore and an iron-like ore from a meteorite being bonded. The alloy that it creates can hold a significant amount of energy, perfect for creating Power Rangers and it would seem perfect for creating a piece of armor that can heal a person, protect them from damage, and enhance their abilities. The reaction between the coin and armor being made of the same material brought them together on Tarn, and I'm guess that the extended time that it spent on him has bonded the armor to his suit. I think if we bring it back to your tribe there may be a way to remove the armor."

The earth warriors and the Power Rangers packed up the Eltarians' gear and then head to the tribal grounds. While they did this a small fraction of the purple ooze-beast that Tarn fought before had re-grown into a small dog-like creature and ran off into the woods.

_Earth Warrior Tribal Grounds_

"Most interesting," one of the armor's forgers commented, "I've never seen anything like this before. Not many things in our tribe are made of the special space metal and gold alloy but we do have some other special tools that we did create; the armor has been around other creations of the alloy but never before has it had a reaction."

Zordon turned this problem over in his head with great vigor. The problem was with the Golden Armor forever connected to the Rangers it would be impossible for this to not seem like Zordon was accumulating power for supporters of the old council to proclaim. Something needed to be done immediately or this war would be caught between actual battle and political issues.

"I am sorry about this my friends," Zordon said to the Tribal leaders, "because I was foolish enough to use this specific alloy and not create something of my own you have lost one of your great treasures." One of the Tribal leaders walked over to him and placed his hand on Zordon's shoulder.

"This is not your fault Zordon, not even we knew that this might have happened. But I do not see how this is as terrible as you seem to find it." Zordon lowered his head and with a great sigh explained the political implications that this incident may lead towards. A sudden dread filled the air until the earth warrior clad in pink spoke.

"I'm not sure how the politics of Eltar work but if there is some opposition to you this accident then why do we not just declare the Golden Armor as a gift to the Power Rangers?" Zordon sighed again.

"Because if we do make that claim then I should have said no and we wouldn't have the Golden Armor. And if we tell them the truth it will show my ineptitude as a scientist, and as selfish as that sounds it will then show weakness and fault in the new council and everyone else who has supported me. No matter how hard I try… I don't think that we can do this." Zordon's face had a dark look upon it. Tarn looked to his friend and could not stand to see him this way.

"I'll take the blame; I'll say that I took the Golden Armor without knowing what it could do and without knowing that you said no. We can say that it bonded to me during a fight. This may ruin my reputation but I will take the fall in order to make sure that we can keep fighting the good fight." Zordon became furious with Tarn.

"I cannot allow you to say those things. I must be a man and take the blame for what I have done. I know that we did not know what would happen with the Power Coins and the Golden Armor but I swear as an Eltarian that I will not lie to save myself, much less let you lie to save me."

The green clad warrior then stood. Slowly all eyes turned towards him. "I shall take the blame. I was the one who told you of the Armor and brought it out to you. All you need to do is show them an image of me and where we live; wouldn't they all see me as a primitive and dismiss it as nothing?

"I know that you do not wish for the universe to see humans as weak and pathetic but in order to continue doing what is right I must do this. It is not a complete lie Zordon, I did tell you about the Armor and bring it to you not knowing what could happen and thusly causing the problem you have now. Please, do not beat yourself up over this."

Zordon sighed but knew that this was the only course of action that could be taken that would not destroy the Ranger program and would not go against his principle of being honest. He nodded his head and was about to speak when he heard a noise come from the forest. It was gone as quickly as it came only leaving only a flash of fear. A flash of fear and a long shank made of a purple substance lodged through Tarn's body.

The color faded from everyone's faces Tarn looked down to his chest. He only could say one thing before he fell to the ground, "Oh boy, this doesn't look good."

Zordon dropped to his knees and wanted to weep and let all of his pain be seen but something held it back, something more powerful than his love of his friend. His duty to the universe and its people prevented him from crying out in pain. Tarn had been a great warrior and a good friend to him and to watch him die like that was so powerful and great that it drove Zordon back to his feet—back to his feet with Tarn's morpher in his hand.

"You want me to say that it is your fault for why we have the Golden Armor knowing that I do not want others to see humans as inferior. Well now I have a solution as to how you can help me make sure that no find humans to be inferior and take the blame as you want.

"You might know what it is that I am asking of you, but you might also not. I am not saying this lightly. I am not asking this of you but telling you that this is how it will be. You must now accept what you have brought to yourself when taking the blame."

The green clad warrior dropped to his knees and swore loyalty to the team. He threw down his dagger and told the Eltarian to do as he must.

"Then get back to your feet and take this," handing the power morpher over to him, "and become my new Green Ranger. Your tribe sees you as the embodiment of the Dragon and now I ask you to be that embodiment for me."

The green clad warrior took the morpher from Zordon and shook his hand. "I will do this for you Zordon; I will be your Green Ranger."

Zordon smiled but then stopped, "I know realize that I have asked you to be my second in command and I do not even know your name. Just what should I call you?"

"You should call me by my name."

"And what is that name?"

"Burai. My name is Burai."

_Somewhere in the M51 Galaxy_

Master Vile waltzed about his home in utter joy. He succeeded in his goal to turn both Rita and Zedd over to the side of evil and eventually gain their child, a child who would turn the tide of the war between good and evil forever. However this joy would have to be stifled as an alarm went off. The view screen changed from overlooking his empire to that of a large and intense figure engulfed in a dark fire, Dark Specter.

"Hello Master Vile, have you completed what you sought out to do?"

"Of course I have Specter. Rita and Zedd both belong to our army now and soon we will have their child. Oh, Goldar. Tell me what brings you in here?"

Goldar raised his sword to both Master Vile and Dark Specter. "Rita will return here soon, she has destroyed Aquitar's Morphing Grid. Zedd has also dealt a crippling blow to Triforia by piloting the zord Pyramidas off of a cliff and by destroying all of the communication arrays on the planet."

Dark Specter gave dark and deep laugh. "I am glad to hear this news. I hope that Zordon soon destroys Ivan Ooze. Send Rita and Zedd off to this planet called Earth. Once Zordon is done with Ooze I want to be done with him."

Vile bowed to the evil war lord. "That will not be a problem. If we can send the planet Phados across the universe into a dark field and forever trap Ninjor in the Desert of Despair then it will be no problem to defeat Zordon of Eltar and his group on green horns."

Goldar snarled, "Yes, pathetic teenagers with attitude."


	6. Mission Earth, Prelude to Confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything involving them in anyways shape or form. Dang!

Neo-Past: The Rangers Retold

Chapter Six: Mission Earth, Prelude to Confrontation

_Earth, Ivan Ooze's Castle_

A small disfigured dog-like beast creature leaped from rock to rock until he reached a large and menacing castle. The beast jumped up the ledges and gun turrets on the side of the castle until he reached the top and walked over to an empty throne.

"Hello my good little puppy," a gravelly voice from behind rasped. The beast turned to look into the eyes of his sinister master, Ivan Ooze. He started to bark out what had happened when Ooze laughed at him. "You can't talk you dumb mutt." With a wave of his hand a slather of purple ooze flew out and landed with a plop on the dog-like beast. A moment later it grew until it had become a humanoid being.

"Zordon had come to the planet master. He has brought giant machines and a team of heroes to fight you."

"The council of Eltar has gotten itself together and allowed Zordon to leave or they've been replaced. Either way I get to play with a Wizard of Eltar." His wicked grin grew until it went from ear to ear and twisted his face in a way similar to how the Grinch looked with his evil plan in mind. Ooze moved across his palace and looked down into the caverns below, the silver gleam off of completed figures reflected the light of the single moon that orbited the planet.

"I think that it is time for us to bring a whole new meaning to the word terror my Ecto-Morphicons," he paused for a moment, "hook them up to the engines and go to work my slimy fiends." Ooze enjoyed the sounds of industry and pain, he enjoyed filling his workers with dread, he enjoyed the thoughts of evil that filled his mind, and he enjoyed knowing that all that made him happy made all other beings unhappy.

_Earth, Zordon's Base Camp_

The death of Tarn had filled Zordon with grief, one of the few people in the universe he could trust with his life, the only member of his old team that was with him, and one of his friends was dead. But grief had no place on this mission; grief distracted people from their duty. There would be time to mourn later, after Ivan Ooze was gone.

Tarn's death was something different to the rest of the team. They hardly knew Zordon, only stories of his victories in battle, and Tarn was the man who connected them all. They were a fresh group who had never been a part of a Power Ranger Team; but it was Burai who was affected the most. A man who he had never known, given him a powerful tool that nearly took apart Zordon and his team, a man who had died as quickly as he had been on the planet, a man that Burai was to replace.

Burai had only seen Tarn fight once and it nearly killed him. Tarn was a man who fought with such conviction and loyalty to a team that he only knew one man. Tarn had been a part of Zordon's old team and new the mighty wizard as a leader and a warrior more than a legend.

But grief had a time and place, and it was not now and not here. The elders of the village were in council, they were preparing for battle but Zordon did not want them to fight. Ivan Ooze's army was strong enough to cause problems for the Power Ranger team and strong enough to kill Tarn, humans would fall easily to the hoard. But there was deterring the humans; humans were strong and they had stake in the upcoming fights. War was inevitable, whether between two tribes or whole planets. There would be losses, whether a single life or half the planet. There would be prizes to claim, whether a herd of cattle or the whole universe. People fought, people died, and civilians would always end up somewhere in the mix.

"Ivan Ooze is coming and we will die. If we fight then we die trying to stop him and if we don't fight then we are letting him come up and take everything." The Elders made their choice. If their people were going to be near the fighting and dying, fighting and dying for them, then they should do something, they should fight.

"I cannot ask you to join in this fight; you are not part of the war. Earth is innocent"

"But Earth is not innocent. It is here that Ivan Ooze came and made camp. If Earth was truly innocent then you would not be here with your warriors." Zordon was unconvinced.

"This is the fight of Eltarians, I cannot allow you to fight" The Elders too were not convinced. But it was Burai who would stop them all.

"If this is a fight for Eltarians then I cannot fight with you. By becoming your Green Ranger you made it at least the fight of one human. And on this planet the fight of one is the fight of his family. My brother must join me in battle, as will my father, and so will my mother. And the fight of a family is the fight of the tribe; all other members of my tribe must join. And the fight of one tribe is the fight of all our tribes. All six tribes must fight. You have involved all of us." Burai stood strong, not wavering in his words, "There are many things about human war law that you do not know Zordon of Eltar. There are more laws that link every human to each other. This fight is the fight of us all."

Zordon sat down and turned everything over in his mind. His pride was getting in his way; Tarn was dead and Burai was part of his team. Earth law bound everyone to the battle… no, everyone was bound to the war. Earth was the home of humans and they wanted to defend it from harm. Zordon could not tell the humans that they were not allowed to fight and protect their lives.

"I mustn't let my pride stop you. I know that Tarn's death can be mourned later but I cannot help but think that I am letting my fear of losing others affect my judgment. We go to war together because we are together." His voice was drowned out by the cheers of honor and pride, Eltarians and humans would go together to stop the evil that was Ivan Ooze.

_Volcanic Lava Beds_

The human tribes followed behind Zordon and his Power Ranger team; they were to follow into the battle and pick off those that would act the rangers from behind. The Rangers were to lead the charge, going head on into the legions straight for Ivan Ooze. Zordon stood strong for a moment before continuing on.

The lave beds that they marched across were freshly made, beneath their feet were pools of lava that had yet to solidify. This was Ooze's plan all along; he had left these beds unguarded after they formed, hoping that Zordon would march across the beds. Ooze flicked a switch and set off several bombs. The detonations rocked people off their feet and exposed whatever patches of molten rock that were hidden beneath.

"Hold back! Stay away from the open patches, the heat will melt your flesh if you come to close," Zordon shouted to the humans. He reached for his morpher and the team followed suit. Burai grabbed his morpher and fumbled with it for a moment before activating it. Now clad in green and welding the newly created Dragon Dagger and the Golden Armor, Burai rushed into the fray and took down the first Ooze-man that reached the lava beds.

Reptilian Ooze-beasts followed the Ooze-men and the battle field was soon covered in thick purple goo that burned away with the heat of the exposed lava. Few of the ooze-men mad it past the rangers and for the tribesmen, but they were all cut down as well. The battle was not moving to plan though. Ooze had expected that many people would have fallen into the lava pools and those that hadn't fallen would collapse in the heat. The heat did worse to his men then he had thought; the heat had made it impossible for any of his men to reform into larger creatures.

"Enough of this," he exclaimed, "which Ecto-Morphicon is ready for battle? Is Hornetor ready? Perchance is Scorpitor?" Ooze ran to the hanger in his fortress and found that his weakest Ecto-Morphicon was ready. The Ooze tanks of the Centitor were filled and ready to be activated.

"Hurry with the other two, Centitor will not hold if Zordon uses a Megazord." With a quick jolt of energy Ooze set his mechanical centipede out to the battle field to kill Zordon and his allies. Burai noticed this immediately and cried out to the others. Zordon gave the signal to the others to call their Zords. Burai played the Dragon Dagger and summoned the Dragonzord to pick up the tribesmen and move them from the field.

While Burai moved the tribesmen away, Zordon lead the other rangers into configuration and linked their five Zords into the Dino-Tank Formation. The Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger became the front treads, the Tyrannosaurus formed the back treads and the cockpit, the Mastodon formed into back armor and the two main cannons, and finally the Pterodactyl landed onto the back.

"Fire the main cannons," two blasts launched out and narrowly missed Centitor. The speed of the Ecto-Morphicon would provide the Dino-Tank many problems. From the eyes of the component parts fired an electro-net that slowed Centitor. The Pterodactyl rose off the back and flew high up, the Megazord stood up and the Tyrannosaurus face lowered into its body to reveal the Megazord's face plate. Finally the Pterodactyl drew in its wings and attached to the chest of the Megazord.

"Megazord sequence complete. Let's go finish this thing." The Megazord walked forward, stepping on any Ooze-man that got in the way and quickly reached Ooze's castle. Burai had finally gotten the tribesmen out of the battle zone and quickly returned to help Zordon and the other rangers.

"There must be something that I can do to get you to move faster!" Burai began to play different tunes on the Dragon Dagger hoping that one of them would cause the zord to move quicker. Burai played and the Dragonzord rumbled along. Burai frustration grew as he watched the Megazord attack the castle while he was so far away. Finally Burai hit a tune that got his zord to run.

"I'm here Zordon, let's defeat Ivan Ooze. His reign of evil will end now." Burai played the Dragon Dagger and the Dragonzord fired missiles and streams of fire while the Megazord punched and kick at the fortress. The walls began to crack and victory seemed close.

A sudden electric attack hit the Megazord and knocked it back; both Hornetor and Scorpitor were moving. The Megazord stumbled back and into the Dragonzord, sending both rolling down the battle field. Zordon and the other rangers quickly righting the Megazord and returned to the fray. Burai took a second to get the Dragonzord on its feet again. The two Ecto-Morphicons kept Zordon at bay.

"It's time to up our game. Are you ready Burai, it is time to combine the Megazord and Dragonzord. Let's do this team… MegaDragonzord!" Burai played the specific tune Zordon showed him as Zordon locked down the shoulder armor and drew back the head crest. The Dragonzord released both the chest plate and the tail, rose into the air and split down the center. The Megazord jumped into the opening, turning the Dragonzord into a set of shoulder armor and side armor.

"Set energy to full power and fire off a super energy ball. I've got Titanus powered up; I can have it out here in a few minutes. If we need the Ultrazord we had better be ready." Burai fully charged the Dragonzord while the other rangers focused the energy into a ball form. The energy was incredible and blinded the visual sensors on the Ecto-Morphicon. Once fired the energy ball travelled quickly and knocked the Ecto-Morphicons down and into the lava pools.

The ground rumbled and from just over the horizon the carrier zord Titanus appeared. Burai recognized it as a white Brachiosaurus, the long necked dinosaur easy to spot. Titanus' tail disconnected and reattached as a pair of twin guns; the carrier zord started to attack the Ecto-Morphicons.

"All right team," Zordon yelled, "it's time to form the Ultrazord!" With that command the other rangers activated several systems that would be necessary for the seven zord combination. Titanus disconnected its chest plate and front claws and attached the chest plate and the tail of the Dragonzord. Titanus' chest plate and claws attached to the MegaDragonzord. The back of Titanus opened up and the MegaDragonzord lowered in. The Ultrazord was complete and it was ready for battle.

"Ultrazord fire!" Every gun on the Ultrazord fired at once and hit both Hornetor and Scorpitor. The two Ecto-Morphicons took the hit and fell back into the lava pool. The moment they hit the lava they sank down deep. Sav the Black Ranger hit a button and fired a freezing agent into the pool, turning it instantly into rock. With the two machines taken out of commission Zordon lead his team out of the cockpit and into the castle.

_Throne Room_

Ooze was sitting in his throne waiting for Zordon to arrive; he didn't have much of a choice but to wait for the man. He could run to fight Zordon but running to him would put Ooze at a disadvantage. The Throne Room was the room that Ooze was most familiar with and thusly it would be here that the Wizard of Eltar would fight the Vile Villian.


End file.

Power Rangers, Adventure