Materializing within corridors of the lunar palace, Goldar knew that his return back to the castle would not be a warm one, not after how the battle had gone. No doubt, the cyclops had already reported to Rita what he had done. If this were Zedd he had to answer to, it would not be a problem. The Dark Lord would have understood, but Rita was a different kind of creature. She focused on getting the task completed no matter the methods or cost. She was a mage, not a warrior. She didn't understand honor.

Then again, with a father like hers, how could she had learned the concept?

As he entered the great hall, he welcomed by a barrage of lightning that brought him to his knees. He'd been expecting that reception. "Mistress," he managed to hiss when the assault ended. "I take it your clay fiend informed you of the battle."

"Why did you allow the Rangers to escape?!" the sorceress screech, her staff pounding against ancient stone. Squatt and Baboo were as far from her reach as possible, one of the more intelligent things they had done thus far since their release. "I sent the cyclops down to get this finished, and you attacked him?!"

"The fight was mine and mine alone!" the griffizon roared as he rose up again. He towered over Rita, standing seven feet tall, yet it didn't even make her flinch. Her tenacity he respected at the least. "It was a battle between two warriors, there was to be no interference!"

The mage narrowed her eyes, visual warning that Goldar was pushing the limits of her patience. "You and your damned obsessions with 'glorious battle'," she snapped, now walked toward the warrior. As she neared him, she jabbed out with her hand, pressing a finger against his chest plate. "Our mission is to conquer Gaea, not play with its protectors and try to be all grand about it!"

He didn't respond. No answer he gave could be without some measure of anger that would only serve to cause him further problems with Rita. Instead, he turned and walked away, knowing full well that the sorceress was glaring furiously at him. "You know my code and vows," he finally said, now turning around to face the woman. "I don't attack those who cannot defend themselves, and I give those who can a fair chance in battle. Zedd understands this, he was once a warrior himself!" A pause as he gave a resound sigh. "I should not expect one in the family of Master Vile to, however. He doesn't teach the concept of honor, nor probably even the word, so I don't blame you for your ways."

The mage gave a snort. Most would have expected her to explode at him again, but Goldar knew Rita well enough, as did Finster. Thus, it was only Squatt and Baboo who looked between them in confusion. Rita's next words, however, explained everything. "That slime bag barely rates enough respect for me to even refer to him as my father. Be fortunate that I have no love for him...not after what he did."

The staff tapped against the stone again, proving to be a habit of Rita's. She turned toward the cyclops, then looked at the eleven golems that stood in ready to be unleashed. Her forces had not been depleted in the battle, so she could not find fault in Goldar's ability to command in the field. No, his particular notion of honor and the ways of battle would just have to be. It had made him into an almost unbeatable warrior, and truly it had been bad timing on her part in sending the clay monster down to the planet which had give the Rangers time to escape.

"Prepare for another attack soon," she ordered, now turning to face her chief warrior once more. "The cyclops shall accompany you this time, so as to make sure that such unexpected events as that which happened before to not occur again." A gaze to her clay soldier. "And you will follow his commands in the battlefield. It was your refusal to do so that caused this conflict in the ranks that allowed the Rangers their escape."

Another tap of her staff, and Rita made her way now to the balcony, looking up toward the earth. "May the gods help you, Zordon," she hissed toward the planet. "For in this war, no one else will!"

And There Were Five

It was another day begun at Angel Grove High School. There had been little damage to the school in the earthquake, so classes continued as normal. The only things different were that Jason, Zach, and Trini were more aware of what was really going on, and were now constantly alert for any sign of trouble. Jason, in particular, got nervous when he saw the army vehicles passing by outside on the streets. A grim reminder of the measures that the city was taking in the aftermath of Rita's first attack.

It was late in the morning as he entered his chemistry class, sitting down and looking out the window. More so than anything else, he was keeping an eye out for trouble. He was also looking for any quick exits should there be an attack. If he had to find the others and gather them quickly, it would be best to know the fastest ways possible.

"You okay, Jason?"

The question distracted him from his thoughts, and he turned to see the young teenager wearing a set of thin wire-framed glasses. The blue eyes behind those lenses were magnified a bit, and the youth of the boy's face as enough to make Jason forget about his problems. "No more than anyone else after yesterday," he answered, finally prying his gaze away from the window and now paying attention to their study lesson. He glanced at the youth, considering something, but pushing the thought aside. He did not wanted to involve this boy if he could help it. "It's just being paranoid, I guess."

The young boy shrugged as he pulled out a note pad and began scribbling down notes. "Mom always said that the things you don't say are more important that what you don't," he remarked, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as they began to slide down.

Jason actually found himself smiling for the first time since this whole nightmare had begun. "Your mom is a lot smarter than people tend to give her credit for, Billy," he stated, now giving a sigh. Maybe they had gotten lucky and Rita was calling this whole assault on Earth off. "Explains why you're here with us juniors when you're only thirteen."

The boy blinked and shifted uncomfortably. "That has to do with an IQ of two hundred and fifty more than my mom's sense of tact and proverbs," he muttered, not very happy with the fact of his extreme youth for his grade level. "Speaking of tact, you're hiding something and it has to do with those things that attacked the city yesterday." Billy Mitchell glanced up from his notes and tilted his head. "You've never been good at secrets that matter, Jason. Trying to be an enigma will never work."

A sigh came form the older teen. The youth was right; Jason was terrible at hiding things from people he was trying to keep safe. "How's your uncle?" he asked, trying to shift the topic. "The one in the navy."

"Uncle Bill is fine," the boy returned, scribbling down another set of notes as he continued to listen to the lecturing teacher. "And you're trying to change the subject, you're not comfortable talking about those things." He paused, adding some of his own adjustments to the notes he had just jotted down. "Jenkins can't seem to ever get that formula right, how the hell is he a chem-teacher?" After a moment, Billy returned his attention to Jason. "Particularly those vigilantes that showed up, the ones dressed like pre-historic creatures."

Sometimes Jason wasn't so sure Billy didn't have the ability to read minds. He also didn't like the way that the boy was referencing his own armored form and those of Trini and Zach. "From the way I see it, those guys showed up to fight off the aliens," he said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Billy gave a nod, but his expression didn't change. "It does seem that way, though one cannot tell the true motives of those who hide behind a mask." He glanced up at the board, continuing to scribble down his notes. "Perhaps they are hiding their true identities simply to protect their families, or perhaps there are other less than noble reason." The boy stopped and looked at Jason again, once more tilting his head in that same fashion which had a way of irritating the older teen. "I must admit, they do intrigue me. Not so much who there are as to where they come from. That weapon the red one used looks to be somewhat more advanced than the usual technology we have, and the fashion they departed in, from the video on the news, resembles some kind of energy-based translocation, something we humans do not have the technology for."

A brow was raised. Jason was used to Billy talking in more complex terms than most people his age would have. However, the interest he seemed to have in the Rangers and their technology was something that seemed more than typical for the boy. Maybe, just maybe, Billy could help them in some way. He hated to drag any more of his friends into this, but who else could he really trust?

In another class room, Trini was trying to follow along with the teacher in geometry, scribbling down notes on the equation types while trying to keep her mind off of the inevitable call to duty. No doubt Zach, wherever he was in the school, was having better luck, since he didn't often take things too seriously.

"Hey, Trini," came the whispered words as a brunette girl shifted her head closer to Tirni's ear from behind her. "Rachael and I are going to the mall after school, you wann'a come?"

She looked to one side where her backpack lay, or more precisely, to the morpher that was hidden inside it. "I don't know," she muttered, knowing that she had greater responsibilities now. If she couldn't join up with Jason or Zach if something happened... "I...was planning to get some studying done."

"You can do that afterwards," the brunette quipped, now quickly sliding back into her seat before the teacher turned to see her. She scribbled down something on a piece of paper, then tapped the back of Trini's chair and slipped her the note.

With a puzzled expression, the girl opened up the folded paper and looked at what had been written: 'Feel free to bring Jason.' Trini groaned and rolled her eyes just before the bell rang, signaling the end of the period and the start of lunch. With a sigh, she folded up the note and shoved it in her pocket before grabbing her backpack and heading for the door. Notably, she was followed by the brunette as she left. "Leave it alone, Kim," she said as soon as they were out of the classroom. "We're not dating."

"Only because he doesn't have the guts to ask you out!" the brunette replied, giving a grin and bouncing forward a bit to stay ahead of Trini. "Like it's any secret he likes you. I can tell, trust me."

A disbelieving brow was raised toward the bouncy teenage brunette. "And how is that Kimberly?"

"Girl's intuition," was the reply. With that, Kimberly began walking normally and sighed. "That and the fact that he gets red in the face whenever he's around you. What he doesn't say tells everything, and trust me, I can read a guy." She looked over to where a group of boys where sitting in the quad, noting how one of them was looking at her. "Take that one for instance. He's probably trying to imagine me, in nothing at all, legs wrapped around him while he-"

"Enough already!" Trini hissed. Kimberly was a good friend, but she could have a filthy mind when it was most not wanted to be heard. "Anyone else ever told you to get your mind out of the gutter?"

A momentary silence as Kimberly looked up toward the sky, almost as if thinking about the question. "All the time," she stated in a tone that said she didn't take it too seriously. "But that comes from being in cheer and from the kinds of stories Melissa tends to tell about her exploits with whoever her boyfriend is at the time." A grin now appeared on her face as she began to bounce again. "I may have the dirty mind, but at least I don't go around sleeping with half the football team. I just tell the stories I hear."

That, Trini had to admit, was true. Kimberly had the dignity to only have a habit of getting her mind in the gutter, as opposed to some of the people she practiced with in the cheer squad. The stories that came out of there about the certain leads in the group made Trini wonder how in the world those girls weren't pregnant yet.

"So, wann'a come with us then?" Kim asked as they walked into the cafeteria. "Bring Jason along, and I'll pay for you two to go to a movie." There was that waggle of her eyebrows that signaled Kim was in her matchmaker mood. It was something Trini had come to fear and loathe. "Might as well, so he can get the balls to ask you out on a real date."

Leave it to Kimberly to worry more about setting her friends up as a couple than her own problems. "I don't think he needs you to do the work for him, Kim." She sighed, noting to the person behind the counter what she wanted and paying for it before heading out. "Jason will do things in his own time, and I'm perfectly content to wait."

"Doesn't hurt to help him along."

At the command center, things had been calm, though Alpha has yet to stop his panicked movements about the main chamber. Almost a hundred different scans were being run over the planet, keeping a constant watch for any sign of trouble.

"Ai yai yai," the little robot muttered as he walked over to a console and brought up the sensor data. "No no no. Oh no no no."

The distortion in time expanded as Zordon's face appeared, looking down toward his robotic assistant. "Calm yourself, Alpha. There have been no further attacks of yet, so you have no reason to panic."

"But something isn't right!" the robot replied as he looked up from the console. "I don't know what, Zordon, but I know that something just isn't right with this!" A few commands entered into the system, and a projection of the California region was displayed on the globe. "There's a massive surge within the fault line," Alpha continued, now zooming the image in on the area of the San Andreas Fault. "It's a crack in the dimensional barriers, Zordon, and there's a surge of pure evil energy!"

The face tiled downward, deep in thought. Something like this shouldn't have been happening, and if he was right, it could mean terrible consequences. The trouble was, they had no way to contact the Rangers. They still had yet to devise a means of communications that would not be overt. "Keep watching it," the sage ordered. "Should the situation get worse, lock onto the Rangers and bring them here at once."

"Ai yai yai...I have a bad feeling about this."

Rita's eyes snapped open as she felt it. Something down on the planet, trying to break free of its prison. It was a terrible force, something even she felt was more than she wished to see unleashed. "What could that be?" she mused as she stood up from her meditations, now grasping her staff and entering the great hall. As she walked onto the balcony that looked upon the Earth, Rita could sense something down there, something horrific in its nature.

"Mistress?" Goldar stated as he entered. Rita glanced back at him, then returned her attention to the planet. "What is it?"

She hesitated in answering. She knew that this presence was familiar, but she couldn't place it. Not her Master Zedd, Rita would never have mistaken that sensation. This was something else, something primal and pure in its evil. But what?

It would have to wait. Rita turned to face Goldar and tapped her staff against the ground. The cyclops soon walked over to join them, bowing to Rita. "My master?" he asked, single glowing point of ruby light gazing at the sorceress.

"Both of you go down to the planet," she ordered coldly. It was not the time to ponder what was bothering her. "The Rangers are only three, and so far Zordon has not armed them with the legendary weapons that their predecessors wielded. If we take this opportunity, we can crush them now."

The griffizon and the clay monster bowed to her, vanishing as she turned back to look up toward the planet. She still could not shake that terrible feeling she had. "What is trying to free itself?" she whispered.

Alarm bells suddenly began ringing in the middle of the last period. Jason's head snapped up as he heard it, knowing that at this time of the day, it was no drill. The announcement over the speakers were merely just a required confirmation.

"Attention students and teachers! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill! Please evacuate the school at once!"

There was a high-pitched whistle, and the ground rumbled as something impacted into the school grounds. Jason took less than a second to pack his things into his backpack and hurry out the door along with everyone else. He had to find the others, and fast. Judging from the fireball that was even still now pluming up from the football field, there wasn't much time to spare.

There. He saw Trini, who noticed him and started making her way over. "Where's Zach?!" he cried to her as she managed to fight her way through the panicking crowd.

"I don't know, he's in Applebee's class during sixth period!" came her reply. Another loud roar was followed by a second terrible explosion out in the football field. Trini looked out toward the rising smoke and gave a sigh. "So much for the game against Stone Canyon this weekend."

It was comforting that despite the horrific nature of the situation, Trini still managed to keep a sense of humor about it. No wonder she was able to seem so calm in a emergency. "Let's find Zach and get to work," he stated, making sure that no one else heard him. Now searching through the crowd, the pair managed to see the last member of their trio struggling with the tides. "Zach!" Jason called, getting the young black man's attention and redirecting him toward his fellow Rangers. As soon as they were gathered, Jason led them toward a clear spot, making sure that no one could see them, and more importantly, making sure that the attacking force was not around to see them transform. "Ready to do this again?"

"So long as we do better than the last time," Zach replied as he pulled his morpher from his jacket's inner pocket. "Lead the way, fearless leader!"

His own morpher out and slipped onto his left hand, Jason swung the device around and thrust it outward, right hand cusped behind it to brace for the energy release. "It's Morphing Time!"

At each cry of their animal avatar, light exploded from the coins and reached back to thrust the three through the cascading light of the transformation world. The morphers flew forward and down to coming into alignment with their waist, generating the white belts that began expelling armor around them. As the formation of their armors was complete, the three came about while their avatar animals flew down behind them and let out their roars before transforming into the helmets.

Returned to real space, the final element of their metamorphosis took shape when the golden emblems appeared on their chest plates. Jason turning his head sharply as his ears picked up a familiar voice. Not only was their vision enhanced, as they had noticed in their first foray as Rangers, but so was their hearing. He knew that voice that was screaming for help. "Kim," he whispered in horror, then turned to heard another voice. "Not Billy too!"

"You get the boy wonder!" Zach exclaimed as he raised a hand and closed it tightly. "Trini and I will get Kim!"

Was it his imagination, or was Zach actually taking charge in a crisis? The wonders that continued to amaze him. Maybe there was a bit a maturity in the young man after all. "You sure?" Jason asked. He didn't doubt Zach's ability, but he still worried. "I know you wann'a-"

"We'll be okay," Trini stated before the Red Ranger could continue. "You just hurry before Billy and whoever else might be there gets turned into pulp."

After hesitating, he nodded, and Jason shot up into the air to land on top of the building. He stopped for a moment, looking back and staring in amazement and what he had just done without even thinking. "I am definitely getting into this superhero thing," he noted before running along the rooftop toward the source of the smoke that was rising up into the air. He saw the golems from the previous day, and with them was the cyclops. Truth be told, Jason would rather it was Goldar; at least that alien has a sense of honor and had refused to attack those who couldn’t defense themselves. This thing had no soul, it existed only to destroy. "Get away from them!"

The clay creature turned and suddenly went flying back as the Red Ranger came flying down from above and slammed feet first into its chest. Fragments of clay shattered from its back as it hit a nearby building, the flakes falling to the ground as it shook its head and stared at the Ranger with its single point of light. "You again?!" the monster hissed as it began walking back toward the humans it had been terrorizing. A bright red blast suddenly shot out and slammed into its shoulder, forcing the clay creature to back away. It was then that it noticed the blaster configuration that the Ranger's weapon had taken. "I suppose I'll need to teach you again not to challenge my master!"

In an instant, the blaster had converted into the same blade weapon he'd wielded against Goldar. Jason turned it about in his grip to hold it with the blade end pointing outward from the back of his hand. His free hand came up to brace his right, and the Red Ranger widened his stance to gain better footing. He knew that he was going to need it. "Then come and get schooled, clay face!"

The creature roared and flung itself at the Ranger, now impacting hard and slamming them both against the side of the gym building. Jason gave a grunt and stabbed hard with his blade blaster, managing to tear off a good size of rock-like clay. The cyclops gave out a cry of pain and stepped back, letting the Ranger plant his left foot against its chest and push hard to send it flying. He turned toward the other students, noting that they were just about frozen with fear. "Get going!" he yelled, hoping that their brains would catch up with what was going on. "I can't hold this guy for long, go!"

Just as he turned to face his enemy again, Jason was sent flying as a ruby red burst of energy slammed into his chest. He came crashing into the ground, digging up concrete while the other students ran for their lives. The Ranger shook his head, pulled himself back to his feet, then suddenly dove and brought himself and Billy crashing to the ground as a second flare of red energy shot from the cyclops' eye. "You okay?" he asked of the young boy, noting the fear in his eyes. Truth be told, he was still getting over it himself.

"Yeah," came the reply, and Billy blinked in amazement as he was now looking at the Red Ranger up close. "I...thank you."

A nod, and Jason turned about with his blade blaster back in firearms mode. "Save the thanks for when I get you to safety. We still got him to worry about!"

There was a frightened nod, but then Billy, as he looked at the Ranger's postures from behind, noticed something. The voice was distorted behind that helmet, but there was something unmistakable about it, and the way that this figure was standing, preparing himself, it seemed familiar. And then, when he noticed how the Red Ranger kept positioning his left foot forward all the time, he realized that he knew this person. "Jason?"

The Ranger went stiff. He glanced back at Billy, then realized he'd taken his attention away from the cyclops. Just as the clay monster unleashed another eye blast, Jason picked Billy up and leapt up into the air, now landing atop the gym. "What did you say?" he asked as they now had something of a chance to relax.

"Jason?!" Billy exclaimed again in shock. "You...you're one of these guys?!"

A hand across his throat was more than enough indication from Jason for Billy to quiet down. After a moment, he looked around to make sure they were safe and tilted his head. In an instant, the black visor vanished in the wake of the reflection shine, revealing his eyes. "What gave it away?" he asked while holstering his blade blaster.

"Your...the way you keep putting your foot forward," Billy explained, trying to catch his breath at this revelation. "Dear god, Jason! Why you?! And what's with the red armor and dinosaur look?!"

"Calm down!" he hissed. After a moment, when Billy finally seemed to have stopped, he continued. "I don't have much time to explain, but I'll tell you this right now. You cannot tell anyone else about this, do you understand?" A nod, one that Jason knew was sincere. "Alright, here's the quick version. I got picked by some guy in a time warp to save the world, Zach and Trini are the other Power Rangers."

"What kind of name is 'Power Rangers' for a bunch of superheroes?"

Typical thirteen-year-old, had to question everything. "I didn't get to pick it, so lay on." Another explosion interrupted Jason before he could continue, and he snapped his head around quickly, visor reforming over his eyes. "I'll explain later," he stated as he picked Billy up and took a running start. Just as he reached the edge, Jason pushed off and sent them both soaring through the air to land back on the ground almost a hundred feet away from where they had started. Before them were the golems, who had surrounded Zach and Trini, who were desperately trying to defend a group of students who hadn't managed to escape. He turned to Billy and gestured his hand toward nearby bathroom. "Hide," he ordered. "You'll be safe, I need to help them."

As the boy nodded and ran for safety, Jason brought up a knuckle, gave it and the armor a good crack, then yelled out as he ran into the fray. With a resound crack, one of the golems was shattered by his punch, causing the magics animating it to violently flail about before dissipating. He took the chance to pick up a piece of the fallen golem and fling it at another of its kind, managing to knock the hit golem's head off. That one as well fell to the ground, exploding as its sustainment magics withered away.

"I was wondering when you'd get here, man!" Zach exclaimed in greeting as Jason took position with them. "Told you we could handle this!"

A snort signaled Jason's opinion of that. "Yeah, real well. You guys got cornered by every golem Rita's got in her army while I only deal with a clay guy who has some serious red eye." He drew out his blade blaster, configuring it to firearm mode, and taking aim. "Full spread now!"

Two more bright red beams joined that from his own blaster, slamming into the golems and blowing holes in their rock bodies. Another two went down while the remainder vanished in a crackle of lightning. The Rangers switched their weapons back to melee mode and slipped them into their holsters, now turning back to the students they had just saved. "You guys best get going before they decide to come back," Jason stated to the group, then noticed Kimberly out of the corner of his eye. Once more, he weighed the options, then inwardly sighed. They didn't have a choice, and one person he'd been considering already knew. "You stay," he added, pointing to the girl.

As the rest left, Kimberly blinked in surprise at the Rangers. "Um, is this one of those things where you ask me what happened and all that like the cops, because I really don't think-"

"Kim!" came Billy's cry as he ran over from the bathrooms. "This isn't a questioning session!"

As she blinked, the Black and Yellow Rangers looked to their leader, not quite understanding. "Red, what exactly are you-"

He ignored Trini's question as he tapped the side of his helmet to open the communications link with the command center. "Alpha, we need teleport now," he said, now turning toward the two civilians that were with them. "Lock on to all five of us and bring us in."

"Alright, I...wait, five?!"

"That's right, all five of us," he repeated, now looking to the obviously excited Billy. "I'll explain when we get there, just bring us in."

There as a crackle of energy around them as the three Rangers were teleported away in streaks of colored light, while Kimberly and Billy were transported away in beams of white and a pale watery blue light, now racing through the air toward the mountains. It didn't take long for them to reach the hidden command center and touch down to reform back into their human forms.

Kim was the first to react and she grabbed her stomach and tried not to throw up from the disorientation. "Oh god," she muttered, now grabbing to a console for support. "Oh, I feel like I'm gonn'a hurl..."

Billy wasn't faring much better as he was bent over, trying to breath in slowly. "That...that's what translocation feel like?"

"You get use to it," Zach replied as he then turned to Jason. Even with the visors, it was obvious he didn't understand what the Red Ranger was doing. "This, though, I don't get. Why did we bring them?"

Jason sighed and looked up toward the energy tube as Zordon's face now appeared. "Because we need five Rangers to be a full team," he stated, noting the expression of concern on the sage's face. "And I want those other two Rangers to be people we can trust, more than anything."

"You do understand that you are putting them in danger along with yourselves?"

As the two unarmored humans finally managed to shake off the disorientation from the teleportation, they both looked up to see Zordon's wizened image looking down at them. Kim was about to let her jaw drop to the floor while Billy was grinning with delight. It was clear which of them was more excited about what they were looking at.

"Holographic projection and energy translocation technology!" the young boy exclaimed in excitement. He was looking around when he noticed Alpha, now running over to the little robot and examining him. "And a fully functioning android!" His head turned toward the Rangers now while his eyes seemed to sparkle. "Jason, this is incredible!"

That's when Kim paled as she looked at the three Rangers. "Jason?" she hissed in shock. The Red Ranger nodded and gave his head a backward tilt. In an instant, his helmet split into sections and retracted into nothingness, revealing his face. "Take them off," he said to the others, noting that Zordon wasn't looking too happy with him right now. "Billy already knows, may as well show Kim." He sighed, then looked back up at the floating face. "They're going to be our new Rangers, they need to know."

"You should have consulted with your fellow Rangers and myself before revealing yourself to them," Zordon stated, but there was nothing he could do to change it now. What was done was done, and they could only continue forward from here. "You mean well, and I know this, Jason. In the future, however, seek my advise before doing this again."

The boy nodded, then looked to his fellow Rangers. "Just get them off, guys. These are our friends."

After a moment, the helmets of the Yellow and Black Rangers sections and retracted, revealing Trini and Zach's face. Kim was staring in shock at the three of them, almost not wanting to believe this was going on. "You...you three are those armored guys fighting the invasion," she managed to finally squeak out. "And you follow a...big floating head?"

"Zordon is trapped within a time warp," Alpha stated in explanation from where Billy was still marveling over him. "His current appearance is due to him manifesting his communications through the rift."

The image of Zordon's face nodded. "My dear, I apologize for the shock this all comes as. Your friends were brought to us by fate, and I can only believe that you two were as well brought to us by destiny."

The floor panel opened, pedestal rising up to display the two remaining morphers and the coins within them. Billy walked over to join Kim by the pedestal, noticing that as he moved closer, one of the devices began to glow bright with a sapphire blue light. He reached out, taking the morpher and feeling the sensation of what he could only describe as a warm blanket. He glanced to Kim, who took the last remaining morpher that emitted a pink glow from within the coin. "So, is there a reason that these coins and their armors look like pre-historic creatures?"

The sage nodded as he glanced to Alpha. "What I'm about to tell you, young humans, is a secret from everyone on your world. It has remained thus for thousands of years, but it is the truth of your planet."

A panel on the ground began to emanated a light that projected what the five humans recognized as Earth, but it looked vastly different the geography of the landmasses. Alpha gave an electronic sigh as he began inputting sequence commands into the computers. "Ten thousand years ago," the little robot began as the holographic image changed, "your planet was known as Gaea. It was a much different place than it is know, and a great technologically and mystically advanced civilization flourished over the planet."

"Living with the human beings of that era were the great beasts," Zordon continued, taking over as he had personal experience with that very era of the world. "Of these were the great creatures you refer to as dinosaurs, the children of the beast king Titanus. There was a harmony between man and beast, and that allowed the creation of the coins which imbue you now with their power."

"But carbon dating and geological study says that the dinosaurs were wiped out sixty-five million years ago," Billy interjected. He didn't understand how any of what they were being told could make sense. "Humans didn't appear on the planet until about twelve thousand years ago."

The face nodded, knowing well the limits of human understanding in this era. "And from your civilization's viewpoint, that would be correct." He paused, knowing that it would be hard for the humans to accept to truth about their world, but it was best for them to know. "Ten thousand years ago, after I imprisoned Rita within the Nemesis Chamber, a great catastrophe befell your world. A terrible force impacted with the planet, forcing Gaea to enact what can only be described as a time compression in order to heal the wounds of what was done. The result was that in ten thousand years, millions of years of time elapsed, healing the damage, but the dinosaurs had already been driven into extinction."

"The remains of Gaean civilization were forced to start over," Alpha continued as the image of Earth underwent a chance, now showing the changes from the old world to the one that the humans knew. "Whatever impacted with Gaea had caused such a terrible de-evolution in the humans, forcing them to start over in their development. Gaea was no more, and your planet became a new world with a new name; Terra."

The holographic image vanished, leaving the five teenagers to stare up at Zordon in shock. Everything they had known about the nature of their planet had just been shattered. If the world truly had done what Zordon described, it meant that the Earth was indeed a living thing, not just a rock floating in space. From the expression on the Rangers' faces as Kimberly and Billy looked at them, they hadn't learned this before now either.

"And thus, you coming to take up these powers is fate, Rangers," Zordon said, looking at the two unarmored humans. he gave a sigh of worry, being that he know that two more young lives were going to be thrust into a war they did not ask for, but there was no other option. "Jason was led to this by his dreams, and you all to this by him. None of this is by chance, and I must believe that destiny is on your side."

His attentions now focused on the two new members of this fighting force. "The coins you new carry hold within them the powers of the ancient beasts, who will grant you their power so that you can fight the forces threatening this world." A moment as he tried to make sure he assigned the proper name to the right person from how the Rangers had referred to them earlier. "Billy, I believe Jason referred to you as." The boy nodded. "The coin you carry is that of the triceratops, a noble and intelligent beast. With its power, you shall become the Blue Ranger." He turned his gaze now to Kimberly. "Kim, was it?"

"Short for Kimberly," she confirmed, still a bit shaky as she looked at the morpher and coin it held. "Guessing from the light this thing has, I'm pink, right?"

Zordon nodded. "You shall wield the grace and agility of the Pterodactyl as the Pink Ranger." He gave a smile, pained as it was. "And at last you are a complete force. You face the forces of darkness, and for now, your own world does not understand that you are here to protect them, but they will come to understand. For this day forth, united as one, you are the Power Rangers."

The alarms began to sound again, sending Alpha into another panic. On the display globe was a projection of the city, revealing that the cyclops had returned. Unlike the school attack, Goldar was also shown as present, causing Jason to narrow his eyes. This was not going to be easy. "We best get down there," he stated, now looking to their newest members. "Quick crash-course. Hold the morphers up in front of you and call out the animal on the coin. After that, they do everything else." He gave his head a quick snap forward, causing his helmet to re-appear and reform in sections. As the black visor reformed, Zack and Trini mimicked his motions, summoning their own helmets.

Unsure as to if they really were ready, but knowing that there wasn't much choice, Billy and Kimberly held out the morphers, slipping their hands into the grips and taking in a deep breath. It was now or never. "Ready?" Kim asked weakly. Billy nodded, then braced himself while Kim shut her eyes. "God, the things I get myself into...Pterodactyl!"

A burst of pink light exploded from the coin, arcing around the girl and thrusting her into the transformation realm. As the morpher flew from her hands and into place at her waist, the white belt took form, now expelling pink armor around her body. Around her belt line generated a series of plates that formed a sort of armored skirt, connected at the top only and moving freely at the bottom. The girl opened her eyes and brought up a hand as the white gloves formed, amazed by the transformation. A great cry of what sounded almost like a bird mixed with a lizard came from behind her, and Kimberly turned to see the great flying reptile waiting. It lowered its head to look at her, blinking a few times, then bowed its head and burst apart to complete the transformation by forming her helmet.

"Triceratops!" Blue light erupted from the coin at the call, encasing Billy and sending him through the transformation world. The morpher flew from his hands, floating into place and generating the white belt. Blue armor began forming out over his body, and as the transformation continued, Billy brought his hands up to watch the white gloves forming. A low bellow emanated behind him, and Billy spun about to see the majestic saurapod waiting. The ancient beast looked into the human's eyes, then bowed its head in acceptance. In an instant, the dinosaur burst apart into blue light, swirling around Billy's head and forming his helmet.

Returned to real space, the two new Rangers stared in awe at their armored bodies. "Oh wow," Billy exclaimed, running his hand over the golden emblem mounted in the chest plate. "This is ten times better than anything the comics!"

"Yeah, but I'm not so sure this skirt thing isn't making my ass look big," came Kim's rather off color comment while patting her rear end and the skirt plates covering it. "How come I got the dress and Trini didn't?"

"More your style," Trini quickly replied. She noted that Billy's own armor was more heavily built around him than those on Jason and Zach, almost defensively so to protect him. Clearly there was a personal influence on their armors, based around their minds and personalities. "We need to get out there though."

A nod as Jason turned his gaze to Alpha. "Get us there now."

A few seconds later, as the commands were entered into the teleportation system, the five figures were transformed into colored streaks of light, reaching up through the ceiling of trhe chamber and into the sky.

"Are you sure they can do this, Zordon?"

The face gave no answer, but he nodded. as if that was all that was needed. "We must believe," the sage said, giving his own silent prayer for the safety of the five humans who now fought for the world.

There were already people running for safety as the five streams touched down into downtown Angel Grove. As the Rangers reformed to solid state, they noted the chaos that had already taken place. Rita's remaining golems were there, and Jason could see Goldar behind them, commanding the ranks. His blade blaster flashed out into melee mode while the eyes mounted at the top of his helmet seemed to shift and narrow to reflect his anger. "I've had enough of this!"

The griffizon tilted his head as he heard the angry cry from the Red Ranger. His sword was drawn, now coming up and deflecting a blow from the armored teenager. "We meet again, human," Goldar hissed, giving a grin as he shoved his free hand against Jason's chest and flung him back. A brow went up when he saw the human perform a rather well timed back twist and land on his feet perfectly, the melee form blade blaster coming to the ready again. "You have great skill and potential, human! I like that!" A pause before he sighed. "But you know that you are no match for me with that simple weapon."

"You use what you've got," was Jason's reply while the rest of his team ran over to join him. "And I hate to burst your bubble, pal, but we've got you outnumbered this time!"

The griffizon furled his brow. Using greater numbers against a lone foe was not a tactic he appreciated much, though considering that they had inferior weapons and lesser skill than him, he forgave it. After all, Goldar was a warrior of vast experience and skill, beyond that of these humans. The only way to even compare to him was to use their numbers to compensate.

"Numbers alone can not equal to my skill, Ranger," he stated as he gave a low growl. "But perhaps it is the only way you might match me." A grin was on his lips now. This was going to be a great challenge. "Come then...and face your destroyer!"

Three of the five Rangers ran into battle, blade blasters flashing out while Kim and Billy could only stare in shock. "You have got to be kidding me with this," Kim whispered. She looked at the blade blaster in her left side holster, then at Goldar's broadsword. "These things against that? I mean, if I had a chain or a whip, something with range."

The emblem on her chest flared a moment before something shot out, hovering before the girl as she stared with amazement. After a moment, she took hold of the object, noting its design. A handle with what looks like a boxy section at the top, colored a deep pink and sporting some kind of shifting material in an opening on the box. "And what the hell is this supposed to be?"

"Hey, you asked for something, don't look at me for answers," Billy replied, though it did give him an idea. "These armors react to our thoughts and personalities. If that holds true with extra weapons..." He held out his hand, focusing and finding his theory correct when his chest emblem, that of the triceratops, flared with light and expelled a pair of gauntlets. As he touched them, the objects rippled and shifted onto his arms, now extending a long spike from the top wrist joint. "Like a pair of horns," he mused, then looked at Kim. "Yours is probably some kind of whip, like you were talking about!"

Kim didn't quite get what the boy was getting at, but given that the golems were closing on them, she would probably figure it out quick enough. "You best be right!" she cried, now swinging out with the object. The material inside the opening suddenly shot out, stretching into a lashing tail-like tendril and slamming into the chest of a golem. As the tendril retracted back into the handle, Kim looked at her weapon with joy, then snapped her arm back and sent the tendril whip flashing out to wrap around a golem's leg. "Have a nice trip!" came the insult just as she pulled hard and tore the golem's legs off. As the de-limbed living statue fell to the ground and shattered, Kimberly swung with her whip and let the leg fly through the air to slam into another golem's head. "And try to get ahead while you're at it!"

Tapping the horn-blades of his gauntlets together, Billy thrust out an arm, not even thinking as he impaled one of the golems on the horns. "Definitely has to hurt," he remarked just before stabbing the other horn through the statue's head, causing it to explode. Now turning around, he flung the headless and lifeless stone body at one of the other golems, causing that statue to fall back to the ground. "I definitely think we're getting the hang of this." He glanced over to Kim, noting that she was having more than a little fun with her new weapon. "How's your new toy?"

The tendril shot out to one last golem, wrapping around its neck and pulling hard to bring it crashing face first into the ground, smashing its head and leaving the body without animating force. The whip tendril retracted back into the handle as the remaining golems vanished, leaving Kim to give a giggle in victory. "I love this thing!"

A yell came toward them, and within a matter of seconds, Zach crashed to the ground before the two. He shook his head, looked back to ask why their newest members weren't in the fight, then noticed that the golems were gone, and that several lay on the ground in pieces. Seconds later was when he noticed the new weapons that Billy and Kimberly were holding. "Okay, only one question. Where'd you get the new toys?!"

The horns retracted into the gauntlets, allowing Billy to help Zach to his feet. "Our armors have mass-displaced weapons in them. You need to focus on them so that they'll come out of the chest coin!"

A nod and Zach holstered his blade blaster. "Lets see what you can do!" he exclaimed, a hand on his chest emblem as the coin flared with light. There was a bellow as a silver and black object resembling an elephant trunk burst from within the coin. Zach hesitated, then touched the object and found it wrapping around his right arm and onto his back where a large bulky backpack mounting formed. "So what's this thing do, spray ice or something?"

As he aim the fixture upward and tightening his hand around the grip to the device, a series of bright white energy burst fired out of the end, almost like a gatling gun. Staring at his newest weapon for a long moment, there was a wide grin on Zach's face under his helmet, one that Billy and Kim didn't need to see for them to know it was there. "Bitchin' man! I'm the friggin' Terminator with this thing!" He ran back toward the battle with Goldar, now aiming his weapon and bracing himself. "Guys! Drop and roll!"

Not understanding until they looked back to see the weapon now pointed their way, the Red and Yellow Rangers hit the ground while Goldar was staring in confusion. That confusion gave way to horror when a bright barrage of energy pulses fired in rapid succession from the arm mounted gatling cannon, now slamming into his armor and forcing him to back away. "What is this?!" he roared while now racing for cover.

"Oh yeah! Get ready to suck it down hard, buddy!" Zach re-adjusted his aim and unleashed another barraged, now tearing away at the wall that Goldar was hiding behind. A hand on his shoulder caused him to cease fire, and he saw now the claw gauntlets mounted on Trini's hands and the long tail-styled sword that was in Jason's right hand. "Nice toys. Still doesn't beat the machine-gun of doom!"

Jason glanced over at Trini, then tilted his head back as a gesture to get ready. "Stay with Billy and Kim," he ordered to the Black Ranger. The sword came up to the ready, and the tyrannosaurus-styled head on the pommel gave a low growl. "We'll take it from here."

Now the two of them were alone in the fight, running toward Goldar as he came out from behind his cover. The griffizon roared and gave Trini a hard kick after she missed a strike with hers claws. As she went racing up into the air, the girl twisted around and aimed her right hand, firing the claw mounting and managing to catch the wall. Connected to the weapon pieced by a segmented cable, the Yellow Ranger was pulled quickly back toward the ground, bringing her feet slamming into Goldar's chest and giving Jason his opening.

"Now we're even!" the Red Ranger cried out, his new weapon clashing against Goldar's sword and sending a shower of sparks flying. The alien grunted, pushed back, then swung only for the red-colored blade to parry and send another burst of sparks out from the impact. Jason took the chance and spun around, blade pulling away from Goldar's sword and coming about to crashed into the griffizon's armor. After a moment, he spun the weapon in his hand, then brought it forward while the blade began to rotate like a drill. "And the odds are in our favor now!"

There was a low growl, but Goldar knew when the odds were not on his side. Sheathing his sword at his side, he took a step back, acknowledging that the Rangers had won here, then vanished in a burst of teleportation. The sword in Jason's hands slowly stopped its blade rotation, locking back to normal form before bursting apart into red flecks of light and absorbing back into the coin emblem. Even if his team was seeing this as a victory, he knew that it was just a draw between them and their enemy. "Back to the command center," he said, now turning toward his fellow Rangers. "Zordon said that we needed five Rangers to enter the place where specific weapons are held. We have five Rangers now, and it's time to make sure we stand a chance against Rita."

A slow nod from his fellow Rangers, and Jason tapped the side of his helmet, opening the communications link. "Alpha, bring us is." He paused, looking back to make sure that they were ready. Given that they didn't have much choice, they were as ready as they were ever going to be. "We're going after the weapons in the cavern. Time for this team to really get on level."

To be Continued...