The golems continued to move in on the Rangers, some reforming their hands into blunt bashing weapons while others now bore blades protruding from their wrists. “You should have thought better of coming here, humans," came the cyclops' taunting words as its eye began to glow brighter. It growled, then fired a blast from its optic, forcing the four teenagers to scatter while the blast itself detonated against the chamber wall. "You can't leave, you're going to die here no matter what you do!"

Jason breathed heavily as he got back to his feet, Caliburn falling from its place on his back and into his waiting right hand. A burst of light expelled from the chest emblem, now caught by his left and forming into the Tyranno-Blade. "You won't be leaving either!" he snapped back at the clay monster. "Don't you care that Rita's sent you to your death?!"

The living statue only snorted in response to the Red Ranger's words. "I am made of clay and magic, human. I am not a living thing, only an animated statue which exists for the sole purpose of serving my master." Another blast was fired from that singular eye, this time exploding against the ground when Jason jumped away. "I care not if I cease to be, so long as my purpose is served!"

"We definitely need to rethink how to get at these guys on the morale front," Billy remarked as he readied the Lance, standing behind Jason. "How are we supposed to get out of here now?! If that thing is telling the truth-"

"No way that could be true!" Zach replied as he slapped the sledge against his back, a crackling sound echoing as it attached to the armor, and a burst expelled out from his coin emblem to form the gatling cannon. "Zordon wouldn't have sent us in here if we couldn't leave without all five of these!"

The golems moved forward, inciting a burst from the gatling cannon. Flecks of clay and dust exploded out from each impact, causing one of them to crumble as a series of shots struck on a crack that shattered the entire living statue. Another barrage forced the other golems back, but it wouldn't hold them forever, the Rangers knew it. They had to find a way out of the caverns.

A tap to his helmet as Jason tried to bring up the communication lines, but he got no answer. "I can't raise the command center!" he exclaimed, turning to his team in shock. "We can't contact Zordon and find out if he knows another way out!"

Another blast from the cyclops forced him to dive down while rock exploded out from the stone walls. "This place will be your tomb," the living statue stated as he chuckled, stepping toward the four teenagers while gripping a fist. "And soon enough, the world will belong to my mistress."

The large spherical screen was filled by the three dimensional image of the Arctic area, but there was no lock on the signals of the four Rangers that had gone there. Despite the best efforts of the little android, Alpha was not able to bring up any kind of image or read-out of what was going on, and it had been over an hour since they last heard from the Rangers. Things were not going well at all.

"Zordon, what if something's happened?" Kimberly asked as she looked up at the tube and the floating image within it, but the expression of worry on the sage's visage was not encouraging. "We can't contact them, why?!"

"I should have thought of the possibility that caverns would be shielded from communications," the sages whispered in regret. For all purpose, it was obvious that Zordon was not all knowing, and even he had not taken in certain possibilities into account. "Alpha, keep trying on all possible channels and frequencies. We have to contact them and get them out of there."

The android nodded as he continued running the computer stations, but despite the lack of a face to express himself with, Alpha was clearly in a panic. "Ai yai yai...I hope they're alright..."

Unification

Rock and dirt exploded out as the cyclops unleashed another burst from its eye, the golems moving in on the Rangers while Zach was firing a barrage from his gatling cannon. Flecks of rock and clay were erupting from the golems and the cave walls as the blasts of energy continued to fly between the two sides. One of the clay monsters ran forward, only to explode as Jason drove the Tyranno-Blade through its head.

"We need a way out of here!" Zach exclaimed as he laid down another spray to hold off a set of golems. The battle already was going badly with the fact that for the two golems they had managed to take down, there were still almost a dozen of them to contend with. "I can't keep this up forever, man!"

Before he could reply, Jason dove for cover behind a cluster of larger rocks to join Billy and Trini. Where he had been standing exploded as another burst from the cyclops came driving in. With the Caliburn now fastened to his back again, he drew out his blade blaster with his free hand, switching it to blaster mode and firing on the golems to give Zach some needed back-up. "I still can't raise the command center," he stated, turning toward Billy. "Any luck on your end?"

The younger Ranger shook his head. "No go!" he replied, wincing as there was an explosion of dust from his left, rock pulverized by another optical blast. "The caverns are probably too far down for a solid link back on the comlines. That or there's some kind of field cutting us off."

Trini sighed as she turned an edge and fired off a series of blasts while Zach was diving for cover. "Get behind something!" she cried to the Black Ranger just as a golem came flying toward her. She moved aside, aimed as the clay creature landed, and fired right between its hollow eyes. Pieces of clay broke away, but it wasn't until the massive sledge flew out and smashed through its chest that the golem shattered and went down. Seconds later, the sledge was back in Zach's hand and re-attached to his back plate. "How could Zordon send us into this knowing we couldn't leave without all five weapons?!"

"I don't think he knew about that part!" Jason answered, or at least, he liked to believe that. Zordon had been reluctant to let them go without Kim, indicating he didn't want to put them all into danger if it could be helped. Still, it was clear that Zordon was not all knowing. "We have to keep trying, or we're going to die here!"

Another blast exploded against the rocks shielding them, sending a spray of dust over their heads while Zach angled around his cover and fired with his gatling cannon. With a deep breath, Jason tightened his grip on the Tyranno-Blade and pushed to his feet as he broke into full sprint. The rotary blade came to life, sections spinning at high speed as he drove the weapon into one of the golems. "Good night!" he cried, pulling the drill-blade out of the living statue's chest and bringing it around to smash through its head.

The Horn Fists were back on Billy's hands as he took a breath and extended the horn blades. "Here goes nothing," he whispered, then nodded to Trini. "Cover me!" With that, he ran into the fray, ducking and weaving about the attacking golems while trying to land a direct hit with the horns. A blast from the cyclops landed dead on with his armor, sending him flying back, but the boy managed to get back to his feet after a few minutes of catching his breath. Another blast was flung his direction, causing Billy to dive for cover while bringing his gauntlets together. A flash of light formed between the two pieces, stretching out and creating a bridge between them to form what appeared to be the head of a triceratops.

Even as he was marveling at the new formation of his weapons, Billy quickly learned what it was for as a third blast was fired his way. With the object raised up, the blast deflected off the face of the shield, causing Billy to stumble back, but unharmed. "A shield?! he exclaimed in joy, now staring as the center nose horn of the shield extended in much the same way as the separated gauntlets. "A tricera-shield! This is beyond perfect!"

Another bolt fired, but this time, Billy was ready. He braced himself and brought up his shield, stabilizing it with both hands and the blast of energy slammed into it and was flung away. "Definitely loving this," he remarked, then ran back into the fray with the shield at the ready, swatting away a lunging golem. "Zach, cover fire!"

"On it, kid!" came the reply as the fire assault from the gatling cannon shifted to cover Billy's flank. A golem made the mistake of rushing into the barrage, now pummeled into debris. Another shift in aim, and Zach unleashed the assault on the cyclops, only receive an optic burst in return. The Black Ranger dove to the side, his cannon shunting back into his armor while the sledge came free of his back and retracted on the chain into his hand. "This is getting out of hand, guys! We need a way out now!"

Back in the command center, there was just as much panic as Alpha scurried about trying to get some kind of fix on the Rangers. "Ai-yai-yai. Zordon, the sensors can't get a lock on them! The caverns are shielded by some kind of jamming field!"

"Rita?" Kimberly asked, a bit afraid of the answer even as she said it. "Would she-"

The floating image shook his head. It was not like Rita to do this, especially not when Goldar was among her forces. "No, this is something from within the caverns themselves. Even Rita doesn't have the capability to completely shield an area that large from our ability to reach them."

She bit her lip, not sure what to say. Zordon was more experienced in this, but if even he didn't know what was going on, it wasn't good. More so, they were not able to find any way of getting a signal on her friends. She was scared, but she wanted to do something to help them. "Alpha, is there anyway you can still send something in?"

"Well, of course, getting something in is not the problem. But with this field that's disrupting our ability to-"

"That's all I needed to know," was Kimberly's reply as she let her helmet form back around her head. "Zordon, I'm going in. They need me, and I..." She paused, knowing how hard it was to do what she knew she had to. "I can't just leave them, even if I'm this scared."

The sage was silent. He knew that the very idea of going into those caverns was frightening, but it also showed a great amount of courage to be able to face that fear. But he didn't know if sending in the last remaining Ranger would do much good here. They still didn't know what was causing the interference. "Your bravery is commendable, Kimberly, but right now, without any knowledge of what is going on, we can't-"

"I have to help them!" she cried, not letting the image finish. "Zordon, they're my friends, and being scared...I never should have just stayed behind, they need me!"

There was no way to disway her, he knew, and he found himself proud of the young girl despite his worries. His gaze shifted to Alpha, nodding to the robot. "Set the coordinates and send her in, Alpha. The Rangers need her."

Dust and explosions continued to rocket back and forth between the Rangers and their enemies. Another pair of golems were down, but the Rangers were still outnumbered, and the cyclops was not showing any signs of wear itself. Another blast fired from its eye, detonating against rock while a volley of laser fire was sent back from Zach's gatling cannon and the blade blasters.

"This ain't working too well!" Zach cried as he hugged to the back of his cover while another blast exploded against the shielding side. He glanced over to here Jason and Trini were taking cover, then sighed. "Jas, unless Kim decided to get over things, we're gonn'a die here!"

The timing couldn’t have been more appropriate as the pink stream of light came down through the roof of the cave and touched down to form into the armored Pink Ranger. No sooner than she had materialized, she was sent flying as a blast slammed into her, crackling over Kimberly's armor as she crashed to the ground almost fifteen feet from where she had been standing.

Running over to the armored girl, Jason fired at the cyclops, then pulled Kimberly to safety while another blast exploded into the ground a split second after they moved. "Welcome to the party," he muttered just as a third blast impacted on the shield side of the rock cluster. "Couldn't have picked a better time."

"Why haven't you guys gotten out of here yet?!" was Kimberly's own response while she looked to see Billy smashing apart one of the golems, Trini giving him back-up. "Didn't you get what you came for?!"

A nod from Jason as he tilted his head at the sword on his back-plate. "We can't leave until you get the last weapon!" he stated, now firing at the cyclops again to distract it from Zach. "Last corridor, right side! We need you to get it and get back to use before this place will let us leave!"

She hesitated, scared to go alone. "But...I...you guys..."

"Go!" he barked, trying to get her to follow orders. "You have to do it alone, we all did! This place is testing each one of us to see if we can conquer our fears!"

Another explosive impact, and Jason holstered his blade blaster, summoning the Tyranno-Blade back out into his left hand. He let out a yell, racing toward the cyclops and drawing Caliburn from his back while a golem leapt at him, meeting its end at the blade of the ancient legendary sword. Another swing and the Tyranno-Blade spun to life, impaling a second golem. "You're running out of clay shields, pal!"

There was no retort save a massive bolt from the cyclops that sent Jason flying back and to the ground. He groaned, then kick-flipped to his feet before turning toward Kimberly. "Go! We need that last weapon!"

The girl gulped and ran for the corridor she was told, diving as a large piece of a golem was sent flying overhead. As soon as she reached the tunnel entry, she took a breath, looking back before continuing to sprint until finally stopping as the sounds of battle dulled away. "Jason," came Kimberly's whisper. She looked back, hesitated, then turned toward the dark pathway of the tunnel. The girl took a few steps, feeling an ache and looking back, but remembering that Jason had ordered her to find the weapon.

As she began her run down the tunnel again, Kimberly knew that this wasn't what she felt was right. She was afraid of being alone, yes, but, that wasn't what really scared her. She looked back, knowing what she had been told, but the other thing Jason had told her was that she had to face her fears.

Another turn down the corridor, but then the girl whirled about and headed back down the tunnel, It wasn't fear of being alone; it was needing to do what was right, and being there to help was the right thing to do. She drew out her blade blaster, switched it to blaster mode, and dove forward just as a blast from the cyclops came her way, rolling and coming up to fire right at its eye.

"What are you doing?!" Jason cried as he pulled himself back to his feet, obviously having just been thrown around by the clay monster. "I told you to get the weapon!"

A blast fired just as a golem leapt for him, giving Jason a chance to run over and join Kimberly. As he reached her, the girl shook her head. "I can't just leave you guys! I don't want to lose my friends because I wasn't there, and I will never leave you guys again!"

There was a mighty crack, the entire cavern shuddering as soon as she had spoken those words. From the corridor tunnel came a brilliant flash of light, accompanied by what sounded like the song cry of a bird. Within moments the light had filled the chamber, blinding everyone before now pulling inward toward Kimberly's hands. Forming in her free palm was what appeared to be an ornate bow, one that resembled a large red bird with the wings stretching out to form the bow shaft, and a series of strings running down between the wings, four in all.

She could see images in her mind, of a great bird feathered in flames and light. A powerful cry echoed, like a song calling out to her. Looking at the bow, Kimberly felt her mind learning what it was, where it had come from, and knew that her test had been passed. It wasn't to face it alone; it was to be willing to forsake her own safety for her friends.

She turned her gaze toward the cyclops as it lumbered toward her, pulling on the main strings of the bow while a blaze of light formed into an arrow, building up flames as it grew brighter and brighter. "Not this time, buddy," she hissed, taking aim and letting go to unleash the brilliant fiery arrow. "Firebird's Flight!" The bolt flew forward, slamming into the clay monster and sending it flying back to the other side of the cave while the blast wave from the impact flung out and detonated the remaining golems.

The bow was brought about again, restrung with another arrow of energy, though one less in intensity than the first. "Wann'a go at it now that all five of us are armed?" Kimberly spat as the glowing shaft of light continued to draw in energy. "Or you gonn'a decide to run now and save what little of a face you have?"

The cyclops, as it pulled itself back to its feet, only laughed in a hollow mockery of emotion that it did not feel or truly express. "How am I supposed to leave?" it asked, shaking off the broken shards of clay from the impact of the bow's attack. "These caverns will not let any of us go until it feels like it!"

The brilliant shining arrow began to draw in more energy, brightening toward the same attack that had devastated the cyclops' golems. "Wann'a bet?" Kimberly replied just before letting go of the string.

The bottom of the staff touched down against the hard rock while Rita stared upward at the earth in the lunar skies. She felt a massive explosion of energy from the location of the Caves of Despair, something that she was not so eager to have sensed, knowing that it represented one of two things, both badly out of her favor. "The weapons of the Gods," she whispered before turning from the balcony and heading for one of the downward staircases. Her eyes went cold as she descended into the depths of the palace, lighting fixtures igniting to life as she continued deeper and deeper.

"I need to stop this now," she hissed, then snapped her head about as she felt a familiar presence. "And you should be more grateful that I have not banished you into oblivion!"

The specter raced ahead in effort to cut Rita off from the depths of the palace. "You must not awaken the evil that is sealed in the catacombs!"

The staff was brought up toward the spirit, flashing threateningly at her while Rita glowered in anger. "Don't tempt me to consign you to nothingness! Now out of my way!" She walked past the ghost, reaching the bottom level and throwing the door open with a thrust of her hand. As she enter the chamber, Rita looked upward at the tall crystal tower that was behind a series of light barriers.

A wave of her staff send a barrage of lightning at the barriers, causing a massive overload of their energies and collapsing them, clearing her way to the tower. "I don't know what is kept within," she whispered, holding out her staff toward the tower. "But I need aid. Give me the power to revive my servant and make him stronger than before!"

The tower shuddered as liquid leaked from several cracks in its structure, pulsing almost like a bloated tumor. There was a deep groan before black light flew out from in the tower and collected around the head of Rita's staff, cascading about as she gave a grin and turned from the tower. She failed to notice as the cracks began to widen, instead leaving the chamber and sealing the door behind her.

Now racing to the upper levels and reaching the balcony, Rita looked toward Earth, and in particular the location at its northern pole were the caverns lay. "The fallen shall rise again, born anew to serve my will!" She raised her staff, aiming the head up toward the planet, and grinned. "Arise again, my servant, and become more powerful than ever before!"

The black light swelled, almost resisting her command, then finally relented and burst out toward the planet, racing through space, the atmosphere, and flying down through the rock and ice of the pole. As the energy burst slammed down into the cavern, shocking the Rangers, it swarmed about the fallen body of the cyclops, invading every crack and opening left behind. The lifeless form shuddered as it came back to life, standing back up on its feet and giving a deep laugh while the single optic turned into a black point of light.

"You fools," came the low growl as the clay skin of the living statue began to shed, peeling away to reveal renewed layers underneath. "This place will be your tomb still, except now you will be buried here forever!"

With that, the black light exploded out, causing the cyclops to begin growing while layers of clay crumbled of its body to make way for the new larger layers underneath. As it grew to the roof, the living statue broke through, causing the cavern to begin collapsing, while it only laughed at the panicking Rangers.

"We need to get out of here!" Jason cried seconds before they all were engulfed in light and streaked away just before the caverns collapsed in where they had all been standing. Within seconds, they were back in the command center, relieved to find themselves in safety. Jason took the chance to retract his helmet and turn toward Zordon's tube. "That would have been helpful a bit sooner."

"I apologize, Rangers. We didn't realize that the caverns would block all ability to lock onto you for retrieval."

"Ai-yai-yai!" Alpha's cry signaled to the Rangers that they weren't out of the woods yet as they turned toward the display globe. "That statue is growing to enormous proportions, Zordon! If Rita unleashes it on any human cities, they'll be powerless to stop it!"

"But we can't do much either ourselves," Billy stated, speaking what the others were already thinking. "Even that attack Kim killed it with before can't stop something of that size."

A nod from the floating head, but his expression indicated that it was planned for. "Fortunately, Billy, we have a method of combating enemies of this level." His gaze turned to Alpha, giving the robot another nod. "The time has come, Alpha. Bring the Zords online, we need them now."

The little android, now acting more upbeat, gave a salute of sorts and began working away at the computer consoles. "Deactivating stasis and charging all systems, Zordon." The robot scurried to another console, tapping in commands while Zordon turned his attention to the Rangers. "All systems are go, the Zords are ready for action!"

A nod, and the sage gave the Rangers a smile. "The Zords, Rangers, are specialized battle vehicles created in the image of the very beasts that grant you their power. They will allow you to combat Rita's minions on a larger scale, though I must warn you that they cannot operate for a prolonged period of time in battle conditions, or their core generators will be drained."

Alpha finished up the preparations, now bringing up an image on the display globe of five giant mechanical animals, each one matching the motif and color of their Ranger counterparts. "The main navigation systems will give you the system commands for controlling the Zords," the robot explained. "Since we don't have time now for a simulation to train you, you must reply on the automatic guides for this battle."

A nod. Jason knew that the odds were against them, but they still had a chance to win this fight. His helmet extended back into place as he looked to his team and nodded. "Ready to finish this, guys?" There was a unanimous nod of agreement to the Red Ranger. "Alright...Alpha, get those Zords up and running, and get us in there!"

"You got it, Jason!"

A serious expression took hold of Jason's face as he readied himself for the teleportation shift. "Back to action!" With those words, a flash enveloped them, and they streaked away, now reforming inside the cockpits of their new battle machines. Jason took grip of the controls sitting in front of him, looking about as systems and computer displays came to life. "Everyone situated and ready?"

There was a crackle from what Jason assumed to be the intercom between each Zord. "Computers are uploading the control info right now, but I'm about as ready as I'm gonn'a be," came Billy's voice.

"When we get back to Angel Grove, I so need to find a stereo set-up like this!"

That would be Kimberly, no doubt, and thankfully, Trini's voice came on next. "Mind on the game, Kim. I'm ready to go, just open up this hanger!"

"Zach here, and we are ready to G-O!"

That settled it. "Alpha, get us back to the arctic now, we need to head that guy off before Rita can send him into a populated area!"

The entire hanger-bay began to glow as each machine was engulfed with light, signaling the start of teleportation. Seconds later, the five machines blasted apart and streaked into the sky, arcing about toward the northern pole and rematerializing on the frozen wastelands where the cyclops was still standing in wait for Rita's command.

The monster turned to see the five new arrivals, at first perplexed by these strange machines. It didn't recognize what they were, but it knew that the fashion in which they had arrived meant that they were connected with the Rangers. "Sent in their place, or just gluttons for pain?!"

"Just here to kick your ass back into hell, clay head!"

The monster turned toward the large black mastodon moments before a spray of ice slammed into it, causing the clay soldier to stumble back. The pink colored pterodactyl launched from on the shoulders of the red tyrannosaur, firing a series of rapid fire blasts into the creature, causing one of its hands to shatter from the impacts. The cylcops let out a roar, then focused its energy, reforming the lost limb and giving a laugh. "You all are such idiots! I'm made of clay, we're surrounded by-"

A pulse blast from the tail of the yellow saber-tooth cut it off, causing the cyclops to stumble back and fall back into the remains of the caverns. Before the cyclops could get back to its feet on the surface, the triceratops came crashing into the living statue, unleashing its own double blasts from its tail cannons into the monster's face. Clay shrapnel from the impact, while the monster fell back again, getting extremely frustrated with its enemies.

As the monster climbed out of the cavern pit, the tyrannosaur let out a roar before energy built up around the mouth, unleashing down into the ground and sending a line of explosions racing at the cyclops before detonating as it impacted. The monster gat a yell of anger, eye blazing with black light as its skin flaked away to reveal new protrusions and horns while it grew even larger. "I can't be killed that easily, you pathetic meatsacks!"

"Something's different about that thing," Trini's voice reported over the intercoms. "He sounds more like he has feeling and emotion, that wasn't there before."

"Almost like it's something else in control," came Billy's agreement. There was a yelp just as the cyclops fired off an optic burst at the triceratops, causing the dinosaurian machine to fly back and land hard in the ice. "Jason, that thing is getting more powerful! We need to finish it now, or we'll run out of power!"

A nod, and Jason rerouted the communications to link up with the command center. "Zordon, Alpha, this guy ain't going down easy, and we're on a time limit here! What's the word on what else these things can do?!"

"The Zords are capable of combining into one machine in cases of extreme need," came the sage's reply. "This gestalt formation, the Megazord, will be a combination of all the Zords' power, and can increase the fighting capabilities, but it will reduce the amount of time you have before the Zords must return to the hanger complex."

"Uploading gestalt formation data now, Rangers!" was the chipper voice of Alpha as information was rapidly displayed on the main screens. "The Megazord has its own weapon, the Power Sword, and using it will allow you to finish the monster off, but you must hurry! Forming the Megazord will drain the main weapons energy of the individual Zords to generate a protection field around them to safeguard the combination!"

Jason paid more attention to the information readouts, then gave a nod, more to himself, before reconnecting to the inter-Zord communication relays. "Guys, pull out your coins form the morpher buckles, they'll generate the crystal links we need to initiate the sequence!" He did such with his own coin, placing his open free palm against one face of the coin and pulling it away to form the shimmering ruby red crystal end. "Ready?!"

"On the command, man!"

Now inserting the crystal into the locking slot, Jason took hold of the main controls again, pulling to bring the tyrannosaur into position. "Alright Rangers, lets lock them together and take this guy down!"

The saber-tooth, now racing about to return to the group, swiveled its tail up and into place against its back to reveal the locking slot, while the triceratops followed suit and came about to back into the interlock as the tyrannosaur knelt down, knees serving as insert joints to the two smaller Zords. The mastodon opened up along the back as the head retracted the trunk inward and swiveled about to lock in place where the feet had been before retracting. Back opened to reveal shoulders and arms, the mastodon Zord lifted off the ground on a cushion of anti-grav fields moving into place and locking to the back and sides of the tyrannosaur.

The pterodactyl flew down, firing one last blast to distract the cyclops before transforming and coming down to lock into place on the chest plate just as the whole construct rose up to stand straight on the legs of the formation. Interlocking complete, the tyrannosaur's mouth swung down to reveal a face, yellow eyes lighting up as the back of the head repositioned and swung around to reveal a pair of side horns locking into place with a third horn rising up from the top of the head.

"Megazord sequence, complete!"

Now pulled from their individual cockpits, the Rangers were transported into a full command bridge for the gestalt, each at their own station. With Zach and Billy manning the weapons controls, Trini and Kimberly were at the sensors and defense stations, leaving Jason at the main controls. "Lets take this guy down fast," the Red Ranger stated as he took hold of his controls. "We're on a timer, guys!"

"All weapon systems online!" Billy announced as he began furiously manipulating his station. "Let it rip!"

The cyclops gave a terrible roar, unleashing a barrage from its optic that exploded against the Megazord, but the gestalt was uneffected in the slightest. "What?!" Another series of blasts erupted forward, but did nothing to faze the machine as it stood there, explosions raging around it. Finally, the gestalt took a step forward, making its way toward the clay monster while the detonations continued on around it. "No!" came the horrified cry of the cyclops. "This can't be happening!"

As the Megazord began to pick up speed, the unified machine broke into a run, now bringing a powerful fist right into the monster's face before turning about with a roundhouse backhand. Large chunks of clay broke off the head of the monster, crashing down to the ground. A bright flare of light show from its eye as it tried to point-blank the Megazord, but the blast went wild with a rough uppercut than threw the cyclops' head back. A forth strike plowed into the monster's chest, now sending it flying back and crashing into the ice locked ground.

"Alright!" came the excited cry from Zach. "This guy doesn't stand a chance against us!"

"We may not stand much a chance either if we don't hurry this up!" was Billy's reply as his station began displaying an alert. "We're running out of time, the Zords can't maintain gestalt formation for much longer!"

A nod, and Jason tapped a sequence into the main controls. "Billy, bring up the main weapons," he ordered while manuevering the Megazord into position. "We need that power sword so we can finish this!"

As the final sequence of commands were entered, the Megazord raised a hand toward the sky, causing a series of lightning bolts to cascaded downward from above and form into a silver broadsword in the hands of the gestalt. Energy continued to crackle over the blade of the weapon as the Megazord brought it about into ready position, then raced forward, gaining speed. More bolts of lightning formed about the blade as it cotinued to accelerate, forming a virtual storm around the Power Sword.

"Let's end this!" Jason yelled.

"Final Strike!"

The blade came crashing through the cyclops as it tried to defend itself, cleaving through clay and stone as the energy ripped through the monster's body. Coming to a halt some distance from the screaming living statue, the Megazord's eyes flash brightly while the cyclops only continued to yell out, explosions wracking it about before it finally fell to the ground and detonated into a shower of clay debris. The primal energies animating it hovered upward for a moment before imploding into nothing, leaving the Rangers to give a cheer of victory.

To say that the mood in the lunar palace was downcast would have been an understatement. To say that it was the wrath of Hell itself would have been more accurate. Rita was not one to take defeat, especially like this, lightly, and in a case where she knew the blame was not hers, she knew exactly where to take it. However, she knew that she had underestimate the Rangers, badly, and she had paid the price.

"His force is back to full strength with the Zords brought back online," she whispered, her voice strained with anger and fury as she turned away from the balcony and into the main hall. "These new Rangers of Zordon's are proving to be just as resourceful as the last group ten thousand years ago."

The woman paused in that thought, and for a moment, the flicker of a painful memory clashed in her eyes. She remembered that team of heroes, and the pain she had gone through. Just as quickly, that pang of regret turned into rage as she opened her palm to reveal the single golden coin that she had. There was the imprint of what looked to be a three-toed foot as the emblem, not too dissimilar from the icons of the coins that the Rangers held. She turned it about between her fingers, pondering it for a moment, then clutching it in her fist again.

"The only way to truly fight a Ranger is with a Ranger of your own," she hissed, now walking toward the throne room, which had been abandoned by the specter of the lunar queen since Rita had discovered the tower beneath the palace. "Goldar!" she barked. "We have work to do!"

Gathered once more in the command center, the Rangers stood before Zordon's energy tube, and the sage had a proud look on his face as he looked down upon them. "You have done a grand job in protecting the earth, and you have proven yourselves worthy of the weapons you now wield. My congratulations, Rangers."

There was a collective nod, but something was still bothering Jason. "It's far from over though," he stated, speaking what they all knew. "Rita's gonn'a be more determined to take us out now that we've proven we're a real threat to her."

The image of Zordon's head nodded in solemn agreement. "Yes, and her efforts will only increase in their resolve and magnitude so long as she seeks dominion over the planet." He paused, then glanced to Alpha before continuing. "She serves a dark master, and he wants the planet under his control before he returns." His eyes betrayed worry, but then he dismissed it with a smile. "You have earned your rest for now, however, so I advise you recover from your ordeals, and be on guard at all times."

A nod from the Ranger, and then Alpha came around with a small box in his hands. "Here," the little android said, opening the box to reveal a series of devices that resembled wrist watches. Matte black, with a set of blinking lights around a digital display piece in the center, they looked like they could pass as high-tech watches. "I've done some research for disguising these communicators so that they won't be conspicuous in your civilian lives. They also double as an automatic retrieval signal for the teleportation system to bring you here when needed."

Each of the five teenagers took one of the devices, looking them over. "Looks a little high-tech and pricey if you thought about it," Zach remarked as he demorphed and strapped the device on his left wrist. "But not too bad. No one would think too much of a wrist watch."

"Yeah, but couldn't it have been like a cell phone?" Kimberly commented as she looked at the communicator. "Like a razor or something."

Jason found it hard to not roll his eyes. Leave it to Kimberly to think more with fashion trend rather than functionality and stealth. "I think they're fine," he remarked as he demorphed and strapped his on. "A phone would be more obvious, while a watch we can get away with hiding more since it's smaller and any com sound can be passed off as an alarm or something like that."

The sage gave a soft smile as he looked down at the five, realizing that he had done right to bring these young humans into the fold as Earth's champions. "As I'm sure you've all realized, secrecy of your identities is ever required, for your own safety from Rita, and from your own people." He sighed now, knowing that this was the hardest thing of all for them to do. "No one must know who you are unless there is no other choice, because your own military forces are looking for you. Rita does not yet know who you are, and the longer this remains true, the better advantage you will have."

A nod again from Jason. "We best get back, guys, before too many people notice we're gone." He looked up at Zordon and smiled. "We'll be ready when Rita makes her move again."

As the five were teleported out of the command center, Zordon gave a sigh, then looked down to Alpha. "Perhaps you should see to the Zords and make sure any repairs needed are done," he said, watching as the little robot nodded and teleported himself away to the hangers. It was then, now alone, that Zordon glanced over to a shadowed corner of the chamber. "I wish I didn't have to hide this from them. It feels wrong."

"It would risk disrupting everything we're working toward," came the reply as a figure stepped out of the shadows, black military issue boots crossing the metal floor. The figure wore standard issue camouflage BDUs, his left wrist wearing the same communicator as the Rangers now did, and he was holding something in his hand. "We both know we can't risk that, not with the sixth member soon to come into play."

The sage frowned, knowing that what was coming was something he wished they could avoid. "Are you sure there is no other way?" came his question, but the nod was the only answer needed. It was haunting, knowing some events to come, but not being able to act on them, not yet. "I trust you will do what you can to bring the military's hunt for the Rangers to a manageable level."

"I can only do so much, but eventually it'll be clear that the Rangers are here to protect Earth." The figure smiled as he slipped his hat on and readied to leave. "I best get back myself, before my commanders get too suspicious." He turned to the teleportation controls, set the coordinates, then stopped and looked up at the sage's image. "By the way, my oldest is planning to join the air force when he graduates, I was thinking about maybe someday soon getting him in on the secret. It might help out in the long run."

There was a hesitant nod from Zordon. He didn't like bringing too many people into their hidden war, for their own safety, but this person had been involved for a long time and knew what he was doing. Another ally outside of their main force would be infinitely helpful in preparing for what was coming. "Now is not the time, though soon, when he is established in the ranks of your armed forces, he may be able to join us in preparing the planet."

The man nodded as he programmed the computer to erase record of his departure, then activated the automatic signal. "I'll keep in touch," he said just before he transformed into a a swirl of green energy and streaked away.

At a quiet part of the suburbs, a van with a moving trailer pulled up to a recently refurbished two story house, while a sleek street bike with green and black cover plates came around to join it. The rider of the motorcycle, clad with a weathered brown leather jacket marked by various patches and emblems, lifted the cover visor of his helmet while taking in a deep breath before looking over to the couple that were getting out of the van.

"Been a long time," he whispered, his voice young and sharp, with an edge behind it, like he wasn't all too thrilled to be here. His deep blue eyes shined as he glanced down the road, a flash of memory crossing them as he undid the chin strap of his helmet and pulled it off to reveal chestnut brown hair that reached almost to his shoulders in a tapered fashion. "Never thought I'd be back here again."

"Tommy!" came the call from his mother. "Hurry up, we need to get your things unpacked and your room setup."

The young man nodded and climbed off his bike, pausing for a moment as he had the oddest sense that someone was watching him from above. His eyes went toward the barely visible moon in the sky, like he felt someone up there staring at him. After hesitating, he shook it off and hurried to help unpack the van.

To the Command Center