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SOMEWHERE IN FLORIDA Jacy rushed through tundra, the sound of bullets cracking against the trees around her a sign she was running out of time. General Jackson's assault had begun, and they had prepared for weeks. Sahali, all of the elders knew the so-called "Americans" greed would lead them to attack. What they hadn't prepared for, was Her helping them. Three miles back, General Andrew Jackson watched as his men raided another village, the Seminole tribe bravely fighting back tooth and nail. It wasn't enough, no matter how fierce the warriors gathered to defend their village were, as the American troops were aided by strange, mindless gray creatures that helped them overwhelm the Seminole tribes of east Florida. Jacy dove across a ravine and behind a mass of trees before raising her communicator to her lips. "Zordon, she's made her move. There are putties everywhere!" THE COMMAND CENTER LOCATION UNKNOWN Alpha five raced back and forth around the command center, his robotic fingers an absolute blur across the multiple panels that made up the control board. "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! They're swarming all over her!" Alpha fretted as he turned to the viewing globe, where he watched as Jacy did her best to keep ahead of the soldiers and putties hounding after her. "They're helping those soldiers slaughter her people!" The image of Zordon appeared inside the energy tube that helped connect him to this dimension. "Alpha, keep trying to contact the other rangers!" The voice of the sage from Eltar boomed throughout the command center, his concern for the young woman who had already been through so much reaching a fever pitch. After the rangers last battle with Rita's forces, Zordon had hoped with every fiber of what remained of him that the men and women who he chose to defend this world and the galaxy beyond had seen the end of her. Jacy rushed through the thicket of trees, bursting through the forest into another of the small villages that made up much of east Florida. She watched in nothing short of horror as a horde of putties tore through one of the towns her people had spent their lives trying to maintain. She had heard the stories from her grandmother for years about how so many tribes had been persecuted and treated like animals by the different entities hellbent on ripping their land away. Leave it to Rita to find a way to needle her where it would hurt most, Jacy thought as she fought back a well of angry tears. The sight of an elder woman of the tribe being dragged through the road by a pair of putties completely broke her in that moment. She was sick of this, of Rita and her plots, of being treated like some sort of monster just because they were different. One way or another, this would end today. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME" Jacy roared as she pulled out her morpher, her power coin gleaming brightly in its center. "SABRETOOTH TIGER!" There was a blinding flash of yellowish hue and moments later the Yellow Ranger rushed across the road towards the putties and their prey. The putties saw her coming and dropped the elder woman, rushing to meet their newfound opposition. Jacy generated each of her power daggers in her hands and went into action, ducking a kick from one of the putties before plunging the dagger straight through its chest. She nailed the second with a palm strike that caught it under the chin before decapitating it with a spinning thrust from the dagger in her left hand. No sooner had she dropped the pair of putties that a bullet bounced off her helmet. Jacy turned to see a group of US troops readying their weapons for another attack having witnessed her dispatch the putties with ease. She smiled underneath the helmet, more than ready to inflict upon these men the kind of pain and suffering they and their superiors had put her tribe through for centuries. Not too far from the village Jacy had begun to protect, Nadami and Amanda stood hand in hand as the Seminole Chief read their vows in the native language of Creek. Nadami could not be more overjoyed as he looked into the eyes of the woman he was choosing as his wife. The sacrifices they both had made to fight their way towards this moment strengthened their love in a way many couldn't understand, even some members of the tribe. He didn't care in the slightest about any opinion other than hers, as he was proud to have traveled the road he had. There were two beings he owed his life to, Zordon and Amanda. He pledged to give his life defending the world for Zordon, and now he was pledging that same life to the woman whom without he might not be a free man. The private ceremony was interrupted, as both the communicators they wore created for them by Alpha went off simultaneously. "Chief, please excuse us. My apologies." Nadami told the elder presiding over their wedding in Creek as they both stepped closer to the shore for a moment of privacy. The chief watched from a distance, slightly bewildered by the strange devices they wore on their wrists. "Come in, Alpha." Amanda said into her communicator. She glanced up for a moment and saw the irrepressible smile that Nadami always knew exactly when to show. She had been so nervous in the nights leading up to today, not because she was having second thoughts about spending her life with Nadami, but because she was terrified of the repercussions their union would have in the long term. A marriage between a runaway slave and the daughter of Herman Coates, the owner of the biggest plantation in the south, was one that would surely draw all the wrong kind of attention. Now as they were on the cusp of moving forward in their lives, something had to interrupt the moment they had been working towards since they had met. "Amanda, Nadami. US troops backed by an army of putties have begun destroying every village and town in their path. Jacy is currently taking on a platoon nearby." Alpha told the pair of rangers, his voice twice as frantic as usual. "We're on our way now, Alpha." Amanda assured him as Nadami rushed over to inform the Chief they would have to postpone their nuptials for the time being. He quickly rejoined his fiancée before they both teleported away in a rush of red and pink energy. Back in the village, Jacy continued her one women assault on the putties and Soldiers who had begun to burn down the homes built by her people. She caught a puttie in the face with a front kick before bringing down a soldier attempting to rush her from behind with a spinning elbow/roundhouse kick combination. It was then Jacy watched as General Andrew Jackson himself led a surge of reinforcements into the village. The US troops began to rain down cannon fire on the town, decimating what little remained of the society they had built. Jacy sprinted towards the cavalcade that had begun unleashing the cannon barrage, when suddenly a massive cannonball came directly at her! She ducked out of its path just before impact, the resulting explosion shaking the area for miles. Jacy got to her feet as she saw Rita's latest creation of terror, a 6'8 leviathan made of bronze and steel. Cannon guns were mounted on both shoulders as the creature continued to stalk towards the yellow ranger. In its hand it held a strange sword-like weapon that begun to change from the silver of its steel to a pitch black the closer he got to Jacy. Jacy readied both her power daggers before heading towards the monster, but before she could even get close she was blasted away by a barrage from each shoulder cannon. Jacy is sent hurdling across the town, crashing to a halt just as her fellow ranger's teleport onto the scene. Nadami, the red ranger quickly pulled his blade blaster and opened fire on the creature, sadly to little effect. "Amanda, I need you to put him down!" Nadami commanded as his power sword appeared in his hand and he changed tactics to hand to hand combat. He began to close the gap between creature and himself, dodging around the massive cannon blasts coming from the monster. Amanda tended to Jacy, who sat up as Nadami did battle with Rita's monster. "Don't worry about me," Jacy assured her teammate as she got to her feet, "I'm not taking a bow until Rita pays for this. I'll bring her down myself." Jacy told Amanda, the determination in her tone making her intentions clear. She began to march across the town turned battlefield when Amanda's hand on her shoulder caused her to pause. "Don't let your anger push you forward, not even because of all this. Rita wants us emotional and off our game. That's the only reason I can possibly see her aiding them." Amanda advised her. Jacy nodded before they both took off to join the fray. EARTH'S MOON RITA'S CASTLE Rita cackled loudly as she watched the ranger's battle her cannon monster, amused by their attempts to harm it. "Well Finster you have finally made me proud. What a beast you have created!" The monster maker known as Finster nodded politely at his empress praise. "Such adulation from you is much appreciated my empress. I can assure you that today will be the day you finally ravage the earth!" Goldar let out a low, menacing growl from behind Finster that startled the scientist. "But what of the other two ranger's my empress? Surely soon they will join the battle!" "Am I not the empress who has led you all to great victories across the cosmos? Have I not crushed hundreds of worlds under my power?" Rita asked her commander as he kneeled before her, doing his best to appease her. "I meant no disrespect my empress. Your time is finally at hand I only wish to see it through to fruition." Goldar assured his master. "You have nothing to apologize for Goldar. Rita's pass successes have no merit here, especially after the frequent defeats she has suffered at the hands of the sage's handpicked children." A voice boomed around the room, a voice Rita recognized and was none too pleased to hear. There was a crack of lightning and suddenly the image of the intergalactic tyrant Lord Zedd appeared before the group. "What have you done of late to deserve such blind faith?" Zedd questioned as he stood over Rita, whose boastful pride had been snuffed out by the arrival of her master. "I've waited patiently for long enough, and you have yet to deliver the earth. Now I see you have conspired with these humans, given them control of your puttie forces in a feeble attempt to finally beat the rangers? You have embarrassed me enough Repulsa, I hope for your sake that your acts of desperation don't fail you today." "They will not my lord! The Power Ranger's will be will cease to exist. This I can assure you. We will turn the earth and its inhabitants into a world crafted in your image! Goldar, head to the current location of the blue and black rangers!" "Yes, my impress." And in a blaze of gold fire, Rita's commander was gone. Shadeer and Thomas led a group of escaping Seminole families through the hot forest, the sounds of US troops cannons and guns destroying another town echoing in the near distance behind them. Shadeer's communicator went off, and he shot Thomas a look that let him know they needed to find some privacy. They allowed the group to get ahead some ways as they sagged behind before Shadeer finally answered. "Shadeer. The rangers are battling Rita's cannon monster in your home village. Please get the rest of the tribe to safety and hurry to assist them!" The unmistakable voice of Zordon instructed the two young ranger's. "We've just about got them to the rendezvous point Zordon, we're on our way now." Shadeer nodded at Thomas, who knew it was time to for business to pick up. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME. MASTODON!" "TRICERATOPS" The pair of rangers took off into the air as they teleported towards the battle their friends were currently in the thick off. Suddenly a mass of orange and red flames blasted the energy beams of Shadeer and Thomas, knocking them back to the ground roughly and preventing them from reaching their destination. "You alright?" Thomas asked Shadeer as he pulled his blade blaster, his eyes scanning the beach for what hit them. "Yeah I'm good. What could have possibly knocked us out of teleportation? I don't think even Rita has that kind of power." Shadeer hypothesized as he too pulled his blade blaster. "The powers of my empress are far beyond anything your human minds could ever fathom." They both turned as they saw Goldar walking across the beach towards them, sword in hand and licking his lips with fearsome glee. "You insects waste your lives squabbling through the most inconsequential conflicts, as if your wars over land and the color of one's skin matter. Nothing you imbeciles fight for matters, not after today. Today will mark the beginning of my empress long reign." Thomas had enough of Goldar's bravado. He knew the monkey was sent to either delay or kill them, whichever he accomplished first. The odds at the moment didn't favor them very much, a thought that twisted in Thomas gut as Goldar drew closer. Though their strength and battle skills were greatly bolstered once they morphed, and they had grown stronger training with the others day by day, they were no match for the absolute powerhouse that was Rita's chief commander. Goldar attempted to catch the pair of ranger's off guard, unleashing a blast of green flames from his mouth that Shadeer barely managed to avoid but caught Thomas full on, engulfing him. Shadeer's battle axe appeared in his hand as he surged forward at Goldar, convinced he needed to go on the offensive. Goldar managed to easily block the blow from the black ranger's battle axe that was meant to take off the commander's head. Goldar caught Shadeer with a kick to the chest followed by a slash from his sword across the gut that sent the ranger flying. Goldar turned around just in time to catch Thomas attacking from behind, having recovered from Goldar's flame eterna attack, by the back of the head and tossed him into his fellow ranger. "Surely this isn't how you want to die? There has to be some sort of warrior's heart beating in your pathetic carcasses? Or is this truly the sum of Zordon's great fighting force?" Goldar snarled amused as he gestured for the two of them to get up. Back in the village, the other three rangers continued their feeble attempts to wear down their opposition. The battle had far exceeded anything the US troops had expected to encounter, and most who hadn't been taken down by Jacy had fled as the cannon creature continued to decimate what little was left of the village. Jacy rushed the monster from behind as he battled Nadami, tossing one of her power daggers into its back. Though the blow didn't do the damage she wanted, it got the creatures attention and gave Amanda the opening she needed. Amanda leveled the creature with a trio of blasts from her power bow, rocking the monster enough that Nadami was able to swoop in and land a pair of slashes with his power sword that dropped it. The three rangers stood exasperated but ever vigilant as they waited to see if their efforts were successful. Their answer came when a massive energy blasts in the shape of a cannon ball blasted Nadami in the chest, sending him flying into the forest and landing with a crunch. "NADAMI!" Amanda screamed before taking off in the direction he was sent. They had been through so many battles, both the very definitions of alien and domestic. They were steps away from the life together they had always talked about. It couldn't end this way, not like this she thought as she raced after him. "Amanda, stay on task! We lose ground here and there's no telling what happens next." Jacy instructed the pink ranger just as she turned and is blasted with the same energy cannon charge that dropped Nadami. She is sent sprawling across the ground as the cannon monster began to stomp forward once again. "This is your world's end. This planet will become what all world's in this galaxy must at one point or another, a stepping stone towards Rita's goal of a galactic empire under her fist. How foolish you must be to believe you could stow the tide that is my empress will." The monster goaded Amanda as Jacy struggled back to her feet, barely able to keep standing. "Where-where the hell are Tom and my brother?" Jacy grunted as the situation they found themselves in continued to deteriorate. "Ask and you shall receive, yellow ranger." Goldar appeared behind the two rangers in a whirl of fire, the unconscious and de-morphed bodies of the blue and black rangers clutched in each of his hands. Inside the command center, Alpha paced back and forth frantically as he and Zordon watched the rangers plight on the viewing globe. "Zordon, there must be something we can do!" Alpha pleaded as he turned to Zordon. "As much as I wish there was, at this point all we can do is hope the power continues to protect them. And that somehow we weather this storm." Zordon answered gravely. "All these eons of trying to kill each other, and you would think I would have grown accustomed to your tired and airy routine. But you are just as insufferable as the day I destroyed your body, wizard." Rita Repulsa entered the main room of the command center, much to the shock of Alpha and Zordon. "How are you able to enter without a power coin?" Alpha asked flabbergasted as the empress of evil strided through the command center. Rita glanced in the robot's direction and signaled for it to be quiet before she turned back to Zordon brandishing her wand. Near its top was a gold power coin, the symbol of a dragon's paw in its center. "So, it seems after all your fruitless endeavors you've finally found it." Zordon remarked gravely as he saw the sixth power coin in her possession. "Lord Zedd believed I had been doing nothing more than wasting time and licking old wounds, failing to see just how much this sways the tide of our war. But I'm sure you do Zordon. You've always been stuck on the horizon, it's what makes you worthy opposition. I'm sure you're aware I'm incapable of utilizing its powers for myself. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to end all of this personally. I guess I'm selfish that way." Rita flashed a devilish grin as she took another step towards Zordon. "All these years, battle after battle and you still make the same mistakes." Alpha boasted, which caused Rita to shoot a glare in the robot's direction. "You've allowed your lust for destruction to send you directly into the maw of defeat." Zordon told the sorceress as every light and machine in the command center began to flicker and fluctuate. Zordon began to concentrate, they only had one opportunity at this. Alpha had hoped this route wouldn't be necessary, that if things broke down this far where they were forced to gamble it all then what hope would there be for the future? Alpha watched as Zordon focused the entire power of the morphing grid into their last resort. Rita realized that something was afoot and knew then it was time to put the sage out of his misery. She raised her wand, ready to begin wreaking all hell in Zordon's temple, but nothing happened. She looked at her staff, completely perplexed. She felt powerless, something she had never felt in all her eons of conquering the cosmos. She dropped her wand before falling to all fours, droplets of black blood coming from her mouth. She turned around to see Alpha Five pointing a circular, golden artifact directly at her, seemingly the cause of her sudden and rapid loss of powers. Her eyes went wide when she noticed the ancient, Egyptian text etched around it. "You've spent several lifetimes stepping on anything you considered beneath you, lauding in the idea of your own power. Now you must suffer the consequences that come with the path you've traveled." Zordon told her as a gold and black portal opened above Rita inside the command center just as the power went out completely. Some of the worst monsters, ghouls, and terrifying unidentifiable creatures thrashed and howled as they tried to break through the invisible barrier that separated the dimensional prison they were trapped in from the command center. Rita shot Zordon a look of deepest hatred as her body began to turn to dark green vapor that was sucked up into the portal. "Zordon of Eltar. Who knew you were capable of such sacrifices..." And without another word Rita was completely sucked into the portal, which closed immediately and left the defunct command center pitch black and silent. Back in the village, Nadami and Amanda continued the battle against the cannon monster and Goldar. Behind their opponents, the fallen rangers suddenly begin to de-morph. Nadami looked over at his fiancee and saw as her helmet and costume disappeared before looking to his hands where he saw his power sword disintegrate. Goldar cackled viciously as the rangers were now helpless. He pointed his sword directly at Nadami and it began to glow with green and black fire. "It seems fate has decided your lives should end by my sword. A shame red ranger, you were a warrior capable of testing my might on more than one occasion." "Goldar...." The commander turned to his fellow servant of Rita to see the monster beginning to disintegrate into black vapors right before Goldar's eyes. Goldar howled with rage as he turned to the rangers, angry he could not finish them off. Before they knew it he had disappeared in a blaze of orange flame, desperate to find out what had caused Rita's magic to falter. Amanda and Nadami rushed over to their unconscious teammates. Nadami tried desperately to reach the command center through his communicator, his heart leaping out of his chest as he put together the pieces of what must have caused them to lose their powers. Jacy recovered first, bewildered to see she had de-morphed. She looked around at what little was left of her village, the sounds of cannon and gunfire echoing far off but close enough to break the silence. "They did it. They overloaded the morphing grid to power that totem." Jacy assumed as Amanda helped her to her feet. "Is there any way to get back to the command center?" Nadami shook his head as he looked to the sky, the sun beaming stronger than ever on the three of them. "We can't do anything without a connection to the morphing grid. Nothing but hope Zordon contacts us." 200 YEARS LATER SOMEWHERE IN BRAZIL Goldar followed the human he had captured and forced to guide him through the massive maze that was the set of caves in El Dorado. They both halted as they reached their destination, the terrified and badly beaten human cowering as he pointed towards the wall they had reached. Goldar tossed the tiny man roughly out of his path, sending him over a nearby cliff and plunging to his death. Goldar ran his hands along the wall, fascinated by what he had discovered after two centuries worth of searching. "My empress. I've found you." Goldar breathed with bated happiness at wall, which bore a circular symbol with words written in Spanish carved around it. TO BE CONTINUED IN MMPR #2
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