Chapter 4 - From Outer Space .1

Rena Hart opened her front door when someone knocked on it. On her front entrance was Tai, Mace, and Nathan. "Hey, Re--" She blinked and slammed the door in their faces before Mace could finish his greeting. Tai held back a laugh at his confusion. "Er...wha--?" the door opened again, and it was if Rena had morphed into a different person. Her messy Saturday morning self with no make-up and lounge pants had been magically replaced with her usual fluffy hair, skinny-jeans, impeccable cat-eye make-up.

"Hey, guys. Hi, Nathan. What's up?" she asked with a forced nonchalance and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"We came to pack up Rex's stuff," Tai answered after Nathan waved awkwardly, and Mace moved her out of the way so they could get in. She sent him an annoyed look before wiping her face and putting on a smile again.

"Oh, was that today. You guys are early," she said.

"It's almost noon," Mace said.

"Oh," again, she sent him a dark look. "In that case, I have things. You where know his room and his crap is," she said. "See ya," she said. Then she smiled again. "Bye, Nathan," she said. Again, Nathan waved awkwardly. She waved back and slipped out the front door.

Mace pointed to Nathan, then pointed to the door a few times. "Does she have a little thing for Nathan?" he asked.

Tai couldn't hold his laughter back anymore.

Nathan cleared his throat. "What can I say, I'm big with emos and the scene kids," he said.

"And the ultra-nerds," Mace drawled as he headed upstairs to his cousin's room.

Instead of being offended, Nathan grinned at that. "Them, too," he agreed.

"Let's go, lover boy. We have work to do and I can almost guarantee that Rex probably has more clothes than Tori and Chloe combined," Tai said.

"I believe that," Mace declared. The three of them headed up to the room of the still space bound Rex Hart.

--x--

Griff and Moriko were living in a warehouse near the bay. It had been old and rundown. It may or may not have been victimized by monsters in the past. But now, they had, and have been working on it. Now it looked like some trendy bohemian, semi-industrial apartment that people through the nose for in downtown. They were giving Taran, Lammy, and Rei the tour since it was finally presentable to company.

There were also aspects that clearly showed they weren't quite normal. An entire corner of the building was devoted to weapons and training, while another area was clearly devoted to magic with weird things in apothecary jars on shelve with books and weird plants. Moriko instructed them to sit in the "living room" area with oversized chairs and sofas strewn with brightly colored throws. She served the Goldsmith siblings some black as death coffee and Rei some tea. "So, what do you think?" she asked.

Lammy grinned. "I like it," she declared.

Taran nodded. "I see you even let Griff have a hand at decorating," he drawled and looked toward the training area.

Griff smirked. "Best looking part of the whole place," he said. Moriko huffed and pushed him playfully.

Taran nodded seriously. "Yes, your sense of aesthetics really shines through with how you arranged all the sharp force objects on one side and blunt force objects on another with the combination weapons in the middle," he praised.

Griff stopped grinning and glanced at his brother then his sister. "Is he messin' with me?" he asked her.

Lammy took a drink of her black sludge before answering. "Yes," she answered. Taran barely constrained his laughter.

Griff leaned forward. "Okay, Pretty. You and me," he said and pointed toward the area.

Moriko patted his arm. "It's okay, sweetie. That's just what big brothers do. Don't pay any attention to him. Your collection has some of the rarest weapons in the galaxy," she said.

Still giving Taran a warning glance, Griff leaned back, but he realized he really would enjoy sparring with him one day. "I'll let it go today," he said. Something tickled at the edge of his senses and he suddenly stood. He glanced at Lammy, who was also getting to her feet. The two of them turned their heads to glance upwards in to the distance.

Rei and Moriko looked confused, then Taran got to his feet as well. "What is that?" he asked them.

His younger siblings shared a look then glanced at him. Before they could answer, his communicator beeped. "There's a monster in downtown. Tai want you to join team two," Fox informed him.

"On it," he said.

"We'll explain it later," Lammy assured him. Griff nodded.

"Sorry to leave so abruptly," Taran said to Mori.

"Go," she ushered.

He nodded and teleported out.

--x--

Palace on the Moon

Widow was feeling so much better after resting for a while. They couldn't find any ill affects so far from Tarantules' magic. She was forbidden from directly confronting him again or going into battle at all. Not that she'd allow herself to be constrained by her husband's rules if she didn't agree with them. It was too risky.

Still, she had to make him, and the other Rangers pay. She checked on Roki. He was working on his project in the lab. She decided not to interrupt him. She paused, wondering where Rio was skulking around. She didn't say so, but she felt that Roki had a little too much sympathy for his family. She supposed that had to do with him being born after his parents had been purified by Zordon's energy. Still, it was his weaknesses that made him adorable. She'd just have to take care of Rio herself if that wretch decided to cross them.

Deciding to leave that matter for another time, she went to Finster's lab. "Mistress," he greeted cheerfully, and bowed to her when she appeared.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're in a good mood, Finster. Do you have something interesting to show me?"

"Oh yes, Mistress. Look at these. Which one do you like better?" he asked, showing her several partially completed clay sculptures.

She studied each one thoughtfully. "This one looks interesting. Finish it quickly and send it to Earth," she instructed with a small smirk.

"Oh, yes, Mistress," he said and picked up the lay figure. He added the final touch and put it on the conveyer belt of the Monster-Matic.

Though she was intent on supervising him, something else caught her attention. Something strange. She went to the look-out and stuck her eye to the telescope and looked around in space as far it could. "Roki," she called out.

He appeared almost immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Can you see anything?" she asked, moving away from the telescope.

He went to the telescope and looked around. "Hmm. I think I do, but we're facing the wrong direction," he said. What few knew what was that the Palace moved around the moon so that it was always able to watch over the Earth. He took the telescope from its stand. He grabbed her hand and they disappeared on the reappear on another part of the moon. He held the telescope up and looked through it. "There's a small shuttle coming through the solar system," he said and handed her the telescope.

She looked through it and finally sighted the shuttle. "That's not what I was looking for," she said. Then she saw it. Something rippled the space beyond the small shuttle and fired on it. The shuttle narrowly managed to avoid being hit. She gasped.

"What is it?" Roki asked.

She handed him the telescope and drew a circle in front of her. "I spy with my little eye...that shuttle and whatever's behind it," she said. A shimmery image of magnified space lit up front of them as the shuttle of Kovarian design hurtled toward the Earth. Whatever was behind them only rippled when it fired.

Roki cocked his head. "Should we interfere?" he asked.

"Whose side would you be on?" Rio asked. Their flurry of activity had garnered her interest. She'd kept low the past while. Maybe they were over their moodiness by now.

Widow glanced back at her. "Neither. There's something coming. I don't like it. There's another hybrid on the hidden vessel. And that's impossible," she said, clenching her fist. She whirled around and looked in the distance. "Lammy and Griff felt it as well," she said and disappeared. She reappeared in front of her younger siblings, who'd come to the moon to better see what was happening. "What is it?" she demanded.

Griff crossed his arms over his chest. He gave Lammy a questioning look. She shrugged. "Speak. I'll patch Taran in," she said.

"Titus," Griff said, as if that explained everything.

Widow rubbed her forehead. "Well, that clarified everything," she said. Griff just shrugged.

Lammy sighed. "While we were lost in dimensions, we quickly gained reputations, even at an early age. We were hired to hunt down a fugitive named Dr. Lee Keflen. He was wanted in thirteen dimensions and 3 galaxies," she explained. "Mostly his crimes are related to his mad science experiments on sentient species. We were careless. We got captured and he managed to get samples of our blood. Not much, but enough to create one clone by combining our samples. We didn't realize until after we escaped. T-909 came after us for Dr. Lee," she explained. "We managed to get through the neural programming and let T-909 make his own choices. In the end he helped us eliminate Dr. Lee and collect the bounty. We gave him a name and offered to let him travel with us. He refused and said he wanted to find his own way. We haven't seen him since," she said.

"It sounds like you left on," Widow made a face, "good terms. Why are you so worried now?" she asked.

"Because that's Dr. Lee's Dimensionally Intangible Traveling Science Station," Lammy said with a pale face. Even as she spoke, the shuttle finally managed to make into the relative safety of Earth's orbit, but the thing behind them wasn't giving up. It rippled into existence for a moment. It was a large and spherical. It was rippling because several assault crafts were launched from it, intent on going after the shuttle.

"Rex and Zhane are coming in hot with bogeys on their tail!" she said into her communicator before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Widow jerked. There was a Power Ranger on that dinky little shuttle. Maybe they should have interfered after all.

"Don't think of this as a good thing," Griff told her. He had no specific ill will toward his older sister. It's just that Moriko had a destiny that put her at odds with Roki, and Griff was going to protect her. If that meant being at odds with Widow, so be it.

Widow pursed her lips. "Trust me. I have nothing but a bad feeling about this. The last thing I need is some lawless outsider interfering with my plans for this planet," she said.

"Don't underestimate Dr. Lee either," he said. "Never let your guard down when dealing with him and whatever's he brought with him." He gave her a respectful, if shallow bow and disappeared.

Roki came up behind her and put a hand on the small of her back. "So, you have another little brother?"

"It seems so. And, he brought a big problem with him," she said. He moved his hand to her shoulder and pulled her close. "Let's go back and see what's happening," he said, holding up the telescope. She nodded and they transported to the look-out to see what was happening on Earth.

--x--

Tai, Mace, and Nathan were amid moving boxes full of Rex's things to the apartment he'll share with Tai near the AGU campus. Luckily the building had an elevator. Nathan finally had enough. "Is there even room for all his stuff in this apartment?" he asked and kicked a box full of clothes lightly.

Tai sighed. "Might have to rent the apartment next door just for all this," he said. His communicator beeped. "Tai here. Go," he said.

"A monster appeared in downtown," Fox said.

"Send Taran and Team 2," Tai said. "Keep an eye on the situation and keep me updated," he said.

"Right," Fox said.

"That means me, right? I get to go fight a monster?" Nathan asked.

Tai nodded. "Go fight the monster," he said.

"Good luck with all this," Nathan said and teleported away.

Mace shook his head. "I think he got the better deal," he said with a sigh. "There are more boxes in the car," he said with a grimace. He cleared his throat. "Um, so Fox...I mean I don't know him, but is he really okay with...everything?" he asked.

Tai sighed. "After he found out about everything, this is pretty much what he did. As for being okay, I can't say for sure," he said. "But, don't let it bother you. There's something we, and yes, even Fox, have learned, it's that things happen for a reason. If he were meant to continue being the male half of the Black Team, he would be," he said. "You should worry more about your partner. I don't know what you did to her but being on Chloe Kennedy's hit list is probably not the best place to be," he said.

Mace rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. If she ever deigns to talk to me again, I do intend to clear things up," he said.

Tai nodded. "C'mon. There are more boxes," he said. Mace nodded and followed him out.

--x--

The monster that appeared in downtown Angel Grove was a pirate captain with a luxurious frock coat and a sumptuous feather in his hat. Well, he thought he was stylish. He didn't realize the massive rotting teeth, the empty eye socket swirling with darkness, and the arm that was in fact a hook ended sword made people afraid of him. He swirled the end of a ridiculously large and thin mustache. "Why are running from Captain Crook?" he asked in a very forced sounding accent. He whirled around and thrust out his arm. Watery energy whirled out from him to capture the people and drag them toward him.

They were an ace up his impeccable sleeve when the Rangers arrive. He didn't have to wait long. Seven Power Rangers arrived. "Stop right there!" female Red said.

"Oh, boy. Power Rangers," Crook crowed. He jerked up his good hand and several civilians trapped in watery pods hovered in the air. "Do you dare?" he asked. He grinned a manic, rotten toothed grin. "Putties!" he called.

"Taran, Nathan, Danny. See if you can figure out how to free the people. We'll handle the Putties and the monster," Red said.

Gold, Blue, and Pink broke off from the others.

"So, I get to stay in the girl power group?" Green asked. "That works for me," he said. "Stygian Blade!" he summoned.

"Power Grips!" Yellow summoned.

"Power Axe!" Black summoned.

"Power Sword!" Red summoned.

They met the Putties that were summoned.

Pink tried to levitate to the trapped people, while Blue consulted with Billie and other minds of the Command Center. Gold, however, got distracted before he could try anything when Lammy suddenly tapped into some sort of psycho-magical communication among the siblings.

"Taran!" Blue held out a hand and projected a forcefield just as his own danger sense kicked in, and he reacted automatically when a Puttie hulk formed and tried to smash him with an oversized fist. "StegoMace!" he summoned the spiked weapon and jumped, using his own strength and momentum to smash it into and send it flying.

"What's wrong?" Red demanded.

"Team One will handle it. Let's concentrate on this problem," he answered her.

She nodded. "Do you need back-up?" she asked, noting the Hulk was coming at him again even as she sent the head of Puttie flying with the flick of her Sword.

"I'll help him," Green said, and broke off from the girls and went to help Gold with the hulk.

--x--

Finally, the last box was brought into the apartment. "Is it really okay to be moving boxes right now?" Mace asked.

"Lani and Taran will let us know if they need help," Tai answered.

"Rex has really been in space all this time? I thought he was doing some kind of work-study thing in Europe," he said.

"That was the point," Tai said. He closed the door to Rex's room. He was done with that. It'd be up to Rex to unpack everything to his own satisfaction. His communicator beeped again, and he got Lammy's message. "Let's get to the Command Center," he said. Mace nodded and they teleported.

When they arrived Nyo was already tracking the shuttle. Even in the atmosphere, the small assault crafts were trying to fire on it. Suddenly it took direct hit. "Teleport them, now!" Tai said. Right before their eyes the shuttle exploded. There was a pregnant pause, but Zhane and Rex suddenly appeared in bright flashes.

Zhane blew out a breath and patted himself down. "I'm alive. Good, Karone would have killed me if I'd died," he said.

Rex was clutching a small box, but otherwise stood stone still. Tai sighed. He went over to his friend and hugged him. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," he said.

"Once was plenty," Rex finally said. "My legs aren't quite working," he said. As bad as it was for those watching, it was even worse for the ones inside the ship. He actually saw, felt, and heard the explosion the split second before he teleported. Not fun.

"You still have legs?" Zhane asked dumbly.

"Let's get them to the medi-lab," Lammy said, and helped walk Zhane while Tai took charge of Rex. They sat the two men on two beds.

"We're okay, just..." Zhane didn't have words.

"Was it the explosion or did I see Mason in there?" Rex asked. Were his relatives haunting him now since he had a near death experience? Hopefully not. Surely the Rat would give him peace in his final moments.

"It wasn't the explosion. It really was Mason. He's your replacement's replacement," Tai answered.

"But I saw Fox."

"It's a long story," Tai said. "Why don't you loosen your grip on this and relax while getting scanned." He tried to get the box from him.

Rex blinked and seemed surprised he was clutching the box. "Oh. Right. That's for Beez," he said, relinquishing his hold on it. When he relaxed his grip, his hands began to ache.

"They gonna be okay?" Fox asked.

"You almost die in a spaceship explosion and see how you react," Billie said absently as she attempted to analyze how Widow's monster had trapped his hostages.

"Good point," he said. "Oh! Tai! Those deadly little spaceships landed," he called. "Things are coming out of them," he added.

"Well, that can't be good," Tai said.

Beta Z came into the Medi-Lab. She took the box from Tai. "I'll make sure Rex and Zhane rest," she assured him.

"Team 1, Lammy, Sora, with me. Billie, let Holly take over for you," he said. Holly appeared almost immediately in the Command Center. She didn't even ask what the situation was when she took over the console Billie was using.

Tai, Billie, Mason, and Lammy teleported out.

--x--

Red-skinned, insectoid creatures disembarked from the small crafts that had landed in the Park. They spilled out more than should have theoretically been able to fit inside. They looked around their new surrounding and saw people. Mandibles clicked together excitedly, and they walked toward the species in a mantis like fashion.

People screamed and began to run away but creatures were able to spit sticky nets that captured people. "TyrannoSword!" the male Red Ranger cut free several people who were caught up in the nets.

"These things are like, super gross," Pink stated.

"Super gross," Black agreed.

She gave him a quick thumbs up. "Power Fans!" she summoned and used both to deflect the nets and to slice through them when necessary.

"Power Flail!" he summoned and began to use the weapon against the creatures.

"Power Daggers!" Yellow summoned his weapons. He used them at close quarters, and his ability to spring around like a bouncy ball to doge when the creature tried to trap him.

"Power Staff!"

"Velocirapier!"

"CeratoSword!"

Green, Electrum, and Silver also summoned their weapons. The creatures were almost as tough to deal with as Dark Putties. "Oh, no. This isn't good," Electrum said when she finally realized why.

"What's wrong?" Green asked her.

"They have Rachnaemance exoskeletons," she said.

"Like Win's?"

"But permanent. This is really not good," she said almost as if to herself. "That means Dr. Lee really does have Titus again," she said.

Silver headed off an attack on her from one of the creatures. He slashed him in half with his huge sword. "Well, at least it ain't as tough as an actual Rachnaemance's," he said as someone who regularly sparred against the Goldsmiths and Win.

"Thanks," she said.

"Keep your head in the game," Red warned her.

She gritted her teeth. "Won't happen again," she said and attacked the creatures with a renewed determination.

--x--

Command Center

A very pregnant Karone arrived in the Medi-Lab with Kat and Kim. "You boys are going to give me a nervous breakdown," Kim declared to her other younger cousin, Rex even as she gave him a big hug.

"Us boys?" he asked.

"Long story," she said.

Karone was nearly sobbing as she hugged, kissed, and fussed over Zhane. Kat was consulting with Beez about their scans. "I'm beginning to think I should go back to med school," she declared with a sigh.

Rex was still confused. "Everybody keeps saying it's a long story. What's the story?" he asked. He really was starting to feel normal again. "What's the deal with Mason? Why is he running around in the Black suit?" he asked.

Kim sighed. She briefly explained to him about Mason returning due to his injury while Fox was lost in the jungle with his parents.

"We weren't lost," Fox interjected.

Rex managed to chuckle. "So, it's actually a pretty short story," he said. "So, if he was injured so badly how is he Power Rangering?" he asked.

"Coin finally worked on him," Fox interjected again.

Rex got to his feet. Kim tried to sit him down again, but he shook her off. "I'm okay," he assured her as he walked to the Power Chamber. He looked at the screens. "So, Widow and Roki returned?" he asked.

"Yeah. Worse than ever. See that thing?" Fox pointed to the Puttie hulk. "They can get even bigger," he said. "But that's old news. What we need to know is what those are and why they were chasing you and Zhane," he said, pointing a different screen.

"Trust me, I'd like to know that too," Rex said, clenching his fist. He turned around as there was another commotion. Melody and Zara arrived. Zara made a bee-line to her older brother, but Mel glanced up at Rex. Their eyes met and he smiled at her. She smiled back.

Fox coughed loudly. "Is this really the time for that, Shifu?" he asked.

Melody blushed and ducked into the medi-lab.

Rex smacked the back of Fox's head. "You embarrassed her, Grasshopper," he scolded.

Fox grumbled and rubbed his head.

"Oh! I have an idea," Holly finally said.

"We're all ears, babe," male Blue told her.

"It needs Taran and Winter though, and there's no one else to engage the hulk," she said.

"Not necessarily," Beta Z said and opened the box finally, revealing three metallic Power Coins. A shiny, almost white coin had an armored dinosaur embossed on it. A more brushed, blueish-toned silvery coin had a flying dinosaur embossed on it. Finally, a bronze coin had a many-toothed shark embossed on it. "I'd like more time for analysis, but we're under constraints," she said.

"Okay, but who--" Fox didn't get to finish his question when without hesitation, Rex reached out and took the bronze coin and put it in Fox's hand. The coin disappeared and reappeared as a morpher digitized onto his upper arm. Rex took the brushed silver coin and put it in Holly's hand, even as she tried to jerk away.

"I'm not a--" but the Coin bonded with her right away, shocking her to her toes.

"Hey, anybody there? What's going on?" Blue demanded.

"You're about to get some reinforcements," Nyo stated watching in fascination as Rex picked up the final Coin and it bonded with him.

"Huh?"

"It's Morphin Time! Ankylosaur!"  Rex activated his Morpher. A suit began digitizing around him. Black where the other suits were white, lined in gold. Where the other suits were usually brightly colored, his was a super shiny Platinum. A helmet formed around his head, resembling an ankylosaur.

"Nyctosaurus!" Holly activated her Morpher, knowing there was no use fighting it. The suit that digitized around her was black and a brushed silver-blue tone. The helmet that formed was a little back but mostly Titanium with a tall crest resembling the nyctosaurus.

"Megalodon!" Fox eagerly activated his Morpher. A black and bronze suit digitized around him. His helmet was a fierce shark complete with protrusion resembling fins.

"Let's go," Platinum said, and the trio teleported.

--x--

Female Red was getting impatient. She finally broke through the Putties to be able to spar with the monster personally, but he was an exceptional swordsman himself. She strained against his bladed arm. "Aren't you a cute little Ranger, but you can't beat me. Maybe you should get your boyfriend to do it instead," he taunted and kicked her in the middle. She cried out and crashed into the ground.

"Don't listen to that jerk, Lani," Black said and helped her to her feet.

"Yeah. We don't need no bros to rescue us," Yellow agreed.

"Don't worry. It wasn't his kick that knocked me over. It was his breath," Red said with a snarl.

"Anyone else feel that chill go down their spines?" Pink asked. He wasn't having any luck getting the civilians free, so he lay down cover for the girls. Maybe if they defeated the monster, they'd be okay.

"All the way to my toes," Blue agreed. "Whoa," he said because Holly had her sudden epiphany. "Holly has an idea," he said. "But we need Taran and Winter," he said.

"We're a little tied up," Green said as he rolled out of the way of the Putty hulk's smashing fist.

"Well, what is it?" Gold asked.

Blue shook his head. "Hey, anybody there? What's going on?" he demanded of the Command center.

"You're about to get some reinforcements," Nyo said.

"Huh?" Blue wondered. "I thought Team was busy doing something else," he said.

"They are. What's wrong now?" Gold asked.

"Nyo said we're getting reinforcements," Blue said.

"What reinforcements?" Red asked as she once again volleyed with the monster.

Three unfamiliar Power Rangers teleported to the scene. "Reinforcements at your service," Bronze called out. "Whoa, those things are way bigger in person," he declared.

"Fox!" Black said in surprise.

"Taran, help Winter. Only he can phase into the pods. Now that he's able to phase other people, he should also be able to phase them out again," Titanium instructed.

"Holly!" Blue was equally surprised.

"Go. We'll handle this big boy," Platinum said.

"Rex!" everyone on Team 2 except Yellow exclaimed.

"We'll have the welcome home party later. Let's get this done," he said. He cracked his neck. "I think I've missed this," he said. He held out his hands. "Platinum Kama!" he summoned. Hand-held weapons with wicked-looking scythe-like blades appeared in his hands. He spun them experimentally and grinned beneath his helmet. He ran headlong into the creature, dodging its fists as it tried to smash into him. Instead he hacked into the middle of it.

"I don't think I missed this. I know I did," Bronze said. "Bronze Blades!" he summoned. Familiar yet new single edged swords appeared in his hands. The blades were slightly curved like the swords he'd trained with since he started training. Their weight and length were perfect for him. He didn't hesitate for a moment. He ran, almost passing up Platinum, but choosing to making things easier for him instead, swing the sword, hacking off a fist anytime it lashed out or grew back.

"Titanium Bolt!" Titanium summoned a crossbow that was attached to her arm. It fired metal bolts automatically when she pressed a trigger with her thumb. She didn't have quite the aim as Billie, but she wasn't bad at it. She fired several bolts into the side of the hulk and used them as steps to get to its head. Once she was there, she began firing directly into its cranium. The hulk roared and began breaking part faster than it could regroup as bolts hit the vulnerable parts of the Putties it was made of.

"Just when I thought she couldn't get more perfect," Blue declared.

"Quit slacking off, lover boy," Pink scolded him.

Gold and Green had finally figured out how to rescue the civilians, and Red had finally had enough the bad breath monster. "I'm over this so much," she said. "Saurolophus!" she called. The duck-billed R.A.D. digitized into existence.

"What a cute little dinosaur. Is it supposed to be scary?" Captain Crook asked with an odius laugh.

"Yes," She answered. "SauroCannon!" The little robot transformed itself into a single barrel team cannon that seemed to hover on its own power. Red aimed it. Knowing how the cannon reacted, her team helped her steady it. "Sauro Blast!" She fired the weapon. The energy plowed into the monster and he exploded.

A staff was thrown down from the Moon. "Make my monster grow!" Widow shouted.

Captain Crook regrouped with a giant laugh. "Was that it. Now I'm even stronger!" he crowed. He began to fling his arm, capturing whole buildings.

"Let's go," Red said. "RaptoZord One!"

"RaptoZord Two!"

"RaptoZord Three!"

"RaptoZord Four!"

"RaptoZord Five!"

"RaptoZord Six!"

The Raptor Zords began to digitize into existence and teleported their pilots to their cockpits. "RaptorMax Megazord!" The Red RaptoZord changed into a lithe humanoid figure base, its long tail becoming a sword. The Pink RaptoZord broke and formed leg armor. The somewhat winged Blue RaptoZord transformed into chest armor. The little Yellow RaptoZord became almost spiny gauntlets. The four-winged Black RaptoZord became a helmet with side flares. Finally, the Green RaptoZord transformed into a smaller sword.

"Huh. I have a lot of catching up to do," Platinum said.

"Yep. Go help Tai and the others. I'll stay in case they need back-up," Gold said.

The new trio of Rangers agreed and teleported away.

--x--

Team One, Electrum, and Silver found that the creatures just kept coming from the crafts. "There's no end to them," Silver said in frustration.

"Looks like we need to do something about those crafts," Blue said. "If my readings are right, there's some sort of dimensional anomaly located just inside," she said.

"We'll use the cannons," Red said.

"There's two cannons and three crafts," Black said.

"You can use the Eds," Nyo said.

"Eds?" Black asked.

"The ground recon rads," Titanium explained when she and her teammates arrived. "That's a great idea, Nyo," she said.

"Holly?" Pink asked.

"And me," Bronze said, waving.

"We're not doing this again. Yes, Holly, Fox, Rex. Let's go," Platinum said. "Do your rad thing, whatever that means. I'll just fight weird looking insect things and pretend I know what's going on," he said.

"Good call," Silver said. "Because I don't know most of time m'self," he said and split into three as he engaged the creatures.

"Platinum Kama!" he summoned again.

"Bronze Blades!"

The two of them joined the battle while Electrum and Titanium joined up with Red. "Brontosaurus!" he summoned.

"Petrie! Percie! Peewee!" Electrum summoned.

"Ed! Double D! Eddy!" Titanium summoned.

The dog-sized brontosaurus robot digitized into existence. The three tiny bird-like robots zoomed threw the air and circled around Electrum. Three tiny-cat sized raptors zoomed around Titanium's feet.

"BrontoCannon!"

"PteroBlaster!"

"CompyBlaster!"

Littlefoot transformed into a double-barreled cannon. The pterodon droids connected to form a long-barreled blaster cannon that Electrum rested on her shoulder like a rocket launcher. The three ground recon droids formed a triple-barreled blaster that Titanium had to balance on her raised forearm to aim.

"Fire!"

The three cannons blasted into the crafts and they exploded.

--x--

"Sharp-tooth Bazooka!" After a not so easy battle with the monster, Red finally was able to summon the powerful cannon. The weapon appeared on the Megazord's shoulder. "Aim," she lined up her shot.

The bazooka's mouth opened. "Fire!" Six-multicolored projectiles hit the monster in a circular pattern, exploding through him. The monster cried out as he arced electricity and exploded in a cloud of black clay that dissipated as the Megazord turned away from the scene.

--x--

Palace on the Moon

Widow was very annoyed by her monster being exploded, but she was even more troubled by what may be a rival. The Station rippled into existence once again, as a larger, more sinister looking ship left it. She narrowed her eyes. "Come with me, husband. I want a firsthand look at what's happening," she said.

Roki nodded. The two of them disappeared.

--x--

They reappeared on Earth in time to see the other team of Rangers arrive to help their comrades take care of the creatures that still lingered even after their source was destroyed.  They weren't too surprised to see that Rei, Moriko, and Griff were also nearby. What did surprise them was Zita. Hiding from even her sister and draped in what could only be a decorative throw she lifted from someone's couch. Roki made as if to call out or approach, but Widow stayed him and shook her head. He pursed his lips but nodded. It was obvious she would not be receptive to speaking with anyone on either side of the conflict.

The Rangers finally finished off the stragglers, but Electrum stopped them from being very happy. "Something's about to happen," she said and dropped her Morph.

The others dropped their morphs as well. A sleek, sinister black craft landed near them. A bay door opened like a ramp. There was darkness within, and finally movement. Three tiny animals frolicked out. One animal was a puffy white cat with gleaming blue eyes, and three regal tails that flicked around with regal flair independently from each other. Following the cat was a yappy little dog similar to a papillon dog, but it was blue and had a majestic main. Its mouth was full of fangs. Still oddly cute. The third animal was a dainty miniature gray-striped zebra that had a lovely pair of wings.

"Somehow not what I was expecting," Danny admitted.

"Don't be fooled by the cuteness. Those are probably the most dangerous animals you'll ever meet," Lammy warned. She sucked in a breath. Two figures disembarked from the craft. One was a man and one was a woman. They both wore blue-ish steel upper body armor, belts, gauntlets and boots over black combat suits. The woman had dark skin and wore headgear with black braids falling out of it. A whip was coiled on her belt. The man had an eerie familiarity about him. His skin was kissed with gold, and he had bright sky-blue eyes. His hair was dark, short, styled, with a widow's peak. Some sort of electronic implant around his right eye occasionally had lights going on and off. He had two weapons on his back. A long-handled battle-axe and a long-handled flail.

"It really is Titus," Lammy said. She clenched her teeth and her fist.

He turned his head and a smile tilted his mouth. "Fancy meeting you here. Dr. Lee looks forward to getting reacquainted with you and Grifforzer. Of course, he'd also love to meet the rest of the family," he said, looking first at Taran then tilting his head and looking off to where Roki and Widow were standing.

"Why are you ruining my entrance!" A feminine voice asked in a pique. "On your knees! Both of you!"

Titus and the other woman went to their knees as if jerked down. They bowed their heads as a final figure stepped off the ship. A tall, slender woman was dressed in a black body suit with tall black boots. Over that was a metal bodice and gauntlets. Unnatural red hair spilled over one shoulder with a silver band around her head. An implant of some sort also wrapped around the right one of her blue eyes.

"Oh--"

"My--"

"Astronema," Wood, Nathan, and Billie gaped.

"So, you've heard of me," she said with a wicked smile and began to laugh as everyone looked upon the Princess of Evil was standing before them.

x-- End 04 --x-- TBC--x

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