Chapter 1 - The Grid Awakens

Angel Grove, 2006

The sun sparkled brightly off the sea in Angel Grove Bay. The beach was quiet because it was a private beach belonging to a beach house that had been rented for the weekend for the exclusive use of the renter and his guests. His guests had not arrived yet, but that was okay.

Tai Stapleton had had a busy summer. Instead of waiting to start his college classes at Angel Grove University in the fall, he'd taken a few classes that summer. Eight weeks later, he had a two week break before his fall classes really started. He also had a competition coming up for a national Kendo title. It would be his first in the college-aged division.

He was also keeping on top of preparations for an impending alien invasion. Tai Stapleton wasn't just the run of the mill overachiever. He was also a Power Ranger, though at the moment not on active duty. He was the male half of the Red Tyrannosaurus-Rex Ranger team. His partner was currently playing tag with the waves splashing up on the beach and laughing.

Lokelani Lyong wore a red bikini with large white Hawaiian flower print, the bottom half covered by a semi-sheer sarong. She laughed as the water splashed her feet. Her long dark hair bounced around her shoulders. She glanced over at him with a little grin and noticed he was grinning at her. "Are you laughing at me?" she demanded playfully.

"I would never," he denied with a straight face. She put her hands on her hips and raised a brow, not believing him. Of Korean and Hawaiian descent, Lani was about average height, but lithe and graceful. A consummate martial artist thanks to her father, and a fondness for yoga tempered her with steel. With three overbearing older brothers, she was also tough as nails and spunky with patience enough to handle whatever was thrown at her. She was also the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life.

"I don't believe you," she said. She dashed toward him, tackling him and tackling him against the sand he'd been sitting on, watching her frolic. She pinned his shoulders and grinned down at him. "I'm going to make you confess," she declared.

"How do you plan to do that?" he asked her.

Her dark eyes danced and leaned down and whispered her strategy in his ear.

Tai cleared his throat. "If I keep denying, will you keep doing that?" he asked.

Lani laughed and pinched his side, making him grunt in pain. She kissed him.  He reluctantly turned his head away and sat up with her pouting at him when he realized that the first of his guess were arriving. He kissed her temple and stood up. He was a good deal taller than she was, and long. Full of lean, wiry muscle with a chest and arms that had seen many years inside a forge making blades with his grandfather. His hair was dark and spikey, his face a pleasing mix of his Irish and Japanese ancestry. If she were the type to swoon over a boy, he'd be the one. He helped her to her feet. "What's up?" she asked.

He jutted his chin toward the beach house. A small group of people were heading toward them.  A cute bi-racial girl was leading the charge. Warm skin, small and compact, with light aquamarine eyes, Victoria Williams had medium length dark hair that shimmered with red and gold highlights when the sun hit it. She wore a large brimmed summer hat and white rimmed movie-star shades. She had been the female half of the Pink Pterodactyl Ranger team.

Accompanying her, also looking like she just walked out of a teen magazine beach-edition, was her best friend, Chloe Kennedy. Chloe was lightly tanned with brown-gold hair pulled into cute short pigtails. Her black beach wear was chic and her brown eyes were also covered by shades. She was the tiny but mighty female half of the Black Mastodon Ranger team.

Escorting the two lovelies were two young black guys. Wood Johnson was slighter, with freckles, an easy smile, and an afro ruthlessly pulled into a stubby ponytail. He'd recently had a growth spurt and wasn't quite used to himself yet. Not only was he Tori's boyfriend, but also the male half of the Yellow Smilodon Ranger team.

Nyo Kotze was a couple of years older, darker than Wood. His hair was cut close to his head and he sported a short neat goatee. He was never a Power Ranger. He'd come to Angel Grove from Africa to visit his Johnson cousins. He'd ended up arriving in the middle of a battle with alien monsters. Since he was a practitioner of Pai Zhua, a Chameleon Master at that, he'd decided to help out. He'd been in Angel Grove since, lending whichever of his skills was needed at the time.

Nyo and Wood were toting coolers and beach bags. "My, what obedient pets you guys have," Lani said to the two younger girls.

"We're still trying to teach them not to piddle on the floor," Chloe remarked. She was a small spitfire that just oozed attitude and sarcasm. She and her brother were technically still visiting their father in New York, but she'd been allowed to teleport back to Angel Grove for a few hours. She and her brother Danny were champion martial artists, and their father was a professional fighter. Their parents were divorced, and they had a few weekends a year and most of the summer to spend with him.

"I should have stayed in the Lab with Danny," Nyo said in a clipped accent as he put his bundles down. "Now I see why he sent me ahead," he grumbled.

Tori giggled. She was cute and bubbly. Deceptively so. Tori had a lot going on. Not only was she a competitive cheerleader, but she'd started out as a competitive gymnast. Aside from that, she had a varied martial arts training regimen. Before becoming a Pink Ranger, she'd been on a team of space heroes who worked for the avatar of the Sun; the White Reaver. She'd practically been raised on the spaceship that orbited the sun. She'd lived in Angel Grove most of her life, however, when not on the ship. First with her parents then with her guardian, Dawn Feather, a former Reaver. "That's exactly why he sent you ahead," she told Nyo.

Wood gave a grin. "It's not so bad," he said. He didn't mind doing for Tori at all. Of course he got special rewards for good behavior. "I kind of missed being a lackey," he said. He and his friend Nathan had been gone for several weeks, attending a workshop at the California Performing Arts College. They'd been home only a little over a week. Wood had something of a pedigree when it came to Power Rangers. He was the younger brother of TJ Johnson, former Red Turbo and Blue Astro Ranger. Wood had been over the moon to become a Power Ranger himself.

The other teens began setting up beach towels and getting ready to enjoy the beach. Tai saw more activity near the house. A tall man with brown hair wearing green and his redheaded sister were setting up a barbeque pit. Winter Baker waved at them. He was the oldest of the Power Rangers at twenty-two. He and his grandmother owned the Youth Center. His sister Autumn helped him run. The two of them were the Green Stygimoloch Ranger team.

Coming down from the house carrying what looked like meat was a somewhat statuesque blond woman who in actuality was an alien, dimension-hopping bounty hunter. Or she had been before she became the Electrum Velociraptor Ranger. She and Winter were an item and she went by Lammy Goldsmith.

Trudging down to the beach carrying loads of what looked like firewood were two more friends. With gleaming blond hair, Taran Goldsmith was the oldest of the children of Goldarr and Scorpina. Lammy was his younger sister. As a child, while training, he'd been caught in the Z-wave. His parents had sent him to Earth to live as a normal human. Instead, he'd eventually become the Red Reaver thanks to Tori, and later on, the Gold Stegosaurus Ranger. He was also a powerful sorcerer.

The other was Sora O'Keefe, a half Triforian man whose mother had been a human woman of Japanese ancestry. He had dark hair and eyes. He'd only recently learned that his father had been Triforian. His stepfather was a white Irishman. His family had gone on the first Terra Venture, later he found himself on KO-35 with his cousin Cassie Chan and learned the Kovarian style martial arts from Zhane Rahl. He'd returned to Earth to attend college, but he'd been put under a curst by Zita Repulsa. As the Skeleton Ranger, he'd faced his friends. Once he'd been freed of the curse by Rei Repulsa, he joined them as the Silver Ceratosaurus Ranger.

They found a good spot to put down the firewood. "What are you guys doing?" Tai asked.

"Can't have a birthday beach party without a bonfire. Even I know that," Taran answered with a farm boy drawl that spoke his early years living on a farm in Kansas.

"This isn't a birthday party," Tai said flatly.

"So, let me get this straight. You invited all your mates to a beach rental on the weekend of your birthday, but it's not a birthday party?" Sora asked, his voice tinged with his step-father's lilt.

Tai nodded. "Yes," he said.

Taran and Sora shared a look but decided not to argue. "Well, Rei asked Moriko and Griff t'come. That all right?" Sora asked.

"The more the merrier," Lani answered before Tai could. Not that Tai would have disagreed. Moriko and Griff weren't their enemies. At least he didn't think they were. Not really.

"Well, we need more firewood for the un-birthday bonfire," Taran said and Sora agreed and they hurried off.

Lani grabbed Tai's hand and linked their fingers. "Birthday or not, this was a good idea. Even if some of us are missing, the ones who can make it needed it. We've all been so busy not trying to worry, that it will be good to actually not worry for a change," she said.

Tai nodded. "Manny couldn't swing it?" he asked.

Emmanuelle Diaz was one of Lani's two best friends. She'd been the female Yellow Smilodon Ranger and Wood's partner. She'd moved to Paris to live with her mother. Lani shook her head. "The time difference was too much to be able to swing it," she said with a sigh. "What about Fox?" she asked.

Fox Oliver was the younger cousin of Winter and Autumn. He'd been Chloe's second partner, the male Black Ranger. "Autumn said he was unreachable. He and his parents are somewhere in the Congo and that's all anyone knows," he answered.

"And what about your boyfriend?" she asked teasingly.

Tai's best friend Xavier Hart had been the first male Black Ranger. He'd been in space for several months with Zhane Rahl looking for some lost Power Coins. He was supposed to be home before the semester started. Rex had managed to graduate early before the trip, but he had to show up to start attending Angel Grove University.

"He and Zhane are on the way," he said with a smile. Lani wrapped her arms around his waist. "Don't worry, I like you way more than I like Rex," he assured her.

Lani snorted. "I'm not sure I believe that, but thank you for saying it," she said, grinning up at him. He smiled back, layered his head and kissed her to prove his point.

-x-

The Command Center

Within the Command Center, there was the Power Chamber, which was the central hub of activity. There were other rooms as well, such as the Blue Lab, the Medi-Lab, the Zord Lab, and other such rooms that were needed by the Power Rangers. The Command Center was overseen by an android called Beta Z. She was a supercomputer capable of artificial intelligence and multitasking. Aside from her physical body, she could interface through computer monitors and tactile holographic imagery. She had been built by Danny Kennedy, his partner Billie Davis and Billy Cranston.

She was overseeing the Power Chamber when Holly Fairweather came out of the Zord Lab, practically dragging a blond youth behind her. Holly was a spacey sort of girl with deep red hair straight from a bottle and light colored eyes. She hadn't been a Power Ranger, technically. Instead she worked on Zords. Despite her pretty appearance and often vapid expression, she was actually a mechanical engineer.

The young man was Danny Kennedy, Chloe's brother and male Blue Triceratops Ranger. He was also a mechanical mad genius, often designing useful weaponry for the Rangers. He was in the middle of a project when Holly had wrangled him. "We're going to be late. I'm sure everyone's already there," she told him.

"Billie ain't," Danny said immediately.

Holly pursed her lips together and sighed through her nose. "Nathan is handling Billie," she said.

"I just had a few more tweaks," he defended.

So did I, but I also really want to go hang out with our friends," she said.

Danny scraped a hand through his short blond hair. He was tall and blue eyed and wore glasses. Few people would even know that he and Chloe were siblings at first blush. Unless started talking and if the New York in their voices didn't give it away, the sarcasm gene did. "You're right," he agreed. Holly nodded firmly.

"Have fun," Beta Z told them.

"Why don't you come, Beez? You haven't been out of the Center for a while," Holly suggested.

Beez gave a serene smile. "Thank you, but no. I have a few of my own projects. I also do not require the same mental break that the rest of you do," she assured them.

Danny stuffed his hands in the packets of his shorts. "You know you're always welcome," he told her. She merely nodded at his words. They gave her brief waves as they teleported.

In the Blue Lab that Danny usually shared with his partner, she was busily soldering something together. Wilhelmina Davis, better known as Billie, and Glitch to some, was a socially dysfunctional caffeine-addicted computer nerd. She was on the tall side, with blue eyes, long honey blond pigtails and slim glasses. She was on the tall side and slightly klutzy. Her clumsiness was getting better. She'd been the female Blue Ranger. She wore a tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and goggles over her eyes.

Leaning against the counter she was working at was Nathan Doyle. Nathan was a gymnast with a sweet tooth and a love of music. He was male half of the Pink Pterodactyl Ranger team. He was fit and had black hair and blue eyes. Along with his friend Wood, he'd been away from Angel Grove attending a workshop at CPAC. "I'm not leaving, so you might as well stop sending me those grumpy glances, stop doing what you're doing and come with me," he said. He was dressed for the beach.

"I'm not going. There's no way I'm wearing this thing front of other people," she said. Billie had gone into space for a few weeks with the Phantom Ranger. She'd gone to the planet Eltar to learn more about Morphing Technology. Ever since she got back, she'd been putting what she learned to practical use but she always felt like time was running out. However, that wasn't exactly what her hang-up was at the moment.

Nathan chuckled. "It's okay. You can just wear your tee shirt and shorts," he said.

She blew out a breath and looked up at him. The goggles she wore distorted her eyes and made them look huge. She blinked and took them off. "Then why did you force me to buy a new swim suit?" she demanded.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "Well, the last time you bought one, you were twelve. I also just wanted to watch you try on swim suits," he told her.

Unable to respond to that, she just gave him a disgruntled look. She picked up what she was working one and put it with the others that were completed. Unfortunately, there were still too many that weren't ready yet.

Nathan sighed and went to her. "C'mon. I know you think you need to work yourself to death so you can finish, but you aren't going to do it today, so take a break. Come to Tai's not-birthday party," he said.

Billie nodded. "Why does Tai hate his birthday so much?" she asked.

Although Nathan had gone to school with Tai and Rex from kindergarten to the fourth grade, he'd been held back a year and ended up in the same grade as Billie, Wood, and Danny who became his friends. "He never did. Not even when we were kids," he said with a shrug.

Billie shrugged, too. "Okay. let's go to the beach but I am absolutely not swimming," she warned him.

"That's okay. I don't think I want anyone else seeing you in the swim suit I picked out anyway," he said and gave her another mischievous grin. While she was floundering around wondering what had gotten into him lately, he grabbed her around the waist and teleported with her.

-x-

Perhaps the worst thing they could done was try and relax and forget about their worries for a time. Not only the Power Rangers had arrived at the beach rental, but so had a few of their other friends and allies. Randi and AJ Scott, who were the younger siblings of Jason Scott, worked at his Dojo and had been helpful during their hardest battle yet. Damien Henderson was a good friend of AJ's and was working with him. The Scott siblings were good friends of the Baker siblings.

Melody Robinson was a girl who'd lived on Terra Venture until recently when she was sent back to earth to live with her batty cat-lady grandmother. Zara Rahl was a Kovarian girl, the younger sister of Zhane. She'd come to Earth while Zhane was space adventuring with Rex and because of civil unrest in the Kovarian community. The two younger girls had been instrumental in helping solve the crisis the Rangers had been facing.

Rei Repulsa and her sister Moriko were two of a set of three triplets. They had long ago been cursed to exist within the body of their sister Zita until the curse was somehow broken. While Zita and their brother Roki had been trying to conquer Earth, Rei had been working with the Rangers, Moriko had been trying to convince Zita that their greater destiny existed only if they came together. Eventually Zita had joined forces with them to defeat a greater power. Then she disappeared. Neither of her sisters knew what became of her.

Grifforzer, better known as Griff, was Lammy's twin brother. He was a stocky warrior of great skill. His tracking abilities combined with Lammy's abilities had made them a formidable team while they dimension hopped, trying to find home. When they finally did, Griff stayed somewhat neutral at first between the struggles of siblings, but when he met Moriko after she freed herself from the curse that combined her with Zita, his loyalty had been given to her over everyone else, except perhaps Lammy.

Though he didn't do it for any altruistic desire to help the Power Rangers, he lent a hand when it was needed and helped them win the day. He was only at this gathering at Moriko's behest and to antagonize Winter a little bit. Not because he disliked his sister's lover, but because it was fun.

He was one of the first to realize something was wrong. He was eating a rather large portion of cooked meat and drinking something pink and fizzy when he felt a prickle of unease. Goosebumps raised on his skin. He automatically sought out Lammy with his eyes. She was rubbing her arms and looked at him. They both turned to look at Taran.

Taran had, and Griff and Lammy to a lesser extent, had what the others termed "spidey senses" that usually alerted him to personal danger in time to take evasive action. Right now, he had a feeling like that, but more so. In order to repair the bridges between the physical universe and the Morphing Grid, he'd recently connected with Zordon's Staff and unlocked all sorts of mystical-magical things within himself. He was trying to get used to his new reality.

He'd stopped abruptly his conversation with Autumn and looked toward the sky. All he could see was blue sky, puffy white clouds and sunshine. "Taran?" Autumn asked. He was walking away from her now. Frowning, she watched him. She blinked and activated her genetic ability to read auras and energy. He was emitting a shiny white energy but that wasn't unusual.

Darkness was creeping through the edges of her vision. She gasped. Just a few moments behind her vision, the actual sky itself began to darken. The others were beginning to become alert now.

"Take cover!" Taran shouted. The sky lit up with what could almost be described as lightning. Arcs of power that only attacked their little beach, exploding sand and surf around them. Doing what they could, Taran, Lammy, Rei, and Moriko tried to protect those could by throwing up magical shields.

Danny had the genetic ability to generate force-fields from his hands. He threw up what he could to protect himself and those nearest to him, but he couldn't keep it up for long.

Just as suddenly as it started, the energy storm stopped. Two people were now standing on the beach facing them calmly. A man who was tall and dark eyed, his facial features resembles the somewhat Asian features that were also shared by Moriko and Rei. Dressed in red, silver and black silks that combined the aesthetics of several Asian cultures, his dark hair was pulled into a top-knot decorated in gold as if he were an ancient king. He held a staff topped in a crescent. A pulsing ball of darkness floated in the crescent.

Beside him was a woman. She had pale skin tinged with gold. Her eyes were black, and her inky black hair was elaborately wrapped around her head in swirls and braids. She wore black silks with lush slightly metallic patterns. The style was more ancient Korean rather than a mix. She had the same sort of features as Lammy, Griff, and Taran. She held a slightly shorter but nearly identical staff as the man.

She smirked at them. "Thank you Rangers, for throwing this lovely welcome home party. You made us feel special," Widow said.

The man smirked as well. "It was rather nice of you to gather all in one spot for us," Roki Repulsa added.

Tai and Lani stepped forward. "You weren't on the guest list. You should leave," Tai said in a strangely polite tone.

Lani scowled at Widow. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Yes," Widow answered. Her gaze landed on her older brother. She ignored Lani and walked toward him. He tensed up. "I warned you about staying on your farm, Tarantules. Now I hear you fancy yourself the next Zordon?" she scoffed. "Over my dead body," she snarled.

"Only if you make it come to that," he said.

She growled and lifted a hand where a dark swirl of energy began to appear. It was Roki who grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "Not now, my dear," he said. "There will be time to deal with traitors," he said and directed his gaze his sisters.

"Technically I was never on your side," Rei pointed out rationally.

Moriko held her hands up helplessly. "There's nothing to be done. We have our destiny and you have yours," she said.

Roki acknowledged this statement with a small nod. "Let's go home, my love," he told Widow.

"Watch out for Rio," Moriko said.

Roki scowled at the mention of their cousin. "She will be dealt with," he said.

Widow was still glaring death daggers at Taran. "We'll leave you with our welcome home gift. I sincerely hope you like it," she said pleasantly. With cracks of dark lightning, Widow and Roki disappeared. At the same a mass of strange creatures appeared on the beach.

They were Putty Patrollers, but not any that they had ever seen before. They were used to dealing with Z-Putties. These new Putties were black and rather than Zs on their chests, they had silver crescents on their foreheads.

"Nega-Moon Putties?" Nathan wondered out loud. Before they could voice any further speculations about the creatures, they attacked. He barely dodged and jumped into the sky. He hovered for a moment and dropped, falling on top of two of them. They threw him off.

Two of the Putties came toward Tori. She opened her mouth and shrieked at them. They were knocked off their feet and went tumbling. They got up, disoriented and knocked into each other. Unfortunately, more were coming toward her.

Wood sprang up high and flipped backward, kicking one Puttie in the chest and bouncing back, hissing with pain. "Tough. Tough," he complained. He sprang up, landing several yards away when the Puttie came after him with a few friends.

Autumn's aura reading power wasn't handy in a battle, but she was pretty good at karate and she made a great team with her brother. Win had the ability to become intangible. By doing so when a Puttie attacked, confusing it, it gave Autumn the opportunity to knock it back.

Sora was able to split himself into three beings for a time. That with his inhuman strength was the only thing that kept him on his feet as he duked it out with the Putties.

Lammy and Taran use using everything they had against them. They were tough, even against their magic attacks.

Chloe had the genetic ability to make herself dense, like rock or steel and still be able to move around. She struck out with her fists and feet, but it seems no matter how much damage they sustained, they kept coming for her.

Melody didn't have powers. She was just fast and agile and skilled. Her skill set was making it easy for her to get away, because she wasn't having any luck against the Putties otherwise. Zara on the other hand, was telekinetic. Aside from throwing things at them with her mind, she could also throw them against themselves, but that was taxing after a while.

Danny's force-fields and his martial arts skills were the only way he was staying a step ahead of these new and improved Putties.

Billie's strong suit wasn't martial arts. She was getting better with training. But she could turn herself invisible and if they couldn't see her, they couldn't pummel her. But invisibility only lasted a few minutes at a time.

AJ, Damien, and Nyo were Pai Zhua masters. Aside from being a skillful martial artist, they could unleash their animal spirits. A lion belonging to Damien, a tiger belonging to Damien and chameleon belonging to Nyo were as large as SUVs and were doing what they could to keep the Putties under control.

Randi went in a different direction. She was a master Thunder Ninja. Aside from martial skills, being able to control and direct electric flashes was actually quite useful for a while, until the clay the Putties were made of kept regenerating to heal the creatures.

Lani had the ability to bend, twist, and stretch herself beyond what should be humanly possible. When an attack proved to not be effective, then simply getting out of the way drew on all of her abilities. "Is it my imagination or are these guys extra tough?" she asked no one in particular.

Tai was going toe to toe with the Putties. He had genetically enhanced strength. He could only use it in short bursts. Aside from that, he was high trained in martial arts; karate, kendo, and even his own fusions incorporating other styles as he learned them.  He was able to hold his own, but they kept coming after him. "It's not your imagination. Billie!" he shouted. "Go to the Command Center. Analyze and take some of the excess with you. If you aren't a Power Ranger, leave," he ordered.

A bit reluctantly Billie, Holly, Melody, Zara, AJ, Randi, Damien and Nyo retreated from the scene by teleport.

-x-

Palace on the Moon

Widow and Roki appeared in the throne room of the palace. It was their home. Usually, Putty Patrollers roamed the hallways. However, there were none to be found. Instead there were Bone Drones. "Who let these vermin in?" Widow asked.

"Go for a little trip and all sorts of things happen," Roki muttered. He held out a hand and all the Drones disintegrated with a flash of black light. Furious footsteps approached.

"How dare you!" demanded the woman stomping toward them. She was tall and strong looking. Curly purple hair fell around her shoulders and she wore a semblance of a black leather police-like uniform with tall boots. Yellow-lenses glasses framed her eyes. She held up a wicked looking laser pistol.

Roki's response was swift. Holding out a hand again, the laser blaster exploded in her hands, and she was suddenly jerked into the air. She hung there, struggling against an invisible force. "How dare I? This is my home!" Roki snarled. "You and your mother invaded and dared to violate the blood rites!" he reminded her. He began to close his fist.

Rio Revile wheezed. "And your sisters killed her," she snarled back as best she could.

Widow shook her head. "That's not how I heard it," she said. "You didn't harm Finster while you hiding out here did you?" she asked. "No, even you wouldn't have been that stupid to cross Moriko on that issue," she said. She leaned up and kissed Roki's cheek. "I'll leave her fate up to you. I'll start Finster on a new monster," she said.

"Have fun, love. Make it something interesting," he said. He and Rio were glaring daggers at each other.

Widow left them to it. She went to Finster's lab where the Monster-Matic was. The door was bolted from the inside with everything he could think of to keep Rio out. Widow waved a hand and all of it became undone. The door swung open and she found the ratty little alien man cowering in fright. "Mistress Widow!" he almost sobbed in relief.

Widow smiled and patted him on the head. "It's all right now. Roki and I are home. We brought you a present," she said.

"A present for me, Mistress?" he asked.

Widow waved her staff. A beam of black energy suffused his pile of clay and it turned black. "We already experimented with making new Putties out of it, but I'm sure you'll do a much better job," she said.

Finster approached the clay and put his hands on it. "Oh, yes Mistress. It's delightful. May make a monster?" he asked.

Widow smiled. "Yes, you may. We're welcoming ourselves home," she said and left the lab, where Finster was already working on his newest masterpiece. He'd been making molds in anticipation of their return.

-x-

"Why did he send us away? Those things were tough. Will they really be okay?" A.J. demanded of Billie as soon as they arrived in the Command Center.

"You'll have to take that up with him. Nyo, help Beez analyze the Putties for a weakness we can exploit," Billie instructed. She dashed off to the Blue Lab. She slid to a stop at her terminal. She opened up a command and typed something in, finishing a code she'd been working on when she could.

She gave a quick glance over at her work station and shook her head. "Almost half are still incomplete," she said. "What about your end, Beez?" she asked.

The visage of Beta Z appeared on one of the monitors in the Lab. "The process is delicate. It is almost complete but not before the inevitable escalation sure to follow this attack," she answered. "My analysis of the Dark Putties are nearly complete," she announced.

Billie nodded. She imputed the code and her communicator beeped. One of the first things she had done when she returned from Eltar was redesign them for the Rangers. They still looked like the ones other's used but there were a few extra bells and whistles now. Aside from communicating and teleporting and the panic button, they would now summon weapons without being Morphed. They will also summon the new Morphers she'd been building.

When Taran and the Repulsas had fixed the access to the Morphing Grid, the old ones had over powered and shorted out. Billie was building new ones that could handle the power of the Power Coins with unhindered access to the Morphing Grid. What Widow and Roki didn't realize is that while they might be stronger than ever before, so to would the Power Rangers.

Billie opened a communications channel. "We're still analyzing the Putties, but I have good news. You should now be able to access your weapons," she announced.

"Analysis complete! Go for the foreheads!" Nyo's voice said over the line.

Billie let out a slow breath. She closed the wide channel and connected with Tai privately. "Aside from you, Taran, Lammy, and Sora, half the teams won't Morphers yet," she said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Tai answered. He cut communication. Billie rubbed her eyes under her glasses.

-x-

"Weapons and forehead. Check!" Nathan jumped into the air. "Power Bow!" he summoned. Appearing in a pink digital matrix, the classic weapon of the Pink Ranger appeared. He began firing, aiming for the foreheads of the nearest Putties.

"Power Fans!" Tori summoned two large white and pink bladed fans.

"Power Staff!"

"Stygian Blade!"

Autumn summoned a spear-like staff, and Winter summoned a dark triple-bladed sword.

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Axe!"

Wood summoned a set of small silver daggers. Danny summoned a lance with three spikes on each end. Chloe summoned a large double-bladed axe.

"VelociRapier!"

"CeratoSword!"

"StegoMace!"

Lammy's rapier was a long flexible blade. Sora's sword was almost as tall and wide as he was. Taran's mace was a large spoked ball on the end of a club.

"Power Sword!"

"Tyranno Sword!"

Lani's Power Sword was a slightly smaller version used by the original Red Tyrannosaurus-Rex Ranger. It was more suited to her smaller stature. Tai's Tyranno Sword was a sleek katana with a slightly curved blade.

Finally, able to make headway with the Putties, they were getting close to a victory. That was until the monster showed up. Reminiscent of a googly eyed grasshopper in a top hat, tail-coat and spats, he cut a dashing figure as he hopped around slamming into the Rangers almost faster than they could see. "Here's Johnny!" he announced with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. "Actually my name is Hophazard, but I know how much you Rangers like old movie quotes," he said conversationally, bouncing on his powerful legs.

He clapped his hands together. "C'mon now, dazzle me!" he entreated.

The Rangers got to their feet. This may not work for everyone. If It doesn't retreat to the Command Center," Tai told them. "It's Morphin' Time!" he passed his hand over his communicator. A device digitized on his upper left arm. Inside a slot sat his Tyrannosaurus-Rex Power Coin. In a single motion of passing over the communicator and the appearance of the Power Morpher, he spun the slot the coin sat in. "Tyrannosaurus-Rex!"

A ghost image of the Power Coin appeared and wrapped around, a digital matrix making a red power suit appear with white stripes and diamond shapes. White boots and gloves were both crowned by red diamonds. A side arm blaster appeared along with a gold belt. The las thing to appear was a T-Rex themed helmet.

Lani made her Power Morpher appeared and spun her Power Coin. Her power suit was nearly identical to her partner's, but the color skewed slightly lighter.

Danny spun his Power Coin. "Triceratops!" A blue power suit appeared with a blue triceratops themed helmet.

Chloe spun her Power Coin. "Mastodon!" A black power suit appeared with a black mastodon themed helmet.

Nathan spun his Power Coin. "Pterodactyl!" A deep pink power suit appeared with a pink and white pterodactyl themed helmet. Tori's morpher didn't appear and she teleported instead.

Wood spun his Power Coin. "Smilodon!" A yellow power suit appeared with a yellow saber-toothed tiger themed helmet.

Winter spun his Power Coin but Autumn's Power Morpher didn't appear. "Stygimoloch!" A green power suit appeared with a toothy dinosaur theme.


Taran spun his Power Coin. "Stegosaurus!" A shiny gold power suit formed with a gleaming stegosaurus themed helmet.

Lammy Spun her Power Coin. "Velociraptor!" A shiny pale-pinkish gold power suit formed with a gleaming raptor themed helmet.

Sora spun his Power Coin. "Ceratosaurus!" A shiny silver power suit formed with a gleaming buck toothed and horned dino themed helmet appeared.

"Oooh-hoo. I'll admit it. I am dazzled!" Hophazard declared. He bounced on his powerful legs and sprung through them again, knocking them down. "But it's all showmanship, no substance," he said with a disappointed air.

"This guy is tough," Blue complained, rubbing his side where he was evidently kicked by such powerful legs.

"Taran, Lammy, Sora, Win, with me, the rest of you ready the Power Cannon," male Red said.

"Right!" They agreed.

The foursome ran at the monster and he began to hop away, but Gold and Electrum put on bursts of speed that outpaced him and got ahead of him. He tried to change directions, but his hop was abbreviated as Red and Green grabbed hold of his legs and pulled back. Silver gave him a resounding smack with his Sword.

Hophazard stumbled around dizzily. "That's not playing fair," he slurred.

"Power Cannon!" female Red, and the others combined the Power Sword, Power Lance, Power Axe, Power Daggers and Power Bow into one weapon and fired.

A powerful blast hit the monster. He sparked and smoked and stumbled even more, dramatically moaning and groaning and complaining about his fate until he realized he was still alive. "I'll give it an A for effort!" he said, giving them two thumbs up.

"Don't worry. I got this," male Blue said. "Brontosaurus!" he summoned, holding out his hand. Digitizing before them was a small Zord-like machine about the size of a large dog. It had a long neck and tail. It was a rusty sort of red and brown. "BrontoCannon Mode!" The dinosaur began to shift into a cannon with two barrels. It hovered on its own power so there wasn't a need to hold it up.

"Ohoh. What's that now?" Hophazard wandered.

Female Red stood behind the cannon and put her hands on it to aim. The others stood behind her. "Bronto Blast!" She fired and hit the monster once again, this time with a greater amount of energy than ever before. The monster exploded.

While Roki was dealing with Rio, Widow was keeping an eye on the monster. She threw her staff to the earth where it stuck in the ground. "Make my monster grow!" A ball of black energy was emitted from it and the monster grew to enormous proportions. "Haha! I'm the hoppin' hostest with the mostest. Angel Grove here I come," he declared and began to hop away.

"Oh, no you don't!" male Red said.

"TyrannoZord!" female Pink summoned.

"TriceraZord!" male Blue summoned.

"MastoZord!" female Black summoned.

"PteroZord!" male pink summoned.

"SmiloZord!" male Yellow summoned.

"StygiZord!" male Green summoned.

The large mechas began appearing from digital matrixes. Each of the Zords was a dinosaur in a corresponding color as its pilots. The pilots teleported into the cockpit of each Zord.

"Let's do this! Alpha Megazord!" The six Zord came together to form a humanoid robot.

"StegoZord!" Gold summoned.

"VelociZord!" Electrum summoned.

"CeratoZord!" Silver summoned.

These large mechs began appearing as well. The pilots teleported to their cockpits. "Legend Megazord!" They combined another humanoid robot.

The Megazords began to chase after the robot. Being smaller, lighter, and made from the Velociraptor Zord, the Legend Megazord was faster. They put on a burst of speed, jumped and grabbed the monster by his jutting thorax.

"Any bright ideas now, Danny? Didn’t you blow up the Alphamax Cannon?" Pink asked.

"I always got bright ideas. Sharp-tooth Bazooka," he told female Red.

"Sharp-tooth Bazooka!" she immediately summoned it. Digitizing propped on their shoulders was indeed what seemed to be a bazooka/or a grenade launcher. Its face was that of a tyrannosaurus-rex. "Aim!" She carefully aimed at the monster attempting to get away from the Legend Megazord. The T-Rex's mouth opened up. "Fire!" She fired. Six-multicolored projectiles hit the monster in a circular pattern, exploding through him.

"Hophazard, out!" The monster cried as he exploded into nothing but hunks of dark colored clay that vaporized itself.

The two Megazords face away from the explosion.

-x-

The beach had been ruined. "I have no idea how to explain this to the rental agent guy," Tai said, surveying the damage. "I am not getting my security deposit back," he lamented quietly.

"Don't worry. We've got this," Rei said. Moriko nodded. The two women joined hands, and used a bit of magic to repair the beach.

"Thank you," he said.

"No sweat," Moriko said. Rei beamed at him.

He nodded and turned to face his team. Billie was trying to hide behind Nathan, who was puffing his chest out to appear bigger. Tai snorted. "No one's mad at you," he said.

Billie made a face. "Yeah, but if it weren't for Danny, we'd have been toast," she said.

"'Ey, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to Morph at all," Danny said. "I certainly don't got no clue how to make a Morpher," he said. "Plus my stuff wouldn't have worked without your stuff," he added, tapping his communicator.

"That's right," Lani said. "Don't beat yourself up for not being a miracle worker," she added.

Tai nodded. "Get back to work first thing in the morning. Today, we aren't going to let Widow ruin my un-birthday party," he said. "Sora, Taran, how about that bonfire?" he asked.

The Rangers and their friends cheered at those sentiments. Sure Widow and Roki had returned to the Moon and were tougher than ever, but they'd do what they always did. They'd face this new threat as team. Together there was nothing they couldn't face and eventually win over.

They were Power Rangers.

-x-The End-x-           

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