Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are the property of Saban Entertainment and I lay no claim to them. The character of Mackenzie Dekalb is property of Karilee who can be contacted at kajwr@twcny.rr.com. The character of Cassandra Jensen(the Emerald Ranger) belongs to Helen who can be contacted at helen0724@yahoo.com. Morgan St. Clair and the concept of the Jewel Rangers is the property of Cynthia Harrell and can be contacted at cynthia~ harrell@yahoo.com. Q is property of Paramount Pictures and Evil Q is a character in Adam Safran's upcoming story Q-Counterstrike. The villian Xen is the property of Jose who can be contacted at JoCrLuJr@aol.com. Jeffrey Kincaid, Lord Stygian, and all other characters relating to them are mine. Should anyone wish to use my characters contact me at foi72@yahoo.com.
NOTE: I know I said that this part would be long but as I continued to write this it just got too long. Even for me. So the original game plan for Part 11 has been changed. Part 11 has now become patrs 11, 12, and 13. Here's part 11 and part 12 should hopefully be out next update.
Dark Forces
by John Chubb
"WAHHOOO!!!!", shouted Sky Cowboy Joel Rawlings as he decided to relieve Kimberly from the flight controls. Kimberly was glad to have another pilot around so she wouldn't have to fly the megaship as much so she agreed to Joel's request. But I should have realized something when I noticed the way he asked me, Kim thought. He acted like a little boy in an ice cream parlor drooling over the thirty-one flavors.
When Joel took the controls he thought immediately of the Astro Megaship Alpha as a new toy he could play with. When the ship entered Hyperrush Joel enjoyed the feeling of power as it made the jump and couldn't wait to make loop the loops with it without realizing the gravity stablizers were not on so the other Lightspeeds and the Astro rangers were introduced to two walls and a ceiling before hitting the floor again.
Kelsey and Dana were the first ones steady so they came up and pulled Joel away from the controls. Dana was practically screaming in Joel's face as Kimberly took back the controls. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR A STUNT SHOW!!!WE HAVE FRIENDS IN TROUBLE!!!"
"Hey I needed to see what the ship could do before I could fly her steady.", Joel said defensively.
"Well when you fly it we see enough.", Kelsey said. Just then a signal came in. Morgan St. Clair was on the other end of the line.
"Is everything okay over there?", Morgan asked. "I hope the autopilot didn't go out on you."
"No Morgan everything is under control. We just made a mistake of putting an overgrown child behind the wheel of the family car.", T.J. said.
Morgan smiled. "Now you know who not to let drive the T-bird huh?" T.J. returned the smile remembering the comic line from Dennis Miller about a character on the show Vega$.
"Whoa guys we've got company coming.", Cassie said by the sensors. "Two ships closing fast."
Carter went to the scanner station and looked at the readouts. He recognized the ships coming in as the Max Solarzord of the Titaniun Ranger and the Angelwing of the newly discovered White Lightspeed Ranger.
"Hey guys.", came the voice of White Lightspeed. "Ryan and I got rolling as soon as we could. Olympus and Bansheera are being quiet for now.
"No problem Nancy.", Carter said making reference to Shuttle Commander Nancy Cooper who was selected to become White Lightspeed and paired with the zord ship Angelwing, which was an experimental zord field tested only a few times. But the situation was dire and the Lightspeeds needed all the help they could get. Ms. Fairweather couldn't protest, especially since she was taking care of Nancy's dog Dorsey which was becoming quite the handful.
"The Max Solarzord is fully charged and ready when you need it.", Ryan said over the comlink. Dana smiled at her brother who made it a point to be there for her if they ever needed help. And she knew they'd need it against Stygian.
Chad turned to Morgan who was still on the vidlink. "Wow! We have a White Ranger. The Astros have a White Ranger, and you are a White Ranger. Is there a convention going on?"
"Not that I know of.", Morgan replied.
"Speaking of Mackenzie.", Zhane said as he came forward. "Do you know where she is? I don't see her on the bridge with you."
Morgan sighed. "She's gone to confront Kincaid. There are things bothering her about the changes he's doing and she wants reassurances about them from his own mouth."
"Man that guy gives me the creeps.", Joel said in a chair facing the wall like a little boy who was told to sit in a corner and stare.
"I know Joel. Only now he's disconnected the AI program in the computer.", Morgan reported. "Defiance is running on standard programs now."
"What's going on with him?", Carlos asked echoing all the rangers concerns about Jeffrey Kincaid's strange behavior.
Mackenzie Dekalb looked up at the new zord and motorcycle her boyfriend red Night Ranger Jeffrey Kincaid just received. Usually she didn't let things bother her but the changes Kincaid had been going through were giving her the creeps.
Why the change? Why now, she thought. "Hardrive do you know where Jeff is?" When the computer didn't give an answer she got worried.
"Hardrive are you there?" Just then a voice spoke behind her saying "Right behind you."
Mackenzie turned and saw Kincaid in a red T-shirt with black leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers looking as if he was dressed for a biker's funeral. In his hands was a sphere which was supposedly the essence of the carrierzord computer. "Standard programming is running Defiance now. Hardrive is going to be the Demonzord's AI.", and with that Kincaid held the sphere up into the air. The sphere then flew out of Kincaid's hands and into the computer port in the head of the Demonzord.
As Hardrive installed itself into the new zord computer it's eyes glowed green indicating that the download was successful and the Demonzord was ready for action. Mackenzie then turned towards her boyfriend. Time to confront him on this.
Jeff, you have been going through a lot of changes with your powers, uniform and attitude and you've been scaring everyone with them including me." Mackenzie hesitated with the last line since she didn't like being scared of anyone. "What's going on?" She kept her tone even and spoke in a way that said she was going to get her answer. Kincaid sighed knowing this and began to explain.
"One of the things about the Night Rangers was that we existed outside the general battle lines drawn between good and evil. Many of the Eltarian council got jitters when our name was mentioned. And evil beings had nightmares after we crossed their paths. Our nature was to make people uncomfortable since we gave evil cause to be afraid.
"Spells couldn't be used to convert us. We always fought with a sense of cold ruthlesness. Our mission was to make people think twice about being evil. Even allies were shaken by our presence. But since the Luciferian siege ended people have become comfortable with the Night Ranger concept. They think it's cool, and if they think that then the purpose of the Night Rangers is defeated which is to make evil afraid to try anything, and if they do-make them pay for it."
Mackenzie rolled the idea over in her mind. "You mentioned rebuilding the Night Rangers before, so did the book of Zordon. But with the Luciferian empire destroyed they're not needed anymore right?"
Kincaid sighed. "Nature abhors a vaccum. And that vaccum will be filled in the future. There are terrible evils the Night Rangers wil be called in to defeat. And in order to do that I have to rebuild the team and its image."
"Is Stygian one of these evils?", Mackenzie asked.
"Yes, Stygian is one of several evils the book of Zordon spoke of that the Night Rangers must stop. And you may be called upon to stop it as well."
Mackenzie was confused. "What do you mean?"
Kincaid looked at the woman he loved with all of her heart. "There's more to your power than just shockwaves and combat modes. In your adventures you have been in touch with 'the power within.' You have used it to power your combat modes and shockwaves lately. Have you noticed you don't feel as weak as you used to when you use the shockwave now?"
Mackenzie nodded and Kincaid continued. "That's because you are getting ready to attain your final mode. All the white powers contain this mode. Some never attain it, but you are getting ready to. And when the time is right you will know how to activate it."
Mackenzie was confused. Ultimate mode? When will this happen? Kincaid smiled. "I'm sorry if I'm scaring you. I don't want to."
Jeffrey Kincaid waited a few seconds before speaking his next line which he said with all the love and tenderness in his heart. "I love you Mickey."
Mackenzie looked into Kincaid's eyes and saw in them the man she fell in love with all those years ago. As if on instinct the two lovers kissed with a passion that defied description. As they kissed Kincaid reached beneath his girlfriend's threshold as she chuckled slightly and carried her to his quarters, still kissing along the way.
When they entered Kincaid's quarters he ordered the computer to lock the door. And for most of the journey to Stygian's domain Jeffrey Kincaid and Mackenzie Dekalb did what lovers had done since the beginning of time. Loving every minute of it, as well as each other.
In the domain of Lord Stygian, the Nightfighters stood bound as the evil Lord and his followers formed around the Nexus Crystal. "At last we shall destroy these infernal worlds and create a new world where the will of evil shall remain supreme. Good shall be eliminated."
Fury then spoke up. She was the only one who wasn't afraid to stand up to Stygian if the need arised, except for Harper but that was when he let his obsession with destroying Kincaid get the better of him. "In case you've forgotten we've got rangers coming. They're going to try and stop you."
Stygian smiled at the thought of the rangers coming. "No Problem. I have called in some individuals who will be most helpful."
Four of those individuals had arrived as a stream of energy revealed a figure in long white robes with a sword by his side. Also with him were three warriors in ornamented armor. One was in white armor with a blue gem in the center. The second was in black armor with a red gem in the center, and the third wore gray armor with a yellow gem in the center.
"On behalf of my master.", the white robed warrior said. "I bid you greetings. I am emmisary Brachion, and with me are my warriors–the Triad. The one in black represents Body. The one in white represents Mind. And the one in gray is Soul.
Power Broker looked at them skeptically. "What is it that they do?" As he said that a squad of Coldbloods entered the main chamber and surrounded the Triad. Brachion noticed this and smiled.
"Thank you for arranging a demonstration.", Brachion said as he signalled the Triad to fight the Coldbloods. First was Body who suddenly bulked up to a mammoth muscleman and delivered one punch to the ground that sent the Coldbloods staggering through the shockwave. Then he ran them all down like a football quarterback.
Mind went to basic fighting as he anticipated the Coldblood's moves before they even made them. When enough were Mind mentally picked up a Coldblood laser and blasted them all with his apparent TK ability.
Soul was a different story when it came to his attack. As he was surrounded by the Coldbloods his hands and heart seemed to glow with an evil red energy. An energy that he released to scrap those in his path. Brachion smiled at Soul. "He uses the misery and despair in the souls of life forms as his weapons. And since he is evil he never runs out of power. Stygian looked interested but one voice echoed in the room saying "Not impressed!".
Evil demonic smoke filled the room as well as six multicolored flashes. Harper was ready to go but Stygian stopped him. "It's all right, I'm expecting them."
When the smoke solidified it formed two evil creatures. One was a three headed monster reminiscent of a Hydra garbbed in sinister, yet regal, robes. He also wore glasses signifying that he was very old and knowledgeable in the ways of evil. This was Master Vile.
The other in the red dress and red knee length boots with flowing hair that seemed to be alive was Vile's wife Queen Shanara. Her very aura signified evil as well as beauty. With the two evil monarchs were their team of converted Jewel Rangers. Turquoise, Citrine, Amythyst, Garnet, Jade, and Onyx.
Stygian knew the evil reputations of Master Vile and Queen Shanara in any dimension. And it was not a good idea to challenge them unless you could absolutely win. Stygian respectively bowed showing reverence to the two. "I bid you welcom Master Vile and Queen Shanara.
Shanara came forward and offered her hand. Stygian took it and kissed it as a measure of respect. "The honor is ours Stygian. And may I say how thrilling it is that you have been freed from your confinement?"
"Why thank you Lady Shanara, but I haven't yet begun to work my evil yet. As the earth poet Robert Frost once said, 'I still have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.'"
"We almost didn't accept your invitation but a little discussion from a…mutual friend of ours convinced us to join you." Stygian nodded knowing of the 'friend' Vile mentioned. The very same friend that appeared in a flash of flame.
"Hello Stygian.", the dark garbed form of the Evil Pagemistress said. "I have been watching your progress with the White Turbo Ranger."
Stygian sensed the disapointment in Pagemistress's voice and disagreed with it. "A minor setback with little or no impact on the grand design. Rest assured she will be returned to you the same as she left your realm."
Pagemistress laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke in the cosmos. "How? She's discovered 'the power within'. She's unlocked new abilities she never knew she had. If her powers continue to grow because of your visit…"
They won't. Neither you or I will allow it. ", Stygian said trying to reassure Pagemistress. "Even if I fail by some chance I know you, due to your possessive nature to those who dwell in your realms, will not let changes happen when one in your dominion goes dimension hopping. So either way Morgan St. Clair will not remember what she has discovered.
"How was it the White Turbo Ranger got free?", Vile asked. He was told by the Pagemistress of the mission Stygian had for Morgan to grab the Nightfighter so they wouldn't interfere with his plans. Those same Nightfighters that hung suspended and unconscious on the main chamber wall.
"I'm afraid that was one of my underlings fault.", Stygian went to grab Harper and brought him down to kneeling in front of Vile and Stygian. "Harper's in trouble now.", Epyon whispered to Power Broker with both stifling a chuckle.
Stygian didn't care about the Broker and Epyon laughing at Harper's discomfort and proceeded with his explanation. "We lost our White Ranger because one of our own didn't know when to hold back his obsession long enough for the evil plan to be completed. Hense the unfortunate…obstacle."
Vile looked down at the Imperator kneeling before him. Vile's evil mind was running through with ideas on what to do with Harper when the smile that crossed his lips signified the formation of a new evil plan.
"Lord Stygian. Since my wife and I are honored guests here. And our Jewel Rangers are to be at your disposal." Vile waived his hand to the six evil rangers that stood off to the side awaiting orders from their master and mistress. "I'd like to borrow your Imperator for a while. I have some evil ideas I wish to implement on him."
Harper looked scared until Vile said. "Don't worry. If all is successful your enemy will be at your feet acknowledging your superiority." The way Vile said that made Harper smile. And with that Vile and Harper teleported out of the main chamber to Vile's space skull where he would begin his dastradly work.
"I love it when my husband has an idea. It gives the forces of good reason to fear.", Shanara said.
Stygian nodded. "Your husband is a smart being. He avoided the pitfalls that turned Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd into creatures that thrived on past glories while resistance groups formed in their dark empires allowing them to be overthrown while they focused their energies on one planet."
Shanara agreed. She respected the intelligence of Stygian, and contemplated the benefits of such an alliance…ALL the benefits. She then turned to notice Emissary Brachion with his Triad.
"On behalf of my master my lady. I bid you greetings." Brachion took Shanara's hand and kissed it as well, but she wasn't as interested in Brachion as she was in Stygian.
"I don't see why your master couldn't come.", Shanara stated. Brachion said that his master was preoccupied with…other matters.
"Do you have anyone else attending?", Pagemistress asked standing off to one corner with her eye focused on the Onyx Ranger, much to the discomfort of the Amythyst Ranger. But Shanara ordered Amythyst to not react to her…fascination with he who wore the uniform of the Onyx ranger.
"Just one other.", Stygian said as another stream of smoke appeared. "And here she is now.", revealing the form of an old woman with long dark hair streaked with silver but carrying an aura and presence of evil that made Shanara smile.
Stygian came and introduced the new sorceress. "Queen Shanara, Evil Pagemistress, Emissary Brachion. May I present to you…Black Annie."
Epyon was aware of Black Annie and was in awe of her. "You were one of the greatest scorceresses in the Luciferian empire. You were the mystical advisor to Lord Eros." Annie gave a crooked smile and nodded her head confirming what Epyon knew. He rushed to kiss her hand as the warriors looked on. "Aww, Epyon finally found his hero.", was all Broker said.
Shanara looked over at the wall where the unconscious Nightfighters hung and asked what they were doing there. "They are the prizes for when the remaining rangers come and stop me."
"Hmmm.", Shanara said deep in thought. "How long will it be until they revive.?"
"Well fortunately I can handle that right now.", Stygian grabbed the Nexus Crystal and sent shots of lightning into the Nightfighters waking them from unconsciousness. As the Nightfighters shook the cobwebs from their brains they took in the sight of Shanara standing before them. "Who the hell are you?", Cassandra asked confronting the evil queen.
"I am Queen Shanara. Mistress of the M-51 galaxy."
"M-51? That's Master Vile's domain.", Andros said.
Shanara smiled. "You know your evil. Very good. In case you are wondering, I am here to extend an offer to you. For you to join me in the gattle against all that is good and noble."
"Does the term 'When Hell freezes over ring any bells?", Ashley said. Shanara kept her smile.
"As a matter of fact it does. I found Dante's Inferno an excellent read, and I know that at least one level of Hell has, as you say, frozen over."
"Really. Have you been there recently?", Adam said.
If Shanara's smile could get any wider then it would have gone into the Guinness book of records as she looked into Adam's eyes. "My husband and I run Hell!"
Justin then brought his voice forward. "It doesn't matter. We'll never join you."
"But you haven't met my army yet.", with that she motioned the Jewel Rangers to come forward. They stood not far away from where Andros and the Nightfighters were bound. "Reveal your identities.", Shanara ordered.
"Yes mistress.", the Garnet Ranger said as he reached up and unlatched his helmet and showed his face. All the other Jewel Rangers did the same, and the Nightfighters couldn't believe their eyes when they saw who they were. Adam was a ranger with them and Cassandra served with some of them too. Justin knew tow and Andros, Ashley and Bruce knew the others by reputation. The Jewel Rangers looked at the imprisoned 'good' warriors and smiled at the shock on their faces.
"Look familiar?", Garnet Ranger Jason Lee Scott said with an evil laugh. By his side were Turquoise Ranger Kimberly Hart, Citrine Ranger Aisha Campbell, Amythyst Ranger Trini Kwan, Onyx Ranger Billy Cranston and Jade Ranger Zack Taylor. Their faces showed the same amusement as Jason's had.
Turquoise Kimberly came forward and looked into the eyes of the Nightfighters. "Now are you going to join evil. Or are we going to have some fun first?"
"We've got two ships coming in.", Cassie said making reference to two other vessels approaching the zord fleet. Scanners recorded it as the Gold Blackhawk and the Silver Firebird that belonged to Bruce Greene and Tanya Sloane.
"Hey guys.", Tanya said over the intercom. "You didn't think I'd let you go and rescue Bruce without me do you?"
"Tanya it's great to see you.", T.J. said. "I take it you have the firebird on remote?"
"Yeah, we might need it."
Morgan sat in the pilot's chair of Defiance listening to the comaraderie of the other rangers and Tanya. She felt a wave of shame come across her so she turned the comm off. I'd done terrible things to them. How can they even look at me?
Just then Mackenzie walked onto the bridge. Morgan noticed the cheerful and light demeanor she carried herself with. Mackenzie Dekalb was absolutly glowing.
"Did you find Kincaid?", Morgan asked the older White Ranger. Mackenzie nodded.
"So what happened?"
Mackenzie turned to Morgan and said, "Let's just say…I got more than a little bit off my chest." Morgan got the meaning.
I don't believe it. They did it!, she thought to Comet. Well they are adults Morgan., Comet said trying to reassure her.
BUT WE'RE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A RESCUE MISSION!!!, Morgan thought loudly. Mackenzie caught Morgan's unease and tried to reassure her.
"Look Morgan. Sometimes we don't know what the future might bring. Sometimes things happen, or we do something that you don't expect. When I confronted Jeff I got the answers I needed yeah, but I didn't expect us to sleep together. But I'm glad we did. Jeff loves me and he doesn't want to see me hurt if he can help it. And I love him. Besides, we are consenting adults."
Morgan sighed. "Kind of like me and my Carlos back home, except we're still teenagers. I love him but I'm not sure we're ready to…sleep together."
"Well don't do it because you're pressured into doing it. When the time comes let it be because you love him and he loves you. And because you both want to."
Morgan and Mackenzie hugged in a friendly embrace then Morgan decided to ask a different question. "Did you guys ever have an evil ranger to deal with beside me?"
Mackenzi nodded and Morgan asked, "What were they like?"
Mackenzie looked at Morgan and couldn't compare the White Turbo Ranger to Kincaid's predecessor as Red Night Ranger–Mark Kinega who would become the villian Lord Crucible. "No you're nothing Like him."
"Him? Who was he?", Morgan asked intrigued.
Mackenzie turned to Morgan and decided to tell her the story of he who would be Lord Crucible.
Adam couldn't believe the sight before him. His friends who were legends in ranger history were standing before him serving the cause of evil. "Guys what are you doing you're not evil."
The Jewel Rangers looked at each other and laughed out loud. "Not evil?", Zack said. "Man you are a riot."
"Newsflash buddy boy.", Aisha said next. "we Jewel Rangers are as evil as they come. We serve Master Vile and Queen Shanara, and we love what we do. Especially to friends.", she said the last line with a sneer.
"Like when I did that 'poor me' bit to Rocky saying I loved him, and shattered his heart after we did humpalympics?", Turquoise Kim smiled and the other rangers shared in the gloating.
"What they say is true. The pen IS mightier than the sword!", Billy commented.
"Hey Kim,", Zack called. "Can you write a letter to Angela? I want to tell her that she's nowhere near the girl Aisha is, and I want to do it in the most painful way possible." The Jewel Rangers laughed some more.
"That's my girl.", Jason boasted as he gave an intense passionate kiss to Turquoise Kim. The Nightfighters all looked like they were turning several shades of green, much to the delight of the Jewels.
"What about that virus I put into the Power Chamber's systems? And how we destroyed their zords? That was classic."
"You sent those Zeo goody goods running like the scared vermin they are Billy.", Trini purred in his ear. Echoes of "Yeah!", and "Cool!", echoed from the Jewels. Queen Shanara looked on with delight.
"And I love you for it.", Trini said. Billy soon put an intense passionate liplock on Trini as well. Zack not wanting to be left out brought Aisha to himkissing her with equal intense passion. Stygian, Brachion and their underlings also watched Vile Shanara's Jewel Rangers.
"I'm impressed Shanara.", Stygian said. "How did you do it?"
Shanara smiled at Stygian. "You'll see before long."
If the other Nightfighters were afraid they didn't show it, even though they were afraid of being made as evil as the Jewels apparently became. Cassandra took it one step further as she looked at the evil Jewel Rangers before her. Loud laughter echoed throughout the hall as she laughed at the Jewels. "You GUYS ARE PATHETIC!!!", she bellowed.
The Jewel Rangers were taken aback by Cassandra's comment. "What do you mean pathetic?", said Jason with a look that had him burning daggars into Cassandra.
"Well,", Cassandra said with a smile. "You keep saying how evil you guys are but you're all acting like those idiots in the movie 'Scream' that started stabbing each other and enjoying it. If I didn't know any better I'd say you guys are acting like idiots who have read too many comic books, watched too many horror movies, and saw one two many pay-per-views from the WWF."
Ashley felt her spirits rise as Cassandra defied the Jewels and added. "Not to mention too many bad romance movies."
"And rifling through your dad's playboy magazines.", Justin said.
"Or you're mom's playgirl's", Bruce commented.
"And what about bad X-rated films?", Andros commented. Nods came from the Nightfighters as their wave of fear evaporated.
"Oh by the way Kim, I have a feeling someone is going to write a letter back to you someday.", Cassandra said. "And you're going to just hate it.", she said with a sneer to the evil Turquoise Ranger.
Jason's rage reflected the other Jewel Rangers as he got into Cassandra's face. "Listen bitch, and all of you too.", Jason pointed to all the prisoners as if telling them to take notice. "We're the Jewel Rangers. We serve the darkest evil! We have taken pleasure in the despair of our friends! And destroyed them so bad they went running back to their mommy Zordon. We have done evil that reviles all good in the galaxy. How can you call us pathetic?"
"Yeah, you're the ones who are tied up while we're running completely free.", Trini said. "Free from morality and conscience."
"And kicking people while they're down.", Zack commented with a sick smile.
"And enjoying every minute of it too.", Billy said.
"You know. I really like that letter I left for Rocky.", Turquoise Kim sneered and the other Jewels laughed.
Cassandra maintained her composure and said. "So what? You're no Mark Kinega." The Nightfighters picked up on that and made remarks like "Ohh yeah." and "He was bad news." even Justin added "He was worse than the Jewels."
The Jewel Rangers didn't like anyone upstaging them in evil, even by reputation. Even Shanara was intrigued by the name. "Who is this Mark Kinega?", she asked.
"The most evil ranger you could ever come across.", Cassandra said. "And I'll tell you why."
"Jeff wasn't the Red Night Ranger when he first started out.", Mackenzie explained. "That title belonged to a young man named Mark Kinega. He was the one who first brought Kincaid into the Night Ranger fold. The color Jeff started out with was the Blue Night with his zord the Winged Wolf.
"Jeff and Mark really were much alike. Both had come from broken homes and had suffered from one sort of abuse or another from their families. It got to the point for Jeff to leave his home and head up to the town of Port Clinton. It was there that he hooked up with Bruce Greene."
"When he walked into my father's rink.", Bruce said to Shanara and the Jewels. I didn't know what he was doing there. Turns out he was on the lookout for some new talent, and Jeff fit the bill."
"Did he join up right away?", Emissary Brachion asked getting into the story.
"No in fact he turned it down not sure if he wanted to be one. It was only when a girl he liked at the time got into trouble, and that convinced him to take up the powers. Nothing happened between the two though unfortunately."
"Good.", Zack said. "She must have known what a loser he was when he became a Power Ranger." The other Jewel Rangers laughed when Cassandra spoke up again.
"Ah!, but Jeff didn't become any ordinary Power Ranger. He became that which scared evil senseless." Cassandra paused for a second giving in to her sense of the dramatic.
"He became….a Night Ranger."
"What exactly is a Night Ranger?", Morgan asked. Even though she had fought Kincaid and Stygian had told her about Night Rangers, she still seemed confused by the concept of them.
"Night Rangers were designed to combat the worst forms of evil in the universe. They used the supernatural aura of the night to fuel their power as it worked adjacent to standard ranger powers. They could control all aspects of the night on whatever planet they were on. The air, the temperature, everything. He could send people flying. It was kind of like a jedi knight with the force."
"Wow.", Morgan said her eyes wide with awe.
"It sounds like he was plenty powerful.", Shanara said. Something to think about for a new addition to my evil army.
"Yeah he was.", Cassandra said. "Evil forces led by the Luciferian empire assembled together in their quest to worship the darkest evils. To tap evil to it's fullest potential and spread it all throughout the universe. Good was subjugated under the heel of the Luciferian empire as dark forces ran rampant. The Eltarian council, who we're just getting started, sent ranger team after ranger team to combat them. All they got for their troubles were dead bodies and inert morphers sent back to Eltar.
"Real bad boys huh? Like us?", Zack commented.
"Yeah real bad. But not like you. They were WORSE", Cassandra said drilling in the evil of the Luciferian empire. It gave Epyon a tingle all over his fur. "They were so bad that Zordon recommended another plan of attack."
"The Night Rangers.", Morgan confirmed.
Mackenzie nodded. "The Night Rangers. Their members consisted of Anna Hawker from San Francisco, Ishalla Nab'ri from Polynices, and Krolos from KO-35.
"But the council didn't completely approve of the creation of this ranger team." Morgan asked why.
"Because they fought on evil's level.", continued Mackenzie. "They didn't always follow rules such as the ranger code of conduct or something like that. They did agree to "the three basic rules or lose the protection of the power" deal, but other than that there were no rules as far as the Night Rangers were concerned.
"Zordon did some fast talking. He said that he knew that the Night Rangers wouldn't be your typical force of good, but that there were evil's in the universe a standard ranger team just couldn't take on alone. So the Night Rangers were a necessity, even if people didn't agree with the idea of them."
"So they became Eltar's dirty secret?"
"One of the dirtiest.", Mackenzie confirmed.
"It was so dirty the council wouldn't even acknowledge their existence.", Cassandra continued. "Anyone who knew about the Night Rangers were not alowed to speak of them to anyone."
"I never found out about them until much later.", Adam said. "Until I joined up with Kincaid."
Cassandra went back to the story. "Anyway. The main enemy they faced was the Luciferian empire. They had many battles against each other over the eons, but neither one of them was able to gain a clear cut victory until something tipped the balance into the other's favor."
Jason found himself getting into the story and began to see the patterns forming in it. "Let me guess. That thing that tipped the balance was Mark Kinega."
Cassandra nodded. "Yeah it was."
"What all did he do?", Morgan asked.
Mackenzie sighed. "He got tired of the responsibilities of being a ranger. His girlfriend left him, and he really had nowhere else to go. He had the other Night Rangers, but leading the team seemed like nothing but responsibility for him. Just go from one rescue to the next. Beat this evil. Vanquish that evil. It just got to him. And he had enough."
"So he saw how futile the struggle was.", the Pagemistress said always appreciative of a good story.
"No, he just got tired of it. Big difference.", corrected Cassandra. This riled the Pagemistress so much she fired a firebolt by Cassandra's head.
"Contradict me again, and I won't miss.", the Pagemistress ordered. "Continue."
Cassandra sighed and went back to her story, and mental work. "Well, Mark threw down the red night morpher and left the safehouse. While he was stewing his juices, a visitor from the Luciferian empire showed up. General Savrod.
"Savrod was looking for a leader to rally the Luciferian empire behind. For his own purposes, he planned to kill the new leader later and assume power himself when the empire was at ultimate power. In his search he came across Mark Kinega. And when Savrod met him that's when he made his pitch.
"A pitch that he accepted of his own free will."
"He made the decision to join evil himself?!!", Morgan couldn't believe her ears. "No spells or implant?"
"That's right. No spells, no upbringing from a demon lord, and no implant insuring evil control. Only a microchip was used to keep the good spirits of the night from imparting their voices to him. Kinega then opened up to the voices of evils that had passed on and attained the power of Lord Crucible."
Mackenzie sighed as a tear formed down her eye. She turned to face Morgan, the tear going straight down her face. "And then Mark Kinega, former Red Night Ranger, newly appointed Lord Crucible, and a friend to many—betrayed and murdered his friends.
"He sent out a distress code telling them to meet him at a series of co-ordinates. That he was in trouble. The Night Rangers and Jeff saw no reason not to trust their friend so they went to where Kinega told them to rendezvous. It was there that the trap was set. All the Night Rangers were shot at from behind. In the fire Ishalla, Anna and Krolos were already lost."
Morgan was speechless for the longest time before she asked, "But Jeff survived right?"
"Yeah…he did.", Mackenzie said as she was sighing.
"The computer Hardrive pulled Jeff out at the last minute as he was flying his damaged zord into a Luciferian ship used in the ambush. The zord didn't make it and neither did Jeff's teamates."
"So let me get this straight.", Brachion said. "You had a ranger that joined the forces of evil with no influence from dark powers whatsoever. No spells or enchantments of any kind?"
"That's about it. And he led the empire into a wave of terror throughout the universe as evil, sin and vice became the dominant forces." With that the evil warriors rejoiced at hearing that until Cassandra completed the sentence with a sneer. "Until he was beaten."
"What happened to him?", Morgan asked. Just then Kincaid appeared in the doorway.
"We had all passed judgement on him. All the good spirits that aided the Night Rangers, as well as the former rangers who joined us. The Nightfighters were the ones who carried out the sentence though."
"Death of personality. Mark's mind was totally wiped as everything he was and knew was erased. He was a blank slate ready to start over.", Mackenzie finished.
Morgan St. Clair mulled over the story that she had just heard and wondered if that would be her fate one day. All she was destroyed and having to start over again in her life not knowing of her past life.
"May the power be kinder to me.", was all she said.
"And he doesn't remember anything of what happened?", Aisha said. "All the wonderful evil within him…GONE?"
"And the good too. He had to start over in his life. Learning all over again.", Cassandra replied.
Shanara mulled over the story that she had just heard. She could sense that there was the potential for opportunity in it. Maybe some evil power from the Luciferian empire if she could find it. And what of Crucible himself? Perhaps I can convince him to rejoin evil's cause.
She did notice the looks of fear in the Jewel Ranger's eyes, afraid of being subjected to the same fate as Kinega. Shanara brought the Jewel Rangers in closer and embraced them all. Her tentacle like hair soothing them as if wiping their fear away.
Soon the evil sneer was back on their faces as they faced the Nightfighters, especially Shanara who became focused on Cassandra. "I thank you. You have inspired me to rise to new heights of evil. And you shall help me attain them."
Shanara's eyes started to glow as her hair waved again. The Jewels stood smiling as their mistress made ready to do her evil work. Cassandra had only a second to act.
On board the Megaship 2 Zhane had clutched his head in pain. The other rangers went to see if he was all right with Dana and Cassie arriving by his side first. T.J. stood looking at him and smiled as two pretty girls were tending to him, but he was also concerned as to what made Zhane clutch his head like that.
"Zhane are you okay?", Dana asked.
"I'm fine now. I just wound up on the receiving end of a telepathic distress call.", Zhane said taking deep breaths.
"A distress call? Is it from Cassandra?", Carlos asked.
"Yeah. And it looks like she and the others are in trouble." He paused trying to process the information Cassandra sent. She must not have had much time so she sent it all at one time., he thought. As Zhane processed the information he saw Epyon, Broker, and a figure next to his throne. Zhane assumed it must have been Stygian.
Kincaid's face appeared over the vidcom. "Zhane, are you okay? What just happened to you?"
"A lot.", Zhane said as he relayed his vision to the rangers, including Kincaid, Mackenzie and Morgan as they spoke over vidcom, their faces started to show worry. "Stygian's loose. Great!", Kincaid said sarcastically.
Zhane also told about the rangers that were there serving the cause of evil. "One of them looked exactly like you Kimberly.", Zhane said.
Kimberly was surprised to say the least. She never imagined herself as evil. But it got worse when Zhane told her of what her Turquoise Ranger counterpart did to Rocky in her own world, or what the other Jewel Rangers did to their friends.
Kimberly found herself shaking her fists. "Whoever did this to them is dead!!"
"I think it was that funky looking woman I saw in a red dress and living hair. It looks like she put some mind control spell on them insuring their obedience."
It was then that Zhane realized something. "We have to get to them fast. Because I think that red headed witch is trying to make the others evil too."
The Astro Megaship had picked up Cassandra's energy trail that she left as she flew back to her body which was still a prisoner. Morgan also inputed the co-ordinates to the domain so all ships were covered in terms of navigation.
"Is Cassandra fighting it?", Kincaid asked.
"I'm not sure.", Zhane said. "She probably did after she sent out her distress call, but I don't know how powerful the lady in red is. But she looked plenty powerful."
Carter sighed. "Let's hope Cassandra can handle her."
Stygian didn't listen to the story Cassandra had said. He was too focused on the Matrix Crystal to pay much attention. The Evil Pagemistress however decided to come over to see what Stygian was up to.
"I am establishing a link with the Nexus Crystal. Emparting my essence onto the power and be ready to use it to bring the multiverse down to it's knees. The crystal has an amount of sentience as well as power, and it is said that once one's will is latched on to it then it is that will that will be followed."
"And what does your will entail?", the Pagemistress asked.
Stygian smiled. "Destruction. Destruction of the old multiverse and the creation of a new multiverse. My multiverse."
The Pagemistress however was concerned. She had dominion over her own section of the multiverse, and she would allow no one to tamper with it but her. "I trust my realms will be spared?"
Stygian looked into the Pagemistress's eyes. Now was not a good time to betray her. "Of course. However, I do believe we have one more concern…Morgan St. Clair."
The Pagemistress nodded in agreement. "What do you recommend?"
Stygian thought for a moment. "Perhaps a visit from her old friend General Havok."
Pagemistress smiled an evil smile and she raised her arms sending up a stream of flame. And when that flame dissipated General Havok stood.
He was swaying and singing the song "I love you. You love me. We are one big family."
Pagemistress smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. He had a lesson to learn." Another stream of fire was sent into his head clearing out the cobwebs in Havok's brain bringing him to full awareness. "Who dares to abduct General Havok?" he asked as he took in his surroundings.
Pagemistress came forward. "It is I. I have brought you here for a purpose."
Havok recognized Pagemistress immediately. "You were the one who had stolen my White Ranger from me. You must pay for that." Havok made ready to charge when Pagemistress raised her hand and a wall of flame appeared separating her from Havok. Pagemistress let the flames die down so she was looking at the General eye to eye.
"Yes I took your White Ranger. And I am giving you the chance to get her back. She will be coming here soon. Defeat her and show her who her master is."
Havok wasn't one for taking orders. He only allowed Divatox to order him because she was family, but if it allowed him the chance to reclaim Morgan St. Clair he would not pass it up.
"Very well. I accept.", Havok said.
"Excellent. Let me show you the army we have here." As they turned to leave Stygian to his work Havok saw him focused on the Matrix Crystal. "What is he doing?"
"Oh nothing, just the destruction of all the dimensional barriers.", Pagemistress replied. She then went to confront Stygian. "Remember. My realms are to be spared."
Stygian said, "They will be.", But when Pagemistress and Havok left Stygian mentally added with an evil laugh. What's left of them.
"ARE YOU NUTS KIM?", was the question Carlos screamed out.
"Don't fight me on this Carlos. That was me and my friends with that evil army there. I can't take a back seat and watch them stay under Mrs. Octopus with the living hair weave. I'm going." The tone in Kimberly's voice stated that she had made up her mind.
Zhane sighed. "All right, but we're not going to let you go in with your powers the way they are. We are going to help you stablize them so the destablizing fires don't happen so soon."
"Fine with me.", Kim said. "What do we do?"
Zhane had motioned for all the rangers on board the Megaship 2 to circle around Kimberly and join hands. They felt the power of each ranger run through them all. Through the process Zhane became the focal point throughout the procedure.
"We call on the power to protect this young ranger as she goes into battle one more time. Keep her safe, and free from the taint of evil." With that Zhane started to eminate a silver glow from his chest. As Kim looked around she saw all the other rangers having similar glows. T.J. and Chad had blue glows. Dana and Cassie had pink glows. Carlos glowed black while Joel had a green glow to him. Carter's red glow and Kelsey's yellow glow shone bright and soon all the glows shot out and enveloped Kimberly in light.
When the light faded, Kimberly stood a Pink Ranger again, but in her armored uniform with the emblem of the crane on her chest. The Pink Dino helmet by her side.
"Awesome.", she said as the com-link rang again. Kincaid, Ryan, Tanya and Nancy were on the other end.
"Everything okay there?", Ryan asked.
"Yeah Ryan. We're all ready to go.", Dana commented.
"Good. We're approaching Lucifer 6. According to Morgan, that's where the dimensional gate is.", Kincaid said.
"And once we get down we try to make it so the zords can go through. We'll need them.", Tanya said.
"I'll go down.", Nancy said. "Back in a flash." And with that Nancy opened the cockpit of Angelwing and sky dove to the surface of Lucifer 6.
"She's got a lot of guts.", Morgan commented.
"But not a lot of experience.", Mackenzie said. "I hope she's careful."
Nancy loved the sky. When she was a child she couldn't wait to go flying with her uncle Jerry who taught the aeronautics department at Mariner Bay University. Every now and then she would sneak into the simulator in the classroom while her uncle would watch and she would fly the plane that made a lot of his students envious. Nancy Cooper had a gift.
But flying wasn't her only love. Nancy also loved sky diving, even though she never told Kelsey that. Kelsey was the one who had crazy as a middle name, Nancy wasn't about to make it hers. Still she enjoyed the thrill of falling through the sky becoming one with it, and the rush she felt in the descent.
As Nancy's White and Gold form fell the altimiter in her helmet was keeping her apprised of how far and fast she was falling. When she was ready she yelled, "WING IT!!!". And with that Nancy brought her arms to her side and spread out wings that allowed her to glide down safely to the surface of Lucifer 6. She set down safely when a silver figure stood waiting for her. "ZHANE! What are you doing here?"
"I teleported. Besides, it's my rep to help out the ladies."
Nancy rolled her eyes back. What would Karone think?, she thought as she and Zhane made their way to the abandoned lab where the portal was that Morgan told them about.
Nancy wouldn't admit it to Zhane, but she was more than a little worried and was glad Zhane came down with her. This was Nancy's first official mission as a Lightspeed Ranger, and she didn't want to blow it. As they came to the lab they saw the portal door and the console that controlled it.
Nancy looked over the controls and came up with an idea. "There's a sattellite dish nearby. If I can use that I can generate a new portal for the zords to come through."
"Get to it.", prodded Zhane unaware that there was a metallic figure right behind them ready to attack. But as Nancy worked she caught the glistening chrome silouette on the panel reflection.
"ZHANE BEHIND YOU!!!", Nancy yelled as a claw arm came swinging down at the two rangers. Both turned around seeing a large floating robot with a light for a face covered with silver plating. A claw for a right hand and a blaster on his left. There were no legs to speak of so the hovering it did was necessary.
"Keep working Nancy. I'll keep him busy." Zhane called up his Silver Samurizer and proceeded to attack the sentry while Nancy worked to generate the portal.
Zhane brought out his Silver Samurizer and fired at the sentry. The bolts seemed to bounce off his metal exoskeleton as it continued to advance. It brought up it's own laser and fired at Zhane who took the shots dead on.
Zhane tried to regroup but then the sentry used his claw to grab him by his throat to choke him out. Nancy momentarily turned to see how Zhane was doing but Zhane rasped out the order for her to continue her work.
Zhane then used the last of his strength to aim the Samurizer at his glowing lens. As he pulled the trigger the lens shattered sending the sentry around thrashing the room like a madman and Zhane on the floor dizzy from the attack.
The sentry soon crashed into a storage closet where it was buried by several parts before it shut down. Nancy then said, "The portal's open. Let's go!!" Nancy then teleported back to Angelwing, and Zhane was teleported to the med bay where Dana was waiting.
"Are you okay Zhane?", Dana said looking him over. Zhane waved his hand saying he was fine, after several groans that bought an extra two minutes of Dana looking him over. T.J. and the other Astros were watching Zhane's act with amusement.
Dana caught onto the act and decided to try a prank of her own. "I'm just going to test your reflexes now.", she said with a smile. Then she went over to the synthetron and replicated a giant mallet like they use on cartoons and 'test your strength' games at carnivals.
Zhane's eyes went wide as Dana raised the mallet back to hit him in either the kneecap or…elsewhere. Either way Zhane wasn't going to find out. "Oh look the ranger healing has kicked in. Gotta go." Zhane raced out of the medbay as Dana and the Astros laughed.
"Sorry Dana. We can't take him anywhere.", T.J. said. Dana said it was okay.
As they went back to the bridge Kincaid spoke over the comm. "Let's get through the fast the guys may not have long.", he ordered. And the zords flew through the portal to the Nexus where Stygian's domain lay.
Where the Nightfighters hung Shanara made ready to convert them to her will deciding to start with Adam first. "Hello Adam. I realize you don't know me, but I know a lot about you."
"Then you know I would never become evil. You'd have to kill me first.", Adam said defiantly.
"Oh, but my young warrior.", Shanara paused as she used her hair to keep Adam's head in place as her eyes glowed. Adam was unable to look away. Shanara also made her voice sound seductive as well. "You've come so far in your life, but have you come far enough?"
"What do you mean?", Adam asked.
"What are you now? A mediocre stuntman who dresses up in monster suits. Do you know how pathetic that sounds? Even your so-called friends think that it is pathetic for someone of your calibre.
"You are a power ranger. You used your powers for good and fought the good fight against us. I don't fault you for that. You were just doing your duty. But what did you get for your trouble? A send-off and an old morpher that could have killed you. Perhaps a gold watch would have been a better choice."
Adam felt herself sway under Shanara's will. The Jewel Rangers looked on with evil delight as a new member was about to join their team. Cassandra however couldn't sit back and do nothing however so she decided to fight fire with fire using her telepathy to fight Shanara's empathy.
"Join me Adam.", Shanara said. "Join me and get the respect and honor you deserve".
"If you join her you'll get no respect." , Cassandra said as she tried to be the voice of reason to Shanara's magically sugar coated words.
"Adam, if you buy her sales pitch you will regret it. You know what it's like with evil spells. They don't last forever. And once it breaks you'll only regret what happened."
Shanara wouldn't let her newest prize get away so she gazed into Adam's eyes as if turning up her power. "Don't listen to hermy young frog. The thrill of evil is intoxicating. Remember Cassandra's story. Crucible enjoyed it? So can you."
Cassandra gave Adam a TK nudge so he was looking away from Shanara. "Adam listen. Did Tommy enjoy being evil? Did Kat? Did Karone? No they regretted it. Who's to say you won't?"
Adam felt like he was in a giant tug of war with Shanara trying to convert him and Cassandra trying to save him. A tug of war Cassandra was not sure she could win. She needed to end it and end it now.
Cassandra noticed Stygian as he was focused on the Nexus crystal preparing to do whatever evil he planned on doing. Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone
Cassandra focused as much of her telekinetic energy that she could spare onto the Nexus Crystal. Stygian was surprised when the crystal shake in his hands. He turned to see Cassandra locked in a battle of wills with Shanara. "She's struggling Lady Shanara. You're winning."
NO SHE'S NOT!!!, Cassandra thought as the Nexus Crystal flew out of Stygian's hand and hit Shanara in the back of the head. The impact jarred her concentration as Stygian looked dumbfounded.
Cassandra spoke with great defiance "There is no way I am going to allow you to corrupt another ranger." Shanara had regained her bearings and glared daggers into the rangers, especially Cassandra. "I will kill you for this!!!", she hissed through clenched teeth. "And all you rangers will be mine!"
"You're welcome to try because we will all stand against you.", Andros said with as much defiance as Cassandra had. "I will not allow you to do to anyone what you did to the original rangers."
Shanara heard the voices and smiled as an idea crossed her mind. She stepped back and motioned for the Jewel Rangers to come forward. "Kill them.", was her command.
The Jewels smiled as they cast their gaze at the bound Nightfighters. "With pleasure your highness."
Cassandra could tell that the Jewel Rangers would not unbind them for the fight. They would attack them as they were tied down. It's now or never!
And just as the Jewel Rangers were approaching Cassandra broke loose her bonds and jumped down from the wall she was bound to. The Emerald Crystal sat near Stygian's throne and flew into her hand.
"EMERALD CRYSTAL POWER UP!!!", Cassandra morphed into her Emerald Ranger uniform first then morphed into her combat armor. Upon seeing Cassandra break loose the other Nightfighters broke loose from their bonds, and thanks to Andros's telekinesis the morphers flew back to the respective ranger's hands.
"STORM BLASTER TURBO POWER!!!", shouted Justin as he morphed into Blue Turbo.
""LET'S ROCKET!!", came the voices of Andros and Ashley as they morphed into Red and Yellow Space Rangers.
"DRAGON RANGER POWER!!!", shouted Adam as he morphed into the Dragon Warrior.
"SILVER CENTURION POWER!!!", shouted Bruce as he morphed. Soon six morphed rangers faced six morphed Jewel Rangers.
"Any room for us?", came a voice from the entranceway. In it stood Carlos, T.J., Cassie, Kim, Morgan, Mackenzie, Tanya, Carter, Joel, Dana, Chad, Kelsey, Ryan, and Nancy. It turned out that Kim was the one who spoke.
"You guys ready?", Kim asked. All the rangers present nodded. "PINK RANGER POWER!!!", Kim shouted as she morphed into her full armor.
"LIGHTSPEED RESCUE!!!" shouted all seven Lightspeed Rangers.
"LET'S ROCKET!!!", shouted Mackenzie, Carlos, Cassie, and T.J.
"GOLD BLACKHAWK POWER!!!", shouted Tanya as she morphed. Soon all the rangers joined the Nightfighters ready for battle.
Shanara also was ready for battle as were the Jewel Rangers. Emmisary Brachion and the Triad also formed up behind Shanara. They were also joined by General Havok who had his eyes set on Morgan St. Clair.
Pagemistress floated up to where Stygian stood and formed a circle around herself." Stygian looked down at the rangers and then to the Pagemistress.
"You know. I don't like these odds. There are just too many rangers here.
"Yes, we do need a few more warriors here." Soon Stygian and Pagemistress joined hands and raised them as four more strams of energy appeared. They soon solidified into Darconda, Ecliptor, Scorpina and Villimax.
"I know you wonder what you are doing here, but I'll keep it brief.", Pagemistress said. "We have rangers here. Kill them!!!" Soon all the evil warriors stood ready for battle.
"But one more decided to join the dark forces as a wave of evil smoke appeared to reveal a sorcerer radiating the darkest evil. "I am Xen. Rangers, prepare to meet your end.", was all he said.
The rangers were only startled for a minute before they were business as usual. "Okay everybody. BREAK!!!.", Andros ordered as the rangers broke off and the evil warriors did the same following them into the depths of Stygian's lair.