Disclaimer: Saban is the creator of all the Power Ranger type stuff. It's all his concept, I am just callously using his ideas for my own twisted ideals (translation – it's all his and I haven't asked permission to use it!) /font
Author Note: I don't know why I keep writing these Notes, apart from the fact it ends up as a load of useless babble, nobody even reads the damn things. Well just in case someone does, I just wanna say what a big fan I am of email, I like to receive it, so if you read the story, send me a note! Thanx.
Time Scale: This starts off a few days after 'Purple No More.'
(Ultima)ate Revelation
By Matt
Divatox had stayed with Ultima almost endlessly since he ended up in the med lab. None of them had any idea what had happened to Ultima, all they knew was that Divatox found him in his quarters, severely injured, almost to the point of death. Since then, he had been in critical condition in the medical lab.
It had been just over a week now and he still showed no sign of improvement. Once again, she took her seat beside him, ready and waiting for him to awake. Every day she had spoke to him a lot, although she had no idea if he could actually hear. She liked to think that he could, so she did it again today.
"I've got some big news for you today." She started. "Yesterday, something weird happened to the Purple Ranger. She started to develop strange new powers. It turned out she was actually the son of a warrior from another planet, and she had been given the Power to save their planet one day. Well her father returned and she's gone with him back to his planet. I think it was called Ridmar or something like that. Well that means there's no Purple Ranger until she returns, but also, Jandra has gone with her, so that leaves only four members of Power force. I actually thought of asking them to let me join them until Jandra returned. It was really good finally getting back into the action when I fought Crush with them the other day, but I get the feeling they don't need me. Still, I may consider it!"
Ultima moved slightly. Divatox stared in amazement. He hadn't woken up, and in fact still showed no signs of doing so, but since he came in there, he hadn't even moved in the slightest.
"That's it. Keep trying. I know you can do it in the end!" Divatox said, taking his hand.
Ultima opened his eyes, looking around as he sat up. There was a blinding light around him, but at the same time he was engulfed by total darkness. The place was very familiar, but he didn't recognise it at all. He had no idea how he had got there, or even where there was! He stood up and started to walk around. As he tried to understand his surroundings, they started to twist and distort. Slowly they formed into something more recognisable to him. He now found himself stood in a long hallway. As he looked down to his left he saw an end to the hallway, but to the right, it stretched further than he could see.
All the way along were small windows at regular intervals. He walked to the window directly in front of him and looked through. A light appeared, then as it died down, he saw an image of the medical laboratory in the Rangers' HQ. He could see Divatox sitting beside a bio-bed, but he couldn't make out who was lying on it. As the image moved round, he saw – it was himself!
"What the. ..?" he started, but then the image disappeared. He moved along to the next window to the left and looked through to see if a similar thing happened. As he peered through, the light appeared again. This time he saw an image of Jandra, the Purple Ranger and a strange man stepping through some kind of portal. He didn't recognise the events, but he could tell, somehow, that they were real.
The next window showed Power Force and Divatox fighting an army of Drones whilst the Samurai Rangers fought a monster. The battle was soon won and the Rangers teleported down to a group of people. They started removing their helmets and the people started to embrace them.
Ultima continued down along the line of windows. He saw Jaxir being defeated by the White Ultra Samurai, then he saw the creation of the Ultra Samurai. He saw Jaxir's constant attacks on the White Ranger and the original attack by Vartri. The events taking place in the next window were most disturbing for him.
Divatox stood at the door waiting for an answer. She hadn't actually stayed with Ultima last night, she had stayed in her own quarters. He had failed to turn up for breakfast with her, so she had come to find him. She had already pressed the buzzer three times and there was still no answer.
"Ultima, are you in there?" she shouted through the thick door, hoping he could hear her. When she got no answer again, she touched the communicator control on one of the wall panels. "Power Chamber. This is Divatox, open the door to Ultima's quarters."
"Right away." Alpha said back. Seconds later, the door slid aside. She walked inside and looked around. The room was undamaged, no sign of any struggle at all, but Ultima lay in the middle of the room, looking severely injured as if he had just been in a fight.
Divatox immediately ran back to the communicator on the wall and shouted, "Medical emergency. Get Ultima to the infirmary, NOW!" She looked back into the room as he teleported away, then started running towards the Medical lab.
"What is this?" Ultima asked himself. He continued down the hallway. The next window showed something he actually recognised.
"Okay. You're gonna have to bear with me on this. It's going to sound completely crazy to begin with, but just let me explain." Michael said, then he continued. "Can I just ask how long it's been since the other Rangers left?"
"It's been thirty one days now!" Kane said quickly.
"Okay then, it started about a week ago. Armageddon had been weakened by the destruction of the Dark Rangers, but he soon recovered. He knew there was only one way to defeat the Rangers, and that was to attack them from within. So he found someone suitable and cloned the Ranger Powers. He then planted his operative within us and kidnapped me. He knew I would find some way to get back and warn you, so he threw me through a dimensional portal, thinking it would lead me away from Earth, but I managed to find my way back. Now here's the bit that's hard to believe. So that you wouldn't notice his spy or miss me, he altered your memories. He wiped me from them completely and put his spy in my place, making you think he had always been one of us."
He was watching Michael, the Gold Ranger from a parallel world explain his situation. Of course his explanation wasn't too accurate as he didn't know at the time that this world wasn't his.
He watched the next window. It just showed Power Force, himself, Divatox, Mondo and Alpha facing off against the Samurai Rangers in the simulation Room. "Oh I think I get it now!" he exclaimed. "These windows are showing different events in my life, the further I go this way, the further back in time I go!"
"Very good, and quicker that I expected, too!" he heard a voice saying from behind him, also applauding slowly.
He turned to see an Astral form standing there behind him that was more than familiar. "Armageddon!" he snapped.
Crush walked out of Armageddon's chamber, having given him the daily report. Things had gone as he expected. Sasuke had been good, but he had been easily defeated. Now he also detected that the Purple Ranger had gone. He didn't know why, he didn't really care either, but they were short of a Ranger, but now wasn't the time to utilise that weakness, that would come later.
He got a sudden jolt as some kind of psychic alarm went off in his head. At first, the large figure hiding in the ventilation shaft thought he had been discovered, but thankfully, he was wrong. "So, the time has come for me to finish the job!" Armageddon said. He concentrated his thoughts outwards, spreading his very life essence into another place. His Astral form floated up out of his body.
The person in the shaft watched closely. Although he could not actually see Armageddon himself from where he hid, he was however able to see the Astral form float up out of him and vanish onto some higher plane of consciousness.
Knowing there was no chance of being detected now, the figure quickly scurried back down the small tunnel. He got out and looked round. He had not been spotted emerging. Fortunate really. Had Crush, one of the Drones, or even Porto seen him coming out of there it would have been immediately reported to Armageddon.
He stretched his arms and legs, glad to be out of the confined space, then spread his large golden wings out behind him. He looked around again quickly before running off to report in to his masters.
Niko and his younger brother, Lewis ran along the hallway. They had just come from Niko's quarters and were on their way to see if the Simulation Room was free. As they ran round a corner, they both stopped suddenly, nearly tripping over Kane.
"Hey, sorry man!" Niko smiled at his leader.
"Yeah, sorry." Lewis added before running on.
Kane just shrugged and walked on. Niko walked back to him and said, "Hey man, you alright?"
"Yeah, fine." Kane said quietly.
"Uh huh! I don't think so. What's up? Thinking about Sara?" the Silver Ranger asked.
Kane just nodded back.
"Hey, she'll be fine! I mean Jandra's with her and that Saravius dude seemed pretty tough too. Besides, if that stuff she was doing before was just the start of her Powers, then she'll be more than capable of taking care of herself!" Niko reassured him.
"Yeah, I know!" Kane said, "That's not what bothers me!"
"You just miss having her around!" Niko commented, understanding immediately.
"I suppose you went through the same thing when Lewis was captured, didn't you! At least I know where Sara is, and that she's reasonably safe! That's more than you ever knew! I'm just acting stupid." Kane commented.
"Hey, never put down your own pain, just because someone else's is greater! I know you're hurting. You two did argue every now and then, but we could all tell how close you really were! We're all here for you man!" Niko smiled at him.
"Thanks." Kane said back then went to walk away.
"You wanna come with us to the Simulation Room?" Niko asked.
"What you gonna be doing?" Kane asked in return, looking back at his comrade.
Niko just shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know yet, we'll think of something when we get there!" he grinned.
"Why not! Sounds good enough for me!" Kane smiled back. Together, the two Rangers ran down the corridor to catch up with Lewis.
"What are you doing here?" Ultima snapped at the dark warrior.
Armageddon laughed and said, "That's rather amusing considering the fact that you don't even know where here is!"
"I don't need to know what this place is to know that I don't want you here!" Ultima said back.
"I know you want to ask, so I'll save you the indignity of admitting you don't know. This place is a meld, a joining between your mind and the Astral Plane. Behold the events that your mind will not allow you to see!" Armageddon said, pointing to a window. They both walked over to it and looked through.
Ultima immediately recognised the place as the Astral Plane. It wasn't a material recognition, as the plane exists only in thought, not in matter. As such, it has no set appearance, it is just what it is to whomever beholds it. Still, Ultima recognised it, and immediately looked over to where two figures stood, facing each other.
"I know you are weak. I also know that the human is still within you." Ultima said.
"That pathetic human ceased to exist the moment I came to be. And yes, I may be weak, but I am still strong enough to defeat you!" Armageddon replied.
"Do not be so sure. I have practised my skills on the Astral Plane since I was a child. I am a master here, and my Power can be rivalled by very few!" Ultima said confidently.
"I concede that your Power may be almighty here, but you do not seem to comprehend my own. My experience thus far on the Astral Plane has been brief, but I also have millennia of knowledge about its use! You really do not understand how I have come to be, do you!" Armageddon sneered.
"I must admit I do not, and I do not need to know in order to destroy you!" Ultima said, his Sword appearing in his hand.
"Oh yes, that sword! I forgot about that, I must get around to relieving you of it some time!" Armageddon said.
Ultima charged at him, but he really stood no chance. Armageddon just raised his hand and several bolts of energy shot towards Ultima. He managed to block a couple with his sword, but two managed to get through. They hit him, but instead of causing any damage, they were just absorbed into him.
"See, your Power has no effect on me!" Ultima laughed, but just then, his Astral Form started to fade away.
"Pathetic little being. Had I not needed to assist me, I would have destroyed him long before now." Armageddon said callously as he vanished back into his own body.
The image in the window moved to show what had happened. Inside Ultima's quarters, two bolts of energy had emerged from his meditating form, flew into the air, then looped back to strike him. He was seriously injured and collapsed to the ground as his mind immediately came back from the Astral Plane.
"So it was you that did this to me!" Ultima snapped, looking back at Armageddon as the picture in the window faded away.
"Indeed I did, and it was only the beginning. I am here now to finish what I started." Armageddon commented.
"Well you can try!" Ultima smiled as he realized something.
"You seem to forget. You may be strong here, but right now, your body is weak. One shot from me and you will simply cease to exist." Armageddon taunted him.
"You are right, but there is one problem with that. How exactly do you intend to do that?" Ultima asked, keeping a straight face.
"Well I was thinking something like THIS!" Armageddon shouted the last word as he blasted a bolt of energy at the former dark warrior.
Once again, the shots passed inside him. However, this time he did not begin to fade away, he just stood there looking smug as Armageddon stared on in shock. "What? How can this. ..?"
"You made one mistake Armageddon. You revealed your own weakness here. If you'd said this was just the astral Plane, that might have worked, but you told me this was as much my own mind as it was the Astral Plane." Ultima explained. "It's true that you may actually be able to fight me there, but this is my mind, and I am the only master here. I control what is and what isn't, I control what shall be and what shall not! In this place, I am invincible!"
"This cannot be!" Armageddon shouted, refusing to believe it. He charged at Ultima, firing several blasts of energy at the same time. Ultima stepped forward and struck Armageddon in the chest with a punch, followed by a leg sweep. Before he could get back up, the shots he had fired circled round, avoiding Ultima and striking him.
"Now to finish this!" Ultima said, bringing out his Sword. He stabbed it down and it pierced straight through Armageddon's chest. Armageddon was at his mercy.
Inside Armageddon's base, three figures stood discussing a vitally important matter. "If this is true, Goldar, then now is the perfect time to escape! Armageddon is distracted, he wouldn't even notice!" Rita cackled.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Goldar asked, eager to leave immediately.
"Not so fast you winged baboon!" Zedd snapped. "Why do we have to flee this place?"
"You know what he did with Gasket and Archerina! We could be next! What if he suddenly decides he doesn't need us!" Rita screeched back.
"But right now he is weak!" Zedd commented. They didn't understand where this was leading.
"So! He'll recover eventually and then..." Rita started.
"Exactly, he'll recover eventually! Right now he is so weak that maybe we could defeat him and take his Power for our own!" Zedd explained.
"Oh I like the way you think, Zeddy!" Rita laughed.
"I don't like this!" Goldar commented. "I didn't say he was weak, I just said he was weaker than he has been! The chances are that he's still stronger than any of us!"
"Don't be such a coward Goldar." Rita sneered. "If he's still meditating, he'll be easy to defeat!"
"And what happens if we get there and he's not still meditating?" Goldar asked, still cautious.
"Then we make up an excuse as to exactly why we are there. Something like 'we wanted to see if there was anything we could do for you, sir!" or something along those lines!" Zedd spat the explanation, as if explaining himself to someone made him sick.
Goldar didn't really have any choice. Rita and Zedd went, and although he knew this plan could get him killed, disobeying his masters definitely would get him killed. He followed behind them as they headed for Armageddon's chamber.
"Being such an expert on the Astral Plane, I should think you already know that if you die here, your body will die too!" Ultima said.
"Yes, I'm fully aware of that, now finish it!" Armageddon snapped at him.
"No!" Ultima said. "First, I want answers."
"Very well, let me up and you shall have your answers." Armageddon agreed.
Ultima pulled the Sword from Armageddon's chest and allowed the Dark Master to stand up. Ultima held the Sword ready to finish him at a moments notice, but suprisingly, he showed no sign of wanting to escape!
"What do you wish to know?" he asked.
"Explain what you meant before when you said you needed me to assist you. And what did you mean about not knowing how you came to be?" Ultima ordered.
"Very well." Armageddon said. "But allow me to explain it all. I believe that will answer all your questions. Follow me." He led Ultima further down the passageway, further into his past. They stopped when they were nearly at the end off the passageway. "Behold your past."
Ultima stared through the opening as the image began to form. It showed a small relatively peaceful planet called CT-851 somewhere in the Reija System. Despite being an image of Ultima's past, the place in the image is actually of a time yet to be, thousands of years into the future. There were two small boys, about ten years old playing together and talking about an important being that had just arrived on their planet colony.
Ultima immediately recognised the first boy as himself, and the second boy as his best friend Magron, although he hated the name. He always preferred Mag. He looked exactly how Ultima remembered, for that day was the last day he saw him. Ultima watched carefully as the two boys headed back to the housing area and into Ultima's home. He felt something was different as soon as he walked through the door. His mother came from one of the rooms and led him inside to meet the important person they had spoken of earlier. He was a Zordling, a descendant of the almighty Zordon of Eltar and sworn protector of the Universe. At the time, being only a child, Ultima knew very little of the war. All he knew was that the Zordlings were fighting a very powerful being, but he never felt threatened, he knew the Zordlings would protect his world.
The Zordling explained to the boy that he had a greater destiny to fulfil. Inside him he had a great Power, one which the Zordling could train him to use and become their ultimate warrior. The boy was scared, but he somehow felt it was right. It was hard saying goodbye to his family, and even harder saying goodbye to Mag. The two had been friends since birth, and on their world, in which children were raised by society rather than family, the two boys had been closer to each other than to their own families.
Ultima turned away from the window. "What does this have to do with you?" Ultima snapped.
"Do not speak yet Just follow me!" Armageddon said. He walked along, missing out a few of the windows. They stood and examined the images appearing before them.
A young teenager, no older than fourteen, maybe fifteen fired a blast of energy from his hand, disintegrating his target. The boy cried out in pain as he cradled the hand that he had just used in his other.
"You must learn to master these powers!" a Zordling Warrior insisted, walking up behind the teen.
"But it hurts!" the boy cried back.
"I understand that, and I'm afraid your future holds even more pain, but you must accept your full Power, or you will never realise the destiny that has been laid out for you." The Zordling replied.
"I'm sick of hearing about 'my destiny'. I don't care what my destiny is, if it's my destiny, then surely it doesn't matter what I do now. If it's destined to happen, I can't change it." The boy said angrily.
"I'm afraid it is not that simple. You must understand. Our war against Ultima is not an easy one. He is supremely powerful, and only our mightiest warrior, you, will be able to vanquish him!" the Zordling said, showing absolutely no emotion.
"But I'm not a warrior. I'm supposed to still be a kid. You came along, took away everything I cared about, took away my childhood, and why? Just so I can fight your war for you! Maybe I don't want to be your Ultimate Warrior!"
"You really have no choice in the matter. You must learn to control your Powers or you will be destroyed." The Zordling commented.
"So you're threatening to kill me now?" the boy asked frantically.
"Certainly not. If you do not master your Powers now, they will destroy you!" the Zordling commented, shocking the boy.
Silently, Armageddon led Ultima to another memory. This one showed the teen, about five years older now.
He stood in the center of a City, a dead City. Only days before the place had been full of life, people rushing about their daily business, not even a part of the Ultima/Zordling War. But now, their world had been attacked, and defeated, by none other than Ultima himself.
The teen knew that Ultima would sense his arrival so it was just a matter of time now. The last nine years had been spent, training him, preparing him, for this very moment. Finally Ultima would be defeated, or the boy would die trying.
As Ultima appeared, the boy instantly recognised him. Not from his appearance, for he had never even seen the Dark Master before. Instead, he recognised the evil energy that emanated from the evil warrior.
"So, finally we meet!" Ultima commented. His voice sent shivers down the boy's spine, but he didn't let it show. He couldn't let his strength, his confidence, falter for even a fraction of a second. As soon as he did that, he was lost.
"Yes, we meet al last, but I'm afraid we will not meet again. I will destroy you. Defend yourself, monster!" the boy said firmly.
"Do you really believe you could defeat me? Do you really think you could ever have defeated me? The Zordlings words are all lies. You are strong, but not strong enough. By sending you to fight me, they have sentenced you to your death." Ultima sneered.
"Big words, now let's see if you have the actions to back it up." He replied.
"I do not need to prove myself to you, and destroying you would just be a waste of a perfectly good warrior." Ultima commented. "I will not fight you!"
"Then this will be a very easy victory."
"We do not even need to fight. I offer you another alternative, boy. Join me now. Join me and I can show you how to use your Powers in ways the Zordlings could never even dream of!" Ultima suggested.
"I know how to use my powers, and I will never join you."
"If you know how to use your Powers, then you will know how to do this!" Ultima said. He thrust his hand out in front of him and the boy felt a strength growing inside him. Suddenly, without warning, the boy flung his hand into the air and a blot of energy emerged from it. It shot at an incomprehensible speed out of the planet's atmosphere and headed straight for the binary stars of that system.
As the energy struck the first of the stars, it shrunk down in size, then just released all of it's energy in an incredible blast. The second star was caught in the blast and its own energy added to the destructive wave of energy. Ultima and the boy suddenly appeared in space, watching as the Sun's energy engulfed the whole system. Two Stars, thirteen planets, four of which were inhabited and twenty-nine moons, all vaporised instantly in the blast.
"What have I done?" the boy stuttered as he realized his own Powers had been the cause of the destruction.
"What you have done, is had a taste of the real power you possess. I can teach you how to master this. Join me and we can rule this Universe. I know you are tempted, I can hear your soul screaming out to join me, but your heart says no. You know what choice you must make." Ultima said.
The boy stared blankly into the empty space where a solar system had existed only moments before. Now there were just small chunks of rock and the last few clouds of gas burning away to nothing. He had killed millions, destroyed worlds, and although he knew he should have felt guilty, for some reason, he didn't. Whatever Ultima had done to him, it had opened up his Powers, and at the same time, it had melted away all his beliefs, all his faith in the Zordlings. Now all he could see was a fantastic power, and the opportunity to use it. It was more than he could resist.
As he turned his gaze from the empty space, back to Ultima, the dark warrior knew he had been victorious. This boy, the Ultimate force against evil, was now his to shape.
The next few windows showed Ultima at different times throughout his training with his older self. He could remember every bit of it, every instruction, every lesson, but he stopped when he came to a vision he did not recognise.
"What's this?" Ultima asked.
"This is where you begin to learn the truth." Armageddon said. "Here you shall discover all you wish to know!"
Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa and Goldar al walked along the passageway that led to Armageddon's Chamber. None of them had really been along there. Crush was about the only one who went down that way to deliver the daily reports. None of the others ever saw him, they just received all their instructions via Crush.
"I still don't like this!" Goldar stuttered as they got nearer to the large doorway.
"Come on, Goldie, what are you? A monkey or a mouse?" Zedd asked him.
"I'd rather be a mouse than a dead monkey!" Goldar replied.
"He's not gonna do anything to us. He's probably still meditating, and if he's not, we've still got a list of excuses." Rita assured him.
They stood at the doors and pushed them. They slowly creaked open to reveal his chamber. "Erm, excuse us, Armageddon, sir. We were hoping you had a moment." Rita stuttered. As confident as she was in their plan, being in his presence was still daunting.
No answer came.
"Hello, anyone home?" Zedd called out a little louder. When they got no reply again he said, "Yes, this is perfect, he's still out of it."
They all walked in and headed for his throne. Rita and Zedd had their staffs ready in their hands while Goldar reluctantly readied his sword.
Inside the med lab at the Power Chamber, there was a lot of commotion. Alpha was running scans on Ultima while the others all waited for the results. He had suddenly started moving around a lot more and according to Alpha's scans, his brain activity had increased too.
"Alpha, what's going on? Is this good or bad?" Divatox asked frantically as she struggled to keep a hold of Ultima's hand.
"Ay-yi-yi, I don't know." Alpha said, running another scan.
"Please Alpha, do everything you can." Divatox pleaded.
"Hey, don't worry, he's gonna be fine!" Michelle said calmly.
"I hope you're right." Divatox said quietly.
Ultima watched closely.
The image showed him lying on some kind of bed, unconscious. Ultima (the older version) and several of his technicians were stood around him. There were all kinds of devices around them, it looked like some kind of medical/science lab.
"Has it started yet?" Ultima asked.
"Yes, the programming is under way right now." One of the assistants replied.
"Things are going exactly as they should. How are the preparations going for sending him back in time?" Ultima asked.
"Everything is ready. As soon as he receives his final instructions we can send him." Another technician replied.
"Perfect. This programming will assure my creation." Ultima said.
"Sir, I know you prefer us not to ask usually, but what exactly are you programming him to do in the past?" the first assistant asked.
"I suppose I can tell you." Ultima said. "I am sending him back to a time before I existed. The events I am programming him to undertake will ensure that I come to be. When he follows these instructions, he will attack the Samurai Rangers, a group of warriors from that time, and capture them. When another group of warriors arrive to help them, one of them will begin to change. Gradually, my evil will overtake him and I will be created, Armageddon will be born!"
"Who's Armageddon?" someone asked.
"Armageddon is the name I used after my creation. I will call this boy Ultima when I send him back in time. It will be Ultima that the Rangers fight, and then Armageddon will be born. After Ultima has assisted in my creation, the psychic programming I am building into him will transmit all the knowledge that I, myself, have now. When I destroy Ultima, I will reclaim my name to become the warrior you all serve today!" Ultima said.
"So you see, by wiping these events from the boy's memories, he will help in creating me, all the time believing that I am his older self. He will not even know he is helping me until it is too late. By that time my control over him will have failed, but that matters not. By then I will need him no longer. Let him realise his destiny. He will never stop me!" Ultima explained.
Ultima turned to face Armageddon, a look of thorough shock on his face. All the time Ultima had been in that time zone, he had believed he had been sent there by himself, but now he knew the truth.
"So you see, in a way you are my creator, and I am yours!" Armageddon said.
"You used me!" Ultima snarled.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Armageddon said.
"Tell me one thing. Was it ever my true nature to be evil?" Ultima snapped.
"No. The Zordlings were correct. You are a mighty force against evil, it is only my Power that has darkened your soul enough to fight the Rangers and obliterate this world." Armageddon commented. "But now your purpose is served, there is no need for that!"
Armageddon raised his hand and Ultima began to glow. The light seeped out of him and flowed into Armageddon's hand. Ultima fell to his knees and screamed out in pain. As soon as it was over, he stood up and asked, "What did you do?"
"I have freed you. You are no longer under my influence in any way!" Armageddon said. "So now that you are free to make your own choices, I offer you one. I will allow you to join me!"
"But I thought you said you took my name when you destroyed me!" Ultima said, pointing out his apparent mistake.
"As a very famous man once said, am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends with them?" Armageddon replied. "Think about this carefully. I am offering you the chance to join me. Just think about who's still going to be around in several millennia and who will just a be a group of forgotten warriors."
Ultima ran the choices through his mind carefully. Armageddon was correct, joining him was sensible, but right now, sensible didn't even enter his mind. He decided to go with what was right rather than sensible. "No deal. You would destroy everything to get your own way and I can not allow that!"
"Very well, have it your own way, but now you leave me with no choice. Now I must destroy you!" Armageddon said. Hardly before he had finished speaking, Ultima had jumped forward with a flying kick, knocked Armageddon to the ground and readied his sword to run him through.
"No. Now I must destroy you!" Ultima said as he looked down at the evil being.
"Maybe next time!" Armageddon said, then he vanished, back to the real world.
"Count on it!" Ultima shouted. He stood there, wondering what to do next, then he realized something. He had spent all this time looking at the windows that showed his past. He hadn't even looked at the images of his future.
He walked back along to the window he had first appeared by. Then he moved a few windows along. At first he seemed happy with what he saw, but as he carried on down the hallway, looking at his own future, his expression changed.
"No, this can't be! I can't let this happen. I have to stop them. I have to stop the Rangers!" Ultima gasped as he saw the events that approached in his life.
Just then, he started to fade away. He knew what was happening. His body was being revived, so his mind was returning. "No, not yet! I must see what happens!" he shouted out, but it was too late. He was leaving that place, returning to the regular world.
"I think he's waking up!" Divatox called out ecstatically. She watched closely as Ultima's eyes opened slightly.
"Ay-yi-yi. All scans show he is returning to normal." Alpha reported. "I can no longer detect anything wrong with him."
Ultima opened his eyes completely and looked around. "Divatox, Rangers." He stuttered. "Rangers, I have to warn you. .."
They all looked on eagerly, waiting for his warning, but it never came. "What is it?" Samurai Black asked.
"I. .. I don't remember. I don't remember anything after Armageddon left!" Ultima said quietly.
"Armageddon? What's been going on?" Divatox asked.
"Please, help me into the Power Chamber. Everyone must hear this." Ultima requested. "Have I got some news for you."
Rita, Zedd and Goldar walked around Armageddon's throne and stared in amazement at their almighty leader.
"Incredible!" Rita said quietly, flabbergasted.
"How can this be?" Zedd asked.
Suddenly, Armageddon awoke. He looked around at the three creatures beholding him. "I did not wish anyone to see me like this." Armageddon said. He went silent for a moment. "So you wish to destroy me and take my powers! I do not accept such behaviour. For this you will be destroyed!"
"No, sire, we're here to. .." Rita started.
"I do not want your excuses. I have seen your minds and I also see your intentions, now prepare for the end." Armageddon replied.
"No, please, we beg of you!" Zedd stuttered, panic-stricken.
"Too late, Zeddy!" Armageddon sneered. He held out his hand and the three monsters looked away. A flow of energy came from Rita and Zedd, all their power filtering through into Armageddon.
When Goldar dared to look around again, all he saw left of his two former masters were a pile of clothes and chrome exo-skeleton. "Master, why did you spare me?" Goldar stuttered, hoping he truly had been spared, and not just saved until last.
"I spared you for you have a rare quality, Goldar. You remain loyal, but only to the most powerful leader around. You are always able to assess the situation and determine the most advantageous situation for yourself. As well as this, you know you should fear me, and you are also an excellent warrior. As such, I have chosen you to become the general in my new army. Now go, and tell nobody that you have seen me like this, or you will share the same fate as your former masters." Armageddon explained.
"At once, sire!" Goldar replied. He quickly ran out of the room.
"All is going as it should, and the energy from those two has sped my recovery. Soon Rangers, very soon!" Armageddon swore.
Later on, Ultima had explained the events that had taken place. Right from his initial battle with Armageddon, right up to his return to the real world. They were all shocked to hear the story. They had all heard Ultima explain how it had been his older self that had sent him back in time, so this shocked them all.
What shocked them even more was the fact that Ultima was not, in fact, evil. He had not even chosen to attack the Earth by his own judgement, not even under a spell. Everything he had done right up until Armageddon's appearance had been pre-programmed into him.
"Now that you all know that what I did was not my fault, I ask you not to forgive me, but just to understand why I did it. Enslaving your world is unforgivable, and I should pay for my crimes, but had I not been under Armageddon's control, I assure you I would never have even considered it." Ultima explained.
Michelle stepped forward. She had been one of the most anti-Ultima in the group, as everyone knew, so this came as a shock to them all. "Throughout the history of the Rangers different people have been put under spells and forced to do evil. We have never blamed them for the things they have done in these situations. As such, I believe it is fair that we not blame you for what you did. I agree we can not forgive you. .. yet. But you have already started to prove your loyalty to us, and in time, I think you will show us that you can be trusted, and then, I promise, you will be forgiven."
They all listened to her talk, and all seemed to agree. Ultima was surprised and delighted by the words. They were more than he could ever have hoped for. Within the Rangers, he believed he had found the one thing that he hadn't had since he left his own world – true friends.
"Thank you everyone. You do not know how much that means to me." Ultima said, "And I swear, I will prove myself. Armageddon must, and will, be stopped. With the Samurai Rangers and Ultima fighting side by side, no evil shall stand a chance! I just wish I could remember what I had to warn you. All I know is. .. it was bad. Very, very bad!"