[See The Dark Warrior: Part I for disclaimer]
Defenders of Earth
By Dark Warrior Ranger
By Dark Warrior Ranger
Part I: Old Friends
"I just thought of something," Carlos said before everyone split up.
"What?" Ashley asked.
"While we're gone, who will defend Earth? Astronema's definitely going to attack."
"Yeah, that's right," T.J. said.
"We have to think of people we can trust," Andros said. "People we know. What about your friend Justin? He seems pretty capable."
"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "But he can't be the only one."
"I can get Adam to help out," Carlos suggested. "And I'm sure he can ask Tommy, Tanya, and Kat to help out."
"The five of them won't be enough," Dark Warrior said.
"They're going to have to be," Zhane said. "That's all we've got."
"The question is," Andros said, "do they still have morphers?"
"If Justin had his, I'm sure the others must have theirs," Cassie said.
"What do you think we should do, Dark Warrior?" Andros asked.
"Teleport them here," Dark Warrior said.
A couple of minutes later, Tommy, Kat, Tanya, Adam, and Justin were on the bridge of the Astro Megaship. Justin was the only one of them who didn't seem to be shocked. The others looked like they had seen ghosts when they looked at the new Zeo Rangers. "Carlos?" Adam said. "What's goin' on?"
"Yeah," Tanya said. "We were all hanging out, then all of a sudden, we were here."
"We brought you here because we need your help," T.J. said.
"What do we need to do?" Tommy asked.
"We're going on a rescue mission to Triforia," Cassie began to explain. "We need you to stay on Earth and protect it while we're away."
"Don't worry," Kat said. "We've handled Divatox before and we can do it again."
"Guys," Justin said. "We're not going up against Divatox. She's gone."
"Then who's in charge?" Adam said.
"Astronema," Justin answered. "Her forces are a little more powerful than Divatox's."
Andros brought up the forces of evil on the viewscreen. "This is Astronema," he said, pointing. "Next to her is her bodyguard Ecliptor. He usually leads most of Astronema's attacks. Then there are the Quantrons. They are Astronema's henchmen."
"That's all we need to know, right?" Tanya asked.
"No," Andros said. "One other thing. The Psycho Rangers. They can match us in every way — speed, intellect. They know us inside-out."
"So how do we beat them?" Adam asked.
"The only thing is that you don't let your guard down. They'll want to absorb your energy," Andros said.
"What about Zords?" Tommy asked.
"Give me your Turbo morphers," Dark Warrior said.
They all handed their Turbo morphers to him. The Dark Warrior concentrated hard on them. He chanted, "By the power of Morpheus. I summon forth — Mountain Blaster, Dune Star, Wind Chaser, Desert Thunder, and Red Lightning." Then he handed the morphers back to them.
"You are now able to morph and call upon your Zords," Dark Warrior said.
"We don't have much time," Trey reminded them.
"You have everything you need to know," Dark Warrior said. "Now we must leave and so do you. Remember, let the power protect you."
"You can count on us," Tommy said. "Well guys, it's been a long time. Back to Action!" Then they were off the bridge.
"Now let's split up," Dark Warrior said. Secretly he said to himself, "I vow that I will rescue Zordon with every ounce of my power. Or die trying."
Part II: Turbo vs. Psycho
"D.E.C.A.," Andros said. "Prepare for ship detachment."
"Ship detachment engaged," D.E.C.A. reported.
"Dark Warrior, do you copy?" Andros said.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm preparing to take off now." The Warrior Megaship took off from the bay.
In about ten minutes, the three ships were on a course to Triforia.
Meanwhile on the Dark Fortress…
"Astronema, the Astro Megaship just showed up on our scanners," Ecliptor reported. "It showed the Astro Megaship, Warrior Megaship, and Pyramidas on a maximum power course to Triforia."
"Send a monster to follow them," Astronema said.
"Yes, my princess," Ecliptor replied. "Invisitron, now!" In a moment, a monster came from out of the shadows.
"What is it you desire, Ecliptor?" It asked in a metallic, evil voice.
"I want you to follow the Power Rangers. And then destroy them," Ecliptor said.
"I will do it." Then Invisitron took off.
"There's something on our scanners," Cassie said.
"What?" Dark Warrior asked.
"It's some kind of energy signature following Andros's team. Now it's gone."
"That's no energy signature," Dark Warrior said. "That's one of Astronema's monsters. Invisitron. Computer, ready space armor."
"Where are you going?" Dex asked.
"To go stop that thing."
Back on Earth…
"Where are you Power Rangers?" Psycho Red said. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
"All right, guys!" Tommy said. "Auto Blasters now!"
"Right," they all said.
"Fire!" Five beams of colored light fired at the Psycho Rangers. The explosion threw them back.
"New powers won't help you," Psycho Blue said. "I'll beat you anyway, Blue Ranger."
"Oh yeah?" Justin said. "We'll see about that." Justin charged for Psycho Blue, but Tommy stopped him.
"Don't worry about your friend, Red Ranger," Psycho Red said. "He'll be fine. Unlike you." Psycho Red charged at Tommy. Tommy blocked his punch and then kicked him and threw him over his shoulder. Justin also threw Psycho Blue to the ground. The Turbo Rangers were winning.
"Something's wrong," Psycho Black said. "These aren't the same rangers."
"What are you trying to say?" Psycho Red asked. "That they're imposters?"
"We're no imposters," Tommy said. "We're real Power Rangers."
"We've got to absorb their energy," Psycho Yellow suggested. "That way we'll know how to beat them."
"Come on and try," Kat said.
"With pleasure," Psycho Yellow said.
"All right, guys," Tommy said. "Turbo R.A.M. now." The Psycho Rangers were
charging. "Turbo R.A.M. fire!" they all said. The beam was so powerful it knocked all five Psycho Rangers down in one blow.
"Now you've got us mad," Psycho Pink said.
"I agree," Psycho Red said. "Psychos, accelerate to destruction speed." The Psychos were moving so fast that they only looked like balls of light now.
"What the…?" Adam said.
"Just keep a sharp eye out guys," Tommy said. "As soon as they're visible again, we attack."
"Come on, Invisitron," Dark Warrior said.
"All right, Dark Warrior. Take this!" Invisitron had fired a very high powered laser beam.
"Solar Staff!" Dark Warrior called. "Batter up." The Dark Warrior slammed the laser beam back at Invisitron. It hit him in the chest and he went flying back.
"Lucky shot" he said. "But, now you see me, now you don't." He had disappeared.
"Two can play at this game," Dark Warrior said. He wrapped his cape around himself to make himself invisible as well. "Solar Staff, search mode." The staff immediately shone a dimly lit beam out. Finally, he saw a shadow move across a star "Peek-a-boo," he said. Solar Staff, whip mode."
The whip wrapped around Invisitron. Then Invisitron saw the Dark Warrior and they both decloaked. "Let go of me," he said.
"You wish," Dark Warrior said. Then he noticed that the two of them were nearing a black hole.
"I said let…me…go!!!" Invisitron yelled.
"Okay," Dark Warrior said. He threw Invisitron into the black hole.
"Hey, let me out of here," Invisitron said.
"Here's a little parting gift," Dark Warrior said. He threw a charger in there after Invisitron. Then he sealed the black hole. "That's the end of Invisitron." He returned to the ship.
"Computer," Dex said. "How long before we reach Triforia?" "Twenty nine hours, forty minutes, eighteen seconds," it responded.
"Gotcha," Psycho Blue said and he grabbed Justin. The same thing happened to Tanya, Adam, and Kat.
"Tommy, help us!" they all cried.
Tommy looked for Psycho Red. He saw the red beam coming towards him. "Turbo Lightning Sword!" he said quickly. "Ai-yah!" he said as he took one mighty swing at Psycho Red. Psycho Red fell to the ground. Tommy rushed to save his friends.
"You're next," Psycho Blue said.
"Psycho Rangers," Ecliptor said. "Return to the Dark Fortress. You need to recharge."
"Yes Ecliptor," Psycho Blue said. "And we're bringing some prisoners." Then they all teleported out of there. Only Tommy was left standing in the middle of Angel Grove Park. They were gone and they were draining his friends' energies. What could he do?
Part III: The Ultimate Plan
"We are nearing Triforia," the computer reported.
"Good," Dark Warrior said. "Trey, do you copy?"
"Right here," Trey said.
"Is there any place we can teleport that will keep us away from Rita and Zedd's forces?"
"I think. Let me check. Yeah, lock in these coordinates- 52 degrees latitude, 61 degrees longitude. If I'm right, there should be an abandoned outpost there. And the area has been uninhabited."
"Zhane, do you have the coordinates locked in as well?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "I have an idea."
"What?" Ashley asked.
"Everyone meet me down there. It's too unsafe to talk up here. They could have communication arrays."
Back on Earth, Tommy walked through the park, thinking about what had just happened. The voices were in his head, "Tommy, help us."
"Did I make the right decision?" he wondered.
Meanwhile on the Dark Fortress, Astronema had the other Turbo Rangers chained up in the dungeon. "Welcome," she said to them.
"Let us out of here," Kat said. Astronema fired a laser beam out of her finger at Kat.
"You will speak only when I say so. Is that clear?"
"We'll never give in to you," Adam said. Astronema raised her finger. "Go ahead," Adam said. "I'm willing to take it." She put her finger down. She realized Adam was being clever. She knew that if she fired, Adam would duck and it would hit the cuffs.
"I'll be back shortly," Astronema said. "Ecliptor stand guard."
"Yes, Astronema," he said.
Tommy was now sitting at a bench on the outside of the park. He was still wondering if he did the right thing. Then all of a sudden, Astronema appeared with a bunch of Quantrons. Tommy looked up. "Shift into Turbo," he said. "Red Lightning Turbo Power!" He then appeared as the Red Ranger.
"I want my friends back Astronema," he said.
"Quantrons get him!"
"Ai-yah!" Tommy fought the Quantrons for a while. Then finally, after some furious battle he defeated them. "I'll tell you again. I want my friends back."
"First," Astronema said. "Tell me where the Dragon Dagger is."
"You'll never get your hands on that." Astronema walked towards him. She fired a beam out of her wrath staff. It caused Tommy to flip in front of Astronema. Astronema picked Tommy up by the neck and began choking him.
"I'll ask you again. Where is the Dragon Dagger?!"
"I'll never tell you."
"You had better, because if you don't, your friends will pay the price."
"It's at the bottom of the Sea of Sorrow."
"I knew you'd see it my way."
"Give me back my friends, now. I've told you what you wanted to know."
"I've decided to keep them." Tommy charged at Astronema but she teleported a second before.
On the abandoned Triforian outpost the nine of them met. "What's your plan?" Andros asked.
"I got to thinking that we need to weaken Rita and Zedd's forces," Zhane began. "So, the Dark Warrior, me, and Dex go in first. We go in full power. You guys stay back out of sight, but be ready to strike at a moment's notice."
"Okay," Andros said.
"Trey," Dark Warrior said. "Take them to a place where you can come out at any time. If you encounter any of their forces, fight them off and join us."
"Right." Then they all split up.
Dark Warrior, Zhane, and Dex hid behind a ridge. "Dex, you'd better dress up more appropriately."
"Right," he said. "Masked Rider Super Gold!"
"Defender Power, now!" Dark Warrior called. In an instant there was his Solar Staff in his right hand with a modification. It had something that looked like garlic on top.
"I don't think there are any vampires here," Zhane said.
"No, this opens and fires an extremely high-powered solar beam," Dark Warrior said. "And I can also put the two ends all the way back to make a wide beam that will knock an entire regiment to the ground." In the Dark Warrior's left hand there were two silver claws attached to a black cuff.
"Zhane, take this," he said.
"What is it?"
"It's a power magnifier. With this on, the ratio of your power will be 20 to 1."
"So I'll be twenty times as powerful."
"Exactly."
"Guys, when should we strike?" Dex asked.
"On my mark," Dark Warrior said. "Now!!" The three of them stood on top of the ridge.
"What the…" Zedd said.
"We're here to rescue Zordon," Dark Warrior said. "And you're not going to stand in our way, Zedd."
"Well, we'll see about that, Dark loser," Rita said.
"GET THEM!!!!" Zedd yelled. Swarms of Tengas and Putties came from all around and up the ridge.
"All right guys," Dark Warrior said. "POWER UP!!!"
Part IV: Redemption
The Dark Warrior, Zhane, and Dex went in. They were being triple and quadruple teamed. But, they still fought them off. Now, the new Zeo Rangers and the Gold Ranger had joined in. They were fighting off the Tengas and Putties as well. Zedd and Rita were not pleased about this. Now, a batallion of monsters were engaging in battle. Enormous bursts of power emerged as the battle raged on.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Tommy was racing against Astronema to get the Dragon Dagger. "The Dragonzord can't turn to evil again," Tommy said. "I won't let it happen."
On board the Dark Fortress's dungeon, the other Turbo Rangers were still locked up beside the wall. Then, the Psycho Rangers came in.
"Let's get some energy," Psycho Yellow said, putting her hand close to Tanya's helmet. Tanya was moving her head around to avoid Psycho Yellow's arm.
"Don't resist me," Psycho Yellow said. "I will have your energy."
On Triforia, the monsters were overpowering all the rangers and the Masked Rider. They were all extremely weak. "We've…got…to keep fighting," Andros said. The Dark Warrior rushed over to all of them.
"All of you are in no condition to fight," he said. "Alpha, teleport everyone but me to the ship and get as far away from here as possible."
"But…" Alpha said.
"Just do it."
"You can't," Cassie said.
"I'll be fine."
"We won't leave you!" Andros said.
"You have no choice. I'll be okay. Trust me. I've faced tougher villians. A lot tougher."
The eight of them teleported.
"What's this?" Zedd said. "One lone idiot fighting against the forces of evil? You'll never get Zordon. You'll have to go through all of us."
"And look," Rita said pointing toward the sky. "Dark Specter is already taking off. What will you do?"
"This," Dark Warrior said. "Solar Staff, full power. Wide-spread beam, now!!!!" The beam fired out a light almost blinding. When he looked up, all the monsters were still there.
"What?"
"Ha ha," Zedd said. "We've coated our monsters with Ada-Silicon which…"
"Which opposes my beam. Very clever Zedd, but not good enough. I'm still getting Zordon."
"Alpha we're going back down," Andros said.
"I agree." Zhane said.
"None of you are going anywhere," Alpha said. "You're all very weak. You need to rest. The Dark Warrior will be fine. I've known him for a long time. I've seen the creatures he has faced. He can handle it."
"Ecliptor," Astronema said. "Have you located the Dragon Dagger?"
"Not yet. Wait a minute. Here it is. I believe if you fire a beam from your staff forty three kilometers down it will reach the ocean floor and send the dagger up to us."
Astronema did it. A purple beam fired from her wrath staff into the water. A few seconds later, the Dragon Dagger rose to the surface, then up in the air. "I'll take that," Tommy said. He flipped out in front of Astronema, then he grabbed the Dragon Dagger. Astronema was about to fire at Tommy, but he kicked the staff out of her hand. "Later."
"Not so fast," Astronema said. "Remember, the dagger for your friends."
"You don't know what this can do," Tommy said. "Before I threw it in, Alpha made a few adjustments. Now it can open a gateway to another place, but just for a brief moment. Enough for one person to pass through."
Tommy opened a portal to the Dark Fortress dungeon. "Face it, Astronema. You'll never defeat me." Then he went in.
"The energy drain is about to begin," Psycho Blue said. "I'm going to enjoy draining your energy, Blue Ranger."
"Don't worry, guys," Adam said. "Whatever happens, Tommy is still out there."
"He can't save you now," Psycho Yellow said. Just then, some laser beams fired at Psycho Yellow.
"Wanna bet?" Tommy asked.
"You're too late, Red Ranger," Psycho Black said.
"Tommy! Behind you," Justin said. Tommy turned around to find Psycho Red doing an air attack. Tommy fired just in time. Psycho Red fell backwards and landed on the ground.
"One down. Four to go."
"You wanna challenge all of us?" Psycho Pink asked.
"Not just me." Tommy said. He fired several shots at the chains and freed the other rangers.
"ISTAN ILLUMINA!!!" Dark Warrior yelled.
"Zeddy, help me," Rita said. "I can't see."
"You're not the only one," Zedd replied.
"HUMANA!!" Dark Warrior yelled. He vanished into thin air. He appeared beside Rita just as everyone regained their vision. Dark Warrior took his Solar Staff and held it against Rita's chin.
"Let go of her," Zedd commanded.
"Unless you want your wife to be permanently blind, you'll let me pass," Dark Warrior said.
"Hmm…" Zedd said. "Let me think about it."
"Zeddy!"
"What?"
"I can't believe you have to think about it."
"All right. But you'll never catch Dark Specter, fool."
"We'll see." He then teleported out of there.
A ship moving at maximum speed flew past the front of the Astro Megaship. "What was that?" Cassie asked.
"The Warrior Megaship has disengaged link," D.E.C.A. reported.
"Why?" Carlos wondered.
"Ay-yi-yi," Alpha said.
"What is it?" Andros asked.
"Dark Specter has left Triforia."
"That means…" Ashley began.
"…he's taking on Dark Specter by himself," Cassie continued.
"D.E.C.A.," T.J. said. "Follow the Warrior Megaship. Hyperush nine."
"Acknowledged."
*ß