Divided We Fall: Chapter One – The Transdimensional Archives

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See my first ever fanfic, "'Welcome to the Saga', for the disclaimer. Author's notes – this story takes place in early April, almost a full month after the events in "'Animalia'. Now, with this story's major badguy, Ultramarine, I've started a trend that will continue but really started with Animalia – having badguys who are not really monsters, but villains in their own right, with backgrounds and histories.

<h5><center>Divided We Fall Chapter One By Peter J. Smith</center></h5>

At first, he'd reacted to the news with joy. After all, returning north meant returning home. His home. The place where he'd been born and had grown up with his family. Moving itself was a pain, sure, and he'd miss Caloundra, but his home was in the northern tropics, in a small town called Ingham, and he was overjoyed at the thought of returning there. But quite suddenly, it had hit him like a fist to the gut – he'd have to leave his friends. But it was more than that – he'd have to leave the team. And he was not sure that was something that he wanted to happen. Not after everything that had happened, and not after all the adventures that they'd shared. No, he couldn't do it, and he set his mind to talk to his friends about it. <center>~*~</center> By now, summer had well and truly turned into autumn. Storm clouds were now a regular sight in the sky most afternoons and despite the weather generally remaining hot and sticky, temperatures were slowly falling (although if you ask me, Caloundra's annual temperature range goes from hot to unbearably hot and then back again). At school, we celebrated the change by having the school council election, which is essentially a popularity contest for the year sevens, and everyone was getting really worked up because school camp was fast approaching. A new sandwich bar opened that week in Dicky Beach, and being the sandwich bar connoisseurs that we were, Jason, Zac, Brendan and I decided to check it out. Now yes, the name of the beach does sound a little suss, but the beach actually gets its name from a ship, the HMS Dicky, that was wrecked on the beach in 1893. The new sandwich bar lay in a line of shops along Beerburrum Street, a road which follows the coastline from Currimundi into town. Opposite the shops and right on the beach is a caravan park with a stone monument to the HMS Dicky that holds the anchor of the ill-fated ship. The city council was always planning to build a skatebowl there, but never actually got around to doing it. "Nah," I said with a shake of my head, sitting on a plastic chair on the footpath outside the sandwich bar, "telekinesis is easy compared to telepathy. I mean, I can blow stuff up just fine and use my mental energy for all sorts of things, but getting inside someone's mind and being able to read their thoughts, that's a killer." Brendan nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Have you had much practice?" "Billy volunteered to help me in the Command Centre a couple of times, but I couldn't for the life of me manage anything. And I tried once at school, but I felt really guilty about it afterwards, so I promised myself that I wouldn't do it again." "How come?" "Well, think about it, you get upset when someone reads over your shoulder, right?" He nodded in agreement, and I continued. "So, how would you feel if someone could explore your mind? Hell, it gives me the creeps. So, I promised myself that I wouldn't tinker around in people's brains." Hearing voices behind me, I turned around. "Oh hey – our food has arrived." Behind us, Jason and Zac were skillfully weaving their way around tables, umbrella stands and chairs towards us, each carrying a tray of assorted food. "Wow," exclaimed Brendan, as Jason and Zac put the trays onto our table and grabbed chairs from nearby tables, "that was fast." "Service," grinned Jason, with two thumbs up. "Okay Peter, here's one strawberry milkshake and one sausage roll," and he slid both items off the tray and across the table to me. Zac gave Brendan his coca cola, then took a sip from his own bottle. "Three cokes and one milkshake," he said amiably, "you individual, you." "Yuck," I replied, watching Jason drink his cola. "Can't stand the stuff. Tastes like malted battery acid. Give me a Sprite, Fanta or good ol' fashioned milkshake any day of the week." Zac laughed. "Man, Ernie would skin us alive if he knew we'd strayed." "I won't tell if you won't," replied Jason in between mouthfuls of his hamburger. "Boy, this is good." Brendan reached across the table to steal some chips from Zac's plate, but Zac swatted his hand away. "Meanie," laughed Brendan. "Man, it sucks that you guys get tomorrow off," said Zac good-naturedly. "I wish our teachers went to interstate teachers' conferences." "Yeah," agreed Jason with a smile. "I also wish that they didn't give us ultra-hard tests." "Big one tomorrow?" I asked. "Big one tomorrow," Jason replied. "Some majorly important thing that we can't miss "'cause it'll affect us next year." "Nasty," said Brendan. "Shouldn't you be home studying?" "How could I be expected to sit at home and study on a beautiful day like this?" Zac asked with a lopsided grin, before taking another huge bite out of his hamburger. <center>~*~</center> "What am I going to do now?" wailed Rita Repulsa, seated in the throne room of her lunar castle as Goldar stood over her. "No-one has ever defeated an entire team of twelve rangers before. And one of them even has the rainbow power…" "My queen," began Goldar, "you needn't worry. I think I've come up with a plan that will surely end your troubles." Rita looked up to him. "If you've got something Goldar, throw it at me." Goldar nodded. "Well, I was thinking, why don't we use the age old tactic of divide and conquer?" "We already have," Rita replied irritably, "countless times." "On the senior team," said Goldar, treading gently, "but if we were to catch the inexperienced junior team away from the seniors, split them up, and use something powerful to destroy one or two of them, it would then be ridiculously easy to wipe out the rest of the team." "Why Goldar, that's brilliant!" exclaimed Rita, genuinely impressed. "But who, or what, was the "'something powerful' that you mentioned?" Goldar grinned evilly. "An old enemy of Zordon's. You've worked with him before. He is trained in countless forms of conflict. He can, and he has, taken on entire armies single-handedly, and annihilated all of his opponents down to the last man." "You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you?" Goldar nodded. "He would be perfect." "You're right," agreed Rita wearily, "but Ultramarine may not be too pleased to see us. But come," and she got to her feet, grabbing her wand, "we might as well give it a try." <center>~*~</center> The mountains rose up in front of Rita and Goldar as they approached the foothills. Mist clung to the mountainous peaks like a protective shield, and the forests that the mountain range rose from were also dark and forbidding. Black clouds covered the sky, completely preventing light from penetrating them, and the usual noises one would expect to hear from a heavily forested area, like birds chirping, were absent. The landscape was dark, grim and silent. "There's another abandoned village," said Goldar, pointing with his sword down to a cluster of small wooden huts that lay near the road he and Rita were travelling on. There were no people in sight, and the small village was silent. Rita correctly guessed that, even if they did take a look around, they wouldn't find anyone. "Three guesses why," finished Goldar. "I think I only need one," replied Rita. "I never remember the planet Horath being so, uh, dead." "We must be in a bad neighbourhood," said Goldar. "Look my queen – there is the cave we seek." Rita followed Goldar's pointing hand down to a cave in the side of a mountain. The entrance was as black as night, and the stalactites and stalagmites around the entrance gave it the appearance of a grinning skull. Rita was about to ask Goldar how he knew for sure whether or not this was the cave that they were looking for, but then she caught sight of two piles of human skulls, one on either side of the cave. "That's his calling card," she said with a nod. Taking the lead, Rita walked over and, summoning up courage, she entered the cave. Burning torches lit the way, and the two of them followed the tunnel deeper and deeper into the mountain. There was no risk of being lost – they had the torches to follow, and anyway, they didn't notice a single fork in the tunnel. Finally, the tunnel opened up into a huge dark cave – there were no torches in sight, but there was enough light for Rita to see that the tunnel went no further. "I don't see anything," remarked Goldar, listening to his voice echo through the enormous cavern. "Maybe he's out…" But he was cut off by a voice that boomed from the darkness at the far end of the cave, a voice that was dry and croaky yet still loud. "Who dares enter my home?" the voice asked. "It's me, Rita Repulsa," replied Rita, suddenly noticing with alarm the two glowing red eyes peering out of the darkness at her and Goldar. "Rita?!?" boomed the voice, its astonishment soon turning to downright anger. "I thought we had an agreement. Why did you come here?" Rita paused, took a deep breath, and then spoke. "I've come to ask a favour." A laugh echoed from the darkness, a dry, evil laugh. "So, the great Rita Repulsa needs help. My help." There was silence after this, and Rita grew increasingly nervous. Finally, the voice spoke. "What do you want?" it asked bluntly. Rita took a step forward. "Have you heard of the Power Rangers?" There was another evil chuckle from the shadows. "Everyone in this galaxy knows of your ongoing fight with the Earthen Power Rangers. Having trouble with a few Earthlings, are we?" Rita ignored the insult, expecting no less, and continued. "Simply put, Ultramarine, I've come to ask you whether or not you could help me annihilate the Power Rangers once and for all." In the darkness, the one Rita called Ultramarine paused thoughtfully a few seconds. "What's in it for me?" the gruff voice asked. Rita smiled, not remotely surprised at the question but surprised that the speaker had taken this long to ask it. "How about the chance to have your name at the top of my Christmas card list?" There came an angry growl from the shadows, and suddenly, there was movement – something that glinted silver in the low-light slashed out at a tall, thick stalagmite that was several feet away from Goldar. There was the harsh sound of metal striking stone, before the tip of the stalagmite fell with a crash at Goldar's feet, sending up a small dust cloud. Rita involuntarily shivered – Ultramarine had just cleaved clean through a foot-thick hunk of rock. "Don't play games with me witch," came the voice, in obvious anger. "If you help me destroy the Power Rangers," said Rita quickly, "you could have an entire planet's population for slaves and vast natural resources at your disposal for future conquests. How does that sound?" Rita waited for a response, but she didn't have to wait for long. "My interest is piqued, witch," the voice replied. "Maybe there is a deal to be cut here…" <center>~*~</center> The six of us celebrated our day off by heading into town. Caloundra's CBD is essentially the main street, Bulcock Street, which receives its name from the beach that lies several hundred metres away. In turn, Bulcock Beach is named after Robert Bulcock, the first man to settle in Caloundra – he built a homestead where Bulcock Street is now in 1875. Bulcock Street runs past the Strand, Caloundra's only movie theatre, at the top end of town, all the way down to Sunland, Caloundra's largest shopping mall and a favourite hangout for local teenagers. "Jurassic Park," I said, as we walked past a bookstore, "definitely Jurassic Park. It scared the living daylights out of me, but I loved it just the same. And second, maybe Batman." "You know," said Brendan, "I could have picked that about you." "Yeah well," began Scott, walking beside Sarah, "for me it was Star Wars. That film is a classic in its own right." "You're a "'Warsie'?" asked Sarah with amusement. "I prefer the term, "'Star Warrior'," Scott grinned. "How about you?" Sarah shook her head. "I don't really have any favourites. I just like a lot of films." "Same," agreed Brendan, "although I do admit, I did like Jurassic Park, but only "'cause those raptors were scary as heck." "Hey, how about we cross here?" asked Teresa, walking over to the crossing. "I have to pick up something from a shop on the other side." Agreeing, we turned and crossed the road, the cars on either side of the road stopping for us. Reaching the other side, we continued down the street. "Hey," I said to Aaron, as the other four walked on ahead, "you're pretty quiet today. What's wrong?" Aaron shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just thinking about a lot of stuff." "You sure?" I probed. "I'm fine. Really," he smiled, and noticing that everyone was now way ahead of us, he said, "hey, we better catch up, they're leaving us behind." <center>~*~</center> Scorpina and Goldar raced into the observatory. "What's the matter?" asked Rita, getting up off her throne and going over to them. "Rita," said Scorpina quickly, "the junior team are on their own in Caloundra." Rita grinned wickedly. "Really?" she asked. Goldar nodded. "Yes my queen." "Excellent," she replied. "That saves us a lot of trouble. My plan can begin," and she turned to where a shadowy figure stood in the darkest corner of the observatory, keenly watching the proceedings with two red eyes. "Ultramarine, you heard that, didn't you? Go down there and get phase one of my plan moving. You do remember which Ranger to single out, don't you?" There was a barely audible grunt from the darkness, and then the figure disappeared, leaving behind a faint blue vapour trail. "You know," said Rita, turning back to Goldar and Scorpina, "I get the feeling that he doesn't like me." <center>~*~</center> "Hey Peter," said Teresa, pointing down Minchinton Street, "doesn't your mother work in a dental surgery down there?" "Yep," I replied, as we crossed the intersection. "Man," said Aaron, "my stomach is rumbling. Who's up for lunch?" I nodded. "Absolutely. I know this great little bakery. It's just across the road here." "Caloundra Hot Bread?" asked Sarah. "Yeah. I swear they make the best sausage rolls in Caloundra." "Sounds good to me," agreed Scott. Suddenly, our communicators all chimed. We immediately scanned the area, but we were in a crowded city street, not the perfect place for privacy. I then remembered that the ANZ Bank's underground carpark was usually empty, so I pointed towards the staircase which led down to the carpark. Everyone guessed what I meant, and we quickly ran over, down the stairs and into the darkened carpark. It was devoid of people. "We're all here," I said into my communicator. "Rangers," came Zordon's voice. I noticed our mentor sounded a little more tense than normal. "We have detected a disturbance in downtown Caloundra, in the park just near the public library…" "Well that's right near here," said Sarah. "Yeah," agreed Scott. "We can morph and be there in an instant." "No," replied Zordon quickly. "Please come to the Command Centre." I looked around at the others, confused. "But Zordon, wouldn't it be quicker if we just went there without heading back to the Command Centre first?" "Not necessarily," Zordon replied. "Just please come to the Command Centre." And the communicator fell silent. "Oh well, you heard what the man said," said Teresa, and with that, we all clicked the buttons on our communicators and disappeared in bright flashes of light. beËs