SkyBase was a hub activity over the past few weeks. Not only was the new staff from NodrozCorp. revitalizing the entire facility, they'd also been engaged in a community outreach program to help the citizens of Starkweather Valley deal with the nearly continuous alien attacks. That meant that the Dynamic Power Rangers had not been idle. Enrique Ramon started his career with a bang. The only problem was, his MicroDyna Zord was still unable to upgrade to a Macro form.

  His twin sister, Marisol Ramon, had taken over his duty with the Caervinian computer systems and bailing them out at last minute. He liked to tease her that if he werre still manning the database he'd have found it by now.

  Mars, as she was affectionately known, looked over her glasses at him and raised a brow. "Fine, then. You sit here and I'll go out in a shint green suit and play superhero," she told him.

  Ram shook his head. "Nah. Green's not your color," he said. Mars just made a sound somewhere between a scoff and snort and went back to work. She actually had come to the conclusion that the code for the MacroZord hadn't been entered into the system yet and it was up to her to write it from scratch.

  Although the Rangers managed to keep the forces of the War Stars at bay, Taylor Hicks was no closer to freeing Rena Hart from being possessed by Azula. He hadn't seen her lately nor had Sylon had any direct involvement in the schemes. It made him think they were up to something.

  He was pacing the rafters one night after his shift. "Sweetie, you driving my patients crazy," Tempest Strong told him.

  "I'd apologize but I know I'm not making any noise," he said and jumped to the floor beside her. He gave her a small, crooked grin.

  "Okay, you are driving me crazy, then," she said, returning his grin. She yawned and stretched. It had been a long day and watching Taylor stalk around was unsettling. "Something particular eating you up?" she asked. "Or, should I say, someone?" she said pointedly.

  "Several someones, not just that particular someone. Although I've had one than one impatient call lately asking about my progress," he groused.

  "And have you deciphered whatever mysto-mumbo-jumbo Dr. Crankypants was saying?" she asked.

  Taylor bit back a laugh. "You shouldn't keep calling her that. She's liable to be watching you at any moment," he warned her.

  Tempest shrugged. "I'll just hide behind you," she said. "It's late. You're shift is over. As the base's leading medical professional, I advise you get some sleep," she told him. "Don't make me get tough with you," she told him, putting her hands on her hips and looking at him sternly.

  Taylor chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. Nobody wants that. I'll get some sleep. If not, I can always meditate," he said, rubbing his face. "Good night, Tempe," he said.

  "Night, sweetie," she said and they went their sepate ways. Tempest insisted on sleeping on the ground floor and Taylor insisted on sleeping as high as possible.

  --/-\--

  Taylor was right to worry about Sylon and Azula. Sylon mostly kept to the Warstars ship or his own hidden lair while he worked on several side projects. Azula, having been seen by the Warstars helping the Power Rangers, had kept a low profile. She was going stir crazy. "When will what you promised me be ready?" she demanded of him. "If I don't get some fresh air soon, both my host and I will expire," she told him as she paced.

  "Do dial back the dramatics, my love. It is almost complete, but I wanted to try this first," he said, holding up a small metallic device adorned with only one button.

  "A garage door opener?" Azula asked, wrinkling her nose.

  Sylon sighed and rubbed his face. "I don't want to know what a garage is or why it has a door that must be remotely opened. No, my dear. This will help me defeat the Power Rangers and locate Skycrest once and for all," he gloated.

  Intrigued, Azula looked at the device with new wonder. "And how will it do that, my love?" she asked.

  Sylon smirked. "You'll see," he said. An alert began beeping. He made a disgusted face. "At least I can count on them for the distraction I'll need," he said. He activated his alien disguise and disappeared, leaving Azula alone.

  She pounded her fists on his work table. "Forget it. I'm not staying cooped up another minute!" she said and disappeared with a crack of lightning.

  --/-\--

  Devourer

  Sylon walked onto the bridge where Drage and Kragar awaited him. "I was summoned in the middle of the night for what purpose?" he asked.

  "It's space. It's always night," Kragar growled at him.

  Sylon blinked. "Astutely put. I am impressed," he said. "There might be more than rocks in that head of your after all," he drawled.

  Kragar growled and stepped forward.

  Drage gave a slight chuckle. "Enough. I grow weary of the fight with this planet," he said, looking over a view screen at the blue and white orb that was Earth.

  Sylon was taken slightly aback. "You aren't going to retreat, surely?" he asked.

  "Blasphemus fool!" Kragar snarled.

  Drage held up an arm to forstall Kragar. "It was a fair question, considering the way I phrased myself. No, Sylon. I am not retreating, This time the Rangers won't know what to do. And neither will this planet. I'm going to prepare. I'll call for you when I'm ready, Kragar," he said and walked off the bridge.

  Drage was going to enter the fight himself? That might actually be the opportunity he needed. And yet, something unsetteled Sylon. "What are you and your boss up to?" he asked Kragar.

  Kragar snorted smugly. "That's between myself and the Captain," he said and strutted off himself.

  Sylon frowned. A bad feeling was crawling up his spine. But this was his chance. He knew it.

  --/-\--

  Dr. Lark Walker came into the Lab with her head down, looking at something on her tablet. Ram, who'd been helping his sister noticed her first because Mars was tuning out the world with a pair of noise cancelling headphones and some rock music blaring. "What's up, Doc?" he asked.

  Lark looked up and blinked at him. "Oh, nothing, Mr. Ramon. At least I don't think so. One of the new staff turned in a strange report about something she found in another building on the base. I'm not sure what to think of it," she said.

  Ram jostled his sister to get her attention. She blinked and pulled off her headphones. "Hmm?" she asked absently. She finally noticed Lark, her boss, and paled slightly. "Am I in trouble?" she whispered to her brother.

  Ram shook his head. "Let's pull up the base schematics. Which building, Doc?" he asked.

  Mars tapped a few keys on her interface and several diagrams and blueprints of the base lit up on several screens in the lab. Lark directed them to a small medical facility in a part of the island that hadn't completed construction yet. "I don't see anything interesting. What did the staffer see?" Ram asked.

  "That's what's not quite clear. She said she saw something but can't remember what it was," she said with a frown. "She knows she saw it clearly but when she went to find someone, she forgot what she was supposed to be telling them she found."

  "I'll round up Sin and Gore and we'll take some video equipment to check it out," Ram said.

  "We were already summoned," Gregory Houston said as he and his best friend, Sinclair Monning, walked in.

  "What's the problem, Lark?" Sin asked.

  Lark breifly filled them in on the conumdrum. They were preparing to go check it out when the Alien Alert System began to sound. "Looks like it'll have to wait," Gore declared.

  "Good luck," Mars said, and put her headphones back on. She cracked her fingers and got back to work.

  The Rangers ran to the teleport.

  --/-\--

  Taylor didn't have the morning shift, so after sleeping in a bit due to his late night, he went down to the city alone for some breakfast. Hot coffee and an oversized muffin from a little, out of the way coffee shop was just the thing. He settled in at one of the outdoor tables, took a sip of the piping hot brew and bit into his muffin. The hair on his arms rose as if exposed to static electricity. He washed his muffin down with his coffee as he watched someone approaching him.

  A woman in a short, lacy, white dress and heeled sandals was walking toward him. The dress flirted around her thighs and hugged her in all the right ways. The ghostly wing markings that wrapped around her back and shoulders were only hinted at by the cut of the dress but he could clearly see them.

  Azula sat down across from him and made a big show of crossing her legs. She smirked at him. "You really do desire this body, don't you?" she asked.

  Taylor took another drink of his coffee and forced himself to relax. "It's not just the body. It's the girl you've hijacked. The total package," he said.

  Azula scoffed. "Such devotion. You didn't even know she was missing," she said.

  Taylor inclined his head. "True. That's on me. Making her missing is on you. It's not polite to go around stealing bodies you know," he pointed out.

  "There's not much you can do about it. There's no way to get me out unless I leave willingly. This is the best host I've ever had. I have no intention of leaving. You're stuck with the knowledge there's nothing you can do. Aren't you sad?" she asked with a mock pout.

  "Wanna bet? Come a little closer and see if there's anything I can do about it or not," he taunted.

  Azula laughed to hide how nervous that comment made her. There was no way for him to banish her, but the fact that he seemed so sure about it made her uneasy. Both of them suddenly got to their feet. People were screaming in the distance. Azula smirked. "Whatever will you do, Red Ranger? There appear to be people in trouble. Will you choose them or the girl?" she asked.

  Taylor gave her a glare. "It's probably in your best interest to keep hiding," he said and he streaked away from her.

  Azula was smirking until a strong hand grabbed her arm. She looked up to see Sylon glaring at her in a human disguise. "We'll discuss this later," he said and jerked her forward with him. He dropped her arm and wiped his hand on his shirt. Just being in this form was disgusting enough. Azula pouted but followed along with him. It was time to see what his garage door opener did.

  --/-\--

  People were running and screaming as two of the most terrifying creatures they'd ever seen were just walking through the city. Captain Drage and Kragar strolled leisurely. Sure they could have appeared exactly where they needed to be, but scaring the pathetic little humans was always just fun.

  They arrived approximately at the center of the city. "Establish the territory," Drage instructed Kragar.

  "Yes, Captain. Gladly," Karagar said. He rubbed the curved blades on the ends of his hands together. Whn he jerked them apart, he launched several blasts of energy that shot up and created a circle around them that exploded when they landed.

  The Rangers showed up along with several extraction teams to get the civilians to safety."Stop right there, Warstars!" Gore said in a loud authoritative voice.

  The two turned toward the five humans. They were surprised by the one with Kragar. He exuded a more powerful aura than Kragar that they couold palpably feel.

  "You must be Captain Drage," Taylor said as he joined his colleagues.

  "This is probably really bad if the main guy is here," Ram said.

  Kragar laughed and stepped forward. "Heed yourselves, humans. The Captain's goal is this planet, one way or another. First we'll deal with you pests" he said.

  "Don't underestimate us," Tempest said.

  "Yeah, we've kicked your can before," Sin reminded them.

  "Then let's see what you Rangers have to show," Drage said, speaking for the first time.

  They flipped out their Morph cards. Drage used the double bladed battle axe he held to throw an energy slash at them. Luckily, the non-verbal Morph activation Dr. Billie installed into their Morphers came in handy and the fully Morphed, the Rangers jumped through the explosion with their weapons at the ready.

  Kragar, however, was ready for them. He slashed Pink and pushed her aside, kicked Blue and knocked him down. Yellow and Black double team were held off tensely with the curved blades, then knocked aside. In a swift turn, he slashed Green across the chest. He jabbed Red hard enough to send him flying back.

  Kragar harrumphed smugly. "Red Ranger, you're opponent will be me," he said.

  Away but in sight of the battle, Sylon pressed the button on his device. Nothing seemed to happen.

  "That was it?" Azula asked.

  "Go back and stay out of sight," Sylon ordered her without explaining himself. He disappeared before he could be spotted by Drage or Kragar. Azula scowled and disappeared in a crack of lightning.

  Red was on his feet and held the Sky Sword forward. He wasn't going to argue with Kragar over this. The craggy rock thing still owed him for his plane afterall. He led Kragar away from the others.

  When they tried to follow to help, Drage stepped in front of them. "So far, I haven't seen anything that tells me why you continuously defeat my soldiers," he growled.

  "Ask Kragar about Taylor's speach sometime and you'll find out," Black said. He lunged forward with his Axe. The axes clashed and Drage pushed him back. He slashed the axe, blocking an attack from Green and Yellow. A reverse slash prevented Blue and Pink taking aim at him.

  "What's going on? We should be better than this," Blue said.

  "I don't know," Pink said.

  "We don't have time to worry about it," Yellow pointed out.

  "All together now," Black rallied.

  "let's go!" Green said and the Rangers attempted to charge Drage once more.

  Meanwhile, Red and Kragar were fighting it out. Red jabbed forward with his sword. Kragar took the hit managed to get his blades around Red's neck and pushed him against a fence as they had fought their way into a construction zone. Red cried out as his suit sparked. He gave the sword a sharp twist. Kragar growled and threw him aside.

  Red rolled to his feet and they traded blows again. He jumped over Kragar, landed in another roll. He came up when Kragar came after him. He avoided another blow by releasing his sword and jumped up to catch a peice of scaffolding, and pull himself up and over. He threw himself forward and caught his Sword, but something suddenly felt off to him and he faltered. Kragar turned, slashing him with his bladed. Red landed in a heap of debris, smoking and smarting.

  "Battle is always evolving. How stupid of you to try to use the same trick against me again. Did you think I wouldn't be ready for it?" he gloated.

  Red glared at him. He cleched his fist. He hadn't intended to use the same trick twice. What was making him feel off?

  "Do your best to resist me. That would make this game much more fun for me," Karagar said.

  "A game? Did you just say this was a game?" Red demanded as he struggled to his feet.

  "A game. So much for your passionate speal about a human's will. This was your limit the whole time," he mocked in a patronizing way.

  Red was on his feet again. He drew in a deep painful breath and let it out slowly. He was really hurt and feeling it. He barely managed to bring his sword to block when Kragar slashed at him again. Perhaps sensing the weakness, Kragr kept coming at him, slashing him more than once and finally sending him pratcically flying through the air.

  He was wasn't the only one having trouble. The other Rangers could almost feel themselves weakening as they fought with Drage. He slashed Green and sent him crashing into a wall. He spun, slashing his axes and sent another energy attack at the other Rangers. He grabbed Pink by the back of her neck and tossed her through the air.

  "Lark!" Black said the other Rangers regrouped around her. Drage threw another massive hit at them. Arcs of electricity exploded around them.

  Red landed amdist them.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Much too weak," Drage scoffed.

  Kragar joined his Captain. "How pathetic. I expected a stronger showing from Earth's heroes," he scoffed.

  The Rangers struggled to their feet. "We'll give you a better showing then!" Red said and flipped a card out of his belt. The others did the same.

  "Twistornado!" Pink and Red slid their cards.

  "Rockcrush!" Black and Yellow slid their cards.

  "Presshower!" Blue and Green slid their cards.

  Absolutely nothing happened. "What? What's wrong with our Morphers?" Pink said in a panic.

  "Mars!" Green asked for answers.

  Drage laughed. He held up an arm and several rather large energy spheres shot upwards. "Planetary Missiles!" he said. The spheres crashed into the ground around the Rangers and exploded everything. They were sent flying. They alnded hard.

  Red pounded his fist on the concrete beneath him. "We're not losing. The cards aren't everything," he said as they all staggered to their feet.

  Drage's repsect for them went up a little as they started running toward him. They stopped short when their Morphs failed.

  "There's something interfering with your connection to the Grid. I'm bringing you guys back," Mars told them and teleported them away.

  "After all that, they ran away. How pathetic," Drage said with a sigh. "I guess they don't care what happens to the Earth after all. All the better for us, I suppose," he declared and let out a gloating laugh.

  --/-\--

  Mars teleported them directly to the medical bay and she hurried to meet them. "Is everyone okay?" she asked.

  Medics were already beginning to give them treatment for minor bruises, but Taylor had it worse. He thought he had a couple of cracked ribs. "What happened? There was something wrong my suit," he said as a medic poked at him. He sucked in a pained breath.

  "There was some sort of inteference. It continually weakened the connection to the Morphing Grid until it cut you off completely. The good news is that it's temporary, the bad news it that I have no idea how they did it," she answered.

  "This has Sylon written all over it," Sin commented.

  "That would be my guess as well," Lark agreed.

  "And we still don't know what Drage and Kragar are doing on Earth," Gore said grimly.

  Another alert began to sound and suddenly all the monitors in the room lit up with footage from outside as Drage and Kragar's images appeared in the sky.

  "Pathetic Eathlings! I will now take this planet's life. I didn't want it to come to this, but I'm left with little choice now," Drage declared. He held up an axe. "When this ceremonial axe is thrust into my body, dark planetary power will be released and attract the moon. This planet will be destroyed! But worry not. You'll all be dead long before moon crashes," he said with a triumphant laugh.

  He handed the axe to Kragar. "Now," he said, opening his arms and exposing his chest. Kragar thrust the axe into his chest and the area around it began to glow. Drage's head dropped back as he began to chant in his native language. A glowing beam of energy shot from him into the sky, effecting the gravitational pull on the moon.

  Taylor blew out a breath and ran his hands over his hair, linking them behind his head. "They couldn't win, so they're just going to destroy everything. Great," he said. He closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay, Mars, Ram, Doc, do your best to negate whatever the interference is," he said.

  "What about the rest of us?" Gore asked.

  "I don't know. Make your peace," Taylor suggested.

  "What are you going to do?" Tempest asked. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to idly "make his peace".

  Taylor smiled. "Well, it's like I told Kragar. Even if it's not us, someone will always be there to defend this planet. I'm going to call for back-up. If we can't get ourselves straight, someone will have to stop Drage," he said.

  "Right. Let's get to work," Doc said to Ram and Mars. The three of them hurried out of the medical bay. Taylor nodded to Sin, Gore, and Tempest and left as well.

  Tempest bit her lip. "I'm...going to go call my daddy," she said and left the med bay as well.

  Sin clapped Gore on the shoulder. "Go see Jed," he prompted.

  "What about you?" Gore asked him.

  Sin shook his head. "Uncle G probably has mom in some super suvivalist end-time bunker that can withstand the moon crashing into the planet at this point. Besides, I have faith that we'll get through this," he declared with a smile.

  Gore nodded. He still wanted to go see his grandfather. He held an arm out to his friend. They clasped forearms. Gore left the med-bay leaving Sin to try and decide how he wanted his time until the moon came crashing down on them.

  --/-\--

  Sylon was too angry to even be angry when Azula appeared on the Warstar ship beside him. "What is going on? You didn't bring these creatures here to destroy the whole planet," she reminded him.

  "I know! I never expected Drage to resort to such a drastic measure," he said.

  "Why aren't the Power Rangers stopping him?" she demanded.

  "They can't. I sent out a signal that intereferes with their Morphing signal so that I can backtrack it to loacte Skycrest," he explained. "The effect is only temporary. I thought it would merely be helpful to facilitate their defeat. Drage," he seethed, clenching his fist. He pounded it on his console.

  "Are you at least having luck locating Skycrest?" she asked.

  "It won't matter if the moon destroys the planet. With any luck the signal will be depleted soon, but until then, go to my quarters here. We'll at least be safe," he said.

  Azula growled but did as he asked. Sylon continued to track the signal, but Drage would eventually pay for spoiling his plans.

  --/-\--

  Sinclair ended up on the beach. The wind was practically screaming and the ocean had already risen considerably. He turned his head when he realized someone was appraoching him. "Why are you alone during the end times?" he asked.

  "You're getting better," Nia said as she settled into the sand beside him. "Besides, it's not end times yet," she said with a confident smile. "Though people are really wondering where the Power Rangers are," she said.

  "There'll be Power Rangers before things get too bad. Though whether or not they can stop whatever Drage is doing is still a mystery at this point," he said. He smiled at her. "But I beleive in us and this planet," he said.

  Nia nodded. They both glanced over the angry sea. She sighed. "Well, just in case," she said, getting up on her knees. He looked at her curiously since she didn't immediately continue. She kissed him. "Now, go do something about it," she told him.

  --/-\--

  Private Jedidiah Houston didn't beleive in sitting around, wringing your hands, and worrying. No sirree, bobcat. Whenever Gore appeared in front him, he immediately put his grandson to work. Working with the earh was actually calming.

  "It just burns my biscuits. Ain't so much I'd be going to your Grammy, now mind. Lord knows I'm looking forward to seeing my sweet Annaleigh again. But you kids and the rest of the world don't need to come along with me," Jed said and a gave the ground a particularly hard whack with the hoe he was using. "Now my question is, young'n, what are you going to do about it?" he asked.

  Gore blinked and looked at his grandfather. He tilted the hoe he was using toward the old man. "I'm going to go down fighting," he declared.

  Jed nodded. "That's my boy," he said and puffed up with pride as his grandson walked out of the vegetable garden they'd been working on. "That's my boy," he said again.

  --/-\--

  After talking with her father, Tempest paced her room from one end to the other. She suddenly stopped and shook her. "Naw, we ain't going out like this," she declared to herself. She left her room and went to the Lab where Mars had just decided there were too many cooks in the kitchen.

  "I've got this. Trust me to do my thing. I trust you to do yours," she told them. She'd just discovered a signal piggybacked onto the one that was blocking the morph. She put on her headphones and turned her music up.

  "Then let's go," Ram said.

  Lark took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's go," she agreed. They looked at Tempest.

  She grinned at them. "I was already going," she stated.

  --/-\--

  Taylor stood in his room, talking to a man on the screen. He was older than Taylor and had dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a uniform with a badge and the initials S.P.D. on it. He was Xavier Hart, Rena's older brother and a member of an interstellar police force called Space Patrol Delta. He'd been recently promoted to the leader of his team.

  "I am officially inviting your team to take over if it proves my team can't handle it," he said.

  "So I'm Plan B, am I?" Rex asked.

  Taylor shook his head. "More like D or E. Just stand-by. I have a feeling if you need to step in, you'll know it," he said.

  Rex nodded. "What about the Rat?" he asked.

  Taylor sighed. "I almost had her, but then Drage and Kragar showed up," he said.

  Rex nodded. "She'll understand," he said.

  "I know. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it," he said grumpily.

  "I know what it's like to be cut off from the Grid. What are you going to do now?" he asked.

  "Something daring and reckless," Taylor answered.

  "I wouldn't expect anything less," Rex declared drily. "We'll be monitoring the situation. Good luck," he said and the screen went black.

  Taylor grunted. He patted the laser blaster strapped to his leg. "Let's go do something daring and reckless," he said outloud. He pressed the eyes on the DynaMorpher and teleported.

  --/-\--

  Standing in the middle of the city with his dark powes slowly drawing the moon closer to the Earth, Drage was sure of his triumph. "Soon, my power will at it's peak and there'll be no stopping the moon from destroying this planet.

  "Yeah, that's so not happening," Taylor declared from where he stood atop a burning car. The other Rangers surrounded the creatures as well, and he wasn't the elast surprised to see them.

  Kragar growled. "So you show yourselves again? Meddling fools!" he snarled.

  The Rangers grouped together. "You really didn't think we were just going to run and hide, did you?" Gore asked.

  "I mean, what would have given you the idea that we're cowards?" Sin asked.

  "Power suits or not, we're going to stop you," Tempest declared.

  "No matter what it costs us," Lark said.

  "Even if it's our lives," Ram said.

  "Because this is our planet and that's our moon. And you're all just unwelcome guests that we're getting rid of now," Taylor declared.

  "Get them Kragar!" Drage commanded.

  "Yes, come at us, Kragar, if you're freak enough," Taylor invited.

  Kragar growled and released the handle of the axe that remained plunged into Drage's chest. He flicked his blades together and threw an attacked toward them. Taylor put one foot foward and braced himself. The attack hit a wall of air and exploded on impact before it hit them. Kragar staggered back, surprised.

  Taylor dispersed the smoke. "Remember what I said about underestimating. It happens to me all the time, but sometimes, I get sick of it," he said.

  "Before you all ride to your glorious deaths, I neutralized the interfering signal. You're all good to Morph again," Mars annouced.

  "All right! Let's go!" Taylor said and flipped out his Miroph Card. He slid it along his Morpher. "Red Ranger Power!"

  "Pink Ranger Power!"

  "Blue Ranger Power!"

  "Green Ranger Power!"

  "Yellow Ranger Power!"

  "Black Ranger Power!"

  Kragar gave a frustrated roar as the Rangers transformed. "Just go die already!" he shouted at them. He produced another blast but the Rangers jumped out of the way.

  Red landed before Kragar with his Sword at the ready. He slashed and jabbed at the alien. Kragar stumbled back and barely managed to block the barage. "I'll confess I may have been slightly holding back before," he warned Kragar. And it was mildy true. He'd started too much on the suit and the cards and not enough on himself. It was time to fix that.

  Kragar scoffed. "A likely story to cover your incompetence," he said in a mocking tone. Red grinned under his helmet and ran at the alien again.

  The other Rangers, meanwhile, converged on Drage in a circle. "Let's seal his power!" Black said and flipped out a card. The others flipped out cards as well.

  "Defenstorm!" Pink slid the card along her morpher.

  "Defenstream!" Green and Blue slid their cards.

  "Defenstone!" Black and Yellow slid their cards.

  The DynaMophers lit up and they held their fists out, their powers combining and surrounding the alien captain.

  "Impudent fools!" Drage raged.

  Seeing his captan's plight, Kragar tried to go to him. "Captain!"

  Red jumped in front of him, holding up his sword. "Uh-uh. I'm not letting you go anywhere," he said. Kragar snarled and attacked him. Red blocked even as he was pushed back. Kragar swiped him across the middle and he flew back. He flipped and landed in a crouch.

  "Is that all you got, Red Ranger?" Kragar demanded.

  "Hardly. But you were distrated, right?" he asked he got to his feet, the other Rangers now fanned out behind him, weapons at the ready having successfully sealed Drage's gravitational power in a bubble of their power.

  Red used his sword and his ki to unleash a red cyclone that swept Kragar up and confused him while the Rangers took their shots. Red and pink jumped forward up high and came down fast.

  "Dragon Slash!"

  "Phoenix Shot!"

  Black and Yellow came up from below.

  "Snake Bite!"

  "Tiger Shock!"

  And Blue and Green surged forward.

  "Shark Snipe!"

  "Crocodile Crash!"

  All the attacks, strengthened not only by their resolve, but their own power, hit Kragar and arcs of electricity exploded aroundound him.

  Drage raged and tore his axe from his chest and hacked at the bubble surrounding him.

  The Rangers put their weapons together, the Sea Staff sliding into a slot that ran along the top of the Dynamic Cannon. "Dynamic Cannon Fire!" The Cannon fired a powerful blast of golden light and electricity that hit Kragar again before he even had a chance to recover from their individual attacks. He cried out and staggered back, falling down.

  "Kragar!" Drage called, now free of his his prison, but he no longer had access to his gravitational power. "I was so close!" he seethed, but he didn't attampt to help his subordinate, disappearing instead.

  Kragar however, wasn't down yet. He got to his feet. "Sylon! Hit me with the Ooze!" he shouted.

  Sylon, for his part, was rather releived that Drage's plan was foiled. He gladly launched a cannister of Ooze that exploded into the alien. He absorbed the green goop and grew into a giant.

  "Well, shoot. Megazord time," Red said. He flipped out a card that summoned the Dynamic Megazord. When it appeared, five of them appeared in the cockpit. Green was left out, again. He watched was the Megazord tried to take on Kragar.

  They exchanged a few blows, but Kragar had another trick up his sleeve. "Feel the power of space!" he taunted and gathered black lightning to him as he brought his blades together. He launched it at the Megazord in a powerful attack that nearly sent the Megazord flying. Consoles sparked wildly inside the cockpit.

  "This is kind of bad, isn't it?" Yellow asked.

  "A bit," Blue agreed.

  Kragar didn't let up. He continuously slashed at them with his arm blades. They attempted to block and slash with their sword but they weren't quite powerful enough for the likes of a giant Kragar.

  "He's too strong," Pink said.

  A finaly blow knocked them down and he launched another space energy attack at them.

  "Sorry for the delay but I have new cards ready for you! Welcome to the Megazord, Ram!" Mars said.

  Green pulled a Card out of his belt. "Crocodile MacroZord!" he summoned a large version of the crocodile head. It shot of the sea, zoomed through the sky and latched powerfule jaws around one of Kragars arms while the Megazord got to it's feet again.

  Red pulled a newly minted card from his belt. He slid it through the card reader on his console. "Hyper Megazord!"

  The Crocozord leg go of Kragar's struggling arm. It split apart and attached itself to the back of the Megazord with the two parts of it's mouth sticking up over it's shoulders while the wings flipped to the front. The Sky High, Core Earth, and Deep Sea MacroZords appeared and attacked Kragar before attaching themselves to the Megazord along the Crocodile's mouths and at key points along the body of the Megazord. Beetlezord and Swordfishzord made new hands. Green appeared in the new cockpit along with everyone else.

  Smoking and confused, Kragar roared. "What is that monstrosity?" he demanded and summoned another space blast and launched it the Hyper Megazord. It walked forward, heedless. The two behemoths began to trade blows.

  "This is very nice," Green commented. "Good job, sister," he said.

  "Thought it was about time I earned my keep," Mars said drily.

  "Consider it earned," Black said, jerking on his yoke. The antlers of the Beetlezord gripped Kragar around the middle.

  "Alright," Red muttered and pressed a button his console. All the auxiliary Zords fired on him. He staggered back. "Consider this a final lesson in underestimating humanity!" he said and pulled a final card out of his belt. the others did the same. "Victory Charge!" They swiped the cards and the Megazord powered up.

  "Don't underestimate me<.i>!" Kragar shot back and began summoning more stellar energy than ever. It swirled between his blades.

  "Hyper Strike!" The powered up auxiliary Zords blasted toward Kragar just as he unleashed a valley of spinning energy comets. The two forces mets and strained against each other. The Ranger's held on for dear life and didn't dare breath.

  Suddenly the zords overtook the blasts and crashed into Kragar. He arced electricity and stumbled as the Zords returned to their mounts. "I...won't die here!" he denied moments before he felt over and exploded. The Hyper Megazord turned its back on the scene and the Rangers dared breath again.

  --/-\--

  Sylon dared breath again as well. He didn't particularly want the Earth destroyed, just the human plague wiped out of existance. For now, he decided to retreat and stay out of Drage's way. The captain was furious and Sylon had no intention of letting himself become a scapegoat. He'd retreive Azula and carry forward with his plan. He at least had more and idea where Skycrest might be located.

  --/-\--

  Lark was reading something in the Lab. "I don't understand. The moon shifted orbit, it was documented. How is now in the precise place it should be?" she asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

  "Magic," Taylor answered anyway.

  She looked at him with a scowl. "There's no such--there's a such thing as magic, isn't there?" she asked with a sigh when she saw that he wasn't joking. "Whatever happened to my nice, neat, orderly, scientific world?" she asked woefully.

  "It got shook up," Sin said.

  "Is it really real?" Tempest asked excitedly.

  Taylor nodded. "It's really real. Scout's honor," he said.

  "If you were a Boy Scout, I'll eat my headphones," Mars declared.

  "Would you like salt and pepper?" Ram asked her.

  Taylor chuckled. "My mom thought it would be a good outlet for me and give me positive male role models. Neither was very effective," he said. No one doubted that very much. "It's time for my rounds," he said, suddenly straightening. He walked out of the lab quietly. He needed to be alone for a time and his rounds were the perfect excuse. He had a lot on his mind, most of it involved Rena and Azula.

  Tempest watched him go and sighed. "I hope everything works out for him," she declared. She poked Mars in the arm. "Girlfriend, you deserve a treat. Let's go down to the city and have some fun," she suggested. "You, too, Doc," she invited.

  Lark shook her head. "Thanks, no. I still have a mystery to solve, but you are quite right. Ms. Ramon definately deserves a break," she said.

  "Thank you," Mars said, squirming slightly under the attention. She and Tempest left the Lab.

  "The mystery can wait another day," Gore pointed out. "You and Sin should come visit Jed with me," he suggested.

  Sin grinned. "We can raid Cookie's kitchen. You know she'll have kinds of goodies," he cajoled.

  Lark sighed. "Okay. Okay. I'll go visit Jed and raid Cookie," she said and the three of them left the Lab.

  Ram wondered how he suddenly found himself alone. He cracked his fingers. "Guess I'll work on the mystery myself," he said and began to peck away at his keyboard.

  --/End 11\--