Disclaimer: In simple terms, Power Rangers - Saban owned. No permission asked, none given. No profit, just fun! Simple enough!
Author note: Ranger HQ, Ultima and his forces, Armageddon and his allies, the UniRanger concept and their weapons, the new Zord configurations and the Samurai Rangers, their Zords and their weapons are all my own design. I apologise for any likenesses that may occur to anyone else's stories, but I promise they are all purely accidental. If for some bizarre reason, anyone wishes to use any of my characters or ideas, please contact me first. I won't refuse permission (not that I can actually stop anyone anyway) but new ideas for my plots are always appreciated. Thank You and May the Power Protect Us (from Ourselves!)
Time Scale: This takes place the day after 'Part Eight - Beyond Good and Evil'. I you wanna be confused, try reading this without reading all the other bits first!

Betrayal
by Matt

Diary of Kane Mortan, Samurai Black and leader of the Samurai Rangers.

As much as I can tell, these are the events of the previous day. Most is compiled from the accounts of the others, I was not a part of it until it was near enough over! I'm sitting here in the Power Chamber, which does seem to be safe for now, but that will doubtlessly change! There aren't that many of us here really. There had been forty-nine of them there when Armageddon gave them their 'gift.' Now, with myself and Louise free, and all the other Samurai Rangers, there are thirty three of us. There really is quite a mixed crowd.

Now, to what actually happened. Armageddon had just bestowed the Power onto his audience and invited them to join him. It had caused an uproar throughout the crowd. But then it began, the traitors began to show themselves.

Crush was the first to step forward, I think she would have joined him even without the temptation of the power. Rita, Zedd and Goldar moved up next, taking Rito with them.

"Haaaa! We'll gladly join you, just give us the power!" Rita cackled, never the most moral person.

"Hey not me!" Rito said, moving away from them.

"WHAT?" Rita screamed at her brother.

"Come on Rito, don't be an idiot all of your life!" Zedd urged.

"Hey, I may be an idiot, but I know that thing is bad news!" Rito said, pointing at Armageddon. "He's insane and I'd never join someone like that. Edd, you may be pretty bad, but you're no Armageddon!"

Rito stood alone. Then Mondo stepped forward to join him. "I concur!" he called out. "Armageddon is too powerful, he endangers us all with his very existence!" Garrison joined him. He had no say in the matter, he had been programmed loyal to Mondo, temptation was not in his programming.

"You are an idiot, Father. Turning down such power is one of the most stupid things you have ever done!" Gasket called out, walking over to join Armageddon's growing crowd. Archerina was with him. She didn't even think about it, she just followed her husband.

"Whadda you know you mechanical misfit?" Divatox shouted at Gasket. "I know dangerous when I see it, and Armageddon reeks of it. He's a ticking bomb, and I'm not gonna be around when he goes off!" She walked over to Rito's group and turned to look at Rygog and Porto.

"So, what's it to be?" Armageddon asked the two lackeys.

"Will you allow me to use my technical skills to create whatever I see necessary?" Port asked.

"Of course, you will be my chief technical Engineer!" Armageddon replied.

"Then I'm in. No offense Diva, but you were holding me back!" Porto said smugly, walking to join the crowd of followers.

"I don't care how much power you could give me! I serve Divatox and Divatox alone!" Rygog shouted out. He joined his mistress.

Now it was just Ultima and his crowd.

"I think you know my answer!" Ultima shouted. They knew he would never serve anyone but himself.

"Ultima is my leader. I am his to command!" Kraegor said, his loyalty to his master showing for real.

"Come on Photon. I want that power!" Striker said. The two of them moved over to join the others.

"You'll pay for this!" Ultima shouted at them.

"I'd like to see you try!" Photon said.

"Sir, I'm at your disposal!" Jandra said to Ultima. It seemed she may be a heartless mercenary, but she knew where her loyalties were.

"Okay Rangers. Any of you want to try out that power again?" Armageddon asked.

"Don't count on it!" Tommy replied, confident in his friends.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure!" Armageddon replied, seeing movement in the crowd.

The White Ranger stepped forward and walked slowly over to the group of Armageddon followers.

"Tommy!" Zeo Red called out! "What are you doing?"

He turned and looked back, removing his helmet. "I'm sorry guys, I can't fight the temptation!" He turned away and joined the others.

Kim and Jason walked out next.

"No!" Tommy said, seeing his ex-girlfriend and best friend leaving the team. "Not you guys!"

"I guess it's still the darkness from when Maligore controlled us. We can't resist it!" Jason explained, Kim couldn't even look back.

"Hell, when in Rome, as they say!" Zack said, walking out, following most of his team.

"Whadda you say?" Adam asked Tanya. They had always been close, if they were doing this, they were gonna do this together.

"Let's go for it!" Tanya said. She and Adam started to walk away, but Rocky and Kat grabbed them.

"No, don't do it! Fight the temptation!" Kat said.

"Fight this!" Tanya said, punching Zeo Pink to the ground.

They could only watch as their team got smaller and smaller.

Carlos and Ashley walked away. they looked back when they saw Cassie staying with the Rangers.

"Come on Cassie. Turbo Rangers together!" Ashley said.

"No way. How could you guys ever have claimed to be my friend if you're willing to stab me in the back this easily!" Cassie snapped at them, hoping to make them realise what a mistake they were making.

"Come on! Did you feel that power! You'd have to be insane to turn it down!" Ashley replied.

"You wouldn't have to be insane, you'd have to be a true Ranger!" Cassie replied.

"Yeah, whatever!" Ashley replied. She and Carlos went to the others.

None of us had ever expected and of the Aquitians to join Armageddon, they had always seemed so strong and upstanding. When Corcus and Tideus went to Armageddon's new recruits, they soon realised a saying that seemed to be absloutely true.

'Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!'

Myself and Louise were fortunate to not be there. Apparently, all of them felt the temptation of the Power. The other Samurai Rangers never really considered it though. They said that they would never turn against their world, they had lready lost most of it, they weren't going to give up the fight for what they had left.

Armageddon disappeared with his new recruits. He now had a small army at his disposal, and if he did the give them the Power he had promised, they would be nigh invincible. The Rangers were in shock that so many of their own had betrayed them, it took a while to even realise what had happened.

"I think we're in big trouble!" Rocky said to Tommy.

"And I'm not sure we can handle it on our own. I don't know what he's going to do to them, but it's not gonna be good. We may have only one choice!" Tommy replied.

Ultima approached him.

"I know what you are thinking, Red Ranger, and I believe you are correct." Ultima said. "Armageddon has some of this galaxy's greatest warriors on his side. With them under his control, he poses a threat to this Universe like no other ever has. We must stop him, even if it means allying ourselves with you!"

And so, the Unholy Alliance was formed. neither side felt safe in the agreement, but they knew it was their only option at the moment. They headed off to Ultima's fortress to decide what they should do next.

It was at Ultima's fortress that Armageddon attacked. This time he was not messing about. He destroyed parts of the fortress one at a time to get them to come out. They all went out and faced him, but they had no chance really, they knew it before they even went out, but they had to do something. They eventually realised all their attempts were completely futile.

"We have to get out of here!" Ultima called out.

"Let's get back to the Power Chamber!" Tommy suggested.

"What about Kane and Louise? You've still got them trapped in there!" Matt asked. Armageddon blew up another wing of the fortress.

"It's no good, we can't get in there!" Ultima replied.

"We're not leaving without them, now get in there and bring them out!" Matt ordered, refusing to leave his leader behind.

"Very well. Go to your Power Chamber, I'll meet you there!" Ultima said. "Leave your comm. signal on so I can detect you!"

"Okay!" Tommy said. They all teleported away. Tommy knew it may not be wise taking Divatox, Mondo and the others to the Power Chamber, but for now, they were allies, and the Power Chamber was the only place they could go.

In the dungeon of the fortress, Louise could hear the destruction going on above her. She knew I was in the cell next to hers, we had been talking to each other a lot over the last week. We couldn't see each other though. For some reason unknown to us at the time, Ultima had stopped the torture and we were slowly getting over it.

Suddenly Ultima appeared in the hallway outside our cells where we could see him. He opened our cells and we prepared to attack him.

"Quickly, you have to come with me!" Ultima said.

"Why should we?" I asked, edging closer and looking round to make sure Louise was okay.

"I know you have no reason to do so, but you have to trust me. The other Rangers sent me in here to bring you out. Here, take these!" Ultima said, handing them their morphers. "Now morph and let's get back to the Power Chamber!"

We both looked at him confused.

"No time for this, hurry, or he'll find us!" Ultima said. Just as he said it, Armageddon appeared in the Hallway.

"Oh Ultima, halping Rangers, you have lowered yourself!" he sneered.

"Get out of here!" Ultima said. "I'll try and hold him off!" He brought out his Dark Saber and started to attack Armageddon.

"Quick, let's Samurize!" I called out. "Samurai Black!"

"Samurai Red!" Louise added.

We transformed and instead of getting out of there like Ultima had said, we charged at Armageddon and knocked him to the ground. We'd bought ourselve enough time to escape. We teleported out and met up with the others in the Power Chamber.

I must admit, it came as quite a shock to see all our enemies gathered in there when we got back, but Matt soon filled us in on everything that had happened.

That was all yesterday. This morning, we started searching for where all the traitors had gone. There wasn't much I could do, so I filled in my diary to take the time. That's all up until now.

————— X —————

Kane put down his diary, he could hardly believe this was happening. He thought things were bad when Ultima had taken over, but that seemed a distant threat compared to the upset that had just taken place. He walked over to all the others who were standing around in small groups, discussing possibilities.

Some suggested they try the UniRanger idea again, but then it was pointed out, one, that half the powers were gone, and two, they hadn't been powerful enough before, why would they be now?

They all knew the first thing they had to do was to find out what Armageddon was up to. He was incredibly powerful, why did he need the others? Little did they know, they were about to find out exactly why he needed them!

Armageddon appeared on the communication screen once again. They had completely given up the idea of calling him Justin. There was nothing left of him, and there was no way to help him anyway! They all jumped to attention when they saw him. They all wanted to know what he had to say.

"Rangers, I've got a message to pass on from your 'friends'. They feel very sorry for deserting you like this and they want to apologise. If you could come and meet them in person they would greatly appreciate it!" Armageddon said.

None of them even replied. There was nothing to say. They knew they had no choice what they did. At the moment, it was all on his terms.

He disappeared and a set of co-ordinates were programmed into the computer.

"Let's go guys!" Tommy growled. "Alpha, teleport us there!"

"Aren't we gonna morph?" Kat asked.

"What's the point?" Tommy asked. "Either way we're defenseless from whatever they throw at us!"

They all knew he was right, they just didn't have the power to match Armageddon. Alpha activated the teleporter and the Rangers disappeared into flashes of energy.

————— X —————

There was nobody there when they arrived. Tommy thought they had been tricked. Lead away from the Power Chamber so they could attack it, but before he could contact Zordon to check out his suspicion, Armageddon appeared in a flash of black flame.

"I'm glad you could come!" he said, almost cheerfully. "I'd like to introduce your friends...."

Ten energy flares flew down and landed either side of Armageddon. Each of them wore similar black armor to Armageddon's, but their helmets were different. They were all identical apart from a strip of color around their helmets. Each had one of the colors of the Samurai Rangers, Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Green, Red, Silver and Gold. They removed the helmets and the Rangers saw that they were their friends. They had hoped for a moment that they were actually something created by Armageddon, and their friends were being held hostage. It seemed that was not the case. These were the ten ex-Rangers.

"The Dark Rangers!" Armageddon said.

"If you want a fight, then let's get this over with!" Tommy said, making his Zeonizer appear.

"Oh no. That would be far too easy. I want to watch you squirm for a while! Try and defeat me as I know you will. Being so powerful can get quite.... boring. I take pleasure where I can get it, and watching you attempt, and fail, to even fight me, could prove very.... pleasurable!" Armageddon said. "I just thought I should show you your friends. If you were thinking of 'rescuing' them, don't bother!"

"We don't need to be rescued, Tommy! We have found our destiny with Armageddon and this is where we belong." Tommy, the black Dark Ranger, said. His voice sounded different. He spoke with a contempt for the Zeo Ranger.

"You really should consider joining us. It really is quite exhilarating. If you ever thought you felt strong as a UniRanger, Tommy, you should feel this. I never even imagined I could feel a fraction of this Power. It's beyond your comprehension!" Jason, Red Dark Ranger, said.

"You guys make me sick. How can you turn your backs on Zordon, on us, to join this evil creature!" Kat said angrily.

"Evil!" Kim, Pink Dark Ranger, replied. "Armageddon is not evil. He just is! Sure, our goals may differ slightly from yours, but does that really make us evil?"

"It does in my book!" Kat snapped back.

"Let's get 'em!" Adam, Green Dark Ranger, said firmly.

"No!" Armageddon called out. "There'll be time for that later. For now, we have things to do. Return to base!"

Reluctantly, the ten Dark Rangers teleported away.

"I'll catch up with you later, Rangers. Good luck, you'll definitely need it!" Armageddon said, following the Dark Rangers.

"Let's get back. We need to tell Zordon about this." Tommy said.

————— X —————

"So Armageddon has his own Rangers, so what? There's only ten of them, we outnumber them!" Divatox said.

"They probably have greater power than that he gave to us before. They're strong!" Tommy replied. It seemed so strange to be discussing these things with Divatox and the others. They'd spent so long fighting them that it didn't seem right to be fighting alongside them now.

"Well let's do something about it. Armageddon's not gonna wait around for us, is he?" Rocky said.

"Not so fast, Tommy." Zordon said. "We have another more immediate threat. Armageddon and the Dark Rangers know the location of us. Before we even consider mounting an offensive, we have to move or we may come under attack."

"Well what can we do? Move the whole of Ranger HQ!" Tommy said, joking.

"We may have to!" Alpha Five replied.

————— X —————

"Why won't you let us destroy the Rangers. You know whet they're like. They're resiliant. They always find some way to fight back. We're so much more poweful than they are. We could just go in and wip them out!" Tanya, Yellow Dark Ranger, shouted at Armageddon.

"We could control this world unchallenged before the day is even through!" Carlos, Silver Dark Ranger added.

"Look, you do as I say!" Armageddon replied. "You seem to forget who gave you your powers. I could take them away just as easily, or even destroy you!"

"Yeah, I know that, I just want to know the plan!" Tanya asked.

"The Rangers of this world pose little threat to us! We are taking this opportunity to buid our forces. You can't just take over a Galaxy by yourself you know!" Armageddon said.

"So what do you think the other Rangers are going to do?" Ashley, Gold Dark Ranger, asked.

"I'm not sure!" Armageddon replied. "Zordon and that Ninjor can be sneaky at the best of times. Allied with Ultima and his goons, they should come up with some, interesting, ideas!"

Corcus, the Purple Dark Ranger, laughed. "They can try what they want, they will never succeed!"

"Their power could never compare to ours, they'll never stop us!" the Blue Dark Ranger, Tideus, said.

"Don't go getting over-zealous. That's always been the mistake of our old enemies. They attacked the Rangers so sure that they couldn't be defeated, that they didn't even see their defeat coming! Like I said, the Rangers are smart. No matter how strong a chain is, it always has a weak link and the Rangers specialise in finding that! Don't forget, we know them better than anyone else ever could and we have to use that to our advantage!"

"But doesn't that also work to our disadvantage!" Zack, the White Ranger, commented. "They know us as well as we know them!"

"I suppose you're right. We really must tread carefully!" Armageddon said.

————— X —————

There was a lot of activity going on in the Power Chamber. All of them doing one thing or another. They were preparing for something big!

"I've located a suitable area!" Alpha Five called out over the noise.

"Okay, we'll start charging the power cells." Billy said. He was working at one of the many computer panels. An indicator showing the capacity of the batteries started to fill.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Trini asked.

"It may be our only chance!" Zordon replied.

"It's never been done before, but there's a first time for everything." Billy added.

Tommy, Kat and Lucy rushed in from the outside of Ranger HQ. "The people are all prepared!" Kat reported.

"Okay. I just hope it works!" Billy said hopefully. "Right, we're at full power!"

"Everyone prepare yourselves. Billy, please begin!" Zordon instructed the Blue Ranger.

Billy pressed a series of controls and the whole Power Chamber began to shake.

"Here goes!" Billy shouted over the low rumbling noise that began.

In a flash of incredible energy, the whole of Ranger HQ, and the thousands of people gathered around it, all disappeared. There was no sign of them left there. To anyone who hadn't seen the place before, you wouldn't have known there had ever been anything there.

It all re-materialised in a valley somewhere. It was quite hot and the ground was just sand and dirt. The people and their shelters appeared in the base of the valley, surrounded on almost all sides by cliffs. Up on top of the cliff, settled perfectly between two taller outcrops of mountain was Ranger HQ. They had managed to teleport their whole settlement a few thousand miles away.

Inside, things weren't quite so peacful. The lights were flashing on and off, the alarm was sounding when it actually had the power to do it. Several of the computers had blown out on arrival from the stress of it all. There was virtually no power left in the whole place.

"We're about to lose all power!" Billy shouted over the sound of explosions.

"You have to keep power to the shields on. Without them Armageddon will detect us and this will have all been for nothing!" Zordon called out.

"I'll try!" Billy said, struggling to run around to the different computer panels still intact to do whatever he could.

————— X —————

Later on, things had calmed down. The immediate threat of discovery had passed and things were just starting to settle. Billy, the Alpha's, Cestro and Lee were all working on the damaged areas in the Power Chamber. Most of the others were outside. They'd gone down into the valley to make sure all the people were okay from the teleportation. Rito, Kraegor, Garrison, Jandra and Rygog had all gone to the Simulation Room for some practice. It was more to get them out of the way than anything else! Mondo and Divatox weren't doing much. Mondo was still in mourning over his son and wife, and Divatox, suprisingly, was actually quite upset over the loss of her nephew. Ninjor, Ultima and Zordon had gone off into another part of the base. They hadn't told anyone else why.

"Wow, so you actually designed and built the Zeo Zords, and the Red Battlezord!" Lee exclaimed to Billy.

"Well, I did it with Alpha and Zordon of course, but yeah, I suppose so!" Billy replied modestly.

"I could never do that. I understand the technology, but actually building something that big.... wow!" Lee said, slightly in awe.

"From what Zordon tells me, you're much better than you give yourself credit for!" Billy said back. "Anyway, Cestro's much better at all that than I am. You know he single-handedly designed and built the Battleborgs. Do you know how complicated the systems for total psychic control are? I struggled to install the partially psychic interface into the Red Battlezord!"

"Yeah. I've studied the schematics of them. Cestro, how do you manage to create the psychic control in them. I tried to create a working model, but the psychic commands are all so similar, I couldn't tune the receiver to differentiate between the commands. I had a Battleborg whose only command was to lift it's right leg!" Lee asked the Aquitian. He was more than happy to elaborate on his technology.

Tommy, Rocky and Kat were walking through the cliffs beneath the base. They'd left the others down with all the people. From those they saw themselves, there were a few bumps and bruises, but nobody had been seriously hurt. They felt they had to talk to someone, and they were both together so they decided to go off where they could talk alone.

"I can't believe the guys all joined Armageddon." Tommy said, trying to understand it.

"The worst thing was that did it of their own accord, that's what really makes me mad!" Rocky said, struggling to control his anger.

"I'm sure some of them didn't really betray us like it seems. I know I was considering it, just so I could get the power and use it to take him down!" Kat said. "Maybe that's what they did!"

"Then why are they still with him? None of them looked like they showed any sign of helping us when we saw them!" Tommy said.

"Well I can't explain that. Perhaps Armageddon put them under some kind of spell when he gave them the Power!" Kat suggested.

"Either that, or when they got the Power, they actually liked it!" Rocky suggested.

None of them liked that idea, but they knew it was a very real possibility.

"It was hard enough thinking we were going to be fighting Justin, but fighting all those guys. I just don't know!" Tommy said.

"I know. We know they're not really the same people we knew, but if we have to fight them, we'll always be thinking, 'it's our friends inside that armor'!" Kat said softly.

There was silence for a few moments and they just carried on wallking up the cliff path.

"I don't know if I feel safe having Ultima and Divatox and all the others in the Power Chamber!" Rocky said.

"Don't worry. As long as Armageddon's still out there, they need us as much as we need them! They're not gonna try anything!" Tommy said, quite confidently.

They were interrupted by their communicators. Rocky raised his to his mouth and spoke into it. "What's the problem?"

Alpha Five spoke to them."Return to the Power Chamber. Zordon has something important to tell you!" They couldn't tell whether he sounded alarmed or excited. Either way they wanted to know what Zordon had to tell them.

"We're on our way!" Rocky said. They activated their teleporters and flew off up to the Power Chamber.

All the others were gathered in there already. They landed and looked round.

"Did we miss anything?" Rocky asked.

"No. They're about to tell us!" Kane replied. Ultima and Ninjor were standing to either side of Zordon's plasma tube which he had returned to from the other room.

"I have something to show you all." Zordon said.

A large stand emerged from the floor in front of the Plasma Tube. Arranged around it in ten different colored sections were large gems. Each one the same color as it's section.

"I present the Shinobi Gems!" Zordon said proudly. "Created by myself, Ninjor and Ultima."

"What do they do?" Cassie asked.

"They can give you the power to fight the Dark Rangers! Step forward. Tommy, Katherine, Rocky, Billy, Trini, Cassie, Trey, Delphine, Cestro, Aurico. You will be taking the Power." Zordon said. They stepped forward and gathered round the stand.

"Tommy, take the Red, Katherine, Pink, Rocky, you will be Green, Billy, Black for you, Trini, Yellow, Cassie, Purple, Trey will take Gold, Delphine, White, Cestro, Blue and finally Aurico, you will be Silver." Zordon instructed them. Each stood by their Gem and waited for their next instruction.

"Reach out and take hold of your destiny!" Zordon said.

They reached out and took hold of the Gems. As they touched them, energy flowed into their arms. The knowledge that came with the Power filled their minds and they knew what to do. They all held up their Gems and shouted their commands.

"Shinobi Thunder!" Billy said.

"Shinobi Ice!" Delphine said.

"Shinobi Wind!" Kat commanded.

"Shinobi Sun!" Trini shouted.

"Shinobi Water!" Cestro said.

"Shinobi Lightning!" Cassie commanded.

"Shinobi Earth!"Rocky shouted.

"Shinobi Star!" Aurico said.

"Shinobi Fire!" Trey ordered.

"Shinobi Destruction!" Tommy shouted finally.

From the Gems they held up in the air, colored mist came out and started to swirl around them. It floated around them as more and more came out until they were completely surrounded by it. The Power from the Gems filled them and as the mist was absorbed into them, their armor appeared. It looked a lot like the Dark Rangers' armor, but theirs was white. All their accessories were the color of their Gem, as were the occasional streaks of colour across their armor and helmets.

Some of them got suddenly dizzy and had to grab hold of the edge of the stand to balance themselves. The others ran to help them.

"What's wrong?" the Samurai's asked, helping them back to their feet.

"I don't know, I feel strange!" Tommy replied.

"Don't worry. You're bodies and minds are not used to such power It will take time for you to adjust!" Zordon said.

"You'd better go and rest. We need you at your best for when we test your powers!" Ultima said, actually sounding like he belonged there.

"Okay!" Tommy said. They all gave the command to power down and went off to rest in their quarters, the three Aquitians to the hydration chamber.

"We've got some training to do. Come on guys!" Kane said. He and the rest of the Samurai Rangers left to start that day's training. They had always kept a strict regime of practice. Their powers had a lot more potential than they had yet realised and Zordon told them that only through regular exercise of the Power would they be able to use all it had to offer.

Rito, Garrison, Jandra, Rygog and Kraegor went back to the Simulation Room. They had actually started to work very well as a team. Jandra had taken the lead of the team and they were becoming quite a formidable force.

The two Alpha's had gone with Mondo to start one of the projects Zordon and Ultima had set them. That left only a small group. Zordon, Ultima, Ninjor, Auric, Blue Senturion and Divatox were all that remained.

"So Ultima, it actually seems after all this time, we know very little about you!" Divatox said.

"What is there to know?" Ultima asked, trying to avoid the question.

"Where did you come from? What is your ultimate goal? What's your history?" Divatox asked. She hated not knowing things. The first thing she did when she arrived on Earth was find out everything she could about the Rangers, and the people inside the uniforms. She checked up the entire history of all their enemies, Mondo and his Empire, Lord Zedd, and then her old friend Rita Repulsa. Now, there was Ultima. She had never had the chance to speak to him before, he had always seemed so invincible and unapproachable. Now, in this peculiar alliance they found themselves in, she had her chance.

The others had to admit they were also curious about him. Nobody knew anything about him. Well the one thing they did know was something Armageddon had said. Ultima had been the Ultimate force for the side of light, but he had let the darkness embrace his soul. And how he knew that was beyond them!

"Well, it's always been a policy of mine to keep some secrets from my enemies, but as it seems we are no longer pitted against each other here, I see no reason not to." Ultima said, preparing to reveal the events of his life. "I should establish to begin with that I am not from this time, I am from a time very distant from now. I was born on a planet called CT-851, part of the Reija System. The Zordlings, descendants of you, Zordon, and defenders of Truth and Justice controlled that part of the Galaxy. They were at war with a powerful enemy, by the name of Ultima! I grew up a normal human child on my planet, although I always felt I was destined for so much more than that planet colony could offer. A few days after my tenth birthday, one of the Zordlings came to our planet. The reason he gave was because he was searching for a chosen one. One who had a destiny to fulfill. He tracked me down and took me away from my family, my friends and my entire planet. He claimed I had a power, and he could teach me to use it.

I was taken in by the Zordlings and raised. The whole time, they continued to help me develop my powers. They kept telling me how it was my destiny to help win the Zordling/Ultima war. As I finished developing my powers, I went off to fight Ultima. He refused to fight me, as he told me it was not the way. Basically, to cut a long story short, I joined them. He trained me further and taught me his own evil ways. He renamed me Ultima and he sent me back in time. It seemed Ultima had first appeared in 2090 and took control in a time where there was no conflict between good and evil. I appeared here in 2090, and realised exactly what my destiny really was!"

"Incredible. So in a way you actually created yourself! You sent yourself as a young man into the past, to become the you in the future who trained you!" Divatox exclaimed.

"A self-perpetuating time-loop!" Zordon added.

"Yes. Rather intriguing, isn't it!" Ultima grinned. It was one of the first times they had seen him sincerely smile. He almost looked like a normal person then. They actually found it quite strange.

————— X —————

Cassie had just woken up from her rest when the buzzer at her door sounded. "Come in!" she called out. The door slid aside and Tommy walked in. "Hi!" Cassie said.

"Hi, I just came to see how you're doing!" Tommy said, sitting down on her bunk.

"I'm alright!" Cassie said. "Well as alright as any of us are going to be after all this!"

"Hey, come on. You don't have act tough. I know things must be quite tough for you." Tommy said.

"I don't know what you mean!" Cassie said, trying to play dumb.

"Well, TJ dying, Justin leaving, then Carlos and Ashley joining him. You're the only Turbo Ranger left, you can't tell me that's not bothering you!" Tommy insisted bluntly.

Cassie sat down next to him and looked round at him. "I can't believe it. They've all gone. They were my best friends and they've all just gone! They've left me on my own!" She started to cry.

Tommy put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Hey, come on! There's still a chance we can get them back. And besides, you're not alone. We're all here for you, we're a team, and more importantly, we're friends!"

"Thanks," Cassie said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I know you all care, but it's not the same. You should know this. When you're a Ranger, the Power, it connects you to the other Rangers. Now they've left, I feel... I don't know incomplete. We were all a part of each other and now I'm the only one left!"

"Yeah, it's tough, but we need to be strong. This may not really be our world, but we're still sworn to protect it, and we can't do that if we're not at our best!" Tommy said.

"You're right!" Cassie said, sitting up firmly and drying her eyes. "We're Rangers, now and forever and we have a job to do!"

She stood up and headed for the door.

"Come on. We've got new powers to try out!" Cassie said, actually smiling.

Tommy just smiled back and followed her out.

————— X —————

Jandra was leading a charge against the Dark Rangers. She ran to two of them, Red and Green, and sliced at their armor with her sword. As soon as she was clear, she sheathed her sword and pulled out her two laser pistols. She picked off the two Rangers with one well placed shot to each before turning and firing up into the trees. She fired six shots, and seconds later, six Drones fell to the ground.

Garrison was having as much luck. He had been named Garrison due to his massive arsenal of weapons. He was like a one man army. He was holding off the Black Dark Ranger with his sword in one hand and slowly picking off a platoon of Drones one by one with his plasma rifle.

Kraegor used no weapons. He preferred the physical approach. He was dealing with the Blue and Yellow Dark Rangers as well as a group of Cogs. He picked up Blue by his throat and swung him round. He released the Ranger who flew into Yellow, knocking them both flying into a tree - hard. He punched at the chest of a Cog, his hand bursting right through it's chest and coming out the bag with a handful of wiring. A quick move with his other hand asn the Cog fell to the ground, ripped clean in half. He turned to face another one. Clapping his hands onto either side of its head, he crushed the mechanical head like a grapefruit.

Rygog and Rito were stood back to back, surrounded by the Silver, Gold, Pink, Purple and White Dark Rangers. They charged away from each other, each knocking down a few Rangers. Rito turned and struck at Purple with his sword. Rygog fired a blast of energy at Silver, Gold and White Rangers who had instantly got back to their feet.

The five fighters gathered together and prepared to do a joined attack. Jandra stood at the front, her sword held high. "Charge it up!" She commanded. The four behind her fired the energy into the sword which began to pulsate with Power. She lowered the Sword and swiped it in front of her. The energy released in a wave, shooting towards their group of enemies, striking them and damaging their armor.

"Mondo to Simulation Room!" a voice came over the rooms communicator.

"Computer, freeze programme!" the computer instantly froze the fight sequence. "Jandra here, Mondo, what is it?"

"You're needed back in the Power Chamber!" Mondo said. He cut the signal and the five headed off to the Power Chamber.

When they arrived, there was quite a crowd waiting for them. The Samurai Rangers were still off training outside, but everyone else was there.

"What's up?" the mercenary asked.

"We have a little suprise for you!" Tommy said, smiling.

Alpha Five stepped forward. "As it seems you will be fighting alongside the Rangers, we thought you may need a little more Power, too. We have constructed something that may be of use to you!" the mechanoid chirped. He loved creting new things, and his newest creations, with the help of Mondo and Alpha Six, were quite fantastic.

The crowd moved aside to reveal some very powerful looking equipment. There were four exo-suits and an array of weapons.

"You're new weapons!" Mondo said. He moved to the first lot. "For you, Rito, we have exo-armor which will offer you great protection at the same time as giving you some new weaponry. With it, you will also receive a new sword." Mondo picked up the enormous weapon and handed it to Rito. "A lot of your power lies within that sword of yours, but frankly, it just doesn't have the Power you need. This new sword is stronger and more powerful. It makes a perfect addition to your armor."

"Yeah! New toys!" Rito shouted. He ran over and started to examine it. The armor looked a lot like a mechanical version of himself. It certainly looked impressive, he couldn't wait to try it out.

Mondo moved onto the next presentation. "Rygog, your old armor is hardly strong enough to defend you against a sneeze, and it looks pretty stupid, too! This new armor will replace that. Like Rito's it will also provide you with some formidable weapons. You also have a new eapon, it is called the Rygo-blaster. It has been created exclusively for you. It is extremely powerful, but use it with caution. It uses your own life energy to power it!" As soon as Mondo moved away, Rygog started to examine his gifts. He was impressed.

"Jandra. We have kept your armor as light as possible. One of your greatest attributes is your speed and agility. Your armor will protect you without slowing you at all. It's made from a super-polymer alloy, it is only a little thicker than a layer of human skin, but it is stronger than Durasteel. You have no need for new weapons, you have spent a lifetime perfecting the ones you have, so instead, we will just be upgrading that which you already have." Mondo explained.

"Kraegor. Your strength is surpassed by none other on this planet. That made creating an exo-suit for you very simple. All we needed to do was create something that would protect you whilst allowing you to use your incredible strength." Mondo said, presenting Kraegor with an exo-armor suit, big, but not bulky.

"Garrison. For you I have this!" Mondo said, holding up a computer chip!

"What? They get armor and weapons and I get that!" Garrison exclaimed.

"You should know you need little improvement! After all, you were created by me! Your armor is already as strong as any of these exo-suits. This chip will just provide you with more power to your weapons. I'm afraid that's the only improvement I can offer you!" Mondo explained.

"Now," Zordon said, "You all have new powers, new weapons and a new cause. Together we can defeat Armageddon and his Rangers!"

"Well we've all got some new toys, I say we go try them out!" Tommy called out.

The whole group cheered.

The ten Shinobi Rangers took out their Gems and held them out.

"SHINOBI POWER!" they all shouted together. Their armor appeared and they rushed out.

"EXO-ARMOR!" the others commanded. The new suits of armor disappeared and then re-appeared on them.

"He he he! I feel like a Ranger!" Rito laughed inside his new armor.

The five of them followed out after the Rangers.

————— X —————

Armageddon stepped forward with Crush to address his followers. The ten Rangers, not morphed, Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Gasket, Archerina, Mecha-Zen, Porto, Striker and Photon. There wasn't really that many of them, but between them they had monumental Power. Crush had been immediately recognised as the most powerful of them all. He had chosen her to be his second in command.

"I think it's time to shake up the Power Rangers. We've given them some time and I can sense something very strange going on within the Morphing Grid. We'll proceed directly to their base of command and face them there!" Armageddon ordered.

"We don't want them all destroyed just yet. Kill a few of them, but leave some alive. We still have some treats in store for them. Now let's go!" Crush commanded.

"DARK RANGER CHANGE!" the Rangers all commanded. At their command, their armor appeared on them and they were ready to go.

"Porto!" Rita shouted. "Are you sure this new staff works. I've seen some of the things you built for Divatox and they were hardly reliable!"

"Divatox was a joke. I never built anything seriously for her. Why should I ever have let my knowledge be used by someone who couldn't even destroy a Turbo Ranger? Now I have a commander who appreciates my talent, I am at my best. That staff, and Zedd's too, are miracles of engineering! Don't worry, they won't let you down." Porto replied.

They admired the two new staffs the villains held. Rita's was the same size as her old one, instead of the circular symbol on top, this had a black stone that glowed with power. The body of the staff studded with smaller versions of the stone. Zedd's was a similar, chrome-looking staff. The top bore a large black flame. It burned constantly, providing Zedd with greater power.

"How come they get new stuff? How about us?" Striker asked.

"Look, I can only create so many masterpieces at a time, you know!" Porto shouted, acting the real moody artist.

"Geez, I was only asking!" Striker replied defensively.

"Let's go!" Tommy shouted. "I wanna stomp some Rangers into the ground!"

————— X —————

"FIRE!" Tommy commanded.

The Shinobi Rangers fired their plasma rifles at a cliff face. Set at full power, the ten weapons probably would have disintegrated the whole mountain. Set at the low level they had them at, they only blew off half the cliff face in a rain of rock dust and small boulders.

"Okay. Time for the Shinobi Blades!" Tommy suggested. They put away the rifles and unsheathed their swords. they paired up and started fighting.

"Hey, watch this!" Rito called out. "Servo Jets!" Small jets emerged from the back and feet of Rito's armor. They fired and he flew up into the air. He flew around a few times before coming back to land in front of the others. "Pretty cool, huh! Sis never gave me anything like this!"

"That's nothing. Look at this!" Rygog said. "Plasma Saber." A small handle appeared in his right hand. As he flexed his wrist, a burst a plasma shot up from it, forming into the vague shape of a sword. The plasma glowed bright yellow. Rygog turned and swiped at a small pillar shaped rock. He turned back to the others and nothing seemed to happen to the rock.

"You missed!" Kraegor commented. A secind later, the top half of the rock slid off the bottom and fell to the ground, sliced clean off.

"Oh, what a shame. You got all that great stuff and all I got was this armor. If only it could do something as good as that!" Kraegor said sarcastically. He picked up the piece of rock Rygog had sliced off and held it between his arms. A gentle squeeze and the rock shattered into a million pieces. "But I can't do anything!" Kraegor added afterwards, just as sarcastically.

"Enough showing off. We still need more practice with these things!" Jandra said. She backflipped away from them, followed by a few other lightning quick gymnastic moves. She was so fast, they hardly even saw he move. One minute she was next to them, the next she was standing quite a distance away.

"Okay guys, that'll do for now. We don't want to over do it!" Tommy called out to the others. They all sheathed their weapons and gathered round him. "That was agood practice. We'll have the hold of these powers in no time."

"And then we can kick some Dark Ranger butt!" Rocky added.

"We must not be too headstrong Rocky. We are powerful, but we have not yet seen the extent of their powers!" Delphine cautioned the Green Shinobi.

"Zordon. We're done out here. we're coming in!" Tommy said, opening a channel to the Power Chamber. He heard the alarms sounding as soon as he did it. "Hey, what's up in there?"

"Tommy. Armageddon and his allies are on the move. We have just detected them going to the old site of our complex!" Alpha Five said.

"They're in for a shock when they get there!" Tommy replied, a wry smile forming inside his helmet.

————— X —————

Armageddon, Rita and co. and the Dark Rangers arrived at the site of Ranger HQ and prepared to fight, but they soon realised something vital was missing. They were standing next to the cliff face Ranger HQ had been built beside.

"Where the hell is it?" Armageddon asked, looking round for the Rangers' base.

"Are you sure you got the right place?" Zedd asked, trying to make Armageddon sound as stupid as possible.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Armageddon said, only just managing to stop himself blowing Zedd away. "They must have moved the whole thing!"

"Well that's just great, what do we do now?" Black Dark Ranger asked.

"Now you get ready to fight!" a mysterious figure in White and Red armor called out from the ledge above them. They all moved back to look up and see who was on the ledge. They saw ten figures all clad in white armor.

"Because we're gonna take you out!" the Black Samurai Ranger called out from behind them, the other Samurai's to either side of him.

"And you'll wish you'd never been created!" Jandra called out from another direction. Beside her was Garrison, who they recognised, and what looked like mechanical versions of Rito, Rygog and Kraegor.

"What the...!" Armageddon exclaimed. He found himself surrounded.

"Who the hell are you?" Tommy, Black Dark Ranger shouted to the figures in white.

"You don't recognise me, I'm offended. My own twin!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Tommy!" Black Dark Ranger snarled.

"The original and the best!" Tommy replied. "We're the Shinobi Rangers and we're her to rain on your parade!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Black replied.

"Careful what you wish for..." Tommy said confidently, "Cos you just might get it!"