Author’s Notes: This is my third story in the Power Rangers Beyond series. It comes after “Shadow of Vengeance” Read the Prelude, it provides a short profile on all of the main characters in this series. I got this idea from the Batman Beyond TV series. This series will be set on the idea that the Rangers were already morphed when came to fight off Astronema’s forces in Countdown to Destruction, therefore, their true identities still remain a secret. And now on with the story!

“An Incoming message in the planet Onyx,” DECA announced as the Rangers sat on the bridge. Chris, Nick, Michelle, Tim, and Joseph were still a little shaken up, but thanks to their rapid healing powers, they were feeling well enough to walk around.

“Give us a visual,” Andros commanded. Everyone was surprised to see the image of the Phantom Ranger appear on the screen. “Phantom Ranger! Its good to hear from you again, old friend.”

“I wish that I could be contacting all of you under better terms, but I have some bad news for you,” announced the mysterious Phantom.

“What’s wrong, and why are you on Onyx?” questioned Ashley.

“The Senturions have reason to believe that there is Brood activity here, and after the Brood slipped threw their fingers on Hercuron, they enlisted my aid in investigating this situation.” explained the Phantom Ranger.

“So what have you found?” asked Chris.

“There’s been no sign of the Brood, but while spying on space merchant, I learned a bit of information that you all might find interesting,” stated the Phantom. “Apparently, the merchant space is friends with a guy name Blane. Well Blane and Mason Hodges are on their way here, and get this, they’re bringing the Shadow Ranger.”

“We were on our way to Eltar, I think this takes precedence,” replied Andros. “DECA, change your course. We’re going to Onyx.”

********************

“Ah Onyx, what a glorious site to behold..” Blane looked at the red planet through the shuttle’s windows. He gave the pilot the coordinates of their landing site.

“Well, Derek, in a matter of hours you’ll have your life back.” stated Mason Hodges, as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

“My life will never be the same again, until the Power Rangers are destroyed,” replied the Shadow Ranger grimly. The evil Ranger’s mind then flashed back to when he was on the shuttle fighting the White Ranger. “Who was this White Ranger, and why was he so intend on fighting me?” he thought. Derek Simon knew that he had stepped on a lot of people on his way to the top of the corporate ladder, and he couldn’t help wondering what this Rangers’ vendetta was about.

The shuttle descended down to the planet below.

********************

The shuttle landed in a desert, where they were greeted by a group of creatures, who looked just like putties, except that these guys wore red robes that came down to just above their feet.

“Welcome to Onyx,” one of the creatures said as he stepped forward. “My name is Brac, and I will take you to Dr. Phixx’s lab.” The shuttle’s crew followed the creatures into a nearby cave. Brac explained that the cave was the entrance to an underground tunnel, which would lead them directly to Dr. Phixx’s lab, where the surgery would take place.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the group reached the entrance to the lab. Brac pressed a button on a nearby wall, and a door opened.

Inside, Princess Zara, dressed in a black robe, and sporting a full head of orange hair, greeted them. “What took you guys so long to get here?”

“Your hinus, where is Dr. Phixx?” asked Blane.

“I’m coming!” yelled a voice from a closed at the back room. Seconds later, the door flew open, and a man, with gray hair, and wearing a standard doctor’s outfit entered the room.

“You’re a Kerovan?” guessed Mason Hodges.

“Correct, Mr. Hodges, I am from KO-35. I left there many years ago, after the planet’s governing body planned to put me trial on for unethical experiments. I came here to Onyx, where I befriended the Putties,” explained the man. “They agreed to let me conduct my experiments here, and when Zordon’s golden wave came through, I hid them in the back room, which is made out of an impenetrable metal, until it was safe to come back out.”

“Speaking of do-gooders, I assume you know that the Senturions nearly captured a group of my soldiers when our rondevue went sour,” groaned Zara, addressing Mason Hodges.

“We had loaded up all of the warheads and were ready to leave, when those Power Rangers showed up,” Hodges pleaded.

“Are we going get on with my surgery, or are we going to babble on about the Ranger all day,” complained the Shadow Rangers, as he removed his helmet.

“Follow me,” ordered Dr. Phixx. The doctor lead the Ranger into the back room, where an operation table was set up. “You will have to demorph.” The Shadow Ranger pressed a button on the morpher that he wore on his right arm.

“Power Down.” The Ranger then laid on the table. “So what are you going to do to me?” he asked.

“First, I’m going to give you something to drink, that will put you to sleep-” Dr. Phixx picked up canister. “-and then I will spray your body down with the contents of this canister. It should only take twenty minutes for your body to return to its normal state.”

“I’ll hold onto your morpher until you regain consciousness,” suggested Hodges, as he entered the room. Derek Simon removed his morpher, and handed it over to his friend.

********************

In an alley, outside of the Scorch, Onyx’s biggest bar, the Phantom Ranger met with Andros, Chris, Nick, Michelle, Tim, and Joseph.

“We got here as quickly as we could,” stated Andros.

“The space merchant is inside,” informed the Phantom. “He’s the frogman sitting in the corner,” Phantom pointed into a window.

“I think we should go in there, and bust the place up,” Nick suggested.

“Nick, are you crazy!” scorned Joseph. “If we go in there and trash the place, that merchant is likely to dash out the back door before we can catch him.”

“What do you think, Chris?’ asked Tim.

“Mr. Andros?” Chris questioned, expecting the Kerovan to spout out a plan.

“You’re the leader of the Power Rangers now, Chris. It’s your call,” replied Andros. This was definitely not the response Chris expected Andros to give. The Kerovan must have been testing Chris’ leadership capabilities, and Chris wasn’t going to let Andros down.

“Okay here’s the plan. Michelle, you and Joseph go guard the back door. If anyone tries to leave stop um. Nick, Tim, you guys come with me. We going to bust up the Scorch,” commanded Chris. The five Ranger morphed, and the Pink and Blue Rangers headed around to the back of the building.

“So what do you think of his plan?” asked the Phantom, as he and Andros watched the Red, White, and Gold Rangers make their way to the Scorch’s entrance.

“Chris has got all the makings of a great leader,” commented Andros.

**********************

The creatures in the Scorch laughed and drank their beverages. There was a monster in the crowd, who looked like a distant cousin of Darkonda. The monster was trying to pick up a female Brood member.

“Hey babe, whadaya say we get out of this joint and go have to some real fun,” stated the monster, as he placed his arm around the woman’s shoulder.

“Get lost, fat boy,” insulted the female, as she removed his arm, and rose from her seat. Just then the doors flew open, and the Red, White, and Gold Ranger entered.

Power Rangers! Let’s get out of here! Were some the responses of the aliens in the bar, as they scurried out of the back door, in fright.

“Hey, Rangers, I’m running a legit establishment here,” stated the ape-like bartender, as the Red and Gold Ranger walked up to the counter.

“We’re not here to close the place down,” Chris assured.

“We’re here for the space merchant,” added Nick. Just then the White Ranger walked up, dragging, a kicking and screaming frogman.

“You’ve got the wrong guy! I ain’t done nothing wrong!” protested the alien.

“We need information about a doctor on this planet, and about the Brood,” stated the Red Ranger, as he waved his white-gloved hand in the frogman’s face.

“I don’t know anything about that stuff,” proclaimed the alien.

“Okay, well let me put it like this. If you’ll tell us what you know about this doctor and the Brood, we’ll let you on about your business, but if you don’t cooperate with us, well than we’ll have to hand you over to the Senturions, on the charges of withholding information about a hostile organization,” warned Chris.

The frogman thought for a moment, he had a family to support, and he wouldn’t do his wife and kids in good, behind bars. What these Rangers were asking for wasn’t unreasonable, and besides they seemed like honest people. “Okay, Rangers, I’ll tell all that I know,” frogman stated calmly.

“That’s all we’re asking for stated Nick. Just then, the Blue and Pink Rangers entered the bar.

“Come on over, you two. You guys should hear this also,” ordered Chris, as he waved his fellow Rangers over.

The frogman took a deep breathe and then began to speak. “In my travels throughout the universe, I have encountered many other space merchants, one of which is a guy named Blane. We met two years ago, at a convention, on the planet Nelix. We immediately became friends, and so anyway, Blane contacted me on my ship’s communications system, last night, and told me that he and Ray-Tech’s CEO would be coming here today. He said that they had an appointment scheduled with some doctor named, Phax, Spix--.”

“Phixx, Dr. Phixx?” asked Andros, as he and the Phantom Ranger walked up.

“Yeah, that’s it! Dr. Phixx,” stated the frogman.

“Do you know the guy?” asked Tim.

“Yeah, he was a scientist on KO-35 for several years, but then his experiments started to endanger people’s lives, so Commander Kiwon and the other elders decided to put him on trial. Phixx fled KO-35, and no one’s heard from him since,” explained Andros.

“Until now,” added Michelle.

“Thank you for your help, little guy. You may leave now,” stated Chris. The frogman quickly darted out the door, without uttering a word.

“So how do we find Phixx?” asked Joseph.

“Karone, adjust DECA’s tracking system to scan the planet for a large energy,” ordered Andros, as he spoke into his communicator.

“You got it, big brother,” replied Karone’s voice.

“If Phixx has a lab on this planet, DECA will detect it,” stated Andros.

They waited for a few moments, and then finally, Andros’ communicator began to beep. “Did DECA find anything?”

“Sorry, Andros, but the scan came up with nothing, however, while you guys have been down, Ashley and I decided to take the Megaship on a quick flight over the planet. As we flew over a desert, we noticed a cave,” stated Karone.

“A cave in the middle of a desert?” Andros replied, with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Yeah, that’s what we were thinking, well anyway, I’ll give you the coordinates,” the Kerovan woman stated. Andros listened carefully as Karone revealed the coordinates of the cave.

“So I guess we should go check out this cave. Right?” stated Michelle.

“Yeah, let’s teleport--,” stated Chris, before the Phantom interrupted him, by his hand on the Red Ranger’s shoulder.

“I have a gift for the five of you,” announced the Phantom. The Rangers and Andros followed the Phantom outside of the bar. The streets were now deserted.

“Boy when those monsters make an exit, they really make an exit,” stated Nick, as he looked around. The Phantom pressed a button on a remote in his hand, and within moments, a ship descended from the sky and hovered a few feet above the streets. The Phantom then pressed yet another button on his hand-held remote. The Rangers watched in amazement, as the ship’s hatch opened and six motorcycles flew out and landed in front of each Ranger, except for the yellow motorcycle.

“Power Rangers, behold your new vehicles, the Star Racers,” proclaimed the Phantom Ranger. “So what do you think?”

The Rangers looked at their new cycles, with pride. Nick was the first climb onto his cycle. “Aw yeah, baby!” The other Rangers followed Nick’s lead, and hopped onto the seats of their respective cycles.

“Phantom Ranger how can we ever thank you,” stated Chris, as he smiled under his helmet. ‘ “Just knowing that you will use these Star Racers to protect all that is good is all the thanks that I need, but Red Ranger I do have one more special gift for you,” stated the Phantom Ranger.

“For me?” inquired a curious Red Ranger. “Yes, you took charge of that whole situation with the space merchant, and behaved with a level head, which is the true character of a good leader. Extend your hand, Red Ranger, and receive your Power Weapon,” the Phantom stated.

Chris did as he was instructed and to his surprise, he found metal baton with a sharp blade on the end of it, in his possession. “Wow!”

“This is the Lionizer. It is a powerful weapon. It can be used in many different ways, all of which you must discover,” informed the Phantom Ranger. Chris held the Lionizer in his hands for a few seconds, and then placed it on his belt. “So I guess you guys will be riding the cycles to the cave, huh?” Andros assumed.

“Definitely,” replied Michelle.

“I must go now, Power Rangers, but our path will cross again, soon,” stated the Phantom.

“Thanks again!” yelled the Rangers, as they watched the Phantom teleport up to his ship.

“I’m going to head on up to the Megaship,” stated Andros. “I’ll contact the Senturions and have them meet you guys at the entrance to the cave. There’s no telling what’s going on in that cave.”

“We’ll be careful,” assured Chris. “Okay, team, let’s ride!” The Rangers crunk up their Star Racers, and off they rode.

“Andros watched with pride, as the five heroes raced off into the distance. Deep down inside, he wished he was a teenager again, but he knew that these Rangers were fully capable of handling anything that came their way. Andros placed one hand on the Yellow Star Racer, and then he and the cycle disappeared in a beam of red and yellow light.

********************

“Whooohooo!” yelled the Gold Ranger, as he popped a wheelie on his Star Racer.

“That’s nothing. Check this out,” stated Tim. The Blue Ranger climbed up on his Star Racer, and did a handstand, while the cycle was still moving at top speed.

“Okay, hot shots, let’s not get ridiculous,” commented Michelle.

“Man, Stephanie is going to love these things,” stated the White Ranger, as he rode along side his best friend, Chris.

“Yeah, these things are just too sweeeeetttt!” exclaimed the Red Ranger, in his best nWo impersonation.

The five Rangers race through the long, hot desert until they could see the cave in the distance.

“Okay, Rangers, this is far enough,” Chris stated. The Red Ranger knew very well that if Dr. Phixx is was as smart as the Ranger thought he was, then the mad scientist had some sort of intruder detection system in the area. “Megaship, prepare to teleport the Star Racers aboard,” ordered the Ranger leader, as he spoke into his communicator.

The Rangers dismounted from their cycles, and awaited a reply from the Megaship.

“Teleporting now,” stated the voice of Ashley, as the five Star Racers, teleported away, in beams of light.

“So we go the rest of the way on foot?’ asked the Pink Ranger.

“Yup,” replied the Red Ranger. So the five Rangers continued the rest of their journey on foot.

“I sure could go for a cheeseburger right about now,” grumbled the Gold Ranger.

“Nick, you’re always thinking about food,” replied Joseph.

“Don’t worry, little brother, with a little luck we just might be home in time for dinner,” stated Chris.

********************

“Princess Zara! Princess Zara! We’ve got big trouble,” stated the Brood woman from the Scorch, as she entered the lab.

“Calm down, Nala, and tell me what’s got you so upset,” stated the princess calmly.

“The Power Rangers! They’re here on this very planet, and they’re looking Dr. Phixx and us!” exclaimed Nala.

“Where did you see them at?’ questioned the Brood princess.

“I was at the Scorch Bar, and the Red, White, and Gold Rangers walked in they were looking for Blane’s friend,” explained an almost out of breathe Nala.

“Was Kroac in the bar?” questioned Blane, as he grabbed the woman, by the neck.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure whether the Ranger got him or not. I got outta there as soon as I heard what they wanted,” stated the woman, as she freed herself of Blane.

“Great just great. Now the Ranger are probably on their way here,” groaned Blane, as he threw his hands up in the air.

“Not to worry, Mr. Blane--” stated Derek Simon, as he entered the room, morphed but carrying his helmet. “If the Rangers come here, I’ll finish them once and for all!”

“Looks like you’ll get your chance, because there they are,” announced Dr. Phixx, as he pointed to an image on a screen, of the Rangers approaching the cave’s entrance.

“Brac, you and the Putties, go help the Shadow Ranger battle the Rangers. They must not find this place,” ordered Dr. Phixx.

“Dr. Meeks, go warm up the shuttle,” whispered Hodges. “We may have to make a hasty departure.”

The Shadow Ranger and the Putties exited the lab, with Dr. Meeks mingling in with the group.

********************

“There it is,” stated Chris, as he pointed to the entrance, a few feet away from the Rangers.

Just then, an army of Putties emerged from the cave, led by the Shadow Ranger.

“That’s some welcoming committee,” commented Joseph.

“Power Rangers, you made a big mistake in coming here!” yelled the Shadow Ranger.

“Where ever there is evil to fight, that’s where we’re going to be Shadow Ranger,” replied the Red Ranger.

“Putties, attack!” ordered Brac.

The Rangers took on the army of Putties. The Putties possessed a few more moves than their predecessors, but they still couldn’t match the skills of the Rangers. Joseph grabbed Michelle’s hands, a spun her around in the air. As a Puttie charged at them, Michelle’s kicking legs would knock the attacker senseless. Nick chose a more straight forward attack. He simply beat the stuffings out of every Puttie that came near him.

“So, you’re the White Ranger, huh. I’m not impressed,” scoffed Brac, as he threw a punch at Tim.

“Don’t worry, you will be,” Tim blocked the punch, and then countered with an uppercut to Brac’s chin. Brac staggered backwards, and Tim continued the attack by leaping into the air and striking the Puttie leader with a spinning heel kick. “So are you impressed yet?” Brac just dropped to the ground in pain.

“Ready for another beating, Red Ranger?” snarled the Shadow Ranger, as his blade emerged from his glove.

“Things are going to be different, this time,” Chris replied, “Lionizer!” As the Shadow Ranger moved in to attack him, the Red Ranger struck the evil Ranger in the chest with his Lionizer. The Shadow Ranger was shocked by the Red Ranger’s new weapon, and back-peddled, to rethink his attack. “You wear that armor, and you look like a Ranger, but you’re no Power Ranger.”

“I don’t want to be a Power Ranger!” snarled the evil Ranger, as he fired stream of fireballs from his chestplate. This attack caught the Red Ranger off guard, and he tumbled to the ground in pain.

“Hang on, buddy! I’m coming!” Tim leaped into the air, and knocked the Shadow Ranger to the ground with a corkscrew kick. With the villain dazed, the Red Ranger fired the ray out of his Lionizer.

“Wow! This thing is phat!” exclaimed Chris.

*Perhaps he’d underestimated the Power Rangers* thought the Shadow Ranger as he struggled to his feet.

“Is all over, Shadow Ranger, demorph and surrender,” stated the Red Ranger, as he and the other Rangers surrounded the villain. The Shadow Rangers decided his best path of escape was through the Pink Ranger, so he charged right at her, but Michelle blasted him right in the stomach with her Astro Blaster.

“Nice try,,” stated Michelle, as she stood over the fallen Ranger.

“Hey, Rangers!” yelled Blane The Rangers looked at Blane, who was standing at the entrance to the cave with a blaster in his hand. This distraction was all the Shadow Ranger needed to make a run in the direction of the shuttle.

The five Rangers ducked and dodged Blane’s blasts, until Joseph was able to get off a blast from his Astro Blaster that brought Blane.

“Is he--?” asked Michelle, as Tim knelt over the merchant.

Tim checked for a pulse, and then replied “Yeah, he’s alive, but just a little stunned.”

“Andros, we’ve got some Putties and that guy Blane down here,” The Red Ranger spoke into his communicator.

“The Senturions are on there way,” replied the voice of the Kerovan.

“Okay, let’s see who’s inside,” stated Nick, as he took a step into the cave. Chris placed a hand on his shoulder, in to halt him.

“We’ll wait for the Senturions. There’s no telling how many bad guys are in there waiting for us,” stated Chris. The Rangers waited for a moments, and then another shuttle arrived. About thirty or so Senturions emerged from the shuttle, some Blue, some Black. As some of the galactic officers began placing electronic ropes around the captured Putties. three Senturion approached the Rangers.

“Greetings, Power Rangers,” stated a Blue Senturion, as he approached the Rangers. “How may we assist you?”

“We suspect that there are more villains inside,” stated the Red Ranger. The Blue Senturion motioned for a few more Senturions to come over. The Rangers and Senturions then entered the cave.

********************

In the lab, Princess Zara, Nala, and the another Brood soldiers present had opened a portal, and were about to depart.

“Please don’t leave me here! The Rangers will be here any moment!” begged Dr. Phixx.

‘Stop your sniveling, doctor, you may come with us,” replied Zara. “Now where is Mason?” The Brood princess looked around the lab for Hodges and his scientists, but they were not where to be found. “He must have left after the Putties went out to fight.”

At that moment the wall burst open, the Rangers and Senturions entered.

“Well look who we found,” stated the Gold Ranger. “The Brood.”

“Brood attack!” ordered Zara. Instantly, the green-robed, humanoid soldiers began to throw spears at the Rangers and Senturions.

“Come, doctor, now is our chance to leave,” stated Zara, as she, Nala, and Dr. Phixx ran for the portal. Zara entered the portal first, followed by Nala, but as Dr. Phixx was about to enter, Chris tossed the Lionizer as his feet, tripping the doctor. The portal then closed before Phixx could get to his feet.

“NNNoooo!” Two Senturions grabbed the doctor, and pulled him to his feet. The Rangers subdued the Brood attackers with blasts from their Astro Blasters.

********************

“Blane will have to be broken out of jail,” stated Mason Hodges, as his shuttle cruised though space.

“That won’t be necessary,” stated Blane, as he turned from a rat to his humanoid form. “Not only do I have a knack for getting into places, but I can also get out of places, and while the Rangers and Seturions were in the lab, I became a rat and boarded this shuttle.”

“So what’s your next plan to destroy the Rangers?” asked Derek Simon.

“Derek, now that your body has been repaired, we will concentrate on Ray-Tech’s business activities. As long as we’re careful, and always cover our tracks, there’s no way the Rangers can touch us,” explained Hodges, as he calmly sipped on a cup of coffee.

********************

The Rangers were now back on the Megaship’s bridge, relaxing after a very exciting day.

“So why do you guys think all of those villains were on Onyx?” Ashley inquired, as she brought a tray of sodas, from the Synthetron, onto the bridge.

“Who knows. Maybe they were plotting some sort of scheme to conquer the universe,” guessed Joseph, as he took a drink from the tray.

“Maybe, but I think it had something to do with the Shadow Ranger’s true identity. Did you guys notice how he started trembling, when we told him to demorph,” announced Chris..

“Well, at least we know that he’s not invincible,” stated Joseph.

“Yeah, but you can bet he’ll have some new tricks up his sleeve the next time we face him,” Chris assumed.

“So what will happen to Dr. Phixx?” Nick inquired. as he took a sip of his soda.

“The Senturions will take him back to KO-35, where he’ll be given a fair and just trial,” stated Andros.

“Once the council finds out about him conspiring with the Brood, they should have no trouble locking him up for a very long time,” added Karone.

‘I only wish that we could have gotten some proof that Hodges was there, because I’m sure that he had a hand in all of this, afterall he still has to pay for my parents’ deaths,” Tim stated.

“Today certainly was an interesting one,” commented Michelle, as she leaned back in her chair, and sipped on her soda.

“DECA, how soon do we reach Earth?” Tim asked.

“We will be home within the next ten minutes,” replied the computer’s voice.

“Good, because I’ve got to get home and study for Mr. Albertine’s AP Biology test, on Monday,” explained Tim.

“That test is on Monday!” exclaimed Michelle, as she sat up in her chair, spilling soda all over herself. Everyone else just burst into laughter at Michelle’s reaction to this news.