The Boy from Space (CLASSIC)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or Doctor Who. They belong to the copyright owners. This is a piece of fan work and no profit is being made from this.

The Boy from Space

"Out there in space, will we find friends?

Is there a place, where the universe ends?
And will we find it, when space goes on forever?"

- The Boy from Space

Lightspeed Aquabase, Earth

Captain Mitchell finished reading the police reports and considered his response. Normally Mariner Bay had a low crime rate. There were a few robberies and the occasional case of looting during a demon attack, but for the most part violent crime was not common despite the dark powers that lurked close by. Therefore when there had been a sudden rise in the number of unexplained deaths, the police had asked Lightspeed if there was any demon involvement.

At first glance Captain Mitchell had been inclined to return the matter to the police, asking them to investigate a possible serial murderer. It had been his assistant that had pointed out that despite the state of the bodies - each had been missing at least the heart - there was no evidence of a violent death. That something was harvesting the organs shortly after they died had caused Captain Mitchell to consider his response. His mind drifted to the reports of a cemetery where one of the graves had been opened and the body removed. He could not shake the feeling that it was somehow linked. He just didn't know how.

Mariner Bay

Twenty hearts, twenty brains, right assorted limbs and many other body parts had gone into making what Curszer considered his greatest work of all time. Boiled in a vat of blood drained from over one hundred victims, the raw materials had been rendered down and then combined with the remains he had personally stolen from the cemetery. The result was a hideous patchwork of body parts that had somehow taken on the shape of a human being. It lay inert, waiting to be given a semblance of life.

"A part for a part, a hear for each year, we'll have you alive yet, don't you fear," Curszer toned as he continued to cast the many preservation spells that would stop his creation turned into a soggy mess.

For now the body was as ready as it could be. The powers he had used had bonded the spare parts with the bones he had taken from the grave and had made them a single being. Biologists studying the process would have witness the many strands of DNA alter to become identical to the original. But without the spark of life the body would only survive a short time and was at best a zombie. Fortunately Curszer had a solution to that.

"Past the shadowed veil of death, I call you back to the land of breath."

Soul magic was not easy to work, especially when the soul being summoned was not a demon and had been dead for more than a year. But Curszer had been repeating his incantation several times a day, gradually drawing the spirit into his grasp. He enjoyed watching its desperate attempts to flee back beyond the veil, it's good nature abhorred by what he had in mind.

"The blood of those lost shall restore, just as you were before."

He laughed as he watched his victim struggle. It was a rare opportunity to torture such an innocent soul. Barely able to comprehend all that was happening, shocked by its sudden appearance in a world where it no longer belonged. Every day it was forced to endure a year in the life of some stranger. It had fought at first, then grown curious, then jealous. Now with each passing day the soul lost a little more of its innocence, becoming the soldier Curszer desired.

"From the passing time confound, and to this vessel once more be bound!"

There was a shriek as the captive soul was drawn into the monstrous body. The moment it touched the body started to shift and reshape itself. With a living soul in place it looked human and as the second part of the spell took hold, the eyes opened.

Twenty years earlier.

The man drove his car along the twisting road, his two children secure in the backseat. It was raining and the driver lost control. The car spun off the road and over the cliff, crashing down on the rocks below. Shockingly the man and his children survived, but the car's fuel tank had ruptured and the battery had started to short circuit, causing sparks. With only a limited time the man knew he had time to save only one of his children. He could only release and carry either his son or his daughter to safety.

"Oh dearie my, which one will die?"

The man turned as he heard the voice, shocked and angered to see a demon standing before him. The flames and everything else around him seemed to have stopped.

"What do you want?" the man demanded, his hand moving to a gun he kept in his jacket.

"If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have slowed down the fire," the demon responded. "I've come to make you an offer."

Seeing that the man was not going to ask, the demon pressed on.

"You can only rescue one child, the other will die. Give him to me to raise as my own and know that he shall live. But which shall you choose?"

The demon enjoyed playing with the emotions of others. It enjoyed the torment it saw upon the man's face as he tried to decide which child he would give up. The demon enjoyed the knowledge that it had won.

"Neither!" the man decided, shocking the demon as he rushed to the car.

The demon laughed as it watched the man struggle, knowing full well that he could not carry one child away and return for the other before the car exploded. He heard the man say something to his son before grabbing his daughter and running. The boy somehow managed to free himself from the car and screamed for his father to help him. And that was when the car exploded.

In the flash of the fireball, Curszer shed his guise of just another demon and made his way to the burning wreckage. He pulled the son from the flame and took him away into the night, leaving the father to grieve.

Somewhere close to Mariner Bay

Curszer gasped as he found himself back where he had started. He could sense the changes his little spell had caused. The boy's memory of events had been altered so that he believed his father had abandoned him and that he had been raised by Queen Bansheera's Court. His mind held the memories of the training he had received, of the torture and ridicule heaped upon him by the demons as they had forced him to fight for his continued existence. His anger at being abandoned combined with his hatred of the father that had chosen to abandon his son in favour of his daughter. All those thoughts and memories surged through the mind of the newly awakened children.

Except now he was not a child. He was a fully grown and very angry young man.

"Ah," Curszer cried triumphantly as the dark magic he had used to build the body was released and washed through the chamber. "He's ready!"

The corruption of the lines of magic surrounding the Earth had been short lived and had only affected a small area. The event did however have side effects such as disrupting the magical waves that flowed from the planet. Normally such a short and localised disruption would pass unnoticed by others. There were however some exceptions.

Ask a mage capable of perceiving magic as a physical object to describe the Earth and they will tell you that it shines like a ball of magical energy in the night's sky, the many line of magical energy crisscrossing the light to give a dazzling effect. "It shines," they would tell you. Ask them what the Earth looked like during the time when Bansheera and her clan considered it their world and they will tell you that the Earth still shone like a beacon in the night along with the many other worlds that eventually fell to the darkness.

The legends stated that Queen Bansheera had been banished from Earth and imprisoned by a powerful wizard. Those claims were wrong. Bansheera had never been defeated, had never fought a wizard, nor an army of young warriors. She had left her kingdom on Earth at the time when her empire was at its strongest to oversee the rest of her empire that resided within one of the many Hell dimensions. It had been after the humans had closed the doorway between Earth and her domain that she had been trapped, unable to find her way back to her palace on Earth.

Now the servants of her court had been released that doorway had been partially opened and the way back had become clearer. However Bansheera lacked the strength to break through the barriers between her dimension and the Earth from her side. She had been in communication with her servants as a spectral being, but she wished to physically reclaim her territory, which meant travelling there personally.

When Curszer had started his spell his intention had been the creation of a dark warrior to help the demons destroy the Power Rangers. His goal had not changed. But his scheme had relied on sorcery so dark that it had corrupted the magic of the planet for a short time. Unwittingly Curszer had given Bansheera an opening and the Hell Queen had wasted little time.

Springwood, Ohio,

The entire arsenal of the Ultrazord struck Beast Master, causing the villain to scream before his body was thrown into the air where he remained suspended by the energy that was tearing him to pieces. Then the attack ended and he plummeted back to the ground. His body cracked, the evil spirit contained within desperate to get away. He coughed violently, spewing up a small orb that was lost under his falling body.

"Hit him again!" Tommy ordered. "Fire!"

This time Beast Master was destroyed...

...Or so they thought. The Rangers had been busy at the time; too concerned about the Elemental Beasts and Minion to worry about whether the Beast Master's destruction had been total. They had lacked the opportunity to investigate the orb he had ejected and by the time they were able to do so, they found no trace. So it was forgivable given their distraction, that they had missed a few people that the Beast Master had still controlled at the moment of his destruction as they carried out his final command and removed the orb from Angel Grove to a place where it could receive the energy needed to begin its development into a new Beast Master. Those slaves had been listed among the missing of Angel Grove although their deaths had occurred many miles away in Springwood, Ohio. There under the concentrated fire of Serpenterra, they had met their end and the orb they carried had been supercharged by its destructive ray and buried deep beneath the rubble.

Serpenterra's blast had changed the landscape forever, raising the water table and crumbling the bedrock. Even as the ash and sediment from the former town settled, beneath the surface the wound festered. And within the murky, molten, steaming sludge, the orb had rested, nurtured by the agonised spirits of those that had lost their lives. Still unformed it displayed abilities similar to those of its parent, ensnaring the spiritual energy of those that had been killed during its awakening.

The Beast Master had been depicted in the legends as a demon that merely controlled the Elemental Beasts. In truth he was just another beast that had evolved without their great power. Instead of power he held an intellect that allowed him to direct his brethren. And like the Beast Masters before him, he had been capable of giving birth to a new generation of beasts. Fed by the ghostly despair of those that had lost their lives in Serpenterra's assault on Springwood, it had fed upon the poisoned ground, using the negative emotions to grow powerful.

For a long time following the defeat of Minion, the town of Springwood had been cordoned off as uninhabitable. The land was too unstable for teams to even consider trying to reclaim the lost land or the many bodies that lay among its ruins. And then over time the area was deemed lost and designated as a monument to those lost. Untended the souls of those that had died there had been unable to move on, transformed by the dark energy within the land into vengeful lost spirits. Their hurt and anger caused the tiny seeds that fell from the Beast Master's egg to grow and rot, feeding the soil with the chemicals needed to and soon turned the area rotting pool filled with the nutrients and magic needed to bring forth a new generation of Elemental Beasts. And as those embryos grew, they were carried upon the magical winds to distant parts of the planet, awaiting the Beast Master's call.

Yes, this was the perfect place of death and rebirth, hate, fear and evil. It was the sickly combination of darkness that polluted the land that drew Curszer to the site, just as a short time before it had attracted the attention of two Duke Orgs. While their goal had been to find new Orgs to give themselves a purpose, Curszer sought to use the land as the final stage in his project's development. The creature that accompanied was technically human. It was composed of the rotted remains of a body Curszer had stolen from a grave combined with a soul he had snatched from its resting place. He had combined the two, poured in memories and knowledge and fed it on an emotional diet of pain and hatred. And now the time had come for his little project to be granted a new life in servitude to Queen Bansheera. And its first task when complete would be the destruction of the Lightspeed Rangers.

"Take the steps and three shall bind; body, spirit and the mind," Curszer whispered. "A trade most bold: new life for old."

The land bulged and swallowed the walking flesh as a roar was heard that echoed around the world, distorting the planet's energy as it did so. Unnoticed by most it heralded a new beginning and the arrival of darker times. And as Curszer watched, something vaguely human started to take shape.

Space

"Yeehaw! Cowabunga dude!"

Dappu was a spoiled brat. He had everything money could but and the full benefits of his parents' hard work. He also knew that he was going to be in deep trouble when he got home. A teenager by the standards of his people, he had been grounded after failing his classes for the third time. His parents had taken away all his privileges and hired tutors to help him improve, but Dappu had been more interested in surfing the space waves than earning a passing grade. His parents were bound to punish him for sneaking out to go planet skimming, especially after curfew and without asking permission to borrow the space pod; for most space travel was reserved for traders and commercial flights with very few families able to claim to own their own shuttle.

Still he wasn't worried. His parents were rarely at home - for despite their attempts to cover up the fact he was well aware that they had separated and his mother was living a very successful, happy and independent life away from her husband - and despite how tough their staff tried to be when maintaining discipline, the fact remained they were just staff. Besides, it was only supposed to be a short trip around a few of the nearby star systems, using the tidal effect of the stars as a means of changing course at the last possible moment. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately Dappu was so spoilt and so shielded by his parents that he had been left unaware of the dangers facing him. He had not known about the bounty that had been offered for the capture of his father, a widely acknowledged expert in the fields of magical engineering. He had not been told that those seeking to claim the bounty were waiting just beyond the shields that prevented them from simply raiding the planet and taking whatever they wanted. Had he known he would have sneaked out in the other direction.

Dappu's home planet, Savoth, was protected by a genetic shield that only allowed approved vessels to pass if they carried a resident of the planet. Otherwise they had to seek permission and were monitored closely from the moment they entered the shield. Even with permission non-residents were limited to the spaceports and had to wait for approval to go elsewhere. However those precautions could be circumvented with the capture of any member of their race. At that point a bounty hunter would have the means to pass through their shields and help himself to useful members of society. And nobody had stated what condition that resident had to be in, which was why Dappu was making every effort to escape after being chased by the bounty hunter across several systems. In his mind this was far too high a price for sneaking out.

He had managed to keep ahead of his pursuer, but his luck had run out when he had entered Earth's solar system with the intention of using one of the tidal currents to slingshot his way onto a new course. His entrance coincided with a magical distortion, the result of a ceremony taking place near Mariner Bay, and his swerve carried him wide. Out of control his vessel had plunged into the atmosphere, forcing him to make an emergency landing. Unable to fully control his descent he landed at his earliest opportunity, the hunter close behind.

"Bummer!"

Angel Grove

The end of the school year was approaching and for the five friends it was accompanied by an odd feeling of deja vu. The classes all seemed familiar, the events planned by the school's faculty almost the same as the previous year. The only difference seemed to be in the alien forces that attack the planet. The previous year the monsters had been directed by Divatox. This year nobody seemed to control the random mix that tried their luck at conquering the planet.

The five youths of course knew all about the monsters attacking their world, since two of them were the planet's first line of defence and the other three had just months earlier been an essential part of that team. Justin Stewart and Fred Kellman were secretly Power Rangers. Drawing strength from the Power of Turbo, Justin was the Blue Turbo Ranger and Fred served as the duo's leader, the Red Turbo Ranger. They were accompanied by Tasha Young, Rosa De Santos and Franklin Park, the former Yellow Turbo Ranger, Pink Turbo Ranger and Green Turbo Ranger. Although they had lost their ability to safely transformed when their Turbo Keys had been damaged - for an expert friend had already determined that it was the transformation devices and not the teenagers at fault - they remained as support for the two active Rangers.

When the senior Rangers returned from their mission to liberate the watery world of Aquitar - a planet that would take decades to recover from the decimation reaped upon it by Minion and others - the Turbo Rangers had the guidance and experience needed to overcome the many varied threats they faced without the need for reinforcements. They had even found a way to temporarily switch powers, allowing Tasha, Rosa or Franklin to replace either Justin or Fred in battle. It had highlighted just how little they understood about the nature of the Speed Force from which they drew their power.

"So, Ernie's?" Rosa asked, causing the others to grin. It was a familiar conversation when school finished. Normally Tasha and Justin needed to check in at the children's home, but recently they had been allowed to stay out a little later.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"Looks like that sandwich will have to wait," Fred answered as the five youths made their way to a secluded spot so they could answer the communicator. "This is Fred."

"Fred it's Zack," a familiar voice replied.

With Zordon and Alpha still away, the older Rangers had been taking it in turns to monitor the Power Chamber. Working in shifts they watched for signs of trouble and alerted the active Rangers only if there was an emergency. Of course they also spent their time training as Zordon had encouraged them to do, expanding on their knowledge of their powers and the abilities those powers granted.

""What's up?" Fred asked.

"The computer detected two ships entering the atmosphere and heading toward Angel Grove," Zack answered. "One is identified as a bounty hunter, the other is unknown."

"Either way we need to check it out," Rosa guessed.

The others nodded. Even if it wasn't part of an invader, allowing aliens to settle some problem on the planet could spell trouble for civilians.

"I'm sending the coordinates to your Turbo Navigators," Zack advised. "Be careful guys, just because the siren isn't sounding doesn't mean they aren't dangerous."

"Understood," Fred answered, summoning one of the Turbo Navigators and studying the readings. "We're on our way."

Dappu forced himself not to panic as his ship made a very bumpy landing in a wooded area close to Angel Grove Park. His vehicle had not taken the unexpected landing well and the imperfect angle of re-entry had damaged its exterior. And thoughts of sneaky the shuttle back and pretending nothing had happened were gone. If he was lucky his parents would stop at skinning him alive. And that was assuming that whatever had been chasing him had a change of heart.

He flicked a button on the console, activating the ship's external viewer. That allowed him to observe the local inhabitants and change his clothing to fit in. The result was far from perfect; the bright red tee-shirt and blue shorts only highlighted that he was not human. Anybody that caught sight of his large ridged head could tell he did not fit in. How he wished that he had brought some sort of disguise technology with him. At least he didn't need a translator.

"Yo dudes, how ya doin?" he shouted as he approached the nearest group of locals, a group of kids playing soccer.

Unsurprisingly when approached by an alien with a big mouth, the kids did as they had been taught by their teachers and ran for the nearest place of safety, shouting a warning to other park users.

"Hey, where ya goin?" Dappu protested. "Aw man, I'm never going to find any help at this rate!"

"I wouldn't worry if I were you," a voice said from behind. "You're beyond help anyway."

Dappu groaned as he turned around to find a weapon pointed in his direction. It seemed his pursuer had not only tracked him and survived landing, but had already discovered his whereabouts and was not worried about whether or not he survived.

Red. That was the first thing that Dappu realised about his tormentor. He was red, very very red. indeed apart from a few areas that were black, the majority of the armour that he wore was unquestionable red. The sword he held in his right hand was also red and if he had to guess, Dappu would be unsurprised to find out that the other sword he wore on his back was also red. Admittedly there were two types of red, the dull matt red that covered the majority of his form and the brighter, glossier red that accounted for the armour plates attached to his shoulders and legs. His helmet was red and black.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," the bounty hunter promised before he stopped to consider the matter. "Actually it really doesn't matter if your run, fight or stay where you are. I promise it will be quick. Just like this..."

He swung the sword, firing a bolt of crimson energy at the alien youth. Dappu ducked to the side, but realised he had nowhere else to go.

"Hey what's your beef man?" he demanded. "Did I diss you or something?"

"My employer wants the services of your father," came the reply. "Your father was very stubborn and refused his request. I had been looking for an inhabitant of your world to open the shield. But you? Well, you're much better. With you I can convince your old man to come to me. And if he doesn't, the shield doesn't care whether you are alive, dead or finely diced."

"Knew there was a problem with that thing," Dappu muttered. To be honest he had never really cared about the shield that protected his world. He had never given a second thought to how it did its job or what it needed to function. His parents had given him the same lecture that most children received for their safety and he had cheerfully ignored them. That was something he was coming to regret. "Can't we discuss this?" he tried. "Just because you want my dad to do something doesn't mean you have ta kill me."

"But it doesn't mean I can't," the bounty hunter replied, unleashing another sword swipe. "Your father won't realise until it's too late. Hey, hold still!"

Another sword blow and this time Dappu had nowhere to run. His life flashed before his big blue eyes before a loud clang caused him to peek through his fingers. Red and Blue Turbo stood between the bounty hunter and his prey, their Turbo Swords preventing him from delivering a final blow.

"Maybe you should stop playing with sharp things before you get hurt," Red Turbo suggested.

"I am Kiaido, professional bounty hunter, renowned through the stars for my skill with a sword," he answered harshly. "And I do not need two pipsqueaks to give me a lecture on safety."

As he bellowed the last sentence, a wave of fire erupted from the end of his blade, blasting both Rangers. As Blue Turbo grabbed Dappu and ran for safety, Red Turbo stood his ground, allowing the Tyre Shield to work its magic by absorbing a large chunk of the blast.

"Auto Blaster!" Red Turbo called, opening fire as soon as he dropped the Tyre Shield. His shots were on target, but Kiaido was more than capable of blocking them with his swords. "Turbo Lightning Sword!" He leapt up, aiming to bring the sword down in a solid blow, but found his attempt blocked by the bounty hunter. Instead of letting his frustration show he repeated the move, this time shifting at the last moment so he could roll away and allowing Blue Turbo to catch the bounty hunter with a shot from his Turbo Hand Blasters.

Again Kiaido proved his skills with his swords, throwing the first back at Blue Turbo while he deflected the second at where Red Turbo had been standing. Only then did he realise that Red Turbo had used the distraction to take another swipe at him. Although he blocked it he was forced to concede that the Turbo Rangers did possess some skill. With his prey gone he decided to withdraw for the moment.

"What about my ship?" Dappu demanded much to the frustration of the three teens that had agreed to look after him. He was used to getting his own way and as soon as he realised that he was safe, he had started to complain. "If it's damaged, you guys are goin ta pay for it!"

While Justin and Fred had been dealing with the bounty hunter, Franklin, Rosa and Tasha had teleported Dappu to the safety of the Power Chamber. There his identity had been confirmed and so had his story. Although when he had started messing with the computers, the former Rangers had agreed to take him elsewhere as soon as the fighting was over. That had been two hours ago and with the help of a device to keep civilians from noticing that Dappu was not human, they had taken him to the Youth Center while they worked out what to do next.

"We'll look for it after that guy's been dealt with," Franklin promised.

Dappu was not happy with that answer.

"Do you know how much that ship is worth? If it's damaged I'll make sure the Council makes you pay for it."

If he had expected the teens to show some sort of concern he was in for a surprise when they started laughing at him.

"The Council? This is Earth. The Council won't even talk to us let alone order us around," Tasha told him. "After the response Tommy gave them last time they wouldn't dare try."

"Earth? I'm on Earth?" Dappu was really upset now. "How am I expected to find help on a miserable backwater like Earth? I might as well surrender now."

"Hey!" Tasha snarled, grabbing the larger teen by the collar. "You already got help or did you forget how our friends just saved your life?"

"Look toots, I could buy and sell each and every one of you," Dappu replied. "So why don't you be a good little girl and shut up? Trapped on Earth, man life is a real bummer sometimes."

It was Rosa who broke down laughing first, but the others soon followed. They had heard from Tommy and the others how stuck up some aliens could be. Over time the older Rangers had come up with ways to give them a little reality check.

"You're rich are you?" she asked sweetly. "Good, you can buy the drinks. Hey Ernie, can we have four colas?"

The portly owner of the Juice Bar hurried over, hardly raising an eyebrow at the alien that had been forced to sit watching the television; the Rangers had given up trying to fool Ernie, especially when he was inside the Youth Center.

"Pay him," Rosa urged. "Let's see that money of yours."

Grumbling slightly Dappu put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some coins, which he handed to Ernie. Only for Ernie to hand them back with a shake of his head and an apologetic smile.

"Pay him with real money," Rosa instructed, "not space credits."

"That is money," Dappu protested.

"Not on this planet," Rosa answered harshly. "Your money is worthless here which means you are no richer than anybody else."

While she was making her point, Tasha paid for the drinks.

"Miserable backwater," Dappu complained as he shoved his money back in his pocket, causing a strange medallion to tumble out.

Instinctively Tasha grabbed it before it hit the floor and when she did so it flared with yellow light. Unsure what had happened she handed it back to Dappu, who had stopped complaining and was looking at the three former Rangers speculatively.

"Here, drink this," Tasha told his as she passed him a Coke.

"Thank you," he managed.

Dappu had been surprised when his amulet had flared. It was something his mother had given him years before. She had tried at the time to instruct him in the use of the near-magical energy it channelled. He had given up after discovering that he could not use the powers himself, he could only channel them into objects or other people. He had found that he could use it to enhance some of his father's creations, but his efforts had never been appreciated. He couldn't believe that when his amulet had reacted the female had hardly reacted. He knew many others would have demanded an explanation and then that he supplied them with the powers his amulet could provide. What was wrong with these humans?

It didn't take long for Kiaido to resurface and when he did it was clear he had a plan. The bounty hunter had retrieved Dappu's ship and threatened to destroy it. Naturally that drew the two Turbo Rangers into battle. This time though the bounty hunter was prepared for a battle and didn't hold back. His sword strikes quickly incapacitated Blue Turbo, whom he then used as a twisted human shield against the Red Turbo Ranger. In a very short time he had defeated both Rangers and held them at his mercy.

"A trade, Rangers: give me the brat and I'll let your friends live."

Actually when they surrendered his prize to him he planned to claim the bounty on the two Rangers as well.

"So what do we do?" Tasha asked.

"We're not handing him over," Rosa stated forcefully, sparing Dappu a glance. "Bad guys never keep their word and even if they did, it's not going to happen."

The others nodded in agreement, surprising Dappu. He had expected them to hand him over in exchange for their friends. He would have done so in their position. Assuming of course he had any friends.

"We've got two problems," Frank announced. Of the group Franklin had proven himself the tactician and a sound analyst even without his powers. "First problem is getting Justin and Fred free. The second is once they are free and take that guy out, we're going to have a giant battle on out hands..."

"And no Megazord," Tasha stated.

The Turbo Rangers Zords had been heavily damaged while aiding the Lightspeed Rangers of Mariner Bay. The result had been to combine two fleets of Zords together into a single Megazord. Sadly there had been no way to separate them and the Lightspeed Rangers had needed them more.

"I really don't want to ask the others..." Franklin trailed off.

Pride was at stake. The Turbo Rangers had successfully defended the planet despite problems with their powers and Zords. Asking the semi-retired Power Rangers for help seemed like they were admitting defeat.

"How about we change the rules?" he asked.

"Come again?" Rosa asked. It was clear Franklin had some idea.

"He wants us to go to him, so we have to do what he says or even if we get the drop on him we'd still have to fight on his terms," Franklin said. "Instead, let's make him come to us in a place where we can fight him."

"Mariner Bay," Tasha guessed.

"Right and then not only do we have a Megazord, we have a second team of Rangers and the whole of Lightspeed to help protect Dappu if needed."

"Zack?" Rosa asked.

"Already spoken to them, Captain Mitchell was happy to help," Zack answered. "But he wanted you to know that unless that bounty hunter attacks Mariner Bay this will just be refuge, not a Lightspeed Rescue."

"Understood," Franklin answered. "let's go guys. Zack, make this as obvious as possible."

The plan was simple enough: draw Kiaido away from Angel Grove to Mariner Bay where there were five active Rangers capable of assisting and a Megazord should the battle escalate. And given that the bounty hunter had probably expected either their agreement to his terms or an attack, this would surely throw his plan into disarray.

Kiaido could not miss the sudden teleportation. It was easy to tell that Dappu and his companions had left Angel Grove. Tracking them to Mariner Bay took but a moment. Hauling the two defeated Turbo Rangers to their feet, he quickly followed. When he arrived he didn't try to hide his presence, destroying a row of parked cars just to be sure he had the Rangers' attention. He was unsurprised by the loud sirens that heralded the arrival of Mariner Bay's defenders although a part of him suspected he had been set up.

"Release your hostages and surrender," Red Lightspeed instructed.

The Lightspeed Rangers had already drawn their side arms. With damage to the city their involvement was fully authorised.

Kiaido laughed and drew his swords. He had no problem adding five more Rangers to his collection. In his excitement he had forgotten the Power Rangers were quick to recover and that once they had the opportunity, Justin and Fred were bound to to make a comeback of their own. Against two Rangers he had struggled a little, but against seven he had very little chance. Blue and Green Lightspeed used their Rescue Batons to pin his swords away from the centre of his body, allowed Yellow and Pink Lightspeed to hit his with energy blasts. Red Lightspeed then delivered his own blow before the five Rangers of Mariner Bay backed up to allow Red and Blue Turbo a chance.

It was a move the duo had been practicing since the Turbo Rangers had been reduced in number; Red Turbo sped forward as Blue Turbo fired his Turbo Hand Blasters repeatedly, one blast down each side of the Red Turbo Ranger's path. Then when Red Turbo had built his speed to maximum, he jumped into the air and summoned the Turbo Lightning Sword, as Blue Turbo adjusted the angle of his shots so the two blasts converged on a single target. As the blast struck Kiaido in the chest, Red Turbo delivered a fully charged blow from his Turbo Lightning Sword. The combined attack was too much and Kiaido was down.

Dappu was confused. When the three humans had spoken about running to Mariner Bay he had expected to be waiting a long time while Kiaido was defeated. Instead he was taken to a repair bay where his ship was waiting for him.

"We figured teleporting a ship from Angel Grove to Mariner Bay would take more energy than Kiaido was willing to spend," Franklin told him.

"So as soon as we had his attention and the Power Chamber confirmed he was on his way to Mariner Bay," Tasha continued. "We had Zack teleport your ship here so you can start on the repairs."

As he looked around Dappu realised that the Rangers were going above and beyond the call of duty to help him. The machinery available and the parts at his disposal were more than enough to repair his stricken craft. As he looked around though he was struck by how much machinery there was awaiting repair. It was clear that despite going out of their way to help him, the Rangers of Earth were out of their depth.

"What happened to your powers?" he asked as he picked up a wrench. He could fix things much quicker if he wanted to but did not trust the outsiders with his secrets. Still he was a skilled mechanic and his hands could work wonders, as he planned to show the girls at his school if they would let him.

"Our Turbo Keys were damaged during a battle," Rosa explained, pulling out her Turbo Key.

"And since we were injured in battle, we can't handle the powers anymore," Franklin answered. He didn't believe the Turbo Keys were solely to blame. Even using Justin's Turbo Key he had only managed a limited transformation.

Dappu nodded, a part of him wanting to ignore their plight. He could see the energy signature of the Turbo Keys. It was almost identical to the power his mother had taught him to use. A little different and he suspected that the powers were Liarian in nature. He could also sense that energy within the three teens. It was clear that their bodies had not fully adapted to the powers and that when the keys had been damaged, so had their undeveloped channels.

As Lightspeed's personnel turned their attention to doing everything possible to help him, a small part of him actually felt he owed them something. He shook his head to clear it. As if a bunch of humans were worth his help.

~But they did help you,~ an annoying voice whispered in the back of his head. ~You could easily fix this.~

He sighed again. If he dared to help them the Council would punish him. But if they didn't find out...

Kiaido was a freelancer. He didn't work for a witch who could use her magic wand or a pirate that was willing to blow him up to full size. Luckily in his travels he had learnt the advantages of being able to change his height and had acquired the potions needed to do so. And an added benefit of the one he used was that it restored his armour to full strength.

"Uh oh!" Red Turbo commented as the bounty hunter grew before them.

The seven Rangers rolled for safety as a monstrous foot stomped down on them. Then they attacked, using whatever means they had at their disposal. As Red and Blue Turbo wove between the villain's feet, using their Auto Blasters to shoot at his heels and ankles, the Lightspeed Rangers used their rescue lines to climb his massive body, shooting their Rescue Lasers as they ascended towards his head. Of course such a strategy was only going to have a limited effect and when he stated swatting them, the Rangers decided to end the game and leapt for safety.

"Turbo Rescue Megazord!" the Rangers called, summoning the hybrid machine that was a combination of both teams surviving Zords.

Nothing happened and the Rangers realised they were in trouble.

Lightspeed Aquabase

The alarms sounded, technicians rushed to find a solution to the problem and panic was starting to set in. The repair bay where they had left Dappu to work had sealed itself shut, locking the technicians out and the Turbo Rescue Megazord in. The cameras refused to reveal what was going on but it was clear that the machines inside were working at a frantic pace. Various consoles lit up in the Lightspeed control room as Zords momentarily activated and then abruptly shut down. The loud banging told them that Dappu was doing more than just fixing his shuttle. In all likelihood they had let an enemy inside the Aquabase and were about to lose everything.

And then everything went blank for a second before the computers rest themselves and the consoles came to life. Despite knowing that the majority of their arsenal had been unusable at the start of their shift, the technicians could only watch in amazement as their systems came online, fully functional.

"Miss Fairweather?" somebody asked.

Lightspeed's head technician shook her head. They had work to do. They could figure out what had happened later. She glanced at Captain Mitchell and receiving a nod, decided.

"Send the Zords!" she instructed, reminding herself that in future she might have to state which ones.

For the first time the Lightspeed Rescue Zords raced into battle. Based on designs that had previously proven unsuccessful, they were now fully operational. Pyro Rescue was based on a large fire engine, Aero Rescue some sort of jump jet hybrid; Med Rescue was clearly intended to serve as an ambulance while Haz Rescue was equipped to handle dangerous objects. Finally there was Hydro Rescue, a giant water truck with a long range extinguisher jet. It was clear that these Zords were larger versions of the Rescue Vehicles Miss Fairweather had designed, but the designs actually worked.

Without prompting, Hydro Rescue locked together with Haz Rescue and Med Rescue, the three Rescue Zords using hydraulic pistons to bend upwards to form a pair of legs. Meanwhile Aero Rescue had picked up Pyro Rescue using a set of magnetic cables and had hauled it into position atop the Megazord. The machine lowered its hand to the sidewalk as if waiting. The Rangers quickly realised what it wanted.

"Come on guys!" Red Lightspeed cried, leading his team onto the waiting palm.

From there they found themselves transported to a waiting cockpit. The moment they took their placed the machine stopped operating on its own, ready for their commands.

"Lightspeed Megazord, online!" Red Lightspeed announced.

However if the two Turbo Rangers thought they were going to be left out they were in for a surprise as the roar of engines heralded the arrival of the fully repaired Turbo Zords, which quickly combined into the Turbo Megazord. Faced with two Megazords, the bounty hunter was soon on the defensive. Once the Lightspeed Megazord used its extendable arms to knock him back and then grip him at a safe distance, the Turbo Megazord attacked. However it fell to the Lightspeed Megazord to deliver the final blow with a flaming sword that cut through the bounty hunter's armour, forcing him to teleport away.

While the Rangers celebrated their victory, the technicians were trying to get over their shock when they discovered that the Lightspeed Zords were not the only machines that had been fixed, finished and improved. It seemed that somehow the repair bay had been completely overhauled and with the advanced machinery available, it had restored and completed all the machines that the technicians had been working on. While the majority of them were intended for Lightspeed, it seemed some were intended for the Turbo Rangers and others were for something else altogether.

It was going to take time to test and learn the systems for the new Zords. Miss Fairweather intended to make sure that Carter and his team worked relentlessly to master their new machines. Just as her technicians would have to work hard to maintain them.

It was also clear that Dappu had not only fixed his ship, he had used the parts to upgrade the engines. And once it was confirmed that Kiaido was gone, Dappu wasted little time in preparing his vessel to depart.

"The jerk didn't even say thank you," Tasha groused as the Turbo Rangers watched him walk to his shuttle.

He stopped briefly and turned back to where the Green, Pink and Yellow Turbo Rangers were watching. He pulled out his amulet and muttered something, connecting himself with the energy field the Turbo Rangers referred to as the Speed Force; coincidentally it was the same power that Lightspeed had unwittingly tapped into to empower its Rangers. With a short chant a beam of light hit the three teens, engulfing them in multi-coloured energy. At first the light was broken up by areas of grey, but as he chanted, the Turbo Rangers glowed slightly. Then with a shrug he walked off making them question what he had done?

Without another word, the teenage alien boarded his craft. It seemed the tales his mother had told him were true. Perhaps with time he could learn to use the powers properly. It would mean studying hard and catching up on the things he had missed. But Dappu was certain he would manage it. And if he failed he could always bribe the examiner.

End of Part