PRLG: A Different Shade of Pink
Episode XXXVII. Phantom of a Chance
by Green Senturion

Commander Stanton strode out of the Control Tower and looked around. No one was in sight. He looked down at his watch—exactly an hour has passed since he had received the transmission from the strange space alien. He was about to walk right back inside instead of dealing with a time-wasting moron when he heard great wind blowing above in the air. He looked up to see a ship that looked like it was made for the sea descending. It landed about thirty yards away from him, and from the stern leapt the same creature to which he had been talking earlier.

“Commander Stanton, a pleasure!” Captain Mutiny bellowed as he approached the human officer, “I am Captain…” he started, but then stopped, thinking for a moment as to how to make himself more approachable, “Peace…and I have come to help you escape this place.”

“Yes…we talked over the transmission, Captain Peace,” Commander Stanton said listlessly, “So…what aid did you have in mind for us?”

“A wondrous spirit whose magic can create a portal back to your world…would you like its assistance?”

“If it will help,” Commander Stanton said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Excellent,” Captain Mutiny said as he turned to walk back toward his ship, “I shall return in two hours with it.”

“Oh, and Captain Peace…err, Captain Peace…” Commander Stanton called.

Captain Mutiny quickly whirled around and cried, “Err…what?”

“Please try to be on time next time,” Commander Stanton said curtly before turning and reentering the Control Tower.

Captain Mutiny grumbled as he leapt onto his ship’s deck and took over the mast. That is the least of your worries, Commander, he thought to himself as he steered his ship back toward his castle.

Midnight. Perfect, Cassie thought. Everyone, including the Ancient Rangers, had gone to sleep already. The one most important to her, however, was the Phantom Ranger. They had been chatting casually just a few hours before, and everyone thought that she had gone to bed around that time. Now Phantom was entering his bedroom, and Cassie quickly leapt out of bed and tiptoed down the hall toward his bedroom. He has to sleep de-morphed, she thought. Her suspicions were confirmed by an audible whisper of “Power Down!” and a black flash of light shining from the Phantom’s room. This is it, Cassie thought.

She tiptoed quickly toward his room but heard the door closing. She then broke out into a sprint and was devastated to see the Phantom Ranger’s bare hand waving to her as the door closed right in front of her face. “You’ll have to get up earlier than that if you want to see me de-morphed…I’ve played this game before,” he called. Cassie smirked at the closed door and thought, if it’s early he wants, early he’ll get. She then turned around to see the seven other rangers staring angrily at her, looking groggy.

“Uh…I couldn’t sleep?” Cassie said, shrugging her shoulders. The seven Rangers stared at her for a moment longer before returning to their rooms in a huff, having been awakened by her pounding feet. Cassie inhaled deeply, and then returned to her room to plot out her next invasion.

“So, my new general,” Mutiny called as he patted Deviot on the back, “How goes it?”

“Quite excellently, Captain,” Deviot replied, “A few more touches and…there…it’s all ready to capture Terra Venture and to defeat the Rangers.”

“Combining ghosts and machine…what a brilliant idea! I’m glad I thought of it,” Captain Mutiny bellowed with a laugh.

“It was my idea first,” Deviot mumbled, but then quickly covered up by stepping back and gesturing to the large, shadowed creature. “This is the Hydraingia monster…and it will be sure to cause the Rangers a world of hurt.”

Six O’ Clock in the morning, Cassie thought. Early enough for you, Phantom? He was sure to be getting up soon. And when he did, she would catch his unmasked face.

She tiptoed toward his room quietly once more. At the corner, she saw that the door had been opened. Yes! He was probably just getting up. Cassie quickened her speed and approached the door yelling, AHA! But no one was there. The bed sheets were turned over, and there was no sign of the Phantom Ranger in sight. Cassie looked around in confusion and then nodded her head when she heard the water turning on the bathroom. He had beaten her to the punch and was now taking a shower.

Downtrodden, Cassie looked down and sighed. She then turned around and almost screamed when she came face to face with Maya. “Don’t you sleep?” Cassie hissed.

“Not much,” Maya whispered, “Plus, that “AHA!” kinda got me up.”

“Oh…sorry,” Cassie apologized.

“So…what’s with you and the odd hours?” Maya asked.

“Well…see, the Phantom Ranger has never shown his face to me…and I really want to see it, so…”

“Say no more,” Maya whispered, “Where is he now?”

“In the shower,” Cassie replied.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Maya asked, “You can catch him as he’s coming out.”

Cassie stared at Maya in shock, but Maya simply smiled back. She’s either really slutty, or really clueless, Cassie thought. But either way, it’s a good idea. The two walked around the corner and waited in front of the bathroom for several minutes until they heard the faucets turn off. Cassie clapped her hands and Maya held her finger to her mouth as they heard the footsteps of the Phantom coming.

They looked in and saw the Phantom Ranger, half-naked, walking out of the shower. He was rubbing his dirty blonde hair dry with his head bent, and he was wearing a gray towel around his waste. Wow, Cassie thought, he’s got a nice body. She admired his muscular arms and legs and defined six-pack lovingly. Maya, having never seen a man’s bare torso before, giggled, but then covered her mouth when she realized her mistake. The Phantom Ranger moved his head along the floor and then cried, “Girls!” as he spotted their feet. Quickly, he grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his face as he stood up. Cassie stared at the uncovered red gem, the Power Ruby, indented between his pecs. Then she looked down at the other uncovered part of his body, and screamed as the Phantom Ranger then screamed in recognition of what he had done. He quickly raced back into the bathroom with one face on the towel and one hand over his private area as the girls stared after him in amazement.

“Nice jewels,” Maya remarked sultrily as the Phantom Ranger strode away quickly butt-naked and slammed the door to the bathroom shut.

“MAYA!” Cassie yelled slapping her arm angrily.

“What? I was talking about the Power Ruby…” Maya muttered, bringing her pinky to her mouth and giving Cassie an innocent look. Cassie then looked up at the door as she heard a call of “Phantom Power!” coming from the bathroom. She then watched as the door opened, and the Phantom Ranger, staring straight ahead, tersely remarked, “Ladies,” before quickly walking away down the hall without giving so much as a hand wave.

Cassie and Maya continued to giggle uncontrollably as their Transmorphers beeped. The two lowered their heads to their morphers and asked, “What’s up, Alpha?” to which the sentient robot replied, “A really big ghost-like creature is attacking the City Dome! Wake the other Rangers and hurry!” Cassie groaned and looked up at Maya as she said, “Man, I am definitely not going to be the most popular Ranger today.”

After much struggling and bumping, the nine Rangers arrived in the City Dome and confronted the Hydraingia creature. The two Ancient Rangers, no longer running, looked at the morphed Mike curiously, before staring up at their opponent. It was a long, translucent, snake with flowers dotting its body. It had two silver horns and red, menacing eyes. When the rangers looked up at it, it screamed, baring two long rows of yellow teeth, and lunged its head toward the Rangers.

The nine Rangers leapt away as the creature lowered its mouth to the ground and began sucking up energy. The Rangers stared in puzzlement, wondering what was its purpose, before the Phantom Ranger cried, “It’s trying to completely dismantle Terra Venture by disabling all of its electricity! If the colony shuts down and becomes inhabitable, everyone will have no choice but to surrender to whoever sent this thing!” The Rangers nodded in agreement, knowing what they had to do. The Ancient Rangers, the Phantom Ranger, and Mike stood aside as the five other Rangers cried, “Transdaggers!” They then held the five daggers together and screamed, “Star Formation!” The attack struck the creature in its head, but it did not cease its energy sucking. However, it did become annoyed, and picked up its tail and slapped at the five Galaxy Rangers, knocking them aside.

“This creature must have a weakness,” the Guardian said, “But what can it be?”

“Maybe my armor will help!” Leo cried.

“No, hotshot,” the Warrior answered, “Your armor only works on mutated creatures. Its power is wasted on anything else. I grant you this creature has had its power magnified, but it still maintains its original form.”

“Then what do we do?” the Phantom Ranger answered.

“There’s nothing you can do! Hydraingia is invincible!” a voice called from above. A brown, skull-faced warrior with horns armed with a mace stood atop a building watching Hydraingia. He laughed maniacally. “This creature has been sent courtesy of Captain Mutiny to defeat you!”

Captain Stanton watched this scene and thought, So Captain Peace doesn’t exist. The Commander remembered fleeing into the Control Tower after the box with this…thing in it had arrived. He now knew that Captain…Mutiny was no friend of theirs. As he watched the lights flickering in the Control Room, he thought, Please help us Mike!

“It is as I thought,” the Warrior cried, “This creature is Captain Mutiny’s doing.”

“And you,” the Guardian answered, “You are Barbarax.”

“Indeed,” Barbarax answered, “And here I come!” He leapt past the draining creature and charged toward the nine Rangers. But these Rangers were not about to take any crap when the colony was in danger. The Galaxy Rangers slashed him with their Sabers, Mike and Phantom blasted him with their lasers, and the Ancient Rangers brought him down to the ground. “Speak,” the Warrior cried, “How do we defeat this evil?”

“I’ll never tell you,” Barbarax spat.

“You will if your life depends on it,” the Guardian cried as he wrapped his hand around Barbarax’s throat, “Now…how…do we…defeat it?” he yelled, practically crushing Barbarax’s neck with his tight grip.

“Flower…power…lots…of it…” Barbarax gasped. As he was released, he swung at the Rangers surrounding him with his mace. He then leapt up and said, “Captain Mutiny won’t forgive you for this…or me…” He then looked down and quickly looked up as he teleported away.

“Well, Cassie, as our resident flower user, it’s up to you to beat this thing!” Damon cried.

“Me? But I…”

“Come on, Cassie, you can do it!” Kai encouraged.

“We’re not all that mad at you,” Mike said, “And the colony needs your help.”

Cassie nodded and called, “Hey ugly! Look this way!” Hydraingia stopped its draining and looked at the Rangers. The eight other Rangers grouped behind her as she called, “Eat this!” With the strength of the whole team backing her, she fired a powerful floral blast at Hydraingia, bringing it to the ground. The ghostly snake gasped as a surge of energy flew back into the hole it had torn in Terra Venture’s core. It then exploded in a flash of petals and fire.

“Well done, Mike,” said Captain Stanton as the lights in the Control Room returned to normal, “Well done.”

The fight was not over, however. From the rubble arose Hydraingia, reborn as a giant, and ready to fight again. Cassie looked at the other Rangers and muttered as she clasped her hands together, “So, uh…zords…would be good right now.” The other Rangers shook their heads and called, “Galactabeasts, arise!” Cassie shrugged and called, “Galactabeast…arise!” Mike laughed and then called, “Torozord, Arise!” Upon seeing the Torozord, the Warrior turned to the Guardian and nodded. The Guardian exchanged the nod, but said nothing.

Within a few minutes, the Galaxy Megazord and Defender Torozord formation sequences were complete. However, as Hydraingia batted the two around with its tail and head, the Rangers quickly realize that they were being overpowered. The Ancient Rangers, seeing their comrades at a disadvantage, said, “We must help them!”

“Centaurus,” the Warrior called.

“Stratoforce,” the Guardian cried.

But no one came. The two looked at one another in surprise. Phantom Ranger took his cue and said, “Fortunately, my zord does work. Artillatron, let’s go!”

From out of the sky, the Turbo Transport descended and landed next to the Galaxy Megazord as the Phantom Ranger teleported into the cockpit. As Artillatron’s cannons materialized in the Galaxy Megazord’s hands, Cassie said, “Just like the good old days!” Phantom Ranger called from his cockpit, “Cassie—transfer your energy into the cannons, and the ensuing blast may destroy this monster!” Cassie nodded to her teammates as they cried out, “Artillery Power!” The four other Rangers placed their hands on Cassie’s back as she poured all her morphing energy into her console. After fifteen seconds of this draining, she de-morphed, and a flowery blast emerged from the two Artillery Cannons. Hydraingia screeched as the attack tore through its body and completely wiped it from existence. The Ancient Rangers were happy, but couldn’t help but wonder they the Galactabeasts hadn’t answered their call.

A little bit later, as the team of nine walked back toward their living quarters, Cassie stopped the Phantom Ranger, who reappeared once he saw that no civilians were around. “Look,” Cassie said, “I…”

The Phantom Ranger held up his hand and said, “One day, Cassie when the time is right, but…that day is not today.”

Cassie cocked her head and sighed as she followed the Phantom Ranger into their living quarters. The two gasped when they saw the six Galaxy Rangers and the two Ancient Rangers poised for battle against some ugly green mutant Cassie had never seen before.

“What are you doing here?” Leo and the Warrior cried simultaneously.

“You know him?” Kai and the Warrior asked simultaneously.

“He’s that creature who got destroyed in the explosion of that ship where we found the Galaxy Book!” Mike yelled.

“He’s also,” the Warrior started, “the Keeper.”

“Who?” Cassie asked.”

“The Keeper,” the Guardian answered, “or, as we better know him, the Green Ancient Ranger.”