PRLG: A Different Shade of Pink
Episode XXXVIII. Keeping the Faith
by Green Senturion

“The Green Ancient Ranger? How is that possible?” Leo stammered.

“Did we not tell you that he, being the main writer of the Galaxy Book, was affected the most when we left the Lost Galaxy?” the Guardian asked.

“Yeah, but…I never imagined that he’d look like…this,” Mike replied.

The creature raised its hand and ran toward Leo, who grappled with the creature before throwing him to the ground.

The creature hissed at Leo, causing him to back up in fear. The Warrior turned to Leo and said, “Use your keys, quickly! They are the only tools that will enable you to save our friend!”

Leo nodded and called, “Go Galactic!” Upon morphing, the creature charged him, but the Warrior and the Guardian dragged him back. Leo then transformed into his armored form with a call of “Red Armored Ranger!” Next, he used the machine’s claw to pull the creature in close as it writhed and pushed, hoping to get away. Finally, Leo pulled the triggers and caused a huge explosion that blinded the eight Rangers watching and prevented them from knowing what was going on.

The eight Rangers looked up to see Leo, his visor cracked, staring at a green cloaked man on the floor.

“Not the smartest thing you could have done,” the Warrior said, “Though I’ll grant you it was effective.”

The Phantom Ranger laughed at this remark, as Leo de-morphed with a call of “Power Down!”

Now all nine of the Rangers’ attentions were turned to the tenth Ranger among them, the Keeper. He slowly rose to reveal the face of a weathered, but strong-looking old man with a bald head and strong, dark features. He bowed to all of the Rangers and said, “Hello…new friends and old…I am the Keeper. Thank you for freeing me from that most awful state I was in.”

“What happened?” Damon asked eagerly.

The Keeper eyed his two friends and said, “Did you not already inform the Rangers of our incident and our mission?”

“Nothing too detailed,” the Warrior said, “Would you like to clear a few things up for them?”

“I would be honored,” said the Keeper. “So, my young friends…as my two teammates have no doubt told you, I am the Keeper, and my main function on the team was as writer of the Galaxy Book, a tome which included the visions of another teammate of ours, our current knowledge of the Lost Galaxy, and the powers of all of us together to assure that the book wasn’t handed to the wrong sorts of people.”

“That didn’t work,” Kai said abruptly, “Deviot got a hold of the book and brought us into this place.”

“The Keonta Spell…an incantation that seemed so purposeful at the time of the war, yet, looking back on it, we should have seen…” the Keeper trailed off wistfully. “Well, as with all of us, our powers wane outside of our home, the Lost Galaxy. Our life forces, our morphing powers, and tied to both of those factors, the Galaxy Book. I am not surprised that this evil being you speak of managed to wield the book.”

“Can you just explain,” Cassie said, “What is up with this book in the first place?”

The Keeper sighed, and said, “Well…it begins long ago when we first obtained our powers. We were a fighting force recruited to fight Captain Mutiny and his minions. We began writing the Galaxy Book when one of our teammates, the Seer, began receiving visions from the future.”

“Visions?” Maya asked, now very interested in the conversation.

“Visions of battles to come and weapons we would soon hold,” the Keeper said, “And, because all of the information seemed so vital when he told it, we decided to record it all in a volume…the Galaxy Book.”

“From this point on, we each had a function on the team. The Seer would have these visions, and I would write them down. The Guardian would protect the Book, while the Warrior would make the teams’ weapons so that we could continue defending our galaxy. Our final member added her own spells and interpretations to the Galaxy Book.”

“Not our final member,” the Warrior stated, “You’re forgetting the Defender.”

“Ah yes,” the Keeper remarked, “The most formidable fighter on our team. Ah, he was quite a man, he was. Unfortunately, he was killed in battle, and I had thought…”

“That he would live again, as the Seer predicted,” the Guardian stated, “And indeed he does.”

“Who is he?” the Phantom Ranger asked, legitimately confused.

“You, Mike,” the Warrior stated, “You carry on the powers of our sixth teammate, the Magna Defender, who we thought was destroyed long ago.”

“He died, and passed on his powers to me,” Mike said.

“Then clearly, you are a person very worthy of using his power,” the Warrior replied. “And the five of you are clearly worthy to be wielding our newer powers, as you were the only ones able to draw the Quasar Sabers from the stone.

Leo shifted uncomfortably as the Warrior said this, but the Warrior did not seem to notice. The Warrior then continued to say, “You carry on the legacy of us five in the sense that when our zords lost their lives, their life’s energy was passed on to five new animals…your Galactabeasts, who can be summoned thanks to the Transdaggers and the Quasar Sabers…both of which I forged.”

“And both of which I recorded, as per the Seer’s predictions,” the Keeper said.

Mike and the other Rangers smiled as they thought about the legacy each of them was carrying on. Maya, however, was particularly provoked by the Warrior’s statement about the Galactabeasts, and so decided to speak up.

“Well…your Galactabeasts that you thought dead…are actually alive,” she said, “They were rebuilt by Deviot. We brought them onto our side, but since you arrived…they haven’t seemed to respond to anyone.”

The Keeper eyed the Warrior and the Guardian before saying, “They are most likely angry with us…for after the war in the Lost Galaxy, we left their battered bodies and left the Lost Galaxy with Scorpius when you claimed the Quasar Sabers. We planned to return to save them, but we had not predicted that we would be so affected when we had fled our familiar element—that is to say, our own galaxy. I took complete control of the Galaxy Book and killed our crewmates, who, like me, were being corrupted by the book’s power, while the Warrior and the Guardian fortunately escaped my wrath.”

“We have done many things that we had not intended and are not content with,” the Warrior said.

“But we plan to correct all of our mistakes by restoring the Lost Galaxy to being a safe place to live again…which we can do when both of our teams are united,” the Guardian added.

“So, to help us along,” the Keeper said, “I’ll show you one of the good spells I can cast.”

The Keeper walked over to the desk where the Galaxy Book lay and flipped to one of the final pages. He then began to recite a spell that was definitely not in English or any other language the Rangers could discern. After a moment, he showed the Rangers a page where three pairs of morphers identical to Mike’s rested. They seemed like they practically wanted to leap off the page and onto someone’s wrists. One of them did, in fact, as the Keeper muttered a few more words that the Rangers could not understand. The morphers materialized from the pages and attached themselves to the Keeper’s wrists.

He breathed a sigh of relief and then said, “It’s good to have these back. Now, if our final two teammates are alive—which I pray they are—they will hear in their heads the same words I just uttered aloud. They will then be able to summon their morphers from the Galaxy Book, as I have, and hopefully, it will not be long before we join them again.”

“Until then,” the Guardian said, “We must combat Mutiny’s forces with you and hope for the best.”

“All we can do is hope,” Kai said.

“Well, I hope you’re happy with yourself, Barbarax!” Mutiny cried, “Deviot enhances a powerful ghost with his machinations, and you mess everything up by telling the Rangers how to defeat it!”

“Clearly, master, he cannot be trusted,” Deviot said.

“Quiet!” Barbarax shouted, “Were the situation the other way around, I’m sure YOU would have sung like a canary!”

“Please, gentlemen!” Captain Mutiny yelled, “While I am disappointed, I will recover, and there is no need for discord among the ranks in the meantime.” Deviot sneered at Barbarax as Mutiny continued, “Anyway, Barbarax, I am giving Deviot another chance to capture Terra Venture for me, so you don’t need to feel bad about botching his plan. So, my robotic minion,” Mutiny said as he pushed past Barbarax and put his hook arm around Deviot, “What kind of plan did you have in mind for me?”

“I was thinking pure brute strength,” Deviot said, “A terrible monster that would simply continue to destroy Terra Venture’s structures until they must surrender to us. Now, Mutiny, we are sitting on the back of such a creature, are we not?”

“Alas, my friend,” Mutiny conceded as he slumped his head and walked away, “My beloved Titanisaur has not been active for many a year, and I fear that it can not be again…unless…” the Captain said as an idea struck him, “You…could use some sort of device to bring him back to life?”

Deviot, taken aback, sputtered, “Well…uh…I could, but…it would take me quite some time, and I’m not sure if I have all the tools…”

“Do not worry…I will provide you with all the tools necessary to rebuild my beloved machine—just get started on it immediately. In the meantime, however, I don’t want the Rangers to think I’ve gone soft, so I’ll recruit an old friend of mine to come up with something horrible to entertain them in the meantime. Now, go, go to work!” Captain Mutiny cried, waving Deviot away with his arms.

He was so easy to manipulate, Deviot and Captain Mutiny thought simultaneously.

“Rangers,” Alpha called over the Rangers’ Transmorphers, “Some really weird monster is rampaging through the City Dome—you’d better hurry over there!”

The ten Rangers exchanged nods before preparing to morph. Leo, Kai, Damon, Cassie, and Maya called, “Go Galactic!” Mike called, “Magna Power!” And the three Ancient Rangers muttered their indecipherable morphing call to transform.

The ten Rangers stood proudly together before the huge monster, among them the newest member of their team, the Green Ancient Ranger.

Cassie was the first Ranger to speak up when she spotted the large creature, who was pretty hard to miss. “Aw man, that is one ugly monster.” Truer words were never spoken.

“Surrender to me, Rangers! I am Scare-rab, and if Terra Venture does not bow to the authority of Captain Mutiny, I will tear this colony apart!”

To prove her point, the creature swung its arms and took off half of an unused business office. “See what I mean?” she cried.

“If for no other reason…than to simply stop SEEING that…thing,” Mike said, “Let’s kill it. Kill it hard. Kill it fast. Kill it NOW.”

The other Rangers heartily agreed with this statement. “Galactabeasts, Arise!” the Galaxy Rangers called, as Mike called, “Torozord, Arise!” Phantom Ranger finished off the zord summoning by yelling, “Artillatron, Descend!”

Within a few minutes, the Galaxy Megazord and Defender Torozord had been formed, with Artillatron in High Stance Mode beside them. The three Ancient Rangers looked up at the zords as the Warrior said, “They’re beautiful…except for that weird car thing…you know, I’m not even sure what team that Ranger belongs to?”

The Guardian ignored his statement and said, “I still cannot believe that Torozord waited for his owner to return…he is one of the most loyal, friendliest zords I have ever met.”

“But none can surpass our zords,” said the Keeper, “And by the looks of things, now would be as good a time as any for them to make their return.”

The Green Ancient Ranger indeed had a point. The creature was using its many arms to beat around the two Megazords, and blasting beams that shot away the Carrierzord. The Rangers were getting beaten badly, and were not being given any opportunity to fight back or to recover.

“I don’t know how they will respond…but shall we try anyway?” the Warrior asked.

“We don’t have much of a choice,” the Guardian replied, “Our young friends are in trouble. We know the Galactabeasts will be angry with us, but we must apologize and hope to lessen their wrath.”

“All we can do is hope,” the Keeper replied.

The three Ancient Rangers then simultaneously raised their hands and called, “Galactabeasts, Arise!”

Nothing happened.

“Galactabeasts, Arise!”

Still nothing happened.

Scare-rab had managed to floor the Galaxy Megazord with one of its punches. The Rangers had donned their Orion Armor to allow the Megazord to raise itself up, but the armor seemed to make no difference at all.

“Please, old friends,” the Keeper cried, “Our young friends are in trouble, and they are the ones we wish to help. Your anger lies with us, and not with them. Won’t you come help us, please?”

In desperation, the three Ancient Rangers raised their fists once more and called, “Galactabeasts, Arise!”

This time, their summoning worked. The Zenith Carrierzord came out of its hiding spot in the mountains and threw Scare-rab off by firing its lasers. The Carrierzord then proceeded to increase its stance and to release the S-Zords and C-Zords.

“Strange how much they have changed,” the Warrior remarked, “But no matter. I assume we still know how to pilot them?”

“But of course,” the Guardian replied.

The Warrior boarded the C-Zord 1 and called, “Centaurus Megazord formation!” As the Megazord was forming, the Guardian boarded the S-Zord 1 and called, “Stratoforce Megazord formation!” Finally, as both Megazords were completing their docking sequences, the Keeper boarded the Zenith Carrierzord.

“All right…let’s see if I can adjust myself to these new controls,” the Warrior said, summarizing the feelings of his two teammates as well.

Although several minutes passed in which the Ancient Rangers were getting used to using the zords while the other seven Rangers were barely hanging on, they finally learned how to pilot their upgraded zords.

“Centaurus Blaster!” called the Red Ancient Ranger, as the Centaurus Megazord fired off a rapid round of laser fire at Scare-rab.

“Stratoforce Boomerang!” called the Blue Ancient Ranger, at which point the Stratoforce Megazord hurled its blue boomerang at the evil beetle monster.

Scare-rab cried out in pain as the laser blasts struck her, and she staggered back when the boomerang struck her several times before returning to the Stratoforce Megazord’s hand. As Scare-rab attempted to recover her position, the artillery fire of the two Carrierzords brought her down once more. The Galaxy Rangers saw their chance and prepared to deal her the finishing blow.

“Lightning Spin!” Mike as Defender Torozord called, swirling around in a circle and striking Scare-rab with his staff as he whirled around at lightning speed.

“Orion Slash!” Cassie cried along with the other four Galaxy Rangers. The Orion Powered Galaxy Megazord charged up its saber and delivered a supercharged slash to Scare-rab’s midsection. She cried out one final time before falling to the ground and exploding.

“Well, it seems that we have done it again,” the Keeper cried happily from his cockpit.

“Even I am impressed,” said the Guardian, “I didn’t think we’d still be able to wield our zords well after so long a period without them.”

“We made a good team,” the Warrior said to the zords, “Didn’t we? Well, didn’t we?”

The zords replied by ejecting the three Ancient Rangers from their respective cockpits. The Zenith Carrierzord then collected the S-Zords and C-Zords and rolled back to its hiding place in the mountains.

The Galaxy Rangers, the Magna Defender, and the Phantom Ranger raced over to the Ancient Rangers, as Leo breathed, “Thanks for the help!”

“Yeah, thanks…but it doesn’t look like the Galactabeasts are going to be so happy to come back again next time,” Damon said as he watched the Zenith Carrierzord disappear from sight.

Maya sighed and said, “The Galactabeasts are gentle animals…I can ask the Wolfzord to speak to them on your behalf if you wish.”

“No,” the Keeper said, “That will not be necessary. The Galactabeasts are angry, and justifiably so, at having been abandoned by us. Though it wasn’t our intention, it happened. The only way they will forgive us is if we three on our own make them understand that we never meant to hurt them.”

“Will that be difficult?” the Phantom Ranger asked.

“Hopefully not,” the Warrior replied, “For, if it is, then the fate of Terra Venture and of the Lost Galaxy are in jeopardy.”

“Hey, don’t forget that you still have two teammates who haven’t met up with you,” said Mike, “Maybe they’ll have better luck with the zords.”

“Maybe,” the Guardian muttered, “Maybe…”

“Just remember,” Kai said, “That we’re behind you, and that all we can do is hope.”

The three Ancient Rangers nodded their heads at the Galaxy Rangers and teleported away. Phantom Ranger followed their lead and disappeared as well. The six remaining Rangers stared at the spot from which the four other Rangers had just left, knowing that the next time they would return, it would be in a battle with much higher stakes.