[TaJaDoru]

Last time on Power Rangers: GALAXY STRIDERS...

***********

“They fought their hardest for Miranoi, Mike.” Commander Stanton began as he kept his voice from breaking. “They left this world heroes.”

“Even with the Lights of Orion...they still couldn’t beat him.” Mike said in a shaky voice. “How are we supposed to defeat this new guy without the Quasar Sabers?”

--------------

“Lord Reapus! You have returned!” Kalamax exclaimed happily as he rushed to his master. Unfortunately, Reapus was in no mood for a hero’s welcome an unceremoniously shoved Kalamax to the side as he took his throne. “F-f-forgive me, Master. I was just glad you survived. So, that power. Was it, indeed, Orion?”

“It was his power, yes. But his physical form was nowhere to be found.” Reapus groaned in pain. “As I thought, Orion is gone for good. Now that I have destroyed those bothersome rangers, his power they wielded has been destroyed as well!”

--------------

Seeing her chance, she took the chair and threw it at the window causing glass to shatter and fall outside. With one last look of contempt, she leapt onto the sill and jumped out to the flagpole that stood outside.

“Sound the alarm! The prisoner has escaped!” Mike shouted as he made his way to alert Commander Stanton.

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“My name’s Hannah.” The Asian girl answered. “I take it you’re following some pink blur, too?”

“Yeah; I saw her escape from the Command Tower and swing into the jungle.” Jun replied. “And I think these guys were the ones who brought her in the first time. I’m Jun, by the way.”

“Byron.”

“James.”

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With a primal cry, the jungle woman in pink leapt from the trees and stood between Dualash and the foursome.

“Fr’uoy hniyortsed fht uenalp!” The girl said in her strange tongue. “Fvael freh, xon!”

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“I am Celeste. I brought you here because I need your help.” She began. “That monster you encountered...is only the beginning.”

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“RIDE THE NOVA!”

“We protect this planet with the power of the stars! POWER RANGERS: GALAXY STRIDERS!” The fivesome shouted as they struck their heroic pose.

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“Resourceful, indeed. She even managed to recruit children to fight her battles for her...which means she is also too injured to fight.” Reapus reasoned as he looked through his portal. “Enjoy your victory now, Celeste. But mark my words. Soon, I’ll be the one to bring down the curtain on your final act!”

***********

Chapter 3: Uneasy Alliance

Darkness has fallen over the city of River’s End and the citizens of the developing city were all resting comfortably in their homes. Five, in particular, were resting after their inaugural battle with Reapus and his legion of demonic underlings. Hannah was in her modest home grading papers while Jun slept in his quarters in the Command Tower. Tacari found solace sleeping in the jungle canopy with various creatures keeping her company. Elsewhere in the city, the remaining two rangers shared an apartment where one was trying to fall asleep. “Trying” was the appropriate word because his roommate, the young man chosen to be the red ranger, was busy looking out his window at the twinkling stars above and making conversation.

“James? You think Celeste is looking down on us right now?” Byron asked innocently. “I mean, I know she kinda has to since she gave us these powers, but maybe she checks on us every once in a while?”

James let out a slow groan as he was woken up from his light slumber.

“Ron...” He began using his nickname for his friend. “It’s kinda hard for her not to look down considering she’s all the way up there.” He said as he pointed his finger at the ceiling to make his point.

“Yeah.” Byron said as he continued to look up at the heavenly bodies. “The stars are pretty, aren’t they? And Celeste lives on one of them. Wow! Kinda makes you wonder what else is out there. Maybe we’re not completely alone in...”

“I swear, if you finish that sentence, I’ll smack you with this pillow.” James warned. But as much as he wanted to get mad at his wistful friend, he couldn’t stay mad at him. He did find that partial statement ironic seeing as how they were on a planet that people back on Earth probably fantasize about when they ask the same question. “Dude, why are you making such a big deal out of it? So she lives on a star.” James said with a heavy sigh.

“It’s not just that.” Byron said as he turned to look James in the face. “It’s being chosen to be rangers, it’s these powers, it’s...well...everything! Before, it was just you and me. Now it’s you, me, Jun, Hannah and...”

“Jane of the Jungle?” James interrupted with a smirk. “Hannah and Jun I can deal with, but her? Being chosen to save the world would be cooler if I didn’t have that amazon chick for a teammate. Oh, and by the way, thank you so much for coming back for me after she judo threw me into those vines.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Byron couldn’t help but chuckle at his buddy’s misfortune.

“What? Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t come back. But, you got cut down, right?”

“After hanging upside down for three hours!” James shouted. “The guards who finally cut me down nearly arrested me because they thought I was drunk! Let them hang by their knees with the blood rushing to their heads for three hours and we’ll see how coordinated they walk!” He grumbled.

The youthful faced red ranger just let out a sigh as James ranted.

“Well...it was sorta your fault. You could have been a little nicer to her.” Byron said in the jungle girl’s defense.

“I could have been-Byron, she did nothing but ride us during that last battle!” James protested but when he saw that Byron still seemed to take Tacari’s side, the blue ranger just shook his head in defeat. “Whatever, man. That chick just needs to lighten up.” James said letting a yawn escape. “And you need to get some sleep. That Reapus guy could attack anytime so the sooner we can et some shut-eye, the better.”

“In a minute. I wanna look at the sky some more.” Byron replied as he turned back to look out his window.

“One minute. Then lights out!” James ordered as he turned over and put the pillow over his head.

One minute passed, then another...then another until Byron could hear the faint snoring of his friend. The doe-eyed ranger continued to look up at the stars as if he were in a trance. It was almost as if he were looking for answers. Little did he know that answers would be revealed in time...along with more questions.

*********

Meanwhile...

Things weren’t as serene for those aboard Reapus’ ship. The tension was so thick after Dualash’s crushing defeat, the crimson devil himself could cut it with a katana. The only things that kept Reapus from snapping was his sake and Crescenda playing her shamisen.

“Celeste...you’ve been a thorn in my side for centuries.” Reapus mused to himself. “You’ve managed to find more children to fight your battles for you.”

“Perhaps, my lord, we can use their inexperience to our advantage.” Kalamax suggested.

“What do you mean?” The devil lord asked his vassal.

“What I mean is that there may be some chinks in their armor you can exploit. Being that this is their first time working as a team, I’m sure there are some underlying issues among the rangers.” The squid-like advisor explained.

“From what I’ve seen, the pink one doesn’t seem very happy to be associated with the others.” Crescenda pointed out as she strummed her shamisen. “She might be their weak link.”

Reapus took a moment to mull over his underlings’ suggestions and thought that it was worth a try.

“Sounds promising. And I may have someone who can find her weak spot. Cerberado! Come forth!”

From the depths of the lake came a monster that appeared to be a cross between a weasel and a centipede. The fearsome creature boarded the ship with spiky sword in hand and knelt before Reapus.

“You called, my lord?” Cerberado asked.

“Indeed. I want you to target the pink ranger.”

“How would you like her destroyed?” Cerberado asked a little to eagerly.

“Oh, I don’t want her destroyed...yet. I want you to find out her weakness and see if you can use that to get her to side with us.” Reapus ordered. “I want to finish off those rangers from within!”

“Ah, an inside job of sorts.” The weasel demon snickered. “She’ll be under our wing.”

“And the rangers will be out of my hair!” Reapus chuckled evilly. “Now, go!”

“As you wish!”

Cerberado bowed before leaving to carry out his orders. He knew the price of failure and that was incentive enough for him to succeed.

***********

The next morning, the sun rose over the riverside city and shone brightly over the people below. Most of the citizens answered back by either hitting the snooze buttons on their alarm clocks or by covering their heads with their bed sheets. Jun, however, was a rare breed. He was the type who woke up before dawn and today w as no exception. He decided that today was nice enough to go out for a jog so he left the Command Tower wearing a green and white track suit and ran through the streets. This was one of the few times during the day where he had the chance to enjoy nature and clear his head but his peace was interrupted when he heard the sounds of someone in distress.

“Uhhhh. Oh, come on. Just a bit more...” Said the female voice as she struggled with her books. “Who knew being a teacher’s aide was as much work as being an actual teacher?”

The young woman kept grumbling until she lost her footing. Her books tumbles to the ground and the graded papers inside were floating away thanks to the breeze.

“Oh, no!” She shouted as she tried to grab her papers.

“I got it!” Jun yelled as he jumped into the air and caught every wayward piece of paper before they flew away for good. “Here.” He said as he handed the lady her papers. It wasn’t until she took them in her hands that Jun realized the woman was Hannah.

“Thanks. I would have had to do this over again.” She said softly.

“N-no problem.” The green ranger stammered slightly. “Nice day out, huh?” “Nice day out? I can’t do better than that?” He thought to himself.

“Yeah...it is.” Hannah replied as she looked at her watch. “Oh! I better get going.” She scrambles to gather her things but she was having some difficulty.

“Here. Lemme help.” Jun offered.

“N-no; you don’t have-I mean...”

Jun gently smiled at the flustered yellow ranger as he picked up some of her books.

“I know, I don’t have to.”

“Thanks.” Hannah replied with a soft smile of her own. “I like getting to the school early to set up for class.”

“So, you’re a teacher, then?” Jun asked.

“Teacher’s aide.” She corrected. “I’m doing my small part educate the kids until I get my license. It’s good practice for the real thing.”

Jun nodded as he saw that they had something in common. They both made a habit of getting an early start on the day.

“Now, that’s admirable.” He nodded. “We need more teachers around here.” “Especially pretty ones.” He thought to himself as they walked to the school.

“So...what do you do?” She asked. She wanted to know a bit more about her new green teammate.

“I work in the Archeology Department at the Command Tower.” Jun answered. “I help translate the writings found on some of the ancient ruins and artifacts we uncover.”

“Wow! That sounds exciting.” Hannah smiled. “Maybe I can convince the teachers here to take the kids on a field trip up there someday.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I can run it by Commander Stanton when I get back.” Jun agreed as the twosome arrived at the front of the school. Being a gentleman, the green ranger opened the door for Hannah and placed her books on her large desk. “There you go. Oh, and speaking of Commander Stanton, I better get to the tower. My shift starts in a few.”

“Oh...well, I guess I’ll see you around?” The yellow ranger asked hopefully.

“Definitely.” Jun said with a smile before jogging out leaving Hannah to set up for her first class.

***********

While some were getting their day started in the city, others were trying to do the same thing in the more undeveloped part of River’s End but a certain jungle woman was making that task nearly impossible. She was up before any other human and her handiwork was being found by the construction workers.

“Man! Not again!” The foreman shouted. He and his men found their bulldozers and tools destroyed beyond recognition. “I thought she was being held at the Tower!”

“She was...but she escaped yesterday.” One of his workers informed his boss.

“This is getting old! Men, we can’t finish our work until we bring her in so, for now, our mission is to catch that jungle girl before she ruins any more equipment!”

His men cheered as they essentially turned into a posse. Their bounty...Tacari.

***********

Back at the Command Tower, Mike and Commander Stanton were going over the footage they caught of the battle with Dualash and the new group of rangers that arrived on the scene. When the double faced creature appeared with his horde of Grimlings, everyone in the tower feared the worst since the news of the Galaxy Rangers’ demise reached them. But when they saw the new quintet of rangers fighting the menace, hope was quickly restored as well some curiosity. Just where did they come from and, more importantly, who were they? Mike and Commander Stanton were both working hard to find the answers.

“I can’t believe that out of all the footage here, there’s not one clue to their identities.” Mike sighed.

“Well, we’re gonna comb through every frame until we find something.” Commander Stanton said with authority. “Once we do find out who they are, I want you to bring them here. Right now they’re our best hope.”

“Yes, sir.” Mike saluted with a drawn out yawn as Commander Stanton shook his head in jest.

“Why don’t you go for a walk? Get some fresh air.” He suggested.

“Good call.” Mike agreed. “I won’t be long.”

With another salute, Mike left the main control room and went out of the building passing Jun in the process. If only the former Magna Defender knew that Jun was one of the heroes he was searching for.

*********

Meanwhile, James and Byron were in the plaza getting some breakfast and enjoying the nice day when Mike passed by. Byron looked up from his sandwich at the man in blue and focused on his face. Something about him seemed oddly familiar to the upbeat red ranger and his gaze caught the attention of Mike who had the feeling that someone was watching him.

“Um...can I help you?” Mike asked the young man.

“Beg pardon?” Byron asked oblivious to the fact that he was even staring at the Terra Venture officer.

Mike just looked at the guy like he grew a second head. Was he really this much of a space cadet?

“You’ve been staring at me for the past few minutes.” Mike clarified.

Byron kept looking at the taller man intensely as if staring at him would jog something in his mind.

“You...really...look familiar.” Byron said in a whisper. “Are you sure we haven’t met somewhere before?”

“Uh...I doubt it.” Mike said as he backed up. This wide eyed kid was making the Terra Venture officer grow more and more uncomfortable. James felt that the conversation was getting awkward by the minute and he decided to step in before things totally went south.

“Yeah! I am really sorry about my overly eager friend.” James began as he grabbed Byron’s arm. “He hasn’t taken his medication this morning. We’ll just be on our way! Bye!”

In a swift move, James pulled a confused Byron into an alley to talk some sense into him.

“Dude? What is your malfunction?” The blue ranger asked. “Why were you staring at that guy?”

“I-I dunno! I just got this weird feeling that I’ve seen him somewhere before and...wait! Why did you tell him I hadn’t taken my medication!?”

“Well, with the look you had on your face, I either had to tell him you were an incurable optimist...or you were on something. The latter seemed more believable so I went with that. Consider that payback for leaving me in those vines.” James said simply making Byron shake his head in disbelief.

Just as Byron was about to protest, Celeste’s voice was heard in the rangers’ minds.

“Rangers. Another one of Reapus’ generals has appeared in the city square! He’s close to your location.” She urged.

“Okay...that was weird.” James said in awe. Hearing voices in your head wasn’t something the blue ranger had expected.

“We’re on our way!” Byron replied. “Come on. The others are probably on their way there now!”

“Let’s hope so.” The blue ranger said as he and his friend ran to the location.

At the school, Hannah had also heard Celeste’s voice and excused herself since the students were in the middle of a test. Jun was two steps away from entering the Command Tower when he heard the call to arms and Tacari was already swinging through the treetops towards the disturbance.

At the city square, Cerberado and his legion of minions were terrorizing all of the citizens of River’s End who were out conducting business.

“Miserable humans!” He growled. “Your very presence is littering my lord’s dominion! And it’s about time I exterminate! Grimlings, round up any human who tries to scurry away!”

With an evil glint in his eyes, Cerberado used the centipede-like appendage wrapped around his body as a savage whip.

“DEVIL’S WHIPLASH!” He shouted as his weapon extended to reach a building that was hundreds of yards away. The impact sliced the building in two sending debris tumbling down upon the helpless. He was set to repeat the process when...

“HEY!” Byron shouted at the multiple bladed creature. “Leave this city alone!”

Cerberado halted his attack when he saw Byron and his friends standing defiantly in front of him.

“Looks like Reapus didn’t learn his lesson.” James scoffed.

“I agree. So how about we teach him not to mess with us?” Jun asked as he glared at the newest threat.

“You’re finally starting to make sense.” Tacari nodded as she got ready to fight.

“Ready?” Byron asked pulling out his Galactic Stroke Morpher.

“Ready!” The others shouted following suit.

“RIDE THE NOVA!”

The fivesome went through their morphing sequences in space and landed back on Miranoi.

“So you’re the ones giving my lord trouble!” Cerberado asked condescendingly. “Hard to believe that humans are causing such problems for Reapus.”

“Maybe you’ll believe it when we destroy you!” Tacari snarled.

“Not likely. Grimlings, take them down!”

In an instant, shogun demons and rangers meshed in battle as swords clashed.

“I’m not wasting any time!” The blue ranger quickly spun the black disc on his sword hilt. “Nebula Bogen! Star Disc BETA!” James quickly placed the blue disc on his bow and fired off rounds of shimmering water arrows at the grimlings.

“Celestial Fan! Star Disc GAMMA!” The pink ranger called for her weapon and slashed at the red and yellow underlings with might swings.

“Astral Lancer! Star Disc DELTA!” Jun was the next to call for his weapon of choice and with it, he jabbed the bladed end into one grimling and catapulted him into his evil comrades.

"Star Grazer! Star Disc EPSILON!” Hannah’s sword transformed into her tri-bladed weapon and she quickly threw it frisbee style at her horde of chattering demons. “Not how I wanted to spend the morning!” She shouted to her friends.

As the other rangers tangled with the grimlings, Byron was going head to head with Cerberado. With his Nova Bihänder in hand, the red ranger and the weasel general fought like two alpha males vying for top position in the pack.

“You think you and your rangers can stop us? Lord Reapus is all powerful!” Cerberado screamed as his curved sword nearly makes contact with Byron’s body. With a swift move, the red ranger narrowly blocks the sword with his own.

“I don’t think...I KNOW we’ll stop you!” Byron said with conviction. “We won’t let you hurt any more people!”

“We’ll see about that!”

Cerberado struck Byron in the chest with a powerful kick before coming down with his spiked sword. Byron brought it up to block in time and returned the favor by swinging his Nova Bihänder down. Neither combatant was gaining an advantage over the other as the other rangers were finishing up with the grimlings.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather be grading papers right now!” Hannah shouted as she threw her Star Grazer at the last of the shogun demons. The triple blades struck down the grimlings in its path and, unfortunately, kept on flying towards Byron.

“Whoa!” He shouted as he just barely dodged.

“Loophole!” Cerberado shouted as swing his large sword like a baseball bat. The force knocks the red ranger into a nearby building making an impression in the concrete.

“Byron!” Hannah shouts caught the attention of the other rangers who rushed to their friend’s aid. “I’m so sorry!”

“Not half as sorry as you’re gonna be! DEVIL’S WHIPLASH!”

“Look out!” Tacari shouted.

But it was too late. The centipede-like appendage whipped out from Cerberado’s head and connected with all five rangers in a devastating attack. The force of the blow left all five rangers demorphed and writhing in pain.

“This is the hope of Miranoi? What a joke!” With that, Cerberado vanished without a trace leaving Byron and his team to wonder what went wrong.

“Yikes! Was it just me or was that guy stronger than the last one?” James asked as he struggled to stand.

“It wasn’t just you.” Jun groaned in pain. “That was just brutal!”

“Tell me about it!” Hannah whispered as she stood. “What now?”

“We learn from this and grow stronger. That’s what.” Tacari said seriously as she got up. James looked over at his pink teammate and glared daggers at her.

“Do you ever have anything positive to say?” James asked.

“We’re alive.” She said in a deadpan manner.

“Hey! You can’t get more positive than that. He could have killed us.” Byron said, grinning through the pain. “Besides, we have to help all these people. Some may be hurt.”

“You help! I’m not staying here any longer than I have to.”

Before anyone could say anything to the contrary, Tacari ran to the nearest tree and swung back into the jungle leaving the others to help the injured.

“Can you believe her!?” James growled. “GAH! She is the most aggravating...”

“Just let it go.” Jun said simply. “Let’s just help these people.”

Everyone agreed and started with the rescue efforts. While that was going on, Mike and Commander Stanton were shocked to learn four of the five identities of the rangers. One, in particular was the most shocking out of them all.

“Jun?” Mike whispered. “He’s one of them, sir. He’s one of the new rangers.”

Commander Stanton looked at the screen and nodded to himself.

“Mike, I want you to take some soldiers and go to the square. Bring those people here.”

“Yes, sir!”

Mike ordered four of his soldiers to go with him to the square. If they were the rangers from the last fight, they could use some help in the form of someone who’s been there and done that. A little while later, as the rangers gathered the injured to be taken to the hospital, they were approached by Mike and his soldiers.

“Jun?” Mike said to the green ranger.

“Sir. What are you doing here?” Jun asked in surprise. When he saw the other soldiers, he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What did I do?”

“I need you and your friends to come with us.” The former Magna Defender ordered.

“Whatever it is, we didn’t do it!” James shouted as held his hands up. “We’re innocent!”

“You’re not under arrest. My commander just has a proposition for you.”

Jun looked at Mike and knew that he was on the level but the others weren’t so sure. Hannah looked anxious and James’ face reflected distrust. With the three of them unclear of what to do, all eyes fell on Byron.

“It can’t hurt to hear him out, right?” Byron said with the innocence of a child.

“If talking’s all he wants to do, I’m all for it.” Hannah agreed.

“Looks like we have a meeting to go to.” James nodded.

“Follow me.”

Mike led the four rangers to the Command Tower so they could meet Commander Stanton and, hopefully, train them so they could be more formidable.

“Welcome. I’m Commander Stanton. I see you’ve already met Mike.” He said with a small smile.

Mike took a good look at the quartet and when his eyes landed on Byron and James, his eyes widened.

“As a matter of fact, I’ve met these two earlier this morning.” He said pointing to the red and blue rangers.

“Yeah, I thought I saw you somewhere before!” Byron said happily making James groan in annoyance. “I’m Byron and this is James.”

“Hey.” The blue ranger greeted simply.

“Hannah. I guess you already know Jun.” The yellow ranger added. “In any rate...just why have you asked us to come here?”

“To be honest, the reason I’ve asked you all to come is because we know you’re Power Rangers.” Mike explained. “My commander and I both feel that we can help you.”

“So, wait. Just what do you know about the Power Rangers?” James asked.

“More than you realize, young man.” It was at that time that Commander Stanton stepped in and took over the conversation. “You see, I was once the mentor of a group of rangers years ago. Mike was a part of them as well so we do have some experience.”

Mike looked over the foursome and his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Wait...I thought there were five of you.” He asked making Byron and company cringe. They knew who the pink ranger was but they weren’t sure HE wanted to know.

“Well...” Jun began.

“Um...” Hannah stalled.

“You see, the thing is...” James stammered.

“Come on! Don’t leave me in suspense. Who is she?” Mike wondered. Seeing as how the others weren’t forthcoming with this information, he was more anxious to know the answer.

Byron was about to spill the beans when a commotion outside the door caught their attention. The sounds of guards shouting made them turn their heads, but what got their attention the most was the distinct sound of a woman screaming in an unintelligible language.

“Hold on to her! She’s a scrapper!” One guard warned as he and three others brought in a struggling Tacari. “We caught her tampering with more of the cranes and bulldozers!”

“Ueg suoy zhtlif tdnah gfo go fm! Uel fm pg!” She shouted. “J s’now uel voy qeek hnillik tiht uenalp!”

Enraged, Tacari kicked one of the guards in the shins. As he yelled out in pain, she flipped the two holding her arms over her shoulders. The last guard drew his weapon and trained it on the feisty jungle woman; this made Byron and the others stand in front of her protectively.

“Don’t shoot her!” Byron pleaded.

“Byron, why are you protecting this woman? She’s the one causing all the construction sabotage these past few months!” Mike explained.

“Um...how can I put this delicately?” Byron said trying to lessen the blow he knew would be coming. “Remember the missing ranger you asked about just a second ago?”

“Yeah.” Mike replied wondering where Byron was going with this.

“Well...they just arrested her. TA-DA!” The red ranger said with a flourish and a stupid grin on his face.

There was an awkward pause before Mike’s face slowly began to match Byron’s sweater.

“WHAT!?!? You mean...SHE...HER!?” Mike stammered. “Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me! How did she get to be a ranger?”

“T’taht fnon go suoy tsenisub!” Tacari snarled at Mike.

“What did you say?” Mike asked angrily.

“She said, ‘that’s none of your business’.” Jun translated making Tacari look at him with confusion.

“How did you know that?” The pink ranger asked.

“My job here is to translate old ruins and artifacts.” Jun explained. “I’m not fluent in it, but I can read and understand Miranoian.”

“Can we get back to the real issue here?” Mike interrupted. “She shouldn’t be a ranger! She should be in jail for her actions!”

“I’m trying to save what’s left of Miranoi!” Tacari shot back.

“I don’t care what you’re trying to do! You can’t go around destroying property! We need those machines to build our homes!”

“So, in order to build YOUR homes you have to destroy MINE!?” Tacari asked angrily. “I knew it! You’re no better than those who you call evil! As long as you’re still killing everything in sight with your faceless monsters, I won't fight with you!”

Just like last time, the amazon leapt onto the window sill and jumped out to the flagpole sanding outside. One more great leap took her to the jungle canopy where she disappeared among the vines.

“Tacari, wait!” Hannah shouted as she ran to the window. But it was too late. Tacari was nowhere to be found. “Guys, we have to go after her!”

“I say let her go! If she feels that strongly about us, then we don’t need her!” James chimed in. “I can’t believe I defended her from that guard! I should have let him shoot her.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say!” Hannah scolded.

“Byron, what do YOU think? You’re our leader, after all.” Jun said looking at the red ranger.

Byron looked out the window that led to the jungle and sighed. He could see the points made by both sides, but one point overrode both arguments: they were in charge of stopping Reapus and they couldn’t do that without Tacari.

“Guys, if we’re going to defeat Reapus, we need Tacari so we’re going after her. All of us!” Byron stressed.

“I still think it’s a mistake, but it’s your call, bro.” James conceded.

“Then we better hurry. Who knows when Cerberado will return.” Jun replied.

Mike just stood there and listened to the remaining four rangers debate on whether or not to look for the belligerent jungle woman and when he heard Byron make their choice for them, he sighed. All he knew was that it was better that they looked for her instead of him considering their history.

“We’ll be back...and I still can’t shake the fact that I’ve seen you somewhere...” Byron said with a tilt of his head.

“We can play 20 questions later!” James said pulling his friend out of the room and soon they were making their way into the jungle.

The foursome had a new mission: find Tacari and convince her to come back to the team. The search would be like looking for a needle in a haystack since their pink ranger had lots of experience blending into her jungle surroundings. While the rangers split up to look for their friend, Cerberado was also looking for Tacari, but he had an ulterior motive.

“Now where can the little jungle girl be?” He hummed to himself as he looked up. As if on cue, Tacari was swinging from vines to get as far away from the tower as she could. “Ah, there you are.” He sneered as he used his whip to cut the vine she was going to grab next. The miss made Tacari fall, but the agile woman righted herself in time to land on her feet.

“Who’s there?!” She asked angrily.

“Just someone who wants to talk.” Cerberado said in a low tone.

“We have nothing to talk about! Leave!”

“Not until you hear me out.” Cerberado said as he walked closer to her. Tacari took a fighting stance in case he tried anything. “Why the defensive stance? Don’t you trust me?”

“No.” Tacari answered bluntly. Her quick answer made the monster chuckle sinisterly.

“Well, my dear, as much as you despise me, I’m sure you detest all these buildings popping up and destroying your lovely home even more. Am I right?”

Tacari kept her guard up as Cerberado circled her.

“What business is that of yours?” She asked skeptically.

Well, I, too, don’t like what the humans are doing to this planet.” He lied. “Miranoi was a lush planet before the humans colonized it. Don’t you want things back to the way they were? Don’t you miss swimming in crystal clear water? Eating fruit free from pesticides? I know you miss breathing fresh, clean air.”

“So, what if I do?” Tacari asked. “Your mission is to destroy...not preserve!”

“But I destroy TO preserve. As do you.” He pointed out. “You see, we’re not that different, you and I. I think we could make an exceptional team. What do you say?”

Tacari took a moment to think about Cerberado’s words. In a way, they did hold some truth, but she also thought back to Celeste’s words and how she needed their help. Tacari may not have been wise about too many things, but she could still tell when someone was lying to her.

“I say...tsik zm tsa!”

Tacari cartwheel kicked Cerberado away from her long enough to make her escape to a nearby tree.

“Tell Reapus we don’t make deals with evil!” She shouted as she swung away.

Cerberado watched in defeat as his quarry made her escape through the treetops.

“Blasted girl!” He snarled to himself. “It’s clear that words don’t work on her. Perhaps seeing is believing.”

A plan hatched in his brain as he made his way to one of the construction sites. He wanted to cause more than just structural damage. As he made his way into town, the other rangers kept up their search for Tacari and were about to give up when Celeste’s voice rang through their minds.

“Rangers! Cerberado is causing havoc at one of the construction sites by the school district!”

“We’re on our way, but we can’t find Tacari!” Byron replied worriedly.

“She’ll be there, but you’re needed immediately.” Celeste urged. “Please hurry!”

Hannah looked down at her Stroke morpher and spoke into it.

“She’s right, guys. We can’t wait for Tacari. If he’s at the school district, then the kids are in danger.”

Byron and the other rangers agreed and soon left the jungle in haste.

“I just hope she comes to her senses.” Byron thought as he ran.

***********

On the outskirts of the school district, Cerberado and his grimlings threatened the workers by destroying the half-completed buildings and all of their equipment. It was a lot like what Tacari did, but on a much grander and much more destructive scale.

“Leave nothing standing! Show these humans that their destruction of Miranoi won’t be tolerated!” He shouted loudly enough for Tacari to hear. “Hopefully she’ll see this and believe I’m telling the truth.” He thought.

“You’re full of it!” Byron shouted as he, Jun, Hannah and James arrived in full ranger gear. They made quick work of the underlings and faced Cerberado. “We know full well you have no interest in protecting anything!”

“And who are you to decide that?” He shot back. “In any rate, you should me more concerned with protecting yourselves! DEVIL’S WHIPLASH!”

Byron managed to dodge the attack by rolling to the side but the others were knocked back into some debris. The blue, green and yellow rangers were slowly getting back on their feet when they caught sight of an unmorphed Tacari watching the red ranger run with a full head of steam at Cerberado.

“Tacari!” Hannah shouted as she went to the pink ranger. “I knew you’d come! Morph so we can help Byron.”

“No.” She answered. “I said I wouldn’t fight with you and I meant it.”

James grew angry and confronted the jungle woman.

“What is the matter with you?” He asked furiously. “Look, I know you don’t like us. But why take your hatred out on someone who hasn’t done anything to you?”

“Because that’s what you’re doing to this planet!” Tacari answered. “Why do you think I destroy all of your machines? Not only do they destroy my home, they kill countless animals. What I do, I do to protect them. They’re innocent! Not like you care.”

Hannah was about to voice her opinion when she saw Byron rush past Cerberado and his drawn sword and over to a crumbling wall. He went behind it and came back out with a little boy who was hiding.

“You bothersome pest! Die where you stand!” Cerberado growled as he attacked Byron and the small boy.

“I gotcha, kid!” Byron reassured the scared child.

“Oh, no? Then look at Byron.” Hannah ordered as she pointed to the red ranger fending off Cerberado with a sword in one hand and clinging to the child with the other. “That child is also innocent. What you say we’re doing to the planet is no different than what Cerberado is doing right now. Don’t you see? We’re all really fighting for the same thing: to protect the innocent...all of them. But we can’t do that without you, Tacari.”

Jun stepped in hoping that a united front would convince the jungle girl to join with them again.

“She’s right. We need your help. Don’t we, James?”

James looked at Jun and Hannah and heaved a defeated sigh.

“Come on back to the team, okay? You don’t even have to do it for me. Do it for them.” James said pointing to Byron and the little boy.

Tacari kept watching as Byron fought for his and the little boy’s life. The entire time, she could hear him say “it’s okay” and “I won’t let anything happen to you”. After a few tense moments of silence, Tacari pulled out her Stroke Morpher.

“RIDE THE NOVA!”

Tacari quickly morphed into her pink ranger garb and drew her sword.

“Let’s help him out!” She shouted as she ran forward.

“It’s about time!” James groaned as he, Jun and Hannah ran to aid Byron.

The red ranger in question kept fighting until the sound of the boy’s mother cut through the battle.

“Corey!”

“Mommy!” The boy shouted. As Byron too him to his worried mother.

“Thank you so much!” She replied tearfully.

“You’re welcome. Now get somewhere safe!” He ordered.

As the mother and child ran as fast as they could away from the combat, Cerberado saw this as his chance to take down at least one ranger.

“You love giving me openings, don’t you? DEVIL’S WHIPLASH!”

Cerberado whirled his centipede whip and was poised to strike down Byron when his back was turned until...

“Not today!” Shouted four familiar voices.

In a show of unity, the blue, green, yellow and pink rangers leapt into the air and slashed at the weasel’s menacing whip preventing it from striking the red ranger.

“You okay, man?” James asked as they ran to check on their friend.

“Yeah, you came just in time.” Byron sighed. “He’s one tough cookie!”

“I believe I have something you can use.” Celeste added through her mental link with the rangers. “Combine your star discs with your striders. I think you’ll like the outcome.” She said with a smile in her voice.

“If you say so.” Byron said as he went first. He opened his golden buckle, pulled out his red star disc and gave it a spin. Soon his strider blade was engulfed in swirls of fire. “Check it out!”

“Nice!” James shouted excitedly as he and the others mirrored their leader’s actions. As expected, each ranger’s element surrounded their blades. James’ blade was infused with ribbons of water while Hannah’s had waves of yellow earth circling hers. Tacari’s sword had the power of glittering wisps of air and Jun’s sword had shimmering leaves appear.

“These are your Aurora Blades. They’re much more powerful than your original striders.” Celeste explained.

“Celeste, I like your style!” James nodded.

“Let’s show him what real power is!” Byron ordered as they all shouted:

“AURORA BLADES! CELESTIAL STRIKE!”

All five rangers run at Cerberado and each one lands a devestating blow to the demon, their element exploding in the process. The sounds of their zord animals echo throughout the site until they all stop with swords outstretched. Blue lightning sizzles across Cerberado’s body until he falls limp and explodes.

“That was incredible!” James exclaimed.

“It’s not over yet.” Tacari warned.

“You blasted rangers!” Cerberado growled angrily as he grew to humongous proportions.

“No time to waste, guys! ALPHA LION!” Byron shouted.

“BETA DRAGON!”

“GAMMA TURTLE!”

“DELTA BEAR!”

“EPSILON MONKEY!”

They all laid their devices on the ground and drew the star symbol to make them grow into their zords.

“I won’t be beaten by toys!” Cerberado shouted as his sword sent a powerful dust storm at the zords. The gale force was enough to temporarily blow them backwards.

“We’re not strong enough!” Hannah said worriedly.

“You will be.” Celeste corrected through the mental link. “The five of you have the power to combine your zords into a mighty warrior. The Strider King Megazord.”

“Okay, Celeste. We’ll try it!” Jun agreed.

“Let’s get this party started!” James shouted. “STRIDER KING MEGAZORD...UNITE!”

Soon the dragon, monkey, turtle and bear zords folded back into their original forms and stacked one on top of the other with green on the bottom, blue, pink and yellow on top. James looked at their handiwork and, to say the least, was very confused.

“Are...we supposed to look like this? Something doesn’t click!”

“Uh...I think we goofed!” Hannah observed.

“We look like a totem pole!” Tacari shouted.

“I was gonna say shish kabob, but totem pole works, too.” James said jokingly.

“Never mind the fact that you totally left me out! Thanks!” Byron said slightly hurt.

“Cut us some slack. We’re new at this!” Jun said in their defense.

“I have no time for childish games! FORE!” Cerberado shouted as he swung his sword like a golf club and knocked the green zord from the bottom. This sent the other zords tumbling to the ground.

“Use the stars to guide you to victory.” Celeste suggested.

“Okay. Sorry about that.” Byron apologized as he took out his stroke morpher. He drew the symbol for “unite” in the air. “ZORDS UNITE!”

Soon, the lion zord opened up and rearranged itself to form the head and torso while the yellow and pink zords formed the arms. The green and blue zords went on to form the legs with an extra component flying off of the dragon zord. The arms snapped on to the red torso before the upper half attached itself to the legs. The extra piece that flew off formed the regal shogun helmet that the megazord would wear into battle. The chinstrap materialized and a long sword with the five animals etched into the blade appeared.. In th cockpit, the five rangers appeared in front of podiums that housed their strider swords.

“STRIDER KING MEGAZORD!” They shouted in unison as the complete robotic warrior stood atop a cliff.

“Amazing!” Jun said in awe.

“Even I have to agree with you.” Tacari nodded.

“But the last one was kinda funny.” James chuckled.

“Guys, we have to focus! He’s coming!” Byron warned as the others got their heads in the game.

Cerberado charged at the new megazord ready to send it to the recycling bin.

“STELLAR SABER!” Byron yelled.

The megazord drew its sword and brought it up to block the attack before pushing the monster backwards. Angered that he didn’t have the advantage, Cerberado wildly swung his sword downward but the Strider King sidestepped in time.

“Swing and a miss!” James shouted tauntingly.

Cerberado tried to connect with his sword again but the megazord ducked the blow causing the demon to cleave the building behind them.

“Missed again!” Byron chided.

This time, it was the rangers’ turn to strike, and strike they did. With a fluid swing, they caught the giant demon with a powerful slash slicing him and the scaffolded structure behind him.

“Yes! We’re winning!” Jun shouted.

“I refuse to lose to the likes of you! SUPER GRIMLINGS! ATTACK!”

Soon, enlarged versions of the usual red and yellow shogun demons emerged from the cracks between the buildings and surrounded the Strider King Megazord.

“What!? Oh, so not cool!” James grumbled in protest.

“How did they get so big?” Hannah asked worriedly.

The super grimlings engaged the megazord in a fierce battle as swords clashed and sparks flew. Fearing the megazord had the upper hand, some of the grimlings threw chains to ensnare the robotic warrior. They then sent pulses of energy through the chains causing explosions to bombard the rangers.

“Oh, come on! Chains, too!?” James shouted.

“What do we do?” Hannah asked unsure of their next move.

“I got this! ALPHA LION! FLAMING ROAR!”

A stream of fire blew from the lips of the Alpha Lion and roasted the super grimlings long enough for their grips on the chains to loosen. The Strider King them yanked on the chains so hard, the force sent the grimlings flying into each other before they hit the ground. Before they had time to recover, the megazord slashed his sword cutting the shogun demons that surrounded it. Each one fell with sparks flying from their bodies.

“No! I won’t be defeated like this! Slice him to ribbons!” Cerberado ordered his remaining grimlings.

But the Strider King stood firm as he cut each one down with a single slash. Byron and his teammates pulled their swords from their podiums and pointed at Cerberado. The megazord mimicked the ranger’s move and pointed its Stellar Saber at the quaking demon.

“Time to finish this!” Byron said calmly.

“STELLAR SABER! COSMIC SLASH!”

The rangers spun the discs on their striders and a quintet of colored lights orbited in a circle creating brilliant glow. As it shone, the etchings on the Stellar Saber lit up like a Christmas tree from hilt to tip. A shower of sparks rained down on the area as the Strider King brought his sword around for the deathblow. All five brought their swords down in a brutal slashing motion and the megazord followed suit. A flash of light streaked as the giant blade connected to Cerberado one last time. The sparks from the sky and the ones from the demons body merged as he fell to the ground. The explosion produced multicolored smoke signaling the end of Cerberado. Then, true to his form, the Strider King Megazord put away his sword just as the code of Bushido dictates.

***********

Back at the Command Tower, Byron and company stood in Commander Stanton’s presence as he addressed the heroes.

“You did well, rangers. The city of River’s End is in your debt.”

“You don’t have to thank us, sir.” Byron smiled.

“Yeah, we’re just doing our part to protect everyone and everything on Miranoi.” Jun said with a nod.

As he group was enjoying the praise, a few of the guards entered the room and immediately drew their weapons at Tacari.

“Stop!” Mike ordered. “Put down your weapons!”

“But, sir! She’s the saboteur! An escaped one at that!” The head guard replied. “We have to arrest her!”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time. I said put...them...down!” Mike warned sternly. “She’s officially been pardoned..provided she agrees to work with the rangers until Reapus is defeated.”

The jungle woman gave Mike a cold look but slowly softened to the point where she didn’t look as fierce. She couldn’t very well save her home if she’s locked up.

“I’ll agree...if you agree to stop the construction.” Tacari bargained. If she was gonna put up something in good faith, so would they.

“But...that would severely put the workers behind schedule!” The guard reasoned.

“Well...” Byron began hesitantly. “She has a point. I mean, why keep building new things if they’re only gonna get knocked down by monsters anyway? Right? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until the 50 story demons are beaten?”

Now, it was Mike’s turn to mull over the terms. After a few moments of silence...

“Okay. Agreed.” Mike nodded.

“Agreed.” Tacari parroted.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Hannah sighed with relief. “I was afraid that we’d have a war of our own.”

“No...it would dishonor the galaxy rangers’ memories.” The pink ranger said seriously. “I’d rather die than do that.”

Those words made Mike and Commander Stanton bow their heads in respect. Byron looked over the officer’s shoulder to see the broken Quasar Saber hilt in a glass case with photos of the five rangers. Each picture had a plaque with a heartfelt epithet . Byron went to take a closer look at the memorial and his eyes widened in recognition.

“Mike? Why do you have these guys in a glass case?” He asked innocently.

Mike turned to stand next to the inquisitive young man.

“Because these guys were the Galaxy Rangers that saved Terra Venture and Miranoi years ago. They were also my best friends.” He said as he tried not to break down. “That one...was my little brother. He and the others fought to their last breath a few days ago against a new threat.”

“I knew you looked familiar!” Byron said excitedly. “But...he’s not dead. None of them are, really.”

“What do you mean they’re not dead?!” Mike asked a bit angry that Byron would joke about this.

“I mean we saw him and the others yesterday.” Byron clarified. “They’re alive...kinda.”

It was then that Mike looked at the wide-eyed youth pleadingly.

“Tell me where he is, please!” Mike begged.

Just then, a glowing orb of light appeared in the center of the room and took the shape of Celeste.

“Celeste!” The Strider Rangers exclaimed.

“Young man, I can answer your questions.” She said in a soft voice. “Follow me.”

A shaft of light appeared and teleported the rangers, Mike and Commander Stanton to her star. Mike and Stanton looked around and they were just as awestruck as the others were when they first arrived.

“Wow! This is so unreal!” Mike gasped.

“Astounding!” Stanton agreed. “Where are we?”

“You are on my star.” Celeste explained as she appeared. “Your brother and his friends are resting here.”

With a wave of her hand, she revealed the pods the Galaxy Rangers were kept. Mike went to his brother’s pod and gently placed his hand against the crystal case.

“They-they’re really alive?” He asked hopefully.

“A little worse for wear, but yes.” Celeste said honestly. “I brought them here so they can regain their strength and I brought these warriors to continue the fight against Reapus and his minions.”

She told them the story of the war that ended a thousand years ago and the connection with her and the original Quasar sabers. She also told them how a greater power had found their way into these five young people.

“So, you see, their being chosen was no mistake.” The robed woman nodded. “So, tell me...how do you know the Galaxy Rangers?”

“This one...” Mike said pointing to Leo. “...is my little brother. I pulled out the Quasar Saber along with them. I was originally chosen to fight but Furio launched the attack that turned everyone on Miranoi to stone. As we ran, the ground opened up and I almost fell in. Leo grabbed my hand and tried to pull me up but he wasn’t strong enough. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hang on so I gave him the saber and told him to take my place. Luckily, I survived and came back as the Magna Defender.” A lone tear slid down his cheek as he retold the story.

“No way! That was YOU!?” Jun asked as Mike just nodded.

“It’s rare that the Quasar saber chose two who were worthy of wielding its power.” Celeste explained. “It proves that you both had what it took to be a ranger. Mike...since you have experience with the rangers, I was wondering if you would help me in mentoring them. It wouldn’t be wise to bring them here often because it would leave Miranoi unguarded.”

“I’d be honored.” Mike smiled and bowed. “I think I can whip these guys into shape. Although, one’s already in shape.” He said looking at Tacari. “I’m twice your size! How did you throw me?!”

“She threw you, too!?” James asked in shock. “Well, at least she didn’t judo throw you into vines.”

Mike chuckled as he looked at the jungle woman.

“Maybe I can persuade you to teach me that throw sometime?” He asked.

“You’d have to offer me something else for that to happen.” She smirked.

Mike took a moment to think about the offer...

“I...think I’ll pass.” He conceded making everyone there laugh.

======

And so begins a new chapter in the rangers’ quest to rid their world of Lord Reapus. The agreement made with the pink ranger and Mike is a huge step in mending a few bridges, but how many more bridges will be burned along the way?

======

End of Act Three