Anything in history or nature that can be described as changing steadily can be seen as heading toward catastrophe.
—Susan Sontag
Unsure of actually how he accomplished it, but accomplishing it nonetheless, Craig completed the OmniTech Analysis of the ferocious winged creature before him. Though his view of this hideous creature made of scale never changed, words began to form around it, seemingly just hovering in the air, spelling out every slight detail of the beast. Its name—Serpentant. Pseudoine level—seventy-eight percent and climbing, whatever that meant. Weak points—the "arms" of the wings. Possible attack patterns—fiercely offensive and wide open to particular series of returned assaults.
An idea formed within his mind and suddenly the edges of his vision flooded with bright light and he felt his chest grow heavier. He could feel the Battle Shield protecting his upper torso while his speed and strength were still rapidly enhancing. Serpentant charged forward and Craig untied himself, submitted himself to the energy pouring into him, and flipped backward to avoid being slashed with a mutated claw. Instantly he felt himself speed around to the side and launch into the air and before he knew his foot had connected with the skull of the creature and knocked it onto the ground.
"Craig, it's Brittany," he heard her voice as clearly as if he had spoken it himself. "We're all together; Seraide and her friends are transferring their powers now."
Activating the OmniTech Communicator, he responded, "Brittany! I'm engaged in battle with some monster called Serpentant. Ask Soleron what..."
"PROFESSOR." It was Alpha Systems feminine computerized voice now in place of Brittany, but before Craig could ask he evaded another snarling rush from his opponent. "DO YOU ACCEPT AN INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE CONNECTION SYSTEM?"
Fighting a sudden temptation to laugh, he answered, "Well...yeah!" And before he finished agreeing, Soleron was speaking directly to him, "Listen carefully. I have no time to go into details, but Serpentant possesses something called pseudoine. You ran an Analysis, right? Do not let that level reach one hundred percent or, alone, you have no chance of surviving."
The next monstrous blow was too quick to avoid, so crossing his forearms he blocked the lunging tearing of claws and concentrated on reading the pseudoine number. Eighty-five, still rising steadily as they battled. "I understand," Craig told his predecessor. Throwing his arms up, he brushed the sharp talons away and slammed both fists into Serpentant's mid-section. He didn't see the snakelike being fall but he did see its level number rise.
Some of the people with courage to stay at the rest stop, as well as newcomers who hadn't gotten a chance to flee, watched the incredible battle from a distance. Craig hoped Cecil was somewhere in that crowd as he turned away from them and began running. And just as he had hoped, Serpentant followed.
"It might become necessary to utilize the OmniZords," Soleron was informing him coolly, any hint of doubt in the chosen teen's ability carefully covered up. "Because they are not OmniTech in the traditional sense, you will not instinctively know how to summon them. The Zord Summon coin should be in your Ability Band already, so all you must do is focus on the need and call out 'Omni Titan' and it should respond instantaneous."
"Understood." Craig turned to see his pursuer and silently groaned upon realizing it was closer than he had believed. The number was passing ninety and seemed more intensely active. "May I ask what happens when the pseudoine level reaches a hundred?"
No answer came, but thankfully something else did. Four beams of light touched down, yellow and green and blue and pink, forming his friends, the four other Omni Rangers. In seconds he reached a point close enough to leap into the air, spin around, and land in the middle of the group. Serpentant skidded to a halt, stunned at the appearance of others. Stunned at the sight of the Omni Rangers.
"It feels odd, but familiar," Rebecca remarked, pink costume similar to Craig's red except the absence of a shield. In her hand was the Laser Bow, Pink Ranger's signature weapon.
Green Ranger Alexander, four-pointed Gaia Star clutched readily, leaned forward to take a good look at the winged serpent. "OmniTech Gaia Star Charge!" Throwing the weapon, it sailed with a whistling sound, leaving a trail of green energy, slicing Serpentant's wing, then returned to Alex's hand in half a breath.
The Storm Lance rested uncomfortably in Michael's hands, more ready for parrying an attack than defending one. "What have I gotten us into?" he wondered.
Gliding forward, Yellow Ranger's sword, Shine Saber, sliced through the air in some type of pattern, leaving connected lines of golden light, until it finished in an intricately woven web. "OmniTech Shine Saber Charge!" Brittany cried, falling back to the others, and the web exploded in brightness approaching the hue of the sun itself. Serpentant screamed in agony.
Craig watched the light fade away slowly. And just as the excitement came to a sudden stop, the area went quiet and a solemn blanket spread across the team. In his Analysis, Craig saw the ninety-nine wink out in slow motion and be replaced by a full one hundred. The monster began breathing heavily and, with each breath, grew half his size taller. Soon it towered above the five Rangers, laughing with a hissing injection in its voice that seemed like deflating thunder to them.
Instantly Craig knew what to do. "Omni Titan!"
"Omni Sphinx!" cried Brittany.
Michael's call of "Omni Hydra!" followed.
Rebecca's voice summoned, "Omni Pegasus!"
"Omni Dragon!" Alex exclaimed.
From five different directions Craig could feel the mighty machines responding to their calls for assistance. Suddenly he was being teleported against his will and found himself seated inside the cockpit of what he assumed to be the Titan OmniZord. There was a numerous collection of dials and switches that meant nothing to him except an outline, a frightening human-like muscular figure that he identified as a titan, displaying the zord's vital statistics. He looked out through the clear window and saw the other four zords. A green and silver dragon of steel hovered high above, opposite a winged horse of pink and white flying just slightly lower. Directly in front of Craig's view was the giant monster, while on the other side of Serpentant was another serpent, shining blue and black with fierce glowing red eyes that almost made the cold earthen material seem alive, and the legendary yellow and brown figure of the Sphinx with its grace and mystery.
"OmniZords full power!" exclaimed Craig, leaning forward and placing his hands comfortable on the controls.
The Dragon opened its mouth and discharged a flaming burst of energy, slamming into Serpentant with full fiery force. Simultaneously, Pegasus landed on the ground and sounded a fierce cry, causing the ground below the villainous snake to tremble and explode, but the creature was back on its feet in no time.
Hydra lifted its long neck, stretching skyward at an impossible rate of speed for its size, and opened its mouth to reveal sharp fangs of metal. Then it turned its head down and shot arrow-straight toward Serpentant. When the razors pierced the scaly hide, the monster roared in pain and fury, thrashing as it was pinned to the ground.
"These things are incredible!" exclaimed Rebecca.
Alex seemed just as excited. "Yeah! Did anyone else notice the panel right above them that says 'Megazord?' It looks like you have to press your hand against it."
"I see it," replied Michael, and Brittany echoed, "It's right here."
Glancing up Craig saw the black rectangle with a shaped surface to accommodate a hand comfortably. Outside Arcanza's servant was freeing itself from the Hydra's hold and the energy blasts from Sphinx's eyes were not holding it down either. "Activate the Megazord," the new Omni Ranger leader directed, and reached above him.
All five OmniZords broke apart, into pieces and portions, shifting in their appearances and altering in their structure. Each segment lifted into the air of its own accord and migrated toward Omni Titan, then Craig suddenly felt a rough impact as the vehicles began to re-arranged themselves. It was over seconds after it started and he was being dropped into a large piloting area where the other four Rangers were arriving at the same time.
Yellow Ranger seated next to him turned and said, "Tell me this isn't happening."
"Just accept your destiny," Craig answered, as coolly and authoritatively as possible. "Running from it only makes it catch up faster." Flipping up the control panel before him, he announced, "Omni Megazord transformation sequence complete! Let's take this sad excuse of a python down for the count!"
"Right!" came the others' enthusiastic responses.
Hand tightly wound around a small golden worry globe, one of the items from home salvaged from the wreck of the Galaxy Hunter, Soleron breathed heavily as the thoughts of regret and hope flooded through the depths of his mind. He was a fool to trust such young people, but they would be easily manipulated, no questioning of orders—Would they? a voice somewhere inside whispered—and came so conveniently at the very conclusion of the Omni Power Succession. Suspicions still troubled him, as they had repeatedly since awakening in the Statsilock yesterday.
"They catch on quickly," remarked Talyserys with a deep rumble of a laugh.
On the screen that served as the focus for Soleron's vision, the Omni Megazord, an awesome machine of power that sadly he himself would never have a chance to utilize, struck the Serpentanian with a mighty blow. Its merging of the five individual zords appeared so flawless only the variances in color could reveal the Megazord was composed of smaller pieces. The piloting stage was behind the visor, Soleron recalled sourly, where he should have been seated for the last twenty years, but now where an amateurish young man who proved to be more coward that originally thought commanded all of that strength.
"Soleron is convinced..." Laurasia began, but Soleron held up a hand in a silent command to become silenced herself. She knew better than to resist his orders and faded back into the background. Talyserys studied his leader with interest.
"I am convinced the results will be less than we hoped for," he hissed through his teeth. There were three occasions when Soleron, leader of the Omni Rangers and hero of his age in galaxies throughout existence, spoke through clenched teeth: giving orders, bending the truth to fit his needs, and subtly suggesting he wished to be alone.
Taking the third meaning, Talyserys nodded, said, "All respect to your leadership, I hope you are wrong," and found his way somewhere else.
Omni Megazord, on the screen, was now holding a large sword with a powerful blade that reflected every source of light so the weapon appeared to glow. It raised its arm as Serpentant charged forward in a final desperate attack, then seemed to glide through the motions of lunging forward and diagonally slicing the beast into two pieces. Though he could not hear it, Soleron was sure Serpentant screamed as it exploded at the end of its existence. "The children are on their way back," growled Soleron to his teammates. "Before they get here, let's get ready for a little trip." He could tell by their faces that his own was dark and wild, that they had expected the unpredictable from him as always, but nothing like this. "What are you waiting for?" he snapped.
The bisecting sounds of the terrible explosion and hideous scream reverberated in Craig's ears, but he stared ahead blankly as the smoke drifted up from the burning ground, the serpent's remains, far below them. "Incredible power," Alex was saying, and Brittany kept assuring herself, "It's all right, it was a monster, it would have killed innocent people. We saved them."
"We saved them," Becky agreed and from the corner of his eye he saw her squeeze Brittany's hand in comfort. "Now we should go back to Alpha Complex and ask Laurasia and her friend what to do next."
Craig stood, stooping slightly to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling of the piloting stage, and announced, "There's something else we have to do first, Rangers. Cecil was with me back there where I was attacked; we have to find him." As he finished speaking his body began to glow with red energy and suddenly he found himself at the resting area. His truck was still there and people were still deciding whether to flee or stay and watch the mysterious stranger. In the back of Craig's mind he wondered if anyone besides Cecil had seen him transform into a Ranger.
His friends were with him within moments. "Where do you think he went?" asked Alex, but Craig only shrugged his answer.
"PROFESSOR," Alpha System announced directly in his ears, "DO YOU ACCEPT AN INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE CONNECTION SYSTEM?"
"If it's Soleron, yes." The others stared at him strangely and he assumed they could not hear Alpha System speaking to them.
In the following heartbeat Soleron was ordering him again, this time saying, "We assumed you would return to the complex immediately. Don't worry about your friend—" The transmission began to break up and the following words Craig could only guess. "—Seraide escorted him back to safety in Ivory Glade." Something seemed different now, almost suspicious, about Soleron, but as the communications cleared so did Craig's concerns about it. "Return here at once and be ready to teleport again immediately."
"All right," Craig said, then turned to his friends and told them, "Let's teleport back to Alpha Complex." Again the strange feeling as energy enveloped him and carried him from the fateful rest stop to the mystery-shrouded building that began the chaos he was now a part of. And chaos it was.
Talyserys and Pyrial were standing with their arms folded and no expression, both holding what seemed to be a sword handle with no blades attached. Between and slightly behind them Seraide and Laurasia were almost literally on their toes and ready for something monumental. In front of them all Soleron waited impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor, his long black hair tied into a ponytail. Each had removed their black coats with the Omni symbol on them and their matching headbands.
"What's going on?" Michael asked.
Naturally, Soleron answered. "You are taking us to Twilight City."
"No!" the new Blue Ranger exclaimed, and the analytical gaze the former Red Ranger turned on him could have frozen tiny droplets of water in the air of the desert. "That place is dangerous and insane. You yourself said a madman rules it!"
"We are taking down Arcanza before he realizes our powers are gone and given to..." Craig knew Soleron was going to say something else, but his mentor stopped in mid-sentence and amended his words to "...you five." He was squeezing something in his hand as thought it were sustaining his existence itself.
Craig stepped forward and asked, "How do we teleport you there?"
Soleron reached out and touched the Ability Band, and suddenly a bright burning light filled Craig's eyes and seemed to shatter him into thousands upon thousands of fragments, and as they began to reassemble he felt the tingle as each one fit back into place. Shaking the afterglow from his vision, he saw that all ten of them were in the same positions. He wished he could see the look on the faces of his friends as much as his own.
"It's gone!"
Craig turned to the Blue Ranger, who suddenly began to radiate with soft blue light as the Ranger uniform vanished. Michael stood transfixed, staring in the direction of nothing.
The other four ex-Rangers remained quiet, but they were visibly shocked. Soleron, however, was enraged. "Damn it!" he swore, blue fire consuming his eyes. "Arcanza must know the Omni Power has been transferred. He probably knew exactly when, too."
"Completely gone," whispered Michael. "The whole town." Becky released her Pink Omni Ranger powers and put an arm around his shoulder but the poor guy never realized it.
"I guess our battle continues," Soleron said to Craig with a tone of blurred disappointment. "We must discover where Arcanza is, first of all, and then make sure he is unprepared for us next time. By then it probably won't even be us, it will probably be just you five." And said with such sincerity it sent a chill through Craig's spine.
Brittany de-morphed and approached Seraide, who seemed more relaxed and yet saddened by this turn of events. "What is pseudoine?" she asked.
Alex and Craig powered down together while Seraide explained, "On Earth, DNA contains four bases, but in other parts of the galaxy there exists a fifth base called pseudoine. It is an extremely dangerous development because creatures infused with pseudoine can summon and wield incredible abilities. When it is being used, the pseudoine also multiplies within its host. If the number of pseudoine bases ever matches evenly with the other four bases, it is said an organism then possesses a P-level of one hundred percent, at which something terrible always happens."
"So you're saying Arcanza brought pseudoine to Earth?" Alex concluded.
"Yes, he brought it back to Earth and must have injected it into the members of his Rapture Legion...I mean, Twilight Legion. And if he is doing that he must have some way of controlling it, or perhaps even discovered a method of allowing the host to control it, which either way would be very dangerous for everyone." Seraide still held her position, but was now torn between being let down and shaken.
Soleron waved his hand and ordered his allies, "Relax." They sighed and broke apart from their formation. "Talyserys, Pyrial, give the Lifeblades to...to Alexander and Michael there." The two called on did as they were told, presenting the sword handles to their replacements.
"These weapons are powerful when used correctly," Talyserys said, "but the cost is high. When the indestructible energy blade is activated, the holder ages twice as quickly as he normally would. That is why you should only use these in the most perilous of emergencies or circumstances. I may look much older, but in truth I am a year younger than Soleron." Suddenly the gray at his temples was no longer a sign of age, but battle scars and symbols of sacrifice.
Craig lifted the Ability Band and looked to Soleron, but the alien did not mass teleport them again right away. "Before I forget," the cold leader announced, "there are some things you should swear to obey as Omni Rangers. First, never use the powers we gave you for personal benefit, out of selfishness, or in acts of revenge. A better way of saying that is to only use the Omni Power to fight evil and darkness. Second, do not reveal your secret identities to anyone under normal circumstances. Tell this to your friend Cecil, too. And finally, learn to execute your roles in the team and stick to them. Red Ranger is the leader, Yellow and Pink are personally responsible for him, Blue and Green are responsible for the entire team." Craig tried to hide his smile from the two goggling young women who were just told their alter-egos lives were dedicated to protecting him. "Follow those guidelines, and all of us will have a simple time adjusting."
Alex spoke up first. "I accepted those responsibilities when I accepted the power." The other three, Michael somewhat weakly and the girls still stunned, voiced their agreement.
"What about you?" Soleron demanded of Craig.
Something inside him wanted to say he agreed to the terms also, but he decided against it at the last moment. "You gave up your powers out of necessity, and I took them out of necessity. Never did I agree to your so-called 'responsibilities' and never will I agree to your so-called 'guidelines.' If you really want me to lead this team, then I will be the one to lead it, not you. Though I agree with your suggestions and I will follow them, I am bound neither to them nor to you, Soleron. Craig Hopwood is the Red Omni Ranger now."
He finished his outburst and heard his friends whispering their disagreements to him and amongst each other. Their four older counterparts were huddled together as well, and he heard one of the females joke, "I wish Sole had told that to old Eztram when he passed the power."
The recipient of the tirade stood still and unblinking, not breathing, unemotional. Suddenly he moved his hand and everyone hushed and focused their attention on the two confronting Red Rangers. Soleron, instead of touching the band as Craig expected, pressed his hand into Craig's clenched fist and left something inside it. Then he quickly touched the OmniTech device and instantly teleported the Rangers of past and present back to Alpha Complex.
In his room as the late hours wound down to the songs of nighttime nature, Craig stood staring out his window in the direction of Alpha Complex. On the door hanger hung his black jacket with the red symbol and words sewn into it. Hidden from sight safely in the locked drawer to his desk, which only he and Cecil possessed keys to, rested the Omni Morpher, the teens' new name for the OmniTech Ability Bands.
Two nights ago he had gone to sleep peacefully. One night ago he had slept uneasily with a mind full of difficult-to-believe knowledge and difficult-to-make decisions. Tonight he would go to bed completely transformed, with the weight of the world on his shoulders and Soleron's golden worry globe around his neck.
Original Publication Date: 13 August 1999
