The "Parapet of Power" was a simple ledge carved into the mountain, providing both a secluded place to escape and a panoramic view of the entire city of Ivory Glade, from the clock of city hall to the flagpole of Harrison High School to the Alpha Complex situated on the eastern limits of town. Cecil Mercuric had discovered this place what seemed years ago with his best friend Craig while innocently exploring the rock slopes of the northern mountains. Gathering a brave group of seven or eight seven- and eight-year-olds, they alone made it as high as this ledge. Of course, upon returning to the ground, they claimed they stood on the very top and could see all the "ants" who did not make it far below them. Other expeditions had come and gone, but only Craig and Cecil, the adventuresome duo who steadily grew apart from one another, remained faithful to this spot. But this was his first visit since the unfolding saga began in January of this year.
Craig had woken him up in the middle of the night and, before either truly realized what was happening, they were southbound on the highway putting as much distance between themselves and Ivory Glade as possible. They eventually wound up at an out-of-the-way rest stop where Cecil was attacked by men and women who were a part of a group called Twilight Legion, a sinister collection of people infused with a dark matter DNA base and loyal to all-around bad guy Arcanza. Somehow he escaped unharmed, but Craig was burdened with the responsibility of OmniTech, a strange alien power source that "morphed" him into the incredible Red Ranger and allowed him to battle monsters and twisted people (including one, Dominic, who was once their friend) under the Legion's control. And Craig was not the only Ranger chosen; Rebecca Spencer, good-looking and popular, Alexander Revell, quiet but skilled in a variety of martial arts, Brittany Elliott, intelligent and friendly, and Michael Tracer, a new kid whose flair for exploration entangled them all in this tale, also became Omni Rangers. Each of them controlled a mechanical mythological beast called an OmniZord which they used to defend Ivory Glade from giant monsters. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the previous generation of Rangers—Soleron, Laurasia, Talyserys, Seraide, and Pyrial—were, in essence, calling the shots.
Then, following a particularly intense confrontation with a soul-stealing being for which the Rangers had to fight alongside their Legion enemies, the commander Sir Vesper struck Craig's leg with his sword, infecting it with something the ex-Rangers called "serious third degree pseudoine poisoning." So he selected Cecil to pinch-hit for him in the next battle. But when the four monsters fled and the Rangers returned, Craig was gone, apparently to find the man who is actually responsible for it all, Professor Abner Donaldson, builder of Alpha Complex and director of the Orion Five Project.
So, as it stands now, Craig is missing. Soleron, the previous Red Ranger, is missing. Amber Donaldson, a girl who came to Ivory Glade a few months ago and discovered the true identities of the Rangers, is missing. Four Twilight Legion monsters on the loose, not including Sir Vesper, Arcanza, and other certain nasty surprises. The ex-Rangers are in a shambles. And the team responsible for the defense of the entire planet is without a real leader.
As he closed his eyes to let his mind float free on the cool breezes rolling down the mountain, the communicator watch around his left wrist beeped an emergency tone. Cecil lifted it, pressed the button on its side, and answered the call, "I read you."
"Cecil," Brittany's voice filled his ears with crystal clarity. The Omni Rangers communicated via Alpha System, an incredible space age computer that transferred data like sound wave from place to place using natural light. "You have to return to Alpha Complex immediately."
Something about her tone was unsettling, so Cecil responded, "Right away," and followed through on his promise, activating the teleportation power of the silver OmniTech Ability Band around his forearm. Red light began to flood his vision, pushing the view of the city away, and he could feel himself lift off the ground and flying through the sky a short distance to the Alpha Complex. When the light faded he was standing in a corridor leading down to a single set of double doors.
He had not been to this place often. The walls were pale gray and undecorated, light radiating from overhead, with an occasional screen that shimmered with the colors of a prism. These monitors were part of Alpha System. As Cecil reached the doors, he placed his hand on a small black plate and held his breath in amazement as the entrance slid open, allowing him to enter Control Point, where everyone was clearly panicked.
"...lost him!" Pyrial was screaming at a computer screen. Seraide and Laurasia raced back and forth from monitor to monitor, apparently in search of something. Brittany, Becky, and Alex were practically bouncing up and down in nervous tension. Only Michael and Talyserys, together and expressionless, were still.
Cecil lifted his hands and shouted loud enough to fill the chamber, "Freeze! All of you!" Everyone complied, pausing in their tracks right where they were, and turning frightening stares to him. "Somebody," he said in his best authoritative voice, "tell me what is going on."
It was Michael who pointed to the computer screen Pyrial had been screaming at. As Cecil's eyes focused in on it, he made out the image and whispered a curse. Standing in the middle of Ivory Glade City Park, surrounded by an entourage of Twilight Legionnaires, was a Power Ranger. "Who is that?" Cecil asked Seraide.
"That is the question we are all scrambling to find an answer to," she replied.
"I'll tell you who that is," Brittany grumbled. "Trouble." The remark amused Michael.
Taking a deep breath to collect himself, Cecil decided, "Okay, we have to confront he or she and find out what is going on. Rangers, it's morphin' time!"
"Omni Dragon!" Alexander morphed into the Green Ranger and teleported to the park.
"Omni Pegasus!" Rebecca morphed into the Pink Ranger and followed.
"Omni Hydra!" Michael morphed into the Blue Ranger.
"Omni Sphinx!" Brittany morphed into the Yellow Ranger and teleported.
"Omni Titan!" Cecil morphed himself into the Red Ranger, but did not follow the others. Michael remained behind, lost in thought. "Hey!" the leader got his attention. "What are we waiting for?"
"Nothing," hissed Michael and disappeared in a streak of blue light.
Once again, the red teleportation light filled his eyes as Cecil was in Alpha Complex one second and in Ivory Glade Park the next. The other four Rangers positioned themselves at his sides and together they exclaimed, "Omni Rangers!"
The assembly of Twilight Legion women and men in violet and orange parted, allowing the mystery Ranger to step forward. Unlike the spandex-like suits of the Omni Rangers, its costume was made of lifeless gray metallic substance that seemed just as flexible as their own. Protecting its chest was a shield like a silver imitation of the Red Ranger's signature weapon, emblazoned with the setting sun symbol of Twilight Legion fashioned in black instead of the usual gold. Rays of black sunlight striped the Ranger everywhere. Around its shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, knees, and ankles were bands of blood red metal. Most strange, though, was the black-feathered falcon perched contently on the left shoulder, staring at them with the glazed look of a pseudoine-enhanced Legionnaire.
"Who are you?" demanded Alex and Michael simultaneously.
Covering the black sun with a hand, the stranger answered, "I am the Pseudo Ranger."
"Are you here to fight us?" Brittany asked.
"That depends," the Pseudo Ranger replied.
"Depends on what?" It was Rebecca's turn to put forth a question.
The Twilight Legion Ranger duplicate laughed, sinister yet genuine. "It depends," came the mechanically-voiced answer, "if you put up a fight."
Simultaneous cries of "Gaia Star!" "Shine Saber!" "Shock Bow!" and "Storm Lance!" accompanied the summoning of the Omni Rangers' weapons.
The Yellow and Blue Rangers attacked together, the edges of their handheld weapons thirsty for blood. Pseudo stepped back, falling into a martial arts stance, crying, "Pseudo Saber!" The light around its hands suddenly...vanished. Or darkened. Somehow it became black—black light—and materialized into sword of its own accord. Pseudo fell into a graceful, swift, powerful dancing art of swordplay, using both strength and speed to meet both Shine Saber and Storm Lance blow for blow. The falcon hovered above.
From their positions, the Green and Pink Rangers seemed nervous, not wanting to fire at their enemy and risk hitting a friend. Their moment of hesitation resulted, unfortunately, in the four Legionnaires sneaking around and behind each, two seizing them both.
"Cecil!" Rebecca screamed, dropping her weapon and struggling against the hold of her captors.
Before rational-Cecil could respond, hero-Cecil was charging forward, trying to grab the Legionman and wrench his hold away. His companion, a solid white-eyed woman, released her hold and delivered an inhumanly-powerful side kick, knocking the Red Ranger to his knees. Leaping up immediately, he exclaimed, the result of buried feeling more than certain knowledge, "Psycho Trance!" The man, opening his empty eyes wide and staggering back, twisted his face into a horrified look and fell back whimpering. Becky dashed away, turning around next to Cecil, and picked up the Shock Bow. She quickly aimed and fired, first at the female, then at the male, paralyzing them both with electrically-charged arrows.
Nearby, Alex had broken free of his own assailants and was fighting them hand-to-hand. His next high roundhouse kick knocked the first aggressor out cold, but left him open to an attack from the second. Becky fired another charge from her weapon and stunned the Legionnaire in mid-attack, providing the Green Ranger with enough time to execute a combination pummeling-throwing maneuver that sent him to the ground as well. Regrouping, Cecil and the others returned their attention to the main battle.
Pseudo now held two weapons, a dark copy of the Saber and a dark copy of the Lance, wielding them effortlessly in each hand. It blocked their offense and exposed their defense; clearly both were getting tired. Finally Michael thrust forward violently, but struck nothing, and the Pseudo Ranger was behind him, striking his head with the blunt of the Pseudo Saber. Blue Ranger collapsed unconscious. Yellow Ranger retreated back a little distance.
"The first of many casualties," laughed the Pseudo Ranger as the falcon dived to land on the villain's shoulder once again. "Tidalion! Sunymrod! Forestron! Shockahn! It's pseudo-morphin' time!" The four Legionnaires rose to their feet and, almost in the blink of an eye, rearranged their very molecules to change into the four monsters the Rangers had fought earlier. "In the name of Arcanza, future Lord of Earth, destroy them!"
Together the monsters began to close in around Cecil, Rebecca, and Alexander. "Wave power," the Pink Ranger whispered to Green. Then, simultaneously, they invoked their "Magnet Wave!" and "Tremor Wave!" powers. The earth below lurched, knocking all seven, good and evil alike, to the ground. Something must have happened to their ionization too because they began colliding into one another as though they were drawn together like magnets.
With the creatures occupied by his allies, Cecil raced to Brittany's side, joining her in taking on the mysterious newcomer. "Ah, the brave leader," Pseudo Ranger said, amused. "How does it feel to lead your troops into battle the very first time, only to have them lose?"
"We have not lost," answered Cecil, pointing, "but you, on the other hand, may experience that losing feeling firsthand."
"Brave words!" barked Pseudo, and the falcon fluttered tensely from its shoulder perch. "Let us see how brave you talk when your city trembles at our feet. Pseudoine Charge!"
The Legion monsters and the Pseudo Ranger, at the same moment, began to increase in size, a slow growth skyward at first, eventually exploding in speed until they stood as tall as any building in the city and higher. High above they roared with laughter as the dark Ranger swung a giant fist, completely destroying the top floors of an office building.
Brittany, Cecil could tell, was almost in tears. "We have to stop them!" she wailed.
"And quickly," he added. "I call upon the power of the OmniZords!"
"Sphinx OmniZord!"
"Dragon OmniZord!"
"Pegasus OmniZord!"
As the three Rangers boarded their vehicles, Cecil informed them via communications, "You keep them occupied while I see if I can help Michael." He hurried over and knelt beside the fallen companion, who was still morphed so clearly he was in contact with the OmniTech power. "I'm not sure what to do," he muttered, as though his apology would be some comfort.
"...get...element..." The voice was pained and weak, but Cecil thought he could hear those words vaguely.
"What element?" he asked, but was answered with a loan groan of terrible discomfort. As he looked around, Cecil noticed the Storm Lance laying in the trampled grass close by and had a sudden idea. He lifted Michael, carefully, knowing this was definitely not the thing to do in an emergency situation, and carried him to the pond. It was a fairly large water pond in the midst of Ivory Glade Park, with a fountain spraying a steady stream of white water and clean water surrounding it. Cecil lowered the injured party into that water and hoped his desperately plan worked. Then, returning to his other important task, he summoned the "Titan OmniZord!"
The Titan, a large robotic human plated in red and gold, answered the call and allowed the Red Ranger to teleport inside. Immediately he found himself immersed in battle with Sunymrod, the giant machine fighting as gracefully as if it were truly a human. A devastating blow rocked the Zord, causing Cecil to lose his steady footing for a second, but he quickly retaliated with an energy discharge from the OmniZord's eyes.
He could see the Dragon soaring through the air, firing and slashing at both Tidalion and Forestron. The Pegasus, similarly, hovered in the air, releasing missiles from the tips of its wings and trampling Shockahn with its hooves. Pseudo Ranger was defending itself from a powerful onslaught of light and raw energy from the Sphinx.
"How's Michael?" Becky asked through the main open communication channel.
Cecil replied, "The same. I did something I hope helps him heal faster."
On cue, it seemed, the many heads and long twining necks of the blue and black armored Hydra OmniZord rose into the air and bombarded every monster with one or two powerful shots of its own. "It worked, Cecil," the Blue Ranger informed them. "I feel great. Time for the Pseudo Ranger and his cronies to learn what it means to mess with the Omni Rangers."
"Megazord sequence!" Cecil exclaimed. "Activate!" He pressed his hand against a panel above him and already the other OmniZords were beginning to separate. Titan lifted into the air as the pieces came together and the other Rangers teleported into his piloting chamber. The final piece fell into place as they called together, "Omni Megazord online!"
The monsters regrouped around Pseudo, snarling with hatred and rage.
"Megasaber!" Brittany ordered. The black blade of the weapon appeared in the Megazord's hand.
"Ion Beam!" Alex activated. "Full power! Fire!" Both hands of the mighty machine rose, palms outward, and fired two solid beams of perfect energy, flinging the group of five enemies backward, crashing into another building.
Cecil reached to put a hand on the Green Ranger's shoulder and said, "Be careful. There are people in those buildings, man. Living, breathing, working folk."
Pseudo Ranger was the first to regain footing. "Vicious little worms, aren't you?" he sneered. The Pseudo Saber appeared in his hand again and lashed out, parried by the Megasaber's lightning quick reflexes. "Let us partake in a little swordplay now. Are you game?" But as it fell into the flowing dance of master swordsmanship, all the Rangers knew the Megazord could not keep up. Suddenly they were feeling slicing blows from every side as their opponents circled and struck, circled and struck, circled and struck.
"Damage to left arm," reported Michael. Cecil resisted the urge to panic. "Damage to back. Damage to right side. Damage to torso. Damage to leg. Damage to left arm..."
"We can't keep this up much longer!" cried Brittany. "The Megazord can't take it!"
Grabbing both controls, Cecil instructed, "We have one chance. Lure him toward the Legion monsters." Slowly they made the Megazord approach the four idle creatures, whose puzzled looks meant they were suspicious. Pseudo Ranger continued the extreme attack, probably no less than seven or eight hits away from victory.
The Omni Megazord flung itself into the midst of the monsters. Pseudo continued dancing and striking, but stopped when it realized its target had fallen and the blows were connecting with the other monsters now. Furious, they began to counter-attack.
"Stop!" demanded Pseudo. They obeyed. "Destroy them!" it screamed, pointing to the fallen Megazord.
"Emergency OmniZord teleport sequence engaged," reported Alex.
Suddenly Cecil and the other Rangers found themselves back at Alpha Complex in a room with a single screen displayed the hidden home of the OmniZords. The Megazord looked severely damaged and inoperable, and the statistics displayed along the bottom of the monitor confirmed it. Solemn Seraide stood in the door with the robed Talyserys.
"Omni Rangers power down!" instructed Cecil. The Ranger uniforms disappeared, leaving the teenagers in their street clothes.
Rebecca was the first to speak, and breathlessly at that, "We've never had a battle that fierce or that desperate! Did you find out who that Ranger is?"
Shaking her head, Seraide answered, "No. All we know is what he told you. It appears to have the ability to copy your weapons and fighting techniques. The falcon on its shoulder intrigues us also, because it resembles an animal we have seen before in the company of Arcanza himself. Also apparent was the monsters defer to it without question. My best guess would be Pseudo Ranger is going to become, far and away, our most dangerous enemy."
"How do we stand up to it?" Cecil wondered. "Our Zords are offline now."
Laurasia appeared behind Seraide and told them, "That isn't a concern; Tally and I have the answer to that question. Come with us."
All of the teenagers except Cecil proceeded to file out of the small room and follow Laurasia down the corridors. A little while later, Pyrial entered the room with a sympathetic aura about him. "Worried about Craig?" he asked.
"Among other things," answered the new Red Ranger. "Pyrial," he addressed him, "answer me truthfully, please. Do you trust Michael Tracer?"
"Of course," the ex-Blue Ranger replied without hesitation. "You don't?"
Cecil sighed. "I swear it felt as though...as though Michael was...jealous...of this Pseudo Ranger. Surprised and jealous."
"After seeing the powers at his disposal and those awesome techniques," replied Pyrial, "hell, I'm jealous myself. Now get moving! Laurasia and Talyserys have something important to show you kids."
The teenager nodded his appreciation and turned to go, then paused in mid-step and turned back, wringing his hands together nervously. "Thanks," he said. "And could you, maybe, keep this little conversation just between us?"
Pyrial smiled. Cecil would definitely classify him as handsome by human standards. "I've forgotten all about it." Then, accompanying a brushing motion with his hands, he exclaimed, "Hurry up!"
This time he did not turn back.
It was too late to turn back.
Pseudo Ranger was out there waiting.
On one of the Alpha System monitors embedded it the ceiling, the distorted image of the Pseudo Ranger showed his normal-sized again, standing amidst the rubble of the building they had destroyed in the battle. It lifted its fist to the sky and said with a laugh. "To the fall of the Omni Rangers! I will destroy you, one and all."
Original Publication Date: 8 September 1999
