Ok, I know when you read this chapter, you'll say "WAIT A MINUTE" when you see that Ivan Ooze, Dulcea, and Ninjor are together in the story...I'm combining the first movie into the show's timeline, so that all of this happened...if that gets confusing, I apologize, but I just couldn't leave out Ninjor, or Dulcea and Ivan, if that makes sense?

Also, this is set in an AU sometime after the Turbo Rangers became the Space Rangers...none of the other teams after that will exist in this story, until perhaps later...

Thanks to my beta-readers - Jang and Lessa - for taking the time to sloth through this story, and my others!

I do not own Power Rangers, in any way, shape, or form. If I did, Tommy and Kim would still be together, Trini and Billy and Rocky and Aisha would have gotten together, and Jason would have started dating Katherine. And let's just say, the show would have definitely evolved to something beyond PG-13, if you get my drift. :)

Constructive comments are welcome, but Flames aren't. It's my belief that Fanfiction is just that, Fan written fiction stories. It's up to the author's imagination to create the story, and others should accept that or not read. I thank all of you in advance for constructive comments. :) Thanks!

Return Of The Great Power

Book 1: The Return

Prologue: Old Friends, New Mission

By: Pink-Green-White-4ever

Last Revised: April 12, 2004

The news that Zordon of Eltar had died in order to save the existence of the very universe, saddened many beings, but also filled the hearts of those beings with hope. For with Zordon's death, many thought, peace would reign supreme. However, Zordon was wiser than any would ever know, for the sorcerer, in the time before his death, insured that the greatest of all evils, the Empire Of Evil, an alliance of the cruelest, most wicked beings in the known universe, would never destroy the hard earned peace.

To do this, he left strict instructions with his assistant, Alpha 5, as well as a written history of the struggles that a planet known as Earth had against the Empire. He wrote of the champions who had held evil at bay, wrote down his final instructions to said champions and any who he knew could aid them, and sealed them in a special capsule, which would only open after his death.

Nearly five years after his death, the attacks started on Eltar, and quickly made their way to the blue-green marble known as Earth. It was then that Alpha 5 was able to open the capsule and to know of the instructions Zordon had left. The following is an excerpt from the great sorcerer's personal files.

Eltar 1997

Home. Family. Two words that many beings never truly understand the meaning of. I know the strengths and weaknesses that come from understanding those two simple words. And that is why I am writing my thoughts down.

I recently returned to my home planet of Eltar, after having spent several millennia trapped in a time warp on the planet Earth, which is located in the Milky Way, in a system known simply as Sol. When I made the decision to accept Lerigot's help to return to the place of my birth, I left behind a planet that was a much beloved second home, and I left behind a group of beings who have become my children in every way except by blood, beings who have become the family I lost all those years ago.

I sit here, gazing out at the gardens just beyond my window, and ache. Not for the family I was forced to leave behind and then lost on this planet, for I accepted long ago that I would never see them again, but for the group of Earthling teenagers I left behind that I had watched grow, helped train, and loved with every fiber of my being.

My time grows short, as I can feel my destiny fast approaching. I know what will come in the following years for the group I first chose to defend the Earth, and ultimately our universe, from the Empire of Evil, so I have decided to write down my observations and last instructions to them, hoping this will ease the pain they will feel when they are called back in to the service of a duty they now think they've left behind.

Alpha 5 assures me that he will do all he can to mentor my young ones and deliver these last instructions to them. Bare with me a moment as I go through a small background on the teams I trained and the Rangers that I worked with before my return home.

By the time this is read, there will probably have been many teams of Power Rangers, the Universe's most elite fighting force, on Earth. The Originals were the Mighty Morphin' Rangers, who I personally selected and trained. Following the Morphin' team was the Zeo team, who were my Morphin' Rangers with new powers, but a different line up, and after Zeo were the Turbo Rangers, again some of my original Rangers with new powers and new teammates. They were the last team of Power Rangers I saw on Earth. Since then, the Turbo powers have been passed, and the Space Rangers have come into existence, as far as I know, but I am secure that the legacy I started with those five ordinary Earth high school freshmen will be passed on even further.

Even after knowing all this, those first twelve Rangers will always remain the most special to me. The first team consisted of Jason Scott who was the Red Ranger and leader, Zachary Taylor - second in command and the Black Ranger, William Cranston - who we affectionately called Billy - the scientist and Blue Ranger, and then there were the girls. Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger, and Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger. Both girls served to meld the team together - Trini with her calm and serenity and Kimberly because she was, pardon the pun, the heart of the team. The original team then added the sixth member, the Green Ranger, Thomas Oliver - or Tommy as we often called him - who started out as Rita Repulsa's Evil Ranger. Yes, Rita Repulsa was released from her imprisonment of ten thousand years in a space dumpster by several Earth astronauts. Eventually, Jason was able to break the spell that Tommy was under and the team welcomed their brother in arms to the fold.

Nearly six months would pass before Tommy began to lose his Green Ranger powers. With the arrival of Lord Zedd, he would regain and then lose them completely, a fact that I know haunts the original six, particularly Tommy and Jason, even today. Alpha and I had many a conversation about what there could possibly be for us to do to bring Tommy back to the team. Eventually, we took a chance, and using the Light of Goodness, we created the White Ranger, the same way the original six powers had been created. The White Ranger would join the Morphin' team as its new leader, and while not completely replacing the Green Ranger, I knew the White Ranger powers would help the Rangers cope with Lord Zedd, who at the time was becoming an increasing challenge for them.

I shall never forget the day my young ones discovered the true identity of the White Ranger. They had discovered only a day before that Alpha 5 and I were creating a new Ranger in the hidden rooms of our Command Center. They protested amongst themselves, before my summoning them to the Command Center, bringing someone new into the team when Tommy was perfectly capable of handling the powers. Imagine their surprise when I introduced them to their new leader, and they discovered it was indeed Tommy. Jason, Zack, Trini and Billy stood in awed silence as Tommy removed his helmet. I laugh, thinking of how Kimberly reacted. It pleases me to know, that that event set in motion the next step of their relationship. Tommy, too, was particularly pleased when Kimberly, upon seeing it was he in that white suit, fainted there on the Command Center floor.

It wasn't long after that that we received the news that Jason, Zack and Trini had been accepted to join the Teen Summit Peace Conference in Geneva, Switzerland - not only a different city then where they lived, but an entirely different Earth country all-together. One of their last battles as Rangers subsequently helped me find their successors. Aisha Campbell, Rocky DeSantos and Adam Park, all teens from nearby Stone Canyon who had just transferred to Angel Grove, took over for my departing Rangers. I know now, with hindsight, how hard it must have been for Tommy, Kimberly and Billy to adjust to the change, but as veteran Rangers, they took it all in stride. I am proud that the three of them made their new teammates feel at home.

Many battles followed for this new team, including a changing of Zords and powers when Ivan Ooze was released from his imprisonment. It was during that battle that I was injured, and the Rangers' powers lost, forcing them to Phadoes, where they met with the Ninjetti warrior sorceress, Dulcea. My good friend helped them retrieve the power of the Ninjetti, an extension of what is known as the Great Power.

The Rangers made it passed the obstacles on Phadoes and returned home, destroying Ivan Ooze in the space just beyond Earth's moon. A few weeks later, they met with Ninjor, another of the Ninjetti masters, and trained with him, learning to bond themselves to their powers.

Unfortunately, the time was fast approaching when we would lose Kimberly. At this moment, I will admit something no one but Alpha 5 knows - if the events leading up to Kimberly leaving could be redone, I believe I might have asked her to stay, especially knowing what happened to her once she gave up her duties as a Ranger to follow her life's dream to compete in the Pan Global Games as a gymnast. I personally believe this was the beginning of the end of my Rangers. I know the five that remained on the team were never quite the same once Kimberly departed, particularly Billy and Tommy, for obvious reasons - Billy because he was the last remaining original Ranger, and Tommy because of the love shared between him and Kimberly. Much to my disappointment I have learned that time cannot be turned back, it only moves forward. Once Kimberly left, Katherine joined us as the Pink Ranger.

Katherine had been partly the reason Kimberly had left in the first place. The young Australian had been taken captive by Rita and Zedd and turned evil. While under their spell, she took Kimberly's power coin, and kidnapped Ninjor and the White Falcon Ninja Zord, which shut down the other Ninja Zords, as the Falcon was the center of their power. She did eventually break the spell, and ended up saving not only Ninjor and the Pink Power Coin, but she also saved Kimberly's life when the other girl fell off the balance beam practicing for her audition for her gymnastics coach. When Kimberly left, she passed her powers and duties to Kat.

It seemed life was getting back to normal by then. The Rangers adjusted to their new teammate, and continued to move forward through the problems of their everyday teenage lives. And then disaster struck yet again. Master Vile, the father of Rita Repulsa and the newly arrived Rito Revolto, arrived on Earth. After an intense battle with him, the Rangers took his source of power, the legendary Zeo Crystal, broke it into five pieces, and scattered them in the time stream. Of course, much to our dismay, the Rangers were soon stripped of their powers, turned into ten-year-olds again, forcing me to send them on the quest for the Zeo Crystal, which they would use to become the Zeo Rangers.

During this time, the Power Rangers from the planet of Aquitar came and assisted us. Eventually, the Earth Rangers recovered the Zeo Crystal, but while Aisha was in Africa, she met up with Tanya Sloan, and the two girls traded places, Aisha staying in Africa and Tanya returning with the Zeo Crystal shard Aisha had been sent to find. This presented another problem when Tanya returned. With only five shards of crystal and six Rangers, one Ranger would have to step down from active duty.

This was the end of the original team, as it had been known. Billy selflessly stepped down, giving his spot on the team to Tanya. From then on, Billy became tactical advisor to the Rangers, but I've always felt he may have felt left out after that, as the Rangers and he grew steadily apart.

Of course, this was not the only relationship to suffer. For some inexplicable reason, Kimberly wrote a letter to Tommy, breaking off the relationship they had had when she left. To say we were all shocked and confused was an understatement. To this day, I still bare the burden of knowing some of what happened between them and never once breaking Kimberly's trust by telling the others, a fact that haunts my heart.

Of all the Rangers, Kimberly and Tommy were the closest, as both teammates and as a couple outside of their duty. Perhaps one day, they will find their way back to one another. Should they, I would like for them to know, it pleases me that they were able to grow and return to that which I know they both held deep in their hearts.

After the activation of the Zeo Rangers, the Aquitian Rangers returned to their home world. However, they returned not long after with problems of their own. Billy made the decision that he would return with the Blue Aquitian Ranger, Cestro, and help the Aquitian Rangers. At this point, I started having regular visits from Tommy. His emotional state was in jeopardy. With Billy, Aisha, and Kimberly's departures, the young Ranger leader was beside himself. I believe I am the only one of the team that will ever truly understand the extent or the toll those events took on Tommy. For many days and weeks, I counseled him as best as I could, but nothing short of things going back to the way they had been could have helped him.

Eventually, a humanoid known as Prince Trey of Triforia, and the Gold Ranger, came to Earth in search of a candidate for his powers. Tommy took the initiative and called Jason home to replace Trey. We eventually helped Trey give his powers to Jason, who once again joined the team. I sensed a change in the group, but never really sought to understand it; another event that unfortunately still remains shadowed in my heart.

There is an old saying on Earth, and it is something like "All good things must eventually come to an end." This was the case with Jason's time as the Gold Ranger. Because the Gold Ranger powers were much more alien than the Zeo or Morphin' powers, Jason's body started to reject them. Ultimately, he was forced to relinquish them or die. It was a decision that he made with great reluctance, one that both Tommy and I spent countless hours discussing with him.
During this time, the Machine Empire descended on the blue-green planet, scaring away Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. The Rangers fought to the death, time and again, and managed to repel the evil forces as they had always done.

It was several months later that the Power Rangers would go through the last power and line up change I would be around to witness. Somehow, a space pirate known as Divatox came to Earth to take it over. Her battle plan was to unleash Maligore, the Flame of Destruction. In order to do so, she needed the wizard, Lerigot, to open a dimensional gate to the island of Murianthias, which is in the Nemesis Triangle, so she could sacrifice two pure hearted humans to the fire in a volcano on Murianthias where Maligore had been trapped.

Around this time, Jason had invited Kimberly to return home for a visit. Much to the dismay of the team, particularly Tommy, the pair were captured along with the Rangers' classmates, Bulk and Skull, and taken to the island with Divatox. As if things couldn't get any worse, Rocky was injured practicing for the martial arts tournament he, Tommy, and Adam had entered in on behalf of the Little Angel's Orphanage. At the hospital, an eleven-year-old boy known as Justin Stewart overheard the Rangers discussing with Rocky the newly risen problems and the capture of their friends.

Because of Rocky's injury, and because Justin had been snooping, as the Rangers put it, the eleven-year-old was suddenly chosen to go in place of Rocky on the mission, and this eventually led to Justin joining the team as the Blue Ranger when they became Turbo Rangers. Lerigot, whose family was being held captive by Divatox because of their special magical abilities, managed to escape and also helped the Rangers on this mission.

When the team arrived on Murianthias, they watched on in horror as Jason and Kimberly were lowered into the volcano, and turned against them. It took strength of heart from the entire team to turn the two back to the side of goodness, but none more so than Tommy. He managed to stall his two best friends long enough for Lerigot to work his magic and free them. In the end, the Rangers defeated Maligore, but Divatox got away, and returned to Angel Grove to wreck havoc.

It was at this time, when the Rangers returned, that I was given the chance to return home. A lifelong friend of mine, Dimitria, took over my place as mentor to the Rangers, and was joined by Alpha 6 when Alpha 5 returned to Eltar to be with me.

Since then, not a day has gone by that I don't think of the Rangers.

I have made arrangements with as many of my friends and acquaintances around the universe that I could contact, so that in the event that the Empire comes back, they will help the Power Rangers mentioned in this memoir repel the threat. Along with this written Ranger History, I have left a recorded message for my young friends, and the schematics I first used when creating the Earthen Rangers, for they may need them.

For now, I leave the rest in Alpha 5's capable hands.