Epilogue

Earth, 2009 A.D...

Two undercover SPD Officers wait in line at for their luggage at the Newtech Galactic Spacelines. Right before they were about to set foot aboard the space shuttle that would take them into negative space, an area where the Galactic Union has no control, and would have taken them to the planet Onyx. For weeks the two, had waited for the final confirmation that this mission was a go, only to have the Commander wait until the last second to pull them out. The large ship that they were meant to travel on towers upon every other space ship or airplane in the runways.

"Well, I can honestly say that I am happy about this change of events," the male agent speaks. He has a rich dark chocolate completion with bright brown eyes. His hair is pulled back into twisty-braids. "After all, Onyx is a hell-haven for all those Troobian supporters that are here within this system. God only knows how long Gruumm has had them spying on Earth."

"I just want to get back to our son," the female agent shakes her head, sighing. Her own completion mirrors that of her husband, her fellow agent. Her hair is long and dark, pulled back into a ponytail behind her back. "I don't know what we were thinking, taking this mission to begin with! Imagine; we would have gone close to a year without having seen our son! I'm glad that Cruger called off this crazy mission! Missionary work on Onyx! I have no quarrel with promoting peace, but Birdie was out of his bird-brained mind thinking…"

"Well you don't have to think about that now Gail," the early thirty something black male remarks. "You heard the relay message from Miss Manx. This mission has officially been scrapped. Although I can imagine that this would put both Commander Cruger and Supreme Commander Birdie at ends now. Those two already don't get along as it is."

"You said a mouthful Alan," Gail places her hands into her large overcoat's pockets. "Birdie does not like having his orders ignored by anyone, especially when the person is Anubis Cruger."

"Cruger came through for us like he promised. Although late, as it may be, he still came through," Alan places his carryon bag on the floor next to his feet long enough to pop his fingers. Around them, there are many other travelers now upset that their planes had been delayed. "I had almost given up that there was no way to avoid this Mission."

"I'm going to have to call Tracy as soon as we get our luggage," Gail sighs. "I mean, it was so nice of her to take Jack in for us. It kind of surprised me, especially with the short notice we had gave her."

"Hey, that is what family is for," Alan remarks. "Well, supposed to at least. If your Aunt couldn't take him in, my parent's would have in a heartbeat."

"I think after this little scare, I'm going to resign from SPD Alan," Gail admits. "I mean, they were willing to keep us away from our son for a whole year! And you know how these missions go! We would have probably been off Earth longer than that!"

"Well you don't have to worry about that now," Alan places a hand on her shoulder. "It's over now. Remind me to pick up a doggie-bag or something for the Commander to express our gratitude for him doing this for us."

"Doggie-treat, huh? Cute."

"I know."

"I hope our son doesn't develop your sense of humor," Gail rolls her eyes.

"Is it inevitable," Alan smirks. "He's going to have to, if he wants to pick up the ladies."

"And you use to," Gail chuckles.

"I got you didn't I?"

"Very funny, mister funny man," Gail shakes her head, giving up. Her expression soon returns back to its earlier state of worry. "I can't keep my mind off that ship that Miss Manx mentioned. How it got past the Delta Base's radar is compelling."

"I think that it was a sign," Alan places his arm around his wife's waist. "Maybe we weren't supposed to go on this mission."

"They would cancel this mission on a sign?" Gail raises an eyebrow. She shakes her head amused. "You know, I appreciate that I found myself a religious man when I married you but you have to admit, that that could no possibly be the reason. Think about it, an unknown space craft enters Earth's atmosphere without detection until the very last second. Its SPD protocol to cancel and prohibit any air or space travel out of the planet until the mission is resolved. That and Cruger has been against this mission that we were to go on from the beginning."

"So your saying that this was all by chance," Alan places a finger under her chin, lifting her head slightly so he can look into her eyes. "You just can't believe that maybe that this was fate?"

"I'm a scientist first Alan," Gail glances at the luggage sliding down the metal ramp from off the plane, trying to see if any of it is theirs. "Things happen. Just like when those prototype Morphers I was helping Miss Manx and the others developed malfunction during their first testing. Our son got his… powers… pure by chance."

"You just can't admit that maybe, just maybe, our son was meant to be born with that power of his," Alan laughs as he throws his head back. "Woman, you are incorrigible!"

"Yet you still married me," Gail laughs. "Think about it Alan? What would fate possibly want our son to have powers? The ability to walk through any solid object?"

Alan releases his wife as he walks over to the ramp to retrieve their luggage that had just arrived from off the ramp. He picks the two large suitcases up and walks back over to his wife. "You never know Gail. Who knows… maybe our son, Jack Landors will one day end up saving the world."

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Dark smoke continues to pour into the sky courtesy from the wreckage of the unidentified vessel that broke through Earth's atmosphere. Using the Blue Delta Runner, the three male members of the A-Squad Ranger team followed the ships trail as fast as they could, despite the ship traveling at a speed that no current SPD vessel could attain. By the time they reached Africa, there was nothing or no one for the three to apprehend or recover. Fires were spreading, but using the Blue Runner's exhaust pumps, the spreading flames were smothered before it could become a serious problem.

"I don't think nothing could have survived this crash," A-Squad Red Ranger Kyle shakes his head as he looks down the path of downed trees that were leveled by the ship as it had descended from the sky. He walks through the scattered remains of the ship. "And if they did, the explosion would have killed them surely."

"This was defiantly an SPD ship," the Green Ranger, Nic, shakes his head as he stands to his feet from what he could make out as the main control panel that piloted the ship. He wipes the sweat off his forehead. The dark skinned man walks out of what was once the cockpit for the Flier. "The controls are not too much different from our Runners, although more highly advance. There is also blood covering the controls…"

"And there is blood up here on the roof of the ship near the escape hatch," Officer Stephen, the A-Squad Blue Ranger adds. He has slightly spiky black hair and has a much lighter completion than his fellow A-Squad Officer, Nic. "Whoever crawled out of this opening is defiantly seriously injured."

"Okay," Kyle asks as he takes out his Morpher. "I'll radio back to headquarters to have a cleanup ship be sent out here to gather this mess. You two search the area for our missing pilot. He or she couldn't have gotten too far if injured."

"You got it," Stephen gives his Squad Leader thumbs up and then leaps off the top of the ship that wasn't torn apart in the crash. The Blue and Green Rangers split up and go into opposite direction from one another searching for the missing pilot.

Kyle flips his Morpher open. "This is A-Squad Leader Kyle Tate, requesting aid. Repeat, this is Kyle Tate, over."

"Kyle, where are you guys," a female voice answers his call. "Aimee and I were out on patrol and we saw the Blue Delta Runner blast overhead. It looked like you guys where in high pursuit!"

"We were Charlie," Kyle tells his Squad's Yellow Ranger. "We are in Africa. The Congo region, to be exact. The ship we were following crashed. There are no bodies, but there is some blood spewed about in the cockpit indicating that there was at least one person aboard this ship."

"Indicating," Charlie asks. "There either is or isn't Kyle."

"We have yet to find a body," Kyle remarks slightly aggravated. Of all the members of his Squad, Charlie and he are always bumping heads. And he knows the reason why; she fells that he is not cut out for the job of leading the A-Squad Rangers. "Dead, alive or unconscious."

"The Congo huh," surprise is in Charlie's voice as she repeats his location. "Was it a random crash, or did it seem as if the pilot of the ship had that area in mind?"

"From the path we followed, I'd have to think that the pilot had this location in mind," Kyle remarks. The Red Ranger wipes his forehead. The hot African sun is shinning down brightly upon him in the clearing that he is standing in. "Charlie, can you inform the Commander on what I have told you? Also, were going to need a clean-up crew out here to get this debris. I don't want any of the locals to be injured from this shrapnel."

"Got it. Charlie, over and out."

Kyle sighs as he closes his Morpher and replaces it back in its holster. He walks back toward the damaged ship to take a look inside the cockpit. He is intrigued about Nic's discovery, that it is indeed and SPD ship. He carefully avoids a sharp piece of broken pipe as he navigates himself inside through the opening in front of the ship. He almost stumbles over a metal object on the floor.

"Christ, what a mess," Kyle grumbles. He reaches down to the floor to pick up the object that he almost tripped on. His eyes widen as he takes in its appearance. It's a badly burned and heavily damaged Morpher. There are also small traces of blood on it. Kyle stares at the Morpher in wonder, trying to think of there possibly might be any other Rangers that Galaxy Command may have had sent on a mission in this area.

"I'll give this to Kat," Kyle slides the damaged Morpher into his uniform's left coat pocket. "If anything, I'm sure she can finger out what this is…if it is what I think it is." Kyle stands upright and straightens his coat. "But first things first; finding the pilot of this ship."

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Thousands of miles at the center of the Earth; there is a cavern completely surrounded by the hot magma that flows around it. This cavern rests as a prison for one of the most despicable creatures to have ever existed in all the eons of the creation of the universe, known simply as the Other. Of all the eons that this creature has been imprisoned here, there has only been one human, one a generation to ever step foot into this caverns, and that was through the usage of a portal buried deep within a cave hidden amongst the deep greens of the African Congo, far from where anyone would find, other than the person meant to use it.

Knowing that one day the Other would find a way to reform its body and escape its imprisonment, God created a warrior bloodline; a failsafe to stop the creature and return it to its prison for the Other cannot be killed. It is the exact opposite of God, and for the Other to not exist neither could the Creator. The warrior was born from heavens own fire and was born from Africa's soil. The names of these warriors are scattered throughout history; easy to find if one knows what and who to look for.

Sampson.

Beowulf.

Lancelot.

And there were many more. These warriors had their own adventures; their own friends, families and responsibilities to attend to. And they even had their own trails, tribulations and nemesis that they had to face, but their true mission was never to far from mind. No matter what they had to do, what evils, devils or gods that they had to face, their holy mission and legacy was passed down from father to son from the beginning and will continue on until eternity.

But for now, it ends for one. Jack Landors, the current host of the power and protection that God graced upon that warrior bloodline had used the technology of his era to travel to the past to retrieve the Grail of Life to restore the life of his love. The Grail was placed in the caverns that served as the prison of the Other. Master Vile had come to Earth searching for the relic to bestow the ultimate power, immortality, upon himself. The magician Merlin, being told of the legend of the Other by Lancelot, the guardian of the Other's prison at the time, teleported the Grail to the Other's prison.

No man or woman in their right mind would go into this devils nest to retrieve such an item; or so he had thought.

Suffering from his internal injuries, Jack now stares up at the Grail above him, as his life force slowly depletes from him. By coming to the past, he forfeited his protection because he already exists in this time, as a young child. The power can only be bestowed upon one member of the bloodline at a time. Jack is surrounded by the spirits of all those guardians that came before him.

Go to sleep Jack, The spirit of Lancelot tells him. You'll wake up in a better place. I promise.

"That… all I needed… to… hear," Jack coughs as he closes his eyes. A small smile graces his lips as he drew his final breath, his thoughts on the one and only important person in all of existence that was important to him. "Elizabeth… Z…"

As Jack passed on, his body disappeared, as if it never existed, for it shouldn't have, not in this timeframe in reality. The Time Stream began adjusting itself from the changes that the young black man had indirectly brought forth by coming to the past. When Jack Landors awakens back in the time frame that he had left, he will find himself living in a new world, an altered future from the one he had known, all thanks to his interference in the Timestream. But for all the good that he may have created by altering his own future, and the future of the ones he knows and love, there must always remain a balance.

A tear within the reality opens and a figure steps out into the molten lit cavern. This figure is colored red and has a twisted metal body armor covering parts of its body; from its head to its arms. Down its backside and chest and legs. The figure's brain is exposed from the top of its head and a metal mask is fused onto its face. The figure is also holding a long metal staff with a simple letter setting on top of it. The letter Z.

"Heheeheh… that foolish Ranger! He had no idea that crashing here in this time and interfering with the natural order of things that he would release me from my imprisonment within the flux of Time itself!"

The figure walks over to where the sacred chalice floats and snatches it out of the air. He thrusts it upward into the air and laughs. "And this! Vile you old fool, you don't realize how close you came! However through, you did have the right idea… an idea that I shall have to carryout now!"

The figure lowers its raised arm and cradles the holy item in its hands. "But, unlike you, I can wait. I have all the time in the world now. I will just have to wait twenty years to act, so no more interference from that damned futuristic Omega Ranger will hinder me!"

Grasping his staff, the figure thrusts his staff upwards, creating a portal. Wasting no time, the red figure walks through, laughing the entire time as new plans formulate in his mind. After witnessing the power that lies the Ranger from the future, Jack Landors, the creature knows that he must obliterate the powerful bloodline at a specific point in the future, at a point where that special protection is passed on to the offspring. At that moment, then it will strike against Jack and his family, eradicating them all so that there will be no force alive in the universe that will be able to stop him. He will become the harbinger of death and destruction and the universe as a whole will reap his second coming, the return of Lord Zedd.

the beginnings of the end...


And that is that. After a years worth of work, this fic has come to its conclusion. It has been a long yet fun ride. Big thanks to you all who have stuck it out with me till the very end.

As you can see, from the way the Epilogue ended, the adventure is far from over. I have been planning a sequel for a while now, and it is just about ready to begin. SPD: Second Coming continues on two years later where we last saw Jack. It's a brand new future for our hero, as well as the rest of B-Squad. So stay tuned and I hope to see you all along for the ride with the Sequel.

Blanks
SPD EMERGENCY!