Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A 9-year old girl wearing a red shirt, skirt, and shorts was in a train car, battling a monster. The monster was 4 times the size of his opponent, wearing a black feathery cloak, and wielding a staff with a massive decoration on the top that vaguely resembled a closed flower. He had two heads sticking out of a massive golden neck that vaguely resembled a purse, with an arch going over his heads.

The little girl backflipped over a horizontal swing of the staff, while dozens of children were sobbing in the train car. “I am Bag shadow! And I’ve got this fight in the bag!”

The girl had landed on all fours, raising her head to look up at the monster. He towered over her, and she was slightly dwarfed by his staff. “You won’t get away with this!”

Bag Shadow laughed. “What can you do? You’re just a little girl!”

“I may be a little girl, but I can still beat you, because you’re evil!” The child jumped straight at Bag Shadow, throwing her arm out with a clenched fist at the end.

Bag Shadow laughed and swung his staff, striking the girl directly in the head with the bronze top. She screamed while flying back and landing, rolling on the ground. He walked towards her. With every step, he struck the train floor with his staff. The train shook with each impact, filling the air with the sounds of Bag Shadow laughing, metal reverberating on metal, and small children crying. “You need to wake up, Rachel Murdoch! Wake up and answer the question!”

“Huh?” Rachel looked up at the monster. “What question?”

“Come on Rachel! If you don’t wake up, you won’t be able to pass this class!”

A young girl woke up in the middle of a small classroom, flailing her arms and yelling, “Daye-guh-buh-kuh- the square root of three! That’s the answer!”

The teacher narrowed his eyes behind his round glasses. He was in his mid-40’s, with receding brown hair that’d started to turn slightly gray, as well as a bushy unibrow and a slight stubble of a mustache. He wore a button-up plaid shirt and a pair of ankle-length slacks tucked into his black shoes. “Yes, Rachel. Our city’s importance to Ranger history is the square root of three.”

Rachel shrank back in her seat, her face turning red as she heard the other roughly two dozen students quietly laughing. Nearby, a girl wearing a blue shirt and cyan pants raised her hand. The teacher pointed her out. “Yes, Alice?”

The girl cleared her throat, “Mr. Burley, the reason Mariner Bay is important to Ranger history is because it’s where the Lightspeed Rangers defeated the demon queen Bansheera over 20 years ago.”

Mr. Burley smiled. “Very good, Ms. Murdoch.” He walked over to the smartboard at the front of the class, where he started writing with the red pen. “In the year 2000, an army of demons led by queen Bansheera was freed from their ancient tomb by a group of desert nomads.”

“Mr. Burley?” A boy wearing a pink shirt and pants raised his hand. “How could Bansheera be the queen of demons if Master Xandred was around?”

“Yeah, and what about Octomus?” A girl wearing green clothes added. “Wasn’t he a master of demons too?”

“All very good questions.” Mr. Burley wrote the names of queen Bansheera, master Xandred, and Octomus on the board with three separate underlines. “Now, can anyone tell me what these three have in common? Yes, Alice?”

“They’re all demon lords.” Alice counted on her fingers, “Queen Bansheera’s demons fought the Lightspeed Rangers right here in Mariner Bay more than 20 years ago, Octomus and his Morlocks tried to take over Briarwood almost 20 years ago but they were stopped by the Mystic Rangers, and more than 10 years ago, the Samurai Rangers stopped master Xandred and his Nighloks from taking over the world by spilling the Sanzu river into Panorama city.”

“Very good!” Mr. Burley smiled at the young girl. “Now, can someone else tell me how all three of these demon leaders could coexist?” He pointed out the green-clothed girl. “Yes, Laurelie?”

“Is it, uh, because Morlocks and Nighloks are different from demons? Like how all poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles?”

“Well, that’s certainly one way to look at it.” Mr. Burley started writing underneath each of the names. “Morlocks and Nighloks are, according to extensive studies, subspecies of demons who operated independently from Bansheera’s forces. Now then, can anyone please give us two more examples of demonic subspecies? Ian, yes?”

“The Orgs and the Phantom Beasts, right? They seem kinda demonic according to the history books.”

“Excellent.” Mr. Burley wrote the two names on the board, with their own separate underlines. “And- oh, Steven, did you have a question?”

“Yeah, Mr. Burley, what about the toxic mutants who fought the Megaforce Rangers? Are they connected to the Orgs somehow? They both tried to destroy the world with pollution.”

“That is an excellent question. And it’s only fitting that you would ask me a question about the Megaforce Rangers, seeing as my brother Ian-” He was interrupted by the loud ringing of a bell. “Oh well, class dismissed. And since it’s friday, you all know what that means.”

All 24 students threw their arms upwards and outwards, cheering, “ No homework! ”

“That’s right, class. Now have a safe weekend, and who knows? Maybe on Monday, we’ll actually have participation from a student or two whose last name isn’t Murdoch.”

Five siblings, wearing red, blue, yellow, green, and pink clothes, walked through the halls of Mariner Bay Elementary School in the same direction as everyone else. “I can’t believe you fell asleep in Ranger History Class. It’s literally the most exciting class ever!”

“So what, Stevey?” Rachel argued, “We’re just learning about grown-ups doing cool things. We won’t be able to do any of that cool stuff, so why should we learn about it? And why’d you have to ask about the Megaforce Rangers? You know how Mr. Burley gets, just because his brother used to teach them.”

“Don’t change the subject! What if we became Power Rangers someday?” Ian asked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “As if! You really think any of us could be Rangers?”

Ian shrugged. “You never know.”

“Oh!” Alice remembered, “I’ve actually been setting up petitions for a Ranger History Class field trip to Angel Grove.”

The other siblings started laughing. “Allie!” Laurelie slapped her on the back, “Are you for real?”

“What, too old-timey? Do you think we should go to Coral Harbor instead? Their experiments with Morph X-”

“No, I think you’re a giant nerd-girl.” Laurelie reached up to playfully slap the top of Alice’s head. “Guys, come on. Let’s go home already.” The students walked outside into the front area of the elementary school.

Rachel was running through a train car, her arms windmilling at her sides while she screamed. Dozens of children watched, most crying in fear, while Bag Shadow chased after Rachel. “You can’t get away from me! I am an agent of the shadows that will swallow all the light in the world!” He swung his scepter straight at Rachel’s head.

Rachel turned around, screaming and lashing out her hands, while turning her head and closing her eyes. She felt something strike her palms. “Huh?” Rachel looked up. She was holding Bag Shadow’s staff in her hands, which were covered in glowing white gloves. “What is-”

“What is this?!” Bag Shadow demanded, trying to tug his staff out of Rachel’s hands.

“Jinx!” Rachel pointed at the taller monster with a smile. “You owe me a coke!” She glanced at her pointing hand, noticing that it was no longer holding the staff. “Oh, shoot.”

“Stupid kid!” Bag Shadow swung his arm, sending Rachel flying backwards. As soon as she crashed through the window, time slowed to a crawl. She was surrounded by shards of glass, each one gradually rotating. Her entire body was covered in a red glow.

Time went back to normal speed, and Rachel sprawled on the floor, skidding backwards. She was surrounded by small pieces of glass with sharp edges. The red glow and white gloves had entirely disappeared.

Bag Shadow placed his staff inside his purse-neck. Despite its size, it fit perfectly inside, freeing up both his hands to grab Rachel’s arms. He effortlessly lifted the tiny girl off the floor, shaking her wildly.

Rachel yelled out, kicking uselessly, while her head swung uncontrollably on her neck. “Wake up, Rachel!” Bag Shadow started slapping her in the face, demanding, “Wake up! Wake up!”

“Wake up, Rachel! Wake up! Wake up!” Ian demanded, repeatedly slapping his sister in the face.

Rachel’s eyes and mouth flew open. She yelled, out loud, “Ba-ha-ha-ag Shadow!”

Everyone on the bus turned to look at her, including the driver. “Hey, are you kids gonna get off already? We’ve been waiting for five minutes.”

“Five minutes?!” Rachel fell off her seat, grabbing Ian and Steven by their arms and dragging them. “Guys, come on! We’re wasting time!”

After the Murdoch kids left the bus, the door closed with a pneumatic hiss. The driver sighed, “It wasn’t even a minute. I just said that to make them hurry.”

Rachel, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven all walked into their living room through the front door. “Hi grandma!” Laurelie waved at the older woman sitting at the nearby couch.

“Hey, kids!” The woman, who was approaching her 60’s, opened her arms and grunted from the impact of her grandchildren all hugging her at once. “Oh, you kids! You’re all growing up so fast! How was school today?”

“School was alright.” Rachel answered.

Alice pointed at her over Ian’s head. “Rachel fell asleep in Ranger History Class.”

“Oh, really now?” The woman looked into her granddaughter’s eyes. Her expression was one of concern, and her eyes shone with compassion and experience. “Rachel, you know you need to stay awake in class. Especially Ranger History. You know how important the Power Rangers are to Mariner Bay.”

“I know, grandma.” Rachel looked down at her grandmother’s floral-patterned shirt.

“She also fell asleep on the bus, and when I woke her up, she yelled something about a bag of shadows.” Ian added.

The old woman raised her eyebrows. “Kiddos, I need to talk with Rachel. Alone. Right now.”

The children and their grandmother all stood up. The elderly woman took Rachel by the shoulders and guided her into her own bedroom.

Rachel’s bedroom was decorated with a poster of the Lightspeed Rangers, a shelf on her wall lined with action figures of the Mighty Morphin, Jungle Fury, and Grid Battleforce teams, and a Red Mystic Ranger plush next to the pillow on her bed, which was decorated to resemble Storm Blaster. “You haven’t been staying up at night, have you, Rachey?”

“No, grandma, of course not. I just had trouble staying awake today.”

“Okay, sweetie. I trust you.” The woman sat down on the mattress, letting it sink under her weight. “I must say, I’m surprised you fell asleep in Ranger History of all classes.” She picked up the plushie, stroking its black phoenix-shaped visor. “You certainly seem to be a fan of them.”

“N-no I’m not.” Rachel’s gaze turned to her door, while her face went slightly red.

Her grandmother chuckled. It was a quiet, cheerful sound that gave Rachel a sense of comfort. Despite being frail with age, it still carried an infectious sense of optimism. “My dear, there’s nothing wrong with your passion. Now, come here.” She patted her leg.

Rachel took note of the gesture, and sat on her grandmother’s lap, looking up at her with rapt attention. The old woman asked, “Now, why have you been falling asleep?”

“It was just today.” Rachel insisted, “And I don’t know why. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.”

“Okay, hon.” The older woman hugged Rachel, gently pressing her against herself.

Rachel hummed contentedly, against the soft material of her grandmother’s shirt. She thought to ask, “Where were you when it happened?”

“Oh? Where was I when what happened?”

Without moving her head, Rachel drifted her eyes to the poster hanging over her bed. “Where were you when the Lightspeed Rangers defeated queen Bansheera?”

The old woman sighed, causing Rachel’s head to rise and fall with the breath. She looked up at the beige ceiling, with its rough textures. “It was scary. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories in class, but let me tell you, that’s nothing compared to being there. Bansheera’s forces had taken control of two megazords, and the Rangers’ headquarters had been destroyed. I was hiding in a destroyed building with other survivors, who were too late to evacuate.”

“But the Rangers won, right? They took back their megazords and saved the day, just like they always do.”

“Of course they did.” The grandmother reached around, to place her palm on the back of Rachel’s head and gently stroke her hair. “But at the time, it really did look like they might not make it. The only other time I can remember being that scared was when your mom called to tell me she was pregnant with you, and she was living in Harwood County during the war with the Armada. And then you were born on the day of the invasion. The day…” The words caught in her throat, and she squeezed her granddaughter tighter.

“Is it weird that I miss her?” Rachel asked with her eyes closed, “I never knew her, or dad, but I still miss them. I know it’s silly.”

“It isn’t silly at all, Rachel. None of you kids ever got to know your parents, but they were both wonderful people. That’s why I’d take you to visit them more often if I could. The cemetery’s just so far away.”

Rachel opened her eyes. She reached over to pick up her plushie by the cape, lightly throwing it straight upwards to transfer her hand to clenching around its torso. Squeezing it helped her feel relaxed, an effect that was only compounded by her grandmother holding onto her. “Grandma, I’m going to ask a really stupid question, but I want you to answer me honestly. Okay?”

The woman held back a lighthearted, quiet laugh. “I know it won’t be a stupid question, because you’re not a stupid young woman. Ask away.”

Rachel looked at her plush, and then her poster, and finally her action figures, before her gaze turned back to her grandmother. “Do you think I could be a Power Ranger someday? Like Carter Grayson, or Nick Russell, or Mack Hartford?”

The grandmother failed to hold back a second small laugh, causing Rachel to visibly pout. “Grandma! I knew it was a dumb question.”

“No, no, it really isn’t. You’re a smart girl, you’ve been keeping up with your gymnastics, and you have a strong sense of what’s right for your age. I’m sure you’d make an amazing Ranger one day.” She playfully ruffled the child’s hair, “I bet you could even take on Lord Zedd himself if you were a Ranger! But why did you only give examples of red Rangers?”

Rachel looked into the visor of her plush. “There’s only been, what? One or two red Rangers that were girls? I guess, I dunno, I kinda like the idea of being one myself someday. Leading a team of superheroes, fighting bad guys and saving the world.”

“You would be wonderful at it.” She gave Rachel three gentle headpats. “One more thing before I let you go. What was that you yelled on the bus, about a bag of shadows?”

Rachel shook her head. “Not a bag of shadows. Bag Shadow. That’s the name of the monster I was fighting in my dream. We were on a train, and there were a bunch of crying kids, and I think I was glowing red for a second.”

Rachel’s grandmother gasped. “I… no, that can’t be. Not yet, please not yet.”

Rachel had started shaking in the old woman’s arms. “What are you saying, grandma? You’re scaring me.”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, hon. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. You have nothing to worry about; it’s just boring grown-up stuff.” She patted the little girl on the back. “Now, you run off and tell your brothers and sisters we’re having burgers for dinner.”

“Burgers?!” Rachel’s eyes widened, shining with the neglect of her worries and the promise of a simple joy. She ran off, leaving her grandmother to smile behind her.

The smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Her grandchildren were all in bed. The moon outside her window was full, and could barely be seen past all the stores and apartment buildings. Esthel Murdoch sat at the edge of her bed, holding her phone to her ear. “I’m telling you, I think they’re coming back. Surely you’ve heard about the children who’ve been disappearing.”

Esthel’s eyes widened. “No, Jack!” She looked behind herself at her bedroom door, to make sure her grandkids hadn’t been stirred by her outburst. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t allow them to be involved in this. They’re practically babies.”

Esthel nodded. “Thank you for understanding. I know how important this is, but my family has already had more than enough involvement with the Rangers.”

Rachel jumped backwards, dodging a swing of Bag Shadow’s staff. It crashed on the floor, giving her an opening to jump onto it, balancing for a half-second before jumping again and kicking off his face. She backflipped before landing a few feet across from him.

“You insolent child!” Bag Shadow yelled, causing the dozens of kids in the train car to cry. “I am a Shadow Line engineer! Do you really think you can stop me?!”

“Worth a shot!” Rachel lunged at Bag Shadow. He swung his staff horizontally, forcing her to duck and roll underneath it. The wind blew through her long blonde hair. She stopped behind Bag Shadow, turned around on all fours, and jumped.

“I don’t think so!” Bag Shadow turned around while swinging his staff, catching Rachel in the stomach with the bronze decoration. The impact sent Rachel flying, with a high-pitched wheeze clawing its way out of her throat.

The second that Rachel crashed backwards through the window at the end of the train car, time slowed down over the course of a second, before stopping entirely. “What?” Rachel’s eyes drifted from left to right. She was suspended in the air, surrounded by sharp, tiny shards of glass. Each glass reflected a small piece of her. Out of her peripheral, she could see more children her own age or younger in the car, all of them completely paused.

Rachel was surrounded by a warm, deep red glow, which pulsated like the heart of a benevolent giant. Time resumed, and she crashed on her back, sliding on the carpeted floor of the train.

Rachel stood up. A circle of a thin, red material covered a small part of her chest, with an edge that alternated between white and black. A white, blocky ‘1’ adorned the center of the red circle. “What’s going on?”

Bag Shadow swung his scepter into the door between train cars, shattering an entire section of the wall and walking through the rubble and smoke. He paused, eyes wide. “What?! It can’t be!”

“Are you scared of me?” Rachel’s face slowly morphed into a smile.

“Gah- no, of course not!” Bag Shadow slammed the small end of his scepter into the train floor, causing the entire car to shake. “You’re just a child!

Rachel sprinted towards Bag Shadow. Her shoes were replaced by a white ankle-length material. Above the white, a thin red material slowly encroached up her legs. Rachel could feel herself growing faster, and when she jumped at Bag Shadow, she was able to apply far more pressure to the floor. She turned her body in midair, dropkicking Bag Shadow with one foot for each of his heads.

Bag Shadow yelled in indignant surprise and pain, as the dual impact of the much smaller girl kicking him rang out, sending him flying back. He rolled all the way down the next train car, before crashing into the door on the other end. “This is impossible. You can’t be one of them! You’re a mere child!”

Rachel’s entire lower body was covered in bright red spandex. She felt a surge of power coursing through herself. “I don’t believe it!” She sprinted through the train car, faster and faster until everything around her was a blur.

Bag shadow swung his scepter at Rachel. She stopped, causing her perception of the train to return to normal, before she raised her arms. White gloves appeared, going from her hands down to her wrists, just as the scepter hit them. She wrapped her hands around the scepter, turning her body to the side. With a loud yell of exertion, and red spandex spreading down to her elbows, she tossed the large monster to the side.

Bag shadow landed, with a loud crash, on his stomach. “No. No!” The children on the train car were no longer crying. They were standing on the seats and cheering. “No!” Bag Shadow held his heads, as though the cheers were physically hurting him.

Rachel looked down at herself. Her forearms and legs were covered in red spandex with white over her hands and feet. A circle of red spandex over her chest was surrounded by a black and white edge with a 1 in the center. “Bag Shadow, it’s time to show you what a little girl can really do!” She jumped at Bag Shadow, and pulled her fist back, before she was engulfed in another red glow in midair.

Rachel’s eyes flew open. A series of short, rapid-fire breaths and gasps of air breached her mouth. “I don’t believe it.” She turned from her side onto her back, spreading her arms out under her blanket. “What a dream.” She happily closed her eyes.

Rachel heard a loud, metallic rumbling outside, and opened her eyes. The rumbling grew louder, until it was deafening, and the entire house was shaking. Rachel frantically sat up, tossing her blanket onto the floor, and tightly clutched her Red Mystic Ranger plush in both hands. She knelt on her bed, staring transfixed at the darkness outside her window. Despite her full awareness that she should run and get her siblings and grandmother, she was unable to tear herself away.

“Rachel!” Esthel slammed her granddaughter’s bedroom door open. She was panting, her eyes wide with panic. “What are you doing?! We need to get to the basement, now!”

Rachel turned around. The sound of a long, high-pitched whistle filled the house. “Why, grandma? It’s just a train.” Before Esthel could reply, her eyes widened in realization. “Wait a minute. We don’t live anywhere near a train track.”

“Don’t joke around with me, Rachel! Basement, now!” Esthel’s face contorted, unaccustomed to yelling so loud with protective anger.

Rachel yelped. She sprinted out of the room, dropping her plush on the floor. Esthel spent a few minutes going through the house, waking up her grandchildren one-by-one and sending them down to the basement. The entire time, the rumbling and train whistles grew louder, alongside the metallic clanks of wheels turning on rails and the ever-increasing intensity of the house shaking.

The Murdoch house basement was a small space, with floor and walls made of a cold, gray stone. There was a freezer in the corner, and a few couches behind the stairs that led to the above ground floor. The 10-year old siblings and their 9-year-old sister were huddled behind the couch, with their grandmother sitting on it and watching over them, unable to sit on the floor in her old age.

“What’s going on?!” Rachel yelled, clutching her pajama shirt and wrinkling the fabric. “What is that?!” Despite yelling at the top of her lungs, she could barely hear herself over the train growing ever closer, with its metallic rumbling and periodic whistles.

Steven pulled Rachel close to himself, using his own body to cover his younger sister. He looked up at their grandmother. “We’re going to be okay, right?”

Esthel’s throat went dry. Her mouth became parched. “Yes.” She assured herself as well as her grandkids, “I promise, we’re all going to be perfectly-”

There was a crash.

The house aboveground exploded.

The basement collapsed. Stone fell to the floor in the center. The stairs fell sideways, filling the underground chamber with the sound of creaking wood until they made impact with the stone floor, covering it in shattered wood and splinters. Furniture shattered on the floor. The Lightspeed Ranger poster fluttered down in tatters from what had once been Rachel’s bedroom.

Through the hole in the ceiling, the Murdoch family could see a set of train tracks, and on top of those they could see a small portion of a jet-black train. Its doors opened with a loud, mechanical hiss, and a monster jumped out. It left a small crater at the point of impact.

Rachel’s eyes widened. Her breaths shortened. When the monster turned around, revealing its faces, she yelped, “Bag Shadow?!”

“You know him?!” Ian yelled.

Bag Shadow laughed. His voice was the exact same as in Rachel’s dream. “So, you’re familiar with me? To think that the dreams of a little girl could give me such trouble. With that kind of imagination, I’ll need to snuff you out before you can start inconveniencing us shadows!”

“Rachel?” Alice grabbed her sister’s hand. “What is that thing? What’s he talking about?”

Esthel stood between Bag Shadow and her grandchildren, holding out her arms. “Leave the children out of this. They aren’t ready yet.”

Bag shadow laughed, louder than ever. “And just what is an old woman going to do? The children are integral to our plans. Now step aside, you old skin-bag!”

Rachel pushed herself in front of Esthel. “Don’t call my grandma a skin-bag, you big jerk!”

Esthel, overcome by terror, pushed Rachel away. “Rachel, no! It’s too dangerous!”

“You should listen to your elders, child!” Bag Shadow pointed his scepter at the family. A sphere of golden light shot out of the tulip-shaped end.

“No!” Steven jumped, pushing his grandmother out of the way while his siblings scattered. Esthel cried out in pain, accompanied by the stomach-churning sound of her bones cracking against the floor. “I’m sorry, grandma.”

Esthel gritted her teeth, squinting her eyes in pain. She gingerly reached her palm up to Steven’s tear-stained cheek. “Don’t be. You’re so brave. Please, just stay safe.”

Out of her peripheral vision, Rachel could see something glinting with a dim red glow. “Huh?” She tore herself into looking over at it. In the middle of the shattered remnants of a black chest with a silver combination lock, there was a device on the floor. Bag Shadow launched another laser burst at her.

Rachel twisted herself, turning around while jumping. The energy exploded behind her, sending her flying and screaming in pain, with an unbearable heat on her back. She hit the stone ground stomach-first, sending a fresh wave of agony through her entire body. “Ow…” She looked up, and saw the device lying on the floor.

It was small and metal, vaguely resembling a small train station. There was a rectangular black arch at one end. Next to it was a long, tiny toy train. The train pulsated with a dim red glow. Rachel snatched it up, glanced between the two objects, and slid the train forward into the miniature station. The action was accompanied by a satisfying click sound, followed by the dual beeps of the red lights activating on the side of the station. She pressed the crossing gate down, locking the train into place.

“I don’t believe it! You found the morpher?!” Bag Shadow fumed.

“This is a morpher?” Rachel stood up an aching, shaking legs. “In that case…” She pressed the flat side of the station to her forearm, and two bands of a soft black material emerged from it, attaching the device to her wrist. She pressed a button on the green part of the station. Rachel Murdoch grinned wildly. She held out her bracelet-adorned fist in the direction of Bag Shadow, and screamed at the top of her lungs, “It’s morphin time!”

Chapter Text

Alice lay prone on the ground in her ruined basement. She could only watch as her young sister was engulfed in a red glow.

When the glow disappeared, Rachel had transformed.

Her entire body was covered in red spandex, with white gloves, boots, and a white line going around her waist like a belt with an empty buckle. The spandex opened below the belt into a skirt. A blocky white number 1 adorned the uniform over her heart, surrounded by a circle with black and white stripes, the same color scheme as the three lines converging on the circle from her shoulder, hip, and underarm. She had a black circle with another white number 1 on her forehead below an inactive light bulb. Tiny metal rails ran all around her head over her rectangular black visor, with vertical tracks.

Alice's mouth hung agape. Before she trailed off, she managed to gasp out, "Rachel's a…."

Despite the fact that she'd doubled in height, Rachel demonstrated that she still had the voice of a child by squealing in unbridled joy, "I'm a Power Ranger!"

"You may be a Ranger, but you're still a child!" Bag Shadow fired another ball of light at Rachel.

"I'm not just any child!" Rachel sprinted forward. "I'm a Red Ranger!" She pivoted on one leg, spinning around and kicking with the other. Her sole made contact with the ball of energy, sending it flying back to its point of origin.

The resulting explosion sent Bag Shadow flying into the opposite wall of the basement, where he left a small dent before crumbling to the ground. He stood up, staggering. "You haven’t seen the last of me, Ranger. Even you can't stop the darkness that's to come!" Tendrils of black smoke emerged from the ground, surrounding Bag Shadow and closing around him, before dragging him out of sight.

Alice staggered to her feet. She lunged over to her sister, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I can’t believe this! You’re a Power Ranger! A red one!”

“Yeah.” Rachel couldn’t help but grin under her helmet. “This feels amazing.” She patted Alice’s head. “Guess I’ll have to really start paying attention in Ranger History Class now, huh?”

“Guys!” Steven called, “What about grandma?!”

The other siblings looked down at Steven. He was kneeling on the ground and holding up Esthel’s head. Alice knelt down on her other side to place her palm on Esthel’s forehead. “Grandma? Are you okay?”

“I’ll be just fine, dear. Could one of you go grab my cane?”

“Right.” Laurelie ran off to retrieve a curved black cane with a split-open tennis ball at the end.

Rachel, still in her Red Ranger form, knelt down to help her grandmother stand. Esthel leaned on Rachel, hands on her shoulders. She looked into the tracks partially covering her visor. “Oh, Rachel.” She placed her palm on the helmet’s side, while her entire body trembled from the lingering pain of striking the floor. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Grandma, why are you sorry?” Rachel helped Laurelie hand Esthel her cane. She did a small, cheerful twirl, causing the skirt of her uniform to flutter. “I’m a Power Ranger! A red, girl, Power Ranger!”

A small smile crossed Esthel’s face, but died on its way to her eyes. “You don’t understand the burden this will put on you. The shadows aren’t to be taken lightly.”

Alice looked up, at the barely-visible ruins of the house overhead. “Grandma? Where are we going to live? What… What’s going on?” Her voice cracked. She was blinking away frightful tears. “Is queen Bansheera back?”

“No, I don’t believe this is Bansheera’s work.” Esthel began walking, limping slightly despite using her cane. “This is something else entirely. Something you kids should never have to contend with at your age. Rachel, please take that uniform off.”

“What?” Rachel whined, “But I don’t wanna take it off! I look so cool!”

Esthel’s eyes narrowed. With a calm, yet icy tone, she scolded, “Rachel Murdoch…”

Rachel squeaked. “Fine.” She looked at the bracelet that resembled a train station. “I think…” She lifted the crossing gate, and slid the train out of the station. A red glow surrounded her, and in the next second, she’d reverted to an ordinary, pouting child. “I wanted to be a Ranger.”

Alice patted Rachel on the shoulder. “I’m just worried about where we’ll live.”

“Oh, kids.” Esthel gave them all a sad look. “Go to the car, and wait for me. I have a call to make.”

The phone rang in her shaking hand. She was sitting down on the couch in the ruins of the basement. She pressed the cell phone to her cheek.

A man answered, “Esthel! Good to hear from you.”

Esthel choked back a sob. “I wish it could be under better circumstances, Jack. The shadows attacked my house.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone. Despite how short it was, each millisecond dragged on in Esthel’s perception. “Oh, Esthel. I’m so sorry. I should’ve known something was wrong when you called me at this hour. Are the kids okay?”

“The kids are fine, thank the heavens. Except Rachel… oh, Rachel.”

The man on the other phone asked, in a calming tone, “What happened to her?”

“She found the morpher. I got her to take it off, but if we encounter the shadows again, I know for a fact that she won’t hesitate to use it.”

The man sighed, “I’m sorry to hear all this. It must be difficult for you. Remember, Esthel, I’m right here if you need anything.”

“That’s good. They crashed one of their trains into my house.”

“What?!”

Esthel recoiled away from the phone because of the volume of her friend’s yell. After a second, she placed it back on the side of her head. “I know how much of a burden this is, but would it be okay if my grandkids and I moved in with you for a while? Please, Jack. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Of course. Your family is more than welcome at my home. I’ll get things ready for you.”

Esthel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much, Jack. I’ll let the kids know.”

A minivan sped down the highway in the middle of the night, with twin headlights illuminating the road in front of it. Esthel drove the vehicle, hands gripped tightly on the wheel as she stared dead ahead.

Laurelie, Ian, and Steven were sleeping in the three-seat bench at the back of the van. Between that and the driver and passenger seats, there were two separate seats. Alice and Rachel were both unable to fall asleep. Rachel was staring at her hands, shaking and folding her fingers. “I’m a Power Ranger.”

“No, you aren’t.” Esthel insisted, “Not yet. You’re not ready.”

“What? Come on grandma, I totally owned that guy back there! I sent him packing with my bare spandexy hands!”

“No, you didn’t!” Esthel snapped. Rachel yelped, she and Alice sank back in their seats, and the other kids stirred in their sleep. Esthel steepled her fingers on the wheel. “I’m sorry, kids. I don’t mean to get angry, it’s just that with everything that’s going on, I’m stressed. Still, I’m not gonna take it out on you. Please, listen to me. Okay?”

“O-okay.” Rachel looked down at the floor. “Grandma, are we gonna be okay? Is Mariner Bay gonna be destroyed?”

Esthel sighed. She silently took a small amount of gratitude in the fact that her grandkids couldn’t see her face. She tried to put on a brave voice for them, “No, Rachel, of course not. Us grown-ups will take care of everything. You kids don’t have to worry about this stuff.”

“Okay.” Rachel took the remnants of her poster out of her pocket, and unfolded them. The edges were completely incinerated, there were sizable gaps of torn paper, and the Rangers were partially cut off. Rachel sighed, “What would-”

In the next second, the car launched straight upwards and flipped upside-down.

A tendril of solid shadow launched out of the pavement below the Murdoch family’s car, launching it into flipping through the air. Bag Shadow laughed as he watched it careen into the ground. The windows shattered on impact. The wheels continued spinning uselessly. The Murdoch family staggered out of the remnants of the car, coughing and bruised.

Rachel glared at Bag Shadow. “You!” She sprinted towards him, with fire in her eyes. She lashed the morpher to her wrist, and loaded the train into it.

“Rachel!” Esthel screamed in horror, “Get back here this instant!”

Rachel brought the crossing gate down to lock the train into the station. “It’s morphin time!”

Bag Shadow raised his staff, top wreathed in solid shadows. “Marailders, rise from the shadows to take the light!” Six pockets of darkness rose from the ground and split apart, revealing six humanoids. Under their stovepipe hats, all that could be seen of their blank white faces were unnaturally wide smiles, filled with tiny, sharp and triangular teeth. They wore white gloves and black dress suits and slacks, with white bow-tie shaped designs on their chests and golden belts around their waists.

Rachel pulled her fist back, then threw it forward into a running punch that struck a marailder in the face. While it flailed on its back, Rachel noticed another trying to punch her from the side. She leaned her upper body in the same direction to dodge, countering by winding her arm for an uppercut into the marailder, sending it flying into the air and crashing back to the ground.

Rachel jumped, roundhouse-kicking another marailder in the chest. On her way down, a different marailder wrapped its arms around her midsection from in front of her, staggering back while making surprised noises from the weight. “Let…” She slapped both sides of its head. “...me…” Another pair of slaps. “...go!” She slapped the sides of its head a third time, forcing it to release her.

Rachel grabbed the marailder’s shoulders. “Here’s a headache for you!” She slammed her forehead into its mouth, before turning around while throwing it at Bag Shadow. “I’ll make you pay for hurting my grandma!”

Bag shadow caught the tossed marailder. “Please don’t throw these.” He put it down and sent it away with a few pats to its back. He raised his shadow-wreathed staff.

Rachel felt something deathly cold. Tendrils of solid shadow had wrapped around her legs like vines, and had already started encroaching onto her torso in a vague double-helix pattern. They lashed out to her wrists.

“No…!” Rachel tried to resist the pull of the shadows. Her Ranger suit began sticking to her skin from the sweat of the exertion.

“Let her go!” Alice pleaded.

Esthel held her remaining four grandchildren back. “Please, let Rachel go. She’s not supposed to be a Ranger. She’s just a little girl.”

Bag Shadow drummed his fingers on top of Rachel’s head. She snarled, through gritted teeth, “Let… go-”

Bag Shadow pressed down on her head with his palm, forcing her to kneel with her hands stuck to her sides. “This child is coming with us. You can do what you want for now, but I’ll be back for the rest of them!”

Esthel screeched, “No!”

More shadow tendrils started covering the rest of Rachel’s body. Over the next half-second, she flicked her wrist as hard as she could. The train launched out of the station, whistling as it sliced through the air. It only stopped when it embedded itself into Bag Shadow’s eye.

Bag Shadow screamed in pain, staggering back and clutching his eye. Alice tore herself out of Esthel’s grip. “Alice, no! Wait!”

“Sorry, Grandma!” Alice called back over her shoulder, “Rachel needs me!” Alice stopped in front of her sister. Launching the train had caused her to demorph, loosening the tendrils of shadow around her into something more resembling an ever-expanding cage, which slowly obscured more of her. “Rachel, give me your morpher. I have an idea.”

Rachel looked up at Alice with big, round eyes. She took her morpher off and held it out. “Okay. I trust you.”

Alice took the morpher with one hand. With the other, she laced her fingers into Rachel’s. “I won’t let you down, sis.” She stood up, attaching the train station morpher to her wrist while running. She launched her entire tiny body onto Bag Shadow, yanking the red train out of his eye.

“You kids are mine!” Bag Shadow grabbed Alice by the back of her shirt, and tossed her to the ground. She yelped in excruciating pain from the impact, as her arm was crushed between her side and the pavement.

While lying on the ground, Alice bit down on the red train, and used her mouth to load it into the morpher on her opposite arm. She used her chin to press down on the crossing gate. “It’s morphin time!”

Alice jumped out of a flash of red light in the form of a red Ranger, sailing an entire five feet horizontally until she kicked Bag Shadow twice in the face. He fell on his back, while Alice landed on her feet. She resembled Rachel’s own Power Ranger form, with the sole exception that the 1 on her chest had been replaced by a 2.

Alice immediately ran in a straight line to Bag Shadow, occasionally punching and kicking nearby marailders. Bag Shadow stood up, swinging his staff. Alice bent herself backwards with her arms outstretched, grabbing the staff. She spun backwards to rip the staff out of his hands, turning in a full circle to slam it into his head.

Bag Shadow roared in pain as he sailed backwards, until he crashed into the ground twenty feet away. Alice broke the staff over her knee, releasing a cloud of dark smoke.

Bag shadow stood up, seething. “You little… I will destroy you all! I will-”

“What?!” Alice cupped her ear. “I can’t hear you! You’re too far away!” While Bag Shadow sprinted towards her, Alice ran away. The tendrils surrounding Rachel had started retracting because of the staff’s destruction, allowing Alice to pick Rachel up.

Rachel clung to her sister, whose hands held her up by her back while she sprinted. “Thanks, Allie.”

“Don’t thank me yet! We’ve still gotta get away from this guy!” Alice deposited Rachel next to the rest of the family, before turning around.

Bag Shadow was standing ten feet away from the Murdoches, flanked by several marailders on either side of himself. “You destroyed my staff, you little Ranger!”

Alice cracked her knuckles. “Come at my family, and I’ll destroy a lot more than that.”

Bag Shadow growled, “Well played, Power Ranger. Well played.” He sunk into the ground, melting into a puddle of shadow that drained out of sight, leaving the marailders by themselves.

The sounds created by the marailders were bizarre low-pitched chittering. They sprinted towards the Murdoches. “Come at me!” Alice charged into the group. She punched one in the face, jumping to the side and kicking in the same direction, striking another in the stomach.

Alice grabbed a marailder by the arm, swinging it into its brethren. With each swing, another three marailders were knocked out, and Alice took a single step forward. After two steps, she turned 180 degrees and tossed the marailder horizontally into the last small cluster of marailders.

“Grandma called someone to pick us up.” Ian told Alice when the latter ran back over to the others.

“Good.” Alice took the morpher off with both pieces still attached. In the form of an ordinary nine-year-old girl, she held it up. “Here, grandma.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” Esthel took the morpher and ruffled Alice’s hair. The family was illuminated by the headlights of a car turning the corner behind them.

The car stopped less than a foot away from the ruins of the Murdoch family vehicle. The window rolled down to reveal the driver.

“Mr. Burley?!” Steven’s eyes went wide.

“Looks like I got here just in time. Esthel, you get shotgun. You kids will have to pile up in the back. It’ll be a tight fit, but I think you can manage.”

The back of Mr. Burley’s car was only designed to seat three people, meaning that the siblings had to bunch together side-by-side. Steven and Ian were closest to the windows, whereas Rachel had the misfortune of being in the center, with her arms practically crushed at her sides. “I hate this.”

Esthel looked over at Mr. Burley. “I’m really sorry about this, Jack. We just have nowhere else-”

“It’s okay, Ms. Murdoch.” Jack assured her, “I’m happy to help you guys any way I can. There’s some candy in the glove box for the kids.”

“Thank you.” Esthel opened the glove box in front of her, and distributed a few small bags of candy amongst her grandkids.

Jack drove around a corner, while the children spoke their thanks. “Maybe some music-”

Before the driver could turn on the radio, Alice interrupted him, “Mr. Burley, can I ask you a question?”

Jack retracted his hand. “Of course you can. I’m your teacher.”

Alice cleared her throat. “Why are you helping us, though? We’re just your students.”

Jack sighed, steepling his fingers on the wheel before braking at a red light. “That’s complicated. It’ll be easier to explain when we get to my place, but for right now, let’s just say that your grandmother and I have known each other for a while now.”

“Oh. Okay.”

After less than a quarter hour, the overfilled car pulled into a driveway, which was barely large enough to fit it. The driveway led up to a single-story house, with brown walls and white linings. The door stood on the ground without any stairs, made of black wood with a spherical brass knob. “Oh, thank goodness we’re here!” Rachel gasped as she clambered out of the car with her siblings.

While the Myers kids were rolling their aching shoulders and rubbing their sore arms, Jack opened the front door and held it open. “Let’s get inside, quick. We’re not safe out here right now.”

A minute later, the group of two adults and five grade-schoolers had gathered around the living room. “This place is so tiny.” Alice remarked.

“Well, I am paying mortgage on an elementary teacher’s salary.” Jack cleared his throat. “Sorry. Got a bit defensive there.” He pointed around as he informed them, “There’s some food in the fridge and the cupboards, but don’t take too much until I can make another grocery run. Feel free to help yourselves to the TV, though. I don’t have any games, or cable, or streaming services, but I’m sure you’ll find something. In the meantime, I’ve gotta get something from the basement.” He closed the door to the downstairs behind himself.

Rachel was sitting down on the couch. She was staring down at her spread-out palms, tightly gripping her knees. Alice sat next to her. “Rachey? Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Rachel lied, “I’m okay.”

Alice regarded her sister with a mix of skepticism and pity. “No you’re not.” She pulled Rachel into a tight hug. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m sorry.” Rachel hugged Alice, “I’m a Power Ranger, but I wasn’t strong enough to protect you. I had to rely on you-”

“Oh, so what?” Alice mussed up Rachel’s hair. “I’m your sister; of course you can rely on me!”

Esthel put one hand on each of their shoulders. “Just remember this, Rachel. Power Ranger or not, you’re still 9 years old. You’re still my baby. It isn’t your responsibility to protect anyone, least of all the rest of us. It’s my job as your grandmother to protect you kids, to keep you safe from this legacy, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t do that.”

The basement door opened. Walking inside with a box in hand, Jack saw Esthel hugging Alice and Rachel, while Ian, Steven, and Laurelie sat around them. “Oh, sorry. Was I, ah, was I interrupting something?”

“No, it’s fine Jack.” Esthel gestured to the box in his hand. It was made of metal with five sections, colored red, blue, yellow, green, and pink. He was holding it by an orange handle. “Please, don’t tell me what I think is in there is.”

“Okay.” Jack knelt on the floor, grunting from the ache in his bones, and set the container down in front of himself. “I think it’d be better if I showed you, anyway.” He pressed a series of buttons on the side of the box, and with a five-tone chime, the top half of the box split open at the handle.

The bottom half of the box’s innards were split by thin sheets of metal, into five sections of the five exterior colors. The red section was empty, whereas the others held two devices each.

The larger devices were all exact replicas of Rachel’s train station-themed morpher. The others were inch-long toy trains, each the same color as the section that held them. The blue and green ones were bullet trains, whereas the yellow and pink ones were subway trains, as opposed to the red steam locomotive.

“We’re all gonna be Power Rangers?!” Alice squealed, “Are we gonna get zords?! Megazords?! Ultrazords?!”

“No! Absolutely not!” Esthel insisted, “Jack, you can’t be serious! It’s bad enough that Rachel got her hands on the Red Rail Ranger powers, but there’s no way I’m letting you draft my other grandkids into this war against the shadows!”

“So it’s called Rail Ranger?” Alice spoke to herself.

“I’m sorry, Esthel, but we might not have a choice. Now that Rachel’s essentially bonded herself to the red Ranger powers, she’s going to need help. Besides, the monster that attacked you isn’t going to let up until it’s destroyed. That won’t be possible until we get users for all of the rail morphers.”

“Yeah, grandma!” Ian tugged on Esthel’s arm, begging her, “Please let us become Power Rangers!”

“Someone’s gotta protect Rachel.” Steven pointed out.

“Hey!” Rachel pouted defensively.

Esthel pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay. I hate to say this, but Jack, please tell us about the arsenal.”

“Right.” Jack gathered the train stations into his hands. “These are the rail morphers. I believe Rachel has already demonstrated their use to you.”

The Murdoches nodded, Esthel more reluctantly than the rest.

Jack gathered the toy trains. “These are the insertrains. The reason they’re called that is because they’re meant to be inserted into the rail morphers. Each of you gets one morpher and one insertrain.”

“Now these…” Jack reached back into the box. On the narrow side of each section was a small square pouch made of metal, with the top ⅛ open to reveal a metal inch-thick device. Each one resembled a rectangular card with black edges and a design in the middle, consisting of blocky letters TQG, the Q in purple as opposed to the white of the T and G. The background was half white and half cerulean, separated by a diagonal line. “These are your imagination passes. Each one can be used as a belt buckle in your Power Ranger forms.”

“What does TQG stand for?” Rachel asked.

“It stands for… I don’t actually know what it stands for.” Jack admitted.

“What? Where’d you even get these things from?”

“That’s a story for another day.” Jack changed the subject by placing one of the passes into Rachel’s hands. “This is the Rail Ranger 1 pass. It’ll give you access to the track blade, which can elongate into miniature train tracks for long-ranged attacks.”

“Cool!”

“I thought you might like it.” Jack handed Alice the next pass. “This is the Rail Ranger 2 pass. It’ll let you control the railyzer, which can fire two paralyzing shots of energy at a time.”

Ian was the next recipient. “The Rail Ranger 3 pass gives you the enerhammer, which can store energy and then release it as shockwaves. And of course, it can also work as an actual hammer.”

Laurelie cupped her palms for the next card. “This is the Rail Ranger 4 pass.” Jack informed her, “With this, you can use the axebreaker. It can also launch train tracks, plus it works as an ax.”

The final pass fell into Steven’s hands. “This is the Rail Ranger 5 pass. You can use it to wield the double-dagger bridge. If an opponent goes through the mini-tunnel between the blades, they’ll come out the other side ant-sized.”

“Thank you, Mr. Burley.” Steven accepted the item.

“Yes, thank you.” Esthel added, “Now, I believe we should discuss sleeping arrangements.”

Alice’s mouth opened into a long, loud yawn. She stretched her arms up on either side of herself. “I could sleep on the floor. In fact…” She laid down and curled up into a ball.

Despite everything she’d been through, Esthel couldn’t help but smile at her granddaughter, muttering to herself, “So cute.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I think she’s right. We should discuss sleeping arrangements if we’re going to be staying here long-term.”

Chapter Text

Ian was lying awake on his back, with a blanket on top of him, and Mr. Burley’s couch below him. The couch had relatively soft cushions, yet they were just springy enough to make it difficult for him to fall asleep. He turned the pass in his hands, concealed from his own eyes by virtue of being under the thin, soft purple blanket.

Just when he closed his eyes, he heard the sound of a train whistle. It was underscored with another sound, that of a child’s scream.

The blanket found itself thrown to the floor. The child found himself jumping off the couch, yelling, “Guys I heard the train! Bag Shadow’s back!”

Steven mumbled something, stirring out from under the covers on the air mattress in the middle of the living room floor. “Ian, shut up. I’m trying to sleep.”

Ian knelt down to shake his brother’s shoulders and pull his blanket off. “And I’m trying to warn you, we’re under attack!”

Down the nearby hallway, Esthel opened the door to the guest bedroom. “Boys? What’s all the racket?”

Steven rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Ian thinks we’re-” He was interrupted by another screaming train whistle. The sound turned his blood ice cold. He corrected himself, “We’re under attack!”

The Murdoch sisters ran out of the guest room to look out the living room window. In the next block over, they could see a massive jet-black train, spewing smoke as it from a forest fire, floating over the city on glowing, spectral purple tracks. On its front were two black drills that stabbed through the air.

Jack stood next to the children. He squinted out the window. “What’re you kids looking at?”

The siblings all slowly turned, in perfect sync, to look their teacher dead in the eyes. Ian blurted out, “What do you mean?! We’re looking at the giant evil train!”

“What giant evil train?” Esthel asked, looking out of the same window as them.

“Oh, oh, oh! I get it!” Alice realized, “This must be part of that imagination thingy! You guys are old, so your imaginations can’t see the train or something like that!”

Ian held up his imagination pass. “So you think these things are the only reason we can see it.”

“Something like that.” Alice confirmed.

Rachel grabbed Esthel’s hand. “Grandma, please let us go there! We need to fight the shadows! It’s our responsibility as Power Rangers!”

“I-I don’t-” Esthel hesitated, with her eyes darting between her granddaughter, their teacher, and his living room window.

Jack put a reassuring hand on Esthel’s shoulder. “I can drive you all there. Kids, guide me to where the train is. Esthel, you can come too.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

“Thanks, Mr. Burley.” Rachel added.

“There! Stop right here!”

At Ian’s behest, Jack pulled over by the sidewalk and slammed on the brakes. There were only a few other cars nearby, and every house’s lights were off. The seven people clambered out of the car.

Jack and Esthel were unable to see the massive otherworldly train floating above them. Rachel yelled up at the train, “Bag Shadow, we know it’s you! Come out and face us like a man! Monster! Whatever!”

The door to the train opened. Bag Shadow jumped down, in plain view of everyone of any age. When he landed, it sent out a shockwave that turned the pavement within ten feet of himself to rubble. The Murdoch siblings were caught up in the blast, sending them flying and rolling on the pavement.

“Kids!” Before Esthel could run up to her grandchildren, Jack held her back by the arms. He felt a jolt when she wheeled around to burn her eyes into his own. “Jack, let me help my grandkids.”

“I’m sorry, Esthel. This is something they need to do themselves. Just watch.”

In front of their grandmother, their teacher, and the shadow, the Murdoch siblings rose to their hands and knees. Bag Shadow laughed, “You kids just don’t know when to give up, do you?! Marailders, come on down!”

The sky was filled with vertical-stretching ropes, and a stream of black and white poured out of the train door, until several dozen marailders touched down behind Bag Shadow. They chittered and nodded, holding the brims of their hats, which seemed to be biologically melded to their scalps, to mime tipping them.

“You kids may have surprised me the last couple of times, and you may have destroyed my staff, but the shadows will snuff out your light!”

Rachel growled. She muttered to herself, “What would Carter Grayson do?”

“Who’s that? Some human?” Bag Shadow scoffed, with both of his heads grinning maniacally, “In that case, I bet he’d lie on the ground, cowering in fear, wallowing in the worthlessness of his own mortality!”

“No.” Ian argued, “Rachel! Remember what we learned in Ranger History Class!”

“You bet I remember.” Rachel stood up. “Carter Grayson would never show fear to a loser like you!”

Alice stood next to her. “Chad Lee would keep fighting, even with his bare hands if he had to!”

Ian got to his feet on Rachel’s other side. “Kelsey Winslow would always rise to a challenge! But she might not think you would be worth her time!”

Laurelie stood upright next to her sisters. “Joel Rawlings would never pass up a chance to show up a monster in a fight!”

Steven jumped up next to his brother. “Dana Mitchell would never run away when there’s people in danger!”

Rachel pointed at Bag Shadow. “The Lightspeed Rangers saved Mariner Bay a long time ago! Now, it’s got a new team saving it! Come on, guys! Let’s do our best!”

The air echoed with five metallic snaps when they strapped their morphers to their wrists. They held up their insertrains, and slid them into the morphers. They lowered the crossing gates to secure them in place.

“Fire!” Bag shadow ordered. The marailders in the front of the group turned their swords into jet-black rifles and started firing.

A series of white line segments fell to the ground from out of nowhere in front of the siblings. When the ammunition passed over the lines, they were obliterated by an invisible barrier. A hollow, tinny voice came out of the morphers.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

Five glowing lights of red, blue, yellow, green, and pink enveloped the children. Within the lights, replicas of their respective trains sped on tracks around their heads, before the trains disappeared and the tracks wrapped themselves around their heads. When the lights dissipated, the siblings had doubled in height. Their uniforms were all identical, with the distinctions of each having a different number and color, as well as the addition of skirts on Rachel, Alice, and Laurelie’s Ranger suits.

“Ah, man.” Steven looked down at his suit, decorated with the number 5. “Why do I have to be the pink Ranger?”

“Who cares?!” Alice pointed to herself, “Guys, I’m the new blue Ranger! Is that cool or what?!”

Laurelie brought her fists together in front of the 4 on her chest. “Now that we’re Power Rangers, let’s show them our power!”

The five siblings ran into the horde of marailders. Rachel jumped up, kicking two of them in the heads by alternating her legs in midair.

“Guys!” Alice weaved away from a marailder’s punch, elbowing it in the back of the neck to knock it out. “Let’s use our weapons!”

Rachel eagerly flashed her imagination pass. “You don’t have to tell me twice!” She attempted to put it in the slot in her belt buckle, only for something to stop it. “Huh?” When she looked down, she found that the pass was vertical while the buckle slot was horizontal. “Oh!”

A marailder used Rachel’s distraction to jump on her back, wrapping its arms around her. She dove to the ground, rolling to force it off of her. “Let’s try that again!” She loaded the pass into her belt with a 2-click chime. In the span of a second, a red glow traveled from the pass up her body, down her arm, and ejected out of her hand. It elongated, solidifying into a sword in her hands. When the sword was fully formed, it shed the red glow with the sound of shattering glass. “That’s better! Track blade!”

The marailder scrambled to its feet. While Rachel was still laying down, she elongated the track blade. It impaled the marailder, launching it into the air where it exploded. The red Ranger stood up, elongating the blade again. Dozens of feet of train tracks detached themselves from the main sword, constricting around a cluster of a dozen marailders. “Set them up…”

The marailders made unintelligible grunting noises, uselessly trying to escape. Rachel sprinted past them, slicing them with her blade. The slice ignited the tracks constricting them, annihilating them with a massive explosion. “...to take them down!”

“Railyzer!” Alice aimed the large firearm, holding it out in front of the 2 on her blue spandex. When she fired it, two streams of laser pellets were launched out of the two holes on the sides of the front. Each marailder took two pellets, one to paralyze it and another to finish it off.

“Am I over here?” She rolled to the right in front of a group of marailders. “Am I over here?” She rolled to the left. The marailders swapped their swords into rifle mode and started firing. Alice yelped, running away and screaming, “I’ll be over there!”

“Enerhammer!” Ian jumped onto a marailder’s head to use it as a springboard. He raised a hammer above himself. It had a yellow rectangular head twice the size of his own head, with an inactive red light and a glowing blue light. He swung the hammer into the ground. The glow transferred from the blue light to the red light while the shockwave radiated, sending out enough energy to blow up several marailders around Ian.

“Axebreaker!” Laurelie used her giant green ax to launch a marailder into the air. She sliced through another several with two slashes before launching the first back into the air. She kicked another marailder down, while holding out her axebreaker on the other side of herself. As soon as the marailder landed on its flat surface, she flipped it. “Time to finish you!” The marailder landed on the street, where it went up in a small, fiery explosion.

“Double-dagger bridge!” Steven charged through the marailder hordes, stabbing and slashing with the twin daggers attached to a small metal rod, parallel with each other to resemble claws. “I’ll show you all what a pink Ranger is capable of!” He jumped to slice a marailder across the chest, falling onto his back in the process. He held up his dagger bridge.

A cluster of marailders ran at Steven, with their swords drawn. A massive, spectral pink copy of the double-dagger bridge surrounded the original. The marailders stumbled into the tunnel before it dissipated, and dropped to the ground behind Steven no bigger than ants.

“Oh, they’re actually kinda cute now.” Steven knelt on the ground, annihilating the marailders with a series of calm dagger-pokes. “Poke poke poke, pokity poke poke.”

Two marailders fired directly at Rachel and Alice, knocking them to the ground. Their insertrains clattered to the ground next to them. The same mechanically cheerful voice from earlier came out of their morphers.

Rail Ranger 1 and Rail Ranger 2 now demorphing! If you wish to stay morphed, please transfer now!

“Did it say demorphing?!” Rachel yelled.

“Let’s grab our trains back!” Alice lunged alongside her. In their rush, they failed to notice the colors of the insertrains they picked up until they’d already loaded them into their morphers. Alice looked down at the red insertrain.

Rachel noticed that her insertrain was blue. “Huh.”

Blue transferring to red! Red transferring to blue!

After a brief flash of light, the sisters had swapped colors and weapons. The numbers over their hearts remained the same. “So that’s why we go by numbers!” She fired the railyzer at a cluster of marailders. “Guys, we can swap colors! Just trade your insertrains!”

“Really?!” Steven ran over to Laurelie while slashing a marailder across the face. “Laur! We’re swapping!”

“We are?” Laurelie held out her hand.

“Yep, we are.” Steven took both of their insertrains out of their morphers, and traded his with Laurelie’s.

Green transferring to pink! Pink transferring to green!

The green Ranger now wore a 5, and the pink Ranger had acquired a 4. “There, that’s better.”

“Thanks, bro!” Laurelie sprinted into a squad of marailders. “I was getting sick of hauling that ax around!”

Steven attempted to lift the axebreaker. His muscles strained, yet the blade remained embedded in the ground. “Oh come on!”

While Laurelie was spinning and slashing marailders with the double-dagger bridge, Rachel jogged up to her. “Rachel, you swapped too?”

“Yeah, and I wanna do it again. You up for it?”

“Uh, I guess-”

“Cool!” Rachel and Laurelie swapped the pink and blue insertrains between their two morphers.

Blue transferring to pink! Pink transferring to blue!

Rachel slashed with the double-dagger bridge, while Laurelie fired the railyzer.

“Guys!” Ian swung the enerhammer into a marailder’s chest, launching it into a building and out of consciousness. “Stop messing around!”

“Lighten up, Ian.” Rachel took the yellow insertrain out of his morpher. “You just need a costume change.” She gave him the pink insertrain.

“Oh you have gotta be-”

Yellow transferring to pink! Pink transferring to Yellow!

Alice jumped across the street, slicing a group of marailders with her telescoping track blade. “Man, I can’t tell who’s supposed to be who.”

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing with a Power Ranger, but she’s right!” Bag Shadow groaned, “This is making my heads spin!”

“And we’re gonna make your heads roll!” Steven screamed with exertion. He sprinted forward while carrying the axebreaker over his shoulder, until its weight caused him to fall onto his back. The blade stuck itself into the ground. “Oh come on!”

“Why don’t you give me a chance, hotshot?” Rachel traded their insertrains.

“Sure, why not?”

Yellow transferring to green! Green transferring to Yellow!

“Now this is more like it!” Steven swung the enerhammer. The red light turned on, launching several marailders sky-high.

“I couldn’t agree more!” Rachel sprinted, until she was close enough to swing the axebreaker into Bag Shadow’s chest. The impact sent him flying, limbs flailing through the air, until he landed on his back. “Now, tell us what you’re planning! We know you’re behind all the disappearances, but why?”

Bag Shadow groaned and coughed on the ground. “Those kids’ fear and despair from being prisoners of us shadows will be the power source for our emperor’s grand return! When that happens, darkness will cover this world forevermore. There’ll be no more joy, no more kindness, and most especially no more imagination.”

“Really?” Ian stood next to Rachel, brandishing the double-dagger bridge. “Sounds like a job for the newest team of Power Rangers! Rachel?” He held out his morpher arm expectantly.

“Knock yourself out.”

Green transferring to pink! Pink transferring to Green!

“Alright!” Ian ran at Bag Shadow, jumping over him and spinning, slashing the axebreaker into Bag Shadow’s back.

“That was a dirty trick!” The monster turned around, swinging his claws into Ian’s face. “But not dirty enough!” He jumped straight into the air.

“How’s this, then?” Ian jumped vertically. He jabbed the wide end of the axebreaker into Bag Shadow’s chest in midair, sending up a shower of sparks from the point of impact.

Bag Shadow fell onto his back, while Ian landed on his feet several yards away. The other Rangers ran up to him. “Dude, that was awesome!” Laurelie congratulated her brother.

“Yeah. It was awesome.” Steven rolled his eyes under the yellow Ranger helmet.

Rachel pushed herself into the center of the group, pointing the double-dagger bridge at Bag Shadow. “Okay guys, if I know anything about being a Ranger, this is the part where we combine all our weapons into a giant cannon and finish off the monster!”

“Wait, why do you get to be in the center?” Ian demanded.

“Because the red Ranger is always in the center!”

“Shouldn’t I be in the center then?” Alice pointed out.

“Kids!” Jack interrupted them, yelling over from a few feet away where he stood next to Esthel, “You can only combine your weapons into the trainzooka if your insertrains are in the default morphers!”

“Right!” Rachel pumped her fist. “What does default mean?”

Alice conked her on the head. “It means we need to get back to our original colors! Everyone, start trading.”

“What about Bag Shadow?” Ian acknowledged.

Alice pointed over to where Bag Shadow was lying on the ground, holding his head and mumbling, “Don’t worry emperor… We’ll get you back, and we’ll do it in just a week…”

“Yeah okay. We’ve got time.” Ian emptied his morpher.

Pink transferring to Red! Red transferring to Blue! Blue transferring to Green! Green transferring to Yellow! Yellow transferring to Pink!

Bag Shadow stood up. “Okay, now I’m ready to- what is that thing?”

The Rangers had combined their weapons into a single cannon, with the tip of the track blade lying over the middle of the Axebreaker head, the hilt laying on the rod between the blades of the double-dagger bridge, the railyzer at the back of it, and the enerhammer head on top of that. Rachel was holding it up at the back, while Alice, Ian, and Laurelie held it up on one side and Steven was kneeling on one knee to hold it up on the other side. “Behold!” Alice commanded, “Our ultimate weapon, the trainzooka!”

Red, blue, yellow, green, and pink lights swirled into the cannon. The Rangers all cried out at once, “Final express!” They fired a spectral train out of the trainzooka. It was translucent with each car the same color as one of the Rangers, speeding on rainbow-colored tracks that appeared in midair. The tracks appeared around Bag Shadow’s waist, trapping him in place.

“Wait! Wait! No, please!” Bag Shadow could only watch as the final express barreled down on him with a deafening whistle.

“Everyone, turn around!” Rachel commanded. The Rangers turned around, dismantling the trainzooka, when the final express crashed into Bag Shadow and annihilated him in a fiery explosion.

“Why did we turn around?” Ian asked.

“Uh, because it looks cool. Duh.” Rachel shrugged. “Now we just need our zords for the next part of the-”

A swirl of dark clouds rose from the ground where Bag Shadow had been struck down. They unfurled like the petals of a flower to reveal Bag Shadow, now fully intact and the size of a skyscraper. He swung his massive, restored staff into a building, sending up sparks while debris rained onto the ground below. “You insolent Power Rangers! I am an engineer of the shadows! I will not be made a fool of by mere infants!”

“Yep.” Rachel trembled. “There it is.”

“Wait, do we even know how to summon our zords?!” Steven realized.

“Crud, you’re right! Run!” Rachel screamed. The Rangers sprinted away from the kaiju. A massive dark purple beam shot out from the top of Bag Shadow’s staff, causing a massive explosion of fire less than a yard behind the Rangers.

The murdoch siblings were tossed into the air. They screamed and crashed onto the ground. They were enveloped in flashes of colored light, reducing them to their normal child forms. They were groaning and holding themselves in pain.

“Kids!” Esthel barely managed to resist the urge to run over to them, towards the massive Bag Shadow.

Ian raised his head off the ground. “Mr. Burley, how do we summon our zords!”

Jack yelled over, “Raise your passes to the sky, and yell ‘Let’s ride the rails!’ Yell it as loud as you can!”

“You heard the man.” Ian stood up. The other four Rangers followed suit.

Five insertrains were slotted into five morphers, and secured with five crossing gates. A series of white lines appeared in front of the siblings, just as Bag Shadow fired his staff at them.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

Esthel and Jack screamed in horror when the children were engulfed in an explosion of flames. Esthel grabbed Jack by the shoulders. “Burley, give me something so I can take that monster down! I’ll make him pay myself!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything else!” Jack gasped, and pointed behind her over her shoulder. “And it looks like we won’t need it, either.”

“What?” Esthel turned around. She cheered, “That’s my grandkids!”

The white line had served as a barrier during the morph. By the time the flames dissipated, the Power Rangers had already walked out of the explosion, completely unharmed. They looked up at Bag Shadow.

“What?! How did you survive that?! Who do you think you are?!”

“He wants to know who we are? Alright bros and sisses, let’s tell him exactly who’s going to take him down!” Rachel threw her fist into her palm. “Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

The five rangers extracted their imagination passes from the centers of their belts, and raised them into the air. “Let’s ride the rails!”

Five beams of red, blue, yellow, green, and pink light shot out of the respective passes. The lights merged into something that resembled a small rainbow, curving through the air and touching down on the pavement fifty feet in front of the Rangers. The five-lined rainbow collapsed and coalesced into the shape of a train turnstile, before fully solidifying.

“Is that supposed to summon our zords?” Rachel wondered aloud.

Alice waved her imagination pass in front of Rachel’s visor-covered face. “Can’t get on a train without a ticket.”

The five rangers swiped their passes on the turnstile scanner. A rainbow-colored vortex appeared in the sky, and from it there emerged a train. The front car was a bright red, followed by blue, yellow, green, and finally pink. The train stopped in front of the turnstile. The imagination passes shined in their owners’ hands. In flashes of colored light, they teleported into the cockpits of the trains.

The spectral tracks extended and split in five. The trains soared into the sky on the rainbow tracks and split up, with the red train in the center and the others yards away from it at the corners. The tracks extended towards Bag Shadow.

“I’ll destroy you before you can form any megazord! I will bring those children to the castle!” Bag Shadow fired dark purple lasers at the trains. The tracks twisted and contorted, allowing the trains to evade the shots.

“Power Rangers!” Rachel commanded, “Full steam ahead!” The trains all simultaneously crashed into Bag Shadow’s torso, sending him flying back. He landed on his back with his staff lain askew.

Half a mile behind the collapsed humanoid, the brightly colored trains twisted and bent and merged. The humanoid robot turned around. Its head and the center of its torso were red, its sides and legs were blue and green, and its shoulders and arms were yellow next to the blue and pink next to the green. In its yellow arm it wielded a yellow-and-black crossing gate sword.

Bag Shadow stood up, wielding his staff. “What is that eyesore?”

“Rail Rescue Megazord! On track to victory!”

“Then it’s time for me to derail you!” Bag Shadow fired a series of rapid-fire bullets out of his staff.

The Rail Rescue Megazord charged forth on two parallel railroad tracks that had appeared on the ground. It jumped and slashed its sword diagonally down Bag Shadow, sending him stumbling back. It pressed the advantage by slicing its blade horizontally across his chest. It slashed again, in the opposite direction, before the blade was intercepted by Bag Shadow’s staff. “After I destroy you, I’ll take your fellow children to the castle, where they’ll give the emperor the sustenance he needs to return! Or maybe I’ll destroy your powers, and take you with me! I’m sure the despair of five defeated Power Rangers will be more than enough!”

“Just try it!” Rachel flipped a lever, putting more power into the sword. It swiped the staff away, and slashed Bag Shadow across his face.

“You look thirsty!” Ian grinned behind his visor, “Here, have some punch!” The megazord tossed the sword straight upwards, spinning through the air, while its yellow arm elongated.

Bag Shadow was struck by the sound of a train whistle, before the Rail Rescue Megazord’s arm struck its chest with the force of a freight train.

“Let’s put some kick into this!” Laurelie decided. The megazord pivoted on its blue leg to extend its green leg, loudly whistling a millisecond before it barreled into Bag Shadow’s face. The impact created a flaming explosion.

Steven leaned forward on his individual control panel within the cockpit. “Let’s finish this guy already!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Rachel agreed. At the hilt of the sword, two lights alternated between each other with red flashes accompanied by the chime of a crossing gate being lowered.

Two massive crossing gates appeared from nowhere and lowered themselves into a horizontal position between the monster and the megazord. A replica of the megazord’s train form raced past on Bag Shadow’s side of the barrier, obscuring his view. “What’re you doing?!”

By the time the phantom train had passed by, Bag Shadow and the Rail Rescue Megazord had been transported to a pocket dimension. It consisted of a small black void filled with circles of white and black stripes, with the Rail Rescue Megazord racing towards him on parallel train tracks that constantly changed colors. The five siblings yelled out in unison, “Crossing rail blades! Rescue slash!”

The Rail Rescue Megazord slashed diagonally with its crossing gate sword, creating a rainbow-colored trail of light behind it. The light slashed Bag Shadow across his stomach, sending out sparks. “No! The children were supposed to be the ones in despair, not me! I thought I had this in the bag!” He fell backwards into the real world, and exploded before he hit the ground.

The pocket dimension disappeared. The Rail Rescue Megazord continued on the tracks while the explosion went off behind it. “Good work, team.” Rachel looked up, through the windows that served as the megazord’s glowing yellow eyes, at the black train in the sky. “Now let’s get those other kids out of there.”

Chapter Text

Beyond the mortal world, in a realm of absolute darkness, a Victorian castle was suspended in the void. It was entirely black and gray, filling the nonexistent air with its gothic atmosphere. From multiple open doorways, infinite train tracks emerged and stretched into the void.

Within the walls of the Shadow Manor, a humanoid walked through the throne room. He wore clothes more befitting a Victorian-era Italian aristocrat than the monster he was. His face resembled a gas mask that might’ve been worn by a plague doctor. The pauldrons on his shoulders resembled the beaked masks worn by other members of the profession. Despite being perfectly able-bodied, he walked on a cane, causing the room to echo every time it tapped against the floor.

The baron looked up at the throne. Its four feet, all decorated with golden dragon heads, stood on a bloodred carpet at the altitude of his eyes. The throne itself stood at the center and top of a staircase which lined the entire back wall of the enormous chamber. The throne was empty.

Standing next to the throne, back straight and arms folded behind his back, was a humanoid who resembled a military general from late 1910’s Germany. His build was taller and stockier than the one below him, his outfit was black and gray save for the red trimmings, and his blank white eyes stood in stark contrast against his pitch black face, as hard as stone. “Baron Nero Royale. To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?”

The baron descended to one knee, and bowed with one arm folded against his chest, and the other splayed palm-first on the carpeted floor. “General Irondark. I have troublesome news. I’m afraid Bag Shadow-”

“Stand up.” General Irondark commanded, with a calm yet insistent tone. Wordlessly, and without hesitation, the baron rose to his feet and stood at attention. “I already know what happened to Bag Shadow. I know about the new Power Rangers, and their new megazord.”

“Oh! Of course, general. In that case, what’s the plan?”

General Irondark brought his hands to his sides. “Listen very closely.”

Laurelie stirred awake. Second by second, she gradually wrestled with the comfort of the warm blanket, as well as her sister’s arms around her. Eventually, she managed to crack her eyes open. Alice was still completely asleep, breathing steadily with her eyes closed.

Laurelie almost panicked at the unfamiliar room before she remembered her circumstances. The green-and-blue striped cot she and Alice were on was far too springy for comfort, so they’d wrapped the reasonably large blanket around themselves like a cocoon, and more or less held each other through the night.

Laurelie craned her head up to look past Alice and at the bed. The cot was too small for 3 children, so Esthel had decided to let Rachel stay in the guest bed with her rather than sleep on the floor. Both of them were deeply unconscious, with Rachel nestled into her grandmother and Esthel’s arms wrapped around her granddaughter.

Laurelie extricated herself from Alice, taking care to move slowly enough that she didn’t wake up. In the hallway, she heard the sounds of fighting accompanied by the glow of a television. Steven and Ian were sitting on the couch, leaning forward and glued to the TV. “You’re watching Kung-Fugitive?”

Laurelie’s brothers jumped at the sound of her voice. She laughed at how startled they’d been. “Yeah.” Ian nodded, “Is anyone else up?”

Laurelie shook her head. She sat down next to Steven. “Nah, just us.” She watched the TV. “This is so cheesy. You can see the wires.”

“So? That’s what makes it fun.” Steven laughed at the unarmored protagonist backflipping through an explosion to divekick a mafia boss through a rafter.

Laurelie smiled. “Okay, that’s pretty great.” She picked at a thread on the hem of her pajama shirt. "So. We're Power Rangers now. Beat our first monster."

"Yeah." Ian nodded. "I think we're pretty good at it. I can't believe we even got our own megazord."

"I can't believe I'm the Pink Ranger." Steven interjected. "I would've thought I'd look better in black."

"Dude, nobody can see us under our uniforms." Ian pushed Steven’s head to the side, while they and Laurelie all laughed.

Esthel opened the guest room door. "Oh, Lorie, there you are. You boys didn't stay up all night, did you?" She squinted at the TV. "How're you even watching this? Mr. Burley said he doesn't have any cable or streaming."

"We figured out a way to connect the TV to my phone." Ian held up the small flat device.

Esthel shook her head. "Of course you did. Sometimes I think you kids are too smart for your own good."

Less than an hour later, the Murdoches and Jack were all eating breakfast. The chairs were nearly pushed up against each other from how small the table was. “Sorry I could only make one pancake for each of us.” Jack apologized. “I wasn’t exactly counting on having six guests. Especially not long term ones.”

“That’s quite alright.” Ethel sliced a piece off and chewed on it.

“Yeah.” Rachel nodded, “It sucks, but it’s not your fault.”

"Rachel." Esthel narrowed her eyes. "Be polite."

The young girl quietly shifted in her chair. She looked down, until most of what she could see was taken up by her half-empty plate. "Sorry, Mr. Burley."

“It’s okay, Rachel. I know this is a lot all at once, especially at your age.”

Esthel tapped the edge of her plate with the tines of her fork. “Speaking of which, I think we should take this weekend to discuss what we’re going to do about this. First of all, nobody else can know that you kids are Power Rangers.”

“What? Why not? The Lightspeed Rangers didn’t have secret identities, did they?” Alice looked at Jack. “Right?”

“That’s right.” Jack confirmed, “But so is your grandma. The Lightspeed Rangers were trained professionals working for a government-backed organization. You five are elementary schoolers living with your grandmother and, hopefully more temporarily, your teacher.”

Alice swallowed the piece of pancake that was in her mouth. “I think I kinda get it. If everyone knows we’re the Power Rangers, we’ll become celebrities. All the other kids at school, and the teachers, will start treating us differently, and we won’t be able to get anything done.”

“Exactly.” Esthel nodded. “Your childhoods would be over before you got into middle school. I could never forgive myself if I allowed that to happen.”

Laurelie picked and stared at her food. Despite still being hungry, she couldn’t bring herself to eat what was on her fork. “I need to go!” She blurted before sprinting into the guest room.

“Poor girl.” Jack shook his head.

“Mr. Burley, are you still going to be our teacher?” Alice asked.

The man smiled. “Of course I am, kiddo. You still need to learn about Ranger history, especially now that you’re going to be a part of it.”

“That’s right.” Rachel put her fork down. “We’re Power Rangers now! Like the ones who guarded the ninja nexus prism, or the ones who fought Evox! We’re part of a legacy that started before we were even born!” She stood up on the chair. “So let’s make the past rangers proud!” When she threw her fist out into the air, she lost her balance and fell on her back with a crash.

Ian looked down at his sister. “Oh yeah. Andros and Carter Grayson are quaking.”

“Shaddyp.” Rachel sat down in her chair, rubbing her head.

“I think I should go check on Laurelie.” Esthel stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her other four grandkids with their teacher.

“So, um…” Steven looked over at Jack. “Can we get extra credit from fighting monsters?”

Esthel knocked on the closed door to the guest room. “Lorie, hon, can I come in?”

She could barely hear the girl quietly mutter, “Okay.” Esthel opened the door, walked into the room, and closed it behind herself to be alone with her grandchild.

Laurelie was sitting on the edge of the bed, with her knees pressed up against her chest and her forehead digging into them. Her palms were plastered against the sides of her head. Her mouth was closed, and her breathing was labored through her nose.

Esthel sat down next to Laurelie. Wordlessly, she wrapped an arm around the girl’s side and brought her onto her lap, holding her with both arms.

Laurelie looked up at Esthel’s face while her grandmother was gently rubbing her back. “I’m sorry, grandma.”

Esthel quietly shushed her. “It’s okay, sweetie. This must be so hard for you. If you need to cry, I’m right here. I won’t tell anyone, and I’ll never judge you. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.” Laurelie absentmindedly picked at the hem of Esthel’s shirt. She rested her head on the old woman. “I’m not gonna cry. I don’t have to cry.” Her tiny body was being rocked by small tremors.

Esthel calmly squeezed Laurelie. “Of course you don’t, honey. But I’ll always be here for you and your siblings.” She pecked the top of Laurelie’s head. “Never forget that.”

“I won’t, grandma. I promise.”

The door opened, prompting them to look up. Steven cleared his throat. “Sorry. Mr. Burley says he wants to take us outside to show us something. It’s supposed to be really cool.”

Esthel gently patted Laurelie on the back. “What say you, Lorie? I think this might cheer you up.”

Laurelie smiled up at Esthel. “Yeah!”

Esthel, Rachel, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, Steven, and Jack all walked out of the back of Jack’s house. They were surrounded by several houses and a few apartment buildings, with a 4-lane street in front of them. “Okay, we should have enough room here.” Jack decided, “Why don’t you kids try summoning your zords?”

Laurelie looked up at her teacher skeptically. “Why? There’s no monsters.”

“Who cares?” Rachel held up her imagination pass. “Like I’m gonna pass up a chance to summon a zord!” She put the pass down. “Actually, shouldn’t we morph first?”

“Not quite.” Jack grinned down at her. “Something very special happens if you summon the zords while demorphed.”

“Cool.” The five siblings held up their imagination passes. “ Let’s ride the rails! ”

A rainbow-colored vortex appeared hundreds of yards down the street. Train tracks manifested in a straight line in front of it. The sound of a train whistle forced the group to cover their ears, followed by the sound of massive wheels traveling down a set of metal tracks.

The red front car of the train burst through the portal. It alone was well over a hundred and fifty feet long. The entire multicolored train was barely shy of 700 feet in length, necessitating it to subtly warp the fabric of space around itself in order to fit on the street. “Woah.” Laurelie gaped at the train. “You mean we can actually ride on this like a real train?!”

Alice frantically looked up and down the street. “I thought we were supposed to keep this on the down-low!?”

“No need to worry.” Jack reassured her, “The trains can only be seen by people with a certain amount of imagination, mainly kids like you five. The only reason Esthel and I can see it is because we’ve been guarding the Rail Ranger equipment for so long that it’s rubbed off on us.”

“Awesome.” Laurelie clasped her fists together, bouncing on her legs and squealing in joy. “This is so awesome!”

“Yeah, you got that right, sis!” Rachel grabbed Laurelie by the arms and dragged her over to the terminal that’d appeared by the front door of the train. When she got to the terminal, she turned around. “Wait. Grandma, Mr. Burley, how are you guys gonna get on without passes?”

Esthel held up a small plastic card between two of her fingers. “Just because we’re not rangers, that doesn’t mean we don’t have passes.”

Jack held up a similar card, elaborating, “These are called sub-imagination passes. They grant access to the Imagination Express without Ranger powers.”

After a minute, the seven of them entered the train. The ceiling and upper walls were all a plain, shiny white. The lower walls and floor were a warm metallic blue. Red benches, made of comfortable leather, faced out from the walls, while other benches faced forward next to the walls. A few small, semicircular chairs made of the same material faced tiny tables that stuck out of the walls. Handles were hanging down from the ceiling for handholds.

“Wow!” Laurelie sprinted across the aisle and jumped into one of the benches. “This is so cool! I’ve always wanted to go on a train! You guys, these benches are so soft! And is that-!?” She ran over to the wall. “Look! They have tables in the wall! How cool is that?!”

Esthel smiled at her granddaughter’s excitement. “We thought you kids might like this. If you’re going to be Power Rangers, then you’d better get familiar with your arsenal.”

“Oh, this is a magic train, right?” Alice realized, “Can it travel through time?”

Jack laughed, “No, not quite. A time-traveling train. Like that’d ever catch on. No, but it can travel through an extra-dimensional space called the Magin Line. From there, we can go anywhere in the world.”

“That’s amazing!” Laurelie cheered, “So no matter where the shadows attack, we can be right there!”

“For the most part.” Jack nodded, “We can’t teleport or anything, but we can go anywhere on Earth since we’re not exactly using traditional railroad tracks. Now then…” He took a conductor’s hat that was hanging on a hook by the door, and placed it on his head. “Where does everyone want to go first?”

A humanoid stood behind a pillar, listening to the conversation between baron Nero and general Irondark. She was short and wide, wore a frilly black-and-white dress, and her face resembled a purple bulldog.

General Irondark went silent. He turned his head to the side. “If you’re going to hide, miss Noire, the least you could do is put some more effort into it.”

Miss Noire squeaked and walked into the main part of the throne room, wringing her hands together. Her long black claws, three on each hand plus a smaller one that acted as a pair of opposable thumbs, clacked against each other. “Sorry, general. I just couldn’t help but overhear. There’s a new team of Power Rangers?”

“I’m afraid so.” Baron Nero confirmed, “Just like the ones who destroyed my brother a few years ago.”

“I’m truly sorry about that.” Miss Noire acknowledged respectfully, “Is there anything I can do to help out against the new Rangers?”

“Now that you mention it, you could possibly send down a Shadow Line engineer to destroy the little upstarts. I’d be very grateful for that.”

“Okay. I’ll do my best.” Miss Noire paced around the throne room, thinking to herself, “Now, which engineer should I send…? Maybe I should cook something to give myself an- an idea! That’s it! I’ll send Stove Shadow! He’ll be sure to heat things up for the Rangers!”

In a crowded Japanese subway, space bent to accommodate a multicolored train emerging from a rainbow disc-shaped portal. The distortions in the spatial fabric of the area allowed the Imagination Express to occupy the same location as an ordinary express train.

Out of the dozens of people walking around the station, the only one who noticed was a small child whose hand was being held by his father. He jumped up and down, pointing with his free hand. “Miyo! Miyo, Tou-san! Mahou no ressha! Mahou no ressha!”

The father laughed and patted his son’s head. While he was dragging the small child away, the door on the red engine opened with a loud pneumatic hiss. Only a few people were able to hear the five-tone chime that followed the opening hiss. When the group got off their train, they blended into the small cluster departing the ordinary train superimposed with their own.

“Okay kids, listen to me.” Esthel told them sternly, “Girls, you’re coming with me. Mr. Burley’s taking the boys. We’ll go shopping, and then we’ll meet back here in half an hour. No longer than that. Understood?”

The children all verbally agreed with their grandmother. Jack smiled at her. “Thanks for trusting me with your boys, Esthel.”

“Of course. You’re a good man, Burley.”

While Ian and Steven accompanied their teacher, Laurelie, Alice, and Rachel followed Esthel. Rachel looked aside at her sister. “Laurelie, why’d you want to go to Japan in the first place?”

“The pictures always look so pretty. I want to see it in person.”

“And experience the richness of the culture and language?” Esthel added.

“Yeah, that too.” Laurelie shrugged.

“Grandma?” Alice asked, “Do you speak Japanese?”

Esthel laughed quietly. “No, but I don’t need to. As long as you hold your imagination passes, they act as universal translators so you can communicate in any language.”

“Cool!” Rachel pumped her fists. “Is there anything else they can do?”

A wide smile appeared on Esthel’s face. “There’s one other thing. You know how I use my credit card to pay for things without cash?”

“Yeah.” Rachel tilted her head to the side.

“Well, your imagination passes are like unlimited credit cards.”

The girls’ eyes shined, and their jaws slowly dropped, as they realized what their grandmother meant. “You mean…” Laurelie rotated the pass in her hand. “...we’ve got infinite money?!” The sound of her voice drew the attention of several nearby people.

Esthel chuckled and patted her head. “That’s just it, honey. But make sure you run things by me before you buy them, okay?”

Laurelie whined, “But grandma…!”

Esthel clasped her hand over Laurelie’s head, and ruffled her hair. “I need to look at what you’re buying to make sure it’s safe, especially in a foreign country. Okay?”

“Okay.” Laurelie grumbled. The sounds of the city could be heard, rapidly growing louder as they walked up the subway stairs. Thousands of voices intermingled with the sizzling of food in restaurants and the chimes of bells on bicycles. The second the family walked aboveground, they had to shield their eyes from the bright lights and neon signs.

Laurelie’s eyes shone bright with wonder. “Look at this!” She twirled cheerfully. “Isn’t this amazing?! There’s so much color! Look, a toy store!” She tugged on Esthel’s sleeve, begging, “Grandma, can we go? Can we can we can we please?”

Esthel’s face instantly brightened at the sight of her small granddaughter’s excitement. “Rachel, Alice, what do you think?”

“Sounds good to me.” Rachel agreed.

“Yeah!” Alice added, “I can’t wait to see some Japanese toys!”

“I guess it’s decided, then.” Esthel guided her granddaughters into the store. Inside, there were dozens of shelves filled with a variety of toys inside cardboard boxes with plastic screens showing the contents within. J-Pop music was blaring from the speakers. “Stay close to me, girls. I’ll walk all around the store so you can look at everything. I don’t want any of you out of my sight, okay?”

The children all nodded.

A dozen minutes later, Esthel was accompanying her granddaughters in the line to the cash register. Each of the fourth graders was clutching a box. Rachel held a Daruma Otoshi, Alice was rapping her fingers on a Himitsu Bako, and Laurelie was holding a kendama while tapping her foot on the floor. When they got to the front of the line, Esthel told the cashier, “Hi, I’d like to buy these toys for my granddaughters.” Her sub-imagination pass allowed the employee to perceive her as speaking fluent Japanese.

After listening to the prices, Esthel prompted her grandkids to pay for their items. Despite his blatant confusion at their usage of unfamiliar items as payment, the cashier was satisfied when the scanner accepted the imagination passes.

Jack was sitting at a table in a restaurant, keeping an eye on the boy sitting across from him while Ian was in the bathroom. “So.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “How are things going?”

“Pretty good. Thanks, Mr. Burley.” Steven looked around. “I wonder when the food’s going to be ready.”

“Hey, Steven, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me that outside of school. Now that you kids and your grandmother are living with me, I think I’m more than just your teacher. Could you please call me Jack, at least outside of school?”

“Oh. Yeah, I think I can do that, Mr. Bur- I mean Jack.”

“Thanks, Steve. I’ll tell Ian when he gets back, and then I’ll tell the girls when we all meet back up at the train.”

Steven turned his head at the sound of screaming. A dozen cooks were fleeing, scrambling out of the kitchen door, sending their hats and hairnets flying to the ground. A green fist shattered the door, leaving an opening for the monster to walk into the restaurant.

His body was bulky, green, and significantly taller than an adult human. A grate was embedded in his hollow stomach. The mask above his mouth resembled the caged door of a stove, and solid stovepipes radiated out from his scalp to serve as hair. “You humans aren’t all that! Stove Shadow’s here and all fired up!” His voice was gruff and loud. He used his hand to swing the door on his stomach open. A small piece of coal flew out of him, trailing fire behind itself until it struck a cook in the chest. He collapsed to the ground, screaming and writhing in agony.

The restaurant was filled with panicked screams, Stove Shadow laughing, and the sounds of chairs scraping against the floor while civilians scrambled for the exits. Steven jumped off his seat without hesitating. “Wait!” Jack lunged to reach him, only to be knocked to the ground by an oblivious civilian.

Steven rushed through the crowd, breathing heavily. He was repeatedly struck by the limbs of civilians who were too panicked to notice anything, jostling him and knocking him aside. He was occasionally thrown to the ground, forcing him to scramble to his feet before he could be trampled. He attached his morpher to his wrist, and loaded the insertrain into it.

Stove Shadow laughed, “Look at you all! Just one strike and you’re fleeing like a cat on hot coals! Humans are so weak!” He threw another errant piece of flaming coal.

“It’s morphin time!” Steven was enveloped in a pink glow while sprinting. He transformed without missing a step in his run. His hand shot out to grab the coal out of the air, before he spun around in a full circle and opened his fist, launching the coal.

The coal struck Stove Shadow in the foot, causing him to jump. “Ow, ow, ow, hot foot! Hot foot!”

Steven pivoted on one foot to spin while jumping, attempting to roundhouse kick the monster. Stove Shadow grabbed his outstretched leg and threw him overhead. Steven screamed until he was slammed facedown onto the floor, knocking the breath out of him. “What luck! I thought I’d have to fight all five of you new Power Rangers at once, but here you are volunteering to be destroyed!”

“Don’t even think about it!” Steven clicked his imagination pass into his belt buckle. Pink glowing lines trailed up his torso and down his arm, before emerging into his hand. With the sound of shattering glass, the double-dagger bridge appeared in his grasp. He swiped it across the monster’s face.

Stove Shadow laughed off the scraping of the daggers across the metal part of his face. “That’s cute. Let me show you mine!” He opened his stomach grate, ejecting a stream of orange-hot flames.

Steven screamed in agony, jumping to his feet. His entire transformed body was covered in flames, penetrating his armor to injure him. Ian swung the bathroom door open and scanned the room. “Steve!” In his panic, he fumbled with his rail morpher.

Stove Shadow pressed his advantage by launching more flaming pieces of coal at Steven, denying him any chance to recover. He collapsed to the floor. The flames overwhelmed his armor, reducing him to a child after a flash of pink light.

Ian loaded the yellow insertrain into his morpher. Steven was lying on the floor, groaning in agony. His clothes were singed, and pockmarks of his skin were black with 2nd degree burns. Stove Shadow closed his stomach door. He walked towards Steven, slow enough to taunt him, mocking his helplessness. “Look at you. The tiny pink Ranger, just a burnt-up little boy! And now-”

“It’s morphin time!” Ian screamed, enraged. He jumped out of a flash of yellow light in Ranger form, swinging the enerhammer in midair. The second it struck the side of Stove Shadow’s head, the light moved from the blue to the red, causing an energy output that launched Stove Shadow spinning and screaming through the air, until he crashed into a table.

Stove Shadow stood up, lifting the table overhead. “You mean I get to burn two Power Rangers back-to-back? Now that’s hot!” He tossed the table.

Ian calmly stood upright between Steven and Stove Shadow. The only movement he made was a quick swipe of his arm, atomizing the table with the enerhammer. He walked towards the monster, twirling the weapon in his hand. His voice started out calm, tranquil, and cold as ice, gradually increasing in volume until he was screaming at the top of his lungs. “Stay… away… from… my… brother!” He broke into a sprint, trailing the enerhammer behind himself.

Stove Shadow opened his stomach grate. A gust of wind flew into him, carving a circular tunnel into his inner flames. The wind pushed Ian forward, causing him to trip and drop his enerhammer. The weapon shrunk as it flew above the floor, until it disappeared into the vortex. “No!” Ian yelled, “No, please!”

“What’s wrong, Yellow Ranger?” Stove Shadow taunted, “Just a minute ago, you were all fired up! Am I just too hot for you to handle?”

The wind dragged Ian off the ground. He spun through the air, continuously shrinking, until he disappeared into Stove Shadow’s flames. His screams were silenced by Stove Shadow closing its grate, with the sound of clanging metal. “2 down, 3 to go.”

Chapter Text

Steven’s entire body, limbs in particular, was enveloped in searing pain. His vision was blurry. His ears were filled with a deafening, monotonous ring. The first thing he was able to witness, after weakly raising his head, was Ian being sucked inside of Stove Shadow. Jack landed next to him after jumping, and picked him up by the underarms while desperately running away.

Every muscle in Steven’s body ached and screamed in protest. All he could do was open his mouth into a quiet whine. “Lemme go. You’re hurt…ing me.” He was interrupted mid-word by a gasp of pain tearing its way up his throat and out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but I have to get you out of here!” Jack continued running with his injured student in his arms. “Just hang in a little while longer, until we get to the train!”

Steven attempted to struggle out of Jack’s hold. All he succeeded in doing was flaring up his injuries, eliciting another loud scream. “Put me down! It hurts!”

The boy’s screams tore at Jack’s heart. “I’m so sorry.” He continued sprinting, despite Stove Shadow being far behind. “I need to get you to the train.” Steven’s eyes rolled up into his skull, and he passed out from the pain. Jack could feel his heart beating against his own chest. “That’ll work.” The teacher kept running, desperately holding the near-broken boy.

There was enough of their allotted time left that Esthel had seen fit to allow her granddaughters to browse a clothing store. Rachel picked a shirt off its display rack and added it to the others in her arm. Alice raised an eyebrow at her. “Why are those shirts color-coded to match our Ranger uniforms? We’re supposed to keep it a secret.”

“Exactly. Nobody will suspect us of being Power Rangers if we wear color-coded outfits, because they’ll all think nobody could be that bad at hiding something. Think of it like reverse psychopathy.”

“You mean reverse psychology?”

Rachel shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

Next to them, Esthel’s flip-phone rang until she took it out of her pocket. “Hello, Ja- what? Jack, what are you-?! Oh no, no, please no. My grandson’s- okay, we’ll be right there. I’ll tell the girls.” She hung up the phone.

“What happened?” Laurelie asked, “Why do you look so scared?”

“There’s been another monster attack. We need to get to the train, now. Jack and I will explain everything there.”

Esthel, Rachel, Alice, and Laurelie rushed into the Imagination Express. The first thing they saw was Steven lying on a red bench, facing away from the wall, with burn marks covering his entire body. “My baby!” Esthel ran over to her grandson.

“What… what happened to him?!” Laurelie trembled, grabbing Jack’s arms and demanding, “What happened?! You-!”

“There was a monster attack, and he got badly hurt. I’m sorry. I should’ve done more.”

Alice looked around the car, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Mr. Burley, where’s Ian?”

Jack sucked in air through his teeth. “The monster had a grate on its stomach that opened into some sort of furnace. It somehow shrunk Ian down and brought him into its furnace.”

Rachel leaned on the wall next to Steven, and slumped onto the floor. “So one of my brothers got roasted, and the other’s trapped inside a furnace?”

“Ian’s still alive, isn’t he?” Esthel desperately pleaded, “Tell me he’s alive.”

Jack covered his mouth with his hand. “There’s no way to tell. He was in his Ranger uniform, so we can only hope that it protected him.”

Esthel brought her granddaughters into her arms, while sitting down next to Steven while he slept. “I promise, we’ll get Ian back.”

“Yeah.” Rachel nodded, “And if we can’t, we’ll make that monster pay with everything we’ve got.”

Steven began to stir. “What’s going on? Why does everything hurt so bad?”

Esthel placed a gentle hand on his leg. “Don’t move, honey; that’ll only make it worse.”

“Grandma, what happened? Where’s Ian?” By the time everything had been explained to him, Steven was crying while his grandmother squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is my fault!”

“No it isn’t.” Jack insisted, “Whether or not you two are Power Rangers, I’m your teacher. I should’ve protected you. Esthel, I can’t apologize enough.”

Esthel stood up. With a hardened gaze, she drilled into Jack’s eyes. “Then don’t try. Instead, get us to where that monster is this instant.”

Jack nodded. “Right away, ma’am.” He sprinted into the engineer’s room.

A rainbow-colored disc of light appeared in the air, a few hundred feet in front of the Imagination Express. Unseen by all except a few nearby children, the train pulled forward, slowly accelerating until it disappeared into the vortex.

Ian was suspended in a vortex of wind, surrounded by a void of red and orange flames. He flailed his limbs in his Ranger form, constantly struggling to breathe. He swung his enerhammer to no effect. The entire time, the empty air gradually became smaller, as the flames inched closer on all sides.

Stove Shadow walked through a park in Japan, firing flaming pieces of coal at fleeing civilians while laughing. “Come on, humans! It’s time for a little heat wave!” He fired at a parked car, causing it to explode. “Yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about! If this doesn’t get the Rangers’ attention-”

A rainbow portal opened a few feet away from Stove Shadow, followed by a set of tracks manifesting underfoot. “Wait!” His voice was drowned out by the oncoming train whistle. “This wasn’t what I had in mind!” He barely managed to dive out of the way, before the Imagination Express barreled past him.

“Sorry, kids. Looks like I missed him.”

“At least now we get to finish him off in person.” Steven deadpanned while standing up. “You girls ready?”

“Of course!” Rachel punched her own palm.

Alice nodded. “If that thing hurt Ian, or worse, then we’ve gotta send the shadows a message and do the exact same thing to it.”

Esthel took note of Laurelie wringing her hands. “It’s okay, sweetheart.” She squeezed the child’s shoulders. “I know you’ll get Ian back somehow.”

“I know that. It’s not… I, uh… I can’t tell you. You’re going to get mad at me.”

“I won’t, honey, I promise. If you want, we can wait until after you kids rescue Ian and destroy Stove Shadow.”

“Yeah, Laur.” Steven added, “Just grab your morpher and-”

“I lost my morpher!” Laurelie blurted out. Her eyes burned, forcing her to shut them tight. “I lost my morpher because I’m stupid and useless and don’t deserve to be a Power Ranger, and Ian’s going to die and it’s all my fault!” She blew past Esthel and ran into the next train car. The door automatically slid open before her and closed after her.

Esthel weakly held out an arm. Steven shoved his fists into his pockets. “It’s fine. The three of us will take down that monster.”

“Just so you know, you won’t be able to use the trainzooka without all five of you.” Jack informed him.

“Then we won’t use the trainzooka!” Steven snapped, face contorted. His sisters each took a step back. He turned around to face them. “If you still have your morphers, then come with me, now.”

Rachel walked over to him. “In case you’ve forgotten, Stevie, I’m the Red Ranger. Stop pretending you’re in charge!”

“Don’t call me Stevie!” He grabbed Rachel by the wrist. “And maybe I should be in charge! With you in charge, we lost Ian, and Laurelie lost her morpher!” His eyes stung.

Rachel tore her hand out of her brother’s. “How dare you?!” She grabbed Steven by the shoulders and pushed him against the wall. “Am I supposed to watch everything Laurelie does?! And as for Ian, that was your fault!”

“That’s enough!” Jack grabbed the kids by the shoulders, tearing them apart from each other. They both cowered at the sound of his voice. Jack took a series of breaths through his nose. “Listen to me. You’re siblings, and you’re Power Rangers. That means you need to work together to stop this monster and save your brother. I know you can do both.”

Alice nodded. “Yeah, and after that, then you can get back to arguing.”

Rachel looked down. “Okay. Steven, we need to save Ian. Even if we can’t, we can’t just let that monster have its way.”

“You’re right. Sorry, guys. Alice, come on. The three of us are going out to fight that monster.”

“Yeah! And we’re going to beat it and save Ian, no matter what!” Alice took the green and blue insertrains off the bench on the wall, and started running to the door.

With a pneumatic hiss, the door to the Imagination Express opened. Three children ran out into the park. “Well it’s about time you three showed up! I may be on fire, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate the cold shoulder!”

“Enough jokes.” Steven glared at the monster. “We’re getting Ian back, and then we’re going to destroy you so you can’t hurt anyone else!”

Stove Shadow laughed, “Save who? The Yellow Ranger? He’s living his last moments as we speak! Saving him now will be impossible!”

Rachel threw her fist into her palm. “That’s what Power Rangers do best!”

“ It’s morphin time! ” Rachel, Alice, and Steven activated the red, green, and pink insertrains respectively, before slotting their imagination passes into their belts to manifest their weapons.

“Looks like Christmas has come early! And guess what? You’re all on my naughty list!” Stove shadow fired a flaming lump of coal at the rangers, forcing Rachel and Alice to roll to the side. Steven jumped straight over the shot, coming down to slice Stove Shadow with his double-dagger bridge.

“Even if we can’t save my brother…” Steven continued slashing and slicing, pushing Stove Shadow back. “I’ll still make sure you can’t hurt anyone else!” He slashed horizontally before turning around.

“I got him now!” Rachel elongated her track blade. It slid between the grates on Stove Shadow’s stomach, disappearing into the void of flames. “Hold him down!”

“I got this!” Alice pulled her arm back, tossing the axebreaker while running. It spun through the air, slammed into Stove Shadow’s head, and bounced off of him. Alice stopped running and swapped out her insertrains.

Green transferring to blue!

Alice’s uniform changed colors, and the axebreaker was enveloped in a blue flash of light. The railyzer fell into her hands.

“Hurry!” Rachel yelled.

“I get what you’re planning. It won’t work!” Stove Shadow grabbed the track blade and started pulling, screaming in pain. Alice fired the railyzer. A flat, glowing blue translucent square launched out of it and struck Stove Shadow, immobilizing him. “What?!”

“Rachel, hurry up! I don’t know how long it’ll last!”

“You got it!”

Laurelie yelped at the hiss of the door opening. Esthel walked into the green car of the Imagination Express, letting the door close behind herself. Laurelie’s arm dangled by her side, while she clasped the elbow in her opposite hand. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was small and cracked.

“Oh, honey, come here.” Esthel pulled Laurelie closer to herself. The child stayed motionless as she was hugged. “You couldn’t have gotten on the train without your pass, so it must still be on here somewhere. Jack and I can help you look for it, okay?”

Laurelie nodded her head slightly. “Okay. Thank you.”

The flames were close enough that Ian was drenched in sweat under his Ranger uniform. A metal point burst through the flames. It was as wide as Ian was tall, and continued to elongate within the pocket of air. Ian squinted at the sword. “The… that’s the track blade!”

The track blade wrapped itself around Ian, completely enveloping him, before dragging him back in the direction it’d come from. The metal shielded him from the flames, while he screamed from the heat.

“Guys, I’ve got him!” Rachel yelled, smiling widely under her visor. “Ian’s gonna be safe!”

“Not if I’ve got anything to say about it!” Stove Shadow swung his arm, breaking out of the paralysis. “And I do!”

“Time to shut you up!” Steven sliced Stove Shadow across his grate, splitting the bars in half. He jumped away just as the tip of Rachel’s sword was about to come out.

The tip of the track blade unfurled, releasing an inch-tall figure from Stove Shadow. Ian rapidly grew back to the size of a ten-year-old boy, flipping sideways through the air. “I’m back!” During his flip, he swung the enerhammer upwards into Stove Shadow’s stomach. The red light activated, releasing a burst of energy that shattered Stove Shadow’s grate and sent him flying in an arc, before he crashed down.

Ian was sent skidding on the ground by the impact, demorphing in the process. He laid on the ground, with the grass and his clothes adhered to him by the sweat drenching his entire body. Steven, Rachel, and Alice ran over to him, standing in a horizontal row between their brother and the monster.

Stove Shadow staggered to his feet, groaning in pain, “Oh, I don’t feel so hot. Talk about indigestion! You Rangers make me sick!” Tendrils of shadow erupted from the ground to envelop him and drag him underground.

“I doubt he went to get some medicine.” Rachel noted, “We need to get Ian back into the train, ASAP.”

Steven wordlessly demonstrated his agreement by lifting Ian into his arms. The three of them ran back into the train. Steven laid Ian down on a bench before demorphing along with his sisters.

“Ian!” Esthel paused her searching in favor of running over to him. “My sweet little grandson, are you okay?!”

Ian whimpered in pain. His lips barely parted. “No.”

“There should be a bathroom and bedroom in the caboose.” Jack explained, with a gentle hand on Esthel’s shoulders, “Take care of him, and then we can discuss what to do about Stove Shadow.”

Deliriously, Ian weakly laughed, “You said caboose.”

Jack patted his head, hair matted down by perspiration. “That’s right. I did.”

“I’ll help.” Steven volunteered, “I’m a boy too, and the caboose is the pink car, right? That’s my color.” He tapped his pink insertrain. “Actually, Jack, why don’t you help us too? You’re another guy.”

Jack facepalmed. “Steven, I can’t do that. I’m your teacher, and Ian looks like he needs a shower and a change of clothes before he gets infected. Or worse, he’ll chafe really, really badly.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Rachel asked.

Esthel glanced to the side. “I’ll tell you when you’re older. Steven, why’d you call Mr. Burley Jack?”

“Actually, that was my idea. Right before we were attacked by Stove Shadow and while Ian was in the bathroom, I asked Steven to call me Jack outside of school. I figured it made sense, now that you guys are living with me short-term. I was planning to tell the rest of you when we met back up, but I think we can all agree we had more pressing things to worry about.”

“Okay.” Esthel gently gathered Ian into her arms. “That’s fair. I’ll let Ian know when he’s feeling better, and in the meantime, I’m sure the girls will respect that. Won’t you?” After Rachel and Alice confirmed what she’d asked, Esthel carried Ian out of the car. Steven followed close behind her.

“Guys, guys, look!” Laurelie burst into the front car, holding up a small object. “I found my morpher! It was stuck in the cushion on one of the benches; it must’ve fallen out of my pocket.” She sat down on the floor, hugging it to her chest. “What happened to Ian? I tried asking Steven and grandma, but grandma said there wasn’t time to explain. And Steven looked like he wanted to yell at me. He looked scary. I don’t wanna be scared of my own brother, not when I’ve already got the shadows to be scared of.”

Jack knelt down to her eye level, just a foot in front of her. “Oh, you poor little thing. Steven’s not going to hurt you. He’s just upset because Ian got hurt by Stove Shadow, and Stove Shadow escaped. Now that you have your morpher, though, all we have to do is wait for Ian to recover. Then we can find Stove Shadow again and stop him once and for all. Okay?”

“Okay.” Laurelie nodded. “Is there any way we can get some kind of power-up against the shadows?”

“Actually, there is.” Jack smiled at her. “But I’d rather wait until we’re all together for that so I can tell everyone at once, alright?”

Laurelie agreed, “Alright.”

The Murdoch siblings, their grandmother, and their teacher were all gathered around the living room. Steven was holding Ian close, after he’d changed. “Okay, now that we’re all back together, we should come up with a plan to take down Stove Shadow. Laurelie asked me if there were any ways to power up your arsenal. To be honest, there is. Yours aren’t the only insertrains out there. It’s just that the rest have been lost.”

“What?” Steven leaned forward in his seat. “How exactly were they lost?”

“There’s no time to explain, not while Stove Shadow’s no doubt getting ready to come back stronger. You kids need to do the same.”

“Right. I’m guessing you’ve found one of the lost insertrains?” Rachel surmised.

“That’s right.” Esthel confirmed, “We can ride the Imagination Express to find it, and then Stove Shadow won’t stand a chance against you kids.”

Ian and Steven were alone in the yellow car, in the center of the Imagination Express, while it raced unseen on train tracks in the sky. They watched the ground far below them, tiny american cities that lit up everything around them. “It kinda feels like we’re in an airplane.”

“Yeah.” Steven reached his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Are you okay? It must’ve been scary in there.”

“It was.” Ian leaned into Steven. “I honestly thought I was going to be destroyed. There was this tiny bit of air, and I was surrounded by fire, and I could just feel it getting closer and closer on all sides. I was terrified. I thought I was a goner.”

Steven hugged Ian. “I’m sorry. I should’ve done more.”

“Maybe. This feels nice, though.” Ian returned the hug. “And now that we’re all together again, and we’re about to get a new insertrain, I know we can make that monster pay.”

“Yeah. That’s right we will.”

“You idiot!” Miss Noire slapped Stove Shadow upside the head. “You had the Yellow Ranger right there! Literally inside of you! How could you let him be rescued?! Now how am I supposed to impress gen- I mean, destroy the Power Rangers? Yes, that’s all I want.”

“I’m so sorry, miss.” Stove Shadow apologized, “They caught me by surprise is all. I just humbly request an upgrade or two, and then those Rangers will be powerless.”

“Very well then.” Miss Noire’s eyes glowed a dark purple. “Allow me to heat you up, so you can destroy the Power Rangers at last!”

A rainbow-colored vortex opened in the air a few inches away from a mountainside, several miles above sea level. With the loud hiss of machinery, the doors opened for the Murdoch siblings to jump out onto solid ground. “You kids know the plan, right?”

“Yeah.” Rachel confirmed, “We have to find a tiny little insertrain somewhere on this mountain, and then use it to stop Stove Shadow.”

“Don’t forget, you can also use your passes to track it, communicate with each other and with us, and keep track of each others’ locations.” Esthel told them, “You kids be careful, okay?”

“We will.” Rachel assured her before the train’s doors closed. “Okay guys, this is a big mountain and we need to find this new insertrain fast, so I’m thinking we should split up and search.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Steven asked, “You know what happened last time we split up.”

“Okay, then let’s split up differently. Alice, go with Ian. Steven, Laurelie, you’re with me.”

Laurelie nervously looked over at Steven. “Rachel, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on Laurelie, Steven doesn’t bite. Besides, we’re Power Rangers and siblings. We need to work as a team, and we can’t do that if we’re nervous around each other.”

“She’s right.” Alice patted Ian on the shoulder. “The two of us can go together, and Rachel will make sure you guys can talk things out without escalating and slapping each other or anything.”

“I wouldn’t slap my sister!” Steven denied.

“Great! Ya hear that, Laur? Now let’s go.”

Esthel and Jack sat next to each other on one of the benches in the Imagination Express. “Don’t worry.” Jack assured Esthel, “Those kids aren’t just any 4th-graders. They’re Power Rangers. They’ll be perfectly fine.”

“You’re sure?” Esthel asked nervously.

“I’m certain.”

Esthel smiled. “You’re right. They can take care of themselves. I’m sorry, but it’s just that as their grandmother, it’s my job to worry about them and want to protect them.”

“Don’t apologize. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep your grandkids safe. Honestly, I’d be much more concerned if you weren’t at least a bit worried about them turning into super heroes and battling monsters.”

“Thank you.” Esthel intertwined her fingers with Jack’s. “And again, I really can’t thank you enough for lodging us. Still, I think we should talk about sleeping arrangements while we’re alone.”

Jack nodded. “Fair enough. I can’t pretend it’s ideal as is.”

“Yeah. The kids are 9, but sooner or later, they’re going to need their own rooms. Especially the girls; I love them, but they can’t exactly sleep in the same room as their grandma for much longer.”

“Agreed. It’s a shame, really. We have this massive train, with so much room, but it’s not like we could use it as… huh.”

“Jack, you’re brilliant!”

“Wow! You guys, look at this moss.” Rachel was kneeling to poke some moss on a small rock.

“Come on, Rachel, you can’t be serious. We’re supposed to be looking for the lost insertrain, not staring at moss.”

“Yeah, but it’s shaped kinda like a train.” Rachel turned around and noticed Laurelie, standing a few feet away from Steven. “Okay, that’s enough of that.” She sat down on another rock. “We’re not taking another step until you two talk through your problems.”

“I think you mean you’re not taking another step. I plan on taking as many steps as it takes to find that insertrain.” Steven walked away. “Laurelie, you coming?”

“I… um… I don’t know…” Laurelie hesitated.

“The answer is no.” Rachel slid her insertrain into her morpher. “It’s morphin time!” She turned into the Red Rail Ranger, manifested her track blade, and elongated it. It extended for several dozen feet, completely encircling Rachel’s siblings.

“Hey! What do you think you’re-” Steven was interrupted by part of the track blade splitting off from the hilt and constricting around himself and Laurelie, forcing them to sit with their backs together and their arms pinned to their sides.

“Sorry, guys.” Rachel admitted, “I wasn’t planning for this sibling bonding time to get so literal.” She walked over to take their insertrains.

“Rachel, give that back!” Laurelie demanded, trying and failing to escape.

“I will.” Rachel smirked under her visor, juggling the red, green, and pink insertrains. “Just as soon as you two work through your problems. Whoops!” She almost dropped the red insertrain before lunging to catch all three of them. “I meant to do that.”

“Sure you did.” Steven deadpanned, “Can you at least leave us alone to talk?”

“Sure thing, Steve. I’ll leave you two alone on a mountain, tied up and incapable of morphing, while there’s a monster on the loose. A monster that spits out fire. While we’re surrounded by trees and grass and other flammable stuff. What could possibly go wrong?” She walked over to a rock to use it as a chair. “Nope. I’m staying right here and waiting. I won’t eavesdrop, though.” She put in her wireless earbuds and started listening to music on her phone.

Laurelie closed her eyes, looked down, and took a sharp breath in and out of her nose. “I know why you’re mad at me. I’m so sorry.”

“You should be. You lost your morpher! How irresponsible can you be?! Ian almost bit it because of you!”

“I know that! I feel terrible! I can’t say I’m sorry enough, and I don’t have any excuses to make!” Laurelie choked, “I put you all in danger. From now on, I’ll never take my morpher off again! Just, please don’t hit me.”

Steven immediately softened his tone. “Why would you ever think I’d hit you?” He bent his arm to grip Laurelie’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I might get mad and yell sometimes, but I would never hurt you. You’re my sister.”

“You promise?” Laurelie asked hopefully.

“I promise. And do you promise not to lose your morpher again?”

“Yes! And I promise that I’ll never lose my pass or my insertrain!”

“Good. So are we good now?”

Laurelie sighed in relief. “I think so.”

“Alright.” Steven leaned his head and called, “Yo, Rachel! You can let us out now!”

Rachel continued nodding along to her music, quietly singing, “Throw up your hands, having fun in Japan…”

“Are you kidding me? She can’t hear us?!” Steven complained.

Laurelie shrugged. “Well, you said you didn’t want her listening in. Now come on. Help me get us out of this thing.”

“Right.” Steven and Laurelie started struggling in the track blade, until they pitched sideways and fell on the ground. “Okay, we need a new plan. Got anything?”

Laurelie scanned the area, until her eyes locked onto a stick. “Ooh, yeah, I got something!” She stretched out her arm until it was sore, and only her fingertip was barely touching the end of the twig. She curled her finger, dragging the twig, until it was close enough to fully grab.

Rachel’s eyes were closed, and she was still obliviously nodding and singing along to her music. Laurelie and Steven took turns using the stick to push the track blade down their arms, until it was loose enough that they could stand up. The segment of track blade dissolved in a flash of red light, accompanied by the sound of glass breaking.

“Huh?” Rachel paused her music. “You guys escaped? How?! Did you make up?”

Laurelie counted her answers on her fingers, “Clearly yes, we used a stick and a whole lot of patience, and also yes.”

“Wow, a stick?”

“Oh, I get it!” Steven realized, “You were just pretending not to notice us so that we’d be forced to work together in order to escape! You’re a genius, Rachel!”

Rachel sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. “Yes.”

Alice and Ian were walking up the mountain, staying on the dirt trail and looking around at the trees surrounding them. Ian leaned on a tree, looking into its knothole with no results. “Hey, Alice? Can we please take a break?”

“Yeah, I guess a little break couldn’t hurt.” Alice sat down next to Ian on a rock. “Are you okay? You almost got digested by a stove monster.”

Ian released a full-body shudder. “Please don’t call it digestion. That just makes it so much worse.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that. I’m just so glad you’re safe. We were all really worried about you.”

“I was really worried about me too.” Ian looked down. He saw a small piece of metal, green and gray, poking out of a small crack in the rock. “Hey, do you think that’s…”

Alice’s face was set alight by a smile. “Yeah! That’s gotta be…”

The siblings looked up at each other. “ The new insertrain! ”

Chapter Text

A fire erupted in the forest behind Rachel. She screamed and ran away, tossing Laurelie and Steven’s insertrains. “We’ve gotta morph right now!” Steven and Laurelie caught the devices out of the air.

Stove Shadow jumped out of the blaze. Its simple act of landing on the ground caused two flaming geysers to erupt on its left and right. “Morph all you want! It won’t save you now that I’ve been upgraded!”

“Only one way to find out!” Rachel slid her insertrain into her morpher, and locked it in. Her brother and sister stood on either side of her. “ It’s morphin time! ”

Stove Shadow opened his grate to launch a massive fireball at the Rangers. The second after they morphed, Laurelie and Steven dove to the sides while Rachel activated her track blade. In the millisecond before it’d finished appearing, she swung it while extending it. The sound of glass breaking was drowned out by the 6-foot long sword deflecting the fireball. It exploded behind Stove Shadow, adding to the massive bonfire.

“Uh, Laur?” Steven looked down at himself. “I think we grabbed the wrong insertrains.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Laurelie agreed, “I look good in pink! And you look pretty good in green!”

“If you ask me, you’ll both look much better when you’re burnt to a bunch of black crisps!” Stove Shadow ejected a surplus of fireballs out of his stomach. The rangers dodged the fireballs, constantly swerving and jumping. Rachel and Steven passed by each other in midair, flames erupting directly below them. After exchanging a quick glance, they traded their insertrains.

Green transferring to red! Red transferring to green!

By the time Rachel and Steven landed on the ground, they were wearing the opposite colors of spandex from ten seconds ago. Steven ran forward. “Red is the color of fire, so come at me!”

“If you insist!” Stove Shadow ejected a fireball at Steven. He stood still, back straight, arms held diagonally at his sides, and allowed himself to take the full force of the attack.

Steven’s entire body was rocked by pain. The Ranger uniform barely shielded him from the heat, and he had to dig his heels into the ground to stay standing. Beneath his visor, he was gritting his teeth so hard he could feel them starting to crack. Eventually, the heat subsided. He breathed heavily into his visor. “Didn’t feel a thing.”

“What?!” Stove Shadow took a step back. “How are you standing?!”

“Are you kidding?” Steven lied, “You barely touched me! Are your fireballs defective or something?”

“My fireballs- huh?” Stove Shadow leaned back to shoot a fireball straight upwards, letting it fall onto his head. He screamed in pain, running around with his head on fire. “Why did I do that?! What was I thinking?!”

“Are you okay?” Rachel asked. The Red Ranger suit was sparking with crimson electricity.

Steven nodded, stumbling in place. “Lucky I didn’t have to do it again.” He collapsed while his Ranger suit disappeared.

While Rachel crouched over Steven to grab her insertrain, staying in place to watch over him, her imagination pass started beeping. A green dot was flashing on the corner. “Oh, great.” Rachel tapped the device. “Laur, I need you to keep him busy while I figure out how this thing works!”

Laurelie watched as Stove Shadow screamed and ran in a circle, with his head still on fire. She laughed, “Can do.”

Rachel shook her head, sweating through her uniform. “Oh, that’s right. The forest fire. I almost forgot about that.” She looked back down at the imagination pass. “Now I know how grandma feels.” She pressed down on the green light, and dragged it to the opposite corner. The face of the device was replaced by a screen, showing Alice holding her own imagination pass while in her Blue Ranger form.

“Rachel, there’s a forest fire nearby! We’ve gotta get back to the train!”

“Uh, yeah, about that. That was kinda sorta us.” Rachel admitted, “We’re fighting Stove Shadow out here.”

“Oh. We found the lost insertrain, so we’ll track you guys and be right over.”

“Thanks.”

“No prob.” Alice turned off her device.

Rachel supported Steven’s head with her palm. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Steven pointed at the green insertrain in Rachel’s morpher. “If you’re taking the red one, can I have that?”

“Yeah, of course.” Rachel flicked open her morpher and slid the insertrain out.

Rail Ranger 1 now demorphing! If you wish to stay morphed, please transfer now!

Rachel slid the red insertrain into the morpher on her wrist. Steven did the same with the green insertrain, while standing up.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

Laurelie backflipped before sprinting forward, jumping through the air with her leg outstretched. She kicked Stove Shadow in the chest, sending him flying back.

Stove Shadow landed on the ground. “Ow, my head. Wait a second, my head! It’s not on fire anymore! Now I can have my rev-” Rachel’s track blade extended from a dozen feet away, wrapping around Stove Shadow and pinning his arms to his sides. “This won’t stop me a second time!” He opened the grate on his stomach.

Rachel was forced to dig her heels into the ground. She yanked on her track blade, while a gust of wind pulled her towards the opening in Stove Shadow’s stomach. “You…! You’re not going to win!”

“Yes I am! Once I eliminate the Red Ranger, the rest will be helpless!”

“Not again!” Steven screamed in pain. His shoulders ached and his arms threatened to tear themselves apart, as he lifted the axebreaker and tossed it. The weapon spun vertically through the air, until it was embedded in Stove Shadow’s chest. Stove Shadow and Steven both collapsed to the ground.

Steven was forcibly demorphed by a loss of energy. Stove Shadow’s grate involuntarily closed, freeing Rachel from its inward gust. “Thanks Steve!” She ran forward of her own volition.

Laying on the ground, Steven weakly raised his arm. “You’re welcome. Ow.”

Laurelie jumped and spun through the air with her arms outstretched, wielding the double-dagger bridge. She deflected each fireball that Stove Shadow sent out at her, causing them to explode on the ground.

Rachel slashed at Stove Shadow. He managed to dodge the track blade by lunging backwards, before turning to the side and kicking Rachel in the stomach. She collapsed on her back, gasping, with the wind knocked out of her. “Do you really think you can stop me?” Stove Shadow opened his stomach grate. A bonfire glowed from within him, as he prepared to shoot a jet of flames directly into the Red Ranger point-blank. “Cause I knew kids your age were stupid, but that’s next level! There’s no way three little Rangers can defeat a Shadow Line engineer!”

A glowing blue square struck the front of Stove Shadow’s body, paralyzing him while forcibly closing his stomach grate.

“Do you think five Rangers could do the trick?” Alice twirled the railyzer in her hands.

Ian stood next to her, holding up his hand with a small object pinched between his thumb and forefinger. “Here’s the new insertrain! Now we’ve just gotta figure out a way to use it!”

“We can do that later.” Rachel stood up and instructed, “Laur, Steve, trade your costumes. We’ll blast this guy with-” The paralysis wore off. Stove Shadow roared in anger, launching a column of fire at Rachel. She jumped out of the way, barely missing the incinerating heat. “The trainzooka!”

“Right!” Steven tossed the green insertrain.

“Got it! Yeet!” Laurelie pitched the pink insertrain.

Steven and Laurelie slid the pink and green insertrains, respectively, into their morphers. They locked them in by pressing the crossing gates down. “It’s morphin time!”

Pink transferring to green!

The Murdoch siblings stood in a horizontal row, a dozen feet in front of Stove Shadow. Fires raged in the mountain forest all around them. “Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

They tossed the track blade, the railyzer, the enerhammer, the axebreaker, and the double-dagger bridge into the air. When they fell back to the ground, they’d combined into a single weapon, supported on the Rangers’ shoulders. “ Trainzooka! ” Red, blue, yellow, green, and pink lights swirled into the cannon. “ Final express! ”

Rainbow-colored tracks appeared in midair, trapping Stove Shadow between two of them. A translucent multicolored train was launched out of the trainzooka. With a deafening whistle, it crashed into Stove Shadow. The Rangers turned around while the monster exploded behind them.

“Yeah, that’s what we need!” Ian yelled, “More fire!”

A swarm of dark clouds rose and opened, revealing Stove Shadow. He towered over the flaming trees around him. “Now I’m all fired up!”

“He’s not the only one.” Rachel turned to address her siblings, “Okay, now it’s time for everyone’s favorite part.”

They raised their imagination passes to the sky. “ Let’s ride the rails! ”

“Hey, wait.” Laurelie realized, “Whaddaya think happens if we summon the zords while grandma and Mr. Burley are still inside them?”

Jack Burley paced around the red car of the Imagination Express. Esthel stayed seated, turning her head to follow him with her eyes. “Jack, you’re going to tire yourself out doing that for too long. Is something bothering you?”

“No.” Jack paused, both in his pacing and his speaking. “Well, yes, but you won’t like it?”

“Why not? Is it about the Shadow Line?”

“No, it’s about us. When you were talking about the sleeping arrangements, the thought of us sharing a room crossed my mind. Now it’s living in my head rent-free, as my students would say.”

Esthel suppressed a laugh. “Jack, are you saying you have a crush on little ol’ me?”

“I’m really not sure. I know I like you, but I’m not sure if I like you in that way.”

“I understand.” Esthel patted the bench next to herself. “I can only think of one way to find out. I won’t force you into it, though.”

“Thank you.” Jack hesitated, occasionally taking a step back, until he sat down next to Esthel. “I guess we might as well. Like you said, it’s the only way to be sure. And besides, it’s not like we have anything better to do while the kids are out.”

“True.” Esthel leaned in closer. “Are you ready?”

“I think so.” Jack leaned towards her. Their lips briefly touched before pulling away. “Nope.” Jack shrugged, “I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Me neither.” Esthel waved it off, “Oh well. I suppose it’s not meant to be then.”

“That’s fine. You are a little old for me anyway.”

Esthel smiled. “I’ve still got a spring in my step, Burley. Although you are a good friend.”

“Thanks. You too.”

The interior of the train echoed with a high-pitched, five-tone chime. A series of words in colored LED lights scrolled across the screen above the door to the engineer’s room. A cheerful, mechanical voice read the words aloud.

Now entering megazord mode! All passengers, please remain seated while the Imagination Express enters megazord mode!

“The kids must’ve found Stove Shadow!” Esthel realized. She and Jack held on tight to the bench. Their surroundings were replaced by an extra-dimensional tunnel of swirling rainbow colors. The Imagination Express raced along the tracks suspended within the Magin Line.

General Irondark stood alone in a room, facing a wall made of black stone. Part of the wall was concave, with a screen inside with red and black flower decorations on the sides, that allowed him to watch as the Rangers boarded the Imagination Express and transformed it into their megazord. “Quite the interesting device.” He admitted, with begrudging respect. He touched the screen with his palm. Red and black smoke rippled out from his hand, until the screen disappeared. In its place was a window showing a gray train, skeletal in its design motif with the front resembling a skull, with dark blue accents. “Go, Fright Fight Freighters!”

Miss Noire had been hiding behind one of the columns at the edge of the room. She muttered into her hand, “The general looks so cool. I hope Stove Shadow makes me look good by destroying the Power Rangers.”

“ Rail Rescue Megazord! On track to victory! ”

“Wait, we should make sure grandma and Mr. B- I mean Jack, are okay down there first.” Rachel tapped her imagination pass. “Al, how’d you-?”

“Rachel, focus!” Alice yelled, pointing out of the megazord’s eye-windows. Stove Shadow had opened his stomach grate to launch a massive fireball at them, the size of a tree.

“Woah! Thanks!” Rachel pulled a lever to make the megazord swing the crossing gate sword, deflecting the fireball. It exploded on Stove Shadow, throwing him back. “But seriously, how’d you figure out the communicators?”

“There’s a compartment in the back with an instruction manual; you just gotta really dig your nails in.”

“Does the instruction manual say anything about that?” Ian pointed at two circular portals that’d appeared above and to either side of Stove Shadow. Each was dark purple, and the size of Stove Shadow’s head. Black and white train tracks emerged from them, winding up and down while carrying skeletal trains.

The trains glowed purple and transformed into humanoid robots, the same size as the Rail Rescue Megazord and Stove Shadow. The monster looked to its sides. “Fright Fight Freighters? Oh, general Irondark, you of little faith.”

“The monster gets backup?” Rachel whined, “I want backup!”

A blue and white monkey puppet, wearing a tiny conductor’s uniform, popped out of the tiny red smokestack in front of Rachel’s seat in the cockpit. It greeted them with a raspy, singsong voice, “Hello!”

Rachel startled back in her seat, yelling, “Whoa! Who the H-E-double-heck are you?”

“The name’s Monk E. Puppet! What the E stands for is a secret. I’ll be your guide to using-”

The robots fired gatling guns out of their hands, peppering the Rail Rescue Megazord with rapid-fire laser pellets. The multicolored robot charged at them, raising its sword while sparks flew off the points of impact. Monk E. Puppet warned them, “Careful with those Fright Freight Fighters!”

One of the Fright Freight Fighters caught the crossing gate sword in its hand. It slammed its other hand into the Megazord’s shoulder, striking both the green and pink sections with each punch. The megazord broke away and attempted to attack the other Fright Freight Fighter. It deflected the crossing gate sword with its hand, before striking the Rail Rescue Megazord with both hands.

“No!” Rachel yelled. The punches released the crossing gate sword from the Rail Rescue Megazord’s grip. It landed point-first in the ground half a mile away. The megazord was trapped between the two enemy robots, as they punched and kicked it in rapid succession.

“Good! Now hold them back, so I can roast these Rangers!” Stove Shadow ordered. The robots obeyed by grabbing one of the megazord’s arms each, pulling them back to leave its front exposed. “You Rangers are gonna be even less cool than you already are!” Stove Shadow launched another 4 fireballs at the megazord in rapid succession.

The Rangers screamed as the fireballs exploded on the Rail Rescue Megazord’s chest. The entire cockpit shook. “Monkey Puppet!” Rachel lunged forward in her seat to grab Monk E. Puppet in both hands. “How do we stop this?!”

“It’s…” the puppet choked, “Monk… E. Puppet.”

“Whatever!” Rachel shook him, “How do we stop Stove Shadow and these fright fright- fight fright- freight feight- gah! The triple-F’s!?” She let him go.

“Oh, easy! Just use the shield insertrain!”

“You mean this?” Ian held up the green and gray metal train.

“Yes, that’s it!” Monk E. Puppet confirmed, “Just slide it into the Red Ranger’s morpher to arm the megazord!” He turned around to face away from the Rangers. “And with that, my work here is done.” He popped down the smokestack.

“Hey wait!” Rachel tried to grab him but missed. She stood on her seat, leaning over to look down the smokestack. “Are grandma and Mr. Burley okay?!”

“One thing at a time! Catch!” Ian tossed the shield insertrain. Rachel turned around and swiped her arm to snatch it out of the air.

“So am I the only one who noticed that monkey dude’s mouth didn’t match what he was saying? Like at all?” Steven pointed out.

“That’s the part you’re questioning?!” Laurelie yelled.

“Focus!” Rachel snapped. She opened her morpher to extract the red insertrain. She exchanged it for the shield insertrain, and locked it in. “It’s shieldin time!”

A life-sized version of the shield insertrain flew at them through a black extradimensional tunnel, surrounded by gridlines in the Rangers’ colors. The front half split open up and down, revealing a five-color stoplight. A yellow light was on the top opposite the pink light, a blue light stood below the yellow one opposite green, and a red light adorned the center.

“Hey, why isn’t it stopping?” Steven asked.

Alice’s palms flew to the top and sides of her head. “It’s gonna ram us!”

The shield train turned around in midair, revealing a socket. Steven grinned under his visor. “Then let’s let it ram us.” The megazord held out its pink left arm. The front half of the train was replaced by the shield.

“ Rail Rescue Megazord Shield Formation! On track to defend! ”

The megazord used its shield to effortlessly block a swipe from one of the Triple-Fs’ arms. It followed up by grabbing the crossing gate sword out of the ground and running past the robot while slicing across its stomach. Both mechas turned around to face each other again. The Rail Rescue Megazord slashed down, cutting a line of sparks through the robot’s torso.

The Fright Freight Fighter fell backwards in a swarm of fire and electricity before it exploded, consigning the marailder driving it to the same fate. “Oh yeah!” Steven pumped his fist in the air. “One down, two to go!”

“Shield or no shield, I don’t need any help to wipe you multicolored miscreants out!” Stove Shadow shot another cluster of fireballs.

“Shield train, light up!” Steven ordered. The megazord held up its shield. The lights glowed, one after the other in rapid succession. The shield deflected the fireballs, causing them to strike the other Triple-F just as it was about to strike the Rail Rescue Megazord from behind. Stove Shadow’s barrage of fireballs left the megazord completely unharmed, while destroying the second Fright Freight Fighter. The megazord stood in front of the blazing explosion. Steven cracked his knuckles. “So much for not needing help.”

Stove Shadow clasped his head in his hands, shaking it from side to side. “No! How could this happen?!”

Ian shrugged. “Because we’re awesome, and you’re evil. Nothing to it. Now for the final strike!”

The shield was held out in front of the megazord. All five lights glowed simultaneously. “ Five-color stopping beam! ” Five lasers shot out of the shield as a rainbow that struck Stove Shadow. The monster yelled out unintelligibly, as it was covered in fiery explosions.

By the time the smoke cleared, Stove Shadow was barely standing. “I… I… I won’t give up!” He ran at the megazord, windmilling his arms.

“And neither will we.” Rachel decided. The two lights at the hilt of the crossing gate sword alternated with flashes of red, accompanied by an upbeat chime. Two massive crossing gates lowered themselves from out of nowhere to block Stove Shadow’s path to the Rail Rescue Megazord. A replica of its train form raced past on Stove Shadow’s side of the barrier, obscuring his view.

“Hey! What’re you doing, trying to grill me?”

The phantom train teleported Stove Shadow and the Rail Rescue Megazord into a pocket dimension, where the Rail Rescue Megazord raced towards the Shadow Line engineer on parallel train tracks with shifting colors. “ Crossing rail blades! Rescue slash! ”

The Rail Rescue Megazord slashed diagonally, cutting through Stove Shadow with a beam of rainbow-colored light.“I don’t believe this! Forget my goose, I’m the one who’s cooked!” He emerged into the real world, briefly, and exploded.

Steven remarked, “And that’s your barbe-cue to never hurt my brother again.”

“Eh.” Rachel wavered her hand flat in the air. “That pun wasn’t all that.”

“Really? It wasn’t?”

“Yeah, I get the idea, but- wait! Grandma and Mr. Burley! We’ve gotta make sure they’re okay!”

The doors at the back of the cockpit slid open. Esthel and Jack walked inside. “Kids!”

Ian turned around in his seat. “You’re okay! Thank goodness!”

“What was it like, being inside the trains while they turned into the megazord?” Alice inquired.

Esthel shrugged. “A bit disorienting, but nothing too severe. I think Jack got a little motion sick, though.”

Jack huffed indignantly. “I most certainly did not!”

Rachel threw her arms around her grandmother’s midsection. “I was so worried about you.”

Esthel patted her daughters red-clad back. “It’s still so strange, you being the same height as me.” She returned the hug. “It just reminds me how much you’ve been forced to grow up.”

Laurelie gazed out the megazord’s eye-windows. They were surrounded by a rapidly-expanding mass of flames. “We need to do something about this forest fire. We technically caused it by fighting Stove Shadow, so we should be the ones to put it out.”

“Wait, how is this our fault?” Steven pointed out, “We were just looking for the new insertrain; it’s not our fault that monster decided to show up and pick a fight.”

“Laur’s right.” Rachel argued, “The fires may be Stove Shadow’s fault, but he can’t exactly put them out now. And besides, we’re the Power Rangers. Who cares who’s fault the fire is? We should still put it out, just like the Lightspeed Rangers would.”

“How would we even do that, though?” Steven asked, “The megazord can’t shoot water, can it? Wait, can it?”

Jack shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Oh, wait!” Alice snapped her fingers. “We don’t need to, though! If we can just press the shield hard enough into each tree that’s on fire, we should be able to put out the flames. Right?”

Jack patted her on the head. “That’s correct.”

Rachel sat down in the front center seat. “Okay, let’s get started. Grandma, Jack, you guys might want to put your seatbelts on.”

While the Rail Rescue Megazord was pressing its shield into each flaming tree, the choppy rotors of a helicopter grew louder at a rapid pace. It shot a jetstream of water at the fires to put them out. The helicopter hovered next to the megazord’s head, with a megaphone jutting out of the side a few yards away from the robot. “Are you the Power Rangers? Please, identify yourselves!”

“Ah, sorry, but we can’t really do that.” Rachel confessed, “We’ve got secret identities to keep, y’know, secret. Thanks for the assist, though.”

There was a pause, filled only by the sound of water and the sizzling of fire being deprived of oxygen. The man’s voice came back out of the megaphone, “Are you a child?”

“Wh-n-no!” Rachel squeaked. She cleared her throat, and deepened her voice, “No! No, I’m not a child. I’m definitely a grown adult woman.”

“Nice save.” Ian muttered.

“Uh-huh. Sure.” The man in the helicopter responded skeptically, “Thanks for helping with this fire, anyway.”

“No problem. Happy to help.”

The second the Murdoch kids walked into Jack’s living room, they all collapsed onto the couch, chairs, and floor. Rachel groaned, “I can’t believe that guy almost found out I was a kid!”

“I think he still knows.” Alice pointed out, “You weren’t exactly convincing. He seemed fine, though, and that fire would’ve spread way too fast without those guys’ help.”

Esthel looked over her exhausted grandchildren. She smiled warmly at them. “I just want you kids to know, I’m very proud of you all. I was scared when you got these powers, and I still am because you’re my babies and the shadows are extremely dangerous, but now I’m confident you can handle anything that comes your way.”

Ian looked up from the floor. “Thanks, grandma.”

“You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you kids get some rest, and we’ll get you up for dinner, okay?”

The children collectively muttered their agreements. While Rachel, Alice, and Laurelie walked into the guest bedroom, Ian and Steven crawled under the covers on the couch.

Esthel scratched her grandsons’ hair. “Get some rest, boys. I love you.”

“Love you too, grandma.”

Steven nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I love you, too.”

Esthel walked away after her grandsons had fallen asleep. “They’re such cuties. Jack, can we please agree not to tell them what happened on the train?”

The teacher nodded. “Of course. I won’t tell them anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, there’s one more decision we need to make tonight. Do we want beef, chicken, or delivered pizza for dinner?”

Chapter Text

The students filed into the math classroom and took their seats. Once all 24 of them were settled, their teacher greeted them, “Hello, students. How’re you all today?”

With practiced boredom, the assembled fourth-graders answered in a deadpan monotony, “ We’re doing well, Ms. Power. ”

“Good to hear. Now, today we’re going to start learning about exponents.”

Despite Laurelie’s best attempts to focus, she constantly found her mind involuntarily wandering to the past week’s events. All throughout her first day back at school after becoming the green ranger, she’d found it even more difficult than usual to focus. She was borderline startled when Ms. Power started handing out worksheets.

“There are 38 questions on these, each split into three parts.” She erased the notes that’d been on the whiteboard. “Whatever you don’t finish in class will be your homework, but anyone who finishes before the class ends gets 5 extra points. And remember, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions is how we learn new things, and teaching you new things is my job. So make sure to ask lots of questions so I can afford to pay my mortgage.”

Laurelie struggled to focus on the worksheet. The words on the page and the whispers of the other students mixed together into a droning, unintelligible cacophony in her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Alice glanced to her side at Laurelie. She elbowed her in the arm. “You okay?”

Laurelie nodded, barely opening her mouth. “I’m okay.”

Alice hesitantly nodded, before going back to her copy of the worksheet. Laurelie waited until nobody was looking at her before sliding the zipper of her backpack open, and pulling out her kendama. She rolled the ball between her palm and fingers, slowly inhaling and exhaling while occasionally flicking her fingers to wind the string around the rod. The small, repetitive motions helped her to calm down. She looked back down at the worksheet.

While Laurelie was stimming, she was able to focus on the worksheet. She started reading and answering the questions.

The Murdoch siblings had gathered around a circular lunch table, with their morphers in their backpacks and their imagination passes in their pockets. “Man, that was awful.” Laurelie groaned, “38 questions and I barely got through half of them.” She looked up, across the lunch table at Alice. “How’d you do?”

“Pretty good.” Alice took a bite of her chicken patty and swallowed it after a few seconds. “I finished it early. Why don’t you try working on it during your free time?”

“Because I’m not a nerd.” Laurelie went back to her hot dog.

“Yeah, Allie.” Rachel leaned forward on the table. “The whole point of free time is to not do work.”

Ian picked at his hamburger. “So, are we just not going to talk about this?” He whispered, “We’re Power Rangers. We haven’t even finished elementary school, but we’re supposed to pilot a megazord and fight monsters?”

Steven shrugged. “Apparently. My worry is how we’re going to stay in school while saving the world.”

A quiet beeping sound came out of all their backpacks. Rachel glanced down. “You just had to jinx it, didn’t you?” She looked around. “Okay.” She whispered, “We’ve gotta be smart about this. How do all five of us walk out of this crowded cafeteria without looking sus?”

Steven’s face lit up. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He stood up with one leg on his plastic chair, and the other on the table.

“Oh no.” Alice muttered.

Steven wound his arm back, and released the carton of milk that’d been clenched in his fist. It exploded into the face of a 3rd grade girl. “Food fight!”

A few seconds had passed before the entire cafeteria had erupted into the pandemonium of hundreds of elementary schoolers shouting and throwing food and drinks at each other. Steven quickly ducked back onto his seat. “Now’s our chance, while everyone’s distracted.”

“That was amazing.” Laurelie nonchalantly held up her tray as a shield, letting an apple explode on it. “How’d you know that would work?”

“I didn’t.” Steven admitted, “I just really wanted an excuse to start a food fight.”

“Whatever. Let’s just hurry.” Laurelie got up from the table. While the present teachers were busy trying to break up the culinary war, the Murdoch siblings snuck out into the hallway in plain sight.

A few minutes later, the Murdoch siblings were huddled together in the tight, cramped space under a seldom-used staircase in the corner of a random hallway in the middle of the school. “Okay, new plan.” Alice muttered, “We never let Rachel pick our hiding spot again.”

“Sorry I didn’t pick the Bahamas of hiding spots. Now let’s just see what’s so important they had to call our passes in the middle of lunch, and hopefully Mr. Burley can make them excuse us from classes today.” Rachel activated the communicator function of her imagination pass.

The screen showed Esthel, sitting on the couch in Jack’s living room. “Oh, kids, thank heavens you picked up! For a second there, I was worried you weren’t at lunch like I thought you were.”

“We were, but we had to duck out of the way.” Alice explained over Rachel’s shoulder, “There were too many others there; we would’ve been spotted for sure.”

Esthel facepalmed. “Oh, of course! My bad, kids, that’s grandma’s bad. Anyway, I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t urgent. I believe we’ve found the next insertrain.”

“Really?!” Rachel whisper-squealed, “Which one?”

Esthel smiled. “There’s no telling yet of course, but it’s in the woods right outside your school.”

“Okay, cool. Then we just stay in class, and after school you or Jack can swing by and drop us off here so we can find it.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work.” Esthel corrected Ian, “If we’ve managed to find the darn thing, then there’s no telling how long we have until the Shadow Line sends an engineer after it.”

The siblings all looked up at each other in horror. “But if a monster shows up at our school…” Alice shuddered, “That’d be a disaster. They’d have security all over the place, and our secret identities would be toast. And not good toast either, they’d be all burnt and blackened.”

“Hey, that’s how I like my toast.”

“Yeah, Steve, you would.”

Laurelie slapped both her hands over her siblings’ lips. “Can we please not get distracted by Steven’s terrible taste in toast?” She looked down at her grandmother, through the device Rachel was holding. “So what’s the plan? We just sneak out of school, grab the insertrain, and hope we get back in time for the last few minutes of recess without anyone getting worried?”

“Don’t worry too much about that last part.” Esthel assured her, “If the school gets worried, the first thing they’ll do is call me. I’m sure I can think up an excuse by then.”

“Okay. We’ll call you after we’re done.” Rachel decided.

“Make sure you don’t keep me waiting, sweetie. I love you all.”

“We love you too, grandma.” Rachel closed the connection between her imagination pass and Esthel’s sub-imagination pass.

While their classmates were at recess, the Murdoch kids had snuck out into the woods behind their school. It wasn’t quite small enough to qualify as a forest, being more of a small park in the middle of the city. “You know, I’ve been thinking about something.” Rachel mentioned, “We should have a catchphrase; something we can yell right after our roll call.”

“Oh, that could be cool.” Laurelie agreed, “What do you think it should be?”

“Not sure.” Rachel admitted, “Alice?”

“Huh. Okay, so it should probably be something about imagination, right? Or should it be about trains?”

“Our catchphrase for summoning our zords is already train-based, so maybe it should be about imagination.” Ian suggested, “Like, I dunno, ‘here’s something you can never imagine’ or something like that.”

“That’s pretty good.” Alice nodded, “But not exactly perfect for a pre-battle catchphrase. It’s gotta be something quick and snappy, so we can get back to action right after we morph. Maybe something like, uh…”

Ian snapped his fingers. “How about, ‘this is the imagination station’?”

“I like it!” Alice approved, “It involves both our motifs, and it rhymes! Maybe it should be a little bit longer, though. Like, ah, ‘full steam ahead for imagination! It’s time to leave the station!’ You guys like it?”

“Oh, yeah!” Rachel high-fived her fellow rangers, cheering, “We’ve got a morphin catchphrase!”

“Yeah.” Ian looked down while walking, hands in his pockets at the back of the group. “It’s a great one.”

Rachel gradually slowed her walking, until she was strolling next to Ian. “Is something wrong?” She held his hand. “Is it still about Stove Shadow?”

Ian looked up at Rachel. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “No. I had a nightmare about it last night, but Steven helped me with it. I’m just, um, looking for the new insertrain.”

Rachel cocked her head to the side, tilting it a few inches forward and squinting at Ian. “Nah, that’s not it. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I can tell you’re worried about something else. Please, talk to me. I’m your Red Ranger, and more importantly, I’m your sister.”

Ian looked away and shook his head. “No, I don’t need to talk about it. It’s nothing.”

Rachel stepped in front of her brother, grasping both of his hands. “Ian, obviously something’s bugging you.” She hissed, “We can talk somewhere away from the others if you want.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

Rachel shook her head with a smile. “Nope.”

“Okay, fine. It’s just that my idea was shorter than the one you actually went with. I guess it kinda bothers me.”

“Oh.” Rachel muttered the catchphrase under her breath. “Yeah, that is pretty long. I guess I got caught up in how cool it sounded. I’ll talk to the others about it.”

Ian hugged Rachel. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Rachel hugged him back, before jogging over to her sister. “Hey, Allie, can we talk?”

Alice nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Okay, so I was just talking with Ian, and he told me that the whole catchphrase thing you came up with was too long. We’ve gotta be ready for battle immediately after we morph.”

Alice contorted her mouth in thought. “He’s got a point, now that you mention it. Maybe it should only be a few words long.”

The children continued to walk through the trees, discussing their ideas.

Baron Nero Royale walked into the throne room of the Shadow Line. “General Irondark, I have news!”

“You’ll have to be more specific, baron. What sort of news?” General Irondark inquired with a calm, even tone.

“A few marailders have been spying in a park in the middle of Mariner Bay, and the Power Rangers are going out to find one of the lost insertrains.”

“Really now? That is very interesting.” General Irondark’s footsteps echoed throughout the chamber, as he walked down the stairs of the throne with his arms crossed behind his back. “So interesting, in fact, that I think I’ll go out personally.”

Baron Nero scrambled to kneel down before the general. “Are you sure?”

General Irondark looked down at the baron. “Of course I’m sure, Royale. Stove Shadow proved that a Shadow Line engineer can’t be trusted with an insertrain retrieval operation. Besides, I want to meet these new Power Rangers myself.”

After general Irondark left the throne room, baron Nero stood up. “You can come out now if you’d like, Ms. Noire.”

Ms. Noire walked out from behind a pillar. “I, ah, I really need to come up with a better hiding spot, don’t I?”

“Yes, quite. How much did you hear?”

“The Rangers are looking for a new insertrain, and general Irondark is going out to confront them personally. I wish I could go with him.”

Baron Nero laughed, “What, you think the general needs backup against a bunch of kids in spandex waving around glorified toys?”

Ms. Noire squeaked out, “No! No, of course not! It’s just that, well, um…”

“Oh, I get it. You want to impress Irondark, don’t you?”

“No! No, of course not! Why would I want to impress him?!”

“I don’t know.” Nero shrugged, “Maybe because you have a crush on him? You haven’t exactly been subtle about it.”

“Oh.” Ms. Noire looked down at the obsidian-black floor. “Have I really been that obvious?”

“Oh, yes. In fact, I think it’d be best for you to make a decision sooner rather than later, before he inevitably figures it out himself.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Ms. Noire admitted, “Baron, I have a question. Do you think I actually have a chance with general Irondark?”

Baron Nero laughed coldly. “Perhaps it could be possible, but the general is a man of high standards. If you want his love, you’ll have to work hard to earn it.”

Ms. Noire stood up straight, and nodded her head. “Then work hard I shall.”

The Rangers had split up, and Rachel and Alice were walking through the park together. “Do you think class has started again?” Alice asked.

“Who cares?” Rachel balanced with one leg on a rock, looking around while squinting her eyes under her palm. “Mr. Burley will just bail us out since he knows the truth. Woah!” She yelped, falling off the rock and onto her back.

“You okay?” Alice helped her up, laughing.

Rachel joined her laughter. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

There was a sudden chill in the air. The sky darkened subtly, yet noticeably. The girls heard a voice behind them, cold and malicious, that made their hairs stand up. “You won’t be for much longer.”

Rachel and Alice turned around. A man was standing in front of them. He looked to be of German descent, with muscles visible under his black leather jacket. He was several times larger than the two girls. Surrounding him was a group of a half-dozen men, wearing top hats and casual suits. Rachel balled up her fists. “Who are you?!”

The largest man walked forward. Alice walked backwards, dragging Rachel with her by the arm. The man’s strides were far longer than theirs, and he’d easily halved the distance between them by the time Alice had tripped over a branch. Rachel fell on top of her.

The German man laughed. “These are the new Power Rangers?” He raised his leg over them. “I could crush you underfoot!” He brought his leg down. He was surrounded by a cloud of purple and black clouds, transforming himself into general Irondark.

“No!” Rachel shot up, holding her arms out to take the brunt of the iron boot. “Alice…” She breathed through gritting teeth, blinking back tears, “Run!” Her arm muscles felt like they were dissolving into liquid. Her bones felt like they were grinding together and snapping apart, from her shoulders down to her fingertips.

Alice scrambled out from under her sister’s back. She stopped at a tree and turned around, still crouched on the ground with a rock digging into her palm. Her eyes widened, and her chest tightened, at the sight of the monster slowly crushing Rachel with no effort. Rachel was screaming in pain, partially drowning out the sound of her own fracturing bones.

Irondark let out a cold, deep laugh. His boot was pushing further down, inching closer to Rachel’s skull.

Alice growled. She dug her nails into the ground. Her opposite hand tightened around the rock. Without thinking, she shot upright, screaming in pain and throwing the small stone. It struck general Irondark in the eye, before falling to the ground in two pieces.

The general slowly turned his head to face Alice. He moved his foot off of Rachel, bringing it to the ground in front of her. The girl collapsed, whimpering in pain, with her arms hanging limp at her sides. They were red, swollen, and bending in several angles. The armored monster’s face betrayed no emotion, nor any trace of Alice’s attack. “Such tenacity. Perhaps you are worthy of being a Power Ranger after all.”

Alice’s legs were shaking and her eyes stung from the sweat cascading down her forehead and she wasn’t thinking when she slid her insertrain into her morpher, locked it in, and screamed at the top of her lungs, “It’s morphin time!” She was already running by the time she’d turned into the Blue Ranger and shot her railyzer.

The blue square struck general Irondark. He broke out of the paralysis a second later with the sound of shattering glass, yelling from the exertion, and swung his arm. His fist struck Alice in the stomach, sending out a shockwave that disrupted the foliage around them, and launched her backwards into the tree.

Alice’s stomach and back were both in excruciating pain. The impact caused a crack to spread up the tree, until its two halves fell to the ground in opposite directions. Her Ranger suit was sparking, forcing her to actively concentrate on not demorphing. She felt something at the back of her throat. Some part of her mind associated the feeling with the stench of vomit and the taste of bile.

Slowly, Alice looked up from the ground she was lying on, and tried to look at Irondark. “You’re not just a regular monster, are you?”

“No.” He briefly knelt down to grab Rachel’s insertrain, while she was still too broken to resist. “I am general Irondark of the Shadow Line.”

Alice squeaked in fear, breaking her concentration enough that she demorphed. She dry-heaved, with her hands and lower legs on the ground. With a burning throat and sore chest, she threw up onto the ground. Her ears were filled with the sound of liquefied food and stomach acid splashing onto the grass.

After less than a minute, Alice was sitting on the ground, trying to look away from her vomit. Absently, she raised her hand to her chest. She felt one of her rib bones.

It was partially cracked in half.

General Irondark wrapped one hand around Rachel’s torso, and lifted her up. Her arms hung limp at her sides like a doll, and she was in too much pain to kick. She groaned, “Lemme go… please lemme go.”

Alice sobbed in fear and pain. “Please, stop hurting Rachel. I’ll do whatever you want, just please, give back her insertrain and let us go!”

“Counter-offer.” Irondark held Rachel out in front of himself, and slowly squeezed. Rachel squealed in pain. “You give me the blue insertrain, or I’ll see how many broken bones it takes to get to the center of an upstart Red Ranger.”

Instinctively, Alice made to hold out her insertrain. At the last second, she realized, “Wait, I know something even better! I know where the next insertrain is! Ple-please, keep Rachel alive so I can lead you to it!”

General Irondark imperceptibly loosened his grip on Rachel. “Intriguing. How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Alice smiled nervously, with tears leaking out of her eyes. “Do I look like I’m in any position to lie to you?”

“Good point.” Irondark unceremoniously dropped Rachel to the ground. Alice’s breath hitched at the sight. Tendrils of shadows wrapped around the broken child’s barely-conscious body, solidifying into dark purple chains. “I’m keeping this one, though. Alive for now. She’ll be my bargaining chip.” He glared down at Alice. “Now, start leading me to the insertrain. And if I don’t have it in the next hour…” He picked Rachel up by the chains on her back, and clenched his fist.

Alice couldn’t recall the last time she’d felt so miserable, nor could she think of much else. Her body was moving on autopilot. One leg forward, next leg forward, rinse and repeat, all while her every step brought a stabbing jolt of pain into her chest by way of her broken rib bone. She wanted nothing more desperately than to protest, or speak up, but she forced herself to keep her mouth shut. Rachel was still barely conscious in general Irondark’s grip. Her only sign of life was the occasional gasp or groan of pain.

“How far is the insertrain?” Irondark demanded, “It would do you well to know that I am not a patient man.”

Alice muttered under her breath, “Yeah, I picked up on that one real quick.” After a clearing of her throat, which briefly escalated into an excruciating coughing fit, she hoarsely answered, “It shouldn’t be too far. Um, sir.” Every breath caused her pain. Every syllable caused the pieces of her cracked rib to grind against each other.

“Good. I trust you know what’ll happen if I find you’re trying to deceive me, correct?” Irondark jostled Rachel in her chains.

Alice whined at the sight of her sister, barely keeping her eyes open while her arms were bent to the point of mutilation. “Please stop it. She can’t take much more, and do you really want to lose your bargaining chip?”

“You make a valid point, Blue Ranger.” General Irondark admitted, “But know this. If you and the Red Ranger both die, it will only be a delay in my finding the lost insertrain in this area. I will have my own army of insertrains, and with them the world will be helpless before the Shadow Line’s emperor.”

Elsewhere in the woods, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven were walking across a decaying log two feet over a small creek. “How do you think the other girls are doing?” Laurelie asked.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Steven assured her, jumping off the end of the log with a small grunt. Before Laurelie could do the same, a bloodcurdling scream from elsewhere caused her and Ian to fall off the log in opposite directions. Steven wheeled back around while they splashed into the creek. “Are you two okay?”

Ian and Laurelie were sitting up in the creek, rubbing their heads, with the backs of their clothes soaked through. “We’re fine!” Laurelie called up, “But whoever screamed like that sure isn’t! It sounded like they were being forced to watch Planet Sheen!” She and Ian clambered out of the creek with Steven’s help, leaving handprints on the dirt and rock wall. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now come on, let’s go!” Steven led them away, while three marailders hiding in the forest teleported away, using small clouds of shadows.

Miss Noire sent three marailders away. Baron Nero elbowed her in the sides. “Sounds to me like now’s your opportunity.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Baron. While general Irondark is getting the lost insertrain from the Red and Blue Rangers, I’ll send a Shadow Line engineer to stop the others from interfering. No, I’ll do even better! I’ll have the engineer bring them and their insertrains right here! The despair of five captured Rangers will surely be enough to accelerate the emperor’s return, or maybe even bring him back entirely!”

Miss Noire’s red eyes shone with delight. “And if I present three whole insertrains to the general, then he’s sure to realize just how I’ve always felt about him.”

Laurelie, Ian, and Steven sprinted through the forest, with their insertrains locked and loaded. Tendrils of pitch-black smoke floated over the ground past them, causing them to trip over themselves. In front of them, the shadows rose and coalesced into a monstrous shape. He was red all over, with a massive stamp the same color as his skin serving as a belt buckle. Instead of arms, he had additional stamps with plus sign shapes imprinted onto them, and his lower legs were covered in another two stamps.

“Oh great, a shadow monster.” Laurelie rolled her eyes. “Look buddy, could we please table this for later? We think our sisters might be in trouble, but we’ll be happy to bring you down after we take care of that.”

“Oh, your sisters are in big trouble, thanks to general Irondark. They’re not the only ones, though! I’m Stamp Shadow, here to stamp you out and take your insertrains for the general!”

“Who’s general Irondark?” Steven wondered aloud.

“No clue, but he sounds like a big deal. Let’s just take care of business here, and then we can go help Alice and Rachel.” Ian suggested.

The three Rangers held out their morpher arms and shouted, “ It’s morphin time! ”

Laurelie charged at Stamp Shadow head-on, preparing to swing her axebreaker, while Ian and Steven split off on either side of her. Stamp Shadow swung his fists, forcing Laurelie to use the blade of her green ax as a shield. Each impact sent out a mild shockwave.

While Laurelie took Stamp Shadow’s focus away from them, Ian and Steven crouched down on either side of him, a dozen feet away. Steven raised his enerhammer above his head, and swung it down. The opposite light activated, unleashing a surge of energy through the ground. The dirt of the forest erupted in a straight line in front of him, launching Stamp Shadow through the air.

“Hey what’s going on?!” Stamp Shadow flailed his limbs, spinning and falling through the air. Steven pulled back his arm, and tossed his double-dagger bridge into the monster’s back. Stamp Shadow landed on the ground, lying facedown.

Ian ran towards Stamp Shadow, holding up his enerhammer. Before he could get close enough, the monster shot up, screaming in pain while striking Ian in the chest with one of its stamps. “I… huh? Guys, what’re we doing?”

Stamp Shadow tossed the double-dagger bridge to the ground. “My work here is done. 3 Rangers down, 2 to go!”

Alice continued walking. She couldn’t tell if her pain was subsiding, or if she was merely growing accustomed to it. Rather than feeling like her entire body was on fire, each step only made her more numb, to the point where she felt as though she was perpetually one footfall away from an out-of-body experience. She was unchained, owing to the fact that her fractured rib, the marailders surrounding her, and general Irondark holding Rachel meant that she wouldn’t be able to run in the first place. She risked a nanoseconds’ glance at her imagination pass. “I think we’re getting close to the lost insertrain.”

General Irondark snarled, “What do you mean by ‘think’?”

Alice’s entire body tensed up, and she quietly squeaked at her own error. “I mean, I’m pretty sure. These trees all look kinda the same, and it’s a little hard to think when I’m in this much pain.”

“It’s hardly my fault you’re so frail. To be honest, I expected more out of two Power Rangers.”

“Yeah.” Alice muttered under her breath, “So did I.” She looked up at a tree, and saw something in a knothole. “Hey, is that-?”

“Finally!” General Irondark tossed Rachel to the ground in favor of running to the tree. The girl was too broken to do much else but lie on the ground and whine in pain.

Alice ran over to her sister, pushing herself into collapsing in front of her. She was on her knees and one hand, while her other hand clutched her injured rib cage. “Rachel.” Alice begged, reaching out to touch her sister’s shoulder. Her voice was hoarse, and the dirt at her knees was turning to mud from her sobs. “Please, please wake up. I can’t live without you. We all need you.”

The general punched through the tree, opening the knothole wide enough to fit his entire hand inside. He pulled it out, with a light blue fuel carrier train pinched between his fingers. “Finally. The lost insertrain.”

Chapter Text

Tendrils of shadow clouds rose from the ground, wrapping around Stamp Shadow and pulling him into another realm. “Looks like someone got scared.” Laurelie remarked.

The siblings heard the sound of a tree exploding somewhere in the short distance. “And it sounds like we dodged a bullet, cause we’ve got bigger things to worry about!” Steven pointed in the direction of the sound.

Ian sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. “Whatever. Who cares about some stupid tree falling in some stupid woods?”

“Ian, come on!” Steven grabbed his arm. “Our sisters might need us!”

“Who cares?” Ian slid his insertrain out of his morpher, reverting back to his child form. “They’re probably fine.”

“Dude! What’s gotten into you?” Laurelie knelt down as the Green Rail Ranger. “Oh, look.” She pointed at a red plus-sign shape that’d been imprinted on Ian’s forehead. “That must be from when the monster hit him. It turned him into a great big bag of dou-!”

“Oh whatever, blah blah blah!” Ian lolled his head from side to side. “Just leave me alone, okay?” Steven slapped him upside the head, knocking him unconscious.

“Dude!” Laurelie yelled, throwing her hands up.

“What?” Steven picked Ian up. “Don’t tell me you wanted to listen to that all day.”

“No, but if you’d done it while he was in mid-sentence, it would’ve been way funnier.” Laurelie smiled under her helmet.

Steven facepalmed. “Whatever. Let’s just check on the other girls.”

General Irondark walked over to Alice and Rachel, holding two insertrains in his hand. He held out his other. “Give it to me, Blue Ranger. You know what I want.”

Alice clenched her fist around the blue insertrain. “You hurt my sister. You stole from her. You forced me to walk through the woods with a broken rib. I’m not giving you anything, much less my inser-”

Irondark grabbed Alice, ripping the blue insertrain out of her hand, and tossed her aside. “I have better things to do than listen to the prattlings of an infant.” He wrapped himself in clouds of shadow that rose from the ground below him, and disappeared.

The branches and leaves rustled nearby. Alice looked up, shivering. “Oh, w-w-what now-w-w?” She clenched her fist around her ribs.

Laurelie walked out of a thin wall of leaves. She screamed in horror, “Steve! Come quick! They’re hurt!” She rushed over to Alice and Rachel. “Allie, what happened? Who did this to you? What’s happened to Rachel?”

Alice cried, leaning against Laurelie’s chest. “Someone called general Irondark. He attacked us, and he broke my rib, and he stole our insertrains and he made me lead him to the lost insertrain cause he was gonna kill Rachel if I didn’t!”

By the time Steven got into the area, Laurelie was holding Alice in her arms, running her fingers through the smaller girl’s hair. “What happened?!” He set Ian down and sprinted over to them.

Laurelie looked up, hugging Alice close to herself. “They were attacked by that general the stamp monster mentioned. He took their insertrains, and the lost one.”

“So he’s got three of them, and we’re down to three also.” Steven remained morphed, while gently settling his palm on the back of his demorphed sister’s head. “Alice, where does it hurt?”

Alice whimpered, “Everywhere. My rib’s broken. Rachel’s worse, though. I think I heard her bones breaking.”

Ian woke up nearby. The second he saw his siblings, his eyes shot open wide. “What happened?”

Steven explained how Rachel and Alice had been injured. “We’ve gotta get these two some medical attention, right now.”

“Agreed.” Laurelie stood up, cradling Alice in her arms. The other girl was shaking in pain. “One of you boys, grab Rachel. The other one, call grandma on your imagination pass. We need to get these two onto the train so we can take them to the hospital, right now.”

Ian shook his head. “Nah man, they’d ask way too many questions, and it wouldn’t be worth the trouble to hide our secret identities. I’ve seen it on TV. If we go to the school nurse, we might be able to get Mr. Burley to convince her not to pry or whatever.”

Steven and Laurelie both stared at Ian. Laurelie remarked, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but lazy Ian’s got a point.”

“Right.” Steven hugged Rachel while she trembled. “Let’s just get them inside, right now.”

An hour later, Rachel and Alice were each lying on a different bed in nurse DeVito’s office. The beds had silver frames, and pure white mattresses with white sheets. Ian, Laurelie, Steven, Jack, and Esthel all stood around them with the nurse. “Please, Dell, is there anything you can do for them?”

“I’m sorry Esthel, but with all due respect, I’m an elementary school nurse. I’m equipped to deal with scraped knees and bloody noses, not fractured ribs and broken arms! What even happened to them?!”

“I told you, they were attacked in the woods behind the school.” Jack reminded her, “And no, we don’t know what they were doing in there.”

Dell placed her hands on Rachel and Alice’s wrists. “Okay, their pulses are mostly normal. Only a bit slower than they should be, which is better than I might expect, all things considered.”

“I don’t suppose we could fix this by letting them rest for a while, could we?” Esthel asked hopefully.

Dell narrowed her eyes. “Maybe that would’ve been considered a valid remedy in the mid-1300’s, but I think we all know how that ended for them. You need to take them to an actual hospital.”

“Do you mind if Jack and I talk by ourselves?”

“Of course. Feel free to go into the next section. The other kids can stay here if they want.”

“Thanks.” Laurelie walked between Rachel and Alice. “I am so sorry.”

Jack and Esthel were standing behind a curtain in the nurse’s office, in a small rectangular section of the room with the same white and black tiled floor and fluorescent lights. They spoke in hushed whispers.

“I’m telling you, Jack, we can’t take them to a hospital. How would we be able to keep their secret identities?”

“I don’t know, but it might be the only way we can help your granddaughters.”

“There’s gotta be something else!” Esthel hissed, “Doesn’t the Imagination Express have any medical equipment?”

“Unfortunately, no. I’m afraid… wait. Unless…” Jack snapped his fingers. “I’m not sure if this’ll work, but hopefully I get someone at the hospital to save Rachel and Alice, without outing your grandkids.”

After using the imagination express to bring the injured preteens to Mariner Bay hospital, the Murdoch family were standing and sitting in a two-bed hospital room. “How exactly are we supposed to keep it a secret that we’re the Power Rangers?” Steven wondered aloud, pacing the room.

“I have no idea.” Laurelie nervously played with her kendama, standing with her back to the wall.

“Don’t worry, kids.” Esthel assured them, “Jack told us he’d get someone to take care of Rachel and Alice who wouldn’t reveal your secret identities, and I trust him to come through.”

“Yeah, guys.” Ian slumped on the chair next to his grandmother’s. “Burrs wouldn’t let us down like that.”

Esthel looked down at Ian. “We really need to do something about that stamp. First things first, though-” The door opened. Everyone except Ian stood up. “Thanks for coming…” Esthel read the younger woman’s name tag. “Dr. Mitchell.”

“My pleasure.” The woman was approaching her mid-40’s, wearing a standard doctor’s uniform with a stethoscope hanging from her neck and pink highlights in her hair. “Your friend told me about your unique circumstances. I promise, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you so, so much. You have no idea how much that means to us.”

“Hey, it’s no problem.” Dr. Mitchell walked over to the girls on the hospital beds. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

The rest of the family waited for Dr. Mitchell to check up on the girls. Steven slowly walked over to Laurelie. He held her hand, while his eyes followed the kendama she was playing with in her other hand. The ball bounced up and down, in and out of the cup. “You’re pretty good at that.”

“Thanks, bro.” Laurelie turned her head to look at her brother and the toy at the same time. “It’s actually kind of relaxing. It helps me concentrate, or to keep my mind off of things.”

“Do you think you could use it in class to help you focus on our assignments?”

“I actually tried that in math class today, before lunch. It really did help. Hopefully if Ms. Power finds out, she won’t be mad at me.”

“Nah, I’m sure she’ll understand. She’s nice.”

“You’re right. Thanks.” Laurelie hugged Steven.

After some time, Dr. Mitchell stood upright. “Okay, I can’t lie to you. They’re both pretty bad. Almost every bone in Rachel’s arms has been broken to varying degrees, and Alice has a fractured rib bone and half a dozen dislocated vertebrae.”

“Wow.” Alice hoarsely coughed, “That does sound pretty bad.”

Rachel woke up. When she attempted to move her arms, all that happened was her shoulders rolling almost imperceptibly. “It hurts. Please, help.”

Dr. Mitchell settled her palm on top of Rachel’s forehead. “I promise, I will.” She turned to the rest of the family. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to ask you all to leave so I can work on Rachel and Alice. It’ll take a day or two, but I should be able to fix them up without any invasive surgeries.”

“Thank you so much, Dr. Mitchell.” Esthel shook the woman’s hand.

“It’s no problem at all, Ms. Murdoch.” She returned the handshake. “And please, call me Dana.”

After the school day was over, Esthel, Jack, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven were in Jack’s living room. The adults were sitting on chairs, while Steven sat on the couch. Ian was laying upside-down on the couch with his head on the floor.

Laurelie was pacing around the living room, worriedly bouncing her kendama ball in and out of its cup. “Okay, we need to figure out some way to beat that stamp monster to get Ian back to normal. We’ve also gotta figure out some way to get Rachel and Alice’s insertrains back so they can be Rangers again.”

“So what do you suggest?” Steven leaned forward on the couch, “There’s no way we could take them from that general guy without all five of us, but we can’t have all five of us without stealing the insertrains back from the general.”

Esthel nodded, sighing, “We’re in a classic catch-22.”

Laurelie flicked her wrist, wrapping her kendama string around the handle. “I know what to do. We storm the enemy base, take the blue and red insertrains, and get out before the shadow dorks even know what hit them.”

“Absolutely not!” Jack shot up, his face red. Laurelie squeaked and took a step back. “You kids aren’t nearly ready to get anywhere close to the shadow castle! Just being near it could drive you insane from all the concentrated darkness! The entire place is completely hostile to humans, Ranger powers or not!”

“O-okay. I’m sorry.” Laurelie clutched her toy close with both hands, shrinking away from her teacher. “I’m sorry, Mr. Burley. I’ll try not to be stupid again.”

Jack’s demeanor softened at the sight of the small girl, trembling before him. “Laurelie, you’re not stupid. You’re a very bright girl.” He reached out to her, while turning his head in Esthel’s direction. At her approving nod, he knelt down and brought Laurelie into a loose hug. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. It’s just that I don’t want you kids to get hurt, especially after what happened to your sisters.”

“I know.” Laurelie admitted, “I’m just worried about Alice and Rachel. We need to get their insertrains back.”

“I completely agree. But this is the sort of thing you’ll have to let me deal with.” Jack stood up, ruffling Laurelie’s hair. “Okay kids, Esthel, here’s the deal. I’m going to take one of the insertrain cars somewhere into the Magin Line. I want the rest of you to stay here.”

“Are you sure?” Steven asked, “Why can’t we come with you?”

“Because I’m afraid there are some things you kids aren’t ready to know about yet. I’d bring you, but unfortunately, it isn’t up to me.”

Steven pouted. “Okay.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Jack nodded, and walked outside with his sub-imagination pass.

“Well, nothing to do but watch TV I guess.” Ian grabbed the remote off the back of the couch, and turned on the TV. He repeatedly changed the channel, muttering to himself, “Seen it… hate it… too old for it… boring news-”

“Wait, go back! I saw something!” Laurelie grabbed the remote. She ignored Ian’s protests in favor of going back to the news.

“-to our on-the-field reporter, Cassidy Cornell.”

The camera cut from the interior of a news studio to a street, where a woman with blonde hair in her late-30’s was holding a microphone. The street around her was littered with people, slumped over and sitting down, some sleeping and others mumbling to themselves. “I’m here on the streets of Mariner Bay, where a monster is putting stamps on people’s foreheads to make them so lazy, they can’t do anything.” She shook her head wistfully. “I tell you, folks, this brings me back.”

“Hey, what’re you doing out here?” A voice yelled from offscreen, “Come here and let me give you a stamp!”

“What? Hey!” Cassidy turned, balling her fists. “Enjoy this while you can! I don’t know if you’re aware, but Mariner Bay has a new team of Power Rangers! They’ll-”

“What? They’ll stop me? Isn’t that cute?” Stamp Shadow moved into the frame, forcing Cassidy to retreat backwards. He slammed his stamp hand into her forehead. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. The Power Rangers are already finished.”

Cassidy groaned, holding her head. She listlessly tossed her microphone to the ground, causing a deafening high-pitched feedback sound. “I’m done with this.” She sat down. “I never should’ve left Reefside.”

“Thank you kindly.” Stamp Shadow turned to the shaking camera. “Come on out, Power Rangers. If you dare.” He swung his arm, reducing the screen to static.

Laurelie clenched her fist around her insertrain. “We need to stop him, right now.”

“Have fun with that.” Ian stood up. “I’m going to bed.”

“No you’re not, young man.” Esthel insisted.

“Sorry, grandma.” Ian tossed his insertrain on the floor, and continued walking. The sound of a bedroom door closing permeated the hallway.

Steven apprehensively picked up the yellow insertrain. “Laur, are you sure we can take Stamp Shadow on? Just the two of us?”

“Probably not, but we can’t just sit here and let it run rampant either.” Laurelie admitted, “I’m scared that the longer we stay here, the more chances that monster will have to attack someone from the government and turn them lazy.”

“But how would we tell the difference?” Steven questioned.

Laurelie giggled. “Thanks, I needed that. But seriously, let’s get out there. Right?”

“Right!”

Ian was lying down on Jack’s guest bed. He felt as though he wanted to get up, to help his siblings or do anything, but his body refused to move. He was overcome with a supernatural lethargy. His eyes traced the rough patterns on the hard white ceiling. Despite his best efforts, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t stand up.

Stamp Shadow laughed, walking through a squad of security guards in front of a government building. Bullets struck him harmlessly, shattering against his skin into pieces of shrapnel and metal. Stamp Shadow swung his fists into the men and women, imprinting them with his symbol. With each passing second, more of them slumped and lay down on the ground. Half of them fell asleep on the spot.

“This is great! With those power brats out of the way, these humans will be easy pickings!”

“Who says we’re out of the way?!” Laurelie yelled, standing on the other end of the street next to Steven. They were a hundred and one score of feet away from Stamp Shadow, each holding an insertrain in one hand and wearing a morpher on the opposite arm.

“Don’t make me laugh!” Stamp Shadow scoffed, “do you really think just two Rangers can stop me?”

“Hey, it’s worth a shot.” Steven slid the pink insertrain into his morpher. Laurelie did the same with the green insertrain.

They locked their insertrains into their morphers, and thrust out their arms. “ It’s morphin time! ” After two simultaneous flashes of colored light, the green and pink rangers charged at Stamp Shadow.

“Why don’t you just follow Yellow’s example and surrender?” Stamp Shadow ran to meet them

“We don’t know the meaning of the word surrender!” Laurelie swung her axebreaker.

“Then allow me to educate you!” Stamp Shadow held up his arm to block the Green Ranger’s weapon. He swung his other arm, forcing Laurelie to backflip away from him.

Steven ran past Laurelie, jumping while jabbing his double-dagger bridge into Stamp Shadow’s chest, knocking him a dozen feet back. “Now to follow it up!” He swapped out his insertrains.

Pink transferring to yellow!

The color of Steven’s uniform changed, and the double-dagger bridge in his hand transformed into the enerhammer. He lifted it overhead with both hands on the hilt, took a step forward, and slammed it onto the ground. At the second of the impact, the blue light turned off and the red light turned on, releasing built-up energy that created a shockwave.

Stamp Shadow jumped to the side, dodging the trench created in the pavement. “You’re only delaying the inevitable! After I turn you into powerless Rangers, I’m going to turn every adult in the world into an ineffectual layabout! With their parents being unable to help them, the children of the world won’t be able to provide for themselves. Their despair will be more than enough to bring back our emperor!”

“So that’s your plan…” Laurelie growled, “Your emperor must be a real dork if he needs to hurt kids to return!”

“What?!” Stamp Shadow screeched, banging his fists together, “What did you just call my emperor?!”

“You heard me! He’s a dork! A dweeb! A weakling! And I’d say it to his face if he had the guts to show it to me!”

Stamp Shadow’s entire body was trembling. He howled in rage, running at Laurelie. “You infernal little brat! I won’t turn you lazy, I’ll pulverize you bone by bone!”

Laurelie smiled nervously under her helmet. “Steven, pink me!”

“Got it!” Steven tossed the pink insertrain at an angle. Laurelie opened the crossing gate and held her arm out to her side, allowing the pink insertrain to push the green one out of her morpher. She grabbed it out of the air with her opposite hand, pivoting on one foot to spin. She flicked her wrist hard enough to lock the morpher.

Green transferring to Pink!

Laurelie changed colors halfway through her spin. She pulled her arm back. “I’ve always wanted to try a move like this!” She tossed the double-dagger bridge straight at Stamp Shadow, while he was too angry to pay attention. Laurelie switched her insertrains back.

Pink transferring to green!

The double-dagger bridge transformed into the axebreaker in midair, maintaining its momentum and spinning through the air. It struck Stamp Shadow, hard enough that the impact rang out and cracked the ground for a few inches around it. Stamp Shadow was thrown into the air.

“Nice one, sis! Now it’s my turn!” Steven sprinted over to Laurelie, yelling, “I just need a boost!”

“With pleasure!” Laurelie held out her axebreaker with both hands wrapped around the hilt, with the flat sides facing up and down. Steven jumped onto the axebreaker with one foot. Laurelie slightly lowered the axebreaker before raising it up in tandem with Steven stamping down with his other foot, launching him into the air.

Steven pulled his arms back, preparing the enerhammer. He swung it directly into Stamp Shadow’s stomach while they were a dozen feet in midair. All of the energy his weapon had absorbed from the movement was released in a deafening blast of wind. In less than a millisecond, Stamp Shadow had crashed to the ground, leaving a crater around himself.

Stamp Shadow jumped out of the crater. "I hate to admit this, but you kids are tougher than you look. Marailders, rise from the shadows to take the light!" Dozens of small clouds of pure black shadow rose from the ground around the Shadow Line engineer, each one dissipating to reveal a marailder. Laurelie and Steven nodded at each other. Laurelie handed the pink insertrain to Steven, and they ran away in two separate directions.

Yellow transferring to pink!

“I can’t believe we haven’t used these things yet!” Steven unholstered a small, vaguely square-shaped firearm that was hanging on the hip of his Ranger uniform. “Rail Rescue slasher-blaster!” He allowed eight marailders to chase him around a parked white car, until he had one directly in front of him and another directly behind him. “Like fish in a barrel.” Steven fired his sidearm in front of himself, until he’d eliminated the marailders.

“I know, right?” Laurelie unfolded her own slasher-blaster, revealing a double-edged sword. “Blade mode!” She jumped between a pair of marailders to slash a third, following it up with another slash in the opposite direction. She took a few steps, before ducking underneath a marailder that was jumping at her. She stayed in the lowered position, grabbing onto a 1-foot tall decorative platform to spin herself around, slashing another two marailders before standing up and locking blades with another.

Pink transferring to yellow!

Steven somersaulted through the air, transferring colors mid-flip. The second he landed upright, he turned around to slice a marailder across its stomach. He swung his sword again to deflect another marailder’s blade, and followed it up by turning around and slashing a third. “Oh, you want some more?” He deflected a black ax blade twice. “I can hear you back there!” He sidestepped, causing the marailder to pitch forward from its own momentum, while turning around to deflect another ax from behind. He took a few steps forward to conk the marailder on the head with the flat side of his blade.

Another squad of marailders stood off to the side, waiting while they watched the two Rangers mow down their brethren. They folded their blades into rifles and fired bolts of pure energy.

Laurelie and Steven felt sudden, rapid-fire bursts of pain from being shot, until they were eventually forced to the ground, rolling on the pavement. Stamp Shadow walked over to them, colliding his fists together. “Now it’s time to take the power out of the Power Rangers!”

“Ian, you need to look at this!” Esthel marched into Jack’s guest room, where Ian was lying on top of the covers on the bed.

“Huh? What is it?” Ian’s mind was screaming at his voice to show emotion, but all he could indicate with his tone was a sense of boredom.

Esthel sat down on the bed next to Ian, and showed him the footage on her phone. The camera was shaking as it recorded the Green and Yellow Rangers fighting a small army of marailders. “Uh, sorry. I’m Devin, the cameraman. It’s hard to hold this thing while using a microphone at the same time- no!”

Ian and Esthel watched through the phone as Laurelie and Steven were shot to the ground by several marailders. The monster walked towards them while they tried to stand up. The cameraman stuttered, “I, ah, I think there’s supposed to be five Rangers, right? So if the other three are watching, then now would be a really good time to show up!”

A random marailder shot the camera, reducing the screen to static. Esthel set her phone down. She looked over at Ian. “What do you think?”

Ian clenched his fists, digging them into the bedsheets. “Laurelie and Steven need me, don’t they?”

“It sure does seem that way. So, what are you going to do?”

Ian clenched his fists tighter, twisting his eyes shut and taking sharp nasal breaths, causing his chest to heave. “I want to! I really want to go out, and help them, but something’s stopping me!” He forced himself to raise his arm, just long enough to point at the mark on his forehead. “It’s this stupid thing!”

Esthel gently placed her palm on top of the symbol. “And are you just going to let that monster beat you? Laurelie and Steven can’t wait long enough for Alice and Rachel to get out of the hospital.”

Ian narrowed his eyes. “You’re right. You’re right, you’re right, you’re right, grandma!” The mark disappeared from his forehead. He tossed his arms around Esthel. “Thank you! I’ll be right back!” He sprinted out of the bedroom.

Esthel softly chuckled. “That’s my boy.”

Ian’s footsteps grew louder, until he reappeared in the doorway. “Grandma, I need you to drive me to the fight.”

“Come on, sis!” Steven insisted, grabbing Laurelie’s arm and dragging them both upright. “We can’t stay down!”

“Sure you can. Marailders! Show them how!”

Six marailders tipped their hats with discordant chirps. They raised their rifles and fired them, forcing the two Rangers to deflect the shots using Laurelie’s axebreaker, Steven’s enerhammer, and the shots from their rail rescue slasher-blasters. Another few marailders shot them from behind, throwing them forward onto the ground. “Dang…” Laurelie groaned, “...cheaters.”

A car turned the corner nearby, with Esthel driving and Ian white-knuckle clutching the handle on the roof in the backseat. “Hold on to something!”

“I am!”

“Then hold on more!” Ian lashed out his other arm, so that both his hands were clutching the handle. Esthel instantly slammed her foot down harder than it already was on the gas pedal. “Road safety laws, prepare to be ignored!”

A dozen marailders stood in front of the car, firing their rifles. The bursts of energy bounced off the grill, each leaving scarcely more than a small burn mark. They slowly backed away, chittering nervously, before they turned around. The Murdoch family car ran them over, scattering the marailders and sending them flying.

Esthel slammed the brakes. “Can you take it from here?”

Ian released the handle, and wrung his wrists together. “Yeah, I’ve got this.”

“Okay, sweetie, good luck. I love you.”

“Thanks, grandma. Love you too.” Ian threw his car door open, slamming it shut and running towards his siblings, while Esthel drove away.

“You?!” Stamp Shadow pointed his fist at Ian. “I turned you lazy! Why aren’t you lying in bed?”

“If you wanted me to stay in bed and not do anything, you shouldn’t have threatened my siblings! One of you, I need my insertrain!”

Steven’s mouth hung open for a second until he nodded. “Right.” He tossed a small object.

Ian swiped his arm to grab the insertrain out of the air. “Really? Pink? Alright, I guess it’ll work.” He slid it into his morpher, and locked it in place. “It’s morphin time!” After a flash of pink light, three Rangers stood in a row.

“It’s good to have you back.” Laurelie patted Ian’s shoulder. “But remember boys, we can’t destroy him. He’ll just grow, and without Alice or Rachel here, we won’t be able to form the megazord to stop him.”

“You’re right!” Ian realized, balling up his fists. “But how are we supposed to stop this guy then?”

“That’s the fun part! You won’t!” Stamp Shadow ran at them, clashing his arm stamps together.

Steven unfolded his Rail Rescue slasher-blaster into its blade mode, twirling it in his hand. “We’ll just have to hold him off, without destroying him until the other girls get here!” The three rangers charged at the monster.

Chapter Text

Esthel was in Jack’s house, watching a livestream on her phone of the Rangers fighting Stamp Shadow. The camera was shaking and occasionally rotating. “S-sorry, guys.” The man on the other side apologized, “Usually I have a tripod, and not just my phone, but the news camera got destroyed and Cassidy got, I guess, lazyfied. So it’s just me. I’m so sorry, but I promise, I’ll bring you all the news that I can.”

The video was interrupted by Esthel’s phone ringing. She saw it was from the hospital, and hurried to accept it. “Hello? This is Esthel Murdoch speaking.” She all but bit her tongue, focusing all of her energy into keeping her voice calm. While she listened to the caller, she felt an intangible pressure on her chest lighten. “Oh. Oh, thank you so much. Tell my girls I’ll be right over as soon as I can.”

Alice and Rachel were sitting in the waiting room of the Mariner Bay hospital, with Dr. Mitchell in the chair between them as a supervisor. “How are you kids feeling?”

“Better. Kinda achey, but better.” Alice answered tersely, looking down. She had her hands folded on her lap, and she was nervously tapping her foot against the floor.

Rachel looked up at the grown woman. “You look kinda familiar, Dr. Mitchell. What’s your first name?”

Dr. Mitchell smiled at the girl. “My name’s Dana, Rachel.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. She gasped, “Dana?! As in Dana Mitchell?! As in-”

“Lightspeed Pink?!” Alice turned to look at the nurse, grasping the arm of her chair.

Dana smiled. “I’ve only taken up the mantle of Lightspeed Pink once in the past 20 years. I hung up my morpher after queen Bansheera was defeated.”

“Yeah, but you protected Mariner Bay with the other Lightspeed Rangers. And now, you’ve saved our lives. Power Ranger or not, you’re still a hero.” Rachel held up a slip of paper. “Can we have your autograph?”

“Aw, okay. What the heck?”

A minute later, a slightly elderly woman entered the hospital. “Alice, Rachel, there you are!”

“Grandma!” Rachel and Alice sprinted over to hug Esthel. “Grandma, look what we got!” Rachel held up a small piece of paper, gesturing for Alice to do the same.

“We got autographs from Dana Mitchell herself!” Alice exclaimed, “How cool is that?!”

Esthel mussed up Alice and Rachel’s hair, smiling. “Very cool, sweetie. Now, I just have to do some paperwork and talk with Dr. Mitchell some more, and then we can go home and help your siblings with their chores. Okay?”

“Oh, what, chores?” Rachel noticed her grandmother winking at her. “Oh, chores. Yeah, we can do ‘chores’.” She grabbed Alice and whispered into her ear, “She’s talking about a monster.”

Alice narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, I got that.”

Ian, Laurelie, and Steven were tossed aside. Ian slammed into the road, leaving a small dent in the pavement. Laurelie’s back struck the side of a car, shattering its windows and activating the blaring alarm. Steven hit a building, groaning in pain. All three Rangers were forcibly demorphed by the respective impacts.

Laurelie felt as though her skull was being assaulted and pressed directly into her brain from all sides. The high-pitched, repetitive car alarm invaded her eardrums, overriding all the other stimulants around her. Her chest tightened, and she clenched her clammy palms to her ears. She tried to scream, but when she opened her mouth, she found that her throat was closed.

Ian stood up, breathing heavily. “Guys, let’s-” He saw his sister in his peripheral vision, and turned to get a better look at her. “Laurelie!” He ran over to her while turning into the Yellow Ranger. “It’s morphin time!” He took his sidearm out of its holster, and used it to stab the car into silence. “Steve, can you please deal with Stamp Shadow? I’ve gotta take care of Laurelie.”

Steven nodded. He activated his morpher with the pink insertrain while running. “I’ve got your backs! It’s morphin time!”

Ian knelt down with his hands on Laurelie’s shoulders. She was relatively tiny; only half the size of his Ranger form. He gently kneaded her shoulders, until she’d calmed down enough to lower her arms. “Thanks. I’m sorry. It was just so loud that I couldn’t think straight, and it was like my whole body shut down.”

“It’s okay.” Ian held out the green insertrain. “I know how bad you get around loud noises.” He helped Laurelie to her feet. “Good now?”

Laurelie slapped her ears a few times. “More than good!” She readied her insertrain. “I’m straight up ready! It’s morphin time!”

Steven backflipped over a swing of Stamp Shadow’s fists, righting himself in the air to slice Stamp Shadow with the double-dagger bridge on his way down. He dove to the side, giving Laurelie an opening to run while swinging her axebreaker. Stamp Shadow leaned back, crossing his arms to block the strike.

Ian sidestepped behind Stamp Shadow, and swung his enerhammer. The blue light turned off, the red light turned on, and Stamp Shadow was sent flying and spinning through the air, until he crashed into a building, leaving a dent and shattering several windows.

Without Stamp Shadow impeding her ax, Laurelie’s momentum caused her to stumble forward until Ian caught her by the elbow. “Thanks. But remember to be careful. We can’t destroy this guy until Alice and Rachel get here.”

Ian nodded. “Right, sorry, force of habit. It’s just that it’s kind of personal for me.”

“I get that, but we’ll need the megazord to deal with his giant form.”

“Who wants to swap?!” Steven yelled over, running towards them.

“Sounds good to me.” Ian extracted his insertrain from his morpher.

“Same here.” Laurelie disengaged her device. The three siblings tossed their insertrains into the air, and each caught a different one. They slid them into their morphers.

Yellow transferring to Green! Green transferring to Pink! Pink transferring to Yellow!

Laurelie charged at Stamp Shadow, leaning forward to maintain her balance while holding the double-dagger bridge at her side. She pivoted on one foot to spin around in a full circle, throwing the weapon in mid-turn. It sliced through the air, until Stamp Shadow punched it out of the air. “You missed! Oh no.”

“She was just distracting you!” Ian swung the flat side of the axebreaker into Stamp Shadow, turning it 90 degrees in order to launch him upwards. “Steven, I’ve got him set up!”

“Then I’ll knock him down!” Steven jumped off the flat side of the axebreaker, at an angle which placed him between the wall and Stamp Shadow, while slightly below the monster that was rotating in mid-air. He gained altitude by kicking off the wall, turning around and swinging the enerhammer into Stamp Shadow’s back.

Jack was driving, with Alice and Rachel in the backseat of his car. “Remember, the spare insertrains have limited uses, so you should avoid using them for transfers, got that? Woah what the-?!” His eyes widened at the sight of Stamp Shadow falling diagonally into his path, forcing him to frantically swing the wheel and slam the brake pedal at the same time.

The second the car stopped, Alice and Rachel jumped out on either side. Alice knocked on the driver’s side window. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You kids will be okay on your own, right?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna be just fine.” Alice confirmed.

“Right. Call me when you’re done. And good luck.”

“Thanks; we will.” Rachel replied. While their teacher drove away, the two sisters sprinted in the direction of Stamp Shadow. They loaded their spare insertrains and locked them into their morphers. “It’s morphin time!”

“Hey, you’re back!” Steven congratulated them, “That’s great!”

The siblings briefly exchanged a few hugs. “We’ve been tenderizing this guy for hours. I think now’s the time to finish him.” Laurelie decided, sliding the pink insertrain out of her morpher. “Let’s swap back, everyone!”

Ian and Steven extracted their insertrains. “It’s about time we got this over with!” Ian remarked while the three of them traded the items.

Green transferring to Yellow! Yellow transferring to Pink! Pink transferring to Green!

After three simultaneous flashes of colored light, the Rangers were all in their default colors, standing in a row in front of Stamp Shadow. “Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Stamp Shadow! Ready to destroy the Rangers!” The monster charged at the five young Rangers.

“You’re not ready for anything!” Rachel extended her track blade, splitting off the section of it that wrapped around Stamp Shadow’s arms and torso.

Alice fired her railyzer, paralyzing Stamp Shadow. “Still got it!” She pumped her fist. “Now let’s put ’em together!”

The track blade, railyzer, enerhammer, axebreaker, and Double-dagger bridge were all tossed into the air, where they merged into a single cannon. The combined weapon fell onto the Murdoch siblings’ shoulders. “Trainzooka! ” Five different colors of light swirled into the barrel, heating and electrifying the air around itself. “ Final express!”

“Wait wait wait I changed my mind!” Before Stamp Shadow could turn around and run, he was imprisoned between two tracks on a spectral railroad. With a loud, shrill whistle, a translucent multicolored train burst out of the trainzooka and barreled into Stamp Shadow.

While the Rangers turned around, separating their weapons, Stamp Shadow exploded into a fireball behind them. “Everyone, get the zords ready!” Rachel commanded.

A massive cloud of pure, undiluted darkness rose into the air, above the skyscrapers, and unfurled to reveal Stamp Shadow. He slammed his fists together, shattering windows and shaking buildings on their foundations from the resulting shockwaves. “I’m gonna stamp the whole world flat!”

The Rangers held up their imagination passes. “Let’s ride the rails!” Five beams of colored light shot out of the passes and turned into a rainbow, solidifying into a turnstile. A set of railroad tracks appeared from a multicolored vortex, and a brightly colored train followed closely behind. It stopped in front of the turnstile. The five Rangers swiped their passes over the turnstile to scan them so they could board the train.

The tracks curved into the air and branched off into separate paths, allowing all of the imagination express’s cars to separate. They merged back together, into a mechanical humanoid, wielding a massive sword. “Rail Rescue Megazord! On track to victory!”

Stamp Shadow held up his misshapen fists. “More like on track to destruction! And I’m the engineer!” He charged forward, swinging his fists into the megazord’s face one at a time. The impacts rang out one at a time, with Stamp Shadow taking a single step forward between them. The Rail Rescue Megazord stumbled and leaned back, windmilling its empty-handed arm to keep itself steady. Stamp Shadow kicked the megazord’s knee on the same side as its sword, putting enough weight on that side to bring it down.

The Rail Rescue Megazord leaned to the side mid-fall, stabbing its sword into the ground to keep itself up. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact, turning into a series of ten-foot-wide chasms in the pavement within a hundred-foot radius. Some of the cracks traveled partway up the nearby buildings. “Close one.” Rachel noted.

By the time the megazord stood up, a massive scepter had appeared in Stamp Shadow’s arms, with a red-hot branding iron at the end. “If I can’t make you lazy, I’ll just put you all to sleep permanently!” He swung the branding iron diagonally across the megazord’s torso, before jabbing it twice in the green shoulder. Sparks flew out from the point of impact, while the cockpit shook inside the megazord’s head.

Stamp Shadow swiped the branding iron down the red middle of the megazord, following it up with a horizontal stroke across its shoulders and upper chest. He laughed as he watched the megazord fall onto its back, in between two rows of buildings. “Well? So much for the power in Power Rangers! You’re not all that after all!”

“Looks like we’ll need a little something extra.” Rachel exchanged the red insertrain for the shield insertrain, locking it into her morpher. “It’s shieldin time!”

The shield train appeared from out of nowhere. The megazord stood up, grabbing its sword by the hilt and yanking it out of the ground. The shield train turned around, combining with the Rail Rescue Megazord’s arm. “Rail Rescue Megazord Shield Formation! On track to defend!”

“Don’t make me laugh!” Stamp Shadow swung the branding iron, forcing the megazord to block with its sword. “I’ve still got twice the range you have!”

“Not anymore, you don’t!” Laurelie argued, “Is it just me, or is it about time for a final strike?”

Rachel cracked her knuckles together. “Seems a bit early, but what the hey? The sooner we can get our insertrains back and stop using these spares, the better!”

“Oh, I was wondering about that.” Ian muttered.

Monk E. Puppet popped out of the tiny smokestack in front of Rachel’s seat, yelling in a singsong voice, “Bad idea! You’ve gotta-”

“Shut up!” Rachel slammed her fist down like a mallet onto Monk E. Puppet’s head. He went cross-eyed, before falling back down the shaft. “Sorry about that, guys. Now for the finisher!”

“Five-color stopping beam!” Red, blue, yellow, green, and pink beams of light shot out of the shield, aimed directly at Stamp Shadow. Stamp Shadow held out his arms, with the branding iron in both hands, and started spinning it blindingly fast in front of himself. The rotation created a vortex of wind between Stamp Shadow and the megazord’s laser beams.

The lasers exploded, forming a multicolored cloud of smoke that obscured the Rangers’ view of Stamp Shadow. “Did we, um…” Alice squinted at the billowing smoke. “Did we win? Is that it?”

The branding iron sailed out of the cloud, stabbing through the air in an arc and covering the distance of several hundreds of yards between the two giants in less than a second, impaling the megazord through its head.

The Rangers screamed in horror. Sparks flew out from the points of impact on the front and back of the megazord’s head. The middle of the branding iron pierced the cockpit, massive enough that the Rangers could’ve stood on top of it. The Megazord staggered back, with its metal joints creaking loudly, until it started falling.

“We have to get out of here, now!” Rachel ordered. The Rangers frantically activated their imagination passes.

Before the Rail Rescue Megazord could fall to the ground, it split apart into the imagination express and retreated through a portal into the Magin Line, with a massive hole pierced through the red car. The Rangers teleported onto the ground, where they involuntarily demorphed and collapsed onto the ground, panting and clutching their sides. The branding iron fell to the ground in front of them, shaking the ground and sending up a cloud of smoke.

Stamp Shadow leaned down, to wrap his fist around the shaft of his weapon. He turned his head to look down at the Murdoch siblings. “I’m honestly embarrassed in those other engineers for losing to you weaklings. Anyway, general Irondark already has the red and blue insertrains.” He opened his empty palm and brought it closer to them. “Now to finish his collection!”

When Stamp Shadow’s hand was barely a few inches away from the rangers, it abruptly stopped. “Wh-what?” He tried to move his palm. It mildly vibrated, yet otherwise stayed motionless. Small cracks appeared in his palm, gradually lengthening. Clouds of purple and black smoke emerged from the cracks. “No! Not now! Of all the times…!” He was enveloped in a cloud of pure darkness, which shrunk down and disappeared.

The Rangers were left on the ground, breathing heavily with their chests heaving, surrounded by trenches in the street and buildings with shattered windows and broken walls. “Guys… guys, come on!” Laurelie staggered to her feet, stammering, “We-we-we need to get out of here!”

“What just happened?!” Ian demanded.

“I’ll tell you what just happened!” Rachel answered, “We lost, badly, and we only survived because of dumb luck!”

“But why did he have to leave?” Steven asked.

“Who knows?” Laurelie argued, “We can discuss that later. Right now, we have to get home before the authorities come around, find us here, and put 2 and 2 together.”

The other Rangers nodded in agreement. “Too bad we don’t have any teleportation devices.” Rachel stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Ah well, guess we’re walking.”

Before the siblings could start walking, a red fire truck turned the corner, blaring its signal. The Murdoch children were paralyzed by the ear-piercing sound, even when they tried using their palms to cover them. The truck stopped a few yards away from them, turning off its sirens. The driver opened his door. “Hey, what’re you kids doing out here?!”

“Ah nuts.” Laurelie whispered, “Guys, should we run or would that-”

“No, wait.” Rachel held up her hand. “This guy looks familiar somehow.” She took a few steps closer. “Excuse me, sir! What’s your name?”

The man took a closer look at Rachel. He was wearing a fireman’s uniform and hat, and his face was that of a man in his mid-40’s. “The name’s Carter.” He answered, “Carter Grayson.”

Jack heard a knock on his front door, prompting him to speed walk over and open it. He was greeted by the sight of the Murdoch siblings, accompanied by a fireman. Rachel was practically vibrating and constantly turning her head to steal glances at the fireman. Jack turned his head. “Esthel, Dana! The kids are here! And they brought a visitor! Please, come in.”

The six of them walked inside. Carter shut the door behind himself. “I’m sorry, did you say Dana-?”

Two women walked into the living room from the kitchen. “Carter?” Her face lit up. “Carter, it’s so good to see you again!”

“Hey, Dana!” Carter met the woman in the middle of the living room, where they wrapped each other in a mutual hug.

“Uh, guys?” Ian pointed at his sister. She was bouncing on her heels, clutching her hands together and quietly squealing, with a wide grin covering her face. “I think Rachel’s about to break from a fangirl overload.”

“How could I not, though?! We’re in the same room as two of the legendary Rangers of Mariner Bay! And it’s the living room of our Ranger History class teacher! And we just got a ride from Carter flippin Grayson!”

“Actually, Dana, what’re you even doing here?” Carter asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but still.”

“Esthel here invited me over to talk shop. Did her grandkids tell you their little secret?”

“About them being the new Power Rangers? Yeah, they mentioned it once or twice. Especially Rachel.”

“So, can you guys help us? We’re kind of in a tight spot, y’know?” Ian requested.

“We’d be glad to.” Carter agreed, “Anything to save Mariner Bay.”

“We also have this.” Dana took out a silver, spherical object. “It’s the Legendary Ranger Database started by Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger. After the big final battle against the Armada, the Megaforce Rangers started tracking down their predecessors and passing around copies. If you want, we could make you guys a copy.”

“You mean this thing has info on all the past rangers?!” Rachel squealed, barely resisting the urge to grab it from Dana. “How far back does it go? How up to date is it?”

“It starts at around the early 90’s, with the Mighty Morphin Rangers. Right now, it goes up to the early 20’s, with the Grid Battleforce Rangers.” Dana explained, “I guess the Dino Fury Rangers haven’t quite gotten around to logging in their adventures.”

“That’s incredible.” Jack smiled. “If I could study that, it would do wonders for my lessons in Ranger History Class.”

“Just make sure you don’t punch it up too much.” Esthel reminded him, “We still need to keep this on the down-low.”

“Ah, that’s right. Sorry. I almost forgot in all the excitement.” He turned to address the two Lightspeed Rangers. “Big fan.”

“Thanks.” Carter shook his hand. “And just to be clear, your job’s also important. Now, let’s discuss things.”

Rachel, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, Steven, Esthel, Jack, Carter, and Dana sat around the kitchen table, with some of them on folded chairs from the living room. “Okay, so obviously we’ll have to go into the Shadow Line’s home base at some point.” Rachel started, “Otherwise, we’ll never get our insertrains back.”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be, though?” Jack side-eyed her, just as the microwave timer went off.

Esthel stood up, quietly scraping her chair legs against the floor. “That means the meatballs should be ready.”

“I’ll get them, ma’am.” Carter held up his hand, and walked away from the table.

Esthel sat down. “Thank you, Mr. Grayson.”

“Don’t mention it, ma’am.”

Laurelie cleared her throat. “Rachel’s got a point. I know this is dangerous, but what I don’t know is how exactly we have a choice. What, you want us to just rely on hand-me-down insertrains? That’s not gonna work long-term.”

“She’s got a point.” Carter set a wooden coaster disc on the middle of the table, with the pot on top of it. “In my experience, these monsters tend to get stronger over time, so if this last guy managed to break your megazord-”

“What do you mean, he broke the megazord?!” Esthel interrupted, “How do you break a megazord?!”

“A-apparently, it takes a really, really big branding iron.” Laurelie nervously took her fork and pierced a meatball in the pot.

“Oh, my babies, are you okay?”

“More or less.” Rachel took a bite out of a meatball. “Except the only reason we survived was because he had to leave for whatever reason. I’m still not sure why.”

Laurelie tapped her fork against the corner of the table in thought. “Now that I think about it, he kinda looked like he was leaking darkness. Maybe- oh!” She perked up, “Hear me out, guys. What if the Shadow Line monsters can only stay in our world temporarily, and sometimes they have to go back to their own place to recharge?”

“Oh, like the nighloks!” Rachel noted with a snap of her fingers.

“Exactly. Who knows, these guys might even be related to the nighloks somehow. They do seem kinda demonic.”

“Hey, we’ve got plenty of experience fighting demons.” Dana offered, “If you don’t mind, maybe we could help you guys out.”

Rachel’s face glowed. “You mean fighting alongside two of the Lightspeed Rangers?! How could I say no?!”

Carter quietly laughed while taking a meatball on his fork. “It’s been a good while since we put on the ol’ spandex. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to see first-hand what you kids are capable of.”

“Thanks, sir.” Alice nodded, “I think this guy is, like, our third monster. I’m kinda disappointed it took us this quick to get beaten this badly. Almost like we’ve failed the legacy somehow.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it.” Carter patted her on the shoulder. “Our team had some major setbacks in our time, but we still pulled through. So long as you keep your heads in the game and focus on getting your insertrains back, I know you can pull through and get back to action in no time.”

Alice looked up at Carter with a glowing smile. “Thanks so much, sir! That means a lot, coming from a legend like you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a legend, but I’m glad I could help.”

Ian swallowed the last piece of another meatball. “So, what should we focus on first? Getting Rachel and Alice’s insertrains back, or defeating Stamp Shadow? Remember, there’s no telling how long we have until he comes back.”

“Ian’s right.” Steven agreed, “If Stamp Shadow comes back while some of us are busy in the Shadow Line’s home turf, then we won’t be able to form the megazord.”

“Would it even matter if we could, though?” Laurelie pointed out, “Even with the shield insertrain, we still couldn’t beat it. Maybe the only way to win against this guy is to get that lost insertrain that general Irondark took.” She pounded her fist on the table. “The one that he almost killed my sisters to get to!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Rachel leaned over, and kneaded Laurelie’s shoulders. “You hear me? It’s okay. Alice and I are okay now, and now that we’ve got Mr. Grayson and Dr. Mitchell helping us, we’re all going to be okay. We’ll keep Mariner Bay safe, and the world, because that’s what Power Rangers do.”

Laurelie nodded. Her hand was still in a fist on the table. “Thanks. I know you’re right, but I think I’m allowed to be mad at the guy for hurting you two.”

Rachel hugged the other girl. “I never said you weren’t.” Alice hugged Laurelie from the other side of her, while the adults smiled at them.

“It’s good to see you kids are so close.” Dana remarked, “I wish Ryan and I could’ve had that when we were your age.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry about your brother. Anyway, I think I’ve got a plan, so can I share it?” 

“Of course, sweetie. And don’t worry, Ryan and I worked everything out. So what’s your plan?”

Rachel and Alice released their sister. Laurelie stabbed a meatball on her fork tines, and casually waved it around. “Okay, so right now, our best megazord combination isn’t enough to beat Stamp Shadow. Its branding iron is way longer than our sword, so even with the shield insertrain to up our defense, we won’t be able to go on the offensive. Logically, you’d think our best bet would be to go to the Shadow Line’s base and take the three insertrains that general Irondark stole from us, so that we could use the new one to hopefully get an advantage against Stamp Shadow.”

“But let me guess. You’ve thought of something else, haven’t you?” Steven grinned, leaning his head against his palm.

“Exactly.” With a shine in her eyes, Laurelie continued, “Don’t forget, there’s still more insertrains out there. If we could just find one of them, then it could give us just the power boost we need to take down Stamp Shadow, and then we can focus on getting the other insertrains back from general Irondark.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Carter nodded and smiled. “Well, I’m heading out. Ms. Murdoch, feel free to call if you ever need me.”

“Same here.” Dana stood up. “And I hope the database helps you.”

Chapter Text

Hundreds of students were gathered in the gymnasium of the Mariner Bay Elementary School. Their conversations overlapped with each other, creating a cacophony of voices from the first through 5th grades. Laurelie scowled at the noise, scrunching her knees closer to herself and pressing her palms up against her ears.

Steven kneaded his sister’s upper back. “Too loud?”

Laurelie nodded. She muttered, “I hate these assemblies. They’re always so loud, and nobody shuts up, and when I try to get them to stop they always make fun of me.”

“It’s okay.” Ian squeezed his sister’s elbow, sitting on the other side of her from Steven. “Here.” He handed her a case of wireless earbuds. “You can put these in and listen to something on your phone, and we’ll tell you when the teachers start talking.”

Laurelie put the devices in her ears, turned on a video, and hugged her brothers. “Thanks, you two, so much.”

“Hey, don’t mention it.” Steven hugged her back.

After a few minutes, Laurelie was listening to a documentary about the Space Patrol Alpha organization on her phone, while stimming by bouncing her kendama ball in and out of the cup. Just as she was getting to the part about S.P.A.’s relations with Aquitar and the ongoing war against the Troobian empire, Alice tapped her on the shoulder, prompting her to extract one of her earbuds. “Huh?”

“They’re starting.”

“Oh.” Laurelie paused her video and put her earbuds back in the charging case. “Thanks.” Alice nodded in acknowledgement.

“Everyone? Everyone, can I please have your attention?” The middle-aged, balding principal addressed the assembled students. He stood in front of a purple curtain on a stage attached to the back wall of the gymnasium, while the students sat on rows of bleachers lining the other three walls that were normally folded. “Thank you.”

The principal continued, “Now, I know there’s been a lot of excitement lately, what with the new team of Power Rangers that recently showed up, but there are other, more mundane, things that we can’t let our guard down against.”

The students shuffled in their seats, particularly the Murdoch siblings. Rachel sat up straight, smiling proudly until Alice pushed her down by the shoulders, mouthing at her to stop blowing their cover.

“That’s enough from me, at least for now.” The principal started walking offstage, leaning to the same side his arms were outstretched in. “Please, give a warm welcome to our special guests, Drugs Are Really Bad And Extremely Lame And So Is Smoking Which Is Also Stupid And Dumb So Listen To Us And It Might Just Save Your Life!”

“Is that their slogan, or their actual name?” One of the students remarked, while the curtains parted.

Five people, three men and two women, stood behind the curtain wearing mullets and color-coded outfits covered in glitter. “Good morning, Mariner Bay Elementary!” The red-clothed man announced, “Who’s ready to talk about the dangers of drugs for 5 hours?!”

Every student groaned in misery. Steven folded his head into his hands. “Oh no.”

The first hour was an alleged comedy skit which involved the pink-clothed woman pantomiming smoking from a pocky stick, and arguing with the others, “But smoking makes me look kewl!”

“Oh yeah?” The yellow-clothed woman pretended to argue, internally reminding herself of her impending paycheck, “Well how can smoking make you look kewl if it’s setting your lungs on fire?”

“Oh!” The pink-clothed woman clutched her chest, standing ramrod straight. In a complete deadpan, she stated. “Oh. I am dying. Smoking has killed me. I am dead because I ignored the dangers of smoking.” She calmly laid down on her side. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she added, “Blargh.”

“They spelled cool wrong.” Laurelie rubbed her fingertips in circles against her forehead. “How did they do that when they’re talking?”

“They’re wearing mullets and trying to connect with the youth, that’s how.” Rachel grumbled.

The red-clad presenter announced, “And for the next act, who’s ready to get jiggly with it?!”

He was met with a chorus of facepalms. Half of the first grade started crying.

“That’s the best response we’ve had all year! Now, everyone, a one, and a two, and a one two three four!”

The man with sparkly black clothes and the woman with glitter-covered pink clothes pointed diagonally at the stage, yelling out of sync, “Yo yo yo…”

“Oh no, guys, cover your ears!” Rachel warned, “Nothing good has ever started with the phrase ‘yo yo yo’!”

Hundreds of minutes later, the presenters all stumbled into a pose, panting and sweating in their outfits. The red one announced, “And remember, kids, if you don’t smoke or do drugs, you can end up just like us! So even though tomorrow is 4/20…”

The entire group finished, “Don’t blaze it!”

“Hope you enjoyed!”

“That sucked.” Steven bluntly stated while the students were leaving the building, many of them expressing similar complaints and outright retching in disgust. “Five hours and I still don’t know why smoking or doing drugs can kill me.”

“Maybe because if you do, you’ll get lectured to death?” Alice shrugged. “Anyway, why don’t we get some pizza to cheer ourselves up?” She spoke quietly, grinning from ear to ear, “We’ve still got the imagination passes, so we can buy as much as we want.”

“Are you sure using those is such a good idea right now?” Laurelie glanced around. “I don’t wanna take any risks while- drug pushers are everywhere!”

“Whu- oh!” Rachel noticed a girl their age looking in their direction. “Yeah, that’s what we were talking about.”

“Oh, come on, you guys don’t actually believe that stuff, do you?” The girl laughed, “My cousin told me these health PSA guys have to exaggerate their point to scare you straight. Like in a few years, they might start showing us movies about how eating a single candy bar will turn you into a morbidly obese addict.”

“Hi, Sierra.” Steven waved politely at his classmate. “Listen, we’d love to talk but- oh wow look a van with free candy!”

“What? Where? I gotta tell a teacher!” Sierra sprinted away from the Murdoches, yelling back to them, “You’re my witnesses!”

“Okay guys, now’s our chance to book it.” Rachel decided.

Minutes later, the siblings were walking down the street less than a block away from the elementary school. Alice was inspecting the money she had loose in her pocket. “Okay, I’ve got some 20’s. Maybe we could get something from Jungle Karma; split it between us.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Steven kept his hands in his pockets. “Guys, I’m starting to get worried. The Shadow Line hasn’t tried to attack us in days.”

“Sounds like a good thing if you ask me.” Rachel shrugged, “I love being a Ranger as much as the next girl, but the longer we can go without seeing Stamp Shadow, the better.”

“What about me instead?” A hoarse, wheezing voice asked. It belonged to a humanoid monster wearing an unzipped black jacket, with cigarettes for limbs, drug needles for fingers, and a pot leaf for a head.

The Murdoch siblings’ mouths hung open in exasperation. “Oh, dude.” Rachel facepalmed. “Can we not do this today? Where’s Stamp Shadow?”

“Stamp Shadow’s taking a little siesta and resting on his laurels. Not me though! I’m Weed Shadow! I don’t have any laurels to rest on!”

“No kidding.” Steven deadpanned. “Alright, let’s morph up and bring him down. And remember, no swapping with Rachel and Alice while they’re using hand-me-down insertrains!”

“Hey, did you forget which of us is the Red Ranger here?” Rachel elbowed Steven’s side. “Guys, do everything he just said. Now!” They loaded their insertrains.

“Oh, for the… nevermind.” Steven muttered. The siblings lowered the crossing gates on their morphers.

“Can you guess what time it is?” Rachel smirked.

“Oh, oh, I know this one!” Weed Shadow emphatically pointed at them. “It’s morphine time!”

“Wrong!” Rachel shouted.

“It’s morphin time!” A white, segmented line appeared in front of the Murdoches.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

“Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

Rachel windmilled her arm at her side until she was pointing at Weed Shadow, yelling, “Full steam ahead!” The Rangers charged at the Shadow Line engineer.

“Like moths to a flame!” Weed Shadow fired all ten of his needles at the Rangers. Rachel extended the track blade, causing it to weave and curve until all of the needles had been knocked to the ground.

“We’re no ordinary moths!” Alice fired the railyzer directly into Weed Shadow, providing an opening for Laurelie to swing the axebreaker while lunging forward.

Weed Shadow rolled on the ground, where Laurelie dug the axebreaker underneath him. “Time for you to get really high!” She pressed down on the handle, launching Weed Shadow into the air. “Steven, time for operation jump and swap!”

“I don’t even know what that means!”

“Jump off my ax while swapping colors! Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Steven ran forward. “Only one way to find out!” He tossed his insertrain at Laurelie. She caught it and tossed her own at him. Steven snatched the green insertrain out of the air, and jumped off the flat side of the axebreaker. When he tried to install the insertrain into his morpher, the small device fell to the ground below. “Oh no it all went wrong!”

Rail Ranger 5 now demorphing! If you wish to stay morphed, please transfer now!

“I wish that I could!” Steven flailed in the air while a pink glow surrounded him, leaving him fully demorphed.

Weed Shadow grabbed Steven by the shoulders. “Looks like you miscalculated. Maybe this will open your mind!” He rasped, exuding a cloud of black smoke into Steven’s face.

Steven coughed, blinded by the smoke, until Weed Shadow tossed him to the ground. “I gotcha!” Laurelie jumped up as the Green Ranger, wrapping her arms around Steven and curling her entire body around his to protect him while rolling on the ground. She unfurled herself. “Are you okay?”

“Woah…” Steven’s entire upper body swayed from side to side. “Have you ever thought… woah… you’re green. That’s such a funny word. Greeeen…” He laughed.

Laurelie narrowed her eyes. “I suppose this means you won’t be able to re-morph?”

“No, and he’ll never morph again! Thanks to me, none of you will live long enough!” Weed Shadow’s needle fingers grew back.

“Guys!” Steven slapped the top of Laurelie’s helmet. “Guys, have you ever thought about how our helmets, our helmets, they have rails on them. And we’re the Rail Rangers. Woah.” He nodded, with an open-mouthed grin on his face. “That’s so deep.”

“We’ve gotta retreat!” Rachel extended her track blade, wrapping it around Weed Shadow and separating it from the main weapon. “Ian, there’s your opening!”

“Like I need it, but thanks!” Ian spun in full circles while holding out the enerhammer, until it swung into Weed Shadow. The stored energy released itself in the form of a shockwave, denting the pavement and launching Weed Shadow out of sight.

“I’m still ali-!”

“Okay, that should buy us a few hours.” Laurelie stood up. “Let’s get Steven home to recover in the meantime.”

Laurelie was the only member of the siblings who remained in Ranger form, carrying Steven while he mumbled, “Why do they call it oven when you ovout pull the food warm and in cold?”

“Okay, so we’ve all agreed to just tell grandma and Jack the truth, right? Instead of going through all the trouble of telling a needlessly elaborate lie that we’ll inevitably have to cover up with more lies until it gets too elaborate to manage and the whole thing crashes down around us like that performance they forced us to watch in school?” Rachel hung her hand over the doorknob.

The rest of the group nodded. “Okay, good.” Rachel opened the front door.

Esthel watched her grandchildren enter the house. “Kids, what happened to Steven?”

“Hi gramma!” Steven attempted to wave by flailing his arm listlessly. “I… I…” He stared at his arm. “Whoa. What’s this thing?!”

“That’s nice.” Laurelie set Steven down on the couch, and calmly turned to her grandmother. “We got attacked by a pot monster and it made Steven high.”

Jack walked into the living room, only in time to catch the tail end of Laurelie’s brief explanation. The sound of it sent him reeling back. “Steven got high?! Didn’t you pay any attention at the assembly?!”

“Yeah, but only because they didn’t give us a choice.” Rachel admitted, “And anyway, it wasn’t our idea. We got attacked by some kind of drug-themed monster from the Shadow Line and-”

“And it was my fault.” Laurelie interrupted, “I told him to do an elaborate move without any time to get ready, and it made him get demorphed. If it wasn’t for me, that monster wouldn’t have gotten his opening to do, well, this to him.”

Steven raised his arms, waving them in the air. “Guys, I think I have snakes for my whatever these things are. Should I be worried about that?”

“Okay, okay.” Jack pinched his brow while taking a deep inhale through his nose. “It could be worse. First off, we need him to come down as quick as possible. Rest, water, a pinch of black pepper-”

“Black pepper?” Ian questioned.

“Yeah, I looked it up online . Apparently they have a compound that counteracts chemicals found in certain drugs. That’s a gross oversimplification, mind you, but we’re kind of pressed for time. Also, lemons.”

“We’re pressed for lemons?” Rachel’s eyebrow raised on her forehead.

“No, lemons have a compound called limonene, which has a calming effect. So do pine nuts. Also, he should watch something relaxing, but interesting enough to keep his attention. The most important thing is not to leave him alone while he’s high under any circumstances.”

“Really? I never would’ve guessed that last part.” Ian looked down at his brother, who was awkwardly raising his legs repeatedly. “Do I even want to know what you’re doing?”

“I wanna see if I can kick my own face.”

Ian patted his brother's forehead. "I believe in you, bud." He stood up, and looked over at his other housemates. "Okay, we need to make sure not to let that monster run rampant. Who knows how much damage it could do?"

"Agreed." Rachel opened her phone. "Speak of the devil. Or the extremely lame devil, anyway. According to this news report, he's trying to attack a Hartford Robotics building."

"Why?" Alice inquired, "Is he trying to get the robots high?"

"Hartford Robotics is one of the foremost creators of lifelike automatons in the world." Rachel pointed out, "Don't you remember when we studied the Overdrive Rangers? Their Red Ranger was a robot, and he was so lifelike that nobody knew it, probably not even him, for a long time."

Jack nodded. "If the Shadow Line get their hands on Hartford Robotics tech, they could use perfectly lifelike robots to infiltrate human society."

"In that case, we don't have time to wait for Steven to come down." Rachel gestured to her brother, who was still attempting to kick his own face. "Clearly. Ian, Laurelie, I want you two to go in your cars from the Imagination Express and at least hold that thing back. And please, try not to get highed up. Alice and I will stay here to help with Steven."

"Wait, why aren't you two coming with us?" Ian asked.

Alice held up the blue insertrain. "Because we need to conserve these things as much as possible, until we get the real ones back from general Irondark."

Rachel added, "That, and while we were walking home, we both agreed that we didn't want to fight that guy again."

"But we don't wanna fight it either!" Laurelie complained.

"I know." Rachel took the pink insertrain from Steven. She handed it to Laurelie, while patting her on the shoulder. "Good on you two, taking one for the team.”

A dozen security guards sat around outside the Mariner Bay Hartford Robotics facility, completely stoned out of their minds. Some were fighting invisible monsters, others were playing five-way rock-paper-scissors, and the rest were attempting to fight each other without remembering how to use their arms.

A yellow and green vortex opened behind Weed Shadow. A line of train tracks poured out of the vortex, followed by a loud whistle. The sound alerted Weed Shadow into turning around. “What?” Two train cars exited the portal from the Magin Line. The Green and Yellow Rangers jumped out of their doors before they were any more than halfway open, and fired at Weed Shadow.

By the time Laurelie and Ian touched down, each with one knee bent forward, Weed Shadow had fallen to the ground. “Hey, whaddaya know?” Laurelie remarked, “Looks like morphing before we got to the fight made a difference.” She pressed her imagination pass into her belt buckle, manifesting the axebreaker into her outstretched hand. “Do you think we should do it more often?”

“Nah.” Ian used his imagination pass to manifest yellow lines of code that traveled down his arm in a second, turning into the enerhammer in his grasp. “It may be effective, but it’s not nearly as satisfying.”

Weed Shadow stood up. “Oh, this is too good! What were they thinking, sending only two Rangers after me?”

“We figured any more than that would be overkill.” Laurelie began running forward, swinging her axebreaker to deflect the needles being shot at her. She stopped a few feet away from Weed Shadow. “Ian, now!” She held out her weapon, with the flat sides facing the air. “Slam it!”

“I’ve been wanting to try this!” Ian swung the enerhammer back, in preparation to swing it directly into the side of the axebreaker. The resulting concussive blast sent the Rangers stumbling back, arms flailing, while creating a fissure in the ground. It split open below Weed Shadow, throwing him severely off-balance. “Great, he’s open!” Ian charged at Weed Shadow. “Let’s speed it up a notch!” He replaced the insertrain in his morpher.

Yellow transferring to pink!

With the enerhammer transformed into the significantly more lightweight double-dagger bridge, Ian was able to accelerate his running. He pivoted to spin and toss the weapon. Its twin blades cut through the air until they impaled Weed Shadow. The monster yelled in pain, grasping at the handle of the weapon. “It hurts! It hurts so bad!”

“Then this is really gonna sting!” Laurelie extracted her imagination pass to dismiss the axebreaker. Without the weapon to weigh her down, she sideflipped and kicked the handle of the double-dagger bridge. The impact sent Weed Shadow flying through the door to the facility, with the Pink Ranger’s weapon clattering on the floor nearby.

“So, we were trying to keep him out, and now you just kicked him into the building?”

“Yeah.” Laurelie admitted, “Guess I didn’t think it through.” She ran into the building. “Let’s intercept him!”

Weed Shadow was still groaning in pain when the two Rangers entered the building. Steven rolled on the floor to grab his bladed weapon, before jumping up and slashing Weed Shadow across the face.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of you Rangers mocking me! It’s time for my ultimate attack!” His eyes glowed green. A black smog poured out of them, and filled the entire room.

The receptionist set down the bowl of peanuts she’d been eating from. “Nuts to this.” She sprinted out of the building.

“I can’t see! What’re we supposed to do now?!” Laurelie panicked.

“Wait!” Ian tapped the small light on his helmet. “This thing…” He flicked a switch, illuminating the area around himself.

“Oh, right!” Laurelie turned on her own helmet light. “Highly specific, but also highly nifty.”

The entire room had been illuminated, exposing Weed Shadow staggering around in alarm. “How are you not high?!”

With one hand, Laurelie twirled her axebreaker. “Dude.” With her free hand, she tapped the side of her headwear. “Helmets.”

“Oh. Well that’s cheating! Fight me without your helmets if you wanna fight fair!”

“But we don’t wanna fight fair. We wanna win.” Ian shot Weed Shadow with his rail rescue slasher-blaster.

While Weed Shadow was distracted by the shots, Laurelie jumped up and slashed him with her own sidearm. The smoke dissipated. “Oh… I’m really starting to hate today.”

Laurelie and Ian spent a few hours fighting Weed Shadow. By the time they’d returned to the street, with the two Rangers in their default colors, a vortex opened in the air. Train tracks fell to the ground in front of it with a series of loud, metallic clangs, followed by a long, high-pitched train whistle. The gateway to the Magin Line was blue and pink, as were the two train cars that poured out of it. As soon as they came to a stop, Rachel, Alice, and Steven sprinted out of the blue front car.

“Sorry we took so long.” Steven held out his hand. “I finally came down. Can I have my insertrain back?”

“It’s good to have you back.” Ian dropped the pink insertrain into Steven’s palm. “Knock yourself out, bro.”

The red, blue, and pink insertrains were all loaded, then locked, into their respective morphers. “It’s morphin time!”

“Good news.” Laurelie told them, “This guy’s so pathetic, and we’ve been going at him for so long, I think we might be able to use the trainzooka to finish him off now!”

“Sounds good to me!” Steven agreed.

The siblings tossed their main weapons into the air, combining them into a single shoulder-mounted cannon. “Trainzooka! ” The barrel was illuminated by swirling lights of five colors. “ Final express!”

Spectral train tracks appeared in front of the cannon, locking Weed Shadow in place between them. A translucent train, with five cars in five colors, barreled out with an ear-splitting whistle. “Looks like I’m going up in smoke!”

The rangers turned around and split their weapon, while Weed Shadow exploded behind them. A cloud of darkness rose into the sky, towering before unfurling, unveiling Weed Shadow. The monster had grown to the size of a skyscraper. “Never mind! I’m feeling higher than ever now!”

“Ah, crud!” Rachel lamented, “My train car’s still busted from Stamp Shadow! We can’t form the megazord!”

Steven squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry. We have the power of imagination, remember?”

Four portals appeared in a loose semicircle in front of Weed Shadow, each one a different color. Train tracks emerged from each portal, converging onto Weed Shadow. There was a deafening, fourfold whistle, followed by the trains emerging from the portals of their respective colors.

“What are you trying to-” Weed Shadow’s eyes widened. “You’re trying to ram me!” He turned around and attempted to run. The tracks continued to extend, twisting and carrying the trains in curving patterns, until they all rammed into the monster simultaneously.

The trains continued on the ever-extending rails, emerging from the fiery explosion. “Let us never speak of this again!”

Mrs. Valeria addressed her homeroom, “Good morning, class. I hope you all had a great weekend, especially after that… ah, interesting presentation we were all treated to on Friday. Now, I hope you’re all ready for your presentations.” She rummaged around in a small bucket until she pulled out a tiny slip of paper. “Rachel Murdoch, you’re up first.”

Rachel swiveled her head to address her classmates, “Wish me luck.” She walked over to the front of the room, where she turned around. She held up a piece of paper.

“My fellow students, there is a pandemic that’s been ruining our nation for decades now. Our parents and grandparents’ generations clearly couldn’t be bothered to fix it, so instead it’s up to us to try. It’s probably worth a shot. I’m sure you all remember the suffering we all endured last Friday, and the reason for it. The reason is that stupid people keep taking stupid drugs, and it leads to stupid presentations like the one I’m giving right now. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s tried to watch an episode of a TV show, only to hear that one dreaded word. Marijuana. Think about it. When’s the last time you watched a drug-themed episode of a show that was actually good?”

Rachel continued, “So the solution is simple. Not only can taking drugs ruin your body, mind, family, and all that junk, but it also directly contributes to preachy, cringeworthy PSAs and school presentations. Please, say no to drugs. If we all do our part, then maybe, just maybe, our children or at least their children won’t have to suffer the way we suffered last friday.”

Rachel put her paper down on the teacher’s desk. “Thanks, I’m going to sit down now.”

Chapter Text

Rachel paced in front of her siblings, grandmother, and Ranger History Class teacher. “Okay guys, my zord’s finally been repaired, and it’s Friday. As we all know, the weekend is the perfect time for infiltrating the enemy headquarters and taking back our weapons.” She twirled the spare red insertrain between her thumb and forefinger. “I don’t know about Alice, but I’m getting sick of this hand-me-down.”

“Same.” Alice confirmed.

Rachel snapped her fingers in Alice’s direction. “That’s the spirit. Now, who’s ready to storm the Shadow Line’s home base?”

Rachel tried to conceal her disappointment when the others confirmed their readiness. She felt her breath quickening, and her palms generating sweat. She clenched her fists, and took a deep inhale. “Yeah.” She lied through her teeth, “I’m the readiest.”

The Imagination Express sped down the tracks suspended in the void of the Magin Line. It was an extradimensional space, filled with swirling rainbow colors, and circles of alternating black-and-white segments. Inside the train, the siblings and their grandmother were sleeping. Jack was driving the train, halfway through his 2-hour shift that he was alternating with Esthel.

Rachel was lying awake, her mind forbidding her body from sleeping, when she heard a borderline silent knock on her bedroom door. “Who is it?”

“It’s Alice. Can I come in?”

Rachel called back, “Sure, come in.”

Alice quietly entered her sister’s room and slid the door shut behind herself. “Thanks. I couldn’t sleep.”

Rachel slid over on her bed, so that Alice could lie down next to her. “Wanna talk about it?”

Alice nestled herself under the covers, squeezing Rachel’s hand. “I’m scared. That Irondark guy almost killed us last time we saw him, and now we’re going right to him on his home turf. And what’s worse, he’s probably going to be even stronger now that he’s got three insertrains. We don’t even know what one of them is capable of.”

“I know what you mean. I’m not scared, though. I- I’m the Red Ranger. I can’t- I’m not scared of anything!” She’d started shaking.

“Okay. Can I have a hug?”

Rachel didn’t hesitate to pull her sister into a warm, tight embrace. She couldn’t stop the pained, high-pitched whine that came out of her mouth.

Alice wrapped her own arms around Rachel. “What was that?”

“I lied. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”

“I knew it. At least this time, we’ll be prepared, and we’ll have Ian, Steven, and Laurelie with us. Maybe we’ll stand a chance five-on-one.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Rachel could no longer stop herself from shaking. “Can you stay here with me? Please?”

“Of course.” Alice squeezed her slightly younger sister. “I don’t want to be alone either.”

Alice wasn’t in her room when Esthel initially looked for her. Before the older woman could panic, she opened Rachel’s door and smiled, at the sight of her and Alice holding each other in their sleep. “My babies…” She gently shook them by the shoulders. “Rachel, Alice, wake up. We’re here.”

The two sisters gradually woke up. “Grandma?” Rachel muttered. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“It’s time to get up, sweeties. We’re just about at the Shadow Line’s headquarters.”

“No!” Rachel scrambled to the edge of her bed, away from Esthel, eyes wide with fear. “No, don’t make us go! We can’t fight Irondark!” Her eyes stung and watered. The nine-year-old’s voice shattered, “He’s too scary!”

Esthel could feel herself aging at the sight of her granddaughter sobbing in fear. “Oh, Rachel, come here.” She slowly got onto the bed, and pulled Rachel onto her lap. She stroked the girl’s hair while she broke down.

Alice’s voice was quiet. “I’ll go get the others up.” She made to stand, with her entire body shivering as though caught in an arctic wind.

“No.” Esthel casually pulled Alice into her arms along with Rachel. “They can wait a few more minutes, or Jack can wake them up. I’m so sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault.” Alice whined.

“Yes, it is.” Esthel insisted, “I’m your grandmother. I should be the first to protect you kids, but instead I’ve got you going off to fight a monster that almost killed you last time.”

“I said I was ready, though.” Rachel argued.

“And I should’ve realized you were lying. The way you were shaking, and everything about your voice; I should’ve seen how scared you were. I’m so sorry I didn’t pay enough attention. And Alice, I should’ve asked you as well. You were also injured by general Irondark.”

Alice shifted on her grandmother’s lap. “Grandma, do you think we stand a chance?”

“Yes.” Esthel nodded, brushing her chin against Alice and Rachel’s heads. “I know the odds are bad, but you kids have done some amazing things since you became Power Rangers. Irondark only beat you last time because he snuck up on you when you were kids. If all five of you take the fight to him in Ranger form, he won’t stand a chance.”

“Thanks, grandma.”

“Yeah. That makes me feel a little better.” Rachel agreed, “Can we stay like this for a few more minutes, though?”

“Of course we can, honey.” Esthel squeezed her granddaughters close to herself, while they nestled into her.

The Murdoches and Jack were gathered in the red engine car of the Imagination Express. “Okay.” Esthel sat down. “I know and understand that you kids are nervous. You absolutely have every right to be. Are you all sure that you’re ready?”

“Yeah.” Rachel stepped forward. “We’ve gotta get our insertrains back, right? And besides, if this place is only accessible through the Magin Line, then we won’t be able to rely on any other Ranger teams.”

Alice put a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “And besides, this is our fight. Stopping the Shadow Line and paying the general back is our responsibility.”

“Exactly.” Ian added, “Plus, even if we could ask another Ranger team for help, that guy made it personal by attacking our sisters.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Laurelie confirmed, “So we’re all in agreement then? Steven?”

The boy hesitated, briefly. “Yeah. I think so, at least. I’m still kind of scared, but we need to get the insertrains back before general Irondark starts using them against us. Something tells me Weed Shadow wasn’t exactly his big ace in the hole.”

“You’re right.” Jack nodded. “Now, the Shadow Line castle is filled with concentrated dark energy, which acts as a natural counterbalance to the imagination power that you kids use to transform. You’ll be able to stay morphed in there, but if you go back to civilian form, you won’t be able to morph again.”

“So we’ll just have to morph in here.” Rachel confirmed. “Okay, let’s do it!”

The Murdoch siblings stood in a row next to each other, loading their insertrains and locking them into their morphers. They punched the air, and yelled as one, “ It’s morphin time! ” A series of white line segments appeared between the siblings and the adults.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

After five simultaneous flashes of colored lights, the Rangers stood in the middle of the train car. Esthel shot up to hug them each. “I’m so proud of you kids! I know you’ll win this fight.”

“Just remember, don’t swap insertrains with Alice and Rachel. The backups won’t be able to handle it with all the dark energy around you.” Jack informed them.

Rachel nodded. “Got it, teach. Now to quit stalling!” The five siblings ran out of the train.

The Imagination Express had been parked in midair in front of the Shadow Manor. Its tracks occasionally flickered between rainbow colored and black, as though the dark energy was trying to corrupt them. Rachel, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven jumped out of the train and onto the massive staircase that led into the castle.

The staircase was a dozen feet wide, and each step was half a foot tall and 3 inches wide. The Rangers sprinted, taking two steps at a time, until they were on a large semicircular platform. To each side of them was a curving row of pillars, 3 feet apart, supporting a dome overhead. In front of them was a set of wrought-iron double doors, twice the size of each of them. The entire structure was as black and gray as a starless night.

Before the Rangers could take another step, the doors were swung open from the inside. “Welcome!” The humanoid greeted them, with his arms held up and outwards, “I am the baron of the Shadow Line, Nero Royale.” He bent over and crossed his arm over his midsection to take a bow. “We’ve been expecting you, Rail Rangers. Please, come inside. General Irondark is eager to show you the results of his newest project.”

The Rangers all glanced at each other. “So, we’re all in agreement that this is a trap, right?” Rachel gestured to the baron.

“Oh, definitely.” Ian agreed, “But can we also agree that we don’t have much of a choice now?”

Rachel turned her head forward. “Unfortunately, yes.” She led her siblings up to the doors.

Baron Nero stepped aside. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. May I take your coats? Your hats? Your morphers?”

Laurelie aimed her Rail Rescue slasher-blaster at his head. “We’ll keep them. It’s chilly in here.”

“Suit yourselves. Right this way, then.” Nero started walking down the hallway. The Rangers followed him. Rachel kept her gaze forward, never taking it off the Baron. Ian and Laurelie watched their sides, keeping their eyes trained on the black and gray walls, decorated with statues of monsters and tapestries of human suffering. Alice craned her neck, watching the ceiling even as she got sore. Steven repeatedly turned his head to watch behind the group.

“So, how exactly did a bunch of kids become Power Rangers?”

“That’s a great big steaming pile of not your business.” Rachel answered. The sound of the baron’s cane tapping the hard stone floor echoed around them periodically.

“Tough crowd, huh? You know, I used to have a brother. He left about a decade ago to join some reality show, out in space, and then one day I learned that he’d been killed by another team of Rangers.”

“If you want, we’d be happy to arrange a family reunion.” Alice tapped the handle of her sidearm while keeping it holstered on her hip.

“Ah, that won’t be necessary. Now, here we are.” They’d entered an enormous chamber of a throne room. There were massive stone pillars flanking a blood red carpet, leading up to an empty, golden throne at the top of a staircase.

Alice and Rachel nearly froze up at the sight of general Irondark standing next to the throne. “Ah, Murdoches. It’s so good to see you again. Hello, Alice. Rachel. I see you’re doing well.”

“No thanks to you.” Rachel unholstered her sidearm. “Is this the part where we fight over the insertrains or what?”

“As you wish.” General Irondark slowly walked down the stairs. He unfurled his palm, revealing the red and blue insertrains, as well as the one he’d found in the knothole near the school. Strands of dark energy swirled around them. “Allow me to introduce you to the newest member of the Shadow Line.”

A cloud of pitch-black smoke rose out of the general’s hand, arcing and coalescing on the ground next to him. It resembled a flawless copy of the Rail Rangers, except its colors were dim and muted. Its left half was red, and its right half was blue. It dual-wielded the track blade and the railyzer. It spoke in a cold, monotone voice, “Destroy.”

“This is my android Ranger, lieutenant Kuroiyami. Lieutenant, you know what to do.”

The dual-colored android raised its copy of the railyzer. “Destroy. Destroy. Destroy!”

The Rangers dove away from the blasts. “Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!” Rachel activated the track blade.

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!” Alice manifested the railyzer in her hands.

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!” Ian swung the enerhammer onto the floor while it was still solidifying, releasing a shockwave that knocked baron Nero off his feet.

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!” Laurelie formed the axeblade and used it to flip the baron into the air.

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!” Steven turned on the double-dagger bridge, jumped off the flat side of the axebreaker, and turned around to slice at baron Nero.

The baron turned into smoke and rushed to the ground, where he solidified and brushed himself off. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go inform Ms. Noire.” With a snap of his fingers, he teleported away in a cloud of darkness.

“I don’t know who Ms. Noire is, but we’ve gotta get the insertrains back before she joins the party!” Rachel and Kuroiyami each extended their track blades to several feet, intercepting and clashing with each other. Kuroiyami fired the railyzer while Rachel was distracted, knocking her back and allowing the duplicate track blade to wrap around her.

Kuroiyami tightened the track blade around Rachel, causing sparks to fly off of her. “Destroy!” It twisted its upper body, tossing her into the stone wall.

Rachel fell to the ground, with her Ranger suit sparking. “Alice, I could really use some backup here!”

“I wish I could!” Alice backflipped, letting the general’s sword pass underneath her head. She fired her railyzer while she was upside-down.

General Irondark swung his sword to deflect the railyzer shots into the walls. With the fourth slice, he sent a thin beam of dark violet energy flying into Alice, striking her out of the air.

Alice rolled on the ground, with sparks flying painfully off of her Ranger suit. Steven, Ian, and Laurelie ran in front of her. “Go help Rachel! We’ll hold off the general!” Steven instructed, before all three of them charged at general Irondark.

“How kind of you to donate your insertrains.” The general swung at them, with its sword emitting a cloud of violet darkness.

“Thanks!” Alice scrambled to her feet and shot the railyzer at Kuroiyami. The lieutenant caught the orb of blue light in its peripheral and, with a millisecond to spare, turned to deflect it with an extension of its track blade.

Rachel took the half-second opening to wrap her extending track blade around Kuroiyami. “Now that’s what I call payback! Now, Allie!”

“You got it!” Alice fired her railyzer at Kuroiyami, keeping it from moving while she ran. She pivoted on one foot and jumped at the right distance to kick the lieutenant in the face. Rachel turned while unfurling the track blade, releasing Kuroiyami and sending it collapsing to the ground.

“Yes!” Rachel sprinted over to Alice and high-fived her. “We’ve gotta beat that thing quick, before it knocks us out of Ranger mode.”

Steven sidestepped, dodging a thrust of general Irondark’s sword, and spun around to slice at him with the double-dagger bridge. Irondark barely moved to avoid the strike, and followed up by kicking him in the side. Steven fell to the ground, groaning and holding his side in pain.

Ian jumped off the flat side of the axebreaker, raising the enerhammer over his head while Laurelie ran on the ground directly below him. He swung the enerhammer.

General Irondark casually swung his sword to block the axebreaker. He continued pressing while turning in a half-circle, until he’d swapped positions with the Green Ranger.

Ian was unable to stop himself. “No!” His enerhammer slammed into Laurelie’s head from above, releasing a burst of energy against his will.

Laurelie cried out in pain as she fell to the ground. Sparks were flying off of her Ranger suit. Half of her visor was broken, revealing her frantically widened eye, and the train tracks on her helmet were knocked askew. Her hand flew to her face, clutching the broken part of her visor.

“That wasn’t a bad strategy. However, you failed to account for any variation. That will be your downfall.” General Irondark swung his sword downwards across Ian’s back, while the boy was distracted by his sister.

Ian screamed, his back burning with pain, and fell to the ground in front of Laurelie. She grabbed his shoulder with a shaking hand. “I don’t think I can stay morphed for much longer.”

Ian could hear general Irondark’s sword parting the air above him. He turned around so he was lying on his back, holding up his enerhammer horizontally with both hands. The general’s sword was blocked by the handle, sending out a minor shockwave. General Irondark continued pressing down, undeterred, while Ian strained to keep the enerhammer up.

“Don’t worry about it!” Ian’s face dripped with sweat under his helmet. “You’re my sister! I’ll protect you, no matter what!”

“You are incapable of protecting anything. I’ll take your insertrain and add it to my lieutenant’s power.” He reached out with one hand, while he continued to press his sword into the enerhammer’s handle with the other, preventing Ian from moving against him.

“No!” Ian screamed. He attempted to move his hand. The second he did so, the general’s sword nearly pressed the handle of his own weapon into his neck, forcing him to grasp it with both hands again. General Irondark’s hand was less than an inch away from his morpher, fingers splayed open to extract the yellow insertrain, when it was struck by a series of laser pellets.

Laurelie was sitting up on the floor, holding her Rail Rescue slasher-blaster. The axebreaker lay on the ground next to her other side. She was breathing heavily, her uncovered eye wide with rage, while she fired at the general’s chest. The laser pellets flew above the sword, striking Irondark and giving Ian the opening he needed to jump backwards.

Steven jumped past general Irondark from behind, slicing across his elbow with the double-dagger bridge, and turned around while skidding over to his brother and sister. “Laurelie, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Irondark broke my helmet a little, but Ian protected me.” She turned her head to her other brother. “If we swapped, do you think it’d repair the visor?”

General Irondark was running at the three Rangers, raising his sword. “Only one way to find out!” The Rangers scrambled to swap their insertrains.

Pink transferring to Green! Green transferring to Yellow! Yellow transferring to Pink!

The two boys dodged to either side of general Irondark, their colors changing while they rolled. Laurelie swung her weapon directly at the general. It transformed from the axebreaker into the enerhammer mid-swing, releasing a burst of kinetic energy as soon as it slammed into his chest, knocking him back two yards.

Ian and Steven charged at the general from behind with the intention of following up on their sister. “Pink’s not exactly my color, but I’ll make it work!” Ian brandished the double-dagger bridge.

“Hey sis, your idea worked!” Steven held up the axebreaker, while looking out of a fully-intact visor. “Ian, go high! I’ll go low!”

“You’ve got it!” Ian jumped while thrusting the double-dagger bridge forward. Steven slid on the ground, holding his upper body off the floor while swinging the axebreaker. Both attacks managed to strike the general, knocking him back with a grunt of pain.

Three clouds of darkness unfurled in the middle of the room, unveiling miss Noire, baron Nero, and Stamp Shadow. “You weren’t kidding, Baron!” Stamp Shadow twirled his branding iron, alternating it between his hands. “This is what I call a party!”

“Oh come on!” Alice was struck in the back by a shot from the other railyzer.

Rachel slid between Alice and Kuroiyami, holding out her track blade. “I guess that makes this a five-on-five. Everyone pick a dance partner. I call dibs on the lieutenant!” She ran forward while swinging and extending the track blade.

“Be careful!” Alice ran to the middle of the room. “I’ll take Stamp Shadow!”

“You’ll take me? Big talk when you couldn’t even take me five-on-one!” Stamp Shadow swung his branding iron to deflect three consecutive shots from Alice’s railyzer, before lunging forward to jab it in her direction. It clanged against the blue ranger’s weapon.

Ian dual-wielded the double-dagger bridge and his Rail Rescue slasher-blaster in its blaster form. He charged and fired at baron Nero and Ms. Noire, while Laurelie charged alongside him with the enerhammer. “We don’t stand a chance against all these guys at once!”

“About time you caught on!” Ms. Noire’s claws glowed with dark purple magic. She swung her hand to launch three violet lines of energy at the two rangers.

Laurelie swung the enerhammer in an attempt to block the claw slashes, resulting in an explosion of purple light. She fell out of the violet cloud, rolling on the ground.

“Laurelie!” Ian raised his bladed weapon to block an overhead strike from the baron’s cane. “Rachel, this isn’t any good! We’ve gotta focus!”

“I’m focused!” Steven had extracted his imagination pass from his belt buckle in order to dismiss the axebreaker in favor of his Rail Rescue slasher-blaster, backflipping and firing at general Irondark. “Focused on not dying!”

“I’ll be happy to break your concentration.” General Irondark swung his blade at the Green Ranger. “As well as your bones.”

“No, Ian’s right!” Rachel dove away from Kuroiyami’s extending track blade, a dozen feet away from the lieutenant. The other track blade continued extending and curving around her, trying to ensnare her. The Red Ranger turned around and fired her sidearm into the duplicant blade. "We came here for the insertrains, so let's focus on those!"

The red and blue android wrapped its track blade around Rachel, restraining her arms and constricting her. "Destroy!" It tightened the grip while extending the blade, sending the tip of the sword flying directly at Rachel's visor.

Rachel flicked her wrist to toss her sidearm's blaster mode into the sword. At the same time, the android's track blade shattered the center of her visor. The impact from the Rail Rescue slasher-blaster caused the track blade to loosen around Rachel, allowing its impact to send her flying backwards rather than her forehead being skewered. Her hand shot up to feel at her visor. It was partially shattered in the middle, leaving both of her eyes half-exposed. “Close one.” She quietly whimpered.

Alice side flipped away from a swing of Stamp Shadow’s branding iron in order to run over to the area between Rachel and Kuroiyami. “Guys, I don’t think Rachel can stay morphed for much longer! We’ve gotta finish this now!”

Ian, Laurelie, and Steven all broke away from their respective battles and clustered together. They tossed their weapons into the air to combine them. “ Trainzooka! ”

“Stop them!” General Irondark charged at the Rangers. Ms. Noire launched six of her long-distance claw slashes, baron Nero fired violet lasers from the tip of his cane, and Stamp Shadow ran at them with his branding iron.

“ Final ex-! ” Baron Nero and Miss Noire’s attacks struck the rangers, at the same time as general Irondark and Stamp Shadow swung their weapons in an X pattern. The resulting explosion engulfed the Rangers in a cloud of dark violet energy, sending them flying into the air, screaming in pain.

“Destroy!” Kuroiyami swung her track-blade while extending it, slashing the Rangers out of the air.

The second the Rangers fell to the ground, Rachel was engulfed in a brief flash of red light. She touched her face, and felt skin. “Oh no.”

The remaining four Rangers hurried to stand up so they could surround Rachel, holding out their weapons. Their suits were sparking with electricity. “We need to protect Rachel!” Alice yelled.

“No, we need to get out of here!” Ian insisted, “We can’t hold our morphs for much longer!”

“Yeah, and if Rachel can’t morph, then we can’t form the trainzooka!” Steven was sweating under his helmet. “We don’t stand a chance like this!”

Laurelie’s hands shook around the enerhammer’s handle. “We’ve gotta retreat.”

“You won’t be able to run away or protect your little sister!” Stamp Shadow held out his branding iron in Alice’s direction. “Today, the Power Rangers will fall, and the Shadow Line will rise!”

Alice started firing her railyzer at Stamp Shadow. “Focus and make an opening!” Ian fired his sidearm and double-dagger bridge at the Shadow Line engineer. Steven shot him with his Rail Rescue slasher-blaster, while Laurelie slammed the ground with her enerhammer, releasing a burst of energy that cracked the ground in Stamp Shadow’s direction.

Alice picked Rachel up off the ground. The Rangers took the opening they’d created to run out of the throne room.

“Stop them!” General Irondark demanded. He chased after the retreating Rangers, followed closely by Noire, Nero, and Stamp Shadow.

Rachel gripped onto Alice’s shoulders. “I can walk, you know.”

“Don’t care; this is faster!” Alice glanced behind herself, where her brothers and sister were taking turns glancing back and deflecting the Shadow Line’s attacks.

Baron Nero and Ms. Noire stood on either side of the Shadow Line throne. General Irondark stood directly in front of and beneath the throne, on the bottom step of the staircase, with lieutenant Kuroiyami at his side. Stamp Shadow was kneeling before him on the floor. “Please, forgive me.”

“I will.” General Irondark stated, “Provided that you redeem yourself. Go to the human world, and don’t squander my trust in you knowing what to do next.”

Stamp Shadow picked up his branding iron and stood up. “I will, general! I’ll finish off the Power Rangers once and for all, and then the world will be plunged into enough despair to bring back our exalted emperor!” Tendrils of darkness reached down from the ceiling and wrapped him in a cocoon of shadows, before retracting upwards to deliver him to the surface realm.

Silence permeated the interior of the Imagination Express. The train had returned to the bright colors of the Magin line, and continued chugging down the infinite tracks. Eventually, Rachel brought herself to speak up in a hoarse voice. “I’m sorry.”

“Rachel, you don’t have to apologize.”

“Grandma’s right.” Alice hooked her arm around Rachel’s sides. “We were all there, so we all share the blame.”

“No we don’t! I was the one who got demorphed! I’m the reason we failed! I’m the reason we didn’t get our insertrains back! I’m the reason…” She unfurled her palm. Her backup insertrain had turned from red to gray, with cracks halfway through the process of spiderwebbing along it. Rachel took a deep breath through her nose. “It’s my own fault I can’t morph anymore.”

“I’m sure I can get you a new red insertrain.” Jack assured his student, “And then you kids will be better prepared.”

Alice stood up. “Speaking of preparing, maybe we should consult the Legendary Ranger Database. There’s no way we’re the first Rangers to fight evil duplicates of ourselves.”

“You’re right!” Rachel shot up. “I was looking through the Database to study the history of our predecessors-”

“And the Titanium Ranger.” Ian deadpanned.

“Shut up. Anyway, it seems like evil Rangers have become sort of a semi-annual tradition. But there’s one group of them who really stood out.”

General Irondark walked through a chamber in the Shadow Manor, hands folded behind his back. Baron Nero walked at his side. “My general, are you sure this is necessary? I made these preparations years ago-”

“Nonsense. Now that the Rangers have been sent running, it’s time to press our advantage. And besides, I think it’s been quite long enough.” General Irondark opened a compartment hidden in a back wall.

“Oh, very well. I must admit, I’ve been itching to see her in action.” Baron Nero’s borderline-cadaverous face contorted itself into a parody of a smile. “Come on out, my Orange Ranger!”

Chapter Text

Oct 30 1998

Five duplicates of the Space Rangers had transformed into bulky, spike-covered corruptions of their previous forms. They slowly walked toward the originals, laughing the entire time, with their forms partially covered in shadows.

The Red Ranger’s duplicate intoned, “We’re-”

Apr 26 2024

“The Psycho Rangers.” Alice had paused the Legendary Ranger Database video on the laptop. “They were a group of alien monsters who worked for the United Alliance of Evil, right before they were literally dissolved by the Z-wave. Nobody knows if they were robots, or actual creatures engineered by Astronema or someone else.”

“Can we get to the point?” Laurelie tapped her foot impatiently.

“Right, sorry. Point is, I think we can use this footage to figure out a way to beat that evil Ranger that general Irondark created.”

Rachel nodded. “I get it. We’ve got access to the knowledge of past Rangers, so we might as well use it to our advantage.”

“Are you sure you aren’t half-Rafkonian, sis? Because you just read my mind.” Alice looked up at her teacher. “Jack? Are you okay, sir?”

Jack had been squinting at the screen. “Yeah. I’m just wondering how they got this kind of footage. Who could’ve possibly been filming all of this?”

Ian shrugged. “This thing was created by a golden talking tiki head with direct connections to the morphin’ grid. That might have something to do with it.”

“Yeah, and I’ve got a feeling that the Morphin Masters might’ve helped.” Laurelie added.

“True. Help from a group of interdimensional entities intrinsically connected to the morphin grid would explain how they got this kind of cinematography for something that actually happened.”

“Uh, yeah.” Laurelie nodded. “That’s it.”

“So, how did the Space Rangers beat the Psycho Rangers?” Ian gestured to the paused screen. “Some crazy new weapon or battlizer?”

“Ah, no, apparently the battlizer came after the first time the Psycho Rangers were defeated.” Laurelie skipped ahead, and unpaused the footage.

Nov 4 1998

In an unlit building, the Yellow Psycho Ranger was marching towards her cowering counterpart. “This’ll go easier on you if you stop fighting me.”

A streak of pink light burst through a pile of boxes, and surrounded Psycho Yellow before tossing her aside, and solidified into Psycho Pink. “You just don’t seem to understand, do you?”

“You’re becoming much more trouble than you’re worth!” Psycho Yellow aggressively swung her arm out in front of herself.

“Then let’s end this!” Psycho Pink charged and started fistfighting with her supposed ally. While she was judo-flipping Psycho Yellow, the Yellow Space Ranger was standing up and using the wall to steady herself.

The Yellow Space Ranger made a finger gun and crossed that same arm over her chest. “Let’s show her what we’re made of! Ready?!”

“ Power… ” The Space Rangers performed a synchronized pose in the middle of a grassy field, consisting of lunging forward while pointing their arms at their opponent. “ ...Rangers! ”

“Psycho Ranger!” Psycho Pink swiped her arm in front of herself, sparking a few small explosions that tossed the Space Rangers off their feet.

The Pink and Yellow Rangers sprinted through the smoke, with the Yellow Ranger maneuvering directly behind the Pink Ranger before they both jumped and struck Psycho Pink in the chest, knocking her onto the ground.

Apr 26 2024

Alice fast-forwarded a minute ahead in the footage, and paused on a shot of the Yellow and Pink Space Rangers posing in front of Psycho Pink, who was on her knees with smoke pouring out of her body. “That’s how they defeated Psycho Pink. They took advantage of her rivalry with Psycho Yellow, and worked together to destroy her using the power of teamwork and lasers. Mainly lasers.”

“I’m not sure that’ll work for us.” Ian argued, “The Shadow Line seems like they’re all on the same page mostly, and that android’s probably been programmed to be completely loyal to Irondark.”

“He’s got a point.” Rachel leaned over to press the keyboard. “Next clip!”

Nov 5 1998

The Blue Space Ranger ran up to the Psycho Rangers. “Hey! There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you guys.”

“Well, that’s just perfect!” Psycho Blue snarled, “Because there’s nothing we’d rather see right now more than the Blue Ranger.”

“Then you’re in luck!”.

“Why is that?” Psycho Black inquired.

“Because there are two of us!” A second Blue Space Ranger jogged out from behind a large structure covered in chalk numbers. He stood next to the first with a small laugh.

“What?!” Psycho Red pointed at the two Blue Rangers. “Two Blue Rangers?!”

“Make that 3!”

“4!”

“5!”

Five exact duplicates of the Blue Space Ranger stood next to each other, with their arms crossed over their torsos or chests. Psycho Blue realized, “It’s a trick!”

“Five Blue Power Rangers, and just one Blue Psycho Ranger. Now what’re you gonna do?”

The Blue and Silver Space Rangers turned around, posing while Psycho Blue exploded directly behind them.

Apr 26 2024

Rachel paused the footage. “Wow that's awesome.” She cleared her throat. “So that’s how they defeated Psycho Blue.”

“We should use the power of cosplay against the lieutenant?” Steven asked.

“No, but a little misdirection might help.” Rachel clarified, “Except I don’t know how we’re supposed to all disguise ourselves as half-red half-blue Rangers…” The kids all slowly looked up at their teacher.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not that good with spray paint. And besides, Rachel still can’t morph, and Alice’s spare insertrain can’t stand any color swaps.”

“Oh.” Rachel hung her head in disappointment. “What about the other three Psychos? How were they defeated?”

“Uh… lemme check…” Alice fast forwarded through the footage. “Megazords. They defeated them with four megazords at the same time.”

“Yeah, and it’s a pretty long megazord fight.” Ian pointed out, “We don’t even have one megazord!” He sighed and walked away from the group, grumbling, “Let’s face it. This is hopeless.”

“Come on, you don’t mean-”

“Yes, I do, Rachel!” Ian leaned forward, fists clenched at his sides. “We don’t have a Red Ranger! We can’t make a megazord! The Shadow Line has a new member! Give me one good reason to keep fighting!”

Rachel’s palm slammed onto the table, hard enough to jostle the laptop. “Because who else will?!”

“The Lightspeed Rangers! Or maybe that new team they’ve got in Newtech City for all I care!” Ian tossed his morpher and insertrain onto the floor. "I just can't do this anymore." He walked off into the guest room, and shut the door behind himself.

"I can't believe him!" Rachel complained, "One setback, and he quits!”

“To be fair, it’s a pretty bad setback.” Laurelie sat down on the couch. She pulled out her kendama.

“That shouldn’t matter.” Steven argued, “Other Ranger teams have dealt with really bad stuff, haven’t they?”

“But we’re just kids!” Alice jumped backwards to sit down next to Laurelie, causing her sister to bounce half an inch off of the next cushion over. “Jack, do you really think we can beat this thing?”

“Of course you can!” Jack knelt down on one knee, gently grabbing Laurelie and Alice by their shoulders. “You’re Power Rangers! I have no idea how, but you can solve this! Saving the world is what being a Power Ranger is all about!”

Laurelie swiped her teacher’s arm off of her shoulder, scowling down at him. “In that case, maybe Ian was right about quitting.”

The back of the door slammed into the hallway wall. “I was completely wrong about quitting!” Ian sprinted into the living room. “Check out this BuzzBlast video I found!” He pushed his phone into Rachel’s face.

“Oh.” She leaned back, slightly startled.

A redhead with short hair flanking both sides of her face, silver earpieces with blinking blue lights, and a black shirt with a wide-open V-neck was standing in the middle of a forest. “Hello, BuzzBlasters! J-Borg here, reporting on a recent discovery right here in Pine Ridge, California.”

The camera panned to the side, revealing a maroon diesel train car. It was partially embedded in the ground, with rust covering its entire length of almost 300 feet. “Nobody knows where this phantom diesel came from. It just appeared a few days ago. Some say it might be an alien craft, but honestly, it’s anyone’s guess why aliens would make a spacecraft that looks like a train.” The android mused to herself, “Although, apparently there were sentient alien cars on earth a few decades ago…”

Rachel snatched Ian’s phone out of his hand. “Guys, do you realize what this means?!”

“My phone!”

“This has gotta be one of the lost insertrains! Jack, grandma, we’ve gotta go to Pine Ridge, right now!”

Alice inquired, “Why is it that big? The other insertrains are all dinky!”

“Good question.” Jack sighed, “Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer just yet. Rachel, give Ian his phone back.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Rachel held out the phone.

Ian took it back. “It’s fine. And who cares about its size? Rachel’s right! We’ve gotta get to Pine Ridge before the government gets their grubby little hands on it!”

“Yeah!” Laurelie agreed, “What if this is some kind of super-insertrain, and its zord form is the most ginormous thing ever?! The Shadow Line wouldn’t stand a chance!”

Jack pressed down on Laurelie’s shoulder, while she was bouncing up and down with her hands clasped in front of herself. “We shouldn’t get our hopes up. Let’s just find this thing first, and then we can figure out what to do with it.”

“Jack’s right.” Rachel turned around and started walking towards the door.

Esthel grabbed Rachel’s arm. “Oh no, young lady. You’re staying right here.”

“What?!” Rachel wheeled around. “I can’t just stay here! I’m the Red Ranger!”

“Not right now you’re not. Until we can get your insertrain back, it’s too dangerous for you to go out and fight. Jack will go so he can drive the Imagination Express, and I’ll stay here with you. We can have a ladies’ day; just the two of us.” She enveloped Rachel in a warm embrace.

Rachel whined into her grandmother’s sweater. “I can’t have a ladies’ day! The world needs me!”

“Rachel.” Jack knelt down, squeezing his student’s shoulder. “I know you want to come with us, and I really wish you could too, but it’s too dangerous right now. Without an insertrain, you’re just a little kid. There’s nothing you can do.”

“No!” Rachel screamed, squirming in Esthel’s arms. “There has to be something I can do! I’m a Power Ranger!” She wrestled out of Esthel’s hold, falling clumsily onto her back.

Esthel reached out. “Rach-”

“No!” Rachel staggered away, unable to stand up, with tears shining in her eyes. “I can’t believe this! I-I-I hate you!” She scrambled to her feet and sprinted out of the living room.

“Rachel!” Steven tried to reach out to her, only for her to run past him.

“Let her go.” Esthel instructed him. Her voice was shaky, despite her best efforts to hide it. She winced at the sound of Rachel slamming the bedroom door. “You kids go with Jack. I’ll stay here with Rachel, whenever she’s ready to talk.”

“Are you sure?” Steven glanced into the hallway. “She’s so upset.”

“I’m sure.” Esthel hugged her grandson. “Jack, please make sure you protect my kids.”

“Of course I will. You know I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them.”

Laurelie looked around, nervously tapping her fingertips together. “Come on. Let’s go.”

A set of train tracks emerged from a blue, green, pink, and yellow swirling vortex into the woods outside of Pine Ridge, followed by a four-car train. With a loud whistle and rapidly-quieting clatter, the train slowed to a stop.

Jack opened the door on the blue car in the front of the train. “There’s too many trees in the forest to get any closer, but this is the general area where the diesel insertrain is supposed to be. Do you kids want me to come with you?”

“No thanks. No offense, but you can’t turn into a Power Ranger, so you’d really just slow us down.” Laurelie bluntly replied.

“Oh, wow. Just, wow. Okay. Gotta respect the honesty, at least.”

Laurelie looked down. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Laurelie.” Jack leaned down to ruffle her hair, until she started giggling. “Now, go find that new insertrain, okay?”

“Okay!” She cheerfully jumped down out of the Imagination Express.

Esthel walked into the guest bedroom and searched for her granddaughter under the blankets and the bed. “Rachel?” She heard something, from inside the closet. She pressed her ear against the brown wooden door.

After a second, Esthel recognized the sound as Rachel, quietly sobbing. “Rachel?” She knocked on the door. Her heart broke at the sound of a fearful yelp. “Rachel, I’m coming in.” She opened the closet door.

There was a small pile of blankets in the back of the closet, covered in shadows, with a lump that was barely moving underneath them. Esthel sat down, wincing as her aging bones creaked in protest, and gently settled her palm on top of the blankets. Rachel slightly relaxed in response. “You know Rachel, my old body isn’t what it used to be.”

“I’m sorry.” Rachel whimpered, “I said I hate you so now you hate me but I don’t want you to hate me and I’m so sorry.”

“Rachey, I could never hate you. What you said was very hurtful.” Esthel gently stroked the blanket. She could feel the lump wriggling under it, until Rachel’s head peeked out. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “But you didn’t mean it, did you?”

Rachel poked her arm out of the blankets to wipe her eyes. “No. I love you.”

Esthel held out her arms. “I love you too, sweetie.”

Rachel was motionless for a few seconds. She slowly extricated herself from the covers, and crawled onto her grandmother’s lap.

Esthel wrapped her arms around the child’s small, vulnerable body. She gently pressed Rachel’s head against her chest, so that she could hear Esthel’s steady heartbeat. The calm rhythm comforted her enough that she closed her eyes.

Eventually, Rachel broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, baby. It’s okay. I know you’ve been having a hard time. I’m right here.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Less than an hour after they’d left the Imagination Express, the siblings came across a clearing inhabited by ruins. The statue of a triceratops, thirty feet tall on its hind legs, was in the midst of a circle of rubble, a couple dozen feet across. “Woah.” Alice gasped, “Guys, this must be Dinohenge!”

Ian squinted at her, then at the triceratops statue. “You mean the Dino Fury Rangers’ headquarters? How come there’s only one statue?”

“No clue. They just added their own adventures into the Database, and I don’t think it’s finished yet. Maybe it’s got something to do with Lord Zedd’s invasion last year?”

“Maybe.” Ian apprehensively walked closer to the triceratops statue. “Something’s weird here.”

The others walked over to him. “I know what you mean.” The air around the statue felt thick and cold, as though it were infected with a malignant disease. Alice slowly walked closer to the triceratops statue. She could hear the leaves and branches snapping underfoot. Hesitantly, she reached her hand out. The air felt like incorporeal molasses. She touched her palm to the prehistoric statue.

“Nothing happened.” Alice took her palm away from the statue. “I honestly can’t decide whether to be disappointed or relieved.”

“I vote relieved.” Laurelie shuddered. “We should get outta here. I know this place was home to a Power Rangers team, but it’s giving me the creeps.”

Her siblings agreed, and the four of them walked away from the statue. Out of their sight and away from their earshot, a young woman strolled over to the statue. Without hesitating, she placed her palm on the side of the triceratops statue. “I hope those kids are gonna be alright.”

Laurelie, Steven, Alice, and Ian continued walking. The apprehension from the Dinohenge ruins hung over them like a thick cloud of smog, to the point where they all had a few seconds’ delay in noticing the portal that appeared before them. It was perfectly round, and swirled with blacks and dark purples.

Out of the portal emerged general Irondark, Stamp Shadow, lieutenant Kuroiyami, and a newcomer. They resembled a precise copy of the Rail Rangers, down to the same exact skirt as Kuroiyami, Laurelie, and Alice. The only difference was that the newcomer’s suit was a bright orange.

“Irondark!” Ian held out his arms in front of his siblings. “What do you think you’re doing here?!”

Alice audibly whimpered. Her tears were stinging her eyes, so she clenched them shut and desperately swiped her sleeve over them.

“Think?” General Irondark scoffed, “I know exactly what I’m doing here. I’m going to find the next insertrain. Of course, if I can annihilate you four in the process, I won’t exactly complain.”

“As if!” Laurelie aggressively loaded her insertrain. “Who’s your new friend, anyway? Another bootleg Power Ranger?”

The Orange Ranger laughed. It was full of cold, malicious condescension. “I’m no bootleg. In fact, you could say I’m the progenitor of the Rail Rangers.”

“Enough!” Ian loaded his insertrain. He and Laurelie stood next to each other. They pressed the crossing gates down on their morphers.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

Alice could barely think or breathe. She was exhaling frantically, and her body was refusing to inhale. Her rib bone was sore with phantom aches. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her. The sudden contact sent a jolt of fear coursing through her. A scream burst out of her throat. “Get away from me!” She wriggled and panicked.

“Alice! Allie!” Steven held his sister tighter.

“Lemme go!” Alice squirmed, punched, and kicked. “You’re scaring me!”

“Okay.” Steven hesitantly released Alice. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Alice curled in on herself. “Not safe. Scared. I don’t wanna die.”

“You’re not gonna die.” Steven gingerly placed his palms on Alice’s shoulders. “I’ll make sure of it.” They turned their heads at the sound of two Rangers morphing nearby. Steven squeezed Alice’s shoulder. “We’ve gotta fight those guys, okay?”

Alice shook her head breathlessly. “I’m scared.”

“Me too. But Laurelie and Ian need us. We can’t let them down, can we?”

The Green and Yellow Rangers crashed into the ground next to the other children. Ian groaned at the small piece of exposed root digging into his back.

“Point taken!” Alice stood up alongside Steven.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

The Rail Rangers charged, each of them activating their respective weapons. Steven targeted general Irondark.

The general crossed his blade with the double-dagger bridge. “What happened to your sister, boy? Has she finally realized the futility of resisting the Shadow Line?”

“None of your business!” Steven dove sideways, and rolled away from the general while pulling out his sidearm. Irondark effortlessly deflected the laser pellets.

Ian swung his enerhammer to block Stamp Shadow’s branding iron. The result was an earsplitting metallic clang, as well as a minor shockwave that sent them both skidding a few inches back. “Are you sure you want to face me again, Yellow Ranger?”

“Positive!” Ian slammed the enerhammer into the ground, carving a trench in the ground and throwing Stamp Shadow off-balance.

Laurelie swung her axebreaker at the lieutenant. It jumped backwards and extended its replica of the track blade, wrapping it around Laurelie’s wrist and the axebreaker’s handle. “Destroy.”

“You can’t destroy me!” Laurelie pulled the axebreaker with both arms. She released the weapon with one hand, causing it to drop from its own weight, in favor of unholstering her sidearm and unfolding it into sword mode. She sliced the replica track blade.

Laurelie stabbed the axebreaker into the ground, leaving the handle sticking out diagonally, and playfully hopped on it between her feet. “You’re red and blue, but I’m green! I’ve got what it takes to fight you!” She bounced off the axebreaker, and folded her sword into blaster mode.

Kuroiyami held up its railyzer to block Laurelie’s strikes, before firing one of its own. The shot struck her in the chest and paralyzed her, with a painful jolt of electricity coursing through her entire body. She suffered another jolt of pain when she crashed into the ground facefirst.

“...Ow.” Laurelie’s entire body ached. Her sidearm laid on the ground next to her. The rails were thrown askew around her helmet.

Alice ran at the Orange Ranger, shooting her railyzer. She effortlessly dodged the strikes before jumping and dive-kicking Alice in the face.

The impact rang out, knocked Alice’s head so far to the side that it hurt her neck, and sent her flying into the ground, all within seconds. Alice landed on the ground, with a slightly sore spine. The Orange Ranger started running at Alice, pulling back her fist.

Alice left her railyzer on the ground while she stood up, and unholstered her sidearm to fire it at the Orange Ranger. The laser pellets sparked harmlessly against her torso and chest, until she punched Alice in the shoulder.

Before Alice could be knocked back by the punch, the Orange Ranger grabbed her by the upper arm and yanked her upright. With one hand, she held Alice upright by the shoulder and upper arm. With the other hand, she threw punch after punch into Alice’s face, chest, and neck.

“Stop it! Let me go!” Alice struggled in the Orange Ranger’s grip. Her shoulder was being squeezed painfully tight. Her upper body was covered in sparks from the rapid-fire impacts.

“I’ll let you go. But I’ll do it on my own terms.” The Orange Ranger stomped on Alice’s foot and yanked her arm up and back. Alice yelled in pain. The Orange Ranger swiveled on her foot and kicked Alice in the chest, sending her skidding backwards for several feet.

The Orange Ranger picked up Alice’s Rail Rescue slasher-blaster in blaster mode, and bent over while sending it spinning on the ground between Alice’s feet, stopping just behind her. She tripped over her own weapon and landed on her back, propped up by her arms.

Alice’s arms folded beneath her. Blue lines of electricity arced around her upper body, causing her to spasm and cry out in pain. The Orange Ranger was walking towards her. Her insertrain was partially cracked.

The trees quietly rustled nearby, until a young woman burst into the clearing. General Irondark slashed his sword upwards and diagonally across the front of Steven’s body, launching him back. The woman grabbed him from behind to help him stay upright. “You would do well to leave this place, girl.”

Steven noticed the woman’s face, and did a double-take at it. “No way! You’re the Dino Fury Pink Ranger!”

The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh… I dunno who you are, but you’re close.” She held up her wrist, adorned with a bracelet that resembled a T-rex’s closed mouth. The upper jaw was gold, the eyes were red, and the rest of it was silver. The part on the side of her wrist was a black square, decorated with a yellow lightning bolt. She flipped open the top of the bracelet. “Just not quite up-to-date!” She dropped a bright red orb, containing a holographic ankylosaurus, into the back of her bracelet and flipped it closed.

“I don’t care who you are!” General Irondark sprinted towards the woman, brandishing his sword. “Your death will bring your loved ones despair, and contribute to my emperor’s freedom!”

The newcomer threw out her fist. “Cosmic orb! Link to morphin grid!” She was enveloped in a flash of crimson light, and emerged in a new form.

The suit was red with a skirt, black gloves, silver armor on the forearms, and gold-colored bands on the elbows, knees, and ankles. There was a silver belt with a circular like-colored buckle, adorned with two golden triangles converging on an inlaid gemstone. A silver diamond was folded in half on the side, leaving a triangle on the front and back of the lower torso. The collar was covered in gold plating, surrounded by the silver of the pauldrons. The helmet was partially red and covered in gray, with silver lines on the visor that gave it a resemblance to a tyrannosaur’s teeth, as well as blue eyes above the visor.

The new Red Ranger spun a massive hammer between her arms. It had two square heads on its side, with red triangular decorations. “Ankylo fury! Red Ranger!” She slammed the hammer onto the ground, sending out a shockwave in front of herself.

A series of cracks lengthened, widened, and spiderwebbed out. General Irondark, Stamp Shadow, lieutenant Kuroiyami, the Orange Ranger, and Ian were all thrown to the ground. Alice and Laurelie rolled on the grass where they’d already fallen, while Steven remained standing next to the Red Ranger. “Who are you?”

“Name’s Amelia. I’m one of the Cosmic Fury Rangers.” She charged into the battlefield.

“In that case…” General Irondark stood upright while holding up his sword. The blade and hammer collided into a mild shockwave. “...I’ll spread your entrails across space!”

Amelia pushed down with her hammer and side-flipped while spinning at the same time, kicking the general in the face. She landed facing away from him and attempted a roundhouse kick, only for general Irondark to grab her ankle. He spun around in a half-circle to toss her away.

Amelia flew through the air, until she crashed back-first into a tree hard enough to send it crashing down. She fell into a heap. The four present Rail Rangers jogged over to her, whereupon Steven helped her up. “You’re a Red Ranger? And a girl?” He looked her up and down. “When did that happen?”

“Last year. It’s kind of a long story. Speaking of which, how come you guys don’t have a Red Ranger? And why do you all sound like kids?”

“Yeah…” Steven winced. “That’s another long story.”

Alice fell to her knees, groaning while her Ranger suit shattered. The lieutenant wrapped her track blade around her from several dozen feet away. “No, please-!” Alice’s voice was yanked away from her when Kuroiyami launched her into the air.

“Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!” Lieutenant Kuroiyami slammed the child into the ground, over and over, again and again. Her body struck the ground, snapping twigs and striking rocks with each agonizing impact.

“Let her go!” Laurelie screeched, unable to perceive any emotion except anger, as she and her brothers opened fire on the android with their sidearms. The Orange Ranger jumped off a tree and spun in midair, leg outstretched to kick Alice directly in the head. She fell to the ground, unmoving.

A red portal appeared in the center of the clearing. The spectral tracks that emerged from it were followed by a loud whistle, and then by a like-colored engine car. Rachel jumped out of it, sliding a red insertrain into her morpher, and pressed the crossing gate down. “It’s morphin time!”

Rachel noticed Alice lying on the ground, vulnerable and injured, and extended her track blade faster than anybody could react. It shattered the Orange Ranger’s visor with a single strike before wrapping around her neck. Rachel’s entire body was covered in painful bolts of luminous red electricity. She swung her entire body, screaming in rage and exertion, and tossed the Orange Ranger overhead. She left a small crater on impact.

The Orange Ranger stood up in the cloud of dust. Her helmet had fallen off to reveal a woman with an intense orange glow covering her eyes. General Irondark and lieutenant Kuroiyami stood in front of her.

Amelia rushed over to Alice and scooped her up, holding the girl close to herself. “She’s barely got a pulse! We need to get out of here!”

Amelia accompanied the Murdoch family, as well as Jack, in the Imagination Express while it floated on the rails within the Magin Line. Alice was lying beneath a blanket. Her skin was pale, bandages were covering most of her head, and the only proof of her continued breathing was the occasional rise and fall of the blanket over her chest. “Guys, I’m so sorry.”

Jack shook his head. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s mine.” Rachel turned the grayed-out insertrain in her hand. She could feel it crumbling against her fingertips. “Jack told me this new insertrain couldn’t take much, but I still went all out with it. I just saw that Alice was hurt, and I couldn’t think straight.”

“That’s perfectly understandable, sweetie.” Esthel spoke up, and turned her gaze away from Alice, for the first time since she’d been knocked out.

“Grandma, do you know anything about the Orange Ranger?” Steven asked.

Esthel sighed, and turned to Amelia. “Dear, please help me out here. I don’t suppose I should tell them I know nothing?”

Amelia tapped her fingertips against her opposite wrist. “I don’t want to get in the middle of your family’s business, but this seems important. I think you should tell them the truth, because otherwise, in my experience it’ll probably come out on its own terms anyway.”

“Of course you had to be a smart young lady.” Esthel took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to tell you kids this, but I believe the Orange Ranger might be my daughter. She’s your mom.”

In the Shadow Line throne room, an orb of pure darkness was pulsating below the ceiling. For the first time, it was no longer obscured by the shadows cast by the ceiling and upper walls. “What’s going on?” Miss Noire asked through a whisper.

“I don’t know why, but I’m not complaining. There’s just been an influx of despair.” Irondark held his sword up. “The emperor’s prison is almost undone.”

Chapter Text

Rachel almost fell to the floor, before Esthel caught her. Her entire body was shaking. “What did you just say?”

“She said that the Orange Ranger is mom.” Steven answered in Esthel’s stead. “Except that can’t be true, because mom is-” His voice hitched. “A-an-and even if mom was still around, there’s no way she’d do this! She’d never hurt Alice!”

“She’s being mind-controlled.” Laurelie tapped her fingertips against the rod of her kendama. “That’s the only explanation.”

“You’re right.” Esthel confirmed. “I’m so sorry, kids. I promise, if I’d known that Melissa was with the Shadow Line, I would’ve told you. I honestly thought she didn’t survive the Armada’s invasion.”

Esthel didn’t resist when Rachel’s arm was pulled out of her grip. “I need to be alone right now.” She walked out of the train car, letting the doors slide shut behind her.

Esthel turned to her remaining three grandchildren. “I understand if you kids don’t want to be here either.”

Laurelie, Ian, and Steven shared a glance with each other. “Yeah. I need to think.” Laurelie stood up. Ian wordlessly followed her.

“I don’t know what to think right now.” Steven whimpered. “Grandma? Can I have a hug? Please?”

Esthel didn’t hesitate to wrap her grandson in a tight embrace. “Of course you can, my boy.”

Amelia looked down at Alice, then up at Esthel and Jack. “Do you guys have any plan for where you’re going to bring Alice?”

The two adults looked at each other. “Now that you mention it…” Esthel gently stroked her palm over Steven’s hair. “I’m sure we could get her to Mariner Bay hospital, but even if Dana’s willing to do pro bono work on her, it’d raise too many questions.”

“The kids’ secret identities could be found out.” Jack’s gaze affixed Amelia.

“Don’t worry.” Amelia tapped her morpher. “I know a thing or two about secret identities.”

“Good. Sorry about the suspicion.” Jack held out his hand.

“Nah, I can’t exactly complain about a teacher who looks out for his students.” Amelia accepted the handshake. “Also, I think I might have an idea on where to bring Alice. I promise, she’ll be able to get pro-bono work there, completely risk-free.”

Alice was lying faceup on a cot, covered up to her neck by a thin white sheet. She had wires under the bandages on her face, connecting it to a blood bag hanging from a metal pole.

“Thanks, Solon.” Laurelie addressed the humanoid cybernetic dinosaur.

“Yes. Thank you so much.” Esthel hesitantly shook Solon’s hand. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Oh please, it’s nothing. I can’t exactly leave a child or a Power Ranger out to dry, now can I? Your granddaughter is going to be perfectly fine.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.” Esthel released Solon’s four-clawed hand. “Sorry. I try to be open-minded, but I wasn’t expecting to shake hands with a dinosaur.”

“That’s fair. You get nostalgic for the days of disco, I get nostalgic for the days when there were less continents to keep track of. Now then, Rachel.” Solon turned to look down at the child. “Let’s see that insertrain of yours.”

“Okay. Here you go.” Rachel held up her third insertrain. It had turned completely gray, covered in cracks, with several pieces chipped off.

“Oh my.” Solon gingerly pinched the ruined insertrain between her thumb and middle claws, and lifted it up to her cybernetic eyes. “I’m not sure I can fix this. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Although, so long as it remains mostly intact-”

The insertrain crumbled to dust. “Oh dear. Guess I jinxed it.”

Rachel fell to her knees. “I’ll never morph again. I can’t be a Power Ranger anymore.”

Amelia sat down on the floor, putting herself at eye level with the young girl. “I’m really sorry, Rachel. I can see being a Ranger meant a lot to you.”

“Yeah.” Rachel looked down, shaking. “I was the Red Ranger. I was supposed to be the leader, to protect everyone from the Shadow Line, but now Alice is hurt and mom’s evil and I can’t morph because I’m a useless failure-!”

Amelia hugged Rachel, causing the rest of the girl’s words to catch in her throat. The small child broke down, trembling and sobbing, staining the woman’s shirt with her snot and tears. “You’re not useless. You hear me, Rachel Murdoch? It doesn’t matter if you’re a Ranger or not. You want to help people, to do good, and you have a family that loves you more than anything. You’re not useless, okay?”

“But- but I failed everyone. I let Irondark take my insertrain, and Alice’s.”

“No you didn’t.” Laurelie knelt down, and settled her palm on Rachel’s shoulder. “You didn’t let him do anything. He attacked you two in civilian mode, and he didn’t even give you a chance to morph, because he’s a coward.”

Amelia nervously looked up at Esthel. “Sorry about hugging her without asking, ma’am. I know I’m overstepping-”

“It’s okay, miss Jones. I know I can trust you.”

“You mean because I’m a Ranger?”

Esthel shrugged. “That, but also an old woman’s intuition.”

Rachel curled herself into a ball, as if she were trying to hide in Amelia’s shirt. The young woman stroked her back and hair. “Rachel, how can you call yourself useless when you’re this adorable?”

“Shut up.” Rachel muttered, “I’m not adorable.”

“Sure you’re not, kiddo.” Amelia gave Rachel a few headpats. There was a knock on the other side of the door, prompting her to look up. “Who is it?”

“It’s Ollie. Can I come in?”

Amelia looked down at Rachel. When the younger girl nodded, she answered, “Yeah, come in.”

A young man opened the door and scanned the room. His eyes panned over multiple small children, their grandmother, and Solon standing over a little girl in the medical bed, and Amelia kneeling down to wrap another little girl in a snug embrace. “Dang, Amelia, I didn’t think it was this bad. You okay there, bud?”

Rachel squirmed slightly in Amelia’s grip. “Lemme go.” Amelia stood up without argument, allowing Rachel to do the same. “I’m alright.”

“Okay. Good.” Ollie cautiously walked over to Alice. He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, her breathing was rhythmic and slow, and her face was pale. “So, this is my fellow Blue Ranger, huh?”

Laurelie scowled at him. “Sorry if she’s not good enough for you, sir. She’s not feeling that well.”

“Oh!” Ollie held up his arms. “I am so, so sorry. I swear, I didn’t mean it like that! The original Blue Ranger helped my team save me when Lord Zedd had me under mind control. Trust me, us Blue Rangers have to stick together.”

“Woah, wait, dude, back up.” Rachel had completely turned her attention onto Ollie and Amelia. “You guys teamed up with Billy flippin Cranston?! I didn’t hear anything about that on the database!”

Amelia smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s because we still haven’t updated the database with the Cosmic Fury stuff. We really need to get around to that. But anyway, yeah. That’s also why the triceratops statue is the only one standing; because Lord Zedd spared it so Ollie could keep his Dino Fury powers.”

“Luckily, Solon here got some help from my mom to cleanse my connection to the morphin grid, so now I can swap between my Dino Fury and Cosmic Fury power sets.”

“Neat.” Ian gestured around at his siblings. “Like how we can swap colors?”

Ollie shrugged. “Eh, sort of.” At the exact second he finished his sentence, there was a moderately loud alarm sound from the other side of the door. “What the- come on!”

Amelia, Rachel, Ollie, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven all ran into the massive dome that served as the central room of Dinohenge. “The Ranger Hotline!” Amelia sprinted over to a keyboard emerging from a short pillar in the floor. “It’s been a hot minute since we got one of these.” She looked at the large oblong octagonal monitor, halfway up the wall. It showed a purple, pulsating circle on a map of Pine Ridge, as well as a vertical and horizontal pair of lines that showed the coordinates.

“I’m guessing it isn’t one of those sporix dudes?” Laurelie cautioned.

“I sincerely doubt it.” Ollie walked over to the keyboard. He and Amelia adjusted it so the monitor changed to show live street-level footage of Pine Ridge. Stamp Shadow was slamming his stamps into people, causing them to slump over into lethargic heaps while he occasionally stabbed his branding iron into the ground, creating wide trenches and fissures in the ground. The Orange Ranger was running around, grabbing and assaulting random civilians indiscriminately. Lieutenant Kuroiyami was using her track blade and railyzer to destroy as much property as possible. “Oh no.”

Rachel clenched her fists, seething in anger. “The Orange Ranger! She’s the one who hurt Alice! Guys, come on, we have to go and stop them, now!”

“Absolutely not.” Ollie stood in front of Rachel to block her path. “Amelia and I will go and fight these guys. You stay here, and stay safe.”

“No way!” Ian held up his insertrain, shaking it in front of Ollie. “The three of us can still fight! And we’ll fight you both if we have to!”

“Hey, hey, everybody calm down!” Amelia got between the two and held out her arms. “We’re all Power Rangers here, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, but Amelia, are you sure?” Ollie gestured to the Murdoch siblings. “They’re just kids!”

“True, but I saw them fight. If the two of us and the three of them work together, we’ll be able to take these monsters. Besides, the rest of our team isn’t available.”

“How come?” Laurelie asked.

“The other Cosmic Fury Rangers are halfway across the galaxy helping SPA fight the Troobian empire right now.” Ollie explained, “It’ll take days for them to get here.”

“The Shadows will destroy the city by then! We have to go out and fight without them!” Steven insisted.

“He’s right, Oll.” Amelia reluctantly admitted, “Just the two of us would only be able to delay those things at best, and not nearly long enough. If all five of us work together, though, I know we can beat them.”

Ollie looked at his leader, the children, and the room where Alice was still lying unconscious. His fingers curled in on themselves. His voice was almost imperceptibly quiet. “I was on that bed just last year. Okay, you kids can come with us. Just please, be careful.”

Ian nodded in agreement. “We will, Mr. Akana. Promise.”

Stamp Shadow plunged his branding iron into the ground, carving a trench down the street. He laughed, “Just listen to that wonderful sound! There’s nothing like the sound of humans screaming in terror!” The Orange Ranger tossed a civilian onto his back at Stamp Shadow’s feet. “Ah, thank you!” He slammed his stamp down, creating a red X on the man’s forehead.

Five individuals sprinted around a corner several scores of feet in front of Stamp Shadow, dodging the upturned cars and the unnatural trenches in the pavement. “Mom! Please, stop!” Ian begged.

“Mom? Who’s your mom?”

The Orange Ranger walked up to Stamp Shadow’s side. “I have no idea what that little boy is talking about.” She pointed at Ian. “Would you like me to put you through the same thing as your sister? Or maybe you’d rather I finish the job?”

“You’ll pay for what you did to Alice! I don’t care if you’re our mother or not; you won’t get away with hurting her! Everyone, ready!”

“Ready!” The Murdoch siblings locked and loaded their insertrains into their morphers.

All five Rangers yelled, “It’s morphin time!”

“Dino Fury key! Activate!” Ollie unfolded a blue key into a statue of a swordsman, inserted it into his wrist-bound morpher, and rotated the lower half to invert it.

“Cosmic orb!” Amelia dropped the red sphere into her morpher.

“Link to morphin grid!”

The group sprinted out of five colored flashes of light, each one in their Ranger form. “Ankylo fury! Red Ranger!”

“Tricera fury! Blue Ranger!”

“We’re not doing a roll call without all five of us!” Steven jumped and slashed his dagger towards Stamp shadow. The monster spun around to dodge while simultaneously swinging his branding iron, striking Ian across the chest. Sparks flew off of his Ranger suit, while he was tossed onto his back.

The Orange Ranger jumped and flipped through the air, extending her leg to kick Ian in the stomach. The ground loudly cracked beneath him. He could feel his Ranger suit caving into his skin, and subsequently screamed in agony. “Mom! Mom, please, stop! You’re hurting me!”

“I’m going to do much more than hurt you, boy. I’m going to kill you, and all of your siblings. Slowly and painfully.”

“No you’re not!” Laurelie jumped through the air, swinging her axebreaker down the Orange Ranger’s chest. Sparks flew outwards from the point of impact, while the Orange Ranger screamed and flailed. She landed several feet away. Laurelie put her axebreaker down headfirst, holding it up by the handle, and reached her free hand down. “Are you okay?”

Ian accepted the hand and stood up. He groaned in pain, “I’ll live.”

“Not if I can help it, you won’t!” Stamp Shadow jumped into the air, pulling back his arm to throw his branding iron like a javelin. Laurelie and Ian each rolled in a separate direction away from the weapon, leaving it to embed itself in the ground. Long, narrow trenches spread out and spiderwebbed in all directions from the point of impact.

Steven jumped over a trench while it was forming. He ran up to the embedded branding iron and jumped again, stretching out his arms to grab it. As soon as his fingers and palms were wrapped around the handle, he bent his elbows and torso, turning himself sideways and vaulting to the other side of the weapon, kicking Stamp Shadow in the face with both legs.

Steven dropped to the ground on both legs, leaning forward to maintain his balance, while Stamp Shadow stood up. “That wasn’t half bad, for a Pink Ranger.” He stepped forward and swung his fist, forcing Steven to roll out of his way. Stamp Shadow grabbed his branding iron and yanked it out of the ground, tearing up a small patch of the road under it.

Ian ran and swung his enerhammer into Stamp Shadow’s arm from his blind spot, releasing a massive output of kinetic energy that launched Stamp Shadow into the air. He rotated, screaming in more surprise and anger than pain, and crashed to the ground. He left a crater on impact. “Stamp Shadow’s mine! I still owe him payback for making me lazy when Irondark almost killed Alice and Rachel! Just keep mom and the lieutenant off my back!”

“Okay!” Laurelie agreed. She wrapped her other hand around the handle of her axebreaker, and hoisted it over her shoulder with a small grunt of effort. “Ready, Steve?”

“Ready!” Steven ran towards the Orange Ranger. “Sorry mom, but you shouldn’t have hurt Alice!” He pivoted and spun in a full circle, granting himself more than enough momentum to throw his double-dagger bridge. “Laurelie, let’s do the thing!”

“Of course! The thing!”

The green and pink insertrains flew through the air.

Pink transferring to Green! Green transferring to Pink!

The double-dagger bridge transformed into the axebreaker while it flew through the air, maintaining its momentum until it slammed into the Orange Ranger blade-first. The impact sent dozens of electric sparks flying outwards. A mild shockwave cracked the pavement beneath them. The Orange Ranger landed on the ground several feet away, clutching her stomach and groaning in pain. “Yes!” Laurelie squealed in delight, high-fiving Steven.

A few yards down the street, lieutenant Kuroiyami extended its track blade, slashing it across Ollie and Amelia’s chests while they were less than 10 feet away. The impact sent them sprawling on the ground with sparks flying off them. Kuroiyami fired bolts of blue energy from its railyzer, forcing Amelia to sit up and swing her ankylo hammer into each shot. Left, right, left. She deflected them into a car, an abandoned storefront, and the pavement before she and Ollie stood up. “Ollie, I think you’d better bring out the big guns for this one.”

“You’re right. Hey lieutenant!” Ollie opened his belt buckle, extracted, and held up a dark green key. It had a silver top designed to resemble the upper jaw of a dinosaur with a glowing blue eye, and a tiny brown semicircle on its top. “Check out these guns!” He flipped the key open into a tiny soldier statue holding up a sword. The sword was decorated with a brown fist accompanied by a comet trail.

“Smash dino key! Ready!” Ollie unsheathed a red sword, with three jagged triangles on the edge, and a black two-handed hilt on the end of a gold pommel. The guard was designed to resemble a tyrannosaur’s mouth, with pointy white teeth and a white eye on each side, with a bright red pupil angled downwards. On the top and back of the head, there was a small handheld lever. “Chromafury saber! Ready!”

With a downward press of the lever, Ollie opened the tyrannosaur’s mouth and inserted the dark green statuette key. He pumped the lever, snapping the jaw open and shut four times, before he was engulfed in a green light, followed by a blue flash.

“Smash battle armor!” Ollie had gained outer armor over the Blue Dino Fury suit, the same color as the key he'd used. It had two pachycephalosaurus heads for pauldrons, one mature and the other juvenile. His fists were covered by gauntlets, with orange metal on the back, and silver knuckles. The main torso part of the Smash battle armor covered his upper torso, leaving his abdomen exposed. It had a wide black line on his left side, decorated with two white pachycephalosaurus heads.

Ollie slammed his gauntlets together, creating a mild shockwave before running in lieutenant Kuroiyami’s direction. “Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!” It extended its track blade, and fired the railyzer. Ollie effortlessly blocked each strike with a single punch. The lieutenant took a few steps back, before Ollie caught up to her. He cocked back his fist, leaning one side of his body, and slammed another punch into lieutenant Kuroiyami’s chin with a shout of exertion.

A shockwave rang out from the impact, upturning the pavement immediately around Ollie. The red and blue android was launched into the sky, flailing hundreds of feet above the ground. Its weapons had been left on the ground.

“Thanks for the setup, Ollie!” Amelie jumped onto Ollie’s shoulders, using them as a springboard to jump. “Now for the punchline!” She swung her ankylo hammer, generating a miniscule gust of wind from the air it displaced, and slammed it into lieutenant Kuroiyami.

After another mild shockwave that displaced the air around it and caused a split-second vacuum, Kuroiyami slammed back into the ground. The impact created a small crater around it.

Ollie and Amelia turned their backs to the crater. An explosion emerged from within, while the two Rangers raised Ollie’s armored fist and Amelia’s hammer. “Furious victory!”

Ollie and Amelia sprinted to the crater, and jumped into it. The surface of the pavement went up to their hips. Where Kuroiyami had been, all that remained were the red and blue insertrains. Ollie picked them up. “These must be those things the kids need to turn into Rangers.”

“In that case, get them to Dinohenge immediately.” Amelia instructed, “I’ll stay here to help out.”

“Right.” Ollie teleported away.

Amelia jumped out of the small crater, and took a second to scan the battlefield. The Orange Ranger was dodging Laurelie and Steven’s strikes, forcing them to dodge each other’s weapons in order to distract them from her own unarmed attacks. Ian was backflipping and sideflipping away from Stamp Shadow’s branding iron, constantly and desperately searching for an opening to counterattack.

Standing next to each other, Laurelie swung her axebreaker downwards, while Steven thrust his double-dagger bridge forward. The Orange Ranger crossed her arms and grabbed their arms. She pulled Laurelie’s arms upwards until they were painfully straightened, and pulled Steven’s arm behind his shoulder. She jumped, contorting and spinning her body, in order to kick both siblings in their stomachs.

Laurelie and Steven fell to the ground in two separate heaps, groaning in pain. Laurelie rubbed her shoulders. “Ow. That smarts.” She grabbed her axebreaker by its handle and attempted to stand up, only to find herself falling to her knees. She released a cry of pain. “My shoulders!”

“Sis!” Steven grabbed her arms. He glared up at the Orange Ranger. “How could you?! You’re supposed to be our mom!”

“I am not your mother.” The Orange Ranger’s voice was cold, and devoid of any emotion save for contempt. She slapped the back of her hand against Steven’s visor, sending him falling onto his side. The arm she’d pulled a few seconds earlier was crushed between his body and an upturned section of the pavement, eliciting a cry of pain.

Amelia glared through her visor at the Orange Ranger. She ran across the street, jumping and using Stamp Shadow’s head as a springboard, with two simultaneous results.

Stamp Shadow was disoriented. “Hey! What-?”

Amelia threw her ankylo hammer, causing her body to lean forward into a somersault.

Ian took the split-second opening to pivot and spin, slamming his enerhammer into Stamp Shadow’s torso and knocking him multiplie feet back with an output of kinetic energy.

The Orange Ranger barely managed to duck away from the ankylo hammer, leaving it to make a crater on the ground alongside a shockwave that disoriented her, while Amelia landed on the ground. She picked up her hammer and twirled it in her arm.

Steven looked up. He readjusted the slanted tracks on his visor. “Thanks, miss Jones.”

“Please, we’re all Power Rangers here. Call me Amelia.”

Ollie appeared inside Dinohenge with a flash of blue smoke. “I got them!” He opened the door to the infirmary, where Rachel, Esthel, Jack, and Solon were monitoring Alice. He held up the red and blue insertrains, smiling under his helmet, and repeated, “I got them!”

Rachel and Alice’s faces lit up. Alice jumped off her bed with no visible ill effects.

“Really?!”

“Thank you thank you thank you so much!”

Before Ollie could react, the two girls had barreled into him with a hug. “Oh, uh…” He looked up at Esthel.

The elderly woman gave him an approving nod. “It’s okay, young man. You can hug them.”

“Thanks, Ma’am.” Ollie demorphed and knelt down to hug Rachel and Alice. “Here.” He handed them their respective insertrains.

“Thank you.” Alice plucked the blue insertrain out of his palm.

“Yeah. Thanks, sir.” Rachel pinched the red device between her thumb and index finger. “I mean, Ollie.”

The elder Blue Ranger smiled, and mussed up the kids’ hair. “Esthel, Jack, are they good to go back into the fight? I think their siblings could really use the backup.”

“I’m not sure.” Esthel nervously admitted, “Alice only woke up about a minute ago.”

Alice turned around, pleading, “Please, grandma? If the others are in trouble, then I have to help them! It’s what any Power Ranger would do! Even if general Irondark is there.”

“Don’t worry, he’s not.” Rachel assured her, “At least, not last I checked.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

Solon addressed Esthel, “Ma’am, I know this is scary. Believe me, I felt the same way every time I had to send Zayto’s team out to fight the sporix.”

Ollie winced, and hissed uncomfortably through his teeth. “Uh, Solon? Bad example.”

“O- oh. Right.” Solon cleared her scaly throat. “Again, I know you’re scared, Esthel, and you should be. But these girls are Power Rangers now. For better or for worse, they’ve been chosen by the morphin grid to keep the universe safe.”

“You’re right.” Esthel looked down at her granddaughters. “I don’t like it, but you kids have my blessing to go out and fight. Just, please, be careful.”

Alice and Rachel both ran to hug their grandmother. “We will.”

“Promise.”

Ollie stood up. “Trust me, Amelia and I will look out for them. Now, do you kids have teleporters?”

Rachel shook her head. “Nope. Usually we just run places, or we summon our zords. They’re trains, so we can also use them to move around.”

“Really? That sounds convenient, but how about you kids hold onto my arms and hitch a teleport with me?”

“Yeah!”

“Can we, grandma? Can we?” Alice pleaded, “I’ve always wanted to teleport!”

The adults all laughed fondly at the two young girls. “Of course you can, hon.” Esthel patted Alice on the head, followed by Rachel.

Ollie stood up. Rachel and Alice reached up to grab his elbows, bouncing giddily on the balls of their feet. Ollie activated his teleporter, causing all three of them to disappear in a cloud of blue light.

Ollie, Rachel, and Alice all teleported into the street where the other Rangers were fighting. The two young girls stumbled. “Woah!” Rachel grinned. “That was so cool! Can we do it again?”

“Maybe some other time.” Ollie decided. He sprinted towards Ian and Stamp Shadow while activating his morpher. “Dino Fury power! Link to morphin grid!” With a flash of blue light, he transformed mid-run without missing a step.

“I missed you so much, baby.” Rachel kissed her insertrain, before loading it into her morpher.

“Me too. I’m not kissing mine, though. That’s just weird.” Alice slid her blue insertrain into her morpher.

Rachel shrugged. “Whatever. I’m just glad I get to say this again.”

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean.” Alice grinned. “On 3! 1!”

“2!” The two sisters lowered their crossing guards to lock the insertrains onto their wrists.

“3! ” They punched the air, holding out their morphers. “ It’s morphin time!”

Rachel and Alice were covered in a flash of light, red and blue respectively, for less than a second. Within that time, tiny colored trains raced around them on floating tracks. The tracks shrank, until the trains disappeared behind their heads and the tracks attached themselves to the Rangers’ helmets.

Rachel cracked her knuckles, with her hands covered in the white gloves of her Red Rail Ranger uniform. “It’s so good to be back!” The Rangers sprinted into the battlefield.

Ollie jumped past Ian, holding out his sword to slice at the monster. Stamp Shadow held out his branding iron diagonally while leaning back, causing a loud metallic clang from the clash of their weapons. Ollie bent his entire body, starting with his legs dangling in midair, and backflipped onto the street.

“Hey! Go fight my mom! This one’s mine!” Ian yelled at Ollie.

The elder Blue Ranger turned around. “What? Don’t you want help?”

“No! He made me lazy when we first met! I have to get revenge!”

“Then come at me, Yellow Ranger!” Stamp Shadow kicked Ollie in the back, knocking him aside while he charged at Ollie. “I’ll skewer you and your siblings, and show you off to your grandmother!”

Ian screamed in rage, charging to meet Stamp Shadow. They swung their weapons, causing a deafening clang that sent the monster skidding back. Its heels dug into the street, creating shallow lines in front of himself. Ian continued running, raising his enerhammer overhead.

Stamp Shadow smirked. He lunged forward before Ian could swing his enerhammer down, slicing across his stomach. A line of small, red and orange flames burst out from his suit, sending Ian flying back.

Ian screamed in pain, crashing and rolling onto the ground, while his enerhammer fell to the ground. Stamp Shadow ran forward, preparing to strike Ian with his branding iron. Ollie sidestepped in between them to block the weapon with his sword. He turned his head while holding his sword up horizontally. “Ian, are you okay?”

“Ow. Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Good!” Ollie grabbed the hilt of his sword with his other hand. He poured energy into both of his arms to swing his sword, pushing Stamp Shadow’s branding iron out of the way. He continued turning in the same direction to roundhouse kick the monster in the chest. “Are you ready to accept help?”

Ian stood up. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it is! I’ll even give you this finishing hit!”

“Thanks!” Ian ran over to Ollie and Stamp Shadow.

Nearby, Amelia, Rachel, Alice, Laurelie, and Steven had surrounded the Orange Ranger. She swiveled rapidly. “You girls just don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Nope!” Amelia lunged. While the Orange Ranger ducked under her hammer, Rachel extended the track blade towards her.

Nearby, Ollie sliced Stamp Shadow to the ground. “Now!”

Ian jumped, enerhammer raised, and slammed it down onto Stamp Shadow’s head. “No! Not again!” He went up in smoke, while Ian turned his back.

“Yeah! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Ian ran away. “Okay, guys, we’d better get ready.”

A cloud of darkness erupted from the ground, and unfurled to reveal Stamp Shadow, towering over the city of Pine Ridge. “Oh yeah! Best deja vu ever!”

“Looks like we’ll have to forget the Orange Ranger for now.” Rachel lifted up her imagination pass. “Let’s ride the rails!”

Nothing happened.

“Wha- huh? Let’s ride the rails! Let’s ride the rails! Let’s ride the rails! Why isn’t it working!” Rachel continued yelling, panicking, sweating, failing to summon her zord while the kaiju laughed and swung its weapon far above her. “Let’s ride the rails!”

Chapter Text

Baron Nero Royale, general Irondark, and Ms. Noire stood in the throne room of the Shadow Manor. They were watching a perfectly flat holographic screen showing Stamp Shadow and the Orange Ranger’s street-level battle with the seven Rangers. Above the screen, a massive sphere of writhing, swirling shadows was pulsating and exuding pitch-black clouds. A humanoid stood next to them, observing alongside them.

“So, those two got their insertrains back? How unfortunate.” Ms. Noire remarked.

“It doesn’t matter. We still have our ace in the hole.” Irondark looked past Noire, at the android on the other side of her. “Isn’t that right, Lieutenant?”

Lieutenant Kuroiyami, colors slightly faded, nodded. “Destroy.”

“That’s the spiri- Oh!” Baron Nero pointed at the screen, “Here comes my favorite part!” The four watched as a flower of dark energy unfurled, and a massive version of Stamp Shadow began swinging his branding iron into the nearby buildings.

General Irondark released a cold, low rumble of a laugh. “I’m guessing sweet little Rachel and Alice are just now realizing that something vital is still missing from their arsenal. Baron! If you please, I think all four of us should go up to the surface.”

“With pleasure, my general.”

“Let’s ride the rails! Please, let us ride the rails!” Rachel fell to her knees, arms dangling listlessly at her sides. Her Ranger suit disappeared, with a flash of red light and a sound like shattering glass. Rachel’s eyes were welling up with tears. Her voice was shaking. “Please… why isn’t it working?!” She screamed in frustration, a gutturally high-pitched sound, and slammed her fist into the pavement. The upturned road was stained with spots of red. The sound of snapping bones was followed by Rachel screaming in pain.

A portal appeared nearby. Alice muttered, “Oh no.”

The other six Rangers gathered in a circle around Rachel. Amelia demorphed and knelt down, to wrap the girl’s bleeding hand in her shirt.

General Irondark, baron Nero, Ms. Noire, and lieutenant Kuroiyami walked out of the portal. “Hello there, Rangers.” Irondark greeted them, “I see you’ve made some new friends.”

Ollie gestured at the Shadow Line members. “Who are you three?! And didn’t we destroy that robot?”

“I am general Irondark of the Shadow Line. As for the lieutenant, I programmed it with the ability to return after its first destruction, using pure dark magic. The red and blue insertrains may have been returned to those snot-nosed brats, but their zords are still inaccessible to them. Now! Baron Nero, make the Orange Ranger grow!”

“Yes! Let’s make a bad day even worse for the Rangers, and for the earth!” Baron Nero raised his staff, and spun it with both hands.

Amelia pulled Rachel closer to herself, while the girl sobbed incomprehensibly. “Stop them!”

Ollie, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven sprinted at the Shadows. Ms. Noire swung her claws, launching rapid-fire lines of purple energy at them. The spectral claws of dark magic crashed into the Rangers. They attempted to deflect the claw strikes with their weapons, only for the barrage of shots to rapidly breach their defenses.

The claw strikes exploded into a collective fireball that engulfed the Power Rangers. They were forcibly reverted into civilian form in midair while being tossed to the ground. The five of them rolled on the pavement, groaning in pain.

“Thank you kindly, Ms. Noire.” Nero spun his staff, warping the air around it while forming a disc of pure darkness. Purple, branching lightning bolts flashed within a circular black void.

“Don’t mention it.”

A beam of dark purple energy shot out from the baron’s staff, and traveled a few yards before striking the Orange Ranger. Her pained screams were cut off when a sphere of void-black clouds manifested around her. Baron Nero swung his staff upwards to throw the sphere into the air, at the same altitude as Stamp Shadow’s head, where it rapidly expanded and swirled outward.

The dark smoke dissipated. The massive Orange Ranger descended to the ground, sending up a cloud of smoke while the entire city of Pine Ridge trembled on its foundations.

Irondark chuckled, deeper than an undersea trench. He handed a small light-blue object to lieutenant Kuroiyami. “Keep them occupied. Nero, Noire, come with me.” The three of them walked through the portal into their manor. The vortex closed behind them.

Rachel stood up, holding her hand in her shirt. “Wh… what are you holding?”

The lieutenant held out the object, pinched between her thumb and fingertips. “Destroy.”

Alice’s eyes widened. “That’s the lost insertrain! The one from near the school!”

The android held up its arm. A band of silver light appeared around its wrist, and solidified into a rail morpher. Lieutenant Kuroiyami slid the lost insertrain into its new morpher. With a snapping click, it lowered the crossing guard down to lock the insertrain in place.

Ollie cocked his head to the side. “What’s it doing?”

Twin bands of cyan light poured out of the lost insertrain. They expanded around lieutenant Kuroiyami’s shoulders and, with a sound like shattering glass, solidified into dual light-blue shoulder-mounted missile launchers. Each one had a handle going straight downwards to wrist-length. The red and blue android gripped the handles. “Destroy!” It flicked the bottom of each handle towards itself, launching two missiles at the unmorphed rangers.

Within the next five seconds, Amelia dropped her orb into her cosmic morpher, Ollie inserted his key into his Dino Fury morpher, and the Murdoch siblings loaded their insertrains into their rail morphers. They all screamed to be heard over the whistling of the missiles.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

“Cosmic orb! Link to morphin grid!”

“Dino Fury key! Activate!”

“ Link to morphin grid! ”

The missiles collided with a multicolored field of light, and reduced it to a fireball.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

There was smoke, billowing upwards from a crackling bonfire. Within the flames, there were seven silhouettes. They stood united in a row, surrounded by red-hot flames, unflinching as the fire licked at their armor.

“Ankylo fury! Red Ranger!”

“Tricera fury! Blue Ranger!”

“Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

Lieutenant Kuroiyami took a step back in alarm. “Destroy?!”

Rachel flipped her track blade into the air, and effortlessly caught it by the hilt. “Don’t mind if we do.” The seven Rangers charged at lieutenant Kuroiyami, brandishing their various weapons. Kuroiyami launched another two missiles at them. Rachel smirked under her helmet. She swung her track blade while extending it several yards, causing it to curve and weave until it struck the missiles, igniting them in midair.

The rangers sprinted underneath the fireball, like a short-lived miniature sun. “Guys, what’re we going to do about the giants?!” Laurelie held up her axebreaker to block herself from Kuroiyami’s railyzer shots. “Even with all seven of us, there’s no way we can stop them without our zords!”

Ollie ducked under lieutenant Kuroiyami’s elongating track blade, before jumping upright and slicing across the android’s chest. Kuroiyami fired a single missile at him, with no more than a second before it would strike him.

“Freeze dino key! Ready!” Ollie unfolded an ice-white key into a statue that he loaded into his sword’s hilt, and frantically pumped the jaws open and closed. Blue energy poured out of the hilt, before a tiny cerulean pterosaur robot started flying around him, trailing crystals of ice. The ice crystals froze the missiles on contact, less than half an inch before striking Ollie. The crystals coalesced into pieces of armor that gravitated to Ollie and snapped around his upper body. A pair of wings unfurled, briefly flashing with an ice-white glow, before falling behind his back as a dual cape.

“Freeze battle armor!” Ollie’s new pauldrons were light blue, with multiple flat layers. On the right shoulder was a golden spike pointing downwards and diagonally away from Ollie. The armor covered the majority of his upper torso, with the back holding the cape to his main Ranger suit. A silver pterodactyl head, with a red eye, adorned the center of his chest on the battle armor.

Steven lunged at lieutenant Kuroiyami while it was startled, stabbing it in the side with his double-dagger bridge before running away. He turned around while running, spinning to deflect a railyzer shot with his weapon. “Guys, watch out!”

Stamp Shadow stabbed the ground with his branding iron. Its massive size caused it to move slowly, generating a tunnel of wind from stabbing through the air. The pavement erupted around the point of impact, with a shockwave that launched all seven Rangers and the lieutenant to the ground. “What now, little Rangers? I’ve got a city to destroy!” He swung his branding iron to impale a building. “And there’s nothing you can do about it!” He tore his weapon out of the building, causing the upper floors to shatter from the destabilization.

The sound of crashing building materials echoed from midair, followed by debris raining down. Stamp Shadow stepped over the Rangers and walked away, while the debris fell to the ground all around them.

The seven Rangers stood up. “This is bad. If Alice and Rachel can’t summon their zords, then we can’t make our megazord! And Stamp Shadow beat our megazord no problem last time anyway, so it doesn’t even matter!” Laurelie panicked.

“Oh, man, and we’ve got the Orange Ranger too.” Amelia looked up at the Orange Ranger, pulling an apartment building off its foundations a few blocks away. “And Lord Zedd destroyed all our Cosmic Fury zords last year, and he disabled our connections to most of the Dino Fury zords when he attacked Dinohenge!”

“Destroy!” Lieutenant Kuroiyami pumped the handles on its launchers, sending a dozen missiles flying at the Rangers.

“Laurelie, let’s do the thing!”

“Yeah, the thing!” Laurelie and Ian ran to the front of the group. Laurelie held up her axebreaker sideways. Ian wound back, holding the handle of his enerhammer with both hands, and swung it into the side of the axebreaker. The massive output of energy created a concussive shockwave that struck the missiles.

The missiles flew off-course, colliding with each other and igniting a massive fireball. The Rangers were nearly blinded, and knocked off their feet by the force of the explosion. Within the few seconds before it dissipated, the residual heat caused the pavement to melt beneath the fireball.

“I’ll go with the Ptera Freeze Zord.”

“Ollie, are you sure?” Amelia gestured at Stamp Shadow, slicing through a warehouse in another block. “Do you really think you can fight them both?”

“Probably not, but I can at least hold them off while you guys take down the android. Once you do that, the kids will have their megazord back.”

Alice fired her railyzer at lieutenant Kuroiyami. “But we already told you, our megazord didn’t work against Stamp Shadow the first time! Now that he’s got mom on his side, we don’t stand a chance!”

“Sure you do!” Amelia slammed her ankylo hammer into the pavement, creating a crack that threw lieutenant Kuroiyami off its feet. She started sprinting. “You kids are Power Rangers!” She swung her hammer into the android, launching it back. “Plus, you’ve got the two of us on your side!”

Ollie turned on the communicator function of his morpher. “Solon, I need you to deploy the Ptera Freeze Zord!”

“Right away, Ollie!” Solon’s claws flew across her keyboard underground, while Esthel and Jack watched her from behind. “And there you go!”

“Thanks, Solon.” Ollie hung up his communicator.

Esthel, Jack, and Solon looked up at the monitor, showcasing the Ptera Freeze Zord battling Stamp Shadow and the Orange Ranger. The teacher cleared his throat. “That’s incredible. I saw the Dino Fury zords on the news a few years back, but this is something else entirely. Are you sure he can fight them both?”

Solon clacked her claws together. “I sure hope so.”

The sky grew cold. A shadow was cast over the city of Pine Ridge by an enormous icy-blue pterodactyl zord, trailing frozen crystals behind itself. The Ptera Freeze Zord screeched and dove towards Stamp Shadow from behind. The giant turned around. “Is that all you’ve got?!” He thrust his branding iron up and diagonally, aiming it at the Ptera Freeze Zord. It veered to the side, performing a corkscrew and gliding past Stamp Shadow.

Ollie jumped and soared into the sky, with the two halves of his cape billowing outwards to serve as wings. He pierced through the cold wind, gliding and gaining altitude, until he was flying next to the zord’s head. “You ready, bud?”

The Ptera Freeze Zord screeched, sending out a blast of freezing air at Stamp Shadow. Ollie grinned under his helmet. “That’s what I thought!” He extracted the freeze dino key from the hilt of his chromafury saber, in statuette form. “Battle mode!”

Ollie tossed the statuette into the sky, where it rapidly expanded to zord size. The Ptera Freeze Zord split apart, and combined with the statuette to become a humanoid. It maintained its sky-blue, icy color scheme, with a pair of wide wings attached to its upper back. Its thighs, left hand, and feet were a bluish black. It had a pair of glowing red eyes, and its right hand was concealed by a gauntlet with three claws, like the points of a massive trident. The head of the Ptera Freeze Zord’s default form had moved down to its chest. “Ptera Freeze Zord Battle Mode!”

The megazord and the kaiju sprinted towards each other, causing the ground to shake with each step. Stamp Shadow swung his branding iron down. The megazord held up its gauntlet to catch the weapon between its tines, spreading frost over the weapon. “How’s it feel to fight someone on even footing?!”

“Dunno!” Stamp Shadow took a step back. “I’ll let you know when I find out!” He turned to kick the Ptera Freeze Zord in the chest, knocking it a few steps backwards. The Orange Ranger sprinted over, toppling several relatively small buildings from the force of her footfalls, and grabbed the megazord under its wings.

“Hey, let go!” Ollie yelled, trying to pilot the Ptera Freeze Zord out of the Orange Ranger’s grasp. “Freeze burst!” The head on the megazord’s chest opened with a screech, pouring forth a below-freezing wind. Stamp Shadow staggered back from the gust, as the air around it dropped in temperature. Nearby windows frosted over from the gale.

The Orange Ranger turned to the side, swinging her arms to throw the Ptera Freeze Zord onto its back. The pavement shattered underneath it, destabilizing the entire street’s worth of buildings and causing trenches to expand and spiderweb outwards from the megazord.

“Now that’s more like it!” Stamp Shadow plunged the branding iron into the megazord, skewering it just below the secondary head. Sparks flew outwards, alongside the sound of breaking metal and snapping wires.

“No!” Ollie attempted to stand the megazord up. The Orange Ranger stomped on its shoulder to hold it down, while Stamp Shadow continued stabbing the robot.

The Rangers and lieutenant Kuroiyami were thrown to the ground by the shockwaves sent out from the Ptera Freeze Zord crashing several blocks away. Amelia stood up, with a slight shake to her legs, groaning. “Ollie needs backup, right now!”

“Then we’ve gotta take out this robot!” Rachel confirmed, “Guys, let’s use the trainzooka!”

Her siblings all yelled out in affirmation. The five siblings tossed their weapons into the air, and caught the trainzooka on its way down. Multicolored light swirled into the barrel. “ Final express! ”

Multicolored train tracks shot out of the combined weapon, ensnaring lieutenant Kuroiyami. “Destroy?! Destroy!” The android struggled and launched a salvo of missiles at the Rangers.

“I’ll deal with those!” Amelia fired small concussive blasts at the missiles, igniting them into a chain reaction in midair. Under the oppressive heat and smoke of an ever-expanding fireball, a spectral train launched out with a deafening whistle.

The six Rangers turned around, while lieutenant Kuroiyami exploded behind them. Red and blue wisps of light floated out of the fire, absorbing themselves into Alice and Rachel’s insertrains. The devices glowed with their respective colors, growing brighter with each second, until they fully absorbed the energy and returned to their original states.

“Hey, I think we can summon our zords again!” Rachel’s smile could almost be felt from under her helmet.

“Yeah, and that’s not all!” Alice sprinted over to the small crater where lieutenant Kuroiyami had spent its last few seconds. She bent down to pick something up, and held it proudly to the air. “The lost insertrain is going to need a rebranding!”

“Awesome!” Amelia threw her hands into the air. “You kids are gonna summon your megazord now, right?”

“Yep!” Alice pumped her fists. “And now that we’ve got this thing, we might actually stand a chance! Rachel, catch!” She tossed the cyan insertrain to her sister.

Rachel held out her hand to snatch the insertrain out of the air. It resembled a small tank. “Don’t talk like that, Alice. Now that we’ve got this new insertrain, and Amelia and Ollie backing us up, Stamp Shadow doesn’t stand a chance!”

“But what about the Orange Ranger? Or mom? Whichever she is.” Steven hesitated.

Rachel clenched her fist around the cyan insertrain. “I hate to say this, but until we can break her mind-control, we’ll have to take her down to stop her from destroying the city.”

“You kids take your megazord.” Amelia decided, “I’ll join Ollie in the Ptera Freeze cockpit and make it a 2-on-2.”

“Sounds perfect!” Ian glanced down, and caught a glimpse of something in the rubble of a deep crater. “Hey…” He bent down to pull the object out of the ground. “Oh, wow…” He stood up, and held it out in his open palm. “You guys aren’t gonna believe this!”

Laurelie’s palms flew to her cheeks. “No way!” She cheerfully squealed, “Another insertrain?!”

Rachel plucked the insertrain out of Ian’s palm. It was noticeably longer than the rest, amber and black, and resembled a car carrier with tiny red, blue, and green car models on top. “So now we’ve found three lost insertrains! Let’s go, team!”

The Rail Rangers held up their imagination passes. “ Let’s ride the rails! ”

Stamp Shadow lifted his branding iron out of the Ptera Freeze Zord. It was filled with puncture holes, exposing countless wires with frayed, sparking ends. Before Stamp Shadow could plunge the branding iron back down, the Imagination Express burst forth from a midair portal directly behind him. With a deafening whistle, it crashed into Stamp Shadow and the Orange Ranger, causing small explosions from the impacts. The two giants fell to the ground on top of the Ptera Freeze Zord. “Hey, get off!” Ollie piloted the megazord to push them off itself and stand up.

Stamp Shadow lifted his head off from the crater in the street. “What was that?!”

The five cars of the Imagination Express separated, and reassembled into a humanoid form. Gaps opened within the cockpit, allowing the Rail Rangers’ seats to slide into position. “Alright! We need more reach to deal with his rod-thingy, so let’s use the longest insertrain!” She swapped out her red insertrain for the one Ian had found. It instantly shrank to the size of the regular insertrains, enabling the crossing guard to lock it in. “Huh. Nifty. Anyway, courtesy of my brother, it’s car carryin time!”

An enormous car carrier, almost 100 feet in length, emerged from a gateway leading to the Magin Line. Its entire length replaced the front half of the megazord’s yellow right arm, attaching itself with a loud mechanical hiss. The right arm was over twice as long as the megazord’s pink limb.

Amelia teleported into the Ptera Freeze Zord’s cockpit within a pillar of light. “Sorry I’m late, hon. Mind if I join?”

“Not at all! Let’s do this!”

Stamp Shadow and the Orange Ranger stood up. “And just what is that eyesore?!”

From within the cockpit of the multicolored megazord, five voices rang out, “ Rail Rescue Megazord Car Carrier Formation! On track to strike! ”

The Ptera Freeze Zord swung its arm, launching a below-freezing gust. Frost and icicles rapidly grew on the surface of Stamp Shadow’s branding iron, as well as the Orange Ranger’s suit. “ Ptera Freeze Zord Battle Mode! ”

The Ptera Freeze Zord glided a few dozen feet above the ground, leaning forward while the Rail Rescue Megazord sprinted next to it. The car carrier arm swung forwards to smack Stamp Shadow in the face, causing a shockwave that sent the monster staggering backwards and spinning.

The Orange Ranger turned to the Rail Rescue Megazord, before the Ptera Freeze Zord stepped in between them. Amelia called out, “We’ll hold her off! You kids deal with Stamp Shadow!”

“Deal with me?!” Stamp Shadow spun the branding iron next to himself, creating an intense gust of wind that shattered the ice partially covering the weapon, slightly warping the air around it. “I crushed your megazord last time! Do you really think that unbalanced, oversized toy can deal with me?”

The Rail Rescue Megazord repeatedly brought its longer arm down onto the other, eliciting a rhythmic series of echoing, metallic clangs. Within the cockpit, Rachel cracked her knuckles. “We’re the Power Rangers Rail Rescue! We’ve got two new insertrains, and two of the Pine Ridge Rangers on our side! You’re the one who doesn’t stand a chance!”

The Rail Rescue Megazord’s long arm punched Stamp Shadow in the chest, sending him flying back. He crashed into the ground face-first, while his weapon laid askew next to him. He grabbed it and stood up, glaring at the megazord. “You think I’ll just let a bunch of snot-nosed, single-digit-age infants humiliate me?! I’ll destroy your megazord with all of you inside, and then your own grandmother’s despair will finally free the emperor!” He rapidly pulled his arm back, and launched it forward to toss his branding iron like a javelin. “Ow! My ligament!”

The Rail Rescue Megazord walked forward. With the car carrier arm, it casually backhanded the branding iron out of the air. Its footfalls drowned out the clatter of it landing on the street. Ian scoffed, “Is that the best you’ve got? Your ligament’s about to be the least of your problems!”

“Time for the final strike!” Rachel decided.

Half of the front section of the car carrier train roof, a dozen feet in length, flipped to extend its reach. “ Superhot wheel launcher! ” Five cars, colored a bright red, blue, yellow, green, and pink, shot off the ramp on the roof of the car carrier arm. Their engines revved, mixing with the sound of them whistling through the air.

“Oh come on, do you really think a bunch of toy cars are gonna-” Stamp Shadow was interrupted by the cars crashing and exploding into him rapid-fire, covering his body in sparks of electricity. “Guess I spoke too soon! I’ve finally been stamped out!”

The Rail Rescue Megazord turned around, while Stamp Shadow exploded behind them. “That’s right you have!” Steven jumped up, pumping his fists at his sides, “And about time, too!”

The Orange Ranger dove to the ground and picked up Stamp Shadow’s branding iron. She jabbed upwards from a sitting position, stabbing the Rail Rescue Megazord in the chest. It staggered back, with electricity sparking out of its exposed wires, while the Orange Ranger stood up. “In the name of the exalted emperor, I will wipe out all of you Power Rangers!”

The Ptera Freeze Zord kicked the Orange Ranger in the shin from the side while she was running. It stood next to the Rail Rescue Megazord, with its sword held out. “Are you kids okay in there?” Ollie asked.

“We’re okay.” Rachel confirmed, “We’ve gotta take her out, but we can’t destroy her. Any ideas?”

Amelia called out, “Yeah!” The Ptera Freeze Zord jumped and hovered in front of the Rail Rescue Megazord, with its body held flat at roughly waist-height. “Jump on!”

“Wow, thanks!” The Rail Rescue Megazord jumped onto the wings of the Ptera Freeze Zord, with a deafening metallic clang.

The Ptera Freeze Zord screeched, releasing a gust of sub-zero winds while it ascended, keeping its body flat with the other megazord on top. It soared around in a massive circle, cutting through the air like a dagger, pouring freezing winds onto the Orange Ranger from above. Frost slowly covered her suit, icicles growing from the branding iron and the bottom of her skirt. “Now!” Amelia yelled. The Ptera Freeze Zord dove, creating an air vacuum around itself and the Rail Rescue Megazord.

The Orange Ranger raised her weapon, shattering ice with each muscle movement. From far above her, seven voices called out, united as one, “ Double megazord diving strike! ”

The Rail Rescue Megazord jumped, flipping diagonally before unfolding itself and swinging its car carrier arm, slamming itself into the Orange Ranger’s face. The impact rang out with a shockwave, shattering dozens of icicles and windows alike. While the two megazords touched down on the street, the Orange Ranger staggered back. She attempted to raise Stamp Shadow’s branding iron. Her hand shook, with clouds of pure shadow pouring out.

The branding iron fell and shattered against the ground. Black clouds poured out of the Orange Ranger’s hands, joints, and neck. “No! This is not the end! Once I regain my darkness energy, I’ll return and annihilate you all! And besides, if you children can’t bring yourselves to kill me, then you won’t stand a chance against the emperor.” She was completely obscured by clouds of darkness. By the time they dissipated, she’d been reduced to human size, and retreated into the Shadow Line territory.

Rachel sighed. Her shoulders slumped forward, and she slowly tapped on her control console. “Mom…"

Chapter Text

The Murdoch siblings, Esthel, Jack, Amelia, Ollie, and Solon were in the underground base beneath Dinohenge. At some point, Steven tugged on Amelia’s shirt while she was holding Ollie’s hand. She looked down at him. “Do you need something, Steve?”

“Yeah, can you, uh…” He pointed down.

“Hey, Ollie, can you…?”

“Yeah.” Ollie walked a few feet away.

Amelia knelt down to Steven’s level. “What do you need, bud?”

The boy rubbed his arm. “You used to be a Pink Ranger, right?”

“That’s right. Nice to meet a fellow Pink.”

“That’s what I wanna talk about, though. I’m a boy. Is it okay for me to be a Pink Ranger?”

Amelia had to cover her mouth, stifling a laugh. She reached over to squeeze Steven’s shoulder. “Honestly, Steve? I’d say we’re long overdue for a boy Pink Ranger. And besides, it doesn’t matter what color your suit is. You and your siblings are still fighting for what’s right, with everything you’ve got. As far as I’m concerned, you kids are more than worthy of being part of the legacy and you’re more than worthy of being a Pink Ranger.”

Steven stayed there for a moment. He lunged to hug Amelia. “Thank you.”

After a brief second, Amelia patted the back of the child’s head. “You’re welcome. Just remember, us Power Rangers are like an extended family. We help our own, and now, that includes your family.”

“Yeah…” Steven looked down and to the side, wiping his sleeve across his eyes. “But what about mom? She’s still being controlled by the shadows. They have to be controlling her. There’s no way she’d just try to kill us!”

“I’m sure you’re right. And I don’t know exactly what to do, but we’re going to help you however we can.”

“At least it’ll be a little easier, now that we have our insertrains back.” Alice remarked.

“Yeah!” Rachel’s shaky tone made it clear she was trying to make herself feel better, as well as her siblings. “And- and now we’ve got three of the lost insertrains! Jack, how many more?”

Jack conspicuously coughed into his fist. “W-why- how should I know? Anyway, we’ve got the shield, car carrier, and tank insertrains. I think that leaves the…” He paused. “Oh.”

“What is-” Laurelie cut herself off, with a quiet gasp. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

“We’ve been so busy dealing with mom and the lieutenant and getting our insertrains back, that we forgot about the giant insertrain in the woods!” Rachel yelled.

“Wait, that’s what that phantom train was?” Amelia asked, “I was wondering about that.”

Alice groaned, folding her head into her hands. “It was the whole reason we came to Pine Ridge in the first place! The shadow goons snuck up on us because they’re a bunch of dirty cheaters, and we completely forgot about the whole thing!”

Ian hurried to stand up. “We’ve gotta get there right now! The Shadow Line might be after it already!”

“Right.” Jack agreed, “Let’s head up above ground so we can summon the Imagination Express and get a little closer to it.”

“We’ll come with you guys.” Ollie decided, “If you like.”

“Oh, yeah!” Rachel practically bounced on her heels. “We’d like that! Right, guys?”

“It couldn’t hurt.” Esthel smiled. “I’m glad you kids could make friends.”

“Heck yeah!” Rachel jumped up and down, spinning. “Ranger teamup! Ranger teamup! Ranger teamup!”

Amelia quietly laughed. “She’s so cute.”

Jack placed his hand on top of Rachel’s head, gently pressing down until she calmed herself. “Come on, let’s get going.”

“You kids have fun.” Solon waved at them, “I’d love to come with you, but I have to stay down here and monitor the ranger hotline, just in case there’s another attack.”

“You got it, Solon.” Amelia confirmed, “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Yeah, and we’ll come back with a new insertrain!” Steven added.

Nine people emerged into the middle of the Dinohenge ruins. The Murdoch siblings all held up their imagination passes. “ Let’s ride the rails! ”

A five-colored portal appeared nearby. Rachel turned to Ollie and Amelia, smiling and pointing at the vortex. “Check this out.” The Imagination Express burst into view on a multicolored phantom track, coiling around the ruins while expelling a deafening, high-pitched whistle. By the time the portal closed, the train was surrounding the ruins as well as the group.

“That’s incredible.” Ollie stood, gaping at the Imagination Express.

Laurelie elbowed the older Ranger’s side. “Isn’t it? Come on, we’ll show you around the inside.”

Less than an hour later, the seven Rangers were walking through the forest just outside of Pine Ridge. “It should be this way. I think.” Rachel assured them.

Ollie held up his phone. “I’ve got J-Borg’s report here. If we can just find a spot that looks similar-”

Amelia walked through a bush. “That similar enough for you?”

They were in a massive clearing. In the middle, there was a diesel train, covered in rust and maroon in color. It was far larger than any of the Imagination Express cars, around half the size of the entire train. The Rangers could barely see it in its entirety, even standing dozens of feet away, leaving them struggling to process its scale.

“Yeah.” Ollie nodded, mouth hanging agape. “Yeah, that works.”

“You’re darn right it does.” Rachel slowly, hesitantly took a step towards the diesel. Without taking her eyes off it, she nervously activated the communicator function on her imagination pass. “Jack?” She held up the device so it faced the train car. “What should we do next?”

“Wow. Okay, Rachel, turn me around.”

Rachel flipped the imagination pass back around to face herself.

“Good. Now, the first thing you need to do is get inside the insertrain. I’m not sure what comes next, but hopefully you kids will be able to figure something out. Scratch that, you kids will definitely figure something out.”

“Thanks. Anything else?”

“No, sorry. I’ll call you if I think of anything else.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jack.”

“You’re welcome, Rachel.”

Rachel hung up the imagination pass. She tore her gaze away from the diesel. “Jack says we have to go inside the insertrain.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Ollie stated.

“No complaints here!” Laurelie celebrated, running up to the diesel. Its wheels were completely buried, leaving its door on ground level. She tugged on the handle. “Huh. Okay, it’s a- it’s a little heavy…” She jumped up, planting both feet on the door, pushing with her legs while pulling on the handle. “Just… just gotta pull really hard!” Her hands came loose, burning with pain, as she fell to the ground with a sharp yelp.

The other Rangers immediately ran over to the young, whimpering girl. Alice gently helped her up by the sides. “Laurelie! Are you okay?!”

Laurelie gingerly unfolded her hands. She immediately averted her gaze from the red, pulsating blisters covering her palms, emphasizing her throbbing veins. “It hurts.”

“Oh, baby, come here.” Amelia wrapped up Laurelie’s palms in the hem of her red t-shirt. “Is that better?”

“I’m not a baby.” Laurelie looked up at Amelia. “But yeah, that does feel better. Thanks.”

Amelia ran her palm through the child’s hair. “Don’t mention it, Laurelie.” She looked over at the rust-encrusted door. “Now how are we going to get in there?”

Ollie walked up to the door and knocked on it. A dull, hollow sound rang out, comparable to an old man’s wheezing. “This thing’s completely rusted over.”

Ian crossed his arms over his chest. “Great observation, genius. How does that help us?”

“It doesn’t.” Ollie walked away from the diesel. “Even if we all used our Ranger weapons, I’m not sure we’d be able to open that door.”

Laurelie stood up, rubbing her palms against her shirt. “Worth a shot, though. Let’s shoot it with the trainzooka.”

“Right, and I’ll use the ankylo hammer.” Amelia held up the Cosmic Fury morpher on her wrist.

Ollie flipped a statuette into key mode. “In that case…” He loaded the key into the hilt of his sword. “Smash dino key! Ready!” He pumped the handle to snap the jaw open and shut four times, enveloping himself in a flash of light. “Smash battle armor!”

The five siblings loaded their insertrains into their morphers, and held out their arms. “ It’s morphin time! ” They lowered the crossing gates.

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

Seven Rangers stood in front of the ancient, rusted diesel engine. Amelia brandished her hammer, and Ollie clashed the enormous fists of his smash battle armor together. “Alright!” Rachel commanded, “Let’s do this!” The siblings combined their weapons. “Okay, you guys can jump in and attack that thing while we fire, right?”

“Yeah, the armor should protect us. The worst it can do is demorph us.”

Ollie shrugged. “Feels weird talking about attacking a potential new zord for you guys. But, yeah. I’m ready.”

“Okay. In that case…”

“ Trainzooka! Final express! ” The spectral train launched out. Ollie and Amelia jumped forward, on either side of the train, keeping pace with it. They converged into a massive explosion of light and smoke. Ollie and Amelia tumbled out.

Amelia had been forcibly demorphed. Ollie had been reduced to his standard Dino Fury Blue form. The side of the diesel was barely singed. Rachel clenched her fists so hard that if she hadn’t been wearing the spandex gloves of her Rail Ranger uniform, her nails would’ve stabbed her palms.

The other Murdoch siblings backed away from Rachel’s enraged, frustrated scream. She demorphed, falling to her knees and punching the ground. Her voice was hoarse. The dirt turned to mud as it mixed with her tears. Everything in her view turned blurry, until it resembled nothing more than an abstract, dripping watercolor painting. She curled up into a ball, screaming in rage and crying in despair.

After a few seconds, Steven sat down next to Rachel, still in his Pink Ranger form, and gently placed his hand on her back. She leaned into him, sobbing, letting her brother hold her. She buried her face into his chest. He rubbed the back of her head and torso. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I really thought it was gonna work.”

“No, it’s my fault.” Rachel whimpered, “I’m so stupid, and now I’m crying and I’m such a crybaby and I don’t deserve to be a Power Ranger and we can’t save mom or the world from the Shadow Line and it’s all my fault!”

Steven rested his chin atop Rachel’s head. He squeezed her tight, letting her listen to his heartbeat. “You’re not stupid, you’re not a crybaby, and you deserve to be a Red Ranger. We need you to save mom and stop the Shadow Line.”

Rachel mildly squirmed. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. Wanna get up now?”

“Uh-huh.” Rachel nodded. “I don’t like everyone watching us.”

“Okay.” Steven helped Rachel up and demorphed. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

“Maybe we need to help it somehow?” Amelia suggested, arms crossed over her chest. “That’s how we got the Pacha Smash Zord to join us. We helped it find its baby.”

“But that was a dinosaur, and this is a train.” Steven gestured at the diesel. “Trains don’t have babies.”

Ollie demorphed, and slapped his hands on his sides. “Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of a zord having a baby. It raises so many questions. Other than that, Amelia might be onto something. We obviously can’t force our way in, but maybe we’ll have better luck with a more peaceful angle.”

“I guess it’s worth a shot.” Rachel wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I’ll do it, since I’m the Red Ranger.”

Steven patted her on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thank you.” After quickly hugging him, Rachel walked until she was a few dozen feet in front of the diesel engine. It towered over her, making her feel smaller and more insignificant the longer she forced herself to gaze upon it. “Um.” She squeaked, and slowly waved her hand. “Hi. I’m Rachel Murdoch.” She raised her morpher, and tapped the insertrain inside it. “The Red Rail Ranger. Y’know, like, the three Rs. Anyway, my family and I are kind of having a problem. We’d really appreciate your help getting mom back.”

There was no response. The train was unmoving, unchanging, unflinching like a mountain. Rachel backed up. The other Rangers all demorphed.

Alice placed her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. She was hanging her head down. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

“Yeah. And that won’t work either. It never works. Nothing’s ever enough!” Rachel turned to Alice, with an anger in her eyes that caused her to back away from her sister, with a frightened yelp. “No matter what, the Shadows are always miles ahead of us! We got our insertrains back, and our zords, big deal!” She was visibly red in the face. “Fat lot of good that does us when they’ve got our mom under their control! What’re we supposed to do, kill her?! And the worst part is, we don’t even know for sure if she is under their control!”

“Rachel, what are you talking about?” Laurelie asked, “Of course mom’s being mind-controlled, or possessed, or whatever. Are you actually suggesting she’d attack us of her own free will?”

“I don’t know! Maybe!” Rachel looked down, shrinking into herself. “Do any of us really know her? She died, or left, when we were babies. None of us ever got to know her. All we have is what grandma told us.”

Ian scowled. “Grandma wouldn’t keep something like that a secret from us!”

“Why not?! She and Jack kept the morphers a secret from us! We didn’t even know they were friends until the Shadows attacked our house and we had to move! And how did they even have them in the first place? I’m telling you guys, they’re hiding something from us, something big. What if mom’s evil, and they’re hiding that too?”

“Don’t talk about your mom like that!” Amelia rushed over to grab Rachel by the shoulders. “She loves you, I just know it!”

Rachel pushed away from the previous Red Ranger. “Don’t touch me! A-and how would you know anything about our mom?”

Amelia retracted her hands. “Rachel, how much do you know about Void Queen?”

“I know she was your mom.” Rachel pouted, “I know that she was corrupted by the power of the sporix, but she was cured when you made her realize she was your mother.”

“Exactly. I just know that if we can figure out some way to make your mom recognize you kids as hers, she’ll come back to her senses.”

“How do we do that, though? Oh, oh, oh!” Laurelie pointed at Amelia, excitedly bouncing on her feet. “Are we gonna use your Rafkonian mind-powers?”

“Eeeehhhh, I’m not so sure that’d work. Rafkonians have the power to either read people’s memories or project our own memories into their minds. We can’t exactly transfer memories between two other people.”

“Oh.” Laurelie hung her head down. “So much for that.”

“See what I mean?” Rachel bitterly scoffed, “Roadblocks at every turn.”

Nearby, a dark purple vortex appeared. Before it dissipated, the Orange Ranger stepped out alongside a newcomer. It was of a stout build, with bronze armor over its chest and a horizontal line over its torso. The rest of its body was a stonish gray, with a dome-shaped head and a massive hammer in his hand. The handle was roughly ¾ the height of its wielder. At the bottom was a set of two small bronze mallets. The top held two enormous metal gray cylinders, each larger than a human’s head.

“Oh, great. Just what we need.” Rachel glared at the two. “What’s your deal? Hammer shadow?”

“Oh really now? Figure that out yaself, didja ya li’l tike? Yeah, dat’s right!” The Shadow Line Engineer collided the flat side of his hammer with his open palm. “Da name’s Hammer Shadow, and ah’m bout ta wipe da name o da Powah Rangahs through da mud!”

Amelia narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth in an expression of confused disgust. “What even is that accent?” She shook her head as if to recover. “Nevermind. Let’s just fight these guys!”

Hammer Shadow pointed his namesake weapon at the Rangers. “Mah accent’s gonna be da last ting ya evah hear, girlie!”

Amelia shuddered. “Girlie? Oh, you’re gonna get it!” She dropped her ankylo orb into her cosmic morpher.

Ollie flipped his key into a statuette, slid it into his morpher, and spun the lower half of his device on top.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

“Cosmic orb!”

“Dino Fury key! Activate!”

“ Link to morphin grid! ”

The current time is morphin time! Please wait behind the white line while morphin time is in progress!

Seven Power Rangers stood in a row, staring down the Orange Ranger and Hammer Shadow. “Ankylo fury! Red Ranger!”

“Tricera fury! Blue Ranger!”

“Rail Ranger 1! Red Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 2! Blue Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 3! Yellow Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 4! Green Ranger, rescue ready!”

“Rail Ranger 5! Pink Ranger, rescue ready!”

The Rangers stood in front of an enormous, flaming explosion that incinerated the ground and warped the air behind them. “Ollie and I will restrain your mom. You guys focus on stopping hammertime.” Amelia suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” Rachel agreed coldly. The team charged forward.

“If it’s a hammer competition, then I’m not gonna lose!” Ian swung his enerhammer.

“Oh, yeah? Ah beg ta diffah!” Hammer Shadow swung his own weapon. As soon as the two heads collided, the kinetic energy of Ian’s bounced back into his own body, launching him backwards.

Ian screamed and flailed through the air, catching Ollie’s attention. “Kid!” He flipped another key into a statue shape and rapidly loaded it into his saber. “Cushion dino key!” A cerulean beam fired out of the jaws on the saber’s hilt and struck the side of the diesel insertrain less than a second ahead of Ian.

The surface was unnaturally soft against the child’s back.

“Never turn your back to me!” The Orange Ranger jumped to kick Ollie in the back.

Ian fell to the ground, where the impact forcibly demorphed him, leaving him groaning in pain while lying facedown.

“Lemme show ya kiddos mah real power!” A tornado of darkness appeared in midair, and funneled downwards into the Shadow Line engineer’s hammer as he held it up. The air darkened. An unnatural force immobilized the Rail Rangers.

“Elasto dino key!” Ollie loaded another key into his chromafury saber with another four chomps of the hilt. A black and cyan pauldron appeared on his right shoulder, above an armor covering designed to resemble a coiled rope beneath his elbow. His arm stretched to coil around the Orange Ranger, pinning her arms against her sides. “Amelia, go help the kids!”

Amelia started running.

Ian morphed.

The dark tornado was fully absorbed into the hammer. Hammer Shadow slammed it into the ground, and shattered reality. The forest clearing was replaced with a civilian trainyard. “Marailders, rise from da shadows ta take da light!”

Six marailders appeared, three on either side of Hammer Shadow, one of them almost obscured by the monster. He pointed his unarmed hand at the four Rangers. “Get em! Once da Rangers are destroyed, dat’ll cause more dan enough despair to bring back da emperor, and den ah’ll be handsomely rewarded!”

The Rangers sprinted to meet the marailders. “Anyone catch what he said?” Steven pointed upwards and diagonally. “Hey, what’s that up there?” Two of the marailders looked in the direction he was pointing in. Steven sliced his double-dagger bridge across both their stomachs. “I can’t believe they actually fell for that.”

“No clue!” Rachel performed a series of evasive cartwheels atop a blue, mundane train car, surrounded by the fiery sparks of the marailders’ laser shots. “That guy’s accent is thicker than stale syrup!” She started firing back downwards with her rail rescue slasher-blaster. One marailder was shot in the chest, and fell off a pink train. Rachel jumped to kick a few laser pellets that were fired at her from the ground, and shot down the two marailders remaining nearby. “And that’s how it’s done.” She held up the slasher-blaster, and twirled it on her middle finger.

Alice chased two of the marailders into a train, with a green-cushioned bench on one side and pink on the other, slicing into them with her sidearm. A third marailder climbed into the train and swung its weapon at her. Alice turned to the side and grabbed the hilt, while simultaneously kicking one of the other marailders into accidentally sitting on the pink bench.

Another pair of marailders jumped backwards in the same train, in a failed attempt to dodge a horizontal slash of Laurelie’s rail rescue slasher-blaster. She turned around and palm-sliced another marailder in the shoulder, before slicing it across the chest with her sidearm. While it was bent over the green cushion, Laurelie pushed it halfway out the window. She poked her head out next to it. “Guess green really is my lucky color.”

Another three marailders nearly fell out of the train’s windows. Alice poked her head out next to one. “Hey-hi!” She bonked it with the flat of her slasher-blaster.

Rachel jumped off the blue train, with her limbs spread out, and brought her arms together to fire her sidearm into Hammer Shadow’s chest, knocking him backwards before he could strike at Steven. She rolled on the ground before standing up and running. “Wanna trade?”

Steven looked back at Rachel. “Yeah, sure!” He extracted the pink insertrain from his morpher, while Rachel did the same with the red insertrain. They handed the devices over to each other and slid them into their morphers.

Pink transferring to Red! Red transferring to Pink!

The siblings swapped colors and weapons, and charged at Hammer Shadow.

The Yellow Rail Ranger and Red Cosmic Fury Ranger jumped on either side of the Blue Dino Fury Ranger, and slammed their hammers into the restrained Orange Ranger. The resulting explosion of concussive energy sent all four Rangers scattering across the clearing, kicking up dirt and rock around them.

Hammer Shadow appeared out of nowhere, flying after being struck by the track blade and double-dagger bridge. The five Rail Rangers met in the middle of the clearing. “Ian, good to see you’re alright!” Rachel held the pink insertrain out to Steven. “Let’s finish this guy!

Red transferring to Pink! Pink transferring to Red!

Seconds later, Hammer Shadow had been ensnared in spectral train tracks. “ Final express! ”

“Wait! Wait, can’t we talk-” Hammer Shadow was reduced to a flaming explosion by the multicolored train. In a cloud of darkness, he reappeared, towering over the trees. “Talk about how doomed you are, that is!” His laughter echoed throughout the forest.

The siblings raised their imagination passes to the air. “Let’s ride the rails!”

“ Rail Rescue Megazord! On track to victory! ” The megazord’s sword was effortlessly blocked at the hilt by a hammer the size of a thousand boulders.

“I’m gonna destroy those tracks!” Hammer Shadow knocked the crossing gate sword away, spinning in a full circle to slam the head of its hammer into the megazord’s side. It kept striking, never giving the Rangers an opening, filling the air with a dark cacophony of laughter, breaking metal, and screaming children.

Amelia and Ollie could only watch, necks craning and mouths agape, as the Rail Rescue Megazord fell onto its side. Dozens of trees fell around it in a deafening chorus of snapping wood. Amelia screamed at the top of her lungs, “No!”

“Kids!” Ollie yelled. The two veteran Rangers sprinted a few feet in the direction of the kaiju.

Behind Ollie and Amelia, the Orange Ranger sat up. She looked down at her trembling hands. “I’m… I’m free?! You two freed me!” While the Cosmic Fury and Dino Fury Rangers turned around to her, she stood up. “Thank you so much!” She looked up at Hammer Shadow, and then at the diesel. “I think I know how to beat that thing, but you’ll have to trust me.”

The young adults looked at each other, and turned back to address the Orange Ranger. Ollie nodded. “Okay, but first, demorph so we know you won’t try anything.”

“Of course.” The Orange Ranger accepted without question.

Five Rangers lay sprawle d in the cockpit of the Rail Rescue Megazord, groaning in pain. Rachel’s imagination pass started beeping. “Huh?” She answered the call.

Esthel spoke into her sub-imagination pass from beneath the remnants of Dinohenge. “Rachel, sweetie, are you kids okay? Ollie just told me you need to send the tank and car carrier insertrains here, so that Solon can send them to Ollie.”

Rachel nodded. “Okay, grandma. I don't know what Ollie's gonna do, but I trust him, and I trust you.”

“Thank you, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too, grandma.” Rachel pressed a button on her imagination pass. “Okay, I just sent them.”

On the tiny video screen, Esthel held up the devices. “Just got them. See you soon, Rachel.”

“You know it.” The young Red Ranger hung up.

“What do you think they’re planning?” Steven asked.

“No clue, but it’s gotta be better than whatever we’re doing right now.” Alice pointed out.

“What, you mean just flailing around aimlessly? Yeah, real high bar to clear.” Ian bitterly replied.

The shadow of a massive hammer fell over the window of the Rail Rescue Megazord’s cockpit. The five children screamed, with no time for the megazord to dodge or block the strike.

A grand machine punched the side of Hammer Shadow’s head, sending him stumbling to the side. The impact rang out with enough force to minutely distort the air around it. “Who dares-? Oh. It’s you, isn’t it?”

The new megazord’s right arm, waist, and left fist were a dark reddish-brown. The majority of its left arm and the entirety of its left leg were a bright blue, opposite the golden right leg, which was adorned by red and blue cars. Upon its shoulders were a set of pauldrons, blue on the left and gold on the right, with lines of gold that curved outwards. On each pauldron was a vertical line of yellow on blue and red on gold. The megazord had a set of two golden pipes on each side of its head that resembled horns, as well as a golden chestplate.

The original Rail Rescue Megazord stood up behind the new machine. The red, blue, and gold megazord was roughly 22 feet wider and approximately 3 feet taller. “I don’t believe it.” Rachel gasped, “That must be the diesel insertrain!”

The second megazord sprinted, shaking the ground with each step, and swung its fist. At the same time, it dodged in the same direction that Hammer Shadow was swinging his weapon at the megazord’s head, keeping a distance of a hundred feet between them. The three-toned megazord slammed its fingerless hand into Hammer Shadow, causing him to stumble while spinning. His hammer fell to the ground. “Wait! Please, stop! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

The megazord walked towards Hammer Shadow, while he tried to take his weapon back.

“Nope!” Steven elongated the Rail Rescue Megazord’s pink left arm to push the hammer away from its owner.

The second megazord took another step forward and jumped, somersaulting through the air until it was hundreds of feet above the ground. Hammer Shadow could only watch, for less than five seconds, as the gestalt machine corkscrewed through the air. Its soles shined with a golden light, almost like a miniature sun, until it kicked into the monster’s chest.

“Okay, okay, I get it! You don’t have to hammer in the point so much!”

There was a massive explosion that engulfed Hammer Shadow and the new megazord. By the time the smoke and dust cleared, both had disappeared.

“You don’t think…” Laurelie visibly hesitated. “What if mom was the one piloting that new megazord?”

“I think you’re right.” Rachel agreed, placing her hand on the Green Ranger’s shoulder. “And don’t worry. We’ll find her, and then we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

Chapter Text

It had been just over a month since the Orange Rail Ranger’s mind had been liberated, and she hadn’t been seen since then. The students of the Mariner Bay School District, including the Murdoch siblings, had graduated. Some entered a temporary summer break to rest until the next grade. Others went through a ceremony that ended their high school tenures.

“Okay, sir. Thank you. Yes, I’ll let you know if anything changes. You have a nice day as well.” Esthel hung up her phone, with a sigh that sounded as though she were expelling her soul. “Mr. Grayson says that Lightspeed hasn’t seen any sign of your mom.”

Rachel whimpered, sitting on the couch. “I’m sorry, grandma. If I’d just been there, mom wouldn’t have disappeared.”

“Oh, don’t talk like that, sweetie.” Esthel sat down, to pull her granddaughter onto her lap. She gently rubbed the girl’s back. “You were there. You were fighting that monster alongside your brothers and sisters, because you’re my brave little heroes.” She kissed Rachel’s forehead. “None of you kids will ever have to worry about being good enough for me, okay?”

Rachel closed her eyes. “Okay, grandma.” She perked up. “And hey, now that it’s summer, we’ve got plenty of time for Ranger stuff without worrying about school!”

“That’s right.” Esthel patted Rachel’s head. “Just remember, though, you’re still kids. Even if you’re Power Rangers, you still deserve time to be children.”

“I know, grandma.”

Jack walked into the living room from the kitchen. “Everyone, guess what?”

The kids and Esthel all looked up. Laurelie was playing with her kendama, Alice and Ian were lying on the floor watching BuzzBlast videos, and Steven was drawing. Rachel piped up, “You found mom?”

Jack sighed, “No, kiddo, sorry. No sign of Melissa yet. I just caught the signal of another lost insertrain. It’s in Turtle Cove, Colorado.”

Laurelie stood up, ignoring the hanging string of her kendama. “That’s the home of the Wild Force Rangers, right?”

“Not exactly.” Jack explained, “It’s the town where they lived while fighting the orgs, but I don’t believe any of them actually live there anymore.”

Rachel nodded. “That’s what the database said too. Cole Evans became a freelance veterinarian, Taylor Earhardt went back to being an air force pilot, Max Cooper and Danny Delgado went traveling around the world, Merrick Baliton became some kind of nomad, and Alyssa Enrile moved to Ocean Bluff and got a job as a kindergarten teacher. Also, they all gave up their Ranger powers after killing Master Org. The only reason they were able to come back for the final battle against the armada was because of the green Morphin Master.”

“You remembered all of that?” Alice squinted at Rachel. “How many times have you watched the database?”

Rachel held up her hands defensively. “Hey sis, if I’m gonna be the Red Ranger, then I might as well do my research.”

Jack nodded. “That’s a good idea. Just make sure you’re getting sleep, okay?”

Rachel blinked and rolled her eyes. “I know, sir. Anyway, we’ve gotta get to Turtle Cove right now. Come on, team!” She pointed at the front door excitedly. “To the Magin Line!”

General Irondark, baron Royale, and miss Noire were bowing on their hands and knees, at the foot of the stairs leading up to the throne. The throne itself was cast in shadows. A silken smooth voice emerged from the darkness like flowing, poisoned honey. “I am rather disappointed in how you’ve been handling my absence. There’s barely been any notable increase in darkness, and now there’s a new team of Power Rangers bringing light into the world.”

“I apologize, emperor.” General Irondark kept his head low. “I attempted to take the Red and Blue Rangers’ powers, and break them through fear.”

The baron was mildly shaking in fear. “Yes! And ten years ago, I turned their mother into our Orange Ranger!”

“Yes, and what became of the Orange Ranger? Oh, yes, she was freed from our control.” The emperor growled, “Because of your incompetence.”

“The appearance of the Dinohenge Rangers was an unforeseen variable.” Ms. Noire admitted, “Maybe if we sent out a stronger engineer-”

“Really? Only one engineer? That kind of in-the-box thinking is the exact reason why our territory hasn’t been expanding.” Two sharp clapping sounds emerged from the shadows. “Count Shadow, Hound Shadow, appear!”

Wisps of darkness appeared in the throne room. They gradually thickened into twin cocoons of pure shadow that only lasted a few seconds, before disappearing as though from a gust of wind.

The first humanoid had two dark red eyes and a pair of golden tusks emerging from his mouthless face. The top of his head extended into a serrated crest with a vertical ridge down the middle, and three horizontal slits on either side of the ridge just below his eyes. His outfit consisted of baggy white pants tucked into black leather boots with folded golden hems, and a red coat that closed in the middle and opened at the top and bottom. A set of white and gold pauldrons decorated his shoulders. The top half of his jacket was decorated to resemble the jaws of a shark. His gloves were black with red gemstones on his wrists.

The other humanoid’s entire body was black, purple, and covered in spikes. The five claws on each of his hands, including the opposable thumbs, were curved like hooks and sharp as steel knives. His face resembled a savage dog, and above his head was an arch with spikes decorating it to resemble a bear trap. “Hound Shadow reporting for duty, emperor!” The canid knelt down alongside the other three.

The other Shadow Line engineer did the same. “Count Shadow, reporting for duty as well. What can we do for you, my liege?”

There was a ripple in the darkness. In the air behind the emperor’s five subordinates, a holographic screen appeared with twice as much width as its height. The emperor commanded them, “Observe the viewing screen.”

Irondark, Nero, Noire, Count Shadow, and Hound shadow all stood up and turned around. The screen showed a town with a massive turtle-shaped body of water in the middle.

“This is a town the humans call Turtle Cove, Colorado. I’ve already sensed the energy signature of a lost insertrain there. You two engineers will go there and take that lost insertrain no matter what. When the Power Rangers inevitably show up to take it for themselves, I want you to kill them all. That includes the Orange Ranger, of course. She’s no longer of any use to our cause.”

Count Shadow turned around to face the shadow-obscured emperor, and bowed to him. “I promise, we’ll make it our number one priority.”

In the middle of Turtle Cove, the Imagination Express emerged from a multicolored portal. Out of the dozens of civilians present, only the children noticed. Their parents paid no mind to their claims, or how they pointed at a magic train only they could see.

Rachel, Alice, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven all jumped out of the front car. “Thanks, Jack and grandma!” Steven waved at the adults inside the train.

“Good luck, kids!” Esthel waved back. “Make sure you stay in touch, and morph at the first sign of trouble!”

“We will, grandma!” Rachel assured her, before the kids jogged away.

There was a pneumatic, mechanical hiss, and the door closed. Esthel sighed heavily. A short moment later, Jack placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The old woman instantly straightened up and looked to the side, smiling at the younger teacher before he spoke. “You’re worried about them, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I know they can take care of themselves, but they’re my grandkids and this is another state entirely. And besides, we still haven’t found my daughter.”

“I’m sure we’ll find her soon.” Jack guided Esthel over to one of the red benches. “Here, just sit.”

“Thank you, but rest assured, I can sit myself down just fine.” Esthel sighed, “I just hope everything goes well here.”

The five siblings were walking down a sidewalk in Turtle Cove. “Okay, guys.” Rachel decided, “I think we should split up.”

“Why would you think that?” Ian asked skeptically, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we don’t exactly have a great track record with splitting up. We always end up getting ambushed, or nearly getting killed, or having our insertrains stolen.”

“Yeah, but this is a whole entire town we’re searching through.” Rachel pointed out, “We’ve gotta find some way to cover more ground, and the best way to do that is to split up five ways.”

“Woah, woah, five ways?” Laurelie questioned, “Like, all five of us going alone? Do you seriously think that’s a good idea right now?”

“Actually, I kinda see where Rachel’s coming from.” Alice pointed out.

“Seriously?” Ian crossed his arms. “You should be more against this than any of us! And so should you, Rachel. Don’t you remember what happened with Irondark when we split up?”

“Yeah, and the Shadow Line’s probably caught wind that there’s an insertrain here by now.” Laurelie added.

Alice nodded. “And that’s why it’s important that we find the insertrain before they do. I hate to say this, but the best way to do that is by splitting up.”

“Obviously, we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled.” Rachel held up her imagination pass. “And we’ll have to call each other at the first sign of trouble. I think that’s our best hope of finding the lost insertrain first.”

Ian sighed, “I don’t know about this. Steven, looks like you’re the tiebreaker.”

“Yeah, bro.” Laurelie gestured to the young boy, “What’s your vote?”

Steven glanced between his four siblings. “I guess I’m undecided. It’s like choosing between what’s more efficient, and what’s safer.”

“What’s safer is making sure the Shadow Line doesn’t get their hands on that lost insertrain.” Rachel argued, “I don’t think any of us want another incident like the lieutenant.”

The entire group shuddered. “Okay, I see your point.” Ian admitted.

Laurelie stuffed her hands in her pockets, with a heavy sigh. “Maybe… I don’t like it, but maybe this is our best shot.”

“Don’t worry, sis.” Rachel patted Laurelie’s shoulder. “Everything’s gonna be alright this time.” She hugged her, and whispered in her ear, “As your Red Ranger, I promise it’ll be okay.”

A woman in her early 30’s despondently walked through a street in the middle of Turtle Cove. There was a few seconds of delay between each of her methodical steps. She constantly looked down. At some point, she heard the sounds of people laughing, and looked up.

There was a small park a few dozen feet away, with cut grass and a few trees. In the middle of the space,  there was a crowd of several dozen people sitting on the grass or chairs, except for the few in the back who were standing, watching a stage partially blocked off by a red curtain.

In front of the curtain were two people who looked like they were wearing costumes. The first resembled a demented jester with a horn, and a horizontal crest on his head. His boots were pointed and curved upwards, with the right one being white and the left one being blue. His pants were white on the left leg, and a reddish-pink on the right, with vertical rows of multicolored ovals facing outwards. His sleeves were puffed up. The right sleeve was white, the left one was pink, and colored stones were embedded in a band around the ends of each one. He wore a pauldron that was blue on the right half opposite the white portion, with spikes and a skull on his midsection.

The woman wore a dark, long dress that covered everything save for her forearms and eyes. There was an eye over her navel and two decorations that resembled blue, fanged maws over her chest. Her helmet was decorated with red dots on her forehead and cheeks, with two curving strings connecting them together over her eyes. She had a half-foot long, red horn sticking out of her head and through her helmet. In her hand was a staff topped with horn-like spikes.

Against her better judgment, the woman walked into the crowd until she was next to a man in his 40’s, with silver-gray streaks in his dark brown hair. “Who are these guys?”

“A traveling carnival. They’re also some old friends of mine, so it’s nice to see them again.” A smile appeared on his mildly-wrinkled face. “I’m glad they’re doing well after everything that happened back then.”

The woman nodded. “Maybe you should go talk to them.”

The man with the goatee shook his head. “Nah. I haven’t seen them in over 20 years now. I don’t even know what I’d say at this point.”

“Ah. I can relate to that.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Name’s Melissa.”

“Merrick.”

Melissa released something approaching a laugh. “Sorry, it’s just that my last name is Murdoch. So it’s like the three M’s.”

Merrick chuckled. “Well, my last name is Baliton. Although, sometimes people mishear it as Maletov.”

“Really? I mean, I guess maybe if you shouted it…”

A loud howl permeated the entire park. The two people on stage paused in their act.

“Hey, what’s going- Toxica, what’re you-?”

The woman held her arm out in front of her partner. “Jindrax, I think we should get out of here.”

A monster appeared from the shadow of a tree near the crowd. “Greetings, humans! I’m here to collect something for my emperor, so get out of my way! Unless you want me to gnaw on your bones until the marrow spurts out!”

Panicked screams were interspersed with the demonic laughter of an ancient beast. “That’s right! Run, little humans! That makes it so much more fun for me! And if any of those Rail Ranger kids show up, that’ll be even better!”

Melissa’s face turned red from anger. She immediately sprinted towards the monster. “Melissa, wait!” Merrick called after her.

“No! I’m not going to wait for this monster to do what it wants!” Melissa slid her orange insertrain into her morpher. She locked down the crossing gate. “It’s morphin time!”

“Wait, you’re a Power Ranger?!” Merrick watched as Melissa transformed in mid-sprint.

The Orange Ranger jumped out of a flash of light, and kicked Hound Shadow twice in the face. She made a three-point landing while the monster flew backwards. “You will never hurt the Rail Rangers. I promise you, I will kill you before I allow any harm to come to those children.”

“So you’re the mother of those little rabble rousers!” Hound Shadow charged at the Orange Ranger. She dug her heel back in the ground, while leaning her upper body forward, and lunged at Hound Shadow while ducking under the swipes of its claws.

The two combatants rolled on the ground for a few seconds. By the time they stopped, The Orange Ranger was on top, pinning Hound Shadow to the ground with her lower legs and throwing punches into its face with alternating fists. Each impact rang out with a sharp and merciless impact that elicited whimpers from the monster. Beneath her helmet, she was foaming at the mouth with rage.

Rachel walked into an area near a food truck, where a few dozen outdoor tables had been set up. Some were decorated with umbrellas, and most were inhabited by families on summer vacation. There was a man in the middle of the crowd, sitting alone at his table. In front of him was a small plate occupied by a croissant, as well as a cup of tea next to it.

The man was wearing a pitch-black business suit and pants. The lightest parts of his outfit were a dull gray, save for the bright purple tie that hung below his neck. Rachel saw him taking a sip of his tea in her peripheral, and thought nothing of him.

“Care for a bite?”

Rachel turned around. The man with the purple tie had broken off a piece of his croissant. He was leaning back on his chair, halfway off it, and held the piece out to Rachel. “Such a bright young girl shouldn’t be out on her own. Here, have a bite.”

“Uh…” Rachel stepped back. Despite the man’s smile, his pale face betrayed no warmth. His eyes were covered in sunglasses, obscuring his true expression. Rachel was unsure if he’d been wearing them a second ago, as if something was blocking her memory of the man’s eyes. “No thanks. I shouldn’t take food from strangers.” While she walked backwards, she slowly reached into her pocket to wrap her fingers around her insertrain.

As the man stood up, he almost seemed to grow in height. His legs and back appeared to stretch, until he was towering over the little girl. She only came up to his knees, and audibly whimpered. The man smiled coldly down at her. “Don’t worry, sweetie.” His voice was as smooth and cold as refrigerated silk. Every syllable, each intonation, was psychologically engineered to lower Rachel’s guard. “There’s lots of people around here. You’re safe. You can trust me.”

Rachel gasped at the realization that the man was squeezing her shoulders. His fingers were long and spindly as spider legs. His palms were completely, inhumanly dry. He was applying the exact right amount of pressure to make the child relax. Rachel eased her posture. Hesitantly, she relented. “Okay. I’ll have a bite.”

“Good girl.” The pale man handed Rachel the small piece of his croissant.

“Thank you.” With slight apprehension, Rachel bit into the pastry. She could vaguely feel the man rubbing her back, petting her hair, and guiding her away. Her legs moved automatically.

The suited man’s silken voice crawled into Rachel’s ear like a serpent. “That’s it, baby. Eat up. It’s good, isn’t it? Just like you. You’re such a good little girl.”

By the time Rachel had swallowed down the last bite of her croissant, she and the strange man were standing at the dead end of an alleyway. Despite the fact that the outdoor restaurant was less than a hundred feet away, the sounds of voices were dulled, as if by an invisible barrier of water. The man was holding Rachel up to the brick wall. “Please let me go.” Rachel trembled. “You’re scaring me.” She attempted to reach into her pocket for her insertrain.

“Now, now, cutie.” The dark-suited man held Rachel’s hands. They disappeared in his palms and fingers, rendering her unable to move or grasp at anything. He squeezed hard enough to prevent her from bending her fingers. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You can trust me.”

Rachel could feel something inherently wrong about the man’s voice, like a velvet carpet with a mold-infested underside. “L-let me go.” Her voice and body trembled. “Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone, I promise. Pinkie promise!”

“Don’t worry, little one. I just need one thing.” The man dragged Rachel’s arm behind her back, and pressed her into the wall to pin her hand between the brick and her shirt. He reached for her pants.

Rachel’s pupils dilated. She screamed bloody murder, “Stranger danger! Help!”

The pale man snarled. He slapped Rachel across the face, sending her sprawling on the ground. She instinctively curled up into a fetal position. The man coldly smiled down at her while kneeling. “Sorry about that. Now just hold still, baby girl.” He dragged her onto his lap, and held her against himself. He reached into her pocket.

Rachel could feel the man’s deft fingers touching the fabric on her thighs as he searched through her pocket. She kicked and squirmed and screamed. “Let me go! Let me go! Somebody help me!” She flailed her fists until she managed to knock the man’s sunglasses off his face. His eyes were pinpricks of bright red light, shining like twin blood red stars. They bored into Rachel, and filled her mind with thoughts like parasites.

You’re worthless.

You’re weak.

You’re pathetic.

You made it too easy.

You want this.

You like the thrill of it.

Rachel immediately went limp. She cried and trembled. “That’s it, little one.” The man leaned in closer, and softly kissed Rachel’s forehead. He wrapped his hand around the tiny insertrain in her pocket.

Someone punched the man in the back of his head. He grunted in pain, and stood up. Rachel sprawled on the ground.

The man standing over Rachel, visibly fuming, looked to be in his early 20’s. He wore a red t-shirt under an open black leather jacket, with a zippered pocket over his chest, as well as a pair of wrinkled blue jeans. His hair was black and pulled up to expose his forehead, while his dark green eyes were narrowed and glaring at the man with the purple tie.

The man in the black suit glared at the other man. “How dare you interrupt me?”

The one in the leather jacket clenched his fists. “I’m not about to let you hurt a little girl.” He swung his arm, and punched the side of the suited man’s nose.

The man in the suit yelled and staggered back in pain, clutching his nose in both hands. When he lowered them, he was glaring at the man who’d punched him. His nose was bleeding something black, that had no substance or viscosity, as if he were bleeding shadows. He attempted to move, only for more pockmarks of shadow-blood to appear on his face.

The man with the leather jacket lowered his fist. “What are you?”

“I guess I’ve been up here too long. Goodbye, sweet little Rachel. I can’t wait to meet you again, and your adorable siblings.” Strands of darkness sprouted from the pavement around the man with the purple tie, curving and melding together until he was engulfed in something that resembled a pitch-black flower. The shadow structure descended into the ground and disappeared.

“So he wasn’t human.” The man in the leather jacket turned around and knelt by Rachel. “Hi, miss. Listen, my name is Troy. What’s yours?”

Rachel was curled into a tiny, shaking ball when she poked her head out. Her eyes had turned wide and moist. “R-R-Rachel.”

Troy smiled warmly. “That’s a nice name. Is it okay if I put my hand on your shoulder? Just to help stabilize you.”

“Yes. Sure.” Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. “You can touch me. Do whatever you want with me. I just don’t care anymore.”

Troy retracted his arm. “So that’s a no then. Here.” He took his leather jacket off, and draped it over Rachel’s back.

“Thank you.” Rachel grabbed the jacket and wrapped it tight around her trembling body, clinging to it like a security blanket.

“You’re welcome.” Troy sat down next to Rachel. “I can’t leave you on your own, but I won’t touch you, okay?”

“Okay.” Rachel shuddered, with her eyes closed.

“Is there someone you can call right now?”

“Oh, yeah!” Rachel pulled out her imagination pass and turned on the communicator function. While she did so, Troy was looking away from her to keep watch over the open end of the alley.

“Rachel?” Esthel looked through the screen at her granddaughter’s terrified, tear-stained face. “Oh, baby, what happened? Did something go wrong? Do you need to come back?”

“N-no.” Rachel sniffled, “Some weird old man brought me into an alley and tried to attack me, but this other man came and punched him in the face. I don’t know where he went, but the guy who saved me is right here.” She whimpered, “I'm sorry I couldn't protect myself, grandma.”

“No, Rachel, you don’t have to apologize for anything. Please, just come back to us. Just looking at you, I can tell you're in no shape to stay out there. Where are your siblings, now? Are they safe?”

Rachel glanced to the sides. “Actually, I kind of convinced them all we should split up. I’m sorry. I know that was stupid of me.”

“It’s okay, Rachel. Please, just call up your siblings and tell them you all need to regroup over here. We’ll figure this out, honey.”

“Okay, grandma. Thank you.” Rachel hung up her imagination pass. Before she could call her siblings, she heard the sound of dozens of people screaming. A deep voice was laughing sadistically.

Troy turned around, holding his arm out to Rachel. “Stay here, Rachel. I’ll take care of this.” He sprinted to the open end of the alleyway, where a humanoid monster was tossing tables at fleeing civilians. “Who are you?”

The Shadow Line engineer turned and laughed at Troy. “I’m Count Shadow! And mankind’s days are numbered.”

“Mankind would never go extinct from something like you!” Troy thrust out his arm, holding something that resembled a golden tiki head, and pulled the mouth open. In his other hand, he held a card decorated with the face of a superhero and the words ‘Gosei Red’. He slid the card into the device’s mouth and slammed it shut.

Unseen to Troy, Rachel had run up next to him, and prepared her insertrain.

“ It’s morphin time! ”

“Go go Megaforce!”

The young girl and the grown man briefly glanced at each other, while flashes of red light covered them.

“Wait…”

“Hey…”

An air force plane was following an eagle through the skies far above the clouds over Turtle Cove. The eagle was a living machine with a black torso, a yellow head with red eyes and a white beak, yellow plumage, and white wings with yellow horizontal lines just above the edges. With a wingspan approaching a hundred and fifty feet, and a length of nearly one hundred feet, the eagle was easily dozens of times larger than the military plane following it.

In the middle of the day, the plane followed the eagle’s lead in landing on an island floating in the sky. The island was hundreds of square miles in area, and shaped like a turtle.

A woman in her late 40’s stepped out of the jet and took off her helmet, revealing her messed-up blonde hair, as well as the few gray streaks running through it. In spite of her age, her arms had visibly-defined musculature, and her gait was confident as she walked across the grass and stone of the Animarium.

The central interior of the Animarium was built of light brown stone, with a water fountain in the back and bright green foliage lining the sides. There was a woman standing in the middle of the open chamber, with brown hair tied into a braid draped over her right shoulder, and a white dress that covered everything below her clavicle save for her forearms. She also wore rings of white and purple flowers atop her head and around her waist, and a golden V-shaped necklace with a round blue gemstone at the bottom. The sleeves of her dress descended at her elbows to hand near the floor like curtains. “Taylor! I see the yellow eagle was able to bring you back.”

“Princess Shayla?” Taylor walked closer to the woman, who looked as though she hadn’t aged a day in over twenty years. “I thought you went to sleep after we killed Master Org. What’s going on? I have so many questions.”

“All of which will be answered in due time, my child.” The princess of Animaria placed her hands on Taylor’s shoulder. “Right now, though, we need to go down to Turtle Cove.”

Taylor squinted. “We? I thought you never left the Animarium if you could help it.”

“Yes, I tried not to during the war against the orgs. However, I’ve since realized that in holding myself back, I only hindered your team’s efforts.” Shayla looked around. “I suppose it’s just you, then?”

“Yes.” Taylor nodded in confirmation. “The only time I’ve seen them since the day we gave up our morphers was the final battle against the Armada.”

“About that.” Princess Shayla walked over to the back wall. She opened a slab of stone, and took something out. It was a folded red jacket, with a golden device atop it that resembled a closed flip phone. “I think it’s long past time I returned these to you.”

Hound shadow howled, releasing a concussive force that tossed the Orange Ranger off itself. She landed on her back with a grunt of pain.

An enormous shadow was cast upon the entire evacuated park. The eagle zord’s screech echoed throughout the air.

Merrick looked up at the living, divine machine. “No way. After all this time…”

From a pillar of light, Taylor and princess Shayla teleported onto the ground. “ Merrick? ”

“Taylor? Princess?”

Shayla noticed Melissa. “A new Power Ranger?”

“You two are Power Rangers?”

“Nope. Just me.” Taylor swung her arm out at an angle to her side, flipping her morpher open. She bent her arm and brought it up to her face, glaring at Hound Shadow, and swiped the morpher to the side of her head to press the buttons with two fingers on her opposite hand. “Wild access!”

Green lightning covered the morpher. Taylor thrust out her free arm. In a flash of yellow light, she was imbued with the power of the morphin grid.

Taylor’s Ranger suit was primarily a bright yellow. She had a diagonal golden sash sectioned with black lines running from her collar to her hip, the emblem of an eagle’s head over her heart, and a golden eagle-designed belt buckle in the center of the gold line over her waist. Her gloves were white up to her wrists, as was her neck covering. Her visor was stylized to resemble an avian beak. She bent her legs and spread her arms, unfurling a pair of feathery, bright yellow wings. “Soaring eagle!”

Melissa’s eyes widened under her helmet. “Wild Force, I knew it!”

“Two Power Rangers?!” Hound Shadow pointed between Taylor and Melissa. “Oh, this is just too good!”

Taylor drew two swords. The first had a yellow blade with silver edges, and a black hilt with a yellow line and pommel. The other consisted of a framework of a blade, a long blue hilt and golden pommel, and a guard stylized to resemble a sun, with a round opening in the center. A golden rod connected the guard to a silver rod inside the otherwise hollow blade. “I’d say you bit off more than you can chew! Follow my lead, rookie!” She glided at the Shadow Line Engineer.

“It’s not like doing my own thing has done me much good so far.” Melissa ran underneath Taylor. “Just so you know, I don’t have a weapon!”

“Really? In that case, here. Take my crystal saber.” Taylor dropped her sword with the hollow blade.

Melissa swiped her arm to grab the saber out of the air. “Thanks!”

Hound Shadow released another loud, concussive howl. Taylor ascended while continuing forward, while Melissa dove and rolled to the side, just as the ground where she’d been was upturned. As soon as she returned to an upright position, she swung her arm and tossed the crystal saber into Hound Shadow’s chest. While the monster was distracted, Taylor descended with a slash of her remaining blade. “Golden eagle sword!”

A diagonal line of yellow lightning sliced down Hound Shadow’s body, a second before it exploded in a small burst and sent Hound Shadow flying backwards.

Troy’s armor was red on his upper body, arms, helmet, and lower legs. Upon his chest was a golden circle with a vague wing-like design, as well as a golden line running from his gold-adorned neck to his midsection. Beneath the golden ring around Troy’s stomach, his suit became a solid white, same as his gloves. His armbands and ankle bands were black. His belt buckle was a solid gold square. A gold dragon’s head symbol decorated his forehead, above his pointed visor that curved around his entire helmet.

Rachel, in her own Ranger form, pointed at Troy. “It… it’s you. You’re one of them.” She was shuddering and sniffling. “It’s all your fault!” Without thinking, she swung her trackblade at her fellow Red Ranger.

“Woah!” Troy held up his own sword to block the attack. The blade was a deep red until roughly three quarters up, when the pointed red section gave way to silver. The guard was gold, and the hilt was the same red as the majority of the blade itself. Parallel and attached to the hilt was a rectangular gold and red structure. “Kid, what gives?!”

“It’s all your fault!” Rachel seethed. “My dad was killed by the Armada, and my mom was brainwashed by the Shadow Line! They were living in your city! You’re a Power Ranger! You were supposed to protect them! My family!” She extended the track blade to wrap around Troy, before turning around and tossing him away.

“Woah! Hey!” Troy turned in the air, with his blade drawn. Count Shadow held up his rifle, with a bayonet attached, to block him. “Might as well!” Troy slashed with his sword, marring Count Shadow with a line of red energy. The Shadow Line Engineer was launched backwards with sparks bursting all over his body.

Troy turned around. “Rachel, I know you’re feeling stressed. I can’t blame you, but we need to talk this out.”

“No!” Rachel was audibly crying. Her knees were shaking. She extended her track blade, forcing Troy to repeatedly slash it back, while it constantly struck at him like a viper. “Why weren’t you there?! My parents were counting on you! Grandma had to raise us on her own! We can’t celebrate mother’s day or father’s day! Every year on my birthday, I’m reminded that it’s the same day my parents died! I never… I never got to know them.”

The track blade shrunk down and clattered on the ground. Rachel fell to her hands and knees, hyperventilating while her suit dissipated around her. Count Shadow laughed. “Look at you! Crying and sniveling over your mommy and daddy! Don’t worry. I’ll happily send you to meet your father.”

Troy lunged between Rachel and Count Shadow, glaring coldly through his helmet. “Someone who even thinks of hurting a little girl, or mocking her for crying over a tragedy, isn’t getting any mercy out of me!” He thrust out his arm, holding something that resembled a golden oversized phone and flipped it open. In his other hand, he held out a statuette, and flipped the lower half open to reveal a key. He inserted the key into the top of the phone and turned it in a quarter circle, causing the sides of the phone’s top half to unfold into a pair of cutlasses crossed at the hilts. “Super Mega Mode!”

While Count Shadow took a step back, a red glow covered Troy. “Super Megaforce… Red!”

Most of Troy’s body was covered in a black skintight one-piece suit, with a crossed-sword pirate symbol on his chest. His boots were red, with silver cuffs halfway to his knees. The Ranger suit had an open red long coat, with a popped collar, three golden bar-shaped designs going across both sides, and a pair of white gloves with silver cuffs around his wrists. He had a golden belt pinning a section of his jacket to himself, with a human-shaped outline etched into its solid gold rectangular buckle. His visor was oblong and angular, dipping inwards on the top while two lines extended from  the bottom of it. A symbol of two scimitars crossed over a key adorned his forehead.

In one hand, Troy held a cutlass with a silver blade. The lower half of it was partially covered in a red and black metal. The hilt was black with a vertical red stripe, while the grip was pure red. At the center of the guard, where it intersected with the blade and hilt, there was a blue circle decorated with the same scimitar and key design as Troy’s helmet and suit. A tiny silver cylinder was attached to the blade and guard.

In Troy’s other hand, he held a red flintlock pistol with black accents. On the side was an elaborate design consisting of blue circles and silver patterns, with the sword and key logo in the center. He casually walked towards Count Shadow, effortlessly deflecting all of his rifle shots with his cutlass. “I’ve got ten years of experience and access to dozens of Rangers’ power sets. What do you have?”

“I’ll tell you what I’ve got.” Count Shadow tightened his grip on his rifle. “The favor of the Shadow Line Emperor!” He charged at Troy with his bayonet drawn.

Troy fired bolts of plasma from his pistol, forcing Count Shadow to deflect it with his own weapon. As soon as Count Shadow attempted to stab him, Troy blocked the strike with his cutlass. “I fought an emperor once. Yours will go down, same as he did!” He forced Count Shadow’s arms away with a swing of his cutlass, and twisted his body within the same motion to roundhouse kick him in the face.

Count Shadow rolled on the ground, groaning in pain, before he started shooting at Troy from his laying position. “You say you’ve got other Rangers’ power sets!” He taunted, while Troy shot each of his plasma bolts before they could hit him. “Why don’t you show them off?”

Troy glanced behind himself. Rachel had collapsed into a tiny, shaking and whimpering ball on the ground. A few people had gathered around her, filming her breakdown as well as the fight. “You know what? Good idea.” He flipped open his belt buckle, revealing a tiny Ranger statue. He extracted it, flipped it into key mode, and used it with his morpher just as he’d done with his default key. “Legendary Ranger mode: Dino Thunder, power up!”

Troy’s new form was almost completely red, save for the jagged white lines across his limbs and shoulders that evoked the teeth of a tyrannosaur. His boots went halfway to his knees, and his gloves went up to his wrists, each terminating in a golden cuff, the same color as his belt with its silver buckle. The emblem on his chest consisted of a black circle and a bronze theropod’s foot that partially overlapped with its edges. The visor was narrow with jagged edges. At the top and sides of the helmet’s front, there were two black dots. “Tyranno power!”

Count Shadow stood up. He fired bolts of plasma at Troy, while charging at him.

Troy sidestepped each of the plasma bolts. To him, they looked as though they were traveling through the air at the speeds of worms. To everyone observing the fight, Troy resembled a streak of red light, constantly blitzing away from the ammunition. As soon as Count Shadow attempted to stab him, Troy sped behind the engineer fast enough that it resembled teleportation.

“Huh? Where’d he-?”

Troy turned around while a red staff, topped with a T-rex head, emerged from his belt buckle with a flash of white light. He grabbed it in his hands to swing it into the side of Count Shadow, sending him flying through the air.

Count Shadow’s arms flailed wildly, until he crashed onto the ground. “Two!” He croaked out, “That’s two times you’ve sent me to the ground!”

Troy twirled the staff in his hand. “And I’ll do it as many times as it takes to destroy you!”

“Forget that!” Count Shadow whistled loudly. Another, far louder whistle, emanated from nowhere. An enormous train emerged from a dark portal behind and to the side of him. It consisted of a red and gray color scheme, with a front portion that vaguely resembled a skull. “I’m not staying here one second longer! You can count on that!” He jumped into the train and retreated, on dark purple tracks that extended into the sky.

“Coward.” Troy turned to glare through his visor at the spectators. All of them stepped back and put away their phones. “You all suck, you know that? A crying little kid isn’t some tool for your social media accounts.” After another stream of red light, the phones lay broken on the floor, and the two Red Rangers had disappeared.

Taylor flew dozens of feet above the ground, briefly watching as Hound Shadow used his arm to block the sword Melissa had borrowed. “Soaring darts!” Darts that resembled feathers shot out of the eagle sword’s hilt.

“You’re strong. I’ll give you that, Orange Ranger, but-” Hound Shadow was interrupted by all of Taylor’s soaring darts stabbing it in the head and shoulders. He screamed in pain and staggered to the side.

“Huh?” Melissa glanced up at the Yellow Ranger hovering behind and above her. “Thanks, Taylor!” She hooked one arm under her chest to grab the crystal saber’s hilt in both hands, while keeping it in place at her side, and jabbed it into Hound Shadow’s stomach to send him flying backwards.

“Clearly, this isn’t working. I hate to admit it, but it looks like I’ll have to regroup with my partner.” Hound Shadow released a howl far louder than any of the previous ones, creating a progressively expanding cone of concussive energy. The ground in front of it was upturned, revealing the dirt and maggots beneath.

Melissa was launched backwards, despite her short-lived attempt to plant the crystal saber in the ground. Taylor was sent spiraling through the air until she crashed directly into Melissa. The two women involuntarily demorphed into a tangle of limbs, groaning on pain.

“Are you two okay?” Merrick ran up to help them off the ground. Princess Shayla followed close behind him.

“Yeah, just a little sore.” Taylor stretched her back. “That last attack hit like a truck.”

Melissa looked over to where Hound Shadow had been, at the edge of the ruined ground. “Oh, no, it got away!” She grabbed Merrick’s shoulders. “We have to find him! He’s going after my kids, I just know it!”

“Don’t worry.” Merrick placed his hands on Melissa’s upper sides. “We’re going to help you protect your kids, all four of us.”

“Thank you.” Melissa Looked around. “Wait, four?”

Merrick took his hands off of Melissa. “Yeah, I’ve got an old friend nearby.”

“Actually, there’s something I need to give you as well.” Shayla walked over to Merrick. “Lunar Wolf Ranger.” She opened her palm, revealing three crystalline orbs the size of golf balls. Contained within them were miniscule, moving images of a wolf, hammerhead shark, and alligator.

Merrick smiled as he slowly took back his power animal crystals. He looked down at them reverently. “Hello again, old friends. Looks like I’m back.”

“Good, now we’ve got three Rangers.” Melissa smiled, despite retaining a concerned look in her eyes. “Merrick, where’s this friend of yours?”

“Oh, he’s in the woods. He’s not exactly the type to join in public events, but I’m sure he’ll be willing to help protect your kids. Possibly.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Melissa remarked.

Taylor, Shayla, and Melissa followed Merrick into the forest a few hundred feet away. “Zen-Aku!” Merrick called, with his hands cupped over his mouth.

A humanoid figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree. “Just because I'm a wolf, that doesn't mean you have to call me like a dog.”

The beast-man’s body was a blue so dark it almost looked black. His upper body was covered in gray armor that resembled a partial skeleton, his upper arms had spikes facing outwards, and behind his legs were two garments that almost resembled parts of a cloak. On his waist, there was a silver triangular decoration with a yellow circle in the center. Above and between his solid yellow eyes was a long, sharp horn on his forehead.

“Oh.” Melissa nervously waved. “Hi there.”

“Merrick, who is this woman?” Zen-Aku’s voice was deep and rough, with a curt tone.

“This is Melissa. She’s one of the new Rangers.”

“Please, sir, I need help protecting my children. A Shadow Line Engineer is after them.”

“It’s some sort of hound monster.” Taylor elaborated.

Zen-Aku quietly growled. “You want me to fight a fellow canine?”

“Yes!”

“No.” Zen-Aku refuted Melissa, “I am an org and a wolf. I cannot be made to fight my own kind. I will protect your children with my life, and I won’t intervene in your attempts to bring down an envoy of evil, but I will not raise a hand in this fight.”

Melissa nodded. “I suppose that’s all I can ask for.”

Alice, Ian, Laurelie, and Steven all converged at a wooden building with two yellow gas pumps in front of it, and a sign above the door listing it as Willie’s Road House. “Hey, guys.” Alice glanced around at them, with her hands in her pockets. “Small town, huh?”

“Not really.” Laurelie held up the map on her phone. “It’s actually about-”