The Ultra Crystals: Ninja Quest

Three days later, three streaks of light entered the Ultra Cavern.

Weihan stepped onto the stone floor and eyed his two friends warily. After the battle, he had pulled them aside and told them that he would explain everything to the best of his abilities…right before the throng of reporters had descended on them. He had spent an agonising forty five minutes talking to the assembled reporters all the while wishing he could teleport to the Ultra Cavern and remove the coins stuck in his chest. Will had handled the reporters excellently and had shown great promise with his answers on where they had come from. On the other hand, Alex only seemed interested in answering questions from the cute reporters and trying to get Jacqui Apple to give him her number.

To her credit, she had taken his advances quite well but she had given Weihan an earful and a half over the phone. He knew his friend was pretty much interested in everything female with two legs…if his little misadventure with their English teacher had been any indication. Much to AJ's disappointment, he couldn't teleport to see her as he had done the last time. He knew she was very interested in him, but the age gap between them made any physical intimacy very…illegal. He silently shook his head in amusement. If Alex knew about them, he would have a shit fit tight then and there. Thinking about his friend made him lose all joviality. He knew that Alex's constant chasing of anything female wasn't really an issue now but if left unchecked it could spell disaster. He had already woken up too many times in the night in a cold sweat with images of the bad future coming to pass...all because Alex didn't take his duties seriously. He knew one Ranger could make a great difference and that was why he was impressed that Will seemed to have his sense of duty well in hand.

The White Ranger suit was incredible to both Alex and Will; but as Weihan had seen it before, it wasn't all that great. He knew Rocky would have a field day comparing his suit to Will's and he was waiting for Billy to teleport in to…pick his brains or something. He smirked at the thought of recording the conversation to look up the words later. Seemed that becoming an Ultra Ranger was making him learn more than school was teaching. On the other hand, school wasn't going to teach him how to repair the 34th junction on an Eltarean heat sink or how to bypass a faulty power coupler with a paperclip and some gum.

As the lights flooded the chamber, Weihan noted the addition of two new Zord Bays that contained the new Dinozords. One was a giant black Mammoth with green highlights along its body and gleaming silver tusks. It was much different than the Mastodon Dinozord the original Black Ranger had used, looking more like a real Woolly Mammoth than an elephant. He couldn't wait to see it in battle. The other Zord Bay contained Will's stark white Allosaurus Dinozord. The metal theropod was crouched down but Weihan could see the deadliness that was barely hidden behind the seemingly docile façade. If his own experience in piloting his Dinozord was any indication, those two Zords would be nigh-unstoppable.

As Alex and Will both marvelled at their new Zords, a red light on the main console began to blink on and off steadily. Weihan frowned and walked over, his eyes lingering briefly on top of it. Shaking himself out of his brief melancholy he pressed the button for the main screen. After a brief burst of static, Zordon's face appeared looking more worried than Weihan had ever seen.

"Zordon, is everything all right?"

"No, I am afraid it is not. My sensors indicate Rita's brother – Rito Revolto – has landed on the moon."

Weihan nodded gravely. He wondered what Rito looked like but reminded himself with all honesty that he would probably be meeting him soon. The next words from the sage filled his stomach with lead.

"The Thunderzords are engaging him in the woods. They have been ambushed by four other monsters."

The transmission began to break up as Zordon's image faded in and out. William and Alex had stopped admiring their Zords and were looking at Zordon's image with a look of shocked fear on their faces. Weihan spared them a glance and tried to increase the reception of the transmission.

"Zordon, you're breaking up. Come in."

"Alpha, proceed with caution. The power accelerator is almost at its peak level."

The image dissolved to static and Weihan pounded the console in frustration as he tried to decipher all the information given. Rita's brother Rito was fighting the Power Rangers and they had presumably called their Zords. Rito had led them into an ambush and they were losing. The power accelerator in the Command Centre was almost at its peak level…Weihan's eyes widened as the information pointed to one direction: the Power Rangers were going to be destroyed. A split second later, the lights dimmed for a fraction of a second and he swore he heard Kim scream in anguish and he closed his eyes in sympathy.

For the fourth and final time, the Thunderzords had been destroyed.

His mind raced. If the Thunderzords were destroyed, the power backlash would have all but destroyed the power banks and converters. Zordon would have a hard time recreating the Zords…if they could be recreated at all. The next option after that would be either Ninjor or Dulcea, but he didn't think they were ready to see Dulcea just yet. Racing to another part of the console, he opened up a private communications channel to Ninjor. He was just lucky the Ninja Master had the foresight to give Weihan his private frequency.

"Ninjor, do you read?"

After a short grumbling delay, the Ninja Master's voice issued from the speaker. He could hear Alex and Will struggling not to laugh at the voice, but ignored them.

"I'm here. What is it?"

"I've gotten two more Ultra Rangers that need connection to their Ninja Spirits. Send them over?"

Ninjor seemed to think about it for a few seconds.

"Yes. Send them over with the other Rangers. I will connect them to their Ninja Spirits together."

Weihan nodded once and closed the connection. He turned to face his friends and placed both hands behind his back.

"Guys, I am sending you to a place called the Desert of Despair. You will go on a quest to discover and connect with your innate Spirit Animal as well as receive your Ninjazords. The journey will be tough and there will be moments where you will want to give up. Persevere and you will gain a Power greater than anything else. Do you wish to proceed?"

Alex and Will traded looks and nodded in unison. Weihan sighed and walked over to a wall. Placing his hand on the rocky surface, a small beep was heard and soon after a drawer slid out. Placing a hand inside, he withdrew a neatly folded piece of paper and opened it up. It was a crudely drawn map of the Desert of Despair with Ninjor's temple marked with a big black cross. After his own map had mysteriously disappeared, he didn't want his new Rangers to have to take any chances. After all, Zordon's Rangers would probably lose their copy of the map in some spectacularly idiotic fashion – possibly involving fire. Handing the map to Alex, he walked over to the main teleportation console and punched in the co-ordinates for the Desert of Despair.

"All right. Hang on to your dinner."

As the two Rangers vanished in streaks of light, Weihan slumped against the teleporter controls and breathed a sigh of relief. Ninjor would be able to sort them out better than Dulcea. Actually, Dulcea would probably run her staff through Alex within five minutes of their meeting. As he looked around the Ultra Cavern, an alarm began to wail. Eyes widening, he raced to the radar screen and swore under his breath. In the middle of Centennial Park were three figures. One was the familiar armoured form of Goldar, one was a walking skeleton painted in camouflage and the other was a monster rat with rocket parts sticking out of it. They weren't doing much in the way of destruction but Weihan knew that if he left them alone they would go on a rampage.

Time to hold the fort.