Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. They belong to whichever company currently holds the copyright. This is a fan work and is completely not for profit.
Interlude: Shattered Expectations
Reality was not all that it seemed to be. Minion was not Minion, Angel Grove was not Angel Grove and the Power Rangers were not really the Power Rangers. Existence and everything that came with it functioned because the impossible had happened: the single indivisible soul that was Minion had somehow splintered and in order to cope with that impossible event, a multiverse had formed where Minion's many choices played out to determine if there was any way he could have triumphed.
One day those capable of discovering such facts would determine that the freak event had been made possible because the breaking of his soul had occurred in the infinitely short moment between the total obliteration of al existence and its rebirth. When existence had reformed, Minion's soul was fractured and the broken shards of his essence were pulled into the Multiverse.
New sub-realities sprung up over night with their own histories, but sharing a common theme: sooner or later a being named Minion would appear and the fight to defeat him would decide the fate of that universe.
Existence had adapted, allowing the villain another chance to defeat his enemies in each reality where a part of his soul resided. Of course the intention had always been that once a clear outcome was known - for in allowing such events to play out Existence had robbed Minion of all but two options: ultimate victory or obliteration - the reality in question would cease to exist. And now that Minion had been destroyed, the Rangers, their allies and enemies should have faded....
But something had changed.
Minion's body had been obliterated, but the splinter of soul that had caused existence to form, had not been totally removed. In a way that mimicked the events that had led to the formation of the sub-realities, his soul had split yet again and a small part remained. It lacked awareness, form or substance. It had no powers or desires. It wasn't really evil, strictly speaking. But it was a tiny fragment needed to sustain a universe after the Minion had passed.
Maybe it was a memory or the wounds his victims had suffered. Maybe it was the trauma he had inflicted on a young boy. Whatever had happened, events had not been completely resolved and in those circumstances there was only one thing that could happen: the war continued.
Prison Sub-dimension (or what was left of it), Stone Henge
10 July 1996
The effects of the final battle had been more dramatic than anyone could have imagined. Not only did the timeline have to deal with the non-death of Minion, an event that would have far reaching consequences nobody would know about until it was too late. There was also the problem of eight humans who were misplaced in time and space.
In addition there was the natural occurrence that happened following a monster's destruction. Since Minion was gone, the lives he had taken and cities he had conquered were restored. The people remembered what had happened but only as a dream. North Valley was returned to its former state as a small town.
Aquitar was another story. The timeline had been rewritten so the Aquitians survived the Death Bringer's assault with no loss of life. But Billy had taken the five Power Coins and as a result Baboo and Squatt had still conquered the planet. It would take time for the knowledge of Aquitar's survival to trickle through the system. But when it did, the reaction from the Galactic Council was uncertain and the reaction of Billy Cranston would be unpredictable to say the least.
Then there were the former Shadow Grid Rangers to consider. On any other world the appearance of eight unknown humans would have caused disaster. But Earth was shielded from the effects of such a change. Even the changing of the appearance of one of the Rangers didn't phase reality. The timeline rewrote history so that all eight had families and friends. Nobody would ever remember they had helped the Rangers, not even Zordon. Of course as humans who had touched the Power there was only one place for them to end up and that was Angel Grove. And once drawn into the lives of the Power Rangers it was inevitable that Daniel, Oscar, Lee, Scott, Clyde, Bruce, Christina... Helen... Christina -- some events remained in flux -- and Cassandra would find their lives forever changed.
The physical injuries suffered by all but one of the Zeo Rangers were gone. The psychological damage caused by their time in Minion's Prison Sub-dimension would take longer to repair.
As a final parting gift Nekron, also known by some as Aagon, and still more as the Dark God or even as the Dark One, had ensured Tommy Oliver was immune to the physical time change. Although he could not feel some of the things Minion had done to him, the injuries were still there. They had been protected during the time change by the sword Tommy had used so effectively. Nekron had intended for Tommy to die, burnt by the Power from within, but just as reality had somehow been sustained, so had Tommy. However, just because he had not died immediately did not mean he was out of danger. Just as a tree struck by lightning could take weeks to burst into flames as the sap inside boiled, so the damage inflicted by the Power would continue to eat away at Tommy.
The Dark God had known Tommy during his time as the evil Green Ranger. He knew Tommy was stubborn and would attempt to hide any problems until it was too late. That was one of Tommy's weaknesses and the single weakness Aagon had relied on.
The torn fabric of space and time repaired itself as well as it could. Despite all the changes the result was still the same. The Rangers were victorious and Minion was defeated. Whether or not he was truly gone remained to be seen.
End
This site has been visited: 1676556 times
