Ph... seeing you like this is unbelievable. You've never shined so brightly.
I took a deep breath. I knew what came next would be the end of that battle — and maybe the beginning of something even bigger.
"Ph, this is my final instruction."
"What is it?"
I smiled behind the communicator. The answer was simple, direct... final.
"Finish him."
"...Yes, sir."
Ph charged.
The speed was unreal — a bluish blur slicing through the field. It was like trying to track lightning mid-strike. Completely impossible... or at least, it had been.
Suddenly, a warning flashed across my visor:
[ENHANCED VISION — FULL ADAPTATION]
In an instant, what had once been invisible now unfolded before my eyes with absolute clarity. I saw everything. Ph's movements — swift as the wind — were now crystal clear, almost choreographed.
The fight was tighter than I had imagined. Ph maintained relentless pressure, but he couldn't land a decisive blow.
The enemy was good. Fast. Skilled.
His defense was like a living wall — flexible, yet nearly impenetrable.
Yes. That was the correct word for it. Nearly.
I could see the openings. Small flaws in posture, poorly distributed weight, reflexes kicking in on autopilot. But Ph... he still couldn't see them.
Being a Ranger gives you power. But without training, without technique, you don't evolve.
And without evolution... you miss the obvious.
"Ph, thrust at his left shoulder. Now!"
Without replying, he obeyed. The foil pierced through the defense with impressive force and speed. The enemy's arm gave out, leaving his side exposed.
"Now his right thigh."
Ph struck again. The impact made the alien stagger.
"Sweep the leg."
And Ph executed flawlessly, knocking the enemy down with a clean spin.
"Strike to the chest."
The final blow fell like thunder. The foil punched through the creature's bio-armor. It collapsed with a muffled roar, too wounded to strike back.
It breathed heavily. Its body trembled, trying to gather strength... but it was useless.
I'll admit — for a moment, I saw myself there. On the ground. Defeated.
But unlike me... this alien was truly strong. A worthy opponent.
And yet... he was down.
"Finish him."
Ph didn't hesitate. He did it.
Or at least... he tried.
With a sudden, brutal move, the alien landed a direct kick to Ph's chest, sending him flying several meters away.
The impact made the ground shake.
That didn't make sense. After all the hits Ph had landed, the enemy shouldn't even be standing, let alone counterattacking like that.
But he did.
He defied logic — or better yet, human logic.
Ph wasn't fighting a human. He was fighting an alien — one whose humanoid form twisted and reshaped in seconds.
Now, before us, stood a quadrupedal creature: agile, savage, and beastlike in appearance.
What was the point of that transformation?
Unfortunately, I found out way too fast.
The alien's new form was terrifyingly fast. It lunged at Ph with surgical precision, claws shredding through metal armor like paper. With each blow, pieces of Ph's suit scattered in all directions.
He wouldn't last much longer.
Damn it... think, Xavier, think!
Something fast enough... something quick...
The Bloodline.
I couldn't teach it here — not just with words.
But maybe... just maybe, I could give enough instructions to simulate the technique. To accelerate Ph's thrust to something close to the Bloodline.
"Ph, I have an idea."
On the other end of the line, I heard the screech of metal, the sharp clash of blade against claw.
"Then spit it out! I'm in a pretty awful spot here!"
I swallowed hard. The margin for error was razor-thin.
"You need to perform your Lightning Thrust. But it has to be instantaneous."
Ph went silent for a moment... then exploded:
"Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how hard that is? I need to focus — and stand still — to make it work!"
You think I don't know that?
"Just listen to me, you bastard! Get into attack stance and start moving forward. No matter what he does — do not back down. When he gets in range, lift your front foot just a bit and push off hard with the other. Spin with the momentum and tilt your head until it touches your shoulder. That'll focus all the force on the tip of your weapon — right on the exact point."
Ph didn't respond immediately. The sounds of battle still echoed through the call, loud and intense.
But I knew he'd try.
"This better work, Xavier..."
Ph got into position and followed every instruction with precision. He charged in, even as parts of his newly acquired armor broke off with each movement. His speed increased as the suit's structure gave way — and, like a master watching his student land a perfect blow for the first time, I couldn't hold back the pride.
He did it.
Fast. Strong. Almost unstoppable.
The alien was finally down. Its body slowly reverted to a humanoid form, as if surrendering to gravity... and defeat.
For the first time in tense minutes, I could breathe. I leaned my head back, the sound of my own breathing echoing in my headset.
We won. But...
Why that weird feeling crawling up my spine?
Like... something was off? Like we forgot something important?
I looked back at the screen.
The core wasn't in the foil.
Fast, strong... but no precision.
Ph missed the core.
"PH, DON'T GET DISTRACTED! THE FIGHT ISN'T OVER YET!"
I managed to shout — just in time. Barely.
The alien... it was still standing. Bleeding, wounded, but alive — and now more dangerous than ever. The exposed core in its chest began to pulse... then glow. A blinding light, like it was burning the air itself.
"Ph, fall back! Return to the group now! I'm sending the Zords!"
But the communicator began to glitch. Static. Interference. Then, another voice broke through, panting:
"No need... we're heading to Ph now!"
It was Neto. And just hearing his voice changed something in the air.
The tension was still there, but now... now there was something more — the will to fight.
The battlefield, once grounded and tight, suddenly scaled upward. The alien's core hit its limit, releasing a shockwave that lifted it into a giant form — a towering, furious creature bathed in light.
But the Rangers didn't back down. They regrouped. They struck back in kind.
The Megazord was formed.
"Xavier!" Neto shouted from the other end of the line. "What about the extra Zord? Will it work with us?"
Before I could answer, something flashed on my visor. A special notification. New data. A line of code that didn't exist before.
I smiled.
"How do you guys feel about an upgrade?"
The extra Zord wouldn't just give Ph a new form — it would modify the Megazord itself.
But unlike Ph, this new mode came with a condition: limited time.
And how did I know that?
Simple. This extra Zord was all about speed. When connected, it would force the Megazord to move at a high-speed tempo — light, agile, nearly impossible to follow.
But the cost? Massive. The energy consumption in this mode would be insane.
We'd only have one shot.
"Neto, can you beat it in five minutes?"
"Huh? Five minutes? That's short, but... I think I can manage. Wait—what are you planning?"
You'll see.
[NEW MEGAZORD FORM UNLOCKED: LIGHTNING MODE]
The message flashed across the screen like a siren. I grinned. This day was definitely getting interesting.
"Ph, use your morpher to activate the new form. Place it in the center of the command console."
He didn't hesitate. The moment he made the move, the extra Zord crept forward, snapping into the Megazord's spinal frame — and right then, the whole system transformed.
The Megazord streamlined. Its contours sharpened, its frame thinned.
Faster.
"Alright, team. You've got five minutes starting now. Win this."
The comms lit up with a chorus of hyped voices:
"ROGER THAT, XAVIER!"
For a second, it felt like I was coordinating a birthday party. The excitement was infectious — like a bunch of kids who just unwrapped the coolest new toy.
…But oops. Got distracted. The fight was back on.
Once again — now on a giant scale.
The alien, fully energized by its core, surged forward in colossal form. The Megazord dodged — just barely. Barely. But it did.
The Megazord's original sword had changed into a pulse blade: compact, humming with power, perfect for quick slashes.
And slash it did.
A lightning-fast advance. A clean strike.
The alien staggered back, surprised — but not afraid. Its silver claws glinted in the thin atmosphere. It lunged again —
But the Megazord was faster.
A direct punch to the face knocked the creature off balance.
There was no hesitation. No wasted motion.
They didn't have time to waste.
The alien tried to get back up — they didn't let it.
The Megazord leapt forward and drove the blade into the creature's chest.
"Bring me the core."
My voice rang clear through the comms.
They didn't answer.
They didn't have to.
The blade adjusted. The cut changed course — steering away from the core.
The alien, defeated, locked eyes with the Megazord one last time.
No hesitation.
The final blow landed.
That fight could've dragged on.
But the alien... it was already drained.
That wasn't really a battle.
It was an execution.
Now, finally... we could rest.
For now, at least.
One day, the aliens will stop coming.
But unfortunately… Today's not that day.
"Hey, Z... you're being really quiet. Something wrong?"
When I turned, Z was staring straight at me. Her eyes — always exaggerated and cartoonishly expressive — usually made her hologram feel lighthearted.
But not now.
There was nothing funny about her expression.
She looked... stunned?
Confused?
Afraid?
"How did you know?"
I blinked.
What did she mean by that?
"Know what, Z?"
She stepped closer. Her projection flickered slightly, but her voice was steady.
"How do you always know what to do? Like you've... already been through this. You never hesitate. You always have a plan. And the weirdest part—your knowledge goes beyond mine. Mine, idiot. I'm a computer-linked consciousness, and yet you surprise me."
Before I could say anything, she went on:
"And don't give me that 'number one Power Rangers fan' crap. That doesn't explain it. Your knowledge... it's beyond anything the media ever released. I checked. I scanned every database. Every restricted file. Every encrypted document… And you still know more."
She came even closer. Now she was just a few centimeters away from me. The hologram trembled with her emotional intensity.
"Who are you? What are you, Xavier?"
Hearing her call me by my name made my heart race—it was the first time she'd ever done that, and it might just be the last.
I wanted to answer. Part of me really, really did.
But how do you explain that what I know… I just know?
That the most important information was given to me by someone who only appears in my dreams—the King Aloinem—and that the rest just pops into my head, as if my memory were some treasure chest of secrets I never locked?
How do you say that to Z… without sounding completely insane?
"Z… I can't tell you. Not yet. But please, trust me."
She let out a dry laugh.
"You think I don't trust you? You're the one I trust most on this damned planet. I follow your orders blindly because, for some reason, they always work. Even your dumbest ideas somehow work. And that's terrifying."
Her voice wavered between anger and desperation.
"Do you have any idea how many times my 'heart'—if I can even call it that—raced because of you? How many times I was completely lost when you threw yourself into another one of your suicide missions disguised as a heroic plan?"
She took a deep breath. Her eyes—or the illusion of them—trembled like digital tears were trying to fall.
"I accepted that. I accepted you, you damned idiot. But now… I can't anymore. I just want answers. Is that too much to ask?"
Z was almost touching me. Her presence was digital, but the emotion was real. I gently pushed her away.
I sighed.
Well… the time had come.
Maybe not to tell everything.
But at least… a little.
"Z… please, sit down."
Without a word, she projected a hologram of a chair and sat, still watching me closely.
I stepped back a few paces, slowly drawing in air. Then I activated the sword in my hand.
The blade formed with a glowing light in its cracks, pulsing like it was breathing. The light it gave off reflected against the metal floor. The same sword she had infused with my own blood. It was meant to connect us, me and the blade.
But it ended up connecting me to something… greater.
I stared at the blade for a few seconds, then looked at Z.
"Know that everything I'm about to say… is the purest truth."
Z frowned, confused. And true to her nature, she materialized a floating question mark above her head.
But I didn't smile. Not this time.
I took a step forward. The blade glowed brighter.
"This is the story of an old king..."
Pause.
And then, with a steady voice, I let the words slice through the silence like thunder:
"And how his throne was stolen by mortuus."