"Alright! We need Thunderzord power!"
"Not Megazord, you morons! Just the regular Zords!" Arsenal yelled in reminder.
The earth shook and the mountains quaked. In the distance, the rumble of giant feet slamming the ground could be heard as the Zords raced to their masters' sides.
"Yeah!" shouted the Red Ranger. "Power 'em up, and go for delaying tactics!"
"I wish they'd stop being so cheesy," Arsenal muttered as he watched the Power Rangers "morph" into their Zords.
Arsenal watched as missiles erupted from all six Zords and impacted on Executor from three sides. With a laugh as the missiles exploded around him, Executor vanished in the thrown up dust. The behemoth then reappeared on a crag high above the Rangers, and sent those eye-beams thundering down onto them.
"We're in trouble," Tommy commented.
"Not for long," Arsenal told him, jumping up in front of Executor. "Pull back, and let me try out a new toy."
"What toy is this, Warrior?" Executor rumbled.
"THIS!" Arsenal slammed his fists into the ground. Concentrated seismic activity shook the ground. Executor lost his balance, and fell to the quarry floor far below. He was followed by an avalanche of sharp rocks that completely covered him.
The Rangers morphed out of their Zords to stand near Arsenal's battle-van.
"What was that?" asked Billy. "Is it dead?"
"And why did it say those things to Arsenal?" Kimberly wanted to know. Tommy simply groaned and turned away.
Arsenal mechamorphosed his Excalibur back to cycle mode and rode back to the van. He dismounted and switched on the van's holographic display.
"Fran," he said, "we have a very big problem. Executor is back." This drew some curious glances from the Rangers. "And he's bigger and badder than ever. I buried him, but he may not be dead."
"I'll see what I can do," Fran replied. "Scanning...Arse, he's not under the rocks."
"Arse?" Tommy muttered with a grin under his helmet. Kimberly elbowed him in the ribs.
"Disappeared again!" Arsenal grumbled. "How do they keep doing that?"
"Not enough info, Arse," Fran replied. "Do you still want that trip to the moon?"
Arsenal glanced at all the Rangers, who nodded their consent.
"Yeah, Fran, we do. How soon can you get us there?"
"Is immediately too soon?"
"Wait a second," stated Billy. "There's no air on the moon."
"So what's your point?" Adam asked.
"If we're going there, how are we going to survive?"
"I've got just the thing," Arsenal stated, popping a couple microcapsules. Six trans-suits appeared in his hands. "Put these on over your outfits. They'll enable you to live in a vacuum."
"But what about you?" Kim asked. "There's only six here."
"He's got his own way of surviving," Tommy stated coldly. "Let him worry about it."
"What's the matter, Tommy?" Aisha asked. "You jealous or something?"
"Shut up, Aisha," Tommy told her.
"Fran, port us," Arsenal stated, closing the face shield of his helmet and mechamorphosing the Excalibur to its Armor mode.
"That is so cool!" Billy commented. "Why can't Zordon make us stuff like yours?"
"Yeah, that ride was smoother than when we morph into action!" Rocky agreed.
Arsenal pulled out a scanning device and started examining the area.
"This is weird," he commented. "There is a breathable atmosphere here."
"And you said there wouldn't be one," Aisha told Billy.
"There shouldn't...there couldn't..." Billy turned to Arsenal. "Are you sure that thing's working right?"
"Perfectly," Arsenal said. "It must be limited to Zed's fortress area." He flipped up his face shield, took a deep breath, and keeled over, clutching his throat.
"Is he all right?" Kim asked as Tommy hid his smile.
As Billy bent down to check on Arsenal, Arsenal sat up.
"Fooled you," he said, keeping his face shield open.
"Rats," Tommy muttered under his breath. Only Arsenal, with his Excalibur's sensors, could hear Tommy's remark.
"Hey, this appears to be the dungeon," Rocky commented, examining the room.
"So there should be a way to Zed's Throne Room from here," Billy stated.
"Fine," Tommy said. "Just look for stairways leading up." With that, he started up the nearest stairwell.
"What Putty crawled up his pants?" Adam asked no one in particular. No one bothered to answer as they followed Tommy up the stairs.
The team traveled three flights of stairs before they ran into their first opposition. At the top of the stairs, several Putties blocked their path.
"Leave this to me," Arsenal said. He fired with his laser array, and the Putties vanished.
"Intruders?!" he yelled. "Intruders?! Here within my domicile? My own inner sanctum?! Destroy them! DESTROY THEM ALL! OR YOUR WORTHLESS CARCASSES SHALL ADORN MY DOOR!"
Putties and lackeys alike scrambled to fulfill their master's wishes.
"What is that thing?" Rocky asked.
"I am Svinehund," it called back in a German accent. "And I'm goingk to kill you." It rushed towards them. The Rangers automatically flipped out of its way. Arsenal, however, stood his ground.
"Arsenal!" Kimberly yelled. "Get out of there!"
"A SEAL does not run," Arsenal stated calmly. "He fights."
Svinehund ran right up to Arsenal, intent on engaging in combat. Arsenal stepped to the right, and clotheslined the beast with his arm. Svinehund lost its footing, and its momentum caused it to fall down the stairs.
Arsenal extended his ion blades, and leapt down on the creature. With a single slice, Svinehund was dead. It immediately exploded.
"Is he...?" Kimberly asked, gazing down the stairs.
"Svinehund is dead," Rocky told her. "That Lone Warrior lives up to his reputation."
"But how's the Warrior?" Kimberly asked.
"I hope he's dead as well," Tommy stated coldly. "We don't need the extra baggage. Let's go get Lord Zed."
Adam placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder.
"What's wrong with you, man?" he asked. "You've been acting really weird since Arsenal showed up in the quarry."
"Nothing's the matter with me," Tommy stated, shrugging out from under Adam's hand. "Kimberly's the one whose been making moon-eyes at Arsenal."
"Jealous?" Kimberly asked Tommy.
"Yeah, I'm jealous!" Tommy yelled back. "You never looked at me the way you look at him."
"Maybe that's because Arsenal isn't cheesy, like us," Kimberly retorted back. "He's so much better at combat than us. And he's got respect! WE DON'T! I'm starting to doubt why I ever became a Ranger in the first place."
"You don't mean that," Rocky told her.
"Yeah," Kimberly stated. "I mean it."
"Am I missing something?" Arsenal asked, stepping out of the smoke that was now clearing and climbing the stairs to stand near the Rangers.
"After this mission is over," Tommy told Arsenal, "don't even come near us again, or you'll taste the Power Blaster down your throat!"
Arsenal looked Tommy in the eye. "Fine with me," he said dryly. "I'm getting tired of your attitude anyway. Next time you see me, it'll be as an enemy." Arsenal looked at each of the Rangers, pausing slightly longer at Kimberly than the others. "Let's go finish off Zed."
"But, Sire," the remaining lackey stated, "Arsenal is with them. It was he who destroyed Svinehund."
"The Lone Warrior is here as well, isn't he," Zed said. "Allow them to find their way up here. I shall deal with all seven of them personally." The lackey and the putties scurried to perform Zed's orders.
"Now I shall finally kill the Rangers once and for all."
"WELCOME RANGERS!" Zed's voice rumbled through the room. "WELCOME WARRIOR! WELCOME TO MY HUMBLE ABODE! AND TO YOUR DEATHS!"
With this, Zed stepped forward, glowing a deep scarlet. He swung his power staff in a wide arc, sending crimson energy in the direction of the Rangers. They were thrown back against the inner wall.
Arsenal mechamorphosed his Excalibur into its cycle mode and dismounted from it.
"Arsenal!" Kimberly yelled. "Don't do it! You need your armor!"
"I hate to sound so cliche," Arsenal called back to her. "But trust me, I know what I'm doing." With this, he drew the Ebony Blade.
"So it has come down to us," Zed told Arsenal, waving his power staff. "Prepare for death, oath-breaker!" He tossed a crimson bolt at Arsenal. Arsenal swiftly deflected the bolt with the Blade.
"Oath-breaker?" Arsenal asked. "I told you I'd give you my answer in twenty-four hours. Only five have passed. And the answer is a resounding NO!"
Arsenal swung the Blade at Zed, who deflected it with his staff. For ten minutes, the Rangers could only watch as Arsenal and Zed went at it, each one deflecting the furious death-blows of the other.
"We need to help him," Kimberly told the others, drawing her Power Bow.
"Forget it!" Tommy stated. "I'm not going to help a guy who will no doubt kill us as soon as he's finished with Zed."
"Sorry, Tommy, but I'm with Kimberly on this one," Rocky stated, drawing his Power Sword. "Power Blaster! NOW!"
Within moments, the Power Blaster was assembled.
"Wait for a clear shot!" Rocky called. Arsenal heard this and maneuvered Zed between himself and the Rangers.
"NOW!" Arsenal yelled, dropping onto his back. The Power Blaster roared to life, knocking Zed towards Arsenal. Arsenal kicked with his feet, and Zed flew out the window of his balcony.
Arsenal and the Rangers strode over to the balcony and looked down. Zed hung from the balcony floor, his arm wrapped around a post.
"Guys," Aisha stated, stifling a giggle, "we shouldn't leave him like that."
"You're right," Tommy agreed. He reached out with his foot and crunched them down on Zed's fingers. Zed was forced to let go, and fell to the moon's surface below.
"Even with the moon's lighter gravity," Billy stated, "Lord Zed should not survive a fall like that."
"Let's go home," Kimberly said. "This place creeps me out."
"Rangers, please return to the Citadel," Zordon told them. "And bring the Warrior with you."
"No way, Zordon," Tommy said. "He's not coming back with us."
"Don't contradict me, Tommy," Zordon replied, "or you can relinquish your standing as a Power Ranger."
"We'll bring him," Kimberly told Zordon. "We'll be there shortly."
"Congratulations, Rangers," Zordon stated. "The threat from Lord Zed is finally finished."
"Don't be too sure," Arsenal stated, placing a hand on Alpha. "Earlier today we fought a monster I thought I'd destroyed a long time ago. So don't count Zed out just yet."
"Very well, Warrior. What are your plans regarding the Rangers now?"
"We made a good team today," Rocky admitted. "I'd hate to have you as an enemy."
"Yeah," Kimberly agreed. "I pity B'harne."
"Well," Arsenal told the others, "why don't I just leave you with this..." With this, he reached out and passionately kissed Kimberly. To his surprise, Kimberly returned his kiss. The other Rangers, Zordon, and even Alpha were speechless.
As Arsenal was breaking off the kiss, Tommy attacked him. Arsenal reflexively threw Tommy into Zordon's holotube a split second before he teleported out.
"Just spreading some dissent among the Rangers," Arsenal laughed. "And the seeds for their own destruction."