The Adventure Continues

Recipe for Disaster

"Wait, so you just gave our Megazord powers to a complete stranger?" Adelaide asked Sasha and Kendall. "How do we even know if this message is legit?"

"It came from him, how could it not be?" Kendall asked.

Adelaide shrugged. "Oh, I dunno, all you have is a holographic image of a silver ranger. How do we know that it's not pre-recorded, and he's already dead?"

"Morbid much?" Sasha asked,

"You've got to at least have thought about that, right?"

"She makes a valid point," Philip agreed.

"Yeah, how do we know that this isn't going to blow up in our faces?" Chase asked, also in agreement.

Sasha shook her head. "We don't," she said. "But we took a chance. If it does turn out to be a mistake, then we'll deal with it like we do everything else. But we have to consider the possibility that this is a real problem, and consider our options. If it works, then we can bring the Silver Ranger to Earth and then we're one step closer to our goal."

Adelaide bit her lower lip and looked around at her friends. She had a bad feeling about the whole situation but found that she could argue her point all day. It wouldn't change the fact that Kendall and Sasha had already sent their data to the Silver Ranger's coordinates.

"Alright, what's the deal with this 'Dark Energem'?" Tyler asked. "What is it?" He looked to Keeper for an answer.

Keeper waved his staff through the air as the gem at the top burned a bright yellow. A holographic image of twelve coloured energems appeared in the middle of the lab.

"When your good Energems were created the evil residue left behind became the dark energem," Keeper explained. "It is the one thing that can cripple the power of the other twelve. It was hidden deep within a planet called Sentai-6. Centuries later, a mysterious warlord discovered its location. He destroyed the entire planet, then disappeared with the dark energem."

"How do we know where the Dark Energem is?" Shelby asked. "Has the Silver Ranger been tracking it all this time? How do we know he hasn't got it hidden somewhere safe?"

"No place is safe while the Dark Energem is intact," Keeper explained. "The Silver Ranger cannot destroy it alone."

"That's why he wanted our Ranger powers?" Tyler asked. He looked to Adelaide, but she refused to meet his gaze,

Keeper nodded. "Yes, but it will not be enough," he added.

The Rangers, plus Sasha, frowned in confusion.

"The Silver Ranger, despite having your powers, will not be strong enough to destroy the Dark Energem alone," said Keeper. "According to Legend, there is one Energem that has the power that could go either way. It was one of the last energems to be created, which means it holds no loyalty to either side."

"So, what, it's neutral?" Sasha asked.

"In a way, yes," Keeper said.

"Which one is it?"

"Crimson."

The Rangers exchanged looks, and Sasha pursed her lips.

"That could be why we can't find it," said Sasha. "If it's a neutral gem, it could refuse to bond with anyone, both good and evil. Maybe, even, its power can't be used when it's unbonded."

"It could stay hidden for many more years," Kendall agreed.

Sasha nodded.

The Rangers sighed. They were so close to reaching their goals of finding all twelve energems, only now to realise that they may never reach it at all. If the Crimson Energem was as neutral as Keeper said, it could be years before they found it.