Two astronauts were walking on the moon one day.

“I can’t believe it,” one said, “I’m actually walking along the same path Neil Armstrong did.”

“Yeah,” the other one said, “Well, we’re supposed to be looking for something.”

“Right.” The first one looked up, to see something weird sitting on one of the dunes. “Hey, look over there. What is that?” They hurry over to the thing. “It looks like one of those antique trash dumpsters. You know, from back in the Middle Ages or something.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s open ‘er up, and see if there’s any jewels or anything.”

“Yeah.” With that, the two astronauts opened up the space dumpster. All of a sudden, a blast of energy comes out of it, and knocks them off their feet.

Five unknown beings emerge from the dumpster. The two astronauts take a look at them, at each other, and then beat feet back to their ship.

“Ah,” a woman said, “After ten thousand years, I’m finally free.” With that, the quintet look up towards earth.

Zack and Jason were sparring in the Youth Center. “You’re getting good, Zack,” Jason said.

“Thanks, Jase,” Zack said, “I’ve got a great teacher.”

Kim was practicing on a balance beam. She was a phenomenal gymnast and practiced every day. Tommy was watching her, with interest.

Trini was practicing nearby. She was a student of kung fu, and practiced just as vigorously as Jason and Zack. Billy Cranston was watching her from their usual table nearby.

All of a sudden, the room started to shake. Tommy caught Kim when she fell off the balance beam.

“An earthquake,” Ernie, the owner of the Youth Center, said, “Everyone, get outside, quickly.”

“Rita has been released,” Zordon said, “Alpha, bring me six teenagers.”

“Oh no, not teenagers,” Alpha said, “Ay yi yi!” He pushed a number of buttons on the control panel. “They’re on their way now, Zordon.”

Jason and the others were the last to start following Ernie outside, after helping some people in the locker rooms.

All of a sudden, a weird tingly feeling hit them. “What’s going on?” Kim demanded. They were teleported out.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in the Command Center. “Wow, look at this place,” Billy said, “It’s totally...” He had gone over to a panel and started fiddling with some of the buttons on it.

“Don’t touch that.” They all jumped as Alpha-5 came hurrying over. His usual clumsy self, he fell over. Billy went over to him and helped him up.

“Wow,” Billy said, “A fully functional and sentient automaton.”

“Say what?” Kim asked.

“A robot,” Trini translated for Billy.

“Welcome.” They all jumped again at the loud voice. They all looked up, to see Zordon’s friendly face in the time warp tube.

“Who are you?” Trini asked.

“Like, what are you?” Kim asked.

“I am Zordon,” Zordon said, “An interdimensional being that came to Earth millenia ago to protect it from evil.”

“Can someone come back to Earth and pick me up?” Kim said, “Because I’m, like, totally lost.”

“I am also a member of the Lantern Corps,” Zordon said, “And I have chosen you six to become the Lantern Rangers of Earth. Your opponent, Rita Repulsa.” All of a sudden, some rings appeared on the hands of the six.

“What are these?” Zack asked, indicating the ring on his finger.

“They are your Lantern rings,” Zordon explained, “Jason Alan Scott, you will be the Red Lantern Ranger. Zachary Troy, the Black Lantern Ranger. Trini Sur, the Yellow Lantern Ranger. William Cranston, the Blue Lantern Ranger. Kimberly Ferris, the Pink Lantern Ranger. Thomas Jordan, the Green Lantern Ranger. You can use these rings to call upon suits of armor. You can also use the ring to help you with little things when you’re not morphed, as long as you are careful. Do not let anyone see you. There are a few, minor limitations, but the only true limitation on what you can do with your ring’s energy is determined by your will power and imagination. Each of you have a great amount of both, and that’s partly why you were chosen.”

“You can also use the full power to call upon vehicles, when they’re needed,” Zordon continued, “They’re derived from what you humans know as dinosaurs. Jason, you will command the Tyrannosaurus dinozord. Zack, the Mastadon dinozord. Trini, the Saber Tooth Tiger dinozord. Billy, the Triceratops dinozord. Kimberly, the Pterodactyl dinozord. Tommy, the Dragonzord. In time of great need, they will come together to make a unique fighting force, known as the Megazord. Observe the viewing globe.” They all turned around, and saw the zords forming up on a crystal ball looking projectile. To call upon the full powers of the ring, simply call ‘It’s morphin’ time,’ and then the name of your zord.”

“Yeah, well,” Zack said, “It’s been fun, but I don’t think so. I’m gone.” With that, he started walking towards what seemed to be the entrance.

“Yeah,” Kim said, “C’ya.” All of them started out the doors, except Jason. He stood still for a moment, still looking up at Zordon.

“Hey, Jase,” Tommy said, “Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Jason said, following the others out.

“I’m surprised, Zordon.” Rita was watching all of what happened from a telescope like contraption. “Sending children after me? FINSTER!!!”

“Yes, my queen,” Finster said.

“Make me some putties,” Rita said, “I want to give the new Lantern Rangers a little gift.”

“Right away,” Finster said. He set to work.

“You’d think the least they could do was send us back,” Zack said.

“I’m not sure we should have left, guys,” Jason said, “I mean, he chose us to save the world. I say we do it.”

“Do you really think that we could?” Trini asked, “I mean, super heroes are for places like Metropolis or Gotham City, not here.”

“Jason’s right,” Tommy said, “I mean, we’ll never know until we try, right?”

“Affirmative,” Billy said.

“I just don’t know,” Kim said, “I think I just need time to think about all of this. It’s just too much to swallow at one time. Know what I mean?” The others nodded.

All of a sudden, an explosion right nearby nearly knocked them all off of their feet.

“What was that?” Trini said. Billy was helping her stay on her feet.

All of a sudden, some unidentifiable gray humanoids came out of nowhere. One scared Kim, because it landed right next to her. Tommy came over and stepped protectively between the thing and Kim.

Jason assessed the situation. “Zack,” he called.

“Right,” Zack said, “I’ll take these two.” With his dancing style, he engaged two of the things. Jason and the others did the same. “Man, hitting these things are like hitting silly putty.”

Billy was the first to be beaten. He was, more or less, thrown away and landed out of harm’s way.

Trini was next. She went rolling into Billy.

When her and Tommy got separated by the things, Kim was easily beaten, and thrown on top of the two.

Zack held his own for a while, but was eventually tossed over to the others.

“Come on, ugly,” Tommy taunted, punching and kicking a bunch of the things, which tried to team up on him. They eventually succeeded, and Tommy was tossed to the others. Jason quickly followed.

“This day is really weird,” Kim said.

Jason looked at his ring. “Zordon said that these rings will give us power,” he said, “Let’s do it.” They all quickly got to their feet. “It’s morphin’ time.”

“Dragonzord.”

“Triceratops.”

“Pterodactyl.”

“Mastadon.”

“Saber Tooth Tiger.”

“Tyrannosaurus.” With that, their rings sprang to life. Energy engulfed them, and a few seconds later, they were all encased in armor.

“Lantern Rangers,” they all cried, going into fighting stances.

“They did it, Zordon,” Alpha said, “They morphed.”

“Teleport them to downtown Angel Grove,” Zordon said, “Rita has sent down Goldar.”

The six feel the now familiar tingly feeling of a teleportational beam sweeping them away.

“Where are we going?” Kim asked in transit.

“We’re going to save the world,” Jason said. A few seconds later, they found themselves downtown.

Goldar came flying out of nowhere. “Get them,” he roared. Putties, as Zack called them, appeared out of nowhere and attacked the Rangers.

“I don’t think so,” Tommy said, “Cannon.” The energy of his ring formed a hand held cannon, which he used to blast the putties. The few that had attacked him fell quickly.

“Always wanted to be like the Flash,” Zack said, “Super speed.” His ring’s energy encased him in some special boots and gauntlets, and he tore through the putties attacking him in mere seconds. “I think I’ll keep this, as a permanent part of my costume.” That decided, his ring didn’t dissipate the energy, and the boots and gauntlets solidified. Zack now had superspeed whenever he called upon his ring’s full power.

Trini was holding her own, not needing her ring, except for the added protection her suit gave her. She easily beat the putties attacking her.

Billy was losing, though. “That’s it,” he said, “Energy tornado.” With that, his ring’s energy caused a whirlwind. It took out the putties attacking him, but he was careful not to let the others get caught in it.

Kim was getting the crap beat out of her by her putties. Tommy went and helped her. Between the two, they tore the putties apart.

Jason was also having a little bit of trouble, but with Goldar. He had called upon a sword, and was clashing it with Goldar’s. Goldar hit him hard, knocking him back a good four feet. “That’s it,” Jason said, frustrated. “Blaster.” A gun materialized out of nowhere. He shot Goldar, who was knocked back.

“Magic wand, make my Goldar grow,” Rita said, tossing her wand towards Earth. It hit Goldar, and he grew to gigantic proportions.

“Man,” Jason said, “Let’s call on our zords.” The others just nodded.

“We need dinozord power, now.” All but the Dragonzord appeared. Tommy called up a dagger flute using his ring and blew an enchanting melody. His Dragonzord appeared on the scene. They all jumped into their respective zord cockpits.

“Let’s kick butt,” Zack said, as he slid into his zord’s cockpit.

“Morphinominal,” Billy said.

“Trini here, ready to rock,” Trini said.

“Dragonzord, ready for action,” Tommy called.

“Nice stereo,” Kim said. Everyone laughed.

“Let’s roast this turkey,” Jason said. They all hit Goldar with their energy weapons, with no effect. “All right, let’s bring ‘em together.”

“Dragonzord, battle mode,” Tommy said. His zord reconfigured to become a fierce looking warrior.

“DinoZords, convert to Megazord mode, now,” Jason said. Power from five of the six rings washed over the DinoZords. Except for Pterodactyl, they all reconfigured and set into the tank mode for the Megazord. While it’s rolling forward, it fires a big energy blast at Goldar, who is knocked to the ground.

“Megazord, battle mode,” Jason called. It started standing up, while the Pterodactyl swooped down and moved into position on the Megazord’s chest, and the head rose up a second before it did, completing the sequence.

“Prepare to be destroyed, humans,” Goldar said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tommy said, “Enough talk. Let’s rock.” With that, he launched the Dragonzord at Goldar, who easily side stepped. The two started grappling.

Meanwhile, the other Rangers were still trying to get used to the Megazord. “Whoa,” Billy said, “It’s like we know how to use them somehow.”

“You’re right, Billy,” Jason said, “Though I’ve never been in here before, it’s like we I know, instinctually, how to drive this thing.”

Dragonzord took a terrific hit. “Dragon mode, now,” Tommy called. He flipped up and out of the zord, since the cockpit didn’t exist somehow in dragon mode. The Dragonzord converted back to it’s original form. He played a six tone song, and missiles came out of each of the Dragonzord’s fingers, striking Goldar. He played a different six note song, and the Dragonzord whipped it’s tail at Goldar. The tail tip was spinning, so it did more damage than it normally would.

Goldar came back with a flying kick, sending the Dragonzord sprawling. “Um, guys,” Tommy said, “I could use some help over here.”

“Sorry, Tommy,” Kim said, “Let’s go, guys.” With that, the Megazord leapt at Goldar, parrying blow after blow and hitting with some of it’s own. After a moment, the Rangers hit him with a Earth shaking blow.

“Jason, that blow didn’t even faze him,” Billy said.

“Dragonzord, back to warrior mode,” Tommy called, jumping up to the head of his zord. It reconfigured and he slid down back down to the cockpit.

“Two’s company,” Goldar said, “And three’s a nuisance. Another day, Rangers.” With that, Goldar just disappeared. The Rangers started celebrating.

A little while later, glad, cheerful, and surprised voices filled the Command Center as the newly made Rangers talked among themselves. Zordon's voice cut through it all. “Congratulations on a job well done,” he told them, “Now that you have become Lantern Rangers, you must follow three basic rules, or lose the protection of the Power. First, never use your power for personal gain. Second, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces your hand. Finally, keep your identities secret. No one may know you are a Lantern Ranger.

“Count me in, Zordon,” Zack said.

“Affirmative,” Billy said.

“Rita will have to go through me personally to get to Earth,” Trini said, “I’m in.”

“I’m in, too,” Jason said. They all looked at Tommy and Kim.

“You know I’m in, bro,” Tommy said. They all looked at Kimberly.

“I don’t think so,” Kim said, “That helmet just messes up my hair too much.” It took the Rangers a minute to realize that she meant it as a joke. “Just kidding, guys. I wouldn’t leave you like that, not after this.”

"Illogical, illogical!" Alpha cried out, "Circuit overload, circuit overload!" He whined until Kim explained what a joke was to him. "Humor," he shook his head. "What a concept!"

“Now that you’ve accepted the honor,” Zordon said, “You have to take the Lantern Corps oath.

“Just a minute, Zordon,” Jason said. He put his hand out into the middle of the make shift circle the six made. The others followed suit. They all nodded to Zordon to continue.

“Repeat after me,” Zordon said, “In brightest day, in blackest night. No evil shall escape our sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware our power. Lantern Ranger’s light.”

“In brightest day, in blackest night. No evil shall escape our sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware our power. Lantern Ranger’s light.” With that, the six friends leapt into the air, shouting two words that would stick with them for a long time to come.

“LANTERN RANGERS.”