"Hey, I think the rain is stopping!" Adam said happily as he returned from cave entrance.

"Good, maybe now we can get out of here!"

"I agree with Kat . . . Tommy, how do you feel?" Billy replies.

"Better!" His throat hurt, and it was hard to talk.

"Guys, Look!" Aisha yelled when she saw a bright light appear near the entrance to the cave.

"The Six Rangers, still in their morphed states, automatically assume a defensive position surrounding the rock slab. Rocky picked up the Power Blaster hoping it had time to recharge.

"Mr. Pal," Kim joyfully yelled as the elderly gentleman existed the bright light.

All Six relaxed as the man approached.

"Tommy, what happened?" The man asked him as he came into his limited field of vision.

"Goldar . . . sprayed something . . . in my face."

"Hum . . . !" The man spun around.

"Goldar!" Adam yelled as the half wolffian, half simian creature materialized inside the cave.

The Six Rangers once again assume a defensive position surrounding the rock slab.

"Omar, why are you helping these soon to be dead humans?" Goldar ground out the words between clenched teeth.

"Probably, because I'm not Omar!" The elderly gentleman replied in a voice as cold as death.

Goldar did not recognize the elderly gentleman at first; however, when the gentleman held his left hand out away from his body . . . a SWORD, from out of nowhere, appeared.

"You again!" Goldar growled.

"I'm flattered . . . you remembered me, smelly creature!" Phil's taunted Goldar. "Your bathing habits haven't changed much, have they?" His nose wrinkled up in disgust.

Goldar lounged at the elderly gentleman who very easily moved out of his way.

The Six Rangers watched in awe as the fragile, gentleman defeated Goldar.

"Get out of my sight, smelly creature!" Phil said as he raised his right hand slightly in Goldars' direction who just vanished from sight!

"Now, where were we?" Phil said as his attention returned to the seven teenagers behind them. "I remember now!"

"Tommy, you said that Goldar sprayed something in your face?"

"Yes, he did!" Tommy cleared his throat.

"Hum . . . !" Phil held his right hand out, and Tommy's clothes appeared. "Why don't one of you, young gentlemen assist Tommy in getting dressed, and then we can get out of here." Billy moved to help Tommy off of the slab, while Rocky and the others stood talking to Phil.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Adam asked rather down heartily. He didn't think they would very get out of that miserable place.

"The same way I got here," Phil responded shaking his head . . . "Kids . . . Teenagers even worse!"

Tommy wasn't very steady on his feet and had to lean on Billy for support.

Just as Phil was about to open a gateway, Rita Repulsa and Master Vile appeared with Lord Zedd following behind.

"Omar, what are you doing?" In the cave Rita's shrill voice echoed.

"I'm not Omar!" The elderly gentleman replied. "He's dead." An edge of impatience began creeping into his voice.

Phil slowly turned to face Rita Repulsa, Master Vile, and Lord Zedd who was keeping a discreet distance from Rita and Master Vile.

"Who are you?" Rita yelled.

"Yes, who are you?" Master Vile added.

A light of pure radiance shimmered around Phil who transformed before their eyes into a barbarous looking creature.

"I am Paladar` . . . Draconian Warrior, First Generation!" His voice was thick with menace.

"I have heard of the Draconian Warriors," Master Vile started. "I can offer you my protection from these human trouble makers!" His voice was dripping with "sincere" concern.

"I don't need protection . . . you do . . . from me!" His eyes narrowing with contempt. He raised his sword high in the air, and lightening lit up the dark cave.

Rita started to point her staff at the Warrior, but it was pulled from her hand and landed on the ground, broken in half.

Master Vile started his assault on the Warrior, but he too was stopped before getting started.

Master Vile and Rita Repulsa vanished from sight just as Goldar had done earlier.

"Hello Zedd." The Warrior replied as he assumed his natural appearance. "Comfy at last!" Chuckling as it shook it's long slender arms that ended in a four fingered hand. The long brown cloak covered his feet, and the hood covered an oval shaped head, with large round brown eyes, a flat nose and mouth surrounded by wrinkles of age.

"Hello Paladar`!" Lord Zedd said in answer.

"It has been a long time!"

"Yes, it has . . . then it is true?" Zedd's voice cracked as he spoke.

"Yes Zedd, it is!" The brown cloaked life form extended it's hand, and Lord Zedd accepted it with a renewed sense of hope as the two shook hands.

"Don't worry, Zedd . . . I won't send you as far away as I did Rita and her daddy," Paladar` chuckled.

"At last, some peace," Lord Zedd roared joyfully.

Lord Zedd vanished the same way as Rita, Master Vile, and Goldar had!

The brown cloaked life form returned its attention to the seven teenagers who were watching with a look of uneasy puzzlement.

"Well, do you want to get out of here or not?" Paladar` replied followed by a chuckle.

"YES!"

After a door of pure light opened before them, Adam, Aisha, Kim, and Kat entered followed by Billy, helping Tommy, and Rocky.

The last to leave the dark cave was Paladar`. His heart was heavy as he remembered ending his brothers' life, several tears fell from the large round brown eyes.

**********

After walking through a tunnel of light, the seven teens stood in awe at the view before them.

A brilliant, but brief show of fireworks lite up the sky overhead as Venus Island exploded!

Paladar` stood back watching the seven teenagers as they began to realize that they weren't on Earth.

"Where are we?" Rocky said, and in his voice there was a sense of excitement.

"You're on my world . . . the World of the Ninjara," Phil/Paladar` replied in his usual gentle tone of voice.

Before the seven teenagers lay a world anew! A crystal blue sky, green grass, and trees in full bloom. The trees resembled the oaks found on Earth. Sounds of wild life chattering and birds singing filled the air.

Tommy now standing without help remembered Paladar`. "This is the planet you told me about, isn't it?" His throat still hurt, a little!

"Yes, it is . . . you remembered our first encounter."

"It's beautiful!" His voice still cracked just a little.

"First encounter," Kim asked.

"Yes Kimberly, first encounter," Paladar` answered.

Rocky grabbed Billy by the arm, saying with excitement and surprise evidently in his voice. "Billy, is that a sloth sitting in that tree over there?"

"Where . . . what tree?" The Blue Ranger was pushed around by the Red Ranger while he could see what Rocky was looking at.

Suddenly, all seven teenagers' attention was drawn to the tree!

On its branches sat six animals that did indeed resemble sloths. The resemblance ended there however; the color of their fur didn't allow for them to blend in very well to their surroundings.

Their color reminded Adam of the four gingersnap cookies he had grabbed on his way out the door. His growling stomach also reminded him of food or the lack of it!

One of the creatures climbed down from the tree and slowly started to close the distance between them. It moved like a sloth, but not as slowly as one!

It came to rest directly in front of Adam, and extended one of it's arms upwards as if it wanted to shake hands with him.

In his mind Adam heard the words, "I'm TaLooze!"

He bent down to accept the hand shake, "I'm Adam!"

All seven teens looked at each other in disbelief, because they had all heard the words spoken by creature.

Paladar` found it necessary to speak, "He's a Theian, . . . A life form very similar to myself only Theians' are thought to be as old if not older then time' itself."

Soon the other five Theians were sitting directly in front of one of the teens.

Tommy started to say something but Paladar` beat him to it.

"You're stuck with me, Tommy."

Before Billy sat Theius, Mariah sat before Kimberly, Kendra sat before Aisha, Athos sat before Rocky, and Sophia sat before Katherine.

"Their real names don't translate very well into your language, so this is the closest, we could get!" Paladar` added.

Theius looked at the seven exhausted teenagers, "Paladar`, we really should get them some hot food and then into bed." After speaking Theius took Billys' and Tommys' hands and began moving slowly to the structure none of the teens had seen until now.

"Yes, Paladar` . . . I agree," Mariah stated in a motherly tone of voice as she took Kimberly's hand.

Soon after eating a large bowl of, what looked and tasted like tomato soup, at least to Aisha; they were each taken into a bedroom that looked very familiar to them.

The seven teenagers slept for several days.

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