[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Eleven: Vigilante Defined

Tria ran to the door. She hoped she could head the beasts off to a corner so she could transform into the Gold Warrior. As she ran forward, she saw Rito and Novact, disappearing without a trace. She noticed each held a golden cog in their hands.

"Drat! Someone saw us!" Rito said, irritated. The invisible Rito lumbered over to Tria and hit her on the head, knocking her out cold.

Rito turned to Novact. "Okay. Now that she's outta the way, when do we start?"

"When I give the signal. This must all go according to Master Vile's plan." Novact said to Rito. The two humans stayed in their positions outside the door in East Wing, awaiting their time to attack.

Tria heard shouting. She had been discarded behind some rubble in the conference hall by Rito before the attack. As her eyes focused, she peaked from behind where she was. She saw Novact pointing a blaster at Masters Dimitria, Dulcea, and Gerlit. She heard his raspy voice snarl something she couldn't quite make out. He seemed very proud of himself.

Looking a ways down the aisle the masters were looking at, she saw a man in a white robe, head buried under a foot belonging to Master Vile.

Zordon... She thought. Master Tria snuck back behind her hiding place. Well, I guess now's as good a time as any...

She focused her mind on the image of her Power Staff. The king insignia floated in her mind. She felt the power coming, beginning to surge through her body.

"Well... I guess it's morphin' time..." Gold Zeo Energy swam through her arms. She could feel the power suit envelop her body, with the gold armor landing on her chest. Suddenly, she was the Gold Warrior. She focused on Shadow Mode and bounded up, nearly touching the ceiling, giving her a brief moment to process her plan.

As she came down, she directed herself onto Rito, who screamed as he fell backward. She projected herself then onto Novact and used that momentum to ricochet onto Master Vile. She exited Shadow Mode and nimbly landed in between the fallen Zordon and her other comrades. As soon as they could process what had occurred, the Morphing Masters began their attack on the Tengas surrounding them. Zordon pulled himself out of the aisle, clutching his injured leg.

Tria pointed her Power Staff at Master Vile as he stood up.

Sentinel Knight's teleportation landed him, Master Animus, and Master Gosei in the Morphing Master council room. He turned to the two. "I am the protector of the Corona Aurora. I cannot let anything happen to it. It is likely Master Vile is trying to distract us with trying to get the Zeo Crystal, with his true motive being the Corona Aurora. I need to stay vigilant." Sentinel Knight then produced the Corona Aurora in his hands.

Master Gosei had only heard of its existence and never thought he would actually see it in person. He stifled the urge to say, "Wow!"

The crown disappeared. "I currently have it junctioned to me. As long as I have the Morphing Masters around me to sustain me in my calling as guardian of the jewels, I know they are safest with me."

Master Animus and Master Gosei nodded their heads at Master Sentinel. They sat in the room, awaiting word from the other Masters that they had resolved the battle.

Master Delphine looked at Master Orion. Orion sat in a hospital bed in the infirmary adjunct building of the Academy's Medical School. It was the most prestigious, and heavily guarded, medical school in the United Alliance. She knew they would protect the injured Orion.

He grunted. "I gotta help the others... ow..."

Orion tried to get out of bed but fell back, the pain from his injuries still being there although the physical manifestations had been long gone due to the Morphing Grid. There was some science about how the Morphing Grid took a longer time to heal internal injuries, but Master Delphine did not know much about it. She was more a politician herself.

"Okay, Master Orion, " Delphine said in her aquatic voice. "Now that you are secure, I will be heading back to help the others."

Orion chuckled. "Well, at least one of us is of use... Thank you for getting me here safely. May the Power protect you." Delphine nodded and teleported out.

Orion shook his head. "They didn't teach me to be a mama's boy back in Andrasia... ow... ow..." He whimpered as he tried to readjust himself in his hospital bed.

Kamen flipped through the air, trying to avoid Madam Woe's braids from capturing him. The Defender tucked his body into a ball and rolled closer to her.

"You will never keep us here, you know." He prophesied as he shot her with what he affectionately named his Magna Blaster. She swiveled midair to see him. She charged toward him.

It's working. Perfect. The Defender thought.

The best way, he knew, to take on a Madam Woe was to divide and conquer. Fighting a Madam Woe one on one would prove to be very difficult, and only one who had great determination and a powerful fighting spirit could hope to wrestle themselves out of the situation. The Defender, Master Magnus, looked up to see Master Kamen swipe down Madam Woe's back.

"Arrgh!" She yelled, writhing in pain.

The Defender converted his blaster into a sword and then jumped into the air, tucked into a ball once again, using his connection to the Morphing Grid to spin continuously, building up Morphing Energy in his sword. Once he charged, which was a quick process, he slashed at his opponent's face. A blue jewel dropped.

"Well, well." Master Kamen said, approaching the jewel casually. He turned and pointed at Madam Woe. "I guess we know what this means. Bye, bye, pocket dimension." Kamen crushed it in his hands, reverting them back into the conference hall.

"AHHH!" Tria yelled as she, in Shadow Mode, bounded into Madam Woe. She had originally been aiming for Master Vile, but when the Defender, Kamen, and Madame Woe suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, she did not have time to redirect her course, slamming into the villain unwittingly. The Gold Warrior shifted out of Shadow Mode after the collision and did a backflip to land balanced. Madam Woe sparked with electricity and exploded.

"Now's our chance. Let's get out of here!" Master Vile yelled at Novact and Rito.

"But, Dad! I-"

"Quiet, boy! The Gold Warrior is on the threshold of destroying all three of us. Now, come!" And with that, the three teleported back onto their ship in orbit, cloaked from the Morphing Masters' scanners.

The Gold Warrior pounded her fist into the wall next to her. I almost had him!

The Defender approached her. "My apologies, Gold Warrior. We did not mean to interfere. It was... happenstance..."

The Gold Warrior turned to face him. She understood it wasn't his fault. She nodded and, learning from her mistake with Master Orion, did not say a word. She focused on Shadow Mode and bounded away.

"Well, she's mysterious. Right up your alley, Magnus." Kamen said, winking.

The Defender helmet disappeared and Magnus was left only in the armor he rarely took off. The ever ready combatant turned to his friend and laughed. "I'm dating someone, moron." He then pushed Kamen playfully. He pointed to Zordon in a corner trying to stop his own bleeding, but his concentration had been rattled and he couldn't focus fully into his tap of the Morphing Grid.

"Let's help the kid out, shall we?" Kamen grinned at Magnus.

Magnus chuckled again and they headed toward Master Zordon as the other masters attended to Rahp and Zedd, and to anyone else they could find in the destruction.

Sentinel Knight stopped. He looked at Animus. "I feel something in the Morphing Grid. Do you?"

Animus was nowhere near as sensitive to Grid fluctuations as was the seasoned presiding Master, so he had to consciously focus. As he did, he felt a transformation.

Sentinel Knight assumed a battle stance. Gosei continued to get a strong reading, but could only feel the slightest hint at something... new. Upon seeing Animus imitate Sentinel's sense of urgency, he followed suit with his own ready position.

A golden beam appeared, teleporting someone into the room. Before them stood the skirted Gold Warrior. Sentinel decided to speak first. "What is it you want?"

The fighter's weight shifted from leg to leg. Suddenly, the warrior twisted back. When the Gold Warrior lunged forward, a large golden ball of Morphing Energy was shot out at the Masters. Animus and Sentinel were able to dodge the blast charged from the Grid, but Gosei was unable to feel the Grid quick enough and was blasted into a desk.

"I want the Corona Aurora..." Hissed the Gold Warrior. Sentinel Knight started circling toward the enemy, sure to not just lunge forward, giving up his stance.

Animus stayed in his stance. He looked over his opponent and decided to up the stakes. "Defender Helmet: Activate!"

Animus pulled off his orange robe to reveal his own Defender armor. His helmet descended on him. It was very similar in design to Magnus' suit, except slightly bulkier, with red being the main color instead of black. Animus was the only person to sport the Defender suit outside of its prototype phase. For the United Alliance, the Animal Realm was an obvious choice for the Defender Initiative: they were a displaced people, making them extremely vulnerable to the likes of evil empires, like that of Master Vile's.

The Animal Defender charged at the Gold Warrior, fully aware of what the consequence would be. Let's hope Zordon made this to withstand a Grid powered blast... Animus thought.

As predicted by Animus, the Warrior turned and, in defense, blasted him. This gave Sentinel Knight the edge he needed. As the Gold Warrior turned back, Sentinel Knight performed a roundhouse kick to his opponent's helmet.

At that moment, Master Delphine arrived. "I sensed a disturbance. I see..."

The Warrior stopped and looked at the Masters circling around, ready to attack. The Warrior lifted up an arm and was teleported out in a flash of gold.

"Who was that?" Gosei asked as the Animal Defender assisted him up.

Sentinel Knight clenched his fist. "I have a good guess..."

The council met again after the conference. Sentinel Knight was playing it safe by making it appear as if he had no leads, so he asked Kamen and Magnus to report on what they found when they investigated the energy mass outside the Lost Galaxy.

They said they observed the mass from as far as they felt comfortable. They said from what they could calculate, the mass they had codenamed "the Dark Cloud" was on a direct course to Mirinoi. They announced they would be leaving to Mirinoi the next day to try and stop the thing and that they would be selecting people to accompany them.

Although important, Sentinel was focused on his next task. He was ready, and so was his trap. He passed the time to Master Ivicar. Ivicar gave medals of war to Zordon, Dimitria, Dulcea, Gerlit, Kamen, and Magnus for bravery. He mentioned Zedd and Rahp would be equally honored at a ceremony the next weekend. He then thanked those Masters for pulling him, Master Michael, Master Estro, and Master Tria from the rubble.

Once Ivicar concluded, Sentinel Knight stood. He looked at the council. "As some of you have heard, the Gold Warrior attacked me and attempted to take the Corona Aurora."

Tria felt shocked. This was the first she heard of this. That's impossible! I was nowhere near here!

She thought back to after she defeated Madam Woe. She had snuck under some rubble and pretended she had just gained consciousness, after having people help her out of the debris.

As she recalled this, she slid her hand into the pocket of her robe. She felt the gold cog Rito had used to become invisible. He had dropped it during his scuffle with Tria. When she went to rejoin the others after the battle, she had noticed it on the ground and snatched it up for herself.

Sentinel continued. "This individual thought they were smarter than the council." He produced a remote from his red robe and pushed a button. Suddenly, Tria felt several stabs of pain. Before she could react, she was split into three.

"The Warrior was a female, and sported the Triforian king's insignia. Tria recently was in possession of the Zeo Crystal. There is no point in lying." Sentinel looked down at her three selves, crouched in pain.

Dulcea stood. "... Sentinel... it was I who wrote your report of the incident for the archives. At the time you say the Gold Warrior attacked you, Master Tria was helping me dig out Master Michael from the destruction. I had my wrist tech on: it recorded everything if you need proof."

Sentinel Knight was shocked. I have never been so wrong before... He quickly released Tria. She slowly reconnected her three selves.

Sentinel walked to her. "I am sorry. I thought if it were you, I shouldn't give you a chance-"

Ivicar stood and placed a chance hand on Sentinel's shoulder. "That's enough. I believe you should sit."

As Sentinel Knight took his seat, several of the council gave him cold stares, while the others knew not how to handle what they had seen. It was odd for them to not only see Sentinel Knight make a mistake, but also for him to get rebuked, although passively, for it. Zordon, though, was of the mind Sentinel Knight had good evidence and acted appropriately.

Gosei had seen what this Gold Warrior fighter could do. He fully supported the decision to attack first, ask questions later, as well: it was war, after all. On the other hand, Master Gerlit, the Liarian, was very against what Knight had done, for expressly the situation Knight found himself in: "what if you are wrong?" Gerlit was in the same line of thought as many of the other Masters.

Ivicar walked to the center of the room and turned to the others. "In light of recent events, it is obvious council statutes take precedence: No vote needed. The Gold Power Ranger is a vigilante and must be captured."