AN: Here’s the start of the crossover between The Ultra Crystals and The Rangers Of Equestria! Enjoy!

Chapter One Hundred Four: Vortex

He was ready for anything as he turned the final corner.

Twenty minutes of fierce fighting had suddenly yielded to empty halls and unmanned stations. Glancing at the Ranger next to him, they readied their weapons and jumped into what should have been Xonix’s throne room…only to find that it was deserted. Narrowing his eyes, Weihan looked around and cautiously walked forward. Through the opening that led to the balcony, the Orange Ranger could still see the attack progressing nicely. The Utahraptor and Carnotaurus Dinozords were doing an admirable job of drawing the fire from what automated defences remained so the Crocodile, Siberian Tiger and Leatherback Turtle Ninjazords could destroy them. Hanging back behind the attacking Zords was Sarah J’s Dilophosaurus Dinozord; the emergency capsule of ZARS nanobots repairing a large scorch mark on its left side after a run-in with a wayward fusion rocket.

On the other side of his vision, he could see and feel the explosions coming from the attacks of the Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus and Green Dragon Zords. They had long since destroyed their set targets and had split off into two groups to help the Megazords with destroying the last few particle cannons. From the random flashes of colour, light and wheels he could see passing in and out of what he assumed was the atmospheric shield, he assumed that the Turbo Rangers were doing their hit-and-run attacks on whatever they could find. As Xonix, Jabarkas and whoever else had occupied the Fortress was now gone; he didn’t think they were doing too much damage.

“Weihan, here it is.”

Turning away from the one-sided battle, he walked over to where Eliza was and looked at the object she held in her gloved hands. As with the other Ultra Crystals, apart from his, it had an obelisk-like appearance but pulsed with a rich brown light. Staring into its polished surface, he could see the its chosen bearer and was pleased to see that it reflected his own choice. Nodding to Eliza, he lifted up his left wrist and spoke into the communicator there.

“All right, we’ve gotten what we came for. The Fortress is deserted and everyone’s buggered off. We’ll teleport back to the Cavern.”

Hearing the affirmations from the Rangers, he watched as the Zords vanished in streaks of multicoloured lights. He would probably have to call AJ to inform her of what had happened as he was sure NASADA had picked up the explosions on the Moon. Nodding once more to Eliza, he pressed the teleporter on his belt and his world dissolved into streaks of light. As his vision cleared, he saw Eliza placing the last Ultra Crystal on the Main Console and he flipped his visor up; staying in morph as he would probably have to give another press conference to explain the explosions on the Moon. Actually, maybe he would record a message to send to the networks instead of holding another press conference. He was sure the Council of Sydney didn’t need another monster attacking so soon after the horde of grunts.

Suddenly, a tingling sensation washed over him and he looked around to ensure he wasn’t anywhere near the Simul-Deck. He still had to get used to the strange crawling sensation the memory download caused…but this was more of a light electric shock instead of the freaky bug-like sensation. Strangely everyone else seemed unaffected…except Eliza who was also looking around herself. Thinking quickly, he walked over to Alex and nodded at him. His friend looked over at his quizzically before reluctantly leaving the enchanting conversation he was having with Tanya…much to Adam’s relief.

“What’s up?”

Weihan rubbed a hand over his helmet and looked around the Ultra Cavern. Nodding at his Dinozord, he concentrated his energy on it and, just as his internal guide had told him, the massive machine disappeared in a muted flash of light. Seeing another muted flash next to his now-empty Dinozord bay, he turned to see Eliza’s Carnotaurus Zord vanish as well. The Zords had gone into a ‘subspace pocket’ within the Ultra Crystal where repairs, refuelling and re-arming would happen within minutes…but would put a slight drain on his own Powers. As the other Dinozords were still in their respective bays, it seemed that Eliza was the only other Ranger affected by…whatever it was.

“I need to tell you the chosen bearer for the Brown Crystal. I have some strange feeling something is about to happen and you’re next in charge after me and Eliza.”

The Black/Green Ranger nodded as he tried to process what his friend was saying. He was third in charge of the Rangers; a thought that both excited and terrified him. He would defer to the girls for major decisions and would be firm in overseeing the safety and security of the Ultra Rangers. He noticed that Weihan and Eliza had transferred their Dinozords to their Ultra Crystals and that intrigued him; but he shrugged it off.

“You can count on me. Who’s the choice?”

“Sam Perry’s girlfriend – Rebecca Riley-Ward. She’s a perfect match of the Brown Ultra Crystal.”

Alex thought about it before nodding once. It had been a massive surprise to all when the two of them had paired up; especially since one of the football players, Steven Gilles who was a friend of Dragan, had been seen in a few intimate positions with her. He guessed she had seen Sam as a pillar of stability or something like that. He felt a pang of sorrow as Weihan would be asking another ‘taken’ girl to be part of the Ultra Rangers…then again; Eliza and Ashley weren’t showing any signs of strain or pressure. She probably hadn’t told him about her ‘day job’ even though there were no rules against it. Nodding again, he saw the Orange Ranger smile before his friend turned to walk near Eliza.

A crackling sound filled the air; causing everyone to look up. The Rangers reached for their weapons as Weihan snapped his visor down and prepared himself for…something. Switching on his external radar, he could see some sort of distortion forming directly above him and Eliza. Scanning it, his stomach dropped as it returned a description of a multiversal portal. Portals like this could drop a person off anywhere in the infinite number of alternate dimensions that were constantly appearing. Something as simple as turning left instead of right could split off an alternate dimension…as could something major such as the creation of the Ultra Crystals. He was in the middle of thinking of something to say when he felt a violent jerking sensation that snapped his feet up to his chin.

In an instant, a multitude of colours and images flashed before his eyes and he was dimly aware of Eliza next to him. The journey through what he assumed was the multiversal vortex lasted about a minute but during that time, Weihan saw various dimensional images that all revolved around himself. He saw himself holding off a horde of Alien-like creatures in a darkened street, battling some computer controlled beasts in a room of sorts and even saw himself sitting in front of a computer typing out some sort of story…which chronicled his adventures so far. It was strange to see himself in an environment that didn’t involve destroying monsters but he guessed that anything was possible.

Bright green grass rushed up at him as his journey through the dimensions ended abruptly. Coughing out the stale air in his lungs, he inhaled deeply and blinked at the sweetness of the air. Rolling on his back, he looked up at a brilliant blue sky that was obscured by thick black smoke coming from oddly Victorian buildings. Hearing Eliza ‘land’ next to him, he slowly got to his feet and checked himself for injuries. He could feel none but he guessed it was due to the fact he was still in morph. As he shook the cobwebs out of his head, he helped Eliza up and listened hard to the strangely familiar sound of battle wafting over the crackle of fire.

“Weihan, where are we?”

“Not sure. There’s a fight going on somewhere ahead. We’ll check it out and see what the locals look like. maybe they know how to get us back home.”

As she nodded shakily at him, the Orange Ranger used the smoke cover to head closer to the sounds of battle. As he did so, he looked at the sights and shops around him. For such a small town, there was a strange overabundance of blacksmiths that sold horseshoes and saddles. There were even stores that sold hay, apples and alley stalls that sold large blocks of salt. There was another strange peculiarity – all the shops had images of horses on them. It was rather like one of the planets he had read about in the archives that revered horses and all horse-related items. That was reassuring to him; if they were on that planet then there was a very good chance the portal had somehow malfunctioned…

“Friendship Stampede!”

Or maybe not. Rounding a corner, the two Ultra Rangers stared in shock and amazement at what they saw. Six brightly coloured ponies in Ranger armour were charging headfirst into an insectoid monster; trampling it with some sort of combination energy attack. He sighed in aggravation as he realised there was probably very little chance of humanoid life wherever they had ended up. As they saw the last Ranger trample the monster, it exploded in a large puff of smoke.

“Should we help them?”

Weihan shook his head and turned away from the celebrating Rangers. An appearance so soon after the defeat of a monster heralded them as Evil Rangers. He was about to reply when a strange sound lanced through the air; the sound of metal slicing through Ranger armour and the cries of the injured. He glanced back to the battle just in time to see their Red and Blue Rangers vanish into a rapidly closing portal and he clenched his fist in anger. With two Rangers down, there would be no way in Hell that the remaining Rangers could defeat the…whatever it was.

“Follow my lead. We need to distract the monster long enough for their mentor to teleport them away.”

Eliza nodded and readied herself. Weihan waited a few seconds for the monster to gloat. He saw the Purple Ranger lift her head up and silently call out the names of her missing team mates as the monster spoke in a strange, chittering voice.

“Ranger, two of your number have vanished. Now what will you do?”

“Simple. Destroy your ugly ass!”

TBC…

Author's Note

Bonus chapters from The Ultra Crystals start here. Leaving mostly everything intact and the rest of my story is on my fanfic.net profile.

Cliff notes:

• 11 Ultra Rangers and the Turbo Rangers storm Xonix's Moon Fortress for the 12th Ultra Crystal
  
• Orange and Purple are sucked into the portal created by the Multiversal Opener scanning Parasycthe's energy