In the realm beyond the living, a place where time is a meaningless loop and the sky is a sea of shimmering silver, the souls of the fallen gathered. This was the Ghost Grid, a sanctuary that no living being could enter. Unlike the Negative Zone, this was a place of pure memory.
Solara (Original Yellow Ranger) stood by a river of light, watching the reflection of the living world. Lyra (Yellow Ranger) appeared beside her, her form still flickering from the trauma of the dragon fire.
"You are here too," Solara (Original Yellow Ranger) said softly, her voice like a distant bell.
"He killed me to break him," Lyra (Yellow Ranger) replied, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I wanted to stay. I wanted to fight by his side. But Malakor (Negative Warlord) is a monster who feeds on our ashes."
A heavy, authoritative presence stepped out of the silver mist. It was Ignis (Original Red Ranger). He did not look like the hologram; he looked weary, his eyes carrying the weight of a thousand wars.
"My son is burning himself away," Ignis (Original Red Ranger) stated, his voice echoing through the void. "He has awakened the White Flare, but he is doing it out of hatred. If he does not find balance, the fire will consume his soul before he can kill Malakor (Negative Warlord). He is trying to do the impossible. He is trying to find a way to reach into this realm and pull us back."
"He is obsessed with resurrection," Solara (Original Yellow Ranger) whispered. "He wants to undo everything death has claimed."
"Resurrection is the ultimate taboo of the Morphin Grid," Ignis (Original Red Ranger) warned. "To bring back the dead, a life of equal value must be given. He is walking a path of total extinction."
The New Vanguard
Back in the physical realm, on a floating fortress above the volcanic training grounds, Verdan (Original Green Ranger) stood before seven warriors he had gathered from the corners of the multiverse. These were the Vanguard Rangers, each with a reason to see the Negative Zone burn.
Kaelen (Blue Vanguard Ranger): A former prince whose entire planet was turned into a frozen graveyard by Astrax (Negative Blue Ranger).
Jaxon (Black Vanguard Ranger): A bounty hunter who lost his younger brother to the experiments of Dagon (Negative Commander).
Tessa (Pink Vanguard Ranger): A scientist who saw her dimension erased. She seeks to prove that logic can defeat negative chaos.
Soren (Silver Vanguard Ranger): A monk who believes the Negative Zone is an imbalance that must be purged for the sake of the universe.
Rhea (Orange Vanguard Ranger): A pilot who was the sole survivor of a fleet decimated by the Negative Decagon.
Sophia (Purple Vanguard Ranger): A young, elite fighter who grew up worshipping the legends of the Original Six Rangers. She is brave, loud, and determined to prove her worth.
Dante (Crimson Vanguard Ranger): A silent warrior who was once a slave in the Negative Zone mines.
Rex (Red Ranger) descended from the sky, his White Flare aura radiating a heat so intense that the new rangers had to shield their eyes. He did not look at them. He walked past them toward the center of the command deck, his footsteps leaving scorched marks on the metal floor.
Sophia (Purple Vanguard Ranger) stepped forward, trying to show her spirit. "Rex (Red Ranger)! It is an honor to meet the son of Ignis. I have trained my whole life to fight by your side. We can win this together!"
Rex (Red Ranger) stopped. He didn't turn around, but his aura suddenly flared with a terrifying, jagged pressure. The air grew heavy, making it hard for Sophia (Purple Vanguard Ranger) to breathe.
"If you speak to me again without my permission, I will unalive you where you stand," Rex (Red Ranger) said, his voice cold and devoid of any humanity. "I do not care about your training. I do not care about your honor. To me, you are all inferior. Especially you girls. You are fragile, emotional, and you distract from the mission. Stay out of my way, or I will remove you myself."
Sophia (Purple Vanguard Ranger) recoiled, her face pale. She didn't know that Rex (Red Ranger) was lying to himself. He spoke with such cruelty because he was terrified of feeling love again. To him, every woman was a potential tragedy waiting to happen. He wanted to be a machine.
The Mastery of the Flare
Rex (Red Ranger) ignored the shocked silence of the team and sat in the center of the deck, entering a deep meditative state. He was no longer just training his muscles. He was mastering the Yin and Yang of the Morphin Grid.
He felt the flow of Creation (Yang) and the pull of Destruction (Yin). He began to perfect his Chi, circulating the white heat of his blood through his veins until his heartbeat sounded like the ticking of a cosmic clock. He wasn't just a fighter anymore; he was becoming a conduit for the universe's rawest forces.
His mind was a dark room filled with one goal: Resurrection. He spent hours analyzing the frequency of the Ghost Grid. He was obsessed. He didn't just want to kill Malakor (Negative Warlord); he wanted to rip the souls of his family, Solara (Original Yellow Ranger), and Lyra (Yellow Ranger) back into the land of the living.
"I will bring everyone back," Rex (Red Ranger) whispered to himself, his eyes snapping open. They weren't brown anymore; they were a piercing, glowing white. "Every soul Malakor (Negative Warlord) has taken will walk again. I will be the strongest, and death will have no power over me."
The Vanguard Rangers watched him from a distance, terrified of their own leader. Rex (Red Ranger) stood up, his cold aura filling the entire fortress. He looked toward the horizon, where the Negative Zone bled into the sky.
"Prepare yourselves," Rex (Red Ranger) commanded, his voice echoing with the power of the White Flare. "We are going to hunt the seven remaining shadows. And then, I will break the gates of the afterlife."