Inside the throat of the rift was a blood river and two yellow eyes that opened widely. A deep gasp churned the waters and created a rumbling in the skies. And as the first claw pierced through the rift, fires erupted all over the planet.

His iron skin was pebbled in abstract patterns of green outlined in black on the hand and arm, with a sharp strip of maroon running up past the elbow. Each metallic nail swayed the air.

A deep light erupted from within the rift; which was seconds later expanded seven times the size. As the rip widened, the fabric of space was shredded around it.

Lothor was free from the underworld. As his body slid through, massive black wings sprung out and seemingly covered all of the sky.

No Megaship. No Ninjazords. Nothing to stand in the warpath of this God. The Rangers stayed by their injured as the orange skies warped in strange spirals. The beast only stood for the first couple of minutes as if waiting for the surroundings to fully absorb his presence. Anatari needed no reminder that this was not the Lothor that this century had known. This was a monster. No life was too high of a price to take. And no amount of destruction would ever ease his burning soul. I’ve failed. The gates of Hell are unleashed.

To his far left was Jinxer- shriveled on the ground with the Savage Sword loose from his hand. The power needed to open the rift had overwhelmed his body. Nothing moved but the smoke rolling off his body. The Savage Sword was now obsolete. The Quasar Sabers themselves were worthless now. The swords dematerialized into energy and streamed into the rift.

Anatari’s own power was of equal worth; useless outside the underworlds. He looked around seeing the ground boiling and the skies tearing. Fire erupted underneath the ground and struck the Rangers at full force, demorphing them all in an instant. He felt the presence of the Morphers incinerate. Mountains crumbled. And the largest lightning storm he had ever laid eyes on was being formed. Lothor was waiting for the world to die.

His cape dropped to the ground. If this was to be his final hour, it would be as a warrior. Twin hooks formed in each hand. For the honor of the fallen and the courage of the Rangers, he would not yield. Lothor stood a towering five-hundred feet tall. Anatari stepped forth.

A hand pressed his should. Leo stood solemnly behind him.

“Trying to die without us?” All of the other Rangers were walking up behind him.

“Lothor’s power cannot be stopped. But I can negate it with my own lifeforce merging into his bloodstream. It’ll stall him enough to be pushed back into the rift.”

“You were the one in charge of guarding him all these centuries, right?”

He had his back towards the Rangers. “It was.” His voice lowered. “Which is why-”

Shane spoke up, “Which is why you deserve some backup for once.”

Hunter continued. “You’re getting our help. So deal with it.”

The gatekeeper then looked at his allies. Their wrists were burnt from where their Morphers once were. Each of their faces was as determined as his own; all willing to stand against these odds. Centuries of his life had been occupied by the absolute worst side of life- a lifetime of guarding the condemned. The image of Vexacus’ defiance showed itself. At first, he had pitied the general. But in this moment, he knew that no life was condemned such as long as the fighting spirit still rose against the darkness. Victorious or not, this day was theirs. As one, their light would shine among the shadows.

Shane placed a closed fist in front of him and looked straight into Anatari’s eyes. Hunter and Leo followed suit, touching their fists against his. Anatari looked up. “It’s always you Red ones who’re the most stubborn.” He then placed his fist with the others.

Dustin joined in, then Tori and Blake. The Galaxies and Karone stretched theirs into the pile.

This unity of the twelve lasted only a few seconds. One footstep from Lothor threw them all face first onto the ground. The beast roared with a force the rattled every pebble in the area.