The Darkest Hour

Synopsis: Taking place twelve years after the events of "Sailing the Seas of Love". The Rangers are their compatriots journey far beyond their universe to learn the truth about an ancient mystery of the powers of Disney magic. However, they are hampered by two new villains, Vitalia and Momo.


Chapter 1—The Mysterious Diamonds

All around her, it was all she could see.

‘Elsa ! Come quick !’, Anna said, pointing from the balcony of their castle in Arendale.

‘What...on...Earth ?’, Elsa asked, feeling both dread and on guard for her elder sister.

‘That’s only a sample of my power. Watch what these marvels can do !’, Vitalia cackled. Vitalia was a lolita accompanied by a monochromatic monkey with an over-sized paintbrush. With a flick of her wrist, the gothic lolita bade the diamonds to begin sucking the color out of Arendale. Elsa tried to stop her with ice and Anna learned that somehow, she had fire magic. None of this could stop the villains.

‘Mimicry.’, Vitalia whispered, shooting the same power back at Anna and Elsa. She couldn’t be stopped and the sheer power Vitalia had was enough to send Arendale falling to the ground. A frightened Olaf came rushing out of the crumbling tower and into safety.

‘Ohhh ! What’s happening ! Everything’s falling apart !’, he shrieked. The two villains had already fled the scene, completely disappearing into a dark crystalline hologram. It phased in and out of existence, much like a Klingon cloaking device, faster than a picosecond.

‘We need help. This is beyond anything we’ve ever faced before. Even our abilities combined weren’t enough to face those monochromatic menaces.’, Anna said, clearly shaken. Olaf came to gather them together into a warm hug.

‘Let’s get a hold of our Heroes. They’ll know who to contact.’, Elsa stated, matter-of-factly. After they contacted Sora, Prohais used his multidimensional Magisword to shoot them all to Angel Grove.

‘If I’m not mistaken, the Power Rangers are here. I’m just hoping Riboflaven can get by one day without its Warriors For Hire.’, he said.

‘Brother dear, I’m sure they will. Right now, we’ve got to rally the Rangers and our allies together….These new villains are unlike any I have ever seen.’, Vamber agreed.

Chapter 2—Lightning Strikes

After being briefed by the likes of Anna and Elsa, the Rangers knew they were dealing with a supernatural power. They decided to hail the Justice League, which had just inducted a whole family of superheroes; Billy Batson and his foster family.

‘Wow. I never thought I would see the day. How long has it been ?’, Jason asked Aquaman, who clearly, didn’t mind being out of his element for a while.

‘Ok. What are we dealing with ?’, Shazam asked.

‘Two villains who have unbelievable chromatic abilities. Seems that one of them is an elemental and can use telekinesis. She is far more powerful than her counterpart, but the two are godly together.’, Alpha explained.

‘From what Alpha told us, Momo was a cartoon character that was scrapped after his cartoons failed in their serials. He might take offense to you in that Shazam.’, Delta agreed.

‘Hey, it wasn’t my fault. There have been other Shazams before me.’, Shazam explained.

‘I guess we know what we know for now and learn by doing later.’, Zatana added astutely. She and Shazam were perfect for the task, having magic abilities. They had also been joined by the likes of The Avengers, who were just as eager to fight these two bullies.

Meanwhile in Walt Disney World…

Mickey had been informed by none other than Hermes that there was a battle breaking out on the grounds.

‘This again ? I swear, there’s never a moment of quiet here...I wonder what it is this time.’, he complained.

‘It’s someone you might know.’, Hermes began. He told the story quickly because he knew time was of the essence and they didn’t have much of it to spare.

‘Then I think it is up to all of us to rally the troops. Gather everyone you can, Hermes.’, Mickey asked, plaintively. There was a hint of fear to his tone, one that Minny had never heard before. Before long, Hercules, the Gods, Goddesses and even his friends from High School, Icarus and Cassandra, had been pooled together in one place to duke it out with two God-Tier villains.

Chapter 3—Sundrop and Moondrop in Contention

‘This ends now ! I don’t know who you are, but I can’t allow you to drain the beautiful color from our home !’, Rapunzel yelled.

‘Rapunzel, my love, what are you doing ?’, Flynn questioned. Being Rapunzel’s husband had certainly become a dangerous title to Eugene lately, but in all honesty, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

‘Eugene, trust me. This is the only way...’, she assuaged him. She began to use the Sundrop incantation and Vitalia smirked.

With a touch of an ungloved hand, darkness began to shroud Rapunzel’s once golden hair.

‘Time for the moondrop to shine...’, Vitalia chuckled to herself sardonically.

‘Raps ! Stop this now ! She’s using your power against...all of us...’, Cassy yelped astutely as the Moondrop began to do harm to everyone around them. At that moment, a vine slapped Rapunzel in the face and a well-made rustic chair sprouted from the ground.

‘Sorry, Rapunzel. I had to. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.’, Poison Ivy apologized. The exceptionally detailed Victorian era chair had been created spontaneously by Demeter, who had been called to join the war.

‘I am here to help as well. If Hades comes, he’ll have no other reprieve than to listen to every word I say.’, Persephone stated with a foxy, confident, smirk.

‘Ooh, be still my heart. If I weren’t so tied to my lovey-dovey Cassandra, oofh, Persephone would be in my sights.’, Icarus teased Cassandra. Cassandra knew all too well that her half-baked hero had eyes for no one other than her. He just liked to say things to provoke her only to joke every so often.

Just then, a snow storm blanketed Corona. Even Rapunzel’s iconic castle was beginning to look more like apple strudel bedecked with powered sugar. Flames soon followed in its footsteps. It was Anna and Elsa. Things were definitely becoming more and more intense.

Chapter 4—Employ the Brushes !

Oswald had an insane plan that he felt would work. He had recalled this happening once, long ago and Ortensia had whispered her idea to him.

‘I think the only way we can be victorious is to employ our brushes against the villains.’, she said.

‘Oh, honey ! That’s brilliant ! Just another reason why I married you in the first place ! You are a genius !’, Oswald said, kissing Ortensia passionately enough to make her blush. She and Oswald probably had the biggest amount of brigadeers. Even though they were young, they could fight, and like their parents, they could wield brushes expertly. It was time to see just how innovative they could be with their crafty abilities.

Even Michael had his mentor Yen Sid's brush in hand, set to the Paint setting.
    'Mickey, is this a good idea ? You need to be careful ! Your life force will be drained !', Minerva said pensively.
    Trust me, Minnie.', Michael replied.   Mickey had done this before, and although these were villains he was unfamilar with, he simply had to trust that the brush he owned wouldn’t fail him now, especially at this most crucial moment.

With a fluid stroke, Mickey enclosed a wall around the villains that was reinforced with steel, bolts, razor wire topped with spikes and electricity. Even if Momo and Vitalia wanted to retaliate it was next to impossible. Electricity blocked any further attacks. All the other Warriors had fought a valiant battle and many of them were pretty beaten up due to it. Rapunzel had been able to implement the sundrop incantation again and heal everyone. It’s magic had even begun to change Momo and Vitalia.

Chapter 5—The Bright Side of Life

Momo felt different. He couldn’t put his gloved finger as to why, but upon looking at his once black and white attire, he was wearing an outfit rife with color. Vitalia, too, was brilliant and vibrant. She didn’t feel malice like she once had and she noticed that Momo was actually weeping.

‘What’s wrong ?’, she asked. Momo was barely able to speak.

‘It’s all I ever wanted and all I ever asked for.’, he said cryptically. Unable to do much of anything else, she comforted him. Roger Rabbit deployed the cartoon handcuffs, which worked quickly on the former fiends. They would be sent to court and their sentence would be contemplated. It was unsure whether they would be spending time in the gray-bar hotel or if they were going to be rehabilitated. Since they had already shown some promise at becoming upstanding citizens, it was likely that they would be given a second chance. Michael and Minevera believed there was good left in the monkey and the Lolita. They had a desire to do better for themselves and not make the same mistakes again. Of course, there was always that looming probability that others might sway them to return to evil but no other villains had been prowling Disney World as of late...or so they thought.

Chapter 6—Kubla Khan

A wizened man, leering in the background eyed everything he saw with wreckless abandon. He had that mad, psychotic dazzle to his eyes and a cackle under his breath. He had seen better days but he figured with the new spell he had learned, he would be draining the toons of their very lifeforce. Once his livlihood had been taken from him forcefully all due to bad dealings in necromancy, but he still had his soul. This time, he was desperate enough to turn his soul over just so he could become young forever. Certainly others had tried and failed to find the elixir of everlasting life and youth but Kubla was about to take it by force. For the moment now, he allowed the heroes to celebrate.

‘I’ll attack them when they least expect...’, he thought. He was too tired to implement an attack. He also knew better than to initiate a frontal assault alone. He would have help, not only from Chernabog, with whom he would bargain his soul. It would be a wager he would come to regret, much like Lord Faustus had many eons ago.

Epilogue

The day had ended with everyone saying their goodbyes and snapping selfies for posterity.

‘I even got Tony Stark’s autograph !’, Billy gushed. If it wasn’t Iron Man he was mooning over, it was Hulk, Cyborg or Control Freak (who unbelievably had turned to the side of good in past battles, seeing that his technological ability could be used to help rather than to harm. Shazam had been uber awesome as well. He had been even more fun as himself around the parks, where he let his youthful side shine.

Back home the Rangers experienced slight jet lag and they realized the battle had only been won thanks to Mickey and his friends. Their magical brushes had literally saved the day. They were far too bushed to celebrate, so they all turned in for the night, resting for the next adventure at hand.

To Be Continued…