A few minutes ago...

Robert growled out in frustration and winced in pain as he was kicked in the chest by a Putrid and knocked back into a tree. Blood was dripping from pretty much every point on his chest, with several of the Barbed Wire Org's wires having cut in quite deeply. Two sets of Putrids aimed their staff/bazookas and fired at Robert who leaped aside and let the tree take the blast. Blood was on the ground everywhere and Robert's vision was becoming a daze, not allowing him to see or block the kicks and punches and blows from the Putrids as they came. He felt himself getting faint and even as he got up off the ground he thought to himself.

"Is this how I go out? Mein Gott, I'm such a moron. Look at me, charging in without fear, just to save three little kids that, judging from the attitude the rest of the ponies I've met shown me, probably wouldn't give a hoot in hell when I'm at my Schlechtesten. And that's exactly where I am now." Robert mused as he was punched in the chest and sent flying backwards and he cursed in German.

"Wunderbar." Robert muttered sarcastically to himself as he lay on the ground bleeding out as the Putrids closed in on him and he felt his eye lids closing and he took one last look at the sky, for what he knew would probably be the last time. He then thought to himself once more.

"You know, they say before you die your life flashes before your eyes. Well, not much of a life for me. I spent half my life cooped up in a school hidden away from the rest of the world and I got tired of that and then the next half training to be a cop and eventually a Power Ranger... And look at where that's gotten me, eh?"

And so Robert was sent into a flashback...

The Day of the Armada's Final Attack...

It was 2015, the Armada led by Emperor Mavro was launching its final attack on the planet of Earth. Humanity was all but defeated. Even Astromena's invasion was this bad and had Humanity on it's last desperate stand. Not that Robert was old enough to remember this, he hadn't even been born yet! But he had seen old news reports to get enough of the details to know just how bad it was and how a mysterious wave of Golden Light had surged through the planet (And as he would later learn half of the known galaxy as well thanks to the greatest sacrifice an ally of the Power Rangers could make, perhaps THE greatest ally of the Rangers) rendering many evil forces into sand and purifying others like Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. There were some similarities however. Humanity was all but on the verge of surrender, and of the Power Rangers... Oh Mein Gott, the Power Rangers were all but defeated and their Zords destroyed. Robert however, wasn't giving up. He was a former student of the Pai Zhua School of Martial Arts, and no matter the cost, even if it be his own life, he WOULD not run away. He would make a stand.

So there Robert was, in the midst of a crowd of X-Borgs, robotic soldiers with only one purpose, to destroy anything and anyone to stand in their way. Up above, hundreds, if not thousands of Armada ships from all across the Galaxy rained down laser fire like hellfire and brimstone upon the cities of Earth.

"Alright you bastards, you want to come and get me, let's do this! Ki-Yah!" Robert roared before launching into the fray and kicked an X-Borg into a car, denting its side door panels before backhanding another of the robots. A squad of X-Borgs came charging at him with the blue armored Bruisers backing them up but Robert leaped over them before rebounding off a wall and kicking two X-Borgs in the back of their heads knocking them to the ground and causing them to spark. The Bruisers fired their arm cannons at him and Robert didn't have the time enough to react before there came two shouts of "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" and "Let's Rocket!" and using their respective weapons, the Jungle Fans and Astro Axe respectively, the Blue Jungle Fury and Blue Space Ranger knocked the blasts out of existence.

Robert stood, stunned, as he looked upon his former Master, Theo, and the Blue Space Ranger, TJ. Out of respect and force of habit, Robert bowed to Theo.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here. Last I heard you went off for a nice and quiet life in the city and not have to worry about training all the time." Theo remarked in surprise.

"Well, you were always a hard-ass. Guess I couldn't take that kind of training." Robert replied sadly, and even in the middle of all this chaos, he and Theo shared a nod of understanding.

"Some got it, some don't." Theo admitted.

"Guess I'm just one of those people." Robert admitted sadly.

"Hey, uh guys..." TJ suddenly spoke up attracting both of the former Pai Zhau students' attention.

"Not to break up the reunion here, but we got more of those things incoming." He said as he pointed to a group of incoming X-Borgs and Bruisers. Theo and TJ took up fighting stances but Robert stepped in front of them.

"No worried guys, I got this." Robert said confidently as he turned to look at the Blue Jaguar Ranger. "I may have been a drop-out, but I did pick up enough. Just enough."

As the robotic soldiers closed in, Robert let out a yell of "Call to the Beast inside, Free the Fox!" and a misty orange fox like shape appeared and slashed and bit at the incoming squadrons utterly rendering them into a pile of robotic parts. The battle would rage on into the next day, and Emperor Mavros would eventually be defeated by the Megaforce Rangers and even when the last of his forces tried to avenge him, every Power Ranger throughout history would show up and aid the team in their darkest hour, lead by perhaps the greatest Ranger ever to walk the face of the Earth, Tommy Oliver, the original Mighty Morphin Green Ranger. After that, life continued on, and when SPD came into being, Robert was one of the first to enrole. He wanted to make his Master proud and show he wasn't a quitter. But as he quickly found out, SPD training was much harder then that of the Pai Zhua's. But still he persevered, determined to make his Master proud and eventually he did become a Ranger. But... his lone wolf qualities and his new found arrogance and pride from becoming a Ranger at last reared their ugly head and things degenerated... Fast.

NewTech City 2026: SPD Delta Base

"What the Hell were you thinking?" Sky shouted at him in the Delta Base's command center as the rest of B-Squad tried not to look at Robert being chewed out by his superior. It was a rather awkward situation to say the least, although not really a new one. "This is the fourth time you've gone off on your own to go after a criminal without back-up!"

"Hey, for the record, the guy I just confined, you're welcome for that by the way, was my target to begin with!" Robert shouted back. "I'd been chasing him all over the city and would have captured him had he not brought out a giant freaking robot!"

"That's right, he did bring out a robot!" Sky retorted. "And even when we had to bring out the Zords, you went off ahead of everyone else and pulled that stunt of yours! Third time you've done that!" Sky ranted, and he wasn't done yet. "And even when the robot blew up, you still directly disobeyed my orders and went after Xenox, alone, AGAIN! I have half a mind to take away your badge and Morpher!"

"Go ahead and do that, see if I care! You need to learn that sometimes doing things your own way is part of being a Ranger! There's a reason the others quit, and I think WE all know the reason why!" Robert bellowed, before shoving Sky backwards causing gasps and storming out of the room. He now needed to blow off some steam and he knew the perfect way to do it. Now the rest of B-Squad was definitely staring, and Sky looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Bridge muttered "Awkward..." while everyone else pretended to be doing something.

And now there he was, bleeding and very close to death all because he was a fool for charging in and taking on a Duke Org alone and losing his powers because of it. If the Putrids didn't finish him off, the blood loss most certainly would. But then Robert remembered something else from his teachings. Never Give Up.

"Never give up. Never give up. I won't run away. I won't run away." Robert chanted to himself and with all of the energy he possessed, not caring about the pain, not about how close to death he was, not about how this planet's inhabitants were misanthropes. He only cared about one thing. Destroying these vile monstrosities that dared harm children.

"Alright... (Cough) You... Bastards... (Cough) You wanted a fight? Congratulations, you got ONE! Call to the Beast inside, Free the Fox!" Robert bellowed and using a technique he hadn't used in over a decade, unleashed all of his remaining energy on the Putrids and one very large orange mist like form erupted from his body and annihilated the Putrids, leaving nothing left. Robert, just before he closed his eyes and felt a warm, comforting light like energy overtake him, saw a giant gold and red bird rain down fireball after fireball on a giant sized Barbed Wire Org and destroy it.

Now: The Animarium

Sunset felt her hooves touch the familiar stone courtyard of the haven in the sky known as the Animarium. It was peace, sanctuary, Heaven on Equus from a time long forgotten. All around her and her fellow Rangers, a jungle sprouted up and various animals made their respective calls from somewhere deep in the jungle. From this very courtyard alone, she could see the Animarium's highest mountain, which had snow covering its very top, and she could see the tall cliff which overlooked everything on the island, with the gigantic red furred and golden maned Red Lion Zord overlooking it's kingdom. Some days, if you were lucky enough to see it when it wasn't in it's cave, there was a Black Lion there instead, but today it was the Red Lion. Elsewhere on the island, she could see the green furred Deer Zord with it's purple eyes and silver antlers watching everything in a resting position from it's perch.

As for the Courtyard itself, there were hammocks for sleeping in, and a stone table and benches for conversation and lunches. But the most important feature was the Fountain. Filled with Sacred Water that was poison to an Org, this Fountain would alert, and erupt a column of water whenever there was a new Org on the loose, and Princess Shayla, the caretaker and overseer of this entire sanctuary would alert them to it.

"Alright Sunset, that's how you beat an Org!" Lightning chorused. Sunset suddenly shot her a very cold glare that even she didn't know she was capable of.

"And what about the human? What ABOUT him?" Sunset asked in fury at Lightning's seeming ability to not give a damn about their fellow Ranger.

"Who cares, he could go die in a hole for all I care. He's a human remember, rape and murder you at the first opportunity." Lightning scoffed, and at this Sunset finally lost her temper and her wings ignited in flame and she tackled Lightning into the stone table smashing it in half right down the middle and gripping Lightning's throat as hard as she could.

"S-Sunset... What the Tartarus? You of all ponies, Princess's personal student and all, should know what humans are like!" Lightning coughed out, and Sunset released her, once she realized what she was doing and Lightning began gasping for air as Sunset stood over her with Vapor and Sunburst watching with stunned faces on their muzzles. First Princess Celestia flying off the handle, then Luna, now Sunset as well?

"He may be a human, and yes I was raised by Princess Celestia since I was a little filly, but I'm also the Princess of Empathy, which means I do have to care for all creatures, no matter what they're like. I truly believe there's good inside everything." Sunset stated before she got in Lightning's face.

"Although I'm severely questioning that state of mind with YOU right now." Sunset snarled out. She'd always known Lightning to be a bit of a bitch, but this was a whole new level, even for her. This was downright cold.

"H-Hey, speaking of the h-human, where is he?" Sunburst stuttered out nervously. Branches moved from behind them, and there was the sound of twin footsteps. Everyone turned to see a beautiful woman clad in a white dress with a golden necklace resembling a winged creature of some sort with a blue jewel in its center and a ring of blue and white flowers in her brown hair. She was supporting Robert, who had huge gashes in his chest and was bleeding badly.

"H-Help me..." Robert gasped out before he collapsed onto the floor, his head thankfully hitting the grass and not the stone of the courtyard.

"Rangers." Shayla requested, and Sunset and Vapor immediately rushed over to Robert and picked him up and carried him over to another table and laid him upon it and ripped off what remained of his shirt. Sunset winced and Vapor looked as if she might be sick.

"Bandages, quickly." Sunset ordered, and Vapor rushed off to get them while Sunset stared at the other two Wild Force Rangers.

"Well, aren't any of you going to get up off your asses and help me here?" She asked, and it wasn't a question. It was an order.

"Well, don't look at me. He's only human." Lightning muttered with her arms crossed and Sunburst looked as if he might help, but then remembered all the stories he'd read in the history books about humans and backed away. Sunset grumbled a few curse words to herself and began reciting a healing spell to close up the wounds and stop the bleeding as Vapor returned with towels to dab away at the blood and bandages to cover up the wounds.

"Celestia above... That Org really got to him didn't it?" Vapor whispered in horror.

"Yeah, and we should have helped. Instead, we just followed Celestia's orders blindly like fools and let him nearly die. Tartarus, he's nowhere near out of the woods yet, so that may very well happen." Sunset growled to herself as Princess Shayla watched silently and sighed sadly. She knew the ponies had bigotry towards humankind, thanks to Animus, but she never knew it was THIS bad that a fellow Ranger would refuse to help another. A tear slipped from her eye at how far the world had fallen. She didn't know how the Orgs had returned, but if she had to ponder a guess, it was the sheer hatred of anything different then themselves that the Ponies held that helped along the cause.

"Hey, what happened to his Morpher?" Sunburst asked curiously.

"I... I don't know." Sunset answered nervously.

"Rangers, observe the Fountain." Shayla said and all four Rangers went over to the Fountain and saw what had happened.

Robert found himself blasted backwards by a powerful cannon blast from Artilla, who had suddenly appeared on the battlefield, with the blast being strong enough to knock him out of both MegaBattle Mode and de-morph him sending his SPD Morpher flying out of Robert's hands. With a mighty crunch, Artilla stepped on the Morpher, and Robert's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself powerless. Robert slowly got up off the ground, dripping blood from the tears in his jacket, which he promptly tossed off revealing his ripped and torn green T-Shirt which said "SPD" on it and clenched his fists.

"Look at this, a Power Ranger without power! What a joke!" Artilla laughed even as Robert charged at him and drew back his fist landing a powerful punch to Artilla knocking him backwards, if only just a little.

"We'll continue this later, Ex-Ranger. My job is done for now. But be warned, if you continue to meddle in the Master's affairs, today's pain will only seem like a spa treatment compared to what I'll put you through!" Artilla warned and turned into a ball of energy and vanished into the sky leaving him alone.

"He... He lost his Powers and even then he took on that Duke Org alone." Sunburst stuttered out in shock.

"Well, gotta give him props for facing that thing down like a man. Or props for stupidity. Can't decide which." Lightning muttered and Sunset gave her another ice cold look, reminding her she wasn't out of the woods yet and still in deep trouble.

"Sorta reminds me of you Lightning." Sunset remarked and Lightning raised an eyebrow.

"How so? Bravery in the face of certain death?"

"No, stupidity." Sunset deadpanned before observing the singular horn that this new Org had and her eyes widened in shock.

"A-A Duke Org? I thought only the regular Orgs were making appearances!" Sunset then stammered in shock at this new revelation and turned to Princess Shayla. Vapor had decided not to make mention of her encounter with Zen-Aku a few days prior, and Lightning, in fear of what Sunset might do to her if she spoke again, kept quiet as well.

"I... I..." Shayla stuttered in shock as she pursed her lips.

"W-Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. And if Duke Orgs are appearing... Then that must mean... Oh no." Shayla realized in horror at the implications. Every Ranger turned to her, shocked to see their leader so afraid.

"Rangers, I think it's time you know the full story of the Great Battle between humanity and the Orgs. Six thousand years ago, this island was part of the greater landmass, a place of peace and tranquility called Animaria. But then came the Master Org, bringing chaos and pollution with him. He had his faithful generals, Retinax and Nayzor and his Duke Orgs, Jindrax and Toxica by his side. But we had our guardians, the Wild Zords." Shayla narrated as the Fountain showed images of the great battle that followed. Six warriors clad in white robes and silver helmets, each with a Crystal Saber in hand and the Wild Zords, varying from a grey stingray to a brown coyote amongst others like two bears and a blue shark fought off the forces of the Master Org. He was only describable as a monster, with a pure black body and a horn making up his head with spikes jutting out of the back. Battles raged, and various Zords fell. Then THEY came. Ten Wild Zords, more powerful than the rest. A giant black bat, the Phoenix Zord and it's counterpart the aqua and silver Thunderbird, a purple giant sperm whale and a creature resembling a fox clouded in smoke, alongside a red Sawtooth shark, a blue and gold Condor, a golden Jaguar and a brown Buffalo. Leading them into battle was a Black Lion, which swiftly merged with the Sawtooth, Condor, Buffalo and Jaguar to form the Lord of the Wild Zords, Animus. He lead these Zords in battle, only for them to fall one by one at the hands of the Master Org. And then, finally, Animus himself fell.

"We... We at that point had lost all hope, and the five Wild Zords descended from Animus, the Lion, the Shark, the Tiger, the Eagle, and the Bison and myself were lifted up into the sky along with the Animarium to keep myself and the legacy of the Wild Zords safe from the Master's tainted touch.

"So... So how did you win?"

"It was because of him. Merrick Baliton, who had put on a cursed wolf mask and awakened the three dark Wild Zords, the Wolf, Alligator and Hammerhead." Shayla continued

"Evil Spirit of the Wolf, fill me with your absolute power!"

"The Predazord was formed and Master Org was defeated. But at a great cost. Merrick became Zen-Aku, and had to be sealed away, entombed for the next 3,000 years."

"How... How did he escape?" Vapor asked curiously, wanting to know more about her friend.

"That... That is a story for another time." Shayla said, and Vapor could swear she saw a tear drip from the Princess's eyes.

"But... But if the Legendary Wild Zords were destroyed, how could they be with us now?" Sunset questioned, gripping her Phoenix crystal tightly.

"At the end of the final battle with the Second Master Org, a man known once by the name of Dr. Viktor Adler, all of the Wild Zords, even those long thought extinct returned and destroyed him. Your Wild Zords must have been among them." Shayla explained and once more the Fountain showed a series of images.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcekx2nRsKM

All the Rangers took it in, and eyes widened. They now understood the burden that they faced, the power of the Orgs, and each gripped their respective crystal tightly, remembering how they'd found it. Sunset had found hers while she was looking around in the Castle of the Two Sisters with Twilight, and felt an energy calling out to her. Lightning, while soaring through the skies above Appleloosa, felt an energy calling out to her from a cave in a mountain. Sunburst, whilst in the Crystal Empire, found his embedded inside a crystal in the area known as the Forest of Crystals. As for Vapor, a pained look came across her face. She hadn't found hers, it was given to her.

"When... When should I tell them that I wasn't destined for this burden? That somepony else was? And when should I let the others know about Zen-Aku?" She thought sadly and heard Shayla's voice in her head.

"Whenever you feel the time is right, My Little Leviathan." Shayla said comfortingly and meanwhile Sunset's gaze found itself drifting to the now unconscious Robert, still resting on the table and prayed to whatever deity was listening for him to pull through. And a male voice answered.

"Do not fear Little Firebird. He will pull through, but you must be with him to help him face the challenges ahead. ALL of you, and yes that does include Lightning. Otherwise, he may fall to darkness and lose hope for what he must protect... And if that happens, then the Orgs will have already won."

Author's Notes:

So, longest chapter yet and all you really get is an exposition dump. Of course, a lot of this is probably needed as I know I do have some readers who aren't up to speed with certain seasons of Power Rangers. Mind you, in the final battle with Master Org I did take a few liberties as obviously the five Legendary Beasts weren't there, but everything else pretty much comes from the show's flashbacks. Also, more importantly, we get Robert's backstory and why he decided to become a Power Ranger in the first place. (Bet you weren't expecting to see Theo and TJ, were you?) Plus, we learn one half of his nationality, and that he trained for a short while at the Pai Zhau School and his animal spirit, which is another hint of foreshadowing for his future Ranger powers. (If anyone thinks Robert's a bit of a Gary Stu at this point, let me know) Also, we learn a bit more about the four existing Rangers. On that note, originally I was going to have Sunset going to be mistrustful of Robert from the start, but let's face it, after Princess Celestia, do we really want another OOC character? Anyways, the next few chapters will focus on the existing Rangers and Robert getting himself coming to terms with his newfound situation and eventually learning the full truth about where he is, or rather when...