Fanfic / Power Rangers RPM Re Geared

You know the story of the Ranger Operators from the domed city of Corinth in that alternate dimension... But what was going on in the main Power Rangers universe in the meantime? This is the previously-untold story of an entirely different team of Power Rangers RPM and their battles to protect their home city of Copper Falls, and the universe as a whole, from a rebuilt and vengeful Machine Empire.

Power Rangers RPM ReGeared is a fanfiction by MarineDynamite published on Archive of Our Own and DeviantArt. To summarise, the author wasn’t happy with Power Rangers RPM as an adaptation of Engine Sentai Go-onger, so she decided to make her own Truer to the Text adaptation.

Traditional Power Rangers tropes include:

• Big Bad: High Lord Voltagium, who has yet to be seen.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: While the main 5 have the same call from canon (RPM, Get in Gear), the two Skylight Rangers say “RPM, Take Flight!”
• City of Adventure: Copper Falls, Oregon.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Lampshaded, when Gabe notes that the Rangers’ identities should’ve been obvious by the choice of colours they wear.
• Co-Dragons: Generals Shifter and Crunch. Lamina WOULD count, but she’s mostly The Load.
• Five-Token Band: Asian-American Aaron, Caucasian Felix and Sadie, African-American Ola, and Pacific Islander Ricky. They're eventually joined by the also Caucasian (specifically British) Gabe and Raph.
• Humongous Mecha:
  • Noble Bird of Prey: Condor Racer
  • Panthera Awesome: Lion Hauler
  • Bears Are Bad News: Bear Crawler
  • Sapient Cetaceans: Tail Spinner
  • Canis Major: Hound Cruiser
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile: Gator Carrier
    • Combining Mecha: High Octane Megazord, ValveMax Megazord
    • Mecha Expansion Pack: The Road Attack Zord would be this, but it hasn’t been completed yet.
  • Panthera Awesome: Tiger Jet.
  • Space Whale: Whale Zeppelin.
• Make My Monster Grow: Taken directly from Go-onger, the Attack Bots release a liquid known as Filthril into their bodies when damaged significantly.
• She's a Man in Japan: Ola takes the place of the male Hant (and by extension, Ziggy).
• Transformation Trinket: Notable in that Ola and Ricky have different Morphers to the others, as do Gabe and Raph.

Tropes exclusive to this fic:

• Abusive Parents: Sadie’s parents treat her like she doesn’t matter and blatantly defy her fundraiser by destroying the habitat for the bees she’s trying to save.
• Action Dress Rip: Victoria does this in the second part of "Surpassing Brilliance" to fight off two Grinders.
• Adaptation Species Change: In Go-onger, the Gaiark were mechanical Lifeforms from Another Dimension and in RPM, Venjix and his creations all originated on Earth. Here, the new Machine Empire are from outer space, like their predecessors.
• Adaptational Modesty: As usually tends to be the case in canon, Lamina's design is considerably more modest than that of Kegalesia's, mainly doing away with the cleavage.
• Adapted Out: Practically everyone from the main RPM series doesn’t exist. The exceptions are Shifter and Crunch, but even they are entirely different characters, more akin to their original counterparts.
• Alternate Universe Fic: Played With. Since the original RPM canonically takes place in Another Dimension, this fic is intended to be the main dimension.
• Always Someone Better: Commander Brilliax to Lamina.
• Amicably Divorced: Implied. The Darcy parents don’t live together, with Claire living in Copper Falls as its mayor and Phillip owning a small island, but neither seems to have any lingering resentment with the other.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Downplayed with Ricky’s sister Carly. She’s not intentionally annoying, but she does tend to be more trouble than she’s worth.
• Ascended Extra: Lamina’s fiancée Prince Capacitor was a one-shot Monster of the Week in Go-Onger, as was her mother, High Lady Pluvira.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Like the canon series, the Rangers have weaponised their cuffs. But the fic points out that actually pulling it off in creative ways is exhausting for the user.
• Beach Episode: "Gasp for Air" takes place at a private island owned by Gabe and Raph’s father.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Sadie rarely gets angry. But when she does, it's terrifying.
  • Victoria gets a go at it when she escapes captivity and is able to defeat a pair of Grinders in the second part of "Surpassing Brilliance".
• Bilingual Bonus: While beating up the Grinders in the second part of "Surpassing Brilliance", Victoria declares “QUÉ PIENSAN DE MÍ AHORA?!” ^Translation "What do you think of me now?!" or, more loosely, "How do you like me now?!"
• Breaking Old Trends: Sadie deliberately has auburn hair to contrast with the various blonde yellow Rangers that have been introduced since 2007.
• Brown Note: Lamina/"Minnie Volt"'s song in "Radio Jam", designed to send humans into a comatose state.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Sadie to her mother in "The Buzz on Sadie".
• Chekhov's Gun: "One Step Ahead" establishes that, in addition to the Road Attack Zord, Felix has also developed a special kind of Engine Cell, the Pitstop Cells, meant for emergency recharging purposes. One such Cell is finally put to use in "Gasp for Air" during the Megazord battle with Sir Fenzabot.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Gabe and Raph Darcy seem to be fairly typical pampered millionaire heirs. But a few chapters later, they display some Hidden Depths (though not as hidden for Gabe) and get chosen by the Sky Engine Zords.
• Childhood Friends: Aaron, Felix and Sadie are this, as Sadie reveals to Ola in "The Drive to Fight".
• Continuity Nod: Ola moved to Copper Falls from Ocean Bluff, due to her mother getting divorced and the possibility of it being a safer new home.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Lamina is Voltagium’s daughter. Most of her contributions are only allowed because of Nepotism.
• Deadpan Snarker: Felix, Ola, and to a lesser degree Ricky.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • The Machine Empire are annoyed to see that the Eltarians had more than three Zords left behind.
  • Brilliax was unaware that there were three Sky Engine Zords.
• Didn't Think This Through: Brilliax claims he will destroy the Rangers, but continuously runs away from battle to come up with a strategy when encountered with something unexpected. Shifter exploits this by seemingly ordering him executed after one too many retreats.
• Disappeared Dad:
  • Ola’s dad is divorced from her mother and lives in Ocean Bluff.
  • As revealed in "The Buzz on Sadie", Aaron never got to meet his dad, but doesn’t regret not knowing him, since he was no prize.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Aaron has one in the second part of "Surpassing Brilliance". While fighting against Brilliax in the SkyRev Megazord, Aaron hears Gabe instructing the team to think of a strategy to defeat him, at which Aaron recalls his first meeting with Victoria — and specifically, a piece of advice she gave him back then.
  Gabe: Have you lost your mind?! At least try and think about what you’re doing!
  Aaron: Not right now! At a time like this, we have to forget about reason and let our hearts clear the path!
• Embarrassing First Name: Sadie’s birth name is “Mercedes”.
• Face–Heel Turn: Felix’s long-lost childhood action figure, Sir Fenzalot, has joined the Machine Empire, even changing one letter in his name to become Sir Fenzabot.
• Foreshadowing: Two episodes mention a pair of unclaimed Zords being hunted by the villains, clearly based on the Wing race Engines. Those same episodes feature a brother and sister from Old Money, similar to Hiroto and Miu.
• Gave Up Too Soon: Tired of the attacks of Dai Shi's forces on Ocean Bluff, Ola's mother Margaret decided to move them to Copper Falls. Unfortunately, a Foregone Conclusion comes into play for readers familiar with the events of Jungle Fury as Dai Shi is eventually destroyed and Ocean Bluff becomes safe again. Copper Falls, meanwhile, is in the middle of its own monster attacks.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In "One Step Ahead", Ola slaps Ricky across the face to get him to calm down from a panic attack.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: The second part of "Surpassing Brilliance" ends with Aaron and Victoria arriving at the Rangers' base, described as "looking noticeably disheveled and flushed", with Aaron sporting a "purplish spot" on his neck. Even if not explicitly said, it's easy to guess what they were up to.
  • In "Gasp for Air", when Felix and Ricky call up the other Rangers to help them fight off Crunch, Sadie tries to get Aaron to join them, but is immediately scandalized by what she comes across, covering her eyes while Aaron and Victoria scold her.
• Granola Girl: Although her family's wealth (and her boho chic style in civilian form) would technically make her a Bourgeois Bohemian, Sadie's youth and personality make her more of a straight-up Granola Girl, in contrast with her more materialistic parents. Sometimes it gets to the point of her being a perhaps-too-literal Soapbox Sadie.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: The Rangers’ equipment and Zords were built by the Eltarians.
• Green Aesop: The villains are trying to pollute Earth, since they’ve evolved to thrive on waste.
  Ricky: And just like that, we’ve entered a ''Captain Planet'' episode.
• Heroic Bystander: Ola tries to be this in the first episode. It’s this (and the fact they found out the Rangers’ secret identities) that convinces the Rangers to recruit her and Ricky.
• Hidden Depths: Lamina does actually have some actual grasp of strategy and what certain things mean. Shifter even admits she’d probably make a good ruler one day.
  • "Radio Jam" reveals that, behind her mean façade, Raph genuinely cares about the people of Copper Falls, and she and Gabe are well aware of their responsibility as children of the city's main authority figure.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs:
  • "Mother of ^{the Grid} God..."
  • "A Flash of Brilliance" has Shifter saying "For ^malice goodness's sake!"
• Hurricane of Puns: Many of the battles have some sort of quip or pun, from the Rangers and/or the opponent, related to said opponent's abilities. It's Power Rangers, it comes with the territory.
  • One of the rare times this is avoided, in "Wind Beneath My Wings", is promptly lampshaded.
  Ola: We just went through a whole Megazord battle... without a single embarrassing pun. It’s a freaking miracle!
• Ironic Name: Ola shares her surname with Steve Irwin, but her knowledge of marine biology is slightly lacking, considering she thinks orcas are whales. (As Felix points out, they’re more related to dolphins.
• Joke and Receive: The first episode, "Start Your Engines" has Ricky comparing the Bot of the Week’s speech to Captain Planet. Later, in "One Step Ahead", we get this line from Reflectabot.
  Toxic air! Murky waters! Corroded land! By all your powers combined, I become... SUPER JUGGERNAUT REFLECTABOT!
• Local Hangout: The Pitstop Malt Shop, which is one of the places where the Rangers spend most of their free time together.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • Aaron’s girlfriend Victoria isn’t in on the Rangers’ identity at first, but she seems to begin to cotton on in "The Ex Factor", where she notes there are two new Rangers at the same time as Aaron mending bridges with the Darcys. She figures it out in the first part of "Surpassing Brilliance".
  • Deconstructed in "Worth in Gold". The lack of any real support he can confide in about the source of his injuries leaves Gabe frustrated.
• Meaningful Name: All of the Rangers, full stop.
• Miles Gloriosus: Lamina considers herself the greatest person in the Machine Empire, nay the universe. Her fellow generals both find her more of a nuisance than anything.
• Mythology Gag: The original intent of RPM, in canon, was to have a conclusive nature as the final season of Power Rangers of the Disney era, and what could have been the final season of the show, period, had Saban Brands not bought it back. While Eddie Guzelian chose to achieve this by setting the season's plot After the End, ReGeared's author instead opts to throw in a sizeable amount of references to past seasons, with varying levels of subtlety.
  • The story starts with Ola and her mother Margaret moving to Copper Falls from Ocean Bluff due to Margaret's concerns with the increasingly frequent attacks of Dai Shi's forces.
    • This isn't the first instance of a direct non-team-up reference to the previous season within the current season, as one of the early episodes of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder has Mesogog explicitly mention Lothor, the Big Bad from Power Rangers Ninja Storm.
  • The villains are a new incarnation of the Machine Empire from Power Rangers Zeo, with Big Bad Voltagium being a survivor of the Z-Wave. "Wind Beneath My Wings" even introduces Prince Capacitor, who's the son of Gasket and Archerina.
  • Ola is a no-nonsense African-American Green Ranger with a knack for machinery, much like her uncle, Damon Henderson.
  • "Zord Don't Slow Me Down" includes a reference to the canon RPM, by having Ola presume Tail Spinner is a "shark" and Hound Cruiser is a "wolf" only to be told by Marshal and Ricky that they're actually an orca and a German shepherd, respectively (which is what they originally were in Go-onger).
  Ricky: Ola, it’s not a wolf! It’s clearly a police dog! Just look at it! It even has its own little cap...
  • Back-to-back chapters "One Step Ahead" and "Radio Jam" feature references to, respectively, Frankie Chang and Kylee Styles.
  • "Gasp for Air" reveals Felix's father works for Lightspeed. Consequently, Felix's traumatic near-drowning incident took place in Mariner Bay, and he was saved by a lifeguard referred to as "Mr. Lee".
• Narm Charm: In-Universe with Frankie Chang movies. They’re still No Budget flicks with tons of Special Effect Failure, but many consider that part of the charm, the common consensus being that switching to CGI would ruin that feel.
• Official Couple: Aaron and Victoria, and from the beginning too.
• One-Winged Angel: Like his Go-Onger counterpart, Brilliax evolves into a more deranged and brutish form after absorbing too much of the recharging gas intended for the Machine Empire's bots — this, in turn, breaks the Filthril cannister inside his body.
• Only Sane Man: Shifter normally plays this role for the Machine Empire, though Crunch inherits this role after Brilliax’s death.
• Pimped-Out Dress: "One Step Ahead" has Lamina parading around the Machine Empire castle in one of these, which is said to be her mother's old wedding dress.
• Related in the Adaptation: Shower Banki from GP 38 is reimagined here as Pluvira, Lamina’s mother and Voltagium’s wife.
• The Remnant: The villains are one for the Machine Empire.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: In addition to Lamina's more humanoid appearance, Boom Bot in "The Buzz on Sadie" apparently needs anaesthetic to get his upgrades installed.
• Robot Girl: Lamina, which is to be expected as she is Voltagium's daughter.
• Rummage Sale Reject: Carly at the end of "The Ex Factor" flat-out tells the Darcys, in all her childlike honesty, that they "dress weird" - and Raph does not take it well.
• Secret Identity: The Rangers' identities aren't common knowledge like they are in Go-onger or in the canon RPM. Justified, as Aaron is the son of local F1 star Phoebe Hong, and Sadie comes from an influential family of real-estate tycoons.
  Sadie: [whispering in Ola's ear] If anyone finds out I'm a Power Ranger, the press won't hear the end of it.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Ricky, as seen in "Zord Don't Slow Me Down" when he notices Hound Cruiser has gone missing.
  Ola: I-Is everything okay? I heard a woman screaming...
  Ricky: That was me, actually.
  • "Ingenious Minds" also describes Felix as letting out a "high-pitched shriek" when Ola gets a glimpse at the Road Attack Zord project.
• Shout-Out:
  • Ricky's mention of Captain Planet in "Start Your Engines".
  • Ola referring to Felix as "DiCaprio on a budget" towards the end of "Ingenious Minds". Similarly, Raph calls him "Mark Owen" in "A Flash of Brilliance".
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Ola pulls this on Lamina during "Zord Don't Slow Me Down".
• Tempting Fate
  • Ola and her mom move away to Copper Falls partly to get away from the constant monster attacks in Ocean Bluff. Except Copper Falls just so happens to have monster attacks and Power Rangers of its own as well.
  • A more specific example, again with Ola, occurs in "One Step Ahead":
  Ola: I mean, it’s not like there’s a Machine Empire bot attacking right now or anything...
  TV: We interrupt this broadcast to inform that another giant robot monster is attacking the city!
• The Smurfette Principle: Entirely averted by changing the Green Ranger into a girl, making it so there are now Two Girls to a Team from the get-go.
• Spotting the Thread: Two examples in the first part of "Surpassing Brilliance":
  • Ola realises Brilliax is lying to them when he offers to race to the Machine Empire palace, which Ola knows is not on Earth.
  • Victoria figuring out Aaron’s Secret Identity because she overheard Felix in the background talking about Zords and Bots.
• Unholy Matrimony: Lamina eventually accepts a marriage proposal from one Prince Capacitor.
• The Unpronouncable: The planet the villains are based on would take too long for humans to pronounce its name.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • Aaron and Felix. Their opposite personalities and points of view result in them snarking at each other and even bickering, but in "Gator Bait", when Aaron feels like he's let his team down, Felix is genuinely concerned for him, to the point of being dangerously close to bursting into tears.
  • The three generals are implied to be this in "The Ex Factor", where Crunch notes that no matter how much Lamina annoys him and Shifter, they still miss her when she disappears from the palace.
• Wham Episode: “Surpassing Brilliance, Part 1”: Brilliax gives himself a Deadly Upgrade and Victoria discovers Aaron is a Ranger, before being captured.
• Working with the Ex: After Raph becomes a Ranger, Aaron reveals they used to be an item, but Aaron started to fall out of love with her. Him voting for and supporting another girl for Prom Queen was what led him and Raph to call it quits.
• You Have Failed Me: Subverted. Shifter seemingly gives the order to execute Brilliax for his Dirty Coward tendencies at the end of "Worth in Gold", only for the first part of "Surpassing Brilliance" to reveal this was all a ruse to trick the Rangers.