Go Go Power Rangers Issue 15

This article is about a/an comic book issue in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios.

Go Go Power Rangers Issue 15
Publisher:	Boom! Studios
Issue Guide
Publication Order
Previous	Go Go Power Rangers Issue 14
Next	Go Go Power Rangers Issue 16

Go Go Power Rangers #15 is the fifteenth issue of the Go Go Power Rangers comic by Boom! Studios that focuses on the daily lives of the Power Rangers.

Synopsis

That cover says it all-Trini is the new Red Ranger and Jason is the new Yellow Ranger. And… there might be some other complications too.

Plot

Three years before Arrival Day in Nashville, Tennessee, a young Trini is with a friend named Kevin at a US Air Force base preparing to race a fighter jet. She manages to keep up with it until it engages its afterburners and it passes above her and off into the clouds. Despite not winning the race, Kevin is impressed with Trini's speed and asks if she would like to be his best friend. Trini doesn't know as she lost the race, but Kevin still wants to be her friend as he thinks she is the coolest girl in the whole world.

On Breel, the warriors who chased Jason and Trini observe the presumed demise of the two Rangers, unaware they both have managed to cling to the underside of the cliff. The leader says that Rita Repulsa will not be pleased they came back empty handed, ordering his men to head to the temple. Jason smiles and tells Trini that they aren't going to die and now they know where the warriors are going and will follow them to Rita. Though Trini has an annoyed look on her face as she really thought they were going to fall to their doom.

As they follow them, the telepathic side effects of the color swap weighs on them both. Trini asks if every plan Jason makes is improvised as he goes along while hearing Jason's memory of his Sensei Kazu and his wisdom. Jason says his strategies are not improvised all the time. Jason is annoyed that Trini is inside his head all the time, but Trini says she can't turn it off as she now knows Jason's random thoughts such as his dog's first name, rocks that look like styrofoam peanuts and the fact that he is always hungry. Jason claims her thoughts of hunger are somehow making him hungry and he now shares her annoyance of the sound of velcro, indicating a symbiotic telepathy link is emerging. This gets even more awkward as Jason finds out that Trini still has feelings of love for him. Trini tries to deny this, but they share the sensation of awkward teen love such as butterflies in their stomachs. Jason says that when the Putty Infiltrator played with their emotions, she claimed she had no feelings for him. Trini confesses she suppresses her true emotions towards others out of a need not to form attachments due to her father being a US Air Force officer and moving from military base to military base. Trini has lived on eight different bases across the country and usually only stayed long enough to make a single friend before having to say goodbye to them and move again. Thus she never thought about dating or having a longer relationship with someone. Jason tries to say that it isn't right to not express how she feels, but Trini tells him to do what she does and push the emotions down and move on when the time comes and the feelings will go away eventually.

In the Command Center, Zack and Billy are talking about the VW Beetle while trying to come up with a solution to getting Jason and Trini back. Billy is still unsure about his father's insistence on the father-son project, but Zack thinks it is great as it would give Billy freedom by being able to drive around. Zack then says it is a pity that they cannot utilize some of the alien tech that Zordon has for Billy to "pimp his ride". Billy thinks about that while operating one of the consoles.

Kimberly is in Skull's car and thinking about Matt while riding to the amusement park for their date. She worries that Matt might be with someone else like Marleau Eskin or some other popular girl but then tries to make awkward conversation with Skull, who tries to talk to her by complimenting the shape of her head (which was advice he got from Bulk on dating involving complimenting a woman). This gives Kimberly a chuckle but her thoughts drift back to what would happen if she ran into Matt there and worries about it. Skull on the other hand is daydreaming and thinks that "Kimberly Skullovitch" has a nice ring to it. Kimberly plays the football toss carnival game and wins nine times in a row, with Skull wondering why she isn't on the Angel Grove football team with an arm like that. As Skull carries her stuffed unicorn toy, she makes recommendations for what rides they can go on next and searches for the corn dog stand. Skull asks if she has done this before, to which she says yes but it was just once. Skull soon figures out what is going on and feels a little sad, calling himself a sucker under his breath as he directs her to the corn dog stand.

At the Temple of Repulsa on Breel, Rita and Queen Adriyel approach the Black Lock, the seal which keeps the temple closed. Queen Adriyel states that her grandmother told a story of a thief who tried to break open the lock to the chamber, only to be found scribbling numbers and wandering in a fit of madness from endlessly trying to discover the combination of the Black Lock. Rita says that is the Black Lock's purpose as it is enchanted, any who dared to open it by touch would be driven insane. Rita then opens the lock with a burst of magic from her wand and the door to the temple lifts up. They enter the chambers, only to be attacked by mummy-like Putties. Queen Adriyel asks why Rita does not order her Putties to stand down, but she responds that she commanded them to attack anyone and anything that enters...even herself. Rita then says to Queen Adriyel's forces that if any of them make it out alive, she will be dissapointed as she fights her own Putty guards with the Queen alongside her.

On the Moon, Baboo continues his plan of treachery by trying to get Goldar on his side upon entering his room. This doesn't work out as Goldar threatens to kill the potion maker where he stands after hearing word from Finster about his plan and reminds him of the blood oath he made to Empress Rita several millennia ago. Baboo shows a more calculating and manipulative side to himself as he tries to appeal to Goldar's pride as a warrior, inquiring when was the last time that Rita and he won a battle against their enemies. Goldar lunges at him and prepares to thrust his sword through Baboo's throat, claiming the oaf knows nothing of the value of loyalty. But Baboo surprises him by telling him the story of his people's fall and a shocking secret: King Pongie and his army were not turned to stone by a flawed potion of invincibility he made, but intentionally as he saw that his King would rather see his race die in the flames of combat like a bloodthirsty raving lunatic than surrender to Rita's forces and be potentially spared from slaughter. Seeing his king as unfit to lead or save his planet in his maddened state, Baboo did what he thought was best, save his own life so it wouldn't be sacrificed for the stupidity of others. Goldar is impressed and asks if what he says is true, if Rita has become incompetent and unfit to lead, what is it that Baboo plans to do. Baboo responds that he will do away with her in a manner similar to his former king.

At the amusement park in Angel Grove, Kimberly and Skull are on the ferris wheel. Kimberly's acting facade of enjoying her date with Skull gets very paper thin. Skull finally asks if Kimberly is okay, knowing that asking her out in real life was a long shot given their social cliques as a popular girl and a punk. He asks if she is really over Matt, which she tries to deny and then attempts to kiss him. Rather than take advantage of her, Skull shows a surprising amount of maturity and tells her to stop. At first Kimberly is upset he would say no to a kiss from her, but Skull admits he has had dreams of it all the time for a long time, usually on top of a "flaming Harley", but it isn't right as Kimberly doesn't really want him. Skull tells her that when his dad left his mother, she put on a brave face in front of him and his brother so they wouldn't worry. But Mrs. Skullovitch always had a look on her face that let him know that she wasn't okay and constantly beating herself up about what happened. Even if she kept saying she was fine, he knew she wasn't, hence why he figured out what was going on with Kimberly. Skull tries to be a good friend and talk about what is going on with her and Matt to help her, but Kimberly asks him to just please take her home.

Inside the Temple of Repulsa, Rita and Queen Adriyel destroy the last of the Mummy Putties, though at a great cost of life as every soldier of the Royal Guard that accompanied them lies dead on the floor. Adriyel is impressed with Rita's skill as a fighter and bows to her, offering her services as a loyal soldier under her command as her Empress. A voice warns the former Queen not to trust Rita as she will betray her just as she did him. Montaur's spirit appears and swoops down to attack Rita, craving revenge for his murder 10,000 years ago by her hand. Rita explains to Adriyel that death was too soft a punishment for a traitor who conspired against her, so she sealed his soul in the tomb to guard the treasure of the Temple of Repulsa. She claims that he can easily be dealt with, but she needs a diversion first. Adriyel attacks the spirit but gets grabbed by the throat, with Montaur gloating that as a ghost empowered by the temple he is far faster and stronger than he was in his mortal shell. Montaur prepares to snap Adriyel's neck, but Rita obtains the Breel helmet that keeps Montaur's soul tethered to the realm of the living and shatters it. Rita expresses with a wicked smile that her only regret is she didn't release Montaur sooner as his spectral form is ripped apart and he screams loudly in agony before fading away. Rita tells Adriyel they are almost near the treasure as the warrior queen recovers and stands up.

As dusk falls on Breel, Trini and Jason approach the Temple, Jason asking Trini if she always is singing an earworm tune playing in her head that she doesn't know the correct words while walking which is now in his head too. Trini sees the temple and realizes Jason's plan worked out better than she initially thought. Jason sees that the temple is heavily guarded and tries to come up with a plan to sneak past the guards and enter without dying. The thought of death makes his mind wander for a split second to his sick father, which Trini picks up on and shows concern. Jason tries to avoid the topic, but Trini holds his hand and asks how long he has been keeping it a secret and why hasn't he told his friends about it. Jason confesses that he didn't want to "make it real" as they have responsibilities as Rangers and he can handle those kinds of things, but when it comes to real life problems like losing Matt as a friend or his father's illness or thinking of Trini, he can't figure it out. He feels his job as leader is to keep it together no matter what, but he just doesn't know what to do anymore with all the pressure. Trini comforts Jason and they passionately kiss each other as the sun starts to set.

Rita and Adriyel enter a dark room with a magic circle on the floor, with Rita telling the warrior queen here lies no traps as the treasure is in this room. Queen Adriyel wonders if the weapon they seek is as powerful as Rita claims and asks why she never used it herself. Rita admits she fears the influence of its powers if she took hold of it and Breel had a natural camouflage she cannot seem to replicate to conceal it from prying eyes. She lights a green flame on a torch and reveals what it is they sought in the hands of a skeletal corpse on a throne...the Dragon Power Coin and Dragon Dagger!

Rita claims this will make whomever wields it an unstoppable weapon and the time is right to obtain the Coin and Dagger to bring forth the destruction of the Power Rangers!

To Be Continued....

Covers

Main Cover
Dan Mora

Ranger variant
Miguel Mercado

Homage variant
Natacha Bustos

Retro homage
Audrey Mok

Errors

• to be added

Notes

• Movie Variant Cover Reference: Grease
• TV Series Retro Variant Cover: Happy Birthday, Zack
• The main cover of this, along with the preceding and succeeding issues were shown in Power Morphicon 2018 to highlight a Jason-Trini romance as well as the new color assignments. No variant covers were shown at the same time.