WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Mighty Morphin #4 by Ryan Parrott, Marco Renna, Walter Baiamonte, Katia Ranalli and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
It isn't often that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers get to take a break, and with the recent string of upsets that the team has been through, they've never needed one more. Their attempt at a brief moment of respite was undone with the reveal that their music festival getaway was just another one of Lord Zedd's traps. Surrounded by the newest version of his Putty henchmen, the Rangers find themselves severely outmatched. As has been the trend, the new Green Ranger shows up to help, but even he is no match for this latest threat. In fact, Lord Zedd is about to show the Power Rangers just how powerful he has become by crushing not only their spirits but their greatest assets as well.
Lord Zedd's new Green Chaos Energy infused Putties are daunting enough as a horde, but when they come together to form one towering Putty Prime, things quickly go from bad to worse. The one silver lining is that the Rangers at least have the chance to outnumber the enemy once they call in their own Zords. It doesn't take long for the team to realize that they're still fighting an uphill battle against the giant Putty Prime. The Megazord takes a nasty hit that leaves it unable to stop the swarm of smaller Chaos Putties now climbing its surface. Now alone in the fight against the massive monster, Tommy is unable to hold his own. Thankfully, the Green Ranger is there with the Dragonzord at his command to offer assistance in the form of a barrage of missiles. This is the one chance they might have against Zedd's latest creation, so the two maneuver to combine their Zords into something capable of ending the fight once and for all. As the Zords crackle with energy and move towards each other, Zedd fires off a single precise shot from his staff, the impact of which does more damage to both of the Zords than either of them can withstand.
From the sidelines, the Green Ranger and Zedd watch as the White Tigerzord and Dragonzord both crash to the ground. The Zords are used to taking heavy hits, but this is something else entirely. Even the rest of the Mighty Morphin team are left wondering if Tommy even survived the attack. Lord Zedd has long been one of the most fearsome enemies that the Power Rangers have had, but never before has he been seen commanding such incredible strength on his own. Thankfully, Tommy survived the blast, but with Putty Prime looming over his downed Zord, he is still in considerable danger. Before any of them can lose their lives, the Rangers are all teleported back to the Command Center to regroup. Normally, this would be their chance to come up with a winning plan and then head back out to save the day, but Lord Zedd has no intention of giving them that opportunity.
As Zedd and his lieutenants look out over Angel Grove, they congratulate him on his victory of the Power Rangers, to which he replies there was none yet. Lord Zedd still harbors a deep-seated hatred for the Power Rangers after the Omegas stormed his palace on the moon and imprisoned him once again, and he knows just how to pay them back for it. With a blast of energy into the air, Zedd summons a shield of energy that envelopes the entire city, with the perimeter fortified by his Chaos Putty soldiers. Not only has Zedd taken the Rangers' home from them, but he's also stolen their biggest guns by cutting them off from the remains of their Zords. It's easily the most crushing defeat that the Rangers have suffered at Lord Zedd's hand, though whether this is even the full extent of his new powers remains to be seen. If he weren't innately defenseless against Zedd's new army, the Green Ranger being trapped inside Angel Grove might be the ace up our heroes' sleeve. Things being what they are, however, it might turn out to be yet another way for Zedd to devastate the Power Rangers even further.