Power Rangers 1. Day of the Dumpster - Part 1

**Day of the Dumpster Part I**

In an otherwise quiet seemingly abandoned chamber, an alarm suddenly went off. Second by second it screams louder and louder until finally someone, more specifically something, responds.

"Ayeyeyeyi!" Alpha 5, a futuristic automaton emerges from a darker part of the chamber in a panic. It waddles over to what would be the main computer console and begins typing in a code to try and silence the alarms, "What could be going on?!" the robot yells. "Zordon?" he calls out; no response. "Zordon? Zordon, where are you?" If Alpha wasn't desperate before, he most certainly was now.

"I am here, Alpha," a loud, ominous voice echoes throughout the chamber. In a bright ray of light, Zordon appears in a crystalline cylinder illuminating the chamber further.

"Zordon, something is going on!" Alpha 5 continues to input codes and into the main console, hoping it will reveal the source of the alarm. Zordon merely nodded his head before speaking,

"Yes, Alpha. I fear it's the worst," Alpha looks up to him, and while he cannot give any kind of facial expression, it's obvious Alpha is anxious. "Alpha, quickly, reroute the censors to the viewing globe!"

"Right!" Alpha replies. After a few more seconds of typing, a small, round globe begins to illuminate behind him and a blood-curdling laugh echoes around them.

"Ahahahah! After ten-thousand years I'm free. It's time to conquer Earth!" Zordon and Alpha watch as Rita leads her diabolical team of minions to her castle on the moon; Goldar, her second in command is a fierce warrior that has a frightening blood lust; Baboo and Squat, ruthless minions with zero conscience, and Finster, an impish wizard who has the ability to create all kind of demonic monsters for Rita's bidding.

"Ayeyeyeyi!" Alpha cries, "Zordon, she's escaped! Surely she'll wage war on Earth the first chance she gets!" Zordon again nods his head. He knows what the dark witch is capable of. Visions of their last appear vividly before, it was only by good fortune and strong will that his warriors were able to dispose of her centuries ago. With how corrupt humanity is these days, he wasn't sure there about another group of individuals being able to do the same thing. "What will we do?" Alpha presses on.

"Alpha, it's time. I need you to recruit a team of teenagers with attitude." Alpha raises his arms in protest.

No, not that! Not teenagers!" Alpha responds.

"Yes, Alpha. Find them."

Angel Grove. A smaller sub-area of Los Angeles. Peaceful. One thing it's most known for is how active young adults are in the community. Academics are higher than the national average and practically everyone is involved in extracurricular activities. The Angel Grove Youth Center is a prime hang out for local teens. Kids are free to study, swim, play basketball and soccer, take dance class, perform gymnastics, and partake in martial arts classes – the most popular class at the youth center. This class is taught by none other than Jason Lee Scott, a junior at Angel Grove High School, he is one of the youngest accomplished black belts his age.

"Right kick up," he commands, his students comply immediately. "Left kick up!" he continues. He continues the drills for another minute or so before telling them to "take a knee." He kneels down to make eye contact with his students, something that's very important to him. He wants them to know that he respects them at their level and he'll never down on them.

"Wow, Jason's class is filling up," Billy Cranston, also a junior, says. He looks over to his long-time friend, Trini Kwan, and she nods her head in agreement.

"He's a great teacher," Trini replies. Trini is also a junior of Angel Grove High School. "You should join the class, Billy," she suggests. Billy pushes his glasses, which have fallen to the tip of his nose, back to his face.

"Oh, no. I couldn't do that. It's not the right fit for me. I've found my niche and it's not…that," he says right as Jason is demonstrating a round house kick to his class. Trini shakes her head. Billy has a history of not being very social or putting himself out there, which she doesn't understand. Regardless, supportive she'll always remain.

"Also, Zack's class seems to be taking off," Trini says. Zack Taylor, most known by his peers as captain of the school Hip-Hop dance team, is teaching a dance class to middle school kids. "I can't keep up with him. I was in one of his classes a week ago and never again," she giggles. Billy laughs as well and then resumes to his science text book. "I'm going to go check on Kim," Trini says, Billy doesn't look up and she knows it's because he probably didn't hear her.

On the other side of the Youth Center, there is a small area for gymnastics. This is where Kimberly Hart usually spends most of her time after school. Trini approaches slowly, trying not to break the concentration that is so clearly evident on Kimberly's face. Kim places one foot in front of the other slowly, keeping perfect balance and she then jumps backwards, her hands catching the bar and holding her up into a hand stand. She places her feet down on the bar once again and then jumps back into a back flip onto the mat below her, landing nearly perfectly.

"That was amazing, Kimberly!" Trini says while clapping.

"Thanks, Trini!" Kimberly smiles and walks over to her friend. "How are you?"

"I'm good, just hanging out with Billy while the others are teaching classes. Want to join us? Ernie dropped off a strawberry smoothie for you." Ernie is the owner of the Juice bar in the Youth Center.

"I won't turn that down!" Kimberly laughs. "Did you talk Billy into taking any classes?" Kim asks.

"No, I think he will eventually though. He's just been more secluded than usual."

"Should we be worried?" Kimberly keeps her voice quiet because now Billy is in hearing distance.

"No, he'll talk when he's ready," Trini replies. The girls sit down and begin their daily gossip about boys and clothes, which Billy chooses to further ignore. It's not as if he could join in.

"Hey guys!" Zack sits down and wipes some sweat off his forehead with his towel. "Ernie! Bring me something good!" he calls back. Ernie smiles and salutes Zack in reply. "Man, let me tell you. I could barely keep up with those guys. They have so much energy," he laughs.

"I don't know where they get it from. I was never that energetic when I was their age," Billy chimes in.

"Maybe if you were a bit more active," Zack replies, "C'mon man, you should join something here. Your brain has enough exercise for all of us." They all laugh.

"Yeah, no. I'm fine." Billy replies. "But something interesting, did you guys hear about that spaceship that reached the moon today? I wonder if they found anything interesting. How amazing would that be?"

"Not at all. I couldn't imagine being stuck in those spacesuits all day. I couldn't live with myself if my hair was tangled up in a helmet all the time." Kim says. Trini rolls her eyes.

"That is very interesting, Billy. I agree," Trini says supportively.

"Dismissed!" They all turn when they hear Jason's voice in the distance. His class just let out and he waits for all his students to leave the mat before leaving himself. He always stays there longer in case one of his students has a question or comment or anything of the like. When they all leave, Jason grabs his towel and goes into the locker room to get changed. Once finished, he reunites with his friends and sits down.

"How was class today, Jason?" Trini asks.

"Awesome. These kids are incredibly focused and determined. Exactly the kind of discipline necessary."

"Well, well, well. Look at these losers." Bulk, a well-known school bully sounds off behind the group. A high-pitched Hyena cackle then comes from his side-kick Skull. These two are inseparable, where this is one the other isn't far behind.

"Wha'cha doin Billy?" Bulk gets close behind Billy, looking over his shoulder.

"Bulk, go away." Kimberly says.

"That's not what you said last night," Bulk coos. Skull screeches in laughter. Kimberly's expression becomes disgusted.

"Ew, in your dreams. You're such an ass." Kim replies.

"Seriously, you two, go away," Jason says, his tone serious.

"Hey now, calm down. We're trying to be friendly," Skull chuckles, "Whoops!" Skull says after slowly pouring his water all over Billy's science text book. Billy backs up out of his seat and picks up the book and water just drips from it. Billy's expression is absolutely mortified; Trini grabs some napkins and tries to help Billy.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Zack says standing up, Jason places his hand on Zack's shoulder to hold him back.

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Bulk says.

"Hey, you two! Out of here, now!" Ernie yells from behind.

"Saved by the bell, Zack." Bulk says, Skull cackles again. As they both exit, Zack slams his fist on the table.

"Man, I really wanna teach them a lesson," Zack says, fueling with anger.

"Dude, they're not worth it," Jason insists. He then moves from Zack over to Billy who is still panicked over the drenched text book. "Billy, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I guess. This was a special edition, I just bought it new. And now it's ruined." Billy drops the book on the table, Trini looks at him with a frown. "At least things can't get worse."

Just then, there was a quake. Small at first, all of them felt it but it was nothing to panic about. California has small quakes all the time. But then, there was another, and another. Followed by the sound of what could only be described as an explosion outside. Screams filled the air and sirens were sounding off in the distance. The quakes began to continue and people everywhere in the Youth Center began to panic.

Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy and Kimberly all stood up.

"What's going on?" Kimberly shouts.

"I don't know!" Jason replies loudly. With all the screaming, yelling is necessary to hear. Jason struggles to walk with the quakes but he manages to get near a group of his students hiding under a table, "You guys, quickly, get out of here!" He instructs The quakes were making parts of the ceiling fall and just being in the building wasn't safe. Zack and Trini do what they can to help lead the kids out of the Youth Center and it didn't take long for it to be completely empty except for them.

"Guys we got to get out of here now!" Jason yells. Just then, when all five of them came together, cascade of red, blue, black, yellow and pink light began to envelope them…and then they were gone.

They're flying, or at least that's what it felt like. When it's over, they all fall a couple of inches from the air and on top of each other like a dog pile. One by one, they help each other up and become equally fascinated and afraid.

"This isn't exactly the mall, is it?" Kimberly breaks the silence with her usual sarcastic wit. Jason leads the group through the cylinder, highly technological area.

"Whoa, this is amazing!" Billy says with excitement.

"You would like this stuff," Zack laughs.

"I don't get it. How did we end up here?" Jason asks.

"I just want to know where _here_ is," Trini adds. Billy begins touching some buttons and dials and then Alpha 5 makes himself known.

"Aeyeyeyeyi! Don't touch that!" Alpha comes crashing in and falls over face-first. Kimberly lets out a scream and backs behind Jason.

"Whoa!" Billy says, kneeling down towards it, "A fully sentient, multifunctional automaton! I've never seen anything like it!" Billy marvels at Alpha as he helps it up.

"Welcome humans!" Zordon's voice comes as a surprise to them, startling them all as he appears in his crystalline globe.

"Uh-oh," Trini says, feeling anxious.

"So, who are you?" Jason asks boldly.

"Like, what are you?" Kimberly adds.

"I am Zordon, an interdimensional being caught in a time-warp," he replies, matter-of-factly. They all look at each other with confusion.

"And my name is Alpha 5!" Alpha says.

"Okay, yeah no. So can somebody from Earth come and pick me up because I am totally confused." Kimberly says.

"It's quite simply my dear." Zordon begins, "The Earth is under attack and I have brought you here to save it."

"Yeah…right," Zack says.

"Ah, a non-believer. Turn behind you to the viewing globe. Your doubts will be answered in the images you see." The five of them gather around the viewing globe and replay various images of Rita and her minions. "That is Rita Repulsa. An intergalactic sorceress bent on controlling the universe with her various creatures and army of putties." Images her destroying old villages hundreds of years ago then display for them before cutting off abruptly.

"But what does this have to do with us?" Trini asks. All of them turn back to face Zordon.

"You have been chosen to be a part of an elite team of warriors to fight Rita and defend the Earth from her attacks. Each of you will be given access to extraordinary powers drawn from the ancient creatures you call Dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs?" Kimberly asks flatly. Suddenly, belts holding cartridges with golden coins in the middle appear around each of their waists, startling them.

"Behold! The keys to your power!" Zordon says; Zack takes the cartridge out.

"Whoa, what are these?" he asks.

"Those are your power morphers. When in danger raise them to the sky calling out the name of your dinosaur. And you will morph into a formidable fighting force known to one and all as the Power Rangers."

"Morph?" Kim asks.

"Metamorphosis!" Billy replies; he's the only one that is extremely enthusiastic.

"It means to change," Trini clarifies for Kimberly.

"As Power Rangers, you will have access to a universe of power and will command a fleet of fighting machines called Zords," Zordon continues.

"I don't get it," Trini says shaking her head.

"Jason, bold and power, you shall command the Tyrannosaurus dinosaur. Zachary, you are clever and brave, you shall command the Mastodon dinosaur. Kimberly, graceful and smart, the Pterodactyl dinosaur shall be yours. Billy, patient and wise, you shall command the powerful Triceratops dinosaur. Trini, fearless and agile, the Saber-Tooth Tiger dinosaur will be under your command." Before they can ask any questions, the viewing globe lights up behind them, "Observe the viewing globe!" They all turn around and see images of their Zords, "Just as the five of you work together so will your zords. When you need help, you need only to turn to the power of the Dinosaurs. It will come together to form the mighty Megazord." The viewing globe shuts down and silence falls over each of them.

"Power Morphers? Megazords? Nope. This is just too much for me." Zack says.

"Yeah, I don't want to do this at all!" Kimberly adds.

"Thanks but no thanks!" Zack finishes. "Come on guys, I'm out." Trini nods her head and pulls on Billy's arm – Billy appears genuinely disappointed they're not staying. "Jason you coming?" Zack calls out. Jason remains still, making direct eye contact with Zordon. "Jason!"

"Yeah. Right." Reluctantly, Jason turns around to join them.

"Very well then. May the power protect you." Zordon beckons.

"Well, that didn't go very well did it? Ayeyeyi." Alpha 5 sighs.

As the five find their way out of the power chamber, they realize they're on some mountain range in the middle of nowhere. No evidence of town, or a road, for miles.

"Great. He could have at least dropped us off back into town," Kimberly complains. One by one they all slither down a rocky patch before reaching what appears to be a trail.

"C'mon guys, let's think about this for a second. We could be Power Rangers!" Jason tosses the idea out to them again.

"Do you really think we can?"

"Zordon does," Billy says.

"Guys, are you forgetting how we're getting this information from a talking robot and a floating head? I hope Ernie didn't put something strong in our smoothies."

"Yeah, this is crazy," Kim agrees.

"I'm not so sure…" Jason says.

Clouds begin to form above them and a bolt of lightning comes crashing down in front of Zack, causing him to jump back in panic. Another bolt strikes down on a rock behind them. An another, and another. Then, grey creatures descend from the sky around them. These creatures are frenetic in movement.

"Oh my god you guys. These are those Putties!" Kimberly is aghast. Two of them surround her and she screams. Jason runs towards her, pulls one of them off and kicks it in the chest, causing it fall on its back and roll over. Kim kicked the other one and it fumbled back as well.

"Let's take these guys!" Jason says, Billy all but looks shocked. The others are much more coordinated than he is. When two of them approach Billy, one from the front, the other from behind, all he can do is duck, which cause them to collide and fall over.

Zack kicks one of them away and manages to block a punch from another. Not without receiving a little bit of pain, however. These creatures have a firm – like stone – texture to them. Trini throws several quick jabs into the gut of a Puttie and immediately feels some pain. She quickly kicks it back and holds her hands in front of her defensively.

For momentum, and to get some space between them, Kimberly performs a back hand-spring and delivers a powerful kick across a Puttie's face.

"Out of my face!" she says. She looks over to Jason who doesn't seem to be having much trouble keeping the majority of them at bay. Out of all of them, Jason is the best fighter however the strain from hitting and taking hits from rock-like creatures is taking its toll. And the Putties just continue to swarm them.

First they throw Billy into a corner, followed by Kim, then Zack, then Trini and then finally Jason. All of them dog-piled again.

"What are we gonna do?" Kimberly asks frantically as the creatures get closer.

"Zordon gave us these power morphers. I say we use them!" Jason insists.

"Rangers Morph! It's Morphing time!" Zordons voice echoes throughout the mountains, causing the Putties to tremble. They all reach for their morphers and hold them to the sky.

"Mastodon!" A black light surrounds Zack.

"Pterodactyl!" A pink light surrounds Kimberly.

"Triceratops!" A blue light surrounds Billy.

"Saber-tooth Tiger!" A yellow light surrounds Trini.

"Tyrannosaurus!" A red light surrounds Jason.

As they morphed, they stood there looked down at their new armor and at each other, fully transformed. The Putties began to cower away.

"Now, where were we?" Jason taunts. But before he could make a move, the colorful lights begin to surround them again and they ascend through the air.

"Rangers, congratulations. You did it. But now, I'm sending you to Angel Grove Central Square. Rita has sent down Goldar, one of her elite warriors and a squadron of Putties to attack innocent civilians. You must repel them!"

Once they land, the rangers are awestruck by what they see. Destruction. Total and utter destruction. Putties are savagely attacking civilians. Cars, buildings are on fire. Sirens are blaring in the distance and sounds like gun shots are fire rapidly around them.

"Oh wow," Trini gasps. They all move around a bit, taking in their surroundings. Though they all feel more powerful, a paralyzing fear still comes over each of them. "Guys, can you believe this?"

"This is awful…" Billy agrees.

"Guys, over there!" Jason points to a hand, a bloodied hand underneath a piece of debris. Jason runs towards it and the others follow quickly behind. Jason, with the help of Zack and Billy, lift the debris up and Kimberly gasps.

"Oh no, Jason! Isn't that one of your…?" Kimberly can't finish the sentence.

"Yes." One of Jason's students, still clad in his karate uniform, lay dead on the ground. A slew of emotions begin to overtake Jason but anger and sadness are the most dominant. Jason picks the kid up and holds him close. "I'm so sorry buddy. I should have been here sooner."

"AAHAHAHA!" A loud, antagonizing laugh fills the air. "People of Earth, bow to Rita! Bow to darkness!" The Rangers look up and see a golden creature on top of a building yelling out over the city.

"Goldar," Zack says. "Jason, we have to stop him."

Jason is still paralyzed with shock but manages to pull it together.

"I'm so sorry," he says to this student before setting him down. "I'll come back for you." Jason stands up and turns to his teammates, "Alright guys. We have a job to do." His voice is shaky, but serious. "We're taking Goldar down. Rangers, let's move!"


	2. Day of the Dumpster - Part 2

**Day of the Dumpster Part II**

Death. When it happens so suddenly, there are no goodbyes. A tough lesson for anyone in any part of his or her life. The normal process involves grieving and then, somehow, moving on – Right now, Jason is robbed of that opportunity. His student, Jackson, was murdered in cold blood. And right now, all Jason can do is push through the pain and utilize it for the battle ahead.

Goldar is still gawking atop a building at the humans being attacked by the ruthless Puttie patrol. That is their destination – the top of the building.

"Rangers!" Zordon's voice comes in loud and clear through their helmets. "Goldar has a group of hostages with him, surely he means to execute them for Rita. You must stop him. Stop him and Rita's army will surely retreat for now."

"Let's move!" Jason instructs as he goes into a full sprint ahead into Angel Grove's Central Square. The others follow in line immediately. When they get through to the square there is so much chaos none of them know where to start, except Jason. His eyes focus in on a school bus of young kids being targeted by about a dozen Puttie Patrol, trying to turn the bus over. "Guys, the kids!" Jason points out.

"Jason, what about all of them?" Billy points to all the civilians, some of them being beaten up, some being chased – there was no way to just focus on one part of the chaos.

"Spread out, we need to contain the square!" Jason instructs. As he runs towards the school bus, the others look at each other briefly and then take off in separate directions.

Trini runs towards the north most part of the square, where the local market can be found. She see's several civilians hiding under booths and behind kiosks trying to avoid being seen. A putty grabs this older woman and is about to slug her in the face when Trini stops it.

"No, no. That's not very nice!" she taunts. The older woman still screams, not sure what to make of Trini's Yellow Ranger appearance. Trini throws her right knee into the side of the Puttie, knocking it back and delivers five quick jabs into its chest before delivering a finishing blow with her fist, sending it spiraling into a wall. Trini turns to the older woman, "You're safe now, please go hide!" she instructs.

"Who are you? What are these things?" The old woman is inconsolable and Trini struggles to figure out what to say. Her and the rest of the team never really discussed what they would say to people.

"A friend," she says. "Now, there is no time to explain, there are a lot of other people that need help. Go hide and stay safe, okay?" Trini offers the most reassuring tone she can to which the lady responds with a smile and quickly goes to hide with some other people behind a kiosk. Trini turns around and leaps back into the fray, keepings putties back one by one from entering the market area.

Zack was thriving on his own against the attackers. By combining his personal dance style, as well as moves that he learned exclusively from Jason, Zack was definitely a formidable fighter. And his new powers only add to his skill to dominate his opponents. His fighting style heavily relies on his lower body – his constant kicks and spins keep the putties at bay and unable to predict his next movement.

As a Puttie approaches him from behind, Zack throws his arms to the ground and suspends his legs in the air, just in time to kick the creature directly in the face before completing a front hand-spring. Zack's attention is drawn toward a Puttie harassing a girl that he recognizes as Denise, his high school crush. He punches the Puttie in front of him in the neck, rendering it helpless and out of the way to get to her.

"Get off me freak!" Denise yells to no avail. Zack then enters by jumping in the air and delivering a powerful kick to the Puttie's face, sending it through an abandoned car's windshield. "Who are you?" Denise asks, completely short of breath.

"Your knight in shining armor, baby," Zack muses. Denise smiles and then screams abruptly when another Puttie comes behind Zack. He grabs the Putties arm, leans forward and flips the Puttie over him and to the ground. Once there, he kicks right under the Puttie chin, the force of which decapitates the creature, sending it's stone-like head into another Puttie knocking it over. The headless creature then crumbles into dirt.

"So, they are made of dirt. Or something," Zack says. "Listen, Denise" he turns towards her, "Get out of here, don't stop for anyone, just get home. It's not safe here and won't be for a while."

"Hey, wait. Do I know you?" Denise inquires. Zack gets nervous and shakes his head in response.

"No, but I'll be around for a while, so maybe one day." Denise smiles and then takes off running towards a group of civilians who are also fleeing the scene.

Billy watches those same group of people leave, having assisted some of them from being trapped under debris or stuck in their cars. Most of them were just hiding and too afraid to look out. Being the weakest link when it comes to fighting, Billy knew he would be more helpful not participating in physical conflict and just getting people to safety. However, it was only a matter of time before putties began to approach him. There are three of them standing side by side, but slowly beginning to surround him.

"Oh, damn," he mutters to himself. Putting his hands up in front of him, he's not really sure what else to do. He feels weird, he doesn't feel helpless like he normally would in this kind of situation. His armor makes him feel powerful, but he's not sure what to do with it. "Okay, so this is just like a video game…" he tells himself, "just play around, let's see what happens."

He runs full speed towards the Puttie in front of him and he tackles it back into a pillar. Billy backs up and begins punching it over and over again. He turns his head to see a Puttie swing its large fist at him. Instinct tells Billy to duck and his reflexes react accordingly. He kicks the Puttie in the gut and then turns to hit it across the face with his fist.

Billy can't help but laugh, he stops himself after because it feels slightly inappropriate, but he couldn't believe he was fighting back and winning. This joyous feeling was fleeting as more and more Putties appear before him. On the side of his belt was a holster for what appears to be a gun of some kind. Grabbing the handle and pulling it out, he holds it in front of him, aiming directly at a Puttie.

"Let's see what this can do!" He pulls the trigger and a crimson beam of light blasts directly out of it, causing the Puttie to crumble to dirt. "Oh, so it's a laser gun!" Billy says with enthusiasm. He charges forward blasting Puttie after Puttie until nothing remains but piles of dirt in their place.

"So that's what that does," Kimberly says to herself. She caught sight of Billy's discovery in passing, heading towards the shopping district. She sets her sights on a group of the golem-like creatures surrounding a group of teenage girls. Struck with horror, she found that her favorite store, Forever 21, was completely trashed. "Oh hell no!" she mutters. Kimberly runs towards them, jumps onto a table behind them and then leaps into the air, rounding-off and landing right in front of the Putties.

"Which one of you ass-holes did it?" Kim grabs one of their arms and delivers three quick kicks to its stomach, chest and face with a shove to the ground following. When she kicks another Puttie it responds by catching her foot and making a taunting sound. She smirks. She throws her other leg up kicking under its chin and back flipping in the process. Kimberly then ducks low and uses her leg to sweep another Puttie to the ground, in which she proceeds to pull out her blaster and finishes it with a shot to the head.

"There are no more sales here today girls. Get out of here, it's not safe!" None of the girls needed to hear anything more before taking off. "Alright, this area looks clear." She placed her hand on her helmet which allowed communication to her teammates, "Guys, shopping district, perimeter cleared."

"Market cleared," Trini responds.

"Central Outlets cleared," Zack says.

"Main roads are clear, too." Billy says. "Let's go help Jason!"

Jason is by far having the hardest of times at this point. With children screaming, terrified of the situation, and Putties coming each and every direction not letting up, Jason can't do anything but fight.

"It's alright kids!" he calls out for what would be eighth or so time by now. As much as he wants to reassure the kids, he's unable to. The bus driver is a little battered up from trying to fend the creatures off and also with all the debris around the tires, they're sitting ducks. Jason punches one golem and then kicks another away, "I'm going to get this stuff out of the way and then you just need to drive. You understand?" Jason yells to the bus driver who nods in understanding.

Sirens are sounding off behind him as Angel Grove Police begin to finally make an appearance, in large part due to his teammates securing the outer area's he was sure.

"Angel Grove Police, freeze!" One of them yells behind him. Jason's eyes roll to the back of his head and he continue to knock away some Putties. He looks up and sees a Puttie trying to get inside the bus from the emergency exit hatch on top. He jumps on the hood of the bus and jumps again to get to the roof of it.

"Stay the hell away from them!" Jason curses and performs a round-house kick sending the creature off the bus and to the ground below.

A gun shot sounds off. A sharp pain hits Jason's right arm and he notices sparks going off on his suit. He grabs his arm and falls off the bus, landing in some of the debris. He looks over and sees that same Police officer standing with his gun aiming straights towards him.

"Did he really just shoot me? I'm the freaking good guy!" Jason gets up and has to kick a Puttie down before him!

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Kimberly's voice comes behind him. Another blast is heard and the Police officers curses. Jason and Kim look over and see Billy standing across from the officer with his blaster pointed at where the officer's gun was, which is now on the ground.

"You just opened fire on a Police Offic - " The Officer begins,

"You're firing at the wrong people. We're here to help. Now either help us or stay out of the way!" Billy interrupts the officer. "We've created safe vantage points for civilians to escape, focus on getting people out, we'll handle these monsters. There are also hostages on top of that building, we're heading up there. Make sure your team is ready to deliver them to safety."

"Did Billy just shoot at a cop?" Jason asks.

"It has to be the adrenaline. He's gonna be sick about it later, I can tell," Kimberly responds. "Are you okay?" Kimberly examines his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt, it was just shocking I think," Jason says. "We have to move this debris away from the bus so they can escape." Zack and Trini finally arrive and Billy rejoins the group. Billy and Zack help Jason move the rocks and other things out from under the tires while Kim and Trini cover them. Both of them blasting away Putties as they approach.

Finally the rubble was all cleared and the bus was free to resume on the clear roads.

"Go on, get out of here!" Jason yells. Not a second later does the bus start up and take off. "Alright. Good job, Rangers." Jason says, "But now we have to get to Goldar. How are we gonna get up there?"

"We can teleport?" Billy suggests.

"Good idea, Billy," Jason responds. "Remember guys, this is Rita's second in command. He's probably much stronger than these Putties. Stay focused. We can't let these civilians get hurt." He places his hand on his helmet to make communication with Zordon, "Zordon, Alpha, come in."

"We read you, Jason," Zordon responds.

"Can you teleport us to the building where Goldar is? The perimeter is clear."

"Yes. Alpha is doing it now."

"Thanks," Jason says. And just like that, the Rangers are enveloped in light and transported to the top of the central building. When the light fades, they see Goldar standing over a group of individuals.

"You will all be fine sacrifices for my Queen!" Goldar growls.

"Not gonna happen, Goldar!" Jason yells as he pulls out his blaster and opens fire on him. Goldar turns just in time to deflect the blasts with his sword. Goldar's crimson eyes glaring at Jason and he begins to grin lecherously.

"Oh god, he's hideous!" Kim says.

"Now's not the time to piss it off more, Kim," Zack says.

"Rangers, blasters ready!" Jason commands and the others pulled out their blasters and readied fire, "Fire!" A flurry of crimson beams fire towards Goldar, who decides to rush through them with his sword deflecting them, getting closer and closer.

"It's not working!" Trini calls out.

"Rangers, get ready for a fight!" Jason says, placing his blaster back into its holster and throwing his fists in front of him. Goldar comes in close and Jason swings his fist at him, Goldar evades and cuts Jason with his sword and knocks him over.

"Jason!" Zack cries, he runs after Goldar next with Billy close behind. Zack jumps up to kick him and Billy rushes forward in a tackle. Goldar responds by grabbing Zack's leg and throwing him into Billy. Kim and Trini charge towards him but are easily knocked away. The Rangers regroup around Jason.

"Man, this guy's unreal!" Jason says in between catching his breath.

"Rangers, use your blaster-blades!" Zordon's voice comes through loud and clear. Jason grabs his blaster, pushes down the back of it and it becomes a short-sword.

"Guys, check it out!" Jason marvels, the others follow his example. "Alright, we gotta be smart here. Zack, Trini, you're with me. We're gonna take him down. Kimberly, Billy, you two get the civilians out of here then come back and join us. I'm sure we'll need the help."

"Right, Let's go Billy!" Kim responds. Both of them rush off towards the hostages that are tied up in chains. Using their new-found blades, they're easily cut through. Billy kicks open the roof-top door that leads to the building stairs.

"Alright guys, move it, c'mon!" Billy instructs to the civilians one by one.

"Billy, look out!" Kim cries as a Puttie appears out of nowhere. Kim jumps forward and blocks its attack for Billy and then begins a series of high kicks to its chest before delivering a fishing blow sending it flying off the building. More Putties began to appear. "Terrific. Who invited you?" Kim scoffs. "Billy, lead them to safety, I got your back here. Just hurry!"

Billy followed the last civilian into the building and kept urging those in front of him to "Hurry" and that "You guys are doing great, you're almost to safety!" An overwhelming sense of guilt floods Billy at this time. Leaving Kimberly behind really bother him, in highsight he know she's the more skilled fighter and more adept at handling herself. He just knows he's going to have to get better for the future.

Using her blaster-blade, Kim is able to cut through the Putties more efficiently, however the rising numbers of them so quickly is staggering. She'll need Billy's help before too long.

Now that the rangers have sword-like weapons, Goldar's attacks are more easily managed. Jason jumps up and swings his blade down to Goldar who blocks it with his sword. Trini and Zack then rush him, stabbing their blades into his gut, causing him to fall over. Jason kicks away Goldar's blade long enough to make a slash across his chest.

"So, I see Zordon has found another impressionable group of slaves to do his bidding. How quaint," Goldar begins, "Just surrender and I promise your destruction will be quick!"

"Never. You picked a fight with the wrong people!" Trini responds.

"Humans are weak!" Goldar retorts.

"Well, some humans are kicking your ass, so I like our odds," Zack says.

"You should never have come here, you're going to wish you hadn't!" Jason yells and then charges towards Goldar again.

On the other side of the building, the Putties keep building and building – Kim keeps slicing through them but they manage to overwhelm her. Two putties grab each of her arms and another one begins punching her in the gut.

"Son of a bit-" she began before getting punched again, leaving her out of breath.

"Get off her!" Billy yells, he ready's his blaster and opens fire, reducing them all to dust. He runs to help Kimberly up, "Are you okay?"

"I've been better, but yeah, I'm fine," she says. "C'mon, let's go help the others." When they got there, they see Jason locking blades with Goldar while Trini and Zack stab his sides. Kimberly and Billy ready their blasters and then fire at him, making Goldar fly back and into a wall, he then falls to the ground.

"Enough!" a loud, wicked voice fills the sky stopping the Rangers in their tracks. Rita's face appears in the sky. "Goldar, return to me. That is enough for now." A golden light surrounds Goldar's body and then he vanishes. "So, Zordon in alive. I'm surprised. You think you can stop me, do you?"

"I think we're off to a good start!" Jason yells out. Rita then laughs, causing the ground to quake and thunder to roar in the sky.

"You may have repelled my forces today, but you haven't won anything. I will be back and you won't be able to stop me," she continues to laugh.

"Bring it on, Rita. You'll never take Earth. Not as long as we're here. You'll have to answer to the Power Rangers!" Jason replies.

"Don't worry Power Rangers, your end will come!" With another wicked laugh her face disappears from the sky. The Rangers run towards the edge of the building and are relieved to see no further signs of struggle or Putties.

"Is it over?" Kim asks as she falls to her knees, exhaustion taking over her.

"For now. It's over, she'll be back," Jason answers.

It wasn't too much longer before the Rangers were beckoned back via teleportation to the Power Chamber, where a proud Alpha 5 and Zordon awaited them. Once the Rangers arrived, they de-transformed back into their normal states. Alpha begins to observe them for any long lasting physical injuries.

"I forgot how powerful that armor was. Not a scratch," Alpha muses.

"Don't feel like it. I'm sore all over," Trini admits.

"It'll take a while to get used to that," Zordon begins. "Congratulations on a job-well done. Now that you have become Power Rangers you must follow three basic rules or lose the protection of the power. First, never use your power for personal gain. Second, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you. And finally, keep your identities secret, no one may know you are a Power Ranger."

"Wait a second," Zack interjects.

"Yes, Zachary?" Zordon responds.

"I'm not sure we're all up for this. We got lucky this time." Zack says doubtfully.

"Luck had nothing to do with it. The five of you have come together to form as fine a group of superheroes as there has ever been. You've been through an amazing experience together. You need each other now. The world needs you now."

"You can count on me, Zordon. I'm in," Jason says. "Guys we can really do this. No one else can. It's up to us. I mean, I know this is a big deal you guys. But I mean, Power Rangers? Come on guys, this is too awesome at the same time."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm in!" Zack agrees.

"You can count on me, too!" Trini says.

"Affirmative," Billy adds.

"Yeah, I don't know," Kimberly says, shocking all of them. "I mean the outfits are really cool and everything. But my hair gets all tangled up inside the helmets. I don't think I can do it."

"Kim, are you serious?" Trini presses.

"Jay-kay guys. Just kidding. I'm in, too. But this is insane. I'm just glad that I have my friends to do this with."

"Definitely," Zack agrees.

"Very good. Thank you, Power Rangers. You may now return to your families, friends, loved ones – make sure they are okay. But be prepared, at any minute Rita may attack." Zordon warns.

"Oh right. I hope it's never during one of Ms. Applebee's tests," Billy says, prompting them all to laugh.

When they return home, they all decide it would be best to check out the Youth Center, pick up the things they each left there and also to see if Ernie needs help cleaning up the place. They were especially surprised to see how crowded it was.

"Hey, Ernie!" Jason greets as they walk through. Ernie waves towards them as they approach. "What's with all the people here?"

"This is just sort of a safe-zone now, while clean-up crews are working," Ernie explains. "Did you guys hear, though?" Ernie whispers.

"Hear what?" Trini matches his tone.

"The monster attacks. Some sort of alien race of monsters caused the attacks. And get this, there were some heroes that showed up at of nowhere and they call themselves the Power Rangers," Ernie is really getting into the gossip, which makes each of them laugh and smile.

"Really? That's amazing. I hope they stick around," Zack says back.

"You're not kidding!" Ernie replies. "Oh, there they are now!" Ernie points to the TV and then grabs the remote to turn it up. The noisy Youth Center becomes quiet, all anxious to hear about these surprise heroes.

"This is Cindy V. reporting live for Channel 5 news. I'm in downtown Angel Grove where one of the strangest attacks the world has ever seen took place. Alien creatures began attacking out of nowhere around 4:00 PM today, leaving many dead…" Jason then thought about Jackson and his death. He looked across the room and saw Jackson's mother in tears, being comforted by others. He would be over there soon to offer his condolences, "The Angel Grove Police Department refuses to comment on the source of these attacks or any future plans. Sheriff Mitchell did have this to say about the alleged heroes, the Power Rangers" a clip then shows an earlier interview taken with the sheriff:

"Yes, they certainly did help. But at the end of the day the Power Rangers only just got in the way. A group of vigilantes aren't heroes and we need to remember that. So I will say this, Power Rangers, thank you for your assistance. But you also did cause damage to buildings and opened fire against a Police Officer. If we see you again, we'll have to bring you in." Once he finishes, the frame of the screen freezes and then returns to Cindy V.

"I don't know if we all agree, I know I don't. I want to say thank you to the Power Rangers. My son was on a school bus that they managed to get to safety, so if you're out there: Thank you." Billy tapped each of them and they huddled together,

"Great, so now we're on Angel Groves most wanted list," Billy says.

"That's major b.s.," Zack says, "This is what we get for helping people. Damn cops."

"Look guys, it's alright. We just need to keep a low profile. We have a job to do and so do they. They'll come around," Jason says. They all nod, except for Zack. "Let's get some rest. I'll see you all tomorrow," Jason heads off towards Jackson's mother and rest of them break off to look for their friends and families to make sure everyone is okay.

This battle was won, however each of the Rangers fear that tomorrow might be another story.


	3. Teamwork - Part 1

**Teamwork **

**Part I**

Although their secret brought them closer together, each of the rangers were beginning to feel farther apart from the world around them. Jason found himself rejecting extra martial arts classes and personal one on one training because he was "busy". Zach needed to find a co-captain of the dance-team because he had "family issues" and couldn't choreograph the dances by himself. Billy was only doing the bare minimum of assignments, rather than requesting the usual extra credit because he "wasn't interested". The fact of the matter is all of them were lying because they didn't have the luxury of simply being teenagers anymore. And they couldn't tell anyone.

At the Youth Center, Billy and Kimberly are sitting, drinking their smoothies that Ernie made for them. Both of them are noticeably tired. It's been a few days since Rita's first assault, but the unpredictability of when and where she'll inevitably strike prevents them from sleeping well.

"I can't believe this," Trini says as she slams a newspaper down on the table.

"More demonizing remarks about the Power Rangers?" Billy guesses, Trini shakes her head. "What seems to be the problem, Trini?" She sits down and then folds the newspaper open to an article titled, "Hazardous Waste Dump Discovered! What this means for our Environment."

"This dump is literally ruining our environment!" Trini says angrily. "It's just been sitting here for years collecting hazardous waste. The fumes, we've all been breathing it in."

"That is awful, Trini," Billy agrees.

"So wait, we've been like breathing in toxic air?" Kimberly asks.

"Not exactly like that," Billy answers, "But it's extremely negative for environment. Especially if it's been here for long periods of time."

"Disgusting," Kimberly says.

"Yeah, I'm going to stage a formal protest to shut it down," Trini says, "This is just unacceptable."

"Trini, do you think you can handle a protest, on top of…_everything_?" Kim asks.

"It's better than just waiting around. We need to find balance, Kimberly. We can't let ourselves become less as people because of other responsibilities," Trini responds.

"Well, if you need help, I'm in," Billy says while putting his arm around Trini.

"Oh, yeah. Me too. Just let me know what I can do," Kim smiles.

There is a sudden rallying of students around the work-out area of the Youth Center. Students are cheering and making sounds of both encouragement and discouragement. Interested, Kimberly, Billy and Trini stand up and walk over to find Bulk working on a bench press. Jason and Zack are standing behind him and Skull is cackling and leading the cheers.

"112!" Skull counts off before Bulk finishes and sits up. "112! We have a winner!" Skull cheers and all the other students go wild, except for Jason and Zack – Jason especially has an expression of contempt.

"Maybe next time you'll beat me, loser!" Bulk says as he points to Jason.

"HAHAHAH, LOSER!" Skull echoes. While the rest of the students follow Bulk over towards the juice bar, Jason sits on the bench and basks in the brilliance of his failure.

"It's alright, Jason. Of course Bulk can press more. He's a planet," Zack jests, but Jason doesn't respond. "C'mon man, just let it go."

"I can't. I mean, it doesn't bother me that he beat me. I mean, it does. I mean," Jason shakes his head unsure of what he's trying to say, "I get that I'm not going to be best at everything. I'm not that egotistical, but I know I could beat him. But my mind is elsewhere, I'm not focused and my training habits have suffered."

"Jason, it's okay. Cut yourself some slack, we have a lot to handle," Kim chimes in. Her, Billy and Trini arriving just in time to hear the part of what he said.

"Yeah, I guess. I just expect more of myself," Jason sighs. "Sorry guys, I just need to go on run or something. I'll catch up with you guys later," and with that, Jason gets up and leaves the Youth Center.

"He needs to calm down," Kim says, "We're all tired and out of it."

"Yeah, I think Jason just puts too much pressure on himself," Trini agrees.

"You guys think we should try and cheer him up?" Zack asks.

"Yes, but wait. The Hazardous Waste Dump, we have to get down there before it closes," Trini appears stressed after saying this.

"What now?" Zack inquires.

"Long story," Kim answers, "Why don't you and Billy head down there and get all the information that you need and we'll go after Jason. Meet back here in, say, an hour?" Kim suggests.

"Affirmative. Let's go Trini," Billy says.

"Okay, bye guys!" Trini says before walking off with Billy.

Kim turns to Zack, "Okay, so where do you think Jason went?" she asks.

"Probably the park, knowing him. There's a running trail around it. He likes to run when he gets stressed out," Zack and Kim head out of the Youth Center and continue on a trail that heads straight towards the park. And sure enough, he was there. He is already halfway around the trail so Kim and Zack sit down at a picnic table and wait for him to come around.

"He looks so upset," Kim observes. "All of this triggered because he lost to Bulk?"

"I think it's more than that. Jackson's death. He blames himself a lot for that. He told me he wished he was more decisive when Zordon first came to us and maybe it would be different. The messed up part is that maybe it wouldn't have mattered either. And then the lying to his students, parents, he's just not used to it." Zack explains.

"I don't think any of us are. Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of lying, but never this much. I'm usually so open with my mom and my dad. Ever since their divorce, they've made a point to be as open and honest with me and to still be there for me whenever. And I've been keeping this enormous secret in and it's weighing me down," Kim says.

"Yeah, it's weighing me down, too. Maybe it'll get easier. Remember, we've only been Rangers for like a week," Zack says.

"Hey guys," Jason runs up to them and hunches over, placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He then sits across from them at table, "what are you doing here?"

"Just checking on you," Kim gets straight to the point, "I'm worried about you. I think we all are."

"I'm alright. I shouldn't have stormed off like that earlier, I just couldn't help it," Jason admits.

"Jason, it's alright for you to not be good at this yet. None of us are," Kim says. This seems to really hit Jason hard as it takes about a minute or so to fully respond.

"Yeah. I think it's that Zordon picked me to be the leader of this awesome team. I should be stronger and be able to help you guys through it. And I'm just as lost if not more lost. I don't know what it means to be a hero, or a leader in a do or die situation. I mean, I'm only Seventeen."

"Man, you just need to stop. You're gonna figure it out. We all are. But you're doing not doing yourself any good with this kind of attitude. Do I need to find you a girl or something?" Zack says, Jason looks up and smiles.

"Nah, I'm not trying to be with a girl right now. I know I couldn't handle that commitment on top of things," Jason answers.

"Oh right, you're more of a hit-it and quit-it kind of guy," Zack says, Jason shakes his head and rolls his eyes and Kim lightly smacks Zack on the side of the head.

"You're horrible," Kim laughs. Just when it seems like Jason is feeling better, it all changes. A woman's agonizing scream in the distance catches their attention and they all stand up, looking around. In the distance Putties are running amuck around the playground and other parts of the park. "Terrific. Rita is at it again," Kim complains.

"Let's go guys!" Jason takes off towards the playground with Zack and Kimberly close behind. Jason spots a woman and her child being harassed by the golem-like creatures, the woman making a valiant, yet failed effort at keeping them away. Jason runs towards them, jumps on top of a nearby table and then leaps into jump-kick, knocking one of the putties away and putting himself directly in-between the putties and the woman. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," the woman replies desperately. Jason kicks another Puttie away and manages to counter a punch made by another.

"You need to get out of here, now!" Jason orders. It doesn't take long for the woman to respond as she flees the park with her child. Zack began focusing on securing the perimeter around the park and making a path for people to escape, while Kimberly assists with stragglers hiding in the playground.

With the amount of Putties in the area, they knew they wouldn't last in their current forms and morphing was the only option. However, like Zordon said, they had to keep their identities a secret and couldn't morph with all the witnesses. Jason assisted Kimberly with getting the little kids out of the playground and to their parents and then met up with Zack quickly. There's an outdoor restroom area and the three of them retreat behind it. Looking around they didn't see any witnesses.

"Alright guys, now is as good a time as any," Jason says. He pulls out his morpher as does Kim and Zack and holds it in front of him, "It's morphin time!"

"Mastodon!" Zack yells and a black light surrounds him.

"Pterodactyl!" Kimberly yells and a pink light surrounds her.

"Tyrannosaurus!" Jason yells and a red light surrounds him.

All of them leap on top of the restroom facility to get a better view of the park where Putties are still swarming. Not another moment passes before Jason leaps into the fray. Jason pulls out his blaster and transforms it into his blade-form and begins cutting down the golems one by one. Zack also joins him, albeit without utilizing his blaster, and continues to mow through them and assist with civilians getting caught up in the action. Kimberly stays high with her blaster out, shootings Putties all around the park, reducing them to dust.

Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning falls from the sky and strikes the ground and a figure's silhouette begins to form. Not just a figure – a creature. Once the lightning subsides, a creature with great wings, claws, a headdress with yellow and blue stripes and lion-like face – a Sphinx, appears. The screams of surrounding civilians begins to intensify and Jason, Zack and Kimberly are left paralyzed with how to react.

Kimberly jumps down and joins Jason and Zack on the ground. Zack pulls out his blaster and takes aim along with Kimberly. Police sirens are heard in the background, approaching rapidly.

"Wonderful," Kim muses sarcastically. "What are we gonna do?"

"We have to get this thing away from people, and it'll make our job a lot easier if the Police aren't around since they're not our biggest fans," Jason says and he puts his hand on the side of his helmet, activating communication lines with Zordon, "Zordon come in!"

"I read you, Jason," Zordon responds.

"Rita has sent down some strange freak of a monster and a lot of people could get in the way. There is an old abandoned quarry or demolition area about fifty miles south of here. Can you transport us all there?"

"Yes and no. If you guys can make and hold physical contact, then Alpha can teleport all of you out of there, but only if you make contact. My censors are alerting me that the monster in question is Rita's diabolical King Sphinx. Use extreme caution, Rangers."

"Got it, Zordon. Over and out," Jason says. "Alright guys, we have to get close enough and then hold him down long enough for Alpha to teleport us out of here.

"Oh, is that all? Sounds easy enough," Kimberly says, her tone again laced with sarcasm.

"Now or never, guys!" Jason runs towards King Sphinx with the others in tow. Jason jumps in the air with his blade held high and then thrusts it down upon the creature. King Sphinx responds by raising claw and stopping them attack and then, with his other claw, grabbing Jason by the neck and holding him out.

"You will scream for me," King Sphinx growls.

"Let him go!" Kim shouts before released a barrage of blasts from her gun. Zack joins her and the combined efforts are enough for the creature to drop Jason.

"Hold it right there! Everyone freeze!" A police-man yells behind them in a megaphone. None of them listen and run towards Jason. The Police officer begins to make several more comments that are dismissed as well. After helping Jason up, Zack and Kim begin blasting the creature to keep some distance between them.

"Guys, we have to get him out of here. Too many people will get hurt," Jason pants while standing upright. "C'mon!" Yet again, Jason takes off towards the Sphinx and tackles its torso. Kim and Zack join behind him and each grabs one of his arms. Kimberly manages to also touch the side of her helmet to communicate with Zordon.

"Zordon, Alpha. Do it now, hurry!" she yells. In a matter of seconds, lights begin to surround them and there are teleported to a deserted, sandy area below various cliffs. When they arrive, King Sphinx has no problems throwing them all off of him.

"Awesome job, guys. Alright, now let's work on taking this guy down," Jason instructs.

"Idiots," King Sphinx scoffs. "You honestly think you can win?"

"We don't just think, we know!" Zack retorts. "Get ready for a good ole ass-whoopin!" With his blaster aimed and ready, he fires off several blasts and Kim joins him. King Sphinx uses his giant wings as a shield of sorts, deflecting the blasts away, rendering their shots useless. "Okay, then a physical altercation it is!"

"Let's do it guys!" Jason leads them towards the creature and manages a clean cut with his short-sword across King Sphinx's chest, but not before being knocked away. Kimberly comes in close and lands a kick to its stomach and another high-kick to its face, which pisses it off. King Sphinx grabs her leg and, like a rag-doll, slams her onto the ground. Zack interjects by slashing its hand with his blade forcing it to let go of Kimberly. Zack then began a series of slashes to its torso before being knocked away with its great claw.

"Okay, we may need a new plan of attack," Zack says as he helps Kimberly up. And then, abruptly, King Sphinx charges towards Jason and yet again grabs him by the neck. Kimberly and Zack both immediately begin full scale attacks on it to free their friend, but to no avail.

"You two are just getting in the way, leave us!" King Sphinx grows. His big wings extend out behind him and begin to flap rapidly, like a hummingbird. A gale force of wind generates and begins to push Zack and Kimberly back, the speed increases faster and faster and eventually the two are completely suspended in the air and blown miles away back, landing back in Angel Grove Park. The two of them moan and groan as they try and regain their footing.

"Oh no, where's Jason?" Kimberly groans. Once she gets up, she helps Zack up.

"Damn, I don't know. But that was a trip," Zack says.

"We have to get back to him," Kimberly says.

"FREEZE! YOUR ARE SURROUNDED! PLACE YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" A police officer calls out behind them, and then suddenly several officers are around them with guns pointed and ready.

"Ugh, great," Kimberly says. Slowly raising her hand to her helmet she manages to contact Zordon, "Zordon, teleport us to the command center, Hurry!"

"Stand by for teleportation!" Zordon says. Seconds later, Zack and Kim become enveloped in bright lights and teleport away. Moments later they appear in the command center, standing before Zordon and Alpha 5.

"Ay, yi, yi, yi!" Alpha cries, "The King Sphinx monster has Jason!"

"Rangers, observe the viewing globe!" Zack and Kimberly approach and see Jason and King Sphinx fighting in hand to hand combat, which means Jason was able to break free from the creature's choke-hold. Kimberly sighs in relief but it's fleeting.

"Zordon, can't you teleport him here?" Zack asks.

"Negative. It seems Rita has managed to put some kind of force-field around the two of them. I'm unable to get through to him at all. We're going to have to come up with another way," Zordon says.

"What about Billy and Trini? Have you made contact with them?" Kimberly asks.

"Unfortunately when any of you are not morphed, I do not have a way of getting in touch. Alpha is trying to locate them now," Zordon says.

"Trini and Billy are at the Waste Dump downtown. Trini, Billy and I are going to stage a protest to shut it down, you should find them there," Kim says.

"Got it, searching now!" Alpha replies. Zack and Kimberly helplessly watch as the King Sphinx tears into Jason. While he is putting up a fight, he isn't enough alone. And to make things worse, a golden light appears behind Jason and reveals himself to be Goldar.

"Oh no!" Kim cries.

"This can't get any worse," Zack agrees. "Alpha, hurry!"

Jason, with his short-sword in hand, slowly backs up as each of the creatures slowly begin to approach. With aches all over, Jason isn't sure how long he'll be able to last.

"Gimme a break, man!" he says to himself.

"What are you doing here?" King Sphinx mutters to Goldar.

"Making sure you don't screw this up," Goldar answers. "Rita wants his head and I will make sure it is delivered."

"No, I will make sure it's delivered!" King Sphinx retorts. "You'll just be getting in the way!" Noticing the bickering between them, Jason decides to capitalize on the opportunity.

"What, you couldn't handle me by yourself. I knew you were just a one-off creature. Why else would Goldar be here," Jason shouts, getting their attention and King Sphinx growls in protest.

"Silence!" Goldar shouts. King Sphinx turns to Goldar and pushes him aside.

"He's mine. Leave us!" King Sphinx commands. Goldar is silent for a minute.

"Very well, I'm being beckoned elsewhere. I will be back, and he better be taken care of by the time I return," Goldar warns before vanishing in a cascade of light. King Sphinx laughs maniacally and returns to face Jason head on.

"Your destruction begins here, Red Ranger," Sphinx says. "This isn't Goldar's victory, this is mine. I will have your head. Your blood with be on my hands and the reward with me mine and mine alone!" he yells.

"You're messed up in the head. You have no idea who you're dealing with," Jason retorts.

"We shall see," King Sphinx growls. He extends his wings and growls loudly and a battalion of Putties appear around him, "Take him down! Bring him to me! Do not fail me!" he orders and the foot-men comply.

"Damn, more of these guys," Jason adjusts his pose to a defensive position, anticipating his next attack. He feels his energy draining and knows he won't be able to hold them off for long. Not being able to make communication with the others or Zordon is troubling, but he's confident they're coming for him. "Guys. Zordon. Whatever you're planning, please hurry,"


	4. Teamwork - Part 2

**Teamwork**

**Part II**

The moon, so bright and mysterious. If someone were to simply gaze upon it, he or she would have no idea that Rita Repulsa's castle was submerged on the surface, plotting the destruction Earth. With wicked eyes she watches the Earth slowly turn in orbit. She approaches her telescope which allows her to peer closely onto the destruction unfolding millions of miles below her. A smile curves on her lips as she watches King Sphinx and her Putties savagely fight against the Red Ranger.

"Yes! Get him! Kill him!" she beckons before an evil laugh. "Zordon was foolish to think he could stop yet again. Unlike him, I've learned from my mistakes. And these warriors don't seem to be nearly as strong as his last crop of fools," she steps back from her telescope and turns towards Goldar who only just arrived moments earlier. "The Red Ranger is completely isolated, yes?"

"Yes, my Queen," Goldar responds. "The magical force field you created doesn't allow Zordon the ability to teleport the Red Ranger to safety."

"Good. Let's hope our King Sphinx makes quick work of him, then!" Rita says gleefully.

"Of course. But what of the other Rangers, my Queen? Surely they will try to interfere," Goldar says, turning Rita's smile into a frown.

"You're right. We can't have that. Finster!" She calls out and walks outside of her throne room and into her wizard's monster workshop. As she enters, she's greeted by the small puttie forms of some of her greatest monsters which she pets in passing. "Finster!" she calls again and finally, a white, impish looking creature with thick wired glasses and a blue apron appears.

"Yes, my queen?" he inquires.

"Ahh, Finster. I require another monster. One that will surely cause total devastation to the other Power Rangers. And make it fast!" she demands.

"Another monster, so soon?" he asks, this question more so towards Goldar who appears behind Rita.

"Yes, King Sphinx is single handedly focused on the Red Ranger. Our Queen requires something else to occupy the other Rangers so that the Red Ranger's destruction isn't delayed," Goldar explains.

"Of course," Finster replies, "In that case. A monster of brute force, capable of handling more than one Ranger at a time. Oh, I've got it!" he reaches down and pulls up a small-puttie monster that has noticeably large horns. "The Minotaur, remember him?"

"Ohhh, yes!" Rita responds with a wicked laugh, "He's perfect!"

"Yes, now he just needs an extra touch of something. Our dark magic mixed with some…dark chemicals. While studying the area the humans call Angel Grove, there is a large source of toxic energy. If I inject the Minotaur with growth serum and he is dropped into the toxic waste, he will become an even stronger force to be reckoned with." Finster says and Rita laughs again, extremely pleased.

"I will gladly deposit the monster in the toxic chemicals, you can leave it to me, my Queen!" Goldar says.

"Perfect, this is the best day ever. We will destroy the Power Rangers, Zordon and then the world!" Rita continues her diabolical laugh, prompting the others to join in. Finster takes a syringe and injects the small putty form of the Minotaur and then hands it to Goldar, who then vanishes in a bright gold light. Rita returns to her throne room and peers into her telescope, zooming in back and forth on both the Toxic Waste dump and the fight between King Sphinx and the Red Ranger.

Elsewhere, in Angel Grove, Trini and Billy are experiencing some complications with their attempt at a good deed. "What do you mean we can't protest here?" Trini's tone is low and angry. Billy and Trini didn't make it far, both of them can see the general office only feet away and the only thing between them is Chet, an esteemed worker of the Angel Grove Industrial Waste Dump.

"There's no law that says that!" Billy speaks up. Chet narrows his eyes, causing Billy to break eye contact and sort of cower behind Trini.

"Because, I said. Now get lost before you two get hurt," Chet scoffs at them and spits on the ground. Disgusted, they both back up.

"Charming," Billy mutters.

"Is that a threat?" Trini pushes back.

"Just a warning of caution. This place ain't going anywhere. Now beat it!" he yells. Trini raises her index and middle fingers and points to her eyes and then to his before turning on her heel and storming off in the other direction with Billy close behind her.

"Well, that could have gone better," Billy says.

"We're not done yet, Billy," Trini's response gives Billy pause. She turns her head and elaborates, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

"Why? Why is there more than one? That's a horrible reference!" Billy replies. Trini waves her hand dismissively.

"I just mean there is more than one way in there and I will be heard. This place is vile; it needs to go," she says. Billy shakes his head. He follows Trini who, is now completely hunched over the entire time to try and remain unseen, is going around the dump site to the back entrance. There is an extremely welcoming, rusty gate that all but falls over when Trini light taps it with her foot.

Staying low, they both enter and hide behind a stack of barrels. Trini's head slowly ascends to look out, and other than Chet, there is one other guy working who looks just as greasy and rude. Chet unwraps a piece of gum and throws the aluminum wrapper into what appears to be a vat of toxic waste. Her eyes travel from them to the front office where surely their manager is.

"This will do!" Shouts Goldar as he suddenly appears behind the two unsuspecting workers. Just as they try and run, Putty's appear and block their escape.

"Billy!" Trini exasperates. As she's about to get up, Billy holds her back, "What? We have to save them!"

"Not like this, Trini. We have to morph, while they can't see us," Billy says. Trini nods her head and together they pull out their morphers, holding them to the sky.

"Triceratops!" Billy says. A blue light surrounds him.

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!" Trini yells. A yellow light surrounds her. They both jump out from behind the barrels and make their presence known.

"Goldar, stop!" Trini commands.

"Get them before they interfere!" Goldar commands. The putty's begin to spread out throughout the dumpsite. Using their terrain to their advantage, Trini and Billy began knocking over high piles of barrels, tires and other hazardous garbage on top of the creatures to subdue them.

"No! No! Please don't!" Chet screams as a Putty begins to hover him over the vat of toxic chemicals. Trini pulls out her blaster and shoots the creatures dead on, reducing them to dirt and Chet falls back. Trini jumps on top of a barrel and begins to climb her way up to the platform where Goldar is.

"I don't have the time for this," Goldar says. He takes the small, animated putty figurine and heads for the vat of toxic waste. "Mighty Minotaur! Rita requests your assistance!" He tosses the creature into the vat and immediately it begins to bubble. Trini manages to reach the platform unnoticed and makes her way to Chet and his co-worker.

"Okay you guys, you need to get out of here," Trini whispers urgently. They both stare at her in disbelief, "Now!" she urges. They both get and begin to take off, however their noisiness gains the attention of Goldar and some Putties. Trini crouches and creates a defensive posture. She sweeps a Putty to the ground with her leg and then spins her body and kicks another Putty into the vat of toxic, causing it to bubble even further.

"No! You're going to mess everything up!" Goldar yells and he charges towards Trini with his sword. He swings down, but she is able to evade with ease. She kicks his sword-hand away and begins a barrage of quick jabs to his abdomen. She is taken off guard when he raises his knee into her stomach and then manages to slash her with his sword.

"Trini!" Billy yells from below the platform, kicking two Putties away from his path. Pulling out his blaster, he runs towards the staircase and opens fire on every Puttie in his way. When he finally manages to get to the top, he fires another blast at Goldar, knocking him back.

"Thanks, Billy!" Trini says and she gets up from the ground.

"Pests. Nothing but filthy pests. I'm going to look forward to destroying you one by one, starting with your esteemed leader, the Red Ranger," he says. This causes Billy and Trini to look at each other in confusion.

"What did you do to him?" Trini urges to which Goldar just laughs. "Nothing worse than what's going to happen to you!" Goldar turns his attention to the vat of toxic waste that has stop bubbling and a figure begins to emerge. A creature with great horns, piercing green orbs for eyes, with giant limbs holding a spiked mace and a shield. The Minotaur steps out of the vat and onto the platform next to Goldar, dripping with toxic sludge.

"Oh my god," Trini says with dismay.

"That's impossible, that Toxic should have melted whatever Goldar threw in there. It's basic chemistry," Billy then raises his blaster in front of him, "Any ideas?" he asks.

"Billy, Trini. Stand by for teleportation," Alpha's voice comes in loud and clear in their helmets and relief sweeps over them. Blue and yellow lights surround them and they are gone.

Moments later at the command center they are greeted by Alpha, Zack, Kimberly and Zordon. Trini and Billy remove their helmets and are immediately embraced by Kimberly.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Kim says. "That thing is so gross. You were right about wanting to shut that place down, Trini."

"Yes, but I never could have predicted this. Rita used our own pollution against us," Trini replies.

"Rita has proven herself to be very resourceful today. However, she is still very narrow minded. All she seeks is revenge. We have the advantage in her blind spots," Zordon says.

"What about Jason? Where is he?" Trini asks; Kim and Zack share an expression of discontent.

"He's trapped," Zack says simply and then points to the viewing globe. Jason is still battling a swarm of Putties and avoiding attacks from King Sphinx. "We're working on a solution to get him out."

"Rita has some sort of force field around him not letting him or anything escape," Kim explains, "So teleportation is useless."

"So, we can't get him out. But what about getting things in?" Billy wonders aloud.

"Brilliant observation, Billy," Zordon replies.

"I'm lost," Kim says with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh, no, I get it!" Trini says, "Maybe we can send ourselves in?"

"I doubt it. But maybe we can send something in to help him," Billy says, "I'm not sure what, though," he scratches his head.

"Rangers, there is a way. The time has come for you to learn of the Power Crystals and the Power Weapons," Zordon begins, the rangers step away from the viewing globe and turn to their mentor, "The Power Crystals, forged from your very own power, links each of you to each other and the morphing grid. With the Power Crystals, you'll never be apart. Behold!" Four white lights flash before the rangers prompting each of them to hold out their hands, and four long, spherical crystals in their colors appear.

"So, if what I'm gathering from your hypothesis, Zordon, if Jason were to utilize these, it would teleport us to him?" Billy asks.

"Correct," Zordon replies.

"So, all we have to do is teleport these to Jason. They're small enough in mass, so it should work," Billy says.

"Should we test it first? It doesn't work, something could happen to these right?" Trini asks.

"It is a possibility," Alpha answers.

"Which is why we'll send something else first. Onto the Power Weapons. Each of you have a unique weapon infused with great power. With the constant thread of Putties and Rita's monsters, the time has come to arm yourself more appropriately." Alpha takes the crystals from the rangers' hands so that Zordon can bestow their weapons to them. "Billy," Zordon begins and a long, blue and white lance appears in his hands, "This is your Power Lance. A weapon of great power and range," A bow then appears in Kimberly's hand, "Kimberly, behold your Power Bow, accurate and strong," An axe then appears in Zack's hands, "Zackary, behold the Power Axe, lightning quick and hard as diamond," and finally two daggers appear in Trini's hands, "Trini, your Power Daggers are feather-light and true as arrows." All of them marvel at their new weapons.

"What about for Jason?" Zack asks.

"Behold, Jason's Power Sword," A light emerges and forms the silhouette of a beautiful silver sword with a red handle and tyrannosaurus insignia. "It is the key to all of your weapons powers and we will need to send this to him immediately if he ever hopes to defend himself against King Sphinx any longer," Zordon explains.

"So, the sword first. And then the crystals?" Kim asks.

"Correct," Zordon answers.

"We can put the crystals in this small chest. It should be small enough to break through Rita's force field," Alpha says as he places each of the crystals in there.

"Wait!" Kim says and rushes over to her bag and grabs a pen and paper, "I'm writing some instructions down for Jason. It's not as if he's going to know what to do with these when he sees them,"

"Good point. If I saw a bag of crystals I'd be thinking: PAWN SHOP!" Zack says, the others giggle but the humor is missed by Alpha and Zordon. Kim folds the note and places it inside with the crystals and closes it shut. With Billy's help, Alpha inputs teleportation code for the Sword and the chest. In a bright light, the Sword disappears and the chest disappears moments later. All eyes then fall on the viewing globe, hoping their plan works.

In the quarry, Jason isn't having the best of times and he immediately feels his powers becoming weaker and weaker.

"Man, I wish the others were here," he admits to himself while striking a Putty away with his fist. At that moment, King Sphinx joins in the fray, charging towards Jason with his Shepherds-Staff. Jason deflects a strike with his short-sword but is then knocked back with King Sphinx's great paw.

"You'll never win, human!" the Sphinx taunts. Jason kicks a Putty away while on the ground pushes himself up to a standing position. A white light appears before him and forms the Power Sword. Noticing the details of the tyrannosaurus insignia, Jason concludes that it's his and immediately reaches for it. "What is that? How did that appear?!" King Sphinx yells.

"Looks like my friends are just smarter than yours," Jason replies. Once the sword is in his hands, his strength comes back full force; a rejuvenation of energy envelopes him and provides him with the willpower to continue. As Putty's begin to swarm him once again, Jason doesn't feel the same helplessness as before. Jason charges forward and all but slices the first Putty in half with his new blade. The others take notice of this become reluctant to attack.

"Cowards, get in there!" King Sphinx yells, yet they disobey and then retreat altogether. "Fine, I'll handle this myself," he growls and charges. They meet head on and are able to match each other move for move. When Jason strikes down with his sword, King Sphinx parry's with his staff. When King Sphinx kicks, Jason blocks with his knee.

This exchange continues for several minutes until finally Jason's speed prevails and lands a fatal cut across King Sphinx's chest. He growls in pain and backs up a couple of spaces.

"Seems like a good time to leave, huh?" Jason taunts, mimicking the same tone that King Sphinx used only moments before.

"Shut up! I never retreat from a battle. I will have your head, Red Ranger!" he growls angrily. Jason charges again and manages to land a couple more clean cuts to the Sphinx, causing him to become much more clumsy and unfocused in battle.

"Enough!" Goldar yells from a distance. "I leave you in charge of one thing. I strictly said that I wanted his head before I returned and it looks like you're the one about to be decapitated."

"Leave us!" King Sphinx yells, but Goldar ignores him and approaches them both.

"I knew you didn't have what it took. But fear not, the Red Ranger will still be destroyed today. Our Queen has other plans for us," Goldar's vague statement leaves Jason feeling uneasy. Goldar raises his hands to the sky, "My Queen, we are ready for your power!"

Dark clouds begin to form and thunder sounds off before Rita's recognizable, maniacal laugh fills the sky.

"Magic wand, make my monsters grow!" She yells and her magical staff descends upon the earth, landing firmly in the ground. Its ruby jewel releases a cascade of crimson energy that surrounds both Goldar and King Sphinx, making them gigantic in size; easily thirty times taller.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jason says. Both Goldar and King Sphinx begin to laugh as they look upon Jason, only the size of an ant to them. King Sphinx takes a step forward in an attempt to crush him, which Jason barely manages to escape. Goldar releases fire-bolts from his eyes, hitting the ground around Jason causing him to fall back. King Sphinx tries to strike him down with his staff but misses, just barely as Jason rolls out of the way.

Another white light emerges in front of Jason and lands on a hill before him. Jason takes off in that direction, avoiding blasts from Goldar and being stepped on by the giants. He struggles with the sandy, up-hill terrain but manages to grab the chest and opens it. He sees five crystals, all of them representing the colors of each of the rangers. He unfolds the note that reads:

"Jason, throw our crystals in the air. It will lead us to you," in Kim's handwriting. Jason takes the blue, black, pink and yellow crystals in his hand and looks up at the two giants.

"Alright you guys, game over. Give a warm welcome to my friends!" he yells as he tosses the crystals in the air. They begin to glow and then strike the ground quickly like lightning, revealing the four silhouettes of the other rangers, running towards Jason.

"Jason!" Kim yells. Jason leaps down from the hill and reunites with his friends.

"Fools, you will all die together!" King Sphinx growls, slamming his staff on the ground which they all manage to evade.

"Damn, how are we supposed to take both of them down?" Zack says.

"Rangers, power blasters!" Jason commands. They all pull out their blasters and fire shots at King Sphinx, but it does nothing. "Damn!" Jason curses.

"Rangers!" Zordon's voice comes in to their helmets, much to Jason's surprise.

"Alright, the effects of Rita's force field must have been lifted," Jason says ecstatically. "We read you, Zordon," he says.

"The time has come for you to use the power of your Dino-Zords. They will aid you in fighting off King Sphinx and Goldar. But please hurry, the evil Minotaur is attacking Angel Grove Central Park as well."

"Evil Minotaur?" Jason asks.

"Long story," Trini interjects. Jason accepts the answer and moves on.

"Alright guys, you heard him. Let's get down to business. We need Dino-zord power! Now!" Jason yells and the ground begins to quake, causing imbalance to even Goldar and King Sphinx. "Tyrannosaurus Dino-Zord Power!" Jason yells and the ground before him begins to separate, releasing fire and smoke and a large growl of the Tyrannosaurus zord, who ascends from the ground.

"Mastodon Dino-Zord Power!" Zack yells.

"Triceratops Dino-Zord Power!" Billy yells.

"Saber-Toothed Tiger Dino-Zord Power!" Trini yells.

The Mastodon and Triceratops Zord come charging around the corning of the quarry and the Saber-Tooth Tiger appears at the top of a cliff and jumps down to join them, all of them resting next to the Tyannosaurus.

"Pterodactyl Dino-Zord Power!" Kim yells, and a screeching sound fills the sky followed by the Pterodactyl Zord flying in circles overhead. "Oh my gosh," Kim says in awe. All of them are completely blown away by what they see.

"Oh, no! It's the zords!" Goldar yells. "How did they get the power to summon them?"

"No matter. I'll deal with them myself if you're afraid," King Sphinx retorts and then charges for the Tyrannosaurus zord.

"No time to waste, Rangers. You are their pilots. Go to your Zords and defeat Goldar and King Sphinx once and for all!" Zordon says.

"You got it, Zordon!" Jason replies. "Rangers, let's do this!"

- (Stay tuned for parts 3 & 4!)


	5. Teamwork - Part 3

**Teamwork**

**Part 3**

The zords roar with life, more life than any of the rangers were anticipating. Clearly, they could see the metal-plated on their zords, but it was almost as if they possess actual spirits within them. Jason looks up at the Tyrannosaurus Dino-Zord and lifts his arm up toward it.

"Guys, let's do this!" The very next second, Jason leaps into the air and is teleported into his Zord. Looking at each in amazement, the others follow suit. Jason materializes into the cock-pit of his Zord and is amazed with everything he sees. "Billy must be going nuts right now," he jokes. "Alright Rangers, let's take these guys down."

"Zack here, ready to go," Zack responds after arriving in his zord.

"Billy here, all systems go," Billy says with extreme enthusiasm.

"Trini here, ready to rock!" Trini says.

"Kimberly here. Hey, nice stereo!" Kim muses.

"Alright guys, spread out!" Jason commands as King Sphinx heads straights each of them, his shepherd-staff extended. Jason twists his control pad and makes his zord swing its mighty tail around which successfully knocks King Sphinx away.

Goldar appears to strike at Jason and he counters with his zord grabbing Goldar's sword with its claw and pushing him back. Jason presses a couple of buttons and fire ball is released from his zords mouth and knocks Goldar back, tripping over the Mastodon zord and falling over it.

"Nice!" Zack cheers through the intercoms.

"Rangers, now is the time to figure out your zords. I'm starting to think all of them have some pretty cool abilities," Jason says.

"You don't gotta tell me twice," Zack begins messing with his controls and figures out how to make his zord move forward. "Alright, Mastodon, let's kick some ass." He pushes the controls and the Mastodon moves forward and releases air from his mighty trunk. Goldar gets up and runs toward Zack and strikes down the Mastodon zord with his sword. Circuits and sparks begin to go off in the cockpit around Zack. "Oh hell no," Zack retorts.

"Zack! Are you okay?" Kimberly's voice shouts through the intercom. "What can I do to help?"

"This guy just needs to chill," Zack says, he enters a code in the controls and the Mastodon releases an icy wind that begins to freeze Goldar's arm.

"What are you doing to me?" Goldar shouts. The ice continues and begins to freeze part of his abdomen as well. From above Kimberly soars over Goldar and almost makes direct impact, but Kimberly pulls up at the last minute and does a loop in the sky.

"Okay, you can do this, Kim," Kimberly says to herself. "You just got your license, you can handle a…jet." She manages to fly over Goldar again, this time without making a loop. "Okay, what kind of fire power do I have? What does this button do?" She presses an ominous red button below her steering wheel and two red laser beams fire from the Pterodactyl's wings, blasting Goldar back and breaking through the ice.

"Nice shot, Kim!" Trini calls out. "I'll bet we all have some fire power."

"Affirmative. Trini, what do you say we dethrone this Sphinx?" Billy says. The Triceratops rolls towards the King Sphinx and Billy begins looking through his systems, familiarizing himself with his Zords weapon mechanisms. "Oooh, this'll be good," he coos. He enters in a code and the horns of the Triceratops blast off with chains connected to them and they wrap themselves around King Sphinx, holding him in place.

"Let go of me you fool!" King Sphinx yells.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear please," Billy taunts. He then enters another code with sends an electrical current through the chains and electrocuting the monster.

"Nice job, Billy," Trini cheers. She also begins to enter in code after figuring out that her Zord has a canon in its tail. "Clever," she muses. Once the code is fully entered, Trini presses a yellow button below her control panel and the tail of the Saber-Toothed Tiger extends and turns 120 degrees. "Too cool," a golden surge of energy blasts from the tip of the tail and hits King Sphinx right in the chest.

"This ends here!" Goldar says as he appears behind King Sphinx and cuts through the chains binding him. Billy retracts his zords horns and tries to back up, but not before Goldar manages to kick the Triceratops in the face, sending it rolling back into a hill. The Triceratops roars with protest and Billy makes a sound of dismay.

"Billy! Are you alright?" Jason yells.

"Yeah, I think so," Billy responds.

"I got this," Trini says. She pushes her controls forward and her zord jumps into the air and slashes Goldar with its claws. She tries to do the same thing again but to no avail as Goldar hits it away and Trini – and her zord – go crashing into the ground.

"Oh, no! Trini!" Kimberly calls out.

"I'm fine," Trini responds and her zord slowly starts to get up.

"We're losing our momentum here guys. We need to swish it up a bit," Jason says.

"Rangers, remember that you can bring your zords together!" Zordon's voice comes through the intercom. "Utilize your power crystals!"

"Oh yeah! The megazord!" Billy responds.

"It's worth a shot, Rangers power up your crystals!" Jason commands. He holds his hand up and his red power crystal appears, he then places it in its appropriate slot which makes the entire zord light up. The others follow Jason's instructions and their zords begin to glow as well. The zords run towards each other and begin to transform. The Triceratops and Saber-Toothed Tiger form the base. The Mastodon becomes the center and reveals two large cannons, the Tyrannosaurus forms the main, resting on top of the Mastodon and the Pterodactyl rest on the Tyrannosaurus's back. The main cockpits enlarges and all the rangers teleport into it.

"This is so freaking amazing," Billy says.

"Oh man, this is gonna be intense!" Zack agrees. Both Goldar and King Sphinx begin to approach the new zord with their weapons ready to strike.

"Alright guys, let's see what thing can do!" Jason says. He presses a red button which sends two large cannon blasts at both of them, causing the monsters to spiral in the air.

"I know we got more than that guys," Billy says. He begins entering some code, "Oh yeah, we've got way more than that." Goldar gets up and charges towards them.

"This has gone on for long enough!" Goldar shouts.

"Walked into a trap," Billy says. He enters a long code and suddenly laser beams from the eyes of all the zords blast Goldar away. "Alright guys, I think now we should utilize our Megazord mode to finish this up. With Goldar down, King Sphinx should be easy."

"I agree. Megazord mode, now!" Jason commands and he places his on the Megazord fuction, causing it to respond accordingly. The zord transforms one more time, this time in its final form – Saber-Toothed Tiger and Triceratops as the feet, Mastodon as the arms, Tyrannosaurus as the main body and face and Pterodactyl making up the chest plate.

"Megazord activated!" An automated voice reminiscent of Alpha sounds off.

"I will still make you all scream!" King Sphinx yells as he charges forward, "Your blood will rain upon this earth."

"Ew, sick," Kim replies.

King Sphinx swings his staff at the Megazord which is countered with its fist. It then kicks the zord with his foot, causing sparks to cascade off of its metal form.

"First scratch is always the worst," Zack says. He presses a button which makes the Megazord punch King Sphinx directly in the face, causing a strange blue-blood appears from its nose.

"You'll pay for that!" he screams. His great wings extend outward and he begins to flap them excessively, causing the Megazord to lose its footing and slide back.

"Rangers, try and hold your ground!" Jason commands, yet it makes no difference. The Megazord begins to ascend in the air and fly back until it hits the side of a rocky cliff. The impact is so great that much of the rock crumbles around them, sparks begin to fly and smoke starts to fill the air around them in the cockpit. Alarms begin sounding off and nothing the Rangers input helps get the zord to its feet.

"Our systems seemed to be overloaded and it's having trouble accessing the reserve power supply it has," Billy says.

"Solution?" Jason inquires.

"I'm still figuring it out. But it looks like there might be a connection problem. One of us might need to get down there. And by one of us, I mean me."

"Billy, that's really dangerous," Trini says.

"I know, but I'm the only one that'll know what to look for," Billy replies.

"Alright, we'll keep trying to get us off the ground. Let us know what you need us to do. And be careful Billy, I'm sure King Sphinx is looking for us," Jason says. Billy gets up from his seat and exits out the back door, which leads to the neck of the Megazord. He quickly ducks back in when some giant rocks begin to slide down it.

Taking in a deep breath, Billy jumps down from the neck and lands on the right shoulder. He then scales down from the shoulder and slides down the arm which is appropriately placed next to the abdomen area. However the distance makes him a little nervous and he looks down to the rocky depths below, which doesn't help anything.

"Okay, Billy you can do this," he says. He leaps across manages to grab onto a ledge with his hands and he pulls himself up.

"There you are!" King Sphinx's voice comes from above the cliffs and he manages to land in front of them. He punches the Megazord's chest over and over again, causing more sparks to fly and Billy to lose his balance a few times. "Okay, I gotta hurry!"

"Billy, are you alright?" Jason calls out through the communicator-link.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Almost there!" When Billy reaches the back of the Megazord, the area he needs to get through is blocked by a bunch of rocks. "I don't have time for this!" he pulls out his laser and begins firing at will, reducing the rocks to dirt and making the passage accessible. Billy reattaches the main power cord to the reserve power outlet, restoring full power to the Megazord.

"Billy, did it work?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, you should be all good. Try it!" Billy responds. Jason begins to input codes and the alarms go quiet.

"Great job, Billy!" Trini cheers. Jason pushes the controls forward, however with the constant barrage of punches from King Sphinx, getting up becomes more difficult.

"Damn it. He's keeping us down," Jason curses.

"Don't worry, Jason. I'll handle it," Billy says.

"What do you mean?" Jason asks, but Billy doesn't respond. "Billy, what are you doing?" Again, no response. Billy keeps his balance and manages to come around to the front of the body unnoticed by King Sphinx. Billy takes out his laser once again and aims it directly at King Sphinx's face. Once he has the shot, he pulls the trigger and a red beam hits directly into King Sphinx's eye, causing the same blue-blood to gush out and the monster to fall back.

"Head shot for the win!" Billy laughs.

"Thanks, Billy, hold on tight, we're getting up." Jason once again pushes his controls forward and the Megazord returns to its upright position.

"I'm going to rip you apart zord by zord!" King Sphinx yells. He extends his hand out, not to punch, but to grab Billy. "But I'll start by biting this one's head off!"

"Oh no! Billy!" Kim shouts, "Jason we have to do something!"

"We have to be careful, anything we do could hurt Billy!" Zack says. King Sphinx squeezes Billy in his hand causing him to cry out in pain.

"Yes, scream for me!" King Sphinx laughs.

"You first!" Billy yells. King Sphinx is puzzled by this at first, but then sees Billy free one of his arms from his grasp. In Billy's hand is the blaster which he turns into a blade and stabs into King Sphinx's hand over and over again. King Sphinx cries out in pain and lets go of Billy, causing him to free-fall in the air.

"Hang on, buddy! Get ready for teleportation!" Jason presses a button and a blue light surround Billy and brings him back into the Megazord cockpit. They all turn in their seats to evaluate their friend, "You alright man?"

"Let's just destroy him already," Billy sighs. Jason nods his head in agreement and returns to front-face position.

"Alright guys, it's time to summon the Power Sword!" Jason instructs. After entering a code, he presses a button which causes a beam of light to appear from the sky and touches the ground. The silhouette of a great sword begins to form and the Megazord reaches out to grab it.

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" At this point, King Sphinx is belligerent with anger and begins to attack unpredictably. However, his fighting becomes unfocused and all of his attacks are easily countered.

"I'm so over you," Kimberly says. "Can we end this now?"

"Yes," Jason answers. He enters some more code into the systems and an electrical current begins to surge through to the tip of the Power Sword. "Good riddance, King Sphinx!" The Megazord raises the sword to the sky and, with all of its might, it swings down cutting King Sphinx is half right down the middle, and as a result, causing him to explode with ichor and guts flying everywhere.

"Oh, I'm gonna be sick," Kim gags.

"One down, one to go." Jason says as Goldar approaches. When Goldar sees what happened to his comrade he pauses.

"You didn't!" he yells in disbelief.

"You're next, Goldar!" Jason replies.

"Goldar, return to me. Your job here is done. The rest is up to the Minotaur!" Rita's voice sounds off in the sky and dark clouds begin to form around Goldar.

"But, my Queen. I must avenge King Sphinx," Goldar replies.

"You argue with me, Goldar? Return to me now!" she yells, causing thunder to crash all around them.

"You got lucky this time Rangers. Just remember, we have another creature for you to worry about," Goldar begins to laugh and then disappears in a golden light.

"Oh man, he got away!" Zack slams his fists on his monitor.

"I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him, Zack," Jason responds. "Zordon," Jason begins after hitting the telecommunication button, "Can you take us to the Minotaur?"

"Yes, Jason. However, you must do it without your zords." Zordon replies.

"What, we could crush him easily!" Zack replies.

"Your zords need time to replenish their energy." Zordon says.

"I don't think that's our only problem…" Billy says as he points to the sky and a Fighter jet flies over them. Then another. And another.

"Wait, are those Military?" Jason asks.

"Yes. And not just that, look over there!" Billy points to an adjacent cliff where two tanks are set up, poised to fire.

"Damn, we just can't catch a break. How long will it take for them to realize that we're the good guys?" Zack says. Just then a weird frequency begins to come in through their communication intercom.

"Billy, what is that?" Trini asks.

"Some kind of message, hold on." Billy begins to enter a series of codes and twists several dials before the message becomes clear.

"This General Jacobs of the United States Air Force," the voice begins.

"Oh my god…" Kim sighs.

"Disarm yourselves, Power Rangers and surrender to the United States Government. If you refuse to do so, we will open fire upon you. Do not make this harder than it needs to be. I repeat, surrender and no one will get hurt." General Jacobs's message ends. All of them are silent and look to Jason for an answer, but he doesn't have one.

"Jason, what should we do?" Trini asks.

"We can't surrender," Jason responds.

"Jason, you're not really suggesting that we fight the United States Military, are you?" Trini asks. Again, silence and confusion, panic and fear begin to take over.


	6. Teamwork Part 4

**Teamwork**

**Part 4**

The military jets soar above them, more and more coming each second. All the Rangers look to Jason for guidance, but he doesn't have an answer. On the adjacent cliffs more and more tanks begin to appear and take their aim. They only have moments to react before the Airforce attacks.

"We can't fight back. We don't need to start a war with our own people," Jason finally says and Trini lets out a sign of relief. "That being said, I'm not sure how we should handle this situation.

"If we leave now, they'll surely follow us to wherever the Minotaur is and make it harder to beat it," Billy points out.

"But if we stay here too long, they'll attack us for sure," Kim says.

"Kim, how confident are you at flying your zord?" Jason asks. Kim doesn't respond right away and thinks on his question. Having only gotten into it today, she couldn't say she was adept at it.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it, why?" she asks.

"If you don't feel comfortable with this, we'll think of something else. While the rest of us and our zords disappear and head to take on the minotaur, you can draw out their fire and lead them on a wild goose chase, and then when you're far enough, you and your zord can disappear and join us."

"That's really risky, Jason. Those are experienced pilots out there. No offense, Kim, but they certainly outclass you," Billy says.

"No. It's a good idea. We can't have them in our way. I'll do it. But I swear to god if they blow me up, I'm never talking to you again," Kim's threat makes them all laugh.

"You ready, Kim?" Jason asks. Kim breathes in deep and nods her head. Jason presses a pink button and she teleports out of the main cockpit and into the cockpit of her Pterodactyl zord.

"I repeat, stand down Power Rangers!" General Jacobs's voices once again comes through the intercom.

"Zordon, we're ready for transport. All of us but Kimberly, she's going to be our distraction," Jason says.

"Understood. Stand by for teleportation," Zordon instructs. At that point, the Pterodactyl zord detaches itself from the main body of the Megazord and begins to ascend into the air with a loud screech. The rest of the Megazord begins to dematerialize slowly but surely.

"Fire!" General Jacobs's voice comes in loud over the intercom and two of the military tanks open fire on the Megazord. Just before impact, the Megazord completely dematerializes and the blast hits the cliffs behind it, causing the rock foundation to crumble to the ground. Kim flies over them and gains the attention of the fighter jets.

"Alright boys, who wants to play follow the leader?" Kim teases.

"Follow that aircraft!" General Jacob's voice comes into Kim's intercom.

"I guess his frequency is still attached to mime. Thank you, Billy," she says. Kimberly pushes her acceleration control forward and takes off in the sky with nearly a dozen fighter jets in tow.

Meanwhile, outside Angel Grove Central Square, Jason, Billy, Zack and Trini have successfully teleported to the top of the main parking garage and are watching the destruction below.

"Man, the city clean-up crews haven't even finished up cleaning up the last part, yet," Zack says, placing his hands on his helmet in grief. The Minotaur is terrorizing the city. Fortunately, it looks as if the Police were able to set up a perimeter and it doesn't look as if any civilians are present. However, the Putties seem to easily be over-powering the officers.

"Guys, we have to get down there now! Look!" Trini points to a police vehicle heading straight for the Minotaur, attempting to run it over. The Minotaur swings its nailed club and makes direct contact with the police car, sending it spiraling away and into building, exploding on impact.

"Holy sh – " Zack begins but is interrupted by Jason.

"Guys, we need to destroy that thing, now," Jason holds up his hand "Power Sword!" his new weapon appears in his hands in a bright light.

"Power Axe!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Daggers!" Billy, Trini and Zack's weapons appear in unison. Jason looks back at his team and nods his head. He then turns and jumps off the building and lands on his feet, unaffected.

"Ah, I was expecting you Rangers," says the Minotaur. "Putty Patrol! Arise!" He slams his great club on the ground and several Putty's emerge from the ground.

"What's a party without a welcome wagon," Jason says sarcastically. He charges forward and slices a Putty in half, reducing it to rubble. Zack, Billy and Trini jump from the building and land behind Jason. "Guys, let's clean house."

Zack throws his axe and it pierces the chest of a Putty, turning it to dust immediately. He then run towards another Putty and bends down and turns his body into a sweep position, kicking the Putty's feet out from under it. He picks up his axe and slams it down on the Putty's chest, destroying it.

Billy charges forward swinging his lance around, knocking Putty after Putty to the side as if it were nothing. A Putty leaps into the air and brings its large fist down towards Billy, but he manages to block it with his lance and sends the Putty spiraling away with a kick to the stomach.

Trini's strikes are deadly and accurate with her daggers. She twirls them in her hand for momentum and then delivers quick, finishing jabs. A Putty moves to grab her to which Trini responds with knocking away its hand and slicing across its arm, amputating it. With the Putty in distress she deliver three quick stabs to its chest and it crumbles to dust.

"Enough of this!" yells the Minotaur who jumps into the fray. He runs towards Trini and swings his massive club at her. She manages to jump back just in time to avoid a direct hit and she closely begins to watch the Minotaur's movements. It swings again and Trini jumps back again. She lunges forward with her daggers hoping to make a blow to his chest plate, but is blocked by its shield and is pushed back. She attempts another lunge, this time aiming for his side, however he was anticipating this and swings his club at just the right moment knock Trini back and sends her flying into a car windshield.

"Trini!" Jason yells. She doesn't respond and isn't moving. The Minotaur begins to approach her.

"I got this!" Zack yells and he twists his axe around, grabbing the blade part and cocking the handle like a shotgun. "Axe-blaster mode!" he calls out. He pulls a trigger and a black force of energy is released, hitting the Minotaur from behind. It scowls in pain and then turns to face Zack. Jason cuts through another Putty and then runs over to Zack to assist with the fight.

"Billy, check on Trini!" Jason instructs. Billy sweeps a Putty to the ground and delivers a finishing strike to its neck, decapitating it. He looks up and sees Trini still not moving on the windshield of a vehicle and runs to her.

"Trini, are you okay?" he asks as she pulls her off of the vehicle. She doesn't respond. "Trini? Trini, wake up!" she grumbles in pain but still doesn't say anything.

Jason and Zack are matched blow for blow with the Minotaur, neither side gaining any ground. Jason strikes with his sword and the Minotaur blocks with its shield. The Minotaur swings his club and Zack parry's it with his Axe. And with more Putty's randomly appearing, it makes it trickier to defend.

"Oh man, I hope Kim gets here fast," Jason says.

Hundreds of miles away and thousands of feet in the air, Kimberly is leading Airforce jets to nowhere. Kim looks down at her radar screen and sees two missiles locked onto her.

"Not again," she grumbles. They have been firing nonstop and it was becoming harder to evade each time. She flies towards a cliff and manages to pull up at the last second, causing both of the missiles to explode on the impact. "Okay boys, you're boring me."

One jet begins to open fire with his machine gun attachment and manages to clip one of the Pterodactyl's wings. A censor goes off as well as an alarm, however Kimberly's computer screen does reassure her the damage is minimal.

"Zordon, I think I'm ready for teleportation whenever you are," Kimberly says into her intercom. "Are the others alright?"

"I hear you, Kimberly. Alpha is working on the teleportation right away. The others are having some trouble dealing with the Minotaur. However, when you arrive you should urge Jason to bring all the weapons together to form the Weapon Blaster." Zordon explains.

"The weapon blaster?"

"Yes, it should be enough to destroy the Minotaur." Zordon replies. Another censor goes off and Kim realizes her other wing has also been clipped.

"Zordon, I could really use an exit strategy here. I don't know how much damage the Pterodactyl can take," Kim says with distress.

"Prepare for teleportation. You'll be heading to Angel Grove Central Square with the others," says Alpha. In a matter of seconds, Kimberly and her zord dematerialize and is gone from the air completely. Kim then reappears on top of the parking garage, the same as the others before. She sees Putty's appearing and helping the Minotaur attack Zack and Jason. She looks for Trini and Billy and finds them, but Trini is still motionless on the ground with Billy hovering over her.

"Oh no, Trini!" she gasps. With all the others using their new power weapons, Kimberly realizes she needs hers as well. "Power Bow!" she calls out and it appears in her hands. With her left hand she holds the bow and with her right she pulls back the bowstring and a pink arrow materializes. A Putty grabs Jason around his neck from behind and is holding him still. "Not on my watch!" Kimberly releases the bowstring and the arrow cuts through the air, piercing the creatures back and forcing it let go. Jason swings his sword around to cut it in half and looks around, searching for his savior. "Up here!" Kim calls.

"Thanks!" Jason replies with a salute gesture and then he returns his attention to the Minotaur. Kim stays where she is and decides she'll be effective from above. She pulls back her bowstring and fires another arrow, destroying a Putty. And another. And another. Completely clearing the field of Putty's. Once finished, she leaps down and runs towards Billy and Trini.

"Is she okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Trini grumbles. "But I mean, he's gotta go."

"Agreed. I'm just trying to figure out how we can do that," Billy responds.

"The Weapon Blaster. Zordon mentioned it to me before I was brought here. We can bring our weapons together and form this blaster that should be enough to destroy the Minotaur for good," Kim explains.

"Right, I remember reading about that in the command center after Zordon gave us the weapons," Billy says. "They have to be brought together in a sequential order – Black, Pink, Blue, Yellow and then Red."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Kim says. She turns around and charges towards the Minotaur, pulls back her bow string and releases a flurry of arrows causing him to back up significantly. "Jason, Zack. We need to put together the Weapon Blaster," Kim begins. Billy and Trini arrive and Billy repeats himself to Jason and Zack.

"Worth a shot," Jason says. "Alright, Zack, go!" Zack grabs the blade of his Axe again and cocks it like before and then throws it in the air.

"Power Axe!" he yells.

"Power Bow!" Kimber yells before tossing her Bow in the air, which connects to it, giving it a crossbow like appearance.

"Power Daggers!" Trini yells and throws her daggers up. The handles reveal themselves to be small blasters and connects just under the bow on either side.

"Power Lance!" Billy breaks his lance in half and reveals the same blasters on the ends and tosses them upward; they attack next to the daggers on the bow.

"Power Sword!" Jason yells. He jumps up and places his sword directly on top and in the middle of the bow, completing the blaster. He lands with the blaster in his hand and readies its aim.

"You'll never defeat me!" The Minotaur yells and charges forward.

"Guys, he needs to be held in place. I can't get a clear shot if he's moving!" Jason yells. Kimberly and Zack immediately run towards the Minotaur and duck under his swings and evade his kicks. Kimberly grabs the right side of him and Zack grabs the left.

"Jason, now!" Kim yells. Jason pulls the trigger and five beams of energy – colored black, pink, yellow, blue and red – blast from the weapon and make a direct impact on the Minotaur. It screams in pain and tries to break free of the other Rangers but doesn't manage to.

"Alright guys, let go, now!" Jason instructs. Kim and Zack let go and jump back, however, the explosion that follows immediately after is too strong and sends them both flying onto opposite ends of the square. Billy runs to Zack; Trini runs to Kim; remains where he is, weapon ready to fire in case the Minotaur isn't destroyed. However, when the smoke clears, nothing is left and Jason sighs with relief. He falls to his knees and the weapon dematerializes.

"It's over," he sighs. Billy and Trini help Kim and Zack over to Jason and they all but fall on the ground next to him. "Great teamwork guys."

"Do you hear that?" Billy asks, his question making Jason become more alert once again. However, it isn't a bad noise – it's applause. They all look behind them and see people cheering them on and clapping their hands for them. "Well, what do ya know." This feeling of celebration is fleeting once more sirens roar in the distance and the sounds of jets ripping through the sky approach.

"Let's get out of here. Zordon, teleport us out." Jason says and seconds later they're gone.

"Rangers, you all exhibited fantastic teamwork on today's battle," Zordon says proudly, looking down at his Rangers. All of them are powered down at this point and Alpha is examining them for lost lasting injuries.

"Zordon, today was ridiculous," Zack throws his hands in the air.

"Two monsters and Goldar. Putties. Zords. And I was chased by an entire aerial fleet," Kimberly says. "I know this is only our second battle, but this was really intense. It doesn't help that our own kind is turning against us. What is it going to take for them to realize we're not the bad guys?"

"Patience," Zordon answers. "I am confident that the world will come together realize that you are the only ones that can save them."

"I just hope its sooner than later. People are going to figure out that it's not just a coincidence that Angel Grove is the only city in the world being attacked right now and where the Power Rangers emerged. They're going to be looking for us," Trini folds her arms and shakes her head.

"Hey, don't worry about that so much. I doubt they're going to suspect teenagers," Jason says. "We just need to stick together. Right now it's all we have…"

"Is there something wrong, Jason?" Zordon asks, sensing trouble in his tone.

"Yeah. I mean, no. Kinda. I feel very isolated from the world right now. I'm lying to family. Right now they're probably worried sick and I have to come up with a good cover. I can't hang out with some of my others friends and I haven't been able to teach as much as I want. Maybe I'll get better at it with practice, I just didn't think this adjustment would be so difficult at first."

"I know what you mean," Kim says, "My parents think I'm acting out because I'm not wanting to spend time with them. But the reality of it is that I'm just way too tired. And with school and homework, thank god Rita hasn't attacked during a school day yet."

"Yeah, I don't want to think of how that'll appear on my permanent record," Billy says. They all laugh.

"Valid concerns. I want all of you to know that Alpha and I don't take this lightly. This sacrifice that you've all made for the greater good isn't easy. I picked each of you because I know you'll save the world. And I am forever grateful. The world will be forever grateful for your sacrifice," Zordon says.

"I know. Like I said, I just need to get used to it. I hope it gets easier," Jason says.

"We also need easier ways of getting in contact with each other," Zack says.

"I can help with that," Billy begins and grabs his backpack. "Alpha and I were working on these earlier and I just finished them earlier today. I didn't get to distribute them before today's fight, but these will help us communicate with each other and the command center directly." Billy pulls out five bracelets that closely resemble watches, each color coded appropriately. "There are two buttons, the first to communicate and the second to teleport. This way we can be in touch at all times with each other and Zordon."

"Dude, this is far out," Zack laughs. "Just when I think this gig couldn't get any cooler."

"Great job, Billy. You too, Alpha," Zordon says.

"Speaking of teleporting, we should probably get home. It's getting late and I know my parents are probably worried sick about me," Trini says.

The next afternoon, they all met at the Youth Center and sat at their usual table. Ernie brings their smoothies and immediately turns up the news when they start mentioning the Power Rangers again.

"This is Cindy V. reporting live. Yesterday the Power Rangers once again defended Angel Grove from another attack, but not before being attacked by our own Military forces in the process. The Communications Director for Angel Grove Airforce Base declines to comment at this time, but I know if any of you are like me then you're probably asking, "Why are you fighting them when they're fighting off the monsters?" I makes no sense."

"Good to know someone is on our side," Trini says.

"I'm sure we have more than just her. But it's a good start," Jason replies.

"Again, Power Rangers, thank you. I would hate to see where we would be at without you. In other news, The Angel Grove Hazardous Waste Dump, only recently discovered to mainstream media is being shut down. Troubling reports of monsters coming from its nuclear waste was enough for the city to authorize the shut down and clean-up of the facility," Ernie mutes the rest of the telecast after that.

"Oh my gosh that's amazing!" Trini claps her hands excited. "We didn't even need to petition. That place was disgusting, Kim. You couldn't even imagine."

"I don't want to, thanks," Kim responds with a laugh. "That is good news. We took down monsters and took down the dump. All in a day's work," she smiles and then all do.

"Well, Jason, what do you say we try and break that bench-pressing record today? Feel up for it?" Zack asks.

"I got this," Jason replies and stands up.

"Everybody, Jason is going for the record!" Kim yells and everyone the Youth Center begins to cheer and surround them. Jason smiles, even if he doesn't break the record, he's just glad he has the support of his friends. And that's all he's ever needed.


	7. High Five Part 1

**High Five **

**Part 1**

There is always something strange being codependent. Suddenly, group vote is more important than individual decision. Zack didn't like that too much. He is very much a team player, but he's also all about his privacy and things that he likes to do on the side. One of his hobbies isn't always the most legal, which Jason doesn't approve of.

"Seriously, Zack?" Jason crosses his arms and leans against his locker.

"What?" Zack shrugs his shoulders and closes his locker.

"Don't you think it's a little too risky to be uninhibited, especially with how things are? Jason points to his communicator as a reference point to their newfound responsibility.

"Look, Jason. I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine. Have you ever seen me be irresponsible with it?"

"That's not the point. We've never had to be ready at a moment's notice," Jason's tone turns serious.

"Jason, last week you were not keen on having to change your life so much. It was getting to you. We're all starting to find some balance again and there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to do the things I did before. Plus, it's my birthday. So, just lay off," Zack's tone becomes serious near the end and Jason doesn't respond. "I'll see you later, man. I'm meeting with Ritchie and Evan after school."

"Just be smart, Zack," Urges Jason who is all but dismissed by a wave of Zack's hand as he walks down the hall.

"Hey Jason," Kimberly leans against the locker next to him. Her smiles flattens as she examines his expression, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Peachy," He replies, but doesn't look at her.

"And the Oscar goes to…" Kim's comment makes him laugh but it doesn't change his mood. "Do you want to get out of here? Youth center work out?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Jason agrees and Kim takes his hand and leads him towards the school exit. When they get there, they see Billy and Trini standing under a role and looking at it like it's evil. "What's up, guys?" Jason is almost afraid to ask.

"Exactly. Up," Trini says lowly, "that rope is up. High up. I don't think I can do it."

"I think you could, Trini. Mind over matter," Billy gives her an encouraging expression but it doesn't change hers.

"I didn't know you're afraid of heights, Trini," Jason says.

"Yeah. I generally doesn't come up much. We have things that just get to us. This is one of them…" she sounds down. "I'm all for conquering fears but I think there are some that people just can't get over."

"Well, I think you'd handle it just fine. But you have to believe that," Kimberly puts her arm around Trini for support.

"Hey, where's Zack, aren't we supposed to be celebrating his birthday today?" Trini's question causes Jason to immediately roll his eyes. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's not you. And I think that's still the plan. Zack is just partaking in some…herbal remedies," Kim laughs but sees Jason's stern expression and stops.

"Like Chai tea?" Billy's questions causes them all, even Jason, to laugh.

"Exactly," Kim humors him. They all walk to their usual table and piles their stuff onto the middle of it. Kimberly takes off her communicator and places it in her back-pack.

"What are you doing?" Trini looks at her with concern.

"Oh, I can't balance on the beam with a loose bracelet," Kim says non-chalantly, "Look, it's not as if I won't be able to hear it going off and if something really bad happens, we all will know without the communicator. Trust me."

"Yeah I'm going to take mine off too. I have a class in a few minutes, I always talk about how distractions can be disrespectful. I made a student of mine put away her watch last week. I'd be a hypocrite if I showed up with one," Jason takes his off and places it in his bag.

"Yeah, not us. We're going to go on a hike at the Angel Grove Reservoir," Billy says with enthusiasm and Trini sets her head on the table. "It should be an easier way for Trini to get over her fear of heights."

"Clearly a lapse in judgment on my part for agreeing," Trini mumbles. She raises her head and pouts, "Fine. Okay. I'm fine. I'm ready," she stands up. "Let's do this now before I can forget my sudden urge of bravery." Billy stands up and follows her outside.

"Maybe join us after?" Billy asks.

"Yeah we'll see. Have fun guys," Jason and Kimberly both wave and then turn to face each other. And both them share surprised expressions as Ernie drops off two smoothies for them.

"Here you are guys, on the house," Ernie says. "So, Zack's birthday cake was delivered here. When should we expect the party to begin? Around seven or so?"

"That sounds great, Ernie!" Kim says after sipping on her smoothie. Jason remains silent and Ernie walks away. "C'mon, Jason. Zack's habits never used to bother you before. I mean, at least not this much."

"We weren't Power Rangers before," Jason keeps his voice low and then takes a drink from his smoothie. "Things aren't the same as before. We can't risk being…I don't know. My intention is not to talk or think anything bad towards Zack, but things are different now. We have to be different now. Smarter," his tone remains serious. Kimberly tilts her head.

"You're seriously working the serious leader role," Her remarks make Jason roll his eyes and laugh. "See, there you are. Jason, it's all of our responsibility. It's shared. It's important to Zack to. Now come on, I just drank all of this smoothie and I'm about to drink all of yours. I need a good work out."

"Alright, alright," Jason agrees and stands up and heads over for the bench press. Kim smiles and walks over to the gymnastics beam and gets on top of it, immediately going into a cartwheel routine.

Elsewhere, Trini and Billy just arrive at their hiking destination; Billy full of smiles and Trini faking it. Billy parks his car in the visitor's lot and they both get out.

"It's such a beautiful day today, I don't think we could have picked a better day, Trini," Billy's enthusiasm cracks Trini up, however the enthusiasm isn't shared. "And what luck, it doesn't appear that anyone else is around either. So, we can truly just have a Billy-Trini day. We haven't really had much of those since, you know."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Trini agrees. "Where should we start?"

"Okay, so we're going to take this trail and it's going to take us to the top of those cliffs." Billy points out the road and then points to the tall cliff; anxiety fills Trini's stomach. "It has an amazing view."

"Yeah, let's just get up there first. I'm sure I'll love it…once I get up there," Trini says, failing to match Billy's enthusiasm. They start off down the trail and progressively Trini starts to realize they're getting higher and higher.

Angel Grove really did have some beautiful parts to it and it's really refreshing considering most of downtown Angel Grove is in constant repair. The lush trees, the beautiful rock foundations, the bright flowers, all reminders of what they're fighting for. It takes them about 30 minutes to reach the top cliff but the view really is breathtaking.

"Oh wow, Billy," Trini says in disbelief. "I can't believe I haven't been here before."

"I know, it is beautiful right? During the summer I usually come up here to do environmental research or just to read or something," Billy sets his backpack down and pulls out a camera and begins to take snapshots of them together and the view. When Billy turns around to get another snapshot of things behind him, he ends up taking a picture of a group of Putty's that have suddenly appeared. "Trini!" Billy's cry makes her turn around quickly and witness the golems forming around them.

"Seriously?!" Trini complains as she throws her fists up in front of her. Billy sets down his camera and his bag and assumes a defensive position as well. Trini charges forward and shoves her elbow into a Putty's chest, knocking it onto its back. She then sweeps her feet under another Putty behind her and then lifts up and jumps into a high kick into a Putty's head.

Billy, still not completely well versed in fighting, is able to fend off blows but is having trouble making any critical hits of his own. A Putty throws its fist at him and Billy is able to block it with his wrist and shoves the Putty back. Another Putty leaps into the air and stretches out its leg for a kick; Billy grabs its foot and uses the Putty's own weight against him by throwing him to the ground. Billy goes to punch one of them behind him, however it barely does any damage and Billy shakes his fist in pain.

"Trini, there's something different about these Putty's. They seem stronger!" She didn't realize it at first, but now it makes sense. Trini notices her limbs aching more than usual.

"Billy, maybe we should try and contact the others?" Trini suggests after kicking a Putty off the edge of the cliff. Billy nods and ducks under two Putty's coming at him from either side; their collision causes them to fall over leaving Billy unscathed.

"Zordon, do you read me?" Billy says into his communicator.

"Yes, Billy, I read you," Zordon replies.

"Trini and I are being attacked by a group of Putty's that seem…stronger than usual. Can you please contact the others? We need back up!"

"Yes, Billy. I suggest you and Trini morph. May the power protect you!" Zordon says before the communication connection is severed. "Alpha, try and contact Jason, Zack and Kimberly. I fear Billy and Trini won't be able to hold out much longer."

"Ay-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha cries as he begins to input code into their main console. Alpha turns to the viewing globe and sees Billy and Trini becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the attacks. "Jason? Kimberly? Zack?" Alpha repeats over and over again and no response.

At the Youth Center, Jason and Kimberly's communicators are going off, however, with Ernie playing music louder than usual, the beeps are being drowned out.

"It's no use, I don't think Jason or Kimberly can hear their communicators," At this point Alpha is panicking and some smoke is coming out of him.

"Calm down, Alpha. I don't believe Zackary is with them, surely if you focus your efforts solely on him for now, you'll be able to reach him," Zordon instructs and Alpha obeys.

"Zack? It's Alpha, come in! Zack can you read me?" Alpha begins to repeat over and over again into the communication grid.

Zack's communicator is going off but he's not responding. While in the garage of his friend Richie's house, he and his other friend, Evan, are laying around a bunch of bean-bags they have set up, covered in clouds of smoke.

"Zack, is that some sort of alarm you have set?" Evan's words are slow and Zack almost ignores him altogether. "I mean, you watch has been screaming for a minute." After this sentence, Evan just bursts into laughter and Richie shakes his head.

"No more for you my friend," he says and then looks over to Zack. "But yeah, can you turn that off?" Zack lifts up his wrist and stairs at his communicator, his eyes then grow big and he sits up quickly in a panic. "Are you alright, dude?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zack's speech is very quick.

"Dude, you're looking kinda paranoid," Richie says.

"No, no. I'm fine. I just remembered I gotta call my Ma. Can I use your phone, man?" Zack says as he gets up from the couch. Before Richie could respond, Zack was already through the door, slamming it behind him. Before answering Zordon's call, he took a deep breath and then pressed the button, "Zordon, I read you."

"Zack, thank goodness you've responded!" Alpha's voice chimes in before Zordon can speak.

"Zack, thank you for responding. Trini and Billy are being overwhelmed by a wave of Putty's and need your assistance immediately!" Zack is hesitant to respond at first. Mostly because he knows he's not in his right state of mind right now to deal with anything serious. He takes in another deep breath to try and clear his head, "Zack? Trini and Billy need your assistance immediately!"

"I hear you, Zordon. Can you teleport me there?"

"Of course, stand by for teleportation," Zordon says. Zack takes his hands and slaps the cheeks of his face and shakes his head.

"Alright Zack, get it together," he says to himself. A black light begins to surround him and the next thing he knows he's standing below the cliffs where Billy and Trini are. And although his instincts are to run and help them, his body doesn't respond.

"Zordon's right, Trini. We definitely need to try and morph!" Billy says after narrowly dodging an assault from two Putty's. He pulls out his morpher and raises it to the sky, "Triceratops!" a blue light surrounds him and transforms him. "Power Lance!" he calls out and his weapon appears in his hands instantly. Trini reaches for her morpher, but just as she raises it to the sky, a Putty knocks it out of her hand and it slides across the rocky ground.

"My power morpher!" she dives to grab it, however she's intercepted by a Putty that pulls her back and kicks her in the stomach. She cries out in pain and barely blocks another assault from another Putty.

"Trini, hold on!" Billy slashes a Putty across the chest with his lance and twirls it in front of him to put distance between him the rest of the golems. Trini once again tries to make a dive for her morpher, however again unsuccessful, this time a Putty kicks her in her gut and sends her to the edge of the cliff. Her hands wobble in the air around her as she tries to maintain her balance and not fall off, she looks behind her and sees the long drop and she screams.

"Billy!" She calls out, her looks over and tries to get through to her, but no avail. A Putty delivers another kick to Trini, which knocks her off the ledge. Immediately she begins grabbing the rocky surface, skinning parts of her hands and fingers as she tries to stop her fall, and manages to get a good grip on a ledge, leaving her hanging in the air.

"Oh, no! Trini!" Zack says with horror. Finally realizing he needs to move, he begins to take off, but two Putty's appear and begin to attack him. One of them throws its fist at him and he knows to dodge it, however his body doesn't respond fast enough and he takes the hit, falling back on the ground.

"Trini!" Billy calls out.

"Billy, I'm alright!" she calls out, "For now, I don't know how much longer I can hold on!" Billy begins to fight frantically to try and save her. He swings the lance in front of him hitting three putties in the torso making them fall backwards. He turns around quickly and hit one across the face behind him. Turning around again, he hits one on top of the head. Then another. And another. And another. And then a putty grabs the lance and pulls it out of his hands and another kicks Billy down. He reacts by quickly getting to his feet and sends his right fist towards another putty, but is stopped when a sharp surge of pain - a Putty punch - bursts into his back, knocking the breath out of him. Then two putty's in front of him kick him in the stomach causing him to fly back.

He stumbles to get up only to be thrown down again. All he can think of Trini and getting her morpher to save her and nothing he's doing is making that happen.

He shakes his head.

He pushes himself up and begins throwing punches every chance he can, absorbing blows - moving on complete adrenaline. Unfortunately, it doesn't last as his punches are slower and the pain in his body becomes more prominent. Then another pain, a new kind of pain - more solid and direct - comes across the back of his helmet making Billy spiral through the air behind him. He looks up and sees it was from the Putty that stole his lance.

Billy stands up and kicks a putty on his right side and is hit down by one on his left. He regains balance but two putty's grab his arms and hold him in place. His struggles are for not as he is then hit with the lance across his torso from the left to the right about four times by the putty in front of him. He lets out grunts of pain. To send the final blow, the putty forcefully shoved the lance's blunt-end into Billy's stomach, causing him to fly back and into a tree a few feet behind him. The impact is hard and knocks the breath out of him and he falls the ground. His vision becomes blurry and a blue light breaches the shadows of his vision. But, when he finally regains some sort of consciousness, he realizes is no longer transformed and blood begins to seep through the white sleeve of his left arm.

He tries to stand up but everything in body hurts. He sees his morpher laying on the ground before him. There must have been a breach in his power that caused his detransformation. He begins panting in panic as he reaches down to grab it. But a putty quickly grabs him and delivers a stunningly painful punch to his stomach. He gasps for air and coughs in pain.

"HELP!" He yells. At this point, Billy wasn't a ranger anymore, merely someone at the mercy of these Putty's.

"Billy! I'm trying! You're too high up!" Trini calls up, seeing the onslaught of her friend. Her fear of heights really causing her be more paralyzed than she'd like. Still, slowly but surely she manages to pull herself up the cliff, but not fast enough.

Billy doesn't hear her and stops struggling, he doesn't have the energy too, all he feels is pain. He looks up and sees the putty holding his lance - which is somehow still present - break it in half with its knee, revealing a sharp-like spear end to it and holds it up over its head.

Logically, it made sense that it was going to strike down at him and plunge into Billy's chest. Death was approaching before his eyes and there was nothing he could about it. He tries once more to struggle but the grip was tight around his arms. The putties made their cries and he realizes this would be the last thing he hears. He lowers his head and stares at the ground, at his morpher. The triceratops power coin resting in the center of it. He failed Zordon.

"Billy, hold on!" Trini yells, but it doesn't faze him. He remains still, consumed by his pain.

And now he waits, for whatever end.


	8. High Five Part 2

**High Five**

**Part 2**

After half a dozen cartwheels on the balance beam, Kimberly realizes she isn't going to get any better today and jumps off. She looks over and finds Jason working out on the bench press, completely focused yet very relaxed. Kimberly walks to their table and is immediately dismayed when she hears her and Jason's communicators going off.

"Oh no! Damn this loud music!" Kimberly grabs her communicator and puts it around her wrist. She then grabs Jasons and all but runs over to him. "Jason, our communicators. Who knows how long they've been going off? I don't." Jason gets up from the bench press and attaches his communicator to his wrist. With Kimberly close behind, they both head straight for the back hallway of the Youth Center.

"Damn it, I never should have taken this thing off," Jason presses the button that opens the telecommunications link, "This is Jason, come in Zordon."

"Jason, thank goodness you responded!" Alpha's voice chimes in. "We've been trying to reach you awhile, is Kimberly with you?"

"Yes, I'm here," Kimberly answers.

"Never mind that now, I'm glad you're both okay and together. Billy, Trini and Zack are under attack. Trini is hanging from a cliff and Billy, I fear, is on the precipice of death," Jason and Kimberly look at each other with horror at Zordon's words.

"Where's Zack?" Jason asks.

"Zack is there, however a couple of Putty's have him held down. His behavior is…strange," Zordon explains and Jason becomes visibly angry.

"Zordon, get us there now. We're ready," Jason says.

"Stand by for teleportation!" Alpha says and Jason lowers his wrist.

"God damnit!" Jason slams his fist into a wall behind him and Kimberly tries to stop him from doing it again.

"Jason, stop it. This isn't helping anything. We just need to get there, help the others and then we can deal with whatever else needs to be dealt with. Right now, we have to save Billy, Trini and Zack," Kimberly says and Jason calms down a little just before red and pink lights begin to surround them. The next thing they know they're at the mountain range and Zack, Trini and Billy are all in view.

"Oh no, Trini!" Kimberly points to the side of the cliff where she is slowly climbing up. "One false move and she'll fall!" Kimberly pulls out her morpher and Jason does the same. "Pterodactyl!"

"Tyrannosaurus!" Once transformed, they both move down to Zack and kick the Putty's off of him. Jason pulls out his blaster and reduces them to dust instantly.

"We have to get to Billy!" Kimberly says.

"Yeah, thanks guys, I -" Zack is immediately cut off by Jason.

"Zack, what the hell man! You couldn't take on two Putty's?!" Jason is yelling at this point.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on, I can't focus…" Jason just shakes his head as Zack explains.

"No, no. Because you're high as a kite. No freaking wonder! If you're not gonna help, then get out of here before you get yourself hurt." Jason grabs Zack's wrist and presses a button on his communicator that will teleport him the command center, and in seconds Zack is gone.

"Power Bow!" Kimberly calls out and then turns to Jason, "Jason, that's enough for now! We have to save Billy!" Kimberly begins to run towards the cliff and pulls back her bowstring. "Teleport!" She jumps in the air and a pink light surrounds her, taking her through the air and releasing her just above the Putty's surrounding Billy. Once a pink arrow materializes, she releases it and the arrow cuts through the air and directly into the head of the Putty holding Billy's lance.

"Kim?" Billy's voice is faint. Kimberly pulls back her Bowstring and releases arrow after arrow, clearing the space around them. Jason teleports to the top of the cliff as well with his Power Sword in hand and begins cutting through Putty's surrounding them.

"Billy, are you okay?" Kimberly kneels down to meet Billy who is about to fall over and blood is sliding down his sleeve.

"I've been better, thank you for saving me," he says. Kimberly puts his arm around her shoulder and begins to lift him up. She leads him over to a tree and sets him down, she runs back and grabs his lance and hands it to him.

"Stay put, we got this, okay?" Kimberly turns around and pulls back her bowstring and lets it sing, shooting arrows out left and right.

"Trini are you okay?" Jason calls out, no answer. Jason runs to the edge of the cliff and sees her struggling to climb up.

"Jason!" she yells with relief, tears falling from her eyes. It's obvious how terrified she is and it only makes Jason more eager to save her.

"Why don't you use your communicator and teleport out?" Jason asks.

"I tried. I th-think my communicator got d-damaged in the fall!" she stutters and tries to move up another inch or so.

"Trini, here!" Taking the blade in his hand, he lowers the hand end of his sword towards her. "Trini, grab on, I'll pull you up!" Once it's low enough, she grabs it with one hand first and then her other. Jason lifts her closer to the edge and then grabs her hand and pulls her up. Trini is visibly shaken, her arms and fingers are scrapped and her eyes are watery. He holds her in his arms, "Trini, it's okay. It's okay."

"I'm sorry, Jason. I tried to get up there to save Billy,"

"Calm down, Trini. He's fine. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I need you to focus, we still have a lot of Putty's to get through. Do you think you can help?" She nods her head and wipes the tears from her face. Her expression changes from hopeless to determined.

"My morpher," she points to it on ground a few feet away. Jason helps her to her feet and charges forward, cutting through two Putty's and kicking another off of the cliff. He grabs her morpher and hands it to her. "Saber-Toothed Tiger!" A yellow light consumes her and fully transformer her. "Power Daggers!" her daggers appear and Trini charges forward. She digs her daggers into the cores of the golems, reducing them to dust and if not, then relentlessly tossing them over the edge to their demise. Kimberly releases several more arrows, clearing the outside edges of the cliff and Jason concentrates his efforts in the front.

Kimberly turns to find Billy who appears to be passed out. Alarmed, she quickly runs over to him and kneels down and begins to shake him.

"Billy, you have to stay awake. Billy, Billy!" She repeats herself and shakes him vigorously until finally he opens his eyes and makes a grunt of dismay.

"I'm awake, Kimberly, sort of. The pain – it's too much," his voice is low and weak.

"We're almost done, Billy. We'll get you to Alpha, he'll know what to do." Kimberly turns around and blasts a Putty making its way to Billy.

Meanwhile, at the command center, Zack, Alpha and Zordon watch the rangers fight through the viewing globe. Zack, who is starting to feel more like himself again is overwhelmed by guilt.

"Man, I should be out there," he mutters under his breath.

"Zack, why did Jason send you away?" Zordon inquires. Zack isn't sure how to respond. A big part of him is embarrassed and he feels Zordon will just look down on him. Another part of him is angry – at himself, mostly but also – at Jason for doing what he did.

"I made a choice that Jason didn't agree with," Zack answers vaguely, "A choice that I was able to make freely before becoming a Power Ranger. I'm not resentful or anything, but it wasn't something – isn't something – I'm prepared to give up."

"I see," Zordon says. "Zack, when I asked you to be Power Rangers, my intention was never to take away from you things that you enjoy. However, when it comes to saving the world, you never know when you're going to be needed and some choices can be dangerous."

"I understand that. I do. I didn't mean for this to happen to Billy," Zack folds his arms and looks down at the ground.

"Of course, Zack. I know that. They all do." Zordon's supportive statement was interrupted by another, yet familiar, set of alarms. "Rita has sent down a monster. A Knight of some kind. Yes, the Nasty Knight." The image of the monster, clad in a dark armor with a large axe has arrived just outside the Cliffside, on his way towards the Rangers.

"Nasty?" Zack rolls his eyes, "More like Fugly," he mutters.

"His name is not to be taken lightly. He is a powerful foe. I don't know if Jason, Trini and Kimberly will be enough to beat him."

"Unless I go back," Zack says. He takes in a deep breath and pulls out his morpher.

"Ayiyiyiyi! Do you think you can handle it, Zack?" Alpha begins shaking his head in doubt.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not gonna let Rita hurt anymore of my friends on my birthday," Zack holds his morpher in front of him. "Mastodon!" he calls out and his body becomes transformed. Already his head is much clearer and starts to feel more like himself again. "Alpha, send me back to them, I've got a score to settle."

"Stand by!" Alpha says as he begins entering code into their main systems.

Back at the Cliffside, the Nasty Knight already made himself known and appears on the very edge of the cliff. Jason, with Kimberly and Trini on either side of him, stare the creature down trying to anticipate his next move.

"Why do they keep getting uglier?" Kim complains. She pulls back her bowstring and releases an arrow at the creature. The Knight responds by cutting the arrow down with one swift move of his axe. "Oh my god he's fast!"

"I don't know how we're going to take this one. Okay, Trini, you're with me. Kimberly, stay back and protect Billy but try and make some shots when you can." Jason instructs.

"Got it," Kimberly pulls back her bowstring and begins to take aim. Jason charges and Trini follows. Jason kicks the Knights axe away from its body and swings his sword to cut across its chest. The Knight responds by stopping the blade in its place and pulls Jason close; once close enough, the Knight head-butts him and sends Jason to the ground. Trini dives forward and manages to stick one of her daggers into its stomach and rams her knee into it as well. The Nasty Knight grabs Trini by her neck and raises her up over the cliff. Nerves begin to get the best of her as she struggles to break free.

"Let her go!" Zack's voice comes from behind them. The Knight turns his head and sees Zack armed with his shotgun-axe, poised to strike. "Did you hear me, I said let her go!"

"Certainly," he growls and releases his grip and Trini falls down the cliff.

"Trini! No!" Zack yells.

"Zack! You killed Trini!" Jason yells as he gets to his feet. Zack ignores him and begins shooting the Knight aggressively. The shots don't appear to be doing much, however, as the knight isn't moving one way or the other.

Zack charges forward, putting his Axe back into battle mode and jumps in the air and slams the axe down on its head. After making a grunt, the Knight swings its axe which Zack is able to block. Zack swings his leg around and kicks the creature in its side, which makes a direct hit but leaves Zack open for an attack from the monsters axe. The creature is shocked, however, when after it swings down with its axe that Jason blocks the hit with his sword.

With the Knights weapon locked, Zack switches his weapon to shotgun mode and blast the creature directly in the chest. Both Zack and Jason back off as its movements start to become erratic.

"I can't believe you just dropped me over a cliff!" Trini's voice sounds off being the Knight. She jumps up from the cliff stabs both of her daggers into its neck, the creature lets out an awful growl of pain. "Déjà vu, this is the second time I've been throw off this cliff today. I'm over it!" An arrow then sticks to the front of his neck and the Nasty Knight screams again.

"Trini! Thank god," Jason sighs in relief. Trini pulls her daggers out, jumps over the Knight and kicks it in the fact mid-air. The second she lands she takes off towards Jason, Zack and Kimberly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she says out of breath.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I'm sorry, Trini." Zack says.

"No, Zack. It wasn't your fault. You distracted him long enough for me to get my daggers into him, so thank you." Trini pats him on the arm. "Alright, but we need to get rid of this thing quick."

"How about the Power Weapon Blaster?" Zack asks.

"We're missing Billy," Kim answers.

"No, you're not," Billy stumbles forward, leaning on his lance for balance. "Let's destroy this thing. I really need to lay down and I can't do that with all of this going on."

"Don't you need to morph? Can you morph?" Kim asks.

"No, I can't. And I don't think I need to be morphed, otherwise I wouldn't have the weapon still."

"Alright guys, let's bring them together!" Jason commands.

"Power Axe!"

"Power Bow!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Sword!" Jason jumps in the air to complete the weapon and brings it down in front of the others. The Nasty Knight readies his Axe in front of him and begins charging a golden colored beam with it. "Fire!" Jason pulls the trigger and the five beams of energy comes bursting out of it, straight towards the monster.

"I won't go down so easily!" Nasty Knight yells; as he swings his axe down a golden ray of energy is released and holds the Rangers blast back for a little, but ultimately, is overcome it makes a direct hit. The Nasty Knight screams as it slowly, but surely vanquishes into dust. Billy falls to his knees exhausted and Zack prevents him from falling over completely.

"Zordon, we're ready for teleportation. All of us," Jason says. Within a matter of second they arrive in the command center, not transformed, and Alpha is waiting with an advanced-looking medical kit. Jason and Zack lead Billy to a cot that Alpha has set up.

"I need to closely monitor his injuries," Alpha says. "Can you remove his shift?" Both Jason and Zack give each other and unwilling glance.

"You want us to strip Billy?" Zack says. "Not the kind of stripping a guy asks for on his birthday," Zack laughs but no one else does and he stops immediately.

"Just his shirt, take off his shirt." Trini explains. Billy shirt is extremely torn and just opts to rip it down the middle and off. Billy's chest has immediate bruising as it's as purple as a plum. His shoulder looks crooked and there's a large gash on the top of his left shoulder. Alpha begins scanning Billy with a handheld device.

"Ayiyiyiyi! Billy has two broken rips and what looks like a fractured shoulder blade," Alpha says.

"Oh, Billy," Kimberly gasps. "Alpha, you can help him right? Or do we need to take him to a hospital?"

"No, I can heal him. I will need to keep him for approximately 16 hours."

"How am I going to explain that to my parents?" Billy speaks up.

"I'll just tell them that you're going to stay with me tonight since it's my birthday. I'm sure they won't care," Zack answers. Billy smiles and then passes back out.

"Are you also going to tell them how you almost got their son killed by smoking weed?" Jason says, the entire room is silent.

"Jason, that's not fair," Kimberly steps forward and Jason waves his hand dismissively, starring directly at Zack who is completely awestruck of Jason's comment.

"No, I wasn't planning on it. But I didn't almost get Billy killed. When I got there, both he and Trini were already in bad shape," Zack replies.

"And because of your condition, you couldn't help them. You didn't help them," Jason says.

"And where were you? If memory serves you and Kimberly didn't show up til way after I did. Where were you our almighty, can-do-no-wrong leader?" Zack's tone is more confrontational.

"Not doing drugs. No, I wasn't able to respond immediately and I have to take responsibility for that. I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself. But I also know that I would never willingly put myself in a position where I wouldn't be able to help my teammates. If you're going to be a part of this team, don't do it again," Jason and Zack are face to face at this point.

"Rangers, enough!" Zordon's voice is loud, yet Zack and Jason don't break eye contact. "You had a disagreement, understood. What's done is done and we can only go up from here. Billy's condition is critical but he is stable. Trini is also fine. We defeated Rita again and that's worth celebrating."

"You're right, Zordon. It is worth celebrating. And I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my birthday now. I'm sorry for what happened to Billy and Trini. I'm sorry I couldn't do more. But I'm not sorry for enjoying myself and being a little selfish on my birthday. I'll see you guys, later." Zack raises his arm, presses a button on his communicator and teleports out.

"Well, that could have gone better," Trini says. Jason says nothing and stares at Billy, guilt written all over his face.

Later that evening, Zack enters the Youth Center after receiving an anonymous tip. The lights are dark and all is quiet – for a moment he isn't sure if he wants to go in. Rita could be setting another trap. Still, he enters and once the door slams all the lights turn on and ballons fall from the ceiling and people yell "SURPRISE" in loud unison.

Zack steps forward and is surrounded immediately by his friends, family and various other classmates. Ernie rolls out a large cake with seventeen candles lit. He blows them all out with one breath.

"Your wish will come true!" Ernie yells and more people cheer. "Alright, I'm gonna cut up the cake, everyone who wants a piece line up over there." A crowd follows the cake and Kimberly and Trini approach him and give him big hugs.

"Surprised?" Kim asks with a full smile.

"Definitely. After today I wasn't expecting this. Thank you guys." Zack says.

"Anything for one of our best friends. What did you wish for?" Trini asks.

"It won't come true if I tell you," Zack laughs. "Is it farfetched to wonder where Jason is?" Both Kim and Trini look at each other with frowns.

"We tried but -" Kimberly begins.

"He's with Billy right now. Couldn't pull him away from his side. He'll come around, Zack. This wasn't your fault," Trini says.

"No, a big part of me feels like it was my fault. I should have listened, but with everything we've given up already, it was just a way for me to feel good again," Zack explains.

"Zack, stop. Like Zordon said, what's done is done. Tonight is about you. Billy is fine. Jason is fine. We're all fine. Let's just have a good night together, okay?" Kimberly puts her arm around Zack. "Now, I'm wondering which of us is going to eat the most cake and all I can say is it better not be me." They all share a laugh and the party continues. Zack enjoys the company of his friends but wishes that two more of his friends could be there with him. 

* * *

**Authors Note:** Thank you guys SO Much for reading! I appreciate all the support and the nice messages! What I would appreciate at this point is any recommendations of any episodes you guys would like me to incorporate. I also need some ideas. I have my own, but I also want to write for what people want to read. :) I'm working on expanding these characters personal lives to add more drama for their superhero lives. So, I would like to know which two characters you like to see in a relationship – not necessary with each other, but other OC Characters more than likely. Which character should come down with a disease or an illness? Which characters should have a conflict? Things like that. Again, thank you guys for reading and stay tuned for another set of chapters next week!


	9. Terror Part 1

**Terror**

**Part 1**

There was an eerie period of calm since the last attack from Rita. All of the Rangers couldn't help but notice and this period of peace didn't provide any of them – mentally, anyway. Billy especially, who's been having trouble doing anything but worrying, and after his recent injuries, he's been very reluctant to take up the mantle of the Blue Ranger again. The final school bell rings and all the students in Ms. Appleby's class sign relief and the sound of closed textbooks is in loud unison.

"Billy, would you come see me for a moment?" Ms. Appleby holds up her hand and gestures him to come to her. Billy places his text book in his book-bag, zips it up and walks towards her. "Billy, I've been noticing a lack of extra credit requests, is everything alright?" she laughs at her own question, but ultimately gives an expression of concern.

"Yes, I'm great, Ms. Appleby. I've just been really busy with other things," Billy smiles and remains vague on purpose.

"Well, I do have something I would like you to do. And it would count as extra credit and I would consider it a personal favor," Billy knew what she means by this; with Ms. Appleby, when she makes a request it's more of a demand. "Brent, would you come forward?" she repeats the same beckoning hand gesture until Brent Redform, the captain of Angel Grove High's swim team, steps forward next to them, "Billy, I'm sure you Brent. Well, Brent is struggling just a tad in our course this semester and I would like you to tutor him, perhaps twice a week?" Billy's mouth drops.

"Ugh, I mean – " Billy is extremely stunned at the request, he can't imagine how he would have the time to tutor anyone.

"If his grade doesn't improve, he wouldn't be able to maintain his position. I'm sure you understand. Thank you, Billy," Ms Appleby's statement all but confirmed that Billy was going to be tutoring Brent, whether he likes it or not.

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate it!" Brent pats Billy's shoulder and Billy winces slightly – his shoulder still wasn't fully healed from his last encounter with the Putty's.

"No problem," Billy sighs. When he walks outside he's immediately greeted by Kimberly. "Hey Kimberly," he is surprised by a hug from her and winces again when she tugs on his shoulder. She notices and gasps.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Billy!" she backs away and tries not to giggle. "So, are you excited for the Homecoming dance next week?" Billy gives her a disdainful expression.

"When in my life have I ever been excited for a dance?"

"Oh, stop it. I'm sure you'll find somebody. Trini and I were just going to go together because we're both painfully single but," before she can finish, Billy cuts her off.

"I thought you were seeing that Jake guy from your History class?" Billy says.

"I was. And then Jason scared him off. He's been doing that a lot lately, very protective. It's kind of nice. It's also very inconvenient. Anyway, I was going to go with Trini, however they won't admit tickets for same-sex couples. I mean, as if, we both thought it was funny that they made that assumption, but's kind of ridiculous right?"

"That is ridiculous and unfair. Why shouldn't same-sex couples be allowed to go either? Billy's statement makes Kimberly laugh.

"I meant, it's ridiculous that they thought Trini and I were lesbians. But yes, the discrimination is stupid." Kimberly laughs again and leads Billy to the cafeteria where Trini and Zack are sitting. "Hey guys! So, Trini, I tried to buy our tickets but no go. We have to find dates. They won't let lesbian couples in the dance," Kim laughs again at the outlandish assumption.

"Well, that's messed up," Trini laughs. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to find dates like everyone else."

"I would if Jason would stop scaring them off," Kimberly folds her arms. "How about you Zack, you got a date to the dance?"

"You know I do. I'm taking Felicia Carter. I don't know how I got that lucky, but sweet damn I'm not complaining," Zack laughs and holds his hand up for a high five that no one takes him up on and he awkwardly sets it down. "Jason would have met me half-way at least."

"Are you two talking now?" Kimberly asks.

"We're working on it. Even best friends have disagreements. This one is kinda tough, though," Zack replies and the tone for the conversation starts to become more somber. Picking up on this, Trini changes the subject back to the dance.

"How about you, Billy? You going with anyone?" Trini inquires.

"No. I mean, I don't know if I'll have time to be honest. On top of the fact that I've never been a dance ever, I also now have to tutor Brent Redford." Billy's response made Kimberly made a sound that usually only dogs could hear.

"Are you serious?" She says in a high-pitched voice.

"Yes?" Billy is alarmed by her enthusiasm.

"This is perfect," Kimberly begins pressing her fingers together.

"You like Brent?" Trini asks. Kimberly waves a dismissive hand.

"No, no. His twin brother, Trent; now, he's a catch!" All of them roll their eyes. "So, Billy. While you're working with Brent, you should put in a good word for me with Trent."

"Yes, Kimberly. That'll be my main priority. Right next to teaching him how to fill a beaker. Why can't you and Trini just go together? That's just unfair, in my opinion. I mean, from a psychological standpoint, love is an emotion that doesn't discriminate, so why should we discriminate who we're allowed to love? And if sexual orientation is a choice, wouldn't that mean that we should be free to choose who we want to be with regardless and it should be supported? Plus, there is all this scientific –" Billy stops after Zack holds his hand in the air.

"Look, I'm all about letting a brotha preach, but none of us disagree with you. I mean, I love the ladies. I love ladies that love ladies. We're all good in the hood. Who knew you were such an inspirational speaker?" Zack laughs.

"Yeah, anyway. Where is Jason, don't we always meet here?" Kim looks around.

"Since he has a free period during 4th hour, he teaches an early karate class. I think he's teaching outside the Youth Center right now. We should head down there anyway, I'm craving a smoothie," Trini says.

* * *

"Useless! Useless! Useless!" If it were possible for there to be sound in space, the Earth would certainly hear Rita's screams. Her entire palace was shaking with her anger. "We have had several opportunities to defeat the rangers and they've overcome us each time! This is unacceptable!" Rita slams her staff on the ground and a red beam blasts out, shattering a glass fixture on a wall. Baboo and Squat are hiding behind a table, cowering in fear and Goldar remains still.

"I'm sorry my Queen," Goldar says however it doesn't change her demeanor.

"Finster! Get up here now!" Her voice echoes through the palace and moments later, Finster appears before her in the throne room.

"Yes, my Queen?" He bows his head before looking her in the eyes.

"Finster, no more of these weak creatures. King Sphinx, Mighty Minotaur, Nasty Knight – useless! All of them! That's three chances you've had to produce a creature strong enough to conquer Earth. Have you lost your touch? Do I need to dispose of you?" Rita's question is rhetorical and all of her minions are silent. "If only Scorpina were here, she would have these rangers blood for me!"

"Oh no, not _her_!" Baboo complains.

"Silence!" Rita commands.

"My Queen, I am sorry my previous creations have been unsuccessful. I could fashion a new monster for you. One much more powerful," Finster begins and a gleam returns to Rita's eyes.

"Good. But I'll pick the one. I need a monster that will be unstoppable, a monster that Zordon himself had to intervene and defeat previously. Finster, recreate the Terror Toad," The room falls completely silent and Baboo and Squat duck lower.

"My Queen, with all due respect, he was disobedient. Even you couldn't control him last time," Finster says with concern.

"I don't care Finster. Make him! And make him stronger! I want him to devour each and every human man, woman and child!" She laughs and a sinister grin curves on her face. She turns and walks over to a dresser next to her throne. Pulling open a drawer, she pulls out a small bottle and closes the drawer. "We'll also use this," she hands it to Finster. "It's not enough to simply send down another monster. We've been doing that and it hasn't been working. The best way to destroy the Rangers is to turn them against each other. From my observations, the Blue and Pink rangers seem to be the most resilient to their heroic duties. This will pit them against their team – they'll be too busy fighting each other to stop the Terror Toad!"

"My Queen, that plan is brilliant!" Goldar muses.

"I volunteer to distribute that to the rangers, my Queen!" Squat raises his hand and Rita responds by nodding her head. "I will lead a battalion of Putty's down there to distract them and I'll simply pour them in the Rangers drinks. They'll never see it coming!"

"Good, don't mess it up!" Rita yells. "Finster, get to work. All of you, don't disappoint me. I don't want to think of what I'll do to you if you fail."

* * *

"Right Punch!" Jason is walking around and through the rows of his students, watching their form and correcting them if needed. "Left Punch!" His students follow the instruction. "Right Punch, Left Punch, Right Kick!" He watches carefully as they perform the sequence and is thrilled to see them all perform it correctly. "Remember, it's all about form. Never compromise your form. It keeps you grounded and can turn the tides of any fight."

"Yes, Sensei!" They all shout together.

"Again!" he continues his drills and Trini and Kimberly are cheering them on from a table a few yards away.

"Jason's doing such a great job with this class!" Kimberly says as she turns to face Trini, Billy and Zack. She sits down at their table and stares at the volleyball in Zack's hand. "So, are we gonna play or what?"

"Yeah, whenever ya'll are ready. The four of us makes the right amount to people to play with those guys," Zack says pointing to students already at the volleyball net.

"Actually, minus me," Billy begins, "I have to tutor Brent Redford, and that begins in like – the time it takes for him to walk over here," Billy points to Brent and his brother, Trent, talking to a couple girls outside the Youth Center entrance.

"I just realized their names rhyme. That's whack, dude. I'd be pissed at my parents," Zack laughs and then takes a drink of his smoothie.

"Remember, Billy. Trent and Me at the Homecoming Dance," Kim says.

"Trent and I," Billy corrects. Kimberly tilts her head.

"Don't get greedy, Billy, you already have one of them." Trini begins hysterically laughing.

"Not what I – okay," Billy says flatly. "I'll be sure to talk to him,"

"Meanwhile, Trent could fill in for Billy for the game," Zack waves his hand in the air trying to get Trent's attention.

"Best idea you've ever had, Zack!" Kimberly squeals. "He's on my team."

"What's up guys?" Trent says as he and his brother approach them.

"Trent, we need one more person for our volleyball game. You in dude?" Zack says, all the while greeting them the typical hand-shake/high-five that he uses all the time.

"Yeah, I'm down. Let's do this," Trent smiles. Kimberly and Trini get up and the four of them walk down to the volleyball net. Brent sits down across from Billy and sets his bag on the table, unzipping it and taking out a text book.

"Long time no see," Brent begins.

"We actually just saw each other – oh, you're being sarcastic. Got it," Billy shakes his head at his own idiocy and Brent laughs. "Alright, what do you really need help with?"

"All of it," Brent admits.

"Oh good," Billy says enthusiastically. "Why don't we start with Newton's law of motion,"

"What is that?" Brent has a troubled look on his face.

"Well, I'm about to tell you," Billy replies.

"No, I mean, what is that!" Brent points behind him, Billy turns and finds a horde of Putty's charging towards the Youth Center.

"Oh no," Billy gets up immediately. "Brent, you need to get out of here."

"What about you?" Brent asks. Billy didn't anticipate that question.

"I mean, we do. But I got to get my friends. Go, get inside!" Billy instructs and takes off towards the volleyball net. "Putty's!" Billy yells. Jason stops his class and turns to see the creatures; Zack, Kimberly and Trini immediately stop playing and position themselves in front of their classmates.

"Class, get inside the Youth Center now!" Jason yells. Some students begin to panic and Jason does what he can to calm them, "It's okay, you're going to be alright. Just keep moving guys! You're doing great!" Jason follows them to the Youth Center doors and holds it open for his students to get it. "Everyone, get in here, now!" he yells to nearby students outside.

"Go to Jason, get inside!" Trini urges her classmates. As the Putty's get closer, she has no choice but to fight in front of them. She ducks from a Putty's punch and begins jabbing it in the stomach, knocking it back. Likewise, Zack kicks a Putty in the stomach after successfully evading an attack.

One of their classmates, Valerie, falls while running away and a Putty is all but on top of her. She screams in horror but is rescued by Kimberly, who delivers a swift kick to its side, knocking it off of her. Kimberly helps Valerie up to her feet.

"Thank you, Kimberly. Are you okay?" Valerie mumbles.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Get inside, everything will be alright," Kimberly instructs. Valerie screams at another Putty running towards them. Kimberly turns and folds her body back into a back hand-spring, giving her distance between herself and the Putty. Once she lands on her feet, she jumps up and kicks the Putty across the face sending it to the ground.

"Get inside, quick!" Billy instructs people he encounters. He tries to avoid fighting if possible, since it's much harder for him in his normal form. However, when a Putty jumps at him confrontation is unavoidable. Billy ducks and the Putty flips around him and lands on the ground. Billy quickly stomps on its face, reducing the creature to dust. A woman who witnesses the event screams, "Get inside, and hurry! More are coming!" Billy is taken off guard when a Putty tackles him to the ground. Billy struggles to get up, but his attempts are useless.

"Billy!" Jason yells and he immediately takes off towards his friend. It isn't a clear run, Putty's are charging towards him and other innocent civilians. Jason spins around and kicks a Putty away mid-run and then delivers a hi-jump kick to another Putty knocking it down.

The Putty on top of Billy gets up and begins pulling and punching the shoulder that he injured during his last encounter. Billy lets out grunts of pain and tries to pull away – unsuccessfully.

"Let him go!" Brent's sudden appearance comes as a surprise when he suddenly kicks the Putty in the stomach hard enough to cause it to fumble back. Brent then rushes forward and kicks the Putty again, this time knocking it to the ground. He turns to Billy and gently touches his shoulder, "You're hurt?" Billy nods. "Are you okay?"

"Let me tell you, the second I get into that Youth Center I'm enrolling in Jason's karate class," Billy mutters to himself angrily. "What are you still doing out here?"

"I was heading to the Youth Center, but then I ran back to get my bag. And there was this giant, blue creature standing by our table," Billy whips around and sees the creature he's speaking of, but only for a moment because he suddenly disappears and then all the Putty's do as well.

"Billy, are you okay man?" Jason finally got to him, "Is your shoulder okay?"

"No, not really. I think I'll be fine, though," Billy says.

"I saw what you did. Thanks for helping Billy, Brent." Jason shakes Brent's hand. "I think your brother is inside. He looks pretty shook up, I think you should go check on him," Jason says. Brent gives a slightly panicked expression and takes off towards the Youth Center. Both Jason and Billy meet up with the others at their table moments later. "That was strange."

"Yeah, talk about out of nowhere. And so quick. I don't feel like we won that fight. What was the point?" Trini shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't know, but I caught of glimpse of one of Rita's minions," Billy says.

"What do you mean?" Jason asks.

"There was this blue creature, I think Zordon said his name was Squat? I only saw him briefly near our – well, _this_ - table and once he disappeared so did the Putties. Brent pointed him out to me, otherwise I wouldn't have seen him,"

"Oh yeah, I saw that Brent helped you out. That's nice. I'm so over his brother. I don't know where he was, but clearly chivalry is dead. Disney didn't prepare me for this." All of them roll their eyes at Kimberly.

"I'm sick of needing help. I don't see you guys needing help when the Putties attack," Billy sits down at the table and holds his shoulder. "I might need Alpha to take a look at my arm again." Kimberly sits down to join him. At the same time, both of them take a sip of their smoothies and instantly regret it.

"Oh my god, what the hell..!" Kimberly begins to gag and tosses her drink aside. Billy begins coughing and sets his drink aside as well. "This tastes like death," Kimberly coughs out. After a couple minutes, they both stop coughing but both share the same ill expression.

"I don't feel good at all," Billy finally says.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Kimberly agrees.

"Guys, let's get you to the command center. If Rita's minion did something to you guys, we need to reverse it fast." Jason looks extremely worried at this point. "Let's get some cover so we can teleport out. With Zack's help, Jason brings Billy behind some tall shrubbery and Trini assists Kimberly. Once all together, Jason presses the teleport buttons on both of their communicators and then Zack, Trini and himself follow.

When they arrive at the command center, both Alpha and Zordon are surprised to see them. Alpha immediately rushes over to Billy and Kimberly who look desperately ill.

"Ayiyiyiyiyi!" Alpha cries, "What happened to them?"

"We're not sure," Jason answers. He walks to the middle of the command center and looks up at Zordon. "We were attacked just outside the youth center. It was strange, it was brief. Billy thought he saw Squat, one of Rita's minions and I think he did something to their drinks. When both of them took a drink, they became like this." Zordon is quiet and closes his eyes for a moment.

"Ayiyiyi!" Alpha cries, "My readings indicate a swell of darkness building within you two."

"So that shame I'm feeling wasn't just the smoothie? It is evil? Well, at least now I don't think I need to go on a crash diet," Kimberly says.

"Kim, this is serious," Trini retorts. Zordon opens his eyes.

"Yes, my censors do indicate that Squat was on Earth and from the sounds of the situation, it appears that the attack was a distraction so that Rita could poison you," Zordon answers. "You're lucky it didn't get to all of you. Fortunately, Alpha does have a cure for this, but it will take some time," Zordon says.

"I don't have any more time to give. I need to get out of here now!" Kimberly says, her tone shifting from normal sounding to angry throughout.

"Wait, Kimberly you have to stay put. We need to get this taken care of," Jason says calmly and rests his hand on her shoulder. She slaps it away.

"Oh stop. Stop it, Jason. You're not my Dad. You're not my big brother. Stop trying to protect me. You're smothering me and I'm over it," Kimberly's tone is lower and far angrier than before.

"Kimberly…" Trini responds in disbelief.

"It's the darkness talking. It's Rita's poison," Jason clarifies. Again, he tries to console her and approaches her again.

"I said back off!" She yells and kicks Jason in the stomach. Shocked, Trini and Zack run over to Jason and help him regain his balance.

"How does it feel? Must suck getting kicked out. Maybe you know how I feel now," Billy's tone is now matching Kimberly's. "Interesting how you claim to care so much yet you're never there when I need help. You're no leader, Jason."

"Billy, Kimberly, it's Rita's evil talking. You both need to stay so we can cure you before things get out of hand," Zordon urges.

"Oh my god, shut up! Let's get out of here," Kimberly says. In protest, Trini runs towards them and Kimberly grabs her by the arms and throws her back into Jason and Zack. Billy laughs as they tumble and both Billy and Kimberly teleport out.

"Ayiyiyiyiyi!" Alpha cries. "Zordon, if we don't get that cure to them, there's no telling how reckless they'll become!"

"I know, Alpha. Begin the cure immediately. The sooner the better. Jason, Zack, Trini – you must find them and bring them back here. If Rita finds out her poison worked, she'll use the opportunity to attack while you're divided," Zordon says.

"Zordon, how are we supposed to get them back here? Kimberly got violent just a second ago. We can't fight them," Zack says.

"I know this situation must be difficult for you, but they need to be brought back here. By _any_ means necessary," Zordon's instructions were clear and Jason, Zack and Trini could only look at each other with dismayed expressions. They didn't want to fight their friends, but they were starting to realize they might not have a choice.


	10. Terror Part 2

**Terror**

**Part 2**

With Billy and Kimberly loose within Angel Grove and Zordon's direct order to apprehend them by any means necessary, it's easy to understand the reluctance that Jason, Zack and Trini feels. First of all, none of them knew where to start to look for them. When they left the command center, their communicators were disabled – thanks to Billy more than likely. After splitting up and surveying the Youth Center, Jason and Zack find each other at the entrance, neither of them with good news. Trini goes to the front counter and gets Ernie's attention with the wave of her hand.

"Hey, you haven't seen Kimberly or Billy around have you?"

"Not since earlier when they were with you guys," Ernie says as he sets down an order of shakes on the bar. "Is everything alright?" Not wanting to alarm Ernie, Trini simply smiles and nods her head.

"Yeah, just curious. Thanks, Ernie," Trini turns on her heel and heads towards Zack and Jason who are sharing a pessimistic expression. "No luck?" She almost didn't need to ask the question and wasn't surprised when either of them said nothing. "I don't know how we're supposed to find them, they could be anywhere."

"The good news is they haven't morphed at all. Zordon would be able to track them if that were the case," Jason says.

"Why is that good news, if they morphed we could fine them easier," Zack responds.

"Because if they decide to morph, it's more than likely to do some kind of damage or make some kind of scene and we don't need that. Who knows how much this darkness has influenced them already?" All of them shiver at the thought; with Billy's smarts and Kimberly's flair for the dramatic, they could only imagine the trouble the two of them could cause if they wanted to.

"Trini, is that you?" Trini's eyes widen at the sound of a familiar voice and whips around to see who it is. "Wow, it's been a long time." A boy with medium-length, ash-blonde hair approaches them.

"Daniel?" Trini smiles but is still a little unsure of herself.

"It couldn't have been that long, right? Of course it's me," he approaches Trini and gives her a giant hug. Jason and Zack exchange a glance before Jason clears his throat.

"Yeah, it's been a long time," Trini turns to Jason and Zack, "This is Daniel, and he was my best friend in middle school. He moved away right before we started High School," she explains briefly before turning back to Daniel, "Daniel, this is Jason and Zack, two of my best friends," Daniel shakes both of their hands – Jason's hand shake is a little more aggressive and he gives a protective glance over Trini. She doesn't seem to notice and goes on to ask "Why are you here?"

"My Dad got his old job back and we moved. I just enrolled in Angel Grove High today. I wasn't sure if you'd still be here so I went to your house and your mom told me you'd more than likely be here. I guess she was right!" Daniel laughs. "So, can I get you a milkshake or something? I'd love to catch up!" Trini smiles and her eyes travel from Daniel, to Jason and Zack who are still expressing concern over their friends.

"I would love to, but I can't right now. We're looking for two of our friends for something important. I will be back later, though. We can catch up then?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. Just come find me when you get back?" Daniel smiles and Trini nods her head. With that, he turns around and walks off and Trini returns her attention to Jason and Zack.

"Your old boyfriend?" Jason teases.

"No, nothing like that. Just good, old friend. Once we have this situation taken care of, I'll be more excited about seeing him."

* * *

After what was about an hour of searching, no luck. They aren't outside the school grounds, neither of them are at the mall or at the outside recreation center of the Youth Center. All in all, Jason, Zack and Trini are losing morale.

"I don't know where else to look. If we go to Kimberly or Billy's house and they're not there, their parents will get suspicious and we don't need that," Zack says, "If only they would morph," Just as Zack says this, their communicator's start to go off. All three of them walk out of the Youth Center and head towards the empty alley behind the Youth Center.

"Come in, Zordon," Jason says while holding his communicator up.

"Rangers. Kimberly and Billy have both morphed in Angel Grove Park," these words give them all pause…and grief.

"Zordon, were they seen?" Jason is completely worried at this point.

"No, fortunately. There is a Putty attack and both Kimberly and Billy were merely responding to being attacked. If you can subdue them, then Alpha can teleport them into a contained cell and give them the cure. But hurry rangers, time is of the essence." Jason lowers the communicator and Zack and Trini face him.

"Guys, we have to be careful to not hurt Billy and Kimberly if we can avoid it. I can't believe it's come to this…" Jason's fists clinch. "If I could get my hands on Rita, I swear I would –"

"Jason, stop. Don't let anger cloud your judgment. We can handle this. Rita hasn't won anything," Trini says. "We have to hurry,"

"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason yells.

"Mastodon!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!" After each of them are transformed, Zordon teleports them to Angel Grove Park where Billy and Kimberly are holding on a group of Putty's. Jason rushes into the fray and heads towards Billy, "Guys, I'll get to Billy, you two get to Kimberly!" Billy is holding his own better since he's morphed, but Jason can tell Billy is struggling with fighting over all and that his shoulder is still in pain. "Billy!" Jason calls out to get his attention. Jason jumps in the air and flips over two Putty's to get to his friend.

"What the hell do you want?" Billy's tone is low and angry still and he's immediately dismissive of Jason's help. With his hands in the air he summons his lance and begins to attack Putty's to the left and right of him.

"Billy, come on man, we have to get you better," Jason kicks a Putty out of the way and turns to his friend, hoping he'll listen to reason.

"Better?" Billy laughs. "What is better? A better fighter, maybe?" This leaves Jason confused. "I wouldn't be where I am at if I were better. Maybe, as our leader, you should have taught me to be better," Billy strikes a Putty across the chest. "Better at fighting," Billy trips a Putty and impales its stomach. "Better at defending. Just better!" At this point, Billy takes a swing towards Jason which he manages to narrowly evade.

"Billy, snap out of it man. This isn't you," Jason says, but this time he is hit by Billy and falls back onto the ground.

"Get out of here, guys. You're wasting your time," Kimberly shouts as she blasts a handful of Putty's the ground. Trini and Zack are circling her, unable to figure out how to apprehend her. Trini begins punching a Putty trying to get in her way and Zack finishes it off with a blast to the head.

"Kimberly, enough is enough. Come with us!" Zack touches her shoulder and his hand is immediately swiped away.

"Don't touch me," she says threateningly and then blasts away another Putty.

"Seriously, Kim. Rita is wanting to divide us so she can attack, we have to get you better," Zack tries again to get her attention however her response is a kick to his stomach, making him hunch over in pain. "I told you to not touch me!" she growls.

"Freeze! Hands up!" They all turn and see police officers surrounding the park.

"No, not now…" Trini says under her breath. "Guys, we have to hurry this up!" Trini grabs a Putty by the arm and swings it around, tossing it into two incoming Putty's. As a Putty goes to punch her Trini responds by going into a full split – right leg in front, left in the back – and she delivers a hard punch to the Putty's stomach. Trini leans over and swings her left leg over and sweeps the Putty to the ground, once there she shoves her elbow into its neck, disabling it.

Zack jumps through the air and grabs on Putty's neck with his hands and grabs another Putty's neck with his ankles; Zack then forcefully twists his body brings both Putty's the ground. As Zack gets up he is immediately greeted with a sharp pain to his arm followed by the sound of a gunshot.

"Ahh damn it!" Zack cries in pain, grabbing his arm. Fortunately for his armor there wasn't a break in the skin or any blood, but it still really hurt. More gun shots are fired and the other rangers are able to evade them well enough. "They're opening fire, we have to get out of here!"

"No without Billy and Kim!" Jason yells out.

"Kimberly, they're shooting at us, we have to leave!" Trini positions herself in front of her friend and places her hands on her.

"Hands off, Trini!" Kimberly pushes Trini's hands up and kicks her away. "They're not the only ones with fire power!" Kimberly laughs. "Power Bow!" Her weapon appears in her hands and she pulls back the bowstring.

"Kimberly, don't!" Trini pleads.

"Sorry bout it," She releases the bowstring and a pink arrow cuts through the air, "Sorry I'm not." The arrow pierces through the hood of one of the police cars and sinks into the engine, causing it to explode upon impact. This ends up causing a little bit of a ripple effect, as next cop car also explodes and then another. Police officers are scattered throughout the park, some after flying through the air due to the explosion, others from running away from the explosions.

"Kim, what have you done?" Trini gasps. Jason and Billy stop fighting each other and watch in awe of the explosion and not a second later does Jason activate his communicator.

"Trini, what happened? You gotta stop her. Now!" Jason yells, he then turns around just in time to dodge another swing from Billy.

"I'm trying Jason!" She gets to her feet and holds her hands in the air, "Power Daggers!" She runs towards Kimberly and thrusts one of her daggers forward but Kimberly blocks it with her edge of her bow. Trini swings her other dagger yet Kimberly ducks under it just in time and she responds by kicking at Trini, who jumps back to dodge it.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Trini!" Kimberly taunts as she twirls her bow in front of her.

"Kimberly, don't make me do this," Trini pleads once again and Kimberly only responds with laughter.

"You really think you can take me?" Kimberly leaps into the air and swings her bow down hard; Trini throws her daggers up to block it and uses Kimberly's weight against her to toss her away. Once Kimberly lands on her feet she darts for Trini once again and delivers a high kick hitting Trini across her helmet. Trini began thrusting her daggers forward and Kimberly performs backward aerials to dodge each of them; once she lands on her feet, she pulls back her bowstring and releases an arrow at Trini, hitting her directly in her chest and causing her to fall to the ground.

"Trini!" Zack slices a Putty in half with his axe and tries to rush over to his teammate, however he is blocked by a surprise – a couple of Police officers with their night-sticks handy. "You've gotta be kidding me," he says flatly.

"Stop or we'll be forced to attack you," The first police officer says.

"You guys need to focus on the real bad guys!" Zack retorts.

"One of yours fired at us," The police officer replies angrily.

"You shot me first if you really wanna go there. I don't have time for this!" Zack rushes forward and jumps over the Police officers and dashes toward Trini. As if things couldn't get any worse, another wave of Putty's lead by a giant, green toad-like monster appears. Zack activates his communicator, "Jason, it looks like Rita sent down a monster."

"Oh man. Things can't get any worse," Jason says under his breath. Having enough of Billy's attacks Jason raises his hand to sky, "Power Sword!" He counters Billy's lance and manages to push him back, "I'm really sorry about this Billy," Jason spins and kicks Billy's shoulder, causing him to crumble the ground and cry out in pain.

"Ass hole!" Billy curses loudly and grabs his shoulder. "I underestimated you, Jason. I never would have predicted you to go for the cheap shots." Jason is immediately struck with grief and guilt and takes in a deep breath to suppress it for now.

"You didn't give me a choice, Billy. We have to get you better," Jason replies and reaches down to grab his hand, "Zordon, Billy is ready for teleportation, quick!" And in a matter of seconds, a blue light surrounds Billy and he's gone. "Good, one down." He rushes towards Zack who is fighting back the next wave of Putty's and Rita's new monster.

"You all look so delicious!" The Toad yells in a terrifyingly enthusiastic voice.

"I don't like where this is going," Zack says and turns his axe into shotgun mode, "I'm about to wreck these Putty's lives up," and he begins shooting them to smithereens.

"We're not going to be able to beat them without Billy and Kim," Jason pulls out his blaster with his other hand uses both weapons in to attack; he slices a Putty with his sword and finishes it with a blast to the face. Jason is surprised when a Putty is shot by one of Kimberly's arrows, but at this point Kimberly is just shooting anything. "Trini, get to her!" Jason instructs.

"Alright, round two." Trini pulls herself up and charges towards Kimberly again. She thrusts both her daggers towards Kim but is blocked by her bow.

"Give it up, Trini," Kimberly laughs. Trini delivers a surprising kick to Kimberly's side, knocking her off balance and back-hand's Kimberly's helmet causing her to spin. Kimberly turns adjusts her footing and kicks at Trini but Trini catches her foot and tosses Kimberly back. Taking advantage of Kimberly's vulnerability, Trini throws both of her daggers and hits Kimberly dead on in the chest, the sharp pain of the blades making her cry out in pain and drops to her knees.

"Kimberly, I'm so sorry," After it's all done, Trini's voice is shaky and her throat is really tight. Water is falling down her eyes, but she can't wipe them away and has to deal with them. "Zordon, Kimberly is ready," she sniffles and grabs Kimberly's wrist and seconds later she's teleported out. She tries to regain her composure for now, but she still can't believe she was forced to fight – and hurt – her best friend. She picks up her daggers and runs toward Jason and Zack who are having a direct confrontation with the Toad monster. "Kim's with Zordon"

"Good. It had to be done, Trini," Jason says in a comforting voice.

"I know," she responds, still overcome with guilt. She and Jason run to assist Zack who is dodge hits from the Toad monster. Despite it's large, bulbous size it's very springy and it's movements aren't very predictable. With his mouth open, saliva begins to drip from it and makes Zack make a sound of digust.

"Dude, that's just nasty," He pulls the trigger of his axe shotgun and blasts the Toad directly into the mouth, sending it flying on its back.

"Nice shot, Zack!" Jason cuts through a Putty and joins Zack.

"Thanks, but I thi –" Before Zack could fully respond, the Toad monster bounces back up and hits Zack directly with its fatty gut and sends him spiral feet back into a tree.

"Zack!" Jason yells with alarm; he ready's his blade and wastes no time in slashing the creature left and right. Trini joins in the fray and begins stabbing with her daggers over and over again. In response the Toad monster springs upward and swings its long arms at Jason and Trini, knocking them back to the ground.

"You look especially tasty," The Toad muses while starring at Jason, saliva falling from his mouth and its tongue begins to extend out of its mouth.

"What the…" Jason is at a loss of words for what he sees. He stands to his feet and holds his sword in front of him.

"Now, now. Don't fight. I don't want to play with my food too much," The Toad laughs and bounces closer to Jason and its tongue begins to ascend in the air, snaking towards Jason.

"Jason, look out!" Zack pushes Jason out of the way and the tongue wraps itself around Zack instead and begin squeezing him tightly.

"Zack!" Jason yells but is drowned out by Zack's grunts of pain. The Toad's mouth widens to considerable lengths and its tongue is pulled back in until it and Zack are inside and then it closes. Jason raises his blaster and begins firing constantly, but nothing is happening, "Zack!" Jason yells in horror, "Let him go! Let him go!" Jason's voice is beginning to sound desperate and it's Trini that prevents Jason from running towards it.

"Jason, we should get back to Zordon," She urges and she presses down on her communicator which teleports them both to the command center.

"Zack! No!" Jason yells and begins slamming his fists on the ground.

"Jason! Jason, you need to stop. Stop," Trini hugs him from behind and doesn't let go until he calms down.

"Zack isn't gone, Jason." These words don't hit Jason until a few seconds after Zordon says them and he gets up to face their mentor, relief starting to fill him and Trini.

"Zordon, are you sure?" Trini's voice is still shaky.

"Yes. This monster is truly a machination of evil, but those that he devours aren't lost. The creatures hunger is so large that a separate dimension was created to store everything. It's very troubling that Rita decided to recreate this monster because last time, even she couldn't control it."

"That's so stupid! Why on Earth would Rita would create a monster even she couldn't destroy by herself?" Jason asks.

"The stakes are higher this time, Jason. While my previous warriors were formidable, they didn't pose the threat to her and her army that you five do. Truly, it is an act of desperation," Zordon replies.

"So how are we supposed to beat it this time?" Trini asks.

"I don't have an answer at this time. Alpha and I have been formulating plans since we sense the creature cross into Earth's atmosphere."

"It would be really helpful if we had Billy on this as well," Alpha comes up behind Jason and Trini and sets a device down on the ground.

"Alpha, where is Kimberly and Billy?" Jason's tone is urgent.

"They are recovering right now in the medical bay. The cure worked just fine, right now they're getting their strength together. I was able to help Billy's shoulder more, it isn't healed completely, but it's good enough for now," Alpha scratches the top of its head.

"Good. Zordon, I feel really bad about having to hurt Billy like that. You're sure he'll be okay?"

"Yes Jason. These measures, while not ideal, we're unavoidable. Rita brought out a deep evil from both of them and if not dealt with, they could have been more destructive." The alarms of the command center begin to sound off and the viewing globe lights up showing the Terror Toad devouring Policemen and even some unfortunate Putty's that get in its way.

"Oh, man. Zordon, this is getting bad. With law enforcement involved how are we supposed to beat it?" Jason turns to face Zordon with folded arms.

"This isn't going to be easy, Rangers as you already know. But it can be done. I believe that the local law enforcement will see it within their best interest to assist you in getting back their fallen teammates as well," Zordon answers.

"We have to get down there. He's really hurting them," Trini says.

"I know it's hard to watch, Trini, but you'll be doing them more harm than good than to try and attack without a plan. All of you are going to need to be united to stop him," Zordon says.

"Damn, we really need Billy and Kimberly to wake up," Jason says as he looks to Trini and together they watch helplessly as the carnage happens before them.


	11. Terror Part 3

**Terror**

**Part 3**

"Billy?" Trini's voice creates an unpleasant echo through Billy's head and when he opens his eyes, he's forced to squint to adjust to the light. "Jason, Billy is waking up! How about Kimberly?"

"No, not yet," Jason says while placing her hand within his. Once Alpha lead them to the medical bay of the command center, neither Jason nor Trini left.

"Oh, my head..." Billy grunts and when he begins to sit up Trini assists him but placing her hand up against his back. "What happened?" Trini and Jason both exchange guilty looks.

"You don't remember anything?" Trini asks.

"I'm not sure. I remember...I think I remember anger. I was really angry. I remember fighting Jason...and blood...BLOOD. ALPHA!" Billy yells.

"Why are you yelling?" Kimberly grumbles as she begins to wake up.

"Ayiyiyiyi, Billy - what is it?!" An alarmed Alpha comes rushing to Billy's side.

"Blood, did you get Kimberly's blood like I asked you too?"

"Wait, what?" Kimberly's voice is flat and she, Trini and Jason all look to Alpha with wide eyes.

"Affirmative, Billy. Just like you requested," Alpha replies non-chalantly.

"Good, good," Billy sighs.

"Uhm, Gross. Why are you messing with my blood?" Kimberly sits up - with Jason's help - and turns to Billy.

"I'll explain later...I'm sorry about my behavior guys," His question causes an already guilt-ridden Jason to shake his head profusely.

"No, no. Don't apologize. You guys were influenced by Rita, I'm really sorry I had to hurt you..." Jason stands up when he says this.

"I would have done the same...or, I would have tried," Billy laughs.

"I still can't remember much...it's all a blur. I'm sorry, too," Kimberly says.

"No - it's fine. Water under the bridge, but we do need to focus on beating this thing. It got Zack..." Trini's voice cracks with Zack's name; she clears her throat and keeps her composure but is still struggling with it.

Billy turns over in his bed and plants his legs on the ground, both Trini and Jason assist him when he tries to stand but back off when they realize he's fine. Kimberly follows his example and they all follow Billy out into the Command Center.

"Billy, Kimberly, great to have you with us," Zordon greets.

"Good to be back, Zordon," Kimberly smiles.

"Okay – so what do we know about this creature?" Billy walks over to the main computer and begins looking over data that Alpha points off to him.

"Well, the Toad is extremely strong and surprisingly quick," Jason begins.

"And it'll eat anything, that's how it got Zack. Its tongue is like whip and he's very fast with it," Trini adds.

"It doesn't seem good for us," Billy says flatly after reading through some data that alpha printed off. "You said that you had to combine dark and light to beat him before?" Billy's question to Zordon.

"Yes, which makes this particular matter all the more difficult to resolve," Zordon replies.

"Not quite, I think I might have an idea. But I need to study the monster a little more closely. Alpha, can you get a current view of it on the viewing globe?"

"Affirmative!" Alpha responds and the four rangers turn to the viewing globe. The Terror Toad moved on from the park is now just outside the Youth Center. Police Officers are putting it under heavy fire but nothing is happening.

"Zordon, they're not like dead, right? When he eats them?" Kimberly asks but cringes in anticipation for the answer.

"No, Kimberly. Rest assured they will be fine," Zordon's response gives her relief.

"He's going after everyone at the Youth Center, now. Guys, our friends are in there! Look, there's Brent and Trent. And isn't that Felicia?" Trini voice is urgent and she places her hands on her head.

"I know, I know. Billy, have you gotten anything yet?" Jason's voice is stressed and his fists are clinched.

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough data. I need to more closely observe it in order to better hypothesize a victory strategy. Zordon, when you destroyed the monster before, did everyone simply return?"

"No. It does have a weakness that causes it to regurgitate its victims. However, only Rita's forces knew how to do this and it was never revealed to me," Zordon answer comes as a disappointment and Billy signs in response and Kim cringes at the word 'regurgitate'.

"Alright, so, Plan B. I need to get close enough to it to make a proper analysis. Since it is a Toad and probably similar to a reptile, it can be suggested that there might be a weakness around its mouth to trigger the regurgitation – much like a komodo dragon or a snake."

"Again, so gross. But we have to get Zack out of there," Kimberly says.

"Okay guys. Here's the plan. We observe, we have to try to avoid direct confrontation if we can. Get as many people away from him as possible and try to avoid direct confrontation with any police," Jason instructs.

"Oh god," Kimberly sighs, "I forgot I blew up like six cop cars. Guys I'm so sorry, I know I didn't help our cause any."

"No one got hurt and that's the important thing," Jason assures her.

"Alpha, that project we were working on. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to use it. Is it ready?" Billy asks.

"Ayiyiyiyi, no! I still need a little more time," Alpha waves it arms in the air franticly.

"Try to finish it. I think I've figured out how we can destroy it. Again, we have to find out how to get Zack out. But remember when I asked if Alpha drew Kimberly's blood? Well Alpha cured me first, but before he got to Kim I remember requesting him to take her blood because it still has evil in it. Darkness. So if we used her blood as the darkness element, if we combine that with the light energy Zordon used before, it should be enough to destroy the Toad monster."

"Billy, that's brilliant! And you were almost passed out when this came to you? Hardcore man!" Jason pats him on the shoulder.

"Fantastic deduction, Billy. Alpha will begin finishing your project immediately and we'll be in contact when it's ready," Zordon says.

"Alright guys, stay focused. We need to help Billy get the data he needs so we can destroy this thing. Back to action!"

* * *

Screaming, gun fire and sadistic laughing is all that could be heard from outside the Youth Center grounds. The Terror Toad throws his massive tongue out and wraps it around an unsuspecting Police Officer. The officer struggles and begins firing his gun rapidly into its tongue, but slowly he is reeled into the creatures extended jaw and consumed in whole. All who watch continue to scream in horror and try to break through the mass of Putty's.

"Trent, get up," Brent says to his brother, trying to pull him up from the ground. A Putty surprises them both as it jumps down from the roof of the Youth Center. Trent quickly takes Brent's hand and is pulled up. The Putty tries to kick at him but Brent grabs its leg and pushes it back. When he turns around he is surprised yet again by another group of Putty's. "Holy sh—"

"Get back!" Jason yells as he and Billy flip over them cut down the Putty's with their weapons.

"Damn, the Power Rangers!" Trent exclaims.

"You guys need to get inside," Billy lowers his voice to try and not be recognizable. Brent gives him an unsure look before finally following his brother inside. Trini jumps down from the roof of the Youth Center and Kimberly remains.

"Guys, I'm going to be aerial support. Find out what you need, I got your backs," Kim says before summoning her Power Bow.

"Good, alright. Now where is – ah, there it is!" Jason points to the Toad monster who is stalking a group of teens. "Remember guys, try not to get too close and watch out for its tongue." They all run towards the monster with rescuing the teens are their main objective. All of them are screaming and are backed into a corner, the Toad's mouth is wide open with saliva dripping.

"Get away from them!" Trini pulls out her blaster and fires two shots into its back, gaining it's attention.

"Ooh, the Power Rangers! Even more delicious!" As it turns around it gives a lecherous grin and opens its mouth even wider.

"Don't even think about it!" Billy yells and fires another shot into its mouth. Jason then leaps in the air and brings his power sword down on top of its head, leaving an open wound in between the monsters eyes and a blue-blood streaming from the gash.

"I will devour you!" The Toad yells and its tongue licks its own blood off of its face.

"Trini, you should get the teens out while Jason has it distracted!" Kimberly says into her communicator. Trini looks up toward Kimberly and nods her head, lowers her body into a crouch and takes off behind the Toad monster unseen.

"Come guys, go, go! Quick!" Trini whispers however all they can do scream. "Hurry, we can't hold him back for long!" her statement eventually got through to them and one by one they slinked away from the Toad. They didn't seem to matter to it anymore though as it was infatuated with Jason.

"Just when I didn't think Rita could make anything uglier," Jason taunts.

"Queen Rita made me in her vision!" The Toad defends.

"Then she's must be uglier than you," Jason says and the Toad monster yells in protest. It bounces forward and hits Jason dead on, sending him flying into a car, the windshield breaking his fall. He grumbles as he tries to raise himself, using his sword as support. The Toad monster slowly begins to make his way toward him, ignoring the blasts from both Trini and Billy. Even Kimberly's arrows from above isn't enough to halt it.

"Plan B guys, we can't lose Jason right now!" Trini puts her blaster back in her holster, "Power Daggers!" her blades show up in her hands and she dashes forward and leaps onto the back of the creature, stabbing it over and over again.

"Get off of me!" The Toad begins to wail in pain and tosses back and forth. Billy takes the opportunity to run over to Jason and pull him off the car.

"C'mon Jason, get up," Billy urges but Jason is still very groggy from his collision.

"Have it your way!" The Toad yells and his tongue comes out of his mouth and goes backward, wrapping itself around Trini's waist lifting her off of its back.

"Guys! It's got her!" Kimberly yells. Trini struggles as she ascends higher in the air and her movements become desperate once it starts to reel in. She manages to get one of her hands free and begins stabbing its tongue until finally it throws her onto a group of Puttys.

"My tongue!" The Toad cries and it bounces back and forth in pain. "You're next, Yellow. Putty's! Hold her down!" As Trini begins to get up, she is immediately held down by the Putty's around her. She kicks one of them away but another quickly takes its place and punches her in the gut. "You're mine!" The Toad monster screams and its tongue is thrown out again.

"Trini! Hold on!" Kimberly pulls back her bowstring and sends arrow after arrow at the Putty's hold her down, yet they will not fall. Billy dashes forward with his blaster ready and begins to open fire on them, but still not destroying them fast enough.

"Ah, let me go!" Trini cries; the monsters tongue wraps itself around Trini and pulls her in his mouth and closes it quickly.

"No!" Kimberly screams and drops to her knees.

"Oh, no…" Billy says under his breath, "Trini, I-I'm so sorry." Billy aims his blaster and begins blasting the Toad directly in the face. As the Toad almost fell back, there was a slit of red skin – very small, though – under his mouth. "Got it," Billy presses a button on the side of his helmet to record his finding and barely manages to jump out of the way when the Toad unleashes its tongue towards him, instead grabbing a unsuspecting Putty and pulls it into his mouth. "Jason!" Billy runs over to his leader and helps him to his feet.

"Thanks, Billy. Damn that thing can pack a punch!" Jason rolls his shoulders and twists his neck until they all pop. "Much better."

"Jason, they got Trini…" Jason doesn't say anything and responds by clinching his grip around his Power Sword and shaking his head. "Jason, I think I found its weakness," Billy points to its mouth, "There is a little slit of flesh beneath its mouth. Like some amphibious creatures, it can be suggested that if hit hard enough it'll cause a gag-reflex of sorts."

"It's worth a shot," Jason says, while Billy's find doesn't calm him down, he is happy that they now have a lead. However, his happiness is short-lived when a helicopter begins to hover over them, "What now?" Eight lines of rope drop down from it, some landing on the Youth Center next to Kimberly, others around Jason and Billy; then members of the Angel Grove S.W.A.T. team begins scaling down the ropes.

"This…is not good," Billy turns and his back is facing Jason.

"S.W.A.T. Commander Leo Trask," Leo Trask introduces himself as he walks towards Jason and Billy, "You're under arrest for obstruction of justice and destroying Police vehicles."

"Are you serious?" Jason keeps his voice low and Billy makes a mock sound of dismay in response.

"We're trying to help destroy this monster. If you haven't noticed we've been doing that for you the last couple of weeks," Billy keeps his voice low as well to disguise it and Leo Trask scoffs at his response.

"You have no authority here," Trask says.

"Even if we're only helping?" Jason takes a step closer to meet him face to face.

"It's not your job, son. Now I would just stand down before this becomes uglier than it needs to," Trask's arrogance pisses Jason off to no end.

"Like hell," Jason grunts.

"Take em in!" Trask orders and gives out the hand signals necessary for those out of range of hearing. The officers close in on Billy and Jason and try to grab them with no success. The two SWAT members on the roof manage to grab Kimberly and try to hold her down.

"Ah! Commander!" Trask turns and finds one of his teammates being pulled in by the Terror Toad.

"Bullock!" Trask yells in shock, he looks up towards the helicopter and presses down on his earpiece to make communications, "Freeman, open fire. Don't let that thing take Bullock!" The helicopter repositions itself and ammunition is fired by its machine gun.

"No! Don't!" Jason warns. The bullets hit the Toad and causes it to let go of Bullock, however it only laughs in response.

"Oooh, that tickles! I wonder what you taste like!" The Toad throws its tonque out and wraps it around the tail of the Helicopter and begins to pull it down.

"What in the world…" Trask is in disbelief. "Freeman, get control!" he orders, but it's useless. The pressure of the creatures tongue against the heavy metal of the Helicopter causes the tail to break off and the helicopter to tail-spin towards the ground.

"Move! Get out of the way!" Jason orders and he and Billy take off in the opposite direction, trying to get as many at the SWAT members to follow their lead. Jason looks back and sees the helicopter about the land and the Toads mouth held wide open. Once it hits the ground, the outburst is practically instant, the ground quakes and the explosion sends Jason, Billy and many of the SWAT officers flying in the air. The explosion drives Kimberly and the two guards around her back and off the building, landing on the concrete.

"Ow…" After moments of unconsciousness Kimberly finally wakes up and manages to raise herself. Looking around her she finds the two officers, bloodied and burned and not even sure if they're still alive. "Oh my god," is her only reaction to the shock. When she pushes herself to her feet, she limps over to the other side of the building where the others surely had to be. "Jason, Billy, come in!" she says into her communicator and becomes anxious when there's no answer.

After what seems like an eternity of limping she finds Jason and Billy under some debris. She quickens her pace and when she arrives next to Jason she falls to her knees and begins to toss debris off of him.

"Kim?" Jason mumbles, still unmoving.

"Yes, c'mon we gotta get you out of here and get to Billy," she continues to move all she can and fortunately Jason comes to his senses soon enough to move out from under it.

"Ahahahahahah!" Both of them turn their heads and find the Terror Toad bouncing through the fire and remains of the helicopter unharmed.

"God damn, what is it gonna take?" Jason curses. And when more Putty's appear around them, Jason only curses louder. "Kim!" he yells.

"Got it," she knows exactly what he wants without saying a word, "Just get Billy!" Kimberly stands up, "Power Bow!" she summons her weapon again and begins to rapidly fire arrows at incoming Putty's. When one of them grabs her from behind and halts her fire, she panics and tries to break free. When Jason hears Kimberly's distress, he turns from Billy and is about to help Kim but stops mid-run.

"Back off, freak!" Kimberly turns her head and is surprised when Trask punches the Putty in the face which makes it let go and he follows his attack with a jump kick to the Putty's side, sending to the ground. Kimberly turns and fires an arrow into its head, destroying it. When she turns back to Trask she notices how injured he is; he isn't putting any weight on his left leg and there's a large gash on the side of his head, on top of several cuts on his arms.

"You don't look so good. You should let us handle it," Kimberly says.

"And miss out on all the fun? No way," Trasks laughs, "Consider this a brief a truce," Kimberly nods her head and returns to open fire on the incoming Putty's. Trask raises his gun and opens fires on them as well, although not doing nearly as much damage at Kimberly.

"C'mon man, get up!" Jason has all the debris off of Billy and slaps his helmet a few times.

"I'm so tired of getting my ass kicked," Billy grunts. "World: 7 – Me: 0," Jason laughs and helps Billy to his feet. He sees Trask helping Kimberly and is immediately confused, "Wasn't he just trying to arrest us?"

"Maybe the explosion was eye-opening enough. Let's not fight this, we need all the help we can get," Jason advises. "Power Sword!" he summons his weapon.

"Power Lance!" Billy follows his example and they both charge forward passing Kim and Trask and begin attack Puttys. "Maybe if we get close enough to the Toad we can get a clean shot," Billy says after decapitating a Putty with a hard swing of his Lance.

"I'm not missing out on all the fun, am I?" Trask suddenly appears in between them and pulls out a metal night-stick which also seems to have electrocution abilities after he touches a button on the handle.

"Very nice," Billy mutters. Trask jumps in the air and kicks a Putty away, when he lands he twirls his weapon and thrusts it forward, electrocuting a Putty and making it fall to the ground.

"You're mine Power Rangers!" The Toad yells and throws his tongue out towards Billy. Jason jumps forward to intercept brings his sword down on top of the tongue, cutting it in half. The creature's blood and saliva spill on the ground and it screams immediately.

"Nice!" Billy laughs. The Toads tongue, now split into two begins zig-zaging around and the creature continues to yell in pain.

"You won't get away with this!" The Toad hisses and then the unthinkable happens. The Toad's tongue, now split into two parts, pushes forward grabbing Jason with one part and Billy with the other.

"No!" Kimberly yells in a panic and takes off toward them, firing arrows at the Toad's tongue to stop him from eating them. Both Jason and Billy struggle and try and break free, even Trask tries to get it to let go by striking it with his weapon but to no avail. Jason realizes it's useless and stops struggling.

"It's up to you, Kim," he says into his helmet communicator; the messages makes her cry out in protest. Both Billy and Jason are reeled in a matter of seconds and then they're gone.

"No!" Kimberly yells desperately, "I can't do this alone…" warm tears begin to fall from her eyes.

"What should we do?" Trask runs to Kimberly.

"I-I don't know," she sniffles and looks up, the Toad is practically dancing now.

"Four down, one to go! Only one left is pink and she is the weakest link!" The Toad begins chanting over and over again along with maniacally laughing.

"Air Command, send reinforcements now!" Trasks tries to yell into his earpiece but only receives static. "Damn it, it's ruined. Hey, what's happening to you?" he points to the pink lights surrounding her.

"Oh no," she knows it's teleportation and Zordon needs, "I'll be back, run, hide, I'll be back!" And then she's gone and moments later arrives before Zordon and Alpha.

"Kimberly, are you alright?" Zordon asks urgently.

"I think I'm okay. But Jason, Billy, Trini, they've been –"

"Yes, we know," Zordon interrupts. "I summoned you here because we know how to overcome this creature and defeat it once and for all. Billy found the Terror Toad's weakness, observe!" Kimberly turns to the viewing globe and sees the Toad's fleshy spot under its mouth, "Once hit directly, it will cause the creature to release all of the civilians and the other rangers. If aimed correctly, you can hit it with one of your arrows."

"Not a problem, but that only solves half of the problem. How do we destroy it?"

"Alpha," Zordon says and Alpha grabs a box and brings it over to Kimberly and opens it. Inside there is what seems to a large egg with many ridges around it.

"An egg?" Kimberly says unsure.

"No, not exactly. As you know, Billy and Alpha spend countless hours together developing your arsenal and Billy developed this," Zordon explains.

"He calls it a Gren-egg. Or a Dino-grenade. Ayiyiyi I can't remember," Kimberly moves her hand away from it quickly.

"Billy built a grenade?" Kim says in disbelief.

"Unlike anything you've ever seen before," Zordon replies.

"How is this going to defeat the Terror Toad?" Kimberly asks.

"Ayiyiyi, simple," Alpha closes the box and walks over to two viles he has on a stand, "This is the strain of darkness we collected from your blood sample, and this is the strain of light from Zordon. Both of these will be combined onto the Dino-grenade and thrown into the creature's mouth."

"Once deposited into the creature's mouth, it'll cause an explosion of both light and darkness that will surely destroy it once and for all," Zordon elaborates.

"Oh, wow," Kimberly processes the information but still can't believe what she's hearing and is becoming overwhelmed.

"First thing is first, Kimberly. It is up to you to free your friends. Use extreme caution, if you gathers what you're trying to do it'll surely make it harder for you to get a good shot," Zordon says.

"I understand. Don't worry Zordon, I got this," Kimberly says with a confident voice, even though she doesn't feel it.

"I have faith in you, Kimberly," Zordon says.

"Alright," Kim exhales deeply, "Alpha, send me back."

"Affirmative," Alpha begins typing in the coordinates into the main computer.

"Back to action!" Kimberly yells and in a few moments when pink lights begin to surround her, she is gone.


	12. Terror Part 4

**Terror**

**Part 4**

There's nothing but chaos, Putties, changing terrain and dozens of innocent civilians trying to survive within the dimension of the Terror Toad's stomach. With Zack and Trini reunited with Billy and Jason, the four of them are able to keep most of the Putties in line, but with the unpredictable nature of their environment, the health of the innocents is a primary concern.

"This monster is crazy!" Trini jumps back and kicks a Putty away from a civilian, "Go that way, you'll be safe," Trini says calmly as she helps the woman to her feet. She then turns back and kicks the Putty again, "How could Rita justify creating a monster that attacks her own?"

"This move suggests desperation," Billy answers. "Clearly she wouldn't have resorted to this unless she felt like she had no other choice," Billy thrusts his lance through a Putty and it crumbles to pieces. "We need to get out of here."

"This place is insane!?" Zack uses his axe and cuts a Putty in half, just as he does this a giant rock pillar shoot up from the ground in front of Zack and then more emerge around him – the terrain is changing again. "Look out guys!" he warns, and all of them jump out of the way of the emerging Pillars, letting the Putty's take the hits. When Zack gets close to Jason he asks, "Are you sure Kim can do this?"

"No doubt in my mind," Jason responds, sounding as confident as he can. The fact of the matter is, he isn't entirely sure. But if Kim doesn't, who else can?

* * *

Outside the Youth Center the same destruction continues, another squadron of SWAT officers have made their way onto the scene and Commander Trask is delegating to his new team. When Kimberly arrives, she remains hidden and observes her surroundings. She sees the fleshy spot under his mouth, but it's so obscure.

"How am I supposed to hit that?" she says to herself, the question answers itself in a matter of seconds after the Terror Toad sends its tongue out and begins dragging another officer into its mouth. As it does that, the fleshy spot begins to expand slightly. "Oh great, so I need a scape goat!" In this moment, Kimberly's throat becomes tight and her stomach full of nerves. Anger and fear begin to cloak her; she's mad at Jason, she's mad at him for getting caught. "I don't know if I can do this…" she whispers to herself. The pressure of the situation is getting to her and now her breathing is irregular.

"Commander, look out!" A SWAT Officer leaps over and tackles a Putty to the ground. This officer is immediately kicked off and the Putty begins punching him relentlessly. Commander Trask limps over to his teammate and pulls out his electrical rod and forcibly swings it down on the Putty's neck. Seeing this exchange makes Kimberly try and pull herself together.

"Kimberly, lock it up," she says this to herself in a frustrated tone. She again watches at the SWAT team relentlessly tries to fight back Rita's forces, but she knew they won't last much longer. This isn't their fight, and as much as Kimberly doesn't want to include them she also needs their help. "Power Bow!" She then begins to launch several arrows at the Putty's around Trask and his team and she makes herself known to Trask and runs toward him.

"Where the hell did you run off to?" Trask is pissed off.

"Sorry, I had to figure things out. I know how to beat it," Kimberly says. "If I can shoot it underneath its mouth, it should free everyone," This explanation makes Trask scratch his head.

"Wait, they're alive?" He asks; Kimberly nods her head and a gleam of hope shines in his eyes. "What can we do?" This question gives Kimberly pause. The answer is bait, but how fair is it to ask for such a thing?

"Commander, it's now able to repel our shots!" A SWAT officer comes running up to Trask and both Kim and Trask turn around to observe: SWAT Officers are opening fire and all of them are ricocheting off of the Toads stomach.

"Terrific," Kimberly says flatly. "It has a weakness, underneath its mouth," She points towards it, "If I can get a clear shot, it'll free everyone."

"But how are you going to get a clear shot if it can deflect everything?" Trasks question causes Kimberly to clear her throat.

"We need bait," She responds awkwardly.

"Bait?" Trask makes a mock sound of dismay and scoffs.

"It'll make it vulnerable enough for me to get my clear shot. When it targets someone, the fleshy part is more exposed," Kim tries to reason with him.

"I have lost a lot of men already, and now you're asking for another?" Trask is yelling at this point.

"Remember, they'll all be free. Trust me!"

"Watch out!" An officer yells, "It's coming again!" Kimberly turns to see the Toad's tongue outstretched towards her and she barely manages an aerial flip out of the way, and the tongue crashes into a car behind them. Kimberly lands on her feet and sends an arrow into the tip of its tongue, piercing it to the car.

"Stupid girl!" The Toad cries out and it swings its tongue back and forth to free itself. Trask swings his electric rod down on the tongue, sending electricity through it. Unable to handle the pain any longer, the Toad lifts the car up with its tongue and hovers it over Trask and Kimberly, ready to slam down.

"Oh fuc –" Kimberly kicks Trask in the stomach, sending him flying back out of the way and Kimberly performs three back hand springs to gain some distance. Its tongue is broken free and it latches itself onto Commander Trask and begins pulling him in, "God dammit!" he curses.

"Hold on!" Kimberly pulls back her bowstring and she sees the fleshy spot exposed, she takes in a deep breath knowing this might be her only chance for the hit. She releases her hand and the arrow cuts through the air, soaring passed Trask and making a direct hit with the fleshy, pink spot.

"OWW!" It screams in protest, Commander Trask is dropped and lands on his back and the Toad keeps coughing over and over again.

"Let my friends go!" Kimberly shouts and fires another arrow, hitting the exact same spot again causing the Toad to belch louder. Several lights begin to cascade out of its mouth and scatter across the ground. After a couple of seconds, the lights eventually transform into the many humans that the Toad had devoured, including the other four rangers. "Oh, thank god!" Kimberly takes off towards them and helps Jason to his feet.

"Good job, Kim," Jason greets as he and the other rangers get to their feet. "Okay, it's time to destroy this thing," Jason yells.

"Leave it to me, Jason," Billy says as he activates his communicator, "Zordon, Alpha, is the Dino-Grenade ready?"

"Affirmative. Both the light and dark liquids have been injected inside of it, " Alpha responds.

"Teleport it to me, now!" Billy holds out his hands and the Dino-Grenade appears seconds later. "Alright guys, I'm gonna get it into the mouth, you guys try and get everyone as far away as you can. The explosion is going to massive. Kimberly stay alert, I'm going to need you to make one last shot." Kimberly nods her head.

"This is intense," Zack responds. "But we got your back, bro." Zack, Trini, Jason and Kimberly spread out and help people get to their feet, warning them to run as far away as they can.

"Alright, just you and me," Billy says. The Toad is still coughing profusely, not able to gain any kind of composure. "Hey Frog-face, still hungry? I hope you like your eggs over-easy!" Billy taunts.

"Why – you – little – pest!" It says between coughs. Billy runs to it and tosses the egg into its mouth. "Kimberly, now! Fire into its mouth!" Billy yells into his communicator. Kimberly turns around with her bow, pulls back the bowstring and sends her arrow soaring through the air, making direct contact with the egg. The explosion is instant, blowing apart the Toad monster piece by piece, but also everything within a 50 foot radius, cars being blown away, windows of the youth center shattering; plants, trees and landscaping – all leveled.

The four other rangers managed to get everyone out of the way and they could all watch the explosion from afar, safe from harm. Yet, no sign of Billy makes them all anxious.

"He was still out there, right?" Trini's voice is filled with concern.

"There's no way he outran that," Zack says.

"True, thank god for teleportation," Billy says behind them. They all turn around and are filled with relief. Trini runs to embrace him immediately.

"Is it gone?" Zack asks.

"Affirmative. No way it survived," Billy replies.

"You're such an undercover bad-ass," Zack pats Billy on the shoulder, causing Billy to wince a little.

"Finally, it's gone," Jason sighs.

"Good, so we can call off aerial support," Commander Trask limps over and positions himself in front of Jason. "The monster is destroyed for good?"

"Yes," Jason responds,

Trask gives a half smirk. People begin to swarm in around them and in unison say things like "Thank you, Power Rangers," and this takes Trask off guard.

"Oh great, now they're going to make me the bad guy," Trask says.

"You weren't thinking of trying to arrest us still, were you?" Jason's question makes all the rangers and the surrounding people alert and quiet, waiting on baited breath for Trasks response.

"You, all of you, helped protect us from an intergalactic threat that our world doesn't yet understand and I thank you for it. However, you're not part of the U.S. Military, you're a group of vigilante's that hold unauthorized firearms and high-tech arsenal and are a threat to our community. Simply letting you go would be an injustice to our country,"

"Bullshit!" Yells a bystander.

"They saved your asses," Agrees another.

"One thing you need to understand, Commander Trask, is that we're only here to help. We wouldn't be here if this was a threat that you alone could defeat. You can't. The earth needs us. And we're not going to stop fighting for Earth and it would be a lot easier if you didn't try and attack us," Jason replies.

"Son, regardless of what I believe, the government involvement with you is way over my head to make any decisions on either way. I know what I know and that's that I was ordered to apprehend and bring you in for questioning. That being said, out of gratitude, I'm willing to give you a five minute head start. But I'm letting you know that next time, there will be no head-starts," Trask folds his arms.

"Well, I appreciate that. But again, we have a job to do to, with or without the governments consent. We'll be seeing you around, Trask." Jason moves forward and the crowd parts like the red sea. The others rangers follow and one by one they teleport away, following the cheers and claps from the people around them.

* * *

"Congratulations, Power Rangers," Zordon begins, all the Rangers standing before him, wearing their normal clothes. "The Terror Toad was certainly the biggest threat yet and you all deserve some much needed rest."

"Easier said than done, I feel like the government is going to start cracking down on trying to find out who the Power Rangers are," Trini points out.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm going to have to be looking over my shoulder," Kimberly agrees.

"I have the utmost faith in your discretion, and I honestly believe that soon enough your identities will be irrelevant. Remember, they need you Power Rangers. They will realize that sooner than later," Zordon says.

"Well I hope it's sooner. That Trask guy means business, he could certainly be a problem for us," Billy says.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry too much about him. I don't know, I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that he might be on our side, too," Jason replies. "But I'm glad this fight is over. We all need some time to recover."

"Agreed, I advise you all to get as much rest as you can," Zordon's response is ominous and all the rangers give each other concerned looks.

"I don't know if I like the sound of that, Zordon," Trini says.

"Is there something we should know about?" Jason asks.

"While I will admit there is some activity that is troubling, all of it is inconclusive right now. Rita is harnessing a lot of dark energy and I'm not sure what for. I sense she won't make her next move for quite some time, but I fear that whatever she's working on will be catastrophic for Earth."

"And we're supposed to rest…how?" Kimberly says sarcastically.

"Calm down, Kim. As Zordon said, inconclusive and Rita probably won't make a move for a while. Let's not stress about tomorrow's problem. Remember, we just landed a major victory, we deserve to relax now," Jason's words brings a sense of calm to each of the rangers and Kimberly smiles and nods her head. "What do you say we get back? I'm sure Ernie needs some clean-up help,"

"And smoothies sound amazing. Let's just hope Rita doesn't poison this batch," Zack says and laughs as he looks at Billy and Kimberly's indifferent expressions.

* * *

With all the destruction the last few weeks, it's sort of been routine habit for the citizens of Angel Grove to come together to assist in the clean up whenever they can. With the Youth Center, all of the Rangers were quite surprised with the turn-out to help get everything back together.

"How long will you be shut down, Ernie?" Trini asks after putting a broom back into the utility closet.

"Hopefully no longer than a day or two. I thought it was going to be a few weeks at least, but with all the help and the companies reaching out to do window and glass repair for free, I think we'll be all good to go soon," Ernie says enthusiastically.

"Good, I think I'd go crazy without this place for too long," Kimberly says. Just then, Daniel approaches and hands Ernie a bucket.

"Got all the floors scrubbed, Ernie. I think they're clean enough to eat off of," Daniel laughs.

"Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate your help," He goes to the utility closet to put the bucket away and Daniel turns to Trini.

"Some crazy stuff happens here now, yeah? Thank goodness for the Power Rangers," Daniel says and Trini smiles.

"Yeah, they're certainly something," She agrees coyly and Kimberly laughs as well. "Kimberly, this is Daniel. He was one of my best friends in Middle School, he moved away before we started High School."

"Oh hi! Nice to meet you, I think Trini's mentioned you once or twice," Kim says.

"Only once or twice? For shame," Daniel laughs. "Were you guys safe today? A lot of us were hiding out here, I didn't see any of you," Daniel says.

"I was at home, thankfully no attacks came to my neighborhood," Trini lies, but Daniel believes her. "So, you're officially back?" She changes the subject after clearing her throat.

"Yeah, I just got enrolled. I start classes tomorrow. Just in time for the homecoming dance," Daniel looks at Trini suggestively and she blushes.

"That's what I'm talking about," Kimberly laughs, "Will you be going then?"

"If Trini goes with me?" Daniel's abrupt invitation makes Kimberly squeal and Trini blush even more and she's unable to say anything.

"I – I," she stumbles on her words.

"No pressure, I do have to run, just let me know okay?" Trini nods her head, Daniel gives her a hug and he turns on his heel and walks away.

"Amazing, Trini. Now I'm the one that might have to go stag," Kimberly throws her head back into a laugh. "Maybe I will ask Trent."

"I thought you were over him? Something about chivalry being dead?" Trini teases.

"I'm inclined to change my mind. Who knows if he'll even say yes."

"We'll see," Trini says unsure. "Oh look, there are the boys, let's go," Trini leads Kim over to Zack, who is flirting with his date, Felicia, and Jason and Billy who is talking to Brent.

"Hey you two," Jason greets as they approach, "The Youth Center is starting to look better and better. The outside is nearly all cleaned up," Jason dramatically wipes some sweat from his forehead and then laughs.

"Hey Brent," Kimberly positions herself next to him and Billy, "Sorry, I know this is abrupt but do you know if your brother has a date to homecoming?"

"Kimberly!" Billy is aghast at her question.

"I have no idea, but I can put in a good word for you if you like," Brent replies.

"Good, please do," Kimberly says. "Are you going?"

"I'm not sure, I guess that depends on if I can get my grades up. I might be spending it with Billy with my nose in a text book," Brent laughs but Kimberly does not.

"Billy's not missing homecoming. I will not have it!" Kimberly protests, "This is no joking matter. Your grades will be raised, right Billy?"

"Right…" Billy says flatly.

"Hey everyone, more news about the Power Rangers is one. Listen!" Ernie yells and fiercely turns the volume up on his remote.

"This is Cindy V. reporting for Channel Five News. About a half hour ago, Major Bloomberg announced a Clean-up Fund that would act as a primary source to repair damages made around the city. He also confirmed that the he was speaking with the Angel Grove Police Department about tightening defenses and routine patrols throughout the city. When questioned about the Power Rangers he only said, and I quote, 'The Power Rangers are a group of vigilantes that we do not yet understand, who they are and their purpose is irrelevant. We have to protect our citizens and we can't have faith in five individuals who hide behind masks.' '' Footage of the earlier battle is shown across the screen, including the helicopter explosion.

"Personally, I think the Power Rangers are heroes," Cindy V. says and everyone in the youth center breaks out into applause. "I don't know who they are where they came from, but it's because of them that we're all still alive right now. That has to count for something,"

"I love how she always sticks up for the Power Rangers," Kimberly says.

"Yeah, it's good know they have some allies out there," Jason agrees. "They're going to need it." All of them glance at each other with worried expressions, heeding Zordon's warning. As much as any of them want to relax, as long as Rita is out there, it's highly unlikely.


	13. Trigger Part 1

Trigger

Part 1

"You don't want to do this…" Trini's voice is cracking and a warm tear is trickling down her cheek. "You can end this, you can make a better choice…" Her pleas are desperate and she realizes nothing she says is working.

"You don't know what it's like…" James says, "To work for something so hard and have it taken away!" the anger in his voice is more prevalent now and he raises his gun. This causes Trini to gasp and for her to grab onto both Billy, who is on her right, and Daniel who is on her left.

"James, just put the gun down…" Brent, who is standing next to Billy, says calmly.

"You don't want to go down this path," Daniel says while inconspicuously placing himself in front of Trini. Brent does the same, but places himself in front of Billy.

"You don't know what the hell I want!" James yells.

"You want Eric back, I do too," Brent says.

"Brent, don't…" Trini whispers.

"Just shut up! Shut up, Brent! You weren't there. You stopped being there for us. You don't care about your friends. You spend all your time with this loser!" James yells as he points the gun to Billy.

"Don't! James, you hear me! Don't!" Brent's voice is low, serious and his eyes narrow. "This isn't you…you don't have to do this."

"I have nothing left," he replies in monotone.

"Oh my god, there he is!" A girl shrieks in the distance, causing all of them to jump, including James who – due to being startled – pulls the trigger. The gunshot fills the school hallways with an awful echo, following Trini's screams.

"Oh, no…Trini!" Billy says alarmed and pushes Brent aside. Trini and Daniel are both on the ground, Daniel hovering over Trini to protect her. Trini is unmoving, unflinching. "Trini…are you?" Billy's voice chokes before he can the full question out. Trini holds out her hand and looks down to find warm, deep crimson blood.

* * *

**30 Minutes Earlier**

The final lunch bell rings, signaling all students that it's either time for their fourth and final class of the day, or a full hour of study hall. Ms. Appleby stands outside her classroom door, welcoming her students into her fourth period Science Class and smiles when she sees Kimberly, Jason and Zack walk in. The three of them take their seats in the middle rows of the desks, still sitting side by side.

"Yo, did you guys hear?" Zack leans over to Jason's desk and Kimberly leans over to hear.

"Hear what?" Jason asks, oblivious to what Zack is referring to.

"I think I know what you're talking about Zack. I mean people have been gossiping about something all day and everyone has been in a somber mood. Did it have to do with James Lewis and Eric Mitchell?" Kimberly asks and Zack nods his head.

"Rumor has it that James got expelled," Zack begins and Kimberly makes a sound of astonishment.

"No!" She says in disbelief. "Wasn't he like neck and neck with Brent for Captain of our Swim team?" Zack nods. "Wow…"

"What about Eric?" Jason asks.

"That's the sad part. Eric is dead," Zack's statement gives both Jason and Kimberly pause. Placing one hand over her chest and the other over her mouth, Kimberly gasps and her eyes start to water. "Yeah, I know."

"I can't believe it…" Jason says, completely stunned.

"How?" Kimberly asks.

"Here's the sad thing, with all the crazy stuff happening lately, I guess they were doing some things they weren't supposed to. Maybe just to deal?" Zack explains.

"Wait, are you saying they were doing drugs?" Kimberly keeps her voice low as more and more students come in to find their seats.

"Yeah. I mean, they're rumors so I don't know for sure, just hearing things. But I was told crystal meth, and Principal Kaplan caught them both, just as Eric was having some sort of seizure with it and…well," Zack doesn't finish and just frowns.

"That's devastating, oh my goodness, Eric's parents must be heartbroken," Kimberly wipes a tear from her eyes.

"And James got expelled?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, that's the rumor," Zack answers.

"I can't believe James or Eric would do something like that. It's…" Jason takes in a deep breath to calm himself. Kimberly and Zack both exchange looks, they know how Jason feels about drugs in general and usually isn't sympathetic towards the people who use them. "It's horrible. I'm sad it had to happen that way," Jason says. Kimberly places her hand on Jason's to comfort him and then the final class bell rings.

"Good Afternoon," Ms. Appleby says after closing the door to her classroom. "Today, we won't be going over Chapter 4, as outlined in the syllabus," Ms. Appleby's tone is sad and all the students know where's going with her speech. "As you may know, we lost one of our own, Eric Mitchell."

"Do you know how?" One of the students asks and Ms. Appleby takes a few moments before responding.

"How is not important. Eric was an athlete and he certainly liked to push boundaries," she laughs slightly and then becomes serious again. "His family will be holding a memorial service for his memory on Saturday. I think it would be productive if you all took this time to write his family a letter. I know they could probably use the support right now, and reading wonderful things about their son might help with the healing process," Ms. Appleby says. No one protests the idea of skipping a science lecture, but a lot of the students exchange glances with each other, not knowing really how to react. "Now, you may all talk amongst yourselves, when you're finished writing, just set it on my desk and I'll make sure they're all delivered," She smiles and then sits down at her desk.

"I'm just – I-I'm overwhelmed," Kimberly admits while folding her notebook to a blank piece of paper.

* * *

For those students in study hall, the options were to either go to a library, stay in the cafeteria or to a designated study hall classroom. Trini and Billy both share the same study hall and decide to spend it in the cafeteria today.

"I am absolutely swamped with Algebra!" Trini says as she unzips her book-bag. "I don't think I've ever let myself get behind like this."

"I know what you mean, I almost didn't have enough time to finish the extra credit work I requested from Ms. Appleby this week," Billy says completely serious, which makes Trini laugh.

"Oh stop, you don't know struggle!" she continues to laugh. "Hopefully Rita doesn't plan on attacking us anymore, or else I might make her try and solve diamond graphs." Billy laughs at this and he pulls out his science text, "So speaking of Ms. Appleby, are you finished tutoring Brent?"

"Negative," Billy answers. "In fact, he has study hall today as well and I think he told me something about meeting us here for a study session."

"Well, it's good to know that you have open communication going," Trini says, "This whole situation could have been a lot harder on you than you can imagine."

"Yeah, surprisingly he's been really positive with improving. And eager to get as many study sessions in as possible," Billy's remark make Trini giggle. "What?"

"He's eager to spend time with you? Perhaps he has a crush on you?" Trini says nonchalantly and Billy's expressions turns from inquisitive to disturbed.

"Trini – what – no. He's not, I'm not. Trini, I'm not –" Billy is so flustered by her statement he can't form his own sentence.

"Billy, I'm sorry, I'm kidding. I know you're not - I mean, even if you were I wouldn't care but I know you're –"

"Just drop it. It's okay," Billy says and immediately buries his face in his notebook.

"Hey guys," Brent sits down across from Billy and Trini and they don't respond; Trini doesn't even make eye contact, still feeling awkward about the situation moments earlier.

"Hi, Brent," Trini finally says after the deafening silence was making things uncomfortable.

"Here to study?" Billy says as he puts his book down.

"Yeah. I mean…I don't know. I'm kinda not in the mood, you heard about what happened right?" Brent says.

"Oh right, with Eric and James, I'm so sorry Brent. I forgot how close you were to them," Trini says in a consoling tone. Billy's eyes travel from Trini's to Brent's, completely confused by the topic. Taking notice of Billy's confusion, Trini asks, "Did you hear what happened?" Billy shakes his head. "Do you know Eric Mitchell and James Lewis?"

"Intimately, they tossed me in many a trashcan in middle school," Billy responds flatly.

"I'm sorry about that," Brent says, his voice somber.

"Not your fault. No reason to apologize," Billy says. Trini then fills Billy in on the rumors, which Brent doesn't deny, about Eric's death and James's expulsion. "Wow," is all Billy can say due to being completely stunned.

"I feel partly responsible," Brent speaks up, immediately getting Trini and Billy's attention. "They were close friends of mine, up until the beginning of this year. I just wanted to focus on my goals and swimming and trying to get a scholarship. This sort of separated us."

"You shouldn't apologize for wanting to be extraordinary," Billy says.

"It's not that black and white," Brent responds. "I know I didn't do anything wrong, but maybe if I was around more I could have prevented this from happening."

"Don't do that to yourself," Trini replies. "The choices they both made were unfortunate, but you have no reason to feel any guilt." Brent gives a half smile, but it's fleeting.

"Yeah, I just feel bad for James. A part of me is angry, but I don't know if that's out of place. James doesn't come from a good family. His dad is an alcoholic and I know that he has a history of beating him before. He denies it, but we all knew. I can only imagine what he must be going through now that he's expelled." Trini and Billy exchange glances, not really sure what to say at this point, "Sorry," Brent says, "Didn't mean to unload. I'm really not in the mood for studying, I'm sure you understand, is it cool if I chill with you guys though?"

"Of course," Trini says. "You might see me go bald over this Algebra homework, though. Fair warning," She jokes and Brent laughs. Billy remains silent and then buries himself back into his book, not making direct eye contact with Brent.

"Trini Kwan, I believe you owe me an answer," Daniel sits down suddenly across from Trini and flashes a pearly smile.

"Daniel, don't you have English class?" Trini retorts with a smile. Daniel pulls out his bathroom pass and sets it on the table. "You thought of me on your way to the bathroom. You really know how to flatter a girl."

"Not like that. See, this girl in class just asked me to homecoming, I told her I'd think about it. I'd rather not go with her, but I wanted to be a gentleman and let her know if I was available as soon as possible," Daniel says and Trini shakes her head laughing.

"How considerate of you," She says.

"So, Trini Kwan, will you –" His question is stunted by the one of the most horrific sounds any of them could ever hear. A gunshot, the sound of it reverberates through the halls and echoes throughout the cafeteria. All four of them stand up and look around, trying to figure out which way it came from.

"Was that a -?"

"Gunshot, yes," Brent answers Trini. Once the echo ends, it's completely silent, all of them holding their breath hoping the next sound they hear is Principal Kaplan announcing it was some sort of misunderstanding, but this never came. Instead the sound of two more gunshots and a blood-curdling scream fills the hallways.

"Oh my god," Daniel sighs. "We need to get out of here!"

"Are you stupid? Running where? Right into view of the shooter! No we need to stay put!" Brent yells.

"We could be sitting ducks if we just stay put!" Daniel yells back.

"Daniels right, we have nowhere to hide in here. Let's stick together and try and find someplace safe," Trini says and immediately begins to pack her books. Billy follows Trini's example and once finished all four of them run out of the cafeteria.

"Attention Faculty and Students!" Mr. Kaplan's anxious and alert voice chimes in on the intercoms throughout the school, "We are initiating a Code Black. This is not a drill. Teacher, lock your classroom doors. Any students roaming the halls, please try and find your way into a classroom or one of our designated safe zones. This is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill!" After his voice goes off the intercom, all hell breaks loose with students becoming frantic. Especially the case in Ms. Appleby's class.

"Class, calm down, it'll be alright!" She says after locking her classroom door, yet none of them are listening to her. Kimberly, Jason and Zack move to the back of the classroom.

"Those gunshots were legit," Zack confirms, "We have a shooter in the school."

"How could this be happening, on top of everything else?" Kimberly buries her face in her hands. "What should we do?" Jason looks around and takes notice of the storage closet in the back of the classroom. With his eyes, he signals to it and has them move inconspicuous towards it. Jason jiggles the handle and finds that its unlocked, he silently opens it and Kim and Zack slink inside and he follows.

"What if it's not a shooter? What if Rita is behind this?" Jason's theory gives them both pause.

"Why would Rita attack our school?" Kimberly asks.

"Why not? With everything else that's happened? I think we should go to Zordon," Jason says.

"What if Ms. Appleby notices we're gone? What if someone saw us come in here and then we're suddenly gone? How would we explain that Jason?" Kimberly makes a good point, which is why Jason doesn't try to rebut her. He instead turns to the door handle and sees that there's a lock and locks the door. "Oh good, problem solved," Kimberly says sarcastically.

"Kimberly," Zack's tone immediately tells her he disapproves of her negativity.

"Sorry, I'm just beyond freaked out," Kimberly admits.

"I am too. We have to figure out if there's a way for us to help. If it is Rita, we need to know and Zordon would know," Jason says. "You guys ready?" They both nod and follow Jason's example by teleporting out of the storage closet and landing in the Command Center moments later.

"Ayiyiyiyi! Rangers, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you all be in school?" Alpha 5 comes rushing forward.

"You guys don't know?" Jason asks.

"Know what, Jason?" Zordon asks, but in doing so he already answered Jason's question.

"So, it's not Rita," Zack confirms and Jason nods to agree. "Damn," Zack curses.

"Rangers, what troubles you?" Zordon asks.

"Zordon, something awful is happening at our school. There is a shooter. Someone is there with a gun and we heard three gunshots. We thought maybe it could be something Rita was behind, but it's not…" Kimberly's voice is completely choked up. At this point, she would have preferred it to be one of Rita's minions.

"Other than the activity that I disclosed with you earlier, Rita hasn't made any kind of move on Earth. I'm sorry to say that this evil is not from Rita, but from your own kind," Zordon says.

"We can still help, though, right?" Jason asks. "We're Power Rangers. Can we just sit by and not do anything?"

"While it is admirable that you wish to help Jason, helping as a Power Ranger would be inappropriate," Zordon answers, Jason shakes his head in disagreement.

"We can't help as Rangers the same reason the government can't help us against Rita. Before we were Rangers, bad stuff happened every day and there wasn't anything we could do about it," Zack says, trying to elaborate on Zordon's response.

"But we _can_ do something about it," Jason rebuts.

"Where is Trini and Billy?" Alpha asks and Kimberly gasps.

"Oh my god, don't they have study hall? They could have been in the hallways when this happened, they could have been—" Zack grabs Kimberly as she's becoming hysterical.

"Zordon, can you show them to us in the viewing globe?" Jason asks, but he says it more as a demand.

"Of course, behold!" Zordon says and the viewing globe lights up. Trini, Billy, Daniel and Brent are shown walking through the hallways slowly, trying to reach the library as it's a designated safe zone. However, they're stopped in their tracks when someone – James Lewis – turns the corner, gun in hand.

"No way…" Zack responds in disbelief.

"Oh my god," Kimberly gasps.

"Zordon, we have to do something! He's holding Trini and Billy at gun point!" Jason turns around to face his mentor.

"Jason," His voice suggests no change in his mind and Jason shakes his head.

"No, no. We have to do something!" Jason yells.

"Jason, we cannot interfere. And if you are to teleport there you risk exposure," Zordon says.

"I don't care," Kimberly says. "Aren't their lives worth it?"

"Of course. Trini and Billy's lives are invaluable. I'm not suggesting otherwise. But the bigger picture, you are Power Rangers, your goal is defend the Earth from Rita and to only use your powers to do so. Not to take matters into your own hands," Zordon says.

"Ayiyiyiyi!" Alpha cries out. "Jason, Zordon is right. You need to calm down," Alpha's pleas fall on deaf ears.

"No, no." Jason keeps saying to himself. The horrific sound of a gunshot makes Kimberly scream and Jason turn around to the viewing globe. James looks rather shocked and tears are falling from his eyes. Billy pushes Brent out of the way and runs to Trini, kneeling down to her. When she holds out her hand, there is blood.

"Oh my god, Trini! No!" Kimberly begins crying and she buries her face into Jason's chest. Jason holds her tight and is in disbelief of what he's seeing.

"Ayiyiyi! Zordon!" Alpha cries.

"No..." For the first time, Zordon's voice is literally pained and if it was possible for him to shed a tear, he would have.

"We have to do something," Jason says. None of them would disagree at this point, the question is what, though?

**To be continued...**


	14. Trigger Part 2

**Trigger**

**Part 2**

**One hour later**

The flat-line monitor is one of the most unsettling sounds to exist. Yet, it continues to sound off despite the desperate attempts of the Doctors working to get a pulse back. Friends and Family wait eagerly outside in the E.R.

"No!" Kimberly's agonizing cries echo throughout Angel Grove Memorial Hospital as two nurses try to hold her back.

"Let us see our friend!" Zack says, trying to push his way through.

"Your friend is in critical condition!" One of the Nurses says, "There is nothing you can do right now. Our doctors are trying their hardest to figure out what happened. You're not helping anyone by trying to fight us!" Rationally, her words made sense, but disaster doesn't accommodate a rational mindset.

"Hey! Knock it off!" A security guard comes blazing through the E.R. doors. "You can either sit quietly or I will be escorting you both off of the premises! Your choice," Zack scoffs at his threat but takes a step back and grabs Kimberly's hand.

"C'mon, Kim. Let's go and wait..." Zack says but Kimberly doesn't move and warm tears trickle down her face.

"Fine..." She sniffles.

"Good choice," The security guard says arrogantly and Zack rolls his eyes. He pulls Kim to the waiting area and forces her to sit down. At this point she's not only still crying but physically shaking. Zack places an arm around her and she buries her face into his side.

"Hey, it'll be okay, Kim. I promise," Zack whispers and he isn't completely sure it will. But he knows she needs to hear comforting words right now.

"Zack? Kimberly?" Billy rounds the corner into the waiting area, stunned to see the two of them. Trini rounds the corner after him and they both sit down next to each other.

"How's Daniel and Brent?" Zack asks.

"They're fine," Trini responds. "Daniel was critical, but nothing major - thank goodness and Brent's okay too."

"I'm just glad you two are alright," Zack responds and Trini nods her head. Her attention then goes to Kimberly who is still in a state of distress.

"Kimberly, what's wrong? And what are the two of you doing here anyway?" Trini asks. Kimberly doesn't say anything and Zack keeps quiet as well. Finally, though, Kimberly sits up and opens her book bag, taking out Jason's damaged Power Morpher. Trini and Billy's eyes widen with shock and Trini quickly puts it back into Kimberly's book bag before anyone would see it.

"What happened to his morpher?" Billy exclaims.

"What happened to Jason?" Trini adds.

* * *

Rita sits on her throne, her head tilted and resting on her closed fist. Starring idly at the stars and the planet Earth, her minions start to worry about her.

"Empress Rita?" Baboo reluctantly speaks up but she doesn't say anything. He turns his head and looks to Squat who appears even more anxious than himself.

"Should we try again?" Squat says.

"We? You're not any help!" Baboo retorts before smacking Squat on the back of his head.

"Did you tell her?" Goldar appears behind them, startling them both.

"About that…" Squat begins, looking down at the ground and Goldar grunts.

"Useless, both of you," Goldar scolds them and pushes Baboo out of his way. He moves to place himself directly in front of Rita, blocking her view of the stars. Her eyes meet Goldars, "My Queen," Goldar bows his head in respect.

"What," she says flatly, clearly not in the mood to deal with her minions.

"The Dragon coin," Goldar's voice is low and Rita immediately senses bad news and stops him by standing up and grabbing her scepter.

"This better not be bad news, Goldar," she warns, but a part of her knows it will be anyway.

"It's complicated, my Queen," Goldar says. "The Power that Zordon placed over it is far too strong," Rita screams at the top of her lungs and throws her arms in the in the air; Baboo and Squat duck beneath a table as if to escape her wrath.

"Of course it is. Of course Zordon would make my life a living hell each and every day!" she scowls loudly. "Finster!" Mere seconds after she beckons him, he arrives and bows his head.

"Yes, my Queen?"

"Finster! The Dragon Coin isn't receptive to the will of darkness. What can be done?" His eyes widen and he looks away to ponder the thought.

"Receptive? Aren't the Power Coins neutral?" Baboo asks, slowly standing up.

"That's one way of putting it," Finster agrees. "It's a little more complicated, but with the Dragon Coin in particular, Zordon knew Rita had gotten ahold of it and before we were all locked away, he put a veil of light over it, protecting it from darkness."

"I won't have it, Finster!" Rita yells, "We have all the darkness in the world at our disposal and there isn't a way get around a centuries old spell, is that what you're telling me?"

"No. There is a way," Finster walks over to a cabinet and pulls out an old, tattered book. He wipes the dust off of it and begins flipping through the pages, "Ahh, here it is!" He says and turns it over to show Rita, "In order to cancel out the force of light, we need to invoke an absolute darkness. A sacrifice."

"Take Squat! I've been here longer!" Baboo says, pushing Squat in front of him. Squat retorts with a high scream and tries to push Baboo forward.

"Silence before I sacrifice you both for sport!" Goldar threatens.

"I'm intrigued, Finster," Rita says. "A sacrifice you say?"

"Yes, one that has a pure heart," Finster replies.

"One of the Rangers?" Rita asks

"No, they're protected by their own Power Coins. But it shouldn't be too hard to find someone pure of heart on Earth. And if we can make it someone the Rangers know, it'll hurt them tremendously!" Finster says and Rita laughs gleefully.

"I nominate myself to take the sacrifices life, my Queen," Goldar says.

"No," Finster interrupts. "I have a better idea. We can turn him into a monster. And slowly but surely take his life force away making the Dragon Coin stronger. Eventually, the chosen sacrifice will die. This sacrifice will be trigger to unlocking the Dragon Coin. And it's power will be yours, my Queen." Rita cackles and begins dancing around her minions.

"Get started Finster! I'll start looking for a sacrifice!" Rita walks over to her telescope and begins scanning the Earth, searching for her victim.

* * *

**One hour earlier**

"Trini! Trini!" Billy's panicked voice fills the hallways with despair. She remains silent and simply stares at the blood in her hands. "Trini, come on, say something. Stay with me!"

"Billy, I'm okay…" Trini says and Billy's hysteria calms suddenly, "It's not my blood," her response sends a chill down Billy's spine and he looks to Daniel who is all but on top of her, unmoving as well. "Daniel? D-Daniel?"

"I-I" James stares at Daniel in disbelief of his actions; his eyes travel between Daniel and the gun in his trembling hand.

"What did you do?!" Brent yells. Taking advantage of James' vulnerability, Brent tries to rush forward and take the gun out of his hands, however this only spooks James further and another shot is made. Billy turns his head is horror.

"Ahh, son of bitch!" Brent curses and grabs his arm as warm blood begins to trickle down.

"Brent!" James says in disbelief, "I-I'm sorry man, I-I…" Not able to face his old friend any longer he immediately takes off down the hallway.

"God dammit!" Brent curses again and shakes his head in shame as James flees down the hallway.

"I'll be right there!" Billy calls out to Brent; Billy helps Trini out from under Daniel and manage to turn him on his back; he's unconscious and he has a wound on the left side of his abdomen.

"Oh, Daniel…" Trini sighs, tears forming in her eyes.

"Keep his head elevated," Billy suggests and they prop him up on top of their book-bags. This movements causes him to wince and regain slight consciousness.

"Daniel?" Trini's voice is shaky.

"So, about Homecoming, is that a yes?" Daniel says, his reaction catches Trini off guard and she manages to laugh.

"Yes, of course I'll go," Trini says.

"Good, I think I'm going to pass out again now." Daniel smiles and his eyes roll into the back of his eyes.

"Daniel! Daniel!" Trini begins to panic, "Stay with me Daniel, we're going to get help!" Brent walks over, his hand still placed over his arm.

"I said I'd be right there! You've been shot, movement will make the blood come faster," Billy's voice is irate and he places his fingers on Daniel's neck, feeling for a pulse. "He'll be okay, Trini. We just have to get some help," he scoots his body around to face Brent and meets direct eye contact with his wound. "Are you okay?" Billy asks.

"Yeah, I think the bullet just grazed my arm. Luckily, I'll be fine," Brent says reassuringly.

"Going after someone with a loaded gun is idiotic," Billy says as he folds part of Brent's sleeve up and uses it to push down on the wound; Brent grunts loudly in pain.

"Dammit!" he curses.

"It needs to pressure," Billy says matter-of-factly.

* * *

"Look! Trini is okay!" In the Command Center, Kimberly sighs in relief and places her hand over her chest. "But Daniel doesn't look too good."

"And it looks like Brent took a shot for Billy," Jason observes. "But, James…he's still loose out there, he could still be a problem and hurt somebody."

"I don't know man. I think he looked genuinely spooked…" Zack disagrees. "I don't know if he's gonna hurt anyone anymore."

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take," Kimberly says.

"Agreed," Jason says. "Zordon," Jason turns around to face his mentor, "This could have been worse. I know there were evils like this before the Power Rangers, but we're here now. There is no reason we shouldn't also be able to help in these situations. Those are our friends in there. Our classmates. Our job is to protect them. And Billy and Trini are two of our own, we almost lost them. I'm sorry, but human evils, supernatural evils, there's no distinction when it comes down to one of our own."

"Jason, your conviction and your passion is in the right place. But interfering in human matters too much will bring unnecessary attention to us. Our job is to protect humanity from Rita. And in time, I believe humanity will come to accept and support our cause," Zordon says.

"With all due respect, I feel like helping out against a school shooting wouldn't be bad press for us either," Zack adds.

"Zordon, we have to do something. Trini and Billy almost did die. We'll be quick. We need to get Trini, Billy, Daniel and Brent to a hospital. Daniel really needs medical care. The police aren't going to enter the facility right now - not when they think an active shooter is running around. But the time they enter it could be too late," Jason says.

"Ayiyiyi…So much conflict!" Alpha shouts.

"Rangers, let this be the only time this happens," Zordon says slowly, he voice somehow more serious than usual. "Your mission, rescue Billy and Trini and your fallen comrades. Deal with the threat using minimal aggression and return to your classroom before you are discovered. Try to avoid direct contact with the authorities. We don't need people asking questions and drawing conclusions that the Power Rangers might be linked to Angel Grove High School."

"Thank you, Zordon," Jason says. "I understand."

"Go now, and may the power protect you," Zordon beckons.

"It's Morphin Time!" Jason says as he, Zack and Kimberly raise their morphers above them.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Once the three of them are transformed, Alpha teleports them to the school hallway where Billy and Trini are; their expressions shocked to their teammates transformed before them.

"No way…" Brent says, shocked.

"The Power Rangers," Billy tries to match Brent's surprise, but Trini gives him an expression that tells him it's a little forced. Jason approaches Brent and places his hand on his shoulder and touches his helmet with his other hand, making communication with the Command Center.

"The Red Ranger…" Brent says again in disbelief.

"Alpha, teleport!" Jason's voice is extremely low, disguising it from Brent. In a few seconds, Brent is teleported from the hallway to outside of the school where ambulances are.

"He's unconscious, don't worry," Trini says, implying they don't need to act anymore. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were in Ms. Appleby's class when it happened and we locked ourselves in the science closet, morphed to the command center. We thought maybe Rita was behind it initially," Kimberly explains.

"We thought you were dead," Jason says to Trini.

"I'm fine. Daniel, though…he's lost a lot of blood," Trini responds, cradling his head in her arms.

"And James is still out there. We should get Daniel out of here and come join you guys," Billy says.

"No," Jason shakes his head. "Brent is conscious. He'll say you two were with him while being debriefed. We're teleporting all three of you out of here. Be discreet with details. We'll handle James and teleport back to Ms. Appleby's class and everything will be okay."

"Sounds like a plan," Trini agrees. "Do you guys want to meet us at the hospital? Or?"

"No, Youth Center by 6," Jason instructs.

"Got it. James ran that way, I think towards the school auditorium" Billy says. "Be careful guys."

"Alpha, teleport!" bright lights surround the three of them and seconds later, they're gone. "Alright, let's make this quick guys. Billy said the auditorium, so let's check there." Jason runs down the hallway with Kim and Zack close behind.

On the way to the auditorium they pass the gymnasium, which they decide to check as well – no signs of him. They check around the pool and no signs of him either. When they finally get to the auditorium entrance, they do notice the door cracked open.

"This is it…" Jason says. "There are three entrances here, the front, the back and the backstage. We need to isolate him."

"Agreed," Kim replies.

"Kim you go around the back, Zack you go through the front and I'll come in through the back stage entrance," They all agree and Jason and Kim take off towards their entrances. Zack quietly pulls the door open and barely closes it. He takes his steps very carefully and enters the auditorium, which is pitch black.

"Hide and go seek in the dark was always my favorite game," He muses to himself. Zack taps the side of his helmet and a night-vision screen pops up over his visor. There are hundreds of empty seats, but no signs of a person yet. When Kimberly enters from her entrance he gives her a thumbs up sign and when she responds, he knows she activated her night-vision as well.

"Any luck?" she whispers into her communicator.

"None…" Zack responds. Both of them slowly begin to survey the auditorium but stop when a loud clap-like sound fills the room. They look around see nothing until a spotlight shines from the ceiling and James appears center stage.

"What an entrance," Kimberly whispers. She studies his demeanor and becomes worried. It's clear he's unstable and his body, most notably his hand isn't able to stop shaking.

"S-s-so, a school sh-shooter warrants a v-v-visit from the P-power Rangers?" James says out-loud. "I-it wasn't supposed t-to b-be like th-this." He points the gun towards Zack and then slowly moves to Kimberly and then slowly begins to alternate between them. "One mistake," he says.

"Set the gun down," Zack says.

"Or what? You'll blast me into ob-obli-oblivion? I'm not a monster!" he screams.

"We know that," Kimberly says, her voice more calm than Zack's.

"St-stop. Stay where you are. I don't want to hurt you, I've hurt too many people," James voice is cracking and it's obvious how choked up he is. "I can only hurt myself now…" he raises the gun up to his head.

"No! Stop!" Kimberly shouts.

"You don't want to do this!" Jason appears from stage-left and slowly begins to approach James, who – out of shock – raises the gun towards Jason.

"Where did you come from?" James asks.

"James…" Jason begins.

"How do you know my name?!" James yells.

"Set the gun down – it's okay. Just set the gun down. No one else has to get hurt today," Jason says calmly.

"No one else," James agrees. "No one else…" James turns the gun around and points it towards his head again.

"Don't do it!" Jason jumps forward to stop it and – out of reflex – James gains control of the gun correctly and fires a shot at Jason, hitting his Power Morpher and Jason to fall onto the ground.

"No!" Zack leaps onto the stage and kicks the gun out of James his hand and grabs James by the arm. "Meet ya'll you know where," he says. "Alpha, teleport!" And both Zack and James are gone seconds later. Kimberly runs to Jason who is unresponsive.

"Jason! Come on! We have to go!" she manages to flip him over and sees the damage done to his morpher immediately as red energy begins to emit from it. "Jason?" His armor powers down and the red energy begins to surge around him, causing his body to shake uncontrollably. "Jason, oh my god, Jason!" Kimberly tries to grab him but is immediately electrocuted. "Alpha! Something's wrong with Jason. He's not waking up and his morpher was damaged."

"Ayiyiyi! We know, for whatever reason we're unable to teleport him," Alpha replies frantically.

"What, what do you mean?" Kimberly replies. The sounds of doors opening and voices filling the hallway tells Kimberly that the Police Department has entered the premises and time is running out. Kimberly grabs onto his morpher and she is instantly shocked again but doesn't let go. "Come on you stupid thing!" after another few seconds of wrestling with it, she manages to take it off and Jason's body is still – which freaks her out even more.

"Jason?!" she calls out again and places her head against his chest – no sound. "I don't, I don't hear a – oh my god."

"Kimberly," Zordon's voice plays loud and clear in her helmet, "You must take him away from the auditorium and let the authorities find him. For some reason Alpha and I are unable to bring him to us, so we have to rely on human medicine to restore him."

"No! He won't –I"

"Kimberly, this is not a request. You must do this to save his life," Zordon commands. Kimberly stands up and grabs both of his hands and begins to drag him from the stage, through the back-stage exit, and leads his body just outside the gymnasium. "Kimberly, get out of there!"

"Jason, I'm so sorry!" Just as footsteps approach, Kimberly activates her teleportation device and teleports back into the storage closet and finds Zack, powered down.

"Thank god!" Zack says and points to the door handle, which is shaking back and forth. Kimberly quickly powers down but is still inconsolable. "What's wrong?" Kimberly raises Jason's damaged morpher and sniffles. "Where's Jason?"

"He's…next to the gymnasium. I had to leave him, I –I" before she could continue, the door opens and Zack takes the morpher and shoves it in his pocket.

"Oh, there you two are," Ms. Appleby says with relief and an officer shines his flashlight into the small room to see if there is anyone else in there.

"Is it over?" Zack says.

"Yes," she nods her head and smiles, "But…where is Jason?"


	15. Trigger Part 3

**Trigger**

**Part 3**

**11:43 A.M. **

"This is Cindy V. reporting live outside Angel Grove High School. The school is currently on lock-down. About twenty minutes ago, a former student arrived on campus and began firing off a firearm. The students name in question hasn't been released as it's believed to be pure speculation at this point. We do know that two office secretaries have been wounded, but we believe they are stable. Principal George Kaplan was able to get them both into a locked room and made an announcement warning the rest of the school. From what we understand all students are in locked classrooms….wait, no. I'm just now getting a report that a handful of students who have study hall during this time are _not_ in a classroom."

**12:16 P.M.**

"This is Cindy V. once again reporting live at Angel Grove High School. We have just learned that several students are not in classrooms and have been directed to go to designated safe-zones. Unfortunately, with many students at risk for injury, the Angel Grove Police Department has refrained for entering the school premises at this time. The school is surrounded by every angle and we are currently waiting for Angel Grove Police Departments S.W.A.T. team to arrive…"

**12:30 P.M.**

"This is Cindy V. reporting live, The Angel Grove Police Department's S.W.A.T. team has arrived on scene and I'm standing here with Police Sherriff Adamson. Sheriff Adamson can you please comment on the situation at hand, I know a lot of our viewers and parents of these children have a lot of questions," Cindy V holds the microphone up the Sheriffs mouth, and he seems all too reluctant to give a straight answer.

"The situation right now is undefinable. Right now we're dealing with a troubled and highly dangerous teenager with zero gun-training. His movements and personality is unpredictable and we're trying to move as efficiently and effectively as we can in a timely manner," says Sherriff Adamson.

"And we all certainly appreciate the efforts made today. We know that at least two are injured, no fatalities, is there any more news to report on that front at this time?" Cindy V. asks.

"At this time we are not at liberty to discuss any specifics. I can report that the two injuries earlier are real. Principal Kaplan has been integral in trying to communicate to us the shooters movements, if he can track it. I can confirm that -" Abruptly, a gunshot is heard from the school and spectators around begin yelling in panic, police officers running back and forth between each other trying to figure out which part of the school it came from.

"Oh my goodness, another gunshot was fired!" Cindy V yells frantically, "Sherriff Adamson, what is the next course of action, another person – God forbid – could have been injured!" At this time a second gunshot is fired and Sherriff Adamson turns around and runs back to his fellow officers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we know what we just heard was very unsettling but I'm sure our Police Department will come up with a solution here soon…"

**12:47 P.M. **

"Viewers, this is Cindy V. and I thank you as we go through this tragedy together. It has been nearly ten minutes since the two gunshots earlier were fired and no more – thank goodness – have been heard. I am here with S.W.A.T. Commander Trask who is leading an extraction team. Commander, thank you for taking a moment to comment with me while your team prepares," Cindy holds the Microphone to Trask.

"Of course, I know this isn't easy for anyone to deal with right now and I do want to offer some clarity and peace of mind. Principal Kaplan has communicated to us that no other shots have been fired since those two previously and we don't know if two students or faculty members are on the floor. We're planning a surgical sweep to make sure we can cover as much ground as possible, make perimeters inside the school so we can evacuate little by little. We do have James's parents here, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis to -"

"James Lewis is the shooter in question?" Cindy asks abruptly. Commander Trask scratches his head and realizes that information might not have been revealed by the Sheriff yet.

"Correct," he says flatly. Another S.W.A.T. member walks over and whispers in Trasks ear, "Are team is ready for extraction,"

"Good luck, Commander Trask," Cindy says before he walks away, "We have just learned that the shooter in question is James Lewis, a former student of Angel Grove High School. James Lewis was expelled after being caught with large amount of drugs with former student Eric Mitchell, shortly before his tragic passing," She pauses and takes in a deep breath.

At this time, she plans on saying something inspirational and supportive to those helpless at home, but some sudden outcry from the spectators around her causes her to stop and look around. In the front of the front doors of Angel Grove High School a white light shines bright, slowly forming a silhouette and finally reveals a person – a student, holding his bloodied arm and dropping to his knees.

"I don't know if you saw this, but some strange light somehow transported what looks like a student from the inside of the school. He looks injured," Cindy V jumps over restricted lines trying to be first reporter at the scene. Police officers try to hold her and her camera-man back but are unsuccessful, "What is your name? Sir, sir, what is your name?"

"Brent Redford," he chokes out. The paramedics rush towards him and immediately begin to examine his injuries, Sheriff Adamson and Commander Trask are running towards them.

"Are you okay? How did you get here? What happened?" Cindy yells out all of her questions in one breath, knowing that she'll be escorted away soon.

"The Power Rangers…" he says, his answer gives everyone around him pause.

"The Power Rangers are in there?" Commander Trask says, his face flush red with anger. Brent nods his head and them succumbs to his wound and passes out.

"You've heard it first here, live. Somehow the Power Rangers were made aware of this threat and have entered the building unnoticed," Police officers begin pushing Cindy V. away but she keeps talking into her mic. "Brent Redford was shot and the Power Rangers saved him. No word on how Commander Trask will infiltrate the school now or even if it's necessary – Let go of me, pal! I can walk!" she pushes a Police officer away.

**12.53 P.M. **

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Cindy V reporting live in front of Angel Grove High School and I feel like I've seen everything today. We just witnesses the arrival of three more students outside the front doors of the high school, arriving by the same strange light as Brent Redford only moments ago," Cindy begins leading her camera man over to the paramedics station set up, hoping to get a better glimpse of the three students and possibly even an interview.

"What are your names?" Commander Trask asks. The two students are following the third student who is unconscious, bloody and on a stretcher.

"Billy Cranston," says Billy.

"Trini Kwan," says Trini.

"And you said his first name was Daniel?" Trask asks.

"Yes," Trini answers.

"Can you confirm the Power Rangers are in the school?" Trini shows hesitancy to answer Trask's question.

"It happened all really fast. There was James - he knew Brent – Brent! Is Brent okay?" Trini begins to panic.

"Your friend is okay sweetie," Cindy V. chimes in from afar, "We just watched the paramedics load him into an ambulance. Trini exhales and her facial expression relaxes.

"Are the Power Rangers in that building?" Commander Trask presses again.

"There was so much…blood. So much of Daniel's blood," Trini says and begins to break down again. Billy reaches over to console her.

"It happened really fast. We were saved in the nick of time, isn't that all that matters?" Billy answers.

"Of course," Cindy agrees, Commander Trask gives her an annoyed expression.

"Okay, we need to take Daniel to the hospital. You two should come with us so we can assess you more clearly," says a Paramedic. Trini and Billy nod their heads compliantly, and get into the ambulance with Daniel.

"Three more students were saved. Brent Redford claims the Power Rangers saved him and students Trini Kwan and Billy Cranston didn't confirm nor deny their presence, they both seemed incredibly shocked by the whole incident and understandably so…"

**1:09 P.M. **

"Currently, the SWAT team hasn't moved in on the school yet, the news of the Power Rangers on the scene has made Commander Trask a little more reluctant it seems. So far no other students have appeared but – oh my gosh, get that!" Cindy points her camera man to turn around as another set of lights approach the front doors, one light is black the other is white. The Black Power Rangers is revealed with James Lewis in his hold, the Black Ranger lets him go and then quickly disappears in the same black light that he came from, "It appears the Power Rangers were involved, the Black Power Ranger just delivered student and shooter James Lewis to the front of the building. Police are surrounding him and it looks like Commander Trask has sent his unit inside.

**1:20 P.M. **

"Reporting live, I'm Cindy V. Only minutes ago did S.W.A.T. teams infiltrate the school to assess anymore damages, victims and to evacuate all students and faculty. I – wait, is that another student? He looks like a student – I" Cindy moves closer to the front doors to get a better look. A paramedic and SWAT member and walking on either side of a stretcher with an individual, unconscious by the looks of things.

**1:23 P.M.**

"At this time, both secretaries have seen paramedics and are heading to Angel Grove Memorial for further evaluation," Cindy V says. "James Lewis has been taken into custody, the Parents of James Lewis have declined to comment and Sheriff Adamson also decline. The other student that we saw earlier was Jason Lee Scott. The paramedics report that there were no surface injuries, no gunshot wounds, however he didn't seem to be breathing, or have a strong pulse. He's being taken to Angel Grove Memorial immediately as well."

* * *

**1:49 P.M. – Current Time.**

"What happened to Jason?" Trini's question garners no answer, just more tears from Kimberly and she isn't sure if she should be crying as well. "What happened?" she says, this time more stern.

"Something went horribly wrong," Kimberly begins and wipes her face, "James was about to shoot himself. Jason jumps to stop him and because the sudden movement freaked him out, he shot at Jason."

"Wait, I don't understand. We've all been shot before. Our suits are impenetrable to bullets," Billy says.

"His shot his morpher and something went wrong. He automatically powers down and some red, electrical energy was surrounding him," Kim explains.

"Why didn't you teleport him to Zordon?!" Billy asks.

"We tried, for whatever reason Zordon was unable to teleport him. He told me – he," Kimberly stops mid-sentence when a nurse walks by and wipes another tear off her face, "Zordon instructed me to take his morpher and to let the authorities find him to hopefully save his life…"

"What do you mean save his life?" Trini's voice is low, monotone and her expression becomes fearful of the answer.

"He wasn't breathing. He was unresponsive. I didn't want to leave him! I didn't, but I didn't have a choice, if the authorities saw me, the Pink Ranger, with Jason, they might but some dots together or something. I had to go and I teleported back to Ms. Appleby's classroom, in the storage closet where Zack was." Kimberly starts crying again and a single tear falls down Trini's face.

"It doesn't make sense…a bullet to the morpher? That's our Achilles heel?" Billy says, shocked. "Where is Jason?"

"He's in ICU. We tried to get back there but they wouldn't let us. They won't tell us anything, it's bad…" Zack says.

"We have to get to the command center," Billy suggests, "There has to be a way we can get Jason there. Maybe Zordon has a plan or an explanation. I don't understand why he's recommend a doctor. Alpha's medical bay is more efficient than any hospital."

"I agree. We can't just sit around here doing nothing," Trini says.

Because the Hospital has so much security and possible witnesses, the four Rangers left the hospital and secluded area to teleport, taking them to the command center seconds later. All four of them turn around to face Zordon and Alpha 5 – who seems to be entering data into the mainframe.

"Hello, Rangers," Zordon greets.

"Zordon, Jason, what's going on with him!" Trini outbursts.

"We have been monitoring Jason's health frequently, observe the viewing globe," All four them turn around and see Jason, sort of. An oxygen mask is around his face and several doctors are running around him, making sure IV's are inserted and preparing a crash cart.

"Oh my god…" Kimberly gasps.

"Zordon, this doesn't make any sense," Billy turns around. "Our suits are impenetrable to bullets. It still stings, but this outcome makes zero sense. His morpher –"

"Yes, his Morpher was damaged," Zordon interrupts. "Your Power Morphers are sensitive vessels of energy. Jason's was compromised when the bullet made contact. Centuries ago when the Power Morphers were first created, things like bullets didn't exist. The science behind the effect of a bullet didn't exist."

"Even still, why is Jason suffering this much?" Billy asks.

"Your powers come from your Power-coins," Zordon explains. "Since bonding with your powers, your Power-coins have become directly tied to your life-force. So when Jason's was damaged…"

"Jason's life force took a hit. No, I felt it. I felt his pain," Kimberly says. "When I tried to grab his morpher I felt his pain…"

"Zordon, if what you're saying is true, then it suggests that because Jason's power-coin was damaged, that he might not recover," Billy says.

"That is possible outcome, yes," Zordon replies.

"Nah, no way. Not happenen'!" Zack says.

"Why can't you bring him here? Surely Alpha could do something!" Billy says.

"Ayiyiyi! We're trying, Billy! When Jason's morpher was damaged, his link to the morphing grid was also compromised. Our sensors won't let him into the command center!"

"This is ridiculous! We're not losing Jason!" Zack is yelling at this point. Trini moves towards him to console him, but he nudges away; he doesn't want the comfort.

"There is a way to save him, but it requires all five of you to be together," Alpha says.

"What is it, Alpha?" Trini inquires.

"As Zordon explained, your life force is tied to your Power-coins. If you guys were to surround him and concentrate your energy from your Power-coins onto him and the Tyrannosaurus coin, it would be enough to restore him!"

"Why didn't you suggest that before, Alpha? Seems simple enough," Billy says.

"Ayiyiyi!" Alpha begins shaking his head. "Like I said, it requires all five of you to be together. We can't bring him hear and he's surrounded by doctors and witnesses. Performing this kind of ritual would be exposing yourselves to the world." Each of them gives each other a fearful look and then turn to Zordon.

"Rangers…" he begins.

"No, no way, Zordon. We have to do it. When we signed up for this, we were not told that we could lose each other. Nah, not like this. We're doing it." Zack says.

"Zackary, I understand. But this kind of exposure, everyone you love, each of you will assume a great deal of risk. Far more than previous. Secrets that were shielded from humanity for centuries will come to light," Zordon says.

"Zordon, I don't think we have a choice. This is for Jason," Trini says, she looks around to her teammates and they all silently agree with each other. "Alpha, give us the steps one more time. We're ready."


	16. Trigger Part 4

**Trigger**

**Part 4**

"Bwahaha!" Rita's cackle could be heard even the deepest, more obscure place in her palace. "There are SO many to choose from, let's see here…" back and forth she twists her telescope, going from individual to individual around the world.

"Empress…" Goldar doesn't want to interrupt her fun, but she doesn't show any signs of letting up from her search soon. "Finster has made headway on the Dark Armor."

"Ahh, good!" Rita raises up from her telescope and turns to Goldar, flashing a lecherous grin. "You know, very rarely do things happen in my favor and I'm feeling enthusiastic about this one, Goldar!"

"As you should my Queen. With a plan like this, how could we fail?" Goldar muses. "Have you found a sacrifice?"

"I believe so. Finster was right about keeping it close to home and picking a human from Angel Grove. The individual in question exhibits great pureness. Currently, he's in what these humans call a "Hospital" he seems injured and we can just nurse him back to health – with evil!" Rita cackles again and Goldar joins her. "Finster!" Rita calls out as she makes her way to Finster's laboratory. As she enters, she sees Finster, working diligently as he sculpts a truly remarkable piece of armor from clay.

"Greetings, my Queen," he greets, but doesn't turn around. Rita moves around Finster and leans down to look further at his work.

"So, this is your Dark Armor, eh?" Rita says.

"Correct. I'm infusing it with ancient darkness – in small doses, of course. A human will be wearing this, after all. If I use too much, it'll kill him immediately and it'll just be a waste," Finster explains. Rita gives him an unsure expression.

"Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to be as simple as it should be? Are you telling me the armor could kill him regardless? He has to fight the rangers _and_ worry about being overwhelmed by the darkness draining his life force?" With all of Rita's questions, Finster sets his carving tool down and faces her.

"All valid concerns. The thing you have to understand is that he is not going to live long anyway. We only need the armor to do its work – draining his life force, collecting the life-forces of other individuals – whenever the Dragon Coin is free, the armor will drain the remainder of his life force and all will be done," Finster explains.

"I now see that many things can still go wrong with that. What if the Rangers destroy him? It would be for nothing. Goldar, you'll be his personal body-guard. The priority is to keep him alive until he's no longer useful!" Rita commands.

"Of course. But I fear we might need more support. My Queen, I'm requesting a search for Scorpina," Goldar says.

"Oh no, she's the worst…" Baboo mutters behind Goldar; he and Squat are listening in from the doorway.

"Ah, yes, Scorpina," Rita says this with a full smile. "Zordon and his pesky warriors of light nearly destroyed her, took her remains and locked her away into some kind of tomb. Yes – it's all coming back to me."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Finster begins, "Zordon always knows whenever we enter the Earth's atmosphere. Whenever you collect your sacrifice, Zordon will know evil has entered Earth and solely focus on you. However, if there are many patrol units of Putties entering Earth simultaneously, it'll be a misdirect and they'll never know you abducted a human."

"Oh, you're good Finster!" Rita smiles. "Okay – Finster, create your finest Putties for a search. Goldar, try to find out all you can about Scorpina's last battle and see if you can find her. Those pitiful Power Rangers will never suspect what's coming for them! It's so genius!"

* * *

"This is Cindy V. reporting live outside Angel Grove Memorial Hospital. Earlier today, students of Angel Grove High School witnessed a tragedy when former student, James Lewis, brought an unauthorized firearm and wounded at least four students and faculty members. Good news is, no fatalities have been reported," She stops her report midway after seeing Billy and Trini, along with Zack and Kimberly, walking towards the hospital doors. She makes a hand gesture that says "follow me" to her camera man and runs towards the students. "Billy Cranston? Trini Kwan, would you two like to comment?"

"No," Trini says flatly and shakes her head, not even making eye contact. Billy does the same and Kimberly gives her an annoyed expression.

"Are your friends alright? How did the Power Rangers assist you? The city of Angel Grove wants to know!" Cindy follows them up until the entrance of the hospital, where no press is allowed entry.

"I actually do like her," Zack says.

"Now is so not the time," Kimberly retorts and rolls her eyes. "Okay, how do we get to Jason?"

"Excuse me," Trini walks up to the front counter, "Our friend Jason Lee Scott was admitted earlier. We're his friends, is he able to have visitors yet?"

"One moment," the nurse replies and begins typing in his name, "I see that he is still in ICU, in critical condition. Unfortunately at this time only family is allowed."

"I am family," Kimberly steps up to the counter. The nurse looks at her apprehensively.

"You are?" she asks flatly. "Do you have proper identification?"

"Well sure, in my backpack. In my locker. Where my friends and teachers were shot at. I'd love to go back there, but I might be suffering from PTSD," Kimberly matches the same flat tone as the nurse and gives her a look of contempt.

"I apologize," The nurse raises her hands in the air, "You may take one friend."

"One minute," Kimberly says and leads Trini back to Zack and Billy.

"Nice lie, Kimberly. You look nothing like Jason," Trini laughs.

"We gotta do what we gotta do," Kimberly responds. "Okay, I can take one person back. I'll take Billy. There is usually a map of the hospital in each patient's room, like telling them where to go for fires and emergencies. Billy can tell you two where to go from there."

"Or, or. Just put in a pin in that. Why don't we just teleport?" Zack says.

"Oh, yeah. I guess you could do that. But what about the security camera's?" Kimberly asks.

"No worries. Alpha and I have that on lock. Once we get to Jason, Alpha will disrupt the Hospitals security screens, so none of the security cameras will work for the hour," Billy says.

"Awesome, Billy!" Trini smiles.

"Alright, still, Billy let's go," Kimberly says and leads Billy back over to the nurse. "I'm ready to see my brother," She nods her head and leads them through the ICU. They come up to room 412 and the door is closed, she opens it and Jason is revealed, unconscious, an oxygen mask around his mouth, an IV in his arm, his pulse steady and beeping every other second on the monitor.

"He is critical, but he is stable. Unfortunately, we're not sure what's wrong with him. A doctor will be with you soon to go over his prognosis. There is a phone there, we've tried calling your parents but we're unable to get ahold of them. They will need to be present," The nurse instructs.

"Of course, I'll get right on that," Kimberly lies. The nurse walks out and Kimberly is aghast over Jason's current condition. "Oh, Jason…" she grabs his hand. Billy begins looking through his chart and looking at the heart monitor.

"None of this is good," Billy says.

"Okay, none of that. I'm sure you understand everything in that chart, but you have to keep it to yourself. We have a plan, let's stick to it!" Kimberly says.

"Kimberly, we can do this," Billy says encouragingly, but it's not enough. "Are you ready?" Kimberly nods her head, despite her facial expression not changing. "Alpha, disarm security systems now." He says into the communicator.

"Affirmative, Billy," Alpha's voice replies. "And it's done. For the next hour, no security footage will be available."

"Thanks, Alpha." Billy sets the chart down and walks over to Jason's door and closes it and locks it.

"Hopefully it's enough to keep them out..." Kimberly says; Billy gives her an unsure expression.

"Zack, Trini, we're ready for you," Billy says into his communicator and seconds later they appear in the room.

"Oh my god, Jason…" Trini covers her mouth with her hand.

"Let's hurry, he doesn't look good at all," Zack says. Billy takes Jason's morpher out of his backpack.

"So, how does this work?" Kimberly asks.

"Basically, we need to use our powers to restore his," Billy begins as he tries to remove Jason's power coin from the damaged Morpher. "So, each of us will concentrate and use our power coins to channel energy into his, restoring his power and his life force."

"That sounds simple enough…" Zack says.

"Yeah," Billy responds unsure, "If all goes well, that is."

"Stop. You can't do that, Billy!" Kimberly says sharply.

"I just want to be clear that there are negative possibilities to, according to Alpha's research. But, yes, they are unlikely – just possibilities."

"I don't see any other possibility other than Jason getting out of this," Zack says.

"Okay, let's do this already!" Kimberly says anxiously and pulls out her Power Coin. Billy successfully removes Jason's cracked Power Coin and sets it down on Jason's chest. A red energy emits immediately and his heart rate begins to raise rapidly, causing the monitor to beep loudly.

"Damn, what just happened?!" Zack says in a panicked voice.

"Our time just got reduced. The nurses are going to come check on him any second, let's hurry!" Billy says, pulling out his Power coin; Trini and Zack do the same. All four of them hold their coins out and each release a light of energy which in turn causes Jason's power coin to glow red.

"Mastodon…" Zack says, his power coin sends a black light of energy straight into Jason, giving him a black glow and in return, Jason's power coin emits a red energy at Zack, causing him to glow red as well.

"What's happening?!" Kimberly panics.

"It means Jason accepted Zack's power exchange," Billy answers. Just then, there is a knock at the door and the handle begins to jiggle.

"Hey, open up!" Comes a voice from outside, followed by a repeat of pounding on the door.

"Kimberly, c'mon!" Zack utters, his body tense and it's becoming apparent that the red energy is causing Zack pain.

"Pteradactyl…" Kimberly says and her coin reacts by releasing a beam of pink light, hitting Jason's power coin and causing him to glow pink instead of black. A red surge of energy begins to surround Kimberly as well and she winces, "Oh my god…guys hurry…"

"Hey, what's going on in there?" comes a different voice. "Open up. Open up in there. Can we get the keys to room 412, now! The patient is coding in there!" The knocks on the door become more frequent.

"Triceratops," Billy says and his power coin follows the same routine by releasing a blue light that surrounds Jason and in response a red light surrounds Billy.

"Saber—oh no," Trini hears the door knob jiggle and key slide into it. Trini's stomach goes into her chest, her nerves begin to pile on her like never before. How were they going to explain any of this? Before she could break down, a white light beams down in front of the door and Alpha appears. The automaton places itself in front of the door, its weight keeping the door closed.

"It's jammed!" Calls out one of the voices. "We need help over here! Now!"

"Alpha…" Trini says, stunned.

"Hurry, Trini. I won't be able to hold them for long," Alpha insists. Trini nods her head and turns back to Jason

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!" A yellow light shoots out of her coin and makes Jason go from blue to yellow, and a red light surrounds Trini. The pain is excruciating, crumbling. Each of them are struggling to stay standing.

"Mastodon…" Zack repeats.

"Pterodactyl…" Kimberly barely gets her out.

"Triceratops…"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger," Jason's aura changes colors each time and then becomes red. The lights surrounding the four rangers return to Jason's power coin and his eyes burst open, his monitor beeping off the charts.

"Jason?" Kimberly gasps. Billy turns to look at the monitor and smiles.

"His vitals are stabilizing, you guys need to get out of here now," Billy grabs Jason's power coin and morpher and hands it to Zack before he and Trini teleport out of the room. "Alpha, we owe you one," Billy says.

"My pleasure, rangers," Alpha says before teleporting out; immediately after, the door comes bursting open with nurses and doctors falling on top of each other.

"What's up, doc?" Kimberly asks, giving them a confused expression. The doctors collect themselves and stand up.

"That door was locked," The doctor says.

"No it wasn't?" Billy replies.

"We were trying to get in!" The doctor retorts.

"Yeah we know, the door was jammed. You guys should really fix that," Kimberly says.

* * *

Kimberly Hart's family bought a house that's relatively isolated from other neighborhoods; her parents enjoy the privacy and the quiet. However, tonight the street was filled with the laughter of her daughter, Zack and Jason.

"I can't believe you guys pulled that off," Jason laughs.

"Believe it, we're amazing," Kimberly muses. She pats Jason on the back and Zack laughs as well. The three of them stop outside Kimberly's house.

"What a horrible day," Jason shakes his head. "The interesting part is that I don't remember anything being in that…coma? I guess. I don't know what it was. I remember the pain and then I remember waking up. Nothing."

"I'm just glad it worked. And thank goodness Zordon let Alpha come keep the door jammed, or else…I mean, who knows what could have happened?" Kimberly says.

"Yeah, with all of our close calls with Rita, we've never been closer to being exposed…and this had nothing to do with her," Jason says.

"And James…I mean, how tragic," Kimberly sighs.

"He won't be able to hurt anyone again," Zack says.

"Yeah, I'm sure he was in pain, too. We all saw his face…" Kimberly says. "I'm just saying, this was an unfortunate circumstance…and it could have ended worse."

"I still can't believe they discharged you so quick, Jason," Zack says.

"They had no reason to keep me. And my parents are out of town on business…so keeping me while I was fine would have been a wasted expense. I was as fit as a fiddle, as my nurse said." Jason replies.

"And dude, she was fine!" Zack laughs and Jason nods his head.

"Oh my god, okay, I'm leaving now," Kimberly rolls her eyes.

"Are you gonna check on Billy and Trini?" Zack asks.

"Yeah, they were only going to check on Daniel and Brent, they should be home soon. I'll call them both here in a little while," Kimberly says. She gives Zack a hug and then gives a bigger hug to Jason, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Jason replies. They both watch as Kimberly gets into her house safely and then they round the street towards their houses.

"Oh, by the way, here," Zack pulls Jason's morpher and coin out of his backpack and hands it to Jason.

"Oh, thanks man," Jason says and puts them away in his own bag. "So, I'll assume it was you that convinced Zordon to go along with the plan…"

"I didn't make it easy for him to say no," Zack replies.

"Thanks, Zack. I do want to apologize for how I've been towards you lately. I feel like I've been giving you hell ever since your birthday. I'm sorry man," Jason says.

"Dude, don't even worry about. I get where you were coming from…it was irresponsible. But, it does mean a lot to hear that from you," Zack says.

"No, I mean it. I also want you to know, I've talked to Zordon and the others and I've decided that if something happens to me, you're my second in command. I know I can count on you to make the tough calls," Jason's statement throws Zack for a loop.

"Are you serious?" Zack says, shocked.

"I couldn't think of a better person but you," Jason responds; Zack smiles.

"Thanks, man. I won't let you down," Zack promises and Jason smiles in return.

"I know, well I will see you tomorrow, alright?" Jason waves at Zack and heads to his house. He slides the key into his door and opens it; when he looks on the ground he sees the mail on the ground that was delivered through the mail-shoot. He winces before turning over the bills with the words 'Final Notice' on them. "Mom?" he calls out, no response.

Jason sets the bills on the nearest table and walks into the living room, where he finds his mother sleeping in a recliner – an empty bottle of Jack sitting in her lap, a lit cigarette in her limp hand over the armrest, the television blaring with today's earlier incident.

"Mom?" he says quietly, taking her cigarette and putting it out. "Mom, let's get you into bed…" she barely nudges, but eventually opens her eyes.

"Jason," she says with a smile, "Your dad called today," she says. Jason looks down at the phone and goes through the caller ID; three calls from the school, two calls from the police department and eight calls from the hospital. But nothing else.

"No, mom, he didn't," he says.

"Oh…well, he will," she says flatly. Jason helps his mom out of her seat and he turns the television off with the remote.

"I was watching the most awful movie today, a school shooting. The things Hollywood comes up with…so horrible..." she mumbles. It became evidently clear that his mother had no idea of the events that transpired today.

"Yeah, mom. It is horrible," Jason agrees. He tucks his mother into her bed and closes the door quietly behind him. He presses back against the door and slides down the ground, resting his hands on his knees – the events of the day hadn't fully settled in on him either. The thought Jason can't get out of his head is that he could have died…and his mother wouldn't have known.

* * *

"So, homecoming is a yes?" Daniel smiles and Trini shakes her head.

"You're never going to give up," she laughs.

"I just want to make sure I wasn't hallucinating when I took a bullet for you," Daniel laughs.

"You weren't. Homecoming is a go," Trini smiles.

"Awesome," he says.

"Well, I should go. It's late and the doctor says you have some recovery to do before you can be released from here. So, you better get better," Trini says.

"Count on it," Daniel replies. Billy approaches the door and Trini turns to see him

"Ready, Trini?" Billy asks.

"Yesh," she answers and gets up from the side of Daniel's bed. "Good night, Daniel," Trini says and leans down and kisses his cheek, "Thank you for taking a bullet for me."

"Anytime," Daniel replies before Trini walks out of the room. He isn't able to stop smiling – the pain killers, he figured. But he is smiling for minutes after until his door suddenly shuts and the lights to his room shut off. "Hello? Nurse?" He calls out, no answer.

The door to his bathroom creaks open and after his eyes adjusts to the darkness, he sees a silhouette.

"Who is there?" he repeats himself.

"Daniel is it?" The figure says with enthusiasm.

"Y-yes?" he answers cautiously.

"My name is Rita, and boy do I have plans for you."

**To be continued...**


	17. Secrets Part 1

**Secrets**

**Part 1**

"Just say yes to the dress," Kimberly taunts Trini outside the dressing room. With Homecoming right around the corner and Trini's inability to a secure a dress for her date with Daniel, Kimberly decided it's up to her make Trini find one – by any means necessary.

"I don't know…" Trini says reluctantly from behind closed doors. "Why do I even have to go in a dress? I could just go in like a –I"

"That is the devil speaking for you, Trini. I will not have it! A dress! You're going to wear a dress! Deal with it!" Kimberly says before throwing another selection over the dressing room door for Trini to try. Trini opens the door and reveals a dress that is puffy, overly exaggerated and extremely tight around her waist – if looks could kill, Trini's expression would leave Kimberly dead.

"Perfect!" Kimberly says enthusiastically.

"No," Trini says flatly, causing Kimberly to make a mock sound of dismay.

"You know, the sooner you settle on one, the sooner we can move on. You're doing this to yourself. Look, you should be motivated. It's not every day you go to a dance with a guy that takes a bullet for you," Kimberly hands Trini another dress, which she refuses.

"Look, I mean. I know. I know. I just want it to be perfect and how do we even know we're going to get to go to homecoming? Rita's recent, rampant, spontaneous Putty attacks are –" Kimberly puts a finger in front of Trini's mouth.

"Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't jinx it. I fiercely invite Rita to stop Homecoming," Kimberly says in a low, threatening tone.

"Yeah, I don't know why I have to be here…" Billy walks over to them, an expression of boredom on his face.

"I get no support around here," Kimberly shakes her head and all but tosses the dresses on an empty rack. "We have to find you a tux, Billy."

"That would be a gratuitous waste of time, seeing as how I'm not attending Homecoming," Billy's says; a fiery rage burns in Kimberly's eyes and for a moment, it appears as if she's stopped breathing altogether.

"What," she says lowly; Trini giggles and Kim's head snaps in her direction, causing Trini to go back into the dressing room and close the door.

"Kimberly, I have to tutor Brent. His mid-term is on Monday, so we have to study all weekend so he can pass," Billy explains.

"This is ridiculous. These are supposed to be the best years of our lives and you're wasting them! Why don't you study during the day and just bring Brent to the dance after. You two are like a couple or something anyway, right?" Kimberly meant it as a joke, but now it's Billy with the fiery rage in his eyes.

"I'm tutoring him for Ms. Appleby. So she'll get off my back about not requesting extra homework like normal. Because we save the world and it stops me from doing the things I enjoy," Billy is very staccato with his speech, putting emphasis on every word with frustration.

"Calm down, Billy. I was only kidding. But you're so serious about it, is there something going on there? Since we're on the topic, he's very protective of you. He even took a bullet for you –"

"I will say this once, there is NOTHING going on between Brent and I. I am tutoring him in science," Billy shakes his head, turns on his heel and walks away.

"Touchy…" Kimberly mutters under her breath and Trini opens the dressing room stall, dressed in her normal clothes and a look of concern on her face.

"Kimberly…" Trini's tone is enough to invoke guilt all through Kimberly.

"Jeeze, I know. I'm sorry, I was just kidding. I didn't think it was anything," Kimberly replies.

"I don't think it is. But even if there is something there, we're his friends. And besides, It's just, Billy's been teased a lot his whole life and he's had to put up so many walls just to get through the days. He doesn't need it from his friends as well," Trini says.

"You're right. Let's go find him. I'll get him a milkshake," Kimberly says and Trini nods her head.

"Ahhh! Run!" A woman screams in the distance, followed by many more screams from many different people.

"What's going on?" Kimberly says with concern and Trini pulls her back against the wall as a tidal wave of people come running by. "What are they running from?" Trini gives Kimberly a look and immediately she knows exactly what Trini is thinking, "Oh, I hope you're wrong. No Putty's today!" Kimberly says.

"I hope I'm wrong, too!" Trini says and takes off running towards entrance, bobbing and weaving through the traffic of people running for their lives. When Kimberly and Trini get outside they hear some more screams and pin-point the location – A construction site. A group of construction workers were digging up the ground across the street from some city project and they are being terrorized by Rita's golems.

"Of course," Kimberly sighs and she follows Trini to an alley behind the mall to transform, "Pterodactyl!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!" Pink and yellow lights envelope them and seconds later they're fully transformed. They take off toward the construction site area and Trini pulls out her blaster and shoots a Putty that was strangling a construction worker. Trini runs to his side and the man is cough profusely, trying to regain his air supply.

"Sir, you're alright now. You need to get inside," Trini instructs and he nods his head.

"Thank you, Yellow Ranger," he says before taking off.

"Oh no, Trini, look!" Kimberly points to the top of a construction crane, where two men are slowly being backed up to the edge by three Putty's.

"Help us!" One of the man yells desperately.

"Help!" Screams another, but this one is one the ground and several Putty's surround him.

"You go high, I go low?" Trini suggests.

"Sounds like a plan," Kimberly agrees. She runs towards Trini and jumps in the air, Trini ready's her arms for a brace and when Kimberly lands, Trini pushes up sending Kimberly through the air and landing on top of the crane.

Trini jumps down into the pit of the dig site and lands on a Putty's back, pushing it face first into the ground. She aims her laser and blasts it in the back of the head, this gets the attention of the other Putty's who now decide to focus on her.

"Who's next?" She taunts as she puts her blaster back into its holster. "Power Daggers!" she holds up her hands and grips her weapons as they appear in her hands. Charging forward, she impales a Putty's chest with one of her daggers, and then kicks it aside; a Putty swings at her from behind and she ducks under it and turns her juxtaposition to stab the Putty with both daggers in its side.

"Thank you," Says a construction worker, running by her.

"No problem," she replies as she pulls out her daggers and twists her body again to deliver a kick to another one.

"Heads up!" Kimberly calls from above, Trini looks up and immediately takes a step back from a Putty free-falling from the crane and landing on its back in front of Trini.

"Thanks!" Trini calls out and kneels down to impale the Putty in the chest, rendering it to dust.

From above, Kimberly continues to scale the crane. It reminds her of being on a gymnastic beam and she feels completely comfortable. The Putty's on the other hand, are clumsy and reckless with their movements which she has to be careful about.

"Help us!" Says one of the construction workers who has completely reached the tip of the crane.

"Hang on!" Kimberly calls out and she quickens her pace up the machine. One of the Putty's meets her and tries to knock her off by swinging its arm at her. She manages to duck down and swings her leg for a kick – which the Putty intercepts. Struggling to break free, Kimberly decides to fall back – this movement makes the Putty paranoid and it lets go. Kimberly grabs the bar with her hands and holds her body up vertically.

While supporting her body with her hands, she uses her legs for the attacking and sends a flurry of kicks at the Putty. It manages to block them successfully and tries to stomp on Kimberly's hands with its feet; in response, Kimberly grabs the Putty's neck with her ankles and holds on tight.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna hurt!" She says. She squeezes the Putty's neck extremely hard until she hears a crack, she then pushes down causing the Putty to lose its balance and fall from the crane and Kimberly to land back on her feet and continue up the crane. "Hey, pick on someone your own size! Power Bow!" once it appears in her hand, she pulls back the bowstring and releases an arrow into its foot, causing it to lose balance and fall off the crane and land on top of a Putty in front of Trini.

"Wow, a Power Ranger…" Says one of the construction workers in awe.

"Come on, you're safe now. Scale down…careful now," She instructs, watching carefully as the construction workers head down. "Crane is secured," Kimberly says into the communicator.

"Almost there myself," Trini replies and begins cutting into another Putty in front of her.

"I wonder what they're after…" Kimberly says and uses the view as an advantage to look at the entire construction site – it seems so random. "Uh oh," Kimberly sees a black light rain down from the sky and land just below her, revealing a creature – a humanoid-looking creature – in gold armor.

"What is it?" Trini replies.

"Trini, I think Rita sent some sort of –" before Kimberly could finish, the armored warrior sends a blast of dark energy in the air, hitting the tip of the crane where Kimberly is and sending her flying off. She lets out a scream, but before she knows it she is grabbed mid-air and is set on her feet by Billy, fully transformed.

"You alright?" Billy asks.

"Yeah, a little late to the party, huh?" Kimberly responds. "Doesn't matter. Thanks, Billy. But whoever shot me is about to get it!" she says. Trini jumps up to meet the others and sighs relief that Kimberly is alright.

"Good timing, Billy," Trini says.

"Look!" Kimberly points to the golden Armored Warrior. "Do you think it's one of Rita's? It doesn't look like the stereotypical monster."

"Let's see," Billy taps the side of his visor and an infrared screen pops up, "Oh yeah, tons of negative energy is surrounding this guy."

"Good, so I won't feel bad about this!" Kimberly raises her bow, pulls back the bowstring and releases an arrow. The crane that she was just on was supporting a crate of cinderblocks – the cinderblocks are being held up by a single chain. Once Kimberly's arrow hit the chain, the cinderblock crate begins to fall full speed.

"Kimberly!" Trini says, shocked at her decision. The Armored Warrior unsheathes its sword and swings upward just before the crate lands on him and he successfully cuts it in half and it falls apart around him.

"It's not like it worked," Kimberly retorts.

"Pathetic," The warrior scoffs and begins to slowly walk forward. "Cheap tricks won't be enough to defeat me, I'm afraid."

"Noted," Kimberly replies.

"Who are you?" Billy demands.

"Your worst nightmare," he says this playfully – almost sinister. "Putty's! Did you uncover it?" He calls out and a Putty appears on top of a dirt hill carrying a shimmering gold helmet.

"What is that?" Trini gasps.

"None of your concern, for now," the Warrior taunts.

"Well, if you want it, then so do we," Kimberly quickly pulls back her bowstring and shoots an arrow into the Putty's chest, causing it to fumble back and dropping the helmet down the dirt hill.

"You fool!" the Warrior curses.

"Let's go guys!" Billy yells, "Power Lance!" He jumps in the air, holds his hand out and his lance appears; once gripped, Billy swings it down towards the Warrior who blocks it with his sword and pushes Billy away. Trini jumps down and begins jabbing her daggers at him, unable to land a hit. The Warrior swings his sword at her and she manages to block it.

"Nice try," She taunts.

"Amateur," the Warrior responds and delivers a swift kick to her stomach, sending her flying back.

With Billy and Trini battling the Warrior, Kimberly heads for the helmet and shoots away all the Putty's that come into her path. The helmet, which is now covered in dirt, sits at the bottom of the hill and she leaps for it only to be blasted away by the Warrior.

"Don't take what's not yours," and he runs towards the helmet. Kimberly gets up and aims her bow at him and fires an arrow, hitting his chest plate.

"Back off!" she yells. Billy runs up behind the Warrior and sweeps his feet out from under him with his power lance. Trini dashes by and grabs the helmet.

"Got it guys!" she calls out. The Warrior raises his hand and sends a barrage of dark energy blasts right into Billy, sending him spiraling into the air and landing on a dirt pile hundreds of feet away. The Warrior gets to his feet, readies his sword and runs towards Trini, deflecting the arrows that Kimberly sends his way.

"Give it back!" he yells; Trini jabs a dagger forward and kicks it out of her hand. She tries to duck around him but he grabs her by her helmet and, like a rag-doll, slams her to the ground.

"Oh my god, no!" Kimberly yells and begins rapid firing, arrow after arrow. Not phased at all, he kneels down and grabs the helmet.

"Get in my way again and I will kill you. I'm not just one of Rita's monsters. I'm her ultimate warrior of darkness," he says. "I'll be seeing you soon, Pink Ranger." And with a flash of black light, he's gone. Wasting no time, Kimberly runs to Trini and kneels down, propping up her head.

"Trini? Trini are you alright?" Kimberly asks over and over again, trying to get her to regain conscious.

"What happened…?" Billy says, stumbling over.

"He got Trini really bad," Kimberly answers.

"And the helmet?" Kimberly merely shakes her head. "C'mon, we should get her to the command center. Alpha will be able to heal her, and maybe Zordon can give us the answers we need."

"Right," Kimberly touches her teleport button on her communicator and teleports with Trini to the command center. Billy follows suit and appears next to them seconds later. When they get there they're surprised to Jason and Zack, who look like they've just recovered from a battle as well.

* * *

"Trini will be just fine, she just needs to rest for a little bit," Alpha's response gives relief to all the rangers and Zordon as he walks from the medical bay to the main console of the command center.

"Thank goodness," Kimberly sighs. "There was something really different about this one Zordon. He wasn't like any monster we've seen. He was cold, calculating – ruthless even. He had this intense sword and –"

"Gold armor?" Jason interrupts.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Kimberly asks.

"We fought him, too," Jason replies.

"You're kidding. He can be at two places at once?" Kimberly says, horrified.

"No, not exactly. We fought him like an hour ago…" Zack says, scratching the back of his head. "Jason and I were hiking at the National Park and we heard some screaming from a cave. He was there…he killed two civilians that were exploring the cave, two others we got to safety. He wanted box with a scorpion on it, once he got it, he made the cave collapse on us."

"We only just got out of there when you guys got here," Jason admits.

"Oh my god, he's killed two people?" Kimberly gasps.

"Yeah…" Zack says and stares at the floor, feeling extremely defeated

"Rangers, the fatalities of those two innocent civilians is nothing less than tragic, however it is not your fault. You mustn't blame yourselves for the actions of Rita's evil creations," Zordon says.

"Zordon, what was that thing? Was it a monster? And what did he want with that box?" Zack asks.

"And that helmet," Billy adds.

"Helmet?" Jason asks.

"Yes, that's what he showed up for at the construction site. I think the workers dug it up while working, but it was a gold helmet. Now that you mention it, part of it did resemble a scorpion," Billy explains.

"To answer your first question, I am not sure. I have never seen this monster before. And a part of me doesn't exactly believe that he is completely monster. The armor that he dons bears some resemblance to an ancient being known simply as the Dark Warrior. In a hard-fought battle, he was destroyed but Rita might have kept pieces of his armor and was able to restore it and give it to a new host."

"So, if he's not a monster…could he be human?" Kimberly asks.

"I am not sure. Alpha and I are looking into that right now. And as for your second question, the artifacts this Dark Warrior retrieved is the remnants of one of Rita's ultimate assassins, Scorpina," Zordon adds.

"Remnants?" Zack says, giving a creeped out expression.

"Scorpina is the epitome of evil. Never have I encountered a monster with such bloodlust. Nearly an eon ago when we locked Rita away, we unable to destroy her completely. However, piece by piece, we dismembered her and hid pieces of her around various parts of what is now Angel Grove. It appears that the Dark Warrior has retrieved two of the three artifacts and is actively searching for the third as we speak," Zordon says.

"Ayiyiyiyi! If Rita is able to resurrect Scorpina the world will never be safe!" Alpha cries.

"We have to stop that from happening…" Jason says. "Between this Dark Warrior and Rita's regular monsters, Goldar…we don't need another sizeable threat." The alarms of the command center sound off and all the rangers exchange worried glances.

"Observe the viewing globe, Rangers," Zordon instructs. They all turn around and see the Dark Warrior with a patrol of Putty's and Goldar standing over what looks like a crypt.

"Ayiyiyi! They've found her final resting place!" Alpha cries.

"Rangers, you must go now and prevent the resurrection ceremony from taking place, by any means necessary. If they successfully revive Scorpina, the fight against Rita will become astronomically more difficult," Zordon says.

"Alpha, get Trini. We need her now," Jason says and Alpha runs off to the medical bay. "Alright Rangers, let's do this. Human or Monster, this Dark Warrior needs to be stopped."

**To be continued...**


	18. Secrets Part 2

**Secrets**

**Part 2**

"I knew there was something different about him," Trini says after getting caught up by Billy.

"_Him_?" Kimberly asks.

"Well clearly it's a male. But he is human. He's not a creature. There was something different about it, I could tell immediately," Trini replies.

"Rangers, whatever the case, until Alpha and I have some answers, you will need to proceed with caution. This Dark Warrior is not to be taken lightly, but if he is human, we need to figure out if we can save him." Zordon explains.

"If?" Zack replies, uneasy.

"Sometimes there isn't enough light in the world to rid darkness," Zordon answers. "If Rita has truly corrupted a human, she is using some very powerful, very dark magic that might not be reversible."

"Found it," Alpha chimes in, "Right now I'm submitting the coordinates for teleportation."

"Remember Rangers, this needs to be quick. By retrieving even one of Scorpina's remnants, then the ritual will be useless. Retrieve whatever you can and get out, either way it makes for a sound victory for us," Zordon says.

"Coordinates in place. You're all set, Rangers!" Alpha says.

"Alright Rangers, back to action!" Jason yells. Alpha presses a button on his main console and the Rangers teleport out of the command center and arrive just outside a cave at the base of a mountain range.

"Dramatic enough?" Kimberly says, taking note of the surroundings.

"I wonder where we are exactly," Trini says and Kimberly shrugs her shoulders.

"Girls, quiet," Jason puts his finger to his mouth piece, "Listen…" he whispers. The sound of drums banging loudly in the deep, darkness of the cave.

"Because that's not eerie…" Chills creep up Kimberly and she wraps her arms around herself to feel better.

"We have to hurry guys, it sounds like they're starting. We have to make this as quickly as we can. Get in, grab an artifact and teleport out. That's the plan. When one of us has an object, we leave. No one try and be a hero and overdo it, we only need one. It doesn't matter which one either," Jason instructs.

"Right," The other four say in unison.

"Follow my lead," Jason runs into the cave and the rangers follow. The further they move into the tunnel they begin to see light near the end of it and when they get closer they can see shadows dancing against the walls – no doubt they belonged to the Putty's.

"We're so close!" Goldar's voice echoes throughout the cave.

"How many Putty's would you say?" Zack asks.

"At least a dozen," Billy answers. "If we want to make this quick, I suggest we create our Power Blaster. This way we can take out either Goldar or the Dark Warrior quickly."

"Brilliant idea, Billy!" Jason says. "Let's bring them together guys!"

"Power Axe," Zack summons his weapon and sets it as the base.

"Power Bow," Kimberly summons her weapon and attaches it to the Axe.

"Power Daggers," Trini summons her weapons and attaches them to the bow.

"Power Lance," Billy summons his weapon, break it down the middle and attaches them to the bow.

"Power Sword," Jason summons his weapon and attaches it on top, completing the blaster. "Let's move guys!" Jason takes off in a run and the others follow. When they get close enough, Jason jumps into the open space where the ceremony is taking place and pulls the trigger on the blaster.

"The Rangers!" The Dark Warrior yells. The blast from the Power Blaster easily takes out three Putty's and lands on Goldar, sending him flying back into the rocky walls of the cave. Jason removes his sword and throws the rangers their weapons before he proceeds to cut a Putty down the middle.

"You fools. This doesn't concern you," The Dark Warrior yells as he unsheathes his sword. He leaps forward and meets Jason, blow for blow with his sword. "You're good."

"And you're an idiot. We know you're not a monster. What human would willingly assist Rita?" Jason says, this statement catches the Dark Warrior off guard and Jason manages a kick his opponent's abdomen.

"You know nothing," The Dark Warrior retorts.

"Got it guys!" Trini calls out while holding Scorpina's helmet.

"No!" The Dark Warrior throws his sword at Trini, slashing the side of her arm, causing her to drop the helmet. Without waiting for another second, The Dark Warrior dashes toward Trini and picks her up by her neck, holding her high above the ground.

"Stop!" Jason runs forward but it intercepted by a now awake Goldar, who thrusts his sword at Jason – Jason manages to barely dodge the hit and tries to get passed him.

"You don't get to win, today," The Dark Warrior says low under his breath.

"That's weird…" Trini begins, "Because it feels like a victory…" Puzzled by her response, he doesn't see it coming when Trini swings her right arm – still holding a power dagger – at his throat, hitting skin and warm crimson slowly begins to fall out.

"Damn it!" He curses and drops Trini, his hand grabbing his throat to stop the bleeding. She lets out a series of coughs and picks up Scorpina's helmet.

"You guys, I got it! Meet you back at base!" Trini touches her communicator and teleports out. Zack cuts down a Putty and kicks another away, he touches his communicator and teleports out as well. Billy uses his lance to sweep a Putty to the ground and he stabs the edge into its chest.

"Guys, hurry!" he calls out to Jason and Kimberly before teleporting away himself. Kimberly delivers a swift kick to a Putty's stomach and then releases an arrow into its chest. She pulls back her bowstring and releases another, clipping Goldars wing.

"My wing!" He grunts loudly in pain. Jason kicks Goldar's sword out of his hand and cuts Goldar across his chest with his power sword.

"See you around, Goldar," Jason taunts and he teleports out.

"Damn you, Power Rangers! You will pay for this!" Goldar yells – Kimberly hears this before teleporting out herself. When she arrives at the Command Center, she finds her friends in their regular clothes and she powers-down as well.

"Good job, you guys," Jason congratulates. "And Trini, good going," Jason pats her on the shoulder.

"It didn't feel good…" Trini admits. "When I cut him, I knew it was cutting a person. But yet, there was something about him that didn't feel human. His energy, his presence…he just felt too far gone."

"I am afraid that is the case," Zordon informs; each of their expressions become grim. "Rita has used ritual of ancient darkness on this individual, luring him to the dark side and transforming him into one of her own."

"But what for? What would she gain? Surely her monsters would be stronger than an innocent civilian." Trini says.

"Yeah, it seems kind of desperate," Jason agrees.

"Unfortunately that isn't an answer I can provide. Alpha and I are working diligently to figure out the possible reason she would need to go to such drastic measures. Usually this kind of ritual would be used in the instance of attempting to destroy some extreme force of good. By utilizing the life-force of a pure-hearted human, Rita would be could unlock a terrible darkness."

"Utilizing the life-force?" Billy's expression changes from grim to sickly. "Wait, do you mean this human is just potentially a sacrifice?"

"Correct," Zordon answers.

"Maybe for Scorpina?" Kimberly asks.

"While the ritual to resurrect Scorpina is extensive and would mean that the scales would indeed tip to the side of darkness, I do not believe that is this Dark Warriors purpose." Zordon answers.

"Zordon, is it someone we know?" Zack asks.

"Unfortunately that is another answer I cannot provide," Zordon says. "Alpha and I are actively searching for this individual's identity and if the ritual is reversible. This research will take time, however. In the meantime, we can celebrate the reality that Scorpina is not resurrected. This is indeed a great victory for us."

"You're right. I'm glad Rita doesn't have more power than she should," Jason says.

* * *

"You are hopeless!" Kimberly's voice echoes throughout most of the Youth Center and many catch the sight of her smacking his arm. He tries not to laugh but he can't help himself and soon Kimberly can't help but laugh as well, "It's fine. Maybe I'll just go stag. And put a down payment on the 30 cats I'll be living with 30 years from now because Jason won't let me go out anyone!"

"He was a punk, anyway," Jason adds.

"Trent Redford is not…ugh. Never mind. It's useless," Kimberly all but throws her book on their table before taking a seat.

"Well, in all honesty Kim. I don't have a date either…so I was kinda wondering if maybe you'd like to go with…me?" Jason's request catches her off guard and she begins to laugh, he does to but then stops, "No, I'm serious."

"Seriously?" Kim tilts her head and gives him an apprehensive expression – almost waiting for the punch line.

"Yeah," Jason nods his head, "Serious."

"A date?" Kimberly elaborates.

"No," Jason says and over exaggerates his head shake but then smiles, "Yeah. A Date. Why not," he smiles. She gives him a contemplative look.

"Okay. Picked up by 7. In a limo. We'll ride with Trini, Zack, Daniel and Felicia. You'll wear black with a red tie and I'm expecting a pink corsage," Kimberly says.

"Should be I be taking notes?" Jason laughs. Kimberly joins with him but then stops abruptly with a serious face.

"Yes, you should," Kimberly says and Jason laughs again. He turns his head after hearing Zack in the background.

"Alright, I'm gonna go spare practice with Zack. I'll catch up with you later," Jason gets up and heads to the sparring area. Shortly after Trini, Billy and Brent arrive at the table.

"Hey Brent, how is your arm feeling?" Kimberly asks, the sling on his arm being a dead giveaway he's still injured.

"It's alright. I should be healed by next week and I should still be able to swim after homecoming," Brent says enthusiastically.

"Well that's great! So you're grades are doing better?" Kim asks.

"Getting there, I don't know where I'd be without Billy's help," Brent says, patting Billy on the back. "Well, look, I gotta find my brother. I'll see you tomorrow for tutoring, Billy!"

"Yeah, later," Billy says.

"Look," Kimberly begins after Brent is in hearing range, "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to insinuate anything. You're one of my best friends, I may have took the teasing with you and Brent too far.

"And even if you did, it wouldn't matter to us," Trini places her hand on Billy's and offers a smile.

"The problem isn't that you said those things Kimberly. The problem is…" Billy takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly, his hands become clammy and beads of perspiration begin to form on his forehead. "The problem is that you might be right," Billy says. Kimberly doesn't respond and neither does Trini; they simply exchange glances.

"Do you?" Trini presses.

"I don't know. I don't do feelings. They're not rationale. Science is rational. It makes sense. Biologically it makes sense for a man and woman to be together because they can reproduce. But people have meaningless sex all the time so biologically, sex is just recreational nowadays," Billy says this all in one nervous breath and he doesn't really answer Trini's question.

"So what are you saying Billy? Do you like men?" Trini says.

"No. I don't know. I don't do feelings. Scientifically, feelings are irrational. But yes, I do have feelings and I have them for Brent. Brent happens to be a boy. But I do not like boys exclusively. I don't like girls exclusively. I don't like people. I've never been in a relationship before….I – I don't know," Billy shrugs. "It's stupid. Pointless."

"Do you know if he feels the same way?" Kimberly asks.

"I-I can't. I don't know. But it's not important," Billy gets up from his seat, "I think I'm just going to head home."

"I'll come with you, you don't need to be alone right now, Billy." Trini says, he doesn't argue, mostly because he knows he won't win. Trini looks to Kimberly and gives her an expression that asks if she's coming.

"I'm actually just going to stay here and wait for Jason," Kimberly says. Trini nods and she walks with Billy to the entrance and is all but stunned when she sees Daniel walk in through the doors.

"Daniel?" Trini asks, in disbelief. He approaches her with not even a limb.

"Surprised?" Daniel replies as he embraces her for a hug.

"Billy, you go on ahead, I'll catch up," He nods and exits. "Daniel, how are you walking around? You're supposed to be in the hospital, in physical therapy or on crutches at the very least…" Trini says.

"I know right? Miraculous recovery. We have some of the best doctors in the world, apparently. But I'm happy because now I can actually dance with you at homecoming, rather than just wobble around you," Daniel laughs, he stops once he notices that she doesn't seem so thrilled for his recovery, "Are you not happy?"

"Daniel, don't be silly," Trini shakes her head, "Of course I'm thrilled for you, it just doesn't make sense…"

"It's a good thing, Trini," he says. Her eyes meet with his and then travel down to his neck, where there is a medium-sized bandage over a part of it.

"Oh my god, what happened here!" Trini tries to touch it, but he grabs her hand to prevent her from doing so.

"Yeah, that's still relatively fresh. Cat got me earlier," Daniel says.

"I thought you were allergic to cats…" Trini says flatly.

"Right. Yeah. No, we're cat sitting. I am allergic. It was in my room, I tried to move it out. We had a disagreement. I didn't win," Daniel laughs. "Well, I am actually here looking for someone, but I'll call you later?" he smiles. She doesn't believe him. She wants to, but something isn't right. The walking – he shouldn't be walking. The gash on his neck, the same place she cut the dark warrior hours earlier.

"Yeah, definitely," she replies. Daniel leans down and kisses her on the lips and a wave of feelings overcome her. Daniel leans back and walks off to meet of his friends. Trini watches as he goes and tries to suppress all the questions, all the negativity, all the confusion, sadness, happiness – everything that she's feeling. She walks outside and finds Billy waiting for her, his expression changes to concern after seeing her face.

"Daniel made a speedy recovery, huh?" Billy says, but with enthusiasm, however she doesn't do anything to show that she's enthused about his progress. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know," Trini says unsure and stares at the ground.

"What's going on?" Billy asks.

"I think I'm just trying to figure out how much I believe in coincidences."

**To be continued . . . in Homecoming Part 1.**

* * *

**Authors note:**

**Hey everyone! Thank you very much for the feedback, from those who comment weekly and the many PM's I've been receiving. I apologize I haven't been replying to as many of them, I will try to by the end of the week. The support is phenomenal and I appreciate you guys taking the time out of your lives sitting down to read this story. I have next couple of episodes planned and I'm really excited to share them with you, I know one of them you all have been really anticipating. That being said, I would really like to know if there are any episodes from late season 1 or early season 2 you would like me to adapt, or any kind of character development you'd like to see. I take all this into consideration because I obviously want to write what you guys want to read. I made a big move in character development with Billy today that might receive mixed feedback - I understand if you're apprehensive, but I hope you guys will stick with me. I think this approach is realistic to Billy in a modern, organic way. I always appreciate your thoughts and comments and questions! **

**- Eros**


End file.

Power Rangers, Drama, Sci-Fi