| abstract | - "And then I morphed and teleported to help you guys," Melody finished her story as she watched her friends move back and forth around the Command Center, looking to see if there was anything, anything, they could fix. "I just think it's…weird that they didn't say anything about it until just now." "Well, you do have the power of Darkness after all," Kimberly pointed out, making a face. "It sounds kinda…evil. Maybe there are some side effects we don't know about?" "Yeah, I guess you're right," Melody frowned, looking down at her morpher. "Jase, you ok?" Jason lifted a mess of tangled wires, looking solemnly down at all of them. With a dejected sigh, he dropped them and then looked up at Zordon's empty tube. "Man, I wish I could get my hands on this green ranger, dude." "We can't get a fix on Zordon," Kimberly said striding over to Jason's side, giving him an update on their search. "And without Zordon we have no clue who that green guy was that attacked us," Zack added, taking his other side. Jason silently listened to his friends, but inside many thoughts were running through his mind as he tried to stay calm through the situation. He knew he had to be a good leader for his friends and for the team, but he had no idea where to start at all. "Look at this place," Kimberly looked around the Command Center with forlorn. "Whoever broke in here knew exactly what to do." "They totally trashed it," Melody shook her head, biting at a thumb nail. "And they gave Alpha a virus. Someone would definitely have to be evil enough to do this. I'm just wondering how they got in here in the first place." "Yeah," Kimberly said quietly as the four of them looked across the Command Center to where Billy and Trini were working on Alpha. Alpha was bent over, with a back panel popped open revealing many wires. Trini stood off to the side as Billy worked on Alpha, a large shield covering his eyes, as he used what looked like a cattle prod to try and reverse the damage. "You making any progress, Billy?" Jason asked him, causing Billy to stop what he was doing and lifted the shield, scratching his chin. "I'm doing the best I can, but I'm unfamiliar with the circuitry," Billy called back over to him. "Does that mean he can't fix it?" Melody asked quietly, turning her blue eyes to Jason. He locked eyes with her, twisting his mouth to the side before sighing. "It means he'll do everything he can to fix him," Jason replied just as quiet. "Let's just hope Billy can stumble upon the solution. Melody nodded in reply. "This sucks," she whispered, shaking her head. 'How could this be happening? Where are you, Zordon?' "Try the subatomic manipulator," Billy suggested to Trini as he pushed down the shield again. Trini gave him a worried look in reply. "Let's just try not to hurt him, Billy," Trini replied, handing over the object he had just referred to. Billy laughed a little bit despite the situation. "Trust me, Trini, he can't feel anything," Billy replied going back to work on Alpha's back. "Even if we get him working again, there's no telling what shape his memory will be in." He jumped, letting out a small gasp, as Alpha suddenly jerked, moving his head. "Hey, he's starting up." "Come on, Alpha," Trini pleaded, clasping her hands together. A smile spread across her face as she saw Alpha jerk again, and start moving on his own. "Circuitry now operable," Alpha stated as he moved around to look at everybody. "Dude. Dudette." Trini laughed in relief, giving him a hug. "Alpha, you're back." Zack slapped Melody a high five, smiles blooming on their faces. "Good job, Billy," Kimberly called over, smiling her gratitude. "Alright, Alpha," Zack added, giving him a thumbs up. "I knew you could do it, Billy," Melody stated, turning around, watching as Billy set down his tools, setting his glasses back onto his face. Jason still wasn't smiling; but he was happy to see that his friend was operational again. "Alpha will be ok," Jason said in a quiet tone. He picked up the wrench that was sitting in front of him, and tapped it against his palm. "But, we still need to get Zordon back and find out that story with that green ranger, dude." He then turned and faced Melody. "You're good with fixing cars, you think you can give it a shot?" "You can fix cars?" Kimberly asked, her eyebrows widening. Zack laughed a little bit. "More like hotwiring," he said with a small eye roll. "She was started up my dad's truck in the garage, and it rolled backwards out of the driveway and into the streets." The corner's of Melody's mouth twitched as she fought the smile of laughter that wanted to work it's way onto her face. "To answer your question, Jase, I don't know what all these wires and stuff do, but I will try something," Melody replied, pushing off the control case she was leaning against, holding out her hand to take the wrench from him. "I can't guarantee you anything. Like I said to Alpha earlier, I'm not as smart as Billy." On the moon, Rita pulled her eye away from the Repulsa-scope before she threw her head back and laughed. Finally, my plan is working! Long live the Green Ranger she thought, gleefully before turning around to face Goldar. "Finally, we can begin phase two of my plan," Rita announced. "Yes, and crush those Rangers," he agreed, following his mistress as she paced around the room. He was waiting for her to give him his orders of what to do next. He was itching to get back into battle with the Power Rangers, after helping defeat them in battle before. "This means, the time has come to call on my green ranger," Rita replied, curling her hand into a fist, as he hand holding her scepter tightened its grip around the staff. "First give him the sword of Darkness," Goldar suggested. Rita turned around to face him, her eyes glowing with excitement at the idea. "Perfect idea," she said holding up her dress as she ran from her viewing room to where Finster's workshop was. "Perfect idea." She saw him standing at his table, working with a lump of clay, preparing Rita's next monster. "FINSTER!" "Uh," Finster dropped the clay at the sudden shout. "Yes, evilness?" "Finster, I want to give green ranger, the evil sword of Darkness," Rita announced, marching her way up to him. She eyed him warily when he didn't say anything. "You do remember it, don't you?" "Oh, yes," Finster replied, rapidly nodding his head. "I do. When your evil knight defeated Zordon's soldiers thousands of years ago, it was taken from him and presented to you as a prize." Rita smiled and nodded, wanting to hear more. "If you give it to green ranger, it'll keep him under your spell forever as long as no one destroys him. The problem, my queen, is that Zordon knows it's secret and-" "Yes, but Zordon's gone," Rita interrupted her monster maker. She couldn't hold it in anymore. Rita tilted her head back once more, letting out her evil cackle before disappearing in a flash of light. She reappeared atop the same building she stood on before, looking down on Tommy as he looked up and down the alleyway. "Green Ranger; you'll stay here on Earth until further notice." "Whatever pleases my empress," Tommy replied, smiling up at her. "Remember, to keep your identity as the green ranger a secret," Rita shouted down to him. "No one must learn the truth!" "As you wish, my empress." Laughing, Rita disappeared. Tommy looked at the empty spot a second longer before uncurling his hand, smiling down at the Power Coin he held. He smiled as it flashed green in front of his eyes. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eyes, he slowly turned his head and saw Bulk and Skull stalk towards him. "Well, lookie who we have here, Skull," Bulk said with a sinister smile, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah, it's the new kid who made you look bad at school," Skull stated, gnawing on his piece of gum. "Come on," Bulk and Skull made their way over to Tommy, who glared back at them, never moving a muscle. Bulk and Skull didn't seem to noticed Tommy's demeanor. "Hey, nobody insults, Bulk!" "Yeah," Skull repeated in a nasally tone. "Nobody!" He stuck a finger in Tommy's face. Tommy glanced down at Skull's finger before back up into his eyes. "I think you, owe me, an apology," Bulk said to Tommy, laughing along with Skull. The menacing looks on Bulk's and Skull's faces quickly changed to looks of horror when they saw Tommy's brown eyes flash green, once, twice, three times. They made noises of fear, quickly backing away from Tommy before they turned and started running. Green lights shot out of Tommy's eyes, hitting Bulk and Skull in the feet, forcing them t run, and jump head first into the dumpster at the end of the alleyway. Laughing to himself, Tommy flicked his Power Coin up into the air, caught it, and then made his way out of the alley, never once looking back. 'That'll teach you to mess with the green ranger.' Behind him, Bulk and Skull turned themselves upright, draping their top halves over the side of the dumpster. Skull spat out a piece of newspaper before turning his questioning gaze to Bulk. "What is with that guy?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know," Bulk replied, pulling spaghetti from his coat. "But, he should get his eyes checked." Back at the Youth Center, Jason, Zack, and Melody were training together. Zack was holding the punching bag that Jason was currently pounding, while Melody kept track of how many punches he did in a minute. From each grunt Jason made as he hit the punching bag, it was obvious something was ticking him off. The three Rangers decided they needed time out of the Command Center, try and take their minds off everything, and went to down to the Youth Center so A; Melody wouldn't miss her next shift and B; so they could get a work out in while they waited for some good news. Jason suddenly stopped, grabbing onto the punching bag, breathing heavily. "Man, I wish I knew who this green guy was," Jason said in a tone as controlled as he could possibly make it. "I can't get him off my mind." "And we can?" Melody asked, raising her eyebrows. Melody grabbed onto his wrist, brandishing his gloved hand. "Despite wearing these gloves, if you let your anger fuel your punches anymore, you're going to break your fingers, or worse, bash Zack's face in with the punching bag." "Yeah, we don't want that, do we," Zack said elbowing Melody in the side. He ducked as Jason gave the punching bag a hard punch, nearly knocking it into his face. "Anyway, Jase, you need to chill out, man. " Jason ignored him, and continued on with his rant. "He wears the same costume as us, but Zordon never said anything about him," he said, running his gloved hand over his chest. "He never told me about my Power Coin, but you don't see me complaining," Melody replied, earning a look from Jason. "Don't get me wrong, Jase, I don't understand any of this that's going on. But maybe…if this didn't happen to Zordon, he would've told us?" "D'you think-" Zack lowered his voice as a woman passed. Jason and Melody leaned forward as he continued on with a low tone. "You think he's the one that totaled the command center?" "It's too much of a coincidence," Jason replied, shaking his head. "I mean, he shows, up, and then Zordon's suddenly missing." "Maybe the guy's working for Rita," Zack suggested. "Maybe," Jason agreed. "All I know for sure Is that I'd like to get my hands on this guy." "I think it's safe to say we all do, Jase," Melody said resting an arm on Zack's shoulder blades. "But if it's one thing I've learned since this all started…it's that nothing's a coincidence. Not with us." She looked around the room, a frown on her face before she turned back to Zack and Jason. "Whoever this guy is…he meant for Zordon to go away." "And to be on our own," Zack added with a nod. "I hope Billy has made some progress." "Me too," Jason brushed an arm against his forehead, wiping off the sweat. "Me too." Back at the Command Center, Billy was still working hard, trying to get the controls operational again. He decided to trade off with Melody on trying to get Zordon back as she went to the Youth Center with Jason and Zack. "Have you guys come up with any answers?" Trini asked as Billy let out a sigh, removing the flashlight from his mouth that he used to shine up at the base of the control panels. "Negative," he replied, shaking his head. "These cables and wires have been completely burned." He sat up, glancing at the end of the frayed wires. He got to his feet, sliding the wires into his pockets. "Ay yi yi yi yi," Alpha exclaimed, shaking his head back and forth. "That's why we can't contact Zordon," Trini said putting a hand to her chin. She looked over at the empty tube, frowning. 'Hold on Zordon, we'll find you.' "These'll have to be replaced before I can do anything," Billy commented patting his pocket the wires were sticking out of. He pulled a rag out of his pocket and started wiping his stained hands. "If we can get the main generator online again, I can proceed with location Zordon," Alpha suggested, tilting his head to the side. "And we can repair our communicators," Billy added. "Can you do it, Billy?" Trini asked, raising her eyebrows. Billy stared back at her, pausing with wiping his hands. "Affirmative," he finally replied with a nod. "It's just gonna take time. And I might need Mel's help with it." "Time!" Alpha cried, throwing his arms up into the air. "The only thing we don't have." "Is something the matter, sweetie?" Michael asked, spearing a piece of broccoli before dropping it into his mouth. "You look really depressed. Dinner is great by the way." "Thanks, daddy," Melody replied with a small smile as she cut the steak in front of her. "I would've gotten home sooner if I knew I was making dinner tonight." "No, it's my fault I forgot to call you and tell you I was going to be late," Michael replied, brushing his dark hair out of his face with his shoulder. "But, you haven't answered my other question." "Just school stuff, daddy, don't worry," Melody replied, dropping her fork and knife to look up at her. "Parent's Day at school is coming up next month. You can come, right?" "Sure, I'll be there," Michael smiled at her daughter, reaching across the table to brush a strand of hair off her face. "Have your grades improved? I know you had that big test earlier this week. What was it for, science?" "History," Melody replied and then shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't gotten it back yet. But, I didn't feel good about it, so I don't think I did well." She watched as her dad briefly closed his eyes, setting down his fork and knife, stopping in mid-chew. He opened his eyes and chewed quickly, swallowing the piece of food before placing his elbows on the table, folding his hands together. 'Here it comes Melody thought staring back at her dad. The lecture.' "Need I remind you how important your grades are, Melody?" Michael asked in a quiet tone. Melody knew to listen to what he had to say as whenever he talked in a quiet voice, it was generally when he was ticked off. "If you don't get good grades-" "Then I don't get into a good college, I know," Melody interrupted her dad, an edge to her tone. "All you care about are my grades dad." "That's not-" "It is true," Melody interrupted him again, pushing aside her plate. "You don't come out to my soccer games, you won't come out to the garage to listen to me play the drums anymore, you never look at the newest song lyrics I write, if I don't have any good grade to show you, you get busy with your work, or you just don't care." "Are you done?" Michael asked raising his eyebrows. "No!" Melody snapped, narrowing her eyes. "I don't think you even realize you have a daughter in this house. You go to work early and either you work late or you stay out late because you're at the bar. You've been drinking too much, dad." "What I do in my life is none of your business," Michael hissed, anger bubbling up inside him. "But, it should be as I'm part of your life!" Melody slapped her hands down onto the table, pushing her chair back so hard, it clattered to the floor. Melody stormed out of the kitchen grabbing her coat off the hook by the door, as I slid my feet inside my shoes. "Where do you think you're going?" Michael demanded, coming into the foyer. Melody grabbed her house key out of the bowl on the table next to the door before wrenching it open. "I'm going to…someone's house, I can't stand being here right now," she shouted over her shoulder before slamming the door shut behind her. Breathing heavily, Melody took quick strides as she made her way down the street to Jason's house. She paused in the front yard, mentally deciding whether or not she was going to climb the tree in the back to get into Jason's room, or to ring the doorbell. Clicking her tongue, Melody hurried up the front steps and rang the doorbell, greeting Jason's dad with a smile. "Well, I think it's been years since I've seen you come in through the front door," Mr. Scott, who lets Melody call him by his first name, Charlie, said with a smile as he leaned against the front door. "Yeah, well, Jase won't answer my calls," Melody replied, rocking back and forth on her heels. "And I didn't really want to try the window in case he had it locked or something. So, can I come in?" "Sure, sure," Charlie stepped aside, letting Melody inside the house. "How are things with your dad?" "Kinda tense, actually," Melody replied, smiling at a picture of her and Jason when they were younger, both their faces painted as tigers. "Which is why I came over here, we got into a little argument and I just need some time. How's Jase? He's been kinda…by himself since the…Karate Expo." Melody's eyebrow twitched at her near mess up. 'Almost brought up the Power Rangers! That was close.' "He has been shutting himself up in his room a lot lately," Charlie replied leading Melody to the kitchen, who greeted Jason's mom with a smile. "It's always taken Jason a while to get over a loss." "And we understand that," Lisa added with a gentle smile as she set down her cup of coffee. "Jason loves karate, an all his hard work pays off. Once loses he thinks he didn't train hard enough, or he wasn't focused enough. We just give him his space and he's fine in a few days." She sighed, tapping her fingernails on the sides of the cup. "This just seems different for some reason." It's because of everything with the Green Ranger Melody thought, twisting her mouth to the side. "Is it ok if I go up and see if he's ok?" She jerked her thumb in the direction of the stairs. Lisa raised her cup to her mouth, batting the air with her hand. Melody smiled before turning and heading up the stairs, knocking twice on Jason's bedroom door before letting herself in. Jason, who was lying on his back on the bed staring up at the ceiling, merely turned his head to look at her, before returning his gaze to the white paint. "Don't you normally come in through the window?" he asked, putting his hands behind his head. "Don't you normally bounce back from a loss in less than two seconds?" Melody shot back, raising her eyebrows. She crossed the room to his desk chair, turning it around and sitting in it, resting her arms on top of the back of the chair as she watched him. "Look, I get this Green Ranger stuff is really diggin' at ya." She paused and looked out the bedroom door before lowering her voice. "But you really need to calm down. You have to stop snapping at people; taking your anger out on other people." "This doesn't seem to be bothering you at all," Jason sat up, glaring at her. "In case you hadn't noticed, the Command Center is destroyed, Zordon is gone, and we have this…guy out there attacking us, trying to destroy us." "I'm pretty sure the bruise on my hip from when I fell out of the Megazord is a pretty good reminder," Melody replied evenly. "Jase, this is bothering me, don't get me wrong. But, we don't even know where to begin to try and figure out what his damage is or how to defeat him. Your fighting is going to get worse if you keep fighting with your anger." Jason sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. "You're a great leader, Jase, but even the greatest leaders have their setbacks. But, we can come back from this, don't start thinking you're bad at doing what you do. I honestly don't think any one of us could do it better. There's a reason Zordon chose you to be the leader. I've always seen it, I don't need you to start doubting yourself." "Thanks," Jason looked up at her, smiling. "You're a great friend. So what are you doing here?" "I needed to get out of the house for a while," Melody explained with a shrug. "Dad and I got into a fight. 2 guesses what it's about." Jason just nodded, understanding what she meant. "I just needed some air. Let's go over to Zack's." "Why?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrows. "You know Zack, when something bothers him, he dances it out," Melody replied arching an eyebrow. "Betcha anything he's in his garage right now, trying to get rid of all his problems for a day. That's the kind of medicine we need. Besides-" she paused as her eyes glowed purple. Jason waited for her vision to pass. Melody blinked and shook her head slightly. "Everyone else is there." "Alright, you've sold me," Jason replied getting to his feet. He quickly pulled on his shoes and grabbed a coat. "Let's go. I'll tell my parents where we're going on the way out." "Right behind ya," Melody announced getting up from the chair. She followed him out the door and back down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Mom, dad, we're going to go over to Zack's for a while." Jason said to his parents, giving his mom a kiss on the cheek. "We'll be back soon." "It's a school night, sweetie," Lisa reminded him, peering at him over the rim of her cup. "Why are you going over there at this kind of night?" "Just need some tunes to calm us down," Jason replied, clapping his dad on the shoulder. "So, is it ok? Mom? Dad?" "Just make sure Melody gets home safely," Charlie said after a silent conversation with his wife. "Don't stay out late." "We won't, I promise," Jason replied, smiling at his parents. The two teenagers waved to the adults before heading out of the house. Jason locked the front door behind him. The two friends silently started down the street in the direction of Zack's house. They didn't need to say anything as they knew what the other was thinking and feeling. It wasn't a coincidence that all of their problems were snowballing together with the arrival of the Green Ranger. Rita definitely had something to do with it. They soon arrived at Zack's house and sure enough, they could hear music coming from the garage. Jason knocked twice on the metal door and waited for someone to knock twice back before he bent down, grabbing the handle and lifted the garage door open, bright lights illuminating the last two teenagers. Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly were all sitting in bean bag chairs, on top of coolers, and in lawn chairs. "Hey," Zack greeted, turning down the volume on the boombox that was sitting next to him. "I was wondering what was taking you guys so long." He gave the two of them a teasing smile as Jason slid the garage door shut. "Well, we're here now," Melody replied, taking a seat next to Billy on the cooler he was sitting on. "This felt like the place to be, ya know?" "That's why we're all here," Trini replied as Jason sat on the floor at her feet. "I'm going to talk to Tommy tomorrow," Kimberly announced. "You know, make sure everything is ok. And warn him about Rita and Putties; just so he can be safe." "Good idea," Zack commented. "We don't want to have a kidnapping case on our hands too. I wouldn't put it past Rita to do something like that." "How's the repairs to the Command Center coming, Billy?" Jason asked, looking over at his blue-clad friend. Billy sighed, pulling his coat closer to his body. "Slowly but surely," he replied, his mouth a thin line. "Once we get these wires replaced, I'm affirmative we'll be able to locate Zordon." "In the meantime, I guess we just have to hope Rita doesn't plan another attack soon," Jason announced. He let out a bitter laugh. "But, I don't see Rita ever being merciful." The next morning, as planned, Kimberly got to Angel Grove High School early in search of Tommy. She just had to know why he didn't show up at the Youth Center the other day like he planned. She spotted him at his locker, putting his books up. Letting out a sigh to calm herself down, as she still thought he was cute, she rolled back her shoulders, grabbed her backpack straps and walked over to him. "Tommy," she called his name, her eyebrows furrowing together when he didn't respond. "Tommy?" Tommy merely looked up from one of his books, over at her, then returned back to the book without saying a word. What's going on here? He was so talkative yesterday Kimberly thought, licking her lips, brushing her hair behind her ear. "So, umm, what happened to you, um, the other day after school? I thought we were gonna meet." Tommy sighed, rolling his eyes as he pretended to look for something in his locker. 'Can't you just go away and leave me alone?' he thought, setting his jaw. "Something came up." "Oh," Kimberly replied quietly. 'What do I say to that? Say something, Kim!' Kimberly licked her lips again. "You know, I just got kinda worried." Tommy finally turned to look at her, an annoyed look crossing his face. A look of confusion crossed Kimberly's face. "Hey, I'm a big boy Kimberly," Tommy replied with an edge to his tone. "I don't need you worrying about me." "Is something wrong?" Kimberly asked, putting a hand to her hip. 'What's the matter with him?' "Cause you're totally acting like-" "Like what?" Tommy asked harshly, interrupting her. Kimberly blinked, visibly upset over the sudden snap at her. "Like you're upset with me," Kimberly replied, looking everywhere but at him. 'Why is he so mad?' Tommy chuckled before stalking over to her, getting into her face. Kimberly licked her lips, not wanting to back down, but Tommy was really freaking her out. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might have other things on my mind?" he asked in a belittling voice. "News flash, Kimberly, you are not the center of everyone's universe." 'How dare he!" Kimberly thought, trying to think of something, anything, to say. "Well excuse me for living." Kimberly took one last look at him before rushing off. Tommy watched her go, the corners of his lips twitching up into a smile. Kimberly went through the rest of the day trying to ignore any place that Tommy was. She couldn't understand how he could be so nice (and so cute) one minute, then not want to having anything to do with her the next. She didn't know if it was anything she said to him, but she knew that he didn't have any right to tell her what he said. The idea of locating Zordon took her mind off it, but it was just another worry for her. She, Jason, Melody, and Zack all agreed to meet up at Billy's garage to take the radbug to get into the Command Center after school, hoping for some success in the search. "I hope Billy and Trini have some luck at the Command Center," Kimberly commented as she watched Zack repeatedly pressed the buttons on his communicator, willing them to work. He only got a short two tone beep out of it. "Well, they haven't fixed the communicator's yet, they're still down," Zack announced with a sigh, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. "Looks like we're taking the radbug. I was hoping they'd have it fixed by now." "Yeah, me too," Kimberly replied. "But, they're doing the best they can." "Yeah," Zack agreed with a nod. He let out a breath of air through his nose before leaning againsthte small car, looking around. "I wonder what's taking Jason and Mel so long." Back at Angel Grove High, Melody followed Jason around the school as he looked for Tommy. "We said we'd meet Kim and Zack right after school, remember? At Billy's garage? I got off work for this." "I know, but I told Tommy I would spar with him after school before this came up," Jason replied, looking at her over her shoulder. "It might take me a little while to find him. How about you head over to Billy's and tell Kim and Zack I'll be there soon." "…Alright, just hurry," Melody replied turning on her heel before heading back down the hall. Jason waved and continued looking through the school. Maybe he's at his locker Jason thought, trying to think of places as to where Tommy could be. He made his way through the halls, rounding the last corner and saw a boy and girl heading his way, holding hands. "Have any of you seen that new guy, Tommy?" The two teenagers shook their heads and continued past Jason. Jason sighed and headed down the hall, about to go up the stairs, but stopped and smiled when he saw Tommy coming down them. Tommy slowed to a stop when he caught sight of Jason. "Hey, yo, Tommy," Jason greeted. "Listen, I know I promised that I'd work out with you later, but something came up. It's sort of an emergency." "Is that right?" Tommy asked in a cool tone that Jason didn't pick up on. "Yeah, how about a reign check?" Jason suggested with a small smile. Tommy pursed his lips as he pretended to think. "Sure," he replied nonchalantly. "I understand." "Cool," a smile spread across Jason's face. "I'll catch you later." He gave a short wave and turned to head out of the school. Now I can meet the guys at Billy's No sooner did this thought leave his mind when Jason felt something hit him square in the back, causing him to grown in pain. He felt something like warm liquid wash over his body and before he knew it, he wasn't at Angel Grove High anymore. Rubbing the sore spot on his back, Jason turned around, his eyes widening, he saw he was in a dimly lit room. There didn't look to be an exit. There were archways everywhere, but gold bars were lined up in front of it. 'Where the hell am I?' Jason thought before walking over to one of the gold bars, grabbing onto it. He immediately felt electricity shoot up into his arm, his hair standing on end. Gritting his teeth, he was knocked off his feet and landed heavily on his back. He shook his hand, waving away the sting as he looked around the room, mist pouring and swirling around him. "Oh no," he muttered, looking around. "Where's Mel? And Jason?" Kimberly asked, looking up and down the street. "They said they'd meet us here." "I don't know," Zack said also looking up and down the street. "It's not like him to be late. Mel is always late so I'm not really worried about her." Kimberly laughed a little bit, agreeing with him as she got to her feet, balancing on the bumper of the car, and peered out over the street. "Oh look, Mel's coming." "It's about time," Zack said as Melody sped walked into the driveway. "Where's Jase? I thought he'd be with you." "He told me to go on ahead because he had to find Tommy," Melody explained breathing a little hard. "I got here as fast as I could without running. I have a science project in my backpack; extra credit work. He said he'd be here in a few minutes." "I don't think it'll hurt for us to wait a little while longer," Zack said turning to Kimberly who hopped off the car. "What do you say?" "Alright," Kimberly replied shortly. "Weren't you supposed to talk to Tommy today?" Melody asked, gently setting her backpack gently on the ground. "What'd he say?" "A lot," Kimberly replied, feeling offended just thinking about it. She recounted what happened between her and Tommy during school that day. She hadn't told anyone else what happened, as she was still mad at what he had said to her. Zack and Melody stared at her, mouths agape as she finished her story. "That doesn't sound like him," Zack shook his head back and forth. "He seemed nice at the Martial Arts Expo." "He was nice when we met him in school the next day," Melody agreed. "He is nice you guys," Kimberly insisted. "I just think he's…having a bad day or something. Everyone gets cranky when they have a bad day." She let out a sigh as Zack and Melody exchanged glances. 'Sounds more like she's trying to convince herself than anything else Melody thought, looking her friend over. She moved and sat down on the hood of the car. Kimberly sure is acting like it didn't bother her. She must really like this guy.' "I'm worried about Jason, he should be here by now," Kimberly said, tossing a rock down into the driveway. She looked over at Zack with a questioning look on her face. "He said he'd be here in a few minutes," Melody said once again before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "And that was more than ten minutes ago." "We can't afford to wait for him," Zack replied, lightly hitting Kimberly on the arm, motioning for her to get in the car. "I just don't feel right leaving him," Kimberly replied, continuing to look down the straight, waiting for any sign of her friend to come around the corner. "Yeah, same here," Melody replied, a frown on her face. "Something must be up. Jason's never late to anything, you said so yourself. I have a really bad feeling about this." "You can't see anything with your...vision thing?" Kimberly asked, waving a hand in front of Melody's face. She shook her head back and forth. "That's what's worrying me," Melody replied, resting her elbows on her knees. "Sure, I can't control whenever orwhatever I see, but I mean…I don't know, I'm just worried." "Don't' worry, Jason can take care of himself," Zack reminded the two girls. "Come on, we better get to the Command Center, Alpha needs us. Billy and Trini probably do too." "Ok," Kimberly agreed as the two girls got to their feet. Kimberly opened the passenger side door, as Zack got into the driver's seat and Melody moved into the back row. "I hope you know what you're doing." "Me too," Zack replied quietly. "Me three," Melody commented, drumming her fingers on the seat. "I just can't shake this feeling." "Jason will be fine, trust me," Zack said as he grabbed the seat belt. "Buckle up!" Zack turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway. The car quickly picked up speed and was flying over Angel Grove in a matter of seconds. "Man, this is the only way to fly," Zack laughed as he drove the car through the air. "I still think having wings would be cooler," Melody commented with a smirk. Kimberly gave the two of them an odd look before looking back out the passenger side window. "Yeah, right," she muttered, distracted. Zack and Melody locked eyes in the rear view mirror. "Aw, come on girl, cheer up," Zack said, trying to be his usual helpful self. "Billy and Alpha will find a way to get Zordon back." "It's not just that," Kimberly replied. "It's…it's Tommy." "Still annoyed he gave you the cold shoulder, huh?" Zack asked, tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. "It's like he totally changed," Kimberly agreed, making a face. "Yeah, well we got bigger problems to worry about now," Zack replied, looking out the front window, making sure he was going the right way. "Hold on, we're setting down." Before they knew it, they had landed safely in the Command Center. Billy, Trini, and Alpha looked up from what they were doing as their three friends got out of the radbug and headed over. "Any progress reaching Zordon?" were the first words out of Zack's mouth. "Does it look like it?" Melody asked dryly, brushing past him. "How's it going, Billster?" "Billy's almost got the main computer back online," Trini announced as they all watched Billy work on the wires in his hands. "Well, I've got a few more wires to connect and we'll soon be getting something," he replied, optimism in his voice. "Oooh, cross your fingers Rangers," Alpha said moving over to a fixed part of the control panel, pressing various buttons. All at once everybody heard the whirring of a machine start up. "Something's happening," Billy commented, as they all looked around the Command Center. "The globe," Kimberly pointed out, being the first person to noticed that the viewing globe had started up again. "Well, that's some progress," Melody stated with a small smile. Her smile immediately faded when they all saw the image of the Green Ranger appear on the screen. "Oh man, look," Zack shook his head. "It's that green guy. Now's our chance to nail him and get to the bottom of what's going on." "Sub-generator now active, we have partial power," Alpha announced, getting the Rangers' attention. "I'm checking the morphing lock now. The computer has locked onto his energy field. " "Alright," Zack smiled. "So, we've found him?" Melody asked, just to be sure. She frowned when no one answered her question. "Let's morph and get this green dude," Zack said returning his gaze back to the viewing globe. "But, we need Jason," Kimberly pointed out. Zack held her gaze and knew that she was right. There would be no way they even had a small chance of defeating the green ranger without all six of them there. Zack lifted his communicator towards his mouth. "Jason. Jason come in," Zack said, pressing the button on the side. "Jason do you read me?" Zack let go of the button and the group of friends heard the two tone beep. Zack sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "Man, these things still aren't working." "Where can he be?" Trini asked. "I thought he was meeting you guys after school." "So did we," Kimberly replied. "Mel came and told us that he'd be running a little bit late, and fifteen minutes later, he still hadn't shown up. "We had to leave without him." "But, we can't wait any longer," Melody said, her eyes fixed on the viewing globe. "The green ranger has a weirdo looking sword. It could be giving him more power. We have to go, without Jason." "Alpha, keep looking for Jason," Zack said to his robotic friend. "If you can contact him, have him meet us at the Bluff." "You got it, Rangers," Alpha replied giving a thumbs up. "Alright then," Zack replied reaching for his morpher. "It's morphing time." "DarkLion!" "Mastadon!" "Pterodactyl!" "Triceratops!" "Saber-Toothed Tiger!" The Power Rangers quickly teleported to outskirts of Angel Grove where the green ranger was waiting for them. The Rangers attacked with their blade blasters, encircling the green ranger, attacking whenever it was their turn. The green ranger showed off his martial arts skills but ducking and blocking each attack thrown his way, striking them with his new sword, knocking the rangers away from him. Laughing, he stood to face the Power Rangers. "Now feel the power from the Sword of Darkness," the green ranger shouted as the Sword of Darkness charged up with power. "What?" Melody gasped, her purple eyes widening. "I have the sword of Darkness." Look out. The green ranger shoved the Sword of Darkness into the ground, shooting the power and energy through the ground, where it exploded under the Rangers' feet, knocking them into the air. Laughing, the green ranger rushed after the Power Rangers as they fell down the hill, rolling towards the ocean. "That's it Power Rangers, time to finish you," the green ranger hissed, curling his free hand into a fist. "Mastadon!" Zack shouted, getting to his feet, calling upon his Dinozord. His friends immediately took his lead. "Triceratops!" "Saber-Toothed Tiger!" "Pterodactyl!" "We may not have Jason here, but at least I can still call on the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord," Melody said to her friends, getting to her feet. She thrust her hand into the air. "Tyrannosaurus!" The rangers pushed hard off the ground, jumping into their Dinozords' cockpits. "Zack here, we can do it guys," Zack said as he buckled himself into his seat taking the role as leader. "Billy; all systems go." "Ready for action!" "Alright, let's keep it together!" "Let's show this green ranger who the real Power Rangers are," Melody shouted as she slid into her cockpit. "I don't know if I can do this by myself." You're not by yourself. In a flash of purple light, Jaeger appeared in Jason's cockpit, smiling over at Melody. "Just give me a call and I'll always come and help you fight," he announced, buckling himself into the leader's chair. Melody smiled back at him before starting the sequence of combining the zords into the Megazord. Zack took the place of where Jason used to sit as Jaeger silently moved his way to sit in Zack's abandoned spot. "Why are you?" Kimberly asked, noticing the change. "I'm Jaeger," the stranger replied, giving Kimberly a small smile. "I'm here to protect you and my mistress." "He's with me, Kim," Melody supplied, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Down beloew them, the green ranger charged up the power in the Sword of Darkness and shot the beam of energy up at the Megazord. The Power Rangers blocked the attack with the Mastadon shield, shooting the attack back at the green ranger, nearly hitting him, but missing. "You haven't seen the last of the green ranger," the green ranger shouted before teleporting out of the battle zone. "He retreated," Melody gasped. "Why would he just suddenly leave like that?" "Something tells me this isn't the last time we've seen him," Zack said with a sigh. "Come on, let's get back to the Command Center. Maybe Alpha has had some luck getting in touch with Jason." Soon the Rangers were de-morphed and back in the Command Center. Zack and Melody were pacing back and forth around the Command Center. Jaeger sat atop one of the control panels, silently watching them, his tail swishing back and forth. Kimberly and Trini worked alongside Alpha, stealing glances at the guardian. Alpha had no such luck getting in contact with Jason while they were gone, but the signal the sub-generator received earlier had gotten stronger. "The sub-generator is locked onto something," Alpha exclaimed, waving his hands in excitement. "Is it Zordon?" Billy asked, rushing over to the robot's side. "Uncertain," Alpah replied, shaking his head. "We'll know momentarily." "I hope it is," Zack said as everyone turned their attention to the tube that normally held Zordon. "We need him, bad! That green guy was a lot stronger this time." "There's more negative news," Billy said with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. "I haven't been able to locate Jason anywhere." "Where is he?" Kimberly wondered aloud, shaking her head in worry. "We can't do this without Jason," Melody added. "Maybe Zordon could use some of his power and figure out where he is." "Man! If Rita is behind this, she's doing some serious damage," Zack cried through clenched teeth. "Power Rangers." "Zordon?" Kimberly asked as the Rangers rushed over to see if Zordon had actually returned. They watched as his face and his voice flickered in and out, making it hard for them to understand him. "You almost got him, Alpha," Zack said shaking Alpha in excitement. "Hold on, Zordon," Trini shouted to their mentor. "Ay yi yi, I've lost him," Alpha said in despair, shaking his head. Zack let out a growl of frustration, punching the air with his fist before he started pacing. "Zordon," Trini said weakly, dropping her head. "We need you." "This couldn't get any worse," Kimberly groaned, running her fingers through her hair. Hearing Melody take in a sharp breath she turned and saw her friend standing still, staring off into space, her eyes glowing pruple. Jaeger's ear twitched and he hopped off the control panel, moving quickly to Melody's side. "My mistress," he breathed. "She's having a vision. I can sense it. It's not good." "It can get worse, Kim," Melody announced, blinking, her eyes returning to their normal blue color, as she shook her head back and forth. "I saw Jason. He's…somewhere, with Goldar! He doesn't have his morpher and Goldar has a sword to him." "Alpha, we're gotta find him," Billy said hurrying to Alpha's side. "If we don't, this could really be the end of the Power Rangers."
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