Title: Quest
Timeline: Set roughly one year after the events of Power Rangers: Turbo. In this story, the second team of Turbo Rangers did not immediately follow Divatox into space after being left powerless.
Summary: Unknown to all but one of the Rangers that served him, Zordon has been captured. While the one searches for him, the Turbo Rangers have been left powerless at the hands of Divatox. Now, four former Power Rangers must travel into the depths of outer space to locate and rescue Zordon. The fate of the entire universe rests on their ability to work together, not only with each other, but with the one who has the power to lead them on their journey.
A/N 1: As you will all soon discover, I have obviously decided to re-tell another chapter of the Power Ranger's storied history. More so than with "Self-Destruct," I will be taking quite a few canonical liberties from the original story. Unlike "Self-Destruct," which re-told Dino Thunder using original Rangers, in my eyes this is how Power Rangers in Space SHOULD have happened, so hopefully you enjoy it.
Chapter 1 – From Out of Somewhere
Original Posting Date: September 21, 2008
--
The beach seemed to be where young Tommy Oliver spent most of his free time these days. When he wasn't in class or on the race track, nine times out of ten he was at the beach, in a location off the beaten path that very few people knew about. He never got in the water and he always came alone.
There was just something calming about being able to sit in the sand and watch the waves go by peacefully. He craved the peace of the beach because he was a mess inside, and had been so ever since he'd been forced to pass his powers on to T.J. Johnson a few months back.
Everyone but him had had some sense of direction as to where they were going in life when they'd left the Rangers. Adam and Tanya had moved to Los Angeles to pursue their respective careers in the film and music industries. Rocky returned to Stone Canyon and had spent his entire life savings opening his own dojo. But perhaps the worst of all was that Katherine had left him behind to join the Royal Ballet Company in London.
Not since before he'd moved to Angel Grove had Tommy ever felt so absolutely alone. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd spoken with one of his former teammates. The last he'd heard, Jason had enrolled in the police force in a nearby town called Reefside, Trini was attending Brown University on full scholarship, Billy was still on Aquitar, and Kimberly was still in Florida. Zack had apparently moved back, taking classes at Angle Grove University while teaching part-time at a dance studio in town, but they'd yet to see each other.
Truthfully, Tommy didn't feel much like being found, not even by Zack. Only once before had he ever felt so empty inside, and just like then he knew that there was but one thing that could keep him going. Unfortunately, it had been ripped away from him despite the fact he'd served selflessly for close to four years.
Staring out at the water, Tommy tried to remember what it felt like to hold the Power. It had been only months since he left the Rangers, but it seemed as though it had been years. Sometimes, if he concentrated really hard, he could almost feel a surge of residual energy coursing throughout his body. Of course, it would disappear as quickly as it came, leaving Tommy craving it even more than before.
Without warning, the waves suddenly started to move rapidly, drawing Tommy back from his distracted state. They continued to move faster and faster, crashing hard against the shore. Tommy was quite aways away from the shoreline, but not far enough away that he stayed dry.
Shooting onto his feet, Tommy backed away and watched as the waves grew closer. The further back he moved, though, the further up the beach the waves went. It was like they were chasing him, just a step behind in pursuit of swallowing him whole.
Turning on his heels, he started to run towards the red Chevrolet S-10 parked a few hundred feet away. As he ran he could literally hear the waves hitting the ground inches behind him. Overhead, darkness was quickly settling in.
In a momentary lapse of judgment, Tommy looked back to see just how close the waves really were. His brief pause was all it took for the waves to reach him. He looked up just in time to see them crashing down on him and screamed.
He shot up in bed, his body dripping not with water, but with the perspiration caused by the nightmare he'd been having repeatedly ever since Katherine had left. Alone in his one-bedroom apartment, Tommy breathed heavily as he climbed out of bed and padded towards the kitchen, shirtless in a pair of red flannel pajama bottoms.
After flipping on the lights, he opened up one of the cabinets and retrieved a glass. The first drink of water that he poured from the sink's faucet was gone in a matter of seconds, followed up by another that went down just as fast. His heart pounded against his chest as he set the glass down and gripped the kitchen counter, his head hanging low through a series of long, deep breaths.
As his body started to slowly readjust, he moved to fill his glass for the third time. The faucet's stream had just touched the bottom of his glass when the lights began to flicker out of nowhere.
"What the…" Tommy started, his mouth snapping shut as his entire apartment fell into total darkness, making it impossible to see anything that was more than a few inches away from him.
A rush of energy washed over Tommy who cried out from the relatively painless but unexpected surge. He didn't know what was happening, only that his enjoyment increased exponentially as the sense of power around him continued to grow stronger. Then there was a bright flash of red light and he was gone.
It took roughly thirty seconds for him to reappear, an expression of shock and awe on his face as he observed his new surroundings. Actually, they weren't all that new. In fact, they were quite familiar. He was in the old Power Chamber, the place that had been the base of operations for the Zeo and Turbo Rangers.
The first thing he noticed was Dimitria, the Inquirian who had replaced Zordon as their mentor when the latter had chosen to return to his home on Eltar. She looked down at him from her energy tube, nodded once in approval, and then motioned to her left. Tommy followed her movements to find the last three people he'd been expecting to see.
"Jason, Zack, Trini," said Tommy in disbelief, rushing to his friends. He greeted them with excitement, embracing Trini and kissing her cheek before exchanging handshakes and hugs with Jason and Zack. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Beats me," answered Zack, shrugging. "Tube lady seems to like asking questions more than answering them. The only thing she said was that we would know everything when all who were needed had arrived."
Chuckling, Tommy nodded his head knowingly. If there was one thing about Dimitria he disliked, it was her affinity for answering questions with more questions which had often conflicted with Tommy's more straight-forward way of thinking.
"Dimitria, who else are we waiting for?" asked Tommy.
"All who are needed have arrived," Dimitria answered simply.
When she said nothing else, Jason looked up at the floating woman expectantly. "So does that mean you're gonna tell us what we're doing here, or do you want us to play Twenty Questions to guess it?"
Dimitria furrowed her brow slightly, shifting her attention from Jason to Tommy. "Is your friend always so sarcastic?"
Tommy sighed. He was not a patient man and the exasperation on his face was already beginning to show. "Dimitria, can you please just tell us what's going on? I honestly don't have the energy to answer a bunch of questions."
"If you cannot answer a few simple questions, then how can you be expected to carry out your mission?" Dimitria asked in reply.
"Mission?" questioned Trini, wearing a look of confusion that matched those of her friends. "What mission?"
"Yeah, what mission?" Zack interjected, echoing Trini's curiosity.
"Time is of the essence, Power Rangers; even I will not keep you longer than is absolutely necessary," Dimitria answered, looking to each of the four teenagers individually. "Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Master Vile, the Machine Empire, Divatox, and their henchmen have banded together to form a terrible team known as the United Alliance of Evil. With their combined efforts, they were able to imprison Zordon. No one knows where they have taken him."
Shock seemed to be the most shared emotion amongst the four former Rangers. A sense of despair washed over them, but Tommy, ever the leader, struggled through his emotions in an attempt to piece together what Dimitria had told them.
"But how?" asked Tommy, shaking his head in disbelief. "And even more, what are we supposed to do? We don't even have any powers."
The remaining three all nodded in agreement. While each one of them would have done anything they could to save Zordon, it wasn't like they could go tramping across the galaxy powerless. Dimitria couldn't expect them to do that, could she?
"Unfortunately, Tommy, I cannot help you with that dilemma. Only a being as strong as Zordon can create a connection to the Morphing Grid," Dimitria answered, the dejection evident amongst the four. "All I can provide for you is an opportunity to search for him and the means to do so."
"What do you mean by 'the means to do so?'" asked Jason, wondering what Dimitria could be talking about if not new powers.
The floating woman indicated to her right and an image of a modest spacecraft appeared. "The Aquitians have offered to lend you the ship Hydro One. I wish I could provide you with more, Rangers, but this is all I can give you."
Tommy didn't even have to think twice about it once he had fully grasped what was at stake. His allegiance to Zordon ran deep; powers or not, he wasn't about to sit back and do nothing while Zordon remained in danger.
"I'm in," said Tommy, simply but sternly.
Jason looked to Tommy, his mouth partially hanging open. "Are you serious, bro? You're gonna run around the galaxy without powers?" he asked, Tommy nodding. "You've gotta be kidding me! That's suicide, Tommy."
"Maybe," Tommy shrugged nonchalantly, "but Zordon has risked his life to save mine on more than one occasion and I'm willing to do the same for him. Whether or not you guys are is up to you."
"Tommy is correct, Rangers," Dimitria interjected. "No one is forcing you to accept this mission, and no one will hold it against you should you choose to decline it. The choice is yours to make, and only yours."
In silence Jason, Zack, and Trini shared a momentary look with one another while Tommy and Dimitria waited for their answer. Jason was the first to make up his mind, looking from Dimitria to Tommy. "I can't let you do this, bro," said Jason, hanging and shaking his head. When he raised his eyes a few seconds later, he wore a sly grin. "Not by yourself, at least; I'm in, too."
Smiling appreciatively, Tommy nodded and quickly bumped fists with Jason before looking elsewhere. "Zack, Trini?" he asked.
The former Black Ranger shrugged his shoulders helplessly before shifting his attention to Dimitria. "I don't suppose I can get a refund for the seven grand I dropped on school this semester, can I?" Zack asked jokingly. The other Rangers chuckled, but Dimitria did not seem amused. "You win some, you lose some, I guess."
"Is that a yes?" Jason replied.
"Someone's gonna have to keep you two overly serious nut jobs from going insane. Count the Zack-man in," Zack answered, laughing. "What about you, Tri? You're not gonna let three irresponsible, teenaged guys run around the galaxy unsupervised, are you?"
"Don't give me that, Zack. I have school, and…and," Trini tried, stammering from the puppy dog eyes and pouted lips of her three male friends. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll go, but the first time I hear a fart joke or anything gross like that, I'm kicking all of your asses."
All at once they rushed to hug her, promising that they would be on their absolute best behavior. For a moment it seemed as if they were going off on some kind of fun-filled adventure, but Dimitria was quick to bring them back to reality, clearing her throat loudly to regain their attention.
"This mission will not be easy, Rangers," said Dimitria. "If you are to have any hope of rescuing Zordon, I suggest you stop treating it like a game."
Embarrassed to the point of blushing the Rangers nodded apologetically, but as they did so something popped into Tommy's head that caused him to raise his eyes to Dimitria. "Why us, Dimitria? What about T.J. and the rest of the Turbo Rangers? Why couldn't they go after Zordon?"
Dimitria did not hesitate with her answer. "Their destiny ended the moment it was discovered that Zordon had been captured. Could they have gone in your place? Certainly; but given the choice, who would you prefer to send? Your connection to Zordon will drive you beyond your limitations. Where the Turbo Rangers could potentially be stopped by this evil alliance, I have faith that you will not."
Her statement was a profound one, and left very little that needed to be discussed. There was only one question left and it was Zack who asked it. "When do we leave?"
"Now," answered Dimitria, closing her eyes.
Suddenly the Power Chamber was filled with an array of flashing, multi-colored light. Red, black, blue, and yellow illuminated the room in a way that would have made the most spectacular display of fireworks seem like nothing more than child's play. Columns of similarly colored energy enveloped the Rangers moments later, carrying them away to the place where their mission would begin.
Taking up their duty at a moment's notice; this was what it meant to be a Power Ranger.
--
The never-ending stretch of darkness patterned with stars and the occasional planet was one of her only friends these days. It had been so very long since the young woman with shoulder length, auburn tresses and soft brown eyes left home, her dreams and everything she cared about gone for the sake of a mission that was too important for even her to ignore. She'd walked away from this life almost two years ago only to be called back at the worst time possible.
Draped over her chair as she stared out the window of her spacecraft was a jacket, one of the few personal items that she had been allowed to bring from home. Colored red, white, and blue it represented everything that she had left behind. With each passing day spent on this ship, traveling from planet to planet with no end in sight, she began to doubt more and more the mission she'd been assigned.
What little information she was given before her departure from Earth had been useless at best. A handful of leads had turned out to be dead ends, taking her halfway across the galaxy before she'd deemed her efforts futile and decided to start from scratch. The average person would have given up after their first encounter with an army of android assassins, but then she was no ordinary person.
Perhaps that was why she'd been chosen in the first place. For as long as she'd been gone, the reasons behind her selection had baffled her. She had been the victim of more sleepless nights than she cared to count, tossing and turning in her bed while debating why, of all people, it had to be her. She wasn't even active; surely there was someone out there who could have carried out this mission better than she.
Alas, she'd been told there was no one else and that she alone was responsible for locating one of the most powerful forces in the known universe; a daunting task indeed, especially for one who'd been away from the Power for so long. The first time she'd touched it after being away for over two years had been something of a reawakening, taking her from normal to extraordinary in a matter of moments.
Reading a magazine sixth months old for what had to be the hundredth time, her eyes fluttered momentarily before settling on her left arm. Subconciously, she reached out and touched the black device strapped to her wrist. How such a small mechanism could contain so much power had baffled her for years.
Sighing, she stood from her chair, put on her jacket, and moved across the large control room in search of her backpack. She looked all over the spacious room, searching every nook and cranny at least twice, but found nothing.
"I could have sworn I left it by the door," she murmured to herself. Stepping out into the hallway, she looked left and right just in case she'd somehow left it outside. "Alpha, Alpha-5 where are you!?"
The echo of heavy footsteps hurriedly approaching reached her ears moments later. Turning into the hallway was a robot roughly four feet tall with a round, elongated head. Colored red, blue, and gold, the robot's chest was decorated with a jagged lightning bolt. Its arms moved up and down, almost flailing as it closed the gap between itself and the young woman who had summoned it.
"Ay-yi-yi, you called for me?" Alpha spoke, its voice male, high-pitched, and friendly.
"Have you seen my backpack, Alpha?" the woman asked. "I thought I left it in the control room, but I can't seem to find it anywhere."
"Your backpack?" asked Alpha in return as she nodded. "Of course I've seen it. I put in your room an hour ago just like you asked me to. Don't you remember?"
Surprised by the robot's answer, the young woman shook her head. "No…I, uh, it must have slipped my mind. Thanks, Alpha," she answered, turning for her personal quarters. Halfway down the hall, she stopped and turned around just in time to catch Alpha before he disappeared into the control room. "Tell DECA to set a course for Darin-7. I have a contact on the outskirts there that might be able to help us."
Alpha nodded and then stepped out of sight. Once he was gone, the young woman closed her eyes. She couldn't remember telling Alpha to move her backpack. Truth be told, she couldn't remember a lot of what had happened recently. Her memories since leaving home seemed to blur together in one giant lump, making it almost impossible to pinpoint one specific remembrance.
"No more drinking with bounty hunters," she told herself, continuing down the hallway.
In her room she found her backpack, sitting on her bed just like Alpha told her it was. Plopping down on the thin mattress, she unzipped the pink pack and reached inside, pulling out an envelope stuffed full of photographs. She flipped through the pictures quickly, removing some and setting them on her bed until she had built a small pile. The photos that hadn't been set aside were returned to the envelope and then her backpack.
Resting her back against the headboard, she picked up the pile and started looking through them once more, this time paying more attention to the details of the pictures, each of which contained the same two people. Along with herself was a young man; he had chocolate brown eyes, long brown hair, and the most gentle expression she'd ever seen.
She had left him behind to chase her own dreams—dreams she admitted were selfish in retrospect—but more and more these days he was in her thoughts. When she returned to the ship, often times dirtied and beat down both mentally and emotionally from another empty lead, it was he who kept her going. Even though she hadn't seen or spoken to him in nearly two years, she knew that he would be proud of her if he could see what she was doing now and the person she had become.
A single tear slid down her cheek as she reached out and touched the young boy's face, wishing that she could really touch him again if only for a few moments. It pained her to know how unlikely that was. Their friends had told her how badly she'd hurt him; deep down, she knew that she'd be lucky if they ever even spoke again. But this was the path she had chosen and so she would deal with the consequences, even if that meant a lifetime of wondering what could have been.
"I'd give anything just to see you one more time, so I could tell you to your face how sorry I am for what I did to you. That's not going to happen, though. You have your own life to live, a life that doesn't include me anymore," she said quietly, eyes brimming with unwanted tears. "Tommy, wherever you are, I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you, I'm sorry for leaving you, and I'm so, so sorry for thinking that I could ever find someone who made me as happy as you do."
Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift off for a quick nap, but what had been intended as a brief rest was extended as she dreamed happy thoughts of the boy she'd left behind. When she dreamed of him it was always pleasant, for it was only in her sleep where she could escape the harshness of her reality, a reality where one bad decision had led to an eternity of unhappiness.
It was nearly two hours later when she was roused from her sleep by a robotic, female voice communicating with her via loudspeaker. The voice belonged to DECA, the spacecraft's onboard computer system capable of intelligent speech.
"Kimberly, we will be approaching the Darin System in approximately two standard hours. Once we have entered the system, approximate travel time to Darin-7 is eight standard hours."
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kimberly Hart let out a loud yawn as pushed herself into a sitting position against her bed's headboard. "Thanks, DECA," she said sleepily. "How are we doing on fuel?"
"Sensors indicate that the fuel supply is nearing fifty-percent and that we will need to stop to refuel in order to reach Darin-7."
Though DECA could not see her, Kimberly nodded nonetheless. "Stop at Darin-4. We'll fuel up there," she said, waiting for DECA's confirmation before continuing. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"
"No, Kimberly that will be all."
"Okay," Kimberly replied, swinging her legs to the side of the bed and standing. "If you need me, I'll be on Level Three. Can you have the Quantron simulation ready for me in the training room?"
"Of course."
Kimberly thanked DECA before slipping her feet into a pair of white tennis shoes striped pink and exiting her quarters. Down the hallway she walked until she reached the lift that would carry her up to Level Three. It was a quick ride, taking all of seven seconds, and then she was off, navigating another long stretch of hallway.
To one who had never seen the training room before it would appear as nothing special. It was a large room, the walls, ceiling, and floor all made up of the same gray space metal. Other than Kimberly, there wasn't a single thing in the room.
That didn't last very long, though. There was a bright flash and suddenly the room was no longer so empty. In fact, she wasn't even in the room; or at least that's how it appeared. Carefully, she crept through the park she had frequented so many times—both in real life and in the simulation—waiting for the first sign of enemy life.
She caught a brief glimpse of silver through her peripheral vision and started running in that direction. From behind a tree came a long, jagged, curved blade; Kimberly rolled under it just in the nick of time. Staying low, she extended her leg and brought her attacker crashing down with a quick sweep.
Rolling onto her back, she pushed herself forward and into the air, landing feet first on the Quantron's chest. Blue waves of electricity rippled up and down the soldier's armored body, causing it to convulse momentarily until it went still for good. Not two seconds later a heavy hand fell on her shoulder, whipping her around.
Before the second Quantron could attack further, Kimberly drove her fist straight into its' metal face, knocking it down easily. Behind her she heard a familiar sound. Slowly, she turned around to see at least a dozen more Quantrons ready to do battle. Without hesitation she flipped forward, kicking—and quickly eliminating—a Quantron with each foot.
This continued for nearly an hour, the Quantrons replenishing until Kimberly's muscles burned from sheer exhaustion. When she'd first attempted the Quantron simulation, she had barely lasted ten minutes before being defeated. Her skills had obviously increased significantly in the two months that she'd been on the ship, necessary considering the galactic scum that she encountered on a daily basis.
Acquiring information while still floating under the radar of the United Alliance of Evil required her to deal with the absolute bottom of the barrel. Bars and cantinas were her most frequent visiting places and sometimes, being an attractive human female, in a seedy locale on a strange planet, meant having to fight to stay alive.
Her initial encounters with alien life had been less than unpleasant. As she quickly learned, blasting Kryloks was messy and Garshins had the tendency to let out bloodcurdling screams when they had their necks snapped. She'd gotten used to it over time, though, and eventually enough rumors had been spread across the galaxy that most creatures knew better than to mess with the cloaked female who supposedly moved faster than light and attacked with the force of a thousand men.
Being feared, however, did not always equate to receiving good information, another fact she had learned from the start. It would take the hands and feet of ten to count the number of times she'd been lead astray, her spirit growing increasingly dejected each time she failed to find the one she searched for.
Her own father had been a nonfactor in her life for quite some time. If she was honest with herself, she probably wouldn't go to these lengths to find him if he went missing. But she'd go to Hell and back to locate the man she loved as though he had been the one to birth and raise her.
Zordon of Eltar had been the father figure to Kimberly that her maternal dad had rarely been. The wise sage was the first who had showed her what it truly meant to do something for someone else. When she needed someone to talk to for things that her friends could not help her with, he had always been willing to offer an ear and a sound piece of advice that always seemed to be right in the end.
He had been there when she needed him, now he needed her and she'd be damned if anything bad happened to him while she had the power to stop it. No matter what it took she was going to find Zordon.
This was what it meant to be Kimberly Hart.
--
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…"
The thrusters of the Hydro One roared powerfully as the spacecraft slowly began its ascension from its resting place in an Aquitian hangar. The ship trembled slightly, causing the Rangers who'd been exploring it to slide and stumble in an attempt to maintain their footing. Sharing looks of displeasure and uncertainty, they all grabbed something and held onto it like their lives depended on it, their grips remaining firm until the ship had stabilized shortly thereafter.
Who exactly was piloting the ship, they didn't know. Half an hour ago they'd been teleported to directly to the ship and had spent their time since then becoming acquainted with the vehicle that was to be their home for the remainder of their mission. Of all the doors they had encountered only the one marked "Cockpit," was locked.
They'd also found quarters designated to each of them, finally giving Tommy the opportunity to clothe himself properly. Instead of the pajama bottoms he had arrived in, he now wore a pair of grey trousers, a red t-shirt, and black boots.
Staring out a nearby window, Trini watched sadly as Aquitar rapidly grew further and further away. Knowing exactly what was bothering her, Jason stood behind his friend and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You'll get to see him again someday, Tri, I promise," said Jason softly.
Blinking back tears, Trini nodded. "He was so close, Jase," she murmured distantly, "so close."
Jason didn't really know what to say. Unlike Tommy and Trini, he had never had the one person he loved more than anything taken away from him. So instead of trying to reassure Trini on a subject he didn't understand, he simply pulled her in for a hug and held onto her as she fought with herself to not cry.
For his part, Tommy held his tongue and remained quiet. While Trini knew that Billy was living on Aquitar, he didn't have the heart to tell her that their young scientist friend was already married to an Aquitian woman. Part of him wanted to tell her because, truthfully, she deserved to know, but a much larger part didn't want to say anything at all. Being the bearer of bad news was one of the few responsibilities that came with being a Power Ranger that he had never been much good at.
Allowing Jason and Trini their necessary space, Tommy pulled Zack off with him to explore the ship further. During their first go-around they'd encountered a recreation room and a holographic version of chess that had sparked Tommy's interest so that was where they were heading now.
Time, it seemed, went by slower in space than it did on Earth. Minutes seemed like hours; hours, like days. How long they had been gone was unsure. It could have been an hour or it could have been ten, no one knew for certain.
"Knight to B-Five," Zack muttered, watching as his piece beheaded one of Tommy's Pawns. "Space sucks a big one, bro."
"What do you mean?" asked Tommy, moving his Rook, "Check."
Zack stared down at the board in disbelief. "That's what I mean," he replied, pointing towards Tommy's Rook. "We've played this stupid game like twenty times and I've only won once. Man, I don't even like chess. It's boring, and so is being in space."
Tommy chuckled. "It's not exactly Star Wars, is it?"
"Seriously," Zack answered, shaking his head. "What I wouldn't give to have to outrun a fleet of TIE-Fighters right now."
No sooner had the words escaped Zack's lips than something slammed into the side of their ship, shaking it violently from side to side as the lights flickered uncontrollably. Tommy was on his feet in a flash, rushing to the nearest window. Not too far ahead he laid eyes on what was easily the biggest spaceship he had ever seen before approaching quickly. If that wasn't bad enough, the nose of the ship was glowing red in preparation for another blast.
"Son of a bitch, that thing is huge," said Zack who now stood next to Tommy.
"You're telling me," Tommy replied. "But why is it shooting at us?"
Before Zack could answer, a voice male and robotic sounded throughout the entire ship.
"Engine one has sustained heavy damage and immediate repair is necessary. Course has been redirected from the Gamma System to the Darin System; engaging emergency hyper drive now."
The ship lurched back hard, throwing Tommy and Zack onto the floor before it rocketed forward a moment later. As soon as they could get back on their feet they were at the window once more, watching as the stars surrounding them turned into a blur of white light.
"See," said Zack, playfully slapping Tommy's chest as he bounced around excitedly. "That's what I'm talking about, right there!"
Half-laughing, Tommy shook his head. "You do realize we probably could have just been killed for no apparent reason, right?"
Again, Zack was cut off before he could reply, this time by a disoriented Jason who burst into the room with Trini following right behind him. "What the Hell just happened to us?" he asked, running to the window only to find that white was all he could see.
"From the looks of it, I'd say someone knows what we're doing out here and wasn't very happy about it," Tommy answered. "If I had to guess, I wouldn't doubt it if Zedd and Rita had something to do with it."
"How could they possibly know where we are already?" asked Trini, looking to her teammates.
"They never had any trouble finding us before," Zack replied, Tommy and Jason nodding their agreement. "Why would it be any different now?"
Jason could hear his friend's discussion faintly, but he wasn't paying much attention to it, instead remaining focused on the blur of white outside the window that appeared to be slowing down rapidly. "Uh, guys," he muttered, rapping his knuckles against the glass. "I know I'm not exactly a seasoned explorer of outer space or anything, but that definitely isn't right."
The other three Rangers moved to see what Jason was talking about, Tommy's eyes growing wide from what he saw. Not only had the movement of the stars slowed down immensely, within a matter of seconds they had stopped completely.
"No, no it isn't," Tommy murmured in reply. "Guys, I uh, I think we're about to go down."
Sure enough, the ship started to hiccup forward momentarily and then they were moving faster than they'd been going in hyperspace. Unfortunately, their progression was now a downward plummet towards a yellow-orange sphere. Panic set in shortly after that.
By the time the spacecraft had reached the outer rim of the planet's atmosphere minutes later, the Rangers had all made peace with their fate. Had it not been for Zack, they surely would have been destroyed right along with the ship.
"Hold on," said Zack, a look of determination etched on his face. Without another word he turned and ran out of the recreation room. When he came back after less than a minute it was with a huge smile. "Let's go."
Seeing as how no one else had any better ideas, they all followed Zack out of the room and through the ship's halls until they reached a wall with five circular openings set in a row. Shifting his focus from the doors to Zack, Tommy chuckled. "Escape pods," he spoke, shaking his head. "Zack, buddy, I could kiss you right now."
"What do you guys say we save the celebration until after we get our asses off of this thing?" Jason interjected, tightly gripping the railing above the opening he stood in front of.
Tommy shrugged. "Let's do it," he said.
In unison, the four Rangers started to make their move, but Trini suddenly froze and looked to her left. "Wait!" she called out, stopping her teammates just in time. "What about the pilot? We can't just leave him here."
"Trini, we've all seen Titanic. The captain always goes down with his ship," Zack replied, itching to escape.
Jason, while definitely in agreement with his longtime friend, took a more serious approach to answering Trini's question. "We just don't have time, Tri. We have to get off of this thing now or none of us are going to make it."
Accepting it for what it was, Trini nodded quickly before throwing herself feet-first through the opening. One after another Jason, Tommy, and Zack followed her down. Shrouded in darkness they sped through a curvaceous tunnel, sliding on their backs until they saw light and fell out, each dropping into their own individual escape pod.
The pods were simple at best; one chair, one window, and no controls. Communication was non-existent as the four crafts floated through a never-ending stretch of outer space. In each pod, the same basic prayer was being said. As long as they all arrived in the same place, no one really cared where it was they landed.
Further and further they fell, entering the planet's atmosphere as the pods plunged towards what they all hoped was a safe landing. Having been the first to exit the Hydro One, Trini was also the first to see their approaching fate. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when she realized they were heading right for a long stretch of sand colored a beautiful shade of white.
Impact was hard, slamming the Rangers around inside their pods, but no one was dead or injured, everyone had landed relatively close to each other, and that was all they really cared about. The top half of the pods started to open with a loud hiss as the Rangers all moved to exit as quickly as possible.
"What is this place?" asked Jason rhetorically, looking around at the sand that seemed to go on for miles with no end in sight.
"I dunno," Zack shrugged. "I forgot to pack my copy of Frommer's Guide to Outer Space; my bad."
Chuckling, Jason rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Funny, bro, real funny," he replied, clasping Zack's shoulder. "I don't suppose the Zack-man has any ideas about what we're supposed to do next."
"Hey man, that's yours and Tommy's territory," Zack answered, holding up his hands defensively. "I don't lead. I just kick ass, do a little dance," he continued; spinning around, he dropped into the splits before popping up quickly, "tell a couple jokes, get the ladies, and look damn good doing it."
Funny as it might have been, it was also very true. While the beings called Power Rangers had existed in some capacity, on some planet for nearly seven millennia, their history on Earth only dated back six years. In that time the Rangers had only relied on three leaders, two of whom were currently standing in the middle of nowhere, with no clue what to do, and two more teammates depending on their ability to lead them through it.
Whether Jason and Tommy were up for it was irrelevant, despite the fact that they knew just as much as Trini and Zack. They were the ones who had led before, and thus they would be the ones to lead now even though neither had much of a desire to do so.
"So, uh, which way do we go?" Tommy asked Jason.
Turning his head left and right, seeing the same exact thing each way, Jason looked at Tommy and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know, man. Every time Zordon sent us somewhere unfamiliar he always gave us a map or some kind of directions. I'm a leader, not a freaking navigator."
"Oh, that's reassuring," Trini grumbled, ignoring the glare shot her way courtesy of Jason.
Nipping it in the bud before it went any further, Tommy quickly interjected. "We'll go this way," he said, indicating the direction to his right. "Hopefully this planet isn't completely uninhabited."
"Yeah, hopefully," Jason muttered, and with that they started to walk.
They moved in single file, Tommy leading the way followed by Trini and Zack, with Jason bringing up the rear. It didn't take long for the heat of this unknown planet's three suns to become unbearable, so bad that Jason, Tommy, and Zack had all removed their shirts and tied them around their heads in turban-like fashion. After just thirty minutes of walking, even Trini was debating whether or not it was worth it to join them. She chose not to for the time being, but kept the idea close by just in case she changed her mind.
Their bodies glistened in the sun, dripping perspiration as they continued on a journey that had no real destination. With no clue what they were doing or where they were going, the morale of the group started to decline rapidly. Even Zack's wisecracks, which always seemed to lighten the mood in the past, were wearing thin.
It was only when they had reached their breaking point that salvation presented itself. Zack had just told a joke, Jason was about to wring his neck, and Tommy froze completely. Trini, who'd been concentrating on the ground in an attempt to block out the noise from the boys, walked straight into Tommy, her collision with his body causing her to stumble back into Zack's chest. They both went down, Zack completing the domino effect by flailing against Jason.
Turning around, Tommy looked down at the disgruntled trio grounded in the sand and shook his head. "What are you guys doing down there?" he asked, smirking at his friends. "Now's not the time for a rest. There's a bunch of buildings on the other side of this hill so come on, let's go."
All three had been contemplating how they were going to attack Tommy for his sarcasm, but with his mention of possible civilization all had been forgiven. Jason, Zack, and Trini were back on their feet in an instant, rushing to see the buildings Tommy had spoken of. Sure enough, there they were; a series of dark brown structures aligned in a U-shape just half a mile or so away.
From there it was something of a foot race to see who could make it there first. Zack got down the hill before the others, but a winner was never declared. They were all too excited to have finally laid eyes on something other than sand and each other. There was a door nearby, and while their first instinct was to approach it, once they had gotten there no one wanted to open it.
"Screw it," said Tommy.
Reaching for the handle, he pushed the door in and was met with loud, cluttered chatter and the sound of the most terrible music he'd ever heard. When he and the other Rangers entered what appeared to be a bar of some sort, everything came to an immediate halt as the only four humans in the place became the center of attention. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tommy motioned for his friends to follow him as he approached the scaly blue creature with big yellow eyes standing behind the bar.
"Get out," the creature snarled, pointing towards the door.
Put off by the bartender, Tommy furrowed his brow. "Look, we don't want any trouble. Our ship broke down and we just need—"
"I said get out. Humans aren't welcome here," the creature continued, completely ignoring Tommy.
Tommy started to argue, but before he could get a word out someone had grabbed him by the back of his shirt, throwing him into the trio of humans standing near the door. The force was enough to knock them through the door, landing in the sand with a crash. Lying on top of his friends, Tommy groaned and rolled onto his back, joining them in staring up at the sky.
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching, however, was enough to get them moving. Slowly, they staggered back onto their feet just in time to see half a dozen menacing looking creatures of various shapes, sizes, and colors approaching them.
Swallowing hard, Jason took a few steps back, sparing the most fleeting of glances over his shoulder. "Guys, I uh, I think this is where we're supposed to make a run for it."
"Man, I'm too tired to run," Zack muttered, nonetheless preparing to take flight.
Running would not be necessary though. In the minimal space between their would-be attackers, Tommy could barely make out something, someone perhaps, moving in the shadows of the bar towards the exit. Seconds later, his attention was captured as a cloaked figure leapt over the creatures gracefully and landed in a defensive stance staring them down.
"Leave them alone or deal with me," the figure growled lowly, his face shadowed completely by the hood of his flowing brown cloak.
"One more makes no difference," one of the creatures replied, baring its sharpened teeth.
"Fine," said the cloaked hero. Reaching inside the garment, he pulled out a red blaster and pointed it at the one who'd spoken. "Have it your way."
What the Rangers all deemed to be some type of brain matter splattered against the building moments later, the creature collapsing into the sand as tiny wisps of smoke floated into the air from the fresh hole in its forehead. But no more shots were fired, the five remaining creatures quickly converging on their companion's assassin.
The figure tried to fight back, but was easily overtaken by the sheer size and brute strength of the creatures. With not a moment of hesitation, Tommy ran towards the creatures in an attempt to aid the one who had just saved his life. He connected with a flying kick to one of their chests, but the attack did little damage. The creature was barely fazed, taking a staggered step back before batting Tommy away with a powerful swing of its arm.
"NO!" the cloaked one yelled. He moved to help Tommy, but was brought down by the other creatures before he could do anything, helpless as the large beings piled on top of him.
Bleeding from the mouth, Tommy got back on his feet with the help of Jason and Zack just in time to see a burst of pink light from beneath the pile, throwing the creatures back in every direction. When the light had finally dissipated, the cloaked figure was already gone.
"Great," muttered Tommy dejectedly. "We're stuck on a planet that doesn't like humans, our ship has likely been destroyed leaving us no way of getting off said planet, and—" he paused, rolling his eyes in disbelief, "—there are five very pissed off aliens coming right at us."
"I'm not running," Jason replied. "Like you said, we have no way to get away from here. If we're going down, it's gonna be with a fight."
The other Rangers nodded their agreement, dropping into fighting stances as the creatures charged at them. Before any damage could be done, though, there was another flash of pink light, this one marking the re-arrival of the cloaked figure, now holding a small wooden box.
Again, the creatures were thrown back, but the unknown hero paid them little mind as he turned around to face the Rangers. As he slowly opened the box, obviously wanting to show them something, the Rangers started to approach with caution. Expecting something to jump out at him, Tommy jerked back when the cloaked one lifted the lid all the way, revealing four black and silver devices attached to black straps.
Silently, the figure reached up and pulled his hood away from his face, revealing that he was not a he at all, but a she.
"Your new Morphers," Kimberly Hart answered, smiling sheepishly.
Aside from the dumbfounded expressions shared by all the other Rangers, Tommy suddenly felt numb inside. "Kim," he murmured, blinking in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"We don't have time for that right now," Kimberly replied, extending the box towards them. "I'll explain everything later, but if you want to survive long enough to save Zordon you'll take these and do as I do."
With the prospect of the creatures coming back for round three, Tommy reached out with a shaky hand and took one of the Morphers from the box. As he strapped the device to his wrist, struggling with a flurry of emotions, he looked to his left to see Jason, Zack, and Trini all doing the same thing while wearing the exact same expression.
To say they were confused would be a vast understatement, for confusion was not the half of it, especially not for Tommy who struggled more than anyone to grasp what was happening. Fortunately for him, he was given little time to dwell on it as Kimberly moved to stand in front of them. She couldn't help but smile as she looked over her shoulder at her friends, the same friends that hours earlier she had thought she would never see again.
"You guys ready for this?" asked Kimberly, all four nodding even though they truthfully weren't sure. "Alright, then Let's Rocket!"
Jason, Tommy, Zack, and Trini followed Kimberly's movements, opening their Morphers and inputting the same code into the red numerical keypads. The sensation of pure power was incredible, surging throughout their bodies like a wave of electricity as their protective armor settled into place.
Tommy felt so at home in the red spandex uniform, his eyes glimmering beneath the dark visor of his helmet. As Trini admired her yellow suit, to Tommy's left and right respectively, Jason and Zack took a moment to observe their new uniforms and colors; black and blue.
"You stole my color," said Zack, pointing at Jason's black suit.
Jason shrugged. "Yeah?" he asked sarcastically, Zack nodding despite the question's lack of seriousness. "Well, Tommy stole mine so deal with it."
"Touché," Zack murmured. "Well played, sir."
Clearing her throat loudly, Kimberly stood with her hands on her hips as the other Rangers turned around to face her. "In case you forgot, there are two Kryloks, two Quitners, and an Algorian Ripper ready to tear us limb from limb. If it's all the same to you, I for one would like to get out of this alive."
"Which one's the Algorian Ripper?" asked Zack, eyeing the approaching creatures.
"The big red one, why?" questioned Kimberly.
Shifting his gaze to the snarling Ripper, Zack swallowed hard. "'Cause I'm calling 'not it' on that one, right now," he answered, shaking his head.
Kimberly scoffed. "You're such a baby, Zack. That thing you saw me shoot earlier was a Ripper. They're the only ones in the lot that aren't a pain in the ass to kill."
To prove her point, Kimberly removed her blaster from its holster and looked away from the red creature. Staring right at Tommy, she aimed her blaster in the Ripper's direction and fired two quick, confident shots. She didn't need to look to see the result; the sound of a head exploding was all the confirmation she needed.
Somewhere in between blood-boiling mad and painstakingly hurt Tommy blinked rapidly beneath his helmet, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Kimberly had not only saved them, but was an active Ranger again as well.
They hadn't seen or spoken to each other since she and Jason had been kidnapped and sacrificed to Maligore's Pit nearly two years ago, and even then their conversation with one another had been kept brief. And while it had been almost twice as long since they had broken up, if Tommy was honest with himself he still wasn't over it. Seeing her now hurt; far more than he had ever thought it would.
"Impressive, but I can do you one better," said Tommy, almost spitefully.
Anger fueled him as he ducked under the arm of an attacking Krylok and turned sideways; kicking the beast square in the back while the other Rangers went to work on eliminating the remaining creatures.
As it had always done before, the Power instantly began feeding the Rangers everything that they needed to know. With weapons drawn they fought valiantly; Jason attacked with a long, black lance as though he'd used the weapon all his life.
"The bigger they are," he grunted, taking one of the Quitners down with a powerful sweep at the legs, "the harder they fall."
Brandishing a sword hilted red, Tommy swung the saber expertly. The blade easily pierced the Quitner's thickened skin, slicing through it like a hot knife to butter. Before the beast knew what was happening, the dismembered pieces of its' body had been scattered across the ground.
Looking down at the creature's head, Tommy raised his eyes to the now doorless bar and saw the alien who had refused to help him earlier. With a sly grin, he used his foot to flip the decapitated head high into the air. On its' return descent, he took a few steps back and executed a roundhouse kick that sent the head flying straight at the bartender, hitting the alien right in the face and knocking him down.
"He shoots, he scores!" yelled Tommy, pumping his fist.
Not too far away, Zack did battle with the other Krylok, parrying the creature's punches on the shaft of his blue axe. Deflecting a blow, he followed up the block with a side kick to the Krylok's stomach and then quickly slashed at the same area with the axe's sharpened blade.
"Just like old times," said Zack tauntingly, standing tall over the howling Krylok.
Fighting side by side as they had done so many times in the past, Kimberly and Trini attacked the final Quinter relentlessly. It took Trini a little while to get used to her new weapon, a yellow slingshot that fired bursts of matching colored energy, but once she'd mastered it the Quinter didn't stand a chance against the slinger and Kimberly's pink bow.
In unison, the two women knocked the Quinter back with simultaneous kicks to the beast's chest. As the creature staggered in the sand, Trini dropped to one knee and took aim with her slinger as Kimberly stood behind her and did the same with her bow.
"Ready?" asked Kimberly, steadying her weapon.
Trini nodded and answered confidently, "Always."
The Quinter didn't even have time to regain its composure before two shots were fired directly at it. The yellow ball of energy from Trini and Kimberly's glowing pink arrow hit their mark perfectly, the Quinter collapsing as smoke poured from its multiple fatal wounds.
"Bulls-eye," said Kimberly, giving Trini a high-five.
Jason, Tommy, and Zack were quick to join Kimberly and Trini in celebrating their first victory together, exchanging hugs and high-fives all around. Tommy even put aside his own personal conflictions to share a quick hug with Kimberly, much to the amusement of Jason who smiled brightly beneath his helmet.
The rush of victory did not last long, though, as reality once again began to set in. The newest Rangers all had questions; many, in fact, and only Kimberly had the knowledge to properly answer them.
"So, uh, where do we go from here?" asked Zack, looking to Kimberly expectantly.
"Back to my ship and as far away from this place as we can get," answered Kimberly. "Once we're in the air, I'll explain everything; or as much as I can, at least."
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