DIMENSION OF REGRET

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

This is a slight retooling of the episode "Mirror Of Regret" which I always thought had a good concept, but a poor execution. Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban, Fox Kids, and Disney. I'm bringing back Melissa from "Different Drum" because I liked her. Reference to "On Fins And Needles". Bold is sign language. And I know Melissa is a common name, but I thought that the Melissa from "Different Drum" and the beginning of "On Fins And Needles" were the same person.

In unison, Rocky and Adam finished a kata and their students clapped.

"You'll learn that at the end of the course," Adam told them. "Now let's start with some of the basic katas." They led their class into a simple routine. Meanwhile, their fellow Rangers, Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Tommy, and Aisha watched them.

"Wow. They're a really great team, huh?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah, let's just hope that Zedd doesn't decide to recreate the Slippery Shark," Tommy muttered. The original Rangers laughed.

"Tell me about it. It was so weird to see you and Jase go at each other like that," Trini recalled.

"Spell?" Aisha asked softly.

"Spell," Tommy and Jason confirmed. Just then, a tall girl with chestnut blonde hair came running in and started signing excitedly.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Melissa, slow down Jason signed. What's going on?

It came! It came! Melissa told him.

What, you mean the karate video you were telling us about? Jason asked.

Yeah! If we can use it, it'll give us a leg up on the tournament this weekend! Can we give it a shot? Melissa implored.

Sure, Tommy agreed. She clapped excitedly. Go get changed, it's almost time for our class, Tommy continued. She ran off. Kimberly, Jason, and Tommy laughed.

"What was that all about?" Aisha wondered.

"Oh, Melissa found a video that according to her has an excellent kata that will put us over the top for the tournament this weekend," Jason explained.

"Hey, watch it, small fry," they suddenly heard someone say. "Give it up shrimp," the same voice said a few seconds later. The Rangers looked at each other. "You'll never get it right. Why don't you just go back to the first grade where you belong?"

"Quit saying that!" another boy exclaimed.

"Hey, lighten up. That's not the way we handle things around here," Adam scolded.

"But one loser like him on our team and we won't stand a chance in the junior karate finals," the boy complained.

"Yeah, but with an attitude like that, we don't have a team," Rocky told him.

"That's tellin' him, Rocko," Trini murmured.

"That's it for now," Adam announced. They bowed to their students, who did the same.

"Practice up for next class," Rocky told them and then he and Adam left the mats as Jason and Tommy's class came in and lined up. Adam walked up to the boy who had been picked on.

"Don't let their teasing get you down, Shawn. I know how you feel," Adam comforted. "The same thing happened to me when I was young. It's a real drag."

"Yeah, I know," the boy sighed. "But they're probably right. I'm not very good. I'll probably just let the team down."

"Hey, don't give up so fast. I was the weakest kid in my class once," Adam told him. "But I didn't stay that way. All you need is some practice, and if you believe in yourself, your friends will too."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I really do." On the moon, Zedd had seen the whole thing.

"Well, it appears Silver Ranger has a soft spot: his memory of having been ridiculed as a child," he said, and let out a laugh. "Now, we need only to turn this to our advantage by having him relive scenes from his miserable past."

"To remind him of his weaknesses!" Goldar enthused. It was a brilliant plan. The Rangers' powers only worked as long as they had confidence in themselves. Without his self confidence, the Silver Ranger would be reduced to the state of a mere human and would be easy to crush.

"Of course, you nitwit!" Zedd roared. "And once he's lost his confidence, I shall destroy him!" He laughed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Maybe it's unusual for two different tournaments for the same sport to be held in the same week, but I think it could work since Tommy and Jason's class is older.