Recovering from a Nightmare
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Yeah so I got nostalgic the other day and was watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Decided to watch the Green with Evil episodes. And then plot bunnies attacked…..yea…oh well
Yeah, so the story on this...well, even the Rangers are human. I think that that's been proved quite a few times on the show. And humans, when they go through a traumatic experience, the memory of the event tends to stick with them. So, my theory is that Jason, the beloved first red ranger, has some slight PTSD with the time he was captured by Tommy in Green With Evil. I also noticed, when I was watching Crystal of Nightmares, the nightmare Goldar used for Jason was the time Jason was trapped, powerless, in the dark dimension with him. The same experience as mentioned above, from Green With Evil. So yeah. Takes place about two weeks after Green With Evil.
Um, trigger warnings? Mentions of PTSD, somewhat graphic violence
Jason's POV
Mist curled around him as he struggled against the Green Ranger's foot crushing his arm. The evil Ranger laughed, and brought down the Sword of Darkness, straight at his heart.
"No!" Jason shot up; thrashing in his tangled sheets and fell to the floor. He jumped into a defensive position, heart racing. He scanned his room, calming slightly as he realized he was safe, in his room. Jason flopped down on his bed, sighing. He had had this nightmare several times, even though the event had happened over two weeks ago.
Somewhere above Earth…
Rita Repulsa looked down at the earth in disdain, unable to sleep that night. She noticed Jason's plight and grinned wickedly.
"So, Jason is having nightmares about the time he spent in my care." Rita laughed, an idea forming in her head.
The next day
Jason sighed as he walked into school. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, the nightmare plaguing him. He heard a laugh as he put his bag in his locker and froze. Tommy and Kimberly came around the corner. Jason swallowed and looked away.
/It's alright/ He thought to himself. /Tommy's not under a spell, everything is fine./
It was going to be a long day.
Later
They were at the Youth Center when their communicators sounded. Walking into the hallway, and making sure no one else was around, Jason answered the call.
"We read you Zordon."
"Rangers, teleport to the command center immediately."
"You got it."
Six beams of light shot into the sky.
The group landed at the command center.
"What's up Zordon?" Zach asked.
"Observe the viewing globe."
The six rangers turned towards the globe, which showed the park. Goldar and Scorpina appeared, attacking nearby locals.
"They're attacking civilians!" Tommy exclaimed.
"But no monster?" Zach frowned at the screen. "It must be some sort of trap."
"Doesn't change anything." Jason said. "We're still going there." He grabbed his morpher.
"It's morphin time!"
"Dragonzord!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurs!"
"Hahaha! Greetings Power Rangers!" Goldar laughed.
"You're going down, Goldar!"
"Am I?"
A squad of putties appeared.
"Rangers, go!"
While the rest of the rangers attacked Scorpina and the putties, Jason went straight for Goldar. He slashed high with his sword, but Goldar blocked it.
"Pathetic Red Ranger! I thought you could do better!"
"I'll show you better!"
Their battle escalated, each swinging their swords with mighty strength.
Suddenly, Goldar laughed again.
"Your time is up, Red Ranger!"
Goldar pulled a weird looking type of gun, he shot it at Jason, who couldn't dodge in time. The red beam from the gun encompassed Jason, drowning him in magic. Then, it suddenly stopped. Goldar laughed, and he, Scorpina, and the putties disappeared.
"That was weird." Zack said, looking around the empty park.
"Jason!" Tommy, followed by the others, raced to their leader's side.
"I'm ok." Jason said as Tommy helped him up.
"Let's get back to the command center, to be sure." Trini said.
"Right. Let's go."
Six beams of light left the park.
-breakline-
Jason groaned, head in his hands. He opened his eyes, only to see mist curling around him. His breath hitched as he scrambled up, standing.
"No. Not again."
He was in the dark dimension.
/No. No no no no no./ He thought frantically. A fruitless search revealed he didn't have his communicator or morpher. He looked around.
The place was the same as he remembered it, with no exit.
Suddenly, there was a noise behind him. Jason whipped around, praying it wasn't Goldar.
It was a group of putties.
At the command center...
Jason suddenly groaned and collapsed to the ground.
"Jason!" The rest of the rangers rushed to their leader. Jason's eyes shot open, and he scrambled up.
"No. Not again." He said, confusing the others.
"Jason?" Kimberly asked. Jason whipped around, and his eyes widened.
"Putties." He breathed.
"Putties?"
"Jason, you ok man?" Tommy asked, concerned.
Jason backed up, arms coming up defensively.
"I don't care how many of you there are, I'll take you all."
"Woah, man, cool off." Zack said. "It's just us."
Jason's eyes were wild, darting from one ranger to the next.
"I believe the device Goldar hit Jason with is negatively affecting his optic nerves."
"What?"
"He says he thinks Jason is seeing things."
"Yeah, us as Putties!"
Tommy slowly moved towards Jason.
"Jason, it's ok, it's us."
"Hyah!" Jason swung at Tommy. Tommy ducked, backing off, defending himself from Jason's wild attacks. Jason kept swinging, almost frantically. Tommy shoved Jason away.
Jason stumbled back and tripped, landing on his back. He half rose, still on the ground, and scrambled backwards.
"Jason, it's us!" Kimberly tried. They could tell it didn't work.
"Rangers, it appears Rita has used a spell on Jason to make him think he is imprisoned in her dark dimension."
"What can we do Zordon?" Trini asked.
"There may be a way to end the spell. Alpha, scan Jason and check the databases."
"I'll help you, Alpha." Billy said, concern in his eyes as he moved away from his bespelled friend and leader. The other rangers couldn't do anything but watch Jason. Jason, their leader, their friend, who was convinced he had been captured, and was surrounded by enemies.
It was quiet for a few minutes, save for Jason's ragged breathing.
"Aye-yai-yai! Not good!"
"What is it Alpha?"
"The results of the scan! Not good, not good!"
"What do they say?"
"They say- they say oh aye-yai-yai!"
"Alpha, what is it?"
Zordon answered for his distressed assistant.
"Unfortunately the results of the scan show that the spell will slowly drive Jason insane before killing him."
Silence.
"What?" They all burst out at once.
"That can't-"
"Surely-"
"But-"
"No way-"
"Rangers!"
The five rangers fell silent at Zordon's call.
"I know you are all upset, but right now we must focus on helping Jason."
"Guys, I think I found something!" Billy called. The other rangers went over to him.
"Really?"
"Yes. Here, it lists a spell that can negate the adverse effects of the spell affecting Jason."
"That means...?"
"We can end the spell." Trini translated.
The other rangers perked up at that.
"Really?"
"Aw man, that's great! What do we do?"
"We simply need to acquire the listed components, combine them, and administer the solution to Jason."
"What are the ingredients?"
"Most of them seem to be normal stuff you could find in a lab. However, the key ingredient is something called a... trenzortium flower?"
"A trenzortium flower?" Alpha asked. "Those are rare!"
"Indeed, but fortunately, there is a pocket division parallel to earth where there is a trenzortium bush growing." Zordon said.
"We'll need to hurry though." Trini said worriedly.
"I can retrieve the trenzortium!" Alpha proclaimed.
"It is too dangerous for you to go alone, Alpha. Zack, Kimberly, you will go with Alpha to retrieve the trenzortium. Trini, you will assist Billy with everything else he needs for the cure. Tommy, you must watch Jason. Keep him calm as best as you can. If he does not panic, the spell will affect him at a slower rate."
"You got it, Zordon."
"Good luck, rangers, and may the power protect you."
Zack and Kimberly morphed and went with Alpha. Trini and Billy started on the cure.
Tommy went and sat, watching Jason. Jason was hunched against the wall, curled in on himself.
Time passed slowly. Tommy occasionally shifted around, still watching his friend.
Jason sat, hunched against one of the walls of his prison. The putties had gone a while ago. He wondered if his friends knew where he was. Surely they were trying to find him?
Jason shook away his doubts. His friends would come and rescue him. He just had to be patient. He shivered. It was cold in here, especially with all the mist.
An echo of a laugh sounded through the room. Jason tensed. Goldar appeared, but he was...transparent, ghostly. As Jason watched, the phantom like figure laughed, then disappeared.
Jason shivered. /Gotta keep it together./ He thought.
Tommy watched as Jason tensed, his breath speeding up. He rose and took a hesitant step forward, indecisive. His mind was made up when Jason shivered, looking extremely haunted.
"Jason?" He called softly. "Jason, its Tommy."
-Jason- he heard. Jason looked up, wide-eyed.
"Who's there?"
Silence answered him.
The command center was mostly quiet. Billy and Trini were working on the cure, and Tommy had gone back to sitting near Jason, who kept shivering. The shivering concerned Tommy. It wasn't cold in the command center, not even close. Yet Jason kept shivering, more and more often.
Jason didn't know how much longer he could take this. He had been here who knows how long, with freaky ghostly visions haunting him in his prison. Sometimes it was Goldar, sometimes putties, once it was Rita herself. The worst vision though, was the one of Tommy, once again under Rita's spell,attacking him. The transparent Tommy had faded before getting close to him though, and for that he was grateful.
Suddenly, Goldar and Tommy appeared. This time they weren't transparent. A group of putties appeared as well, and held him down.
"Let me go you clay brains!" Jason struggled against their grip, but there were too many.
Tommy shot to his feet when Jason started spasming.
"Let me go you clay brains!" Jason shouted.
"Jason!"
Tommy crossed over to his friend and shook his shoulders.
Jason's eyes were glazed over.
"Jason, snap out of it!"
Goldar and Tommy laughed at him.
"Your time has come, Red Ranger!" Goldar crowed.
"And once you have been destroyed, the other rangers will fall as well." Tommy laughed.
"No!"
Both Goldar and Tommy took out their swords and raised them.
Jason's breath caught in his throat.
/No./ He thought bleakly.
He couldn't get loose.
The two swords flashed as they plunged straight down.
Into his chest.
Tommy jumped when Jason started screaming.
He had never heard Jason scream, not even in battle. Whenever he was wounded, the most noise from Jason was a grunt. Now Jason was letting out terrified, pain-filled, blood-curdling screams.
"Jason! JASON!"
Jason was thrashing against Tommy, still screaming at the top of his lungs. Tommy tried holding him still, but that made it worse.
Just as suddenly, Jason stopped screaming.
He slumped down against the wall, unconscious.
"Zordon, what was that?!"
Billy suddenly rushed over, with a syringe.
"That, Tommy, was an effect of the spell." Zordon said.
"I saw something about it in the database." Billy said, jabbing Jason with the syringe. "This is a mixture to help him fight the spell. It won't last long though."
Billy went back over to where Trini was, continuing with the cure.
Tommy swallowed, mouth dry. He belatedly realized he was still on his knees, next to Jason.
Tommy's stomach lurched, and he quickly got to his feet and raced towards the nearest bathroom, down the hall from the main room. He reached the toilet and emptied his stomach's content into it.
Once he was done, he washed his mouth out at the sink.
Slowly, he walked back to the main room. Trini spotted him, concern in her eyes. He simply shook his head.
He went back over to Jason and sat down once more.
/Please, Kim, Zack, Alpha,/ he thought. /Please hurry./
/I don't know how much more Jason can take./