Terra Force

"Return Home"

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belong to Disney/Saban, Carri belongs to KJ with many thanks, everyone else is mine.

A/N: This is the sequel to "Ranger Tales" and takes place in 2007. This is sort of an introduction chapter, telling what Jason has been up to since graduating college. I hope everyone enjoys it. I would also like to thank KJ for helping with the title and for the name Elieara. The black metal ranger came to me from KJ's "Dark Inheritence".

As far as he knew it was late March 2007, he'd done his best to keep up with Earth's days and years over the past six years. He had, after all, been in space for the better part of six years. The only exception being the Serpentera mission, which he wasn't on Earth long even then. Jason Lee Scott stretched as his home came into view, Earth. It had been five long years since he had seen the little blue planet. He missed it, missed his friends. He had met a few while he was in space. He ran into Andros, the former red astro ranger, and his sister Karone. That made his team a team of two, Karone, the former Astronema, had elected to join him. Andros had been against it, he didn't want his sister running off again like she did before when she helped the galaxy rangers. He had understood her reasoning then though.

Karone had needed to get away. When she was Astronema she always had Ecliptor breathing down her neck, keeping an eye on her. After she had turned to the side of good Andros had filled that role. She knew he was just happy to have his only sister back, and she was thrilled to have her only brother back, but it was still annoying. So the first chance she got she jumped ship. She figured that Jason wouldn't keep a constant eye on her. She was right.

Jason sighed as he turned to look at the former Queen of Evil. They had spent two and a half years in space together, forming a brother-sister bond. He supposed it made up for not having Kim and Carri around. As the ship inched closer to Earth he began to think about why he had set out for space in the first place. One reason was that he enjoyed it, he found that out when he and the other zeo's searched for Zordon the summer after high school graduation. Another was that during his final year of college he began seeing effects of falling into the Infernal Chasm. Powers began to develop, he found himself with the ability to read aura's. At first he couldn't control it, that was why he set out for space, to find someone to teach him.

The decision to leave had been an easy one. His friends had all split up, not long before he left the first time Kim and Carri had dropped off the map, Tommy was preparing to move to Reefside to work with Anton mercer, and Rocky was opening up karate schools around California. He didn't know why Kim and Carri split. Well, with Kim he could take a guess. Tommy had wrapped himself up in his work and hadn't really been paying attention to anyone anymore, save for current ranger related activities. That was probably the reason she had split. Carri though, that one was a mystery. Last he checked she and Rocky were doing great, better than great. It bugged him that neither girl had told him anything, but he eventually got over it. But the closer, the big reason that pushed him to outerspace was Emily. He had thought that her being a substitute ranger that one time would have strengthened their relationship, but all it did was make her worry more as she knew what exactly could happen out there.

He had been on his way to her apartment during the summer following college graduation. He was madly in love with her, but after his tenure as a ranger ended they seemed to drift apart. He still loved her, and he didn't know what happened. When he reached her apartment he found another man in the bed with her. That was it, he dumped his cell phone in the trash and headed out into space the next day on one of NASADA's ships. He didn't even give her a chance to explain. No one knew about it either, at least as far as he knew they didn't. He had felt betrayed, and he had been. The woman he loved had cheated on him, but even so, he still loved her. Even today. Though the feelings weren't as intense as they used to be.

The first place he headed after leaving Earth was a planet he had been to while searching for Zordon. Tommy, Kim, Billy, and Rocky had all been there to recieve their ninjettie powers. That was where he first headed, to see if Dulcea could help. He made his way to the temple on the path he had taken with the others just a couple years before, only to be disappointed. Dulcea had told him that she was already teaching someone how to use their powers. She had seen how disappointed he was, even though he didn't outwardly show it. She instead directed him to her friend and former mentor Ninjor, the creator of the ninjetti powers.

The journey to Ninjor's hidden temple in the Desert of Despair had taken longer than he thought it would, but he had eventually found it. Once he met the "wise" and the "great" Ninjor he had to prove himself. Ninjor wouldn't train just anyone, especially when he thought that that someone was Dark Specter's heir. Jason figured it had to have been because of the trip he took in the Infernal Chasm. Figures, he saves his friend and gets labeled the heir of the most evil being he had ever heard of. After passing the trials Ninjor agreed to train him, he even recreated his original power coin for him. Jason felt the strength of Tyrannosaurus flowing through him once again.

Because of the senile Ninjor, Jason was able to finally control his powers. He could read a persons aura, tell if they were close to death, if they were good, if they were bad, or if they had been both at some point. He tested it out on Ninjor first, seeing the being as a pure white light, meaning he was good through and through. During the course of his training he had recieved a message from Andros on the communicator that Tommy had built after the defeat of Dark Specter. That was when the Serpentera mission had taken place. Ninjor had quickly teleported him down to Earth, near his storage unit. He had grabbed his bike and took off, just barely making it in time for the mission. It had been great to see Tommy, T.J, and Andros again, as well as meet the new faces. To his surprise Rocky hadn't shown, he supposed that was due to his schools though.

After the mission he returned to his training for another year and a half. He had been in space for nearly two years at that point, learning not only how his powers worked, but how to create his own power coins too. He didn't know why, it was just something to kill time he supposed. He decided to see what the galaxy had to offer, during that time he ran into a new enemy. A being named Elieara. He had been enjoying a nice time on the planet Kalem when she attacked the defenseless planet.

Even though he had a limited amount of morphs on his coin left, as Ninjor wasn't able to fully restore it, he charged off into battle. He battled her forces, eventually coming to face to face with Elieara herself. He used his ability to sense and see aura's, hers was black through and through. There wasn't a shred of good in her. He was on the losing side of the battle, as his original ranger powers weren't strong enough. He knew the battle was lost so he retreated. Luckily he had damaged her forces enough, along with Kalem's citizens help, to send her retreating as well.

He returned to his master, Ninjor, to see what could be done about it. The old coin master told him of a power that lay somewhere on the planet Cator. It was thought by many to be just a rumor, but Ninjor believed it was real. Giving Jason the coordinates he sent his pupil on his way. The task of finding the planet was easy. The task of finding the power was not. He trudged through the jungles of the planet, it was apparently uninhabited. After risking his life through a series of tests, again, he was able to find the power. It was a simple silver morpher with the symbol for metal in the center. Once he obtained it and became the black Terra Force Ranger, he set out to find Elieara.

It was along his journey that he crossed paths with Andros and Karone. Andros was doing some work for the intergalactic community and they met on the planet Rorono. Andros' sister Karone had been a bit eager to join Jason as she had heard of Elieara during her days as Astronema. At least that's what Jason thought her reason for wanting to go was. It was much later that he found out it was to get away from her brother for a little bit. He warned Karone of the danger he was going into, even though he was sure that as the former Queen of Evil and former pink Galaxy ranger she didn't care. He had been right, she waved his concerns off and stated that she still had her telekinesis and her strength. He had wanted to find her a morpher, but she declined. She said that if she felt like she needed it she would find it then, but not before. After a slight arguement Jason caved.

They hunted down and fought Elieara for the next two years, Karone having never found a morpher. During that time they had become like brother and sister, sharing everything with each other. It was also during that time that he finally confided in someone about Emily. Karone was able to relate to how he was feeling. She and Zhane hadn't been together at the time, but it still hurt seeing him date another woman. She had hoped that after she turned to the side of good that they could pick their relationship back up, but she waited too long to act. It was the first time she told anyone that. She felt at ease around Jason for some reason. He was more of an understanding brother than Andros was. Andros was a slightly over-protective brother.

Finally they caught up to Elieara on Chiga-46. It was a fairly large colony, much like KO-35. It was there that they engaged her in their final battle. The rangers of Chiga-46 leant them their assistance, as it was their planet she was attacking. The Lunar rangers and the lone Terra Force ranger, along with Karone, attacked her furiously. The battle had raged on for days, when it seemed as though she and her forces were dead Jason and Karone helped clean up her mess for a few months then decided it was time to return to Earth. That lead them up to where they were now.

Karone stirred, waking up as they began to land the ship. Jason hadn't told her they were already home, it would be great to see her brother and his wife again.

"Good morning, I think, sleepy-head." Jason said as he landed the ship in the NASADA complex. He thought it was morning, he'd been gone so long and had no idea what time it was by Earth's standards.

"How long have I been out?" Karone asked as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake herself. She had slept good, well enough that the re-entry into Earth's atmosphere hadn't woke her.

Jason looked over at her, getting out of his seat. "A few days now. The fight must have really tired you out."

Karone smiled as she too stood and made her way for the exit. "Yeah, I guess. Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"Because you fought un-morphed. You needed the rest. Otherwise I would have." He smirked at her. He would have too, it was his job as "big brother" after all.

"Yeah, yeah." Karone waved him off. "Well, I'm going to go see Andros and Ashley now. It's been so long..." She hadn't really thought about how long it had been until recently. It honestly didn't seem like two and a half years to her.

"I think I'm going to go get a motel and get some rest of my own. Later." He waved bye to his friend, heading towards the storage building and pulling his bike out of the storage garage NASADA had set up for him. He hopped on, revved the engine and sped off.

The next day Jason set out to find a place to live, he'd be damned if he was going to live out of a motel. He went over to Angel Grove Estates to see about getting a condo. The price seemed fair, and the place he looked at was very nice. He made the payment, having saved up his money in college for both his bike and a place to live. Carri's birthday gifts, large amounts of money, helped too. He knew it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to buy the first place you visited, but he liked it. It was beachfront for one, wasn't too big yet not too small, had a few spare bedrooms for guests if he ever had anyone over, and was already furnished. It was perfect. Now all he had to do was get a job and also move his stuff in. The first thing to do was get something to eat though.

After leaving the condo he just purchased he found himself sitting in a place called Bulkmeier's. At first he thought his travel's had effected his eyes, but once he entered he found out his eyes were just fine. The goofballs, Bulk and Skull, had started their own restaurant. He had to admit he was impressed. He never expected them to become this successful. The place was nearly packed, only a couple of empty seats left in the building. He decided he'd take his food and head back to the condo for a while.

A good four weeks later and he was set. Everything had been moved in, he'd gotten a job under the name Chazz Carter. He was planning on writing all his adventures in space down, all of them. He needed something to do where he wouldn't have someone breathing down his neck. That and he wasn't sure how to go about telling everyone that he was home, if he should tell them at all. The name Chazz Carter would allow him to get his first book out without drawing any of his friends attention, everyone. Plus it would keep potential paparazzi away from him. They'd be looking for Chazz Carter, someone they would assume to be very wealthy to begin with due to his name, not Jason Scott fomer karate teacher. Satisfied with himself for getting everything together in such a short amount of time he headed out to what had become his favorite spot to eat, Bulkmeieir's.

Once there he ordered his usual burger and fries and took his usual seat. As he began eating he heard a familiar voice, looking up he saw two very familiar brunette's waiting to be seated. He sighed, figuring now was as good a time to start letting people know he was back as any. He watched as the waitress gathered two menues and headed over his way. As one of them passed him he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Hey!" Carri Hillard said as she turned to smack the person that had grabbed her. Her hand connected with his face, knocking him down in his booth.

Jason lay there stunned, he should have expected that. Especially with how he had planned on getting her attention. "Ow...that...hurt..." he said as he sat back up.

Carri and Kim both looked at the man that had just grabbed Carri. Smiles flashed across their faces as they recognized him. If they were going to let people know they were back from their journey's he was a good person to start with. They were all like siblings after all. "You had that coming Jason." Carri said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I know." He said as he gestured for them to sit. The girls obliged and sat across from him. As they sat there staring at their menues Jason began to formulate some questions. Like why had they just up and vanished like that? What were they doing? How long had they been back? After they ordered their food and the waitress left he asked them flat out where they had been.

Kim leaned forward an whispered "We'll tell you later. It's not exactly public friendly." Jason nodded, understanding what she meant. They must have left on ranger-related activities. But why hadn't they said anything? To Tommy, to Rocky, to him. "Anyway, how have you been Jason?"

He thought about to answer that. Should he tell them about Elieara? What about Emily? He opted to hold out on that information for now. "I've been good. How about you?"

Kim made a face that luckily Jason hadn't seen. He was hiding something, she just knew it. "Okay Captain Vague. I've been fine, Carri too." Carri made a noise as if to say that she could speak for herself.

Jason was a bit drawn back by her name for him. Did she know what he had been up to for the past six years? How could she know? He decided to just throw the question out there, find out if they did indeed know. "What do mean Captain Vague? You think I'm hiding something?"

"Of course I do. What it is I don't know, but I guess you'll tell us when we tell you. How are things with you and Emily?" When they had left he had still been with her.

"We broke up not long after you guys vanished." He admitted.

Carri looked at him strangely. She had thought they would be married by now. Breaking up was certainly not on the list of thing she thought would happen to them. "Jason, I'm sorry."

He waved her off. "Eh. It was about six years ago, don't worry about it." He watched as the waitress brought the girls food back and set them down. They sat in silence for the rest of the meal. It was great to be back in Angel Grove, and even greater to see his girls again, but today was going to be a long day. Especially if he had to tell them everything about his journey. He took the last bite of his burger and slid out of his booth, followed by the girls. Yeah, it's gonna be a long day.