Seeing Red

Chapter 3

Notes: Please be kind about the Megazord fight. I've never written anything like it before I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I hope it make sense and you understand why it's not very long. LOL!

Disclaimers in Part 1

The Rangers were holding their own pretty well as the fought the Cheetah. Jason was happy to know that his powers made him feel a little better although he knew he'd be sore as soon as they were finished with the fight. "Okay, let's bring them together guys!" Jason exclaimed. He was more than ready to get this fight over with.

"POWER AXE!"

"POWER BOW!"

"POWER DAGGERS!"

"POWER LANCE!"

"POWER SWORD!"

Jason landed and waited for the others to stand behind him. "POWER RANGERS! FIRE!"

Unfortunately the Cheetah was too fast and jumped over the power beam. It landed in front of the Power Rangers and slashed at them with its claws. They all fell to the ground as Rita made her monster grow. Jason got to his feet ignoring the pain he felt in his side. He wondered if the poison in his system was causing his power drain. He couldn't think about that right now. They had a monster to stop.

"We need Dinosaur Power now!"

Soon enough the Power Rangers were seated in the Megazord. It was all Jason could do to keep himself from falling asleep at the controls. Shaking the weariness away he kept calling out attacks. At one moment he swore he must have drifted off because he opened his eyes to see the Megazord was on its side.

"Jase, what the hell was that?" Zack asked. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, let's finish this thing! Power Sword!"

The Cheetah sneered at them. "You may kill me now, Power Rangers, but remember, this could be the last battle with your precious Red Ranger."

That comment pissed Jason and his friends off. They swung the sword with a "Hi yah!" and the monster was no more. Jason took a breath and glanced at his friends. "Great job guys!"

Zordon immediately teleported them back to the Command Center. The dizziness Jason felt was compounded by the action and his friends had to grab him to keep him steady. Billy carefully took off his helmet and they all gasped. "What?" Jason asked. He knew he probably looked horrible, as bad as he felt he was sure.

Kimberly held his hand tightly. "Jason, we are going to find a way to help you! I promise!"

"That bad huh?"

Alpha looked up from the simulation he was running. "It's to be expected, Jason. We are very close to an antidote I believe. You just have to hold on."

"Alpha, something isn't right."

"The simulation?" The android asked. "Yes, it is too unstable."

"That's not what I mean," Zordon replied. "Jason, you need to try and stay morphed, it will help you."

He looked up at the Eltaran then his friends. "Honestly? I don't think I can for much longer. I feel like the power's draining me or something."

"That's not surprising actually," Billy said as he ran a few calculations. "The poison is not allowing your power coin to do its job properly."

"Did you know that could happen, Zordon? Is that why it killed your friend so fast?" Zack wanted to know.

Zordon nodded. "It is true that Mellon was poisoned and continued fighting by our side, yes. That is how I knew the power coin was being drained."

Zack was not very happy about it. "Why didn't you warn Jason about that before he morphed into action?"

"Zack, it's okay."

"It's not okay, Jase! This is extra power you needed to stay alive longer!"

Jason placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And even with that information, I would have morphed," he told him, then looked up at Zordon. "I don't blame you for not telling me and I understand how hard it is to watch a friend lose a battle to illness."

"Thank you, Jason, but I still apologize for not informing you sooner."

Zack moved off to the side, still obviously upset with this turn of events while Trini said, "Zordon, what about this doctor's appointment Jason has tomorrow? His mom isn't exactly going to just let it go and if someone examines him they're definitely going to know something is wrong."

"For now we will have to let her take him," Zordon said. "There is nothing we can do short of hiding Jason here."

Billy took a deep breath. "I know you said we shouldn't reveal ourselves but what if it comes to Jason having to do so?"

"I am hoping we will have an answer soon enough that it won't have to come to that."

Jason frowned. He knew what this meant and he knew that he was trying to keep himself from ever thinking of it. If something happened and they were to die as Power Rangers their parents would never know why or what went wrong. He wondered if they would have to tell him he was killed as a civilian in one of Rita's attacks.

That just gave him an idea. "I know a way we can keep my mom from taking me to the doctor."

"What?" Zack asked.

"We tell her I was poisoned by Rita."

Kimberly put a hand on his forehead. "Jason, do you have a fever or something? We can't tell your mom that!"

He laughed. "Kim, we can still tell her that. We just don't have to tell her it happened because I'm a Power Ranger. We can tell her that I was attacked because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We can have Tommy come over with three of the Rangers and explain that you have to take me to the Command Center to cure me, while someone else can be at my house to keep up appearances."

"I think that's an excellent idea, Jason. Leave as soon as you are ready, Rangers," Zordon told them.

A few minutes later Jason and Kimberly were standing outside of his house. She was having a hard time keeping him on his feet. "Jase," she said worriedly.

He was about to reply when the front door opened and Jason's mom was standing there. "Oh my God, Jason! John!"

Jason's dad appeared and he helped Kimberly get him inside and on the couch. "Where have you been?" he asked. They could tell his emotions were bordering on anger and concern.

"Sorry, dad. I thought I was feeling better so I went to meet Kim."

"I knew something was wrong the minute I found him," she said with a sigh. "You have a stubborn son, Mr. Scott."

Jason glared at her as his mom returned from the kitchen with a glass of water. As he drank she placed a hand on his forehead. "You're warmer than before, honey. You really shouldn't run around when you're feeling so badly. What if you collapsed and no one could find you?"

Jason nodded. "It won't happen again," he told her. He felt a pang as he realized that was probably truer at this moment than it ever was.

He felt Kimberly stiffen beside him and knew she realized that as well. "I'm going to make you some soup," his mom said.

"And I'd better check on the twins," John added. "They are way too quiet."

Once they were gone Jason glanced over at Kimberly. She was looking at her hands in her lap and he could see a tear falling. "Hey," he said, wiping the tear away. "It's gonna be okay."

She chuckled. "You are amazing, Jason Scott! How many times do we have to tell you that you don't have to be strong for us all the time? We can be strong for you too."

"When I accepted the job as leader of the Power Rangers I knew it was going to be my responsibility to keep you all safe. To make sure that we would get through a fight one piece. Its part of who I am I guess."

Kimberly nodded. "It is. That's what makes you so important to us. That's why we want to be strong for you, Jason. And I... I love you."

Jason stared at her for a few minutes, not sure he heard her right. How he wanted to respond in kind but he didn't know if he could, not with his death looming over him. He didn't want her to know what they might be missing out on. And there was the fact that she was sort of dating his best friend.

Before he could reply there was a knock at the door. Kimberly looked miserable at the fact that Jason hadn't responded. She got up to open the door and put on a show for Jason's parents. "Tommy, oh my God, are those the Power Rangers?"

"Yeah, Kim," he replied. "They have something important to talk to Jason about."

John and Lisa came into the living room stunned to see the superheroes standing there. "What's going on?" John asked.

"Mr. Scott," the Blue Ranger said. "We have reason to believe that Rita Repulsa has poisoned your son."

Lisa's eyes widened. "What? How could that have happened? Jason, were you attacked?"

Jason winced as he got to his feet. He held his ground although his legs felt ready to give out. "Well, yeah, but I didn't think anything of it."

"Unfortunately the Putties that attacked you were dipped in some sort of chemical. When you attempted to fight them off the chemical seeped through your skin," the Yellow Ranger explained.

Jason exchanged a glance with Tommy and Kimberly. That was a pretty impressive lie, although either way his dad seemed pretty pissed. "How did my son end up fighting those things? Isn't that your job! He's just a kid!"

"Dad, it's not their fault. I shouldn't have tried to fight them, but I couldn't let them hurt anyone."

Lisa went over to her son knowing that he was on the verge of collapse. "Take it easy, Jason. And John, quit your shouting." She looked over at the Power Rangers. "Can you help my son?"

The Black Ranger nodded. "We're going to do everything in our power to help him. We just need to bring him to our Command Center where we can keep an eye on his condition."

Lisa looked over at John then at Jason. "Can we ... will we be able to visit him?"

Billy nodded. "I'm certain that can be arranged, Mrs. Scott."

"Mom."

"You need to go with them, Jason, so they can help you. I'll come and visit as soon as I can. I love you, honey."

Jason gave her a hug. "I love you too, mom."

"Stay strong, Jason," his dad said.

He could almost feel Kimberly's eyes on him especially after the conversation they just had. "I will, dad."

"Ready?" The Black Ranger said, standing in front of the other two who were holding Jason. They were blocking the fact that he was holding his own morpher to transport. "Let's go!"

In a flash of color they were gone. Kimberly and Tommy remained, of course, to keep up appearances. "I'm sure he's going to be fine," Tommy told the Scotts.

"You're right, Tommy," Lisa replied.