Chapter 3
Yellow Perception
Trini heard a 'Swoosh'.
How did she even end up in detention? Oh right, because the world is a living nightmare. At least her friends were there with her.
'Swoosh'
Note passing with them had become endlessly entertaining. Not just because they were able to talk to each other, but because it should have been obvious. Every time one of them would pass a note, Trini could hear a definite 'Swoosh'.
'Swoosh' Kim passed a note to Zack. 'Swoosh' Zack passed one to Billy 'Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh' Billy, Kim, and Trini passed one each to Jason. He caught all three with one hand without looking. Was everyone else in the room deaf?
The detention teacher was taking roll. Trini finished coloring in her section of the lightning bolt that Billy had designed. They should totally start a band. She sent it to Billy with a 'Swoosh'.
"Oh, we have a new detention student, Tommy Oliver. Tommy Oliver?" The detention teacher was looking at an empty seat like a person would magically appear.
He started looking around the room. "Tommy Oliver?" Trini had heard that name before. A green jacket was draped over the empty chair. The embroidered dragon was a bit ostentatious for Trini's personal style, but otherwise cool. "Tommy Oliver?"
A loud reverberating 'Boom' filled the room.
"Cranston," The teacher said, exasperated.
"That might've been my fault. That might've been my fault. I'm so sorry," Billy pleaded.
"Oh really, let's go see the damage." He grabbed Billy's arm and led him out the door.
Three seconds passed and the room filled with laughter.
Once everyone had calmed down, they started mingling. They all had an unspoken agreement whenever the teacher wasn't in the room. The other three rangers congregated around Trini, as was tradition. It was so she couldn't run away again, as if she would. Her partner in crime sat on her desk.
"Did Billy build another bomb?" Zack asked,
"He would have told us several times if he did," Kim said.
The din of conversation was cut by the sound of boots coming down the stairs. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at who it was.
The boots were black and the girl was gorgeous. She was definitely an athlete. She had well-defined muscle in her arms and legs, revealed by the skirt and halter top she was wearing. As she got closer, Trini noticed she had dark, sultry eyes and a smirk on her face that oozed confidence.
Trini had that feeling again. The one her parents hated. It was an attraction she couldn't deny. She suddenly couldn't think about anything else.
"See something you like?" Zack asked.
Trini realized she had been gawking. She shoved him off of her desk. "Make room." He crashed to the ground smiling.
Kim looked at the new girl with Trini. "She is gorgeous, isn't she?"
Trini looked at Kim. Kim smiled. Her eyes were glowing and filled with excitement.
The new girl passed directly in front of the group. "Hey, you're Jason, right?" Her voice was pure sex. Kim's demeanor instantly changed. The entire room suddenly turned ice cold.
"Yeah..." Jason looked confused. Even Zack was shocked into silence.
"Cool." She stepped closer to him. "I'm Tommy." She put her hand on Jason's arm and squeezed. "You've got some muscle. We should work out together sometime." She brought her lips to his ear. "We could get nice and sweaty." She whispered barely loud enough for the others to hear.
"Uh..." Jason didn't know how to respond. Kim looked like she was going to kill both of them.
Jason was interrupted by the teacher stomping back into detention, Billy was not with him. "Ah, Ms. Oliver. So good of you to join us." He sat at his desk.
Everyone returned to their seats. Tommy winked at Jason and sat in the chair with the green jacket draped over it.
"What happened to Billy?" Zack asked.
"I sent him to the principal's office. He blew up another locker. It wasn't his."
Kim was too busy staring daggers at Tommy to see what was going on. Tommy only had eyes for Jason, biting the tip of a pen when she stole glances at him.
"Billy would only blow up his own locker." Zack reasoned. "Do you know it was him for sure? There's been a lot of weird stuff going on lately, superheroes and rock monsters-" Trini had to put her hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter.
"He's done it before Mr..." The teacher looked through his list. "Who are you?"
Zack tilted his head. "Jason Scott. I'm on the list, right?"
"Very funny. Look, everyone else is accounted for. If you don't have detention, get out."
"Ok, I'll go." Zack started to leave. "See you later Zack," Zack said, looking right at Jason. Trini couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Once Zack was gone, it got boring again. Trini started doing her homework. Jason and Kim threw notes back and forth the entire time. Probably discussing Tommy.
She was sure they were nearing the end of detention when she heard a 'Swoosh' aimed in her direction. Trini caught the note and opened it. It read "I need to talk to you. Meet me in the restroom." There was a heart at the bottom with Kim's signature in it. That was a little on the nose given her last name.
Trini grabbed her backpack and stood up. "I need to use the bathroom."
"Oh really. Why do you need your backpack?" The teacher asked, clasping his hands in the most patronizing way possible.
"Should I explain menstruation to you?" Trini asked.
He squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could and waved her to go. Trini walked to the bathroom. That one worked every time.
Trini waited for Kim for a few minutes. "Hey Trini," Kim said.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Mr. Caplan is such a push-over." Was that the detention teacher's name? Mr. Caplan? Trini was way off. "That bitch is lucky he's there."
Trini was devestated the hot chick in detention would never be in to her. That was always the way it went. Why were all the cute ones straight?
"I'm already over it," Kim said. "What do you need to talk about?"
"I thought you needed to talk to me about something. You sent me the note."
"No, I didn't send a note. I got one from you." Kim produced a sheet of paper.
Trini pulled her note from Kim out of her pocket. "I didn't send a note. The last note I sent was Billy's Power Ranger logo."
"Let me see." Kim took the note and studied it. "That's not my handwriting, I don't even have a pink pen. And I don't sign my name in a heart. What am I, in fourth grade?"
They both stood in silence for a moment. "You don't think it was Tommy?" Kim asked.
"Why would she send us both to the bathroom?"
"To get to Jason alone. I am going to crush her." Kim clenched her fist. They left the bathroom and made their way back to detention. No one was there. Trini looked at the time. It was 3:03, detention had already ended. They couldn't be far.
They walked toward the parking lot and turned a corner in the hall. Jason and Tommy were talking on the other end, near the door.
Jason had his back turned to Kim and Trini. Tommy leaned on the row of lockers very close to him. Trini couldn't tell what they were saying, but Tommy was giving some serious flirty signals. She was all smiles and kept batting her eyes. The thing was, Jason's stance was off, he seemed tense.
Kim fumed, tapping her foot, arms crossed. Clearly, she wanted to see what Jason would do. Trini knew Kim trusted Jason. She was not a jealous girlfriend, it wasn't like he couldn't be friends with other girls, but Tommy was crossing a line. Trini was surprised she hadn't stomped over to there to confront them.
Tommy subtly peaked over Jason's shoulder. Kim made eye contact with her. Tommy laughed and touched Jason's arm. She led him right out the door.
Kim ran after them. Trini followed. She silently applauded Kim's restraint at not using her speed. When they got out the door there was no trace of Jason or Tommy.
"That son of a bitch!" Kim raged, tears in her eyes, fists clenched.
"There's no way he's cheating on you Kim."
"Where did they even go!?" Trini hated seeing Kim like this.
On the way to training, Trini texted Jason. [What the fuck boss?] She waited for Jason's reply, no response came. He didn't even show up when the rest of them met at the quarry.
The four stood above the crevice that would bring them to the ship.
"Where's Jason?" Zack asked.
"He is always here for training, even when we're not." Billy stated. "Something must have happened to him,"
"Ha! Yeah, Jason must have been kidnapped," Zack said sarcastically.
It couldn't happen. Trini felt sorry for anyone who tried to take Jason hostage. He would tear them apart. It was still weird though. He almost never took this long to reply. More than that, he never missed training. Not even to have alone time with Kim.
"Ugh, he actually has been kidnapped," Trini said.
Kim's eyes got really wide as she put the evidence together herself and realized the implications. She had been so consumed by the idea that he was cheating on her to entertain the possibility. They had all been naive, it never crossed their mind that Jason could be taken out like that.
Zack laughed. "That's hilarious!" Trini scowled at him.
"We can use the morphing grid to track him," Billy said. Without another word he jumped.
The rest followed and they swam to the entrance of the ship. The door was already open. It was cold and dark inside, so everything looked the same as it usually did. But there was just something strange about it. Billy charged through like he didn't notice a thing and Zack was right behind him. Only Kim seemed to share Trini's apprehension. She kept looking at Trini for reassurance, Trini couldn't give it.
Billy stopped in the doorway to the control room like he had run into a brick wall or something. "Uh... uh... Kim?" He flailed his hand toward them. "This is... really bad."
The control room had been torn apart. Broken parts and cables had been ripped out of the walls. It was hard to walk and not step on something that looked important. The wall that projected Zordon's face was motionless and silent. It was like a nightmare.
"Alpha!" Alpha laid in a broken heap in the corner. Billy ran and took a quick look at it. "I need to fix him. I'll go get my tools." He ran out of the control room before anyone could stop him.
"Guys..." Zack could barely hold eye contact with Kim. He pointed to Jason's position. Jason's power coin sat right where he should be standing. It wasn't glowing.
"Oh my god." Kim covered her mouth. She went up to it and touched it.
Billy returned with a small toolbox and went to work on Alpha.
"So.. is the grid dark? I'm still connected." Zack revealed his power coin. It was still glowing black... somehow. Trini looked at her own coin, the center emitted yellow light.
"The grid is still up, that's just a hologram," Billy answered. "It's like... a graphical representation of-"
"Shit!" Kim shouted. "How do we get Jason back?"
"You don't." Everyone looked toward the source of the response. A woman clad in green armor stood at the entrance of the control room, the green ranger. All four morphed instantly.
"Rita," Kim said.
"Not exactly." The green ranger pulled back her visor and cackled. Tommy Oliver shook her hair out. "Don't worry, Jason's gonna outlive all of you." Trini had already had enough of this bitch.
"We need to attack her together," Kim suggested as she and Zack moved on Tommy. The four rangers raised their fists, ready to attack as one.
Tommy actually took a step back into the doorway. Trini smirked, they were already getting to her. She might even run.
Zack and Billy moved to engage Tommy at the same time. Zack made contact first. Tommy blocked a series of jabs and low kicks. Billy couldn't make any moves between Zack and the doorway. Tommy caught one of Zack's punches and kicked him three times. The final time she let go of his fist and he ended up flying back into the center of the control room. Billy was a sitting duck and took an uppercut to the jaw. Tommy laughed, taunting them.
"Bitch is using the doorway as cover. We need to push her out into the open." Trini looked at Kim. A silent thought passed between them, they both understood the plan.
Trini charged Tommy staying low enough to give Kim room to maneuver. Trini slid, feet first. She made contact with Tommy's front leg. As expected Kim was already above her, soaring through the air with a jump kick. Tommy was already off-balance at dodging Trini. Kim's kick staggered her back through the doorway and into the atrium of the ship.
Kim landed right in front of Trini, facing her, with her hand out, Trini launched herself forward and grabbed it. Kim back flipped and braced herself against the floor with one hand. Both girls' feet landed in the perfect position and they launched off of each other. Trini sprung toward Tommy at a ridiculous speed and slammed her in the gut.
Kim was already up, literally, she was near the ceiling. The girl could jump and made it look good, just one of her many talents.
Trini circled around Tommy while Kim landed on the other side. They had her in the center of the atrium. She'd have to take on both of them at once, Trini allowed herself to smile.
Tommy looked at Kim, then to Trini, then back to Kim. Trini took a step forward, Kim also took a step forward. They were closing in. Tommy dropped into a fighting stance.
The next few moments were a blur as two girls fought a third. Tommy was fast, she avoided the blows she could and blocked the ones she couldn't. She had undoubtedly been trained in martial arts, and much more extensively than Trini or Kim.
Kim flipped into the air and brought her leg down onto Tommy with enough force to break steel. Tommy was forced to avoid it and moved right into Trini's kick. Kim followed up with a series of punches. Tommy careened toward the doorway to the pit.
"Oh, you two are very cute together. But that is as far as you go," Tommy taunted. A glowing dagger appeared in her hand.
"Oh yeah!" Zack had appeared out of nowhere and pointed his plasma rifle, at Tommy. "I got somethin' for ya." Zack fired a shot at Tommy.
Tommy dove out into the pit before the doorway exploded.
The four of them ran through the door to the pit and surrounded her. This was it, Tommy was outnumbered four to one and in the open. She had no chance of escape. Yet, she started laughing. Even when she was about to lose she was mocking them.
"Take her," Kim seethed. They attacked simultaneously.
At the last moment, Trini noticed a ball of white energy in Tommy's hand. Tommy spiked the energy on the ground before any of them made contact. Lightning exploded out of the ground below Tommy and struck all four rangers, throwing them back.
Trini's felt a wave of power flow into her armor, then it crumbled away. She was left in her street clothes, still wet from her swim. Her armor had completely disappeared.
Her friends were demorphed and tossed aside. Trini, being the slowest and the farthest back, wasn't hit as hard. Tommy, still in full armor, came back up to a standing position.
Billy got Tommy's attention. He stood up, unsure of what to do.
Trini had to act fast and grabbed Tommy from behind in a full nelson. She tried to bring her onto the ground, but Tommy wouldn't move. Her armor felt like it was bolted to the floor. Trini didn't let go, Billy grabbed onto her to help.
Tommy leaned back on Trini and kicked Billy in the chest. She landed and took a wide stance, forcing Trini's arms down and breaking her hold.
Tommy twisted, got Trini into an arm lock, and started pulling her around like a rag doll. She slammed Trini's side into a rock, putting her between Billy and herself. Her gloved fist beat into Trini's side.
Trini growled, anger dulled the pain. She tried to get some space by kneeing Tommy in the gut. Tommy sneered at her. The hit didn't do anything.
Tommy plunged her dagger into Trini's leg, twisted the dagger, and jerked it back out. Trini shook with pain and seethed through her teeth. Tommy slammed Trini in the left shoulder, dropping her to the ground. "Don't go anywhere." She charged Billy.
Zack was back up and had grabbed his gun but couldn't fire a shot without catching Billy in the explosion. He mumbled something about needing a weaker setting.
Billy jabbed at Tommy, trying to use his superior reach to keep her at a distance. Tommy didn't block. His fists connected on her head, shoulder, and chest, but didn't do any damage.
Tommy cocked her head. "Nice try, poindexter." Tommy countered by hammering her shoulder into his gut, sandwiching him between her and the wall. Billy coughed in pain and spit up blood.
Tommy seized the opportunity to take his head in her hand and bash it into the stone. Billy slumped to the ground. Tommy stood over him with her dagger in hand, ready to strike.
"Billy!" Zack charged at Tommy swinging his axe wildly. Tommy blocked a few swings with her dagger, but Zack was quick. He kept moving her back, away from Billy.
Trini ripped a strip from her shirt and tied a tourniquet on her leg. At least Tommy had missed the Femoral Artery. The pool of blood forming in the sand under her would be much bigger if it were cut.
She tried to walk, but her leg wouldn't work so she started crawling toward Billy. The searing pain in her leg and ribs wouldn't let her get very far.
Zack was still swinging wildly at Tommy when his axe stopped dead in it's tracks on a rock. "I'll take that." Tommy managed to grab the head of the axe with her free hand.
Zack got his foot up and braced it on Tommy's leg to try to pry the weapon out of her grip. He made progress against her for a few seconds, until her fingers found the trigger.
"What does this do?"
With a bright flash of light, Zack was launched across the pit. Smoke billowed out of his chest, and he hit the wall. Trini couldn't see where he landed, he fell behind a rock.
Kim flipped up in the air and landed a good hit to Tommy's head. Tommy was launched several feet back.
Kim landed on a supine her with her knee, cracking the ground. Tommy dropped her dagger and grabbed Kim before she could escape.
Tommy quickly gained control and pinned Kim to the ground. She punched and kicked over and over with a sadistic smile on her face. In the chest twice. In the gut once. In the head three times. Kim tried to block, but couldn't defend herself against the raw force of Tommy's hits. It seemed like it went on forever.
Trini pulled herself forward, wincing at the pain. She had to help Kim.
Tommy picked up her dagger and crushed Kim's throat with her knee. Kim struggled uselessly to push Tommy's leg off of her. Tommy held her dagger right in front of her beaten face. She brought it down, but was stopped by a flash of red light.
Jason kicked Tommy off of Kim. Her dagger flew out of her hand. About fucking time!
He pulled back the helmet on his armor and made sure Kim was alright, but didn't break eye contact with Tommy. "Thought you'd like to have a fair fight this time," he said.
Tommy got up. "Yeah. Sure. I'd be happy to kick your ass, again." She brought her fists up.
Jason got into a kickboxing stance. Trini knew he had been practicing, she hoped he was good enough.
Tommy screamed at him and attacked relentlessly. Jason matched Tommy, move for move. He defended himself well, but he'd never win that way.
There had to be some way she could help Jason. She crawled, even though it hurt, to where she knew they would be. She may have been messy, but she always knew where her stuff was.
Trini found exactly what she was looking for, her sais. It took an extreme amount of effort to get into a crouched position. Yoga had given her the balance to rest on only her left leg. She controlled her breathing and waited for the right moment.
Jason grabbed Tommy's shoulder to keep her from attacking. She wound her arm around and slammed into Jason's block.
With everything she had left, Trini threw one sai, then the other. She couldn't throw as hard as she would have liked, but her aim was spot on. The sais struck Tommy's head twice in rapid succession. It gave Jason an opening to punch Tommy as hard as he could, forcing her to the ground.
Tommy crossed her arms in front of her visor to block Jason's next attack, but her face was not his target. With one swift motion, he ripped Tommy's power coin right out of her armor. Her suit disintegrated.
Tommy thrashed around, screaming. Shards of crystal retreated their way through her body and back into the green light in Jason's hand. It took several seconds and finally Tommy was left in her street clothes, quiet.
Jason glared at the burning coin. He closed his fist tightly as if he didn't want anyone to see it. He walked over to Trini and offered his other hand. "Thanks, Trini."
Trini looked at the stab wound in her leg. The bleeding had finally stopped. It would take more time to heal than when Rita had slashed her neck, but she would be fine. She took Jason's help and propped herself up on her good leg, growling in agony.
"I know it hurts, but I need you to check on Zack. I'll make sure Billy's okay."
Trini nodded.
As she shuffled toward Zack she took a look at Tommy, still thrashing in pain. They had won, but it didn't feel like it.
Everything was destroyed. What if they couldn't fix it? What if it was just her and Jason from now on? What if their friends were...
Trini smelled something foul, something burnt. She forced herself to look at Zack. All she saw was a charred mess.
Trini immediately turned away, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't see him like that, not like that. She started bawling, couldn't hold it back anymore. She fell to the ground and curled herself into a ball, clutching her knees.
It was all over. He was dead. He couldn't have survived a direct explosion to the chest, not without his armor. She would never get to joke around with him again. His mom would never see him again. She never got to say 'goodbye.'
"What happened? What happened, Jase?" Billy was speaking. Trini could see him moving. "What happened?"
"Billy, everything's alright." Jason looked away from Billy and took a deep breath. "Billy. It's not alright."
Before Jason could continue, Billy launched into panic-mode "Everything's broken. What do we do? It's all broken, Jason. What do we do? What can we do?"
"Billy, focus. I need you, man." Jason grabbed Billy by the shoulders and shook him a bit. Trini wasn't sure if it was supposed to be reassuring or if it was Jason's attempt to make him uncomfortable so he could focus on something instead of panicking. "Can you fix Alpha?"
"Yeah, yeah, I think so." Billy was trembling.
"Good." Jason let go of him. "Rest a sec okay."
"Okay." Billy leaned his head back. "Okay, I can do that."
Seeing Billy filled Trini with just enough hope. She steeled herself with a deep breath and looked back to Zack. The skin where he was shot was a smoldering wreck.
"Trini..." Trini felt a hand on her back "We're going to fix him up." Jason gave Trini a reassuring look. She couldn't see it because she couldn't look away, but she was sure it was there. She didn't fully believe him, but she really wanted to. Billy came up from behind Jason. Kim appeared on the other side of Zack's body.
"Zack..." Kim's face was a bloody lump. Trini couldn't believe she was standing. She reached out and touched his neck. "His heart is still beating, and he's still breathing, barely."
"There's a med bay, down in the ship. We should take him there," Billy said.
Jason turned toward Trini. "Can you morph?"
Trini focused on protecting her friends and her armor materialized.
Jason held his still closed hand to her. Green light streamed through his fingers. "Hold this." He gave her the green power coin. It vibrated in her hand as if it was trying to escape. She squeezed it with all the strength she had. "Don't let it go." Trini nodded. "You're on guard duty." Jason pointed at Tommy.
"Billy, we need Alpha to get Zordon back. Kim, can you help him?"
"Yeah, we got it," Kim replied. They held onto each other and limped to the control room. Jason picked up Zack and carried him to the medical bay.
The silence was deafening. Trini was alone, alone with her. She watched the bundle of person in the corner. Tommy was curled up in the fetal position, trying to take up as little room as possible. Soon, she started crying.
Fuck that. She doesn't get to cry. She doesn't have the right. Not after everything she did. Not after what she did to Zack.
Trini staggered closer to Tommy, growling. The green ranger's dagger was there on the ground. Trini studied it. The blade glowed with a blue energy, like a shorter version of Jason's sword.
She could end Tommy right then and there. Trini pushed the thought out of her head. No, that wasn't who she was. But Tommy didn't have to know that.
Tommy spun around and looked at her with desperate eyes. "Give it back."
Red Endurance
Jason had already had enough, but he needed to be patient.
"I'm with Kim," Jason said curtly.
"That's perfectly fine with me." Tommy smiled. "She's cute. She should join us." Tommy leaned against her locker, biting her lip. She was smoldering. Jason had a thing for athletic girls.
Yet he wasn't tempted. He and Kim had a connection neither of them could deny. Getting to know her was exciting in a way he had never felt before. She was smart, had a strategic mind, she could lead, and she genuinely cared about her friends. As much as she wanted to run away, she would take him with her. Plus, she was hotter than Tommy. There was no contest.
This level of flirting was something that only happened in movies. Why was he was even talking to her? How had she roped him into a conversation? Something about her made him tense. No one ever acted the way she was acting. Tommy wanted something, Jason just didn't know what.
"Walk me to my car." She pulled him out the door to the empty parking lot.
Once they had gotten a few steps away from the building, Tommy grabbed Jason's waist "Come here, gorgeous." She opened her mouth and went for his face.
"What the fuck!?" Jason turned his head away to avoid the kiss.
She didn't kiss him. Instead, she stuck her hand into his pocket.
"Ooh, what's this?" She pulled out his power coin and showed it to him. "It's mine now," she said with a giggle as she held it out of his reach.
"Give it back." As Jason went for it, he stumbled. Tommy instantly disappeared. Everything disappeared. He fell.
Jason caught himself clumsily. A spike of pain shot through his hands as they slammed into concrete. It hurt much worse than it should have. He coughed. The air was saturated with dust, he could feel it on his skin. He couldn't see it, he couldn't see anything. Wherever he was, it was pitch black.
He took his phone out of his pocket and activated the flashlight. He was in a room, made ceiling to floor out of concrete. There was a bunch of trash in one corner and rubble all over the place. There were no windows, and only one doorway. He went up to it and found it blocked by a huge cement slab. He tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. "Where the fuck am I?"
Jason shined his phone light back into the darkness of the room. A figure lunged at him and slammed him into the wall.
"An abandoned train yard in Arizona." Jason's phone fell and the light shined up from the floor. It was the green ranger armor, but Tommy was in it. She gripped his shirt while holding him up with a sadistic smile.
Jason tried to morph, but his armor wouldn't emerge. Usually, he could feel it right under his skin, ready at a moment's notice. But the feeling was gone, a cold numbness where it used to be, like he had lost a piece of himself.
Tommy grabbed his chin in her vise of a hand and turned him to face her. "I don't know what they used to call this room, but you're not getting out."
Jason punched her in the face as hard as he could from the position he was in. Again, a spike of pain shot up his hand through his wrist, he had most-likely fractured it. Tommy didn't recoil. He may as well have punched solid steel.
"Weakling," Tommy mocked, throwing him to the ground. "You can't imagine what I'm about to do to you."
Jason winced trying to rub the ache out of his hand.
Tommy kicked him in the side, scraping his body across the ruined floor. It cut into the skin on his arms, legs, chest, and back. When he came to a stop he growled and tried to force his armor out again.
"Looking for this?" Tommy held his power coin, her face bathed in red light. "If you beat me, you can take it."
Jason staggered up on wrecked legs, wary of what Tommy was about to do. She wanted him to attack her. He was angry enough, but he wasn't about to take the bait.
She took a deep breath and instantly closed the gap and punched him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and launching him into a wall. He never saw it coming, and she could have hit him much harder.
He lay against the concrete, practically choking from the dust in the air. He couldn't catch a full breath. It was in his eyes. The place was literally sucking the life out of him.
"Jason, Jason, Jason," Tommy taunted. Her boots clicked on the ground next to his face. "That is just a taste of what I have in store for you." She stood over him.
Jason was still struggling to catch his breath. She grabbed his throat and held him to her face. She held his power coin in her other hand and squeezed it. It disappeared with a flash of red light. She let go of him and forced him back to the ground.
He gasped for air but refused to give an inch. Trying to stand, he got on his hands and knees in front of Tommy. There was a glowing green coin on her belt. He focused on the coin, there was something weird about it. It was a lighter green than it had been when they fought Rita. And a crack went right down the middle.
He reached out and touched it. For a moment he reconnected to the morphing grid. He could see inside the control room. She had disconnected Zordon and taken Alpha apart. He could see his friends. Kim was right above him, reaching out.
The moment ended with Tommy slamming the top of his head with her elbow. She was still holding back. "Buy me dinner first," she said derisively.
The coin had moved just a tiny bit when he touched it. It was loose.
Tommy cackled. "I bet your friends have discovered what I have done to your precious ship. Now I'm going to kill them." She picked him up by the neck and forced him to look her in the eyes. "I'll bring you their bodies when I'm done." She teleported away, finally leaving him alone.
There had to be a way out. Jason pulled his shirt over his nose to try to filter the dust. Looking through the rubble, he found a solid piece of rebar. It wasn't much, but if he used it right he might be able to break through the concrete slab covering the doorway. The fact that he was still in Arizona lingered in the back of his mind, but he didn't care. He had to do something.
Jason started swinging and few chunks broke off. It was old and brittle, all he had to do was keep stabbing-
Red. Jason's vision flashed. He shook his head. Was that a good sign? Was someone calling out to him using his color?
It didn't matter. Nothing was going to stop him. He continued slamming the stone with the rebar. He might make more progress if he used it like a chisel-
His vision flashed red again, he could see his friends. He was fighting them. He was seeing through Tommy's eyes. Zordon had showed them a vision of Rita's victory, this felt the same. His friends were doing well. They had remembered to work as a team even when he wasn't around. He was proud. Jason relaxed, knowing they would come for him soon. Then Tommy unleashed an attack that disintegrated their armor.
Jason started to panic. There was no way they'd survive unmorphed. He needed to help them, but he couldn't escape his vision.
He tried to focus, to disassociate from his situation. Trini was so much better at it. She would look away, but he couldn't close his eyes, it was all he could see.
A rumble crept over Jason's shoulder. He wasn't alone. There was something else there with him. He couldn't see or hear it, but someone was there, watching him.
His friends fell one by one. Trini, Billy, Zack, and finally, Kim. Tommy beat her savagely. Jason screamed in agony as Tommy tortured the woman he loved.
His rage overcame him. He fought the bonds keeping him in place. With each strike on Kim's face his anger grew. He had to break free. That was when he saw it.
'Saw' may have been the wrong word, Jason only saw a silhouette. What he felt was power itself. Tommy was merely a minion. This was her master. Jason and this devil came face to face. He stared into this great red abyss. It stared right back.
Seeing his true enemy sharpened his determination. It wanted him unfocused, weak, and broken. His imprisonment wasn't physical, struggling was useless. There was a faint echo of power when he had touched the green coin. It had allowed him to see through his own coin. He was still connected to the grid. All he had to do was find it.
It was in the ship, sitting on his platform. He could feel his coin. He reached out to it and it moved to him. He didn't know how, but it appeared in his hand. Light filled the building
The power returned to him, igniting the blood in his veins. His strength, speed, and focus returned. His wounds and pain burned away.
Jason's armor materialized. One moment he was in the concrete jail cell, the next he stepped forward into the pit and kicked Tommy away from Kim.
Jason would not let Tommy hurt his friends.