DISCLAIMER: Insert standard disclaimer here, regarding Saban, Disney, and everyone else whom I am not ripping off.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know. I know. I've taken way too long to update. I lay myself at the mercy of my readers, and hope that this chapter will make up for some of it. As always, comments (good and bad) are welcome. I hope you like it.

Chapter VII

It started with a punch, and then a sting to the jaw. A fighter clad in a black gi tumbled to the ground, while his opponent, clad in a white gi, stood over him, his attention remaining focused on his fallen foe. The two were competing in the final match of the annual Angel Grove Grand Dragon Tournament, a martial arts competition inviting fighters from Angel Grove and the surrounding cities and towns to compete for the Grand Dragon Trophy. The tournament, which focused exclusively on point-based singles match-ups, was run in conjunction with the Golden Pipe Tournament, which focused on form and katas, and was typically the highlight of the martial arts calendar year.

The white-clad fighter remained stoic, his muscles still tensed, observing his fallen adversary with evident caution playing across his features. The black-clad fighter punched the mat, cursing under his breath as the referee awarded his opponent two points for the successful takedown. The score read ten points a piece. With less than a minute remaining in the match, it was apparent to the spectators, as well as the fighters, that a well-executed series of maneuvers in the final moments of the match would determine the victor. Allowing his anger at being taken down so easily cloud his judgment, the black-clad figure charged his opponent recklessly, his left hand reaching out while his right hand drew back, preparing to strike a blow that threatened to nigh on flatten his opponent. Sadly, for the fighter, the intended blow never struck home. His black belt fluttering slightly as he moved, the white-clad fighter easily sidestepped, clamping his hands upon his opponent's outstretched left arm, and handily tossed him over his shoulder, landing a quick punch to his gut while he lay sprawled on the mat. The referee signaled a break, and awarded four points for the throw and takedown, as the final bell sounded, making the final score fourteen to ten in favour of the fighter in white.

"The winner of the Grand Dragon Tournament, representing Tao Dojo, J.B. Reese," the referee announced, raising the hand on J.B.'s side in victory. "Bow to me, bow to each other." The fighters did so, and afterwards shook hands, congratulating the other on a well-fought match. As they parted ways, J.B. accepted the proffered trophy from the referee, nodded his thanks and, with a smile, walked over to Tao, the head of the dojo and his good friend.

"Well done, J.B. You represented the dojo honourably," Tao said, placing a hand warmly on J.B.'s shoulder.

"Thank you, sensei," J.B. replied, bowing slightly. He opened his mouth to say more, but he heard the distinct ring of his cell phone cut through the peripheral noise. Excusing himself apologetically, he walked over to his gear bag, still smiling. He set down the trophy, retrieved his cell phone and answered it, bringing it swiftly to his ear.

"Hello?" The smile slowly faded from his face as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. His face visibly paled, and it took some effort to swallow past the lump slowly growing in his throat. "I'll be right there, professor," he replied, quickly hanging up. His hands moved quickly, placing all of his effects into his bag, and zipping it up. He slung it over his right shoulder, picked up the trophy once more, and walked swiftly over to Tao. He handed his sensei the trophy.

"There's something I need to take care of, sensei. Can you take this back to the dojo for me?" he asked quickly. While his voice remained calm, his eyes belied the impatience and doubt he was feeling. Tao looked at his pupil uncertainly.

"Of course, J.B. What is the matter?" J.B.'s mind scrambled to come up with an excuse.

"It's a…family emergency," he said quickly. In reality, it was probably the nearest answer he could give to the truth, without putting Tao in unnecessary danger. "I'll explain as soon as I can." Without another word, he dashed out of the Juice Bar, leaving a bewildered Tao standing with the trophy in his hands.

- PRG -

"Do we have any way of tracking down the coin?" Adam asked. I scratched my chin thoughtfully, glancing down at Saba. He was not speaking, a sign that he didn't have any suggestions on the matter, which I found rather odd, considering how opinionated he had been while I was the White Ranger. A thought occurred to me.

"We might, but it's a long-shot," I said, putting my thought into words. "The Dragon Dagger." The others looked at me in confusion.

"Whoa, hold up," Zack said skeptically. "I thought you just said that this Draeph guy has it." I shook my head.

"Not exactly. You see, what he has are the identical copies of both the coin and Dagger, the ones created by the Wizard of Deception. I still have the original Dragon Dagger. I held on to it as a keepsake; a memento of my time as the Green Ranger. It's still in my lab at Reefside." I withdrew my cell phone from the depths of my pocket. "I'll call Hayley right now, and get her to bring it up to us. Plus, if we're lucky, she'll be able to help us establish contact with Aquitar, so we can get in touch with Billy." I dialed Hayley's number, and placed the phone on the table, putting it on speaker so that everyone could hear. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Hayley, it's me. Are you in my lab?"

"Yes, Tommy," her voice answered. "Are you feeling better?" I smiled.

"Yeah, much better, thanks. I need you to do something for me. Go to the southwestern corner of the lab, by the power generator. Place your right hand on the largest Dino Thunder symbol you see on the wall. It's a palm print reader. It will give you access to my vault. I need you to take out the Dagger that's inside of it. Quickly." I stopped talking, listening as intently as the others were while her footsteps resounded from the earpiece of the phone.

"Alright, Tommy, I have it, but I think something's wrong." In the background, I heard a faint melancholic melody playing softly.

"What is it?"

"The blade is glowing green…and there's some kind of song coming from the hilt." I swallowed hard.

"Hold it up to the receiver. I need to hear the song more clearly." The melody grew louder as she did what I asked. It was a melody that I had heard only once before, in a discussion with Zordon while he was explaining to me the power of the Dagger. "I need you to bring it here as quickly as possible, Hayley. I'm with my jeep, so you can follow the GPS signal."

"Alright. I'll be there in a couple hours. What should I tell the kids?" I thought for a moment.

"Don't tell them anything. It's better if they don't know. They're going to need to stay alert for Mesogog with neither of us there to help them. I'll talk to you when you get here." I hung up the phone, putting it back in its place in my pocket.

"What does that song mean?" Kat asked, voicing the question everyone so obviously had.

"That melody means that the power has been accessed. Someone has morphed with the coin."

- PRG -

J.B. turned the engine to his car off, and got out slowly, surveying his surroundings cautiously. The professor had asked him to meet him here, in West Union Park, as soon as he possibly could. He pondered the professor's final statement of their conversation as he walked. "Be prepared for anything," he had said. Gently fingering the pendent around his neck, J.B. knew that he was ready for the "anything" that had been spoken of.

He eventually saw the professor sitting against the base of a large statue, facing away from him. He picked up his pace, continuing to walk until he was standing approximately a metre behind him. He stopped, appraising the situation cautiously. There didn't seem to be anyone in the immediate vicinity, but something just didn't feel right to him. Perhaps it was the noise, or rather, the lack of noise, that bothered him. The sounds one might typically find in a park, kids' laughter, birds chirping, were all absent, replaced by an eerie silence that unnerved him greatly.

"Professor?" he asked tentatively, reaching a hand out to place on the man's shoulder. As soon as he made contact, the body slumped on its side, revealing the large pool of blood that lay beneath it. He took a step back, paling visibly at the horrific sight in front of him. The corpse of Professor Hart, his mentor, lay cold on the grass, a gaping hole where his heart should have been. He was jarred from his feelings of grief by the sound of laughter. He spun around in confusion, trying to pinpoint the laughter, which seemed to be coming from nowhere in particular. The laughter seemed to intensify, growing more maniacal in nature the louder it got.

"Show yourself, damn it!" he yelled, his fists balling of their own accord at his sides. He heard a soft thud behind him, and he whirled instinctively, lunging forward with a right cross. His attack never landed. He found his fist being gripped firmly in a white-gloved hand.

"Guess who."

- PRG -

"Where's she going?" Conner asked, pointing at Hayley, who was walking swiftly out of Tommy's house, a small object clutched tightly to her chest. The Dino teens were crouched behind some shrubs flanking the driveway, out of sight.

"Maybe she's going to make a delivery," Ethan replied, not realizing the irony of his statement. Conner scoffed.

"Dude, we just met her a few hours ago and you already know her schedule?" he said derisively.

"It's just a guess," Ethan said, not meeting Conner's gaze. Kira shook her head.

"Will you two stop it? Look," she said, gesturing back to Hayley, who had just opened the door to a car parked in the driveway. Shutting the door behind her, she gunned the engine, and took off out of the driveway, tires screeching in her wake. As soon as Hayley had turned onto the street, Conner got to his feet and jogged over to his dad's car, which the teens had used to get toe Tommy's house. Ethan and Kira followed him, more slowly.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Conner lowered himself into the driver's seat.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm following her." He turned the key in the ignition, gunning the engine. "Are you guys coming or not?" Ethan and Kira exchanged a glance before climbing into the car.

- PRG -

escaped his lips as his back connected solidly with the thick tree trunk where the professor's corpse lay. He found himself laying facedown on the grass, wheezing as he tried to breathe, his right arm immersed in the crimson pool of blood that streamed from the professor's body. He pushed himself to his knees, spitting up blood and sucking in air greedily, and stared hatefully at his attacker.

He walked slowly, steadily towards J.B., obviously taking great pleasure in inflicting pain, bodily and otherwise. He was clad from head to toe in green and white body armor, with diamond patterns, large and small, wrapping around his figure. His white boots and gloves with golden lining moved back and forth in rhythm as he approached J.B.'s fallen form. A black-hilted dagger hung on his right hip, within easy reach of his hand, and a red blade-like weapon hung from his left hip. A large golden shield, extending past the shoulder in both directions, covered the majority of his torso and neck. His helmet was one that the media and general population of Angel Grove was very familiar with, although it had been years since its last appearance; a helmet in the shape of a dragon's head, whose visor lay within the mouth, with a grey mouthpiece located just below it.

Green Ranger chuckled as J.B. pushed himself to his feet, breathing heavily. His gloved hand pulled the dagger out of its holster, and presented it to J.B. for inspection. Its blade was still stained a deep crimson from the professor's blood.

"You don't have to worry about him. He didn't suffer…ok, that's a lie, but I made his death quick when I was finished with him, which is more than I can say for you."

"Why?" J.B. asked angrily, through gritted teeth. Green Ranger shrugged.

"He was a mistake that needed to be corrected," he stated simply, gesturing at the corpse with the bloody dagger. "I only have a problem with you if you make one. Don't do anything stupid." J.B. pointed directly at Green Ranger.

"You're not going to get away with killing the professor. I'll make sure of that," he swore, gripping his pendent tightly. He held it up in front of him, saying the words he had not spoken for quite some time, the words he never thought he'd need to say again. "Trooper Transform!"

The sapphire embedded in the pendent glowed with power as the transformation began to occur. The suit materialized in a bright flash of light, and with it came the same surge of adrenaline he remembered from the old days. It barely took a moment, but when it was finished the form of J.B. Reese no longer stood in the park. In his place stood a VR Trooper. His armor was coloured in alternating sections of red and black, with the occasional silver streak. His gauntlets were silver, and connected straight into forearm guards, which were also silver. His lower body consisted of reinforced black leggings covered with silver boots that extended up a little ways past his knees. A blaster holster hung off his right hip, within easy reach of his hand, and a small cylindrical object hung off the other hip.

The two combatants circled each other grimly, neither giving the other an inch of ground. J.B. could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage inside the suit as he took the object from his hip. With the press of a button, a blade sprung out of one end. He could get the vision of the bloodstained dagger out of his mind. His neck tensed of its own accord as he felt his anger boiling beneath the surface. His gloved fist tightened around the hilt of the sword, and he addressed Green Ranger.

"You picked the wrong man to fuck with," he said. Green Ranger chuckled loudly, shaking his head.

"You're not going to let this go, are you? Well, you'll get what's coming to you. What say we get this over with, hmm?" J.B. nodded grimly.

"Lets." The sunlight overhead reflected off their visors as they rushed towards each other, weapons held at the ready. The blades clashed together, sending shockwaves of reverberation through the arms of each fighter. J.B. gritted his teeth as he tried to overpower his opponent's dagger, but could do nothing more than keep the stalemate. Green Ranger grunted slightly.

"Not bad. You're as strong as I remember." Putting more strength into his right arm, he slowly began to turn J.B.'s blade to the side, until it was perpendicular to their bodies. Drawing the blade blaster from its holster on his left hip, he brought it up and slashed downwards, aiming for the front of J.B.'s suit, smirking inside his helmet. J.B. saw the glimmer of red against the powder blue tinge of the sky, and withdrew his left hand from the hilt of his sword, bringing it up swiftly to catch Green Ranger's fist in mid-strike.

"As strong as you remember? What the hell are you talking about?" With a surge of strength, J.B. shoved Green Ranger backward, and performed a back flip, his feet connecting with both of his opponent's hands, sending each weapon, blade blaster and dagger, flying in opposite directions. Green Ranger regained his balance swiftly, and leapt into the air to his right, catching the dagger smoothly in his hand. In mid-flight, he planted his boots firmly on the trunk of a tree directly in his path, and pushed off strongly, drastically altering his trajectory and launching him in the other direction like an arrow shot from a bow. His position intersected with the blade blaster's as it began it's arc downward, and he snatched it out of the air, performing a somersault for show and landing lightly in a crouch.

"You'll find out soon enough. You can trust me on that." He sheathed the dagger as he rose to his feet, and systemically swung the head of the blade blaster around, converting it from blade to blaster mode. J.B., following suit, sheathed his sword and drew his blaster. They both fired at the same time, striking the other in the chest, however J.B. was knocked back a few steps from the impact, while the Dragon Shield took the brunt of the force for Green Ranger, leaving him completely unscathed. The faint whirring of a camera shutter drew the attention of both combatants. They both turned to see a full field reporting crew (reporter, camera and sound) recording the action from a hilltop some distance away, and what appeared to be a paparazzi photographer snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, it looks like we have an audience," Green Ranger said, gesturing vaguely at the crew. "So don't die on me too quickly, sweetheart. I want to make sure I give them a good show." A ball of green energy appeared in his palm. "Before I kill them." A low growl escaped J.B.'s throat.

"They have nothing to do with this! This is between you and me." The ball of energy receded and disappeared as Green Ranger closed his fist.

"I'm sorry. You're right." He chuckled slightly. "If it makes you feel any better, I won't kill them until after I've killed you."

"You heartless bastard," J.B. cursed, his sword in his right hand once more. "I won't let you do it." He rotated the sword, passing it to his left hand, and brought his right hand to the base of the hilt. "Laser Lance command!" He brought his hand away from the hilt, and a second blade sprung free from its housing with a snikt. He held the dual-bladed weapon in front of him in his right hand, pressing the small activation mechanism on the handgrip. The two blades became electrified, surrounded by shimmering blue energy, and began humming softly. Darth Maul, eat your heart out, he thought amusingly, momentarily forgetting the seriousness of the situation. It was a short lapse, though, and he quickly prepared to engage Green Ranger once more, taking a deep breath within his helmet. The fight was far from over.

- PRG -

"Hey, is there a TV lying around here anywhere?" Rocky asked suddenly, taking all of us by surprise. We looked at him quizzically, and he smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't think now's the time to be watching cartoons, Rocko," Adam replied, chuckling.

"You've got me all wrong," Rocky said. "If someone's morphed with the Dragonzord coin, then there's a chance that someone in the media has seen whoever it is." Jason scratched his jaw line thoughtfully.

"You know, he's right. Remember in the old days? The media used to swarm us after nearly every battle." I smiled slightly and nodded.

"Good thinking buddy. Let's spread out and look around for one." It took a couple minutes of searching, but I managed to find an old portable TV stowed away in of the knee-high cabinets on the other side of the room. I plugged the power cable into a wall outlet, and screwed on the signal cable proffered by Jason. I switched it on, and we were greeted to a pressing news story as we crowded around the screen.

"…I'm Andrew Schmidt. Once again, our top story, a disturbance has been reported in West Union Park. For the full report, here's our field correspondent, Marcia Adams. Marcia?" The image changed, and a conservatively dressed Caucasian woman with a microphone in her hand began to speak.

"Thank you, Andrew. As you can see behind me, the two super powered fighters are engaged in a vicious battle, and have been since we arrived on the scene." The camera zoomed in, and we were able to make out the two fighters fairly clearly. I straightened as I recognized the aggressor. There was no mistake about it. It was the Green Ranger. I quickly reached over and shut off the TV.

"I've seen enough. We've got to get down there."

"How do you expect us to get there quickly enough, Tommy?" Kimberly asked, crossing her arms across her chest. I withdrew my communicator from my pocket.

"With these. You…brought them, right guys?" The others exchanged glances, and Rocky smiled sheepishly.

"I guess we forgot. You never told us to bring them." I scoffed, chuckling quietly. I clipped the communicator to my left wrist.

"Fair enough. You guys take the cars and my jeep and get to the park as quickly as you can. With any luck, Hayley should meet you there with the dagger." Kat took a step forward.

"What about you?" I clenched my fist, feeling the power of the Zeo Crystal surging through my body.

"I'm going to get my property back." I brought my hands in front of me, touching the control on the communicator, and disappeared in a bright streak of red light.

- PRG -

J.B.'s breaths were coming in short, heaving gasps. The fight was going badly. Whenever he tried to go on the offensive, Green Ranger was able to anticipate his tactics, and counter-attack too quickly for him to defend against. Green Ranger was advancing on him now, dagger and blade blaster drawn, the blades of both surrounded in a green aura, allowing them to come in contact with J.B.'s laser lance without being damaged. In a flash, he was being attacked, his opponent using both weapons to try and inflict damage. Using his laser lance, he once again undertook the arduous task of trying to keep Green Ranger at bay without taking damage. This time, however, that was not to be. As he brought the lance up to parry a slash from the blade blaster, the dagger crashed through the handgrip of the lance, severing it cleanly in two.

The humming died down instantly, and the blue aura faded, leaving J.B. with two single blades. He heard his opponent chuckle in amusement.

"What's so funny?" he growled, as he leapt forward to attack anew. Green Ranger countered each attack easily.

"You were always the calm one in battle. It's kind of pathetic seeing you losing so badly." As he spoke the words, Green Ranger handily shattered both of J.B.'s swords with dual slashes of his dagger. Throwing away the now-useless blades, which were nothing but jagged shards of metal, J.B. tried to attack Green Ranger head-on, with no weapons but his hands, but it proved futile. Green Ranger viciously pressed his attack, landing multiple slashes with both weapons, each strike drawing a shower of sparks from J.B.'s armor.

I'm losing power! J.B.'s mind screamed. I'm sorry, Professor. I've let you down. Green Ranger, perhaps sensing his opponent's realization of defeat, brought both weapons across J.B.'s helmet. The sound of shattering glass echoed loudly as J.B. was thrown backward from the impact, landing heavily on his stomach. His movements were coming slower, far too slow for him to hope to beat Green Ranger. When he pushed himself to his feet, he noticed that he was seeing things differently. His visor had been completely shattered, with jagged shards of the highly tinted glass still remaining in their housing. A well-placed boot to the stomach sent J.B. careening backward, impacting heavily against a tree. Once again he was lying flat against his stomach, but this time was different. He couldn't move. At all. He felt a burning sensation on the right side of his face, but he had no way to know what it was. Green Ranger sheathed his blade blaster and moved to stand over J.B.'s fallen form, laughing maniacally. He raised the dagger to his mouthpiece, and a battle melody came from the hilt. The blade began to glow brighter as the melody increased in intensity. When the song reached a fever pitch, and it seemed like the blade couldn't glow any brighter, he pointed it at J.B.'s back.

A stream of green lightning leapt from the blade of the dagger to connect with J.B.'s armor. J.B. let out a bloodcurdling scream as the lightning darted across his armor. He had never felt this much pain, even during the final battle with Grimlord. If he could move, he would have been writhing on the ground like worm skewered on a barbed fishing hook. He felt a strange sensation begin to build within him, and suddenly, without warning, his armor was gone. He was himself again. He felt Green Ranger's boot under him, and he was rolled over onto his back.

Green Ranger crouched over J.B., reached down and tore the virtualizer from his throat. He held it in his hand, glancing down at the emerald, watching it reflect the sunlight overhead. His teeth clenched tightly as the accursed device lying in his hand brought back painful memories. He closed his fist, crushing the virtualizer in his palm. He tossed away what remained, and grabbed J.B. by the front of his shirt, dragging him to his feet.

"Now you don't have anything left to protect you, J.B.," he said, spinning his dagger on his palm. J.B.'s eyes opened partway, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Who are you?" Green Ranger sneered inside his helmet.

"You don't recognize my voice? Old buddy?" He sheathed his dagger on his hip, and, using the hand that wasn't holding J.B. upright, unclasped the clip on the left side of his helmet, then the clip on the right side. He removed the helmet, and J.B.'s breath caught in his throat. The face of Ryan Steele was staring back at him, his mouth curled in a sneer.

- PRG -

I emerged from the teleportation beam feeling invigorated. I jogged behind a tree, and peered around it, in an attempt to keep my location a secret from whoever may be watching. I was overlooking the battlefield, and could see Green Ranger, sans helmet, preparing to impale a nearly unconscious black man with the duplicate Dragon Dagger. I didn't hesitate. I leapt from the top of the hill, throwing my hands out to either side of me. I rotated each wrist, and my zeonizers appeared, as quickly as they always had in the past. I performed a somersault and brought my zeonizers together, and uttered the magic words.

"It's morphin' time! Zeo Ranger V, Red!" The familiar feeling of my senses heightening as red light engulfed my person, becoming the reinforced body suit of Zeo Ranger V. The helmet was last to materialize, bringing with it the brief moment when I could hardly see a thing as the star-shaped visor set itself in place, before the built-in visual processing systems kicked in, giving me back the full range of peripheral vision..

My left boot had barely made contact with the grass before I launched myself back into the air towards the two a few metres away.

"Say goodnight, J.B.," Green Ranger said, as he raised the Dragon Dagger to deliver a final blow.

"Zeo V Power Kick!" I exclaimed, as I drove my boot into Dragon Ranger's side. He was launched into the air as I landed lightly on my feet, standing protectively over the prone man. "Are you alright?" I asked, calling out behind me. The man didn't answer me, but I didn't think much of it. He's probably just unconscious, I thought to myself. I saw Green Ranger corkscrew in the air and land nimbly on his feet. He glared hatefully at me, his blue eyes flashing anger.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, practically spitting the words. I dropped into a fighting stance.

"I'm the real owner of that power coin, asshole." He put his helmet back on, clipping it in place.

"I don't have time for this. I'll deal with you later. As for him," he said, gesturing at the unconscious man. "Well, he's as good as dead anyway." He brought a hand to his belt, and teleported away in a flash of green light. I cursed loudly as I powered down. I turned and knelt beside the man's body. He was in pretty bad shape. I didn't have any medical knowledge whatsoever, but I could tell, just by looking at him and referring to my own past injuries, that he a broken arm, some cracked ribs, and possibly some internal injuries. I sighed, shaking my head. I placed my left hand on his chest, feeling it rise and fall unevenly, and touched the control on my communicator, teleporting the both of us to the parking lot in streaks of red and white light, respectively, where the others were just pulling up.