SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS

Jeremy Shane: Thanks, here's more.

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DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. Inspired by "Dragon's Path" by Crowned Tiger who has given me permission to go ahead with the idea. I use some stuff that was in the first draft of "Dragon's Path" with Crowned Tiger's permission. I'll be gone for about four days starting tomorrow, so this is the last update on this story until then.

Jason's breathing quickened and he subtly tried to look for a way of escape.

"Relax, Red Ranger. I'm not going to hurt you," Goldar said. No, he's just going to kill me, Jason though to himself as he reached for the morpher clipped to the back of his pants. However, his hands only reached air. Where's my morpher? he wondered, his panic rising.

"Drop something?" Goldar asked, lifting up his morpher. Please. Don't make me fight for it, he silently begged. He wasn't sure if his body could handle a fight in his condition. Then, to the Ranger's surprise, the griffin tossed it to him. What the heck? he thought. Had the griffin read his mind or something? But even if he had, why would Goldar give him back his Power Morpher? "I must apologize for your abrupt arrival in our training area. Trigon had to make a split-second decision," the griffin continued.

"You mean, Tommy," Jason corrected. "What'd you do to him? What kind of spell did you place him under?" he spat out. Goldar had to fight the urge to attack the boy. Remember, Zordon told him and his friends that we're evil. Of course he's going to react this way, he reminded himself.

"He's under no spell, Red Ranger. We have done nothing to him," the warrior soothed. However, Jason didn't look convinced. And yet…Goldar had made no move to attack him.

"Why am I here?" he asked.

"Like I said, Trigon had to make a split-second decision," Goldar answered.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. Why am I playing his game? he wondered.

"Because Zordon was preparing to teleport you," Goldar replied.

"So you decided to take the chance to kidnap me," Jason spat out. Why are you even talking to him? Attack! Get yourself out of here! his mind screamed at him. However, something inside of him told him that he needed to hear what Goldar was saying.

"No, Red Ranger. It was a rescue," he corrected.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. Before Goldar could respond, Rita materialized in the arena and Jason tensed up even more.

"Relax, Red Ranger. I'm not going to hurt you, but I do want to show you something," she told him, and then they were all teleported out of the arena. To Jason's surprise, they rematerialized in what appeared to be a conference room.

"Why am I here?" Jason demanded. And why haven't you guys tried to destroy me yet? he wondered.

"Because believe or not Jason, I wanted to help you," Rita said as a dog-like creature walked in. "However, I understand you probably don't believe me since you believe that what Zordon told you of me is true."

"You can try to lie to me all you want Rita."

"I figured you'd think that, so Goldar and I have prepared a little show for you. And then you can decide if we really mean you and your world harm or not," Rita said gesturing for Finster to begin the film as a video screen magically appeared in front of Jason and then turned it on. Meanwhile, Zordon and Alpha had contacted the Rangers and told them about Jason's disappearance.

"What could Rita want with him?" Trini wondered.

"I'm not certain, Rangers. Alpha and I are doing all that we can to rescue him," Zordon stated. And then once I have him, I'll re-establish his connection to me so that he won't stray and then do the same to these other pathetic humans, he thought.

"Oh, hold on, Jase. We'll get you back," Kimberly sighed worriedly. Back on the Lunar Palace, Jason was silent as the images appeared on the screen. Be careful. Don't let them fool you, he cautioned himself. He saw Rita and Zedd's army on a desert planet fighting someone, presumably Zordon and his people. He cringed at the amount of bloodshed that appeared on screen and Rita had to stop herself from turning the images off. The Red Ranger needed to see them if he was to learn the truth. Jason watched with a sense of sick fascination as the battle continued. A warrior was struck down, his mouth frozen in a silent scream. One of the fighters pulled out a gun and pointed it a member of Rita and Zedd's army. No. I don't want to see this! Jason's mind screamed. However, he couldn't look away. It was almost as if he had been compelled to watch the screen. Suddenly, the images shifted and now they appeared to be showing some kind of slave camp. What's this? Are they gonna gloat about their victory? How would that help convince me of their lies about Zordon? Jason wondered. He watched in silence as the conquerors yelled at their prisoners in a foreign language. The prisoners cowered and reacted in fright whenever their captors stomped up to them. Jason's eyes clouded as he watched the citizens get punched, kicked, and otherwise assaulted. The scene shifted again. This time it was just one prisoner and one captor. The prisoner said something in an imploring tone and the other person just laughed derisively and then raised something in the air. Jason's eyes widened when he realized that the person was holding a whip. No, no, no, no, no, no! Bad! Bad! Whip bad! his mind screamed. However, the only outward sign of his distress was his Adam's apple wobbling slightly. The whip came down with a mighty crack and Jason tried not to tense. The motion was repeated and for a moment, Jason saw another whip crashing down. Goldar started in surprise when he heard the Red Ranger inhale sharply. However, he couldn't blame him. The images were horrible. Perhaps he was finally seeing Zordon for what he really was. As several minutes passed, more images of similar nature were shown. Throughout the entire thing, Jason continually cringed and his eyes darkened with pain more and more. As she showed the Ranger the images, Rita kept a subtle eye on him. She'd have to be careful not to overdo it. After all, the point of this whole slide show was to reveal the truth about Zordon, not traumatize the boy. Suddenly, he let out a moan and his whole body went rigid. She stepped towards him in concern. What image had caused this reaction? She turned to the screen. One of the captives had been tied to a tree with his hands above him and his shirt removed. Oh, yes. That was a nasty day. I suppose he's empathizing with prisoner, Rita thought to herself. Someone came forward and their whip came crashing down on the man's bare back. Jason swallowed nervously. No, no, no, no! I don't want to see this! he thought. However, he wasn't going to ask for them to turn it off. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing him beg. The whip came down again and again. Jason started to shake and shut his eyes tightly.

"No," he whispered in a strangled voice. Then, it dawned on Rita. The Red Ranger wasn't just sympathizing with the man in the video. He was having some sort of flashback! With an immediate wave of her hand, the images disappeared.

"Red Ranger, it's all right. It's off,"' the witch said as she approached him. "I'm sorry. It was not my intention to frighten you," she added, kneeling down and running her fingers soothingly through his hair. Jason's head shot up in surprise at the motherly tone. What? Why would she care about my wellbeing? he wondered. Because she's trying to feed you lies about Zordon and being concerned about you is part of the act, he answered himself. For an answer, he just jerked his head away from her touch and glared at her. Rita sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. Meanwhile, Zedd and Scorpina had arrived back at the palace.

"Where is everyone?" he wondered. "Squatt, Baboo! Where's my wife?" he questioned, seeing the vampire-like creature along with his best friend, a short and fat alien.

"And Goldar?" Scorpina added.

"In the conference room with Jason," Squatt answered.

"Who?" Scorpina asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"The Red Ranger," Baboo replied.

"Ah," Scorpina said. In the conference room, Rita watched Jason with some concern. Then, she made a decision.

"That's enough for now, Goldar. He needs some time to digest this," she declared.

"Empress, we can't leave him here. His friends will get worried, if they haven't already," Goldar pointed out.

"Hmm. You're right," Rita agreed. "I'll have Trigon take him back to Earth," she determined. Then, she closed her eyes. For a moment, Jason thought she had fallen asleep, but was proven wrong when he heard footsteps. Unnoticed, Jason's right hand clenched into a fist when he saw Tommy. I knew it! He's the one who brought me here! he thought.

"What do you need?" Tommy asked.

"We need to take Jason back to Earth," Rita told him.

"But what if Zordon tries to teleport him again?" Tommy protested.

"I don't like it, either, Trigon, but as Goldar pointed out, his friends are most likely worried about him," Rita replied.

"I guess that's true," Tommy said, sounding a bit dejected. They don't act like he's under a spell. Maybe she ordered him to sound like this? Jason thought. But that didn't make sense. Why would Rita pull such an elaborate stunt? What was she up to? however, before he could voice the questions Tommy walked up to him, and placing a hand on his shoulder, sent the boy back to Earth.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered, not realizing that there was a very good reason for his feeling of trepidation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Rita and Zedd's talk to Tommy about the Olivers will come later. I haven't forgotten about it.