Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers nor Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Notes: I apologize for taking months to update. I've been training on a new job and it took a lot of energy out of me.

Chapter 6

Untouchable

Tommy and Tamsin had been waiting outside of their school for their girlfriends to come out for just under an hour. Rita told them to follow them, to find out their truth. They were curious, but also anxious about what this supposed truth was. Rita wouldn't just tell them whatever secret it was as if they were kittens and Rita was just teasing them, hanging this string of information in front of them, but not giving it to them. In truth, they knew they probably shouldn't have trusted Rita so willingly, especially knowing how much destruction she caused to the town before, but curiosity was a hell of a thing, and, like the kittens they were, it got the better of them. So there they were, siting in their jeep, waiting for an hour.

Tamsin bit her nails and Tommy was no less anxious as his leg shook. "It's almost 3:00," he said.

"I know."

"What do you think it is? Think they're the power rangers?"

"I don't know. How would you feel about that?"

Tommy shook his head, "I don't know."

Then it was 3:00 and the student body began to exit from the school. The twins waited until they finally saw their girlfriends, and friends, exit together. Neither twin could help but notice the solemn faces their respective girlfriend had on her face. But it wasn't something they could think about then. They watched as the group piled into Kimberly's car and pulled out of the parking lot.

Tamsin turned on the ignition and began to follow. "Not too close," Tommy warned.

"I know what I'm doing," Tamsin asserted.

They followed them up to the mountains and when they saw the group turn into the abandoned mine, they knew they couldn't follow them by car any longer. They decided it best to park their jeep and proceed on foot. After all, they had super speed on their side now.

They stuck to the trees, out of sight as they kept their eyes on Kimberly's car. By the time she parked, they were deep in the quarry. They watched as their friends got out and walked to a chasm then they jumped in.

"Oh my god," Tamsin uttered.

"What the hell did we just see?" Tommy asked, unbelieving.

"They just willingly jumped in."

The twins moved from their position and walked forward, cautiously. They peered down into the chasm and heard laughter and water splashing. "There's a pool down there?" Tommy couldn't believe what he witnessed.

"I guess. But what does this have to do with the secret?"

"Maybe we just wait them out?"

Tamsin nodded then motioned for them to go back to the woods and stay in the shade. They waited for what felt like hours, but likely it was maybe 45 minutes before they heard a commotion. They got to their feet and peaked around the brush and saw the group dusting themselves off. They weren't wet.

"How'd they get out of there?" Tamsin asked aloud, mostly to herself.

Tommy shook his head but said nothing.

They continued watching as the group looked on at Billy speaking. The twins were too far to hear anything but Billy pulled something out of his pocket and then a flash of light.

Neither Tommy nor Tamsin could believe their eyes...

sss

"Are you certain of what you saw, Kimberly?" Zordon asked, his head slightly tilting forward.

Kimberly could tell his eye brows would be scrunched with worry, if he had form. "I'm very sure," she stated.

"This is very troubling. It appears Rita has much more power than we thought."

"Or maybe she's got help?" Billy offered. "I mean, she's not on the planet, right? But she's alive. I mean, she's gotta be getting help."

"Oh most definitely," Alpha said.

"Guys," Jason said, moving so he was in front of the team, "We've got to be diligent now. We've got to stay on our toes. Keep our eyes and ears open. And we've got to stay in touch. Sorry Kim and Trini but I think we might have to up the training."

Kimberly understood, but it didn't mean she was entirely happy about it. From the sigh Trini made, she could guess Trini felt the same.

"Why do you gotta single us out, Jay?" Trini asked, her voice annoyed.

"I don't mean to single you out, I'm just saying that you might have to cut back on," Jason paused, moving his hand around, "Uh, personal time? I guess?"

"Personal time?" Kimberly quipped and let out an amused laugh, "Wow, that was... Awkward. Besides, I don't think us having 'personal time' will be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Trini insisted, crossing her arms.

The look on Trini's face told Kimberly she was set in not continuing the conversation. She really couldn't blame her. She herself was still upset at how Tommy was acting and now to be called out like this? She'd have to have a talk with Jason later.

"Maybe we should think about skipping the masquerade," Jason said, rubbing his jaw.

"What?" Zack protested, "Dude, why?"

"We can't be distracted. We have to be prepared in case of something."

"So, what, we can't have any down time?"

The tension was growing between Jason and Zack again and it always put Kimberly on edge. She shifted her weight on her feet and got herself ready to get between them if the need arose. She felt Trini doing the same.

"I'm not saying that," Jason countered, "I'm just saying that right now, we can't afford distractions."

"It's one night."

"Jason," Zordon interrupted, "Zack is right. You need to have time for yourselves. You can go to your... masquerade and still be on guard. Billy, I believe you have an announcement to make?"

Every looked toward Billy, who licked his lips as he stepped forward, while Jason stepped to the side. Kimberly leaned against a powered down console and crossed her arms while Trini went and stood next to her.

"Okay," Billy began, "So, as you know, Alpha and I have been working on devices to help us morph outside the ship's bridge and to teleport to the ship, you know, so we don't have to go through the water." Kimberly smiled. She really hated going through the water and struggling to make that landing, even if she was the best at it. "So, I call these guys: power morphers." Billy pulled out a metal oval thing and held it up. It appeared to Kimberly that Billy's coin was in the center and had a slight glow to it. "So, with these, we should be able to morph where ever, whenever, and we won't even need to be near each other."

"So, if we get caught alone," Trini began, "We'll be able to morph and defend ourselves better?"

"That would be correct, Trini!" Alpha answered excitedly. "With these morphers, you'll have your powers maximum at your disposal."

"I'll show you guys how they work in a sec," Billy said as he turned to a nearby panel and pulled out a second device. "This here," he held it up; it was an iWatch, "These are, what I'm calling, communicators. I rewired these old iWatches to work on the ship's radio wave so we can communicate like walkie-talkies, so we could talk to each other without our cells. You know, like, in case Kimberly breaks hers again."

"It was one time," Kimberly mumbled. She heard Trini chuckle next to her as she felt Trini's elbow hit her softly.

"I got one for everybody! And with color matching straps!" Billy and Alpha passed around the communicators.

Kimberly held hers up and examined it. "Can it still count my steps?" she asked, somewhat jokingly.

"You know, that's a good idea! I should try to add apps to them."

"I like that it still tells time," Trini said.

Billy brought up his communicator, "So, the right button we use to talk. Like I said, a walkie-talkie, you press it and scroll it. You can either pick one person to call or everyone."

"But what about, like, answering?" Zack asked.

"Press the screen. And when you're receiving a call, it'll vibrate. I mean, we'll have to practice and get used to it but it can be like group texts, which we should still use by the way. I mean, this communicator really is for emergencies anyways."

"Right," Jason agreed.

"The bottom button is a distress button. I set it to send out an emergency message, kinda like the alerts we get on our phones, but it'll be in Morse Code; S.O.S."

Trini cleared her throat, "Besides me, and Billy obviously, does anyone here know Morse Code?" Both Jason and Zack mumbled their no's and Kimberly looked at Trini pointedly. Clearly, she did not know Morse Code.

"How do you know Morse Code?" Kimberly asked.

"My dad's a military veteran," Trini replied nonchalantly.

"That's okay, we'll show you. And anyways, we only need to know S-O-S." Billy smiled. "And then, once the distress call is sent, when we teleport, we can teleport to you. Or whoever presses the distress button. Okay, so to teleport, all you gotta do is press and hold the screen and the watch will vibrate then you'll teleport. Now, no matter where we are, outside, we'll be able to teleport back to the ship and onto our podiums."

"Even if we're 100's of miles away?" Zack asked.

"Why would you be 100's of miles away?" Bill responded. Zack just shrugged. "Uh, yeah, yeah, even if you were 100's of miles away."

"Cool."

"What about teleporting out?" Kimberly asked. If it meant she didn't have to ruin another leather jacket going through water, or leaving it outside, she'd be eternally grateful.

Billy pointed at her excitedly, "Best part!" He cleared his throat then continued, "We stand on our podiums and press the teleport button and we'll be teleported right outside the cliff."

"So, no more water?"

"No more water."

"I'm in!"

The rest of the team chimed in and all collected their communicators and looked them over. "Okay, guys," Jason started, "Let's test these out." Slowly, everyone walked to their podiums. Kimberly practically floated to hers. She couldn't lie about being excited to skipping the swim. Sure, she loved swimming but not when it meant getting to the ship.

Everyone stepped onto the platforms and they all looked at each other. Trini locked eyes with Kimberly and it was suddenly very reminiscent of when they first stepped on there when Zordon was first brought online. "Okay, time to teleport. Three, two, one…" They all pressed the screens of their watches and suddenly Kimberly saw a pink light. It was all she saw. Her entire body surged with hot energy, very similar to when she morphed. Except it didn't make just her skin tingle, instead it made her insides tingle and hum. She couldn't see anything but pink light, couldn't hear anything but a sort of crackling noise, and she felt like she couldn't breathe, but at the same time she could. It was hard to describe, but it didn't make her panic. She couldn't tell if she was upside down or right side up, couldn't tell if she was going forward or backwards, but she didn't feel dizzy. It just felt as if she was in some sort of suspended animation, except she was fully aware.

Then her feet hit the ground and she stumbled onto someone and she heard a groan. Then she felt a slight heaviness on her and another groan, "Aw man." She couldn't tell who it was but then another weight landed on them.

They were all on top of each other in a pile. "Hey, guys," she whined as the bodies on top of her moved.

It was Zack and Trini. Jason was below her and Billy below him.

They all shuffled to their feet and straightened their clothes and hair. Billy rose, dusting off his pants. "Sorry, guys," he said meekly, "I guess Alpha and I still have to do more adjustments."

"It's cool," Zack said, "That was actually pretty fun."

"Yeah, until you landed on me," Trini mumbled.

"You'd be fine with it if I was Tamsin."

"Shut up." Trini punched him in the arm and he responded by laughing.

"Jason," Billy said, "Should I show you guys the morpher? How to morph, I mean?"

"Yeah, Billy, that's a good idea," Jason answered, "Show us."

"Okay," Billy whispered, "Okay." He set his feet and rolled his shoulders and lifted his head, reaching for his pocket, "It's morphin' time!" He threw out his arms, his morpher in his hands. A bright, blue light exploded out and then Kimberly could see his armor coming out from the center and consuming Billy. It was exactly how they usually morphed, except they weren't on the ship. They were outside. Outside and Billy was morphing. A big, open mouth smile appeared on her face and she looked at everyone else noticing the amused and awe-struck looks across each one of them. Then Billy was fully morphed. His hands were empty and his coin attached to him, but now it was with the morpher instead of on its own. "See?!" Billy exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"Dude," Zack cooed, "That's so cool."

"So dope," Trini added.

Both Kimberly and Jason were speechless. Kimberly couldn't even fathom how amazing Billy was to even develop these devices. He used tech he wasn't even familiar with but was able to make something amazing. Suddenly, Kimberly was filled with emotions for her entire team, her family. She looked at Billy, her brother, and filled with pride. His intelligence knew no limits. Then she turned to the rest. Zack, her partner in crime. He was the guy who would be gung ho to whatever shenanigans they'd come up with without a second thought. Then she looked at Jason, her best friend. He could be her moral conscience if he could, and was always willing to listen, something her parents couldn't even provide her. Then finally, her eyes landed on Trini, her confidant and, to quote Meredith Grey and Christina Yang, "her person." If Kimberly were to accidentally kill someone, Trini would be the one she'd call to help bury the body, and vice versa. She loved this tiny family more than her own life and she still couldn't believe that fate brought them together.

Billy then grabbed onto the morpher and his armor resided. "Neat, huh?" he asked.

"That was," Jason started, he paused and smiled so full of pride, "So great." He walked up to Billy and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Should we try teleporting back?" Zack suggested with a crooked, sly smirk on his face.

Billy smiled, Jason looked at him blankly, and Kimberly and Trini groaned. Then Jason said, "Yeah." Then they pulled out their communicators and readied themselves.

sss

Trini poked at her communicator on her wrist as she laid on her back the floor of Kim's room with her biology book opened next to her head. Kim sat near her on the floor, her own biology book on her lap, but she wasn't paying attention to it, but rather to her phone. Things felt as if they were coming together pretty well regarding the team. Especially with the increasing threats of Rita, knowing she could defend herself by morphing without being in proximity to the ship, or if she were caught alone. It put her at slight ease knowing it was the same for the rest of the team.

"Well, Tommy texted back. Finally," Kim said.

"What'd he say?"

"He's probably not gonna show up to school for the rest of the week. Still going to the masquerade though."

Trini hummed then said, "Tamsin said the same." Then Trini sat up and looked at Kim. "What do you think is up with them?"

Kim shook her head, "I dunno. It's weird, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know we've known them for over a month but, this past week..."

"They're acting different."

"Yeah."

They both went quiet for a moment, looking away from each other. Trini glanced back at her biology book. "At least we can count on this," she motioned to the still-opened book, "To be consistent."

Kim let out a laugh and leaned back on her hands, "Right." She paused and looked up to her ceiling and rolled her head. "Oh, I forgot to ask, how'd your presentation go for history?"

"Oh, it went well. I got lucky with Angela. She's crazy smart."

"Zack seems to be crushing on her."

"Please, the international space station could see that."

Kim laughed, which in turn caused Trini to smile. Their light moment was cut short when they heard an explosion nearby. The girls looked at each other before jumping to their feet and reaching to Kim's window. Trini moved the curtains and they saw a fire a couple blocks over. "That's the warehouse district," Kim informed.

"Should we check it out?" Trini asked.

"Well, we can morph now."

"Okay. I'll send a text to the guys and let them know to be on standby." Kim nodded her agreement. "Let's go."

Kim lead the way through her home with Trini on her heels. They left the house and ran through the darkened streets and made it to the beginning of the warehouse district.

"Shall we?" Kim asked.

"Let's do it."

In unison, both Trini and Kim pulled out their morphers and stuck them outright in front of them. Lights of yellow and pink shined and their armors expanded and covered their bodies and then they were morphed and ready.

"This is so cool," Kim reiterated.

"Seriously is," Trini agreed. "Okay, Kimmy, or, I mean Pink, let's check out the fire."

"Right." They both ran to the building on fire and entered. "Doesn't look like there's anyone in here."

"Good."

"But we should try to put it out. I think I saw a fire hydrant outside."

They ran back the entrance and just as Kim exited, something hit her and sent her hurling to the side. Almost as soon as Kim was out of view, a monster, a skeleton-like monster, entered the door frame and kicked Trini square in the chest and sent her back into the warehouse, making her roll backwards, crashing into some shelves that fell over her.

"So, you are the power rangers?" Trini moved the shelf that was on her head before lifting herself up. "I am Bones."

"A bit on the nose there, isn't it?" Trini taunted as she got to her feet. Bones then pulled out a sword. "If that's how you wanna play." Trini then held out her hands to her side as her daggers formed at her hands. "Let's do this."

Bones swung his sword in a circle then ran forward as Trini ran to meet him. He brought down his sword but Trini was able to block his sword with her daggers, then she freed one and swiped at Bones, but he jumped back and swung at Trini again. Trini fell to the ground and swiped her leg out, but Bones once again jumped back. Trini rolled back to her feet and got in a defensive position with her daggers.

"Not bad, yellow ranger, but it is futile. Just surrender."

"Not likely." Trini jumped up and readied herself just as Bones did. Then there was an explosion outside that blew a piece of the doorway down. Bones took cover as Trini ran to the side. "Shit, Kim," she said to herself. She ran as fast as she could to the doorway, narrowly missing a kind of energy blast that Bones shot at her. The second she got out, she saw Kim on the ground, her head barely up, with two monsters in gold armor. They must've been Goldar and his other golden partner, Scorpina as Kim called her; and they were circling Kim.

Gripping her daggers, Trini ran straight at Goldar, charging one of her daggers, then jumped up and threw it at Goldar, hitting him in the shoulder, knocking him away. Trini landed, charged her other dagger and threw it at the other gold armored monster hitting it in the center of its torso. "Kim," she said as she grabbed Kim, bringing her to her feet, "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good."

"We gotta call the others." Trini reached for her communicator- Alpha had mentioned they'd attach to their armor- and pressed the distress button then used the tech in her suit to regenerate her daggers. "There's another one inside the wear house, the bone one you mentioned." Just as she said it, Bones came out.

"Trini, we're three on two, we're outnumbered." Kim then brought out her bow.

"We just gotta hang on until the boys get here."

They readied themselves and then ran at them. It was a mess of limps, sparks, and cries of pain. Trini got hit but also hit. Kim shot out arrows but also took blows. Trini felt like she was overheating and from the screen inside her helmet it appeared that her shields were down to 60%. Then Kim got lifted by the neck by Goldar and thrown into her, knocking them both to the ground but when they recovered, they were surrounded. "Shit," they both breathed.

Suddenly there was a blast and Scorpina was knocked away then a flash of red crashed into Goldar as a flash of blue crashed into Bones. "Someone call the cavalry?" It was Zack standing a few feet away, holding his ax in its blaster form.

"Thanks for joining us," Trini grumbled as she pulled up Kim, who was heavily leaning on her.

"Hey, we teleported here the second we got the distress call. Billy's communicators worked!" Trini could actually hear the smile on Zack's face as he spoke.

"Can't argue that," Kim managed to say.

Then the other two joined them. "You two okay?" Jason asked.

"Kim got a bit of a beat down. Two on one, while Bones trapped me inside the warehouse," Trini informed.

"I'm good," Kim assured.

There was a loud roar and the rangers all turned toward the source of the roar. They saw the three enemies standing in a menacing stance with Bones in the middle.

"Goldar, Scorpina," Bones blurted, "I can handle this. You two go and find the dragon."

"Very well," Goldar growled, "But do not fail." Then they both jumped into the air and disappeared.

Trini couldn't lie and say she was angry they left. Bones was already strong enough, she couldn't imagine what Kim went through fighting both Goldar and Scorpina. She gripped her daggers and brought them up, planting her feet, ready to move.

"Well, now who's not fighting fair?" Bones taunted, bringing up his sword.

"You're still going down, bonehead!" Zack challenged, twirling his ax.

"God, that was lame, Zack," Trini mumbled.

"Now, now, that's not admirable, is it?" Then Bones quickly swung his sword, sending an energy blast at the rangers.

Thankfully everyone dodged it, but Bones made his way forward and struck Billy then kicked him away. Then he turned to Trini, who blocked a swing with her daggers, but caught Bones's fist at her neck, which caused her to drop her guard as she gasped for air. Bones then wrapped an arm around her neck placing her in a choke hold with Bones at her back. Trini couldn't exactly see, she wasn't sure if it was Jason or Kim, but one of them jumped forward and swung their weapon at Bones, which he dodged- dragging her in the process as she struggled against his grip- and used his sword to battle them out. Then Bones turned, swinging Trini and let her go just in time to crash into her fellow ranger. It was Jason.

Trini groaned, "Sorry, Jay."

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"Solid." But she was hurting. Being in that bent-backwards position wasn't comfortable and it hurt her back. Plus, her neck felt like she had a rope tied around it.

Trini lifted her head and saw Kim and Zack double teaming Bones, before he easily knocked them both away. Then Billy came from the air with his lance and managed a hit, which threw Bones off balance. Trini tried to get to her feet, but she stumbled then saw Bones slash at Billy.

"You're all pathetic!" Bones shouted.

"Least we got skin!" Zack yelled back.

At least that wasn't as lame, Trini thought as she finally made it to her feet.

"That's it!" Jason shouted, "You're done! Guys, let's bring 'em together!"

They threw their weapons together and created their power blaster. Jason held it as the rest stood behind him then he fired and hit Bones dead center, however, his body didn't disintegrate as it should have. "What the hell!" Trini shouted in frustration as pieces of Bones's body slowly made their way together.

Then Bones was back together and charged at them. He knocked them down, slashed at them, hurt them, but they were able to blast him again. But once again, his body slowly got back together.

"Guys, his head!" Billy called out, "Look!" Bones's eyes glowed red and seemed to be controlled his body. "I think we need to destroy his head."

"I got this," Trini said as she walked up to Bones's head, twirling a dagger in one hand, then charging both. "So long, bonehead." Trini then brought down both super charged daggers into Bones's face causing a small explosion. Slowly, Bones's body parts vanished and they were rid of him.

"Damn," Kim mumbled, "That was intense."

"Sure was," Trini agreed.

"Jason," Billy said, "What did Bones mean by 'finding the dragon?'"

"I don't know," Jason answered, "But we should probably go back to the ship and speak to Zordon about this."

They all agreed and were about to teleport until an energy blast hit the ground in the middle of where they were all standing and sent them reeling backwards. Trini crashed into a tree, causing it to break in half as Kim collided with a boulder next to her, shattering it. Trini couldn't see where the boys landed.

sss

Tommy had opted to be the one to don the green ranger armor as Tamsin stayed back. She had a green bandana around her mouth and a dark denim jacket that had a dark grey cotton hood on it just in case she was seen. They didn't want the rangers to recognize her just in case. Now that the rangers had been stunned, Tommy stepped out from the shadows, holding the golden staff. Instead of the green coin in the center as it was before, there was a black stone. Goldar had mentioned it was a stone from a long since desolated planet that no one remembered the name to any longer, but they called it the stone of darkness. It would give the wielder more power, which the twins were okay with.

"Good to meet you, power rangers," Tommy taunted.

"Wh-what? Rita?" Jason questioned as he staggered up to his feet.

"No. I'm worse." Then Tommy sprung forward just as Jason got to his feet and swung the staff, striking Jason across the back. Zack threw a punch, but Tommy easily dodged it and kneed him in the abdomen before upper cutting him. Billy came at him with a flying kick, but Tommy grabbed his leg then swung him, throwing him into Jason. Both Trini and Kimberly came at him and he blocked Trini's kick, caught Kimberly's punch to his side, but then ducked her hook before kick sweeping her to the floor. He spun himself and threw a kick up, catching Trini and sending her backwards before rolling back onto his feet. "You're all so weak and pathetic. How did the coins choose you?"

"Who are you?!" Zack demanded as he brought out his ax.

"Your new best friend," Tommy answered and laughed as he ran at them again. Zack swung his ax downwards, but Tommy blocked it with the staff, then kicked Zack in the side before pushing the ax side ways, then kicking Zack back. Jason came at him and landed a swipe of his sword across Tommy's chest, which caused Tamsin to tense as she continued watching from the shadows. Tommy faltered back a little as Billy swung his lance at him. He blocked the blow, but then an energized arrow hit him in the shoulder causing him to stumble backwards. Then Trini was suddenly in the air and threw her energized daggers at him. He blocked one, but the other hit him in the abdomen and he fell back and rolled. He quickly regained himself and rose slowly. "Not bad." Tamsin got to her feet, crow bar in hand, ready to fight if necessary. "But, not enough." Tommy's staff charged up and lit up green and gold before he stuck it in the ground and the ground below each ranger's feet exploded up. They all fell backwards and Tamsin eased again, a smile crossing her covered face.

"Guys," Jason managed to say as he slowly got up, "We've got to retreat."

"No," Zack argued, "We can take him."

"No, Black," Trini said, grabbing his shoulder, "This guy is too strong."

Tamsin's smiled wavered a bit at hearing Trini's pained voice.

"Red's right," Kimberly said, while she held her shoulder. Tommy's head fell slightly. "We've got to retreat."

Then they all began to glow in electric, color coded light, then vanished.

"What the hell?!" Tamsin exclaimed as she stood up, pulled the hood off her head and brought down her bandana, then walked out from the bushes. "What the hell just happened?"

"Did they just," Tommy paused as the face plate of his helmet receded, "Disappear?"

"Yeah. But how?"

"I dunno, but we scared them."

Tamsin smiled as she walked up to Tommy, "We sure did. What's the next step?"

"We enter the ship."