The afternoon spent with Jason, even though it was mostly in silence, boosted my spirits more than I could have thought possible. We walked the way back from the grove without words too, footsteps in sync, and somewhere along the way my hand found its way into his.

"How're your ribs?" I asked him at one point.

"Healed over, more or less," came the reply.

"Quicker than usual," I commented, shooting him a look.

"Yeah, upside to these powers."

I bit my lip, unfamiliar with the premise. There were dark rings under his eyes that hadn't been there before, and the creases that lined the corners of them seem to be getting deeper with time. It made me hesitant to ask what the downside to his powers was.

They appeared all of a sudden. One moment, Jason and I were alone, and the next, in a flash of unexpected light, Rita and Zedd appeared.

Fear gripped my spine, and I fought hard to hold on to my bravado. My fists came up, and I shifted my weight to the back of my heels, mimicking Jason's stance. He subtly shifted himself closer to me, and I lifted my chin, meeting Zedd's red visor-like stare head on.

"So we meet again Pink Princess," he growled slash rasped slash breathed. He turned that hideous red body around, apparently looking for something or someone. Not finding who he was looking for, he turned back to me with barely concealed glee. "Where's the white knight? No Tommy around to save you this time!"

My face twisted in incredulity and my eyes went into an automatic roll at the ridiculousness of his statement. "This is Ja-son," I drawled it out with exaggerated patience.

"We know Red Ranger!" Rita screeched in reply.

"Yes. Then you'll also know that he'll never let you get close enough to even try. See if you can put me in an icky urn now you, you" —cast around for insults— "cone-head!"

Jason turned to me, faintly aghast. "Cone-head?"

I flushed, it wasn't one of my best. "Well, it's hard. You gotta admit, Rita's actually kinda beautiful."

His eyebrows vanished into his hairline.

But at least Rita appeared to appreciate the sentiment. She brandished her wand at me in delight, "Hear that Zeddy!"

Her disgusting skinless freak of a husband had his visor trained on Jason, and didn't appear to have heard her, which was a wonder given the decibel at which she spoke.

"Kim?" Jason called over his shoulder in a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"You were right." There was a brief pause as he backed me up even further away from Zedd. "I'd never let them get close enough to try."

I frowned at him in confusion, only just noticing the arrival of Goldar and a flock of Tengus. They descended upon the clearing in a flock of black and oily feathers like a swarm of locusts, a strident squawking raising the hair on my arms.

Jason's eyes swept across the enemy around him even as he lifted his wrist. "Billy, come in. I've got Kimberly with me. Get her out, now."

I stared at him mouth agape, just realizing his intention. "Don't you dare. Jason! Jason!"

The rushing filled my ears, and the last thing I saw before the energy transported me to safety was a brief flash of the Power Staff before an awesome power encased him in the light of gold.

Unused to being teleported so rudely away I landed ungracefully on my knees in the Power Chamber. I shook my hair out of my eyes, looking around wildly before spotting a figure by the consoles who turned to face me as I got up.

"Oh, hello Kim," said my long time friend nervously.

I trained a ferocious scowl on him in return, and he at least had the grace to look guilty.

"Why?!" I yelled, uncaring that he had been operating on Jason's instructions. I pushed past him in great agitation to stand by the viewing globe that was now fixed to a hole in the wall. "Send me back!" I demanded, "He's all alone down there!"

"I'm afraid that would not be prudent, given your lack of powers," he stopped to stand by me in front of the globe, continuing, "and the strength and numbers the enemy presents."

"Not prudent?" I hissed, whirling around and glaring at him, "not prudent?"

"Kim, Jason is perfectly capable of managing circumstan—"

"William Cranston, you send the rest of the Rangers down there to him now or I swear to God I'm gonna gut you."

He gulped. But I knew him well, and from the resolute set to his expression, I also knew that he wouldn't be sending in backup anytime soon.

He touched my arm. "Just turn around and look. Please."

I swung forcefully back to the globe as Billy fiddled with something at the consoles, zooming out so that I could take in the entire battle. True enough, Jason was handling it fine on his own.

"The Gold Powers have chosen well," Billy said matter-of-factly, "and Jason is already a formidable force even without them."

My foot started a wild dance on the floor. I won't relax until it was over, and I had Jason back safe with me.

Billy's hand settled on my shoulder, and together we watched as Jason eviscerated the Tengus one by one.

There was a dark beauty in fighting, and Jason, more than anyone else, had always been able to bring that to light. I watched as he weaved through the enemy, shifting skilfully between stances, a blend of attacks and deflects; a study in poetry in the art he loved so well. So beautiful.

I felt Billy move next to me and I flushed, realizing that I had spoken aloud.

"What?" I countered defensively.

He shook his head as he considered me. "Nothing," he said, with a small shrug to his shoulders even as a slight frown remained on his face.

I turned back to the globe, determined to ignore him, and tracked Jason with my eyes. I saw Goldar finally lose patience with the Tengus and draw his mighty sword, decapitating the two nearest to him in frustrated fury. He stepped forward menacingly and grabbed one by the scuff of its neck, throwing it aside with a terrifying bellow.

The rest of the warriors melted backwards in fear, leaving him to meet Jason alone.

"Cowards! Fools, all!" he turned his monstrous head around in a circle and snarled at them. He brandished his sword at Jason, who had his arms up and legs braced, silently observing him. "There are thirty of you and only one of him!" he roared at his minions, and I could feel the gush of vitriol spew from him even from the safety of where I was.

Goldar turned to face Jason, nearly twice his height, and bared his teeth in a hideous growl. Jason shifted his weight in response, and dug his feet into the grass. I barely caught the brief nod that Zedd gave, but that was all Goldar needed. And with a sudden lunge and a swing of his heavy sword, they began their terrifying dance of death.

Observing a battle going on was vastly different from being in it, when adrenaline fuels your veins and instinct takes over. Goldar was freakishly fast for his size and cumbersome armor, and there was a reason why he alone was Rita's, and then, Zedd's, favorite general. The blows that Jason deflected seemed magnified to my eyes and ears and the sound of armor clashing sent tremors running through me that I tried to quash.

Goldar hated Jason with an intensity that was beyond the realm of normal reason, and he did not skimp on the force of his attacks and the heaviness of his blows. His massive arm swung up and rained down in a staccato reminiscent of a jackhammer that sent Jason nearly to his knees. But Jason had been doing this for a long time, and unlike Goldar, he never lost his cool, and knew better than to be blinded by emotion. He saw an opening and seized it, a movement so swift that Goldar barely had time to react, and reached through with a clean grab and a savage twist that sent Goldar's sword flying a distance away. There was a sickening crack as Jason brought a knee up, and Goldar's wrist hung at an awkward angle.

Goldar let out a bone-chilling howl that resonated off the trees in the clearing. Spittle hung from his fanged jaws as he cradled his broken wrist to his chest, his eyes red with paralyzing hatred as he lunged rabidly at Jason in manic fury. The heavy, clawed paw of his left arm came at Jason in a series of vicious swipes that had Jason leaping backwards in a rhythmic pattern to avoid.

And then I saw it. Almost too fast for the eye to see, but I saw it. A shimmer in his suit, a brief, brief flash of Jason's civilian form before he was armored up again in black and gold. I whirled around and grabbed Billy's arm, my nails sinking deep, bile in my mouth. "Did you see that?"

My eyes flew back to Jason in the globe, but my grip on Billy didn't diminish. "Billy," I repeated, close to losing it.

He frowned at me, looking confused. "No, I didn't, Kim. What're you talking about?"

"It," I insisted. "That.. that shimmer, I could've sworn…" I trailed off with my heart in my mouth as I saw Goldar take another massive swing at Jason which he somehow managed to deftly block, and counter with a powerful kick to the torso that sent Goldar flying three feet backwards. Enraged, Goldar roared, picking himself up as Zedd finally stepped forward, an eerie red glow to the tip of his staff.

I froze as another thought struck me, and my insides started to swirl with a sick kind of fear. "Billy… why are Rita and Zedd after Jason too?"

He ignored me, a deeper frown on his face as he glued his attention to the globe. His eyes flew fast between Zedd and the remaining warriors, then to the savage threat that was Goldar. I knew the moment realization dawned, and saw him vault forward in a rush to fiddle with the gazillion buttons and knobs on the console as Rito suddenly appeared with a whole flock of fresh Tengus on his tail.

Ice gripped my spine and I whirled around in horror. "Send me back. Send me back, now!" I screamed senselessly at Billy, even as Jason summoned the Power Staff and called upon a Gold Rush.

But Billy did me one better. He teleported Jason out mid-strike; one moment a blur of gold energy hurtling through the Tengus with a direct path set towards Rito, and the next safe and sound in the Power Chamber.

I flew towards Jason as he rose from a crouch, the staff still glowing with unused power in his gloved fist. This was the first time I've been close to Jason in his morphed form. And it was the oddest thing, but there was a charge, a restlessness, a disturbance to the air around him that was palpable. I could feel it radiate off him.

I glanced over at Billy to see if he had the same kind reaction I did, but he showed no signs of noticing anything untoward.

Then Jason removed his helmet and stowed the staff and it was gone.

"What is it, Billy?" he asked tightly, tension in the line of his shoulders.

Billy looked disturbed, and had one of those expressions on his face when he had worked something unpleasant out in his mind and was hesitant to tell it to us.

I shifted my focus to Jason, my fear from before not yet completely gone, and my hands came up automatically, running over his arms in a most inane bid to feel for injuries.

He took his eyes off Billy for a moment, and his gaze softened to murmur a quick, "I'm fine, Kim."

I nodded, and his eyes flew back to Billy once again, the look he spared me earlier gone, replaced by a steely glint that we all knew not to cross.

Billy shifted uncertainly from one foot to the other, and I knew that neither Jason nor I were going to like the news I'm sure he had for us.

"I'm sorry, Jase, but I have reason to believe that it was a set-up, one with the intention to divest you of your powers."

My mouth fell open. I knew it. I knew it.

Jason frowned, and Billy stepped forward to elaborate.

"The Gold Powers were entrusted to you for safekeeping. If they fall into the wrong hands..."

Jason nodded grimly, "I knew that, Billy. But why'd you pull me out of battle?"

Billy wasted no time mincing words. "Jase, I suspect that Rita and Zedd are deliberately trying to weaken you for the sole intention of claiming your powers for their own."

I took a moment to absorb this. "A-and Mondo?" I asked, voice coming out high.

Billy glanced at me. "Mondo and Gasket too, and it's twofold for them, for Jason is also their biggest threat." He scrunched up his face, struggling to explain things to us so we could understand. "I'm theorizing, but if Jason weakens — loses the strength to control the powers, they will then have no host. And therefore, be available for the next body able to take on the power."

Jason stood silent, thinking. And then he looked up and met Billy's eyes. "It doesn't change anything. I vowed to guard them with my life, and I will, until Trey is strong enough for me to return it safely to him again."

Billy nodded, expecting nothing less, and they shared a long look that I could not make sense of. Then Billy nodded again, slowly this time and Jason dismissed the topic with a glance around the room.

"Zordon not back yet?" he asked.

I followed his gaze and for the first time, noticed that neither Zordon nor Alpha was present.

Billy shook his head in reply, and noticed my apparent confusion. "He and Alpha went to Triforia, to lend their aid to the unification process of their Lord," he informed me.

"Oh."

Jason's warm hand came to rest on my shoulder. "It's nothing, Kim," he said.

I placed my hand over his, automatically bringing it down to hold loosely between my own.

He said it was nothing. But I wasn't so sure. I knew what I saw, and I saw it.

That shimmer in his suit...

That tell-tale moment when his powers had failed.