Chapter 9

Black Distraction

Zack didn't feel like sleeping, he needed to do something.

Jason probably wouldn't like Zack's midnight patrols. He wouldn't understand how important it was. That Zedd guy could attack at any time, and, when he did, it would probably be at night. Zack would be there before any of the others even got out of bed.

Zack probably couldn't beat Zedd on his own though. But someone needed to tell the team what was going on. They really needed a better communication system than texting, but Zack couldn't think of one.

Zack put on an old gray sweatshirt and covered his head with the hood. He took a short walk through the trailer park. Everything was falling apart, rusted, and rotting. The ocean air was hard on wood and metal. A monster attacks downtown, so they get a shiny new downtown. If only they could have a new trailer park. At least it was quiet.

Jason would call him reckless. But what Jason didn't know, wouldn't hurt him. If there was an attack, he might even admit it was a good thing that Zack was out on patrol.

When Zack came to the last home, he took a good look at his surroundings. Everything was still. Nearly effortlessly, he jumped over the home and the fence surrounding the park. He landed on the sidewalk on the other side without a sound.

There wasn't anything on the other side but fields. The road was pitch black. He looked east toward the gold mine. Sometimes, Kim came through to hike the trails. He wondered if he would run into her.

Zack looked west, down the road into town. Last time he made it to the hole where the Krispy Kreme was in 54 seconds. He knew Kim could do it in under 50. She was the fastest. If she wanted to, she could probably keep up with freeway traffic on her morning run. But tonight Zack was going to beat her time.

As he took out his phone to time himself, he suddenly felt like he was being watched. There were no cars on the road and he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, even with his enhanced vision. He had been having that feeling a lot since they took down Goldar, so it was probably nothing.

He hit the timer on his phone and took off, full speed, toward downtown. His feet barely touched the ground as the world blurred past him. He stopped by catching himself on a fire hydrant. He hit the timer on his phone before gravity could catch up. It read 52 seconds and some change. He still had a ways to go.

Downtown was quiet too. It was being rebuilt after the Goldar attack and the workers always went home at 7. They couldn't work during the night, Billy said something about city council and noise pollution. Zack didn't know, he wasn't really listening.

Zack decided to do the responsible thing and make a circle around the area to look for anything suspicious before climbing the crane. It was the tallest thing in town, but the building it was working on was finished. The workers would probably move it any day now.

Zack noticed immediately that there were more white vans than usual. They were all labeled with a different business, Angel Plumbing, Jefferson Construction, TJ's Electrical. Zack wondered how many were legit and how many were government. No wonder he felt like he was being watched all the time.

Zack's mom had been glad he had been going back to school for the last few weeks. It made him feel good. They were all they had left. Well, now Zack had his friends too. She was overjoyed to meet them. He wished he could tell her he was a Power Ranger. She would be proud of him, one last time before she-

'DAMN IT!' Zack screamed inside his head. He couldn't go ten minutes without thinking about it. And once he thought about it, he couldn't not think about how his mom-. He winced, trying to get the thought out of his head.

Zack crossed a dark street. A few seconds later and he was down by the marina. Zack opened a nondescript door on the side of an old fish processing warehouse. It was totally empty inside except for some rusted factory parts. That wasn't what he was looking for. He descended some stairs to a boiler room.

A bunch of people were inside, yelling at the two guys fighting in a cage at the center.

The crowd was pretty big for a small fishing town. That's what happens when you mix an army of pissed off construction workers with a bunch of local sea dogs. Zack found the guy arranging the fights. "How much if you win?"

The guy looked Zack over. He wasn't impressed. "$200."

"I'm next."

The guy huffed. "Your funeral, pretty boy. You're up in two."

Now that he was closer to the ring, he got a good look at the fighters. One was a sailor, top heavy with tats up and down her arms. The other was Tommy Oliver, darker skin, no tattoos, and those feet set like she was ready to kill someone. Zack snorted when he recognized her.

Tommy threw a wild haymaker. The sailor dodged and jabbed her in the side. She pushed forward, punching wildly. Tommy got lucky with a sidestep and got some distance, but not after taking a few hits. Tommy was hurting. The sailor had her.

There were no weight classes, the sailor was huge. Throwing that punch was crazy, but Tommy wasn't going to win if she didn't finish it quickly.

Squaring off again, Tommy got in close and threw another strong punch, that same dumb risk. She was supposed to be a striker, Zack knew that from personal experience. Why was she suddenly so bad at it?

The sailor grabbed at Tommy through the exposure, but she twisted out and struck hard twice. One punch went across the chin and the other right into the forehead.

The sailor pushed through it trying to stay on the attack. Tommy circled and the sailor went for a jab to keep her back. With her guard dropped, Tommy unleashed a kick, her shin cracked against the side of the lady's head.

The sailor staggered and Tommy punched her in the face over and over as she went down. The ref finally pulled Tommy off of her, ending the fight.

Tommy grabbed a towel and stared at the floor.

"Good fight."

She flinched when she saw him. Then she glared for a few seconds. "Thanks." Tommy went back to toweling her face.

"I saw what you did."

She eyed him again.

"She fell for the stupid punch the last time thinking you were gonna fuck it up again. It was a risk, but it paid off."

Her expression relaxed. "Are you gonna get up there? Or are you just betting?"

"I'm on after this one."

"Shit. Glad I won some money just now." Tommy put some ice on her cheek.

The next two fighters entered the cage. The ref started yelling something no one could hear over the shouting.

"Why do it though?" Tommy asked. "It's not like it's a challenge for you."

"My mom's insurance doesn't cover her meds anymore." The insurance company dropped her, saying she went past her limit. She needed a refill in a few days, but Zack didn't want to think about that. "This is the easiest way to get money."

"Jason's cool with it?"

"I didn't ask." Zack wasn't worried about Jason. "Why do you do it? Challenge?"

"Saving up to buy a car," Tommy said sarcastically. Then she looked away, like she was guilty or something. "I don't know."

"Thought you did legit MMA."

"Too many rules."

Zack had to laugh at that one. "You like the rush."

"You got a problem with that?"

"No." Zack knew he liked Tommy for a reason. "I know that feeling. You get close to dying and all the bullshit falls away."

Tommy searched him out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, well, this is the closest I can get to fighting rock monsters anymore." She flipped a shirt over her shoulder and walked away. "You better win, I'm putting money on you."

Zack's fight was hard. His opponent was a big dude, and, unfortunately for Zack, he was not slow. Zack had to act like he was just barely faster than the other guy so he didn't get hit or grabbed.

If the guy actually landed a good punch, he would have broken his hand. And if the guy managed to grab him, Zack didn't know if he could stop himself from laughing. What was he going to do? Break his arm?

With all the people watching, somebody might suspect something. Claiming to be Bruce Lee's illegitimate son probably wouldn't work. Then Zordon would want to talk at him or some bullshit.

The guy was way overconfident. Every time he threw a punch, Zack would tap him. Well, it felt like a tap anyway. The guy acted like Zack hit him with a steel beam. A few taps on the body and one good tap on the head and he was floored.

Zack collected his winnings and got out of there before anyone could ask him any questions. Tommy gave him a nod on his way out. She was a good kid, perfect for the team. Jason and Kim just couldn't let the shit go.

Back on the street, Zack headed back downtown. A white van turned onto the street behind him. Zack didn't change course. Whoever was in the van didn't know who he was, and they weren't going to blow their cover to give some kid a warning about being out after curfew. On the other hand, he wasn't going to stare it down either. He played it cool.

Zack turned down an alley. When he got out of sight, he jumped onto the roof of the closest building. He silently made his way around, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, around the van.

They worried too much. He was fine, Trini's leg had healed, Billy didn't die, and Kim looked badass with two black eyes. Zack didn't really care about the whole mind-control thing Billy was stuck on. But Kim... Kim had problems. It couldn't just have been seeing Tommy beat the shit out of them, something must have been going on with her.

He jumped off the roof he was on and landed on the sidewalk. He kept going.

They just needed to be able to roll with whatever happened. People do stuff, they can't just freak out every time someone does something they don't like. Sometimes bad shit is gonna go down, they can't save everyone. Especially not with all the damn rules.

Zack circled back around to the crane. His job was done, he was ready to do something crazy. In three leaps he made it to the top of the crane. He had a great view of the whole town. He should have started with that and watched from there. Much less work than going on patrol, and he liked being somewhere they didn't want him to be.

He sat with his feet dangling over the edge. Yellow light crept over the mountains and the stars faded away. That was his favorite part, when he could see the whole town and the ghosts of the people who lived there.

They were all going to wake up and start moving around. And Zack would go back home to get some sleep and maybe catch second period.

He could see the white van that had been following him. It parked a block away. One of the two vans below him started up and moved to the other side of the road. Zack could have sworn there were three vans before. Whoever it was, they weren't trying to be inconspicuous. What were they doing?

Zack walked out to the end of the crane arm and crouched. There was a homeless guy sleeping on the rooftop directly below. All the action was directed in this specific spot.

Zack dropped from the crane, morphing as he fell. He landed in full armor with a loud 'BOOM'.

The homeless guy recoiled from the noise. No, not fear, confusion. He was more shocked than afraid. He was trying to understand what he was seeing. The guy was staring at Zack's armor. It was almost like he was sizing him up.

"What are you doing here?" Zack asked.

The not-homeless guy tried to mumble something and stood up. He adjusted the blanket around himself and walked away. Then he hunched himself over. "The black one is here," he whispered and headed toward the door to the roof. Zack followed him.

"I've been made." The guy straightened himself, turned around to face Zack, and shrugged off the blanket.

"I'm not here to fight," Zack reassured him. "What's going on?"

The guy folded his hands in front of himself.

"Not answering?"

The guy's only response was a glare. His silence itched Zack's mind.

The door to the roof burst open. A squad of soldiers in black armor leveled rifles at him. "ON THE GROUND! ON THE GROUND!" They wore helmets and masks, he couldn't see their faces.

Zack didn't change his stance. There were seven soldiers in full gear and the not-homeless guy pointed a pistol at him. This was not what Zack had in mind for the night. He was up for fighting Zedd, not some soldiers. Now he was stuck. Ranger armor was probably bulletproof, and they were kittens compared to his strength and reflexes, but they wouldn't know that.

They did keep repeating "On the ground!" and Zack was not about to do that. If they wouldn't chill, he might have to fight them.

Zack realized where he was, which specific roof it was. He was where the Krispy Kreme used to be, right above the Zeo Crystal. They had to be up to something.

"Seen any aliens lately?" he asked.

The soldiers held their guns on him. They had to know who he was. Phone videos of them fighting Rita's putties were all over the internet.

"Yeah, I'm not afraid of bullets. Got anything bigger?"

The soldiers opened fire on him.

The first bullet bounced off of his helmet. Zack didn't feel it. He was definitely bulletproof. More hit his chest, arms, and legs. One hit his dick. One of those bastards aimed at his dick.

Zack moved forward when they ran out of ammo. He grabbed two guys and pulled them out of his way. They weren't going to stop him from seeing what they were doing. The world hadn't been destroyed, so they hadn't moved it at the very least.

Just as he touched the door, something roared behind him. The soldiers shot at something else. Zack looked over his shoulder to find a hulking gray pig monster behind him. It studied him with beady little eyes.

Red Hands

Jason reached for the beeping phone that woke him up. The time said he still had a half hour of sleep. He had a text that said [Downtown]. There wasn't a number listed to it.

The meaning was clear enough. Zordon wanted him downtown. He morphed and teleported.

Morning sunlight reached over the mountains. Trini was already there, spinning her sais around her fingers. "You forget your sword, boss?"

It was in the command center, he wasn't about to go get it. Jason ignored the question. "What's going on?"

Trini looked around for anything odd. "Not sure. I just got here too."

Kim landed and notched an arrow. "Someone needs to tell Zedd some of us have morning routines we need to complete before we start fighting."

"Do you see him?" Jason asked.

"No, but who else would it be?"

"I can think of someone." Rita had appeared just down the sidewalk with her staff slung over her shoulders. She was wearing a normal dress and smirking at him.

The rangers were ready this time. Trini and Kim pointed their weapons at her, but she kept her eyes on Jason. She nodded to something behind him. He wasn't about to take the bait.

"He wants to talk to you, Red," Rita said.

Jason could feel Zedd's gaze on him. He was waiting. But he wasn't about to let Rita get away again. "You're coming with us."

Rita smiled and rolled her eyes. Zack, in his black armor, crashed into the ground. Some kind of ogre roared on a roof above him.

"Down, Squat." Rita waved her hand and the monster disappeared. "You didn't think Goldar was the only one, did you? No, I've got more." With a flick of her fingers a new monster appeared. This one was tall and thin with fangs and wings. "That one's my least favorite. Let's see if you can kill it." Rita laughed before teleporting away.

Zack got to his feet. "I'll go get my zord and run this thing down."

"No escalation," Jason said. "We can take it without them." He looked to Kim and Trini who nodded.

"Okay, but they're doing something to the Zeo Crystal in there," Zack said. He pointed to the new structure that had been built over the crystal. A soldier stood on the roof. "I didn't get to see what."

If anyone was trying anything with the Zeo Crystal, they had to stop it. Jason took a look at Zedd, waiting for him down the street. He winced. He needed to be in too many places at once.

"I'll get Billy on it. You guys take that thing."

Kim jumped up onto a roof to get a good shooting position while Trini and Zack circled around it. Jason felt a little lighter knowing they would take it down.

Jason sent Billy a message, and gave him instructions on what he needed to do.

Zedd stayed where he was. Jason walked up to meet him. A car came around a corner and screeched to a halt right behind Zedd. He didn't react. Another car came behind it and rear-ended it. A few cars started piling up behind Jason. Traffic was starting to build up. People had to get out of their cars to get out of there.

Jason stayed focused on Zedd. He owed it to them to take on this threat. He wouldn't hurt anyone if Jason could help it. They met just a foot apart, face to whatever Zedd had instead of a face.

"Red ranger." Zedd ground out the words as he turned his head to look at Jason. "Clearly you have learned nothing since our last meeting. In fact, you seemed to have picked up a bad habit."

Jason wasn't going to let Zedd get to him. He wanted him angry, frustrated, thrown off balance. Jason planted his feet to the ground.

Zedd's entire stance was unsettling. He stood with his arms at his side, as if he saw Jason as a fly. All Zedd had to do was swat him away. He was going to find the red ranger wasn't someone he could just toss aside. The last time was a fluke. Jason wasn't going to let that happen again.

People gathered around, taking video. Jason hated when they did that. Didn't they realize they were getting in the way at best and potential targets at worst?

Zedd began to laugh.

Jason's heart sped up. He couldn't just let Zedd stand there, threatening the entire town. He had to take him down. He took a hard swing at Zedd.

Zedd met it with his own punch. The impact was a strange sensation. Jason had gotten used to everything crumbling under the force of his knuckles. He could flatten a car engine with as much muscle as he put into that punch. Zedd broke right through it, Jason's fist retreated to Zedd's and he braced himself against being pushed backward. His mind went back to when Tommy took his coin. He was powerless then, he needed power now.

"You are weak," Zedd bellowed. He kicked Jason into an empty car. It crumbled like cardboard under him and slammed into the car behind it.

Most of the crowd ran away in a chaotic frenzy. A few brave idiots hid behind cars videotaping them.

Jason ripped the car in half. All the cameras were pointed at him as he strode up to Zedd. Jason needed to distract him, make Zedd focus on him. Acting like he was holding back was part of the plan.

"See the enemy, destroy the enemy," Zedd taunted. "Try again."

Jason wanted to tear the freak apart, just like he did to the car.

"Need some help, boss?" Trini's voice rang over the comm.

The back of Jason's neck shook. It wanted something, anger, strength. It promised he could crush Zedd if only he could tap into it. It was right under his skin, throbbing in that empty space where his armor hid when he wasn't using it. All he had to do was unleash it.

"No. I have him."

Jason grit his teeth as he let the power burn through his muscles and charged right at Zedd. His fist met Zedd's block. Zedd took his own swing, aiming for Jason's head. Jason blocked. They met each other, strike for strike.

Anger had given Jason both clarity and power. Far from unbalanced, he had finally found true focus. He was faster and stronger than he had ever been.

"Yes! That is it exactly!" Zedd bellowed, metal grinding on metal. "More!"

Zedd struck harder and faster. Jason pushed himself to keep up. He had already flown past his limits and Zedd was only getting started. There was no way Jason could keep up. Three lightning-fast kicks forced him back. His power begin to fade.

"No. More!" Zedd ordered. "Take it!"

There was no more. Jason was a dying flame on a match, a mere wisp of what he was, flickering, nearly blown out.

In an instant, Zedd kicked Jason's knee and took him to the ground. Zedd crushed Jason down with his foot and dug his staff stabbed into his chest. That paralyzing pain followed. It wracked into him.

"I will make you take it!"

Jason wasn't going to give up without a fight. He pushed back with everything he had left. Zedd's foot just wouldn't come off of him. His vision blurred.

"Look!" Zedd ordered, pinning his head to the ground with his staff. Jason finally saw what Zedd wanted him to see.

A little girl stood on the sidewalk nearby, probably confused and disoriented from being in a car crash. She couldn't have been much older than Jason's own sister. "Mommy?"

What was he going to do?

Zedd looked down at Jason. They glared at each other through their visors. Jason struggled to get out from under Zedd's foot to no avail. Something was stopping him from teleporting. He felt empty, powerless.

"You cannot save her!" Zedd pointed his staff at the girl.

That evil fuck wouldn't...

A stream of fire erupted out of Zedd's staff.

He would...

Jason found his strength. He let that power roar into him. He pried Zedd's foot off of himself and dashed forward, right into the flame's path. He got on his knees and put himself between the girl and Zedd, shielding her body with his. At the last instant, he put his hand over her face before they were both engulfed in flames. The little girl screamed.

Jason tried to concentrate enough to teleport out. His lungs wouldn't take in oxygen, his ears rang, and his thoughts were a hurricane. There was fire all around him and under his armor. This couldn't be real. He had to do something. He ordered himself to get her out of there. The screaming shook him to the core.

A simple reflex was the only clear thing in Jason's mind. 'Hold the ball as tight as you can, and run it to the end zone.' Buildings, cars, and people blurred past him.

Jason exhaled. He was in the hospital in seconds, but it had felt like an eternity. He could feel the little girl still writhing in his arms, still screaming. There was a lot of smoke.

"I have a burn victim here!"

Several people stood up. "Oh my god..." a woman whispered. Jason couldn't look.

A paramedic ran through the crowded waiting room. "Out of the way!" He yelled. "I need a stretcher!" Jason recognized the guy as Ernie, he regularly volunteered at the camp. "What happened?" He started checking her.

"That thing shot fire at her. I tried to shield her with my armor. I got her out as fast as I could."

A nurse rushed in with a gurney. Jason placed the little girl in it. He had to look. He wished he hadn't. Her arms and legs looked like cooked meat. All of the hair on her head had burned off. There was only one strip of uncharred skin over her eyes, nose, and some of her forehead. It was in the shape of Jason's own hand.

Jason wanted to ask if she'd be okay. He begged himself to go back in time just 30 seconds and do better. If they could only switch places... He would gladly take the burns so she didn't have to. He tried to wake up from a nightmare. But none of that would help now. All the power in the world couldn't help him. There was nothing more he could do.

"Get her into the ICU!" Ernie ordered. "I need..."

"The ICU..." They went back and forth. The yelling faded out of Jason's mind.

He looked at his hands. His armor was pristine, practically glowing. He felt energy surging inside himself. The ringing returned and the world went gray. He could only see one thing.