Disclaimer: Here we go again. I do not own the power rangers. It just is not fair.

Zedd stood near a small table in the dimension, waiting for Goldar and the putties to bring Jason to him. He turned from the table as he heard them teleport into the dimension. Zedd walked over to Jason as Goldar lowered his sword and stepped back.

Jason met Zedd's gaze without flinching, defiance showing in his eyes.

Zedd looked at the putties holding the teen. "Take him over to the wall," he ordered. "Goldar, chain him good and tight."

Jason struggled in the grips of the putties, but they kept a tight hold on him and forced him over to the wall.

Goldar grabbed Jason's right wrist, fastening the cuff at the end of the chain tightly around it. He stepped back as the putties turned Jason, forcing his back against the wall. Goldar walked over to Jason's other side, grabbing his left wrist and taking his communicator off. Then, he fastened the other cuff around Jason's wrist, stepping back and handing the communicator to Zedd as he walked over to them.

The putties released their holds on Jason as soon as they saw he was chained to the wall. They moved out of the way, standing behind Zedd and Goldar.

Jason moved his arms, trying to free them from the chains as Zedd came to a stop in front of him.

Zedd chuckled and lifted his staff, the Z on top coming up under Jason's chin and forcing his head back slightly. "Struggle all you want, red ranger," he said. "It will do you no good. This dimension is unknown to Zordon. You won't leave here until I let you."

Jason fought to keep himself calm, meeting Zedd's visor with a defiant look. "I won't join you, Zedd," he said in an even voice.

Zedd chuckled once again, lowering his staff and taking a step back from Jason. "Still so defiant, Jason," he asked. "Why, after all of the failures you've had recently, I'm surprised you still have so much fight left in you." He leaned close to Jason, placing his mouth near Jason's ear. "I mean, you failed to keep Tommy from losing the green powers. You failed to save your friend Derek's life. In fact, you are such a failure that Zordon replaced you as the leader of the rangers, didn't he?"

Jason looked away from Zedd as the evil lord stepped back from him. Images from his nightmares flashed through his mind. Jason closed his eyes, feeling the failure he had felt from them come on strongly once again.

Zedd stood back, watching Jason's face as he fought to overcome the feelings from the nightmares. He smiled under his mask as he felt the emotions churning through the teen before him. Perfect, he thought. Just a little more persuasion and you will be mine.

Zordon looked at Tommy and Kim as they teleported into the command center, running up to his tube. "I know why the two of you are here, Tommy," Zordon said. "I all ready have Alpha scanning Rita's dimensions, searching for Jason's power coin."

Tommy looked up at Zordon. "Is there anything else we can do, Zordon," he asked.

Zordon nodded. "I want you and Kimberly to teleport to the youth center," he said. "Find Billy and bring him back here. Let the others know what is going on as well. Until we find Jason that is all we can do."

Tommy looked at Kim, then turned back to Zordon and nodded slowly. "All right, Zordon," he said. "We'll be back with Billy and the others as soon as we can."

Zordon sighed as he watched Tommy and Kim teleport out of the command center. He looked at Alpha. "Hurry, Alpha," he said. "I have this feeling that Jason is in trouble. He needs our help and quickly."

"I've found no sign of Jason in Rita's known dimensions, Zordon," Alpha said. "I've broadened the search to look for him in places we may not know about. Once Billy gets here, he can help me broaden it even more."

Zordon nodded and looked away from Alpha. He closed his eyes. Don't give up, Jason, he thought. We will find you and get you away from Zedd. Don't give in to him.

Jason slowly opened his eyes, feeling the failure slowly fading. He looked at Zedd, giving him a small, mocking smile. "You're wrong, Zedd," he said. "You almost had me. Those nightmares you gave me almost made me give up." His smile grew wider as Zedd clenched his fist at his side, his body beginning to glow red with anger. "I didn't stop you from stealing Tommy's powers, but that enabled Zordon to create new powers for him," Jason continued. "I wasn't able to keep Derek from dying, but I was able to distract the boys who beat him long enough for the police to get them." He looked at Zedd, the defiance growing in him as Zedd took a step closer to him. "And, as for Tommy being the new leader of the rangers, I don't know why Zordon did that, but I trust him. I know he has a good reason."

Zedd moved closer to Jason, sensing the new confidence in him. He growled in anger as Jason continued talking.

"If I was such a failure against Rita," Jason began, "why did you have to come here and take her place? If you thought I was going to fail leading the rangers, why did you banish Rita and take matters into your own hands? And, why haven't you been able to defeat us yet?"

Zedd snarled in anger and backhanded Jason viciously, snapping the teen's head back. He stepped right up to Jason, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at him. "I seriously underestimated you, Jason," he growled, holding the young man still as his anger grew. "But, I won't make that mistake again. I promise you." He released Jason's chin and turned to face Goldar. "Go collect that other human," he ordered. "It is time to change my plans."

Goldar nodded and bowed to Zedd. He stood up and teleported out of the dimension.

Zedd turned back to Jason, reaching behind the teen's back and pulling out his morpher. He held the morpher in front of Jason's face for a moment, then turned and walked over to a nearby table with it. Zedd set the morpher down on the table, next to Jason's communicator, then picked up another item and brought it over for Jason to see.

Jason looked at the item, feeling as if a cold hand touched his spine. He looked at Zedd, trying to keep the sudden fear he was feeling from showing.

Zedd smiled under his mask as he saw the look in Jason's eyes. He held the dark, red candle directly in front of Jason's face as he spoke. "I know what you're thinking, Jason," he said. "You think I'm going to light this candle and steal your powers." He lowered the candle, staring straight into Jason's eyes. "But, this candle is different, red ranger. It won't steal your powers, it won't even change them." He walked back over to the candle, placing it down on top of the table once again.

Jason watched as Zedd picked up his morpher and removed his power coin from it. He began to struggle as Zedd took the power coin and pressed it into the top of the red candle.

Zedd picked up another item from the table, turning with this item and the candle in his hands and walking back over to Jason. Zedd smiled under his mask as he held the other object in front of Jason's eyes. "Rita had this all planned before I came here," he said, taking the small, gold coin and pressing it into the bottom of the candle. "She placed a special spell on this wax. Once I light it, the spell will be released. Your powers will not leave you, but they will be used to help me create new, dark powers." He turned and walked back over to the table, setting the candle back down on it.

Jason looked away from Zedd as Goldar arrived back in the dimension, bringing another human with him. Jason saw the other person's face. He felt the shock run through him and he began to struggle harder.

Zedd turned, looking at the young man who stood beside Goldar. He walked over to the young man, putting his hand on his shoulder. "It's Gary, isn't it," he asked.

Gary looked at Zedd warily, but nodded slowly. His eyes went past Zedd, seeing Jason chained to the wall. He looked back to Zedd, his eyes beginning to show the hate he felt towards Jason. "It is," he said. "Why did you bring me here?" He looked to Jason once again. "Does it have anything to do with him?"

Zedd glanced at Jason over his shoulder, and then turned back to Gary. "It does," he said. "I want to offer you the chance to rid me of one of my enemies. I can give you the power to destroy Jason, as well as his friends. Are you interested?"

Gary stared at Jason, his hate showing plainly on his face and in his eyes. He looked back to Zedd and nodded. "I'm in," he said. "What do I have to do?"

Zedd led Gary over to the table. "That's the easy part," he said. "You don't have to do anything, yet. Once I light this candle, Jason's powers will help to create dark powers for you. When the candle burns out, the power coin in the bottom of it will hold your powers. Then, once you hold the coin in your hands, the powers will become yours and you can do whatever you want to Jason."

Gary smiled wickedly, holding out his hand. "Can I light it," he asked.

Billy stood beside Alpha, watching the results of their scans come back negative once again. He sighed, throwing the paper down and pressing some more buttons, expanding the search for his friend. He was beginning to lose hope when the computer beeped. Billy read the paper that printed out and his face paled. He turned to Zordon, clutching the paper in his hand. "Zordon," he said. "We found Jason. But, there is a problem."

Michael sat at the kitchen table, looking at the clock once again. He felt his anger turn to concern as Jason still was not home from school. He stood up and headed out of the house, wanting to go to the youth center to see if he could find out what happened to Jason.

Jason stood helplessly in the chains as he watched the candle burning. His wrists were raw from the cuffs cutting into his skin as he struggled to get free.

Gary walked over to Jason, grabbing his chin and looking him in the eyes. "I hope Zedd unchains you, Scott," he said. "I want to make sure you suffer far more than Derek did." He leaned close to Jason, putting his mouth near Jason's ear. "I hope you put up a good fight," he said. "I've been cooped up in a jail cell for too many days and I need a good workout."

Jason jerked his chin from Gary's hand, glaring at the young man in front of him. "Not even on your best day, Gary," he said his voice low with anger. "You needed help to get Derek, how do you think you'll fair against someone who can fight back?"

Gary smiled wickedly at Jason, drawing back his right arm. He sent his arm forward, his fist sinking into Jason's stomach. He smiled as Jason grunted in pain. "I'm looking forward to beating you to a pulp, Scott," he said. He looked over his shoulder at the candle, seeing that it was all ready half melted. He looked back to Jason, his smile growing wider. "It won't be long now, Scott." He turned and walked away from Jason, whistling softly.

Jason closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. He had to find a way to stop this. He could feel his powers flowing from him to the candle and back again, feeding off the spell on the wax and making the dark powers grow.

Gary moved to stand in front of the candle, watching in fascination, as the flame on the candle grew darker. He could feel the dark powers growing as the candle continued to burn.

Zedd stood back, watching the whole thing with a wide smile under his mask. He was looking forward to watching the fight between Gary and Jason once the powers were complete.

Zordon looked at Billy, not sure that he had heard him correctly. "Please repeat that, Billy," he said. "What do you mean you have two sources of Jason's power? He only has one coin."

"The computer picked up Jason's power coin, Zordon," Billy said. "It's in a dark dimension far from here. However, it also picked up a second power coin. It has Jason's powers, but they are darker, more evil. Zedd is somehow creating a new ranger."

Tommy looked at Billy. "Can we get there," he asked. "Can we stop this from happening?"

Billy turned to Tommy. "I can get us there," he said. "I can even make a device that will bring all of us back. Nevertheless, we won't get there before the new powers are created. They are growing stronger by the second."

Zordon looked at Billy. "Make the device, Billy," he said. "The most important thing is to get Jason out of there. We'll deal with this ranger of Zedd's later."

Billy nodded and walked back over to the computer, working with Alpha on the device they would need to get back to the command center.

Trini walked over to Zack as she saw Angela leave the youth center.

Zack looked at her in concern. "Any word," he asked.

Trini shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm worried. They should have found him by now."

Zack looked at her as his communicator beeped. The two of them walked out of the youth center, finding a quiet spot where no one would hear them.

Zack lifted his communicator to his mouth. "Zack here," he said. "Please tell me you found him, Zordon."

"Zack, its Tommy," the voice from his communicator said. "We need you and Trini at the command center right away. We found Jason, but we'll need your help to get him."

"We're on our way, Tommy," Zack said. He looked at Trini. "Let's go."

The two of them teleported to the command center.

Zedd picked up the two power coins as the candle burned completely out. He took Jason's and put it back in his morpher, then turned and handed the other coin to Gary. "It is done, dark ranger," he said. "Take the coin and let the powers come over you. Then, take your revenge on the red ranger."

Gary took the coin, closing his fist tightly around it. He felt the dark powers flow over and through him. He closed his eyes as the powers seemed to fill every fiber of him.

Jason stood watching, trying once again to free his wrists from the cuffs.

Zedd watched Gary for a moment, then picked up Jason's morpher and walked over to him. He reached up and snapped the cuffs off Jason's wrists, hearing Gary moving towards the two of them. Zedd thrust Jason's morpher into his hands, smiling under his mask. "I think you're going to need this," he said, moving away from Jason.

Gary moved to stand a few feet in front of Jason, smiling at him. "Go ahead, Jason," he said, the dark powers making his voice lower than normal. "Morph. I want this to be a fair fight."

Jason didn't hesitate. He held his morpher out in front of him. "Tyrannosaurus," he called.

Gary held his power coin in his fist as Jason appeared in front of him in his ranger outfit. He placed his closed hand on his chest, closing his eyes. "Dark ranger," he said.

Jason moved away from the wall as Gary was engulfed in a dark light.

Zedd looked at Goldar. "Why don't we let these two settle this matter," he asked. "We'll watch the whole thing from the palace." He teleported the two of them away before Goldar could say anything.

Jason looked at Gary as the dark light around him faded.

Gary stood in a darker version of Jason's ranger outfit, with black replacing the white in every place. Gary smiled at Jason under his helmet, dropping into a fighting stance. "Time for you to die, Scott," he said, launching an attack at Jason.

Zordon looked at the rangers as they stood before him. "Remember, rangers," he said. "Just get Jason out of there. That is the most important thing."

Tommy nodded at Zordon, and then looked at the others over his shoulder. "It's morphin' time," he said, reaching behind his back.

The others reached for their morphers, determination in each of their eyes.

Jason ducked under the blow Gary took at him. He came back up, his right fist shooting out to hit Gary in the chest.

Gary staggered back from the blow, then planted his feet and moved towards Jason once again. He held his hand up in the air, smiling under his helmet as a dark sword appeared in his hand. He swung his arm down as he got to Jason, feeling the sword strike Jason on the chest and send him flying backwards.

Jason landed hard on the floor, stunned from the blow he received from the sword. He lay on his back, trying to get his breath back as Gary slowly approached him.

Gary walked over to stand beside Jason, lifting the sword over his head with both hands. "Goodbye, Jason," he said, swinging the sword down, right at Jason's chest.

Michael entered the youth center, looking around for Jason. His worry started to grow as he saw no sign of his son. He spotted Ernie behind the juice bar and walked over to it.

Ernie smiled at Michael as he walked over to him. "Hi, Michael," he said. "I'm surprised to see you here. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, Ernie," Michael said. "I was looking for Jason. Have you seen him?"

Ernie shook his head. "No," he said. "I haven't. I know a lot of the kids were meeting here to start work on their history projects, but Jason hasn't been one of them."

Michael sighed lightly. "If you see him, tell him I'm looking for him and to stay here," he said. "Would you do that?"

Ernie nodded. "I'd be glad to," he said. "Is there anything wrong?"

Michael nodded. "The judge let Gary, Todd and Will out on bail," he said. "Jason was supposed to come straight home after school, but he never showed. I'm starting to get worried."

"I'll keep an eye out for him, Michael," Ernie said. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's all right."

"I hope so, Ernie," he said. "I really hope so." He turned and left the youth center, heading for the park.

Tommy and the others arrived in the dimension, just in time to see Gary swing his sword down at Jason.

"Jason!" Kim screamed as the blade plunged into the upper right side of his chest.

Gary pulled the sword out of Jason, glancing over at the rangers who moved towards him. He looked back down at Jason, seeing his ranger outfit grow darker with the blood from the wound. "Until next time, Scott," he said, stepping back from Jason. He teleported out of the dimension before the rangers could reach him.

Kim was the first one to reach Jason, dropping to her knees next to him and looking at the bloodstain that was growing on his chest.

Tommy and Zack reached Jason, kneeling at his head and other side.

Tommy looked up at Billy as he noticed Jason was not moving. "Get us out of here, Billy," he said. "We need to get Jason to the command center so Alpha can heal him, now."

Billy pulled the device out, pointing it at Jason as he set the controls. "I'm teleporting him now," he said. "You three go with him and Trini and I will follow." He pushed the button to activate the device and watched as Tommy, Kim, Zack and Jason teleported out of the dimension.

Trini grabbed Billy's arm as he set the controls to teleport the two of them back to the command center.

A/N: Next chapter up as soon as I can. Let me know what you think.