Breaking the Cycle
Written by J.C. Vascardi
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Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related material is the property of Saban and/or Disney. I claim no ownership to it and am not making any money from this story. The only thing about this story that I own are the characters, places, and storylines not featured on the show.
Established Pairings: Rocky DeSantos/OMC: Zaidan Prince, Adam Park/Tommy Oliver, Jason Scott/Billy Cranston
Future Pairings: Wes Collins/OMC
Warnings: Established Relationships, Original Characters, Alternate Universe, Slash, M/M Sex, Violence, Language, Season Crossover, Magic, Mpreg
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Previously in 'Breaking the Cycle'…
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Lord Zedd banishes Rita Repulsa from his sight in a space dumpster. He's then informed by Scorpina of Zaidan Prince's presence on Earth which surprises him as he recognizes him and wonders what he's doing on Earth.
The Rangers fight Zedd's new putties and quickly realize that they're a lot stronger than Rita's. Strong enough that Tommy's powers almost fail him, but thankfully Zaidan was watching the battle from the cover of some nearby bushes and gave Tommy's powers a jolt to recharge them before also making sure that he figured out the new putties' weakness.
Later in the Command Center the rangers are shocked when Zaidan show up and reveals that he's not human and that Lord Zedd is—unfortunately—his father. The rangers then go into battle against Pirantishead, only they end up destroying their zords and losing their powers in the process.
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Chapter Nine
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"What's worse," Tommy said, "is it looks like we've lost more than our zords. We've lost our powers... completely."
"Are you sure, Tommy?" Aisha asked.
Nodding sadly, Tommy said, "Yeah. I've lost powers before, so I know what it feels like. This feels like losing the green ranger powers all over again."
"It's going to be a long walk back to the command center," Billy said, but before he or anyone else could say anything else, they were all surrounded in a nimbus of purple light, before they disappeared, reappearing moments later in the command center.
At their confused looks, Zaidan said, "I figured I'd save you the walk and give you a lift."
Looking around the room, Billy inspected the destroyed control panels with a growing sense of dread, as he said, "Oh man, what a mess."
"Come on, Billy, give us some good news," Tommy said.
"I wish I could," Billy said in a defeated tone. "I mean, we're talking about the command center's power core. I don't even know how to begin to repair it."
"That could take centuries," Alpha commented.
"Alpha, we don't have centuries," Kimberly said.
"What about our zords, can you bring them back, Zordon?" Adam asked.
"I'm afraid not. Since the command center's power is nearly depleted there's no way to revitalize your lost zords. I'm afraid this is the end of the power rangers."
"There's gotta be something we can do," Aisha said.
"Yeah, we can't let Zedd win," Rocky said, as he looked over at Zaidan and added, "Earth will not become another Kalrad. Not as long as I'm alive."
Zaidan smiled weakly at Rocky for this, although the sense of hopelessness was already beginning to set in. He'd thought he'd found a new home on Earth, but now it was looking like his blasted sire was going to ruin it too. A part of Zaidan wanted to fight, but he knew that wouldn't work because while he was getting better with using his magic when compared to Zedd, Zaidan was still a novice at best. He didn't have anywhere near Zedd's ten plus millennia of experience after all.
"What about the Great Power?" Alpha asked after a few minutes of silence, which prompted Zordon to shake his head and say, "No, Alpha, that's out of the question. It's far too dangerous, especially now."
"What Great Power?" Tommy asked, as all eyes fell on Zordon.
With a sigh, Zordon said, "Legend speaks of a great power on the distant planet of Phaedos. Everything I've heard, however, suggests that this power doesn't actually exist and everyone who has tried to get it has failed and died."
"If there's even the slightest chance we have to try," Rocky said. "We can't just stand back and let Zedd destroy Earth."
Nodding, Adam said, "I have to agree. Zedd has wrought enough destruction. We need to fight him, but we need powers to do that."
Wrapping his arm around Adam's waist, Tommy nodded and added, "I know you want to protect us, Zordon, but if we do nothing than Zedd will win and we'll die anyway. Along with everyone else on Earth."
"I understand how you feel rangers," Zordon said, "but understand this. The command center is almost completely out of power. While Alpha can probably scrape together enough power to get you to Phaedos, there won't be any left to get you back. So if it's as I believe and this power doesn't exist, you'll be trapped on Phaedos, which is over 2,500 light years from Earth on the outer edge of the galaxy."
Everyone was silent for a few minutes, as they digested that information. It was Zaidan who broke the silence, when he said, "They won't be trapped there, Zordon. If the power doesn't exist, I can get them back here. While I couldn't save the zords, I can do that."
"Are you sure?" Billy asked. "2,500 light years is quite the distance to teleport."
"True enough," Zaidan agreed, "but in case you forgot what I said earlier, I got here to Earth and the Milky Way via my own teleportation magic and Kalrad is over 2.7 million light years from Earth. The only wrinkle is that I'll have to go there with you, because in order to teleport you over that kind of distance, you'll have to be touching me."
Zordon sighed. "Zaidan going with you does ease my mind, rangers. I really do hope the power exists, but I'm afraid it doesn't. Beyond that, I have no idea what kind of dangers you might face on Phaedos and despite the fact that I have faith in you and your skills, you won't have any powers to protect you."
"I've seen them in action and they're all quite able to defend themselves," Zaidan said. "Powers or no powers. Plus, I'll do what I can to keep them safe with my magic. I'm still learning and it's kind of slow going since I'm self-teaching myself, but I'm pretty good at a few tricks that could help."
Looking around at the faces of his teammates, Tommy nodded at each of them, and then at Zaidan, before he said, "Well then let's go. If there's a chance we can stop Zedd, then we have to do it, no matter what the risk."
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Arriving on Phaedos, the group looked around for a moment to get a handle on their surroundings. They'd arrived on a stretch of rocky beach, with a tall cliff along the far end.
"Now what?" Kimberly asked.
"Now we find the Great Power," Tommy said.
"I'm sure that's going to be easier said than done," Rocky said. "It's not like there's signs that say 'Great Power this way.'"
Zaidan grinned and said, "True. Plus, searching an entire planet could be very time consuming. Just because we're here doesn't mean we're anywhere near it. For all we know we could be on a different continent than the so-called Great Power with an ocean between us and it."
"And if Zordon's right?" Adam asked. "And it doesn't even exist?"
"In this case, let's hope he isn't right," Tommy said, as he wrapped an arm around Adam and gave him a peck on the cheek, before they turned to head further inland. They stopped, however, when Aisha screamed.
Running over to her, they soon saw why she'd screamed. There was a giant skeleton on the beach, the remains of some kind of horned creature. "What is it?" Aisha asked.
"I think the question is what was it?" Billy asked in response.
"From the looks of it," Zaidan said, "I'd almost think it was a minotaur." Scanning his eyes up the length of the skeleton, he then added, "A very large minotaur."
"Um, yeah, okay," Kimberly said. "Well, let's just hope that there aren't more of these things, you know, still alive."
"Also, let's hope that whatever killed it isn't still around," Rocky added. "Cause if it was strong enough to take down that," as he ran his eyes across the length of the skeleton that would probably stand at least fifteen feet tall if it was standing, "I'm not very comfortable about our chances."
"Oh you're just a beacon of sunshine aren't you Rocko?" Aisha asked.
They'd barely walked more than a few feet, however, when Kimberly spotted a giant bird-like creature flying towards them and screamed, seconds before they were attacked. The birds were very strong and the rangers were soon having their butts handed to them. Outside of the stationary practice dummies in his basement, Zaidan had never used his magic in a fight before, so he was a little bit out of his depth at first, but he was able to get off a few good bolts of electricity out of his fingertips at the annoying birds and then use his magic to soften Kimberly's landing when one of the birds grabbed her and tried to drop her from a height that would likely have killed her.
"You know the funny thing about morphing?" Billy asked.
"What's that?" Adam asked.
"You don't miss it until you can't do it anymore," Billy said, before one of the giant birds lunged at him from the side knocking him to the ground.
After a few more minutes, even with Zaidan's magic, it looked like the rangers were going to be beaten because the damn birds were just too strong and if the rangers were going to stand any chance of winning, they needed their powers, something which they were at the moment sadly lacking. That, however, is when a hooded figure with a staff jumped down from a nearby cliff, throwing off the cloak to reveal a scantily clad woman underneath. She immediately began fighting the birds and after knocking several of them off their feet with her staff, she split it in two and began twirling the two sides around in her hands creating a sound similar to nails on a chalkboard.
Zaidan and the rangers quickly covered their ears to block out the sound, while the birds began to flee. Once they were gone, the woman put her staff back together as the rangers approached her. Holding out a hand towards the woman, Rocky said, "That was amazing. Thanks," just before the woman slapped his hand away with her staff, hard enough to almost knock Rocky off of his feet.
"If you want to thank me, go back to wherever it is you came from," the woman said.
"We can't go back," Aisha argued.
"We were told there was a Great Power here," Billy said. "Is it true?"
Nodding, the woman said, "Yes. The ground is littered with the bones of those who have tried for it and failed."
Walking forward, Tommy said, "Well, we're different. We won't fail." This caused the woman to promptly hit Tommy in the legs with her staff, causing him to fall backwards onto his back. Before he could get back up, she then slammed her staff into his chest and said, "Leave Phaedos, before you end up like all the other corpses on this beach." Raising her eyes to look at Zaidan, but keeping the staff firmly planted on Tommy's chest, she added, "Even his magic isn't going to be enough to get you the power you seek."
"Look, we don't want any trouble," Aisha said. "Our leader Zordon..."
She was cut off at this, however, as the woman immediately turned to look at her and asked, "Zordon? Did you say Zordon?"
"You know Zordon?" Kimberly asked. "Who are you?"
At this the woman took her staff off of Tommy's chest and allowed him to stand up, as she said, "I am Dulcea, Master Warrior of the planet Phaedos. How do you know Zordon?"
"He's our mentor," Tommy said. "We were until recently his team of power rangers." Motioning towards Zaidan, he added, "Well, Zaidan wasn't, but he came with us in case the Great Power rumored to be here didn't exist. Our command center only had enough power left to get us here because our powers were destroyed by Lord Zedd."
"Lord Zedd?" Dulcea asked, clearly worried.
"You've heard of him?" Billy asked.
"Lord Zedd is a monster," Dulcea said. "If something isn't done, your planet and this entire galaxy is doomed." Shaking her head, she then added, "However, I'm afraid you've wasted your time in coming here, because like so many other people before you, you will fail to claim the Great Power of the Ninjetti."
"Why?" Adam asked.
"There's enough power to create twelve rangers," Dulcea explained. "However, centuries ago the power for one ranger was claimed and that power has since fallen into the hands of an evil force. I don't know who controls it now, except that it is still in evil hands. Not wanting to see the other powers end up being used for evil, the original creators of them bound all of them together so that none of them can be claimed separately. In order to get the powers, you'll have to cross the Niola Jungle, at the far end of which is the Ninjetti Temple. The path is fraught with dangers designed to test you to ensure that you will use the powers for good and not evil. However, even if you passed those tests, you couldn't claim the powers because there's only seven of you."
"And all eleven remaining ranger powers have to be claimed at the same time by eleven different people," Tommy said, as realization hit.
"Yes," Dulcea said. "I'm sorry."
"Well, what if we brought more people here?" Zaidan asked. "One thing that's confused me ever since finding out that you six were the rangers is that when I'd previously met the Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers, their voices were different," looking at Rocky, he smiled and said, "and it definitely wasn't Rocky's voice coming from the Red Ranger. So aren't there more rangers?"
Tommy nodded. "Those were our friends Jason, Zack, and Trini. They were the original Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers."
"Rocky, Adam, and Aisha replaced them," Kimberly added, "when they were selected for the peace conference in Switzerland."
"Well, they've obviously come back to help you before," Zaidan said. "Couldn't they come back again now?"
"If they were needed," Billy said, "I think they'd come back. I know Jason would. He wouldn't even have to think about it."
"That's only three more people, however," Adam pointed out. "Even if we take on Zaidan as a new ranger, we'd still only have ten."
"Before you ask," Dulcea said, as she noticed some of the teens looking at her, "I can't claim the eleventh power. I was charged by the creators of the power to act as guardian of this planet and guide to those who would try to claim the powers. But, one step into the Niola Jungle and I would begin to rapidly age to the point that there'd be nothing left of me but dust before we got even a fourth of the way to the temple."
"And I'm not entirely sure I'm a good ranger candidate, guys," Zaidan said.
"Why not?" Rocky asked. "I think you'd be great."
"I appreciate that, Rocko," Zaidan said with a grin, "but you're my boyfriend so you're kind of biased."
"You're a good guy, Zaidan," Tommy said. "I know it didn't seem like it earlier when you surprised us at the command center, but we all like and trust you," the others nodded in agreement, "and you did help us defeat Zedd's putties earlier and gave me that power boost."
Zaidan nodded, although he was still looking dubious. "Yes, with my magic, which I'm afraid has probably left me too tainted to claim any of these Ninjetti powers." At Dulcea's raised eyebrow, Zaidan added, "I'm not from this galaxy and Lord Zedd sired me when he raped my mother. It's why I have magic, because I inherited it from him. I've always done my best to be nothing like him, but I do still have his blood in my veins."
"It's you who would be tested, not your sire," Dulcea said. "Having his blood doesn't make you inherently evil. It's your actions and choices while being tested that matter, not your heritage."
"Come on, Z, say you'll do it," Rocky said, flashing Zaidan a smile.
"I can't resist your smile, Rocky," Zaidan said with a shake of his head. "Okay, okay, I'll try. If I can help stop Zedd, I want to. Not only because I want justice for my people but also because I'm so tired of running and Earth is my home now, so I don't want to see it become another Kalrad."
"That still leaves us short one person though," Aisha said. "We can't just bring anyone in. They need to have at least a passable skill in the martial arts and it has to be someone that we can all trust. Any ideas?"
All of them were silent for a moment, before Tommy asked, "Well, what about Zaidan's friend Wes?" Turning to Zaidan, he asked, "Didn't you say that you met him through the martial arts activity at your old boarding school in Silver Hills?"
"Yes," Zaidan said, before he looked embarrassed and said, "Oh damn it. I forgot all about Wes."
"Huh?" Rocky asked.
"Earlier, before your battle with the putties," Zaidan said. "Wes and I were astride his new motorcycle in the Youth Center parking lot, about to head home. Then I sensed Rocky was in danger and I just teleported away, leaving Wes alone. I was actually going to tell him that you guys were the rangers, but I never got the chance because after we left the command center, I forgot all about him and went back to the Youth Center."
Rocky grimaced a bit, as he said, "Which is where I found you and where we still were when we were called for the battle that destroyed our powers and zords."
"Yeah," Zaidan said. "So, he's probably going to be a little pissed off at me."
"You're close friends though," Kimberly said. "And you did give him a place to stay after his Dad kicked him out, so I don't think he'll stay mad at you for too long."
"More importantly do you think Wes would agree to be a ranger?" Adam asked.
Zaidan shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know." Here he grinned and said, "I mean, he did say that the spandex suits looked good on all of you, especially the males in the group. Which I am inclined to agree on," grinning at Rocky, he added, "in your case especially."
Rocky and the other guys blushed, as Zaidan said, "Although whether that means he'd want to be a ranger himself or not, I'm not really sure. He does know about my heritage and I've even let him actually watch my memories of Kalrad's last days, so it's possible he'd want to help if it means that doesn't become Earth."
"Well, I'd say it's worth a shot then," Aisha said, as several of the others nodded. "We'll just have to convince Wes to join us."
Tommy nodded. "Well, then it's settled. We'll go back to Earth, collect Jason, Trini, Zack, and Wes and then come back."
"Actually, I think it would be best if some of you stayed here," Zaidan said. "While I have every confidence that I could get all of you safely back to Earth, it would require a lot of power, especially if I have to turn around and bring all of you back, plus four more people. I'd probably end up in a coma for a month from the drain on my powers."
"Well, how about just Billy and I go with you, Zaidan?" Tommy said. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we can convince Jason, Trini, and Zack." Looking at Dulcea, Tommy asked, "Can you make sure the others remain safe while we're gone?"
"Yes, I can do that," Dulcea said. Pointing towards a path leading up the cliff she'd jumped down from earlier, she said, "When you get back, just head up that path. It leads to my camp on the plateau overlooking the jungle. Once you're all here, I'll prepare you for the journey through the jungle."
Nodding, Tommy said, "Sounds good," as he and Billy walked over to Zaidan.
"Alright, guys, just grab onto my arms," Zaidan said. "And hold on as tightly as you can."
Once Tommy and Billy were holding onto him, Zaidan closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could on his garage, as the three young men were surrounded by a nimbus of light, before disappearing.
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Moments later, Zaidan, Tommy, and Billy appeared in Zaidan's garage, right next to his Jaguar. While he knew that it was Greg's and Mike's day off, he wasn't sure if they were back yet, so pulling out his phone, Zaidan dialed Wes's number.
"Zaidan! Man, I've been so worried about you," Wes said a moment later when he answered the phone.
"Sorry, Wes," Zaidan said. "Are Greg and Mike back yet?"
"No."
"Okay. Where are you?"
"My bedroom."
"Are you decent?"
"Yes," came Wes's confused reply.
"Okay, be there soon," Zaidan said, before taking the phone away from his ear so he didn't hear Wes's response. Since Tommy and Billy were still holding onto his arms, Zaidan teleported them again from the garage up to Wes's bedroom.
"Gah!" Wes said as the three young men appeared in his bedroom a moment later. He was decent in terms that he wasn't completely naked, although he was only in his underwear, so he was more than a little embarrassed that Zaidan wasn't alone. If it was just Zaidan, he wouldn't have cared as they'd seen each other naked, but Tommy and Billy had never seen Wes with so little clothing on.
Tommy and Bill let go of Zaidan's arms as Wes stood up. Walking over to Zaidan, Wes punched him in the right arm and said, "That's for teleporting into my bedroom with other people." Then he punched him again in the left arm and said, "And that's for teleporting away earlier and then forgetting about me."
"I'm sorry, Wes," Zaidan said, as he crossed his arms so that he could rub his arms were he'd just been punched. "It's been a crazy day."
Wes nodded. "Obviously. I wasn't aware that they knew about your magic."
"Yeah, I told them," Zaidan said. "They also know about Kalrad."
"Really? Wow," Wes said. "I know you felt bad about keeping it from them, but what made you finally fess up?"
"Well you know how I said that Lord Zedd caused the earthquake earlier?"
"Yeah, why do you think I've been so worried?" Wes said. "When you didn't come back I was afraid that evil freak show got you."
"Sorry about that," Zaidan said. "Anyway, to make a long story short, I was going to tell you that I found out who the rangers are."
"You did?" Wes asked. "Who?"
"Tommy and Billy are two of them," Zaidan said. "White and Blue, respectively."
"What? No way!" Wes said. "They're teenagers, like us."
"He's telling the truth," Tommy said. "Billy and I are two of the rangers."
"Aisha, Kimberly, Adam," Zaidan named off, before grinning and adding, "and Rocky are the others. Yellow, Pink, Black, and Red to be precise."
"You're dating one of the power rangers?" Wes asked, obviously shocked.
"Yeah, I am," Zaidan said. "Of course, now as you probably saw on the news, the rangers' last battle with Lord Zedd's first monster didn't go so well."
"Yeah that's kind of an understatement," Wes said. "They've been showing the footage of the zords breaking apart on the news in a loop for over an hour now."
"The zords weren't all that was destroyed," Billy said. "We've lost our powers, as well."
"Oh shit," Wes said. "That's bad."
Zaidan nodded. "Yeah, it is, but they've got a lead on a new power source. Problem is, they need extra rangers. They've got three friends who are former rangers that they're going to recall to service and I've agreed to join them, but we need one more."
Realizing that the other three were all looking at him, Wes's eyes widened and he said, "No way, are you seriously asking me? To be a power ranger?"
"Yes," Tommy said. "I know this is very short notice, Wes, but the world kind of needs you."
"You saw what Zedd did to Kalrad in my memories," Zaidan added. "That'll be Earth if we don't stop him."
Wes was silent for a moment, before he said, "Yeah, okay, fine, I'll be a ranger. Just let me put some clothes on first," as he walked over to his closet.
"We should probably quickly go over the rules," Billy said. "Zaidan should hear them too."
"Okay. What are they?" Wes and Zaidan asked in almost perfect unison.
"You can't use your ranger powers for personal gain," Tommy said. "You can't escalate a fight unless you're forced to do so by the enemy and you have to keep your identities a secret. Nobody can know that you're power rangers."
"If you break any of the rules, you'll lose the protection of the power," Billy added. What he didn't say, however, was that he wasn't entirely sure if that was still true or not. With the power coins, it was possible for Zordon to take a rangers powers away if they broke his rules. However, these new powers they were hoping to claim were an unknown entity that Zordon didn't believe even existed, so Billy wasn't sure Zordon would actually have the ability to strip anyone of their powers for breaking the rules he'd set. Still, even if he couldn't strip them of their powers, they'd all agreed to adhere to the rules when they became rangers and not doing so now just wouldn't feel right.
"Seems simple enough," Zaidan said. "I'm rather good at keeping secrets, after all."
Tommy grinned. "That you are. I've known you for a little over three months and never once did I imagine that you weren't human."
"Wes?" Billy asked.
"Yeah, I can deal with those," Wes said as he pulled on a pair of jeans. "I doubt anyone would believe me if I told them anyway. As I rather doubt that anyone in Angel Grove thinks the rangers are local teenagers."
"We've worked hard to keep that a secret," Tommy said.
"That's debatable but we can worry about that later," Zaidan said. "Now, do you have some way of contacting Jason, Trini, and Zack?"
Billy nodded, as he held up the strange watch on his wrist. "Our communicators. They all still have theirs, although they've been set to a secondary channel so that they don't go off whenever ours do."
"Okay, then you should contact them," Zaidan said. "Make sure they're alone and not in a public place when I teleport us there. Also, I'll need some sort of visual."
"What kind of visual?" Tommy asked.
"Like a picture," Zaidan answered. "With something specific to them that I can focus on to ensure that we end up in the right place. They can email it to Wes."
Wes nodded as he pulled a t-shirt on over his head. As he sat down on the bed to pull on a pair of socks, he relayed his email address, which he was rather shocked still worked, since it was on the Bio-Lab corporate server. He guessed that his father figured that the email address didn't cost him anything, however, so it didn't matter if it was deactivated or not. Either that or he'd completely forgotten about it.
"Okay then," Billy said as he switched his communicator over to the secondary channel, before pressing the button that would cause Jason's communicator to beep.
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Meanwhile, over in Geneva, Switzerland, due to the time difference, Jason Scott was in bed, fast asleep and enjoying a very naughty dream about Billy. This was cut short, however, as the familiar beeping noise of his communicator cut through the silence of the room. After over a year of being a ranger, Jason's senses were honed to their peak and no matter how soundly he was asleep he could wake up and be alert in less than a second at the sound of the communicator.
Reaching over and turning on his bedside lamp, Jason swung his legs off the bed as he sat up and pulled open the drawer of his nightstand. Grabbing the communicator, he pressed the talk button and said, "This is Jason."
"Jason, it's Billy," Billy said. "I need you to gather Trini and Zack. Get them to your room post haste. I also need you to email a picture of your dorm room," before relaying Wes's email address. "Make sure there's something distinctively yours in the picture that wouldn't be in any of the other delegates' rooms. I'll explain later."
"Okay, Billy," Jason said, not really understanding what was going on, but knowing it must be important if Billy was calling on the communicator. 'Maybe they need our help again,' he thought, as he set the communicator on his nightstand and pulled on a pair of jeans before calling Zack's room.
A moment later, a very tired Zack Taylor picked up and said, "Whaddaya want? I'm tryin' to sleep here."
"Sorry, Zack, it's Jason. Billy just called on the communicator. He needs you and Trini to come to my room ASAP."
At the mention of the communicator, Zack sat up in bed, instantly more alert than he had been only moments earlier. While he knew that Billy and Jason were a couple and talked to each other daily, Billy never used the communicator, as they all agreed it should only be used for ranger business. If that meant Billy having a higher than usual phone bill from calling overseas on a daily basis then so be it, although Zack still wondered how the hell Billy was paying for it. Shaking his head to clear it, Zack said, "Okay, I'll get dressed and head right over."
"Thanks, man," Jason said, as he hung up and then called Trini, who said she'd be there soon. With his two friends on their way, Jason walked over to his desk and grabbed the Polaroid that his Mom had sent him for his birthday. She'd been quite upset about not being able to be with her son on his birthday, but she was proud of him for doing the peace summit. So, she sent him the camera and ordered him to take lots and lots of pictures so that she could see what he was doing over in Switzerland, a country which Pamela Scott had always wanted to visit, but never found the time to do.
Placing his Angel Grove letterman jacket on a chair by his desk, along with a picture of himself and the other rangers, Jason snapped a photo. As he was waiting for it to develop he booted up his computer, quickly made his bed, and tidied up around the room a bit so that he hopefully wouldn't have to listen to one of Trini's lectures about his room looking like a cyclone hit it. He was just about to sit down at his computer and scan the photo when there was a knock on his door. Opening it, he found both Zack and Trini, who he promptly let in.
"Billy isn't here yet?" Trini asked. "If he's using the communicator it must be ranger business. I thought he would have teleported over already."
"No, he isn't," Jason said as he closed the door and then scanned the photo into his computer. "I don't know what's going on. He just told me to get you two over here and to send a picture of my room to some guy I've never heard of. I trust Billy though, so if that's what he needs me to do, then I'm doing it."
Zack and Trini nodded, as Jason opened his email account, typed in the address, attached the scanned photo and hit send. Picking up the communicator, he pressed the talk button again and said, "Billy? Zack and Trini are here and I just sent the picture."
"Okay, thanks, Jase," Billy said. "Tommy and I will be there shortly with two friends. Stay clear of the center of the room."
About three minutes later, Jason, Zack, and Trini were confused when instead of the normal streaks of color they'd been expecting, a nimbus of purple light flashed, before Billy, Tommy, and another unknown guy showed up—all hanging onto…
"Zaidan?" Jason, Zack, and Trini all asked, as they obviously recognized him after saving him from Rita's Dark Dimension.
Zaidan smiled, as the others let go of him. "Hey, nice to put faces with the voices."
Before anything else was said, Billy made a beeline for Jason and pulled him in for a kiss. This was the first time since Jason, Zack, and Trini had come back to Angel Grove to rescue Zaidan that they'd physically seen each other, after all.
Clearing his throat, Tommy said, "Guys, you can get reacquainted later. Right now, we have more pressing concerns."
"What is it, Tommy?" Trini asked.
"Rita's boss, Lord Zedd, is attacking Angel Grove," Tommy explained. "Basically he's pissed that Rita keeps failing to destroy us and has come to finish the job. He's a lot stronger than Rita - destroyed the zords and our powers with his first monster."
"Damn," Zack said, not wanting to believe that what he was hearing was even possible. "Wait a minute, if he destroyed your powers, how'd you get here?"
"Magic," Zaidan answered. "I'll explain later when Earth isn't in imminent danger of being destroyed. By the way, this is my friend, Wesley Collins."
"Just call me, Wes," Wesley said.
Billy nodded. "As you can probably guess, Zaidan and Wes know that Tommy and I are rangers."
"We've got a lead on a power source," Tommy explained. "But in order to claim it, we need more rangers, so Zaidan and Wes have agreed to join us. We still need three more though, so we're hoping you guys are willing to come back to active status."
"You don't even have to ask," Jason said. "If I'm needed, I'll be there. You know that."
Nodding, Zack said, "Yeah, Angel Grove is our home. No way are we going to let this Zedd dude trash it."
"Count me in," Trini said. "The summit is almost over, so we would have been coming back soon anyway and I want to make sure I still have a home to go back to."
"I knew we could count on you guys," Tommy said. "Okay, grab onto Zaidan and hold on tight."
"Is that really necessary?" Zack asked. He had no problem with his friends' sexualities, but he was straight and therefore the idea of holding tightly onto another man did not really appeal to him.
"I'm afraid so, Zack," Zaidan said. "Until the power on Phaedos is ours, your command center is out of juice, so the only way we're getting back to Phaedos is by my magic. It's not like we can just go to NASADA and borrow a spaceship. Even if we could, they don't have one capable of travelling 2,500 light years in anything less than 60 or 70 years. So, unless burning up in Earth's atmosphere or getting spaced sounds appealing to you, I'd suggest holding on as tightly as you can so that my magic can shield you during transport."
"How is it that you even have magic?" Jason asked. "Everyone we've ever met with magic up until now is evil. How can we even trust you?"
"He's trustworthy, Jase," Tommy said. "As you already know, he's Rocky's boyfriend and we all trust him, so just trust me, bro. Zaidan is not the enemy."
Billy nodded, and said, "As for the other queries, I think it would be advantageous to save those explanations until after we deal with Zedd's Pirantishead monster."
Jason still wasn't totally comfortable trusting Zaidan, but he nodded, as he along with the other rangers grabbed onto the blond-haired teen and held on as tightly as they could. Seconds later, the room was empty as the seven teens disappeared in a flash of light.
-o-0-o-
Arriving back on Phaedos, Tommy led the way up the path that Dulcea had pointed out earlier. It was quite a climb up to the plateau, but finally, they found it. The others who'd stayed behind were waiting for them and a quick round of handshakes and hugs were exchanged as old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while greeted one another.
After a minute, Tommy turned to Dulcea and after quickly introducing her to Jason, Zack, Trini, and Wes, he said, "Okay, I think we're ready. There's eleven of us now."
"Indeed, there are," Dulcea said, as she walked to the center of the camp, where a large fire was burning in a pit. "We will now call upon the sacred animals of the Ninjetti for help. All of you, stand by the fire, opposite me."
As the teenagers moved into position, Dulcea took a small pouch from her belt and poured some kind of powder from inside it into her hand, before turning to face the group and saying, "Buried deep within each of us, is an animal spirit waiting to be released. Close your eyes and look deep inside."
Once everyone's eyes were closed, Dulcea raised her hands to her mouth and blew the powder from her hands over the fire, which immediately roared to life, the flames getting much higher than they had been, almost as if someone had just thrown gasoline on them. After a moment, a sparkling mist appeared over the now raging bonfire and surrounded the eleven teenagers as Dulcea looked on.
Moments later, their outfits changed to the traditional robes of the ancient Ninjetti. Each of their outfits were in a different color with the outfits worn by the six most recent rangers reflecting their ranger colors with a white sash tied around their waists. The exception was Tommy whose sash was black so that it didn't blend in with his otherwise white clothes. In the center of each of their chests a golden circle was visible, depicting the sacred Ninjetti animal that had bonded with each of them.
Moving down the line from right to left, Dulcea said, "Aisha, you are the bear: fierce and unstoppable. Rocky, powerful, smart, you are the mighty ape. Billy, you are the wolf, cunning and swift. Agile Kimberly, light as a feather, you are the crane." Reaching Adam, Dulcea noticed that he looked upset, which prompted her to ask, "Adam? Adam, what's wrong?"
"I'm a frog," Adam replied in a rather depressed and underwhelmed tone.
Before Dulcea could say anything, Tommy grinned at his boyfriend and said, "What is it they say about frogs? You're supposed to kiss them?" Leaning over, Tommy kissed Adam lightly on the lips, before pulling away with a smile and commenting, "Hey, it worked. I got a handsome prince."
That put a smile on Adam's face, as well as several of the others, as Dulcea laughed softly to herself, before moving on to Tommy, as she said, "You, Tommy, are the falcon, winged lord of the skies."
Dulcea now turned her attention to the next person in the line, Zaidan, whose robes were purple, oddly enough, with a white sash. "Zaidan, clever, elusive, and fierce when threatened, you are the wolverine. I know you were worried that your sire had tainted you, but this was the first of the tests you will face. None of the sacred Ninjetti animals are evil by nature and they would not bond with anyone who was. The fact that you're wearing the Ninjetti robes indicates that you have passed the first and most important test."
Zaidan was visibly relieved by Dulcea's words, while Trini and Zack looked confused and Jason looked like he was about to say something. Before he could speak up, however, Dulcea moved on to Wes, who was wearing green with a white sash. "Wesley, you are the stealthy serval, who hears what is missed by others."
Coming to Trini, who was wearing black with a metallic bronze sash, Dulcea said, "Trini, you are the mighty bison. Courageous and always up for a challenge."
Moving on to Zack, who was also wearing black and sporting a metallic silver sash, Dulcea said, "Zack, you are the soul singing hyena. You are patient and know the value of teamwork."
As Dulcea stepped in front of the last person in line, dressed in black with a metallic gold sash, she smiled. "Jason, you were the first of your friends to accept the mantle of Ranger. You left, but when the need was great you set aside what you wanted to do and answered the call once again. You are the courageous Bald Eagle. Full of strength and wisdom, you truly show others what can be obtained through great power and balance."
Taking a few steps back and looking at all of them, Dulcea said, "To be in harmony with a sacred animal spirit is to have the force of the Ninjetti. To those who are Ninjetti anything is possible. Now, to claim the Great Power, you must cross the Niola Jungle and survive the tests that await you there. The strength is inside of you. Trust it. Your sacred animals will be your guides."
"You're not coming with us, Dulcea?" Jason asked, as he got the distinct impression that this was goodbye.
"As I told the others before you arrived, Jason," Dulcea said, "I cannot set foot in the Niola Jungle as I would begin to rapidly age and die. So, no, I'm afraid you will have to do this on your own, but of all the many people who have come before you, you are the first group that I honestly believe will succeed." At this, Dulcea began to glow, as she said, "May your sacred animals watch over you," before she transformed before their eyes into the form of an owl, who perched on a rock for a moment, before flying away.
"What did Dulcea mean?" Jason finally asked. "About Zaidan fearing that he was tainted?"
Zaidan sighed. "You asked me earlier how I even had magic, Jason. Well, the truth is I inherited it from my sire and I mean that in the parental sense, even if the person in question is hands down the universe's worst parent who I wish daily I was not related to."
"That's kind of harsh, isn't it?" Zack asked, obviously not knowing just who Zaidan was talking about.
"No, Zack, it really isn't," Zaidan said. "You'll notice that I say my sire. I refuse to call him by any of the other names one would usually use for their male parent. He wasn't really a parent to begin with, seeing as how he doesn't even know that I'm his son. Which is actually the way I prefer it, since I want nothing to do with him. He's nothing more than a sperm donor and he wasn't really donating if you get my meaning."
Trini was always a perceptive girl, and she paled as she asked, "You mean he..." she didn't finish, however, as Zaidan nodded and said, "Yes, he brutally beat and raped my mother. Nine months later, I was born, so, yeah, I really want nothing to do with the bastard. Now, can we go get the Great Power and stop Pirantishead from trashing Angel Grove?"
"I'd have to agree," Billy said. "Every second we're here equates to more property damage back home and the potential for lives lost."
"Right," Tommy said, as he headed for the path leading down from the plateau in the direction of the jungle. "Let's go, guys. People are depending on us and I for one refuse to let them down."
-o-0-o-
To be continued.
And there you have Chapter Nine of 'Breaking the Cycle'. I hope you all enjoyed it. This is the first chapter of a 3-5 chapter arc, so there'll be 2-4 more chapters after this before I move on to the next story in my update list. As of right now I'm not sure if it'll be only 3 chapters, 4 chapters, or 5 chapters, but there will be a minimum of 3 total including this one.
Also, so you all know, I'll be taking the entire month of November off from writing fan fiction in order to concentrate on original fiction during NaNoWriMo, so once November 1st comes around, you will not see any updates until sometime in December. Although I do plan to get out as many chapters as I can between now and November 1st. I doubt I'll actually finish the arc, however.
While very few of the pages for this story have been created yet, I've now started the Stories by Jayson Wiki, which will in time have information not only about this story but also my other stories as well, including profiles of the original characters and selected canon characters. Only registered users that I give permission can create/edit content, so for the time being I'm the only one who can add or create anything, so if the information is there, you'll know it's "canon" for this story, as it's coming directly from me. . ?title=Stories_by_Jayson_Wiki
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email, my Yahoo group ( neo/groups/storiesbyjayson), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .
