Ninjetti Rebirth
Chapter 11: Mystery Revealed
A/N: All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks. Trixabus, Baneero, Alia, Zokk, Kemma, Gene, Hedara, Gale, and Golver all belong to me. The man in the Sky-blue cloak is not mine, but Toei/Bandai/Saban's along with all other Power Rangers/Super Sentai stuff. I took some liberties with SPD canon too, as far as the accident that gives them their powers at least. The multi-verse idea did come to me from KSuzie's "The Coins"
Bulk tried everything he could think of to open the jar. He tried prying the lid off with his finger, a crobar, and a magnet. When that didn't work he tried shattering the jar; stomping on it, and falling, smashing the crobar into it, hammering it, but nothing worked. That toy was as good as stuck in there. He slumped down and allowed his body to slide down the kitchen counter. He was giving up, it was stuck. "Skull," he said as his friend returned from his date "that action figure is as good as stuck in there. I've tried everything."
"Oh?" Skull asked, smacking his gum "Didja try this?" He picked the jar up and unscrewed the lid a little. "Ha, it isn't stuck. Later Bulkie, I'm gotta get ready for our second date." Bulk stared at the jar, why hadn't he thought of that? It was so simple.
"Wait," he said, snapping out of his thoughts, "I thought you just got back from a date?"
"Oh we did, but we decided not to wait for the second. We decided to each take a shower and meet back the Surf Spot in an hour." With that Skull took his leave. Bulk shrugged his shoulders, he was glad his friend had moved on.
"Now," Bulk said, turning toward the jar with a joyful smile on his face, "back to you." He picked the jar up and finished unsrewing it. Just as he was about to reach in and grab the toy a cloud of white smoke, accompanied by a hissing sound, poured out of the jar. He saw the action figure grow to normal size in the coud of smoke.
"Finally!" The figure said "Do you have any idea what it's like being trapped as a toy that is trapped in a jar?" Bulk saw his head turn towards him and he stared in awe."Six years. I was stuck like that for six years, just floating around in the sea. I tell you, that is no way to live. I suppose I should thank you for releasing me, but...nah."
Billy gave the Rangers a quick tour of the new Power Chamber, it resembled the Zeo's Power Chamber, but much larger. Along the back wall there was three rows of Ranger suits; seven Mighty Morphin's, five Zeo's, and five Turbo's. The floor was a greyish-blue, as were the walls. Off to the side was a viewing globe that resembled the flat-screen the Zeo's had, really the only thing missing was Zordon's Power Tube. There was a bunk for each Ranger if they ever needed it, a small kitchen, to Tommy it resembled more of a house added on to the Power Chamber. It was nice though, if he ever needed to stay late and work on something he'd have a bed, food, and a bathroom. He certainly wasn't complaining about it.
Jason and Rocky both stared up at the Red Mighty Morphin's suit, and both claimed it as their Powers. Jason looked at Rocky and said "You wanna settle who's Power that is?"
Rocky shrugged and said jokingly "Just don't cry when you lose." Jason flashed him a grin, his previous worries about Hayley forgotten.
"You're the one who'd better not cry." The two former Red Ranger's made their way over to the sparring mats Billy had placed down for them. They began slowly circling around one another, with Rocky diving in for the first punch. Jason swiftly moved out of the way and went for kick, which Rocky caught and flipped him with. Jason quickly jumped to his feet and knocked Rocky's out from under him, pinning him to the ground. "I win." Jason smirked, helping Rocky up.
Rocky hated losing, especially infront of his girlfriend. He turned to see her snickering at him. He slouched on his way over to her. "Aw c'mon Rocky, you can't always win." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned and flashed her a goofy grin.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He still didn't like losing infront her.
They were in the middle of the tour when Adam's communicator went off. When the others looked to him for an explanation he said it must have been a glitch with it, or something. As soonas the tour was over he teleported out. After everyone else left as well Tommy had Billy do a scan for Adam. "It says here that he's within the old Power Chamber." Billy said, more than a little puzzled. "But I though the Power Chamber was destroyed?"
"I bet the Zeo's Chamber is intact." Tommy said, before Billy could reply he teleported out.
He landed in the ruins of the Power Chamber, and spotted the hatch that lead down to the Zeo's. Quietly he made his way down, catching up with Adam. The closer he got the more he began to disappear, in a few seconds he was completely invisible. He followed Adam all the way to the center of the Zeo's Chamber and stopped when he saw the man in the sky-blue cloak welcoming him. Who is that guy? He thought to himself. He watched as Adam handed him a key of some sort. He heard the man say that it was now time to tell the others, and heard Adam's protests about calling Carri out again. The man agreed with him that it could wait until tomorrow. As Tommy watched on, not quite sure of what was going on, he heard "Come on out Tommy." Stunned for a second, he walked out and over to Adam before becoming visible once more.
"How do you know my name?" Tommy demanded "Who are you? Kim says you look familiar, but I don't see it." Adam jumped in front of him.
"You don't recognize him at all?" Tommy shook his head. "Have you forgotten him already? And hey, did you follow me here?"
"Forgotten who? And yes, I don't appreciate being lied to by my teammates, Adam."
"I was going to tell you and the others tomorrow anyway. You've forgotten him," he pointed to the Power Tube, "already? At all?"
Tommy's eyes widened in recognition as he put the pieces together. "But how? I thought you died!"
The man went through a detailed explanation of what happened, that the shattering of his Power Tube hadn't killed him as he had thought it would, rather, it restored his body to the way it had been ten-thousand years prior. "That is why I was so eager to save you and Kimberly."
"Zordon..." Tommy stared at him, not really sure of what to say. Finally he asked what he had wanted to ever since seeing the key. "What's the key for?"
Adam jumped in with the explanation, "There are six of them. Each one linked to the six original Power Coins. They were once used to seal a being named Ivan Ooze away in an egg. Afterwards Zordon had the Order of Meridian scatter them throughout the universe." He paused, watching as Tommy nodded for him to continue. "That's why I was late to the gathering, I was on Triforia ocating the third key."
"Which ones do you have?" Tommy asked, wondering if the DragonZord was among them.
"Triceratops, Sabretooth Tiger, and I just found the Tyrannosaurus." Adam replied, seeing Tommy's shoulder sink a little bit. He knew how he felt, he wanted to find the Mastadon Coin soon.
"So why gather them now?"
"At the time," Zordon said "it was the only way we knew of to defeat Ivan. But now, the keys are needed once more to seal someone else up. His name is Hedara, he weaseled his way into the Dimensional Overseers. It was he who had you and Kimberly thrown into that alternate universe."
Tommy nodded "So how do we locate the final three?"
"Two." Zordon corrected him, gaining confused expressions from both boys. "While you were on Triforia I was searching the place where I sent Alpha One to hide my key. Luckily I found it, Tommy, I present you with the DragonZord Coin. Adam, take the Triceratops Key to Billy, the Tyrannosaurus to Jason, and the Sabretooth Tiger to the current Yellow Ranger. It is not safe for all them to be in one person's possession."
"Wouldn't it make more sense to give the Sabretooth Tiger Key to Trini though?" Adam asked, knowing that if it did it meant he'd have to give the Mastadon Key to Zack.
"No. It is best they be left in the care of active Rangers." Adam let out a breath he'd been holding.
Tommy was still amazed to see Zordon, outside of his Power Tube, alive and well. For so many years he had thought he was dead, why didn't he reveal himself sooner? It was a mystery, and, knowing Zordon, he'd tell them when he was ready. There was one thing bothering him though. "Why did you call Jason back to the pit?"
Zordon turned to look at him, that young boy that he had recruited so long ago had now become a man. It was weird seeing him with short hair, Zordon had to admit that, but somethings never changed. Tommy was still full of questions. "I knew that he would be fine...we need his new powers for the upcoming battles, Tommy. I am sorry I worried you with that, but Jason is fine. I promise."
Tommy looked over at his old mentor, not sure if he should trust him on that or not. He figured he should, Zordon had never steered him wrong, but still.
Baneero opened his eyes, closing them quickly from the blinding light. He tried opening them again, this time shielding them with his hand. He stood slowly, looking around the room he was in. It was almost pure white, except for the light blue symbols carved into the walls. "Ah, so you are awake." Said a voice, he looked around to see a man in a black cloak appearing through a balck and purple portal. As the man drew closer, his boots echoing in the empty room, he pulled his hood back. He stared down at Baneero with his yellow eyes. His silvery-gray hair hung over his shoulders, and an evil smile crossed his tan face as he said "You're lucky I got to you in time."
"Who are you?" Baneero asked, jumping to his feet and reaching for his swords, not finding them. Slowly he began to remember everything, Gruumm and Morgana attacked the palace, killed Astronema, and Morgana was about to kill him. He saw her sword come down, but before it could strike him he felt a hand grabbed his shoulder. The rest was a blank.
The man chuckled "I am Hedara. A former Dimensional Overseer, and the one who saved your life."
Bridge and Sky landed in the new Power Chamber, startling Billy. "Who are you?" Billy demanded.
"Well, my name is Bridge, and he's Sky. You see, we're Power Rangers, from the future. And we came to-"
"Shut up Bridge." Sky said, lightly smacking the back of his head. "We're looking for Dr. Oliver. He knows who we are. We're old friends."
Billy looked at them like he didn't exactly believe them, but he called Tommy anyway. "Tommy, this is Billy, I need you to get to the Power Chamber right away."
A few minutes later a white streak fizzled down and Tommy looked at Billy. "What's the emergency?"
"These two say that they're old friends of yours, they just dropped in out of nowhere. But how is that possible?"
"Time travel." Bridge said plainly.
"Bridge? Sky?" Tommy asked "What're you doing here?"
The two looked at one another and Sky said "According to our records history is changing. Gruumm-"
"The guy we arrest in the future." Bridge interrupted, earning a scowl from Sky.
"Gruumm's rise to power is the same, except that Baneero was supposed to die in the battle. Our records show that he somehow managed to escape, and that one incident leads to the death of your team. We've come to prevent that from happening so that history doesn't change anymore than it already has."
Tommy and Billy looked at each other and Tommy said "Isn't that a job for Time Force?"
Sky sighed and said "Unfortunately, since you and your team died in the final battle, Time Force ceased to exist. We know this because our records indicate that only my fa- that only Wes and Eric saved Silver Hills. How they maintained their Ranger Powers I don't know."
"That's because it hasn't happened yet." Billy offered "If Tommy and the others are still alive in this time, then that means that so far Time Force still exists, therefore the Red and Quantum Ranger's Powers still exist." The three looked at him, wondering how he pieced that together so fast.
"Anyway," Sky said "we're here to help."
Tommy nodded and said "I'll call a meeting for the Red Legacy tomorrow to let them know of what's going on. You two will attend as honary members."
Sky nodded and Bridge said "You know, really we are members. Just not yet. But in the future we will be. See, Jack left S.P.D, and Sky was promoted to Red Ranger. Then two years later Commander Cruger was promoted, which promoted Sky to his position, and me to the Red Ranger."
"I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake with that." Sky muttered, shaking his head.
"Well anyway, be there. It'll be held at the NASADA Base at three p.m sharp. Don't be late." Tommy said.
"Sir, yes sir!" Both said, giving him an S.P.D salute. Tommy raised and eyebrow in confusion and Bridge explained that since he was a senior Red, it was mandator for them to treat him as a commaner. That, and he was the leader of the missions they' go on.
After Tommy teleported out and Billy buried his nose in his computer screen Sky whispered "I thought you were about to blow it." Bridge looked at him like he was cazy for even thinking that. "You know we can't let him know that he is the one who made S.P.D what it is, that he is the original commander of Earth's S.P.D Base."
"I know that. That's why I didn't tell him. Of course, I could have told him. But then he might not become the commander, which would mean that that salute would've been pointless."
"Do you ever talk like a normal person?" Sky questioned.
"I always talk like a normal person. What're you talking about?"
"Nothing." Sky sighed "Just...nothing."
Kim ran her finger absently over the photo she was holding. She had woke up around seven in the morning and picked up the photo she always kept in her drawer. She looked down at it and began tracing the outline of Tommy's face. He looks so...different with short hair, she told herself, I like it. I can't believe I thought that mop he called hair was so sexy. She giggled at the memories of her teenage years. They seemed so long ago now. She sighed, placing the photo back and getting out of bed. She and Tommy had discussed their relationship earlier in the Power Chamber, during the tour. Tommy explained about Karone, and Kim lied and said she was sorry to hear it. Tommy had told not to be, he wasn't.
Carri had gone to bed as soon as they returned from the Power Chamber. "I imagine she'll be out for another four or five hours." Kim said to herself. She walke over to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She just sat down and turned the T.V on when she heard a knocking at her door. Swearing silently she got up and opened the door to see Tommy's smiling face staring down at her.
"Hey beautiful." He said as he embraced her in a hug. Rocky slid in by him and began to head towards Carri's room.
"I wouldn't do that!" Kim called "She's not a happy camper if you wake her. It's best if you just let her sleep." Rocky slumped his shoulders and slid over to the couch.
"Nice PJ's." Tommy commented, eyeing Kim's pink shirt and pink pants.
"Nothing special about them, they're plain." She said looking down at them.
"They look good on you, better than they would anyone else." He said as he scooped her up in his arms.
"Ah! Becareful of my coffee!" She squealed, laughing as he spun her around and plopped down on the couch.
"Didn't spill a drop." He grinned as though that was a huge accomplishment. Kim cut a glare at him, but her mouth twitching into a smile gave her away. Tommy leaned in and kissed her passionately.
"Oh come on!" Rocky cried "You don't have to rub in the fact that your girlfriend is up and mine isn't."
Kim made an 'oops' face and smiled at him. "Wake if you want. But it's your head that'll be on a platter, not mine." Ignoring the platter comment Rocky jumped over the back of the couch and knocked on Carri's door.
He heard a muffled "Go away" and opened the door. "I said go away." Carri said, sitting up. Rocky couldn't help but laugh at her tussled hair and tired expression. "Rocky?"
"You look beautiful." He said seriously as he sat next to her, kissing her neck.
"Yeah right. I bet I look like Rita right now." She grumbled, she'd heard Kat's stories about Rita and had even been given a description of what the witch looked like.
"Now that you mention it...you could pass her for her twin, or daughter." Rocky teased, smilingly. Carri huffed and pushed him to the floor. She swung her legs over the side of the bed as she got up. She glanced over at her clock, seeing the time.
"It's only eight o'clock?" She glared down at Rocky "I'm not sure I wanna get up now. Maybe I'll kick you out and stay in bed all day." She crossed her arms over her chest and Rocky chuckled.
"Go ahead, I'll just teleport in."
Crap, she hadn't thought of that. "You can't use the teleportation system for personal use." She retorted, even though she did a lot.
"You do." Rocky pointed out "Keep it up and Tommy'll find out." Carri stuck her tongue out at him and walked by him on her way to the bathroom.
Kim and Tommy were still sitting on the couch when she asked "So what's on the agenda for today Dr. Oliver?"
"Don't call me that," he said with a smile "my students call me Dr. Oliver. You call me Tommy, remember?" She giggled.
"Whatever you say Dr. Oliver." She stuck her tongue out "Seriously though, what're we doing?"
Tommy looked at her and said "Well, we are going to see a movie. Then we need to be at NASADA at three."
"NASADA? What for?" Kim asked, scrunching her face.
"Red Legacy meeting. We have two special guests, honary members actually, that need to brief our team and all the Red's on something."
"What something?" She was genuinely curious, Tommy didn't just call a meeting for no reason at all, and there was usually a weeks notice before hand. but not this time.
"Two friends of mine, from the future, need to brief us on how history is changing." He said after a sigh.
"You are aware of how crazy that sounds, right?" She asked, hoping she was pointing out the obvious.
"I know." He said "But you know Wes and Jen Collins?" She nodded "Well of them is their son, Schuyler, but at age twenty-five. The other is Zhane's kid Bridge, age tenty-six."
"Wait a minute," she said, throwing her hands out and waving them, "Zhane? As in Karone ran off with Zhane, Zhane?" Tommy nodded. "Wow. Isn't that a little weird?"
"Surprisinly, no." He said flatly. "But come on, you'll be briefed at the meeting. I'll even be briefed at the meeting. But until then, we have a movie to get to. By the way, I've got some interesting news for you about our mystery saviour..."
Zedd looked down at the egg. It was halfway visible now, he had summoned some of his old Putties to help dig it up. "It won't be long now, my dear." He said as he walked over to Rita, she still hadn't told him about the ruckous up in the palace. She was afraid too, afraid he'd drag her back up there and that she'd be killed.
"Yes. Now, Zeddie, who exactly is trapped in the egg? You never told me." She pouted.
"Ah, he is not someone to be taken lightly, my dear. His name is..."
Trixabus shook his head, he looked up at the palace. He had fallen quite a bit, it surprised him that he was still alive. He stumbled to his feet, and fell over again. After he picked himself back up and summoned his staff he limped over to the palace and back up to the top. When he arrived he found that Gruumm and Morgana had left, why he didn't know, but he was glad they were gone. He observed the room, finding a life-less Astronema across the room. He moved over to her and poked her with his staff, he grunted as he found she really was dead. "Pitiful human." He said as he stumbled over to his throne.
Bulk had been stunned for a few hours now, the toy he had tried to get had grown to human size and begun talking to him. He'd seen a lot of strange things in Angel Grove, but never a living toy. After he had set him free the toy had walked out of Bulk's house and disappeared in a bouncing black light.
He stood atop a cliff that overlooked Angel Grove, his trench coat blowing behind him in the wind, he spread his arms and breathed in the fresh air. "Ah," he said "that's so much better than that stuffy jar." He began laughing "Look out Earth, Lothor's back in town!"