Power Rangers #3.12
"Acceptance"
Written By Tobias Christopher
4 Years Ago
8 year old Justin was crying uncontrollably as his dad hugged him.
"Your mom went peacefully, Justin," Doug said as he held his son. "She's in a better place now."
6 Months Later
Justin stood on the porch and watched his dad drive off, hoping to find a job that would allow him to support his son. His aunt put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Don't worry, he'll be back," The boy's aunt said. "Soon you'll both be in a better place."
A year and a half later
Justin's best friend was getting ready to move away, and was saying goodbye.
"Dad says we're going to a better place," Devin said. "It's called Reefside."
One Month Ago
"Rocky's gone to his Uncle Joe's ranch to live," Carly said as Justin sat across from her and his father. "He's not coming back. He's in a much better place now."
Now
Angel Grove Park, Night
"I'm not leaving," Tommy said as he looked over at Kim. They were laying on a blanket in the park, looking up at the stars. "I can't leave you."
"What about your destiny?" Kim asked. "Master Hup says you have big things ahead of you."
"None of that matters if you're not with me," Tommy said as he took her hand. "We've been through too much for me to just leave you."
"I can't keep you from your future," Kim said as she kissed him. "You'd do the same for me if it were me who were leaving."
"And what about... us?" Tommy asked. "We're going to be on opposite sides of the planet."
"Even an entire planet between us couldn't stop me from loving you," Kim told him. "But your future is with Adam and Aisha at Master Hup's Academy. You can't pass this up."
"What about us?" Tommy asked. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Kim said as she looked into his eyes. "But I can't keep you from your destiny. You have to go."
The two looked up at the stars and saw something falling.
"Make a wish," Tommy said as Kim closed her eyes and wished there was a way to keep Tommy in Angel Grove.
Meanwhile, the shooting star, which was actually a meteor, flew through the sky, and crashed into the grassy field on the other side of the park. The rock like object began to crumble, until a creature with armorlike black and green skin emerged. The monster smiled as he sniffed the air.
"Rangers...," Ecliptor said.
The Following Morning
Justin woke up, yawned and stretched, and stood up. He was on his way toward the door when he saw the lamp beside his bed was on. He turned it off, but the light bulb continued to glow. So he reached down to unplug it, but the bulb was still lit.
"Must have a short in it," The boy thought. "Better have dad look at it."
Justin walked into the hallway, and headed toward the bathroom, but ran into Rocky.
"Justin, I know you're mad at me, but-" Rocky started to say as Justin brushed past him, unintentionally giving Rocky a shock on his arm. "There's a reason I had to leave. But I came back for you. I had to ride trains, hitchhike, hell, at one point I was riding a moose."
Rocky tried to hand Justin a wrapped package. "I- I bought this for your birthday a few weeks before everything happened."
Justin didn't say anything as he ran into the bathroom and closed the door. He wanted to make up with Rocky, but ever since he was eight years old people had been leaving him: His parents, close friends, and every relative he'd been sent to over the last four years, and recently Rocky. He couldn't risk getting close to Rocky. Not if Rocky was going to walk out again.
He looked at himself in the mirror and saw his long, shaggy hair, affectionately dubbed 'The Pudding Bowl' by Rocky, was a mess. It looked as if something was forcing it up. After a few tries of trying to get it under control, Justin finally grew angry and grabbed a pair of scissors from the counter and started snipping away...
Angel Grove Youth Center
"Come on, you can do it!" Jason said as he held the punching bag while his cousin Jeremy pounded away at it. "Just a couple more!"
"I can't feel my arms anymore," Jeremy said as he gave everything he could to punch the bag and finally fell forward, holding onto it to keep from falling to the ground.
"That was good, but your punches need improving," Jason told him as tossed the boy a towel. "You're almost ready for the tournament."
"Too bad they had to postpone it until the summer," Jeremy said as they headed for the table. "I was looking forward to the final round."
"You're getting your confidence back," Jason said as they sat down. "Like the kid I used to know."
"Thanks to you," Jeremy replied. "I don't know what I'd without you, Jase. You've helped me out more than anyone else. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you."
"I could say the same thing," Jason said. "We'll take five and hit the punching bag again."
"That should be long enough for me to get enough energy to recover from this," Jeremy said as he fell forward and hit his head on the table.
Meanwhile, Christian was waiting for his turn on the balance beam, and was passing the time by reading a letter he'd gotten in the mail earlier from his family in Australia. At the bar, Richie was trying to work up the courage to ask Trini an important question.
"Trini, I know you've only been back a little while," Richie said as he held Trini's hand. "But I've had a lot of time to think while you were at that peace conference. I... I love you. Will you- well, if you're okay with it, could you possibly be... my girlfriend?"
"I don't know what to say," Trini said as she looked around.
"Say yes," Ernie whispered as he leaned across the bar.
"Yes," Trini said as Richie leaned over and kissed her as everyone started cheering and clapping. It was at that point that Christian stood up and ran for the door, crumpling the letter in his hand as he went.
"Are you alright?" Adam asked as Christian ran by.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Christian replied, trying to keep from crying. "I- I gotta go."
Christian grabbed his gear and headed toward the door as Richie and Trini watched.
"What's the matter with him?" Richie asked.
Fifteen minutes later, Christian was in the park, sitting on a bench. He dug into his duffle bag and pulled out a picture of him and his big brother Jesse, which was taken three years ago.
"It should have been me," Christian quietly said as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "You were the one they loved."
Just then the sound of screaming was heard from in the distance. Christian stood up and rushed toward the sound and found Ecliptor causing havoc by firing laser blasts at innocent people.
"Ranger," Ecliptor said as he he looked at the boy. "I can smell the power on you."
"Who are you?" Christian asked as he put his hand behind his back and reached for his morpher, making sure that everyone in the park had gotten away safely.
"I am Ecliptor, and I have come for the fugitives that you and your friends are hiding," Ecliptor told him. "Give me the ones that you are harboring and I may let you live."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Christian said as he walked toward Ecliptor. "But I'm not going to let you hurt innocent people."
"Very well, then I'll hurt you instead," Ecliptor said as fired a laser saber at Christian, who was struck, and fell to the ground. He pulled out his morpher and held it up.
MASTADON!
The Black Ranger stood up and produced his Power Axe, then rushed toward the monster. He brought his axe down as a blade shot out of Ecliptor's right arm and blocked him. He pushed Christian back and fired a laser from his left hand, knocking the Ranger back to the ground.
"I tire of this," Ecliptor said as he pulled out a small orb and tossed it at Christian, hitting him in his chest. A series of steel belts shot out and restrained Christian, de-morphing him as he layed on the ground. "If you will not give me the fugitives, I will barter for them. Your life for their's."
At the Youth Center, Jason and Jeremy were about to return to training, when their communicators sounded.
"Saved by the bell," Jeremy said as he rushed for the door.
"Training's not over, it's just delayed," Jason shouted after.
"Duty calls," Trini said as she stood up from the stool.
"I'll be here waiting when you get back," Richie said as he kissed her goodbye. Trini, Jason, and Jeremy headed to the empty hallway and teleported to the Command Center.
The Power Chamber
Rocky and Kim had gotten there just seconds before the other Rangers arrived.
"Alpha, what's going on?" Rocky asked. "Did you run those the tests on the green power coin?"
"Yes, but the coin appears to be dead again," Alpha told the group. "There doesn't seem to be any trace of energy in it. But that's not why I called you here. A monster has captured Christian, and is holding him outside of town!"
"Is he one of Zedd and Rita's creations?" Jason asked as the others looked at the viewing globe.
"I'm afraid not," Alpha replied. "Ecliptor has no allegiance to anyone. I don't know why he'd come to Earth, unless there was something to gain."
"He obviously wants something," Kim told the group. "But why would he capture Christian? Unless he wants to draw us into a fight."
"If he wants a fight, then he's going to get one," Jason said as he looked at Alpha. "How do we bring this guy down?"
"Ecliptor is far stronger than anything Rita and Zedd could come up with," Alpha replied as he headed for the computer. "But I'll try to find a weakness. Just be careful."
"Let's go get our friend back," Jason said as everyone reached for their morphers. "Jeremy?"
"Really? I can say it?" Jeremy asked as Jason nodded. "IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
TIGERZORD!
PTERADACTYL!
TRICERATOPS!
SABER-TOOTHED TIGER!
TYRANNOSAURUS!
The five Rangers arrived in the desert and found Christian tied to a stake, as Ecliptor marched in front of him.
"Christian, are you alright?" Trini asked.
"Outside of the fact that I'm tied to a stake, and have to use the bathroom really REALLY badly, I'm just peachy," Christian replied.
"White, Pink, Blue, Yellow, and Red," Ecliptor said as he looked at the Rangers. "Where are the others?"
"This is it," Jason said as he held Saba forward. "Now let our friend go."
"It will do you no good to protect the fugitives, I know they were on a course for Earth," Ecliptor said as the blade shot out of his arm. "I am here to collect the bounty on their heads."
"It's one against five," Jeremy told the monster. "How do you expect to beat us?"
Ecliptor laughed as he tossed a silver sphere into the air, which exploded and created several robotic drones. "Quantrons, attack!"
"You and your big mouth," Kim said to Jeremy as the robots marched toward them. Jeremy smiled under his helmet, not realizing Kim had insulted him. Anything she said was like music to the boy's ears. The Rangers pulled out their weapons and rushed forward.
The Stewart Home
Justin walked into his room and saw the present Rocky had tried to give him sitting on the bed. He picked up the small box, pulled off the ribbon, removed the top, and found two tickets to the upcoming Nascar race inside.
"He spent his martial arts camp fund on those," Carly said as she came in and looked at Justin's hair, which was now cut short and spiked. "What did you do to your hair?"
"My mom was a professional hairstylist," Justin told her as Carly sat on the bed next to him. "I learned a few things by watching her when I was little. She wanted to open her own beauty salon before she..."
"I know you were upset with Rocky for just leaving home like that." Carly said as she put an arm around Justin's shoulder to comfort him.
"Everyone I've ever known has left me," Justin replied. "My mom, my dad, my relatives didn't even want me around after a while. Then Rocky left. I don't want to get close to him again if he's going to leave. It'll hurt too much."
"He has no intention of leaving," Carly said as Justin looked up at her. "I think you're old enough to hear what happened to Rocky while he was gone. He loves you, Justin. He loves you like you were a real brother."
"I love him, too," Justin said as he looked up at his step-mother. "What happened to him while he was gone?"
The Rangers were fighting there way through the Quantrons, but they were much stronger fighters than the Putty Patrol.
"These guys are hard to take down," Kim said as two Quantrons grabbed her and tossed her into Trini.
Jeremy and Rocky were fighting back to back, but they were eventually dogpiled.
Jason ran toward Ecliptor with his sword in hand. He did a jump kick over Ecliptor's head, but the monster ducked and slashed Jason with his armblade. He slashed again and knocked Jason back into the Quantrons, who grabbed his arms.
"This is your final chance, Rangers," Ecliptor said as the Quantrons grabbed the Rangers and held them in place. "Give me the two fugitives and you can keep your lives."
"For the last time, we don't have any fugitives!" Jason told him as Ecliptor tossed an orb at his chest, trapping Jason in steel retraints, which demorphed him.
Ecliptor then tossed two at Trini and Kim, trapping and demorphing them. He threw one more at Jeremy, and then tossed one at Rocky, but Rocky pulled on his arm at the last second, pulling the Quantron on his left into range, trapping him instead.
"Get the Blue Ranger!" Ecliptor shouted as Rocky was chased away by the pursuing Quantrons. "He won't get far. You may not be willing to give up the fugitives, but I'm sure that I can collect a handsome bounty for an entire set of Earth Rangers."
The Command Center
"It looks like the Quantron's have a weakness, after all," Alpha said as he looked at the print out. "But there's no way to tell the Rangers."
Just then, Justin arrived, hoping to find Rocky, since he wasn't at the Youth Center or the park.
"Ay yi yi, what did you do to your hair?" Alpha asked.
"Alpha, have you seen Rocky?" Justin asked as he saw the green power coin sitting on the console, which had two wires attached to it, which in turn were attached to a small device to measure how much power it had.
"The others are facing a monster named Ecliptor," Alpha told him. "But they seem to be losing. Everyone but Rocky has been captured."
"Then I have to help," Justin replied. "I- I don't want to be a Ranger, but my dad always told me I have to accept some responsibilities, wether I want them or not."
"I'm sorry, Justin," Alpha told the boy. "The power coin has lost it's charge. I guess it didn't absorb enough energy to-"
Justin picked up the coin, and the device went crazy. It started to smoke and exploded from picking up too much energy.
"Ay yi yi!" Alpha said as he looked at the device. He picked up a scanner and held it over Justin, at which point the scanner exploded. "Uh oh..."
"Uh oh?" Justin asked. "I don't like 'Uh oh's'. 'Uh oh's' are bad. Boy band bad."
"I don't think the coin absorbed the energy when you went into that dimension," Alpha said as he looked for a stronger scanner. "I think your body did."
Justin held up his hand and saw a small surge of energy flow through it.
"Son of a bi-"
"Itch," Christian said as Trini looked at him. The five Rangers were now all tied to stakes, waiting for Ecliptor to return.
"What?" Trini asked.
"I've got an itch on my nose and I can't scratch it," Christian replied.
"Rocky's still out there," Jason said as he looked out as far as he could see. "As long as one of us is out there, there's a chance."
Jeremy laughed, then quickly stopped. "Oh, you were serious."
"Richie asked me to be his girlfriend," Trini said as she looked over at Kim.
"Oh my God, congratulations," Kim replied as the two girls began discussing their love lives, as Jeremy and Christian tried to band their heads against the stakes to knock themselves out.
Rocky fell to the ground, landing on his stomach as the Quantrons overran him. He fought as hard as he could, but eventually was overpowered as Ecliptor walked up to him.
"Where are they?" Ecliptor asked.
"I don't know," Rocky replied as he tried to break free. "We don't have any fugitives."
Ecliiptor pulled out an orb and prepared to capture Rocky when a whistiling sound was heard to get his attention. He looked over and saw Justin standing about twenty feet away.
"Justin?" Rocky asked as the Quantrons continued to hold him. "What did you do to your hair? Oh, yeah, and RUN!"
"Leave him alone," Justin said. "No one inflicts pain on my brother but me!"
"That's right!" Rocky added, then thought about it. "Wait-"
"And who might you be, child?" Ecliptor asked as he laughed. "Who are you to stop me?"
"Me?" Justin asked as he looked down at the power coin, then looked back at Ecliptor. "I'm the Green Ranger."
Ecliptor laughed as his armblade shot out. "You're just a kid, but never the less, I will take pleasure in killing you."
"No one messes with my friends," Justin said as he held his morpher forward. "It's Morphin' Time!"
DRAGONZORD!
The boy flipped forward through the air as the green and white armor morphed around his body, followed by the dragon themed helmet surrounding his head. Finally the golden armored shield appeared in a bright light as the boy landed on his feet.
"Cute parlor trick, but let's see you take me on!" Ecliptor shouted as he rushed forward with his blade.
Justin pulled out his dragon dagger and ducked as Ecliptor swiped at him. He did a spin kick and knocked Ecliptor back, and rushed forward to punch the monster, but Ecliptor caught his arm and slashed at him, knocking the Green Ranger onto his back.
"You can not beat me," Ecliptor said as he headed toward Justin, who jumped to his feet.
Ecliptor rammed his blade forward as Justin spun to the side and kicked him, then slashed the monster with his dragon dagger, then grabbed him by the arm and sent him flying into the Quantrons holding Rocky, making them release him.
"Your powers are strong, but you haven't won yet, Ranger," Ecliptor said as his body started to glow. Soon the monster grew to over fifty stories tall, and started to laugh as Justin and Rocky rolled out of the way as he stomped through.
"I'm going to handle Ecliptor," Justin said as he he looked at Rocky. "You free the others."
"Justin... Are we-" Rocky started to say as Justin grabbed his arm. A surge of energy shot up Rocky's arm, placing the golden shield on his shoulders.
"The Quantron's have a weakness in the chest area," Justin told him. "Be careful, big brother."
Rocky rushed back toward the others, as Justin put the dragon dagger to his mouthpiece and started playing a tune to summon his zord. Moments later, the Dragonzord arose from the water and stomped it's way toward the sound of the music that was commanding it.
"Awesome," Justin said as he looked at the Dragonzord for the first time.
"Nice toy," Ecliptor said as his arm blade was held forward. "I shall enjoy breaking it."
"Bring it on," Justin said as he commanded the Dragonzord to attack from the sidelines.
Rocky was fighting his way through the Quantrons, the golden shield giving him an energy boost as he headed toward his friends.
"Hey, how come he gets to have the cool shield?" Jeremy asked.
Rocky twirled his lance and started hitting Quantrons as he passed through, finally finding the weak spot to destroy them. He eventually reached the others and swung his lance to break the steel belts holding Jeremy, who immediately morphed.
TYRANNOSAURUS!
"Get the others out," Rocky told him. "I have to go help Justin."
The two boys looked over and found more Quantrons coming their way, and took a defensive pose.
Ecliptor stomped toward the Dragonzord with his arm blade ready to strike. He swung, but Dragonzord spun to the side, and used it's tail to hit Ecliptor's chest.
"You don't know who you're messing with," Ecliptor said as he rushed forward and sliced at the Dragonzord, hitting it's chest, then repeatedly struck, finally sending it to the ground. "I am the greatest warrior in the galaxy. You have no hopes of defeating me."
"Time to take the driver's seat," Justin said as he jumped into the Dragonzord's rarely used cockpit. "I still have a few moves. Dragonzord, I know this is our first battle together, but I know we can do this. Let's send this dork back to wherever he came from."
The Dragonzord picked itself up as Ecliptor rushed toward it with his blade, ready to strike.
Justin hit a button on the console, and seconds later, the lights on the Dragonzord's chest lit up. Missiles flew out of the zord's fingertips and hit Ecliptor, knocking him back.
"You still haven't shown me any new moves," Ecliptor said with a laugh as Justin noticed a large red button.
"You want a move?" Justin asked as he slammed his fist down on the button. "How about some Mortal Kombat, bitch?"
The Dragonzord's fist flew out, attached to a chain, and wrapped itself around Ecliptor.
"Get over here!" Justin shouted as the chain retracted and send Ecliptor flying forward.
The Dragonzord punched the monster as he got within striking distance, then turned around as it's tail drill struck. Ecliptor reeled back as the Dragonzord fired more missiles, sending Ecliptor to the ground hard enough to return him to his rightful size.
"Come back and see me when you learn to fight, son," Justin said as he patted the controls. "Good work, Dragonzord."
Ecliptor rolled to the ground, his normal size again, as Justin jumped out of his zord and was met by the other Rangers, who had finally defeated the last of the Quantrons.
"Good job, Justin," Rocky said as he patted Justin on the shoulders. "But we'll take it from here."
"You may have defeated me, but be warned, Rangers," Ecliptor said as he stood up. "For soon, every bounty hunter in the galaxy will ascend upon Earth to seek what you hide!"
"Let's finish this clown," Jeremy said as the Rangers drew their weapons and touched them together.
"POWER AXE!" Christian cocked the power axe's cannon mode and tossed it up.
"POWER BOW!" Kimberly tossed the bow, which attached itself under the axe.
"POWER LANCE!" Rocky seperated the weapon and tossed it, which attached itself to the far ends of the bow.
POWER DAGGERS!" Trini tossed her weapons up, which attached next to the two parts of the power lance.
"POWER SWORD!" Jeremy jumped up and attached the sword to the top part of the axe and brought the weapon down, where he was joined by the other Rangers. "FIRE!"
"Let's talk about this!" Ecliptor shouted as the Rangers fired the weapon at him, which sent the monster flying backward, finally causing him to explode in a giant fireball.
"That was fun," Jeremy said as he looked at the others. "But why did he think we were hiding fugitives?"
"We'd better get back to the Command Center and find out," Jason suggested.
As soon as the group teleported away, a hand reached out of a small crater in the ground.
"You haven't seen the last of me, Rangers," Ecliptor said as he turned into a ball of green and black light and flew away.
Shorty, at the Power Chamber
Justin was sitting on a table in the medbay as Alpha scanned him with the most powerful device he could find.
"His body seems to have absorbed a lot of energy from that dimension," Alpha said as he turned toward Rocky. "It looks like he can power the Green Ranger coin merely by holding it. He also seems to have gained some type of energy based power."
"Which is why he shocked me this morning, and yesterday," Rocky concluded.
"How long is this going to last?" Justin asked. "Is it going to hurt me?"
"I can't say," Alpha replied. "But there seems to be no bodily harm just yet, but I'll continue to monitor the situation."
Alpha left the room as Rocky sat down next to Justin.
"I'm sorry," Rocky said as he looked away. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But there was a reason-"
"Carly told me everything," Justin said as he looked up at Rocky. "You were... sick. I'm sorry I yelled at you. Carly says I have abandonment issues."
"I can't promise I won't ever leave," Rocky told him as he looked into Justin's eyes. "Sometimes stuff happens. Someday it may be you who leaves me."
"Like when I go off to become a Nascar driver?" Justin asked as Rocky smiled.
"Yeah," Rocky replied. "So, are we cool?"
"Yeah," Justin told him as the two hugged. "But about being a Power Ranger-"
"You don't have to do it," Rocky said as they walked toward the Power Chamber. "Maybe the Green Ranger power wasn't meant to be revived."
"I'll stay," Justin told him as they walked into the room, where Jason and Kim were waiting. "But only for the big stuff. I don't want to be on call 24/7 like you guys. But I'll be here if you need me."
"Deal," Rocky said as he looked at Justin's hair. "We'll hold a funeral for the Pudding Bowl later. Have we found out what Ecliptor was searching for?"
"No," Jason replied. "It doesn't help that we have no idea where to start."
"He said we were hiding two fugitives," Kim said. "But if Ecliptor's one of the bad guys, wouldn't that make these fugitives someone on our side?"
"Ecliptor's a bounty hunter," Alpha told them. "He'll hunt anything that will net him a profit, good or bad."
"Then good or bad, we need to find whoever Ecliptor was hunting," Jason concluded. "Before anyone gets hurt. I just wish Zordon was here."
"We all do, Jason," Alpha told him. "But all we can do is try to carry on without him. I just hope we can hold on until we can rebuild his energy tube."
Thousands of Light Years From Earth
"Surrender or be destroyed!" The voice boomed from the giant black and white ship. "This is your only chance."
"More bounty hunters. Master, I await your command,"
A young man, around 21 years old, sat in the shadows, his face concealed. "Fire the lasers."
A hand pushed the lever forward and fired off a laser, hitting the bounty hunter's ship, causing it to spin out of control.
"Get us out of here, while they're distracted" The young man said. "Go to Hyperspeed."
"As you wish, master,"
The Mega Winger rushed past the bounty hunter's ship, hitting hyperspeed until it was safely away.
"We are safe, master," The young man behind the controls said as he turned around. He was around sixteen years old with blonde hair, with a silver streak in the front. He never once blinked as he addressed his master. "But where do we go now?"
The other young man leaned forward. He had golden brown hair, and wore a royal Triforian symbol on his shirt.
"Good work, Zhane. Set a course for Earth. Only Zordon of Eltar can help us now," Prince Trey of Triforia said as he sat back.
"Yes, master," Zhane replied as the ship flew across the galaxy.
Later That Day
Christian sat on his bed at his exchange family's home. After almost an hour of working up the courage, he picked up the phone and dialed. The phone rang three times before a familiar voice picked up.
"Mom?" Christian asked, his voice trembling. "It's- It's Christian. I just-"
His words were met with an immediate dial tone. He closed his eyes and sat back against the wall, and tried to hold himself together.
The Power Chamber, late at night
Alpha was working feverishly on the computers, trying to find a way, any way to sever Justin from the power he had gained. But he was coming up with nothing. He had lied when he told Justin and Rocky that he found nothing deadly with Justin's new abilities.
"I won't let him die, not like this," Alpha said as he looked up at Zordon's empty space. "Oh, Zordon, where are you?"
Lord Zedd's Moon Palace
Zordon was alone in the big empty, room in Zedd's palace, with no way to contact the Rangers. But through the Morphin' Grid, he knew everything that was happening. And what was coming.
