Here's the new chapter!
Aisha was sitting with tears still running down her face. She used her hand to wipe them away and while she still felt guilty and hurt by everything, she felt comforted by the presence of Dustin on her left, Ashley on her right, and Rocky sitting down in front of her. She felt a strange kinship with Ashley and Dustin, even though she had never met either of them before.
The three of them had filled her in on what was going on. They told her about the rest of the ranger teams since her own and what happened with the psycho rangers. She knew that Jason and Kim were still evil and that Billy was trying to find some way to allow her and Tommy harness their Ninjetti powers to use them.
She glanced over at Cassie, who was still lying lifeless on the table. "She looks so peaceful," she thought. "She'll be okay?" Aisha asked Ashley.
Ashley nodded in response. "She'll be fine. No lasting harm done." Ashley smiled. "She's no stranger to injuries. And she always comes back stronger and better than ever."
Zhane overheard the statement and looked up, nodding. "We all know the dangers coming in, Aisha."
"It shouldn't have to come from the people who we think are our friends, though."
"You're right, it shouldn't," agreed Andros, taking a seat next to Rocky, who was still rubbing her hand. "But it's easier for evil, no matter who it is, to target the people who you are closest to. Because it's easier to face you alone than when you're surrounded by help. By your friends. By the love and care that you have for one another. And that love, that care...that's the most powerful thing in the universe."
Aisha looked around, nodding slowly. She glanced over at Tommy, Adam, and Billy. Adam gave her a small smile. "Where are they?" she asked. "Jason and Kim?"
"We don't know," answered Shane, honestly. He had an apologetic look on his face as he turned his attention away from the computers. "They could be anywhere."
Tori was sitting off to the corner, watching everyone and taking everything in. Kelly was beside her, but she too, was lost in her own thoughts. She still couldn't believe that she was friends with the Power Rangers. And that she was in a room full of other rangers. The whole thing seemed a bit surreal to her. She glanced sideways at Tori, wanting to say something, but stopped when she saw the look on Tori's face. Tori was deep in thought, listening to the conversations around her and thinking about everything.
She counted down on her fingers. "Adam. Rocky. Aisha. Tommy. Six rangers, leaving Kim and Jason," she said aloud to herself.
Kelly looked at her in confusion. "What-"
"Six rangers. Lothor meant to capture Billy, but didn't, so he got Jason instead. Six rangers," she repeated.
"Tori, I'm sorry, but I'm not following," replied Kelly.
Tori shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. I guess I never realized how long this whole Power Rangers line is."
"Yeah, really," agreed Blake. He sat next to Tori and casually draped his arm around her. He nodded around. "So many rangers."
"Tommy, here," Billy said, thrusting Tommy's morpher into his hands.
Tommy looked at it in disgust but reluctantly took it from Billy. "What do I do with this?" he asked, almost awkwardly.
"Morph," answered Billy. "Your white ranger power. The power of the Falcon."
"Mr. 'Winged Lord of the Sky'," Adam added with a hint of mockery. He grinned.
Tommy rolled his eyes at Adam, but readied himself for the morph. He still looked skeptical, but Adam and Billy nodded in encouragement. Tommy shook his head slightly, but held his hands up. "White ranger power!" Immediately, Tommy felt a new, familiar power course through his veins. He levitated a bit in the air and felt the power overcome him. He closed his eyes and let it flow.
He was standing in front of large stone. There were four openings in each of the corners and he and his friends had just defeated the last guardian. The wall of the large stone opened and numerous animal spirits flew out - an ape, a bear, a wolf, a frog, a crane, and finally, a falcon. It flew around him before completely engulfing him in its power.
A bright, white light emerged from Tommy. Everyone shielded their eyes and Tommy grinned at the familiarity of the power. He almost felt like a teenager again.
"Power of the Falcon!" he bellowed. He looked at Adam, who promptly joined him as the black Ninjetti frog. Tommy grinned and high-fived Adam as he pulled the fabric away from his face. Rocky and Aisha looked at each other and smiled at the two of them.
"Lookin' good, ol' Tommy boy," said Rocky, walking over and giving him a high-five, also. "Are you really not going to try to morph, Billy?" he asked, turning toward the former blue ranger.
Billy shook his head. "No...I'm not. Besides, I don't even have a morpher."
"There's mine." Rocky gestured to his arm. "I'm still pretty hurt."
Billy shook his head again.
"Why not? You said that you're just using the morpher to harness the power, right? The true power is within us? If Adam and Tommy could morph, you can to, right?"
Again, Billy shook his head. "No...I...I don't think so." He turned away from everyone. "I should get to work on Aisha's morpher."
Aisha gave Rocky a small smile. "You tried," she mouthed.
"You guys!" exclaimed Shane. He jumped up from his seat and pointed to the monitors. "Psychos pink and red spotted."
Andros nodded and looked around the room, gesturing to each person. "Zhane, you stay with Cassie." Zhane nodded, not even looking up from his seat next to Cassie. "Hunter, Dustin, you guys stay too."
"What!" the two of them exclaimed, both jumping up.
"You're both still recovering from your injuries. I don't want you to further put your health in danger." Andros nodded to TJ. Carlos and Ashley stood on either side of them. "Let's rocket!" he yelled.
Shane looked apologetically at Hunter. "It's only safe," he replied. Tori and Blake nodded and stood on either side of him. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Ninja storm! Ranger form!"
"Thunder storm! Ranger form!"
Tommy and Adam bumped fists against each other before calling out their powers again.
"Power of the Falcon!"
"Power of the Frog!"
In different colored beams of light, the nine rangers disappeared.
"Be safe, you guys," Aisha whispered. "Bring them home."
"See, I knew they would show up," Jason said to Kim in a mocking voice.
KIm gave him a dangerous smile. She turned toward the rangers and grinned. "Now rangers," she said in a deep and low voice. 'We can make this very easy. Or we can make this hard." She held out her hands and sparks emitted from them. "Hand over your morphers."
"No way!" exclaimed Tori.
"Hmm. Then I guess we have to do this the hard way." Kim took a step toward them and the red sparks grew more strong. "Hand over your morphers," she repeated.
"Never!" yelled Blake.
"Jason..." Tommy whispered to Adam. He nudged him and nodded toward Jason. "Look at him."
Adam noticed Jason standing a few paces behind Kim with an evil grin on his face. The red sparks from Kim's hands reflected against the dead, darkened, and black eyes of Jason's. "What's he up to?" Adam replied, barely moving his mouth.
"So you're thinking the same thing," Tommy replied. Adam nodded. Tommy held out his hand. "Hey, stay back." The two of them held back as the other rangers advanced. Kim was still too powerful for them, easily taking out Ashley, TJ, and Shane.
"What should we do?"
"Get Jason."
The two of them slowly turned around and inched their way away from Kim and the other rangers, heading toward Jason. He barely moved a muscle since his attention was focused on the battle between the rangers and Kimberly. Jason knew that Kim was more than capable of handling the rangers on her own. But if he could get her to destroy the rangers and retrieve their morphers, they could tire her out and Jason could easily overpower Kim, becoming the sole possessor of the powers.
"Hand it over!" Kim yelled. She levitated above the rangers and started shooting fireballs at the rangers.
Tommy and Adam were hiding behind a couple of piles of debris. Tommy motioned to Adam, who nodded in return. Tommy counted down with his fingers. At three, they leapt from their hiding spots and tackled Jason from behind.
"ARGH!" Jason yelled at the surprise attack.
"Jason, it's us," Tommy said in a soft voice and what he hoped was a calming voice. "Relax. Don't give in to the darkness. You can still come back to us."
Jason bellowed again and flipped the two of them over his shoulders. He kicked Adam away and grabbed Tommy by the neck, holding him high above him. "Just like old times, right?" Jason yelled. Tommy's mind flashed back to when Kim and Jason were under Maligore's spell and Jason was holding him like this then. Tommy coughed in an effort to breathe. Jason just laughed. "You remember, don't you? And look at me." Jason flexed his other arm. "I still have all the muscles and the power."
"Yeah, Jason," Tommy stammered, trying to breathe. "You do. You have all the muscles and the power." He looked around in a panic. Adam was having trouble getting up and the other rangers were still fighting Kim.
Kim...
How was he going to get out of this? Last time, Tommy had been able to flip Jason into Maligore's pit and Kim helped him pull Jason out.
What was he going to do now?
There's that chapter. Please review and thank you for reading!