Chapter 26

When It All Falls Apart

"Now that those puny power punks have lost Zack, there's nothing that can stop us from our psychological warfare on them!"

Zedd gave a cry full of mirth and thrust his Z-staff into the air. Around him, Goldar, Squatt, and Babboo all cheered. Rita, on the other hand, continued to sit in her chair at the head of the table and continued to sip out of her wine goblet.

Surprise, surprise one of the few times they were able to have dinner to themselves in the lunar palace and Zedd had to go and ruin it with his exclamation that he was finally going to be the one to destroy the power rangers. It was her idea for Goldar to get the Azurite Healiodore and destroy Zordon's and Alpha's home plants. She had that idea while she had been stuck in the space dupster for all of those years. She had to do something to keep herself entertained while she waited to be released. And it was just her luck that those fools from NASADA were exploring the distance planet she just so happened to crash land on.

All of those years in the space dumpster and she had come up with countless plans, of course they all had to be modified when the rangers continued to destroy her monsters. She had anticipated it; Zordon would try to fight back wherever she landed as he was the 'wise sage' that fought on the side of goodness against her.

Her hands clenched against her goblet as, at the head of the table, she watched Zedd continued to preen in his celebration, running his fingers down the neck of the alien-like girls that had slowly made their way into the room. His harem. She had no problem with at first, focusing on the destruction of all that was kind and good and the power rangers. But he insisted on it and while it loosened him up, keeping himself from completely breaking psychotically, it was starting to get on her nerves the longer it went on.

Rita's long fingernails tapped against her goblet, creating light cracking sounds, threatening to break her goblet. She replaced the goblet on the table in front of her and picked up her fork to finish her meal. Why was he the one that always had to—

Wait.

"What did you say?!" She screeched at Zedd.

He slowly turned to face his wife, his demeanor changing completely. Now his body glowed with anger. Probably from having interrupted him in his crowning moment of achievement. "I said, now that Zack is out of the picture, we can start our full scale psychologically warfare on the rangers."

"What do you mean he's out of the picture?" Rita pressed.

Zedd let out what sounded like an annoyed sigh, dropping his hand to the table with a dull 'thunk'. He picked it up and started to drum his fingers against his cheek, each finger making a metallic clanking sound against the side of his face. "And I thought you were smart enough to comprehend simple English," he said. He cleared his throat. "Zack broke one of Zordon's rules and now he's not a ranger anymore. His powers have just been taken. And now that he's gone from the team, the rangers will be one ranger short. And the rest of our monsters will be able to take them out one by one."

"All we have to do is send out Sagittaria once more," Goldar agreed. "And we'll have the rangers finally defeated!" He waved his sword over his head, cheering loudly.

"Wouldn't you rather take the reins on that one?" Zedd asked him. "You'd finally be able to destroy the red ranger like you've always wanted."

"And you'd finally get that pink ranger that you're always obsessing about," Rita snapped back, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Honestly, it's like you haven't seen a real woman before." Zedd pushed back his seat and walked over to his wife, kneeling by her side.

"You know the only woman in my life is the one that I can have rule the galaxy at my side," he rumbled, grasping her hands between both of his. "Taking out the pink ranger would mean that we could have the white ranger back in our midst and turn him evil once more!"

"Or the purple one," Rita reminded him. "You know that the power of the Ankylosaurus is the one that had been created by some of the darker forces of the universe. It's the only power coin that can be turned good or evil depending on whose hands it falls into." She shook her head. "Unlike the magic spell I put on the green ranger Power Coin and even that didn't hold out for too long."

"Maybe I should try," Zedd suggested, still holding her hands.

"No…we need a different approach. Turning the rangers evil doesn't always work. They always break each other out of the spell before we even get a chance to blink. Right now, we need to focus on Eltar and Edenoi. The destruction of those planets is going slower than we anticipated, the air isn't toxic enough. We need to continue distracting the rangers with our monsters, the stronger they are the harder it'll be for them to fight back."

Zedd made a sound of agreement as he stood up and leaned in, giving his wife a kiss. Rita returned the kiss and turned back to the food on her plate. She poked at it a few times before resting her hand in her cheek. It was the closest they had ever been to taking over the Earth and now it was only a matter of time until they accomplished their goal.

"Sagittaria has been giving them a run for their money," Zedd continued. "He's strong, but is getting weaker each time the rangers fight him. It won't be long until he's defeated." He turned to Finster who sat at his own side table, eating quietly. Rita's faithful henchman didn't' do anything unless he was instructed to. Zedd was a little annoyed by him, he couldn't get that little…thing to do anything he said unless Rita told him to do it first. Goldar, Squatt, and Babboo were easier to manipulate, they followed whoever was leading the lunar palace at the time.

Rita must've noticed his gaze that was directed toward her henchman for she turned to address the monster maker herself. "Finster! Which monster do you think we should send out next while we wait for Sagittaria?"

"Oh!" Seeming not to notice the hard stares Goldar, Squatt, and Babboo sent his way; Finster leaned back and painstakingly wiped his mouth off with a napkin as he thought. "Well, considering the early monsters we have were a bit weaker, we have been training the others to withstand the attacks that the rangers could send their way."

Zedd let out a long, low, warning growl.

Finster, hearing the growl, jumped and started to speak faster. "So with the options we have left, I believe that Scorpina will be the best one to go with," he continued. "She's pretty and powerful and has a greater sting than any of the monsters we've ever used before."

"Scorpina, huh?" Zedd rubbed his chin, looking over at Rita. "What do you think, my dear?"

Rita thought about it for a long moment. Scorpina could work. It'll take a bit to make sure she listens to what we have to say…that she won't turn back, but she could work. I like it! Seizing her goblet once more, being careful not to crack it even further, she held it up, toasting herself and her husband.

"I think this may be the monster that finally takes out the rangers."

Zack sat in the Command Center as he waited for Zordon and Alpha to grab the rangers and pull them to the rangers' headquarters as well. He tried to focus on his homework, but that wasn't working to keep his mind off things. He could've told the rangers himself, that he wasn't going to be a power ranger anymore, but he couldn't do it. He had even tried to tell Jason, numerous times, but he always chickened out in the end. And Jason, as generous and caring as ever, had reminded the black ranger that if there was anything he wanted to talk about, he could talk to him.

How could he talk to the guy that had lost his position of being the leader that he had let him down? Jason had been the one that convinced the rangers to try out the powers they had been given in the first place while Zack had been the first to disclaim everything Zordon had been saying.

Now he was the one to have it forcibly taken from him.

It was kind of ironic.

Thankfully, Rita and Zedd hadn't caused any mischief amongst Earth so he was able to deal with it a little bit on his own. To think about how things had changed.

Football practices weren't going well. He had gotten sacked so many times and was surprised with how much his body hurt the next day. It didn't used to hurt that bad, the addition of The Power must make it so that they were able to withstand more pain and wear and tear on the body than most people could. Even sparring with Jason hurt more than usual. He was all in his head and Jason defeated him quicker than usual. Before he could question Zack about it, he had turned and started o spar with Tommy, the battle going on as long as they usually did, ending in a tie.

Instead, Zack had gone over to sit with Billy, Avalon, Trini, Fred, and Bailey as they sat at a nearby table, watching Kimberly on the balance beam.

"She's getting really good," Trini said, clasping her hands together. Billy hadn't replied, he kept his nose buried in his advanced math class homework, only making a grunting sound in agreement. Zack had looked over at him and frowned, sensing some sort of tension there.

He understood, Trini leaving had surprised the rangers and since she announced it, it was like they were all pretending it wasn't happening. No one said anything about it; she hadn't said when she was leaving, when her last day at school was, if she wanted them to go to her house to say goodbye…nothing.

"She makes it look so easy, too," Avalon commented, holding a newspaper up in her left hand. She had lowered it when she watched Kimberly do a somersault and stand up on her feet before launching herself in a front flip, all on a beam that was only a few inches wide. "If I tried, I'd probably crack my head open."

"The bandage would go pretty nicely with the one on your arm, Av," Fred pointed out with a smile, casing Bailey to laugh.

"I like accessories but not when it comes to those kind of accessories," Avalon replied. She lifted the newspaper back to her face for a moment before putting it down once more, circling something with a black pen.

Zack laughed, stretching his legs out in front of him. "What are you doing, Av? Still looking for a job?"

"Yeah," She replied. "I have to make some money somehow."

Zack winced. She had come a long way from having robbed houses and people and took what they had to pawn shops. Why couldn't he have done the same thing? Stay away from what Skye wanted? Though he hadn't heard anything from him or Summer he constantly looked over his shoulder. They were the ones that had cost him his powers and they still had the ability to come back and do something worse to him.

"Good luck with that, Sis," Bailey said. Her head was lowered over a book, doing her homework for that night. She blew her bangs out of her face and focused her eyes on her older sister. "I don't think many people want to hire someone with the use of only one arm."

"And I don't think people want a little sister that sticks her nose in everyone's business," Avalon shot back. "But look who I got stuck with."

Bailey stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"Well, you hang out here all the time, Av, why don't you just work here?" Fred suggested, waving an arm around the Youth Center. "I'm sure Ernie would be glad to have you as a waitress or to work behind the bar and with the register or something." He pulled his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"That'd work if it weren't for the actuality that when she's in the vicinity of handling numerous tasks she doesn't give the impression to have the ability of equilibrium," Billy said. There was a brief moment of silence around the table as he continued to do his homework.

After a few beats, Trini spoke up. "He's saying she's clumsy."

"Oh."

Avalon scowled, rolled up her newspaper, and slapped Billy on the arm with it. "I'm not clumsy!" Her voice got high-pitched as she said the words. Billy gave a small smile as he shook his head. "I'm not!"

"Av, you dropped an entire tray of milkshakes on the ground the last time you were working here," Trini reminded her. "Remember? All over Tommy's and Jason's shoes." Avalon continued to sink in her seat as the yellow ranger told the story to Fred.

"Oh come on, Av, it's not that bad," Bailey reassured her sister. She turned to Fred, rolling her eyes. "My sister can't take criticism," she said to him. "It really gets on her nerves." She made the cuckoo sign by the side of her head, causing her older sister's scowl to deepen even further.

"Got it," Fred agreed. Something caught his eye and he grabbed onto Bailey's wrist. Trini and Zack exchanged wide-eyed looks when they realized he had noticed the purple rangers's communicator. "Hey. What's this?"

"Uh…" Bailey stalled. She tried to pull her hand away, but Fred was studying the communicator intensely. "It's a…uh…"

"It's a watch," Zack broke in. "Fred, my man, you haven't see a watch like this before have you?" He broke in. Billy gave the black ranger an odd look, kicking him under the table. Zack kicked him back, holding up a hand to silently reassure him that he knew what he was doing.

"No."

"Yeah, it's a new kind of watch," Zack continued. "Hasn't even really come out in stores yet."

"I'll say," Fred said. He snorted as he looked over the front. "It doesn't tell time on it at all."

"It's a prototype," Billy said quickly. "It's supposed to…uh…" He rapidly tapped his pen against his notebook. "It's supposed to project a hologram of the time."

"Oh, with this button?" Before any of the rangers could stop him, Fred poked the button on the left side of the communicator. Trini, Billy, Avalon, Zack, and Bailey all let out sighs of relief when it revealed he had just pushed the button to communicator to Zordon rather than teleport Bailey out to the Command Center. When he saw that it didn't do anything he turned to the one that would teleport her. "What about this—"

"Oh, I guess it doesn't work!" Bailey finally pulled her hand away from Fred's and slipped off her communicator. "That's what happens when you get a prototype for something." She gave a nervous laugh and shoved her communicator into her bag. "I'm sure I can fix it later."

"Sooth," Zack said and laughed again. It was the first time he had laughed in a while. Though the conversation didn't allow for a laugh, considering their secret had almost been revealed to someone else, he couldn't help but find the humor in it. A bit of morbid humor, he guessed, considering he would never have that problem again. Did they even notice I'm not wearing my communicator anymore?

Kimberly, Jason, and Tommy had finished their practice for the day and the group had hung out for a while before they had all gone their separate ways. Zack had gone home to get started on homework, but couldn't stake the stress. He couldn't keep the guilt away and teleported to the Command Center and asked Zordon and Alpha to bring the others there as well, so they could be told the news. It was only a matter of time until they found out for themselves, when Rita and Zedd sent out another wave of monsters.

"Zachary, it would be in your best interest to tell them yourself," Zordon pointed out.

Zack had shaken his head. "How can I tell them when I'm…too ashamed?" His voice was quiet and dull unlike the normal cheerfulness he managed to project into every aspect of his life. "How can I tell them that I let them down? That I'm leaving the team with one less ranger when all of these monsters are coming in stronger than ever. And with Goldar…"

"I know it's hard, Zack." Alpha walked over and placed his hand on the teenager's shoulder. "But it's something they really deserve to know."

"Can you guys do it, please?" Zack turned his gaze to the ground. "I can't…I don't…think I can say it…"

Zordon was silent for a long moment then nodded. "As you wish, I'll summon them now."

And now here was Zack, waiting for his friends to come in so the news could be broken, that the black and yellow rangers were leaving and they would be weaker than ever. He rubbed his hands together then turned, recognizing the sound of teleportation as the rangers appeared in the Command Center. This time, however, Aisha and Adam were with them as well.

"Wow, talk about a head rush!" Aisha said excitedly, grabbing onto Adam's arm. "Can you believe we're here again? It must be something serious."

"Mhm." Adam looked around the Command Center as if it were the first time he was seeing it. The rangers, on the other hand, checked out the silent viewing globe before turning back to their mentor.

"So what's up?" Avalon asked. "There doesn't seem to be any monster attack."

"Rangers, unfortunately we have some news that we have to bring to you," Zordon said firmly. "Zack, Trini, as inopportune as it is, we are aware that you will not be able to regain your abilities as a power ranger in the foreseeable future."

"What?" Kimberly asked. She scratched the back of her neck, looking back and forth between the yellow and black rangers. "Wait a minute; I thought you said that even if a power ranger's power is copied they can still use their powers."

"Yeah, aren't Adam and Aisha supposed to come in when needed?" Tommy agreed.

Trini bowed her head. "I understand, Zordon," she said to him before turning to face her friends. "It will be very…difficult to say the least, to keep being a ranger when I'm going to be all the way around the world." She reached out and gripped onto her power morpher. "If I'm going to be around my family…it'll be hard to get away when needed. I may not be able to help you when you want." She turned to the shorter African-American girl, who looked up at her in wonder. "I'm honored that you shall be taking my place."

"OK, but what does that mean for Zack?" Jason placed his hands on his hips. "He's still going to be here, he's not going anyway."

"Due to some circumstances that we haven't come across in years…" Alpha started quietly. He let out a slight whimpering sound and turned to the blank ranger; whose gaze was still on the floor. "We…had to take Zack's powers away."

"What?!" Avalon and Bailey cried in unison.

Billy finally spoke up. "What would constitute his powers having been taken away?" He asked. "Those that found out about our identities are ones that are helping us now." He motioned to Adam and Aisha, who listened quietly. "Rocky, Adam, and Aisha are backups, as you've said. Bailey has taken on the power of the Ankylosaurus…there's no one else that knows our secret."

"And even though we don't have the greatest track record of that, as of late, it's not like anything bad has come from it, yeah?" Avalon agreed. She didn't think it was the right time to mention that Lt. Stone knew about her being a power ranger. If anything, Zordon had watched the whole thing and already knew. It was different when a man in law enforcement, who clearly wanted nothing but safety for those in Angel Grove, could keep a secret. If there was anyone else, little kids, anyone their age…the chances of the secret being leaked would be far greater.

Alpha lowered his head, gently shaking it. He ran his hands over each other and then brought them up to his chrome dome. If he had been able to cry, his circuits would've gone out of whack at that moment. He had never felt such intense sadness for anything before, confirming his older beliefs that he had managed to adapt emotions from being around the teenagers for so long.

"The three rules that Zordon gave you from the very beginning…you can't use your powers for personal gain, you secret identities have to remain a secret, and…you can't escalate a fight unless Rita forces you to," Alpha said.

Aisha let out a sigh of disappointment. "I guess my ninja training will have to rely on what I already know." She crossed her arms over her chest as she shook her head. "It would've been kinda cool to see everyone's reactions if I—"

"No," Tommy said firmly. "The point of being a ranger is that we're helping the city of Angel Grove without getting the glory for ourselves." He placed a hand on his chest. "We're doing it because we have a responsibility and because we feel it's right."

"Hey." Adam moved slightly in front of Aisha, defending her friend. "She didn't mean anything by it…haven't you ever thought that you had an advantage in a martial arts tournament because of your new powers?" He asked him.

Tommy faltered for a second. He was sure there was a moment when he was the evil green ranger that his fighting style had been changed to become more ruthless, because of his new abilities. Even on a bad day he and Jason's fights would result in a stalemate, but when having entered that tournament…it was different.

He nodded at the two replacement rangers then turned back to Alpha.

"But if the secret identity thing isn't a problem and we haven't used our powers for personal gain…" Kimberly turned to Zack, her eyebrows rising. "No way…Zack…you didn't…escalate a fight did you?"

Jason looked at him warily.

Avalon and Bailey exchanged a glance.

Tommy's eyes widened.

Billy pressed his lips firmly together.

"It was an accident," he finally said. "I didn't mean for any of it to happen." There was a startled gasp that went around the room. "I don't have the Power to protect me anymore, guys. I'm…I'm not a ranger anymore."

"No!" Trini cried. She grabbed onto her friend's arm. "Zack, please tell me this isn't the truth."

"You didn't," Jason insisted. His hands were clenched into fists, his mouth pressed into a firm line. His voice held a lot of power; however it was as quiet as ever. "You couldn't ever do something like that. I know you."

"I did," Zack insisted.

"What happened?"

The black ranger's eyes shifted back and forth for a few moments. He chewed his lower lip and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't say…but it is true." He lifted up his wrist to show he wasn't wearing a communicator anymore. "Alpha and Zordon took my power morpher." He motioned to Adam. "And I believe it got copied to him."

"What?" Adam pulled out his morpher and looked it over. He studied the front then turned to the now ex-ranger. "I wanted to help; I agreed to keep your secret." He shook his head, hand tightening over his morpher. "But I didn't want it to happen this way."

"Hey!" Zack put on a friendly smile and walked over to his replacement, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't have gotten a better replacement." He was lying through his teeth. He didn't know the boy from any other teenager, having basically secluded himself to the rangers for so long. It was dangerous to become friends with anyone else, dangerous to try and date anyone else, knowing how much danger they would be put in, how easily they could be targeted for Rita's and Zedd's own gain. "You're going to do a fine job being the new black ranger. The Power wouldn't have chosen you, otherwise."

"Thank you," Adam said. He turned away, chewing his lower lip.

"No," Kimberly whimpered, bringing her hands up to her face. She had started to cry. "I can't believe this. First Trini then Zack."

"This isn't happening," Avalon added. She turned to Zack. "Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke." She waited a beat and when he didn't respond, her voice cracked as she tried again. "Please!" Bailey jumped, hearing so much emotion in her sister's voice.

"T-There has to be s-some kind of mistake," Billy added. He whirled to face the mentor and robot. "There has to be something in The Power that can…" he trailed off as Alpha shook his head. He turned away, bringing a hand up to his mouth before running it through his hair. Kimberly and Bailey openly started to cry.

"No," Bailey whimpered. "No." She wiped at her eyes. "What are we going to do about Rita and Zedd?" She sniffed loudly. "It's going to take a while…to train these two to be ready, yeah?"

"We'll come to that when the time comes," Zordon said. As stoic as he was, there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "As I said, I'm sorry it's had to come to this. But time must go on." He then addressed Adam and Aisha. "It is now time for you two to take on the responsibility of being rangers. When the time comes you will fight many hard battles and make many hard decisions, but it's for the good of the Earth, let alone Angel Grove."

"We understand, Zordon," Adam said.

"You can count on us," Aisha agreed.

The two teleported out of the Command Center with their colors of light. "Aw man," Tommy murmured, but didn't say anything otherwise. He was too busy consoling his girlfriend, who continued to cry loudly, before she went over o the black ranger and threw her arms around him.

Zack tried to laugh, but it failed. "Hey, Kim, don't worry about me. I'll still help you guys when you need it." He smirked a little. "And let's face it; you're going to need it."

Tommy chuckled and walked over to him, holding out a hand. Zack grasped it and the two came forward in a hug, slapping each other on the back. "I'm going to miss you, man."

"Yeah…"

The white and pink rangers then went over to Trini and gave her a hug too. Kimberly held onto her best friend tightly then stood on her tip-toes, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "If you don't write to me every day I'm going to hate you for the rest of your life," Kimberly said to her, before hugging her again.

Trini nodded. "Take care of her for me, Tommy, please?" She asked the white ranger, giving him a hug too.

"I will, I promise."

Billy, Bailey, and Avalon walked over and gave the black and yellow rangers their parting hugs as well, promising they'd still be around to help and to keep in touch. Zack and Trini laughed a little as they gave them hugs too, trying to hold back their tearing up. Billy turned to the red ranger, who hadn't moved from his spot.

"Well?" He asked him.

Jason looked at the blue ranger in surprise. "Well what?"

"Aren't you going to say anything? Tell them goodbye?" Billy waited for Jason to respond. The red ranger made a feeble gesture but otherwise didn't say anything. "I don't believe this!"

Sensing Billy's anger, Zak was quick to jump in. "Hey, don't worry about it, man," he said to his former leader. "I know that emotions aren't your thing and—"

"It's not something you should be defending him for," Billy snapped. He turned back to Jason, hands clenched into fists. "The only time I see you get upset or even really angry is when Rita and Zedd are sending down their monsters. You show your emotions then…but you can't even do it when two of your best friends…your best friend is leaving us!"

"Don't do that, man," Jason shot back, frowning. "I'm not some kind of robot! I do care that they're leaving! Not only is our team breaking apart, but…so is our whole group."

"Then act like it!"

"Guys," Tommy started. "Don't do this."

"I shouldn't have to act like anything." Jason's frown deepened. "Not anything you want me to be, or how anyone else wants me to be." He took a step back. "You don't get to tell me how I feel!"

"Enough! Both of you!" Avalon snapped, glaring back and forth between the two of them. "Stop acting like a bunch of boofheads!" She crossed her left arm and gently held onto her right, as if hugging herself. "That's not what's important right now!"

"She's right," Kimberly agreed. "We should be trying to spend as much time together as we can before Trini leaves." She turned to Billy and turned her brown eyes up to him, silently pleading with him. "Why are you acting like this? I've never seen you this upset before! Jase is one of your best friends and you're treating him like he's…Bulk and Skull or something!"

Billy didn't respond.

"Billy." Trini reached out to grab onto his arm and he allowed her hand to lay there for a moment, before he backed away from her. From all of the other rangers. "I know you're upset with what's going on…that I didn't tell you I was leaving—"

"Forget it, Trini," Billy said to her. "Just forget it." He brought up his communicator and teleported from the Command Center.

"Hey guys," Tommy said. "Maybe we should take a bit of a break and…try to calm down a bit?" Tommy suggested. "Things are getting a little heated right now."

"Maybe you're right," Bailey agreed.

Jason teleported from the Command Center and after that the other rangers teleported as well. Zack sighed, being the last one to leave. He didn't expect things to end up like this when he told them what was going on. He thought it would go a lot better than that, actually. That they'd understand that he lost his powers, they'd say they would miss him, and then all of them would go to the youth center or his house or something and they'd reminisce all of the good times they had and leave on a happy, yet bittersweet note.

He didn't expect Billy, the one that usually kept his grievances to himself, to start yelling at Jason or Jason to sit there and take it. He didn't expect them all to leave so angry at each other. Well, if there was anyone that knew how to put a smile on people's faces, it was Zack.

He just had to be sure he could put a smile on his own face first.

Zack teleported from the Command Center and landed at the crosswalk that connected his, Jason's, and Billy's neighborhoods together. How ironic was it that his was the one in between the two. On one hand he could understand why Billy was finally expressing his thoughts on the other he felt he had to defend his best friend.

For the moment, as he walked home, he came to the conclusion that keeping some things to himself was better than exacerbating them even further.

A couple of hours later, Zack was called from his room with a visitor at the front door. He went down to the porch and opened the door, surprised to find Avalon there. He had expected Jason, but on the other hand knew that the guy liked his privacy a little bit more than others. "Hey Kid," he greeted her. He chuckled when he saw her shivering slightly underneath Billy's letterman jacket. "A little cold?"

"I'm still getting used to the fact that it does actually get cold around here," Avalon replied. "Especially when it gets dark." She looked over her shoulder. "That's not why I came by, though, obviously." She looked at her feet for a moment. "The reason you lost your powers…it was because of something with Skye and Summer wasn't it?"

Zack looked over his shoulder as well then gently closed the door behind him as he accompanied the orange ranger on the front porch. "How did you know?"

"I didn't, at first," she admitted. "But then I thought about it…you were kind of…intense at the hospital and then the way you acted at school…and then finding out that you broke the rule of not being able to escalate a fight." She shrugged. "Then I went to the police station to talk to Chase…and he said something about them not being a problem for me anymore."

Zack tilted his head back to look at the sky. The stars glittered above him, lifting his spirits. A little.

"I couldn't sit back and have them get away with it."

"Yeah, but now they're a problem for you. They're not just going to let you do that and have nothing happen. They're going to get revenge in some way."

Zack shrugged. "Being blackmailed into more drugs?"

"Worse," Avalon said grimly. "I've seen them do less over someone coming back a dollar short with the money they owed after a drug run. I've seen Skye wail on a bloke because he didn't have as much money as he thought when he targeted him for a robbery. And that guy was waiting at a bus stop to go home to his kids." She shook her head. "If you beat the both of them up…they're humiliated. It's gonna be bad."

"I was afraid of that." He closed his eyes. All I wanted to do was have the drug running end. All I wanted was for things to go back to normal. I didn't want any of it in the first place.

"I'm sorry." Avalon seemed to have read his mind. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. If I had known…I would've stayed away from you guys. I would've—"Zack shook his head at her.

"I told you before, Kid. You don't ever have to apologize to me. Don't start now. None of us knew this was going to happen." He crossed his arms to shield himself from the cold, realizing that he was only in a t-shirt and shorts. "So…what do we do now?"

The orange ranger looked like she didn't want to answer his question. He knew what she was going to say. Part of the powers he had gotten from the Power Cube, the psychic powers, gave him the ability to—very slightly—read someone's mind. He could tell what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry, mate," Avalon said slowly. "But…you need to leave Angel Grove. They've set their sights on you now…it's the only way you'll be safe. You and your family."

Zack smiled sadly. "I know."

A/N: I've got to do a happy chapter soon.

Thanks to sweetredranger, heartpunker123, I love power rangers7135, Bigby the Big Bad Wolf, Ashley, Son of Whitebeard, TerraHart, brankel1, Rose Specktor, for reviewing.

~Avalon

PS - Grad classes start next week, so my updating schedule may be changed.