Chapter Fourteen

Sore. They were both so sore, but in the best way that they could possibly imagine. As the clock ticked closer to the twenty four hour mark, they quieted and just lay staring at the fire. Had they done what they needed to? Were they going to have to wait four more weeks to give it another shot? Did they not manage it the first time- but one of the several times over the last twenty four hours?

"We need food," Tommy stated and she looked over at him. He could tell that she was not going to be able to will herself to move any time soon. "Sandwich?"

"I'll take just about anything," Kim muttered as she rolled around and he fought back the urge to start another round. He needed food. They both needed food. The weakness he was starting to feel let him know that he had to eat something and soon.

He scrounged around for peanut butter and jelly- hoping that the Command Center would provide them some sort of food to get them through the marathon that they had just had. Sure enough- his favorite brand of peanut butter and jelly popped up under a random bag of chips. He hastily made himself a half sandwich and shoved it in his mouth. He had not realized how hungry he was and now that he was eating, he knew that he had waited too long. He made two more sandwiches and then grabbed a couple of bottles of water.

He started feeling odd as he made his way back to their bedroom, but he thought that most of it had to deal with the fact that he hadn't eaten in nearly a day. He was not used to that. At all.

"What do we have?" Kim asked as she walked over to him and grabbed one of the sandwiches. He tried to answer, but he could not seem to find his voice. "Tommy?"

"I'm not Tommy," he felt himself say and he felt the panic begin to rise. That was not what he had planned to say. He had planned to joke around with her. He had planned to compare this peanut butter jelly sandwich to a gourmet meal, but his voice was quieted. The Command Center was talking now. "It's nice to be talking again."

He watched as Kimberly realized what was happening and she slowly began putting her clothes back on. He could still hear everything that was going on. He felt like a passenger in his own body and he did not like the feeling one bit.

"Do you mind if I take notes? I want to make sure we get this right. I doubt we'll be willing to wait another year or so to talk if I miss anything," Kimberly said as she held up a notepad and pen. He felt himself nod and she settled down on the floor and patted the space next to her. He slowly settled next to her and she gently squeezed his hand. The feeling of her settled him and he felt that it excited the Command Center. "Do you know about the guardians?"

"I do. The last Power Rangers that talked to me asked about the guardians as well and the both of you know how that went," his voice said. He felt how stilted it was. He felt himself fighting this because he could feel that the repercussions might just be more than either of them were actually willing to take. He wished that there had been a book that dropped off the shelf entitled 'This is the Shit You REALLY Need to Know'. "However, it does seem like this last guardian has also gone against their mission. There was supposed to be a balance between the rangers and the guardians- to keep each other in check."

"Those rangers asked if there was a weapon that could kill the guardians. My job is to support the rangers. My job is to help you in every single way that I can. So I told them- I told them of the weapon. It is called the Crescent Blade. The Green Dragon Crescent Blade. I warned them that taking the weapon for anything aside from self-defense would have repercussions. I warned them that there was a balance in the world- a balance that would assure that things were leveled out. And they were."

"I have lost track of the Crescent Blade. It was on Earth for ages, but I cannot sense it on Earth anymore. The blade does have a signature that you can track- you just have to look it up in the database. You would have no reason to look it up without being told about it. That's why I let the information be put in to the database. Zordon and Alpha did not know of the true properties that it had and I knew that someday a ranger might need to find it again."

"Will we have the same repercussions?" Kim asked and he stiffened. He could feel that the Command Center did not know what would happen to them if they went on this path.

"At this point- I am not sure. There are more guardians than there are rangers now. What Billy didn't know is that his brother has re-populated much of the guardian ranks. I would wager that if you only go after him- there is a very good chance that you will survive. I can't say what would happen if you do more than that."

He watched as Kimberly closed her eyes and struggled to accept what she had just been told. He was also struggling to accept that killing this being might not actually save them. It might cause some other force to come after them. A force that the Command Center couldn't even name.

"In this case- the guardians are the aggressors, but it is only one of them. I can feel the shift. There is something coming for the guardians, but the only thing that can come after them and successfully take them out is the Power Rangers. The ghosts of the guardians came for the rangers. It would seem that the ghosts of the Power Rangers will help you to save yourselves, but you will need the Green Dragon Crescent Blade to defeat him."

"Thank you," Kimberly whispered as she grabbed his hand and he felt his heart leap again. He was not sure what was coming, but he wanted to tell her to run. He wanted her to get as far away from him as possible. "What are the repercussions for us? The book mentioned that there was a price to pay for us to talk to you."

"Oh that," he murmured and he felt himself standing. Kimberly slowly rose to her feet and braced herself as she looked up at him. He was struggling in his own skin, struggling to tell her run. He felt himself moving towards her and he tilted her face up towards his. He felt Kimberly stiffen and the Command Center stilled. Something in what she had done had stopped the Command Center from moving to the next step. "Even being with me in his body isn't attractive to you. That's good. The rangers got to where they accepted it. The first ranger that I ever communed with- she threw herself at me. It's good that you aren't, the repercussions will be far less because of that. I will be here for the next several hours, but all I ask is for conversation. The repercussions that come after- they are not my choice or responsibility."

"Well- we can have conversation. Why don't we head to the library? It'll be a little bit more comfortable," Kimberly suggested and he felt himself following her. He settled in his skin as he knew that the Command Center was not going to do anything to her. The other repercussions- he could live with them- whatever they were. He could not live with anything that even looked like him hurting her.

"Be still, Tommy. I won't harm her," he felt the words wash over him and he tried to settle in for the wait. He didn't know how many hours it might be before he was back in his body, by himself. He just knew that he all he could do was relax and hope that it would pass peacefully. He had to hope that the Command Center was being honest with the both of them.