"Is he going to be okay, Alpha?" Tanya asked Alpha as she exited the medical bay with him by her side.
"Yes, I believe he will be, but it may be a long time before he is able to morph into the blue Turbo Ranger again," Alpha answered solemnly. The two walked in silence into the main control room of the Power Chamber and Tanya stopped shocked to see the blue Turbo Ranger in front of her.
"What..." Tanya looked back and forth to Alpha and Zordon. The Blue Ranger removed his helmet to reveal Rocky underneath.
"Hey," Rocky greeted her with a sheepish smile.
"How?" Tanya was full of questions.
"Zordon..." Rocky gestured with his thumb behind him.
"I knew Rocky would be healthy enough to take on powers again and unfortunately right now we cannot afford to be down another Ranger," Zordon explained. Tanya nodded.
"It is good to see you back," Tanya gave him a hug.
"Good to be back, just wish it wasn't under the circumstances," Rocky responded as they broke apart.
"Rocky, Tanya, I need you two to go a mission to locate Trey," Zordon spoke prompting both to turn to him.
"But shouldn't we get back and help the others?" Tanya protested.
"Jason and the others are there now... but I feel like Trey is in grave danger if we do not get to him," Zordon countered.
"Okay... do you know where he is?" Rocky inquired.
"I have managed to get a lock on him, he is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean," Zordon responded.
"In the ocean?" Tanya shook her head.
"I believe he is on a very small island but I can't get a visual, just a very weak reading from him," Zordon elaborated.
"Okay, why two of us to get him?" Rocky asked, itching to join the fight, back in the city.
"As a precautionary measure," Zordon answered. Rocky nodded, satisfied with the response.
"Okay well let's get going," Tanya said before morphing."
(****)
Jason stuck his arms out in an effort to stop the other Rangers who were running next to him. They all stopped in unison just as the Gold Ranger appeared in front of them in the street.
"Trey?" Billy spoke taking a tentative step toward him. No response, just a cock of the head. Billy stopped. Before he could realize his mistake he was punched hard in the side of the helmet and sent flying back into Jason who steadied them both.
"Well... I guess the gang is all here now," Dark Jason said looking down the line at the original Rangers in front of him. He glanced down at his suit and then back up at the group. Suddenly a red flash overtook him and he was now a mirror image of the Red Ranger. "I think this is more fitting."
"Nah... you ain't it," Zack responded as he stepped up to attack. Dark Jason blocked all of his moves, as he was very familiar with them from his own time. He caught Zack's fist and pulled him in to headbutt him back into the group.
Trini was the next to attack as the group tended to the fallen Zack. She used her quickness to dumbfound her opponent. Dark Jason grew frustrated with her speed, as he often did during their sparring sessions. He resolved to eat a couple of blows so he could find an opening and return a back elbow under Trini's chin that flipped her backward into the group.
"You okay?" Kim moved over to Trini and help her up.
"Enough," Jason stepped forward. "Let's settle this between us."
"I have no problem with that," Dark Jason countered, this time making the move toward Jason and the two began to engage in a test of skills. Kicks blocked, punches ducked, flips. Mirror images of power and agility.
"You can't beat me, Jason," Dark Jason taunted as he blocked a forearm shot. "I am just toying with you..."
Jason grunted as his evil counterpart grabbed his wrist and he found he couldn't pull free. He tried to raise a knee but it was batted down and he found another hand on his neck.
"Any... time... I wanted... I could end you... and then who would protect them?" Dark Jason nodded to the group behind Jason.
"You... talk... too... much," Jason said as he twisted his body to send both Rangers rolling across the ground. Jason met his dark counterpart with a kick as the two scrambled to their feet. He then landed another and another. His target was moving back slightly but he felt like he was kicking a solid rock wall.
"Come on!" Dark Jason taunted, welcoming the shots now as Jason moved to land a series of punches to his chest and then an uppercut to his face. Jason was unnerved by the way his opponent was eating his best shots. He was sure he had never hit anything as hard as he was hitting him.
Jason drew his sword and slashed madly at his opponent. The introduction of the weapon prompted Dark Jason to step back out of harm's way and to cease allowing free shots. He retrieved his own sword and then stepped back into the fight. Metal clashed together and sparks flew.
"This will be your undoing," Dark Jason warned as he pressed his own sword against Jason and caused them both to go falling back into a nearby overturned van. He relented enough to step back and slash at Jason who barely managed to duck as he looked up in wide-eyed horror to see the gash in the van from to the attack meant for him.
He never saw the knee coming until it filled his visor, nearly cracking it and he felt himself flying up and over the van landing on the sidewalk beside it. He shook his head to clear the stars and saw his doppelganger flying down with his sword aimed directly at his heart. He started to roll just as an explosion from behind knocked Dark Jason off his trajectory and forward into a brick building.
Kimberly ran over to Jason with her bow still in hand and reached her hand down to pull him off the ground and away from the fight even as the other three Rangers moved in on Dark Jason.
"You got to let us help," Kim said as she helped Jason steady himself. "You will get yourself killed, and I am not about to let that happen."
Jason reached down and ran his hand along the side of her helmet and nodded. He knew she was right. This was no time to be a hero. They were stronger together. He turned with Kim just in time to see Trini and Billy rolling towards them.
Zack was left alone with the Dark Jason and was putting up a valiant fight. He hit a spin kick that caused his foe to roll clear and counterattack by throwing his sword at Zack. Much to the horror of the group of Rangers as they watched he was unable to get clear and the sword went into his shoulder and pinned him back into the wall behind him.
Jason ran over and got between Zack and the approaching Dark Jason, as Kimberly ran behind him and pulled the sword from Zack as he slumped forward. She was relieved to see the energy from the Morphin Grid close up the wound and hole in the fabric.
"You have to stop this!" Jason called to his doppelganger. His tone somewhere between pleading and fury. "Fight it!"
"There is no stopping this... do you understand that?" Dark Jason answered him with a shake of his head. "Even if I wanted to... I couldn't."
"I know you want to... I know you do," Jason reacted. "I know what is going through your mind and your heart right now."
"Do you?" Dark Jason questioned. "Do you really?"
"We are the same," Jason answered glancing behind him at his team tending to each other. "We would never willingly hurt our friends."
"Friends?" Dark Jason responded crossing his arms. "Friends... friends are there... friends don't abandon each other."
"I don't know what you are talking about, but none of us would abandon each other," Jason stated.
"That is easy for you to say..."Dark Jason countered. "Clearly someone... someone was there... you weren't alone when Zedd came for you."
"Look... I don't know what happened in your life in your time but..." Jason started.
"You are right... you don't," Dark Jason cut him off shaking his head. He took a couple of steps closer. "I envy you... what you have here."
Dark Jason looked beyond Jason to set his eyes on the Pink Ranger. Jason noted this and cocked his head slightly. He tentatively took a couple of steps closer himself.
"Listen... let us help you... we can beat Maligore's darkness," Jason pleaded. The mention of the dark beast prompted Dark Jason to snap his head back to Jason.
"I know what I have to do, and I will enjoy it," Dark Jason replied before he moved behind Jason and gripped him around the neck and began to squeeze.
"Jason!" Kimberly called to him as she ran and attempted to pry the arms from around his neck. She pulled with all her might but couldn't budge them, recalling how helpless she had felt when she found herself in the same position before. She moved her hand over to Jason's as his grip on his attacker's arm loosened. "Hang on, Jase... please..."
"He really does mean a lot to you huh?" Dark Jason taunted even as he felt the life leaving his counterpart's body.
"Please..." Kim pleaded as the other Rangers ran over and joined in the effort to pry Jason out of his grip. Their combined strength still couldn't budge his arms.
"Why didn't she feel the same?" Dark Jason's words were quiet and only Kimberly heard them in the chaos. She locked gazes with him and to her relief, he relented and let Jason fall to the ground. Dark Jason stepped back with his hands up glancing to the skies and then back to the group in front of him, who was now standing over their fallen leader.
Dark Jason spotted the looming presence of Serpentera approaching on the horizon and he screamed out a curse before running over and grabbing his sword from the ground and then making the move toward the group of Rangers.
"Don't," Kim said but Dark Jason shook his head and swung at them causing both Kim and Trini to roll clear as Zack and Billy picked up Jason and began to carry him away.
Trini fought back with her own daggers and landed some slashes that were largely ignored before Dark Jason grabbed her by the arm and spun her into a nearby street light bending it over to the ground.
Kimberly fired an arrow that was sliced apart. She fired another that exploded and sent Dark Jason to a knee before he charged her and shoulder tackled her to the side. She landed next to Trini.
"Stay with him," Zack said as he released Jason fully into Billy's arms who lowered him to the ground behind a car. Billy nodded.
Zack moved around the car and retrieved his power ax, converting it into cannon mode, and began to fire blast at Dark Jason. Much to Zack's chagrin, he didn't bother ducking the blasts but just began to eat them even as the energy crackled around his suit and black ashy streaks stained it from the heavy blasts.
Zack switched the weapon around to swing the ax down at Dark Jason as he closed the gap between them, but he found the strike blocked by his opponent's sword and then found the ax knocked from his hands as the butt of the sword hit his visor and cracked it slightly momentarily obstructing his vision even as he felt a shark blow to his chest knocking him back into the car Billy was kneeling behind with Jason.
Billy stood up at the impact and brandished his Power Lance in a warning for Dark Jason to stay back. Dark Jason chuckled before reaching down to the bumper of the car and flipping it out of the way. Billy was amazed at his strength and caught off guard by a punch that knocked him down. He quickly attempted to get to his feet to get over to Jason.
"No," Dark Jason kicked Billy hard in the ribs as he crawled across the sidewalk toward his fallen friend. The force of the kick sent him airborne and through the glass window of a store lining the streets.
Dark Jason turned his attention to his fallen counterpart. He walked over and stood over top of him. He shook his head, feeling a small wave of sadness come over him even as he raised his sword to plunge it down. He hesitated only a moment before thrusting the sword down.
Before his sword could penetrate Jason's flesh he was stopped by a sharp pain in his own back and he stumbled forward and turned to see the Red Turbo Ranger standing there with his sword fresh with his own blood fresh on the blade.
"You again?" Dark Jason shook his head. "How...?"
"Get away from him," Tommy warned as he stepped forward to put himself between the two Jasons. Dark Jason straightened his posture and cocked his head at the Red Turbo Ranger.
"There is... something... with you," Dark Jason stated as he took a couple of steps back. "Something familiar."
"I don't..." Tommy paused. He felt it too. Something flowing through him he hadn't felt in a long time. It both scared and energized him. He glanced behind him at the carnage and then back to the cause of it. He shook his head before activating his communication with Zordon. "Zordon... get us all out of here."
"Coward," Dark Jason spoke even as the streaks of light lit up the streets and the Rangers all vanished.
(****)
Kimberly sat quietly leaning up against the back of the control console in the Power Chamber with Jason sitting next to her staring off in the distance. She leaned into him took his hand in hers. He barely seemed to notice other than to open his hand for her. She studies his features as she was caught up in the faraway look in his eye.
She had feared the worst on the battlefield but he had revived once the group got to the Power Chamber. He had barely spoken since coming to and she had followed him back here to their current location and helped him to steady himself down into a seated position before she came to rest next to him.
She could hear the rest of the Rangers behind them all in different conversations with each other and Zordon to try to understand what to do. Some were questioning Tommy's call to pull them out of the fight but she knew it was the right one and right not she was determined to tune it all out and focus on Jason, feeling he needed her now.
"Hey," Kim finally spoke softly to get his attention. He didn't react immediately but eventually turned to her. She searched his eyes and he offered her a small smile. She knew he was trying to keep her from worrying but it wasn't working. "What are you thinking about?"
Jason didn't immediately respond, instead, turning his eyes to their interlocked hands. He took a deep breath and dropped his head back onto the console before turning to face Kim again.
"It was something he said," Jason said.
"What?" Kim inquired.
"About no one being there for him," Jason explained. "When he was taken... he was alone... but..."
Jason paused as he straightened his head back up and gave Kim's hand a squeeze.
"You were with me when Zedd came for me... and you came for me," Jason said.
"Mmhmm," Kim agreed.
"If he feels the same as me," Jason said.
"He said something... something when he was holding you," Kim stated. "Something about me caring you... and "her" not feeling the same."
Jason furrowed his brow as he started to understand. He stood up just as Tanya and Rocky teleported into the command center holding up a wounded Trey. The group of Rangers surrounded them as Tommy reached out to take Trey from them and to support him.
"Trey... what happened, buddy?" Tommy asked.
"It was Jason... he attacked and left me for dead," Trey answered. "He... he... destroyed Zedd... this time's Zedd... he and his army are gone."
The group looked amongst themselves, stunned at the news. Jason moved up to Trey.
"Where is Pyramidas?" Jason asked. Trey shook his head.
"He has it," Trey answered. Jason grimaced.
"That's no good," Adam commented as he exchanged glances with Zack."
"Is there any way you can retrieve that transmission you got from the other time... from the other Kimberly?" Jason asked. Trey considered the question for a moment before straightening his posture as best he could and materializing the Golden Power Staff. He held it up and pointed it toward the viewing screen on the wall of the Chamber. The video began to play on the screen.
"Zordon... can you trace that signal's origin?" Jason asked.
"Alpha see if you can trace it," Zordon instructed.
"What are you thinking, Jase?" Tommy asked.
"If Alpha can trace that signal and we can find out where it came from and how to get there... I think we can stop all of this," Jason answered as the group exchanged looks.
(****)
Dark Jason walked down the dark corridors of Serpentera before he ducked into a room and sat down in a chair and flipped on a monitor. Soon the darkened room was lit up with a soft white glow from the screen. After a while, an image began to pop up on the screen. Jason watched intently for several moments before a small smile came across his face.
He watched her as she went about trying to help people clean up from what he and Zedd had done to their planet. She was surrounded by a group of people who were going about trying to recover and find food and supplies, but he couldn't see anyone but her.
Suddenly she stopped and moved away from the crowd. Jason watched intently as she leaned her back up against a lone tree that stood where a row of them normally would. She lowered her head and Jason pushed a button to get another view. She was holding something in her hands and he focused as best as he could on it. He sat up straight when he saw what it was.
A picture. A picture of the group of them. Together on the beach making silly faces for the camera. Jason shook his head. She raised her head and he saw the tear running down her cheek. He cursed and reached up to flip the monitor off and darkness filled the room as he sat in silence.
