Jason squinted as the darkness around him suddenly filled with light. He took a deep breath and gathered himself before doing a quick spin to examine his surroundings. His heart sunk while simultaneously kicking off a quickening of his pulse as he saw where he was.
"Man..." Jason remarked out loud as he glanced up to see the roof missing off the structure he stood in. He then glanced around to take in the sight.
He shook his head as he saw the Power Chamber in shambles. Holes in the wall, collapsed roof, and everything ripped apart. He fought the anger welling up inside of him as he carefully maneuvered himself around the large pieces of debris on the floor.
Jason recognized that he was in the main chamber as his eyes fell on the broken tube on the wall where Zordon would normally greet him. He gripped the Golden Staff tight in his hand as he walked up to it and placed a hand on a piece of the tube that still remained. A low groan followed by an audible curse echoed through the wreckage as Jason turned and hurriedly made his way to the exit.
(****)
Tommy glanced down at the Dragon Dagger in his hand. He smiled beneath his Turbo helmet. He reached up to undo the snaps on the helmet and lowered it to the ground before raising the Dagger to his lips. He blew a familiar tune and closed his eyes waiting to hear a response. Nothing yet. He blew again.
"Is he coming?" Zack asked from Tommy's immediate left. The distinct roar in the distance answered the question and Tommy smiled. He saw the towering Dragonzord approaching across the expanse of the desert. It walked up to stand directly in front of Tommy who peered up at it.
"Hey, old friend," Tommy's voice was full of fondness as he reached out and patted the foot of the Zord in front of him. He turned back to the other Rangers who were in circle formation behind him. He looked beyond them to see the original Dinozords approaching and forming an outer circle around the whole group. He reached down and retrieved his helmet and prepared himself for what was about to come.
(****)
Zedd sat silently in the cockpit of Serpentera as it made it's way across the sky. He glanced over at a reading showing the power supply and found it satisfactory as he leaned up to look down to see they were approaching the desert. He leaned back in his seat just as Dark Jason entered behind him and walked up to stand next to him.
"They will be waiting for us," He spoke matter-of-factly. Zedd nodded.
"Of course they will," Zedd responded. "It won't make much difference though will it?"
"No... no, it will not," Dark Jason agreed as he glanced back at the doorway and then turned back to Zedd. He still couldn't get the image he had just seen from their own time out of his mind, but something about being around Zedd helped him ease what he was feeling. The guilt.
(****)
Jason turned to look behind him at the broken building he had just exited. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists. He knew with the Power Chamber broken that teleporting was out of the question so he took off running in the direction of the city with speeds far beyond what any human could equal. Soon the surrounding area was nothing but a dust cloud being quicked up from the pounding of Jason's feet in the sand.
His emotions were all over the place and he was trying to focus on where he was going and why he was here. He glanced up to notice in the distance what seemed to be smoke many miles away. He surmised what he was about to see when he reached the outskirts of Angel Grove. His suspicions were confirmed as he made his way down a hill and leaped over a rock formation, landed on the first paved road he had gotten to.
His home... or at least the mirror image of it was burning. Smoke filled the already hot sky as Jason looked along the length of the skyline. His emotions threatened to get away from him again before he centered himself with some deep breathing exercises and then focused on the area he was going to start his search. He started to run again but stopped.
Jason glanced down at the golden suit of armor on him and shook his head. He suddenly realized that going into the city looking the way he did might not be for the best. He powered down and the staff disappeared from his hands. He stood now at the precipice of the city in street clothes as he slowly began to walk down the road.
He saw a truck approaching and he ducked out of the way onto the sidewalk as it sped by full of people both in the cab and the bed. He glanced to the left of him to see what used to be a suburb outside of the city now in pieces. He shook his head as he stopped at the crossroads and looked in every direction. Nothing but senseless destruction.
"What did I... he do?" Jason spoke out loud to himself as he considered where he should begin his search. He tried to think of where Kimberly might be and soon realized she might be anywhere. He knew time was precious so he wanted to maximize it and decided to go straight for her old neighborhood.
(****)
"It looks like some old faces are waiting on us," Zedd remarked gesturing in the distance at the row of Zords surrounding the Power Chamber. Dark Jason nearly smiled out of instinct when he saw them. It had been too long. He reached a hand to rest on Zedd's shoulder.
"Let me go in for a ground attack first," Dark Jason suggested.
"Why bother?" Zedd replied with skepticism as he sat up straighter in the seat and turned to Jason.
"Listen... we are here for their power correct?" Dark Jason began to elaborate. "Zordon has used up a lot of it to resurrect these powers and Zords... the more we attack the more they burn up, the less for us."
"I think I am following you," Zedd responded.
"Plus... if we can capture the power of the grid then the Zords will be ours to command as well," Dark Jason continued his sell. Zedd nodded.
"Very well," Zedd stated as he sat back and clasped his hands together. "You go do your worst."
(****)
Jason turned down the street leading both to his home and Kim's old one. He tried not to get caught up in the sights, sounds, and smells feeling his senses as he found it suffering just like every other neighborhood he had made his way through. He glanced around hoping to see a sign of any life. Even just some police presence, or firefighters, anything to indicate people were getting some help.
He found no sign of anything anywhere. Just raging fires and smoke. Jason walked around a large crater in the center of the street. He peered down to see a boulder at the center. He shook his head and picked up the pace as he neared where his home would be. He stopped and closed his eyes as he saw that where a home once stood there was nothing but barely a sign of a foundation.
"God..." Jason voiced under his breath as he turned to look down the street. His eyes brightened a little when he saw a group of people sitting along the sidewalk with another group gathered around them tending to them. Finally a sign of life and a glimmer of good.
Jason approached the group. He could see some were badly injured and others just seemed to be lost and scared. The group tending to them seemed also to be mostly regular citizens doing what they could. He walked past the group finding it hard to make eye contact with anyone as they looked at him desperately.
He cleared the group and stopped in the street. He heard the sound of a child crying nearby and glanced around to see a smoldering house. He didn't wait to see if anyone else heard before he ran to the home. He glanced behind him briefly to see if anyone saw him before he morphed into the Golden suit before breaking down the front door.
The interior of the home was filled with smoke and darkness. The only light was from flames licking around the corner of the rooms leading out into the foyer. Jason called for the staff and illuminated it with light to help him see. The smoke was so thick it barely provided him any help as he felt his way around and stopped to listen for the direction of the whimpers.
A crash in the same direction the crying was coming from stepped up Jason's pace as he made his way down the hallway and found himself tripped up over something. He looked at his feet to find his fears confirmed as the lifeless body of a woman lied prone with her arms outstretched to the doorway he was making his way to.
Jason swallowed a lump in his throat and kept going. He reached the doorway and could feel the heat surrounding it. His adrenaline and anger were at such a point though, that he paid no attention to the atmosphere around him as he tore the door off the hinges and entered the room. His eyes were met with sunlight from a hole in the wall in the back of the room.
The hole was suddenly filled with a silhouette. A familiar one. Jason shook his head as it entered the room and moved across it to retrieve the crying child hunkered in the corner. Jason reached his hand out as the two moved across the room in front of him again and out of the hole in the wall.
"Kim..." Jason spoke above a whisper as he watched her take the child to safety. He made his way outside and looked around for any sign of her. He didn't see her in the backyard anywhere so he demorphed and begin to run around the side of the house. It was then he was met with a swift kick to his chest that knocked him back into the grass below him.
Jason barely had any time to register what had happened before the long handle of a shovel was pressed against his neck. He struggled to breathe as he looked up into the focused eyes above him.
"Wait... it's..." Jason was struggling for his words. She had maneuvered herself on top of him skillfully and he found himself unable to overpower her. "I... I'm... not... him."
A glimmer of something in her eye at his words, but the pressure didn't relent. Jason felt himself seeing spots and tried to kick his legs but she had then wrapped around her own. He moved his hands from the shovel up to her arms. He squeezed, but gently. Not enough pressure to hurt her.
Again another glimmer and she cocked her head. Jason felt the slightest hint of relief and he moved a hand up to her cheek. She quickly moved it away from him.
"It's... not... I'm not who..." The pressure returned stopping his words momentarily. Jason locked eyes with her and released his grip from her and let his hands fall. The act was risky but it worked the way he had hoped as she relented. She straightened up slightly but still did not move from on top of him. She kept the shovel hovering over his neck as her eyes roamed his face. He started to speak again but she shook her head.
"Shut up," She finally spoke. Jason found so much relief in her voice regardless of the harshness of her command. He took this opportunity to examine her much the way she was his. Her hair was shorter, she was sans any makeup, and she had a new scar on her forehead. She was still Kim though. In any time or universe, seeing her would always cause his heart to do a little jump.
Jason tentatively reached his hand up. She eyed him suspiciously but did not immediately retreat. He gently moved his fingers to her forehead and ran it over the scar. He swallowed a lump in his throat and closed his eyes momentarily.
"What did he do?" Jason spoke softly, moving his eyes from the scar to her eyes. She shook her head quickly for a moment before averting her eyes. After a few seconds, she returned eye contact and held it for several moments before Jason noted the water welling up around her eyes.
"Who... who... Jase... who are you?" Kim stammered out as she found herself overcome with so many conflicting emotions.
"I'm... Jason... but not... him... not the one who," Jason found himself nearly choking on the thought of describing all the carnage he had seen and attributing it to a version of himself.
"You... are lying," Kim replied.
"I promise... I'm not," Jason answered. "I came here to find you."
"Find me?" Jason felt her stiff posture on him loosen ever so slightly. "I don't know how you expect me to believe you... you are cruel..."
Jason felt his heart breaking fresh at those words. Cruel? Him. Cruel to her? Never. He didn't know what he could say to convince her or to get that image of him cleaned from her mind.
"Look... you know... you have let your guard down enough that if I wanted to I could flip you and that would be that... but I'm not... and you know he wouldn't tell you that," Jason stated. He felt her start to stiffen her posture again but stop midway through his words.
"Jason... it's... " Kim moved the shovel from his throat and laid it down next to them. She moved her hands back and cupped either side of his face. "You are not him... and not evil like him... you are like the old Jason?"
"I am," Jason nodded as he moved his hands to rest on the outside of her hands. "In my time... you saved me..."
"I did?" Kim inquired. Her tears were flowing freely now. She believed him. Maybe she shouldn't. But the softness in his eyes. It was there. It was just like before. The way he looked at her was the way her Jason always had. Before...
"Yes, you did..." Jason replied with a smile. She nodded vehemently before returning the smile and throwing herself back down on him in a tight hug. Jason gripped her back just as tight. Feeling a sense of responsibility for the state she was in. He wanted her to feel his sorrow and resolve to make it better.
Kimberly found herself sobbing into his shoulder. Maybe it wasn't like having her old Jason back. However, at this moment, it felt like it. For his part, he seemed content to hold her and let her pour her emotions over him. That much was very much like the boy she missed dearly.
