The Earth Crystals
by : Jeremy Ray Logsdon
Chapter One - An Old Beginning
It had all started when Billy had sent a distress signal from Aquitar. A previously unknown menace was attacking the water planet, and the Alien Rangers couldn't defeat the foe on their own. Naturally, the Earth Rangers felt that one good turn deserves another. Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Kat all agreed that since the Alien Rangers had helped save the Earth on two separate occasions, then they should help Aquitar. Jason, who had recently given the Gold Ranger power back to Trey, was going to stay on Earth and help Alpha with the Aquitar problem from the Command Center. Billy teleported back to Earth to also help monitor the situation, as he had not yet developed a computer system on Aquitar quite equal to that of Zordon's Command Center. Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Kat, and Tanya left for Aquitar on January 31. Billy teleported to Earth at the same time. Fortunately, the five Rangers arrived on Aquitar and Billy reached Earth before the unknown foe destroyed the Time Line.
"AYE-YI-YI!!!" Alpha cried. Billy had just arrived in a white streak of light seconds before the Command Center alarms went haywire.
"Alpha!" Jason cried. "What's happening?!"
"I fear that the worst possible thing that could have happened to us has finally occured," Zordon said.
"What is it, Zordon?" Billy asked. He immediately joined Alpha and began to download the volumes of incoming data.
"The evil space demon Jenga has activated her dreaded Crystal of Time," Zordon said.
"What does that mean?" Jason asked.
"The Time Line which governs the entire universe has been utterly thrown off track," Zordon said. "Fortunately, the Zeo Rangers reached Aquitar and Billy made it here before the distortion occured. If they had been in teleportation mode when the Crystal was activated, the sub-atomic particles that comprised their bodies would have been utterly destroyed."
"Talk about cutting it close," Billy said. "Is Jenga the evil being who attacked Aquitar?"
"Techincally, yes. However, Aquitar is no longer her concern," Zordon said.
"What are you getting at Zordon?" Jason asked.
"She attacked Aquitar just to get all of the Rangers that protect the universe away from Earth. Trey, the Aquitian Rangers, the Zeo Rangers, and many other leagues of superheroes that you have not yet met," Zordon said. "Earth is now essentially unprotected from her powerful armies."
"Well, can't you teleport the Rangers back here?" Billy asked.
"No," Zordon said. "The Crystal of Time has completely isolated our entire solar system from the rest of the Galaxy. No one can teleport in, and no one can teleport out. And we do not have time to construct a spaceship and fly to Aquitar."
"If this Jenga lady is as tough as you say she is," Billy said, "she would blast any spaceship into space dust."
"Your assertions are correct, Billy," Zordon said.
"Why does she want the Earth?" Jason asked.
"It is a very complicated story," Zordon explained, "and is as follows. The Crystal of Time was created on Earth. Long before Rita and I had our battle here, Jenga arose from the darkest depths of all that is evil and stole the Crystal of Time. When The four pieces of the Crystal of Time are locked together, time stays on track. The owner, however, can travel to any point in time. Using it's power, she hop-scotched through time, drawing power from various sources of energy, including our Power Coins before they were assigned to six Rangers, the Zeo Crystal while it still lay in the Caves of Deception, and many other sources of power distributed throughout the universe. After she had drawn enough power to gain immortality, or at least as close to immortality as any creature can get, she created a Command Post in a Black Hole in the outskirts of the universe and waited for the ideal time to strike and ultimately gain control of the entire universe."
"Our computers show that her original plans were to begin the attack on Earth yesterday!" Alpha 5 cried.
"She must have learned of the Thirteen Earth Crystals," Zordon said.
"Earth Crystals?" Jason and Billy asked in unison.
"The Earth Crystals were created to power the Earth and all forms of Rangers," Alpha said. "However, the various forces of good throughout the Universe, of which Zordon and your friend Ninjor are a part of, felt that the Earth Crystal in it's entirety was much to strong to keep together. It was broken into thirteen parts and scattered throughout different parts of the planet."
"Until this point, only beings of pure good have known of the thirteen Earth Crystals," Zordon said. "I do not know how Jenga could have possibly learned of the Earth Crystals."
"Well, can we teleport the Earth Crystals here to protect them?" Jason asked.
"No, because no one knows the exact location of the Crystals," Zordon said.
"We could possibly locate their general area," Alpha said, "but we would have to know the exact co-ordinates to teleport them here."
"Couldn't we find the Earth Crystals the same way the Rangers found the Zeo Crystals?" Billy asked. "Can Jason and I teleport near the crystals, locate them, and bring them back here?"
"I fear that, although the trek will be very dangerous, it is our only hope for saving Earth," Zordon said.
"What would happen if Jenga should get the thirteen Earth crystals?" Jason asked. "How bad of a situation are we looking at here?"
"Jenga would be able to obliterate all forces of good that have had contact with the Earth Crystals. Myself, Ninjor, and the many other Forces of Good would be immediately destroyed if all thirteen Crystals should fall in the hands of evil. Also, any and all Rangers throughout the universe would lose their morphing capabilities."
"That's not an option," Billy said. "I think we can handle it, Jason."
Jason stuck out his fist. The former Blue and Red Rangers hit their knuckles together affirmatively.
"AYE-YI-YI!!!" Alpha cried. "The scanners have not only revealed the first Earth Crystal, but also told us some of its powers!!!"
"What do you mean, Alpha?" Jason asked.
"Yes Alpha," Zordon said. "Please tell the rest of us."
"The first Earth Crystal also has some mild power drawn from the Crystal of Time! When we get it here, we can get the red, blue, pink, yellow, black, and green Power Coins!"
"Then the Earth will have Rangers to protect it from Jenga until the Time Line is re-established," Zordon said.
"It will also boost the teleportation unit," Alpha said. "Although we won't be able to teleport out of the solar system, we can teleport Zack and Trini here to assume the Black and Yellow Ranger Power Coins again!"
"What about Kim?" Billy asked.
"Give me a few minutes, and I can teleport her here now," Alpha said. "Searching Florida."
"The three of us can probably locate the first Earth Crystal together," Billy said. "Then, we can be Power Rangers again!"
"This could be the best thing that has ever happened to us," Jason said. "Not the worst."
"I am sorry to say you are wrong," Zordon said. "It is a good thing you are getting your Powers back. Hopefully, you can get them back before Jenga arrives. If you can't, then may the Power protect us all."
"Here comes Kimberly!" Alpha cried, waving his robotic arms in the air. A white teleportation beam streaked into the Power Chamber.
"Hey?" Kimberly asked. She was facing away from Billy and Jason.
"Kim, over here," Billy said.
"Billy?" she asked. She turned around and saw her two old friends. "Jason!" She ran over to them and hugged them both at the same time. "Where am I?"
"In the new, updated Command Center," Alpha said, "now called the Power Chamber."
"Wait till you hear what we've got coming up," Jason said.
"What? Are we gonna be Rangers again?" Kimberly asked with a laugh. Her face dropped when no one laughed with her. "Really?" Kimberly asked. "We're going to be Power Rangers again?"
"For a while, at least, yes," Zordon said.
"We just have to go on a little adventure to get a special crystal," Billy said. "Then we get our powers back. And if we don't, then the universe is doomed."
"Kimberly, Jason, and Billy. You do not have to go on this quest," Zordon said. "The choice is entirely up to you."
"I'd never think of refusing," Kimberly said. "I know it's been a while, but what I promised on Day One is just as true today."
"That's true for all of us," Billy said.
"You know it," Jason said.
"Billy," Alpha said. "Please help me scan for the First Earth Crystal. I've got it pin-pointed to a twenty-five mile radius, but I think we might be able to get it down further."
Billy and Jason both helped Alpha while Kimberly was briefed by Zordon. They had no more than finished their discussion when the first Crystal was located. "Where is it, Alpha?" Kimberly asked.
"The First Earth Crystal is located in Ireland," Alpha said. "I have pin-pointed it's location to somewhere in a five mile radius."
"What will it look like?" Billy asked.
"All of the Crystals are either in the shape of a pyramid, cube, or sphere, except for the Thirteeth Crystal, which is in the shape of a pair of wings," Zordon explained. "If my memory serves me correctly, the first crystal is a Cube."
"When will Jenga arrive?" Jason asked. "Do you know?"
"Computers indicate her space fleet will enter our Solar System in approximately forty-five minutes," Alpha said.
"I guess we're ready," Kimberly said.
"I will immediately begin work on a device to help you in your quest," Alpha said. "As soon as it is created, I will teleport it to you."
Kimberly moved over between Billy and Jason. Alpha pushed a few buttons on the Control Panel before him, and all three teenagers melted into streaks of white light. The white light lifted into the air, and disappeared.
"Aye-yi-yi," Alpha said softly. "Please be careful Rangers."
Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Rito Revolto, Goldar, Squatt, Baboo, Finster, and all of the Tenga Warriors moved back into Zedd's old palace. After some cleaning, accomplished via Zedd and Rita's staffs, the palace was in tip-top evil shape again. "I can't believe we're back in business, Zeddiekins!" Rita cried happily. "The Machine Empire is gone, at least for the time being, and the Zeo Rangers have left for Aquitar! The Earth is ripe for the plucking!!!"
Zedd walked out to his balcony, overlooking the moon and the Earth, and looked up into the universe. "RITA!!!" Zedd shouted.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" she shouted back. She hurried over to him. "What is it Zedd?"
"Look up there," he said. "What do you see?" She looked into her Repulsa Scope and sighed. "Oh my gosh!! Is that, could it really be? Is that Jenga?!"
"My mother has returned!!!" Lord Zedd cried.
"We will reign supreme!" Rita laughed happily.
Finster suddenly ran out onto the balcony. "I am afraid I have some bad news," Finster said sheepishly. "Bad news?" Rita asked. "Bad news! What could be bad news now?!"
"Apparently, the Rangers are on a trek to search out a crystal that will restore their original morphing capabilities."
Zedd and Rita turned to look at Finster. "I'm getting a headache!!!!" Rita screeched.
Chapter Two - The First Crystal
The white teleportation streaks journeyed across the Atlantic ocean and touched down on the small, emerald Island of Ireland. Jason, Billy, and Kimberly landed on a grassy knoll overlooking a vast meadow. Sheep grazed in it lazily. "So this is Ireland?" Kimberly asked.
"We have no idea where to look," Jason said. "I guess we have to wait for Alpha's device."
"Perhaps not," Billy said. "The Crystal will probably be hidden in some sort of crevice or cavern underground."
"A cave?" Kimberly asked.
"Yeah," Billy said. "I can't imagine it would be just lying on the surface, but I could be wrong."
"I don't see any caves around here," Kimberly said. "How big of an area do we have to look?"
"It's somewhere within five miles of us, right now," Billy replied. "It's just too large of an area to search with no clue whatsoever. Jason's right. We have to wait for Alpha's device."
Jenga's entire space fleet zoomed toward Earth's moon. Jenga saw her son's palace on the cold, stone surface. "Zedd?" she asked. "Well, I was ondering where he's been. I think I'll stop by and pay my baby boy a visit. She crossed her arms, and burst into black flames. She disappeared from her space ship.
Jenga looked nothing like her son, Lord Zedd. In fact, she looked remarkably human. Her hair was mostly ruby red, curly, and hung to her waist. There were three inch-wide blue streaks in her hair, one that ran down the middle and then another on each side of it. She wore black jeans, and a green blouse. Her eyes were a bright blue, and she had a smile that could melt any man's heart. Yet she was one of the most evil creatures the universe had ever seen. Rita turned around and saw her mother-in-law. "Wha?" Rita asked. "Zeddie! She's here!"
Lord Zedd turned around and saw his mother for the first time in almost twenty thousand years. "Mom!" he cried.
"What have you been up to?" Jenga asked cheerfully.
"We just destroyed the Machine Empire!" Rita cried happily.
"Wow," Jenga said. "They're very powerful. I'm impressed."
"They used a bomb!" Rito Revolto cried. "In a present!"
"It was more than you did," Rita sneered.
"So, Zedd, are you still using Putties to fight your battles?" Jenga asked.
"Hardly, mother," he said. "We have Tenga Warriors now."
"That I brought for Ed here!" Rito cried.
Goldar growled deep in his throat and shook his head.
"What?" Rito asked, puzzled.
"I've come here to claim the Earth Crystals," Jenga said. "Ever hear of them?"
Rita and Zedd both shook their heads.
"Well then," Jenga said, "I've got quite a story to tell you. It all started about three weeks ago when a band of Rangers from the planet Polari were engaged in a battle with my Hercu-Lo Monster. While they were fighting, my main henchmen Perkiz managed to tap into their leader's Command Post. We downloaded all of their files, and discovered this thing called the Earth Crystals. They were hidden on Earth so Zordon could look over them. If they fall in the hands of evil, all Rangers lose their morphing capabilities."
"Ooo the possibilities," Rita sighed.
"Well, I've arranged for the Zeo Rangers to be on Aquitar, so the Earth is currently unprotected!" Jenga cried.
"I hate to say this," Goldar said in his throaty growl, "but the Zeo Rangers could just teleport back to Earth."
"SHUT UP YOU GOLD BABOON!" Rita screeched. "I'm sure Jenga has already thought of a plan."
Jenga gave Goldar a dirty look and continued her story. "I've set up an energy barrier around this entire solar system so nothing can teleport in or out. And, my best warriors are on direct orders to blast any spaceship out of the sky," she explained. "And without any further interruptions, I'll finish my story, and how my favorite son and his wife fit into the picture."
"How is the device coming, Alpha?" Zordon asked.
"I'm almost finished, Zordon," Alpha Five answered. Showers of sparks were raining all around him. "There!" Alpha cried. "Aye-yi-yi! I hope this works!"
Jason's communicator, the only one the three of them had, beeped the ever familiar beep. "We're here, Zordon," Jason said. "Alpha is teleporting you the device now," Zordon said.
"I just hope it makes it!" Alpha cried. "Between teleporting the Zeo Rangers to Aquitar and the other Rangers to Ireland, the teleportation system is in desperate need of a recharge!"
"Fortunately, Alpha," Zordon said, "as soon as we have the First Earth Crystal, the Power Chamber will receive a major Power Surge that should bring everything back on-line."
"I hope you're right, Zordon," Alpha said. "Aye-yi-yi. Here goes everything." The small hand-held device disappeared into a white streak of light and darted up through the ceiling of the Power Chamber.
The small, silver device landed in Billy's hands. "Billy," Alpha said through Jason's communicator. "The device works similar to a compass. The small green arrow on the display will point in the direction of the First Earth Crystal. Good luck."
Billy turned the device on. A small green arrow appeared in the center of the screen. "It looks like radar," Kimberly said, chuckling. The arrow spun in a circle around the small display. It then slowed to a halt and pointed to Billy's left. "I guess we go this way," Billy said, pointing.
"Let's go," Jason said. The three teenagers walked off in the direction of the First Earth Crystal.
Finster was in his own, private laboratory, reading over the files that Jenga had downloaded from the Command Post on Polari. He suddenly saw a piece of information that Jenga's henchman had overlooked. Overjoyed, he ran to Zedd, Rita, and Jenga on the balcony overlooking Earth. "Jenga! Lord Zedd! Rita!" Finster cried. All three turned and looked at him questioningly. "According to the information from Polari, the Earth Crystals have an extra special bonus!" Finster cried.
"What?" Lord Zedd asked gravely.
"When all thirteen fall in the hands of evil, all forces of Good such as Zordon, Ninjor, and all of the others like them in the entire universe will cease to exist. There will be no Rangers or new leaders to even try and make new Rangers. Evil will be able to rule supreme!" Finster cried happily.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!" Rita laughed.
"The Power Rangers and Zordon are history!!!" Zedd suddenly halted. He grunted and glared at the Earth. A red beam of light shot from his visor. "NO!!!!" he bellowed. He beat his fist against the balcony railing. His entire body was glowing bright red.
"What is it Zedd?" Rita asked.
"Those RANGERS!!!" he screamed.
"What rangers?" Jenga asked.
"Yeah Zeddiepie," Rita said. "The Zeo Rangers are on Aquitar."
"No, the old Rangers!!" he yelled. "Jason, Billy, and Kimberly!"
"WHAT?!" Rita screeched.
"Oh great," Jenga said. "Someone else is trying to get the Earth Crystal, too."
"You don't seem very concerned," Rita said. She hoisted her skirt above the ground and tromped off away from the balcony.
"Why should I be?" Jenga asked. "They aren't Rangers. If your Tenga warriors can't defeat three Earth teenagers, I'm sure my Wulf Warriors can."
"You have Wulf Warriors?" Lord Zedd asked.
Wulf Warriors were one of the few fighting forces that were stronger than Tengas. Except for Ivan Ooze's OozeMen, but they were long gone, since Ivan was the only one who could make them. The Wulf Warriors were very muscular, six feet tall, and had the head of a wolf. Their bodies were covered with either red, white, black, brown, or gray fur. Wulf Warriors were virtually undestructible. Only a Power Ranger had a chance of actually winning a battle with a Wulf. "I say we send some Tengas down to destroy that little machine that's leading them to the Earth Crystal. They'll never find it without it," Jenga said.
"Those three are no ordinary kids," Rita said. Goldar growled in agreement.
Lord Zedd nodded his head. "They are three of the first five Rangers on Earth. They will get under your skin and drive you crazy! They give me SUCH A HEADACHE!!!!!!!"
"Send the Tengas," Jenga said. "Trust me."
"That thing sure is beeping loud enough," Jason said as they walked across the pasture.
"Billy," Kimberly said, putting a hand on his arm. "Look. A cave. You were right!"
"The arrow's pointing right at it," Billy said. "Come on!" The three teenagers ran for the cave. They were almost at the entrance when purple and black light streaked through the air.
"Oh no!" Kimberly cried.
"Tengas!" Billy shouted.
Twelve of the fierce birds landed in a circle around the teens. "We were so close!" Kimberly shouted.
"Kim, you and I can hold them off long enough for Billy to run in the cave and get the Crystal," Jason said.
"Right," Kimberly said.
"On the word go, Billy," Jason said.
"Agreed," Billy replied.
The Tengas suddenly attacked. Jason jumped high in the air and kicked two birds in the chest at the same time, one with each foot. Kimberly did a cartwheel away from Billy and landed in front of a Tenga. She punched it in the stomach and then high-kicked it in the chest. With a painful squawk, it stumbled away backwards. "Go Billy!" Jason shouted.
Billy ran for the cave. Two Tengas jumped in front of him. Without stopping, Billy leapt into the air and flipped gracefully over the two birds. He landed on his feet and kept on running for the cave. However, the two birds jumped at him from behind. They hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground. The device flew from his grip and landed on the grass. "NO!" Billy shouted. Another Tenga ran over to the device. The bird picked it up and ripped the machine apart. "NO!"
"Let's get out of here!" the Tenga that destroyed Alpha's device said. All twelve birds flew into the air and disappeared. "No," Billy said. He crawled over to the broken machine.
"Can you fix it, Billy?" Kimberly asked.
"Not out here in the middle of nowhere," Billy said.
"Well, maybe we can find the Crystal anyway," Jason said. "I mean, we know it's in the cave."
"We don't have a choice," Kimberly said, "unless we can contact Alpha and Zordon."
"It's worth a shot," Jason said. He pushed the button on his communicator. Before he could say anything, radio static came out.
"I figured this would happen," Billy said. "Our teleporter isn't designed for long-range teleportation. At least not all at once. What with me coming here and the others going to Aquitar, teleporting Kimberly from Florida, and then all three of us here, along with the device, I'd say the Power Chamber is maxed out."
"The Zeo Crystal also isn't here on Earth helping power it either," Jason said.
"Right," Billy said. "The other guys took the Zeo Power with them."
"How will we get home then?" Kimberly asked.
"Maybe in the time it takes us to find the Earth Crystal the Power Chamber will have at least powered up enough to get us there," Billy said. "But, no use worrying about it now. Let's go find that Crystal."
"Right," Jason and Kimberly said. The three teens went into the small, cave opening.
"They're going into the cave, Jenga!" Rita shouted. She pointed the RepulsaScope at the beautiful woman. "LOOK!"
"Relax, Rita," Jenga said. "Relax. That's why you're all the time having headaches."
"Hhhmph," Rita said. "Well, what do you propose we do?"
"I'm going to send three of my Wulf Warriors into the cave after them," Jenga said. She stuck her right arm out. A bright blue flash centered around her palm, and a blue scepter appeared in her grip. A blue sapphire sat atop the scepter. "Just watch. And remember, relax." She pointed the scepter at Earth. Three balls of white light shot out of the sapphire and disappeared into the darkness.
"The Earth Crystal is definitely here," Billy said as soon as they entered the cave.
"It is so bright in here," Kimberly said. The cave was filled with a mysterious light.
"It's beautiful," Jason said. They walked through a stone archway into a huge, huge room. They walked out onto a small stone ledge that overlooked the giant room. Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere. A crystal clear waterfall led into a small, clear, calm pool of water.
"Hey, look," Kimberly said. "That's where the light is coming from. That pool of water."
"That's where the Earth Crystal is!" Billy shouted.
"How do we get down there?" Jason asked. "There's a way here," Kimberly said.
"It's sort of like a naturally occuring staircase," Billy said. "Let's go."
Carefully, they started to walk down to the pool.
A dark red Wulf, a black Wulf, and a brown Wulf appeared at the opening of the Cave. "In here!" the red Wulf shouted. All three crawled into the cave.
Billy, Jason, and Kimberly finally reached the pool of water. "Who wants to go get it?" Kimberly asked.
"I'll go," Jason said. He took off his shoes and socks. He then took off his black t-shirt.
"Your communicator," Kimberly said. "We probably shouldn't get it wet."
"You're right," he said. He took it off and handed it to Kimberly.
"Good luck Jase," Billy said.
Jason nodded and dove into the pool. Kimberly and Billy moved together and looked into the pool. They could barely see his body as he swam beneath the water. A few seconds later, he resurfaced. He took a deep breath of air and dove back under.
Three powerful growls came from the top of the cave. Kimberly and Billy spun around and looked up. "What are those things?" Kimberly cried.
"I have no idea!" Billy shouted back.
"They look dangerous," Kimberly said, pressing tight against Billy's body.
"They sure do," Billy said.
"Aye-yi-yi!!!" Alpha cried. "I've finally got them on the Viewing Screen and I don't like what I see?! What are those Zordon?!"
"Those are Jenga's Wulf Warriors. They are one of the most formidable fighting forces in existence. They will tear the Rangers apart without their morphing abilities. You must teleport Jason, Billy, and Kimberly out of there."
"We don't have enough energy, Zordon!" Alpha cried. "AYE-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YIIIIIIIIIII!"
Jason swam toward the source of the light. He was tempted to get another breath of air, but he wanted to hurry up and get the Earth Crystal. With his hands out before him, he brushed against a square rock. The Earth Crystal! he thought to himself. He grabbed the fist-sized cube and swam to the surface. He quickly crawled out of the pool and joined Kimberly and Billy.
"Jason!" Kimberly cried. The three Wulf Warriors suddenly jumped off of the balcony.
Jason's mouth dropped open in awe. Suddenly, three beams of light shot out of the Earth Crystal. The light struck the three Wulf Warriors. They hit the ground, and disappeared.
"Huh?" Kimberly and Billy asked simultaneously.
"Where'd they go?" Jason asked.
"How'd you do that, Jason?" Kimberly asked.
"I don't know," he said. "I just thought that I didn't want to deal with more bad guys, and then that happened. Hold this while I get dressed."
Billy took the cube, and Jason sat down on the ground to put his shoes and socks back on. Kimberly handed him his shirt and communicator. "Okay," he said after he was dressed. "You guys hang on tight and we'll try to teleport home."
"No, wait a second," Billy said. "There's no use putting more strain on the teleportation system than we have to. You teleport to the Power Chamber, and then have Alpha power everything back up to max with the Earth Crystal."
"Yeah," Kimberly said. "And then come get us."
"Okay," Jason said. "Are you sure?"
"We'll be fine," Billy said.
Jason held the First Earth Crystal in the crook of his arm and pushed the teleport button. He melted into white light and lifted a few feet off of the floor. Then, with a pitiful whine, the white light dropped back to the floor. The white light turned back into Jason. "Oh man," Billy said. "We don't even have enough power to teleport you home."
"Well, I'm heavier than you both are," Jason said. "Why don't you try it, Kimberly?"
"That won't work," Billy said. "You didn't get but two feet off of the floor, and we need to travel six thousand miles."
"Maybe we should just walk to the nearest town and hop on a plane," Kimberly said. "Anybody got any money?"
"I've got an idea," Billy said. "Jason, give me your communicator." He took the communicator, and then knelt down to the ground and pulled his shoelace out of his right sneaker.
"What are you gonna do?" Kimberly asked. "We're going to send the Earth Crystal back by itself," Billy said, "and wait for Alpha to teleport all three of us." Billy tied his shoestring to the Communicator. Then, he wrapped the shoestring around the cube several times, and tied the loose end around the communicator again. "I hope this works," Billy said. He pushed the button on the communicator and tossed the Cube into the air. It turned into white light and shot straight up through the cave.
"Let's hope," Kimberly said.
The small white teleportation stream teleported into the Power Chamber. "Aye-yi-yi! It's the First Earth Crystal!!!"
"It has been a very long time since I have seen that Crystal," Zordon said. "Hurry and get our power reserves to full power. First thing, try and get Jason, Billy, and Kimberly back here."
"Right Zordon," Alpha said. He put the Crystal on the counter before him and began to work. Just a few seconds later, he had two electrodes attached to the Crystal. The Power Chamber immediately began to power up. "We have enough power now, Zordon," Alpha said. He punched a few buttons on the panel before him. Three streaks of white light appeared in the Power Chamber. Jason, Billy, and Kimberly were standing there.
"We made it back," Billy said.
"And we have the first Earth Crystal," Alpha said. "Congratulations, Rangers."
"The Power Chamber is now fully powered up," Zordon said. "Alpha, teleport the others here."
"Right," Alpha said.
"Others?" Kimberly asked.
Two white teleportation streaks appeared in the Power Chamber. "Huh? Where are we?" Trini asked.
Chapter Three - Return of Some Old Friends
"Man," Zack muttered under his breath. "This place is awesome."
"Oh my gosh!" Kimberly cried. "I can't believe it's you!"
Trini and Zack turned around and saw their three old Ranger friends. "Kim? Billy?"
"Jase!" Zack cried. Trini and Kimberly quickly ran for each other and hugged tightly. Kimberly then hugged Zack while Trini moved on to Billy and Jason.
"Where are we?" Trini asked.
"The new Command Center," Zordon said.
"Zordon!" Zack cried, suddenly seeing his old mentor.
"Aye-yi-yi!!!" Alpha cried. "This is so emotional!!!"
"Alpha," Trini said, laughing. She went over to the robot and gave him a hug. "How have you been?"
"I've missed you guys," Alpha said. "Aye-yi-yi!"
"We were in Switzerland doing research on a project to bring up before the Peace Conference," Zack said, "and then the next thing we know . . . "
"Here we are!" Trini cried. "But, what are we here for? A visit?"
"I wish it were that simple," Zordon said. "We need you to resume your old powers."
"What?" Zack asked. "Billy told us in a letter that the Power Coins were destroyed and the Rangers were powered from the Zeo Crystal."
"Yeah, but the Zeo Rangers are on Aquitar," Billy said.
"Aqui-what?" Zack asked.
"It's a planet on the other side of the galaxy," Jason said. "And a new bad guy is attacking Earth."
"Lord Zedd's mom," Kimberly said. "Her name is Jenga."
"I hope Master Vile doesn't come here and try to stir things up," Alpha said. "Aye-yi-yi."
"Huh?" everyone but Billy asked.
"Master Vile is Rita Repulsa's father," Billy said. "He was the one who ultimately caused the destruction of the Power Coins by turning us back into little kids."
"I am really looking forward to being a Ranger again," Kimberly said. "Sometimes I really regret leaving."
"It's really hard for me," Billy said. "I didn't realize how much I loved it until I gave up my Zeo Crystal. And when I thought I had a chance to be a Ranger again, we discovered that my body couldn't accept the Gold Ranger powers." Billy and Jason suddenly stopped. "Oh no," Billy said. "Does this mean I can't be the Blue Ranger?"
He turned around and looked up at Zordon. "No, Billy," Zordon said. Billy breathed a sigh of relief. "Your body only rejected the Gold Ranger powers because it was of alien origin and not designed for the Earthling body."
"That's why I lost the powers eventually," Jason explained.
"You all kind of lost me back there," Zack said. "The coins were destroyed, but we're going to be the original Rangers again? How?"
"Jenga activated the Crystal of Time which threw the entire Time Line off," Zordon explained. "Because we now have a very powerful crystal in our possession, known as the First Earth Crystal, we can teleport the coins here from some point in the past, before you were even assigned the Power Coins. Then, when Jenga has been defeated, we will send them back."
"We can even teleport the Green Ranger's coin here," Alpha said. "Rita and her henchmen are in a mode of hibernation in their Space Dumpster in the past, but the Green Coin is still in her possession. All I have to do is get a lock on it."
"Who will be the Green Ranger?" Kimberly asked. "Tommy is on Aquitar."
"Aye-yi-yi!" Alpha cried. "Just when we thought things were going so well!"
"There is one candidate for the Green Power Coin," Zordon said. All five Rangers and Alpha looked up at him.
"Who?" Trini asked.
"Aisha," Zordon said.
"I thought she was in a different time," Jason said.
"Actually," Billy said, "while the Zeo Quest was supposed to be to a different time and a different place, there is no reason why Aisha's quest couldn't have been to the same time and a different place."
"That is correct, Billy," Zordon said. "I thought this for some time, because Tanya was very well adjusted to our present time. My thoughts were confirmed when Aisha sent Tanya the key of Auric through the mail, and Tanya was able to locate her parents. Alpha, scan Africa and locate Aisha."
"Right Zordon," Alpha said. A few moments later, a white teleportation beam streaked into the Power Chamber.
"Wha?" Aisha asked. "Where am I?"
"Aisha!" Kimberly cried.
"Kim?!" Aisha cried. She spied Kimberly, and then saw the rest of her friends. "Oh my gosh! Is this some kind of reunion?!" She and Kimberly shared a big hug.
"Aisha," Zordon said, "you would be proud to know that Tanya has been an exceptional Ranger."
"I'm glad," Aisha said. "But, I still don't get what I'm doing here. Or what happened to this place."
"It's the new and updated Command Center," Billy said. "The Power Chamber."
"Aisha, I will be blunt and to the point," Zordon said. "Would you like to accept the Green Ranger powers?"
"Huh?" she asked. "Green? Zeo green or Dragon green?"
"The Green Dragon Power Coin," Alpha said.
"Can that be done?" Zack asked. "The Green Ranger was a guy."
"Yes, originally. However, any of the Rangers can be either a guy or a girl," Alpha said.
"Alpha, begin scanning all time for the Power Coins," Zordon said.
"Right," Alpha said.
Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Jason, and Billy moved over to the side while Zordon conferenced with Aisha. "You guys, I just thought of something," Billy said. "Where are we going to stay?"
"Well, I can tell my mom and dad that I've come home for a surprise visit," Zack said.
"My parents are still in Angel Grove, too," Trini said.
"My mom is in France, and my dad is on the East Coast," Kimberly said.
"My parents moved to Aquitar with me and Cestria," Billy said.
"Really?" Aisha asked.
"Yeah," Billy said. "I mean, well, I'm an only child, and my parents were only children, and my grandparents are all dead, so we didn't leave any family behind. And, my parents are as big into science as I am, so they jumped at the opportunity."
"Didn't they question why you had the opportunity to move to a different planet?" Trini asked.
"Actually, Zordon gave me permission to tell them I was a Ranger since I was leaving Earth," Billy said. "We've got an underwater Pod next door to Cestria, and they're getting to do a lot of experiments they never would have had a chance to on Earth, so we're all really, really happy."
"My parents are out of town for the next two weeks," Jason said. "They let me stay by myself so I wouldn't miss two weeks of school. Anyone can stay at my house that wants too. Even if my parents were home, they woulnd't mind though."
"Rangers!" Alpha cried. "I have located the Power Coins."
"WHAT?!" Jenga cried.
"AAAAH!" Rito shouted. He jumped away from the evil sorceress and ran into Goldar. "What are you yelling about?!"
"That bucket of bolts has found a way to get their original Power Coins back!!!"
"Hey! Sis! Ma!" Rito shouted.
"I am not your mother," Jenga said to the skeleton.
"Yeah you are. Rita married Ed," Rito said. "Anyway, let me go down with some tengas and hassle 'em before they get their powers!"
"Or my Wulf Warriors," Jenga thought outloud. "Good idea. Rito, take twelve of my fierect Wulves to Earth and find those aggravating teenagers."
"Right!" Rito shouted. His head bounced off of his shoulders, and then his body burst into black flames and disappeared.
"Hey!" Lord Zedd growled. "Why don't you have your Wulf Warriors destroy the teens, and then steal the coins. That way, we can have our own evil Rangers!"
"Excellent idea, son," Jenga said. She pointed her scepter at Angel Grove. Twelve balls of light burst from the sapphire at it's point and flew through the darkness of space.
"I'm teleporting the Power Coins here from 12:34.56 p.m. July 2, 1953. At that point in time, I was cleaning the Command Center, and the computers were off line because I was trying to blast all of the desert dust out of here," Alpha said. "Since the computers were off line, the alarms won't go off. Then, when we've defeated Jenga, I can teleport the coins back, and the Alpha and Zordon of 1953 will never know they were missing."
"What about the green coin?" Aisha asked.
"That will be teleported from the same date," Alpha said. "Rita and her crew were still deep in hibernation on the moon, so they'll never know the coin was gone either."
"Wait a minute," Kimberly said. "Why can't we just keep the green coin this time? When we're through with it, you can teleport it back to you all in the past and then you can give Tommy the Green Ranger powers when you gave us our powers."
"That is not a good idea, Rangers," Zordon said. "We now know how the Green Ranger saga turned out. Everything ended happily, and it is always best to keep from disturbing the time line."
"Teleporting now," Alpha said.
Two teleportation streaks came into the Command Center. A white streak and a green streak, each producing a small wooden chest. "Rangers, accept your Power Coins," Zordon said.
Aisha took the Green Coin's Wooden Chest. The Green Dragon Coin lay against a black velvet cushion. A green sparkle appeared and ran along the edge of the coin.
Jason held the wooden chest and opened it. Pink, yellow, blue, red, and black energy shone from the box. "They're just as beautiful today as they were then," Trini said.
"Rangers, accept your Power Coins," Zordon said. As each Ranger touched their coin, it disappeared into their body. "Aisha," Zordon said. She stepped forward and looked up at her mentor. "You now possess the powers of the Green Dragon." In a flash of green light, she was wearing the Green Armor. A powerful, gold metal shield covered her shoulders and chest. An enlargement of the coin was in the middle of the shield. She removed her helmet and held it in the crook of her arm. "You will command the DragonZord which you can call on with your Dragon Dagger."
"Jason," Zordon said. "You command the power of the Tyrannosaurus." Jason was suddenly wearing his old red armor.
"Trini, you have the power of the Saber-Tooth Tiger."
"Zack, you draw your power from the Mastodon."
"Kimberly, you will once again receive your power from the Pterodactyl."
"And Billy," Zordon said. "You have served this planet bravely longer than any human ever has. It is with much honor that I return to you the power of the Triceratops."
Billy closed his eyes as the blue light overwhelmed him. He was once again in his armor, complete with the Triceratops Coin on his chest.
"It is great to be back," Zack said, laughing. An alarm filled the air.
"What is it, Zordon?" Jason asked.
"Rangers, Jenga has sent Rito Revolto and twelve of her Wulf Warriors to the park," Zordon said.
"I guess it's time to take these powers out for a test drive," Billy said.
"Make sure you morph first, Rangers," Alpha said. "You are currently in unmorphed mode. The suits are just an illusion." Alpha pushed a button on the control panel before him, and the suits fell off of the Rangers in sparkles of light.
"All right, guys," Jason said. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!!!" The Rangers thrust their hands behind their back as the morphing grid was activated.
"GREEN DRAGON!!!" Aisha cried.
"MASTODON!!!"
"PTERODACTYL!!!"
"TRICERATOPS!!!"
"SABER-TOOTH TIGER!!!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!!!"
Six teleportation streams lifted out of the Power Chamber and disappeared. "Aye-yi-yi," Alpha said softly. "Welcome back, Rangers."
The six Rangers touched down in the center of the park. "Hey!" Rito said. "I know you guys! Except for you." He pointed at the Green Ranger. "You I've never seen before."
"Sure ya' have, Rito," Aisha sneered. "It's just that last time I wore yellow."
Trini flinched slightly at Aisha's innocent comment. She hoped that she and the girl would be friends and the yellow Power Coin wouldn't come between them.
"Wulf Warriors!" Rito shouted. Twelve vicious bipedal wolves appeared around him. "ATTACK!!!!!"
"RANGERS!!!" Jason shouted. "ATTACK!!!!"
Billy found himself surrounded by the three Red Wulfs. "Power Lance!" he cried. The three Wulves suddenly leapt at him.He deftly dropped to the ground in a full split and spun the Lance above his head. The sharpened blades at both ends of the Lance solidly connected with each Warrior.
Kimberly was grabbed roughly by two black Warriors. "Let go of me DOG BOYS!!!" she shouted. She flipped out of their grip and cartwheeled away. "Let's even up the odds," she said. "POWER BOW!!!" In a matter of mere milliseconds, the powerful pink weapon was in her hands. She pulled back on the taut string, producing a shimmering arrow made of pure energy. "Now don't mess with me."
Trini and Aisha were suddenly separate from the group. "POWER DAGGERS!!!" Trini cried.
Aisha pulled her Dragon Dagger out of her holster and held it before herself. Four Wulf Warriors, two grey and two white, approached the two girls. "Hey," Aisha said, spinning the Dragon Dagger deftly in her left hand. "This thing is almost identical to the Power Daggers."
"Just a different color," Trini said with a smile, although the smile was hidden behind her bright yellow helmet.
"Let's mess these Wulves up!" Aisha cried.
"RIGHT!!!" Trini shouted. The two girls slapped each other a quick low five and then jumped at the warriors.
"Power Sword!" Jason cried.
"Power Axe!!!" Zack whipped the Axe around in the air before him and then held it before him. "This is your last chance to back off."
"NEVER!!!" the three remaining Wulves cried in unison. The Red and Black Power Rangers ran at the approaching Wulves.
Billy silently commanded the Power Lance to power down. He then whipped his Power Blaster out of the holster on his left hip. "You might be strong," he said, "but you'll never be able to beat a Power Ranger!"
Kimberly smashed the Power Bow into the chest of the closest Wulf Warrior. The Wulf Warrior suddenly exploded in black light. "Hah!" Kimberly cried. "You guys aren't so tough."
Suddenly, the remaining Wulf Warrior became enraged. He rushed at Kimberly and kicked her in the stomach. With an "oof", she flew through the air and collapsed on Billy. They both hit the ground in a painful heap.
"Kimberly," Billy said. He stood up, pulling her up with him. The two armor clad Warriors backed up from the rapidly approaching warriors. Billy's and Kimberly's attackers had teamed up, and the two Ranges were quickly outnumbered.
Trini and Aisha flipped over the two Wulf Warriors, their movements perfectly in sync. However, before they hit the ground, their assailants rushed them. They flew through the air like paper dolls, knocking Billy and Kimberly to the ground again.
"Geez you guys!" Kimberly cried. The four multi-colored heroes scrambled to their feet. Eight Wulf Warriors approached them, silently and menacingly getting closer.
"These things sure aren't Tengas," Aisha said.
"Or Putties," Trini added.
"We're winning!!!" Rita shouted. "We're winning, we're winning, we're winning," she began chanting, dancing around the balcony.
"You really are a hyperactive little thing, aren't you?" Jenga asked.
"We're winning, we're winning, we're winning," Rita sang, ignoring Jenga's comments. Goldar growled and shook his head.
"Hey," Jenga said, "gold monkey boy. Where's Zedd?"
Goldar growled at her attitude, but knew better than to challenge her authority. "He's in his quarters," he said, "trying to super-power some Tengas with your scepter."
"I was wondering where that went to," Jenga said.
Jenga and Goldar stood in silence for a few moments. Finally, Goldar interrupted the silence by saying, "Why are you such an ugly creature?" Jenga slowly looked up at him, her eyes sparking with anger. "That's not what I meant!" Goldar suddenly recanted. "I just want to know why you look like an Earthling, when someone of your power doesn't have to!"
"I happen to think that Earth women are very attractive," Jenga said, "so I decided to make myself look like this about ten thousand years ago, although I change the clothes design every so often. You know, whenever I see something I like on one of those television broadcasts bouncing around in space. I spent two decades in a wedding dress."
"I think you'd look better in gold armor," Goldar said.
"Maybe," Jenga said, looking at her green blouse and black jeans and visualizing shiny, gold armor covering her body. She suddenly realized what he was implying and whipped her gaze back at him. "Don't you wish, monkey boy," she smarted.
"Zordon!" Alpha cried. "I've found the Second Earth Crystal! It's in Mammoth Cave!"
"Unfortunately, Alpha, we cannot spare any of the Rangers at this moment in time," Zordon said. "They still have eleven Wulves left to defeat."
Alpha looked up at the viewing glove just in time to see Jason and Zack get thrown by the Wulves into the other Rangers, knocking all six to the ground.
"I think I'm just going to stay down here this time," Billy said.
"Guys," Jason said. "Let's make the Power Blaster!"
"RIGHT!!!" all but Aisha cried. She silently stepped out of the way as her five comrades quickly combined their five weapons into the very powerful Power Blaster. "FIRE!!!" the five Rangers shouted. Five streams of light, red, blue, yellow, black, and pink, burst from the weapon. The beams of light hit the eleven Wulf Warriors. With a cacophone of screams, the eleven Wulves burst into black light and disappeared.
"Uh oh," Rito said.
The Power Blaster disappeared. "Who is that guy?" Zack whispered to Kim.
"Rito Revolto," she whispered angrily. "He's Rita's brother."
"Hey, you can't blame a guy for running," he said. "I ain't got any guts! Ha!" His head bounced off of his body, and he disappeared in black flames.
"And another one bites the dust," Jason said.
"Happens every dad-blasted time," Rita griped. She stomped past Jenga and disappeared into the dark corridors of the palace.
"These Rangers are a bit more than I expected," Jenga said, "but not to worry. Yet."
"You're obviously new here," Goldar muttered under his breath.
As soon as the Rangers teleported into the Command Center, Zordon gave them their new instructions. "Rangers," his deep, booming voice said. "We have located the second Earth Crystal. You must journey to the depths of Mammoth Cave."
"In Kentucky?" Billy asked.
"Yes, Rangers," Zordon said. "The Crystal is located in a part of the Cave yet to be explored. This expedition will prove to be most dangerous, so you must search for the Crystal in your Ranger suits. Alpha has also prepared a number of special abilities for this quest."
"Jason and Billy," Alpha said. "You both have Power Scanners. These will help you locate the crystal. Trini and Aisha, your helmets now possess Power Beams."
"Like we used to have," Aisha said.
"Correct," Alpha said.
Billy and Kimberly looked at each other knowingly. They both knew that Alpha had developed a lot of helmet devices after Jason, Zack, and Trini left.
"And lastly, Kimberly and Zack, you have the Power Scream."
"What?" Kimberly asked.
"The Power Scream," Alpha said. "The Pterodactyl and Mastodon emit a mighty scream that terrifies and frightens off intruders. However, it only works temporarily, so use it wisely."
"You got it," Zack said.
"Let's go," Billy said.
"BACK TO ACTION!!!" Jason shouted.
"Mammoth Cave, huh?" Jenga said.
Chapter Four - The Second Earth Crystal
"Thanks for letting us stay here, Mr. Cranston," Tommy said.
"Sure," Billy's father replied. "Now what is it, exactly, that happened?"
Katherine sat beside Tommy on the couch that seemed more like a water bed than a couch. "Well, this lady named Jenga attacked Aquitar, and when we came here to help, Billy went to Earth to help Alpha," Kat explained.
"But it turns out that was just a tactic to have the Earth unprotected," Tanya explained. "And then a force field was put up around our Solar System, and we're stuck here until Jenga is defeated."
"Unfortunately, without Zeo Rangers to protect Earth," Adam said, "I don't hardly see how Jenga is going to be defeated."
Billy's mother walked in from the back of the house. "Hey, you guys," she said, "there's a message here from Alpha Five on the HoloScreen."
"Maybe Alpha's found a way to teleport us home!" Rocky cried. The five teens ran to the HoloScreen.
Six streams of colored light briefly lit up the darkness of Mammoth Cave. As soon as the six Power Rangers had teleported in, the cave was once again dark. "Whoa," Zack said. His voice echoed eerily throughout the entire cave.
"We are standing in a place that no human has ever been to," Trini said, her voice filled with awe. "Cool."
"We need some light," Jason said.
Trini and Aisha said, perfectly in sync, "Power Beams!!"
Immediately, the Green Dragon and the Saber-Tooth Tiger rose up from the helmets. Their eyes opened wide, and bright halogen lights shone out. "Now this is awesome," Trini said.
"Now how are we supposed to find the Crystal?" Kimberly asked. "The Tengas broke Alpha's scanner."
"Me and Billy got it taken care of," Jason said. "Ready man?"
"You know it," Billy said.
"POWER SCAN!!!" both men shouted in unison. Immediately, the black visor on both helmets was covered with a sheet of silver, split horizontally in the middle. A small red light moved back and forth across the split. Their vision was also altered. An X-Y Coordinate grid, which kept track of the Rangers locations, was in their lower left visual field. "Scanning for the Earth Crystal," Billy said.
"Now all we have to do is wait for the results to come in," Jason said.
"I can't understand a word he's saying," Tanya said.
Billy's mother, Rebecca, stepped behind the HoloScreen and checked all of the connections. "The Audio Cable is secure," she said. "It must be a result of the force field around the Solar System."
"He seems hyper," Rocky said, looking at the red and blue robot bouncing all over the screen.
"I wonder if that's hyper good or hyper bad," Adam said.
"I know," Kat said. "If he was a human we could at least read his facial features."
"I'll try and screen out the disturbance," Rebecca Cranston said, "but I'm not making any promises."
"Can I help?" Adam asked.
"Sure," she said. "Let's go to my lab and we'll try and get a lock on the audio disturbance."
"We got it!" Jason shouted.
"Sixty two feet, and three inches, down and to the right, forty-two degrees," Billy said.
"Okay," Zack said. "Now, how do we go through solid rock?"
Jason and Billy looked at each other. "We'll have to go the long way around, I guess," Jason said.
"I'll take up the lead," Billy said.
"And I've got the rear," Jason finished. "We're bound to get there eventually."
"Whattzit?" Rita asked groggily, turning her RepulsaScope to Kentucky. "What?! No! NO!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!"
"What is it now?" Jenga asked, lounging in Zedd's throne.
"They're about to find the Second Earth Crystal!!!" she screeched. "NO!!!!!"
"Well, they certainly are persistent. You have to give them that much," Jenga said.
"I'll let you kill Goldar if you kill the Rangers right now," Rita said.
"Hey!" Goldar growled.
"I may kill Goldar later," Jenga said, "just for fun, but I'd rather play with the Rangers before I destroy them. I think I'll go introduce myself. Gold Monkey Boy, Rito, wanna come?"
"You bet!" Rito shouted. His head leaped off of his shoulders, did a loop in the air, and then landed back on his neck.
"And please stop doing that," Jenga said.
"Yeah Monkey Boy," Rito said. "Learn to breathe through your nose."
"She was talking to YOU!" Goldar growled..
"Aaaarggggh." Jenga rolled her eyes. The three of them disappeared in black flames.
"We're certainly closer," Billy said. "Trini, shine your light over there. I think I detect a weakness in the rock."
"You got it, Billy," she said. She turned her head in the direction he pointed.
"There's a crevice there, Billy," Kimberly said.
"None of us will fit," Jason said, reading the information filling up his vision via the Power Scanner.
"I bet I could," Jenga said.
"Hey!" Zack cried. All six Rangers spun around and took a defensive stance.
"My God you're gorgeous," Jason said before he could stop himself.
Jenga smiled and leaned to the right, showing off her gorgeous curves.
"Goldar," Trini growled.
"And Rito," Aisha said sarcastically.
"You must be Jenga," Kimberly snarled.
"The one and only," Jenga said with a smile.
"Wow," Jason said.
"Snap out of it, dude," Zack said.
"I've always known I had a hypnotic power over men," Jenga said. "Come to me, Red Ranger."
"Yes ma'am," Jason said.
"Jason!" Trini cried.
He silently walked over to Jenga and stood beside her. Although the rangers couldn't tell because of his helmet, he had a blank face and glowing blue eyes. "We're going to take this little stud-puppy here back to the moon," Jenga said, smiling. "I'm going to figure out what his Power Scan says, find the Second Earth Crystal first, and maybe have my way with him, and then return him to you, brain washed and willing to serve my every command. Rito, Goldar, you can do with the others what you like." Jenga leaped up into Jason's arms. He caught here with the greatest of ease. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and leaned back, her red and blue hair cascading over his arms. "Catch ya' on the flip side!" She and Jason disappeared in a red flash of light.
"Jason!" Aisha cried.
"Wulf Warriors!" Goldar shouted. "ATTACK!!!"
"Ciao!" Rito said. "Pasta la Pizza!"
As Goldar and Rito disappeared, dozens of Wulf Warriors appeared. "I've got an idea," Zack whispered, loud enough to be picked up by the radio in the Rangers helmets but not loud enough for the Wulf Warriors to here. "Kim, let's use the Power Scream. There is some kind of hole behind them."
"Got it," Kimberly said. "Guys, cover your ears. I think this is going to be loud."
"POWER SCREAM!!!!!!!!" Kimberly and Zack shouted.
Suddenly, the Pterodactyl stood off of the helmet. Kimberly's helmet was white with a pink plastic Pterodactyl standing just above her visor. Zack's Mastodon's trunk lifted off of the visor. The Mastodon's head rose up from the helmet, and the trunk pointed straight forward. The Pterodactyl's beak flew open. An ear shattering screech blasted from it's mouth. Billy, Trini, and Aisha quickly put their hands to their ears, although it did little good. A tremendous trumpeting burst from Zack's helmet. The screech and the trumpet combined into a blast of sound that measured 200 decibels, according to Billy's Scanner. The Wulf Warriors, clutching their ears in pain, flew backwards and into the pit. "Power down!" Kimberly and Zack cried. The Pterodactyl and Mastodon returned to their helmet position. The Power Screams continued to echo about the cave.
"I think I'm deaf!!!" Billy shouted.
Trini shook her head, trying desperately to get the ringing out of her ears. "We have to get Jason back before she figures out how to use the Power Scan for herself," Trini said.
"Or else get the crystal for ourselves, first," Aisha said.
"I've got an idea," Zack said. "Billy, you stay here and get the crystal. Aisha can stay with you to provide light. Trini, you come back to the Power Chamber with Kim and me and we'll see if we can find Jase."
"Sounds like a plan," Billy said. Aisha nodded in agreement.
"We're out of here," Kimberly said. Pink, yellow, and black light temporarily flashed in the cave, leaving Aisha and Billy alone. "Let's hurry and find the Crystal," Aisha said. "I'm sure they could use your brains in the Power Chamber."
"Right," Billy said, not really taking time for her compliment to sink in. "We're pretty close as it is. Let's just hope that hole is so deep the Wulf Warriors can't climb out."
"There's a Ranger in the palace!!!" Lord Zedd shouted.
"Relax, Zedd," Jenga said. Jason carried her through the open room and stopped before Lord Zedd.
"Did you put a spell on him?" Rita asked.
"Of sorts," Jenga said. "I just turned on my feminine charm, and altered the hormones in his body, so now he has a crush on me like you would not believe!"
"Ahh," Lord Zedd said. "To be seventeen again. All hormones, not a brain cell in your skull."
"What was your excuse?" Rita asked smartly.
"Put me down, honey," Jenga said. Jason carefully set her down. "Okay," she said. "Now, well, I guess business before pleasure. Tell me exactly where the Earth Crystal is located."
Zordon looked down upon the Power Chamber. He, too, was as happy as the Rangers were. He knew he should have been more concerned with the current state of dangers, but he couldn't. Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Jason, and Billy were back, as was Aisha. He looked at Trini as she hustled about the Power Chamber - her helmet sitting on a computer, her yellow armor gleaming beautifully.
Zack and Kimberly's helmets sat beside hers, shining just as brightly. They were trying their best to help, but Trini was working just as fast as she could think, and they stopped trying to help because it was just slowing her down. The Power Ranger team had been through a great many changes in just the last three years. He had seen a grand total of seventeen Rangers since Rita Repulsa was set free. Jason, Zack, Trini, Kimberly, Billy, Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Katherine, Delphine, Cestro, Aurico, Tideus, Corcus, Tanya, and Trey. Of course, the Aquitian Rangers and Trey did not have Earth based Ranger Powers, but they were Power Rangers he had dealt with in the past three years none-the-less.
"Yo! Zordon!" Zack cried.
"I'm sorry Zachary," Zordon said. "My mind was elsewhere."
"We can't get a lock on Jason!" Trini cried. "I've tried everything I know to do, but I'm not familiar with these new controls. It's a two man job, and I'm afraid I'm no substitute for Billy."
"It's okay, Trini," Alpha said woefully. "We'll just have to keep trying and hope Billy gets back soon."
"Shine light down there, Aisha," Billy said, pointing. "Once we get in there, we've almost got it."
"Right," Aisha said. She pointed her gaze in the direction he pointed, shining her bright lights on a small crevice.
Billy crawled over to the crevice and lowered himself down into it. He hung onto the edge of the crevice with one hand. The last thing he needed was to drop into a five hundred foot deep pit. Despite the darkness, his Power Scanner still worked. He saw that the floor was just eighteen feet below him, so he let go. Aisha followed close behind him. As soon as he reached the floor, he saw the light from the Crystal. The Crystal was hidden behind a huge stalagmite. Aisha silently commanded her Power Beams to turn off. Billy hurried to the stalagmite and picked up the spherical Crystal. It was roughly the size of the bowling ball, and completely smooth. The Crystal did not contain a single blemish.
"We're out of here," Aisha said with her usual bubbliness. The two rangers teleported out in blue and green teleportation streams.
"Okay," Goldar said, "Simon Says, Stand on One Foot."
Jason, still in Ranger suit but without his helmet, stood on one foot. His face was completely void of emotion, and he didn't blink more than once every two or three minutes.
"Simon says," Goldar began.
"Quack like a duck!!!" Rito shouted. Jason began to quack like a duck. "Sorry," Rito said. "I couldn't resist."
"Shut up!!!" Goldar shouted at Jason. The quacking continued. "Oh great," Goldar growled. "You broke him."
"No I didn't," Rito said. "You didn't say Simon Says. HA!!!"
"Simon Says Shut Up!"
Jason promptly shut up. Goldar growled. He smacked Rito on the back of his head. Jenga sat before a large, silver table with Finster. She had taken the helmet apart and was trying to get the Power Scan to work. "I can't get this stupid thing to work," she griped softly.
"It doesn't matter anymore, anyway," Rita said woefully. "That blue Power Brat just found the Second Earth Crystal!"
"Well, if we can get this thing to work, we can still find the Third Earth Crystal," Jenga said.
Rita stopped griping, and took a deep breath. "I guess that could work," she muttered. "Simon Says Dance with Me!"
Jason moved over to Rita, took her in his arms, and the two of them began an elaborate ball-room type dance. Goldar growled and walked away.
"We're back!" Aisha cried. She removed her helmet and placed it beside the others.
"Have you found Jason yet?" Billy asked. He handed the sphere to Alpha, who disappeared with it into one of the Power Chambers' rooms.
"We can't get a lock on him," Trini said.
"It's probably the electrical interference surrounding Zedd's palace," Billy said. "There's only one way to get Jason back."
"What's that?" Zack asked.
"We're gonna have to fly there and get him. I'll take Tommy's Phoenix," Billy said. "Right Zordon?"
"Well, now that we have the original Power Coins and two Earth Crystals, we can probably recreate the DinoZords. That way, Kimberly can accompany you in her Pterodactyl Zord."
"I'll download the blueprint for the DinoZords from our old archives right away," Alpha said. "They should be ready in just a few minutes. We still have the old parts, they just aren't in working order. It shouldn't take any time at all till they are back in tip-top shape."
"You saved the ThunderZords?" Billy asked.
"Of course," Zordon said. "We never knew if an occasion like this should arise again. Until now, though, we didn't have the Earth Crystals to supply the needed power."
"The Pterodactyl is done," Alpha said, "and is in a brand-new hiding spot."
"Ready Kimberly?" Billy asked.
She picked up her helmet and moved over to him. "As always," she said.
"BACK TO ACTION!!!!" Billy shouted.
Chapter Five - One Step Closer
Kimberly and Billy teleported to the Zeo Zord holding bay. Kimberly half expected to see her old teammate, the pink and silver Pterodactyl, waiting for her. Sadly, it wasn't there. Just all of the Zords that she had seen in the news but had never had the chance to pilot.
"Alpha," Billy said to his wrist, "have you reprogrammed the Phoenix to recognize my genetic markers?"
"Affirmative, Billy," Alpha said.
"Good luck, Rangers," Zordon said.
"Do you know what to do, Kimberly?" Billy asked.
"I think so," she said. "I'm gonna go outside to call on her though. Don't leave without me, okay?"
"You got it," Billy said. Kimberly teleported away in a pink flash of light. Billy looked up at the shiny red and black Phoenix. "All right girl," he said to the mighty Zord. "You know me. I've worked on you before. I'm gonna need you to help me out, okay? ZEO ZORD V!!! POWER UP!!!!"
The Phoenix's eyes immediately sparked to life. Billy leapt into the air, and was overcome with a shimmering blue light. He found himself in the cockpit of the Phoenix Zord, decorated entirely in red. He looked at the flashing panel before him, and placed his hand on the control lever. "Launching sequence initiated." The cannon slowly extended from the mountain. With a surprisingly loud boom, the Phoenix was catapaulted into the air. Billy immediately took control.
Kimberly stood on the grassy knoll just outide the Holding Bay. She watched as the Phoenix was fired into the air. Billy took the Zord through a couple of barrel rows, getting a feel for the mighty bird. "Okay, Kimberly," he said through their radios. "Do your stuff."
"I need Dinozord Power now!!!" Kimberly cried. The coin in her Power Morpher Belt Buckle and the coin replica on her chest began glowing a bright white. This isn't how we used to call the Zords," she thought to herself. "But, a lot of things have changed. She released herself to the information the Pink Power was telling her and refused to be blinded by the procedure of the past. Her hand went to her belt and removed her Power Morpher. She held the Morpher up to the sky and bellowed, "PTERODACTYL DINOZORD!!!"
A white beam of light shot from her Power Coin and straight up into the sky. She quickly put the Power Morpher back down to her belt where it immediately bonded into place. Kimberly looked up into the sky, and had to hold her breath to keep the tears from flowing freely. "She's back," Kimberly said. The Pterodactyl flew across the sky with the greatest of ease. "POWER UP!!!!" Kimberly shouted.
She took a brief defensive stance, and then thrust her left arm into the sky triumphantly. A pink cast of energy began to run it's course over her body. Her feet slowly left the ground, and she flew up to the Zord. A pink flash overwhelmed her, and she found herself in a pink leather chair, moving quickly down a darkened tunnel. The tunnel immediately opened up, and she was placed before the Pterodactyl Control Panel. A door shut behind her, sealing herself off in a small, closet-sized cockpit. "Nice stereo," she said, reliving the past. She placed her hands on the white and pink central Control Lever. "Okay Billy. Let's go get Jason back."
"Right!" Billy shouted. The two zords moved close to each other and flew up and out of the Earth's atmosphere.
"So, now we just wait?" Zack asked.
"There has to be something we can do," Aisha said.
"If we can locate the Third Earth Crystal," Alpha thought aloud, "then the three of you can go get the Crystal."
"We'll be one step closer," Zack said.
"I'll help you scan," Trini volunteered.
"Sweet merciful crap," Rita Repulsa groaned. She angrily kicked the RepulsaScope, knocking it over.
"I know," Jenga said, walking up to her. "I can't get Jason out of that Red Suit either."
Rita stared at her mother-in-law woodenly for a moment. "Not that!" she snapped, resisting the urge to smack her mother-in-law with her wand. "Billy and Kimberly are on their way up here to get Jason back!"
"Over my dead body!" Jenga cried. She looked down at Earth. Two beams of blue light shone from each of her eyes.
"So that's where Zedd gets that from," Rita thought outloud.
"Is that a Pterodactyl?" Jenga asked. "That thing sure is wide enough. I took a vacation on Earth during the Jurassic period, and Pterodactyls do not look like that."
"You don't seem to get angry very easy," Rita observed.
"Why should I?" Jenga said. "You have no idea what I have hidden up my sleeve. If those Rangers knew what I was about to do, they would be handing over their Zeo Crystals, Power Coins, and keys to their Zords and pleading with me to spare their lives."
"I'm certainly intrigued," Rita said. "Tell me more."
"Sorry," Jenga said. She sat on the balcony overlooking the moon and swung her legs over the side. "I'm not telling anyone. At least not until a few old friends arrive."
"Found it!" Trini cried. "It's somewhere in Australia."
"This can't be right," Alpha said. "It's in downtown Sydney."
"Underground, maybe?" Aisha asked.
"No," Trini said, looking at the computer printout in her hands. "It's not."
"Well, that makes our trek a little bit simpler then, doesn't it?" Zack mused.
"The Second Earth Crystal has boosted our teleportation system," Alpha said. "I think we can narrow the Crystal's Range down to about half a mile!"
"We've almost got it," Trini said.
Aisha strode over to the helmets and picked up Trini's helmet. "We're ready to roll!" she said.
Zack hurried over to her and whispered, "Wrong helmet."
Aisha quickly put the yellow helmet down and snatched up the green one. "Force of habit," she whispered to Zack. She hoped Trini didn't notice.
"We got it," Trini said. She moved toward Zack and Aisha. "I don't know how much good we can do without any type of Scanner, but we certainly won't do any good here."
"Let's do it to it," Aisha said with a smile. "BACK TO ACTION!!!" Zack cried.
"I can't get it," Rebecca Cranston said. "There's just too much disturbance. You having any luck Adam?"
"Fraid not," he said. "Maybe Cestro can help."
"It's worse a shot," Rebecca said. "Hey hon! David!" Billy's father came into her lab. "What?" he asked. "You got it figured out yet."
"No," he said. "Can you contact Cestro for us?"
"I'll do my best," he said.
"What exactly are we gonna do?" Kimberly asked.
"I can't explain the whole thing," Billy said, "in case you-know-who is listening. But if you can just keep open fire on the palace, I can do my part."
"You got it," Kimberly said.
"Uh oh," Finster said, the radio in Red Ranger's helmet still working. "Rita! Lord Zedd! Jenga!" He ran out of his laboratory and into the main palacial room. "We have a slight problem." Jenga looked at him questioningly. "Kimberly and Billy are on their way here right now."
"Old news," Rita said. "I'm gonna go see if Zedd is having any luck with those Tengas."
"But Jenga," Finster said, stepping aside as Rita rushed past him, "Kimberly is about to open fire on the palace, and I haven't had time to reactivate our shield!"
"That could be a problem," Jenga said. "And my space fleet is in orbit around Saturn, mining the ring system for Quadrithian Crystals, so it's doubtful they'll get here in time. I guess I'll just put up a force field myself." She stuck her hand out, and magically, blue tendrils of light began to center around her palm. With a burst of blue magic energy, her blue scepter appeared in her palm.
"HEY!!!" Zedd cried from a back room, his mother's scepter having suddenly left his possession.
"Way to go, Zedd," Rita said sarcastically. "She's gonna have your butt on a platter."
Jenga ignored their banter and pointed the scepter out of the palace. A gigantic blue lightning bolt shot from the sapphire at its point, and an invisible shield was set in place.
"Ah, excellent," Finster said.
"Thank you," Jenga said. She walked away from the balcony to return the scepter to her son.
Zack, Trini, and Aisha landed in down-town Sydney. The reaction from their arrival was extreme. A cacophone of honking horns joined the screams of panicked citizens. "No!" Trini cried. "Don't panic!"
"We're just looking for something."
"You guys?" Aisha said, pointing across the street. "Do you think?"
They all stared at the magnicent building before them. Sydney's Museum of Natural Science. "Let's go check," Zack said. The three Rangers teleported over to the building, rather than risk running through traffic, and entered the building.
"Do your thing, Kim," Billy said. Billy activated the auto-pilot feature and teleported out of the Phoenix.
"Here I come!!!" Kimberly shouted. She had the palace in her sights, and started her attack. Lasers shot from from Pterodactyl's eyes, the crest atop its head, and wing tips. The pink lasers streaked through the vacuum of space. The lasers suddenly struck an invisible target and exploded, sending pink particles rippling over the invisible shield. "A force field!!! Man!" She flew closer to the castle and launched a missile at it. The missile exploded on contact with the force field. "I can't do damage," she said, "but I'll still rock your world! FULL FIRE!!!"
Billy teleported into the palace and immediately ducked into a small alcove. Okay Jason, he thought to himself. Where are you hiding?
He whispered the command for the helmet device, just loud enough to activate the Power Scan. The walls immediately melted away. He saw the red outlines of Finster and Jenga in the main palacial room, and Rita and Zedd in a back room. He was briefly sickened by the image of Rita and Zedd, alone, in their bedroom. Shaking that thought from his mind, he continued searching for Jason. There's Goldar, he thought. And Rito. And JASON!!! The three of them were standing in the back of the main throne room, playing some type of game. Jason was definitely under a spell.
"And you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about!!!" Rito shouted, clapping his hands and stomping his feet in time with the music. "Hahahaha!" Jason continued doing the hokey pokey with Goldar.
"HEY!!!!" Billy bellowed, leaping out of the shadows. "Give him back!!!"
"A Blue Ranger?" Jenga asked. "Do something you gold monkey!!!"
"Of course!" Goldar growled. His Sword appeared in his hands in a burst of fire. "Prepare to die, Billy."
Billy flipped out of Goldar's way and touched Jason's arm. "I don't think so," he said. "Teleporting now." He touched his belt buckle, and the two of them teleported away in a blue and red stream of light.
Billy landed in the seat of the Phoenix with Jason crowded into the space behind him. "Just hold on man," Billy said. "We're goin' home."
"It's about time!" Kimberly shouted. "I'm not doing a bit of good out here!" Suddenly, a beam of blue light shot from the balcony. The Pterodactyl rolled out of the way, barely missing Jenga's attack. "She's firing at us!" Kimberly shouted.
"We've got what we came for," Billy said. "Let's go home."
"I'm starting to get aggravated," Jenga said. Twin beams of light shone from her eyes as she watched the two zords return to Earth. "That blue one. He really irritates me."
"The pink one gets under my skin," Rita said. "I wasn't real fond of the freak with the long hair either."
"Trini? Aisha?" Jenga asked.
"No," Rita said. "Tommy. The original Green Ranger. Brat betrayed me."
"I don't guess I've met him yet," Jenga said. "Zeo Ranger?"
"Consider yourself lucky," Rita muttered.
Katherine, Tanya, Tommy, and Rocky sat in the living room, talking amongst themselves quietly. A low, shallow pool of crystal clear water was in one corner of the room. "Has anybody figured out what that thing is yet?" Tanya asked.
"I think it's a foot bath," Rocky said.
Rebecca walked into the living room, stretching. "Actually," she said, "it's a rehydration pool. The Aquitians stand in it every so often to recharge themselves. We don't have a use for it though."
The front door suddenly opened. David Cranston and Cestro entered. Cestro and David were both wet up to their knees but otherwise dry. It took the Zeo Rangers a moment to recognize David, for he was wearing a purple device over his head, making him look exactly like an Aquitian. "What is that for?" Katherine asked.
David carefully lifted it off of his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "It lets us go without breathing underwater," he explained. "I know. I thought it was part of their anatomy too, but it's not."
"Aquitians wear these nearly continually, although we do not have to," Cestro said. "Without them, though, breathing air is very difficult. Genetically, we were designed to breathe water. However, when we developed as a civilization, we discovered that it was actually easier to move about and converse with one another in a dry environment, but it was very difficult to breathe the dry air. Fortunately, a few millenia ago, one of our greatest minds developed these devices which allow us to breathe oxygen much easier than it is for us to even breathe water."
Rocky nodded slowly, trying to give it time to sink in. "You don't have to have 'em, but since they help so much, you wear all the time, right?" he asked.
"Correct," Cestro said.
"That was a nice little lesson," Rebecca said, "but we need help. Can you help Adam and me in our lab?"
"Certainly," Cestro said.
"How about that?" Tanya mused. "All this time, it's basically just a hat."
"I wondered why you could see their hair underneath the edge of it," Katherine thought aloud.
"While you all are just sitting here doing nothing," David said, moving toward a closet, "would you like to go exploring Aquitar?" He removed four of the purple helmets.
"I sure do," Rocky said. He leapt to his feet, grabbed one of the helmets, and carefully slipped it on. Immediately, the small round stone just above the bridge of his nose pressed some type of hidden pressure point.
"Shouldn't the pressure crush us?" Tanya asked. "I mean, aren't we under a few miles of water?"
"Oh no," David said. "Well, we are, but we're inside a huge pod that makes up this city. The water is about knee deep, but the air is so damp, it's kind of hard to breathe. But, with the helmet on, it's just as comfortable as good ole Earth air."
Tommy pulled his pony-tail out of the top of his helmet. Katherine and Tanya gave him a strange luck, so he quickly said, "This is how Delphine does it."
"I think I'll just keep my hair underneath," Tanya said.
"Enough talking you guys," Rocky said. "Let's go. Oh, and Mr. Cranston, are there any good restaurants around here?"
"Call me David," Billy's father said. "And as for food, well, don't ever order seafood."
Aisha, Trini, and Zack ran into the lobby of the museum. "Do you think it could really be on display?" Aisha asked.
"Let's hope so," Zack said. "I'll go look in precious metals and gemstones."
"I'll check Natural History," Aisha said.
"I'm going to go ask that lady at the desk over there," Trini said.
"Oh yeah," Aisha chimed in. Zack and Aisha followed Trini to the Service Desk.
The lady at the service desk whined nervously. "Can I help you?" she stammered in her thick Australian accent.
"Yeah," Zack said. "We're the Power Rangers, and we're looking for a special crystal."
"We're the Power Rangers," Trini mocked. "Who else would we be genius?"
"We think it's in the shape of a pyramid," Aisha said, ignoring Trini and Zack's play fighting. "It's about six inches tall."
"The Pyramid Crystal?" the lady asked. "Why do you need it?"
"Earth is under major attack right now," Trini explained.
"And that Crystal is the only thing that can stop it," Zack said.
"Well, I suppose if it's Power Rangers business," the lady said. "Come with me." The three Rangers followed her into a back room. "Wait here," she said. She hurried over to an older man in a business suit. They talked for a few brief seconds before he walked over to the Power Rangers.
"Good evening," he said, extending his hand. Zack returned his hand shake. "You barely caught us before we closed. I understand you need one of our exhibits."
"Yes," Aisha said. "A Crystal."
"We have it on display because it looks like it's been cut, but it was found in a cave two hundred years ago," he said.
"It was cut, actually," Trini said, "but by a league of wizards on the Power of Good." She winced at her awkward description, but she didn't know how else to describe Zordon, Ninjor, Auric, and all of their other acquaintances.
"Will it be returned?" he asked.
"We can't promise you that," Zack said.
"We're asking because we don't want to be rude," Trini said, "but that Crystal is very, very, very important. If we don't get it, the world is doomed. If you don't give it to us, we'll have to take it."
"Of course," the man said. "I understand. Follow me."
Billy, Jason, and Kimberly teleported into the Power Chamber. The Pterodactyl disappeared to it's unknown hiding place and the Phoenix gracefully returned to it's place in the Zeo Zord holding bay. "Aye-yi-yi!" Alpha cried. "What happened to Jason?"
"He's under some kind of spell," Billy said. "He does whatever you tell him to do. Rito and Goldar were having him do the Hokey Pokey."
"Where's his helmet?" Alpha asked.
"I think Finster has it," Kimberly said.
"When he demoprhs, it should disappear into the morphing grid with the rest of his suit," Billy said. "You'll have to force de-morph him, Alpha."
"Right," the automaton said. He punched a few buttons on the control panel, and Jason's red suit disappeared off of him in red sparkles of light.
"That has to be the Crystal," Zack said, carefully taking it from the Museum Curator's hands.
"You don't know how much you've helped us," Trini said. "The world is in your debt."
"Teleporting out," Aisha said. The Rangers bodies were overcome with a bright light and they teleported out of the museum in three streaks of color.
"I think I have discovered that the spell that Jenga used on Jason," Alpha said. "It's very deftly embedded in his hormones."
"Excuse me?" Kimberly asked. "Hormones?"
"Yeah," Billy said, already starting to blush from the conversation he knew was inevitable. "Testosterone, the male sex hormone as I'm sure you know, is the specific hormone. Jenga altered it when she saw that Jason was overly attracted to her. The alterations made him willing to obey her every command. It will be simple enough to alter the hormones' source, but there is already so much in his body that's been altered. It's going to be pretty tough to get his body cleansed."
"Fortunately," Alpha said, "we have recently devised a full body medical tent. We can place Jason in it for a few hours, and he should be back to normal. Billy, will you help me get Jason in it."
"Sure," Billy said. He took Jason by the shoulders and turned him around. Alpha found a pair of scissors from somewhere and handed them to Billy.
"What are those for?" Kimberly asked.
"You'll have to cut his clothing off with the scissors," Alpha said, "unless you would rather undress him yourself."
"Eeengh," Kimberly grunted.
"I'll take the scissors, thanks," Billy said, turning even darker red.
"The tent is already set up in the Medical Chamber," Alpha said. "Teleporting out." The three of them teleported from the main Chamber to the Medical Chamber in twin flashes of red and blue.
Kimberly looked down at the ground and couldn't help but laugh at the predicament Billy was in. She certainly wouldn't have wanted to cut the clothes off of Trini or Aisha. Suddenly, green, yellow, and black light temporarily lit up the Power Chamber. "We got the Crystal," Zack shouted. A white streak of light landed right before him.
"I'll take care of the third Earth Crystal," Alpha said. "You go to the Medical Chamber and help Billy take care of Jason."
"Right," Zack said. "Black Ranger, Power Down!" The black armor fell off of his body in glossy black sparkles. He reached for his wrist, but realized he didn't have a communicator.
"I'll get it," Kimberly said. She hurried over to the Teleportation Panel, touched the infra-red figure that represented Zack on the small monitor and then hit TELEPORT. In a black flash of light, he teleported away.
"Yellow Ranger, Power Down!" Trini cried. She instantly demorphed.
"Yellow Ranger, Power Down!" Aisha shouted.
"You're green now," Kimberly said with a smile.
"Oh yeah," Aisha said. "Green Ranger, Power Down!"
"You aren't mad," Trini stammered to Aisha, "are you?"
"Mad?" Aisha asked, very surprised. "Why would I be mad? If anything, I should be thanking you. If you hadn't trusted me, I wouldn't be any type of Ranger right now, green or otherwise. After all, yellow is just a color."
"I just thought," Trini said, "that, I don't know, maybe, aw geez. I just wanted to make sure."
Aisha moved over to Trini and gave her fellow Ranger a big bear hug. "Trini, I know I don't really know you all that well, but I'd really like to change that. And the Yellow Ranger armor certainly isn't going to come between us." Trini smiled a huge smile and hugged Aisha back.
Zack's voice suddenly echoed throughout the Power Chamber. "What's he doing naked?!"
Trini, Kimberly, and Aisha burst into maniacal laughter.
Billy, Zack, and Alpha teleported into the main Chamber a few moments later. Trini took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She giggled a few more times, prompting even more chuckles from Kimberly and Alpha. "You all should probably stay out of the Medical Chamber for a few hours," Billy said, turning even darker red. "I don't think Jason would be too pleased after he's back in his right mind that anybody was spying on him."
Aisha laughed even harder and collapsed against a Control Panel. Trini and Kimberly finally succumbed and continued laughing as well.
"Women," Billy muttered.
"Any luck, Cestro?" Rebecca asked. "Adam?"
"We're closer," Adam said. "I've at least managed to make the video even more crystal clear."
"I believe I know how to solve our problem," Cestro said. "Rather than search blindly for the answer, we should send a message to Earth and have it bounce back here. We will then know how to remove the disturbance from this video."
"Right," Rebecca said. "The message will pass through the force field, and since we'll know what the original message was, we can figure out what Alpha's message is."
"Will it matter that our message will pass through the force field twice?" Adam asked.
"Negative," Cestro said. "The return trip will not be affected at all, because the first trip through the force field will have modified the signal to such an extent that the return trip will have absolutely no effect."
Adam rolled his head around, trying to work the stiffness out of his shoulders. "I'm gonna take a break," he said.
"Why don't you go out and catch your friends and David?" Rebecca said. "You've worked long enough."
"That sounds like a good idea," he said.
"Come on Adam," Rebecca said. "I'll show you how the helmets work."
"Helmets?" Adam asked.
"What are you thinking, Billy?" Trini asked after the laughter had finally died down.
"Well, look at these Power Readings for the Power Chamber," he said, pointing at the monitor before him. "The Power is intensified by forty percent from the Earth Crystals. That means our teleportation and location beams are greatly enhanced."
"Yeah, it helps us locate the Crystals easier, right?"
"I'm thinking that it wouldn't be very hard at all to devise a device to scan for the Crystals, and teleport them here," Billy said. "The Third Crystal really helped us out, because know we have enough to figure out the energy patterns from all of the Crystals except the thirteenth."
"Of course," Trini said, a lightbulb turning on in her head. "We can set the computer to search for cubes, spheres, or pyramids, and if that's not how it works, we can extrapolate the energy readings for the next ten because we have the first three!"
"And then we can teleport them here," Billy added. "If we hurry, we can have all thirteen Crystals here in just a few hours!"
"Let's go back to your lab and get to work," Trini said.
"We can't," Billy said. "My lab is on Aquitar. I moved, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Trini said. "Well, the Command Center, er, I mean Power Chamber, should have the supplies. Let's get to work." Before either teen could react, the alarms suddenly went off.
"Mess up my plans, will they?" Jenga asked. "Rita, Zedd. And company. Meet my newest monster, the Energizer."
A bulky, eight foot tall beast covered with green scales and a reptiles' head, complete with a gaping maw full of blood red teeth, appeared before them. "I am ready to serve your every command, mistress," Energizer said, bowing before Jenga.
"Go to Earth," she said, "and destroy the Power Rangers."
Chapter Six - Flashback
"Man!" Billy cried, pounding his fists against the control panel. "This is the last thing we need right now!"
"It's called the Energizer," Trini read off of the monitor before her. "It's capable of stealing energy from virtually any source and then firing it back."
"Can it steal energy from the Power Coins?" Zack asked.
"We do not know at this point in time," Alpha said. "Aye-yi-yi! Be careful Rangers!"
"What if we need to call our zords?" Kimberly asked.
"And we're still one man short," Aisha said. "Zordon? What are we gonna do?"
"There are still five of you," Zordon said. "In figurehead, Jason is the leader of the team. However, that leadership mainly applies just for your mental state. Physically and spiritually, you are equal, and are a team so long as there are at least two of you. As for your zords, I am sure Alpha will figure something out. Hopefully, you will not need to call on them too early in the battle."
"Right," Aisha said.
"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!!!" Billy shouted.
"GREEN DRAGON!!!"
"MASTODON!!!"
"PTERODACTYL!!!"
"TRICERATOPS!!!"
"SABER-TOOTH TIGER!!!"
The five Rangers, minus Red, teleported out of the Power Chamber.
"Now, Alpha," Zordon said, "you must immediately get to work recreating the old Zords and powering up the dormant DragonZord."
"Right Zordon!" Alpha said. "I just hope that the other Zords are as easy to create as the Pterodactyl was. The only snag is that the Pterodactyl is the simplest Zord from a mechanical stand-point. It merely has to fly and fire weapons. The other Zords have to be able to move about on the ground and withstand major attacks!"
"Do not worry Alpha," Zordon said. "I have confidence in your abilities."
"Aye-yi-yi, Zordon," Alpha muttered. "I hope I don't let you and the Rangers down." As Alpha started to work on recreating the Zords from scrap metal and blueprints that dated back thousands of years, he suddenly had an idea that could buy everyone some time.
"Gross," Kimberly said upon seeing the Energizer.
"What is it about this park?" Aisha asked, looking around at the familiar surroundings.
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Energizer growled. It pointed a clawed hand at Aisha. Green energy suddenly jumped the gap between them. Aisha grunted in pain. Her body was lifted off of the ground, her arms and legs dangling freely.
"Aisha!" Kimberly cried. She pulled her Power Blaster from her holster. "Let her go!" A pink burst of energy was fired from the white and pink gun.
"Power up guys!" Trini said.
"Right!" Zack and Billy shouted in unison. The Yellow, Black, and Blue Rangers withdrew their Power Blasters in unison and fired.
Energizer sent a powerful green blast at Aisha. Their connection was broken, and she was thrown backwards. "And now for the rest of you," he growled. The four streams of laser that were striking the beast from the Power Blasts suddenly back-fired. All four Power Blasters exploded in their hands, knocking them a few feet backwards.
"Are you okay Aisha?" Billy asked, hurrying over to his green-clad comrade.
"I think so," she moaned. "Just a little dizzy."
"Power Blasters are powered back up," Trini said, "but we've already established that they aren't gonna work."
"We can't make the combined Power Blaster without Jason," Kimberly cried. "What are we gonna do, Billy?"
He leapt to his feet and cried, "POWER LANCE!!!!" The shimmering blue and silver lance appeared in his grip. "I suggest we fight with brute force."
"POWER AXE!!!" Zack cried. "Let's rock his world!!!"
"Strike," Jenga smiled. "It got Aisha!" She laughed wildly. "It got Aisha!"
"Is Jason back in action yet?" Rita asked.
"Negative," Jenga said. "I guess they haven't figured out how to break my spell yet."
"I've done it!!!" Lord Zedd suddenly shouted from the back of the palace. "I've done it!!!"
"Done what?" Jenga asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I've created Super Tengas!" he cried. "They have the size and agility of a Tenga but the brute strength and determination of your Wulves! Meet my new Tengas!!!" He pointed Jenga's staff at an invisible point in the air. A blue streak of electricity burst form the sapphire atop the scepter. With a crack of thunder, six Tengas appeared out of thin air and dropped to the ground.
"They look the same," Rita said.
"We'll give them a test," Jenga said. She took her staff back from her son, who promptly pulled his silver Z staff out of the air. "Let's make some Wulf Warriors." She waved the wand before her. Six black Wulves sparked into existence.
"Fight!!!" Rita cried.
The Wulves growled viciously as they ran toward the Tengas. The black birds began cawing and screeching and launced an attack the likes of which those in present had never before seen. In a matter of seconds, the Wulf Warriors had been ripped to shreds. "Good job, Zedd," Jenga complimented. She waved her wand over the pile of fur and bones, which promptly disappeared. "I am impressed."
"Way to go, Ed!" Rito shouted from the sidelines.
"It's ZEDD!!!" Lord Zedd bellowed.
"Right," Rito said. "Sorry Ed."
Billy leapt high into the air, his Power Lance tucked beneath his right arm. As he flew past Energizer, he put his entire weight behind the weapon. Much to Billy's surprise, the monster grabbed the Lance and used it as a lever to slam Billy into the ground. "Power Lance power down!" Billy cried before Energizer could drain the energy from his weapon.
Zack whirled the Axe in his hands, and then switched modes. He quickly slid the blade to the other end of the handle and pointed the barrel at the monster. "COSMIC CANNON!" he shouted. He fired six bursts of black energy at Energizer. Energizer was struck soundly by each energy blast. The beast stumbled backwards, not stopped but definitely injured.
"Aisha," Kimberly pleaded. "Please get up."
"Take her back to the Power Chamber," Trini said.
"No," Aisha finally spat out. "Really. I'm okay." She slowly stood to her feet and pulled the Draggon Dagger from it's sheath. "Just a little disoriented."
"Forget this!" Energizer shouted. "You guys aren't any fun at all. I think I'm gonna go massive!" A blue wave of light passed over his body. In an explosive flash of blue, Energizer grew to city-wrecking proportions.
"Do we have our Zords yet Billy?" Zack asked.
"I don't know," Billy said. "Let's get back to the Power Chamber." Blue, black, green, yellow, and pink light teleported away from the Park.
David Cranston handed the young Aquitian his debit card. It wasn't actually a card, as used on Earth. It was perfect circular, and about half the size of his palm. She pressed the debit card against a small screen. Green light flashed, and their meal was paid for. "Thanks Dave," she said.
"Thank you Akiko," he answered with a smile.
Tommy and Rocky carried the unique food plates. The six food containers, as was more correct a term than plates, were transparent glass boxes, about six inches square. Inside it were several round indentations which kept the food from mixing together. "This is interesting," Kat said, examining her meal. She picked up a small, bread-like blue bead.
"There isn't any meat in here, is there?" Adam asked.
"Aquitians don't eat meat," David explained. "The only type of meat on the entire planet is fish, and that's a cardinal sin here."
"Plants, huh?" Tanya asked. "Now, what exactly is this stuff?"
They each had three distinct types of food. The blue beads, a pile of greenish-yellow leaves, and lastly, red sticks. "The blue beads are algae," David said. "They're deep fried, sort of. They don't have oil because they don't eat animals, but it's the same principle. They cook the algae in some type of weird chemical, but it doesn't taste fried, just crunchy. And it's really, really good. The leaves are of a plant not found on Earth. I can't recall the exact name, but it tastes cinnamony. The red sticks are sort of like carrots, but they have more of a fruit taste to them."
Katherine sniffed the blue bead in her hand. "Here goes nothing," she said. Her friends, even Rocky, were waiting to make sure she didn't die from it before they started eating. David just looked on, amused. "Wow," Kat said, chewing up the bead. "Wow. That is really good. It tastes like, I don't know, lettuce and tomato mixed together. Wow. This is fabulous."
"Any dizziness?" Rocky asked. "Loss of vision?"
She jokingly punched him in the shoulder. "I'm not your guinea pig," she said, smiling.
"After we're through here," David said, "we'll go exploring the city. This planet is amazing."
"I'm already amazed," Rocky said. "This food is awesome."
"Good ole Rock," Tanya said. The five of them laughed at Rocky's expense and continued their meal.
"Energizer is full size," Trini said. "Are the Zords ready?"
"The DinoZords are not ready," Alpha said.
"Oh no," Kimberly said. "Maybe I can take him on by myself in the Pterodactyl."
"Actually, Rangers," Alpha said, "I have a better idea. Rather than begin the arduous task of recreating your Zords, I have reprogrammed the ZeoZords to recognize you. Billy, you will pilot the Phoenix. Aisha, you shall pilot Taurus. Zack, you will have temporary control of Sphinx. Trini, you control ZeoZord II, and Kimberly, you will pilot ZeoZord I. Trini and Kimberly, you must exercise extreme caution in your Zords. They each contain nearly half of the ZeoZord's total weapon aresenal."
"How's Jason doing?" Aisha asked.
"His condition is unknown at this time," Alpha said. "You five concentrate on getting rid of Energizer."
"Right," Billy said. "BACK TO ACTION!!!"
"Energizer," Jenga said, looking at her monster through her eye beams. "Invade the city and destroy every building you can find. And skip the abandoned warehouse district. Go for the business district."
"Oooh," Rita said. "Good plan. But, one thing you have to remember, when they defeat your monster, all the damage he has done is going to be reversed."
"Except for death," Jenga said. "He can certainly kill a lot of people by knocking over a few skyscrapers, can't he."
"I like the way you think," Rito chimed in. "So much better than Ed."
"You know," Jenga said, deep in thought. "I think I like Ed better than Zedd myself."
"Lord Ed?" Rita asked critically. "That certainly commands respect."
"We need ZeoZord Power!" Billy cried.
"ZEOZORDS!!!" all five Rangers shouted in unison. "POWER UP!"
The ZeoZord's Holding Bay Door rumbled open. Taurus and Sphinx ran out, dragging ZeoZords I and II behind them. The Phoenix was launched from the cannon, and the five Zords quickly went into action. "They're amazing," Aisha said.
"Let's go guys!" Billy shouted.
"Right!" the other four cried. Perfectly in unison, all five Rangers thrust their hand into the air. They leapt from the ground and immediately line-of-sight-teleported into the Zords. "Whoa," Trini said as her seat moved up to the control panel. "This is hi-tech."
"Can these things move on their own?" Kimberly asked.
"The weapons cannon can move, but that's about it," Billy said. "I've got a lock on Energizer. Zack and Aisha, follow my lead."
"Right!" they shouted in unison.
Billy flew near the Energizer. "Firing Phoenix Missiles!" he ordered. Two bright red missiles launched from the Phoenix's underbelly. Energizer's eyes opened wide. Red light shone from them and landed on the missiles. The two missiles exploded in light, although no damage was done to the Phoenix or Energizer. The swath of light from his eyes intensified and returned to his body. "He absorbed the missiles!" Billy cried. "We're gonna have to hit him low so his eyes can't get the power from our attacks!"
Energizer turned to look at the Phoenix Zord. His eyes opened wide, and the red light, this time much brighter, shone onto Phoenix. The Phoenix was overwhelmed in an explosion of sparks and was thrown out of the atmosphere. "SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!" Billy cried. "I'VE LOST CONT-..."
Radio static followed. "Billy!" Kimberly cried.
"Hey!" Zack yelled. "Nobody mistreats one of my friends and gets away with it! Let's go guys!"
Aisha charged for Energizer. "Get ready to open fire, Trini," Aisha said, lowering Taurus's head to ram the beast.
"I don't think so, Green Ranger," Energizer growled. Massive red fireballs launched from his eyes and blasted the Taurus.
The Taurus fell over, breaking the cables to ZeoZord II. Trini's Zord continued moving, skidding toward Energizer while simultaneously turning around backwards. "Aisha!" Trini cried. "Aisha! Answer me!" The Taurus lay on it's side, sparks shooting from various joints on the machine's body.
"Trini!" Zack cried. "Energizer is coming for you!"
"I can't get turned around!" she cried.
"Your weapons cannon!" Kimberly cried. "Just turn the cannon to fire backwards!"
"But I'll be firing blind!" Trini cried back.
"Use your monitor!" Kimberly cried.
"This isn't the Zord I'm used to, and the Power's not telling me what to do! Are you guys close enough to fire?!?"
"We're hurrying!" Zack cried, "but it's harder to drag a Zord than you'd think!"
"Just fire blind then!" Kimberly pleaded. "You're not facing the city. The only thing behind you are some mountains and Power Lines. And hurry Trini! He's two hundred feet away and closing!"
"He's opening his eyes to attack!" Zack shouted. "TRINI!! FIRE!!!"
ZeoZord II's cannon rotated one hundred and eighty degrees. "FIRING ALL WEAPONS!!!" Trini cried. Yellow lasers burst from the Zord's twin cannons.
"You're firing too high!" Kimberly shouted. "Aim lower!"
Billy was thrown past the moon, far out of Earth's orbit. "I can't go in the asteroid belt!" he cried as he flew past Mars. Gathering up all of his strength, he pulled back on the Control Lever. The Phoenix flew dangerously close to the Asteroid Belt. "I think I'm going in!" Billy cried.
"We're almost there, Trini!" Zack cried.
"And you're doing great!" Kimberly shouted. "He's stopped firing!"
"Aisha is still down," Trini said. "I think she's knocked out."
"... no...," Aisha's voice transmitted weakly. "I'm... okay."
"Teleport back to the Power Chamber," Zack said. "You're in no condition to fight."
"I'll just hang out on the sidelines," Aisha said, her strength slowly coming back. "You'll need me if we have to form the MegaZord."
"He's retreating!" Zack cried.
"And he's in my range now!" Kimberly cried. "ZeoZord I! Fire all weapons!" Pink lasers streaked past Sphinx and fired at Energizer's torso. Screaming in pain and anger, he ran away from the Zords.
"Finally!" Billy cried. He fired red lasers at the asteroids whose paths he crossed. "I'm back in control. Can you guys here me?" Nothing. "I must be too far out of range. Well, if you can hear me, I'm back in action." He turned the Phoenix toward Earth, now just a small blue dot, and powered up his thrusters.
"Energizer's hurt," Zack said. "Scanners show he's sixty-seven percent weaker than when he started."
"Run after him Zack," Kimberly said. "Between the two of us, we can finish him off!"
"Right," Zack said. He turned the Sphinx around and ran after Energizer.
"I'm back," Billy's voice suddenly transmitted.
"Billy!" Kimberly shouted. "What happened?!"
"He used my missiles against me," he said, "and blasted me to the asteroid belt. Phoenix is pretty damaged, but I'm back in the game." His Zord entered the atmosphere. He lined up Energizer in his sights and began firing lasers. Energizer doubled over in pain. The Sphinx fired from it's single, smaller cannon on it's forehead, while ZeoZord I fired it's main weapon. Jenga's beast gave one final scream and exploded.
Jason slowly stirred and attempted to sit up. He reached out before him and realized he was in a glass box. "Alpha?" he asked.
"Coming Jason," Alpha said. He scurried over to the Medical Tent and looked at Jason through the glass. "How are you feeling?"
"All right," Jason answered. "What happened exactly?" He glanced down at his body, and then asked, "And where are my clothes and who put me here?"
"Jenga placed you under a spell in Mammoth Cave," Alpha answered. "Billy and Kimberly got you back, and to fix you, we had to remove the toxins from your bloodstream. Billy and Zack helped me get you here."
"Uuugh," Jason muttered, already embarressed. "Can you synthesize me some new clothes?"
"I already have," Alpha said. He pushed a button on the Medical Tent's Control Panel. It disintegrated, leaving Jason sitting on a normal table. Alpha left the clothes for him and returned to the Main Chamber.
Aisha, Trini, Zack, Kimberly, and Billy teleported back to the Power Chamber. Aisha took a few steps, and fell to the ground. "Aisha!" Trini and Kimberly cried. Both girls rushed to their comrade and helped her up.
"I'm okay," Aisha said. "Really. Green Ranger, power down." She instantly returned to her demorphed mode. "That's better," she said, her voice instantly having more life and energy. "Whew. That's a whole lot better."
Alpha teleported into the Main Chamber. "Rangers, I am glad you are back," he said. "You will be pleased to know that Jason is back to normal."
"Alpha," Trini said, "something is wrong with Aisha. During the last two battles, she's almost passed out on us."
"No, really," Aisha said, standing up. "I feel fine now."
"It's just when she's in morphed mode," Kimberly said, her voice saddened.
"Oh no," Zack said.
"Rangers," Zordon said. "Do not leap to conclusions. There is a justifiable cause for Aisha's weakness during battle. It may have absolutely nothing to do with her Green Powers."
"You haven't touched a green candle lately," Trini asked, "have you?"
Billy moved over to the Control Panel. "He really did a number on our Zords," Billy said. "ZeoZords III and I, zero percent damage. ZeoZord II, two percent damage to the base."
"That's when I skidded out of control," Trini said.
"ZeoZord V, forty-nine percent damage. ZeoZord IV, ninety-three percent damage," Billy said. "It might be unsavable. Only time will tell."
"I'm sorry guys," Aisha said.
"It's not your fault," Zack said. "Energizer came straight for you."
"Of course not," Billy agreed. "Besides, the Zeo Rangers still have their SuperZeo Zords. And even if it is that badly damaged, I can always start from scratch and build a new Zord. I'll dispatch the Zord droids to start repairs. But for now, I need to concentrate on building a device to locate the other Crystals. Trini?"
"I'll be glad to help," she said.
"Good news, Aisha," Zack said. "The Taurus is gonna be okay. It's already thirty-three percent operational. I think the ole girl is gonna pull through." Aisha breathed a sigh of relief. She felt that the Zord's near-death was all her fault.
"How are you feeling Jason?" Kimberly asked.
"My pride is a little bit more bruised than my body," he said.
"Hey, I just helped," Zack said, looking up from the Control Panel. "Billy and Alpha did all of the cutting."
"Thanks anyway," Jason said. "At least I can't remember it."
Kimberly giggled at her two friends.
Blue and yellow light suddenly teleported into the Power Chamber. Trini and Billy were holding a small, crudely constructed scanner. "We've made a device that should work," Trini said.
"Alpha, help me hook this up to the computer system here," Billy said.
"How will this work?" Kimberly asked. "In English, if you can."
Billy smiled and said, "It's going to scan the entire planet for the energy readings from the Earth Crystals. If Trini and I have done it right, the scanner will locate the Crystals and teleport them here immediately."
"Hooked up," Alpha said.
"Everybody cross your fingers," Billy said.
Some time later, nine more Crystals sat on the Control Panel. "I can't find thirteen," Billy said.
"Well, at least we have twelve," Kimberly said. "That has to count for something."
"Where's Zordon?" Zack whispered to Jason. He motioned up to Zordon's tube, darkened and empty.
"I don't know," Jason whispered back.
"Alpha, set the computers to extrapolate the data on the first twelve Crystals to come up with every possible energy reading for the thirteenth Crystal," Billy said. "The scanner and program Trini and I made just isn't working."
"Right," Billy said.
"Rangers," Zordon's voice said, indicating his return. "I have been in my Private Chambers, deep in thought. I have some very bad news which will affect all of you." The six Rangers looked up at their mentor and braced themselves for the worst.