Part Two: Enter the Black Dragon Ranger
Adam rummaged all through his room trying to find the crystal. "It's been nearly three years since I first found that thing," he said to himself. "Where could I have put it?" He searched everywhere—under his bed, through his desk drawers, and so on—to no avail. "It's gotta be here somewhere!"
Just then, he thought of something. He looked in his closet, eventually coming across a shoebox stashed on the top shelf. It was where he had always kept some of his most top-secret stuff, things he didn't want Ryan or Kara getting into. Adam took it down and looked through the contents. There was his old, burned-out Black Ranger morpher (which he sometimes wondered if it still had any kind of power left), his now defunct Zeonizer, an old journal, and dozens of pictures of the Ranger team from 1994 and up without their helmets on, including some featuring Andréa and him together, among many other items. After a few minutes of going through everything in the box, Adam finally came across what he was looking for. Stashing the box back into his closet, he teleported back out with the crystal in a flash of green mixed with black.
* * *
A short time later, Adam appeared back in the Power Chamber, the crystal in hand. He looked over to Andréa, who was still rather lost in the middle of her daydream. Rae, you still there? he asked her telepathically just to make sure she was still among the living.
Andréa's head suddenly jerked up upon hearing Adam's voice in her mind. Adam, don't ever sneak up on me like that again! she responded, resisting the urge to look back at him right away. You scared me half to death!
Adam smiled. Sorry about that. Just what were you thinking about that you were so out of it?
Well, Andréa replied, unable to hold back a smile herself after the way he had snuck up on her, if you really must know, I was thinking about that time when we originally met the first time around. I had gotten so into it that I totally forgot that this was 1997 and not thousands of years ago, that was, until you came back, and . . . oh, never mind. But even though Adam had broken her train of thought, she thought about that final part of that memory. It wasn't until then that she realized that, when he hadn't exactly been himself the first time he was the White Ranger, that phrase she didn't understand at that time finally made sense now, as he was actually speaking to her in that ancient Khalterrian tongue and saying that same exact phrase. She finally turned around and faced him, the rest of the Rangers still clueless as to the two's telepathic link. "So, did you get it?" she asked out loud.
"I sure did," he answered, holding it up so everyone could see it.
Taliana came up to Adam and inspected the crystal. Except for the fact that it was black, it was identical to Andréa's crystal. At the time the powers were first created for their current use, the concept of the Ranger as a way to fight evil was still very new, so they were technically two of the first-ever Rangers long before Zordon's original six Power Coins or the Zeo Crystal had even existed. "Yes, this is it. Have you ever used its power?"
"I never even knew what it was until now," Adam said. "So how do I call for my powers?"
Taliana then turned to the Purple Ranger. "Andréa," she asked, "how do you call upon your powers to transform into the Purple Phoenix Ranger?"
"Like this," Andréa replied proudly as she pulled out her own crystal. "Purple Phoenix FireStar Power!" Just as she always did, she became the Purple Ranger everyone knew and Adam admired.
"Follow her lead," Taliana then said to Adam. "You'll know what to do after that."
Adam nodded and picked his brain for a moment, trying to remember exactly what powers he had. Recalling that it was the same as the symbol of his old kingdom, he emulated Andréa's motions and morphing call. "Black Dragon FireStar Power!"
All the Rangers looked on as they now saw Adam wearing a completely different Black Ranger costume than what they had ever seen. It looked almost exactly like Andréa's costume, only instead of a phoenix, the image of a golden dragon's head was emblazoned on the helmet. "This is incredible!" Adam said, looking himself over before finally taking off his helmet. "I've never felt anything like this before, not even as the White Ranger!"
Andréa also removed her helmet and looked at him, a huge grin on her face. She almost thought he looked better in black than in green; the color black seemed to fit who he was a lot better. She also tried to ignore the fact that Kat and Tanya appeared to be thinking the same thing. "Well, at least not since we first got these powers," she added. "So Taliana, when are we supposed to leave like you said?"
"As soon as possible," she replied, "but because this is still very new to the two of you, it would be best for us to wait until tomorrow. Though it has been thousands of years, the descendants of your people have been awaiting your return."
[Divatox's subcraft, 3:05 pm]
"Well, well, would you take a look at this?" Divatox was spying on the Rangers via her periscope, very interested in what was taking place with Adam and Andréa. "The Rangers now have their very own Man in Black."
"Ooh, ooh, like the movie?" Elgar cut in. "That movie was so funny, those two guys trying to take on all these bad aliens by themselves—"
"No, not like the movie, you idiot!" Divatox fired back at her nephew. "The Green Ranger's got new powers! He's the one Rita was telling me about all the long—the infamous lost Black Dragon Ranger!"
"I'm, uh, guessing that would be a bad thing then, right Auntie D?"
Divatox grinned devilishly. "It would only be a bad thing if he and his little purple sweetheart weren't taking a vacation from Earth for a while," she said. "This is so convenient!"
"Yes," Porto added, "and with the team diminished, it will give us a better chance of eliminating the remaining Rangers."
"Yeah, that's cool!" Elgar butted in again. "You can send me up there, Auntie D! I'll get the job done!"
"As if!" Divatox came back, rolling her eyes. "Porto, once those two brats are gone, I want you to send as many Piranhatrons as you've got to the surface to keep the rest of the Rangers busy. Oh, and while you're at it, maybe we should send some to keep the two lovebirds occupied after they've been gone for a while. That way they'll all be too exhausted to find the explosive present I'll have waiting for them! Before they know it, ka-BOOM! Ha ha!"
"But Divatox," Rygog asked, "what about those two? They won't be gone forever, and the Piranhatrons probably won't be much of a challenge for them together."
She looked back into her periscope. What was she going to do about them? "Hmmm," she said deviously, "let's just say that by the time they get back, there won't be anything left of their precious Earth to defend!" She laughed but then realized no one else was laughing with her. "Laugh!" she ordered. The whole subcraft then broke out in evil laughter. "Enjoy your vacation while you've got it, Rangers, 'cause after you return home, you'll be wishing you could go back!"
[Power Chamber, Wednesday, June 18, about 9:15 am]
"We must hurry," Taliana said after all the final plans had been made. "Time is running short."
Tommy was the first to come up to Adam and Andréa. "Hey guys, take care of yourselves," he said, high-fiving his long-time friend and teammate. "And go kick some butt while you're at it."
"It's gonna be kinda strange not having the two of you around for a while," Kat added, hugging both of the Rangers.
"Don't worry about it, Kat," Andréa replied. "We won't be gone that long."
"Can we trust the two of you to be alone by yourselves for a couple of days?" Tanya joked.
Adam and Andréa gave her the most innocent, angelic looks they could think of. "Who? Us?" Adam tried to joke back. Tanya couldn't help but laugh and smile at the two.
"Rangers," Dimitria said to the two, "you must know that once you leave Earth, all communications with the Power Chamber will be cut off until you return."
"We understand, Dimitria," Andréa responded.
"Please, be careful," Dimitria continued. "Andréa, you are my only daughter, and I wish to see you and Adam return safely and as soon as possible."
Andréa had to laugh at her mother's protectiveness. "Oui, maman," she groaned lightheartedly. "We'll be fine!" She then turned to Adam. "So, are you ready for a trip down memory lane?"
It was obvious that Andréa was far more enthusiastic about this endeavor than Adam was. "I, uh, guess so," he said. Though he knew that all the memories coming back to the two of them were true, there was still that part of his dream that was bothering him-the warning that they would have been putting the rest of the team in danger by leaving them behind. Nevertheless, this was all part of that path that supposedly had been chosen for them, and the only way to find out more about it was to take this journey into their true past. Adam looked over at Andréa before they entered the portal that had appeared in the Power Chamber and disappeared with Taliana. Both of them were scared and anxious at the same time as to what awaited them on Khalterria. It was only the beginning of an adventure that could have possibly spelled out their future together.