Disclaimer: Okay, once again Amy, Amber and Cora are mine. Alexis Darling
belongs to Rachael West and is used with her permission; this does not
affect "Streaks of Purple". The Wizard is mine, but the rest of the Power
Rangers belong to Saban.
Kimberly couldn't deny the depression that set over her as the clock turned to two in the morning and Zack had not returned from his date with Angela. Kat had told her to be honest with her feelings and so she had spent all night gathering the courage to do so. She wasn't sure if she was any closer now that she was when Kat first told her to do that.
"Zack still hasn't come back yet?" she heard someone ask. She turned to see Cora, whom she had met in Florida come standing just outside her door. She and Cora had grown close in their short time together, and their friendship and grown stronger since they became (or in her case restarted being) Power Rangers.
Almost as strong as her feelings for Zack.
Kimberly sighed. "Not yet. I'm starting to get a little concerned. What if they got together? What if something happened to him?" she asked her.
"They aren't going to get together, not yet. If it was going to happen that quickly it would have happened in high school." Cora told her.
She smiled slightly. "I see Jason has been telling stories again." She commented.
Cora's smile was the only indication she heard Kimberly as she continued, "And what could possibly have happened that Zack couldn't fight his way out of. Or be able to call us."
"Okay." She consented. "Maybe I'm just apprehensive about telling Zack about this. Kat made it sound like it would be relatively easy. But it isn't."
"Kat said it would be easy. The same Kat who tried to help Tommy find someone that wasn't her just to spare their friendship when they both somehow knew they'd be perfect together?" Cora questioned her.
Kim smiled again. "Yes, that Kat." She allowed.
"It's going to be hard, that goes without saying. But if you love him you can't let that stand in your way. Or you'll never know if it's one sided.or can lead to something bigger." Cora said.
"You're right." Kimberly admitted.
"As far as I know, you now have two votes to tell Zack about your feelings. Three if you count the fact Amber talked to him." Cora told her.
Kim looked shocked. "Amber talked to him?" she asked and when Cora nodded she sighed, "Great, now that was good."
"I think it helped." Cora said.
"Maybe." She consented. "I'm just really afraid at what could happen. On so many levels."
"What the Wizard does and will do shouldn't effect anyone's relationship." Cora replied. "Right now Tommy and Kat are having dinner in his quarters, while Ashley and Andros just returned from the movies. And as far as I know Karone has yet to leave Zhane's quarters."
"Most of us aren't that lucky. You know, to have dates." Kim said.
"You could, if you would tell him how you feel." Cora said.
"I know." Kim said quietly, and then looked at her. "And what about you?"
"What about me?" she asked.
"I've seen how you look at Jason. You like him, don't you?" she wondered.
Cora shrugged. "He's nice. And strong. I like his eyes." She said.
Kim smiled a little. "Fixing on insignificant details is a definite sign of a crush." She said.
"Okay, maybe a little." Cora admitted.
"It sounds to me," Kim said, looking directly into Cora's eyes. "That you should consider taking your own advice."
*****************************************************************
The Wizard knew that his latest attack had practically destroyed the reserves of power that the Rangers had. If he attacked again, he was sure the Rangers would have no chance at surviving.
So he chose to summon some of his minions to do his work. He figured it would be even more humiliating to have then defeated by something only a little stronger than Putties.
So he summoned his Skeletal Warriors to finish this. They were literally reanimated humanoid skeletons, with swords or maces in their hands.
**************************************************************
"We have several options for restoring our powers." Carlos told the remainder of the Rangers, i.e. the one who were not on dates. "The problem is we have no idea if these methods are truly valid.
"Let's here some of them." Jason said.
"Our most viable option," Alexis stated. "Is the Sword of Power."
"The problem is, we have no guarantees on it." Rocky said. "The last time it was even used was when yours, Zack, and Trini's powers were transferred to me, Aiesha, and Adam."
"That was a little more or less seven years ago." Amber pointed out.
"And we don't know if we can even find the thing because of it." Rocky added.
"I assume letting them recharge manually is out of the question." TJ said.
Carlos nodded. "Unless the Wizard decides to take a vacation, then I'd say so."
"What about asking for help?" Cassie asked. "Maya pointed out the Galaxy Rangers would be there if we needed them."
"And we still have the Aquitarian Rangers." Jason added.
"And don't forget the Ninja Turtles." TJ added as well.
"The problem with that is the Wizard can weaken the Galaxy and the Aquitarian Rangers as easily as he did ours, and the turtles strength is in their fighting techniques, which I don't think would do much good against magic." Amber explained to them.
"Do we have any viable options to get our powers up to full strength?" Jason asked.
"Nothing except for getting the time to recharge, which I think is safe to say we don't get." Alexis said.
"We need to let the others know this. We'll have to wait for Zack to come back, but let's call the others up here and tell them what's going on." Jason told them.
****************************************************************
Cora somehow knew when Zack had returned to the Megaship and had been waiting from him to do so. Never the less it caught Zack completely off guard when he saw her standing there.
"Did you have a nice time?" she asked him.
Zack smiled. "One of the best. When you get a boyfriend, ask him to take you to that place, it's excellent. And then our stroll in the park." He said.
Cora smiled. "I do like French food. I'll have to put that on my list." She said.
"So what are you doing up?" he asked her.
"Most of us can't sleep." Cora answered. "The Wizard has struck closer than any one will admit, but it shows. Right now most of them are looking into finding a way to quickly recharge our powers. But the results aren't encouraging."
"I take it neither is getting help." Zack said.
She looked at him. "Not unless you know heavily armored, non Power Rangers." She replied. "Come on, we're having a meeting, which is basically what I just told you, but now Jason will make it official."
Cora turned and walked away, with Zack right behind her.
Zack and Cora were the last ones to come onto the bridge and find a place to get started. Jason was just about to speak when DECA interrupted them. "Creatures of unknown origin are in the park. They're readings are similar to The Wizard."
"We better check it out." Tommy said.
"With what powers?" Jason asked him. "They're not ready to go, and we have no way to quickly recharge them."
"So what do we do?" Ashley asked.
"We don't have a choice but to check it out." Amber pointed out. "Who knows what they'll do down there."
"Then we need to be careful." Tommy replied, looking at all of his friends. "So, let's go!"
****************************************************************
The teens arrived in the park, just as the skeletal figures were causing a panic throughout the people who were for reasons unknown up this early in the morning.
"We have got to stop them." Cassie said.
"I agree." Tommy said, and then looked at all of them. "Don't get separated and watch your backs."
The teens charged into the fray, doing their best to fight the monsters. But to no avail. They were barely able to dodge the weapons the skeletons were attacking with. In fact, aside from Tommy, Jason, Amber, and Alexis most of the teens couldn't even lay a fist on them.
"This is getting us nowhere fast." Zack pointed out as he went to Kimberly's side.
Kim was actually thankful they were not in a battle or otherwise Zack probably would have noticed her reaction.
"We have to come up with something, like now." Cassie said.
"I know, but what?" TJ asked her.
Tommy managed to take a sword off one of the skeletal creatures, but when he tried to attack another monster, all he was able to do was block the mace that was swinging at him.
Jason also managed to steal a sword from one of the skeletons but to no avail. All it did was give him something to block with.
Amber managed to get a good kick at one of the skeletons and then to steal a mace from another, using it to club the skeleton. Not like it felt it. It swiped at her and Amber dodged it with ease.
"If only you could fight them as easily as you dodge them." Cora said to her.
"I know." Amber replied.
She watched as Tommy and Jason blocked Kat and Rocky from being cut with the swords. She then watched as Alexis barely prevented Carlos and Ashley from being swiped at with a mace.
"We're better at blocking than at fighting." Cassie commented.
"It's odd, our speed is better at both, but they are slower on the latter than the former." Andros nodded.
"If we could only get faster. Really quick." Kimberly added. Amber thought for another second, and an idea occurred to her. "You seem to have everything we had as the original rangers. Try activating the Ninja powers." She suggested.
Cora looked at her. "Can we do that? Our powers are drained, remember."
"When we first had to replace out powers with the ninja, we used those before we were able to morph. And when Kat took my coin when Rita possessed her I was still able to use the ninja powers to fight the Tenga." Kimberly told her.
Tommy nodded and looked at his friends. "Let's do it. Ninja Ranger Power!"
The Space Rangers were surprised to see each of the Essence Rangers standing there, in their respective colors, wearing the ninja suits that they had gained from Ninjor years ago. Each held their respective animal on an emblem on their chests.
"Let's do it." Tommy said, wearing a green version of the ninja suits with the symbol of the Dragonzord.
The skeletal creatures attacked them, and Jason and Tommy used their ninja speed to take the swords they had dropped to slash them right through their rib cage, shattering them.
Alexis, with the Stegosaurus symbol on her suit, jumped off a tree and was able to fly toward several of the skeleton's heads off, shattering them into pieces similar to how Tommy and Jason had done it.
Kat and Kim worked together, doing a dance like silhouette to fight the skeletons, usually managing to hit a few ribs or a leg, causing them to shatter.
"The Ninja Rangers are fast enough offensively as well as defensively, so we have the edge on them." Cassie said, smiling a little.
Rocky worked with Zack the same way the girls were, taking out the skeletal monsters.
The skeleton figures, realizing they were outnumbered. They quickly got together and vanished.
The Essence Rangers joined the Space Rangers and it was obvious they were fatigued. "We need to return to the Megaship." Jason said.
*************************************************************
The Wizard had not counted on the Essence Rangers having access to the Ninja powers, but he also knew it was a small consolation and that next time that would not save them.
**************************************************************
"The problem we have now," Alexis said, "is that the Ninja powers are good for the skeletal things and that's about it. We still have a lack of power to destroy the rest of minions, and next time he won't make that mistake."
"Then we all need to work on trying to find a way to recharge them quickly." Jason said. "So I'd say we all have our tasks. Let's hope we can find a solution."
They all stood and was about to get to work, but Kimberly grabbed Zack's arm and said, "Wait." When Zack looked at her she took a deep breath. "We've been friends for a while, Zack. A long while. But I learned something since we became Essence Rangers."
She stopped and paused, seeming hesitant. "What is it?" Zack asked her.
She took another deep breath and said, "Zack, I think I love you."
He seemed stunned. Kimberly stood their waiting for a response. Finally he looked at her. "I.I'm already dating Angela, Kim. I care for her very much and I don't want to hurt her." He paused and added, "I'm sorry."
A moment later, he turned to go work with Rocky on a solution. Kimberly stood there as the words sank into her , and the tears began to form behind her eyes.
Cora looked on with sympathy, wishing she could do something for her friend.
How can the Rangers fight the Wizard without their powers? Will Cora confess her feelings to Jason after seeing Kim being rejected? Does Zack really love Angela or Kim? How can the Rangers recharge their powers without time? Stay tuned
Kimberly couldn't deny the depression that set over her as the clock turned to two in the morning and Zack had not returned from his date with Angela. Kat had told her to be honest with her feelings and so she had spent all night gathering the courage to do so. She wasn't sure if she was any closer now that she was when Kat first told her to do that.
"Zack still hasn't come back yet?" she heard someone ask. She turned to see Cora, whom she had met in Florida come standing just outside her door. She and Cora had grown close in their short time together, and their friendship and grown stronger since they became (or in her case restarted being) Power Rangers.
Almost as strong as her feelings for Zack.
Kimberly sighed. "Not yet. I'm starting to get a little concerned. What if they got together? What if something happened to him?" she asked her.
"They aren't going to get together, not yet. If it was going to happen that quickly it would have happened in high school." Cora told her.
She smiled slightly. "I see Jason has been telling stories again." She commented.
Cora's smile was the only indication she heard Kimberly as she continued, "And what could possibly have happened that Zack couldn't fight his way out of. Or be able to call us."
"Okay." She consented. "Maybe I'm just apprehensive about telling Zack about this. Kat made it sound like it would be relatively easy. But it isn't."
"Kat said it would be easy. The same Kat who tried to help Tommy find someone that wasn't her just to spare their friendship when they both somehow knew they'd be perfect together?" Cora questioned her.
Kim smiled again. "Yes, that Kat." She allowed.
"It's going to be hard, that goes without saying. But if you love him you can't let that stand in your way. Or you'll never know if it's one sided.or can lead to something bigger." Cora said.
"You're right." Kimberly admitted.
"As far as I know, you now have two votes to tell Zack about your feelings. Three if you count the fact Amber talked to him." Cora told her.
Kim looked shocked. "Amber talked to him?" she asked and when Cora nodded she sighed, "Great, now that was good."
"I think it helped." Cora said.
"Maybe." She consented. "I'm just really afraid at what could happen. On so many levels."
"What the Wizard does and will do shouldn't effect anyone's relationship." Cora replied. "Right now Tommy and Kat are having dinner in his quarters, while Ashley and Andros just returned from the movies. And as far as I know Karone has yet to leave Zhane's quarters."
"Most of us aren't that lucky. You know, to have dates." Kim said.
"You could, if you would tell him how you feel." Cora said.
"I know." Kim said quietly, and then looked at her. "And what about you?"
"What about me?" she asked.
"I've seen how you look at Jason. You like him, don't you?" she wondered.
Cora shrugged. "He's nice. And strong. I like his eyes." She said.
Kim smiled a little. "Fixing on insignificant details is a definite sign of a crush." She said.
"Okay, maybe a little." Cora admitted.
"It sounds to me," Kim said, looking directly into Cora's eyes. "That you should consider taking your own advice."
*****************************************************************
The Wizard knew that his latest attack had practically destroyed the reserves of power that the Rangers had. If he attacked again, he was sure the Rangers would have no chance at surviving.
So he chose to summon some of his minions to do his work. He figured it would be even more humiliating to have then defeated by something only a little stronger than Putties.
So he summoned his Skeletal Warriors to finish this. They were literally reanimated humanoid skeletons, with swords or maces in their hands.
**************************************************************
"We have several options for restoring our powers." Carlos told the remainder of the Rangers, i.e. the one who were not on dates. "The problem is we have no idea if these methods are truly valid.
"Let's here some of them." Jason said.
"Our most viable option," Alexis stated. "Is the Sword of Power."
"The problem is, we have no guarantees on it." Rocky said. "The last time it was even used was when yours, Zack, and Trini's powers were transferred to me, Aiesha, and Adam."
"That was a little more or less seven years ago." Amber pointed out.
"And we don't know if we can even find the thing because of it." Rocky added.
"I assume letting them recharge manually is out of the question." TJ said.
Carlos nodded. "Unless the Wizard decides to take a vacation, then I'd say so."
"What about asking for help?" Cassie asked. "Maya pointed out the Galaxy Rangers would be there if we needed them."
"And we still have the Aquitarian Rangers." Jason added.
"And don't forget the Ninja Turtles." TJ added as well.
"The problem with that is the Wizard can weaken the Galaxy and the Aquitarian Rangers as easily as he did ours, and the turtles strength is in their fighting techniques, which I don't think would do much good against magic." Amber explained to them.
"Do we have any viable options to get our powers up to full strength?" Jason asked.
"Nothing except for getting the time to recharge, which I think is safe to say we don't get." Alexis said.
"We need to let the others know this. We'll have to wait for Zack to come back, but let's call the others up here and tell them what's going on." Jason told them.
****************************************************************
Cora somehow knew when Zack had returned to the Megaship and had been waiting from him to do so. Never the less it caught Zack completely off guard when he saw her standing there.
"Did you have a nice time?" she asked him.
Zack smiled. "One of the best. When you get a boyfriend, ask him to take you to that place, it's excellent. And then our stroll in the park." He said.
Cora smiled. "I do like French food. I'll have to put that on my list." She said.
"So what are you doing up?" he asked her.
"Most of us can't sleep." Cora answered. "The Wizard has struck closer than any one will admit, but it shows. Right now most of them are looking into finding a way to quickly recharge our powers. But the results aren't encouraging."
"I take it neither is getting help." Zack said.
She looked at him. "Not unless you know heavily armored, non Power Rangers." She replied. "Come on, we're having a meeting, which is basically what I just told you, but now Jason will make it official."
Cora turned and walked away, with Zack right behind her.
Zack and Cora were the last ones to come onto the bridge and find a place to get started. Jason was just about to speak when DECA interrupted them. "Creatures of unknown origin are in the park. They're readings are similar to The Wizard."
"We better check it out." Tommy said.
"With what powers?" Jason asked him. "They're not ready to go, and we have no way to quickly recharge them."
"So what do we do?" Ashley asked.
"We don't have a choice but to check it out." Amber pointed out. "Who knows what they'll do down there."
"Then we need to be careful." Tommy replied, looking at all of his friends. "So, let's go!"
****************************************************************
The teens arrived in the park, just as the skeletal figures were causing a panic throughout the people who were for reasons unknown up this early in the morning.
"We have got to stop them." Cassie said.
"I agree." Tommy said, and then looked at all of them. "Don't get separated and watch your backs."
The teens charged into the fray, doing their best to fight the monsters. But to no avail. They were barely able to dodge the weapons the skeletons were attacking with. In fact, aside from Tommy, Jason, Amber, and Alexis most of the teens couldn't even lay a fist on them.
"This is getting us nowhere fast." Zack pointed out as he went to Kimberly's side.
Kim was actually thankful they were not in a battle or otherwise Zack probably would have noticed her reaction.
"We have to come up with something, like now." Cassie said.
"I know, but what?" TJ asked her.
Tommy managed to take a sword off one of the skeletal creatures, but when he tried to attack another monster, all he was able to do was block the mace that was swinging at him.
Jason also managed to steal a sword from one of the skeletons but to no avail. All it did was give him something to block with.
Amber managed to get a good kick at one of the skeletons and then to steal a mace from another, using it to club the skeleton. Not like it felt it. It swiped at her and Amber dodged it with ease.
"If only you could fight them as easily as you dodge them." Cora said to her.
"I know." Amber replied.
She watched as Tommy and Jason blocked Kat and Rocky from being cut with the swords. She then watched as Alexis barely prevented Carlos and Ashley from being swiped at with a mace.
"We're better at blocking than at fighting." Cassie commented.
"It's odd, our speed is better at both, but they are slower on the latter than the former." Andros nodded.
"If we could only get faster. Really quick." Kimberly added. Amber thought for another second, and an idea occurred to her. "You seem to have everything we had as the original rangers. Try activating the Ninja powers." She suggested.
Cora looked at her. "Can we do that? Our powers are drained, remember."
"When we first had to replace out powers with the ninja, we used those before we were able to morph. And when Kat took my coin when Rita possessed her I was still able to use the ninja powers to fight the Tenga." Kimberly told her.
Tommy nodded and looked at his friends. "Let's do it. Ninja Ranger Power!"
The Space Rangers were surprised to see each of the Essence Rangers standing there, in their respective colors, wearing the ninja suits that they had gained from Ninjor years ago. Each held their respective animal on an emblem on their chests.
"Let's do it." Tommy said, wearing a green version of the ninja suits with the symbol of the Dragonzord.
The skeletal creatures attacked them, and Jason and Tommy used their ninja speed to take the swords they had dropped to slash them right through their rib cage, shattering them.
Alexis, with the Stegosaurus symbol on her suit, jumped off a tree and was able to fly toward several of the skeleton's heads off, shattering them into pieces similar to how Tommy and Jason had done it.
Kat and Kim worked together, doing a dance like silhouette to fight the skeletons, usually managing to hit a few ribs or a leg, causing them to shatter.
"The Ninja Rangers are fast enough offensively as well as defensively, so we have the edge on them." Cassie said, smiling a little.
Rocky worked with Zack the same way the girls were, taking out the skeletal monsters.
The skeleton figures, realizing they were outnumbered. They quickly got together and vanished.
The Essence Rangers joined the Space Rangers and it was obvious they were fatigued. "We need to return to the Megaship." Jason said.
*************************************************************
The Wizard had not counted on the Essence Rangers having access to the Ninja powers, but he also knew it was a small consolation and that next time that would not save them.
**************************************************************
"The problem we have now," Alexis said, "is that the Ninja powers are good for the skeletal things and that's about it. We still have a lack of power to destroy the rest of minions, and next time he won't make that mistake."
"Then we all need to work on trying to find a way to recharge them quickly." Jason said. "So I'd say we all have our tasks. Let's hope we can find a solution."
They all stood and was about to get to work, but Kimberly grabbed Zack's arm and said, "Wait." When Zack looked at her she took a deep breath. "We've been friends for a while, Zack. A long while. But I learned something since we became Essence Rangers."
She stopped and paused, seeming hesitant. "What is it?" Zack asked her.
She took another deep breath and said, "Zack, I think I love you."
He seemed stunned. Kimberly stood their waiting for a response. Finally he looked at her. "I.I'm already dating Angela, Kim. I care for her very much and I don't want to hurt her." He paused and added, "I'm sorry."
A moment later, he turned to go work with Rocky on a solution. Kimberly stood there as the words sank into her , and the tears began to form behind her eyes.
Cora looked on with sympathy, wishing she could do something for her friend.
How can the Rangers fight the Wizard without their powers? Will Cora confess her feelings to Jason after seeing Kim being rejected? Does Zack really love Angela or Kim? How can the Rangers recharge their powers without time? Stay tuned
