Chapter Four

There was nothing but air beneath me, an empty void that fell forever...

...when an iron fist suddenly wrapped around my ankle, yanking me out of my downward plunge and swinging me against the side of the cliff. It felt like I'd caught my foot in a vice - from the sheer force of the grip, I knew that gravity would give up its hold long before the owner of the fist did.

I looked up and saw Jason hanging onto me, balanced halfway out over the drop with his sword stabbed into the cliff edge holding him in place.

"I told you," he said, grunting with the exertion, "I'd always have your back."

"And thankfully my ankle."

He smiled. "You got it?"

I nodded, and held out the shining medallion. "Not letting go for the world."

"Okay, I think I can swing you back up here. Just hang tight and... grab on!"

Refusing to let go of either the medallion or my Power Sword, at the apex of the swing I scrambled up over the cliff edge, using my own blade to keep me steady. Once a good couple of feet were safely between me and the edge, I collapsed to the ground, while Jason crawled over and did the same, the pair of us unnoticed as the battle continued raging around us.

"Thanks," I said, in the back of my mind hating that I was saying it yet again. "I thought Zordon said Rangers could shrug off falls like that."

"He was talking falls of a couple of hundred feet, not a couple of thousand," Jason replied. "I mean, you probably would've survived, but..."

He broke off, suddenly noticing the crowd of putties steadily parting, and we leapt to our feet as Rita herself stormed through towards us. But as we spun to face the witch and I swapped the medallion to my left hand and the sword back to my right, our two blades briefly knocked against the medallion, and a tiny spark leapt from the medallion over to each.

"You still want it Rita?" asked Jason, as we raised our swords. "Come and take it."

Rita muttered something under her breath, and suddenly Gluk and the two remaining mud monsters were oozing by her side. "I don't care what it takes," she said, her voice low, "but get me that medallion."

"Gladly," sneered Gluk, and the three monsters slithered towards us. I glanced past them and around the battleground, when I suddenly noticed that Torlus had stepped out from behind the column he'd taken shelter behind and was motioning to my sword over the roar of the battle.

I glanced down. "Whoa. Hey Jason, check it out." Both our swords had begun glowing, the two blades shining with silver-white energy so bright we had to shield our eyes.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

Jason lightly ran a hand along the blade, grinned beneath his visor and turned to face the approaching monsters. "What it means," he said, "is that we just got an upgrade."

The two secondary mud creatures broke away from Gluk and attacked, one aiming for Jason and the other lurching towards me. Jason ducked back as his opponent swiped at him, stepping around another blow and somersaulting over a third. Turning to follow him as he rolled to his feet, the monster lashed out again, but Jason spun around and slashed his blade through the air, the creature's arm vanishing in a shower of slime. The monster froze in shock, and Jason stepped forward - running his hand over the blade to charge it, he spun around and carved the sword clean through the monster's body, before an overarm diagonal slice reduced the creature to nothing more threatening than a puddle of mud at his feet.

Beside him, the second monster had molded his arm like Gluk had done before, and was soon wielding a long sickle-like blade. Raising the blade, the creature slashed his arm towards me, but I quickly ducked backwards. Following after me, the monster slashed again and again, finding nothing but air with every slice. Spinning around, the creature lunged - I took to the air, leaping up and over him as he stumbled beneath me. Without slowing down, I landed and slammed my foot back into the monster's face - the creature staggered back two steps but ran out of ground after only one, and vanished over the edge of the cliff with a startled cry.

With both our opponents defeated, Jason and I turned back to Gluk. Behind us, the battle had by now been decidedly won. There were only about a dozen putties left standing, and it took the Rangers a few seconds to take them down. Goldar and Scorpina remained fighting, but facing five opponents each, the two warriors were forced to retreat and take refuge behind Rita.

Gluk could barely contain his fury. "Impressive," he growled, his eyes flashing, "but make no mistake, I will take that medallion."

Jason turned to me. "Want to change his mind?"

"Love to."

The Red Ranger glanced down to his glowing Power Sword, an idea coming together in his mind. "Okay, follow my lead," he said, and he held the blade high above him.

I nodded, and raised my own sword until the two blades crossed high above us - there was brief second when the swords shone like stars, and then a massive energy blast exploded from the two blades, smashing into Gluk and launching him backwards into the air. The mud monster flattened an entire trail of putties as he hurtled across the circle, and crashing into one of the stone columns, he was instantly reduced to a puddle of brown slime. Seconds later, the column itself toppled backwards, smashing into the ground with a deafening crash and shattering into thousands of smaller pieces.

There was a moment of dead, empty silence. Standing at various points around the circle, all eleven Rangers slowly turned to face Rita, Goldar and Scorpina. The two golden warriors shrunk back behind their master, both trembling with fear, while it was impossible to miss that Rita was also shaking. But it wasn't from fear.

The very picture of fury, Rita fixed her eyes on the golden medallion still in my grasp and began marching towards me. "I will have the power of the medallion," she said in a low voice. "And I'll crush you all with my bare hands if I have to..."

"No," rang out a sudden, clear voice that echoed across the circle. The voice was ancient and powerful - I didn't just hear it, I felt it, and it was enough to stop Rita in her tracks. "You will leave this place while you can." We all turned to see Torlus striding across the stone platform from where he'd taken refuge during the battle. Following his path with her eyes, Rita froze, and her expression of ruthless determination vanished in an instant.

Reaching my side, his gaze never leaving Rita, he held out his hand. "The medallion," he said, and I immediately handed it to him. Taking it from me, the wizard slipped the ribbon over his head and rested the medallion against his chest. There was an instant change about him - he looked bigger than he was five seconds ago, and as we watched, his eyes suddenly started shining, almost as if lit from within. Most of the Rangers were standing too far back to notice, but Rita certainly did - she took a frightened step backwards, her resolve shattering like glass.

"Witch," he began calmly, speaking in measured tones. "Your creatures have been destroyed, your generals are cowering behind you, and your army has been defeated." He paused, and although he smiled, there was no humour to his voice. "If you wish to steal my medallion, this time without the benefit of your forces," he continued, "then by all means, try."

The expression on Rita's face was priceless. Making no reply but shooting Torlus a look of pure venom, she stepped back, her wand glowing, and in a bright flash of light, Rita, Goldar and Scorpina teleported from the scene. Seconds later, the silent bodies littering the ground around us teleported away as well, and the twelve of us were left alone and triumphant on the Circle of Hianan.

Exhausted from the battle, the other Rangers all jogged over to where Torlus, Jason and I stood.

"Okay," said Scott, glancing from Jason's Power Sword to mine, "that was seriously cool."

Jason smiled. "Thanks. Are you guys all okay?"

Trini nodded. "I think we all made it through unscathed."

Zac looked back around the now-deserted stone circle. "Damn," he said, his voice low. "Can anybody else not believe that we just did that?"

"I know what you mean," nodded Kim. "We just wiped out like an entire army. Totally cool."

"Good job everybody," said Tommy, with a glance over to Teresa and a barely perceptible nod. "You guys fought really well."

"Thank you all," came a voice, and we all turned to Torlus as he surveyed the group with eyes that were kind, wise and no longer glowing, "for your rescue. I am in debt for my medallion, and I think I owe you my life, as well."

Sarah stepped forward. "Any time. But how about we get out of here and back to Zordon," she said, "before any more badguys turn up?"

The mage nodded. "After this past day, I like this idea very much."

And as we all prepared to teleport, Aaron glanced from the medallion hanging safely around Torlus's neck to Scott, muttering under his breath, "Yeah, it's yours when we get home..."

"Torlus!" beamed Zordon, once the twelve of us had left the Circle of Hianan and materialised back in the Command Centre. It was impossible not to notice the sage's delight upon our arrival. "It's wonderful to see you again, safe and well. I was worried..."

Torlus nodded, smiling. "It is good to see you again, my old friend. It's been far too long."

"Centuries," replied Zordon with the tiniest hint of a smile, before turning to the rest of us. "And Rangers, congratulations. And thank you. For not only rescuing Torlus and keeping the medallion safe, but defeating Rita's entire army in the process. An impressive feat indeed."

"We did try a stealth attack first," said Tommy, "but when that didn't work, we automatically subbed to plan B."

"You should have seen them," said Torlus, "trying to steal me away from Rita right under her nose. It would've brought back some very fond memories."

Zordon didn't even try to hide a delighted smiled. "A good day of fighting, and a job well done nonetheless. I'm proud of you all."

"Can I just ask though," began Scott, looking from Zordon to Torlus, "what happened to Jason's and Peter's swords?"

"Yeah," said Kim. "Like where did the major fireworks come from? We've been in a lot of fights, but that's never happened before."

"The medallion grants power by touch," said Torlus. "I assume that when you saved it, your weapons somehow came into contact with the medallion, and it granted the blades a measure of its power."

I remembered back to standing by the cliff face and hearing a light clink as the two blades bounced off the medallion, and nodded. "I'd say that's about right."

"Then forgive me for asking a silly question," Sarah began, glancing to the golden medallion, "but if the medallion is sensitive to touch, how can you hold it now without anything happening? Shouldn't we be seeing a constant light show?"

The corners of the wizard's mouth crinkled into a smile, and for a brief moment he looked uncommonly like Santa Claus. "Not silly at all. But you answered your own question - the medallion is sensitive." With that, he reached across and flipped the medallion around so we were facing the eye design. As one, everyone gasped - the medallion had blinked! The golden eye quickly scanned the room, settling on Jason and I for a few seconds, before looking back up at Torlus. "One of the first lessons I ever learned," he said softly, "is that power is never entrusted to anybody incapable of looking after it."

"Indeed," said Zordon, "it's entirely possible that it was the medallion's way of thanking you for saving it."

Chewing my bottom lip thoughtfully, I turned to Jason beside me, as everybody continued to stare at the medallion.

"But how did you know?" I asked. "How did you know that raising our swords like that would, you know, work?"

Jason glanced to the other Rangers and lowered his voice. "I've seen enough cartoons and read more than enough comics," he said, then shrugged. "How else do you use a pair of powerful swords?"

I shook my head, grinned and laughed, while beside me, Jason paused for a second and then did the same.

"Wow," said Aaron, glancing from the medallion to Sarah standing beside him. "I guess this beats the small things, huh?"

"You're right there," Sarah replied. "You know, I can't help but think of the night sky and wonder just how many more of those millions of stars have planets and civilisations and entire histories?"

Aaron shrugged. "Beats me," he said, and then grinned. "But it's gonna be damn fun finding out."
Eventually we left the Command Centre, leaving Torlus in Zordon's care, the two happily recalling past battles. To the eleven of us, Torlus remained still very much a mystery, but despite this, we all felt better for having met him. Surprisingly, the entire adventure had taken less than a few hours, and we arrived back in Caloundra just after lunch. Most of the clouds had moved inland and the sky had cleared up, and it looked like it was actually going to be a nice afternoon. I was all set to follow everyone else down to the beach to make the most of the weather, but Jason asked me to hang back.

"So," I said, following Jason down from our table into the training area of the Youth Centre, "Torlus is in the Command Centre now with Zordon..."

"And he'll probably be on Earth for a few more days before leaving," Jason replied.

"I wish we'd had more of a chance to speak to him. Did we ever find out what made him return to Nerimos?" I asked.

Jason shook his head. "No, I didn't ask him. But I got the feeling even he didn't know."

"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" I asked.

"Who, Torlus?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I mean, you heard him and Zordon talking, about all the things he's seen and done, and all the places they've been. There's just so many questions I would've liked to have asked him."

Jason nodded. "Given this is only the beginning of a long career in superheroics, yeah, we'll see him again, Pete, don't worry. Speaking of which..." He paused, reaching down into his bag, taking out two crudely- made wooden swords and handing one to me. "Here, take this."

"Practice?" I asked.

"Practice," Jason replied. "If you're gonna be using your sword more often, we need to turn you into an expert swordsman." He paused, and grinned. "Besides, I can't show up and save your butt all the time, now can I?"

I laughed, and looked away. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"I was thinking about the medallion before, and what Zordon said about the kind of power it grants," I said. "If you had the choice, what you take that kind of power? I mean, with everything we're capable of as Rangers, would you want more?"

Jason nodded, and looked to me levelly. "Pop quiz," he said, motioning to my wooden sword. "Why are we doing this?"

I glanced down to the sword, and remembered the conversation we'd had back on Nerimos. "Because I can't rely on the power to fight my battles for me. I need to know the skills myself."

He smiled, and lowered his voice. "Exactly," Jason said. "I'm not sure the others get it, heaven knows Rita doesn't, and I'm pretty sure Zordon does but he'd rather we figured it out for ourselves. But you know something? Power is vastly overrated."

"It is?"

"Sure it is. Okay, so it can help you do some pretty incredible things, but it's what's in here," and Jason lightly tapped my chest, "the real you, that counts. That's the part of you that actually matters. Power doesn't make you a better person, it just makes you bigger. And heck, you've piloted a Megazord - that's not always the best idea." He paused, letting what he was saying sink in. "You still with me, or have I vanished into left field?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, you know, I'd never thought about it like that before, but you're right," I said. "So yeah, I get you."

"Awesome," Jason replied. "I thought you might. Now c'mon, let's get back to practice..."

The End.