Part 1
Jason entered the Power Chamber and looked around. The other were all involved in various activities. Tara was at the computer console looking over schematics with Mark hovering nearby.
Ashlyn stood on the other side of the room working on a punching bag that they had set up to relieve their frustrations.
"Jarrold already leave?" he asked, aprroaching the Purple and Black Rangers
Tara's gaze remained on her monitor. "Yeah he took off a little while ago, said he was going to look around Angel Grove. Something about seeing if our house was still there." Tara answered.
"You lived in Angel Grove?"
"That's what my brother tells me." she said, turning around to look at Jason. "But I was so little that I don't remember much before the Vandairre attacked."
"Why didn't you go with him? It's a great chance to learn about how things used to be."
"Yeah squirt, you should have went along. Things would have been a lot quieter without you here." Ashlyn cut in as she walked over to the the trio to join the conversaiton
"That's alright I need to work on my Plasma Bow." she said, then she turned to face Ashlyn "Plus if I left then no one would be here to keep your sorry ass in place Ashlyn." Tara said to the Yellow Ranger, sticking out her tongue.
"Why don't you come with me to Angel Grove. You could meet my mom and dad in person." Jason cut in.
"I can't." Tara said still glaring at Ashlyn "I have to finish this Plasma Bow." she held up the half finished weapon. It looked similar but not identical to the weapon that Barberon had destroyed a few days prior.
"I didn't know that you could make weapons." commented Jason.
"Neither did I until I got my powers. But this seems like almost second nature to me now. After I'm finished with mine I'm going to do a little tweaking up on the others."
"Your not touching mine." said Ashlyn "I don't want it blowing up in my face."
"Why not, it'll be a big improvement."
Aron had just entered the room and caught the tail end of that exchange but he and Mark both began to chuckle and Jason shook his head.
Ashlyn shot them a cold stare and then stormed out of the room.
"Well I'm taking off, last chance to change your mind." Jason said.
"That's alright, I really want to finish my bow. Besides I love driving Ashlyn crazy."
"Well I guess I'll see you guys later." the White Ranger said as he headed out the door.
The others all watched Jason walk out of the door and then went about their business.
Rebecca Sawyer stood at the door to the inner chamber of the Power Chamber. The Rangers had come to the rescue of herself and her squad several times and had even went as far as giving her squad a headquarters and a place to live. It was no small wonder that she felt guilty for snooping around out here. They had giving her people free rain over their Command Center but had only asked that they not try to enter the inner sanctum.
Actually they had never asked her not to hang around outside of the door. It had just been a kind of unspoken agreement. She didn't want to betray the Rangers but had to know for herself if the Red and Pink Rangers were Carter and Dana and if they were, why they hadn't let her know that they were alive. After all they had been like a mom and dad to her and she was sure that they felt as though she were their daughter.
The door to the inner sanctum opened and Rebecca quickly ducked around a corner so she could get a glimpse a of who came out. She saw a two feet and then a pair of legs but then the door slammed shut and no one came out.
At first she thought that someone had seen her but wondered how they could have from where she was hiding. She moved back to the door and stood there for another few minutes and then decided that she had better not stay around any longer. "Damn." she said as she stalked away from the door. "I need to find out who those guys are before I go crazy."
She quickly turned to walk back towards the area that everyone had agreed would be her headquarters and looked around to see if she could find Bryan. As the only person around her age that she regularly saw she needed to talk to someone about her feelings and was sure that he would be the one to understand.
She would have liked to talk to the others but they were never around much and she needed to get things off her chest.
It was tough to talk to them though. They always hung out together away from everyone else and disappeared all the time. It drove her nuts but there wasn't really anything she could do about it.
After a few more minutes of looking for Bryan, Rebecca let out a sigh and then walked back to her quarters 'maybe I'll just take a nap.' she thought.
Jason grabbed his bag and headed back towards the door. "I can't believe how absent-minded I can be sometimes." he said. "Well I guess it goes along with being the son of Tommy Oliver." The door opened and Jason quickly slipped out.
No one had seen him exit and he walked into the section of the Power Chamber that was being used by the resistance. He saw that there were people from the towns that they had been liberating in the past few weeks siting around.
Jason had never really noticed how big the Power Chamber was, but then again he rarely saw this part of it. The Rangers spent most of their time in the Power Chamber and teleported out when they were needed. The only part of the Command Center that they really saw besides the inner sacncutm was the outside and it was deceptively small. Compared to what it looked like on the outside this place was the size of a small town.
It didn't seem right to him that these people should be cooped up inside of this place. An idea began to spark in Jasons mind. He would have to talk it over with Jarrold and Captian Sawyer, but that would have to wait until later. For now he was going to see his mom and dad.
Captian Sawyer approached the Jason from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see who was there. "What can I do for you Captian?" he asked.
"I was just wondering if you knew where Bryan is. I need to talk to him." Rebecca answered.
"I haven't seen him." Jason told her. He hated having to lie to her but couldn't tell her that he was in the Inner Sanctum. With all of these people around it was hard enough to keep their secret without him slipping up.
"Well if you see him could you tell him that I want to see him."
"Actually I'm on my way out right now." said Jason.
"And where do you think your going?" she asked harshly.
"First of all Captain I'm not one of your men so you have no right to use that tone of voice with me, but if you must know I'm going to the city to meet up with my parents."
"The city, you mean Angel Grove. That place is a total burnout. How could your parents still live there?" Rebecca asked.
Jason glared at her for a moment ad opened his mouth to say something to her but decided that it wasn't worth his time and walked off. 'Man does she have some nerve, I wonder how her squad puts up with her.' he thought.
Rebecca watched Jason walk away 'Man I was totally obnoxious to him what's my problem? When he gets back I had better make it up to him.' she turned around to walk away. But thought about it for a second.
That was not like her at all and she actually really liked the him to. There were so few people her own age her that she needed to have all the friends that she could. "No I better go apologize to him now." she told herself as she turned back around to give chase to Jason. He was no where to be seen so she walked in the direction that he had been heading in. As she rounded the corner she realized that he was gone. "Well I guess I will have to wait until he gets back."
Tommy walked into the kitchen and took a quick look around. I was Sunday and he know that Kim would be hard at work making a large dinner like she did every other Sunday. At first he cringed at the thought of Sunday dinner. Kim had a way of burning even water, but over the years she had become an excellent cook to the point that Tommy couldn't wait to at her meals.
She always had a way of making a big production out of dinner and now with Elliot here it had gotten to be a very big deal.
Kim walked into the kitchen and saw her highschool boyfriend standing there looking out of the window. She knew that she had given up her chance with him when she wrote that letter so many years ago but she still couldn't get over him. It was even harder with them leaving under the same roof for the last 13 years.
He hadn't so much as kissed her in all these years. She was sure that he had feelings for her but also understood why nothing had or would happen. Tommy had moved on with his life after Kim, went to college, married and had a son. It even looked as though he had gotten being the leader of the Power Rangers out of his system.
She was sure that if Nicandros hadn't come along and destroyed everything Tommy would have been content to just go about his life and forget all about his teenage years. But circumstances wouldn't allow him to lead a normal life. He had been called back to duty a few years after graduating from college and it was none stop since then.
While they both loved being Rangers, things started to go downhill very quickly. A lot of injuries and even deaths took it's toll on the young heroes and they started to burn out. Then the tragic day came when Kat had died. Tommy hadn't been himself since.
His wife died with him there only 10 or so feet away and he could do nothing to stop it. Sure she knew the risk that came along with being a Power Ranger but none of them had ever really been in a situation where they had to face the death of a loved one.
Tommy broke down quickly and at one point had gone as far as launching his DragonZord in a suicide run at the Vandairre flagship. If it hadn't been for Jason (the then leader of the team), Thomas Ian Oliver would have died that day and left his son without a mother or father.
Tommys son grew up and along with Kims help was raised to be a fine young man who hungered to follow in his fathers footsteps. As Jason grew older however things began to get strange around the household and every began to discover why Zordon had always let Rangers go when they asked. It appeared that after a long period of being a Ranger (none of them had ever figured out how long) the human body began to take on changes and started to age at a slower rate.
Kim and Tommy were both middle aged now but neither appeared to be a day over 22. And they weren't the only one effected by this. Some of the original Rangers didn't experience this effect but the later Ranger that were there for a while never seemed to age past 22 or 23. They did narrow it down a little to the fact that all of those effected had held at least two types of powers.
Kim stopped thinking about it and placed her hand on Tommys shoulder "Weird isn't it Tommy." Kim said.
"What's weird?" he asked.
"It's just hard to think that after all these years the Power Rangers are back in action and we aren't on the team."
"Yeah it is. I miss being out there in the middle of the action, fighting for the Earth."
"Me to, and now your son is out there fighting for us."
"Hey Kim, he's your son to. Just because you didn't give birth to him doesn't mean that your any less his mom."
"I know, it's just that, well I wish things could have worked out differently between us." Kim said with a sigh. "I wish that I'd never sent that damned letter."
"That was the past Kim. We have to put that behind us."
"Really, you mean you're forgiving me for what I did?" Kim asked enthusiastically.
"Kim I forgave you a long time ago." Tommy said as he leaned towards his life long friend.
Kims face brightened as she looked up at the former leader of the Power Rangers.
"Kim I love you." he said cupping her face in his hands and drawing her closer.
"I love you to Tommy." she said as she let herself be drawn in for their first kiss in nearly 20 years.
"Vaard where are you?" Emperor Nicandros shouted as he stormed into his throne room on Keldeha.
Vaard shuddered as he stepped out from around the corner that he had been standing in. The Emperor had been in an incredibly foul mood since he had learned of the death of Barberon at the hands of the Power Rangers and Vaard had no intention of taking the brunt of that anger. "Yes your highness." he said.
"Have you done what I have asked of you?"
"The Prince is on his was here and should arrive shortly." Vaard answered. "I sent our fastest shuttle to retrieve him from Triforia. I just don't understand how he will be able to help."
"I have been thinking about the recent events that have taken place on this world. Those accursed Power Rangers are to blame for this. I have come up with a rather simple plan actually. No one has ever really able to defeat the Rangers using cunning plans. Many others have tried and they all failed. My dear sister Rita and that loaf of a husband Zedd couldn't beat them and everyone after them has failed also. The only thing that ever beat them was brute force so that's what we'll use."
"So what is your plan?" questioned Vaard.
"We will destroy each Ranger one by one. I want you to gather my fiercest warriors and go after the them." Nicandros ordered.
"Do you have a preference on which of them is destroyed first?"
"Yes I do. I want them to destoy the son of my cursed enemy Tommy Oliver. Vaard I want them to destroy the White Ranger."
"Understood my lord, but I still don't know what the Prince has to do with this."
"Simple my friend, no one knows Tommy Oliver better than he does. They've been rivals for years now and if anyone of you can beat Tommy it's him. That will throw the current White Ranger into a sad mental state that we can use to our advantage and if that fails we always have my backup plan."
"It will be done my lord." Vaard said with a bow. He then turned and walked out of the room. 'I'm sure that the Prince will enjoy a chance to destroy his old enemy. Yes I'm sure he will indeed.'
Jason had been walking for hours and was getting tired. After about an hour he had decided that he would have to make this trip often. He was enjoying the scenery especially since he hadn't had gotten the chance really look at it the last two times he passed by. He had been in a hurry but this time he was going to enjoy the desert sites.
Still he was in a bit of a hurry the White Ranger had an uneasy feeling ever since he left the Power Chamber. He couldn't explain it but felt as if something bad were going to happen.
A cold shiver ran down his spin and he decided that he didn't like the idea of being alone in the desert so he picked up his pace towards the city. At the rate he was walking he figured he could be there in less than eight hours. It was a long walk but still a far cry from the 2 days that he had jokingly told the others that it would take on their last trip to the city. Both times he had come this way he had noted little things that made his trip go faster (for instance he could walk around a dune or climb down a cliff) he was sure that he would eventually be able to cut the journey down to about three hours.
The sky was starting to get dark and the stars were coming out. Jason really didn't want to be out in the dark by himself, especially now that the Vandairre would be hunting the Rangers. He wasn't really afraid of the Vandairre, they were pushovers, but lately they had been sending more monsters to Earth.
It was almost like the stories his parents had told him about the old days. Some alien was always sending a monster down and the Rangers would always beat it. This was a different situation from the days his dad fought in. Instead of the monsters attacking and trying to conquer the planet he and his now had to free a planet that was already enslaved. Things had been going well but there was still a long road ahead.
Jason looked up, his had gotten carried away in his thoughts and found that the sky was now pitch black. He also noticed that he was on the outskirts of Angel Grove. He had been more absorped in his thoughts longer than he realized.
"Man I really must have been out of it." he said to himself, when he realized that he had just walked for about four or five hours and had not realized it. In fact he felt as if he had just left Power Chamber only minutes ago. Now he was on the outskirts of the town that he had grown up in. His home was on the other side of the city and Angel Grove was not exactly a small town. The thought of getting to spend some time with his parents and telling them about his adventures as a Ranger excited him. Especially the fact that they had finally beat Barberon (now his mom could finally rest in peace.) A big smile came across Jasons face.
Jarrold knew that Jason was coming this way and that they could have traveled together, but the Green Ranger wanted to make this trip by himself. Besides Jason would be here soon enough and they could meet up and go home together. He had figured on going to the Oliver home in the next couple of days so Jason could have time to visit before he showed up.
Jarrold looked around the broken down ruins of Angel Grove. He remembered a few years back when he and Tara had escaped and ran to the city. But that ended quick when he Tara got sick and he had to take her back.
Then he had come back a week ago with Jason and Leslie, but he wasn't to happy to see this place. He had been having dreams about the day that the Vandairre stormed the city killing thousands and leaving a trail of death and destruction. The hardest blow came when they forced Jarrold to watch them kill his parents. He was glad that his sister was just a baby when it happened, that way she didn't have to witness what he had seen.
Ever since that day Jarrold had held a burning desire for revenge. At times during his slavery he would become so filled with hatred that he would actually feel the Emperors neck in his hands and see the look in terror when Nicandros realized that he was going to die at the hands of a human slave.
But that was before he had become a Power Ranger and the team leader none the less. Now he had to be the one to set an example for the others.
Jarrold had never been one for team work and other then his sister had never gotten along with anyone else. But as leader of the Power Rangers he had to change his way of thinking.
Jarrold finally found himself in a position where he had to be responsible. It wasn't just him and his sister. He now had 6 others to think of. At first he was worried that he couldn't do it but started to grew into the position. He still worried that he would fail them but didn't let that doubt keep him from doing the right thing.
The Green Ranger looked at the burned down husk of what used to be his families house. He remembered looking out of the window and being able to see the MegaZord fighting whatever monster the aliens sent down. He had even been saved by the Red Ranger when a monster knocked over a building and it came crashing towards him and his sister. Jarrold had no idea that he would eventually become a Power Ranger even though he had always wanted to be one. It was a thrill to be a ranger but an honor to be chosen to lead the team. Still he had to take some time off to visit his old home, (if anything came up the rangers would be able to contact him through his communicator.)
Jarrold walked through the door of his battered home. Seeing it like this only fueled his desire to beat the Vandairre off the Earth. Walking down the hall he saw what used to be his room. It was a mess but mostly intact. He mused at how little everything seemed now. Feeling tired he crawled into his bed and fell asleep.
The door to the Oliver house opened slowly and Jason walked in. He could smell food coming from the kitchen and knew that his mom would be making a large sunday breakfast.
"I'm home" Jason called as he walked through the door.
Kimberly out of the kitchen and smiled at her son. "Jason what are you doing home so soon?" she asked happily.
"I thought that I would come and visit for the day. I have an idea that I want to talk over with you and dad. Plus I wanted to take dad back to the Command Center to see the place." Jason replied as he hugged his stepmother.
"Well I'm glad that you're here." she said "Your dad and Elliot are in the dojo."
"Wow, dad hasn't been in there for years." Jason commented as he kissed Kimberly on the cheek and headed out the door to the backyard.
Jarrold woke up to the sounds of screaming and quickly jumped up. The newest Green Ranger ran to the front door and looked outside to see 3 soldiers chasing a boy and girl down the street. Jarrold quickly ran out of the house and called out to the soldiers. "Hey, what are you doing to those kids?"
Two of the soldiers stopped and turned to face him. "Come here." one of them called.
Jarrold snickered "If I do you'll regret it" then his face twisted into a frown "and you'll definately regret it if you don't leave those kids alone."
"That sounds like a threat." the other soldier said as he pulled out his sword and moved in towards the young man.
"Yes it did" said the first soldier "and the only people that threaten the Vandairre are either very brave or very stupid."
"Care to find out which on I am?" Jarrold taunted.
The soldiers looked at each other and then ran forward to attack. Jarrold was fast and side-stepped the closet soldier and while at the same time reaching down to grab his attackers sword from its sheath. As the second soldier came up on him he spun around and brought the sword into his midsection, hitting him with the flat of the blade and causing him to double over.
The first soldier turned around just in time to see the young man bring the blade of the weapon down into the back of the soldiers helmet. The helmet split and before the unlucky soldier could even fall to the ground he had turned to dust.
Jarrold then turned his attention back to the first soldier, who was angry at seeing his companion destroyed. "That was to easy." Jarrold quipped.
"You'll pay for that. No one does that to a warrior of the Vandairre empire." the soldier said, pulling out his pistol. He took aim and fired at the unmorphed Green Ranger.
Jarrolds eyes opened wide and he leapt to his left just in time to avoid the deadly blast. "Looks like I just did." he said. "And in about 3 seconds your going to get the same thing." With that warning Jarrold through his sword at the soldiers weapon and sent it flying wide.
As the soldier pulled his gun up for another blast he saw Jarrold leap over recover the sword before it hit the ground and leap over him. The soldier turned around just in time to see the sword coming down on top of his helmet and then he felt himself fading away as he crumbled into dust. "I guess it took me about six seconds. I'll have to work on that." he said as he dropped the sword and ran off after the others."
The boy and girl ran into what seemed to be an abandoned building with the soldier not to far behind them. There were piles upon piles of books everywhere, as well a scattered shelves and loose papers. A heavy dust filled the room and it was dimly lit.
"Come on Kimmie we can find some where to hide in this place." The boy said, as he pulled the young girl closely behind him.
"Their going to get us aren't they?" the frightened girl said through a down pour of tears.
"Not if I can help it. Now you hide behind this shelf." The boy said as he tucked his sister away behind a pile of books. "And no matter what be quiet."
There was a load crash behind from behind the boy as the soldier that was chasing them stumbled in a kicked on the shelves to the side. "Where is the little girl that was with you?" he demanded. "You are both to come with me now."
The boy stood still not saying a word, and stared the soldier down.
"I will repeat myself once child. Where is the girl? You are both slaves of the Vandairre empire now and will come with me immediately."
The boy began to walk over to the soldier with his hands up. "I'll come with you but leave my sister alone."
"You don't have a choice boy. Now give up the girl or else."
Jarrold walked into the building and leapt over the soldiers head to stand between him and the boy. "Why don't you try picking on someone that can fight back." Jarrold said.
"I have no problem with that." The soldier said.
"Well if you're waiting for those two goofballs that were with you to help out then you're in a lot of trouble." Jarrold informed him.
"You may think so but let me tell you my friend there were 7 of us on patrol."
"Oh brother, this is just great." Jarrold said as two more soldiers entered the room.