The Power of Wind: Chapter Two
By: Vilepawn Archfiend
Disclaimer: Necrid is the property of Todd McFarlane Productions. Talim/Soul Edge/Soul Calibur are the property of Namco. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers in Space are the property of Saban Entertainment and now BVS Entertainment. Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and affiliates are copyright Kazuki Takahashi and property of Konami Corporation. No profit was made in the production of this fanfiction work.
The Power of Wind: Alliances
Shifting his pack slightly, T.J. lightly pushed the door of the building open. The lab was mostly quiet, with some typing and bubbling sounds coming from the back of the room. Entering quietly and cautiously, the former Blue Space Ranger called out. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"T.J., is that you?" T.J. heard a familiar voice call.
"It's the one and only." T.J. walked toward and gave a high-five to his good friend and predecessor, Tommy Oliver.
"You're just in time," Tommy replied. Now in college, the former leader of the Power Rangers had decided to abandon his previous dream of becoming a racecar driver and settle into possibly getting a doctorate in paleontology. He retained his trademark ponytail, which was now tied back with a red kelly binder.
"So, Tommy, what's up?" T.J. asked.
"Well, T.J., you know I'm doing some studies on dinosaurs and other ancient creatures," Tommy began, "and we recently found out something quite interesting. It turns out that the Thunderzords, once thought to be entirely destroyed, were not quite vanquished in our last battle with Rito Revolto. They were equipped with a failsafe that not even Zordon knew about to teleport them directly to the Morphin grid and restore them to their original forms."
"Okay, but how are we supposed to get them back?" T.J. asked. "If the threat is as big as you implied, we'll need more than zords in reserve. We'll need zords here."
"Well, as my associate has discovered, apparently, they come back," Tommy continued. "The zords have been returned to their original resting places, but we need to supercharge them to be fight capable. I've decided that the best idea would be to charge one at a time, starting with the Tyrannosaurus, as sort of a test run. However, we don't have enough power among us, and there are only a few sources of power available to us. One is the reserve on KO-35. This is unusable since we are trying to keep this mission under wraps, and in addition to this, some of our intelligence has informed us that there are possible spies in the government. Another is the Alien Ranger force on Aquitar, but they are busy rebuilding after the galaxy-wide invasion headed by Astronema."
"What's the other option?" T.J. asked.
Tommy twisted both forearms swiftly, summoning two strapped on devices to his wrists. Two small stars, made out of red electricity, streaked across the backs of his hands before fading out. Waving his palms over the two mechanisms, Tommy willed them away.
"The Zeo crystal was not destroyed with the advent of Divatox and her forces," Tommy replied. "Throughout our run as Turbo Rangers, and yours as well, the individual crystals were kept in storage beneath the Power Chamber. They have untold power, especially when a person or entity directly links to the crystal, instead of wielding it like a talisman or enchanted amulet. This would be enough to defeat the threat, and the zord project is second to this."
"I don't understand," T.J. said. "What threat are you talking about?"
Tommy continued. "The antithesis to the Zeo Crystal. Instead of being able to absorb evil energy, it distributes it, poisoning the bearer's soul if they are not already aware of the threat and do not possess it for the sake of having it. A dark warrior from another time named Necrid came here in search of this artifact, but one who uses this power for their gain becomes a puppet, an empty shell serving chiefly as a host for the dark weapon. It will overwhelm us if we do not stop him from getting the sword."
"And that sword is?" T.J. asked.
Tommy's face turned grim. "Soul Edge. It is shattered now, but each shard still has evil energy. Each shard could contaminate an area the size of a large city." Tommy exhaled. "I bet you're wondering how I knew all this, and here's your answer."
At that moment, T.J. became aware of the fact that even though he had been talking to Tommy the entire time, the typing had continued throughout. He caught this once he noticed that the typing had abruptly stopped.
"Hello, T.J.," a slightly high-pitched robotic voice said. T.J. turned.
"Alpha Phi?" T.J. asked incredulously.
"Not quite," the robot replied. "I'm the new version, Beta Psi. But you were close. I took the liberty of downloading the information from the non-leveled consoles in the Power Chamber, and with Adam's help—"
"Adam's here too?" T.J. asked. "This is quite a reunion."
"Front and center," the young man said. T.J. turned once more to see Adam Park, wearing his trademark black bandanna and holding a laptop. "We only need two more to activate the Zeo powers."
"We'll worry about activating them once we get them," Tommy said. "The only reason why we haven't gone to get them yet is that there is the possibility of being found out by Necrid, as we don't have enough power to engage him head on. Also, we've discovered that the entire mountain is under surveillance by some mysterious force, but we're not sure about what that is yet. We've decided to take the chance and go. It'll be more of a search mission, and if we see anything suspicious there, I'll try to do something with the Red Battlezord."
T.J. rubbed a hand against the back of his head, exhaling. "So you're saying that this guy Necrid is after the Soul Edge powers, and to fight him, we have to reactivate the Zeo powers in a way no one's ever done before, and possibly even recall old zords to do this. And that you still have one of your old zords handy to provide back-up if needed."
"Precisely," Tommy replied. "Sounds easy, doesn't it?"
"Isn't that against the rules to use the zords without a monster growing?" T.J. asked.
"Not quite," Tommy replied. "First off, we're in some hard times right now, and secondly, the rules simply state that you can't escalate a battle unless forced to. We'll probably be forced to if we get into too much fighting. The powers will only be temporary, however, unless we get the Zeo crystal into our possession."
"Do all of us have powers at our disposal?" T.J. asked.
"I think so," Tommy replied. "I can still morph Zeo, Adam can use his Ninjetti form, and you have your Space powers, right?"
"Yeah," T.J. confirmed. "I kept the morpher like you told me. Andros doesn't know."
"Okay, it's time to go get the Zeo crystal," Tommy said.
"Again," Adam joked."
"Yes, again," Tommy said. "To the Power Chamber ruins."
………
Necrid's eyes narrowed. The robotic warrior standing before him was strangely designed, having golden tubes covering his entire lithe body. His face looked almost canine in nature, having a small blaster in front in addition to the cannon on his chest for supplementary armaments. These were also connected with tubes to what seemed to be a power box on his back.
"A bounty hunter, you say?" Necrid inquired suspiciously. "What kind of price are you asking?"
"It depends on the job." The bounty hunter folded his arms arrogantly. He knew that he had the fortress in his palm. "Also, price can be paid in many ways, from currency to control of planets to influence in the Galactic Council, which I know you have some sway in, Empress Pluto."
"He's done his homework." The empress smirked. Foolhardy young buck. She knew that he was doing calculations in his head at that moment. Double-crossing someone was generally her forte, and she'd take pleasure in this special case. "So, do you think you can do this one little thing for me? It's really quite simple, as your opponents will be low on power."
"There's nothing like a good workout." The bounty hunter flicked the places on his arms where biceps would have been, had he been human.
"I need you to stop the Power Rangers from getting to the Zeo crystal," Pluto said. "They are at the site right now, and once they find it, you need to overwhelm them and acquire it from them."
"That shouldn't be too hard," the bounty hunter replied. "Barox is on the job."
"Barox, hmmm," Pluto mused after Barox had left. "No shortage of Baroxian bounty hunters these days. So I guess he's replaceable."
"They come at a price, my queen," Necrid responded. "Besides, they are not to be trusted. Their only allegiance is to their pay, and once they get it one cannot tell what will come as a result. Consider for a moment, my sovereign, the following scenario."
"Speak," Pluto said.
"If the bounty hunter fails, or turns on us while in the fortress, we will be reluctant to engage in battle, as we only have immensely destructive weapons, but the bounty hunter will have nothing to lose, as it is not his fortress. The potency of our stronghold must not be compromised from the inside, as it is not shielded against attack from within. Power struggles will only mean our demise."
Pluto considered for a moment. "You bring up an important point, my general," she replied, at length. "I had not taken that into account. Rest assured, however, that if he does fail, we will not engage him onboard the fortress. That eliminates 50% of the danger. If he were to turn on us…"
"Let us do our consequent dealings on Earth, so as not to take any further risk," Necrid rumbled.
"I will consider it," Pluto replied. "Leave me."
As Necrid departed, Pluto stared after the retreating warrior's form. Concern for her well-being? Interesting, she concluded, but it could be a ploy, he could be an even better actor than that Barox bounty hunter. Settling into her cushioned throne, Pluto folded her arms and regarded the doorway Necrid had used to vacate the premises with mixed caution and appreciation. An explanation would be necessary, yes, but an outright questioning would only undermine their fortress. It was still unknown if she had had the full effect that she had wanted to have on this warrior, and thus she was still reluctant to apply the title of General to the green titan. Of all of her forces, he was the most powerful, and quite possibly the most suspect if something were to go wrong. Even after proving himself time and time again, Pluto could never be sure. Still, actions spoke louder than words, and it was Necrid who was trusted with the day-to-day attacks on smaller planets to add to her power. Shrugging, the empress closed her eyes and turned her thoughts to the goings-on on the Earth.
A third eye appeared on Pluto's forehead, able to cross galaxies and dimensions to see all the way to the surface of the earth. Sennen eyes were not common among intergalactic warlords, but having some supernatural capabilities helped in matters such as these. As a result, Pluto had many sorcerers who groomed her powers each day, creating in her Pluto's own magical prowess. Scanning around the southwestern region of North America, she came to a small town in southern California, the place where Zordon's ex-lackeys were trying to reconstruct some sort of a resistance—
"What is this?!" Pluto boomed, falling backward with shock as her third eye closed and disappeared.
"My queen?" Necrid hustled into the room, hearing the shriek of the monarch.
Pluto's mouth hung open in horror. This soon warped to an angry snarl as she stared ahead into the icy blackness of space, which mirrored the reserved fury she barely held in check. Shock and rage mixed in her features as her eyes bulged. The climax was reached as her fists clenched and she threw her head back, screaming to the stars above.
"Something is BLOCKING me!"
"Barox!" Necrid growled, hastening forward as his energy blade manifested almost involuntarily. "Of course! I knew it was a mistake to trust him!"
"Hold." A hand from Pluto stopped him. "Unless Barox is a time traveler, much like yourself, than the source of the mind block was not him. This power has an otherworldly feel to it, and furthermore, it's an old enchantment."
"My queen…you are not accusing…" Necrid raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not," Pluto snapped. "I know you aren't capable of this type of conjuring. No," she said, facing the window again, "this is someone else's doing. I'd suspect Zordon, but our dearly departed isn't that resourceful."
"Then who?" Necrid questioned.
………
"Here it is."
Tommy looked around the ruins of the Power Chamber. Formerly the house of Zordon, it had seen its last days a year earlier, having been attacked savagely by the space pirate Divatox. Now, instead of commanding glory and stunning architecture, it signified nothing but dangerous rubble and bitter defeat. For a moment, the former Red Ranger wondered if he could have done anything to stop this from happening. Regret had been on Tommy's mind ever since passing the torch along, but he knew it had to be done, even if it meant trusting someone else. And from what he had heard, it wouldn't have made much difference.
Pressing some buttons on a handheld scanner, he studied the viewscreen. "Nothing yet. We'll have to fan out and go at this the old-fashioned way, for now. Luckily, we've got the moon on our side, but not necessarily for long, since it's getting cloudy out here. Beta, you can come with me, Adam and T.J., you guys can head out the other way. Just yell if you find something."
Adam ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. He had seen this scene before, but seeing it again brought back all those memories. The initial shock, replaced by the worry about Zordon and Alpha.
Zordon…
It was hard to think of the ancient sage being gone forever, but it was true, nonetheless. Adam wondered if Zordon had known. If he had known that either way, he'd end up dead. What must he have been thinking in those last moments, when he instructed Andros to shatter the tube, and then to watch the Red Ranger perform the slash that so many had seen as their last sight on him? It would have been the culmination of the unraveling events of that past two years. It would have started with Alpha, who had probably been dismantled in the initial Eden invasion, and ended with that final stroke…
Completely helpless…
Utterly defenseless…
"Adam?"
The young Korean man turned. "Sorry, T.J. What were you saying?"
"I said, 'why don't we search over there,'" T.J. said, giving Adam a half-smile and pointing. As they walked, T.J. continued.
"This is the first time you've been back since we got chased into space, isn't it?" T.J. asked knowingly. At Adam's look of confusion, T.J. chuckled slightly. "We've all been back since then, and we went through the same stages. I could see it on your face, but only because it was on mine first."
Adam smiled. "Thanks for understanding." He hesitated. "You know, at first I thought I was mad at Andros or something, but it's not like there was anything else he could do. Zordon gave himself to save us all. His choice. Andros was just the instrument."
"I have a feeling that's not all, though," T.J. said. "You kinda sound like you're trying to convince yourself."
Adam sighed, looking away. "Sometimes, that's how it is. I haven't seen Andros since when I was training Carlos, and I haven't ever actually even talked to him. He seems like a good leader, but I don't know…at times I feel like he could have done something else, anything else." Adam's eyes met T.J.'s. "And Ashley's with him now, and I can't help but worry."
"You don't think he'd hurt her, do you?" T.J. asked.
"Of course not, it's just that…" Adam sighed again. "He decided to destroy Zordon for the 'greater good.' What if he thinks the same about her sometime along the line?"
"He won't," T.J. assured. "He did have to make that decision once, but Ashley's still with us, isn't she?" T.J. clapped a hand on Adam's shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure Ashley can take care of herself. She's a strong woman."
"Yeah, I am."
T.J. and Adam slowly turned toward the voice. Its source was a young woman dressed in a golden brown skirt and a yellow shirt. Her arms were folded and an eyebrow was raised in a gesture that wasn't exactly accusing, but inquisitive even so.
"I'm not going to ask why you don't trust Andros, since we have a bigger issue on our hands," Ashley said.
"You mean the issue of you following me here?" T.J. countered.
"Actually, there's someone over by Tommy and Beta," Ashley said. "Andros and I were tracking a rip in the space-time continuum, and the source is around here." She held a small scanner in front of her. "The person is using a cloaking device, so we have to be careful. Especially in the dark."
The group slowly approached Tommy and Beta, Ashley leading the way with scanner in hand.
"Do you have anything?" T.J. whispered.
"I don't know," Ashley replied. "The life-form's body signature seems to be human. But there's a trace of something…inhuman, and its evil energy is reading off the charts!"
"That's gotta be a trap," Adam said. "Tommy!"
"Huh?" Tommy whirled around. "What's going on?"
"Behind you!" T.J. said.
"Let's power up!" Tommy shouted. "Zeo Ranger 5, Red!"
"Let's rocket!" T.J. followed. In an instant, Tommy's Red Ranger armor had burned onto him, and T.J.'s molded into place.
A shape began to flicker in between the morphed Rangers. Standing up, the cloaked figure was about as tall as Ashley. Neither T.J. nor Tommy could make out the facial features. Suddenly, a pair of bladed tonfas appeared in the hands of the life-form in a mist of gray. The newcomer held one out on either side, looking back and forth between Tommy and T.J.
"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," Tommy said. "Zeo Five Power Sword!"
"Astro Axe, power up!" T.J. called as well. Both Rangers held out their weapons in anticipation, T.J. standing in front of Ashley and Adam to protect them, and Tommy doing the same for Beta.
Not a single fighter moved. Then suddenly, the mysterious one seemed to lunge at both Rangers with the tonfas. T.J. and Tommy instinctively lashed forward, slicing with their respective weapons, but the stranger deftly avoided the blow, causing the sword and axe to clash against one another. The stranger rocked back into a handstand position, kicking with both feet against T.J.'s and Tommy's stomachs. The Rangers fell backward, stumbling into the rocks around the Power Chamber. Tommy jumped up first, swinging his sword. The stranger targeted him, beckoning to him and running into the center of the wreckage from the Power Chamber.
"We can't let him get into the lower chambers," T.J. said near-breathlessly. Leaping up to follow Tommy, he raced after the cloaked figure. As he arrived, the two were already dueling. The stranger kicked at a boulder; impossibly, it flew into the air and hurtled toward Tommy. Tommy slashed at it with his sword, shattering it, but not before another two boulders came his way. He sliced the second, but the third flew toward his head—
—and was halted by the chop of T.J.'s axe.
The two Rangers cut closer and closer to the stranger, ducking and dodging what they could, and destroying what they couldn't.
"Cover me," T.J. said. "I have a plan."
Pulling out his Astro Blaster and separating it slightly, he slipped the axe in between the barrels of the gun. Blasting at both boulders, he leapt into the air, shooting blast after blast down at the cloaked figure. Tommy soon followed, brandishing his deadly blade. The wind kicking back from the blasts blew the hood over the stranger's head back.
Ashley, Adam and Beta flocked over to the other two Rangers, surrounding the stranger, a young Asian-looking woman with large brown eyes and a dark braid going down her back. On her head was some sort of headdress, looking somewhat like a woven purple-and-white basket with twin blue flaps. She wore a couple of large earrings with scarlet and gold ringed ornaments dangling from them, and although she was all but defeated, she regarded the Rangers with indomitable defiance.
"Okay, let's hear your explanation," Tommy said. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
The young woman squinted and cocked her head slightly. It looked as if she was straining to hear Tommy, but it wasn't as if he was speaking quietly. It was almost as if…
"She doesn't understand you," Adam realized. "She doesn't speak English."
Ashley punched a few buttons on her scanner. "I've brought up the language sensitivity program." She typed a few more keys. "Um, parlez-vous francais?"
The young woman gave no response, still with a quizzical look that told Ashley that the stranger obviously did not speak French.
"She looks East Asian," Adam said. "Try Chinese or Japanese."
Ashley attempted the two languages, but to no avail. It was only when T.J. said "Se habla espagnol?" that the young woman showed any sign of understanding. However, the situation didn't seem any better.
The woman stepped back, obviously shocked. She shouted a line in some unintelligible language, getting back into a fighting stance.
"Ashley, did you get that?" T.J. asked, holding out his axe.
"I did, and the computer says it's some sort of ancient Filipino dialect," Ashley replied. "I'll get the computer to tell her that we're not going to hurt her."
Ashley typed into the small keyboard.
"Could you hurry up with that?" Tommy asked anxiously, holding out his sword. "It looks like she's going to attack us again."
The computer said the phrase in Filipino, and the young woman stopped, her eyes darting from the computer to T.J. to Tommy and back to the computer again. She responded in Filipino.
"She wants to know how she can trust us," Ashley relayed.
"Um, tell her we knew Zordon and Alpha," Tommy said, but from the young woman's reaction, it was obvious that the name "Zordon" was the same in any language. She quickly strapped back up her tonfas and held up her hands in a show of peace.
"All right," Tommy said, relieved. "Zeo Five, power down."
"Space Blue, power down," T.J. said. In a moment, both were restored to human form.
"I'm gonna ask who she is," Ashley said. "By the way, don't we have some sort of translation chip we can all use to communicate?"
As Ashley relayed the question, Beta walked over to Tommy. "Actually, one of my subroutines is translation. If you have electronic devices that handle sound, I can download the program to it and we'll be able to communicate."
"Well, we don't have the old communicators, except T.J. and Ashley," Tommy replied. "But we do have cell phones, so we could possibly use those." He held out his cell phone, offering it to the robot.
Beta said nothing, taking the cell phone and downloading the English-to-Filipino protocol. Then he presented it back to Tommy. "If you have headphones, it'll be even easier to work with."
As Tommy activated the program, he dialed Adam's phone. Adam put up a hand to stay the young woman, then answered his phone and handed it to her. The woman looked slightly confused, but took the phone.
"I apologize for earlier," Tommy said. "I'm Tommy. What's your name?"
The woman looked at the device in her hand, then back at Tommy. She realized that even though she couldn't understand Tommy, it was his voice coming through the strange little metal box. So she hesitantly replied, "I am called Talim Viento, the last high priestess of the winds, and I seek the Zeo Crystal."
"She says she's looking for the Zeo Crystal," Tommy relayed. Then he turned back to Talim. "How do you know Zordon?"
"Zordon helped me in a time of need," Talim responded. "When the Dark Blade threatened to poison my soul, he absorbed its evil into his sword. He said it was made from one of the six sub-crystals of the Zeo Crystal, and when the sword was constructed, the Zeo Crystal was reformed to function solely with five pieces. I am looking for the crystal to purge the other pieces of the Dark Blade."
"The Dark Blade?" Tommy asked. Then he turned to the group. "Guys, it sounds like she's talking about Soul Edge." He faced Talim once more. "Do you know who has the other pieces?"
"I have been following a warrior who gathers these shards," Talim replied. "He is called Necrid. He does not come from this world, however. He is from my world."
"Okay, we've got a match," Tommy said. "She's tailing Necrid." Then he remembered something Talim had said. "You mentioned Zordon purging the crystal with his sword. You knew Zordon when he was a warrior?"
"Yes, he was the head of the Manji Clan," Talim said. "In my world, four years ago, he was doing battle against one who he had recently banished from the clan."
"Who was this?" Tommy asked.
"Her name was Ritaku," Talim replied. "Her title was Kunimitsu, the 'warrior from the country.' However, when it was discovered that she had stolen for herself, Zordon changed her title from Kunimitsu to Barbarossa, or 'the one who repulses,' and cast her out of the clan."
"Ritaku, the one who repulses," Tommy breathed. "Rita Repulsa! Okay, apparently Talim is from a long time ago, guys. She knew Zordon and Rita when they were still around on Earth."
Talim continued. "However, many people did not know him by his true name, Zordon. He told me when he went after Barbarossa that if anyone asked, in order to preserve the element of surprise, his name was his title, the 'warrior with a purpose.' This title became the name 'Yoshimitsu.'"
"Yoshimitsu?" Adam repeated. "That places Talim's time period at about…"
"The sixteenth century," Beta finished.
"So your purpose is our purpose," Tommy said. "Talim, how old are you?"
"I have seen eighteen summers."
"So then that fulfills that half of the prerequisites," Tommy replied. "And we can assume that you have 'attitude.' Anyone else see what I see?"
"I don't know what you see, but I see five teenagers with attitude," Adam quipped. "Of course, that's just me."
"Talim," Tommy said, "we can help you, but you're going to need to do something for us. It seems like you're a warrior, and we are as well. However, we're part of a fighting force, picked by Zordon, called the Power Rangers. We need one more person to reactivate the Zeo Crystal and join it with our own powers that we have right now."
"But you wield the power of the Red Zeo crystal," Talim said.
"Temporarily," Tommy explained. "I'm running on borrowed time right now, and I daresay that if I tried to morph now, it wouldn't work. We need a fifth Ranger."
"You would like me to be part of Zordon's team?" Talim asked. "I would consider it an honor."
"Thank you, Talim," Tommy replied. "Now, we have to find the Zeo crystal and merge it with our powers."
"I had located it when you arrived," Talim said. "I hid, fearing that you were part of Necrid's forces and unwilling to help them with their work. I have been shielding the entire mountain area from outside surveillance by way of counter-spells. I can show you the way now."
"Guys, she's going to show us where the Zeo crystal is," Tommy relayed. "Let's do this."
They clambered over the rocks to the center of the Power Chamber ruins. Talim pointed down.
"The crystal is exactly twelve meters below us," Beta reported. "Tommy, hold your morpher out over the center. You should at least have enough power to summon it."
Tommy summoned the devices to his wrists, and then crossed them over the rubble. The ground started to shake beneath him, and within seconds the Zeo crystal was poking out from the rocks. In a few more seconds, it was hovering over them.
"We've got to get this out of here," T.J. said. "We don't know if Necrid is in the area. He could have lackeys that could come after us."
"Lackeys like me, and I'll thank you to hand over that crystal," a sinister, mechanical voice said. The group turned toward the sound.
"Barox," Adam said. "A bounty hunter after the Zeo Crystal. We're going to have to fight."
"Okay, I guess I'm the only one with functioning powers right now, so I'll take the bounty hunter," T.J. suggested. "You guys can protect the Zeo crystal."
"Okay, we'll stay here," Tommy replied.
"Is he going to fight alone?" Talim inquired. "I can help."
Tommy shook his head. "He uses energy weapons…You could get hurt going against him."
"Then I'll use my weapons." Talim summoned her tonfas immediately.
Tommy knew the translation protocol couldn't have interpreted the phrase correctly. "I mean, he uses the same type of weapons that T.J. and I used."
"You mean, the same type Necrid uses and used in my world?" Talim looked at Tommy with a boldly confident grin. "Come now. I know what I am facing off against. I fought you, didn't I?"
Tommy had to laugh. "All right, help T.J."
"However," Talim said, with a more serious tone, "I cannot maintain my cloaking wards. We may be subject to outsiders looking in."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Tommy simply replied.
Nodding, Talim dashed off behind T.J., as Barox brandished a giant axe to match T.J.'s Astro Axe. Tommy turned his attention to the Zeo crystal, studying it.
"See if you can recharge your morpher with that," Ashley suggested, hurrying over to him. "If we can activate the Zeo powers, we can eliminate the threat of this bounty hunter, since you guys already fought a Barox, right?"
"I don't know," Tommy replied. "This one's survived up until now, and we can assume from what he said that he's working with Necrid. We don't know what kind of power he has."
"Well, try anyway," Ashley said, throwing a glance over at the ensuing battle between Talim, T.J. and Barox.
Tommy placed his hand toward the Zeo crystal. A rod on the conglomerate rock shimmered with red light. Reaching for it, Tommy was surprised to see that it came off easily. Holding it toward his morpher, Tommy waited.
And waited.
"Did it work?" Ashley inquired.
Feeling slightly foolish, Tommy turned. "I don't know."
Just then, they heard a scream of pain from Talim, who had just taken a devastating blow from Barox. T.J. stood in front of her, holding his axe out protectively.
"Oh no!" Tommy stood quickly. "Talim's in trouble."
"What are you going to do?" Ashley asked, slightly fearful. "We can't take on that guy unmorphed."
"I've got to help them." Tommy's grip tightened around the Zeo sub-crystal in his hand. All of a sudden, the crystal seemed to scorch his hand; he cried out in shock, but for some reason could not let go. He brought the crystal up to his face. Glowing scarlet in the arriving pale moonlight, the crystal seared his palm yet compelled him to hold on. He realized that it wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but that he was only slightly aware of the fact that it should have been. His confusion was only beginning; as he looked wildly between his friends and the crystal of power in his hand, flames appeared out of nowhere and danced in between them, separating him from Adam and Ashley.
"I think it's activating," he barely heard Ashley say to Adam, as his eyes were blinded by fire blazing before his eyes. Suddenly he could hear, see, smell, even taste the conflagration all around him; it obscured his view of everything else.
But then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was all gone. He was standing in front of four Zeo sub-crystals with Ashley, Adam and Beta, looking at T.J., and holding his own—
Tommy looked down to his hand.
His empty hand.
"Wha…what happened?" Tommy asked, looking around wildly. "Where'd it go?"
"I don't know," Adam said. "You were just standing there frozen for a sec, and then it vanished."
"You didn't see the fire?" Tommy asked, still readjusting his bearings.
"What fire?" Adam and Ashley regarded one another for a moment, then turned back to Tommy.
A scream from Talim alerted Tommy to the task at hand. He turned just in time to see Barox standing over Talim and T.J. with the axe raised high.
"No!" Tommy thrust out his palm, in an attempt to stay Barox.
In that moment, a ball of flame, about the size of a grapefruit, materialized about two inches from Tommy's open hand. As Tommy thrust his hand forward, the ball shot toward Barox as if propelled by his vain gesture. The fireball hit Barox, knocking him to the side and engulfing both him and his axe in flame. Pitching sideways, he fell down the side of the mountain.