MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS

DEATH OF THE GREEN RANGER: A SIMPLE TALE

Written by DTM666

Originally posted on : September 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by BVS Entertainment and not the author.

A bit of history on this piece before we begin: This was originally something I wrote longhand during my high school years. At the time this was written, I haven't had much access to MMPR airings, so there might be some contradictions or so with what has been established. In any case, over time I lost interest and it was never finished, but decided to redo this in digital form. Lost interest again, but then the PRDT: Fighting Spirit episode aired and that prompted me to finish off this thing and so, here it is.

If this were to be put into proper canon, I'd place this some time after MMPR: White Light, but before MMPR: Return of the Green Ranger. Even though it's a little on the short side, I hope you enjoy this nonetheless.

-O-

This is a simple tale of a young teenage boy who was chosen by a powerful sorceress to do evil things and defeat her enemies, but has since been brought to the light and fights against her and her allies. This is a tale of a young teenage boy who had suffered the loss of his gifts, but who also overcame the guilt to become a guiding light to a group of heroes his age.

Somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert away from civilization lies a Command Center of Eltarian origin. A sole structure interconnected with a network of underground tunnels and other hidden chambers, the Command Center is home to an Eltarian sage known as Zordon and also the command headquarters of a group of young costumed heroes known to one and all as the Power Rangers.

Standing outside the Command Center's massive structure is one Thomas Oliver - former Green Ranger and current White Ranger, as well as the newly-appointed leader of the Power Rangers. In the palm of his right hand was the White Power Coin, his current source of power that allows him to transform into the more powerful White Ranger. He placed the golden coin back in the slot of his Power Morpher and slipped it into his pocket.

Pulled out of that same Pocket is the Green Power Coin... or rather, the Green powerless coin. It has had a long history of good behind it, but at some point, it was used as an instrument of destruction to cause pain and suffering. Even despite its depletion of power, the coin was a dangerous weapon to have around and there was only one means getting there.

Tommy and Zordon conferred with each other and concluded that the only way to prevent the coin from falling into enemy hands would be to destroy it. Zordon had told Tommy that the best place was in a specific volcano, where its supposed magical flames were strong enough to destroy the coin. Tommy nodded and proceeded on his way, telling Zordon that he would rather walk the way there rather than straight-out teleport there. Outside the walls of the Command Center, Tommy held the coin in one hand and a map printout with directions to get to this volcano. His friends, and fellow Rangers, would confer with him one last time before he left, asking if he was sure he wanted to do this. Tommy gave his assurance that this was the right thing to do... the right thing for him to do.

And so he went on the road, slipping the coin wrapped in brown paper into his pocket and checking the map to see if he was headed in the right direction. As he traveled to his destination, his mind wandered back to the times when he was the Green Ranger. Of all of his recent outings as a Ranger, Tommy had considered that time of his career to be the most emotional. The time when he wasn't certain if his dark nature was truly extinguished. But he had considered it a pivotal step in the building of his character; that would make him the man he is today.

After a long and harrowing trek across mountains, he had reached one of the hidden volcanoes Zordon had mentioned; specifically the one that used to house the old Pterodactyl zord until its untimely near-demise (where it now hides elsewhere to morph into). The volcano, for the most part, is still active with a flowing river of lava down below. The intense heat normally attributed with volcanoes, for some reason, was unnaturally non-existent. Rather it felt cool.

Tommy took several steps until he was close to the edge of the crevice. After much recollection, Tommy pulled out the paper-wrapped green coin and looked at its packaging. He soon ripped off the outer wrapping until he could make the Green Coin out. His eyes stared at the engraved dragon's paw that was the insignia of the Green Ranger; he was saddened that he wouldn't be able to see it again, but it was for the best.

"I wouldn't do that, Tommy."

Tommy's head swung back and forth when he heard his own voice speaking to him. He took a few steps away from the crevice to find the source, but no one was there. Passing that off as an after-thought, Tommy approached the crevice and extended his fist over the river of liquid fire. Before he could release the coin, he felt an intense physical pain in his chest that knocked him back several meters, unintentionally causing him to drop the coin on the ground.

From the distance, Tommy could see a swirl of green mists appearing from the crevice. At first, the mists were barely opaque, but soon gathered and merged together to form a spectral form of the Green Ranger. A flash of light solidified this form into the state Tommy recognized him in. Tommy got back on his feet and got into a defensive stance, but was once again met with a fierce dropkick from the Green Ranger that knocked him to the ground.

The Green Ranger studied the White Ranger carefully as his opponent slowly got back up. He noticed Tommy pulling out a silver object and raising it to the sky and at blinding speed, kicked the object away with a well-timed roundhouse kick. Just as soon as the Green Ranger finished a full turn, he snapped his right leg up so that it connected with Tommy's chin, knocking him on his back once again.

The Green Ranger leapt at Tommy with his foot fully extended, but Tommy grabbed and tossed it aside along with the rest of his opponent's body. Eyeing on the coin lying close to the crevice of flowing lava, Tommy turned to his downed opponent and a delivered a hard kick to the groin. He didn't want to play dirty, but at this point, he'll do anything to keep this Green Ranger down. Quickly running towards the coin, he picked up with his right hand and raised it fist closed over the crevice. But before he could drop the coin, the Green Ranger quickly grabbed Tommy by the shoulder and hurled him away from the crevice. Tommy managed to land on his feet, but lacked the momentum to stay standing and tumbled to the ground.

"Do you really want to do that?" the Green Ranger said as he drew the Dragon Dagger from his side, "Do you really want to destroy your true identity?"

Tommy didn't say a word. He slowly got on his feet with the Green coin still firmly in his hand. He saw the Green Ranger bring the dagger to its mouthpiece and the familiar tune was played. Tommy felt some of the shaking and before he could react, he was quickly bombarded with beams of green energy shot from the Dagger. He quickly managed to dodge most of the beams, but one caught his leg and he fell. Surprisingly though, the beam did not inflict as much as damage to the leg as Tommy had thought. Staring intently at the Green Ranger, he flashed a smile of confidence and sprinted to the Ranger, who shot more beams at Tommy. None of the beams missed their target and Tommy continued his mad dash at the Green Ranger. Upon reaching a distance, Tommy leapt and extended his fist (the one holding the Green Coin) at the Green Ranger. Upon impact, there was a quick discharge of energy that knocked the Green Ranger back a couple steps, but it was enough get Tommy room to get to the crevice. As soon as he was near the edge of the crevice, Tommy opened his fist over the flowing river, dropping the coin into the lava below.

Almost immediately, the Green Ranger had decidedly run as hard as he could towards the White Ranger. A second later, the Green Ranger leapt at Tommy, but Tommy dropped to the floor, entirely missing the Ranger torpedo that flew straight over him. Tommy got up and looked down into the crevice as the Green Ranger fell in, screaming in agony as the volcanic magma burnt away the suit and body shield. Tommy saw the green helmet slowly losing its color, turning a pale grey before eventually melting into the burning liquid below. When no traces of green were visible, Tommy sighed in relief.

It's over, he thought as he walked towards his morpher and picked it up. He studied it for a moment to check for damage and when he found none, slipped it into his pocket. With the task at hand completed, Tommy made the long walk back to the Command Center, where he would begin a new chapter in his Ranger career.

-O-

A month later...

Within the flowing river of lava, a charred coin emerged to the surface aimlessly floating around the magma. A second later, the coin was surrounded by a green orb and soon began floating out of the magma, eventually back outside, where its charred form would slowly regain its original golden form. It shot at a nearby cloaked figure and soon slowly landed on his hand, completely restored to its original form. The figure stared at it and marveled at its majesty and durability. He sensed all but a residual bit of energy remaining in this coin; nothing that could make it useful, but he is confident that his dark magic would be able to recharge it.

Smiling upon himself, the Wizard of Deception put away his newly-claimed bounty and teleported back to his home world, any and all traces of his presence quickly removed...

THE END