POWER RANGERS: BREAKDOWN - Part 9: Preparing For War
Written by DTM666

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

Note: Sorry for the ridiculously long delay. Here's the next chapter in this story.

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For the past half hour, the two former Blue Rangers Billy and Justin navigated through the underground tunnels in search of this mysterious alcove that is said to be the instrumental locale for initiating Project Prodigy. But their minds was to a discussion before that, when Thomas Oliver, whom he hadn't seen since Kat's death (and they're calling it a death now), announced straight out that they would raid Zedd's palace. Then they left - no arguments, no discussion, that was all there is to it. It left Justin confused and Billy was utterly frustrated at the whole sequence of consequences. Despite his disapproval of this sudden impulse, he decided not to push it further and soon, with Justin, began searching for the underground alcove.

"I can't believe Tommy's going to the palace," Justin quipped, "It's almost like he went to Arkham Asylum or something."

Billy couldn't help but smile at Justin's statement, though he did admit that this sudden aggressive stance from Thomas did scare him a bit. The toll Kat's death has had on Thomas must have been much worse than any of them could ever imagine. More to the point was where did he get those spectral weapons? The power of that kind would only be... "Ow!"

Billy's train of thought was interrupted when he banged his head against a hanging distribution pipe. Justin quickly concealed his wide grin as soon as Billy turned to face him. Billy did find some humor in it, not to mention he was almost thankful that it didn't cause him to drop the laptop computer he was carrying under his arm, and the two kept going until they reached a small square room with various storage boxes piled up along two of the walls. The third wall had a wide, circular door with a small, fist-sized hole in the middle. Then there was the forth wall, where Billy and Justin stood before an open door.

"The alcove?" Justin asked.

Billy nodded in confirmation. "The alcove. Let's get to work."

Both Rangers moved any and all boxes from the walls, placing them alongside the hallways. The removal of the storage boxes revealed a control panel embedded into the wall and, with a quick wipe with a loincloth he pulled out of his pocket, monitor screen. Billy's first instinct was to activate the system, but none of the buttons and switches had any effect. Just when things seemed bad, Billy noticed a control port that escaped his notice earlier. Studying the port more closely revealed it to be a USB port, similar to the kind being added to the latest computer models these days. Billy managed to set his laptop on a pile of boxes that didn't get moved, then pulled out a long USB cord, connecting it to both the laptop and the control port.

Almost instantaneously, both the laptop computer and the control panel were starting up and before Billy and Justin knew it, the alcove's command console popped up on the black computer screen. With the main computer system online, Justin took a step back and watched as Billy began working his magic, operating the console and learning much of its complicated systems with incredible ease. For fifteen minutes, Justin looked on as Billy did most of the work. Finally, just when Justin thought things couldn't get any worse, Billy stopped and checked his laptop. Soon, he let out a disappointed sigh.

"What's that?" Justin asked, curious as to what would make Billy depressed.

Billy frowned. "According to the readout on my laptop, the alcove doesn't have the sufficient programming algorithms to activate Prodigy. We'll have to try and find that fourth chamber I told you about months ago." He gestured towards the sealed blast door. "And I think that's how we get there."

Justin looked at the door for a moment before commenting, "How do we get in?"

"Fortunately," Billy answered, "The alcove does have access to the locks. I believe I can access the unlocking sequence that will enable us to open the doors and get this over and done with."

Billy entered a few more commands into the system, but momentarily paused when he heard a faint beeping sound. He glanced at Justin, who shook his head innocently. He promptly ignored the beeping sound and went back to work. When Billy finished with the last set of commands, he heard Justin gasped and faced him worrying.

"It's the communicator," Justin realized, "the signal's barely getting through here."

Billy thought about it for a second, but that's all he needed. "Justin, I've inputted a sequence of codes and the computer is scanning through them. While I go out and check what's going on, I need you to check this sequencer. Once you get a confirmation that the codes are approved, pull this switch here." He pointed to the rounded red bar on the very bottom of the console.

"Gotcha."

With things under Justin's care, even though it wasn't really needed, Billy quickly made his way through the tunnels and out of the cave. Even though the likelihood of encountering somebody at this time around here was astronomically small, Billy checked around to be on the safe side. When he saw no one around, he spoke into his communicator.

"It's me. What's up?"

"Bill, what's your current status?" It was Jason's voice.

"We can't access Prodigy from the alcove," Billy reported, "So we're going to try getting to the Forth Chamber. Jason, I have to warn you that once we access the chamber, there's no way we'll be able to maintain communication with each other."

There was a moment of unsettling silence before Jason answered, "Alright, so before you go on and we completely lose track of you, we need some advice on how to operate the PortalCom."

Billy frowned at the thought. "So Tommy told you about his 'raiding' plan?"

"Yeah, he told us a bit, then he's gone," Jason said nervously, "As soon as his communicator sounded a tone I've never heard of, he told us to use the maps from his disk to formulate a strike plan and he left abruptly. Just like that." There was a slight pause before Jason spoke again, sounding more tense. "I have the funny feeling something's wrong here, Bill. There's more to this than Tommy's letting off."

Billy thought for a moment. "So are you going to follow him?"

"We've no choice, man," Jason answered, noticing the heavy groan from Billy, "Look, I hate this idea as much as you do, but this is the only viable option. We were going to ask the Space Rangers to back us up in case something goes wrong, but we can't reach them. And quite frankly, the last thing I want is to lose another friend."

Billy hung his head. Jason's right, he thought, this is the only recourse.

"Co-ordinates have to be set into the PortalCom's nav computer before you attempt to activate the portal," Billy explained, "Is there anyone staying behind to operate the device so you guys could get back?"

"I am," Rocky DeSantos' voice suddenly blared through the speaker of the communicator, "I'd love to go along, but my back is still sore and it'd be bad business to leave the dojo shut down without notice."

Billy smiled at the thought. "Thank God for that. Because I wouldn't want to send Justin there." From the cave entrance, Billy could almost hear a barely audible "Hey!" from Justin.

"So that's all there is to it?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Adam should know how to operate it."

"Okay, we'll get ready and be on our way in a few hours," Jason said, "Are you and Justin going to be fine on your own with Prodigy or do you need any more help?"

Billy shook his head instinctively. "No, we're fine."

"Okay," Jason said, "Good Luck."

"You too" was Billy's reply before the signal was cut.

With that taken care of, Billy re-entered the cave and made his way through the tunnels to the alcove. If it wasn't for the lineup of boxes along the wall to help him back on his way, he would have gotten lost again. He eventually made his way back to the alcove, where he saw Justin staring at the console screen, where various digits and variables were shown.

"Anything?"

Justin shook his head. "Nothing. I don't know maybe--" Justin was cut off when he heard a pleasing tone from the computer. At the same time, he planted his foot onto the switch and pushed it down. There was a momentary period of shaking in the room that had caught Billy and Justin off-guard, but it didn't last long. After what seemed like a very long period of waiting, the locked door slowly opened up, revealing another door of light behind it. The light was a brilliant white, similar to what Billy experienced when he discovered the White Ranger.

Billy took a closer look at the light portal; this wasn't the same kind of door. He felt as though it had an almost interdimensional aura to it, but these kinds of portals were almost impossible to manufacture, as they would instantly destabilize and cause spatial damage to the area around it. And yet here it was, glowing before him without fail. Billy gave Justin a quick glance and nod. Justin disconnected Billy's laptop from the console and approached Billy.

Billy glanced at the young Ranger and smiled. "Let's go, Justin. Project Prodigy awaits us."

Side by side, the two stepped into the portal, their bodies engulfed into the light source. When the two have completely vanished, the control console in the alcove went black and the heavy door closed up.

---

Jason Scott was scared out of his mind. He wasn't ashamed to admit it because most of his friends were too. There was an air of uncertainty in the Power Karate studio, with several former Rangers gathering and preparing for what may very well be either their most dangerous adventures or the biggest mistake of their lives. Unfortunately, upon hearing news of this raid, Jason did not share his usual optimism and believes in his heart that this offensive-minded mission is not necessary. He almost developed a certain level of confusion concerning recent events in these past few months; events that have undoubtedly involved his long-time friend, Thomas Oliver.

To see him again was a relief, but to see him in the state that he was in - the fragile mindset that he was in, to be able to do anything rash - was a particularly disturbing thought to Jason. Whenever he looked into the eyes of Thomas during the brief time he was standing there barking orders and battle strategies, he could see a built-up rage that was seemingly about to explode at any moment. It was almost like dealing with Thomas when he was the evil Green Ranger, except without the corny evil laugh he had the tendency of doing.

Jason put aside his recollections and studied his weapons of choice closely. The customized d'tahg dagger, a moderate-sized weapon of Klingon design he bought at a pawn shop, was a good striking weapon that was considerably durable and was able to penetrate even the most hardened armor. Jason had studied the intricacies of d'tahg combat through various Klingon websites and could consider himself a master of the weapon. There was also the still-experimental laser pistol in his holster, which hadn't seen much use in years and for good reason; it was an atrociously weak weapon that couldn't even melt the wax off a candlestick. Nonetheless, Jason had special plans for the use of the laser pistol.

With his gear in check, Jason peered over to Kimberly sitting by the table... or rather, her peculiar choice of wardrobe. At first, he passed her choice of a pink t-shirt and matching denim pants as nothing more than a sense of nostalgia, but then he took a closer look at the pink shirt she war and noticed its diamond-patterned design was eerily similar to the old Ranger suits. Around her neck was a thin, reddish rope with a crucifix hanging from it, which made Jason somewhat confused. Even in recent days, he had never known Kimberly to owning any crucifix chains of any kind, let alone wear one. He wanted to bring it up, but common sense got the better of him.

His eyes slowly retracted away from Kim to the contents on the table, where he saw several small throwing knives, two palm-sized pink orbs, and a small sword, similar to what ninjas used. His mind was absolutely boggling at this point as she checked her "toys", wondering where she got them. Of course, she'd probably ask the same thing of him and his laser.

Jason turned away from Kimberly completely and looked towards Adam, who was showing Rocky how to operate the PortalCom. Jason could almost feel for Rocky, who did an extremely good job of hiding his discomfort over not being able to join them in this mission. However, Jason's successor knew that he would be best served here to bring them back, in case Billy and Justin don't make it back from the Prodigy experiments.

By nine o'clock at night, Adam had set up the portal and the three former Power Rangers were ready to enter the portal that had formed between the two energy conductors of the device. Jason stood in front of the middle space between the two conductors as Adam brought up a portal through the control panel on the left conductor.

"Remember, guys," Adam said, "the portal will take us to random areas of the castle, which means we'll have to meet up somewhere."

"Where do you suggest we meet up?" Kim asked.

"The main hall," Jason blurted out, "It should the easiest to find."

Adam and Kimberly nodded. With no other words spoken and no objections raised, Jason give a slight nod and said, "Let's do this."

Jason stepped into the portal of light first and faded away, leaving behind a trail of red mist. Next up, Kimberly took a step into the portal and also faded, leaving a trail of red mist in her wake. Finally, Adam took a second before he stepped into the portal, a trail of red mist floating the air. Rocky stood in front of the Portal for a moment before taking a step back. The portal soon began to slowly fade into nothingness.

"Good luck, boys," Rocky said as the portal faded, "Good luck to us all."

With the portal completely closed off, Rocky began to feel tension in the air. He walked into his office and pulled a large sign that said "CLOSED FOR THE WEEKEND" in bold red letters over a plain black backdrop. He approached the front door of the studio and checked if it was locked, then hung the sign on one of the hooks of the door. Rocky checked to see if everything was properly shut down and locked. He walked back to the main gym area, pulled up a nearby chair, and sat in front of the PortalCom, waiting for his friends to come back.

In an unexpected moment, Rocky's communicator started beeping. In a frantic pace, Rocky rushed to his office and pulled out the wrist device from the top drawer and answered.

"Billy?"

"No," the voice said, "It's Andros."

"Who?" Rocky asked, then it clicked to him. "Oh yeah, you're the Ranger from space. What's up?"

"Well, I've been told you needed our help with something," Andros said, "Unfortunately, we were busy with Orange Ecliptor and weren't able to respond then. Is there something wrong?"

Rocky sighed. "Actually, there is something..."

To be continued...