Chapter Twenty-Five

Tommy stared in awe at Melissa's hands as she was able to summon the flames again, but she wasn't exactly sure how she did it. She just imagined the flames surrounding her hands once again and there they appeared.

He couldn't believe it; neither could the others.

"It's amazing." Hayley said.

"Wow!" Conner said, tempted to touch them, but decided not to when he realized that they were, in fact, real flames.

"What do you think it is?" Melissa asked.

"I don't know. It's possible that it's part of the gem's powers. Like, when you go into Super Dino Mode." Tommy said. "And this just started?"

"Yeah. Elsa appeared with some Tyrrannodrones and it just happened."

"Wait. I though the green Dino Gem had control over the weather." Ethan pointed out.

"It does… in a way." Tommy said. "It's possible that it's not just the weather… It could be the four elements."

"You mean like Earth, Fire, Wind and Water?" Jason asked as he stood protectively behind Melissa. He wanted to be there, just in case she needed to be comforted. Plus, he was also curious to what was going on.

"Yes. Exactly. You see, the weather is made up of all of them, but now that you have this… fire ability, it might be bigger than we imagined."

"Maybe that's why Mesogog is after her." Kira said.

"She's powerful enough to destroy the planet." Ethan added.

"Not yet, she isn't. Her abilities haven't fully developed. But, yes, in time, she will have that ability."

Melissa let out a loud whine. "Whatever happened to being normal?" She asked as she leaned against Jason's chest in a huff.

He wrapped his arms around her waist as he chuckled slightly. "Normal? What's that?" He joked.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." She replied.

Mesogog's fortress was ablaze with thunderous crashes as things were thrown to the floor and across the room. Elsa was the one who was doing the throwing as she picked up some worthless glass and sent it flying. She made sure not to throw something very important or Mesogog would have her head.

"It seems that you are troubled, Elsa." Mesogog said to her as he entered the chamber.

"Forgive me, my lord. But, I tried to do what you told me, yet it still didn't work. The Green Ranger is tapping into her powers. She is dangerous to us."

"Yes, I know. Yet, she is also useful to us." The half-human, half-dinosaur said.

Elsa gave her master a confused look. "I don't understand."

"With her just tapping into the Green Dino Gem's powers, she will be unable to control them… So, she is just as dangerous to herself as she is to us."

"So, what do we do, my lord?"

"When Zeltrax reawakens from his recharging slumber, we shall make sure that we pay her a visit… but, for now, I suppose I can have some fun with her."

"Ooh! What did you have in mind?" She asked, evilly.

Melissa was running quickly through the empty streets of Reefside, looking for some place to hide from the creature that was following her. But, every building that she came to, the doors were locked and the lights were out. There was nowhere she could go to hide from the beast.

She tried calling out for help, but there was no one else around. The city seemed deserted. But, there had to be someone who could help her. But, who and how would she get a hold of them?

Then, it struck her. Her communicator! She pulled her bracelet to her mouth. "Tommy? Tommy, can you hear me?" No sound came back to her. "Conner? Kira? Ethan? Can anyone hear me?" She asked as she ducked behind a dumpster, so she could catch her breath. "Oh, please! Someone help!" She called out. But, there was still no answer.

Now, she regretted calling out. The creature had found her behind the dumpster which it picked up and threw out of the way. She let out a spine-chilling scream as she ran off as far as she could.

Then, she saw him. It was someone she knew and he was just standing there while she was running her butt off. "Tommy!" She cried out, wrapping her friend in a hug. "Oh, God! I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life. Come on, we need to get out of here!" She tried pulling Tommy's arm, so he would start running, but he wouldn't move. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!"

"Why?" He asked, his voice sullen.

"Why? Don't you see the giant monster who's trying to kill me? We have to run or he'll kill us!"

"Us?" Tommy asked, looking at her with a puzzled look. Then, his expression changed. He had an evil glint in his eyes with a smile to match. "What us? It's you he's after."

"What? Tommy, what are you saying?"

"Deal with him, yourself, Green Ranger!" He violently shoved her to the ground.

She landed with an "oof!" But, she realized that she was now in her ranger suit and the city was quiet. "What happened?" She asked, standing up and looking around for Tommy, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Tommy? Jason? Anyone?" She called out as the streets vanished, as did what little light there was. "Hello?"

Then, there was silence. Pure, horrible silence.

But, in the distance, there was a loud, deep chuckle. One that she recognized.

Tommy shook Melissa as hard as he could, without hurting her. But, there was no waking her as she rolled violently in her bed. "Mel? Mel, come on! Wake up!" He said to her.

"Tommy?" Jason called out as he entered the house.

"In here!" Tommy called back.

"I came as soon as I could. What's wrong?"

"I don't know. She looks like she's scared to death… I can't wake her. Something must be wrong."

Jason took Tommy's place as he bent low to Melissa's ear and tried to calm her down. His soothing voice seemed to do the trick. "Mel? Mel, can you hear me? I need you to wake up, sweetie. Wake up."

Tommy stared in awe at the sight before him. Melissa's body was now completely relaxed as Jason whispered in her ear. He now knew that the two of them had a connection between them that he wished he had with a certain someone.

"Mel, please wake up." Jason said, louder now.

To both men's surprise, Melissa's eyes jutted open and she quickly sat up, panting violently. She looked wildly around the room as if she was looking for something.

"Mel?" Tommy asked. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" She asked. "How did I get here?"

"You've been here this whole time." Jason said, sitting next to her on the bed and looked at her worriedly.

"No. I couldn't have. I was somewhere else."

"Mel, you were having a bad nightmare." Tommy said. "You have been here this whole time."

She roughly rubbed her eyes and stared at the two men in front of her. "You're sure?"

"Yeah. What were you dreaming about? You looked as though you were scared to death." Tommy said, placing a caring hand on her shoulder.

"I can't explain it. All I remember is that Reefside was deserted and I was being chased by this… thing." She paused for a second, before she let out a loud gasp. "I saw Zordon!"

Jason and Tommy exchanged a surprised glance. "What?" They asked in unison.

"Yeah, I know how crazy that sounds, but I saw him and he talked to me." A smile appeared on her lips for the first time that night.

"About what?" Jason asked.

"I can't explain it, but he sort of told me about my powers and how it was my destiny to have them, just as it had been to get the Green Ranger gem in high school… I'm the only one who can handle these powers. That's why the Dino Gem chose me."

"I'm not sure I understand." The former first Red Ranger spoke up.

"When Zedd stole my powers, it made my body stronger than before. So, then, it made me able to carry these abilities."

"So, Zedd did you a favor?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah. I suppose he did." She gave a small smile. It was rather funny.

"So, what does this mean for your abilities?" Jason asked.

She didn't say anything to answer him, at first. She only took a deep breath and focused on the closed window on the other side of the room. In front of both men's eyes, the window opened, letting in a cool breeze. "I'd say they're pretty much in check."