Prism

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, don't make any money off 'em.

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! They really help me to write a better story, and they're encouraging. Thanks for pointing out my missing html tag that put the whole story in italics, I fixed that.

Jason could not bring himself to comprehend the enormity of what Zordon had just said, so he forced his numb mind onto another, more immediate situation: Kimberly's distress. "Kim," he began tentatively, and then stopped. He wanted to tell her "we'll figure something out," but as he thought about it, he realized that it was entirely possible that they couldn't. Suddenly finding himself helpless to say or do anything to help Kim, he turned to Zordon. "Are the Powers gone?"

"The Powers are never gone. They must always exist somewhere, somehow. When the Earth fell, however, the Powers you knew were nullified."

"In other words," murmured Billy bitterly, "we can't use them." Billy silently balled his hands into fists, feeling a more powerful fury than had ever possessed him run through his veins. Suddenly unable to restrain himself further, he lashed out suddenly, picking up a device resting on one of the consoles and flung it as hard as he could against the chamber wall where it shattered. "God DAMN it!" he shouted, his whole body trembling with rage and fear and the pain of losing. Tears ran down his cheeks, his jaw clenched. Whirling around wildly, he shouted at whomever was handy or would make a move to restrain him. "I am tired of being rational! I am tired of fighting! All of those years resisting…" Billy sank down against a console, gritting his teeth and then burying his face in his hands. "Oh, God…" It was almost a prayer issuing from the broken man.

Jason reached down and sank down beside his friend. Even in the most desperate of situations, he had rarely seen Billy crack. Somewhere in his mind, Jason felt exactly the same emotions, but at that instant, he could not bring them to the surface. It was as if he'd been neutered emotionally, unable to react, unable to think. He could not even bring himself to search out enough warmth to comfort his friends.

"Is there anything we can do right now?" Jason inquired, unable to think of anything else to say.

Zordon's silence was more telling than any answer he could have given. Slipping into a dispassionate leader mode, Jason looked over Kim's red, swollen, tearstained face and then at Billy, still slumped beside him. "If there's nothing to be done, then I suppose we'd better get some rest," he said, loathing his own weakness at needing such a thing. However, if there was any solution, it was not going to be found while they were in this state of mind.

Standing up and walking toward the small living quarters the Power Chamber contained, the other two followed Jason like zombies. Billy without further ado fell onto the couch in the room and was asleep before his head hit the pillow. It was the move of a very defeated man, looking for oblivion wherever he could find it. Jason knew well that if Billy hadn't felt that the situation was hopeless, he would have been impossible to budge.

Kimberly had lain down on the bed, and continued to cry, her sobs dry and racking her whole frame. The tears were spent, and all that remained was the ache that she couldn't purge even in exhaustion.

Jason made sure that both teammates were situated before slipping into the small bathroom. Turning up the water as hot as it would go, he gasped at the physical pain of the small, driving, hot needles of water from the shower on his body. Forcing himself to bear it, at last tears came, more as a result of the physical pain of the scalding water than the mental anguish that plagued his heart and mind. It was enough, however. At last he was allowed the small comfort of being able to let the gasping sobs that had remained pent up since he had heard the news out.

~*~

A shrill laugh sounded through a sumptuously decorated palace. "Are you certain that they remember nothing?"

"Yes, m'lady. They will perish as the slaves of that which they opposed so long."

"They were fools to underestimate me." Another laugh rang out, this one with a much more bitter tone to it. "Have you found all of them yet?"

"There are three left to confirm."

"Find them. There mustn't be any former Rangers that aren't identified and their location verified. I made many mistakes under that ridiculous spell placed on me. Idiots! Didn't anyone realize that no matter how well a spell is placed, the true character of the entity under the spell remains? It's his own fault that I was no longer the great strategist I once was. A general cannot be reduced to a mere soldier and not lose something in the process. I even forgot that simple principle of true character overwhelming a spell, or I might have been much more effective in my campaign. But he couldn't bear that I'd get the glory if I succeeded instead of him!" A soft round of murmured curses against the mysterious him became audible.

"Yes, m'lady."

"Now find the remaining three! And make sure that the others have nothing that could remind them of their past as Rangers. Bad enough that idiot Goldar decided to call two of them by their former names. I will brook no excuses!"

"Indeed, mistress."

~*~

Stealing into the barracks like a thief, Adam's eyes darted around making certain that he was indeed alone. He knew well that he was supposed to be outside witnessing what he assumed to be a punishment, but he was too far back in the lines to see the prisoner or what was being done to him/her. He was also far enough back that he had been able to slip off without being noticed. Silently, Adam pulled a small block out of the wall beside his bunk and took out the contents of the hole.

His sore fingers slipped over the soft leather binding. He recalled that the item had been called a 'book' at some point in his life, and he continued to think of it that way. Opening the front cover, he pored over the mysterious inscription that had given him his name, the only clue to his identity, written in a small neat hand: "To Adam, happy birthday, sweetie! Love, Tanya."

Adam. The name tasted familiar on his tongue, and it was what he called himself privately when no one else could hear. To do so felt like an act of rebellion, reclaiming something of the former life. I think I liked the way I used to be, he mused in silence. Really, it seemed as though he'd been here in this society all of his life, working down in the cold, cavernous mines. The only thing that convinced him otherwise was the item he held in his hands that had obviously been part of his former life. Turning the pages of the book from where he'd left off the last time, marked with a small scrap of cloth, he began to read. It comforted him to read about the characters, though many of the descriptions confounded him. He simply could not comprehend some of the words the author had used.

Hearing a sounds of movement and then a shout from outside, Adam quickly hid the book again. He had no desire to lose it or have it taken away.

~*~

Kimberly awakened, her eyes swollen. Pulling herself up off the bed, she padded into the bathroom. "Ugh," she muttered aloud. The reflection that stared back at her from the mirror was quite unattractive, her face blotchy, red, and her eyes bloodshot. Forcing herself not to think, she showered and stepped out of the bathroom feeling mildly better.

Slowly, as Kim gained complete consciousness of her surroundings, noting that both Jason and Billy were asleep in the small room, she sank silently to her knees, too spent even to cry out in the despair that blanketed her without warning.

Across the room, Jason opened his eyes, but remained lying on the bed. The leader, the Ranger in him was too stubborn to accept that earth was defeated. There had to be an answer. The power always is, he thought, and if that is true, then even defeat won't destroy it totally. At least, the power within us can't have been destroyed. Not even this can take away our free will to fight or die trying. Tumbling out of the bed, Jason stood up and hurried over to Billy.

"Wake up!" he shook the still-sleeping genius. "Wake up, Billy!"

"Go 'way."

Jason would not be deterred. "Get up!" he commanded. "Now!"

Billy grunted to himself. Whatever Jason was so hyped about, Billy didn't see why it couldn't wait. He saw no pressing urgency. We're probably going to just die anyway. Can't I sleep a little, uninterrupted? Swatting Jason's hands away, he started to roll over away from Jason, both anguish and the crankiness from being rudely awakened making his normally alert brain a bit fuzzier than usual.

Being swatted provoked a definite response from Jason. Without further ado, he calmly, manually hauled Billy into a sitting position. "Unnngh…" groaned the startled scientist, finally starting to see through the fog in his brain. Realizing that Jason was right, and no matter how doomed they or their friends were, they had to at least try to mount some resistance, Billy started to awaken.

Kim, noting the commotion as well as Jason's sudden mania, had also come over. "Look, guys," said Jason seriously, "It doesn't matter whether or not we have powers. We've got to do what we can to help our friends."

Jason looked at the other two, deadly earnest. "We're probably going to die anyway. We have a choice - we can die in here, either from wasting away or when we're discovered, or we can try something. I'll be honest - this is more than likely a kamikaze sort of mission. But what else can we do?" His voice pleaded softly.

Billy nodded silently. "I'd rather die trying to resist than trapped in here." He spat the last part bitterly. "Like a rat in a hole. Might as well give them what fight we can."

Kimberly looked into both Jason's dark eyes and Billy's green ones, and then nodded decisively. "I'm in," she said and silently put her hand out in the long-running gesture they had coined when they'd first become Rangers. Two other hands joined hers.

"Power Rangers!"

Like it? Hate it? Tell me! To Be Continued!