Chapter 8: Fighting Their Fears and Saying Goodbye
Brock looked around his cell when the Dark Wizard entered the chamber. "Welcome to your worse nightmare, Blue Ranger," he laughed. All of a sudden, Brock was surrounded by blue smoke and then he was sucked into another world.
He looked around to find himself a little kid again. "Hey, look, it's the nerd," a voice laughed. Brock turned around to see Derek and his friends standing there. They walked over and ripped his glasses off and started pushing him back and forth while yelling out mean insults. Brock's biggest weakness, being teased by the bullies when he was a child. Then the silly song they made up about him started again.
"Brock is a nerd, a nerd, and a nerd. Brock is a nerd and we like to tease him so," they chanted.
"Stop, please stop," Brock begged.
In his cell, Brock was on the floor with his hands on his head. "Stop it, please, stop it," he begged. The Dark Wizard laughed at him and made his life fast forward to middle school.
Brock looked around again and saw that he was in seventh grade again. Derek and his friends were again teasing him. Then Brock knew that this wasn't real. He knew he had to fight it. "This isn't real," he whispered. The boys stopped and looked at him.
"Of course this is real, nerd," Derek laughed.
"No, it's not," Brock insisted.
He then closed his eyes and he started to glow blue. "SNOW LEOPARD! BLUE RANGER! POWER UP!" He yelled. Derek and his friends turned into minions. Brock was sixteen again and he was fighting the minions. He kicked one to the ground and struck the minion's chest, making it disappear into the black liquid. He fought the rest of them and then once it was finished, the scenery around him started to glow white.
Brock opened his eyes to find himself back at his cell. "You may have one this one, Blue Ranger, but maybe your sister won't be able to," the Dark Wizard snarled.
"Don't you dare harm Teresa," Brock snapped.
"You're in my territory, boy, I'll do whatever I see fit to do with the Yellow Ranger," he laughed.
Brock went to attacked the Dark King when he disappeared. He ran to the door and began to kick at it. Then he had an idea. He closed his eyes and he was camouflaged. When Lizard came in, Brock was able to sneak through the door and he ran down the hall.
Teresa was already in her painful world. She was standing at the side of the road watching the car that held her young self and her mother in it. She ran after it. "MOM! MOM!" She yelled. Too late, the car was already flipping onto the back and rolling down into the ditch. "NO! MOM!" She screamed. When she opened her eyes, it was starting over again.
Brock ran into the cell to find his sister on the floor. "Teresa!" He gasped. He ran to her and kneeled next to her. He closed his eyes and he was able to see what she was seeing.
Teresa looked to her side to see her brother next to her. "Brock, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came to help you, I just fought my own nightmare. Teresa, this isn't real. The Dark Wizard is trying to break us up. He's trying to make us weaker so we wouldn't be able to fight. All you have to do is stop thinking that mom's death was your fault," he insisted.
"I couldn't save her," Teresa murmured.
"You were just a child, Teresa. You were only a kid. Stop beating yourself up about it. Her death wasn't your fault. Mom loved you and she loved me too. She'd do anything to keep us safe even if it means that she'd have to give up her life."
"That's what she did too."
"She did that because she loved us, Teresa. I don't know where I'd be without my sister."
Teresa lifted her head up to look at him. "What?" She asked. Brock grabbed her shoulders and gave her a smile.
"Teresa, you are my sister and if something ever happened to you, my life through school would be awful. Every time Derek and his friends would come around and tease me, you would be there to back me up. You gave me a shoulder to lean on. Now, I think it's time for me to return to the favor," he explained.
Teresa watched as the crash started again. "Mom loved us very much, Teresa. It's time to let her go," he insisted. The image faded away and Teresa was looking at her brother. "Think of everything that has made you happy, not sad. That's the way we live, we live on what we have. I have you and dad just like how you have dad and me," he assured. Teresa threw her arms around her brother and sighed happily. Brock hugged her tight with a sigh.
Teresa opened her eyes to find herself in her brother's embrace like she was in the images. Brock then stood up and helped her stand. "Come on, we have our friends to save," he stated. She nodded and they ran out of the cell towards their friends.
Jack looked around and then he saw his father fighting in a room full of smoke not knowing it was the Dark Dimension. "Dad?" He asked. He then saw the Green Ranger step on his father's arm as he reached for his morpher.
"It is over, I am the victor," the ranger laughed.
Jack recognized that voice. "Tommy?" He whispered. Then the sword appeared in the Green Ranger's hands. He held up the sword but instead of Jason being transported out of the room, the Green Ranger had succeeded of killing him. "NO! DAD! NO!" Jack yelled.
Teresa and Brock entered Jack's cell to find him on the ground. "Dad, dad," he whispered. They nodded and they transported themselves into his mind.
They saw the image and found it gruesome. They looked over at Jack and ran to him. "Teresa, Brock, what are you guys doing here?" He asked.
"We came to help you. Jack, this isn't real. The Dark Wizard is using our biggest fears against us," Teresa explained.
"Explain this, Teresa, I don't remember Tommy killing my father," Jack snapped.
"He's altering the image. Your father is alive, Jack. He is alive," Teresa replied.
Jack looked at Teresa and then back at the image. "Jack, you have to fight this. Your father is alive and Tommy is good. Tommy wouldn't kill your father," she urged. She grabbed his hands and looked at him. "Please, Jack, fight this, for me," she begged. Jack nodded and then he looked at the image one last time.
"This isn't real," he whispered.
The image disappeared and then they were taken out of the image.
Jack looked around to find himself in his cell holding Teresa's hands. She let him go and stood up. "Come one, we have to get Alex and Ann," Brock insisted. They nodded and hurried down the hall towards their friends.
"NO! THEY CANNOT STOP ME!" The Dark Wizard roared while watching them go help Alex next.
Alex looked at the images in front of him. It was a funeral and he was fourteen standing next to her father and mother. In front of them was a small casket that could fit a small child inside. The casket was lowered down into the ground and he walked over to the tombstone, which read:
Tatiana Grace Taylor
Born April 7, 2006-Died March 8, 2010
A Beloved Daughter, Sister, and Friend
May the Lord Rest Her Little Soul
Alex pressed his forehead against his little sister's tombstone and tears fell. "Tatiana," he whispered. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Brock, Teresa, and Jack standing there.
"Alex, your sister is alive. We found the donor," Brock insisted.
"But it wasn't me," Alex mumbled.
"No, but Tatiana is alive. She'll be waiting for you at home. Just like how Karen is waiting for me," Jack stated.
"What's happening?" Alex asked.
"The Dark Wizard is taking our worse fears and using them against us. Your fear was losing Tatiana to leukemia. That day at the hospital, I was the donor and she is alive and an active little girl she is at the age of six. Tatiana and Karen are best friends. If Tatiana was here, she would assure that she's going to be fine," Jack explained.
Alex got up and the image disappeared.
They were back in Alex's cell and they ran to save Ann.
"NO!" The Dark Wizard roared. He spun around and looked at her Brandon. "Don't let them get to the Pink Ranger. Stop them, destroy them if you must," he snapped. Brandon bowed and morphed.
They were close to Ann's cell when Brandon appeared. "You won't be entering this cell, rangers," he snapped. He started fighting them.
Ann was fighting as hard as she could as she was sucked into her nightmare.
Ann was watching in horror as the images of what Jake did to her mother. "MOM!" She screamed. She watched herself at the age of two running to Kimberly once Jake left. Then it started over again. "NO! PLEASE! DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!" She screamed. She was watching it over and over again.
Jack could hear Ann's screams and tried to fight the Green Ranger away. Brock nodded and went into camouflage to save his friend.
Brock came into Ann's cell and ran to her. He closed his eyes and went into her mind.
Ann was on her knees watching the horrifying images again. "Ann!" Brock gasped. Ann looked up to see Brock standing there. He kneeled next to her and she cried against him.
"Please make it stop, Brock, make the pain stop. Stop this from happening again," she sobbed.
"Ann, only you can stop this from continuing."
"How?"
Brock lifted her face up. "Think of other things that have happened in your life. Meeting your father for the first time. Think of Rebecca, Josh, and us. Think of all the other things that make you happy," he replied. Ann stood up and then the images of meeting her father for the very first time came into her mind. She was so happy to meet him that day. She was happy to see that her mother was no longer in pain when he took her home. The terrible images faded after that.
Ann could hear her friends suffering and pulled out her morpher she was able to snatch from Lizard. "ANIMAL POWER! COYOTE! PINK RANGER! POWER UP!" She yelled. She morphed and burst through the door.
She knocked Brandon to the floor and she tossed their morphers to them. "ANIMAL POWER!" Jack yelled.
"BLACK TIGER! BLACK RANGER!"
"CHEETAH! YELLOW RANGER!"
"SNOW LEOPARD! BLUE RANGER!"
"EAGLE! RED RANGER!"
"POWER UP!" They yelled.
Then they fought the Green Ranger together. After a moment, he disappeared and they were sent back to the city.
They de-morphed when they were sent back to the city. "Whoa! Talk about strange," Alex commented. They nodded and Ann looked at her watch.
"Well, I guess school is over. Hey, guys, I can take you home if you want," she stated.
"Sure," they agreed.
They all hopped into the car and Ann drove off.
The first stop was Jack's house and Jack jumped out of the car. "See you guys tomorrow," he stated.
"Bye, Jack," the told him in unison.
They watched as Jason came out of the house and they watched as Jack walked over to his dad. Earlier that morning they were having a huge fight about balancing school, karate, and being a Power Ranger. Not that Jason was trying to get him to stop, but he would like to see his son pass school. "Sorry, dad," he apologized. Jason grinned and hugged his son back when he embraced him.
"It's all right, Jack," he assured.
Kat came out of the house with a smile. "Are you two almost ready for dinner?" She asked.
"Yep," they replied with a laugh.
Then the rest of the group watched as he walked into the house with his dad. Then the next stop was Alex's house.
They stopped at his house and a little girl came running out of the house to greet her brother.
She had shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes, she was wearing white shoes, a white dress, and her hair was tied back into a ribbon.
"ALEX!" She called. Alex said goodbye to his friends and picked his sister up with a smile.
"Hey, Tatiana, how was school for you?" He asked.
"Alex, I was able to play soccer in gym class today without getting hurt," she replied.
"That's great. Maybe I'll reward you later."
He hugged his sister tight with a smile before going into the house.
Ann was going to drop Teresa and Brock at home when Teresa had Ann stop at the graveyard. They got out of the car and they watched as Teresa walked over to the grave. She touched the engraving of the stone with a sad sigh. "Bye mom, I love you," she whispered. She then pulled the necklace that her father gave Trini on their first date and placed it on the stone. She turned and walked away.
Ann stopped in front of the house and watched as Brock and Teresa slowly got out of the car. "Are you going to be okay?" Ann asked.
"She'll be fine," Brock assured.
She watched as they went into the house and drove home.
Ann drove up to the house and stopped the car. "Boy, home never looked so quiet and perfect," she whispered. She got out of the car and Kimberly was standing on the porch.
"How was the fight?" She asked.
"It was all right," Ann replied.
"What did the Dark Wizard do?"
Ann stood in front of her mother with a sad sigh. "The Dark Wizard used our biggest weaknesses against us this time," Ann replied. Kimberly knew what that meant, her daughter was tortured by the images of her beatings. Ann embraced her mother with a sigh. "I love you mom, so much," she whispered. Kimberly hugged her daughter back with a sigh.
"I love you too, Ann," she whispered back.
That night, Kimberly was watching Ann sleep before going into her room. She found her husband asleep again and walked over to him. She stroked his cheek and placed a kiss on his forehead, waking him up. "Kimberly, is something wrong?" He asked.
"No, I was just thinking," she replied.
"What were you thinking about?"
Kimberly then got into bed and smiled as she felt his arms go around her. "I was thinking about everything that has happened to us during the past few years," she replied. Kimberly giggled as Tommy turned so he was lying on her.
"I hope they were good things," he stated.
She placed a kiss on his lips before answering. "They were always good things," she assured. He touched her face and shepulled him down to another kiss.