by: Cynthia and Kahva
"Hey, Kimberly, you got a letter from home. Looks like a long one. Must be from that ex of yours." The thick envelope came soaring into Kimberly Hart's room and landed on her bed. She looked up from where she was doing her exercises and shook her head. Who would write her from Angel Grove? After she'd broken up with Tommy, she would have thought none of them wanted to talk to her again.
She took a look at the letter, then snatched it up. She couldn't have read that right. But the writing didn't change. It was a handwriting she knew as well as she knew her own. It was Jason. She sat down and tore the letter open, wondering what he was doing back in Angel Grove.
Almost half an hour later, she looked up, her mind swimming with information. A Gold Ranger... Jason the Gold Ranger. A woman from another universe, a Silver Ranger... Billy being married! She smiled. She could hardly imagine Billy married, but it seemed it was so. From what Jason said, they were an excellent match, and were quite obviously (and sometimes nauseatingly) in love.
"I've got about a week of vacation," she studied the calendar. "I think I'll take it in Angel Grove."
Billy and Rocky appeared in the Power Chamber's living quarters. "Sheena?" Billy called out. "Are you here?"
She didn't appear to be. "Where do you suppose she is?"
"How would I know? I mean, you're her husband and everything," Rocky teased. "You guys have that psychic bond, right?"
"Yes." Billy sounded a touch exasperated.
"What's wrong?"
Billy shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it. Sheena and I are having some problems, that's all."
"Problems? The perfect couple? Billy, touching you broke a spell over her. I didn't think you guys could have problems."
"It's just, well," Billy sighed. "She's been spending more and more time here in the Power Chamber and less and less time with me. Whenever we see each other, it's like it was when we were first married. But we don't see each other like we did then."
"I know, you two were inseparable. I couldn't even see daylight between you most of the time."
A muffled shout sounded just then, and both the Blue and Sapphire Rangers headed for the sound. It turned out to come from the workout room, a place where the Rangers could practice their skills at odd hours or when they wanted privacy for something. Slowly, Billy opened the door and they looked inside.
Sheena was on the mat, a sword in her hands. Her long dark hair was tied back from her face in her usual style, and her green eyes were intent. The way she moved was liquid, beautiful. She was doing what appeared to be a kata of some type, but it was one neither of them had ever seen. They could only watch in awe as she moved.
Sheena bent, swayed, and whirled, the sword moving in precise patterns that somehow seemed to deviate what metal should be able to do, even in the hands of a master warrior. It was impossible to describe how flawless and beautiful she was as she danced around the training area. She didn't seem to notice them, or if she did, it didn't interfere with her training trance.
When she drew to a halt, she was facing them with a proud, triumphant grin on her face. She leapt off the mat and came towards them, a fire in her eyes that even Billy had never seen before. "What did you think?"
"It was-it was-" Rocky stammered, not able to form a coherent answer. Billy filled in, "Fantastic!"
Sheena actually blushed. She turned to hang up her sword, then threw herself into Billy's arms. "I didn't want to tell you until I was sure I was good enough to use it. That's why I've been spending so much time here lately. I was training in ki-see."
"In what?"
"Ki-see. That's what I was doing. It's Old Eltaran, and means something like," she closed her eyes, trying to remember.
IT MEANS DANCE OF LIGHT, Zordon supplied. His voice could be heard from anywhere in the Power Chamber complex. IT IS THE OLDEST OF MARTIAL ARTS FROM MY HOMEWORLD. NO OTHER POWER RANGER HAS STUDIED IT BEFORE. IT SHOULD BE QUITE A SURPRISE TO KING MONDO AND HIS COGS.
Sheena nodded. "I found out about it about three months ago, when I was browsing through some history files. There were extensive training tapes, and I studied them all. It absolutely fascinated me. I started training at once. Zordon and Alpha have helped me as much as they can. I wanted it to be a surprise for you guys."
"Well, I was surprised," Billy said. Sheena turned her face to him, and they lost each other in a deep, passionate kiss. Finally, Rocky cleared his throat, and they stepped apart.
"Sheena, I came to ask if you wanted to go to the movies with Jason and Emily tonight." They started to head for Sheena's quarters.
"He finally got up the nerve to ask her out?" Sheena chuckled. "I thought I was going to have to hit him over the head with a board to get him to notice she liked him."
"It didn't go quite that far," Rocky laughed.
"Now you," Sheena appraised the Blue Ranger. "You I wouldn't have to hit with the board. You think all the girls like you!"
"Who, me?" Rocky affected innocence.
"Just cause you wear blue now does not mean you're the 'Girl-Magnet of Angel Grove'," Sheena teased him, referring back to when Billy was the Blue Ranger, and had attracted almost any girl who took the time to look beyond his glasses.
"But blue's such a handsome color," he teased back.
"I prefer," Sheena wrapped an arm around Billy, "sapphire myself. I'd love to go to the movies. When?"
Billy checked his watch. "In about an hour."
"I'd better start getting ready then. I look horrible."
"Not from this view," Billy examined her. "You look perfect."
Rocky rolled his eyes, but said nothing as Sheena went to the room Zordon had given her in the Power Chamber. It had come as a surprise to them all that the Power Chamber had sleeping quarters, much less that Zordon let the Silver Ranger stay there. But her apartment had been devastated by Cogs, once when she'd led them there in the search for her Crystal, while she'd still been under Mondo's control, and again after she'd escaped his power. Mondo had apparently taken some petty revenge by trashing everything Sheena owned.
Feeling guilty over it, Sheena had paid her ex-landlord for all the damages, and managed to pass the whole thing off as a case of mistaken identity before moving to Angel Grove. She hadn't had enough money to get another apartment, so Zordon had opened up the Power Chamber to her. She and Billy were hoping to be able to get a place of their own once they were 'officially' married.
"Billy," Rocky asked tentatively. "What's it like to be in love?"
The Sapphire Ranger looked at his friend, his brow furrowed. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
Billy grinned. "I don't think that's quite the reason, but as for being in love... 'it's wonderful' doesn't begin to describe it. I wouldn't trade this for anything."
Suddenly a booming voice filled the room again. BILLY, SHEENA, ROCKY, PLEASE COME TO THE MAIN CHAMBER AT ONCE. WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY.
Sheena's door flew open, and she came out, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was efficient about changing, and already wore her customary blue jeans and silver-tinted blouse. "What are you two waiting for? Let's go."
"Were you going to wear that on our date?" Billy asked as they headed for the Power Chamber.
"No," she almost snapped. "I threw this on when Zordon called." As the three of them emerged into the main room, they saw that the other five Rangers were already there. "What's going on, Zordon?" Sheena asked.
MONDO HAS SENT A MONSTER TO EARTH, RANGERS, CALLED THE DECHARGER. IT IS CAPABLE OF DRAINING THE ENERGY FROM ANY HUMAN, EVEN FROM YOU, AND IS CURRENTLY WREAKING HAVOC AT THE ANGEL GROVE POWER PLANT. YOU MUST STOP IT BEFORE IT DRAINS EVERYONE THERE.
"On the way, Zordon!" Tommy looked at the Rangers. "It's morphin' time!"
"Zeo Ranger I, Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger III, Blue!"
"Zeo Ranger IV, Green!"
"Zeo Ranger V, Red!"
"Sapphire Ranger Power!"
"Gold Ranger Power!"
"Silver Ranger Power!"
The eight Rangers arrived at the power plant. Tommy glanced around. Things were quiet there. Almost too quiet. "Sheena, take Adam, Tanya, and Rocky and check things out on that side of the plant. The rest of us will see what's going on over on the other side."
"Sure thing, Tommy," Sheena started off with her team. Tanya edged up to her as they got out of sight of the others.
"Sheena, aren't you worried about Billy?"
"Why should I be? He's been a Ranger longer than any of us. He can take care of himself."
"Well, sure, but," Tanya wasn't sure how to frame her thoughts. A moment later, she didn't have to worry about it.
"Cogs!" Adam pointed. Under her helmet, Sheena bit her lip. Fear and a lust for revenge both boiled up inside of her. She immediately locked down both under ki-see discipline. The machines ran towards them, and she began to recite the ancient litany of ki-see under her breath as she fought, entering the same half-trance she had been training in.
A ki-see warrior does not fight with her body. She fights with her mind. Discipline, dispassion, and dedication are the hallmarks of a true ki-see warrior. See the mistakes your foes make and turn them against them. They have no minds, no souls. A warrior of the ki-see is a master of using body, mind, soul, and heart as one.
As the litany ended, Sheena emerged from her trance. The other Rangers were staring at her, especially Rocky. The Cogs had all been reduced to spare parts.
"It's ki-see," she told them.
"It's awesome!" Tanya breathed.
On the other side of the plant, Billy stopped suddenly. Tommy looked at him. "What's wrong?"
"Sheena and the others were attacked by Cogs." Billy closed his eyes for a second, sensing first Sheena's fear, then her intense joy as she used her new skills against the Cogs. "They're going to be all right, though. Sheena's using ki-see."
"What's that?"
"An ancient martial arts style. I'll see if she'll show it to you sometime."
"You have no time left to see anything, Rangers, except me destroying you!" a metallic voice laughed. They turned to see a huge robot with several long metallic tentacles lumbering towards them.
"That must be the Decharger," Kat said.
"My, but you're a bright one! Let's see how smart you are when it comes to me draining your energy from you!" The Decharger leapt towards Kat and wrapped her in its 'arms'.
The Pink Ranger glowed as the energy began to leave her body and entered the Decharger. Tommy drew his Zeo Sword and charged the monster, forcing it to drop Kat. She lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath. The Decharger turned on Tommy, its tentacles wrapping around the Red Ranger.
Tommy bit back a scream of pain as he felt his energy leaving him. Suddenly there was a flash of light, and the monster dropped him. He fell to the ground, trying to recover, and looked up to see Sheena standing between him and the monster, the Silver Sword in her hands.
"You'll pay for stealing my friends' energy, Decharger!"
"Yours will taste just as sweet as his, Silver Ranger!" The Decharger reached for her, but she wasn't there anymore. Sheena catapulted over the monster and kicked it in the back. The Decharger recovered quickly, only to find himself surrounded by six Rangers.
"Tommy, Kat, you guys better get back to the Power Chamber," Billy advised. "I think we can handle this creep."
"Good idea." It went against the grain for Tommy to leave a battle, but he trusted his fellow Rangers. He and Kat vanished in respective flashes of red and pink.
"Now what do we do?" Adam asked.
"Let's try this for starters." Sheena launched herself at the monster with a ki-see scream. The Decharger vanished just as she would have landed in it, with a maniacal laugh. Sheena turned her leap into a roll, coming to her feet and sheathing her sword in the same motion. She turned around.
"Where'd it go?"
"It just... vanished." Rocky looked around. "That's strange. It's not like Mondo to retreat."
"Unless he's got a plan in mind," Sheena frowned. "Alpha, are there any readings of the Decharger around here anywhere?"
"No, Sheena, it seems to have vanished," Alpha's voice came over her communicator.
"We'd better get back to the Power Chamber." Sheena looked around one last time. Something wasn't right here. "We can get back in a flash if the monster shows up again."
The sense of 'not rightness' preyed on Sheena's mind as they teleported back to the Power Chamber. Tommy and Kat would be all right, Alpha reported, once they got some rest. There were no signs of the monster; so Zordon dismissed them all until it showed up again.
"What's wrong, Sheena?" Billy asked later that night at the movies. "You act like your mind's a million miles away."
"Not quite that far," she muttered. "I can't get my mind off that monster. There was something about the way it just - just left. Something I can't put my finger on."
"What are you two whispering about over there?" Emily leaned over Jason to ask. Sheena reacted with lightning speed, draping an arm about Billy.
"Oh, nothing important," she grinned in a fashion Emily seemed to understand. Sheena brushed her lips past Billy's, then murmured, "We can talk about it later."
"How much later?" he whispered, returning the kiss with equal passion.
"Just later."
Emily looked over at them, then looked away. "How long have they been dating?"
"Oh, about six months now," Jason said innocently.
"And they're that serious?" Emily looked impressed.
"You might say, love at first sight." Jason turned his attention back to the movie.
The next day, Tommy and Kat both felt much better. They were at the Juice Bar, watching as Sheena demonstrated the basics of ki-see to the other Rangers. He glanced over at Kat. "She's good, isn't she?"
"Real good," Kat agreed. "So, where do you want to go tonight?"
"How about the park?" he suggested. "A nice quiet evening star-gazing."
"Sounds like fun to me."
Neither Tommy or Kat saw the figure who entered the Juice Bar just then. When Ernie saw who it was, he grinned. "Welcome back!"
"Shhh, I want it to be a surprise."
"You want the usual?"
"Sure." There was a vacancy at the table where Kat and Tommy sat. The newcomer turned to see who they were looking at, and saw a tall, dark-haired woman on the practice mat, going through a graceful martial arts routine. Billy stood near the woman, a look in his eyes that couldn't be mistaken for anything but true and pure love.
The new arrival sat casually in the empty seat. "So, who's the new girl?"
"Sheena Devereaux," Tommy replied automatically. "She and Billy are really close, Kim." He turned suddenly as his ears heard what his mouth had said. "Kim!"
The ex-Pink Ranger laughed at the expression on his face. "Hi, guys!"
"Kim!" Kat hugged her friend. "It's been a long time!"
"So I see," Kim grinned. She examined Tommy for a few seconds, then said, "When do I get to meet this new Ranger?" That last was spoken in an undertone. "And what is that she's doing?"
"Ki-see. I'll let her explain it, she knows more about it," Kat told her. "I'll go get them."
She headed for the gym area, leaving Tommy and Kim by themselves. "So uh, Kim, how are you?"
"Good." She looked at him. "I uh, heard you and Kat were going out?"
"Yeah, yeah." Tommy suddenly didn't know what to do with himself. "Look, Kim, it's not like she's your replacement or anything. I just like her."
Kim was about to say something else when the rest of the gang joined them. Sheena looked a little nervous. Kim could understand why. "You must be Sheena. Hi, I'm Kim."
Sheena blushed almost as red as Tommy's shirt. "Hi. Yes, I'm Sheena. It's an honor to meet you."
"Well, I'm honored to meet you." Kim did all she could to put the young woman at ease. "It's not everyone who goes through what you did."
"I had help," Sheena managed to sit somehow. "Oh, Goddess, do you know how awkward this is! It was bad enough seeing Billy in person, but you-,"
Billy sat next to her. "Calm down, Sheena. Breathe."
Kim was glad Jason had explained everything about Sheena's origins to her in his letter, otherwise she would have been very confused. Finally, Sheena looked at her again. "Let's start this over." Her voice was much calmer this time around. "Hi, I'm Sheena."
"Hi, I'm Kim." They both broke apart laughing; it was obvious that these two would be good friends.
"How long are you down for?" Tanya asked. This was really the first time she'd met Kim as well, though she'd heard about her from the other Rangers.
"A week," Kim replied. "You must be Tanya."
"If I must, I must," Tanya grinned. Suddenly their communicators beeped. "Oh, great," Kim groaned. "I remember what that means."
They went to the usual spot, and Tommy answered the call. "What is it, Zordon?"
THE DECHARGER HAS APPEARED AGAIN, THIS TIME IN DOWNTOWN ANGEL GROVE. YOU MUST MORPH AND BATTLE IT AGAIN. KIMBERLY, WELCOME BACK, IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. WE WILL TELEPORT YOU TO THE POWER CHAMBER DURING THIS ATTACK, IN CASE MONDO HAS ANY IDEAS WHILE THE RANGERS ARE AWAY.
"Thanks, Zordon." That thought had crossed Kim's mind when she'd decided to visit. She felt the familiar grip of teleporting, then was in a place unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Alpha was there, and Zordon. They were a welcome sight indeed.
WELCOME TO THE POWER CHAMBER, KIMBERLY. Zordon smiled. YOU MAY WATCH THE RANGERS ON THE VIEWING GLOBE.
She looked around for it, then Alpha pointed to the new one on the wall. "Much more convenient, but it does give the Rangers a sore neck after a while."
She laughed, then watched as the Rangers fought the Decharger. It had grabbed hold of Adam this time, and Rocky was busy trying to get him out of its grip. Billy and Tanya were keeping it occupied, to give Rocky more of a chance to get Adam out of there. The others were busy fighting Cogs that had come along with the monster. Just when Rocky managed to pry Adam loose, the Decharger vanished, as did the Cogs.
"Any signs of it this time, Zordon?" Tommy wondered.
NO, TOMMY. RETURN TO THE POWER CHAMBER FOR DEBRIEFING. Zordon told them. With Rocky supporting Adam, they teleported back home. In the Power Chamber, Kim turned to welcome them back. Billy went to Adam's side at once, guiding him to an examining table. "I'll be all right," the Green Ranger assured them.
YOU MUST REST, ADAM. RANGERS, THIS CONCERNS ME. IT APPEARS THE DECHARGER COULD BE PLANNING TO USE YOUR OWN ENERGY AGAINST YOU AT SOME POINT. THAT IS WHY HE IS TAKING IT FROM YOU DURING YOUR BATTLES, AND NOT FROM THE PEOPLE SURROUNDING YOU.
"You're probably right, Zordon," Sheena nodded. "What gets me is he keeps vanishing and reappearing. Like he's trying to draw us out. He knows we can't just let him tear up the city."
"Right," Tommy nodded. "So we'd better be careful."
In the Skybase, the Decharger stood with Mondo, Machina, and Sprocket. "Excellent, Decharger. You're wearing them down and confusing them. Keep up the hit and run attacks for a few more days. They won't know what hit them!"
"As you wish, my lord," the Decharger bowed. "They will soon fall before your might!"
"You are a fine warrior, Decharger," Mondo approved of him. "The Rangers will soon be no more!"
"Does the Decharger have to touch someone to drain their energy from them?" Tanya asked.
FROM ALL OUR REPORTS, YES, Zordon told them.
"Maybe if we can avoid getting caught, or tie his arms up so he couldn't touch us," Sheena suggested.
Tommy nodded. "But we can't do anything until the Decharger comes back."
Kim looked at him suddenly. "Tommy, we need to talk. Now."
Tommy looked almost like a trapped animal when he heard that. "I think you're right, Kim," Kat nodded.
"Teleport us to the park, please, Alpha," Kim suggested. Alpha flipped a switch at the console, and they vanished in red and white light.
She hoped it was mere coincidence. After all, surely Zordon and Alpha hadn't seen every place she and Tommy had ever gone, back when they were dating. But it made Kim a little uneasy that she and Tommy had just happened to appear in the same area of the park where Tommy had first worked up the nerve to kiss her. That was so long ago...
"So, um, you said we need to talk?" Tommy was fidgeting like someone who was trying to quit cigarettes, but there was a pack being waved in front of him, tempting him. It would be so easy to just take Kim in his arms again, tell her to come back to him and try to forget how cold her letter had been over a year ago.
No. It wouldn't be that easy. It had hurt too much. And he had fallen head over heels for Katherine now. No. It could never be the same between Kim and him again. But he still loved her. And would until the end of time. That was what was making this so weird, he loved Kim, but he wasn't in love with her, and that wasn't a feeling he was used to having when she was right there in front of him, in living color. Just what he needed, something else to turn his emotions all topsy-turvy. He sighed, and sat down by the pond. He hoped that whatever Kim wanted to talk about, that she would just go ahead and do it.
Then she kissed him.
Tommy couldn't tell if only seconds passed before he found his voice or an eternity. That was not what he had expected! He stared at her, wondering how she could have done that, what in the world had come over her, did she expect to pick things up right where they had left off before she went to Florida?
She didn't. "That offended you, didn't it? It didn't wake up any desire to be with me again." Kim sighed, then sat beside Tommy . "I didn't think it would. It didn't do anything for me either, I was pretty sure it wouldn't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, that's not how I had wanted to handle this." Tommy went from shock to anger to wanting to comfort his ex-flame in the space of a heartbeat. He'd been so wrapped up in how he felt, he hadn't stopped to think how hard it must have been for Kim to come back to Angel Grove, to revisit her past. Their past.
"It's OK, I can think of worse things that can happen to a guy." Kim shook her head and turned Tommy to face her.
"No, it's not OK! I shouldn't have written you like I did, I should've called, or at least been more sensitive in the letter. I should've handled this differently from the very beginning." Kim stopped, willing herself not to cry. She had to do this, she had to get things set right between them. "When I left for Florida, I thought that everything would stay the same, that nothing would ever change. But I was wrong. The more we spent time apart, the more I realized, that the love I had for you was strong, it was just as deep as it ever was, but it wasn't the love that two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together have for each other. It was the love that is between two friends, a love that never ends. And it's the kind of love that makes it so easy to hurt the ones you love. Because you take it for granted. You know that it will always be there, no matter what, and you take it for granted. And that's when you lose the most." Kim paused, not sure how to go on. "Am I making any sense?" Tommy didn't answer, so Kim pressed on. "I'm not good at this, I don't know if I'm making sense or not. Tommy, I should've told you, talked to you, the very first time I realized that my feelings had changed, I should've talked things out with you." Kim got up and walked a few steps away. Part of her absently noted she was standing in the exact same spot where Tommy had first kissed her. She would have to talk to Alpha about how he picked teleportation spots. "I will always love you, Tommy, don't ever doubt that. But it isn't the kind of love that I thought it was. I love you as a friend, a former teammate, a brother. It's the same kind of love I have for all the Rangers, but it's different with you, it touches a different level. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, but it seems that's all I managed to do. You can't even say a complete sentence around me and look me in the eye at the same time."
The wail of a distant police siren floated through the park, mingling with the singing of birds and the laughter of children just out of sight on the playground. "Tommy, if you can't I understand, but I need to tell you I'm so sorry for what I did to you. And ask that maybe, one day, if you ever can, to forgive me. " Tommy was so quiet that Kim thought for a moment he had left. His arms draping about her shoulders a second later told her he hadn't.
"I love you, too. And you're more than forgiven. I just hope you can forgive me." Kim looked over her shoulder at Tommy, puzzled.
"Forgive you? For what?"
Tommy hugged her tightly; he really wasn't good at this himself, but he had to talk about it. "Kim, don't take this wrong, but after I got your letter, I just shut myself off. I didn't want to feel anything, for anybody. Billy had just gotten back from Aquitar, Mondo nearly killed him, trying to catch him that time -" he caught her confused look. "I'll tell you about that later. It felt like everything was going to get back to normal for a while, as normal as Angel Grove ever gets, anyway, then your letter came. Everybody tried so hard to cheer me up, they all thought I was hurting so much. Billy and Kat took me skiing, Kat set me up with Heather Thompson, to get my mind off things, everybody was trying so hard to make me feel better. But the truth was, I didn't feel anything. I didn't want to. I thought if I just ignored my feelings, that the emptiness would go away. I denied myself one of the best things that had ever happened in my life: my love for you." Tommy rested his chin on her shoulder. "Oh man, Kat tried so hard to make me feel better, everybody did. After a while, I think maybe they all thought I was okay, but I just wasn't letting myself feel anything. Then I started feeling something for Kat, and I felt so guilty about it, like I didn't have the right to love anybody else. But I ignored that too, and we started dating. I tricked myself into thinking I had handled everything so well. But when I saw you in the Juice Bar today, I knew I hadn't. I haven't handled anything." Tommy turned Kim to face him. "I need to ask you to forgive me. I should've called more, written more often, something. I shouldn't have shut you out. I still love you, Kim. But it's like you said, it's not the love I thought it was. It's there, but it's different from what being in love is." They just smiled at each other for the longest time, finally connecting after so long apart. Kim kissed Tommy again, this time on his cheek. And this time, neither one of them felt weird about it. Kim laughed as they finally broke their embrace and started to walk along the edge of the pond.
"Well, I must say one thing."
"What?"
"Kat has done the one thing I never could. She has gotten you to the point where you can actually talk for more than two sentences at a time." Tommy laughed, he felt like so much of the weight he'd been carrying had been lifted from his heart.
"Don't sell yourself short, you laid in all the groundwork." Tommy took a deep breath, then continued. "She's really great. I don't know what I ever did to deserve having her in my life. Or you. I'm really lucky, how many guys get to have such a special woman in their life, much less two of them?"
"Have you told her?"
"Told her what?"
"That you love her, you crazy lunk!" Kim punched him lightly in the arm. Tommy pretended that it hurt.
"Ow, you're going to break my arm, girl!" Tommy smiled, then stopped walking. "No, I haven't actually said 'I love you', but -"
"But nothing! Tell her!"
Tommy cleared his throat and suddenly found the ground around his sneakers very interesting. "I'm scared to," he mumbled.
"If you weren't a little scared, then I'd be worried! Tommy, no one ever knows for sure how someone else feels exactly, in something like this, until the words are said. And nobody ever knows how much time they have left to say the words. Love is a risk worth taking, to never take the chance is to deny yourself all over again. Tell her. Look at Billy and Sheena. I've only been here for a few hours, and I can see half a world away how much they love each other. Can you imagine what it would be like if they never found the courage to tell each other? Love like that doesn't come around every day, you have to take the chance while you can. Tell her."
"You sure you... I mean..." his voice trailed off.
"Now there's the Tommy I remember. When it comes to his heart, he stumbles over the words. Kat and I talked things out over the phone a long time ago, I'm the one who told her to go ahead and act on her feelings for you, if she really thought she loved you. And she does. But as much as she needs to say the words to you, you need to say them to her. You guys especially need to say it, you're still Power Rangers. You know the risks and responsibilities that brings. Mondo could be defeated five minutes from now, or one of you could be lost..." Kim was having trouble finding the words now, to voice her fears. "No one knows how much time they have, and being a Power Ranger makes the stakes even higher. I'm not saying that the two of you need to get married right on the spot like Billy and Sheena did, but you need to tell each other how you feel. And don't worry about me, it's all right with me. I couldn't pick a better couple." Kim laughed as they started to walk again. "Though you guys have quite a ways to go before you're as 'nauseatingly in love', to quote Jason, as Billy and Sheena." Tommy smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, who would have guessed Billy would be the first of us to get married?" Tommy's face clouded for a moment. He tried to hide it, but Kim spotted the change.
"There is something else bothering you, I thought there were some weird vibes. What's wrong? There isn't anything wrong between Sheena and Billy, is there?"
"No, no, it's nothing like that..." Tommy looked around, as if to make sure that no one else was around, especially no other Rangers. He pulled Kimberly over to a large shade tree to sit down, where they were completely out of sight. "Promise you won't say anything to anybody. Anybody." Kim started to protest, but nodded reluctantly.
"I promise. On one condition."
"What?"
"That whatever this is, you talk it out with the other Rangers later. It does have something to do with the team, doesn't it? What, is Sheena making waves or something? She seems really nice, a real team player. I've only talked to her for a short time and I feel like I've known her forever."
"No, Sheena's fine, great, wonderful, fantastic."
"Then I don't understand. You're not falling in love with her, are you?"
"No!" Tommy yelped, a bit louder than he'd intended. "No, I mean, I like her, I love her as a friend, and according to what we've learned about our ancestors, she and I are kind of distant cousins, in a way. Sheena's a wonderful addition to the team."
"Then I'm really confused." Tommy took a deep breath and charged ahead, if he didn't tell somebody about what he'd been thinking, feeling, he'd go crazy.
"How much do you know about the first Power Rangers?" Kim shook her head, and Tommy quickly gave her a basic rundown of how that first team of defenders had lined up.
"So, originally, the Silver Ranger was the leader of the Power Rangers. She - , Kahva, you say? She was the most powerful of the Rangers, and a great leader. So what does that have to do with Sheena and the Rangers now?" Kim was confused, why would the lineup of the Rangers over fifteen thousand years ago have an effect on the here and now?
Tommy paused, afraid to go on. But he had to. "Sheena is the most powerful Ranger on the team, that can't be denied. She comes up with great ideas, and she's saved all of us several times over. She's a natural leader, I've found myself depending more and more upon her to do things... I feel sometimes... like maybe the Rangers would be better off with her as the leader. I've been wondering if I should step down."
"What!" Kim had a hard time imagining anyone other than Tommy, or maybe Jason, as leader of the Rangers. Jason had been their first leader, and even after Zordon had made Tommy 'the leader' after he got his White Ranger powers, Jason had still been the unspoken leader. It was only after Jason, Trini, and Zack had left for the Peace Conference in Switzerland that Tommy had really stepped up into the leadership role, and he had filled it splendidly. "Tommy, what makes you think that? Being the strongest member doesn't make you a rightful leader. If that were true, we'd have dictators like Mondo in charge all over the world. Not that Sheena would be a dictator, I mean, but there's more to being a leader than sheer strength."
"I know. And that's why I'm so confused. I'm not thinking of handing over leadership because she's simply the strongest, it's because she has so many qualities that would make her a good leader. I've had so much on my mind the past year or so, and I haven't handled most of it well. It's even flowed over into my Ranger duties, there have been times where I've been so distracted that I could've put the team at risk. My friends at risk. In fact, I think I did. A good leader also knows when to step down, and let somebody else take over. When Jason first came back, he made it clear to me that he didn't want to be leader again, he felt he'd been out of the loop too long. He also didn't want anyone to think he was trying to make things the way they used to be. If Sheena wasn't here, though, he'd be the first one I'd consider. He and Billy. Kim, Billy got us through so much after Master Vile turned time back, and when Zedd and Rita took over again he risked so much, without powers to protect him, he could've been crippled, killed, imprisoned forever... I don't want to think about what would've happened to us without him. I don't want to think about what it would be like to lose him. He's like a brother to me, to all of us." Tommy plucked blades of grass, trying to put his thoughts together. "I want to do what's best for the team, but I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to slight Jason, he's deserving of leadership, so is Billy. But Sheena is so good. And I don't want to make it seem like I would be handing the reins over to her just for the sake of tradition, or because she's older than the rest of us, or because she's married to Billy. And to put anyone else in the position of leadership puts them at a great risk. Jason knows that, he was Zedd and Rita's target so many times while he was leader. I've been the target more times than I can count. Billy just automatically stepped up to take charge when I couldn't, when the rest of us were still affected by the time warp, and Zedd and Rita went after him, trying to keep him from putting the crystal back together. He knows the risk too. But Sheena hasn't been on the team long enough to know how much she would be targeted if she were leader. It isn't fair to put her in the middle of the bull's eye like that."
Tommy stopped pulling the grass, he'd already cleared a small patch of ground. "But to have her be the leader feels - so right, like it's what I need to do. I don't know, I'm all mixed up. I can't think straight, everything is all turned and twisted inside. And I know that whatever I decide, unless it threatens the safety of the team, the others won't say anything openly against it. I don't know what to do, I have no clue," he finished helplessly. Kim was quiet for a long time, thinking over what had been said.
"Tommy, you have to do what your heart tells you is the right thing to do. Trust in your feelings. You're the leader of the Power Rangers, and unless you're completely incompetent, they aren't going to challenge you. And you're not incompetent. Zordon would have never chosen you if you were. This is a decision you have to make on your own."
"But I'm so mixed up right now, I can't! I can't think straight about it, my mind and heart get all jumbled up. I've tried workouts, sparring, long hot showers, and longer walks alone to try and clear my mind, to calm myself, but nothing's working." Kim searched for the right words to say, but couldn't find them. The beep of Tommy's communicator kept her from getting any closer.
"Yes, Zordon?"
MONDO HAS SENT DOWN THE DECHARGER AND SQUAD OF COGS AGAIN, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK FROM YOU AND KIMBERLY. THIS TIME IT SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO ATTACK CIVILIANS, NOT JUST SCARE THEM AND DESTROY PROPERTY. KIMBERLY, PREPARE FOR TRANSPORTATION BACK TO THE POWER CHAMBER.
Kimberly and Tommy got up, but before Kim stepped away she whispered to Tommy, "You will make the right decision, I know you will. When your mind is clear and calm, you'll find the answers you need. In the meantime, don't forget. Tell Kat you love her." In her normal voice, Kim spoke into Tommy's communicator. "We're clear, Zordon, I'm ready. Be careful," she said to Tommy, just before she disappeared in a swirl of white.
Tommy exhaled, trying to calm himself. "Thanks for listening, Kim. It's morphin' time! Zeo Ranger V, Red!"
Tommy found himself in the midst of a sheer panic. There were several civilians here, a church group had been having a picnic evidently. The other Rangers arrived a second after he did. "Silver! You and Sapphire get these people out of here! Blue, Yellow, Pink, get the Cogs! Gold, you're with me, we've got to keep the Decharger from grabbing anyone else!" Everyone automatically went into action, doing what they did best: defending the Earth and her people. "How's Green doing?" Tommy asked Jason as they ran over to the Decharger.
"He'll be okay, but he's too weak to fight now. Zordon wouldn't let him leave. Neither would we," Jason grinned under his helmet. The slight humor went out of his voice as he saw who the Decharger was holding. It was Emily. "Let her go!"
"Gladly, 'Brass Ranger'," the monster sneered. "She doesn't have as much energy as one of you, anyway." He dropped Emily, she collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Jason rushed over and gathered her up.
"She's unconscious, but OK, I think."
"Get her to the hospital and get back here as soon as you can!" Tommy ordered. Jason teleported away with Emily as Tommy faced the Decharger alone. Sheena and Billy had evacuated the civilians, now they were helping the other Rangers fight off the Cogs. "Don't you know when to quit?"
"On the contrary, Red Ranger, I know exactly when to quit. Do you?"
"What?" Tommy was frozen in his tracks. Had Mondo been listening to his talk with Kim? The thought was literally knocked out of his mind as the monster threw him back with a single swipe of a tentacle, then started after the others, his target: Billy. "Billy, watch out!" Tommy screamed, but Decharger had already shot out a tentacle and grabbed Billy from behind. This was the first time that the monster had grabbed one of the three Rangers whose power didn't come directly from the Zeo Crystal, and it showed. The monster glowed a dark blue as Billy screamed and writhed in pain, the monster draining him just as it had Tommy, Kat, and Adam before him. Tommy struggled to his feet, he had to get that thing away from Billy. He'd just been telling Kim how Billy was like a brother, now that brother was in danger. Tommy cursed himself mentally for being so slow to react.
"Tanya, Rocky, distract him, Kat, you're with - Tommy! Are you okay?" It was Sheena.
Tommy nodded, then shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Just a little dizzy, he sent me flying. Didn't try to drain me, though. Weird. Jason should be back soon, he had to get Emily to the hospital."
"OK. Kat, you and Tommy be ready to pull Billy away, I'm going to try and loosen Decharger's grip." Sheena started in on Decharger's blind side, then pulled out the Silver Sword. she charged the monster, landing a blow on the monster's 'shoulder' of the tentacle that held Billy. Her sword bit into metal, went part of the way into it, then stopped. But that blow had been enough, the monster's grip on the now unconscious Billy slipped just enough for Kat and Tommy to pull him to safety. The monster pulled away from Sheena's sword, then managed to swing another tentacle at her. She dodged it easily with a flip, but it had served Decharger's purpose. Just as Jason teleported back into the battle, Decharger wrapped one of its other tentacles around Tanya and started to drain her.
"Tanya!" Sheena yelled. "Jason, hit it in the shoulder with your staff, that's a weak point!"
"Right!" Jason replied. "Power Staff!" His weapon appeared and he struck the monster in the shoulder all in one movement. He didn't cause as much damage as Sheena had with her sword, but he did dent its shoulder. The monster turned and laughed at the Rangers.
"You can't stop me, puny humans!" Tanya continued to struggle in its grip.
"Want to bet?" Jason leapt again at the monster, striking its shoulder again. This time, the monster loosened its grip on Tanya, and Rocky and Sheena could pull her away. "Call me 'Brass Ranger' will you?"
"Your time will come," the monster answered with a laugh, looking at Jason, Rocky, and Sheena. "For all of you." Before anyone could move, the monster and the Cogs vanished.
"I'm really getting tired of the hit and runs, you know," Jason sighed as they all demorphed back at the Power Chamber. Kat and Rocky were helping Alpha settle Billy and Tanya on the other two examining tables. "I mean, just what is with that? And why did he go after regular people and drain them? Emily's going to be in the hospital for the rest of the week. We can recover more quickly, we've got our powers to protect us and help us heal faster, but nobody else has that protection. Why did he do it?"
Sheena turned from watching Billy on the table and moved to Jason, trying to comfort him. "I wish I had answers for you, Jason." Sheena looked at Tommy for a sign of confirmation, then continued, "Why don't you go to the hospital and stay with Emily for a while? We'll call if Decharger shows up again." Jason looked at all the Rangers, three of them on examination tables, his gaze stopping on Billy, the first one of them that had been rendered unconscious by Decharger's attack. First Emily, now Billy. He wanted to rip apart that monster with his bare hands! Sheena put her hands on his shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. "Blind anger won't help anyone, not Emily, not Billy, not you. It will only blind us to what he's up to." Jason looked at Billy again, then Sheena. "That's the first lesson ki-see teaches. Never let your emotions interfere with your job."
"You're right." He hugged her, then moved away, preparing to teleport. "Call me the moment anything happens."
"Will do." Jason teleported away, and Sheena moved back to Billy, holding his hand. "C'mon Billy, wake up." After a few minutes, Billy finally revived and smiled weakly at Sheena. Kat and Rocky were with Tanya, Adam had insisted on going to her, though he still needed to rest himself. They brought him up to speed on what had happened, and after Sheena tenderly kissed Billy before he fell into a deep sleep, she joined them to check on Tanya. They were all discussing this recent attack, puzzled over why the attack had gone the way it had. Tanya wasn't in as bad a shape as Adam, Kat, or Tommy had been, the only reason anyone could come up with was that the monster had already absorbed what energy from Emily she had, then a tremendous amount from Billy, which was why he was so weak. They continued to puzzle over everything while Kimberly applied salve to Tommy's back, which was cut and bruised from where the monster had knocked him aside. He spoke softly to Kim for the first time since teleporting back after the fight.
"See what I mean? She took charge out there, like she was born to it. I was too slow, if I had warned Billy sooner, he -" Kimberly shushed him, then walked around to face him.
"It's not your fault. I watched the fight on the viewing globe, that monster seemed to know exactly who he wanted to go after the whole time. I've got a feeling that he would've gotten Billy and Tanya even if they had eyes in the back of their helmets. There's nothing anyone could have done." Tommy didn't look convinced as Sheena and Kat came over.
"Tommy, you okay? You've been awfully quiet." Sheena frowned, she was worried about their leader. Kat moved behind Tommy to check his back for herself.
"I'm okay, just going to be sore for a while. Good job out there, Sheena."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm sorry for jumping in like that, I didn't mean to try and take over out there."
"It's OK, you did the right thing. Thanks to you, we know a weak point on the Decharger now, his shoulders. The joints are not as well protected as the rest of him. If we just knew what he was up to..." Tommy's voice trailed off as Kat hugged him, trying to reassure him. What do I do now? he wondered. The monster was slowly wearing them down, and he didn't know how much more they could take.
Mondo congratulated his latest creation. "Excellent work, Decharger! Five of the Rangers have fallen, the others will fall soon!"
"I am glad you are pleased, my Master. Did you see how uncertain the Red Ranger was? It was child's play to get past him to go after the Sapphire Ranger," the monster gloated.
"Yes, I did. I don't know what is going on with that human, but I intend to keep an eye on him. We may find something we can use for our purposes there." Mondo turned to stare greedily at the Earth, visible through one of the Skybase's portals. "Keep them guessing, Decharger. The fall of the Rangers will happen soon, it's only a matter of time."
The rest of the week went just like it had started, Cogs would come down for a hit and run, the Rangers would fight them off, only to have Decharger show up as usual. He drained Rocky, Jason, then Sheena in the final battle. And just like he had with Billy, the Decharger drained more power from Jason and Sheena than he had the others. Zordon agreed with the Rangers, since Jason, Billy, and Sheena's powers had slightly different sources than the other Rangers, and were older powers that hadn't been used as much over thousands of years, the Decharger was draining them more. But as with each Ranger, they had been rendered weak for only a day, no more. After that, each one was pretty much back to normal, if a bit sore. And everyone was getting tired from the hit and runs. It seemed the week had only started when it was over and Kimberly had to fly back to Florida. All the Rangers went to the airport bright and early in the morning to see her off. She was about to head down the hallway to go to her flight, when Sheena stopped her, to talk to her alone for a quick minute.
"Kim, it's been so nice to get to know you this week, I feel like I've known you forever, and not because of a TV show." She glanced over her shoulder at Tommy, but he and the other Rangers were already moving to a place where they could watch Kim's plane take off. "Is everything OK between you and Tommy? He's been acting a little weird this week."
"We're fine, we got everything talked out that first day. He's just got a lot on his mind. Give him some time, he'll be okay." Kim hated not saying more, but it was not her place, Tommy was the one who would have to talk to the Rangers when the time came. "I think I've maybe got an idea that will help him. I'm going to have something sent to him. Tell everybody that it will be here later today, I think I'll have it sent to the Juice Bar."
"OK. What is it?"
Kim laughed. "That's for Tommy to find out first, I'll call him after I make the arrangements. That, and I haven't completely decided what I'm going to do just yet, but I've got a general idea." Sheena looked like she was about to burst. "What? What is it?"
"Will you be one of my bridesmaids at our wedding?" the words rushed out. "I'm sorry, I meant to do that with a little more control. But I'd really like for you to be one of the bridesmaids, if you can."
Kimberly blushed. "I'd be honored, Sheena. I have to admit, I'm surprised, but I'm honored. When will the wedding be? Your 'real one', that is?"
"In six months. We're planning on telling Billy's parents soon, but all the battles recently have kind of thrown us for a loop. We want to wait for things to settle a bit, so we can concentrate on how to tell them we want to be married. Oh, Kim, thanks so much, you don't know how much this means to me!" The girls hugged happily.
"Who is going to be your maid of honor?"
"I haven't decided yet, it's a hard choice. I don't -"
"Flight 315 for Miami, Florida, last call at Gate 12."
"That's me, I've got to go. Take care, Sheena!" Kim waved and ran down the hall to her plane. Sheena joined the others at the observation window, and they could all see Kim a few minutes later, waving to them through her window on the plane. Sheena smiled, she and Kim had become fast friends. She had agreed to be a bridesmaid, just like Sheena had hoped. If only picking a maid of honor could be so easy...
Kimberly rushed to her room as soon as she could, anxious to call the nursery in Angel Grove. She had just the thing to help Tommy calm down and focus, she'd made up her mind on the plane. She was going to get Tommy a bonsai tree, something that he would have to have patience to work on. Patience and calm that would hopefully rub off into other areas of his life. Patience and calm that would hopefully help him decide what to do about the leadership of the Rangers. She called the nursery and told them to deliver the tree to the Juice Bar, already potted and ready to go. She picked a Joshua Tree, she felt it would do the best in Angel Grove's climate and should hold up to Tommy's lack of a green thumb. "I hope this works," she thought as she hung up the phone, then called Tommy to let him know what she had done.
Mondo watched Kimberly as she called from Florida to place her order with the Angel grove nursery. "So she's going to try and turn Tommy into a gardener, is she? When I'm through with him, he'll be so calm and still he won't be able to do anything! Klank!"
"Yes, milord?"
"Make a poison that we can put into Kimberly's little gift for Tommy. Something that will dull his responses and his mind. I don't want him to be able to lift a finger, much less lead the Rangers! As a matter of fact, if this works, I'll use it on every human on the planet! With their minds dulled, they won't be able to resist my orders, no matter how hard they try!"
"I can make the poison, milord, but since the tree is organic, it will kill the tree."
"I don't care what happens to a stupid tree, Klank!"
"Yes, I know, my liege, but if the tree dies, then Tommy will suspect something and not handle the tree, which will be necessary for the poison to get into his body." Mondo considered this problem.
"Make a phony tree, one that looks just like the real one. After Tommy gets the tree, we'll send down a platoon of Cogs to distract him and switch the trees. Get to work on it now, Klank!"
"Yes, milord."
"And Klank? Don't mess up this time!"
Tommy had just walked into the Juice Bar when Ernie called him over. "Got a package for you here, Tommy!" Ernie placed a cardboard box on the counter, not more than two feet tall.
"So what is it?" Rocky asked. "Just what did Kim send you?"
"A bonsai tree."
"You mean like in the movies?"
"Something like that," Tommy frowned. He knew that Kim was trying to help him focus, but he wasn't a gardener. Why was she sending a tree of all things? Billy walked in just as Tommy took the tree out of the box and heard Rocky's question.
"Kat said I'd find you here, that Kim's gift had arrived. Which species did she send, Tommy?"
"What do you mean, which species? A bonsai tree is a bonsai tree, right?" Rocky was confused now. "I mean, that's what they call them, so that's what they are, right?"
Billy laughed as he got a closer look at the small tree, already potted properly. Kim must have told the nursery to deliver it ready to go. Ernie had already taken the box to the recycling bin. "There are several kinds of trees that can be used for bonsai. Bonsai is more the art of tending, pruning, and caring for the trees. It deals with harmony..." Billy continued his explanation as the guys left and headed for Billy's lab. As he listened, Tommy realized just why Kim had sent the tree. The art of bonsai did have to deal with the harmony of nature, and man trying to mold it, without looking as if he were molding it. It seemed like a contradiction in terms, but the spiritual side was what Kim was aiming for in sending her gift. Just as one tried to find the balance and harmony in bonsai, he needed to find the balance and harmony in his mind, heart, and soul. He needed to be calm and focused, so he could find the answers he needed. But how could he be calm with the Decharger around? How could he be calm not knowing what to do about the Rangers? Rocky's hand on his arm broke his thoughts.
"Cogs!" Tommy looked around to find that they were surrounded.
"Great. Now what?" he muttered.
Mondo watched, he had waited until the Rangers were out in the open. "Klank! Hurry up with my tree!"
"It is ready, milord. I shall teleport down now." Klank vanished with the poisonous copy of Tommy's bonsai. Mondo actually laughed as he continued to watch the battle on Earth.
"Oh, you'll have plenty of time to think about things now, Red Ranger. All the time in the world, trapped inside your own body."
Tommy put down the tree just as three Cogs leapt at him, knocking him down. "Morph, guys!"
"Right!" Billy and Rocky called, but they never got the chance. Each boy was promptly tackled by three Cogs each, and had to fight them off before they could even try to morph. None of the guys saw Klank teleported down by Tommy's tree and exchange it with the fake one. He was there and gone in a few seconds, and shortly after, so were the Cogs. The guys picked themselves up off of the ground, shaking off leaves and dirt. Rocky's jeans were torn from where the Cogs had shoved him onto the sidewalk.
"Aw, man, not again! My mom must think I'm the clumsiest guy in the world! That's the third pair of jeans this month! She's gonna kill me." Billy helped Tommy up as Rocky lamented about his jeans, then they all looked for the bonsai tree, which was exactly where Tommy had placed it, amazingly enough. "What was that all about anyway? It's not like the Cogs to do a hit and run. I mean, not without the Decharger showing up, or them stealing something. They must have wanted something." Rocky brushed the last of the dirt off his jeans. "I've got to get home and try to patch these up before Mom sees them. I'll meet up with you guys at Billy's later, OK?"
"See ya, Roc. And don't worry too much about your mom. Mine has finally gotten used to the rips in my jeans." Tommy watched as Rocky jogged off in the direction of his house. He was right, it wasn't like the Cogs to hit and run without the Decharger showing up. What had they wanted?
"You okay Tommy?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be better if we can figure out just what Mondo is up to, though. Let's get over to your place before anything else happens." Billy and Tommy continued on the way to Billy's lab, not noticing that the tree was glinting slightly in the sun.
Mondo was giggling with glee now, something that Klank had never thought he would ever see. "I take it you're pleased, sire?"
"Oh, yes, Klank, for once you've done something perfectly. They won't know what hit them until it's too late." Mondo would've scowled at the real tree Klank was holding if he could. "Get that stupid tree out of here, I hate real plants."
"Yes, sire. At once, sire." Klank went to the nearby furnace and tossed the tree in. It was incinerated instantly. Klank could feel his pride swelling, he had outdone himself this time. He had created the tree so precisely, mimicked every line and curve. And had put a little surprise of his own into it, to insure it carried out its mission: the poisoning of the Red Ranger.
After calling Kim to thank her for her gift, but not telling her about the Cog attack, Tommy sat down at the table with a pair of pruning shears that Billy had found for him and stared at the little tree. He was amazed that it hadn't been damaged in the fight. But now that he had it here, safe in Billy's lab, he had no idea what to do with it.
"It won't get pruned by itself, you know," Billy teased. He was busying himself with the carcass of what was going to be a china cabinet for the house that his Uncle John had announced he was thinking about renting. Billy had planned for the cabinet to be for Sheena and himself, but they hadn't announced their 'engagement' to his parents yet, so when John had seen all the wood and the frame, he asked Billy if he could make a china cabinet for the house. Billy agreed, to say no to Uncle John was unthinkable. And if he had, then he would've had to explain to his uncle that he and Sheena were 'engaged', and to do that before even telling his parents... Billy didn't even want to think about what that little scene would've been like. Billy walked over to Tommy, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just let the tree 'tell' you where to start. Follow its form and let it guide you. Clear your mind, center yourself."
"Easy for you to say. What do you think the Cogs were up to?"
"I don't know, Rocky's right, it was weird. But everything Mondo has done lately has been weird, even for him. And you're stalling. Working on the tree will help calm you, and maybe you'll find some answers." Tommy's hand stopped just above the tree. Did Billy know what was bothering him? That he was wondering whether or not to hand over leadership of the Rangers to his friend's wife?
"Answers?"
"Yeah, maybe you'll get an idea about what Mondo is up to." Billy looked closely at Tommy. "You really do need to do something to calm yourself, your hand is shaking. Are you all right?"
Tommy stilled his hand with effort, he hoped it didn't show too much. "Yeah, I'm fine." He laughed nervously and tried to throw Billy off. "I guess I'm just afraid that this thing is going to bite me or something." Billy laughed and shook his head, turning back to the china cabinet. Tommy exhaled in relief, Billy didn't suspect anything, or if he did, he wasn't saying. Either way, Tommy was glad. He steeled himself, and started for the closest branch of the tree. "All right, here goes nothing." He closed the shears on the branch - and nothing happened. The branch didn't cut. He pulled the shears away and looked closely at the branch. There wasn't even a scratch. "That's weird," he muttered. Tommy tried again, putting more pressure on the shears. "Hey, Billy, this thing won't cut the branches."
"You're kidding. Mom just sharpened those things yesterday."
"I'm telling you, it won't cut - ow!" Tommy dropped the shears in pain, the branch he'd been trying to cut had wrapped itself around his fingers. Blood slowly trickled from where the 'leaves' were biting into his flesh. "Billy! Get this thing off me!"
"What!" Billy rushed over, grabbing the shears that Tommy had dropped. "Hold still." Billy tried to cut the branch with the shears, but had no better luck than Tommy.
"Be careful, it might stick you, too," Tommy warned. Billy searched through his toolbox and pulled out a pair of wire cutters.
"Sorry, didn't schedule getting bitten by a plant today. Perhaps tomorrow?" he joked, then frowned. Tommy was turning a bit pale. "These should do it, hang in there." Billy put as much pressure as he could on the wire cutters, and finally the branch was cut with a metallic sounding snap. Billy put on a pair of gardening gloves and carefully unwrapped the rest of the branch from Tommy's finger, a piece about two inches long. A greenish liquid was oozing from it, and from the tree at the cut. Tommy's finger was angry and red where the branch had punctured him. "We need to get you to the Power Chamber, and the tree. Something's not right, trees don't act like Venus Flytraps."
"That's what Mondo was up to, has to be. He's done something to the tree." Tommy shook his hand, there was a weird numb feeling in it, starting from where he'd been pricked. "But why? He's got the Decharger running around loose, why mess with a tree?"
"Remember, the Decharger has drained each one of us once each. He hasn't attacked since. Maybe Mondo's trying a new tactic, by going after you." Billy had grabbed his first aid kit and was applying a quick bandage to Tommy's injury.
"Why me?"
Billy gave a dry laugh. "You have to ask? You're the leader of the Power Rangers. Might as well paint a bull's eye on your back." Tommy stared at Billy, he had said those same words to Kim. "That's the only thing I can think of. Come on, we need to go."
Up in the Skybase, Mondo laughed with delight. "Can't figure it out, can you, Rangers? Klank! Send down a squad of Cogs to attack Tommy and Billy immediately! I don't want them find out my tree's secret just yet. They'll know soon enough."
Billy was just closing his first aid kit when Tommy pointed behind him. "Cogs! Billy, look out!"
"What? Hey!" Three Cogs had already grabbed Billy from behind, holding his arms to prevent him from fighting them off, a fourth was closing in. "Sapphire - mmph!" The fourth Cog roughly shoved a gag into Billy's mouth before he could call on his power. They had learned long ago that though the other Rangers needed their Zeonizers to morph, Sheena and Billy only needed to call on their powers verbally. So their tactics in dealing with them had changed, they usually tried to keep Billy and Sheena so busy that they didn't have time to morph. The gag was a new trick, however, and one that disturbed Tommy as he made himself move in to try and help his friend. Were they trying to kidnap Billy now? As Tommy struggled, he found himself noticing two things. He was having more trouble with two Cogs than he should be. He was the more experienced fighter of the two, he'd had more training than Billy, but Billy was putting up more of a struggle than he himself seemed to be able to. And there were a few other Cogs trashing Billy's lab. Why was that? Tommy concentrated his efforts and finally broke free of his attackers.
"Zeo Ranger V, Red!" As soon as he morphed, Tommy felt better, or at least back to normal. He felt his body responding the way it should in a fight, not slowed down like it had moments before. The Cogs seemed to notice the change as well, they renewed their efforts to subdue Tommy. The four Cogs that had been holding Billy had him tied up in a net now, his arms firmly bound, keeping him from removing the gag while they started to drag him away. Tommy fought his way to him as best he could, the Cogs seemed intent on taking Billy with them. "Let him go, metal heads!"
"You heard the man, let him go!" Rocky had just arrived and had promptly morphed when he spotted the Cogs, tackling the nearest one. The Cogs that had been taking Billy away threw the helpless Ranger at his teammates, sending all three of them to the ground, then teleported away. Tommy and Rocky untangled themselves from Billy, powered down, and worked on freeing him from the net. It took a few minutes, but finally Billy was free and pulling the gag out of his mouth.
Thanks, guys. That's something they haven't tried before. Not sure I like being trussed up like that." Billy winced as he turned his head, and started to rub his neck.
"You okay, Billy?" Tommy was worried, he hadn't been able to warn Billy as quickly as he'd tried to, and it had nearly gotten him kidnapped. If it hadn't been for Rocky showing up when he did... Tommy shoved the thought from his mind as he and Rocky helped Billy to stand.
"I think I'll be okay, but when they gagged me, they wrenched my neck pretty badly. It really hurts right now. I guess that's two of us that need to get checked out at the Power Chamber."
"Two?" Rocky asked. "What's wrong, Tommy? Are you okay?"
"Billy's the one who's really hurt, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just got bitten or something by that bonsai tree - where is it?" Tommy walked into the mess of Billy's lab. Everything was smashed or on the floor, the china cabinet Billy had been working on was kindling now. But the tree was nowhere to be found. "That's why they attacked, they wanted to get the tree back. I guess they tried for Billy, too, so he couldn't figure out what made it prick me like it did."
"Or they were using me as a distraction, so you wouldn't see them taking the tree and stop them. Either way, they've got at least one thing they were after, the tree. We've got to get to the Power Chamber, guys. I don't like this one bit." The three Rangers teleported to the Power Chamber and were greeted by a worried Alpha. Zordon was not visible in his warp.
"Ay-yi-yi-yi! Are you all right, Rangers? Zordon and I have been searching for more information on the Decharger, so I didn't see the attack until it was over. I'm sorry, I should've kept a closer eye on all of you," the little robot fretted.
"Billy's neck was wrenched in the fight, and Tommy was pricked by his bonsai tree, but other than that, we're all okay Alpha, don't worry. You can't be watching all of us all of the time, even though you are a robot." Rocky patted Alpha's shoulder reassuringly.
"Let's get Billy's neck checked, Alpha, they might have pulled a muscle or something when they grabbed him." Tommy felt a little silly. Billy had been in the most danger, all he had were a few little pricks on his finger, it wasn't even bleeding now. The other Rangers teleported in, all clamoring for answers. After Rocky filled everybody in on what had happened after they had left the Juice Bar, Alpha determined that Billy did have a strained muscle in his neck.
"It's going to be stiff and sore for a while, Billy, but nothing too serious. Be sure to take some ibuprofen every four to six hours, that will take the edge off the pain."
"Yes, sir, Doctor Alpha," Billy stiffly saluted his metallic friend, then immediately wished he hadn't. The pain had started to travel into his shoulder.
"Sit still, I think I can take care of that," Sheena ordered. She gently started to massage Billy's neck and shoulders for a few minutes and as everyone watched, Billy's face showed the difference as the pain started to ease. "How's that?"
"Thanks sweetie, that does help."
"A friend of mine from back home taught me. The only person I've ever known who can massage even some of the worst pain and headaches away."
"Really? Which one?"
"Umm, well -" Sheena suddenly found herself stumbling for words. She hadn't talked much about her friends, about her best friend, since she'd met the Rangers, and couldn't bring herself to talk about them just then. Tommy's paling face caught her eye, and all thoughts of home were banished. "Tommy? Tommy, what's wrong, you're as white as a sheet!"
It took a few seconds before Tommy could answer, long enough for Rocky and Kat to make him lie down on one of the examining tables. "I'm okay, really, I just got pricked by that stupid tree. It's nothing."
LET US BE THE JUDGE OF THAT, TOMMY. Zordon was back in his warp. Tommy wondered how long he had been listening to them. ALPHA, BEGIN A SCAN OF TOMMY'S VITAL SIGNS IMMEDIATELY. BILLY, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE TREE? DO YOU STILL HAVE IT? Billy quickly explained what had happened in the lab, and that the Cogs had apparently taken the tree with them during the attack.
"But what could Mondo want with a tree?" Tanya wondered.
"I still think that he's been after Tommy this whole time, from the moment he got the tree. I touched the branches myself while Tommy was talking to Kim on the phone after we got to my lab. They didn't prick me." Tommy looked at Billy curiously. "You didn't see me, and I didn't think anything of it till now. If the tree was to poison the first Ranger who touched it, or any Ranger, then it would've pricked me. But it only pricked Tommy. It didn't try to prick me when I was cutting the branch off, either."
"The question remains, what is Mondo up to?"
"I don't know, Sheena. I wish I did. Alpha, do your scans show anything?"
"No, not exactly, Billy."
"What do you mean, 'not exactly', Alpha? What do they show?"
"Tommy's perfectly fine except for the pricks on his fingers. But his pulse rate is a bit slower than normal, considering he's just been in a fight."
"I feel like I'm slower, mentally and physically. The only time I felt up to normal speed was after I morphed," Tommy finally admitted. "I tried to warn you about the Cogs behind you, but it was like I couldn't get the words out for a second or so."
ALPHA, WE NEED TO RUN SOME TESTS ON TOMMY'S BLOOD. I FEAR THAT THE TREE MAY HAVE POISONED HIM. TOMMY, IT WOULD BE SAFER FOR YOU TO REMAIN HERE FOR NOW.
"Won't get any arguments from me, some sleep right now sounds pretty good." Tommy settled down on the table as Alpha prepared to draw some blood for testing. "Hey Jase, how's Emily? Did she get out of the hospital today?"
"She's okay, Ernie has told her not to come in to work for another week, though. Physically she's almost up to speed, but she's still a little spooked." Jason hit the table Billy was sitting on with his fist, jarring it. The vibration made Billy wince and rub his neck. "I'd really like to get a hold of Mondo and - oh, man, I'm sorry, Billy. I wasn't thinking."
"Don't worry, it was an accident. Mondo's attacks have got us all on edge."
RANGERS, ALL OF YOU NEED TO TRY AND REST. MONDO'S ATTACKS HAVE WORN ON ALL OF YOU, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY. YOU NEED TO BE AS RESTED AS POSSIBLE, FOR I FEAR HIS WORST IS YET TO COME. WE WILL CALL YOU THE MOMENT WE KNOW MORE. Reluctantly, the Rangers all left except for Tommy, Billy, and Sheena. Billy only laid down to rest after Alpha promised to wake him if Tommy's condition changed, and Sheena only agreed to go to her quarters and rest after Alpha made her the same promise about Billy and Tommy. Tommy caught her hand as she walked by.
"Tommy? Something I can get for you? Anything at all?" she asked. He shook his head. He was finding it a little harder to concentrate, and tried to hide the little mental battle he was fighting to simply talk to her.
"Make me a promise, Sheena."
"Anything."
"If whatever that's going on with me slows me down too much, I want you to take over the Rangers. I want you to be the leader." Sheena started to protest, but Tommy cut her off somehow. "Face it, I'm having trouble just talking, much less giving orders. Promise me, Sheena. If you have to, take over." She was quiet, solemn. For a moment, Tommy feared she would say no.
Sheena nodded. "I promise." She patted Tommy's hand, he was already drifting off to sleep. Billy's breathing had slowed a bit, he was finally asleep too. Sheena went to her quarters and tried to relax, but couldn't. She pulled a small photo album from her purse and automatically opened it to two pictures. The first was the one she had been looking at on that fateful day when the Cogs had captured her and taken her to King Mondo. But it was the second one that held her attention now, it was of her and her best friend. "What do I do now?" she asked the photographic image of her friend. "I'm not a leader." The image didn't answer, it couldn't, of course. Sheena finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, still clutching the album tightly.
Klank heard an odd noise coming from the throne room, he thought perhaps some piece of hardware had started to malfunction. Much to his surprise, the noise was coming from King Mondo himself! "Sire, I dinna want to bother you... sire? I say, Your Nastiness, are you feeling all right?" Mondo continued to make the odd sound and Klank wondered if he should call Queen Machina. "Sire? Are you... humming, sire?"
"Yes, I am, Klank, thanks to you! You've done splendidly this time! Tell me, what made you think of using the Sapphire Ranger as a distraction while the Cogs recovered my poison bonsai? Tommy and Rocky were so worried the Cogs were kidnapping him, they never saw us take the tree!"
Klank gulped, then hurried to cover his nervousness. Actually, he had told the Cogs to kidnap Billy also, but they had panicked when Rocky had shown up and left Billy behind instead. Klank hadn't wanted to take the chance that Billy could find an antidote to the poison. But he wasn't about to let Mondo know any differently. "Uh, it was... a sudden inspiration, sire! I, uh, knew that Tommy would be so worried about Billy that he wouldn't see us recovering the tree. The Blue Ranger was distracted also, when he showed up. I thought you would be pleased, milord."
"Oh, I am, Klank. Tell me, how long before Tommy is completely overwhelmed by my poison?"
"Well, sire, if he had stayed in his Red Ranger form, the poison wouldn't have really started to slow him down until about twenty-four hours after the tree pricked him. After that, if he stayed morphed the entire time, the poison would permanently incapacitate him in three days."
"Permanently?"
"Yes, sire, in the dose he received, the poison's effects would be irreversible after three full days. He would be in a waking coma for the rest of his life. You see, sire, the poison is designed to interfere with a human's nervous system, slowly blocking the synapses until only just enough information is getting through to keep their body alive. Just as you requested, sire, he'll be trapped inside his own body, unable to even whimper, much less lead the Rangers. Since he powered down after the Cog attack, and is most likely still powered down, the poison is traveling through his system faster, though he may not be able to tell the difference at the moment. Even if he powers up again, I estimate that now he has only a day and a half before he's done for."
"Yes! Well done, Klank. But tell me, will I still be able to use the poison to enslave all of mankind?"
"Oh yes, sire. All we have to do is make the tree the size of a normal tree, and plant it near Angel Grove's water plant. Its roots will start to slowly travel through the earth, undetected, and make their way into the water supply. Once they reach it, they will release the poison into the water. The poison will be diluted, and each person who drinks the water will receive enough to have their senses dulled, and leave them vulnerable to say, a hypnotic suggestion that you could broadcast. They will be aware of everything, but unable to resist. And the humans will know that the Power Rangers have been defeated and can't save them. We can poison the entire Earth's water supply in a matter of days."
"I like this, Klank! But we must make sure that the Rangers aren't able to stop us from planting the tree. Decharger! Decharger, come here at once!" Mondo's monster appeared, ready for battle.
"Yes, milord?"
"Tomorrow morning, I will send down a squad of Cogs to draw the Rangers out into battle. When they least expect it, you will go down and fight them, but don't drain them. You've stolen enough energy for our purposes. Keep them busy while Klank plants my tree. And try to battle the Red Ranger one last time. I want his last moments of movement to be the most sorrowful moments of his life! I want him to collapse, knowing that he can't fight, he can't lead, his Ranger friends will be defeated, and there's nothing he can do about it!" Decharger bowed and left the throne room, he was ready to serve his master. Mondo turned back to Klank. "Klank, there's one thing that worries me. What if the Rangers try to destroy my tree? You can't let that happen, Klank!"
Klank was thoughtful for a moment, if the Rangers ever got a sample of the poison, then that interfering Billy might be able to make an antidote for Tommy in time. Klank couldn't let that happen, not when everything was going so well... "Yer Majesty, I've got it. I programmed the tree to attack only Tommy, to make sure he was the one who was poisoned, I can reprogram it to attack anyone who gets too close. If it is an ordinary human, they will be instantly killed, of course, the strength of the poison is increased with the dosage, the dosage is increased with the size of the tree -"
"Klank, don't patronize me, do you think I'm stupid! Of course the tree puts out more poison if it is bigger! What about if a Ranger gets too close?"
"If they are not using their Ranger powers when the tree attacks them, then they will have only a few hours before they are in the same shape as their leader. If they are using their Ranger powers, then they will have a day at most. But if they power down during that time, then their time will run out faster. The Rangers will be unable to stop us, sire, I promise. You will be victorious!"
"I had better be, Klank. Or else, you are the one who will have to explain why you failed me."
"Y-Yes, sire."
Tommy was a bit confused when he woke up, where was he? Then he remembered: the tree, the Cog attack, the Cogs taking Billy... "Billy?"
The Sapphire Ranger turned from the microscope he'd been hunched over for three hours already, thought it was only seven in the morning. "Hey Tommy, how are you feeling?" Billy was cautiously straightening up and turning his head, his neck was still bothering him a bit. Tommy slowly got off of the examining table he'd slept on and went to his friend.
"Other than few cobwebs, I feel OK, I guess. Oh, man, I didn't call my parents, they're gonna freak!" Billy put a hand on Tommy's shoulder to calm him.
"Don't worry, the others took care of that. Alpha told me that Adam and Rocky called David after they left and told him what happened. Mr. Trueheart is out of town, so David called your folks and mine and told them that we were staying over with him at the reservation, 'to keep him company'. Adam contacted Alpha and let him know that everything was covered. Don't worry, we shouldn't get skinned alive by our folks." Billy grinned at Tommy, the leader of the Rangers couldn't have looked more relieved. "Your brother knowing who we are comes in handy."
"Knowing who we are or not, I'm just glad I found him." As Billy turned back to the microscope, Tommy's face clouded. That was another thing he hadn't dealt with as well as he had first thought. It had only been a few years ago that his parents had told him he was adopted, and in the last days before Master Vile had turned time back, Tommy's parents had found out that Tommy had a twin brother. It had taken a while, but they had finally found where David was, only to discover that he had been looking for Tommy with Mr. Trueheart's help. Tommy shuddered, remembering taking David to the Juice Bar after their first meeting and the sparring match that David lost. He had stormed out, feeling bad, only to be kidnapped by Cogs. Mondo had wanted the Power Rangers to surrender to him as ransom. They managed to save David after he had teleported out of the cave with the monster that Mondo's evil had awakened, but David was so frantic about Tommy, that maybe something had happened to him, that Tommy had no choice but to reveal his identity to his brother. By doing so, he'd ended up revealing the other Rangers' identities, and Billy's status as a then former Ranger. So much happened, so fast. He and David both wore arrowhead necklaces, they had been given to them by their adoptive parents, the Olivers and Mr. Trueheart, when they were young. After David's kidnapping and rescue, they found out that the necklaces had actually been with them when they were given up for adoption, they were from their real parents.
No, birth parents, Tommy corrected himself. That was something he'd shoved to the back of his mind, trying to bury the thoughts and emotions. They had not been able to learn just why they had been given up for adoption, and it had continued to bother Tommy. How did David manage to have such peace with it? Tommy shook his head, his heritage was something else that was turning him inside out, and he didn't know where to begin to deal with it, or anything else in his life. Billy's voice broke his thoughts.
"I don't understand this, Zordon. We've checked for every known kind of poison or virus in Tommy's blood, but there's nothing there! That tree had to have done something, but what? Where are the traces?"
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT TOMMY HASN'T BEEN POISONED AT ALL, BILLY, THOUGH I FIND THAT HIGHLY UNLIKELY. BUT UNTIL WE CAN GET A SAMPLE OF WHATEVER WAS IN THE TREE, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIND OUT ANYTHING FOR SURE. TOMMY, DO YOU FEEL ANY DIFFERENTLY FROM YESTERDAY?
"Not really, Zordon, I just kinda feel like I'm not quite awake yet, like I'm slow getting started this morning. Then again, I've never been an early riser," Tommy laughed, trying to make light of the situation. "Really, other than feeling like I'm a little sluggish right now, I feel fine. How's your neck this morning, Billy?"
"Stiff, but better than yesterday. Just have to be careful turning my head."
"Well, that's good to hear," Sheena's voice floated into the main chamber. She was up and dressed, and immediately went to Billy and started to massage his neck and shoulders. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not really. I've been up since about four, I think. This thing with the tree has got me bugged. There should be something in Tommy's blood, but we can't find it. Anything yet, Alpha?" The little robot had been checking another sample, but hadn't had any better luck than Billy. Billy sighed and rubbed his eyes. "This is going nowhere and it's driving me crazy."
"Then you need to take a short break from it, clear your mind. Sit still, breathe deeply, clear your mind. Think of a calm, peaceful meadow. There's a small pond there, and all sorts of animals are there. Everything is serene, still, and safe. Nothing can disturb this place." Tommy watched in wonder as Billy began to relax, Sheena's voice was even and smooth, her hands slowly working away the tension and stiffness in Billy's shoulders and neck. He could see Billy's face start to relax just as it had the day before, as his pain and soreness started to fade. Sheena was amazing, Tommy wondered just how she was able to be so calm and so calming. Then Tommy saw the ugly dark purple bruise on the back of Billy's neck for the first time, from where the Cog had grabbed him and wrenched his neck, cruelly stuffing the gag into his mouth... Tommy shuddered at the memory. If Rocky hadn't shown up when he had, they would've lost Billy, he just knew it. Every instinct told him that the Cogs had been after Billy as much as the tree. But why? Because it has done something to me, Tommy thought. Mondo didn't want Billy to figure out what. He realized that Sheena was staring at him. her face showed her question, he shook his head at her. Her eyes narrowed, her gaze speaking volumes, saying she knew he was hiding something, but she would talk to him later. If she only knew...
"Sheena? If I ever meet the friend who taught you how to do this, I'm going to give him my undying gratitude, 'cause I'll never have enough money to pay him properly. I feel so much better, thanks sweetie." Billy took her hands in his and they turned to face Tommy.
"I heard you say that you were feeling like you were slow getting started this morning?" Sheena was plainly worried about Tommy, he tried to put her at ease.
"Yeah, but I'll be fine. I just need something to get the blood flowing." Alarms blared throughout the Power Chamber.
"You were saying?" Billy smiled humorlessly.
"Not what I had in mind, Billy. What's up, Zordon?"
MONDO IS GETTING AN EARLY START TODAY. HE HAS SENT A SQUAD OF COGS TO THE PARK. ALPHA, NOTIFY THE OTHER RANGERS TO MEET BILLY AND SHEENA THERE.
"Right away, Zordon." Alpha started to a console as Tommy protested.
"Wait a minute! Zordon, I'm fine, really. I'm going, there's no telling what Mondo is up to." He looked at Billy. "You said you couldn't find anything in my blood, right?"
"Not yet, anyway," Billy admitted.
"Then I'm going." Everyone in the Power Chamber stared at Tommy, they didn't like the idea of him going into a fight when he might be ill. "Look, if I start not feeling right, I'll teleport out immediately, OK? But right now, I feel fine, and I'm going out there." While I can still do something, he thought. Zordon reluctantly nodded his permission.
THIS GOES AGAINST WHAT I FEEL IS BEST FOR YOU, TOMMY, BUT YOU ARE RIGHT IN THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT MONDO HAS IN STORE. ALPHA, KEEP A LOCK ON TOMMY AT ALL TIMES AND MONITOR HIS VITAL SIGNS CONTINUOUSLY. TOMMY, DO NOT TAKE ANY UNNECESSARY RISKS, AND IF YOU FEEL ILL AT ALL, PULL OUT OF THE FIGHT. YOU MUST BE CAUTIOUS UNTIL WE DETERMINE JUST WHAT, IF ANYTHING, THE TREE DID TO YOU.
"I promise, Zordon. It's morphin' time!"
"Zeo Ranger V, Red!"
"Sapphire Ranger Power!"
"Silver Ranger Power!"
The three Rangers appeared in the midst of the Cogs and immediately started to take them out. The other Rangers joined them moments later, and more Cogs appeared to fight them. The Rangers all found themselves being slowly separated from each other as the battle continued. More and more Cogs showed up as each previous group was defeated. Tommy was the farthest away from any of the Rangers, and had been holding his own, but he could feel his responses starting to slow. "Not now," he muttered as he dispatched another Cog, then spotted five more heading his way. About twenty yards away he saw Sheena trying to make her way to him. She kicked and punched her way through Cogs, but Tommy knew that even Sheena couldn't get to him just yet.
"C'mon, Tommy, wake up," he told himself. "You've got to fight this."
But as cold metallic eyes watched from the Machine Empire, Tommy's movements slowed even more.
"Decharger, come here!" Mondo summoned his monster. "It is time! Go down to Earth and keep the Rangers occupied while Klank starts transplanting my tree at the water plant. Start with the Red Ranger, I want the other Rangers to be devastated by the sight of their leader falling on the field of battle!"
"Yes, milord." The Decharger teleported away, and Mondo could hear Klank bossing around the Cogs assigned to help him with the tree. Mondo chuckled, pleased with himself. "Yes, Zordon, your pathetic attempts to stop me with those teenagers will all end in vain. Today is the last day Tommy will lead your pitiful group. And soon after, there won't be any Rangers left."
"Feeling a little slow, Red Ranger?"
Tommy whirled at the sound of the now familiar voice. "Decharger!" he managed to shout. What is wrong with me? Tommy was finding it harder to move, to think.
"What's the matter, Tommy, can't fight anymore? Maybe I should find somebody more challenging then, like maybe, oh, let's say your precious Pink Ranger?" Decharger laughed, making Tommy angrier. He ignored his promise to Zordon to teleport back if he felt ill, he wasn't going to let Decharger hurt Kat or any of his friends. Not while he could still fight.
"I'm a challenge enough for you, do you dare to face me, Decharger?" Tommy launched himself at Decharger, but his motions were too slow, the monster easily knocked him aside. Tommy struggled to his feet, his arms felt like lead. He tried to rush Decharger again, but the monster picked him up and threw him like a rag doll. Tommy tried vainly to get up once more, but he couldn't even manage to sit, much less stand.
"Tommy! Tommy, are you all right?" Sheena had made her way to him, and was cradling him in her arms. "Tommy, speak to me!" Tommy was breathing heavily and struggling to talk. "Guys! Tommy's down!" Sheena yelled to the Rangers. As they all ran over to them, Tommy put a hand on Sheena's arm to get her attention.
"Remember, you promised." Tommy's voice was barely audible. "Be careful."
"Tommy? Tommy!" Sheena couldn't get a response out of him, Tommy wasn't able to talk anymore. "Alpha, lock on to Tommy and teleport him back, something's wrong. We'll keep fighting Decharger," the Rangers could hear her say as they reached them. Tommy disappeared in a flash of red, then Sheena took a deep breath and stood to face the Rangers. "I don't know if the Decharger did something to Tommy or if this is because of the plant, but he can't even talk now. It's up to us, guys."
"And you will do no better without your leader, Rangers! Your end is at hand!" Decharger sent seven energy bolts at the Rangers, sending them all to the ground. He laughed as they lay stunned for a few seconds. "My master, King Mondo, will rule this pitiful planet, its people will be his slaves! And you can't stop him!"
Tommy materialized in the Power Chamber on the same examining table he'd been on just an hour or so earlier. "Tommy? Tommy, are you all right? Can you talk?" Alpha was frantically trying to get a response, any response, from Tommy.
I can't move, Alpha. Tommy heard his mind say, but his mouth couldn't form the words, his voice couldn't make the sounds. What's wrong with me?
"He's unresponsive, Zordon! Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi!" The viewing globe crackled, shifting away from the battle in the park to King Mondo's throne room.
"Something wrong, Zordon?" Mondo's metallic voice broke in.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO TOMMY, MONDO? YOU MUST REALIZE THAT YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH IT.
Mondo laughed, then leaned in closer, as if trying to get a closer look at Tommy through the globe. "I'm not going to get away with it? Ha! I already have gotten away with it! How does it feel, Zordon, to have one of your Rangers trapped inside his own body for the rest of his life, and you can't do anything about it? You might as well give up now, but I hope you don't. I want to see my monster defeat your leaderless Rangers. You are finished, Zordon!" Mondo's image faded from the viewing globe, his cruel laughter echoing through the Power Chamber for a few seconds longer. Zordon sighed, then looked at Alpha.
DRAW ANOTHER SAMPLE OF TOMMY'S BLOOD, ALPHA. WE MUST FIND OUT WHAT MONDO HAS DONE AND REVERSE IT. Tommy could feel Alpha drawing some more blood for testing, but his instincts told him that they wouldn't find anything this time, either. He would've kicked himself if he could have moved. Zordon had been right, he shouldn't have gone into battle. Tommy cursed himself for letting his pride get in the way of his better judgment. He thought about what Mondo had just said, and took comfort from one thing. The Rangers aren't leaderless, Mondo. And that's the one thing you haven't thought about. Tommy concentrated on trying to move his hand, a finger, tried to open his eyes as Alpha removed his helmet. Guess I'm going to be here for a while. He stopped trying to move and listened to the sounds of the battle coming through the viewing globe. Hang in there, guys.
Decharger laughed at the Rangers as they pulled themselves off the ground, all still a bit unsteady from his blast. "We've got to keep him from catching us, he can drain us if he does. We need to tie his arms, or pin them." Sheena looked at the Rangers, feeling their collective gaze on her. There was no time to tell them what Tommy had said, what she had promised, they were just going to have to trust her. "Billy, do we have anything that can do that? Do we have anything we can tie his arms with?"
"At this size, no, not anything that will hold him. If he were Zord size, we could use the chains that tow Kat and Tanya's Zords, but considering how strong he is now, I don't know if they could hold him for long at that point." Rocky stepped up to Sheena then.
"Maybe we could drain him?"
"I don't see how, Rocky." The Rangers ducked and scattered as Decharger sent another set of energy blasts at them. "We've got to pin his arms somehow!" Sheena shouted over the explosions. "Jason, Billy, Rocky, let's see if we can grab his arms and tie them together! Kat, Tanya, Adam, keep him distracted!"
"You got it!" Adam shouted. He and Tanya started for the monster, Kat seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she went with her teammates. Sheena looked at her team. "Ready guys?" Jason and Billy nodded, Rocky shrugged his shoulders.
"You're the boss," he said. "I guess," he added quietly as the quartet rushed to sneak up on Decharger. The monster was swinging his arms wildly, apparently trying to grab Adam, Kat, or Tanya, but they stayed just out of his reach. Jason and Billy rushed in from behind, grabbing an arm, Sheena and Rocky quickly grabbed another and pulled it to meet with the other captured arm. Together, the four Rangers tied the arms together, then each duo grabbed another arm each and tied those together. Soon, all of the monster's tentacles were tied together, all around his body. Decharger roared in anger, he whirled about, trying to free himself.
"What's the matter, Decharger, all tied up in your work?" Sheena called. "We did it, guys!"
Billy pointed past Sheena to Decharger. "I don't think so!" With a deafening roar, the Decharger pulled all of his arms apart, then rushed at the Rangers, scattering them in all directions as they avoided his power draining tentacles. Sheena found Rocky beside her. "What's your plan, Rocky?"
The Blue Ranger gulped, startled for a moment. "My plan?" Sheena called the other Rangers over, they needed to regroup.
Mondo was pleased, everything was going according to his plan. Tommy was out of the way, the Rangers were leaderless, and soon the entire planet would be his to control and exploit. "Klank! Get down to the water plant and start transplanting my tree!"
"Yes, your Metal Meanness, but I haven't found the best spot for the tree to be placed yet, where its roots will reach the water supply the fastest, without alerting Zordon or the Rangers."
"I don't care about that, go ahead and get down there! When you've found the right spot, call the Cogs to make sure that no one interferes. Do it now, Klank!" Klank bowed nervously, then teleported down. Mondo turned back to watching the battle, it couldn't be going better if he were fighting the Rangers himself.
"Tying Decharger's arms obviously didn't work, we've got to try a new tactic. What's your plan, Roc?" Rocky still couldn't believe that after taking charge like she did, that Sheena was asking him for his plan. He quickly pulled his thoughts together. He didn't exactly have a plan, just a theory.
"Well, Decharger drains us, and that makes us weak, right?" Everyone nodded their agreement, there was no disputing that fact. "So, what if we could drain Decharger? Say, get him to use up his energy, wear him down? Then maybe we can get him." Sheena looked at Billy, he was still for a second or two, then nodded.
"It just might work. But the question is, how do we get him to expend his energy?" A blast of energy that knocked Billy off his feet answered his question.
"We get him to keep doing that," Rocky said as he helped Billy to his feet. "As long as he can't recharge by draining one of us, he should lose power after a while, right?"
"Affirmative. At least in theory."
Sheena ducked as another energy blast sailed over her head. "Well, Decharger seems willing to oblige. Everybody scatter, draw Decharger's fire! but remember what Rocky said, we can't let that monster recharge by draining one of us." The Rangers all ran around the monster, ducking and turning, making him angrier and more confused by the moment. Decharger bellowed threats as the Rangers came at him from all sides, landing blows when they could, but mainly just keeping out of his reach and drawing more of his fire. After they had kept up this odd version of 'dodge ball' for some time, Rocky came in for a flying kick to Decharger's chest. The monster was able to deflect him though, and sent him flying into a tree. Sheena went to help Rocky up, Silver Sword in hand. Decharger shot a blast directly at them, there was no time to dodge the blow. Sheena instinctively held her sword up against the blast. It knocked the sword out of her hands, but the energy bolt had been deflected successfully. "It's working, Rocky! Good job!" They both got up and Sheena retrieved her sword. "Jason! Let's see what your staff and my sword can do against him now!"
"Right!" Together, they charged the mechanical beast and for the first time, the Rangers saw Decharger fall back from one of their attacks.
"I'll be back, Rangers, count on it!" The Decharger and the few Cogs who had hung around to watch shimmered and teleported back to the Machine Skybase. The park was finally free of monsters after nearly a three hour battle.
"And we'll be ready, Decharger!" Sheena called after him. She sheathed her sword and turned to the others. "Let's get back to the Power Chamber, maybe Tommy's better now." The Rangers teleported back, and Kat rushed to Tommy as soon as she materialized.
"Tommy? Tommy? It's Kat, the Decharger's retreated. we drove him off. "Tommy?" The Red Ranger didn't move, didn't open his eyes. "Zordon, what's wrong?" Billy had already gone back over to the microscope he'd been using earlier to look at the new blood samples Alpha had taken. His frown had told the others that Zordon's news wouldn't be good.
TOMMY IS UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH US, OR MOVE. HIS VITAL SIGNS ARE GREATLY SLOWED, AS IF HE WERE IN A DEEP SLEEP. WE STILL CANNOT FIND ANYTHING IN HIS BLOOD AT ALL, BUT I FEAR THAT THE TREE DID POISON HIM AND THAT POISON HAS INDUCED A FORM OF A COMA. WE MUST GET A SAMPLE OF THE POISON TO CREATE AN ANTIDOTE. Zordon paused, his face creased with worry. WHILE YOU WERE FIGHTING DECHARGER, MONDO BROKE INTO OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAGGED ABOUT WHAT HE HAS DONE, AND CLAIMED THAT TOMMY WILL BE LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
Trapped inside his own body for the rest of his life, Tommy thought, Mondo's words echoing inside his head. He could hear Kat stifle a sob, he felt her hands closing about his. I'm still here, Kat, I just can't talk! I'm here! Kat! Don't give up! Don't give up on me, or yourself! I'm not through fighting yet, and neither are you! Tommy wished that he and Kat had the kind of psychic bond that Billy and Sheena had, Kat would be able to hear him then, or at least sense that he was trying to talk to her.
Tommy heard a shuffling, then a soft step that he recognized as Sheena's. She must be walking over here. There was a second or two of quiet, then Sheena's voice gently broke through. "Don't give up, Kat. Tommy's still here, he hasn't left us, and he won't. He doesn't want you to give up." Tommy wasn't sure what happened, but he could feel Kat's hands tightening on his. Could Sheena hear him? Sheena, tell them I asked you to take over! Tell them what you just told Kat, I'm still here and I'm not giving up! Sheena!
Sheena started, it seemed like she was hearing something in her head, but it was faint, a whisper in the back of her mind. She stared at Tommy, willing him to open his eyes, to do something, but all he did was lie on the table, unmoving, except for the slow rise and fall of his chest to show that he was still breathing, that he was alive. She needed to tell the others that Tommy had asked her to take over if the poison put him out of commission. And they needed to find a way to get a sample of the poison. "Guys, I -" Blaring alarms cut her off. "What's happening, Zordon?"
KLANK HAS APPEARED AT THE ANGEL GROVE WATER PLANT. OBSERVE THE VIEWING GLOBE. Sure enough, Mondo's henchman was fussily inspecting the clear grassy area around the back of the water plant, well out of sight of anyone who worked there. He seemed to be studying the ground for some reason. HE IS ABOUT THREE HUNDRED YARDS AWAY FROM THE MAIN PUMPING STATION, BUT EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING IS UNCLEAR.
Billy looked up from the microscope and stared at the globe. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was surveying the site. But why?"
"That's what we need to find out. Billy, stay here for now and see if you can find something to help Tommy, we'll call if anything happens." There was no need to morph, the Rangers hadn't bothered to power down after they had returned from fighting the Decharger, they had only removed their helmets. The Rangers were about to teleport when Sheena noticed that Kat hadn't joined them, she was still over by Tommy. "Kat?" The Pink Ranger either didn't hear her, or didn't want to.
"I'll stay with her, make sure she's all right," Rocky offered. Sheena started to object, then nodded.
"Okay, Roc. Join us as soon as you can." Sheena and the others teleported out. Rocky went over to Kat, speaking softly so Billy wouldn't hear.
"She didn't wait long to take charge, did she?" Kat didn't say anything, but Rocky was sure she felt the same way he did. "I mean, she did a good job out there, but it was like all of a sudden, 'I'm the boss, here's what we need to do'. Who died and made her leader all of a sudden?" Rocky stopped himself there, Kat was staring at him, angry and shocked. "I'm sorry, Kat, bad choice of words. It's just that, she jumped in so quick..." Kat turned back to Tommy, biting her bottom lip, trying so hard not to cry.
"I know. Tommy should've been the one out there. But Mondo made sure he wasn't." Kat's voice was hard, bitter. "And she's all business, 'It's up to us, guys'. How can she just grab everything and go like that?"
Because that's what I asked her to do! Kat, please! Rocky! Sheena's not doing this because she's glory-hungry, I ASKED HER! Please, Kat hear me... Tommy wanted to scream, kick, do something to get their attention. But of course he couldn't. Mondo had probably counted on the Rangers splintering with Tommy out of commission, and it was happening, at least with Kat and Rocky. Sheena, you've got to tell everybody what I asked you to do, I can't tell them. You've got to pull the team together, it's the only way you're going to defeat Mondo. Can't anybody hear me?
Alpha was bringing Billy a new slide to look at when he noticed a spike on one of the monitors keeping track of Tommy's vital signs. "Hmm, there seems to be quite a bit of brainwave activity registering here." Billy looked up and took the slide from Alpha, glancing at the monitor.
"That's good, Alpha. It means that he's still with us." For now, at least, Billy thought. He mentally whispered a prayer for his fallen friend. He couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling that Tommy's time was running out. The Sapphire Ranger shook his head and started back to work, looking for something, anything, that would show him the way to save his friend.
Klank shuffled this way and that over the area where he planned to put the tree, finally settling on a spot and beaming the tree there. He was checking to make sure that the roots were firmly imbedded when the Rangers teleported in a few yards away, out of sight. The 'tree' was full size now, and now held several clustered greenish-white flowers.
"What's he doing?" Jason whispered.
"I could be wrong, but that tree wasn't there before we teleported here, was it? I don't remember seeing it in the viewing globe. Where did it come from?" Sheena wondered. She tapped her communicator. "Billy? We've got something here I think you should take a look at."
"On my way." Two seconds later, Billy materialized next to Sheena. "What's up?"
"The question is, what is that?" Sheena pointed to the tree that Klank was circling.
Billy stared hard at the plant. "It looks like a Joshua Tree, but I've never seen one with so many branches. It seems to be a little larger than normal, too, and it definitely has more flowers..." Billy's voice trailed off as he seemed to stare at one particular part of the tree.
"Weirdest looking tree I've ever seen," Tanya commented.
"Well, Joshua Trees are actually branched arborescent yuccas -"
"English, please, Billy. You've lost me here."
Billy gave a dry laugh. "Sorry, Tanya. Arborescent yuccas are yucca plants that resemble a tree in their properties, growth, structure or appearance. Yuccas are fibrous plants, their leaves can be very sharp. More importantly, however," Billy continued, "this is a modified version of the fake bonsai that got Tommy. It fact, it's the same tree. I can see where I cut the branch off originally from here. Looks like Klank has added several branches though, and made them longer than usual. He's done his homework, the flowers are very realistic."
"So why is the 'tree' here, then? Surely Klank isn't becoming a gardener." Sheena watched Klank as he stopped inspecting the base of the tree, and started checking on the flowers.
Billy thought for a moment, then stiffened. "If the tree did poison Tommy, then there's only one reason why Mondo would have Klank put it here. He wants to poison the entire town."
Kat hadn't moved from Tommy's side the entire time, hadn't let go of his hand. Part of her was afraid that if she took her eyes off of him for even a second, he would slip completely away from them forever. From her, forever. And she couldn't bear the thought of never hearing his voice again. Rocky put his hand on her shoulder, wishing he knew what to say. "Kat, Billy and Alpha are going to find an antidote, don't worry. Tommy will be back with us and everything will be all right. You've gotta believe that." Kat seemed to consider Rocky's words, then nodded.
"Yes. Billy, have you - where is he?" The Pink and Blue Rangers realized for the first time that Billy had left. "Alpha, where's Billy?"
"The others found something he needed to look at. I'll bring them up on the viewing globe now," the little robot offered. The globe flashed, then showed the Rangers observing Klank and the tree. As if on cue, Billy called back to the Power Chamber at that moment.
"Alpha, Zordon. Looks like Klank has made his fake bonsai into a full grown Joshua Tree, with a few modifications. We're going to try and get a sample of the tree. If it's still carrying the poison, and I'm positive it is, then we'll finally have something that can give us some answers. Billy out." Kat and Rocky watched as Billy and the others slowly circled around, sneaking up on Klank and his poisonous tree. They turned from the globe and resumed their watch over Tommy.
"What did I tell you? Billy will get a sample of the poison and Tommy will be as good as new in no time. Then things will be set back right, you'll see." Neither of them saw the dark gray figures that were sneaking up on their teammates in the viewing globe.
"Okay, guys, keep your guard up. Once Klank realizes what we're up to, there's going to be trouble," Sheena warned. Adam heard a sound behind him and whirled about.
"We've already got trouble, Sheena. Cogs!" Several Cogs appeared all around them now, cutting them off from the tree. Klank seemed to be oblivious to everything, making a last round of checks on his tree. Sheena knocked one Cog away that got too close.
"Billy, you've got to get a sample of the tree's poison. Adam, stay near him, run interference against the Cogs. Jason, Tanya, let's see if we can't lure some of them away from the tree." The Rangers split up, each team intent on its task. Wish Kat and Rocky were here, Sheena thought as she battled a group of Cogs. We need them.
Billy and Adam fought their way to the tree, taking out several Cogs in the process, but more Cogs kept appearing. "The tree must still be carrying the poison, they don't want us to get near it!" Adam yelled.
"Hate to disappoint them, but I'm going to get a sample of that tree. Tommy's depending on us." Billy somersaulted over the last two Cogs that stood in his way, twisting in mid-air and kicking them both in the back, knocking them away. "Keep their attention, Adam, I'm at the tree!"
"Keeping their attention won't be a problem, trust me!" he answered as he fought off two Cogs who decided to tackle him at that point. They didn't see the branches near Billy shifting, moving closer to the Sapphire Ranger.
Kat couldn't stand it anymore, she felt so helpless. "Rocky, what am I going to do? What am I going to do if Tommy doesn't wake up? I can't imagine... can't think of... can't think of a life without him in it. You know what? I never told him I love him. I've never gotten up the nerve to say the words. Now, I may not have the chance." The tears she'd been holding back were close to flooding out now, Kat fought hard not to let them.
I love you, Kat. Please, hear me! I love you! And I'm going to make sure you know that somehow. Grab her hand, Tommy, make her know you're still here! Tommy told himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make his hand obey his mind. The frustration was overwhelming, he wanted to cry, wanted to scream so badly. A noise in the viewing globe drifted to him, the sound of battle. The other Rangers are in trouble. Kat, you've got to go to them, you and Rocky! They need you! The team needs you! Kat! Tommy put as much mental energy as he could into sending his thoughts to Kat. He had no assurance that it would work, but he had to try. He willed Kat to hear him, or at least hear what was on the viewing globe.
Kat drew in a shaky breath to steady herself. She couldn't fall apart now, Tommy needed her. The team needed her... the team. Kat whirled back to look at the viewing globe, she had heard something, she thought. "Rocky! The others are being attacked!" The globe showed Jason, Sheena, and Tanya surrounded by Cogs, too many to fight. Adam was being tackled by two Cogs, more were moving in. Billy had gotten to the tree finally, and Kat could've sworn that a few branches near him were moving. "We've got a job to do." She turned back to Tommy and tenderly kissed his cheek, whispering, "I love you. And I'm not giving up on you, Tom." Kat and Rocky teleported out, not seeing the single tear that slowly flowed down Tommy's face.
I love you, too, Kat.
Kat and Rocky appeared in the middle of the battle, there were Cogs everywhere. "Rocky, go help Billy and Adam! I'll help the others." Kat rushed over and with a swift kick and a flurry of punches, took out a Cog that had been sneaking up on Sheena. Sheena turned, she hadn't heard the Cog behind her.
"Thanks! Look out!" Sheena pointed behind her. A Cog was now trying to ambush Kat. Sheena launched herself at the Cog, taking him out with a powerful flying kick. For the moment, the Rangers were a team again.
Rocky ran over to Adam, who was in the grip of three Cogs, tackling two Cogs that were heading there to gang up on the Green Ranger. "Five against one? That's not fair odds, metalheads!" He jumped up and kicked away one of the Cogs holding Adam, then Adam was able to shake off the other two.
"Thanks, Roc! Two against five makes it even. Where's Billy? Has he been able to get to the tree?"
"Yeah, we saw him in the globe, he's -" Rocky turned and saw a branch moving in on Billy's blind side, a cluster of blossoms less than a foot from his face. "Billy! Look out for the flowers!"
Billy had been preparing to pull his blaster and shoot off a branch for a sample. "What?" Movement on the edge of his vision caught his attention, he tried to move out of the way, but the flowers shot out a cloud of pollen-like dust, coating his visor. The fumes quickly filtered into his helmet, making him drowsy and disoriented for a couple of seconds. Just as his senses cleared, he felt something wrapping around his neck. "Somebody help!" There was a sharp pain as his earlier injury was made worse, the branch was dragging him across the ground.
"Guys! The tree's got Billy!" Rocky ran to the tree to help his teammate, Adam right on his heels. All of the branches on the tree were waving now, the flowers were trying to zero in on the Rangers.
"Watch out for the pollen! It's a sedative!" Billy croaked. The branch was tightening on his throat, making it difficult to breathe, and with each deep breath he could manage, he was inhaling more of the pollen fumes, making him even sleepier. He tried to raise his blaster and shoot the branch, but more of itself wrapped around him like a vine, pinning his arms and legs, totally immobilizing him. If they didn't get it off him soon, he knew he'd pass out soon from lack of oxygen. The tree was crushing his chest now, quick breaths were all he could manage. He felt his body being lifted off of the ground.
"Billy! Hang on, we'll get you!" Sheena yelled. "Jason, Kat, Tanya, keep those branches busy, give them moving targets! Rocky, Adam, get ready to catch Billy, I'm going to try to cut the branch!" Sheena leapt up, her sword flashing as she slashed at the branch holding Billy. She could only cut it part of the way through though, before another branch knocked her down, then tried to grab her. "This thing's more grabby than Decharger! Rocky, think you can blast it from where I hit it from here?"
"No problemo, just be ready to grab Billy." Rocky pulled out his blaster and took careful aim at the cut, then blasted it several times in quick succession. He was rewarded with a visor full of pollen as the tree's branches waved and slashed through the air even more frantically. Pollen was flying everywhere and the Rangers were all covered with it in moments. Had he been successful? Rocky couldn't see a thing through all the pollen on his visor. The familiar grip of a teleportation beam made him hope that he had. The next thing he saw, after he managed to wipe off his visor, was the others and himself on the floor of the Power Chamber, all covered with pollen. Billy was motionless on the floor, still bound tightly by the branch, one end burned from where Rocky had blasted it off of the tree. He crawled over to Billy and started to unwind the tightly coiled branch.
"Be careful, don't let it stick you," Billy warned hoarsely. His visor was completely coated with pollen, he had no idea who was helping him.
"Doesn't look like it can get through our uniforms," Rocky reassured him. "Hang on, this thing doesn't want to let go of you. Guess the tree has a real crush on you."
"Very funny, Rocky. Remind me to throttle you later."
"Count on it. Hey, I need some help here, this thing has really got a hold of him." Sheena and Jason had cleared off their visors by this time, and were already at Billy's side, helping to unwind the branch. In the end, it took all the Rangers to free Billy. They were glad that Billy's visor was still covered for the moment, so he couldn't see what they saw. There were indentations all over his uniform, where the tree had tried to puncture him through his uniform. Miraculously though, it hadn't been able to, and with the branch sealed off from Rocky's laser blast, it seemed that they finally had their poison sample. Finally able to breathe and move, Billy stood with help from Adam and Rocky.
"Thanks, guys." Billy wiped his visor clear, then yelped in pain. "My neck!"
NO DOUBT YOUR PREVIOUS INJURY HAS BEEN MADE WORSE, BILLY. RANGERS, BEFORE YOU POWER DOWN, GO TO THE DECONTAMINATION UNIT SO THAT THE POLLEN CAN BE REMOVED. The Rangers all started for the hallway, Billy was walking on his own, with a hand from Adam. Sheena moved to Rocky's side quickly, and motioned to Kat, also.
"Thanks, guys. We couldn't have done it without you. Rocky, looks like I need to take some shooting lessons from you." Sheena clapped him on his back, then joined Billy. Rocky and Kat looked at each other through pollen fringed visors. The initial anger either of them may have felt towards Sheena for taking over so quickly had faded, but they still had reservations about her being in charge. They followed the others to the decontamination unit, eager to rid themselves of the pollen that made them all look like pale Yellow Rangers. Alpha scooped up a sample of the pollen for analysis, then activated a portable device that shot out a sterilization beam. He waved it over every place that the Rangers had lain or walked, following their trail all the way to the decontamination unit. A few minutes later, the Rangers stepped out, completely free of pollen and all feeling much better. Everyone except for Billy powered down, he just removed his helmet and automatically went to the microscope to check the pollen sample that Alpha had prepared.
"Good news on the pollen, guys," he said a moment later. "It's just regular pollen that Klank laced with a mild sedative, nothing else. All it will do is put a person to sleep for a while, or make somebody with allergies sneeze like crazy, then fall asleep."
ALPHA, CONTACT THE WATER PLANT AND TELL THE OFFICIALS TO EVACUATE, TO BE SAFE. WE DON'T WANT ANY OF THE PERSONNEL TO GET TOO CLOSE TO THE TREE.
"I'll contact the Angel Grove Police Department and ask them to cordon off the area as well, Zordon." Alpha busied himself with the communications while Billy examined the branch that had held him prisoner.
"That's twice that something of Mondo's has yanked me around in less than a day. At least this time, we got to keep a piece of the tree - ohh," Billy's statement ended with a moan of pain. He slowly moved his head and neck. "Man, this is worse than yesterday."
Kat had taken her position by Tommy, but turned to look at Billy. He was a bit pale. "Maybe you should take a short break, Billy." He shook his head, and reached for the bottle of ibuprofen that Alpha had left for him on the counter.
"Later, maybe." The Rangers all looked at each other, they knew what Billy was thinking. Tommy's time was running out, and none of them wanted to stop. They couldn't help Billy with his search for an antidote, but they didn't want him to harm himself by working injured, either. Zordon settled the matter for them all.
RANGERS, ALL OF YOU TAKE THIS TIME TO TRY AND RELAX. WE WILL CALL IF ANYTHING CHANGES. IT SEEMS FOR NOW, MONDO IS WAITING TO MAKE HIS NEXT MOVE. UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT THAT IS, ALL WE CAN DO IS WAIT. The Rangers all gratefully left except for Sheena and Billy. Kat was the last to leave, torn between knowing that Zordon was right and her need to stay with Tommy. She left though, leaving Billy to his work. She had to sort out her thoughts, and wanted to talk to Rocky about how things had been going.
The Rangers were all too keyed up to rest, and eventually Jason, Adam, and Tanya made their way to the Juice Bar. Rocky walked in a few minutes later and was about to join them when Kat ran up and stopped him. "Rocky? Can we talk?"
"Sure." The two of them went back out and walked through the park for several minutes before Kat said a word.
"Sheena did a good job out there again, didn't she?" Rocky didn't respond for a while, then nodded. Kat sighed, the two of them had reached the pond by that point. She sat down, staring into the water. Rocky settled down by her and hugged her, trying to comfort her. "I guess it's OK that she's doing this, but she's taking on so much at once. I don't know, it's just so - sudden." Rocky tossed a pebble into the pond, then finally spoke.
"So, what do you want to do?" Neither of them spoke for a very long time. They just sat at the pond for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon, not moving, each lost in their own thoughts. Kat finally ended the silence.
"We need to talk to Billy."
After everyone had left the Power Chamber, Tommy could hear nothing except for the squeak of Billy's chair, he assumed it was Billy's chair, anyway, and the scrape of Sheena's shoes when she had gone to get Billy a glass of water to take the ibuprofen with. While Sheena was gone, Tommy heard an odd noise, he couldn't figure out what it was at first. Then he realized, it was Billy crying softly. Alpha had gone to make sure that he'd gotten rid of all the pollen, Zordon evidently wasn't in his warp, he had told Billy he was searching for more information on what Tommy could possibly have been poisoned with. Billy was talking softly to himself.
"I can't think! My head, my neck, they hurt too much!" An involuntary gasp of pain escaped from him. He had refused when Zordon had told him to rest for a few minutes, saying he wasn't hurting that much. Tommy had been certain Billy had been lying, now he knew it. Tommy wanted to tell his friend to rest, that he didn't have to drive himself like this, that it would be okay. There are some things we don't have control over, Billy. Like needing to rest. There are times when we have to do something we feel we can't, like admitting we need help... Tommy's thoughts trailed off, it was as if a light had just been turned on in his mind. The same things he wanted to tell Billy were the same things he needed to realize for himself. What's the line, 'Physician, heal thyself'? Or more simply, take your own advice? Tommy mentally sighed, it had taken all this to get him to slow down enough to start thinking things through. OK, he thought, providing I get through this, what do I need to do? He heard Sheena's footsteps coming down the hallway, and heard a chair squeak, it sounded like Billy was trying to put himself together before Sheena saw him. It didn't work. Tommy heard Billy take the water, the rattle of the pill bottle, then the sound of the glass as he set it down a few moments later.
"You're hurting worse than you're saying." Tommy could feel the silence, as Billy no doubt was deciding on how much to tell his wife. "I think you've gone beyond what my massage can do, will you stop and rest for a little while?"
Billy finally spoke. "Yes, I'm hurting, it's hard to think it hurts so bad. But I can't stop. Tommy doesn't have much time." Tommy heard the chair slide, then the sound of what he guessed was the branch being dragged across the floor, or maybe a table. How long is that thing, anyway? It had him completely tied up, from the sound of things when they got back.
"Is there anything I can do?" A moan from Billy provided an answer.
"Help me cut this thing, I can't even handle standing over it for very long. Ohh, my head," he groaned. Tommy heard Sheena move to Billy, then moments later there was the sound of a small saw cutting the branch up into several pieces. Okay, first item on the list: tell Kat how much I love her. Tommy bided the time by remembering the first time he and Kat had danced, their first date, meeting her parents, Kat meeting his, and then his brother, David... David. I need to talk to you so badly. I'm all torn up inside about our birth parents, the not knowing why they gave us up. I know that I may never get any answers on that, that we may never get any answers, but I need to talk to you about it. I know that my parents love me, they couldn't love me anymore if I were their blood son. You know the same about Mr. Trueheart. I need to know how you feel about trying to find out the truth, maybe one day, about our birth parents. And I need to let Mom and Dad know that I want to find out, but that doesn't mean I love them any less. They may know that already, deep down, but I need to tell them, they need to hear the words. More memories filled his mind, family picnics, holidays, birthdays. The first Thanksgiving and Christmas that he got to spend with his brother. The wanting to tell his family the day he became a Power Ranger...
That was the thing he needed to settle on first. A good leader knows when to step down, was what he'd told Kimberly. Well, that decision was settled. When this was over, providing he could talk to anyone besides himself ever again, he would announce that he was stepping down as leader. As for who to take his place... Sheena would help him make that decision. Tommy had no idea how much time had passed when he heard Billy's fist hit the table.
"Nothing! Seven feet of artificial tree branch and nothing! There's not a drop of poison in it anywhere!" Billy collapsed into his chair, the pain in his head and neck had spread to his shoulders, and his frustration was making it worse. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then, "I'm sorry. It's just that I was so sure that we would find something." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "How long have we been at it?"
"You've been going at it non-stop for a few hours now, it's early in the afternoon. You need to stop and eat something." Sheena crossed over to Billy and pulled him out of his chair. "We could go to the Juice Bar."
"No. The others will probably be there and right now I don't have any answers. And I want to be somewhere quiet, anyway. How about we go to my house? I need to check on what kind of shape the lab is in anyway. We'll be back in a few minutes, Alpha." Tommy heard Billy and Sheena teleport out, then Alpha shuffling over to check on him again. The little robot was talking to himself, fretting over Tommy, Billy, all of the Rangers. Hang in there, little buddy. As long as there's a Power Ranger left standing, we're not beaten yet. You understand that, Mondo? Tommy mentally shouted at the Machine Skybase. We aren't beaten yet!
Billy and Sheena appeared outside of Billy's house and found two notes at his lab. The first was slipped under the garage door. It was from David, letting him know that Billy's parents had called that morning to tell him that they had to go out of town for a few days. Uncle John had caught a nasty stomach virus and they had gone to help take care of him and run the campground he owned until he was better. "Your mom wants you to remember to water the plants while they're gone," the note also said. It ended with "Tell my brother that I love him - David". Billy sighed, he wasn't sure if Tommy could hear any of them or not, but he would make sure that Tommy knew somehow. He would ask Zordon when they got back to the Power Chamber if David could visit, maybe it would make a difference. He started to lift the garage door open, but a wave of pain stopped him. "Sheena? Could you give me a hand here?"
"Move, you don't need to be trying to lift it, anyway," she ordered. Billy closed his eyes, not wanting to see just how messed up everything was. Sheena gasped.
"It's that bad? I didn't look in yesterday - what?" The lab was spotlessly clean and completely in order. That was when he spotted the second note, stuck under his microscope. It was from Adam. "Hey, if Alpha hasn't told you by the time you see this, you and Tommy are covered with your folks, David knows what happened and called them, you two are 'staying with him at the reservation'. All of us were restless, so we came over and straightened things up. The frame of whatever you were building his history, but all the wood was pretty much salvageable. We've got it all stacked in the corner. I left the gloves I found on your work bench, and I put the piece of Tommy's tree (at least I think it's Tommy's tree) I found in the bottle over by your microscope just in case. I didn't see anything leaking out of it, but don't worry, I used tweezers to pick it up. You probably don't need it, but better to be safe than sorry. See ya! Adam."
"Hey, maybe the piece Adam found has some poison left," Sheena suggested. Billy was already examining it under the microscope. He carefully shook his head.
"No, if there was any, it leaked out yesterday. Oh, well, it was a good idea while it lasted." Sheena was turning over the gloves on the workbench.
"Where do these go?"
Billy took them from her and started to go to the gardening shed behind the house. "They're my mom's, I had them in here when I brought the wood in a couple of weeks ago, there were a lot of splinters in the boards until I sanded them..." Billy's voice trailed off, he didn't get past the garage door. "Sheena, close the garage door and lock it on the inside." His voice was excited, he moved as quickly as he could to his microscope. "We should've teleported directly in here, anyway, I'm still morphed. Guess I'm not thinking too clearly."
"I'm not either, I should've told you to power down, but you don't sound too unhappy about the fact that if anyone had been out here, that they would've just found out you're the Sapphire Ranger. What's going on?"
"There's a stain on the gloves. There's a stain from the poison!" Billy cut off a stained piece of globe and started checking it under the microscope. "We've found our poison. Now if I can just figure out what it is." With the garage door down, Sheena and Billy didn't hear the sound of people walking up the driveway a few minutes later.
"Alpha, this is Kat. How's everything going?"
"No change yet, Katherine. Billy is taking a short break at his lab, but he'll be back soon. Do you want me to call him for you?"
"Umm, no thanks, Alpha, we're just a few minutes away from Billy's, we'll see if we can catch him there." Kat got up and looked at Rocky. "Let's go."
Rocky and Kat headed for Billy's house. Neither of them was actually angry at Sheena, but they did think she was taking on more than what she should. They wanted to talk to Billy about what she was doing. After all, he'd been with the team since the very beginning. If anyone should take over with Tommy out of the action, it should be him, or possibly Jason.
There was a thick hedge just outside of Billy's lab, and just before they went past it, Kat stopped Rocky. "What is it?"
"Shhh," she laid a finger to her lips. "Listen."
It was Sheena's voice. "Are you any closer to finding the cure?"
Billy was heard in response. "I'm not sure. This isn't easy, you know." He sounded somewhat snappish.
"Sorry, didn't mean to intrude." Her voice was hurt.
"Wait, Sheena," Billy was apologetic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that. It's just that this thing has got me so tense, and now that we've finally got our sample from the glove, I'm still not making any headway." A moment later, he said, "Maybe you can help."
The Silver Ranger laughed. "You've got to be kidding. All I know about science is that you know a lot about it. Just because I married a genius doesn't mean I became one."
From the sound of it, Billy slipped his chair back a few feet. "A fresh eye never hurts, and all you marrying me means is that you have excellent taste."
Sheena chuckled, and they could hear her moving around. "Hey, this is weird." She must have been at the microscope by now. "It's almost like it's two separate viruses."
"Right. One attacks and dulls the mind so it can't respond properly, the second attacks the body, so it can't move. But it's not two separate viruses, it's one. And it's not like anything I've ever seen or read about."
"Mondo's going harsh on this one." Sheena's voice held a tone of wonder.
"I know. And I think I know why he had it attack Tommy first, too."
"Oh, something other than the fact Tommy's our leader and the best one ever, no slight intended to Jason," Sheena chuckled humorlessly.
"I think it's because Tommy's got something on his mind. I don't know what. But just before the thing 'bit' him he was thinking about something. He wouldn't say what it was, but it was making him nervous."
Kat and Rocky couldn't believe what they were hearing. When they'd first heard Sheena, they'd almost expected to hear her saying something about how much she'd liked leading them. "The Decharger, probably. Man, that was a bad fight! If it weren't for Rocky, we'd have been dust."
"He wasn't the only one there, dear."
"I know, but his plan worked. Mine was completely wrong."
"No one's perfect. You know that." Billy had apparently taken back the microscope.
Sheena spoke again. "Yeah. I'll just be glad when Tommy's better again. I kind of noticed some of the others were looking at me, like they expected me to know what to do."
"And did you?"
"No!
They heard a sound that was probably Billy turning to look at his wife. "Sheena, you did know what to do. You tried what you thought would work, when that didn't, you knew enough to try someone else's plan, which did. I don't think Tommy could have a better second-in-command than you."
Sheena sounded extremely surprised. "What! Second-in-command? Me? No. That's Jason. Even if Tommy did ask me to take over if he couldn't lead, I'm not second."
Billy stood up suddenly, and winced as the abrupt movement sent a sharp pain through his neck. "He what?"
"It was just after that plant poisoned him. You'd gone to rest, and Tommy made me promise that if that stuff made it so he couldn't lead, I was to take over. I didn't want to, but, well..."
Billy picked up on what she meant. "You knew he would feel better if he knew the Rangers were with someone he could trust."
"But why me? Jason's better than me, a lot better. You're an egghead geek," the tone of love in her voice told Billy as well as Rocky and Kat she meant it as no insult, "but you've got a lot more experience than I do. I'm still the 'new girl'. I haven't even been on the team a year yet!"
Billy stepped over to her and looked her in the eyes. "Sheena, the only quality you seem to lack, as far as I'm concerned, is that you don't trust in yourself enough. I know how that goes. But how did you feel when you were out there leading those fights?"
Sheena didn't answer for a few minutes. Finally, "I was scared. When my idea didn't work, I was grateful Rocky had the sense I didn't. You don't even want to know how terrified I was when that tree had you. I owe Rocky a lot. I owe him you, sort of. I need to tell him how grateful I am that he's a better shot than me."
She stood up, and there was a moment of silence. Kat blushed, knowing full well that Sheena and Billy had to be kissing. Her guess was confirmed when Billy laughed a moment later. "I think I'm going to get wrapped up in alien trees more often, if that's the reward I get."
"Find the cure for what the tree did to Tommy, and you'll get more than a kiss." Sheena shot him a smiling glance. Billy went back to the microscope and sat down.
"You know something else, Billy?"
"What?"
"I saw how Rocky and Kat were staring at me after Tommy went down this morning. I know how Kat must be hurting inside with Tommy... well, out of it. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to you."
"Umm... use me as modern art?" Billy laughed, then touched the side of his neck. "Ouch."
"Be careful. You don't want to hurt yourself any more than you are already." Sheena's thoughts turned back to Rocky and Kat. "Believe me, those two can't want Tommy back any more than I do. I don't think I'm cut out for leadership, but a promise is a promise."
"Sheena, you've got a lot to learn about yourself." Billy bent back over the microscope. "Hey, what's this?"
"What's what?"
Billy was staring intently at the slide, then tapping his communicator. "Alpha, it's Billy. Run a neural scan on Tommy, we're on our way back with a sample of the poison." Billy quickly grabbed the slide and tried to stand, but wavered. Sheena caught his arm, steadying him. "Thanks, seems like my brain is trying to go faster than my body. Man, even my back is starting to hurt. Let's go, I think we've got something here."
"Should we call the others?"
"Not yet, let me find out if my suspicions are correct. If they are, then I think we can finally start to work on an antidote." Kat and Rocky heard the sound of Billy and Sheena teleporting away. Kat looked at Rocky, shame-faced.
"I've been so wrong about her, all this time. Tommy made the right decision." Rocky put his arms around Kat and hugged her.
"Don't feel so bad, I misjudged her too. I guess now we wait to find out what Billy saw. Knowing him, we won't be waiting long." The Blue and Pink Rangers turned and headed for the Juice Bar, both discovering a new found respect for their temporary leader.
Mondo was pacing around his throne room impatiently. "Klank! When will Decharger be ready to defeat those blasted Rangers?"
"He needs only a little more time before his power reserves are up to full capacity, sire. You were wise to keep some of his power stored here, just in case." It grated on Klank's metal nerves to say that, holding some of Decharger's power at the Skybase had been his idea, but Mondo would take credit as usual. Better to let his master take the credit than risk disassembly, though. "He'll go into battle with all of his power, and every bit that he stole from the Rangers, this time. Your victory is at hand, milord."
Mondo chuckled softly, then gazed at the Earth. "Zordon, your Red Ranger can't lead, your Sapphire Ranger is running out of time to find a cure... you don't have a clue as to how much trouble you're in, old man. But your Rangers will find out soon. My Decharger will destroy them and everything you've worked for. The Earth will soon be mine!"
Sheena and Billy rushed over to Tommy as soon as they got back to the Power Chamber, Alpha was just completing the neural scan. Billy followed Alpha back to the console by the microscope, eager for the results. He was sure he knew what they be. Sheena watched Billy, watched him carefully sit as the computer analyzed the data from the scan. A couple of months earlier, Mondo had sent down monster attacks constantly over a four day period, the Rangers had resorted to fighting in shifts whenever possible, it had been the only way for any of them to get even the smallest bit of sleep. It had been Billy who reminded them to power down each time before they left, though he had been just as physically and mentally exhausted as the rest of them. There were so many times that they could've given away their secret identities back then if it hadn't been for his 'nagging', as Rocky had joked. But Billy had forgotten to power down before they had gone to his lab. She had forgotten to remind him. It worried Sheena that he was that tired, worried her even more than she had forgotten to remind him of something so simple. Billy's triumphant shout broke through her thoughts.
"Yes! We've got it!" Billy stood and turned back to Sheena, his smile only briefly replaced by a grimace of pain as he moved his head too quickly. "It's not a virus at all, it's a neural toxin. That's why it wasn't showing up in his blood, it has been designed to immediately go to the nervous system." Billy turned back to the console monitor and sat down, reading the rapidly displaying data. "Klank has designed the toxin to attack the autonomic system first, where there is little or no myelin sheath - I'll give a medical lesson later, I promise."
"No thanks, just keep this simple."
"Okay, in short, the autonomic system is what regulates certain body functions on a subconscious level, like breathing, heartrate, and so on. It's also strongly affected by someone's emotional state. This toxin has jammed up the system, it's keeping the signals from getting through at their normal speed."
"That's why Tommy's heartrate was slower than normal yesterday, even though he'd just been in a fight?"
"Yes, and if I'm right and something has been bothering him lately, not just the usual 'when is Mondo going to attack', then his system was already a little out of sorts before he was poisoned with the toxin. It made him more vulnerable."
"You said it hits the autonomic system first?"
Billy sat back down, reading more of the display on the screen. "Yes, without as much of a myelin sheath to get through, that's the system the toxin can attack the easiest. Think about it. If your heartrate is slower than normal, you're not getting blood to your muscles at the rate they are used to. And yes, Tommy is very athletic, he has probably the slowest heartrate of any of us under normal circumstances. Athletes do tend to have slower heartrates than other people, but their hearts are so efficient, they can get the blood needed through the body with fewer pumps. But this is different."
"Their hearts can pump more with fewer pumps, I remember that much from high school. But this toxin is 'jamming' up the signals, and keeping the heart from pumping at its normal rate, and since the signals aren't getting through as well, the heart isn't pumping as efficiently either?" Sheena guessed.
"You've got it. That's what the scan is showing. Also his breathing has slowed, so not as much oxygen is getting through to his body, or to his brain. When you aren't getting the oxygen you need, it's harder to think. After the toxin hits the autonomic system, it hits the central system. Evidently, the toxin is slowed down by the myelin sheath, so it takes longer to affect the central system. That system directs and correlates movement. The toxin is jamming up the synapses that carry information to and from the brain. Tommy could be trying to move, open his eyes, talk, the brain is sending the signals, but they aren't getting through. It's almost like the ventral root of a nerve has been cut. The part of the body it goes to can't move, but still has sensation. Tommy never complained that he couldn't feel anything."
KLANK HAS TRIED SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, BILLY, ON A PLANET NEAR THE MACHINE HOMEWORLD, BUT IT WASN'T NEARLY AS STRONG AS THIS TOXIN SEEMS TO BE, NOR WAS IT PERMANENT. Zordon had appeared back in his warp and had processed the data while listening to Billy. BACK THEN, KLANK WAS WORKING ON HIS OWN AND HE WANTED TO MAKE THE POPULATION OF THAT PLANET SUSCEPTIBLE TO HIS COMMANDS, BUT ALL THE TOXIN DID WAS SLOW THEM DOWN TEMPORARILY. HE WAS DRIVEN AWAY ONCE THE TOXIN WORE OFF. THIS WAS ABOUT TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO, DURING A BRIEF PERIOD WHEN MONDO HAD EXILED KLANK FOR HIS PREVIOUS FAILURES.
"Well, looks like he's perfected it. And with the tree so near to Angel Grove's water supply, if the toxin gets there, everybody in town will be affected. They won't be in as bad a shape as Tommy, but their responses will be slowed and they will be vulnerable, to say, a hypnotic suggestion, or just regular pressure to do what Mondo asks. They'll want to resist, but won't physically be able to."
THAT WAS KLANK'S PLAN BACK THEN, TO USE A HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION ONCE THE PLANET'S INHABITANTS WERE MADE VULNERABLE BY THE TOXIN. HE WANTED TO SHOW MONDO HE WASN'T A FAILURE. I BELIEVE I HAVE THE RECORDS ON FILE. ALPHA, SEE IF YOU CAN CALL THEM UP. Alpha busily punched buttons and was rewarded a few moments later. Billy quickly scanned the data, then punched up a list. He studied it, then grinned.
"It's here, Zordon. And this, combined with the breakdown of the toxin we've completed, is enough to make the antidote from. I've checked, we've got everything we need right here. It's just a matter of making the calculations of the ingredients." A beep from the computer made him pause briefly. "Alpha ran a scan on the tree, turns out there is a computerized control at the base, near the roots. That's why it attacked us when we got too close, it was part of its programming. When the tree was a bonsai, Klank probably had it programmed to attack only Tommy, that's why it didn't prick me then. This thing's insidious. But the important thing is, we can make an antidote. We can bring Tommy back!" Sheena had already gone over to Tommy, she took his hand and smiled.
"You hear that, Tommy? Mondo's plan isn't going to work, Billy and Alpha can make an antidote! You'll be out there kicking some metal butt in no time!" A cry from Billy interrupted her, she whirled and saw Billy falling from his chair, sinking to the floor. Sheena rushed over and tried to help him up, but Billy was bent over on his hands and knees now. Sheena could see the ugly bruise on the back of his neck from the day before. Replays of the attack on the viewing globe had shown them that when the Cogs had tied Billy up in the net, his neck had struck one of the Cogs knees, then the concrete driveway as they had shoved him to the ground. Sheena had wanted to go after the Cogs herself and dismantle every single one of them after she had seen that, but had locked down the impulse. The bruise was bigger now, darker, and seemed to be even a bit reddish from the tree's attack a few hours ago. "What's wrong, what happened?"
Billy was almost crying, the pain was so intense. "I was trying to stand up and go get the ingredients, but it just hurts so much, I feel so slow, like I can't get up to speed. Whether I want to or not, I think I may have to power down and rest for just a few minutes, no more than five. It's so hard to think..." Sheena felt a knot in her stomach as she listened to Billy, and stared at the back of his neck.
"Billy, don't power down. Whatever you do, don't power down! Alpha, get that thing over here and run a neural scan on Billy." Sheena cradled her husband in her arms and brushed back the hair on his neck, then pulled the collar of his uniform down to get a clear view. Even before Alpha could do the scan, she had her answer as she saw four very deep puncture wounds on the back of Billy's neck. Alpha confirmed her suspicions a minute later.
"Billy's been poisoned by the toxin, too," Alpha said quietly. "And according to these readouts, he's received a massive dose, five times or more than what Tommy got, maybe even ten times as much, and it seems to be more concentrated, stronger and more potent. The puncture wounds stop right at the myelin sheath, and his spinal cord has been bruised a bit. The toxin has been practically injected straight into his spine." Alpha sounded as if he were about to cry, if he could. "Billy, you need to lie down and rest, but don't power down. Your powers have slowed down the speed of the toxin spreading through your nervous system, they are keeping it from blocking the synapses as quickly."
"I won't power down, but I can't rest, not now... help me, Sheena," Billy pleaded. Sheena got him up and into the chair. "I've seen the data, Tommy doesn't have much time before the toxin's effects become permanent, and he's in this 'waking coma' for the rest of his life. If I've gotten the massive dose you say I have, then I don't have much time to make the antidote, and it's going to take both of us Alpha, to get it done in time. At least I know why I'm hurting so much; it's from my spinal cord being bruised."
"How can you be so calm!" Sheena exploded. She felt so helpless, she had hoped she was wrong. Alpha was already setting out the ingredients for the antidote, Billy had started making calculations. "Billy -"
"I'm scared. But Alpha and I are the only ones who can do this. Sheena..." Billy paused, his eyes moist with emotion, not pain this time. "I love you," he said quietly. Sheena tenderly kissed him, then Billy turned back to his work. Sheena looked at Alpha.
"Call the others in, Alpha."
Tanya was watching Jason and Adam spar when their communicators beeped. She glanced around, nobody was looking at her. "What's up, Alpha?" she asked softly as Jason and Adam joined her.
"We need all of you here, now." Tanya frowned; it wasn't like Alpha to be this terse.
"We're on our way," she replied. "What was that all about? He didn't sound too good."
"Something's wrong. I hope Tommy hasn't gotten worse." Jason cast his gaze over the Juice Bar. "I don't see Kat or Rocky, I guess they stayed home. Let's get going."
Kat and Rocky were just getting in sight of the Juice Bar when their communicators beeped. "Told you Billy wouldn't take long," Rocky grinned. He looked around, then he and Kat hid behind some nearby bushes. "We're here, Alpha."
"We need all of you here, now." Alpha sounded tense, upset, even though a robot couldn't have emotions.
"What's wrong?" Kat asked. Sheena's voice came over this time.
"Tell you when you get here." She sounded worse than Alpha.
"On our way," Rocky acknowledged. "Something's wrong, very wrong. Wonder what's happened?" Kat felt a knot in her stomach; she'd heard something in Sheena's voice, she had a bad feeling about this.
"Let's go," Swirls of pink and blue left the area at almost the same time as swirls of gold, green, and yellow left from somewhere inside the Juice Bar.
Five colored beams of teleportation energy resolved themselves into the remaining Rangers seconds later at the Power Chamber. Sheena was pacing the floor between Tommy and where Billy and Alpha were working. Kat immediately went to Sheena. "What's wrong? What's happened?" Sheena looked into Kat's eyes, and Kat knew the answer even before Sheena could speak. She hugged Sheena, then moved over to Tommy's side. Sheena took a deep breath, then began to speak in a ragged voice, strained from the effort to control herself.
"The good news is that we found a sample of the poison; it's a neural toxin, in the gloves that Billy was wearing when he took the branch off Tommy's finger. It's similar to something that Klank tried on his own a very long time ago, and with that information and the sample, Billy and Alpha are working on the antidote right now."
THE TOXIN'S EFFECTS WILL BECOME PERMANENT IF NOT REVERSED IN TIME, RANGERS. ALSO, THE ANTIDOTE HAS TO BE VERY STRONG TO HAVE ANY AFFECT. TOO SMALL A DOSAGE, AND THE ANTIDOTE WILL NOT WORK COMPLETELY, THE TOXIN WILL REASSERT ITSELF, AND LIKELY ADAPT TO THE ANTIDOTE, WHICH MEANS IT WILL NOT WORK A SECOND TIME. THE RIGHT DOSAGE WILL DESTROY THE TOXIN. Zordon paused and looked at Kat and Sheena. TOO MUCH ANTIDOTE WILL DESTROY THE TOXIN, BUT MAY CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE. THAT DAMAGE COULD BE PARALYSIS, BRAIN DAMAGE, OR EVEN DEATH. KAT, SHEENA, DO YOU ACCEPT THE RISK? The Pink and Silver Rangers looked at each other and nodded.
"If we don't take the risk, they'll be in 'waking comas' forever, with no hope of ever coming out. They may even die from the comas, we don't know how long they can live in that state, do we?" Kat paused, Sheena nodded. "We accept the risk." Rocky shook his head, what was Kat talking about?
"Somebody want to tell me what's going on here? What do you mean, 'we accept the risk'? Tommy's the one who's been poisoned..." Rocky's voice trailed off as Sheena stared at Billy, then turned to face him. "No way, the branch didn't get through his uniform! There were all those little dents, but it didn't get through -"
"It got through at the neck, the collars are the weakest point of our uniforms. Billy may be unable to give consent when the antidote is ready..." Sheena didn't finish the sentence, there was no need. They all knew what she meant. "There's something else you guys need to know. The reason I jumped in and took charge was because last night Tommy asked me to, if the toxin made it so he couldn't lead. Mondo's kept us so much on the run, I didn't get to tell you earlier. I know this has been abrupt, and this isn't something I asked for. I made a pledge to Tommy, I've kept it, but there's a greater pledge to the team, and that's to make sure you have the best leadership possible. I'll gladly step down to whoever you choose." Sheena was looking right at Jason, he was her choice. Kat answered for them all.
"Tommy made the right choice when he picked you, Sheena, and I for one don't want you to step down. You've done a fine job. If anything, I owe you an apology. I thought at first you had jumped in because you were eager to take charge, too eager, no matter how well motivated. I know that I was wrong, forgive me for jumping to bad conclusions?" Sheena smiled at Kat as they hugged again. Rocky went to Sheena and hugged her too.
"Let me join in on the apologies, too. I felt the same as Kat at first, but I know I was wrong, too. You were doing what any of us would have done in the same situation. We all want you to continue to be our leader." Everyone else nodded their agreement.
"I'll try not to let you guys down," Sheena answered. Tanya moved to her, hugged her.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Wait for Billy and Alpha to finish the antidote. And whatever deity you believe in, pray to Him or Her. Tommy and Billy don't have much time." The next couple of hours were spent bringing the others up to date on the toxin and what it was designed to do, the dosage Billy had received, then planning strategy for Decharger's next attack, for they were certain that Mondo wasn't going to wait much longer to use him again. After a while, everyone was talked out, planned out, and just plain emotionally worn out. Everyone found a spot to sit, Kat stayed with Tommy, Rocky and Jason were with her. Adam had gone over to Billy and Alpha, to see what help he could provide. Sheena sat on one of the examining tables, keeping a watchful eye on Billy. It was getting harder for him to concentrate, and he frequently had to stop and rub his forehead, to try to ease his headache. Tanya joined Sheena at the table, not knowing what to say. After a long while, Sheena finally spoke.
"Tanya, remember when you asked me a while back if I was worried about Billy? When we split up in that first fight, trying to track down Decharger? In a normal situation, fighting Cogs or whatever, I don't worry about Billy. I know that in a normal situation, he can handle himself as well as any of us. And none of us know when they might pull something and we'll be in trouble, but that's part of being a Ranger. It's part of the risk. Our training helps us to deal with that, and helps to keep us safe. We can prepare, to a certain degree, for that." Sheena took a deep breath, then continued. "But this? How do you defend against something like this? You can't beat up a toxin. You can't kick a few Cogs and magically make a cure appear. Tanya, I'm scared to death." Sheena drew another shaky breath, she was close to losing control. She'd never shown this vulnerable side of herself to anyone but Billy in this world, and right then her defenses were way down. "If I lose Billy, I don't know what I'm going to do. If I lose any of you, for that matter. I'm not prepared to lose any of you. And I can't do anything, that's what hurts the most. Supposedly I'm the strongest Ranger, and I can't do a blasted thing!" Tanya put her arms around Sheena's shoulders, trying to comfort her friend. Tanya wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came to mind. The blare of alarms snapped everyone back to attention. "Looks like Mondo is ready to play. Where to this time, Zordon? And has he sent Decharger?" In a flash, Sheena had changed from grieving near-widow to the Silver Ranger, ready to go into battle against anything that might threaten her world.
YES, HE HAS SENT DOWN DECHARGER AND THE MONSTER HAS ALREADY GROWN TO ZORD-SIZE. DECHARGER IS HEADING FOR THE PARK, AND WILL UNDOUBTEDLY MAKE HIS WAY TO DOWNTOWN ANGEL GROVE. YOU MUST STOP HIM RANGERS. Sheena looked at Billy one last time, he looked up and smiled.
"Give him Tommy's regards, and mine too, guys."
"Count on it. It's morphin' time!" Sheena called.
"Zeo Ranger I, Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger III, Blue!"
"Zeo Ranger IV, Green!"
"Gold Ranger Power!"
"Silver Ranger Power!"
The Rangers teleported to their Zords and rushed to intercept Decharger. He had been waiting for them. "Your time is up, Rangers! Mondo will rule this puny world!"
"So what do you expect us to do, just give up?" Sheena shot back from the Cheetah Zord. Decharger laughed as the other Zords surrounded him.
"No, Silver Ranger, I expect you to go down in defeat! Then you can crawl back to your worthless Power Chamber and watch your leader and your husband slip away from you, forever! You are all doomed!" Sheena could hear Tanya's sharp intake of breath over their communications system.
"He knows. He knows about Billy."
Sheena's voice turned cold, stony. "Mondo's going to pay for this, you can count on that, Tanya."
"Right behind you, Sheena," came Kat's voice. Her bright Aussie voice was as hard as Sheena's. "Rocky's plan worked before, think it will work again?"
"One way to find out. Okay, guys, just like last time, don't let him drain your Zords, but let's see if we can draw his fire. We've got to lure him away from Angel Grove first though. Hey, Decharger!" Sheena shouted. "Come and get us, if you dare!" The Rangers all started for the desert. Decharger kept laughing at them, but he followed.
"You're only delaying the inevitable, Silver Ranger. But unlike yourself, I have plenty of time. How much do you or your teammates have? How much does your husband have?" Sheena almost turned her Zord around right then to blast the Decharger, but they were still on the edge of the city.
"You'll find out how much time you have, just follow us for a little longer," she muttered. Moments later, they were out in the desert, with no buildings or people anywhere near. "Okay, guys, let's start drawing his fire. Make him mad." The Rangers started running about, dodging Decharger's tentacles, being careful not to get caught. Kat and Tanya poured blast after blast at the monster, but he didn't return fire at them, or any of the Rangers very often. Soon he picked up the Pink and Yellow Zords and tossed them about like toys.
"Kat, Tanya, are you guys okay?"
"I'm fine, Sheena. Decharger didn't drain my Zord."
"Same here," Tanya called. "He doesn't seem to want our energy this time, and he's not firing at us like he did the last time. I don't think this is working."
Sheena dodged a tentacle and repositioned her Zord. "Seems he learned from the last time. But until we can figure something else out, this is our only option. Anybody gets a good idea, sing out!" Another tentacle shot out and knocked over the Cheetah Zord. Jason drew the monster's attention and some of his fire as Sheena righted her Zord. The battle continued on in this manner for nearly two hours, neither side gaining an apparent advantage over the other to the untrained eye, but the monster was wearing the Rangers down, and their Zords were starting to lose power. "I'm down to about seventy percent here, guys. How about the rest of you?" Everybody was in pretty much the same shape, and going down quickly. "We've got to find a way to fight him, we can't keep this up!"
Rocky had been watching the Decharger and something that Sheena had said when she had first started to explain the principles of ki-see was coming back to him. "What if the way to fight Decharger is to not fight him?" Rocky moved to dodge yet another blow from the monster.
"What are you talking about? We've got to fight him!"
"No, Kat, it's something like Sheena's ki-see. A ki-see warrior fights with their mind, they turn their opponent's mistakes against them, right?"
"Keep going, Rocky," Sheena urged.
"Well, Decharger's not trying to drain us, and hasn't for a long time now. Maybe he's got all the power he needs, he's just toying with us, waiting to wear us down, then make the final strike," Jason jumped in, he could see where Rocky was going.
"So if he has all the power he needs, if he absorbed more somehow, then maybe that would mess him up?" Rocky finished.
"Rocky, I think you've got it! We need to overload him somehow." Sheena hit her communications panel. "Sheena to the Power Chamber! Billy, do you read us? Alpha, Zordon, come in!" There was nothing but static coming through the speaker. "Adam, can you get through?"
"No, and teleportation seems to be down, too. Mondo's blocking us!" Sheena made her decision quickly.
"Adam, take your Zord and get back to the Power Chamber. Find out from Billy how we can overload this thing. We'll keep Decharger at bay."
"On my way." Adam turned his Taurus Zord around and headed back to the Power Chamber. Within minutes he was in the holding bay and moments later, he was running into the main chamber. "Billy! We need some answers! Is there any way we can overload Decharger?" Billy looked up from his work, he seemed confused at first. Adam fought down a wave of panic as he saw Billy's pale face, strained by the effort to concentrate. He realized then just how long they had been fighting, and that time was running out even faster than they had realized. "Billy? Can we do it? Is there a way?" Billy stared at Adam, the Green Ranger was afraid at first that he couldn't answer. Then Billy took a deep breath with effort and finally spoke.
"There's only one way. You need the MegaZord, its systems can be modified to allow whatever Decharger throws at it to be routed through, and then pumped right back into Decharger, along with it's own power. You'll be creating a feedback loop, but Decharger needs to be holding on to MegaZord for this to work. It will be tight quarters..." Billy faltered for a moment, then managed to continue. "Tell the others we're close to the antidote, we're on the last ingredient now. Listen carefully, I don't think I can repeat this." Billy started to explain the rerouting of the systems to Adam, giving as much detail as he could. It was getting harder for him to talk. "Be careful at this junction, where the Phoenix Zord's comes in, it's the weakest point, you'll have to..." Billy's voice trailed off, he clutched Adam's arm, then released it suddenly. Adam barely managed to catch him as he collapsed.
"Billy? Billy!" Adam picked up the fallen Sapphire Ranger and placed him carefully on the examining table he'd spent the night on. "Alpha, keep working on the antidote."
"But I don't know if I can complete it without Billy's help, I -"
"You've got to! You're the only one who can, Alpha, please!" Adam begged. "I've got to get back to the others." Adam didn't want to have to tell them, tell Sheena that Billy was now in the same shape as Tommy and that they needed the MegaZord, something they didn't have without Tommy. What are we going to do now?
Mondo was enjoying himself immensely in the Skybase, the Rangers were wearing their Zords down. Soon his monster would defeat the Rangers once and for all. Klank watched the battle, standing by his master's side. He had thought of everything, and this time, the Rangers would not be able to stop them. He lost himself in thoughts of how Mondo would reward him for his service, perhaps a promotion, or even a planet of his own to rule. Yes, things were going quite well...
Adam returned to the battle. "Guys, we've got trouble. Billy said that the only way we could've overloaded Decharger was to have used the MegaZord and let Decharger grab it, so we could've created a feedback loop." Sheena broke in, she had caught how Adam had phrased everything.
"Adam, you're talking in past tense. What happened?" Adam didn't answer, he couldn't bring himself to. "Billy's in a waking coma, too," Sheena answered her own question. "Did Billy tell you how to set up the MegaZord?"
"He started to, but didn't quite finish -"
"Then you'll have to finish." Adam started to protest, but Sheena cut him off. "Adam, Billy wouldn't have started telling you how to do it if he didn't believe that you could do it. Everybody get ready to form the MegaZord. Jason, take Pyramidus back to the Power Chamber and get the Phoenix Zord."
"But that's Tommy's Zord, I don't know if I can pilot it."
"It's not mentally controlled like the Red BattleZord, you can do it, Jason. I'll keep Decharger busy, you guys get ready. Adam, when you've made the adjustments give a yell. I think you all know what's going to come next. Either this is going to work or it isn't, but it's our only choice. We're losing too much power, and Decharger is going to take us out if we don't give this a try."
"On my way, Sheena," came Jason's determined reply. Within minutes, he was back with the Phoenix Zord, flying a little less skillfully than Tommy, perhaps, but he had the Zord under his control. Sheena didn't watch as she heard the others over her speaker. They were forming the MegaZord, then she could hear Adam relaying to the others as each modification was made. His voice was edgy and nervous at first, but then grew more confident as each adjustment was made.
Ten minutes later, he called her. "It's done, Sheena. I'm going to have to keep everything from breaking loose, the Megazord's systems weren't designed for this, but we're as ready as we'll ever be."
"Okay, guys, time to do a bit of acting here. Come at him, pretend to try and get away, but let him grab you. If he does what we think he will, then he's going to get a nasty surprise. Let's do it!" Sheena moved her Zord away from Decharger, then MegaZord moved in.
"So, you've decided to go down together! Prepare to meet your doom!" Decharger rushed at the MegaZord, tentacles waving. MegaZord feinted, went in for an apparent punch, which Decharger easily blocked. A second later, he had the Zord wrapped up in his grip. "You're finished, Rangers!" he shouted as he started to pour all his stored up energy into the MegaZord. "I'll blow you apart!"
"Not if I can help it," Adam muttered. The energy started hitting the MegaZord then. Adam swiftly punched the controls to make the Zord grab Decharger, preventing the monster from escaping. The energy caused sparks to fly from the panels, everyone shielded themselves as best they could from the pyrotechnics. Adam watched as instead of blowing apart the Zord's systems, the energy being pumped into it was stored up, building with their own power supply. "Just a few seconds more... feedback initiated!" he shouted as he hit a rigged-up set of controls. The MegaZord became a huge power conduit, directing all of Decharger's energy back into him with their own, faster than the monster could absorb it. Sheena moved her Cheetah Zord in closer, clamping down on one of the Decharger's legs to make sure it couldn't escape, then sent out her own beam of energy to combine with the flow pouring into Decharger. The monster shrieked, glowing with all the colors of the Rangers, as the energy it had stolen from them overwhelmed it. Adam frantically rushed about the MegaZord, making sure that its circuits didn't fly apart from the massive amount of energy pouring through its systems. Sheena saw the monster start to glow white-hot.
"Break off, guys!" The MegaZord broke from Decharger's grip easily and backed away. Moments later, the monster was racked by a massive explosion that blinded everyone for a few seconds. When their vision cleared, they saw the monster staggering, smoke pouring from its joints. "Take him out!"
It was Kat's voice that sounded loudest as the Rangers called out, "Zeo MegaZord Saber, power up!" With a single powerful slice, the Rangers destroyed the multi-armed menace. "That was for Tommy and Billy," came Kat's voice. The Rangers headed back for the Power Chamber, one threat had finally been eliminated, now they had to see if Alpha could stop the other in time.
Six flashes of light resolved themselves into the Rangers. As soon as Sheena and Kat were solid again, they both rushed to their respective beloveds. Sheena looked at Alpha as she removed her helmet.
"How long has it been since he collapsed?"
"About twenty minutes since Adam left," Alpha told her. "Oh, ay-yi-yi, I can't believe this! He had just figured out the last ingredient, too!"
"So the cure is done?" Tanya asked.
NOT QUITE, Zordon told them. BILLY DID NOT HAVE TIME TO FIGURE OUT JUST HOW MUCH OF THE FINAL INGREDIENT SHOULD BE ADDED INTO THE CURE, NOR HOW MUCH OF IT SHOULD BE GIVEN TO TOMMY AND TO HIM. THE DOSAGE IS DIFFERENT FOR BOTH TOMMY AND BILLY.
"We don't have much time, either." Sheena fought down the tears that threatened her eyes. She didn't dare let anyone see her like this, even Billy hadn't seen her like this. Only one person had ever seen her this vulnerable, and that one wasn't here. She went to Billy's notes and started to look through them. A few moments later, she threw them down. "I never have understood any of this."
The others exchanged glances. Alpha shuffled over to the notes and started perusing them. "I - I think I might have figured out what he was doing. I wasn't sure, though. I'm still not."
Sheena looked at him. "Please try, Alpha. We don't have any other choice, and they don't have much time."
Alpha looked through the papers again, and finally picked up a vial. "I hope this is right."
"Not as much as I do," Kat muttered. Sheena looked at her friend and nodded softly. Alpha carefully added part of the contents to the almost-complete cure and looked hard at it.
"No change in color or anything," Sheena examined the liquid carefully.
"Billy's notes don't say anything about whether it's supposed to change or not," Alpha mentioned. Sheena touched the face of her husband gently, and anyone who could have gotten a good look at her would have sworn tears sparkled in her emerald eyes.
Alpha examined Billy's notes again, then carefully measured out a dose for each of the two afflicted Rangers. Sheena watched for any signs of change in either of them, her heart in her throat. "It's supposed to take around five minutes," Alpha told them.
One, two, three minutes ticked by. "Come on, Tommy," Kat urged. "Come back to me."
Sheena said nothing, only stared longingly with love at Billy. Two more minutes passed. Kat let out a small gasp of pleasure as Tommy stirred. She bent over him, her heart beating faster and faster. He opened his eyes and smiled. "What a sight to come back to."
"Oh, Tommy," was all Kat managed to say. She more than made up for her silence with a powerful kiss full on his lips.
Sheena smiled sadly, then looked at Billy. There was no change in his condition. She bowed over him, unable to see for the grief in her heart and eyes. She whispered, so low no one could hear her, "I swear by the Mother Goddess, if you don't come out of this, Billy, I will hunt Mondo down and disassemble him with my bare hands!"
She jerked back when Adam touched her shoulder. "Sheena?" he asked. "Are you OK?"
"No, not really," she almost growled. "And I won't be until Billy comes back to me."
Tommy managed to get to his feet and lurched over to Billy. "Come on, old friend, you can beat this! Fight it!"
There didn't seem to be any change. Sheena's hands clenched into fists as minutes ticked by. Alpha examined Billy again, but couldn't figure out why the antidote wasn't affecting him. "Sheena, I can't explain it. Maybe it's because of where the poison entered his system at... or the strength of it... or..."
Alpha broke off when he saw Sheena wasn't paying attention to him. Her attention was all taken up with Billy. The others watched her in silence. Tanya remembered what Sheena had said to her earlier, before the fight with the Decharger. She glanced at her watch. It had been almost ten minutes since Alpha had given him the antidote.
"It's not going to work," Sheena whispered. "We're too late."
"Sheena... I," Alpha started, then stopped at a shake of her head.
"It's not your fault, Alpha." Sheena felt strange, cold, as if a stone had taken the place of her heart. "It's Mondo's. I have an oath to keep now. I'll see you all later... I hope." She got to her feet and reached for the helmet she'd put aside before coming to Billy. She heard something behind her; the Rangers shuffling around trying to do something for Billy, probably. She hoped she'd see them again, but whether she did or not, Mondo would pay for what he had done to her beloved. She went to the teleportation unit, wondering in the back of her mind how she'd live without him. He'd been a part of her all her life, it seemed, and now... now he was gone. A part of her life? He was a part of her soul! At least she'd be able to look at him... forever. She wondered if he would age anymore. She couldn't imagine growing old without him.
Arms encircled her, and she felt a familiar warm breath on the back of her neck. She stepped away. "Leave me alone, Billy, I'm trying to do something."
It only took her a second to realize what she'd said. She turned around, and Billy's wonderful blue eyes met her own. "Oh, Goddess," was all she could say before he kissed her.
"Nope, it's Billy," he said when they finally broke apart. "And don't squeeze so hard, I still hurt in some places."
"Why did it take so long?"
"I don't know, maybe because I got such a large, concentrated dose," Billy shook his head. "But I'm glad to be back."
Sheena kissed him again. "Not nearly as glad as I am to see you both back. Tommy," she glanced over at the Red Ranger.
"Sheena, I -," she cut him off.
"Tommy, I kept my promise. I don't know why you asked me, but I kept my promise."
"I know," he nodded. "I could hear everything, I just couldn't do anything about it. Thank you," he smiled at her. "I did a lot of thinking while I was... out of it. I've made up my mind about some things."
"Such as?"
"Later," Tommy sighed. He had to support himself against Kat for a second. "I think we all need some sleep before we do anything else."
NOT QUITE YET. WE MUST STILL DEAL WITH THE TREE ITSELF. THE ROOTS HAVE ALMOST TAPPED INTO THE CITY'S WATER SUPPLY. IF THEY REACH THAT, THEN THE SAME POISON THAT ALMOST DESTROYED TOMMY AND BILLY WILL ENDANGER ALL OF ANGEL GROVE.
Sheena shook her head. "We can't let that happen."
Billy looked past Sheena to the teleportation unit. "I think if we can uproot it, then I can rig the teleportation unit to send it straight into the heart of the sun."
"Incinerate it," Tanya grinned. "Great idea."
Sheena and Tommy exchanged glances. "You do it, Tommy. You waited long enough and went through enough."
"No, you do it," he chuckled. "I'm staying here. I don't feel quite up to wrestling with that tree just yet. It was bad enough when it was a bonsai."
"All right," Sheena laughed. "Back to action!"
Sheena pulled out the Silver Sword just as a platoon of Cogs materialized to surround the tree. "Mondo doesn't know when to give up! Kat, Rocky, you and I will deal with the tree. The rest of you, keep those Cogs off us!"
"You got it!" the others chorused. The Silver, Pink, and Blue rangers plunged towards the tree. Rocky and Kat kept dodging about it, keeping the branches occupied as they tried to blast Sheena with their sleep-inducing pollen again. She switched her sword to a one-handed grip and dodged under the branches until she was right by the tree. She got a visor full of pollen, but wiped it away quickly. She didn't dare risk falling asleep, not here of all places. She swiped at the trunk with the Silver Sword, but with only one hand, she didn't have the leverage for a good enough strike. She switched back to the familiar two-handed grip, then had to knock another branch out of her way. Something flashed by her, and she saw Kat, blaster in hand, waving at her. Glad they're on my side, she thought. But back to business. She sliced downwards with all her considerable strength behind it, then followed it up with a massive kick to the trunk. The tree tipped over, then crashed to the ground. Sheena grinned, then groaned as a last wildly waving branch knocked her away. She muttered something quite rude as she leapt back and cut the branch in half out of sheer spite.
"What about that?" Rocky asked as he helped her to her feet, gesturing towards the stump. "That's the worst part of it: the roots."
"I know," Sheena nodded. She tapped her communicator. "Do you need us to get the roots out of the ground, or can you teleport it out from there?"
"Out of the ground, so we know we haven't missed any roots. Think you guys can do it?"
"No problem," Jason assured him. He and the others had just finished with the Cogs. The six Rangers surrounded the stump and as one, grasped the base. "Heave -" Sheena cried out. "Ho!" Jason continued. They stood up, jerking the stump out of the ground and with it came a huge mass of roots, some of the toxin spilling out. They threw it to one side and Sheena touched her communicator again.
"Now would be a good time, Billy." Moments later the tree, stump, and spilled toxin were enveloped in the teleportation field and vanished.
"I'm glad that's over with," Kat sighed. "Let's get back to the Power Chamber."
As they appeared once more in the Chamber, Sheena headed straight for Billy, and Kat for Tommy. But this time, instead of watching their loves with hope, a loving kiss was their welcome back.
"I haven't been this tired... I don't think I've ever been this tired." Adam leaned against a console.
"You were great, Sheena," Tommy congratulated her.
"Thanks, Tommy," she nodded. "And I'm glad you can take back being leader. But I have two last orders as temporary leader of the Rangers."
"And what are those?" Kat looked a trifle worried for a second.
"First, I order us all to sleep until we're sick of sleeping," Sheena smiled. "But before then, I order Billy to kiss me before he goes home."
"Yes, ma'am," Billy saluted, then followed orders. She smiled, waved at them all, then demorphed as she walked down the hallway to her chambers.
Tommy turned to Alpha. "Teleport us all home, please."
"Right away, Tommy." Alpha started hitting buttons, and they all vanished out of the Power Chamber. Alpha looked up at Zordon. "Do you think Sheena's still mad at me, Zordon?"
SHE WAS NOT ANGRY AT YOU, ALPHA. SHE WAS SNAPPISH ONLY BECAUSE OF THE STRESS SHE WAS UNDER.
Yes... Sheena thought. She knew Zordon knew she could hear him and Alpha. A lot of stress. Leading isn't easy. I didn't think it would be. I'm just glad we got through everything in one piece. The last thought through her mind was, I'm so happy Billy and Tommy are safe...
Mondo raged about his throne room, tossing anything and everything that wasn't bolted down. "I can't believe it! They've beaten me again! KLANK!" he screamed. Klank wisely hid in a remote part of the Skybase, he would stay there until Mondo had calmed down long enough not to want to disassemble him personally. They had tapped into the Power Chamber's communications long enough to find out that Tommy and Billy had recovered. Klank cursed the Cogs for not having kidnapped Billy as he had instructed them, cursed himself for not counting on Sheena taking over in Tommy's absence. It was a mistake he vowed never to repeat: underestimating the Silver Ranger. Klank looked at the small vial he had kept with him the whole time. It was what was left of his neural toxin. He considered throwing it into the incinerator, but didn't. "Never know when this may come in handy..."
Tommy stared at the ceiling of his room. He'd slept almost twelve straight hours, and felt somewhat back to normal. The sun wasn't even up yet and he'd already begun making plans for the day. He had some people to talk to, with the Rangers being first. He dreaded and welcomed those talks. He had already made his decision, he just wanted to see how the others would react to it.
He barely waited for the sun to clear the horizon before he started making his rounds. The others were startled to see him that early, but once he explained what he wanted, they listened. He asked them all the same question. "I'm thinking of stepping down as leader. I think Sheena should replace me. What do you think?"
Adam and Tanya were immediately behind whatever decision he made, they trusted his judgment completely. Rocky didn't want Tommy to step down, but was also trusting in Tommy's judgment, and would support his decision. Jason also didn't want Tommy to step down, neither did he want to see Tommy feel he had to lead for the sake of everybody else, at the cost of his personal well-being.
Billy probably understood the best, having had to lead when no one else could, giving up that leadership readily when Tommy and the others were back to normal, giving up his chance at a Zeo Power for the good of the team, when a part of him wanted to keep a power. Billy understood full well the sacrifice Tommy wanted to make, needed to make for his own good, and the good of the team. Yes, Tommy knew that Billy understood the cost better than any of the others.
"Tommy," Kat greeted him smilingly. It was almost noon now; he'd spent hours talking to each of them. The only one he hadn't talked to yet was Sheena. He wanted to talk to her last.
"Hi, Kat." He was suddenly very nervous.
"I didn't think you'd be up for another day or so." Kat looked carefully at him. He seemed about as strong as he ever had.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," Tommy lowered his voice. "We were lucky Alpha figured out what to do in time."
Kat nodded. "How's Billy doing? Have you seen him today?"
"Yes... I've been talking to everyone. I have... I have something to talk to you about, Kat. Something important," he gulped, and stared up into the trees for a second.
"What is it, Tommy?" When he didn't say anything for a few minutes, she poked him. "Tommy... just say what you have to say."
He jumped. "All right... Kat... I'm going to step down as leader of the Rangers."
"What?"
"I can't do it anymore, Kat. I can fight, but I can't lead."
"Tommy... I," Kat didn't know what to say. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I've got a lot I haven't dealt with lately. It's been leaking into my leadership duties. I can't lead when I've got so many emotions that I haven't dealt with. Finding out I have a brother, which brings up the question of why David and I were given up for adoption, sorting out my feelings about Kim." And you, he added mentally. "Not to mention everything Mondo's been up too lately. We almost lost Sheena before we really got to know her. If it hadn't been for Billy, she could have destroyed us."
"That has nothing to do with you, Tommy."
"Maybe... but, still, Kat, I can't lead now. I know it inside. I know that whatever it is that makes the best leaders, I don't have it anymore."
Kat thought things through for a few minutes. This was nothing she'd ever thought of before. Her thoughts whirled for a few moments, then everything came clear. Tommy had been thinking of this for a while... it wasn't something that had just occurred to him. Tommy knew what he was doing, and more: he knew who he wanted to be the new leader. She knew he wanted to do what was best for the whole team. She also wanted to hear it from his own lips. "If you think it's best, Tommy. But who were you thinking of handing the reins over to?"
Kat thought she was going to have to hit Tommy again to get his attention. Finally, he asked, "How did Sheena do when I was... out of commission?"
"Good. Better than I thought she would." Kat knew where this was leading. It didn't surprise her, not any more than anything else in the last couple of years had. "You know, I think that Sheena would make a good leader, if you're really serious about stepping down. I know Jason used to be the leader, but Sheena's a natural."
Tommy choked suddenly. "You think so, too?"
Kat laughed. "It was obvious to everyone you were testing her, sort of. Everyone except Sheena. She was too busy trying to keep us from flying apart." Her face clouded as she thought of how badly she'd misjudged the Silver Ranger.
Tommy nodded. "She did a great job." Now that that's out of the way, on to the hard stuff. "Kat, speaking of being serious-,"
"Oh, were we?" she teased.
"There's something I need to tell you."
Kat sat up straighter, and her heart beat a little faster. Could he... would he?
"Kat, I thought about this before this whole fiasco with that poison and the Decharger got started. Being out of action gave me a chance to think about it a little harder, and with some sense for a change. Kat," he took a deep breath. "I love you."
Tommy could have almost laughed as Kat flushed a deep red. She drew closer and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I love you, too," she whispered. "What made you say it now?"
"A very good friend gave me some very good advice." One of the many weights on his heart had lifted at last.
Thanks, Kim. Kat thought. They remained close for a time, talking, and finally Kat asked, "Have you talked to Sheena about it yet? If you haven't, you better get to it. She called just before she got here, she's at the Juice Bar."
"Oh? What did she want?"
"She and Billy got formally 'engaged' this morning. Apparently he went down on bended knee and everything. She was expecting it, of course, but still she did sound kind of in shock. They called his parents up at his Uncle John's to let him know."
Tommy laughed. "What did his parents think of a phone call letting them know their son is engaged?"
"She didn't say." Kat thought of how Sheena had sounded on the phone. "You know, Sheena faces down monsters and Cogs and Mondo and doesn't turn so much as a hair. The guy she loves, who loves her, asks her to marry him, and I could swear she was actually shaking when she talked to me!"
"Love can do that to a person." Tommy kissed Kat again before he left. "I should know." He thought for a moment. "I wonder how Sheena's going to take this? Me asking her to be leader, I mean."
"She'll be all right," Kat smiled up at him. "Just take it easy, Tommy. Everything's going to be fine."
Tommy headed for the Juice Bar, his mind eased about one thing, but now in turmoil about another. He didn't want to go on and tell Sheena his thoughts about making her leader just yet. A plan formed.
"Hi, Sheena." Tommy waved as he caught sight of her. She was on the mat, practicing her ki-see moves. She didn't wave back, but he knew she had seen him. He watched for a few minutes as she went through her workout.
Sheena saw Tommy, but didn't interrupt her trance. She hoped he was feeling better; he did look better. She returned her attention to her workout. She had loved this art from the moment she had learned of it, and was proud of how far she'd come already. Finally the kata came to its end, and after a quick shower, she joined Tommy at the table.
"You're good," he congratulated her. "I've never seen anyone move quite like that."
"I've put in a lot of time to be good. I just wish there was some way to know how good I am compared to a true master." Sheena flexed her neck and winced a little.
"Something wrong?" That move had reminded him eerily of Billy, when he'd been pricked by the tree. Tommy hadn't been able to see his friend, then, but he had pictured that same expression and movement in his mind.
"Nah," she shook her head. "Phantom pain, sort of. It comes from having that psychic link to Billy. We can each feel what the other does, sometimes. It'll go away soon." Tommy couldn't help but notice the third ring she now wore, a silver band with a brilliant sapphire set in it. It had belonged to Billy's grandmother, it was her old wedding ring. Now it was Sheena's engagement ring.
"How did Billy's parents take the news?" he asked, indicating the ring. Sheena laughed, and fingered the band lovingly.
"They honestly seemed surprised that we hadn't gotten engaged earlier. Billy's mom had given him this ring about three weeks ago, for when he found 'that special someone', she told me. You know, it's like I've known his parents forever. Oh! Uncle John knows now, too, and he's not going to rent that house just outside of Angel Grove anymore. He's going to give it to us as a wedding present, can you believe it? Everything has started to happen so fast now, it's incredible." Tommy laughed and smiled, he'd been around Billy's mom when she planned birthday parties, he could imagine what it was like with her now looking forward to planning a wedding. He took a deep breath, he needed to get to the reason he'd come looking for Sheena.
"Sheena," Tommy had to speak quietly. "I've - I've been thinking about stepping down as leader of the Rangers."
Her eyes widened. "Why?" Tommy told her most of what he'd told Kat, and when he was done, looked at her. "I don't want to make the team suffer, and that's what I've been doing, unknowingly. I think it's time for someone else to take over."
"Tommy," Sheena looked into his eyes. "You have to do what you think is best, for yourself and for the team. If you really want to step down, if you think that's the best, then pick someone to lead who you know will do a good job. I'd suggest Jason. He led the Rangers in the beginning, and he's very good."
Sheena took a deep breath. "But you are better, Tommy. I hope you'll always be our leader."
"We'll see, Sheena," was all he could say. "I've got to go, I'm supposed to meet David later. Thanks for everything, Sheena. And I mean everything."
"No problem," she grinned. "Just helping out a friend.
Sheena went back to the Power Chamber shortly after Tommy left, and got back to business on her latest novel. She had just wrapped up the final chapter when she heard Tommy's voice. "Hey, Sheena. Come on up to the main chamber, would you?"
"On my way." When she got there, all the other Rangers stood around the room. There wasn't the usual tension in the air that meant a monster had attacked, nor were the alarms blaring. She stood by Billy and waited to see what Tommy wanted.
"Everyone," Tommy began. "I talked to you all today about stepping down as leader. I've made up my mind. I'm going to. You all know my reasons."
HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF WHO WILL BE THE NEW LEADER, TOMMY? Zordon asked. Sheena looked over her fellow Rangers, and hoped sincerely Tommy had picked Jason.
"Sheena." The Silver Ranger jerked as Tommy called her name.
"What?"
"Sheena, I asked you to take over when I went down from that toxin for a reason. I've been thinking about asking you to take over for a while now. I wanted to see how you'd react to being leader, and I couldn't have done better." Tommy stood before her. "But I had to ask the others what they thought. I had to know how you felt. Sheena: will you be the new leader of the Power Rangers? You're good enough, more than good enough."
Sheena felt herself blush deeply. "Tommy... you can't be serious."
"Why not?"
"I'm new. I don't have the experience, I -" Tommy cut her off.
"Sheena, you'll be fine. Just trust yourself. We all do. We all agreed on it already," he grinned at her. "Before I even called you in here, actually."
She looked at the others, to see them all nodding. "You're all in on this?" She was surprised to see even Billy nodding. A sense of pride and joy filled her. She smiled. "Zordon?"
YOU HAVE BEEN A FINE WARRIOR, SHEENA, AND YOU LED THE RANGERS WELL DURING OUR RECENT CRISIS. NOW YOU ARE CALLED UPON TO CONTINUE THAT TASK. BEING LEADER IS A POSITION OF GREAT RISK, AND IS YOUR DECISION, AND YOURS ALONE.
Sheena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "If you all think it's best...-"
Suddenly the viewing globe crackled. "This is Telvok of Eltar, calling the Power Chamber. Power Rangers Zeo, Zordon, please come in."
"Who's that?"
THE LEADER OF ELTAR'S PLANETARY GOVERNMENT COUNCIL. TELVOK, THIS IS ZORDON. HOW MAY WE HELP YOU?
The globe showed a middle-aged man with thick steel-gray hair, wearing a uniform of some type. "Greetings, one and all, far-descended children of Eltar. Greetings, Zordon."
Telvok seemed to be looking for something or someone among them. When his gaze landed on Sheena, he smiled. "I was about to ask which of you is the new Silver Ranger, but I have no need. Your ancestor's features shine from your face, my lady."
"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Sheena wondered what this was about.
"We have learned that you have been studying ki-see. Is this true?"
"Yes." A flicker of unease crossed her face.
"Even here on Eltar, there are few who study that art, and you are the first of the Power Rangers to do so. Our last master of ki-see has sent for you, Silver Ranger. He wishes you to come to Eltar to study with him, that you might complete your ki-see education."
Sheena felt an unexpected thrill at the thought of learning from a true master of the art that had captured her heart and soul as surely as Billy ever had. Then she remembered. "Sir... I can't. I want to more than anything, but I can't. I have responsibilities here. Tommy," she looked at the Red Ranger. "He... he wants me to be the leader. My friends need me. I can't just back out on them."
Tommy had seen the light in Sheena's eyes when she'd heard Telvok's offer. "Sir," he looked at Telvok.
"Yes, Red Ranger?"
"How long would this training take?"
"Only Master Madas knows that. The Silver Ranger does not have to accept the invitation, and there is no full guarantee that he will accept you as a student, my lady."
Sheena frowned. "What do you mean?"
"If you choose to come, you must find Master Madas before he will teach you. It is a quest of sorts."
She nodded, and Tommy could see plainly just how much Sheena wanted to go. Sheena closed her eyes. Oh, she wanted to go to Eltar more than anything. The very name thrummed in her blood like nothing had since she'd first seen Billy in the flesh. The home of her ancestors, the home of her art...
She heard Tommy speaking her name again. She looked at him. "Yes?"
"Send us letters, or something," he smiled.
Billy nodded. "Don't forget me," the Sapphire Ranger touched her cheek gently.
"But... what if, no, what about when Mondo attacks again? You guys need me." Sheena couldn't believe what was trying to happen. "And Billy's parents... what are they going to say? I'm supposed to go to their house tonight, so we can start planning the wedding."
Billy shook his head. "I can cover for you. I wish you could stay, but I can feel," the emphasis he gave the word told her he sensed her desire through their bond, "how much this means to you."
Sheena looked at the other Rangers. "What do you guys think?" She looked around at the others, agreement shone from every face.
"You're all crazy," she laughed. "And I'll miss all of you! But I was serious. What about Mondo?"
"Power Rangers," a new voice came over the globe. It was Delphine, the White Aquitian Ranger. "We have heard of the request of Master Madas to the Silver Ranger, and stand ready to aid you, should it be required in your absence, Sheena."
Sheena's mouth dropped open.
"What's the matter, Sheena?" Billy teased. "We want you to have the best training you can... and if Master Madas is the best, then he's the one you should learn with."
"And if to learn, you have to leave for a while," Adam smiled, "you'll just be that much more of a threat to Mondo when you get back."
"We all will be," Rocky added.
Sheena looked at her friends. They weren't the friends from her youth, but they were the friends of her present... and her future. She turned to Billy for one last kiss, and as they drew apart, he told her, "I'll miss you. Come home safe to me."
"To all of us," Kat supplied. Sheena turned back to the globe, which now showed Telvok again.
"I'll be glad to come to Eltar, sir. I think I'm going to like it there."
"I wait for you, Silver Ranger."
Alpha started to punch in the coordinates. WE SHALL AWAIT YOUR RETURN WITH ANTICIPATION, SHEENA. GIVE MASTER MADAS MY GREETINGS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU ALWAYS.
"Thank you, Zordon." She waved to her friends, then felt the familiar grip of teleporting. A few seconds later, she stood before Telvok's desk. He smiled at her in greeting.
"Welcome home, Silver Ranger."
