Sean walked to Tommy's side. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he said with deepest sympathy written in his face. Tommy turned towards him.
"You couldn't have known he was going to show up so don't apologize," Tommy said as he put his hand on Sean's shoulder. "Whether we trust you or not, all of us are going to need your help on this one. You used a lot of your energy today by restoring our powers and saving us from those Gargoyles. I don't know how we can thank you."
"I made a promise to Zordon that I would protect you guys when Jason became evil," Sean answered. "That is exactly what I am doing."
"Well, I don't blame you for this," Tommy said. "We have to be united if we are to get through this."
"You're right, Tommy," Trini said, keeping her voice calm. Tommy whirled around. She had regained consciousness and was getting slowly to her feet. There was a strange determined look in her eye that unnerved Tommy a bit. "We are going to have to be strong if we are to break the spell that's over Jason."
Everyone else stared at her with confused looks on their faces.
"What are you talking about?" Rocky asked.
"He's clearly under a spell!" Trini answered as she went in front of her friends. "Just because his eyes weren't glowing, doesn't mean he isn't under someone else's control." Everyone looked at her as if she was out of her mind. "Don't look at me like that. We have to try to save him!"
Her friends stared worried at each other while Sean remained poised.
"Trini," Billy said taking a step forward, "Jason isn't under a spell. He was meant to be evil."
"Didn't you hear what he just said?" Zack exclaimed. "He basically said he was going to kill all of us! We have to be rea—"
"He is my husband!" Trini screamed at the top of her lungs. "He would never join evil willingly!"
"Trini, all of us know that," Billy said sympathetically. "Even me. But that doesn't mean–"
"Then you should know how impossible all of this sounds!" Trini snapped. "Jason is still good!"
"Trini," Sean said, "Listen to me."
"You stay away from me, liar!" Trini shouted in rage at Sean. "I have been married to Jason for the past seven years! I think I would have known if he was evil!"
Sean was about to say something but bit his lip instead. Now is not the time, he thought.
Meanwhile, the balcony of the Chamber of Command was filled with Rita and Zedd's explosive laughter. They had never laughed so hard in their lives. Zedd, using his supervision, and Rita, looking through her telescope, were watching Trini defending Jason and it tickled them to death. Rita was having so much fun that she had ordered Finster to bring her some popcorn.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Rita asked jubilantly without lifting her head from her eyepiece.
"She can't believe it!" Zedd jeered, still using his supervision.
"Look at how she defends her 'loyal' husband!" Rita said as she started to eat popcorn while still looking through her telescope.
"Pass the popcorn, Rita," Zedd asked, still using his supervision and Rita held out the bag for him. "I could watch this all day!" He gave a hearty laugh and took a handful of popcorn.
Jason materialized beside the slowly rotating fan, and was leaning his back on the wall with his arms folded over his chest. "What's going on?" he asked casually.
"Trini is defending you," Rita laughed as she turned toward Jason and bowed.
"Your plan is working perfectly," Zedd said joyously as he did the same thing.
Jason shrugged in approval. If Jason was experiencing any emotion, he didn't show it. If his plan stayed together, he would be able to cripple the Rangers before they were at full strength.
Rita turned around to peer through her telescope. "Zeddie, they're starting up again," she informed her husband as though they were watching a very entertaining TV show. Rita resumed stuffing her mouth with popcorn again without removing her eye from her telescope's eyepiece. It was amazing that Rita wasn't choking at the rate of the popcorn she was stuffing her face with.
"Wonderful!" Zedd said cheerfully, activating his supervision. "Rita, stop stuffing your mouth and share!"
"Get your own!" Rita snapped.
"Just give me a handful," Zedd pleaded, still watching the rangers.
She handed the bag to her husband reluctantly with an exasperated sigh and grimace.
"Thank you," Zedd said as he grabbed a hand full.
Rita pulled the bag back to her immediately.
"You can't run from this," Rocky said.
"I'm not running from anything," Trini said, backing away from Billy's grip and got into Rocky's face. "I can't believe all of you are listening to this crap!"
"Trini, it's the truth!" Tommy said.
"All of you are crazy!" Trini shouted. "I'm ashamed of you, Tommy. Jason has been like a brother to you and this is how you repay him."
"I know what evil feels and looks like," Tommy said, keeping his voice calm but a rumbling undertone escaped nonetheless. Trini had always been nice to him; never saying a bad word to him. However, her remark was below the belt. "I was evil twice and Jason has been evil once and also was put under a jealousy spell. I recognized it in Jason just now."
"But you were under a spell and so is Jason," Trini persisted. "We can bring him back to good. All we have to do is find out how to break it."
"I was there when Jason was turned evil by Maligore," Tommy said. "When I held his hand over the lava pit, he wanted to go into fire. He wanted to remain evil!"
Maligore had been a demon-like creature that was imprisoned in the pit of eternal flame within the center of the Serpent's Temple on the Lost Island of Muiranthius. The island was sealed inside another dimension by a mystical barrier called the Nemesis Triangle. Divatox, a space pirate, had wanted to get to Muiranthius to marry Maligore so she could use Maligore's powers to raid (as she called it) all of the universe's riches. In order to get through the Nemesis Triangle and open the Serpent's Temple's door, Divatox needed a wizard called Lerogot. However, in order to free Maligore, Divatox had to sacrifice two beings of pure goodness and strength. Kimberly and Jason had filled this role. After Kimberly and Jason were lowered into the fire pit, they emerged with enhanced strength (able to break the chains that bound their hands together without any effort), reddish tones to their eyes, could teleport as bonfires, and were pure evil. The two of them fought against the Turbo Rangers, who had followed Divatox to the island on The Ghost Galleon. Maligore was released from the pit and battled the Turbo rangers while Jason and Kimberly (both were turned good again by Lerogot and his wife, Yara) helped Lerogot and his family get out of the temple because the volcano within the Temple was starting to erupt. Once outside of the temple, Maligore was destroyed by the Turbo Megazord.
"Kimberly was turned also!" Trini said, still trying to prove her nonexistent point. "She turned out fine afterward!"
"I didn't have the rage that Jason had," Kimberly shot back at Trini. "Being evil was more of a game to me then."
"She's right," Tommy said. "Maligore's influence was clearly visible in both of them, but Jason acted differently than Kimberly did. Kimberly toyed with us, but Jason tried to crush our bodies! The same look Jason had when he was under the Slippery Shark's spell was present in his eyes in the Serpent's Temple. I saw the same look in his eyes today."
"That may be true, but do not confuse rage with Evil," Sean interjected.
"He is not EVIL!" Trini persisted angrily, while tearing at her hair.
Sean gazed at her. It's started, he thought.
"I would have known if he was evil," Trini said. "He would have done something. I would have… he isn't …" She continued sputtering incoherently while on the verge of tears.
Zack and Billy advanced towards here, but Sean held out his arms to stop them.
"Let her do this," Sean said in a quite voice. "I know you want to help her, but she must do this alone."
It was painful—even tantalizing for them to watch. Trini's cries were a mix of anger and denial.
"Can't you see she is in pain?" Zack cried.
"She is sorting out the truth," Sean said, staring at Trini.
"What the hell are—" Zack began, but Sean, having felt the click within Trini's mind, cut him off with a gesture.
With a wail, Trini tore out a handful of hair from her scalp as she sank onto the ground. Tears began running down her cheeks.
"Go," Sean said. Zack and Billy rushed to Trini's side.
"Let's get her inside," Adam suggested as he opened the back door to the studio. "It would look weird if anyone saw us."
Billy and Zack (while grabbing her morpher) carried Trini's limp body inside. The rest of them filed through.
As Adam was about to go inside and shut the door behind Kimberly, he noticed Sean was still standing outside with his back toward Adam. Sean's head was lowered as though he was mourning. "Sean, are you alright?"
"I did not want this to happen," Sean confessed and there was pure sorrow in his voice. He felt Adam's hand on his shoulder. Sean turned towards him with a weary face. Everything had not gone the way he had planned to. It had been the same throughout his eight year long war with Jason. Occasionally, Sean had sabotaged some of Jason's plans, yet no matter how much damage Sean caused, Jason had found a way to snatch some sort of victory out of it—just like today. "Sometimes I still wonder if I was right and Zordon was wrong—if I had kidnapped Jason when he was a baby, then none of this would have happened."
"How would you have known that?" Adam asked. "He was born into this world as a being of Good, and plus he was a baby when you first met him. Also, there may not have been anyone to fill his shoes when Rita began attacking the Earth."
"True," Sean said and he smiled. Adam was always the one full of optimism and wisdom. "Thank you, Adam. I needed that. I have lived in darkness for too long." They walked inside.
"We all have our doubts," Adam said, reciting what he had told Carlos, his Power Ranger successor as the two of them headed for the lobby. Some time after Carlos had become the Black Space Ranger, he had accidentally hurt Cassie, the Pink Space Ranger, in a monster fight. After rescuing Carlos from a different fight, Adam had decided to help his successor get his confidence back. "I've had them myself."
"You haven't lived as long as me," Sean said. "You haven't had to shoulder my burdens, but I appreciate your compassion nevertheless."
"It can't be worse than Dark Specter's invasion of the universe six years ago," Adam said jokingly, trying to improve Sean's mood.
Several years ago, Dark Specter had ordered Astronema to summon everyone loyal to him to invade and conquer the universe. Having attacked Earth for an entire day, Astronema had planned on blowing up planet with a super torpedo, ending the nuisance of the Power Rangers and the planet forever. In hers and Dark Specter's opinion, too many years had been spent conquering a stubbornly rebellious planet. Unfortunately, one of his servants, a bounty hunter named Darkonda, stole the super torpedo. As Dark Specter was giving final instructions to Astronmea, Darkonda fired it at Dark Specter. Dying, Dark Specter ate Darkonda, ending his betrayal then. Out of the ashes of Dark Specter's demise, Astronema rose as Queen of all evil.
A blessing that occurred, Sean thought. Had Jason ascended then, life would have been worse.
Without the torpedo, Astronema continued conquering Earth. She would have succeeded had not Andros, the red Space Ranger, destroyed Zordon's energy tube. Zordon, beloved mentor and leader, died that day. But in the wake of his sacrifice the pure good energy of his tube spread throughout the universe, eradicating all the minions of evil attacking the universe and restoring Rita, Zedd, and Divatox to their original human forms.
"Perhaps not," Sean said. "Pain is relative." He heaved a great sigh when they had reached the lobby. Staring at Trini, he added, "It would not matter to Trini if Jason had died."
Adam twisted his head so fast at Sean he almost popped it. "Why would you say something like that?" he asked appallingly.
"Whether Jason was alive or dead, she would ultimately find out the truth," Sean said. "For all she knows, his love for her was a lie."
"And was it?" Adam asked, still looking at Sean.
"I don't have an answer," Sean said softly.
Adam looked at Trini, who was on the floor of the lobby with her back on the wall, sobbing uncontrollably. Her face was covered in running tears that were gushing from her eyes. Rocky had placed a box of tissues beside her but she didn't reach for them nor did she wipe away the tears with her hands. Her tears flowed down her neck and into her shirt. She looked and felt as though her heart was dying but her body wouldn't allow the rest of her too. It was horrible for the others to see this.
All of her friends had expressions of pity on their faces. None of them could imagine what she was going through. They just kept looking at her, unsure of what to do. None of them had experienced anything like this before so they had no idea what to say. If Jason had died, then they would have had a better idea of something to say but alas, he had not. It took a lot to make Trini cry, and to see her like this made the others feel worse. Even Tommy couldn't think of anything to say. If Jason was Evil by nature, then nothing they could say would help her feel better. They had already convinced her of the truth, now all they could do was help her in any way they could.
Although they didn't voice it, they all had the same question on their minds: How could Jason do this to his wife? It didn't seem right. There had to be something else to all of this that they were not seeing.
Tommy turned to Sean. The Green Ranger, who had stood tall and firm half an hour ago, now had a slump to his shoulders and his face was slightly drawn. Tommy could not remain silent for any longer. "May I speak with you alone?"
Sean nodded and the two of them went into the hallway that led to the offices.
"What's on your mind?" Sean asked as they went into Adam's office.
"Don't you know?" Tommy asked viciously. "So far you have known what each of us has been thinking."
"Then why are you blaming me?" Sean asked. "You were the one that was saying to me six minutes ago that you trusted me and that I wasn't to blame for Jason being evil."
"You knew about this and you never told us," Tommy said with anger in his eyes. "How could you keep something like this from all of us? As a Power Ranger, you have a duty to help. If you had told us, then Trini wouldn't be sitting on the floor crying her eyes out!"
"I never wanted Trini to be like this," Sean responded in a clear calm voice.
"Trini's heart is breaking because—"
"Her heart is not breaking, Tommy," Sean cut in, his exhaustion overriding his patience. "It is already broken. Can't you see that? She wants to die but she can't."
Tommy blinked. "How do you know that?"
"It is enough that I know," Sean sighed deeply, sagging as if he was about to collapse.
"Sean, are you okay?" Tommy asked concernedly.
"No," Sean said, forcing his voice to be calm. He grasped the desk for support, catching his breath. "I exerted too much of my energy today." Taking a deep breath, he made eye contact with Tommy, contorting his face with absolute seriousness. His breathing was shallow when he continued. "You know as well as I do where you need to be, but do not go alone. I cannot accompany you so take one or two of the others. Let me lean on your shoulder."
"You know me better than I thought," Tommy said as he moved forward, placing his arm around Sean's waist for support.
"Before you go, consider this: do you possess the courage and wisdom to go through with it?" Sean asked as they walked back to the lobby.
For a moment, Tommy was surprised by Sean's question. After a second, he shook his head. "I don't know," he answered.
"That will suffice for now," Sean said, tapping Rocky and Adam on the shoulders before Tommy could say anything.
"What's up?" Rocky asked as Tommy helped Sean in a chair.
"I'm going to pay Jason a visit," Tommy said, as he helped Sean into a chair.
"You're serious?" Zack asked, looking with concern at Tommy.
"Yes," Tommy replied. "Who will go with me?"
For a while, no one said anything.
"We'll go with you," Adam said, indicating Rocky. "We were wondering when you'd want to go to the moon."
"Please, be careful," Kimberly implored. "It isn't safe there."
"It isn't safer here either," Rocky said as he, Tommy, and Adam pulled out their morphers.
"I doubt if Jason will want to fight you," Sean began, "But teleport out of there if it gets rough."
"It's Morphin' Time," Tommy said. "Falcon Ninjetti Power!"
"Frog Ninjetti Power!"
"Ape Ninjetti Power!"
The three of them vanished in ranger colored streaks.
Silence filled the room.
"Is anybody hungry?" Zack asked.
Kimberly whirled around at Zack exasperation flooding from her eyes. "You're talking about food now?" she asked, as if idiocy had polluted Zack's mind.
