Chapter Seventeen
Bulk and Skull continued to hide in the bushes. "What do you think is gonna happen?" whispered Bulk.
"I don't know," answered Skull.
They watched as they saw the rangers line up next to each other each with a look of determination. Carlos, Cassie, Zhane, Zack, Trent, Kira, Rocky, Adam, Kim, Tommy, Aisha, Billy, Ethan, Conner, Jason, Andros, Ashley, and TJ. They stood there waiting as their enemies appeared before them.
"Long time no see," said Rita.
"Where's Zordon?" asked Tommy.
With a wave of his wand, Zordon's tube appeared, surrounded by piranhatrons. The rangers saw that Zordon seemed to be fading.
"What are you guys doing to him?" cried Kim. She tried to run to Zordon's tube, but Tommy stopped her. He shook his head at her.
"Well, your precious Zordon here is supplying the energy for our Grand Monarch," answered Divatox.
"Karone!" called Andros.
Astronema looked at him with narrow eyes. She shook her head. "I don't think so, red ranger."
"Get them!" yelled Mesagog.
Tommy looked around. "Ready?" Everyone nodded. "It's morphin' time!"
"Let's rocket!" yelled Andros.
"Power of the Cheetah!" Conner morphed into his suit.
"Power of the Gorilla!"
"Power of the Eagle!"
"Power of the Stag!"
"Power of the Tiger!"
"Power of the Lion!"
"Power of the Ape!"
"Power of the Bear!"
"Power of the Frog!"
"Power of the Wolf!"
"Power of the Crane!"
"Power of the Falcon!"
The space rangers too morphed into their suits. They all stood before their enemies, ready to fight.
Bulk and Skull stared at each other in awe. "Jason, Billy, Kim, Rocky, Aisha, Adam, and Andros, too? And those teenagers?"
Both sides charged at each other. Putties, Tengu warriors, piranhatrons, quantrons, and cogs also appeared and joined in the fighting.
Zhane headed for Ecliptor. "I don't know how this happened, but you've got to go!"
Ecliptor used his sword to deflect Zhane's advances. He shot Zhane with a bolt of electricity.
Andros cornered Astronema. "Karone...you've got to fight this. Whatever they've done to you, this isn't you!"
Ecliptor hit Andros from behind. "Leave my princess alone."
Astronema smirked. "Thank you, Ecliptor. But I could take care of myself."
"We're not finished, yet, Ecliptor!" yelled Zhane. He ran after Ecliptor.
"Behind you, Ashley!" yelled Cassie.
Ashley turned around in time to duck a punch from a piranhatron. "Thanks, Cas!" She turned and saw a piranhatron headed behind Cassie. "Look out!"
This time Cassie ducked and Ashley kicked the piranhatron away. "Thanks!"
"No problem!"
"Looks like it's you and me again, Goldar," said Jason. Goldar swung his sword at him, but Jason managed to dodge it.
"Always a pleasure, Jason!" Goldar continued to swing his sword at Jason, with Jason always managing to dodge it.
Jason kicked at Goldar.
"These things are so gross!" yelled Kira as she fought off a Tengu warrior. "I don't know how they did it back then!"
Tommy cornered Elsa. "Time for round two."
"There's never been a better time, Dr. Oliver." They faced off and began fighting each other, reminiscent of their fight in front of the school.
"I can't believe I'm fighting you guys again!" yelled Aisha. She kicked a putty. "That's right! No match!"
"You're dead, Havoc!" TJ yelled. He and General Havoc continued to fight. TJ was putting up a good fight, although General Havoc was obviously winning. Divatox watched them from behind. She strolled to TJ and kicked from behind.
"Hey, that's not fair!" yelled Carlos as he saw what happened. He ran to help TJ up and helped him fight General Havoc and Divatox.
Zedd and Rita watched the fighting and quietly moved to a place a little further to watch, but not participate. "We're winning," said Rita happily.
"Come back here, you!" yelled Conner. Master Vile was trying to get away. "I'm not finished with you yet!"
"Look out, Rocky!" yelled Adam. Rocky heard Adam's warning and slid back as Adam kicked a quantron in front of him. Rocky turned and helped Adam against the quantrons.
"Trent, over there!" yelled Ethan. Trent turned and saw Zeltrax. "Watch out!" Trent ducked as he saw Zeltrax's attack coming.
"Behind you, Ethan!" yelled Trent. Ethan felt something hit him. He turned and saw Sprocket directing cogs to him. "Oh no, you don't!" Ethan began fighting the cogs, making his way to Sprocket.
Billy ducked as he saw a punch coming for his face. He looked at Scorpina in front of him. Billy shook his head and kicked her. They continued their fight, drifting closer to Rita and Zedd. Rito followed them, eager to get some action in.
Bulk and Skull were watching the rangers in action from their hiding places. A putty from Lord Zedd came up from behind them. It tapped them on their shoulders. Bulk and Skull turned around and the putty jumped in their face. They both screamed and inadvertently kicked their legs up into the 'Z' on their chest. The putty writhed in agony and disappeared. "That was close," said Bulk. They resumed watching the rangers.
"There's too many of them, I don't know how long I could hold them off!" yelled Kim.
"We've got to do something!" yelled Aisha.
"Our animal spirits!" yelled Jason.
"Galaxy gliders!" called Andros.
Twelve of the rangers got ready to call on their animal spirits as six galaxy gliders came down from the sky. Before the rangers could do anything, Zedd sent a lightning bolt to each of them, which tied all of them up next to each other.
"Why didn't you just do that earlier, Zeddy?" asked Rita. Zedd groaned at her.
Oh no!" said Kira. "What do we do now?"
The rangers crouched closer to one another.
"Kim?" whispered Tommy.
"Yeah?" she answered.
"When we get out of here, I'm gonna make you my wife."
"What?"
"I mean, if you want to."
"If I want to what?" Kim smirked inside her helmet. They may be tied up, but Kim still liked to tease him.
"I've known from the time that I was sixteen years old that I wanted to marry you. Please say yes."
"See, even with your new powers, you cannot defeat us! Evil has prevailed!" yelled Zedd. Him, Rita, Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Master Vile, Divatox, General Havoc, King Mondo, Queen Machina, Prince Sprocket, Mesagog, Elsa, Zeltrax, Ecliptor, and Astronema circled the helpless rangers. "It is time for your destruction, rangers!" They each prepared to destroy the rangers.
Kim bit her lip inside her helmet. She turned her head to Tommy and said, "Of course." All of a sudden, Tommy and Kim demorphed and were untied. They stood over the other rangers, in front of their enemies. Tommy and Kim looked around and then at each other. They both had a look of surprise on their faces.
Tommy forgot about everybody else, that his friends were sitting next to him, all tied up, that his enemies for the past ten years were surrounding him. Tommy took out his necklace and pulled a ring hanging from it. "I've been hanging on to this since...I don't even remember. But I was planning on giving it to you when we graduated." Kim looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I never let go of it because I always hoped. Even when things got so bad between us, there was always something that kept me from putting it away. Something that told me to not let go of it."
The villains stood there in disbelief, as if they couldn't believe they were witnessing this. Zedd and Rita moved toward the group of them. Scorpina and Rito joined shortly afterwards. "Don't let him put that ring on her!" hissed Zedd. He moved to interrupt Kim and Tommy, but found that he could not get close to them.
Tommy knelt down and put the ring halfway onto Kim's finger and continued talking while Kim was left speechless. "My mom gave this to me when you and I started dating way back in high school. She told me that this and the arrowhead were the only things of my biological family that came with me when I was adopted." Kim smiled. "So, I'm officially asking you now. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He slid the ring down the rest of her finger.
"Tommy," started Kim. "I don't know...it's been so long..."
"Say yes, Kim." Tommy looked up at her. "You and I belong together. You know we do." Kim smiled again. "And besides," Tommy stood up and leaned into Kim. "You already said yes, Beautiful. Just two seconds ago."
Kim smiled. She put her arms around his neck. "Then I guess I'm gonna have to say yes again." She giggled a bit before he lifted her up to kiss him.
"Noo!" yelled Zedd. He looked at Tommy and Kim and raised his staff. "Your destruction, first!"
Tommy set Kim down. They took each other's hands and put themselves between Zedd, the villains, and the other rangers. Tommy looked at Kim with wide eyes, noticing a faint glow of pink surrounding her. Kim was looking at Tommy the same way, except that there was a faint glow of white.
Zedd saw this and started to shake his head. "NO!" he cried. "It can't be!"
"What, Zeddy?" asked Rita. "Other than Tommy and Kimberly glowing, we have nothing to worry about." Rita looked at them. "Looks more like their problem anyway."
"Yeah, we're still winning," chimed Divatox.
"You fools! You don't understand!" cried Zedd.
"What is it?" asked Astronema sharply. She didn't like being left out of any plans. "We have the rangers in our clutches. All that's left is to destroy them!" She moved towards Andros, but was stopped by an invisible barrier. "What's going on?" She looked around at Zedd.
"I told you before!" yelled Zedd. "The--"
"The union of Tommy and Kimberly is stronger than any sort of evil that you may throw at them," interrupted Zordon faintly. He was seen in his energy tube, thought not fully there. "Your power cannot equal theirs."
"Yes!" agreed Zedd, looking around wildly. "That's why I sent the letters! They were becoming too powerful and I felt it in the grid. They were already living apart, all they needed was that extra push. That's why I said that we must get that power source!"
"You sent the letters?" said Tommy, Kim, and the other rangers simultaneously. They all stared at each other, with a look of surprise and disgust written on their faces.
"It didn't work, Zedd!" said Zordon. "True love cannot be parted. The Crane and the Falcon fly together once more. As it should be." He looked at Tommy and Kim. "You know what to do."
They nodded. Tommy looked at Kim. "You ready, Beautiful?"
"Always, Handsome."
"It's morphin' time! Power of the White Tiger Falcon!"
"Power of the Pteradactyl Crane!"
The spirits of the Falcon and the Crane emerged from Tommy and Kim and flew together around the couple. Kim and Tommy flipped and landed in front of the villains. Their suits were even more modified. This time, Tommy's embelm included a Crane intertwined with his Falcon while Kim's Crane was intertwined with a Falcon on her embelm. Tommy waved a hand in front of the other rangers. In a flash of white light, they were freed. The other rangers jumped up and gathered behind Tommy and Kim. "Looks like it's your destruction instead!" said Tommy. The rangers moved into a ready stance to fight.
"Wow," said Bulk. "Tommy and Kimberly. I gotta tell you, I saw it coming." He looked at Skull. "I guess you really don't stand a chance now, do you?"
The villains stood before the rangers, heads held high, not wanting to go down until the very last breath. They were surrounded by their putties, Tengu warriors, cogs, piranhatrons, quantrons, and tyrannodrones. About a hundred, maybe more, against eighteen. Dark Spector appeared. He watched off to the side. "Time for your death, rangers! ATTACK!"
Once again, both sides charged at each other. Zedd and Mesagog directed the putties, warriors, cogs, piranhatrons, quantrons and tyrannodrones first. Their leaders held back, watching the action and biding their time. Divatox, General Havoc, Ecliptor, and Astronema moved in front of Zordon to keep him from the rangers.
Kim and Tommy were fighting alongside each other, destroying everything that got in their way. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?" yelled Zedd. The other rangers seemed more confident than before and they also got the upperhand on their enemies. "GOLDAR! SCORPINA! RITO! GO!" yelled Zedd again. The three of them ran forward into the battle.
Mesagog looked at Zeltrax and Elsa. They nodded and also joined in the battle.
Andros ran through the fighting and reached Divatox, General Havoc, Ecliptor, and Astronema. "Let him go!" he cried.
"I think not, red ranger," said Astronema.
"Karone, you've got to fight it! You found who you were once before and you can do it again!"
Astronema narrowed her eyes at Andros. She looked at the three standing beside her. "Leave! The red ranger's mine!"
"Are you sure, my princess?" asked Ecliptor.
"Yes," answered Astronema. She looked at Zhane. "The silver ranger seems to be needing your services. Destroy him! Destroy them all!"
"Yes, my lady." Ecliptor brandished his sword and headed for Zhane.
Astronema looked at Divatox and Havoc. "You guys leave too. This one's mine!"
"No, honey, I'm fighting him too."
Astronema narrowed her eyes again. "No, he's mine!" She shoved Divatox in the direction of the other fighting and Havoc followed.
"Fine, fine, we're leaving."
"Now, where were we?" She got ready to fight.
"No, Karone, I won't fight you! I didn't before and I won't again!"
"Well that's just too bad, now isn't it?"
Andros looked at Zordon's tube. He glanced back at the fighting going on beside him. 'No, I can't do that again. It was hard the first time, it'll be even harder the second time.' He looked back at Karone. "Karone, please! This isn't you! You're a galaxy ranger. A power ranger. The pink galaxy ranger!" Astronema began to fight him. "No, Karone!" He looked around him. He started to shift further away from the battle and from Zordon. She followed him.
"You guys!" started Kim. "We've got to combine our power."
Tommy and Aisha nodded. They began to call the other rangers to come closer to them.
Ashley moved toward the other rangers when she noticed that Andros wasn't with them. She looked around frantically and saw him and Astronema a little further out. "Andros!" she called. She ran towards them. "Come on, we're combining our powers."
Andros looked at her and then at Astronema. He shook his head a little. Ashley looked at him with pleading eyes. He nodded a little and started running in the direction of Ashley, not taking his eyes off of Astronema. She followed him with her eyes and then proceeded to where the villains were standing. Ashley and Andros hurried to the other rangers. Astronema and the others raised their staffs to fight off whatever attack the rangers were coming up with next.
"Ready guys?" asked Tommy. Everyone nodded.
Andros looked up again and yelled, "Galaxy gliders!"
The twelve Ninjetti stood with Kim and Tommy in the middle and closed their eyes. Their spirits came roaring, flying, growling, and jumping out of the embelms of their chests while the six space rangers flew over them. At the count of a silent three, the eighteen rangers held their hands over their heads and felt a strange yet strong beam of energy and power coming from them. Mesagog, Zeltrax, Elsa, Zedd, Rita, Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Mondo, Machina, Sprocket, Ecliptor, Astronema, Divatox, Master Vile, and General Havoc stood speechless. They saw what was coming and began to yelling and screaming. They all ran in the direction of Zordon's energy tube and stood in line behind it, crouched close together.
Beams of silver, pink, blue, black, red, and yellow emitted from the space rangers while the spirits of the cheetah, eagle, gorilla, stag, tiger, lion, ape, bear, frog, wolf, crane, and falcon were running, flying, and hopping through the air. At once, the beams of light and animal spirits began heading to the villains and Zordon's tube, with the Crane and the Falcon leading the way.
The villains saw this and crouched down closer to one another. "Oh no!" yelled Rita. They all started yelling again, but stopped when they heard the crashing of the energy tube and saw the animal spirits and beams of light heading for them. The sixteen villains all seemed to levitate through the air for a moment before a bright light erupted around and within them.
The putties, Tengu warriors, quantrons, cogs, piranhatrons, and tyrannodrones exploded into clouds of dust. Dark Spector was yelling, bits of him exploding and landing on the ground and disappearing into piles of dust. Mondo, Machina, and Sprocket all exploded as well with their parts flying around everywhere. Mesagog looked around and yelled as he exploded into a pile of fossils.
The rangers stood before them, all speechless. The space rangers got off their gliders and stood with the rangers. "Power down," they all said simultaneously.
Kim looked towards Zordon's energy tube. She saw that it had shattered. Tears immediately formed in her eyes. "ZORDON!" she yelled. The rest of the rangers followed her voice. Kim began running in the direction of Zordon's energy tube, but was stopped by the bright light that was still emitting from the tube and the villains behind him. Tommy ran behind her and caught her as she fell. "No, not again," she cried. "We just got him back, he can't be, no, not again. He was like a father to me! More than my own."
"I know, Beautiful, I know," answered Tommy. He, too, felt tears in his eyes. He helped her stand up. "But look." He pointed around. Everyone followed his hand.
The bright light spread as it began to rebuild what was left of the city. Trees were magically growing at a rapid rate, buildings were being rebuilt. It was almost as if evil had never set foot in Reefside. Though the rangers couldn't see it, the same thing was happening across the country, the globe, and on KO-35 and Liaria.
Rita stood up, no trace of evil in her face. She looked at Zedd with wide eyes, who took her into his arms. Goldar, Scorpina, and Rito stood up and looked around confused. No longer was Goldar a blue monkey in gold armor. Instead, he was nice-looking man who graciously smiled at Scorpina next to him. Scorpina smiled shyly back at him, a beautiful Asian woman found underneath her armor. Rito looked around, also undergoing a change. Master Vile looked like an older version of Rito and also looked around in confusion at everything that was going on around him. Divatox and General Havoc both stood, completely unrecognizable from their evil selves. Zeltrax was once more Smitty. Elsa was returned into her normal look. She had long brown hair and a pretty face. Ecliptor was no longer robotic. He was an older man who looked like he's been through a lot in his years.
Andros looked around, eager to find his sister. He saw her lying on the floor and ran to be next to her. She no longer had the cropped brown hair, nor the robotic changes that were made to her body. She had blonde hair and seemed to be unconscious. "Come on, Karone," said Andros. "I know you're still there." He picked her up and hugged her close.
"Andros?" a small voice came from his arms. "What happened? Why am I here?"
Andros smiled. "It's a long story. But I'm glad you're back. Again." He helped her stand up. She looked at the other rangers. She gave them a small smile as she and Andros walked towards them. The rangers all stood together, hovering near Zordon's energy tube that was still there. Kim was crying into Tommy's shoulders while Adam comforted Aisha. Everyone was sad and those who weren't already crying seemed to be on the point of breaking down.
"I can't believe..." started Jason. "After all that...he..." His voice started breaking.
"I know, man," said Zack. He moved next to Jason and put a hand on his back. "I know."
Billy stood there, shaking his head. He turned away from Zordon's tube. Everyone copied him. "I don't think I could face it, you know. That's the only thing we ever knew him in." Everyone nodded sadly.
Kira looked at the rangers, uncomfortably. While she understood their sadness, she wasn't one of Zordon's rangers and therefore, didn't fully receive his mentorship. She looked at Tommy, who was still comforting Kim, and thought how she would be if he had been destroyed like that. 'I don't know how I would get through it,' she thought. Tears formed in her eyes and she began to cry softly. She leaned into Trent, who rubbed her back.
They all stood there for a while, crying and comforting each other, grieving for their mentor that they had lost once again, while Bulk and Skull still watched from the bushes. They were still in awe that everything was growing back. A full bush now covered them.