A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I know it has been a while since I posted. You can blame it on school. I'm going for my Master's program right now and it was a full week and a half of final papers. -_- But I am officially on a three week break until my next class! I plan on using that time to FINISH this fic! I hope you all will continue to stick with me through that. This isn't the longest chapter but I wanted to put something up to let you know I haven't vanished off somewhere.
In other news - has anyone read the graphic novel yet? I am waiting until after Christmas to get my copy. Just wanted to know if it was good or not. I am hoping that it's worth the read! Also, did anyone see where JDF's daughter might be the next red ranger? A total family affair! That would be pretty cool. I am sure they will rope him into it as well somehow haha.
As always, remember to R&R and I do not own anything to do with Power Rangers.
Tommy
"Well, that was just fucking perfect." I called over my shoulder, walking along the path that led to our hotel room. Aisha, Zach and Rocky stopped at their room while Jason and I headed towards ours. Fishing the key card from my coat pocket, I shoved the door open and saw a surprised Trini sitting on the edge of Jason's bed. The Asian woman stood, looking between the two of us.
"Where the hell have you guys been?" She asked as Jason walked over and gave her a peck on the lips. She fixed the top of her husband's hair, flatting the stray pieces that were sticking up.
"Seeing the Power Rangers Council." He replied, sitting on the bed where she had just been perched.
"What is that?" She questioned.
"A bunch of useless assholes, apparently." I muttered, sitting in the chair. The computer rang, telling us that Billy was phoning in. Jason reached over and pressed a button on the keyboard and Billy appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Trini. It's good to see you." He said, smiling at Trini.
"You too, Billy. What exactly is going on? Do we have any leads on Kimberly?" She glanced from the computer to me to Jason who sighed.
"It was a past version of Rita who took Kimberly. We aren't entirely sure what she has planned but she sent a message to Tommy, telling him if he doesn't surrender in 24 hours, she would kill Kim." He explained. "So, we went to the Power Ranger Council to get help and they denied us. They said it was too risky for us to travel back in time to rescue just one person."
"What? She isn't just one person! She's one of us." Trini exclaimed.
"I know. That's what we tried to tell them, but they still refused. We're on our own here." He said. Trini sat next to him, both of them eyeing me as our door opened and the rest of our group filed in. Aisha gave Trini a hug and Zach bent to give her a kiss on the check. They sat on the other bed, no one speaking as they looked at each other. Finally, I dropped my hands to my lap and shook my head.
"This is my fight. I'm going to surrender myself and get Rita to send Kim back to Earth. Once I do, I'll figure out a way to stop her." I stated.
"The fuck you are." Jason snapped. "That's a fucking suicide mission. We are going to figure something else out without having to sacrifice yourself to her."
"Like what?" I asked. "We only have ten hours left until she expects me, and we are still at zero. The council won't help us. They made that perfectly clear. This is the only way we know for sure that I can get her back here. Believe me, if anyone else has any other ideas, please speak up."
"There's gotta be another way." Aisha said, folding her arms in front of her. "We've been through a lot worse than this. Do we know anyone that can morph still?"
"Those teams are guarded under the council." Billy spoke up, his voice coming from the speakers. "Chances are great they would not wish to disobey their orders."
"Of course, they wouldn't. That's what we taught them." I replied, standing. I paced a few feet, rubbing the back of my head. As I walked towards the direction of the bathroom, I saw the flash of red, blue and yellow lights behind me. Turning, I saw Gia, TJ, and Wes now standing in the room, directly behind the door leading out of the room. I shot them a glare, stopping my pacing. "What?" I snapped.
"Tommy, you left too quickly before we had a chance to speak." Wes said, stepping towards me.
"I'm sorta on a time schedule, you know. I don't have the luxury of having assistance like I thought you would give me." I put my hands on my hips. "What do you want? We have a mission to complete."
"That's why we're here." TJ said. "We've come to help." I scoffed.
"No, thanks. I've seen your version of help." Gia shot me a glare before rolling her eyes.
"I swear you are so stubborn sometimes, Tommy." Reaching behind her, she pulled a black velvet bag from her belt line. "We came to bring you something." Holding it out to me, she raised an eyebrow. I took it in my hand, feeling that it was heavier than I had expected. Opening the bag, I reached inside and pulled out a morpher. Turning it over in my hand, I saw it was gold plated with a circle of red outlining a green background. I felt the back of it shift in my hand, the sound of the Power Coins cycling through as it synced with me.
"The Master Morpher." I stated, glancing up at the three of them. Wes looked uneasy as he nodded.
"Yes. We've brought it from its place at the council to assist you with your mission." He said.
"Does Andros know you took this?" I questioned.
"Not exactly. We may have borrowed it without asking it." TJ said.
"So, you stole it." Zach chipped in, smirking at the blue Space Ranger.
"We prefer taking it without asking." Wes replied, fidgeting his hands. It must kill him to break the rules. He hated going against the council and Andros. It was pretty much his life now, him not being an active Ranger anymore. "It was Ashley's idea."
"What is a master morpher?" Aisha asked, eyeing the object in my hand with curiosity.
"I can answer that!" Billy called from the computer. "The Master Morpher is something that Tommy and I developed after his time on the Dino Thunder team. We've taken all of Tommy's past power morphifications and used them to sync into the morphing grid. With this morpher, he has the ability to morph into any of his previous held powers."
"What?! Why the hell don't I have one of these?" Jason asked, looking down right offended by the fact he didn't have a similar morpher. I smirked.
"Well, it's something that Billy and I were testing when we were interrupted when we got called back into action. Honestly, it was sheer luck it was working in time. Without it, who know what the fuck would have happened that day." I ran a thumb over the morpher. "After the mission though, we agreed as a council that it was too powerful to be left unguarded. That's why it's been kept under lock and key."
"So…I am getting one of these, right Billy?" Jason asked, bending down so he could see eye to eye with Billy.
"No." Wes said, crossing his arms over his chest. "It puts too much strain on the morphing grid. That's why Tommy is only able to morph for a short time while using it. It's not safe for Tommy nor anyone else using the grid. It could short everything out and put the rest of the planet at risk."
"We'll talk later." Jason winked at Billy who shook his head.
"Now that Tommy has this morpher, he will be able to zap to the past and rescue Kim then?" Trini asked.
"Not exactly. Because of how it's connected the grid, it will require a bit more power to allow him to time travel. TJ, Wes and I can help super charge the morpher, but we still have no clue exactly what time frame Rita is hiding in. We will need to find a way to figure that out." Collectively, the group turned and glanced at Billy on the scene.
"Oh! Right. I could see what I can do about that. From my readings before and Trini's data she collected, she is not currently in 2018. I will analyze what I have here and see if I can come up with some results of where—or when she is."
"Anything I can do to help, Billy?" Trini questioned.
"Affirmative. Can you continue to run scans of the moon? Perhaps, she will leave some kind of imprint on the surface that will provide me with a window of her location."
"I'll get right on it." She replied. She brought up a new web page on the computer and a flurry of typing began as she worked.
"Rocky and I are still trying to get ahold of Adam." Aisha said. "Last we heard from him, he was stuck on a layover. He might be able to lend a hand with whatever left over powers he has from helping the other rangers against Rita and Zedd's kid."
"We won't have time for that. Rita is expecting Tommy by tonight." Zach added, looking worried.
"We will just have to work with what we have now." I stated. I gripped the morpher in my hand and glanced around the room. "We're going to save Kim."
About an hour later, it was looking more like a NASA control center in our room rather than a hotel room. Trini and Billy were working together on the computer, Gia and TJ offering all the help they could in the process. Rocky, Jason and Wes were calling other Rangers that they knew in the area that might be able to lend a hand. The plan was to have any ranger we could come here to provide a small army against Rita in case she changes course and heads to Earth for an attack. Aisha and Zach followed up with Andrea, making sure there had been no other incidents at the dorms. They had evacuated them for the time being, waiting until someone was charged for the guard's murderer. They were also starting to question if his death that something to do with Kim's disappearance. It provided us with the advantage of keeping the police busy while that investigated.
It was weird to see all of these inactive rangers working together again. Rocky and Aisha had never gotten the chance to work with our team before though Rocky did work with Jason on Zeo for a short time. He had always viewed Jason as a hero then, but it had changed into an equal friendship over the years. Trini and Aisha had also formed a bond and it made me wonder how much time they had spent with Kim since the last I had seen her. Frowning, my chest hurt at the memory of our last conversation. I shook my head, trying to shove it aside. I didn't have time or the option to let myself go to that dark place at the moment. If I was going to save Kim, I needed to keep my head in the game.
"Trini!" Gia exclaimed, catching my attention. Looking up, I saw that Trini was now slumped over the keyboard. She was out cold, her face slightly paled. Jason rushed forward to her, but his face also paled, and he collapsed on the floor next to the bed. Wes quickly was able to catch him before he smacked his head off the floor too hard. On the computer screen, I saw that Billy was now face down on his own desk, his eyes closed. Suddenly, my vision began to blur as I tried to step towards my fallen friends. I gripped the wall next to me, trying my best to stay conscious. My eye lids felt heavy and my body was fighting me to stay away. I stumbled forward, and the world went black.
"Rangers, I know this looks bleak, but this is the only plan that will work. Kimberly will need to travel to the moon in order to save herself." A booming voice said above me. I felt myself tilt my head to look up and I saw a faded image of Zordon in front of me. He glowed a blue light around him and he was gazing down at me. I shifted, my head turning to look to my left. I was surprised to see a younger Jason standing there, his eyes focused on Zordon.
"But, Zordon, can't one of us go with her?" He asked, his voice echoing slightly. There was a movement in front of me and my eyes moved to find the source. Standing in front of me and the rest of my team mates was Kimberly. Our Kimberly. The Kimberly from our time frame.
"I will go with her." My voice said, it sounding foreign to me almost. She smiled sweetly at me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"That's sweet but you can't. It'll be too risky having you there, Tommy. She wants your powers and it would just be handing you right to her."
"It'll be too dangerous to go alone." My voice said, something I was agreeing with. I tried to speak but no words came out. I couldn't control my body either, the only movements it making were ones it felt programed to do.
"I've faced a lot worse. Trust me. You'll see. But this is something I will need to do alone to make sure you all get to have futures." Her eyes caught mine and I fought my body to reach out and stop her. To make her realize she didn't need to go alone. There was nothing I could do though.
"Here." Trini's voice said, holding something out to Kimberly. "You'll need this."
"Thank you." She took the object I couldn't see in her hand and held it close to her. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." She smiled at me again, giving me a wink. "You'll be seeing me again, I hope."