Rocky and Zack did a sweep of the building and same up with nothing out of the ordinary. Alpha even did a scan and it didn't pick up on any type of recording or listening devices. If Tommy had been in here, he didn't leave anything but the note behind. A part of me believe he hadn't stepped foot into the Command Center. Alpha had been tracking his movements since Rosita placed the spall on him. If he had been here, we would have known it the second he teleported. Unless he had stopped time, his new-found power being more helpful to him than we liked.
Jason had spoke to Zordon about what happened. He still wasn't talking to me but from what Billy told me, Zordon had no idea how they were going to save Tommy. Rita's spell had been easy to break, destroying the Sword of Darkness. Rosita's was much more powerful and darker. Zordon believed it was something that she learned while learning on Goldar's planet. His people were known for dark magic to help them in battle. He was going to keep trying to find a cure for the spell. Billy and Aisha were working on the Zords, trying their best to salvage what was left of the T-Rex in hopes of being able to form the Megazord. Billy was hopeful it would work but it would take some time, something we weren't sure if we had or not.
In the meantime, Trini was busy watching me like a hawk. It was like every move I made, she was there. She was even in our quarters when I emerged from the shower. It was getting old rather quick, feeling like I had a babysitter rather than team mates. Everyone was walking around me on eggshells that had been present this morning, like Jason was going to hurt them if they spoke to me. I tried not to let it bother me, but my patience was quickly wearing thin to the point I was going to crack when Alpha called us all to the control room.
I walked into the room with Billy, everyone already gathered around. A hush fell over everyone when they saw I was there. I ignored it, Billy rubbing my back in a supportive way as we joined them. Zordon appeared in the tube, looking down at us. Trini and Aisha were standing by the control panel with Zack. Rocky and Jason stood by the viewing globe, Jason shooting me a glare every now and then.
"Rangers, thank you for coming quickly." Zordon said. "I believe I may have found a solution to breaking the spell on Tommy."
"That's great, Zordon!" Billy said, smiling at me.
"The magic being used is indeed from the same dimension where Goldar was born. It is a dark magic that is absorbed into the blood stream of the victim. This is why Tommy believes he is becoming evil instead of letting it control him as it happened with Rita. To break this spell, he will need to purify in the same way Rita and Zedd were purified."
"But Zordon, wouldn't that mean killing you?" Jason asked.
"No, Jason. Once Rosita is defeated, you'll be able to purify Tommy using your powers. This will destroy the dino gems, but Tommy will no longer be under the spell."
"So, we need to wait until Rosita is destroyed before we can save him?" I asked, feeling everyone look at me.
"Unfortunately, Kimberly. Tommy will still remain a threat for as long he is under the spell. The sooner Rosita is taken care of, the sooner Tommy can be saved." An alarm began ringing around the room, red light flashing.
"Ay iy iy!" Alpha cried, hobbling over to the viewing globe.
"Rangers, behold the viewing globe." Zordon said. Together, the team headed over to the sphere. On the screen, the ugly creature that had been with Rosita and Goldar at the battle was standing at the park. Putties were running around him, attacking citizens that were there enjoying the day.
"Great. It's that Strasser guy." Zack said.
"Count Strasser was one of Lord Zedd's most loyal servants. He was the one who took over responsibilities for Rosita after her parents were purified. Him and Goldar have taught her all of the evil elements she knows." Zordon said. Strasser looked just as ugly as he did before, a silver staff now in his hand. I almost expected a giant Z at the top of it. Instead, there was just a round sphere similar to the ones on the Seventh Floor.
"How do we fight him? We don't have our zords." Aisha asked.
"Strasser's power is linked to the staff he uses. If the staff is destroyed, he will be as well." Alpha replied.
"Sounds easy. Bet it's not." Rocky muttered, glancing at Jason whose eyes never left the screen.
"You guys should morph and head down there before they hurt someone." Trini said, looking around he group. We all exchanged glances, nodding.
"Right. It's morphin' time!" Rocky called out. "Tyrannosaurus!"
"Mastodon!"
"Saber tooth tiger!"
"Triceratops!"
"Pterodactyl!" I said, morphing along with the others. My body surged with power as I did, the pink spandex like suit covering me head to toe. My body flashed pink, matching with the other colors as the rest of the team changed as well.
"Good luck, Rangers! And may the power protect you." Zordon called as we teleported to the park. The five of us landed by the playground, the group of putties circling around a group of kids and their parents.
"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Aisha called out, charging at the putties. I followed after her, kicking two of them at once. She round housed one to her left before jabbing one in the jaw with a sharp thrust. The putties cried out in pain as they landed, breaking into pieces. Billy and Zack chased after another group of them, quickly taking care of the grey beings. Rocky cornered three of them by the swing set, swinging on one of the swings to kick two of them. The third tried to run but Rocky managed to catch him, punching him square in the chest. It let out a howl as it disintegrated in front of him.
"Alright. Where's Strasser?" Zack asked, looking around the park.
"Aisha, do a scan of the area with your helmet to see if you can detect his bioscan." Billy said, nodding at Aisha. She nodded, her helmet moving as she did. Reaching up, she touched the side of it. It beeped as she moved her head back and forth slowly.
"There!" She exclaimed, pointing towards the back of the park. "He's by the boat launch site!"
"Come on." Rocky said, taking off towards the direction. The group followed, sprinting in the direction she had pointed. Sure enough, as we came over the hill, we spotted Strasser. He was standing at the end of the dock, putties running around tormenting people who were trying to load their boats into the water. People let out cries of fear as the clay assholes chased them around.
"Leave them alone, Strasser!" Rocky called out, pointing at the gruesome looking man-like creature. Strasser turned to face us, his attention drawn from the chaos he was causing.
"Oh! Power Rangers! I was hoping you would show up." He said, his voice deep and almost similar to that of Zedd. It made my skin crawl. The sun reflected off the silver exoskeleton of metal he wore, casting almost a glow around him. The skin underneath was a dark purple and looked like it was oozing.
"Let them go." Zack said, motioning towards the civilians. "If you want to fight, that's what we're here for."
"Your words speak to me, black ranger." Strasser said, tapping his metal finger tip against the side of his face. "Putties, release the humans. We have a new target in mind." The putties let the people go, letting them run for safety. Instead, they turned their black beady eyes towards us. Strasser picked up his staff and slammed it back down onto the dock. The ground shook for a moment before the putties began to change. Instead of the normal gray and clay creatures, they were now red and stood two feet taller than us. The Z's imprinted on their chests disappeared, leaving no visible weak point for us to focus on.
"Guys, the Z's are gone." I said in a low voice. "Now where do we hit them?"
"Just keep hitting until something happens. It's bound to work." Rocky replied as the new mega-putties started our way. There were six of them and they spanned out like a footfall defensive line as they charged towards us. Rocky, Billy and Zack ran forward, Aisha and I following.
I aimed for the one all the way to the left as it sprinted towards me. I lifted my leg, kicking it square in the chin. It barely phased the beast, only stopping him for a moment. He swung a massive fist towards me, almost making contact to the middle of my helmet. I was able to dodge it though, flipping out of the way. He grabbed on to my ankle as I flipped, and he tossed me to the side like a rag doll. I landed with a hard thump on the grass, stars shining in my eyes. I felt his heavy footsteps heading towards me as I rolled over onto my back. I moved just as he was about to slam his foot down on my skull. Springing back up to my feet, I did a back-hand spring, so I was behind him. Jumping, I kicked him square in the back with both of my feet. He fell forward, the top of his body too heavy for the lower half to keep vertical. Using this to my advantage, I ran forward and jumped onto his back as he laid on the ground. It let out a shallow grumble as I jumped again. Under my feet, I felt him begin to melt away. Glancing down, I saw he was indeed melting. His body was turning into a puddle of wax. Flipping off of him, I landed on the slope of the hill and watched as he completely changed into a gross puddle of maroon colored goop.
Turning towards my friends, I saw that Aisha had quickly caught on to what had happened with my mega-putty. She had her's pinned to a tree, kicking him repeatedly. He couldn't move, and he began to drip from his arms and torso. Quickly, he became the thick liquid and joined his buddy as a puddle. I ran over to here as his head became nothing. "They need to keep moving to keep their shape." I said. She nodded, scanning them again.
"These ones are made out of wax. When they aren't moving in the sun, they melt." She replied. The sound of a cry made us both turn. Billy was pinned by two of them, the putties using him as an object to play catch with. "Hang on, Billy!" Aisha called out as we ran towards them. Zack and Rocky were still dealing with their own putties, neither of them seeming to notice that ours were easily destroyed. Aisha did a back flip through the air, socking the mega-putty on the right with her foot square on the nose. It released Billy and gripped its face. This distracted the other putty, allowing me to shove it as hard as I could from behind. It stumbled to the ground, landing on it's knees.
"You okay, Billy?" I asked, holding a hand out to the blue Power Ranger. He had fallen to the ground in the shuffle. Reaching up, he took my hand and pulled himself to his feet.
"Affirmative."
"They are made out of wax. Once they get caught in the sun and can't move, they melt." I told him. The putty that had fallen was now back to his feet, glaring at Billy and me.
"Remarkable." He replied, taking the fight stance. Running forward, Billy dodged a right hook as the putty swung. As it was recovering, Billy swung his foot and took its feet out from underneath him. It let out a disgusting cry before falling backwards. Like I had done, Billy jumped on top of it, pinning it to the ground. As the other two had done, it molted into a puddle in the sunlight. Aisha had managed to take her's out as well, the wax getting onto her suit in the process.
"Gross!" She exclaimed, trying to wipe it off.
"Don't. I can examine it in the lab." Billy said, stepping towards her. I glanced over at Zack and Rocky who had managed to catch on to our discovery. Both of their putties were puddles now, the sun reflecting off the hot wax. Strasser let out a loud laugh, crossing his arms as we stood in front of him.
"You are as tough as I had heard, Rangers. This pleases me. Once Rosita has you all in her grasps, she will have quite a powerful team under her command." He said, giving us what I assumed was a smile.
"We'll never join you!" Zack called out. "We only fight for Zordon and our mission to protect the Earth."
"I guess we will see about that. For now, I'll leave you with a little friend to play with!" He waved his hand and a green flash of light filled the area. Next to him was now the morphed Green Ranger, the Dragon dagger in his hand. There was a collective gasp as we all took our fighting stance. "Tommy, I'll leave you to play." Strasser let out a laugh as he vanished with a puff of purple smoke.
"Looks like we meet again, Power Pussies." Tommy called out in a mocking tone, cracking his knuckles. "Nice trick with locking the Dragonzord. No worries though. I can beat all your asses without it. And let's save all the 'You don't have to do this' talk. I think we all know we're passed that stage at this point." He pointed the dagger at Zack. "Zack, it's your turn."
"Bring it then." Zack called out. "I'm sick of hearing you run your mouth." Raising his hands, Zack summoned his Power Axe. Tommy let out a dark laugh.
"Excellent."
Both charge forward, swinging their weapons. The blade of the axe met with the blade of the dagger, sparks shooting everywhere. I jumped as they collided, holding my breath in terror as I watched them fight. Zack brought the stock of the axe up, trying to clip Tommy in the head with it. He dodged the attack, punching Zack in the stomach who let out a groan as he stepped back a couple of feet. He recovered quickly though, shielding himself from a blow Tommy attempted with his right knee. Zack brought his left elbow up, connecting to Tommy's rib cage. He flinched in pain, shoving Zack away from him. As he did, Zack swung the axe. Tommy jumped above it to avoid the impact, flipping backwards. He landed on his feet, driving his dagger towards Zack with a back hand. Zack barely had time to lean away from it, the blade cutting into the chest of his uniform. A few drops of blood dripped down his chest, staining the white diamond in the middle of his torso.
Zach ignored his wound, bracing himself for another attack. Tommy bent low, trying to sweep Zack's legs from underneath him. He was too quick though; Zack jumped into the air and slammed the staff of the axe into the side of Tommy's head. There was a loud crack when it made contact with the helmet, sending Tommy stumbling backwards a bit. Shaking his head, he regained his position. Tucking his heels together, he flipped through the air. He brought a hard series of kicks to Zack's chest, in the same area he had been sliced open. Zack did his best to keep his footing, but the repeated jabs were too much. He fell backwards, his Power Axe sliding away from him in the grass. Tommy towered over him now, Zack on his back looking up to him. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched Tommy draw his arm back, ready to swing the dagger down.
"NO!" I screamed, running forward. I jumped in front of Zack, pressing my hands against Tommy's chest. Everything suddenly stilled; the wind not blowing, the birds not chirping and everyone around me stopped breathing. Tommy stopped swinging, angerly shoving the dagger into it's sheath on his belt. Reaching up, he unclipped his helmet and tossed it to the ground by our feet. He glared at me, anger filling his facial features.
"Kim! Are you insane?! I could have killed you!" He spat as I looked around us. Nothing was moving but us, time frozen.
"You were going to stab Zack! What did you expect me to do? Just stand there and let it happen?" I replied, taking my own helmet off.
"Why can't you make things easier? If I take care of the rest of them, you won't have to make much of a choice to come with me then." He said, running a hand through his hair. Sweat poured down his face as he wiped his brow.
"Well, pardon me for caring about my friends. You can't just kill them, Tommy. I don't care how evil this spell is making you. Deep down, you know they are our friends and you can't kill them."
"Listen, I told you last night. The only one I care about is you. The rest of them can jump off a cliff for all I care. Especially Jason. That arrogant son of a bitch can rot in hell. Did you decide about coming with me or not?" He asked, casting me a questioning look.
"Tommy, I can't just leave them. We're trying to save the world." I said softly. He scoffed, shaking his head.
"I should have known. You left me once before, why would this be any different? You're nothing but a liar, Kim. All you care about is yourself. It's always been that way. Even when we were kids. You were always the good girl who was spoiled by everyone who looked at you."
"You aren't being fair! Why can't you just join us again? We know how to stop the spell. Zordon found a way to reverse it. We can be together if you come back with me." He looked at me confused, a glint of his soft eyes gazing at mine for a moment. It was like seeing the old Tommy.
"He knows how to reverse the spell? Impossible. Rosita made it unbreakable." I shook my head.
"She's just using dark magic that she learned from Goldar's home planet. We can fix you once Rosita is destroyed. You can help us stop her, Tommy." He winced in pain, more sweat forming on his face. "What's wrong?"
"It takes a lot out of me to stop time this long. Just meet me tonight, okay? Same spot. If you join me, I'll let your idiotic friends live." Bending down, he grabbed his helmet before teleporting out of the park. As soon as he was gone, time started again. Zack let out a loud gasp as he realized Tommy was gone but I was now standing over him, my helmet in my hands.
"What happened?" He asked, looking around for Tommy. "He just vanished! How did you get there?"
"He must have frozen time again." Rocky said, holding a hand out to Zack. He took it, pulling himself up from the ground. Everyone turned to look at me.
"I blocked him from hitting Zack. He got mad and took off." I said, glancing around the group. "I think I might have gotten through to him for a minute. I told him we know how to break the spell. He looked at me like the old Tommy for a minute. He's still in there somewhere."