A few hours later, Jason jerked away and bolted upright. For a moment he sat there, panting, as remnants of a nightmare lingered. Shaking his head, Jason threw back the blankets and swung his feet onto the floor as he tried to clear old memories away.
"Man," he muttered, taking a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair. "Haven't had that one in a long time…"
Taking another breath, Jason stood up. The old nightmares were hard to shake sometimes. He could still see Tommy's eyes flashing green as he stood over him with the sword, ready to kill him, and that laugh echoing through the dark dimension. Shaking himself again, Jason limped over to Tommy's bed to check on him.
"Hey, Falcon," Jason muttered, shaking Tommy's shoulder. "You awake? Tommy?"
Tommy didn't react. He was still out cold. Yawning, Jason turned and headed back to his bed. Satisfied, for the moment, that Tommy wasn't going to wake up under the control of some spell and attack him, Jason climbed back into bed.
Playing Power Ranger
"Alright," Jason announced, scooping up Vida as she ran past. "That's it. We're going outside to play."
She just giggled as he carried her toward the backdoor. Madison followed after with Chip and Xander bouncing along next to her. The four seven-year-old kids had been running around the house in circles for the past hour driving Jason, who was babysitting, crazy.
"What are you going to do?" Zach grinned. "Play fetch with them?"
He grunted as Kim elbowed him. Zach, Kim, Trini, Billy, and Tommy were all over hanging out and helping with the kids for a few hours.
"I do not believe fetch is an appropriate game choice," Billy frowned as they walked. "While they are indeed young and full of energy, such games are far more suited to canines."
"They aren't dogs, Zach," Trini agreed, shaking her head as they all followed. "They're kids."
"So?" he said. "They can still play fetch."
Trini and Kim exchanged looks, both of them rolling their eyes at him. Tommy just chuckled and shook his head while Billy smiled in amusement.
"Oh yeah," Jason grumbled as he set Vida down outside. "They play 'fetch that snack' real well. We can't keep them out of the cookies."
The other rangers started laughing as the kids resumed running around with each other. Sprawling out on the grass, they watched the four as they played and listened to their conversation.
"Let's be power rangers!" Chip suddenly exclaimed, to the amusement of the rangers.
"Can I be the yellow ranger?" Madison asked, bouncing in place.
Trini laughed, smiling as Kim bumped against her shoulder.
"Yep," Chip said. "You can be yellow and V can be pink."
"I am not being the pink ranger!" Vida frowned, crossing her arms. "I don't like pink."
Zach burst out laughing and Kim smacked his shoulder, rolling her eyes.
"What?" he said, wincing.
"Zach, be nice," Tommy smirked as Jason snickered.
"Then what are you gonna be?" Xander asked, frowning. "Cause there's only two girls."
"So?" Vida retorted. "I can be any color I wanna be."
"Well I'm gonna be the red ranger," Chip announced.
Jason snorted, shaking his head.
"You wish, kid," he muttered.
"But I was gonna be the red ranger!" Xander protested.
Chip sighed.
"Fine," he grumbled. "You can be the red ranger…but I get to be the black ranger."
"Yes!" Zach exclaimed, grinning as he punched the air. "He's my new favorite."
The other rangers just rolled their eyes, shaking their head at him.
"So what are you gonna be, sis?" Madison asked, looking at Vida.
"Not pink," she responded. "Or green. He's mean…"
Tommy flinched as the other three nodded in agreement with Vida. He didn't remember everything from his time as the green ranger, but he remembered some of it—mostly in the form of nightmares. Unfortunately for Tommy, his attack on the four kids was one of them. It had taken Jason weeks to convince Tommy to come over after he'd remembered and the now-white ranger was still a little hesitant around them, no matter what the others said. Seeing Tommy's reaction, Kim scooted closer and took his arm, hugging it as she leaned against his shoulder.
"I think the green ranger is pretty great," she said, smiling.
Tommy smiled faintly, leaning his head against hers.
"I know!" Vida exclaimed. "I'll be the white ranger!"
"You can't," Xander protested. "I wanna be the white ranger."
"You're the red ranger," Vida said, sticking out her tongue. "No changing."
He pouted, crossing his arms.
"See?" Kim said. "Now they're fighting over you."
"Only because they don't know green and white are the same," Tommy sighed. "Or they wouldn't like the white ranger either…At least they don't know it was me wearing the helmet…"
"I do not believe they would dislike you if they discovered the truth," Billy said quietly. "We have all seen you playing with them and they love you. It is my belief that, if they were to ascertain the truth about the green ranger's identity, they would overcome their fear and learn to associate their love of Tommy with the green ranger instead of that fear."
Tommy couldn't help but smile at Billy's adamant statement.
"Thanks, Billy," he said.
Billy smiled back, nodding. The rangers settled back to watch as the game continued. They sat in the sunshine, enjoying watching the kids portray them as heroes.
"So, do you think you'll ever tell them?" Tommy asked quietly, glancing over at Jason.
He shook his head.
"Nah," he said. "As great as it would be to see the looks on their faces when they found out it was us all along, I'm not breaking the code. We'll just have to settle for this."
The others nodded.
"This is good," Kim murmured, still leaning against Tommy's shoulder.
"It is," he agreed. "They may not know it, but watching them play Power Ranger has just made the power rangers' day."
When the rangers knocked on his hotel room door the next morning, Jason was lounging on his bed. He had his ankle propped up and the remnants of his breakfast on a tray next to him as he watched TV. Waking up to a throbbing ankle, he'd decided not to make the trip downstairs for breakfast and had ordered room service instead, wishing profusely that he wasn't so far away from his morpher. It really was a pain not having it sometimes despite the fact that he knew he wasn't supposed to use it like that. Tommy was still fast asleep on his own bed.
"Jason, it's us!" Vida called through the door, knocking again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Jason muttered.
Groaning, Jason swung his feet off the bed and stood up. He limped over to the door and opened it.
"Hey big brother!" Vida grinned, walking in followed by the rest of the rangers.
"How's Tommy?" Madison asked as Jason shut the door.
Jason gestured toward the bed.
"See for yourself," he said. "Still out cold."
He was still leaning against the door.
"You alright?" Chip asked, frowning as he looked at Jason.
"Yeah, I'm great," he muttered, grimacing as he started limping toward the bed again. "Just fine."
His sisters exchanged looks.
"Jason, did you put ice on your ankle last night?" Madison asked.
"Nah," he said, shaking his head as he sat back down. "I just went to sleep."
"I'll go get some," Madison sighed.
She slipped back out of the room, ice bucket in hand. Nick, Xander, and Chip had grabbed the chairs on the far side of the room while Vida sat down on the edge of Tommy's bed.
"Has he woken up at all?" she asked.
Jason shook his head, propping his ankle back up. A knock on the door indicated Madison was back and Vida hopped up to open the door for her. Madison grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom on her way past. Leaving the ice in the small plastic bag that had been in the bucket, she tied it shut and wrapped the whole thing in the washcloth.
"Here," she said, sitting down on Jason's bed. "Or your ankle isn't going to get better."
"We could always try a healing spell," Xander suggested. "Udonna's been working with us on them."
"No!" Jason snapped, glaring at him.
Taking the makeshift ice pack, he set it on his ankle.
"No magic," Jason said firmly.
Xander shrugged.
"Just a suggestion," he said.
"There's been enough magic," Jason said, shaking his head. "Look at Tommy. Whatever that—girl—did to him really hit him hard."
"Clare didn't mean to hurt him," Chip said. "She was just trying to help."
"Some help," Jason muttered.
The rangers exchanged glances.
"So what exactly is your problem?" Nick asked, crossing his arms as he glared at Jason. "Is it us or the magic?"
Jason eyed him, also crossing his arms.
"Excluding you?" Jason said. "It's the magic. Like I said yesterday—magic is dangerous."
"Not if you know the right way to use it," Xander said.
"And Udonna and Daggeron are really great teachers," Vida added.
Jason shook his head.
"But you aren't the only ones using it," he said. "Magic is a tool that can be dangerous in the wrong hands. And I don't trust those kinds of people."
"But we aren't those kind of people," Chip pointed out.
"And I have no problem with most of you," Jason said again. "But I will never be ok with any of you using magic."
"But why?" Madison asked softly.
Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Maddy," he said slowly. "None of you really were old enough to remember the first attacks on Angel Grove. They were bad—and it was a witch who was responsible. Tommy and I saw her do a lot of bad things to a lot of people. It's not something that just goes away…"
"We didn't realize…" Vida said, shaking her head.
"It's fine, kiddo," Jason said. "Just—keep the magic to a minimum, alright?"
The all nodded in agreement. It was silent for a little while, and then Madison and Vida started asking Jason about Trini and the baby. The rangers spent an hour or so at the hotel before heading out again. For the rest of the day, they popped in and out. Sometimes it was all of them, sometimes just a few. Jason didn't leave the room at all, his sisters insisting on him resting his ankle as much as possible. They brought him lunch and dinner in an attempt to make sure he was resting. Through all of their visits, Tommy stayed fast asleep. When they were leaving for the last time that night, Jason followed them to the door.
"If he doesn't wake up soon," he said, an edge audible in his voice, "then I will be having words with that girl. And I won't leave so easily this time."
Before any of them could say anything, he shut the door and locked it. Turning, Jason headed back over to his bed. His plan was to call Rocky and Adam for an update on the dojo—though he was still debating on what to tell them about Tommy. But as he limped past Tommy's bed, Tommy sighed and shifted. Jason froze, looking at him in surprise. Moving closer, he reached down to shake Tommy's shoulder.
"Tommy?" he said. "Come on, Falcon. You awake?"
Tommy groaned, rolling over.
"Go 'way," he mumbled. "'snot time ta get up…"
Jason shook him again.
"Come on, man," he said. "Snap out of it. Look at me."
Groaning again, Tommy's eyes blinked open and he looked sleepily at Jason. But they didn't stay open. Yawning, Tommy rolled over again, falling back to sleep. Jason still breathed a sigh of relief—there had been no green or red in Tommy's eyes. Leaving him alone again, Jason sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone.
"I'm forgetting something," Tommy mumbled, shaking his head. "I was supposed to—what day is it again?"
Jason chuckled, shaking his head. They were relaxing at the Rock Porium while they waited for the rangers to arrive. Jason assumed they were at Rootcore doing something. Tommy had finally woken up that morning, though he was still out of it. Jason hadn't told the rangers that Tommy was awake yet—he was planning on surprising them when they finally showed up to work.
"Still Tuesday, bro," Jason said. "You slept through Monday, remember?"
Tommy just frowned, shifting in the armchair Jason had commandeered for him.
"But I know I'm forgetting something…" Tommy muttered.
"Well don't look at me," Jason said. "You don't tell me anything."
The door opened and Jason looked up, expecting to see the rangers. He was surprised to see someone else he recognized.
"What on earth are you four doing here?" he asked.
"We have an invite," Conner grinned. "Hey, Dr. O."
Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kira all walked into the shop, heading over to join Jason and Tommy. He looked at them in confusion.
"Did you lose your phone again?" Kira asked, walking around Conner. "Hayley's been trying to get a hold of you for almost two days. She said we were supposed to find you before we did anything else—she's not happy."
"That's what I forgot!" Tommy exclaimed. "Jason, did you call Hayley?"
Jason groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
"No," he muttered. "She's your wife."
"I was unconscious," Tommy said. "Or at least that's what you keep telling me."
The four exchanged glances.
"Umm… what happened?" Trent asked, looking at Jason.
"He hit me," Tommy mumbled, shifting in his chair.
"Jason!" all four exclaimed.
"Dude, you shouldn't go around hitting people," Conner said, shaking his head.
"Don't call me dude," Jason glared. "And I was reacting in self-defense."
"Sure you were," Ethan snorted.
"I was!" Jason protested. "I was waking up after having my life-force stolen. My instinctive reaction was to attack whatever was holding me."
"Yeah, great reaction," Tommy sighed. "You should work on that."
"Hey, don't start with me, bro," Jason said. "You're part of the reason I react like that. And that's not even the reason you were unconscious."
Tommy snorted, shaking his head.
"At least your nose isn't broken anymore," Jason pointed out. "Something good came out of the whole fiasco at Rootcore."
"You broke his nose?" Kira exclaimed.
Jason groaned, shaking his head. The four younger rangers had gathered around Tommy's chair and were looking at Jason for an explanation.
"He ran into a pole," Jason said.
"Yeah, because I was busy making sure my eye was alright," Tommy grumbled. "You were directing me."
Jason rolled his eyes.
"I should call Hayley," Tommy said.
Frowning, he started checking his pockets for his phone.
"Jason, where's my phone?" he asked.
"I have no idea, bro," Jason sighed. "I haven't seen it at all. Did you ever find it when we got here?"
Kira rolled her eyes and glanced around. Spotting Tommy's briefcase on the floor next to his chair, she walked over. Crouching down, she reached into one of the side pockets and fished around for a moment. Straightening up, she held out her hand to Tommy.
"Here you go, Dr. O," she said. "Right where Hayley usually puts it."
"Thanks," Tommy said, taking it from her.
He looked at it for a moment and then started texting. The others turned back to Jason.
"So, what exactly has been going on?" Trent asked. "Hayley sounded kind of concerned when she told us she couldn't get a hold of Dr. O—we did hear about what happened the last time you were here."
Jason glanced around the shop. But there weren't any customers there at the moment and Toby had gone into his office. The younger four exchanged glances.
"This has something to do with the new ranger team, doesn't it?" Kira asked quietly.
"Kind of," Jason sighed. "Tommy and I got caught up in something a few days ago that didn't end well…"
They looked at him expectantly.
"You might as well spill," Ethan said. "We'll hear about it eventually anyways."
"Two days ago there was an attack in the park," Jason said, crossing his arms. "Tommy and I were in the area, so we started trying to get people out—the monster was stealing their life-force."
The four winced.
"That's never fun," Trent muttered.
"You're telling me," Jason grumbled. "Anyways, the rangers showed up and saved the people they could, but the rest were essentially left without their souls—including the father of a little girl Tommy and I barely managed to rescue. I screwed up my ankle during that fight…"
"Then shouldn't you be resting it?" Conner asked.
Jason shot a glare at him.
"It's fine right now," Jason shrugged. "I'm taking it easy."
"Sure you are," Ethan snorted.
"Moving on," Jason growled. "An hour or two later, we were on our way back here when we heard another fight and saw the zords—"
"And Jason decided to go chasing them," Tommy mumbled, interrupting. "So it's all his fault…"
He was leaning back in the chair, still holding his phone and slowly texting on it.
"Shut up, Tommy," Jason retorted. "We both went to see what was happening—hoping the kids would free those people's souls. They didn't. That particular fight ended with the monster escaping. And then Chip decided it was a good idea to pick up a strange bottle that just happen to be lying around and open it—"
"Ok, even I know that's never a good idea," Conner said.
"And he's the one who's usually in trouble," Ethan grinned.
"No kidding," Tommy muttered, shaking his head.
Conner laughed, grinning at Tommy.
"So what was in the bottle?" Kira asked, glaring at Ethan and Conner.
Tommy grimaced and the teens looked at him in surprise.
"They called it a soul specter," Jason explained. "Tommy—who streaked ahead with his ninjetti abilities when we saw Chip pick up the bottle—didn't get the bottle away in time. The creature inside attacked both of them."
"What exactly did it do?" Trent frowned, glancing over at Tommy and then back at Jason.
"Essentially it was devouring Tommy's soul," Jason sighed, running a hand over his head.
"What?" they exclaimed, eyes wide.
All of them looked at Tommy. He just yawned, blinking at his phone.
"He's fine now," Jason said quickly. "But that's where things started to go downhill. I had to tell the kids we knew about them being rangers to make sure I got Tommy some help."
"Oh, I'll bet that went over well," Ethan snickered. "Wish I could have seen the looks on their faces when they realized their biggest secret wasn't as secret as they thought."
"Looking back, it was pretty entertaining," Jason chuckled. "But at the time I was a little more focused on Tommy—he was in a lot of pain…"
As the four younger rangers looked at Tommy in concern, Tommy shot a glare at Jason.
"Stop worrying them," Tommy said. "I'm fine."
"Hayley says we aren't supposed to listen when you say that," Conner said as the other three nodded in agreement.
Tommy turned his glare on them, but they just grinned.
"He's telling the truth—mostly," Jason said, looking at Tommy. "But we'll get to that in a minute."
"Mmm hmmm…" Kira said, crossing her arms and giving him a look.
"Anyways," Jason said, returning her look as he continued. "The rangers took us back to their base—which is in a tree—and that's where we had to split up. Their teacher, a man named Daggeron, took Chip and Tommy with him to get rid of the specters that were slowly killing them. The rest of us went back to deal with the life-force stealing monster."
"Umm…Jason?" Trent said. "I thought you were supposed to be staying out of the fight."
"I wasn't fighting the monster," Jason retorted. "I was trying to get people out of the area before they had their life-force stolen—"
"Some help," Tommy snorted. "All you did was succeed in getting your own life-force stolen."
He was still drifting in and out. At some moments, he was alert and completely aware of what was going on around him and then the next moment he was entirely out of it again, nearly falling asleep in his chair. Jason kept glancing over at him, poking at him anytime he seemed to be getting too sleepy.
"Is he serious, Jason?" Kira asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Jason muttered. "I was trying to get a woman away from them and they pinned me instead…I couldn't break free in time. One minute I'm in their clutches, the next I'm waking up on the ground and Tommy is yelling at me…"
"Cause you hit me," Tommy said, glaring at him. "After I saved your butt dragging you away from the fight."
"I'm sorry," Jason sighed. "Again, it's an instinctive reaction—I couldn't help it."
Tommy rolled his eyes, settling back in his chair again. He frowned at his phone.
"Jason, where are Dr. O's glasses?" Kira asked.
She'd just realized he didn't have them on. Jason looked over at Tommy.
"Oh," he said. "Whoops. Guess I left those back at the hotel… I'll go get them in a little while."
"No wonder he's looking at the phone like that," Ethan said. "It's gotta be hard to read without them."
"Yeah," Tommy mumbled, still trying to read whatever was on the screen.
"Back to what happened," Jason said. "I woke up to Tommy yelling at me—the soul specter was gone. We watched a zord battle from a safe distance. Not long after the fight was over, the kids came to find us. They found me—well, I found them—first and they started freaking out about Tommy being missing. He'd beaten them back to the city."
He paused, frowning and turning to look at Tommy.
"Which reminds me," he said. "How on earth did you beat Chip and Daggeron back?"
"Hayley," Tommy said, not looking up from his phone. "After the specter was gone, I streaked a short distance away from Chip and Daggeron on the mountaintop and called her on my communicator—she opened an invisiportal for me. Though I didn't exactly have the chance to explain why I needed it…"
He flashed his wrist at them to show the watch-like communicator he usually wore—when he wasn't wearing his Dino Thunder one. Jason nodded.
"That makes a lot more sense," he said. "Anyways, after the kids found us we went back to their base again. And that's where things got really bad."
"Why?" Conner asked.
"The rangers are using magic," Jason said grimly.
"What?" the teens exclaimed.
Tommy flinched at the mention of it and Jason nodded, clearly not happy with the revelation.
"Why would they be using magic?" Kira asked. "It's dangerous—that's what Dr. O has always taught us."
"I'm really not sure," Jason sighed, shaking his head. "But they are—and they won't be stopping anytime soon."
"What did they do?" Trent asked, catching that there was something else Jason hadn't said yet.
"One of them cast a spell on Tommy," Jason growled as Tommy flinched again. "Some witch-child they claim is an apprentice sorceress."
"What's the difference?" Conner asked.
"Well," Ethan started to say. "Technically—"
"Not really looking for an answer," Conner interrupted.
Ethan shrugged and let it drop.
"So that's why Dr. O is so out of it?" Trent asked.
Jason nodded grimly.
"The spell—which was supposed to be a healing spell of some sort—knocked him out cold for over twenty-four hours," he said. "Tommy woke for a short time last night, but he didn't really snap out of it until this morning. And he's still not completely free—Tommy!"
Tommy jerked, looking around as he blinked his eyes, yawning.
"You can't sleep, remember?" Jason sighed.
"Why not?" Tommy mumbled, his eyes falling shut again. "I'm tired…"
"Wake up, bro," Jason snapped, reaching over to shake Tommy by the shoulder. "You were asleep for over twenty-four hours. It's time to be awake now."
"Not my fault," Tommy sighed, his eyes not opening. "And you drugged me…"
Jason rolled his eyes.
"I know," he said. "But you still can't sleep—not until a normal hour. And you needed the pain meds. You could barely move when you woke up this morning."
Tommy just sighed again.
"That's it," Jason said, shaking his head. "I'm going to find him coffee."
"Coffee?" Tommy said, perking up a little.
"Yes, coffee," Jason repeated.
He started heading toward the door, still limping a little.
"You four keep an eye on him," Jason said, glancing back over his shoulder. "Don't let him leave the shop. I'll be back after I get some coffee and his glasses."
"Got it, Jason," they chorused.
Jason left, the door shutting behind him. Kira started wandering around the shop, looking at the shelves and seeing if she could find anything she liked. Trent stayed near Tommy, leaning against the nearby wall. Ethan and Conner wandered around for a few minutes, but nothing was really catching their attention.
"That's it," Conner announced a few minutes later. "I'm bored."
Kira turned around to look at him.
"Conner, Jason has barely been gone for five minutes," she said.
"Yeah, and I'm bored," he said. "And hungry. I haven't eaten since we left Reefside."
"You ate in the car," Trent pointed out.
Conner grinned, shrugging.
"Hey, what can I say?" he said. "I've got a fast metabolism and Jason said nothing about bringing something back for us. So I'm going to find food."
Waving behind him as he left, he headed out the door. The other three exchanged glances.
"I'm going to go make sure he doesn't get lost," Ethan said after a moment. "Because I really don't want to spend the rest of the day looking around Briarwood for him."
He headed out the door after Conner. Kira glanced over at Trent. Neither said anything for a moment.
"Alright," Kira sighed. "I'm going after them. If we leave them alone they're bound to get caught up in trouble of some kind—especially with monsters running around…"
"I'll stay with Dr. O," Trent said, nodding. "Someone has to keep him awake."
"Thanks," Kira smiled. "I've got my phone and my communicator—just in case the world ends while I'm chasing those two."
Trent laughed as she headed out the door after the other two boys. Glancing back at Tommy, Trent saw he was drifting off again.
"Hey, Dr. O," Trent said, carefully shaking his shoulder. "Here—play with your phone. There's gotta be something entertaining on there."
Tommy had let his phone drop onto the chair, so Trent handed it back to him. Sighing, Tommy shifted into a more upright position and took the phone. He started clicking through it. Satisfied that Tommy was awake for the moment, Trent started wandering around the shop.
"Great job, guys," Daggeron said, looking around the room.
He and Chip had just come in from an archery session as the other four finished up working on some new spells with Udonna.
"Thanks, Daggeron," Xander grinned.
"You've all improved a lot since I first started working with you," Daggeron continued. "Your fighting skills and your magical abilities are far ahead of where they used to be. However, there are still areas that need improvement—such as stealth and secrecy."
"No kidding," Nick scoffed.
"Daggeron is correct," Udonna said, regarding the rangers. "I do not know your brother, Madison and Vida, but it is imperative that he keep your secret."
The rangers all exchanged looks.
"We'll talk to him again, Udonna," Madison said. "I'm sure Jason won't say anything."
Udonna nodded.
"See that you do," she said. "For, while it may one day be safe for your identities to become public, at this time it would put all of you in more danger. Therefore it is extremely important to keep them hidden—you will not be able to act as freely if they are compromised."
"We understand," Xander nodded.
She studied them for a moment.
"I think," she said, glancing over at Daggeron, "that perhaps it is time for you to learn some of the history of the power rangers."
"But we already know about the power rangers," Vida said. "We grew up in Angel Grove."
"Yes," Daggeron said. "But as citizens you weren't privy to the secrets of the rangers. I believe Udonna wants you to understand the Code of Honor that was laid down in the very beginning."
"Code of Honor?" Chip asked, frowning.
"Yes," Udonna said, nodding. "Traditionally the power rangers stick strictly to the code. In recent years it seems as though the exact words of the code have not passed down—at least not that I have been able to determine. But I have no direct knowledge of any of the other teams."
"Then what is it?" Nick asked.
"It is a simple principal," Udonna said. "First, you are never to use your powers for personal gain."
"I think we can handle that," Chip said.
"Indeed," Daggeron said, raising an eyebrow.
"Second," Udonna continued. "You must never escalate a battle."
"Whoa, wait a minute," Nick said, shaking his head. "How can we fight if things aren't supposed escalate?"
"You cannot escalate the battle yourselves," Daggeron explained. "Let those on the side of evil make the choice to take it to the next level, such as when they grow to giant size. You wouldn't take zord form before they grew to giant proportions, would you?"
They all shook their heads.
"Then you've followed the code," he said. "Though the battle itself may escalate, you may not be the reason it does so—no matter what happens. The fight against evil itself comes first, then the protection of that which you are assigned to protect, then your team, and finally yourselves."
"So even if one of us is hurt, the fight needs to come first," Madison said slowly, looking at her teammates. "We can't get angry and overreact just because one of our own fell."
"Precisely," Udonna said. "Finally, you must never reveal your identity to anyone."
"But there are teams who have," Vida pointed out. "What about the Space Rangers? They revealed their identities to the entire world."
Udonna nodded.
"Yes, they did," she said. "But only because it was necessary to save the people they were charged with protecting—not because it was a good idea."
"The point is," Daggeron said. "There is a long history behind being a power ranger—you guys have a lot to live up to. And you can't do your job as well if people know who you are. That's when it really starts to be hard to keep the personal out of the fight."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Xander said.
"We'll try to follow the code," Madison said. "We promise—right guys?"
"Right," Nick said. "And that starts with talking to Jason and Tommy."
Udonna nodded in agreement.
"As I said, I do not know your brother or his friend," she said. "But they need to understand how important this is."
"We'll talk to them," Vida promised.
"We need to talk to Jason anyways," Madison sighed. "Neither of us has heard from him about Tommy waking up—and he said he'd let us know…"
Udonna frowned.
"That is odd," she said. "Even though Clare put too much strength into the spell, he still should have woken by this time."
"Well, as far as we know he's still out," Vida shrugged, exchanging concerned glances with Madison.
"Do you know if your brother's friend has had any past incidences with magic?" Udonna asked.
The girls shook their heads.
"I mean, just what they were around in Angel Grove," Vida said. "But I don't think anyone ever did anything to them—at least not that we can remember."
"Hmm…" Udonna said thoughtfully. "I ask because someone who has never been affected by magic would have a stronger resistance to it. Whereas someone who has been under a spell before would have their resistance broken down—magic would affect them more strongly if they do not have their own magical defenses in place."
The rangers frowned, looking at each other.
"Well, maybe Jason just forgot to call," Madison said slowly. "Because he would have told us if Tommy was under a spell when they were younger—right?"
She looked at Vida with the last question. Vida shrugged.
"Not if they thought it would freak us out," she said. "But I'm sure everything is fine."
"V's right," Nick interrupted. "Let's get back to the Rock Porium. If Jason isn't around, we'll track him down at the hotel and make sure he understands that all of this is a secret."
The girls rolled their eyes, but nodded. Saying goodbye to Daggeron and Udonna, the rangers headed back toward Briarwood.
"Did you get a hold of your brother yet?" Nick asked, looking over at Vida and Madison.
They were almost to the Rock Porium and trying to figure out where Jason was. Both girls shook their heads.
"He's not answering his phone," Vida said.
"You don't think he's mad at us, do you?" Madison asked in concern. "He seemed pretty upset when we left last night…"
"You don't think he might have gone after Clare, do you?" Chip asked.
They shook their heads.
"No," Madison said. "Jason's always been bad with directions. He'd never have found his way back to Rootcore by himself."
"That doesn't mean she's safe," Xander said.
"If Clare needed help, Udonna or Daggeron are close enough to help her," Vida said. "Besides, Maddy is right. I mean, Jason got lost all the time in high school—came home late all the time because he'd take a wrong turn somewhere. Drove mom and dad nuts. Especially on days where there were monster attacks in the city."
Madison laughed, nodding in agreement. They reached the Rock Porium. Opening the door, the five rangers walked inside.
"Tommy!" Madison exclaimed, stopping just inside.
She'd seen Tommy still relaxing in his chair, phone in hand. His head jerked up when she called out his name and he looked around in confusion.
"What?" he said. "Oh—ummm… Maddy?"
Vida and Madison both ran over to him to hug him in excitement.
"You're awake," Vida grinned. "Well, sort of."
There was a snort of laughter from over by one of the CD racks. She looked up to see a young man with dark hair in a white shirt shaking his head as he watched them with a look of amusement on his face. Brushing it off, she turned her attention back to Tommy.
"Where's Jason?" Madison asked.
Tommy frowned.
"I don't know," he said after a moment. "He went to get me something—I think…I need coffee…"
He stood up, wincing a little as he straightened. But once he was sure of his balance, Tommy headed for the door.
"Tommy, wait," Madison said, grabbing his arm. "You really shouldn't be wandering around like this—it's not safe."
"I'm fine," he said. "I just need to get some coffee."
Madison and Vida tried to get him to stop, but he just kept walking. They didn't want to pull too hard, afraid to hurt him or pull him off of his feet. He'd almost made it to the door when the young man Vida had noticed a short time before inserted himself between Tommy and the door.
"Where are you going, Dr. O?" he asked, crossing his arms as he blocked the door.
"I'm going to get coffee," Tommy said, pausing and frowning at him.
The young man shook his head.
"Jason went to get you some already," he said, not moving.
"Oh," said Tommy. "He did?"
"Yep," he confirmed. "But he can't give it to you if you leave, so why don't you go sit back down? He shouldn't be too long."
Shrugging, Tommy turned and walked away to look at one of the CD racks. Vida and Madison looked at the young man in confusion.
"Who are you?" Vida asked suspiciously.
"And how do you know Tommy?" Madison added.
"Name's Trent," he said, nodding at her. "I'm an old student of Dr. O's—know him pretty well, actually."
Tommy snorted, shaking his head as he wandered around. Shifting out of the way of the door, Trent leaned against the wall next to it, still keeping an eye on Tommy. The girls let it go for the moment, turning back to Tommy in concern.
"Tommy, have you eaten?" Madison asked. "You really shouldn't be drinking a lot of coffee without eating something."
He shrugged.
"Not really hungry," he said. "Just tired."
As if to prove a point, he yawned, blinking to keep his eyes open. Madison and Vida exchanged looks.
"When was the last time you ate?" Madison said.
"Well, he certainly didn't eat at all yesterday," Vida said. "And I doubt he had more than breakfast the day before."
Madison sighed.
"And if his habits are anything like they used to be then it wasn't much," she said, shaking her head. "Then he probably just had a smoothie of some sort—I'm going to find him something to eat. There's bound to be something stashed in the back."
"I'll help you look," Nick volunteered.
Nodding, Madison disappeared into the backroom and Nick followed. Vida stayed with Tommy. Chip was in the room, too. Standing near one of the counters, he frowned as he looked at Trent. Returning Chip's stare, Trent raised an eyebrow.
"Ok, kid," he said. "You're being weird. Quit staring at me."
"Sorry," Chip said quickly. "I just—do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."
Trent shrugged.
"Never been in Briarwood before," he answered. "So I doubt it."
"What's your name again?" Chip asked.
"Trent Mer—" Trent started to say.
He was interrupted by the door opening. Jason stalked in, freezing for a moment when he saw Tommy's empty chair.
"Tommy!" he exclaimed, looking around.
"What?" Tommy said, looking around to see who was yelling at him now.
"Did you really think I'd let him take off?" Trent smirked, not moving from his spot.
Jason ignored him, heading straight for Tommy.
"What is this?" Jason demanded, holding out his phone to Tommy.
"A phone," Tommy said distractedly, looking at the cup of coffee in Jason's hand. "Is that for me? Trent said you were getting me coffee."
He started to reach for it but Jason pulled the coffee away.
"Not until you answer my question," Jason snapped. "What is this?"
"It's a phone," Tommy repeated, frowning at it.
"Umm… Jason?" Trent interrupted. "He still doesn't have his glasses on…"
"Oh, right," Jason muttered. "Here."
He handed over Tommy's glasses. Tommy took them and put them on.
"That's better," he sighed, blinking as he adjusted his glasses. "Can I have my coffee now?"
He reached for the cup again, but Jason wouldn't let him have it.
"Explain this first," Jason growled, holding his phone out again. "What is this?"
Tommy, able to see what was on the phone now, smirked.
"That's you in a tutu," he said.
Trent looked at them in surprise, as did Vida and Chip.
"What?" Vida exclaimed. "Let me see!"
But Jason just put his phone away.
"Where did it come from?" he demanded, looking at Tommy.
Tommy shrugged.
"Hayley found it in my archives at home," he said. "She sent it to me to cheer me up at some point—found it again while I was trying to keep myself awake a little while ago. Now can I have my coffee?"
Rolling his eyes, Jason handed over the coffee. Tommy took it and headed straight back to his chair, already drinking. As he was sitting down, the door burst open again and Conner raced inside.
"Dr. O, this is awesome!" he cried. "Where did you get a picture of Jason in a tutu?"
Jason froze. He turned to look at Conner in surprise.
"What?" he exclaimed. "How did you get that?"
"Dr. O sent it to me," Conner snickered, looking down at his phone as he texted with someone.
Jason groaned and spun back to look at Tommy.
"Who did you send that to?" he asked.
"My contact list," Tommy answered, taking another drink of his coffee.
He'd drained most of the cup already.
"Which one?" Jason growled.
"Well, since Conner has it and I don't," Trent grinned, looking up from his phone. "Which one do you think?"
"No," Jason said, shaking his head. "No. He can't have—"
"Yep," Conner grinned. "He sent it to the reds."
"Would have sent it to the new guy, too," Tommy added. "But I don't have his number."
Vida and Chip exchanged confused looks, but no one was paying attention to them anymore.
"Tommy!" Jason exclaimed. "But that means TJ has it!"
"Yep," Conner laughed. "And he just said he's thinking about passing it on to everyone else—I'm telling him to go for it."
Jason turned his glare on Conner.
"Give me the phone, kid," he growled.
He tried to snatch it away, but Conner moved his hand. So Jason grabbed him, putting Conner in a headlock as he tried to wrestle the phone away. Trent was laughing, leaning against the wall for support now. Vida and Chip were watching in surprise. From the familiar way Conner had spoken to Tommy and Jason, they assumed he knew them. But they really didn't know what to do about what was happening.
"Jason!" Madison exclaimed, walking out of the back room. "You can't do that to customers!"
"He's not a customer," Jason retorted, not letting up. "He's a pest."
"You can't call me a pest," Conner choked out, laughing while he tried to keep breathing. "Only Hayley and Dr. O can call me a pest—"
"He's right," Tommy agreed.
"You stay out of this," Jason snapped. "You started the whole thing anyways."
"Too late," Conner gasped, still laughing. "Message sent—"
"So is TJ's," Trent snorted, holding up his phone. "You're never going to stop it now, Jason. Everyone is going to have it within the hour."
Muttering under his breath, Jason let go of Conner. He hit the floor, laughing and gasping for air as the door opened again. Kira and Ethan came hurrying inside. Seeing Conner on the floor, they paused.
"Aw, man," Ethan sighed. "We missed something good."
"Yes you did," Trent laughed, straightening up from the wall. "Get the message from TJ yet?"
"No," Ethan answered, whipping out his phone. "Conner showed us the picture already, but—oh! Got it!"
"What is going on out here?" Xander asked, walking out of Toby's office. "Toby's working on some kind of puzzle and says if we can't keep it down he's not going to pay us for today."
"Hey, they're the ones making noise, not us," Vida said, pointing at Jason and Conner. "Jason is beating on some kid."
"Not a kid," Conner retorted, climbing to his feet.
Kira snorted, rolling her eyes.
"You sure act like it some days," she remarked.
"Hey!" Conner said. "I resent that…"
She smirked in response as the Vida and the others turned to see who was in the shop. Seeing Kira, Vida froze in surprise.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, staring at Kira. "You—you're—You're Kira Ford!"
Kira turned to look at Vida, smiling when she realized who it was.
"Hey," she said. "You must be Vida. Dr. O told me about you. A DJ, right?"
Vida nodded mutely.
"That's great," Kira smiled. "We were going to be passing by here, so Dr. O asked if we'd stop by for a little while. I guess he thought you'd like to meet me."
Vida whirled around to look at Tommy.
"You invited her?" she exclaimed.
He grinned.
"Of course I did," he said. "Jason told you I knew her."
"Thank you!" Vida said, throwing her arms around Tommy.
He winced slightly in pain, but hugged her back.
"So who are the rest of them?" Chip asked, looking at the three boys.
"My friends," Kira answered. "We're all Dr. O's former students. Now, Vida and Madison we know from what Jason and Dr. O told us. Who are the rest of you?"
Tommy, his coffee gone, took over introductions.
"Kira, Ethan, Conner, and Trent," he said, each one nodding at their name. "That's Chip and Nick is the one in red."
Chip and Nick nodded, though Nick frowned at Tommy.
"And the green one is—" Tommy started to continue, looking at Xander.
In panic, Vida clapped a hand over Tommy's mouth. Everyone looked at her in surprise as the five Mystic Force rangers exchanged glances.
"Is something wrong?" Trent asked, frowning at Vida.
Quickly pulling her hand away, she shook her head.
"No, of course not," she said.
"Then what's with the sudden cut off?" Conner asked. "He was just pointing out that the kid was wearing green. Is that a problem?"
The five rangers shook their heads, exchanging looks again. All of them had been thinking the same thing—that Tommy had been about to spill their secret by pointing out Xander as the green ranger.
"Wait a minute," Xander said, looking at Conner. "Conner McKnight!"
"What?" Conner said, whipping his head around. "I didn't do anything."
His friends laughed, shaking their heads.
"No," Xander said. "You're Conner McKnight—the soccer player?"
"Oh, right," Conner said. "Yeah, I am."
"Xander Bly," Xander said, holding out a hand. "I watch your games all the time."
Conner grinned and started to reach out to shake Xander's hand.
"I don't like him," Tommy suddenly muttered, eying Xander.
Conner immediately jerked his hand back and ran it through his hair instead. Xander looked at him in surprise. Kira, Trent, and Ethan were looking at Tommy, a little shocked that he had actually said that.
"Sorry," Conner shrugged. "But if Dr. O doesn't like you, then I'm going to keep my distance. I have enough trouble staying on his good side some days as it is."
"That's still kind of rude," Madison frowned.
"Just let it go, Maddy," Jason said, shaking his head. "All four of them are loyal to a fault when it comes to Tommy—you won't change their minds. Believe me. I've tried…"
The four smirked at Jason.
"It's never going to happen, Jason," Kira said before turning to his sister. "Come on, Vida. Why don't you show me what you can do?"
"Great!" Vida exclaimed. "And you can call me V."
"Got it, V," Kira smiled.
The two of them headed over to the DJ tables. Conner had put some more distance between himself and Xander, wanting to make it clear to Tommy that he wasn't being friendly with him.
"So, you're the rookie?" Conner asked, crossing his arms as he looked at Nick.
Nick turned to face him in surprise.
"What was that?" he said.
"I said you must be the rookie," Conner repeated. "You know—the new guy?"
"Your point?" Nick frowned.
"No point," Conner shrugged, grinning.
"I got it!" Chip suddenly exclaimed, interrupting. "You're Trent Mercer!"
Trent looked up at him in surprise.
"Duh," Ethan said, shaking his head. "And I'm Ethan James—what are you getting at?"
"You're the comic book artist who is publishing a series about the Dino Thunder Power Rangers!" Chip said excitedly, bouncing over to Trent.
"Nerd alert," Conner snorted, turning away to look at Nick again.
"Yeah," Trent nodded. "I take it you've read some of them?"
"Of course!" Chip answered. "I own all of the ones that are out so far. How did you come up with all of the stories?"
Trent shrugged.
"I live in Reefside," he said. "It's not hard to get stories when you live in the city where the rangers were."
Chip nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
"I could give you some great ideas," he said. "How about one about an awesome yellow ranger with red hair who always saves his teammates butts?"
Nick shot a glare at Chip, but he wasn't paying attention. Madison and Xander sighed, rolling their eyes, though they did look a little concerned. But Trent just shrugged it off, pretending not to have noticed Chip's not-so-vague reference to himself.
"I'm still working on Dino Thunder," Trent answered. "And I've got something else in the works after that. It's actually part of why we're going on this trip."
"Trip?" Madison said. "But I thought you were just here with Kira to see Vida."
"Nope," Ethan said, shaking his head. "This was just a last minute side trip. We're actually heading over to Blue Bay Harbor."
Tommy snorted.
"Forgot you were on your way to visit the psychos," he muttered.
"You know, they aren't going to like it when we tell them you said that," Conner grinned.
Tommy shrugged.
"They don't scare me," he said.
"But they can sure irritate you," Jason grumbled. "And if they're trying hard enough they'll annoy the rest of us, too."
That just made Tommy laugh.
"That's not our only stop, though," Ethan said. "Remember? We're also swinging through Turtle Cove—"
"Why? I don't know…" Conner muttered. "Talk about irritating…"
Ethan shot him a look.
"Quit interrupting," he said. "As I was saying. We're also going to Turtle Cove, Silver Hills, Mariner Bay, and then Angel Grove before heading back to Reefside."
"Wow!" Chip said. "So you're doing research for your comic books?"
Trent, Ethan, and Conner exchanged looks and Kira glanced over from the DJ tables.
"Sure," Trent said, nodding. "Research."
Nick scoffed.
"How is driving all over the state doing research?" he asked.
"All of those cities had their own power ranger teams," Chip explained. "So there are bound to be records and all sorts of cool things to find. Kind of wish I could go…"
"Well, you can't," Nick said shortly. "You have work, remember?"
"Yeah, I know…" Chip sighed.
"Relax, rookie," Conner said, leaning against the nearby counter. "He couldn't come even if he wasn't working—no extra seats."
Ringing caught their attention before Nick could snap a reply. Trent reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He glanced at the caller ID before answering.
"Hey, Hayley," he said.
He paused, listening to what she was saying.
"Yeah, he's drugged," Trent said, glancing over at Tommy. "Among other things. Hey Dr. O?"
Tommy looked up at Trent.
"Hayley says stop texting," Trent said. "You aren't making any sense."
Tommy sighed, putting his phone away. Trent had gone back to listening to Hayley.
"I don't know the full story," Trent answered. "We just got the quick version."
He walked away from the others, leaving them to keep talking as he spoke on the phone.
"But apparently they got caught up in a monster attack," he continued.
His comment caught the attention of the five Mystic Force rangers. They all looked at each other and then at Jason. His attention was on Trent, however.
"Sure," Trent said, nodding as he walked over to Tommy. "Here you go, Dr. O."
He held the phone out to Tommy. He took the phone.
"Hi, Hayley," he smiled. "Uh-huh…Jason hit me. He broke my nose…No, it's fine now…I don't know, but it's not broken anymore…"
The five newest rangers all froze, but Tommy wasn't paying attention to them.
"Maybe it was—no, it was after," he frowned. "Yeah, it was after the thing that stole my soul…No, my soul is intact…It is! I'm fine…That was after that…He got his life-force stolen… But I was shaking him and he hit me. And then he ran me into a pole…"
Exchanging panicked looks, the rangers were trying to figure out how to keep Tommy quiet about them and Rootcore. But with Kira, Trent, Ethan, and Conner in the room, they couldn't just say something out loud.
"Yes, that's what I broke my nose on," Tommy sighed. "But it's not broken anymore…I don't know, I was unconscious…Yes, since Sunday night…I just woke up this morning…Yeah, Jason gave me medicine…No, I can't remember…"
He paused, frowning.
"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "All I remember is seeing Jason holding out pills and coffee and saying I wasn't allowed to have the coffee until I took the pills…Did I tell you Jason sprained his ankle? Some weird creature in the park hit him…I don't know, but my ribs hurt a lot…Yeah, that's probably Jason's fault, too…Oh. Ok."
Tommy looked over at Jason, holding out the phone.
"Hayley wants to talk you," he said.
"Great," Jason muttered, reaching for the phone. "I'm dead. I am so dead. Hello?"
He immediately had to jerk the phone away from his ear as Hayley started shouting.
"Ha—Hay—Hayley!" Jason exclaimed. "Would you please let me get outside?"
Still trying to get her attention, he headed toward the door. The Mystic Force rangers watched him go in concern.
"We can't let him say anything to her," Nick hissed to Chip and Madison, the two closest to him.
"Then we should go after him," Madison said. "Or at least one of us… Just to remind him."
Ethan, Conner, Kira, and Trent were exchanging looks. Conner nodded to them.
"I've gotta listen to this," Conner grinned, starting to head toward the door. "Jason is in so much trouble this time."
"Wait for me," Ethan said, following him.
Chip and Nick both darted forward in panic and took Ethan and Conner by the arm.
"Hey!" Conner snapped, yanking his arm away from Nick. "What are you doing, rookie?"
"Umm… There are some CD's we want to show you," Chip said quickly before Nick could snap something back. "Come on."
Becoming suddenly compliant, Ethan and Conner allowed themselves to be towed away from the door by Nick and Chip. They smirked at the back of the heads of the other two boys. While Vida was in the middle of playing a mix on the DJ tables, Kira stepped down to wander around the shop a little bit. As she headed toward a rack closer to the door, Xander intercepted her. He leaned against the shelf in front of her, smiling.
"Hey," he said. "So how long are you going to be in town?"
Kira raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
"Just this afternoon," she answered. "Why?"
"Thought maybe you might like a tour around town," he grinned. "By yours truly, of course. I can show you all the best places around."
"Mmm hmmm…" Kira said. "Wasn't really planning on a grand tour today, but thanks anyways."
The conversation had caught Trent's attention. Frowning, he started walking over.
"Oh, come on," Xander insisted. "It'll be great. We can ditch your friends for a while and see the sights. It's lunchtime now if you wanna stop for a bite to eat first."
"She already said she wasn't interested," Trent said, slinging an arm around Kira's shoulders. "Besides, she's taken."
He glared at Xander. Kira smiled, glancing up at Trent as she shifted a little closer.
"I love it when you're all possessive like that," she laughed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "It's cute."
Xander was looking at Trent in surprise.
"Sorry," he said. "Didn't realize she was your girl."
Trent glowered at him.
"Don't worry about it," Kira said. "You could have tried all day and never changed my mind anyways. I don't respond to meaningless flirting."
"Had to try, babe," Xander grinned, shrugging.
Kira's eyes narrowed. Trent went from standing casually with an arm around her shoulders to grabbing her around the waist to stop her from hitting Xander.
"Don't call me 'babe'!" she growled.
Xander took a step backward in surprise. Ethan and Conner burst out laughing.
"Yes!" Conner exclaimed. "It wasn't me this time!"