Chapter 11
"So what's it going to be?" Jason asks. "Give us back our powers and let us take care of this problem, or let Angel Grove be destroyed by your creation. It's your move."
"You guys are in no position to making ultimatums." The guard says.
Harrison looks at the teens. "You made a mistake by coming here." He says. "The 'Power Rangers', as you were previously referred to, are no more. The sooner you get that through your head, the better."
"Sir, are you sure about this?" Jones asks. "The Green Ranger is attacking downtown Angel Grove right now. We have nothing that can stop it in our arsenal. They might be our only chance."
"Listen to this guy." Zack says. "He's the only one who's making any sense."
"Shut up." Harrison says to Zack. "Using those powers is not an option. It's not even in consideration, so don't bring it up again. If we have nothing that can fight the Green Ranger, maybe our engineers can find a way to shut the powers down. Until then, Freeman and his men will try to hold off the Green Ranger."
"Do you want them to die?" Jones asks. "They don't have the power to…"
"Are you questioning me?" Harrison says. "Don't forget, Jones, that I am the leader of this organization. You work for me. My call is final. Get Freeman on the phone."
Jones sighs. "Right away." He says angrily. Harrison looks at him, as if he is waiting for something. Jones glares at him. "Sir." Jones says, clearly annoyed. He walks out of the room. Harrison looks the guard. "They don't leave." He says to the guard. "You understand?"
"Yes sir." the guard says. Harrison then walks out of the holding cell area, following Jones.
Harrison goes into his office and sits down. He hears a knock on the door. When he looks up he sees Freeman standing in the door way.
"Freeman? What are you doing here?" Harrison asks. "I gave Jones your instructions. Did he not give them to you?"
"First of all, I don't take orders from you." Freeman says. "I did last time. I brought you your 'Power Rangers'. My men and I don't work for you. You can't give us orders.
"Freeman, what you fail to understand is…" Harrison begins to say.
"No, I understand everything perfectly." Freeman says. "I understand that your people here created something that you can't control and now you're looking to me to solve it. I didn't sign up for this shit. I am a member of the United States army. I signed up to serve my country, and protect it from any threats that might come from outside forces. I didn't sign up to fight against members of my own country. This isn't the Civil War! You created this thing. You're the one who has to stop it."
"James. Stop." Harrison says. Freeman keeps walking. "James!" Harrison says again. Again, Freeman ignores this. "When was the last time you saw Victoria?" Harrison asks.
With this Freeman stops and his eyes widen. "What?" He asks.
"Just curious." Harrison says. "Your wife, Victoria? When was the last time you saw her?"
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Freeman shouts at him.
"We've been friends for a long time, James." Harrison says. "I know how much you love Victoria. It must be hard being away from her for so long. Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to her while you were away, serving?"
"Yeah, it would be." Freeman says, angrily. "But that still doesn't answer my question. What does that have to do with this situation?"
"I knew you'd be reluctant to help again, James." Harrison says. "I thought you might need a little motivation."
"What are you talking about?" Freeman asks.
"We have Victoria in our custody." Harrison says. "I sent a couple men to your home. They told her you'd been injured in battle and she needed to come with them right away. You don't help me here, and you'll never see her again."
"You son of a bitch!" Freeman says charging at Harrison from over the desk. He tries to punch Harrison but Harrison dodges it and pulls a gun out of his desk and points it at Freeman.
"Don't move, or I'll shoot." Harrison says.
Freeman just laughs. "Go ahead." He says. "I know you won't do it. You need me. I came here today to tell you my men and I are leaving. We're returning to our army base. We don't work for you anymore. But if I find out that anyone in your organization has laid a finger on my wife, I'll be back. That time, to personally escort you to the gates of hell."
Freeman turns around and starts to walk out the door. He is stopped in his tracks by the sound of a gunshot. Less than a half-second later he falls to floor, with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Freeman walks over to his body and kicks it. "Word to the wise, James." Harrison says. "Never turn you back on someone pointing a gun at you. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but if you're not with me, then you're against me, and I couldn't have that." He turns to the door and sees a guard rushes in.
"Sir, is everything all right?" the guard says. He sees Freeman's body lying on the floor. "What happened!?" He shouts.
"He attacked me!" Harrison says, sounding scared. "We were just talking and all of a sudden he tried to kill me! I pulled my gun out of my desk and told him he'd better leave. He continued attacking me. I had no other choice. I had to defend myself."
"Sir, I'm just glad you're alright." the guard says. "But what will we tell his men, and his family?"
"I think it would be best for everyone if they don't know the truth." Harrison says, smiling. "The last thing we need is for people to lose their faith in him or in me. I'll call his wife, let her know that he's fallen. She's an old friend. It would be best coming from me. As far as his men are concerned, we have a mission we need them to go on. After I call his wife, I'll speak to them as well. We'll tell his wife he was killed in battle and we were unable to recover his body. We'll tell his men it's best for morale if they don't see his body. What I need you to do it get rid of his body."
"Yes, sir." The guard says. He picks up Freeman's lifeless body and carries it out of the room.
Harrison watches as he carries the body out he walks over and shuts the door behind him. He smiles and walks over to his desk and sits down. He picks up his phone. "Hello, Victoria? This is John Harrison. I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. It's about James..."
The group of soldiers gathers in a gathering area in the D.E.T.A facility. They are all talking amongst themselves. Butler, one of the soldiers who had survived the Minotuar attack, looks at his friend, Miller.
"Do you know why we're here?" Butler asks.
"No idea." Miller says. "Last I heard there was mission that Commander Harrison wanted us to go on, but Colonel Freeman wanted to leave. I don't know why Freeman wouldn't want to fight."
"We aren't D.E.T.A.'s personal soldiers." Butler says. "We're soldiers in the U.S. army. Maybe Freeman got tired of doing Harrison's dirty work." He suggests.
"Maybe…" Miller says.
At that point, Harrison comes walking into the room. At the far end of the room is an elevated section. This essentially serves as a stage in the event a speech needs to be made. Harrison steps up onto the stage.
"Looks like we're about to find out." Butler says.
Harrison stands behind a podium that is on the stage and speaks into a microphone. "Attention, soldiers." Harrison says. The soldiers all turn and look at him. "I'm afraid I have some very troubling news. Colonel Freeman went into cardiac arrest just a short time ago." With this statement, there were a few gasps of disbelief from the crowd before it went completely silent. After a short pause, Harrison continues. "Though there is some speculation as to the cause, we don't know for a fact what happened. It possibly could have been a heart attack, but that would simply be speculation. All we do know is that he's gone. With that, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you your time serving D.E.T.A. is up. You will return to the US army base. There is another mission we most certainly could have used your help on, but with this troubling news of Freeman's death, I'm not sure if sending you on this mission is such a good idea.
"Freeman and I talked shortly before he passed away, and he did express some concerns over the most recent mission. This mission would involve taking on, essentially, a super soldier. Some of you may have been familiar with the Power Rangers. Well, D.E.T.A. had set out to create our own super ranger, but unfortunately our technology fell into the wrong hands. Rita, the alien witch who has been attacking our planet has gotten her hands on the super ranger's power coin. Now our own Green Ranger is attacking Angel Grove, California. In my talks with Freeman, it became clear that while this was a dangerous mission, it was one that Freeman and I both knew needed to be done. He agreed that he would lead you on this battle, but before he died before he could do this.
"While this mission needs to be done, I have spoken with other members of D.E.T.A., and we would not feel right about sending you into battle after the loss of your leader. We are working on our own solutions to the problem, and hopefully can come up with one before the city of Angel Grove is lost. We understand this must be a difficult time for all of you. At this time, we ask all of you to report to the chopper bay where you were will be taken back to you the nearest US army base."
Butler steps forward out of the crowd and shouts as loud as he can. "With all due respect, sir, we don't take our orders from you!" Harrison gives him and odd look as he climbs up onto the raised stage. He steps behind the podium and speaks into the microphone. "We take our orders from Colonel Freeman, and if what you say is true, then his orders are clear. This battle is one we have to fight." With this the crowd erupts. "I'll lead these men into battle." Butler continues. "Your super ranger may be tough, but we will not falter, and we will not fail"
Harrison can't help but smile at this. He reclaims the microphone from Butler. "If this is how you all feel, then there is no point in trying to stop you." Harrison says. "I can't thank you enough for your dedication. Your help is greatly appreciated this."
Jones has been listening to these speeches the whole time. He shakes his head. He glares up at Harrison. "For a guy who just lost a close friend, he doesn't look to heartbroken about it." He says out loud to nobody. He looks around, and quickly exits the room.
The crowd is still cheering at Butler's comments. "I can not thank you enough." Harrison says. "However, this is no time to celebrate. Freeman's gone, and this will not be an easy battle. The Green Ranger is attacking, now, however, and we must act quickly if we want to stop him with any significant damage to the city of Angel Grove. Now go!" The soldiers quickly headed to the hanger bay where they would now be transported to Angel Grove.
The 5 ranger teens are sitting in the holding cell. Zack and Billy are sitting on a bench, while Jason, Kim, and Trini are all pacing back and forth. Zack stands up and looks at Jason.
"I can't take it anymore!" Zack shouts. "How long have we been here?"
"It's been 20 minutes, Zack." Billy says. "Relax."
"How can I relax when I know right now the Green Ranger is attacking Angel Grove and there's nothing we can do to stop it?" Zack asks. "By sitting here, we're signing our hometown's death warrant."
"Zach's right." Jason says. "I just don't want to sit here, either, but it's not like we have much choice. We're prisoners here."
"Maybe we can distract the guard." Kim says. "Like, we might be able to get the keys from him and get out of here."
"Even if we could, what good would that do?" Trini says. "It's not like we have our powers. We have a general idea of where they, if they're with Billy's communicator, but do any of you know how to get there from here?"
"Look, guys, just calm down." Jason says. "Now is not the time to panic.
"It's not?" Zack says. "We're prisoners in a government facility, and, in case you missed it the world about to be destroyed. So, I'd say now is the perfect time to panic!"
"Guys, we're supposed to be a team." Billy says. "Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to get us anywhere."
"You're right, Billy." Zack says. "I'm sorry, guys. It's just that being trapped like this is so damn frustrating!" He slams his hand against the wall of the holding cell.
"None of us like it, Zack." Trini says. She looks out at the guard. "Breaking into a government facility didn't work. What makes you think we can break any better?"
At this point, Jones quietly sneaks into the room. Billy notices this. He whispers to the others. "Hey guys, look at that." He points over to where Jones is. Jones is quietly sneaking up behind the guard.
"Wasn't that the guy was with Commander Harrison earlier?" Zack whispers.
"What's he doing?"
Jones gets right behind the guard and grabs him neck. "What the hell?!" The guard yells. He struggles to get free and see who is attacking him, but Jones grip is too tight.
Jones twists his neck slightly. The guard struggles for a few more seconds before suddenly his eyes close and he falls to the ground. Jones grabs the guards keys and runs over to the ranger's cell.
Kim is still starring at the guards body lying on the ground. She looks at Jones. "Is he…?" She asks.
"Dead?" Jones responds. "No… I just put him in a sleeper hold." He opens the cell doors. "We don't have much time. You kids have to get out of here."
"Why are you helping us?" Jason asks.
"Colonel Freeman is dead." Jones says. "I'm pretty sure Commander Harrison killed him."
"What?!" Billy asks.
"I was instructed by Commander Harrison to tell Colonel Freeman to go to Angel Grove and stop the Green Ranger." Jones explains. "I was told by Colonel Freeman to kindly 'blow it out my ass', and that he doesn't take orders from anyone at D.E.T.A. I said that's fine, but he would have to inform Commander Harrison of his decision himself. He agreed to do this, and then was going to take his soldiers back to the nearest army base. Next thing I know, Commander Harrison is basically holding a press conference for the soldiers to inform them that Colonel Freeman is dead and that he wanted the men to go on this dangerous mission. Harrison tried to be the hero and say he couldn't send the men into such a dangerous mission, but it was Freeman's wishes. The soldiers said they take their orders from Freeman, and agreed to march into what appears to be a suicide mission. I know Freeman. Nothing Harrison said could have changed his mind. And it seems a little convenient that Freeman died before he could tell his men he changed his mind himself."
"Did his men know he never wanted to take the mission?" Trini asks.
"It's unclear how much they knew." Jones says. "All I know now, is that Freeman is dead, and a lot more soldiers are going to die if the Green Ranger isn't stopped. You guys are the only ones who can stop him." He pulls out the rangers morphers. "You're going to need these." He also gives Billy his communicator back.
"Our morphers!" Kim shouts. Each of the rangers grabs their respective morpher.
"I wasn't sure if we'd ever see these again." Zack says.
Billy gives Jones a hard look. "It's not that we don't appreciate the help, but the convenience of the situation is hardly evidence of murder." Billy says, putting his communicator back on.
"I never said it was evidence." Jones says. "I said 'I think' that he killed him. Regardless of if Freeman was murdered or not, the world could be destroyed if the Green Ranger isn't stopped."
"Well, we really do appreciate your help." Jason says. "Thank you."
"For what?" Jones says. "I didn't help you. Do you understand? A friend of your broke in here and broke you guys out. I knew nothing about it."
"What?" Zack asks.
"I think Commander Harrison killed a man for not agreeing to go on a mission." Jones says. "I don't want to find out what he would do to me if he figured out a disobeyed a direct order."
"Gotcha." Jason says. He looks at the others. "Alright guys. It's Morphin' Time!"
Tommy, as the Green Ranger, is attacking downtown Angel Grove. He points the Sword of Darkness at a building a Green Laser comes flying out of it. It hits the building, causing multiple explosions through out.
The city's police are helping citizens evacuate the surround buildings. The people of Angel Grove are in a panic.
Tommy laughs at the people. "That's right! Run away scared!" He shouts. "Soon it won't matter where you run! Rita will rule this planet. Long Live Empress Rita!" He laughs again.
He stops laughing when he hears to sound of a helicopter coming in. He looks up and sees the helicopter come flying in. "Finally, a challenge."
The helicopter lands and Butler jumps out, followed by a few of soldiers Freeman had led into battle. The initial group was a small one, consisting of around 20 soldiers. This one was even smaller, consisting of only 12 soldiers, including Butler, as not all of the soldiers from the initial battle were in good enough shape to fight in this one.
"Stop right there!" Butler shouts. He is holding an assault rifle and is pointing it at Tommy. The other soldiers all also have assault rifles.
"Oh, pulling the big guns out for me, I see." Tommy says. "Too bad it won't matter." He charges towards the soldiers.
"Fire at will!" Butler yells, as Tommy charges towards them. They begin to shoot at the Green Ranger, but the bullets all simply deflect off it. Tommy swings the sword of darkness through the barrel of Butler's gun. Butler stumbles backward and falls to the ground. Quickly, in one fluid motion, Tommy swings the sword and slices through all of the other guns.
"Your puny man-made weapons stand no chance against someone like me." Tommy says. "Now it's time to say goodbye." At this point Tommy jumps backwards. He looks at the group of 12 soldiers, and points the Sword of Darkness almost like a gun at them. He shoots a green laser at them and soldiers brace themselves, preparing for the worst.
The laser does not hit the soldiers, however, because at that exact moment, Jason, morphed as the Red Ranger comes in with the Power Sword and deflects the laser. The other rangers run to his side.
"What's this?" Tommy asks.
"We're here to stop you." Jason says, pointing at the Green Ranger. He rushes at the Green Ranger with the Power Sword and engages him in a sword fight. Jason swings his sword, but the Green Ranger blocks the attack with his own sword. Jason continues to attack, but he can't seems to make any contact to the Green Ranger himself. Tommy laughs at Jason.
"Having some trouble, Red Ranger?" He asks. Then Tommy blocks another attack from Jason, but this time counters and hits Jason directly in the chest. Jason goes flying back. The other rangers rush to his side.
"Oh No!" Kim yells.
"Are you alright, man?" Zack asks.
Jason struggles to get up, but is unable to. He looks at Zack. "I'll be fine." He says. "Go stop him!"
The other rangers nod. All four rangers rush at Tommy. Tommy jumps in the air and swings his sword at them. Kim and Trini circle around behind Tommy, trying to surround him. Zack pulls out his Power Axe and swings it at Tommy, but Tommy is able to grab the blade of the axe and stop the attack.
"What!?" Zack shouts.
"No way!" Kim yells.
"That's not possible." Billy says.
"That's what you think!" Tommy yells he. He flips Zack over and punches him in the chest. He then turns and kicks Kim, sending her flying. Trini tries to punch Tommy but he ducks, avoiding the punch, then jumps up and kicks her in the back. Trini falls to the ground. Billy pulls out his Power Lance and uses it to vault himself at Tommy. He manages to kick Tommy and take him to the ground, but Tommy quickly gets back on his feet. He jumps very high, and wraps his legs around Billy's neck, and twists him to the ground.
Jason has slowly gotten back to his feet. He is about to rush back into the fight when his communicator goes off.
"What is it, Zordon?" Jason asks. "We're kind of busy here."
"Jason, you and the other must form the Power Blaster. It's your only hope." Zordon says.
"Right." Jason says. He rushes into the battle and yells to the others. "Guys, lets put our weapons together."
"Right!' The others say in unison. The quickly take their weapons out and put them together to form the Power Blaster. Jason holds the blaster and the others gather in around him.
"What?" Tommy asks.
"Fire!" Jason shouts. The Power Blaster shoots a powerful laser at Tommy. He tries to deflect the attack, but is unable to, and is knocked backward. He rolls, and tries to get up, but is clearly hurt.
"This isn't over, Power Rangers!" Tommy yells. "We will meet again." He then points his sword directly toward the sky, then plants into the ground. Green lightning flows from where he planted his sword directly towards the Rangers. It hits them, and they are sent flying backward. The rangers all struggle to get up after the attack. They look over to where the Green Ranger was, but he's gone. They get to their feet and look around.
"He's gone." Jason says.
"Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him.' Zack says.
"He told us that." Billy says. The other rangers shake their head at this comment. They notice the soldiers still on the ground and rush over to help them.
"Are you guys alright?" Jason asks the soldiers. Butler stands up.
"Yeah," Butler says, "Thanks to you guys. Man, I can't believe that happened. He walked all over us."
"That was no ordinary fight." Billy says. "There's no way you could have been trained for something like that."
"You guys should return to the nearest army base." Jason says. "Not to D.E.T.A. You don't owe those guys anything."
"Thanks for your help." Butler says.
"Alright, guys let's teleport to the command center." Jason says. "Maybe Zordon can give us some answers on why that guy was so strong." The rangers all reach for their wrists and teleport away.
End Chapter 11