Author's Note: As it seems I do with every chapter, I'd like to apologize for how long this took to get out. This semester, I'm in a creative writing course, and while I am still spending a lot of my time writing, a lot of the time I used to be able to devote to writing this story has been replaced with writing for that course. I am trying to make sure I work on this at least once or twice a week, but some weeks I'm just too busy to get to this. I hope to have the next chapter out in early April, but that is not a promise as I am busy with stuff for college. Please note that I try to get these chapters out as quickly as I can. Also, I really want to thank you for taking the time to read this. Please read and review. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 14
Goldar and Jason glare at each other. They walk in a circle, each waiting for the other to let his guard down. Jason angrily yells at Goldar. "Give me back my Power Morpher!" he shouts.
"You would like that, wouldn't you Red Ranger?" Goldar says. "That wouldn't be very fun for me, though." Jason watches as Goldar pulls out his sword. "Face it, Jason. You're finished. Why not just admit this and I will make your death quick and painless. You try to fight, and I will make sure you endure as much pain as possible before I finish you off."
"If you think I'm going to surrender to you, you're out of your mind." Jason says. He watches as Goldar holds out his Power Morpher.
"You're a fool, Jason, for choosing the far more painful of the two alternatives." Goldar says. "This Power Morpher might be your ticket to freedom. Are you man enough to take it from me?" He asks Jason, laughing. Jason charges at Goldar and kicks him in the chest. This knocks Goldar back a little, but enough to knock him off his feet. He holds on to the morpher. "Is that the best you've got?" Goldar asks Jason, mockingly. "Without your Power Morpher, you can't defeat me. Why even bother trying?"
"With or without my morpher, I'm a Power Ranger, Goldar." Jason says. "I'm not losing to the likes of you."
"Foolish human." Goldar says. He takes his sword and points it at Jason. "Make your move."
Zack sits in the back of his physics class. He is unable to focus on what is going on in class. He simply sits in his desk, starring at the empty desk where Jason could be. It was barely 10 minutes into class, but it felt like and eternity. When their teacher, Mr. Jenkins took role, Zack had covered for his friend.
"Jason Lee Scott?" Mr. Jenkins had asked. Zack had noticed Jason never showed up for class.
"I think he's sick." Zack said nervously.
"OK then, moving on." Mr. Jenkins said.
Zack figured Jason was just running late, but he hadn't shown up yet, and Zack just felt like something was wrong.
Class dragged on, but Zack had no idea what was going on. He might as well of not been there, as he couldn't pay attention at all that day. Finally, Zack hears the bell releasing him from class and he quickly bolts from the classroom. He rushes to Billy's locker.
"Yo, Billy!" Zack says nervously. He turns his voice to whisper and gets up right next to Billy.. "Have you seen Jason?" Zack asks.
"Not since this morning." Billy responds with. "I don't have any classes with him after lunch. Last time I saw him was in Ms. Applebee's class before lunch. Why?"
"He wasn't in class this afternoon." Zack says. "Last time I saw him, he was feeling fine. It's not like him to miss class."
"You're right." Billy says. "It's not like him at all. Let's ask around. See if anyone has seen him."
"Good idea." Zack says. "I'll go check with the nurse, see if he went home early because he was sick."
The two boys quickly made their way through the hallway, asking everyone in sight if they'd seen Jason. No one had. Zack ran into the nurses office and asked the school nurse if Jason had stopped by at any point today. The nurse said a few students had stopped by today, but Jason was not one of them. He ran back out and rejoined Billy, informing him that Jason had not left due to an illness. Eventually, they bumped into Kim and Trini, who were walking towards the exit.
"Hey, have either you two seen Jason?" Zack asks.
"Not recently." Trini says.
"Zack, you look nervous." Kim says. "What's going on?"
"Jason missed class this afternoon, and no one has seen him since lunch." Zack says. "I thought maybe he was sick, but the school nurse said that she hadn't seen him."
Kim's smile disappears. "You think Rita has something to do with this?" She asks, with a hushed voice.
"That's what I'm worried about." Zack says.
"Perhaps we should try contacting him on the communicator. If that doesn't work, we should go talk to Alpha and Zordon." Billy says. "Maybe they have some idea as to Jason's whereabouts."
The ranger teens look around to see if anyone is nearby. They are about to contact Zordon when Tommy comes walking towards them. Kim sees him. "Hey, Kim, we need to talk." He says.
"What's going on, Tommy?" Kim asks. "Now's not exactly the best time."
"This will only take a minute." Tommy says. "Look, I talked to Jason earlier..."
"You saw Jason!?" Zack says, cutting Tommy off. "When!"
"I don't know." Tommy says defensively. "Lunchtime?"
"Oh, OK." Zack says.
"What was that about?" Tommy asks Kim.
"It's a long story." Kim says. "Anyway, what were you saying?"
"Well, when I talked to Jason, he pointed out that I was pretty rude to you this morning. I should've told you I couldn't give you a ride this morning." Tommy says. "I just want to make sure we're still cool. It's really important to me that we stay friends."
After a few seconds of silence, Kim finally pipes up. "We're cool." she says. "We all make mistakes. It's not a big deal, but thanks for apologizing. I'd love to stay and chat, but we really have to get going."
"Alright." Tommy says. "Have fun."
The rangers teens wave at Tommy and run underneath the stairs. Zack pulls up his communicator and attempts to contact Jason on his communicator, but there's no answer. Zack tries to contact the command center as well, but again there's no answer.
"That's weird, man." Zack says.
"Maybe communication is down." Billy says.
"Well, let's try to teleport to the command center." Kim says. Three of teens pull their communicators up, but Billy stops the others.
"Wait." Billy says. "If communication is down, are we sure teleportation will work?"
"We have to try." Trini says. "Just, whatever happens, we need to stick together."
"Right." Zack says. The rangers all slowly pull the communicators up and press the buttons on the side. They teleport away.
A few moments later they land in the Command Center.
Zack looks at Billy. "See we're in the Command…" He pauses and see's that the Command Center is in ruins. "...Center."
"What happened here?" Trini asks. She looks at the pulled out control panels and sees the sparks coming out the wires. Then she spots Alpha standing lifeless, head down. "ALPHA!" She shouts. The four teens run over to Alpha.
"Can you fix him, Billy?" Zack asks.
"Possibly." Billy says. "I'd have to assess the damages before I can safely say one way or the other."
"Guys." Kim says staring at the energy tube in the middle. "Zordon's gone." The other turn and see it too.
"Man, who did this?" Zack shouts.
"First Jason disappears. Now this." Trini says. "What next?"
"How much you want to bet those two things are related?" Kim asks.
Trini walks over to Billy, who has opened up the back of Alpha and is examining the circuits.
"What's the prognosis, Billy?" she asks.
Billy keeps looking in Alpha's back while he answers. "Well, there doesn't appear to be any internal damages." He says. "He appears to be completely fine outside of a missing power couplet."
"That's good news, right?" Zack asks running.
"Affirmative." Billy says. "I should actually be able to reprogram his circuitry to bypass the missing couplet by moving these wires here." As he does this Alpha comes back online. His head shoots up.
"Ay Ay Ay!" Alpha says. "Rangers. Boy am I glad to see you."
"You did it Billy!" Trini says. Billy smiles and shuts the panel on the back of Alpha.
"Alpha what happened here?" Zack asks.
"Yeah, and where's Zordon?" Kim asks.
"I'm not sure Rangers." Alpha says. "The last thing I remember, there was an intruder in the Command Center. He appeared out of nowhere, somehow teleporting in. He must disabled me because that is the last thing in my memory banks before you showed up."
"Did you see who it was?" Zack asks.
"My memory is a little fuzzy, but I believe it was the Green Ranger." Alpha says.
"This is not good." Trini says. "If the Green Ranger can come here, is this place even safe anymore."
"Wait a minute, rangers." Alpha says. "1. 2. 3. 4. There are only 4 of you here. Where is Jason?"
"That's why we came here." Zack says. "No ones seen him since before lunch. Communication is down, so we can't contact him on his communicator. We were hoping you knew where he was."
"Alpha, will you come over here." Billy asks, standing by the computers. Alpha rushes over to his side.
"What do you need, Billy?" Alpha asks.
"What the status of the computers. How long do you think it will take to get them operational again?" He asks. Alpha looks at them.
"I'm not sure Billy." Alpha responds. "It looks like the Green Ranger pulled out most of the wiring, but it's all still in tact. It might take a few hours to get it put it back into place, but it shouldn't be that difficult to get the computers back up."
"That's what I was thinking as well, but I'm not an expert in the technology of the command center." Billy says. He looks at the other rangers.
"What are you thinking, Billy?" Trini asks.
"Why don't you guys head back to town and look for Jason." Billy suggests. "Alpha and I can handle putting this stuff back into place and I wouldn't want you guys just to wait around here. Once we get the computers operational again, we should be able to contact you guys."
"Sounds like a plan." Zack says. "We'll teleport back here if we find anything."
"Alright, be careful." Billy says. "We can teleport, but I'm not sure how well our powers will work with the computers down.
"We'll be careful." Zack says. Then he and the girls teleport away.
Billy looks at Alpha. "Let's get to work." He says.
Zack, Kim, and Trini land outside the youth center. They look around to make sure no one saw them. Once they know they are clear, they run inside. They look around and notice a bunch of people sitting around. They sees Ernie behind the Juice Bar and head over to him
"Hey, Ernie, you haven't seen Jason have you?" Zack asks.
"No, sorry Zack." Ernie says. "He hasn't been here for a while. Last time I saw him, he was with you."
"Thanks anyway." Zack says.
The three rangers slowly walk over to a table and sit down. "I'm getting seriously worried." Zack says. "Jason's my best friend. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him."
"It's not your fault, Zack." Kim says.
"Yeah, it's Rita's." Trini points out.
"That doesn't make me feel any better." Zack says. He stands up and starts to pace.
"We'll find him." Trini says. "Maybe his parents know where he's at."
"I thought about that." Zack says. "But what happens in the likely scenario they don't. How do we explain to them where Jason is?"
"I guess you're right." Trini says shaking her head. "Could this situation get any worse?" As she says this, Bulk and Skull walk over their table. Bulk puts his hands on the table and looks at the 3 of them.
"Is Jason-smason missing?" He says, almost mockingly.
"You haven't seen him, have you Bulk?" Kim asks.
"Oh, yeah we saw him." Bulk says. "We'll tell you where for a price."
"Don't worry, we work cheap." Skull says.
"Cheap?" Trini asks.
"Yeah, we take payment in kisses." Skull says.
"This is serious guys." Zack says. "If you know where he is, tell us. If not, leave us alone. He could be in serious trouble. So do you know where he is or not?"
"No, we don't know where that loser is." Bulk says.
"Nor, may I add, do we care." Skull says
"Then why don't you go bother someone." Zack shouts at them. They don't move. Zack glares at them. "If you don't leave, then I'll make you leave." He shouts. Bulk and Skull look at each other than back at Zack.
"Are you threatening us?" Bulk asks.
"I'm not playing around Bulk." Zack says. "I'm not in the mood for any of your games."
"Fine." Bulk says. "Come on, Skull. Let's leave the dweeb patrol alone." They turn and walk away.
Kim sees Tommy working out on a machine. "Look, guys, I'm going to go talk to Tommy." She says.
"Of course you are." Zack says, almost annoyed. "We need to be focusing on finding Jason, not getting you laid."
"I'm going to talk to Tommy about Jason, jerk!" Kim says to Zack.
"Guys, quit fighting." Trini says. "We're supposed to be a team, remember? We do know Tommy saw Jason at lunch. Maybe he gave some indication of where he was going. It's not a bad idea."
"Sorry, Kim." Zack says. "I'm just so frustrated right now."
"It's fine." Kim says. "No worries."
"If you want to talk to Tommy, better do it quick." Trini says. "Looks like he's leaving." She points at Tommy who is walking out the door.
"Come on Kim." Zack says getting up quickly and running out the door.
"Right behind you." Kim says. She and Trini get up and follows Zack.
They run out of the youth center. Quickly, the teens scan the surrounding area, looking for where Tommy might have gone. Zack spots him on top of a nearby hill. "Looks like he might be headed for the park." He points out. "Yo Tommy! Wait up!" He shouts as the 3 teens run towards the park. Tommy ignores them and keep walking.
Meanwhile, Rita is watching this as it happens. She pulls away from her telescope with a worried look on her face.
"If those pesky ranger brats keep pestering him, he might blow his cover s the Green Ranger." Rita says. "I can't allow that to happen. Putties attacks!"
The rangers almost catch up to Tommy, when suddenly they are stopped. A squad of putties appears out of nowhere surrounding the rangers.
"These clayheads could not have come at a worse time." Kim says.
"Let's take them down." Trini says.
Zack starts to move his feet, almost as if dancing. He glides towards a couple of putties, before jumping and kicking one in the chest. After he kicks the putty, he comes down on his back, but quickly rocks back and then launches back to his feet. He punches a putty, knocking it back. Then rolls over the back of another one, and, upon coming down, lifts that putty and throws it.
Trini gets in a fighting stance. She repeatedly jabs one of the creatures until it bends over far enough for her to karate chop it in the back. Then, in one motion, she grabs one of the creatures legs and flip it over while taking out the legs of another putty with her own legs.
Kim hops up a nearby picnic table. Treating the picnic table almost like a balance beam she does a flip and kicks an attacking putty in the chest. She slides down to sit on the table when she notices another putty coming for her. She uses both her legs to grab the putties head and twist it to the ground. Another putty grabs her from behind, but Zack runs over. He jumps in and kicks that one off of her.
"Thanks." Kim says.
"No problem." Zack says. Trini runs over to their sides. They stand next to each other, ready to attack, but the putties all back away slowly and then disappear. The three rangers all exhale when this happens.
"What was that about?" Trini asks.
"Yeah, why would they just run off like that?" Kim asks. "That's super weird."
"I don't get it." Zack says. "The only things those claybrains did is keep us busy long enough for us to lose track of Tommy."
"Maybe we should head back to the command center." Trini says. "See if Billy and Alpha have had any luck putting the place back together."
"Couldn't hurt." Zack says. They look around and teleport away.
Commander Harrison is sitting at his desk, thinking about everything that has happened over the past 24 hours. He is not working, not shuffling through paperwork. He is just sitting there, thinking.
Most of his brightest minds had been killed by an invasion of monsters that he could do nothing to stop. He was not at fault. He was angry at the monsters, but did not blame himself.
When the monster had invaded, he had already left his office. After sending Butler into the meeting, he felt betrayed. He was angry that the soldiers were needed to be saved by the Power Rangers. He knew that the Power Rangers would not have been able to get their powers back and escape the facility without inside help. Whoever let them out had to pay. He wasn't sure what had happened, so he had gone down to the holding cells. He was searching for answers. He saw the guard who had been knocked out, allowing the rangers to escape. Someone had knocked him out but who? He woke the guard up, but the guard couldn't remember what happened. He looked around the cells for a little while longer, before deciding to return to his office.
Before he reached his office, he heard the alarm being sounded. He walked to where the control room to find a dead body lying on the floor. "What happened here?" He thought to himself. He deactivated the alarm and then returned to his office. He noticed that he had left his cell phone in there and that he had missed a few calls, all from Jones. He had called back Jones, who informed him the building had been invaded by monsters. Butler and the scientists were dead, besides Owens and Jones, and that the Green Ranger's DNA lock was activated. Harrison hung up on him immediately.
It was over. How could the Green Ranger be stopped now? He didn't know what to do, so he just at his desk. Thinking. It had been 4 hours since the attack on the facility now, and for the last 3, he had just sat in his office, thinking. Thinking about what was going to happen next.
Zack, Kim and Trini land back inside the Command Center. Billy looks at them.
"Any luck finding Jason?" Billy asks them.
"No." Zack says. "No one at the youth center had seen him. We were going to ask Tommy if he knew anything, but we were attacked by putties before we had the chance to."
"That's odd." Billy says. "Why would they want to stop you from talking to Tommy?"
"I think it was just bad timing." Trini says. "I don't think the two things were related."
"What about you, Billy?" Kim asks. "Any luck getting the computers back online?"
"Well, Alpha and I have been working on it." Billy says. "Communication should be back online."
"Well then let's try and contact Jason!" Zack says. He pulls his communicator up. "Zack to Jason. Come in Jason. Do you read me?" No response. "You sure it's back up, Billy?" He asks.
"Like I said, it should be." Billy says. "I haven't been able to contact him, though, either."
"That means one of two things." Alpha says. "Either communication is not back up or Jason is in another dimension beyond the reach of our communication efforts."
"Another dimension?" Kim asks. "Is that even possible?"
"Different dimensions are entirely possible." Billy says. "As a matter of fact, I believe they have to exist in order for our teleportation to work. You see, I've theorized that we're not so much teleporting as we are accessing another dimension and then returning to our dimension in our desired location."
"So you're saying we can teleport to another dimension?" Trini asks.
"Well, yes and no." Billy says. "If my theory is right, we accessing another dimension, but can not physically travel there. We can't leave our state of teleportation in that dimension."
"So, that won't be much help to us." Zack says. "Where are we on getting all the computers back up? Maybe we can use them to find Jason."
"We're close." Alpha says. "If we can get them back online, we can begin scanning all known dimensions for Jason."
"Well, let's hope Jason can hold on until we find him." Zack says.
Jason continues to circle around with Goldar matching his every move.
"You can't beat me, Jason." Goldar says. "The offer still stands. Bow down to me and your death will be quick and painless."
"Never!" Jason says. He charges at Goldar. He rolls on the ground to get behind Goldar and sweeps his legs to take out the Goldar's legs. Goldar falls to the ground and in the process throws Jason's morpher. It lands on the ground, but there is a thick layer of fog. Jason can't see where it landed.
Goldar springs back to his feet. He grabs his sword of the ground and looks at Jason. "I'm going to enjoy this, Red Ranger." He thrusts his sword towards Jason, who is able to jump back and avoid being stabbed. He drops to the ground, into the fog.
"What, where did you go?" Goldar says. He starts to look around, but can't see Jason anywhere. He takes his sword and starts stabbing the ground. "You are only delaying the inevitable, Jason. I will find you, and when I do, I'm going to kill you, nice and slow." He stabs the ground again but misses Jason. Jason lies on the ground and stays as still as he can. He knows that one wrong move could mean the end for him.
END CHAPTER