POV: Jason

After we rematerialized I quickly laid the mysterious young woman on the other diagnostic table, grateful that we had two. As Alpha waddled over to her, I moved to Kim's table, where a very pale Tommy stood guard. I didn't blame him for being in shock; I was myself. A new villain, a new dark Ranger, and Tommy's worst nightmare in the villain's hand. "How is she?" I asked softly.

Tommy swallowed hard. "Zordon and Alpha say she should wake up any time now."

I sighed in relief. "You okay, bro?" I asked softly.

Tommy looked at me. "No, I'm not," he said honestly. I clasped his shoulder in silent support. It was all I could do.

I looked up at our mentor. "Zordon, we need answers," I said hoarsely.

"I BELIEVE I HAVE SOME, RANGERS. HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO WAIT UNTIL ALPHA 5's SCAN OF THE NEW RANGER IS COMPLETE."

"We're just about done, Zordon," Billy answered, as he studied the information Alpha's scanner fed into the computer. "There's definitely dark energy in her, but it's fading." He looked up at us. "She's not evil anymore."

Well, that was a relief. But Tommy looked unconvinced. "How can that be, if the...the Sword of Darkness still exists?"

"I'm not sure," Billy admitted. "The dark energy resonates on the same frequency as yours did when you were under the Sword's influence, so the spell was definitely tied to it. But somehow, the spell just...broke."

Tommy looked down, and I caught the flash of shame on his face. I knew what he was thinking. If she had been able to break the spell, why hadn't he been able to? I made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

"RANGERS, I BELIEVE I KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE," Zordon stated. We all gathered in front of his tube, looking up at him like we had so many times before. "AFTER ANALYZING THE DISTURBANCE, I HAVE DETECTED CHRONITON PARTICLES."

"Time travel!:" exclaimed Billy

"INDEED, BILLY. DONOVAN'S MAIN POWER IS THE ABILITY TO OPEN PORTALS LEADING TO ANYWHERE HE WANTS TO GO. I WAS UNAWARE THAT HE COULD EVEN TRAVEL THROUGH TIME, BUT THAT IS APPARENTLY WHAT HE DID. HE PROBABLY JUMPED BACK IN TIME TO THE SPLIT SECOND BETWEEN THE SPELL ON TOMMY BREAKING AND THE SWORD OF DARKNESS' DESTRUCTION. THUS HE WOUND UP WITH AN INTACT SWORD."

"So this girl is a Ranger from the past?" Trini asked with wide eyes.

"NO, SHE IS NOT. I REMEMBER ALL MY RANGERS WELL, AND THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I MUST THEREFORE CONCLUDE THAT THIS IS A RANGER FROM THE FUTURE. JUDGING FROM THE AMOUNT OF CHRONITON PARTICLES, SHE IS FROM APPROXIMATELY A DECADE FROM NOW."

That was a shock. We all looked at each other with wide eyes. I for one had never really imagined the Rangers being needed for that long. True, Rita and Zedd were persistent villains, but ten years? It was hard to get a grip on. I looked up at Zordon. "So this girl is Kim's...replacement?"

"PROBABLY SEVERAL TIMES OVER, JASON. I NEVER INTENDED FOR YOU TO REMAIN RANGERS BEYOND YOUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. THE TEAM HAS PROBABLY BEEN CHANGED SEVERAL TIMES BY THIS YOUNG WOMAN'S TIME PERIOD."

"Man, that's heavy," Zack commented.

"Will she be all right, Billy?" Trini asked, always caring about others.

"I think so," Billy answered, "but it will be a while before she wakes up. Her energy stores and fat deposits are exhausted, and I don't think she's slept in almost a week. It will be a long time before she back up to full strength."

"UNFORTUNATELY, SHE WILL WAKE UP TO A SERIOUS PROBLEM, RANGERS. IT IS OBVIOUS NOW THAT KIMBERLY'S PROBLEM WAS THAT TWO PINK POWER COIN MORPHERS WERE EXISTING AT THE SAME TIME, AND ONE WAS BEING USED. NOW, HOWEVER, THE PINK POWER HAS BEEN UTTERLY DRAINED INTO THE SWORD OF DARKNESS. BOTH MORPHERS ARE NOW USELESS."

I felt ice clutch my heart. We were now down TWO Rangers. Tommy looked stricken. "Kim..." he whispered in a horrified tone.

"There has to be something we can do!" Zack burst out.

"THE ONLY WAY TO REVERSE THE EFFECT WOULD BE TO DESTROY THE SWORD."

I straightened. "We'll do it, Zordon!"

"SADLY, JASON, I DOUBT YOU WILL GET THE CHANCE. WHILE DONOVAN IS MUCH LESS POWERFUL THAN RITA OR ZEDD, HE IS ALSO A MUCH BETTER TACTICIAN THAN THEY ARE. HE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY KEEP THE SWORD IN ONE OF HIS SUBSPACE POCKETS, WHERE ONLY HE CAN ACCESS IT. HE WILL NOT RISK USING IT IN COMBAT."

We looked at each other, trying desperately to find some hope from each other. But I didn't see any.

"WHAT IS WORSE, RANGERS, IS THAT DONOVAN AND GOLDAR ARE GOOD FRIENDS, MUCH LIKE TOMMY AND JASON. THEY TRAINED TOGETHER UNDER THE SAME MASTER, AND THEY FIGHT TOGETHER AS ONE. GOLDAR IS THE STRENGTH, DONOVAN IS THE SPEED. GOLDAR IS THE POWER, DONOVAN IS THE ENERGY. THEY HAVE NEVER YET LOST A BATTLE IN WHICH THEY FOUGHT SIDE BY SIDE."

"Now tell us the good news," Zack half-joked, half-pleaded.

"UNFORTUNATELY, ZACHARY, THERE IS NONE TO TELL. WITHOUT THE FIREBIRD, YOU CANNOT FORM THE THUNDER MEGAZORD. AND WITHOUT THE MEGAZORD, YOU WILL BE HARD-PRESSED TO STOP GOLDAR AND DONOVAN."

I felt anger. "So that's it? We just give up!?"

"NO, JASON. WHILE THE SITUATION IS DIRE, YOU MUST NEVER GIVE UP HOPE. I WILL MEDITATE AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION. MEANWHILE, THERE ARE STEPS YOU MUST TAKE."

"What steps?"

"AS I SAID, DONOVAN IS A CRACK TACTICIAN. AND BEING A VILLIAN, HE HAS NO HONOR. RATHER THEN MEET YOU ON THE

BATTLEFIELD, HE WOULD MORE LIKELY MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP."

We stared at each other, stunned. No villain we faced had ever tried that.

"FAILING THAT, HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO MURDER YOUR FAMILIES."

We all shot to our feet at that. "But why!?" we all exclaimed.

"BECAUSE YOUR GRIEF AND RAGE WOULD PUT YOU AT A DISTINCT DISADVAGE IN A SUBSEQUENT BATTLE. DONOVAN IS COLDY ANALYTICAL IN SUCH MATTERS."

I struggled to mantain my composure. The idea that someone would do that, and feel nothing but tactical satisfaction from it...that was hard to handle. At least the villians we knew would at least feel SOMETHING if they did that.

"How do we protect our families?" I asked, hearing the pleading tone in my voice and not caring.

"YOU MUST BRING THEM TO THE COMMAND CENTER."

How many times could person be shocked in one day? Too bad I don't dare keep a diary; this would be marked down at "the most surprising day ever." I gaped at Zordon, and so did the others.

Trini recovered first, her normally even composure deeply shaken. "B-but Zordon, what about the Rules?"

"THESE ARE DESPERATE TIMES, RANGERS. IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO BOTH PROCTECT YOUR FAMILIES FROM CONCERTED, REPEATED ATTACKS AND KEEP YOUR IDENTITIES A SECRET. THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE THEY WILL BE SAFE. GIVEN THE CURRENT SITUATION, I BELIEVE THE POWER WILL ALLOW YOU TO REVEAL YOUR IDENTITIES TO YOUR PARENTS AND STILL KEEP YOUR RANGER POWERS."

Zack shook his head. "My parents are going to FREAK!"

Billy sighed. "They're ALL going to freak," he stated, using a word he normally wouldn't.

"Who's...who's going to freak?" came a soft voice from behind us.

We spun around. "Kim!!""