This chapter came out unlike I had originally planned, but I think it's a good thing. You'll get to see two characters who have already appeared once again in this chapter as well. Also, this ends the Temptations series, just to give everyone a heads up. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 24 Temptations Part 4

Maroon sat underneath an oak tree, pondering her moves so far. It was now evening and the sun was setting in the distance. Everything had gone well and the two previous Rangers had fallen right into her hands. The third Ranger though…. He was going to be tougher. He would know about what she had done so far, at least, most of it. She could use what she had done to Tommy against him, but she wasn't quite sure yet. The Desire potion would be a simple repeat trick, but Maroon wanted to try something different. Something new. She would keep the Desire potion for a last ditch plan.

She glanced at the scenery surrounding her and sighed. Thinking up a good plan was tough. She could mess with Jason's mind using all of her previous attacks against him. Perhaps if he really knew what had gone on… yes that was it. That would boil his blood. She might even get a fight out of him. It did sound tempting. Getting to her feet, she began walking down one of the paths. It wouldn't be long before the Ranger would show up and the fun would begin.

Power Chamber

The alarms blared again and Jason's head instantly turned to the Viewing Screen. He already knew what he would find there. "I'm afraid Maroon has struck again," spoke Zordon. It was rather pointless, as the entire group knew that she had returned without any words being exchanged.

"I'm dealing with him this time," stated Jason. His tone indicated that he wanted no further questions or comments.

"Jason… please be careful," spoke Katherine. "Don't let her get to you."

Jason turned to face Katherine. As far as he knew, she had been put through the worst ordeal. She hadn't handled it very well, but she had tried. However, he feared that she really doubted her Ranger powers. "I will try, Kat. That's all I can do."

Katherine seemed pleased with this answer. "Good luck," she whispered.

Jason turned back to Zordon. He knew he wouldn't be able to leave until he was given the final lecture. "Jason, I have no advice for you. All I ask is for you to watch your step. May the power protect you."

Jason nodded. "Gotcha." He teleported away.

After Jason had left, Zordon turned to Alpha. "Have you been able to track Tommy's whereabouts?"

"Yes Zordon. He is in the same location as Kimberly."

"Good. There may still be hope then."

"What do you mean, Zordon?" asked Alpha, confused.

"If Tommy is there, then we may be able to contact him when the time is right. For now, we shall leave him alone. If Rita knows we are contacting him, then she could do something even more drastic."

"Right Zordon. Shall I keep a lock on his signal?"

"Yes, that would be fine." Replied Zordon.

Angel Grove Park

Jason immediately scanned the area once he had landed in Angel Grove Park. He was wasting no time in finding the vicious vixen whom had been able to get to his friends so easily. He wasn't going to let it happen to him; he couldn't afford to let it happen to him. So much was depending on him now and he knew he had to succeed. He may not defeat Maroon, but he had to survive her tactics and get rid of her for now.

As he glanced up, Jason spotted Maroon strolling along a pathway. Her back was to him and he knew that she didn't know he was behind her. He had to use this position to his advantage. Jason's pace quickened and the distance between Maroon and him decreased quickly. When he was finally close enough that he could reach out and touch her, he locked his arms around her neck.

Maroon smirked when she felt the muscled arms wrap around her neck. "I've been expecting you," she told Jason, appearing oblivious to her predicament.

"I don't want to hear your lies," growled Jason. "I know the truth and the truth is that you're a maniacal bitch."

"You don't know the entire truth and if you decide to kill me here and now, it won't help you at all. My queen will simply kill both her prisoners and it'll be entirely your fault."

Jason's grip tightened, but Maroon didn't struggle. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Maroon's voice became tighter, but she still spoke evenly. "I'm talking about my two toys… both are not how you remember them."

Jason released his grip on Maroon's neck and quickly spun her around, slapping her. "Tell me the entire story now or I'll kill you on the spot and it won't matter what happens after that because you won't be able to have fun with any more Rangers."

Rubbing her cheek, Maroon answered, "It's simple. The girl is beaten and bruised and the boy is confused as to what the past afternoon of his life consisted of. What he doesn't remember is the fun time with me." She smirked. That had to get to him.

A punch aimed directly at her face was her answer. So he did want to fight her after all. She did a backflip, landing with a cat-like grace. "Oh what's wrong? Did something I say get to you?" she asked as though nothing was wrong.

A barrage of kicks and punches flew her way and Jason spoke as he fought. "You leave my friends alone. Neither of them deserve your torture."

"I dare say Tommy loved our little time together. And his ex watched too," added Maroon, though technically that was a lie. She knew that Kimberly had blocked out as much sight and sound as she could, but he didn't know the difference.

The fight continued and Jason concentrated on Maroon entirely. Nothing was going to stop him from injuring her. She was going to pay for what she'd done to Tommy and Kimberly. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing except…

"Hey Bulky, look who it is."

"What are you talking about Skull?" Bulk was paying no mind to his fellow junior policeman. Instead he was concentrating on the donuts in front of him. What a lovely glaze they had too.

"Look!" Skull jerked Bulk's head up and pointed to two people who appeared to be fighting.

Bulk's mouth dropped. "You idiot that's Jason and Kimberly! Don't you recognize them?" he retorted, slapping Skull upside the head.

"They look like they're fighting," suggested Skull as he chewed his gum, mouth wide open.

Bulk assessed the situation, and then stood up, pulling his pants up a bit higher. "Skull, as junior policemen, it is our job to keep the peace. Those two appear to be disturbing the peace of the park."

"Mmhmm I do believe you're right," agreed Skull.

"Oh come on you idiot!" Bulk dragged Skull by his ear over to where the two teens where fighting. "Excuse…" was all he could say before being knocked backward by one of "Kimberly's" punches.

"Hey now you just knocked out a junior policeman! Do you know what can happen to you for that!" yelled Skull.

"Like I care about that," muttered Maroon.

Skull was speechless, but was brought back to reality by Bulk's added yelling. "Idiot! Help me up!" Bulk instructed.

As Bulk got to his feet, he and Skull tried to break Maroon and Jason apart, but those two simply just wouldn't separate. Frustrated, Jason turned to them and smiled pleasantly. "Come closer you two," he said in an upbeat voice.

Not suspecting a thing, the two leaned closer to Jason, who promptly pulled a sleeper hold on both of them. As the two collapsed against each other, Jason turned back to Maroon. "Now that those two can't interfere, it's time to finish you off."

Maroon wiped a bit of blood off of her lip. "I don't think so. You're just as well as the rest of them. Even leader Thomas couldn't hold me off. What makes you think you can?" she asked.

"I have the confidence of my friends backing me. What do you have?" asked Jason as the fight continued.

"The approval of my queen and plenty of toys for me. I'll make you my third toy."

"I don't think so," answered Jason as he gave Maroon a roundhouse kick to the stomach.

Maroon groaned and backstepped. "No matter. They are mine and you can't deny that. Both carry my mark now. They are my own possessions."

While Maroon was reeling from his last kick, he gave her an uppercut to the face. Maroon realized that this fight was going badly and reached into her pocket for the bottle of desire. She was pulling at her last straw. Jason watched her and as soon as the bottle was revealed, he kicked it away from her, doing a front flip and catching it. "Is this what you really need to get me? Some little bottle?"

Maroon tried to grab it away from Jason, but he held it above her head. Being tall had it's advantages, and right now it was something he was thankful for. "I need that bottle back," she hissed.

"I don't know what you have in this bottle, but you aren't getting it," replied Jason.

Maroon growled at Jason. "I said give me back my bottle!" she yelled as she dove to tackle him. Jason sidestepped her and snickered. "The tides of battle have turned. You'll learn not to mess with the Power Rangers," he called as he teleported away.

Maroon slammed her hands on the ground. It wasn't supposed to have gone this way. She was supposed to have defeated him, brought him to the levels of Kimberly and Tommy. Instead, Jason had fought back with her, gave her the fight she wanted, but not the results. On top of everything, he just had to destroy her bottle of Desire, leaving her without anything to attack him with. She still had her bonding powers, but Jason had been nowhere near any solid object and she'd completely forgotten about it until it was too late.

She hated to report the bad news to Rita, but she knew she had no choice. She sighed. Two out of three wasn't bad, right? Of course it was bad. She should have had three out of three, no problem. That stupid Ranger had to screw everything up. Maroon stood up and brushed herself off. Rita wasn't going to like it, but it had to be done. Maroon teleported away.

When Maroon arrived, she found Rita pacing back and forth angrily. She knows thought Maroon. "I have returned, my queen."

"You disappoint me!" yelled Rita. "You walk around here like you are experienced, like you will have the Rangers so easily! I warned you, but you didn't heed caution. If the Rangers were that easy, I would have had them already!"

Maroon bowed. "I'm sorry to disappoint, my queen."

"Hmph. I hope you have suffered well. You needed that ego slash, and as much as I hate Jason, he was perfect to give it to you. I hope you will not be so rash in the future?"

"Of course, my queen," replied Maroon.

"Even though you didn't get the other Ranger, you do have Kimberly and Tommy. They will do well for now. Jason was not part of my plan anyway. However, you'd better not screw up and lose those two as well!"

"I will not this time." Maroon bowed once more and then turned to retreat.

"Maroon," called Rita.

"Yes?" asked Maroon, not turning around.

"Remember this: the Rangers are not to be taken lightly."

"I shall." Maroon retreated into the shadows.

Rita watched the clone retreat. She hadn't had to teach the girl a lesson after all. Jason had done it for her. At least from now on Maroon would learn to be more careful and think carefully before acting. Kimberly and Tommy were still in the holding cells in the dungeon and they were the biggest part of the plan. Soon it would be time for Maroon to take care of those two, and then Rita would be satisfied. The deaths of two dear friends would surely bring chaos to the Ranger world. She chuckled at the mere thought of it.

The whole Bulk and Skull idea was a very sudden one and I liked it. Jason winning hadn't been part of the original idea, but hey that's how it turned out. Heh. Look for the next chapter hopefully by Sunday, but I'm not sure. I'm doing an overnight/next day babysitting job right now, and so that could prevent me from getting out on time. However, after I put the kid to bed, I just might have some time.

Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Can being battered and beaten bring an ex-couple to talk for the first time since they broke up? Or will something interfere? Find out next time in chapter 25!