I apologize for the long wait for the next installments. I have a lot of stuff planned for this episode and had to spend some time working through the order of it all; plus this semester has been hectic, busy always, and crazy so I haven't been able to write much for fun. More installments will come during the holidays. Thank you for those who enjoy my story.

Chapter Four

Tommy had just turned around and taken two steps forward when he felt some sort of hot energy hit him from behind. Next thing he knew, he was in a dark, green, gray, and gold metal room with gates closed around everywhere. A blanket of fog covered the ground up to Tommy's knees. Each of the gates had a circular center that had some sort of demon or gargoyle-like face in which three brass-looking bars intersected. Endless blackness and stars stretched from behind each gate. Tommy looked up. There was no ceiling and no evidence he was anywhere near Earth.

"This is Tommy, can anyone hear me?" he called. Only static responded. "Command Center, come in!" he added, tapping his communicator furiously.

Still, only static.

"There has to be a way out of here," Tommy said, wandering thru the mist. With caution, he creped toward the gate he was nearest to. The face upon it gave Tommy a sense of foreboding. Ignoring it, Tommy stretched out his hand to touch the golden bars. He had to get out. On contact, tiny jolts of white electricity raked up his forearm. Snapping his hand back, he caressed it. It was on fire, vibrating with unwanted energy, but there were no burns. Well, that was a smart idea, he snarled.

"You aren't going anywhere," said a growling voice behind Tommy.

Tommy spun around.

A wingless Goldar stood on the opposite side of the dungeon, pointing his sword at Tommy.

On reflex, Tommy reached behind his back for his morpher. Gasping, all he found was the top of his pants. Panic coursed through his veins and arteries like ice.

"Looking for this?" Goldar asked, holding the red ranger morpher (Tommy's morpher) in his other hand. Goldar began to advance, still pointing his sword at Tommy's heart.

"Rita has given you to me as a present for my loyalty," Goldar said. He was practically laughing with uncontainable joy with glee shining in his eyes.

The golden wolf advanced with glee in his eyes and Tommy knew why. Nothing would please Goldar more than slaying a power ranger – let alone the leader of the Power Rangers.

At once Goldar swung his sword at Tommy. The power ranger dodged it, jumping out of sword reach. Please don't use fire! Tommy thought. He knew he could face Goldar, but without his morpher, there would be no way to resolve this fight. He needed a plan. Yet nothing would come to him.

Goldar swung his sword once… twice… three times at Tommy, dodged each one. With some quick footing, he leaped into the air beside Goldar and side kicked him in the back. Goldar staggered forward but regained his balance soon. Tommy used the time to hide in the mist. With greatest subtlety, so as to disturb the fog as little as possible, he rolled away from golden warrior.

"You can't escape, Tommy;!" Goldar laughed.

Tommy stole a glance at Goldar. Goldar did not have his power morpher anymore. He scanned around him. It had to be somewhere. But where?

"This is the end, red ranger!"

Time was running out. He needed to look for it above the fog but he'd have to deal with Goldar also. Not a good thing right now.

"No one can save you."

Tommy made up his mind.

"No one, Goldar?" Tommy asked, jumping to his feet. With a yell, he attacked Goldar with a furious combination of spinning kicks. Goldar ducked the first two, dodged the third, and then punched Tommy in the stomach. With a groan, Tommy cowered forward. Using the same hand, Goldar clasped his hand around Tommy's neck, and lifted him into the air, pinning him onto the wall.

"You think you can stop me with your pitiful attacks," Goldar mocked. "You are only human and no mere human is a match for Goldar."

Tommy's mind raced as he fought to release Goldar's grip. But Goldar only tightened his hold, laughing manically. On a whim, Tommy shot a knifehand strike directly underneath Goldar's mouth. Snarling and coughing, Goldar threw Tommy across the arena.

"Don't think hiding will save you!" Goldar yelled as Tommy inched himself away. He was safe as long as the mist obscured him. "I'll find you!" With a growl of frustration, Goldar began stabbing at the floor with his sword. Tommy continued crawling. He had to stay a step ahead of Goldar.

Clang!

Tommy froze. The clangs of Goldar's sword were nearer. Sweat poured down Tommy's brow. He looked up—and stifled a gasp. Goldar was above him, about to bring his sword down on Tommy's head.

No, not like this!

Tommy turned his head away but to his relief the blade hit beside his head.

"This game is getting old!" Goldar growled, plowing on.

Tommy exhaled a silent sigh. He was safe but how long could he keep this up? Sooner or later Goldar would find him.

"There you are!"

Tommy turned. Goldar, standing no more than seven feet from him, stared at Tommy with his sword pointed at him. Tommy rose to his feet slowly, staring down Goldar.

"Thought you could hide from me?" Goldar laughed. "This day will be glorious one I destroy you!" He advanced.

Just when Tommy thought things couldn't get any worse, Tommy saw of the corner of his left eye something that made him gasp sharply. With great effort, he stifled it to a barely audible reverse his. A green and yellow mist rose from the ground beside Goldar in the form of a human silhouette. Instantly, it solidified into the evil Green Ranger.

"Stop," said the evil Green ranger. Tommy blinked in surprise upon hearing the voice. It wasn't his. "Rita wants me, the green ranger, to finish him off."

With a nod and growl of acknowledgement, Goldar evaporated as dense yellow smoke.

"So, we meet again," the green ranger said as he and Tommy squared off, side stepping in a wide circle.

"This is crazy," Tommy said. "I can't fight you."

"Then you will be destroyed," said the ranger.

"You wear a power ranger costume but your allegiance is with Rita," Tommy said.

"I serve my empress," the evil green ranger said with an evil laugh. "She commands me to destroy you and I must obey."

"She's evil!" Tommy yelled.

"So am I," the green ranger said, executing a jump spinning sidekick at Tommy's head.

Tommy ducked at the last moment but didn't have much time to counterattack before the Green ranger attacked.

The two of them fought anticipating the other's moves, but Tommy was no match for a morphed power ranger. Next thing he knew anything, he found himself on the floor, scraping to get away. Glancing around, he saw his morpher on the ground. Tommy reached for it but the Green Ranger stepped on his hand just as his hand closed around his morpher.

As the evil Green Ranger stood over Tommy's body, he held his arms out as if folding a staff horizontally. At once, a dark gray scimitar with a large smooth red ruby in the center of the hilt materialized with swirling green energy into the evil ranger's hands. The sight of it made Tommy's blood freeze. He knew that sword but could not remember from where.

"How do you like my sword?" the evil ranger asked raising the coiled evil serrated scimitar with the blade aimed for Tommy's chest.

Tommy froze in terror. There was nothing he could do. He was going to die regardless of what he did.

No!

He could not think this way. There had to be someway for him to escape. His eyes searched desperately around him but nothing around him could help him. He tugged his left hand with all of his might but it would not move from under the ranger's foot.

"Finally, the end of the red ranger is at hand," the evil green ranger said. As he raised the Sword of Darkness above Tommy's heart, the Green Ranger's helmet evaporated as yellow-green mist.

For a brief moment, Tommy gaped at the sight of the ranger's face glaring at Tommy with daggers of ice and hate.

"Jason, what are you… stop!"

Without hesitation, Jason slammed the sword down, piercing bone and flesh.

Tommy's gut-wrenching scream tore him from the nightmare. Sweat covered his body as he sat up instantly. He buried his face in his hands, not wishing to remember that dreadful place. It was Rita's prison. As the evil Green Ranger, Tommy had been ordered to kill Jason in that place. That was so many years ago when he was under Rita's control, but he still regarded it as one of his most terrible memories.

Suddenly, there was a frantic knock at the door which made him jump.

"Tommy, are you alright?" Billy called through the door.

"It was just a nightmare, Billy," Tommy responded, catching his breath. "I'm fine now. Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure, Tommy?" the other asked.

"Yes," called Tommy, a bit more defensive than he had wished. "I'll talk to you in the morning." There was a pause.

"Alright, Tommy," Billy replied.

Tommy heard his friend's footsteps grow fainter.

There were many details within his nightmare that contrasted greatly with Tommy's recollection of that experience. The dialogue was the same yet the roles were reversed. In the nightmare, Jason had been the evil Green Ranger while Tommy had been the Red Ranger. That was absolutely wrong. Jason had never been evil.

And then it clicked. Jason was evil now. For all Tommy knew, his best friend had been evil ever since they had been on Muiranthius. Or could it have been for longer?

Tommy lay on his pillow. Yesterday's conversation with Jason overlapped in his mind with the dialogue from his nightmare as he sunk into a doze, gazing at the shaded window with glassy eyes. What now, Jase? he thought. What now?

Meanwhile, Billy made his way to the couch, massaging his neck. Now that the shock had worn, the pain was staring to settle in. However, this was the least of his concerns.

This was starting to get aggravating. First Trini freaks out; and now Tommy was having nightmares. This was no way to start a new era as Power Rangers. Damn, we should have come earlier, he thought as he slumped onto the couch. Dark shadows of rain sloshing on the sliding door ran down Billy's body. As he lied down, he wished those waters would wash away the evil Jason had done and drown him.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Sean asked.

How many do you have to spare? Billy thought aloud, continuing to star at the rain.

Sean blurred into the room like a phantom or ghost would on the opposite side of the coffee table in front of the couch, though he was oddly translucent.

Billy stared at Sean completely unsurprised. It was a mental projection.

"How is your neck?" Sean asked, his voice possessing a slight echo.

"Sore," Billy said, sitting up. "How are the others?"

"Worried," Sean answered.

"Yeah, Tommy's a mess," Billy replied, gesturing to Tommy's bedroom.

"Tommy will be fine," Sean said, "Trini's a different story."

Billy shook his head in disgust. "She doesn't deserve this," he said.

"No, she does not," Sean sighed.

"She has no idea why she is suffering," Billy said.

"But she will in time," Sean countered calmly. "For now we—" He hunched forward, blinking his eyes and ducking his head as the projection of his body flickered briefly.

Billy narrowed his eyes. "Even your mind is tired," he said. "What's going on, Sean?"

Sean recovered himself, stabilizing his projection. "I have a few ideas as to why that is," he said, "But for now, I must sleep. May Cestria, Titrus, and Arqua enrich your dreams, Billy." He added, fading with a strained look on his face.

Billy remained staring at the space Sean had faded from. What could cause Sean to be so tired? he thought. "You better not be behind this, Jason," he said quietly. Feeling the weariness creep upon him once more, he lied back down, and fell asleep within minutes.