Chapter 6

A/N: Hi, everyone. My dog is really not well today, so I'm uploading another chapter as a distraction. Please Review :) Warning, this chapter contains violence and swearing.

Alura xx

Tommy after a few weeks was finally able to take his hurt arm out of its sling, even though three thin parallel scars remained. He was thankful that there had been no monster attacks since then. He would have hated to sit out helpless while his friends fought, but still, he suspected that Mondo was trying to give them a false sense of security. Or he was putting all of his recourses into finding the Gold Ranger. When people asked him how he had hurt himself, he told them that he had fallen off one of his uncles motorbikes, even though Tommy knew that his Uncle would never lend him one without permission from his parents. Kat looked from her desk across to Tommy as the bell went for the end of the day. He was looking at his scratched arm in a distracted sort of way. He had hardly written anything. The other students and Ms Applebee left the classroom, but Tommy didn't even seem to notice.

"Tommy?"

Tommy snapped back to reality and saw Kat. He smiled in a distracted sort of way. "Sorry Kat."

She sat down next to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," said Tommy, beginning to gather his books up. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking about the Gold Ranger?"

Tommy stopped for a moment. "Yeah. I just…" He waved his arm. "Nah, don't worry about it."

"Tommy, if there is something bothering you, you can talk to me."

"Yeah, I know, Kat. Thanks." She raised her eyebrows at him. "Seriously, Kat. I'll talk to you if I want to, but not now. Remember we're meeting the others at the park?"

A ball of paper hit Tommy in the face as Rocky and Tanya stumbled into the room grinning.

"Come on, you two lovebirds." laughed Tanya. "We'll be late!"

"Besides, Tommy," grinned Rocky. "We really need to work on your special awareness if you didn't notice us before."

Tommy and Kat smiled at each other before Tommy chased Rock out of the room.

When they arrived at the park, Adam and Billy were already there, passing a football to each other.

"Hey, Tommy!" called Billy. "How's your arm?"

Tommy smiled widely, stretched his arm up to the sky. "All better."

"Great!" called Adam, throwing him the ball. "You can be on my team!"

They all laughed as they ran after Tommy, who passed the ball back to Billy. Billy was about to throw the ball when the smile disappeared off his face. He saw something watching them. As his not so good vision focused, he saw it was the Black and Gold Dragon. Suddenly, all the norms of their lives melted away as they were faced with something extraordinary once again.

"Guys!" He immediately dropped the ball as they regrouped. Looking around to see if anyone else was in the park, the Rangers summoned their Zeonisers. The Dragon didn't do anything, it just continued to watch them, but it didn't seem at all aggressive.

"Wait a minute," said Tommy. "Don't morph yet." He began to walk forward.

"Tommy! What are you doing?" asked Tanya.

"I don't know." The Dragon also began to walk forward. They came within two meters of each other, and then they stopped. The Dragon stared at him, and then bowed its elegant head to him and the others. The Dragon melted away to reveal the Gold Ranger. They all stood there silently, wondering what was going to happen next.

"I've come to apologize," said the male voice of the Gold Ranger. "I have caused you all great alarm, and I'm sorry." Under her visor she was looking at Tommy. I would never hurt you intentionally, Thomas Oliver. Tommy heard the words in his mind, and he nodded as if to accept her apology."I have gained control of the power within for now, but I don't know how long it's going to last." She said. "Will you… still allow me to stay on this planet? If you do not want me here, I will leave immediately."

"No, please stay," said Tommy. "I think we could use all the help we can get."

Under her helmet, the Gold Ranger smiled. The others were smiling too. The team was now of six Rangers, just like the old days.

The moment was broken by a crackling sound. It was only small, but enough to arouse the Gold Rangers suspicions. She raised her hand to the rangers signaling to stop any further conversation as she looked around. "Did anyone hear that?" she said, her male voice speaking quietly to them.

"Hear wha-," started Tanya, but they saw the source of the noise soon enough. At first they only saw a light through the trees, but then they realized it was an energy bolt was making its way towards the Gold Ranger.

"Get down!" she yelled, and the rangers threw themselves to the ground. Alura shot out her hands and caught the bolt of energy, and absorbed the energy before it could hurt anyone.

"What was that?" asked Rocky. As the rangers looked around, they heard the monster siren go off in the distance.

"It must be a new monster." said Adam.

"Or an old one." They all turned to see what the Gold Ranger was talking about, and then realized in horror what she was looking at. There, with an army of Tengus to back her up, was Rita Repulsa. Alura took a defensive stance in front of the teens. They were all a bit shocked to see Rita. After all since getting the Zeo powers Mondo had become the primary enemy.

Rita… I should kill you right now for what you've done… thought Alura, and the Rangers stepped next to her, taking defensive stances against their common enemies. You are going to pay for what you've done to Thomas and me…

"I recommend that you morph, Rangers." She said. "This could get nasty."

-flashback-

The Gold Ranger ran through the side streets of Angel Grove, holding a small tracking device out in front of her, the kind that intergalactic bounty hunters used on their targets. On its screen was a faint signal, but she knew that it was the right one. Would she make it in time? Could she stop Rita? She stopped for a moment, coordinating herself in this foreign place, and looked back at the signal in the small screen. She was so close now, but she kept in mind that she couldn't be seen by anyone. Running towards an apartment block, she leapt, soared through the air and landed on its roof. The device bleeped as another signal appeared on it, and she could tell that the second signal was of evil intent. She ran as fast as she could, jumping across the rooftops, hoping to minimize the distance between them, but the roofs eventually ran out. She dived off the roofs and sprinted through some back alleyways, dropping the tracking device as she neared the signals.

But she was too late. The Gold Ranger rounded a corner in time to see a green aura engulf a teenager, and teleport him away. She heard a witch cackle, and then the witch too disappeared, leaving the alleyway empty. The Gold Ranger sunk to her knees and slammed her fist on the ground in frustration and despair. "No…" She was too late. The Dragon Warrior had been chosen, and he would be working for evil, not for good.

She gasped quietly for a few minutes, taking in the sudden event that she had tried to prevent so much. Yet, she wasn't good enough to stop it, after everything she had tried… she was still a failure. She stood shakily, her time and efforts wasted. She had traveled for a month to get there, and she realized that it had all been for nothing. She also realized that she should go back to Aerovillia. At least she knew his colour now. She powered down, her brown wavy hair falling down past her shoulders as she went to the spot where the teenager had been and picked up his green bag. If she hadn't been so distraught, she would have laughed at the irony of the colours. Green bag, Green Ranger. I guess some things were meant to be, she thought.

She opened the bag and looked at the unknown teens belongings. In it she found a pair of sneakers, a notebook from a school class, a black belt with a martial arts uniform (of a strangely named martial art that Alura was sure was of earth origin), and a wallet. Opening the wallet, he found a picture of the mystery teen, and a male adult. She looked at the picture closely, taking it in. The teen had shoulder length wavy hair, and hazel eyes that were closer to green than brown. The man in the picture was obviously not his biological father, but Alura could see that the two humans shared the same care and concern for each other as she had shared with her own father.

It was then that she knew. She couldn't go home until she had helped this human. She couldn't allow those people in the picture to become separated. She knew enough lives that had been ruined, enough families that had been torn apart.

The last thing that she looked at was his driver's license. She looked at the picture, the date of birth, and the name. Thomas James Oliver. He was the same age as her.

Putting the belongings back into the bag exactly where she had found them, she stood back and held her arms out strongly from her sides. Putting one foot behind the other, she crossed her forearms in front of her face, and as she bought them down, she seemed to burst into golden flames. As the flames subsided, the determined figure of the Gold Ranger stood in her place, ready for action…

-end flashback-

"It's nice to see you again, Gold one," said Rita, curling her fingers around her magic staff.

"It's a shame I can't say the same thing about you," Alura said, her male voice sounding louder than she had intended. "You're not exactly someone that I would see by choice."

Rita spoke sideways to one of the Tengus. "Always the sarcasm." The Tengus just chuckled.

"What do you want, Rita?" Tommy demanded,

"Now Tommy, is that any way to speak to your empress?" Rita stopped laughing, and shot a hand out towards him, some invisible force pushed Tommy back, slamming him against a tree, and he crumpled to the ground. Billy rushed to his side, as the others got ready to morph.

"I'll take Rita," the Gold Ranger said, not taking her eyes off Rita. "You guys handle the Tengus."

As Tommy seemed to be out of action for a few minutes, they didn't have a choice but to follow the Gold Rangers request as the Tengus and Rita advanced. Rita and Alura staffs clashed as the others morphed and engaged the Tengus.

"It's just you and me this time, Rita." She growled, throwing Rita off.

Rita sneered. "Really? I think it would be a shame to leave Tommy out, don't you? Let's include him in our little game."

Rita began chanting a mind control spell, and even as Alura tried to combat it, she could feel it hacking into both her own mind and Tommy's. The two warriors clutched their heads simultaneously, trying to block Rita out.

"You can't have him, anymore," the Gold Ranger spat through clenched teeth. "He doesn't belong to anyone. He is free from evil, now and forever."

"He is mine! He will never be free from evil!" Rita cocked her head to one side as she discovered a thought in the Gold Rangers mind. "And, as I understand it, neither will you…" Rita laughed as Billy helped Tommy to his feet. Both Alura and Tommy were still clutching their heads, trying desperately to block Rita out. Alura knew that she could block Rita out, but she wasn't so sure about Tommy. Rita had entered his mind before, so therefore he would be easier to break.

Alura couldn't stand it anymore. "Gold reinforcement shield" She threw her hands out from her head. A huge gold cube appeared around her and Rita, blocking them from the fighting outside. Rita stopped cackling, and Alura could feel her stop pressuring their minds.

"What is this?" she demanded holding out her staff, the sound of the fight outside the cube disappearing.

"This is my ultimate forcefield technique." The Gold Ranger spoke calmly, almost triumphantly, as she rested her own power staff on her shoulder. "Nothing can get in or out, it's also soundproof, protected from any sort of surveillance, and I am the only one who can bring it down. So I wouldn't recommend attacking me right now. If you kill me you'll be trapped in here forever."

Rita narrowed her eyes. "Your forcefields are quite meddlesome. And I should know, you've prevented me from ever launching a full scale attack on this planet with your stupid shield! What is it that you want, Gold One?"

"Well, I'm not gonna get it," said Alura "But I want you leave this planet alone and never come back."

"You're right; you're not going to get it." Rita remarked. "So what are you going to do now that you've got me trapped in here?"

Alura narrowed her eyes back, even though Rita wouldn't be able to see that hint of aggression towards her. "I'm not going to attack you, if that's what you mean. I would never fight on uneven stakes. It's not honourable. Instead, you're going to give me some information."

Rita snorted. "And why would I do that?"

"Well… let's just say I'm not going to attack you." Suddenly her voice changed deep and throaty. "But I might."

"So it was you," said Rita. "It was you who- What are you now?"

"Don't waste my time, Repulsa!" shouted the Gold Ranger. "You're going to tell me where the Dragonzord currently is." She held her staff out. "Now."

Tommy morphed and joined the battle, the voice and pressure in his mind having been lifted.

"What's going on in there?" shouted Adam, smashing two Tengus heads together.

"I dunno!" shouted Rocky. "Can't be good, though!"

"It never is with Rita!" shouted Kat as she drew her laser pistol and fired at several Tengus.

All of a sudden, Tommy turned to see a giant wolf monster behind him, which appeared to be an updated, angrier and hairier version of Wolfbane. It looked like a werewolf to Tommy, as it had a very strong upper torso, and stood on its hind legs.

"Zeo sword!"

Tommy swung his weapon against the massive canine, but it had little effect as it roared and turned its attention towards Billy.

"Shit!" Billy swore in a rare moment of panic, and stayed still, leaning up against the thick trunk of a tree. The other rangers may have mistaken this for shock, but Billy knew that if he stayed still it was less likely to attack him. Well, that's what you were supposed to do with normal dogs anyway…

Tommy must have mistaken Billy's actions for that of shock, as he immediately dived on the monster, sending himself and the hairy beast rolling across the grass and smashing into the cubed forcefield, making Tommy drop his sword. The beast roared and went to bite Tommy's shoulder, bearing its teeth hungrily. Tommy couldn't reach his sword from where he was, and he was prevented from grabbing his pistol as the beast bore down on him.

The others tried desperately to get to him, but were held back by Tengus.

"Tommy!"

"No!"

Tommy closed his eyes. This was going to hurt, even in morphed form. As the beast almost bit him, he felt a figure launch itself between them. He opened his eyes. Where the beast should have bitten him, it had bitten the Gold Ranger. However, it didn't seem to hurt her as much because of her shouldershield. The Gold Ranger threw the beast off and helped him up. The cubed forcefield was gone. So was Rita.

"You okay?"

"I think so." Tommy was shaking slightly, but he hoped the others wouldn't notice. The Tengus saw that Rita was gone and they screeched and leapt through a portal, transporting them away. However, the canine beast still remained, probably because it was most likely sent by Mondo, not Rita. The Rangers regrouped, breathing heavily.

'Rangers, we gotta take care of this!' breathed Tommy. 'Billy, get back to the command center!'

"Here!" the Gold Ranger took off her communicator and threw it to Billy.

"But-"

"I'll get it back from you later," said Alura. "But right now you've got to get out of here!"

Billy hesitated, and then used the communicator to teleport away, knowing that he would be endangering himself if he stayed. Sometimes he wished that he was still a Ranger…

Turning his attention back to the beast, Tommy thought quickly. "Alright guys, we'd better bring the Zeo cannon together."

The others hesitated, remembering what had happened the last time they had destroyed a monster with the Gold Ranger around. However, the Gold Ranger had shown no hint of wanting to keep this monster alive. The monster ran towards them, slashing them all across the chest and sending them flying backwards.

"That thing is fast!" said Adam, clutching his torso.

"If I hold him, can you guys take him down?"

"Sure."

'"Please be quick!" The Gold Ranger got up and launched herself onto the monster, grabbing its horns and pulling its head down so that it was level with hers, momentarily immobilizing it.

"Zeo Cannon!"

The Zeo Rangers heard a scream, and saw the Gold Ranger try to wrench the monsters teeth away from herself. "Fire it!" The Rangers tried, but the monster was smart enough to swing the Gold Ranger in front of him, obscuring a clear shot from the Rangers. She kept a grip on its horns, but felt it slipping.

"We can't get a clear shot!" Tommy locked in his fuel cell so that the Rangers were ready to fire at any moment. "Adam, take over shooting, I'm going to help the Gold Ranger!"

He left the Zeo cannon with the others and grabbed the monster from behind. The monster swept a claw around, slashing Tommy's newly healed arm. Alura kicked the beast on its leg, getting its attention away from Tommy. By doing this, Alura lost her grip on the beast and it bit down hard on her helmet, and began to crush her head. She could feel one of its teeth digging into the side of her forehead. Tommy slashed it with his sword, and pulled Alura away from it, her helmet cracking as it was wrenched from the monsters mouth.

"Fire!"

They dived to the ground as the others fired the Zeo cannon. Flames erupted from the beast as it was incinerated, blowing flames over the two warriors. They lay still and instantly covered their heads. As soon as the flames cleared, the others ran to them and helped them up.

"Gee, that was close," remarked Rocky. "You guys alright?"

Tommy stood, laughing slightly. "No matter how many explosions we make, I never get used to the heat."

The Gold Ranger stood there, shaking slightly, trying to hold together the remnants of her helmet and failing miserably as it began to fall apart in her gloved hands.

"C'mon, let's get you back to the Command center." Said Adam.

"No," she said a little too quickly. "I'm fine."

"Well, you've got to come with us anyway." Said Tanya.

"Yeah," agreed Kat. "Billy's got your communicator."

Alura nodded in a small way, causing a piece of her visor to crack, and Alura saw the daytime of Angel Grove properly for the first time in years. She squinted, the light coming as rather harsh to her eyes. Kat held on to her gently so that they were able to teleport, and she felt the Gold Ranger flinch slightly at her touch. The others grabbed their stuff, and they all teleported at once, leaving the park as suddenly as the Rita and the Tengus had.