Chapter Two
Mesagog's Island
"I am disappointed, Zeltrex; it is not like you to run from a fight." Mesagog said as Zeltrex stood before him.
"The new ranger is different. I do not believe what she said before I left." Zeltrex said, trying to keep from being punished.
"And just what would that be?" Mesagog questioned.
"She said that she was Dr. Oliver's sister." Zeltrex answered
"I see…well then, we will just have to destroy her along with Dr. Oliver then….won't we." Mesagog said as he close to Zeltrex.
"Yes, Master." Zeltrex could tell that his master was starting to get angry, so he did not talk back.
"Leave me; I must figure out our next move." Mesagog remarked, and with that the second in command left.
PRDTPRDTPRDT
Fifteen Minutes Later
The rangers arrived in their hidden base and Tommy helped Tarona to the computer chair. She was feeling a little better; but not yet back to 100%.
"I've never seen anything like that before." Conner said.
"Guess the Ninja rangers weren't here for long then." Tarona stated.
"Just a couple of days." Kira stated. "And Blake really was cute."
Conner and Ethan just rolled their eyes, but Tarona grinned.
"Yea, but to be honest, I had a crush on Cam." Tarona added.
"Okay, can we get back to the main thing…..how did you get your Zeo powers, and where did that fire come from?" Ethan asked.
"Before I get into that, I need to tell you the story of how I came to meet Zordon and Tommy's first group of rangers. I grew up away from Earth on a planet called KO-35."
"Isn't that Andros' planet?" Ethan asked.
"You've been researching all the past rangers….you're a computer geek, aren't you?"
"Computer Enthusiast." Ethan corrected.
"Anyway; I was about 10 when the big invasion of KO-35 happened, and not only with that attack was my life changed, but my destiny was as well." Tarona stated.
KO-35; Fourteen Years ago
Dark Specter's army was decimating the planet, but two long rangers were fighting with all their might to keep the Piranhatrons away from citizens while the KO-35 army was doing what they could.
The two lone rangers were very skilled and beating back the enemy quickly. It was just then that a creature showed up and was taking down members of the planet's army.
"This one's mine." The red ranger said.
While Red Ranger fought the creature, the Silver ranger continued to fight the Piranhatrons. One had surprised him, but before anything could happen, the Piranhatron was pulled away and sent flying. As the Silver Ranger turned after clearing away the few left around him, he turned and saw a young girl.
"Tarona…I thought I told you to stay hidden!" The Silver ranger said.
"I did, Zhane, but some Piranhatrons found me." Tarona told him.
"We have to go help Andros." Zhane said as he saw the Red Ranger go down.
"You go; I'll take care of these guys." Tarona remarked.
"Stay safe, sis." Zhane said and with that he ran off to help his best friend and teammate.
Tarona was fighting hard, and even taking down some of the Piranhatrons; then suddenly she caught her brother's sacrifice out of the corner of her eye as an explosion caught her attention.
"Zhane…NOOOO." Andros shouted as he was able to get back on his feet.
"NOOOOOO!" Tarona shouted and suddenly a fire came from her body and threw EVERYONE within its range off their feet.
Before she could recover from her anger/grief at the loss of her brother, Tarona was teleported away.
Present Time
"Wow." Conner remarked as Tarona finished the story about the invasion.
"I never knew what happened to the Silver Ranger." Kira said, thinking back to the video diary.
"Only I, Andros, and the Space rangers knew." Tarona said.
"But I thought Dr. O knew everything?" Ethan asked.
Tommy only laughed. "I may be smart…and have plenty of knowledge about Ranger history, but I never knew what happened to Zhane to put him in the cryofreeze."
"So when you were teleported…what happened next?" Conner questioned, wanting to know more.
Unknown Location, After KO-35 War
Tarona materialized in an area that she didn't know. As she looked around she saw a partial circle console, a crystal globe on a stand and behind her there was a large empty tube. She didn't know what to do; then a little robot came walking up to her.
"Welcome to the Command Center."
"Why did you bring me here from my home planet?" Tarona asked.
"I am the one that took you from KO-35." A voice boomed.
Tarona turned around and saw that the large tube now had a face in it and nothing else. "Why take me away from the war there…my brother and friend need me." Tears started to come to the 10 year old's eyes at the thought of Zhane in that explosion.
"My sensors indicate that the war is over and the Red ranger there is fine." The face said.
"What about the silver ranger?"
"He lives, but is in critical condition." The face answered. "I am Zordon of Eltare. I brought you here from KO-35 because your newly discovered fire ability has the same energy signature as the Rangers' zords. You can help them as I also saw your fighting style and you have what we need in an ally."
"I can't help but feel I'm needed back home." Tarona said, but Zordon could tell that she was thinking hard on the subject. "If you say that Zhane is alive and Andros is alright…..then alright; I'll help. I know that Andros will take care of Zhane."
"Thank you for accepting this task. As an ally to the Power Rangers, there are three rules that all must follow. 1. Never use your power, or in your case special ability, for personal gain; 2. Never escalate a fight unless forces to, and 3. Never tell anyone that you are aiding the Ranger or reveal their identities." Zordon informed the girl.
"You have my word, Zordon." Tarona said.
"I'm Alpha 5; is there anything I can do to make you comfortable here at the Command Center?"
"I just need some time alone, Alpha 5." Tarona stated.
"You can walk around outside, it's secluded here." Alpha 5 told her.
"Thank you." Tarona said and with that Alpha showed her the way to outside.
Present Time
Conner, Ethan and Kira were staring at Tarona with shock on their faces.
"Oh, Tarona…it's been a while." A voice said, and that pulled the rangers out of their stupor.
"It has; so you're this group's Alpha 5….huh, Hailey."
"More like I'm this group's Cam Watanabe."
"Ah, so your skills have improved that much. It's good to see you again." Tarona said as she walked over to the new person in the room and smiled.
"Wait, so YOU knew about her too….." Conner stated.
"Dude…this IS Hailey we're talking about." Ethan remarked.
"Well, from what I saw out there, you've been around a lot of rangers, there was more than just Wind Ninja Academy in your style." Kira stated.
"Besides the styles I picked up from the first group of rangers…..I've seen plenty of styles to keep my opponents confused." Tarona said. "So, anything I should know about Zeltrex and his boss?"
"Well, I don't know if you remember Terrence Smith…"
"Yea, you and he met on your first dig….but isn't he….well…dead?" Tarona asked.
"Turns out you just fought him." Tommy stated.
"Zeltrex has had a thing against Dr. O ever since we started as rangers…never knew why till he finally explained it a while back." Ethan stated.
"Okay, that explains how he recognized my first fighting style….he's obsessed with Tommy." Tarona stated.
"And about his boss; to put it bluntly….Mesagog."
"Okay, I'm lost…and what's his motive?" Tarona asked.
"Somewhat different from the whole "Take over the world" plot…He wants to take the Earth back to the era of the dinosaurs." Tommy remarked, but then he thought about something that he was sure his little sister didn't know about. "Before we go any further…you and I need to talk alone."
"Sure." Tarona said, and with that the two of them left the base and headed for the house above.
Once Tommy was sure that the others weren't around, he turned to Tarona and she noticed a sad look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Do you remember David?"
"Yea, he's our brother…wait, what…."
Tommy took a deep breath and let it out. "During Astronema's final attack…..he was…."
Tarona saw the tears in Tommy's eyes and he didn't have to finish. "I know he was our brother….and I should have told you but I…..I saw him get killed by some Quantrons."
This threw Tommy out of whack and he just starred at Tarona. "Why didn't you tell me when we last saw each other?"
"We didn't know him very long…but he did go down fighting…he would have made a good ranger."
This got Tommy to smile, but he was still sad that his brother had died during that attack. "He would have, but destiny had other things in store for him."
"I'm sure it did; as it did for me." Tarona said.
"Glad to see you back in action." Tommy remarked with a big smile.
"How long has it been since you said that." Tarona asked, with tears in her eyes but a smile on her face.
"Too long."
The two siblings then hugged, showing that they were happy to see each other again.
Don't know why I never thought about David Trueheart till today, but hey, that's what research will do to a person's story. Hope you didn't cry too much with that last scene.