The Real Ninja Storm

By

James P.

Chapter 5: Seems Like Old Times, Pt. 1

Tanya led the way to the Eltarian temple, with Tommy behind her, followed by Jason, then Rocky, Kim, Katherine, and Adam covering them in the back. Adam couldn't stop thinking about his ex-girlfriend. It had been years since they had broken up, after Adam had stopped denying to himself that he was gay. Tanya was the only other one besides Tommy who knew that he was gay. He didn't want to lie to her. Tanya had accepted it, but was still hurt. She said she would always love him, but then disappeared from his life. Adam assumed she was just too hurt to continue their friendship, but now, he had hopes that they could work on mending their friendship.

Katherine thought quietly as they walked through the dark jungle of Eltar. She thought about her kids, and hoped they'd be okay, not knowing when she was going to be going home to them. She thought about her ex-husband, and wondered if her time away would lead him to believe that she had abandoned the kids. And then she thought about her ex-ranger friends. She looked at Rocky and Kimberly, and then looked at Adam, Jason, and Tommy. They all had each other. Jason and Tommy had an unbreakable bond, and Adam and Tommy seemed very close. Kim and Rocky were best friends. And that left her the odd one out. She had been close to Tommy of course, but everything changed after they broke up. In fact, Tommy didn't even know she had kids. The only ones who knew were Tanya, who had been there for the birth of her eldest child, Kimberly, and Rocky. And while Tanya and she had been close at one point, after they gave their powers to Cassie and Ashley, they had drifted apart slowly. Tanya just happened to be visiting when Alexander was born. Not that she wasn't grateful that her friend was there, since her own husband hadn't bothered to show up for the birth, but it wasn't a tear-jerker moment either. And now, Tanya just seemed concerned about Eltar and the prophecy, not with their friendship.

Rocky had started to let go of the resentment towards Tommy and Jason. He realized that Tommy would always be the leader of this group of rangers, but he could prove himself in his own way. Plus, Kimberly and he made a great team, and he would work more positively with the team for her sake. Then he thought about Adam. His oldest friend or at least he had been until Adam had pushed Rocky away. Rocky figured it had to do with him coming out to Adam, and Adam not being able to handle it. So he had not come out to anyone else except Katherine, whom he had remained semi-close to, and Kimberly. He couldn't bear to think what Tommy and Jason would have to say about his sexuality.

After a good few hours, the ex-ranger team found themselves in front of a giant stone structure with the word "Zordon" carved into the stone above the entrance. The rest of the structure had carvings depicting battles against villains that even the ex-rangers recognized, including Rito Revolto, Lord Zedd, Goldar, and King Mondo and Queen Machina.

"Amazing," Rocky gasped.

"Careful, you sound like Billy," Jason commented. The group laughed. They needed a laugh, with all the darkness surrounding them.

Kimberly felt tears well up in her eyes as she found a carving depicting their leader, Zordon, battling Rita Repulsa. "Oh god... I shouldn't cry like this. He was just a head in a tube!" Kim exclaimed. Katherine put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Kimberly, it is okay. We all miss him."

"He was a great man," Adam commented.

"He was a father figure to us all," Tommy added.

Kimberly calmed herself down. "I'm sorry, guys." The group reassured her that it was okay, and they made their way inside the temple.

Inside, the ex-rangers were shocked to find carvings of what appeared to be themselves, along with their other old teammates Trini, Zack, Billy, Aisha, and Justin.

"Did someone do these recently?" Jason asked.

"No," Tanya answered. "These were done by Zordon over three millennia ago. He knew that what has happened would happen, and that it would lead up to the creation of a legendary team of rangers."

As the group continued along, they found carvings of the other power teams that had come after them, including the Space team, the Galaxy rangers, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force, the Dino Thunder team, and the SPD rangers. They couldn't believe Zordon had predicted all of this happening.

"Wait," Katherine stopped the group. "If Zordon had predicted all of this happening, why didn't he just tell us?"

"Well for one, the fates of the Universe wouldn't have allowed it. It is one of those cosmic rules," Tanya explained. "And two, he didn't know details. He knew that there would be rangers, and he knew who they would be, but he didn't know if they would succeed or fail, or how."

"Damn," Tommy said. "This woman you're taking us to meet must really be something."

"Why?" Tanya asked.

"To know all this stuff about the fates and the universe. It is something I haven't seen since Zordon."

Tanya smiled. "Yes, she is amazing."

As the ex-rangers continued, they reached a giant room, devoid of any carvings except one that was lit up by a hole in the ceiling, which provided the only light in the room save two lit torches on either side of the room. The one carving was larger than the others, and was painted. It depicted six human looking figures, clad in blue, red, black, white, pink, and green respectively. The strange thing about this carving was that the figures had no faces. They had heads, just no features and no hair.

"Is this the carving of the legendary warriors?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes," Tanya answered.

"Did Zordon not know who they were supposed to be?" Rocky asked.

"Zordon was a wise and powerful man. But the fates would not allow even him to see the final outcome," a voice said from behind the team. Surprised, the group turned around to find a beautiful woman, clad in a free-flowing white gown. She had beautiful brown curly hair, and wore a smile as she addressed the ex-rangers.

"Dimitria!" Tanya exclaimed. "Guys, this is Dimitria. One of Zordon's oldest colleagues. She controls magic."

"It is an honor to meet you," Adam spoke for the group.

"And you. I have heard a lot about you from Tanya. It seems that she was correct in picking you to come here."

"You picked us, Tanya?" Tommy asked.

"Well, not exactly..." Tanya replied.

"I asked Tanya to relay her experiences a ranger to me. She spoke very highly of you six in particular, that I found a way to take control of your communicators and summon you here. I hope that is alright," Dimitria said.

"Of course, but..." Jason said.

"...but, we almost got our butts handed to us out there," Rocky said.

"We don't know how we could help you, as we can't summon our Zords, and some of our powers are very limited," Tommy added, motioning towards Kimberly who only had her Ninjetti powers, and Jason whose Tyrannosaurus powers were limited as well since he had transferred most of his power to Rocky during the power transfer.

"I understand your concern. Please allow me to explain," Dimitria said. "You see, when Zordon sacrificed himself for the fate of the universe, he had cleansed evil away. However, as you all know, it did not stay that way. And now, one of the villains that Zordon destroyed has come back to take control of this planet, this temple, and then the universe."

"Which one?" Kimberly asked.

"Divatox... my sister." The rangers looked at each other.

"Divatox has a sister who is good?" Adam asked.

"Yes, see she was kidnapped from my family when we were born. I have battled her more than enough times, but am sworn to keep our familial bonds a secret."

"But wait," Tommy said. "Wouldn't Divatox have been cleansed?"

"She was," Tanya explained. "But, someone corrupted her."

"Lord Zedd," Dimitria added, without waiting to be asked. "He was bored with being a normal human, and went back to being evil. He corrupted Divatox, and made her his bride."

"Well that's just great," Kim said. "But what can we do?"

"Let me continue," Dimitria said. "When Zordon prophesized the legendary power team, he left me in charge with distributing the powers. I have been on a quest, ever since Zordon was destroyed, of finding that team, knowing the day would come when we would need the power. As you can see by the carving, and as I said before, Zordon did not know who the team would be. I believe that Zordon picked the team himself, by making you six just a few of his Power Rangers."

"So, you think we are the legendary team?" Rocky confirmed. Dimitria smiled and nodded.

"That's kinda sad," Adam commented. The rest looked at him. "Well, I mean, all these ranger teams, and the best was the first?"

"Well technically the first, second, and third," Katherine added.

"Adam," Dimitria interjected. "The legendary rangers will need to call upon the knowledge of all the ranger teams to claim victory in the final battle. That is why there have been other ranger teams, and while there will continue to be other rangers." Dimitria shone a light on the carvings in the previous room. There were future rangers, carrying wands, racing cars, and in jungle striped uniforms on the wall. None of the past rangers recognized the teams. "The final battle will not happen until the fates decide it will happen. Until that time, new evils will still emerge, and the legendary rangers cannot handle all of them. So instead, other ranger teams must be formed to handle the new villains."

"Well what do we do to get this power?" Rocky asked.

"Follow me, and we will begin the ceremony to grant you the legendary powers," Dimitria explained, as she turned and walked down a rainbow lit hallway deeper into the temple.

A/N: I never liked how they covered Dimitria's face during Turbo. And we all know she was Divatox's sister, so I'm just adding that in there.