A/N: Chapter 9. Tommy's judgment day has arrived.

A/N 2: I own nothing. Power Rangers once belonged to Saban, then they went to Disney and belong to Saban again.

Chapter 9 – Fighting For What You Believe in Pt II

Friday, April 23, 2004

The Oliver Home

Reefside, CA

"Zeltrax," Trent said, amidst the pile of rubbish that was now Dr. Thomas Oliver's basement as they witnessed Zeltrax kidnapping Elsa.

The Rangers prepared for their mentor to come off the rails; surprisingly, to them at least, he remained calm even though his lab was trashed.

"I should have stopped him," Anton Mercer said, his voice dripping with regret. He knew something that Tommy didn't. But Trent immediately sensed that was coming and was ready for it.

"Don't blame yourself for what you did when you were him," Trent responded.

"Trent is right, Anton," Tommy said. "This is about me and Smitty. It had nothing to do with you."

'And it's about a lot of other things,' Tommy thought to himself. He was going to have a nice long talk with Anton when this was over, if they survived.

"But if there were no Mesogog…" Anton said.

"We can't go back and change what happened. Mesogog is gone," Tommy interjected. "We should be thankful for that."

"So what now…I guess we don't hang up our morphers just yet," Conner surmised.

"No," Tommy said.

"Tommy, there's something you should know; that all of you should know," Anton said. "It's about when I was Mesogog."

"When I was Mesogog, I attempted for a long time to get the coordinates to your lab, but was never able to," Anton said. "About two months ago, shortly after you returned to consciousness, I received a coded message. In it was the coordinates to your lab, as well as the password to get in."

Every one of the team members gasped, but Tommy most of all. Was there something else afoot here?

"I swear on every one of my grandmother's kittens that I am telling you the truth," Anton said, "because I managed to save the coded message in my home for if you should like to look at it later. I swear I had never been in here; as you all know, the lab is password protected."

"That's because the only ones who would know what my password is to this lab have some sort of connection to my Ranger past," Tommy said softly.

"What do you mean, your Ranger past?" Anton said. "I know you were a Ranger in the 90s, but Tommy, come on. Those bad guys are all gone now, to my knowledge."

"Maybe not," Tommy responded cryptically. "There's a lot you don't know, Anton."

Anton formed a confused look, made even more confusing when the four teenagers and Hayley nodded. They now suspected that the invasion of the lab, at its root, was something deeper.

5:30 p.m.

"And just like that, life goes back to normal," Conner McKnight quipped. Everyone was tired, but relieved that the Mesogog problem was finally over.

"Our life may be normal, but trust me, it will never be the same," Tommy said. He had no idea how correct that statement was about to be.

"Did that singer who is a friend of Dr. O's ever get back with you, Kira?" Ethan said after the four had walked a little ways.

"Tanya Park? Yeah, I'm going down to her recording studio in Los Angeles tomorrow for a tryout," Kira said. "She seems to be impressed with me. I've never met her, but I've always admired her work."

"She does a lot of different music genres and is very talented, I think you two will get along quite well," Tommy said.

"So Dr. O, now that Mesogog is destroyed, how are you going to get the lab rebuilt?" Conner said.

"And are we going to hear if you and Kimberly, I think that's her name, end up back together?" Ethan said.

As much as he didn't want to burden his students with that whole Kimberly thing (and he was sure they didn't want to be burdened with it either), they had been thrust into it and had responded like champions.

"Yes…yes you will," Tommy said. "You helped me fight for what I believe in so I think you deserve to know that much. Day No. 3000 is coming."

"When is that, anyways?" Conner said.

"One week from Sunday," Tommy said. "Only the biggest day of my life."

Saturday, Apr. 24

11:30 a.m.

Reefside, CA

Though the lab had been ransacked by Zeltrax 24 hours earlier, Dr. Oliver's house had not, so the afternoon destruction of Mesogog had allowed him to get a good night's sleep. The question now though was, how was he going to get the lab back in one piece before Sunday, May 2?

He had mulled over in his head the possibilities and ramifications of having to maybe cancel the whole thing…the last thing he wanted to do.

Billy had promised him help the night before though, and as Tommy saw the green-colored SUV of Zedd and Rita pull up along with Billy's Escalade (Tommy noticed the two had apparently picked up Anton as well), he knew that Billy hadn't been lying.

"Hey, guys," Tommy said. "Looks like you brought the whole crew with you."

"Always glad to help," Rita said. "Let's not waste any time; come and let's go see about that lab of yours."

A few minutes later they arrived in the lab, and it was pretty much how Tommy had described it to Billy; it was a total wreck.

"And Zeltrax, or Smitty did this?" Rita said.

"Yeah, we found it on the security tape," Hayley said. "I'm not exactly sure how this entity managed to get the coordinates to this place, much less get them to Anton. I thought we were pretty well protected."

"The sad thing is, with my work schedule, there's no way this thing can be rebuilt in eight days," Billy said.

"But Zedd and I can…in seconds," Rita said. "And we can do even more than that. Stand back."

With that, Rita and Zedd crossed their weapons and fired a multi-colored beam of energy at the floor. The second it struck the floor, the lab lit up with an intensely white light; so intense that Tommy had to cover his eyes. When the light finally cleared, Tommy couldn't believe his eyes.

There, before him, was the lab that seemingly couldn't be rebuilt and it had been done in seconds.

"Hayley, check everything, make sure it's working properly," Tommy said.

"Right on it," Hayley said. She then began moving around the lab quickly, making sure everything was in order.

"Good as new," she said after about 10 minutes or so.

"Man, how in the world did you guys do that?" Tommy said.

"Remember, Tommy, we're Ninjetti; with the Great Power, anything is possible," Zedd said.

"The best part about that is, what we did is we added a spell that creates a shield around this place so that this lab never gets invaded again," Rita said. "Anyone who comes within 20 feet of this building that has any sort of evil intentions…let's just say they won't like the result. By the way, here are your papers back."

"Thanks for taking care of them, guys," Tommy said. "I'll take it from here."

3:00 p.m.

Los Angeles, CA

"OK, Miss Ford," the person at the front desk of Tanya's medium-sized recording studio said. "Mrs. Park will see you now."

As the receptionist led Kira down the hall, Kira felt a nervous excitement. She'd attracted some attention at her local outings in Reefside before, but never to the extent of having someone like Tanya Park being interested in her. It's not that she wasn't a fan of Tanya; she'd heard plenty of Mrs. Park's music over the years and enjoyed it. She knew however that this might be her best chance to land something big.

"Good luck," the woman said as she headed back towards the front desk. At that very moment, the door opened a young woman who couldn't have been more than 25 stepped out of the room; Kira instantly knew who it was.

"You must be Kira Ford," Tanya said. Now that Kira was face to face with Tanya she got a look at her for the first time; she wore a pale yellow top and black pants. Tanya looked very athletic and Kira surmised to herself that she may have competed in sports in an earlier life.

"I am she," Kira said. "I've been a fan of your work for a while, Mrs. Park; it's very nice to meet you."

"Please, just call me Tanya, dear," Tanya said. "After all you are a member of the Ranger fraternity now, and a yellow at that, so you're a friend to me; congrats on beating Mesogog, by the way."

"Oh, God, he was so totally ugly," Kira said. "Mesogog was Tommy's mentor, Anton Mercer, for a while but Anton is back to normal now. Everything will hopefully settle down now."

"Except for Tommy, of course, you know what he's got coming up. I'm gonna be there next Sunday," Tanya said. "Now that we have the formalities out of the way, what do you like musically, Kira?"

"I like guitar, but I can do different things if need be," Kira said.

"As it turns out, we're kind of in need of some guitar," Tanya said. "One of my most talented guitarists left me not long ago and I'm still searching for a replacement. Come on in and let's see what you can do."

2 hours later…

"Honey, that was awesome," Tanya said, "and I'm not saying that because you're a member of our fraternity now. That was as good as my last guitarist, if not better."

"I appreciate the opportunity, Tanya," Kira said. "Should I be keeping my phone with me in the near future?"

"I would say there's a pretty decent chance you'll be answering a call from me, yeah," Tanya said. "We still have two more rounds to go, but chances are you will make the next round. I can't guarantee anything but the chances are good."

"Thank you Tanya, it was good to meet you," Kira said.

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Phaedos

"Do you feel it Dulcea? Can you feel it?" a blue and gold clad warrior said as he stood looking at the monolith that held the Great Power. "Do you feel that the spirits are restless?"

"I do, indeed, Ninjor," the other party said. "The Falcon has found out the truth and on Day No. 3000 has called them all together. He has done everything necessary to bring back what once was."

"The question is though, will it be enough? And even if it is enough, will they find out about the further danger that lurks and will they find out in time?" Ninjor posed as tension hung in the air; both he and Dulcea could feel it, taste it, smell it and touch it.

2:30 p.m.

Reefside, CA

From his newly rebuilt lab, Tommy could hear the voices from upstairs filter downward, and though he couldn't guess, he had surmised that every single one of the Rangers he had called was here; it seemed that the simple advice that he had sent in the directions to his house had worked. He'd basically told his friends, turn on Valencia Drive, look for the huge San Antonio Spurs flag on top of my house and you've found your destination.

Now, he heard the voices chattering upstairs. It was showtime, he told himself, as he pushed a button next to his desk. On certain occasions, he would use this to open the door downstairs to the lab and this was one of them.

"Guess that means we go in," a voice said from above. "I guess we're going to know why Mr. Technicolor called us here."

As they descended the stairs, Tommy took a head count of every single person that stepped into the lab as he grabbed the paperwork necessary.

The first to descend the stairs was a male with long, blond hair; by his side was an athletic female blonde. Behind them came another male with shorter blond hair, and a female with longer blonde hair; Tommy surmised they were Zhane and Karone, neither of whom he had met before.

Following them came a young man with longer black hair; Tommy immediately remembered him as Carlos, Adam's successor to the Green Powers. After him came his successor, TJ and his wife Cassie, Katherine's successor.

And behind them came young Justin, but Tommy would have had to clear his eyes maybe a little better to recognize him. He was no longer the skinny 12 year old kid who had to really dig deep to win a fight. He was now 18 and obviously had enhanced his training because he was in prime shape.

'I don't think anyone's gonna want to mess with him now,' Tommy silently thought.

Next, Tommy saw Katherine come down the stairs with Tanya, and behind them came Jason and Trini, inseparable as usual. And then came Zack Taylor, flamboyant as ever, Tommy thought.

And then, Tommy's eyes widened at the last five that entered his lair, and for the first time since he started his quest, Tommy's insides tightened up a little.

First came Rocky and Aisha, hand in hand, and Tommy smiled at the rings on their fingers; obviously, they were getting married soon. Behind them was Adam, the three of them having been childhood friends.

Then came Billy, as professional as ever, in a blue and white checkered, long-sleeved collared shirt.

And behind them, last to enter the lair, came the one woman who after all these years still made Tommy's heart skip a beat. It was the one person who needed to be here more than any other; Kimberly Ann Hart.

It was at that point that Tommy gulped and said to himself, 'this truly could end up being the best, or the worst, day ever.'

"It looks like we're all here," Tommy said as he looked at the papers in his hand, then his friends. "I thank you all very much for coming, and before any of you say this better be good; believe me, this is. It is THAT important. Some of you know of the significance of what I'm about to show you, and others won't. But believe me when I say this has every reason to do with why we are here today."

"On February 14, 1996, 3,000 days ago, I received this, at the Youth Center. It was the worst day of my life; those who are there will remember it well. Because it's been 3,000 days is why we're here today," he said as he took the letter he received and handed it to Adam. "Adam, since you showed me this on that day, you're the one that gets to pass it around. Some of you have seen it; others will be seeing this for the first time."

As "The Letter" as it was known, was passed around, several incriminating eyes fell on Kimberly, who began to shrink back a bit.

"Easy, guys, there's more to this," Tommy said as he began to reveal the surprise unknown to all but a few. "Now that you all have digested that, read this. Kimberly received this a few days later."

Tommy handed it to Jason, who began passing it around. As it was passed around, several looks began to form; looks of confusion, utter disbelief and shock were some of the looks on the faces of Tommy's friends.

Tommy waited several minutes for that to sink in before he took the floor again.

"OK, so now we are at the core of what's gone on in the last eight years, what's driven us apart and created a wedge within our team," Tommy said. "Before I show you that both Kimberly and I are innocent, I want to point something out to all of you. Shortly after I passed on my Turbo powers, Dimitria called me into the Power Chamber for a little chat."

"Until that point, I had no idea that Kimberly had received a letter in my name; none at all," Tommy said. "I aspired to be a race car driver until that very day, but after that I hung up my racing gear for good. I vowed I was going to do everything possible to find out the truth and what happened…to us."

"So, what's the truth, Mr. Rainbow?" Rocky said.

"Easy, Rocky, I'm not finished," Tommy said. "In the last seven years, I've been called on the mission to the moon, I've had islands blow up with me on them, been nearly eaten by a great white, had to deal with my friend Anton being transformed into an ugly dinosaur, almost lost my life in the dream world and had my lab destroyed."

"All to find out this," Tommy said as he handed out the evidence that wiped Kimberly and him clean of any wrongdoing. One by one, every single member of the team simply nodded glumly as they looked at the evidence, until finally it came to Kimberly, who read the evidence with tears in her eyes. All the things she'd had to go through were coming back to her in record time; the breakup with Tommy, the seeming betrayal by her family, but worst of all, by her stepmother and having to live away from the people she had been closest with for so long.

"As much as I want to be mad at all of you or myself for us not being as close as we were, I'm not," Tommy said. "Yes it does hurt knowing that some alien psycho wants us apart so evil can finally win. But there's not anything I can do about it. What's done is done. Do I want Kimberly back some day, yes I do. But I know that what happened may have driven such a wedge through us that we may never get it back."

"The important thing is that you guys know the truth," Tommy concluded.

"I'll be honest, I had my suspicions that something was amiss," Jason said, "but I honestly never dreamed that it was yet another alien who wants to wipe us all out."

"We all have some soul searching to do," Adam said. "I read that thing in the Youth Center when it came. I believed it, every word. I am ashamed to say it too."

"No one would have blamed you for it," Tanya said as she comforted her husband.

"You said you've been trying to find the truth for the last seven years," Rocky said. "My question is when did you all of a sudden become such a technical genius?"

"Actually, I'm not. My friend Hayley, who's at work, is the one who helped put this together, as well as the morphers for the most recent group of Rangers," Tommy said. "Technical stuff is something I'm better at but it isn't my strong suit needless to say."

"My question is, who would do this to us that may still be alive?" Billy said. "Rita and Zedd are still alive but they're good. Divatox and Scorpina got purified too. That doesn't leave too many other options."

"Just because Dark Specter and his band of clowns got destroyed doesn't mean that all the evil is gone," Andros said. "There are many more evils still out there who have connections, albeit distant connections, to the first few teams of Rangers."

"Are you telling me there's still some alien psycho out there who may have written these that may still be alive?" Kimberly said in shock, tears still rolling down her face.

"To be perfectly blunt, Kimberly, yes," Tommy said. "Where there's good, there always has to be evil to counteract that. It's the natural balance."

"Correct, and like Andros said, having been through many space travels there are many more evil beings who have connections to all of us that would love to conquer this world," Ashley said, "and make a name for themselves."

"Ashley's right," Karone said. "You only know of the Alliance members you faced, but there are many more evil beings out there who distanced themselves from the Alliance a long time ago and run their own show."

"Just…keep yourselves in shape," Tommy said, "because you never know when you'll be called on again. This meeting is officially adjourned."

As the other Rangers filed upstairs, sadness lining all of their faces, Jason and Kimberly decided to stay behind for a moment.

"Kimberly I know has her own things to say to you, but you'll hear from her after me," Jason said. "Tommy, I'm damn proud of you for not losing your head at any time over the last eight years or so. So many times, it would have been so easy for you to just quit. A normal man would never be the same after what he went through, but you went the extra mile when I wasn't even sure you could."

"You did everything possible to find out what dragged us apart in the first place and never gave up. No matter what happens, you should be proud of yourself," Jason said as he hugged his brother in everything but blood, then went upstairs to leave with Trini.

Tommy then gulped. For the first time since hours after Murianthias, he and Kimberly were face to face in a room together…alone.

"Two letters, a fire pit, the sacrifice of someone we cherished, the division of me and my mother, a retired racing career, Forever Red, a blown up island, having to fight three different versions of yourself, and a lab destroyed," Kimberly said. "WHY…WHY IS IT ALWAYS US?"

With that, she threw her arms around Tommy, who surprisingly never let her go.

"Because they know well that with us together, we can't lose," Tommy whispered. "I know it's hard to stomach, but we put that target on us when we began kicking Rita and Zedd's asses. Those guys are with us now, but we probably made more enemies than we even realize."

"I know but I just wanted it to be over!" Kimberly sobbed. "I want to have my own life, I don't want psycho alien creeps stalking us all the time!"

"You need to remember what Ninjor said to us, Kim," Tommy said. "The fight against evil never ends. Where there's good, there always must be evil. Whether I like it or not, that's what we do."

"I can't believe you're so calm about this," Kim said. "I'm relieved to know that we wouldn't do that to each other, but in many ways I'm devastated. Eight long years…because of that?"

"Believe me, it tears me apart from the inside out too," Tommy said. "The difference between me and the me of 10 years ago is that now I understand that I can't do anything about it. All we can do is live our lives the way we can and try to deal with anything else that comes our way."

"I'm so proud of you, Tommy," Kimberly said. "I don't know if it will ever be…us…again, but I know this; I won't toss you out like a pile of trash like I did after Murianthias seven years ago. You did what I didn't think you could ever do."

"Believe me, I had a lot of help, and I'm lucky to be standing here today," Tommy said. "You should probably go home and get some sleep."

Kimberly nodded and sadly trudged up the stairs. With that, Tommy closed the door to his lab and breathed a sigh of relief.

His biggest weight was finally lifted.

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