Hello, Everyone! Well, as I didn't have to hide from angry reviewers, here is the next chapter! It's a little short, but things will be more interesting in the next chapter, I promise! We're starting to get around to the point where we follow the show a bit more, but I promise we won't be having a word-for-word replay of every single episode. Enjoy!

Chapter Six

Gung Ho

Despite the fact that none of the Rangers wanted to do anything other than figure out how to get Alex back, Jason and Tommy had already signed up to be in a Team Ninja Competition. They couldn't back out, so they began training together with the other Rangers managing them.

Jason and Tommy weren't exactly the best at working together outside of Morph. They were still trying to outdo each other. Prove that they were each better than the other. With Alex's situation added into the mix, they were both also blaming each other and themselves for losing her. Their 'friendly' training sessions were quickly degrading into brawls as they each tried to work out their frustrations on the other.

The other Rangers were frustrated as well. Trini and Kim hadn't slept well since Alex left, and Zach had lost some of his spark. Billy seemed to be the only one who could maintain his composure. He tried to get Jason and Tommy to focus on the competition, which was only making them angry at him for staying so calm. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore.

Tommy was the first to snap. "How can you just sit there and act like you don't care?!" he shouted at Billy. The entire Youth Center went quiet, but Tommy was still glaring at Billy.

Jason placed his hand on the Green Ranger's shoulder. "Tommy," he said quietly. "Let's take this outside, okay?" Tommy shrugged his hand off, but stormed outside. The rest of the Rangers quickly gathered their things and followed him.

Billy had known that he would have to deal with questions about how calmly he was taking Alex's betrayal. He had, however, hoped it would wait until after the competition. They all went to a secluded area of the park, the only place they could talk without being overheard.

"Tommy, I know you're angry. Let me explain- "

"You bet I'm angry! Tommy shouted. The Green Ranger couldn't believe this was happening. Couldn't believe he was letting one of his friends go through the same thing he had gone through. Rita was either manipulating Alex with promises of revenge, or had brainwashed her the same as him. Either way, Alex, sweet and innocent Alex, was working with Rita against them. He knew he shouldn't be taking his anger out on Billy, but he had to do something.

"Tommy, I, too, am disenchanted with the current circumstances. However, we must look at the big picture. We still have to fight Rita, no matter who or what she has in her arsenal. We must also maintain our cover. We cannot let others discover our identities."

Tommy could see the logic in Billy's words. But that didn't make it any easier to think about the competition instead of how badly he'd screwed up with Alex.

"Stop that!" Zach's voice jolted Tommy out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I know what that look means. You're thinking that what happened with Alex is your fault. It's not. It's on all of us. It doesn't help that she didn't give us a chance to explain ourselves. Maybe if she'd talked to us instead of assuming that we were deliberately misleading her, she wouldn't have done this. But the fact remains that there is nothing we can do about it right now. Until she shows herself again and lets us talk to her, all we can do is maintain our cover like Billy said."

Tommy and Jason nodded. Zach was right. Even though it was what had gotten them in this mess to begin with, they had to maintain their secret. That mean that Jason and Tommy had to do their best to work together and figure out how to win this tournament.

Meanwhile, Rita was pleased that Rangers were having trouble amongst themselves. It allowed her to focus on the production of her new Super Putties and on training her new general.

Alex was quiet. She observed much and said little. This resulted in Rita initially being rather wary that she was simply there to gain intel and feed it to the Rangers but, when Alex showed no interest in returning to Earth to monitor the Super Putties first attack, Rita relaxed.

The attack caused the Rangers to return to the Command Center without even Morphing. As Rita celebrated, she noticed that even Alex had cracked a little smile at the success. "My dear," Rita said to Alex, catching the girl's attention. "Would you like to go down and watch the Putties destroy the ones who betrayed you?"

Alex nodded. "I would, Empress."

Rita grinned. "Then take some of the Putties and attack the factory near Angel Grove. That will get the Power Rangers' attention!"

With another nod, Alex swished her paintbrush and vanished along with several of the new Super Putties. When she was gone, Goldar approached Rita. "Are you sure we can trust her?"

"She hates the Rangers as much as we do. She'll do what she needs to in order to bring them down," Rita assured him.

Back at the Command Center, Zordon told the Rangers about the Super Putties and charged Jason and Tommy to locate some weapons that would be needed to defeat Rita's stronger foot soldiers. The alarm went off indicating an attack. "Rangers! Peinta is attacking the factory with some Putties!"

Tommy froze. "Alex is there? Zordon!"

"You and Jason must retrieve the weapons," Zordon insisted.

"We'll be alright, Tommy," Zach assured the Green Ranger. "We'll try to get through to Alex, but we can't just let her attack the factory."

Tommy nodded reluctantly, and the other Rangers Morphed and teleported away. Zordon gave Tommy and Jason each half of a map so that they could find the weapons and sent them on their way.

Zach, Billy, Trini and Kim arrived at the factory and were immediately set upon by the Putties. Even Morphed, the improved soldiers were hard to take down. Kim was the first to discover that defeating one simply made it split and reform as two new Putties. Trini caught a glimpse of Alex standing on a walkway above them, but she wasn't attacking so the Yellow Ranger focused on the Putties instead.

They were starting to tire when Jason and Tommy arrived with the new weapons. The Red and Green Rangers tossed the odd-looking guns down to their friends and the Putties were quickly defeated.

Tommy looked up to see Alex still standing above them. "Alex!" he called. He de-morphed, hoping that seeing his face would help her want to talk to them. "Please! Let us explain-,"

Without warning, Alex's arm swished through the air. A wide arc of green light launched itself toward them and everyone ducked, bracing for impact. But there was nothing. When they looked up again, Alex was gone. On the ground was a single word in glowing green letters. "TRAITORS."

The competition against a couple of Ninjas who had been sponsored by Bulk and Skull was almost anti-climactic after the fight with the Super Putties. Jason and Tommy had finally learned to work together on their quest for Zordon, so they were able to put aside their feelings of sadness about Alex and win the fight with little difficulty.

Afterward, they sat and drank celebratory smoothies and discussed Alex. "At least she didn't actually attack us," Trini pointed out. "We were really pinned down by those Putties. If she'd wanted to, it wouldn't've been hard for her to finish us off."

"And after the Putties were gone, she really could've hurt you," Kim pointed out, laying her hand on Tommy's shoulder. "You weren't even Morphed; she could've taken you out in an instant."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't really want to attack us, why is she with Rita in the first place? When I was brainwashed, I wouldn't've been able to stop even if I'd wanted to. So far all she's done is show up and then leave in some dramatic way. I'm worried that she'll have something really nasty to do before she finally lets us talk to her."

They were all silent at that. Tommy was right. Alex's lack of confrontation, despite her words when she revealed herself to them, indicated that something big was going to happen. They could only hope that it wouldn't end with someone dead.