[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 time unknown]
Jason found himself flat on his back and gold ours dark dimension barely even able to hold a coherent thought in his mind. He was unsure how long she had been lying there surrounded by the smoke on the floor and bleeding out. He was dizzy and disoriented, unable to move and even if he could where would he go? I'm in space for crying out loud, he thought to himself.
He had no idea how to even get out of this room much less all the way back to Earth. Part of him had come to terms with the possibility that this was the end. Or he hoped that as red ranger and leader of the group if he were to fall it would be in the line of duty defending the Earth. But here he was with a sword wound across his chest deeper than any other cut he had ever seen before and he couldn't even manage to move much less think of a means of Escape.
His mind wandered to all the things that could have been. While he had no regrets in his life there was part of them that wished he had opened up to Kimberly sooner. Of everyone in the group he and Kimberly had known one another the longest. Through elementary school then eventually middle school and high school the two of them always had at least two classes together.
Last year during a very emotional time with Jason and his family Jason had decided enough was enough and he was finally going to confess to Kimberly how he felt. The only problem was she had just gotten out of a serious relationship with someone else that had left her emotionally unavailable. He didn't want to swoop in and confess his feelings while she was so emotional out of fear of inadvertently becoming the rebound guy for her. If he was going to pursue something with her it needed to be serious. It needed to be real.
Not that it matters now, he thought to himself. He had no idea how much longer he had left but his only thought was that Kimberly would never know how he ever felt about her. The Rangers would go on just fine more than likely with Zack as the leader and if need be he was sure Zordon would be able to recruit another red ranger. The Earth would be safe.
Jason close his eyes, making peace with the prospect that that would be the last time he ever did.
It was at that moment that he heard someone or something scary over to him. Based on the pattern of the footprints he imagined it was someone rather short and in bedded in the sound of walking he heard a faint dragging sound. It wasn't the sound of metal scraping across the floor but more flesh being dragged by leading him to believe either goldar had brought another victim or a creature with a tail had approached him.
"Remain still," a voice said.
While he was curious to who it was Jason also knew he was completely at their Mercy as he did not have the energy it would take to defend himself if they meant him harm. He could feel something cold being pressed against him. There was a tingling sensation of some kind that seemed to work its way through his entire body. Laconis subsided and was soon replaced with a warmth and the smell of open flesh began to fill the room. Jason could only suspect that there was a fire of some kind but before he had time to give his fake too much thought the feeling completely subsided and the smell was gone.
"Is that it?" another voice asked.
"Yes, it's all I can do."
"Very well. Go before she suspects you were involved."
Jason was left with more questions that he had answers. The most pressing of his concerns was why he could slowly feel his strength returning to him.
"On your feet, ranger," a voice demanded.
Against his better judgment Jason opened his eyes slowly only to discover that it was almost effortless. He quickly attempted to wiggle his fingers and toes realizing that he had full control over movement again. Almost all at once he hopped to his feet and stood ready looking around. Goldar stood in front of him with his sword in hand.
Not taking his eyes off of Goldar for a moment Jason ran his left hand across his chest to discover the wound had been healed.
"What? How?"
"Our doctor has restored you," Goldar told him.
"Restored me? How? Why?"
"Eltarian Legend speaks of 6 power coins each of them formed inside a collapsing supernova. Each were so powerful that they became sentient," Goldar revealed.
"Sentient? You mean the coins are alive?" he asked.
"Not so much alive than they are aware. To wield the power you must be chosen and to have the power taken it must be given freely. 10,000 years ago one of Rita's Warriors defeated the sage that will did the green power coin. His sword and coin were stolen and the sword was dubbed The Sword of Darkness. While the green ranger power is unstable, it can be used for a limited time."
"It's unstable because it wasn't given freely. It was taken," Jason added. "So if the coin is sentient and selects who uses it, why is it allowing a green ranger to use the power for evil?"
"You humans and your limited understanding of the concepts of Good and Evil. The coin is aware of your inner self. The warrior Rita has selected has good within him and that's what the coin senses. It has no knowledge or understanding of the curse controlling him. Power itself is not inherently good or evil, it simply is. How that power is used determines what you call Good and Evil."
"So the green ranger? There is good inside of him," Jason mentioned.
"I will never understand like you humans dwell on such primitive concepts, but yes, there is still good within him. In less than six hours the spell Rita has over the Green Ranger will take hold permanently and he will forever be enslaved to her. Only by breaking the Sword of Darkness can the spell be broken," he explained.
"You're telling me Rita's plan? Why?" Jason asked, unsure how to react.
"For a fallen friend," he said, dropping Jason's Morpher. "The next time we meet, red ranger, I will not be as merciful," Goldar said, turning his back to Jason and disappeared into the smoke and darkness.
[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 10:01am]
In a swirl of energy the black and pink ranger teleported into the command center in full Ranger uniform.
"Power down," Zack called out, and in a whirl of energy, their ranger uniforms disappeared and were replaced by their civilian clothes.
"Any word on Jason?" Trini asked, walking over to them.
"No, but we did run into a group of putties in the park. Any luck with Zordon and A.L.P.H.A.?"
"Billy was able to get him back online and now they are in the lower levels of the command center looking for a device. There is some sort of temporal rupture that is blocking Zordon from getting in touch with our dimension," she explained.
"So we close the rupture and we get Zordon back?"
"Affirmative," Billy said as he walked into the command center holding a small device. "We can seal the rift with anti proton bursts and that will stop whatever is blocking Zordon from reaching us," he turned to Trini. "Have you pinpointed the location of the rupture?"
Trini rushed back over to the controls."it looks like it's in the old carnival area," she said.
"That whole area is sealed off for construction isn't it?" Kimberly asked.
"Yes. At least it will be out of the way and there shouldn't be too much damage."
It was at that moment that there was a swirl of red light as Jason teleported into the command center.
"Jase!" Zack said excitedly, walking over to him and wrapping his arms around him. "What happened to you? And your shirt?"
"It's a long story, but there are more serious things going on. Apparently there is a green ranger," he said.
"What?"
"According to Goldar the green ranger trashed the command center and cut us off from Zordon."
"That would explain how someone was able to get in the command center. He had a power coin, but why would a ranger trash the command center?" Billy asked.
"He is under a spell. If we break his sword we can free him from the spell, but we have less than 6 hours."
"How do we know we can trust Goldar? This could be a trap," Zack pointed out.
Jason shook his head in disagreement. "No, he was telling me the truth," he placed his hand on his chest where his fatal wounds had been. If Goldar truly wanted him eliminated, he had his chance. "I believe him."
"Alright then. How do we even find this guy?" Kimberly asked.
"Ay yi yi yi yi, I believe I can help with that," A.L.P.H.A. Five said as he walked into the command center and over to a control panel. "Observe the viewing globe."
The five of them turned to the viewing globe, where the green ranger was seen in the construction area destroying machinery.
"Remember guys, he's under a spell. Defend yourselves but don't destroy him. If we break the sword, we break the spell," Jason explained.
"Billy, use your device to seal the rift. The rest of us will cover you. You ready guys?" he stood in position. "It's Morphin Time!"
"MASTADON!"
"PTERODACTYL!"
"TRISERATOPS!"
"SABER TOOTHED TIGER!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!"
In an instant, each of them were transformed into the power rangers. They reached for their belt buckles, and in a swirl of energy, they teleported away.
[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 10:27am]
Goldar stood in one of the partially finished buildings in the construction area. From his vantage point, he could see everything. With the small vial in hand Finister had given him, he stared down, surveying the area. It was not his intention to be involved in the impending fight, only to observe. He wanted to be there first hand when the rangers defeated the green ranger, breaking the sword and potentially freeing Scorpina.
The team rematerialized in the construction area, getting a good look around. The sun was beginning to set, and the dark was going to make it difficult to see, but at first glance it appeared that the construction site was empty. It amazed him that none of the rangers, not even the green ranger, sensed his presence at all.
"Look what we have here, it's the power rangers. I've been waiting for this moment," the green ranger said as he emerged from behind one of the partially built buildings.
Each of them took a moment to look at the Green Ranger. Over the last 6 months they had grown used to seeing one another in uniform but to see someone else don the ranger outfit was a little disconcerting for them. Especially someone who was willing to use the ranger powers for evil.
"Billy, just seal the rift. We'll handle this guy," Jason said.
With a nod, Billy hurried off. The green ranger took a step closer to them.
"Welcome to your end, rangers," he said.
The device itself was no bigger than a bread box. Why was the method for determining size and shape ever attributed to bread boxes, Billy wondered. As he moved forward, the device would beep, indicating that he was getting closer to it. A quick glance down at the controls noted that this rift was not only generating all sorts of electromagnetic energy, but temporal energy as well. It was the sort of thing that he'd read about in books, or was spoken about in great detail in papers and in lectures, but there he was, tracking this form of energy that shouldn't even have been theoretically possible.
It intrigued him.
The closer he got, the more unusual the readings got. It was as though the rift was slightly out of phase with the space/time continuum. Sometimes the signal was so weak that he didn't think he'd be able to keep a positive lock, and in the next moment, the readings were off the scale. If his readings were accurate, Billy speculated that it wasn't that the rift was gaining or losing intensity, but because the rift was out of sync, it was detecting it at different points in time. It would be stronger in the future, but weaker in the past, he hypothesised. Operating under that assumption, he deduced that the rift had no discernible teather. While it was in a state of flux on this end, on the other, it was probably in a state of temporal flux.
The device began to intensify in beeping, until finally, it would one long, soft hum. Billy glanced around, but there was nothing. Staring down at the machine, he made a slight adjustment, but before he could even glance up, the rift itself appeared directly in front of him.
It wasn't what he was expecting. He wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was definitely unlike anything he had seen before. There seemed to just be a tear in the fabric of time. The inside appeared to be devoid of everything, as if there was an absence of space inside it. There was a sort of electrical hissing as energy seemed to wrap itself around the rift.
Billy immediately reached for his communicator. "A.L.P.H.A, I've located the rift. Attempting anti proton bursts now!" he called out. He aimed the device towards the rift, and a beam of energy shot from it, going directly into the void… but nothing happened.
It was Zack who rushed at him first with a kick, but the green ranger caught his foot in mid air, giving him a dragon screw takedown that sent Zack flipping into the arm and crashing down to the ground.
The yellow and pink ranger charged at him together, but he slashed the pink ranger across the chest and,after ducking the yellow rangers kick, kicked her in the back.
"POWER AXE!" Zack called out as his weapon appeared in his hand. He went after the green ranger again, this time connecting with several shots to the chest. When he moved in to finish him, the green ranger sliced through the power axe with ease. The pieces began to hum, and the hum got louder and louder. Realizing what was about to happen, the black ranger threw the pieces aside, and they exploded.
"You think you're so tough? Take me on," the red ranger called out.
He went after the green ranger with his sword in hand, but each of them were able to block one another's sword attacks. The green ranger landed a kick that knocked Jason into the side of a building, collapsing it.
Jason stood up,managing to avoid another kick but landed one of his own, knocking the green ranger back up against the size of a bull dozer. Jason swung his sword, but the green ranger moved and the sword went half way through the bulldozer. He tried to pull it out, but it was wedged in too deeply. The green ranger kicked the handle of the sword, snapping it in half, but Jason caught him with a side kick to the knee, knocking the green ranger down to one knee.
Jason tried for a sabat kick, but the green ranger ducked it,caught his foot and pushed Jason back. Jason stumbled back, hitting another building.
The green ranger stood up, and before Jason to regain his footing, the green ranger went for a kick to the face… only,he stopped only inches away from Jason's face.
"Surrender or be destroyed," he warned.
"Never!" Jason shot back.
"A.L.H.P.A, it isn't working. The proton bursts are having no effect," Billy said into his communicator, but wasn't even sure that his signal got out through all the electrical interference. He tried to think of something, something he was missing. What could he do to seal this rift, he wondered.
"Your device is fine. You're just in the wrong place," a voice said.
Billy turned around as Finister walked up behind him, taking a moment to admire the rift. It was, after all, a scientific impossibility. Finster found it just as intriguing as Billy did, if not more.
"Who are you?" Billy asked.
"A scientist, like yourself," he walked over to the rift, cautiously sticking his hand inside. While it was only in for a moment, when he pulled his hand out, his nails had grown. "This side of the rift is quantum locked as it originated here, it's the other side that is in a state of perpetual flux. It isn't bound to any point in time or space. That's the problem," he explained.
Billy didn't have the time it would take to interrogate this… this creature for more information. Besides, based on his own analysis of the rift, he had concluded the same thing himself. "I'm going to have to…"
Finister nodded. "Yes, it needs to be sealed from the other side. I assume that box you have emits anti proton bursts."
"Yes."
"Then you know it has to be repaired for the other end. And the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be until… the rift is permanently open. There is no telling what horrors will enter this world."
"I have to go in there," Billy stated plainly. There was no time to debate, no time to make a plan. The rift was expanding, and in a matter of moments, the device wouldn't have enough energy to sustain a blast capable of sealing it. Without a second thought, or even much of a first thought, Billy turned the device onto the highest possible setting, closed his eyes, and stepped into the rift.
It began to crackle, to hiss, as if it was conscious and disapproved of Billy's presence. It seemed to get brighter and brighter, but in one brilliant flash of light, the rift disappeared. There was a bit of residual crackling and energy displacement, but the rift was gone.
Finister scoffed, shaking his head with disappointment. "Teenagers. They'll believe anything you tell them," he said, whistling as he walked away with his hands behind his back.
"Welcome to your end, red ranger," the green ranger snarled.
It was at that moment that it occurred to Kimberly. As she watched Jason do battle with the Green Ranger she felt as though the fighting style was familiar but she couldn't place it. It wasn't until the Green Ranger had Jason pinned against the wall with his foot only inches away from his face that she realized exactly what was going on.
"Tommy?" she called out.
She went to move closer, but Zack grabbed her arm. "You know who this is?" he asked.
"I do," she snatched away, cautiously approaching him. "Tommy you don't have to do this," she said.
The others looked on in confusion as Kimberly continued her approach slowly.
"Stay back, Kim!" Jason warned.
"You heard your leader. Stay back or I will destroy you all," the green ranger snapped.
"No, you won't. No one should feel helpless, Tommy. No one," she sighed.
The green ranger turned his attention away from Jason, putting the sword to Kimberly's throat. The others were going to make a move, but Jason motioned for them to stop.
"I will kill you. I will win this," he warned.
Kimberly powered down instantly, standing in front of him in her civilian clothes, allowing him to get a good look at her. "No you won't. Strength doesn't come from winning. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that's real strength," she told him.
"Wha…" the green ranger paused, recalling hearing that same phrase during his trial.
He had been so obsessed with power so that he would never fail helpless again that it never occurred to him that the Rangers were actually people. While he wasn't very close to Kimberly, he knew her from school. He'd seen her helping people selflessly and standing up to bullies. He'd seen her in the juice bar working on her gymnastics. He'd seen her helping children in the park.
In his quest for power it didn't matter to him who he hurt but in doing so he realized that he became the bully. Lokar's words began to echo through his mind.
"YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN YOUR FATHER," the voice told him.
"You can beat this, Tommy. I know it. You help people. I've seen you do it. Now let us help you," she sighed.
It was that one instance, that one slight moment of indecision that left him vulnerable. His arm began to tremble. It could all be over right now. Just push the blade in, he thought to himself. But there he was, looking into Kimberly's eyes. She was innocent, pure. It was enough to make him think of his sister, and how innocent she must have looked before someone came along and stole her innocence. He lowered the sword slowly, eventually with the blade touching the ground.
"I…"
Kimberly lifted her foot, stomping down on the blade from an angle. It was enough to break the sword in half. Both the pieces of the sword began to swirl and glow with energy. There was a flash of light and an explosion, and when it finally subsided, it left Tommy on his knees completely unmorphed.
"You destroyed the sword. Rita's spell is broken," Zack said with excitement.
It was Jason who hurried over to Tommy, extending his hand. Tommy accepted it, pulling himself back to his feet.
"You okay Tommy?" he asked cautiously.
"What happened to me?" he replies, holding his head slightly.
"You're no longer under Rita's power," Jason assured him.
"My head… is spinning."
"You'll be okay."
"What have I done?" he asked.
"What you did, you did under Rita's influence. But you own the power now. Fight by our side and together we can defeat Rita," he told him.
The others walked over to them as well in a show of support.
"After everything that's happened?"
"Tommy, we need you," Jason admitted.
Tommy glanced over at the others, and all of them seemed to be nodding in agreement with Jason's statement.
"It's where you belong," he said, extending his hand to Tommy.
It all happened so quickly that none of them realized it until it was too late. The entire team had their eyes on Jason's hand wondering if Tommy would accept it or not. Tommy stared down at the two pieces of the sword, then back at Jason. There was an honesty in his eyes, he meant every word he said. There was no doubt, no question; the offer was sincere.
Kimberly felt a warm sensation in her chest. Was it pride and the idea of having a sixth ranger join them in their battle against evil, she wondered. Was she simply happy that they were able to break the spell over Tommy without harming him, she thought.
She glanced down at her stomach only to reveal the tip of the Sword of Darkness sticking out of her chest as the blood pouring from the open wound stained her shirt. Kimberly fell to her knees, then eventually slumped over to the side.
The others rushed over to her check on her, but Jason knew.
Tommy, with blood on his hands, let out a sickening laugh. "One down, four to go!" he said deviously, disappearing into a stream of white and gold light.
Jason stood there, frozen in a state of shock as the others tended to Kimberly. It was Trini who leaned over her, touching the side of her neck slightly. Jason turned to Trini, hoping to get some confirmation. Trini let out a sigh and a gasp, then glanced over at Jason, shaking her head slightly.
"She's... gone."
[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 unknown time]
Goldar stormed into Finster's lab, where he was molding clay, preparing to create a new monster for Rita. He rushed over to Finster, interrupting him from his work.
"The rangers have broken the Sword of Darkness. The spell is broken and Scorpina is free," he presented Finister with the vial, which was now filled with what appeared to be white energy. "I know you cannot restore her original body, but revive Scorpina! Give her back to me," Goldar demanded.
Finister stopped what he was doing, taking a moment to examine the vial Goldar had given him. It was warm, almost as if it was generating its own heat. He took an extra moment to look it over, then hurried over to a book which was sitting on a workbench on the other side of the lab. He turned a few pages, stopping at what looked like a hand drawn picture of the vial.
"This isn't her," he said.
"What do you mean? When the sword shattered, it filled up. You said once the sword was broken Scorpina would be free," he reminded him.
"When the sword was broken, every living being who was ever defeated was released, including Scorpina. Whoever this is inside this vial, it isn't Scorpina," Finster told him.
"So if it isn't her… who is it? And where is she?" Goldar asked.