MMPR Revisited
Green with Evil Origins Part 4
"Defensive maneuvers, Rangers!" Jason called out as the Green Ranger charged at them. This enigmatic adversary wasted no time, launching a swift and powerful high-kick that sent Jason tumbling back to the ground.
"Jason!" Kimberly cried out, her voice filled with horror.
"There are five of us and only one of him. Let's take this guy!" Zack urged, rushing forward. He threw a punch, but the Green Ranger deftly evaded, seizing Zack's arm and delivering a rapid succession of kicks to his abdomen. Billy and Trini sprinted to assist, but Zack was hurled at Trini, and the Green Ranger executed a spin kick on Billy, sending him sprawling.
"You don't have to do this!" Kimberly pleaded, her voice trembling. The Green Ranger turned to look at her but remained silent, his gaze unwavering. "We're Rangers too. We're supposed to work together!" Once again, the Green Ranger uttered not a word but slowly closed the distance between them. "Please, don't do this!"
"Don't beg, Pink Ranger. You can't be this pathetic," his voice was low, sinister, and sent shivers down her spine. Kimberly didn't wait for him to attack; instead, she launched a kick. The Green Ranger swiftly caught her foot, and she used his firm grip as a leverage point to execute a powerful kick under his chin with her other foot, breaking free of his grasp and landing gracefully.
From behind, Trini leaped onto his back, summoning her Power Daggers. She began stabbing at the top of his shield, but it proved impenetrable. The Green Ranger countered by elbowing Trini in the side and tossing her aside.
"Is that all you've got?" He taunted.
Jason managed to get back on his feet, grunting with effort. He lifted his head, surveying the Green Ranger's relentless assault on his team. Where did he come from? That question echoed in Jason's mind. Another Ranger? His gaze settled on the new Ranger's belt, which sported a golden Morpher with a power coin in the center. Jason clenched his fists upon realizing that this Ranger was responsible for the destruction of the Command Center.
Kimberly withdrew her blaster and transformed it into dagger form. She leaped into the air and swung it down toward the Green Ranger, who halted the attack with a bare hand.
"Release me!" Kimberly demanded. The Green Ranger retaliated with a swift kick to her stomach, disarming her. He then backhanded her helmet, sending her crashing to the ground.
"No!" Jason shouted, positioning himself protectively in front of Kimberly. "Take me on!"
"With pleasure!" The Green Ranger tossed Kimberly's dagger at Jason, striking him squarely in the chest. Instantaneous pain coursed through him, and sparks flew from his suit. The Green Ranger charged forward, attempting a jump kick that Jason managed to block. Jason pushed him back and delivered a jump kick of his own, sending the Green Ranger stumbling.
"Jason, he's too strong!" Billy warned. "We need more power if we're going to beat him."
"The Mega-blaster?" Zack suggested.
"It's our only shot," Billy agreed.
"Alright, guys, let's bring them together!" Jason commanded.
"Power Axe!" Zack called.
"Power Bow!" Kimberly exclaimed.
"Power Lance!" Billy declared.
"Power Daggers!" Trini shouted.
"Power Sword!" Jason jumped into the air, placing his sword atop the others, completing the transformation. He descended and was joined by the rest of the Rangers. "Let's do this, guys! Fire!" Jason aimed at the Green Ranger, who stood seemingly unyielding. He pulled the trigger, sending a massive blast of energy their way. The Green Ranger remained motionless as the blast hit him head-on, yet he emerged unscathed.
"It's not working!" Kimberly cried out.
"That's impossible!" Jason exclaimed incredulously. "Again!" Jason fired another energy wave, but the Green Ranger stood his ground. Upon impact, the explosion created smoke and debris. Jason lowered his weapon, and when the smoke cleared, the Green Ranger was still standing, moving toward them without a scratch.
"Jason, I don't know if we can beat this guy," Billy admitted.
"How can he be this strong? He shouldn't even be standing," Jason wondered. He dismantled the power blaster, and each Ranger retrieved their respective weapons. "Let's go, guys!" Jason was about to charge when the Green Ranger raised his hand, causing Jason to freeze in his tracks.
"What's he doing?" Billy inquired, voicing the concern of the entire team. A bolt of green lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the Green Ranger's shield. "It's like a generator…"
"What do you mean?" Kimberly asked.
"I think it's powering him up!" Billy clarified. The Green Ranger raised both hands, creating a green energy ball.
"Take this!" He hurled the energy ball, hitting Jason first and then spreading out to strike all of them. Aside from the searing pain, the energy acted like a paralytic, rendering them immobile. Electrical currents surged through their suits, sparking with each jolt. A small explosion followed, sending them all crashing to the ground.
When Jason finally opened his eyes, he was shocked to find them all exposed and untransformed. Despite the lingering smoke and fire providing some cover, the realization that they were now powerless weighed heavily upon them.
"Are you guys okay?" Jason called out, his voice filled with urgency. To his horror, none of them replied. He struggled to his feet, feeling agonizing pain in his leg and a sharp sensation in his chest, likely a broken rib. Hobbled by pain, he reached Zack and began shaking him.
"What happened…" Zack muttered, his hand moving to touch a bloody cut on his forehead.
"Zack, we have to get the others on their feet. Come on," Jason insisted. Zack didn't have much trouble standing, and he hurried to check on Trini and Billy while Jason focused on Kimberly.
"Kim, come on, get up!" Jason implored, repeating himself, but she remained unresponsive. He knelt beside her, lifting her gently and cradling her close, noticing that her body felt colder than it should. "Come on, Kimberly. Don't do this…"
"We need to get back to the Command Center…" Billy grunted, struggling to sit up.
"How, Billy? The teleportation system is down, and we're miles out of range…" Trini reminded them, her words a harsh reminder of the destruction that had befallen their home base.
"We can't just sit here; we're sitting ducks…" Zack added. As time passed, their smokescreen became less effective, and the Green Ranger continued to loom ominously nearby.
"Kimberly…" Jason whispered, his voice laden with desperation. A brief respite came when a radiant energy surrounded them. Jason turned to Billy, seeking an explanation.
"It must be Alpha," Billy theorized, and sure enough, beams of red, black, blue, yellow, and pink energy enveloped them. Jason stared ahead, watching Trask's team fall to the ground, beaten, and the Green Ranger's unyielding gaze on him. Then they vanished.
Upon their arrival at the Command Center, they found it little changed from when they had left. Jason, despite his pain, carried Kimberly to the medical bay and gently placed her on a bed, relieved that this part of their base had been spared the worst of the damage. Billy followed closely, attaching monitoring devices to Kimberly to record and control her vitals.
"She'll be fine, weak but fine," Billy reported after a tense period of silent observation. "We should all get checked."
"I'm fine…" Jason began, but his words were a lie. He limped out into the main control room, where Zack and Trini stood silently. "She'll be fine," he reiterated, eliciting a sigh of relief from Trini.
"Thank goodness," she murmured, her hand over her heart. When Billy entered the main control room, he gazed at the empty crystal cylinder where Zordon had once resided.
"I can't believe he's gone," Trini lamented.
"Alpha, any luck locating him?" Zack inquired. Alpha, now sporting a noticeable limp, shook its round head.
"Negative. All reserve power in the main control room is depleted," Alpha informed them.
"Perfect," Jason added, a note of frustration in his voice.
"It can recharge, right?" Zack looked from Alpha to Billy.
"Yeah, I think so. I might have to do some rewiring, though, in case things were compromised," Billy responded. "It might take me all night, though."
"I don't think we'll be going anywhere," Jason remarked, and they all turned to him in confusion. "You think we can just go home? Kimberly is unconscious. We all probably need medical attention. And I don't think I could sleep knowing that Green guy is out there."
"I just don't get it… I mean, who knew that our biggest enemy would be another Ranger?" Zack wondered, shaking his head.
"It's messed up, man," Jason concurred, his voice filled with a heavy determination. "But it doesn't mean we don't have to stop him. He did this to Zordon; he's no friend of ours."
"We don't know that," Trini interjected, her gaze flickering toward Jason. "Daniel was our friend."
"Trini…" Jason's tone wavered between empathy and irritation. "This is different."
"Maybe. He has to be human though, right?" Trini speculated.
"I mean, I guess? She could have created a monster, and…" Zack started, but Trini cut him off.
"The way he spoke, the way he fought – none of Rita's monsters had that level of discipline in their fighting styles. His moves were precise, every step calculated and deliberate," Trini argued.
"So what if he's human – he betrayed humanity by siding with her," Jason asserted.
"The same way Daniel did, you mean?" Trini's voice grew more serious, and her eyes welled with emotion. "It wasn't his choice to serve Rita. She manipulated him, turned him into a monster, and we were too late," her voice cracked slightly.
"Trini…" Billy tried to comfort her, but she moved away from his touch. "Whoever the Green Ranger is might be in the same situation Daniel was. Unaware and not in control. Maybe we can save him."
"Trini, he almost killed us. For all we know, he's done away with Zordon. He's no friend to us. If we focus too much on saving him, we might not be able to protect what's left of our team and mankind," Jason responded, much to Trini's dismay. "He has to be stopped by any means necessary."
"Trini, I think Jason is right. In Daniel's situation, there was a lot of gray area, and it did complicate things. I think this is pretty black and white," Zack offered, attempting to ease the building tension.
"You're a hypocrite, Jason," Trini accused. "Isn't it more important to be the best we can be than just to win? If we save him, maybe we can add a sixth Ranger to our team. Look at the bigger picture."
"Look around you, Trini! This is the big picture! Zordon is gone, we're virtually powerless," Jason yelled, his frustration boiling over. Zack positioned himself in front of Jason, aiming to calm him down.
"Jason, cool it. We don't need to be fighting each other right now. We need to figure things out," Zack insisted. Jason took a deep breath and let out a loud exhale, channeling his frustration.
"Rangers, you can't give up hope," Alpha chimed in. "I don't think Zordon is gone."
"Really, Alpha?" Trini asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"Zordon is one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. It'll take more than disrupting his inter-dimensional safeguard to destroy him," Alpha reassured them. "All we need is - I – Ayi-yi." Alpha began to overheat, sparks cascading from his back. "Emergency power down." Alpha's lights shut down completely.
"Alpha!" Trini panicked.
"Alpha will be fine, Trini," Billy assured her, pulling a long cord from the main control panel to Alpha's back and plugging it in. "He just needs to reboot and recharge. It should reverse the damage done to him."
"Damn it! Can one thing go right today?" Jason shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.
"We can make sure things are okay…" Billy suggested as he entered a code into the main console, causing the viewing globe to light up. At first, the image displayed was fuzzy and unfocused, but it soon became clear. The site of their battle resembled a warzone, with bodies, fires, police cars, medics, and news stations scattered everywhere, but there was no sign of the Green Ranger. Billy zoomed in on Cindy V, the local reporter for Angel Grove news station.
"This is Cindy V. reporting live. What you see behind me is the aftermath of a battle between the Power Rangers and our very special forces. Eye witnesses confirm another Ranger that has never been seen before, donning a green suit and gold shield. This assailant seemed to be an enemy of the Power Rangers rather than an ally, a twist of fate that I'm sure we were ready to handle. While the authorities insist the Power Rangers are vigilantes, many would agree that they make Angel Grove – and the world – all the safer. What does this mean for them now?"
"Great," Jason muttered. "Just what we need. More people thinking we're menaces to society. The Green Ranger could have single-handedly ruined our reputation."
"Commander Trask of the Angel Grove Rescue Squad declined to comment on the whereabouts of the Green Ranger, but he did confirm that he managed to – or seemingly – beat the Power Rangers. Apparently, after an exchange in firearms, the Power Rangers disappeared, and the Green Ranger took down many members of Commander Trask's unit before mysteriously disappearing himself," Cindy V continued. The viewing globe then lost power as well.
"Dang it," Billy muttered, entering a code in an attempt to keep it running.
"I can't believe this is happening…" Zack said in disbelief.
"Trask never stood a chance…I just hope there were no fatalities," Jason said, his voice heavy with regret. "Like you said, Zack, I can't believe we're fighting another Ranger."
"I'm going to go check on Kimberly," Trini said, leaving the control room.
"I'm not trying to fight with her," Jason admitted. "I'm just trying to make the best decision." He felt guilty about yelling at Trini.
"She'll be fine," Billy assured him. "It's been a long day for all of us. You guys should get some rest; it might help."
"How are we just supposed to rest?" Zack questioned.
"It's better than driving ourselves crazy. Besides, all we have is time right now. It's going to take me quite some time to get this place up and running again," Billy reasoned.
"Great," Zack grumbled.
"I guess we have no choice. Go get yourself checked out, Zack. You should probably address that," Jason pointed to the still-nasty cut on Zack's forehead. Zack had almost forgotten about it but reluctantly agreed, disappearing into the hallway toward the medical bay.
Jason remained in the control room, staring at Zordon's empty capsule. A multitude of thoughts swirled in his mind, and his biggest concern was that he felt like a failure. He began to doubt his leadership abilities and questioned whether Zordon had chosen correctly. Jason leaned against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground, his expression one of complete defeat. He didn't know how he was going to extricate the Rangers from this predicament, but he was resolved to use every ounce of his power to try.
