Five Days Later

Tommy, I'm so sorry. Kimberly thought as she watched Rita apply her magic wand to the white piece of the Zeo Star; the piece glowed red and promptly showed an image of an exhausted Tommy in his white Zeo Ranger uniform laying restrained to a table with probes on his helmet and he was groaning softly.

"His powers must be almost gone if they're not making him fight anymore," Rita sneered as she took her wand away from the piece and the image of Tommy promptly faded away. "Once the powers are completely gone, Prince Gasket will most likely kill him or slowly torture him until he can't handle it."

Kimberly nodded, her heart full of worry over whether or not the Rangers would be too late, "Rita, please, can you teleport Tommy's friends to where he is so they can save him?" she asked worriedly.

"Since you said please, I do have a spell that will teleport all the people who will be able to save Tommy to where he is being held until his death," Rita said in a smug tone. "The spell will send all the Zeo Rangers to the location and once they have freed Tommy, they will be teleported to a safe place."

Zedd grunted as he watched Zedison, who had gotten steadily worse in the last seven days, sleep, "Kimberly, how do we know that you won't go back on your word once Tommy is free?" he snapped.

"I gave you my word and I'll keep it," Kimberly replied softly. "I'll stay here while he's rescued."

Rita cackled, pointed her wand at the whole Star, and began to chant the spell of teleportation. Little did Kimberly know however, that Rita was also chanting a spell to send a bomb to the Power Chamber. There was already a bomb at the Moon Palace.

Malcolm was sure that the Zeo Star was gone forever; however, he didn't focus on the loss of his powers because it would be pointless and only tire him. He had to focus his energy on the future.

"Young man, can I help you?" a voice suddenly asked, bringing Malcolm out of his train of thought.

Letting out an embarrassed chuckle, Malcolm looked at the secretary who was sitting behind the metal desk in the junior high school's office, "Yes actually, I'm supposed to meet a Justin Stewart here."

The secretary was quiet for a moment as she looked at a paper that was on her desk, "Oh, you're part of the Big Brother program sponsored by the high school, aren't you?" she asked, looking back up at him."

"Yes ma'am," Malcolm replied politely, ignoring the urge to fidget nervously. "I'm Malcolm Lee Scott."

Nodding, the secretary smiled at him, "Justin's in the Testing Center," she replied. "Classroom 120."

"Thank you," Malcolm replied before slowly walking down the hallway to find the Testing Center.

As Malcolm walked down the hallway, a wave of fatigue suddenly hit him and he found himself leaning on a nearby locker for support, "Are you all right, Malcolm?" Laura's voice suddenly filtered into his ear.

"Laura, what are you doing here?" Malcolm asked, seeing Laura lingering outside of a small classroom.

Laura smiled and put her hands in the pockets of the denim jeans she was wearing, effectively uncovering them from the yellow sweatshirt that she was also wearing. Her sneakers squeaked as she walked over to him and the squeaking made Malcolm want to either sit down or go to sleep.

"Ashley's doing a placement test today," Laura replied softly. "Are you feeling all right, Malcolm?"

Malcolm nodded and took a deep breath, "I'm still a little shaky on my feet," he replied softly. "I only just started back to school today and it was a very long day. I'm hoping Justin doesn't want to do anything extremely physical today because I'm not sure if I can keep up with him. How are you doing?"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Laura replied in a nervous tone. "I'm just trying to get through one day at a time and make it until school break. Maybe during school break, I can figure things out easier."

Malcolm sighed, but didn't comment; he saw a look in Laura's eyes that told him she knew something so disturbing that she wasn't willing to share it with anyone. Or had she shared it with Zordon and Alpha?

The classroom door suddenly opened and Rocky came out, "There you are finally!" he said, grinning at seeing Malcolm standing there with Laura. "Oh Laura, Ashley's almost done her placement test."

"Where's Justin?" Malcolm asked, suddenly remembering that he and Rocky were in this together.

Rocky grinned, "The testing teacher's getting Justin to help out," he replied in an awed voice. "I swear, dude, that kid is an absolute genius. I think he'll be done soon, though, so we can walk him home."

"I don't know anything about working with kids, Rocky," Malcolm said in a nervous voice. "I helped at my dad's dojo, yes, but I was usually the one setting everything up while my dad worked with the kids."

Rocky chuckled, "From what I've seen, Justin's really a nice kid," he replied. "Just be yourself."

Before Malcolm could reply, a young boy with dark hair came out of the room in sneakers, oversized jeans, and a sweater that looked as if it was too big for him. Laura immediately recognized the clothes from being from the emergency box at the Angel Grove shelter, but made no comment about them.

"Are you Justin?" Malcolm asked nervously. "My name is Malcolm and these are my friends, Rocky and Laura. Laura's waiting for her sister, but Rocky and I are gonna be your buddies. Is that okay with you?"

Justin nodded, "I've read about you in the paper," he replied. "Aren't you some famous fighter?"

"I'm taking a break from that for a while," Malcolm replied softly. "How was school today, Justin?"

Shrugging, Justin moved over to his locker and opened it, "Same as always," he replied in a voice that indicated to Malcolm and Rocky that he didn't want to merely discuss school. "Can we go now, please?"

"Justin, I'll let you know when Ashley gets her results," Laura replied in an encouraging voice. "I wish we could talk more today, but I promised Doctor Oliver that when Ashley was done, we'd meet up."

Justin nodded and quickly closed his locker after pulling out a single binder, "I have a lot of stuff to do today, anyway," he replied in a soft voice. "Rocky and Malcolm are just supposed to walk me home."

Before Rocky or Malcolm could comment, Justin took off down the hallway, "I'll tell Katherine hi for you if I see her, okay Laura?" Malcolm said as he hurried after Justin. "Rocky, come on; hurry up!"

"I wish you wouldn't," Laura whispered as Rocky hurried away. "Nobody has to be my friend anymore."

"How was camping out at Doctor Oliver's this weekend?" David asked as Tanya and Adam entered the park where he was sitting under a tree studying. "Was it too cold to go swimming yet or not?"

Adam winced, "Tanya, Rocky, and I weren't camping, David," he replied in an uncertain voice. "We were at Doctor Oliver's cabin doing schoolwork because we needed to study. Zordon called us, though…"

"Kimberly's been turned back to evil and stole the Zeo Star," Tanya whispered in a horrified voice.

David's jaw dropped as he closed his textbook, "Can any of you guys use your powers?" he whispered.

"No, but we can still teleport into the Command Center, which is strange," Adam replied softly. "Alpha said that Kimberly came and stole the Star, but she called herself the Dark Crane and Rita's servant."

David paled, but before he could reply, Bulk, Skull, and Detective Stone came strolling into the park and over to the three, "Afternoon, all," Detective Stone said in a cordial tone as he passed Bulk and Skull some fliers. "Go put those all over the trees and anywhere else you might think people will see them."

"What are those?" Tanya asked, gazing at the posters in Bulk and Skull's hands. "More posters?"

Detective Stone nodded as Bulk and Skull took off at a walk, "As you are aware, Tommy Oliver and Mark Hillard are still missing," he explained in a somber voice. "The posters are just to remind others of that."

"Katherine and David still haven't given up hope that Mark will be found safe and sound," Adam piped up in a concerned voice. "Doctor Oliver seems to think that Tommy will also be found very soon."

Detective Stone nodded, but frowned, "What about Miss Hammond?" he asked. "Is she all right?"

"Laura's picking up her sister from school and they're going to meet up with Doctor Oliver at the Youth Center later, I think," Adam replied in a worried voice. "She hasn't been the same since the seizure."

Letting out a deep sigh, Detective Stone nodded somberly, "From what I've heard around the city, Miss Hammond and Tommy Oliver had a brother-sister type of relationship and she was the last one to see him before he was kidnapped on Valentine's Day. It's best not to bring up Tommy's name again to her."

Before Tanya, Adam, or David could reply, Detective Stone jogged off across the grass to check on Bulk and Skull's progress, "What's Katherine up to today, anyway?" Adam asked in a curious voice. "She can't be with Malcolm because he and Rocky were supposed to start being big brothers this afternoon."

"Katherine's at the Youth Center helping Jason with his class since Malcolm's still recovering," David replied, remembering what Katherine had told him that morning. "Everyone's just staying busy."

Adam sighed and sat down, "This seems like a pretty quiet place to study," he commented softly.

"Yeah, let's sit here for a while and then go to the Youth Center after our homework's done," Tanya said in a relaxed voice, slipping her backpack off her shoulders as she sat down. "What a nice day this is."

"Mister Lee Scott, I have a new student who would like to join your class," Dr. Oliver said as he hobbled towards Jason, who was watching Katherine warm his karate students up for the day's class. "Ashley?"

Jason smiled as Ashley, who had changed out of her school clothes into a karategi, came running on to the mats with her hair done up in a braid that hung down her back, "I want to learn about martial arts," she said in an excited voice. "I'm feeling a lot better now and I think it'll help me feel really good."

"Go stand with the rest of the class and ask Katherine for help with stretching, okay?" Jason said gently.

Ashley nodded and quickly joined the class in warming up, "I thought Laura was coming here with you and Ashley, Doctor Oliver?" Jason whispered in a concerned voice. "I hope nothing else has happened."

"Everything's fine as far as I know," Dr. Oliver replied softly. "Laura just wanted some time alone."

Jason nodded, but before he could speak, he and Katherine suddenly vanished from the Youth Center.

"Why did Jason and Kat disappear?!" Ashley cried as she hurried to Dr. Oliver's side. "I'm scared!"

The Angel Grove Shelter, otherwise known as the Little Angels Haven, was a familiar sight for Malcolm and his heart silently went out to Justin as they entered the shelter and stood silently in the foyer.

"This is where I live," Justin explained as he walked over to a smaller door just to the left of what Rocky and Malcolm assumed was some sort of registration area. "All the workers are off doing things with the other kids right now, so I usually come back here after school and read. It's usually pretty busy at night, though, as everyone gets the same meals and then gets about an hour or two of free time. There's a lot of different room depending on how old a person living here is; I stay in the room with all the kids."

Malcolm nodded, but Rocky frowned, "Aren't the people in charge of the shelter aware that you're mostly by yourself?" he asked in a concerned voice. "Maybe they could help you get into an activity."

"There are a lot of other kids here, usually," Justin replied as he pushed open the door and revealed a room full of beds that were all along the multicolored walls that were decorated with hand crafts, dream catchers, and various other trinkets. "This is where I usually spend all my time after school."

Rocky nodded, suddenly deeply embarrassed, "This is my bed," Justin said as he walked over to a small bed in the corner that had a blue flannel quilt on it that sat next to a small table that held a school photo of Justin, and another photo of a younger Justin with a man and woman. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

"Did your mom and dad make you that quilt?" Malcolm asked softly as he walked over to the bed and studied the quilt on Justin's bed that appeared to be homemade. "It looks really well made."

Justin nodded and frowned as he picked up the pictures, "My mom died when I was just a kid and my dad used to run a martial arts studio, but when she died, he started drinking and ended up selling his studio because he needed the money to drink," he said in a somber voice. "He's not alive anymore."

Letting out a deep sigh, Justin put the pictures back on the table and sat on the bed, "You guys brought me home, so you can go do cool stuff now," he said as he opened the book that he had been carrying.

"I know how you feel, Justin," Malcolm replied gently as he sat down on the bed next to Justin and Rocky promptly sat on the other side of Justin to help Malcolm. "My parents died last summer."

Justin looked up at Malcolm, deeply surprised, but before he could speak, Malcolm and Rocky suddenly vanished into thin air. Horrified, Justin quickly got to his feet and began to look around the room.

"…I was sitting with Adam and Tanya on the grass and they suddenly vanished into thin air," David said in a worried voice as he stood on the grass in front of Detective Stone, Bulk, and Skull after he had run after them to report Adam and Tanya's sudden disappearance. "I don't know where they went."

Bulk frowned, "Are you sure that you didn't fall asleep and they just decided to go do something somewhere else?" he asked, noticing that Adam and Tanya hadn't left anything behind.

"I was never asleep," David replied in an irritated voice. "I'm telling you, they vanished into thin air."

Detective Stone nodded, "Mister Bulkmeier and I will search here while Mister Skullovitch will walk you back to the Youth Center where it's safe," he said in a professional tone. "You don't need to worry."

David sighed, gathered his things, and got to his feet. He followed Skull out of the park with worry in his heart for not only Adam and Tanya, but the rest of their friends that might have suddenly disappeared.

Darkness greeted Jason, Katherine, Adam, Tanya, Rocky, and Malcolm as they suddenly touched down.

"Where are we?" Katherine asked in a worried voice as she put her hands out to try and feel around her.

Light suddenly flooded the room and the six Zeo Rangers found themselves standing in what looked like a martial arts arena. The mats were stained with blood and in the middle of the mat was a white helmet with a star on the face. Recognizing the helmet to be Tommy's, Katherine and Rocky hurried over to it.

"Don't touch it," Jason cautioned as he walked over to the helmet. "Where do you suppose we are?"

A loud cackle suddenly rang out and Prince Gasket appeared in the arena, "Welcome to my battle arena, Rangers," he said in a menacing voice as he walked towards them. "I see you found Tommy's helmet."

"Where's Tommy?" Adam asked, trying not to show or sound how afraid he was of the current situation.

Prince Gasket cackled evilly, "Slave, I have another fight for you!" he announced in a commanding tone.

"Tommy!" Rocky yelled as Tommy, now wearing torn clothes with his hair messy and cascading down his back while his feet were bare, entered the arena with a slouched posture and hopeless facial expression.

Tommy, however, gave the humans before him a blank look before focusing his gaze on Prince Gasket with a bow, "Yes, my Master?" he asked in a hollow voice. "You wish me to engage in a fight?"

"Malcolm, you should stay out of this one," Jason whispered to Malcolm. "You're not at full strength."

Malcolm nodded and was about to reply when Tommy suddenly lunged at him, "Yes, a battle with the Blue Zeo Ranger will do nicely, Slave," Prince Gasket said as he moved backwards. "Please begin."

"Zeo Ranger Seven, Blue!" Malcolm yelled, suddenly horrified when his Zeonizers didn't appear.

A wicked gleam suddenly appeared in Tommy's eye and Malcolm immediately moved forward to keep the others from being harmed, "Malcolm, don't," Jason said in an anxious voice. "You only just got back to school today and Mom and Dad said to take it easy for a while; let me fight him in your place."

"Jason, I don't want him to hurt any of you," Malcolm replied softly. "Please protect Katherine for me."

Before Jason could reply, a ring of blue and white fire appeared around the area where Tommy and Malcolm stood, "If you win, you can take the Slave back to Earth with you," Prince Gasket said in a menacing voice as he approached the other five Rangers. "If you lose, you all stay here with me."

The Power Chamber was quiet when Laura, who had hiked several back roads out of town and taken the shortest trail on the outskirts, entered. She had explained to Doctor Oliver what she wanted to do and he had given his permission, deeply relieved that she was finally going to talk about what had happened.

"Hello?" Laura called out in a nervous voice as she walked over to Zordon's tube and saw it was dark.

A beep sounded and the entire Power Chamber was suddenly flooded with light, "Zordon?" Laura asked as Zordon suddenly appeared in his tube and smiled down at her. "Zordon, can I talk to you?"

"I think I already know what you are concerned about, Laura," Zordon replied. "Yes, though, you may."

Laura sighed, "I had a seizure at school a few days ago and after it, I started having visions about the Zeo Star being stolen and it was stolen," she stated nervously. "I also had a vision about Kimberly and Rita."

"I am afraid that Kimberly has willingly given herself to Rita's service, but Billy is currently out of Rita and Lord Zedd's reach," Zordon replied somberly. "Did you have any visions after your last seizure?"

Laura sighed, "I just felt that I needed to focus on helping myself instead of staying a Power Ranger," she replied in a tired voice as she looked up at Zordon. "I don't know if I did myself any favors, though, by allowing myself to get into such an emotional rut, but I'm afraid to be around the Zeo Rangers now."

"I am aware of this," Zordon replied calmly. "However, Laura, the Rangers are deeply concerned about you and want nothing more than to know that you are well. You need to let them help you heal."

Laura nodded, but before she could reply, a piece of the wall opened and Billy came into the Power Chamber wearing work goggles and holding a metal box, "Billy?" Laura asked in a surprised voice.

"Laura, hello," Billy replied, smiling at her. "What brings you to the very quiet Power Chamber today?"

Laura smiled, "I came here because I needed quiet," she replied gently. "Life's getting very difficult."

"I understand that," Billy said in an empathetic voice. "Would you like to give me a hand with this?"

Raising an eyebrow, Laura looked at the box in Billy's hands, but said nothing, "It's a special project I've been working on for the last several days and it's nearly finished," he explained. "I came here to see if anyone wanted to serve as a test subject, but I need several people and it's kind of quiet here today…"

Tick-tick-tick.

Laura frowned at the ticking sound, "What's that?" she asked, suddenly wondering if one of her premonitions about Rita causing further harm to the Rangers was about to come horribly true.

For a moment, Billy was silent and then walked over to a console at the other end of the room from Zordon's time warp tube. He set down the box, opened the console, and was horrified to see a small explosive device that was shaped like a small skull with Z and moon shapes on it sitting there.

"Billy, is that a bomb?" Laura asked in a horrified voice as she hurried over to where he was standing.

Billy nodded, picked up the box, and handed it to Laura, "Go into the passageway I just came out of," he said in an anxious voice. "It will take you someplace safe and I want you to stay there for now, okay?"

"What about you, Alpha, and Zordon?" Laura asked as she struggled to hold the box comfortably.

Instantly recognizing that Laura was being stubborn, Alpha quickly hurried over to Laura, gently grabbed her arm, and gently escorted her over to the open passageway, "I've got to stay here to protect Zordon," Alpha explained in a calm voice. "Billy has entrusted you with a great treasure, Laura."

Suddenly, the bomb began to spark and hiss, "GO!" Billy yelled anxiously. "YOU DON'T HAVE TIME!"

Terrified beyond belief, Laura nodded and hurried into the passageway with the box as the Power Chamber began to shake. The passageway door slammed shut as the Chamber filled with smoke.

Laura swallowed hard and began to run through the passageway as the shaking continued and got more and more violent with each step she took. She could hear Alpha's cries for help and Billy screaming.

Jason, Kat, Rocky, Tanya, Adam, Malcolm, Tommy, I need you all. Laura thought worriedly as pieces of the passageway ceiling began to fall down all around her. David, Mark, Ashley, Justin; anyone, please.

Terror filled Laura's heart as a wave of energy suddenly swept through the tunnel and enough ceiling caved in that the path ahead was completely blocked. Swallowing hard, she clung tightly to the box.

As the passageway door began to slowly slide open due to the force of everything happening, a large piece of ceiling debris came down on top of Laura; both her and the box were buried within seconds.

"Your move, Blue Ranger," Tommy breathed in an anxious voice as he stared at Malcolm while standing in battle ready mode. "I have been a fighting slave of my master forever, so I am well trained."

Malcolm gazed at the small scars on Tommy's knuckles, but said nothing about them, "I can't and won't fight you, Tommy," he said in an anxious voice as he folded his arms. "I'd rather die in this fire."

"As you wish," Tommy replied as he lunged at Malcolm and knocked him to the cold floor.

Prince Gasket cackled gleefully as Tommy scratched Malcolm's face, "Tommy, stop!" Jason yelled as he suddenly leapt through the fire and landed in the ring unharmed. "Malcolm is your friend, Tommy."

"How did you get through the fire?! Prince Gasket screeched as the fire suddenly began to fade. "NO!"

Tommy suddenly let out a pain filled yell and rolled off of Malcolm as if he had been knocked off of him by some invisible force, "Malcolm, are you all right?" Jason asked, quickly kneeling next to his cousin.

Malcolm didn't reply, however; he slowly sat up and quickly scooted over to where Tommy lay unconscious and barely breathing, "How are we supposed to get him out of here?" Jason asked.

"Uncle Frank," Tommy suddenly moaned even though he remained unconscious. "Uncle Frank."

Suddenly, there was a loud hissing sound followed by an explosion, "WHAT IS THIS TRICKERY?!" Prince Gasket yelled in a scandalized voice as debris began to fall from the ceiling. "YOU RANGERS DON'T HAVE YOUR POWERS, SO HOW DID YOU CONJURE UP THESE EXPLOSIONS?! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

A loud cackling suddenly rang out, "DID YOU THINK I WAS JUST GOING TO LET YOU TAKE OVER MY PALACE AND EVERYTHING I WORKED SO HARD TO CONQUER?!" Rita's enraged voice roared.

Adam, Rocky, Katherine, and Tanya quickly joined Jason, Malcolm, and Tommy in the circle, "Join hands and let's focus on escaping here," Malcolm said in an anxious voice. "Our hearts can save all of us."

Knowing they didn't have much time, all of the Rangers knelt around Tommy and joined his hands with their own. Almost immediately, a bright glow arose and all of them suddenly vanished from the arena as another explosion rocked the entire arena.

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