The New Evil
by Christina Ortega

“246 bottles of slime on the wall, 246 bottles of slime. You take one down and pass it around, 245 bottles-”

“Will you put a cork in it, bone bag!” Rita Repulsa yelled at her brother who was sitting in the back seat of the Winnebago.

Rito Repulsa pouted, “I’m just trying to pass the time.”

“You’ve been singing for 3 hours!” Goldar complained, shifting in his seat.

Finster sighed. He didn’t know how he had ended up with such incompetent monsters. Finster knew that he had pledged his allegiance to Rita, and he would never change that, but that was before he had met Goldar and Rito. Sure, Goldar wasn’t that bad, but Rito was nothing but an annoying goofball. He looked at Rita and tried to sound reassuring, “We should reach the palace in a few minutes.”

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take!” Lord Zedd exclaimed, trying to concentrate on the map in front of him.

Rito looked up at him, “Hey, Ed, are we almost there? I really gotta go.”

“It’s Zedd, you idiot, and yes, we’re almost there.”

He had just said this when the moon palace appeared in front of them. Rita grinned in delight. Finster let out a relieved breath. Zedd cackled, “Now, we can destroy those power punks!”

As soon as the Winnebago pulled up at the front of the palace, Rito flung the door open, “Outta my way, I gotta go!” He ran up the stairs of the lower chambers, almost knocking down a pack of Tengas who had already arrived.

Soon, Zedd and Rita were back in the Throne Room. Rita examined everything carefully, “It’s just like we left it. Oh, I’ve missed it here, Zedd.”

“As have I,” Zedd agreed.

Just then, a bright light filled the room. Goldar, who had just entered, shaded his eyes. Rita ran over to Zedd as he looked around trying to see what was causing the brightness. When the light dimmed, two figures stood before them. One was a young human woman with blond hair running all the way down her back. On her head was a crown of gold with purple jewels on the edges. Her chest was clothed only in a black bikini-like top with straps that were draped all along her right shoulder. She also wore a long silk black skirt that ran all the way down to her feet which were in black sandals. Her partner was a big ugly black raven with a similar crown on his head. He was dressed in a colorful robe. The bird spoke first, “Are you Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, the keepers of our old henchman, Finster?”

As if on cue, Finster walked into the room. Seeing the two people, he put a hand to his mouth, “Dare I believe my eyes? Is it King Rashell and Queen Uriel that I see before me?”

“That you do, Finster,” Uriel replied. Turning to Zedd, she smiled, “We are from the Gringei sector of the Crepton galaxy. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“We have heard of the destruction of the Machine Empire, and we have come to congratulate their destructors,” Rashell explained.

Rita grinned, “We are also pleased to make your acquaintance. Actually, we have just returned from destroying the Machine Empire.”

“Rashell,” Zedd began, “You are from the Gringei sector, which means that you were present when Zordon’s warriors defeated the evil armies centuries ago?”

“That I was, though I was a young lad at the time. All I know was that Zordon was responsible for the death of my brother and my father’s most trusted servant. I have held a grudge against the old fool since.”

Rita understood what her husband was getting at, “Our greatest objective is to destroy Zordon and his Power Rangers, and we would be honored if you would join us.”

“Zordon still lives?” Rashell was shocked.

Zedd shook his head, “I’m afraid so. Will you join us?”

Uriel laughed darkly, “It would be our pleasure to join you. Finally, we will avenge the deaths of all who were slain so long ago.”

“GOLDAR!” Rita called.

Goldar, who had been watching from the doorway, scurried into the throne room, “Yes, my Empress?”

“Go and summon Scorpina. I would not want her to miss out on the destruction of the rangers.”

“As you wish, my Empress,” Goldar said. With that, he left.

Zedd turned to the Earth and cackled, “Soon, rangers, you will be no more.”

Tommy Oliver tied his hair back in a red band before turning back towards his sparring partner, Rocky DeSantos. Rocky gulped, “You have that look in your eyes that says I’m going to get a beat down.”

“Rocky,” Tommy laughed, “When have I ever given you a beat down?” Thinking for a moment, he sighed, “Don’t answer that.”

The two began to spar, and after five minutes, Rocky was on the floor. Tommy held out his hand to help Rocky up. He smiled and got back into position. After another five minutes Rocky was on the mats again.

At that moment Katherine Hilliard and Tanya Sloan entered the Youth Bar just to see Rocky being knocked to the mats again. Tanya shook her head, “Poor Rocky.”

Kat grinned, “Yeah, but at least he gets a lot of practice out of it. He told me once that he learns more from sparring with Tommy and Jason than he does at his classes.”

Tommy spotted the two girls, and after helping Rocky off the mats again, he ran over to them, “Hey.”

“You’re looking good over there,” Kat said, kissing his cheek. Looking at Rocky who was walking closer, she whispered, “Let Rocky win once.”

Rocky, who had just joined them, grinned, “I heard that!” Kat giggled.

Tommy hit his shoulder, playfully, “You did good today, Rocky.”

“Yeah,” Rocky sighed, “but I still got my ass kicked.”

Just then, Jason Scott walked into the Youth Center and almost crashed into the small group that was gathered by the door. Tanya laughed, “I guess we should grab a table, huh?”

“I agree,” Kat said, pulling Tommy and Rocky over to one and pushing them into chairs. Jason followed and plopped into one next to Tommy and Tanya.

Adam Park, who had been sitting at the bar, grabbed a chair next to Tanya and Rocky. He looked at Tommy, “You said that you were going to spar with me later.”

“I still will,” Tommy said. He glanced at Rocky, “Is that OK with you?”

“Sure,” Rocky said, “I’ve been embarrassed enough for one day.”

“C’mon, Rocko, you’re a whole lot better than you used to be!”

“So are you,” Rocky pointed out.

Tommy shrugged, “I don’t think so.”

Jason, who had been sipping a Coke, almost choked. Tommy looked at him, startled. Jason glanced at him, “You don’t think you’ve improved at all over the last few months?”

Tommy looked at everyone at the table. They were giving his surprised looks. He smiled, “OK, OK, I guess I have.”

As the 6 teens continued to talk, they were totally oblivious to the evil eyes watching them.

“That is the most disgusting sight I’ve ever seen...besides Rito,” Zedd muttered.

Rashell looked at him, “These six pathetic humans are the Power Rangers that are so well known around the galaxy?”

“Not six, just five,” Rita said, looking out of her telescope, “The one with the black shirt isn’t a ranger, but he used to be the holder of the Gold Powers before Trey took them back.”

Uriel smirked, “Trey of Triforia? That boy is such a loser. He has no life. The only interesting part of that family is his sister, Gloria. Now there’s a girl who I wouldn’t mind seeing evil. She has potential, but unfortunately she’s part of the royal family. I hate the powers of good.”

“You and me both,” Rita murmured.

Just then, Goldar reentered the room with Scorpina. She smiled and bowed, “You summoned me, my Queen?”

“Yes,” Rita said, “I didn’t want you to miss the destruction of Earth. Oh yes, these two fellow villains are-”

“King Rashell and Queen Uriel,” Scorpina gasped, “I haven’t seen you in over 2 thousand years!”

Rashell tilted his head. Then, he cawed, “Ah, yes, Scorpina. You fought with us during the battle against the planet Hirpog.”

Uriel grinned, “You helped tremendously in beating those punks. It is great to see you. I feel as though we have been reunited. I mean, you are here, and Finster is here, and now we are joined with Rita and Zedd. This is marvelous.”

“Indeed,” Finster said. He was leaning against the wall.

Zedd waved his staff around, and 5 holograms appeared. Rita scowled, “These are the five rangers whom we need to defeat.”

The two newcomers studied the holograms in disgust. Looking at the one in pink, Uriel smirked, “Pink? How dreadful. Who is this brat?”

Zedd snarled, “That is Katherine. She is the pink Zeo Ranger, and is the *shudder* nicest person there is. She is so cutesy that you j>

Transfer interrupted!

“Being nice. Yuck, why can’t people realize the fun of being evil?” Rashell cried. Turning to the girl clad in yellow, he scoffed, “Who is this?”

Rita shook her head, “That is Tanya. She’s the yellow Zeo Ranger and is very optimistic about everything. In fact, she is positively perky!”

“That’s sickening!” Uriel cried.

Zedd nodded in agreement and turned to the boy in blue, “This is Rocky, and he is the blue Zeo Ranger. He’s just an idiot.”

“Oh,” Rashell said, curtly. Looking at the human in green, he couldn’t help but smile, “This boy looks like he’s going to be sea sick with all that green on!”

“That’s Adam,” Rita explained, “He’s the green Zeo Ranger. There’s nothing really annoying about Adam, only that he’s always quiet. He’s quiet and shy.”

Goldar snickered. Uriel sighed, “Shy people suck.” Turning to the boy in red, she tilted her head in confusion, “You aren’t saying that this long haired freak is the leader of the Power Rangers, are you?”

Rita and Rito both gagged. Zedd growled at the hologram, “That’s what we’re saying. He’s Tommy, the red Zeo Ranger. Humph, I could go into a million annoying things about him! I’ll just say one, he’s noble. You just want to blow him up when he says his little heroic phrases.”

“Yeah,” Rita agreed, “And he blames everything on himself. Sure, that can usually be used to our advantage, but his whining can get very angering. Plus, he’s a traitor. Tommy was the carrier of the Green Ranger powers, but he was made good again, and he used the powers for good! Yuck!”

Zedd, having seen enough of the former evil ranger, pointed his staff at the hologram, making it disappear. Rashell shook his head, “Well, I guess there’s no need to ask who your least favorite ranger is.” Rita gagged. Goldar and Scorpina snarled.

Zedd turned to the two newcomers, “We will make a deal with you. If you help us destroy Zordon and the Earth, we will give you any ranger whom you desire to torture, or, if you’d like, we’ll give you all of them, as long as you leave the leader to us. We wish to get our revenge on the power pest.”

Uriel looked at Rashell, then turned back to the two, “As you wish. We don’t know enough about this Tommy to want to destroy him. You may do whatever you want with him. Now, we must strategize on how we are to destroy Earth.”

Everyone in the throne room fantasized the deaths of the Power Rangers and the destruction of Earth, and soon all of them were laughing.

Tommy and Adam had just begun to spar when their communicators beeped. Tommy looked at the others sitting at the table, and they joined him by the entrance of the Juice Bar. Making sure that the coast was clear, Tommy lifted his communicator closer to his mouth, “This is Tommy. Go ahead.”

“TOMMY,” Zordon began. “RITA AND ZEDD HAVE SENT A NEW MONSTER TO EARTH. HE IS ATTACKING THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT OF ANGEL GROVE. YOU MUST GET TO YOUR ZORDS AND DESTROY HIM BEFORE HE CAN REACH THE POPULATION.”

“You got it, Zordon,” Tommy said. Looking around once more, he yelled, “It’s morphing time!”

“ZEO RANGER 1, PINK!”

“ZEO RANGER 2, YELLOW!”

“ZEO RANGER 3, BLUE!”

“ZEO RANGER 4, GREEN!”

“ZEO RANGER 5, RED!”

Jason watched from his seat at the bar and sighed. Even though he didn’t mind not being a ranger, part of him missed it.

“I’ll destroy you all!” The monster called down to the rangers.

Tommy ignored him and looked at the others, “Everyone ready?”

“We need zeozord power now!” They chimed in unison.

From the mountain where the zords were kept a cannon shot out. From the cannon came the 5 zeo zords. The rangers jumped into their zords, and soon the zeomegazord was completed. “Let’s send this guy back to Rita in pieces!” Kat exclaimed.

The battle raged on for a few minutes, and the rangers were taking a beating. Tommy knew what he had to do, “Redbattlezord now!”

Tommy left the megazord and entered his own zord, knowing that he was in control mentally and that he could easily pilot it. “Tommy,” Adam called from the other zord, “Do you want to link up?”

“Definitely,” Tommy said. He easily made the redbattlezord link up with the zeomegazord, and together they defeated the monster.

Rashell paced through the throne room. Uriel was looking out of Rita’s telescope. She grinned, “Well, they defeated the monster, but that doesn’t matter. It was a stupid monster anyway.”

“I’ll say,” Zedd agreed, “Even those machine punks had better monsters than that.”

“Well,” Rashell said, “I’ve found out two things. Number one, we need to separate those rangers. If they are not a team, then they cannot function. Number two, we need to attack different places besides the stupid warehouse district of Angel Grove. Go for the people, I always say, and go for other places besides Angel Grove. Our next objective should be to attack Stone Canyon, and then launch a separate attack on Angel Grove.”

“How brilliant,” Rita exclaimed.

Uriel nodded, “Wonderful, darling.”

“Scorpina,” Rita said, turning to the woman standing by Goldar at the far end of the room, “Go to Angel Grove with a pack of Tengas, Instead of immediately growing, attack civilians passing by.”

“As you wish,” Scorpina replied, and in a flash of red she was gone.

“Goldar, go to Stone Canyon in an enlarged state and destroy as much of the population as you can,” Zedd commanded.

“You command, and I obey, Lord Zedd,” Goldar said, and he disappeared in a shower of flames.

Rashell cawed, “It is the beginning of the end for Zordon and the Earth.” The group laughed heartily.

The alarms in the Power Chamber went off. Rocky sighed, “What now?”

“Ay yi yi!” Alpha exclaimed, “Scorpina is attacking civilians in Angel Grove!”

“What?” Tanya questioned. Looking at the viewing globe, the rangers watched in horror as the Japanese woman in the golden armor attacked a group of people. She shot firebeams at them, and they almost seemed to melt in the steamy rays. Passerbys screamed in terror.

Tommy, who was the only one to have seen and fought Scorpina, shuddered. Turning to Zordon, he frowned, “We have to stop her.”

“Wait!” Alpha yelled, “Ay yi yi! Goldar has grown and is attacking Stone Canyon!”

A new image came on the viewing globe. It showed Goldar firing on buildings. People were running as fast as they could from him, but Goldar kept firing and soon many people were on the street, lifeless. Rocky and Adam’s eyes widened as they watched their old city being destroyed, “We have to evacuate the people that are still alive.”

“Angel Grove Caves!” Kat said, “It makes perfect sense to take them there for now.”

“Right,” Tommy said, “Adam, Rocky, and Tanya, get as many people as you can into the caves. Kat and I will deal with Scorpina.”

“Right,” They all said in unison, “Back to action!”

After the rangers had teleported away, Alpha looked at Zordon, concerned, “What is wrong, Zordon?”

“SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE, ALPHA. I FEAR THAT THE WORST HAS HAPPENED. THERE HAS BEEN A STRENGTHENING OF EVIL IN THE MORPHING GRID, AND I SENSE THAT LORD ZEDD AND RITA REPULSA MAY NOT BE OUR ONLY ENEMIES.” Zordon replied.

“You don’t mean-” Alpha was cut off.

Zordon nodded, “I FEAR THAT RASHELL AND URIEL HAVE RETURNED, AND THAT THEY HAVE JOINED FORCES WITH ZEDD AND RITA.”

“Ay yi yi!” Alpha exclaimed.

“Give it up, Scorpina,” Tommy yelled,

Scorpina smirked, “Ah, Tommy, I believe that this is far from over. You’ve changed shades, Green Ranger.”

Kat looked at Tommy, confused. He shook his head, “I don’t wear that color anymore.”

“Tengas, attack!” Scorpina commanded. Kat and Tommy got into fighting stance, and soon were engaged in battle. While the two rangers were occupied, Scorpina continued her raid on Angel Grove.

“Zordon,” Tommy said into his communicator, “Can any of the others help us?”

“THEY ARE UNABLE TO HELP AT THE TIME,” Zordon said.

Kat groaned, “I don’t know how much more of this we can take! I feel weak!”

“Me too,” Tommy agreed. Looking at the oncoming Tengas, he called for his Power Sword and was able to destroy four of them.

“Zeo 1 power shield!” Kat called. She ran right into a group of five Tengas and got rid of them all.

Scorpina laughed, “Is that all you have, power brats?” She fired at the two tired rangers, and easily sent them both soaring to the ground.

Kat watched, terrified, as her armor disappeared for a moment and then returned. “Tommy!” She screamed, “I’m losing power! My suit flickered!”

“Mine hasn’t yet,” Tommy said, “Maybe you should just get out of here and help the others.”

“I can’t leave you!” She exclaimed.

Tommy looked at her, thoughtfully, “I’ll be OK.”

“No way,” Kat said, and Tommy knew that she wasn’t going to be persuaded to leave.

“What’s going on?” A woman with a baby asked Rocky.

Rocky, in his blue ranger form, continued to push her and the rest of a group of people along, “The city is under attack. We’re going to bring you to a safe place.”

Meanwhile, a man was fighting with Tanya, “Yellow Ranger, we can’t leave my wife. I don’t know if she got out safely!”

“I’m sure she did,” Tanya tried to sound reassuring, “but if you don’t get out of here, you could be killed!”

“Green Ranger!” A young girl, not more that seven, said, “What about my mommy? I can’t leave my mommy! I want my mommy!”

“You’ll meet her at the caves, sweetheart,” Adam lied. He was almost positive that he’d seen the woman destroyed, and just the very thought made him flush with anger.

Goldar, who was still firing on the people, laughed, “Give it up, Zeo Rangers! There’s nothing you can do! Everyone will be destroyed!” Shooting at a group of people that were running to the caves, he watched in pleasure as four of them fell to the ground.

“We have to keep moving!” Rocky yelled to the two other rangers, “Soon, the whole city will be up in flames!”

“TOMMY!” Zordon called over the intercom system. All he got was static. “TOMMY!” He tried again.

“Yeah.” The reply was muffled and weak.

“GOLDAR HAS ALMOST FINISHED OFF STONE CANYON, AND HE IS BEGINNING TO FIRE ON ANGEL GROVE. YOU AND KAT MUST EVACUATE THE CITY.”

“But Zordon,” Tommy protested, “We still have Scorpina-”

“SHE WILL MOST LIKELY CONTINUE TO TERRORIZE THE CITY. YOU’RE NOT DOING ANY GOOD GETTING BEAT UP DOWN THERE.”

“All right, Zordon, but how-shhshhshshshshshshshshshshshshsshs” Static cut off the connection.

Alpha looked at Zordon, worriedly, “Ay yi yi! I hope they will be all right!”

Zordon thought for a moment before looking at Alpha, “TELEPORT JASON UP HERE. HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU WITH THE COMMUNICATORS.”

“You got it, Zordon,” Alpha said, pushing a few buttons on a console.

Soon, Jason was in the command center, slightly dazed. Getting his bearings, he ran over to Zordon, “What’s going on. Something was firing on us!”

“JASON,” Zordon explained, “I NEED YOU TO HELP ALPHA WITH THE REPAIRS ON THE COMMUNICATORS.”

“But Zordon,” Jason protested, “I don’t know how-”

“IT IS OF EXTREME URGENCY THAT YOU HELP. TOMMY AND KAT WILL BE SURE TO EVACUATE AS MANY PEOPLE AS THEY CAN OUT OF ANGEL GROVE, BUT I NEED TO BE ABLE TO INFORM THEM OF INFORMATION AS I GET IT. THE SAME GOES FOR TANYA, ADAM, AND ROCKY WHO ARE EVACUATING STONE CANYON.”

“Evacuations!?” Jason was shocked. Ever since he had been a power ranger, Jason had never even thought of the possibility that Angel Grove or anywhere else would need to be evacuated.

“Yes, Jason,” Alpha said, “Oh, ay yi yi, both communication and teleportation are down!”

“We have to fix them,” Jason said. Turning to Alpha, he sighed, “What do you need me to do?”

“Guys,” Tanya yelled at Rocky and Adam, “Goldar isn’t firing on Stone Canyon anymore!”

“It looks like he’s shooting at Angel Grove!” Adam exclaimed.

Rocky shook his head, “Well, he’s shooting there, but look who’s coming our way!”

Looking up, the three rangers saw a much larger Scorpina beginning to fire on the people still fleeing from Stone Canyon. “Damn!” Rocky yelled. He glanced at Adam, “How many people are in the caves?”

“A whole lot less than the number that have died,” Adam muttered.

Cursing under her breath, Tanya looked up just to see the top of a large building falling to the streets. There were a few people looking up at it, screaming. “Guys!” She yelled, running over to the people.

Adam and Rocky glanced at the place where Tanya had been looking, and they gasped. “Shit!” Adam cried, “Let’s go!”

The three rangers ran over to the group of people and pushed them along just as the building fell to the streets, crashing into a bank. Glass flew everywhere, and a few of the people that had been almost killed fell over with a bunch of scratches. Adam grabbed one of the people and continued to force the others to move. Tanya and Rocky followed his example.

“The communicators are out!” Tommy yelled to Kat as they pointed people in the direction of Angel Grove Caves.

“I know,” Kat said, “What are we going to do?”

“Just do our best to get as many people out of here as we can.”

Just then, a woman ran up to Kat, and she recognized her quickly as Mrs. Sloan. “I can’t leave!” She cried, “I don’t know where my daughter is!”

“I saw the blue ranger help her down to the caves. I’m sure she’s all right,” Kat said, reassuringly. _At least, I hope she’s all right. I hope they’re all OK over there._

Mrs. Sloan continued sobbing as her husband, Mr. Sloan, continued to pull her alone. “I’m sure Tanya’s OK,” Kat heard him say, “She’s a fighter.”

Goldar fired again, this time at a group of people running near the Juice Bar, which was now just a heap of sparks and rubble. Two of them went down, and the others continued to limp along, crying and muttering curses. Tommy watched as a small group of women sobbed and prayed as they ran to the caves. Murmuring a prayer of his own, he ran over to Kat. “I’m going back in the city to see if I can help anyone out of there. You keep all these people moving.”

“You got it Tommy,” Kat said. Watching him run off, she added, “Be careful.”

Tommy reached the inside of the city just to find that it was laying in ruins. Cars were smashed against eachother, and buildings were collapsed. Dead people littered the street. Tommy shivered, and called out, “Can anyone hear me? I’m here to help.”

Just then, four young teenage girls ran out to him from under a pile of debris. Tommy gasped. They were all scratched up, and one girl’s arm seemed broken.

“Red ranger,” One of them cried, “Help us!”

The one with the broken arm looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, “I’m scared.”

“It’s OK,” Tommy told them, “I’ll help you out. Just run with me.” They took off down the street.

Goldar, from up above, watched, amused. He cackled, “How sweet, Red Ranger. I’m sorry to ruin the moment.”

He fired at them. Tommy pulled to four girls toward him, and they narrowly dodged the laser. It flew into a car, blowing it up. Goldar fired again. This time, the beam soared over all five of them and hit a streetlight, sending it falling to the ground. Finally, they reached the outside of town, where Kat was waiting, anxiously. “Run with them to the caves,” Tommy ordered, “I’m going back.”

“But, you can’t-” Kat protested. She silenced. He was already gone. Turning to the four girls, she sighed, “Follow me, and don’t worry, we’ll make it.”

“What about the Red Ranger?” The girl with brown hair and a scratched knee asked, “Will he be all right?”

“I hope so,” Kat replied, “I really hope so.”

“Adam, should we go back into the city? We’ve already checked it out three times,” Tanya said.

“We have to keep trying,” Adam persisted.

Rocky sighed, and he felt a lump form in his throat. “I can’t believe how many people died today,” He croaked.

“No,” Adam whispered, “We have to keep trying. They can’t, I mean, how could-”

Tanya touched his shoulder, feeling tears threaten to fall from her eyes, “I don’t think there’s anymore we can do for the people. At least we were able to evacuate the majority of the city, and all we can do is hope that Tommy and Kat had the same luck.”

“Look at it, though!” Adam yelled, pointing towards the city streets, “Look at all the bodies! We could have saved these people!”

“No, Adam,” Rocky said. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, and he was glad that his helmet shielded it from the eyes of his friends, “Even with Tommy and Kat here, there would have been no way to save all these people.”

“I say we get the Superzeozords and give Goldar and Scorpina what they deserves,” Tanya snarled.

Adam nodded, “OK. We need Superzeozord power now!”

Tommy was looking around the city, when he glanced up to see Superzeozords 2, 3, and 4 soaring over his head and heading for Stone Canyon. “Good luck, guys,” He murmured. Turning his attention back to his mission, he called out, “Can anyone hear me? I’m here to help. If you can hear me call out or come to the street!”

“Help me!” A voice called.

Tommy spun around, looking for the source of the voice. “Keep talking so that I can find you.”

“I’m over here, by that car on it’s side. I can’t see you, though...”

Soon, Tommy was right by a pile of rubble, and pulling away some of the debris, he found a woman sprawled out on the ground. She was young, and had strands of brown hair shooting out in all different directions. Her face, though without blemishes, was almost completely covered in soot. He grunted, “Can you move?”

“I can,” She said, “but it’s hard. Please, my son is under me. He’s OK. Get him out of here.”

Tommy looked behind the woman, and, sure enough, a two year old boy poked his head out from under his mom. He was only scratched on the face, but after examining the mom, Tommy saw that she was burned badly on the hip. He shook his head, “I can’t leave you here!”

“Yes, you can,” She assured him, “Just go.”

After looking at her once again, he gasped, “You go to Angel Grove High!”

“Yeah,” She said. Smiling, she laughed, “While I was going out with this guy we had sex, and then he left me. I decided to keep the baby.” Looking the ranger over, she tilted her head, puzzled, “Why don’t you just go?”

“I can’t leave you,” Tommy said, “How would I explain it to your son? You have to try.”

The woman chuckled. Studying the ranger, she smiled, “For your sake, I’ll try.” Pushing herself up, she sat down on a pile of rubble, panting. She pointed at her son, “Please, take him. That way, if I don’t make it, you can keep going.”

Tommy nodded and picked up the young child, who had fallen asleep. Putting out his free hand, Tommy reached for the woman. She grabbed it, and pulled herself to her feet. After putting her weight on her feet, she cried out in pain, “I can’t do it!”

“Yes, you can,” Tommy said. Under no condition was he going to leave her, “Try, please.”

The woman looked up at Tommy, “My name is Tina Garcia. If I don’t make it, at least make sure that my son doesn’t forget that his mom loves him more than she loves her own life.” With that, she sank once more to the rubble.

Tommy shook his head, feeling tears of frustration and sadness rush to his eyes, “I can’t let you give up! You have a son, damn it! If you loved him, you would try!”

Something inside of Tina sparked, and she pushed herself to her feet again. Leaning on Tommy’s free shoulder for support, she began to limp. Slowly, the trio made their way towards the caves.

“Scorpina!” Goldar called, “We’ve got company!”

Scorpina ran over to join Goldar and they stared hatefully at the three oncoming zeozords. From inside his zord, Rocky growled, “You’re going to pay for this!”

Scorpina and Goldar joined their hands together and sent a ball of fire spiraling towards the three zords. They instantly fell over as the impact of the blow hit the zords. Adam’s zord was the first to recover, and he ran up to Goldar and punched him in the face. Goldar took a few steps back, startled, while Scorpina electrocuted Adam’s zord with her stinger. “I’m losing power!” Adam exclaimed.

“Hold on, Adam,” Rocky said, “I got you covered. Zeo power weapon!”

Rocky ran forward and struck Scorpina. Instead of falling to the ground, she laughed and struck the blue zord. “Whoa, I’m hit hard!” Rocky screamed, his zord falling over.

“I’ve got you covered, Rocky!” Tanya replied, shooting lasers at the two monsters. Scorpina fell over, but Goldar dodged the blow and struck Tanya’s zord with his sword. After blocking a few hits, Goldar finally got through and struck Tanya. The zord went crashing down.

“I’m out of it, guys!” Tanya said. She shrieked, “My zord’s burning up! I have to retreat.” Tanya abandoned her zord just as it burst into flames.

Rocky and Adam’s zords got up once again, and fired on the two monsters. “I don’t think so, power brats,” Goldar laughed, kicking Rocky’s zord right in the center.

“I’m going down, Adam! My zord’s power is completely gone!” Rocky said, frantically jumping out of his zord before it blew up.

Adam cursed silently right before getting hit by Scorpina’s stinger again. His zord crumpled, and Adam left it seconds before it exploded. Rocky and Tanya ran over to him, “Are you OK?”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, “I can’t believe this is happening!”

“Let’s teleport to the Power Chamber,” Tanya suggested.

“Good idea,” Rocky said. When they pushed their communicators nothing happened.

Rocky stared at his communicator in disbelief, “What the hell?”

“Alpha, Zordon, come in,” Adam called into his communicator. He looked at his two companions, “There’s nothing. We’ve lost all communication.”

“I don’t believe this!” Rocky exclaimed.

Tanya put a hand on his shoulder, “I just hope that Kat and Tommy are all right.”

“The caves are just a little farther,” Tommy said, trying to be reassuring, “You’re doing great.”

“No, I’m not,” The woman cried, “I can’t do it. Please, just let me die here.”

“You can’t give up,” Tommy said, “I can see the caves from here. It’s only a little bit farther.”

Suddenly, a spasm ripped through Tina, and she doubled over in pain. Tommy was instantly in front of her, “Are you OK?”

“No,” Tina said, “I feel weak. My knees ache, and I burn all over. It’s my time to die, Red Ranger.”

“Y-you can’t!” Tommy exclaimed, “Maybe I can carry both of you. Either way, I can’t leave you here!”

Tina grinned, “You know as well as I do that it would be impossible to carry both me and my son to the caves. Even if you could, I would be gone by the time we got there. Believe me, if I could keep going, I would. You’ve been a wonderful inspiration, Red Ranger.”

“I...can’t-”

Tina cut him off by putting a hand on his shoulder. She smiled, “Please, don’t feel bad for me. I’m dying in peace, but if anything happens to my son, I’ll come back from the dead and haunt you.” She giggled at her own joke.

Tommy smiled sadly, “Goodbye, Tina.”

Tina pushed herself to a sitting position and kissed Tommy’s helmet, right where his cheek would be. She smiled, and laid back down, “I’ve always wanted to kiss a Power Ranger. Goodbye.” She grabbed his hand, and her grip tightened. All of a sudden, Tina’s hand fell limp in Tommy’s. He looked up just to find that she had stopped breathing. Tina Garcia died at that moment.

Tommy gently touched the part of his mask where he had been kissed and stroked Tina’s hand before standing up. Hanging his head in respect, Tommy ran on to the caves with Jeffery Garcia in his arms, glancing back once at the woman that he had left behind. Once he reached the caves, he found Kat standing outside. Taking the kid from him, Kat entered the cave and put him down with a group of other sleeping kids. Grabbing Tommy’s arm, she pulled him back outside, “If you dare say that you’re going back into town, I’m going to kill you.”

Tommy smiled and sniffled, “I won’t leave you like that again, Kat. I’m sorry.”

Kat pulled him into her embrace, “You’re crying.”

“I know,” Tommy said, “And I-I know we’re supposed to be brave through this time, but-”

“But nothing,” Kat cut him off. Her voice was shaky, “I’m crying too. Gosh, I just wish we could get together with the others and go back to the Power Chamber. So many people died today, and I just feel like if we had moved faster, then some of them would still be alive.”

Tommy thought back to Tina, and started crying even harder. The two hugged for what seemed like an eternity, before Kat broke the embrace. “We should go back into Angel Grove,” Kat said, “I’m coming with you, though. We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Right,” Tommy agreed. “Let’s go.”

“Ay yi yi yi yi!” Alpha yelled, “Jason, is the teleportation system online?”

“Yeah, Alpha, but I don’t know how stable it is. I say we just teleport the rangers in now,” Jason replied, putting some equations into the computer.

“I’ve got a lock on Rocky,” Alpha informed him, “Teleporting now,”

A bright flash of blue filled the Power Chamber, and Rocky appeared above the floor, just to come plundering down. “That was fun,” Rocky murmured.

“Are you sure that thing’s working right?” Jason asked.

Alpha ignored him, “Here come Tanya and Adam. Ay yi yi, I hope the system doesn’t overload!”

Adam and Tanya appeared in a flash of green and yellow. Before hitting the ground, the two crashed into eachother and fell on top of Rocky. Adam got up and brushed himself off, “Good job, Alpha... I guess.”

“Yeah,” Tanya said, “At least we’re alive.”

“I have Katherine,” Jason said, “Here she comes!”

A bright pink light flew into the Power Chamber, and Kat landed... sideways.

“Great job, Alpha. That’s the weirdest teleport I’ve ever experienced,” Kat said.

“Somehow, I think the teleportation system will need a few repairs,” Jason muttered, sarcastically.

Once again, Alpha ignored him, “I’ve got Tommy in range. Oh, ay yi yi, I hope the system can last!”

A bright flash of red entered the power chamber, but instead of going to the ground, the red beam flew into the wall where the White Ranger uniform was stored. Tommy looked around, dazed, “That was a strange teleport.” Seeing Jason, he sighed, “You’re all right.”

“Yeah, bro,” Jason said. Seeing the rangers’ sad expressions, he shook his head, “Are you all OK?”

“I can’t believe how many people died!” Adam exclaimed.

“I know,” Tanya said, “I feel so... rotten, like I didn’t do my job as a ranger.”

“Guys,” Jason began, trying to reassure them, “You did the best you could, and you did save a lot of people. Without you, almost all of the people in the caves right now would be dead.”

Kat sighed, “I know, but, this was all so sudden. A few hours ago, Angel Grove and Stone Canyon were happy, peaceful cities, but now, they’re in ruins.”

Tommy didn’t say anything. Glancing down at his helmet, he felt tears fill his eyes, and he turned away from everyone else.

Zordon was distressed. He had never seen the rangers so guilt-filled and depressed. He closed his eyes, before saying, “WE FEEL THAT IT’S NECESSARY FOR YOU TO STAY HERE DURING THIS CRISIS, RANGERS. FOR YOU TO BE WITH THE OTHERS WOULD MEAN THAT WE COULD NOT CALL YOU AT ANY TIME IF THERE IS AN ATTACK ELSEWHERE.”

Rocky looked as though he was about to protest, but instead, he nodded, “OK, Zordon, but can you at least tell us why this happened? Zedd and Rita have never done anything like this before!”

Alpha walked over to the rangers, “We believe that Zedd and Rita have joined forces with two new evil beings, Rashell and Uriel. They have probably joined up with Zedd and Rita because of the fact that Zordon’s warriors defeated their warriors in the Gringei sector centuries ago.”

“Well,” Tanya began. “I’m going to sleep. It’s really late, and, besides, there’s nothing more that needs to be done tonight.”

“Me too,” Adam said.

Rocky and Kat nodded. Kat walked over to Tommy, who was staring blankly at the wall, “You should get some sleep, too.”

Tommy turned around, puffy-eyed, and faced Jason, “You’re staying here, right?”

“I’m still part of the team, man,” Jason said, and the whole group left the main chamber to go to the crisis center.

Zordon and Alpha watched them leave. Alpha sighed, “Zordon, do we even stand a chance?”

“WE ALWAYS STAND A CHANCE, ALPHA. I KNOW THAT THE RANGERS WILL PULL THROUGH THIS, AND THAT ONE DAY THEY WILL DEFEAT RASHELL AND URIEL.”

Tanya cried softly while sitting on her cot, and Adam wrapped his arms around her, “It’ll be OK.”

“I know,” Tanya said, “It’s just that I keep seeing the faces of those people who died today. I’ve never seen so much death and suffering in all of my life.”

“Neither have I,” Adam agreed, and he cried with her. Soon, they were both so exhausted that they fell asleep in eachother’s arms.

Rocky and Jason had been talking for awhile, and after Rocky had gone to sleep, Jason joined Kat on her bed. She was looking at the ceiling. Jason sighed, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m so glad you weren’t there, Jason,” Kat cried, “It was hard enough for us, and I would have hated to have seen your spark dimmed by all the dying that happened.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “Even in the center of all that dying, Tommy still had the spark. After we had gotten as many people as we could out of the city Tommy went back. Twice. The second time, he came out carrying a small two year old child, and it seemed as if his heart had been broken in two. He won’t tell me what happened, Jason. Please, can you talk to him?”

“Definitely, Kat. You get some sleep, OK?”

“OK. Goodnight, Jason.”

“Goodnight, Kat.”

It broke Jason’s heart to leave her. No, he didn’t like Kat in that way, but there was something about her that could tear a person apart when she was upset about something. Tommy had that affect on people, too, which was probably why they got along so well. After leaving Kat’s cot, Jason walked over to where Tommy was lying, and sat down next to him, “It was a rough day for you guys, Tommy. I’m sorry that you had to go through all that.”

Tommy looked at him and hesitantly sat up. He sighed, “It’s not just that, Jason. I know that it’s kinda inhuman not to be affected by all those people dying, but I wasn’t at first. It seemed as if all those people were part of a video game or something. You know, get as many people as you can into the caves and you get more points. I didn’t realize all the hurt that people were going through at that time.” When he said this, he seemed to choke up.

Jason shook his head, “Kat said something about a little boy that you came out with today. She said that it seemed as if something had broken your heart when you went into the city the second time.”

A tear rolled down Tommy’s cheek, “When I went in the second time, there was a girl that went to high school with us, although I never knew her personally. I’d seen her a few times in the hallway, but that was it. She had a two year old son with her, and she told me about how she had sex with a guy, and then he left her with her son.” Tommy swallowed hard, and then continued, “I told her that she needed to get out of the city and get to the caves, but she protested. She said that I should just take her son and get out; that I should just leave her there, but I couldn’t, Jase. I kept telling her that she needed to come with me, and finally she did. We reached the outskirts of Angel Grove, when she had a small seizure, and fell to the ground. I tried to tell her that we were close to the caves. At that point I could see them, Jase, but she said that she couldn’t go on, and that it was her time to die. Damn, I was so persistent! I kept telling her that she could get to the caves, and she told me that there was no way she could. I even said that I would carry her there, but she laughed at me and told me that there was no way I could carry both her and her son at the same time, and that her son, Jeff, was more important. Then, she told me that she was at peace, and she kissed my helmet, and told me that she’d always wanted to kiss a power ranger, and then she died. Jason, she died right in my hands!” At that point, Tommy was sobbing as he recalled the memory of Tina Garcia’s death. He wiped furiously at the tears, as if he was ashamed of crying, and took a deep breath, “Then, everything came into perspective. I looked around and saw all these people lying on the ground, dead, and I started thinking about the fact that every one of those people had a life. Most of them were probably husbands or wives, and they had a job and a family, and some of them were kids, Jason. A few of them were just four or five years old, and some were younger, and I can’t believe that they all died, and I guess I blame myself for that. I know that it wasn’t my fault that this happened, but in a way I feel like I let all those people down.”

“Tommy, I-” Jason stopped mid sentence. _What can I say that would make him feel any better. Nothing_ Instead, Jason did the only thing he could think of. He hugged him. Tommy hugged back, and the two cried for nearly an hour. Finally, Jason withdrew, “You should get some sleep.”

“You should, too, man,” Tommy said. He smiled weakly, “Thanks, Jason. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Same here, Tommy,” Jason assured him, “You know I’m always here to listen, bro.” Seeing Tommy lie on the cot once again, Jason returned to his own cot and went to sleep.

“A toast,” Rita laughed, holding up her wine glass, “To the destruction of Stone Canyon and Angel Grove!”

“Cheers!” Everyone said.

Rashell cawed contentedly, “I can’t believe how easy that was. All we have to do now is destroy those power rangers.”

“That will be easy,” Zedd cackled, “Especially since superzeozords 2, 3, and 4 have been destroyed.”

“I congratulate you, Goldar and Scorpina. You did a superb job today,” Uriel said.

Goldar and Scorpina nodded, “Thank you, oh evil one.”

“This needs to be decided: Are we to attack the caves where the citizens of Angel Grove and Stone Canyon are being held, or should we just go after the rangers?” Rashell asked.

Zedd pondered this for a moment, “It would be good to go after the people again. After all, you did see how emotionally damaging it was for the rangers, and they became weaker.”

“Yes, my Lord. Katherine and Rocky’s powers even flickered for a moment,” Goldar agreed.

“What are we accomplishing by going after the people? We should be able to enjoy that once the rangers have been destroyed. I say that we just go straight for the rangers. Maybe we can attack the Power Chamber. Then, we can destroy Zordon once and for all,” Rita argued.

Uriel nodded, “Let’s lure the rangers out of the Power Chamber. Then, once the rangers are distracted, we can destroy Zordon and Alpha 5. After we have done that, the morphing grid will be greatly damaged, and since the rangers are already under so much stress, we will be rid of them in no time.”

“Outstanding plan, my darling,” Rashell exclaimed, smiling.

“Yes,” Zedd said, “It’s a perfect idea. Just remember our deal. Do what you want with the other rangers, but the leader is ours.”

“We’ll remember, don’t worry,” Uriel assured him. The four evil monsters cackled.

Alarms blared through the Power Chamber. Alpha, who had been leaning against the wall resting, nearly fell over as the sound woke him up. “Ay yi yi yi yi! What’s that?” He scurried over to the consoles and began frantically pushing buttons and turning knobs.

Zordon appeared in his tube. “ALPHA, WHAT IS GOING ON?”

“The evil forces on the moon have sent down a pack of tengas. Goldar and Scorpina are leading the attack. Oh, ay yi yi!”

“I DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE THE RANGERS TONIGHT, BUT I SUPPOSE THAT WE MUST.”

“Yes, Zordon. I’ll summon them,” Alpha said, pushing some buttons on a console, “Ay yi yi, they’re going to be exhausted.”

Jason was lying peacefully in his cot when, all of a sudden, a loud blaring noise awoke him from his slumber. He looked around, alert, “What the-?”

The alarm blared on. A voice could be heard through the alarm “Alert, alert! Crisis situation in progress! Alert!”

Rocky sat up, “What’s that?”

“We should get up to the Power Chamber,” Kat said, smoothing down her blond hair.

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed, “Let’s go.”

The group of six got off of the cots and teleported up to the main chamber. Once they got there, they found Zordon calling out commands to Alpha, and Alpha spinning around in circles about to burn out. “Zordon!” Adam yelled over all the noise, “What’s going on!?”

“RANGERS, I’M SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT THE EVIL FORCES ON THE MOON HAVE SENT DOWN A GROUP OF TENGAS. THE ATTACK IS BEING LED BY GOLDAR AND SCORPINA. YOU MUST STOP THEM BEFORE THEY GO TO THE CAVES.”

“Zordon,” Kat objected, “I’m not saying this to sound wimpy, but our powers are weak. My ranger suit flickered yesterday.”

“So did mine,” Rocky said, “I don’t know if we can do this.”

“YOU MUST DO YOUR BEST, RANGERS. I KNOW IT’S AWFUL TO HAVE TO FIGHT WITHOUT YOUR FULL POWERS, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE THAT HAS BEEN A RANGER HAS HAD TO FACE. JASON HAD TO FACE IT WHILE HE WAS THE GOLD RANGER, AND TOMMY HAD TO FACE IT CONTINUALLY AS THE GREEN RANGER.”

“He’s right, you guys,” Tanya said, “We have to save the people.”

“Let’s do it,” Tommy commanded, “It’s morphing time!”

“ZEO RANGER 1, PINK!”

“ZEO RANGER 2, YELLOW!”

“ZEO RANGER 3, BLUE!”

“ZEO RANGER 4, GREEN!”

“ZEO RANGER 5, RED!”

Scorpina turned around to see the five multi-colored rangers running towards them, “Hey, Goldar, here comes the power wimps!”

“Ah, yes,” Goldar laughed, “Hey, rangers, don’t you think we did an excellent job redecorating the cities?”

“Why don’t you just get out of here!” Tommy yelled, “Haven’t you done enough damage?”

Goldar snarled, “No, red ranger. I won’t be satisfied till I destroy you.”

“Well, I’m right here. Try your best, monkey face!” Tommy threatened. Goldar growled and ran right for him. As he came closer, Tommy turned quickly to the others, “I’ll deal with Goldar. You guys take on the Tengas and Scorpina.”

“Right,” The others chimed in unison.

Adam was charged by a group of Tengas. “All right, bird brains, who wants to be first?” One Tenga stepped forward to attack but was, instead, kicked into a tree.

Tanya flipped a Tenga onto it’s back and punched it in the stomach.

Kat, recalling all the people that died the prior day, kicked a Tenga furiously in the head.

Rocky kicked a Tenga in the groin, and then went for Scorpina.

Tommy and Goldar circled eachother. “You’re mine, Tommy,” Goldar said.

“I don’t think so, you Wizard of Oz reject,” Tommy retorted.

Goldar snorted, “You talk is tough now, but soon you will be begging for mercy.”

“You’ll be the one begging for mercy,” Tommy spat, and with that he charged. Goldar pulled out his sword quickly and slashed Tommy in the chest. Tommy pulled out his zeo pistol and shot it a few times at Goldar. He fell over in pain.

“You’re mine, Scorpina!” Rocky yelled.

“You want to take me on, little blue ranger?” Scorpina laughed, “To me you’re just a little child, and I killed enough of them yesterday. Haha.”

“Go back to hell,” Rocky screamed, and he ran forward with his zeo pistol in hand.

“Ugh! Goldar is nothing more than a stupid buffoon!” Rita exclaimed, “He’s letting Red Ranger walk all over him! Bleck!”

“Darling, would you mind if I take a crack at it?” Uriel asked.

“Go ahead, Dear,” Rashell said, rubbing his beak, “No offense, Zedd, but that Goldar henchman you have sucks! It’s not that’s he’s not scary and powerful, but fighting wise, he sucks!”

“He does well against the other rangers,” Zedd argued, “It’s just _Tommy_. I told you that boy was annoying.”

“I’m beginning to see why you hate that guy so much,” Rashell agreed.

The rangers were gaining the upper hand, when all of a sudden the sky became black, and Uriel appeared on top of a hill in front of them. Rocky couldn’t help but stare. “Who’s that?” He asked.

“Hello, rangers,” Uriel said, “I am Uriel, Queen of the Gringei sector of the Crepton Galaxy. Prepare to meet your doom!” With that, she pointed her fingers at the rangers. Black lasers shot out of them and hit Tanya right in the chest. As Adam ran to help her, Uriel smirked, “I’ve always hated yellow.”

“Go back to the moon, you bitch,” Tommy snarled.

Uriel looked at him, smiling evilly, “Ah, so you’re the little bastard that Rita and Zedd told me about. They were right, you are annoying.”

“Thanks for the compliments,” Tommy smirked, “I could say the same things about them.”

Uriel frowned. Turning to the other four rangers, she chuckled, “Zedd and Rita’s monsters are useless. Meet my armies!” She raised her hands, and out from the ground came a large crowd of monsters. They were clothed in brown garments, and all of their bodies were covered except for their eyes, which were black. Uriel pointed at the rangers, “Jagas, attack!” The Jagas hopped off the hills and attacked zeo rangers 1-4. Surprisingly, none of them attacked Zeo Ranger 5.

Tommy noticed this, and laughed, “What’s up, Uriel? Do you already know that I can beat those little creeps? Well, so can the others, and they’re doing so right now.” Sure enough, the other rangers were easily beating the Jagas, even though they were greatly outnumbered.

Uriel ignored him and looked at Goldar and Scorpina, “Be gone. Return to Rita and Zedd.”

“As you wish,” Goldar and Scorpina said in unison, and, in a puff of smoke, they were gone.

Looking again at the Red Ranger, Uriel cackled, “So, you want a challenge, Tommy? You’ve got it. Take me on, if you think you’re worthy.”

Tommy smiled, “The question is, are you worthy of fighting me? I don’t think so.”

“We’ll see about that,” Uriel threatened, and with that, she hopped off the hill and attacked Tommy.

“Ay yi yi! Uriel is attacking Tommy!” Alpha exclaimed. Once again looking at the viewing globe, Alpha tilted his head in surprise, “It looks like he’s winning!”

“All right, Tommy!” Jason said, grinning.

Zordon frowned, “THOUGH TOMMY MAY SEEM TO HAVE THE UPPER HAND NOW, I FEAR THAT URIEL PROBABLY HAS MANY THINGS UP HER SLEEVE.”

Sure enough, the three watched as Uriel drew up an energy bolt and fired it at the Red Ranger. Tommy yelped in surprise and fell to the ground. Looking around behind Tommy, Alpha saw that the other rangers were beginning to tire, and were, therefore, starting to lose to the Jagas. Jason looked at Zordon, “They aren’t going to be able to last much longer.”

“I AGREE, JASON. ALPHA, CONTACT THE RANGERS AND TELL THEM TO TELEPORT HERE IMMEDIATELY.”

Alpha shook his head, “The communicators are still not stable. We won’t be able to get through for a long time. Ay yi yi!”

Jason shook his head. _Please, guys_ Jason thought to himself, _I know that you’ll pull though. You’ve got to. Angel Grove, Stone Canyon, and the rest of the world depends on it_

Kat was flipped over by a Jaga. She cried out in pain and clutched her shoulder. Kat glanced over, and saw Adam trying to fend off a whole group of Jagas. “Adam,” She yelled, “I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to hold out!”

“I know,” Adam said. He frantically looked around for Rocky. Finally, he spotted him fighting some Jagas farther away, “Rocky, are you close enough to Tommy that he’ll hear you?”

“I guess so,” Rocky called, “Do you want me to ask him for help?”

“You read my mind,” Adam replied, sarcastically. Just then, he was kicked to the ground by two Jagas.

“Tommy, we need help!” Rocky screamed.

Tommy looked up from fighting Uriel, “I have my hands full, Rocky! There’s no way I can help out! Sorry!”

“That’s right, Red Ranger,” Uriel laughed, kicking Tommy’s feet to prevent him from standing up, “You do have your hands full with me. Ha ha!”

Tommy was about to retort, when all of a sudden his communicator beeped. Cursing, Tommy rolled over and quickly pulled his communicator up to his mouth, “I read you, Zordon.”

There was static on the other end, and all Tommy could make out was “...come...danger....weak...now!”

“Zordon, I can’t make you out!” Tommy called into the communicator. Just then, Uriel kicked him in the back. Pulling him to his feet, Uriel laughed.

“Aw, little leader trying to get tips from Zordon? Well, too bad, Tommy. There’s nothing he can do to help you and your little group now. For all that it’s worth, you put up a pretty good fight. I admit, this is the first time I was actually close to breaking out in a sweat when battling an earthling, but I’m afraid, it’s time to end this charade.”

Tommy snarled, “I’m not out of it yet, Uriel.” With that, he kicked her in the stomach, making her lose her grip on him and fall back on the ground.

She got up, snorting, “You’ll pay for that, Red Ranger.”

“Come and get me,” Tommy spat.

“Don’t worry,” Uriel spat with the same amount of venom in her voice, “I intend to.”

Meanwhile, Rocky had begun to gain the upper hand on the group of Jagas he was fighting. Pulling out his power weapons, he slashed two of them in the chest, killing them both. He kicked another one in the chest, and punched a different one in the face. “That’s more like it,” Rocky said.

Adam, too, was gaining the upper hand on the Jagas. He used a power kick to destroy three Jagas, and then punched another one. Using a roundhouse kick, he finished the Jaga off. “Ha,” he laughed, “Losers.”

“Ah, Uriel is being humiliated!” Rashell cried.

Rita smirked, “That’s what she gets for putting down our Tengas.” Zedd nodded.

Rashell turned to the two monsters, “I’m sending down a fleet of Jaga pilots to attack the Power Chamber. It will help us gain the upper hand once again.”

Ten Jagas appeared in front of the large raven, nodded, and left the throne room. Soon, the three watched as the ten flew towards Earth in little fighter jets. Rita smiled, “At last, Zordon will be eliminated.”

Jason looked around as alarms went off in the Power Chamber. “What’s going on?”

“I have ten unidentified crafts located on our scanners. They are rapidly approaching us, and will be here in one minute.”

“IT’S TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING,” Zordon proclaimed, “BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

A violent tremor went through the Power Chamber, sending both Jason and Alpha crashing to the ground. Consoles around the room burst into flames, and Zordon’s tube shook. When it was finally over, the consoles lay in tangled heaps of wires. Jason pulled himself up, and ran over to help Alpha, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Jason,” Alpha assured him. Looking around Alpha began to study the consoles, “Ay yi yi! Most of the systems are down to 15%, and some are lower than that!”

“WHAT IS THE STATIS OF THE TELEPORTATION SYSTEM, ALPHA?”

“75%, Zordon. We’ll be able to teleport the rangers up here, but, oh ay yi yi!”

“What is it?” Jason asked.

“The morphing systems are down to 5%! We need to get the rangers back up here now!”

“ALPHA, CHECK ON THEM WITH THE VIEWING GLOBE. I HAVE A FEELING THE WORSE HAS FINALLY HAPPENED.”

“The viewing globe’s power is down, Zordon, so the picture won’t be clear.” After looking at the viewing globe, Alpha broke into a long chorus of Ay yi yi’s

Jason saw what Alpha had seen. Kat and Rocky were both unmorphed and looking around, confused. Tanya’s costume was flickering. Adam was still morphed, but was now weak, and it seemed as if he would pass out at any moment. Tommy was doubled over in pain as Uriel laughed at him.

Kat was beating up another Jaga, when all of a sudden her costume began to flicker. “Great,” She murmured. Kat spotted Tanya, “I’m losing power again!”

_From far away she heard Rocky call, “So am I. My suit is flickering!”

Suddenly, Kat looked down only to see that she was no longer morphed. After being kicked down by a Jaga, she looked beneath it to see a pair of blue jeans. Kat easily recognized them as Rocky’s. “My power’s gone!” Rocky yelled.

Kat stood again, and flipped to keep from being kicked by a Jaga, “Mine is, too!”

At that moment, Tanya’s suit began to flicker, “I’m losing power! My suit is flickering like yours was.”

She looked over to see Adam wavering back and forth. “Are you OK?” Tanya called.

Adam shook his head, “I feel really sick. My head is spinning.”

Tommy, who had been watching as Uriel got up from where he had kicked her down, suddenly felt burning pain shoot through his body. He doubled over, crying in agony. “Damn,” he gasped, breathing rapidly. His suit flickered once, but he remained morphed.

Uriel, seeing what had happened, laughed, “What’s the matter, fearless leader? Was I too hard on you? Ha!”

Tommy wanted to get back up, but when he tried, he felt another wave of pain and nausea rush over him. Lying on the ground, Tommy continued to gasp for breath. Uriel walked over to him and, taking advantage of the situation, kicked him a few times in the ribs. Sparks flew from Tommy’s suit, and he rolled over, groaning.

A spasm went through Tanya, and suddenly her suit was gone. Looking around, Tanya ran over to where Kat and Rocky had joined together. “I don’t like this, you guys,” Tanya said, “Something is really wrong.”

The three looked over to see Adam pass out. He unmorphed instantly. Tanya left the others to run over to her boyfriend, “Adam?” She got no reply. Tanya shook him, tears in her eyes. Again, she got no reply.

Tommy shuddered violently, and he felt his powers leave him, making him feel even more sick. Uriel picked him up and cackled, “I have won, Red Ranger, or should I say, Tommy.”

Tommy did not respond, but instead, he moaned in pain. Uriel chuckled darkly and pulled out a knife with a bronze handle. Three purple rhinestones went down the side of the handle. Uriel held it up to Tommy’s throat, “This has been fun, Tommy, but I’m afraid that the time has come to end this game.” She was about to jam the knife down on Tommy’s throat when she was teleported away. This made Tommy fall to the ground, groaning.

Tommy staggered for a bit, and was finally able to balance himself on his feet. Slowly, he walked over to where Adam and Tanya were. The Jagas had teleported along with Uriel. “Are you guys all right?” Tommy questioned, weakly.

“I’m OK,” Tanya said. Motioning to Adam, she looked back up at her leader, “He passed out. You look awful.”

“I feel awful,” Tommy said. He watched as Rocky and Kat ran over to him. Rocky grabbed Tommy’s arm as he rocked back and forth a little bit.

“Let’s get to the Power Chamber,” Rocky suggested, “Zordon probably knows what happened.”

“Good idea,” Kat said.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Tommy pushed a button along with the others on his communicator. The beams finally carried them away after a few seconds.

“You teleported me away!” Uriel exclaimed, surprised.

“Of course we did, traitor!” Rita yelled.

Uriel pouted, “I was just going to finish Tommy off for you.”

Zedd snarled, “You agreed to let us dispose of him! We actually trusted you!”

“Wait a minute,” Rashell argued, “She was just trying to help you out. Uriel probably wanted to please you by seeking revenge on Tommy herself, and she had the perfect opportunity.”

“Perfect opportunity my ass!” Rita exclaimed, “She had the perfect opportunity to bring the Red Ranger to us, but no! She had to go and pull out her nifty little knife and try and kill him herself. Bleck!”

“Well, it’s just that he’s so annoying! I wanted to kill him really badly, damn it!” Uriel exclaimed. Rita sighed.

Zedd snorted and looked at Rashell. He was shaking his head. Zedd sighed, “You’re forgiven this time, but next time, if you choose to go into battle, make sure that you remember that the Red Ranger is ours to destroy.”

“Hey sis!” Rito called from the other side of the room, “Can I go next time? Huh? Can I?”

Zedd growled and left the room. Rita shook her head, “No, you idiot. You’re so stupid that you’d end up attacking the Tengas or the Jagas instead of the rangers.”

“May I try again, my Empress?” Goldar asked.

“Very well,” Rita sighed, “Just don’t let Rito go, and take Scorpina with you again. I swear, you can’t do anything right!”

Rita left the room to find her husband, leaving Uriel to quarrel with Rashell about how she was right for wanting to destroy Tommy.

After a few minutes, the rangers finally arrived in the Power Chamber. Adam collapsed onto the floor. Tommy leaned against a console for support. Tanya, RocDisclaimer: The characters lot of energy during the fight, fell over, exhausted. Jason ran over to them, concerned, “Man, you guys, I’m glad you’re all right.” Looking at Adam, he frowned, “Well, at least most of you are all right.” Glancing at Zordon, Jason sighed, “Why did Adam react to the power loss like that?”

“PERHAPS SOMETHING IN ADAM MAKES HIM MORE SENSITIVE TO THE POWER LOSS. YOU, TOO, ARE LIKE THAT, JASON. THE LOSS OF YOUR GOLD RANGER POWERS PROVED THAT.”

Alpha had waddled over to Tommy, and was looking him over, “You don’t look good.”

“I feel like shit,” Tommy said, balancing himself on a console as a spasm went down his spine. Glancing at the console, Tommy saw that wires were popping out of them, “What happened here?”

“We were attacked,” Jason answered for Alpha, walking over to his best friend, “It’s a safe bet that the attackers were from the moon base.”

“Why did we lose our powers?” Tanya asked.

“The attackers hit us so hard that all the consoles pretty much exploded. Most systems are barely up to 15%, and the morphing systems are down to 5% or less for some of you,” Alpha said, processing the calculations in his head to make sure he was correct, “Tanya and Tommy, your powers are at 10%. Adam’s powers are at 5%. Kat, your powers are at 3%, and Rocky, I’m sorry, but your powers are down to 1.5%. I’m surprised that you didn’t unmorph earlier.”

Rocky cursed silently, before looking at Tommy, “I saw what Uriel did with that knife, Tommy. Do you have any idea why she teleported away?”

“She seemed surprised, so my guess is someone teleported her away. I don’t know, maybe someone felt sorry for me, or maybe someone wants to kill me themselves, but I’m not arguing either way, though I would prefer the first one.” Tommy winced as pain shot through his chest. He looked at Jason, “I need to lie down for a little bit. That power thing made me really weak.”

Jason nodded, “You look shaken up. I’ll go with you so that I can bring Adam down there, too.” Jason grabbed Adam, and the three teleported away.

Kat looked at Alpha, “What are the communicators at, Alpha?”

“I’m afraid that they are at less than 20%. Ay yi yi, this is just getting worse and worse!”

“At least the teleporters are on line,” Rocky said, checking a few readouts laying on the consoles, “And the zords are at full power.”

“What about the morphing systems, Zordon? Without our powers, we don’t stand a chance!” Tanya exclaimed

“THOUGH THE POWERS WILL NOT BE AT FULL STRENGTH, YOU AND TOMMY SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS MORPHING. ADAM WON’T EITHER, AS SOON AS HE HAS RECOVERED. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH POWER IN THE MORPHING SYSTEM TO SUPPORT THOSE THREE RANGERS. KAT AND ROCKY, I’M AFRAID THAT YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MORPH UNLESS, SOMEHOW, WE ARE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN THE MORPHING SYSTEM.”

“Damn!” Rocky yelled, kicking a stray panel board across the floor, “This is not the best time to be powerless!” Seeing everyone’s surprised expressions, his shoulders slumped, “I’m sorry, you guys, but I haven’t felt this powerless since the time Master Vile made us kids, and even then, we had some hope! We knew that we could get the zeo crystals! Now, this whole situation seems hopeless. Maybe evil has won this time.”

Kat shook her head, angrily, “Never say that, Rocky! Don’t you dare say that! We’re still the power rangers, and we owe it to Angel Grove and the world not to give up. Even though we may not have our power, there is still hope. Besides, even if the situation is hopeless, I would rather go down fighting than just sitting in here feeling sorry for myself!”

“Kat’s right,” Tanya agreed, “If I go down, I’d want to go down fighting. I’m prepared to be killed in battle, because that’s a thing that I was told to be ready for when I first became a ranger, but over the time that I’ve been a ranger, I’ve learned that the most important thing that you can remember is to never give up hope. I always hoped that we would one day beat evil, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not giving that hope away so easily.”

Rocky smiled, “You’re right. There’s still hope.”

Jason had put Adam down on his cot before walking over to where Tommy was breathing rapidly and put a hand on his shoulder. Tommy looked up to see Jason looking at him, worried. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Jason asked.

Tommy nodded, “I don’t know what happened out there, but when the power loss hit, all of a sudden I was hit by all this pain, and I have no clue why.” Looking his friend over, Tommy sighed, “You don’t look OK yourself, bro.”

“I’m worried about Emily,” Jason said, “I don’t know if she’s alive. I was talking to Rocky last night before I talked to you, and he told me that he’s just as concerned about Cassandra.”

“He loves her a lot,” Tommy said, nodding, “How long have they been going out? It’s seemed like forever.”

Jason shrugged, “I think they’ve been going out for a year and a half, maybe two years.”

“Wow,” Tommy breathed.

“I know,” Jason said, “Can you imagine how hard this must be for him?”

“I would know how hard it was if Kat weren’t a ranger, and I know that you must know how it feels because of Emily. I’m really sorry, man,” Tommy said, sympathetically. Suddenly, he clenched his teeth together as another spasm ripped through him, “I’m sorry, man, it’s just I-”

“...need to rest, I know.”

“I guess I can stay up a little longer,” Tommy said, shaking his head. He winced at the pain that the small action caused.

Jason smiled. _It’s just like him to try and strain himself just to please someone_ “No, bro, it’s OK. I understand. You need some rest, especially after that power drain.”

Tommy nodded hesitantly, and laid back. Almost instantly, he was fast asleep. Jason watched him intently to make sure that he was really asleep. Convinced that he was, Jason returned to his own cot and sat down. Soon after, he felt his own eyelids droop, and he allowed himself lie back and give in to his fatigue. The three sleeping teens didn’t notice as Kat, Rocky, and Tanya teleported to the room and joined them in slumber.

The next day, all of the rangers except Adam were doing their part to try and fix the consoles. Kat walked over to Tommy and placed a hand on his, “Are you feeling better?”

Tommy smiled, “Definitely. It must have just been something with the power drain yesterday that made me feel sick, because right now I’m fine.”

Rocky, who had been working next to Tommy, turned to the two, “A part of me really wants to go to the caves and make sure that everyone I know is all right, especially Cassandra.” He said her name almost in a whisper.

Kat nodded sympathetically, “I can’t even imagine how it must feel not to know if the person you love is all right.” She glanced up at Tommy, “Although I kinda felt like that when you went back into the city those two times.”

Tommy looked at her, surprised, “Really? You knew I was OK, though.”

“No I didn’t,” Kat whispered, “Goldar was shooting at the city, and you were in there for a long time the second time. I was about to go after you because you scared the hell outta me!”

“I’m sorry,” Tommy hung his head, ashamed, “The least I could have done was take you with me.”

Rocky cleared his throat, and the two sighed. “Did either of you see Cassandra?”

“I didn’t,” Kat said.

“Me neither,” Tommy agreed. Seeing Rocky’s pained expression, he quickly added, “But we did have to bring a lot of people out in large groups. She might have been in one of them.”

Rocky frowned, unconvinced, and went back to what he was doing. Kat looked at Tommy, and the two turned back to fixing the consoles, saddened. What would happen to Rocky if Cassandra was really dead?

After about an hour, most of the consoles were fixed. Frustrated by one, Jason pounded it with his fist sending sparks flying everywhere. Alpha looked it over, surprised, “This console is online!”

Tommy looked at Jason, surprised. He shrugged, “I saw one of the Aquitar rangers do it while they were here helping Billy.” Tommy nodded, snickering. Rocky smirked. Jason flushed slightly, and began working on fixing the communications system.

“Kat!” Tanya exclaimed, “I’ve been working on the Morphing System. Your powers are up to 40%!”

“Already!?” Kat was shocked, “Does that mean I have the most power?”

“Yep,” Tanya said, “Adam’s power is up to 35%. My power is at 27%, and Tommy’s is at 23%. Rocky, yours is still down at 15%, but at least all of them are rising.”

Rocky shook his head, “It’s always me.”

Jason looked up at Zordon, “What happens if Adam is not recovered by the time the moon palace strikes again? The rangers are going to need to be at full strength.”

“I AGREE, JASON. ALPHA, IS THERE A WAY TO TRANSFER THE GREEN POWERS TO JASON?”

Jason looked at him, startled, “No, that’s not what I meant, Zor-”

“Yes, Zordon,” Alpha said. He turned to Jason, “Wait here. I’ll teleport Adam’s morphers up.” He pushed a few buttons on a console, and the morphers appeared in Jason’s hands.

“DO YOU ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITY AGAIN, JASON?”

“Always, Zordon, but, I mean, I feel bad about taking the powers from Adam without his consent.”

“Look, we need to be at full strength, Jase,” Tommy said.

Kat nodded, “Besides, we aren’t that bad of a group, are we?”

Jason shook his head, “I’d love to cover for Adam. Thanks, Zordon.”

“TRY OUT THE MORPHER SO THAT WE CAN BE SURE IT WORKS.”

“It’s morphing time!” Jason called.

“ZEO RANGER 4, GREEN!”

“Awesome!” Jason exclaimed, “I can feel the power!”

“You actually don’t look so bad in green,” Rocky acknowledged.

“Yeah, bro,” Tommy smiled, “It looks better on you than it did on me.”

Tanya, who had been quiet the whole time, stepped forward, “You look good, Jason.”

Jason looked at her, sighing, “Don’t worry, Tanya. As soon as Adam is better I’ll give him the power back.” Tanya nodded.

Suddenly, alarms went off all through the Power Chamber. “Ay yi yi!” Alpha yelled, “Not again!”

“RANGERS, GOLDAR AND SCORPINA HAVE APPEARED IN ANGEL GROVE PARK. YOU MUST STOP THEM.”

“Right,” Tommy said, “It’s morphing time!”

“ZEO RANGER 1, PINK!”

“ZEO RANGER 2, YELLOW!”

“ZEO RANGER 3, BLUE!”

“ZEO RANGER 5, RED!”

“Back to action,” Jason called. The whole group teleported away.

“We really need to stop meeting eachother like this, Red Ranger,” Goldar snarled. Looking the Green Ranger over, he tilted his head, “Something’s different about you.”

“That’s right, Goldar,” Jason called, “Guess who’s back?”

“Oh, so now Jason is back on the team. That’s only because little baby Adam couldn’t take the power loss!” Goldar laughed.

Tanya scowled, “You’re going to pay for that!”

“You’re the only ones that are going to pay for anything!” Scorpina yelled. She charged Tanya and easily sent her plummeting to the ground.

Rocky was immediately by her side, “You OK?” Tanya nodded.

“C’mon,” Goldar taunted, “Take me on, Green Ranger. In fact, why don’t both Green Rangers, past and present, take me on?”

“Be careful what you wish for, Goldar,” Tommy spat, “Ready, Jase?”

“Let’s do it!” Jason yelled, and the two attacked the big space ape.

Alpha was watching the viewing globe when, suddenly, the Power Chamber lost power. “Zordon, what’s going on?”

“I FEAR, ALPHA, THAT THE POWER CHAMBER STILL HAS NOT RECOVERED FULLY FROM THE BLASTS FROM THE CRAFTS.”

Alpha ran over to a console and looked at a readout that was printing. “Ay yi yi, the power loss is affecting the Morphing System. Rocky’s powers are down to 5% again!”

“GET ROCKY UP HERE IMMEDIATELY, ALPHA!”

“No, Zordon, I can’t, because his powers are the highest!” Alpha explained, trying to stay calm.

“WHAT ARE THE OTHER READINGS, ALPHA?”

“Jason’s readings are at 3%, Kat’s readings are at 2%, along with Tanya’s and, Ay yi yi! Tommy’s powers are down to 1%! He barely has any power at all!” Alpha said.

Zordon shook his head in disbelief, “ALPHA, TELEPORT ALL THE RANGERS HERE RIGHT NOW. I CAN’T ALLOW THEM TO ENDANGER THEMSELVES WITH SO LITTLE POWER.”

“You’ve got it, Zordon,” Alpha exclaimed, “Ay yi yi, I hope we aren’t too late!”

Kat almost screamed as her powers went out again, “I can’t believe this is happening again!”

Tanya’s suit faded as well, “What’s going on?”

Rocky, who had been fighting Scorpina, flipped over to the two just as his suit disintegrated, “Not again!”

Jason had just taken a kick at Goldar, when his powers went out, “Damn it!”

Tommy’s powers went out last, and he barely had time to duck before Goldar swiped at his head with his sword, “Shit!”

Goldar cackled, “I will destroy you all, except for you, Red Ranger. You belong to my Lord and my Empress! Hahahahaha!”

“I don’t belong to anyone, Goldar,” Tommy declared. He turned to the place where Rocky, Kat, and Tanya were, “Use the rest of your power to teleport.”

“Right,” The three said, and they teleported away, much to Scorpina’s displeasure.

Jason joined Tommy, and the two kicked Goldar right in the stomach before teleporting themselves. Scorpina watched them go, “They can’t hide forever. Sooner or later, we will destroy them.”

The rangers teleported into the Power Chamber, only to find it pitch black. The only lights were the glow of Zordon’s tube, the small lights on the consoles, and Alpha’s blinking light. “Ranger, you’re all right!” Alpha said, relieved.

“We’re all right, but our power left us again,” Tommy explained, “What’s going on with it?”

“I’M SORRY TO SAY THIS, RANGERS, BUT ALL EXCEPT FOR TANYA AND ROCKY’S POWERS ARE AT 0%. TOMMY, JASON, AND KATHERINE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MORPH AT ALL. TANYA AND ROCKY WILL BE ABLE TO MORPH, BUT ONLY FOR A SMALL PERIOD OF TIME.”

“I don’t believe this!” Rocky exclaimed.

Tanya shook her head, “This can’t happen. I mean, without our full team, we don’t stand a chance.”

“Could we possibly fight without powers?” Jason asked.

“YOU COULD, BUT I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO AGREE TO IT. THERE IS TOO MUCH DANGER OUT THERE, AND WITHOUT POWERS YOU WOULD BE HELPLESS AGAINST ATTACKERS.”

“So this is it?” Kat cried, “This is the end of the Power Rangers? We’ve lost?”

“Of course not,” Tanya said, “We haven’t lost, right?”

“Only Tanya and Rocky can morph, and even with full strength, two rangers don’t stand a chance,” Jason sighed.

“This can’t be the end!” Tommy yelled, “I refuse to go out like this! If I go out, I’m going out fighting, whether anyone comes with me or not!”

“I CANNOT ALLOW THAT, TOMMY.”

“Then, damn it, what can you allow!?” Tommy was in a rage, “We can’t just give up! We’re the power rangers, with or without powers, so, hell, if I have to go by myself I will! Two cities were just destroyed and many people were killed, but we saved most of the population! Isn’t that a reason to keep trying? We need to protect those people!”

“Tommy’s right,” Tanya agreed, “We can’t give up. There are people out there who need us, and Zordon, I don’t care if you won’t ‘allow’ something, because if Tommy goes, I go.”

“I’m going, too,” Rocky exclaimed, “Powers or no powers, I’m going to go down fighting.”

Kat nodded, “Count me in. I’m not just going to give up and watch while more people are killed!”

“I’m with you all, too,” Jason exclaimed, “If you all go, I go.”

“So, Zordon,” Tommy said, stepping forward, “Do you understand that you can’t keep us locked in here? If you do, we will escape and, I promise, that we will fight evil, even if we die trying to win.”

Zordon sighed, “VERY WELL, ALTHOUGH I AM NOT PLEASED ABOUT THE DISOBEDIENCE THAT HAS JUST TAKEN PLACE.”

“Disobedience by ass,” Rocky murmured.

Suddenly, Alpha ran up to the group, chuckling, “I’ve done it! Heh-heh heh- heh!”

“What, Alpha?” Tanya asked.

“I’ve brought your old powers back online!” Alpha exclaimed.

“You don’t mean-” Jason was shocked.

He didn’t get to finish. Alpha pushed a few buttons and suddenly the rangers all held a power coin in their hands. Tommy looked at it, amazed. Jason, too, was shocked. Rocky didn’t get it at first, but when he looked at the coin, he was startled. Kat was appalled. Tanya was confused, “What are these?”

“These are our old power coins!” Rocky exclaimed, “I can’t believe it!”

“This is amazing!” Tommy said.

“Try them out to see if they work.”

Tommy was about to make the call, when Adam walked into the room, looking wide awake, “I heard a loud banging noise and all the power went out. I thought I’d come up and see what happened.”

“Adam!” Alpha called.

“What?” Adam asked.

“Heads up!” The little droid threw something at Adam, and he looked at it, only to realize it was his old power coin.

“This is unbelievable!” Adam exclaimed. He walked over to where the whole group was standing.

“Feels like old times,” Jason remarked.

Tanya shrugged, “I’m confused.

“Here we go,” Tommy declared, “It’s morphing time!”

“TIGERZORD!”

“MASTODON!”

“PTERODACTYL!”

“TRICERATOPS!”

“SABERTOOTH TIGER!”

“TYRRANOSAURUS!”

Tommy looked down at his suit and was amazed, “I never thought I’d have the white tiger suit on again.”

“Man, it’s the tyrannosaurus suit! This is just like old times!” Jason exclaimed.

Adam was startled at first, but then he smiled, “I always thought I looked better in black.”

Rocky looked down at his suit, “I guess I’m destined to be blue.”

“You want to switch?” Jason asked.

“Nah,” Rocky said, “I wasn’t much of a second-in-command anyway.”

“Pterodactyl!” Kat exclaimed, “I’ve always loved this suit!”

Tanya grinned, “Cool!”

“Ay yi yi, there’s a monster nearing the caves!” Alpha exclaimed.

Tommy nodded, “We’ll handle it. Thanks, Alpha. Back to action!”

“Hello, rangers, I am Stingy Stingray, and I have a special stinger for all of you,” The monster purred.

“No thanks,” Rocky said.

Tommy nodded, “Yeah, go sting yourself in the ass.”

The monster chuckled. Looking at the rangers once more, he frowned, “You don’t look like the zeo rangers.”

“That’s because we’re not,” Jason called.

“Yeah, meet the new and improved Power Rangers,” Kat declared.

“Whoever you are, I will destroy you!” The monster yelled. He attacked.

While the other five rangers were battling, Tommy ran over to a bush and pulled out Saba. He tapped the sword on the head, “C’mon, old buddy, wake up.”

“Hmmm, huh?” Saba yawned.

“Saba!” Tommy exclaimed, “I’ve missed you.”

Saba yawned again, looking around, “Who is... Tommy?”

“In the flesh, Saba. It’s good to see you again.”

“I thought you had left the White Powers!” Saba exclaimed. Though usually sarcastic, Saba admitted that he had missed Tommy. They had been good partners.

“The zeo powers were destroyed, so Alpha called up our old powers.”

“Why are we back here in the bushes? I hear a monster,” Saba remarked.

Tommy chuckled, “Because I knew you’d be pissed off if I woke you up by slamming you against some creature.”

Saba stifled a laugh, “Yes, well, I would have shot you in the head. Now that I’m awake, let’s go.”

“Right,” Tommy agreed, and he flipped back into battle.

Tanya saw the little talking sword, and felt like she was going to faint. “Kat,” She whispered, “Is it just me, or is Tommy’s sword talking to him?”

Kat looked at Tommy and spotted Saba. She smiled, “That’s Saba. He’s enchanted, or something, but in battle, Saba and Tommy are partners.”

“Oh,” Tanya replied, curtly, before continuing to fight the small group of Tengas that had just teleported in. _I’ll just leave it at that_

“You’re mine, Stingy,” Rocky exclaimed, jumping into the air. He kicked the monster in the shoulder, sending it flying to the ground.

Stingy replied by getting up and pointing his fingers at Rocky. From them came large laser beams. Rocky fell back, startled. Adam immediately ran to his rescue “Power Ax!” Adam called. Immediately, the black weapon was in his hands. He ran up and slashed the monster. Stingy kicked at him, but Adam was not hit. He continued to slash the monster until, finally, it fell to the ground.

“My turn,” Kat declared, “Power Bow!” She shot arrows at Stingy, who was now smoking all over.

“Let me get a hit in!” Tommy whined, sarcastically. He took Saba and pointed him at the monster, making red beams come out of the sword’s eyes. They hit the monster, and he groaned in pain.

“Let’s bring them together,” Jason suggested.

“Go ahead, guys,” Tommy said, moving back.

“Power Ax!” Adam yelled. He took the weapon and threw it in the air where it magically stuck.

“Power Bow!” Kat called. She attached her weapon to Adam’s

“Power Lance!” Rocky called. He threw the weapon up. It attached itself.

“Power Daggers!” Tanya yelled. The two weapons appeared in her hands, and she threw them up. They attached on the larger weapon.

“Power Sword!” Jason called. He took the sword and jumped in the air. After attaching the sword, he returned to the ground with the large weapon in his hands.

“Ready?” He asked.

The other four rangers joined him. “Fire!” They commanded together. A large beam came out from the weapon, which immediately destroyed the monster.

Tommy ran over and joined them, “Good job, guys!”

“Yes,” Saba agreed, “Most impressive, Rangers.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tommy said. He pointed Saba at Tanya, “This is Tanya. She’s taken over for Aisha.”

“Hello,” Saba said.

“Hi,” Tanya replied, nervously.

“Is she just shy?” Saba whispered.

“No,” Tommy chuckled, “But it’s not like she’s ever met a talking sword.”

“Well, some of you sound different. Who is where?” Saba asked.

“Hey, Saba, you remember me, it’s Katherine.”

“Ah, yes,” Saba said, “It’s the Kat Cat. Sorry, bad joke.”

“You have no idea,” Kat muttered.

“This is Adam,” Adam said.

“Oh, yes,” Saba said, “You’re the quiet one.”

Adam blushed beneath his helmet. Rocky stepped forward, “I’m wearing blue.”

“Where’s Billy?” Saba asked.

“Aquitar,” Adam replied, tersely.

“OK,” Saba nodded, “And you’re Tanya, so who are you?” He motioned at the red ranger.

“I’m ba-ack,” Jason said.

“Jason?” Saba exclaimed, “Remarkable. I thought you went to a peace conference. At least, that’s what Tommy said.”

“I came back a few months ago, and I took over the Gold Ranger Powers while the Treys were split. You know, Triphoria.”

“Whatever,” Saba sighed, “Go on. I never meet many people. I’m a sword.” Tommy stifled a laugh. Saba frowned, “I heard that, muscle boy.” Tommy smirked.

“Anyway, I gave the powers back, and I guess, since I’m the red ranger, that I’m here to stay.”

“We better get back to the Power Chamber,” Tanya said.

“You’re right,” Adam agreed.

The six teens teleported, and were completely unaware of the people that ran back to the caves from behind the trees nearby.

“Good work, Power Rangers!” Alpha exclaimed, “We have detected a small decrease of evil in the morphing grid, and the old powers are fully operational.” All of the rangers cheered.

Tommy stepped forward and looked at Zordon, “I know that I said stuff that was really cruel a little while back, Zordon, so I apologize.”

“Me too,” Rocky said. The other rangers nodded.

Zordon smiled, “THANK YOU, THOUGH I SHOULD PROBABLY BE APOLOGIZING TO YOU. I HAD NOT PUT FAITH IN YOU, RANGERS, BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF THIS NEW THREAT, BUT NOW I AM SURE THAT WE WILL DEFEAT THIS NEW EVIL SOMEDAY.”

“Zordon,” Rocky said, “I don’t know about the others, but I would really like to go to the caves.”

“Me too,” Jason agreed.

“Yeah,” Kat nodded, “If we don’t go, our parents and friends will think that we’re dead!”

“YOU MAY GO, RANGERS, BUT BE PREPARED FOR YOUR NEXT BATTLE. NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, BECAUSE WE HAVE NO WAY OF TELLING WHAT’S IN STORE.”

“We will never let our guard down,” Tanya said.

“Let’s power down,” Tommy commanded.

“OK, you guys,” Adam nodded, “This is it.” The six teleported away.

“Mom, dad!” Tanya screamed. Her parents ran to her and kissed her.

“Tanya, oh thank God! I thought, oh gosh, I though you didn’t make it!” Mrs. Sloan exclaimed. She was in tears now.

Mr. Sloan had tears in his eyes, “I knew you were a fighter, Tanya. I knew you had to be alive.”

“I was so worried about you guys,” Tanya cried.

Deeper in the cave, Kat and Tommy were looking for their parents. “Tommy, I don’t remember seeing them when we were bringing people to the caves.”

“They have to be alive, Kat,” Tommy whispered, trying to convince her as well as himself.

Suddenly, they heard a woman scream out Kat’s name. She spun around, “Mom?”

“Katherine!” The voice was louder. Suddenly, Mrs. Hilliard was right in front of her daughter, crying and hugging her. Tommy hung back, and looked around for his mom.

“Oh, Katherine, I thought you didn’t make it out of Angel Grove, I was so worried!” Mrs. Hilliard exclaimed.

“I thought you didn’t get out, Mom,” Kat cried, hugging her tighter, “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s back in the cave,” Mrs. Hilliard said. Turning to Tommy, she couldn’t restrain herself from hugging him, too, “I knew you were both together when it happened, so I was sure that if you were alive you would be together. Thank you for staying with my daughter, Tommy, thank you.”

Tommy blushed and returned the embrace, “I would never desert her.”

Mrs. Hilliard broke them hug, and smiled at him, “You’re parents and sister are back with my husband. We knew eachother through you two, and so we decided to wait together.”

The three walked back to find Mr. Hilliard, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, and Jackie Oliver sitting with their backs against the cave wall. Mrs. Oliver screamed, “Tommy, thank God! Oh, praise the Lord, our prayers were answered.” She got up and showered him in kisses.

Mr. Oliver stood up and gave his son a manly hug, “We were worried, son.”

Jakie Oliver, who was sixteen, ran up to her brother, and almost made him topple over as she pounced on him, “I thought you had died, Tommy.”

“I thought that all of you had, you know, not made it,” Tommy said. He felt tears spring to his eyes, and after seeing that everyone around him, both Hilliards and Olivers, were crying, he did so as well.

Adam was looking around for his dad, when all of a sudden he felt someone tackle him to the ground. Looking around, he was shocked to see his Dad kneeling by him. Mr. Park hugged him. Hard, “Damn, Adam, I was looking all over for you, and since the DeSantos hadn’t seen Rocky, I thought that you and he had gone down together.”

“I was the other caves with Tanya and Rocky, and we couldn’t find any of you, so we tried this one. I’m so glad you’re here, Dad.”

Jason had no sooner than turned a corner, than he felt someone wrap their arms around him. He sighed, as he felt the person’s lips touch his. Instantly, he knew who it was, “Emily, oh gosh.”

“I though...you...didn’t make it,” Emily whispered between kisses, “Jason...oh gosh.”

“I....was...so worried,” Jason said, continuing to kiss his girlfriend passionately.

Finally, they broke the kiss and Emily smiled, while gasping for air, “I missed you, and your parents were worried sick.”

“You’ve seen my parents? Are they all right?” Jason asked, his breathing becoming calmer.

Emily nodded, “They’re in another cave, but I’ll take you to them. They’re staying with my parents. I came in here because I ran into Tommy and Kat, and they said that you were here, too.” She leaned closer to him, “I know something else about you, Jason.”

“What?” Jason asked.

She smiled and whispered, “I know that you’re a Power Ranger.”

Jason was shocked, but he did his best to smirk, “Me, a Power Ranger, I wish.”

Emily sighed, “I was on the hill when the monster was there, Jason, and I heard everything. Please, don’t lie.”

“I’m the red ranger,” Jason whispered, making sure that no one was listening, “And I trust you with this information, but you can’t tell anyone.”

She kissed him again, “I promise.”

Breaking the kiss, Emily looked at Jason, seriously, “Someone else was with me, though.”

Jason was startled, “Who?”

“Cassandra Wilcocks,” Emily said, “You know, Rocky’s girlfriend.”

“Shit,” Jason muttered. He grinned, “I think that Rocky will be able to deal with her.”

Emily smiled, “I think so too.”

At that moment, Rocky was walking into another cave, when he felt someone jump on his back, “Guess who?”

“Gee,” Rocky pondered, “Who could it be? Maybe, Cassandra Wilcocks.”

Cassandra jumped off his back and kissed him, “No one had seen you. I thought the worse had happened.” Looking deep into to his eyes, she sighed, “We need to talk, Rocky. Further back in the cave.”

“Ok,” Rocky nodded. They walked past all the people until they had their own little private corner.

Cassandra kissed him again, before looking him straight in the eyes, “I know you’re the blue ranger.”

“What!?” Rocky exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down,” Cassandra ordered, “I didn’t mean to find out your secret, Rocky, but me and Emily were walking today and we heard everything.”

“Jason’s girlfriend,” Rocky sighed.

Cassandra nodded, “But don’t worry about us, we know how to keep a secret.”

Rocky smiled, “I trust you with all of my heart, Cassandra.”

They kissed once again, and this time it seemed to last forever. Once they broke the kiss, Cassandra was shaking with excitement. Rocky knew what she was thinking, “No regrets?”

“I want to do this,” Cassandra said, She took his fingers and kissed each one delicately.

Rocky smiled, and unbuttoned his blue shirt. Cassandra pulled off her off- white sweater. The two smiled and kissed intensely, as Rocky worked to get Cassandra’s bra off. Surprisingly, it didn’t take very long, and they continued to kiss. Cassandra glanced down at Rocky and smiled, “Looks like someone wants to get out of those tight pants.” Rocky blushed.

Cassandra’s fingers glided down to Rocky’s jeans and slowly undid the fly. Smiling, she let Rocky’s pants slide down to his ankles. Rocky kissed along Cassandra’s neck, gently nipping her shoulders. Cassandra moved her hands back up to Rocky’s chest and caressed him, making him tremble with delight. “I love you,” She whispered.

“I love you, too,” Rocky replied, and there was no more talking that night.

“See, that’s just sick!” Rashell exclaimed, turning away from Rocky and his girlfriend.

Rita looked at Zedd, “I can’t believe you wanted to do that!”

“Oh, shut up. That was the rare time that I was actually glad to be married!”

“We need to devise a plan to deal with the rangers,” Uriel said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, because that Stingray monster sucked!” Rita yelled.

The four monsters thought for a moment. Finally, Uriel stood up, “I’ve got it. Do you have a transmitter in this palace?”

“GOLDAR!” Rita shrieked, “BRING UP THE TRANSMITTER!”

The creature entered the room with a weird looking computer. Uriel smiled. Zedd tilted his head, puzzled, “What have you got in mind?”

“I’m going to make a little call to Zion. There are six beings there that I want you to meet,” Uriel laughed.

Rashell chirped, “Brilliant, my Darling.”

“What’s brilliant?” Rita asked.

“You shall see,” Uriel replied, “Beware, Power Rangers, you are going to face your greatest enemies ever.”

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO OF THE ALLIED EVIL SERIES**

The End... for now