FicWad

Immortal Ranger at Forever Red

Well the usual stuff about the Power Rangers not belonging to me since Saban has made it clear that they own them. And Highlander doesn't belong to me either, although that isn't as disappointing as not owning the Rangers. This is a sequel to Immortal at Countdown 2 Destruction, which was a sequel to Death of Goldar, you'll need to read, or at least skim them for this tale to make sense at certain spots.



"Speech"

'Thought'




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Tommy sighed, as he placed the phone down. He had just gotten off the phone with Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Ranger, who had agreed to go and collect the newest person to wear the Red Ranger uniform, a guy by the name of Cole Evans. Tommy looked at the photo; he had of the young man. Dark hair and eyes, his hair while not as long as he used to wear his, was long enough to warrant the strip of cloth that kept some of it out of the way. The guy looked like your basic person, if you ignored the jacket that he wore with the picture of a Red lion on it. Hopefully this guy was as good as his rep said he was. Sure the guy fought well, but there was more to being a Ranger than being a good fighter especially to being a Red Ranger. He would just reserve his judgment till he had fought alongside the guy. Andros had promised to get in contact with Aurico, the Red Alien Ranger and Leo, the Red Lost Galaxy Ranger. He had gotten the two remaining Time Force Rangers, We and Eric to agree to meet him, and T.J was on his way as well. Carter had promised to show up, as well and that he would have the Red Wild Force Ranger with him as well. There was just one more slot left on the team, he had originally searched for Rocky, but the former Red Ninjetti Ranger, was unfortunately unavailable. But if all the information about the mission was correct, then he would need a full team for to do this. A mission, which he had foolishly hoped would never be needed. Unfortunately, the mission was here now, and he had to lead the team, to get the job done now. The only way that he could do that though, was if he made a certain call. A call he didn't really want to make, but for the greater good of the planet he would.

He looked at the scrap of paper that he hadn't even bothered to look at in a couple of years. The fight that he had gotten the number in, was clear in his minds eye as it was yesterday. He remembered watching, as a person that he thought that he knew, turned a weaker minion into a headless corpse, a few minutes, before all of the other beings had been turned to stone.

Of course if he called, he would be asking for the help of a killer, a person that killed people and took their heads. Yes, he had done his research since they had last met, and found other people like his former friend, who were some kind of sick headhunters, that liked to take the heads of their enemies. By getting Jason's help, how then, was he different from people like Zedd and Rita? Monsters who had had their soldiers do their dirty work for them most of the time. But they admitted what they were to he reflected. Jason just continued doing his own thing, as if it really didn't matter that he had the blood of someone on his hands. It was times like these that he really missed Zordon, the old wizard would have known what to do with the former leader, but he was not here Tommy was, and he would do everything he could to protect the earth and save the legacy of the Rangers.

Jason for some reason didn't seem to go after his kills the same way that some of the other headhunters did thankfully. He didn't hang onto the heads, like others were known for doing according to his research. Tommy knew that deep down, that the former Ranger would do what was right; he just hoped he could convince the former Ranger to help him in the upcoming fight. They could use all the help they could get.

Hesitating only another moment, in which he held his chin in his hand rubbing his hand over his lower face. For some reason it made him think of all the cosmetic changes that had happened to him since he had last been a Ranger. He now wore his hair spiked, and kept it short. He doubted that some people would recognize him as the same person that had long hair for most of his teens. Strengthening his resolve, he reached for the phone, and the scrap of paper with the number on it.

'If this didn't count as an emergency, then he didn't know what did.' He thought, as he dialed the digits in the phone, and waited. Bulk and Skull were busy sucking up to him again for some reason or other. Probably because he was one of the few people, that was a regular in the juice bar. He still found it amusing that the two former bullies were trying so hard to make this place work.

"This had better be important!" A voice growled over the phone, as the other person finally answered his phone. "I was sleeping, and enjoying my dreams."

"Um, it's the middle of the afternoon." Tommy responded, confused at the answer he was getting.

"Well it may be that wherever you are Duncan, but I'm in Paris at the moment, and it's three o'clock in the freaking morning. So this had better be real good, or your going to find all new painful ways to die."

"Jase, it's me Tommy."

"Tommy? Oh right Tommy. What's up man, and this had better be really important, or I may have to knock you through a wall." He grumbled, still annoyed at having been woken up early in the morning.

"Whatever." Tommy said, wanting this conversation to be quick as possible. "Look, as interesting as it is to talk with you, I need your help." Tommy rushed the words out, hoping and dreading the reaction he would get.

"That's why this is an emergency only number." Jason said dryly. "Now, what's the problem that you can't handle this time? And does it have to do with the color coordinated aspect of our pasts?"

"Yeah it does." Tommy said a little defiantly, as if daring the person to mock the legacy that had started with their former mentor.

"Then go and get someone else to do it. I'm not into that kind of thing anymore." Jason snapped. "When I hit someone, or something with a weapon, I go for blood, not the sparks that you and the others seem to be so fond of."

"I know you have a Power Coin Jason." The pause where the other neither admitted or denied the fact heartened Tommy to continue. "All of the originals got their coins back somehow."

"Did you?"

"No, but that Coin was from the Green Candle." Tommy said wincing a bit at the way he said that. He knew full well the guilt that the other man had over not being able to get that candle from the flying monkey.

"So borrow Trini's and round out your team, its not likes she's going to hurt you for taking it." There was almost a wistful tone, as Jason said that, and Tommy realized that here at least was a small remnant of who Jason had been. "Besides, I'm not a Ranger anymore." There was a steel in Jason's voice, as he said that, as if he knew that his changes made him different than other Rangers.

"I need you there Jason," he pleaded, "if for no other reason, than that you're extremely durable, and can take a hit."

"Glad to know where we stand." Jason said "Its not everyone that tells you that you make a good disposable soldier."

"Yeah, well not all former people like us are guilty of murder."

"Aren't we," an amused voice said, "or is the fact that they blow up when you do them in help you sleep at night?"

"We are not going to get into this right now. Besides they're different circumstances entirely." Tommy growled one last time, before he returned to the business at hand. "Look, this mission is important, but I don't want a loose cannon running around cutting people up either. You will follow orders, or we will do this little all Red Ranger gathering without the original Red Ranger there."

"An all Red Ranger team?" Jason asked, sounding impressed, and even interested in the conversation for the first time.

"Yes." Tommy said eagerly, glad that he had finally gotten his old friend's interest. "I need the most powerful Rangers that I can get my hands on, which usually means the Red Ranger, since their power reserves are slightly higher than other members. Though I did try and get the Silver and Titanium Rangers, their power would have been helpful, but they're busy elsewhere. Don't make me do this without the original Red Ranger." He pleaded.

"How big of a team are we talking about here?"

"A ten-man team."

"So every one to wear the color Red then." Jason said, after he did some mental figuring in his head, on the number of incarnations of the group that there had been since them, and the numbers that he had been given.

"Everyone but Rocky." Tommy confirmed.

"Sounds like this is an important mission."

"It is, and like I said earlier, I won't have a loose cannon on the team."

"And what do you intend to do about it?" Jason almost challenged.

"Your word not to try your crazy methods on this mission, and to leave that sword that you use away from the base."

"I'll give my word that I won't attack people with my sword unless they attack me first, but I can't leave it behind." Jason argued.

Tommy swallowed; he was going to pull out the ultimate promise cards on Jason and was going to hate himself for it. "Jason, I need you to do this, and I need you to swear on Trini and Zordon's graves, and the Power Grid, to leave the sword, and not try to kill anyone.

"Those are a lot of things to swear by." Jason said darkly, after a few moments of silence. "And not the way to get on my good side, by pulling the grave card on me."

"You're not exactly leaving me a whole lot of choices bro." Tommy argued back. "You've killed Goldar and Elgar, in ways that you shouldn't. You've also killed humans in the same way Jason. Yes, I know what it is that you've done, you killed three men and two women the same way that you did Goldar and Elgar." Tommy actually didn't know if this was true, but he did suspect that even if he didn't do it, he at the very least knew who was behind it all.

"Still can't bring yourself to say decapitation, or beheading, can you?" Jason said. "And for the record, I didn't like doing what I did, but they didn't exactly leave me a whole lot of choice at the time bro. And since I like my head where it is, I'll settle for an odd friendship between us, and if not that, then how about allies who have minimum contact with each other like we've been doing."

"So, do you agree to the terms that I set down?" Tommy asked, glad that he seemed to have finally found a button on his old friend that he could push.

"If I show up without a sword strapped on, then you can assume that I decided to play along with you." Jason said reluctantly. "But my way is often proved the better way to handle these kind of problems, even if you don't like the way they end." The phone clicked off before the other person could respond.

Tommy sighed, he hoped he had convinced his friend to deal with the mission, because whether he liked to admit it or not, Jason was one of the best in the business when it came to saving the world. The guy had set the mold for Red Rangers, just like he had set the mold for the sixth Ranger slot. Especially when you thought about how many times the sixth slot had usually been held by either the evil Ranger, or at least a Ranger that had their own agenda that didn't always agree with the other Rangers way of doing things.



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Tommy looked at the group of Red Power Rangers, and sighed to himself internally. Nodding sadly, as he heard Andros introduce him as a veteran Ranger. That felt kind of odd, the way he made it sound one would almost think that Tommy was an old man or something 'It hadn't been that long ago, that I'd been fighting for the world in one of my three colors.' He thought a little indignantly.

He kept his face calm and neutral, as he addressed this group of six remarkable individuals. True, of all of them, only he and Andros had been chosen by Zordon. The others were good at what they did as well, but they weren't amongst the chosen. He was just glad he didn't have to be the one to do the introductions, since T.J and the others were more comfortable doing that than he was. Personally though, he could have done without the part about being called a legend. The only disappointment was that Jason had decided not to come. That might make the job tougher than he had originally planned, but he was sure that they could still pull it off. He gave the group of Red Rangers a small briefing, telling them where they were going, and who it was that they were fighting. T.J as always had a question, and it was in a way to his shame, that he had to explain that he and the rest of the Zeo Rangers, had only managed to take out the leaders, not their dark army.

Andros displayed his new ship with pride, as Cole asked how they were supposed to get to the moon. He activated the interior lights with the remote he carried and explained as the lights slowly came up to display the latest in Kevorian technology. "I present the Astro Megaship Mark II. Fresh off the construction yards of KO 35, the fastest ship in the galaxy." He bragged.

'The Red Space Ranger had a right to be proud of what his people were capable of though.' Tommy thought, as kept the smile off of his face, idly wondering if the Red Space Ranger felt the need to keep it under better security arrangements than what the previous ship had been under, and that was why they were currently inside a hanger at NASADA. He kept the thought to himself though. The only thing he didn't tell them right now, was the way that the remains of the Machine Empire's army would be invading earth, he only told them the planet was in trouble. If any of them felt the need to back out, now was the time to do so. He hoped they would all come, or he would have to seriously rethink his plans, and the only thing he could do would be to have them prep their teams, and be ready for carnage on earth.

Fortunately for the earth, none of them did so. Cole did make a better speech giver than he ever could have come up with though. It was obvious that the young man was a great leader, if the passion he used to talk about the earth was the same passion that he used when he fought for it. He nodded proudly at the assembled group of Red Rangers, as they all agreed to accompany him on the mission.

"Lets do it." He said solemnly, as he led them toward the ship, Andros and the others following slightly behind him, when Andros stopped, stopping all of the other Red Rangers, and had to ask the question that Tommy was trying to ignore.

"Oh, Wait. Wasn't there another Red Ranger here on earth?"

Tommy paused for a moment, not daring to look the other Reds in the eye. Andros had been told about what happened to Elgar, because he had been the Ranger in charge at the time, but the others didn't know, and he hoped they never would find out. "I was hoping he would show up." He said sadly, before he turned around. "But I guess he couldn't make it. Well have to go on without him."

He was about ready to lead the Reds to the ship when Cole paused, and tilted his head like an animal. "Guys!" He said excitedly, as he ran for the hanger doors, leading all the other Reds outside. They formed a line, as they watched the motorcycle approach.

Tommy's eyes widened, as he finally identified the rider that was coming. The bike stopped in front of the group of Red Rangers. The rider let the bike's engine revved for a second, before it was turned off. The man turned his back to them as he got off his motorcycle, and took off his black helmet holding it in both hands. Tommy let a halfhearted smile cover his face, as he saw the dark eyes and dark hair that he recognized. "Jason." Tommy said, letting a flicker of a grin show at seeing his old friend, before he reminded himself what his old friend did now.

Jason nodded back at him. "You guys weren't going to do this without me were you?" He asked, before he placed his helmet down on the motorcycle, and strode up to the line of young men. He nodded to Cole and stopped in front of the Red Wild Force Ranger. "So, you must be the new guy?"

Cole looked excited, and stars truck as he wiped his sweaty hand on his jeans, before offering it to the man. "Hi I'm Cole." The goofy grin on his face, showed that he at least had an idea as to who Jason might be

"Good." Jason said ignoring the hand, and clapping Cole on the arm. He then began walking down the line of Red Rangers. "I recognize some of you guys." He walked past T.J and Andros, then the ramrod straight Carter. "Some of you uh… more than others." He said, nodding to Wes and Eric.

Tommy let a small bit of sarcasm in his voice as his old friend finally got to where he was standing. "I was starting to wonder whether you'd show up at all."

"You didn't think I was gonna let you do this without the Original Red Ranger did you?" Jason asked, using Tommy's own words back at him. They did grabbed each others hands in a way, they hadn't done in at least five years, and at the very least seemed to have an understanding between the two of them.

Tommy quickly led the group to a briefing room on the megaship, while Andros headed for the bridge to take off. By the time Andros came in, the others were all sitting down. Though Tommy didn't miss the way that Jason sat at an angle, so that he could get up in an instant if need be, while all the others had their legs tucked in under the table. Tommy had the opposite side of the room, so that as of now, the two Rangers were either facing off, or they were covering each other's backs. Andros came in, and reported that Leo and Aurico were headed for the moon as well. Tommy then began the briefing starting with information about Machine Empire. Jason and Andros already new all the information, and merely waited while the others were brought up to date on the information. Jason didn't seem to be overly concerned that they were going after Serpentera, or that that was the mission. Tommy figured that they must both have realized that it was only a matter of time, before they would have to care of that particular Zord. Tommy then gave the other six Red Rangers a bit of history on the giant zord.

The Reds swallowed nervously, as it was explained to them, then Andros stepped in and explained what he had discovered. Jason then told them the cold hard facts about the Machine Empire if they got the powerful zord under their control. Cole gave another short speech that all of them agreed with. The Red Ranger's eyes flashing, as he mentally prepared to save the earth alongside them.



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The group of eight silently walked off the megaship, as they touched down in the sea of tranquility. "All right the plan is to take out the foot soldiers first. Their called Cogs." Tommy explained, "and don't worry, their machines." He said, turning to Cole. "It might work better for us if we split up though, so that they can't concentrate on just one area, or they'll overwhelm us, no matter how good we are." The others nodded, each remembering a time that they had been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers that attacked them. "When we morph to take the generals down though, team up." Tommy ordered, "These guys are still around because they're tough in a fight, and shouldn't be taken lightly. But with our combined powers, we should be able to handle them. Oh yeah, don't do your usual pair ups that you've done before, they may be prepared for that."

"You're with me kid." Jason said to Cole, the newest Red Ranger just nodded. The young man obviously feeling ill at ease on the moon's surface, and was understandably nervous to be in one of the few places on the surface that actually had breathable air. Half of them seemed to be feeling similar since of the group of Rangers only Tommy. Jason, Andros, and T.J had ever had to fight on the moon.

The fight went as Tommy hoped, and he was glad that Jason was watching out for the new guy so that the others could focus on the other generals it was a good thing to since the cogs had managed to hold Cole off for a bit, the kid never did manage to really knock the cogs back like the rest of them had. Still, the kid had heart, going against five of Mondo's top generals without even morphing, he would have been barbecued if Cole and Aurico hadn't been there to pull his fat out of the fire.

He had to admit though, saying, and hearing, 'Its Morphing Time!' had felt good. It was also interesting to here the other voice acitvators in person as each Ranger called for their Power.

"Shifting to Turbo"

"Lets Rockett"

"Go Galatic

"Lightspeed Rescue"

"Time For Time Force"

"Quantam Power"

"Wild Access"

His Zeo powers had worked just as well, if not better, against the generals today, as they had in the past. They had all managed to beat the generals, through a combination of skill and teamwork. He proudly fought alongside Wes, against Gerrok, finishing the general with a Super Zeo kick, after Wes's Chrono Sabers had softened him. Aurico and Eric took on another, the two ended up just blasting him with Eric's Quantam blaster, after he tried to bury them under a pile of rocks. Leo always having to slightly rebel, teamed up with T.J, a Ranger he had worked with, and took on another general, each of them giving their most powerful strikes against the would be conqueror. The Lost Galaxy Ranger, managed to hit the machine, while the general was coming back down with his Quantum Saber fully charged, while T.J managed to finish him off with his Turbo Lighting Zord Strike. That left Steelon, for Carter and Andros, which the two of them blasted off of the mountain, and into a lower valley, where he exploded.

Jason even kept to his agreement, to the point that he wouldn't draw a weapon on General Vinjix, letting Cole use his own weapons against the robot. Though the way that Jason fought when he morphed Tommy doubted that Jason really needed a weapon anymore, unless it was for a long-range fight. And if that ever happened, he could always go for his blade blaster. When Jason had been a Red Ranger, he was just begun to work on his aerial attacks, when he left the Zeo Rangers, they were dangerous, now though, they were positively deadly.

In the end, it had come down to Cole. The young Ranger had come up to the plate, and impressed them all, when he took out Serpentera, by turning its destructive energy back on itself with his Wild Force Rider. Yes, the current team of Rangers was in good hands with Cole leading them.

Once they were back on Earth, he bid them all goodbye, and retreated to the hanger bay to watch and wait if he was ever needed again.



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Jason watched as the other Reds all drove off in their various vehicles, Andros had also retreated back into his ship, after seeing the others off. He sat there for a moment, and let the cocky grin that had been covering his face for nearly the entire mission finally fall away, leaving a person with an even grimmer look than Eric. He played with his helmet for a moment more then began placing it on his head.

"I have to admit, that was one of the best cock and bull acts I've ever seen." Tommy said from the doorway, where he was watching the original Red Ranger.

Jason didn't even jump, as he watched after the other Rangers, as they finally pulled through the gates. "What can I say? Its better than letting them see the real me, wouldn't you agree?"

"Your right, I do agree." Tommy said, his eyes uncertain, as he kept his distance from a person that had been like a brother to him at one time. "I didn't know you were such a good actor."

The other young man seemed amused by this. "We are what the situation makes us Tommy."

"You got time for a drink?"

"Depends what your serving."

"C'mon, despite what Andros thinks, the place has some of the best alcohol from Aquitar on it."

"And you managed that how?" Jason asked, slightly amused.

"Well Billy helped with some of the building, and he did it as a favor to the Silver Ranger. Then when he heard that the first mission was going to be, he include us into the system, he sent me a message, so that I'd know the code." Tommy said, "So, you want that drink?"

"Why not? Last time we had a drink, we were a bit distracted."

"In more ways than one." Tommy said in an offhand way, Jason didn't respond, as he got off his bike, and followed the Red Zeo back onto the mega ship.

Grinning a bit, Tommy guided the way into the observatory, and typed in a code. "(Voice access.)" The A.I asked.

"Morphinominal." Tommy said, the two men shared a light chuckle as the old phrase was said.

"You know that's the second time today I've heard that word?" Jason said smiling slightly, as a bottle of green liquid came out of an opening that appeared by the door, attached to it was a short note. The two looked at the note, and nodded to each other after they read it.

Greeting and salutations to you, my earth bound friends.

I hope you two can find a middle ground, and are willing to still be friends despite the fact that you operate differently now.

Enjoy the green back twister an Aquitar favorite.

Both of your friends, Billy.

May the Power Protect You.

The two men poured their drinks into the shot glasses. "To Zordon." They toasted, before flinging the drinks back.

"Learned a bit about drinking since we last hooked up." Jason noted.

Tommy shrugged, now was not the time to go into that. "You want to tell me what changed you now, or do you want to talk about when things were easier for us?"

"I'll take option number two." Jason said, Tommy nodded as they toasted Trini, and then began talking about their time as Rangers.

An hour had passed, and, Tommy decided it was a good time to talk about what it was that had happened to his friend. "So, you want to tell me what happened?" He ventured, hoping his friend was ready to open up now.

"No I don't." Jason said, "and if your idea was to get me so drunk that I couldn't dodge this, then you're in for a disturbing fact, that I can hold my liquor better than you can." Jason said, pushing the glass away from himself. "Besides, two glasses is hardly enough to knock someone off their feet."

"Listen to yourself." Tommy said, as he set his own glass down. "Your suspicious of the slightest action, despite the fact that I've never done anything to you to make you distrust me."

"Except dig in my past." Jason pointed out. "I also know that you've spent a lot of your time tracking me down from time to time. Its bad enough when people that want me to stay dead are chasing me, but when I also have to dodge people that you've convinced to look in on my life."

"Stay dead?" Tommy said, hoping this could explain he had survived the sword Goldar had thrust in to his chest, and then be thrown off a cliff.

"Forget it." Jason said, waving the comment off. "It's not something that I want you to have to deal with."

"I only want to help," Tommy tried, "but I can't help you, if you won't let me."

"Says the guy who was whipped after one Dear John letter." Jason said smirking. "Tell me, did you ever talk to anybody about that, or did you just add it to all the other things that you carry?"

Tommy's eyes narrowed at this. "And who was I going to talk to? You weren't even there."

"Yet when I came back, you seemed happy enough with Kat. Or was she just rebound girl?" Jason asked, as he crossed his arms, and watched his old friend his once short hair now slightly shaggy. "And then there was Billy who was like a brother to Kim."

"Listen you bike riding, sword waving freak. I at least have the decency to be ashamed of my actions."

"And you think I'm not?" Jason asked coolly.

"If you regretted it, it would have stopped at Goldar, but instead you've actually gone on to killing humans." Tommy spat, his eyes now flashing in anger. "Tell me? Do you challenge them like Goldar, or do you just go at them like you did Elgar?"

"You think I'm the one to attack first?" Jason asked incredulously. "I've never started a challenge, except with Goldar, but I've always ended one, or I wouldn't be around for this little world saving thing of yours that you guilted me into coming to. So that you could what? Tell me the errors of my ways. And as for Elgar, we were in the middle of a war."

"Maybe I ought to take you down a peg." Tommy said, thinking that his friend seemed to be a bit too proud of surviving the challenges, whatever they were. "And calling you up was one of the hardest things that I had to do. I'm just glad you decided to leave that sword of yours behind"

"You know what Tommy, forget this, and in fact, forget you! You better be glad you're not on my list of people that have to be taken care of."

"Really, you have a list. Tell me, are there any Rangers on it, or maybe there's someone that could be helpful in saving the world."

"I do what they force me to Rainbow." Jason said darkly, using the old nickname as a reference instead of a friendly joke as before, he then stormed out of the room. "Tell Billy the stuff was good." He said over his shoulder.

Tommy angrily watched his former friend leave before storming out himself. He headed to the bridge, to see if Andros was still here, maybe the guy could use some help prepping the ship for heading back to KO-35 or wherever it was going next. Andros nodded to Tommy, as the other man began inputting data.

Tommy looked up from the workstation, and saw that a security monitor was hooked up to follow all of the Rangers currently on planet He doubted that any of them would appreciate the gesture of protection that the Kevorian had set up. He new that once the ship left earth, the only way to know when a Ranger, or former Ranger was in trouble was when an alarm went off. The only problem with the system was that it refused to recognize Jason for who he was, so he was the only one not watched by the safety net that had somehow been set up. The thing could only watch the people on earth though, so the Rangers on other planets weren't up there either. Alpha, Billy and Zordon had spent a long time setting up the basics of this system up, but there was still times even it failed, since it could lose the trace after a teleportation, and the only time an alarm really activated, was when dark energy was being used against the Ranger in person.

"Are you all right?" Andros asked.

Tommy looked at the Space Ranger in his gray uniform with a red shirt, he also had hair that reminded Tommy of the way he used to wear his hair, and the only difference was the color. "Yeah, just didn't quite go the way I planned." He said as he rubbed his eyes trying to think of what had happened to the Red Morphin Ranger.

"I'm sorry," Andros said, "I know what its like to lose trust in a friend."

"Really? I thought you and Zhane had been together forever."

Andros squirmed slightly. "After Zhane revived from stasis, I mistook some extra lessons that he was giving Ashley for something more. My stubbornness about even accepting his help nearly got several people hurt."

"Yeah, but that was because you were all trying to understand who you were as a team." Tommy said leaning back in his chair. "As for Jase and me, its different. We've been through the fires of battle, and still came back. Now though, Jason's acting like some of the creatures that we've fought. The way he's killing, I know that we may have to deal with him sooner or later."

Andros bit his lip, as he watched the view screen. "We may have to do more than that." Andros said as he studied the screen said, "Take a look."

Tommy looked up, as a man approached a spot that Jase had stopped at. The man was holding someone with a sword across their throat Tommy thought it looked like one of the people that he had seen in Angel Grove. The man holding the sword was exchanging words with Jason. The former Ranger leader looked angry, but was being still, evidently the guy still cared about what happened to others. He was then tossed a sword, which looked like the one that he had used at Angel Grove. The other man tossed his captive away, and the two were now rushing at each other.

"Lets go!" Tommy said, getting the engines online.

"That won't work." Andros said, as he jogged for the door.

"Why not?" Tommy asked, but getting out of his seat to follow the reserved Red Space Ranger.

"They're to close." Andros explained, as they entered the elevator and headed for the drop chutes. That's the only reason we're even capable of seeing what's going on, we're more likely to overshoot them, than we are to come nearby them."

Tommy nodded in understanding wishing they weren't on the fastest ship in the galaxy now, as they both swung down the surfboard ports. They emerged from the ship fully morphed and riding on galaxy gliders, Andros leading on his Red glider, while Tommy followed on Carlos's Black glider. They quickly found the spot where the fight was. The two men were slashing at each other, while the unknown was full of rage, Jason was calmly fighting with an ease Tommy had never seen from his old friend. His mind flashed back to a time when Jason had admitted that he Tommy was better with the sword than Jason was, and had handed over his Power Sword for a fight. Now he wasn't as sure that would be the truth anymore, it was as if Jason's skill had been honed to several levels above Tommy's own skill with the sword. Tommy was a bit nervous about that, hand-to-hand they had always been equal, but with weapons, Tommy had been better, now it might be the other way around.

"I really have been looking forward to this youngling". The unknown said, as they broke apart for a moment. "Word of your abilities have traveled far, and once I beat you, who knows what I will do? Perhaps I will take on your teacher, and then his teacher. Besides they attract far to much attention to be allowed to continue."

"Only because glory hounds like you are always leaving chaos and destruction behind them." Jason said, as he wiped the blood from a shallow cut on his face away. "And they have to clean up your messes just because, you feel like you have to prove yourselves against the Highlanders."

The other man shrugged, as if this was nothing new. "At least my kind are not stupid enough to try and continue living in their old lives." The man sneered, as if this was some kind of failing on Jason's part.

"Whatever you say Caddis." Jason said, as he swung his blade at the man. The other blocked the blade Jason caught the incoming punch on the side of his arm then kicked the other man in the leg. Back and forth they went Jason was winning due to his impressive martial arts skill, but the other had a number of fencing skills that rivaled anything either of the two Rangers watching had ever seen.

"This isn't what's needed." Andros said. "Power down." He demorphed, and watched as Tommy did the same. The two men watched, as Jason finally kicked the sword free of his opponent. Then kicked him again, knocking him back a few steps, while he was trying to regain his balance Jason dropped down and swept man's feet. The man was now on his back, both men were breathing heavily as they faced each other. The unknown man moved slowly, as he propped himself up on his elbows obviously feeling some pain from where he had been hit. Jason twirled his sword in his hand and, brought his blade against the man's neck. Tommy swallowed, if he didn't interfere Jason would kill again, and this time there would be no doubt about who was the killer.

"Rainbow, you need to leave." Jason ordered, as he tightened his grip on his blade, his eyes never leaving the other man.

"I don't think so Jase." Tommy said grinding his teeth in disappointment. "You know I won't stand back while you kill."

"Until we meet elsewhere Caddis, since I'm not stupid enough to end a duel this close to people like them." Using the flat of his blade, he struck down hard making the man unconscious. Idiot Jason muttered as he sheathed his weapon.

"You should kill him for good measures you know." The former hostage said, as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

"I know Richie," Jason said in agreement. "But I can't let them see what happens either." He nodded in the direction of the Rangers.

"Ah, surely they've seen weirder than what we've run across."

"They have, but the one with spiked hair has this thing about killing people like that."

"Might try to take you in or something like that, eh?"

"Yeah, and we both know how good that would look like to the others, and there's no guarantee, that it'd be on earth either."

"All right, if you say so." The man said, as he went behind a rock and came back pushing a motorcycle of his own.

Tommy and Andros looked uncomfortable, as they realized that they weren't going to be told what had happened. Glaring, Tommy stepped forward, but stayed in the shadows he was about to do something that he really didn't want to do but from the way his old friend acted he didn't have a whole lot of choice anymore. "Hand me the Power Coin Jase." He held his hand out expectantly.

"I don't think so Rainbow." Jason said his eyes becoming hard stones. "Zordon decided I was responsible for it. Besides, in all the time that I've been away from you, have you ever even had so much as a blip on the radar on me using my powers for personal gain? Hell Rainbow, I haven't even used my powers except for this job, but what I do to survive with my own skills, is my own worry." Jason shoved his helmet on, and turned to leave.

Tommy glared at Jason, before his arm shot out, grabbing the other man by the shoulder. "You can leave after you surrender the coin."

"Don't push me Tommy." Jason warned, as he knocked the hand off of him, and turned to face his former friend.

"Guys, come on, there has to be a better way than this." Andros said, trying to stop the two former leaders, from doing something they might regret later.

"Its not my idea." Jason said tossing his helmet over by his bike, and shrugging back out of his jacket, he held the jacket out then very obviously placed his Power Coin in the pocket, as he got ready for the upcoming fight. Tommy lowered his body, as he prepared to attack. "Hold this will you?" Jason said, as he tossed his sword to his traveling companion. "All right Tommy, it's been a long time since we've had to fight for keeps, but I assure you, it won't be like it was in the old days."

"What, me, taking on the combined power of five? Sure it won't." Tommy, said as he took off his own leather jacket, which he noticed looked a lot like Jason's. He repeated Jason's gesture, by placing his Zeo Morpher in a pocket, placing the two of them on even footing. He handed the garment over to Andros who reluctantly took it. The two former Red Rangers were ready to fight.

"Your funeral Tommy." Jason said, as the two friends began circling each other. Tommy threw a punch at Jason's shoulder, which was easily evaded. Jason sent a shot of his own to the stomach, which Tommy jumped out of the way of. "This is your last warning Rainbow, walk away." Jason pleaded; the other man ignored him, and focused on taking down his opponent. The two men clothed in Red began their fight; the only constant, was the flashes of red, as neither seemed able to get the upper hand.

Tommy tried a hard kick that would have caught Jason in the side of the head the leg was intercepted and Tommy felt a fist strike his shoulder. Moving with the blow Tommy brought his hand around into Jason's cheek he smiled grimly as he saw Jason's head snap back from the shot. Jason grabbed Tommy by one arm and twisted him around. “This is not the way things have to be.” Jason snarled at his friend. "You really don't have what it takes to hurt me enough anymore bro." He then kicked the Zeo Ranger away from him. Tommy picked himself back up and charged his friend again this time knocking him back against the boulder. He then struck Jason in the stomach several times, then brought his foot into his stomach and flipped off slamming the first Ranger of Zordon back into the stone.

Shaking his head to clear it from the damage that he had received, Jason ducked below the next punch, and watched as Tommy withdrew a slightly bloodied hand. Not pausing Jason's leg shot out to sweep Tommy, the Zeo Ranger jumped over the leg and came back down with his fist. Jason met his fist with an open palm, which caught the blow he then shot up still holding the fist knocking Tommy off balance spilling him to the ground. Rolling backwards Tommy was back on his feet ready to continue.

Jason readied himself to continue as well as they now watched the movements a bit more carefully Tommy was full of determination as he continued this fight. Remembering the way they had first fought Tommy began doing a series of high kicks pushing Jason farther and farter back. Jason let the first high kicks push him back before he grabbed the leg. "There's no out of bounds here." The man said, as he pushed Tommy's leg back. Nodding the former Zeo Ranger kicked out toward the chest Jason caught the leg Tommy then twisted himself in the air and brought his other leg into Jason's face smashing it he was pretty sure he heard the sound of bones breaking and he knew the nose had been damaged since he felt it give under his foot.

Jason responded by sending a couple of feints at Tommy, and then came up with a powerful uppercut that staggered Tommy. Tommy dropped back to the ground, and felt his jaw tenderly for a moment and felt the back of his head since it was now tender, before he came back up kicked Jason back again, and while Jason staggered he jabbed at him. The other Ranger easily caught the hand by the wrist, before it could connect.

Jason brought his free arm down on Tommy's wrist. He hoped that it hurt, but didn't break the bone, then moving fast, Jason attacked his other arm by slamming his body into the shoulder bowling the both of them over. The men slowly got back up, Tommy was now covered in small scratches and a couple of bruises were starting to form despite the fact that they had been given near the same amount of injuries though Jason appeared to be almost unhurt.

Tommy shook his head in amazement even the spot where he had drawn blood appeared all right. "How?" He rasped, the combination of fighting cogs and Gerrock, and now Jason was starting to catch up with him.

"I can't tell you." Jason said, flicking the blood off his face, "You want to stop now?"

"I have to do what I think is right." Tommy said, as he lunged forward again. Jason nodded sadly, as he twisted with the blow and brought his elbow into Tommy's chin. Tommy's hands knifed out, catching the other in his kidneys. Wincing in pain, Jason finally brought his arm into a solid shot to Tommy's chest, hitting him hard enough to make the man gasp for air. Following that attack with a spin kick to the jaw, Jason finally knocked his childhood friend and former teammate down. Tommy tried to climb to his feet again, but Jason didn't allow him to do that, and struck him across the temple knocking him down and out.

"When he wakes up, tell him I'm sorry this had to happen." Jason said to Andros, as he finally stepped back.

The Space Ranger nodded, as he knelt down beside the man. "You know he'll come back for you."

"Yeah I know." Jason said sadly. "I thought I could be a little emergency weapon that he called when things got to tough you know? The one that had to do the job that no one else could do."

"Like you did with Goldar?"

Jason didn't even blink, that the other Ranger even knew about that. "Yeah, I was also there to take Elgar down as well."

"They were monsters he's human." Andros said, nodding to the other man that Jason had knocked out. "Just like you are."

"For the most part." Jason said, as he looked down at the bloodied form of Tommy Oliver. "Tell him not to waste his resources finding me anymore, because after this, I'm going to be gone, and not even he should be able to find me." Jason turned around, and picked up his sword, and sheathed it in the blanket roll that he had on his bike. He took his jacket from his friend and then mounted his bike alongside of the unknown man who had remained quite. "Tell him that next time he may not be so lucky." Andros nodded, as the former Power Ranger rode off with his friend.

Andros watched them leave, then knelt down by Tommy, and began working on reviving the Zeo Ranger, who no longer trusted his old teammate. Ten minutes later Tommy was conscious, and leaning against the boulder that he had slammed Jason against. "So how bad is it?"

"All in all, not that bad, how much of that Aquitar twister did you have?"

"I think we both nursed two cups." Tommy said, as he felt his head where he had been kicked.

"Your right you didn't have that much." Andros said, "which means you can't use that as an excuse. Are you sure that he no longer understands the responsibility of the Power?"

"You know just as well as I do that if we hadn't been here, he would have killed that guy." Tommy said, nodding to the man that they only knew as Caddis. "Next time I find him, I'll make sure he goes down, and that he stays down." The Zeo Ranger promised his counterpart.

"Just remember your studies as well." Andros advised. "Don't get to caught up in trying to stop him. "

"Right," Tommy said, as he pulled out his cell phone to call for a pickup from the air base. For now it was time to go home, but he would find Jason again and deal with the former Ranger he was now the closest thing to a dark Ranger now it seemed.