More Than One Bolt From The Blue

“I never could turn Zordon down, and I can’t let Billy down,” he took a deep breath, pictured himself back on Desert of Despair, and with every fiber of his being, he begged for his Frog spirit to be released, and at the same time, apologized for caging it.

A black flash of power surrounded him, and from the center of his chest, a golden light slowly formed, seeped into the empty Morpher pocket, where it solidified into a solid coin with a picture of a frog on it. It seemed to him that it took hours, but when he finally opened his eyes, and found he was dressed in his black Ninjetti outfit, he almost did a double backflip of excitement. “I feel like a part of me’s been freed!” he exclaimed, and his grin was wide, as Aisha gazed at him almost predatorily.

“Mm,” She almost purred. “I’d forgotten how good you looked in that.” She sobered, and took a deep breath in. “Billy’s my friend,” she said thoughtfully as she slowly entered a meditative state. “I know, if our situations were reversed, he wouldn’t think twice about coming for me, and doing whatever he had to, to do it.” She breathed deeply several more times, and finally felt everything within her calm. Suddenly, a bright yellow flash surrounded her, and a golden light gleamed from her chest, ran into the hollow of her Morpher where the light solidified, and became a gold coin that bore the picture of a bear. The light faded, and she was dressed, once more, in her yellow Ninjetti suit.

“Man, I never thought for a moment I’d ever be doing this again,” Rocky said, as he took a deep breath and raised his arms over his head. “But I’m telling you, if this works, there’s no regrets about any of this. Besides, Billy, you need a Ranger, and once a Ranger, always a Ranger,” with a seriousness that he hadn’t felt in a very long time, he took numerous deep breaths, and pleaded with the Great Power to once more release the Ape to him. A few moments later, a flash of red light filled the air, a golden light seeped down from his chest to his Morpher, and a gold coin, embossed with the picture of an ape, settled into the hollow of the coin. A moment later, he did a high tornado kick as he realized that he wore his red Ninjetti clothing.

“Yeah!” He shouted, excited, and the others grinned at him.

“Okay,” Kimberly said, and narrowed her lips in concentration. “This is for Billy and for Zordon.” She raised her arms gracefully over her head and inhaled deeply many times. Slowly, her head came up and a bright flash of pink light surrounded her. From her chest, a brilliant golden light formed and seeped into the hollow of her empty Morpher. The glow solidified, and became a gleaming gold coin that carried the picture of the crane. She opened her eyes and gazed down at the pink Ninjetti costume she wore, and a giggle of pure joy left her. “I feel . . . whole, now,” she said, and Tommy grinned.

“I missed seeing you in that,” Tommy told her, and gave her a quick kiss. A moment later, he raised his fist into the air, and called out, “back to action!”

A moment later, a brilliant white glow surrounded him, and he inhaled as he swore he felt wings brush his face as his chest suddenly warmed and a golden glow spread from his chest to his Morpher. Slowly, the glow flowed into the hollow of his Morpher, until it solidified into a gold coin that was stamped with the picture of a falcon, while his white Ninjetti ensemble seemed to glow brighter than it ever had.

For a moment, silence reigned in the room, and Zack and Jason exchanged a somewhat doubtful look. “Are you sure we can do that?” Zack asked, and Jason gazed at him.

“Only one way to find out,” he said, and tommy looked over at him and Jason seriously.

“You need to concentrate, and become completely calm. Remember, this comes from inside yourself. You have t believe, with everything you are, that you are a part of the Great Power, and that it can live inside you.“

“Okay, man, I think I’m ready,“ Zack shrugged and rolled his shoulders as he relaxed his body. “Hang on, Billy,” he said. “Even if this doesn’t work, I’m still coming for you.” He did exactly what the others had done, up to and including raising his arms over his head, and breathed very deeply, each one longer and deeper than the next. It seemed to take an incredibly long time, and just as it all seemed to no avail, Zack was surrounded by a brilliant purple flash, and a golden glow formed. The glow filled the hollow of his Morpher, and, like the others, formed itself into a coin. The coin filled the hollow of his Morpher and bore a snake symbol, even as a dark purple Ninjetti outfit materialized on him.

Tommy smiled and nodded at the coin. “You’re a snake,” he said. “It’s a symbol of rebirth, and they’re powerful and fast. I like it.”

“I’m purple,” Zack grimaced, and Kimberly nodded.

“Could have been worse,” she giggled. “You could have been orange.”

“I liked black,” he said, and Adam shook his head.

“Uh-uh. S’me. And I like what I am,” he shrugged. “Besides, purple is the color of royalty. Not only that, but it’s the color of good judgment.”

“Good judgment, huh?” Zack asked, and Adam nodded. “Well, I guess I can get used to it.” Zack smiled, and they all turned their attention to Jason.

“Okay. I guess I’m up,” Jason said and swallowed. He took a very deep breath in, slowly raised his hands over his head, and closed his eyes. “Hang in there, Billy. I promise. We’ll be there,” he slowly tipped his head back, and slowly, agonizingly slowly, inhaled. “I’m just sorry it’s taken this long.” After a few long moments, an intense golden flash surrounded him, as an ever brighter glow formed and settled into the hollow of his Morpher, and it bore a scorpion symbol. When the glow had faded, he looked at his clothing and smiled as it too was golden.

“Looks like I’m still Gold Ranger,” he grinned at the gold Ninjetti outfit, and furrowed his eyebrows at the scorpion. “But I’m not sure about the scorpion. I mean, this is an evil symbol, isn’t it? After all, Rita had Scorpina . . .”

“Actually, Jason,” Tommy said thoughtfully. “The scorpion is also the symbol of defense and protection. After all, the scorpion can protect itself three ways, and the mother scorpion lets her children ride on her back, and will defend them to the death. As for you, you were the original Red Ranger, the original leader, and you’ve always felt some sort of protectiveness for the others, and even me, when you had no reason to, and every reason not to. I think the scorpion is a perfect animal spirit for you.”

There was silence for a moment, and Kimberly sighed. “The only problem with this is that there is usually some sort of Zord that goes with these. That’d help us get off planet and actually go out and get Billy,” she indicated their outfits. “There doesn’t seem to be any way we can . . .”

She suddenly stopped talking, as stones, pieces of cement, and bits of consoles, wires, and other debris started flying up around them, and they ducked.

“What’s going on!?” Aisha demanded, as the pieces started fitting themselves together again, and consoles repaired themselves, walls were rebuilt, and floors were fixed.

“I think the Command Center/Power Chamber is rebuilding itself,” Tommy said as they slowly stood.
“How is that even possible?” Zack asked, and Adam shrugged.

“Maybe with the Ranger Power being reawakened in here, this place is reawakening too.”

“But, this is just a place, right?” Kimberly asked. “I mean, Zordon and Alpha were the caretakers. They gave it life, so to speak, not the other way around.”

“Or maybe it’s the Ranger Power that gave it life,” Tommy said, and they watched with mixed emotions as the familiar building literally built up around them. They were silent for the entire time, and opened their eyes as the place lit up, though it was dim, and only a few of the consoles lit up and made some sort of noise.
“I guess it’s finished,” Kimberly observed, and tears moistened her eyes as she looked around.

“But it doesn’t look . . . done . . . I guess the word is. I remember it being so much brighter . . . busier, almost.” Aisha said, and Tommy’s smile was sad.

“It’s not finished,” he shook his head.

“Because we’re not complete,” Jason said, and swallowed.

“Billy’s not here to finish the process,” Rocky said, and Adam nodded.

“And this place knows it,” he confirmed.

“So, when we get Billy back, then the Power Chamber will run at full speed again?” Kimberly stared at the others. “You know what this means, don’t you?” She asked, her voice filled with awe, and more than a little fear.

“We’ll be full time Power Rangers again,” Zack completed.

“Assuming we can get Billy back,” Tommy brought them all back to the problem at hand. “We still don’t have . . .”

Suddenly, a door off to the side slowly slid open, and a large robot, taller than Tommy, gleaming with red, gold, and silver metallic body armor, and who bore a normal sized, almost human-shaped head, all but wobbled from out of the door, and into the room. They stared as he jumped heavily up and down and waved frantically, obviously excited.