pretty poison: by cynthia_harrell [power rangers: water]
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Pretty Poison
Words: 3,097 (total so far: 26,548)
Theme: water
Fandom: Power Rangers
Warnings: Power Ranger level of violence.
Kim, Zack, and Billy watched as Alpha ran a scan on Trini. Zack couldn’t keep himself still; if he didn’t move he was going to go crazy. Alpha had told him that he wouldn’t know exactly what he needed, or how much of it he would need, until he could examine Trini and get the last bits of information.
“Done.” Alpha announced at last, the pale light that had been going up and down the Yellow Ranger fading away. Trini lay where she was, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling quickly, a sheen of sweat on her pale skin.
“So, what do you need?” Zack asked quickly, leaning forward. He was ready to go to the far side of the universe if that was what it took to save Trini.
Alpha shuffled over to one of the consoles and began to tap at the buttons. Lights flashed, a couple of beeps were beeped, and a loop of paper fell out from somewhere. “There are two ingredients necessary to finish the antidote. Scorpina’s poison has been known to mutate, otherwise I would already have everything I need.” He read over the list carefully. “We’ll have to teleport you to the Molhar dimension. There are certain berries I’ll need to counteract the poison, and a container of water that will cleanse her system out.”
Zack nodded, glancing over to Trini again. “Just send me where I need to go.”
Be on your guard, Zack, Zordon told him, bending his head down briefly to look at the young man. The items you seek are not unguarded. You will have to earn your way to them. But make what haste you can. Trini’s life hangs in the balance.
Zack held himself back from saying that he already knew that. It wasn’t going to make a difference. “You got it. How do I get back?”
“Just contact us again with your communicator. The Molhar dimension is very close to our own, so communications between there and here are not difficult. The berries that you’re looking for are very round, dark orange, and very sour if you taste one. I only need three.” Alpha handed him an empty flask, pressed another couple of buttons on the console, and everything around Zack vanished, replaced by a pristine wilderness.
He looked around, shivering at once. As quiet and serene as it all looked, there was also a hint of danger in the air, a feeling as if he were being weighed, watched, and measured. He turned around, trying to get some idea of where he was and maybe where he had to go in order to find what he was looking for.
Water, water…there! He heard water trickling over stones and hurried towards it, pushing his way through trees and bushes. After Zack had been smacked in the face a few times, he managed to find a slightly less overgrown path, and in minutes stood before a sparkling stream, as clear as cold be. On both sides grew several small bushes, each one covered in the dark orange berries that Alpha had described to him.
“Great.” He glanced around a little. Zordon had said the place was guarded, but he couldn’t see anyone. “Uh, is anyone here?” His voice echoed just a bit, but there was no response. Maybe the guard was off-duty? He’d apologize later if he had to. Right now, getting these berries and that water back to Alpha was a lot more important.
He bent down, reaching with the flask Alpha had given him, and started to scoop up some of the water. As soon as the tips of his fingers touched it, everything froze around him, including the flowing stream.
Who dares to touch the waters of life? The voice rang all about him, echoing in his mind more than in his ears. It was neither male nor female, but an odd combination of both, and he couldn’t see anyone around who might be speaking. Speak!
“Uh. Oh. Hi.” Zack tried to move, but to no avail. He had to get back! Every moment that he spent here was one more that Trini didn’t have to live. At least he could still speak, which might help. “Could you let me go? I need to get this back to Zordon and Alpha to save Trini’s life.”
Only silence answered at first. You speak of Zordon. Who are you?
“Zack Taylor.” He hesitated, then went on. “Black Mastodon Ranger.”
It has been some time since I heard Zordon’s name uttered by humans. He would not send you if there was not need. What ails this ‘Trini’?
He drew in a quick breath and hoped this wasn’t eating up more time. “She was poisoned by Scorpina, one of Rita’s henchmen. If I don’t get back there with the water and these berries soon, she’s going to die.” He hated saying that word, especially where it might pertain to Trini or any of his other friends. But not saying it wouldn’t make it not happen, if he were too late.
Again there was nothing but silence, as if whatever or whoever he was talking to had to think about what he was saying. Anyone may speak the name of Zordon, even a human. Answer my questions, one who calls himself the Black Ranger, and should you be correct, you will have what you came for. Fail in even one, and you will not.
That was not what he needed. But since he couldn’t move, he couldn’t really argue about it. “Fine. What are your questions?”
What is it that begins everything and yet ends both time and space?
A riddle. Zack knew a lot of riddles, and he knew he’d heard this one before. But this wasn’t the best time for them, in his opinion.
He tried to think. There had to be an answer to it; riddles weren’t fair without an answer. Zordon wouldn’t have sent him here if he couldn’t come back safely. It begins everything and ends time and space. What is … Zack grinned. Oh. That was easy, now that he thought about it. “The letter ‘e’.”
Well done. But the first is always the easiest. There was even a hint of amusement in the voice now. Zack swallowed and waited for what was going to come next. I have an eye, but I have no head. I can destroy buildings and kill those who cross my path, yet I have neither arms nor legs. What am I?
That was something else Zack thought he’d heard before. Unfortunately, trying to remember them all when his thoughts kept falling back to Trini wasn’t the easiest of tasks. How long had he been here? What if Alpha’s calculations had been wrong and this couldn’t save her? And there was Jason. How was he doing? What was Tommi doing to him? How were they going to be able to help her? Sure, it was easy for Zordon to say just destroy the sword, but until she came back, they couldn’t.
Until she comes back with Jason. He said it would take us all.
He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the riddle he’d been given. He ran it over and over in his head, doing his best to recall the answer. He’d tried that one himself, he thought, on Angela, trying to impress her. She hadn’t gotten it, and it had annoyed her. He’d thought then that it was so simple, how could anyone not get it, it was, it was… “A hurricane!”
A trace or two of tension ran out; he only had one more to go, and then he could get out of here with what he needed to save Trini.
The guardian wasted no time on asking that last riddle. I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?
Box. Locks. Keys. Zack shook his head, dropping his gaze down towards the water again. His head about all that he could move; his hand would go no further towards the stream nor could he move his legs closer to one of the berry bushes. Why couldn’t that guardian have just believed him? What would he get from lying?
You would gain the materials for an elixir that can counteract the poison that flows in the Yellow Ranger’s veins. The guardian spoke. Answer my riddle, Black Ranger, for her time is running short.
Zack shook his head once more and stared, though he wasn’t sure what he was staring at. “You can read my mind.” It was a statement, not a question, and he thought he should have figured it out from the beginning, given that that was where he kept hearing the voice at. If the guardian could see into his mind, then it knew he wasn’t lying.
The hearts and minds of all those who enter this dimension are open to me. But even so, nothing here can be stolen or given. All must be earned. Speak your answer or surrender.
He wasn’t going to surrender. Though…if he failed, he wouldn’t steal, either. He wouldn’t be able to look Trini, or any of his friends, in the face if he did.
A box that had no locks but it had keys, and it could still unlock the soul. The words tumbled over and over in his mind as he tried to find some way that it all could make sense. Box, lock, keys, soul. Unlocking. What could unlock a soul? Well, how could one get locked up in the first place?
Maybe he was going at this the wrong way. He twitched as best he could, and not being able to move that much annoyed him. Moving, dancing, singing, that was what he was made for, and staying frozen here…
Wait. Singing. Music. He hadn’t ever taken a lesson with one, but he knew what it was now. His mother played one, and he’d tried to when he was younger, but that hadn’t gone very well. “I know! It’s a piano!”
Very good. Approval rang through the voice now, and Zack found that he could move. Take what you have earned, Black Ranger. His hand jerked forward, just as if he hadn’t been immobile all of this time, and the container slid into the water, filling up quickly. He broke off a spray of three berries and looked around.
“Uh. Thanks. Whoever you are.” There was no answer this time, and Zack quickly tapped his communicator. As nice as this place was, it was weird, and he wanted to go home. “Alpha, I’ve got them. Bring me on back.”
Send Zordon my greetings, Black Ranger. Perhaps someday, we shall meet again.
Zack was a bit grateful that he didn’t have a chance to say anything as the familiar energy of teleportation wrapped itself around him. Man, I didn’t know that Zordon had friends in this place. For a guy in a tube, he sure gets around.
As soon as he reappeared in the Command Center, Zack handed off the flask and the berries to Alpha and went over to where Trini lay on the examining table. “Any change?” he asked Kim, who was still beside her.
“Not really.” Kim shook her head a bit. “I think she opened her eyes once, but that was it. I don’t think she actually saw me.”
At least she was still breathing. He glanced at his watch; he’d only been gone about ten minutes. It had certainly seemed longer there. He looked back at Trini, hoping to see her eyes open, even if she wasn’t aware. What he saw instead was that brooch on her sweater. “Hey, where’d Trini get that, anyway?” He’d not really noticed it before, but it was kind of strange. “It looks like a …scorpion.”
Alpha had said that it was Scorpina who had poisoned Trini. Zack hadn’t really thought about how that had happened, somewhat assuming there’d been a fight. Hold on. We would’ve known. The alarms would’ve picked that up. “Alpha,” he said, not taking his eyes off of the brooch, “when you get a chance, think you could scan this thing?”
“I can do it.” Billy said, moving over to one of the scanners. Zack watched as a slender beam of light moved across the piece of jewelry, and several rows of information began to come up on a view screen. “Uh, guys. We might want to be a little careful.”
“Why’s that?” Zack didn’t take his eyes off of the scorpion ornament, but he did shift his position a little. He was about where he would need to be…
“Because the scan is showing that brooch has a high concentration of Scorpina’s magical signature on it, as well as traces of the poison as well.”
That was all that Zack needed to hear. With a quick kick, he knocked the brooch off of Trini, making a mental note that he’d have to get her a new shirt to replace that one now. As the brooch hit the floor, it glowed brilliant gold, and before Zack could even begin to reach for his morpher, it had vanished.
“It’s gone back to Scorpina, most likely.” Billy suggested. “But at least it’s gone now.”
“I’ve done it!” Alpha declared a second later, raising a syringe full of a thick green liquid. “This should fix Trini right up!” He hurried over to her and without a moment to waste, injected the mixture into her arm. He didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about her shirt being torn, but Kim quietly pulled her own sweater off and draped it over her friend.
Zack watched, his teeth clenched tightly together. “How long is this going to take?” For Earth poisons and antidotes, it probably would take days for Trini to be all right again. For something like this, he couldn’t be sure.
“Not more than half an hour before she’s completely back on her feet,” Alpha declared. “The cleansing Waters of Life will speed up the process!”
That reminded Zack. “Uh, Zordon. The guy that was there…or whatever he was. He said to tell you hello and he’d like to see you again someday.” He scratched the back of his head for a moment. “Friend of yours?”
Yes. A good friend, from a long time ago. Zordon’s voice was faintly melancholy. I would indeed be pleased if I could see many of my old friends again.
Zack nodded; if he hadn’t seen any of his pals in ten thousand years or so, he would have wanted to change that if he got the chance. Maybe someday, Zordon would be released from his time warp. Just means we’re going to have to beat Rita completely one of these days, so he can.
“Has there been any sign of Jason or Tommi, Zordon?” Kim asked, lifting her attention from Trini for a few moments. The mentor shook his great head slowly.
I have been watching Rita’s palace as best that I can. There has been nothing.
Zack nodded; the idea of going in there after Jason was still the best, in his opinion. But without Trini there was no use of trying. That half hour was going to be murder to have to wait through.
A light groan came from one side, and Zack looked quickly. Trini’s eyes were open, and they were thankfully clear, though confused. “Zack? Kim? Billy?” She tried to sit up and Kim quickly pressed her back down. “What happened?”
“You were poisoned by Scorpina,” Zack told her. “But Alpha’s got you all fixed up now. Just rest a little bit more. We’ve still got to go get Jason.”
Trini nodded slowly, then stiffened some. “No, it wasn’t Scorpina. At least…Sabrina was there. She said something very strange, about my brooch…” She reached up to where it had been and frowned. “Where is it?” She blinked down at the torn spot on her shirt, then clutched Kim’s sweater to it a bit more, faintly blushing.
“That brooch was what poisoned you. Scorpina must have sent it somehow.” Billy said, averting his face, his own cheeks slightly hot. Zack focused on a point somewhere beyond Trini and wondered how much of the half hour was left.
“We think it went back to her,” he said. “I kicked it off of you. I’ll buy you a new shirt once we’ve taken care of all of this. I promise.”
“Oh.” Trini glanced from one of them to the other, then to Alpha. “How soon are we going to be able to go?”
“Just as soon as you’re ready, Trini,” Alpha said, running one of his scanning devices over her. “That should be very soon.”
While you are there, be extremely careful, Power Rangers. Rita’s palace is infested with traps, as well as her henchmen and Rita herself. While you are morphed and within the bounds of her palace, the lack of atmosphere will not affect you. Retrieve Jason, and the Green Ranger if all possible, and return to Earth.
“We’ll watch our backs, Zordon.” Zack promised. He wanted all of this over with. He was tired of his friends being hurt and not knowing where at least one of them was. This really feels like we’re in a war. Trini could’ve died. Jason might already be… He cut that thought off where it was. Even if finishing it wouldn’t change what had happened, he just didn’t want to think it.
Tension slowly mounted as the minutes ticked by, and Alpha kept checking on Trini, monitoring her progress. “You’ll still need to rest for a while after this is over,” Alpha told her. “But there’s no more poison in your system and the Power will see to it that you stay on your feet as much as possible, even when you’re not morphed.”
“Good.” Trini got to her feet, swaying a bit, and held onto the nearest console until she had her balance back. “Let’s get going. Jason’s been there long enough.”
May the Power protect you, Power Rangers. Zordon gave them the best blessing that he knew. They were going to need all the help that they could get going on this mission. But not going on it would be even worse, since there was no guarantee that Tommi would ever bring Jason out of the palace. Going in to get him was the only way.
“It’s morphin’ time!” Zack declared. In brilliant flashes of black, pink, yellow, and blue, the Power Rangers’ rescue mission to the moon began.
To Be Continued
Note: Honestly, I don't know who the guardian was. He just kind of turned up in my head when I was writing this chapter and he fit, so, he's there.
Title: Pretty Poison
Words: 3,097 (total so far: 26,548)
Theme: water
Fandom: Power Rangers
Warnings: Power Ranger level of violence.
Kim, Zack, and Billy watched as Alpha ran a scan on Trini. Zack couldn’t keep himself still; if he didn’t move he was going to go crazy. Alpha had told him that he wouldn’t know exactly what he needed, or how much of it he would need, until he could examine Trini and get the last bits of information.
“Done.” Alpha announced at last, the pale light that had been going up and down the Yellow Ranger fading away. Trini lay where she was, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling quickly, a sheen of sweat on her pale skin.
“So, what do you need?” Zack asked quickly, leaning forward. He was ready to go to the far side of the universe if that was what it took to save Trini.
Alpha shuffled over to one of the consoles and began to tap at the buttons. Lights flashed, a couple of beeps were beeped, and a loop of paper fell out from somewhere. “There are two ingredients necessary to finish the antidote. Scorpina’s poison has been known to mutate, otherwise I would already have everything I need.” He read over the list carefully. “We’ll have to teleport you to the Molhar dimension. There are certain berries I’ll need to counteract the poison, and a container of water that will cleanse her system out.”
Zack nodded, glancing over to Trini again. “Just send me where I need to go.”
Be on your guard, Zack, Zordon told him, bending his head down briefly to look at the young man. The items you seek are not unguarded. You will have to earn your way to them. But make what haste you can. Trini’s life hangs in the balance.
Zack held himself back from saying that he already knew that. It wasn’t going to make a difference. “You got it. How do I get back?”
“Just contact us again with your communicator. The Molhar dimension is very close to our own, so communications between there and here are not difficult. The berries that you’re looking for are very round, dark orange, and very sour if you taste one. I only need three.” Alpha handed him an empty flask, pressed another couple of buttons on the console, and everything around Zack vanished, replaced by a pristine wilderness.
He looked around, shivering at once. As quiet and serene as it all looked, there was also a hint of danger in the air, a feeling as if he were being weighed, watched, and measured. He turned around, trying to get some idea of where he was and maybe where he had to go in order to find what he was looking for.
Water, water…there! He heard water trickling over stones and hurried towards it, pushing his way through trees and bushes. After Zack had been smacked in the face a few times, he managed to find a slightly less overgrown path, and in minutes stood before a sparkling stream, as clear as cold be. On both sides grew several small bushes, each one covered in the dark orange berries that Alpha had described to him.
“Great.” He glanced around a little. Zordon had said the place was guarded, but he couldn’t see anyone. “Uh, is anyone here?” His voice echoed just a bit, but there was no response. Maybe the guard was off-duty? He’d apologize later if he had to. Right now, getting these berries and that water back to Alpha was a lot more important.
He bent down, reaching with the flask Alpha had given him, and started to scoop up some of the water. As soon as the tips of his fingers touched it, everything froze around him, including the flowing stream.
Who dares to touch the waters of life? The voice rang all about him, echoing in his mind more than in his ears. It was neither male nor female, but an odd combination of both, and he couldn’t see anyone around who might be speaking. Speak!
“Uh. Oh. Hi.” Zack tried to move, but to no avail. He had to get back! Every moment that he spent here was one more that Trini didn’t have to live. At least he could still speak, which might help. “Could you let me go? I need to get this back to Zordon and Alpha to save Trini’s life.”
Only silence answered at first. You speak of Zordon. Who are you?
“Zack Taylor.” He hesitated, then went on. “Black Mastodon Ranger.”
It has been some time since I heard Zordon’s name uttered by humans. He would not send you if there was not need. What ails this ‘Trini’?
He drew in a quick breath and hoped this wasn’t eating up more time. “She was poisoned by Scorpina, one of Rita’s henchmen. If I don’t get back there with the water and these berries soon, she’s going to die.” He hated saying that word, especially where it might pertain to Trini or any of his other friends. But not saying it wouldn’t make it not happen, if he were too late.
Again there was nothing but silence, as if whatever or whoever he was talking to had to think about what he was saying. Anyone may speak the name of Zordon, even a human. Answer my questions, one who calls himself the Black Ranger, and should you be correct, you will have what you came for. Fail in even one, and you will not.
That was not what he needed. But since he couldn’t move, he couldn’t really argue about it. “Fine. What are your questions?”
What is it that begins everything and yet ends both time and space?
A riddle. Zack knew a lot of riddles, and he knew he’d heard this one before. But this wasn’t the best time for them, in his opinion.
He tried to think. There had to be an answer to it; riddles weren’t fair without an answer. Zordon wouldn’t have sent him here if he couldn’t come back safely. It begins everything and ends time and space. What is … Zack grinned. Oh. That was easy, now that he thought about it. “The letter ‘e’.”
Well done. But the first is always the easiest. There was even a hint of amusement in the voice now. Zack swallowed and waited for what was going to come next. I have an eye, but I have no head. I can destroy buildings and kill those who cross my path, yet I have neither arms nor legs. What am I?
That was something else Zack thought he’d heard before. Unfortunately, trying to remember them all when his thoughts kept falling back to Trini wasn’t the easiest of tasks. How long had he been here? What if Alpha’s calculations had been wrong and this couldn’t save her? And there was Jason. How was he doing? What was Tommi doing to him? How were they going to be able to help her? Sure, it was easy for Zordon to say just destroy the sword, but until she came back, they couldn’t.
Until she comes back with Jason. He said it would take us all.
He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the riddle he’d been given. He ran it over and over in his head, doing his best to recall the answer. He’d tried that one himself, he thought, on Angela, trying to impress her. She hadn’t gotten it, and it had annoyed her. He’d thought then that it was so simple, how could anyone not get it, it was, it was… “A hurricane!”
A trace or two of tension ran out; he only had one more to go, and then he could get out of here with what he needed to save Trini.
The guardian wasted no time on asking that last riddle. I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?
Box. Locks. Keys. Zack shook his head, dropping his gaze down towards the water again. His head about all that he could move; his hand would go no further towards the stream nor could he move his legs closer to one of the berry bushes. Why couldn’t that guardian have just believed him? What would he get from lying?
You would gain the materials for an elixir that can counteract the poison that flows in the Yellow Ranger’s veins. The guardian spoke. Answer my riddle, Black Ranger, for her time is running short.
Zack shook his head once more and stared, though he wasn’t sure what he was staring at. “You can read my mind.” It was a statement, not a question, and he thought he should have figured it out from the beginning, given that that was where he kept hearing the voice at. If the guardian could see into his mind, then it knew he wasn’t lying.
The hearts and minds of all those who enter this dimension are open to me. But even so, nothing here can be stolen or given. All must be earned. Speak your answer or surrender.
He wasn’t going to surrender. Though…if he failed, he wouldn’t steal, either. He wouldn’t be able to look Trini, or any of his friends, in the face if he did.
A box that had no locks but it had keys, and it could still unlock the soul. The words tumbled over and over in his mind as he tried to find some way that it all could make sense. Box, lock, keys, soul. Unlocking. What could unlock a soul? Well, how could one get locked up in the first place?
Maybe he was going at this the wrong way. He twitched as best he could, and not being able to move that much annoyed him. Moving, dancing, singing, that was what he was made for, and staying frozen here…
Wait. Singing. Music. He hadn’t ever taken a lesson with one, but he knew what it was now. His mother played one, and he’d tried to when he was younger, but that hadn’t gone very well. “I know! It’s a piano!”
Very good. Approval rang through the voice now, and Zack found that he could move. Take what you have earned, Black Ranger. His hand jerked forward, just as if he hadn’t been immobile all of this time, and the container slid into the water, filling up quickly. He broke off a spray of three berries and looked around.
“Uh. Thanks. Whoever you are.” There was no answer this time, and Zack quickly tapped his communicator. As nice as this place was, it was weird, and he wanted to go home. “Alpha, I’ve got them. Bring me on back.”
Send Zordon my greetings, Black Ranger. Perhaps someday, we shall meet again.
Zack was a bit grateful that he didn’t have a chance to say anything as the familiar energy of teleportation wrapped itself around him. Man, I didn’t know that Zordon had friends in this place. For a guy in a tube, he sure gets around.
As soon as he reappeared in the Command Center, Zack handed off the flask and the berries to Alpha and went over to where Trini lay on the examining table. “Any change?” he asked Kim, who was still beside her.
“Not really.” Kim shook her head a bit. “I think she opened her eyes once, but that was it. I don’t think she actually saw me.”
At least she was still breathing. He glanced at his watch; he’d only been gone about ten minutes. It had certainly seemed longer there. He looked back at Trini, hoping to see her eyes open, even if she wasn’t aware. What he saw instead was that brooch on her sweater. “Hey, where’d Trini get that, anyway?” He’d not really noticed it before, but it was kind of strange. “It looks like a …scorpion.”
Alpha had said that it was Scorpina who had poisoned Trini. Zack hadn’t really thought about how that had happened, somewhat assuming there’d been a fight. Hold on. We would’ve known. The alarms would’ve picked that up. “Alpha,” he said, not taking his eyes off of the brooch, “when you get a chance, think you could scan this thing?”
“I can do it.” Billy said, moving over to one of the scanners. Zack watched as a slender beam of light moved across the piece of jewelry, and several rows of information began to come up on a view screen. “Uh, guys. We might want to be a little careful.”
“Why’s that?” Zack didn’t take his eyes off of the scorpion ornament, but he did shift his position a little. He was about where he would need to be…
“Because the scan is showing that brooch has a high concentration of Scorpina’s magical signature on it, as well as traces of the poison as well.”
That was all that Zack needed to hear. With a quick kick, he knocked the brooch off of Trini, making a mental note that he’d have to get her a new shirt to replace that one now. As the brooch hit the floor, it glowed brilliant gold, and before Zack could even begin to reach for his morpher, it had vanished.
“It’s gone back to Scorpina, most likely.” Billy suggested. “But at least it’s gone now.”
“I’ve done it!” Alpha declared a second later, raising a syringe full of a thick green liquid. “This should fix Trini right up!” He hurried over to her and without a moment to waste, injected the mixture into her arm. He didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about her shirt being torn, but Kim quietly pulled her own sweater off and draped it over her friend.
Zack watched, his teeth clenched tightly together. “How long is this going to take?” For Earth poisons and antidotes, it probably would take days for Trini to be all right again. For something like this, he couldn’t be sure.
“Not more than half an hour before she’s completely back on her feet,” Alpha declared. “The cleansing Waters of Life will speed up the process!”
That reminded Zack. “Uh, Zordon. The guy that was there…or whatever he was. He said to tell you hello and he’d like to see you again someday.” He scratched the back of his head for a moment. “Friend of yours?”
Yes. A good friend, from a long time ago. Zordon’s voice was faintly melancholy. I would indeed be pleased if I could see many of my old friends again.
Zack nodded; if he hadn’t seen any of his pals in ten thousand years or so, he would have wanted to change that if he got the chance. Maybe someday, Zordon would be released from his time warp. Just means we’re going to have to beat Rita completely one of these days, so he can.
“Has there been any sign of Jason or Tommi, Zordon?” Kim asked, lifting her attention from Trini for a few moments. The mentor shook his great head slowly.
I have been watching Rita’s palace as best that I can. There has been nothing.
Zack nodded; the idea of going in there after Jason was still the best, in his opinion. But without Trini there was no use of trying. That half hour was going to be murder to have to wait through.
A light groan came from one side, and Zack looked quickly. Trini’s eyes were open, and they were thankfully clear, though confused. “Zack? Kim? Billy?” She tried to sit up and Kim quickly pressed her back down. “What happened?”
“You were poisoned by Scorpina,” Zack told her. “But Alpha’s got you all fixed up now. Just rest a little bit more. We’ve still got to go get Jason.”
Trini nodded slowly, then stiffened some. “No, it wasn’t Scorpina. At least…Sabrina was there. She said something very strange, about my brooch…” She reached up to where it had been and frowned. “Where is it?” She blinked down at the torn spot on her shirt, then clutched Kim’s sweater to it a bit more, faintly blushing.
“That brooch was what poisoned you. Scorpina must have sent it somehow.” Billy said, averting his face, his own cheeks slightly hot. Zack focused on a point somewhere beyond Trini and wondered how much of the half hour was left.
“We think it went back to her,” he said. “I kicked it off of you. I’ll buy you a new shirt once we’ve taken care of all of this. I promise.”
“Oh.” Trini glanced from one of them to the other, then to Alpha. “How soon are we going to be able to go?”
“Just as soon as you’re ready, Trini,” Alpha said, running one of his scanning devices over her. “That should be very soon.”
While you are there, be extremely careful, Power Rangers. Rita’s palace is infested with traps, as well as her henchmen and Rita herself. While you are morphed and within the bounds of her palace, the lack of atmosphere will not affect you. Retrieve Jason, and the Green Ranger if all possible, and return to Earth.
“We’ll watch our backs, Zordon.” Zack promised. He wanted all of this over with. He was tired of his friends being hurt and not knowing where at least one of them was. This really feels like we’re in a war. Trini could’ve died. Jason might already be… He cut that thought off where it was. Even if finishing it wouldn’t change what had happened, he just didn’t want to think it.
Tension slowly mounted as the minutes ticked by, and Alpha kept checking on Trini, monitoring her progress. “You’ll still need to rest for a while after this is over,” Alpha told her. “But there’s no more poison in your system and the Power will see to it that you stay on your feet as much as possible, even when you’re not morphed.”
“Good.” Trini got to her feet, swaying a bit, and held onto the nearest console until she had her balance back. “Let’s get going. Jason’s been there long enough.”
May the Power protect you, Power Rangers. Zordon gave them the best blessing that he knew. They were going to need all the help that they could get going on this mission. But not going on it would be even worse, since there was no guarantee that Tommi would ever bring Jason out of the palace. Going in to get him was the only way.
“It’s morphin’ time!” Zack declared. In brilliant flashes of black, pink, yellow, and blue, the Power Rangers’ rescue mission to the moon began.
To Be Continued
Note: Honestly, I don't know who the guardian was. He just kind of turned up in my head when I was writing this chapter and he fit, so, he's there.