Zordon cut in. "I cannot explain the link with Rocky, but the Morpheonites cannot survive without a special "nest" that they return to at regular intervals."
"That sounds just revolting enough to be the thing we found." said Tanya.
Tommy's eyes lit up with realization, and he began to think out loud. "Maybe the Black Ranger is this Morpheonic being. That would explain everything that was in the ashes Tanya found. The meteor could be how she arrived on Earth, and maybe she went to the abandoned building to set up housekeeping and build her nest!"
"Then what's up with King Mondo and the Machine Empire? Why did they take this as a cue to jump on the energy conservation bandwagon?" Adam asked.
Kat suggested the answer to that one. "Maybe they thought this Morpheonite had a better chance of icing us than they did, and decided to sit back and not interfere....but then again, it doesn't sound like King Mondo to let someone else hog all the glory."
"It does not matter." said Zordon. "What matters is that we locate the Morpheonite as soon as possible. They are not a violent or malicious race, but they can be brutal, and deadly, enemies."
Tommy nodded, his eyes shining with determination. He finally had an objective to accomplish. Alpha, call up whatever information you can find on these Morpheonic beings, and any weaknesses they may have. We're going back to find that nest. If we can destroy it, the Black Ranger won't have any place to recharge her batteries and she might just leave."
Kat grabbed his arm. "Wait a minute. Are you sure you're up to a fight?"
"I'll be fine." he reassured her, "I've fought in worse condition than this."
He looked at her intensely. "What stakes are higher than Rocky's life?"
She blinked. Then closed her mouth and nodded.
Tommy morphed before their eyes, and then Zordon spoke to them one more time.
"I caution you to be careful, Rangers. A mature, skilled Morpheon can take on and maintain almost any shape imaginable. They will try to deceive you with this skill and you must be on your guard."
"We'll be ready." said Tommy, determinedly. "Let's move."
* * * * *
It was nighttime now.
Chapter Three
Tanya kept all her senses on high alert as she moved along. All of a sudden she didn't even trust the stray crates that were scattered here and there, collecting dust.
Through her helmet visor, she glanced at Kat and Adam who were walking alongside her. They appeared as they would with the naked eye, except for a faint bright streak pulsing inside them. All of them had set their visors on HeatSeek in the hopes that it would help them see the Morpheonite even if she was masquerading as something else.
Tanya saw Adam glance her way and intuitively knew what expression he wore.
They were all thinking the same thing, in fact. They were thinking about Tommy and this drive he was feeling to rectify the whole situation. It was characteristic of him to feel responsible for their safety, and they knew that once Tommy Oliver had a problem, nothing short of death would get him off solving it. But now he was about to go hurtling into an incredibly dangerous situation without having fully recovered from his last injury. It was reckless, and Adam, Kat and Tanya all agreed to keep an eye on their leader over the next few hours.
Now they had almost reached the door. When they were just ten feet away, Tommy motioned for them to stop, eyeing the door and glancing briefly up at the window.
"Wait here..." he said.
Adam snorted. "Are you nuts? No way are we letting you go up there alone."
Tommy looked back over his shoulder at the Green Ranger. "One of us should go up and try to destroy the nest, while the others watch things out down here." he insisted. Adam shook his head, about to protest, but his communicator beeped, cutting him off.
"Go ahead." he responded.
"Rangers, I have information for you on the Morpheonite." Zordon said. "Tommy's guesses were right. She did travel to earth via the meteor which Alpha is now examining here in the Power Chamber."
"You brought it there?" Kat marveled.
"Yes, what is left of it at least. Much of it was burned away upon entry into this atmosphere."
Zordon was not finished. "There is something else. Over the last few weeks, the Angel Grove Police Department has recorded numerous Suspicious Persons incidents, as well as other miscellaneous events that could be the responsibility of our visitor."
Kat and Tanya locked eyes, both thinking the same thought.
"The dance..." they said in unison.
Zordon confirmed, "Yes, I believe there was an incident in which the high school dance committee complained of mischief at one of their events."
"Mischief, alright." Tommy murmured, glancing at the girls. "Anything else?"
"Only that I seem to be experiencing technical difficulties, and I cannot reliably use the sensors to alert you of danger. You are, in effect, on your own."
"No problem, Zordon." he said. "Thanks for the update. Tommy out."
He turned to the others. "You heard what he said. The Morpheonite has been out making trouble, and the sensors are malfunctioning. I need as many people as possible standing guard down here, making sure she doesn't come back."
"But Tommy, come on..." Kat tried to reason, but he shook his head. "Just keep your visors peeled. I'll be back down soon."
With that, he turned and left them, deliberately not giving them a moment more of his attention.
He slipped through the door and found himself in a dim stairwell. The whitewashed walls were dirty and bare, and gave him nothing to work with, strategically. He stared upward as he began to climb the steps, moving slowly and keeping on the alert.
When he arrived at the landing, he saw the door and the plaque, just as Kat had described to him. With a quick look around, he took hold of the knob and began to run through, in his mind, as many different attack situations as he could in just a few moments but he realized the possibilities were endless. She could fight him as any being in the universe, including one a thousand times as powerful as he was.
There was no more time to waste. He took a step back, and then thrust his foot out, kicking the door off it's hinges.
Down on the warehouse floor, Kat threw up her hands and turned away from the others. "Great! This is just wonderful!" she lamented angrily.
Tanya put her hand on her hip and chucked a thumb at the door where Tommy had gone. "Am I the only one who thinks we let him get away with way too much?"
Adam leaned close and patted her arm reassuringly. She wasn't alone.
Then his glove beeped. "This is Adam, go ahead."
It was Tommy. "Guys, I'm in the office. I can see the... the whatever it is, but there's no sign of anybody up here."
"Are you sure?" Tanya asked, meaningfully.
"Positive. There's only the desk, the lamp, the chair, the file box, and the teletype machine."
"Teletype machine?" All three repeated.
There was no response.
"Tommy...?"
All at once, they heard a piercing shattering sound, and Tommy's body smashed through the window high above them. He plummeted down from the office in a sparkling hail of broken glass.
The Rangers instantly shielded themselves from the rain of shards, and a few meters away, the Red Ranger slammed into the ground with a sickening thud.
Looking up, they saw the Black Ranger standing in the window, unmasked to reveal a lovely young face, cold blue eyes, and long, flowing white hair. She stared down at them emotionlessly.
Kat jumped up and rushed to Tommy's side. She gingerly removed his helmet, trying not to move him too much, and asked, "How bad?"
Through gritted teeth, he said, "Told'ya I'd be right back down." Then he tensed as a wave of pain overtook him.
The low, genderless voice of the Morpheonite echoed down to them. "Zeo Rangers. I am Gh'ess Piah, Bounty Hunter. I have come to destroy you and collect the reward on your heads." Her words were flat and matter of fact.
"Please oblige and allow me to complete my task without undue inconvenience."
But Katherine rose slowly from her crouch with fury in her voice.
"Not on your life. If you want us dead, she challenged you're going to have to work for it!"
Taking a defensive position around Tommy, Adam, Kat and Tanya watched as the bounty hunter leaped from the high window and landed effortlessly on the warehouse floor. Slowly, she straightened and stretched out her left hand.
Before the Rangers eyes, her hand liquefied and formed a long, sharp, solid sword blade. In addition, Piah's skin hardened and became cement like armor. She then began to advance on them confidently.
Standing at point, Kat dropped her stance and raised her guard, preparing to defend a complicated bit of swordplay. Instead, when Piah got within range, she simply raised her sword arm and swung it swiftly down at the Pink Ranger's shoulder.
Surprised, Kat ducked and rolled backward, avoiding her arm being severed. She came up a few feet away. It can't be that simple, can it? she thought.
Taking advantage of an awkward moment, Adam leaped in to counter attack. He exchanged a string of swift, powerful blows with the enemy before finally catching a knee in the ribs and being forced to retreat. Then Tanya stepped in.
She kept Piah busy with rapid, agile attacks while Adam and Kat reconstructed their barrier in front of Tommy.
The battle had begun.
Tommy had felt something snap in his lower back, after the sickening drop from the office window. Now, even the slightest movement of his head caused severe, stabbing pain and he was frightened he had taken permanent damage.
He listened, in mental anguish, to the sounds of the battle. Every once in a while. He caught glimpses of his friends out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't see much, but he could tell the Rangers weren't going to be able to hold out much longer.
Gritting his teeth again, he began to lift his left arm towards his head. Pain shot through him like icy arrows, but he kept trying. When his wrist was close enough to his face, he shouted into the open communicator channel.
"Power Chamber! Zordon...can y'hear me?"
"We read you Tommy. What is happening down there?"
"The Morpheonite attacked! I'm hurt and the others need help fast!"
There was no answer.
"Zordon...!" He was cut off by another stab of pain in his back.
"Acknowledged, Red Ranger." Zordon finally answered. "Alpha was just about to contact you with a possible vulnerability in the alien that you can take advantage of. Do not fear. We still have an ace up our sleeve."
"Alright, just hurry....they need you!"
Nearby, Tanya took a blow to the kidneys and retaliated with a disabling foot sweep that put the Bounty Hunter on the floor. But Piah simply got up again, totally unfazed by the setback. Up until now, she had been softening the blows she took by literally softening the area that got hit. It had kept her from suffering any real damage whatsoever.
Tanya groaned. "Don't you ever quit?"
Flatly, Piah replied "No," and kicked at the Yellow Ranger's shin with her cement like foot. Tanya skipped backwards and then stopped a hook punch coming at her head from the left. But before she could think again, she glimpsed the blade arm slicing horizontally towards her from the right. She cringed, waiting to feel her right arm being severed at the deltoid.
But instead, she felt only a swift slap as the flat of the blade smacked into her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see that Adam had grabbed Piah's arm from behind and twisted it just in time.
But now Gh'ess's attention focused on him.
She threw Tanya aside like a toy, and let her sword arm and shoulder melt, trapping Adam's hands. Then she brutally sunk her rock hard shin into the side of his thigh.
Adam dropped like a rock, clutching his leg in agony.
From a few meters away, Kat cringed as she saw this. Adam had taken the hit square on the lateral femoral nerve, which ran down the outer thigh. She knew that when a blow is sunk into this nerve, it causes a total motor dysfunction in the limb.
Adam's leg literally wouldn't work for a while not to mention how much pain he was in now.
Angrily, Kat charged at Piah from behind. The bounty hunter was just resolidifying herself when the Pink Ranger's boot slammed into her back.
Piah reeled and stumbled forward, hitting the floor and smashing into a dozen pieces.
Tanya and Kat quickly turned and rushed over to Adam. He lay on his side, still clutching his leg with both hands.
Tanya removed his helmet. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was holding his breath against the pain. "Adam, are you " she began, but Kat glared at her.
"Okay, stupid question. Just hang in there, buddy..." she looked back over her shoulder to see all the chunks of Gh'ess Piah liquefying again, and sliding toward a central point where they became one again.
"What do we do now?" Kat asked, taking the moment to catch her breath.
"I don't know. "Tanya panted. They were between the bounty hunter and their two fallen friends, but they knew they didn't constitute much of a barrier. Adam was finally able to relax his body enough to breathe, and he commented, I wish the Terminator was here. He d know what to do.
They rose as Piah finished pulling herself together, and the Green Ranger began to drag himself back toward where Tommy lay.
Kat and Tanya waited for Piah to speak.
"You are formidable opponents." she said. "I underestimated your strength and endurance by a surprising margin."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Kat sneered.
Piah ignored her. "I had assumed I was working for easy money, but this challenge has a pleasant surprise."
Tanya snapped, "Yeah, it was our pleasure too."
"But now I fear this must come to an end. I regret we were destined to meet on these terms, for I would have greatly enjoyed hunting with you."
She took a step forward and Kat and Tanya dropped into stances again.
However, one step was all the bounty hunter would have time for.
In a familiar burst of blue energy, a figure appeared right behind Piah. It was Rocky.
He looked drained, and was in no condition to fight, but he held a threatening hypodermic needle in his hand. It was filled with the thin, grey hangover remedy.
"Excuse me," he said to Piah. "but you have a chip on your shoulder. Lemme help." And he jammed the needle into the side of her neck. Apparently, it was the right spot because the shape shifter then let out a deafening, unearthly roar of surprise. Right away, she began to melt.
Screaming, she rapidly liquefied until nothing was left but a dull puddle of dark blue slime.
Tanya and Kat stared in mouth open astonishment. So did Adam, and Tommy looked like he wanted to.
Gh'ess Piah was no more, and it was all because of Rocky and one dose of hangover medicine.
Now Rocky met their looks. His eyes were tired, but they glinted with humour.
"What? I've saved all your butts before, haven't I?" and with those words, he fell to his knees in exhaustion. Tanya and Kat dashed over to him.
"Rocky! My god...! How did " Kat started to say.
"What are you doing here? Are you " Tanya began, but they were both cut off by a low groan from the puddle.
Gh'ess's head had re emerged, and now it sat in the sticky muck as though her body was in a deep hole beneath it.
"Zeo Rangers..." she gurgled. "..you have defeated me....how is that possible?"
Rocky found himself on the spot. Everyone in the room wanted to know the answer to that one.
"Well...we didn't, actually. We defeated the alcohol induced hangover."
Gh'ess showed understanding. "Ah, of course. You realized that the Morpheonic fluid I am made of, consists largely of alcohol. Just as your carbon based bodies contain a large amount of H2O. Brilliant thinking."
A sheen appeared on her face and they realized she was on her "last legs".
"A race known as the Tivanik." Gh ess said, without hesitation. "They are a weak-willed and feeble species, who hire others to fight their battles for them."
"What do they have against us?"
"They do not believe any small group has the right to possess the amount of power you do. Even though there are many evil groups in the universe with just as much, you fight for good and, in theory, should have been easiest to defeat. Their theory was wrong."
Kat shook her head in puzzlement. "But if they're just a bunch of simpering hypocrites, why did you agree to work for them?"
Gh'ess deadpanned. "They are extremely wealthy hypocrites."
She began to slip away. Tanya had one more question. "What did you do to the Machine Empire?"
As she faded into nothing, the bounty hunter whispered, "..they were in my way....so I removed them..."
Then she was gone, leaving them to wonder what on Earth that could mean.
"Guys...?" Tommy called weakly. They looked back to where Adam and he were waiting, and helped Rocky over. Right away, Kat knelt and placed both hands on the sides of Tommy's head to hold him still. "Don't move." she ordered softly. He looked at her, amused. "Not a problem." Then he turned his eyes to Rocky.
"Rocky, man. How'd you do it?"
"I didn't do anything. Alpha put all the pieces together before I even woke up, and when you guys were in finally got in trouble, he sent me with the needle. We ll fill you in later. The important thing is that we get you two back to the MedLab."
The others agreed, and prepared to teleport.
Rocky glanced back over his shoulder just before he disappeared. What was left of Gh'ess Piah lay in a thick, spreading pool ten feet away. Rocky thought of her face once more and briefly wished along with her he wished they had been on the same side.
Chapter Four
The whole place stank like rotten eggs.
Kat made a disgusted face and shrank back from the smelly thing.
"Oh!" Alpha said, looking up from where he was taking a sample. "I forgot, the smell of sulphur is unpleasant to humans." He shuffled over to the computer and turned on the oxygen purification system. The smell began to fade.
"Where is the Morpheonite?" Zordon asked.
"Dead." said Tanya. "She's lying in a puddle on the warehouse floor. Whatever you had Rocky do to her, it did the trick."
Then Kat spoke from where she knelt with Tommy. "Could we possibly have a little help here?"
The other Rangers made room and Alpha hurried to the MedLab to get a force field immobilizer. He strapped it to Tommy's arm and activated it, and Tommy sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling pressure around his neck and shoulders. "It's okay," Kat soothed. "it won't strangle you."
She held his hand and they teleported away to the MedLab, taking Alpha with them.
"What is that?" Tanya asked, rising and cautiously approaching the meteor.
Zordon answered, "This is the vehicle in which the Morpheonite "
"Gh'ess." Rocky supplied.
"Yes in which Gh'ess traveled to Earth. She remained in her natural, liquid state in the compartment at the heart of the meteor, while the journey took place. Then she emerged through the escape tube at the edge." Tanya, Rocky, and Adam looked at the cross sectioned rock. There was a hollow at the center of both halves, and a channel ran from the compartment to the outer edge. The walls were coated in the same gelatinous stuff that had been in the nest.
"Originally, the meteor was much larger than this, but the Earth's atmosphere burned away much of it upon entry."
Adam shook his head as he tried to stand. Rocky and Tanya had to help him, and he they set him against one of the computer banks so he could take the weight off his leg. He rubbed it, wincing. "The feeling's starting to come back." he said. Then he looked up at his friends. "That's a bad thing."
"What happened to you?" Rocky asked.
Tanya replied. "There was a big fight. Gh'ess gave Adam the old shin to the femoral nerve' bit."
"Ouch..." Rocky flinched, knowing what that felt like. "What about Tommy?"
"She gave him the knock me through a plate glass window and let me fall-two stories-to the concrete floor' bit." said Adam.
"Oh."
"He would have broken every bone in his body if he hadn't been morphed when he fell." Tanya shook her head. "I think we came away lucky today."
"Speak for yourself." said Adam.
Then Zordon spoke to them. "I would like a full oral report on this incident recorded in the computer files. Each one of you is missing certain pieces of the puzzle and I suggest you hold a conference to help you fill in the blanks'. In the meantime, I will take care of the nest and the bounty hunter's remains."
"Good idea." said Tanya. "I am totally confused about what went on here. And what did Gh'ess mean about the Machine Empire? Could she really have removed them."
"I don't know." Rocky replied. "But I sure wouldn't put it past her."
"Amen to that." Adam nodded.
They shook their heads, remembering their incredible opponent. For now, they were all just glad that battle was over.
Kat finished setting up the bed monitor program. She turned from her computer console and made her way over to the edge of Tommy's bunk, glancing briefly at the readout at his head. His eyes were closed but he was awake.
"So, Wild Man..." she mimicked.
He smiled and opened his eyes to look at her, anticipating some teasing. "Looks like I'm in for a taste of my own medicine." he said.
"No, just a lecture." She became more serious. "What's up with going out to fight before you were a hundred percent recovered? You could have been really hurt, you know."
"This isn't hurt enough for you?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "You know what I'm talking about, Tommy. It was a reckless thing to do, and you're smarter than that."
He sighed. "I know, I know. I just felt responsible for Rocky getting hurt, and I wanted to make things better."
"You always feel responsible for our every little bump and bruise. Would you do that if we weren't your fellow Rangers?"
"Of course not, but you are. Zordon trusts me to look out for you, and as the leader of the Zeo Rangers, I'm not going to quit anytime soon."
Kat lowered her eyes, still not satisfied that her point was getting through.
"Tommy, you are our leader," she said quietly. "and as our leader, it's true you have to watch out for our safety. But we're supposed to do the same, and now I'm asking you to understand how much you scare me sometimes."
Tommy listened silently and she met his eyes again.
"I love you a lot, and I'm glad you care enough in return to watch over me and the others. But what's going to happen when you get yourself killed?"
There was no way he could answer that. He just gazed at her and realized her eyes had filled up with tears. Her voice didn't waver, she didn't break down, but he could see that the whole matter hurt her more than he'd ever imagined.
Now he found himself getting teary. "I...I'm sorry, Kat." was all he could whisper.
She bit her lip and looked down again, swallowing.
"C'mere..." he said finally, and pulled her down into an embrace. She laid her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, stroking her hair with a gloved hand. Now the tears began to flow.
They escaped the corners of Tommy's eyes and ran down the sides of his head, onto the low pillow. They formed a damp spot on his chest under Katherine's face. Neither one had anything left to say, nor did they feel like breaking the silence with more than soft sniffling sounds. Like before, they were too close, emotionally, to need words at a moment like this.
Finally, Kat raised her head and managed a gentle smile. Tommy took an shaky breath and let it out again. She fingered the wet place on his chest and gave a short laugh. "So much for Everything Proof..."
He couldn't bend his head to look down that far, but he could feel the spot right over his heart.
He sighed as she squeezed his hand. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.
Alpha who had been totally silent the entire time, looked up, saw what was happening, and realized this was a good time to leave the room. He picked up his tools, stepped quietly away from the console, and discreetly teleported out.
.....................................................
Command Center Computer Log:
Date: seventeenth day of July, nineteen hundred and ninety seven (earth calendar)
Time: twenty one hundred hours (nine o'clock pm)
Location: Command Center Conference room.
Present: Zordon, Alpha V, Pink Ranger, Yellow Ranger, Green Ranger, Red Ranger, Rocky DeSantos.
Alpha V: "Alright, Rangers. The recorder is running."
Zordon: "I will begin with the events that took place three months ago. A bounty hunter named Gh'ess Piah, a shape shifter from the planet Morpheon, answers a summon from the Tivanik Spokesperson in charge of External Affairs. Piah is hired to travel to the planet Earth to destroy the Zeo Rangers. She is paid an advance reward of two point four million credits. Constructing a vehicle disguised as a common meteorite, she makes the journey in fourteen point seven days, and impacts on the surface in the state of California, USA. She locates a suitable place in which to build her nest an abandoned storage building in the town of Angel Grove, where she believes the Power Rangers to be. Immediately, she discovers the presence of King Mondo and the Machine Empire, and uses an unspecified spell to temporarily freeze all activity there."
Rocky (whispered to Green Ranger): We could a done it....really, we coulda!"
(Green Ranger stifles a laugh)
Zordon: "After that, she proceeded to cause minor disruptions and mischief around the city, hoping to draw the Zeo Rangers' attention. Among other things, she impersonates a Macrosoft executive, a police official, a Bengal tiger, a high powered stereo amplifier, and a high school student."
(eye contact between Pink and Yellow Rangers)
Zordon: "Failing to attract the Rangers' notice, she plants a bugging device on the Pink and Yellow Rangers while they are at a party, and through this device, learns of the Blue Ranger's imminent departure. She breaks into the command center while the power transfer is taking place, disguised as a black ranger. She disrupts the transfer, sends the Blue Ranger into an unconscious state, minorly injures the Red Ranger, and damages my systems."
(Zordon turns to Rocky)
Zordon: "Rocky, will you please share with us what you experienced next?"
Rocky: "Sure. I was standing there, feeling all the Blue energy being sucked away, when there was this intense flash. All of a sudden, I couldn't feel my body anymore. It was like I was totally separated from where I had been. Then I...'woke up'...in this strange landscape. She was there. She told me she regretted not playing fair with me, but she had a mission to complete. I asked her what was going on, and she said I was in a dream state where I'd stay as long as she needed me to. She also said the Power Transfer had been completed and I was now just a regular human being."
Zordon: "Go on."
Rocky: "It was really strange in there, the way time passed. I don't know how long it was, but it felt like ages. The whole time, she just been stood there, like she was guarding me against something. I talked to her and asked her what she was doing on here on Earth, and she told me all about her home world and stuff. I ve recorded everything she told me in the computer already, by the way. It was weird, she actually started to grow on me. Then, she up and left. It was like she got distracted and had to go take care of something. The next thing I knew, I was drifting upward toward what looked like the surface of a pool. Then I woke up, and Alpha told me what was going on.."
Zordon: "At the time of the disruption, Gh'ess Piah put Rocky into a dreamlike state where most of his neurological systems would not work. It was a similar spell as the one she used on the Machine Empire. He was unconscious until she could no longer monitor him, and then his body began to return to normal."
Rocky: "Right...what he said. Anyway, when I found out what Gh' ess had done, I got really mad. I couldn t believe she d do something like that. She seemed so....benevolent....in the dream. I didn t want to kill her, but it was the only way to save you guys, so when Alpha gave me the needle, I went down and did what he told me. (pauses) So really, what all happened while I was unconscious?"
Green Ranger: "After Gh'ess messed up the transfer, she just teleported out. It all went down so fast and we were left to try and figure out what had happened to you. We saw all the symptoms, but there wasn't a thing we could do about them. Tommy needed time to recover a bit too, so Kat and Tanya and I went to check out some weird energy readings Zordon was getting."
Zordon: "I had detected them while my visual image systems were deactivated. I had turned them off to concentrate all available energy to repairing the sensors, which had been severely damaged in the energy surge. During a test, I discovered strange organic readings that were not of this planet, but I was unable to collect any more information than that."
Pink Ranger: "So he sent us to go investigate."
Yellow Ranger: "We teleported to the warehouse and went up to the office, expecting to find...well, I don t know what we expected. Then we saw the nest."
Green Ranger: "Yeah...the nest."
Zordon: "I have brought the nest here and put it in stasis for later study. Do not worry, Alpha will perform that procedure."
(all participants sigh in unison)
Yellow Ranger: "Anyway, we found the thing and then Zordon warned us about a life form in the area. A second later, he said his sensors must have been screwing up again and we went home. But actually the sensors were fine, weren't they?"
Pink Ranger: "We went back and looked at the sensor logs, and what Zordon detected was Gh'ess morphing out of a disguise. She had been camouflaging herself on the stairway wall and we walked right past her when we went up. Apparently, she can hide herself from detection at all times except for a moment when she changes form. So, after we gave up on the thing, we came back here and Tommy told us what he'd found out about the Machine Empire. He showed us the graphs, and Alpha told us about the Morpheonic Beings, and we put a bunch of it together right there. We realized what the nest must have been and we went back, this time with our brave leader, Tommy, in command."
(eye contact between Red Ranger and Pink Ranger. Red Ranger smiles and breaks eye contact)
Pink Ranger: "We got to the warehouse and Tommy told us to wait while he went up by himself. Zordon called us to give us the rest of the info on the Morpheonite and gave Tommy the excuse he needed to convince us to stay behind. We let him go and weren't waiting five minutes before he came back down the quick way."
Green Ranger: "What happened up there while you were gone, Tommy?"
Yellow Ranger: "Yeah, one minute you went in the little door, and the next you came out the big window."
Red Ranger: "I got up there and found the door just where you all said it would be. I stopped a second, trying to figure out what I was going to do if I got attacked, but there were way too many things that Gh ess could have been morphed as. I figured I better just go in there and deal with things as they happened. I smashed the door in, thinking I'd get the jump on anybody in there but the room looked totally empty. I saw the nest in the corner right away..."
Yellow Ranger: "It's kinda hard to miss."
Red Ranger: "..and I saw you guys down below through the window. I called you up to tell you the place was empty, and started telling you what was there.
(sighs, shakes head)
Red Ranger: As soon as I said teletype machine' I realized it wasn't one of things you mentioned. Next thing I knew, there was a weird glorp' sound and I turned around to see this blonde girl in a Black Ranger suit standing right behind me. Before I could even think, she threw a wicked backhand and I went flying through the glass. I swear I don't remember the moment when I hit the ground, I just found myself lying there when Kat came over. I said something to her..."
Pink Ranger: " Told'ya I'd be right back down.'"
Red Ranger: "..right...and then I felt like somebody was playing tug o war with my spine. I tried not to move much after that."
Zordon: "A short time later, I received his distress transmission. At the same time, Rocky was emerging from his unconsciousness and asking where everyone was. I decided he would be the best one to carry out the plan Alpha had devised."
(pause in dialogue)
Pink Ranger: "Alpha, you're blushing...!"
Green Ranger: "He is?"
Alpha V: "Well, I didn't really devise the plan. I just figured out about the alcohol content in Morpheonic Fluid, and realized we had the answer right before our eyes."
Rocky: "And being the only person available, guess who had to take it down and deliver it to the enemy?"
Zordon: "At this point, you were all reunited again, and you all know the story. With her last words, Gh'ess Piah revealed her contract with the race known as Tivanik, and disclosed the fact that she had blanketed the entire Machine Empire, including King Mondo himself, with a spell. Further examination has since revealed an ice inducing spell encasing the entire empire. At its current rate, it will not fully melt for another 46 days."
Green Ranger: "A month and a half?!"
Red Ranger: "You didn't tell us that, Zordon!"
Pink Ranger (to Yellow Ranger): "You know what this means..."
Yellow Ranger (high fiving Pink Ranger): "..vacation time!"
Zordon: "Yes, you will be able to take a break. A much needed one, I might add, as some of you need time recover from injuries before resuming your duties."
(Pink Ranger elbows Red Ranger)
Red Ranger (whispered): "Ow! I'm injured, remember?"
Zordon: "I believe this concludes the report, Rangers. Is there anything else you would like to add?"
(pause)
Rocky: "Um...I would Zordon. .I just wanted to say, let's not put it on the record that Gh'ess was the evil scourge of the universe or anything, okay?"
Zordon: "Why do you say that, Rocky?"
Rocky: "Well, when I was unconscious, and she was there guarding me, it was almost like we were...inside each other's heads. I could tell she wasn't doing this just for the sake of being evil. She was doing it because she was hired to, and it wasn't like she had anything personally against us. She even said she would have liked to have been fighting on our side. Am I making any sense?"
Green Ranger: "Rocky right, Zordon, let's not flame her for doing her job. She was a brutal enemy but I think she must have had her reasons for being in that line of work. What do you guys think?"
Yellow Ranger: "I'm with you."
Alpha V: "Yes, I concur."
Red Ranger (after a pause): "Yeah, that sounds good."
(all look to Pink Ranger. a long pause ensues. Pink Ranger looks at Red Ranger as she speaks)
Pink Ranger (whispered): "Alright. Let's do it."
(Pink and Red Rangers clasp hands beneath table)
Zordon: "It is agreed then.
(all rise)
Zordon: I thank you Zeo Rangers. I will see you after your vacation. And Rocky, since you are leaving within the next few hours, I wish you peace and good fortune on all your future ventures."
Rocky: "Thanks Zordon. And thank you guys. I swear I wouldn't change the past couple years for anything."
Pink Ranger: "Good luck, Rocky."
Yellow Ranger: "Take care of yourself."
Green Ranger: "Keep in touch, okay?"
Red Ranger: "Keep your head together, man. Thanks for all your help."
Alpha V: "We'll miss you, Blue Ranger."
Zordon: "Goodbye, Rocky. And may the Power protect you...." End Log.
