The best friend looked up at the girl, whose name was Kimberly. His was Tommy, and he quietly replied, ''I don`t know. But this doesn`t look good. Jason`s been so totally wiped out lately, and I really hope it isn`t his powers.''
The boy lying on the floor stirred, and his eyes opened, and his mouth formed ''Kim....'' He struggled against Tommy`s restraining arm to sit up.
Kimberly laid a hand on his cheek. ''It`s OK. I`m here. Jason, sweetie, do you have any idea what could be wrong?'' She brushed a lock of dark hair away from his sweaty forehead.
Jason coughed, and he mouthed, not seeming to be able to form words, ''I think I have pnemonia.'' He coughed so badly, he had to sit up.
Tommy and Kimberly both gasped. She asked, ''Are you sure?'' At his nod, she said, ''You`ll probably have to give up the powers. When you recover, you probably won`t be able to fight again.'' She added, ''Let`s get him to Zordon.'' She and Tommy both called their other friends Kat Hilliard, (also Tommy`s girlfriend) Trini Kwan, Billy Mitchell, and Zack Taylor. All of them minus Kimberly were power rangers. Kimberly had been, but she`d been forced to give them up to Kat. They informed their friends of what Jason suspected, and then they all teleported, Zack holding Kim`s hand, Kim holding Jason`s.
Zordon had been watching and wasn`t surprised to see them there. Alpha ran a scan on Jason, and they learned he didn`t have pnemonia. He was growing weakened by his powers. For some reason, Jason`s body couldn`t hold the powers anymore, and he had to get rid of them or he would die. Jason was relieved he wasn`t sick, but he didn`t want to lose his powers. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair. He felt sick at the thought of losing his powers. Kimberly slid her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder in comfort. His eyes welled with tears, and suddenly, he didn`t feel like himself at all. Zordon`s own eyes filled with tears as he watched the tender embrace as girlfriend comforted boyfriend. He shook his head as Jason`s trickling stream of tears became a flood.
Kimberly wiped away Jason`s tears. He was totally devastated, and she could understand why. She had lost hers only a few weeks ago. She knew he wasn`t worried about finding someone else to take them. He was just shocked at having to give them up. Jason looked up at Zordon, and Zack quickly asked for him, ''Who are we going to get to take them?'' Jason smiled gratefully at Zack. That would have been majorly hard for him to ask.
Zordon paused for a moment, seeming to not know what to say. He finally said, ''I have no idea, Jason. I was hoping you knew someone.'' He said Jason`s name, because he knew Jason had meant to say it.
Jason suddenly felt overwhelmed. The task of picking out someone to take his powers was just that--overwhelming. He felt Kimberly squeezing his waist and he felt better, but still........he wasn`t looking forward to that task.
Zack noticed Jason`s expression, and pondered over who they could get. While he was thinking, Tommy spoke up. ''I can get my friend Randy. He`ll help us out any way we need him, I know he will.'' He smiled softly at his best friend.
Jason nodded. ''OK. Can you get him here right now? I kinda want to be alone.'' He wiped tears from his face, but he wasn`t embarassed at all to be seen crying.
Tommy nodded. ''Sure, Jase.'' He hugged his best friend, hating to see him hurting. He knew what Jason was feeling right now, and he knew Jason would probably never feel a worse feeling in his life.
Jason hugged Tommy back, and he felt totally weak, and helpless. He hated feeling helpless. He knew as soon as he started feeling that, it was close to being over. He really hated thinking that way. He pulled away and nodded at Tommy. While Tommy teleported away, Jason slipped to the floor, crying earnestly. Kimberly knelt next to him, trying her best to comfort him. She started humming the song she`d written for Tommy when he`d lost his powers awhile back. She hoped it would make Jason feel better. Finally, she began to sing it.
''Down the road, We never know, what life may have in store, Winds of change, may rearrange a life more than before. But you`ll never stand alone, my friend. Memories never die. In our hearts they`ll always live, and never say good-bye.'' Jason`s tears slowed to snifflings. Kimberly smiled and sung it over again. Jason`s tears stopped. He looked up and just kissed her. She knew it was her thank you. She kissed back and smiled at him. She rubbed his back, and said, ''Are you ok, hon?'' She kissed his lips softly.
He nodded. ''Yeah, I think I`ll be OK. Life can`t always be rosey, ya know?'' He hugged her and then stood up, for Tommy had arrived with his friend Randy. Jason looked the boy up and down. He was skinny, but stockily built. His blue eyes were saddened, but a little joyful. His sandy blond hair was brushed, but it had the beginnings of being called dishevled. He was, if Jason was a girl, definitely swoon-worthy. Trini and the attached Kat were both doing just that, only trying to look like they weren`t. Kimberly, he noticed, barely gave him a glance. She smiled at him, knowing he was to become their new friend, but as for how attractive he was, she barely noticed it. Jason smiled. He was glad. This meant she had what she wanted and didn`t need to do anymore window shopping.
Randy smiled at everyone and then noticed Jason standing behind everybody. ''I assume you`re Jason?'' He asked, and his voice was deep and melodious. Kat seemed to lose interest and walked over to Tommy, but Trini was still interested.
Jason nodded. ''I`m ready, too.'' He pulled his morpher and power coin out of his back pocket. He wanted to get it over with. He said, ''All you have to do is take the power coin and morpher and you`ll have them.'' He looked at Randy. ''Are you ready?''
Randy nodded and accepted them as Jason handed them over. Jason felt the powers leaving him and flowing into Randy. Randy gasped. ''Thanks! What a rush!'' He said, and Jason smiled. Beginner`s feeling.
Tommy said quietly, ''You`ll get used to them. But you`ll never tire of it. It`s, besides love, that is, the best feeling in the history of the world.'' He grinned at Kat as he slipped his arm around her waist.
Kimberly slid her arm around Jason`s waist, and he slid his around hers. Suddenly there was this major feeling of love in the room. Zack, Billy, Trini and Randy suddenly felt left out. Zack glanced at the two couples, and he yearned to have that. ''Hey, Jase. Is getting to that stage worth it? Where you know the person better than you know yourself?'' He asked.
Jason glanced at his girlfriend and smiled. ''Heck, yeah. She`s there through thick and thin, through the best and the worst times. Like now. And no matter what happens, she`ll always love you. And you`ll always love her. Anything`s worth it for her.'' He kissed Kimberly softly.
Zack listened and wished he could have that. He smiled. They were very cute. Then he turned to the other couple. ''So what about you guys?'' He asked.
Kat smiled. ''We don`t have what they have yet, but what we have is pretty good. We have mystery. We love each other, but we`re still working on discovering every little thing about each other.'' She smiled and kissed him.
Trini smiled. It was cute!
A few weeks later, Jason was used to not having the powers. He was a regular teenager again. In a way, he liked that. He liked not having to lie about where he had been or why he had to rush somewhere. But in another way, he missed fighting to save the world. But now he and Kimberly could go on dates without having to worry about getting called to fight. That was another aspect he liked. One afternoon, they were in the Youth Center, and Jason and Tommy were sparring while their girlfriends were giggling over dance decorations for the Halloween dance. Jason sighed. ''Hey, Tommy. Did you ever think that we`d ever have this? That we`d ever be in this place in life?'' He asked. ''I mean, Kim and I losing the powers, us getting together, you and Kat hooking up, getting two new friends, it just didn`t even occur to me a year ago!'' He said.
Tommy nodded. ''I know! Our lives have changed so much......'' All of a sudden, he broke off. He suddenly felt weak. And the ground was rumbling. Kat suddenly glanced at him across the room. She and Kimberly walked over. Tommy asked, ''Did you feel that?'' He looked at his girlfriend.
Kimberly asked, ''What are you talking about, Tommy?'' She was standing next to Jason, holding onto his arm while the ground carefully shook underneath them.
Kat replied, ''Yes, like all my power left me.'' The ground gave a lurch, and all four of them tumbled over each other as they fell to the floor.
Kimberly asked, ''What the heck is going on?'' She pushed on Jason`s shoulder to stand up.
Tommy helped Kat and Jason up, and then he said, ''I think we`d better get to Zordon.''
Kat and Tommy hurried to the hallway, pulling Jason and Kimberly behind them. This was a big enough disaster that they figured they`d probably need their friends. Tommy and Kat barely managed to teleport. Jason placed his hand on Tommy`s shoulder and Kimberly slipped her arm around Kat`s shoulders. When they arrived at the Command Center, it was falling all around them. Kat gasped. She was going to say something when Zack, Trini, Randy, and Billy joined them.
Zack said, ''OK, what happened? This is like, majorly messed up!'' He stopped for a moment, and then nearly fell to the pavement. He added, ''And why is this ground still shaking?'' They all fell again.
A few minutes later, when the ground finally settled, Billy stood up and commented, ''I think we`d better check and see what`s left of the Command Center.'' He helped Trini and Zack up, while Jason helped Kimberly and Kat up. Tommy and Randy managed to get up without any help.
They climbed up the hill to the ruins of the Command Center. Tommy looked around him in wonder. ''What the heck? This is majorly weird. Why did this happen?'' He asked, and his friends shook their heads.
All of a sudden, they heard a noise behind them. They all whirled around, and to their suprise, it was Zedd and Goldar plus the whole brigade. They were looking bedraggled, and Goldar was on fire. Zedd carefully patted him out and said, ''Rangers. You`ve got to do something! This robot King Mondo, his wife Machina, and their kid Sprocket just took over our lair!'' He informed them. ''You need to get some powers or something because you can`t let them stay up there!'' He continued.
Jason gasped and Tommy said, ''We can`t. The Command Center was just destroyed, and we don`t know what to do.''
Zedd gasped. ''Oh, great!''
He was about to go on, but all of a sudden, a tall figure dropped from the sky. She was wearing a pink skirt and a green top and she had long golden hair, and her green eyes sparkled. ''Hello, Rangers. I understand that Zordon has gone. I am Gabrielle, and I`m going to help you gain the Zeo powers. There are eight crystals. Does this mean all of you are coming?'' She asked.
Jason glanced at his white t-shirt and red jeans. He said, ''I am not sure if I`ll be able to take the powers. I just had to give my previous powers to Randy here because Zordon told me my body was refusing them.'' To his amazment, his eyes slightly filled with tears.
Gabrielle asked, ''Do you get your power from the Morphin Grid?'' She walked closer, as if examining him.
Jason nodded. ''Yes, how`d you know that?'' He asked.
Gabrielle replied, ''You`ll be all right. I`m serious, so don`t worry. The Zeo powers are not drawn from the Morphin Grid. They are drawn from the Zeo crystals. You have nothing to worry about. On a lighter note, I will need to know your names. As I told you, I am Gabrielle. I am a bard. I am also an Amazon queen.'' She smiled at them, and Randy fell instantly in love.
Billy looked to Tommy, and he nodded. Billy began, ''I am Billy, this is Jason,'' (each ranger nods after his/her name is said,) ''Kimberly, Tommy, Randy, Zack, Trini, and last, but not least, Katherine.'' He finished.
Kat smiled and nodded. ''Kat.'' She said, and Gabrielle smiled back.
Gabrielle grinned at them all. ''Well, let`s begin the journey!'' She put Zedd and his gang into a shuttle that headed for the moon. She drained most of their power. ''That`ll take care of them for now.'' She said, and grabbed their hands, where they flew off for Potedia.
When they reached there, the rangers were astonished to see it vaguely resmembled the set for Xena`s friend`s home, Potedia. Realizing this, they turned to the young girl. ''Are you Xena`s friend?'' Kimberly asked, her hands on her hips.
Gabrielle nodded. ''Yes. I know there`s a show dedicated to us, and I was wondering when you were going to guess who I was.'' She turned to a passing girl with black hair. ''Lila, please fetch me the baskets.'' She said to the girl.
Lila asked, ''Baskets? Ah, these are the chosen ones, then.'' She said, and smiled. ''I am Gabby`s sister. Pleased to meet you.'' She nodded at them and continued on her way.
Gabrielle stopped another passing woman. ''Ephiny, please fetch the clothing in pink, red, green, black, blue, purple, yellow, and white. I`ll need three dresses, and five pants and five shirts.'' She informed the young woman. As the woman left. ''That is Ephiny. She`s my regent.''
Jason smiled at the others. This was going to be fun!
An half an hour later, they were ready to go. Jason was dressed in black leather pants and a leather vest. It hung down to his thighs, and a belt was fastened around his waist. It was open for the most part, and you got an eyefull of his broad, muscular chest. Kimberly was dressed in a short purple skirt with a beautiful green top. It was sleeveless, and it tied up the front. Her flawless stomach was displayed. But it was necessary, considering how hot they were going to get. Kat was dressed in a simple pink dress that came to right above her knees. It was sleeveless, and very comfortable. (They are all wearing boots that come up to right below their knees.) Billy was wearing deep blue leather pants and a colorfull vest that was buttoned up the front. Randy was wearing black leather pants and a white vest that was halfway buttoned up the front. Zack wore black pants and a green sleevless shirt. Trini wore a bright yellow dress that was much like Kat`s, except for the thicker sleeves. Hers was a few inches shorter. And last, but not least, Tommy wore a pair of blue leather pants and a red sleeveless shirt.
Gabrielle gathered them before her and began to inform them of their journey. While she talked, Lila passed out baskets that was very small, and could be hung from their waists. Gabrielle began, ''You are each going to embark on a journey in pairs. You will work together to find your Zeo crystal. When all of you have recieved them, I will know, and we`ll gather in another place. Right now, I`m going to tell you the color of your crystals, so you`ll know them. Jason, yours is gold and black, Kimberly, yours is purple, Tommy, yours is red, Randy, yours is white, Zack, yours is green, Kat, yours is pink, Billy, yours is blue, and Trini, yours is yellow. Should you ever need help, yell out my or Ephiny`s name. We`ll be there to help you.''
Lila paired them off. Jason/Kimberly, Zack/Trini, Tommy/Kat, Randy/Billy. They all waved good-bye as Ephiny set them off in four different directions.
Jason and Kimberly were headed down a forest path. It was very calm and peaceful. They were marvelling at how they were going to be rangers again. Kimberly said, ''It`s very cool in this time period. These clothes are so much more comfortable than our clothes of our time period, and I for one, can`t wait to get our new powers.'' She grinned and twirled around in her little purple skirt. She smiled. It was satin-like material, and it felt wonderful.
Jason looked over her outfit and asked, ''Did you notice that your outfit is very close to being identical to Gabrielle`s?'' He smiled as she did a cartwheel.
Kimberly shrugged. ''Not my fault. Ephiny brought an armful of clothes, and I really liked this skirt and this top. It looked really good.'' She stopped galavanting and added, ''There was a purple dress practically identical to Kat`s and Trini`s, so I`m really glad I chose this.''
They walked in silence for awhile, enjoying the scenery and each other`s company. Pretty soon, they came along two people, obviously a couple, kissing on the path. Kim smiled and they almost passed them when the couple pulled apart and glanced at them. The young man looked a lot like Jason, and the young woman looked a lot like Kimberly. They smiled. ''Are you Jason and Kimberly?'' The young man asked.
Jason nodded. ''Why, yes, and you are?'' He slid his arm around Kimberly`s waist.
The young man replied, ''I`m Jason of Corinth, and this is Kimblina, my girlfriend. I need your help. My wagon here is stuck, and I need help getting it out.'' He and Kimblina shook hands with the two Zeo crystal seeking rangers.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Kat were walking through a prairie. It was beautiful, with sprawling grassy fields filled with beautiful flowers. Kat was thrilled she got to see more of what Earth was like years ago. Tommy asked, ''What do you think will happen?'' He glanced at his girlfriend.
Kat looked at him. ''What are you talking about, Tommy? What will happen when we find our crystals?'' Tommy nodded. ''I have no idea. I haven`t been a ranger long, so you tell me.''
She was about to go on, when they stumbled upon a small cottage. It was poor in appearence, but it was well kept and the yard was nice and cut. There were young children running around the yard, in patched but neat clothing. There was at least eight children, and you could tell all of them were related. One girl was the spitting image of Kat as a young girl. Tommy and Kat were about to pass it, but something stopped them. One of the children had fallen in a coughing fit. Kat ran over and held the little girl as she coughed. Kat looked up at Tommy, and he nodded. Their quest could wait. She lifted the little girl into her arms and carried her in. Kat hadn`t even noticed that the girl was the one who looked like her.
On another side of the land, Zack and Trini were walking along, chatting about what their new powers would be like. They both hoped they`d be able to beat Mondo and his minions with them. Zack was making a comment when they were stopped by a passing wagon. It clearly held a rich person, considering how beautiful it was on the outside. Trini whispered, ''I hope whoever`s in there can help us with our quest.'' Zack nodded.
The man riding on horseback in front of the carriage looked a lot like Zack. He growled, ''Do you know you`re trespassing on the Queen Lao Ma`s private woods?''
Zack shrugged. ''No, sir, we`re new here, and we don`t know who Queen Lao Ma is.'' He said, and Trini nodded.
The man was angered, and about to go on, when a beautiful face stuck it`s head out the window of the carriage. ''Zacharias, please don`t go on so; they`re new here, he said, and they haven`t heard of me. They wouldn`t know of my kingdom or my lands. You have a place to stay?'' She asked the young rangers. They shook their heads. ''All right then, hop in and I`ll take you to my palace.'' She opened the carriage, and both climbed in. They didn`t notice until they were on the road that Lao Ma resembled Trini.
Randy and Billy were out in open fields of grassy plains. They hadn`t encountered a soul for at least half an hour. They`d been chatting about what they thought might happen when they found their crystals. Little did they know, theirs was going to be given to them quickly. They stumbled upon who was none other than Hercules himself and his friend Iolaus. They smiled at each other. They hurried over and saw Iolaus hanging over a ledge, about to fall off. Both young men tried to pull him over, with Hercules pulling, too, but both Hercules and Iolaus fell over when the rock the curly haired blond was holding onto broke. Randy and Billy`s eyes welled with tears. Gabrielle herself appeared, floating in the air. She said, ''You`ve done a good deed. Even though you failed, you didn`t even know them, and that makes up for it. Here.'' She handed them their crystals, and both of them left with her.
Meanwhile, Kimberly and Jason had finished helping the young couple pull their wagon out of the mud. Jason shook King Jason`s hand, and Kim hugged Kimblina. Jason asked the young King if he needed anything more, and the king shook his head. They saw them off and were surprised to see their crystals hiding in the brush at their feet. They picked them up, and smiled at each other. They pocketed them, and Gabrielle appeared, and she told them they had earned them for doing a good deed for someone they didn`t know. They disappeared with her.
At the tiny cottage, Tommy and Kat had been talking to the older couple who had had all those children, and they found out little Katerina (the little girl) needed a doctor. Thomas and Laura, (the parents) couldn`t pay for one, so Tommy and Kat offered to help. Kat drove the parents and child to the doctor`s home in a wagon, and Tommy watched the little ones. Both earned their crystals and they joined Gabrielle and the other rangers.
Zack and Trini earned theirs by helping Lao Ma fight King Iakaya, a man who wanted Lao Ma`s kingdom and her book, which held the secrets of her powers. They fought valiantly, and in the end, Lao Ma was killed, but they saved her twin daughters from death. For that, they won their crystals and joined the other rangers.
When Gabrielle had them all together, she said, ''You all have done well, and I`m proud of each and every one of you. Your courage and bravery was not done in vain. You got your crystals, and people who needed help got it. You are now ready to go back to Zordon and fight Mondo.'' She indicated them to morph and teleport.
They all twisted their wrists, and their Zeonizers appeared.
Kat: ''Zeo Ranger One, Pink!''
Trini: ''Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow!''
Billy: ''Zeo Ranger Three, Blue!''
Zack: ''Zeo Ranger Four, Green!''
Tommy: ''Zeo Ranger Five, Red!''
Kimberly: ''Zeo Ranger Six, Purple!''
Randy: ''Zeo Ranger Seven, White!''
Jason: ''Gold Ranger Power!''
The rangers stood before Gabrielle, Lila, and Ephiny in wonderful glory. They smiled at each other, admiring their new suits. Gabrielle said, ''Jason, you`re still the leader. But only because you`ve got a little more power than the others.'' She waved them off as they travelled through time back to Angel Grove.
They arrived in downtown Angel Grove, where a monster was tearing it all up. They called for their zords and tested out all the aspects of their new zords. The monster was defeated easily and they teleported to the new Power Chamber and Zordon welcomed them once again. They had lost their old powers, but they had gained new ones. What kind of terror could Mondo release? Only time would tell.