Power Rangers: Dying of the Light

Kimberly paced back and forth in the Command Center as Billy worked rapidly to try and locate Jason. She was sure that Billy could do it; he was their resident genius, after all. But Jason had been missing for a while now, and with this Green Ranger running around, Kimberly was starting to worry for him. She knew he could take of himself, but she had thought the same thing about Zordon, and, well… she couldn't even bear to think about that, and she deliberately turned away from his empty tube."I think I've got it," Billy said suddenly. "I just have to reconfigure this setting and repolarize the beams, and then I think we should be able to get a lock on Jason, wherever he is.""Here, Billy, let me help you," Trini said, coming over to stand next to him at the console."Thank you, Trini," Billy said in surprise. "It should go much faster with your aid. If you could strip these wires, that would be of great assistance."While they were busy, Kimberly turned back to pacing."Hey," Zack said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Jason's tough – he can take care of himself.""I know," Kimberly agreed. "I'm just… this whole situation with the Green Ranger is starting to really worry me. And Zordon is…." She trailed off. "And I'm worried about Tommy! He got so cold suddenly." She felt a little bit silly for obsessing when so much else was going on, but thinking about Tommy was safe. Boys she could deal with. Something happening to Jason she could not."Got it!" Billy said triumphantly. "Initiating teleportation now."The four Rangers stood back to watch as the familiar beam of red light materialized in the middle of the Command Center, and then solidified into Jason's form. Kimberly screamed. Jason lay on the floor, blood gushing from a wound in his chest. Zack was at Jason's side instantly."Jase," he said, his voice shaking. "Come on, bro, it's going to be okay."Jason's breathing was labored, and Kimberly didn't know what to do. She had known on some level that being a Ranger could lead to serious injury or even death. But she had always thought that Jason would be fine. He was the best of them, after all. The strongest, the leader. She couldn't stand to think that he could be hurt. If something happened to him, than how was she supposed to function as a Ranger? She wasn't even half the fighter that he was. He was the rock that held them together, their leader. "Jason," Zack was still pleading. "C'mon, man, don't do this. You can't die on us." Billy was standing over Jason, waving some sort of medical device over Jason that Kimberly would swear was out of that weird scifi television show that her father used to watch. Kimberly watched Billy's face, wondering when he was going to have that moment where he figured out how to use science to save the day, just like he always did. Instead, she saw the exact moment when Billy realized that he didn't have an answer. Jason's breathing grew steadily worse, and Zack still hadn't let go of his hand, while Trini knelt by him. Jason kept trying to speak, but no sound came from his throat. All they could do was watch until Jason's eyes closed and his labored breathing stopped completely.It couldn't have been more than a few minutes since they had found and rescued Jason, and now he was gone. He was actually dead. They all just stood there for a moment, all of them in various stages of shock. Zack still hadn't let go of Jason's hand."What are we going to do?" Trini said finally, breaking the silence. "We need to tell his family.""Tell them what?" Kimberly asked. "We don't even really know who… who killed him.""Judging from the wound, I would say that it is safe to assume that Goldar is the one responsible for this," Billy said, his voice detached."So we tell them that Goldar killed him? Zordon said we aren't supposed to tell anyone that we're Rangers," Zack's voice rose in anger the farther along we got."Zordon could be gone as well," Trini said, her soft voice cutting Zack off before he got farther into his rant."If we tell them he was a Ranger, his family will surely figure out our identities as well," Billy pointed out. "We cannot allow for that to be compromised, not until we have figured out a way to regain contact with Zordon.""How can you be talking like that?" Kimberly burst out. "Jason is dead and you're just talking like… like… I don't even know!" Zack got up and grabbed her hand. "We'll figure it out somehow," he told her."Billy, do you have anything in your lab that might be able to help us re-establish contact with Zordon?" Trini asked. "We spent so much time trying to find Jason that we'd been neglecting our other responsibility.""Not enough time," Zack said sullenly. "I did everything that I could!" Billy snapped at him, whirling around to face Zack, his face contorted with rage. "Unfortunately this time my best just… it wasn't enough. And he's dead because I wasn't good enough!" Trini took Billy's hand and squeezed it gently. "It wasn't your fault," she said softly. "This isn't any of our faults. This is Rita's fault, and Goldar's."The other Rangers all nodded. Trini was right, as usual. Kimberly squeezed Zack's hand again. "So what do we do now?" she asked hesitantly."I'm going to go back to my lab and see if I can locate anything that might be of use to us," Billy said. "While I do that it might be for the best if the rest of you take care of Jason's body." He teleported out in a streak of blue, and Kimberly tried not to be upset with him. Billy was the only one of them who had actually dealt with death before. This was just his way."We can't just leave Jason lying there," Kimberly said. "What are we supposed to do?" She was proud that her voice only shook a little bit. They couldn't afford to be distracted right now, even with death."There's a room in the back," Trini said. "We can move his… his body there, until we decide.""I'll do it," Zack said. "I can't stand to just leave him there any longer." He carefully lifted up Jason's body, and carried him to the other room. When he returned, his face was stained with tears."Billy to the Command Center," Billy's voice came from the speakers. Kimberly and the others all glanced over at the viewing globe out of habit, but it was still filled with static."Go ahead, Billy," Trini said. She seemed to have taken charge. Not that Kimberly minded. Trini had always been good at that – she had always been the one who organized where they were going and what they were doing, making sure that everyone got where they were supposed to be."I think that I may have found a way to bring Zordon back, but it's going to take me a while. If one of you could teleport me –" He cut off midsentence, and there was a crash. They could hear Billy screaming, and the sounds of a struggle. "Teleport him out," Zack hissed, and Trini frantically tried, but the console was still unresponsive. The sounds finally stopped, and nobody was sure whether or not that was a good thing."Billy?" Trini said in concern. "Billy, are you okay?"A familiar mocking laugh came over the communicator."Goldar," Zack growled. "What did you do to Billy?""That's two Rangers down, Power Brats," Goldar told them. "And with Rita's Green Ranger on our side, I'm sure that the three of you will soon follow." Zack slammed his fist into a console. "Billy," Trini said, tears silently streaming down her face."You're going to pay for this, Goldar!" Kimberly swore at him.Goldar just laughed. "That's what you think, Pink Ranger. My Mistress has a special plan for you.""Go to hell," Kimberly snapped."One of us will," Goldar agreed, and then the line went dead."Maybe Billy is still alive?" Kimberly asked hesitantly. "I mean, Goldar could have captured him or something.""Maybe," Zack said, but he didn't sound that convinced of it.An alarm went off, the sirens in the Command Center blaring at full blast."Does anyone know how to shut them off?" Zack said. None of them were really that great with the technological stuff. Billy was – Billy had been. But usually Alpha or Zordon had controlled all of this."I might be able to figure out what it is," Trini said hesitantly. "Billy had been showing me." She moved over to one of the control panels that Billy hadn't cracked open during his quest to try and bring Zordon back and locate Jason, and began to fiddle around with the controls. The klaxons finally shut down."I might be able to bring up the viewing globe just enough that we might be able to see what the problem is, but it's going to take a lot of power," Trini offered finally. "I'm not sure that we'll be able to teleport out.""We can take the Radbug if it comes to that," Zack said. "But we still have a responsibility to Angel Grove." There was a conviction in his voice, and Kimberly knew that he had to be aching for some revenge on Goldar for what he had done to Jason, and to Billy."Okay then," Trini said, and the three remaining Rangers turned to face the viewing globe, as they had done so many times before."That's the evil Green Ranger," Zack said. "He's attacking at the harbor district.""There's a lot of people in that part of the city," Trini observed. She flicked a switch and the viewing globe shut down."We should still have enough power for one last teleport, but getting back here will be a problem.""Okay, then," Zack said. "It's morphin time!" The three of them reached for their morphers, and in three brilliant flashes of light and the cries of their respective dinosaurs – Mastodon, Pterodactyl and the Sabre-Toothed Tiger – they were transformed into the Power Rangers."Back to the action," Zack said grimly, and soon the three of them rematerialized down at the harbor district. Goldar, the Green Ranger, and a horde of putties were all there. None of them had grown yet, and that was something at least. Kimberly didn't think that they would be able to summon the Megazord with only three of them, and she wasn't really sure how well they would be able to do against two opponents even if they could. She wondered if the Green Ranger had a Zord. He was a Ranger, so she was sure he did."I've got Goldar," Zack said angrily. "Trini, you want to take the Green Ranger? That leaves the putties to Kim.""Right," the two girls agreed. Kimberly knew why they were leaving her the putties –she had always been one of the worst fighters on the team. Her gymnastics skills had more than compensated, but she should have tried harder, she should have learned more from Jason. If they lived through this fight, she was going to work more on it so that she would be better able to help. They couldn't afford to lose anyone else. Kimberly made her way through the putties, a whirlwind of punches and kicks. She dodged out of the way of one putty, and flipped over so that she was in the center of another group, knocking three out at once. She could see Zack and Trini were barely holding their own, and could see a new monster, one that she hadn't seen before teleport in."Trini!" she yelled. "Watch out for the scorpion lady!" Her warning wasn't fast enough, though, as the woman in the golden armor hit Trini in the back with her sword. Trini fell, and her powers faded as they did, leaving Trini's limp body lying on the street, her yellow sweater ripped and stained with blood.The new arrival made her way over to where Zack was fighting Goldar, and Kimberly barely even noticed what was happening with her last remaining teammate as she came face to face with the Green Ranger."Hello, Beautiful," he said almost conversationally as he thrust at her with his sword. "Goldar said that he told you that our Empress had special plans for you. She's agreed to give you to me.""Never," Kimberly vowed as she brought her bow up to block his sword. He was good, probably even better than Jason was. She leapt out of the way, knowing that her agility was by far her best asset in this fight. If she could just hold out a little bit longer then maybe she could get away. Her next leap had her landing facing Zack, and as she saw his body lying on the ground, unmoving, with blood drying over his cheek. Like Trini, he had lost his morph."You've lost, Kimberly," the Green Ranger told her. "Just surrender.""Never!" Kimberly said defiantly, shooting an arrow at him. She never saw if it hit, because everything went dark.