Decisions

When Billy opened his eyes, he was standing at his mobile workstation at the campsite, alone and back in his street clothes. He quickly looked around and saw that his dad was asleep in the hammock on the front porch, none the wiser that Billy had been gone for an indeterminable amount of time. "How surreal," he thought to himself. Then he concentrated on the morpher and it materialized in his hand just as it did before. Studying it closely, he saw that the crack from when they morphed was gone, like it had healed itself. The bronze coin was set where it had been before with the molded image of a triceratops head facing out from the left but there was now a red circle around the coin and inside, the words "Power Rangers" written in white letters. He found it particularly strange that the words would be in English, given this was alien technology, and now that he thought about it, Zordon and Alpha both spoke English as well; curious, he thought. He would have to ask them about that.

As he turned the morpher over in his hands he found himself hoping to find some form of data port on the device. A USB would be wishful thinking, but still he was curious to see if he could digitally interface with it somehow, but he found nothing of the sort. Instead he carefully removed the Power Coin from the center and sat the morpher down on the table. The coin was heavy and made of a metallic substance that Billy could not visually identify. He sat the coin down on a blank space on his laptop and opened the programs that had been collecting data on the Nemesis. A series of images popped up on his screen. He studied them quickly with great concern at what he was seeing and then messaged a few to Jason. Afterwards he pulled out his cell phone and sent everyone the address of the cabin hoping they would come around and meet him here tomorrow. When he looked back up at his laptop, the screen blinked out and went blank. A split second later, it was flooded with cascading alien characters. "What is happening?" Billy thought aloud then he noticed the coin was glowing with a soft white light. He cautiously touched it but it wasn't hot, though when he did, the cascading alien symbols flickered and rearranged themselves into English letters. "Curiouser and curiouser," Billy exclaimed and studied the screen intently.

Back at the Angel Grove Youth Center Zack reappeared right where he vanished from, his music still playing thru the portable speakers attached to his cell phone. "That was wild," he thought aloud and touched his head that was spinning still from the teleportation then decided to pack up and head home. When he turned to leave he almost ran right into Angela whom had walked up behind him while he put his stuff in his backpack. "Whoa, Angela!" he said with a start barely stopping himself in time.

"Hi, Zack," she said coyly. "I didn't mean to scare you." Angela was on the cheer squads for both the Angel Grove football and basketball teams where she had met Zack. Over the course of the last semester she had developed a crush on him, something that Zack requited, but neither had made the first move.

Zack tried to play it off, "It's all good," he said coolly. "What's up?"

Angela brushed a strand of hair from her face and said, "I saw you over here and thought you might be practicing that hip hop karate that you talk about."

"Yeah, Hip Hop Kido," Zack said, "I didn't know you were interested."

"Sorry. I said it wrong," she blushed but he smiled to let her know it was cool, so she continued. "Well, I like dancing so I thought it'd be fun. Did you really come up with it all by yourself?"

Now it was Zack who tried not to blush. "I did, yeah. I studied karate but found it too restrictive, so I thought I could come up with something on my own to make it a little more flexible. Add some rhythm to it, you know?"

"Would you care to teach me some?"

Zack was elated but tried to play it cool. "Def, yeah! Let me get my gear back out of my backpack and we can…" but Zack didn't a chance to finish. His cellphone beeped with a rather unique ringtone of an incoming text message. His face turned serious quickly and he grabbed his phone to check it. With obvious dejection and quite a bit of stress he apologized to Angela. "Angela, this is an emergency kind of text. I gotta go. I'm sorry, can I make it up to you?"

She was a little dejected, but she could see by his expression that he was being sincere. "Oh, yeah, okay. Let me give you my number." He handed her his phone and she sent a text message to herself so that she would have his number too then handed it back. "I hope everything is alright."

"Thanks," he said, "me too." Then he ran off, but turned after a few steps and called out, "Promise I'll call you soon!"

Angela smiled and watched him run to the parking lot.

In the foyer between the two buildings, Audri reappeared where she left from, fully expecting to see her sister panicking at her disappearance. She was ready to start explaining though she wasn't sure what she was going to say, but to her surprise, Trini wasn't there. Audri started to panic wondering where she could have gone, who was she talking to, what was she telling them? Then she heard a weak voice from the benches behind her.

"Audri?" It was Trini. She was sitting down rubbing one of her eyes with her fist. "What happened?"

Audri quickly went to her and sat down, placing her arm over her sister's shoulders. "Are you okay? What do you remember?"

"We were going to watch Jason and Tommy spar," Trini continued weakly. "I remember walking outside…then there was a flash of light, like lightning or something, then I was sitting here. Where did you go?"

Audri paused for a moment. She did not like having to lie to her sister, but she knew protecting her was much more important. She only hoped that someday Trini would forgive her if she found out. "The flash of light must have been from you running into the door."

"I did?" Trini said confused and rather skeptical.

"Yeah," Audri acted. "It was my fault. The door slipped out of my hand and you tripped coming out; smashed your forehead pretty good. I helped you sit down and was going to get an icepack for your head from Ernie."

"That's weird." Trini said doubtfully yet wanting to believe her sister. "My head doesn't hurt."

"That's good," Audri said with a weak laugh. "It hurt me to see it." Her sarcasm made Trini smiled. "Do you think you are okay?" Audri asked. "No concussion?"

"No, I'm fine," Trini said. "Just seeing yellow spots still."

Audri resisted showing a nervous face and quickly changed the subject. "So, do you still want to watch the boys fight or just go home?"

"We can go watch," Trini replied. Audri helped her to her feet and they walked to the dojo together.

Kimberly reappeared with one foot on the balance beam and quickly righted herself before she fell, despite her disorientation; she was quite the skilled gymnast. Scanning the room, she noticed a few more people were there now than before, but it didn't appear that anyone had seen her mysteriously reemerge from thin air. "That was really strange,' she thought to herself, 'exhilarating, but strange,' she admitted. The whole ordeal was quite thrilling and more than a little terrifying. Aliens, space witches, monsters, and superhero suits; it was just a tad overwhelming.

"Hey Kim!" the voice scared her half to death and she nearly fell from the beam. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The voice belonged to Aisha Campbell, a fellow student that had recently transferred from Stone Canyon High School at the beginning of the last school year. She was on the gymnastics team there and Kimberly had befriended her early in the year. The girls bonded over their shared interest in gymnastics and Kim was helping Aisha with some more advanced techniques.

"It's okay," Kim responded. "I was just really into that routine."

"Yeah I saw your stuff there but didn't see you anywhere. I went to put my purse in a locker and when I turned around, 'poof' you were on the balance beam," Aisha laughed.

Kim laughed nervously, "Yeah, I had to take a quick powder break," she trailed of when she saw Audri and Trini walk past on their way to the dojo. She and Audri locked eyes and shared a knowing look.

"Kim?" Aisha asked when she saw Kimberly staring off.

"Oh sorry," she said, "Spaced out a second there. Do you want to run through a routine together?"

"That would be great!" Aisha exclaimed.

Behind the curtain in the dojo, Jason teleported back into the room where he left. The first thing he saw, even through his blurred vision, was Tommy sitting on the floor with his elbows on his knees and his head down. "Tommy!" Jason called out and rushed to his side. "Are you okay, man?" he asked as he knelt beside him.

"Man," Tommy said astonished, "how hard did you hit me?"

"What?" Jason asked confused.

Tommy lifted his head as he spoke. "I remember us squaring off, then a bright light, and then I was on the floor. That must have been some hit cause I don't even remember seeing it. Good shot, man." Tommy put a hand on his head and tried to stand. Jason helped him to his feet and to get his balance.

"Yeah, it was a lucky shot," Jason tried to console him and cover what really happened at the same time. "You must have tripped or something because you walked right into it. Are you alright though?"

Tommy stood up straight and rocked his head back and forth a couple of times. "Yeah, I'm good. You want to go again? I can't let you get the better of me so easily," Tommy said with a smile.

Jason laughed, "You sure? I'd hate to knock you out again."

They both laughed and squared off. When Audri and Trini walked in the room they had just finished a set with Tommy getting a good hit in on Jason. "You let your guard down on your left when you overextended that jab," Audri heckled as her and Trini approached. "Left yourself wide open."

"Thanks, Dear," Jason said sarcastically. Then turning to Tommy, he introduced them. "Tommy this is my girlfriend Audri and her sister Trini."

Tommy nodded, "Nice to meet you."

"Billy speaks pretty highly of you," Trini said. "He tells us that you may have more belts than Jason does."

"Oh yeah, Billy Cranston?" Tommy asked. "He's been tutoring me some to help me catch up since we moved so late in the semester. My sister should be helping me but says she doesn't have the patience to deal with me." He laughed and so did the others.

"Speaking of Billy," Jason said looking at his watch. "He just sent me a text. I need to grab my phone real quick. Do you mind Tommy?"

"Not at all, man." Tommy replied.

"Thanks." Jason looked at Audri and made a slight movement with his head signaling her to come with him.

"Be back," she said to Trini and walked off with Jason.

They walked to the other side of the training mat where Jason left his duffle bag. Audri was looking down at her phone while Jason dug his out. "Billy sent me a text too," she said rather confused, but it's just an address."

"It's the cabin where he and his dad are camping," Jason said, "and where Zordon told us to meet tomorrow if we are serious about accepting his offer." Jason found his phone and unlocked it. Then he pulled up the other messages that Billy has sent only to him. "I already responded to that one. These though," he said and handed the phone to Audri, "are a little more concerning."

Audri's eyes widened. "Where did he get these pictures?" she asked.

"Billy setup his equipment at the camp site, remember?" Jason explained. "He wanted better data than what he was getting at home. Something about light pollution."

"No I mean where did a 16 year old get the equipment to take pictures this clear of an object in space?" Audri clarified.

Jason shrugged. "Same place he gets all of his equipment, I guess. He built it."

Audri shook off the surprised expression and continued scrolling through the pictures. One in particular made her stop cold. "Is this the space shuttle NASADA sent up? Cut in half?"

Jason just nodded.

"What is this demon looking thing with the wings?"

"I'm assuming one of Rita's crew," Jason said. "This is real, Audri, and it looks like people are already dying."

Audri didn't know what to say but then she handed his phone back to him. "Zack just sent you a message. He needs help with something. I didn't see what though. I wasn't trying to read your texts."

Jason took his phone and read the text. "It's cool. You know I don't hide anything from you, but yeah Zack does needs help with something." Then Jason gave her a coy smile, "You want to take these new suits out for a spin?"

A Few Minutes Earlier

Zack had pulled his car in to an empty parking lot of a rundown gas station in a not too pleasant part of the Angel Grove City Limits. He didn't have to wait long until there was a knock on the passenger side window. Zack unlocked the door and his cousin Curtis slid into the seat shutting the door behind him. The two shared a special handshake and a heartfelt hug. Curtis was like a brother to Zack and he hadn't seen him in weeks. He and his family had moved to Angel Grove a few months ago from Seattle in an effort to get him out of trouble and away from the inner-city gang that he had taken to running with. The move didn't sit well with Curtis and it wasn't long before he had run away from home and back to his life on the street. Occasionally, Curtis would message Zack letting him know that he was okay, and Zack would tell his aunt and uncle, so they would at least know that their son was alive. It had been weeks though since the last message and Zack was beginning to worry even more about his cousin.

"Where have you been man?" Zack started in on Curtis. "I've been way worried about you."

Curtis fidgeted for minute before answering. Zack could tell that something was bothering him. "Things have been…weird, man," Curtis tried to explain. "Stuff's been goin' on that I don't like."

"I'm no stranger to weird, bro," Zack assured him, especially after the day he'd had. "What is going on? Your message made it out like you are spooked."

"That's cuz I am," Curtis blurted out. "I don't want to be in this gang anymore, cousin. They are doing some…weird stuff…" he trailed off like he was going to say something else then changed his mind. "Like illegal stuff, I mean. It was fun when it was just a few of us hanging out, doin' some street art, or listening to music, but now these other guys have come in and taken over. They're making us run drugs and weapons and weird ancient artifact things. I don't want none of that. I just wanted some peeps that understood me."

"Is that why you haven't called in a few weeks?" Zack asked and Curtis nodded. "So who are the other guys? Where did they come from all of a sudden?"

"None of us know who they are. There are two guys and a woman. All of them dress real funny too like they think they're ninjas or something. Told us they were from the main set." Curtis explained.

"Like back in Seattle?"

"Nah, that was an offshoot too, or so they say."

"Then just leave, man." Zack pleaded. "Come home. Your mama is worried sick, and you dad checks in with me about everyday asking if I've heard from you."

"It ain't that simple, man," Curtis defended. "I can't just walk out."

"Why not, because they're 'family'? We're your family, Curtis. I can take you home right now."

"You don't get it," Curtis shouted. "Man, I never should have text you." He made to get out of the car, but Zack grabbed his arm.

"Talk to me, bro. Don't just run out again," Zack said. "Why can't you just leave the gang?"

Curtis resettled in the seat and rubbed his hands nervously. "These new guys are dangerous, man. I can't just leave. They'll come after me, you, and everyone else I care about. They said so. When these new guys showed up saying they were from the main set, they told us that things were going to be different. We weren't just some silly street gang anymore. If we were going to call ourselves Dai Shi then we had best be supporting the whole clan, not just this one set."

"So?" Zack asked. "What does that have to do with you going AWOL?" But then he paused, "Wait…clan?"

"Yeah, clan. That's what they call it now; not a gang but a clan, and I'm not the first one to go against them," Curtis explained. "When they first showed up and said they were taking over, one of us stood up to them, a guy named Mao. He was like our head guy. Told them that some new guys couldn't come in and tell us what to do."

"What happened?" Zack asked.

Curtis hung his head. Zack could see he was fighting back tears. "They killed him, man. Right there. The big guy, Grizz, I think, cause he's like a bear in size. He just picks Mao up by the neck and breaks it…with one hand. Threw him on the floor like he was nothing." Curtis was visibly upset, rocking back and forth and sweating. "Then the lead guy tells us that if anyone else has anything to say he would advise them not to. He tells us that this clan was more than family and the only way to leave the clan is how Mao did. We do what he says, or he'll kill us and everyone we care about."

"That's heavy, man," Zack exclaims. "I guess going to the police is out?"

Curtis slowly nodded his head.

"I'm going to get you out of this," Zack reassures him.

"How you gonna do that, Cuz?" Curtis challenges. "I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. They are probably watching me."

"I'll think of something." Zack says.

Curtis shakes his head. "Listen man…I just wanted to see you again…just in case. Tell my mama I love her and I'm sorry." He opens the car door to leave but stops. "Thanks for always being there, Zack. I'll text you if I can." With that, Curtis jumps out of the car and runs off before Zack can stop him, but Zack wasn't about to let Curtis go on his own. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a ball cap and hoodie from his backseat and raced after Curtis. He knew his cousin would never allow him to tag along so he hung back and tried to follow him unnoticed. There were not many people on the streets in this neighborhood but there were enough that Zack could blend in without looking like he was following his cousin. Several blocks and a few alleyway shortcuts later, Curtis stopped at an abandoned looking, two-story office building. It was rundown and most of the windows were dark, but a few dimly lit rooms could be seen from the street.

Zack hung back at the end of the street leaning against an unlit light post and watched as Curtis walked up the stairs to the front entrance of the building. Suddenly, two figures appeared out of nowhere on either side of the door and blocked the way. It was unnatural how they showed up, like they just materialized from nothing out of the very shadows surrounding the door. Zack brushed it off as the dark playing tricks on his eyes, but what did look real were the automatic rifles the shadowy figures were holding. He could see Curtis make a few hand gestures at them, like some kind of secret hand sign, and the two guards stepped back into the shadows.

"Curtis wasn't kidding," Zack said to himself. "Something very weird is going on here, and dangerous." He ducked back into the nearest alley and tried to think of a plan. As he was weighing the options, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was the text from Billy. "This must be the address of the cabin where we are supposed to meet tomorrow," he thought aloud, and it was this that gave him an idea. Looking down at his hand and concentrating, he saw the flash of black light and the power morpher materialize. "Good thing I have this alien, space-age, power suit. It was made for those clay soldiers so I'm sure it will make short work of some thug ninja wannabees." Zack raised up the morpher. "Mastodon," he said, albeit quietly so as not to draw attention, and very quickly the black power armor grew over his person.

The Command Center

Zordon sensed the armor activation through the Morphin Grid. "Alpha," he called out. "It seems that Zachary has activated his power armor. Can you determine his location and bring up his vital signs?"

"Right away, Zordon!" Alpha chirped and quickly typed a few commands on the control panel in front of her. "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi! Zordon, Zack is across the street from the building where the Dai Shi clan has setup! What could he be doing there?"

"I believe that Zachary intends to use the power armor to rescue his cousin from what he thinks is just another street gang," the sage answered.

"Not good, not good!" Alpha panicked. "Should I open a line of communication so we can talk him down?"

"No," Zordon answered. "Activate the surveillance mode in his armor and pull up his helmet feed in the Viewing Globe. Let's see what he decides to do."

"Right away, Zordon," Alpha said and pressed several keys on the terminal. When she did an orb of light manifested itself a few feet in the air above the center of the circular command ring. As the light in the globe swirled to life it began to focus and soon Alpha and Zordon could see what Zack was looking at in and through his visor. They could also hear him and his surroundings.

"Whoa!," they heard Zack exclaim. "I don't remember this thing having a heads up display last time. From his, and their, point of view, Zack could now see on his visor several icons that had not been there previously, and it did not take him long to figure out the way to select them was by moving his eyes across the screen. "This is so cool! Billy is going to trip." As he moved his eyes from one icon to the next he saw the image in his visor change accordingly and he peered out from the alley toward the building to test each mode. The night vision mode was self explanatory and he could see much better, but switching to thermal imaging allowed him to view inside the structure and he could now see just how many people were there. Another setting allowed him to see the infrastructure of the building almost like an x-ray though more of a wired grid type of view and yet another gave him a summation of all of the previous as well as a breakdown of the number of potential hostiles, what they were armed with, and even all of the accessible entrances and exits of the building. "This is intense," Zack said out loud, "but I may be in over my head. I should have called Jason before I morphed." When he said this a new screen activated on his visor that displayed To send message to Jason cell begin speaking. "Man this suit thinks of everything," Zack said then dictated a message to Jason.

"I've interfaced with the Earth's cellular network," Alpha reported. "His message has been sent to Jason's mobile phone. Should we let him know that we are helping him in case he needs further assistance?"

"Not yet, Alpha," Zordon said. "I want to see how they progress on their own first. This field test will affect their decision to take on the mantle of Ranger, for better or worse, but it must be a decision made without our influence."

"Zordon," Alpha questioned. "Is it wise to let these Rinshi know that there are Power Rangers on Earth? We have been watching them silently for a while now."

"They would discover soon enough once Rita launches her attack." Zordon explained. "Besides, the Infinity Dragon needs to know his time on this planet is growing short."

"Rita is only the beginning of the problems Earth is about to face," Alpha remarked grimly before a flash from the terminal caught her attention. "I'm reading two more morph signatures, Zordon."

"Yes," Zordon confirmed. "It appears that Jason and Audri will be joining Zachary momentarily."

Silver Hills

When Kimberly left the Youth Center she was feeling a little more at ease. Talking to Aisha and working through some intermediate moves had leveled her mind out. Gymnastics had always been calming for her and Aisha's bubbly personality took Kim's mind off things. It was unfortunate that the euphoria wouldn't last once she got home that night.

After parking in the garage, Kim could hear her parents shouting at one another before she even reached the kitchen door. They were fighting…again. It seemed like all they did anymore was fight. Moving out here to Angel Grove was supposed to make things better. Her dad had taken this job because it was supposed to keep him home more instead of traveling all the time. Her parents were hopeful that spending more time together as a family would strengthen their marriage. As it turned out, more time together just meant more things to fight about. Kim was over it and tried to spend as much time out of the house as possible.

She took a deep breath and turned the doorknob slowly in hopes that she could sneak in without being noticed. No such luck. The door hinges creaked and her parents both looked over at her mid scream.

"Where have you been?" her dad shouted.

"Don't yell at her!" her mom yelled at him.

"Do you see what time it is, Helen?" he asked as he turned his attention back to his wife. "A girl her age has no business being out this late on a school night!"

"I was practicing gymnastics with Aisha at the Youth Center." Kimberly defended herself. "Same as I have been every night."

Neither really seemed to hear her though as they were both too busy yelling at each other.

"What are you even talking about, Roger?" Helen continued. "School let out two weeks ago!"

Kimberly sheepishly piped in, "Two days ago actually," but they paid her no attention.

"That's because you forced me to let her attend that dreadful public school!" bellowed Roger. "I wanted my daughter to go to a real school and get a first-rate education. Not some participation diploma from an overrated babysitting service full of degenerates. If she was in a private school, she wouldn't have time to be galivanting around all hours of the night."

"It's like, 8:30…" Kim started but was quickly drowned out by the shouting. At this point she really didn't care anymore. Neither one of her parents were listening to her anyway so she left the kitchen to go upstairs to her room and that is when she noticed the suitcase by the front door. She knew she shouldn't ask; she knew the answer. Hearing it would just make it real and after this crazy day she didn't need any new curve balls thrown at her, but it was going to be said regardless, so Kimberly took a deep breath and decided to get it over with.

She could still hear them yelling. "That was sixteen years ago Helen!" How many times do I have to say sorry for that?"

"Dad?" she called out and then there was immediate silence from the kitchen.

A moment later Roger walked into the living room with Helen following close behind. "I guess we need to talk," he said rather sheepishly.

"I thought moving here meant that you wouldn't have to travel as much?" Kim started, but she knew the answer that was coming had nothing to do with work.

"Yeah…that was the plan," Roger stammered. "Listen Kimmy, your mom and I thought that a fresh start would make things better. Maybe me being around more would give us a chance to work through some things. You know, get closer..."

"But all it did was make us fight more," Helen butted in.

"You're not going on a business trip, are you?"

Roger hung his head. "No, Kimmy. Your mother and I think it would be best if I left for a bit. Maybe the time apart from each other is what we needed after all."

Kim could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to cry. "How long will you be gone?" When he hesitated, she knew the answer. It didn't matter what he said so she hugged her father and went upstairs to her room. At least they waited until she was out of sight before they started fighting again.

Falling on her bed, Kim stifled a few tears then pulled out her phone and began looking through her social media feeds. Despite everything, she had finally made some friends at this new school, even though she didn't spend a lot of time with them thanks to her constant training. She dreamed of competing in the Pan Global Games for gymnastics, but with all the moving around she didn't have the opportunity to train full time like other hopeful athletes. Now that she was in her late teens, she feared she was too old to be considered. Still, it was one of the very few constants in her life and she enjoyed it immensely.

Scrolling through, she noticed two of her friends, Kristen and Tina, had both posted pictures at a party, a party that she didn't know about nor had they invited her to. She decided to text Kristen.

hey gurl, you at a party?

oh…
yeah, whats up?

didn't know there was a party tonight

u were busy doin ur dance thing so we didn't tell u

Kim wasn't sure how to take that. Did her friends intentionally bail on her?

Oh, no prob. Where's it at and I'll meet you?
I could stand a distraction. Parent's fighting
again. Bad this time.

that sux
um…I don't think you'll like this party

"What did that mean?" Kim thought but it didn't matter. She just needed a distraction.

that's okay. I just need to get out of here

you're not going to want to come here
we are doin stuff you don't like

Now it made sense. They were drinking. Kim had been around alcohol before but, despite everything going on at home, had managed not to succumb to peer pressure. Anything like alcohol or drugs could potentially hurt her gymnastics career and she wasn't willing to jeopardize that. Tonight though, she just wanted to get out of her house.

I don't have to drink. I can just hang

Listen K, Tina and I were talking
ur kinda a buzzkill at these things

u know I can't risk it with my gymnastics
they drug test at competitions

ur dancy thing is more important to u than us. Were tired of being second place

Kim almost threw her phone against the wall but stopped herself; she set it on her nightstand instead. This day was just too much. First aliens and superheroes, her parents were probably getting a divorce, and now her friends bailed on her because she refused to party by getting drunk or high. Not for the first time, Kimberly felt completely alone. She turned off her lamp, rolled over with her face in her pillow, and cried herself to sleep.