A/Ns: As I’ve stated before, the chapter titles are all song titles. I had mulled around with several titles and then decided to do a search of Vietnam era songs, and located this song title. While the lyrics and sentiment of the song don’t match anything in this chapter, the title says a whole lot about the PRDT episode, IMHO. Also, my apologies at the lateness of this – I’m still trying to get back on schedule. Finally, I know I promised, but there will NOT be an NC version of last chapter – at least not right now. If I can get it done, I’ll let you know when it’s posted. Otherwise, you will have to use your imaginations.

Hi all. So here we are – “Fighting Spirit”. I went back and forth on how I wanted to do this particular episode with Kim and Jason available to incorporate somehow into the storyline. I had so many different ideas, and what you see here is my compromise on using all the characters within the framework of the show. And now, to the story…

Legends and Heroes

By Jeannine Trevizo

-x-

Chapter 18: The Fightin' Side of Me

After arriving early that morning, Hayley had checked, double checked and triple checked her theory that Kim and Jason’s gems could stabilize and fix Tommy’s by joining them together, Kim and Jason’s gems providing the power and template to realign Tommy’s malfunctioning powers.

Finally, she turned from where she’d been sitting at the main console and focused her attention on Tommy, Kim and her boyfriend Jason. While she felt this was their best shot, there was still an element of risk.

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s still dangerous…”

“We’ve decided,” Tommy stated, looking to Kim and Jason even though they couldn’t tell that. “Let’s do this.”

With that, Hayley moved towards the metal table set up in the command center, and waited until she heard the slight creak of the metal, indicating Tommy was on it.

“Okay Hayley, I’m ready.”

With a swish of her hands, she covered the lower half of his body with a silver metallic blanket, allowing her to locate him. Then she moved to attach the electrodes so she could monitor the process and its effects on him.

“For the record, I still think this is…” she began before Jason and Kim’s dual stares cut her off.

“What about us?” Kim asked as she leaned on the table, watching Hayley’s every move.

“You and Jason can stay there… I just need your gems to power the re-molecularizer.”

With that, Kim and Jason twisted their wrists to expose their gauntlets. Carefully they removed the stones, leaving the silver metal bracelets bare. As one, they handed Hayley the stones, and went back to their places beside Tommy’s invisible body.

“Good to go,” stated Tommy.

“See you soon bro, literally, we hope,” Jason said with a joking tone, and Kim forced a smile as Tommy laughed, making the blanket bounce.

“Okay…” Hayley announced as she slid all three gems into a cylinder and then moved to the control panel. “Initiating sequence.”

As the power flowed through Tommy’s gem, and though his body as well, Kim and Jason stood rigid, fear and anticipation etching their faces. Then, before anyone knew it, Tommy was hyperventilating and then there was a spark…

“It’s overloading,” Hayley cried out as she moved to the de-molecularizer, hoping to turn it off before any more damage could be done.

“He’s convulsing!” yelled Jason as the invisible body covered with the metallic sheet writhed beneath his and Kim’s hands.

“Hayley, stop it!” screamed Kim, her hands pressing down on the form of the man she loved.

“I can’t!” she called out, just as a jolt of multi-color lightning crackled along Tommy’s invisible body and into Jason and Kimberly.

There was a bright flash, and Hayley shielded her eyes. As it vanished, she looked into the cylinder that contained the three dino gems, finding Tommy’s broken into three pieces and Kim and Jason’s looking nearly melted. Suddenly she heard several loud thumps and moved her head towards Tommy, finding him visible again on the table. But where Kim and Jason should have been… rushing past him, she found Kim and Jason unconscious, sprawled on the floor.

“Oh God,” Hayley whispered under her breath, as she swiftly moved to check them all, hoping beyond hope that she hadn’t killed the greatest ranger ever, his girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Hurriedly she moved to the command console and opened up the emergency communications wavelink to the ranger’s morphers. “Conner! I need you, Kira and Ethan at the cave now! We’ve got a big problem.”

-x-

“What’s wrong with them doctor?” Hayley asked as the physician moved from Tommy to Jason in the two person room. Kim was in the next room over being looked over by a separate physician, but both of them were coming to the same conclusion.

“We have no idea. Their vitals are stable, but all three of them have wildly erratic brain patterns. Are you sure there’s nothing more you can tell us?”

“There’s nothing more that we know.”

“Can you get them out of it?” questioned Kira, as she, Conner and Ethan stood beside Dr. O’s bed.

“We’re trying, but none of them are responding to anything.”

“They’re going to be okay, right?” inquired Ethan, now more worried than ever.

“I’m not going to lie to you. The longer they stay like this, the more at risk they are.”

“Thanks Dr. Walsh,” said Kira, leaning against Conner’s shoulder as his arm looped around her, holding her tightly to him.

“Your friends are going to get the best care possible.”

With that, Dr. Walsh left the room, leaving them alone. Suddenly the television outside the room at the nurse’s station broke into programming to make an urgent announcement about the city under attack. Kira, Ethan and Conner looked to one another with concerned faces. Glancing at Hayley, she nodded in understanding.

“I’ll stay with them.”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” said Conner before the three of them raced for the door.

-x-

Awaking on a barren desert landscape, Tommy shoved himself up with an arm as he noticed that he could see himself. Whatever Hayley had done, he was visible again.

Unfortunately he didn’t have a clue as to where he was.

Looking around him, he saw Kim laid out on one side of him, and Jason on the other. Both looked like they were out of it, and he moved to Kim’s side to check if she was… he squashed any thought that she wasn’t just unconscious and laid a hand to her shoulder, shaking her.

“Kim, Beautiful, wake up.”

Her eyes flickered and then opened to light on his visible face, and she smiled.

“Hey Handsome.”

Smiling back at her, he eased her to a sitting position as he moved back to where Jason lay and shook his friend until the White Ranger awoke.

“Good to see you bro,” Jason said with more than a trace of humor before he sat up and realized that they weren’t in the command center any longer. “Uh, is it just me, or are we all seeing desert.”

“Nope, not just you,” Kim interjected.

“Where are we?”

“I don’t have a clue,” Tommy growled, and Kim looked at him as she reached towards him and he pulled away from her, angrily getting up and pacing the dusty ground. “Neither of you would be here, wherever here is if you’d stayed out of this. I told you this was too dangerous.”

“And we said we didn’t care!” Kim yelled back, shoving herself up from the ground to catch Tommy’s arm in hers and swing him towards her. “We did what we had to do to get you back. That’s all that matters. We’re in this together and we’ll figure out where we are and how to get back.”

“She’s right bro,” Jason added, moving to stand behind Kim. “You would have done the same for either of us.”

Tommy bowed his head, knowing Jason was right.

“What’s that?” Kim asked suddenly, pointing to an archway shape at the crest of the sand dune behind Tommy.

As Jason and Tommy looked, and suddenly there was a shape that was familiar to both of them stepping through the archway, and both men fought not to let their mouths fall open in shock.

“Hello Tommy, remember me?”

“Tommy… is that Zeo 5?” Jason asked, his voice wavering at the sight before them.

“Yeah it is…”

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already,” said the red ranger as he walked down the dunes towards the three of them.

“But, that’s impossible! He’s you,” Kim said in a whisper that seemed to carry on the wind.

“Oh, it’s possible,” answered Zeo 5.”And I’m still as tough as ever. The question is, are you?”

“What is this? I’m not going to fight you.”

“Then I suppose then you’ll be destroyed. Hi-yah!”

With that, the red Zeo ranger took a battle stance and launched an attack. Firing off with a high kick, Tommy quickly ducked, while reaching for his gauntlet, only to remember that it had been removed to fix his powers. When Jason and Kim jumped in to help, he realized that none of them had their powers at their disposal.

Then he got another shock, as the Zeo ranger went right through Jason and Kim’s blocking maneuvers.

“It isn’t solid!’ cried Kim, as her fist went right through the space that the red ranger’s shoulder should have been.

“It sure feels solid to me,” Tommy complained as Zeo 5 punched him, sending him flying.

“Well, whatever it is, we can’t land a hand on him,” Jason admitted as he tried a roundhouse kick that nearly sent him sprawling when he simply hit air.

“I guess it’s up to me then.”

With that, Tommy charged Zeo 5, sending him flying.

-x-

“I see you’ve got a lot of fight left in you. But is it enough?” Zeo 5 finally admitted as both he and Tommy panted after fighting what seemed to Kim and Jason a good twenty minutes to a draw. Then he raised his arm and teleported away, leaving the three of them alone.

“Wait! What are you talking about?” Tommy yelled as the red ranger form of himself disappeared.

“You okay bro?” Jason asked, as he moved to his best friend’s side.

“Yeah. That was just weird. And what was all that about me having any fight left?”

Kim stood there and looked at Tommy intently, and then rubbed her wrist, bringing her attention to her now gem-less gauntlet. Zeo 5 hadn’t even acknowledged either of them, and they couldn’t land a single blow on him to guard Tommy. It was as if they weren’t even there…

“Hey, I think I have an idea… Hayley was using our gems to jumpstart yours, using their power to help fix your powers. Maybe this whole thing is about you - by fighting, you’re restoring your own powers,” suggested Kim. “And the reason we can’t hit things is because we’re just here to keep you going.”

“So, I have to defeat whatever we encounter to get my dino powers back in line?” Tommy questioned, looking at Kim bewildered.

“I think so.”

“And you guys can’t help.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Jason admitted, following where Kim was coming from on this theory.

“Lot of good you two are then,” quipped Tommy.

“Uh, anyone notice things have changed?”

At Jason’s words, Kim and Tommy looked around to see the scenery changed, forest replacing desert and laughter echoing through the mists.

“Tommy, Tommy…”

“Something tells me we’re not in Reefside anymore,” Tommy whispered.

“We’re in Angel Grove,” said the voice, and then suddenly the White Ranger swooped from the trees, his gold tiger markings on his helmet and chest plate making it obvious who he was. “Finally cut that hair, huh?”

“White Ranger,” Tommy said stunned while Kim stood open mouthed at the appearance of the man who had been in all intents her white knight.

“I guess we know who you’re up against next bro,” Jason said, as he grabbed Kim by the arm and moved her back.

-x-

“Okay, this is weird, even by ranger standards,” Tommy commented after the White Ranger had left and the scenery started to change again.

“This seems familiar,” Jason commented as he walked forward, Kim moving to Tommy’s side and grasping his hand tightly.

Looking down, he smiled tightly but squeezed her hand back. He knew that as long as Jase and Kim were with him, he could get through anything.

“Three guesses as to who’s up next, and the first two don’t count,” Jason remarked as he passed a piece of ruined archway.

As the words left his mouth, a streak of light crossed in front of them, and materialized at the tree beside Tommy. When the light died down, Tommy saw the Dragon Dagger sticking in the bark. Kim bit her lip and let go of Tommy’s hand.

“Be careful,” she said quietly as he reached over and yanked the weapon from the tree.

“I thought I might run into you,” Tommy spoke as the Green Ranger appeared from the greenery all around them.

“It’s been a while Tommy. I see you switched to basic black,” commented the Green Ranger.

“Seems to work for me. Let me guess, you want to fight?”

“You guessed right.”

With that, the Green Ranger attacked, and Kim and Jason could only watch as Tommy fought himself again. But this time, they knew that there was more at stake then ever before…

-x-

Tommy’s eyes began to flutter open. When he opened them, he found Hayley looking down at him, a smile plastered on her face. Of course though, his thoughts turned to someone else.

“Tommy! You’re okay,” said Hayley excitedly.

“Yeah. Never felt better. Where’s Kim?”

“She’s in another room,” answered Hayley quickly.

“What about Jason?”

“He’s in the bed next to you. And if you’re awake, then both of them should be too,” said Hayley as she watched Tommy look down to his closed fist.

“Where’s the team?” he asked suddenly, the ranger and leader taking over.

“In the field…”

“Then we need to get going too…”

“You all just woke up from a coma… and your gem…”

“Is fixed,” Tommy said, showing the solid black gem in his hand, along with Kim and Jason’s gems.

“How did their gems…” Hayley started to ask, stunned.

“Later,” Tommy said, throwing aside the bedclothes before moving to Jason’s bed. “Yo, bro, wakey, wakey. Bad guys need to get bashed.”

“Whoa, weird dream…” Jason began mumbling as he awoke, and then as he fully took in Tommy handing him his white gemstone, he immediately sobered. “No dream I guess.”

Without another word, Jason threw back the covers and followed Tommy as he moved to the next door, pushing it open to find caramel hair covering the white hospital pillow. Memories of seeing her in a hospital bed after that near fatal fall all those years ago back in Angel Grove bubbled up, and he strode to her side.

“You okay Beautiful?” he asked as he stood at her bedside, watching her doe colored eyes open and light on his face.

“Yeah, I’m good to go. Hand me my gem,” she answered, reaching up for the amethyst gem in Tommy’s hand.

“Time to go to work,” Tommy announced, and the three of them scrambled to get their clothes before racing out to help the rest of the team.

-x-

Conner, Kira and Ethan were thrown by the monster’s attack, the flames scorching their faces as they landed hard on the ground. They desperately needed something to break their way, or Mesogog was going to win this time.

“It’s over,” announced the White Terrorsaurus as it gloated over the prone forms of the rangers.

Then from out of nowhere, Tommy leapt out, striking the White Terrorsaurus in the head and sending him flying before landing on the ground before the teens. Behind him, Kimberly and Jason appeared as well, creating a new line of defense.

“Dr. O, Kim, Jason!” Conner yelled enthusiastically, realizing that things were looking up.

“You’re alive!” cried Kira as she and the others got up.

“Not for long,” complained the White Terrorsaurus.

Tommy looked at the White Terrorsaurus with a dark look, then glanced at Kim and Jason, who nodded.

“Dino Thunder, Power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

In seconds, the three living legends of the power rangers were transformed into their armor, prepared for battle.

“That thing is so going to get its ass kicked,” Ethan said under his breath, as Kim, Jason and Tommy attacked.

-x-

“Okay, so let me get this straight, three of your old ranger powers came after you…” began Ethan before Conner cut him off.

“And you had to fight them to get your life back?”

“This is awesome,” Ethan interjected again. “It’s like all the power rangers lined up…”

“It’s so scary, and Jason and Kim were with you but they couldn’t help,” added Kira, as all three of them started talking over one another.

“Guys…” Tommy began, cutting them all off. “I just wanted to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. For hanging in with me through all of this. It was tough, but you guys came through. It means a lot to me.”

“To all of us,” Kim added, laying a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, prompting the Black Ranger to cover it with his own.

“He’s right, you should really be proud of yourselves,” Hayley stated, as Jason smiled at her.

“Yeah, you were real rangers today – real heroes,” Jason commended.

Standing there, Ethan slowly turned to look at Conner, who seemed to be shielding his eyes from everyone.

“Are you crying?”

“No! We’re just really glad you’re back Dr. O.”

With that, Tommy turned to Kim and smiled.

“Me too.”

-End-

Okay… this chapter is done. I will try to get back to my weekly schedule from here on out. Thanks for your readership and patience, and please… review to let me know you’re there. J.