Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Saban. All characters and etc are copyrighted Saban. Quite a bit of this story was taken from Passing the Torch and Chase into Space with a few additions I made. :o)

Author's Note: O.K., everyone, considering this is the first fic I have ever written, please be nice if you notice anything wrong with it. :oP. I'd like to thank Starhawk and Adrienne Sekitou for giving me new ideas on improving the fic as well as taking time to read it and proof it. Thanks you two. Finally, this fic is dedicated to Selwyn Ward, my role model in life, and my grandparents, which my grandfather died 17 years ago, and my grandmother 6 years ago. :o)

We boarded the Space shuttle and took our seats. I'm sure I wasn't the only who had preoccupied thoughts on the mind. I led the team into the NASADA space shuttle with the help of our young ranger friend, Justin. As we sat there listening to the countdown, each number counted brought back a memory, how becoming a ranger all began.

"10......", the countdown began and I fell deep into my thoughts.

Born on March 15, 1982, I never realized what was up ahead of the next 16 years of my life. I never knew the responsibilities that would be bestowed on me in the future. I had no idea that the decisions I would make could affect myself, the world, and possibly the entire galaxy. I was always a good kid, brought up in a good home. I always had the dreams of becoming a Power Ranger or a professional baseball player someday. Both my parents worked sturdy jobs to help support ourselves; mom a college professor and dad, a firefighter. Since I was an only child, I had it sort of easy, but I never felt like I didn't have to do anything. I voluntarily helped out whenever possible such as cleaningup the house while my parents were at work and occasionally cooking dinner for them. Though I would dirty the kitchen, my parents loved me even more for trying.

"9......." the countdown continued.

Growing up was somewhat hard though. I experienced many deaths in my family. For one, a year after my birth, my grandfather died. I saw pictures of him occasionally, but nothing ever clicked that remembered him. Then as a 9 year old, my father passed away while trying to save a child in a blazing house. The baby survived, but my father died of smoke exhaustion. This indeed upset me as well as my mom. She took it rather hard, but she remained strong for my sake. My mother still held that good job to help support herself and I. They say the age of adulthood comes around 17 or 18, but I think I felt that at a much earlier age, in fact at 12 for me. I tried very hard to keep my confidence and cope with this loss, but most of all, I tried to remain confident for my mom's sake, who was still devestated by his death. I thought about him a lot and missed him. However, the hardships did not stop there. Two years later, the passing of another family member happened. My grandmother had gotten really sick one day and had to stay with us for a night. We took her to the hospital the next day, where she remained in care for approximately two weeks. On April 1, 1992, she came home to stay with us where she would be living from that point on, but little did I suspect that the person I cared for as much as my mom would die asleep the next morning due to an aneurysm. This was rather hard on my emotions. Even though I didn't have the slightest idea what an aneurysm was, the fact that she died bothered me. I practically spent the first 5 years of my life with her during the day while my parents worked. I was very close to her, as close as I was to my very own mother. I must have cried for her for at least a week, but once again, I tried to remain confident as I did when my father died. My mom told me she was now in a better place and I accepted the fact that she made her departure for the heavens and I became happy knowing that.

"8........" the countdown continued and I began to fall more deeply into my thoughts.

As the years went on and I grew into my early teen years, I decided to start my full interest in baseball. As a younger child, my mind wasn't focused enough to put that effort into baseball due to the hardships I faced, so I decided to wait. I used to play it with my dad before he died. He taught me how to hold the bat, throw pitches, and catch balls, do slides, and all the basic stuff of baseball. To encourage and nurture the ability, my mom let me try out for little league teams.

My dad always encouraged me and told me these words before his death, "T.J., God gave you the abilities to do whatever you want in the world. All you have to do is believe in yourself and give it your all."

I would always remember those words he gave if I ever felt down. It was rather funny to me how a thing like confidence can help you in the long run in life. My parents always told me to have confidence because it does help a lot when you feel insecure about things or you have the feeling like you can't do something. Like all parents, they were right.

I could play the game a little better now that I was a little older. After trying out, I made the team. I played in many games and I had lots of fun in them, for the first time, I felt happy with the way things were going in my life and my mom was proud of me. As the years went on and I grew older, I improved exceedingly and soon came the day that my father's old baseball friend, Jake Rosetti, gave me a call to help improve my game in Angel Grove. I looked at this opportunity as a chance of a life time. I mean, this guy used to be in the minor leagues, so I naturally took the offer. Luckily, I had an older cousin who lived in Angel Grove and agreed to let me stay with him, but little did I realize that this one trip would take a sharp turn in my life.

"7........"

I packed all my belongings that I needed for my trip to Angel Grove the night before. I felt sort of guilty leaving my mother all alone, but she seemed much more optimistic. She always told me to go after those dreams and take an opportunity when it comes. I felt like I owed it to her and I would leave the next day. The night before, though, we spent a lot of time together. We watched some movies together, had a great dinner, and we talked a bit. In my mind, I found it sort of funny how really important a parent is when it's your last night to spend time with them and you go out into the world and see what it has to offer.

The next day around 11:00 a.m., my mother and I arrived at the bus stop just 5 minutes before the bus was due to arrive to take me to Angel Grove. My mom looked so happy. I can tell she was cause of the way she smiled and the way she talked to me.

"T.J., remember what your father told you as a child, and you will do great hon. His dynamic spirit lives in you. Go out there and do your best for me and him. God will be there as well to help you when you're down. Remember to call me when you arrive in Angel Grove. Goodbye sweetie, I love you," she told me.

"I will mom, I love you too, and I will make you proud. I'll miss you. Take care," I said.

We both exchanged hugs and kisses on the cheeks. I stepped outside of the car. The day was so beautiful. It was nice and sunny without a cloud in the sky. I grabbed my bags from the trunk and waved once more to my mom as I boarded the bus. She waved back at me and smiled and we sort of stared at each other for a second, then she drove away. I then stepped into the bus that would change my life and destiny forever.

It had been hours since we left the bus stop and Angel Grove was quite far from where we were. As I sat reading my baseball book, there was this girl who sat to the right of me singing some song along with a Walkman that I didn't have the slightest clue the name of.

"Hey, be quiet." "I'm trying to sleep here".

Those were the reactions of the other passengers who were in the bus and I sort of picked up my head and looked back to see the angry people.

"Uh, excuse me, Hello...," I said.

"What, I can't hear you," the girl said.

I pointed to my ears to signal her to take them off.

"Sorry," she said sort of embarrassed.

"I think you're singing a bit to loud. The passengers are getting kind of antsy." I told her.

The girl sighed and responded, "Sorry, I do that all the time."

"So do I, you get carried away sometimes." I told her to make her feel better.

"Tell me about it," she said embarrassingly and turned her head.

I sort of looked at my book and then decided what the heck and introduced myself.

"I'm T.J.," I said with a smile and held my hand out for a handshake.

She returned the handshake and responded with a smile, "Cassie."

We asked each other where we were heading to and for what reasons. Cassie was heading for Stone Canyon to give her singing career going and hopefully make it big. She asked me where I was going and I told her I was heading for Angel Grove and gave her my reasons for going. We asked each other if we were any good at what we did, but both of us had the same answer, just to find out and see. We got sort of quiet and went back to our own little worlds again. She continued to listen to her Walkman, as I read my book.

Later, the bus stopped at a little gift shop.

"All right people, you have 10 minutes," the bus driver announced to us and we got out of the bus to stretch and look around.

I decided to look at some postcards, while Cassie looked at some funky looking glasses. I was too afraid to come out and say it, but she looked weird in everyone of them, but I didn't say anything. Of course, I didn't help any when I suggested some for her to try on. After looking around a bit, I decided to wait out the rest of the time reading my book on a bench outside a window where Cassie was now trying on some funky looking hats. I think she got the message that the one she showed me was a downer.

"6......." the countdown continued.

As I read, I never realized what was happening at that particular moment. I heard a huge explosion over a hill across the road. I stood up, glanced at the entrance to the shop and started running towards the loud rumbling.

"Hey, where are you going?" Cassie asked.

"I think someone needs help," I responded.

"But the bus is leaving in a few minutes," she told me.

"I gotta check this out," I said as I continued to run.

"You're going to miss the bus," she yelled out.

I didn't care if the bus was leaving. I had this strong feeling in my mind someone was in real trouble and needed help. I continued to run until I finally reached the destination of the trouble only to find a truck on fire. A few minutes later Cassie came up behind me.

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Missing my bus obviously," she responded with slight sacrasm. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," I responded as we both directed our attention to the right of the blazing truck to find girl fighting some weird fish monsters.

"Whoa, where'd those dudes come from," I asked very surprised at what my eyes saw.

There were a bunch of those creatures and they had that girl overpowered and outnumbered.

"Never mind where they came from. What are they?" Cassie responded.

"I don't know, but that's girl is in serious trouble. I should help her." I told Cassie and began to run but she tugged on me and pulled me back.

"You got be crazy," she said, "look at those things."

"I can't stay here and do nothing," and ran off.

"Wait, you don't what you're getting into," Cassie said as I continued to run.

Cassie caught up with me and we came upon the truck that was on fire.

"She's over there," I said and pointed and we both ran again towards her.

Then out of nowhere, those wierd fish creatures appeared in front of us.

"Uh, I'm getting out of here, right now," Cassie said and then the creatures began their attack.

Cassie battled one with punches and kicks as I elbowed one in the chest and flipped it over onto the ground. However, that didn't stop them though, they just got back up and we did some kicks and punches to stop their attacks.

I battled with one of the creatures by counterattacking it's punch with a kick in the ankle and another kick to it's chest and turned around and looked at Cassie.

"I should have listened to you," I said and turned around to battle another creature.

"I should have listened to me," she responded ducking a punch and conterattacking with a block, a cartwheel and then a kick.

I walked up to Cassie and asked, "Where'd you learned to do that?"

She sort of smiled and responded, "My ancestors invented it."

We smiled at each other and then another creature attacked with a kick making Cassie and I go in opposite directions.

We fought with the monsters again and then Cassie tugged on my shirt.

"This is crazy. I don't want to be involved in this," she said frustrated and tired.

"Me neither, but what are we going to do? Leave her here with them?" I snapped back and then once again tried to run to the mysterious girl's aide.

I did a jump kick to one of the creatures that had the girl in a hold and it went flying towards his comrades.

"Are you O.K.?" I asked.

"Yeah. You guys have to get out of here,", she told us.

"Who are you? What's going on? Why are those creepy looking things after you? What are they?" Cassie asked in a mouth full.

"Hey, look out," I yelled and interrupted and then again we went into battle with the creatures.

I fought with the monsters while Cassie went to talk to the girl again, but I was outnumbered and they persued them.

"Watch out," I yelled to warn Cassie and the girl and then we all battled them. Cassie was delivering punches and kicks as I gave them elbow blows and punches.

I was able to seperate myself from the Pirahnatrons and ran up to Cassie and the girl.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," I said exhaustingly to Cassie.

"Don't quit yet T.J. I don't have much either left in me either," Cassie responded.

"I'm not quitting... just getting exhausted," I responded back.

"I can't keep going on much longer," the girl said just as exhausted as Cassie and I were.

A few seconds later, three colored lasers blasted the weird fish creatures. In a split second, the Power Rangers were there.

I got excited for a second, "All right! The Power Rangers!"

"Oh, wow, where did they come from," Cassie said just as excited as I was.

That seemed to bring up my childhood dreams of being a ranger again. I always thought being a ranger was the greatest thing a person could do. Battling against the forces of evil and trying to maintain balance of peace among the universe. To me, that seemed like the ultimate accomplishment in life.

The Green Ranger ordered us to stay back and they'd have things under control and then the creatures vanished as fast as they had appeared. We sighed in relief after they vanished and the rangers asked us if we were O.K., and naturally we were now that they had showed up. As soon as the fish creatures vanished, the rangers began comforting the mysterious girl.

"I think a friend of hers is missing," I reported to the rangers and then they questioned the girl about her friend.

Little did I know that she and her friend were actually rangers themselves. The Rangers had told us it would be best to clear the area, but Cassie with her good heart offered to stay with the girl, but she insisted that she was fine and Cassie should go.

"Come on Cassie. Let's let the ranger do their job," I told her and we started to walk away.

As Cassie and I were walking, we were discussing the unbelievable occurrence that had just happened.

"Pretty amazing running into the Power Rangers." I said.

"Ah, I thought it was cool," Cassie replied.

I sort of shrugged and felt weird about wanting to reveal my childhood dream but decided to tell her anyway.

"Don't tell anybody, but when I was a kid, I always wanted to be a Power Ranger," I told her.

"Really?" Cassie replied.

"Yeah, think about it..... the things they have accomplished for mankind. What kid wouldn't want to grow up to be a Power Ranger?" I responded back.

"Me, I just wanted to be like Tina Turner," and as Cassie said that, my eye spotted some slime on some weeds a few feet away.

"Hey look. Didn't she say that that thing that took her friend was covered in slime?" I asked to reminded Cassie.

"No, no, no, no," she replied in a disapproving way.

"And the tracks lead into those hills. Let's check it out." I said as I looked up the hills and pointed.

"Not this time, the Power Rangers on are on it already." Cassie said.

I gave Cassie a slight look, one of those looks that indicates "Come on".

"I gotta find my bag and get out of here," Cassie said and walked off.

I decided to head up into the hills anyways, with our without Cassie.

I continued to follow the trail of the green slime. It had been quite a long way of walking, especially in the hot sun, and I was wondering if the track would ever end. Coming up to a huge rock, there was Cassie standing there looking down at me with a smile.

"My parents taught me to never leave a friend in need. And I guess we're friends now," she said with a smile.

"Good, cause I think I'm going to need your help," I said.

"I think you're right," she said and reached her hand out.

I helped her down off the rock. Together we followed the tracks of the green slime. We then came across a cave and we heard eerie moans emitting from the inside.

"What's that about?" I said in an extremely curious tone.

Cassie just stared for a second, "Let's check it out."

We entered the dark cave to hear the moans even louder. We went deeper inside until we both spotted a mysterious person hanging at his wrists by rope.

"Oh man, are you Tommy?" Cassie asked.

Tommy just hung there and told us that we didn't know what is going on and we should run, but I wasn't about to leave him in danger. The weird fish creatures came up from behind us and we went into battle with them. I saw the rope snap and Tommy was about to fall into a vortex that was below him, but I grabbed the rope and held on as long as I could and urgently requested to Cassie for some help. She kicked a couple of those fish creatures and then all of them ran out of the cave then Cassie came to aid me in helping Tommy. I pulled on the rope a bit to keep Tommy from falling from as Cassie tried to pull him away from the hole and she succeeded. We helped Tommy by untying the ropes from his wrists.

"Look, I don't know who you guys are, but I can't thank you enough," Tommy said in relief.

We all run out of the cave sort of exhausted again.

"Oh man, a few more seconds and I was toast." Tommy said.

"Hey, it was definitely an experience, and I was glad to help, but if nobody minds, I got a bus to catch out of here," Cassie replied.

We all heard a loud rumbling in a far distance. Tommy said he needed to go and he'd catch up with us later. Cassie and I positively responded, but before Tommy left he asked me for my name.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name." Tommy said to me.

"My friends call me T.J." I responded

"T.J., thanks man." he said with a smile and ran the other direction.

A few seconds later, I heard a slight swoosh sound and turned around.

"What in the world......... he's gone." I said.

"So am I," Cassie responded.

I looked behind me again and wondered for a moment and then caught up with Cassie.

"5............" the countdown continued.

"Wow, what a day, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Cassie responded, "I never thought a simple bus trip to Stone Canyon would turn into a fight for my life."

We walked back to the trail that we originally followed to get to the cave and went under a broken fence that we had passed when trying to find the trouble earlier.

"Hey, there's my stuff. Good, I dropped it here when I saw you staring at that truck that was on fire." and Cassie picked up her stuff.

"Augh, geez, I left my stuff on the bus.", I said with a sigh, "Good thing my mom gave me lots of cash for this trip."

"What do you say we head back to the bus stop?" Cassie suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we can catch a bus into town and get out of this place." I said.

We arrived back at the shop waited at least an hour for another bus to show up. Cassie and I decided to get a bite to eat, which I suggested was on me. We discussed a little bit more about ourselves and what we wanted out of life, and why we had traveled such long distance to achieve them. Under that little rebel attitude she had, was a heart of gold. A truly nice person worth having as a friend for life. When a bus arrived, we were lucky that it was passing by Stone Canyon and Angel Grove. While it was against regulations of the bus driver, he was kind enough to let us on anyway for a small fee, and Cassie and I were finally on our way home and we would come face to face with our destinies.

Cassie had been dropped off at least 20 minutes before I arrived in Angel Grove. We did a quick goodbye and hug before she departed the bus. In my my heart, I was going to miss her. I mean, we pratically spent the whole day together and shared a unique, yet strange, experience. When the bus finally arrived at the Angel Grove bus stop, I stepped out into the new place where I would begin a totally new life in. I went to check with the people at the front desk about my luggage, and fortunately, it had been unloaded and dropped here. I was able to prove that it belonged to me and headed out into the city. I soon reached my older cousin's place. It was a nice neighborhood, lots of trees with vibrant green leaves, and a street that extended almost downtown. At the time, my cousin had told me on the phone the previous night that he would be running errands during the day and would leave a key under the mat for me to enter the house. He left a note on the table for me telling what room I would be staying in. I had this sense of adventure in my heart, so I decided that it would be interesting to take a little walk around the new city I would be living in and get familiar with places. Immediately, I decided to clean up, so I took a quick shower, put some new clean clothes on and decided to see everything Angel Grove had to offer.

However, my cousin hadn't arrived home yet, so I left a note for him, "Tony, I got your note. I settled in and went out again. I'll be back before dark. Your cousin, T.J."

I sat the note and pen on the table and grabbed my key and headed back out into the city.

"4....." the countdown person yelled as I sat in my seat attending to my thoughts.

Angel Grove Park was beautiful, nice trails, beautiful lake, nicely shaded. Almost like a paradise. As I continued to walk, I met with the Angel Grove Youth Center. It was a rather nice place. It was pretty big and that seemed to be the hang out for people my age.

"Maybe I would take a look inside some other time," I thought.

Still intrigued by the size of Angel Grove and wanting to see more, I went on walking. I hadn't noticed, but I came up in the area behind the Angel Grove Youth Center.

A voice called out my name, "T.J."

I turned around to find nobody there. I sort of shrugged for a second to hear my name a second time, "T.J."

That voice, it sounded familiar. Out of the shadows stood Tommy, the guy Cassie and I rescued inside that cave.

"Tommy?" I said. "Yes T.J., it's me. I'm sorry to sneak up on you like that, but I need your help." Tommy said.

"You do?" I responded.

"Yes, T.J., after you saved my life today, I knew you would be the perfect leader." he said.

"Leader? Leader of what?" I asked curiously.

"The Leader of.... The Power Rangers." Tommy said.

"I don't get it though, why me?" I asked.

"Because T.J., your bravery and strength saved me. I knew from the second you didn't run off like I had told you when you didn't know what was going on, you would be perfect." Tommy said.

"I don't know what to say, this is sort of a shocker for me, you know?" I responded.

"Yes T.J., it is, but I need you to lead the team. You have a strong, young mind that will lead the Power Team to victory over evil." he said to me making eye contact with me.

I sort of just stood there and thought for a second. Those childhood flashbacks of being a ranger were coming back to me again. It had been a dream of mine since I was 10 to be a Power Ranger, and now, the opportunity was standing right in front of me. But did I really have what it takes to be the leader?

I gave it one last thought before answering. "All right, I'll do it," I responded.

"Oh, that's great man, let's get going, the ceremony will begin soon." Tommy said and we both teleported.

"3.........." as the countdown continued.

"Cassie!" I yelled out to her.

"T.J.? Is that you?" she responded.

"Yup, it's me. Wow, this is incredible, you got chosen to be a ranger too?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was at the bus stop in Stone Canyon getting ready to leave, when Kat, the girl we helped, popped up unexpectedly behind me and asked me to take her place as the new pink ranger." Cassie told me.

"This is great, I'm happy to see you again," I told her and gave her a slight hug.

"You look great," I told her and smiled.

"Yeah you too Teej," she responded and smiled back.

In the distance behind Cassie, I saw two other individuals. I walked up to them.

"Hey. I'm T.J.," I introduced and held out my hand for a handshake.

The one in the green Power Ranger suit returned the handshake and responded first, "Carlos. Nice to meet you T.J."

Then the girl in the yellow Power Ranger suit answered, "Ashley Hammond."

"It's nice to meet you two," I responded, "oh, and this is Cassie."

Cassie exchanged handshakes with Carlos and Ashley.

"So, I guess you two were chosen to be rangers as well, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was the weirdest thing," Carlos responded, "I thought I saw the green Turbo Ranger watching me at first, but I wasn't sure."

"Hey, me too, except it was the Yellow Ranger." Ashley interrupted.

"The next thing I know, a friend of mine named Adam asks me to be the green Turbo Ranger in his place." Carlos told us.

"Yeah, same here, I was helping this little boy with his teddy bear and then a couple of minutes later, a girl named Tanya wanted to talk to me privately and ask me to be the new yellow ranger." Ashley responded.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you two," I said and smiled at them.

"Rangers," a voice of a women called from a tube above us in white clothing, "it is time for you take your place on the podium."

We all stood in our spot and waited for the ceremony to start.

This ceremony, it was nothing like I have ever seen. It was fascinating. Glowing lights, glowing rocks of blue, yellow, green, red, and pink, and special guests from another planet. As me and my fellow ranger friends stood there, we could hear Dimitria talking about how the former rangers have reached their point in life when they are set free. Their duties as a Power Ranger have been served, and they had chosen their successors, which were us.

"I wouldn't be standing here today T.J., if it weren't for your courage and strength. I choose you to lead the team, as the new Red Ranger." Tommy said and smiled.

I smiled a bit and nodded and took a quick glance at Ashley next to me. The other three former rangers went on with their reasons for choosing Ashley, Cassie and Carlos. However, the young boy down with them didn't choose a successor.

"What am I, chopped liver?" he said in a whining manner.

I sort of giggled in my mind at what he said.

"Young Justin, you will continue on as the Blue Ranger," Dimitria said.

Then he teleported to the platform where we stood, and in his blue ranger costume, he turned and looked us with a smile and we did the same.

Dimitria with these final words said, "Where there is evil, beware. Where there is destruction, be warned. This new team of might warriors will know no rest. Power Rangers, The Legacy Continues."

The former rangers who were down below us, they waved their hands to us and we waved back. They did their final good-byes to Dimitria, Alpha and Zordon and they teleported away to begin their lives. Later, Dimitria filled us in on our mission as Power Rangers: to fight Divatox and her evil minions and prevent them from taking over the world. It sounded pretty straight forward to us and we knew what we had to do. That day marked our first day as true official Power Rangers, and to be honest, I had a little giddy feeling inside me, almost like a small child, it was funny.

"2.........."

After that day, we fought with all our of strengths and abilities. With all the plans that Divatox threw at us, we did our best to stop her. From spells, to traps, to threats, to impossible odds, we still hung in there together and as the leader, I tried my best to come up with the most efficient plans to keep us from real danger, with some help from my fellow rangers. Luckily, with the Phantom Ranger's help and giving us the Rescue Zords, we were able to hang in there more than we had thought, especially that day when Divatox stole the Turbo Megazord from us and turned it against us. Divatox was a relentless villainess. She would stop at nothing in trying to take over the Earth. Then came the day she sent Goldgoyle down to attack. This monster was different from any other she had sent down. This monster seemed to know our weaknesses and would absorb our shots and blast it back at us. He took out the Rescue Megazord and forced us to bring out the Turbo Megazord, in which he gathered up all the energy around the area and destroyed that zord as well. The other rangers and I were running out of options on how to defeat this monster, but an idea suddenly came into my head. I asked Justin to set the Turbo R.A.M to detonation mode and I called on Lightning Cruiser. I flew up to the monster and launched the R.A.M into its mouth and it destroyed the monster.

As I flew down to the other rangers, this thought came into my mind, "I can't believe THIS simple way was all we needed to do defeat this monster, instead we lost both megazords when we could have just sent the Turbo R.A.M."

I sort of grunted in my mind at the thought, but didn't say anything about it to the rangers.

"1.........."

That same day, the unspeakable happened. Divatox had found out the location of the Command Center and launched a full scale attack on it with every Pirahnatron she had. To be honest, seeing that many outside the Power Chamer at one time really scared me, but I didn't show it. But we had to go out there, we had to defend our base of command.

"Alpha, open the outer doors," I commanded.

"But.., but, but, there are way too many of them," Alpha objected.

"We can't wait for them to attack us. Everybody ready?" I asked and looked at my fellow ranger comrades.

They nodded and we headed out for battle. We were extremely outnumbered, and it was getting exhausting even with our powers. When Lighting Cruiser and Storm Blaster showed up to assist us, we did feel a bit better about the battle until their capture. Soon, all the Pirahnatrons were ganging up on us and we had to retreat back in the Power Chamber. I was the last one to enter, and then as the rangers held the door back, I enabled the security lock. Tired and a bit frightened, we enter the main Power Chamber and Alpha made a suggestion to teleport us out to safety.

I stopped his hands from pushing anymore controls on the panel, "We're going to stay here with you, Alpha."

Soon, all the Pirahnatrons retreated, but we knew it wouldn't be long before they returned. I went to check the camera with another control panel on the left side of the Power Chamber. I could hear overhear Carlos's conversation with Justin. I was sort of relieved to know I wasn't the only was scared by this attack and I felt a bit better. Justin, in my eyes, was somewhat a child lost in the adult world. He had experienced just as much as I did as a child and could relate to him a bit. I spent some time with Justin, made him feel like a real person, I enjoyed spending time with the young ranger. He was fun to kid around with and just talk with. I tried to be a good a role model as Tommy was to him before he left. I had a feeling that Justin would become a great person as he grew older. He had gone through so much now and would grow up to be a strong person. At this particular time though, Justin was caught in the middle of decision of whether he should leave with his dad. He was offered a new job and had to be relocated, but wouldn't take it unless Justin wanted him to. So, now he had to make a decision of whether to stay here with the people he has grown to love as a family or move with his dad to a new location and start a new life again. And Carlos, he was the caring soccer player. He could be counted on for anything. When there was trouble, he was willing to throw himself in the middle to help. I knew he cared for Ashley cause he one time told me he did, but was afraid. Carlos was the person who could give the encouragement when it was needed. If anyone of us ever felt down, he was there to pick us up and help. He indeed was a good friend to have. I turned around to see Ashley and Cassie leaning on each other catching their breathes. Ashley, the incredible perky person. She was the ranger that could always see the bright side of battles and sometimes kept us going with reasons to go on fighting. She was filled with many hopes and dreams. She wanted to be a fashion designer. I knew that someday she would be that person she wants to be. And finally, Cassie, the person I met on that day I first became a ranger. That battle with Cross Patch on the Turbo Megazord was one battle I would never forget, I was fighting for the Phantom's life, and I knew that I had to succeed for his and Cassie's sake, since I could tell she had a liking for him, which I never understood. Meeting Cassie back on that day we first met, it was strange in a way. I always thought of her as a friend, but when we became rangers, I found it rather nice her wanting to spend time with me and vice versa. Like just sitting in the Youth Center talking, or that one time we went hiking, walking through the park, or just studying. As we spent more time together, I think she became more than a friend to me, but I think I, like Carlos, was too scared to say anything. Now, I felt like I should have said something, but it was too late. Her feelings for the Phantom were too strong and there was nothing I can do about it. But I will always like her as more than a friend though. But the thought of her liking the Phantom seemed awkward to me. What could she possibly see in an intergalactic ranger she knows absolutely nothing about. She doesn't even know what the guy looks like. But, there was nothing I could do, her feelings in him were too strong for me to interfere.

"Teej," Carlos called for me, and we viewed the Viewing Globe.

The Pirahnatrons had returned, this time with a battering ram. Other Pirahnatrons had hooks on ropes and climbed the Power Chamber and broke one of the cameras. They relentlessly tried to break into the Power Chamber and the ones with the battering ram broke in. They had broken through the outer doors and were trying to break through the inner doors.

"You guys defend that door, Cassie with me," I ordered and Cassie and I tried to defend the door, but rocks crumbled on us from the ceiling and Pirahnatrons broke in from both doors and ransacked the entire Power Chamber.

We battled with them for quite some time. Soon, Elgar made his entrance to the ransacked Power Chamber, and threw a hammer into Dimitria's and Zordon's tube and soon began placing detonators, but none us could stop him with the place overrun with Pirahnatrons that wouldn't give us a chance to stop him. I remembered hearing a beeping sound that got faster and faster and then.........

I finally regained my eye sight back after a while. With our Turbo Powers, it had protected us from being destroyed and we remained in hiding as Divatox and her henchmen searched the rubble of the destroyed Power Chamber. I sat there worried about the other rangers. I wanted to know if they had survived. Then I saw this little fire streak fly through the air and a head popped up.

"I am the messenger from the Cimerian Planet. Zordon has been captured," he said.

Divatox did a sarcastic little shocked expression. I just sat there amazed at the news I just heard.

"You, Divatox, Queen of Evil, will leave at once for the Cimerian Planet." he said in an orderly fashion.

"Now," and did a little laugh, "I think not," Divatox said sarcastically.

"You tell whoever sent you, congrats on capturing Zordon, but I just captured the Earth, and I'm not going anywhere," and like the silly person she was, stuck her tongue at him and walked off.

"Dark Specter will not be happy," he said in a stern voice.

"Dark Specter?" I thought as I listened.

Divatox squealed a bit, "Did you say Dark Specter?"

"The Grand Monarch of Evil," he told her.

Then Divatox went on rambling on how going to the Cimerian Planet would be good and then the messenger vanished as fast as it appeared.

I sat there under the rubble just thinking, "How could this be? We need to do something."

Before leaving, Divatox made a vow, "Don't worry, I'll be back. Viva la Diva." and then vanished along with her henchmen and Pirahnatrons.

I crawled out of the little hot area under that rock and came out into the open. "You guys all right," I yelled.

"Yeah, we're fine," Carlos said as he and Ashely popped their heads out.

"T.J.!" Justin called out as he crawled out of the rocky area.

We all gathered in the middle of the rubble that was once the Power Chamber. The Turbo powers had been too badly damaged and soon vanished from our bodies and we were back in our regular clothes that were sort of torn and had holes.

"Our powers, they're gone," Cassie said with a sigh.

"Alpha," Justin exclaimed and went to go help him.

"Oh, the Power Chamber, this was my home." Alpha said.

"Don't worry Alpha, everything will be O.K.," Ashley said.

"We have to go the Cimerian Planet," Carlos declared.

"But we promised Dimitria we would stay here and protect the Earth," Cassie said.

"Protect from who? Divatox is gone now." Carlos snapped back.

"You're right, we have to stop Divatox before she comes back," I said in agreement with Carlos.

Alpha was struggling to the side of us digging through the rocks, trying to pull something out. We all went to Alpha to help him pull the rocks from the item he needed. I picked up a box off the ground and shook the dirt off it and asked Alpha, "What is it?"

"It's the Power Decoder, it has all the secret codes, we're going to need it." Alpha explained.

"What we need right now, is a way to go after Divatox," Carlos exclaimed.

"How do we expect to chase her into space anyway," Cassie asked.

Everyone just sort of stood there.

"It's a long shot, but there might be a way," Justin said with a plan in his mind.

"Really? What's the plan Justin," I asked.

"NASADA has a space shuttle. If I can get to the commander and tell him that the Power Rangers need the shuttle to save Eltare, maybe we can head into space." he told us.

"Are you sure Justin, what if you get caught?" Carlos asked.

"Hey, I'm willing to take that chance for us. We need a way to go after Divatox and this is the only way," Justin said.

I looked at Justin for a second and sighed, "O.K., Justin, all we ask is that you be careful."

"Right T.J., I won't let you guys down." he said in reassurance.

Although the power had been destroyed, we had just barely enough to teleport to an area outside the boundaries of the NASADA headquarters and we relieved that our communicators were still in tact.

"All right Justin, we'll wait for the word from you. Good luck pal," I told him and he nodded back to me and headed for the two NASADA guards guarding the entrance.

"Well, guys, all we can do is wait," I told the other rangers and they sort of just glanced at each other.

"Who is the this Dark Specter?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know, but that messenger said he was the grand monarch of evil." I told her and the other rangers.

"Hold up, you mean to tell me that there is someone above all the other villains, a more authoritative villain?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know, but let's hope Justin can get to the commander and talk him into letting us take the shuttle into space and save Zordon as well as stop Divatox." I said.

We once again started glancing at each other and then just sat quiet for a long time.

"Maybe he's in trouble," Carlos said.

"Mmm, just give him more time," I said then the communicator beeped.

"This is T.J.," I said in a happy voice.

"T.J., the shuttle is all ours," Justin announced.

"All right," I exclaimed in happiness. "How he'd do that", I asked in a rhetorical tone of voice.

We all made our way to the shuttle. We all stared at the massive shuttle for a second.

"There," I said and pointed and we all made our pursuit to the shuttle, "Hurry guys."

We all entered the shuttle and took our seats and fastened our belts, getting ready for ignition.

"Come on Justin. Let's go," I said in a furious and impatient voice

I hit the intercom, "Justin, we're missing someone." I heard Justin's response on the intercom and sort of got shocked by what he said.

"He... He can't go with you. There's reasons." Justin told us.

"Justin's not going with us," Carlos asked.

"Reasons, what reasons?" I asked.

"It's his dad, Justin wants to stay with his dad," Cassie explained.

I sort of made a short glanced at the others and sighed. "Justin, tell him he has very good reasons, and that we will miss him," I said and released the intercom button.

I again glanced at the other rangers. Ashley sighed, and the others just sort of fell into thought as the countdown began.

And now, here we are.

"We have ignition, we have lift off." The countdown ended.

As I and the other rangers sit here, I wonder what is in store for us. The thoughts of "Who is Dark Specter? Where is Zordon? What will we do without our powers?" kept running through my mind. As the shuttle tried to make its way out of the Earth's atmosphere, I looked at the other rangers who were just sitting there with worried looks on their faces.

"The Power Rangers, Earth's only defense. We must keep fighting, no matter the cost. As the leader of the rangers, I must do my best to lead the team to victory. It's what Dimitria would have wanted, it's what Zordon would have wanted as well. We must be ready for whatever comes up against us now, the Power Rangers will never be destroyed as long as we work together and fight as a team," I thought in my mind as the shuttle finally made its way into space.