Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers Zeo and all related material. I have no legal claim to it.
Author Note: I hope everyone likes this. Everyone's always saying that there aren't enough Rocky fics, so I hope this one doesn't disappoint! Thanks a load to PinkHeart for this one! Without her support and input for this story (and many others) this would still be just a teaser on the message board! Thanks PinkHeart!
Time Scale: This takes place after 'The Joke's on Blue.'
A Rocky Ride
By Matt
Rocky sat alone in the Youth Center, staring over towards the workout area. The rest of the Zeo Rangers were standing around watching as Adam and Jason sparred. 'That should be me! I don't care what the others say, Jason's taking my place. Sure, we're meant to work as a team, and I can do that, but it's not just my place on the team he's taking away from me. It's my friends too. This time last month, I was down there training with Adam and they were all cheering me on! Now they haven't even noticed I'm here!' Rocky thought, just making himself more annoyed than he already was.
'Maybe I should go and pick a fight with Gasket. At least when I tried to fight Mondo alone I got some attention!' Rocky mused. 'What am I thinking, that'd just be suicide. I need to get out of here or I'm just gonna do something stupid!'
Zeo Ranger III got up and walked towards the door. On his way out, he passed Bulk and Skull. He was so deep in thought he never even heard the insult they threw his way. "Hey Bulky, you think we were a bit mean when we told Rocky he was being replaced?" Skull asked his partner in crime.
They both looked at each other and laughed. They stopped laughing as they felt a firm hand come down on their shoulders. "Lieutenant Stone! We were just, erm..." Skull started.
"Out looking for a case to work on!" Bulk finished the excuse.
"Gentlemen, I have found the perfect job for you. Get over to the museum right away. The curator will fill you in on the details when you get there!" Detective Stone ordered.
"Right, we're on our way!" Bulk said, not exactly over eager to do some work.
"Yeah, we're already gone!" Skull added. The two young detectives walked out of the Youth Center, leaving Jerome Stone wondering why exactly he kept them around. They messed up everything they did, sometimes he thought they actually went looking for trouble, but for some very strange reason, he actually liked them!
"Nice move, bro." Tommy called out as Jason knocked Adam to the ground.
Jason grinned as he helped Zeo Ranger IV up from the matt. He looked round for a moment, searching his small audience before he asked, "Hey, where's Rocky and Billy?"
"Billy's helping his Uncle with some big experiment over in Stone Canyon university, it's nothing important, but I haven't seen Rocky all day!"
"He's been acting kinda... weird for the last few days." Adam replied.
"Hey, don't worry about him. He's fine!" Tanya replied.
They all walked away from the workout area and headed up to the Juice Bar. Detective Stone was stood at one end of the bar, deep in thought and at the far end was Ernie. He was talking to a couple of customers. As he saw the five teens he ended the conversation and came over to them.
"Hi guys, what can I get you?" he asked cheerfully.
"Five smoothees thanks, and have you seen rocky today?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, he was here just now. He sat over there for about ten minutes, then just left!" Ernie replied. "There's nothing wrong is there? He looked almost upset!"
"I don't know!" Tommy answered, then the five of them went to sit down.
"That's strange. Why would he come in here on his own, and then not even tell us he was here?" Kat asked.
None of them could answer. Rocky had always been so lively and energetic, always the first to enjoy a good situation. His sense of humor did sometimes leave a lot be desired, but they all loved it.
"Oh, hey guys, I just remembered, I've gotta go meet Emily!" Jason said as he stood up.
"Oh, a date? I didn't realize things were that serious!" Tanya joked.
"They're not, I'm just... getting to know her a bit better." Jason replied. He walked away before any of them could make any more comments about it. As he passed the bar he cancelled his smoothee then left the building.
At Angel Grove Museum, Bulk and Skull were being ushered into the curator's office.
"You must be..." the curator began, looking at a piece of paper in his hand, "Bulk, and Skull?" he finished the sentence. He spoke in an annoyingly posh voice and spat out the names as if they left a nasty taste in his mouth.
"That's us. Lieutenant Stone said you had a job for us!" Bulk commented.
"Indeed. Please follow me, and don't touch anything!" he snapped as he led them out of the office. He walked along through the various sections with the two bumbling junior detectives close behind.
Eventually they came to a long hall. Along each side was a long row of wax figures. Each one was a replica of a real celebrity, some of them, however, looked a little worse for wear.
"This is our celebrity wax museum. We have been having some problems with vandalism to some of the figures lately. We require you two to prevent any more from happening. Or if you can, which I find highly unlikely, apprehend whoever has been doing it." The curator explained. "Now, if I may leave you to it, I have work that must be done!"
"Don't worry, we'll catch them!" Bulk assured the man as he walked away.
As soon as he was out of sight, Skull said, "Great, now we get to baby-sit a bunch of wax weirdos!"
"Hey, at least it's a case!" Bulk said optimistically. "That means we might actually get paid this week!"
Rocky wandered slowly through the Park, heading down towards the Lake. A place he would often go to think about things. Despite the cheerful, vivacious front he put on for everyone else, he had just as many problems, just as many worries as any of them. He had always just gone by the idea that he should sort his own problems out. Everyone else had enough of their own without worrying about his, too. Because of that philosophy, he had ended up sitting by the Lake pondering his situation more times than he cared to remember. He might have actually stayed at home to think on occasion, but whenever he had tried that, he was always interrupted by one his many siblings.
'I can't believe I'm actually jealous of Jason. It's stupid. He's my friend, and my teammate. I should be welcoming him back, not trying to push him away. I mean, he's not trying to replace me, that's just the way it seems. He's just doing his best to fit in and I shouldn't hate him for that!' he thought as he approached the bench he always sat on. He stopped dead in his tracks as it came into sight. Sitting on it, joined at the lips, was Jason and Emily.
"Oh man!" Rocky called out. "First he takes my place on the team, takes my friends, and now he's taken my bench too!"
He stormed off back into the park and continued talking to himself. "I spend a few years in Angel Grove with hardly a single date, then Jason's back in town for a week and he's already got a girlfriend. Man, life is so unfair!"
"I can make it a little more fair!" a voice called out from behind him. He turned quickly to see Gasket standing there, alone.
"What do you want, Gasket?" Rocky snapped, getting ready to call on his Zeonizer.
"I'm here to do you a favor!" Gasket replied.
"And why would you want to do me a favor?" Rocky demanded.
"Because I like a challenge, and there's no challenge in facing a team of Rangers who are too busy fighting each other and being jealous to fight me!" Gasket replied. He walked closer to Rocky, starting to walk slowly around him as the Ranger listened to his proposal. "I know how you feel about the Gold Ranger, or should that be I know how you feel about Jason. The way he's replacing you, shoving you out of something that you thought you were a part of. He's taking all the attention, attention that should be yours. I can give you that attention again"
Rocky thought for a moment as he watched the Machine Prince suspiciously. "How?" he asked. "And what do I have to do in return?"
"The how is not important, just know that I will make all the other Rangers take notice of you." Gasket said slyly.
"Come on, just tell me!" Rocky snapped. "What do I have to do in return?"
"I thought I already told you, I'm doing this for you, not myself!" Gasket said, actually sounding genuinely sincere.
"I hope you'll forgive me if I tell you where to shove it!" Rocky sneered.
"I thought you may say something like that. Here, take this!" Gasket said, handing the blue Zeo a small device that looked a lot like a communicator. "Think about my offer. If you change your mind, just press the button on that communicator!"
With that, he vanished, leaving Rocky alone to ponder his choice. "Yeah, like I can really trust him!" Rocky laughed. He looked down at the device and stopped laughing. "Maybe, just maybe." He muttered, then strapped Gasket's device on next to his own communicator.
"Bulky, I'm bored!" Skull complained as the two wandered around in the wax museum.
"Then go play with Madonna again!" Bulk said, annoyed by his sidekick's incessant whining.
"I've already done that... twice. And I'm hungry!" Skull shouted.
"Will you keep it down. How are we ever gonna find the vandals with you shouting like that! SO KEEP IT DOWN!" Bulk said, shouting the final sentence.
"Bulky don't shout, you'll scare them off!" Skull said calmly, going to walk away.
Bulk looked like he was about to throttle his accomplice, but just managed to restrain himself and walk away.
Inside the power Chamber, Alpha Five was rushing around madly as the alarms blared all around him. "Ay-yi-yi Zordon, Rita and Zedd have sent down a monster and it's very powerful." Alpha called out.
"Alpha, call the Rangers at once!" Zordon ordered. Almost as soon as Alpha had got over to the communication console and sent out the signal when five flashes of energy arrived. The Red, Pink, Yellow and Green came in one group, the blue on its own. They formed into the five Zeo Rangers who stepped forward. Just as they had gathered round Alpha, another flare of energy came in behind them and formed into Jason.
The Gold Ranger walked forward to join the others and said, "Sorry I'm late guys, it took a while to think up an excuse for Emily. She erm...kinda didn't want me to leave!"
Rocky muttered something under his breath, but nobody really heard it. Finally pushed that little bit too far, Rocky reached over and pressed the button on Gasket's communicator.
"So what's going on?" Tommy asked.
The sirens which had lowered down in volume slightly, suddenly exploded back into full life. "Ay-yi-yi Things have just got even worse. Gasket has sent down a monster of his own and it's fighting with Rita and Zedd's. They're tearing the City apart!"
"Come on guys, we've gotta stop them!" Tommy commented. "It's Morphin' Time!"
With a flick of their wrists, the Zeonizers appeared on the five Zeo Rangers' wrists. Rocky was so used to the activity now that he didn't even look down as the small devices appeared. If he had, he would have seen Gasket's communicator joining onto the side of his Zeonizer.
"Zeo Ranger I - Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger II - Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger III - Blue!"
"Zeo Ranger IV - Green!"
"Zeo Ranger V - Red!"
"Gold Ranger Power!"
The morphing sequence completed and they teleported into the center of Angel Grove.
The six Rangers appeared and watched for a moment as the two monsters tore into each other. Gasket's was just a standard humanoid robot. A large blaster replaced one hand, and the other one was a long blade. On one shoulder was a small cannon and a sighting device sat over one of its eyes. Rita and Zedd's monster was, as usual, a little more strange. It appeared to be made purely out of blue slime. Inside its chest was a small red ball. It seemed able to change its shape into anything it wanted. Right now, it was humanoid from the waist up, but below that it just seemed to be some kind of elongated blob. They continued fighting even after the Rangers arrived.
"Hey, you two. In case you hadn't noticed, there's Rangers here!" Rocky called out. He ran ahead from the group without even awaiting the approval of their leader. He brought out his Zeo Power weapons, and as he an along, faster and faster, he started glowing blue. As he passed between the two monsters, he released the energy into them, slicing one of his Tri-Daggers into each of them.
In a shower of sparks, the robot fell to the ground, but the slime creature wasn't affected. The weapon cut through its stomach, leaving a large hole, but it just started to fill in as soon as the Blue Rangers' weapon was clear.
Rocky turned and started hacking at the creature with his Zeo Blade. He was in an absolute frenzy and all the others could do was stand and watch. Not just because they were so shocked to see the normally calm and sensible Rocky in such a mood, but also because they were scared of getting in the way of one of his shots.
The Blue Rangers' attacks were doing little good against the slime creature. Every time ha hacked a piece away, it just fell to the ground, then slithered back to the main body and joined back on.
"Rocky, stop, you're not doing any good!" Tommy called out.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Rocky muttered. He moved away slightly and gave the monster a moment to recover.
"Out of the way, Rocky, I've got an idea!" Jason called out. Grudgingly, he moved aside. "It's time for a Gold Rush!" In a blur of Golden energy, Jason ran past the creature, slicing away the front of its chest, leaving the red ball inside exposed. Turning around as he stopped, he fired the Golden Power Staff straight at it. The ball exploded and the creature melted away to nothing.
Normally, he would have received some praise from the others, but now they were too busy fighting a platoon of Cogs that had just appeared behind them. Rocky ran towards the other Zeo Rangers, on his way he looked back at Jason. Right behind him, Gasket's monster was getting up.
He went to shout something, but suddenly stopped. He just realized something - he didn't want to warn Jason. The robot got to its feet and ran up behind the Gold Ranger, raising its right hand. As soon as it was close enough, it sliced the blade on its arm right down Jason's back. Letting out a scream of pain, the Gold Ranger fell to the ground. Before he had even hit the floor, Gasket's monster had fired several shots from the blaster on its other hand, and a shot from the shoulder cannon.
Rocky watched in horror as the monster continued firing at his fallen ally. "NOOO!" he called out, realizing what a mistake he had made. He charged at the machine, drawing both his Zeo blade and blaster. A quick attack with the blade cut deep into the robot's armor, then a shot from the Zeo Blaster, shoved right into the wound blew up the monster where it stood.
"Jason, Jason are you alright?" Rocky asked, kneeling down beside his friend. The Blue Ranger soon noticed that Jason wasn't moving, and said nothing in return. Naturally, he feared the worst. "What have I done? Alpha, teleport Jason back to the Power Chamber. NOW!"
In a flash, Jason vanished and Rocky got up to rejoin the fight. "Hi-yah!" Rocky called out, jumping into a crowd of Cogs. Taking his aggression out on the army of foot soldiers, he finished them in not time at all. Standing over a massive pile of scrap metal that had been attacking them less than five minutes ago, the Red, Yellow, Pink and Green Rangers turned to the blue companion.
"Rocky, what happened to Jason?" Tommy asked urgently.
"Is he okay?" Kat added.
"Gasket's monster wasn't fully destroyed, it came back and attacked Jason from behind. He's been teleported back to the Power Chamber, and guys... he didn't look too good!" Rocky said quietly.
Without even needing the command, they teleported back to check on Jason leaving the Blue Ranger alone. He checked there was nobody around. Seeing the area was clear, he demorphed and started walking away.
"What have I done. Jason could be dead and it'd all be my fault!" Rocky said to himself. "All because I was jealous. I let my jealousy get in the way of my duties and let my friend get hurt. Is this what Gasket meant what he said he could get me noticed again - get rid of Jason?"
"I'm afraid it's not!" Gasket called from behind him. "This has nothing to do with my 'offer', but you must admit, we both gain from it. I get rid of a Ranger and you get rid of some competition!" If the mechanical Prince's face wasn't in a set postion, Rocky knew he would have a massive grin across his face.
"The deal's off, Gasket. I've changed my mind. I don't want you to do anything for me!" Rocky snapped.
Gasket started laughing. Rocky had a terrible feeling that something was very wrong. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"It's too late! The offering has already been taken. No turning back now, Blue Ranger." Gasket said.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm taking you down!" Rocky snapped, calling forth his Zeonizer. "Zeo Ranger III - Blue!" The usual morphing initiated and finished within seconds of the command, leaving the Blue Zeo Ranger standing before the Machine Prince... but not for long.
Suddenly, he doubled over in pain and fell to the ground. Gasket stood over him, gloating. "How does it feel, Ranger? How does it feel to know that you have been defeated. Not by my empire's evil, not by the evil of Zedd or Rita, but by your own evil. You were so jealous of your own ally, that you let your enemy get the better of you. You're pitiful."
Rocky was in too much pain to hear Gasket's gloats, but everything that the evil machine said was already something that was going through Rocky's mind. Rocky rolled around on the ground in agony. Every nerve in his body was coursing with unspeakable pain. His eyes filled with tears that started rolling down his face uncontrollably. Screaming out in terror more than pain, Rocky knew that his only chance of salvation now was his friends, and in all truthfulness, he didn't deserve it.
Tommy, Kat, Adam and Tanya appeared in the Power Chamber and rushed over to Jason who lay motionless on a bio-bed. They looked down at him and then over at Zordon.
"Is he...?" Kat asked.
"No, Katherine. His wounds were only superficial and the blasts of energy knocked him unconscious. He has been healed and is now just resting!" Zordon reported.
"Damn, you had us worried there. Hey, where's Rocky again?" Adam asked.
The alarms suddenly sounded. "I think we've got our answer!" Tommy said. "What's up?"
"It's Gasket himself, and Rocky is at his mercy." Zordon reported.
"Ay-yi-yi Zordon, Rocky's energy readings are very erratic. Rangers, he needs you." Alpha said urgently.
"Okay Zordon, we're on it!" Tommy replied as the four of them stood in position, ready to morph. They stopped as they heard movement behind them. They turned to see Jason sitting up.
"Woah, where do you think you're going?" Tommy asked, going to push his team mate back down into a lying position. "You're staying right here."
"No way guys. If you're fighting Gasket himself, you're gonna be needing me!" Jason insisted. Although they were all concerned about Jason's health, they knew he had a valid point, they needed all the help they could get against Gasket. Tommy nodded and they all helped Jason up.
"Zeo Ranger I - Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger II - Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger IV - Green!"
"Zeo Ranger V - Red!"
"Gold Ranger Power!"
"Now let's go save our friend!" Tommy said just before Alpha teleported them to Rocky.
A young woman walked through the wax museum with her son. They examined all the figures and the woman explained who each of them was to the little boy. They reached the end of the line where just two figures remained - a large young man sitting on a chair and a skinny boy of the same age standing behind him.
"Mommy, who are they?" the boy asked, looking up at his mother.
"I don't know! I don't recognize them!" she replied, confused.
Suddenly the two figures jumped towards them. Screaming, the woman and child ran from the museum while the two figures stood there laughing. They looked round at each other, still chuckling about the trick they had just played on the unsuspecting citizens.
"I never get tired of that trick!" Bulk said, grinning.
"Yeah, me too. Just seeing their faces as they run away in sheer terror... it makes our jobs worth it!" Skull said, leaning back against the wall. Unknown to him, as he leant back, his hand pushed a switch across. He moved his hand away and the two detectives started to walk around the Museum again.
Gasket knew the other Rangers would be coming to help his victim and he wasn't unprepared for it. Along with a platoon of Cogs, he had a new monster ready and waiting. It was a large humanoid robot but it had two sets of arms and in between them was a set of tentacles. Its head was slightly elongated, the end of it seemed to have smaller tentacles sprouting from it. The tentacles on its head was tied up and hung half way down its back.
He watched happily as the Blue Zeo Ranger writhed around in agony at his feet. In just a few days, he had done what his father had failed to do in several months. A Power Ranger was defeated, maybe not quite completely yet, but it was just a matter of time now. It had been so easy for he had taken an approach that his father, and indeed anyone else who had attacked the Rangers, had rarely used. He had not attacked the Rangers, he had attacked the people behind the powers. Rocky had just been the first of hopefully many. If this worked, which he had every faith it would, then he would use this against all the Rangers.
"What did you do to him?" Adam called out as the rest of the Rangers surrounded Gasket and Rocky.
"Everything that has happened, he brought on himself! Try asking him about it... if he lives long enough to do it!" Gasket said confidently. He jumped away from Rocky and stood facing the group. The monster and the Cogs came out to join him.
"Rocky, can you hear us?" Adam asked as they all crouched down beside him. The Blue Ranger continued to cry out in pain and all the others could do right now was watch.
"Zordon, you have to get Rocky out of here now. Whatever Gasket's doing, it's killing him!" Tommy said through the communicator. As soon as he vanished, they stood and teleported with him.
A short while later, the Red, Pink, Yellow, Green and Gold Rangers stood around the bio-bed, looking down at Rocky. He was completely still. Had the computer screen not shown his vital signs were still steady, they would have thought he was dead, but he was not dead... not yet, anyway!
"Zordon, do you know what's wrong with him?" Kat asked tearfully. Rocky had been in such pain and they had no idea why.
"I'm afraid I do!" Zordon said, an audible sadness apparent in his tone. The Rangers all turned to look at him, awaiting the explanation. "It is not good news."
"Come on then, we all want to hear this!" A voice mumbled from behind them. They turned round quickly to see Rocky sleepily trying to sit up.
"Hey, hold on there, you shouldn't be moving yet!" Tanya insisted as they rushed back to his side.
"Okay, okay, don't get your knickers in a knot!" Rocky tried to joke back, but the weakness in his voice was all the others heard. "So what's the problem Zordon?"
Zordon let out a quiet sigh, then said, "I'm afraid the Zeo Power is killing you! If you morph one more time, you will most certainly die!"
"What!" Rocky muttered. "But, how?" They all looked shocked and sickened, the thought of something like this happening was scary to them all. Not just the fact that they could lose their friend, but the thought of losing their powers was unsettling to all of them, especially Tommy. He had been there so many times and every time it hurt him, but having to see it happen to someone else was even worse.
"Rocky, please bring out your Zeonizer." Zordon requested. Twisting his wrists slightly, the two parts of the Blue Zeonizer appeared.
"What's that?" Adam asked. It was something they were all thinking as they saw a strange device attached to one part of it.
"It looks like the communicator Gasket gave me, but why has it joined onto my Zeonizer?" Rocky asked.
"That Gasket gave you?" Jason exclaimed.
"Erm yeah." Rocky replied sheepishly. The others helped him sit up and looked at him questioningly.
"What's going on, Rocky?" Adam asked.
"And what did Gasket mean when he said to ask you about it?" Kat added.
"I guess I should explain." Rocky said, his gaze falling down to the floor. The others could all see the upset look on his face, they could tell this wasn't just another standard attack by Gasket. It was different this time, now Rocky had got himself involved in a dangerous situation. The only way out was to tell the others, and even then, it may already be too late.
"I guess it all started when Jason was given the Gold Ranger Powers." Rocky began.
The others all listened closely as Rocky explained the situation, right from the beginning. He had taken Jason's place on the team and when he came back, Rocky feared he would do the same. He went on to explain how Jason had suddenly become the center of everyone's Universe, how he had taken Rocky's place on the team, and within the group. He had gone on to tell them about how Gasket had known how he felt and about the offer he had made. Putting that device on his wrist was the biggest mistake of his life, he told them, then he changed his mind It was really the second biggest mistake. The real big mistake was activating it, not only because of what it was doing, but also because he never had any real reason to use it. He should have known that, but he made a mistake, and it was a mistake he may not live to regret.
"Rocky, I thought we already went through this, I'm not trying to replace you!" Jason insisted.
"Yeah, I know, it just seemed like..." Rocky didn't get the chance to finish the sentence, he suddenly felt an incredible pain rush through him. "Aaaaaargh!" he screamed out.
"Zordon, do something!" Kat insisted.
"There's nothing I can do right now." Zordon said. "We need to analyze that device and see exactly what it's doing. Only then will we be able to determine exactly how to save him."
"Okay, Zordon, you start analyzing, meanwhile we left Gaket and a monster in Angel Grove Park, we'd better get back to them before they cause too much trouble." Tommy said. "It's Morphin' Time!"
"Get them!" Gasket ordered his monster. The Rangers had made short work of the Cogs and now it was getting serious. The Rangers turned just in time to see the Mecha-tet monster slam into them. All five of them flew through the air and landed in a pile a couple of dozen feet away.
"Man, that guy hits hard!" Adam moaned as they struggled back to their feet.
"Maybe if we ask nice enough, he'll be a bit more gentle!" Tanya added sarcastically.
"Come on guys, we've gotta show this guy who's boss!" Tommy insisted. The four Zeo Rangers brought out their blasters while Jason got the Golden Power Staff ready to attack. "FIRE!" he commanded. Five bolts of energy shot from their weapons and struck the monster. It exploded in a shower of sparks but it wasn't finished yet. In its top pair of hands, two katanas appeared. A Laser Rifle appeared in its bottom set of hands.
Once again the monster charged into the group of Rangers. He took down Zeo Yellow and Zeo Green with one Katana, the Gold Ranger with the other, and then Zeo Pink with the Laser Rifle. Zeo Red confronted him with his Zeo Power sword, but using its bottom pair of hands and the two katanas, he disarmed the Ranger leader. The tentacles between its arms shot out and took hold of Tommy around the neck, lifting him into the air.
"He's... choking... me!" Tommy gasped as he struggled to get oxygen into his lungs.
Suddenly he dropped to the ground, the tentacles released. The Red Zeo looked up to see a very welcome sight. The robot was stood with a Zeo IV Power Hatchet dug into its back.
"Thanks for the save, man!" Tommy said as Zeo Green helped him to his feet.
"Now hows about yout you finish this octo-dude!" Adam grinned.
"Right! Defender Wheel, Power Up!" Tommy commanded. There was a screech as the Phoenix Zeo Zord soared into sight. As it flew over head, a massive machine dropped out and landed beside the Rangers. Tommy stepped inside and activated the controls. In a blur of Red energy, the Defender wheel rolled into action and shot into Mecha-tet. Tommy teleported back to the others and they watched together as Gasket's latest monster went up in smoke.
Without another thought, they all went back to the Power Chamber, anxious to see how Rocky was doing.
Rocky was sleeping when they got back. Alpha was standing over him with a small scanning device. Looking up at their mentor, they immediately saw the worried look on his face.
"Okay Zordon, what's the deal?" Tanya asked as they all gathered around his ion tube.
"I'm afraid my initial diagnosis is correct, the Zeo Power is killing Rocky. Even as we speak it is weakening him." Zordon said sadly.
"But how?" Tommy asked.
"And how can it be weakening him now? He's not even morphed!" Kat commented.
"To begin with, I thought it would only be triggered by morphing. It is actually killing him slowly all the time, morphing would just speed it up greatly. Now, as to how, it is all due to the device attached to Rocky's Zeonizer. It contained a techno-organic virus, which when joined to his Zeonizer, infected it. Now, the virus has joined with Rocky's DNA and the Zeo crystal. By altering his DNA structure slightly, using the Zeo Crystal as a blueprint, it managed to make his Powers lethal to him. It has made his connection to the Zeo crystal a death sentence. We have no choice but to take away Rocky's powers!" Zordon explained.
"Isn't there any other way?" Kat asked.
"I'm afraid not." He replied.
"Then I know what I have to do!" Rocky called out. Before any of them had even turned round and seen him sitting up once again on the bio-bed, he had called forth his Zeo sub-crystal. "I guess my time's up! Better give this to someone else!"
"Zordon, is it safe for someone else to use it. It won't infect them as well, will it?" Jason asked.
"No, the virus has now been attuned directly to Rocky's DNA patterns, he is the only one it could affect!" Zordon replied.
Rocky got up and walked over to the others, as he reached Tommy, he gave him his sub-crystal. The second he let go, the ex-Blue Ranger collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
Alpha rushed over to his side and called out. "He's suffering total respiratory shutdown. His heart's stopped, he's not breathing, no brain activity. I... I think he's dead!"
"No, he can't be!" Adam called out as he dropped to his side.
"Everyone out of the way!" Tommy ordered. They cleared out of the way as Tommy took hold of Rocky's hand. Opening it gently he put the blue Zeo sub-crystal back into his grasp. As the blue energy flowed through him, he let out a quick scream and sat up gasping for breath.
Rocky just reached out for the closest person to him and held them. Tommy hardly even noticed Rocky holding onto him, he was just so relieved it had worked. "Thank you!" he whispered.
"It would appear the virus has a failsafe. The power will slowly kill him, but getting rid of the power will kill him instantly!" Zordon said as he completed a scan on Rocky's powers.
"Then what can we do? We can't just let him..." Adam started, but couldn't finish the sentence. The thought of anything happening to his childhood friend scared him so much he didn't even want to think about it.
"I really don't know, Rangers." Zordon replied.
"Ay-yi-yi Rangers. I have more bad news. Mecha-tet is back and bigger. He's attacking Angel Grove." Alpha reported.
Rocky let go of Tommy, finally calming down Everyone could understand him being scared. He had just died and been brought back, but even worse, it was going to happen again, but when that happened, he couldn't be brought back.
They all looked at Rocky and he just said, "Go on, I'll be okay!"
"Thanks man, I promise we'll figure something out." Tommy said before they all morphed and vanished. Rocky just remained seated on the floor. Putting his face in his hands, he started crying. He couldn't believe it was really happening. The thing he had taken for granted, something he'd had for so long now, was killing him. It was ironic really that the Power he had used to save the world numerous times, to save countless lives, would ultimately take his!
"Super Zeo Zord Power!" they called out. A large cannon extended from the Zord storage area and shot out four blasts of energy. As they soared through the sky they materialised into Super Zeo Zords I, II, IV and V. The Rangers teleported aboard and ran toward the mechanical monster.
"Pyramidas, Power Up!" Jason called out. The massive Zord appeared and the Gold Ranger teleported on board. "Full Power!" he commanded. A shot of energy shot from the tip of Pyramidas into the clouds. They gathered together and Lightning suddenly shot out, striking the mechanical miscreant.
"Come on guys, let's back him up!" Tommy ordered.
The four Super Zeo Zords rushed in with a barrage of punches, kicks and laser blasts. The monster seemed to weaken, but suddenly it hit back with a massive explosion of pure energy. The Zords were sent flying into Pyramidas.
"How you guys doing? That blast knocked out my weapon systems!" Adam reported.
"Same here!" Kat added.
"Zeo Zords?" Tanya suggested.
"Great idea, Zeo Zords, power up!" Tommy called out. The Zord storage bay opened up once again, this time it was the Zeo Zords that emerged. Usually III and IV would pull Zeo Zords I and II, but with Rocky out of action, that left one of them out of action. A quick reconfiguration joined both of the first two Zeo Zords onto Adam's.
"Zeo Zord I, ready." Kat called out.
"Zeo Zord II, ready!" Tanya called out next.
"Zeo Zord IV, ready!" Adam said.
"Zeo Zord V, ready!" Tommy called out last. As they approached the monster, Kat and Tanya fired shots from their cannons, Adam shot energy from his Zord's horns and Tommy fired all his onboard weapons.
The whole volley struck Mecha-tet in a blinding explosion of fire and dust, the monster went down for a moment, but was soon back up and firing again.
"Tommy, we need the Megazords!" Kat called out to her leader.
Back in the Power Chamber, Zordon received a transmission. "Zordon, this is Tommy, we're losing it out here, we need Rocky's Zords to make the Megazords, is there any way they can be controlled by remote?"
"I'm afraid not, the Zords can only be controlled by remote if its Ranger is powered up! I am sending the Red Battlezord and Warrior Wheel to help you now." Zordon replied. He cut the signal there to let Tommy get back to the battle.
"Zordon, I have to help them." Rocky insisted, walking over to the ion tube.
"I'm sorry Rocky, I can't let you do that. Morphing again would kill you!" Zordon replied.
"So I've just got to sit here and watch them get defeated?" Rocky asked, not needing an answer. He turned to the View Screen and watched the battle.
Mecha-tet blasted the assortment of Zords again. The Super Zeo Zords, Warrior Wheel and Zeo Zords, I, II and IV were already down, leaving just the Phoenix Zord on auto-pilot, Jason in Pyramidas and Tommy in Red Battlezord still active.
"Fire!" Zeo Red commanded. The Red Battlezord held out its hands and the cannons all around its wrists began firing, at the same time, Pyramidas and Zeo Zord V fired all their weapons too. They all stared in shock as it just stood there and took all the blasts without even flinching.
"Guys, we have to do something!" Zeo Yellow called out, trying to get her Super Zeo Zord back on its feet.
"Hold on, I've got an idea!" Gold Ranger said, then teleported away.
"Hurry back, Jase!" Zeo Red called out.
The Red Battlezord ran up to Mecha-tet and punched it to the ground. He fired a few blasts at it while it was down, but it only delayed him for a few seconds. Fortunately, that was all they needed.
"What's that?" Zeo Green said, pointing up to the sky. They all looked up and saw Super Zeo Zord III approaching.
"But, how?" Zeo red asked.
"No time to explain!" Gold Ranger said, taking over Pyramidas once again.
"SUPER ZEO ULTRAZORD!" they all shouted. Super Zeo Zord II used its power to boost the other four Super Zeo Zords and get them back on their feet. The Super Zeo Megazord formed as Pyramidas converted to warrior mode. The Megazord went inside Pyramidas while Red Battlezord joined onto its back. the Rangers all looked round, confused as they saw Zeo Ranger II sitting with them in the main cockpit.
"FIRE!" they ordered. Pyramidas, powered up greatly by the Megazord fired, the Red Battlezord's gattling guns adding to the blast. Mecha-tet blew apart, no chance of recovery this time!
The Zords all vanished and the Rangers rushed back to the Power Chamber.
Meanwhile, at the museum, Detective Stone had been called in. He walked into the curator's office where his two employees were seated. "Okay, what did they do?" he asked straight away.
"Lieutenant Stone, it was an accident, we promise you!" Bulk insisted.
"Be quiet, you hooligan!" the curator snapped. "Follow me!"
He walked out of his office and headed to the area for the wax museum. As they approached, they felt a wave of heat. "Feels like a sauna in here!" Stone said.
"Exactly, your 'detectives' inadvertently turned up the heating in there to maximum." The curator reported.
"Oh no!" Stone muttered to himself as he realized what had happened. As they opened the doors, they just saw a massive waxy puddle in the middle of the floor.
"They have melted every figure in the place!" the curator shouted.
"Look on the bright side, at least you don't have to worry about anyone vandalising them!" Skull grinned.
All three of them turned to him looking angry! He could take a hint. He ran as fast as he could with the other three close behind.
When they got there, they looked round at Zeo ranger III expectantly. "I thought you couldn't morph again!" Adam said, powering down.
The Blue Ranger laughed and removed his helmet. "Jason!" they all exclaimed.
"Then that means..." Kat started, looking at the Gold Ranger.
He removed his helmet, revealing Rocky's grinning face. "Rocky, you're the Gold Ranger?" Adam gasped.
"How? How's this possible?" Tommy asked, astounded.
"It was quite simple really." Jason smiled. "Rocky was being killed by the Zeo Crystal, but he needed the Zeo Power to live, kind of a paradox. The Gold Ranger Power has the same energy signature as the Zeo Crystal, but it isn't actually a part of it. That means he's got the power he needs to live, without the lethal effects of the Zeo Crystal!"
"Oh yeah, simple!" Adam joked. They all laughed, more from relief than Adam's quip.
"Hey, Jase, I really owe you. Not only for this, but for doing this even after what I did! I'm sorry man!" Rocky said sheepishly.
"No problem. Like I said before, we're a team and we all make mistakes!" Jason assured him.
"Yeah, some more than others!" Tanya grinned.
"Now whadda you say we go grab something to eat. I think Rocky gave me his appetite when he gave me his Powers!" Jason laughed and they all teleported away to the Youth Center.
"Aah, I love happy endings!" Alpha sighed as he headed off to do some work.
"Maybe Alpha. Maybe!" Zordon said, considering a possibility that had just entered his mind!
The End (maybe!)