Disclaimer: I hereby declare that all the contents of this story belong to Saban, except for the things I created, which belong to me. So the things that are theirs belong to them, and the things that are mine belong to me. That's simple enough!
Author note: Ranger HQ, Ultima, Kraegor and Crush, the Samurai Rangers and their Zords are all my own design. I apologise for any likenesses that may occur to anyone else's stories, but I promise they are all purely accidental. If for some bizarre reason, anyone wishes to use any of my characters or ideas, please contact me first. I won't refuse permission (not that I can actually stop anyone anyway) but new ideas for my plots are always appreciated. Thank You and May the Power Protect Us (from Ourselves!)
Time Scale: This takes place immediately after 'The Samurai Ranger Saga, Part Five, Way Down Under!' I'd advise you to read all the previous parts if you haven't already, things are starting to get complicated.
Sacrifices
By Matt
"What is it Zordon. There's more wrong with TJ than you're telling us, isn't there?" Tommy asked, understandably concerned for TJ.
"I'm afraid so!" Zordon said solemnly. Justin had gone to see Tommy in his room when all the others went back to their quarters, when Tommy wasn't there, he came back to the Power Chamber. He stopped when he got to the exit, it looked like Tommy and Zordon were having a private conversation so he stopped where he was, but he didn't stop listening.
"The weapon TJ was shot with was like nothing else we have seen before." Zordon said.
"What did it do?" Tommy asked. This really didn't sound good. He had never heard Zordon use this tone of voice before. Either it was more serious than anything they had encountered before, or Zordon was playing some kind of joke. Unfortunately, Tommy knew which was most likely!
"Somehow, the monster, Cortez, managed to attune TJ's life energy exactly with his own, they are basically sharing life energy." Zordon explained.
Tommy wasn't quite sure what he meant. "So what does that mean for TJ?" he asked.
"When two beings share life energy, they share almost everything. If Cortez cut his arm, TJ's arm would bleed and if Cortez dies…" Zordon said.
"Yeah, I think I can guess." Tommy said, then he realised something. "Wait a minute. I thought they blew the base away and Cortez with it!"
"Indeed they did, Tommy, but it would seem Cortez is still alive, but it is in bad condition. It is probably trapped in the debris of the old launch site. And Tommy!" Zordon said sternly.
"Yes!" Tommy replied.
"Cortez is dying!"
"NO!" Justin called out from the doorway. He had tried to stop himself, but what he had just heard had been too much for him. He ran out into the Power Chamber and said, "We've got to do something!"
"Justin, what are you doing here?" Tommy asked. He had hoped to keep this news under wraps until he could do something for TJ.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in, but I came back and…. we have to do something!" Justin insisted.
"Justin's right Zordon, what can we do?" Tommy asked his mentor.
"You must find Cortez. There is nothing really wrong with TJ himself, he is only dying because Cortez is dying!" Zordon explained.
"So where is it?" Tommy asked.
"It is probably still at the ruined launch site. It would be a good place to start!" Zordon suggested.
"Well let's go then!" Justin said eagerly.
"No Justin. We don't want to worry all the others with this at the moment. If I'm not here it's gonna be easy enough for Zordon to explain, but both of us could arouse suspicion." Tommy explained. "I'll go alone!"
"But Tommy…" Justin started.
"Tommy is right Justin. Tommy, go now and be quick! Try and find the weapon if you can, it may give us some clues about severing their connection." Zordon instructed.
Justin knew better than to argue with Zordon. He walked over to Tommy and said, "Good luck!"
"Thanks!" Tommy replied. "ZEO RANGER FIVE – RED!" The energy from the Zeonizer transformed Tommy into the Red Zeo Ranger and teleported him away.
"Can I go and see TJ?" Justin asked.
"Yes Justin, but do not take too long, he needs as much rest as he can get!" Zordon agreed.
Justin walked off into the med lab. TJ was still lying in the bed he had seen him in the previous day when he had been brought in. Alpha Five and Six, and Billy were all rushing around doing… something. Justin wasn't quite sure what. Billy noticed him walk in and stopped what he was doing.
"Justin, you shouldn't be in here!" Billy said.
"It's okay, Zordon told me what was going on. Well he didn't really tell me, I just found out by mistake." Justin explained.
"Okay then!" Billy said, "Try not to disturb him if you can!"
Justin nodded and Billy went back to what he was doing. The young Ranger walked over to the bed. TJ had been his leader for the past few months, he'd got used to him, understood him, cared for him. Now he lie dying and there was nothing he could do. He stood watching the Red ranger sleep and did his best to hold back a tear. All of this seemed too much for him. Leaving his Dad behind and coming to this new world, seeing his planet in chaos, the trouble with the Drone and now TJ! He'd always managed to stay strong during his time as a Ranger, but things had changed so much. The closer he got to TJ, the more he thought he could feel TJ's pain. He was probably imagining it, or maybe the Power was reaching out to him, he shared the Turbo Power after all. There was so much they didn't know about their powers, maybe this was just one effect they had never experienced before. No matter the reason, Justin could feel TJ's pain and it was almost unbearable, but he wasn't leaving. He was going to stay with his friend as long as he needed him.
Tommy appeared next to a fallen fence. Further ahead of him were the remains of some kind of large structure and several buildings. There were still small spirals of smoke floating into the air and dispersing as the wind caught them. Tommy couldn't see the fires, but they were there, still burning from the explosion the Turbo Rangers had caused. Tommy was carrying one of the Turbo navigators. Zordon had tuned it to trace Cortez's life energy. He took it out and activated it. He knew how to use it from his time as a Turbo ranger and he was soon on the right course. He stepped over the fence and headed for the rubble.
Not far ahead was quite a large pile of debris, obviously it had been the base's large command centre. He started up the hill, about halfway up, he began to hear something. He altered the Turbo navigator to pick up any movement and scanned the other side of the hill. There was definitely someone round there and quite a few of them too! He ran the rest of the way up the hill.
As he stood on top he looked down and saw quite a few Drones gathered around a monster that fitted the description Justin had given him. Cortez was still partially buried under debris and the Drones were clearing it away.
"Oh man, they must be after Cortez too!" Tommy said quietly to himself. "Looks like they haven't noticed me yet!" Normally against Cogs or Piranhatrons Tommy would have just jumped down and taken them on, but these Drones were much harder to handle. Most of them could take on one or two at a time, but against a large group of them, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Tommy decided on a different approach. He put his Zeo Blaster and Zeo Blade together to make his Zeo Laser rifle and took aim. He fired a few shots at one, then another. They were dropping like flies, but more seemed to be appearing. They started climbing the hill to get to him. As fast as he was shooting them, two more were taking its place.
"This definitely isn't working!" Tommy said. He knew he had to come up with a new idea as they were getting closer. "Zeo Zord Five!" Tommy called out. The Phoenix Zord appeared and flew overhead. Tommy didn't Teleport into it as he usually would have.
"Defender Wheel!" he called out. at his command, the weapon fell from a hatch in the underside of the Phoenix. It landed next to Tommy on top of the hill and he got straight in. As soon as he got into position, he activated it. He shot down the hill, crushing all the Drones into the ground, then rolled to a stop near the bottom. He got out and went to Cortez. There were a few Drones left, but they were either incapacitated or disoriented and didn't pose any threat. Cortez looked dead to Tommy, but then it's arm moved. He looked round for the weapon but found no sign of it.
"Thank God for that!" Tommy said, thinking he was too late for a moment. "Zordon, this is Tommy. I'm ready to come back, I'm with Cortez but I couldn't find the weapon."
In the flash of red energy, Tommy teleported away, Cortez with him. The Defender Wheel and Phoenix Zord also teleported back to where they belonged. Knowing they had failed, the Drones vanished, probably returning to Ultima to tell him they had failed. The destroyed base was as it was before Tommy had got there, quiet, empty, dead!
Later on, Tommy and Justin were sitting in the rec. room with some of the others. It had been another tough day for all of them. They were beginning to get used to them. It seemed times were always hard in that time. Cassie couldn't help thinking how she missed the occasional alarm of Divatox attacking instead of the constant threat of annihilation from an entire world of enemies.
Most of them had gained a new respect for their enemies since they got there. As strange as it sounded, they all had a much better understanding of them. Here they were, fighting off Ultima and trying to gain control of their world. Back in their own time, the bad guys always faced that. They always took on an entire world at a time. They didn't give up because the odds were so stacked against them. They just kept trying. They may be evil, but they sure had guts.
Tommy and Justin knew what was going in another part of Ranger HQ. Billy, the two Alpha's and Zordon were struggling to stop TJ dying by keeping a monster alive. They couldn't help worrying about it, but the situation really was quite serious. The others began to notice something was up with them. They had all been talking together and Tommy and Justin would normally be busily joining in with it, but tonight they were both silent. Distracted by thoughts of something the others knew nothing about.
"Hey, wassup with you two?" Tanya asked, finally voicing what everybody was thinking.
"Nothing!" they said together.
"We're fine!" Justin said.
"Doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting!" Tanya replied.
"It really is nothing!" Tommy insisted. He hated lying to them all, but what was the point in worrying all the others if there was nothing they could do about it!
None of them wanted to try and force an answer out of them so they all just left it and went back to their conversation. They all wanted to know what was up, but they really didn't want to risk starting an argument.
They waited a little longer and Justin started to get impatient. He turned his back to all the others and spoke quietly to Tommy. "I'm getting worried. I'm gonna go and see if TJ's alright!" Justin told Tommy.
"No need!" Tommy said, looking over to the door.
"Huh?" Justin asked. He looked round and saw TJ standing at the door. "TJ!" Justin shouted running over to him. That understandably caught everyone else's attention. They all turned round and saw TJ too. They were all relieved to see him. For some reason, they had been quite worried about him, but none of them really knew why!
"You're alright!" Justin said, standing next to him. He whispered to TJ, "We didn't tell the others how serious the situation was!"
"Okay!" TJ replied. He spoke to all the others. "Hi guys. I hear I missed out on some good action today!"
They all made a fuss over TJ for a while, but soon everything settled down and they all went back to doing their own things. Tommy, Justin and TJ went into a corner of the rec. room to talk privately.
"So what's the situation?" Tommy asked.
"Well, they managed to save Cortez, that's the monster that attacked, and they've got it contained in a holding cell, but we're still linked." TJ said.
"What does that mean then?" Justin asked.
"We've got to keep it here and contained until we can figure out how to break the link. If anything happens to Cortez while we're still linked…" TJ started.
"Big trouble for you!" Tommy said.
"Yeah!" TJ replied.
"I'm gonna go to bed now!" Justin said. He started to leave. "I'm glad you're okay, TJ!"
TJ just smiled as Justin left. "He alright?" he asked Tommy.
"I really don't know. Things just seem to be getting on top of him. They are with all of us. We're just not used to this!" Tommy said.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine, this'll all be over soon and we can all go home!" TJ said.
"Yeah!" Tommy said. "If three days has taken it's toll on us like this, what are we gonna be like after it's all finished?"
They both thought about it. They'd always thought they were quite tough, this was really testing them. They both knew the strains of leadership, Tommy especially, and things really were strained now. They knew things would seem a lot better after a good night's sleep. They both went off to their rooms and went to bed.
The next morning they gathered in the Power Chamber once again. All but the Aquitian Rangers had arrived. They were all just going to wait for them when Zordon spoke.
"The Aquitian Rangers will not be joining us until later." Zordon said. "The events yesterday left them severely dehydrated. Their re-hydration process is still under way and they will be completely healthy within a few hours."
TJ spoke next. "Zordon, I think it's time to tell the others what happened with me!" TJ suggested.
"Yes TJ." Zordon agreed. "As you all know, two days ago TJ was injured. He was attacked with a weapon that linked his very being with that of a monster. Cortez was dying in the base the Turbo Rangers destroyed. If Cortez had died, so too would have TJ."
"You're alright now, aren't you?" Ashley asked TJ.
"Yeah. Tommy found Cortez and brought him back here. They managed to save Cortez and I got better, but there's still one problem!" TJ said.
"What's that?" Cassie asked.
"The link between TJ and Cortez remains." Zordon replied.
"Can't you just break the link?" Carlos asked.
"We've been trying, but we can't figure out how they did it!" Billy interrupted. "We're trying everything we can, but we're just… stuck!"
"Is there anything we can do?" Jason asked.
"No. I'm afraid not! I suggest you all take this time to train. I do not want to risk attacking Ultima while there's still a chance he could do this to the rest of you!" Zordon said.
They all agreed and went off to start training. Most of them went outside, but Tommy headed off towards the Simulation Room. "Hey, TJ, Jason, wanna join me in the Simulation Room? I had a great idea for a battle scenario." Tommy invited.
"Yeah, sure!" TJ said. Jason agreed too.
"Can we come?" Ashley and Cassie asked.
"Sorry, Red Rangers only!" Tommy smiled.
They weren't happy about it, but they didn't disagree. They followed the others while the three Red Rangers went off into the Simulation Room. They came to the room and stopped outside the door. Tommy started pressing some buttons on the computer panel on the wall next to the door. When he was finished entering the programme, the door slid open and they walked inside.
"Computer, begin programme!" Tommy ordered. The computer bleeped and the smooth metal walls disappeared, replaced with an image of Angel Grove Park. They all looked round and recognised the place. They'd had plenty of battles in the Park, whether against Rita and Zedd, the Machine Empire or Divatox. All of them had started many battles there.
"Lets do this guys!" Tommy said. Even without the usual command, they all knew what he meant.
"Red Ranger Power!" Jason shouted.
"Zeo Ranger Five – Red!" Tommy called out.
"Red Lightning Turbo Power!" TJ added.
The three of them transformed into Red Rangers and they prepared to fight.
There was on thing they all seemed to forget. Whatever happened to Cortez happened to TJ, but it was the same the other way round. Whatever happened to TJ, happened to Cortez. When TJ morphed, his power was increased exponentially, the same happened with Cortez. He had been contained all night in the holding cell. He'd tried every way he could think of to break out, but nothing had worked. Suddenly, without warning, he got an incredible rush of energy.
"Woah, this has to be good!" he said aloud. He could feel an incredible power rushing through him. With one small shot he took out an entire wall of the cell. This was a very good situation for him. He was stronger than he'd ever been and he was at large in the Power Rangers base of command. He could cause some serious damage – and he intended to do so!
The sirens sounded in the Power Chamber and within seconds both the Alpha's were busy checking what the problem was.
"Zordon, Cortez's escaped!" they both said together.
"Quickly, call back all the Rangers, we must contain it!" Zordon ordered.
Alpha Five was already on his way over to the communication controls before Zordon had finished speaking. "Rangers, you must return, quickly, Cortez has escaped." Alpha Five shouted through the communicator.
Several flashes appeared and most of the Rangers materialised.
"Where is it, Alpha?" White asked. Tommy didn't seem to be there so he took charge.
"It's still down near the holding cells, it hasn't got far yet." Alpha Six replied, keeping a constant check on it.
"We're on our way!" White replied. They were all about to teleport when Zordon reminded them of something.
"Remember you can not harm the creature. It is still linked to TJ. You must contain it without hurting him." Zordon said. None of them replied, they all just teleported down to the holding cells.
Cortez was easy to spot, it was like a bull in a china shop, they just followed the trail of destruction. It swiped at a panel on the wall and for a moment all the lightes flickered, then came back on.
"We've gotta stop this thing before it causes some serious damage!" Sean insisted.
In the Simulation Room, Tommy, Jason and TJ were fighting off a small army of monsters they had previously fought. They hadn't heard Alphas call and were completely unaware of the situation.
TJ swept the feet out from underneath the holographic version of Elgar. He ducked as one of the other monsters fired at him. They were all engaged with some of the monsters when they all disappeared for a moment, along with the whole park. For a few seconds, their surroundings flashed between the metal walls of the Simulation Room and the holographic representation of Angel Grove park. Then it all came back on – monsters included.
"Computer, freeze programme!" Tommy commanded. The monsters all froze in their tracks, it was hardly a few minutes into the scenario and they didn't want to stop, but they could tell something was up! "Zordon. We just had some kind of power fluctuation on here. Is everything okay out there?"
"Tommy, we have been trying to contact you. Cortez has escaped and is causing chaos down near the holding cells. The other rangers are already there!" Zordon replied.
"Come on guys, let's go!" Tommy ordered. "Computer, end programme!" The Park and all the monsters vanished and the three of them teleported away.
The Rangers were all grouped together, a great target for Cortez. He fired an energy blast at them and knocked them back a few feet and down to the ground. As they started to get up, there was a large flash of red and the three Red rangers appeared in the hallway between them and Cortez.
"He he he! This power must be getting to me! I'm seeing triple!" Cortez joked. He fired another shot and they all moved out of the way. It shot past them and hit the wall at the far end of the passage.
"Stop right where you are!" Tommy shouted. "We don't want to hurt you!"
"Don't want to hurt me? Of course you don't! Not while I'm still linked to your little red friend there!" Cortez replied, he knew what he was doing and he was going to make the most of the advantage he had over them.
"I've had enough of you!" TJ shouted. He pulled out his Turbo Blaster and fired a few shots at Cortez. They hit him in the stomach. It hardly moved, but TJ doubled over as he felt the pain surge through his stomach. He stood back up and fired again, but the same thing happened.
"Ha ha ha ha, this is great. Everything hurts you more than me! Don't ya just love it!" he said. He charged at them and hit Tommy, then Jason, and then TJ. They all fell aside as he hit them. He would have carried on through all the Rangers, but he fell to the floor in pain as he felt TJ's pain.
TJ stood up and looked round at Cortez. "Looks like we've got a stalemate!" TJ said. "You can't hurt me and I can't hurt you!"
"Yeah, but I still have the advantage! I can hurt the others, but they can't do anything to me without it happening to you! Not quite a stalemate!" Cortez laughed. He knew he couldn't lose. "I'll see ya later, I'm just going outside for a minute, things are a little cramped in here!" Cortez disappeared.
"Rangers, Cortez has just teleported outside the Power Chamber." Alpha said. He paused for a moment. "He's just made himself grow. You'll need the Zords!"
"I don't know how we're gonna do this guys, but let's go. We've gotta get the Zords and find some way to stop him without hurting TJ." Tommy instructed. They all teleported outside of HQ. There was Cortez, just waiting for them.
"Come on then, Rangers. Call on your puny little Zords. They might be more of a challenge than you lot!" Cortez taunted.
"Looks like we don't have much choice!" TJ said.
"Shogun Megazord, Power Up!" Jason called out.
"Super Zeo Megazord!" Tommy added.
"Rescue Megazord!" TJ shouted.
"I call upon the Power of Pyramidas!" Trey commanded holding out his Golden Power Staff.
"Robo Racer!" Blue Senturion ordered.
The Zords all appeared and the Rangers teleported into them.
"Samurai Storm!"
"Samurai Scorpion!"
"Samurai Star!"
"Samurai Senturion!"
The four Samurai Zords all appeared, towering over the other Zords by quite a lot. Samurai Storm and Star took off into the air.
"Niko. Prepare an energy rope!" Michelle requested of her Silver ally. She hovered near Cortez and started flapping her Zord's wings at him. She didn't go for an attack on him as she could with the massive tornado she created, instead she just lifted him into the air. Niko knew what to do next.
As Cortez floated up in the air, Samurai Star shot an energy rope at him which caught on. He flew around the monster several times, looping the rope around him and tying him up. Samurai Storm's wings stopped flapping and Cortez lowered back down to the ground.
"Yes, we got him!" Michelle cheered. She'd spoken too soon, though! Cortez just lifted his arms and tore the rope off as if it were paper.
"That's not possible. He can't be that strong!" Niko called out.
"It is possible – so get over it!" Cortez shouted. He threw the remains of the rope at the Star Zord hard. It tangled up around the large Zord and it crashed to the ground.
"Okay, it's our turn!" Tommy shouted. The Shogun, Super Zeo and Rescue Megazords ran ahead and took hold of the monster. He was bigger than them, but not quite as large as the samurai Zords. They tried to hold him down and seemed to be doing it for a moment.
Cortez just laughed and threw the Mrgazords to the ground, blasting them at the same time. "Hey power Kiddies, that was pathetic. Don't tell me that was your best shot!" Cortez sneered.
"Try this on for size!" Trey called out, firing a few shots at him. He didn't even seem to be effected, but in the cockpit of the Rescue Megazord, TJ yelled out in pain.
"Trey, stop! You're only hurting TJ!" Justin called out.
All it managed to do was get Cortez angry. He fired a few more shots at the Megazords, then some at Pyramidas. Next he went for Robo Racer. He threw a few punches and it fell to the ground, seriously damaged. Next he turned his attention to the three remaining Samurai Zords.
None of them knew what to do. he seemed too strong to restrain and they couldn't attack him. Cortez charged at Samurai Senturion, his horns piercing straight through its armour, it collapsed to the ground. Lucy tried to defend as Cortez charged at the Scorpion Zord. He had no trouble passing her defenses. The attacks from the claws an the tail swipe didn't even bother him. He rammed into the body of it and it too collapsed, damaged.
Samuari Storm was the only Zord left operational. Cortez intended to change that! As the mechanical Dragon flew over head, he jumped up onto its back and took hold. Michelle tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't let go. He fired some shots into the head and body of the massive Zord. Normally they wouldn't have damaged it, but at point blank range, they had no trouble. He jumped off just before the Zord crashed into the ground alongside Samurai Star.
"Zordon, you have to break that link. we can't do anything if we can't attack him!" Tommy shouted through the communicator.
"We're trying, Tommy. We're trying!" Alpha Five shouted back. He was audibly stressed, it was very obvious. Alpha five had always been able to help the Rangers and he was getting extremely frustrated that he could find no way to do it this time.
"Man, why is he so strong?" Carlos asked.
"I don't know. He wasn't this tough before when they were putting him in the holding cell!" TJ replied.
"We have to stop him!" Cassie said. "If he gets away, he'll tell Ultima where our base is and we'll be finished."
"You're right. I have to stop him!" TJ said. "Alpha, any progress breaking the link?"
"No TJ. We don't know how to do it!" Alpha replied.
"Then there's only one thing to do!" TJ said. "Turbo Megazord, power up!"
The Five Turbo Zords appeared and joined together to form the Turbo Megazord. TJ transferred over to the control deck and headed for Cortez. Having finished off all the Zords he was now attacking Ranger HQ itself.
"Rangers, you have to stop Cortez. If he carries on much longer, the shield generators are going to fail. If that happens, Ultima will detect us straight away and it'll all be over." Alpha six said to all the Rangers.
"Hey Cortez!" TJ shouted out. He turned round and saw the Turbo Megazord speeding towards him, Sword in hand, ready to attack.
"TJ, what are you doing?" Ashley shouted, seeing what he intended to do.
"It's the only way!" TJ replied. The Megazord swiped at Cortez and moved away. He staggered around for a moment, then regained his balance. He appeared no worse for the experience. TJ was a different story. He had almost passed out from the pain. In effect, he had just been attacked with a Megazord's most powerful attack. It was a miracle he was even still alive!
"Oh man!" TJ struggled to say. "Even that didn't work! How can he be this powerful?"
It was just then Jutin realised. "TJ, you said he wasn't this tough when you put him in the holding cell." Justin shouted through the communicator.
"Yeah, that's right!" TJ said, fighting the pain.
"Were you morphed when you put him in there?" Justin asked.
"No. Why?" TJ asked in return.
"Think about it. You get more powerful when you morph, and what happens to you happens to him. You've given him the extra Power of a Ranger. No wonder he's so tough!" Justin explained. All the others were listening. Billy was suprised the young genius had come up with that, even he hadn't realised it yet!
"Of course. Thanks Justin!" TJ said. "Power Down!" He de-morphed and Cortez shrunk slightly. He screamed as his powers decreased so drastically. He prepared the Turbo Megazord for another pass.
"TJ, don't do this. We'll find another way!" Tommy pleaded. He was voicing the opinions of all of them.
"He has to be stopped now." TJ said sternly. "If he isn't, either he'll kill us all or reveal our base to Ultima. Either way it'd be over. I can do this. There's more at stake here than just me. Remember, we're fighting for our world, and if sacrificing my life is what is needed, then so be it. Don't try to stop me! You all know in your herats that as Rangers we put our lives on the line every time we morph. Which of you could honestly say you wouldn't be doing the same thing in my situation?"
They were all silent.
"I didn't think so. It's been great guys. Never give up the fight!" TJ said. He cut off the communication link. He had so much he wanted to say, but he didn't want to make this any harder than it already was – on himself as well as the others.
"CORTEZ! I'M GOING DOWN AND I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" TJ shouted at the monster.
Before Cortez knew what was happening, the Turbo Megazord was flying at him. A quick swipe from the fully charged sword and he collapsed to the ground. There was a massive explosion as Cortez was defeated once and for all.
An incredible, undescribable pain shot through TJ's body. He thought that once Cortez died, he would die instantly, too. But it seemed that was not the case. Another part of the evil weapon's curse. He was going to have a slow painful death.
"Zordon, quickly, teleport TJ into the medical lab. Cortez is dead!" Tommy shouted to their leader.
They all teleported back inside and rushed to the med. lab. Alpha Five and Six were in there seeing to TJ. He didn't look too good.
"Alpha, what's going on?" Justin asked.
"There's still a chance to save TJ. If we can break the link, it's been weakened no but we don't have long!" Alpha Five answered.
"No Alpha. There's nothing you can do. It's over!" TJ said, opening his eyes.
"TJ. Don't worry, we'll think of something. You'll be okay!" Justin said, rushing over to him. The other Turbo rangers were with him.
"Justin, you can't kid yourself. You know how the link works, if one of us dies…." TJ started.
"No. You can't!" Justin said, "We have to do something!"
"Guys, I'm sorry. But this is it. You've all been great and it was an honor to fight at your side, my time's up." TJ said weakly. They didn't want to believe it, but they couldn't deny the truth.
The all stood with TJ silently for a moment, then his eyes closed and his body went limp. The monitors checking his pulse and heart rate suddenly went dead. TJ was gone!
"I'm sorry, Rangers!" Alpha Six said.
"No!" Jutsin shouted. He started crying and tried to hold on to TJ, but Carlos turned him round and held him close. Ashley and cassie couldn't help crying too, even Carlos felt a lump im his throat. They'd all been so close to him, closer than any of them had realised. They all held onto each other and tried to come to terms with what had just happened, but they couldn't. This had never happened before. A Ranger had died, gone for good. Nothing they could do would have, or could have changed what happened.
They slowly walked out of the medical lab into the Power Chamber where all the others were waiting. They didn't have to say anything, they all knew just from their expressions. There was an eerie silence throughout the whole room. Most of them didn't know how to handle this. The four Samurai's left. They could have said so much to them all, they'd all been there before. They hadn't just lost friends. When Ultima took over they lost their family, their friends, their homes, their world! They knew it was too soon for advice though, it wouldn't help.
Later on most of them were gathered in the rec. room. All the other nights, even considering the situation they were all in, they had always managed to fill the room with chatter and activity. Tonight was very different. Nobody was doing anything, they hardly even spoke. They didn't know why they were even there, most of them thought they would have been better off in their own quarters, dealing with this themselves. But for some reason, they had all been drawn there, been drawn together. Most of them hadn't known TJ that well, but he was a fellow Ranger and as such, they felt a kind of, kinship, with him. They felt even worse for the other four Turbo Rangers. They were closest to him, they all knew how they would have felt if they had lost one of theirs during their time as a Ranger.
Jason could remember how bad he felt when Tommy first lost his powers as the Green ranger. This must have been a thousand times worse for them.
Justin was the one they were most worried about. He had been handling the whole situation pretty bad, but losing TJ could be too much. Tommy was thinking of asking Zordon to send him home. Tommy had spoken to Zordon earlier about the whole situation and he now had something to ask everyone.
He stood up at the front and got everyone's attention. "I've got something I need to say to you all. I've been talking to Zordon and he wants you all to know that anyone who wants to go home now just has to ask. We all understand anyone who does. So, who wants to leave?" Tommy asked.
They all muttered amongst themselves for a minite, then Justin stood up. They were sure they knew what he was going to say, but they were wrong.
"I want to go home! I've wanted to go home since the day we got here, but I can't. As Rangers we have a duty to this world, to the people of this world and to each other. It's very tempting to just give up and go home, I mean when you think about it, if we go back to our time, we'll all be dead of old age before all this even happens, but remember what TJ said. He wanted us to keep up the fight, and I don't know about all of you, but I intend to uphold his final wish!" Justin said to them all. It wasn't what they had all expected, but as they thought about it, they realised how right the young Ranger was.
"This is all Ultima's fault, and even if it's the last thing I do, I'll see him pay for it!" Justin added. Everyone cheered in agreement. "We're gonna do this, and we're gonna do it for you, TJ! You gave your life for our cause and if we can all have that much courage, Ultima doesn't stand a chance!"