"A Thunderous Return"

“So he said he was the Gold Ranger?” Adam asked, as Billy injected something into his arm with a pressurized syringe. “I thought Jason was the Gold Ranger.”

“Jason is the Gold Ranger,” Tommy replied. “I contacted him right before you guys got here. He was all right. Nothing happened to him like it happened to us. He said he’d be here as soon as he could.”

“I don’t get it,” Rocky said, “What happened?”

“Ay-yi-yi, sensor logs show that there was a severe drain of power on our end!” Alpha reported.

“RANGERS, IF MONDO HAS DISCOVERED A WAY TO TAP INTO THE POSITIVE ASPECT OF THE MORPHIN’ GRID, WE ARE ALL IN GREAT DANGER!” Zordon said.

“What did this guy look like?” Tanya asked.

Katherine stepped up. “Huge! He had to be at least six-five! There were muscles bulging from everywhere!”

“He looked like he could stop a train if he wanted to,” Tommy added, going over to the control panels and pressing keys.

“No,” Tanya said, shaking her head. “What did he look like in his Ranger form?”

Tommy turned to them after pressing a final key. “Like this.”

They turned to the Viewing Screen and saw a rough estimation of the person that Kat and Tommy encountered. He was draped in black and gold with a chestplate that crossed the wide expanse of his chest. A cape flew from the places on his shoulders. At his side was a gold-colored Blade Blaster in a black holster. His belt was strangely made with a morpher firmly attached to it.

Rocky whistled. “That’s a nice outfit.”

Billy studied the image for a while. “If you put some imagination into it, this could actually be a uniform for the old days when we had our old powers. It has a few extra features, like that cape and holster, but it could work.”

“What’s our course of action, fearless leader?” Adam asked.

“We could…” but he was cut off by the alarm. Alpha rushed over to the control boards and called up an image. It was a shot of the outside of the Power Chamber. Slowly, the camera panned left and right showing nothing but empty desert.

“WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE DISTURBANCE, ALPHA?” Zordon asked.

“Something is approaching us at a high velocity, Zordon,” Alpha reported. “Sensor scans show it to be...” He paused, cocking his head to the side. “That's odd.”

“What is?” Billy walked over to the panels and started typing. After a moment, the alarm went off and Billy creased his brow. “That is odd.”

“What is?” Tommy repeated Billy’s earlier question.

“The scans show it moving in excess of twenty-three point seven miles per hour,” Billy said. “And human.”

“What?!” The Rangers collectively gasped, walking over to look at the screen and Billy’s readings.

“Look!” Katherine pointed on the screen.

They looked up and saw a speck on the horizon. A cloud of dust was kicked up behind it as it moved closer and closer to the Power Chamber. Billy pressed a few buttons, zooming in on the speck. All the members of the Power Team raised their eyebrows.

“How in the…?” Tommy started.

“It’s not possible, is it?” Adam asked.

“You see it right there, don’t you?” Rocky responded, incredulous.

“No human can move that fast!” Tanya exclaimed.

“He can’t be human!” Katherine added.

“Ay-yi-yii!” Alpha exclaimed.

“I’ve checked the sensors twice,” Billy said. “He is moving that fast and he’s heading right for us.”

Sean skidded to a stop in front of the Power Chamber and keeled over onto his knees, grasping the warm sand in his hands and gasping for air. He saw double, but it soon cleared.

“I…am…never…going…to…do…that…again,” Sean gasped. He sucked in a few more breaths of air before clambering to one knee, steadied himself and stood back up. He gazed up at the tall structure before him. Walking slowly up the stone steps carved out of the mountainside that the building stood upon, he came upon the great door of the Power Chamber. He looked at it, feeling a bit of nostalgia as he gazed at the ancient symbols that decorated the paneling around it.

Tommy had given off the idea that he didn’t trust Sean. That was all right with Sean. All he had to do was explain his story to Billy and Zordon, and Tommy would have to see that he didn’t mean any harm.

All he had to do was get in.

He placed his hands on the gold trim where the door split open. Closing his eyes, he concentrated again, summoning the remainder of his tappable chi energy. It was difficult as first because he had expended most of it in the “Wind Run” technique that his Wind Dragon master had taught him. Slowly, he felt the power beginning to surge into his arms. Planting his feet firmly, he managed to get the tips of his fingers into crevice. He pulled and pulled and pulled. Slowly, the door started to give way…

The alarm went off again as the Rangers watched the man press into the door with his bare strength.

“My God…” Katherine breathed.

“He's forcing the doors open!” Alpha cried out. “He's forcing the Power Chamber's doors open!”

“No one is that strong!” Tanya exclaimed.

“APPARENTLY, HE IS, TANYA!” Zordon said. “RANGERS, YOU MUST GO OUT AND STOP HIM! HE MUST NOT GET INTO THE POWER CHAMBER! IF HE IS AN AGENT FOR MONDO, HE COULD VERY WELL DESTROY THE POWER CHAMBER!”

“We’re on it, Zordon!” Tommy said, activating his teleport. The other Rangers followed suit.

Zordon turned to Billy. “BILLY, SEE IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO BLOCK THE POWER DRAIN. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE DEFENSELESS AT SUCH A CRITICAL MOMENT IN OUR MISSION.”

Billy nodded who set to work with Alpha-5 immediately.

“I shall see to this personally, my dear,” Mondo announced. “Klank, you and Orbus prepare Terrorizer for immediate deployment.”

“At once, Ye Majesty,” Klank said before bowing and exiting the room.

“Oh, do be careful, Mondo,” Machina said.

“Always, my dear! Always!” And he teleported off.

Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V / Part VI / Part VII
RETURN TO ERA OF EXTREME