Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 22 getting through to Tommy part 1

Prince Gasket continued. "I'm sorry I had to make you watch that. But you have to remember what your up against here." Prince Gasket said. "The power rangers must be destroyed! And as king of this mighty machine empire, I vow to rid the universe of the threat once and for all!" Tommy said. "The first two challengers are ready." Archeria said. "Excellent. You're first two opponents are arriving now." Prince Gasket said. "Yes, very good. Ready your best warrior to destroy the power rangers." Tommy said. That's when Jason and I showed up in the arena in the machine empire. "Where are we?" Jason asked. "I have one guess." I said. "Surrender gold and purple rangers." Tommy said. "Surrender or fight." Prince Gasket said. "What have you done to Tommy, Gasket?" Jason asked. Then Archeria told Gasket that two humans have entered the holographic entryway. Then Prince Gasket told her to close it off. "Man, I sure hope help is on the way." Jason said. "You and me both." I said. Back at the command center Alpha separated the residual brain wave just enough to see who was following us. "I think I've separated the residual brainwaves enough to identify who was out there. It's coming through now." Alpha said. When they saw who followed us they couldn't believe it. "I don't believe this." Rocky said. "Bulk and Skull?" Tanya said. "Now we have three missing rangers." Kaitlyn said. "And two interdimensional hitchhikers." John added. "Well, we gotta get them out of there." Tanya said. "Ariel is not going to leave without Tommy." John said. "Well, we may not know how to get them out of there, but at least we do know how to get in." Rocky said. "Maybe not guys. The holographic entryway has just been shut." Billy said. "Now what?" Adam said. Back at the machine empire we were trying to get through to Tommy before he did something he might regret later on. "Tommy, what's wrong with you?" Jason asked. "You promised me that you would never be like this." I said, hoping to get through to him. "You pathetic rangers. Do not take that tone of voice with the king." Prince Gasket said. "The king." Jason said. "Yes, I am the king of the machine empire. And as king I will no longer tolerate the evil of power rangers. You... are... finished rangers!" Tommy said. "Tommy, snap out of it!" Jason said as he ran towards him. I saw Jason get hit with something. "There must be a forcefield, in the shape of a dome." I said to myself. "Let the battle begin." Tommy said. "Altor, enter the ring." Prince Gasket said. Altor entered the ring. Back at the command center Billy was getting a residual energy reading from the closed portal. "I'm getting a residual energy reading from the closed portal." Billy said. They saw Prince Gasket on the viewing globe. "Alpha, try to get a lock on where this is coming from." Zordon said. "I'm trying Zordon." Alpha said. Back at the machine empire we were about to go against Altor. "You'll never win Gasket." Jason said. "We'll see. Get them Altor!" Prince Gasket said. We started to fight him when we both noticed that it was like he knew what we were going to do next. "Only Tommy has ever been able to match us move for move. He seems to know what we're gonna do." Jason said. "Wait, Tommy was the only one that could match us move for move? That's it! Jason, he transferred Tommy's powers into him! That's how he knows what we're gonna do!" I said. "Yeah. You transferred Tommy's powers into this gold goon, didn't you Gasket?" Jason asked. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Prince Gasket said. Then he told Altor to destroy us. "Tommy, is that you?" Jason asked. "I am Altor!" Altor said. "Good, and you lost Tommy's powers." Jason said before hitting him with the weapon Altor had with me standing by in case that doesn't destroy him. We turned to face Prince Gasket. "Your plan failed Gasket! Now return Tommy to normal!" I said. "What exactly is a Tommy?" Prince Gasket said as if it was some kind of joke that isn't funny. "Listen to me Tommy, you're not their king, you're our friend." Jason said. "I'll have to take care of these villains myself. This will be your final battle rangers. I will remove your evil from this world forever. Welcome to your doom." Tommy said. "Don't do this Tommy. Come on dude, they got you brainwashed. You have to snap out of it." I said. "As king of the machine empire I must protect the good and the helpless. For this reason, it is absolutely necessary that I fight the gold and purple rangers myself." Tommy said. "You got to listen to us! We're you're friends! Tommy, please, try to remember!" I said. "Tommy?" Tommy asked. "That's right. You're Tommy. You're a power ranger just like us." I said. "Gasket brainwashed you." Jason added. "Tommy? Why can't I remember who I am?" Tommy asked. "Do not listen to them. They are tricky." Prince Gasket said. "No, Tommy, he's the one tricking you." Jason said. "Don't fall for it. Concentrate your energies, you know what has to be done." Prince Gasket said. "Yeah, you're right Gasket." Tommy said. Back at the command center the others noticed that he responded when I called his name. "He responded when Ariel called his name." Adam said. "We've got to do something to break Gasket's hold on him." Katherine said. Back at the machine empire Tommy continued with what he was saying. "That's it! I will not fall for the tricks.

I have seen the evil you have done. It's time to wipe out the power rangers once and for all." Tommy said. "That's right." Prince Gasket said. "What have you done to him Gasket?" Jason asked. "My king challenged you to a battle. Now you must fight him." Prince Gasket said. "I won't fight him and you can't force me to." I said. "Then you will be destroyed." Prince Gasket said. "I am ready Gasket." Tommy said before taking his position in the arena. "Let the battle begin." Tommy said as he took his position in the arena. "Let's go." Tommy said as he got into a fighting stance. I probably didn't notice that I took a fighting stance as well. I probably picked it up from watching the martial arts classes all those years ago. "Tommy, don't do this." Jason said. "I will put an end to the power rangers, starting with both of you." Tommy said. Back at the command center the others were watching us. "What are we going to do?" Kaitlyn asked. "This is unbelievable." Rocky said. "What can they do? They've got to defend themselves." Katherine said. "Well, it's a good thing that I taught Ariel how to defend herself before this even happened." John said. "Gasket has brainwashed him into thinking we're his enemies." Tanya said. "Then we have to find a way to show him the truth." Adam said. "The only way he'll do that is if he remembers who his true friends are." Kaitlyn said. "Right, so we gotta figure out a way to make him remember." Billy said. "And we better do it fast for everyone's sake." Alpha said. Meanwhile in the machine empire Bulk and Skull met someone. "Who are you?" Bulk asked. "Actually I was going to ask what you are." Skull said. "I can ask the same thing. I am Trider. My home planet is called Horath." Trider said. "I'm Skull, this is Bulk. We're from earth." Skull said. "Earth? I'm sorry to hear that." Trider said. "Hey!" Bulk said. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. Unfortunately, your earth is Gasket's next target." Trider said. "What's a Gasket?" Bulk said. "Gasket is our host for these lovely accommodations. He's the machine king's oldest son. After he conquered my planet he vowed that earth would be his next conquest. As we speak, he is engaging the power rangers in battle." Trider said. "The power rangers? So what are you doing here?" Skull said. "I was taken to compete in the arena. Gasket is taking the best warriors from each plant he conquers." Trider said.