Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 59 confronting Jason & the mission in Angel Grove part 1

The next day after I ate lunch I decided to meet with Jason in the annex before heading back to class. I only have half an hour before I have to be at class, so I better make this quick. I walked up to Jason. "Jason, we need to talk." I said. "About what?" Jason asked. "I think you know exactly what I want to talk about. Jason, you've been keeping me in the dark about how Tommy died. And you're always hanging around when I'm not in class. What's going on?" I asked. Jason sighed.

"Alright, I suppose that I kept you in the dark long enough. The thing is, Tommy was helping me with a battle against Mesagog. When tyranodrones showed up we got separated. Mesagog got to Tommy and struck him down, but he didn't die instantly. After Mesagog and the remaining tyranodrones retreated I saw Tommy on the ground. He wasn't moving a whole lot. He was still breathing, but he was very close to death. I made a promise to him that I would try to keep you out of trouble. That's why I'm always hanging around you when you're not in class and when you're not in your dorm room." Jason said. "Jason, that is bullshit! I'm a power ranger, just like you." I said. "I know..." Jason began before I cut him off. "We can't avoid putting each other at risk. You understand that, right? I have a job that has to be done." I said. "I know that Ariel. But I don't want you to get hurt. That's why I just wanted Tommy to help me. Tommy wouldn't want you to get hurt either." Jason said. "But he still knew that we couldn't avoid putting each other at risk. That's what you don't get." I said before walking away. After all of our classes were done for the day I was playing my guitar in the annex when John came up to me. "Hey Ariel, listen, I said too much yesterday and that wasn't cool. And I'm sorry." John said. "It's okay. You're right. You know, I used to cry all the time. I wasn't good at school, I couldn't do anything right, I was picked on all the time. Calvin would usually be the first one to find a way to make me feel better, whether it was watching a TV show or movie that we both liked, or playing a game we liked to play. After we moved to Angel Grove, I told myself that I can't cry. I had to be strong and well, I guess you know the rest." I said. "Yeah. I know the rest." John said. Then my phone rang. "Who could be calling me now?" I asked. I recognized the number. It was Conner who was calling me. I answered my phone. "Hey Conner." I said. "Hey Ariel. Can you come to my dorm room real quick?" Conner asked. "Why?" I asked. "I have something to show you." Conner said. "Sure, I'll be right there." I said before hanging up. I turned to John. "Listen, I hate to cut this conversation short but Conner has something to show me. Are you going to be around here later?" I asked. "No, a few friends and I are going to be working on some ceramics down in the rec hall tonight." John said. "Okay, have fun." I said before turning around and walking away. I signed into Conner's room and knocked on his dorm room door. He answered when I knocked. "Hey Ariel, did you sign in?" Conner asked. "Yes, I did." I said. "Come on in." Conner said. I walked into his room and he closed the door. "Alright, so before you show me whatever it is you want to show me, how did you get my number?" I asked. "Jason gave it to me." Conner said. "Should have seen that coming." I said under my breath. "Anyway, Mrs. Oliver called me yesterday. She had me come over to her house to give me that." Conner said pointing at a box. "A box?" I asked. "Yeah, it's full of things that she thought that we would like to keep. I'm going to show you guys after your classes tomorrow." Conner said. "That's a good idea. I don't really have anything to remember him by anyway." I said. "Hey, is everybody going to put up a memorial for Tommy outside the gymnasium?" Conner asked. "Yeah, but I'm not going to help with that." I said. "I know why that is. Everyone turned against you. Except for me, the other rangers, your friend, Jason, your roommate, Kaitlyn, and your boyfriend, John." Conner said. "I don't know why you guys haven't turned against me yet. It's only a matter of time before you guys turn on me as well." I said. Conner didn't know what to say so I just left his room and signed out. The next day I was walking around the hallways and I came across the memorial that everyone made this morning. I could tell that everyone missed him but I missed him the most. The nightmares finally stopped, which is what I am actually happy about. I think that the closure from Jason is just what I needed to stop the nightmares. After our classes I was on my way to meet Conner and the others when Jason came up to me. "Ariel, we have an emergency in Angel Grove. Everyone else is already on their way." Jason said. "I don't think I should go with you." I said. "Ariel, we're gonna need you." Jason said. "Ugh, fine. But I won't like it." I said reluctantly. "Everything will be fine." Jason said. We went to Angel Grove and met with everyone. "What's going on?" Jason asked. "Evil rangers are on the loose." John said. "How is that even possible?" I asked. "There's been an evil energy surge over the past 24 hours. We think Rita Repulsa and her minions have returned." Kaitlyn said. "Jason, do you think Rita is back?" I asked. "Not sure. Maybe, but there's only one way to find out." Jason said. "Let's deal with them." John said. "Hold on. We don't have a black ranger." I said. "You don't need a black ranger." Jason reminded. "Oh, right. Let's do this." I said. "I'll stay here with Jason. This is just the kind of opportunity Mesagog would take advantage of." Trent said. "Alright, you guys ready?" I asked. "Ready." The rest of them said. "Dino thunder power up!" We said to morph.

We ran into them. "That's far enough." Conner said. "You must be lost. Because I know we didn't invite you." Shane said. "Maybe you forgot. You're supposed to beat the bad guys, not be the bad guys." Ethan said. "Jason, what's the game plan?" I asked. "You have to fight with your thundermax saber." Jason said. "Alright." I said. "Good, bad, what's the difference? It's all about power." Tori said. "I guess we're gonna have to fight them." Conner said. However, when the fight started I couldn't move. I was frozen still. It's like something inside me was asking me if I knew what happened last time and saying that I shouldn't fight them because they were rangers, just like us. Jason noticed that I was standing completely still. "Ariel can't seem to fight." Trent said. "You stay here. I'll go and help her out." Jason said. He came to help. After a while we noticed that they were too strong. "They're too strong. We need to regroup." Conner said. Then we left. "That's right, you better run." Shane said. We met with Trent. "Ariel." Jason said before giving me a hug. "I don't know what happened." I said. "I'm just glad you're okay." Jason said. "I'm sorry." I said. "No, it's my fault. I thought you'd be okay in Angel Grove. But it's still too much for you." Jason said. "I'll be fine. I just need to..." I said when Jason cut me off. "You're not fine. You need to take a break. We'll take care of the missions for a while." Jason said. "What? No! That's not fair!" I shouted. "I'm sorry Ariel. I know it's hard. But it's the way it's gotta be." Jason said.