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In the absence of actually knowing what happened to her, I wrote this for the sake of filling the gap. Even though it's not from Doug hopfully you guys might like it.
The Last Ride Home
By NinjaJack
It was a little past 4: AM when they stopped at the rest area. Three days on the road from Angel Grove to Reafside California. Their truck slowly came to a stop as the tall driver began to rest his weary eyes. He had just given up his role as dedicated hero up mere hours ago and he and his friend's were on their ways to life's roadways..
His name was Tommy Oliver and with his new fiancé Catherine Hillard he was what is called a Power Ranger, a person gifted and equip with armor and weapons beyond normal limitations. Most of the people chosen to use these immense powers were chosen for their integrity, heart or love for the common good. Some were chosen for their all too natural abilities to harm what was good, to destroy things and others. Tommy was among the few and the first of Earth to fight for the latter reasons.
He had spent a good amount of time on the wrong side, self indulging in the pleasures of the pain of others. He knew pain, he never knew his real parents, he didn't know he had a brother until his young adulthood, yes he knew pain. His pain gave him the gift to read off a person's emotions, how to feed off them. Tommy was one of the hundreds of people the Rangers of Earth had gone against but out of any of them he was the most dangerous.
It's been said that the only way to defeat true evil is to overcome it with good.
The Sorceress Rita had cast an evil spell over him to help bring out his inner wickedness.
He broke the heart of the Pink Ranger, tried to break the spirit of the Red Ranger and with Rita's help he broke through the security of their head quarters. Yes Tommy Oliver was effective in causing harm on the rangers and their city, but there was something Rita had not accounted for in her planning. These Rangers, as battered and bruised still offered a hand of friendship. They didn't blame Tommy for what he was doing, they knew deep inside of his wretch was another scared teenager like the rest of them.
And it was through this determination of the group that he was saved from himself and broken free of Rita`s curse.
Ever since that day when he was freed he has still read people's emotions, but he's strived to reverse any negativity he finds. When Jason the original Red Ranger had to retire, it was Tommy the once dangerous young man who threatened the team had to now lead it. Since then he had lead the team, with all of his heart and soul. He took every small victory as a bigger victory to his own personal vindication.
Now here he was long after his run as the Evil Green Ranger and he finds himself at a crossroads. His wife to be lies asleep in the passenger seat and he rests his wrists and chin on the cold black steering wheel of his pickup truck, wondering what he shall do next. Since he moved to Angel Grove he had been living a dueled life. Not as the Evil Green Ranger and the calm martial artist Tommy Oliver, but as the smooth talking karate jock and the brilliant paleontologist student
From an early age Tommy has had a strange fascination with Dinosaurs and plants. Before his run in with Rita his uncle had taken him to far off deserts where they got to work on archaeological digs with his uncle's friends. Tommy was a martial artist by skill, but a scientist by heart, he was good and he knew it. Sure he once thought of getting into the racing circuit but that was never serious.
After about three hours of thinking to himself, watching the stars and taking notes, his blonde Aussie wife to be awoke.
Katherine Hillard was Tommy's completion in every way. Like him she was once controlled by Rita and fought quite effectively against the Rangers. Although Rita's magic caused her to become a cat monster, it also brought out what would be the chink in Rita's armor, Kat's love for Tommy.
She had held back that love after she became a Power Ranger for about a year, knowing full well Tommy was still involved with Kimberly Hart the Pink Ranger before her. That relationship soon fizzled out after a terrible long distance relationship and a Dear John letter addressed to Tommy that was the nail in the coffin. That year Kat had changed her stance and they`ve been solid ever since...at least that's what she feels.
What Katherine didn't know is that Tommy had begun to question himself lately. Not just if he had made the right decision to leave active duty as a Ranger, but his relationship with her. She was planning to marry him and have many children, something Tommy wasn't fully ready for. Kited had no idea that before Zordon left he and Tommy had a long drawn out discussion about his future.
It was just past midnight when the Red Turbo Ranger teleported into the center of the Power Chamber. Alpha Five had decided to go to his recharge bay early tonight, so he was unaware of Tommy's presence. Tommy powered down in front of Zordon's tube where the great sage embraced him with a smile. "You have come a long way my son, that spark of goodness in you so long ago has certainly grown into a shining light" he said. "It wasn't easy" Tommy replied. It had been a long winter the year before, the last of Tommy's old friend's, Billy, had finally left and he was finally the only one left of the original six. Zordon knew of the irony in this, with the way Tommy's life started out in Angel Grove. So he had contacted Tommy for one last meeting. "Tommy, as you know I will be leaving for my home on Eltar this year." he said.
"Yeah, it's going to be kinda hard not seeing ya up there", Tommy sighed.
"It's more than the physical journey I embark on Tommy, I`m getting old and tired and the time has come for me to chose a new heir"
"An heir?" Tommy said in confusion, "For what the Power Chamber?"
"No Thomous, for my work as leader of The Power Rangers" Zordon proclaimed.
Tommy was beside himself with laughter and a fearful confusion.
"Zordon, I`m the guy with the Red suit, I thought I already was the leader of the team?"
"You misunderstand Thomous, I am referring to the Power Rangers as a whole, throughout the universe there are other Rangers all under my watchful eye. I am asking you for far more than team leader, I am asking you to take my place as the Ranger's most well verse and highest commander and chief."
"Aww Man!" Tommy replied
"You gotta be kidding me!" Tommy cried.
He continued "I`m just one regular human being, I`ll fight as hard as I can against whoever you want me to face, but being in charge of all the teams is just too much for me to handle"
"Do you think that Gasket chose you over the other Rangers, even Jason, because you were a simple human being? Do you believe Rita had captured you because you couldn`t handle the pressure? My dear Tommy, our enemies might have been wrong doers but they had good taste in chosing you"
Since the day Zordon had arrived on Earth, he had been in command of all the acting Rangers in the universe. Now it was time to bestow a new leader.
Tommy walked up to Zordon's tube and bowed his head in shame and said in a raspy voice "Zordon, I-I can't accept this. Jason would be much better, even Billy could do it, just don't let it be me. I have a bad habit of making mistakes."
Zordon looked down at the young man who had learned so much over the years, but who still hadn`t fully learned of himself yet. "Tommy" he said in a quite voice ,"You have been chosen, not Jason nor Billy. I chose you over the rest because you are diligent, a fast thinking, excellent in battle and above all you learn from the mistakes you have made".
Just then Alpha Five silently awoke from his recharging bay and walked up behind Tommy and said "Tommy, I`ve been listening this whole time to you. Do not doubt yourself Tommy"
"But I could have killed you...well I guess you can`t kill a machine, but I really hurt you Alpha. When I was the Green Ranger I was so sure I was doing the right thing until I was freed. Since then I`ve wondered if I could ever fully trust myself again."
Alpha placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder "We trust you Tommy" he said.
The automaton looked up at Zordon "Zordon, I think it is time we told Tommy about it"
"About what?" Tommy motioned to Zordon.
Zordon was a man of many faces...mainly because they were all he had to show his emotions to the Rangers. In times of distress he had shown faces of disappointment and sadness, in times of happiness he .was all too cheerful. But today he was showing a new face, a face of mortality
"Tommy", he said with pride, "you are like the son I never had and it is with great pain I tell you now, I will die in two years."
Tommy just stared.
"He was infected by one of Finster's viruses before he was thrown into a time warp, I have helped him sustain life for all these years but it is not much longer for him" Alpha sighed.
"I never knew that", Tommy said softly,"If I`m the only who can carry on all the good you`ve been doing for people, then I accept".
That night Tommy was brought up to par on the many events that shaped the history of the Rangers throughout the universe. Quazer Sabers, other ninja rangers, a place called Animaria and many many things.
Now Zordon was living out his last year and a half on planet Eltar, and here was Tommy the new high commander of the Rangers sitting in a pickup with a beautiful fiance who had not a clue.
She had been watching him wait for sunrise for the last two hours until she couldn't hold back the words "Tommy, what is the matter?" she said in her rich Australian accent.
He answered, "Kat, I`ve been doing a lot of thinking, and you know I never keep secrets from you or lie to you"
She grinned, "We have always been honest with eachother"
"OK Kat, Zordon is dying and he's left me in charge...but there's a catch"
Tommy clasped her shoulders and looked her in the eyes "Kat, I`m going to have to go on space missions plus all the school work I will be doing....at MIT"
The young women's eyes began to well up,"MIT? You were accepted there?"
"Yes" he said.
"How could you be! You're just a martial artist"
Tommy reached under his seat and pulled out of case with his work papers and dropped them into Kat's lap.
"Tommy...Tommy these are brilliant, but you lied to me all these years"
"Kat, I didn`t mean to hurt you, but I couldn`t risk losing you" he said sternly.
It wasn't merely the fact that Tommy would have more Ranger business to deal with that hurt, but that combined with being at a different school so far away from her, they would never have any time together...let alone to get married.
She wiped away her tears as dawn began to paint across the sky, "Tommy, when I started this trip I sincerely thought that by the end we'd be closer to becoming husband and wife. But right now I don`t think thats possible. "Because it's my fault, I know" "No Tommy, it's not just your fault, it's also mine"
Katherine rolled down her window to let the cool morning air brush against her face. "I`ve been accepted into the Australian Pan Global Games committee, they want me to be the new assistant coach to the swimmers. I was going to turn them down but I couldn't."
Tommy looked at her, she as so beautiful, so kind and generous, how could have hurt such a person and how could such a person bring down a man who in the face of death had been so fearless? As before with Kimberly, the only thing that could really bring Tommy down was a broken heart.
He looked out the window at the morning dew on the truck, "You know I used some saved up cash to buy a plot of land in Reefside just for us, I never got around to building much more than a foundation, but I guess it's useless now." he said to the ground. Kat reached behind his head and pulled his face to hers. She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but she paused and said in her wisdom "Dear Tommy, we complete eachother. I cannot imagine myself living without you in my life. But our lives call us to two very different directions. One day, somewhere we might meet again, but right now, Tommy...." Kat began to cry on his shoulder, he tried to calm he but his eyes began to well up as well. Her eyes red and her words slurred she pressed on and finished, "Now Tommy, we must go our separate ways"
For a breif moment they kissed as the sun rose, for it would be the last sunrise they would share for many years.
Tommy turned the key, looked over at his former fiancé and wiped her eyes. They pulled out of the rest area and drove on to Reefside where Tommy saw her off to the airport.
That was many years ago, since then he had graduated from MIT with full honors. He currently teaches at a local high school which just so happens to be the school of the latest team of high school misfits who take time out to save the world., just like he use to...and still does.
"The Last Ride" Tommy and Kat part ways
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the absence of actually knowing what happened to her, I wrote this for the sake of filling the gap. Even though it's not from Doug hopfully you guys might like it.
The Last Ride Home
By NinjaJack
It was a little past 4: AM when they stopped at the rest area. Three days on the road from Angel Grove to Reafside California. Their truck slowly came to a stop as the tall driver began to rest his weary eyes. He had just given up his role as dedicated hero up mere hours ago and he and his friend's were on their ways to life's roadways..
His name was Tommy Oliver and with his new fiancé Catherine Hillard he was what is called a Power Ranger, a person gifted and equip with armor and weapons beyond normal limitations. Most of the people chosen to use these immense powers were chosen for their integrity, heart or love for the common good. Some were chosen for their all too natural abilities to harm what was good, to destroy things and others. Tommy was among the few and the first of Earth to fight for the latter reasons.
He had spent a good amount of time on the wrong side, self indulging in the pleasures of the pain of others. He knew pain, he never knew his real parents, he didn't know he had a brother until his young adulthood, yes he knew pain. His pain gave him the gift to read off a person's emotions, how to feed off them. Tommy was one of the hundreds of people the Rangers of Earth had gone against but out of any of them he was the most dangerous.
It's been said that the only way to defeat true evil is to overcome it with good.
The Sorceress Rita had cast an evil spell over him to help bring out his inner wickedness.
He broke the heart of the Pink Ranger, tried to break the spirit of the Red Ranger and with Rita's help he broke through the security of their head quarters. Yes Tommy Oliver was effective in causing harm on the rangers and their city, but there was something Rita had not accounted for in her planning. These Rangers, as battered and bruised still offered a hand of friendship. They didn't blame Tommy for what he was doing, they knew deep inside of his wretch was another scared teenager like the rest of them.
And it was through this determination of the group that he was saved from himself and broken free of Rita`s curse.
Ever since that day when he was freed he has still read people's emotions, but he's strived to reverse any negativity he finds. When Jason the original Red Ranger had to retire, it was Tommy the once dangerous young man who threatened the team had to now lead it. Since then he had lead the team, with all of his heart and soul. He took every small victory as a bigger victory to his own personal vindication.
Now here he was long after his run as the Evil Green Ranger and he finds himself at a crossroads. His wife to be lies asleep in the passenger seat and he rests his wrists and chin on the cold black steering wheel of his pickup truck, wondering what he shall do next. Since he moved to Angel Grove he had been living a dueled life. Not as the Evil Green Ranger and the calm martial artist Tommy Oliver, but as the smooth talking karate jock and the brilliant paleontologist student
From an early age Tommy has had a strange fascination with Dinosaurs and plants. Before his run in with Rita his uncle had taken him to far off deserts where they got to work on archaeological digs with his uncle's friends. Tommy was a martial artist by skill, but a scientist by heart, he was good and he knew it. Sure he once thought of getting into the racing circuit but that was never serious.
After about three hours of thinking to himself, watching the stars and taking notes, his blonde Aussie wife to be awoke.
Katherine Hillard was Tommy's completion in every way. Like him she was once controlled by Rita and fought quite effectively against the Rangers. Although Rita's magic caused her to become a cat monster, it also brought out what would be the chink in Rita's armor, Kat's love for Tommy.
She had held back that love after she became a Power Ranger for about a year, knowing full well Tommy was still involved with Kimberly Hart the Pink Ranger before her. That relationship soon fizzled out after a terrible long distance relationship and a Dear John letter addressed to Tommy that was the nail in the coffin. That year Kat had changed her stance and they`ve been solid ever since...at least that's what she feels.
What Katherine didn't know is that Tommy had begun to question himself lately. Not just if he had made the right decision to leave active duty as a Ranger, but his relationship with her. She was planning to marry him and have many children, something Tommy wasn't fully ready for. Kited had no idea that before Zordon left he and Tommy had a long drawn out discussion about his future.
It was just past midnight when the Red Turbo Ranger teleported into the center of the Power Chamber. Alpha Five had decided to go to his recharge bay early tonight, so he was unaware of Tommy's presence. Tommy powered down in front of Zordon's tube where the great sage embraced him with a smile. "You have come a long way my son, that spark of goodness in you so long ago has certainly grown into a shining light" he said. "It wasn't easy" Tommy replied. It had been a long winter the year before, the last of Tommy's old friend's, Billy, had finally left and he was finally the only one left of the original six. Zordon knew of the irony in this, with the way Tommy's life started out in Angel Grove. So he had contacted Tommy for one last meeting. "Tommy, as you know I will be leaving for my home on Eltar this year." he said.
"Yeah, it's going to be kinda hard not seeing ya up there", Tommy sighed.
"It's more than the physical journey I embark on Tommy, I`m getting old and tired and the time has come for me to chose a new heir"
"An heir?" Tommy said in confusion, "For what the Power Chamber?"
"No Thomous, for my work as leader of The Power Rangers" Zordon proclaimed.
Tommy was beside himself with laughter and a fearful confusion.
"Zordon, I`m the guy with the Red suit, I thought I already was the leader of the team?"
"You misunderstand Thomous, I am referring to the Power Rangers as a whole, throughout the universe there are other Rangers all under my watchful eye. I am asking you for far more than team leader, I am asking you to take my place as the Ranger's most well verse and highest commander and chief."
"Aww Man!" Tommy replied
"You gotta be kidding me!" Tommy cried.
He continued "I`m just one regular human being, I`ll fight as hard as I can against whoever you want me to face, but being in charge of all the teams is just too much for me to handle"
"Do you think that Gasket chose you over the other Rangers, even Jason, because you were a simple human being? Do you believe Rita had captured you because you couldn`t handle the pressure? My dear Tommy, our enemies might have been wrong doers but they had good taste in chosing you"
Since the day Zordon had arrived on Earth, he had been in command of all the acting Rangers in the universe. Now it was time to bestow a new leader.
Tommy walked up to Zordon's tube and bowed his head in shame and said in a raspy voice "Zordon, I-I can't accept this. Jason would be much better, even Billy could do it, just don't let it be me. I have a bad habit of making mistakes."
Zordon looked down at the young man who had learned so much over the years, but who still hadn`t fully learned of himself yet. "Tommy" he said in a quite voice ,"You have been chosen, not Jason nor Billy. I chose you over the rest because you are diligent, a fast thinking, excellent in battle and above all you learn from the mistakes you have made".
Just then Alpha Five silently awoke from his recharging bay and walked up behind Tommy and said "Tommy, I`ve been listening this whole time to you. Do not doubt yourself Tommy"
"But I could have killed you...well I guess you can`t kill a machine, but I really hurt you Alpha. When I was the Green Ranger I was so sure I was doing the right thing until I was freed. Since then I`ve wondered if I could ever fully trust myself again."
Alpha placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder "We trust you Tommy" he said.
The automaton looked up at Zordon "Zordon, I think it is time we told Tommy about it"
"About what?" Tommy motioned to Zordon.
Zordon was a man of many faces...mainly because they were all he had to show his emotions to the Rangers. In times of distress he had shown faces of disappointment and sadness, in times of happiness he .was all too cheerful. But today he was showing a new face, a face of mortality
"Tommy", he said with pride, "you are like the son I never had and it is with great pain I tell you now, I will die in two years."
Tommy just stared.
"He was infected by one of Finster's viruses before he was thrown into a time warp, I have helped him sustain life for all these years but it is not much longer for him" Alpha sighed.
"I never knew that", Tommy said softly,"If I`m the only who can carry on all the good you`ve been doing for people, then I accept".
That night Tommy was brought up to par on the many events that shaped the history of the Rangers throughout the universe. Quazer Sabers, other ninja rangers, a place called Animaria and many many things.
Now Zordon was living out his last year and a half on planet Eltar, and here was Tommy the new high commander of the Rangers sitting in a pickup with a beautiful fiance who had not a clue.
She had been watching him wait for sunrise for the last two hours until she couldn't hold back the words "Tommy, what is the matter?" she said in her rich Australian accent.
He answered, "Kat, I`ve been doing a lot of thinking, and you know I never keep secrets from you or lie to you"
She grinned, "We have always been honest with eachother"
"OK Kat, Zordon is dying and he's left me in charge...but there's a catch"
Tommy clasped her shoulders and looked her in the eyes "Kat, I`m going to have to go on space missions plus all the school work I will be doing....at MIT"
The young women's eyes began to well up,"MIT? You were accepted there?"
"Yes" he said.
"How could you be! You're just a martial artist"
Tommy reached under his seat and pulled out of case with his work papers and dropped them into Kat's lap.
"Tommy...Tommy these are brilliant, but you lied to me all these years"
"Kat, I didn`t mean to hurt you, but I couldn`t risk losing you" he said sternly.
It wasn't merely the fact that Tommy would have more Ranger business to deal with that hurt, but that combined with being at a different school so far away from her, they would never have any time together...let alone to get married.
She wiped away her tears as dawn began to paint across the sky, "Tommy, when I started this trip I sincerely thought that by the end we'd be closer to becoming husband and wife. But right now I don`t think thats possible. "Because it's my fault, I know" "No Tommy, it's not just your fault, it's also mine"
Katherine rolled down her window to let the cool morning air brush against her face. "I`ve been accepted into the Australian Pan Global Games committee, they want me to be the new assistant coach to the swimmers. I was going to turn them down but I couldn't."
Tommy looked at her, she as so beautiful, so kind and generous, how could have hurt such a person and how could such a person bring down a man who in the face of death had been so fearless? As before with Kimberly, the only thing that could really bring Tommy down was a broken heart.
He looked out the window at the morning dew on the truck, "You know I used some saved up cash to buy a plot of land in Reefside just for us, I never got around to building much more than a foundation, but I guess it's useless now." he said to the ground. Kat reached behind his head and pulled his face to hers. She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but she paused and said in her wisdom "Dear Tommy, we complete eachother. I cannot imagine myself living without you in my life. But our lives call us to two very different directions. One day, somewhere we might meet again, but right now, Tommy...." Kat began to cry on his shoulder, he tried to calm he but his eyes began to well up as well. Her eyes red and her words slurred she pressed on and finished, "Now Tommy, we must go our separate ways"
For a breif moment they kissed as the sun rose, for it would be the last sunrise they would share for many years.
Tommy turned the key, looked over at his former fiancé and wiped her eyes. They pulled out of the rest area and drove on to Reefside where Tommy saw her off to the airport.
That was many years ago, since then he had graduated from MIT with full honors. He currently teaches at a local high school which just so happens to be the school of the latest team of high school misfits who take time out to save the world., just like he use to...and still does.
~Hayley Ziktor
The Last Ride Home
By NinjaJack
It was a little past 4: AM when they stopped at the rest area. Three days on the road from Angel Grove to Reafside California. Their truck slowly came to a stop as the tall driver began to rest his weary eyes. He had just given up his role as dedicated hero up mere hours ago and he and his friend's were on their ways to life's roadways..
His name was Tommy Oliver and with his new fiancé Catherine Hillard he was what is called a Power Ranger, a person gifted and equip with armor and weapons beyond normal limitations. Most of the people chosen to use these immense powers were chosen for their integrity, heart or love for the common good. Some were chosen for their all too natural abilities to harm what was good, to destroy things and others. Tommy was among the few and the first of Earth to fight for the latter reasons.
He had spent a good amount of time on the wrong side, self indulging in the pleasures of the pain of others. He knew pain, he never knew his real parents, he didn't know he had a brother until his young adulthood, yes he knew pain. His pain gave him the gift to read off a person's emotions, how to feed off them. Tommy was one of the hundreds of people the Rangers of Earth had gone against but out of any of them he was the most dangerous.
It's been said that the only way to defeat true evil is to overcome it with good.
The Sorceress Rita had cast an evil spell over him to help bring out his inner wickedness.
He broke the heart of the Pink Ranger, tried to break the spirit of the Red Ranger and with Rita's help he broke through the security of their head quarters. Yes Tommy Oliver was effective in causing harm on the rangers and their city, but there was something Rita had not accounted for in her planning. These Rangers, as battered and bruised still offered a hand of friendship. They didn't blame Tommy for what he was doing, they knew deep inside of his wretch was another scared teenager like the rest of them.
And it was through this determination of the group that he was saved from himself and broken free of Rita`s curse.
Ever since that day when he was freed he has still read people's emotions, but he's strived to reverse any negativity he finds. When Jason the original Red Ranger had to retire, it was Tommy the once dangerous young man who threatened the team had to now lead it. Since then he had lead the team, with all of his heart and soul. He took every small victory as a bigger victory to his own personal vindication.
Now here he was long after his run as the Evil Green Ranger and he finds himself at a crossroads. His wife to be lies asleep in the passenger seat and he rests his wrists and chin on the cold black steering wheel of his pickup truck, wondering what he shall do next. Since he moved to Angel Grove he had been living a dueled life. Not as the Evil Green Ranger and the calm martial artist Tommy Oliver, but as the smooth talking karate jock and the brilliant paleontologist student
From an early age Tommy has had a strange fascination with Dinosaurs and plants. Before his run in with Rita his uncle had taken him to far off deserts where they got to work on archaeological digs with his uncle's friends. Tommy was a martial artist by skill, but a scientist by heart, he was good and he knew it. Sure he once thought of getting into the racing circuit but that was never serious.
After about three hours of thinking to himself, watching the stars and taking notes, his blonde Aussie wife to be awoke.
Katherine Hillard was Tommy's completion in every way. Like him she was once controlled by Rita and fought quite effectively against the Rangers. Although Rita's magic caused her to become a cat monster, it also brought out what would be the chink in Rita's armor, Kat's love for Tommy.
She had held back that love after she became a Power Ranger for about a year, knowing full well Tommy was still involved with Kimberly Hart the Pink Ranger before her. That relationship soon fizzled out after a terrible long distance relationship and a Dear John letter addressed to Tommy that was the nail in the coffin. That year Kat had changed her stance and they`ve been solid ever since...at least that's what she feels.
What Katherine didn't know is that Tommy had begun to question himself lately. Not just if he had made the right decision to leave active duty as a Ranger, but his relationship with her. She was planning to marry him and have many children, something Tommy wasn't fully ready for. Kited had no idea that before Zordon left he and Tommy had a long drawn out discussion about his future.
It was just past midnight when the Red Turbo Ranger teleported into the center of the Power Chamber. Alpha Five had decided to go to his recharge bay early tonight, so he was unaware of Tommy's presence. Tommy powered down in front of Zordon's tube where the great sage embraced him with a smile. "You have come a long way my son, that spark of goodness in you so long ago has certainly grown into a shining light" he said. "It wasn't easy" Tommy replied. It had been a long winter the year before, the last of Tommy's old friend's, Billy, had finally left and he was finally the only one left of the original six. Zordon knew of the irony in this, with the way Tommy's life started out in Angel Grove. So he had contacted Tommy for one last meeting. "Tommy, as you know I will be leaving for my home on Eltar this year." he said.
"Yeah, it's going to be kinda hard not seeing ya up there", Tommy sighed.
"It's more than the physical journey I embark on Tommy, I`m getting old and tired and the time has come for me to chose a new heir"
"An heir?" Tommy said in confusion, "For what the Power Chamber?"
"No Thomous, for my work as leader of The Power Rangers" Zordon proclaimed.
Tommy was beside himself with laughter and a fearful confusion.
"Zordon, I`m the guy with the Red suit, I thought I already was the leader of the team?"
"You misunderstand Thomous, I am referring to the Power Rangers as a whole, throughout the universe there are other Rangers all under my watchful eye. I am asking you for far more than team leader, I am asking you to take my place as the Ranger's most well verse and highest commander and chief."
"Aww Man!" Tommy replied
"You gotta be kidding me!" Tommy cried.
He continued "I`m just one regular human being, I`ll fight as hard as I can against whoever you want me to face, but being in charge of all the teams is just too much for me to handle"
"Do you think that Gasket chose you over the other Rangers, even Jason, because you were a simple human being? Do you believe Rita had captured you because you couldn`t handle the pressure? My dear Tommy, our enemies might have been wrong doers but they had good taste in chosing you"
Since the day Zordon had arrived on Earth, he had been in command of all the acting Rangers in the universe. Now it was time to bestow a new leader.
Tommy walked up to Zordon's tube and bowed his head in shame and said in a raspy voice "Zordon, I-I can't accept this. Jason would be much better, even Billy could do it, just don't let it be me. I have a bad habit of making mistakes."
Zordon looked down at the young man who had learned so much over the years, but who still hadn`t fully learned of himself yet. "Tommy" he said in a quite voice ,"You have been chosen, not Jason nor Billy. I chose you over the rest because you are diligent, a fast thinking, excellent in battle and above all you learn from the mistakes you have made".
Just then Alpha Five silently awoke from his recharging bay and walked up behind Tommy and said "Tommy, I`ve been listening this whole time to you. Do not doubt yourself Tommy"
"But I could have killed you...well I guess you can`t kill a machine, but I really hurt you Alpha. When I was the Green Ranger I was so sure I was doing the right thing until I was freed. Since then I`ve wondered if I could ever fully trust myself again."
Alpha placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder "We trust you Tommy" he said.
The automaton looked up at Zordon "Zordon, I think it is time we told Tommy about it"
"About what?" Tommy motioned to Zordon.
Zordon was a man of many faces...mainly because they were all he had to show his emotions to the Rangers. In times of distress he had shown faces of disappointment and sadness, in times of happiness he .was all too cheerful. But today he was showing a new face, a face of mortality
"Tommy", he said with pride, "you are like the son I never had and it is with great pain I tell you now, I will die in two years."
Tommy just stared.
"He was infected by one of Finster's viruses before he was thrown into a time warp, I have helped him sustain life for all these years but it is not much longer for him" Alpha sighed.
"I never knew that", Tommy said softly,"If I`m the only who can carry on all the good you`ve been doing for people, then I accept".
That night Tommy was brought up to par on the many events that shaped the history of the Rangers throughout the universe. Quazer Sabers, other ninja rangers, a place called Animaria and many many things.
Now Zordon was living out his last year and a half on planet Eltar, and here was Tommy the new high commander of the Rangers sitting in a pickup with a beautiful fiance who had not a clue.
She had been watching him wait for sunrise for the last two hours until she couldn't hold back the words "Tommy, what is the matter?" she said in her rich Australian accent.
He answered, "Kat, I`ve been doing a lot of thinking, and you know I never keep secrets from you or lie to you"
She grinned, "We have always been honest with eachother"
"OK Kat, Zordon is dying and he's left me in charge...but there's a catch"
Tommy clasped her shoulders and looked her in the eyes "Kat, I`m going to have to go on space missions plus all the school work I will be doing....at MIT"
The young women's eyes began to well up,"MIT? You were accepted there?"
"Yes" he said.
"How could you be! You're just a martial artist"
Tommy reached under his seat and pulled out of case with his work papers and dropped them into Kat's lap.
"Tommy...Tommy these are brilliant, but you lied to me all these years"
"Kat, I didn`t mean to hurt you, but I couldn`t risk losing you" he said sternly.
It wasn't merely the fact that Tommy would have more Ranger business to deal with that hurt, but that combined with being at a different school so far away from her, they would never have any time together...let alone to get married.
She wiped away her tears as dawn began to paint across the sky, "Tommy, when I started this trip I sincerely thought that by the end we'd be closer to becoming husband and wife. But right now I don`t think thats possible. "Because it's my fault, I know" "No Tommy, it's not just your fault, it's also mine"
Katherine rolled down her window to let the cool morning air brush against her face. "I`ve been accepted into the Australian Pan Global Games committee, they want me to be the new assistant coach to the swimmers. I was going to turn them down but I couldn't."
Tommy looked at her, she as so beautiful, so kind and generous, how could have hurt such a person and how could such a person bring down a man who in the face of death had been so fearless? As before with Kimberly, the only thing that could really bring Tommy down was a broken heart.
He looked out the window at the morning dew on the truck, "You know I used some saved up cash to buy a plot of land in Reefside just for us, I never got around to building much more than a foundation, but I guess it's useless now." he said to the ground. Kat reached behind his head and pulled his face to hers. She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but she paused and said in her wisdom "Dear Tommy, we complete eachother. I cannot imagine myself living without you in my life. But our lives call us to two very different directions. One day, somewhere we might meet again, but right now, Tommy...." Kat began to cry on his shoulder, he tried to calm he but his eyes began to well up as well. Her eyes red and her words slurred she pressed on and finished, "Now Tommy, we must go our separate ways"
For a breif moment they kissed as the sun rose, for it would be the last sunrise they would share for many years.
Tommy turned the key, looked over at his former fiancé and wiped her eyes. They pulled out of the rest area and drove on to Reefside where Tommy saw her off to the airport.
That was many years ago, since then he had graduated from MIT with full honors. He currently teaches at a local high school which just so happens to be the school of the latest team of high school misfits who take time out to save the world., just like he use to...and still does.
"The Last Ride" Tommy and Kat part ways
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the absence of actually knowing what happened to her, I wrote this for the sake of filling the gap. Even though it's not from Doug hopfully you guys might like it.
The Last Ride Home
By NinjaJack
It was a little past 4: AM when they stopped at the rest area. Three days on the road from Angel Grove to Reafside California. Their truck slowly came to a stop as the tall driver began to rest his weary eyes. He had just given up his role as dedicated hero up mere hours ago and he and his friend's were on their ways to life's roadways..
His name was Tommy Oliver and with his new fiancé Catherine Hillard he was what is called a Power Ranger, a person gifted and equip with armor and weapons beyond normal limitations. Most of the people chosen to use these immense powers were chosen for their integrity, heart or love for the common good. Some were chosen for their all too natural abilities to harm what was good, to destroy things and others. Tommy was among the few and the first of Earth to fight for the latter reasons.
He had spent a good amount of time on the wrong side, self indulging in the pleasures of the pain of others. He knew pain, he never knew his real parents, he didn't know he had a brother until his young adulthood, yes he knew pain. His pain gave him the gift to read off a person's emotions, how to feed off them. Tommy was one of the hundreds of people the Rangers of Earth had gone against but out of any of them he was the most dangerous.
It's been said that the only way to defeat true evil is to overcome it with good.
The Sorceress Rita had cast an evil spell over him to help bring out his inner wickedness.
He broke the heart of the Pink Ranger, tried to break the spirit of the Red Ranger and with Rita's help he broke through the security of their head quarters. Yes Tommy Oliver was effective in causing harm on the rangers and their city, but there was something Rita had not accounted for in her planning. These Rangers, as battered and bruised still offered a hand of friendship. They didn't blame Tommy for what he was doing, they knew deep inside of his wretch was another scared teenager like the rest of them.
And it was through this determination of the group that he was saved from himself and broken free of Rita`s curse.
Ever since that day when he was freed he has still read people's emotions, but he's strived to reverse any negativity he finds. When Jason the original Red Ranger had to retire, it was Tommy the once dangerous young man who threatened the team had to now lead it. Since then he had lead the team, with all of his heart and soul. He took every small victory as a bigger victory to his own personal vindication.
Now here he was long after his run as the Evil Green Ranger and he finds himself at a crossroads. His wife to be lies asleep in the passenger seat and he rests his wrists and chin on the cold black steering wheel of his pickup truck, wondering what he shall do next. Since he moved to Angel Grove he had been living a dueled life. Not as the Evil Green Ranger and the calm martial artist Tommy Oliver, but as the smooth talking karate jock and the brilliant paleontologist student
From an early age Tommy has had a strange fascination with Dinosaurs and plants. Before his run in with Rita his uncle had taken him to far off deserts where they got to work on archaeological digs with his uncle's friends. Tommy was a martial artist by skill, but a scientist by heart, he was good and he knew it. Sure he once thought of getting into the racing circuit but that was never serious.
After about three hours of thinking to himself, watching the stars and taking notes, his blonde Aussie wife to be awoke.
Katherine Hillard was Tommy's completion in every way. Like him she was once controlled by Rita and fought quite effectively against the Rangers. Although Rita's magic caused her to become a cat monster, it also brought out what would be the chink in Rita's armor, Kat's love for Tommy.
She had held back that love after she became a Power Ranger for about a year, knowing full well Tommy was still involved with Kimberly Hart the Pink Ranger before her. That relationship soon fizzled out after a terrible long distance relationship and a Dear John letter addressed to Tommy that was the nail in the coffin. That year Kat had changed her stance and they`ve been solid ever since...at least that's what she feels.
What Katherine didn't know is that Tommy had begun to question himself lately. Not just if he had made the right decision to leave active duty as a Ranger, but his relationship with her. She was planning to marry him and have many children, something Tommy wasn't fully ready for. Kited had no idea that before Zordon left he and Tommy had a long drawn out discussion about his future.
It was just past midnight when the Red Turbo Ranger teleported into the center of the Power Chamber. Alpha Five had decided to go to his recharge bay early tonight, so he was unaware of Tommy's presence. Tommy powered down in front of Zordon's tube where the great sage embraced him with a smile. "You have come a long way my son, that spark of goodness in you so long ago has certainly grown into a shining light" he said. "It wasn't easy" Tommy replied. It had been a long winter the year before, the last of Tommy's old friend's, Billy, had finally left and he was finally the only one left of the original six. Zordon knew of the irony in this, with the way Tommy's life started out in Angel Grove. So he had contacted Tommy for one last meeting. "Tommy, as you know I will be leaving for my home on Eltar this year." he said.
"Yeah, it's going to be kinda hard not seeing ya up there", Tommy sighed.
"It's more than the physical journey I embark on Tommy, I`m getting old and tired and the time has come for me to chose a new heir"
"An heir?" Tommy said in confusion, "For what the Power Chamber?"
"No Thomous, for my work as leader of The Power Rangers" Zordon proclaimed.
Tommy was beside himself with laughter and a fearful confusion.
"Zordon, I`m the guy with the Red suit, I thought I already was the leader of the team?"
"You misunderstand Thomous, I am referring to the Power Rangers as a whole, throughout the universe there are other Rangers all under my watchful eye. I am asking you for far more than team leader, I am asking you to take my place as the Ranger's most well verse and highest commander and chief."
"Aww Man!" Tommy replied
"You gotta be kidding me!" Tommy cried.
He continued "I`m just one regular human being, I`ll fight as hard as I can against whoever you want me to face, but being in charge of all the teams is just too much for me to handle"
"Do you think that Gasket chose you over the other Rangers, even Jason, because you were a simple human being? Do you believe Rita had captured you because you couldn`t handle the pressure? My dear Tommy, our enemies might have been wrong doers but they had good taste in chosing you"
Since the day Zordon had arrived on Earth, he had been in command of all the acting Rangers in the universe. Now it was time to bestow a new leader.
Tommy walked up to Zordon's tube and bowed his head in shame and said in a raspy voice "Zordon, I-I can't accept this. Jason would be much better, even Billy could do it, just don't let it be me. I have a bad habit of making mistakes."
Zordon looked down at the young man who had learned so much over the years, but who still hadn`t fully learned of himself yet. "Tommy" he said in a quite voice ,"You have been chosen, not Jason nor Billy. I chose you over the rest because you are diligent, a fast thinking, excellent in battle and above all you learn from the mistakes you have made".
Just then Alpha Five silently awoke from his recharging bay and walked up behind Tommy and said "Tommy, I`ve been listening this whole time to you. Do not doubt yourself Tommy"
"But I could have killed you...well I guess you can`t kill a machine, but I really hurt you Alpha. When I was the Green Ranger I was so sure I was doing the right thing until I was freed. Since then I`ve wondered if I could ever fully trust myself again."
Alpha placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder "We trust you Tommy" he said.
The automaton looked up at Zordon "Zordon, I think it is time we told Tommy about it"
"About what?" Tommy motioned to Zordon.
Zordon was a man of many faces...mainly because they were all he had to show his emotions to the Rangers. In times of distress he had shown faces of disappointment and sadness, in times of happiness he .was all too cheerful. But today he was showing a new face, a face of mortality
"Tommy", he said with pride, "you are like the son I never had and it is with great pain I tell you now, I will die in two years."
Tommy just stared.
"He was infected by one of Finster's viruses before he was thrown into a time warp, I have helped him sustain life for all these years but it is not much longer for him" Alpha sighed.
"I never knew that", Tommy said softly,"If I`m the only who can carry on all the good you`ve been doing for people, then I accept".
That night Tommy was brought up to par on the many events that shaped the history of the Rangers throughout the universe. Quazer Sabers, other ninja rangers, a place called Animaria and many many things.
Now Zordon was living out his last year and a half on planet Eltar, and here was Tommy the new high commander of the Rangers sitting in a pickup with a beautiful fiance who had not a clue.
She had been watching him wait for sunrise for the last two hours until she couldn't hold back the words "Tommy, what is the matter?" she said in her rich Australian accent.
He answered, "Kat, I`ve been doing a lot of thinking, and you know I never keep secrets from you or lie to you"
She grinned, "We have always been honest with eachother"
"OK Kat, Zordon is dying and he's left me in charge...but there's a catch"
Tommy clasped her shoulders and looked her in the eyes "Kat, I`m going to have to go on space missions plus all the school work I will be doing....at MIT"
The young women's eyes began to well up,"MIT? You were accepted there?"
"Yes" he said.
"How could you be! You're just a martial artist"
Tommy reached under his seat and pulled out of case with his work papers and dropped them into Kat's lap.
"Tommy...Tommy these are brilliant, but you lied to me all these years"
"Kat, I didn`t mean to hurt you, but I couldn`t risk losing you" he said sternly.
It wasn't merely the fact that Tommy would have more Ranger business to deal with that hurt, but that combined with being at a different school so far away from her, they would never have any time together...let alone to get married.
She wiped away her tears as dawn began to paint across the sky, "Tommy, when I started this trip I sincerely thought that by the end we'd be closer to becoming husband and wife. But right now I don`t think thats possible. "Because it's my fault, I know" "No Tommy, it's not just your fault, it's also mine"
Katherine rolled down her window to let the cool morning air brush against her face. "I`ve been accepted into the Australian Pan Global Games committee, they want me to be the new assistant coach to the swimmers. I was going to turn them down but I couldn't."
Tommy looked at her, she as so beautiful, so kind and generous, how could have hurt such a person and how could such a person bring down a man who in the face of death had been so fearless? As before with Kimberly, the only thing that could really bring Tommy down was a broken heart.
He looked out the window at the morning dew on the truck, "You know I used some saved up cash to buy a plot of land in Reefside just for us, I never got around to building much more than a foundation, but I guess it's useless now." he said to the ground. Kat reached behind his head and pulled his face to hers. She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but she paused and said in her wisdom "Dear Tommy, we complete eachother. I cannot imagine myself living without you in my life. But our lives call us to two very different directions. One day, somewhere we might meet again, but right now, Tommy...." Kat began to cry on his shoulder, he tried to calm he but his eyes began to well up as well. Her eyes red and her words slurred she pressed on and finished, "Now Tommy, we must go our separate ways"
For a breif moment they kissed as the sun rose, for it would be the last sunrise they would share for many years.
Tommy turned the key, looked over at his former fiancé and wiped her eyes. They pulled out of the rest area and drove on to Reefside where Tommy saw her off to the airport.
That was many years ago, since then he had graduated from MIT with full honors. He currently teaches at a local high school which just so happens to be the school of the latest team of high school misfits who take time out to save the world., just like he use to...and still does.
~Hayley Ziktor
