========   LOSS OF INNOCENTS   ========
by Joe Rovang (jrovang@mindspring.com)

PART I

Friday, October 28, 1994

	It was out here somewhere, Jason could feel it.
	Two days earlier, the White Ranger had deftly led a vicious
squadron of Putties away from Angelette Troop Number 21, but one had
apparently escaped into the woods.  Several hikers had since reported
seeing it roaming the area, and Jason intended to find it.
	He stepped over a log and ducked under a low branch.  These woods
were notorious for looking identical wherever one went.  Each spot
looked strikingly similar to the next, often making all but the most
experienced hikers believe they'd found their bearing when indeed they
were quite lost.  Jason, however, knew exactly where he was.
	He came to a wall of dense vegetation encircling a small clearing. 
He paused and turned his head slightly, hearing a faint scratching sound
at the edge of his perception.  Was he imagining the sound?  Slowly he
inserted his hands between the branches before him and parted the brush
cautiously.  The last thing he wanted to do was to startle an animal
into defending its territory.  As the leaves parted, he suddenly caught
sight of the creature.
	The grayish-silver humanoid sat crouched on the ground, one leg
against the earth and the other knee vertical, as though the creature
were between sitting and crouching.  Its head snapped to attention as
its faintly reflective crimson eyes focused on the muscular teenager
which confronted him.  Its form flexed into life as the Putty sprang to
its feet.
	In an instant, Jason's momentum flew forward, his fist a piston as
accurate as any machine.  The air delivered a crisp snap as the
teenager's knuckles smashed into the Putty's chestplate.  Dark fissures
traced their way along the surface of the creature's ashen body as the
Putty cracked apart like so much porcelain under the blow of a hammer. 
In a moment, it was gone, shattered into nonexistence.
	Jason chuckled as he brushed off his knuckles, more from habit
than necessity.  "One less Putty to terrorize Angel Grove," he told
himself.
	Although, he paused... something had been unusual about its gait. 
As though it had been trying not to step on something.  Jason looked
down and took a step back - he'd nearly trampled it himself.  Something
had been crudely traced into the dirt.
	He crouched down and inspected the strange marking.  It was an
oval, wider than it was tall, with two stalks running from the bottom of
the shape, a bit off-center toward the right.  Within the oval was a
dot, also near the right.  Protruding from the top of the figure were
four short notches, fairly equally spaced.  What sort of alien symbol
had he stumbled upon?  The Putty had no doubt etched it into the ground
before being discovered, but what was its purpose?
	Before he could ask any more questions of the inscription, a heavy
brown boot planted itself into the earth before Jason's eyes, erasing
any sign that there had ever been anything there but a footprint.
	"Jason, there you are."  Tommy looked around as he emerged from
the brush.  "Did you get 'im?"
	Jason blinked and removed his eyes from his friend's boot, his
brow furrowed.  He grasped Tommy's extended hand and stood.  "Um,
yeah..."
	"Well, come on," Tommy nodded, "we're gonna be late for first
period."

---
 
	Jason's pencil looped into the shape of an oval.  Two stalks...
four short lines, a dot... The features ran through his head constantly
as he studied the figure on the paper.  What could it mean?
	Class was dismissed.  Two classmates made their way around Jason's
desk but paused, catching sight of the page Jason was studying.
	"Aww, Jason's taken up art," Bulk beamed to his friend.
	Skull grinned, tilting his head at the paper, "Cute little
critter."
	"Hey," Bulk excitedly told Jason, "maybe if you work really hard,
Angel Grove Elementary will let you into their first grade art class!"
	The two cackled and took their traveling comedy act outside,
slapping each other's arms to celebrate their superior wit.
	Jason squinted at the figure.  Critter?  Could it be some sort of
monster Zedd was creating?  Large torso, two legs, one eye...  He shut
his notebook and left the room.

---

	The branches bent aside as he entered the clearing once more. 
There's the tree, there's where Tommy came in... this is the place, he
determined.
	Jason squatted close to the ground and traced an oval with his
fingertip.  Dot, four notches, two stalks.  He'd spent enough time
staring at the shape to know it for life, but its meaning was still lost
to him.  His eyes darted around the woods, looking for some clue. 
Trees... bushes... sky...  A gentle breeze whispered through the leaves. 
The sun glittered down through the shady canopy above.  He sat and
waited, hoping for the answer to come.
	A half-hour passed before Jason noticed a faint rustle a few yards
to his left.  A grayish-brown cottontail rabbit paused in its cautious
progression through the brush.  Jason curiously watched the rabbit
breathe, its nose twitching, ears turning slightly.  Cute little....
	His head reluctantly turned back to the dirt, and his skin began
to crawl as the realization set in.  Very slowly, he crept around to the
other side of the figure and saw it from the direction of the Putty who
had created it.
	"Oh god..." he whispered.  He was afraid to look up again.  Then
came his soft words.  "It was drawing a bunny."

---

	A sharp knock resounded through Jason's back yard as a small gray
stone struck the center of an oak tree some forty feet from the teenager
in red.
	Zack followed suit and lobbed a stone of his own, nicking the side
of the distant tree.  "So come on, Jase," he spoke, breaking the silence
which had been hanging in the air for minutes.  "What's wrong?  You've
been acting spooked the last couple of days."
	Jason cut a sideways glance at his friend and tossed his final
stone, rapping the tree dead-center.  "It's that same dream."
	Zack glanced behind them at the house and replied, "The one with
Tommy?"
	Jason leaned his elbow against the tree to his right and buried
his mouth against his knuckles to think.
	"Dude, you didn't destroy Tommy," Zack countered.  Jason had
struggled for weeks with images of striking finishing blows to his
friend, and Zack suspected Mr. Lee had been discussing the evils of the
Green Ranger at the dinner table again.
	Jason's eyes darted around the woods before him as he tried to
explain.  "It's not just about Tommy anymore.  It's innocent people. 
Every monster we go to destroy, it's just a normal person."  He paused. 
"But we see it too late."
	Zack exhaled softly as he scooped up a cluster of stones.  "Jase,
monsters aren't people."  He threw a rock into the bushes to the right
of their target.  "I mean--"  He chuckled.  "Can you imagine?  'Hello,
is Farkas there?'" he asked into a phone-shaped hand gesture.  "'No, I'm
sorry, dear, he's out destroying the city.  He'll be back by
suppertime.'"
	Jason drew the corner of his mouth into a polite smile and raised
his forearm to blow an ant from his skin with a puff of his breath.
	"Tommy was under a spell," Zack continued, tossing Jason another
stone.  "But monsters are just evil.  That's all they are."
	Jason pucked the stone out of the air and examined it in his
fingers, running his thumb over its ridges.  "How do we know?" he
inquired.  "When do we ever give a monster as many chances as we gave
Tommy?"
	Zack blinked.  "Dude, it's not the same thing."  He paused to
throw another wild shot.  "I think you should talk to Trini."  He then
turned back to Jason.  "Look, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

---

	"Zack's right, Jason," Trini spoke gently from the back of his
car.  "You don't know what these monsters can do if you let them."
	"Yeah, the Mantis!" Zack chimed in from the passenger seat. 
"Trini trusted its honor, and look what happened."
	"And Sylvia," Trini added.  "We almost lost her because she
trusted Pineoctopus."
	Jason continued to drive with a stone face.
	"Bro," said Zack, "there isn't a single monster that wouldn't rip
us to pieces if we gave it the chance."
	"Fang," came Jason's reply as the car stopped at a light.
	Zack frowned.  "Huh?"
	"Fang was trying to get his eggs back," Jason explained, glancing
at Trini in the rearview mirror.  The light changed to green, and they
proceeded.  "Rita was controlling him.  We knew that, but we destroyed
him anyway."

	"All right, Rangers!" Jason's voice had echoed within his helmet. 
Their words and movements synchronized, they seemed to become one entity
- a single mighty executioner.  "Lock on and fire all weapons!"

	"Jason," Trini observed, "most monsters aren't like that.  They're
evil of their own choice."
	"Maybe it isn't their choice," Jason explained.  "Look at how many
times Zedd's tried to turn people evil - innocent people turned into his
puppets.  Hallie, the Dark Rangers... Kimberly!"  His eyes darted as he
searched to express his painful desperation.  "I mean, if Kimberly could
have been turned into a second Rita, who did the first one used to be?"
	Zack and Trini glanced at each other.  "Jason," Trini spoke
softly, "did all of this come from your dream?"
	Jason again peered into the rearview mirror as they pulled into
the elementary school parking lot.  Upon stopping and turning off the
engine, Jason turned to face his passengers.  "You can't tell this to
the others."  He proceeded to tell them of the Putty he'd found in the
woods.

	"Are you sure?" Trini asked.  Jason merely nodded.
	"But... it's just clay," Zack protested, unable to grasp what he'd
been told.  "Clay can't have a soul."
	Jason eyed him.  "And carbon can?"
	"Look, this is crazy," Zack told him.  "Zedd makes these things
out of dirt, and innertubes, and answering machines!"
	"But now they're alive," Trini replied softly.  "It doesn't matter
how they got here."
	Jason nodded and looked between them.  Thick silence lingered in
the air.
	"God," said Zack, "I'm never destroying another Putty."  Trini
chuckled in a whisper, as stunned as Zack.
	Suddenly, there was a knock on the window.  They turned to see the
after-school director smiling cheerfully with her arms clasped around a
clipboard.
	Rolling down his window, Jason smiled back.
	"Hiiii," beamed the woman.  "So glad you guys could make it.  We
just had two chaperones call in sick, so we're really glad to have some
extra volunteers."
	Zack leaned closer to her side and smiled, "We wouldn't miss it!"
	"It's such a wonderful program," she continued.  "It helps the
kids feel safer outside, with all the..."  Her tone grew hushed as she
spelled out, "m-o-n-s-t-e-r-s around."
	Jason nodded in agreement.
	"So," she concluded rosily, "just take a right inside the doors,
and you'll find the sign-in table."
	Trini smiled and thanked the woman, and Jason rolled up his window
as they were again alone in silence.  Jason finally nodded in the
direction of the building and unlatched his seatbelt.  "C'mon."

	As the three teens entered the building, they were immediately
overwhelmed by the sea of little Power Rangers before them.  At least
half of the children's costumes were Ranger designs, complete with
little plastic fasemasks resembling helmets.
	Jason scanned the walls and found roughly every third piece of
student artwork was of the Power Rangers or a giant robot engaged in
combat with a monster.  One drawing displayed the Megazord having
cleaved an enormous gash down the center of a giant green lizard monster
- what Jason figured to be the Saliguana - with copious amounts of
yellow vital fluids added for effect.  Nearby was a colorful painting of
the five Rangers standing between a group of people and a gray creature,
with the title scrawled in pencil, "The day the Rangers savd my
fammily."
	Jason surveyed the scores of smiling, laughing children, happily
being led around by their parents or chaperones.  How many of them
wouldn't have been there today if not for the Power Rangers?  Jason
looked back at Trini and Zack, locking eyes with them, and he could
sense they had come to the same realization.  If they didn't protect
these people, who would?  Although...
	Jason's reverie was derailed as he nearly tripped over two little
children, one of whom was screaming from an encounter with the other.
	"Jamie, stop it!" scolded the second child's mother as she pulled
him away by the arm.  A teen chaperone crouched down to console the
crying little boy in a dragon costume who had been swatted about the
head with a Red Ranger's plastic sword.
	Jason's hand reached down and picked up the child's empty candy
bag, which had fallen to the floor in the conflict.  Crouching at the
boy's level, he spoke, "Hey, it's okay..."
	The little boy's watery eyes peered out at Jason through the
plastic mask.  Jason smiled softly and returned his bag.

	"Okay everybody, stick together," Jason told his group as they
embarked from the schoolyard.  "If you get lost, stay where you are and
ask a parent or chaperone for help."
	As they walked, one boy dressed as a skeleton looked sideways at
Jason with a cocked head.  As the teen grew aware he was being watched,
he looked to meet the child's gaze.
	"What are you supposed to be?" the boy asked quizically.
	Jason glanced down at his jeans and t-shirt.  While Trini had gone
with an elaborate Wonder Woman costume and Zack had worn a flight suit
as a space cadet, Jason had been unable to decide on a costume of his
own and had gone without one.
	"Uh," he replied, "I'm a Power Ranger's secret identity."
	The children giggled appreciatively while the skeletal boy kept
looking at Jason.  "My grandpa says the Power Rangers are communists,"
he remarked innocently.  Jason blinked.
	"Nuh-uh," replied a miniature Pink Ranger, "there are no more
communists."
	"Yes there are!" asserted the boy.
	"My teacher said--"
	"Whoa whoa," Jason chuckled before changing the subject. 
"Jessica, did I hear your mom say you won a recycling award?"  The
little girl-princess beside him nodded with a proud smile.

	"Thank you!" chimed the trick-or-treaters as they bounded across
the grass to join Jason on the sidewalk, their attention deeply focused
into their candy bags to examine their latest treats.  Jason brought up
his hand to wave with a smile at the man at the front door, but his
wrist began to chime.  He slapped a hand over his communicator.
	"What's that?" asked the miniature Pink Ranger.
	"Does that mean we have to go back now?" asked the skeleton boy.
	"Yep!" Jason improvised.  "Everybody have a good time?"
	"Yeeesss," the children answered together.
	"Can we go to one more house?" pleaded a boy dressed as a
cardboard television set.  "Please?"
	"We've gotta get you guys back before dinnertime," replied Jason. 
He chuckled, "Besides, you've already got enough candy to last you a
month!"
	"Nuh uh!  This won't even last a week!"
	Jason smirked, but his smile quickly faded as he looked down at
his blinking communicator.  He knew what he was being called in to do.

---

	As he hopped up the front steps of the school, Jason was met by an
anxious Trini and Zack.
	"Alpha's inside to cover for us," Zack whispered.  "We've gotta
go!"
	Jason nodded and spoke to the children as he held the front door
open for them.  "Okay guys, we've got to leave early."  He looked inside
and saw the red and gold robot at a table amidst groups of children. 
"But our friend Al-- len in the robot suit is gonna do your candy
checks."  As the kids filed in, he patted the skeleton boy on the back. 
"You guys be good."  The door closed, and the three teens dashed off
around to the side of the building and ducked behind a bush.
	Zack nodded to Jason and said, "You've got the coordinates.  Let's
go."
	Jason slipped his right hand behind his back, and his fingers
brushed against the black holding device which he had willed into
existence at the small of his back.  He flipped down the Morpher's
handle and prepared to pull it out.  But then he paused.  He could see
the Putty crouching so peacefully over its drawing for that moment
before he attacked.
	Zack's fingers clenched Jason's arm firmly.  "Jase," he said, "the
others are in trouble.  They need us."
	Jason blinked laboriously.  He swallowed once and tightened his
grasp around the handle, pulling it from its holder with a series of
clicks as hidden security clasps released in slow motion.  His arm swung
around through the air and met his other hand to brace the device.  His
lungs filled and his shoulders tensed as his thumb depressed the side
activator button.  The Morpher's two metal halves spread apart as the
coin within came to life.  Jason's lips formed the sacred word. 
"Tyrannosaurus."

	Jason was familiar with the flash of light.  He no longer flinched
from the waves of fire bathing his skin; he had come to expect the pure
rush of sensation which caused his body to scream out that he was alive. 
But now as his vision returned, through his newly formed visor came the
image of Tommy poised triumphantly over the fallen body of the Snizard. 
Jason could hear himself call out.  "Wait, Tommy!"
	The White Ranger turned confidently.  "Perfect timing, guys," he
replied.
	"Tommy," Jason told him, "there's something--"
	"Guys!" interrupted Trini.  Just then, a large explosion lit the
surrounding trees with orange light as the Pumpkin Rapper grew to tower
above them.  As the Rangers emerged from the forest into a clearing
beneath the giant, its laughter echoed down, erasing the doubt from
Jason's mind.  Now was the time to crush or be crushed.  He spoke
instinctively.
	"We need Dinozord power!"
	Kimberly cocked her head slightly.  Jason hardly ever called out
the wrong Zord names anymore.  But there was no time for discussion; the
five Rangers snapped to attention.  "...Now!"
	Like clockwork, they went through the motions.  "Mastodon Lion
Thunderzord power!"  "Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord power!"  One
after the next.  The giant beasts would emerge from the mist, and the
Rangers sprang into the air and entered their battle vehicles through
trap doors in the enormous robot heads.  Around Jason's slender Red
Dragon warrior Zord, the four mecha locked on as enormous pieces of
armor, transforming it into a towering gladiator.
	"Let's rock 'n roll!" the five Rangers spoke in unison, their
motions perfectly timed as one as they stood together in their central
cockpit.  From their glassy dome, they stared down their old rival,
recreated by some perverse manipulation of nature.
	Jason gripped his controls as the monster bore down on them.  It
struck, shaking their giant shell, and then struck again.  Jason flicked
his wrist, and the Megazord raised its massive forearm, absorbing a
third blow.  The giant foe then smashed its fist squarely against their
hard protective dome, and the Megazord staggered back, its chest smoking
from the blow.

	His fist seemed to smash through the Putty's chest like a hammer. 
And all that remained was dust.

	"Tigerzord, ready for action!" crackled Tommy's voice over the
speaker.  Jason focused on the monitor on his controls and saw through
the robot's eyes as Tommy joined them at their side.
	Pumpkin Rapper turned his attention from the Megazord to confront
the newly arrived white mecha.  "I'm gettin' bored with tinhead Zord!" 
The monster lunged forward, but the Tigerzord braced as a ball of fire
spewed from its chest and impacted with the monster, sending it crashing
to the ground below, its weight leaving tiny trees mashed in splintered
fields beneath its body.
	On Jason's right, Billy advised, "Let's get 'im!"  The Megazord
took a step forward, but as the monster was cornered, he rose and hurled
out two solid projectiles which smashed into the two robots with
explosive force.  The Megazord toppled and crashed against the earth
below as Pumpkin Rapper boasted, "On the ground, clown!"
	As the Thunder Megazord regained its footing, the Tigerzord
charged and punched the monster's face, sending it stumbling to the
ground once more.  
	Tommy's laughter echoed through the Megazord's cabin.  "Ha ha ha! 
Time for you to head back to the pumpkin patch!"
	Billy nodded, "Let's do it!"  But Jason remained still, his lips
frozen in time.  Somewhere distant, he could hear Kimberly speaking to
someone.  "Jason?" said the far-off voice.  "Jason?"
	The behemoth roared angrily and rose to his feet.  "He's getting
back up!" someone called out.  Jason remained frozen in place, unable to
move.
	Looking over, Billy slapped the panel on his left and gripped the
lever in front of him.  "Thunder Saber," shouted he and Kimberly
together, "battle ready!"  Jason could feel his arms instinctively
moving as one with the others in response to their group-thought,
tracing out the deadly motion of their saber.  The Megazord lurched
forward, blade gleaming in the setting sun.
	"You brats, what's with that?" cried Pumpkin Rapper, quivering
from his imminent doom.  The glowing blade passed cleanly through his
body, and the Zord turned its back as the monster passed away into
flame.
	Zack looked over as Jason breathed heavily.  He knew Jason had
heard it too.  A scream.

---

PART II

	Inside the Angel Grove Youth Center, three frequent Juice Bar
customers held a conversation amidst the sounds of clinking plastic
cups, friendly chatter, and distant dance music.
	"...and so Jason comes running out with his black belt tied around
his head, and the rest of it's hanging down his back, you know...  And
he goes--"  Tommy lowered his voice comically and furrowed his brow with
machismo.  "'Hey, boys and girls.  My name's Tommy Oliver, and when I'm
not signing big TV deals, I enjoy a daily dose of smashing my head into
things.'  And he just goes -- bam! -- and breaks this board in half with
his head.  Oh my god, I've never seen anything like it."  He, Billy, and
Kimberly laughed out loud.  "And the kids loved it!  They kept coming up
to me after class and saying, 'Did you really get that bruise from
breaking boards?'  Ha ha ha... And I just went with it.  Nobody
suspected anything else."
	Their laughter continued before finally trailing off into
appreciative murmurs.  Tommy chuckled and said, "Man... we had some good
times."  He looked down at his drink, and he spoke with a more somber
tone.  "I wonder what's wrong with Jason lately.  He won't tell me about
it."
	"Yeah," Billy agreed, "he and Trini and Zack have been spending a
lot of time off by themselves."
	Tommy considered.  "I wonder if he wants to be the leader of the
team again.  Because, I mean, if--"
	Kimberly interrupted, "Naaawww, I'm sure that's not it.  He's glad
you're back!"
	"Yeah, I guess..." Tommy replied.  "Anyway, I was thinking the six
of us could have a picnic together in the park tomorrow.  You know, make
it feel more like old times."
	"Yeah, that's a great idea," said Kim.
	Tommy chuckled.  "Maybe I'll wear one of my old shirts... just in
case he doesn't like white."  The teens chuckled in return, and Kimberly
swatted his shoulder affectionately as they stood from their table.

---

	As promised, Tommy came the next day in solid green, his arms full
as he carried a portable TV set.  Joining him, Kimberly laughed, "Why
did you bring that TV?"
	"It's a radio too," Tommy volunteered proudly.  "I wanted to see
if they say anything about the Ninja Finals."
	"Ohh yeah, that's this weekend..." Kim recalled.
	Tommy looked at her relatively empty hands as they carried a light
bag of snacks.  "Hey, you didn't bring your guitar?" he asked.
	"No, Trini's picking it up from the music room since she's got her
car."
	"Her car?" asked Tommy.
	"Yeah, I think the others are going up to the library or something
afterward.  I dunno."  She shrugged.
	"Hey fellas!" greeted Billy.  Beneath the shade of a tree, he and
Trini had just finished layout out their blanket.  Against the tree,
Zack idly plucked a few notes on Kimberly's guitar as Jason tossed a
frisbee with two children from a neighboring picnic site.  As the other
teens gathered at the blanket, Jason waved goodbye to the kids and
trotted over.  The remnants of a laughing smile trailed off as he
brushed his hands on his shirt and surveyed the group.
	"Hey bro," Jason nodded to Tommy, "need a hand with that?"
	"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Tommy replied.  "You look like a guy I
used to know.  Real hotshot though..."
	The teens laughed teasingly, and Jason cracked a smile and bobbed
his head to go along with the jab.  "Oh, okay, now I'm the hotshot..." 
He tossed the foam football, and it bounced off Tommy's chest as he set
down the TV.
	"Oop, okay, hotshot..." Tommy retorted, grabbing the football and
whipping it back at Jason.  The teens whooped playfully as Zack
recovered the ball and joined Jason against Tommy in a game of
tag-dodgeball.

	"This is totally one of my favorite songs," Kimberly beamed as the
portable TV played a pop song.  Around her, the teens lounged
comfortably in the shifting afternoon sun.
	Tommy smiled.  "What a cool way to spend a Saturday... with good
music and good friends in the park."  Kim smiled with him.  Tommy then
spoke to Jason.  "So what have you guys been up to lately?"
	Billy adjusted the TV controls as Jason searched for an answer. 
"Ohh, you know, nothing much," he replied.  "Reading, just hanging
out... stuff like that."
	As Tommy nodded, Billy interjected, "Hey guys, listen to this."
	On the TV screen, an interviewer at a martial arts ring in the
Youth Center spoke over the aggressive grunts of three teens in black,
"We'd like to remind all of you not to miss the finals of the Team Ninja
Competition."
	"Oh yeah, man, I've been dying to see this competition!" Tommy
noted.
	The closest competitor in black grabbed the microphone and
announced into the camera, "We are the greatest ninjas in the world, no
one's gonna take us down - we can't be beat!"
	"What obnoxious clods," Kimberly snorted as the teens black
hollared rowdily.
	"Obnoxious but undefeated," Tommy noted.  Jason listened in
interest as he continued.  "I wonder who's competing against them."
	"It's three guys from Stone Canyon High," Billy answered.  "I read
about it in the paper."
	As Kimberly hoped the black ninjas were taught a lesson, Jason was
lost in thought.  Something about this competition fascinated him.

	"Well, it was, uh, good seeing you guys," Billy spoke as Jason,
Trini, and Zack prepared to depart with the picnic supplies.
	"Nah, I got it," said Zack, picking up Kimberly's guitar as she
leaned for it.
	"All right," Kim replied, "bye you guys!  I'll get it later!"
	The three walked away.  "Well, that... went... all right," Zack
spoke.
	"Trini," said Jason, "have you found anything else on
imprisonment?"
	Zack made a face.  Back to work again.  He hadn't ever done this
much research for school, and now it seemed the three of them hardly
ever left the library, unless it was to visit the museum.  So much
reading and studying...  But he had to hand it to Jason, he was the most
dedicated person he knew.  There was a fire inside him that just
couldn't be put out.
	"Um, not much aside from the demon myths," Trini replied.  "You
know, roaming spirits locked up by sorcerers."  She suggested
humorously, "If you want to fly to Europe, we could check out the urn of
the Kahmalan Face Stealer."
	Jason nodded soberly.
	"But, um, it's really hard to find anything concrete about them,"
she continued.  "There's hardly any mentions of where they are now...
And whether they even stayed trapped.  There are some stories of the
spirits breaking loose, even stronger and madder than before."
	"Yeah," Zack added, "and I can't find anything on turning 'em
good.  I don't think it's even possible."  He thought a moment and
suddenly remembered more.  "Oh!  But there was this group of Buddhist
monks who took in a monster or something-- I dunno what it was, really -
it was pretty vague... But it was hurt and confused, and they taught it
their ways, and when the monster achieved Enlightenment, it suddenly
turned into a pile of sand."  He looked to Jason for a response.  "But,
um, you can see my notes if you want to..."
	Jason paused.  "You guys want to go somewhere different tomorrow?"
	"What do you have in mind?" asked Zack.
	"I thought we might check out the Ninja Finals.  If you guys
want..."
	"That sounds fun," Trini smiled.
	"Yeah!" Zack agreed.  "Those Hasper City punks are just askin' for
it..."  He stopped suspiciously.  "Aw, wait a sec, Jase... Are we gonna
be taking notes?"
	Jason grinned and kept walking.  "Yep."

---

	"Jeeze these guys fight dirty," Zack cringed.  The crowd roared in
excitement as the three ninjas in black faced off with three in white. 
"How can the judges not call that?"
	"Stone Canyon's keeping up pretty well," Trini noted, "considering
the other guys are going for blood out there."
	Jason scrutinized the scene, a red notebook open in his lap. 
"Look how the Stone Canyon guys keep it clean.  They don't hit too hard,
they don't take cheap shots, they don't strike when the other guys are
distracted...  It's about proving their own skill rather than doing
anything they can to win."
	"Whooooo!  Hurricane kick!" Zack whooped.  As two of the ninjas in
white delivered simultaneous punches knocking the black ninjas back, the
bell rang out, and the match had ended.
	The announcer spoke, "The judges have made their decision.  The
match and title go to the challengers!"  Jason, Trini, and Zack stood to
applaud as the crowd cheered.
	Hefting the large trophy into the air, the announcer called out,
"The new ninja champions from Stone County!"  The ninjas in white
promptly unwrapped their ninja masks, revealing three smiling teens. 
Proudly raising the trophy, the champions congratulated each other and
left the ring.
	"Come on, let's go meet 'em," Jason grinned.

	"Man, that was a great match," Zack remarked as he, Trini, and
Jason walked through the park.
	"The guys from Stone Canyon seemed really nice," said Trini. 
"Gracious winners, too."
	"Oh, jeeze, the other guys were total schmucks about it," Zack
noted.  "Did you see that guy bump right into Aisha on purpose on the
way out?"
	"I know," agreed Trini.  "Those guys had no honor whatsoever."
	"They were monsters out there," Jason noted innocently, but the
implication was not lost on Trini and Zack.  They continued to walk in
silence.  Then came a beep from Jason's communicator.

---

	"This is a very grave situation, Rangers," Zordon told the six
teens from his plasma tube in the front of the command chamber.  "Lord
Zedd has captured the champion ninja team and is trying to turn them
into his own evil warriors."
	Jason drew in a deep breath.
	"What about the baby, Jacob?" asked Kimberly.
	"Baby?" Jason heard Zack ask.  Zordon's answer echoed in the back
of his mind as he envisioned the faces of Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.  Not
again...

	She was just a little girl.  Sprawled out on a slab of cold stone
and entombed in a blanket of poisonous red energy.  Her only crime had
been knowing six teenagers who had some dangerous enemies.  They'd
almost lost her to Zedd, forever.
	"I think she's breathing!" the helmetless Green Ranger had gasped,
crouching over the prone child.  Jason kneeled gently beside her, red
and green helmets laying open and discarded in the rocky shadows nearby. 
Hallie's eyelids stirred, and she gazed weakly into the Red Ranger's
eyes.

	"The computer data reports that Mr. Anderson, Adam, Rocky, and
Aisha are being held in some sort of closed area, in another dimension,"
Billy reported from a console.
	"Ai yi yi yi yi!" Alpha exclaimed.  "Goldar must have taken them
to Lord Zedd's Dimension of Despair!"
	As Billy sighed, the alarm suddenly began to blare.
	"What now?" Kimberly lamented.
	"Lord Zedd is attempting to distract you from your mission to
rescue the three young ninja fighters," replied Zordon.
	Jason looked down, and Trini touched his arm gently.  The Viewing
Globe tuned in to an image of a monster draped in petals as Zordon
spoke, "He has unleashed the Terror Blossom monster on downtown Angel
Grove.  One shake of its deadly petals will freeze all that's in its
path."
	Jason watched as a sea of pink specks flooded the city sky.  Each
tiny petal tumbling gently in a dance of millions...  So delicate and
fair.  How could something so beautiful be so deadly?
	Zordon was speaking.  "Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy, you must
continue your rescue efforts.  The talents of those three young people
must not be turned to the service of evil.  Jason, Trini, and Zack,"
came the order.  Jason looked up.  "...You must stop the Terror
Blossom."

	Dancing little petals, nimble in the air.

	"You will use a new transport mode called jetting."
	"Right," came a voice from within Jason.  He wasn't sure it was
his own.  Reality seemed to elude him now, melting by beyond the edges
of his awareness.  Then came Tommy's call to action - three simple words
which sharpened his senses to a fine point.  "It's morphin' time." 
Jason whipped his Morpher from behind his back and pressed the button.

	How I wish to fly away, in calm and gentle fare.

---

	Terror Blossom's single eye watched as the Red, Black, and Yellow
Rangers flew down from the clouds and landed silently before him. 
"It'll take more than three Power Rangers to stop me!" he declared. 
"Wait 'til you see the tricks I have up my leaves!"
	The three advanced.  Trini and Zack leapt, striking with
synchronized kicks.  Jason stopped short as the disoriented creature
thrashed and flailed its arms.  It quickly regained its composure and
braced, at which point Jason's foot swung around and struck his opponent
squarely.
	The Terror Blossom scampered away with a flurry of laughter. 
"Once I find a place to germinate my seed pods, nothing will be able to
stop us!"  And then he was gone.
	Jason looked around.  The monster was nowhere in sight.  He spoke
into his wrist, "Zordon, what's happening?"
	"I have been monitoring this dangerous situation, Jason," Zordon's
voice replied.  "What concerns me most is the Terror Blossom's threat to
reproduce itself."
	"Oh man," Jason exclaimed.  "Can he do that?"
	"He's going to try."
	As Jason lowered his arm, Zack and Trini joined him.  "What?  What
is it?" asked Zack.
	"The monster..." Jason spoke, "can reproduce."
	"Oh man, this is bad.  There could be a whole army of those
things."
	"They'd be unstoppable," Trini said.
	Jason shook his head slightly to clear his mind.  "You're right,"
he sighed.  "Of course."
	Zack gripped Jason's shoulder, facing him squarely.  "You can do
this, Jase.  We're fighting for everybody on the planet.  Without
Rangers, evil wins, and Zedd controls everyone."
	"Rangers, come in!" came Alpha's voice.  "I'm sending you to join
the others!"
	"We read you, Alpha," Trini responded.
	Zack looked into Jason's visor.  "You ready?"  Jason nodded.

	Together, the six materialized elsewhere in the park.  Confronting
them was a bird-like dinosaur creature with long, bony claws and a hard
green shell.
	"Well, so nice to see you again," spoke Hatchasaurus from his long
jagged beak.
	"Where's the flower monster?" Tommy demanded.
	"Don't worry, we'll keep you company," replied the monster. 
Around him gathered a squadron of Putties, bobbing and hopping around
wildly.
	As the beings attacked, the Rangers launched into action around
Jason.  He watched as a Putty struck at him, his own arms blocking the
crude blows instinctively.  Do you know what you are, little Putty?  Do
you know who I am?  You swing so intently.  What makes you fight me? 
I'm sorry, little one, but I have to fight back.

	As the last Putty fell, Jason took sight of the Putties fallen all
around him.  They were all stunned but nonetheless intact.  Not a single
Putty had been destroyed.  "Wha?"  He looked up, and Billy nodded at
him.
	Just then, Hatchasaurus growled, wielding in his claws a silver
spherical growth device.
	"Stay back, everyone," Tommy warned.  The monster slammed the
device against the ground, unleashing an explosive burst of fire which
caused him to grow.
	"Great," Tommy sighed.  "Just what we didn't need right now."
	The colossus above stomped mightily against the earth and
bellowed, "What a lovely day for a walk through downtown Angel Grove!"
	As the Zords arrived, the Rangers landed on the robots' heads.  As
his access panel slid open, Zack prepared to dive in but quickly glanced
over at the Red Dragon flying beside him.  There stood Jason, frozen
once more.
	"Jase...!"
	Jason stared ahead as the horizon slowly rose and fell with the
swimming motion of his dragon Zord.  In the distance stood the creature,
awaiting his destruction.  The whipping wind breathed high little notes
around Jason as he stood alone in silence.  He stepped back and
descended into his cockpit.
	"Assault team ready," said Trini from her Griffin cockpit. 
"Approaching target."
	Tommy nodded in the Tigerzord.  "Jason, I'm in position.  Convert
to Thunder Megazord when ready."
	Jason engaged the docking panel, and his four companions' Zords
secured around him.  His environment melted away in red light as he
materialized aboard the Megazord cockpit, joined by Zack, Kimberly,
Trini, and Billy.  All indicators were go.
	"Megazord, power up," he announced.
	The robot lumbered forward as Hatchasaurus smashed through a
mountain and approached a large powerline tower at the edge of the city.
	"He's approaching the power plant," reported Billy.
	"I'm on it," Jason said as the Megazord brandished its sword.
	After the Tigerzord had punched, the Megazord followed with a jab
from its blade, knocking the monster back.  "All right, we've got him
now!" Tommy exclaimed.  "Let's do it!"
	As Jason gripped his twin joysticks, the Megazord reared back to
strike with its saber.  It hesitated for a moment before sheathing the
sword on its hip.
	The Rangers looked to Jason.  "Jase...?" asked Zack.  Suddenly,
Jason braced and thrust his hands forward; as the Megazord did the same,
a jet of smoke erupted from the robot's hands.  The monster fell and
exploded in a fireball.
	"Whoa!" Tommy exclaimed over the speaker.  "Nice work!"
	Jason shook his head.  "He's not down yet."  Their display zoomed
in on a field below.  There lay the monster's enormous heart, throbbing
with each mighty contraction.
	"Tommy," came Zordon's voice over the speaker, "you must find and
destroy the monster's Cardiatron."
	"Consider it done, Zordon," they heard Tommy reply.
	"After that," continued Zordon, "resume your original mission to
rescue the three young people and their teacher."
	"We'll take care of it right away," Tommy's voice responded. 
"Right guys?"
	The Rangers looked to Jason, but he remained silent.  Billy then
responded, "Yeah," and the other four agreed in unison, "Right."
	Jason watched in his smaller monitor as Tommy stood on the tiger
head of his robot's chest.  "You guys keep a lookout," said the White
Ranger, and he leapt down to the forest below.
	The camera view followed Tommy like a grim voyeur from above as he
stalked through the underbrush, sword in hand.  "I see it up ahead,"
said his voice over the intercom.  "I'm going in."
	High above, Jason watched, his mouth frozen in steel and his eyes
glossed with blackness.  Reflected from the dark glassy pool, with its
rim of jagged silver teeth, flickered the scene of the hunt.
	There before Tommy lay the enormous red mass, tentacles strewn
sloppily about the area.  From the bushes rolled charred hunks of
blackened flesh, bouncing along the ground toward their pulsating
master.
	Jason could feel the blades gliding through its quivering tissues,
red and green gleams trailing his dual strikes.  He had once struck down
the creature with the Green Ranger's own dagger, and now Tommy would
live out the same bloody victory.  He gripped his blade like a knife and
leapt.
	Tommy's scream was barely audible through the booming explosion
from Zedd's lightning bolt.  As the White Ranger was flung into the
surrounding greenery, the giant heart rose into the air, bleeding with
fiery red vapors.  It climbed up above the nearby buildings until
reaching the elevation of the stunned Rangers in the Megazord's chest. 
There, it seemed to watch them for a moment before the body of
Hatchasaurus materialized around it.
	"Tommy!" Kimberly called out.
	Tommy climbed out from the cluster of bushes around him.  "I'm
okay.  But our job just got tougher."
	The monitors followed Hatchasaurus as the creature smashed through
a cluster of buildings in the business district.  God only knew if
everyone had been evacuated yet, Jason thought.
	The Tigerzord joined the Rangers at their side once more, and
Tommy called, "Let's finish this guy off!"  The monster exchanged
massive blows with the two robot gladiators before growing two
volcano-shaped concussion cannons on its shoulders.  Fiery projectiles
blasted out from the monster in a flurry of light, bombarding the
tempered hides of the robots.
	"We're getting nowhere with this guy!" grunted Billy as the
Megazord rose to its feet after a fall.
	Jason flipped a lever on his right and pressed forward on his
joysticks, the Megazord marching forward in response.  Hatchasaurus
unleashed another hail of fireballs, but the warrior was unfazed. 
Hatchasaurus in turn began to charge as well, roaring, "The end is near,
Power Rangers!"
	In one smooth motion, the Megazord bared its saber and readied a
finishing strike.  But then it froze.  It was no longer the Thunder
Megazord.  Jason was in the Dino Megazord, almost a lifetime ago.  They
had done this all before.
	"That toy is useless!" taunted the monster.  Another shower of
flame buffeted the Megazord.  As the robot's mighty hand lost its grip
on its samurai blade, images flickered in Jason's mind.  The Dino
Megazord staggered back, its sword falling and sticking into the earth. 
And then Jason saw Rocky, Adam, and Aisha once more.  They were counting
on the Rangers.  This battle had gone on too long.
	Jason gripped his controls.  The mechanized samurai pulled its
saber from the stony ground below.  "Supercharge and follow my aim!"
Jason ordered.  As the saber ignited with golden electricity, Jason
watched in his mind as the floating heart had regenerated its body.  He
could see the heart beating within its giant shell.  There.
	"Thunder Saber, battle ready!" declared the Rangers in unison. 
Their arms sliced through the air as a single blade, and the gleaming
saber cleaved a diagonal strike from shoulder to hip, passing directly
through the monster's chest.
	Hatchasaurus wailed in agony as he staggered back, red vapor
pouring out from his chest into the air.  "Raaaaaggghhh!"
	Jason keyed in a sequence into his controls.  "Tommy, rerouting
power to Tigerzord."
	The others acknowledged.  "Power Rangers, thunder power!"  Their
engines hummed with power.
	Hatchasaurus clutched his chest desperately.  "You're not playing
fair..." came his agonized groan.  He lumbered forward with his dying
breath.  "That's it, Power Rangers... You're finished!"
	A single fiery comet traced a path from the Tigerzord's chest to
the monster's.  Hatchasaurus fell and was no more.  Over the rumbling of
the explosion, Jason heard Tommy's laughter echoing in the air, taunting
the column of flame.  "Ha ha!  You're the one who's finished,
Hatchasaurus... for good!"
	Jason released his controls as the flames died out.

	"A job well done, Power Rangers," Zordon told the six teens.  "But
our troubles are far from over.  Lord Zedd is still holding your friends
captive in his Dimension of Despair with the hope of luring their powers
to the service of evil."
	The Viewing Globe showed the shower of petals pouring through the
air.  "Meanwhile, the Terror Blossom is still rampaging through Angel
Grove looking for a heat source to germinate his seed pods."
	Alpha tilted his head.  "How strange that a creature that freezes
everything in its path would need heat to reproduce itself."
	"Even Lord Zedd cannot escape the laws of nature."
	Jason watched the flickering spherical image.  You're alive,
monster.  Like Hatchasaurus.  You live and breathe and die.  Leave. 
Leave while you still can.  Before I destroy you too.
	"You'll have to split into two teams again," said Alpha.
	"You guys ready?" Tommy asked.  Jason nodded once.  And then they
morphed.

	Terror Blossom turned as Jason, Trini, and Zack appeared.  Trees
whispered softly around them in the breeze.  Behind them, unmoved, stood
a cold, steel electrical tower.
	Jason addressed the monster with razor-sharp intensity.  "Get out
of here, now."
	"Ha ha ha!" he laughed.  "Oh, I'll make like a tree soon enough. 
But hundreds more will take my place."  He cocked his head and stared
from his single, unblinking eye.  "Maybe your ninja friends will lead
our army."
	Jason crouched into a battle stance and spoke, "Let's do it."
	The monster raised his arms.  "You don't really think you can stop
me, do you?"  A swirling mass of petals coalesced into a purple cloud
and poured across the three Rangers with a cold wind.  Jason's world
faded away into ice and darkness.

	As he drifted through his realm of nothingness, Jason saw a speck
of light.  He pressed forward, and it expanded to envelop him in warmth. 
From the vague whiteness, Jason felt a familiar presence.  There before
him, image borne from feeling and emotion rather than sight, stood a man
long gone.  He had once been as a second father to Jason.
	"Sensei..." Jason spoke.
	"Jason, you fight from fear," resonated the deep and knowing
voice.  "Did I not teach you better than this?"
	Jason sighed.  "Help me, sensei.  I don't know what to do. 
There's evil all around me, but I don't know what's right anymore."
	"There is nothing easier to perceive than evil, nor anything more
difficult to discern."
	"I don't know where to find the answers, sensei.  Nothing makes
sense anymore..."
	"The answers dwell within your soul.  Listen, and you will hear."
	The light faded.

	From the darkness, a voice came to Jason.  "Come on, man... We
need you..."  It was Tommy.  He began to feel his body around him, and
his eyes fluttered beneath his visor.  Air filled his lungs, and he
began to breathe again.
	"Man, what's going on here?" he sighed, touching the helmet
covering his head.
	"I don't understand," said Trini as she released from an embrace
with Kimberly.  "What happened to us?"
	"Look, we don't have much time to explain," Tommy replied.  "All I
know is we've got a lot of work to do."
	Zack clenched his fist.  "Well let's do it."  Jason nodded weakly.
	"All right," said Tommy, "back to action!"

	The monster stopped in his tracks as the six Rangers arrived
before him.  "Okay, Terror Blossom," their leader announced, "you're
through!"
	"Who's going to stop me?" he asked.  "You six shrinking violets?" 
Suddenly, a silver orb flew down from the sky.  Catching it, the monster
declared, "Ha!  A present from Lord Zedd!"  He laughed and planted the
device into the earth, enlarging himself with an explosion.  "That's the
best fertilizer I've ever used!" came his booming voice.  With massive
steps, he then started toward the source of the nearby powerlines.
	"We've gotta stop him before he gets to the power plant," said
Tommy.  "Let's do it!"  The Rangers spoke at once.  "We need Thunderzord
power, now!"
	The robots emerged once more, and the Megazord assembled around
the Rangers.  "If this guy thinks we'll let him grow more Terror
Blossoms," came their leader's voice, "he's wrong!"
	Confronted by the mighty black robot, the monster spoke, "So,
you've done a little growing of your own, have you?  Well, tell me, how
well your Zord can handle the cold!"
	The icy blast whipped around the Megazord.  "We're freezing up!"
Billy said.  As the Rangers struggled with the controls, Jason watched
in the monitor as Tommy's mechanical tiger dashed around the monster,
effortlessly leaping around the freezing clouds with animal grace.
	"Hang on, guys," he spoke over the intercom as another blast
locked up the Megazord once more.  "I'll create a diversion."
	But Zordon's voice intruded.  "Tommy, our time has run out.  Your
three friends need you immediately."
	"Right, Zordon, we're on our way.  But what about the Terror
Blossom?"
	"Jason and Zack will finish this fight."
	The four Rangers looked to Jason as he gazed ahead at the monster. 
"You guys hear that?" asked Tommy remotely.  "Let's go!"
	There was a pause.  No one was sure quite what to do.  Then Jason
spoke.  "Go."  They lingered for a moment and then parted through the
rear of the cockpit.
	Terror Blossom pranced with thundering steps.  "Your future's not
too rosy, Rangers.  Why don't you just surrender?"
	Breaking free from the icy spell, the Megazord's arm braced as
though flexing its giant electrical muscles.  "No way, pollen head,"
quipped Jason.  Zack nodded and manned his controls.
	As the monster blew another cloud of freezing petals, the Megazord
focused its energy and blew a gust from its own hands, covering Terror
Blossom with his own petals.  He roared and flashed with painful sparks
of light.  The robot was on him in an instant, driving an inverted fist
into its gut like a piston.  An elbow to the chest, then a hard backfist
to the face.  Petals and twigs exploded from the monster's surface,
littering the landscape below with splashes of color.
	High punch.  Low punch.  Uppercut.  Double punch.  Each strike
from the mighty armored fists crunched the flora beneath its weight. 
The silken field of petals lay twisted and broken under each hammer
stroke.  Jason heard his own breath echoing within his helmet as he
thrust forward on the stick.  The robot buried its thick metal fingers
into the matted pink blanket and gripped into the vegetation beneath. 
The metal warrior twisted on its feet, its arm flexing in a fluid arc as
the monster was lifted from his feet and hurled through the air.  It
smashed against the jagged peaks below, the rocky surface smeared with
rose-colored snow and littered with broken limbs.
	Terror Blossom rose slowly, its hand brushing across its broken
face.  "So finish me off," he spoke.  "Or don't you have the guts?"
	The Megazord stepped forward through the flowery landscape.  Its
hand rose to clasp the handle of its sheathed blade.  Standing in
silence, Jason closed his eyes.
	"I didn't think so," said the monster.  His hands froze the
Megazord where it stood.  He stepped forward and peered at the metal
statue.  "You put up a good fight.  But now it's time to sow my seeds." 
He began to walk past the robot.  Parting, he told the Rangers within,
"I'll be sure to tell my children about you."
	Terror Blossom heard it coming.  But he turned too late.  The
golden blade passed through his flesh and tore him asunder.  He dropped
to the ground and was incinerated.  All that remained was a sprinkling
of pink petals, dancing lightly through the air.
	Jason's Morpher unclasped from his belt into his hand.  He held it
for a moment, feeling its weight, and his fingers then uncurled.  The
pack clattered across the floor at Zack's feet, and Jason walked away.

	The sunset was always beautiful over the lake.  Its orange glow
shimmered like fallen stars hidden just under the water's surface.  It
looked to Jason like a pool of diamonds, glittering in silent beauty.
	"Hey bro," said Zack.  He watched the water over Jason's shoulder. 
A white bird flew down and glided over the surface.  Off in the
distance, they could see the mountain peaks far away.  "We saved the
city today..."
	Jason nodded, his lips hidden behind his crossed arms as they
rested on his knees.  A breeze touched the leaftips on the trees with
delicate care.  "I know."
	Zack's eyes drifted down toward the shore below.  "The ninjas are
safe and sound in the Command Center.  Kim wants us to meet them."
	"The Command Center?"
	"She said she'd explain when we got there."
	Jason stood and put his hands in his pockets.  He savored the
sight for a moment more.  Joining him at his side, Zack held out his
hand.  Jason looked down at it for a moment and then took the Morpher.

---

	"...now announcing the final boarding call for flight 868.  All
passengers should now be on board."
	Jason was returned his passport and boarding pass, and he tucked
them into his jacket.  Picking up his suitcase, he looked back, and
Trini gently touched her hand to his back.
	In his seat as passengers settled around him, Jason leaned back
and gazed into space.

	"You guys, you're going to Switzerland!"
	"All three of us?"

	Billy smiled.  "Congratulations, it's a chance of a lifetime."

	"Who knows," said Kimberly, "you guys just might save the world."
	Tommy nodded.  "Yeah, but from Switzerland this time."

	"Where's the Deserted Planet?"
	Far away in the reddish sky stood a massive city, reaching up
toward the mysterious spheres and pyramids hovering high above.  Tommy
spoke, "Hard to believe this has been uninhabited for thousands of
years."
	"In a galaxy light-years away.  Jason, Trini, and Zack will go
with you on their last quest as Power Rangers."
	Kimberly breathed softly.  "Beautiful, don't you think?"

	Without his helmet, Jason clasped hands with Rocky, gloved white
hand meeting flesh.  He extended his Morpher, the tyrannosaurus coin
glittering within.  Their eyes met, and Jason nodded to his successor as
the device passed hands.
	"Trini, Zack, and Jason," he heard Zordon say, "in your hearts you
will always carry the spirit of the Power Rangers.  But your destinies
lie elsewhere.  You have been chosen to help the world in a different
way now.  I know that in your new life, you will serve with dignity,
humility, and strength.  Go now, and make the world a better place."

	Jason smiled and closed his eyes.  He could feel himself flying
through the clouds, the air cool on his face.  He was free.

---

EPILOGUE

	Rocky closed his door behind him and examined the package.  His
fingers passed over the brown paper wrapping, bearing his name written
in black marker.  He turned it over in his hands and opened the taped
edge.
	Inside was a red spiral notebook.  Its edges were worn from use,
the wire bent slightly in places.  Two pieces of white string had been
tied around the book in a cross, sealing its pages shut.  A small square
of lined yellow paper dangled from the string, a hole punched through
its corner.  A message was written in pencil.
	"Open when the battle's over."

End.