Normal POV

A few seconds later the alarm goes off, and the rangers turn around to face the viewing globe. They see Mike land in the park. Tracy is relieved to see that he is okay. The pink Dino ranger's instincts are telling her that Rita is trying to trick them. Kira glanced over at her teammate and sees a strange look on her face.

"Tracy, what's with that look? It's freaking me out," Kira says.

"Sorry, Kira. I have this bad feeling that Rita is up to something. She does have a thing against the color green, plus, Mike's only been gone twenty minutes, even if he used his Dino gem power to help him escape. He wouldn't be back this quick." Tracy says.

"If you're so uptight about it, why don't we go to the park and ask him how he escaped," Kira says.

"Okay, but we leave the machine here," Tracy says.

Kira nods. The group turns around again to face Zordon. Alpha presses the red rectangular button on the control panel. The teleportation system activates again, and the teens are transported to the park. They land very close to where Mike landed, so the teens have to go a few feet to meet up with him. The green Dino ranger turns around quickly and sees them walking up. He is so happy to see Tracy that he runs over. Tracy groans loudly as he squeezes the air out of her lungs.

"Tracy I'm so happy that you're okay," Mike says.

Well, he sounds like the same kind-hearted, sweet and friendly Mike that I know. Could my instincts be wrong? Tracy thinks.

A few seconds later, Tracy starts to feel lightheaded. Trini sees her starting to turn blue. "Mike, you might want to let her go, she is suffocating." Mike looks down to see that Trini is right. He lets her go, and Tracy starts to breathe again.

"Thanks, Trini," Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Trini says.

Mike takes a step back, and his eyes nearly burst out of his head when he sees Kira standing next to Trini. "Kira, how did you get here?"

"It's all thanks to Hayley. She worked hard to create a machine to create a time portal to bring you two back home." Kira says.

I knew that Hayley would come through for us. Mike thinks.

"So, Mike, how did you escape from Rota's castle anyway?" Jason asks.

"I broke out of the cell... fought off a big army of putties and Goldar, I found my way to the main room and used my Dino gem power to figure out how Rita's teleportation system worked. That's about it," Mike says.

"Mike, why was there such a long pause between cell and fought? You didn't just make that up did you?" Tracy asks.

"Of course not. I guess that I'm a little tired that's all. Why don't we head back to the command center? I'm ready to go back home," Mike says.

Jason nods. They check to make sure that no one is around and the area is like a ghost town. The group teleports to the command center for the third or fourth time today. When they land Tracy still feels uneasy about having Mike with them, Alpha walks over with the machine. He hands it to Kira.

"Thanks, Alpha," Kira says.

"I think we should head back home tomorrow. It's getting late, and we won't be much help to the others if we're too tired to fight." Tracy says.

"That's a good point. Maybe we should wait." Kira says.

"No let's go now; we can sleep when we get back," Mike argues.

"Come on Mike. I thought that you said earlier that you were tired." Tracy says.

"Fine, we'll go tomorrow," Mike says.

"I thought that it could be more like two days from now. You see The Game of the Spirits karate tournament is on Saturday. I thought that we would enter this year. I need a third member to register my team. Tracy, do you think that you could help me out?" Jason says.

"Sure, but why didn't you ask one of the other kids that you're teaching from your class at the juice bar?" Tracy says.

"Because the rules state that all members have to be at the same skill level as the other members," Jason says.

"I'm guessing that you're a black belt too," Tracy says,

"Yes," Jason says.

"Cool, I'm in," Tracy says.

"Tracy, there is one thing that you're overlooking," Mike says.

"What's that Mike?" Tracy asks.

"Your black belt is back at your house in Reefside 2004," Mike says.

"Right, I guess that I was so excited that I forgot. Sorry, Jason, I guess that you're going to have to find another person." Tracy says,

"I won't have to; just meet me at the juice bar tomorrow around ten," Jason says.

"Tomorrow at ten, don't we have to go to school?" Tracy asks.

"No, county-wide teacher in-service, so all the schools are closed," Billy says.

"Sweet, this is my second favorite reason for the school being closed," Tracy says.

"The second reason, what's the first?" Kimberly asks.

"I moved to Reefside from Michigan so it would be two words - Snow Day," Tracy says,

"Fine, we'll stay for a few more days, but we're leaving after the tournament," Mike says.

"Deal," Tracy says.

Kira gives the machine back to Alpha. He leaves to put it in a safe place. The group leaves the command center on foot. Trini invites Kira to stay with her, and they head to her house. Tracy and Kimberly head back to the Hart residence. They're greeted by the smell of chicken tamales as soon as they walk in the front door. The girls walk to the kitchen and see Kimberly's mom set the platter on the table. She looks up and sees them standing in the doorway.

"Perfect timing girls, how about we eat while it's still warm." Mrs. Hart says.

The girls walk to the table, set the book bags down next to their chairs and sit down. Fifteen minutes later they finish eating. The girls get up from the table. They clear the table and do the dishes. Ten minutes later they grab their book bags and head up to Kim's room. Kim sets her bag down on the desk. Tracy sits down on the bed. The girls do a little bit of their homework so they wouldn't get behind. An hour later, Kim closes her English book, and Tracy closes her Spanish book. They repack their book bags and zip them up. They get ready for bed, and Tracy unrolls her pink Wildkin kaleidoscope sleeping bag next to Kim's bed. She folds up her glasses and gently sets them on the end table before climbing inside. Kim gets into bed and reaches over to turn off the lamp. "Good night Tracy,"

"Night," Tracy says.

Kim flicks the switch, and the room is as dark as the inside of a deep cave. Tracy hears Kimberly shift around under the covers to get comfortable. After her eyes adjust to the darkness, she looks over at Kim to see her fast asleep. She turns her head back and continues to stare at the ceiling.

Maybe I'm overreacting about this whole situation. I need to relax. Rita can't turn Mike against us. I know that his will is too strong to be controlled. Tracy thinks.

A few seconds later, the pink Dino rangers anxious fears subside enough to allow Tracy to slowly drift off to sleep. Meanwhile, at Rita's castle, she is spying on the pink rangers with her telescope.

"It's time to make sure that Tracy has a terrible night," Rita says.

She removes her eye form the view piece of the telescope and picks up her staff. She points it towards Earth. The beam from it heads towards Kimberly's house, flies into Kim's bedroom window and hits Tracy. Rita sets her staff down and looks through her telescope again. She sees Tracy start to toss and turn wildly. She laughs her loud evil laugh, and it echoes throughout the castle walls.

Back with Tracy, the pink Dino ranger nightmare continues to get worse every few seconds. She and Mike are alone at the far end of the park. Mike has morphed and pointed his weapon at her. It's aimed at her chest. He fires it, but Tracy rolls to the side. The arrow grazes her leg. She scoots backward so she can use one of the trees as a crutch to help her get back to her feet.

"Mike, why are we doing this? We're Power rangers, remember, we're supposed to fight and destroy the bad guys not destroy our teammates." Tracy says,

"Sorry, but I'm not a good guy anymore," Mike says coldly.

He comes closer so Tracy can't dodge his next shot. Tracy feels him press his Tro-bow right up against her chest.

"Mike, please don't do this," Tracy begs.

The pink Dino ranger wakes up right before Mike shots at her again. She heads to the bathroom. She turns on the faucet and splashes some water on her face to rinse the cool sweat off. She splashes herself a few times to make sure all the sweat is gone. She turns the water off and takes the towel off the hook from next to the sink. She wipes all the water off her face and puts it back. Then she heads back to bed after turning the light off in the bathroom.

~ Welcome to Reefside~

The next morning Tracy wakes up around nine. She gets dressed and heads downstairs. Kimberly greets her at the bottom of the stairs. They head to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. The problem is, Tracy isn't in the mood to eat anything right now because the nightmare she had was getting to her. Kimberly's mom left earlier to go to work, so they have the house to themselves. Kimberly sits down at the table with her bowl of oatmeal. She notices that Tracy doesn't have anything in front of her.

"Tracy, what's wrong, how come you're not eating?" Kimberly asks.

"I guess that I'm not hungry, that's all," Tracy answers honestly.

Kimberly finishes her breakfast, and they leave to head to the juice bar. They walk inside, and the group greets them. They head over to their usual table and sit down. Trini watches Tracy wipe the sleep from her eyes after she let out a big yawn.

"Tracy, what's wrong? Why do you look so tired this morning?" Trini asks.

"I was about to ask the same thing," Jason says.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep. Before you ask, no it wasn't because I was nervous about the tournament. I kept having this same nightmare over and over," Tracy says.

"What was it about?" Mike asks.

"If you can believe it, Mike, it was about you were trying to destroy me," Tracy says.

"I don't believe it. We're teammates," Mike says.

Tracy cracks a small smile. Jason sides a long rectangular box across the table. She stops it before it goes over the edge. She glances over at him. He nods to her and Tracy slowly opens the box. Her eyes widen, and she is shocked seeing the black belt inside.

"How did you get this?" Tracy asks.

"I talked to my karate teacher, and he lent it to me for the weekend," Jason says.

"Thanks," Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Jason says.

Jason, Tommy and Tracy get up from the table to change. They come back a minute later in their Gis. They walk over to the group.

"What are you guys going to do while we practice for the tournament?" Tracy asks.

"I'm going to hit the mall. I need to get some new strings for my guitar." Kira says.

"Trini and I are going to get our nails down," Kimberly says.

"I'm going to the dance studio to work on some new moves," Zack says

"I am going to go back to my lab and work on my science project for the science fair next week," Billy says.

They leave while the others go back over to the table. Jason hears Tracy's stomach growl loudly, and she tries not to blush and laughs awkwardly.

"How about we get some smoothies to fuel us up before we start?" Jason says.

"Sounds great," Tracy says.

They walk over to the counter. Ernie sets the glass down that he is drying out on the counter. He looks up at the teens with his friendly smile. "Good Morning guys, what can I get you?"

"I'll have a tropical paradise," Jason says.

"I'll have a blueberry blast," Tommy says.

"I'll have a strawberry banana blast," Tracy says.

Ernie writes down the group's order and gets to work. After Jason pays they sit down at the table again, Tracy didn't realize that her nightmare was getting to her when she got lost in her thoughts again. She finishes her smoothie and sets it down on the table. The small clanking sound made by Jason's cup when he sets it down on the table and snaps her back to reality. She jumps and falls out of her chair.

"Tracy, are you okay?" Tommy asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tracy answers.

She gets up, pushes her chair in and walks over to the mat. The boys turn around to face her. Tracy warms up her muscles before going into the kata she decided to do for the first round of the tournament. She stands in ready stance and announces the name of her kata, "Bassai Dai Kata,"

"Wow, that's a tough kata to master," Jason says.

"I know," Tommy says.

They watch as Tracy goes into the first motions of the kata. She makes them so quick that they could barely see them. The rest of her movements are so graceful and flowing it is like she lived and breathed Karate. They watched her finish her kata and turns around to face them. They get up and walk over to her.

"Tracy, that was incredible," Jason says.

"Thanks, I read about the tournament online. What are we doing for the team kata round? " Tracy says.

"I was thinking about doing the Meikyo Kata," Jason says.

"That kata ends with a triangle kick, right?' Tracy asks.

"Yes," Jason says.

"I think that you should pick a different kata," Tracy says.

"How come, I think it's the perfect kata?" Jason says.

"I don't want us to lose so many points for that round because I can't do a triangle kick," Tracy says.

"Trust me, Tracy, winning is the last thing is the last thing on my mind. I'm just glad that we get to compete this year." Jason says.

They walk over to her. Tracy lets them stretch out, and they get in line. Tracy is in the middle since Jason ordered them by total letters of their name. A few seconds later they start the kata. They move in perfect sync. One of the other teams, 'The Falcons', decided to come early to check out the competition. The first member is Jack Moore; he is 6'1'' has green eyes, short born hair, pale skin and very well defined biceps. The second member, Sam Smith, is 5'6'', has brown eyes, neck-length coffee black hair, dark skin and a balanced body build. The last member, Hannah Rooey is 5'3'', has baby blue eyes, her long red hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, light-colored skin and the appropriate build for a girl her height.

"Hey guys, check this out I didn't know that they could teach a twig how to do karate," Jack says.

"Yeah, it hilarious, I bet that a strong wind could blow her over," Sam adds.

"Come on you two. We really should practice," Hannah says.

"You two can practice. I'm going to make sure that we win." Jack says.

Sam and Hannah go over to the other side of the room to practice. Jack continues to watch his competition practice. They reach the end of the kata. They do the triangle kick. The boys land perfectly, but Tracy lands off balance. She falls backward and lands on her butt. The boys stop when they hear Tracy groan as she gets to her feet. They turn to face her.

"I tried to warn you, Jason," Tracy says.

"It's okay, Tracy that could happen to anyone," Tommy says.

"Tommy is right; I know that you can get it if you just keep practicing," Jason says.

They hear the sound of Jack laughing loudly as he walks up to them. "Plus, she could practice all day and night, but she'll never get it. You should just find another teammate. She is nothing but a walking punching bag. The only thing she'll get from the tournament is a bunch of souvenir bruises and a few broken bones." Jack says.

"Look, whoever you are; you don't have the right to talk about my teammate like that," Jason says.

"I'm Jack, and I can say whatever I want. This is a free country, remember. Besides, it's the truth. What's the point of entering when you are automatically going to lose because your last teammate is a weak little girl." Jack says.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase big things come in small packages?" Tommy says.

"Plus, she couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag," Jack says laughing.

Tommy glances over at Tracy to see some tears start to build in Tracy's eyes after hearing Jack's mean comments. She is trying her best to keep it together. She knew if Jack said one more mean thing about her, she would start crying. Jack stops laughing long enough to see Tracy's face. It causes a smirk to appear on his face.

"Aw, did I hurt your feelings? Good. Why don't you run away like the coward you are. Then you can cry a river because that's all someone built like you is good at. Besides, you're nothing but a failure. You shouldn't even be wearing that black belt. It's only for strong warriors, and that's not you." Jack says.

Jack's last statement hits Tracy like a ton of bricks, and she takes a few steps back. Then she runs out of the room and goes to the locker room.

That's it, run away weakling. One team down and two more to go, Jack thinks.

Jack goes over to his teammates. They see the pleased look on his face. Hannah just shakes her head.

I wish he would stop doing this. All it proves is that he isn't confident in his abilities, so he reverts to his old bully ways because he knows that it's the only way to make sure that he won't have to practice. Hannah thinks.

Back on the other side of the room, Jason nods to Tommy. The green ranger leaves to get their teammate. Tracy enters the girls' locker room. Everything is blurry because of the tears streaming down her cheeks. She changes out of her GI and puts it in her duffle bag. She takes out the outfits she came in, a pair of faded jeans and a pink shirt, and her Dino Gem. She puts it back on her wrist and leaves her bag there. She dashes out the back exit and tries to wipe some of her tears away to keep herself from running into anything. She makes a left turn and runs off towards the park.

~ Welcome to Reefside~

Tommy walks out the front door. He searches the outside perimeter of the building and doesn't see Tracy anywhere. He decides to search the city. Tracy enters the park. She stops long enough to dry her eyes for the second time so she can look around to find a hiding place. She can't find one so she has to use the picnic table on the far side of the park. It is far enough away from the other people in the park so no one could bug her while she continues to cry her eyes out. She runs over to it. She sits down, puts her elbows on it, and places her face in her hands after taking off her glasses. Her tears roll off her hands, fall through the spaces between the slates of the table and make a puddle when they hit the grass. Back in the city, Tommy walks into the mall and runs into Kira.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were at the juice bar practicing for the tournament." Kira says.

"I was but this boy, Jack, showed up while we were going over kata we were doing for the team kata round. He walked over to us after Tracy fell and said that she is nothing but a walking punching bag." Tommy says.

"That Jack is a jerk and a bully," Kira says.

"I know, Tracy got upset and ran away. Now I can't find her." Tommy says.

"I'll help you find her; she is my friend too after all," Kira says.

"Thanks," Tommy says.

The two split up. Tommy checks the first level of the mall while Kira checks the second level. Ten minutes later they meet back up at the fountain. They didn't find her they conclude that she isn't there, so they head outside. They go behind the Dumpster near the back entrance to the mall and Tommy raises his communicator to his lips.

"Zordon, come in," Tommy says.

"I read you, Tommy, what's wrong?" Zordon asks.

"Tracy ran out of practice this morning because of something a bully said, and now I can't find her anywhere. Is she at the command center by any chance?" Tommy says.

"No, she isn't. Did you check the park?" Alpha asks.

The green ranger mentally slaps himself for not thinking of that. He thanks Alpha for his suggestion and signs off. They head off towards the park. Twenty minutes later, they arrive at the park and see Tracy at the far end. They go over to her. Tracy hears the sound of their approaching footfalls. She feels two hands touch her shoulders, takes her face out of her hands and turns to her left.

"Hey Kira and Tommy, what are you doing here. I want to be alone." Tracy says.

"Sorry, Tracy, but at times like this you really could use some friends," Kira says.

"Kira's right, so what happened back at the juice bar?" Tommy asks.

"Sorry about that Tommy. I've never been good at the whole standing up to the bully thing. I guess that means I don't deserve to be a power ranger, huh?" Tracy says.

"Tracy, don't talk about yourself like that, you're a great ranger," Kira says,

"Yeah, besides standing up to a bully, and fighting off some monster, each requires a different type of courage," Tommy says.

"I know that, but Jack is right. You and Jason should try to find someone else to be the third member of the team. One who doesn't look like a walking punching bag." Tracy says sadly.

"Tracy, you can't let what Jack said get to you," Kira says.

"Yeah, we've seen how strong you are out on the battlefield. There is an amazing strong fighter underneath what everyone can see on the outside." Tommy says.

"Yeah, just imagine the look on Jack's face if you show up at the tournament on Saturday and beat all the other boys there," Kira says.

"I would like to see that, but I don't have much time to practice," Tracy says.

"That's never stopped you before. Remember, the all-school talent show from a few months ago? You only had 24 hours to pick a song, and you blew everyone away." Kira says.

"If you're that amazing of a performer, I bet you can master the triangle kick in time for the tournament," Tommy says.

"Then you get to show Jack how wrong he is about you," Kira says.

Tracy nods. She wipes the last of her tears away and picks up her glasses. She puts them back on and she and Tommy head back to the juice bar. Back at the juice bar, 'The Falcons' left. Jack saw what he needed to see and was confident that Tracy wasn't going to compete on Saturday. Jason gets up from the table when he sees Tommy and Tracy walk in. Tracy's eyes are still red from crying.

"Jason, I'm sorry about earlier. Thanks for standing up for me like that too, I appreciate it." Tracy says.

"You're welcome. That's what friends are for. So, how about we get back to work training for the tournament." Jason says.

"Sounds good," Tracy says.

AN: The next chapter will focus on the tournament.

Remember r &r.