Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. All characters are the property of the current copyright holders, likely Saban Brands. This is a fan work and no profit is being made from it.
Author's note: This story takes place just after Tommy leaves his clone in the past in Return of the Green Ranger Part 3. In my series I usually keep what happened to Tom the same, but thought I'd explore a couple of ideas that sprang to mind after watching Dino Thunder and reading Shattered Grid.
At the Toss of a Coin
Reality: 206.005.007.519
...Green Ranger gently pushed Tommy's hand away.
"There's no place for me there. Let me stay here where I can do some good for a change."
"He's always welcome to join... my regiment," the Redcoat Captain announced. Was he some ancestor of Skull or did he just have a strong resemblance? Tommy couldn't decide.
The kind gesture was met with cheers and approval from the crowd. It seemed that a witch could be welcome in their society, providing he saved them from a pack of rat monsters first.
Green Ranger looked down at his uniform, tapping the golden chest shield. "I don't think I'll be needing this is anymore."
Tommy didn't want to leave his clone in the past, especially if he lacked the ability to defend himself. But he knew that if his mind was made up there was little he could do. He sighed and pressed the wand to the Green Ranger's body.
"Well, if your mind's made up..."
A surge of green energy flooded over the clone's body and was seemingly sucked into the skull-head of the wand, leaving behind a young man dressed in a green coloured colonial style suit!
"There you go. I wish you nothing but luck, my friend."
His clone nodded as he made his way into the crowd, shaking hands with his fellow citizens as they welcomed him to their township.
"I hope everything works out for you. Hey, I'll never forget ya!"
Tom stopped and turned back. "You don't have much of a choice. I'm a part of you!"
"I don't know if the history books are ready for this!" Tommy chuckled.
Tom raised his hand and snapped his fingers, summoning a black felt three-rimmed hat to form out of green energy. He placed it on his head and continued to smile as he walked off into the crowd, ignoring the gasps of surprise.
"Take care, buddy," White Ranger said before activating the wand and warping back home, hoping Tom would be okay.
A Power Coin was tossed into the air. How it landed would define the future of the world for better or for worse. It rose higher and higher, as it flipped over and over, one side up and the other down only to change places in an instant. A shower of green sparks could be seen for an instant and in that moment a possibility was revealed...
Tom waited until Tommy disappeared before allowing a sinister smile to cross his face. He was certain the White Ranger had believed it was all over the moment he had waved the Wizard of Deception's wand. The spell had been broken, that much was true. But Tommy had only cancelled the spell that had been used by the wizard to keep the Green Ranger under his control. It had not changed the fact that Tom lacked the positive traits that had allowed Tommy to make amends when he had been released from Rita's control and evolve into the White Ranger that Rita and Lord Zedd had grown to hate.
Tom was not like Tommy. He lacked the traits that would have driven the original to turn from the darkness. At the end of the day Tom was evil and would remain evil. He had been created to be the Green Ranger and destroy the White Ranger. Tommy had broken the spell, but Tom remained the Green Ranger and he was still decidedly evil. The only difference was that he no longer tethered by the Wizard of Deception's power to serve Rita and Lord Zedd. He no longer had the sole purpose of destroying the White Ranger, although he fully planned to follow through on that task. He was free to do as he wished, and nothing would stand in his way.
Tommy hadn't even considered him a threat when he left. If he had he might have considered taking the Green Power Coin with him. Not that Tom would have given it to him, but it was a sign of just how badly Tommy had wanted to believe that even an evil clone could be redeemed. And it was an oversight that Tom would enjoy making Tommy regret the next time they met.
He was not sure how Rita had retrieved the Green Power Coin from Tommy's sock drawer, but he suspected Tommy's mother would throw a fit when she saw the state of his room. The Wizard of Deception, Rita and Lord Zedd had worked together to reverse the effects of the Green Candle. Those repairs had remained intact after Tommy had broken the control spell.
Which meant that Tom had been left on Earth with a fully functional Power Coin and all the capabilities that coin possessed, at a time when there were no Rangers to oppose him. The coin not only offered him the ability to become the Green Ranger, it allowed him to teleport around the globe at will at a time when humans were still using horse drawn carriages and relying on letters for long distance communication.
No, not Tom. Well not for much longer anyhow. Another name had formed in his mind the moment he had chosen to remain evil: Drakkon. He remebered the name from long ago, back in the days when he had been Tommy Oliver. Rita had mentioned Drakkon shortly after she had given Tommy the Green Power Coin. Tom recalled that she had tried to make Drakkon her Green Ranger, but he had chosen to serve her without assuming that form. Still he had gone on to be a loyal general in her war against Zordon; Tom remembered that she had almost seemed sad when she mentioned his passing, perhaps the reason that she had promised that once Tommy defeated the Power Rangers he would be granted the title Lord Drakkon and take his place at her side.
But it had been the look on Zordon's face when Tommy had dropped the name during his rampage through the Command Center. The claim that he was Drakkon had shocked and terrified the old sage. It was for that reason that Tom decided that he would claim what Rita had offered him: he would take the name Lord Drakkon and crush the world beneath his feet.
~We will meet again Tommy,~ he promised as he noticed the human known as Uncle Ben approach. He allowed the large man to place a hand on his shoulder as he was guided to where the other citizens waited to greet him. It wouldn't hurt to blend in for a few days while he finalised his plans. ~And the next time we meet I will be more than just the Green Ranger and I will be more powerful than you can ever imagine, White Ranger.~
The vision faded, nothing more than imagination as the coin flipped over again. The light reflected off its polished surface, creating a blinding flash as the coin descended and another outcome played out in the mind's of those watching.
Tom noticed Tommy leave as he smiled at the curious townsfolk. History had always been one of Tommy Oliver's favourite classes, and now that the Wizard of Deception's spell had been broken, Tom had gained a similar liking for the subject. And here he was not just studying history but living it.
Tom was not like Tommy when it came to the things he had done while under the influence of evil. Tommy had thrown himself into proving that he was no longer evil by risking his life in a never-ending fight against evil. At times Tom recalled that Tommy had been almost suicidal about the way he had thrown himself into battle. The same could not be said about Tom.
While Tommy had had an overwhelming drive to fight and prove that he was free of Rita's control, Tom had no such desire. He wanted a peaceful life away from combat where he could grow old and appreciate the second chance that he had been given.
It was not as if he could ever morph again anyway. While he was not clear how Rita had managed to retrieve the Green Power Coin from Tommy's sock drawer, he was positive that it was the original coin; he suspected that in the future Tommy's mother would throw a fit when she saw the boy's room. The Wizard of Deception had recharged the coin with a limited amount of power, just enough to destroy the White Ranger. That power had faded following the battle against the giant rats.
Which left in a time when Rita was still locked away in her dumpster and the Earth was safe from invasion. And with no great powers to burden him with numerous responsibilities, Tom was free to enjoy his new life. And so, he planned to live the life of a man in Colonial Angel Grove. He would record his experiences and one day he would teach them to others. His Karate classes had proven that he could teach, all he required was the experience of a new subject and to develop those skills.
He suspected that despite his very appearance, he was not truly human. It was enitrely possible that the Wizard of Deception had slowed Tom's ageing so that the clone would be able to serve for longer, or had only used enough magic to keep Tom alive for a few days. There was no way to tell for certain and in those circumstances there was only one thing that Tom could do: live every day as though it were his last day. And as he was led away by Ben Bulkmeier, he decided that today was a good day to start.
One coin, two possibilities that would determine the course of a young man's life and the perhaps the fate of a planet. But on which side would the coin land and which of the outcomes would be emerge from the imagination to shape reality? The universe seemed to pause as the coin fell to the ground, a soft ringing noise accompanied by a glint of light and green sparks marking the end of its short journey. And as the outcome became clear to those that could see such things, confusion reigned. The universe had desired certainty and fate had responded to that need: the coin landed on its edge...
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