Jason's Death

Kimberly paced back and forth in the Command Center as Billy worked rapidly to try and locate Jason. She was sure that Billy could do it; he was their resident genius, after all. But Jason had been missing for a while now, and with this Green Ranger running around, Kimberly was starting to worry for him. She knew he could take of himself, but she had thought the same thing about Zordon, and, well… she couldn't even bear to think about that, and she deliberately turned away from his empty tube."I think I've got it," Billy said suddenly. "I just have to reconfigure this setting and repolarize the beams, and then I think we should be able to get a lock on Jason, wherever he is.""Here, Billy, let me help you," Trini said, coming over to stand next to him at the console."Thank you, Trini," Billy said in surprise. "It should go much faster with your aid. If you could strip these wires, that would be of great assistance."While they were busy, Kimberly turned back to pacing."Hey," Zack said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Jason's tough – he can take care of himself.""I know," Kimberly agreed. "I'm just… this whole situation with the Green Ranger is starting to really worry me. And Zordon is…." She trailed off. "And I'm worried about Tommy! He got so cold suddenly." She felt a little bit silly for obsessing when so much else was going on, but thinking about Tommy was safe. Boys she could deal with. Something happening to Jason she could not."Got it!" Billy said triumphantly. "Initiating teleportation now."The four Rangers stood back to watch as the familiar beam of red light materialized in the middle of the Command Center, and then solidified into Jason's form. Kimberly screamed. Jason lay on the floor, blood gushing from a wound in his chest. Zack was at Jason's side instantly."Jase," he said, his voice shaking. "Come on, bro, it's going to be okay."Jason's breathing was labored, and Kimberly didn't know what to do. She had known on some level that being a Ranger could lead to serious injury or even death. But she had always thought that Jason would be fine. He was the best of them, after all. The strongest, the leader. She couldn't stand to think that he could be hurt. If something happened to him, than how was she supposed to function as a Ranger? She wasn't even half the fighter that he was. He was the rock that held them together, their leader. "Jason," Zack was still pleading. "C'mon, man, don't do this. You can't die on us." Billy was standing over Jason, waving some sort of medical device over Jason that Kimberly would swear was out of that weird scifi television show that her father used to watch. Kimberly watched Billy's face, wondering when he was going to have that moment where he figured out how to use science to save the day, just like he always did. Instead, she saw the exact moment when Billy realized that he didn't have an answer. Jason's breathing grew steadily worse, and Zack still hadn't let go of his hand, while Trini knelt by him. Jason kept trying to speak, but no sound came from his throat. All they could do was watch until Jason's eyes closed and his labored breathing stopped completely.It couldn't have been more than a few minutes since they had found and rescued Jason, and now he was gone. He was actually dead.