Chapter 21

When Rita heard Tommy call himself Bones, she grinned so widely, her lips nearly cracked.

“Don’t deny it!” she said. “It’s happening! You know it; I know it! You’re starting to think you are Bones! Pretty soon, all the Rangers will forget who they are!”

Eyes wide, the Yellow Ranger turned to Tommy.

“Is what she’s saying true?” she asked in Skull’s high-pitched voice. “Unless we change back, I’ll start to believe that I’m . . . Eugene Skullovitch?”

Tommy nodded. “I heard Baboo say the same thing when they had me imprisoned at the Moon Palace,” he said. “It’s a side effect of the mind swap.”

Even as he spoke, the little voice inside of him insisted, “You are Bones!”

No! I’m not! he thought.

“Are too!” the voice said.

“No!” Tommy said out loud, falling to his knees.

Seeing his struggle, the Yellow Ranger and the Red Ranger knelt at his side. They wanted desperately to help their friend, but weren’t sure what they could do.

“We can’t even ask Zordon for help!” the Red Ranger said. “Our communicators, our Power Coins, everything is with our original bodies!”

Bones scratched his helmet. “Hmm. This is most interesting. Does that mean I’ll start to think I’m a Power Ranger?” he asked.

“No, numbskull!” Rita said, scowling. “It only happens to humans, not monsters! Now hurry up and attack those rotten Ranger teens while they’re confused, or I’ll start to think you’re a complete idiot!”

“Of course,” Bones said. Raising the Dragon Dagger, he went for them.

Seeing him coming, the Red Ranger said, “Remember, we’re still Power Rangers!”

“Got it!” the Yellow Ranger said, nodding.

Rather than run away or hold their ground, they both raced at Bones, planning to meet his attack halfway, but the untrained bodies of Skull and Bulk were sluggish and difficult to move.

A charging Bones laughed at their bravado. “You may be Rangers on the inside,” he said. “But I’m bad to the bone!”

At the last instant, two pink-and-white gloved hands reached up from the debris and grabbed the ankle of the false Green Ranger.

“What?” Bones said. He went crashing forward, trying to kick himself free of the Pink Ranger’s grip. But she held on tight, using the momentum of his fall to pull herself out.

Her helmet-communicator working again, the Pink Ranger said, “Trip or treat!”

Seeing the chance the Pink Ranger had given him, the Red Ranger leaped toward the fallen Bones. Bulk’s heavy body landed flat on their foe, the weight forcing the air from his chest.

“Ungh!” Bones said, gasping. “And here . . . I’m not used to breathing . . . at all!”

As the false Green Ranger fought to get the Red Ranger off of him, the Yellow Ranger grabbed Bones’s sword arm. Knowing the right pressure points, even in Skull’s body, she was able to twist the arm hard enough to make Bones drop the Dragon Dagger.

“We haven’t won yet,” the Red Ranger said as he worked to keep Bones down. “I can’t hold him for long like this, and more Skeleton Warriors are pouring in!”

Tommy was still on his knees, so the Yellow Ranger took his arm and tried to get him to his feet. “You’ve got to help us!” she said.

But Tommy was struggling and, it seemed, losing the battle.

“No, you don’t!” the voice said. “Help Rita!”

“Who do I help? Who . . . am . . . I?” Tommy said.

Watching his pained efforts, the Pink Ranger immediately used her wrist-communicator to contact the Command Center.

“Zordon!” she said. “The Green Ranger is stuck in Bones’s body and losing his identity. How can we help him?”

The ancient sage’s voice responded calmly, as always, but didn’t offer much hope.

“We have been watching, but there is nothing Alpha 5 and I can do from here,” Zordon said. “I am proud that you all understand that being a Ranger is more about who you are inside than it is about power. I can feel Tommy fighting to remember that, but the effect of the mind swap is strong. He needs us now more than ever. The only chance is for you to help him hold on to who he is.”

“I think I understand,” the Pink Ranger said.

Dodging the oncoming Skeleton Warriors, she picked up the fallen Dragon Dagger and threw it.

It clattered to the floor in front of Tommy.

“Take it!” the Pink Ranger said. “It’s yours!”

Tommy shook his head. “I can’t use the Dragon Dagger!” he said. “It belongs to the Green Ranger! And I’m not . . .”

“You are!” the Pink Ranger said. “You are the Green Ranger! I believe in you, and I know you believe in yourself! I’ve seen it in a hundred fights. You just have to find that strength and use it!”

“Do it!” the Red Ranger said, as he fought to keep Bones pinned.

“We know you can!” the Yellow Ranger said.

Tommy looked up. Jason and Trini had the faces of Bulk and Skull, and he couldn’t see Kimberly’s face behind her helmet, but he felt the fierce friendship and loyalty in their voices.

If they believe in me, Tommy thought, Who am I to give up?

“No!” the little voice said. “You are Bones! Bones! It’s time to conquer the humans!”

Bolstered by the faith of his teammates, Tommy said, “No one can tell me who I am. No one really knows, except for me and my friends!”

He picked up the Dragon Dagger and proudly stood, ready to fight.