"Morph?" "Yes - metamorphosis!" "That means 'to change'." Kim, Billy and Trini in "Day of the Dumpster"

Prologue
Lord Zedd was bored out of his bone-structurally-challenged skull. He had no idea what to do on this weekend, what monster to send to Earth that hadn't been overused a hundred times on different planets, what havoc to create for his hated foes ... in short, what to do about the Rangers. He'd figuratively cudgelled his exposed brain for days, just keeping up appearances by a Putty attack or two, but nothing, absolutely nothing came to mind that would help him defeat Zordon's brats. What spell hadn't he used, what means could he employ to destroy the Rangers in whichever way possible and win for once?

He didn't know. The Evil Being snorted. "A fine state of affairs," he muttered to himself. "Defeated by a bunch of children! Just what I accused that hag Rita of doing!"

Quickly, he looked around for his sidekicks. Thankfully, his personal Chamber was empty - it wouldn't do for Goldar or any of the others to learn how much this was bothering him. Zedd glowered, lighting up the immediate vicinity of his throne with a malevolent red shimmer.

"Something needs to be done!" Exasperated, the moon's ruler jumped up and strode towards his balcony overlooking the blue planet only one astronomical unit away. "I wonder what those High School Have-Beens are up to now? And if I can't use their activities against them?" He turned on his distant-vision, training his visor on Angel Grove. "Bah! Bo-o-rrr-ring!" Jason and Zack were practising their karate at the Youth Center, Billy and Trini were at the Cranstons' house, noses buried in the Blue Ranger's notes on his latest experiment, and Kimberly and Tommy ...

"Aah ... now that might prove interesting!" Grinning maliciously, Lord Zedd settled down to watch the tallest and the tiniest members of Zordon's Ranger team. The sight was maybe not suitable to show him the way to their destruction, but nevertheless, it should be a nice diversion. "I just hope you're going to put on a good show for me, Tommy-boy," he muttered. "I hadn't even realized you knew what to do with what you've got! And practically in public, too!" Zedd smirked lecherously behind his metal face grille as he perched comfortably on the balcony's railing, his hidden eyes never wavering from what he'd found. He was so absorbed, he didn't notice his four henchmen file into his throne room one after the other.

It was a warm summer evening; the sun had already set behind the mountains and the first stars were coming out, casting their mellow light on the Pink and White Ranger as they sat on a somewhat secluded bench in the park, kissing with gentle passion.

Tommy was leaning against the backrest, one arm supporting his petite girlfriend as she snuggled into his chest. Kim had swung her shapely legs up on the seat and was sitting almost at right angles to him, draped across his lap. Her hands were buried in his long hair and he sighed with pleasure as her lips caressed him, dusting tiny little kisses all over his face before she returned to his mouth. They felt so incredibly soft!

"Mmmmh, Kim," Tommy moaned as Kimberly explored his mouth with her own, twining her tongue gently with his. He couldn't resist the temptation and slipped deeper between her lips, thrusting softly into the wet warmth and calling forth an answering sound that sent his senses reeling. The White Ranger lost himself in the heat of the moment, feeling Kim do the same as her nicely-toned body became pliant in his arms. He pulled her even closer.

For her part, Kim was content to follow where Tommy led; she had missed him so while he'd been away at his uncle's cabin, recovering from the final loss of the Green Ranger Powers. Now that he was back, she was more in love with him than ever before, and she thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Tommy had seemed to miss her just as much. His kisses certainly were telling their own story! A part of her thrilled to his gentle possessiveness, but deep down, a feeling of uncertainty remained, fueled by her own insecurities and fears - and her mother's admonitions and warnings. Kim silenced that nagging little voice as she gave herself up to the sensations Tommy produced in her.

The two teenagers parted for breath after long minutes, and Kim smiled lovingly into Tommy's brown eyes as he traced her features with a calloused fingertip. She playfully nipped at the questing digit as it passed over her kiss-swollen lips, and Tommy's soft chuckle echoed in her ear as he bent once more to capture her mouth with his. She sighed in contentment, twining her arms around his neck and settling more comfortably against his strong chest. Tommy kissed her a bit more demandingly, and Kim gave in, all her attention focused on the taste and feel of his lips and tongue as they explored her mouth.

Tommy felt his senses spinning out of control as Kim arched against him, her soft breasts pressing into his chest. Almost without conscious thought, his right hand which was still cupping her cheek began to wander down the slender column of Kim's throat, caressing the soft skin with featherlight touches, circling a fingertip in the hollow of her throat just as his tongue was circling softly around its counterpart. When the only response was a deeper sigh, the young man became more daring, venturing further and further down until he reached the scoop neck of Kim's blouse, tracing the swell of her breasts with his hand.

The Pink Ranger drew in deep lungfuls of air as her mouth was released from the drugging kiss; it was almost too much what Tommy was doing to her! Finally she was able to drag her eyes open. She looked up; against the gathering darkness, she couldn't see much, but the affection and desire in Tommy's brown eyes were unmistakeable. Kim became aware of where exactly Tommy's hand was, and her breath hitched in her throat. The slight brushing of his fingertips against her sensitive skin sent pleasant chills down her spine, and Kim felt her nipples contract and her womanly core getting moist.

"Kim?"

Tommy's voice was slightly raspy, but Kim thought she knew where that came from; she suspected her own would resemble a squeak more than anything else, were she to try and speak.

"Kimberly?"

She knew what Tommy was asking, and gave her permission with a slight nod. Both teens sighed in a mixture of relief and arousal as Tommy very carefully closed his hand over one soft mound, testing the warm weight through the fabric of her blouse and bra. Still, there was no way he could miss the throbbing little knot of hardened tissue that pressed against his palm.

"Oh Tommy," the girl sighed as he gently pinched her nipple while those wonderfully warm lips wandered down her neck, leaving a trail of moisture in their wake. She relaxed under Tommy's relatively unskilled caresses; Kim knew that he'd never been with a girl before, and a part of her thrilled at the thought that it was she who tempted this strong, controlled young man to lower his barriers to such an extent that he would let her feel his own excitement. Kim had never let another boy take as many liberties with her person as she had Tommy, and hazily she wondered why it should feel so right, but all thought fled as Tommy licked gently across her cleavage, delving briefly into the valley between her breasts before he closed his lips gently over the aching peak.

Kim felt him wet the thin material of her blouse with his tongue, and the lace she wore underneath suddenly became scratchy and uncomfortable. Moaning softly, Kim pressed her boyfriend's head deeper into her bosom, squirming as she felt herself get hotter ... and wetter. Just as Tommy bit very carefully into the throbbing kernel of flesh and slipped his hand up her thigh towards her hiked-up skirt, Kim became aware that the ridge pulsating against her hip had to be Tommy's erection ... and reality came crashing in. Suddenly afraid of her own feelings, every reason against doing what had felt so incredibly good only moments before raised their heads, and reluctantly Kimberly touched Tommy's cheek.

"Don't."

The softly-spoken word didn't really register at first, but the stiffening of the sexy body he held in his arms did; unwilling and unbelieving, Tommy raised his head from his delectable feast to look into his girlfriend's eyes.

"What's wrong, Kim? Am I hurting you?"

"N-no. Tommy, please ...."

The White Ranger closed his mouth over Kim's, once more hefting the soft swell he'd caressed before while his thumb flicked repeatedly over the hardened tip. He felt more than heard her moan and smiled to himself, proud that he could make Kim feel so good. However, when he released the sweet lips, her next words wiped the smile completely off his face.

"Tommy, stop. Please."

Bewildered, he let his hand glide off the tempting mound, straightening in his seat and pulling Kim closer.

"Why, Beautiful? Was something wrong?"

"No; oh, Tommy, that felt sooo wonderful," Kim gushed somewhat embarrassedly, but determined to reassure her boyfriend.

"Then ... why? You know I wouldn't hurt you for the world!"

"I know that. It .... it's just ... I'm not ready for that yet, I guess," Kim confessed, blushing slightly. "I ... it's not that I don't want to, or that I don't like what you're doing to me, it's more like I can't. At least not yet."

Sighing, Tommy drew Kim's head against his shoulder. He was achingly hard; although he knew that probably nothing serious would have happened, he'd hoped that he might explore Kim's body, and that she would have touched him in return. He was excited enough that even a few fleeting strokes through his pants and underwear would've been sufficient to bring him off. Apparently, it wasn't going to come to that, though. However, there was no question at all of not honoring Kim's feelings. If she wasn't ready to go beyond heavy petting, that was simply that. Loosening his embrace somewhat, Tommy mentally ran through a couple of mantras and a basic breathing exercise to calm himself down.

Sensing what he was doing, Kim sat up, reluctantly disentangling herself from Tommy's arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a small voice, her own frustrated desires making her a little bit weepy.

"Hey, there's nothing you have to apologize for," Tommy soothed. "If you're not ready, that's that. I'm not going to lie to you - I want nothing more right now than to peel that top off of you and take your breast in my mouth or have you touch me, but you know I'd never force you, don't you?"

Kimberly blushed fiercely at Tommy's bold words, but she knew she could trust her boyfriend.

"I know. Maybe .... maybe next time?" she ventured hesitantly.

"Maybe," Tommy agreed, his voice husky with lingering arousal and emotion. He kissed Kim leisurely, but held back; if he let himself go too far, he wasn't sure he could stop himself again. When their mouths parted, he kissed her temple, then smiled into the doe eyes.

"Why don't I take you home? It's almost your curfew anyway, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kim admitted, a little bit angry at her temerity now that the immediate situation was past and her own arousal had subsided somewhat. She was relieved to see, however, that Tommy looked just as warmly at her as usual. Apparently he really wasn't angry; a little bit disappointed perhaps, but well, so was she. Hand in hand, the two teens made their leisurely way through the darkened park to Tommy's car and to the Hart residence, where they used the remaining time until Kim had to be inside for a very long, involved good night ritual.

Disgustedly, Lord Zedd turned away from the balcony of his lunar palace. He had just watched the accursed White Ranger masturbate in the shower, seeking solitary relief from his own hand since his girlfriend wouldn't give him what he so obviously craved.

"That nauseatingly noble fool! He has the Pink Ranger alone, aroused and ripe for plucking, and just because the little girl thinks she's 'not ready', he lets her go! Stupid! He should've just taken her when he had the chance -- any real man would have! But that's Zordon's brats for you - always honoring others' desires, never just reaching for what should be theirs by right of strength and might. Bah!"

The Master of Evil stomped through his throne room, muttering angrily to himself. He remembered well the time when he had wanted to make the Pink Ranger his Queen - and that hadn't just been because she was a strong and courageous fighter, or because her disappearance from the ranks of the Rangers would have weakened the team of young heroes. No, if truth be told, Zedd had entertained some very detailed fantasies about beautiful Kimberly, all involving her willing or not-so-willing submission to his lust. Her consent wouldn't have mattered, anyway - the evil monarch had ways and means to ensure compliance in his partners, until they craved his attentions of their own accord. And the Pink Ranger's passionate nature would have made taking and destroying her innocence that much sweeter.

Zedd scowled behind his visor, glowering at his henchmen who skulked in the background. His skin was glowing faintly red, a sure sign that he was agitated, and all four of them knew better than to approach their master now.

*If that bumbling fool Goldar hadn't screwed up the spell, luscious Kimberly could by now be warming my bed instead of stringing the White Ranger along!*

Which brought him back to what he had just watched so avidly, only to be disappointed. Due to Tommy's ethics, he was even deprived of vicariously enjoying Kimberly's taking. Glowering, Zedd flung himself into his chair, drumming his metal-tipped fingers on an armrest.

"That bloody idiot should have joined me when he had the chance! I'd have made a true Man, a mighty Warrior of him, someone who takes what is his!" Zedd reiterated, still angry and frustrated at being thwarted. "He's no man! And I wish there was a way I could prove that to him and the rest of the Power Pipsqueaks! Maybe that would be enough to bring them down at last!"

"Maybe there is a way, my Master," an unctuous voice could be heard from the door.

"What?" Lord Zedd whirled around to glare at whoever had dared to speak uninvited. To his surprise, it was Baboo, who cowered before him, but for once with a crafty leer on his usually rather vapid face."What did you say?" Zedd demanded, curtly beckoning the stubby-winged henchbeast forward. He'd inherited the fawning bootlicker from Rita and only kept him around for mostly menial tasks, but in his present mood he didn't really care. Baboo hesitantly approached the granite-carved throne and looked somewhat anxiously at the malevolent ruler.

"I ... I might know of a way to show the Rangers that Tommy is not a 'real man', my Lord," he fawned. "In fact, I may be able to change him so he isn't a man at all anymore ..."

Zedd sat up, suddenly more than interested. He generally didn't put too much store in Baboo's abilities, but this was at least worth listening to. Mentally reviewing what he knew about the blue-furred alien, he remembered that in his heyday, before he had come to serve Rita, Baboo had been a gifted alchemist, brewing up the most delightfully evil potions for the various masters he'd served over the centuries. Even under Rita's inept leadership, he had succeeded once in turning two of the Rangers into nicely nasty punks, alienating them from their friends. If only Zordon hadn't known about the deandra flowers ....! Well, that was water under the bridge, as the Humans would say. Maybe there was something to Baboo's claim, maybe there wasn't, but it certainly couldn't hurt to let the fool talk. Besides, any plan to hurt, maim or cripple the accursed Power Rangers had to be better than no plan, right?

"What did you have in mind, cretin?" Zedd growled, unwilling to give away too much interest. "This had better be good!" he added warningly, for good measure.

"Yes, Master," Baboo simpered, casting a cautiously triumphant look at Goldar, who just scowled back. "Humans are a race with a double set of 23 chromosomes, making a total of 46. Each half comes from one parent - with both the mother and father supplying one set each. They combine randomly at the moment of conception, to form a new being, which therefore is a conglomeration, a mixture of genes from two differing backgrounds," Baboo explained.

"I'm not interested in a biology lesson, idiot!" Zedd bellowed impatiently. Really, why did he have to be saddled with these bumbling fools? "What has that got to do with destroying the damned White Ranger?"

Baboo swallowed hard.

"Master, only two of these 46 chromosomes determine gender. A female has a double X chromosome, a male a combination of one X and one Y chromosome each. So, only the Y chromosome makes a male ...."

"And?" The Ruler of the Moon Palace asked, equally bored and impatient.

"I have a supply of sha'nach herbs from the planet Muralis in my possession. If we could somehow make the White Ranger swallow a potion distilled of them - and some very interesting additives - it would leech the Y chromosome out of his very cells. Left with only one X chromosome, he would either die ... or, if you were to blast him with a slightly modified energy beam during battle, it would reduplicate the remaining gender-determining chromosome ...."

"...and turn Tommy into a girl!" Zedd cackled gleefully, catching on. "Excellent! I like it! Let's see the Power Puffs deal with having a girl as their almighty leader! I bet that arrogant Red Ranger, Jason, would just love that!"

Rubbing his hands in anticipation, Zedd leaned back on his throne, when a thought occurred to him.

"What about an antidote? And what if Zordon can detect the potion?"

"To my knowledge, there is only one way to reverse the effect of sha'nach," Baboo declared, an unholy gleam in his eyes. There was in fact another way instead of what he was going to suggest, but it was so highly unlikely and unusual, forbidden even on the plants' planet of origin, and given the peculiar sensibilities of most Humans ... no, Baboo decided, his Master wouldn't need to know about such a solution. "If we were to wait a short period for the potion to take effect - no more than an hour or two at most - before blasting Tommy with the modified energy beam, it will make the herbs undetectable to standard scans until it's quite too late. And it takes a large amount of Y chromosomes extracted from another male of the same species to reverse the process, once it's complete. The only way, determined by the masters who taught me, of getting to those chromosomes is by taking them from a living specimen - stimulating the appropriate gonads and then cutting them off, to be boiled down and distilled into a solution that then will have to be injected in the tissue surrounding the reproductive organs of the altered male."

"Are you sure it has to be off a live male?" Zedd grinned behind his visor, seeing how this might actually work.

"Yes, Your Evil Lordship; the chromosome-bearing cells have to be viable to work at all."

"Brilliant! Those stupid fools will never mutilate another just to serve their own needs! Their precious 'honor' forbids it. And that means, goodbye Tommy, welcome Thomasina!" Zedd laughed, the sinister sound echoing around the vast chamber. "Get to it, Baboo! Make me that potion, and we'll finally have found a way to destroy the oh-so-pure White Ranger!"

Zedd walked to the balcony once more, looking down to Earth and seeking out Kimberly, asleep in her solitary, virginal bed.

"There will be no 'next time' for you and your precious Tommy, my pet," he all but purred. "You should have taken your chance for getting laid by him when it was within your grasp. Soon, it will be too late - for both of you!"

Chuckling to himself, the skinless Lord of Evil ordered Finster to adjust Goldar's sword into the energy weapon needed to complete his scheme and retired to his rooms, to contemplate the downfall of the White Ranger. 

It was ridiculously easy for the denizens of the moon to divert the Rangers' attention the next Friday afternoon while they were hanging out at the Youth Center; a brief Putty attack, perfectly timed, called the team outside, and while the six teens took care of business with their usual efficiency, a disguised clay figure poured Baboo's nearly tasteless potion into Tommy's soda. The White Ranger didn't notice a thing as he thirstily downed his drink after their return; he only grimaced a bit as he emptied his glass.

"Something wrong?" Billy queried, noticing the slightly distasteful expression on the new team leader's face.

"Nah, it's nothing," Tommy dismissed his friend's concern. "I just hadn't realized this had gone so flat. Tastes a bit weird, is all. Guess I'd better stick to smoothies from now on."

"I hear you, man," Zack sighed overly dramatically. The others laughingly concurred, having had to cope with exactly the same problem more times than they cared to remember.

"You all packed for our camping trip tomorrow, Bro?" Jason idly asked his best friend as the Rangers relaxed once more into animated chatter.

"Sure," Tommy replied. "Since my folks are going out of town tonight, my mom insisted I get everything ready, except for the foodstuffs. But I can have those stowed within half an hour."

"Man, I wish we could all go," Zack said a bit enviously. "This would be such a great opportunity ... what with school closing down for three days next week, we'd have those and the whole weekend! But since my parents are taking this chance to visit my uncle in St. Louis ...." he shrugged. Truth to tell, the Black Ranger would've had a hard time deciding what he preferred, but since the choice wasn't his to make, he could grouse without feeling too bad about it. Besides, he liked his musician relative, and since Curtis would come with them, Zack was sure he was going to have a blast!

"What about the rest of you?" Jason offered generously after a brief exchange of looks with Tommy. "You're quite welcome to join us."

"I'm sorry to have to decline also," Billy demurred. "The Young Scientists of America Association are expecting members' contributions for the quarterly newsletter, and recent events have prevented me from typing up my article. This time off is exactly what I need to put the finishing touches on it."

"After all the hard work you put into getting into the club, I can understand why you wouldn't want to let them down," Jason readily agreed. The six friends all remembered how devastated Billy had been after almost failing to qualify.

"What about you, ladies?" he turned to the Pink and Yellow Rangers. Kim made a funny face at the suggestion.

"I'd love to, but my mom's been getting a bit freaky ever since Tommy and I started dating seriously." The petite girl blushed as her eyes met her boyfriend's. They clearly showed a mixture of affection, anxiety and apology, which Tommy understood all too well, mirroring his own jumble of feeling as they did. He wanted a closer, more intimate relationship with Kim and knew she felt the same, but they were both very much aware of how big a step they were contemplating - and neither was quite sure if now was the right time for them.

"She won't let me go away overnight on things like that with you guys anymore. As if Tommy and I would have a chance to do anything with anybody else there!" Kim's frustration and exasperation were all-too-audible in her slightly petulant tone. Tommy thought her pouty expression adorable, and soothingly grasped a slender hand, to lift it against his cheek and caress the back with his thumb.

A slightly embarrassed silence fell briefly around the table; while Kim and Tommy usually were openly affectionate with each other around their friends, they had been rather reticent about more intimate exchanges except in privately shared confidences ... with Trini and Jason respectively.

To break the suddenly sexually charged mood, Trini adopted a comically regretful tone.

"And since Kim isn't allowed to go, I'm not, either. I think my folks are afraid you guys couldn't resist if I tried my womanly wiles on you!" She exaggeratedly batted her eyelashes at the boys.

The resultant snickers were exactly what Trini had hoped for. She was not normally so suggestive, but ever since Kim and Tommy had become a couple, there had been some kind of ... awareness ... among the Rangers that pulled them even closer ... and at the same time drove them slightly apart. It was as if the teens had suddenly collectively discovered that some members of their tightly-knit little group were of the opposite gender - and quite attractive, to boot. No-one wanted their closeness and friendship marred by acting on these sudden attractions, however, so they sought outlets for their bubbling hormones elsewhere. Richie and Angela were the primary beneficiaries of this circumstance, and even the Blue Ranger had been known to comment on one or the other attractive female schoolmate to his friends. The only one seemingly unaffected was Jason, who turned sparkling dark eyes on his best friend and grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, right," the Red Ranger laughed. "As Kim said, even if we wanted suddenly to jump each others' bones, I'd rather do that without an audience!" He waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated leer at both his male and female teammates, cracking them all up.

The six friends turned their attention towards other things then, discussing everything and nothing as usual, until their lively conversation was suddenly interrupted by a familiar six-tone chime. Retiring to a quiet corner in the hallway, Jason checked in with their ancient mentor, beating Tommy to it by a fraction of a second. Smiling his apologies at the new team leader, he lifted his communicator to his mouth.

"We read you, Zordon. What's up?"

"Rangers, Goldar and a band of Putties have appeared in the park, near the playground. You must make sure they will not harm any innocent citizens."

"Got it. We're on our way!" Tommy grinned as Jason assumed command out of habit. He didn't mind too much; he wasn't quite comfortable with the way Zordon had handed the Rangers' leadership to him, although Jason had assured him it was no big deal. They were friends, he'd said with his customary warm smile and a firm handclasp. Friends followed each other, neither one only leading or following. Tommy was grateful for Jason's acceptance and understanding, feeling that their already-tight friendship became closer still. For the time being, the Red and White Rangers unofficially shared their duties, working together efficiently and well.

A glance was enough, and as one the Rangers teleported out in a rainbow of colored lights. Once in the park, they quickly spotted the golden-armored henchmonster, and started to fight the clay hordes. It soon became obvious that this attack was much more serious than the previous one, and on a shouted order from Tommy, the Rangers morphed into their uniforms, battling on with greater strength and ability.

"Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling there's no real point to this?" Zack asked the air in general as he dispatched of three Putties in succession with perfectly-executed snap kicks.

"This is indeed almost too easy," Billy agreed, neatly backflipping over another of Zedd's footsoldiers. "It seems as if they were just trying to draw us out."

"Yeah, but why?" Kim huffed as a well-placed elbow to the Z spot shattered one more Putty. "Couldn't they just leave us alone for once? We already had our daily dose of claybrains earlier today!"

"I'm sure Jason and Tommy don't agree," the Yellow Ranger commented, slamming a grey chittering creature into a tree and drawing her friends' attention to a furious display of excellent swordsmanship between the two remaining Rangers and the winged monster. Even so, the fight had an aura of unreality to it, as if Goldar was waiting for .... something. Nevertheless, he was dodging and parrying both Jason's Power Sword and Tommy's Saba with amazing skill. Neither of the three fighters could gain the upper hand, until Jason stumbled over a patch of torn-up turf. He regained his footing almost immediately, but it gave Goldar the opening he needed. He sprang back, out of Saba's reach, and leveled the tip of his sword against Tommy's white-uniformed figure.

"Take this, White Ranger! With compliments from Lord Zedd!"

Before Tommy could react, a beam of virulent green energy hit him full force, and he was thrown back several yards. Kim's shriek of "TOMMY!!" mingled with Jason's bellow of rage, Tommy's moan of pain and Goldar's raucous laughter as he teleported away with the remaining Putties. Almost as soon as it had begun, the fight was over, leaving five worried Rangers gathered around their fallen leader.

"Let's get to the Command Center, guys," Jason ordered curtly, slipping an arm under Tommy's shoulders.

As soon as the teens reformed in their hidden command post, Jason powered down and quickly removed Tommy's helmet. He felt a rush of relief as the brown eyes opened and looked at him somewhat dazedly.

"I'm okay, guys," the White Ranger assured his anxious friends, demorphed and scrambled to his feet. He smiled as Kimberly wormed her way under his arm, gazing worriedly into her boyfriend's face.

"Are you sure, Tommy? That energy beam hit you full force."

"I'm fine, Beautiful," Tommy stated once more, but he didn't object when Alpha and Billy insisted on doing a full body scan, just to be on the safe side. It turned up nothing more serious than slight exhaustion and somewhat elevated synapse activity - a phenomenon that the Rangers had dubbed 'MBS' a long time ago as an acronym for 'morph-and-battle-syndrome'. It was something they were all subject to after summoning their Powers, and it usually cleared up within a couple of hours.

"Well, looks like you're really okay," the Blue Ranger summarized their findings as he stowed the portable scanner back into its holding place. "Zordon, you're positive there was no spell energy in Goldar's blast? The color was quite unusual."

"Yeah; I've never seen such a sick shade of green in my life," Kimberly shuddered. She hugged Tommy once more, who gladly returned her embrace.

"Maybe old Monkey-Face wasn't feeling too well and his color was a bit off," he joked lamely, eliciting groans from all of his friends.

"You have to be okay, or you wouldn't be making such sick jokes," Jason decided, to louder groans mingled with reluctant laughter. "C'mon, guys - if there's nothing else going on, we might as well go back." The former team leader looked a question at their mentor, but Zordon just smiled a bit wistfully at his young charges and sent them on their way with admonitions to Tommy to report in immediately if he felt any aftereffects of the energy blast. The Eltarian had a suspicion that all wasn't as fine as it appeared, but since the routine scans had showed nothing .....

"Alpha, maybe we'd better schedule a more in-depth examination of Tommy's condition for tomorrow. It never hurts to be careful."

"I'll prepare the scanners right away, Zordon," the little android replied. "Ai-yi-yi, I hope Lord Zedd is not trying to put Tommy under a spell again," he sighed as he started to bustle away.

"Are you sure you're okay, Bro?" Jason worriedly asked Tommy as he noticed his friend's slightly pained expression for the third or fourth time. Tommy wasn't moving with his customary fluid grace, but seemed unusually distracted, as if he was listening inside himself for .... what?

"Yeah, worrywart." Tommy grinned as he dabbed at his sweat-streaked face, neck and shoulders with a towel. He nevertheless couldn't suppress a sigh as he sat down next to the Red Ranger to finish his smoothie and sandwich. The two boys had worked out some and wanted to cool down before hitting the showers.

"I'm just a bit achy all over. It's as if I'm getting the flu, or something - you know the feeling?"

"Do I ever," Jason admitted. "Man, when that bug hit me last spring, I cheerfully wanted to die for a couple of days. That's how you feel?"

"Sorta. Maybe Goldilocks was sick after all, and passed whatever bug bit him on to me!"

The Red Ranger groaned.

"I'm not gonna sit here and listen to your sick humor all night," he said with a slight smirk. "Come on, if we want to get an early start into the mountains tomorrow, we'd better call it a night." In a gesture that had become almost second nature to both of them, he firmly squeezed Tommy's shoulder and let his concern for his best friend show briefly in his night-dark eyes. Tommy touched the back of the warm hand fleetingly and smiled his thanks, grateful as always to have found a friendship like this with his one-time rival.

"Right. I just hope Zedd is gonna leave us alone for once."

"If not, we're only a communicator call away," Jason commented dismissively as they gathered their belongings. "Even if it's going to be hard to reach us in the mountains because of this stupid interference problem Billy couldn't lick yet, I'm still going to take mine along."

"I thought we wanted to have a true off-duty trip?"

The former team leader shrugged. "I'm not going to wear it, just ..."

"Just in case, you mean?"

"Uh huh."

"Right. Good thinking."

The two young men joked and bantered with each other through their showers and made their way to their respective homes, awash with anticipation for their five-day camping trip the next morning. They had planned to take Tommy's car to a campground/parking lot in the State Forest and hike from there to a more secluded location, for once really 'roughing it' with only a small tent, sleeping bags and a camp stove; water would come from a nearby stream Jason had fished in with his uncle a few weeks before. Both readied their backpacks and as much food as they thought they'd need, Jason leaving his right next to the front door and Tommy stowing his already into the trunk of his car. Then, both went to bed, storing energy for their trip.

Tommy spent a restless night tossing and turning in his bed, but never quite waking up. The persistent ache in his body seemed to crest, then subside during the wee hours of the night, and the White Ranger finally sank into a deep sleep, only to be yanked rudely awake by the insistent shrill of his alarm clock. Silencing the blaring sound, Tommy briefly buried his head under his pillows, terribly tempted to just roll over and go back to sleep. However, he knew that Jason was not above teleporting over and throwing a glass of ice water into his face if he didn't get his butt into gear, so ....

Muttering sleepily to himself about the idiocy of getting up at the crack of dawn (at seven o'clock, it was hardly that, but Tommy didn't much care; he was tired, and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and dream about Kim some more) and the stubbornness of best friends with the ability to talk a person into actually agreeing to getting up at said ungodly hour, the long-haired teen pulled his tee over his head and flung it haphazardly back into his room as he padded out into the hallway, leaving him clad only in a pair of old green boxers that had long been relegated to sleepwear.

Only marginally awake, Tommy passed the open door of the master bedroom on his way to the bathroom. Out of the corner of his still half-shut eyes, he noted with appreciation the reflection of a half-naked girl in the full-length dresser mirror.

*She certainly looks good enough, even fresh out of bed,* he thought, feeling both a twinge of purely masculine appreciation at the sight of sleep-mussed, long brown hair and full, swaying breasts and of slight guilt towards his petite girlfriend, who looked nothing like the tall girl he'd just seen in his parents' bedroom. Suddenly, Tommy jerked to a full stop, all senses alert and quite awake now.

*Waitaminute... there's no-one in the house but me ... I don't even know someone who looks like that, much less someone who would walk around here naked ... dressed only in ... green ... shorts ...*

Filled with a terrible sense of dread, Tommy retraced his last couple of steps, pausing at the open door. He dared not glance down his own body, desperately wanted not to look inside and face the mirror, but knew that he had to. His heart was racing and his mouth was dry as the White Ranger drew a deep, fortifying breath, closed his eyes and stepped around the corner into the sunlit room. Tommy could feel the warming rays of the morning sun on his naked chest as he just stood there for a few moments, gathering his courage. Opening his eyes again was the hardest thing he'd ever done, even harder than facing the Rangers after Jason had broken Rita's original spell over him, or screwing up his courage to kiss Kimberly for the first time, but he made himself do it. Staring at his reflection in the polished silver surface for a long, long time, only one thought beat in Tommy's mind ...

"Oh. My. God."

The Rangers teleported in to the Command Center one by one, mostly still in various stages of sleepwear. Only Jason and Zack were fully dressed, since both were ready to leave on their respective trips within the next couple of hours.

They looked around curiously, not knowing what to think since for once the monster alarms weren't blaring, nor was the Viewing Globe activated. Tommy stood with his back to them, dressed not for hiking like Jason, but in soft grey sweats and a loose white t-shirt. He was gripping the edge of a console with both hands and his head was bowed - a posture that made Kim and Jason exchange worried glances.

"What's up, Zordon? Is it Zedd again?" Jason tried not to let his sudden sense of unease show in his voice.

"Not this time, Rangers," the Interdimensional Being intoned solemnly. "Or more precisely, he has already done his damage."

"What has Radiator Face done now?" Kim asked exasperatedly, slightly miffed that Tommy hadn't come to her to greet her yet, nor even acknowledged her presence.

"This," a soft contralto voice said, at the same time strange and eerily familiar. Drawing a deep breath into his suddenly starved lungs, Tommy turned around and faced his fellow Rangers.

"Oh. My. God."

Later, nobody could have said who had uttered the exclamation, precisely mirroring Tommy's earlier reaction. The Rangers stared slack-jawed at the altered appearance of the White Ranger. While still tall and slim, with shoulder-length mahogany locks and chocolate eyes, there were a lot of subtle changes that signalled quite clearly that the person standing before them definitely was not the Tommy they knew - and yet he was. Gone were the smooth muscles and angular features, the hard, defined chest and deeply-bronzed skin. In their stead, the five teens saw a tall girl with a knockout figure, slender but with generous curves in all the right places; a face that was striking rather than pretty and skin that was tanned a lighter shade than they were used to and looked incredibly soft. There was still a sense of easy strength about the changed Ranger, but it was more subdued, Yin to its former Yang, exuding soft femininity where before Tommy had been all male.

Kim was the first to react. Wide-eyed with shock, she stepped up to her boyfriend and stared helplessly into his eyes. The expression she read there was all-too familiar, and convinced her as nothing else could have done that this girl was indeed Tommy. Tears flooded her eyes as she hesitantly placed a hand on the White Ranger's chest, jerking back as if stung when her palm met not hard muscles, but the soft swell of unbound breasts.

"Oh God, Tommy - what has Zedd done to you?" she choked, torn between wanting to throw herself into his arms and between distancing herself from this new person. She stayed where she was, close, but not touching. Her hesitancy didn't go unnoticed, and the flash of hurt in Tommy's eyes finally let her tears overflow.

"I ... I'm sorry, Tommy," Kim sobbed. "I ... I want to hug you, I really do, but ... but this is just too weird!"

"I understand, Beautiful," Tommy murmured, reaching out in a familiar gesture to caress Kim's cheek and wipe her tears away. He could never stand to see her cry. At his touch, Kimberly's tears came faster; while she recognized the move, it felt all wrong, with Tommy's hand now being so much smaller and more smooth-skinned than she was used to. She tried to smile through her tears, but couldn't pull it off; pain in every line of her body, she blushed fiercely with embarrassment and stepped back, out of Tommy's reach.

"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, then collapsed weeping in Trini's arms.

The three boys had watched the small scene with a growing sense of dismay and outrage. This thing that Zedd had done to the White Ranger disturbed something fundamental within each of them, a sense of self and identity that nothing and nobody had been able to touch so far. It was far more complex than adjusting to the fact that Tommy now apparently was a girl; every one of them still got the familiar feel of Tommy's personality, but to find that his very masculinity had been taken away made them very uncomfortable.

Finally, Jason recovered his wits enough to speak.

"Was it that energy blast from Goldar?"

Zordon sighed; he should have expected that the Red Ranger would cut right through to the heart of the matter. Knowing Jason as he did, the Eltarian was aware that he had to curb his tendency to assume responsibility right now.

"Yes and no, Jason. This latest plan of Lord Zedd to defeat or at least weaken the Rangers apparently was two-fold. Tommy has been given a distillation of Muralisan sha'nach herbs and a variety of other ingredients - a concoction that attacks the very DNA of most humanoid species, specifically the gender-determining parts. Since Earth Humans have diploid chromosomes, it has literally drawn the Y chromosomes out of Tommy's genetic makeup."

Tommy grimaced. "I'd bet anything he put something into my soda," he surmised with sudden insight. "That Putty attack earlier yesterday must have been a diversion to give Zedd the chance to doctor my drink. That's probably also why it tasted so funny."

"If it tasted funny, why did you finish it?" Zack asked reasonably.

"I thought it had just gone flat, and besides, I was thirsty," Tommy shrugged, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

The Rangers digested this information, trying to recall their Human Biology lessons from last term. Nobody was surprised when Billy spoke up first.

"But Zordon, Tommy would not be able to survive with only 45 chromosomes; there have been documented instances of tripled chromosomes - like Down's Syndrome, which is sometimes also called Trisomy 21 - but I know of no case where someone with missing chromosomes was not showing dramatic genetic defects."

"Getting turned into a girl overnight isn't dramatic?" Zack murmured flippantly to Trini, but only got a chiding look in return. He had the grace to blush slightly.

"That's why Lord Zedd also blasted Tommy with a modified energy beam, Rangers," Alpha piped up. "He waited just long enough for the sha'nach to start working, and altered the effect by changing Tommy's Y chromosomes to X ..."

"... and thereby turning him into a genetically correct female," Billy concluded with a sigh, understanding.

"That is correct, Rangers," Zordon's voice boomed through the Command Center.

"But why didn't it show up on the scans, Zordon?" Kim's voice was still watery with her tears, but just knowing there was an explanation for Tommy's transformation made the situation seem not quite so hopeless.

"I would speculate that he has foreseen the possibility and made his potion undetectable to standard examination. We only found out about it when Tommy came here in his altered state and Alpha ran scans on the deepest molecular level."

"Zedd's getting more devious," Tommy remarked somewhat clinically to Jason.

"Yeah; it's way beyond his standard 'Make a monster/blow it up' tactics," the Red Ranger agreed, both leaders starting to think in terms of strategy again now that the first shock was past. On the heels of that came the next question.

"Okay, Zordon - what do we have to do to turn Tommy back?"

"Right; no offense, girls, but I really would like to be me again," Tommy added, smiling at Kim.

"I am afraid it is not that easy, Tommy," Zordon said, his voice laced with regret. "According to our databanks, there is only one known remedy to counteract sha'nach, and that is extraction of a vast amount of viable Y chromosomes off a living member of the same species - in your case another Human male - and saturating your body with them from the inside out, starting with your reproductive organs. There is strong evidence that the same method would effect a reverse metamorphosis in you, changing the artificially-created X chromosome back to Y."

"So we all contribute," Zack shrugged. "That way, no one has to give up too much, and I'm sure Billy can find a way to get 'em into you."

Zordon hated to wipe out the expression of hope that spread across his Chosens' faces, but he had no choice.

"I am sorry, Zack, but it is better - and safer - if it all came from the same person .... and the amount necessary would result either in what is essentially castration, or death for the individual."

"C-castration?" Trini gulped. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the sudden pallor spreading over the face of every male Ranger, including Tommy. Not that she could blame them.

"Yes," Zordon confirmed grimly. Before the ancient sage could go on, Tommy burst forth.

"No way!"

He took a few steps and turned so that he could face both Zordon and his friends.

"I ... I don't want to stay like this, and Heaven knows how we're gonna be able to explain this, but I will not do anything to endanger anyone's life, or do that to any one of you!"

Tommy's voice was hoarse, and there was a somewhat wild look in his brown eyes, but the Rangers heard and accepted the steely determination in his tone. They knew they all shared Tommy's feelings in this.

"Is there no other way, Zordon?" Kimberly asked, desperately fighting to choke back more tears. Crying would help no-one now.

"I know of no other, Rangers. I am sorry." Zordon's voice sounded very final, and for long minutes, the six teens stared wordlessly at each other, while both Kim and Jason touched Tommy reassuringly. The White Ranger smiled at his best friend and girlfriend, grateful for their support, but trying very hard not to give in to his growing desperation. How was he going to explain his metamorphosis to his parents - at school? The secret identities of the team would be placed in jeopardy if his involvement with the Rangers became known, as he was sure it would. And what about his relationship with the Pink Ranger? Despite his being changed into a girl, Tommy had only to look at Kim to know he still was in love with her as much as ever - and he still wanted her. However, he could not, dared not hope that Kim might want him in his altered state. Tommy sighed silently. *Damn Zedd, anyway!*

With a sudden, explosive movement, Billy jumped up from his perch against a console and started to pace, startling everyone.

"This is impossible!" the normally quiet, reserved Blue Ranger exclaimed, exasperated over his own inability to find a solution to Tommy's dilemma. "Rita and Zedd have thrown monsters and spells of every description at us over the last year, and we have always been able to defeat them - not only by using our Powers, or the Zords, but also most importantly by using our brains. There has to be way to help Tommy - we can't just let Zedd win!"

"You're right, Billy," Jason agreed, somewhat surprised that this argument came from the team genius - normally it was he who rallied the others not to give up. "But where do we start?"

The others gathered closer as they looked with renewed hope at their bespectacled friend; it was obvious from his frown and restless movements that his brilliant mind was already hard at work.

"First, we recall everything we've ever learned about Human biology - especially genetics," Billy declared. "Zordon, is there some way we can access the university library for information? I'm afraid our textbooks from school won't go deeply enough into the matter."

"I'll set up a link to their computer system right away, Billy," Alpha piped up, eager to help.

Within a few minutes Billy, Trini and the others were rooting through the information provided, downloading any and all facts that might be helpful into the databanks, where Alpha correlated them into one large file, sorted and cross-referenced. Then, he handed Billy the printout, knowing that the Human would be able to assimilate the really pertinent data much more quickly than an android brain could.

"What's the verdict, Billy?" Tommy asked the Blue Ranger as he watched his friend frown over the sheaf of papers.

"I'm not sure," Billy murmured, still engrossed in checking the results of their efforts. "Biology is not exactly my forte, as you know, but there are certain facts I needed to review to get everything clear in my mind. However, I believe I have found at least some answers." The teen drew a deep breath and waited for the gang to gather around him. Once he had everybody's attention, he summarized the findings.

"Well, we know from what Zordon has told us that Tommy will need a vast amount of Y chromosomes which will have to be extracted from another Human male. That automatically excludes the two of you," he said with an apologetic smile to Trini and Kimberly. The Pink Ranger's eyes filled with tears again and she reached for Tommy's hand, looking up into the still-familiar brown eyes.

"Tommy, I ..." she stammered, too upset to continue.

"Hey, Beautiful, it's okay," the White Ranger soothed. "It's not your fault. I know you'd help me any way you could, if it were possible."

Kim gave Tommy a wobbly smile, but didn't speak; she couldn't trust her voice that far. It was not okay, not by a long shot, although it was sweet of Tommy to say so. The whole bizarreness of the situation was getting to her more than to anybody else, excluding Tommy, of course.

Billy cleared his throat to recall the Rangers' attention to the analysis.

"As I was going to say, since we can't very well involve anyone from the outside, there's only Jason, Zack and myself who are in a position to help Tommy. It shouldn't really matter which one of us actually will donate cells, since no other genetic information except gender-determination will be assimilated. However, the problem remains that we simply cannot extract enough haploid chromosome-bearing cells without destroying the gonads where they are produced."

"I thought Humans had diploid cells?" Zack asked, confused. "Since all our cells carry a double strand of chromosomes ..."

"Not all cells, Zack," Trini answered. "The reproductive cells are haploid, since they combine during conception."

"Reproductive cells?" Kim reiterated. "That would be ... which?" Kim's interest had always been in Botany, not the other aspects of Biology.

"For us, it's the ova," Trini explained. "For men, it's ... sperm." She blushed slightly; despite their close friendship, their carefree banter and the clinical term, it wasn't exactly easy for the Yellow Ranger to discuss this in front of the guys.

The young men blushed as well; it was quite different to study these facts for a test than to talk about them in relation to themselves. Or at least to one of them.

"Sperm is produced within the testicles; while we do have the wherewithal to temporarily increase the production of Y-chromosome-bearing spermata, in the process we would destroy the gonads themselves. The tissue is just too sensitive to withstand the kind of stimulation needed; besides, the process would increase body temperature, and to be viable at all, sperm needs a temperature slightly below normal body heat. Which is why the testicles are situated outside the body cavity, despite being more vulnerable."

Only by adopting his most dry, clinical tone was Billy able to deliver this information without stammering. He still sported a deep flush, though, indicating his embarrassment.

The teens looked at each other helplessly. The situation seemed hopeless .... they had a problem, they even knew what to do to solve it, but they also knew that the solution was one they couldn't implement in good conscience. Tommy's shoulders slumped and he was about to turn away, not to let his friends see the despair in his eyes, but something in Jason's face caught his attention. The Red Ranger's forehead was crunched up in concentration, and he was staring intently at nothing.

"Jase?"

Tommy's voice recalled Jason to his surroundings. Crossing his arms, he began to pace around the Command Center.

"We're overlooking something here," he murmured. "No offense, Billy, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something very simple and obvious we're just not seeing."

"None taken, Jason," the team genius said, intrigued almost against his will. He knew his facts, but he also trusted Jason's instincts. Besides, while Jason was certainly nowhere in his own league intellectually, it was no accident that he was among the six best students in class. He just wasn't that interested in learning for learning's sake, as Billy was, and preferred athletic pursuits to more mentally stimulating activities. If Jason thought they should investigate further, they'd better do so.

"But what?" Zack asked. The Black Ranger was getting slightly nervous; he knew he had to get back to his home soon or he would have to field a lot of uncomfortable questions about his whereabouts from his family if he were not present at departure time. On the other hand, he was unwilling to leave Tommy and his friends hanging if there was something he could do to help.

"What exactly have we got?" Jason asked rhetorically. "Billy, can we just have the bare facts one more time?"

"Sure." Billy thought for a moment. Then, he summarized their conundrum to the barest minimum.

"Tommy needs Y chromosomes, which have to be extracted from the testicles of another living man. We can't extract them by artificial means because we would destroy the organs in the process."

Jason's eyes lit up. "That's it," he exclaimed.

"Huh?" The exclamation came simultaneously from several of the Rangers.

"That's what, Jason?" Billy asked cautiously. He knew that Jason and Tommy were very close and that Jason would do anything to help Tommy ... had his best friend's predicament clouded his judgement?

"You said we can't get to the whatchamacallits ... the sperm ... artificially, right?"

"Right," Billy agreed, still not seeing where Jason was going.

"Well, what about naturally?" The dark-haired teen looked at the Blue Ranger expectantly.

"Naturally? How would you ... oh!" Billy's mouth snapped abruptly shut and he blushed beet-red.

"How's that possible?" Kim wondered, renewed hope in her eyes and voice. Trini shrugged, mystified. The girls looked at the male Rangers and noticed to their astonishment that all of them sported various shades of red on their countenances.

"Billy? Jason?" Trini asked, bewildered. There was no reason she could see, but she would have bet her Zord the guys were ... embarrassed?

"Tommy? What's wrong?" Kim asked her changed boyfriend, as confused as the Yellow Ranger.

Tommy awkwardly cleared his throat. For the life of him, he couldn't meet Kimberly's eyes as he mumbled an explanation the girls had to strain their ears to understand.

"I ... I think he means ... masturbating."

"Wha --- oh!" Kim and Trini colored up as well. The silence among the teens grew to near unbearable proportions until Zordon chose to break it.

"While in theory Jason's solution seems workable, we just don't have the technology to make it happen," he unhappily informed the Rangers. "The genetic material involved is just too susceptible to outward influences, such as even minute changes in temperature. Besides, it is specifically the Y chromosomes which are the most sensitive. If we had more time, we could possibly adapt some of the technology we have at our disposal, but even if we diverted all of the Command Center's resources to this, it would still take several weeks. After that long an interval, Tommy's condition would have become irreversible."

"Well, what if we did it naturally all the way?" Jason asked doggedly. "You said that the genetic material would have to be administered from the inside out anyway ..."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Jason?" Billy queried. He thought he was beginning to get the picture, and while the scientist in him was already thinking the problem through, the teenaged boy within the Blue Ranger was totally incredulous.

The former leader couldn't help the blush that seemed to rise up from his toes, almost matching his face to his shirt, but he wouldn't let something inconsequential like total mortification stand in the way of helping his best friend and teammate. He drew a deep breath. Squarely meeting Tommy's eyes, Jason dropped his bombshell.

"I'm suggesting that it might just be possible to change you back if ... if you would sleep with one of us."

The stunned silence that followed Jason's proposal was deafening in its intensity.

"You've got to be kidding!"

Zack was the first to recover his wits. Over the course of his friendship with Jason, the broad-shouldered teen had come up with some pretty outrageous things for them to do, not the least of which had brought them all to accept their Ranger Powers, but this absolutely had to take the cake.

"Please tell me you're not seriously suggesting that you, me or Billy have sex with Tommy!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Jason retorted, still fighting his blush, but with a determined look on his face. "If it's the only way to change him back ..."

"Yeah, but man, Tommy's a guy!"

"Right now, I'm not," Tommy interjected quietly. While all of his friends' cheeks were still flaming, he had paled considerably. The very idea about becoming intimate with another man was appaling; not out of prejudice, just for him, Tommy ... but something deep inside himself told him that Jason had indeed hit on the one, the only possible solution to his predicament. He glanced up at Zordon. Their ancient mentor seemed deep in thought as he pondered the situation.

"Zordon?"

Tommy hated the sound of his own voice; it was nice enough, he supposed, warm and slightly husky, but it just wasn't his. The White Ranger found himself unable to look at any of his teammates, even though he could feel Kimberly's eyes on him. Most notably, though, he avoided the dark eyes of his best friend.

Billy looked up briefly from a computer console where he was already deftly feeding data into various programs. The sophisticated machines started to beep, blink and whir.

"Zordon, if you would check the osmotic feedback parameters ... I think there is something ... if we could come up with a way to increase the permeability of the membranes and simultaneously stimulate the production of ..." his voice was lost in increasingly technical mutterings as Human genius, android and extraterrestrial sage conferred.

The remaining five Rangers used the respite to compose themselves. Blushes gradually subsided, and Kimberly sidled up to Tommy. She slipped a small hand into his.

"Do you think you could do it?" she queried anxiously, torn between hope and dismay.

Tommy forced a smile for her benefit and gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll do what I have to, to get back to normal," he admitted, making his decision. "It's not just me personally and my situation; there's also the Rangers to consider, my folks ... and you." He drew Kim to the side, out of earshot of the other Rangers. Placing his hands on the slender shoulders, he gazed earnestly into her soft brown orbs.

"Kim ... I don't want to lose you. You mean too much to me, and even if you were willing to accept me as I'm now, there's just no way we could be together if I stayed like this."

The petite girl grinned wryly.

"Yeah. My mom is freaky enough about us getting together with you being a guy; if I told her suddenly I was going to go out with another girl ... she'd have me shipped off to my aunt in Illinois faster than I could say 'morphinominal'. Besides ... no offense, Tommy, but ..." she blushed again, glancing furtively at his chest, where the outline of generous mounds was clearly visible. In the cool, air-conditioned Command Center, Tommy's nipples had contracted and pressed against the thin white fabric of his t-shirt in small hard peaks. Her own were often in a similar state, but usually hidden by her bra - a garment she'd bet her Power Coin Tommy had never even thought about when he got dressed.

"I understand, Beautiful," he murmured, oblivious to the direction her thoughts were taking. "I ... it's almost the same when I think of doing it with one of the guys. But I know I must, if it's the only way. And somehow, don't ask me how, I just know this is going to work." Tommy drew a deep breath. He wanted very much to kiss Kim, to reassure her and himself that their feelings were still the same as yesterday, but didn't quite dare. He did pull her into a gentle, undemanding embrace, however. After a momentary hesitation, he felt Kim's arms snake around his waist, and he was marginally able to relax.

"It's just ..." he let his voice trail off, unsure if he should tell the Pink Ranger what was on his mind.

"What, Tommy?" Kimberly asked, her face hidden in his shoulder. Tommy was still taller; if she ignored the softness she was leaning against, she could pretend there was almost no difference to this embrace and previous ones. Almost.

"You know you can tell me anything," she prompted softly when he wouldn't speak. To her surprise, he blushed slightly. Then, the velvety brown eyes met hers.

"It's just, I always thought my first time would be with you," Tommy admitted at last. "I wanted it to be with you. If Jase is right, and I'll have to ... to be with one of the guys, that's not gonna happen."

Kimberly was surprised by the rush of disappointment flooding her as the truth of Tommy's statement sank in. Determinedly, she fought it down, especially since she could hear the echo of her own feelings in Tommy's apologetic voice.

"That's okay, Tommy," she whispered at last, touching his cheek - *it's so soft now!* -- reassuringly. "If ... if you want, you can still have your first time as a guy with me afterwards," she offered shyly.

"I'd like that," the White Ranger murmured back, touched and secretly elated. He hadn't expected this after Kim's reluctance recently. "If you're sure."

"As sure as I can be. I love you, Tommy."

"I love you, too, Beautiful," he whispered. "But, only if and when you're ready. I promise."

"Thank you."

The two kissed then, after all, but it didn't last long; they knew they weren't alone, even though their friends gave them what privacy they could, and there was a slight element of strangeness both were very much aware of. But their eyes shone as they separated, and their hands were firmly intertwined as they rejoined the rest of the team. They were oblivious to the indulgent smiles the others didn't bother to hide.

Billy was still conferring with Zordon and Alpha, but it was obvious that the three of them had come to a conclusion when the team genius rolled up his printouts and turned back to meet his friends' expectant faces.

"Jase, you've found the solution," Billy declared without preamble. He had to smile as he could almost see the stones dropping from the team's shoulders, and the relieved sighs nearly caused a miniature tornado among his papers. However, the Blue Ranger's mien got serious almost right away again.

"We shouldn't wait too long to implement it, though," he cautioned. "Tommy's been under the influence of the drug and Zedd's energy blast for over twelve hours by now, and there is a definite chance that it will become irreversible regardless, if countermeasures aren't started within 24 hours after the effect was set in motion. From yesterday's battle records, that sets the time at 5.15 pm today. You may have an hour or two of leeway, Tommy, but .... "

"Better safe than sorry. I understand," Tommy gulped. While he'd tried his best to come to terms with Jason's suggestion in the short time he'd had, and accepted the necessity intellectually, he'd hoped to have at least some more time to get really used to the idea of having to sleep with one of his friends. Billy's words quite neatly removed that option. Which brought him to the next, suddenly very immediate problem: who of his friends to choose. He blushed hotly as he snuck a glance at the Red, Black and Blue Rangers from under his lashes. It was impossible for him to look at Kimberly, or even Trini.

"Tommy, I know this is not going to be easy for you; engaging in sexual intercourse for the first time with anyone is a very big step, no matter when or how. Under the present circumstances ... " Zordon rumbled from his warp tube. He wished it hadn't come to this; a Ranger team with romantic involvements was difficult enough to manage and he tried to subtly discourage any developments of the sexual sort. It was one of the reasons why he'd chosen such young Humans to wield the Power, hoping to stave off problems in that area. True, Tommy and Kimberly's relationship seemed to be an asset rather than an impediment so far, and once the attachment had been formed, the Eltarian wouldn't have dreamed of splitting his Rangers up, but the fact remained, it was going to be difficult for all of them to set aside personal wants, desires and considerations to do what had to be done. The White Powers had been specifically designed to match Tommy's physiology, and there was no telling how they would react to his altered body chemistry. The team could not afford to wait and find out, however.

*Damn Zedd and his meddling, anyway!* the Morphin' Master cursed inwardly. *It's bad enough my Rangers have to have their lives interrupted like this and fight against near-overwhelming odds on a near-daily basis, but do they have to grow up in this area that fast, too?*

There was nothing else to be done, however. Out loud, Zordon just allowed himself a resigned sigh and addressed his recently-appointed team leader.

"I do not wish to rush you, Tommy, but time is of the essence. You, and whichever partner you choose, will need to be prepared for Jason's solution to work at all. Even now, Alpha is readying certain chemicals which will ensure the feasibility of this plan. You need to make your selection now."

Tommy blanched as Jason, Zack and Billy blushed. With an enormous effort of will, he met his friends' eyes. All three boys straightened instinctively as they felt their teammate's eyes on themselves. Slowly, Tommy made himself walk towards the three.

Trini and Kimberly were clinging to each other's hands, trying hard not to hold their breaths as the lithe figure approached the male Rangers. Somehow, it was this precise instant where Tommy's altered state seemed most pronounced; it was no longer just their friend asking his teammates for help, it was a female of the species choosing her mate instead.

Zack grinned uncertainly as he was the first to meet Tommy's so-serious brown eyes. He usually had to look up slightly and it was disconcerting to find them on a level with his own for once. While he was willing to do anything to help his friends, nevertheless he had to swallow hard. The instinctive reaction did little to calm down the horde of butterflies swirling in his stomach. *I never dreamed it would come to this, though!* he thought wildly. *What if he picks me and I can't even get it up?* The notion brought another flood of color to his cheeks, and he was very thankful his dark skin hid most of it.

Tommy looked closely at the Black Ranger, his thoughts suddenly taking quite unaccustomed turns. *I like Zack ... he's been a great bud when I was trying to ask Kim out ... he's got a great sense of humor, too ...* He thought fleetingly about the rubber spider he'd placed on Zack's shoulder once, and his panicked antics until he realized it was just a curio. He'd laughed, and while Tommy had come in for some good-natured mauling during their next sparring session, Zack had taken the harmless prank the way it was meant ... and retaliated with sewing his gi pants legs together at the next opportunity. The girls had laughed themselves silly when Tommy had been forced to hastily pick at the neat stitches right before a match, heartlessly letting him do all the work himself.

*I guess he's also not bad-looking,* Tommy ruminated further, letting his eyes sweep surreptitiously over Zack's well-built physique. But he felt a curious reluctance as he tried to imagine touching his teammate in anything but a friendly, casual fashion, sparring or helping each other out. *I'd trust him with my life, have done so often, even shared the Dragon Shield with him once, but ...* The White Ranger inwardly shook his head. *Our relationship isn't like that. We're friends, yes, but ... It's gonna be strange enough getting together with one of the guys anyway, but with Zack ... no. It's not him, it's just ... no.*

The Black Ranger heaved a silent sigh of relief as Tommy turned away from him with a shaky grin and looked at Billy instead. He knew that this didn't mean he was off the hook yet, just that Tommy hadn't rejected him outright, but he couldn't help himself. Out of the corner of his eye, Zack watched the silent exchange between a clearly flustered, but steadfast Billy and the tall boy-turned-girl. He didn't really believe Tommy would choose the Blue Ranger, but one never knew ...

Tommy smiled slightly as he read the panic barely hidden in Billy's eyes. He knew his teammate would oblige him without hesitation should he choose him, but even though they had found their own way to connect to each other over time, there were just too many differences between them to make Tommy comfortable about the thought of physical intimacy with Billy. Even more so than with Zack ... and it was clearly a sentiment the blond shared, but wouldn't admit to.

"Don't worry, Bill," he murmured, trying not to laugh hysterically as he noticed the almost imperceptible sagging of shoulders and lessening of tension at his words. "No offense to you, but ..."

"I understand, Tommy," Billy answered just as softly, trying not to let his relief be too obvious. "Our friendship just isn't like that."

"No, it isn't, is it?"

"No. If there was nobody else ..." The implications were clear to both teens. They'd do what they had to, but since there was an alternative ... both smiled, and Tommy gave the Blue Ranger's shoulder a quick squeeze. Then, drawing a deep breath, he took another step or two sideways and found himself face-to-face with Jason.

The dark eyes met his own unflinchingly, open and offering unstinting support, no matter what his decision would be. Equally obvious were the affection and trust Tommy had always found in his best friend's look, and without thinking, he made the choice he suddenly knew was the only one he could make.

"Jase?" It was a million questions packed into just one word.

"Yes, Bro," came the quiet reply. Tommy knew, without knowing how, that Jason understood and accepted every single one of his questions, and had answered them in the only way possible between them. There was a certain feeling of inevitability in the air that was nearly palpable to all. Both young men continued to gaze at each other for long moments, then Tommy made himself turn away again. Fighting a sudden queasiness in his stomach, and doing his best to ignore the frisson of excitement skittering along his nerves despite everything, he directed his next remark at Zordon.

"I choose Jason."

Noon found the two teens locking Tommy's car at the Forest Ranger Station's parking lot and shouldering their backpacks as they made their way deeper into the forest, to the campsite Jason had in mind. They had hardly spoken a word with each other on the two-hour trip, each lost in his thoughts as they tried valiantly not to dwell too much on what was going to happen between them once they'd set up camp.

Absently, Tommy rubbed his left buttock as he fumbled to stow his car keys; it still smarted from the injections Billy had given him before they'd left. He heard a sound that seemed suspiciously like a barely-suppressed snicker. Looking up, he met Jason's amused eyes and snatched his hand away from his stinging anatomy as he felt the blood rise to his cheeks. Jason grinned at him.

"You too, huh?"

"Wh-what?" Tommy stammered, suddenly ridiculously aware that he was wearing jean shorts borrowed from Kimberly's mother. They molded tightly to his backside and were much shorter than anything he'd ever worn outside a pool or gym, but the weather was just too hot to be wearing sweats while hiking. He hadn't wanted to waste time to shop for pants, being understandably reluctant to be seen in public, so the girls had raided five mothers' closets to cobble together a suitable wardrobe for him to wear on the hiking trip. Tommy groaned as he thought of the lacy panties he was wearing, but none of his jockeys fit anymore, and his boxers were longer than the shorts' inseam, so ... he just hoped Mrs. Scott or Mrs. Taylor would never know where their lingerie had been. Tommy shuddered as he remembered going through his own Mom's underwear drawer. Margaret Oliver was pretty cool as mothers went, but ... black satin?!? His thoughts were wrenched back to the present when Jason spoke again.

"The injections. I dunno what Alpha put in there, but I've never been so glad to get off my ass as I was when we reached that parking lot," the Red Ranger admitted with his own rueful grimace as he, too, rubbed a sore backside. The familiar, bantering tone lifted Tommy's spirits immeasurably; it was exactly what Jason would've said to him had his condition been ... normal.

"Yeah," Tommy chuckled, relieved that despite the awkwardness of the situation they could still talk like they'd always done. "I just wish Alpha had used a smaller needle. Man, that thing was huge!"

"Tell me about it, Bro," Jason agreed. "What was in yours, anyway?" he then asked curiously. "Mine contained stuff to increase sperm production and viability ..."

Jason did his best to ignore Tommy's renewed blush.

"Something to help with the 'osmotic properties of the membranes and tissues forming my reproductive organs'," was the reply. It was obvious whom Tommy was quoting, and both teens grinned. "I think I even know what that means, for once," Tommy boasted.

"Uh-huh. Right. If you say so," Jason smirked, winking at his best friend who blew a raspberry at him in reply. The Red Ranger just laughed.

He adjusted his backpack and looked for the correct markings for the trail they needed to take. If he stood here jabbering with Tommy much longer, he wasn't sure he wouldn't embarrass himself. Tommy's legs surely hadn't been this long and shapely before? Or his rear so nicely-rounded? Jason swallowed hard, gazing quickly aside. Billy had warned him while administering the mixture of drugs that would speed up the production of spermata in his body that an increase in hormonal reactions was likely, but Jason honestly hadn't expeced to be affected by his best friend's looks so much.

Finding the markings he'd been looking for, Jason directed Tommy to the right path, and the two set off in companionable silence. As they walked deeper into the forest, Jason pondered his reactions as he surreptitiously watched the White Ranger trek ahead of him.

*I guess it's a good thing I'm beginning to be attracted to Tommy, the way he looks now,* he mused. *The worst thing would be to have built up his hopes like that and if I couldn't perform. But, I don't think I'll have to worry about that!* Jason suppressed a moan and the all-too-interested twinge in his own anatomy as Tommy paused and stretched, the full breasts - still unbound - pressing against the fabric of his shirt as he pulled the tails out of the waistband of his shorts and knotted them as high up as he could, baring a smooth tanned midriff. It was nothing Kimberly or Trini hadn't done countless times on other hikes with the boys, but suddenly, everything was different. Very much so.

Fighting down his blush, Jason tried to act nonchalantly as he unscrewed his canteen and drank deeply of the getting-tepid water, suddenly wishing for a cold shower. Or some privacy, to take matters into his own hand - literally. He put the stopper back and cleared his throat.

"Let's go on; the place I have in mind is much cooler than out here." They were still a few hundred yards short of the treeline.

"Sure," Tommy agreed readily, and the two Rangers hiked on, soon disappearing in the cool shade of the State Forest.

Lord Zedd grunted as he shut off his eyebeam. There was too much interference in the mountains for him to watch the two Rangers; he could still see them, but the visual he got was too hazy and indistinct to be worth the effort involved. Instead, he determined to check in on the two boys - no, the boy and the girl, he reminded himself gleefully, grinning evilly behind his visor - periodically.

Meanwhile, it would be quite interesting to watch the rest of the team, to see how they were dealing with his fiendish plot. Dismissing Zack almost instantly - the Black Ranger was sitting quietly in the back of the family car, driving away from Angel Grove and trying to be as cheerful as his cousin Curtis - and Billy because he was out of his reach at the Command Center anyway, he concentrated instead on the two girls, who were going through the motions of browsing at the Mall. Kimberly's expression was heartbroken, and Zedd settled in to spy on their conversation.

Kim hung the pink-flowered summer dress back onto the rack with a disconsolate sigh. Usually, going shopping could distract her from virtually anything, but for once the Mall failed to work its magic on her troubled mind. She just couldn't forget Tommy's soulful eyes, the pain in them, quickly masked, when she hadn't been able to bring herself to touch him at first and the hope as he looked at her when he kissed her at last. She sighed again. That kiss had been so strange ... it had been just the same as the good-night kiss she'd received last night, and yet it had been totally different. Kimberly struggled to identify the discrepancies, but could only come up with very superficial things ... there had been a slight change in height, the arms holding her hadn't been as muscular, Tommy's lips had been softer than she'd been used to, the taste had been subtly altered ... she shied from the memory of feeling soft breasts pressing against her own where there used to be hard, sculpted muscles.

Trini observed her best friend's hangdog expression for a while, the listless browsing where she was used to boundless enthusiasm, and came to a decision. She took the t-shirt Kim was fingering out of her hand, tossed it back onto the table and grabbing the Pink Ranger by her arm, drew her startled friend towards a small café a few doorways down.

"Sit!" she ordered Kimberly, who was just stunned enough to obey. Trini quickly ordered two milkshakes, and brought the pastel-colored beverages to the wrought-iron table where she'd plonked her friend. Sinking into a chair opposite her, she then put a reassuring hand on Kim's forearm.

"Kim, it'll be alright. You'll see," the lithe Asian said comfortingly.

"You don't know that, Trini," Kim gulped, tears beginning to gather in her eyes. "What if Jason can't help him, after all? What if it doesn't work? Wh-what if Tommy has t-to stay that w-way?"

"Billy and Zordon seemed pretty confident that it would, though. And you know Zordon wouldn't raise our hopes like that if the chances weren't high enough."

"I ... I guess," Kim sighed, wiping at her brimming eyes and sniffling slightly. "It's just ... what if it doesn't? What if Zedd does something else to him while he's all alone with Jason up in the mountains?"

Up on the moon, the Overlord of Evil quickly searched for an idea to do just that. The idea hadn't occurred to him before, and Zedd was more than a little chagrined that it had to be Kimberly to remind him. Finding none - or at least none that was feasible and didn't require an extraordinary amount of energy - he cursed fluently in four different languages, using epithets that made Squatt and Baboo shake in fear at their spy-hole to the throne room, and resumed his 'girl-watching'.

"Tommy may be a girl now, but he's still a Black Belt. And Jason would never let Zedd get his clutches on Tommy," the Yellow Ranger reassured her friend. "You know those two can take care of themselves - and each other."

"Yes, but what if ..."

"KIM!" Trini's exasperated exclamation made Kimberly blush. She hung her head in embarrassment.

"S-sorry," she whispered, looking down on her tightly-clasped hands. After a couple of minutes, the petite girl gave a shaky smile as she hesitantly met Trini's eyes. "I'll try not to think about it anymore," she promised half-heartedly.

"Good. Now blow you nose, drink your shake and we can go on," Trini grinned, purposely adopting her aunt's tone of voice when she was dealing with her cousin Sylvia. Kim had to giggle at that, and obediently sipped her drink, taking the time to compose herself. When both had finished, they got up, and Kimberly slipped Trini a quick, grateful hug.

"Thanks, Trini. For being there, and everything."

"You're very welcome," Trini smiled, returning the embrace. "Now, shall we go shopping?"

"Let's," Kim agreed, dredging up at least some of her usual enthusiasm. However, at the back of her mind something still lingered, something she couldn't bring herself to share even with her best friend.

The thought that Tommy would do things with Jason that she hardly had dared fantasize about, that she had wanted to share with Tommy one day.

The fact that she found this thought more than slightly stimulating.

And the fear that after being with Jason, Tommy wouldn't want to come back to her.