Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all related trademarks are the copyrighted property of Saban. I'm using without permission, and I am not making any profit off of this fanfic. The following creations, Cadbury, Catalina, Maggie and Molly, Heather, Yoshi's Dojo, Lex, the "extra" sentient vehicles, some random concepts, and other stuff belongs to me. Feel free to use them; just lemme know first. Some creations, namely Det. Park, Teddy, Rosa, and Franklin belong to Ellen Brand. Thanks, Rachel Lynn, for letting me play with Angus. 8^) Another character, whose identity I don't want to reveal because it is a surprise, belongs to Chuck Lorre and ABC.
Author's Notes: This fic concludes the Quadruplet Fics. It's best to read this fic last of all of Earth's Crystals' Quadruplet Fics. I rate this fic PG-13, for mature themes. And a word of warning. There is a "mature" discussion of sex later in this fic. It isn't adult, but it is mature. I rate it PG-13. Happy reading, and thanks to literally everyone who is reading this.

Dead of Winter
by Jeremy Ray Logsdon

"Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment." - Dag Hammarskjöld

Early Morning, August 18
Space Base
MasterVile waved his hand before the glass orb. It changed color before disappearing altogether. His companion, the pig-like Mordant, snorted happily as the spell took effect. "You really think that'll work?" Mordant asked.

"Most definitely," MasterVile said. "I'll let Divatox think she knows what she's doing..."

"Like the Psycho Rangers can actually win with just three battles," Mordant snorted.

"As much as I hate to say it," MasterVile said, "and I really do hate to say it, you are correct." Mordant chuckled and nodded like a good henchman is wont to do.

"So, uh... just how exactly will this work?"

"Everyone directly concerned with the Psycho Rangers will find themselves frozen in time every time I send the Psychos into battle," MasterVile explained. "The Psycho Rangers shall not recall any of their service under me. That is the key to making my plan work. They'll remember just their training and the three battles Divatox is intent on sending them into..."

MasterVile stood up and waved his black staff in the air. "Psycho Rangers," he ordered.

In eight columns of colored fire, the Psycho Rangers appeared before him. They were all morphed and stood in perfect alignment. "Psycho Silver," MasterVile greeted.

"We will serve you, MasterVile," she said in a distorted voice.

"Very nice," Mordant agreed, laughing happily.

Something is almost always happening at the Cranston household. And the morning of August 18 was proving to be no different. Billy was performing the decidedly difficult task of packing, while Justin was working on a relatively simple project involving the manipulation of matter, space, and energy.

"Billy, I know you're busy, but would you please come check this out?" Justin asked. "It's my own design, and-?"

"I think I can spare a few minutes," Billy told him. He tossed a folded shirt onto the bed and followed Justin to his bedroom.

"I made myself a closet in the basement for my clothes," Justin said. He opened his closet door and revealed a silver chamber, lined with neon blue lights. "This is my teleportation booth. You step in here and it takes you to the receiving pad in the basement. And it is a direct link, so there's no way you could get lost anywhere."

"No blind teleportation alleys. Good thinking. But what if someone comes in here, and-"

"This afternoon, I'm installing a lock on the door," Justin said. "It'll unlock only for a few recognized thumbprints. I'm going to do the same for the door in the basement. Come on in."

"Did you extend the closet, too?" Billy asked as he stepped inside. He never remembered the closet being so deep.

"Physical distortion," Justin told him. "That's part of the mechanism. And it doesn't work on any type of electricity, or even the Power. It's part of the Morphin Grid, and if the Morphin Grid goes..."

"The house being thrown off the foundation is the least of your worries," Billy finished. "How far back?"

"Twelve feet," Justin said. "The same size as the receiving pod Alpha built for me in the basement."

Billy slowly walked to the back of the closet. The walls continued to be lined with silver, and the blue lights gave the entire closet a strangely futuristic look. "Unbelievable," he said. "How do we get to the basement?"

"This console here," Justin said as he pulled the closet door shut. The oak of the door seemed out of place in the high-tech corridor, save for a black and silver knob. "Just turn it to the top for my room, or the bottom for the basement." He turned the knob downward and smiled at his older brother.

"Was that a teleport?" Billy asked. "It didn't feel like a teleport."

"Yep," Justin said as he opened the door. Billy, his mouth open a bit in awe and respect, stepped out into the basement. The tiger cub, Lex, plus the pup and kitten, Monroe and Samantha, were already lounging about in their designated living area. Various pet toys and furniture dotted the room. "Rebecca's favorite is the laser litter box. No need to change it, ever. And we made one for the pup, too. I've got to train him to use it, though."

"Food synthesizer for them?" Billy asked, pointing to a large black console on the wall.

"It's called a Synthetron," Justin said. "Zhane let us use the schematics for it from his MegaShip's Archives." Lex suddenly leapt into Justin's arms, purring happily. "When Lex gets a little bigger, I'm going to teach her to use the teleporter by herself. That way, if company comes over, she can send herself to the basement all by herself."

"This is ingenious, Justin," Billy said. "Good job."

"Justin!" Rebecca suddenly called from upstairs. "Sydney is here to walk to school with you!"

"Sydney's going back to school?" Billy asked.

"Yep," Justin said as he and Billy made their way out of the basement. "Alpha made her an official identity, and she's going to be a freshman this year. I volunteered to walk to her school since she doesn't know where it is."

"No hidden motives?" Billy asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"None that I'll admit to."

"I can't believe how nervous I am," Sydney groaned. "I'm nervous about this grey streak in my hair that suddenly seems incredibly stupid... I'm nervous about being a high school freshman again. I mean, I've already graduated high school! I shouldn't have to be going through this again!"

"Geeze, Sydney, try not to spaz out," Justin muttered as he stepped out of the basement.

"Justin, be nice," Rebecca told him.

"Yeah," Sydney said, reaching out to smack him on the back of the head. "Now let's go. I want to get there early."

"You look great, by the way," Justin stammered.

"This?" Sydney asked, looking down at herself. She was wearing denim shorts and a slightly-too-big yellow t-shirt. "Thanks, I guess. Bye Mrs. Cranston."

"Rebecca."

"No, Sydney," Sydney corrected.

"I meant call me Rebecca," Rebecca said with a smile.

Grinning embarrassedly, Sydney returned, "Right, Rebecca. Come on, kid."

"I take it this is the good part of town?" Sydney asked, looking around at the perfectly manicured lawns and beautiful houses.

"Most of Angel Grove is the good part of town," Justin answered. However, he had no more than said that when something quite large and quite powerful collided with him, forcefully knocking him to the ground. "Augh! Get off me!"

Sydney spun around in shock, seeing a gargantuan yellow dog straddling Justin's body with one large paw on his chest. "Hey boy," Sydney greeted, kneeling beside the dog. It woofed once in reply, smiling and happily wagging his tail.

"Angus, get off me!" Justin cried. "Rocky!"

"Sorry, Justin!" Rocky shouted, running up to them. He wrapped his arms around the dog's chest and pulled it off of Justin.

"This is Angus, I take it," Sydney said, kneeling beside the dog. "Aw, you're just a big ole puppy, aren't you?"

"Yeah, a hundred and twenty-five pounds of puppy," Rocky sighed. "Are you okay, Justin?"

"I'm fine," the young Blue Ranger answered, climbing to his feet.

About that time, a red convertible drove down the street. Behind the driver's seat was a beautiful blonde, her hair flowing in the wind. Rocky stood up taller, flashed a killer grin, and gave a friendly wave.

"She didn't even look at you," Sydney snorted.

"Seven periods," Sydney mused. "Hey, there's no study hall! Or gym!"

"High schoolers don't have to take gym. It's optional once you're past eighth grade," he told her. "And only Juniors and Seniors get to take study hall."

"Dude, I've been gypped!" she cried.

Justin took the index card from her hands and compared their schedules. "Aw man. I was hoping Alpha could give us the same schedule."

"We don't?" Sydney asked, looking over his shoulder. "Just first and seventh periods. I was really hoping for a familiar face."

"Folklore Class, First Period," Justin muttered. "Must be a new elective."

"And Seventh Period English," Sydney sighed. "I hate English."

"Cool, we've got Appleby for that," Justin grinned.

"How many classes does that woman teach?" Sydney asked. "I've got her for Fifth Period Math, too."

"Hey babe," Molly greeted, waving at Hallie Burquette.

"Hey girl," the petite black girl returned, shoving the last of her books into her lockers. "Man, these books get fatter every year."

"How'd your schedule work out?" Maggie asked, plucking it from Hallie's hands.

"Awesome," Hallie said. "This is gonna be the best year ever! But one class... I'm totally clueless about it."

"I feel like that times seven," Molly grumbled. "What the heck is folklore?"

"A study of what people thought, said, and did, and what they think, say, and do now," Marge answered, smiling smugly.

"Smart alec," Maggie grinned.

"I've got it first period," Marge said, flashing her card.

"Us too," Hallie added, turning around to lean against her locker.

"I hope we've got some cute guy teachers this year," Maggie mused, scanning her card. "Appleby, Wilton, blah blah blah. The only name I don't recognize is Montgomery. Please be a babe, puh-lease be a babe!"

"Praying to the Class Schedule Gods?" Emily asked as she walked up to them. "Where's 378?"

"Beside mine," Hallie said, moving over to Emily could get to her locker.

"Hey, do any of you have Folklore?" Emily asked, handing Marge her schedule card. "I haven't found a soul who's even heard of it."

"Oh... my... God...," Hallie sighed, turning to watch as an absolutely gargantuan black man walked down the hallway.

"Hallie?" Maggie asked.

"Him," Hallie answered simply, pointing at the man in question. He wasn't dressed out of the ordinary in a pair of denim shorts and a tucked green shirt. However, what drew Hallie's attention was the fact that he was at least six foot six, and underneath his almost-too-tight shirt was muscle on top of muscle. "The man who is going to father my children someday."

"He is fine," Molly agreed.

"And he's not bald or wearing dred-locks!" Hallie cried happily. "How do I look?"

Maggie placed her hands on both sides of Hallie's face and pushed her hair back a bit. "Beautiful," Maggie said. She turned Hallie around and smacked her on the butt. "Now go get the hunk, Champ."

Hallie shoved her notebook into Molly's arms and trotted down the hallway. The teen she was following, or stalking, stopped at his locker, stooped down a bit to do the combination, and began to put his books into it.

"Hi," Hallie said, stepping up behind him. "My name is Hallie. I'm co-captain of the cheerleading squad. Maybe you've seen me? But I guess you're new, huh? I haven't seen you around."

The guy was still putting books in his locker, paying Hallie absolutely no mind. "Uhm... Hello?" Hallie asked.

Again, he said nothing. "Oh? So this is your game? You're just going to completely ignore me?"

Nothing. He gave absolutely no response to her presence. He finally turned around and glanced down at the five foot five cheerleader standing behind him. "Fine, I can play that, too," Hallie spat. "Jerk." She turned on her heel and stormed off, absolutely enraged.

"Chick, what was that about?" Maggie asked, staring at the guy wide-eyed.

"I don't know!" Hallie fumed. "He totally ignored me! Oh, this day had better improve, fast." She ripped her notebook from Molly's arms and stomped off to class.

"Dude, that was so not cool," Molly growled, looking up at the guy as he walked past them.

"Joy," Emily said under her breath to the two girls. "A new jackass to replace all of the ones that graduated last year."

"I wonder if he's in Folklore," Marge mused.

"He better not be," Maggie decided, closing her locker. "I won't have a single problem kicking that guy's butt if I have to."

"Zhane, it's a locker," Carlos said. "They aren't complicated."

"Where's the sensor pad?" he asked, pressing his palm to various places on the metal surface.

"Combination lock," Ashley said. "These numbers here, put them in order, right, left, right, and it'll open. Watch."

"You can drive a spaceship, but a locker freaks you out, huh?" TJ asked, clapping Zhane on the shoulder.

"I gotta be honest with you; I still haven't figured out how this planet made it this far," Zhane muttered.

"Think you could stop dissin' our planet?" Cassie asked with a grin.

"Sorry," Zhane said, putting his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I like Earth. Really, I do. It's just... quaint."

"Guys, the tardy bell is about to ring," TJ interrupted. "We better get to class."

"What do I have?" Zhane asked, looking at his schedule card. "I hope Alpha signed me up for Quantum Physics as Applicable to Space Travel."

"Big room," Sydney announced, stepping into Room 225. "I wonder if we have assigned seats."

"Sit wherever you like," a very tall, short-haired blonde woman said. "I don't believe in assigned seats. Too... restrictive."

"You're our teacher?" Justin asked, looking her over.

"Yeah," she said, grinning. "My name is Dharma."

"Front or back?" Justin asked, glancing at Sydney.

"Middle," Sydney decided.

"Is this folklore?" a young, black kid asked, stepping into the room.

"It sure is," Dharma greeted. "Come, welcome, have a sit-down."

"You must be Ms. Montgomery," the guy said.

"Dharma. Yourself?"

"Hunter," he answered, taking a seat near Sydney and Justin. "Hunter Wilson. Me and my bro are new in Angel Grove."

"Who is your brother?" Sydney asked.

"Big ole hulk of a guy," Hunter told her. "He's like... a foot tall than I am."

"That must be him," Sydney remarked, looking up at the gargantuan black man who was suddenly completely filling the doorframe.

"Murray!" Hunter cried. "What are you doing here?" Hunter's older brother replied by flashing his index card. "I hope we don't have any other classes together."

"Ah, brotherly love," Sydney grinned.

As the bell rang, Dharma stepped up to the podium in front of the room. "Was that the tardy bell, or do I only have four students?"

"Tardy bell," Justin told her. "Am I the only one who isn't new?"

"What grade are you in?" Hunter asked.

"I'm a freshman," Justin said. "Name's Justin, by the way."

"Hunter," he answered, shaking Justin's hand. "You look young to be a freshman."

"He's a genius who got bumped up a grade," Sydney answered for him.

"At least I'm not a freak of nature," Justin challenged, reaching out to bat her grey streak of hair.

"Hey!" Sydney protested, smacking at Justin's hands and laughing. "At least I didn't shave my head this summer!"

"Sydney, has anyone told you that you look like a young version of Neve Campbell?" Dharma asked, interrupting their conversation.

"A few times," Sydney answered.

"Hi, everybody," Dharma greeted as the room was filled. "My name is Dharma Freedom Finklestein-Montgomery, and I'm teaching this class because... well, I needed something to do.

"This semester, we'll learn about each other, and about the Folklore of the world and right here in Angel Grove. This is a Round Table class, which means you'll get an A if you'll just participate in class discussions.

"We will discuss topics that some of you may find embarrassing, but nonetheless pertain to teenagers. Sex, violence, Power Rangers, and some other stuff that I don't want to mention right now because it will frighten some of you.

"Questions or comments?"

"I have a question," Zhane said, raising his hand.

"Yeah, your name?"

"Zhane Prescott."

"Go for it, Zhane," Dharma said, jumping up onto her desk to sit in a lotus position.

"Okay, you said sex. Will we be practicing sex with some kind of holographic imaging system, or just talking about it?"

"Zhane," Ashley sighed, grabbing his hand and yanking him down into his seat.

"We don't have a holographic imaging system to practice sex on," Carlos whispered to Zhane.

"Just talking about it," Dharma said, not fazed in the least. "You wanna practice sex, you gotta do that on your own time. But remember, if you do, gotta use a condom." She tossed a small box across the room which Zhane caught and promptly began to inspect.

"Sorry I'm late," David Trueheart panted as he rushed into the room.

"David?!" Marge cried, startled at seeing the 21-year old enter the room.

"S'okay," Dharma told him. "I don't take roll. Oh, here are your complimentary condoms."

"Uh, thanks," David said with a shrug, taking the box from her.

"What are you doing here?" Marge asked as David came to sit beside her.

"I'll explain after class," he promised, taking a notebook out of his backpack.

"All right, everybody," Dharma said, "let's take roll real quick so I can learn your names. Just throw your hand up in the air when I saw your name.

"TJ Andrews, Hallie Burquette, Cassie Chan, Justin Cranston, Ashley Hammond, Maggie Hammond, Molly Hammond, Sydney Kwan, Marge Lubbock, Martin Prince, Zhane Prescott, Emily St. John, David Trueheart, Carlos Vargas, Hunter Wilson, Murray Wilson. Good, everybody's here.

"I'll get the ball rolling," Dharma said. "Who here believes in the Power Rangers?"

Every hand in the room was raised.

"Okay... Another question. Who believes that the Power Rangers may be teenagers right here, in this very school?"

"No way," Zhane said quickly. "The Power Rangers are not from Earth."

"I don't get a locker," David frowned.

"You can put some stuff in mine," Marge promised him. "Now what are you doing here?"

"Well it's good to see you, too."

"Now you know that isn't what I mean-"

"I know," he smiled. In a lower voice, he said, "DECA gave me permission to teleport into town everyday. I've got some classes to take for my GED. I've been wanting to go to college, and the school on the reservation just didn't offer enough. I'll be coming here half-a-day all year. That way, I can fulfill the requirements I don't have and go to college."

"And you're like what, thirty?" Maggie asked, grinning.

"Twenty-one, thanks," David shot back. "I'm not that much older than you all."

"You'll be twenty-two in a month," Marge said.

"How did you know my birthday?"

"I have my ways," she smiled, patting him on the arm. "So, we got any other classes together?"

Sydney stared at the crowded cafeteria. Her lunch tray was quickly getting heavier, and she had nowhere to sit. She didn't see a single soul that she knew, not that she knew many people, anyhow. She finally spotted an empty table off in the corner, and she realized that she was going to have to eat alone.

"Being a teenager sucks," she grumbled to herself, starting off across the room.

So far, Folklore had been the only highlight of her day. She hadn't even seen a single familiar face in the rest of her classes. While no one had been particularly mean to her, no one had been friendly, either. They had all had their own friends, and they were too excited to see each other again to pay her any mind. She had heard a few people make disparaging comments about the grey streak in her hair, however. Of course, she wasn't supposed to have heard those comments.

Math had been okay, as had Art, but she embarrassed herself mortally in History. She had temporarily forgotten that her home dimension might not have the same history as her new dimension. She had initially impressed Mr. Hall when she referred to what was apparently now known as World War I as the Great War. He had not been so amused when Sydney couldn't produce a single comment about World War II. After all, her dimension had only had the one. She had tried to remedy herself by commenting on the potato famine during Civil War III. She couldn't read Mr. Hall's reaction. He either thought she was an idiot or a show-off. Sydney couldn't decide which was worse. Her follow-up comment on the Civil War between East Russia and West Russia had nearly given her a coronary after she realized that there was no East or West Russia.

"Great, I'm also a geek," she muttered, sitting by herself.

"Has anyone ever said you look like a young Neve Campbell?"

Sydney wasn't even able to hide the scowl that time. However, by the time she had lifted her head to give a strained, but polite, answer, a huge smile crossed her face. "Justin!" she cried happily.

"You look like you've had a rough morning," he said, holding his own lunch tray. "Can I sit with you?"

"Please," she sighed. "I have been so lonely all morning long."

"Oh? Has anyone been giving you a hard time or anything?"

"No," she said, opening her Coke. "I haven't been picked on or anything. Well, not to my face. I did hear a few ice princesses comment on my grey hair."

"Who?" Justin asked, his eyes a bit narrowed.

"It doesn't matter," she dismissed with a flip of her hand. "I'm gonna dye it first thing, though. I should be anyhow. It'll make dying the... other colors a heckuva lot simpler."

"No way!" Justin protested. "Don't do that! The grey streak is awesome!"

"Hey guys," a subdued voice asked from behind Justin. "Can I sit with you?"

"Of course, Hunter," Sydney smiled. She kicked the chair beside Justin out for the young black boy to sit down in. "Being the new kid sucks, huh?"

"Tell me about it," he agreed. "Man, if I don't get to see a Power Ranger soon, then this move to Angel Grove is really gonna bite the big one."

"Why'd you move here?" Sydney asked, stabbing at what she thought might be mashed potatoes with a fork.

"We transferred from Silver Falls," he said. "That's like the town on the other side of Stone Canyon. Mom's job moved here, and here we come. It's Murray's Senior year, too. He has such a hard time fitting in as it is."

"How come?" Justin asked.

"He has a slight... problem with making friends, sometimes."

For some students, the three o'clock bell seemed to take eons to ring. For others, it passed all too quickly. Such was the case for Hallie, Maggie, Molly, and Ashley who found themselves standing with the other Tigerettes on the football field. Of course, Ashley wasn't standing with the three Seniors. Maggie and Molly made absolutely certain that their younger sister was kept quarantined with the other Sophomore cheerleaders.

"Hallie," Coach Carey said as she walked up to the three Senior members of the team, "a note was just given to me for you."

"Hi, Coach Carey!" Maggie greeted enthusiastically. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Girls, we had cheerleading practice yesterday," the short-haired blonde sighed.

"It seems like much longer," Molly agreed.

After scanning the note, Hallie shouted after Coach Carey. "Who gave you this note?"

"That big kid over there," Carey answered, pointing to the gargantuan Murray Wilson, leaning against the chainlink fence.

"What does the note say?" Molly asked, looking at the now frowning cheerleading co-captain.

Setting her face, Hallie read, "You seem to be mad at me. Did I do something wrong? I'd like to converse with you. Murray."

"Converse," Maggie announced. "Big word, he's a nerd."

"He actually has the gall to ask me why I'm mad?" Hallie snarled, raising her eyebrows.

"Go kick his butt!" Molly cried, slamming one fist into her open palm.

"I'm definitely gonna give him a piece of my mind," Hallie insisted, jogging off across the football field.

Murray smiled as Hallie approached him. He has a really nice smile, Hallie had to admit. Even if he is a jerk. "Hi," Hallie said, biting the word off sharply.

He gave her a simple wave. "You actually sent me this note?" she continued, holding it up. "I'm mad at you because I tried to talk to you at your locker this morning, and you totally ignored me! Now you do not have to be interested in me, but I do think I deserve a little respect!"

Murray shook his head slowly as he pulled a small, yellow legal pad, encased in a black leather binder, from his shorts pocket. An ink pen followed, and he wrote quickly. He handed Hallie the note, who suddenly wanted to just shrink into her cheerleading sneakers.

"Oh God," Hallie sighed, clutching the note tightly. "Oh Lord, I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

He interrupted her with another note. I thought there was someone behind me, but by the time I turned around, you were telling me off. :) If it was good, I'd like to know what you said before I turned around.

Hallie forced a smile. "So, you can lip-read, huh?"

Murray nodded.

"Well, the gist was this. My name is Hallie Burquette, I'm co-captain of the cheerleading team. We're the Tigerettes. Uhm, you must be new..."

Murray was still looking at her face as he wrote another note. If I asked you nicely, would you show me around Angel Grove?

"How about this Friday?" Hallie asked.

"I'd love to," she answered, smiling sweetly. Murray waved goodbye and walked off. Hallie, still smiling, ran back to Maggie and Molly.

"Did you chew him out?" Maggie asked.

"Nope, I asked him out," Hallie grinned.

"I'm not really surprised," Molly announced.

"Hello Sydney," Mai-Ly, her adopted mother, greeted as the newest addition to the Kwan clan entered the house.

"Hi," Sydney groaned.

"Rough day?"

"Do you know history very good?"

"I know history very well," Mai-Ly said.

"Are you aware that the damage caused by the Potato Famine during Civil War III took almost twenty years to fix?" Sydney asked, covering her face with both hands.

"Civil War III?" Mai-Ly asked. "That's... Oh dear."

"There would have been a fourth if my planet hadn't been united under the single monarchy," Sydney sighed. "I completely mortified myself in History class today."

"Civil War III, huh?" Trini asked, stepping into the kitchen. "I bet Mr. Hall was really impressed with you."

Sydney whimpered and lowered her head to the table. "Did you bring your history book home?" Trini asked.

"Yeah, I figure I'll have to study everything before I can even learn it the first time."

"How about I give you a hand?" Trini offered. "History was always my strong point."

"Oh, would you?" Sydney asked hopefully. "Thank you so much."

"Coach Carey," Ashley said, walking up to her with Zhane in tow, "this is my friend, Zhane. He watched us practice."

"Why am I not surprised?" Carey asked, removing her sunglasses.

"I want to be a Tigerette," Zhane announced proudly.

"Pwuh?" Carey asked.

"He wants to be a cheerleader," Ashley said. "You'd be a Tiger, Zhane."

"Yeah," Zhane agreed, still grinning.

"You're a boy."

"Thank you for noticing."

"That's not what I meant!" Carey cried. "But... you're a boy! Boys can't be cheerleaders!"

"There are boy cheerleaders in college," Ashley said.

"Why don't you go join the football team?" Carey suggested. "You're a big man; I'm sure Coach Z would love to have you."

"I'd rather play with the girls," Zhane admitted truthfully, pointing to the girls who were still practicing on the field.

"All right, Zhane," Coach Carey started. "You can be a Tigerette if you can stand two girls on your shoulders."

"Sounds like fun," Zhane said, smiling at Ashley as Carey chirped at Molly and called her over.

"Can you do that?" Ashley asked.

"Totally," Zhane answered. "I spent six months flying across the universe by myself. I didn't have anything to do but work out."

"You chirped, Coach?" Molly asked, jogging up to the trio.

"Zhane wants to be a Tigerette," Carey said. "If he can balance you and Ashley on his shoulders, I'm gonna let him in." Carey snorted as she finished; she was obviously expecting a small-scale disaster.

"Cool," Molly decided.

"Lemme take off my shirt first," Zhane interrupted. "This is silk."

"Ooh," Molly said, perking up. However, as she saw he was wearing a black tank top underneath, she visibly frowned.

"Now, what do I do?" Zhane asked, clapping his hands together.

"Put your hand at the small of your back as a step," Ashley told him. "I'll climb up first on your left shoulder. You'll do the same with Molly, and I'll help her climb up to your right."

"You've done this before, right?" Zhane asked as Ashley placed her foot in his hand.

"Uh, sure," she lied. It took a few tries, but by hopping on her one leg, Ashley managed to get enough inertia to propel herself up into the air. Placing one hand on the top of Zhane's head, she placed her right foot on his left shoulder. He gave her a nudge with the hand serving as a step, and he boosted her up.

"There," he grunted, quivering a bit under the sudden weight of an extra person.

"I'm bigger than Ashley," Molly warned. However, with Ashley's help, Molly was soon standing on Zhane's right shoulder. Molly and Ashley linked hands over his head, and then, as soon as they both felt secure, they thrust their outside arms straight up.

"Ta-da!" Ashley grinned.

"Woo hoo!" Molly cried. "Wow, we are high up."

"Check it out!" Hallie cried from across the field, pointing.

"Well, I'm impressed," Carey relented. "You're a Tigerette, Zhane. I'll order you a costume tomorrow."

Ashley and Molly both jumped down from his shoulders. Though he had tried not to show it, having the two women standing on him was harder than he had anticipated. "Way to go, Zhane," Ashley grinned, slapping his hand.

"Girls, hit the showers!" Carey shouted, blowing her whistle for emphasis.

"Will I get to shower with you all?" Zhane asked, retrieving his silver, silk shirt.

"It's a figure of speech," Ashley said, walking with him toward the gym. "Hit the showers means... go change and get out of here. We don't really shower. Well, we could, but we don't."

"Do all of the Tigerettes change together?"

"You'll have to change out with the football team," Ashley said. "Sorry, Zhane. No nookie for you."

Before Zhane could say anything in reply, the still-frightening-to-a-newbie six-toned beep of their communicator sounded. "Uh oh," Ashley sighed.

"Over here," Zhane said, pulling her off to the side to duck under the bleachers with him.

"I read you, Zordon," Ashley said into her wrist.

"Rangers, please come to the Command Center immediately! We have an emergency!" Alpha cried.

Zhane peeked out from beneath the bleachers. "The field is empty," he said. "We can go."

Two streams of yellow and silvered light shot out from beneath the Rangers and arched high into the sky, heading out into the desert beyond Angel Grove.

Alpha was a bit startled to see the Turbo Rangers arrive so quickly after his page. Then, he remembered that, save for Justin, they were all newbies, and new Rangers had a tendency to literally drop what they were doing and get there immediately. The older Rangers usually had a window of about thirty seconds to arrive. The new guys might have taken three seconds.

"What's the problem, Zordon?" TJ asked, looking up at their mentor.

"Rangers, MasterVile just sent us a message," Zordon answered. "Observe the viewing globe."

All seven turned to the large orb as it sparked to life.

"Greetings, Zordon," MasterVile snarled.

"Yuck," Cassie muttered.

"Yarg," Emily agreed.

"I would like to introduce you to my newest project," he said. The scene immediately changed from the beast known as MasterVile to a team of eight Psycho Rangers.

"Are those Rangers?" Carlos asked in surprise.

"Your chapter in history, Zordon, is about to close," MasterVile said. "Mine is about to begin." The Viewing Globe promptly darkened before turning into a clear, glass orb again.

"Evil Rangers?" Emily asked nervously.

"I'll go to the MegaShip and see if I can find anything on our records," Zhane offered. "Maybe MasterVile tried this in the past when he conquered M-51."

"Excellent suggestion, Zhane," Zordon agreed. The solo Space Ranger disappeared in a flash of silver.

"What about-?" Ashley started, only to be interrupted by Alpha.

"Aye-yi-yi! Tengas in the park!"

"Rangers, you must go stop MasterVile's creatures," Zordon announced.

"We're on it," TJ agreed. "Shift into Turbo!"

"Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"

"Desert Thunder Turbo Power!"

"Dune Star Turbo Power!"

"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"

"Midnight Phantom Turbo Power!" Emily cried, triggering her transformation into the Black Turbo Ranger.

"Red Lightning Turbo Power!" TJ finished. The Rangers morphed in a literal flash, and they teleported away just as quickly.

Silver light flashed on the silent bridge of the MegaShip. "Hello Zhane," Michele, the onboard computer, greeted cheerfully. Her voice chip had been damaged after they had passed through a particular vicious radiation belt, and upon arriving on Earth, Zhane had given her the first female voice he had heard. It wasn't the voice of anyone he had met; it was the voice of a young woman named Lisa Kudrow from the first television signal he had picked up.

"Hi Michele," he said. "We need to run a scan." He turned a seat around and sat down at a console.

"Of what?" she asked. Before he could answer, she added, "There are Tengas attacking the Turbo Rangers in the park."

Zhane glanced up as the square display changed from the live view of the mountains outside Angel Grove to that of the park. The Turbo Rangers had done nothing more than arrive before they were caught in an intense melee of Tengas. "Keep one sensor on the park at all times," Zhane ordered.

"Certainly, Master," Michele said in an 'I-dream-of-Jeanie' voice.

"Master?" Zhane asked, looking up.

"I've been watching television," she admitted. A small camera rose from the console before him and blinked a red light at him. "Now what would you like me to search for?"

"Bring up any and all files you have on MasterVile of the Dynasty of the Apocalypse," Zhane ordered. "Cross-referenced with evil Rangers."

"No file like that exists, Zhane."

"So MasterVile has never dabbled in evil Rangers... How about mind control?"

"MasterVile is a master at mental manipulation."

"Did you learn about alliteration today, too?" Zhane asked.

"No, but I did learn about sarcasm today," Michele answered quickly. "Bringing up the files, now."

"My first fight!" Emily shouted triumphantly. "Phantom Axe!" Her weapon appeared in a glimmer of black light, and she dispatched the two closest Tengas, one on each side of her. She dropped to the ground and swept her legs beneath a Tenga. As it fell likewise, she raised her leg high in the air and slammed into its torso.

"Oomph!" Carlos blurted out as a rather strong Tenga literally bowled him over. He fell to one knee, and another Tenga foot collided with his ribs. Although temporary, the pain was intense. Ranger powers may have given his mortal body plenty of safety protections, but his mind was still completely his. As such, the rage that bubbled up in him quickly manifested itself in a loud shout. That shout produced his Thunder Cannon, and he literally annihilated the two Tengas, leaving nothing but the smell of charred feathers in the air.

Cassie jumped straight up into the air, sailing high over the battlefield. She withdrew her AutoBlaster and fired on the throng of Tengas beneath her. A cloud of sparks, and a few misplaced feathers, shot out from each impact point, and she landed in the midst of several of the stunned birds.

"Hey!" Justin cried as four Tengas surrounded him. Two grabbed him by the shoulders, and the next thing he knew, he was suspended in the air between four of them. He writhed in their grip, finally managing to get one foot free. As soon as he did, he kicked the Tenga holding his right foot, and threw his weight groundward. His feet touched the ground, and he flipped into a forward roll, losing the two Tengas on his shoulders. Justin spun around into a kneeling position and summoned his Hand Blasters. Two bright balls of blue energy burst forth, striking the closest Tengas and knocking them back.

TJ and Ashley found themselves nearly back to back as they fought the avian beasts. The Red Ranger thrust into the throng of birds before him with his Sword. As he sliced up, feathers flew everywhere and Tengas dove out of the way.

"Star Chargers!" Ashley called, summoning her twin weapons. She clicked the two together, producing a shower of yellow sparks. Then, holding them out before her, she ran into the group of Tengas.

Suddenly, black light swept across the playing field, and every Tenga vanished. However, before the Rangers could relish in their easy-earned victory, eight lightning bolts of different colors shot down from the sky, forming the eight Psycho Rangers.

"Who are you?!" TJ demanded as the Turbo Rangers regrouped.

Silver Psycho stepped forward. The light from the setting sun glinted off of her armor, and she spoke in a robotic voice. "We are MasterVile's Psycho Rangers," she answered.

"And we are here to destroy you," Red Psycho added.

"Rangers," Silver Psycho said calmly, "ATTACK!"

"Evil Rangers fight dirty!" Emily cried as a word of warning before the Psychos descended upon them.

It didn't take the Turbo Rangers more than a few minutes to realize that the Psycho Rangers were extremely dirty fighters. In addition, there were two more Psycho Rangers than there were Turbo, and two Turbo Rangers at any given time were being positively pummeled.

"Fire!" Justin cried, leveling his Hand Blasters at Blue Psycho. Instead of actually doing damage, however, Blue Psycho caught the twin balls of light in his black gloved hands. "Uh oh," Justin rumbled.

Blue Psycho merged the two balls into one giant flaming orb. Then, the orb rocketed toward Justin.

"Justin, watch out!" Cassie cried. Her lapse in concentration gave Black Psycho time to kick her in the midsection.

The orb struck Justin, lifting him into the air and lobbing him backwards. He hit the ground, sending up plumes of dust. Blue energy ran up and down the black lines that traversed his armor before finally dissipating. "Ow," he muttered, still lying flat on his back on the ground.

"Cassie!" Carlos cried. The Pink Turbo Ranger was pummeled fast and furiously by Black Psycho. By the time that Cassie had completely lost her ability to fight back, Black Psycho picked her up by the waist and threw her onto Justin. The two Turbo Rangers lay in a heap on the ground together, both too exhausted to even try and move.

Pink and Green Psychos both teamed up against Carlos at the same time. A black object flashed before Carlos, and a dizzying sensation, mingled with pain, shot through Carlos' body. He was so startled, it took him several seconds to realize that one of the Psycho Rangers had just kicked him in the helmet. He hadn't been a Ranger for long, but so far, his helmet had proved to be off-limits. Apparently, that was no longer true. Carlos suddenly realized with a very literal horror that he had placed both hands on his helmet. As soon as he realized that he had left his entire torso open, both Psychos kicked him with devastating force, knocking him into the slowly growing pile of Turbo Rangers out for the count.

Emily was holding her own quite well against White Psycho. She was wondering where her good luck had come from, when suddenly, a flurry of punches took her off guard. She was forcibly turned with the blow, and Yellow Psycho landed strike after strike on her midsection. She screamed out in pain, unable to stop herself and unbelieving how much those fists actually hurt. She finally managed to wrap her arms around her abdomen. The blows landed a few times more before his foot collided with her chest, taking the Black Turbo Ranger officially out of the fight.

Ashley shouted triumphantly as she pressed her Star Chargers against Red Psycho. Yellow energy crackled across Red Psycho's armor. Her robotic voice was contorted in anger and what sounded like pain. However, before Ashley could feel too victorious, Silver Psycho tackled her to the ground. Red Psycho jumped into the air and brought one foot down on Ashley's chest. Ashley instinctively curled up in a fetal position, clutching at her chest painfully. Silver Psycho picked her up and hurled her over to her teammates.

"Oh God," TJ groaned, standing before his temporarily-fallen teammates protectively. He held his Lightning Sword in his right hand and pulled his left wrist up to his mouth. "Zordon, we've-" He wasn't able to finish his thought with Blue Psycho hurled some remnants of Justin's Hand Blaster energy at him. Though the force was minimal compared to that given to Justin initially, it was still enough to send showers of sparks from TJ's armor and knock him into the pile of his teammates.

He lifted his trembling wrist to his mouth and cried, "We need help!"

"I'll be glad to help you study," Marge said, smiling broadly.

"Good," David said thankfully. "Math has never been my strong point."

"Man, it's beautiful out here," Marge sighed. The sun was setting off in the distance, casting shadows across the entire distance that were a stark contrast to the crimson and orange on the sky.

"Say," David said thoughtfully, "do you suppose sometime-"

Before he could finish his thought, a beep sounded around them and their tattoos glowed brightly. "Uh oh," Marge sighed. She touched the Red Dragon on her hand and said, "What's wrong, DECA?"

"Rangers, please come here immediately," DECA said calmly. "The Turbo Rangers are in need of your assistance."

"On our way," David said. The two Thunder Rangers glanced at each other before disappearing in blue and red silhouettes of light.

As David and Marge reappeared inside DECA, they saw that Maggie and Molly were already looking at the visual display set into the ground. "They're really taking a beating," Maggie said to her teammates.

"New Rangers?" David asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Oh, I know," Molly sighed. "This has so been done to death."

"What about Heather?" Marge asked.

"Heather is on a live broadcast until 6:30," DECA informed them. "I will refrain from contacting her unless it proves absolutely crucial. I will send her to the fight as soon as she is free."

"Let's go, guys," Marge said. "Thunder Bolt, Now!"

"Stop right there!" David cried as four of the Thunder Rangers appeared before the depleted Turbo Rangers. They had arrived just as the Silver Space Ranger showed up to offer assistance as well. With Red Turbo still standing, there were still only six Rangers against eight.

"There's a whole lot more of us, pal," TJ threatened.

"Right now, there're more of us," Silver Psycho commented. "Rangers, ATTACK!"

"I'm Arnold Kreft."

"And I'm Heather St. John. This has been KBKO with World News Tonight, signing off." She placed two fingers against her right temple and gave a little salute as the closing score was tuned up and the studio lights dimmed.

Heather and Arnold turned to each other and simulated what was actually expected of them : small talk. Heather, frankly, despised her arrogant co-anchor, and were it not for the fact that she had an astounding job that she had no actual rights having, she wouldn't have been anywhere near the arrogant SOB. Heather wasn't even listening to Kreft. She just started talking about her new apartment as soon as he was finished whatever it was he was talking about. She hadn't a clue what he was saying, and she didn't care. She was just doing what Andre had told her to do.

"And we're out!" a stagehand called.

"Ms. St. John, I must admit," Kreft said suddenly, catching her attention. "I am quite impressed."

"Heather, and thank you," she returned as warmly as she could manage.

"I was wondering," he said as he followed her off the set, "would you perhaps be interested in coming to dinner with me sometime?"

"Dinner?" she asked quickly. Suddenly, a single tone sounded. She glanced down at her hand and saw her green lion tattoo glowing brightly. "I can't, but thank you."

"You sure?" he asked, still following her. "I can make it a night you'll never forget."

That stopped Heather dead in her tracks. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Kreft stepped closer to her and placed his index finger on her left shoulder. "I can get you to the top, Heather," he purred. "I've got strings I can pull everywhere."

"You're a married man!" she cried in disbelief. She looked down in shock as his finger trailed down the left side of her chest. Forcefully, she grabbed his hand and pushed it away. "Look, Kreft. We may have to work together, but that's IT. You ever come on to me again, and I will run to your wife so fast your head will spin."

"Shame," he sighed. As Heather turned to walk away, she suddenly felt something that sent waves of red-hot anger coursing their her veins.

He pinched her butt. "You got a nice ass, St. John. And I'm gonna own it. Mark my words."

At that moment, Heather was so infuriated she didn't care if she was fired and had to go back to working at McDonald's. She spun on her heel and punched Arnold Kreft square in the nose, putting all of her weight behind it. He gave a cry of pain and clamped his hands over his nose, shouting an insult about herself and her mother that had Heather ready to give him another.

"Easy, Heather!" Andre Ferguson cried as he ran up to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and held her back.

"Andre, you have no idea what he said to me," Heather snarled.

"I heard enough to be appalled," he said simply. "Let's go."

"I just got myself fired, didn't I?" Heather asked as she was led away.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," he assured her.

Heather glanced down at her hand, and she saw that the tattoo was now blinking. "Andre, I have to run," she said hurriedly. "I'll..."

"We'll talk in the morning. Everything'll be fine," he assured her.

By the time Heather had made it to the battlefield, the Psycho Rangers had decided they had had enough. Not enough thrashing, but enough playing. It was obvious to anyone present who could have won such a battle. Of course, the Power Rangers had a trump card in the Morphin and Zeo Rangers scattered hither and yon. But just the same, it could have quickly escalated from a harder-than-usual-but-standard fight to a literal blood bath.

"Your friends," David said, gesturing to the shaken-up Turbo Rangers.

"We'll take care of them," Zhane told him quickly. He hurried to them and helped Ashley and Cassie to their feet. Both Rangers were a bit unresponsive, suggesting to Zhane that the Power had temporarily taken over and made them unresponsive. Such measures often kept a Ranger from mentally reliving pain, which could be even more damaging than actual, physical pain.

"Thank you for your assistance," TJ said, walking up to Marge.

"Glad to oblige," she returned, shaking his hand.

"If you ever need it returned, we'll be there," he promised.

"That's good to know," she agreed, and TJ could tell through her voice that if she had had lips at that point, she would have been smiling. "Rangers, let's go." In five flickers of light, the Thunder Rangers melted away.

"Alpha, bring us in," TJ said into his wrist, just before they all streaked up and away.

In DECA's internal cavity, the Thunder Rangers still stood around, morphed but helmetless. "Evil Rangers," Marge grumbled. "Geeze, one repeat plot after another."

"You'd think they'd learn it never works," David agreed.

"DECA, is there anything you can do to find out who they are?" Heather asked.

"At this time, no," DECA answered. That green line that represented her voice oscillated on one wall. "You may return home, Rangers. I will contact you if you are needed tonight. Marge, would you please stay behind?"

"Sure," she said as she demorphed in a red flash of light.

"Marge, can I call you later tonight?" David asked. He added as an afterthought, "About the tutoring thing?"

"What?" Molly asked, spinning around. Yellow light sparkled around her as she demorphed as well.

"Tutoring, it means studying," Maggie sighed. Before the two girls teleported away, Maggie said, "It isn't sexual."

"You wanted to see me?" Marge asked, looking up at the black screen with the green line across it.

"Though we have not known each other for long, I have been observing you," DECA said. "And it has occurred to me that you possess qualities that may benefit you in a way that most mortals, and even Rangers, never get a chance to explore."

On the red column in the center of the "room," a small leather-bound book appeared. There was no title, but Marge eagerly opened it and flipped through a few pages. As soon as she realized what the book was about, a gargantuan grin spread across her fast.

"Magic," she whispered. "Wow."

"It will require hard work and meditation," DECA said, "and it may take months before you see anything beyond the most basic of results, but I assure you, this is worth doing. And magic is technically not the best term. You will be a Mancer, of whatever trade you wish to specialize in."

Marge slowly turned the pages. Every four pages was dedicated to a particular trade of mancing. There were plenty of elaborate decorations, and the writing in the book was in an elegant, silver script. "Aqua, geo, techno... Geeze, there are hundreds!"

As she flipped through the book, she realized she was getting no closer to the end than she had when she opened the book. The book itself was magical. "If you begin soon," DECA said, "you could be a practicing Mancer, albeit a beginner, by the end of this year."

Marge turned to the first page. Written in that same beautiful script were detailed instructions on how to begin. She flipped forward a few pages, and then a few more, until she realized that suddenly, the entire book was filled with the beginning instructions. This was just short of a living book. It presented her with the information she needed at any given moment.

"I see the book is responding to you," DECA said softly. "This is a good sign. Not everyone can be a Mancer. In fact, few can."

"I'm honored, DECA. Truly."

"You are my first student, Marge," DECA told her. "I was designed for this very purpose, but due to events beyond my control and my creators' control, I never received a student. It is I who am honored to teach you, Marjorie."

"Looks like I've got some reading to do," Marge smiled. "The book is mine to take home?"

"For now," DECA said. "There will eventually be a day when you will no longer need the book. At that time, it will return to me.

"You are about to embark on a journey that few have known. Yet you are not entering an unknown world. You will learn things that are disbelieving to you. You may see things that seem to initially counter your religious beliefs. I understand that you are a woman of science, Marge. But before long, you will be more in tune with the world around you than any mortal alive."

"I'm not going to become immortal, am I?" Marge asked nervously.

"Nothing will happen that you do not wish to happen," DECA assured her. "Go in peace, Marge."

"Thank you," Marge said sincerely. Then, she disappeared in a glimmer of red light, still holding the book securely.

"I slept heavy last night," Cassie commented the next morning at school.

"Those Psycho Rangers took a lot out of us," Justin told her. "Good thing the Thunder Rangers were around."

"It was just so frightening," Ashley sighed. "Just... lying there, unable to even move..."

"The Power is a very complex thing," Justin said. "If we hadn't had back-up, we would've been able to do more. But don't even try to figure it out, or you'll get the existential colly-wobbles."

"Huh?" Cassie asked.

"You'll get real dizzy," Ashley offered.

Down the hall, another Ranger-based conversation was taking place.

"I can't believe they canceled the first dance," Molly grumbled. "Let a few evil Rangers loose and the whole city panics."

"They're instituting a curfew," Marge added, joining the group. "All teens without their parents have to be home by six-thirty p.m. Everybody has to be in by eight."

"Looks like we're gonna get to sneak out of the house if we're called out," Maggie decided.

"Just tell your parents you're studying," Marge suggested.

"Like Mom and Dad will believe that," Molly muttered.

"We'll tell them we're planning what to wear for the rest of the school year," Maggie suggested with a grin.

"We need to do that anyhow," Molly decided.

"Hey M Girls," David called as he approached the trio. "What's the book, Marge?"

"It doesn't have a name," Marge said, handing it to him, "and it never ends."

"Nor does it have any writing in it," David said, flipping through the blank white pages.

"It's a magical book," Marge told him. "Apparently, only I can see it. Denise saw it last night and thought it was a diary. But I read about three hundred pages last night. I got to the last page, and then, it started all over. I've got another three hundred pages to go, and for all I know, there are going to be three hundred more after that."

"Are there Cliff Notes?" Maggie asked.

"Oh David, just reminded me," Marge realized. "You teach at a dojo, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "Yoshi's Dojo, just outside of town. Why?"

"I know nothing about fighting," Marge told him, "and I think given my new line of work, I should know something."

"We have a beginner's class that starts this Friday," David said. "That would be better for you than joining a class in progress. It isn't very expensive, either. Yoshi has the lowest prices in town. He also has the smallest classes, because he lives so far out in the boonies."

"Great," Marge smiled. "Why don't you two come, too?"

"Karate," Maggie mused.

"Doesn't cheerleading count as self-defense?" Molly asked.

"You're thinking of football," Maggie told her.

"Actually, I think I'm thinking of rugby," Molly remarked, crinkling her nose up as she pondered.

"Maybe you're thinking of Karate," Marge suggested.

"Yeah, I guess that is it," Molly agreed. "Okay, I'll be there."

"So, I guess you've all heard about the curfew the mayor imposed," Dharma remarked.

"I think it stinks," Hunter muttered.

"It's necessary," Cassie added quickly. "Take it from someone who's lived in Angel Grove her whole life."

"People have died because of evil Rangers," Emily said. "A lot of people."

"Not a lot," TJ said, "so you new guys won't get the wrong idea about Angel Grove, but enough. Enough that the curfew is understandable."

"Phantom Ranger killed four people," Emily remarked. "Green Ranger killed around twenty. Granted, most of the people killed by Green Ranger were killed by DragonZord. Phantom Ranger didn't even have a Zord."

"The Power Rangers were brand new back then," Justin said. "They had only been around about three months when Green Ranger attacked, but the Rangers who had to face Phantom were more experienced."

"I was still living in San Francisco when Green Ranger attacked in '93," Dharma said. "That, I think, was what really got word about the Power Rangers around. Now, the Power Rangers are definitely known around the planet. So even good things can come from bad events."

"It should also be noted that most people killed by Evil Rangers were in places they had no business being," Emily said. "Ever hear of a Hurricane Party? It's where people go in a building next to a beach during a hurricane, just to see if they can survive it. Of the people killed by Phantom Ranger, one was murdered in a back alley and the other three were holding a Phantom Ranger Party. There were nearly twenty people there; it's a miracle no more people were killed." She paused as she realized all that she had said. "Or so goes the word on the street."

"Some people have speculated that the new Silver Ranger is evil," Dharma said, starting a new line of conversation. "He has no armor-specific teammates... seems to be a loner..."

"That's totally bogus," Zhane muttered. "He's been seen fighting with the good Rangers."

Silence reigned for a few more moments before Dharma threatened, "If we don't talk about the Rangers, we're just going to talk about sex."

The room was still for a bit longer, and then she said, "Okay, sex it is. We'll start with the basics. What's the youngest age anyone in here masturbated?"

"Kinsey did the report," Sydney said, "and his patients were hooked up to lie detectors. So no lying. And 95% of all men have masturbated at least once, and 65% of all women. It's a fact. Undeniable."

"Quite true," Dharma agreed. "There's a joke that the other five percent of men were just great liars."

"Geeze, you people are uptight about sex," Zhane muttered, looking around the room. "It's a basic fact of reproduction. To deny it is... ludicrous. It goes against nature."

"It's a fact," Sydney said, nodding. "Once you get to a certain age, not being interested in sex is a very good sign of a psychosis."

"I've always wondered if the Power Rangers are interested in sex," Hallie commented. "I mean, for all we know, they're aliens or something."

"I'd say that aliens are interested in sex," Zhane said quickly.

"I think the Power Rangers are interested in sex," Sydney said. "All that adrenaline stirred up from fighting all the time... It's gotta have some kind of outlet. They'd either be really aggressive or hormonal or something."

"Would you stop it?" Justin hissed under his breath in Sydney's direction.

"It doesn't take a Zord to make a guy hormonal or aggressive," Hunter remarked, earning a good laugh from Dharma.

"If that were to happen," Cassie said, "the Power would presumably have some kind of safety feature to keep the Ranger from being affected. I would think, anyhow."

"So, if sixty-five percent of all woman masturbate, and there are three women on the current Turbo Ranger team," Zhane mused, "that means that at least two of them have masturbated... Wow. That's a heavy thought."

"Well if ninety-five percent of all men masturbate," Emily started, "that means that every guy but like.. maybe one has masturbated in the history of all Rangerdom."

"Touché," Zhane muttered under his breath.

"Great, now I'm not going to be able to think straight for the rest of the day," TJ groaned.

"Hi," Heather said, smiling warmly as a handsome man approached her. "Heather St. John."

"Nice to meet you, Heather," he said. "Matthew DiCicco. I'm a replacement anchor."

"Oh," Heather sighed, her face dropping. "My replacement, most likely."

"Oh," he echoed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"Actually, Heather," Andre said as he approached the couple, "he's Arnold Kreft's temporary replacement. The big guy upstairs who got you here really likes you."

"God?" Heather asked.

"The boss," Andre corrected. "He likes you enough that assaulting Arnold Kreft isn't going to get you fired."

"And I'm here because I'm married to his daughter," Matthew said.

"Yay for me," Heather smiled.

"But you did break his nose, so until he's healed, Kreft is a behind-the-scenes guy," Andre explained. "You and Matt here are co-anchors for the time being."

"Yay for us," Matthew grinned.

For the rest of the week, the discussions in folklore ranged from the mundane to the serious to the comical. It was quickly becoming a favorite class for everyone. The fact that Dharma had promised to give everyone who participated in class an A helped everyone like it. Even Murray was participating, writing notes and handing them to various people to read for him.

Sydney managed to keep from embarrassing herself in history for the rest of the week. She had made a few acquaintances, but she had yet to come across too many people who were friendly with her.

The Psycho Rangers hadn't been seen again. And before they realized it, Friday afternoon had snuck up on them. The curfew was still in place, although the city was starting to get more and more lax about it.

"You're still reading that book?" Molly asked. Four of the Thunder Rangers were in David's jeep as he drove them to Yoshi's Dojo. Molly, in the backseat with Marge, found the book sticking out of her backpack.

"I am going to be reading this book for the rest of my natural life," Marge snarled. "I counted. There are two hundred pages in this book. That's four hundred, front and back. Every time I get to the end, I discover I have to read through it again. I've read through this book six times since Monday."

"What's it about?" Maggie asked cautiously.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it," Marge said. "Honestly, I'm really not. If I try to tell you what's in that book, I'll lose the capacity of speech for three days."

"Is it at least interesting?" David asked.

"Fascinating, but... I've read twenty-four hundred pages of it so far. I'm not sure I can take much more. I'm reading to four thousand, and if I haven't reached the end of the book, I'm quitting."

"I wouldn't have made it through the first four hundred," Maggie commented.

"The only consolation is that the script is really big," Marge said.

"Hey, does Yoshi take credit cards?" Molly asked.

"I doubt it," David said. "Don't sweat it if you don't have cash, though. He'll take a rain check."

"I'm excited," Maggie grinned, turning around in the front seat to look at the two girls in back. "I know that I can like... control men, now, but it'll be so much cooler when I'll be able to do it physically, too."

The class was as small as David had suspected. Of the three assistants that Yoshi regularly dealt with, he was only keeping David around for this class. There was a total of ten students, including the three that David had brought. Gis and white belts had already been passed out, and the group was standing in the midst of a nice, well-lit room. Marge, Maggie, and Molly were standing in a line at the very back.

On the left breast of each gi was an emerald green snake, coiled around a sword. That, David had informed them, was the symbol of Yoshi's Dojo. Yoshi believed the snake to be one of his nine totems, and it was reflected all throughout his practice.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Maggie asked, waving her hand in the air.

"Yes, Ms. Hammond?" Yoshi asked, quite calm.

"Uhm, yeah, call me Maggie," she said. "Anyhow, I noticed that you gave me this white belt. And white is okay, but, I want pink."

"Yeah, and I could I have yellow?" Molly added.

"Maggie, Molly, you must earn your belts," Yoshi said, still calmly. Behind them, David was groaning uncomfortably.

"I'm willing to pay for it," Maggie said incredulously.

"You must earn it," Yoshi repeated firmly. "And there is no pink belt."

"But there is a yellow one, right?" Molly inquired.

"There's no pink belt!?" Maggie cried. "Geeze. Well, can I buy a black belt like you've got, 'cause I'm thinking of tie-dying my, uhm, karate-suit-thingie here pink and white, and black would probably look good with it."

"Ooh, so would neon green!" Molly realized, grabbing Maggie by the arm.

"Or electric blue," Maggie sighed. "Do you have either of those colors?"

"Good Lord," was heard muttered from one of the students near the middle.

"You will wear white belts until you have earned a yellow belt," Yoshi insisted, actually managing to still look dignified.

"Dude, I'm willing to pay for i-"

"No!"

"Geeze, why don't you spaz or somethin''," Molly muttered under her breath.

"Really," Maggie agreed.

"Maggie, Molly, I understand that this is your first session," Yoshi said in his fascinatingly calm voice. "For this reason, I will overlook your complete and total lack of respect for me and the art I teach. In the future, however, such transgressions will earn a punishment."

"Corporal?" Maggie asked nervously.

"Mental," he said calmly.

"Can I ask another question?" Molly inquired, holding a nervous hand up in the air.

"Certainly, Miss Hammond."

"You can call me Molly, if that's okay with you," she said delicately.

"As you wish, Molly."

"Can I decorate my, uhm... gi?"

"Provided you do not tamper or defile the logo, then yes, you may express yourself creatively." Molly smiled warmly as her thanks. "Now," Yoshi said, gesturing to the room, "we will begin.

"The martial arts were not created to fight. They were created to maintain peace. They are to be used only as a measure of defense. When you learn to defend yourself, you will discover that you no longer need to. You will be able to deal with anger, violence, and fear mentally. You will learn the physical skills and techniques required to counter any anger, violence, or fear found in others. Yes, Maggie, you have a question?"

"I was fiddling with my belt and it came untied. How do I fix it?" She looked for all the world like a lost little girl, afraid to ask but unable to stop herself.

"David?" Yoshi requested, gesturing at the tall blonde. "Please show the class again how to tie a belt. And Maggie, please see me after class."

"Somebody got in trouble," Molly snickered in a sing-song voice.

"Molly, you too."

"D'oh."

"You wanted to see us, Mr. Yoshi?" Maggie asked, pushing the curtain to his office back.

"Just Yoshi, and please, come in," the older man said. The tall twins stepped nervously into his office. "Girls, I am glad that you have not fit the mold society has cast for you."

"Uhm... we kind of, sort of, have," Molly said slowly.

"Yet you are in a karate class," Yoshi insisted. "I've never had a 'Valley Girl' in my class before, let alone two."

"Well, we have important reasons to be here," Maggie said.

"I have to admire your creativity and zest for life," Yoshi continued. "Today, people take themselves far too seriously and are far too unhappy. It is wonderful to see youth personified in my class."

"That's a good thing?" Maggie asked.

"That's a good thing," Yoshi answered. "However, I do insist that you respect myself and the other students of this class. This class will not be like your Homeroom. This class will demand utmost respect for myself, yourself, your fellow students, and the art you are learning."

"We understand that, sir," Molly said. Maggie nodded in agreement.

"You may go girls," Yoshi said. "And I look forward to seeing your new gis at Monday afternoon class."

As Maggie and Molly left the office, David was quick to catch up with them. "Do you all want to go to the beach this afternoon? The police are patrolling, and teen curfew was extended to adult curfew tonight."

"They're having a surfing competition tomorrow," Marge said, stepping up behind David. "Closed to swimmers and sunners."

"I bet the beach'll be packed tonight," Molly mused.

"Guys, everywhere," Maggie agreed. "I'm in!"

Molly was right. The beach was packed. The Turbo Rangers and various teens from school had found themselves at the beach as well. David had to make stops for his three companions, but soon enough, they were at the beach.

"Hey Hallie!" Maggie cried, standing up in the jeep and waving to her friend. Hallie was already in a very scant green bikini, and she was on the arm of the gargantuan Murray. The boy, obviously a bodybuilder, was drawing plenty of appreciative stares from people everywhere.

"Wow," Molly commented, leaning against the jeep's roll-over bar. "Now that is what God had in mind when he said, 'Let there be man.'"

"Let's go talk to Hallie," Maggie commented, jumping out of the jeep. "Thanks for the ride, David!"

"Hey girl!" Molly called.

"Murray, go get me a snowcone?" Hallie asked sweetly. He smiled and nodded and then jogged off, leaving Hallie to talk to her friends.

"Oh wow," Maggie said, staring at the six foot six man that was responding to Hallie's every back and call.

"I know!" Hallie cried. "And he's really interested in me!"

"That Zhane guy is cute," Molly decided, pointing to the blonde boy playing with Ashley and Cassie at the edge of the surf. The two blondes made eye contact, and Molly gave a simple wave.

"Wow," Zhane sighed, standing up. "Is that... your sister?"

"Molly," Ashley said. As soon as Molly bent over to push her worn denim cut-offs to the ground, however, talking to Zhane was an impossibility.

"Women on Daria never showed this much... flesh," Zhane commented. "Oh wow. I love Earth."

"Can I talk to your sister?" Zhane asked.

"Knock yourself out," Ashley said, pushing him along.

"I'm gonna go to the Cafe," Cassie said. "Hungry. Anybody want anything?"

"I'll come with you," Carlos offered. "I could go for something."

"Thanks Ernie," Justin smiled as he sat a tray full of food down on the table.

"Not a prob," he said, clapping the young Ranger on the shoulder. Sydney and Justin had come across Fred, Franklin, and Rosa, who had welcomed them to eat dinner with them.

"Hey, there's Teddy and Brooke," Rosa said. "You guys!" She waved her hand in the air, drawing the two over.

"Are you... high schoolers sure you want to be seen with us?" Brooke asked sarcastically.

"We seventh graders can always go eat under the bleachers," Teddy said in mock hurt.

"Siddown, Theodore," Fred ordered, kicking a chair out.

"Oh, this is Teddy Oliver and Brooke Hillard," Justin said to Sydney and Hunter. "Teddy, Brooke, this is Sydney Kwan and Hunter Wilson."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Brooke said, leaning across the table to shake their hands.

"Hillard?" Sydney asked, grabbing her drink from the tray. "You related to Kat Hillard?"

"She's my big sister," Brooke answered in the same accent she shared with Kat. Unlike her sister, however, Brooke did not have blonde hair. She had shiny auburn hair that reached to just below her shoulders. It was quite beautiful, Sydney thought to herself.

"And he's Tommy's brother," Justin offered.

"You guys want the usual?!" Ernie called from behind the counter.

"Thanks Ernie!" Teddy shouted back.

"You don't mind hangin' with twelve year olds, do you?" Teddy asked, glancing over at Hunter.

"Hey, I'm cool," the fifteen year old answered. "I'll hang with ya, at least until I meet somebody cooler."

Sydney smiled at the good-natured banter among the group. She was glad that she was finally making some friends.

"This planet is incredible," Zhane sighed as yet another pack of bikini-wearing women strolled past them. "I lived in a colder climate on Daria, so I never got to go to the beach much. But even when I did, the women always wore more than this."

"Seven forty-five," Ashley groaned. "Curfew is almost here." Indeed, the beach was starting to empty. The sun was already touching the water, casting beautiful colors on both the sky and ocean.

"I'm gonna go for a quick swim before I have to head back to the MegaShip," Zhane remarked.

"I better head home," Cassie commented. "Cadbury will worrying before long."

"I'll walk with you," Carlos said with a smile.

"TJ, would you give me a ride home?" Ashley asked.

"Sure thing," TJ said. "See ya, Zhane."

"Bye," he smiled, pulling his unbuttoned shirt off and laying it on the table. He jogged down the boardwalk and then strode out towards the ocean. As soon as he was in water up to mid-thigh, he dove out into the water. His belly scraped the ground, and with a few powerful breast strokes, he burst free from the incoming waves and was moving swiftly through the ocean.

He swam close to the ground until his lungs were hungry for oxygen, and he resurfaced. Zhane turned, finding that he was surprisingly far from the shore. The water moved next to him, and he turned to see Justin treading water next to him. "Hey Zhane," Justin greeted.

"Justin," Zhane shot back. "What are you still doing here?"

"Trini picked up Sydney a few minutes ago, and I wanted to get another swim in before I had to go home," Justin said. "You?"

"The same," Zhane said. He then paused, and pointed out into the sky. Eight streams of colored light were bouncing from cloud to cloud, slowly lowering to the ground.

Zhane and Justin shared a glance and then sank beneath the water. Muted silver and blue light flashed through the water, and then, the two morphed Rangers took off. They swam with powerful strokes; no longer burdened with the need of oxygen, they made great time and increased in speed, rather than slowed. As the two reached the pier, they resurfaced and looked up.

"Do you see them?" Justin asked.

"There are still people on the beach," Zhane commented. He lifted his wrist out of the water and whispered, "Zordon, get the other Rangers out here now. We've got Psychos and humans in the same place."

"There are some right above us," Justin said, looking straight up. Through the slats of the dock, they could see a few of the Psycho Rangers. Where the others were was anyone's guess.

"I'll go up on the dock and distract them," Zhane said. "You go clear the beach as best you can."

"Got it," Justin said, creeping out of the water. He paused by one of the support columns for the deck. Then, Zhane leapt up out of the ocean and onto the deck. The three Psycho Rangers present spun in alarm. As soon as Justin heard them move, he took off running up the beach. Fortunately, those that had been on the sand had already fled. However, there was a good cluster of people around Ernie's Beach Cafe.

"Get out of here!" Justin cried, waving his arms in the air. As he ran into the cafe, he shouted, "Get in your cars and get out of here! Psychos on the loose!"

He felt an arm tugging at his elbow, and he turned to see a nervous Teddy Oliver and Brooke Hillard staring at him. "My dad was supposed to pick us up, and he isn't here yet," Teddy explained.

"What do we do?" Brooke asked.

"There's a policeman," Justin said, pointing to a squad car that pulled up onto the sidewalk. "Go ask him to help you."

"That's him anyway!" Teddy cried. "Dad!"

"Teddy! Brooke!" Sgt. Oliver cried. "Come on, hurry!" Glimpsing Justin, he called out, "Blue Ranger! There are Psycho Rangers in the business district, too!"

"How many? Five?"

"And some Tengas."

"All right, thanks!" Justin answered. He wasn't sure what to do. The beach was mostly empty by that point, but there were still three Psycho Rangers there. One Ranger couldn't take them on alone, and Zhane was the only other Ranger around.

"Zordon!" Justin called into his wrist. "I just received word that there are Psychos in the business district!"

"The remaining Turbo Rangers have been dispatched," Alpha said. "Go assist Zhane."

"Right!" Justin then leapt high into the air, sailing almost effortlessly across the boardwalk and landing neatly on the pier.

"Red and Yellow Psychos just left!" Cassie cried, pointing down a side street. The two Psychos were running at an inhuman speed through the business district.

"I'll go!" Emily offered. "Midnight Racer, online!" Her sentient vehicle appeared before her. As soon as she touched her bike for the first time, it changed into a massive motorcycle. He gunned his engines proudly, and Emily gladly hopped on his back. "Let's go, boy!" The rear tire squalled as they took off down Madison Avenue.

Skyscrapers whizzed past her as she drove through the city. "Midnight Racer, you know where we're going?" Emily asked. He flickered his lights to answer yes. "Good, 'cause I can't see 'em anymore."

She had no more than said that, however, when an intense line of pain shot across her chest. A magical rope had been stretched across the intersection, and it had struck her directly in the chest, knocking her off Midnight Racer. The motorcycle fell to its side and skidded down the street. Before Emily could get to her feet, a rope made of red light was lashed at her and it wound around her chest, keeping her arms at her sides. A cylindrical cage, made of light, appeared around her before she could even try to throw herself out of the way. The two Psycho Rangers she had been running after were immediately on Midnight Racer, and the very same magical rope that had been used to knock her off the bike and currently held her arms in place was used to chain his wheels together.

"NO!" Emily cried angrily. "Let him go!" She struggled to free herself from the ropes, but they were far too secure.

"Magical morphin ropes," Yellow Psycho told her. "Don't even bother breaking free. Nothing from the Morphin Grid can break through them."

"Should've tied me up tighter," Emily taunted as she wiggled around enough to pull the AutoBlaster from her right hip. She couldn't move her arms much, but she was at least able to fire. "I can still move."

"Go ahead," Red Psycho said. "Try and break free from your cage."

Emily fired a blast from her AutoBlaster. The black shot of energy echoed off of her prison. Then, she realized something far worse. The force of her shot, on its highest setting, tore through her body, and she fell to her knees, screaming. She collapsed against the cylindrical prison, and she could feel the pressure of her body both against the prison and on herself. Wincing and groaning, she straightened up and delicately touched her fingers to the solid light. She felt her fingertips all over her body.

"Energy prison," she and Yellow Psycho said in unison. She looked up, seeing him just a few inches away from her. He looked a bit hazy through the wall of light, but he looked just as menacing as he would have anywhere.

"My friends will find me," Emily threatened, dropping her AutoBlaster to the street.

"Not bloody likely," Red Psycho snarled. "The entire area is shielded from the Command Center's scanners. It may be hours before they find you." She walked around Emily's prison, and then turned to her Yellow companion. "Go find another Ranger to lure here."

"Rangers!" Emily pleaded into her wrist. Static was her only answer. (It really is shielded...)

"Yes," Yellow Psycho agreed before he took off running.

"You aren't going to defeat us," Emily said. "The Power Rangers always win. I was an evil Ranger once, too. The spell won't last forever."

"There's one difference between us," Red Psycho started. "You wanted to succeed to save your life. We have no concept of our own life. Nothing matters to us. Win, lose, whatever. We just do what we are told to do. Moral plays are ineffectual on us. There is no Dark Weapon to shoot and free us. It doesn't matter what the end result is, as far as I am concerned. If I fail, I am destroyed. If I succeed, I am destroyed. I'm just here for the fight, something I derive great enjoyment from. So I ask you now... Who holds the upper hand?"

"Dad, what's going on?" Teddy asked. He and Brooke were sitting in the back of his patrol car as they drove through the streets of Angel Grove. The city was painfully deserted, and the monster shelters were all filled to capacity. "This is like when Green Ranger attacked."

"You two can stay at this Monster Shelter," Sgt. Oliver said as he pulled to a stop.

"You too, Dad," Teddy said. "Right?"

"'Fraid not, Champ," Sgt. Oliver said. He got out of the car, but before he could say anything else, a gloved fist slammed into his face. He rolled up over and across the hood, stunned although not seriously injured.

"Boo, Babies," Black Psycho taunted from the window. She jumped in the car behind the driver's wheel and slammed it into reverse, tearing out of the lot and back onto the street. Sgt. Oliver rolled off of the hood and onto the ground, temporarily too stunned to react.

As the cop car bounded down the street, red light streaked down through the sky and coalesced into the morphed form of the Red Zeo Ranger. "Tommy," Sgt. Oliver choked out. "Teddy and Brooke are in the back of that car."

"Hey!" Tommy shouted, waving at one of the policemen standing at the front door to the monster shelter. "This man has been injured!"

"I'm okay," Sgt. Oliver hissed. "Go."

Tommy nodded and shouted, "Zeo Jet Cycle, online!" As his red motorcycle appeared beside him, he jumped on the back and roared off down the street.

"I need a Zeo assist, on Jet Cycle, immediately!" Tommy shouted into his communicator. With the request made, he focused all of his attention on the task at hand.

"I'm here, Tommy," Bulk spoke over the communications system. "I'll intercept you at 6th and Walnut."

"Driver side," Tommy requested. "I'm gonna get the kids out of the passenger side."

"I'll keep Psycho occupied," Bulk said. About that time, he shot out of a side street and instantly moved parallel to the car. He thrust his right arm through the open driver's window and clasped his hand on top of Black Psycho's on the steering wheel.

"Hey!" Black Psycho cried.

"Come on!" Tommy cried as he ripped the back door off of its hinges. He threw it over his head, and it clattered to the street behind them. "Jump! You don't have time to be afraid!"

Brooke scooted over to the edge of the seat and looked nervously at the ground rushing past them. But suddenly, she felt a strong hand clamp onto her shoulder. She screamed, and when she opened her eyes again, she was sitting in front of Tommy on his Jet Cycle. "Grab my hand and jump, Teddy!" Tommy encouraged, sticking his arm out. He tilted the bike to the side, and with a quick jerk, he got Teddy in place behind Brooke. He flashed Bulk a thumbs up and then promptly darted off to the side and down 8th street, away from the car.

"Gold Rush, Psycho!" Bulk cried. Producing his Power Staff, he pointed it directly at the Black Psycho Ranger and fired with everything he had.

The car suddenly flipped over on its side, but before Bulk could veer out of the way, the front wheel of his Gold Zeo Cycle hit Midnight Racer. He was catapulted into the air at about the same time the police car turned onto its side and exploded.

Emily, still trapped in her light prison, suddenly found herself in the midst of an explosion. Fire licked all around the cylinder, and she was relieved to find that she could apparently only feel things that touched the inside. But suddenly, a large piece of metal slammed into the prison, and it tipped over, rolling down the street. Emily cried out, more from shock than fear, as she found herself rolling inside her prison. The light flickered, and then, the prison shattered, dumping Emily in the midst of the exploding remains of her car. Her arms were still bound, but she managed to hop to her feet and run up onto the sidewalk. She collapsed against a building and slid to the ground, relived to be out of the flames.

"Midnight Racer!" she cried.

"I've got him," Bulk said, pushing the large motorcycle up next to her.

"How do we get our ropes off?" Emily asked. Midnight Racer flicked his headlight on and off in agreement.

"A better concern might be how to not die right now," Red Psycho remarked. Black Psycho staggered up next to her. The visor across Black Psycho's helmet was fractured, though not shattered. Black energy shown out of the fissures, and it was obvious that the Psycho Ranger was greatly weakened.

"Back off," Bulk threatened, drawing his Power Staff and pointing it squarely at Red Psycho. Emily managed to get her AutoBlaster from her holster and aimed it in the general direction of Black Psycho as best she could with her arms bound.

"Or you'll do what?" Red Psycho asked. "Kill us?"

Blue, Yellow, and Green Thunder Rangers were off fighting in various parts of the city. Maggie and Marge, however, were morphed, albeit helmetless, and inside of DECA, trying to figure out the best plan.

"Marge," Maggie said, waving the Red Ranger over. "There's a shielding effect in here, but I've broken through enough to pick up Ranger signals. Black Turbo and Black Zeo are.. Gold Zeo, I mean, are here at the dead end on 10th street with Black and Red Psycho Rangers. That's by CitiBank."

"Emily," Marge whispered. "I'll go give 'em a hand. Back to action!" She promptly disappeared in a red flash of light.

"DECA, there is a huge army of Tengas fighting with the Psychos on 82nd through 88th," Maggie said in a panic. "There's only one Ranger for each street, and the Tengas are still coming." She saw her sister, Yellow Thunder, fighting as best she could against an entire army of Tengas. "I have to do something but I don't know what."

"Perhaps the best strategy would be to attack from above," DECA suggested.

"Above?" Maggie asked. She then glanced at the Firebird on her helmet. "Above... Yes! Back to action!"

"Red Ranger!" Trini cried. She pushed past the throng of people as Tommy escorted Brooke and Teddy in the 3rd Street Monster Shelter.

"Trini, it's bad out there," Tommy whispered to her. The two ducked into a darkened corner of the structure that composed the Monster Shelter. "Think you can sneak out of here? We really need your help."

"Good night," Trini sighed. "How bad is it?"

"We're about fifteen minutes away from calling the guys back from overseas," Tommy answered. A bizarre whooshing sound filled the air, which Tommy promptly recognized as a flying Zord. "Somebody's already called out a Zord. It's bad."

"You want a distraction?" Sydney asked, sidling up to the pair. "I can handle that." She walked over to the lone guard at the bottom of the stairs and tapped him on the shoulder. As he bent down to her, she whispered something in his ear. He stood back up, scowling, and strode to the back of the room.

"Some underagers in the back have beer," Sydney said to Trini's unasked question. "I just ratted 'em out. Now go!"

"Thanks Syd," Trini smiled warmly. The two ran up the stairs, Trini morphing as soon as she was out of public view.

A red silhouette appeared between Emily and Bulk which promptly coalesced into the Red Thunder Ranger. "Need a hand?" she asked, stretching one arm across her chest and producing her Thunder Whip.

"Always," Bulk agreed. The two Psycho Rangers ran at them.

Bulk brought his Staff down in a slice across Red Psycho's body. He followed that up with a high kick that, unfortunately, Red Psycho ducked. She lowered her upper body and rammed into Bulk's stomach, knocking him backwards into the building.

Marge launched a flying kick into Black Psycho's chest. As the already stunned evil Ranger staggered backwards, she lashed her whip around the Ranger's ankles and gave a hard yank, sending her to the ground. As she did that, she thrust her arm out at Red Psycho and coiled the whip around her chest. She yanked the Psycho Ranger back, and Bulk promptly fired a small blast from his Power Staff at her.

The distant sound of a flying Zord came to everyone's ears. All looked up in time to see the FirebirdThunderZord fly overhead. Two pink lasers shot from the Zord, each striking dead center on a Psycho Ranger.

"Come on!" Marge cried, pulling Emily to her feet. "We're being shielded here. We have to get you to the next street over so you can teleport to safety."

"Not without Midnight Racer!" Emily insisted, not letting Marge push her along.

Pink light flashed on the sidewalk, and the Pink Sentient Pick-up Truck, Wind Chariot, appeared before them. The horn honked and the tailgate lowered. "Get her out of here!" Bulk cried. "I'll take care of the bike."

"You heard him," Marge said, pulling Emily down the street. "DECA, let us know when we're out of the shielding."

"DECA your mentor?" Emily asked, looking at Marge. The two women were best friends, but Emily hadn't the slightest inkling as to who the Red Thunder Ranger beside her was.

"Sort of," Marge answered. "You have a place to go?"

"Yeah," Emily said.

"You are cleared for teleportation, Black Turbo," DECA said through Marge's external communications system.

"How?" Marge asked.

"Hit my belt buckle," Emily said. "And thanks."

Marge briefly hugged the Black Turbo Ranger, giving Emily a very unsettling sense of deja vu. "You're welcome," Marge said. She touched the belt buckle, and Emily melted into a sparkling stream of black energy.

Carlos looked up just in time to see pink lasers rain down from the sky. He watched in shock as each and every Tenga was struck by a laser. The Zord high above him was not flying slow by any means, yet the full barrage of lasers effectively struck the Tengas and the Psycho Ranger attacking him. Chuckling, Carlos shouted, "Thanks!"

"Looks like the tide is turning," he said into his communicator.

Zhane, Justin, and Green, Pink, and Silver Psychos paused in their fighting and looked up as FirebirdZord streaked overhead. Three well-placed shots from the Zord struck the three Psychos, knocking them off of the pier and into the surf. The three evil Rangers promptly teleported away in streaks of light.

"It's good to have more than one team of Rangers," Justin commented.

"Let's get back to the Command Center and see what Zordon has to say," Zhane suggested.

"Yes," Emily sighed as Zhane sliced through the ropes binding her arms. The rope flickered out of existence, and she was finally able to move. "Can you go fix Midnight Racer, too?"

"He's in their Holding Bay with the others," Bulk said. "I'll take you there."

"The rest of you may return home," Zordon said. "It is late and your families may be worried."

"Just tell 'em you got stuck in the Monster Shelter," Justin offered. "They'll buy it."

Zhane cut the ropes that still held Midnight Racer's wheels locked with his Super Silverizer. As soon as the motorcycle was freed, he honked his horn happily. Star Blazer, the yellow vehicle, honked her horn and flashed her lights frantically. She rolled up to Zhane and nudged him with her bumper.

"She wants your attention," Bulk muttered. Star Blazer's back door popped open, and Zhane hurried to the back. Bulk followed him, and upon seeing what Star Blazer was mentioning, Bulk had a recollection. "Liria," he said. "That's the name of the Pink Ranger who had armor like yours! A holograph, I mean."

"Liria?" Zhane asked. "She was the Pink Ranger of Daria... My best friend's grandmother."

"This is from Daria," Bulk told him.

Zhane reached out and delicately touched the silver egg-shaped capsule in the back. There was a golden rectangle with a triangle superimposed on it emblazoned on the side. "That's the symbol of Daria," he remarked. "It must contain the other five Space Morphers. They're powerless, but I can charge them up the same way I did mine... Do you think Zordon would let me take this back to the MegaShip so I can figure out how to get inside it? Five extra Ranger powers could be a big help."

"How'd the fight go?" Rebecca asked as Justin walked into the front door.

"We got our butts handed to us," Justin said. David promptly cleared his throat loudly, and he added, "But we did all right. What time is it?"

"Nine thirty," Rebecca said. "It's been a busy night for you all."

"No kidding," he sighed. "I'm wore out. I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed." He trudged up the stairs, turned back his bed, and happily crawled beneath the covers. He had no more than shut the light off when something jumped up onto the bed next to him. He jerked with a start, but when a sand-paper tongue touched his cheek, he relaxed. "Hey Lex." The tiny tiger kitten mewed once before it settled down next to him.

Roughly three months later...
November 17, 1997, Monday
A fairly powerful roar startled Justin out of a sound sleep. He opened his eyes to see Lex, now the size of a grown dog, stretched out on her side next to him. She was still just a cub, but she was currently moving through her awkward tiger pre-teen years of life.

The Psycho Rangers had continued their attacks, about once a week. While none had yet to live up to the degree of difficulty established in the second attack, there had been fatalities. Fortunately, with only two, that was kept at a minimum.

Angel Grove had become a paranoid city, and with good reason. More people than ever had moved out of the city. Most of the emigrants were retirees and newly-wed couples, but just the same, the city had lost about twelve hundred of her four hundred thousand residents during the two and a half month period that the Psycho Rangers had been attacking.

Heather and Matt made such an impression on practically everyone that he was given the permanent co-anchor position next to Heather. Their names and faces were on billboards all over the country, and Arnold Kreft was no longer employed by KBKO. He and his wife had reconciled after she learned the truth about his extracurricular activities, and he had opted for early retirement. Actually, she had threatened him with divorce if he didn't taken early retirement, but the end of the story was still the same. Heather and Matthew had a great on-air chemistry together, and KBKO's edition of World News Tonight was a big draw for the network.

Zhane had been trying to get the Darian Orb open for quite some time. He had established that there was a password that would allow him access. Unfortunately, he had no idea what it was, and there were thirty-seven alpha-numeric characters that composed it. Michele was continually plotting all of the thirty-seven possible combinations into it, as she had since Zhane found it. It was, as Zhane put it, about as easy as trying to clone a dinosaur. It could be done; it was just gonna take a while.

Had he devoted more time to the Orb, he might have already cracked the code. But as it was, he was having far too much fun being Angel Grove High's first male cheerleader, unofficially dubbed a Tigeretto.

Aisha, meanwhile, had finally managed to lose her cast. However, she was still in physical therapy, as not using her leg for so long had made it really weak. She was almost back in peak condition, though.

Sydney was quickly becoming one of the more popular girls in her class. Even better than that, she hardly ever embarrassed herself in history any more. Unfortunately for her, (although she had been expecting it), her teenage scoliosis did return, and she found herself in a back brace. In fact, it was given to her on her fifteenth (or twenty-first) birthday.

Justin swung his legs off the side of the bed and sat up. Lex nudged him roughly, making him stand. "Good morning to you, too," he grumped. She rowred at him and playfully swatted with a large paw.

"You up?" David asked, peeking into Justin's bedroom.

"I'm up," he answered. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, "When are Billy and Kimberly coming home?"

"They'll be here this Saturday night," David answered. "How'd your fight go last night?"

"Well, we've figured out how to beat them temporarily," Justin said. "We just launch all of our fire power at 'em at once. Unfortunately, they know our strategy, and they do everything they can to avoid it. That's why it takes so long."

"At least fatalities are at a minimum," David remarked.

"Thank goodness for small favors," Justin agreed. "C'mon, Lex, let's go get breakfast."

"Justin, don't let the tiger eat at the table," Rebecca chided.

"You heard her," Justin said, pushing the blue tiger out of the chair. Lex grabbed one of his sausage links before jumping down to the floor.

"David, stop feeding Monroe under the table," Rebecca added, still cooking at the stove.

"Busted," Justin snickered.

"How'd you know?!" her husband asked incredulously.

"Knock knock?" Sydney asked, opening the back door.

"Come on in, Sydney," Rebecca greeted. "Just in time for breakfast."

"I've already ate, thanks," she said. The grey kitten, Samantha, promptly ran up to Sydney and rubbed against her legs. "Good kitty," Sydney smiled, bending to pet the kitten. Her back brace squeaked as she did so. "Oh no," Sydney said in her best imitation of her doctor. "Your back brace won't squeak, Sydney. We've made sure of that."

"How long you have to be braced, Sydney?" David asked, pushing a fried egg onto a piece of toast and tucking it under the table.

"I can hear that dog chewing," Rebecca warned.

"Justin did it," David tattled.

"Hey! I did not!"

"Six weeks total," Sydney said, "so I've got about four more. It'll be off just in time for Christmas."

"Sure you don't want anything, Sydney?" Rebecca asked.

"I think I would like a glass of orange juice, actually," she said, starting to get it.

"No, no, sit down," Rebecca said. "I'll get it."

"You ready for Appleby's quiz?" Sydney asked.

"I didn't even have time to study last night," he said. "I didn't get home until nearly midnight. So no, I'm not ready."

"We'll cram during lunch," Sydney assured him.

Beep beep beepbeep beep beep.

"Before school?" Ashley asked, looking around.

"Crud!" TJ growled, slamming his fist into his locker. "We're gonna get caught."

"It's 7:45," Cassie said. "That's early enough to still be out. If we're asked, we'll say we got caught up at a monster shelter."

"Come on," Emily whispered, beckoning her teammates closer. They ducked into a side hallway, and then she announced, "Coast clear. Let's go." The hallway was temporarily lit up with six colors of light, and then, they were gone.

"Look!" TJ cried, pointing at the eight Psychos standing in a line.

"They seem different," Cassie remarked. They were holding themselves in a manner that seemed more human than before. The Turbos moved toward the Psychos, and then, the eight Psychos fell into a defensive stance.

"They aren't the Psychos we've been fighting for so long," Carlos whispered to his teammates.

"Who are you?" Red Turbo suddenly asked.

"Silver Ranger," the Psychos leader answered in a human voice. "And yourself?"

"We're the Turbo Rangers," TJ answered, crossing his arms across his chest.

"He's cocky," White Psycho muttered.

"All evil people are," Green Psycho shot back.

"Evil?!" Justin protested. "We aren't evil!"

"No way!" Cassie agreed.

"Yeah, right," Red Psycho spat, stepping up beside Silver Psycho. "We've seen the video logs of the damage you all have done!"

"Damage?!" Ashley cried. "We're the Earth's defenders!"

"You're posing as the Earth's defenders!" Black Psycho shouted. "What have you done with my-"

"Hush!" Blue Psycho chided, grabbing his teammate by the shoulders and pulling her close. Whispering, he said, "You can't give them any ammo."

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

"We know you're cowards," Silver Psycho told them, stepping ever closer to TJ.

"Jack, be careful," Red Psycho warned.

"She knows what she's doing," Yellow Psycho said, mostly to himself.

"We know how evil people work," Silver said. She stopped directly in front of TJ, leaning even closer to him. "And we've been specially trained, just for the purpose of defeating you. Give up while you still can. Rangers, let's go." In eight frantically bouncing teleport streams, the Psycho Rangers disappeared.

"Wasn't that a nice little debating session?" Emily commented as they rejoined the throng of teens at Angel Grove High.

"Students, classes will begin at 8:15 this morning," Mr. Kaplan said over the intercom. "This should be sufficient time for everyone to have returned from the monster shelters. That is all."

"Hey Emily," Marge said with a grin as she passed her best friend in the all.

"Hey girl," Emily called after her.

"You still reading that book?" Maggie asked as Marge stepped up next to her.

"Forever and always," Marge answered simply, opening her locker. "I think it's a test of patience."

"How many pages does this make now?" Molly asked.

"Uhm... Around twelve thousand, I think," Marge said. "My counting system got a bit messed up around nine thousand." She glanced around for a moment, and then whispered, "I wonder why DECA didn't call us out this morning."

"I guess we weren't needed," Maggie said with a shrug.

"It doesn't make any sense," TJ muttered. His fingers danced across the control panel, and the encounter earlier that day replayed in the Viewing Globe. "They sounded different, they were standing different..."

"And they accused us of being evil," Cassie finished. "Total one-eighty."

"Do not let this event get the best of you, Rangers," Zordon said. "This may be a tactic to do exactly what it is doing."

"Freak us out," Cassie sighed. "He's right. They didn't even attack us. That's a good thing."

"I'm gonna go to the Youth Center and work out," TJ said. "Wanna come with?"

"Sure," Cassie agreed. "See ya, Zordon, Alpha."

"Goodbye Rangers," he said, watching the twin streams of red and pink light up the Command Center.

"Alpha, please replay the file," Zordon said. He had watched it so many times over the past two months that Alpha didn't even require a reference number anymore.

The Viewing Globe remained dark, but the video feed inside Zordon's warp lit up with images of eight, smiling, young faces. Eight young adults that had been brought from the future and manipulated to Divatox and MasterVile's evil wiles.

Zordon had an idea. He had been sitting on it for several months now, and he wasn't sure if it was feasible. Well, he knew that Dimitria would go along with it, provided he could bring her to the Command Center, but there was no way he could bring himself to ask her to make such a sacrifice. Asking someone to give up their life, just so that their life energy could purge the universe and fix some mistakes, was a lot to ask of a person. Even Dimitria. He would gladly make that sacrifice in a second, but there was no way that he could. He didn't even technically exist in this timeline due to being temporally displaced. That could, of course, be overcome, but it involved his death, like Ivan Ooze had almost proved. Besides all of that, he had been appointed by the UDAB to guard the Earth Crystals.

He was going to have to ask Dimitria. That was the only option. But that meant getting to the Space Base. Despite the danger, he was going to have to ask his Turbo Rangers to go to the Space Base and carry a message to the kidnapped mentor, and then, essentially, kill her. Her life force could change so many things. All evil could be annihilated, in theory. And even if evil did survive, any spell currently active at the time of the 'change' would be forever banished. That would no more evil Rangers, ever.

"Alpha, please determine how many of our facilities you can direct into monitoring the Space Base," Zordon requested.

"Certainly, Zordon," Alpha said. "We can safely spare 37% of all energy output into monitoring the Space Base."

"Please do so for the next three weeks."

"It is done," Alpha said. "May I ask why?"

"We need to get to Dimitria," Zordon answered simply. "I want to know the safest time to send my Rangers to bring her back. I need to call on a favor."

Alpha was silent as he continued puttering about the computers. Then, Zordon asked another question. "Alpha, would it be possible to construct an energy tube for myself like was used in the Power Chamber?"

"Not in any timely manner, Zordon," Alpha said. "The original files were lost after we converted from the second version of the Power Chamber to the second version of the Command Center. There were only two tubes like that in existence. You owned one, and now, Dimitria owns the other. She probably has the blueprints, but we'll need to rescue her before we can gain them. If you like, I can build one from scratch. It could take several months, however. It was a complex unit."

"That's okay, Alpha," Zordon excused.

Wednesday night
I don't understand what's going on. The Psychos have been busting our butts for the past three months. And the past two battles have been... different. The last fight was an actual fight, and it was rough, but it just wasn't like the way they used to be. I don't know if it's good or bad. I fear the latter.

"Cassie, are you all right?" Cadbury asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Huh?" she asked, turning. "Oh, hi Cadbury. I didn't hear you come in."

"You've been staring at your diary for the past ten minutes without writing a word," Cadbury observed. "Is anything amiss?"

"Nah, just typical teenage angst," she answered with a grin.

Cadbury reached past her and picked up a small Pink Turbo Ranger figure from her desk. "Are you sure there isn't anything you need to talk about?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Did you know they're making Psycho Ranger dolls?" she asked. "That's despicable."

"Awfully opinionated for such a typical teenager," Cadbury remarked, sitting the doll back down on the desk.

"Subtlety has never been your strong point, Cadbury," Cassie said as he walked out.

He paused by the door and slowly turned back to her. "Yours neither," he answered.

"You can keep a secret, right?" Cassie asked, wincing a bit.

"You are the only member of this family I deal with on a regular basis, Cassie," he said. "Who would I tell?"

"All right," she relented. She got up and crossed her room, sitting down on a large couch that had recently been re-upholstered in pink. "'Cause I really need to talk to someone else about this."

Friday afternoon
November 21, 1997
3:47 p.m.
"Zordon, I have noticed an increase in chronaton particles around the Space Base," Alpha announced, breaking the silence in the Command Center.

"Have you noticed any temporal instability?" Zordon asked.

"Only indirectly," Alpha answered. "The Space Base is shielded, so I cannot detect anything within. The Lunar Palace has been unaffected, however. Oh, aye-yi-yi! Energy spike! Energy spike! We're about to be attacked, Zordon!"

"Summon the Rangers," he ordered quickly. "DECA as well." I have an interesting feeling about today...

Zordon watched the fight closely. Red Psycho had gone from tough resilient to headstrong assailant.

"Zordon, a teleportation signal is coming directly at us from the Space Base!" Alpha cried. "Should I bounce it?"

"Who is it?" Zordon asked.

"Scanning... It's... Dimitria!"

"Do not bounce it," Zordon said calmly.

Silver light flashed in the center of the room, and Dimitria's darkened plasma tube appeared in the dead center of the lighted floor. Silver Psycho Ranger stood next to her.

"Aye-yi-yi!" Alpha Five cried. "It's a Psycho Ranger!"

"No!" Jacquelynn cried back, removing her helmet. "I'm not evil, I swear."

"Zordon?" Dimitria asked. "Is that you?"

"Alpha, get some power to her tube!" Jacquelynn encouraged.

"Dimitria?" Zordon asked, staring intently at the darkened tube. It suddenly lit up, and a smile crossed his holographic face as he saw her again.

"We were tricked," Jacquelynn said quickly, "and I'm hoping the two of you can help-"

Before she could finish her thought, red light streaked into the Command Center, forming the Red Psycho Ranger. "Hillari!" she cried.

"Excellent plan, Jack," Hillari practically cooed. "Destroy them from the inside... out." She paused as she realized that Jacquelynn was not fighting.

Yellow light flashed beside Hillari, producing another Psycho Ranger. "Hillari, don't do this," Montana said as he yanked his helmet off.

"You're working for them, now," Hillari realized.

"Red Ranger, stop right there," Zordon boomed.

White light crackled across Zordon's bed of crystals. The thirteenth Earth Crystal, shaped like a pair of wings, glowed brighter than all. Hillari ran at Zordon, and suddenly, a bolt of energy shot from the Crystal and struck her. Her body was overwhelmed with white light, and by the time she had reached the edge of Zordon's energy pedestal, she had slowed to a walk. When the light subsided, she was no longer clad in her Red Psycho Armor. She now wore her real Ranger armor, a shiny red suit with an eagle emblazoned across her helmet.

Jacquelynn and Montana both looked down at their own bodies, startled to see that their armor, too, had reverted to their original design. Jacquelynn's helmet, still sitting on a console, had turned into a tiger design. Montana's, in his hands, was now decorated with the image of a deer.

The five remaining Psycho Rangers paused as their armor reverted to its original form. The Turbo and Thunder Rangers looked with interest. No one moved for a moment, and then, the Psycho Rangers continued their attack.

"Zordon?" Hillari asked, quickly removing her helmet.

"Alpha, secure the Command Center," Zordon ordered. "Allow no one in without our authorization."

"Done, Zordon," Alpha told him.

"Rangers, over the past few months, Alpha and I have ascertained as to what has happened," Zordon told them. "And we know how to send you back to the future. We just had to get you to approach us, as we could obviously not divulge your identity to the current Rangers."

"You figured out who we were?" Jacquelynn asked.

"With one of the helmet functions," Hillari realized. "We have 'em, too. Obviously... I mean, we're just you all in the future."

"The future does not exist yet," Zordon told them. "While your existence is secured, you will not remember any of this."

"I'm sure it is for the best," Jacquelynn sighed. "I have so many questions, but since we aren't going to remember anything..."

"The future you will return to may be quite different than that which you have known thus far," Zordon said. "Your memories will be altered to reflect the changes, and your lives will not be disrupted in the slightest.

"Alpha, teleport the Rangers out of the Command Center," Zordon ordered.

Jacquelynn, Hillari, and Montana looked at each other as they disappeared in three streaks of red, yellow, and silver.

"Zordon, if you have an idea, you didn't tell me," Alpha announced.

"Alpha, Dimitria, I have spent a great deal of time thinking," Zordon said. "I have devised a plan that can set the universe on a straighter path."

"Zordon?" Dimitria asked, touching the inner wall of her plasma tube with an open palm.

The disembodied mentor didn't even ask his robotic assistant to help him. He knew that Alpha Five would not assist him. Alpha's programming went against what Zordon would have asked him to do. With his mental energies, he manipulated the computer consoles. Instantly, his column of light darkened and disappeared. For a moment, the plasma tube faded black as well. Then, the column of light shone back down from its place above the bed of crystals. However, the floating, ghost-like image of Dimitria was in Zordon's place. The plasma tube relit, and Zordon appeared there. He smiled at Dimitria in his lighted column. She looked more beautiful there than he was sure he ever had. Her gown and wavy hair rippled lightly in an unseen breeze, and the bottom of her gown faded away into a ghostlike apparition, stopping sort of actually touching the numerous crystals below her.

"Zordon?" she asked again. She looked more vibrant in her new environment, but she looked far more confused. "What are you doing?"

"Alpha, I am placing the full schematics of the Command Center in your databank," Zordon said. All of Alpha Five's lights lit up as the literal tons of information was rapidly downloaded into the automaton. "I have sent identical copies to DECA and Michele."

"Zordon?" Alpha asked in a frightened voice. "What are you doing?"

Alpha suddenly flickered white, and Zordon hop-teleported him into the center of the pedestal of crystals. The red and gold robot was mildly obscured by the holographic Dimitria, floating above him. "Alpha Five, it has been an honor," Zordon promised him. "Dimitria, I am entrusting into your care the Zeo Crystal, the Earth Crystals, and my Power Rangers."

"Zordon, no!" Alpha Five wailed. "Please don't do this, Zordon!"

"You surely realize there are other ways to go about this?!" Dimitria cried out, her voice lilting at the end with a questioning tone.

Alpha Five instantly realized Zordon's plan, and his mentor's secrecy over the past few weeks suddenly made sense. Zordon had indeed known what would happen. A low level of prescience was one of his magical abilities, which was why Zordon had never been worried. He had seen the events that were about to transpire before they had happened, and he had gone to great lengths to ensure they would transpire with the best possible results.

"This is my destiny," Zordon told them.

"Don't leave me, Zordon!" Alpha pleaded. "Please!"

"I love you, Alpha," Zordon promised him. "I hope that you will understand my reasons someday. Please take care of my Rangers for me."

"I love you, too, Zordon," Alpha whispered.

Then, Zordon activated the Safety Program. A metallic cage unfolded around the pedestal of crystals and the lighted column holding Dimitria and Alpha Five. "So this is it," Zordon whispered to himself. He quickly activated Plan Omega-Seven. He turned and saw the readout display on the nearest computer console. It was tinged blueish-green, but he could still see the numbers.

0:05.

0:04.

0:03.

0:02.

0:01.

"This is my destiny," he repeated.

0:00.

"Dear God!" Ashley cried.

The entire mountain shook as a giant red cloud rose up from the spot where the Command Center had once stood. Golden light shot straight up into the air, flooding the entire sky with light. A golden ring of light surrounded the epicenter of the explosion.

The light passed through the former battlefield. The ten Turbo and Thunder Rangers were unaffected. However, the Psycho Rangers vanished. A colored outline of the Psycho Rangers lingered behind for a few moments before fading away completely.

"Zordon and Alpha," Cassie sighed.

"Teleportation is down," Carlos offered quickly.

"So are communications," Justin said.

"Come on!" TJ cried, running up the hill. The rest of the Turbo Rangers were close behind.

"The entire sky is gold," Marge said, craning her neck up. The blue was replaced with a gleaming yellow, and the formerly white clouds stood out even brighter, glowing a vibrant metallic gold.

"It's still coming out of the mountain," Molly observed, pointing. It was almost like it had turned into a volcano, as gold light continued to shine forth from it.

"Let's get back to DECA," David suggested. In four flashes of light, the Thunder Rangers flickered away.

Dulcea started as the light passed through her. Instantly, everything changed for her. There was a cracking sound, and she looked down to see a pile of pink sand around her feet. She knelt beside it, delicately touching the sand. The Crystal of Time? she asked.

It was the remains of the crystal that allowing her to exist beyond the protection of the Ninjetti Temple. She realized, after checking to make sure she hadn't suddenly aged twenty-thousand years, that she had just been given another chance at an honest-to-goodness mortal life.

Zhane was on the bridge of the MegaShip bridge when the light passed through his vessel. Undoubtedly confused, he would have been more so if he had been in the same room as the Darian Orb. The triangle in the rectangle changed from a piece of gold metal into a green LED display which began to slowly count down. In roughly twenty-four Earth hours, the Orb was going to open itself.

London
From the west, a golden wave of light was rushing toward them. It passed through everything, buildings and people alike. "What is that?" Jason asked, turning to watch as the light swept past the horizon.

The light seemed to be coming from the general direction of the west, but it was moving everywhere. It moved along the ground, but it also lit up the entire sky. The few stars visible were temporarily obscured as the light moved closer. Suddenly, the first tinges of light swept past them.

Immediately, the three horsemen Famine, War, and Pestilence screamed. Their horses whinnied frantically. The leader ring of light had already moved past them, but another, stronger blast of light soaked them. "NOOO!!!" Pestilence screamed angrily.

Jason, just a few feet from her, watched in disbelief as she began to disintegrate before his eyes. Her body turned to red sand, holding its shape for a moment, before it spilled to the ground. Her red dress fluttered in the air for a few moments before it drifted to the ground to lay atop her sand remains. Her sword hit the ground with a thud.

War and Famine turned into white and black dust, respectively. Famine's horse turned to dust as well, and Guy fell to the ground, landing roughly on his feet as black dust continued to rain down around him. Famine's empty black suit fell behind him, and he picked it up in confusion. As he moved it, black dust poured from the sleeves.

The light swept past Death. The skeletal horse disintegrated beneath her, and she fell to the ground. Grey sand billowed up around her, and sparkling pink light shone from beneath her hood. The scythe fell from her hands, clattering to the ground before lying still.

And then, the light was gone. It could still be seen moving along the Earth, and, incredibly, flowing out into space.

"Katherine?" Tommy asked hopefully, turning to death.

Slender hands reached up to the grey hood and pushed it back, revealing a very human face surrounded by beautiful, golden hair.

"Tommy?" Kat asked in disbelief. She was still kneeling in a pile of grey dust from Death's horse. "What's going on?" she asked further, looking at her grey robes.

"KAT!" Tommy cried happily, demorphing as he threw himself at her. He scooped her up from the ground, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She returned the gesture, a great deal more bewildered but more than happy to return the hug to those strong arms. Tommy gave a happy whoop and spun in a circle, lifting her feet off of the ground and sending even more grey dust everywhere.

"Tommy, what's going on?!" Katherine cried as she laughed.

He stopped spinning, still holding her in a full bodied hug. "I've never been so happy to see you in my life," he sighed, filling his hands with her hair.

"But... what happened?" Katherine asked. "The horsemen. Are they-"

"They're gone, Kat," he said.

"How?"

"A once-in-a-lifetime miracle," he answered with a smile. "I love you, Kat..."

A long of surprise filled her face, soon to be replaced with a look of great pleasure. "I love you, too," she returned.

"Guys, where did that golden light come from?" Guy asked.

"Maybe Zordon or Alpha knows," Kimberly theorized. As she demorphed, she reached for her communicator.

Silence.

Space Base
"Ivan!" Scorpina cried. The gold light rushed through the hallways, acting more like water than actual light. The light swept past her husband, and she stood still and screamed. The light overwhelmed her body, and every molecule in her body changed. For a moment, Ivan Ooze and Scorpina stood as statues of sand. Then, they began to flow to the ground.

Rygog and Elgar met similar fates.

However, before they could turn into neat piles of sand, the entire Space Base exploded.

The Lunar Palace
"Zeddie!" Rita cried, standing on the balcony of the Lunar Palace.

Klank and Orbus hobbled out of a side hallway and crept up to the side of Lord Zedd's wife. Although their mechanical faces allowed no true emotions, Klank's body language did plenty to express their confusion.

Rito and Goldar appeared in their own signature teleport streams behind Lord Zedd's circle of red. Divatox was close behind him, and she was the first to voice her thoughts. "Good evil... What is that?"

Below them, the Earth was no longer a blue and white sphere. Now, it was a glowing, a ball of golden, liquid light, sparkling magically beneath them.

"What do you think it is?" Lord Zedd asked of anyone in particular, not really expecting an answer.

Light was shooting off of the surface in all directions, and one wide tendril of light lashed off of the planet and headed directly for the moon. Rita turned to her husband, a look of amusement on her face. "I think it's pretty," she said simply as the light drew closer and closer.

"No," Zedd suddenly realized. "NO!"

He immediately began to glow a powerful red. He summoned his Power Staff, burning that same color. He spun it in his hands and thrust it towards the ground. As soon as the Z made contact with the rock beneath them, a red sphere of fire burst out and surrounded only those in the immediate vicinity. Before he could make it large enough to protect the entire Palace, the light was upon them, promptly stopping his spell cold.

"Daddy!" Prince Sprocket cried. "Mama!"

"Run Sprocket, run!" Queen Machina commanded. As soon as the Space Base had exploded, debris of all sizes was thrown everywhere. The Lunar Palace promptly became as dangerous as a mine field, and the evil machine found herself pinned beneath a fallen arch.

"Come on!" Archerina shouted, grabbing Sprocket by the arm. Gasket had already run on, but there was nowhere to run. The light swept past them, and the royal family of the Machine Empire was annihilated.

MasterVile turned slowly. He didn't even have time to attempt to cast a protection spell. The light washed over him, and he spilled to the ground as black and grey dust.

All over the Palace, henchman, scientists, and fighters of all kinds were defeated with that cleansing light.

Such was the way that the Dynasty of the Apocalypse was destroyed.

Sila Ree Tar
"You still aren't dead," Darkonda growled.

As Jenga turned her head, a smirk was already on her face and her multicolored hair changed back to her standard red and blue. "Darkonda!" she greeted warmly, calling on Ioaeu Sjknth as she did so. "You just made this trip... heavenly."

Before he could retort, however, the sky above them began to change colors. The rich violet faded away to be replaced by a vibrant gold. The wind picked up, and Astronema scooted over to Jenga's side.

"What's happening?" Astronema asked.

Jenga's eyes opened wide, and she thrust an arm out to Astronema, pulling her close. She pushed Ioaeu Sjknth to the sky, and it began to glow a soft white. Instantly, a transparent force field formed around them.

She had no more than safely encased them before the first wave of gold light streaked down through the atmosphere. A heavier, more powerful wave of light followed, which passed through every thing and person around, save for Jenga and Astronema in their protective 'bubble,' before continuing its trek through the universe.

Astronema buried her face against Jenga's shoulder, trying not to look. Jenga, however, stared at Darkonda with horrified fascination. As the first beam of light struck him, he froze solid. The next heavier beam turned him to sand, and by the time it had all swept past them, he, and his Sword, had been reduced to a pile of dust no higher than her knee.

Jenga lowered Ioaeu Sjknth, breaking the force field around them. "What happened?" Astronema asked, pulling away from her slightly.

"I'm not sure," Jenga answered, walking over to Darkonda's final, ninth-life remains. "Let's get back to the Lunar Palace."

Triforia
Catalina stepped out of her Center of Power with Alpha Six behind her. "Cat?" Alpha Six asked.

"I don't know," she answered. Suddenly, the light passed through them, and a gasp was jerked from her throat.

She inhaled deeply, and then, she stopped. (I can breathe...) She touched her body, actually feeling it beneath her fingertips and startled that light no longer passed through her bodies. "I'm free," she whispered. No longer was she trapped outside of the dimensional loop. "I'm free!"

Phaedos
The golden light swept through the Neola jungle, destroying hundreds of traps that had yet to be sprung. Then, as it passed through the Monolith, the Great Power was freed.

On the Ninjetti Training Grounds, Ninjor was a lone warrior. As the light, and the Great Power, moved toward him, he extended his hand. There was a simple, blank Power Coin there. The light passed through him, and the Great Power was funneled into his empty coin. His restrictive armor, placed there by a curse eons ago, disappeared, revealing a youthful, tanned man with short, dark hair. Upon the coin appeared Ninjor's totem, the ever-powerful elephant.

"As it began," he said to the empty planet he stood on, "so shall it be."

UAE Headquarters
Three seconds before, the UAE Headquarters, an ominous spacecraft hovering in the center of the conquered M-51 galaxy, was a bustling, alive place. Now, as the light continued on its trek across the vast expanse of the universe, the UAE was empty.

Sand lay everywhere. Life existed nowhere within its empty, alien halls.

The light was obviously not true light. Except under extraordinary circumstances that Earth's scientists refuse to acknowledge, it cannot move faster than approximately 186,000 miles per second. However, the golden light that purged evil from the universe had covered everything in that dimension in a short three hours.

No one knows what shape the universe is in. It might be a flat plane with an actual border, it could be spherical, or it may exist in a structure that a mortal mind cannot comprehend. However, as soon as all evil had been purged, the magical qualities just drifted away.

The actual "light" still existed. Its magical healing properties, though, were gone. It slowed to just 186,000 miles per second, and while it didn't quite behave like real light, it was around and still moving about the universe for the rest of time.

Earth
"There's nothing here!" TJ wailed.

Where the Command Center had once stood was now just a field of burning rubble. The sun had dropped beneath the horizon, and the only light provided was now that of the fire. Nothing larger than a small car remained. "What do we do now?" Emily asked woodenly, sitting down on an upturned boulder.

A bizarre beep came from everyone's communicator, followed by, "Guys?"

"Zordon?!" Justin cried, hitting his wrist almost painfully.

"No, it's Zhane. I've managed to patch your communication frequencies through. With Michele's help, that is. You should be able to communicate with your teammates now. In fact, I'm getting a signal from... your brainy friend. Uh.. Billy?"

"Billy?" Justin asked, tapping his communicator.

"Justin, thank God I got through," Billy sighed. "What is going on?"

"We aren't sure," Justin admitted. "The Command Center is gone."

"It sounded like you said the Command Center is gone," another voice said. Emily instantly recognized it as Jason.

"It is," TJ told them. "We're... where it should be right now. We saw it explode."

"Is that where the light came from?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Emily answered. "Can you guys get back here? We could really use some experienced Rangers around here. We're totally out of our league."

"We'll be there right away," Billy said. "Are communications back? I'll go ahead and contact everyone."

"We're working through Michele on the MegaShip, but they're working," Justin answered. "And hurry, if you can." He released his wrist and sat down beside Emily.

"Do you think the Psycho Rangers were destroyed?" Ashley asked, removing her helmet.

"Let's go ahead and power down, guys," TJ said in a defeated voice. In six flashes of light, and with a slight whine of energy, they returned to their unmorphed states.

"I think so," Carlos said. "They just... disappeared. It certainly wasn't a normal teleport."

White, yellow, and black teleports streaked through the sky and materialized next to them, producing Aisha, Trini, and Zack. Another streak of yellow, producing Tanya, was close behind. "Oh my God," Tanya sighed, covering her mouth. Deja vu...

A streak of green light was the next to come, signaling Adam's arrival. He said nothing; he just stared in disbelief. Silver light, producing Zhane, arrived next. A triple stream of green, black speckled with gold, and silver appeared, forming Skull, Bulk, and Dulcea, respectively. Then, six bright teleportation streams of red, blue, and pink soared in from the east, bringing the last six of Zordon's Rangers to the epicenter.

"Did anybody see exactly what happened?" Tommy asked suddenly.

"The Command Center just exploded," Justin said.

And then, completely unexpected, the young Ranger began to glow a bright blue. He jerked his head up in shock, but before he could be too terribly concerned about having something horribly wrong with him, the same glow emanated from Rocky and Billy. Red light began to shine from Tommy, Jason, and TJ all. Pink from Kimberly, Katherine, and Cassie was next. Yellow burst from Trini, Tanya, and Ashley. Zack and Emily found themselves surrounded by a grey-like aura, as close to a color that glowing black could manage. Skull, Adam, and Carlos were glowing green, while Bulk began to glow gold, markedly different from the yellow, and Zhane and Dulcea both sported silver auras.

The colors leapt away from the Rangers and coalesced into a giant, spinning ball of color. Then, the ball dropped to the ground and seemingly broke, spilling light out like paint. It stretched out rapidly, forming a perfectly even circle on the flat section of the rocky outcropping of the mountain. Several of the Rangers were standing in the light. It was composed of all the colors of the Rangers, shimmering like crystal.

"I think we should get off of it," Tommy remarked, even though he wasn't standing on it. Those who were standing on the lighted circle quickly obeyed him and hurried off, stepping into crevices between the rocks, walking part-way down the trail that lead to the Command Center, or anything else to not be standing on the light.

As soon as they were cleared, the burning debris sank down into the light. Then, they were presented with just a flat, miniature ocean of the glowing light. The glow intensified, and strangely, the light began to take form. It slowly rose up from the ground, forming sharp angles and walls. The light rose higher and higher, and it didn't take more than a few seconds before the Rangers realized they were looking at some form of the Command Center.

However, it was not the Command Center as they knew it. By the time that the structure of light had reached as high as it was going to go, it was obvious that the new building was at least twice as large in diameter and twice as tall. The light suddenly exploded away. Each Rangers' appropriate color flowed back into them, and they all instantly remorphed, their helmet safely tucked in the crook of their arm. Dulcea was the lone exception, and even she was wearing her Ninjetti outfit with the hood and sash down.

"Prodigious," Billy whispered, not even aware that he had said anything. The structure was shaped basically like the Command Center. However, it was no longer the beige terra-cotta color. Now, it was a mirrored and silver building, looking every bit like a futuristic skyscraper, only on a shorter scale. The same sharp angles were there, but the overlaid design that had traversed the entire Command Center originally was now smooth silver or a reflective mirror.

"Rangers, come over here," Tommy suggested. Those who stood at the sides of the new building hurried over to his side. He was standing before the "opening" of the building. The walls there were clear glass, and bright light was shining forth. There was an actual lobby just beyond. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was far more inviting than the empty room behind solid doors that had been there previously.

Then, the doors swung outward. "Zordon," Justin whispered.

"Let's go in," TJ decided. The Turbo Rangers stood back, allowing their "elders" to step in first. The first team of Rangers, meanwhile, were standing back as well, allowing the active team to enter first. Finally, Tommy motioned with his hand, and the Turbo Rangers stepped inside. The other Rangers were close behind, and as Tommy and Jason, the last two Rangers to enter, passed inside, the glass doors closed shut and the glass across the "lobby" became reflective mirrors.

"It's all gone," Astronema sighed as soon as she and Jenga rematerialized on the moon.

Where the ominous Lunar Palace had once stood was now an empty field of rubble. Jenga looked for the Space Base, but it was quickly obvious that their second home had also been destroyed. It was still in orbit around the Earth, but since it was no longer in one big piece, it was pretty much useless to her and anyone else. A ring of brightly colored debris, obviously still affected by the color spell Jenga had placed on it months earlier, stretched around the entire planet, looking for all the world like a miniature, alien Saturn. Lines of fire streaked through the Earth's atmosphere as parts of Earth's "ring" fell out of orbit.

"Is anyone here?!" Jenga cried. Her voice echoed in the protective bubble, which was apparently the only thing that had survived.

"Mordant!" Astronema called. "Ecliptor!"

"Zedd! MasterVile! Divatox!" Jenga added.

Jenga's green eyes began to glow blue, and she swept her eye beams across the entire field of wreckage.

"You see anything?" Astronema asked in a small voice.

"Not yet," Jenga answered.

"What in the name of evil could have happened?" the purple-haired villainess asked. "Think the Rangers did this?"

"It isn't their style," Jenga said. "Don't just stand there; help me look!"

Astronema walked over to the far edge of the protective atmosphere. "Jenga, there's something glowing over here!"

As Jenga hurried across the rubble, Astronema was already trying to lift a large section of wall off of the strange, red glow. With Jenga's assistance, they pushed it free. Beneath it was a small, van-sized ball of fire. Jenga pointed her hand at it and shot a single tendril of blue light at it.

The fire promptly extinguished, and the only surviving members of the Dynasty were revealed. "Zedd!" Jenga cried happily.

He looked up at his mother, finally releasing the flow on his magic. Suddenly, his silver staff, still glowing red, turned into a snake. It draped across his arms, and then, it turned into sand, falling to the ground. He flickered red, and promptly changed shape, shifting from a seven foot humanoid into a six-foot normal man.

"Zedd?" Jenga asked.

"It... it took everything I had to keep the spell going," he said woodenly. "I'm powerless."

"Oh, Zedd," Rita sighed, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I like you even better when you look like this."

"It isn't," he snapped.

Jenga extended a hand down into the pit. Divatox took the proffered hand and climbed out. Klank, with Orbus perched on his shoulder, scrambled out, as did Goldar and Rito. In a flash of Rita's yellow magic, she and the powerless Zedd teleported out of the pit that had been created by Zedd's protection spell.

"Is it just us?" Divatox asked. Her face and entire body, along with the other survivors, was smudged with dirt and soot.

"I'm not sensing anyone else," Jenga remarked. "Divatox, come with me to the UAE Headquarters. The rest of you, stay here and... look for survivors. Maybe there were others."

"There aren't any others, Mom," Zedd sighed.

"Look anyway!" she demanded angrily. "Come on, Divatox." In blue and crimson, the two disappeared.

There was a slight teleportation, and the Rangers were promptly inside a dark cavernous place. "Zordon?" TJ asked.

Suddenly, the entire room lit up brightly.

"Wow," Justin sighed, trying to look everywhere at once.

The new room was predominately silver. The roof and the ceiling were exact duplicates of each other, a lighted grid that was lighting and darkening in a precise pattern. The room was long and rectangular and more than spacious enough for all of the Rangers. A team twice their size could have fit there comfortably.

The center of the room was lower than the two ends. Each end was a foot higher than the center floor. Situated in each elevated section were six neon columns, along with a series of monitors set into the wall. Each monitor highlighted a different ranger, featuring an unmorphed picture and a series of morphed pictures. There was a still picture of the helmet, as was there a still picture of the entire Ranger suit from the front. Another photo from the side was next to it, and there was a third, moving image of the Ranger, slowly spinning in a circle. There were also pictures of the Zords and weapons attributed to each Ranger. In addition to this, there was detailed textual information at the base of the monitor. It was a video library of the Ranger team, providing detailed information. The six active Turbo Ranger monitors were differentiated from the others by a ring of neon lights around it.

Computers systems far more complex than anything the Command Center or Power Chamber could have offered lined the walls on each side of the lower, center room. Numerous video monitors lined the rest of the wall, including one panoramic screen about ten feet tall that stretched across the entire expanse. On the opposite wall were more screens, but there was one difference. There was a large cubbyhole set into the wall above the four-and-a-half-foot high computer consoles. Nestled at the bottom of this cubbyhole, and completely filling it, was Zordon's bed of crystals. Within rested the Earth Crystals and the colored Zeo Crystals.

"Welcome home, Rangers," Alpha Five suddenly said. All turned their attention to the small red and gold robot.

"Alpha!" several voices cried in unison. He stepped through a set of doors that were hidden on the inside wall of the right wing of the building.

"What is this place, Alpha?" Billy asked.

"This is your new headquarters, the Power Station," Alpha answered.

"Where's Zordon?" Kimberly asked, looking at the empty tube.

"I'm... I'm afraid Zordon is not with us anymore, Rangers," Alpha said sadly.

"I've never seen this place empty before," Divatox remarked. Her voice and her heels echoed in the abandoned hallways of the UAE. "Have you?"

"Never," Jenga agreed. "Is anyone here?!" Her echo was the only answer.

"What do we do, Jenga?"

Jenga paused in the hallway. Sand lay everywhere, and it didn't take too much extrapolation to realize that everyone here had met the same fate as Darkonda. "We'll check the main computer system," she said. "That will tell us how many survivors there were."

A quick teleportation brought Jenga into the largest computer room in the entire ship. "Computer?"

"Greetings, Jenga Xett."

"Please display the active list as of THIS precise moment the standing of all members in the UAE," she requested.

"Acknowledged. One moment. Compiled. Thank you."

Jenga looked up at the large computer screen and felt her stomach sink. Never in her worst nightmares had she imagined things would be this bad. "Computer, is this information correct?" Jenga asked.

"Yes."

1. Jenga Xett, 2. Divatox, 3. Astronema, 4. Rita Repulsa, 5. Goldar, 6. Klank, 7. Rito Revolto, 8. Orbus, 9. Lord Zedd.

"Is that a mistake?" Divatox asked her. "And why is Zedd below Orbus?"

"He lost his powers saving you," Jenga answered. "And yeah, it's right. The nine of us now compose the entirety of all evil, known and unknown, in the universe."

No, Tommy decided. This happened when we lost the Command Center the first time. I'm just imagining this; it's a bad dream. Any second now, Zordon will appear in the tube... He has to.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"He gave his life to save the universe," Alpha answered.

The stasis tube suddenly lit up. Everyone turned their heads hopingly toward it. However, it was Dimitria that appeared there.

"He asked Dimitria to resume his role," Alpha said.

"Which I shall Rangers," she promised. "I will live up to the legacy Zordon has established."

"He's dead?" Kimberly asked, disbelieving. "We brought him back to life once. Let us try it again!"

"There isn't even a body, Kimberly," Alpha told her. "Zordon has passed on."

"You mustn't worry yourself over Zordon," Dimitria told them. "His family died long ago. This was his chance to join them."

This is like a bad dream... It mattered not who actually thought it. Thoughts similar to that one were present on many minds there.

"Rangers, why don't you go look at the world that Zordon has liberated for you," Dimitria suggested. "I will talk with you later, if you so desire."

As the numb Power Rangers teleported away, a blue teleportation stream entered the Power Station. "Catalina," Dimitria greeted.

"I suspected as much," Catalina said. "I thought that was Zordon that passed through me."

"You are physically here," Dimitria realized.

"Yeah," Catalina smiled. "Your curse has been lifted, I see."

"Would you believe I still feel the urge to speak in questions?" she asked. Grinning beneath her sash, she added, "But it isn't necessary."

"The Rangers will have a hard time understanding why Zordon did this," Catalina mused.

"Yes, they are," Dimitria agreed.

"I'm about to go to the UDAB headquarters with Alpha Six to help there," Catalina said. "There's a lot of paperwork. But before I go, I'm going to speak with the Rangers. Do you object to this?"

"Of course not," Dimitria promised her.

"It's just us," Jenga said as soon as she and Divatox arrived back at the moon.

"What do you mean?" Zedd asked.

"The nine of us is all there is left," Jenga repeated. "Anywhere. All evil is completely and totally gone, save for us." She sat down on an upturned section of stone wall.

"What do we do now?" Klank asked.

Jenga stared at the blue and green planet above them. "I don't know," she sighed.

"I've found something I think you might be interested in," Rita said. In her hand she held the eyepiece of the RepulsaScope. "Just look through it."

She tossed it to Jenga, who easily caught it and then looked through. "Oh," Jenga remarked simply. "That's... unexpected." She dropped the eyepiece to the ground with a sigh. "I'll be back in a moment. I wanna see what that is." She turned into a pillar of blue flame that streaked through the darkness of space toward the Earth.

As she appeared on a section of private beach, a small Asian boy playing nearby looked up in surprise. Jenga slowly walked over to the boy, who kept his gaze locked on her. "Hi," she said, kneeling next to him.

"Mama!" the boy suddenly cried, turning around and running up the beach.

She looked up, finding herself standing on a section of private beach that was accessible only to those who lived in the villa before her. There was a very pregnant Asian woman standing nearby. "Is he your child?" Jenga asked her.

"Nephew, actually," the woman answered. "My name is Ariel."

"Nice to meet you, Ariel," Jenga said. "I'm looking for something. Someone, I guess. Have you seen this symbol before?" She knelt in the sand and drew a large circle with the letters JXMV in it.

"You don't recognize me, do you?" Ariel asked.

Jenga looked up at the woman, who rested her hand on her swollen stomach. "I feel like maybe I should," Jenga admitted.

"You know me better as Archerina," Ariel answered. She smiled and rubbed her belly. "This is that child we never got around to activating."

"Are you all here?" Jenga asked, standing up.

"All but nine of us," Ariel remarked. "I guess the other eight are with you."

"Yeah," Jenga said. "Sprocket before, I take it."

"Spenser now. Come, I'm sure everyone would like to see you again."

"Not likely," Jenga remarked. However, when she looked up, she saw an Asian family standing on the beach.

"That's my husband, Gavin," Ariel pointed out. "His parents, Meagan and Monty."

"Where's MasterVile?" Jenga interrupted. "I don't see him here."

"Vance," Ariel said. "He's around."

A British man approached Jenga, whom she quickly identified as the former Ivan Ooze. "Jenga, may I speak frankly?" Ivan asked. As she nodded, he said, "May I request that you let us live this new life we have made for ourselves? Vance and I sacrificed the last of our magical abilities to live here. We don't want to be evil anymore."

"I would like to speak with Vance," Jenga said calmly.

"Of course," Ivan said. "Follow me."

"Good luck with the pregnancy," Jenga remarked over her shoulder.

"Thank you," Ariel smiled back.

As Jenga and Ivan entered the court yard, she passed a young black man reading a book. "Emil," the young man said.

Ecliptor, Jenga realized.

Off to their side were two fairly short janitors, currently lounging in the shade. "Percy and Felix," Ivan said. The two waved at her, and Jenga promptly identified them as Finster and Porto.

"Edgar," a handsome man greeted, shaking her hand as she walked past.

Elgar, Jenga said mentally, unable to stop herself from grinning.

"Of course you recognize my wife, Sabrina," Ivan said. The woman formerly known as Scorpina was sunning on a chair in the center of the courtyard. She waved and smiled as Jenga walked past.

Ivan stopped at the gate that would lead them further into the villa. "That is Morgan, Ryan, Daniel, Diana, Bobby, and Shaun."

"Where is my husband?" Jenga requested.

"Fourth door on your left," Ivan said. "Just knock."

Jenga smiled a pained smile and nodded. Then, she stepped through the gate and walked down the brick sidewalk. She could feel numerous eyes on her. But she didn't really know any of these people. She used to, but not anymore. Finally, she reached the correct door, and knocked.

"Come in," a perfectly normal voice called.

Jenga pushed the door open, and saw a man sitting in a chair near the door. It was definitely him. He was in the form she requested he use when they were intimate, or in public without the intention of doing evil work. "Jenga," Vance said, standing up.

"M- Vance," she said hurriedly.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon," he remarked. "I knew I would eventually, but... It's been only a few hours."

"I saw what you carved on the tree outside," she told him. "Actually, Rita did, but..."

"Let's go down to the beach," Vance requested. "Okay?" He stood up from the bed and took her by the hand.

She let him lead her, unsure of what else she could possibly do. A few moments later, they were sitting side by side, watching a Hawaiian sunset. "Why didn't you put up a protection spell?" Jenga asked.

"Never occurred to me to do so," Vance admitted. "Why did you?"

"It was the only thing that occurred to me to do," Jenga said. "So... I guess this means we're going to be divorced."

"I suppose so," Vance agreed. "Unless you were willing to join us."

"That'll never happen, I'm afraid."

"That's what I figured."

"Vile, I want you to know something," Jenga said, turning around and kneeling beside him. "Of all the people I've been with in the nearly million years I've been around, you were my favorite."

"You're just saying that because I'm the most recent."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I did love you. I still do. If you ever change your mind, let me know."

"If you ever change your mind, let me know, too."

"Feel free to meet a mortal woman and have mortal children," Jenga said softly.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "Is there... any chance... we can be together one last time?"

"No," Jenga said truthfully. She stretched out to him and gave him a delicate, tender kiss. "I'm granting you indemnification," she said. "We won't attack you. Ever. I promise." Then, she disappeared in a flash of blue fire, leaving Vance all alone on the beach.

"Hi, this is Heather St. John with a special report from KBKO and ABC News. If you've been outside tonight, you have noticed there is an unusual section of colored sky tonight. If we could view the Earth from space, we would see that our planet has developed a ring, much like Saturn.

"This ring is the remains of the Space Base, that appeared in orbit around our planet back in August. The Space Base has been destroyed, and this ring is the remains. Astronomers at AGU assure us that there is nothing to be concerned about. The ring is slowly falling to Earth as we speak. This is the cause of the numerous 'shooting stars' that have been lighting up the sky all night.

"The ring will be completely gone in approximately five weeks. The sections that fall to Earth will be burned up in the atmosphere, so there will be no potential harm to us or our planet. We'll have more at ten.

"And on a side note, the city of Angel Grove will be having a celebratory fireworks display, tonight at nine. The curfew has been lifted, and all are encouraged to watch it."

Catalina and all of the Rangers were sitting at the peak of Angel's Bluff, watching the sky. The ring was fuzzy and blue, and it was high enough that it only obstructed the stars that it physically hid. It was almost as if the cleansing wave of Zordon's light had even purged the atmosphere of its pollutants, as there were more stars out than was usually seen in Angel Grove.

"As long as I live, I'll never forget that day," Kimberly said thoughtfully, dabbing at her eyes with a worn Kleenex.

"I think for me, my big Ranger day is when we returned from Phaedos," Aisha mused.

"Mine is when we came back the second time," Trini said. She was leaning against Billy, who intertwined his fingers with hers. "So many good things happened last January."

"Zordon brought a lot of us together by making us Rangers at all," Zack commented. "Some of us might never have met. We certainly wouldn't have been this close."

"I'll never forget when Billy's helmet was removed," Rocky remarked. "I don't think I have even to this day been that shocked."

"Sometimes, it seems like the first day was just yesterday," Jason said. "An ordinary world turned into a world with superheroes overnight."

"I remember that day, too," TJ said with a grin. "Well, close to it, I guess. I've wanted to be a Power Ranger ever since the day you all became one. Thanks to Zordon..."

"Being a Power Ranger is one of the best things that ever happened to me," Adam said. "I wonder what my life would have been like if I had never been chosen."

"I'll be back in just a minute," Tommy said. "Go on without me." In a ruby red teleport, Tommy disappeared. Katherine watched intently until he faded completely from sight.

"If I had never been a Power Ranger, I wouldn't have got to fall off of a building," Cassie said, "or get shot at... But I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Justin grinned and said, "When Rocky picked me, and I drove through the desert in Mountain Blaster to get to the Ghostly Galleon... I called out, 'I'm the new Blue Ranger. Isn't that cool or what?!' And Katherine answered me. 'What.'"

As the others laughed, Katherine quickly said with a smile, "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"The first time I saw Zordon was on the Savannah," Tanya commented. "I almost didn't come. It was so scary just thinking about it... But I'm so glad I did come. I've got such a great life here."

"I was so nervous when I first became a Ranger," Katherine said. "I was sure Zordon would lecture me, or something... I had been evil, after all. But he never treated me any differently than anyone else."

Bulk said, "I've always thought it really... unusual that Zordon knew who we both were before we even became Rangers."

Skull smiled. "We did have a tendency to get in trouble. A lot."

"Except for Catalina, I've known Zordon longer than any of you," Dulcea commented. "And even before Rita trapped him in that warp, he was the exact same... And he wasn't bald then, either."

"Zordon told me I could live on Earth," Zhane said. "If it wasn't for him, I'd be halfway to Aquitar by now to shack up with some fish."

"He was the one who convinced me to switch to contacts," Ashley said. "He said in his typical, polite way how much better I'd look without those big, clunky glasses to hide my face."

"He introduced me to some of the best friends I could ever hope to have," Carlos said.

"Hear, hear," Billy agreed.

Red light roared through the sky again and landed in the center of them, producing Tommy. In his hands, he held a small cardboard box. "Where'd you go?" Jason asked.

"Pet store," Tommy said, carefully opening the box. A cooing followed, and when he held his hand out, a pair of mated, white doves were sitting there cautiously. "I thought it would be a nice to set a pair free."

Tommy stepped up to the edge of the cliff. All of the other Rangers got up from their positions all around him and flanked him on both sides. "You guys are free," Tommy said, stroking one of the doves with the back of his index finger. He lowered his hand and then thrust it up into the air. The birds unfurled their wings and flew into the air. For a few moments, the only sound any of them could hear was the sound of the wind rushing past the birds. Then, they swooped up into the sky and disappeared into the night, cooing the whole while.

"Let's go home, guys," Jason decided.

"Mom?" Zedd asked. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she commented, reclaiming her position on a broken section of wall.

"Jenga, we can't stay here forever," Astronema remarked. "There's nothing here."

"The dungeons probably survived," Klank suggested. "We could spend the night there."

"Whatever," Jenga said. "I'm tired, I'm emotionally exhausted, I don't want to have to think right now. After I've got some sleep, I'll figure something out. But for now, I just want to sleep." And hope that I wake up from his nightmare.

The fireworks display in the park had a huge turnout. So large, in fact, that the police were out in record numbers, just to make sure the crowd stayed under control. But tonight, the crowd was acting perfectly.

"It sure is beautiful tonight," Dulcea remarked to Bulk and Skull. The ring, now tinted blue, was a beautiful backdrop against the explosive, colorful fireworks.

"Orion's Belt seems brighter tonight," Skull commented, pointing out the constellation.

"It does," Bulk agreed. For a moment, he thought he saw two of the stars turn silver and green, but when he blinked, they seemed the same gold as they had before.

"Wow," Maggie remarked as they got off the elevator at the 63rd floor. "Major Poltergeist III look."

"Mirrors," David mused.

"Where did Heather say she was?" Marge asked. "C or D?"

"C," Molly said, walking up to the apartment and knocking on the door. It quickly opened, revealing a smiling Heather, still in her business suit.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Heather said, opening the door wider. "Please, come in." Heather still had to go on the ten o'clock news, and she wasn't able to get to the park. However, as KBKO studios were on the first and second floors of her building, she was able to get home. She gestured to one wall of her apartment. Practically the entire wall was glass, and they could see the fireworks plainly.

"Hey, there are even mirrors in here!" Maggie cried, pointing to the wall Heather shared with the hallway. The entire surface was mirrored.

"There are mirrors everywhere," Heather said. "It takes a lot of getting used to. Hey, you guys want some champagne?"

"Champagne?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, I've been saving it for a special occasion," she said. "No occasion in mind, and this is a good one."

"Does one of us need to stay sober and be our designated teleporter?" Molly asked as Heather produced five wine glasses and a bottle of champagne. She quickly poured the glasses, and the five Thunder Rangers picked them up.

"To good friends," Heather toasted.

"Good Rangers," David added.

"And DECA," Marge said.

The blue machine suddenly swept into the room. "You beckoned?" DECA asked.

"Cheers," Heather said, as the five clinked glasses.

"Check it out!" Maggie cried suddenly, pointing out the window. The five turned as firework displays of their Thunder Ranger helmets, in appropriate colors, appeared high above the city.

"Now this," Zhane said, leaning back in his chair, "is a nice Earth custom."

"Fireworks are awesome," TJ agreed.

"Guys, I'm gonna see if I can find Jason," Emily said, excusing herself.

"Bye Em," Cassie said, waving at the Black Ranger as she left.

"I feel kind of weird inside," Ashley said. "Y'know? Like... this is how it's supposed to be." Justin nodded in agreement.

"Zordon would want you to be happy," Carlos told her. "Not sitting around and grieving over his death. I'm sure of it."

"Turbo Rangers!" a young voice called from nearby. Before the teens could get nervous, however, they saw that the sky was suddenly lit up with a fireworks version of their helmets.

In another part of the park, five of the Zeo Rangers and Aisha were sitting at their own table, watching the sky with interest.

"If you ask me," Tanya said, as the fireworks display of the Zeo Rangers disappeared, "the shooting stars are much prettier."

"Definitely," Katherine agreed, nodding.

"They said on the news that we'll be seeing meteorites, even during the day, for the next five weeks," Adam said.

"It's gonna seem so weird, going to the Command Center, Power Station, I mean, and not seeing Zordon," Tommy remarked.

"Catalina said Dimitria will make a good mentor," Rocky said. "And she certainly looks good."

"Rocky!" several of the Rangers cried in unison.

Chuckling, Aisha said, "I'm almost positive there are restrictions against mentors dating their Rangers."

Far out of town, the five original Rangers were standing on the roof of the Power Station.

"You need each other, and the world needs you." Jason sighed deeply, remembering what Zordon had told them after their very first fight.

"It's been so long," Trini said. "Four years."

"Zordon was trapped in that time warp for ten thousand years," Billy said. "Can you imagine how boring it must have been. It's... it's like he's finally free."

"He had a wife, once," Kimberly told them.

"Really?" Zack asked. "Why didn't he ever tell us?"

"It made him sad to talk about it," Kimberly said. "She died so long ago... We only talked about it once, and from the way he talked about it... He loved her so much. I'm pretty sure Rita was the one who killed her. That's the main reason I think he hated her so much."

"I'm sure they're together now," Jason decided, propping his elbows on the walled edge of the roof.

Suddenly, the fluttering of wings startled him, and he backed up a bit from the edge of the roof. "Hey, it's the doves," he realized.

The two white birds rubbed beaks before the Rangers. Then, they lifted back up into the air. All five Rangers lifted their attentions upwards, just in time to see five meteorites, one red, one blue, one pink, one yellow, and one a greyish-black, streak through the atmosphere.

"Thanks Zordon," Jason said to the world at large, "for everything."

End