Between the Lines

Chapter Three

In Larry Zedden's house the next morning, everything was quiet. At least until he woke up. All of a sudden, it came flooding back to him: the dream, Tommy being seduced by the woman, his ponderings on why she was such a stranger to him and his resolution to find this Tommy and save him from the she-devil's evil manipulations. He jumped out of the bed with such energy and force that a vase on a nearby table shook and fell off, crashing on the floor and breaking. Larry jumped and then let out a long string of unspeakable words as Leslie slowly woke up.

"Larry, what in heaven's name happened in here?" she said, Eying the broken pieces of the purple vase lying on the floor. She very vaguely wondered if he had been having one of his little temper problems again. There were times when he would get mad at something, although rarely anything she said or did, and would explode, shouting words Leslie didn't even want to remember. It blew over quickly, but the occasional piece of furniture did get damaged.

Well, she thought, Jamie does that too. She supposed it was all part of being Zarakin. Zordon had said that most of the race had that problem. She shook her head and returned her attention back to him. She had no idea at all what was going through his head at the moment.

Crap! Larry thought. I guess I'll have to tell her. Like I would have been able to go without her knowing, anyway. Oh, well. He sighed heavily, standing over the vase in his shorts and t-shirt. Leslie waited patiently, concern marring her lovely, pillow-fresh features.

"Leslie, what I'm going to tell you is going to sound strange, so I want you and Jamie to come to the Power Chamber with me later; but I need to go talk to someone first, okay? When I get back, we'll all go to the Power Chamber together and I'll explain things to you."

He hurriedly began pulling on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red shirt. He strapped his communicator on, slipped into a pair of sneakers, took a look in the mirror, and headed out the bedroom door.

Leslie stared after him, wondering what could have happened before she awoke, because he'd never been this energized before-- not since before Jamie was born. As she continued thinking about those years, she climbed out of bed and started picking up the pieces of the broken vase. Then, something hit her like a ton of bricks. She remembered how, in the dead of night, she had been woken up by Larry's cry of... what? Fear? It didn't matter, because that clue told her exactly where he was headed to all of a sudden. Dr. Lita Kino's office, where Tommy had learned to live with his dark side and had overcome countless emotional problems. She had promised to help Larry and any of the others in whatever ways she could, mostly by counseling him and giving advice when they needed it. She had told Larry that if he ever had a serious problem, to come see her, no matter what.

Leslie threw on her patchwork robe and headed down to the kitchen to start breakfast. She knocked on Jamie's door on the way, and heard a muffled acknowledgement from inside. The girl would be down in a minute.

Pouring herself the first mug of coffee from the pot-- Larry hadn't stopped to take any-- Leslie had a feeling that it was going to be a very long and confusing day for all of them.

A short time later, in Lita's office, Larry had just finished his story. The chestnut haired psychiatrist regarded him for a long moment, leaning back in her high-backed leather chair and nibbling absently on the Green Coin which she wore around her neck. After a moment, she let out a long breath.

Obviously Larry had had a vision, she thought to herself, because that would be the only thing that would allow him to describe it so well. I wonder if it's real, though?

Larry awaited her reaction, but soon realized he wasn't going to get one. She continued to gaze at him, eyebrows raised in an Is that all? type expression. He sighed, and got to the point.

"Lita, I need your help." he said. "I'm going to go find that Tommy and help him. I don't want him to go through what I went through."

Still silent, Lita arched a brow at his statement.

"But I know that this Tommy needs help with his dark side, and I don't know if I can give him what he needs. I think you're the only one that can do that, since you've already been through it once with our Tommy. Will you please join me?"

Now Lita blinked in shock, unprepared for this turn. She had absorbed his whole story with a neutral demeanor, as good therapists do, but she hadn't expected Larry to invite her along into his nightmare!

But Lita Kino's sense of adventure, which had led her into this whole situation, got the best of her a moment later, and before she could stop herself, exclaimed. "I'd love to. When do we start?"

It was Larry's turn to blink. "Just like that?" he asked. "You're sure?"

"Of course," Lita replied, getting up from her chair and walking towards the small washroom in her office. She returned a moment later, her dark slacks swishing. In her hand was an enormous Swiss Army knife that looked like it could have been in use during the Civil War.

Lita grinned at him. "Junior Angelettes are ready for anything." Larry grinned back. "Fabulous. I'll fill you in the rest of the way as soon as we all get to the Power Chamber. I have to explain about all this to Zordon and Leslie too. You're the only one that I've told so far." He then grinned again and pushed some buttons on his communicator.

"Zordon, do you read me?" he said.

^Go ahead, Mr. Zedden.^

"Zordon, I need you to do me a really big favor. Gather all the Rangers together in the Power Chamber. I'll explain why when I get there, alright?."

^Understood.^ said Zordon, sounding intrigued. ^The Rangers will be waiting when you arrive.^

"Thank you. I won't be long. Larry out." He turned to Lita and said, "I'm going home just long enough to get Leslie and some clothes to take with me. You should probably go home and do the same."

"Sure, I was just thinking that. I'll head for the Power Chamber myself when I'm done."

He nodded to her, and with a grateful smile, turned and left the room. Lita followed him out the door to inform her secretary of the changes in her oh-so-flexible schedule.

A few minutes later, Larry arrived at his house where Leslie greeted him at the door. He gave her a quick kiss, and then headed upstairs. She followed with a less than satisfied expression on her face.

As he pulled his big suitcase out of the closet, Larry noticed he hadn't heard Jamie in the house. "Honey, where's Jamie?" he asked as he hurriedly threw clothes into the suitcase.

"She went to the Power Chamber, saying Zordon wanted them all to come out there suddenly. Would you have any idea why?"

"Good. Hang on Les, everything will make sense in a few minutes, okay?" He had a faraway look in his eyes as he continued throwing things at the already overflowing carry-all.

Leslie saw the look and bit her lip worriedly.

"Larry, you aren't going to leave me, are you?" she asked, her voice wavering a little, though she fought to keep it level.

Larry stopped what he was doing and looked at her in surprise. Carefully, he replied "Honey, I am, but for a completely different reason than you think. Now let's go, okay? I promise everything will be fine."

With a sigh to calm herself, Leslie nodded, warning him with a glance that her patience was being tried. They both pushed the teleport buttons on their communicators, and two beams of light shot out of the bedroom, one pure white, the other white with a hint of red. When they arrived in the Power Chamber, Zordon was the first thing that came into focus. Jamie and the other rangers were their next sights, and then Lita, who leaned against thecontrol panel with her arms folded and a dufflebag at her feet. She was dressed in jeans, a grey hooded sweater and running shoes and she gazed at him expectantly.

The sixteen kids gathered around him all waited patiently to be told why they were there. Larry gazed at each face-- a long list!

Ringing the floor of the Power Chamber were the current Zeo Rangers-- Katherine, Tanya, Rocky, Adam, Tommy, Larry's daughter Jamie, Lillian, Christina and Katarina; The Morphin Warriors-- Zack, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, Jason and Skull; and topping them all off was Trey, the Triforian Prince and Gold Ranger that fought by their side.

Larry couldn't help thinking that it might be the last time he'd ever see them all again, especially Jamie.

No! He told himself. I must not, whatever I do, think like that! He tried to concentrate on the moment at hand.

"Thanks for coming, everybody." he said. "I'll explain what's going on now." He sat down on one of the rolling chairs and prepared to relate his story.

Leslie took the other chair, offered by Adam, and commented. "This I've got to hear."

Larry took a deep breath.

"Okay, it all began last night... when I had a dream where I saw myself in another Angel Grove, in the middle of the night, standing on the bluffs outside town. I was standing alongside Tommy, although I knew it was not you..." Here, he towards Tommy, who sat on the control deck next to Lita. He blinked in surprise, but kept silent.

"I knew, because the Tommy I was with was in the deepest depths of despair. He looked to be at the very end of his string. Then, as I watched, a woman came up to him out of nowhere and started talking to him. Anyone could tell just by looking at her that she was an alien, but the evil she was emanating was intense. She was making sweet talk, although anyone with a clear head and sharp mind could tell that what she was doing was seducing him. She offered to take him to a place where he could let the Green Ranger personality out and not be rejected for it."

Several eyes turned to Tommy, who was only being drawn deeper and deeper into the story. "What did the other me do?" he asked.

"He turned and ran from her, all the way home; but she spoke telepathically to him, and I could hear her. She said..." Larry swallowed, but continued. "'You will return to me'. I'm glad that he refused, because she was putting out more evil right there than I care to remember. She literally made my blood run cold. In all my years as Lord Zedd I had never heard or seen anything about her-- she was a complete stranger to me. That's why I plan to find this other Tommy so I can try and save him from her."

This was met with an uproar of astonished reactions. Leslie stared at her husband in shock and surprise, and he faltered under her gaze. Only Lita and Zordon remained silent.

Zordon finally silenced them all with his own comment. "Mr. Zedden," he said. "as noble as your quest is, I must ask: are you certain you understand the implications of such a undertaking?"

Before Larry could answer, Jamie cried out. "Dad, are you nucking futs??"

Larry glared at his daughter. "Watch your language, young lady."

"She's right though, Larry." Lita spoke up. Larry gazed at her in confusion until he realized she had saved her protests for when they were all together. He knew he was not going to get away with this easily.

"This woman was the most diabolical, venomous villain any of you have ever imagined." he said, glancing at each one of them. "I'm afraid to say even I haven't encountered too many like her. That's why I have to go, because she'll be back for the other Tommy, and I have to help him fight her manipulations. I have to help him keep from falling into the trap that almost ruined my life. He must never go through what I did."

This time, the listeners seemed only skeptical. Zordon, beginning to be intrigued, decided to voice his own concerns.

"Mr. Zedden," he rumbled, "it is very possible that what you saw took place in an alternate universe. What you propose to do is not only dangerous, but technologically difficult. Finding one particular reality on the basis of one event from a dream is statistically very improbable."

Larry sighed, running a hand through his thick sandy hair. "Yeah, I know, but I can't let that stop me. This is where all of you come in, do you have any ideas on how I can get where I want to go?" He scanned the faces around him, wondering secretly if there was any way at all.

No one replied, and Larry's heart began to sink; but then, Zordon simply said, "We will have to search for a way to do it."

He gave Alpha the signal to begin a search, telling the excited robot, "Look for any unusual energy readings that spike strongly on the dark side of the Morphin Grid. We will use that to narrow our parameters."

Lawrence Zedden deflated in a grateful sigh of relief.

"Zordon, you don't know how much this means to me. _Thank_ you!"

Then, Leslie spoke for the first time. "Lita, what are you doing here?" she asked, curiosity overriding her concern.

Lita cheerfully answered, "I've been hired to help this alternate universe Tommy get over his dark side, just like I did with our Tommy." she gave him a nudge in the ribs without looking at him. "I just hope I can, considering how much deeper this other kid's depression seems to be."

Jamie suddenly stepped forward. "Dad, I'm going with you. You're gonna need all the help you can get, and besides, I promised myself I wouldn't let you out of my sight again." The Purple Ranger stated her point firmly. Everyone looked shocked for a moment, because the last time they'd heard her use that strong a tone was when Jason's life had been in danger a short time in the past.

"Jamie," Larry calmly said, "I want you to stay here."

"Uh-huh..." she drawled. "Since when have I let that stop me?"

But then, Jason Scott, who had stood by silently the entire time, took her arm.

"Jamie," he began, looking down at her. "this is one hell of a dangerous mission! What if you went and didn't ever come back?" Then, more softly, he added, "I couldn't live without you."

"But Jase, don't you see?" she told him earnestly. "If it was our Tommy in trouble right here, you'd be insisting on coming along too!" Jason glanced at Tommy across the room. The Zeo Ranger shrugged helplessly.

"I've got to go help, Jason." Jamie continued. "It's really the same Tommy everywhere, no matter what universe he's in. I'm going and that's final."

No one else tried to argue with her, because it was obvious that her mind was made up. Since Jamie was continually armed with a large broadsword, arguing with her was not a healthy proposition.

She remained steadfast and stern, but made sure she let Jason know she understood his worries.

The matter was settled then.

Larry got up from his chair and walked over to where Leslie sat, a frown creasing her forehead. He took her hand and lifted her up, and hugged her tightly. After a moment, she hugged back with as much enthusiasm.

I want to remember this feeling when I'm trapped somewhere and can't come back home. Larry thought. He then released her and noticed with surprise that she was crying. Then he realized he was, too.

"Lawrence Zedden," Leslie began fiercely, "If you don't come back soon, the kids and I are coming after you; and there's nothing you can do about it!"

He chuckled. Jamie hadn't inherited all her fiery spirit from her father.

Over across the room, Jason and Jamie played out the exact same scene. As Lita stood watching it all, she couldn't help but think that when they got got home again, both universes would have gained a lot of scars, both physical and emotional.

A short time later, the whole of the Power Chamber was once again consumed in its usual chaos. With sixteen Power Rangers, three adults, and one android, it was a bit more crowded than usual, and most people were trying to stay out of each other's way.

Katarina, Lillian and Trini set to sorting through the dozens of possible dimensions where Larry's mysterious villain could have been. Billy, Adam, Tanya and Tommy set to looking over equipment on hand that could facilitate such a journey.

Kimberly, Zack, Katherine and Rocky helped Alpha calculate coordinates, while Christina, Jason and Trey talked over a plan of action with the three would-be Multiversal travellers.

Skull accidentally leaned against a console, setting the alarm off, but he quickly managed to quiet it. Suddenly though, something occurred to him.

"Jamie," the White Morphin Warrior began, "If you're going with your dad, the Zeo Rangers are going to be one short."

Tommy, helping Tanya assemble electrical tubing, shrugged. "I don't think that'll be a major problem. We'll still have nine Zeo Rangers here, and Jamie isn't necessary to form the Power Blaster or the Megazord. I think we can pull it off."

Lillian O'Neil, his girlfriend and the Black Zeo Ranger, agreed.

"Yeah. Besides, no offense, Jamie, but the Rangers used to get along just fine with only five, before the five of us came along." From her vantage point at one of the scanning stations, she glanced at the four most recent Zeos to have joined the team; playfully dubbed "The Rookies". She was one of them.

"..and you'll have Chris for healing and psychic stuff." Jamie finished, gesturing to the White Zeo Ranger, who stood in a corner. Christina smiled back.

"All I do is blow stuff up." Jamie reminded them. "You'll be fine without me for a while."

Jason sighed, turning to her and away from the bustle of people on the Power Chamber floor. "I still wish I could go with you." he said quietly. She smiled and took his hands in hers.

"Jason, you are the leader of the Morphin Warriors. Trini, Zack, Billy, Skull, Kim... they all depend on you; and Angel Grove depends on the Morphin Warriors to fight off Rita's attacks. You know how us Zeos are usually too busy with Mondo and Gasket. You belong here right now."

"I know," he replied. "but it won't stop me from worrying. You have no idea what's over there."

She shrugged. "It can't be worse than some of the things I've faced." For a second, her eyes were shuttered, then they cleared.

"I think the gateway is ready," Billy said in a muffled voice. The Blue Morphin Warrior was under one of the consoles, twisting a couple of wires together. The wires snaked out from beneath the console, running across the floor to a strange contraption that Tanya was hovering around. It looked like a cross between a slide-projector and a mortar cannon, and its casing was held together by what looked like a shoelace and and a substantial quantity of duct tape.

Then, "We've got your universe, Mr. Zedden." Katarina spoke up. She tore a sheet off the hard-copy printer and Larry came close to see. "The dark power signature is unmistakable. It's a universe that seems to have had the same timeline as our own up until a few years ago when the two split off in wildly different directions."

"Different how?" Larry asked.

Katya shook her head. "No way to tell. The data isn't that specific, but I think you three are in for some weird surprises over there." she wiggled her eyebrows at Jamie, and turned back to her work.

Just then, Rocky looked up from his own job. "Looks like we've got your teleport coordinates too." he said. He and the others had been bent over their calculations for almost a half an hour, and the math wizards all looked relieved for a break. "We're gonna put you down as near as possible to the alternate universe's equivalent of the Power Chamber. Again, there's no way to tell how accurate we're gonna be, but you'll at least have yourself a landmark."

Larry shook his head at the collection of teenagers. "I'm impressed. I came to you this morning with what I thought was a near-impossible task, and you've all pulled together and made it happen for me."

He seemed beyond words. Jamie winked at her friends. "Call them the Miracle Workers."

"Time to get moving." said Tanya. "The projector's ready. Trini, let 'er rip."

"You got it..." The Yellow Warrior replied. Flipping a row of switches and pressing a button, she activated the gateway that would take Larry, Jamie and Lita to their destination.

Before their eyes, a small, kaleidoscopic disk flashed out from the projector, and hovered for a moment in the air. Then it flashed several times and expanded, irising open until it was close to ten feet wide. All present stared in astonishment at the bright rainbow gateway shimmering in mid-air. Rocky's jaw dropped.

"Wow!" The Blue Zeo Ranger cried. "'Sliders!'"

"You watch too much TV," Katarina scolded him. Rocky just stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend, draping an arm around the Silver Ranger's shoulders.

Hurriedly, the three travelers said their goodbyes. There was much amusement as Jamie and Jason shared a long kiss, which accurately mimicked the one Jamie's parents were giving each other. Breaking free of her boyfriend, Jamie gave Tommy a hug. "Keep an eye on them, bud." she told him, raising her voice to be heard over the noise of the gate. "Try not to blow up the Zords before I get back."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Try not to blow up any alternate universes while you're gone." he retorted, and punched her in the shoulder. Laughing, she hugged her best friend again and turned towards the portal.

With a mighty heave, the travellers launched their suitcases into the portal. The bags vanished in flashes of light.

Then Jamie took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing!" she cried, and leaped through. The portal flashed violet for a moment, then returned to normal.

Her father followed silently, throwing himself into the gateway and causing it to give off a brief flash of reddish light.

Then Lita, with a Luke Skywalker two-fingered salute to them all, flung herself in as well. She evoked a green flare from the gate. Then, sensing its job was done, the disc irised closed behind them, and there was silence in the Power Chamber.

"Good luck," Skull said quietly, his arm around Kimberly. His girlfriend smiled up at him reassuringly.

"They'll be fine, Skull." she said. "You can bet on it."

One long, uncomfortable, nausea-inducing ride later, the three travelers popped out into real space. In keeping with the perverse sense of humor that all sliding-wormholes seem to possess, they landed in a heap; Jamie, then Lita, and Larry on top.

"Get off me!" Jamie grumbled. The other two did as she asked, rolling off her and onto the smooth hard floor of wherever they had ended up. A moment later, as though having an after thought, the portal reopened and coughed their luggage out on top of them. Jamie and Lita thanked the gods of forethought that they had packed dufflebags.

Then, turning her attention to their present situation, Jamie collected the scattered pieces of her awareness and looked around.

They seemed to be in the Power Chamber, but it was obviously not the one that they had left. There were only four Zeo Rangers present here, and Jamie frowned as she realized Tommy was missing. Then she realized that the four Rangers were looking at her with expressions of astonishment and suspicion.

Rising to her feet, Jamie did her best to smile charmingly. "Did we come at a bad time?"

Adam, who happened to be standing next to a computer console, leaned over to look at something that had caught his eye. "Zordon, I don't understand this. These people are complete strangers to us, but yet, the alarms aren't even registering them. How can this be?" He eyed Jamie and Larry suspiciously.

Zordon sighed-- something he didn't do except on particularly exasperating occasions. This was one of them. The Rangers had just returned from the battlefield after losing Tommy to the mysterious entity called Salacia, and they were in no condition for any more surprises-- certainly not one like this. He knew that what he was about to tell the Rangers would stun them beyond beyond belief.

"Rangers, each of these individuals have their own Power signature, allowing them to enter the Power Chamber with as much ease as you do. Which means..." Zordon paused, scanning the faces of the four youngsters listening to him.

"They're Rangers??" Rocky interrupted, getting the hint. He looked the arrivals up and down again, and was slightly embarrassed when he got an annoyed glare back from the girl in purple.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Just who or what are you?" Rocky continued. "Where did you come from?"

Before Larry could begin his story, Zordon interrupted them.

"A moment, please." He then addressed the tall blond-haired man before him. "Sir, forgive me, but have we made acquaintance before? You seem somewhat familiar."

Larry managed a weak smile and said, "Yes, in a sense, you do. The Rangers do also." When the Rangers heard this, they looked at each other in confusion. It was all the prompting Larry needed to start his story. As he began, he noticed that their confused faces went through a wide range of emotions: puzzlement, disbelief, and finally suspicion.

Lita, watching the scene quietly, hoped that they wouldn't be labeled evil monsters or anything to that extent, because the Rangers of this universe were not very likely to believe their story right away. When Larry was done, the three travelers let out long breaths and braced themselves for what they knew was coming.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Kat inquired in her thick Australian accent. It was so much like their own Kat's voice that they had to force themselves to remember it wasn't her.

She went on, "If you're really Zedd, like you say, we have no reason to believe you." Larry had no answer to that question, at least not one good enough. Luckily, Zordon answered her question for him.

"Rangers, there is an infinite number of universes, dimensions, and realities..."

"We know," Jamie mumbled sarcastically. Zordon glanced at her a moment and then continued.

"These three could have come from any one of them, and it will be next to impossible to send them back until we trace the portal to its opening. This man could very well be the humanoid version of the being we know as Lord Zedd. So far, his version of how he arrived here seems to check out, and so far I don't see a reason not to trust him-- within the boundaries of reason." Zordon added the last comment to remind his guests they were still not quite a part of the group. Larry Zedden nodded his understanding.

All of a sudden, Lita also realized who was missing from the Power Chamber right then.

"Where's Tommy?" she inquired, fearing he had perhaps already been taken by the woman from Larry's dream.

Tanya replied gingerly. "Well, we called in this morning for what we thought was a run-of-the-mill crisis..." and she went on to tell the story of how Tommy had left of his own free will to go with Salacia. She was so engrossed in telling the story that she didn't notice how, with every word she spoke, Larry's eyes grew wider and wider with fear; fear that he was gone for good, and fear that they had failed already. As soon as Tanya was finished, Larry collapsed into a chair, sitting limply, putting his head in his hands. When he finally looked up, his face was as white as a sheet.

"Rangers, can you describe this woman to me?" he asked weakly, hoping that by some minute chance, there was a mistake.

"Well," Rocky began, still obviously uncomfortable. "she was tall, slim, and she had black hair, gray skin, nails like claws, and totally black eyeballs. Tell you the truth, I don't remember what she wore, except that it was black, orange, and really slinky. Plus she had an orange jewel around her neck."

Growing even paler, Larry said, "No... It can't be. Zordon, I can swear to you up and down that the woman Rocky just described to me was the woman I saw in my vision. That's what she said her name was." His eyes were wide open in obvious disbelief. I've come to the right place, he though, but I'm too late!

Zordon started, because now he realized he knew this woman. He knew her all too well indeed.

"Rangers, Salacia was one of the most powerful and evil beings alive. Since I last saw her she may have grown even more so. She is the one that single-handedly killed off my first team of Rangers-- a team that she had been a part of, and she is most certainly a force to be reckoned with."

"Single-handedly?" Kat gulped, echoing her leader's words. "How?"

Zordon took a deep breath and started the long story. "This is how it all began..."

As Zordon launched into his tale, all those present found themselves transported back in time, to the era the old sage spoke about.

"Many years ago," Zordon said, "in an age I dare say even older than you Mr. Zedden, I was still a humanoid being living on my homeworld of Eltar. I was a wizard, a warrior, and a leader of my community, and I was alive to see the start and finish of the Thousand Years' War. That experience changed my life, since I had been 'drafted' to fight when I was the equivalent age of a teenager.

"The war was between two sides-- the Old and the Young. The Old were wise, knowledgeable and seasoned, but lacked new ideas and the strength to realize them. The Young were strong, intelligent, and bold, but were foolhardy and inexperienced. Both sides hated each other, but ironically, could not live without each other. I fought on the side of the Young at first. Then came the Catacylsm.

"After a thousand Earth years of fighting, the Old were tiring, and becoming too weak to defend themselves. We on the side of the Young were ready to claim victory, until one day we came to a startling realization.

"We were on the battlefield, storming a fortress belonging to the Old, and with us were the new recruits we had just drafted-- children who had been infants when the war started millenia ago. Just as the fortress walls fell, the captain of the Old Army called out to us with contempt in his voice.

"He said: 'Look at yourselves! You have learned, you have grown, and you have become the very people which you fight today! You have become the Old, and now you call to the new Young to help in the fight against your own kind!!'

"He was killed a moment later by one of the new Young soldiers. The rest of us stood stock still, trying to comprehend what had been said. We doubted then for the first time what we had been doing, and we knew the Old Soldier had been right. We called off the battle right then and there, and the next day the war was over."

Larry and Lita listened quietly. The younger occupants of the room stared spellbound, like children being told a fascinating bedtime story.

Zordon went on.

"As soon as the fighting was officially done with, we realized just how tired we were of war. Virtually all of us had mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles on the other side, and we realized suddenly it was time to drop our weapons and ask forgiveness. We would have won out in the end, but then where would we have been? Alone, trying to run a world, when all we had known for the first thousand years of our lives was how to fight. It took a long time before things were able to go back to normal, and by then the whole population-- Young and Old-- vowed to never again let the horrors of war divide them.

"No longer focused so much on ourselves, we began to turn our attention outward, to the stars, where we knew other civilizations existed. We wondered what would happen if some malicious race of beings were to attack us with more force than both the disbanded Young and Old armies combined. We had never had a very formidable system of defense for our planet, and we realized we had to combine the strengths of the Young and the Old to create a band of powerful protectors to dedicate their lives to defending us. I was astonished when I was chosen to lead them."

Kat interrupted him. "So that was the beginning of the Power Rangers..."

"Yes, Katherine. I don't believe even the original five Rangers of Earth knew the whole story, but it may help you all understand the situation Tommy is in today."

Quieted, the group prepared to listen again.

"Not only had I been chosen to lead these new 'Power Rangers', but I also had the task of selecting them from the population of my world. All I had to go on, was the knowledge that together, the combined strengths of the Old and the Young had made Eltarians more prosperous than the two sides had ever been alone. I realized that I could take that to a new level, and combine strengths and abilities from all different groups of people-- old, young, female, male, poor, wealthy-- the possibilities were endless. Diversity was the key, so I set out to chose my Rangers.

"I didn't have the luxury of waiting for people to come to me. They might have had ulterior motives for wanting to become a Ranger. No, I had to select a group who had proven their strength, endurance, loyalty and kindness over and over again. I found my five candidates scattered across the eight continents of Eltar, each one a person of integrity and honor.

"I chose someone to represent each of the virtues which I thought would be essential to a strong team. For High-Spiritedness and Optimism, I chose a boy the equivalent of ten years old to be my Black Ranger."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "Just a kid..."

"For Intelligence and Knowledge, I chose a man of fifty to be my Blue Ranger."

Lita shook her head and gave a short laugh.

"For Fierceness and Determined Will, I chose a woman of twenty to be my Yellow Ranger. For Boldness and Strength, I chose a woman of thirty to be my Red Ranger."

Everyone found themselves surprised at the concept of a female Red Ranger.

"And lastly, for Agility and Graceful Power, I chose my Pink Ranger, a girl the equivalent of seventeen years old. Her name was Salacia, and I knew the moment I found her that she was to be the leader of my group of Rangers."

Kat touched the shiny, rose colored fabric of her uniform and smiled.

But Adam frowned. "So this Salacia is the same woman who took Tommy?"

Zordon sighed. "In a manner of speaking. I would not venture to say she is the _same_ woman, but you are essentially correct. I will tell you how it happened. My five Rangers and I served a long time for our world. We fought off all manner of threats from all manner of beings, and bravely protected the innocent planet we loved. Mind you, my original five were very different from the Rangers of today. They wore no costume, had no Zords or weapons, and drew their Power directly from the Morphin Grid. Being Eltarian, all five of them had the ability to draw their power without a Morpher or other device-- such as humans need.

"Over time, we became true celebrities-- adored by the public and revered as heroes. Since their identities were public knowledge, my Rangers decided they had to flee their old lives in order to have some semblance of privacy, and they made plans to build a "barracks" of sorts in a secluded place. While it was being completed, they decided it could also double as a Headquarters, and the creation of that building would be the beginning of the Command Centers I and other Morphin Masters have used since then.

"But just after the new Command Center was finished, something terrible happened."

The listeners swallowed.

"It happened suddenly, without warning. Salacia-- who had always been the glue that held the team together-- began to act cold and cruel and hateful. No one understood what was happening to their friend. At first, they tried to deny anything was seriously wrong, but it became more and more evident as Salacia became increasingly useless and unhelpful in battle. It came to a head one day when her negligence caused several deaths, and I brought her before me to get to the bottom of it all. She told me she had found someone-- someone who had offered her more Power than I or the Rangers could ever give her. This person had been training her in the true ways of battle, and had taken her on tours of the universe, showing her sights more incredible than even I had ever seen. She told me she was only waiting for him to give the word, and then she was leaving. She wished to have nothing to do with the puny band of self-centered weaklings she had once been a part of.

"Astonished by the story, I asked her who this new mentor was. She told me his name was Iratus, and I immediately knew who she was referring to. Iratus was a legendary demon who's evil ways were present in many forms, in many cultures, on many different planets throughout the sector. He was feared as many humans fear the devil, and this demon had his claws in my young Ranger.

"At that moment, while she stood before me and the other Rangers stood around listening, Salacia looked around, as though someone were calling to her. She then nodded in response and turned to me. With a wicked grin, she thanked me for opening the door for her to become all she was destined to be. Then, she laughed like a devil and the room grew blindingly bright around us. When I "awoke", seemingly a moment later, I found myself deep underground in a scientist's lab. I had been killed in the cataclysmic event weeks before, and this scientist had saved my consciousness in a temporal flux device. I had been transformed into the state in which I exist today, and when I spoke to my friends on the surface, I learned that all my other Rangers were dead, and Salacia had disappeared without a trace. I was devastated."

Here, Zordon paused for the first time. It was the point at which a human being would have stopped to cry tears of remembrance, but Zordon only stared into space in silence. Finally, Tanya spoke.

"That's incredible, Zordon. I never knew any of this before." She gently asked, "What happened afterward?"

Zordon took a breath and continued. "I mourned for a long time, as did the entire planet. The legend of Iratus was a widespread one, so when the word got out that he was responsible for Salacia's disappearance, everyone feared the worst for her fate. Iratus was fabled to be a collector of souls, stealing young people from their beds in the night and eating them, absorbing their essence to make himself stronger. The great power Salacia may have added to him frightened the populace, but it wasn't long before the hysteria died down. A monument was built to honor the Rangers who died, and the people went on with their lives. I eventually came to terms with my sadness and despair, and soon I found a new mentor to lead the Power Rangers in my place. Her name was Metsuke No Ezan, and she was a dear friend of mine from the War. She selected a widely diverse team of Rangers including one Alien-- a Wraithlin-- the first non Eltarian Ranger. Her team was strong, stronger even than mine had been.

"This time around, I insisted Metsuke keep her Rangers' identities a secret to avoid the trauma of celebrity, and the Power Rangers survived. I resigned myself to the fact that my first Pink Ranger was gone forever, and set myself to the task of getting on with my life."

Adam, Rocky, Kat and Tanya took that moment to absorb all that had been said. Jamie continued to stare at Zordon, stunned into silence by the tale. Lita took a deep breath, reflexively looking around to see how they were all reacting, and her eyes fell on Larry. His face was hard, almost angry.

"She died in my universe." Larry said. Zordon looked up at him for a moment, and then nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that would be logical."

"That's why I didn't recognize Salacia from my days as Lord Zedd. It's the only explanation. I knew about the fate of the first Power Rangers, because it was Essential Reading for evildoers all over the galaxy. Salacia's death gave us hope that somehow, it was possible to defeat a Power Ranger. It had been done, and we all knew we'd have glory beyond belief if we could do it again; but we never did."

"Until now." Jamie stated. "This Salacia person's got Tommy. Who knows what she's doing to him?"

"She told us on the battlefield." said Kat. "She said she and the Rogue Rangers had come to take Tommy and make him their eighth member."

"Well at least she's not gonna eat him." Rocky offered.

"But we still have to get him back." said Jamie. "That's why were here, Zordon. My Dad and Lita and me are here to help. You need us."

Lita looked up at the Rangers' mentor. "She's right. If all you told us is true, we need to get Tommy back fast. He's in deep right now."

Larry gave Zordon a determined look. "I won't go home until I know your Tommy is safe."

The four remaining Zeo Rangers looked at each other, and it was decided among them. They looked to Zordon for the answer.

"Mr. and Ms. Zedden, Dr. Kino," Zordon said, "we would be eternally grateful for your help." Zordon said.

Larry deflated with a sigh of relief. Jamie smiled and hugged Lita fiercely.

Rocky grinned at them a little, and then raised his voice. "Well, then, what say we get to work here. We've got a Ranger to retrieve."

They agreed whole-heartedly.