Disclaimer: This story takes place in a totally different universe than the one on the television show. For one thing, Eltare doesn't exist in this universe. This story takes place after The Earth Crystals. Also, the prologue is pretty daring, and may be upsetting to some. It can be skipped, and you won't lose anything from the plot. It gives Justin a different history (and please understand, I like both Justin and Blake Foster, this is not some bizarre psychopathic fantasy I have like some people on the Power Rangers Newsgroup because they don't like the idea of having a twelve-year old Ranger). That being said, enjoy.
Prologue
Early March....
"How do I look?" Diva Tox asked. Her skin was a pleasing shade of dark brown, her hair hung down her back in thick braids, and she was dressed in a very simple pair of red shorts and a yellow top. Her general facial features were different, and the only thing that even hinted at her previous identity was her voice.
"Remarkably normal," Jenga said. "I think I'm gonna go blonde and blue." Jenga tossed her hair back. As it flew over her shoulders, the curly red and blue locks melted into an even, golden blonde. Her bright green eyes turned into an equally bright pair of blue eyes. "Think they'll recognize me?"
"Nah," Diva Tox said. "Especially since we're just gonna watch."
"Is Scorpina coming?" Jenga asked.
"Archerina asked her to help summon a demon for that baby they just made," Diva Tox said.
"I was wondering how they were coming along with that," Jenga said. "Did they finally get the glitch out of baby's programming?"
"Yes," Diva Tox said. "Gasket is already all puffed up about it. They're very proud."
"Good demons are hard to find," Jenga said thoughtfully.
"Where are the Rangers?" Diva Tox asked.
"The Coliseum, I believe," Jenga answered. "Do you want me to incapacitate a Ranger today?"
"Not just yet," Diva Tox said. "The planets haven't aligned yet. I can access Muiranthias for another two weeks. Besides, I still haven't located that little furball Lerigot yet."
"Oh well," Jenga said. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine."
"I sure hope so," Diva Tox said. "Let's go."
* * *
"Man, I can't wait to see the guys!" Justin shouted happily.
"Easy Justin," Kimberly laughed.
"It was nice of your dad to let you come ahead with us," Tanya said.
"Yeah," Justin said as though his mind were elsewhere. "Nice of him. There's the Coliseum!" He took off running as soon as the brick building came in sight.
"Hold on Justin!" Katherine shouted as she ran after him.
* * *
Jenga and Diva Tox stood off to the side in front of a pair of double doors. "Rocky's kind of cute," Diva Tox purred.
"But not as cute as Maligore?" Jenga asked.
"Oh never," Diva Tox answered with a laugh. Suddenly, the doors flew open.
A child dressed in blue slammed into Jenga. "Oh," Justin said. "I'm sorry ma'am."
"It's okay, hon," Jenga said. She brushed against his arm, and...
No Daddy no!
...said, "Just take it easy ... next time."
"Jennifer?" Diva Tox asked, using their semi-official Earth names. "You okay?"
"I'm fine Debbie," Jenga answered. Jenga watched as Justin walked toward Tommy, Jason, Rocky, and Adam in the ring. She closed her eyes and looked at the memory again.
Please Daddy!
Shut up, you little mistake!
Jenga's eyes were forced open with a shot of pain. "Dear Satan," she whispered.
"What is it?" Diva Tox asked.
"Nothing," Jenga lied. "Nothing at all."
* * *
"Hey brown eyes," Jenga said. "Mind if I sit here?" She gestured to the stool beside him.
George Stewart looked at the seat, and then at the shapely redhead before him. "Not at all," he said. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"Sure," Jenga said. "I'll have a double straight vodka on the rocks."
"Vodka?" the bartender asked. "How much do you weigh, ma'am? And I'll also need to see some I.D."
"I weigh 110, and I can handle my liquor quite well, thank you," she said. She reached into her pocket, quickly produced identification, and handed it to the bartender.
"You ain't drivin', are you?"
"Actually," Jenga said with a smile aimed at George, "I doubt I'll get much farther than that hotel down the street."
"Okay," the bartender said with a sigh.
"So green eyes," George said. "What's your name?"
"Jennifer Baal, but my friends call me Jenga."
"Like the stacking game."
"Yeah," Jenga said. "Like the stacking game." The bartender placed Jenga's drink before her. "Thank you." She lifted the glass to her lips, tilted it, and downed the clear liquid in one drink.
"There's nothing sexier than a lady who can hold her liquor," George said.
"I wouldn't know," Jenga said. "I've never kept an eye out for women. I prefer a strong man. Got any kids?"
"One," George said truthfully. "You?"
"I have one, but he's an adult now," Jenga said. "How could you be old enough to have an adult son?"
"I'm older than I look," Jenga said.
George leaned toward Jenga, and she met him halfway. She caught him in a passionate kiss and wrapped her arms around him. When George Stewart opened his eyes, the bar was empty. "What the...?" A thick layer of dust covered the bar and tables. Cobwebs decorated the walls and stretched across the many bottles.
"Startled?" Jenga asked.
"What happened?"
"I happened," Jenga said. She pulled her silver dagger out of her belt and planted it deep into the bar. "I'd like to have a word with you."
Without saying a word, George jumped from his stool and ran for the door. The two tables nearest the door flipped over and rolled in front of it, blocking his primary means of escape. "What are you?!" George bellowed. "This isn't funny anymore!"
"You're right," Jenga said. "This isn't funny anymore." She stood up and kicked her bar stool over.
"What are you gonna do?" George pleaded.
Flames suddenly shot up all around the bar. "You have a son," Jenga said. "Cute little boy. Named Justin, I believe. About twelve years old. His mother died around three years ago, didn't she? What was it the police report said? She died of heart failure, right? Due to a pre-existing condition."
"That's exactly what happened," George said, trying to keep a safe distance between himself and Jenga.
"You don't sound too certain," Jenga said. "You know how I believe it happened?"
"Shut up," George snarled.
"I think she caught you beating Justin," George said. "And tried to beat you. But her heart just couldn't take the strain. Isn't that about right?"
"Shut up!"
"I think that's exactly what happened," Jenga said. She suddenly ran from the bar and hurled herself at George. Her right foot, clad in a cowboy boot, caught George in the ribcage. He screamed in pain as three of his ribs shattered. "How could you beat that little boy?" Jenga asked. "What did he ever do to you? And I know your parents didn't beat you. In fact, I know everything about you. Except why you beat your child. That part is just a little bit fuzzy."
"Please," George begged. "I never molested him."
"That is true," Jenga said. "But you beat him. Never on the face, though. That would be just a little bit too obvious. You'd rather use your belt, wouldn't you?"
"I only hit him when he was bad!" George screamed.
"No," Jenga said. "I don't think that's right. You spank your child when he's bad. You don't use a leather belt across his back."
"He's not even my kid!" George screamed.
"But you adopted him," Jenga said, kicking him hard in the same spot. George screamed, mostly from fear. "Let me try and recap this, and see if I get it right. "He was born to Alicia and Chris Lake. They were so happy. Even as a baby, they knew he would be very bright," Jenga explained. "But, when Justin was just two years old, his father was killed in a car accident. His mother moved to Angel Grove so she could be near her parents. She met you, and you got married. You also adopted Justin. Here's where the story takes a nasty turn. Alicia discovered she had a heart condition. I forget the name of it. And you had a drinking problem. One day, Justin broke something of yours. He didn't mean to, by the way. You were drunk, and you whipped out your belt and started beating him. Alicia came in, saw you hitting him, and she just about went ballistic, didn't she? I think she did. But, she overtaxed her heart, and died. Right in front of Justin. Fortunately for Justin, he's blocked that memory. The human mind is a marvel. It has a self-protecting capacity. But anyway, you suddenly found yourself tied down with a kid that wasn't yours. No woman would want to date you and Justin. And you started taking it out on him. By beating him. Isn't that about right?"
"I don't hit him all the time," George cried.
"If you've hit him once, you've hit him too much," Jenga said. "My, it's getting hot in here, isn't it?" The flames were quickly overwhelming the room.
"Please don't kill me," George begged.
"That child called you Daddy," Jenga said, her voice thick with disgust. "And you beat him, every time you get drunk. And that's pretty often, isn't it?"
"Please...."
"You know, that didn't work when Justin begged," Jenga said. "He begged you to stop and you just caught on beating him, didn't you?" The flames suddenly jumped onto his pants leg.
He started screaming as the fire burned into his leg. "I'm on fire! Please don't kill me. Please! Who are you?!"
Jenga grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him to his feet. She leaned in close and placed both hands on his face. "If you dance with the devil," Jenga whispered seductively, "you're gonna get burned." With a hard twist, she turned his head, snapping his neck. Suddenly, the bar was back to normal. People milled about the bar, and the dust, cobwebs, and flames were gone. Jenga pushed the dead body of George Stewart over. She put adequate money for her drink on the bar, pulled her dagger out of the wood, and left.
* * *
"Oh God," Detective Trevor Park said.
"Dad?" Adam asked.
His father put up a hand to shush him. "No, I'll be right there," Trevor said. "Has someone been sent to stay with Justin? ... Good. I'll send Adam over as well. ... Okay, see you in a few."
"Dad, what's wrong?" Adam asked.
"Justin Stewart's father is dead," Trevor said. "You did not hear this from me though. That was Sergeant Oliver, Tommy's dad. They've both gone over to Justin. He doesn't have any family left. I guess they'll have to put him in the orphanage. Man. It might not be a bad idea for Justin to have as many friendly faces with him tonight as possible."
"I'll get over there right now," Adam said. "I'll give the others a call too. Especially Rocky."
* * *
Jason, Adam, and Rocky teleported into Justin's front yard just as Tommy and his father pulled up. "I can't even imagine how he must feel right now," Rocky said.
"Tommy!" Katherine called. Katherine, Tanya, and Kimberly ran across the street and joined up with the other Rangers.
"Good," Sergeant Oliver said. "Justin needs as many friendly faces as he can get tonight. Doesn't he have any friends his age?" He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.
"He goes to the High School," Jason said. "We're about the only friends he has."
Dulcea suddenly ran up to the front door. "Sorry I'm late, Sergeant," Dulcea said.
"Sergeant Phaedos," Sergeant Oliver acknowledged. The two saluted each other, very matter-of-factly. "Lt. Stone sent us over as soon as he heard."
Bulk and Skull were close behind. "We know Justin as well," Skull said.
Suddenly, the door opened. A sleepy Justin stood there. "Did you forget your keys again?" he asked. He suddenly realized who was standing before him. "What's going on?"
"Justin, I'm afraid I have some bad news," Sergeant Oliver said.
"What?" Justin asked in a small voice.
"Your father died tonight."
* * *
"Justin doesn't seem very concerned," Rocky whispered.
"No he doesn't," Dulcea agreed. He was laying against her, sound asleep. Justin shifted slightly, causing his t-shirt to rise up slightly.
Katherine's eyes widened as she saw his bare flesh. "Oh my God," she said. She crossed the room in just a few steps and knelt beside Justin. She slowly raised the shirt up. His flesh was literally black and purple, indicating a severe beating.
* * *
"Jenga," Diva Tox said, looking at the action through the RepulsaScope, "I am impressed. Stunned, but impressed. Why did you do it?"
"Even Satan doesn't beat defenseless children," Jenga said woodenly.
"You realize you killed that child back in February," Diva Tox said.
"I know," Jenga said, "but that's very different. I killed everyone, and I didn't even really want to kill anyone. At least not this soon. But I would never, ever raise a hand to my child."
"You almost killed Lord Zedd!" Diva Tox cried.
"Also different," Jenga said. "I will kill anyone who is in my way. Not for their actions. I almost killed Stihn, Ahlee, Lord Zedd, and MasterVile because I had to take care of something. It had nothing to do with who they were. You should just be thankful I didn't summon Maxell's best friend and kill him."
"Good point," Diva Tox admitted with a sigh.
"Also," Jenga said, "that child is a genius. He's a Billy Cranston genius. Maybe I can adopt him. He would make a very valuable asset. I bet he could even break into the Command Center."
* * *
"I can't believe George beat him," Trevor said angrily.
"What's going to happen to Justin now?" Adam asked.
"I guess they'll put him in the orphanage," Trevor said. "Unless some family wants to adopt him. And that's not very likely."
"Could we?"
"No," Trevor said. "We have four kids of our own to raise."
"I didn't really think so," Adam admitted.
"Maybe somebody will," Trevor said hopefully.
* * *
Trevor looked at the autopsy report. He hated leaving a death marked as unknown, but there was just not enough evidence to point in any one direction. "How does a man break his neck and three ribs, plus burn his right calf, in a crowded bar? And how could anyone have murdered him? It just doesn't make sense."
The phone rang, breaking his train of thought. "Detective Park," he answered.
"Trevor," the voice on the other line said, "this is Arnold. We just learned something else that is extremely bizarre."
"Even more than the rest of this?"
"Oh yeah," Arnold said. "The bartender said that Mr. Stewart ordered both a beer and a double straight vodka. When the bartender realized Mr. Stewart was dead, about thirty seconds after he ordered the vodka, he also noticed that the vodka glass was empty. But, there is absolutely no vodka in his stomach."
"Is alcohol even distinguishable from another type in a dead body?"
"Normally, no. But we started the autopsy just an hour after he died. If he drank a double straight vodka, it would still have been in his stomach. He had been eating as well, there is absolutely no way that four ounces of vodka would move through a dead man's digestive tract, especially if his stomach was already full of food. We found beer, but no vodka. George Stewart did not drink that liquor."
* * *
"Justin, are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk about?" Tanya asked after the funeral.
"I'm sure," Justin said, wiping away a tear.
"Maybe his father didn't beat him," Kimberly whispered.
"Somebody did," Rocky said angrily.
"Justin," Dulcea said, crouching down in front of him. "Are you absolutely certain there is nothing you want to talk about?"
"Nothing," Justin said.
"Justin," Dulcea said. "Please don't shut yourself off from us."
"I'm scared," Justin whispered. "About the orphanage."
"Justin," Bulk said, "there will be lots of kids your age there to play with."
"I know," Justin said sadly.
"Please Justin," Dulcea begged. "Look at me." She took his face in her hands and pulled his gaze up to hers. "Look in my eyes, Justin. I'm a cop. I'm here to protect you."
"THEN WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE!" Justin screamed, unconsciously beating her across her shoulders. "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN HE HIT ME!"
"I don't know," Dulcea said sympathetically. She pulled Justin into her arms and hugged the trembling child tightly. "I don't know."
* * *
"I think this is very cool, Mom," Billy said.
"Me too," Kimberly said, wrapping her arm around Billy's shoulders.
"Justin Cranston," Rebecca said. "It's a little awkward."
"That kid is as smart as you are, Billy," Kimberly said. "When you were his age, anyhow."
"Are you all going to tell Justin about us?" Billy asked.
"Not just yet," Kimberly said. "Oh wait. Here they come."
A dark blue minivan pulled into their driveway. "I've got a little brother," Billy said in awe.
* * *
"I have to go," Billy said, "but feel free to use anything in my lab you need."
"Anything?" Justin asked in awe. "Really? Anything?"
"Anything at all," Billy said. "Catch ya bro." After his goodbyes, David drove Billy to the park so that he could safely teleport back to the Peace Conference.
Parallels
Late April....
"Yo Uncle Frank," Tommy said, zipping up his jumpsuit. "Ready to hit the track?"
"Actually, Tommy," Frank Oliver said, "I've got a proposition for you."
"What's that?" Tommy asked cautiously.
"For starters, let me just say that you have a natural talent when it comes to racing," he said. "You are without a doubt the best student I have ever seen. Right now, you are better than the guys who've been doing this for five years." Tommy blushed but accepted the compliment. "Anyway, you could be a real asset to our team."
"What?" Tommy asked, truly astonished.
"I understand you'll want to finish the school year up first," Frank said. "But I'm offering you a spot on the team. You could be in your first Nascar race by October. We'll have to do a lot of work this summer, and we should probably get started right away. You can come down here every weekend, then head back to Angel Grove during the week for school."
"What about college?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, you have a gift," Frank said. "A natural talent I have never seen before. If you dedicate ten years of your life to this, you could have more money than you would dream possible. You don't have to go to college right out of high school, anyway. You can put it off for a while."
Tommy's mind whirled with the possibilities. "Well, I've only got three weeks of school left. Next weekend is the prom, but after that, I can spend every weekend here. And then all summer," Tommy said. "I'll need to talk it over with Mom and Dad though."
"I already have," Frank told him. "They're behind you all the way."
"I'll do it," Tommy said with a smile.
* * *
Dulcea pulled her hair back in a loose ponytail and then put the black hat on her head. "Ready Phaedos?" Lt. Stone asked.
"Yes sir," Dulcea said. She had come a long way since arriving. It had been rough at first. Her two weeks at the Police Academy had been the worst. Not that she didn't enjoy the work. She was the Academy's highest prospect, and surprised everyone by becoming the Academy's first Sergeant after basic training. Her only problem was that she didn't make any friends. She didn't know how to act around people. She had spent twenty thousand years alone. Learning how to carry on a conversation was the hardest part. She had finally gotten used to wearing clothing. The Police Academy hadn't been too terribly hard, due to the fact that she was able to wear sweatpants and sweatshirts the whole time. When she got back though, she had a bad habit of undressing whenever she got uncomfortable. She always wore her green bikini underneath and couldn't understand why the bikini wasn't enough clothing. It covered all of her important belongings.
Two and a half months later, Kimberly, Katherine, and Tanya had her trained to be a lady. Still lethal, but a lady. Clothing still annoyed her, but she understood the concept behind it. She still had a few bad habits. She tended to go barefoot a lot, even in public. "The clothing I can handle," she told Tanya. "But if I can't wear my boots, I'm going barefoot. Those things you call tennis shoes are torture."
They finally had convinced her to wear normal shoes, although she still had an occasional relapse. "Okay, Phaedos," Lt. Stone said. "You've proven yourself worthy of carrying an arsenal. Normally, we would have done this some time ago, but you are so gifted in hand-to-hand." Dulcea had shocked everyone on her third day of Training when she disabled a very large man, carrying a night stick, with her bare hands.
"Do I get a Sword?" Dulcea asked happily.
"I love your sense of humor," Lt. Stone laughed. "We don't carry Swords. We have guns, but you don't need one just yet."
"Didn't I do okay with target practice?" Dulcea asked.
"You did too well," Lt. Stone said. "Everybody is afraid of you."
Dulcea couldn't help but smile at the compliment. After discovering that she had an eerie gift of extreme aim, they tested her. A very unorthodox test, which she did pass. They fired an arrow in front of her, and she shot it. Lt. Stone was afraid of what might happen if Dulcea got angry and had a gun. She was bad enough with her bare hands. She put her first three muggers in the emergency room. The first two had robbed an elderly woman, and she chased them three blocks. The third tried to attack her, off-duty. Tried, being the imperative word. He was in Intensive Care for two days. Dulcea was later put through Sensitivity Training, and promised to try and hold back on her attacks.
"No sword or gun?" Dulcea asked again, disappointed.
"No," Lt. Stone said. "You will, however, get a night stick." He held up her shiny black night stick.
"I've seen these," Dulcea said. "Bulk and Skull carry them." She took it by the handle and tested its weight. "May I see yours as well?"
"Uhm, okay," Lt. Stone said. He unsheathed his night stick and handed it to Dulcea.
"Yes," she said. "I have used these before." She cracked the two together. Holding them by their handles, she began to spin them in wide circles. In a matter of mere seconds, both night sticks had become a black blur. A few seconds later, a faint whirring sound seemed to emanate from them. Lt. Stone stared at her, completely mesmerized. After a moment more, she stopped just as suddenly as she began. "How was that?"
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked in awe.
_Think fast, Dulcea, think fast. What did Alpha tell you about yourself?_ "My father taught me on our ranch in Australia," Dulcea said, and smiled proudly at herself.
"I... I think that's enough for today," Lt. Stone muttered, rubbing his temples.
Dulcea tossed him his night stick and shoved hers in the holster. "Dismissed?" Dulcea asked.
"Yeah, whatever," Lt. Stone said. To himself, he asked, _Why do I get all of the freaks?_ He couldn't help but love the three of them, though. His three musketeers, Skull, Bulk, and Dulcea.
* * *
"Come on Rocky!" Adam shouted. "The doctor told us your back was better!"
"All right all right," Rocky complained. Rocky shouldered the large role of muslin and climbed to the top of the ladder.
"This is going to be the best prom in Angel Grove's history," Katherine said. She scanned her checklist, and then looked up. "We still need to put white Christmas lights on those stick trees along the walls."
"Can I help?" Justin asked from the doorway.
"Certainly Justin," Ms. Appleby answered from the back of the room. "We can use as many hands as we can get."
"Great," Justin said. "Shame I can't come, though."
"Don't start that," Tanya laughed. "You know freshman aren't allowed."
"Yeah," Adam said. "When we were freshmen, we couldn't come. Neither can you."
"Guess I'll have to take my hot date elsewhere," Justin said with a half-cocked smile.
"Oh!" Rocky cried. "Speaking of hot dates, guess who I'm taking!"
"Who?" Katherine challenged.
"Marge Petersen," Rocky said proudly.
"Really?" Adam said thoughtfully.
"I don't believe I know her," Tanya said.
"She and Billy sort-of dated for a while," Jason said as he and Kimberly entered the gym. "Back when we were freshmen."
"You gotta admit," Rocky said, "she's cute."
"She is attractive," Jason agreed.
"Very lovely girl," Ms. Appleby added. "And she finally gave up on that technobabble."
"Technobabble?" Rocky said. "Marge technobabbles?"
"She's toned it down quite a bit since we first met her," Kimberly said. "She used to be as bad as Billy."
"Billy calmed down, too," Adam said.
"I couldn't understand a single thing he said for the first six months I knew him," Rocky laughed.
"Me neither," Ms. Appleby muttered to herself.
* * *
"Bulk!" Dulcea cried, running down the sidewalk. "Hey Bulk! Skull! Anybody!"
"We're in here, Dulcea!" Skull cried.
Dulcea ran across the street to Skull's house and darted into their basement. "Imagine what?" Dulcea asked excitedly.
"Guess what," Bulk reminded her.
"About what?"
"No," Bulk said. "Guess what instead of imagine what."
"Okay," Dulcea said. "Guess what?"
"What?" Bulk asked.
"I got my very first night stick!" she said proudly, snapping it from her belt.
"Congrats," Skull said. "Remember our first night stick Bulkie?"
"I remember the bruises I gave myself trying to get used to it," Bulk said. Three simultaneous six-tone alarms went off in the small garage. Dulcea looked at the white communicator on her wrist. Unfortunately, she had lost a few of her powers when she took the Crystal of Time. She couldn't teleport herself, or turn into an owl. She was basically an ordinary human, with twenty millennia of built-up fighting skills, and required a communicator to teleport anywhere.
"Rangers," Alpha said. "Please report to the Command Center immediately."
* * *
The Rangers, active and otherwise, looked at each other warily. Even Rocky, Jason, and Kimberly's communicators were flashing. "This is bad," Rocky said softly.
"Ms. Appleby?" Tanya asked. "We have something we have to do. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Okay," Ms. Appleby said. "Hurry back."
"Right," Adam said. He jumped down from his ladder, and the seven of them ran out into the hallway.
"Rangers," Alpha said. "Please report to the Command Center immediately."
"Let's go," Katherine said. Red, yellow, green, two pink, and two blue streams of sparkling light rose up out of the school. In perfect alignment, they darted out of Angel Grove and headed toward the Command Center.
* * *
"I love that sound," Catalina said as ten teleportation beams landed in the Command Center.
"Is there a problem, Zordon?" Katherine asked.
"No," Tommy answered for him. "I asked you all to come here, actually."
"Tommy?" Kimberly asked. "Do you have a problem?"
"Sort of," Tommy said. "I'm leaving the team."
"What?!" Adam and Tanya cried in unison.
"You can't," Justin said.
"Hold on a second," Tommy said. "I'm keeping my Ninja Powers. I'm just passing on my Turbo Powers. I'll still be on the team, like the rest of you. I just won't be on active call all the time."
"Tommy has received a wonderful opportunity," Catalina said.
"Uncle Frank has offered me a spot on his team," Tommy said. "I'll be working in the pit crew this summer, training in my off time, and maybe even get a chance to be at Nascar."
"Will you be here for the rest of the school year?" Kat asked.
"Yeah," Tommy said. "I'll finish up the year. I'll still be here for prom, but after that, I'll be spending every weekend in Covina. It's only a few hours away."
"When are you giving your power up?" Jason asked.
"Now," Tommy said. He twisted his left arm, and with a faint metallic ringing, his Turbo Morpher appeared on his wrist. He lifted his right hand up, which was suddenly holding the Turbo Key, and proceeded to pull the Morpher off. "Now we just have the dilemma of deciding who gets the power."
"This is a dilemma if ever there was one," Dulcea said.
"How about Dulcea?" Jason asked. "She doesn't have the Ninja power."
"I can't accept the Red Turbo Powers," Dulcea said meekly. "Of course you can," Tommy said, holding his morpher out to her. "If anyone deserves it, you do."
"No," Dulcea said, "I physically can't receive Ranger Powers. My body rejects them. I have so much of a natural Ninja power from all that time on the Sacred Grounds, my body would reject them. But thank you for thinking of me."
"I think it should be Jason," Kimberly said.
"Kimberly," Jason said sternly.
"She's right," Rocky said. "You were the original leader. It's just right that you should be again."
"That is very noble of you, Rocky," Zordon said. Rocky blushed and lowered his head.
"I think we've decided," Adam said with a smile.
"Jason, you put your life on the line when you accepted the Gold Ranger Powers," Zordon said, "both to help the team and to save the Powers from extinction."
"Do you all feel this way?" Jason asked cautiously.
"Take the morpher, stupid," Kimberly said with a laugh, shoving him in Tommy's direction. Jason took the morpher from Tommy's hands. They melted into a red light and flowed up his arms. "Thank you," Jason said. He extended his hand for a handshake, but Tommy pulled him into a hug.
"I can't think of anyone I'd trust the powers with more," Tommy said truthfully. An alarm sounded. "Looks like you get to take your new powers on a test drive."
"Make sure you concentrate on calling your Turbo morpher up," Tanya said, "and not your Ninja morpher."
Jason nodded and shouted, "SHIFT INTO TURBO!"
"MOUNTAIN BLASTER TURBO POWER!"
"DESERT THUNDER TURBO POWER!"
"DUNE STAR TURBO POWER!"
"WIND CHASER TURBO POWER!"
"RED LIGHTNING TURBO POWER!"
* * *
"I've already worked it out with Zordon," Billy said.
"Come on," Zack said. "Let's go visit her."
"Is our teleportation on-line yet?" Trini asked.
"Should be," Billy answered. "Let's give it a shot." The three lined up, pressed the teleport button on their communicators, and disappeared in simultaneous flashes of blue, black, and yellow.
* * *
Jenga looked at the battle with the Rangers and the super-charged Tengas from the moon. "Porto?" Jenga asked. "Do you have anything ready for us yet?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Porto said. A tall, thin lizard stepped forward. "This is Chameleon. He can completely blend in with his surroundings."
"Excellent," Jenga said. She looked at the Blue Ranger and sighed. "Such a shame."
* * *
"Do you get the feeling that Jenga isn't putting as much effort into her plans?" Kat asked after the fight was over.
"I know," Justin said. "It's like she's saving up for something big."
"Well, Zordon did tell us that she's been a little bit weaker since she absorbed the Anti-Earth Crystal," Tanya said.
"Yeah," Jason said, "but she's still stronger than she was when she first showed up."
"Well, let's get back to the gym," Adam said. "Ms. Appleby is probably freaking out by now."
* * *
"So Bulk?" Skull asked. "What are you gonna do about the prom?"
"Prawm?" Dulcea asked.
"Yeah," Skull said. "The prom."
"Prawm!" Dulcea cried frantically. "Why hasn't anyone told me! Dear God! We are in big trouble! Where is it?!"
"The gym at school," Bulk said incredulously.
"Oh no," Dulcea cried. She tore out the door and took off running for Angel Grove High.
"What the sam hill was that about?" Skull asked.
"I don't know nothing anymore," Bulk muttered.
* * *
Dulcea darted into the high school gym. "It's not here yet," she whispered thankfully. Justin walked past her. She quickly lurched out, grabbed him, and clamped a hand over his mouth. Justin tried to protest, but Dulcea quickly pulled him into a dark corner of the gym. "Shhh," Dulcea whispered. "It's me, Dulcea."
"What's wrong?" Justin asked when she took her hand off of his mouth.
"There is a prawm loose in Angel Grove," Dulcea whispered.
"What's a prawm?" Justin asked.
"This horrible beast on Phaedos," Dulcea said. "It stands eight feet tall, four feet wide at the shoulders, and has a maw full of dangerous blood red teeth. He kills the innocent for pleasure. I thought he was trapped on Phaedos, but he followed me here somehow. Bulk and Skull told me it was here."
"We should go to the Command Center," Justin said. "Maybe Zordon knows what to do about it."
"That's a good idea," Dulcea said. "Let's go." The familiar whoosh of teleportation filled the gym. White and blue sparkles of light temporarily decorated the air as they left the gym.
* * *
"The scans don't shown a prawm in Angel Grove," Alpha said.
"But Bulk and Skull told me there was a prawm," Dulcea told the robot. "It must be hidden from the Command Center's computers, somehow."
"This is a possibility," Zordon said.
"Perhaps we should warn the Rangers about the prawm," Catalina thought out loud. "I tell you what. I'll go out and look around myself. He can't hurt me."
"The joys of being a hologram," Zordon joked. "Or a big floating head."
* * *
Aisha watched as the three teleportation streams approached her, although Zack's stream was barely visible against the night sky. In a matter of mere seconds, they landed before her and materialized into three of her friends. "Zack!" she cried. She ran up to her boyfriend, grabbed him in a hug, and gave him a passionate kiss.
"You ready to go buy a prom dress?" Trini asked.
"Oh yeah," Aisha said. "Will you two be okay while we're gone?"
"Can't we come?" Billy asked.
"No," Trini said. "This is our day. Not yours."
"Well what do we do?" Zack asked.
"You can go back to the village," Aisha said.
"I've got a better idea," Billy said. "We'll have a male bonding day."
"Men," Zack grunted in agreement.
"Where are you two going?" Billy asked. "We'll make sure to go elsewhere."
"We're going to Paris for some midnight shopping," Trini said.
"Oh la la," Aisha said. "Is what I'm wearing okay for Paris?" Aisha was wearing denim shorts and a simple white blouse.
"TrÈs bien," Trini said. "I'm not going to a store so expensive I have to dress up to go in."
"I hear that," Aisha agreed. "Arriva derci boys!" Both girls hit their teleport button. Yellow and white sparkles of light rained down on the ground for a split second before the two streams took off like rockets, temporarily lighting up the whole sky.
"Where are we gonna go?" Zack asked.
"Uhm, you speak any Japanese?" Billy asked.
"Not a word," Zack answered.
"How about New York City? It's just six o'clock there," Billy said.
"Let's hit it," Zack said. The two Rangers hit their knuckles together and teleported away.
* * *
Jenga kissed MasterVile on the top of his head and climbed out of bed. "Rise and shine," Jenga said.
"It's still the middle of the night," MasterVile complained.
"We're on the moon," Jenga said. "It's always the middle of the night."
"Well, that proves my point," MasterVile said. He turned back on his side and continued to sleep.
"Suit yourself," Jenga said. She pointed her index finger at herself, and her skimpy see-through blue teddy changed into her normal attire of jeans and button-up denim blouse.
"Good afternoon, Jenga," Prince Sprocket said as he wobbled down the hallway.
"Morning," Jenga said sweetly. "Where's your father?"
"Last time I saw, he was fussing at Rito and Elgar in the computer room," Prince Sprocket said.
"If they make that system crash one more time," Jenga threatened. Shaking her head, she walked toward the computer room. "I rue the day I installed Netscape Navigator." She entered the room to find Rito typing at the computer with Elgar looking over his shoulder. "Whatcha doin?"
"Aaaah!" they both yelled.
"You're in a chat room pretending to be a woman again, aren't you?!" Jenga shouted.
Rito and Elgar looked at each other, and then at Jenga. "Yeah," Rito said sadly.
"We like the attention," Elgar said.
"Just don't download any more viruses," Jenga said sternly.
"Yes ma'am," Elgar and Rito said in unison as she left the room. Jenga walked toward the balcony. She pulled her staff out of the air and stared at the planet intently. Twin blue beams of light shone from her eyes, permitting her to see anything on the planet. "Wait a minute," Jenga said. She turned her attention back to the blue staff. "Where did that come from?" A gray blob was embedded within the sapphire. She reached into the sapphire, grabbed the gray object, and pulled it out. "How did that get there?" she asked in awe. "I didn't think there was any left. There isn't much power left, though."
"Hello Jenga," Scorpina said as she entered the room.
"Hello dear," Jenga said. She stared at the gray shard in her hand. It was the very last remnant of the Anti-Earth Crystals. Jenga looked back at the Earth. "This could be interesting." She put both the staff and crystal away.
"Idea?" Scorpina asked.
"You could say that," Jenga said. She bent over so that her hair fell forward in a wave. She ran both hands through her hair, and it magically changed into the darkest shade of ebony. "How do I look?"
"Different," Scorpina said truthfully.
"Good," Jenga said. With a thick French accent, she said, "Do I sound French, mademoiselle?"
"Oui," Scorpina said with a smile.
"TrÈs bien," Jenga said. Her clothing immediately shifted shape, turning into an navy blue business suit. "I will be back soon."
* * *
"Le Boutique," Trini said.
"I think it's closed," Aisha said. She stared into the darkened store.
"Oh man," Trini complained.
"I am sorry," an elegant woman said from behind them. "I only stepped out but for a moment. I apologize for my englÌs is no good. But we are open."
"Great," Aisha said. "We need to buy dresses for our prom."
"Prawm?" the woman asked, a smile spreading across her face.
"I'm sorry, I forgot you don't have proms here," Trini said. "It's a formal dance."
"Oh," she said, sounding almost disappointed. _We could use a prawm down here,_ Jenga thought bitterly as she let the two Rangers into the store.
* * *
Dulcea, Justin, and Catalina cautiously walked down the alley. "Be ready to morph at any moment, Justin," Dulcea said. "Prawms are deadly. If one touches you, you're dead before you feel any pain."
"That's better than dying slowly," Justin mused.
"We're the most bizarre fighting force Angel Grove has ever seen," Catalina mused. "A hologram in a white gown with metallic blue hair, an eleven year old, and a police chick with an Australian accent whose legs go up to her face."
"I'm twelve," Justin said defensively.
"I don't even see tracks of it anywhere," Dulcea said. "This must be a particularly clever prawm."
"What will its tracks look like?" Justin asked.
"It leaves deep claw marks wherever it treads," Dulcea told him. "Even in stone."
"Why don't I take the lead?" Catalina suggested, moving to the front of their group. "If it sees me, it'll try and attack me and it won't do any good."
"Just be careful," Dulcea said. "Prawms are capable of anything."
* * *
"Have you seen Skull?" Kimberly asked Bulk as he entered the gym.
"He's looking for Dulcea," Bulk answered. "She freaked out earlier. Something about the prom."
"She's a mystery," Kimberly said. "Hold my ladder steady."
* * *
"Are you sure there is a prawm loose?" Justin asked.
"Skull said there was," Dulcea said, "although I'm starting to wonder. I don't smell blood on the air."
"Justin, you might as well go back and decorate for the prom," Catalina said.
"Bait?" Dulcea asked in horror. "You can't put this child up as bait!"
"What are you talking about?" Justin asked. "She's talking about the prom. The formal dance. Not the prawm. Oh boy. I think I know what's going on now."
"What?" Dulcea asked, very confused.
"Let's go find Skull," Justin said. "He'll clear everything up."
* * *
"Hey Ernie," Rocky said.
"Rocky," Ernie called. "Been up to much? Your usual?"
"Please," Rocky said. "We've been decorating for prom."
"How's your back?"
"I'm all healed up," Rocky said.
"How's your replacement?" Ernie asked in a much quieter voice.
"He's doing good," Rocky said. "Kind of trips me up to see him grow when he morphs, but he's a good fighter. Morphed or not."
"Why does he grow?"
"Billy said it was something about the morphing grid automatically places every fighter in their utmost physical condition," Rocky said in his quietest voice. "Justin is about six foot three when he morphs. That's even taller than Tommy. Billy said that Justin will be that tall when he grows up. The kid is cool. He's a valuable asset. Oh, did you hear? Jase is a Ranger again."
"Turbo?"
"Yeah," Rocky said. "Tommy's going to Covina this summer to practice for Nascar. We all decided that Jason would be the best Ranger to be the leader again."
"Do I detect a hint of rejection in your voice?"
"I was a little upset," Rocky said. "There's nothing better than the rush of being on active duty, but I do like all of the free time I have now. Besides, I still have the Ninja Power. You know, for an emergency."
"Well," Ernie said as he put the lid on Rocky's smoothie, "you all take it easy." Rocky started to hand him some money, but Ernie put his hands up in protest. "On the house."
"Never one to pass on free food," Rocky said truthfully.
"Oh, before you go," Ernie said. "We're having a karate competition the weekend school lets out."
"Really?" Rocky asked. "We haven't had a competition here in a long time."
"Tell me about it," Ernie said. "Spread the word."
* * *
"I like this one," Aisha said, twirling around. Her dress was cut low in the back. It was made of a slinky, silvery-white material. The upper chest was covered in a transparent silvery lace which looked phenomenal against her dark skin. The dress flared out only slightly over her hips and came down halfway between her knees and ankles.
"That's beautiful," Trini said. "What about mine?" She wore a tight fitting canary yellow gown with spaghetti straps. "Simple."
"But elegant," Aisha finished.
"Have you decided what you would like?" the woman asked. "Oh, Miss Kwan. That is an excellent choice. That particular gown comes with this charm." Jenga opened her hand, and a silver chain came tumbling out. At the end of the chain was a smoky gray crystal heart. It was cut like a diamond, and captured the light.
"That is gorgeous," Aisha said.
"It is," Trini agreed.
"Try it on," Jenga said. "You'll find it goes wonderfully with that dress."
Trini cautiously took the silver necklace and fastened it around her neck. "That looks good, girl," Aisha said.
"I'd buy the gown just to get this charm," Trini laughed.
"You can take it off of the chain and put it on a chain of your own," Jenga said.
"I'll take it," Trini said.
* * *
Trini put the two dresses in the back of her closet. "Thanks again for keeping it for me," Aisha said.
"Not a bit of trouble," Trini said.
Suddenly, two teleport streams dropped into the dorm. "You girls have fun?" Zack asked.
"A blast," Aisha said. "You?"
"We just went to Central Park and hung around a while," Billy said.
"After that, we teleported to the Grand Canyon," Zack said.
"So you didn't do any shopping?" Trini asked.
"Aren't you worried about the prom?" Aisha asked.
"Let's see," Billy said. "I'll go back to Angel Grove the day before the prom and rent my tux. That afternoon I'll go buy flowers. Mmm, nope. Not worried."
"I still can't believe Ms. Appleby is gonna let us go to the prom," Aisha said happily. "I should probably go." She kissed Zack and teleported to Africa.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed, too," Billy said. "G'night Trini."
* * *
"I am freaked out over this Calculus test," Kimberly said Sunday afternoon.
"If you hate Calculus, why did you take it?" Justin asked.
"I need it for pre-college curriculum," she answered. "Although I don't understand why a lower elementary grades teacher should need Calculus."
"Well, what are you having problems with?" Justin asked.
"Derivatives," Kimberly said. "It just doesn't make sense."
"Can I see it?" Justin asked.
"Knock yourself out," she said, sliding the book across the table to him.
His eyes scanned the page for a few seconds, and then he got up and stood beside her. "Okay," he said. "I can show you a short cut. It still works the same way, but it is a whole lot simpler."
"Let's go for it," Kimberly said.
* * *
Kimberly ran out of her Calculus class Monday afternoon with a big smile on her face. She danced down the hall, looking for her "little brother."
"Watch out, Kim," Jason said as she slammed into him at her locker.
"Have you seen Justin?" she asked.
"Not since lunch."
"Thanks to him, I just got an A on my Calculus test," she said happily.
Skull snuck up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. With a happy squeal, she wrestled out of his arms and gave him a quick kiss. "One of these days, somebody is gonna hurt you when you do that to them."
"I've been lucky so far," Skull said, quickly taking his arm from around Kimberly as Mr. Caplan walked by.
"There he is," Kimberly said. She ran across the hall and picked Justin up in a big hug, although he wasn't that much shorter than she was.
"What's wrong with you?" Justin asked.
She gave him a big kiss on his check and said, "I passed my Calculus test thanks to you."
"Well you didn't have to kiss me," he complained, wiping his cheek off.
"You'll love it when you're older," Jason said with a grin.
Bulk and Katherine were the next to join their group. Just as they got there, Katherine and Jason's communicators went off. "Joy," Kat said. "We read you."
"Turbo Rangers," Alpha said, "please get to the park immediately. A flock of Tengas is terrorizing the citizens!"
"We're on it, Alpha," Jason said. Kat, Justin, and Jason teleported away in three streams of light.
* * *
"Penny for your thoughts," Gasket said.
Jenga turned her gaze to the machine. "Just a little depressed," she said. "I did Justin a favor and he becomes a Ranger. I was really hoping to have him on my team."
"Maybe he doesn't know," Gasket said.
"Of course," Jenga said. "He doesn't know. Anybody want to go to Earth?"
"Ooh ooh ooh!" Prince Sprocket cried as he hobbled into the main palatial room. "Can I come?!"
"Let's go, Prince," Jenga said. Jenga disappeared in a column of black fire, while Prince Sprocket's body disappeared into his crown. The crown of lights spun around the room, and then disappeared in a bright flash.
* * *
"We can't hold them off!" Tanya cried.
"We have to morph!" Adam agreed.
"SHIFT INTO TURBO!" Jason cried.
Seconds later, the five Turbo Rangers were morphed and proved a much more effective fighting force. Jenga suddenly appeared in battle. Rito's Sword suddenly appeared in her grasp, just as Prince Sprocket landed beside her. "I really need to get my own Sword."
"What do you want, Sprocket?" Katherine spat as she beat a crowd of Tengas with her bow.
"I'm just here for the ride, blondie," Prince Sprocket said, just as angrily.
"And what do you want, Jenga?" Justin snarled.
"I came to give you a personal invite to the Dyntasty," Jenga said.
"Back off!" Tanya cried. She ran at Jenga with her Star Charges in hand. Jenga kicked Tanya square in the stomach, knocking her backwards.
"Why would I join you?" Justin asked, temporarily removed from the battle.
"Because you owe me," Jenga said.
"Hardly," Justin said. "Hand Blasters!" Two large gun-like devices, which were actually designed to look like the mufflers of a car, appeared in his possession.
"No, you do owe me." She planted the Sword of bones in the ground and leaned on it. "I was the one who killed your father."
Justin lowered the Hand Blasters. They disintegrated in a sparkle of blue. Still in shock, he reached up and unbuckled his helmets. By the time he had it cleared from his face, his body was once again that of a twelve year old. "You killed him?" he asked in a voice nearly void of emotion.
"I broke his neck," she said. "I know he beat you, Justin. I don't like that. So, I met up with him at a bar, shattered three ribs, burned his leg, and broke his neck."
Adam looked at Jenga. "She did it?" he asked himself in awe. "Those are the same injuries Dad told me about." Three Tengas suddenly jumped at him, taking advantage of his lapse in concentration.
"You killed him?" Justin asked again.
"I sure did," Jenga said with a smile.
"Why?"
"I was hoping you would join us," Jenga said. "We could really use someone as smart as you are in the Dynasty."
"Justin, it's a trick!" Katherine cried, flipping into place between Justin and Jenga.
"Katherine, I can deal with this," Justin said bitterly. A pair of Tengas suddenly leaped at her and knocked her aside. "You really killed him?"
"You don't seem upset," Jenga said with a smile.
"I'm... I'm happy now," Justin said. "I have a big brother, and I sort of have a big sister. And a real Mom and Dad again. Actually, I've never had a real Dad before."
"You don't seem totally thrilled, either," Jenga said.
"I never wanted him dead," Justin said, although he wasn't totally certain that was true.
"I think you did."
"No."
Jenga raised her eyebrows at the youngest Ranger. "You can't lie to me, Justin," Jenga said. "One of my gifts is that I can read people."
"So what if I am glad he's dead," Justin said softly.
"I agree," Jenga said. "The world is better off without him."
"Do you want me to pay you back?" Justin asked nervously.
"That would be nice," she said, "but I'm not going to force you."
"But you could, couldn't you?" he asked.
"No," she said. "I could put a spell on you, but that wouldn't do any good. You're useless unless you do it to me of your own free will."
"Thank you, but I can't help."
"I know," Jenga said sadly. "You know that we have to be enemies now."
"Yes. But Jenga, I really mean it. Thank you," Justin said. "BACK TO ACTION!"
Jenga teleported away before Justin could attack her. She could have held her own, but she just didn't feel like fighting him anymore.
* * *
"Who are you going to the prom with?" Skull asked.
"I'm going stag," Bulk answered. "Unless you know of someone."
"What does a deer have to do with the... prom?" Dulcea asked. She was making sure she said prom instead of prawm, although her accent still made the two sound nearly identical.
"No," Bulk said. "Going stag means I'm going by myself."
"Oh," she answered. "What does one do at a prom?"
"Well, it's sort of like a big party where everybody has fun," Skull said. "And punch."
"It's a drink," Bulk answered. "Made from fruit."
"The prom sounds like fun," Dulcea said. She left the room for a moment.
Skull nudged Bulk in the ribs. Bulk's eyebrows shot up, implying that there was no way. "Do it," Skull muttered.
"She'll say no and I'll feel stupid," Bulk muttered back.
"Ask her, or I'll ask her for you."
"Okay," Bulk finally relented. He didn't want to admit that he had considered asking Dulcea himself but was just too chicken to do it. "Dulcea?"
Dulcea came back in, twirling a night stick. "Bulk?"
"Wouldyouliketogotothepromwithme?"
"That was smooth," Skull muttered to himself, prompting an elbow to the ribs.
"I'd love to," Dulcea said happily.
"You would?" Bulk asked, just as happily.
"Sure," she said. "What do I have to wear?"
"We'll get Kim, Kat, and Tanya over here to help you find a dress," Skull said. "It'll be fun."
* * *
"What's your favorite color?" Tanya asked.
"I don't understand why I can't wear my policeman's uniform," Dulcea complained. "I've actually gotten used to this."
"So you like black?" Katherine asked.
"I guess," Dulcea said. "I like this because it's comfortable. What colors are you wearing?"
"I'm wearing violet," Kimberly answered.
"I found a dress that is such a gorgeous shade of pink," Katherine sighed. "Beautiful."
"I'm wearing a shade of yellow that looks sort of like an Earth-tone," Tanya said.
"That'll look good on you," Kimberly said. "How are you wearing your hair?"
"I'm going to wear it up," Tanya said. She demonstrated, which produced approval from both Katherine and Kimberly. "How about you all?"
"I'm not telling," Katherine said. "My mother came up with a really neat idea that I think is gorgeous."
"I'm not doing anything fancy to mine," Kimberly said. "I'm going to just leave it long and silky."
"The way Skull likes it?" Kat asked with a smile.
"Of course," Kimberly answered with a smile.
"What do you have to do with your hair?" Dulcea asked, horrified. She pulled her black cap off and showed her loose ponytail. "Can I wear my hair like this?"
"No," Tanya said, "but you don't have to do anything fancy. Just wear it free."
"This prom concept is complicated," Dulcea said. "And it's just for one night?"
"That's it," Kimberly answered. "Let's just find you a dress and we'll worry about the rest of it later."
"What colors do you like?" Kat asked.
"I like purple. Green. Orange. Blue. And black."
"I don't think you would look good in orange," Tanya said.
"Blue might be a possibility, though," Kimberly thought out loud.
"Oooh," Dulcea said. "I like these." She ran up to a dress that was covered in sequins. "They sparkle."
"A blue sequined gown," Katherine said. "We know what to get now."
* * *
Billy, Trini, Aisha, and Zack teleported back to Angel Grove Thursday afternoon. Aisha just told her aunt Ashala the truth, who in turn covered for her with her parents, while the others took a weekend leave from the Peace Conference. They needed to get their sleep cycles adjusted. Otherwise, they would be ready to sleep before the prom even started. Friday afternoon was the most hectic day. Those attending the prom were allowed to leave at lunchtime to get ready. The extra hours were mainly for the girls, who tended to take much longer to get ready. Dulcea, though, was the most nervous. She liked the way her dress looked, but she hated the way it felt. And she detested her shoes, and the blue garter she wore on her thigh for the garter dance. But after a long, trying day, she was ready.
* * *
Tommy rang Katherine's doorbell. He wore a simple black tux with a shiny silver vest. He knew that Katherine was wearing pink, but he wasn't about to put on a pink vest. Katherine suddenly appeared before him. Her dress was a beautiful shade of pink. It was sleeveless with thick straps over her shoulders. The dress flared out from the waist and reached to her knees. While her dress wasn't particularly outstanding, her hair was. She had it pulled up in a loose twist. A sprig of baby's breath was twisted into it, as had been her mother's suggestion. A thin tendril of hair hung down the right side of her face. A ribbon, the same shade of pink as her dress, was braided into it. "You look wonderful," Tommy sighed. He extended his hand and gave her a wrist corsage of four small, pink, roses.
"Thank you," Katherine said. "Come in. Mum's already got her camera ready."
Before she had a chance to close the door, Adam jumped up the steps and wondered how long it would take his date to notice his change. Tanya took Katherine's place at the door. "Hey beautiful," Adam said.
"Well didn't we clean up good?" Tanya smiled. Her eyes rested on his hair, and a happy cry burst from her. "You cut your hair!"
"You like it?" he asked.
"You cut your hair!" she shouted. "I love it! Oh thank you."
"Well, I knew you were getting tired of it," Adam said. "It was more trouble like that."
"You look really great," Tanya said with a wide smile.
"You don't look half bad yourself," Adam said, returning the smile. She wore a tight fitting yellowish-brown dress that reached the floor. It had full sleeves and came up to her neck, although there was an oval shape cut out above her breasts.
"Ready to hit the town?" Tanya asked.
* * *
Skull walked up onto the Cranston's porch. He and Bulk were both wearing their usual formal police suits, complete with their rank and gold braid ropes. Kimberly greeted him on the porch in her violet dress. The somewhat bizarre reddish-bluish-purple hue looked wonderful against her tanned skin. Her hair hung halfway down her shoulders like silk. She and Kat had talked a little about the ribbon braid idea, and Kimberly had taken the same idea. Exactly in the middle of her back was a very thin braid, where the third strand was a violet ribbon. She wore the lightest touch of make-up and only a hint of perfume. Her dress was sleeveless and strapless, but she wore violet gloves that came up to her elbows. "Hey handsome," Kimberly said, standing on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss.
"Hey yourself beautiful," Skull answered. Skull pulled a bouquet of violet-stained roses from behind his back.
"Ooh," Kimberly said. "Ready?"
"You know it," Skull said. They walked out to Skull's father's car, a candy-apple red '55 Chevrolet.
* * *
Dulcea stumbled forward and caught herself on the doorframe. "I hate pumps," she growled. She stood back up to her full six foot two frame and straightened out her tight dark blue sequined dress. It was strapless and only came about halfway down her thigh. She paused to look at herself in the mirror. "I look good, but I feel like crap," she said. Her hair was pulled over her right shoulder. It was simple but very elegant. "Nervous is one of my very least favorite emotions," she whined to herself.
On Phaedos, she had no real need to feel nervous. She didn't sleep, she basically couldn't die, and there wasn't a beast on the entire planet she couldn't kill. But there also wasn't any need to feel love, or even friendship. What she felt now was horrifying. Her stomach felt all swollen, she felt like she needed to burst into tears or throw up, and Kimberly had said something about having flying insects in her digestive tract. "The prom had better be worth this trouble."
"I assure you it is," Bulk said from the door to her basement apartment.
"Bulk!" Dulcea cried happily. She turned to cross the room. After tripping a few times, she slowed down and eventually made it to the door. "Hello Bulk. You look handsome today."
"Thank you," he said. "You look gorgeous."
"I feel ridiculous," she answered, pulling the hemline down and shifting around in the dress. "And I hate these shoes."
"You look great," he said. "Oh. Here." He handed her a wrist corsage of white roses.
Dulcea accepted it and stared it at blankly. "What is this?"
"It's a wrist corsage," he said. Silently, he hoped corsage wasn't the name of a monster on Phaedos.
"That doesn't tell me much," she said. "I know I'm kind of stupid about these things, but...."
"That's okay," Bulk said. "You're new to the planet. Here. You wear it on your wrist." He took her left arm and carefully guided the elastic band over her hand.
"It's pretty," she said.
"Kimberly gave me something to give you. I don't remember what she called it, but she said you would know what to do with it." Dulcea shuffled across the room and picked up a small white rose in a plastic box.
"Boutonniere," Bulk answered.
"Ummm, okay," Dulcea said as she shuffled back to him. She handed him the box and said, "here."
Bulk laughed and pinned the white rose to his lapel. "Ready?"
* * *
The thirteen Rangers, plus Dulcea, Emily, and Marge, met at Bolton's Landing, one of Angel Grove's medium restaurants. Not extremely dressy, yet still capable of serving a nice dinner.
"You have a beautiful name," Emily told Dulcea. "What does it mean?"
"Where I come from," Dulcea said, "it means 'heavenly voice over still waters.'"
"That's beautiful," Marge said.
"Thank you," Dulcea answered, blushing at her attention.
"Your room is ready," the hostess said. The fifteen well-dressed teenagers and the twenty-thousand year old Warrior, stood up and followed her to their dining room.
* * *
Dulcea burst into a wide smile as soon as she entered the gym on Bulk's arm. "It's gorgeous," she sighed.
A large silver banner with the words "Hold Onto the Night" in bright blue letters hung over the stage. Tiny white lights hung from the ceiling, looking like tiny stars against the black background. A floating candle was at each table. Concentric circles of light, reflected from the water the candles were floating in, sent bright sparks of light from the glitter and sequins scattered on the table. A large video screen was set up against one wall, and enough lights capable of putting on a laser show were mounted all around it. Small trees with white Christmas lights on them stood around the walls of the gym. "This is the prom?" she asked happily. "It almost makes wearing these shoes worth it."
"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Bulk whispered to her.
"What do we do here?" she whispered back.
"We dance," Bulk said.
"Dance," Dulcea pondered. "Is that where you move your body with the music?"
"That's one way of putting it," Bulk said.
"I'm supposed to dance in these shoes!" Dulcea cried, quite a bit louder than she originally intended to.
* * *
"You're too tense," Bulk told her. "Loosen up."
"Sorry," Dulcea stammered. "I'm new to th- Ow! I hate these shoes."
"Take them off," Bulk said.
"I can do that?" Dulcea asked. Without even waiting to hear what he had to say, she stepped out of both of her shoes and kicked them aside. "That's much better."
"You'll want to keep them," Bulk said. "We'll take them back to the table after this dance."
"I like music," Dulcea said.
"Do you like Earth?" Bulk whispered.
Dulcea leaned close and whispered, "I love it here."
* * *
The garter song was the highlight of the evening. That is the song where the man removes the garter from his date's leg and places it on his right arm, signifying that they spent the night together. The garter song was also the theme song, "Hold Onto the Night." It was also the one dance where the chaperones tended to overlook kissing or extreme closeness. Dulcea looked around at her dancing friends. Tommy and Kat were looking into each other's eyes with love, Tanya rested her head against Adam's shoulder, Skull gave Kimberly a small kiss, as did Jason to Emily. Trini nuzzled the side of her face against Billy's shoulder, while Aisha and Zack just gazed at each other with bright eyes and wide smiles. Rocky and Marge weren't very intimate, as they had just started dating, but they were the only exception. This, however, never occurred to Dulcea. "Am I supposed to kiss you?" she whispered. Bulk turned a bright red.
"People only kiss when they're in love, or want to be in love, or something like that," Bulk said nervously.
"How do you know?"
"I'm not really sure," Bulk said. "I've never been in love."
"Me neither," Dulcea said. "Does it feel anything like being really good friends?"
"I suppose it would," Bulk said.
"Or maybe wanting to share the rest of your life with a person?" Dulcea asked. "You know, so you could mate and have children, and grow old together."
"I guess so."
"So that would mean you're in love?"
"That's my guess."
Dulcea suddenly leaned toward Bulk's face. Keeping her lips firmly pressed together, she pressed them against Bulk's. _That's it?_ Dulcea thought grimly. _That was more effort than it was worth._ Out loud, she asked, "Did I do that right?"
"Not quite," Bulk said.
"Can I try again?"
"If you want to," Bulk said.
"Do you want me to?"
"Yeah," Bulk said a bit too eagerly. "If you want to."
"Well, tell me how."
"I'm not real sure myself. I haven't had many girlfriends. None, in fact."
Dulcea looked to her right briefly at Kimberly and Skull. _Perfect timing,_ she thought. She watched as they shared a delicate kiss. _Turn my head,_ she thought to herself, _place my hands on Bulk's face, open my lips a little, and touch lips. Or I can do like those two over there in the corner and move my lips around a whole lot._ "Can I try now?"
"Yeah," Bulk stammered.
Dulcea put her hands on both sides of his face, opened her lips slightly, and moved toward him. As soon as their lips met, a fire raged through her that told her she finally had it figured out. Although their kiss was brief, it was a real kiss. "Wow," she said happily. "That was fun. Can I do it again?"
Before Bulk could say anything, she moved in to give him another kiss, this one a bit more passionate than the previous.
* * *
"Check that out," Trini whispered. She pointed a finger at Dulcea and Bulk, who were sharing a slow, passionate kiss.
"They actually make a cute couple," Billy said.
Dulcea began to work her mouth around Bulk's. "She's really getting into that kiss," Trini said.
"I think she's giving him the tongue," Billy said in awe.
"She's gonna suck his tonsils out if she isn't careful," Trini said.
"Bulk looks scared," Billy said.
Kimberly and Skull suddenly danced up to Billy and Trini. "Are you two watching this?" Kimberly asked.
"If somebody doesn't stop her, Bulk is going to have a heart attack," Skull said.
Trini and Kimberly left their boyfriends alone to give Dulcea a crash course in kissing-in-public etiquette.
* * *
"I have never been so embarrassed," Dulcea said. She sat down on the couch and rested her face against her hands.
"Don't worry about it," Kimberly said. "You're new-"
"Shh," Trini said as Emily and Marge came in the bathroom.
"What happened out there?" Marge asked.
"Dulcea just got a little bit carried away in the heat of the moment," Kimberly said.
"Apparently so," Emily said.
"I'm new to your country," Dulcea said. "I don't completely understand your ways, yet."
"Where are you from, exactly?" Marge asked.
"Australia," Kimberly answered for her.
"Oh," Emily said. "We thought maybe you had some ties with the Rangers."
Trini laughed nervously and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Marge and Emily gave each other a sideways glance. "No reason," they said in unison.
* * *
Lt. Stone stared at one of his fellow chaperones. She wasn't attractive, at least not in a conventional way, but he really liked her. She was really nice. And she had a wry sense of humor that he doubted her students actually appreciated. He decided that during the next slow song, he would ask her to dance. Definitely during the next slow song. Suddenly, a loud shriek came from outside the gym. He hurried over to the door, flung it open, and looked out into the darkness. Hundreds of Tengas were descending upon the parking lot.
* * *
Zack and Aisha were dancing as both of their communicators went off. Both Rangers tensed up. They weren't on active duty. If they were being called into battle, something bad was up.
* * *
Rebecca, David, and Justin Cranston all tensed up as soon as the six-tone alarm pierced the quiet of the theater. "I'll be right back," Justin whispered. He quickly hurried to the bathroom. "I read you."
"Justin," Alpha said, "there are hundreds of Tengas at the high school. You have to hurry and get over there!"
"I'm already on my way," Justin said. A few sparkles of blue light hit the floor as he teleported out of the theater.
* * *
The thirteen Rangers plus Dulcea hurried outside as quickly as they could with eliciting any undue attention. "We have to morph!" Kimberly cried. "We can't fight in these dresses!"
"It's Morphin Time!" Aisha cried.
"WHITE TIGER --- BEAR!"
"GREEN DRAGON --- RABBITT!"
"MASTODON --- GIRAFFE!"
"PTERODACTYL --- CRANE!"
"TRICERATOPS --- WOLF!"
"SABER-TOOTH TIGER --- DOVE!"
"ZEO RANGER III, BLUE --- APE!"
"ZEO RANGER V, RED --- FALCON!"
"GOLD RANGER POWER --- LION!"
"Shift Into Turbo!" Jason bellowed.
"MOUNTAIN BLASTER TURBO POWER!"
"DESERT THUNDER TURBO POWER!"
"DUNE STAR TURBO POWER!"
"WIND CHASER TURBO POWER!"
"RED LIGHTNING TURBO POWER!"
Dulcea pressed the button on her communicator and said, "Are we ready to give it a try, Alpha?"
"I believe it is ready, Dulcea."
"Let's give it a shot," Dulcea said. She twisted the top of her communicator, revealing a small green button. "Warrior Mode, Power Up!" She pushed the button, and in a flash of green light, she morphed into her green bikini. Her fighting skills weren't altered in any way, although the twin sticks were in her hands. Spinning them in her hands, a horrible screeching sound began to fill the air. However, Zedd's super charged Tengas were apparently not as sensitive to sound as the previous birds. She snapped the two back together, forming a long Bo.
* * *
"Have you seen Rocky?" Marge asked Emily.
"There are a bunch of those birds outside," Emily said.
"Figures," Marge said. "You know, they really don't do a very good job of keeping their secret."
"I've noticed that, too," Emily said. "Last summer at the Beach Club, the Gold Ranger kept on referring to me by name."
"Maybe they're kind of like Santa Claus," Marge suggested.
"Well, I do think Jason is the red one again," Emily said. "He seems to be a whole lot busier again."
"I think Rocky might be blue," Marge said.
"Didn't you and Billy have a thing once?" Emily asked.
"Sort of," Marge said. "You think he was a blue one, too?"
"Well, he has taken to wearing a lot more blue lately, and the original Dinosaur Rangers have been seen around on occasion."
* * *
"Wind Fire!"
"Power Bow!"
The two Pink Rangers lined up and held their bows out before them. "Cool," they said in unison. Keeping in perfect tandem, they flipped forward and jumped into battle.
Dulcea planted her bo against the ground and pole vaulted over a crowd of Tengas. As soon as she hit the ground, she swept the bo beneath their feet.
"It's time for a Gold Rush!" Bulk shouted. The Golden Power Staff was sufficiently charged, and ready for action. He pointed it at the thickest crowd of birds and let the attack fly. Hundreds of balls of golden fire burst from its tip and entered the crowd of Tengas. Screams of pain and anger filled the air.
Tommy and Jason summoned their Power Swords and jumped into the crowd to finish the last remaining Tengas.
Aisha bellowed, "SABBA SABER!" In a flash of white light, her sentient saber appeared in her hand. "Ready to kick some Tenga?!"
"Let's do it!" Saba agreed. He flew from her hand and began to circle the group of birds.
* * *
Zack swung his Axe at a Tenga on the ground. The Axe moved cleanly through its body, causing the Tenga to explode in black light. "All right!" Zack cried.
"That's all of 'em!" Dulcea said happily.
"Here comes Lt. Stone!" Justin cried.
"Oh no," Dulcea said. She ducked behind Bulk and quickly pressed the teleport button on her communicator. A white streak of light darted through the air and leveled off high above California. At a fantastic speed, it crossed the entire United States and began its journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Just a few moments later, the streak of light passed across England, causing many to think they had caught a glimpse of a shooting star. The light reached the end of the continent and began to travel across the wide Pacific ocean. The coast of North America suddenly appeared on the horizon. The light slowed down and headed for the town of Angel Grove. As it descended from the heavens, it began to move toward the High School. The light slowed greatly and lowered into the school. The white stream of light landed in a darkened hallway, temporarily lighting it up. A pair of blue pumps at the bottom of a pair of shapely legs was the first thing visible as the light changed into its true form. Dulcea straightened her dress and quickly walked to where the Rangers would be.
"What was that?" Lt. Stone asked.
Dulcea ran out of the prom about four seconds after she had teleported away. "Lieutenant Stone," Dulcea acknowledged, putting her hand in a salute.
"Sergeant Phaedos," Lt. Stone said, returning the salute.
"What are the Power Rangers doing here?" Dulcea asked.
"I'm not sure," he answered. "I was hoping they could tell me."
Blue Triceratops Ranger stepped forward. "We came here after a massive flock of Tengas threatened to cause some trouble," he answered.
"We have to be going now," Blue Turbo Ranger said.
Lt. Stone looked at the Ranger. His voice was distorted slightly, but it sounded a little bit like a kid. Before he could say anything, all fourteen Rangers teleported away in bright streams of light.
* * *
"Zeddie, I'm bored," Rita complained.
"What do you expect me to do about it?" he asked. He moved his Bishop and said, "Checkmate."
"Blast!" Rygog bellowed. He examined the chess board, trying to find a hole in Zedd's defense.
"Entertain me!" Rita screamed.
Rygog moved his Queen and said, "Checkmate yourself. Hahahaha!"
"Blasted woman!" Zedd shouted. "You made me lose my concentration!"
Rita knocked Zedd off of his chair with her staff. "I'll make you lose your concentration," Rita muttered.
"Rita," Diva Tox called. She entered the game room and said, "Jenga and I are going down to the After-Prom party. Wanna come?"
"Gonna cause some trouble?"
"No, we're just gonna go see if we can win any door prizes," Diva Tox answered truthfully. "You'll need to disguise yourself as a teenager, though."
"Why not?" Rita said. "Better than staying up here with Mr. Personality."
"Don't start with me woman," Zedd threatened.
"Or you'll do what?"
"I don't know," Lord Zedd said as the two women left the room, "but it'll be bad."
"You're a lucky man, Zedd," Rygog growled.
* * *
"Last dance," the D.J. said. "You should make it last."
"This is it," Lt. Stone said. "This time, I'm really gonna ask her." We walked up to Ms. Appleby and asked, "May I have the pleasure of this dance?"
"Certainly," she said.
* * *
"How about Rochelle?" Jenga asked.
"Unnngh," Rita growled in disapproval.
"Alicia?" Diva Tox asked. "Or Cher?"
"As if," Rita said.
"How about Amy Jo?" Jenga asked.
"Or Catherine?" Diva Tox suggested.
"Certainly not Catherine," Rita said. "I don't want anyone mistaking me for a Power Ranger."
"Spell it with a C," Jenga said.
"Not even."
"How about Rikki?"
"I do like her talk show," Rita said. "On today's show, Siamese twin sumo wrestlers and the women they love."
"Okay," Jenga said. She produced a ticket with the name Rikki Richmond written on it. "I'm Jennifer Baal, and Diva is Debbie Cunningham."
"Got it," Rita said.
"Now, we just have to make you look like a teenager," Jenga said. "Now, I tend to go as a gorgeous blonde, and Diva makes herself look like a beautiful black woman. We could use a redhead."
Rita summoned her staff and waved it in front of her body. Immediately, her gown changed into a pair of black jeans and a purple sweater. Her hair fell from its cones and cascaded down her back in silky red curls. Her eyes were a vibrant blue, and her features were changed just slightly so as to make her look young. "How's this?" Rita purred.
"Wow," Jenga said. "I'm almost impressed." She ran her fingers through her hair and bent forward. When she looked back up, she was a changed women. "Name is Jennifer. Nice to meet you."
"Call me... Debbie," Diva Tox said.
"Nice braids," Rita said.
"I like 'em."
"Wait for us!" Scorpina cried. She ran onto the balcony, already dressed as her alter-ego Sabrina. Her facial features were changed only enough so she wouldn't be recognized by Adam.
"What can you do for us?" Archerina asked.
"Cakewalk," Jenga said. She pointed her staff at Queen Machina and Archerina. In a brilliant blue flash, they were hidden behind a human appearance. Queen Machina was a beautiful Italian, while Archerina looked very European with curly brown hair.
"Cool," Archerina said, examining her flesh body.
"You'll be Mishi and you'll be Ariana," Jenga said. "The prom is almost over, so let's hit the town."
* * *
"Jump Kim jump!" Skull shouted.
"Drag her Billy!" Trini encouraged.
Kimberly burst into a hysterical fit of laughter as she and Billy fell to the ground in a painful heap. Billy watched as Jason and Bulk hobbled past them. "No!" Kimberly laughed. "We gotta get up!"
"You guys are losin'!" Zack shouted as he and Tanya walked past them.
"Inside outside inside outside," Tanya chanted.
Billy put his arm around Kimberly and helped her up. "Come on," he said, taking a big step and dragging her with him.
"I'm getting rope burn!" Kimberly laughed.
* * *
"This is fun!" Ariana cried, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.
"What is that called?" Mishi asked.
"Three-legged race," Rikki answered. "This is fun. I'm gonna have to come to Earth more often."
"Oo look!" Debbie cried happily. "Billy and Kimberly just fell down again!"
"How did they pick partners for this thing?" Sabrina asked.
"They drew names," Jennifer said. "Guess who gets to go in the next round?"
"Who's your partner?" Rikki asked.
"A little floozy named Dulcea," Jennifer said. "I'm afraid she'll recognize me."
"Excuse me," Lt. Stone said as he interrupted the six ladies. "Is one of you Rikki Richmond?"
"That's me," the redhead said.
"You've been partnered up for the next race with Tommy Oliver," he said.
Sabrina burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. "Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events," Rikki growled.
* * *
Through an extremely unlikely turn of events, Billy and Kimberly caught up with Jason and Bulk and actually came in second. They untied themselves, still laughing, as the second round of Three-legged Racers tied themselves together. Jennifer approached the tall woman in the jeans and t-shirt. "Hi," Jennifer said. "My name's Jennifer. They drew our names for the race."
"Dulcea," she said, introducing herself with a handshake. There was something very familiar about this girl. "Do I know you?"
"I don't believe so," Jennifer said. "I just moved here about a week ago."
"Oh," Dulcea said. "You must remind me of someone."
Jennifer pushed her silky blonde hair over her right shoulder. "I just have one of those faces," she said.
"Well, let's get ourselves tied up," Dulcea said.
* * *
"Hello Tommy," Rikki growled. She handed him the length of rope that was given to her. "I'm your freakin' partner."
"You must be Rikki," Tommy said, forcing a smile. "Tommy Oliver."
"I know who you are, hair boy," Rikki said. "Just tie yourself to me and let's get this over with."
Tommy looked at the ground and then back up at her. "You don't have to do this, if you don't want to," he said.
"Good," Rikki grunted, walking away.
"She had a bit of attitude," Aisha said.
"Tell me about it," Tommy said. "Wanna be my partner?"
* * *
"We're gonna win!" Dulcea cried happily. Dulcea and Jennifer were almost to the finish line when Jennifer suddenly misstepped. Her inside foot twisted around Dulcea's, causing the taller woman to crash into the floor. Ordinarily, they both would have fallen. However, Jennifer was no ordinary woman. She remained standing as Dulcea hit the ground with a sickening crack. With a slight cry of pain, Dulcea's hands went to the rope. She quickly untied and cradled her foot. "My ankle," she sighed, wincing at the pain.
"Are you okay?" Jennifer asked, looking down at her.
Dulcea immediately knew who she was. "You," Dulcea growled. Jenga's eyes flashed green and she raised her eyebrows. A wicked smile crossed her face. "I'll be fine," Dulcea said.
Bulk was suddenly at her side. "What happened?" he asked. He reached out to touch her ankle and realized it was in bad shape. "Dulcea, I think it's broken."
"I think that's a pretty safe bet to place," Dulcea said.
"I see you still haven't gotten the native dialects just yet," Jennifer taunted.
"Here's something I've gotten," Dulcea said. "Go bend yourself."
"Get bent," Jenga said exasperatedly.
* * *
"Everybody sure made a fuss over me tonight," Dulcea said. "The After-Prom Party nearly stopped."
"Stop avoiding the question," Aisha said. "Was it Jenga?"
"Yes," Dulcea whispered. "I'm positive it was Jenga. You all didn't have to come here with me. You're missing your After-Prom. Why don't you go back? Alpha will have me fixed up good as glue in no time."
"Good as new," Jason said. "Not glue."
"Whatever," Dulcea said. "Please go back. I'll be fine."
"She's right, guys," Tommy said. "She'll be okay."
"Besides, if Jenga is running loose at the After-Prom, there should be some Rangers there," Adam said.
"We'll take good care of her," Catalina said with a smile. "Now go have fun."
* * *
"I am going to go to sleep and wake up in a few weeks," Kimberly complained as she and Billy got out of his car. The gang had pretty much gone their separate ways after the prom. It was just before dawn, and the street looked eerie in the near-darkness.
"I bet Justin'll wake you up before noon," Billy said.
"Probably," Kimberly said. "If he does, I'm waking you up."
"I bet you will, too," Billy said.
"This is so cool," Kimberly said after a moment of silence.
"What is?" Billy asked.
"Us," Kimberly said. "I mean, just look at how well everything came together. We're all Rangers again, even if we aren't active. I'm back in Angel Grove, and best yet, I have two brothers. Sort of. Well, three counting my real brother. Your parents were great to let me stay here."
"They're glad to have you," Billy said. "Justin too."
"Can you believe how lucky he is," Kimberly said. "His parents actually know he's a Ranger. He doesn't have to make up excuses like we did."
"Kept us on our toes," Billy said.
Three weeks later....
Tanya, Adam, Rocky, and Jason simultaneously executed a perfect side kick. "They're looking really good," Bulk said as he joined Kimberly and Katherine at a table.
"They've been practicing since the prom," Kimberly said.
"We used to have competitions all the time," Bulk said.
"Back in the good ole days," Kimberly said.
The four martial artists bowed to each other, and then walked off of the mats. "What are you all wearing next Saturday?" Tanya asked. "Aren't we supposed to tell them ahead of time?"
"Black gi pants, our belts, and we're going topless," Adam said. "You can too, if you want."
"Yeah," Tanya laughed. "I bet you'd like that."
"I think we'd all like that," Rocky said.
"You're going shirtless, Adam?" Kimberly asked, surprised. He wasn't the type to flaunt his body around like Jason, Rocky, and Tommy.
"I've been lifting hard for the past year," Adam said. "Next weekend, I'm gonna show off."
"What are you going to do?" Katherine asked. "You can't go topless."
"I guess I'll wear a tight-fitting top," Tanya said. "I want something I can move in."
Before anyone could say another word, four communicators beeped. "See you all later," Adam said as the four Turbo Rangers left the Juice Bar.
"Come on," Kimberly said to Rocky. "I'll help you spar."
Friday afternoon in Geneva....
"Hey Trini," Billy said.
"Come on in," she said, looking up from her notebook.
"Zack and I were in the library, and we came across this," he said. He put a yellow flyer before her.
"Cool," Trini said as her eyes scanned the paper and absorbed the information. "World renowned scientist."
"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Billy asked. "Zack and I asked about it. It's supposed to be a really cool show."
"What does Dr. Hill, expert on String Theory, do?" Trini asked, reading from the flyer.
"He claims to have a fantastic slide show of actual experiments that almost worked and 3-D renderings of his theories," Billy said. "That doesn't sound like much fun, but it's supposed to be really cool."
"Let's do it," Trini said.
Saturday Morning in Angel Grove....
Jason, Rocky, and Adam walked out of the Locker Room, ready to fight. The only distinguishing clothing between them was their colored headband. "He really has bulked up," Katherine said in awe. While Adam wasn't as defined as Jason or Rocky, his lean frame held considerably more muscle than it had previously.
"Adam's been lifting hard for a pretty good while now," Skull said. "I think I'm gonna take up weight-lifting."
"Hi guys," Bulk said as he and Dulcea hobbled into the Juice Bar. She had her arm wrapped around his neck and hopped along on her good foot.
"You're just in time," Kimberly said.
"Where's Tanya?" Dulcea asked.
"She's still getting ready," Katherine said. "She's really nervous."
* * *
"Not as big of a turn out as I expected," Billy said. There were only about three dozen people at the Science Hall.
"I think that's Dr. Hill," Trini said, pointing to a distinguished elderly man.
"Let's go talk to him," Zack said, "since nobody else is." After a brief introduction, Dr. Hill began to tell them about his views on a variety of things. Billy had no problem keeping up with his theories, Trini did a fair job, but Zack couldn't follow a thing he was saying. He just stared at them during the duration of their conversation, pretending he knew what they were talking about.
* * *
"They're really doing good," Kimberly said happy. Jason and Tanya were currently double-teamed against two of their competitors.
"I think Rocky and Adam are ready to fight," Dulcea observed. The two teens stood beside the ring, ready to be tagged and take over.
"End Round Five," a loud voice said. "Switch." Jason and Tanya left the ring as Rocky and Adam crawled through.
* * *
"This," Dr. Hill said, "is my proof." He pulled a white cloth off of a small, silver machine.
"Well that looks interesting," Zack said.
"What does it do?" Trini asked.
"With this device, I have sent waves of energy across the dimensional barrier," Dr. Hill said.
"How do you know?" Billy asked. "How can you be sure?"
"Well, energy can't be destroyed," Dr. Hill said. "If it isn't going to a different dimension, then I've found a way to destroy energy without using nuclear power. Here, I'll demonstrate." They watched as Dr. Hill set up a complicate system of mirrors, smoke, and lasers. He positioned the machine, and turned it on. "Now watch," he said. "You will see the laser completely disappear. It actually bends toward the machine as it leaves this dimension."
"Like a vortex," Trini said.
"Correct," Dr. Hill said.
He pushed a button on the machine. Immediately, a powerful beam of white light burst from the machine. The white light engulfed the three teens, temporarily blinding everyone in the room.
* * *
Dulcea gave a slight cry. "What's wrong?" Bulk asked.
"I don't know," she said. "I just... I don't know. Just a weird feeling, I guess."
* * *
Dr. Hill looked at the empty spot where the three teenagers had been standing. With a happy cry, he returned to his natural form. Long red hair cascaded down his back as his masculine body turned back into its true feminine form. "We did it!" Jenga cried happily. "We just got rid of three Rangers!"
The room's occupants immediately turned back into various henchmen and Tengas. "They're really gone this time?!" Rygog asked.
"Are they dead?!" Rito shouted.
"They might as well be," Jenga said, "cause they ain't coming back here again!"
* * *
Trini found herself flying down a tunnel full of twists, turns, loops, and spirals. The tunnel wasn't solid in nature, but was instead composed of colors and light. Colors continually shifted all about her, going through every color of the rainbow. She realized that she wasn't in her body, at least not in the sense she was used to. Then, just as quickly as her journey down the tunnel began, it ended. She felt herself become solid again, and was dumped from the tunnel of light. "Ow," she complained as she slammed into the hard ground.
"What was that all about?" Zack complained. He sat up on the ground beside her.
Suddenly, white light flashed above them. Billy flew from the light and landed on the both of them. "That was weird," he complained.
"What happened?" Trini asked, pushing Billy off of her and standing up.
"I don't know," he admitted.
"I'd be happy just knowing where we are," Zack said.
"This looks a little bit like Angel Grove," Billy said. He stood up and looked around him. "Only a bit more run-down."
"A bit?" Trini asked. The buildings around them were covered with graffiti. Cracks lined the sidewalk, and nothing was clean.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zack said.
"I think I know what happened," Billy said, "I just don't know why or how."
"What happened?" Zack asked.
"Dr. Hill's machine sent us to another dimension," Trini answered. Just a few seconds later, all three communicators beeped.
"Should we answer it?" Zack asked.
"I doubt it's for us," Billy said.
"We read you, Zordon," Tommy's voice said over the communicator.
"Rangers," Zordon said, "The Dynasty has not been heard from in some time. I feel that now is the perfect time to attack. There are some helpless children in the park."
"All right," Tommy said. "We've been getting bored around here. We're on it. Tommy out."
"This is Anti-Earth," Trini said. "Where the Evil Rangers came from. I almost guarantee it."
"We better get to the park," Zack said. "We may not be Rangers from this world, but we still swore to protect the innocent."
"If this is laid out like our Angel Grove, we'll never get there on foot," Trini said. "Let's try and teleport." The three teens gave each other a nervous glance, and pressed the teleport button.
* * *
Ernie put their trophy in his display case. "Angel Grove brings another one home," he said. Without warning, everyone's communicators beeped. "That's never a good sound," he muttered.
"We'll catch you later, Ernie," Tanya said. The teenagers and Dulcea quickly found an isolated place and teleported to the Command Center.
* * *
"It worked," Zack said with a sigh of relief.
"I don't see any Rangers," Trini said.
"No," Billy said, "but there are the kids." The three teens ran toward the kids, ready to protect them if the Evil Rangers did, in fact, show up. Suddenly, thirteen teleportation streams landed all about them. The children screamed, realizing that the Power Rangers had come for them.
"Whoa," Zack said, putting his arms out to stop Trini and Billy. "We can't go up there unmorphed."
"Will our power work on this world?" Trini asked.
"They should," Billy said. "It's Morphin Time!"
"MASTODON --- GIRAFFE!"
"TRICERATOPS --- WOLF!"
"SABER-TOOTH TIGER --- DOVE!"
"I wonder if they'll remember us," Zack asked as the three Rangers ran across the park.
"I doubt it," Billy said. "We met them in a pseudo-time."
"We can't just go attack thirteen Rangers," Trini said. "We wouldn't stand a chance."
"They aren't attacking yet, anyhow," Billy said. The three Rangers slowed to a halt. The thirteen Evil Rangers slowly circled the small group of terrified children. The Evil Black Ranger raised his Power Axe high above his head. "Let's shed some blood," he growled.
"NO!" Zack cried. He tapped his Morpher/Belt Buckle and teleported the distance between them in a split second. He swung his own Power Axe at Anti-Zack's. The Axe flew from the Evil Ranger's hands, temporarily startling all of them. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
"Another Black Ranger," Anti-Tommy said in awe.
Billy and Trini suddenly appeared beside Zack in two glimmers of blue and yellow light. "Three new Rangers, actually," Billy said.
"And we aren't evil," Trini said.
* * *
"Jenga!" Rita cried. The Space Alien, forever cursed to look evil while her soul was actually filled with the spirit of an angel, ran down the corridors of the palace. "Somebody! Anybody! The Rangers are about to attack some children in the park!"
Rito appeared beside his sister in a glimmer of light. "What?" he asked.
"Zordon and Catalina have sent the Rangers out to attack again," Rita said.
"We have to go help them!" Rito gritted his teeth in anger. It was one thing to have put a curse on his family, making them all look evil. It was another thing entirely, however, to attack those who couldn't defend themselves.
"Go find Goldar," Rito said, "and tell him to meet me at the park. As soon as you find Dad or Zedd, tell them to send some Tengas."
The skeleton teleported away in a flash of white light.
* * *
Rito dropped out of the sky and ran at the Rangers. "Hey!" he shouted. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size!"
"Rito?" Billy asked.
"If this is Anti-Earth," Zack began, blocking a blast from Adam's Thunder Cannon, "then Rito would be good." He kicked at Adam, connecting solidly with his stomach.
"But he's gonna think we're evil!" Trini cried.
Jenga, Diva, and Scorpina suddenly appeared in a bright white flash. "Leave those kids alone!" Scorpina cried. She withdrew her scimitar and prepared to defend herself.
"Wait a minute," Jenga said. "There are sixteen Rangers."
Billy ran out of battle and up to Jenga. She withdrew her silver Sword, although she didn't use it on him. "Wait a minute," Billy said, putting his Power Lance away. He held up his hands, showing he meant no harm. "We're not with them."
"Who are you?" Jenga asked. Crowds of Tengas suddenly dropped out of the air all around them.
When Zack and Trini saw that they were no longer needed to fight the Rangers, they ran over to Billy and Jenga. "Let's show her who we are," Billy said. All three Rangers removed their helmets, showing Jenga their true identity.
"Forgive me," she said, "but I think I'll just leave my Sword out for awhile longer."
"We understand perfectly," Trini said. "We are from an alternate dimension."
"We come from an Earth where the Rangers are good," Zack said.
"If you really are from a different dimension, I have people in my Dynasty that could tell," Jenga said, keeping her face as expressionless as she could.
"Please do check," Billy said. "We mean you no harm. We were brought for reasons we don't entirely understand."
"Our only desire is to go home," Trini added.
Jenga looked at the three Rangers before them and then at their evil counterparts in battle. She put her Sword away and said, "Diva will take you back to the palace. Finster, Klank, and Orbus will perform the necessary tests to see if you are telling the truth. Do you consent?"
"Yes," Billy said. "We consent."
* * *
"You're telling the truth," Finster said in awe.
"You believe us now?" Billy asked.
"I'm sorry I ever doubted you," Jenga said.
"I guess you are tired now," Rita said. "Would you like us to prepare some chambers for you?"
"I am tired," Zack said. "I don't suppose you have anyway to send us home?"
"Nay," Klank said. "Per'aps I can build somethin' for ye, but ih twill take much doing."
"I just have so many questions," Billy said.
"We can discuss things in the morning," Jenga said. "You should get your rest."
* * *
Aisha sat on the floor of the Command Center. She hugged her knees close to her chest and sighed. "Have you found them yet, Alpha?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not, Aisha," the robot said. "It's almost like they disappeared from the face of the Earth!"
"Where's Catalina?" Justin asked.
"She has been searching for the Rangers herself," Zordon said.
Suddenly, the blue-haired mentor appeared in the Command Center. "I know what happened to them," she said sadly.
"What?" Katherine and Aisha asked in unison.
"I don't know exactly where they are," she said, "but they should be safe."
"What happened?" Dulcea asked.
"They've left this dimension," Catalina said. "I don't know how they left, why the left, or who might have made them leave, but they're gone."
"I think I could guess who," Bulk muttered.
"Well, how do we get them back?" Aisha asked, her lower lip trembling fearfully. Catalina looked at the ground. She opened her mouth to say something, but she could not find the right words. "If you knew," Aisha said, "I don't guess you would be trapped."
"Right," Catalina said softly. "They aren't in the exact same situation. They're somewhere in the loop. We just have to figure out which world they're on, and find some way to bring them back."
"How many dimensions are in the loop?" Adam asked.
"All of them," Catalina said, trying to avoid the frightening answer.
"Then how many dimension are there?" Rocky asked.
Catalina looked at the ground and then at Zordon. He nodded, implying that she should tell them. "It would be easier to count to infinity than to count the dimensions," she said. "The number is so high, I couldn't even begin to comprehend it."
* * *
Catalina sat down beside Aisha. "Sure is beautiful, isn't it?" Catalina asked.
"It is," Aisha agreed.
"This is like the rock in The Lion King," Catalina observed. "Africa is a very beautiful place."
"This is where I come to think," Aisha said. "I've been up here many times since the Zeo quest."
The two women were silent for a few minutes. "We'll find him," Catalina said at last.
"Do you promise?" Aisha asked.
"No," Catalina said bluntly.
"You don't make promises you can't keep," Aisha said, wiping away a heavy tear. "Right?"
"I don't make any promises," Catalina said. "Even on sure things."
"Please don't lie to me," Aisha said. "If the odds are he isn't coming back, I'd rather know now than be destroyed later."
"I'm not lying," Catalina said. "I don't know how we'll get him, or Trini and Billy, for that matter, back, but we will find some way."
"The two smartest Rangers we've ever had are two of those lost," Aisha said.
"Not true," Catalina said. "Justin is just as smart as Billy. He's back at the Command Center right now working on a plan with Alpha. Now look, it's going to be dark soon. Shouldn't you get going back to your village?"
"It's not far," Aisha said. "About a fifteen minute walk. Would you care to join me?"
"Sure," Catalina said. "And after this, I'll go search for them myself."
"Thank you," Aisha said as she and Catalina started back toward her village.
