"Rise and shine," a very friendly voice said.
Zack opened his eyes to see Scorpina standing above him. "Good morning," he answered.
"Whenever you're ready," Scorpina said, "I can fix you some breakfast. There's a bathroom in the next room over, and Porto took the liberty of preparing you some clothes. We're all around. Just give a holler and somebody will be right in."
"Thanks," Zack answered, somewhat skittish by being waited on by Scorpina. It was definitely going to take some time getting used to that.
* * *
When Zack finally made his appearance in the main palatial room, Billy and Trini were already engrossed in a conversation with Jenga and Rita. "On our world, you're names are Rita Repulsa, Rito Revolto, MasterVile, and Diva Tox," Trini said.
"Rita Repulsa?" Rita asked in horror. "That's crude."
"Your counterparts are very crude," Billy said with a sheepish grin. "What do you go by here?"
"Rita Xett, now," Rita said. "Before, I was Rita Vale, not Vile."
"So your Dad is," Trini began.
"Master Vale," Jenga said. "He's my husband, here. How about on your world?"
"Jenga and Vile are married back home," Billy said.
"I guess you're also wondering about our looks," Rita said.
"Yeah," Trini said. It was very perplexing that these beings of extreme good could look just like their evil counterparts back home.
"Master Vale, Rita, Rito, Porto, Elgar, Rygog, Zedd, Baboo, Squatt, Scorpina, and Ivan were all cursed, a long time ago, by Catalina," Jenga said.
"Even though our bodies contain the spirit of an angel," Rita said, "we've been cursed to look like demons. She thought that if we looked horrible and frightening, then people would attack us, keeping us from helping them."
"Did it work?" Zack asked as he joined them.
"Yes," Rita answered. "That's why we formed the Dynasty here on the moon. We can oversee all of Angel Grove from here, and because we have some magic, we can teleport down there in just a matter of seconds."
"You're possessed by angels?" Trini asked in awe. "I didn't even know that happened."
"People can be possessed by demons," Jenga said. "It's just natural that people could be possessed by angels. But we don't like the word possession, because they connotes unwillingness."
"I guess that makes sense," Billy said.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" Jenga asked. "I can read people. And I can tell you're still very nervous."
"Our Jenga sort of... tried to have her way with Billy, once," Zack said.
"Really?" Jenga asked, lifting her eyebrows.
"She managed to break into the Power Chamber," Trini said, "when they teleported Perkiz and me home from the moon after Jenga got me and Anti-Trini switched."
"Anti-Trini?" Rita asked.
"Yeah," Billy said. "Back during the Earth Crystals thing, Jenga brought the evil Rangers, we think from this world, to ours to attack us. During our first battle, we got our Trini's switched."
"Is there Perkiz on this world?" Trini asked.
"There used to be," Rita said.
"He turned evil on us," Jenga said sorrowfully. "He was killed in battle a few months ago."
"Oh," Trini said, disappointed. "Perkiz was killed on our world, too, after he turned good." Jenga smiled a little to know that on at least one world, her favorite henchmen died a good person.
"Hey, wait a minute," Zack said as a sudden thought hit him. "You said there was a Catalina on this world. Right?"
"Right," Jenga said.
"On our world, she's a hologram," Zack said, "because she's out of the loop."
"And Catalina told us that there is only one other person out of the loop," Trini said.
"Catalina is flesh and blood here," Jenga said.
"Oh," Zack said. "Well, then what does being out of the loop mean, exactly?"
"All of the dimensions are connected," Jenga explained. "Quite literally connected. That's what enables the very rare crossing of dimensions. Like you three. Although I've never heard of anyone being out of the loop, I would assume that it means they are in their own private, pocket dimension that there is no access to. Except by holographic imagery, apparently."
Goldar suddenly rushed into the room. "Jenga, Rita," he growled, out of breath. "The Rangers have just launch a full attack on Angel Grove."
Jenga groaned and jumped to her feet. "Goldar, get a flock of our strongest Tengas together," Jenga said. "I'll find Rito, Elgar, and Rygog."
"We can help," Zack said.
"Yeah," Trini agreed. "We'll be glad to."
Jenga smiled and said, "Morph and go with Goldar."
"Right," Billy said. "It's Morphin Time!"
* * *
"Hmmm," Justin wondered.
"What is it, Justin?" Alpha asked.
"I was just thinking of something," Justin answered. "Everything in this universe is made up of sub-atomic particles, right?"
"Essentially everything," Alpha said.
"Well," Justin said, "look at this. This is the energy signature of the sub-atomic particles of this universe. It's a standard. Everything that is made of atoms, us, the air, everything, has this energy signature in it's sub-atomic particles."
"Correct," Alpha said, "but I still don't see how that helps us."
"If we could find the energy signature of the dimension that they were sent to," Justin said, "then we could open a wormhole, if you will, to that dimension, and they could come back."
"But we don't have the energy signature of their dimension," Alpha said.
"Not yet, anyhow," Justin mused. "But I took some readings last night from where they disappeared."
"Justin," Alpha said. "You shouldn't have gone to Geneva without permission."
"I know," Justin said, "but I knew you would say yes, so I didn't see any need with asking. Anyhow, I found something very bizarre. There was a lot of residue energy just floating around. I analyzed it, and it's related to energy being put off from Zordon's tube."
"How so?" Zordon asked.
"Well, when you turn it upside, backwards, and mirror image it, it is identical to the energy from your tube," Justin said.
"The Earth Crystals!" Alpha cried.
"That would mean Jenga used the Anti-Earth Crystals to send them away," Justin said.
"But the Anti-Earth Crystals were destroyed when time was restored," Alpha said.
"Apparently not all of it," Justin said. "We at least know what dimension they are in, now. Right? Shouldn't they be on Anti-Earth?"
* * *
"These Rangers fight dirty," Zack complained after the battle.
"Well, at least they retreated," Trini said gratefully.
"I'm ready to eat something," Billy said.
"I hear that," Zack agreed. "Let's go see if we can find some food."
"Hey, wait a minute," Trini said. Her hands went to her neck. "I've lost my necklace."
"What necklace?" Zack asked.
"The little smoky crystal heart necklace," she said.
"You didn't have it on this morning," Billy said. "Are you sure?"
"Very sure," Billy answered.
"I must have lost it when we came here," Trini said. "Shoot. I really liked it, too."
* * *
"Shoot!" Justin bellowed for lack of a better word.
"It won't work?" Katherine asked.
"Not without a piece of the Anti-Earth Crystal," Justin said. "Even though I can reproduce its energy pattern, without it, I can't open the portal. The only way I could hope to open a portal and keep it open for any length of time is if an identical portal were to open in their dimension. It's sort of like opening a door, only to find another locked door on the other side of the doorframe. If that second door isn't open, your key to the first door is useless."
"Is there anyway to get a message to them?" Jason asked.
"If I could get a message to them, I could bring them back," Justin said. "I'll just have the computers look for an abnormal energy reading that indicates someone from Anti-Earth is trying to open a portal here. As soon as it does, we'll get back here and open the portal on our side."
* * *
"Mind if I join you?"
Trini looked up at Archerina standing in the doorway. "No, come on in," Trini said.
The machine crossed the room and sat down beside Trini on her bed. "Thinking about home?"
"Yeah," Trini said. "Wondering if I'll ever get back."
"Of course you will," Archerina said. "Billy, Finster, Klank, Orbus, and Porto are working on something as we speak."
Trini chuckled as Archerina rattled off the list of geniuses. "I guess it could be worse," Trini sighed. After a brief pause, she asked, "Can we go to Earth and look around?"
"Earth isn't safe," Archerina said. "Ninety-five percent of the population is evil. The only truly safe place is Vatican City."
"I don't understand that," Trini said. "If everything evil is good and everything good is evil, then why aren't religions evil?"
"Proof positive of a higher power, I guess," Archerina said. "Religion is good, but not many people follow it."
"I guess the truly evil people on my world are the good people here," Trini said.
"Rosie O'Donnell," Archerina said. "Is she good on your world? Cause she's really evil here."
"She's very good on our world," Trini said. "She gives a lot of time and money to charities. Who's a good person here?"
"Well, Charles Manson is the pope," Archerina said. "And Jeffery Dahmer is president."
"You're kidding," Trini said. "On my world, Charles Manson is a psychopath who killed a bunch of people and Jeffrey Dahmer, well he's dead now, but when he was alive he was a cannibal."
"There was a cannibal killer here a while back," Archerina said. "I believe his name was Richard Simmons."
"Richard Simmons is a dietitian on our world," Trini said thoughtfully. "Not a cannibal, though."
Orbus suddenly floated into the room. "Trini, Billy would like you to come help us in the lab. He believes he may have found a way home."
* * *
"Trini," Porto said, "you're putting off a very unusual energy."
"What kind of energy?" she asked.
"It's the energy of the Anti-Earth Crystals," Billy said. "It's coming off of you like heat."
"I've got an idea," Finster said. "Somebody go find Zack. We're gonna send you home."
* * *
"Everybody get to the Command Center now!" Justin cried over the communicators. "I think they're trying to come home!"
* * *
"Take me with you!" Alejandro cried.
"No," Rocky said. "What I have to do won't take long."
"Well why can't I come?" Alex whined as Rocky jogged out of the house. "Because I said so," Rocky growled.
Alex shouted angrily at his brother in Spanish, but Rocky ignored him and ran down the street. As soon as he was out of sight, he teleported away in a blue flash.
* * *
"What are you gonna do?" Trini asked.
"For some reason, you have a very strong energy associated with you," Finster said. "This energy is actually stretched across the dimensional barrier, linking you to your home world. Long story short, I'm going to force you home and keep the wormhole open long enough for Billy and Zack to follow you."
"And this will work?" Zack asked. "Safely?"
"It should," Finster said. "Let's give it a shot."
* * *
"We're almost ready, Alpha," Justin said into his communicator.
"Where do you want us to stand?" Jason asked.
"Just form a circle around me," Justin said. "You all are going to use your Power Coins to form an energy vortex. Just call on your Morpher and hold it out in front of you. Alpha is going to create the vortex, and I'm going to go back to the Command Center and send out an energy signal to call back the Anti-Earth Crystal signal." He teleported away in a flash of blue.
"Let's get 'em home, guys," Tommy said as he pulled his Morpher out of the air. He held it out in front of him, as did the others.
* * *
"We're in!" Finster shouted. Trini was glowing a very bright yellow.
"Is it working?" Trini asked.
"It sure did," Finster said happily. "Trini, hold on tight."
Immediately, the glowing yellow form of Trini exploded into a large circular window of light. "Where did she go?" Zack asked.
"She's probably halfway home by now," Finster said. "You all go jump through."
Zack gave the white alien a smile and jumped into the portal. "Thank you," Billy said. He ran over to the wormhole and jumped into it.
* * *
"Trini!" Jason cried as the Yellow Ranger landed in the center of their circle with a white flash.
"Where are the others?" Aisha asked, still holding her White Morpher out before her. "They're on their way," Trini said.
Another white flash, and Zack flew of thin air.
"Come on, Billy," Kimberly said. A third flash followed, and Billy landed at her feet. "Billy!" she cried happily, bending down to help him up.
Billy looked up at the circle of Rangers. He saw the thin line of white light connected all of their morphers in a broad circle, and he could still feel the energy vortex. His mind quickly absorbed all of the information, and he realized with horror that Kimberly had just broken the circle. "NO!" Billy cried. He started to jump to his feet to stop her from moving, but the circle was already warped. The energy vortex moved on top of Kimberly. Rocky, Katherine, Jason, and Billy, those closest to Kimberly, were immediately caught in the invisible whirlpool and slammed into her. Tommy, Tanya, Adam, and Bulk, on the other side of the circle, were lifted off of the ground as the circle changed into a widely erratic oval. They flew through the air, reaching a height of twenty feet. A powerful flash of white light filled the air, followed by an angry boom of thunder. Tommy, Tanya, Adam, and Bulk finally fell back to the Earth after having been thrown in a wide arc over the vortex. A blue stream of light suddenly landed amongst them.
"The vortex just exploded on itself," Justin said frantically. "Did somebody break it?" He then realized that five Rangers were missing, including his brother and "sister."
"What happened to them?" Tommy asked in a weak voice.
"They're gone," Justin said. "We just sent them to the same world Trini and Zack came from."
"Well let's just do it again and bring them back!" Skull demanded.
"We can't," Justin said in a meek voice. "They aren't putting off an energy signal. As soon as the vortex closed, the Command Center lost all ties. The energy was coming from Trini for some reason." Trini looked down at the ground, and saw her smoky Crystal Heart, the last remnant of the Anti-Earth Crystals.
* * *
"That was not fun in so many ways," Jason muttered.
"Whoever's on top of me," Katherine complained, "get off."
"Sorry," Rocky said. He rolled off of Kat's midsection and placed his hands on his spinning head.
"What happened?" Kimberly groaned.
Billy slowly made his way to his feet. "Oh no," he said. "Oh God no."
"Billy," Katherine said, "where are we?"
"We are on Anti-Earth," Billy answered. "The vortex shifted before it closed, and sucked us back in."
"We're in a different dimension?" Rocky asked in horror.
Suddenly, Jenga and Finster appeared near the five teens. "What are you doing back here?" Finster asked. "You only left about thirty seconds ago."
"We had a little accident," Billy said. "Zack and Trini made it home safe, but I was pulled back with four other friends."
"Come on," Jenga said, extending a hand to Jason who still lay flat on his back. He cautiously took her hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet. "Let's get to the moon before the Rangers show up."
* * *
"I don't understand why it happened," Kimberly said. "What caused us to get pulled back in?"
"You say one of your alternate Rangers had an energy vortex set up," Finster said.
With the Rangers' Power Coins acting as the corral, so to speak," Billy said. "I believe. I was only there for about ten seconds."
"Di' annie o' tha Rangers step outta position?" Klank asked.
"Oh no," Kimberly said as the truth struck her. "Oh my God. This is my fault."
"Don't say that, Kim," Billy said. "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is!" she cried. "I bent over! It's my fault that we're all stuck here."
"It could have happened to any of us, Kimberly," Katherine said. "If Billy had landed at my feet like he had yours, I would've bent over to see to him as well."
"Don't be silly, Kim," Rocky said. "We don't blame you."
Kimberly sighed and sat down with a thud beside Scorpina on a long bench. "It's still my fault," she said.
"Kimberly," Katherine said, "being Rangers has put us all in a position of blame before. Remember me, P.C.? I nearly killed you."
"And I gave Goldar the Dragon Dagger once," Billy said.
"Tommy, Katherine, and I didn't get to the Orb of Doom in time," Rocky said.
"It was my bright idea to go scuba diving," Jason said. "And I nearly got us all killed the first time we battled Cyclopsis, and I didn't save Tommy's powers due to the Green Candle."
"Okay," Kimberly sighed. "I get your point. All those stories ended well, this one will too."
Finster emerged from his laboratory with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm not sure, but I may be able to send you home," Finster said.
"How?" Billy asked as a smile spread across all of their faces.
"It's a fifty fifty chance," he explained. "I've created this device." He held up something that looked like a flip phone. "This device can open a hole in the dimensional wall. I've already programmed it to recognize the five of you. You open it, you all jump through it, and it will close behind you when all five of you are through it. Now, on your first trip, one of two things will happen. Either you'll go home, which I believe to be the case. There is still a lot of residue energy around you. This may be enough to send you home. Or you'll be sent to a random dimension. If that happens, I will have no way to get you back here. I won't be able to contact you. You'll be totally cut off from us. The device will, however, enable you to keep on traveling. It has a minimum recharge time of three hours."
"So if we don't go home, we can keep on trying to get home," Rocky said. "Right?"
"Exactly," Finster said.
"And there's only a fifty-fifty chance we'll get home?" Kimberly asked, horrified.
"Well, it's probably more like eighty-twenty that you'll get home," Finster said. "I think. I mean, this is something I've never attempted before, so I can't be sure, but I'm almost positive. I'd be willing to stake my reputation as a scientist on whether you get home or not."
"But you don't have to take the risk," Jenga said.
"That's right," Scorpina said. "With five Rangers on our team, we could actually defeat the Power Rangers and turn the world back good."
Jenga gave Scorpina a look that was both stern and friendly and said, "We're not asking you to stay. We're just saying if you want to stay, you're welcome here for as long as you like."
"I think I can safely say we'll give it a shot," Jason said.
"Right," Kimberly agreed, to which Billy, Rocky, and Katherine nodded, giving their affirmation.
"I would rather try for the rest of my life to get home, than stay in a world that isn't my home," Katherine said. "Even though you all are very nice, I can't live on a world that is evil."
"We respect your decision," Jenga said. "It's almost lunchtime. We'll fix some food for you, and then after lunch, if you're ready, we can send you home."
* * *
Even Rocky didn't have much of an appetite at lunch. They wanted to pretend like they were definitely going home, with no worries, but that wasn't the case. They were scared. To think that they might never get home, it tended to take away one's appetite. "I wonder what they'll tell our parents?" Kimberly asked.
"You won't have to tell them anything because you're going home soon," Diva said.
"Force some food down," Jenga said, "and we'll go to Earth and send you home."
The five Rangers looked at each other. "We're ready now," Jason answered for them.
* * *
Finster gave Billy a quick run-down on the device. "Remember," Finster said, "it takes three hours for this thing to charge up, minimum. Preferably six or more. The longer it charges, the stronger it is. But it doesn't matter, since you're going home."
"Right," Billy said, taking the device from him. "What do you call it, anyhow. I keep thinking of it as the device."
"This reminds me of that t.v. show Sliders," Rocky mused. "That would be our timer."
"Well," Billy said, opening the timer up and pushing the single button on it, "let's go sliding." A white beam of light shone from the timer. It traveled about ten feet, where it created a wide, circle of light.
"The wormhole," Jenga said thoughtfully. The wormhole was not just a shining circle. It was a literal hole, emitting light of all colors. The rim of it continually turned in on itself, rolling through many different colors. A slight breeze blew from it, although that effect seemed to be more for show than anything.
"This is it," Billy said. "Home or bust. Who wants to go first?"
"I'll go," Rocky volunteered. He looked at his new friends, waved goodbye, and dove into the wormhole. It briefly flashed blue, and then returned to it's normal rainbow.
"The longer the portal is open, the more of a drain it is on the timer," Finster said.
"Let's go," Katherine said. She and Kimberly ran up to the wormhole and leapt into it, sending a wave of pink light over those present. Jason looked at Jenga, mouthed a thank you, and then dove into the portal.
Billy put the device in his pocket and gave one last look at his new-found friends. He gave Jenga and Finster a quick hug and said, "Thank you for everything." He ran at the portal and dove it into with his arms extended. The portal flashed blue, and immediately closed.
* * *
Billy was hurled from the wormhole, slamming into Kimberly who had finally managed to climb to her feet. "Sorry," Billy muttered.
"It's okay," Kimberly said, standing up and then extending a hand to him.
"Is this home?" Rocky asked.
Billy stood up and looked at their surroundings. "If this is Angel Grove," Jason said, "I'd hate to see what happened while we were gone."
There was no city. The ground was perfectly level for as far as the eye could see. The only colors were brown and blue. The sky, while it may have looked beautiful, was the only normal thing. Though they weren't in a desert, dirt of varying shades was all that could be seen in any direction.
"We're lost," Katherine said in a voice that carried absolutely no emotion.
"Is this Angel Grove?" Kimberly asked. "Maybe the wormhole just dumped us off at the wrong place."
"Yeah," Jason said, suddenly hopeful. "Didn't you say that the wormhole carried you from Switzerland to Angel Grove?"
"I suppose it's possible," Billy said, "although the reason I was carried to Angel Grove is because Jenga sent us there. She knew she was sending us to Anti-Earth, and she knew that Angel Grove was the most dangerous place on that planet. This timer should keep us on a fairly steady course. We might have a one-hundred mile radius we could fall out in, but that's it. Besides, look at this dirt. Some of it's ash."
"So where are we?" Rocky asked.
Billy knelt down and scooped some of the dirt up in his hands. He ran it through his fingers. "We're not home," Katherine said. "That's for sure."
"My guess is we're on a world where they had a massive nuclear war," Billy said. "With no survivors."
"There's not even a place where we can wait in the shade for three hours to pass," Rocky said.
"I can't believe this is my fault," Kimberly moaned.
"If I have to traipse around various dimensions," Jason said, "I am not going to listen to you blame yourself and moan and groan the whole way."
"I'll be good," Kimberly said with a half-cocked smile.
* * *
"Have we been here three hours yet?" Kimberly asked.
"Forty-five minutes," Billy said, prompting moans from Rocky and Kimberly both.
"I hope on the next world we can get something to eat," Rocky said.
"We just ate," Katherine said.
"Yeah, but I was too nervous to eat," Rocky said. "Sort of. Well anyway, I'm hungry again."
"Billy?" Jason asked.
"Yeah?"
"Will we ever get home?" They all looked at their genius friend.
"Sure we will," Billy said. "I can't say how long it will take. But eventually, we'll get home. Here's the way I look at it. First off, there's the remote possibility we'll just randomly slide home. Very rare, but possible. There is another possibility that we will land on a world where sliding is as common as airplane travel back home. If that were to happen, we could get home no problem. Or, we might come across a world identical to our world, or enough so that another Billy, Zordon, and Alpha existed. The four of us could get together and find some way for us to go home."
"That's an awful lot of mights and ifs," Kat said.
"We're gonna be on the road for a long time," Billy said truthfully. "I doubt we'll get home before the summer is over. My hope is by Christmas."
"I just hope the next world has shade trees on it," Jason said.
"It's entirely possible that the next world will be home," Billy said.
"Hey," Katherine said. "I just thought of something. What about our powers? Will they work out here?"
"Yeah, they'll work," Billy said. "We had to morph back on Anti-Earth to fight the Rangers."
"That's not what I mean," Katherine said. "What about me and Jason?"
"Your Turbo powers," Kimberly said. "Oh my gosh."
"I doubt they'll work," Billy said.
Jason twisted his left arm and produced his Turbo morpher. "I've got my morpher and key," he said.
"Just metal right now," Billy said. "They work on our world by accessing the Zeo Crystal which is used the power the Turbo Zords. Since we don't have the Turbo Zords here, you won't morph." Jason experimentally put the key in his morpher, proving Billy's theory.
"But our Ninja Powers will work?" Kimberly asked.
"Yeah," Billy said. "We carry the Power Coin in our private pocket dimension. They aren't linked to home in any way whatsoever. Except for the Morphing Grid, but that's kind of hard to explain." A sound suddenly filled the air. With several cries of alarm, the five Rangers leapt to their feet. The sound, a low whistle, became louder and louder.
"What is that?" Kimberly cried.
"Where's it coming from?!" Jason shouted. Suddenly, a yellow spike rose up from the ground beneath them.
"Whoa!" Rocky shouted, scrambling for safety. The ground didn't break open, but simply shifted aside as more and more of the yellow spike rose from it. Four smaller spikes slowly poked through the earth, forming a perfect square around the first spike.
"Should we morph?" Kat asked in a worried tone.
"We don't even know what it is," Billy said. "It might be friendly."
A sheet of yellow metal appeared as the dirt shifted off of it. The four smaller spikes were perched at each corner. _It's a craft of some kind,_ Billy thought. He was proven right when, only a few seconds later, it was totally out of the Earth. It was a large yellow box, adorned with spikes at the top. Eight spider legs were its mode of movement. It was obviously a machine of some type, although its actual function was impossible to tell. "Hello," Billy said to the machine.
"Do you actually expect it to answer?" Kimberly asked.
"It might be sentient," Billy said. "Do you have a better idea?"
Suddenly, one side of it swung open. The five Rangers fell back in a defensive pattern. Four beings, clad in all body yellow armor, stepped out of the box. "Who are you?" one of them asked, although since their entire faces were covered and none of them moved, it was impossible to tell which one actually said it.
"My name is Billy Cranston," Billy said. "These are my friends, Jason Scott, Kimberly Hart, Katherine Hillard, and Rocky DeSantos." A murmur of surprise passed through the four strange beings.
"What are they doing?" Katherine asked, although she didn't expect an answer.
"Please come with us," one of them said.
"Why?" Billy asked sternly.
"Attack mode," one of them said. The four yellow beings suddenly had various weapons in their hands. "It's Morphin Time!" Jason shouted frantically.
"PTERODACTYL!"
"TRICERATOPS!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!"
"ZEO RANGER I, PINK --- BUTTERFLY!"
"ZEO RANGER III, BLUE --- APE!"
"Power Rangers," one of the four beings said. All four immediately dropped to the ground and covered their heads with their hands.
"Hmm," Kat said. "That's odd."
A yellow cloud suddenly burst from their spider-like machine. Before any of the Rangers could comprehend what it was, it had surrounded them. Without a single word of protest, the five Rangers fell to the ground, fast asleep.
* * *
"Rise and shine, gorgeous," a very familiar voice said.
"Unnngh," Kimberly moaned. "What happened?"
"Shhh," the voice said. "Don't worry about that now. Just relax." Kimberly forced her eyes opened and looked about her. She lay on a yellow bed in a room with yellow walls. A yellow gauze-like material hung from the ceiling in wide strips.
"I de-morphed," Kimberly whispered in horror.
"I did that." Kimberly looked at the voice's source and saw Adam, clothed entirely in yellow. His hair was shorned incredibly short, nearly in a buzzcut.
"Where am I?" Kimberly asked. "Where are my friends?"
"They're in their own rooms," Adam said, "being tended to. We thought you were dead."
"I want to see the others," Kimberly said, scooting off of the bed.
"You can't right now," Adam said.
"No, I want to see the others," she said firmly. "Tell me where they are!"
"I just told you, YOU CAN'T RIGHT NOW!" Adam bellowed. "The Queens said that you are mine for the next half-hour."
"The Queens?" Kimberly asked. "And if you even try to lay a hand on me...."
"You'll do nothing," Adam said. "I have been loyal, you are my reward." With an angry scowl, he began to unbutton his shirt. "You can either undress yourself or I'll do it for you."
Kimberly laughed and put her hands on her hips. "I think I'll chose option C," she said. "I keep my clothes on and kick your sorry butt all over this room."
Adam gave her a mean smile and yanked his shirt tail out of his pants. "I'm sure little old gymnast Kimberly can actually beat me up," Adam said sarcastically. "I'm really concerned." He discarded his shirt and began to unbutton his pants. "Now why don't you just hop up on the bed like the good little Ranger you are?"
Kimberly backed against one of the yellow walls. She was starting to get concerned. _Just find a door,_ she ordered herself.
With an angry glare, Adam strode across the room to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You listen to me and you listen to me good," he growled in a very quiet voice. "You are mine, for the next thirty minutes. If I tell you to act like a dog, you're gonna act like a dog. And right now, I'm telling you to undress and get on that bed."
Kimberly quickly jerked her knee up in one solid move. With a cry of pain, Adam staggered away from her, both hands clamped over his groin. "LET ME GO!" Kimberly cried.
"I'm gonna hurt you for that," Adam muttered, his voice quivering.
With a primal scream, Kimberly kicked Adam in the chest. He hit the ground with a moan, giving Kimberly time to run away. She ran along the walls, searching for a door. "There has to be a way out of here," she said. Thinking briefly that she could teleport out, she reached for her communicator to find that it was broken.
Adam suddenly slammed into her body, pressing her flat against the wall. Kimberly screamed in both shock and fear. "No!"
"If you had cooperated, this could have been fun for the both of us," Adam growled.
"NO!" Kimberly screamed again as Adam carried her away from the wall with both of his arms wrapped around her.
* * *
As Jason slowly came to, he realized that something was in his mouth. He attempted to spit it out, when he realized that it was a gag. "Ah, he's awake," a strange voice said. Jason couldn't see, he couldn't talk, and he was tied to what felt like a chair. "I suppose you're wondering what you're doing here," the voice said. It sounded so familiar, yet so odd at the same time. A rough hand was suddenly at his face, removing the gag.
"What do you want?" Jason said, his voice weak due to extreme thirst.
"I want your opportunity," the voice said. "I don't know who you are or how you became a top-dweller, but I want whoever they send for you."
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked, struggling against the ropes that bound him.
"I'm a dissenter. I was angry when we moved under, and I attempted to overthrow the Queens. Big mistake. They tried to have me killed, but I escaped. Fortunately for me, my assassin told the Queens that I was dead for fear of his own death. I've spent the past six months on the run, escaping death on a nearly daily basis. Today, you show up. And guess what I learn. The Queens are sorry they tried to have me killed, and plan to offer you a spot on the Throne. Well, my dear little doppelganger, I want your opportunity."
With that, Jason's blindfold was ripped off. He saw a version of himself before him. The other Jason was much paler and had a heavy growth of beard, but was unmistakably him. "Turns out the Queens want all of the Power Rangers on the throne," the other Jason said. "Because you look like me, they think you are a Ranger. Well get this, I want your spot. I don't know who they are sending for you to impregnate, but I intend to be the one. Not you, me."
"Impregnate?" Jason asked. "What are you talking about?"
"To get on the throne, you have to impregnate an existing Throne member," Jason said. "Of if you are a woman, they give you a shot to make you come in heat, and then a male member of the Throne has sex with her. Very simple. So, I intend to take your place. Got it?"
"What are you gonna do with me?" Jason asked.
"That's the hard part," Jason said. "I guess I'll just hide you in here until I'm an official member of the Throne, and then I'll have you taken care of. Now, if you'll forgive me, I'm afraid I have to gag and blind you again."
* * *
Rocky was thrown forward, landing at someone's feet. "What a way to wake up," he complained.
"Who are you and why do you pretend to be me?" a very hostile voice asked.
"Excuse me?" Rocky asked.
"You claim to be Rocky DeSantos," the voice said. Two men were suddenly on each side of Rocky and lifted him to his feet. Rocky found himself staring into the face of his exact double, only clothed entirely in yellow.
"You're me," Rocky said in awe.
The other Rocky immediately punched Rocky in the face, bloodying his nose. "Have him exterminated!" yellow Rocky shouted.
* * *
The man dropped to one knee and bowed, forcing his near-unconscious prisoner, cloaked in a yellow hood, to bow as well. "You may rise," the Queens said in perfect unison.
"I have something that may please you," the man said. He pulled the yellow hood off of his prisoner, revealing the drugged human known as Billy Cranston.
"I thought he was dead," the right Queen said. With a happy laugh, she said, "Prepare my quarters, and notify the Medical Lab. My time has come."
* * *
"Ow!" Katherine cried, sitting straight up.
"Well that wasn't supposed to happen," a woman in a yellow lab coat said as she pulled the needle from Katherine's arm.
"What did you do that for?!" Kat demanded.
"Not your concern, dear," came the answer. "I didn't expect you to wake up. I hope you aren't allergic. Do you have any known allergies?"
"Eggs," Katherine stammered. "Would you please tell me what is going on?"
"Eggs, huh?" the woman said. "This shouldn't effect the serum. I guess you just weren't very heavily sedated. Oh well. The medicine will take effect soon. I'll go ahead and send him in."
"Send who in?" Kat asked. "Please tell me what is going on."
"We'll tell you everything later," the woman said. "Now you're too tense, dear. Just relax."
The woman pulled a yellow remote control out of her pocket and pointed it at the wall. A section of the wall opened, which she left through. Rocky, clad entirely in yellow, walked in. "Rocky!" Katherine cried.
"Kat!" Rocky cried back. "You remember me!" She instantly realized something was wrong, and the smile slowly left her face.
"So, are you ready?" Rocky asked. "Have you done this before?"
"Done what?" she asked cautiously.
"I'll take it that means no," Rocky said as he started to take off his yellow t-shirt. "Don't worry. It's fun. Just relax and I'll do all of the work. Now loosen up and take your shirt off."
Katherine's eyebrows shot up in an arch. "Say what?"
"You can keep your shirt on if you want, I guess," Rocky said, "but you'll have more fun if you take it off."
"You know what," Katherine said, getting off of the yellow bed. "I think I'll just say no."
The smile suddenly dropped off of Rocky's face. "You're acting like you had a choice," Rocky said. "Man! I hate it when you all don't go along with it! It makes it a whole lot harder on me!"
"As if I care about you or your feelings," Katherine said.
Rocky suddenly grabbed her forearm and jerked her to him. "You want it rough, you'll get it rough," he said.
Katherine immediately punched him in the chest with her free hand. She yanked her free hand from his grasp and kicked him in the groin. He gave a painful scream, but she quickly turned around and high-kicked him, square in the jaw. Rocky fell to the ground, holding himself and trembling. "By the way," Katherine said. "I'm a kickboxer, if you didn't know." She looked down at him and saw a slight bulge in his left pocket. She reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow remote. "I'll be leaving now." She pointed it at the same wall the woman had before, pressed the button on it, and left in a hurry when the wall slid open.
* * *
"Please Adam," Kimberly begged as he pinned her to the bed. He straddled her legs and held her arms down with his. He let go of her to raise up and unzip his pants. Kimberly saw this as her only chance of escape. She hit him in the groin with one hand and attempted to claw his chest with the other. He gave a horrific scream as her fingernails pierced his tender, pale skin. A fair amount of blood ran over her fingers, but she ignored it and punched him directly in the mouth as hard as she could. She was temporarily sickened by the horrible cracking sound, but when she thought what he was about to do to her, she hit him again. He rolled off of the bed, hitting the floor in a painful, bloody heap. "My tooth," he spat, coughing up a fair amount of blood.
Kimberly rolled off of the bed and shouted, "It's Morphin Time! PTERODACTYL!" She pulled her Power Blaster out, and fired at the wall. Much to her pleasure, it melted away as it was not built of a sturdy material. She jumped out of the hole in the wall and ran away.
* * *
Katherine backed up against the wall in horror. She had managed to escape the room, only to find herself presented with dozens of hallways. She chose one that led to the left, wondering where it might lead and if she would ever find her friends.
* * *
Billy murmured in appreciation as his senses slowly returned to him. He felt a very soft hand stroking the side of his face gently. "What's... where am I?"
"Shhhh," the voice said soothingly.
"Trini?" Billy asked.
"Oh good," Trini said. "You remember me."
"What's happened?" Billy asked, still groggy.
"We thought you were dead," Trini said. "I guess you're wondering how all of this came about." Billy grunted in reply. "After the war, well, you, Kat, and Kim were missing. We thought you had been killed. Tanya and I started the rebellion. With Zordon's help, we created this underground world. Laws are just here. Tanya and I rule here. People call us the Queens. We've got several people on the thrones, including all of the Rangers except you, Katherine, Kimberly, and Jason. We also thought Jason was dead, because we had him killed. We realized that was a very bad thing, because Jason was such a powerful fighter. But he was alive and with you. Billy, do you know what's going to happen now?"
"Say what?" Billy asked, rubbing his temples. "Did I just hear right?"
"We're going to have a child, Billy," Trini said. "You'll be my husband, and we will rule together. Are you coherent enough to make love yet?"
"I'm not your Billy," Billy said. "I'm from a different dimension. Me and my four friends came here by mistake."
"You aren't our Rangers?" Trini asked, getting off of the bed. Trini clapped her hands and shouted, "GUARDS!" Before Billy could react, two men in yellow armor had him in their grasp.
* * *
Jason leaned his head against the wall. "I can't believe Emily is on the Throne," Jason said. He pondered his words for a moment and chuckled silently. He reminded himself that the woman currently creating such a ruckus with his doppelganger was not his Emily. It was a completely different woman from a completely different dimension.
After some time, the two were silent. He heard movement, the rustling of clothes, and then Jason said, "I'll address the Queens later. I have something I must take care of first." Emily said nothing in reply as she left the room.
Jason suddenly felt the gag get yanked from his mouth. The blindfold was roughly removed, and he found himself staring into his double's sweaty face. "What'd you think of that show?" he asked. "I would have let you watch, but a man's gotta have his privacy."
"You're sick, you know that?" Jason spat.
"Yeah, well, I'm a member of the Throne now," the other Jason said. "And as such, I'm exempt from the international laws. My first duty is to kill you."
* * *
"Billy!" Rocky cried happily. "You're not dead!"
A cloud of yellow dust rose up around Billy as the guards threw him into a large room, the floor of which was covered with a thick yellow dust. "Not yet," Billy said as the doors slammed shut.
"You know what we're in here for, right?"
"Yep, they're gonna kill us," Billy said.
"Maybe the others will be thrown in here, too," Rocky said, "and we can just slide out."
"We haven't even been here three hours," Billy said. "According to my watch, we still have another hour to go. Besides, we should probably try and get above ground."
The door rumbled open, and Jason was thrown in, still tied and gagged.
"Jason!" Billy shouted. He and Rocky hurried over to him and quickly untied him.
"Man, this has been a weird day," Jason said.
* * *
Katherine pressed herself tight against the wall. Of all places to stumble into, she had chosen the Throne Room. Trini and Tanya sat on two large thrones, dressed in extravagant yellow robes. Many people circled around the room, catering to the two women's every need. Kat was sure she stuck out like a sore thumb in her pink shirt, but she managed to find a dark spot to hide in. If they saw her, no one was doing anything about it. The door beside her blasted open. Kat jumped in alarm but kept from making any sound.
Tommy and Adam carried a fighting Kimberly into the room. "Ah Miss Kimberly," Tanya said. "So nice to see you again. We thought you had died."
"Not our Kimberly," Adam said. "Our Kimberly probably is dead. I don't know who this chick is, but she sure isn't ours. She wouldn't let me impregnate her." The servants in the Throne Room gasped in horror.
"He tried to rape me!" Kimberly screamed.
"That's because you didn't cooperate," Trini said. "Well, I have no use for those who are disloyal. Have her done away with. Throw her in Excalibur with the other three."
_The other three,_ Katherine thought happily. She started to move out of the shadows as Tommy and Adam turned to drag Kimberly out of the room. Kimberly saw her through the darkness.
"Don't morph," Kimberly mouthed silently as the two men drug her from the room.
* * *
"Kim," Billy said as the Pink Ranger was thrown into the room.
"Billy," she said happily. She jumped to her feet, ran over to him, and literally threw herself into his arms. "What is this place?"
"We think we have it figured out," Jason said.
"Trini and Tanya are like the rulers of the world," Rocky said.
"The Queens," Kimberly said. "That's what people here call them. That would explain why everything is yellow."
"They are the rulers of it all, but there's a lower council called the Throne," Billy said.
"All of the Rangers are on the throne, except for Jason, Kimberly, Billy, and Katherine. Our doubles were killed in the great war that caused everyone to move underground."
"My double revolted, and they tried to have him killed," Jason said. "But he escaped, and Trini and Tanya realized the mistake they made. They want him on the Throne. When I came, they thought he was me. But, somehow we still haven't figured out, he kidnapped me, pretended to be me, and took my place to get on the Throne."
"How do you get on the Throne?" Kimberly asked.
"If you are a man, you have to impregnate a female member of the Throne," Billy said. "If you are a woman, they give you a shot to make you ovulate, and then a male member of the Throne will impregnate you. That's how the Throne grows."
"That's why Adam tried to rape me," Kimberly mused.
"Jason and a double of Emily had sex just a while back," Jason said. "I was tied up, gagged, and blind-folded in the corner. Emily must be a member of the Throne, because Jason has authority now. That's how I got thrown in here."
"Evil Rocky thinks I'm trying to take his place or something," Rocky said. "That's how I got my bloody nose."
"Trini was going to have my baby," Billy said with a sarcastic smirk. "I told her my story, thinking she might help us. Instead, she plans to have me killed. This is a very strange world."
"Everything I have seen so far is yellow," Rocky said. "I wonder if Aisha has anything to do with this."
* * *
Katherine felt a hand clamp over her mouth. With a muffled cry, she was yanked back into the wall. "Shhhhh," a voice whispered in her ear. A small door opened behind her, and she was pulled through it. It closed before anyone in the Throne Room noticed she was gone. Darkness surrounded her, but she could still feel the hand over her mouth. "Don't say anything. Just give me a second to get us out of here." The hand left her mouth and took her hand. She was guided down the dark hallway but didn't resist because she had no better idea. They rounded a corner and suddenly stepped into an area of slight illumination. It was then that she saw who the person was.
"Aisha," Katherine whispered.
"Don't say my name," Aisha said. "They want me killed."
"You're not with them?" Katherine asked.
"I'm the only Ranger that's not with them," Aisha said. "Girl, I thought sure you were dead."
"I'm not from this world," Kat said. "I came here by accident."
"Did you come with four others?"
"Yes," Kat said happily. "Billy, Rocky, Jason, and Kimberly."
"You came here by accident," Aisha said. "Do you have a way to get home?"
"No," Katherine said. She realized what she was about to say put more trust on this virtual stranger than she should have, but she didn't know what else to do. "Billy has a device that will let us leave this dimension though."
"Yes," Aisha said happily. "Your four friends are about to be fed to the Lokharai. I can get to them, but I need you to cover me."
"I can morph," Kat said.
"No!" Aisha cried, then clamped her hands over her mouth. "Don't morph," she whispered. "If you morph, they can track you."
"Well what do you want me to do?" Kat asked.
Aisha crept a bit further down the hallway, and then waved Kat to follow her. Aisha pulled a yellow remote from the wall and pointed it at the wall. A small door opened, barely large enough for a human to squeeze through. "It's pitch black on the other side. It's just a little bitty closet, but it has a ladder that leads up about forty feet. Climb that ladder, and at the top there is a hallway. That hallway has an observation window that looks over the Lokharai pit. Get up there, break the window, and jump down to your friends."
"Jump forty feet?" Kat asked.
"No, you'll only need to jump about twenty," Aisha said. "We're already underground. The floor isn't level. Anyway, I'll be coming up through the dirt there in just a few minutes in a SpideRover. Now go." Aisha quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Katherine turned to look at the tiny door. She squeezed through it, and it promptly slammed shut behind her. She could feel a wall both to the right and left of her, barely giving her room to stand in. Her hands reached forward, and she found the ladder. Placing her foot on the first metal rung, she began to climb up. While she had managed to overcome her fear of diving, she still had a horrible fear of heights. She wasn't real fond of the dark, either. However, her friends needed her, and that thought helped push her up the ladder. After what seemed an eternity, she reached the last rung of the ladder. She scurried off of the ladder and slowly crept down the narrow hallway. The darkness wasn't quite as dark, for a wide window was just a few feet ahead of her. The closer she got to it, the more light she could see. By the time she reached the windows, the darkness was gone. "They're okay!" Katherine cried happily.
They were in a large room with yellow walls whose floor was yellow dirt. "You guys!" She beat her hands against the glass, trying to get their attention. They sat with their back to her, and obviously couldn't hear her. A slight bulge rose up out of the ground behind the Rangers. "Hey," Katherine said. The bulge slowly sank back down into the ground. "What was that?" She slammed both hands into the glass. "YOU GUYS!"
Suddenly, a long black snake-like extension rose up from the yellow sand. "They don't see it!" Kat yelled. The snake-like appendage moved through the sand like a submarine's periscope from the water, coming up directly behind Jason. "JASON!" She braced herself against the back wall and tried to kick the glass out with her right foot. The glass didn't even budge. "I don't care if they find me or not," Kat said. "ZEO RANGER I, PINK --- BUTTERFLY!" In a pink flash, she morphed into her shiny pink armor. She drew her arm back and punched through the glass. It shattered immediately, raining down into the room and catching the attention of her friends. Kat dove through the open window head first, flipping once in mid-air and landing neatly on her feet. The black appendage sank into the sand immediately.
"Kat!" Kimberly cried. "They can track you now!"
"It doesn't matter," she said. "They're going to feed you guys to some monster!"
"What?" Rocky asked.
"Lokharai," Kat said. "That's what this room is. It's the Lokharai pit. It apparently comes up from beneath the sand to eat you." Suddenly, a black appendage rose up from beneath the ground and wrapped around Rocky's legs. "Rocky!" Kat cried. Before he could say anything, he was pulled underground.
"PTERODACTYL!"
"TRICERATOPS!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!"
Kat had her blade blaster out and was firing it randomly at the ground.
"POWER SWORD!" Jason bellowed. He ran over to where Rocky had been pulled under and stabbed the Sword deep into the ground near it. A horrible bellow sounded from beneath the sand. A literal explosion occurred in the corner, sending up a huge cloud of dust. Rocky flew from the new hole in the ground. Kimberly ran over to Rocky, covered in yellow dust, and helped him to his feet.
"Hurry up and morph," Kimberly said.
Rocky nodded and muttered, "Zeo Ranger III, Blue --- Ape." A split second later when he was fully morphed, he took a deep breath and climbed to his feet. "That's much better."
The Lokharai suddenly leapt from the sand. The beast filled the back half of the room. It had the general body shape of a scorpion, although it had a much larger mouth directly on the front of it, complete with several black appendages that twisted and contorted around its head. It opened its mouth, revealing rows upon rows of twisted, bloody teeth, and gave a horrible screaming bellow. Suddenly, a yellow spike rose up from the center of the floor.
"It's Aisha!" Kat cried hopefully. The Lokharai screamed in terror and quickly buried itself in the sand.
"Aisha?" Kimberly asked. "Yeah," Kat said. "I hope." A few seconds later, and the SpideRover had unearthed itself. One wall of it opened, showing Aisha at the controls. "Get in you guys!" Aisha cried.
"Can we trust her?" Jason asked.
"Do you have a better idea?" Aisha asked.
The five Rangers hurried into the yellow box-like vehicle. The wall closed behind them, and Aisha directed the SpideRover back into the ground. After about five silent minutes of travel, the SpideRover emerged above ground. "We should be safe for a while," Aisha said. "It'll take them at least forty-five minutes to track us above ground."
"We have about half an hour before we can slide," Billy said.
"What are you going to do?" Katherine asked Aisha.
"I was planning on coming with you," she answered. "I sure can't go back. The Queens will have me killed for sure."
"You can come," Billy said. "But for now, since we have a half hour wait, why don't you tell us how all of this came to be."
"I was kind of wondering that myself," Kimberly said.
Aisha sat back and began to tell the story.
* * *
A year ago, Zedd and Rita launched such a massive war on the planet that ninety-five percent of the population was killed. The Power Rangers actually managed to defeat them, although the planet was so spoiled it was no longer suitable to live on. Zordon created an underground world, and the five percent of the population prepared to move into this new home. Trini and Tanya banded together and decided to take over. They killed Zordon, much in the same manner as Ivan Ooze had almost succeeded. They convinced Jason, Tommy, Adam, Rocky, and Zack to join with them. Aisha, Billy, Katherine, and Kimberly, however, tried to revolt, but they were killed with the sole exception of Aisha who befriended the Queens in the hopes of someday starting a new revolution from the inside. Six months later, Jason also tried to revolt, but he wanted to rule for himself. He was supposed to be assassinated, but he overcame his killer and escaped, living on the run in the underground world. Trini and Tanya have since been known as the Queens. They have many, many people on their side, and nearly thirty on the Throne. The Lokharai was discovered about three months ago. It was a remnant of one of Zedd's monsters, and has since been living underground. The Lokharai is now the Queens preferred method of execution, as it is no trouble and leaves no remains behind.
* * *
"No one questions their authority?" Kimberly asked.
"Everyone knows better than to try," Aisha said. "They have the only army in existence right now. I don't know what happened to them. Trini and Tanya used to be the two nicest girls I knew. Now, they're dictators."
"We can leave now," Billy said, looking at his watch. "Maybe the next world will be friendlier and we can let the timer charge up longer."
"Let's beat feet," Aisha said. She opened the SpideRover, and the six teens got out.
"Here goes nothin'," Billy said. He pointed the timer at the ground and pressed the button. The wormhole appeared on the ground, flashing colors and sending a breeze past the Rangers.
"Oh, wait a minute." Aisha ran back to the SpideRover, slung a yellow knapsack over her shoulder, and ran back to the wormhole. "Do we just jump in?" Aisha asked.
Rocky walked up to the portal. "Yep," he said, jumping into the portal feet first.
"Come on," Kimberly said. She took Aisha's hand and the two girls leapt into the portal. Jason was close behind.
"Ladies first," Billy said, motioning at the portal. He put the timer in his pocket and followed Kat to the glimmering wormhole. They took one last look at the barren landscape around them, and jumped in.
* * *
Billy hit the ground and rolled into a somersault. "We gotta find some way to make that easier," Rocky said. He gave Billy a hand to his feet.
"This world looks nice," Katherine said. They were sitting in what may have been Angel Grove park.
"What a ride," Aisha laughed. The realization of the new world hit her. "I'm free. I escaped. Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Glad we could help," Billy said.
"This world looks beautiful," Kimberly said.
"Let's go find some people," Jason said. "I want to make sure this isn't some freak-show world before we get too comfortable."
"That sounds like a good idea," Billy said.
* * *
"I don't think this is Angel Grove," Kimberly said.
"It's too small," Katherine said. "This is a little town."
"There aren't any people," Aisha observed. "It's middle of the afternoon. There should be people on the sidewalks."
"Let's find a small little store and get a phone book or something," Jason said. "Find out where we are."
"Oh wait, look," Rocky said. "There are three kids."
Three kids, a black boy, and two blonde kids, a boy and a girl, were sitting on the steps of a closed shop. They appeared to be engrossed in an intense conversation and didn't even notice the six teens approaching them.
"Hi," Kimberly said as she approached them. The three kids yelled and jumped to their feet. Kimberly shouted as well and dropped into a defensive stance.
"What are you doing here?!" the blonde boy demanded.
"Where is everyone?" Aisha asked.
"There's a monster scare," the black kid answered. "Everybody's in the Charterville Shelter."
"Charterville?" Rocky asked. "Never heard of it."
"This is a different dimension," Billy whispered. "Apparently Angel Grove doesn't exist here."
"You all should be in the Shelter," the blonde girl said.
"Shouldn't you?" Kat asked.
"We forgot?" the girl tried.
Suddenly, three balls of fire streaked through the air. "Oh no!" the three kids cried.
"Drew! Roland!" the blonde girl cried. "What are we gonna do?!"
"Why don't you all let the Power Rangers handle this," Aisha said. "Come on, let's go to that Monster Shelter."
"Power Rangers?" all three asked in unison.
"You don't have Power Rangers?" Rocky asked. "Who is supposed to fight the monsters?"
"The Beetleborgs," the girl answered.
"Billy?" Kimberly asked. "What's a Beetleborg?"
"I have no idea," he answered.
"The Magnavores!" the girl shouted.
"Little Jo," one of the red beings, obviously female, said when she materialized from the ball of fire. "Missing something?"
"Give us back our powers!" Jo cried. She didn't care if these six teenagers knew they were BeetleBorgs or not. Without their powers, the world wouldn't survive anyhow.
"Can't," the green monster growled. "We had them destroyed." He tossed three black and silver boxes at the kid's feet.
"No!" the girl cried. She dove at the broken boxes, breaking into tears.
"The world is ours!" the white monster laughed.
"I don't think so," Jason said. "Guys?"
"We're with ya," Kimberly said.
"It's Morphin Time!" Jason shouted.
"PTERODACTYL!"
"TRICERATOPS!"
"TYRANNOSAURUS!"
"ZEO RANGER I, PINK --- BUTTERFLY!"
"ZEO RANGER III, BLUE --- APE!"
"What the?" the three monsters said in unison.
The Power Rangers immediately jumped into battle. "What's going on?" Roland asked, confused.
"Come on," Aisha said, taking Jo by the hand. "Let's find some place to hide and I'll explain it all to you."
* * *
"And they managed to steal our Beetle Bonders," Drew said.
"And destroyed them," Roland said sorrowfully.
"You say a ghost gave you your powers?" Aisha asked skeptically.
"Flabber," Jo said.
"This sounds like something from a kids show," Aisha said.
"Here come the Forest Rangers," Drew said, pointing up the alley at the five teens running toward them.
"Power Rangers," Aisha reminded them.
"The Omnivores retreated," Billy said.
"Magnavores," Roland corrected.
"We should take these guys to see Flabber," Jo said.
"Who-ber?" Kat asked.
"Flabber," Jo said.
"I'll go anywhere to get some answers to my questions," Billy said.
"Follow us," Drew told them.
* * *
"Decrepit looking place," Billy said.
"Hillherst Mansion," Jo said. "This is where Flabber... and some friends live."
"Are they ghosts too?" Rocky asked.
"Sort of," Drew said. "Come on."
Katherine opened the door and cautiously walked into the darkened house. "Hello?"
A growl suddenly came from right in front of her and a dog-like creature leapt at her. With a scream, she kicked it in the chest. "It's a Wulf Warrior!" Katherine cried. A confused grunt came from her right. She turned her head slightly to find herself staring into Frankenstein's face. With a scream, she pushed it aside and ran further into the house.
"Kat!" Rocky shouted, running into the house behind her.
"Oh no!" Jo and Roland shouted, running into the house after them.
"What's going on?" Billy asked.
"Kat just met the House Monsters," Drew said, running into the house after them.
"I wonder if we'll ever find a normal world," Jason complained, running into the house as well.
"We should probably go in there, too, huh?" Kimberly asked.
"Yep," Billy said. "Ladies first."
"Thanks," Kimberly said, walking slowly into the house.
* * *
Kimberly and Rocky climbed on top of an old Pipe Organ, screaming at the top of their lungs. "Flabber!" Jo cried.
"We've got guests!" Roland shouted.
A blue ghost suddenly popped out of thin air. "Jay Leno?" Rocky asked.
"I think it's Elvis," Kat said.
Flabber growled and shouted, "EVERYBODY QUIET! Now Frankie, Wolfgang, Mums, and Count. You are not allowed to eat Jo, Roland, and Drew's friends."
"Aw, but we're real hungry," the mummy whined.
"Ah duh buh we duh yeah," the Frankstein beast stammered.
"Now I fed you just a little while ago," Flabber said. "Shoo. Get outta here."
"Aw man, you're no fun," Count said as the four monsters left the room with their heads hanging.
"Now," Flabber said, rubbing his hands together. "Do you mind introducing me to your friends?"
"Yeah," Jo said. "These are the Power Rangers, Katherine, Kimberly, Billy, Rocky, and Jason. And this is Aisha."
"Hi," the six teens said in unison.
"What's a Power Ranger?" Flabber asked.
"We're superheroes," Billy said, "but we're not from this dimension. We're kind of lost."
"Oh my," Flabber said. "Lost in a different dimensions. That's a real bummer."
"We fought the Magnavores after they destroyed their powers," Rocky said.
"Oh, I, ulp!" Flabber cried. "Your powers have been destroyed?"
"Jara destroyed them!" Jo cried. "Can you make us some new Beetle Bonders?"
"I sure can't," Flabber said. "Oh no! What are we going to do?!"
"Well, we have Power Rangers now," Drew said.
"We can't stay," Jason said. "We have to get to our world."
"Can you send us home?" Kimberly asked.
"Afraid not," Flabber said. "I can put you in a comic book!"
"We'll pass," Rocky said.
"Can't say as I blame ya," Flabber said. A chair suddenly materialized beneath him. He sat in it and propped his chin on his elbow. "Hmmm. We have to find a way to get new powers or this world is doomed."
Aisha looked at the knapsack still slung over her shoulder. "I have an idea," she said.
* * *
"Hi Nano," Jo, Drew, and Roland said in perfect unison.
"Hey kids," Nano said. The not-quite-elderly-but-not-young black woman who was surprisingly strong and athletic did a double-take as the three kids came into the store with six teenagers in tow. "Who are your friends?"
"Just some new guys in town," Roland answered.
Jason hurried up to the black woman. "My name is Jason," he said.
"Hello Jason," Nano said. "Everybody calls me Nano."
"Roland tells me you're a bit of a martial artist," Jason said.
"Fourth level black belt in American style Karate," Nano answered, not skipping a beat, "among others."
"Me too," Jason said. "Would you like to meet up someplace this afternoon and spar a little?"
"If you think you can handle me," Nano said.
* * *
"Aisha," Flabber said, "when are you going to explain your plan?"
"Well, I'll tell you, but you have to promise me one thing first," she said.
"What's what?" Flabber asked.
"You let me stay in your dimension," Aisha said.
"Well of course!" Flabber shouted. "We'd love to have you here!"
"Good," Aisha said with a smile. "Now I'll tell you my plan. But keep it quiet until the kids come back."
* * *
"She's good," Jason said. He wiped the sweat from his brow and watched as Rocky tried to hold his own against Nano.
"I wish Aisha would tell us what she's got planned," Katherine said.
"How long are we going to stay here?" Kimberly asked.
"Well, it's a pretty safe world," Billy said. "I say we stay until at least late tonight."
"That sounds good," Jason said. "That'll give us a chance to get rested up."
* * *
"Come on in," Aisha said, opening the door. Jo, Drew, Roland, Nano, and the five Rangers were standing on the porch.
"This is unreal," Nano said.
"Flabber, you can come out!" Roland cried. "We told Nano everything!"
Flabber suddenly materialized directly in front of Nano. The two stared at each other intently for a few minutes. "You scared of me?" Flabber asked.
"Nope," Nano said. "You scared of me?"
"A little," Flabber admitted.
"Come on you two," Aisha said.
"So what is the plan?" Jo said.
"Well, back on my world, the Rangers aren't needed anymore because Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa were defeated," Aisha said. "That's why I took this." She opened her knap sack and removed a large, glowing shard.
"The Zeo Crystal," the five Rangers said in unison.
"I still don't see what this has to do with me," Nano said.
"Well," Aisha said, "I've decided to stay here because I don't have anywhere else to go. Me, you three BeetleBorgs, and Nano are going to become Power Rangers Zeo."
"Say what?" Nano asked.
"Cool!" Roland shouted.
"You'll do it, won't you?" Aisha asked. "We need five Rangers."
"I guess," Nano said.
"You've got the fighting skills for it," Jason said.
"Just tell me what to do," Nano said.
"Flabber, work your magic," Aisha said, tossing him the Zeo crystal.
He pointed his hands at it dramatically. Blue light flowed from his fingertips and struck the crystal. It immediately separated into five shards. "Do you know how you're going to divide these things up?" Flabber asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Aisha said. She took the five Crystals from Flabber. "Jo, you will command the Power of the Oval. From this day forward, you will be known as Zeo Ranger I, Pink." She handed Jo the shard. Pink light raced up and down Jo's arms for a brief moment before the Crystal disappeared.
"Nano, you will command the Power of Balance. You are now Zeo Ranger II, Yellow.
"Drew, you are given the Power of the Triangle. You are Zeo Ranger III, Blue.
"Roland, the Power of the Square is yours. You are Zeo Ranger IV, Green.
"And I will take on the Power of the Star," Aisha said. The Crystal shard disappeared in a red flash. "Zeo Ranger V, Red. If that's okay with everyone else."
"I think you'll look good in red," Roland said.
"How do we borg?" Jo asked.
"We don't borg," Aisha said. "We morph. And I brought some Zeonizers as well." She removed them from her knap sack and handed them out.
"Morphing is a very bizarre experience," Jason said. "You'll find that you know everything about your new powers without even having to be told."
"Like our old powers," Drew said.
"Uhm, you guys?" Count asked, slowly creeping down the stairs. "There are some Magnavores in front of the house."
"Let's do it, guys," Aisha said. "It's Morphin Time!"
"ZEO RANGER I, PINK!" Jo cried.
"ZEO RANGER II, YELLOW!" Nano shouted.
"ZEO RANGER III, BLUE!" Drew bellowed.
"ZEO RANGER IV, GREEN!" Roland yelled.
"ZEO RANGER V, RED!" Aisha cried.
Jo, Drew, and Roland immediately grew to what would one day be their adult bodies. "Whoa mama!" Roland cried.
"Check out Jo!"
"Oh man!" Jo shouted, looking down at her body.
"Come on you guys," Aisha said. The five Zeo Rangers ran out of the house.
"Looks like we came to this dimension just in time," Billy said.
"I guess this means Aisha is planning on staying," Kimberly thought out loud.
"Can you blame her?" Kat asked. "We're strangers. And she has something to fight for here."
"Let's wait until they get back from their fight," Billy said. "Then we'll leave."
"Where will we sleep?" Kimberly asked.
"Does anybody have any money?" Billy asked. "Maybe we'll come to a world where they use the same currency as we do."
"I have five bucks," Jason said.
"I'm broke," Rocky said.
"Me too," Kimberly said.
"My purse is still in the Command Center," Katherine said.
"I have twenty bucks," Billy said. "Twenty-five bucks might buy us night at a cheap, seedy motel."
"We'll have to eat, eventually," Jason reminded them. "We haven't eaten in about nine hours."
"Couldn't we morph and just find a quiet safe place to sleep?" Kat asked.
"It wouldn't work," Billy said. "We'd sleep well enough, but as soon as we de-morphed, we'd be just as tired as if we hadn't slept. I'd say we'll be doing a lot of sleeping in parks."
"Great," Kimberly said. "We're bag people."
* * *
"That was awesome!" Drew cried as the five Zeo Rangers demorphed.
"Whoa!" Roland cried. "Look at Jo!"
Jo reached behind her and pulled a long braid over her shoulder. "I'm back to normal!" she cried happily.
"You look the same as you did earlier," Aisha said.
"Jo accidentally had a spell cast on her a few months ago to make her look different," Flabber said. "I put another spell on her so that everybody else would see the old Jo, but we could tell she was different."
"I've got my old face back, and my hair!" Jo cried happily.
"The Zeo Crystal is very powerful," Billy said. "It obviously senses that there was a spell on Jo, and removed it."
"I am so glad to be back to normal," Jo said. "And I love these new powers and this awesome armor!"
"You guys were Flabber-ific," Flabber said proudly.
"Well, now that we know you guys can handle yourself," Billy said, "we should get going."
"We have a lot of dimensions to visit and not but about seventy years left to live," Kimberly said.
"Well you should at least wait until morning," Nano said. "Get some rest and a good meal in your bellies."
"We have nowhere to stay," Rocky said.
"You do if Nano is in town," Nano said. "You kids can stay at my house tonight."
"Great!" Billy cried. "We can leave tomorrow morning."
"Could you feed us tonight?" Rocky asked.
"We are starting to get hungry," Katherine agreed.
"Just follow me home," Nano said.
"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," Billy said. "I need to talk to Flabber."
"Okay," Nano said. She gave Billy the directions to her house, and they all left.
"What it is, Billy?" Flabber asked.
"If you all have the Zeo Power, you might attract evil space aliens," Billy said. "It kind of acts like a beacon."
Flabber's face literally turned white. "Evil space aliens?" Flabber asked.
"Yeah," Billy said. "But the Zeo Power can handle it. You'll just need to invent some Zords."
"What's a Zord?"
"A giant fighting assault vehicle for each of the Rangers," Billy said. "They can also combine to form a giant robot, called the MegaZord."
"Well, I can make some if I had a drawing of them," Flabber said.
"Okay," Billy said. "I'll draw up some plans tonight. You'll also need communicators."
"To... communicate?" Flabber asked.
Billy took his communicator off and handed it to Flabber. "That, and they also allow its user to teleport," Billy said. "If evil Space Aliens do appear, they'll have to get out here faster than bikes can get them here. Take mine, and use it to produce five more."
"Uhm, I'll have to have a drawing of it," Flabber said.
"How could a blueprint of the communicator do more good than the actual communicator?" Billy asked.
"I can make these come off of paper and into the 3-D world," Flabber said. "That's how we got the BeetleBorg Powers. They're from a comic book."
"You're kidding?" Billy asked.
"Dead men don't kid," Flabber said.
* * *
"Nano," Rocky said, "can't nobody hold a candle to your cooking."
"I know that's right," Nano said.
"Nano?" Aisha asked. "Do you know of a place in town I can get a job?"
"I sure don't," Nano said. "All of the summer jobs are filled."
"What am I gonna do you guys?" Aisha whispered to the Rangers. "I have nowhere to stay."
"You can stay with me," Nano said. "Is that why you've been dancin' all over the place tonight?"
"You heard me?" Aisha asked.
"I've got ears like a hawk," Nano said. "You're free to stay here as long as you need to."
"Oh thank you," Aisha said. "Just until I get a job and I can afford a place of my own, I promise."
"Billy?" Katherine asked. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to draw a good picture of the Zeo Zords," he said. "Flabber has to have it to make them."
"Blueprints?" Jason asked.
"Comic," Billy said. "But I can't seem to get it to look right."
"Let me give it a shot," Aisha said, taking the notebook and pencil from him.
* * *
"I didn't sleep very well," Kimberly complained the next morning.
"Worried?" Katherine asked.
"Yeah," Kimberly said. "I wonder if my mom knows yet."
"I wonder what they'll tell our parents?" Katherine asked.
"I don't know," Kimberly said. "Maybe we'll get home soon."
"You don't believe that any more than I do," Kat said, stretching her sleep-sore muscles.
"I have never been this scared," Kimberly said. "I was almost raped yesterday. By someone who looks like one of my best friends, of all things."
"Rocky was nearly eaten," Katherine said. "I was attacked by a mummy, a Frankenstein reject, and a werewolf."
"I wonder where we'll sleep tonight," Kimberly said.
"You know what I'm really afraid of," Katherine said. "We'll keep on sliding, trying to get home, and eventually we'll find a world that is really good. Really similar to home, but not quite. And we'll decide to stay there rather than keep on trying to reach home."
"We'll get home, Kat," Kimberly said. "Someday."
* * *
"These drawings are great, Aisha!" Flabber cried. Aisha smiled in spite of herself.
"We really should be going," Billy said.
Flabber and the House Monsters followed the five departing Rangers out onto the porch. "You guys," Aisha said, "thanks for everything."
"Glad we could help," Jason said.
"Good luck," Nano said.
Billy pulled the remote out of his pocket. "We'll need it," he said. He pointed the device in front of him and pushed the button. The wormhole appeared before them.
"Oooh oooh," Frankenbeans stammered. "Pretty."
"Oh wait!" Nano cried. She ran out to the five teens. "I almost forgot to give you this." She pulled a white envelope out of her pocket and handed it to Kimberly.
"What is it?" Kimberly asked, starting to open the envelope.
"No," Nano said. "You can open it on the next world. Just say Thank You and hit the road."
"Thanks Nano," Kimberly said. She put the envelope in her pocket and looked at the portal. She waved goodbye to her new-found friends and leapt into the wormhole. The other four were close behind.
* * *
"I don't think we landed near a city," Jason said.
"Check the envelope, Kim," Rocky said.
"Right." She pulled the white envelope out of her pocket and carefully opened. "Oh my gosh."
"What is it?" Billy asked.
"Money," Kimberly said. She riffled through the tens, twenties, and fifties in the envelope. "Several hundred dollars, at least."
"I can't believe she did that," Katherine said.
"We're gonna need the money," Jason said. "Not many places hire people to work for only three hours."
Kimberly quickly rifled through the money. "Five hundred dollars even," she said. She sat back on the ground with a thud. "Just what I need. Another guilt trip."
"She gave it to us," Rocky said. "We didn't ask for it or take it by mistake."
"Let's divide it up," Jason said. "So no one person has all of the money. Just in case."
"Good idea," Billy agreed. After the money was divided, the five teens set out to find civilization.
* * *
"We're just in the country," Rocky said. They had seen several houses, people, and animals. Nothing was out of the ordinary. "I say we just find a nice, safe secluded place to rest, and in two and a half hours, slide outta here," Kat said.
Ten Days Later....
"Yes!" Rocky shouted, landing neatly on his feet. He hopped forward once to keep from toppling over, but he remained standing. "I finally landed on my feet!"
Katherine suddenly materialized behind him in a white flash. She rolled into his back almost immediately on appearing. Rocky crumpled up beneath her and hit the ground with Katherine on top of him.
"That's what you get for bragging," Jason laughed. Kimberly suddenly landed on top of him, knocking him flat on his back before he even realized she was there. Billy somersaulted out of the air as well, crashing into Kat and Rocky.
"This is getting more and more painful," Rocky complained. "Get off me Kat."
The past ten days had been fairly uneventful as far as unique worlds went. They had yet to come across another world with any type of super-hero. There was one world where a Jack-the-Ripper was attacking modern-day Sacramento, but they didn't stay in that world any longer than necessary and didn't have to come in contact with the murderer. Their most pressing concern was that their cash was quickly being depleted. They had taken to eating only twice a day and tried to find the various all-you-can-eat for under four dollar buffets. They slept outdoors as often as they could, although every few days they did rent the cheapest motel room there was, just so they could have access to a shower with soap. They kept as clean as possible by using public restrooms, although that was getting old very quick. Kimberly still had the occasional guilt trip, since it technically was her fault they were stuck cruising the dimensions, hoping and praying that each slide would be the slide home.
"I wish I had worn my class ring," Kat said.
"Why's that?" Billy asked.
"We could pawn it," she said. "It's 10 karat gold."
"How much money do we have left?" Rocky asked.
"Forty bucks," Jason said sorrowfully.
"Hey Billy," Kimberly said, looking at the broken communicator on her wrist that she still hadn't bothered to throw away. "Are the communicators made of any kind of valuable material?"
"Not really," Billy said. "There's a small bit of golden wiring in them, but the combined amount from our five communicators would be so small I doubt a gold dealer would actually bother fooling with us."
"We could always rob a bank," Rocky said.
"That's just your empty stomach talking," Kat said.
"Durn right," Rocky agreed. "I'm starved."
"We haven't eaten in a while," Kimberly said. "Let's go find a bathroom, get cleaned up, and find a restaurant. I'm starting to get light-headed."
"Hey, wait a minute," Katherine said. She took a quick view of her surroundings. "Doesn't this place look familiar?"
"The Park," Kimberly said. "Do you think this might be Angel Grove?"
"It looks like it might be," Jason said.
"Who knows, this might be home," Rocky laughed.
Suddenly, Jason and Billy's communicators, the only two still working, beeped a very familiar six tone melody. "Do you think we might be home?" Kimberly asked, hoping beyond all hope that they really were home.
"We read you, Zordon," a very familiar yet strange voice said over the communicators.
"Who was that?" Rocky asked.
"Rangers, please report to the Power Chamber immediately," Zordon said.
"Shoot," Kimberly muttered. "So much for being home."
"Maybe they can help us though," Billy said.
"Can we teleport to the Power Chamber?" Kimberly asked.
"What if they aren't friendly Rangers?" Rocky asked.
"Let's go the Juice Bar," Jason said. "If there are Rangers, eventually we'll come across them."
* * *
"Thank God for the Juice Bar's showers," Jason said, putting his clothes back on.
The three guys were fortunate enough to have the Men's Locker Room to themselves and didn't have to explain why they used liquid soap for shampoo or why they dried themselves off with paper towels. There was apparently a Monster Attack, because the entire Juice Bar was empty but not closed down. Rocky held his shirt under the hand dryer while Billy attempted to scrub some stains out of his and Jason's shirts in the sink. A loud knock came at the door.
"You guys decent?" Katherine asked.
"Yeah," Jason answered. "Come on in."
"They had the same idea we did," Katherine said. The two girl's shirts weren't quite dry, but they were clean.
"People have been staring at us," Rocky said. Billy wrung the last bit of water from the now-clean shirts, and stretched them out on the long bench that ran the length of the room to dry out.
"I can't help but wonder what it's like back home," Kimberly said.
"Like who took our places as Turbo Rangers," Jason said.
"Or what they told our parents," Rocky said sadly. "I can't believe I yelled at Alex the last time I saw him."
"He knows you didn't mean it," Billy said.
"He's eight years old," Rocky said. "I don't know if he does or not."
"I wonder if we'll be home in time to start college in the fall," Katherine said.
"Aren't you going to London in the fall?" Jason asked.
"I had planned to," Katherine said, "but not now."
"As much as I hate to be a downer," Billy said, "I seriously doubt we'll be home by fall."
"Even if we got home right now," Kat said, "I still wouldn't go. I miss my family too much. I'm not leaving Angel Grove again."
"Going to London is very different from going across the dimensions," Rocky said.
"Maybe so," Kat said, "but in London I won't be near my family."
"I know how you feel," Kimberly said. "I really regret going to Florida."
"Sometimes I regret going to the Peace Conference," Jason said thoughtfully. A long, loud siren suddenly sounded.
"That's the all-clear," Billy said, getting his wet shirt off of the bench. "We had better get out of here. Especially you two."
"Let's go see if we can find some friends," Rocky said.
