Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Just the writing of this story. Takes place during the fall semester of School in Dino Thunder, which makes it before the start of the Evil White Ranger storyline. This is story is dedicated to both of my grandparents on my father's side of the family, both of which died close to Halloween, my grandmother in '99 and my grandfather just last year.

Halloween Memories
By David Knight

Connor McKnight and Ethan James walked to their teammate Kira Ford's house to pick her up preparation for the upcoming Halloween party at the Cyberspace Cafe.

"Can I ask, why David Beckham?" Ethan asked of the Red Ranger, seeing the very simplistic costume. "I mean, you are soccer player in real life already."

"I don't like large extravagant costumes," Conner replied, as he was dressed very simply, especially in comparison to Ethan's. The Blue Ranger was decked out in full body green armor. "Dude why in the world are you dressed up as the guy from Halo?"

"Cause I like Halo," Ethan defended himself as he finally found the house with the matching address.

Except he didn't expect it to be so decked out for the season. Spider webs, a stationary Frankenstein, a witch on a broomstick, a vampire's coffin, and lots of pumpkins all around and not a one smashed. "Dude, you notice how Kira's house looks part of the season?"

"Makes you wonder how it looks when it's not Halloween," Connor replied.

"Well we wouldn't know, since this is the first time we've ever been here," Ethan said.

The door opened and the two young men saw a woman dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein holding a bowl of candy. Her face was covered with a mask.

"Well," she said, looking casually at the two Rangers, "you two look a bit old to be trick or treating."

"Um no, we're here to pick up Kira," Connor told her.

"So you two are friends of my daughter," the Bride said, taking off her mask to reveal features that were similar to Kira's. However, she was older and had shorter hair. "Kira, your friends are here!" She looked back to the boys. "I'm Ellen Ford. I have to say this is a real treat. She hardly ever brings anyone over."

"Really?" Conner asked, intrigued. He'd never really thought much about Kira's social life outside of their career as Rangers, but he'd never even considered that she didn't have anybody else.

"Well, it's not my place to explain that… but she is such a good girl," Mrs. Ford said, sounding almost as though she wanted to change the subject to avoid further awkward questions. "So where are you all going?"

"Hayley's Cyberspace Café for her Halloween bash," answered Ethan.

Connor felt his foot tapping the ground. "Geez," he groaned, as he glanced at his watch, "you'd think she was putting make-up on or something."

"I guess you don't know," Mrs. Ford said. "Kira takes this day very seriously."

"Really?" Ethan asked, looking with surprise at his friend's mother. "She must go all out for a costume then. I wonder if she's going as a witch or a goblin or something really scary."

"Well I think I know something she's not going to go as," Connor said assuredly. "Something cute, something girlish, or something that is totally fem... fem..."

"Connor?" Ethan asked, noticing his friend's stare. "What are you...?"

What they saw behind Mrs. Ford was a girl dressed in a short-sleeved blue dress with an upturned collar and what looked like a white apron over it. She was also wearing long white socks and a pair of Mary Janes. Her face was obscured behind a plastic mask, with a small nose, big blue eyes and pouty pink lips pursed in a perfect smile. Blonde hair touched her shoulders, and she had a black headband on top.

"Well, do I do Alice justice or not?" the girl asked, her lips moving to form a smirk even if her eyes were frozen.

"K-Kira?" Connor stuttered, not expecting this at all.

"Well I ain't a goblin, that's for sure," said Kira, her voice showing how amused she was by the boys' reactions.

"But... but you..." Ethan stuttered as well, waving his hands in shock at her costume.

Kira just smiled as she put her hands around both boys' shoulders and walked them out the door. Kira took her mask off for a moment and gave her mother a hug and then they gave each other a kiss on the cheek.

"You'll be alright?" Mrs. Ford asked while she pulled the Bride of Frankenstein mask back over her head.

"Yeah, I will be. I'm big enough to do it myself, Mom," said Kira, adjusting her 'Alice' mask now she had it on again. She saw her mom go back inside and come back with a cell phone.

"Just in case… and if not, just to let me know how things are going at that party you'll be at," Mrs. Ford told her daughter.

"Thanks Mom," Kira said, giving another quick hug before going over to her friends.

"So what is up with you and the mask?" asked Ethan.

"Not to mention, the dress!" exclaimed Connor.

Kira laughed and it scared the boys a little because she looked so cute with that mask on. "Well maybe I'll tell you if we can go someplace else first before the Cafe."

"Okay. Where to?" Connor asked.

-----

"The cemetery?" questioned Ethan as they arrived at a cemetery outside of town, not too far from where Dr. O lived.

"Why did you want us to come here?" asked Connor.

"Not you, just me," Kira said to them, sounding awfully quiet and somber. "Could you guys just wait ten, maybe twenty minutes for me? After that we'll leave."

Both boys were unsure of what was going on in Kira's mind but decided to give her the space she asked for.

Kira didn't feel them coming behind her as she made her across the cemetery along a path that she knew by heart.

When she got to a certain gravestone, she took off her mask, showing her face; showing her tears. "Hey. How you been?" she began, looking as if she were talking to no one in particular.

"First time I've ever come by myself on this day. Don't worry. Mom will be here later or maybe tomorrow. I know, I know, we should be here together, but there's a reason for it," Kira continued, her voice choked up. "I have friends now; really good friends. They're waiting for me back at the car... well I guess if they were such good friends I'd have told them exactly what this is all about. But it's not like they could understand this, ya know?"

She put her hand on the gravestone, her tears flowing. "I miss you so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you. How much I loved you. That we loved you. I..." She suddenly stopped as she heard a sound she did NOT want to hear. Not now.

Invisiportals opening.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Yellow Ranger all alone on Halloween." The voice was Elsa's, sounding haughty and smug. "And dressed up like the little girl you are."

"How fitting for you to already be in a cemetery, for this is where we will bury you!" taunted Zeltrax, his voice displaying confidence. He seemed sure of himself.

The Yellow Power Ranger saw the Tyrannodrones starting to circle her, yet she didn't care. Her hands were already balled up into fists in barely-contained rage.

"You dare?" she growled, her voice so low that they could barely hear it.

"What?" asked Zeltrax, not having heard her.

"YOU DARE!!!!" Kira roared, her sonic scream lashing out, stronger than ever before, knocking all of the drones and Mesogog's lieutenants to the ground. "You dare to attack me now, and here of all places!"

When Zeltrax and Elsa saw Kira's face, they realized it was not the one they were used to seeing. This time, her face gave a glare that would give even their Master a run for his money.

"You are so going to pay!" vowed Kira, bringing up her morpher. "DINO THUNDER, POWER UP!!!"

-----

The moment Conner and Ethan heard Kira's Ptera Scream, they morphed instantly and rushed to the scene. They arrived with their weapons drawn, expecting to take on several dozen drones, a monster, maybe even Zeltrax and Elsa.

What they found were drones all right but they were all on the ground not moving. Whatever had taken them out had definitely done a very good job of it. Zeltrax and Elsa were there, but they were fighting for dear life against...

"Kira?!" Ethan cried, staring in shock at his friend. In their entire career as Rangers, he'd never seen Kira looking this angry before.

"Dr. O, I think you better get down here," Connor said through his communicator.

Kira slashed at Elsa with her Thundermax Saber, causing Elsa to drop her sword. Kira then kicked her away. That gave Zeltrax time to strike Kira across the chest with his sword.

"You will pay for this humiliation!" Zeltrax declared, firing a blast at Kira.

Kira dodged the attack, but it rocketed past her and subsequently destroyed a gravestone. "NO!!!" Kira screamed. She turned around, picked up Elsa's sword and started rushing at Zeltrax just as he began to fire at her again. He might as well not have bothered. Even after she was hit, the Yellow Ranger didn't stop charging towards him as she roared like a vengeful demon.

"Why? Why won't you go down?!" Zeltrax cried in disbelief at what was happening. He watched as Kira jumped up, one hand on Elsa's sword while using her other hand to use her blaster to fire off a shot at Zeltrax's sword hand, giving her the advantage... and allowing her to pierce through part of his armor with Elsa's sword.

"Does it hurt, you monster?" Kira roared, ripping off her helmet so Zeltrax could see her face. She was a woman possessed, intent on making the monster pay for what he did. "Do you know what you've done?" she yelled, as she pulled out her Ptera Grips and started slashing at Zeltrax. "DO YOU? You're an animal! You aren't even human! You don't care about any life at all, not even the dead! You're an abomination!!!"

Each one of her denunciations was met with stabs into his armor. Zeltrax tried fighting back, but in his current state it was taking all he had to stay alive.

Elsa began getting up, intent on firing a shot at Kira's back when she noticed Conner and Ethan looking down at her.

"Try it, and you're history," Connor said to her, his blaster pointed right at her. He had no intent to kill her and Elsa might know that, but she also knew even if he didn't go for the head shot, at this range he could still hit her and it would hurt. A lot. With a sigh she laid back against the grave, awaiting her fate.

Connor didn't know what this was about, but no matter how over-the-top he thought Kira might be acting- charging head-on at Zeltrax wasn't exactly something you did when you were calm- he wasn't going to let his teammate get struck in the back.

"Mer... mercy..." Zeltrax groaned, not believing he actually said those words to this girl, of all people.

"Mercy? Show you mercy when you have shown me, the city, even the dead none?" Kira growled, her eyes burning with rage and fury. "I'll give you what you deserve you son of a..." her hand dropped prepared to put the dagger down into Zeltrax's face, only for it to be stopped.

"No."

The calm and collected tone of Dr. Tommy Oliver, the current Black Ranger, snapped Kira back to the reality of the situation. Zeltrax looked up to see his 'savior' standing behind the Yellow Ranger. He felt repulsed at the idea of owing anything to the man who'd ruined his life once already.

"Why?" Kira choked out.

"Rangers don't kill. We destroy monsters, but we don't kill," replied Tommy calmly and evenly as he looked down at Zeltrax. "And even if they are monsters, we don't kill them out of sheer hate and rage. If we do, we become no better than them." He looked at Kira. "Kira, stand down, and get off him. Please."

For a few moments, it looked like Kira wouldn't do that at all. Then, she got up and moved away.

"Get up Zeltrax. Get up and get out of here. You and your friends," Tommy said, holding his weapon at the ready, just in case Zeltrax tried a double cross, even in his condition.

Zeltrax got up and backed away as Elsa pulled her sword out of his armor. A black substance leaked from his wounds.

"Who would have thought you had such a nasty streak?" Elsa said to Kira.

"You don't know anything about me," Kira said, her voice showing the depths of her loathing of the two evildoers.

Zeltrax looked at his enemies. "Another day... but definitely not in a cemetery again. It would seem you have an advantage here." The villains then vanished along with their foot soldiers.

"Okay everyone. Power down," Tommy ordered, and everyone did as they were told. Not a second after that he noticed Kira rush to the destroyed grave. She looked at it and then started to cry, until she noticed something.

"It's not it... it's not his grave." She then scrambled looking around, trying to get her bearings.

"His grave?" Connor asked. "Kira what is going on? What was...?"

"NOT NOW CONNOR!!!" Kira snapped as she still kept searching, perplexing everyone even further.

"...okay..." Ethan said, a bit freaked out by Kira's outburst.

"Kira," Tommy said gently, grasping her arm. "Can we help at all?"

Kira didn't say anything. Instead she froze and then saw her mask, still on the ground where she left it; right by his grave. She rushed to it and hugged the gravestone. "Thank you... thank you God for not letting it be destroyed."

"Kira, what is...?" Conner stopped. So did everyone else when they saw the grave and the writing there.

Here lies Douglas Ford
Born March 11, 1957
Died October 31, 1998

Kira let her tears show as she looked up at everyone. "Conner, Ethan, Dr O, meet my father." She looked back down at the grave. "Daddy, these are my friends."

Tommy nodded gravely. "It is good to meet you, Mr. Ford."

"Your... dad?" Ethan said in shock.

Connor was at a loss of words. "Kira... you..."

"Spare me the pity, Conner," Kira said sadly. "It's not as if any of you knew my dad is dead. I mean, it's not like we've ever talked about our home life at all. Thing is, almost nobody knows my dad's dead. Well, around here anyway."

"Do you want to talk about it with us, Kira?" Tommy asked of his student carefully. The death of someone close to you was never easy.

Kira sighed. "We used to live in Crossworld City. My dad was a freelance industrial designer and did his work in our basement. Every Halloween we'd make our place look really spooky. I'd always be something scary, even when I was a baby - a witch, a devil, a vampire. Back then I was a normal girlie girl, always wearing dresses and playing with makeup kits and dolls."

"You? Play with dolls?" asked Ethan. The image of Kira, even a little Kira, playing with dolls just seemed bizarre at best.

"I was a girl once upon a time," Kira said softly, her back against the grave of her father, as if it were his body, his arms around her own. It gave her a sense of comfort.

"And then?" asked Tommy.

"Six years ago... his heart stopped. I was in a werewolf costume, going to scare him..." Kira started to say, finding her tears coming down. "He was in his chair... I screamed... and he fell out of his chair and to the ground. I tried to get him to move, tried everything, but he wouldn't move. He never moved again!" cried Kira, letting it all out as if she were re-living it. Suddenly, she felt arms around her, giving her a shoulder to cry on. This prompted her to look up and see the identity of the person who'd taken it upon himself to comfort her.

"It's OK, Kira...it's OK," Conner told her softly as he tried to be comforting. "Just… do what you need to, OK?" He had never liked seeing girls cry. It felt somewhat awkward, holding Kira as he was right now, but he knew in his heart it would have been worse to do nothing at all.

"After he died… everything changed," sobbed Kira as she looked at the grave through her tears. "Dad's life insurance policy saved us from going under, but we couldn't stay in the house any more. Mom and I moved to Reefside a month after the funeral. We buried him here in Reefside because this was where dad grew up and where he said he wanted to be buried. Mom took up working in an elementary school as a teacher. She had been a teacher before meeting my dad. But every day we felt the ache. We changed; me most of all."

"You stopped thinking like a regular girl?" Connor surmised.

"Swore off dolls and other typical girl stuff. It was just me and Mom. I had to be tough, had to be able to help Mom out as much as I could. My dad's death made me what I am today," said Kira.

There was something nagging at Connor though. "But if he died on Halloween..."

"Every night my dad would tuck me into bed and read me stories like Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella; stories that had princesses and other heroines in them. He used to call me his little princess every day. On Halloween- his favorite holiday- I'd become something other than his little princess," Kira explained slowly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Mom and I both decided that we'd honor him by celebrating the holiday as if he were still with us. In Mexico, this is also known as the Day of the Dead, a time when spirits come up for a night. I'm not his little princess any more- I wasn't even before this whole Ranger thing started- yet every Halloween… just for that one day, I dress up in a costume that would make him think of his little princess."

"Kira... I didn't... I mean we didn't..." Conner started to say but Kira put a hand over his mouth.

"Like I said before, Conner, it's not like any of you could have known. I never said so, remember?" Kira assured him, a slightly saddened expression on her face at the thought of her lost innocence.

While Conner sat with her, Tommy turned to Ethan. "You guys are still coming tonight, right?" he inquired softly, not wanting to disturb Kira.

"Well um..." Ethan started to say though Kira spoke up.

"We will be." Kira started to get up, picking up her mask from the ground.

"You sure you OK?" Connor asked.

"Thanks for the shoulder to cry on," said Kira as she gave the Red Ranger a lopsided smile. "Wasn't really expecting it, but I'm grateful for it."

Tommy nodded. "Glad you're coming; I don't want you to miss this." The teens could almost hear his smile in his voice.

Conner raised an eyebrow at that as he glanced over at his mentor. "And what's that supposed to mean, Dr. O?" he asked casually.

"Leave it. I like surprises," chided Kira as she hit Conner lightly on one arm. "Well, from friends anyway, so long as they don't involve practical jokes."

"Good. I'll see you when you get there - or when I do," said Tommy. "Travel safe."

"We will," Connor replied as he looked over at Kira as she put her left hand to her lips then put that hand on her father's grave.

"Bye Daddy," she murmured quietly. Demorphing, she pulled her Alice mask back on. A sidelong glance over at the grave that Zeltrax had destroyed had her speaking up. "Something has to be done about that."

"Don't worry. Hayley and I'll figure something out to fix that," promised Tommy. "I'll see you there."

"So now that we know why you came here, aren't you going to tell us about the mask?" wondered Ethan.

"Oh, you mean why I got a Barbie mask with the Alice hairdo wig on top?" Kira smirked, her confidence returning. "I'm considered the Avril Wannabe in school. I don't want anyone seeing me wearing a dress unless I absolutely want them to. I do have a rep to keep up, after all."

The teens had a laugh then as they walked away, with Tommy still looking over the grave of Kira's father.

"Your daughter is under my wing and I know you're probably watching over her," Tommy began to say after a few moments' pause. "I want you to know, I'll do everything in my power to make sure she stays safe; that they all do." He put his hand on the grave and closed his eyes. "I hope you're resting well, Mr. Ford. Wherever you are, know that your daughter is in the best of hands."

Tommy then left the grave to return home and change. He had a party to get to and his friends were waiting for him; both at the party... and in his own home.

----

Trent opened the door and walked into the Cyberspace Cafe. Hayley had told him the Cafe would be closed until five that day. That's when the party would begin. She had also told him to come half an hour early to help out.

He just hadn't expected the Cyberspace Café to look so radically different. Yesterday it was normal. Today there were cobwebs almost everywhere. Fog, just deep enough to hide the tile, lay on the floor. Other light fixtures within large busts of monsters and other horror figures were hidden in various corners of the building. Jack-o-lanterns were very common. There was one on every table, each with a different face.

"Nice Da Vinci, Trent."

Trent turned to source of Hayley's voice, which came from the back room. Out walked a woman wearing a skintight, purple, lycra cat suit, which hugged her entire body, emphasized her curves, and made her look very attractive. Her elbow length black leather gloves and almost thigh high leather high-healed boots were the only color contrast in her outfit. Over her head was a purple colored mask molded to be like the head of a cat with two cat ears at the top of her head. Raven black hair came out the back and reached her shoulders. Her eyes, nose, and mouth were exposed. Her red lips came into a smirk and she held a whip that looked as if it was a cat's tail. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, meow?"

"Hayley?" Trent asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that was really Hayley in that outfit.

Catwoman laughed as she pulled off her mask and then removed a wig of black hair. "Surprise!" exclaimed Hayley, "weren't expecting this were you?"

"No... not at all," Trent stuttered. He was absolutely flabbergasted. He couldn't believe what his boss looked like. What am I thinking? He chided himself. Apart from anything else, she's at least a whole decade older than

Whatever that train of thought might have led to, Trent cut it off when he suddenly noticed a peculiar look on Hayley's face. "What is it, Hayley?"

"Actually…" He heard a click. "I'm not Hayley." The voice was no longer Hayley's. Most importantly, the accent was definitely NOT American. "But would you treat me as if I were Hayley? I'm... a surprise." She smiled coyly.

Trent felt very faint. He didn't think his boss could pull off something like this. "A surprise... for whom?"

'Hayley' winked. "I'm not going to tell you. Hayley says you're trustworthy, but what you don't know, you can't tell." She settled the wig on top, pulled the mask back on, and then he heard the click again. "Now, I'm going to need some help just getting used to this," she said again in Hayley's voice. "Think you can help me?"

Trent let out a smile. "Sure."

"By the way, I was telling the truth. That is a nice costume," Catwoman purred.

"Actually it's renaissance wear. I'm just going as a painter in general," clarified Trent before he turned to indicate the café around them. "So, how did this happen? I mean, yesterday it was-"

"Just plain normal?" a girly voice called out from the back, as if she had a bit of a giggle in her voice.

"Let's just say it took a lot of work among the three of us to get this place in shape, Trent," added a deep feminine voice which was both pure and sensual.

Trent watched as two more women came out and stood beside Catwoman. The first was a yellow-orange skinned alien woman wearing a purple sequined collar, a pair of bikini bottoms that were of the same purple material, and a gold belt buckle. Stripes, barely covering her ample breasts, came down over her chest. Flaming red hair went down to her waist and purple boots completed the ensemble.

Beside her was an equally bizarre yet well-endowed woman. She looked like a clown, her face white save for the top right part that was painted black with jagged edges. A tight red body suit hugged all of her body, pushing her chest up. There were black and white playing card symbols on her stomach. Over that she wore a short purple jacket with yellow accents that mimicked slashed sleeves from medieval times.

"Are one of you Hayley?" asked Trent.

The three women looked at each other and all uttered, "Maybe."

"We'd kinda like to keep this as much a surprise as we can, Trent. You alright with that?" asked the alien girl.

Trent shook his head. "Whatever. All I know is, whomever you're doing this for, it's going to be interesting to see it in action."

The clown girl let out a girlish laugh, throwing back her head. "Interesting? It's going to be fun! Probably the best fun any of us had since High School. Oooh, I am such a ditz," she said putting a hand over her face in mock embarrassment before offering it to Trent. "Call me Marion. Like Marionette."

Trent took the hand... almost. "Joybuzzer?"

Marion shook her head. "Oh how did that get there?" she laughed.

"You are taking this way too seriously," the alien girl said, looking critically over at the clown.

"Okay, okay, Starfire. I promise not to act like the Joker from Batman," Marion replied in exasperation. Her red lips parted to show a wide smile. "But I've never gone out as anything close to this. It feels really good and so will our little surprise, won't it 'Selina'?"

Catwoman chuckled. "Oh, I can't wait. And don't forget, it's 'Hayley'."

"So ready to start this party 'Hayley'?" asked Starfire.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Catwoman said with a Cheshire grin.