Disclaimer: Almost everyone in this story has changed ownership twice since we started writing it. The Rangers are Saban Brands, various ancillary cast are split between Ellen and Jen still, and some two-headed beast of DiC and Sony Pictures has the Real Ghostbusters. This is 35th story in the Personality Conflicts series, following Allied Powers, and is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for violence and mature situations. For those of you still reading this series, you have our deepest apologies for having taken this long.
Author's note (Chris): For those of you wondering about the byline, this is the first story I'll be helming as more than an editor and collaborator with Ellen. From here on out, I will be the sole author of the series, hence the transition to my account. As the years go by, I realize I will only ever have less and less time to devote to a project like this, and less and less of a memory of what it was like to be young enough to have worked on it in the first place. And yes, I do plan to see this story through to the Fall of the Shadow and beyond. Should Ellen ever return to PC and take a crack at telling these events herself, her work will take precedence over this... but the series deserves closure in some form. As much for you as it does for us. Try playing the fun drinking game of guessing which one of us wrote what!
And I'm sorry for what we must endure together with Chris; I got left holding the bag on the storyline with my own Mary Sue character. For whatever cold comfort it is, I'd begged Ellen to kill him for over ten years.
Author's note (Ellen): This is the last Personality Conflicts story I've touched in the past eleven years. (Holy crap, really?) Chris has been an active participant and collaborator with me since the Trial Arc, and I do trust him to handle this project. These stories he will be writing are the basic trajectory of the series as we had discussed it all those years ago. My focus at this time has been more on the Expanded Universe part of PC's future. If I ever return to PC itself, these are not the stories I would write in it anymore. In a sense, I suppose it's fanfiction of fanfiction. I look forward to seeing Chris' execution of the things we planned out together, and I hope you all like them too. As the man says, "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" Excelsior!
Hide and Seek
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
Sunday, February 14th, 1999
Ten months. Ten months circling this stinking little mudball, and what did they have to show for it? Nothing. No cities destroyed, no territory held, no great decisive victories won - he hadn't even managed to kill, maim, or even grievously injure one of Zordon's annoying Rangers. What in the darkness was wrong here? Ten months. It might as well have been ten years.
Turning away from his viewing screen, Dark Specter took a deep breath. Becoming agitated at the pace of his campaign would do him no good. In retrospect, he thought wryly, the Morigu form he'd taken on had not been the best of choices, as he could not seem to keep the feathers on his wings from ruffling. Though he had to admit, he rather liked the idea of resembling the human Angel of Death. It appealed to his sense of irony.
Calm. That was what he needed now. After all, his plan was proceeding nicely, despite the lack of any smaller victories. He'd been keeping an eye on the Astro Rangers, and while they were neither jumpy nor paranoid, there was a certain air of wariness about them that was undoubtedly the doing of his Neji Ranger duplicates.
Well, it was time for Phase Two. It wouldn't do to let the Rangers fall into any type of routine; they might become comfortable with it. So...
"We'll send a monster, I think," he announced to his assembled command. Eight pairs of eyes watched him with polite confusion. Ecliptor, as usual, was the first to speak.
"A monster? Rather than sending the Neji Rangers for an attack?"
Dark Specter nodded. "The Rangers will expect them... I wish you and Astronema to select an appropriate monster from my stores and take it down for an attack. The rest of you are released to spend the day as you see fit."
Jake and Faran, Dark Specter noticed, looked almost annoyed at this news. Those two were certainly the most evil of his Nejis, and were no doubt missing the opportunity for bloodshed. But they'd have it soon enough, if all went according to plan. And when did things not?
Darkonda, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful. The Mephistan was working on something in his lab, and Dark Specter was quite curious as to what project his newest lieutenant had come up with. However, he was not about to ask. He knew better than to try the fickle scientist's sensibilities. He could afford to wait until Darkonda was ready.
"You are dismissed," Dark Specter informed them. "Ecliptor, Astronema, bring the monster to the bridge once you've made a selection."
His command bowed and scattered to their various destinations.
For once, Mara Chan was grateful that the corridors of the Dark Fortress were just that, dark. It gave her a better chance to slip down to the teleportation room without being seen by anyone. _By Jake, you mean,_ she corrected herself bitterly.
The Blue Neji Ranger took great delight in tormenting her whenever possible, seeing her as the weakest link on the team. And perhaps he was right, she admitted. She was nowhere near as bloody-minded as her male teammates, nor the practiced seductress that Jade was. She really wasn't much use at all, except as another warm body in battle.
Her mind shied away from the other uses Jake had suggested she be put to. With a free day, though, he might decide to spend his time focusing on her, and as long as she was recovered in time to fight, Dark Specter wouldn't care. That was why she intended to get out of the Fortress altogether, and go to Earth.
Just as she reached the door to the teleport chamber, a deeper darkness detached itself from the shadows that lined the hall. Mara bit back a scream, relaxing when she realized that it was only Ecliptor.
"You... startled me," the Pink Neji Ranger managed, one hand going to her throat. "I didn't think there was anyone else here."
"I was taking some readings to decide what monster to send to Earth," the silicon being replied. "It's a lovely morning in Angel Grove... perfect to disappear into."
Mara blinked. In the darkness, she couldn't see Ecliptor's features very well, but she could swear there was a hint of a smile in his voice.
"Dis... disappear?" she replied, knowing she sounded ridiculous.
"I am more observant than people give me credit for." His response was dry. "If Jake should come looking for you, I will be sure to direct him to New York."
"Thank you," Mara said, a real smile crossing her face for the first time. "That means a lot."
The Kousekian simply nodded. "Go. Enjoy your day off. You'll not likely have a chance like this again."
With another smile, Mara darted past Ecliptor and into the teleport room, leaving the warrior to stare after her thoughtfully.
It was February in Angel Grove, which in terms of temperature meant that you might possibly want to start wearing sweatshirts. But the sun was shining brightly and cheerfully when Mara arrived in the park, and she stopped for a minute just to take it all in. It was ironic, she supposed - a creature composed of evil and darkness, she nevertheless craved the light and warmth of the sun. Maybe it was the human body she wore, with its near-constant need for Vitamin D. Then again, maybe it was just another facet of her absolute failure as a Neji Ranger.
With an effort, she shook off her gloomy thoughts. This was her day off, and she had plans as to how she was going to spend it. Cassie and Ashley, the scanners had informed her, had already left on a day trip to go shopping at the Urbana City Mall, which meant there was little to no chance of running into her duplicate. That was good, because for just one day, she was going to try and be normal. That meant starting at home, at least at first.
Briskly, Mara walked through the streets of Angel Grove, noticing a number of houses that bore hearts, cupids, or red and white decorations of some sort. A quick stop at a corner store confirmed that yes, the date was February 14, Valentine's Day. She hadn't realized that when she left the Dark Fortress, but she resolutely shoved it aside. Okay, so she was spending a day dedicated to lovers absolutely alone... so what? It wasn't that unusual. People did it all the time. She was NOT lonely. Not at all.
It didn't take Mara long to reach the house in Angel Grove Heights. The park was at the center of the city, after all, and easily connected with almost every sector. For a long moment, she simply stood at the door, taking a deep breath. Then, slowly, she pushed the door open and went into the house she could almost pretend was hers.
The décor was light and airy, large windows and skylights letting the brilliant California sunlight stream in, illuminating all the rooms easily. Somehow, though, the effect was not one of warmth, but rather a sterile chill. With a shiver, Mara headed upstairs. Maybe Cassie's bedroom would feel more welcoming.
The room was, as Mara had remembered, decorated mainly in shades of pink, in decided contrast to the neutral tones of the rest of the house. The walls were covered with posters of rock stars, not to mention photos of the other Power Rangers, Cassie's best friends. The pink double bed was piled high with stuffed animals, and porcelain and glass figures sat on a shelf bolted to one wall.
Absently, Mara picked up the guitar that leaned against one wall, sinking onto the quilted bedspread as she did so. She gently strummed the strings, swallowing the lump in her throat. Even though she was an intruder - an enemy, in fact, - the room welcomed her. She felt at home here, as if the room and it's inhabitant both had said, "You belong." That was crazy, of course, but she felt it all the same.
_I want a life like this,_ she realized. _Home, friends, family... a place to belong. Beauty, comfort, sunlight..._ Quickly she stomped on those thoughts. If they ever got out, they'd make her an even more tempting target for Jake than she'd been before. But a tiny, rebellious part of her yearned for it still.
Putting the guitar aside, she went down to the kitchen. She was hungry, and there was no way she was going back to the Dark Fortress for her meals. There had to be SOMETHING in the kitchen she could eat.
Ten minutes later, Mara was happily settled at the kitchen table with a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. The Dark Fortress's replicators ran more towards rations and galactic entrées, so it was rare that she had a chance to indulge her craving for human food, and when she did, she jumped at it. She was just savoring the first bite when her mother walked in.
Okay, so if you wanted to get technical, Marianne Chan wasn't her mother. Then again, since Mara and Cassie shared the same genetic code, maybe she was. Mara wasn't in the mood to split hairs.
"Cassie? Oh, good, you've got yourself lunch," Marianne said absently, opening the fridge to retrieve a bottle of mineral water. "What are you eating?"
Mara swallowed. Cassie was NOT a fan of peanut butter and pickles; personal taste was one of the differences between them. "Um... a sandwich," she replied carefully.
Marianne didn't seem to notice the evasion, simply nodding as she stuck her head into the hall. "Ken! We're going to be late for the tennis match if you don't hurry up."
For a long moment, Mara simply stared at the beautiful woman before her. Even dressed in a simple white tennis dress, long black hair back in a simple ponytail, Marianne Chan was poised and elegant.
"Mom... can we talk?" Mara blurted out suddenly.
"Talk?" Marianne blinked at the girl before her, looking as though the word had been spoken in Arabic. "Talk? Whatever for? Cassie, darling, I'm sorry, but your father and I have a tennis match with some of his business clients in a few minutes, and we simply HAVE to dash. Maybe we can talk later? You understand how it is..." Without waiting for a reply, Marianne drifted out into the hall to catch up to her husband and headed for the car, leaving Mara behind, speechless.
For a second, Mara was motionless, paralyzed by the devastation one casual dismissal had wrought. Then she leapt to her feet and raced out the door, tears stinging her eyes. She gave no thought to where she was going, nor what she might do, only to getting away from the yawning emptiness the house had become.
Blinded by tears, she was unable to see what was in her path, and in her headlong flight, she suddenly smacked into something warm and very solid. The shock of the contact knocked her to the ground, and she looked up... to see blue clothing, dark skin, and a very familiar face.
_Jake._
Mara opened her mouth, but she didn't even have the breath to scream.
Chris Sterling had lost his mind. That was the only explanation he could come up with for why he was currently at the Dry Creek Youth Center, attempting to bench press the equivalent of a fourth grader. He knew he was getting a few stares from some of the people he'd been in school with before he'd withdrawn from the system, and he had to admit, he had some idea of what they were feeling. After all, for years, his preferred form of exercise had been running from whatever bully wanted to rearrange his face. That had ended after his latest growth spurt, but as the "man of the house," he had to carry anything his mother wanted moved, so his muscles were still in pretty good shape. So why was he here?
_It's the remains of those damned Ranger powers,_ he groused silently, watching the weights rise and fall. They'd given him more sensitive sight and hearing, accelerated healing abilities and an enhanced appetite, and apparently they also carried a fanatic compulsion to exercise.
_No wonder all of the team is drop-dead gorgeous._ That was another bit of his experience that he wouldn't have traded for anything. After being the most unpopular guy in town for most of his life, he was finally part of the "in-crowd." Admittedly, it was the "in-crowd" in another city in a different state, but that just made it better. Angel Grove was the epicenter of western civilization as far as a place like Dry Creek was concerned, and Chris was a part of its most admired and liked clique. He wasn't nearly big enough of a person not to enjoy the turnaround.
A minor stir near the entrance caused Chris to look up from his exercise, and he couldn't stifle a groan. A casual observer would have found this odd, since Ashley Thompson had been his best (and only) friend since kindergarten. Any casual observer to be found, however, was too caught up in the female spectacle that had just entered. From her tight jeans, slightly too-small shirt, and the seductive sway to her walk, he knew this couldn't be Ashley. Well, except on a genetic level.
"Jade," he growled, as soon as she came within earshot. "You know, the reason I'm not in Angel Grove today DOES have to do with the fact that I'm avoiding you."
The Dark Reflection gave him a perky smile. "Aw, c'mon," she teased. "I'm not such a bad girl, am I?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "You're concentrated evil, and I mean that literally. You're trying to take over my planet at the direction of an evil warlord, you continually attack my friends, and if I had to guess you're a pro-leagues puppy kicker. Do I really need to go on?"
"You just say that because you haven't gotten to know me," she responded, brushing one hand over his knee.
He let the weights drop with a resounding slam, earning him dirty looks from most of the gym's patrons.
"Look," he growled quietly, well aware of the eyes on them, "I have no intention of knowing you, and that includes in the Biblical sense. You are a Neji Ranger, and I'm still an Astro Ranger - if an inactive one. I'm not about to fall at your feet, and I'm sick of you trying to use my feelings for Ashley to bait me. Why don't you let us both move on with our lives, and find yourself some other poor schmuck to play with!"
Grabbing his towel from where it hung over the machine, he stalked out the front door. He was halfway across the parking lot when he heard her voice behind him.
"Chris - wait. Please."
He whirled around, preparing to give her a further piece of his mind, only to stop when he saw a familiar expression on her face. It was lost, tired, and a bit scared. He'd seen it in the mirror more than a few times.
He sighed. He was going to regret this. "What is it, Jade?"
"It's my day off," she replied quietly. "I know we don't have the best relationship, but I don't have anywhere to be today. I don't have anyone else to be with. I thought maybe we could..." She deflated. "Never mind, it was stupid. I won't bother you anymore." With that, she turned to leave.
"No, wait." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Chris wanted to take them back. This was what he'd been hoping for, wasn't it? For her to leave him alone?
Seeing her watching him expectantly, he sighed. He knew he was going to regret this. "Come back to my place," he told her. "My mom's out with my sister, so I'll get a shower and then I guess we can talk."
The smile she shot him was pure happiness, and all his doubts disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Jake stared at her oddly. "Cassie? What are you doing here? I thought you were off on your little shopping trip."
Mara's terror subsided for a moment. He was extending his hand to pick her up. He was genuinely curious what she was doing here. And he didn't seem ready to accost her. _TJ,_ she breathed silently. Accepting the outstretched hand, she pulled herself back to her feet and tried to orient herself. She'd somehow ended up smack dab in the middle of Angel Grove Park.
This was perfect. All she had to do was address his concerns about why "Cassie" was back in Angel Grove and she could get out of here. "My partner in crime cut and ran right after we got there. You know Ashley. She's probably hitting every boutique she can find. Figured I'd come back home, rather than go looking for her."
Mara tried to ignore the little part of her brain that reminded her she had nowhere to go to.
TJ's brow furrowed. "You took her car to Urbana City. I hope you didn't just strand her there?"
Crap. She really wasn't a very good liar.
"Of course not!" She dropped her voice conspiratorially. "To tell the truth, I teleported back. You won't rat me out, right?"
TJ laughed. "Nah. But you might want to let her know before she spends all afternoon looking for _you_."
Mara smiled. Despite the resemblance, TJ really was nothing like Jake. As her panic subsided, Cassie's memories of their time together began to bubble to the surface. They weren't the least bit unpleasant.
TJ snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh hey, while I have you - I have a couple of vouchers to the new arcade in Little Japan. Unlimited play. I was going to take Chris to get his mind off everything, but he just canceled on me. Only good for today. What do you say?"
Mara resisted the urge to bite her lip. This was stupid. All she had to do was make some excuse, take twenty steps, and teleport out from behind a tree. The last thing in the world for her to do would be accept. It was ridiculous. Beyond contemplating.
"I'd love to."
Gasket the First, King of the Machine Empire, Defender of the Seven Galaxies and Lord High Chancellor of All Autonomous Sapients squinted through the maze of wiring above his head. _One of these things has to be connected to a power source._
When he had first offered to help Rita in her attempts to restore Finster's Monstermatic, Gasket had not been aware of what he'd be in store for. Not only had the artist gone to great pains to remove any of the dilapidated unit's more unique components before he'd left the Empress of Evil's employment, but he'd crosswired the entire unit to effectively self-destruct if tampered with.
"There are," he grumbled as he continued to work, "so many more dignified things for a king to be doing right now."
Archerina smiled from the workshop's doorway. "I can't think of anything more noble than a king following through on his word."
Gasket wheeled himself out from underneath the machine at his wife's voice. "My love. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in. This infernal piece of metal is too blasted stubborn for its own good. Any developments I should be made aware of?"
The newly ascendant Machine Queen nodded. "We've managed to get some of your father's fabrication plants in the adjacent asteroid belt operational again. Cog production is still severely limited, but at least we have a fresh pool of resources from which to resume. Rita has been looking into what remained of their alloy stores. She believes some of Mondo's drilling operations might have unearthed materials conductive to magic."
Gasket tugged his insulated work gloves off. "Excellent news. Then everything is proceeding as planned. And the Rangers?"
"Still keeping to themselves. They've had little in the way of real opposition. Dark Specter continues to string them along with Neji Ranger attacks in lieu of offensive action."
Archerina crossed the floor until she stood above her husband. "Gasket, aren't you the least bit concerned about what might happen if we were to be caught?"
"By whom, my dear? The Power Rangers? Even if the shutdown of my father's facilities upon his death drew Zordon's notice, he'd never suspect the truth." Gasket reached up, his hand finding his wife's and squeezing. "And as for Dark Specter, I know of no rule which would prevent anything that we've done. We have entered into a nonaggression pact with the vestiges of Zedd's empire. Sovereign nations ally for any number of reasons. So long as no one in the UAE is aware of our ulterior motives, what is there to worry about?"
She sighed. "I suppose you're right. Forgive my fatalism."
"Nonsense. A dissenting voice keeps us on our toes. I'd much rather we question our actions than never pay mind to consequence." He paused contemplatively. "And now that I think about it, where is the rest of our little cadre?"
"I haven't seen Goldar or Rito in hours, though that's hardly cause for concern. I'm sure they're roughhousing outside. And as for Rita," Archerina sighed, "she seems to have taken the Earth holiday especially hard. She hasn't left her bedroom since last night."
Gasket nodded. "Ah yes, I'd found some designs in one of Finster's workbooks for a monster pertaining to this celebration. A "Cherub," I believe it's called. Unfortunately, this machine refuses to give up its secrets. I've spent the last hour trying to figure out which out of dozens of identical black wires is the power."
Archerina began inspecting the hand she held in her own. "Gasket, would you indulge me for a moment?" At his consent, she continued. "When I flip the switch, touch each of the cables without your gloves on. That should tell you."
It was seven feet tall and covered from head to toe in samurai armor. It was currently tearing apart large sections of the industrial area of downtown Angel Grove. Zordon had warned them to approach the creature with caution. Naturally, Zhane had volunteered to go on ahead of the others and face this latest hellion on his own. After all, he didn't have work or personal business to attend to on an Earth holiday.
There were times he really hated being as cocky as his public expected him to be.
No sense dwelling on the inevitable, he might as well get the festivities underway. Knocking down the kickstand on the Galaxy Cycle, Silver Astro got the monster's attention with a well placed and wholly ineffective blast from his Silverizer. Frowning under his helmet, he snapped off two more shots that similarly ricocheted. "Hey, shiny! You got a nonstick surface or something? This thing usually works!"
"Foolish human! None who have stood before the Silent Knight have lived to tell the tale." With that, the creature unsheathed its sword and charged.
Oh yeah, this was a great idea. Go in without any kind of backup whatsoever.
Zhane flipped over his bike, placing it between the two. "Where'd you buy the toy? You could take an eye out with that."
In a blur, the Galaxy Cycle was cleaved in half. "Know this, boy. Your weapon was issued to you. It is a tool you had to master. MY WEAPON WAS FORMED FROM MY VERY BODY!"
Zhane continued to back away. There had to be some place he could keep the thing occupied. "Must be nice to have a craft to fall back on. Metallurgy is a valuable skill in our fast paced world. I actually wanted to apprentice with a swordsmith-"
Despite Silent Knight's sheer size, Silver Astro found the creature telegraphed his moves only a split second before he followed through. Deftly avoiding a left thrust, Silver Astro quickly parried with his Silverizer. "You work on a commission system, or is there like a catalogue or something? Because seriously, the blade on this thing is getting dull..."
Red eyes burned through narrow slits in the monster's face plate. "Impudent fool! Face your death like a warrior! You demean us both with your inane prattling!"
The creature lunged forward with an inarticulate growl and the Kerovan Ranger barely sidestepped before they impacted. In an instant Silver Astro dropped to the ground, driving a sweepkick into the back of Silent Knight's knees. The pain of contact shot through eight layers of ablative woven armor and up Zhane's legs.
Silent Knight spun. Though it was impossible to tell, Silver Astro was sure he could see a smile underneath its mask.
The first thing Chris noticed upon opening the front door was Jade's expression. The Yellow Neji Ranger looked as if she were torn between amusement and abject horror. He frowned.
"Are you okay?"
"For God's sake," she spluttered, pushing past him, "get inside and shut the door before somebody sees you!"
He did as she asked, still puzzled. "What?"
"Bunny slippers? PLEASE!"
Chris looked down at his foot attire, then back up at Jade, grinning. "They're comfortable," he told her. "Besides, I've had Flopsy and Mopsy for years."
Shaking her head, Jade headed for the kitchen. "And what color WERE those slippers originally?" she asked sweetly.
"Uh." Chris thought for a moment, regarding the pinkish-grey slippers with deep concentration.
"That's what I thought," Jade concluded.
"In the interest of defending my bunny tootsie warmers from further attack, would you like some tea?" he asked, following her into the kitchen.
"Orange lemon balm, if you have it?"
He nodded, putting the kettle on the stove before joining her at the table.
The two sat in silence for a time, listening to the quiet sizzle of the water in the copper tea kettle.
"So." Jade fiddled with the salt shaker in front of her.
"So. You have the day off."
She nodded. "Yeah. Dark Specter's sending Astronema, Ecliptor, and a monster down - not sure when. You wouldn't be called out to deal with it anyway, right?"
"No, I'm officially off-duty. No real powers, after all."
"Do you miss it?"
Chris looked thoughtful. "Honestly? No, not really. I guess I'm one of those that never quite gets addicted to the adrenaline rush. I've got all the other benefits, without having to run the risks. Accelerated healing, strength, senses - more than that, though, I have all the support structure being a Ranger brings. No, I'd say I'm pretty happy the way I am."
Leaning forward, Jade rested her chin on her hands. "Don't you ever miss the flying? That was why you were recruited, after all. And why you said yes."
"Maybe a little. Flying a Zord, it's... it's exhilarating, but in the end it's not that much different from playing a flight simulator in the arcade. The computer takes care of everything. You just have to steer." His gaze drifted out the window and into the horizon. "Maybe it's different if it's YOUR Zord, bonded to you by your power. Maybe it's different in a fast fighter like the Phoenix or the Falcon. But for me, it's just pretending to be a pilot. Trying to be like my father, and his father... trying to live up to a legacy that I can't really touch."
The whistling of the kettle cut through the suddenly awkward silence, and Chris quickly rose to deal with it. Wordlessly, he made two cups of the tea and brought them back over to the table. After a few minutes of quiet sipping, he spoke again.
"My father died when I was five, y'know? He was flying cargo, of all things, over the South Seas. A typhoon came up, and he blew out an engine trying to get clear. No one could believe it. Max Sterling, the greatest stunt pilot in America, possibly the world, lost on what was supposed to be a safe, easy cargo run."
He sighed. He'd never told her this before. Either of her. "Anyway, after that, Mom really put her foot down. No way was I going to become a pilot, not after that. She pretty much quit flying herself, except for what her job demands. I don't even think she misses it that much. It's like that part of her just... died when we lost Dad. And I... well, I moved on to video games."
"What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun?/ Or fester like a sore-/ And then run?/ Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-/ like a syrupy sweet?/ Maybe it just sags/ like a heavy load./ Or does it explode?" Jade quoted.
At Chris' raised eyebrow, she continued. "Langston Hughes. We had to read him in tenth grade."
"Ahh. Yeah, I think I've heard that poem, now that you mention it."
"Your mother was always good about that. Making sure you had a solid education."
"She wasn't going to let little things like my being a social pariah stand in the way of it," he sighed. "That was my Mom. Pull him out of the public school system before he gets his nose broken. God forbid anyone anyone employed by the school board might try and intercede on my behalf."
Her gaze cast down towards her tea. The moment seemed to drag out into infinity. "Ben."
"Ben," he affirmed. "After all, he was always the cream that rises to the top. Even in kindergarten. And what was I, compared to that? I never understood what she... you... she saw in him. I honestly didn't."
She rested her head against her other hand. "I suppose Ashley never saw the things you did. He treated her the way he treated everyone he considered a peer. She cared for you dearly, but she had no common frame of reference for his behavior. She assumed you put everything wrong with your life on Ben and his friends."
Chris laughed dryly. "Cronies. Pick the right synonym."
Jade wagged her finger scoldingly. "Like you didn't when you met Jason and Tommy? I seem to remember someone who didn't look forward to fight training in the slightest."
"Getting back to the subject at hand," he dismissed, "it still took her years to realize what Ben Dixon, boy wonder, was capable of. Ashley Thompson was not a victim. That's what always got me most about their relationship. She made herself one. It took me years to get through to her."
"Love makes you do strange things. I can't rationalize the choices Ashley made, Chris. They weren't mine to make. I can only tell you how I remember them. Isn't that what you're asking me for? To finally have answers?"
"I..." Chris finally took the initiative. "Why are you here, Jade? Why are we exchanging pleasantries? I can't believe you suddenly grew an altruistic streak and just decided to give me a peek inside Ashley's thought process."
She smiled again. "I told you. I was lonely. I have no one else who'll even stand my company. And I remembered all the conversations 'we' used to have."
He sighed. "But isn't that just it? We never had those conversations. You're not Ashley. You've made that abundantly clear over the last four months."
"I don't see you kicking me out the door," she jibed. "In fact, you invited me in. You seem to forget what that signifies for beings of pure evil. You just gave me free entry."
Jade purred, her demeanor taking on its more familiar nature. "Or maybe you knew exactly what it meant. When does your Mom get back?"
His gaze darkened. "Not funny. I invited you in because... oh hell, I don't know why I did that. I guess maybe I did want to try and understand you. I had all these questions I'll never be able to ask Ashley. And given your complete lack of scruples..."
She took a mock bow.
"I thought maybe you could give me some closure," he finished. "And maybe you could explain why me. Out of all the men you could use your, ah, charms on."
Jade seemed to consider this for a moment. "Done. On one condition."
"Why do I sense I'm going to regret this?"
"Put on something presentable and take me out for lunch."
The lights and sounds inside of the Electric City arcade were almost overwhelming to Mara. For someone who had spent most of her life inside of the staid environment of the Dark Fortress, being in the center of so many people having fun filled her with a lightness she only felt when she thought back on Cassie's happiest memories.
_Then again,_ she considered, _Cassie didn't have a lot of those either. I wonder why she never noticed how much fun TJ is?_
The enthusiasm TJ showed as they ran from game to game was infectious, especially his boasted skills at skeeball. The Blue Astro Ranger had even managed to get her onto the control pad of a dancing game, but her own coordination was nowhere near precise enough. Marathon co-op runs on a slalom simulator reminded her of how stingy both Andros and Dark Specter had been with recreational use of their Simudecks.
He'd even insisted on paying for their food from the snack bar, informing her that only he knew the secret to proper sustenance for a day of rigorous gaming. Mara found many of his selections dubious if his intention was keeping anything down, but went along anyway. Just people watching from their table was a new experience for her.
"You planning to give Ashley a call?" TJ asked.
She gave an uneasy smile. "Nah, if she wanted to know where I was, she'd have paged me by now."
TJ nodded in understanding, resuming a methodical process of dipping Junior Mints in nacho cheese and wrapping them in pieces of hot pretzel.
"Teej," she said haltingly, "I'd really like to thank you for all this."
He looked up from his disgusting culinary engineering and smiled. "Hey, anytime. That's what friends are for."
"Yeah, but - you know how things are with my parents, don't you?" Mara knew she had to tread lightly on this.
"As much as any of us do," TJ replied.
She nodded. "Sometimes it's nice to get away from everything. Just forget who you are, or what the people who raised you expect you to do with yourself."
"Do you feel like your parents want you to be someone else?"
"Most of the time I don't even know who I am," she admitted. "I've got all these memories of the person I think I am, but the person my... my family wants me to be is someone else entirely. It's like I've never really had a choice in being myself for as long as I've been alive."
None of which, strictly speaking, was a lie for Cassie either.
"We all make our own choices. Who is it you want to be, Mara?"
"That's just the problem!" she yelped, ignoring the stares of nearby patrons. "I can't figure out who I am, so how do - what did you call me?"
Her hands gripped the edge of the table. This could get very ugly very fast.
TJ gave her a surprisingly neutral look. "It wasn't hard to figure it out. I always wanted to be a PI when my baseball career ended."
He raised an arm, tapping his Astro Morpher for emphasis. Mara swallowed hard as she realized she wasn't wearing a morpher or a communicator. How could he not have noticed?
"I figured it out about an hour ago," he continued. "But by then I knew you weren't putting on an act. You aren't the manipulator Jade is. If I had to guess, you needed this even more than you let on."
She nodded and words started pouring out in a gush. "I'm just such a failure, you know? I'm not evil enough to do my job, but I'm not alive like you guys are. I just want to run and hide from everything, but when I'm in the heat of battle the thrill just engulfs me and I don't think about anything but hurting others. It's so liberating to not have to think, TJ. But then when the fight's over, I go back to the ship and I lie in bed for hours thinking about the bystanders I hurt. I have nightmares. Can you believe that? I'm a demon who has nightmares over the things she's done! Then I go back out the next day, and I do it all over again. I'm not even good enough at being bad that I'm as effective as Jake or Faran. They put so much effort into being evil, and I just want to lose myself in it."
He stared at her silently, absorbing what she said. "Is there anything you can do? Can you leave? Go some place else, where there aren't any people?"
Mara shook her head. "I tried putting in for a reassignment last month, but Dark Specter thought I was mocking him. He made me an example for the others. I won't try that again. I don't mind pain, but I'm not brave enough for suicide. Not when I already know where I'm going to end up when I die."
"Mara-" the chime of TJ's communicator cut him off. Casting a glance around, he was again disturbed by the prompt. "I've got to take this. Stay here, all right? Don't go anywhere, and I promise I won't tell anyone where you are."
"Al - alright."
He gave her a brief glance while he looked for an escape route. "Mara, I mean it. Don't leave. We need to finish this conversation."
With that, the second youngest of Earth's Blue Rangers took off running for the nearest unoccupied hallway, leaving a confused Mara Chan with her thoughts.
The Silver Astro Ranger was getting tired. And sloppy. And when you got tired and sloppy, you usually ended up dead on the end of a skewer - as he could personally attest. This was becoming more a battle of endurance than of skill, and few things had the staying power of a monster in its prime.
He had fallen back into a warehouse. For a change, this warehouse happened to be loaded with appliances ready for delivery. This provided ample opportunity to hide, and as such the Kerovan had taken a moment to collect his thoughts behind a shelving unit. This guy was clearly one of Dark Specter's better minions. The Neji Rangers had more vulnerable points on their armor, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to guess what that sword would do to the microfilament of his Ranger suit.
So what was he supposed to do? Every part of his body ached. He hadn't gone through a great deal of strenuous activity since his revival, and though he'd never mentioned it to DECA during any of his physicals, Zhane found he was unable to maintain his previous stamina even while morphed. His heart was racing and his lungs were burning. It was like he'd put on a body that wasn't his own. He tried to focus; tried slipping into one of the meditative states he'd learned during his training as an Astro Guardian.
It was at that moment the Silent Knight came charging through the crates in front of him, sword at ready.
Two thoughts shot through Zhane's mind, each vying for attention. The first was an idle wondering if perhaps he had been breathing too hard. The second was the clear knowledge that he was not going to be able to get out of the way in time. The blade would cleave him down the middle.
He wasn't going to close his eyes this time. He wasn't.
A streak of silver shot through the air between them, splitting the air and knocking the monster back.
"Zeo VII Electric Whip!"
Before Silver Astro could completely register what had just happened, a lithe figure in similarly colored spandex landed between the two combatants; a serpentine coil of plasma in her hand retracting back into its grip. She shot him a quick glance over her shoulder. "Zhane, we got here as soon as we could."
"Katya," he wheezed, "not that I don't appreciate it, but please tell me you're not the only backup Zordon was able to spare?"
A pair of ghostly half-images striking Silent Knight from behind seemed to answer his question. In a flash of light, Carlos and the Phantom Ranger decloaked. The Purple Ninjetti nodded to his teammate between blows, fading back into his Black Astro costume.
Silver Ranger shook her head. "The others are outside with Ecliptor and Astronema - and it's pretty close quarters in here."
Silver Astro laughed. "That's why I picked it."
"They could use your help, if you're up to it." Concern tinged her voice, but the younger - Older? They counted years differently here - Ranger didn't press the issue.
"Just... just point me in the right direction. I'll be all right."
There were worse things than being seen on the arm of an incredibly beautiful woman, Chris Sterling reflected as he and Jade made their way through town. The afternoon sun had turned the gated hamlet of Dry Creek into an open air oven, and they had noticed dozens of its citizens basking in the glow as they walked between the blocks of houses.
"You just wanted the attention," Chris muttered as yet another random pedestrian developed a bad case of whiplash at the sight of her. The man's companion, a short red-headed woman, seemed less than amused by his reaction.
Jade giggled girlishly. "Ashley's always been a little embarrassed by how she looks. She thinks it keeps people from seeing the real her - and she's right. Me? I see it as an advantage. People expect very, very little of me. Even Dark Specter."
"You play it to the hilt," he realized. "The voice, the attitude..."
She shrugged. "It's been advantageous up until now. I wear it so far on my sleeve that none of the other Neji Rangers would think of laying a hand on me. They think I'm beneath them. Mara's never understood that, and it's why they pick on her."
"Is this one of those serve in heaven/rule in hell things?" he asked as Jade led them into a Mexican bistro he'd never thought to try before.
She ignored him, adjusting her bustline and sidestepping the thirty some people already ahead of them in line to register. They were breezed to a table in short order, Chris trying all the while not to notice how extensively Jade was flirting with the maitre'd, or how badly both of them were violating the dress code of this establishment.
"So," she started, taking a sip of her water before continuing. "I suppose I owe you some answers."
"It would expedite matters," he grumbled. "You've been keeping something from me all day, and I think I deserve to know what it is."
She leaned forward, her gaze intent. "Do you know why the Council of Worlds and the Alliance of Evil are at war?"
"Because one of them goes around calling themselves the _Alliance of Evil_?"
Jade groaned. "Do you know what the Grid War is?"
"Vaguely. Zarador mentioned it a couple of times when we were on Danata. Some big hullabaloo ten thousand years ago."
"The Grid War is when the Order of the Meledan - an elite team under the employ of the Council - first battled the forces of what would ultimately become the Alliance for control and jurisdiction over the unincorporated inhabited systems of the known universe. There had been prior conflicts, such as Rita's attempts on Erlion or Ivan Ooze's attack on Earth, but nothing that spilled into open warfare."
Jade began twisting a few loose strands of her hair. Subtract six inches from her height, add a pair of coke bottle glasses and it was like four years ago.
"The Grid War is also when the Council first solidified its stance on contested sectors. A neutral colony on the planet Chiro was devastated after a fierce campaign against Dark Specter. Millions of lives, lives the Council had been trying to save, were snuffed out in an instant. What was left of the planet was ceded to Dark Specter's empire. After the calamity, all allies and member worlds of the Council have had to sign the Treaty of Chiro, and its terms for the capture and disposal of hostile alien forces."
His reply was interrupted by the arrival of their waiter. Chris hadn't even cracked open a menu since taking his seat, and wisely followed Jade's lead on what to order.
"So they - we're not..." He shook his head, trying to process everything. "Wait, what would BECOME the Alliance? Who were they fighting, then?"
Jade momentarily perused the list of alcoholic beverages on the table, clearly wondering if she could bluff her way into a margarita. "Dark Specter himself. The Council had been fighting and enforcing embargoes on individual forces, not a unified front. The UAE was formed to keep existing empires unwilling or unable to meet the conditions of Council membership sovereign in the face of what was perceived to be aggressive expansionism by the Council over Chrio. By joining, they vowed never to undercut the holdings of another member race without a formal, ratified declaration of war."
He glared her into returning the drink menu to its holder. "I always figured the Council and Alliance had some great shared beginning. They seem like such ancient enemies, and ten thousand years ago is pretty recent history from all I could gather."
Jade nodded. "Conflicts with the individual forces in the Alliance go back far longer. Rita had already been part of Lord Zedd's empire for eons, for example. Dark Specter is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and his personal army is immense, but even he couldn't have pulled something like the Alliance together on sheer intimidation. If it hadn't been for Chrio, there never would have been the impetus to ally."
Something fell into place. "A losing battle against impossible odds on some backwater planet? One that instilled the fear of mutually assured destruction in all the players, and left him in a perfect position to bring all the separate factions under his direct control with none of the risk of outright warfare? Couldn't have worked out any better for 'Spec if he had planned it."
She turned on a thousand watt smile. "I knew you'd understand. As I said, people tend to underestimate me. Dark Specter has no idea I have access to his personal files. This corroborates a lot of things Zordon always suspected about the origins of the Alliance."
Their appetizer arrived and he tried to piece together everything he had learned within a broad framework. "He engineered a cold war," Chris said between bites, "after the Treaty, the Council was built like the UN. They could only send in peacekeeping forces like the IGPF, or relief and humanitarian aid to member worlds in need. They no longer have a military presence themselves. They couldn't trust themselves."
Jade nodded. "And the Alliance effectively agreed to put their own contrary motives aside in the interest of their continued survival. While they don't have an official escalation policy exactly like the Council's, they make it a point to largely confine their forces to individual monster attacks and a handful of generals at any time. If an opening invasion fails, they're locked into a predetermined pattern for several years unless they're replaced by someone else. Multiple empires, for example, cannot ally to invade a planet. Whatever is claimed must be won through conquest, and that includes the holdings of another Alliance member."
Chris had never taken military history classes, and he couldn't shake the feeling this would have been more interesting than it was terrifying if he had. "God. So if the UAE can take a planet through guerrilla methods, the Council will acknowledge them as the legal government. That's a good racket."
"Well, it's not like the Council doesn't have their own guerrilla forces. The division between the IGPF and the Rangers is part of this, and the escalation code you adhere to as part of the Power Rangers is a subset. Why do you think you're not allowed to storm an unguarded base like lunar palace?"
Chris sipped his soda before answering. "Because we're the good guys, and the good guys don't shoot people in the back?'
"Sometimes rules are the only way to temper your own worst impulses." Jade smiled, the imp returning to her eyes. "And this brings me to why I've been pursuing you. I think you'd agree with me that this is a petty, stupid war. The Council and Alliance will be fighting long after we've returned to the dirt."
He thought about it. How many people had died over the millennia because of this? Even if their team repelled the current villains, dozens more must be out there waiting to take their place. From what Chris remembered from their handful of interactions, Zordon didn't seem to think the end of the war was any time soon. The Zeos had been allowed to retire with their powers! Even the really powerful ones!
"You're right, I do agree."
"I want to leave. I'm GOING to leave. Find a nice, sparsely populated planet somewhere - preferably bronze age culturally - and rule as their queen."
It took Chris a moment to consider the implication of what she was asking. A surge of revulsion prompted him to return his fork to the table. "You want to charter a pilot. You want me to take you away from all this. Look Jade, I'll confess I feel something towards you, whether it's really for Ashley or not. But if you think that gives you-"
"I want you to rule it with me."
He stared at her in unabashed confusion. "Oh."
A plume of smoke spat out of the Monstermatic's extruder, as the antiquated systems began grinding to life. Gasket disentangled himself from underneath the device, wiping the soot and assorted debris from his face with his scarf. "Success!"
Looking up at the beaming faces of his more slow-witted colleagues, the Machine King felt a surge of pride and pulled himself up to his feet. "I believe that takes care of that. Which one of you would care to notify Rita?"
Goldar looked at Gasket in plain contempt. "On Valentine's Day?" The Titan snarled. "Did you see the mood she was in last night? Rito can do it. Age before beauty."
Rito shoved his friend in the side. "Nuh-uh. Your beauty went away before your age. Besides, you're her employee! She can't hit you. There's rules. I'm family!"
Gasket shook his head. The antics of Rito and Goldar had grated on him when he had been on the other side of the field, but in proximity the duo were generally tolerable for their personal quirks. They were more prone to injuring themselves than others outside of personal combat, for one thing. "Very well, then. She could stand to hear some good news for a change. I'd be happy to deliver this to her myself. Why don't you both get started on molding a batch of Putties to test on?"
Gasket permitted himself a moment's satisfaction at imagining their gaping faces as he sauntered out of the laboratory and made his way down the twisting hallways to the witch's inner sanctorum.
This alliance had been, by any reasonable measure, fruitful for both forces. Robots capable of deploying magical spells were highly coveted in the known systems. Aside from the personal armaments of Archerina's own father, King Aradon, few mechanical lifeforms employed or trusted magic. This, Gasket knew, was needless superstition. Most organic lifeforms were very susceptible to its power, and proper use of spells against unsuspecting forces could render devastating effects. His own mechanical genius had just demonstrated his value to Rita as an ally, and studying Finster's designs had taught him a great deal about noncomputerized methods of fabricating footsoldiers - quite how the elderly artist had ever designed the Monstermatic in the first place was incredible.
Gasket had not lied when he offered Rita equal share in the United Alliance of Evil they would build out of the ashes of the old. For too long power had been consolidated at the foot of Dark Specter, hindering the expansionist policies of the Alliance's members. An alliance could not have a first among equals. If the UAE was to survive this war of attrition against Zordon - and Gasket made no mistake, this war was now against Zordon specifically - it would have to abandon its unwritten escalation code and seize the Earth in one decisive stroke. With access to the ley lines and reality nexuses, they would have a beachhead from which to remake the universe as they saw fit. Space, when all is said and done, is infinite. Just like ambition.
Emerging from his thoughts and finding himself already outside her bedroom, Gasket wrapped his fist against the heavy wooden door. "Rita?"
He waited a moment and knocked a second time. "Rita, it's Gasket. Has Archerina spoken to you today?"
His audio receptors could faintly detect coughing and the blowing of a nose through the walls. The sound baffling provided by the palace was - well, baffling. After all, no one was meant to hear you in space.
Rita opened the door a crack, peering out at the robotic emperor. Her eyes were bloodshot, and though Gasket's knowledge of humanoid physiology was limited, she looked as though she had seen better days. "I haven't talked to anyone since last night. Do you need my help with something?"
"Well, no. As a matter of fact, I'd-"
"THEN DON'T BOTHER ME WITH YOUR PROBLEMS!" she screeched at the top of her lungs, slamming the door shut. Now that was more in keeping with the Rita Repulsa he knew.
Gasket almost knocked for a third time before deciding discretion was the better part of valor. Better to be scolded for acting out of turn than becoming complacent in his duties. Simply repairing the device wasn't enough, they needed to begin replicating designs in the various monster tomes.
Swiftly returning to the workshop he found Archerina in the thick of things, helping show the henchmutants how to properly load Finster's molds with clay.
"Excellent work on the monster maker, Gasket," she noted sweetly as she continued kneading. "Goldar has managed locate a handful of molds Finster hadn't destroyed before leaving Rita's employ, and we were just about to get started. This will save us a great deal of manufacturing time on each platoon."
"How may I help, love?" he asked his queen.
Archerina laughed. "I would like you to take a break. I'll take the Putties out for training. We'll need to work the kinks out of our line models before using them against the Rangers. Why don't you rest for the evening?"
Gasket's mouth upturned. "My dear, there is no rest for the wicked."
The Machine Queen threw a slab of clay down on the counter and pointed as though he were a disobedient dog. "You just earned yourself a night's labor, then."
The scene that greeted Silver Astro outside the warehouse was carefully choreographed chaos. Dozens of Quantrons prowled the alleyways between the industrial depots, their advance kept in check largely through the coordinated sniping efforts of Black Zeo and Yellow Turbo. Across the street he could see Ecliptor and Astronema in single combat with Black Morphin and Purple Zeo.
Before he could muster up the presence of mind to select a target, three streaks of light coalesced beside him, revealing Blue Astro and Pink and White Morphin. Blue Astro nodded to his teammate, an odd mirror of Carlos' own reaction. Zhane dimly wondered if he looked as bad as he felt.
"Sorry to keep you all from your business," he offered lamely.
White Morphin shrugged in an animated manner. "We're between sets anyway. The most you're doing is keeping us from netting a generous tip from some drunken, lonely patron on this, the most romantic of days. Or possibly an attempt to look down Kim's dress."
Pink Morphin elbowed her husband in the ribs.
"Ow!"
A sudden reversal of fortune halted any other comments, as Purple Zeo's Lightning Sword was disarmed by Astronema. Discarding the weapon before its protective spells could attack her, the Princess of Evil incapacitated the Ranger with a smooth kick to the solar plexus.
Moving without thought, Silver Astro cleared the distance between them in seconds, grabbing Astronema by her mane of black hair and tugging with all his might. The evil princess screamed.
"Come on, where's the fun in fighting some lady you barely even know? Now you and me? We've got history. Not that history was my best subject as a boy. Actually, I liked smelting things. I was just telling your buddy inside the warehouse-"
Twisting in his arms, Astronema landed a series of blows against Silver Astro's chest, breaking his grip on her and staggering him back. Without pausing the lithe villainess summoned her staff weapon and lunged, nearly skewering him for the second time in minutes before she fell flat on her face. From her low vantage the Purple Ranger had entangled her legs around Astronema's, tripping her up.
"Hey Zhane," Purple wheezed. "You look like hell."
At least he could count on Jamie to be honest.
Purple Ranger wobbled onto unsure feet as Silver Astro shot off a succession of blasts around the already rising Astronema and took off running for the nearest pair of buildings. No sense in letting his friends remain easy pickings now that he'd been extricated from the monster's clutches.
With a cry of frustration, the dark princess tore after him.
Energy crackled through the narrow alleyway as Silver Astro flung himself behind an upturned dumpster, narrowly missing a shot from Astronema's Wrath Staff. Chancing a quick glance, he fought back an already tightening stomach.
"So, I was wondering about something," he called over the sound of the nearby battle. "Back on KO-35 - you saved my life. I never got a chance to ask you why."
Astronema continued to stalk towards him. "Is *that* what you think?" Her beautiful face twisted into a sneer of contempt. "Watching you die would have been far more demoralizing for the other Guardians than finding you already dead."
"I don't suppose you'd extend me the same courtesy again."
Another blast of dark energies was her only response. Left with no other option, Silver Astro configured his Silverizer to blaster mode and rolled into the open.
There was no one else there. Astronema had vanished.
Silver Astro looked around in confusion. "You know, it IS demoralizing when people just up and quit without telling you. And it's not very sporting."
A rustling behind him caused Silver Astro to jerk in reflex. His Silverizer wobbled on an unsteady arm. Another sound produced yet another spastic response, and Zhane felt his head spinning. Why couldn't he concentrate?
Why was he thinking about... Ashley...
"Do you ever think about getting away from all this?" he babbled. "Find a nice little planet somewhere to rule over? That just sounds fantastic right now..."
The Ranger fell to his knees, though in his stupor he barely noticed. At the periphery of his consciousness he saw Astronema's familiar purple teleportation in front of him. With clinical efficiency she cleared the space between them and lunged. The blade of her staff tore through his Ranger uniform like wet tissue, burying itself deep between Silver Astro's ribs.
Zhane screamed.
Before a proper response to the Dark Reflection could leave the former Astro Ranger's lips he doubled over in pain, clutching at his right side.
"Chris?" Jade asked with alarm as he struggled to hold himself up.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The stares of the other patrons forgotten, she bounded over the table and began checking his vitals. His pulse was erratic and his breath came in ragged gasps. This was the reaction of a man in his seventies about to stroke out, not a healthy teen who had just finished a tour of duty as a Ranger.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Jade yelled over the din.
Somewhere just within Silver Astro's awareness, Ecliptor was engaged in a heated debate with Astronema.
"Leave him."
"I am going to finish what we started on his colony."
"Ecliptor, there's no time. The monster has been destroyed and more of Zordon's Rangers are arriving as we speak."
"Princess, we have our orders."
"Ecliptor..." Her voice became higher pitched, more a girl pleading with a loved one than a feared warrior arguing with her peer.
He grunted. "As you wish, my princess."
The low thrum of the Dark Fortress' satellaser grid targeting the fallen monster punctuated the Kousekian's words. Silver Astro moaned, reaching for where he thought the voices came from and nearly falling over on his other side. The fiery pain as he exerted his right side and the slippery sensation of blood as he touched his wound pulled him back to his senses.
He remembered. The colony was under attack. The UAE were ripping their defenses to shreds. He'd... What had he done again?
"ZHANE!"
Silver Astro looked up to see two of his teammates racing to his side, flanked by another Silver Ranger. Where did he know her from?
"Try not to move," Blue Astro cautioned as he took his friend's hand. "We're going to get you back to the Power Chamber."
"You're still morphed," Silver Zeo reminded him, "the cellular regenerator can put you back together as long as you don't move any more."
"A-Astronema..."
"Suka," the silver-clad woman spat.
"... it's... different... this time..."
"Please, Zhane," Black Astro asked, "don't try to talk."
"Bran?"
Black Astro was silent for a moment before nodding. "I'm here, Zhane. I'm here with..."
"Daithi," Blue Astro added quietly. "We're both here now."
"I'm so sorry," Silver Astro babbled. "I'm so sorry..."
The world exploded into a shower of silver sparkles.
"Ay-yi-yi, you could have gotten yourself killed!"
The Power Chamber was on low-alert as the Super Zeo and Astro Megazords made short work of the massive monster over the viewing globe, and as such the alarm klaxons had been switched to silent. Alpha had insisted upon it as he continued the delicate work of knitting Zhane back together on the diagnostic table. As Zordon could patch through a communications signal to anyone not in the base from within his plasma tube in the event anything went amiss, no one had objected.
Something had happened back there that he didn't understand, and while there were a lot of things in this universe Zhane didn't understand, his own well-being was not one of them. The cryo-sleep shouldn't have done this to him. Even if they had been more strenuous than they should have, he had passed multiple physicals from DECA before being returned to active service, and he had attended a small number of sessions with the team's assigned therapist. Lita had certified he was fit for duty. His mind and his body were holding together as well as could be expected given the circumstances.
_Yeah, so that's why you can't keep the past and the present straight anymore._
This felt wrong. Was it possible he had experienced a walk-in? It had long been rumored that temporal 'echoes' of the souls of fallen Grid users could, at times, possess active users, though it had never been demonstratively proven by anyone. Andros had laughed at the idea years ago. Maybe there was something to it after all. Maybe Zhane had been possessed by himself from before his death? Wasn't he one of the MOST likely candidates for it? It was only like months had passed for him instead of years, maybe that made it easier?
Carlos sighed. "Alpha's right, Zhane. You should never have tried fighting the monster by yourself."
"You're just lucky you didn't demorph!" Alpha harumphed. "You should be all right for now. Try to stay off your feet while you mend. Your body has been under enough stress."
"Thanks, doc." Looking up, Zhane flashed Carlos a toothy grin. "I kept him busy, didn't I? Besides, it's not like I didn't take worse beatings from Ben."
The Earthen teen gave him a confused look. "Ben?"
"Yeah, the guy who used to-" Zhane paused. He wanted to put a face to what he'd just said, but nothing came. Who in the name of the solar architects was Ben? That was an Earth name. Zhane hadn't known any Terrans before this last year.
"Zhane?" Alpha asked quizitively. The 'droid wisely loaded a hypospray just in case.
"Yeah, no big. I... I don't remember who he was, I'm sorry."
"Zhane," Zordon rumbled, "I believe it is for the best that you step down from active service for the next month. While I cannot order you to do this, I believe you would benefit from having the time to yourself. You have endured far more than your share of hardship. You have not truly rested since before leaving KO-35. DECA is in agreement, and she has begin compiling a list of possible recreational and rehabilitation activities."
That sobered Zhane. DECA had been an active presence and quasi-denmother to each of the prospective Astro Guardian candidates from the moment of their enrollment to ensure the best possible team dynamics, and had even kept in touch with many of the officers who had flushed out of the program years later. He never doubted the artificial intelligence wanted only what was best for any of them. She'd been there for him during his military history classes when he'd first heard of walk-ins. Now with access to Zordon's databanks, maybe she could help figure out what was wrong.
"What would you do for the Winger?" he asked with a cracking voice.
Carlos smiled wanly. "It's not like we don't have enough Rangers to go around, but if we need a pilot we can always ask Chris to help us."
"I..." Zhane thought about it. Maybe he really did need this.
"Yeah, okay."
"Chris?" he heard a soft voice asking over and over.
He couldn't focus. Something had happened to... the colony...? What colony? Dry Creek was an private community.
"Chris, please." Was that his name? It felt familiar. Who was he?
The Silver Astro Guardian. That's who he was. Defender of... something.
"Hrrrrrgggghhhh," he mumbled.
Chris forced his eyes open. Jade looked down and gave him an uncertain smile. "Thank god."
"What happened?"
The Dark Reflection swallowed. "You had a gran mal seizure. By the time the ambulance got us to the hospital your vitals were all over the place."
He looked around. Plain beige walls, the incessant dripping and clicking of machines, and the smell of surgical tape, laundry detergent and rubbing alcohol greeted him. Yeah, this was a hospital.
"By the time they had you in here," Jade continued with a gesture, "you had stabilized again. They want to keep you in for observation."
The first thing he wanted to do was hiss "what did you do," but the look of concern in her eyes kept it just off his tongue. No one was that manipulative. He hoped.
"Thank you for staying with me," Chris settled for instead.
She flashed another smile. "I called your mom. She's dropping Rory off with your uncles before she stops by tonight. Dana said she'd drive up tomorrow to see you. And before you ask," she added with a raised hand, "I impersonated Ashley."
The former Ranger sighed. Jade had done everything right. That left the fulcrum of his worry on what could have given him a seizure. Nothing before the blackout was very clear, but he remembered the pain. Was that normal? Could epilepsy just suddenly come on for a sixteen-year-old who'd been playing video games since he could walk?
"Do you want to be alone?" she asked.
Good question.
"Depends on what kind of planet you're offering me," he said at last.
Her smile brightened more.
TJ Carter was absolutely insane, there was just no other way around it. What did he think he was doing, willfully fraternizing with one of the Neji Rangers? Mara was one of their sworn enemies; a being of pure distilled darkness.
With a sigh, the young man threw himself down on his bed. Mara hadn't been there when he returned to the arcade. Much as he'd hoped she would stay, and even though he had left the Power Chamber as soon as he knew Alpha could stabilize Zhane's lifesigns, TJ couldn't fault her for leaving. He had lied to her, just the same as she'd used him.
And yet... he had seen something there, when they played together. Some desperate need to belong, to be a normal seventeen-year-old girl. Something he had never seen when he looked in Cassie's eyes. Cassie wanted to prove herself. Mara didn't even know what she was supposed to prove.
Was that why he hadn't ratted her out to Zordon? Why else was he back in his bedroom, staring vacantly at the posters of sports stars decorating the walls?
Maybe it wasn't fair to categorize Mara as evil. She hadn't done anything to the Chans - he'd made a point to go and check on them after the arcade. And weren't Tyler and Terry Oliver supposed to have been Dark Reflections? Terry was studying for a nursing degree, for pete's sake!
Of their own volition, TJ's hands had found a stray baseball he'd left on his nightstand, and slowly began to trace the stitching. Nothing about today made any sense. In the months he'd known him, Zhane was never that reckless or that cowardly, let alone both at the same time. He was acting like Chris, and Chris had gotten off to who knows where.
TJ prided himself on being a good judge of character, but today had him thinking otherwise. Maybe he'd misjudged himself.
"Either something is wrong with me, or something is wrong with the universe," he muttered.
The plinking of something against his bedroom window startled TJ out of his self-recrimination. After glancing to see if a bird had kamakaized itself, he heard it again.
With a sign, the Blue Astro Ranger hauled himself across the room and opened the window a split second before the loiterer in his backyard sent another pebble his way. He gave an undignified shriek as it bounced off his shoulder.
"Sorry!" Mara exclaimed.
TJ sighed as he tried flexing his arm in response. "You waiting for an invitation?"
She nodded. "I kinda need one."
He motioned for her. "Yeah, come on in."
The shadows on the wall beside him deepened, and Mara materialized in a swirl of darkness. TJ blanched. Mara's face flushed. "I just found out how to do this last week. The more powerful Morpheus demons can go halfway across a planet. So far we can only do a few miles."
TJ's jaw set at that word. "We."
Mara nodded. "Faran hoped we'd developed enough in our abilities to go back and forth to Earth from the Dark Fortress, but so far nothing. Nyghtmayr could travel entire star systems at full power."
Mara coughed and needled her hands together. "I'm... sorry I left you back there. I needed to get my head together. TJ, you were so amazing to me today, and I'm sorry I blew you off. I feel sick inside when I realize..."
The girl choked back a sob and buried herself into the Blue Ranger's chest.
The mood in the firehouse that served as headquarters to the Ghostbusters tended to border just this side of "restrained panic." Valentine's Day, Janine Melnitz noted, was a rare exception to the norm.
Every year she'd receive a bouquet of roses from Egon at her apartment - thoughtfully ordered, paid for, and with a forged card from Peter - and every year the boys would end up called to action against one sort of cupid themed demon or another, retiring to their beds hours before normal lights-out. It was familiar. It was a source of comfort in a chaotic world.
That's why the last thing she expected to see at eight in the evening was a tuxedoed Peter Venkman vaulting down the steps, and trying desperately to ward off an inquisitive Slimer. "Janine, hold my calls!"
"Dressed to the nines, Dr. V. To what does New York's social scene owe the pleasure?" There were times Janine really missed her old accent. She couldn't deliver her putdowns with half the oomph she used to.
"If you must know, I have a date - I said back off, Spud!"
Slimer dejectedly pulled away from the psychologist. "Peter look goofy."
"Isn't this a little spur of the moment?" Janine wondered.
Peter pointedly ignored her. "Tell Lita that I'm sorry, but something came up?"
Well, that was something. Dr. V had finally scored a date with the elusive Dr. Kino and he was cutting her loose without any forewarning? For all Peter's espoused womanizing, Janine had never seen him dismiss someone like that unless he had good reason.
"And what do I do when-"
"If anything comes up, Zack said he'd cover my shift!" Peter yelled over his shoulder as he raced out the door.
Janine sighed as Slimer floated down beside her at the front desk. "Did today seem a little off to you?"
The ghost shrugged.
A moment later there was a loud clatter from the basement, and what appeared to be a boot kicking Egon out of the door. The physicist nervously adjusted his glasses and fiddled with a PKE meter as he tried to walk to Janine with what she guessed was supposed to be nonchalance.
"Oh, Janine. I see you're... here."
She couldn't even try containing her smile. This was something new, all right.
"I was wondering if you might be willing to, ah... Accompany me to the party the Rangers are having in Angel Grove? Zack had invited all of us if our schedule permitted."
Janine bit her lip. Her quasi-boyfriend had kept her in a holding pattern for years, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through her fingers, her own laughter be damned. "What sort of party, Egon?"
Egon cleared his throat. "Oh, for the holiday."
"What holiday would that be?"
Egon twitched. Janine worried for a moment she'd overstepped her bounds before Aisha came barreling from the containment herself and sidled up along Egon. "Since Zack and I didn't have any classes tomorrow, I thought I'd let you guys have a break and take Zack up on his offer for some company. I'll be happy to run reception for you, Janine."
She pulled the younger woman into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much," she whispered into the girl's ear.
"You're welcome!" Aisha whispered back. "Peter had us set this up weeks ago!"
Behind them Egon nervously fidgeted when he thought she wasn't looking. It did Janine good to know there were still some constant things in the universe.
Mara never wanted this moment to end.
The Pink Neji Ranger could feel TJ's heart beating inside his chest. Underneath his shirt. Against her cheek. Any pretense of having a meaningful conversation had long since passed, and now she was just trying to accept going back to the Dark Fortress at the day's end. To his credit, the Blue Astro Ranger was giving her whatever she needed.
"You can't imagine," she mumbled, "what it's like for me back there. There's no one that cares about me. No one who treats me like a person..."
Mara fought back a sob. "And maybe that's because I'm not."
TJ pulled her closer, his hands caressing her shoulders. "That's not true."
How was it possible that he could make her feel so safe? Maybe it was to be expected, but TJ really was nothing like Jake. The warmth that radiated from his deep brown eyes was like a blanket enveloping her. Mara couldn't imagine how Cassie had somehow failed to register this.
"You're not a thing," he continued. "You were just - born under unusual circumstances."
She looked up at him and saw nothing but sincerity there. Hot tears began to race down her cheeks as she pulled herself closer.
"Why am I alive, TJ? Why do I hurt so much? How can someone fail at being a monster?"
He pulled her from his chest. "You are not a monster," he insisted. "You aren't some little pink toy for Dark Specter to play with anymore. There is nothing for you back there."
Mara began to tremble in spite of herself. Was he angry with her? Why was he making this harder? Jake would find this in her and prey on it. Her tears came faster.
"You can't go back there," TJ said with more softness than she was expecting. "They'll kill you. Maybe not your body, but they'll kill you inside and that might be worse."
What did he expect her to say to that? That no one had ever made her feel loved, not in the memories she'd had and not in the new ones she'd made? Trusting him was going to destroy her life, and she was helpless just like she was helpless against the blood lust she felt as a Ranger. Mara wanted to pray for nonexistence if she didn't know for a fact her god was dead and she'd been made out of his corpse.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her after several minutes pause.
Damn him. He had no right to ask her that. Not after all this. Not when he was letting her out into the wild to be exiled and hunted down by her packmates. Maybe he was more like Jake than she wanted to believe.
"Mara..." he pleaded.
"Yes," she choked out. "I trust you."
She felt his arms against her back move as his hand unclasped the Astro Morpher on his wrist. A chill ran down her spine. "TJ, please..."
"Alpha, two to teleport to the Power Chamber."
The Angel Grove Youth Center was not the sort of place that got rented out entirely unless it was for community events or charitable drives, but as the population of Power Rangers, related superheroes, friends, family, and support staff continued to balloon, it had become imperative that the defenders of the earth be allowed to relax and unwind in as private a venue as possible. Thankfully, money was money.
Dr. Lita Kino took a long pull off her beer. As one of only a few dozen people at this party old enough to drink, as well as the only one attending the function alone, she'd had time to reflect on the shape of her life. Of all the places she'd been and all the people she'd met, she had come to be defined by an ever-expanding group of adolescents with the fate of the world in their hands. If nothing else, that puts one's priorities in order on any holiday.
It wasn't so much that she regretted how her life had turned out. In the corner of the makeshift 'ballroom' she watched Leslie and Larry Zedden feeding each other cake and making moon eyes at one another. Larry was a testament to the good she knew that she had done, a good that went beyond the pride she had always felt at her work.
Lita sighed. She wanted someone to love her. How many months had it been since her breakup with her Max, and this was still on her mind. She had come to identify herself as Dr. Kino every bit as much as he was Dr. Delany, and that had doomed their relationship from the onset. Where was there room for romance in something like that?
Looking back over the years, this had always been the case to some extent. Any man who even got in under her defenses ended up compared to a college boyfriend she'd barely spent six months with. That kind of ruthless efficiency had given her ample opportunity for advancement in her field. Was she finally feeling the crash? If the full extent of her own confidentiality agreements hadn't tied Lita's arms, she'd have paid one of her friends to help her get some perspective.
Was that why she'd agreed to let Peter take her out tonight? Lita knew there was a physical attraction there, but neither one of them were interested in meaningless sex anymore. Peter Venkman loved women, but unless he got clear signs in return he never went beyond juvenile innuendo. Did he think that this might be the last chance he had at a relationship with someone too?
Maybe there was something to be said for a life of chastity if those were her only options.
"Is there still room at this table?"
Looking up, Lita was surprised to see Winston Zeddemore there. Behind him she could see Janine trying very hard to get a visibly uncomfortable Egon to socialize.
"Winston, hey. Please, take a seat."
The older man smiled as he slid in next to her. "Am I intruding?"
"No, I'm just feeling my years. I always tried to be superwoman, and I don't know what's next. These kids..." she gestured to the crowd. "They've seen more than I ever will. I worry sometimes I'm not going to be able to help them anymore. There's abnormal psychology and then there's this. I want to help them, you know? That's supposed to be my job. What happens when I can't do that anymore?"
"Does it matter to you that you be able to help them?"
Lita shook her head. "I don't... have any reason to be here if I can't. And that's the part that scares me. Who am I anymore? I'm the team psychologist of the Power Rangers. My life centers around unpaid labor I can't even publish or hold up for peer review. What do I do if I lose that? What kind of shrink am I if this is the kind of thing I'm worried about?"
He let her words hang for a moment before he replied. "It's the highlight of your working day. Of course you're excited by it. You're already outside the bonds of professional conduct, you're friends with your clients. That's what you lost sight of, Lita. These people don't care if they won't get their therapy anymore, they care about you as their friend and part of their team."
Lita leaned her head against her hand. The man had a point, and she honestly didn't know how to refute him. This whole arrangement had always been so far outside of the accepted norm she'd never imagined there would be a time this was her normal life.
"Anyway," Winston continued, "I'm sorry about what happened with Peter. All I know is that he was in a rush and he neglected to tell any of us what was going on."
His voice lowered conspiratorially. "Janine thinks he's renting himself out for desperate old women."
Lita laughed ruefully. "Truth be known? Maybe it's for the best he didn't show. At this point, I think I would have been willing to give a relationship with Peter a shot."
"Loneliness is a pretty powerful emotion."
"It makes you do all kinds of things you never would have expected," she agreed.
The sway of the various couples on the dance floor seemed to capture their attention for a moment. Winston finally cleared his throat. "I don't suppose you'd do this old man the pleasure of giving him a dance?"
Lita proffered her hand. "Mr. Zeddemore, I would be delighted."
"Do you think you might have a slot open on your dance card?"
The gentle, tentative quality of the voice is what first caught Zhane's attention. Had he not previously agreed to attend this mixer weeks ago, there was no way Earth's second Silver Ranger would have even considered coming in his present condition - he had even turned down a few offers to dance from sympathetic and unfortunately attached women. Turning towards the locker room entrance of the Youth Center, he was shocked to see a tall, mirthful looking woman he didn't recognize - and while there were a bunch of Power Rangers on Earth he'd never really interacted with, he would have remembered that face.
Stars, he'd have remembered that fashion sense. The hem of her dress was such that Zhane was quite sure she had no intention of sitting down at any point this evening.
She smiled. This woman could warm the surface of a planet by expression alone. "Tongue-tied?"
"It's a rare occasion, consider yourself lucky to bear witness," Zhane jibed as he rose from his chair with considerable discomfort.
There was familiar something about her. The curve of her jaw, the smattering of freckles under her eyes...
"You never answered my question. Would you like to dance?"
It couldn't be her. The thought sent chills up his spine, and a surge of new pain to the wound taped up and mending up underneath his blazer. _Get out of here, Zhane. She's come to finish the job. Or tear your head off like a preying mantis._
He heard a voice disarmingly similar to his own somehow escaping from his mouth. "That'd be great."
She tentatively stepped forward, her positioning awkward. She was just as unfamiliar with human dances as he was. Zhane finally pulled her arms in place on his body for a standard Ezarian waltz, and the two began to move as one.
"I... how did you get past the Blue Senturion?"
Astronema - it had to be Astronema, damn him, why wasn't he reporting her? - giggled. "It wasn't as hard as you'd think. No one even thought to shield this place from teleportation."
Aware that anyone could see them out in the open, they slowly began to glide back through the locker room, towards the showers and sauna.
"I take it a dance is suitable reparation for trying to kill me this afternoon."
Her mood darkened. "I'd prefer you not bring that up right now."
Dimly, Zhane wondered why taking her away from prying eyes was a good thing. Then again, they did have a hot tub in this place.
The tinny sound of muzak piped in through the speakers on his bed filled their ears.
Jade laughed as Chris tried to dip her. The available space in his hospital room didn't allow for much in the way of motion for a dance, even less so with the IV towers he trailed behind him, but something had possessed the teen just after she'd turned on the radio and he had lumbered to his feet.
"Jade, I want to apologize for how I acted this afternoon. After what you did for me today... There's no excuse for what I said."
She snorted. "There's every excuse. Until we got to the restaurant, I was still thinking about bashing you over the head and bringing you to Dark Specter."
Chris gave her an appraising look. Jade managed to hold her stoic expression for nearly a minute before bursting into giggles.
"I-" Chris' response was cut short as his body jerked in her arms and his eyes bugged. Seconds later he sagged to the ground in a limp heap as the security alerts went off on his vitals.
The Yellow Neji Ranger's cry died on her tongue as she saw the smirking face of Darkonda appear in the door in front of her. "How right you are."
"Excellent work, Jade," the Mephistan scientist continued as he began to unplug the IVs from the prone body, ignoring the squawks of the alarms. "I suspected you'd locate the replacement for me if I let you go about your business. But now your day off is over. We have work to do."
Jade swallowed. "What do you want with him? He's not even a Ranger anymore! He's not a combatant!"
Darkonda laughed. "Nothing you need concern yourself with. Just ensuring Dark Specter's winning hand has another ace should he need it."
He hoisted the limp body over his shoulder, affectionately patting it on the back. "I have big plans for you... Neji Silver."
To be continued...