A/N: Hardly my plotline, this is originally Ghostwriter's plotline through crowned tiger. You'll want to read When the Lines Blur and A Dragon's Path before going on and reading this. I own ALMOST nothing. Queen Malena Repulsa is mine though. Ghostwriter has given me the go ahead to continue with this plotline.

Chapter 1 – Girl Talk

It had been a month since the last battle with Zordon's generals, Travox and Linux and things had been very quiet on Earth.

It had allowed them to go back to their regular lives, which the Rangers had taken great advantage of though Tommy was very edgy about the situation.

For one thing, it had given the team a great opportunity to get acquainted with their new friends from the moon. Tommy, being Zedd and Rita's son, spent a lot of time on the moon and so did Jason and Kim being that they were both from broken families. Occasionally, everyone would get together for a day on the weekend if parents were out of town.

The Rangers all grew particularly to love Scorpina, and she in turn loved them back like they were her own children and they spent a lot of time with each other. They all loved her cunning, sly personality and her natural talent, which had been honed for centuries and blended well with her belief in honor and fair play. To be sure, she was considered a valuable team leader.

She also knew human psychology very well, which was part of what was helping Jason slowly but surely come along. And, for her part, these young children, these upstarts were getting better each and every day.

This was another reason the team was grateful for the time off. Jason had almost been irreparably damaged by both his father and Travox and needed time to heal. But Scorpina had been there every single step of the way with help from Tommy, Goldar, Zedd and Rita which was helping Jason progress day by day. He had still been experiencing flashbacks but they were far less frequent since he'd made his permanent home at the palace.

Rumors throughout the palace also had it that Scorpina was keeping a close eye on a situation which she deemed a "project." The Rangers had tried to pry it off her before but as Tommy had informed them afterwards, prying confidential information like that from someone like Scorpina was like pulling teeth.

The only other people who knew about her project were Tommy, Rita and Zedd, all of whom had encouraged her to go through with the project. It was another one of Scorpina's "hunches" that she often had, but most times those hunches worked out well.

Presently, it was a Saturday afternoon and Kim had just finished another round of intense studying. She was sort of grumpy – this was math homework and math was far from her thing.

Too tired to think anymore she walked through the hallways towards a spacious kitchen. It was about lunch time on Earth, and she just wanted something to get her mind off the challenging work that was ahead of her. Then she heard footsteps behind her and saw Rita come in as well.

"Hi Kim," Rita said. "You look frazzled. Math homework again?"

"Yep," Kim said. "Math homework for me is a bitch. Hopefully I'll see Billy some time this weekend."

"Eh, forget about that for now," Rita said. "Want to have a seat?"

"Sure," Kim said, "just let me get something to eat."

Once Kim had what she wanted plus a glass of water, she sat down and said, "You know, I'm almost starting to agree with him. Things are far too quiet for my liking. Does Zordon like to take this long off?"

"Not usually," Rita said. "Usually he's very impulsive. Him attacking right away is to our advantage generally because we can defeat it. When he takes a long time between attacks they are usually far more difficult to defeat. I must agree with Trigon, I am nervous as well. One month is an awfully long time."

Kim had to admit her boyfriend was right as well. Zordon was being way too quiet for her liking. Something was definitely up.

"What kind of people does he target anyways?" Kim said.

"People like you," Rita said. "Generally, he likes to target young kids that have a rough life. He can come off as noble like that. Now that he's been found out a little bit though, I think he'll be more careful. He has other methods too."

"What sort of methods does he use, besides the one he used on us?" Kim asked.

"Sometimes, he'll send out a fake letter offering someone a job, pretending to be an employer and then when the targeted person arrives at this place, he or she is taken away…oh God, to labor camps that he has set up throughout the galaxies."

"Labor camps? You mean…like Nazi Germany had?" Kim asked horrified.

"No, not that severe. They are pretty bad however. Not many people survive his labor camps and those who do tend to become his warriors. It's really sad," Rita said, scowling as she did so.

"How good is your army anyways?" Kim said. "You've never told any of us."

"Our army is strong," Rita said. "We have other formidable friends in high places too that are a speed dial call away as well."

Kim nodded in appreciation. The group of six was one, but she knew as well as anyone that life was tough and that at some point the team might need help.

"How about Zords, or battle machines?" Kim said. "I just have a bad feeling about that part of this whole thing."

Rita nodded in appreciation. The woman who might one day be her future daughter in law was proving herself to be exceptionally quick and perceptive. Scorpina and Goldar had raved about her abilities, and couldn't stop talking about Kimberly's untapped potential and Rita could see why.

"You are right. We will need to upgrade at some point," Rita said. "Fortunately there are things we can do and we have other weapons at our disposal as well. But I'm concerned about upgrades as well."

"You know, I feel awfully bad for Finster," Rita added. "He's worked tirelessly day after day after day for many thousands of years. I've wanted to give him a break from his monster making but there's no one I've found that's any better."

Having seen Finster many times, Kim had to agree. The little dog was broken down, got very little sleep and was arguably one of the most likeable figures Kim had ever met.

"I hear he makes his monsters out of clay, is that correct?" Kim said as something began to form in her mind. Rita nodded.

"What's Zordon's biggest weakness?" Kim said as her creative mind began spinning. "You would know far better than we could…we were only around him for a couple months and he kept himself very close to the vest."

"He has two big weaknesses," Rita said. "The first, as I said, is that he's rather impulsive. The other is that he underestimates females and what we can do. He likes macho…likes big and strong. He's of the philosophy the bigger and more macho the better. As an aside to that, he can easily be distracted by love. He's never been married before so if a lady can be nice to him it would take him off his target."

Impulsive…underestimates females…macho. Kim snapped her fingers. She had a plan now.

"I'm utterly shocked he chose two females to be on your team considering what Divatox and I have done to him and his army in the past," Rita said.

"Diva-who?" Kim said.

"My friend Divatox," Rita said. "She's from a distant planet, Inqiuiris, and she's probably my best friend in the whole galaxy. She is a bit reckless but she possesses incredible powers and she's even more difficult to defeat than I because of her unpredictable nature."

Kim nodded appreciatively – if worst came to worst, maybe Divatox, whoever she was, could give them some help.

"How about the monsters we faced?" Kim said. "What became of them?"

"Defeated but not destroyed," Rita said. "All that happened is they were sent to an alternate dimension except for Madame Woe who was teleported back to her home after you faced her. That reminds me, I need to get a more powerful source for her, one that Zordon can't break."

"Ask Billy about it some time," Kim said. "I know after what he went through with her it might be difficult but it couldn't hurt to ask."

"You're right…he's the expert in power sources and stuff like that," Rita said.

"What about your family?" Kim said. "Mine is in tatters."

"Sadly, mine is divided too," Rita said. "I was born on the M-51 galaxy to Malena Repulsa of Eltar, who to this day is my inspiration. Malena was queen of the M-51 Galaxy for eons but she's from Eltar, where Zordon is from. Don't worry, those two are worlds apart and hate each other."

Kim's mind was swimming. How could two people from the same planet be so different?

"Master Vile was her husband but isn't my real father – Malena had a night with my real father and I was the result. Malena bravely fought Zordon at every turn – there is still a bitter hatred between the two of them."

"Do you have a photo of Malena?" Kim said.

"Right here," Rita said and she pulled out a small mug shot of a dark tan woman who looked like something out of a supermodel magazine. She was dressed in a gorgeous purple and black dress and matching glittery silver skirt and had jet-black hair colored with streaks of silver. She was gorgeous in every respect.

"Wow," Kim said. "I'd love to meet her some day."

"And I wish I could see Mother again some day. However it probably will never happen," Rita said. "Unfortunately, before she could marry her true love, and my real father, the one known as Master Vile arrived while I was asleep one night, killed my real father and with Zordon's help forcibly married my mother, sending the whole M-51 galaxy into a reign of darkness."

Kim sensed she didn't like where this story was headed. She couldn't be more right.

"How long were Malena and your real father seeing each other before they were to get married?" Kim said.

"They planned a wedding three weeks after they first met," Rita said. "Don't look shocked, we marry fast out here. It's not like on Earth where I understand you guys see each other for two to three years – if two people say they love each other they are encouraged to marry."

That revelation left Kim speechless as Rita continued.

"Malena was abused day after day in the relationship, just like I was abused as a child," Rita said. "The only reason she's even alive is because my friend Madame Woe helped her escape right before Vile was about to kill her. Hell the only reason I'm even alive is because Zedd and Malena were always close and she helped smuggle me to Keslon."

It reminded Kim so much of what happened with Jason and his father, as well as her own family – this was almost as bad.

"I don't get why some guys have to be that way," Kim said. "My father Kenny and I were never close. He wanted me to fit a certain mold and he verbally abused me time after time. Then there's Jason – we know his story."

"Don't remind me," Rita said as she shuddered deeply. "Despite the abuse, she can hold her own with anyone including Master Vile and Zordon," Rita continued. "It's just that I haven't seen her in a long time, she's had to stay out of sight for the fear that Zordon and Vile will find her. The two are close allies. I don't even know where she is."

"Does Tommy know about her?" Kim said.

"I'm pretty sure he does, with as much as he reads from his father's libraries how can he not?" Rita said.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Sit tight, Kim. That's probably either Zedd or my son," Rita said as she went up to answer the door. She opened it to find Goldar.

"Zedd told me to send for you as he and Trigon are out working on mechanical malfunctions in Serpentera," Goldar said. "You have a visitor."

"What? I thought we took care of the malfunctions earlier this week!" Rita said, surprised.

"I guess we didn't," Goldar said. "Oh, damn, I almost forgot Kim was in here. Serpentera is Zedd's battle machine, much like your Megazord and Dragonzord, Kim. I actually have my own, Cyclopsis, though it has been quite inactive for a long time."

"If I may put my two cents in, I have a suggestion?" Kim said.

Both Goldar and Rita turned to look at Kim in surprise.

"You should summon Billy up here. That's Billy's area of expertise," Kim said.

"Damn," Rita slapped her forehead in disgust at the obvious answer to the problem. "Why didn't I think of that solution? You go call Billy and I'll attend to my visitor."

As Kim finished her lunch and put her dirty dishes in a large…and I do mean large…dishwasher, she headed out of the kitchen looking for a certain someone. She had a plan now and if what Rita had told her was true, she felt she could give the Rangers, Rita and Zedd an advantage they never had before.

Meanwhile, on Earth

Billy and Trini had just finished their meditations and as Zack came up to join them, the three of them went to get their typical smoothies. Then, suddenly, Billy's communicator went off.

"Man, I knew it couldn't stay quiet for too long," Zack said. "Go take care of that, we'll save you a smoothie. Same as usual?"

"Affirmative," Billy said as he stood up and walked to the back and hit his communicator.

"This is Billy, I read you."

"Billy," Kim's voice said. "we need you up on the moon. It's a bit urgent."

"Just me and not the others?" Billy said.

"Yeah, you can come back and finish up soon. Zedd and Tommy could use some help."

Back on the moon...

"Damn," Zedd said as the engine of his battle machine continued to malfunction and he dejectedly walked out of the machine. "That was a good suggestion, though, Trigon. I don't know what is going on with this thing."

"This is bad," Tommy said. "You never know when Zordon will attack and we may need it some day. I just wish we had some help."

"Did someone call for help?" a voice said and the two suddenly saw Billy coming toward them.

"Wow. And right on time, too," Tommy said.

"Thank Kim and Goldar for that," Billy said. "It sounds like your machine is having some problems. May I take a look at it?"

"By all means," Zedd said. "Go for it. Trigon and I should probably get some rest."

2 hours later, Billy had finished running the tests and once again stood before Zedd in his Chamber of Command.

"Well, the machine appears to be fully charged, has more than enough fuel, the machine appears to be in satisfactory condition, but somehow a part deep inside this machine does not appear to be working properly. It's no big deal, most people wouldn't see that. I have the stuff to fix this back at my lab."

"Oh that always happens in this machine and I don't know why," Zedd said. "Thanks for diagnosing the problem. I think this can wait a day though. Zordon will not be attacking any time soon most likely. I do need to find a permanent power source for the machine though."

"That is a most impressive machine, I must say," Billy said. "It's a work of art. I can help you find a permanent power source if you'd like."

Meanwhile, earlier in the day…

As Rita entered her throne room her eyes widened. Sitting before her was a brown hair woman, tall and slender with a corset made of purple, red and gold. She, too, was gorgeous to anyone who met her.

"Divatox, it's been quite some time!" Rita said as she and her old friend hugged. "A friend of mine and I were just talking about you today! How's Inquiris?"

Same old, same old," Divatox said. "Dimitria's off gallivanting to Aquitar at the moment so I thought I'd take a short vacay as well. So, I hear you're still fighting the pompous windbag?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Rita said with a sigh. "But we have help. Trigon's back and he's got some friends with him."

"So I hear," Divatox said. "Is it true that the windbag gave them Ranger Powers and they turned on him?"

"Yep, they did," Rita said. "Trigon helped too but they had the courage to stand up to him. I'm impressed with them. I'm not stupid enough to call off our armies and leave this world in the hands of six Earth teenagers but I think they can more than hold their own."

"Is it true that one of them has been abused by his own father? The red one?" Divatox said.

"Yes, Jason is his name," Rita said. "He's healing but it's a slow process. I'm still horrified looking at this picture."

That said, Rita pulled out a photo she'd captured of Jason's scarred body shortly after his father had been arrested.

"You've got to be kidding me," Divatox said, eyes blazing with anger. "What kind of father in the name of the galaxy would do that to his own son?"

"You've got me there. This is far worse than what even I dealt with when young," Rita said, shuddering in fright at the memories. "Zordon didn't help either. Travox and Zordon did a number on him recently."

"When has that windbag ever helped anything?" Divatox scoffed. "Do you think the boy would warm up to me?"

"It's worth a shot," Rita said. "Maybe you can find him later."

Meanwhile, no one saw the conversation that was going on near Finster's lab, nor did anyone see the embrace the young girl and Finster had.

Nor did anyone see Finster retire to his quarters near the lab.

Nor did they see the young girl enter Finster's lab for the first time and survey the place. As she surveyed the place, she got a good idea of why Rita had called Finster's monsters second rate.

From the looks of things, the creatures Finster had in his lab were big, bulky and lacked agility. They were the same type of monsters that the Rangers had little trouble with in their first battles.

To be sure it was a far cry from this young girl, who preferred speed, agility, and the ability to think quickly. At sixteen, she was already a skilled gymnast, talented singer and was about to become one of the biggest factors in this war.

Needless to say…there were about to be some…changes in the monster making business.

TBC...