Legal Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban. I make no money off of this stuff, it's all for kicks and giggles.

Author's Note: Welcome to my twisted version of "reality". For those of you who read the original version, this is much, much MUCH different. Reality's End 1: Reality's End
by:
Kraziekat

Chaos surrounded her. This wasn't strange. Nor was it unusual for her to see the Order in the Chaos, white against black, light against dark. What was strange was the fact that she couldn't remember how she got there. "What am I doing here? Father Chaos? Mother Order? What's going on?"

YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE

She flinched as the voices hammered into her head. "Choose? Choose what? I don't understand?"

YOUR PATH GO FORWARD OR GO BACK

"Back? Back where? Go forward where?"

TO THAT WHICH IS FAMILIAR AND KNOWN OR TO AN UNKNOWN THAT COULD HOLD YOUR GREATEST DREAMS AND WISHES OR THE END OF ALL THINGS

She opened her mouth, then closed it, and thought, really thought. "I'll go forward." The Chaos and Order swirling around her froze.

ARE YOU SURE

"Yes."

THEN SO BE IT

The light and dark parted, separating, and began spinning, becoming a dizzying blur of luminescent white and all-consuming black; and she knew no more, as she felt her body hit the sand.

***

I groaned and struggled to open my eyes, the sound of battle raging in my ears. A molten heat swirled through my body, making my skin feel as brittle and fragile as ice. I must have fallen asleep watching the OTO tapes again, I thought, trying to sit up. Another groan escaped me as my head throbbed. Tears squeezed from my eyes; I whimpered in agony.

A pair of hands grabbed my arms and yanked me to my feet, nearly pulling my arms out of their sockets. My legs gave out from under me, and the person holding me had to support my weight. "Let her go, Goldar," Tommy snarled on the TV, and I giggled mentally over the timing. The giggling died when the reply was growled in my ear. If they could have, my eyes would have snapped open in shock and fear.

"Lord Zedd has plans for this wench, White Ranger. Killed any teammates recently?" Goldar asked snidely. There was a roar much like a large cat's, and one hand shifted from my arm, to my neck. "Stay back, or I'll snap her neck!"

The molten heat stilled at those words, then began to gather in my stomach as I was forced backwards, my feet dragging in what I could now identify as sand, as if I were on a beach. Once gathered into a compact ball in my stomach, the heat started surging outwards, punching against the barrier of my skin, then, without pause, slamming into the person holding me. We were thrown apart and I collapsed to the ground, sobbing in agony as the lava-like heat slowly retreating back under my skin, back to swirling lazily through me. Only then did I realize someone was talking to me.

"Miss, are you all right?"

I struggled to open my eyes, and managed to get them open. A red, spandex-clad knee was right before my face, leading to a white boot trimmed with red diamonds digging into the pale sand of the beach. A white glove came into my view and touched my shoulder. "Miss?" I tilted my head and a familiar, stylized, and toothy grin of red, white and gray plastic came into view. I gazed up into the visor of the Red Power Ranger from the Mighty Morphin' era. But, as every part of my body became heavy as lead, I was dragged back down into unconsciousness.

***

Rocky caught the girl as she collapsed and informed his teammates, "She's out again. What do we do with her?" It could have been his imagination, but the Red Ranger could have SWORN he felt a pressure gathering around him at his words.

"We can't leave her here," Adam pointed out. "Not with Zedd after her, and ESPECIALLY since we don't know why."

Underneath his helmet, Tommy chewed on his lip thoughtfully, then turned to the Blue Ranger. "What was that... light that threw Ugly back?"

"I believe that it was an uncontrolled burst of raw magical energy," the genius of the team replied.

"Is she dangerous?" the White Ranger wanted to know.

"I don't believe so. If I'm right, it only came out in response to a perceived threat to her: in this case, Goldar's threat to break her neck. So long as we don't threaten her, she shouldn't be dangerous."

Tommy nodded. "All right. We'll take her to the Command Center with us. If Zedd has plans for her, we need to know why."

Rocky scooped up the unconscious girl. He shifted her into a more comfortable position for both, and then noticed the backpack beside her. "Take her backpack?" Kat picked up the burgundy colored canvas bag at Tommy's affirmative, and the team teleported out.

Inside the command Center, a cot was already waiting for the brunette; the Red Ranger eased her onto it. "Thanks Alpha," Rocky said, removing his helmet.

"You're welcome, but it was Jason who brought it in from storage," the automaton replied

"Jason's back?" Tommy asked hopefully, his helmet under his arm.

"Right behind you, bro," Jason's exhausted eyes lit up with joy at seeing his former teammates, and the former red ranger was quickly swarmed by Tommy, Billy, and Kat, hugging each. "Hey, guys. It's good to be back."

"When did you get back?" Tommy demanded.

"Not too long ago. Alpha teleported me here while you were teleporting out to help Rocky." Jason smiled at the mentioned ranger and his two best friends.

"It's good to have you back, Jason," Billy said. "We've missed you."

"I missed you, too, but I had quite a bit to work through." Jason took in a deep breath, slowly let it out, and then continued on. "I've talked to Zordon, and he's agreed with me. I'm not going to take up the Red Ranger powers again."

"What!?"

Rocky wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. "What do you mean?"

"You're doing an excellent job as the Red Ranger, Rocky, and you're comfortable with this team. And as well as you're doing, you're not my team, from when I was the Red Ranger. If a new power were offered, I'd take it, but for now on, my place isn't on the team."

Tommy put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "You might not be on the battlefield, but you're still a part of the team, Jase." Then he ruined the seriousness of the statement by snorting. "I guess it's my turn to give you that speech."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is. So, who's your friend?"

"Dunno yet. But apparently Zedd is interested in her," Tommy answered.

"Can anyone say, 'duh'?" Aisha's voice made Tommy blush. "He's interested if we have a bad hair day, much less when someone new comes to town."

"Speaking of bad hair days, what's up with the new look?" Adam asked, motioning to the orange and green polka dotted bows in Tommy's hair. The White Ranger sighed.

"I was babysitting for my neighbors, whose oldest daughter has discovered the joys of hair care, and we were playing beautician." All of the guys shuddered. "Fortunately, Mom was able to take over for me when Zordon called," Tommy added. "I'd better call to let her know I'm being delayed." Tommy headed over to the communication console while the others helped Billy and Alpha start their tests to discover what they could about the unconscious girl.

***

Goldar cowered as the throne room seethed through a sickly rainbow, reflecting its master's emotions as the sorcerer glared at the winged avian. "Goldar," he said in a disturbingly mild tone, "What was it that I ordered you to do?"

"To go to Earth and retrieve the girl-" he was cut off by the skinless male.

"Exactly! You! Not putties, not a monster, YOU! What were you thinking? WERE you thinking!? She is to be my heir!"

Goldar cowered away, praying Zedd hadn't been watching what happened on the beach before he fled. Those hopes died when Zedd crooned, "And why did you threaten her? Especially since you knew I wanted her?" Goldar gulped, then screamed in pain as a lash struck his back.

"Our lord asked a question, monkey-breath!" Goldar whirled towards the strange voice to stare as several eerily familiar forms emerged from the shadows.

"Goldar, I'd like you to meet my rangers: the Crystal Rangers," Zedd said in the shocked silence. "The only effective weapon against those rangers."

The Black Crystal Ranger calmly coiled his whip as the others snickered.

Goldar growled and stalked over to the rangers. Something about the White and Black Rangers sent shivers through the warrior's spine, and Goldar hurried past them. When he reached the Purple Ranger, his lip curled up into a sneer. "You have the hips of a breeder, girlie, but the chest of a boy. You'd be better as a breeder of warriors than as a warrior yourself."

A gloved hand cupped Goldar's groin, then squeezed, the metal screaming in unison with Goldar. "The girls on this team have more balls than you ever will, Goldar," a surprisingly masculine voice stated calmly, "but remember, I'm not one of them." Goldar was released, and he crumpled like his armor had in the fully powered ranger's hand.

"Remember, Goldar, these are MY rangers, not Zordon's," Zedd said smugly. "As such, you can expect them to be as ruthless and unmerciful as myself."

***

Hearing came back to me first, and the first sound was of someone pacing furiously. Finally the pacer turned, and demanded, "Enjoying the show?" From the tone of his voice, Billy was nearing the edge of his patience.

"Sure, why not," Aisha asked. I could almost see her smiling at the Blue Ranger; from the sound of it, she was snacking on something; I could guess from the smell that it was popcorn.

"I just can't figure out what Zedd would want with her," Billy said, frustrated. "All her scans show up as normal. Completely normal. So normal it's almost abnormal."

"Huh?" I couldn't exactly tell from the monosyllable question, but I guessed it was Rocky.

"Everyone is way off on at least one test, especially if there had been a magical eruption like the one she had on the beach, and as rangers, we're way off on a lot of tests. But for her, everything is average, completely normal, in a way that's statistically impossible. It's almost as if there's something in her, trying to make her look bland and average, unnoticeable."

"Is that possible?" Rocky asked.

"I'm not sure. Zordon is checking his personal records to see."

I struggled to open my eyes, and groaned as the first beam of light cut into my brain, driving bolts of pain through my head. "I think she's waking up," Aisha said, as people approached. "Miss?"

I flinched as I opened my eyes, and an arm went up to cover them from the lights; nonetheless, my head throbbed in pain. I whimpered, and Billy ordered, "Turn down the lights." My skin loosened as the lights dimmed, and I slowly lowered my arm to squint up at the dark form near me. "Better?" Billy asked.

I nodded weakly, then looked around. "W-where am I?"

"You're in the Command Center. Are you all right, miss?"

"My head hurts, but yeah." I blinked, shook my head some, and then winced. "Oh, bad idea."

"Hold on, I'll get you something for the pain." Billy moved away, and I watched him as best I could, since I was still lying down. I turned my head and could see Rocky and Aisha at consoles on opposite sides of the room, and then Billy filled my view again, with a hypospray in hand. I let him tilt my head to the side, then sighed as coolness and blessed relief from the pain eased through my head.

A soft whoosh, easily covered by the sound of walking, and a flare of bright light sent me flinching instinctually, not wanting the spikes of pain to return. "Is our guest awake?" Tommy asked. Billy moved back as a form, gray in the darkness, move over.

"She was suffering from a headache, and didn't like the light, so I had them turned down. I'd have been surprised if she hadn't had a headache, both from hitting her head, even if it was on sand, and the raw use of mage energy, so I had some painkiller prepared, just in case."

I blinked up at the towering figure in gray standing over me in the darkness, then mentally smacked myself. Rocky, Billy, Aisha, Tommy... she-yeah, right. Get a grip girl, you're just dreaming. I tried to sit up, and the Tommy sound-alike helped me.

"Here you go," he said.

"Thank you. Where am I? Really?" There was a pause, as if the Tommy sound-alike was exchanging glances with someone.

"You're in our Headquarters, the Command Center."

As always, my mouth got ahead of my brain. "Uh-huh, and what crack have YOU been smoking?" The Tommy sound-alike snickered as I kicked myself mentally.

"Sometimes I wonder myself," he told me, in an amused tone. "But you're really here. We couldn't just leave you on the beach, not with Zedd after you."

I raises an eyebrow, he sounded serious. "Let me see."

"You sure? Billy said that you had a headache-"

"Let me see. I'll risk the headache coming back." The Tommy sound-alike sighed, then there was a brief pause before the lights slowly turned up. As they did, my eyes slowly grew bigger and bigger. "Oh, fuck."

I closed my eyes, rubbing them. Not only had the sound-alikes sounded like them, they looked like them, too. The Command Center wasn't quite either Command Center from movie or series, nor was it the Power Chamber, but some weird combination of all three. The familiar unfamiliarness of it all made my head swim. " I think I'm gonna be sick," I muttered, leaning over, putting my head between my knees.

"Are you all right?" Tommy asked, concerned.

"Be sarcastic, be nice. Choices." I looked up at Tommy. "I'm in a place that shouldn't exist, surrounded by people who shouldn't exist, and just narrowly avoided getting captured by a monster who shouldn't exist. I'm just peachy keen!"

Tommy blinked. "What do you mean, shouldn't exist?"

"As in not real, a part of Hollywood's creativity, not ground in physical reality, non-exist ant, fictional, created, fake, illusion, fantasy, a dream, alternate universe..." As I realized the last thing that had slipped out, my heart dropped. "Oh, shit." I must have paled, because Tommy suddenly looked even more concerned.

"Miss?"

"I'm fine," I said breathlessly, voice high and soft. It felt like I couldn't breathe, like my throat and lungs were caught in a vise. I swallowed, easing the grip on my throat, and squeaked, "Is this real?"

"As real as anything can be," answered Aisha. I groaned.

This has to be real. I know I suck as a writer, but not THAT bad of one to think up a line as cliché as that.

Billy was looking at me calculatingly. "You're not from around here, are you?"

I snorted. "That's putting it mildly." I looked down at my hands, and noticed they were trembling. I could feel the familiar, tingly feeling that usually meant my magic was about to erupt, then closed my eyes to force it back down, promising it a chance to be let out later, where I won't hurt anyone. Maybe find a new crystal to meditate with....

Something started beeping, and Billy got to his feet, headed over according to the sound of his retreating footsteps. I couldn't help but wonder what Cyn would do, waking up here, and snorted to myself. She'd jump his bones so hard his skeleton would pop out, I thought to myself as the beeping stopped.

I sighed as the magic reluctantly came back under control, and opened my eyes. The rangers were over by Billy, with a few glances my way. These glances were puzzled, confused.

"What?" I asked, stressed and frustrated. "You've never seen a stressed out witch before?" If I WAS in a Ranger reality, I could believe that they had the technology to pick up a magic spike. If, though. I didn't want this to be real, and I did. I groaned and massaged my forehead. Get a fucking grip, girl, I told myself. If this IS a dream, why not just bring in your Sisters? Hell, even your Sister Stranger would enjoy the view.

Billy came over, and squatted in front of me. "A witch?" He asked cautiously.

"I serve Father Chaos," I said with a nod of agreement. "He's the only one interesting enough. Besides, with him, I can mix and match whatever I want, and even work for Mother Order, while the others want me to stick with just them."

Billy blinked in confusion. "Father who?"

"Father Chaos-" I started, then died off as I realized that Zordon said it with me. Immediately, he asked, "You are a Hand of Chaos?"

"How did you know?" I demanded, startled more than not. An irrelevant part of my mind was comparing this Zordon to both TV series and movie, and found both lacking something. Maybe it was the time ripples that were more obvious here. How could I tell it was time ripples distorting his visage? Easy. "Time warp," dear one.

"What's a Hand of Chaos?" Rocky asked, confused.

"A being sworn into the services of the deity Father Chaos," Zordon answered. "And in return for their dedication, they're granted great powers."

"Actually, we swear to serve Father Chaos AND Mother Order, it's just that some lean more towards Chaos, and others, more towards Order. And it's not so much granted powers, as we're granted control over innate gifts. Some ARE given powers, but they're born without a hint of magic within them." I blinked. "Did I just rant there? I'm sorry."

The Rangers stared, mildly bug-eyed, while Alpha edged slightly away; Zordon gave the appearance that he wished to do the same, if he were able. I sighed, noticing the robot's reaction, suppressing the sadness that darted through me. Even here, I couldn't get away from the fear being a witch inspired.

"Hasn't anyone ever heard of Glenda? There are such things as good witches, you know." I growled in frustration. "Damn it, I haven't even done anything to you guys, and you're already freaking out. Are you guys supposed to be all open minded and crap?"

"Aren't," Billy corrected absently.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"You said, 'Are you guys,' when you meant 'aren't you guys'. And she's right, guys."

I blinked. "I am?" I said, while everyone else looked at Billy, saying, "She is?"

He nodded. "Yes, you are... Kathy, you said?" Billy gestured to the Command Center in general. "Look at this - this is beyond anything we could ever have expected to exist. But all of a sudden, we were thrown into a world with rules far beyond anything we'd ever known. Now we're turning away from someone because she just so happens to be something else we haven't encountered before?"

Tommy sighed, in agreement. "And some of us HAVE heard of good witches before," he replied, with a glance at Kat's direction. I wondered what was up between them, and if Kim had sent the letter yet. Then I noticed that Kat was blushing at Tommy's comment. Of course, that was overshadowed when I noticed the raw potential she held. I'll have to talk to her about that later; she needs to be trained before that bubbles over. She had so much, I was surprised it didn't tinge her eyes the color of her power, then wondered if she was going to have a blue color to her power. I frowned to myself, but shrugged. Later.

"Indeed," boomed Zordon. "I apologize, Mistress Lord. It is simply that-" He got cut off as Aisha interrupted him, apparently noticing my frown.

"What's wrong?"

"Headache," I lied. Then I realized something. "Wait - you just interrupted Zordon." It took me a moment to process this thought, but it resulted in my thumping back down onto the med-bed, Billy passing a med-scanner over me as it happened. Something is seriously different here...

"I wanna go home."

***

Later, I stared up at the ceiling of the Command Center, bored almost literally to tears. The others were talking quietly among themselves while Billy finished inputting the last of his test results into the computers. "Umm, guys?" I said, remembering something I had in my backpack. "I have something you might be interested in..."

Billy turned towards me, curious. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've got some tapes in my backpack - tapes of the show. That is, if my backpack came with me."

Tommy reached behind a console. "This it?" he said, pulling it up.

My eyes light up in relief. "That's it! I was scared that I wouldn't have it!" Then I seemed to deflate some. "Damn. That means I have to do," I shuddered, "my… homework." Rocky snickered at my comment. "Hey, magic doesn't help any with homework, and just makes more for you."

"Really?" asked Kat, softly.

"Well, considering that if I don't practice, I don't get control, and if I don't get control, I might blow something up when I get mad, yeah."

Kat nodded shyly. Something tells me she already knows that she has the power, I thought. "Anyways, since teachers don't believe in magic, they won't lighten my load. So either way, I'm screwed, and have to settle for a C, or for blowing stuff up without meaning to. I'll accept the C, thanks. Blowing up things isn't my style."

Adam raised his eyebrow. "So what is your style?"

"Going absolutely insane on the internet with my online family?" My expression was so innocent that I could practically feel the halo over my head.

"Online family? And I though Billy was bad!" muttered Jason.

I snickered. "Trust me. I spend about 16 hours a day awake, and I spend most of it in front of a computer for reports and such. They're the only way I can stay sane." Jason glanced at me, surprised that I'd overheard him.

I tapped my ears. "Good ears, even though I try to blow them out with my Walkman. Anyways," I looked over at Tommy. "Backpack, please?" Tommy tossed it over, and I rooted through it, looking for the tape. "Where are you?" I muttered to myself, then came out with the tape in hand. "Ah-ha! And I still haven't watched to see which episodes are on here."

"Here," said Adam, tapping a console; a slot opened, the perfect size to slide in the tape. "Put it in here, we can watch it on the viewing globe."

I blinked for a moment, then shook my head, snorting some. "That's something I never expected to hear," I explained.

The others grinned, and watched as I slid the tape in. In moments, the familiar, "Today, on Power Rangers..." spiel could be heard; as the episode was described, I began to shiver, realizing which it was. "I LOVE this episode," I said, not noticing the Rangers' reaction. "There's so much potential packed into this part of the series, and am I missing something? You all look like you were hit over the head with a two-by-four."

Tommy stared at the screen, and traced the lines of Kim's face. "Kimberly," he whispered.

I blinked. "Ah. Yes, that would do it." I watched Tommy, my heart breaking at his emotional agony. Tears streamed down the other's faces as they watched the episode. As the first one came to a close, I reached over and pressed the pause button. "Are you guys all right?"

"Run it," Tommy growled. I stared at him in shock. "I need to know how it ended!" he snapped. "Run it!" I flinched and hit play, nearly missing Tommy's muttered, "I need to know if I killed her there, too."

Jason reached over and placed one hand on Tommy's shoulder; the mere contact seemed to calm him down. Tommy looked at Jason and smiled, reaching up to squeeze Jason's hand. Well, now; is there something more going on here? I asked myself momentarily, but I shrugged it off; there were more important things to worry about.

Billy snorted, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"They make it sound that easy to get into Rita's Dark Dimension, when it's not. I should know, considering that I'm the one to build the portal devices."

"Uh.... huh?"

Billy looked at me, then shrugged. "No worse than the rest of these guys..."

"Hey! I'm insulted! I'm a woman, not a guy!" I glared at Billy with my hands on my hips, my lips twitching.

He grinned at me, taking away the sting of it. "We'd better get back to the show," he said, shaking his at seeing not only himself, but also his friends, on the viewing globe.

I watched the episode, then started saying some of my more favorite lines as I watched, having those lines memorized to my heart. I noticed Rocky staring at me after I finished a line. "What? I got a few of your lines memorized, too, if you're jealous," I replied teasingly.

"Please don't," he said. "It's weird enough watching them on here; I don't need to see me, too."

"You're in no danger of that, I believe. You're not 'til, what, season 2?"

He sighed. "Not like I'd know; our lives aren't a TV show here, remember?"

I blushed. "Yeah. Not like this fan girl can or will ever forget. I just hope your lives aren't like some fics I've read."

"Fics?" Aisha asked.

"Fan fiction; stories written by fans, for fans. Sometimes about fans, though those ones tend to be the worst."

Rocky blinked. "You've explained that before, haven't you?

I smirked. "Yep!" I noticed that the second episode was ending, and sarcastically said, "Please, someone, shoot me, the sap is killing me." I shuddered. "Too much sweetness. Needs lemon." I snerked a bit at the joke, knowing it would probably go over their heads.

The rangers looked at me blankly. I turned red, trying to not laugh, my face contorting as I fought to keep the laughter building in me from escaping. The way that Jason hovered just behind Tommy, closer than most guys would be, set me off even harder, as some of the more interesting fics came back to me.

"Uh, Kathy, you're turning mauve," Aisha said, concerned.

"I don't know what color mauve is," Rocky said, "but you're starting to turn purple."

I finally gave up the fight, and started laughing. I laughed long, I laughed loud, and I laughed hard. By the time the laughter subsided, the next episode had started, and the rangers' attention was riveted to the screen.

Billy shook his head. "This happened early on." I looked at him curiously. "Rita kidnapping our parents. This happened before she gained control of Tommy, when we'd just started rangering and our parents found out who we are."

I blinked. "Your parents know?"

Jason snorted. "Know? I got grounded."

"I take it there was no 'keep your identities secret' rule here, then?"

Tommy shrugged. "There was, but Rita revealed our identities to the world, hoping it would strip our powers from us."

My eyebrow raised. "I think I read a fic about that. I take it that it didn't work that way here?"

Kat snorted. "Not only did it NOT work, but it helped the rangers. She ranted for WEEKS about it."

"Care to explain that one?" I asked, curious.

Kat sighed, her eyes going distant. "They were rather busy at the time, fighting Dramole and Goldar. Scorpina was guarding the parents, when Bulk, Skull, and bunch of other people from Angel Grove rushed her and the putties. For some odd reason, she retreated when confronted by Skull, and the citizens were able to rescue the parents for the Rangers. And ever since then, it's been harder for Rita to kidnap anyone close to the rangers, since people help to protect our family and friends."

"Ah."

Tommy smiled in amusement. "Mom yelled at me for an hour, then Dad took over.... they tag-team yelled at me for a week.

"Sounds fun," I said, dryly.

Tommy grinned. "I was just relieved at having them back to care about getting yelled at. Besides, they were yelling at me for considering giving up my powers for them."

Something had been bothering me since we started this discussion, and it finally clicked. "You were there? On the team?" I settled back in shock when Tommy nodded. "Whoa. Way different...."

"What do you mean?" Aisha asked.

"On the show, Tommy doesn't start off on the team. It was practically out of the blue when she decided to use the Green Power Coin. Considering that the American show we're watching," I motioned to the viewing globe, "is based on a Japanese show called sentai, I can understand why they didn't mention it before then, but still." I shrugged.

Tommy blinked. "How did she get the Green Power Coin?" I blinked, then thought.

"I don't recall if the show ever said... I don't THINK so. But I could be wrong." I rubbed my eyes, then ran that same hand through my hair. "No, the show never said, but there were plenty of theories out there as to how and why."

"Such as?"

I shrugged. "The one I can easiest recall was that she was the Green Ranger on-"

"NO WAY! There's no way she was a ranger!" Tommy exploded, and I jerked backwards from him, scared.

Jason pulls Tommy back. "Hold on, Tommy, she just said that that's what some people say happened, she didn't say it DID happen." Tommy slowly calmed down, but I kept silent as "Return of an Old Friend" ended. I couldn't see it, but I sensed that Tommy's eyes were on the original Pink Ranger.

"What DID happen here?" I asked tentatively, scared of triggering another explosion from the White Ranger. The rangers exchanged glances, then Billy spoke up.

"It was about four years ago. The Saturday before school started, an earthquake happened. Jason, Tommy, Kim, Trini, Zack and myself were in the Youth Center, and teleported out just as the ceiling was starting to cave in." The Blue Ranger continued with their tale while I listened, wide-eyed. "Then we discovered that Tommy's coin was missing."

"Kat stole it?" There were stares at me, and I blushed some. "Something similar happened on the show back home," I admitted. "But she stole Kim's coin on the show."

"I stole Tommy's coin," Kat admitted. "Rita wanted me to steal a Power Coin, but let me choose which one."

"Ah. Why him?" I tilted my head to the side as Kat's cheeks turned approximately the same shade of pink as her shirt. "I see."

"To get back to the story," Billy said, "Rita used Tommy's coin to turn him evil. We tried everything we could, but she kept control of him." The Blue Ranger paused, then took in a ragged breath, "It wasn't until the final battle, where Tommy killed Kimberly that he was freed.... Her death caused a backlash in the Morphin' Grid, shattering not only the control Rita had on Tommy, but also his connection to the Green Power Coin. In that same instant, the Pink Ranger powers were transferred over to the closest, compatible host, who was-"

"Me," Kat interrupted, jumping into the narrative. "It was like waking up from a horrible nightmare... one minute, I was a 14-year-old girl, walking home from school, the next thing I knew, I was sixteen, and a Power Ranger. But I also had memories, more like nightmares, where I did all those evil things."

I shuddered, trying to imagine that. But my morbid curiosity got the better of me. "Then what happened."

"The backlash which stripped me of my powers left me seriously hurt," Tommy said, taking up the thread of the story. "I left Angel Grove to recover, both from the injuries, and from Kim's death." He took in a breath, closing his eyes. "If it wasn't for Jason, I don't think I could have come back. The memories were just too painful, even after the injuries were healed. But Jason came up to my uncle's cabin and....," Tommy blushed faintly, "gave me some good reasons to come back to Angel Grove."

I took a long look at the way they were standing together, and the way the other Rangers were oblivious to it. "Good reasons, eh?" I shook my head. "Honestly, Tommy, Jason, if these guys don't accept it, no one will."

Kat blinked in confusion, then at Tommy and Jason, then to me, then back at them. "What does she mean?"

Tommy gaped, while Jason stood there, stoically. "She's right, bro; you know what I've said about that."

Tommy glared at me. "How did you guess?"

"Besides the fact that I'm bisexual myself?"

The other Rangers gasped as the pieces fell into place in their minds; Jason grinned. "You mean you guys didn't even have a clue?" he asked, laughter riding his voice.

I snickered. "Always said you were my preferred Tommy-partner."

"But... but... I thought I was with Kim on the show," sputtered Tommy.

"So?" I asked. "It didn't stop the rest of us from wondering; most of us saw you two as far too close to just be friends. Besides, later on, it had you with Kat, even having grandkids with her."

Kat started, her gaze practically boring a hole in my skull, while Tommy looked at her, somewhat surprised himself.

I shrugged, smiling some. "But as I said, that's on the show. And this, rather obviously, isn't the show."

I sighed as Kat continued to stare at me, and decided to start burrowing through my backpack to get away from Kat's gaze.

"Hey, I forgot I had this!" I exclaimed, pulling out a sheaf of papers held together with a purple paper clip.

"What's that?" asked Rocky.

I grinned some. "Some fanfics. My Sister Stranger was betaing them for me."

"Betaing?" asked Aisha.

"Beta-reading; editing, basically."

"Sister Stranger?" Billy asked.

"Yeah. Jonathan. He's my Sister Stranger, cause they don't come much stranger than him." The Ranger still didn't understand, so I added, "We share the same taste in males."

Jason was the first to get it; actually, he was stifling a chuckle more than anything else while the others were still staring at me, not understanding, so I guess he got it the first time. "You mean he's a queer?" Rocky ended up blurting.

I glared at Rocky. "I DON'T like anyone using that word around me, unless they're using it in the proper, literary context, and not as slang terminology. Jonathan is NOT queer; he is comfortable with his sexuality, thank you very much."

I took a step forward, my eyes sparking. "Besides, did you, or did you not just miss the reference to your leader and former leader boinking each other?"

He shrank away from me. "Yeah, well... that's different." The look in my eyes spurred him to try and explain himself. "Uh... because they like girls, too?"

My glare sharpened. "Typical Hispanic Catholic small minded bigotry. What you just said is the same as YOU being called a dumb jock just because you're into Karate."

Jason and Tommy flanked me, subtly showing their support; Zordon smiled benignly, while the other Rangers just seemed to melt into the background, attempting to avoid the storm that they could feel coming - attempting, and failing, as I turned my attention to them. "And you? What are your opinions of all of this?"

The other rangers just put their hands up in the sign of surrender.

I returned my attention to Rocky. "I am SO tired of people like you. God is Love, according to most any Christian church, including the Catholic church, so why the fuck should it bother anyone of two people of the same sex love each other or not? Fuck, God's the one who does the judging, so why should we assume gays are automatically damned. And if they are, then I'm glad to be with them, since I've already 'obviously' sold my soul to the Devil for being a witch!"

"Okay, okay.... So I made a mistake." Rocky held out his hand. "I'm sorry, it's just what I've grown up with; I'm not used to thinking about it differently."

"Yeah, well, you'd BETTER get used to..." I blinked and wobbled. "Oh, boy..." I swallowed against a wave of nausea, lowering my head as I did.

"What's wrong?" asked Kat, softly, as she leapt to my side; Jason and Tommy swiftly caught me as I began to collapse.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Billy tossed a bucket to Jason, who caught it deftly, and held it in front of me. Just in time, as I threw up.

"What happened?" asked Aisha.

I couldn't answer; my stomach was too unsettled to let me. Fortunately, Billy ran over with a scanner, and began to read of the information. When my stomach finally settled down, I asked, "What's the verdict, doc?"

Billy shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could be just a leftover side effect from being pulled here, but I can't tell."

"I believe you are correct, Billy," boomed Zordon. "Our traveler is dealing with processing a different quantum signature in every product of this universe that she absorbs."

I blinked. "Something Sliders never covered."

"Sliders?" asked Billy. I blinked.

Surely if one of them is going to know it, he would...

"TV show, dealing with a group of four people - the actual members of the group vary - traveling through different dimensions. As the group changes, so does the reason for the traveling."

I stared at Rocky. "You watch it, too?"

Rocky shrugged, blushing slightly. "My sister got me into it." I giggled some at the thought.

Aisha glanced over at Rocky. "What's next? Star Trek?"

He shook his head, but Adam blushed, tenatively raising his hand. "Umm... that would be me."

Kat snickered. "I prefer Next Generation. Cuter guys closer to my age."

"Like Wil Wheaton?" She nodded, grinning. "Jonathan's the same way. As am I!" I smiled in remembrance. "He was my first great male crush."

Billy sighed. "Can we get back to business, here?"

I smiled innocently. "I thought I WAS talking about business."

Billy just looked at me, and shook his head. "I'd like to keep you in the Command Center until tomorrow, if you don't mind; you can go out with everyone else and see Angel Grove tomorrow."

"Fine by me. I'm not much wanting to risk Zedd coming after me right now." I blinked. "And I never did get the rest of your history."

Jason looked at Tommy, and nodded to himself. "We can continue that tomorrow."

"Okay." I wobbled and yawned.

Tommy and Jason each took hold of an arm, and, placing them over their shoulders, lifted me up into a chair lift. "We're gonna get you down into one of the bedchambers," said Jason. "You need a good night's sleep."

"I need a good deal more than that," I muttered, "to keep the nightmares away."

Billy nodded, and came along with a hypospray. "Already got it covered," he said.

He turned back to the others. "You guys can all head home for now."

Kat nodded, and then looked over at Rocky. "Sliders?" He glared at her, and teleported out. Laughing, she did the same, followed by Adam and Aisha.

"Is it always like that?" I asked.

Billy grinned, while Tommy and Jason both chuckled. "Well, what did you expect? For us all to be one big happy family that gets along all the time?"

"Actually, that's how my family is," I admitted. "At least, whenever my brother isn't punching dents in the walls or getting into fights."

Billy didn't say anything, just pressed the hypo-spray to my neck. "The sedative should kick in fairly- whoa!" He caught me as I went loose. "I didn't expect it to kick in that fast."

"S'cause I'm a witch," I managed to mutter as the world went dark. ***

The next morning, I nearly had myself convinced that the previous day had been just a dream, until I open my eyes, automatically reaching for my glasses. I froze when I realized that I could see and was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Oh, fuck," I muttered, then reached for my backpack. Someone must have carried it in here for me, while I had slept, because it was by the bed instead of in the Command Center where I had last seen it. I reached into the front pocket and pulled out my faux gator-leather glasses case, and pulled out my glasses. I removed my contacts, causing my eyes to tear up in relief, and slipped on my glasses in their place.

A knock sounded at the door; a moment later, Kat cautiously peeked her head in. "Good morning!" she said, when she saw I was awake.

I glowered at her. "I hate morning people," I replied, then yawned.

She smiled. "Well, it is almost noon."

"And your point is? I'm a night owl, not a morning sparrow."

Her smile warmed even more. "Well, if you'd like some food, there's some up in the main chamber."

"FOOD!? Where!?" I scrambled to my feet.

"Just follow me; be careful, the corridors can be a bit confusing if you don't know where you're going."

"Can't be worse than the University," I replied

She raised her eyebrow. "You're ten levels down, in the middle of a veritable maze of corridors, storage rooms, and who knows what. You think your university's worse?"

"Try this. Your dorm is here. A quarter mile away is your first class. On the other side of campus, a full mile away, is your second class. You have fifteen minutes to get to each class. You can't drive, because you live on campus, AND you have to carry about 80 pounds of books. Add in the fact that even the ROOMS aren't in any sort of numerological order…"

She blinked. "Okay, I stand corrected."

I shrugged. "That was my first semester there. I've learned quite a few tricks between then and now. Such as hitching a ride with friends."

"Friends are a good thing to have, aren't they?"

"Sometimes I'd say yes, sometimes I'd say no, right now, I'm too hungry to answer."

She giggled softly, pressing a button to summon the lift.

"Hey, I slept through most of yesterday," I said in my defense.

"True," she said, her smile not fading once; oddly enough, that didn't make it seem any less sincere.

I sighed. "This is really real." I paused, then added, "Next time, I'm just gonna keep my big mouth shut."

"Oh?"

"I should know better than anyone to be careful what you wish for."

She stifled another giggle as we stepped into the lift and it took us up to the main chamber.

"But I thought it'd be impossible for me to ACTUALLY be here, and talk to ya'll...." I hit my forehead with my palm and started muttering insults at myself.

Rocky blinked as I started into the Spanish, and asked me if I spoke - more in surprise than actual inquiry, seeing as I had just been speaking it. "Mes y menos," I admitted. "And more less than more."

"MAS y menos," he corrected. I blinked.

"What did I say?"

"Mes."

"Oh." I blinked, and then shrugged. "Oh well. So, Kat said something about food?"

"Right over here," said Kat, pointing behind one of consoles to a table laden with various foodstuffs.

Adam watched as I headed over there, and shook his head. "Just as bad as Rocky," he commented.

"Hey! I resemble that remark!" exclaimed Rocky, thwacking Adam.

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Children."

"Or at least little boys," I added with a smirk.

"What do you mean, little?"

I smirked, and look over at Aisha and Kat. "You know that saying about guys and their cars?"

"No, can't say as I do," said Adam, while Aisha laughed, nodding.

Kat grinned. "Should we tell them?"

I grinned. "Sure, why not. Turning to Adam, I said, "Well, the bigger the car, the theory is the smaller he is."

Adam blinked, thought about his own little two-door, and then thought of Rocky's big jeep. He grinned, and broke out laughing.

I coughed. "And where I come from, Zords count as cars."

Adam faltered, then stared at me. Rocky looked like he was torn between outrage and laughter, while Billy, Tommy, and Jason were busy snickering in the background. I shrugged. "So as I said, little." With that said, I turned back to getting food into my stomach.

I settled down, and watched as the rangers got their food. Seeing Rocky and Adam's plates, I raised an eyebrow. Scarfing contest, anyone? I thought, then I noticed that even the girls piled the food onto their plates, and I raised an eyebrow.

Billy noticed my confusion, and explained, "The Power doesn't just boost our metabolisms when we're morphed, it boosts it all the time. It's just that it's not as high as when we're morphed."

"And you power that higher metabolism with food," I said, understanding. "Kewl. And much more sense than the show. There, it was all pluses, no minuses, and I was like, 'No. Magic in any form doesn't work like that. Even object magic requires some energy from the user.'"

Aisha smirked. "It's nice, because it eats up the excess body fat you just can't seem to get rid of. But if you don't eat, the Power can eat away at you."

"I can believe that," I commented. "I've done more damage to myself after a spell casting than during it."

"Oh?" Adam asked, settling near me."

"The spells would require personal power to form, no matter what spell I'm doing, and my body would need food and rest, in that order, to get the energy back. But I'd fall asleep before I eat. Once I dropped three inches in a night and nearly gave my mother a heart attack when she couldn't get me up. I just wanted to sleep, but she pestered me into drinking some broth, and that got me up enough to really eat." I snickered softly. "I cleaned out the fridge of leftovers, the cabinets of soup and ramen noodles, and I still finished off half a pizza. I think that scared Mom more." I shook my head, and started to eat.

"What spell did you do," Tommy asked.

I chewed on a bite of toast as I recalled. "I was working a Healing." I swallowed, my mouth gone dry from the food and the memories. "Some idiot had summoned a demon, either on purpose or by accident, and he, the demon, I mean, just wanted to go home. But then an Angel with a hankering for another pair of wings decided that it was going to take care of the demon 'threatening the human girl'." I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Excuse me?" "Huh?" "What do you mean?"

I looked at the rangers, "Hawhaza? Could you please not talk over one another?"

"What do you mean?" Tommy demanded.

"Not all demons are evil. Most are content where they are. The demon I was dealing with just wanted to go back home; he thought Florida during the summer was to cold. He also wanted to get home before he was noticed by Above. Angels are the same way, not all are good." I paused, they nodded. "Some are SO good that they go bad, like religious zealots. The angel I saw was more like a street cop, so eager for a promotion he didn't stop to check out the situation. Both wound up getting wounded enough physically that they were reabsorbed back into their realms, leaving a tear I had to Heal."

"Care to explain that?" Billy asked.

"This is all theory. I can't really prove this, nor would I want to. But imagine that this world is a page in the center a book. The pages above this page are the supernatural, then the divine, with all of their own various levels. Below the world is the demonic, with its own levels. When an angel or demon comes to the physical plane, they have a sort of double essence, one physical, and one from their realm. When the physical essence is destroyed, the 'leftovers' eat through the walls of physical plane, returning to wherever they came from. Depending on the situation, a tear might form and need to be Healed."

"You make it sound like acid," Rocky commented.

"That's the way it looks like to me. To someone else....," I shrugged. "Magic is all about how you perceive it. What I just told you is how I see it." I settled back to eat, and saw the rangers were doing the same thing. Something else for them to chew on, I commented to myself.

When the food was finally tucked away in stuffed (or in my case, OVER-stuffed) stomachs, Jason said, "Where did we leave off last night?"

"You gave Tommy 'good reasons' to come back to Angel Grove," I answered.

Tommy blushed at the look I was giving him, and stated firmly, "It was just the one time up at the camp." His blush grew. "Okay, maybe not ONE time, but you know what I mean." I could tell by the look on his face, and his reaction to Kim's appearances of the tape that he was still in love with the former Pink Ranger.

Rocky muttered, "I still can't believe they slept together."

I gave Rocky a nasty glare, but Billy spared me from answering. "Why not? Experimentation is common among male teenagers."

"Yeah, Rocky, how many times have you and Adam had a sleepover and talked about giving each other blowjobs?" Aisha asked.

I blinked. "Okay, now THAT'S a red Ranger." Rocky was blushing almost as red as his uniform.

Kat looked at Adam, and said, "Make that two red Rangers." I glanced over at Adam and snickered.

Billy coughed politely. "As much as I'm finding this conversation... humorous, you were asking about our history, correct?"

I nodded while Rocky just looked befuddled. "It'll be helpful."

Billy nodded. "Tommy came back to Angel Grove after Jason went to help him... adjust, and give him reasons to come back." I nodded, mentally translating it into, 'after Jason jumped Tommy's bones.'

"What we didn't know was that, while Tommy was away recovering, Zordon had been searching for the seventh, white Power Coin. When Tommy finally returned, Zordon gave him the Power Coin, making him co-leader of the team with Jason."

Surprising me, Adam asked a question. "There weren't any problems with the power? After all, wouldn't the green coin have left its pathways in its body, even if the power was gone?" I blinked; apparently, some of the Rangers didn't know the whole story.

Billy shook his head. "Actually, that made it easier for Tommy's body to accept the White Powers. In a way, the Green Coin was a... shadow of the White Power Coin."

I started coughing at the word "shadow".

Kat quickly passed over a glass of water. "Are you all right?" she asked, as the coughing fit subsided.

I nodded, my eyes watering. "Yeah," I gasped.

"What was that?"

I sighed, then closed my eyes. "It's just..." I tried to find a way to organize my thoughts and explain Personality Conflict theory.

"Something to do with fan fiction?" asked Tommy, hitting the nail directly on the head.

"Yeah, you could say that." I clucked my tongue as I thought, then began to explain the popular series.

"Along with one of the most complicated and overloaded series comes theory, often called EB Theory, at least by me, because of the author, Ellen Brand. Part of the theory is that the Green Power Coin is the darkest of the Light powers. It's the closest to a true, neutral Shadow as it can possibly get, and is also the most vulnerable to controlling spells."

Tommy blushed. "So that's why it happened..."

I shrugged. "It's just theory. To me, all is shadow, it's just a matter of degree and proportion. The brightest lights often hold the deepest darkness. That's why most Hands stay out of battles if they can."

"Too much chance of misinterpreting the sides?" asked Aisha.

"Too much chance of BEING misinterpreted by the other sides," I responded. "We're taught to think of the larger picture, not just the here and now. Take Tommy's loss of the Green Ranger powers. Going with the show's continuity, if he hadn't been evil, he never would have gotten the Green Ranger powers. If he hadn't gotten those, he would never have been the White Ranger. If he hadn't been the White Ranger, Master Vile could have gotten the Zeo Crystal, which means the Rangers wouldn't have had the Zeo Crystal to give them the powers when the Machine Empire came. And Tommy would never have been the Red Zeo Ranger, which led to him being the Red Turbo Ranger. If he hadn't been the leader, Maligore might have won against the Rangers on Muiranthius. And all that, just because Tommy wasn't evil, and Green."

"So you're more concerned about upsetting the balance, then?" Billy considered this a moment. "What about situations in which you're required to help keep the balance?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes we have to do evil things, for a good reason. A Hand was once offered a chance to stop World War II, and save billions of lives in the concentration camps. But they chose to let Hitler live, otherwise, World War II had a good probability of becoming a nuclear war, something even more deadly."

Billy nodded. "But he didn't know that, did he? Or she?"

I shook my head. "All he knew was that it had the chance to lead to something much worse, something which would affect everything, down to the plants and earth itself. He decided that it wasn't worth the risk of that."

Rocky blinked. "Can you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Call on some story to make your point?"

"Why not? Jesus did it. And he was a Hand." I grinned at the shocked exclamation that answer elicited. "He was never officially sworn as a Hand of Order and Chaos, but in all the ways that truly count, he was a Hand." I smiled sweetly, and asked, "Can we get back to your history, please?"

Jason licked his lips, taking up the narrative, but pain settled across his expression. "Tommy got the White Power coin about a month ago. And just in time, it appears, since that same day, Zedd attacked."

I blinked. "Excuse me... what year is it?"

"1997."

I gaped. Openly. "Are you serious? What year did you get your powers?"

"1993. Why?"

"Because by this time in the show-verse, you've gone through no less than four villains."

The Rangers looked at each other, then me. "Could you explain that?" Tommy asked.

"First season - which was actually 1992, there's an extra year in the show - Rita comes along. Next season, Zedd comes along. Third season, along comes Master Vile. Fourth season, we get ZEO - new powers, new villain. Then, in 1997, we have the fifth season, called Power Rangers Turbo, in which we get Divatox. So that's actually five main villains."

The rangers blinked, dazed. "No, you don't know the show's timeline," Rocky joked weakly.

"I always thought it was funny, because you guys graduated when I did, so I was always wondering where the extra year came from."

I noticed they were confused, and said, "I was in middle school when Power Rangers started... And I thought, 'Hey, kewl show. And Niels hates it! Anything to bugger my brother!' Then Tommy came on, and I became a die-hard fan. But they also shifted the show to school day mornings, and I couldn't watch it then. Anyways, where I'm from, it's 2001." The rangers stared at me in shock. "It's November 22, 2001." The rangers continued to stare at me, and I squeaked, "Something wrong?"

Billy responded first, looking thoughtful. "I think that Zedd tore a hole not just through reality, but time itself."

I glared at him. "You think? What gave you that idea, blue-boy?"

"String theory dictates-"

"That time along realities run at the same pace, yeah, I know that, I was being sarcastic, William." Billy blinked, and I lightened up. "I'm a dabbler. A dab of this, a dab of that. You gotta, to get Power Rangers."

"Ah."

I smirked. "Shocks the hell out of teachers when you can expound some major scientific theory, and relate it to literature.

Billy chuckled. "Yes, well, they've come to expect it of me... but try it in elementary school."

"I did that once. I explained why E=mc^2. In the first grade. I was Trekkie even then."

Jason blinked, then grinned. "That beats your record, Billy."

Billy blushed and stuck his tongue out at Jason. "Just because I tried to explain to our second grade teacher how two and two isn't ALWAYS four...."

I giggled behind a hand. "Been there, done that. High school teachers don't seem to appreciate it when you make jumps of logic ahead of them."

Billy looked at me. "You, too?"

I nodded. "I was never tested, IQ wise. I guess it's because my grades were always mediocre, but the homework would be boring, so I wouldn't do it, but I'd do spectacularly well on the tests, blowing the curve for everyone.

Billy chuckled. "I know how you feel... I was fortunate in that I had teachers who would understand, and had special tutors."

Jason sighed, and something about him told me he was thinking, Better get this over with. "We managed to hold of Zedd for a few weeks, but then one of his monsters had this ability of... biofeedback, in a way. The more we fought, the more we would hurt ourselves.... Zordon and Alpha managed to break the loop for most of us, but...." His breath hitched, and he shook himself. "Trini and Zack were hurt, mentally. And at first, I was paralyzed below the waist."

I stared at him in shock, swallowing hard. "Trini and Zack are now about the mental equivalent of four year olds," Jason said softly. That was all I could stand, and I took off for the nearest exit, to heave my stomach in the darkness.

***

The afternoon of the same day, I stared around the youth center as soon as the teleport stream released me; I was fascinated, my fingers itching for pencil and paper. For once, I wanted to take notes.

Just like the Command Center, the Angel Grove Youth Center was a conglomerate of series, movie, and real life. There was an area for sparring and weight lifting, but they were in different rooms, not side by side. There was also a basketball court, and a pair of tinted glass doors on the far side of the juice bar leading to an outside pool. A third glass door, on the opposite side of the juice bar from the pool exit, lead to an arcade, evidenced by the door opening to release a blast of bleeps, bloops, explosions, and the all too familiar "Finish him" of Mortal Kombat. I glimpsed myself as we passed by the window of a mirror-lined room, a ballet class in session inside.

The room we ended up in was apparently reserved solely for the juice bar's customers. A mini-stage was tucked into a corner, but the majority of the floor space was used by tables and chairs, many already taken by youths, both socializing and doing homework. Ernie, much trimmer than his series counterpart, but still beefy, waved at the rangers from behind the bar. "Hey, guys! Your usual?" He started preparing the drinks when the rangers nodded in the affirmative, heading over to the bar. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Kathy. She was pulled here from an alternate reality by Zedd, so until we figure a way to get her home, she's gonna be with us."

Ernie greeted me with a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you. You couldn't be in better hands. What would you like?"

"Iced tea, please," I answered, taken aback before I remembered that their identities were known. I turned and looked around, taking everything in. "I like this MUCH better than the Youth Center on the show. I sometimes wondered how the hell the actors could even STAND being around that much... yellow."

"Something wrong with yellow?" Aisha asked teasingly.

"Not in small proportions. But then I'm that way about ANY color. Except purple."

"I noticed the purple theme to your folders," Kat replied, amused.

I raised my eyebrow. "And you're not like that with pink?"

"I didn't say that, but I'm pulled towards pink because of my powers. What's your excuse?"

"It's comfortable?" The rangers snickered as I grinned. "But seriously, it's the color I'm the most comfortable with.

A shiver traveled down my spine, and I turned to look at the entrance of the youth center. "Okay, now THAT'S an outfit," I commented. The rangers turned, and stared. Everything about the outfit on the young man screamed for attention.

From the silvery-purple mesh "shirt" which ended about the middle of his ribcage, to the black leather pants which seem to be falling off of his hips; from the elbow length mesh glove on one hand, to the leather glove on the other, both fingerless; this was a person who liked to be the center of attention the minute he stepped into the room. Large beaded bracelets adorned each wrist, and a bandolier across his chest held a water bottle, while a leather thong held another water bottle at his waist. Crossing the thong belt was a beaded belt, from which hung several glow sticks and a teddy bear charm. Two bead chokers, a pair of pacifiers, and a pentagram finished the outfit. The look was completed by his bleach-blond, spiked hair, the tips frosted with a silvery-blue color; the longer bangs were a startling shade of deep purple. "Think he forgot anything?" I commented.

Behind the strangely dressed young man, four women entered, all in their late teens to early twenties, about the Rangers' ages. They were talking about something I couldn't quite make out, pausing only to order drinks from Ernie before going to sit at the same table the "raver" was at. He joined in the conversation as it started to turn into an argument, and I watched wistfully, thinking of home.

The rangers pulled me into their conversation, managing to distract me from my homesickness when a tap on Tommy's shoulder interrupted them. A girl stood behind the White Ranger, and spoke when he turned. "Tommy Oliver? I'm new in town and I've heard about how good you are. I wanted to see if the stories are true." Tommy immediately accepted the challenge.

She was on the tall side for a female, not quite six feet but somewhere between that and five and a half. She wore black workout pants without a belt, with a red short-sleeved T-shirt with a mock turtleneck collar, and black high top sneakers. A glimmer around her neck drew the eye along a simple silver chain, matching the wire miniature dream catcher earrings she wore, and a silver class ring sparkled on her finger, boasting a blue spinel stone.

"Is there some place we can watch?" I asked, as Tommy got up to change into clothes more appropriate for sparring.

"Sure. Come on." Rocky lead the way to the bleachers on the far side of the sparring room. We settled down as the stranger started to stretch out, and blinked as a pink blur appeared beside me. I blinked again, then realized I was seeing a ghost, so did a familiar mental twist which let my mind fully see the apparition. KIM!? I thought in shock.

No need to shout, the original Pink Ranger said. I'm dead, not deaf.

What are you doing here?

We sensed Jason was back, and wanted to check on him. Kim replied.

We?

Trini and Zack.... their bodies are alive, but it's kinda like they're half dead. When their bodies finally die, they'll be more like me.

I take it you're more than dead?

It's because I was a Ranger. The connection to my spirit lasted even through my death, even with the other rangers... it's how we knew how to use our powers so fully, we could use the knowledge of the rangers before us who held the coins. She paused, then added, You're the first person to see me.

Well, I'm kinda a witch. Kim blinked at that. A Hand of Father Chaos and Mother Order, is the full title, but I prefer Hand of Chaos. Anyways, I'm used to chatting with ghosts... I've actually spent class periods chatting away with ghostly teachers who just so loved teaching they couldn't stop. Kim giggled. The ironic thing is, they're usually better than the living teachers.

A hand shaking my shoulder jolted me out of the conversation, and the pink blur disappeared. "Kathy?" Billy asked, concerned.

"I'm all right, I was just thinking," I replied. I never was very comfortable with my ability to see ghosts, for all that I joked about it with Kim.

"Well, the sparring is about to start," Billy replied, and I returned my attention to the mat. For a second, I swore I saw twin blurs of yellow and black, but before I could invoke the mental twist, they were gone, so my attention returned to the match.

The stranger began the fight with a roundhouse kick. Tommy ducked, then gave as good as he got; from the start, it was clear that the girl was a match for the White Ranger. She matched him blow for blow, no blows landing on either opponent. Jason and Billy could feel their stomachs sinking as they watched, while I just watched in confusion, frowning as I tried to recall what felt like a half-forgotten memory. A crowd gathered as the sparring continued.

I applauded with the rest when Tommy finally defeated the stranger, and smiled as Tommy helped the girl to her feet. "Good match," he commented.

Always a gentleman, I thought fondly, then blushed and shook myself. Get a grip, girl, and DON'T fall in love with him. As soon as they can, they're sending me home, so there's no use falling in love. Especially since he's obviously still in love with Kim.

Jason must have noticed my full body shake, because he was watching me in concern. "Are you all right, Kathy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... that fight gave me the creeps for some reason," I told, telling a half-truth. It was true that the fight had given me the creeps. I just didn't mention what else I'd been thinking.

I allowed Jason to help me off of the bleachers, and headed back to where we had been sitting. I noticed the girl moving with us, and said, "I never got your name. I'm Kathy."

"I'm Suzanne. Nice to meet you, Kathy."

Just at that moment, the Rangers' communicators went off, and Tommy sighed. "Yeah, Zordon, we read you." It still took me by surprise by how casual they were about being Rangers.

"Zedd has sent down another monster. We need you in the Command Center immediately," Zordon replied.

"We'll be there immediately," Tommy replied. He looked at me. "We have to go. Think you'll be all right here?"

"Jason is here, and Billy fitted me with a communicator this morning.. If so much as a puttie shows up, I'm straight to the Command Center," I replied, "scout's honor. Go do your business. I'll be all right."

"All right. We'll be back as soon as possible." The Rangers gathered together, then teleported out.

"Wow."

***

The battle over, the Rangers teleported back into the Youth Center, using the small alcove that Ernie had set aside for just that purpose. The young adults headed over to their usual table and settled down, thanking Ernie when he came over with smoothies to revitalize their energy levels. They started to sip their drinks, but it was Rocky who noticed something was wrong first.

"Hey, guys, aren't we missing somebody?" he asked.

Tommy frowned, concerned. "Yeah, where's Jason?"

"Jason, nothing. He can handle himself in a fight. Where's Kathy?" Aisha retorted.

The portly general manager of the Youth Center noticed their agitation and came over. "Something wrong, guys?"

"Do you know where Kathy and Jason are?" Adam asked him.

"Yeah. I was telling Kathy about the new Gundam game I got in recently, and they headed over there to check it out. Ever since, there's been a crowd gathering in the arcade room," Ernie replied.

The rangers exchanged looks, then carried their smoothies over to the arcade room. They wormed their way through the crowded aisles, to the center of everyone's attention, then stared to see Kathy in the driver's seat of a game that rocked her up and down with the motions of the control stick she was using. Her expression was a mixed one of concentration and exhilaration.

When her character took one hit too many and crashed into the simulated ground, Kathy swore as the screen filled with the words, "Mission: Failed." The screen became a list of the top ten, and Kathy entered in her initials in the second highest slot. The rangers were amazed to see that Kathy already held the top six slots. "Damn, not good enough," the young witch stated.

"Not good enough?" Rocky demanded, startled. "You already have the top six slots!"

"It's a new game. It's easy to get on the top ten list. I haven't been able to get past the sixth mission."

Jason, who was waiting beside the arcade game, snorted. "What she doesn't mention is that no one's been able to get UP to the sixth mission. The highest anyone's gotten before her was the fourth mission."

Kathy blushed and shrugged. "Pure luck?" She climbed out of the arcade, and studied the rangers. "Long battle?"

"We've had worse, and we'll have worse," Tommy replied.

Kathy's eyes went distant, and she added, sadly, "Especially if Zedd's still interested in me...." She shook herself. "Or I'm just being horribly depressing."

She didn't mention the feeling of eyes watching her.

To Be Continued