A\N: With any luck, my problems with paragraphing are gonna get fixed. Anyway, enjoy! And thank you monkeerangerfan, Jeremy Shane, ditena, and Baby Kitty for reveiwing!

KIRA

Pulling myself back to consciousness, something Dr. O taught us after Conner got a bad concussion, I open my eyes and instantly slide to my feet. Oh, shit, where am I? This is not good. Not good at all. After Mesagog kidnapped me, waking up anywhere but my room is scary. Kill-someone scary.

The room I'm in is stone, with a few random pieces of furniture. I'm in my own clothes, but not the ones I fell asleep in…okay, very creepy. I glance out the window and frown. Someone had fun playing with Photoshop, I think…well, I'm not sure how they got a picture of Earth from space on the window, but it sure looks Photoshopped at any rate, especially since most spaceships aren't made of stone.

I tap the window testingly before trying to see if I can pull the picture away and get an actual look at what's outside. The glass feels cold under my hand, freezing cold. I guess the paper's glued to the outside of the window. How is it so cold, though? It's only November. Maybe I'm in Canada? What the hell would I be doing in Canada? Is Dr. O here? Please let him be here so he can come up with a crazy escape plan and I don't have to worry about moose-eating Canadians kidnapping me. Do Canadians even eat moose? Good lord, I'm thinking like Conner now, I have got to get a grip here.

"You're going to freeze your hand to the glass if you leave it there."

I whirl. A skinless humanoid with metal clothes and tubes running along his limbs shuts the door, taking care not to catch his long silver staff in it. He glances back at me, repeating his earlier warning as he notices my hand still on the glass. "You actually will freeze your hand, Kira. I would have thought that obvious, given that you are in outer space."

"That's not space, that's Photoshop." I say as calmly as I can. "Glass would shatter in space."

The monster smiles. I don't know how I know that he did—probably my thrice-damned intuition again—but he did. "First of all that's not glass. The word for it doesn't translate into English well, but it's actually a type of clear stone. Second of all not all glass shatters in space, you should know that, as humans send very poorly-equipped space crafts into space with, of course, glass windows. And third, and I truly cannot stress this enough dear Kira, please do not refer to any basic human computer programs while you are here, as Ethan has managed to annoy me enough with it today."

I shake my head. Did he just correct and then lecture me? Sounding creepily like Dr. O? This is beyond weird. "How do you know my name?" And where the hell is Ethan, but that can wait until I know if Mesegog's somehow got psychic monsters.

"I thought knowing your name would surprise you enough so you might let me finish a sentence." There's a tiny hint of amusement in the monster's voice. It sounds almost like someone singing, weirdly enough. High, but clear and pure. "Thomas also told me about you and your friends. He thinks very highly of you three." Thomas…Dr. O?

"And how do you know Dr. O?" If this guy is a Ranger in disguise I'm going to flip out, if he's evil and has pulled that Mesagog torture crap on my only father figure I am going to murder him. I bet Trini would back me up, too. "If you hurt him-"

"Hurt him? Me hurt him?" Cutting me off with a snicker and shake of his head, he continues in almost an indignant tone. "He never told you of me?" Okay, is he actually offended here? "Well, then, fine, that's fine, he always was one to like his secrets." Okay starting to think I'm seriously missing something here. Straightening up before I can ask, he at the very least sheds some light on who he is. "I am Lord Zedd Arria, king of Talia."

I blink. This is the guy from my dream? What the hell? Did he have a run-in with a pork-rind factory or something? "You're Lord Zedd." I say, giving each word equal weight.

"Ah so you have heard of me." Someone has ego issues. Ever hear of turning the smug tone down?

"Yeah, we all have. You nearly killed our mentor five times over when he was a teenager." That oughta shut him up.

It doesn't shut him up, he just sighs and…I think rolls his eyes. "Great of all the things he tells you he tells you THAT. Wonderful. I swear to the higher powers he does these things just to piss me off." The last bit muttered more to himself then me, you really are quite the interesting Lord of Evil, aren't you?

"Yeah, well, isn't that kind of his job? I mean you are the bad guy aren't you?" I ask cautiously. Always good to know what kind of crazy you're dealing with. One kind admits they're insane. One kind doesn't.

"I am not the 'bad guy'. There is no such thing as a 'bad guy', Kira, and we both know that."

And then there's the ones who are too smart to tell you what they are. I nod slowly. "Uh-hunh. Might I point out that you just kidnapped me."

Zedd nods. "I prefer to call it liberated." He says with a mockingly artistic air. And he talks about Ethan being annoying.

"You took me from my bed, changed my clothes, which by the way is really beyond creepy, and you're keeping me in outer space." I snap. "Liberated? In what universe?"

"See you can make anything sound bad when you say it like that." I'm sure. Gesturing to the bed, he moves slowly to the window. "Sit down, Kira. It is…complex."

I slowly move to the bed, perching on the edge. Having a pterodactyl Zord in your head makes you a little…well, flighty.

"The planet Talia existed in orbit of the star Aldeberan." Zedd begins. "It was much like Earth, although slightly warmer and greener. The people of Talia evolved with a sixth sense, which became a sensitivity to a certain radiation type, which we could manipulate at will. We called it magic and used spells to enhance our sensitivities, mainly because that worked so well." He smiles again. "And it was entertaining, in any case."

I smile reflexively, thinking of the wild, powerful spell I saw a woman named Dulcea cast once in my dreams. 'Entertaining' doesn't even begin to describe it.

"Another planet developed at the same time, around a different star, Sirius. Their people were in a colder climate, and adapted to mathematics and sciences. This was Eltar. Our two planets became havens of learning and growth eventually, like, oh, giant cities on Earth." Zedd says. "It was quite peaceful, but, of course, the United Alliance of Evil, also known as the Dark Court, formed."

I nod. I know about that. Dr. O fought them for so long, he figured they'd come after him, so he taught all of us about it.

"Eltar developed a strong military, while Talia became a planet of healing and sanctuary." Zedd chuckles. "I suppose that alone should have said something about our cultures. Of course, Eltar eventually became run by people who were…well, somewhat fanatical. They decided that if anyone was not as enthusiastic about war as they were, then they were the enemy as well." Zedd sighs. "You may not know this, but to a psychic, death can be almost unbearable. Most of us could hardly eat meat, let alone fight in a war. We did what we could, but Eltar found it not enough."

Zedd hesitates, then says, "And then I fell." And this is why you don't have skin? Nasty fall into a woodchopper? Pit of lava? Paper shredder? "My brother was duped into helping the Dark Court by his best friend. I helped him escape the planet and smoothed the situation over with Eltar, or rather, I thought I had." He sounds pained now. "Eltar captured my baby brother and used his magic to create a fighting force that no one could defeat, the Power Rangers. Then they attacked Talia for the slight."

I nod reflexively, and Zedd pauses. "You have some power of your own, don't you?" He asks softly.

I shake my head. "It's a Yellow Ranger thing. Intuition." And really annoying dreams. I probably shouldn't be telling him this…

"Tell me, what did you see?" The voice sounds better now, smoother, richer. Kinder.

"You. Fighting blue people." I say. Pointless to deny it, isn't it? Yeah, it is…

"Ah. Well, then, you doubtless extrapolated that Zordon and I have been enemies ever since."

I snap awake and snarl, "Yeah, kinda figured." What the hell? Why did I say that?

Zedd nods. "Now the Council of Light has decided that Earth has betrayed it. One of the Rangers, Justin, I believe, was captured by the Dark Court. He was tortured and revealed the location of the first Power Chamber. Nothing of value was there, which is why the boy sent the Dark Court to it, but when the Council regained him, Justin was executed for revealing secrets."

Oh my god. I shut off the feelings of horror. Justin was Dr. O's friend. I met him once and he was cool, if a little too interested in explosives.

"Earth will be destroyed unless you and your teammates help me save it." Zedd says quietly.

I hesitate. I really shouldn't believe him. Still I do.

"Where are my teammates?" I demand. Keep your voice strong, Kira. Don't let anyone intimidate you, or they win.

"Come." Zedd says, walking out. I follow him hurriedly.

Zedd opens a random door—this place is huge!—and the boys spring on me. I hug them back, scared to death that they're hurt. "Are you hurt? Are you all right? You're okay, right?" I demand as I look both of them over as best I can.

"Yes, mother." Ethan says exasperatedly.

I whack his shoulder pulling a laugh out of Conner despite the situation we're in. "You guys are worse than I am, you know." He tells me.

"Nobody's worse than you." Ethan says, rolling his eyes. "You crashed my computer after playing two minutes of solitary on it. Who does that? The great Conner McKnight, that's who!"

"Five minutes!" Conner protests indignantly. "And it wasn't my fault the stupid thing couldn't keep up with my speed."

"It had sparks flying from it!" Ethan shoots back. "And what about the time-"

"Guys!" I snap. They listen—last time they heard that tone from me was right before I dropped Conner's soccer ball in the Raptor pen. "You heard Zedd's stuff?"

"About Talia? Yeah. Not to mention a lot of muttering about Dr. O and lack of gratitude." Ethan glances nervously at him, then whispers, "Did you have any of your weird dreams, Kir?"

I nod. "He's telling the truth. Well, about his brother and Eltar attacking first, at least."

"So what do we do?" Ethan questions looking between me and Conner. "I mean do we help him, or try to demand he send us home, which probably won't happen…" Yeah thought of that myself. "And where's Dr. O? I mean if he's not 'evil' then why take us and not Dr. O unless he's hiding something?" That is a good point too.

"Guys I don't know, but we're kinda stranded either way." I say, fighting back panic.

Turning back to our waiting host, Conner approaches him. I have to force myself not to yank him away from the freak. "Where's Dr. O?"

"What time is it on Earth, around midnight on Friday? I'd wager he's either sleeping or watching Jurassic Park." Okay then. It is really creepy when a monster can tell you what your mentor's doing.

Narrowing his eyes at this Conner frowns. "So why isn't he up here with us?"

"Because I wanted to get the three of you first and explain myself, as he is doubtless going to be angry at me for taking 'his kids'." Something about that sticks and I remember how Zedd told me Dr. O said he was proud of us. How does he know Dr. O so well?

"So he doesn't know you took us?" Conner clarifies actually showing a little common sense. Maybe I can convince him to keep acting like that.

"Yes. You are definitely a Red." Zedd says with a sigh. "You will see Thomas soon enough, but truly, this is your decision to make. Thomas I know will feel obligated to help as he's…just like that. But I also know he won't be pleased I'm dragging 'his kids' into this, so I need your decisions."

Remaining quiet for a minute and hopefully thinking of all the questions this brings up Conner moves closer to him. "Okay, then." Oh, shit, Con, don't do something stupid—"We're in." Damnit, Conner, what did I just say? Don't do something stupid!

Zedd nods. "Thank you. Now, you three relax. I have a few more things to attend to before we can begin training." He swoops out. Training? Wait what training? And relax? How are we supposed to relax in a big stone castle where there could possibly be more monsters wandering around? But of course he's gone before any of us can ask.

I turn to Conner, who apparently thinks it's his job to be insane. "What the hell was that? Do you not remember what Dr. O said? The leader of the team can speak for the whole team so when someone challenges you, if you are stupid enough to accept, do not use the word 'WE', Conner. That's exactly why he probably didn't bring Dr. O here, because he knows when to keep his mouth shut!"

Looking back at me calmly, the moron holds up his hands. "Calm down Kira. I know what I'm doing okay?"

"Oh really, you mean besides getting us stranded here?" Ethan shoots back looking no more pleased then me.

"No, I mean like giving us time to figure out how to kill him before he comes back." He grins absently. "Man, Dr. O's gonna love us for this!"

"And you figure that how?" I question, not even having the energy anymore to really put any sternness in it.

"Come on Kira, we get rid of his long time enemy for him? How great would that be?" Conner says calmly. "Now let's start working."

Why does my life hate me?