A/N: I realise how long it's taken me lately to upload these chapters and I'm so terribly sorry about that. To be honest, I've been doing you all an injustice since I've had several chapters hand written for a while, but I'm too lazy to type them up and edit them. I'm so very, very sorry. I'm a horrible person.

Now that I've said that I would like a take a moment to just give my utmost gratitude to those who have been following and favoriting this venture of mine. You're support and reviews have been awesome and have kept me going when writer's block hits me super hard. And it does often.

Bare with me, everyone. We're getting to the good stuff and I'm kinda hoping I blow some minds with the tricks I have up my sleeve. As always, your reviews are appreciated, so much so I cannot properly type the words. Enjoy!


Kimberly stared down at the putties into the alcove. "So, you want me to fight putties? I've defeated twice this many on my worst day. This seems pointless."

"Oh, these aren't your run of the mill putties, Kimberly. These putties were made special for you to train with." Goldar shoved her over the edge and watched as she staggered a bit on the loose sand. "See how you fair with them, then we'll move on to something more difficult."

Rita appeared on the far ledge to watch with her usual gaggle of lackeys. Sighing, Kim began taking down puttie after puttie. It was true that they were stronger, but she couldn't see how they were worth her time. Soon she was left as the only thing standing on the sand. She tasted something bitter crawling up her throat as her stomach began to feel cold.

"The hell?"

"Scorpina, now!"

The ground shook as large rock burst forth from some nether dimension and exploded, knocking Kim down with the force. When she blinked there was an attractive woman with scorpion like gold armor towering over her. She brandished a very nasty looking silver blade that had Kim thinking this warrior's sting might be worse than her bite.

"Meet Scorpina. She's my fiercest warrior. See how you fair against her, little Pink Ranger!"

Kimberly was taken by surprise as Scorpina's sting struck, in rapid succession. It was too fast for Kim to see and had her far beyond confused. None of Rita's monsters had ever been able to take her by surprise or land more than one hit.

Rage burned in her chest. She was losing control and could feel herself on the verge of snapping. "Let it go, little one. You won't be able to defeat me. Give up and let my sting take its prize."

She lost herself and began fighting back with a vengeance. She was lashing back at Scorpina in a way even Kim didn't know she was capable of. Scorpina eventually fell but Kim didn't stop, couldn't stop. She registered that the other fighter had stopped moving but even then she kept on dealing blows.

With one final, powerful kick Scorpina was across the alcove and falling to the sand like a ragdoll. The salt air tasted like poison on Kimberly's tongue as the shock of having killed someone set in. She heard laughter and cheering in her ears but could only look at the warrior's prone form yards from her own heaving body.

Seconds passed as her shocked faded into pride. She found herself joining in the laughter and turned to smile up at Rita. She could feel all the warmth leaving her and the weight of a blade appearing in her hand.

"Congratulations, Kimberly Hart! You've earned the greatest honor I can bestow on you." Rita's voice sounded hollow to her ears and that somehow seemed normal. "The Sword of Darkness!"

Kim observed the curve of the dark blade and the gold the reverse side and the handle. The weapon was beautiful and stained with the countless eons of blood that could never fully be washed off. It demanded more, and she could hear it calling to her. She wanted to give it blood and knew just where to start.


Meanwhile, on the other side of town in a recently vacated and remote forest cottage, a curtain blonde was being very naughty. Cat looked over the ingredients one more time. Sure she had everything right, she began the arduous task of making Tommy Oliver fall in love with her.

Cat wasn't normally one to resort to magic for trivial things. When she liked a boy, she could usually manage herself fine. This time was different, though. Tommy refused to see reason and love her back. If she was in a right state of mind, maybe she could admit she was in full-on-crazy-stalker-obsession mode.

The rub of it was, she wasn't quite herself. It was looking like all components were adding up to being a bad scene.

"Are you sure this is right?" She tapped her finger on the handheld resting against her ear. "Agatha, I need you to be sure."

"I'm quite certain. Been doing this stuff for centuries, remember?" The older woman laughed darkly into the phone. "Why didn't you just ask Aunty Rita for help? Thought she was all about helping you."

"Because Kimberly is still her golden child. Right now I'm attempting something that could foil her plans." She muttered the words Agatha instructed and added another ingredient. "Everything has to go perfectly for Little Miss Kimmy. I don't think so, Aunty Rita."

"Why so gung ho on this guy, anyway? I mean you paint a pretty picture, sure, but I highly doubt that it's manifest destiny that you have him. Maybe those dreams you've been having were just visions placed in your head by this Rita chick. You know, so you would believe her barmy story."

Cat felt her anger swell. Never had she wished the old witch dead so fiercely. All the years of being trained by Agatha and still the woman couldn't understand that Cat was no longer the dimwitted child who got herself lost in the bush.

"I know. Okay, Agatha?" She picked up the photo she'd nicked from Kim's locker and ripped it in half. "I just know. Tommy and I are meant to be together."

Finally satisfied, she left the quaint cottage. She headed in the direction of Campbell house, ignoring the fresh graves as she left the property.

It wasn't how her life was supposed to be. She was supposed to be in Australia training with the Olympic diving team. Instead, she was in Angel Grove pursuing a boy who would hopefully soon see the benefits of dating her. She almost couldn't believe she'd given up Olympic gold for a boy, but it was so much more than just Tommy.

"Cat? Where you been, girl?" Aisha regarded her housemate curiously. "I've been paging you for the last hour."

"Sorry. Left my pager at school. I was missing home and needed some air, so I went for a walk." She sighed happily and bounded to the guest room. "I'm feeling much better now."

She threw the crumpled up half of the picture she'd been holding in her trash bin. Kim's distorted smiling face looked up at her, the shadows that played across it made it easy for Cat to pretend the other girl looked worried and hurt. Cat only looked a moment longer before focusing on the unmarred half that held Tommy's shining face.

"Much, much better."


Trini sighed as she checked her watch. Again. There had been no sign of Tommy or Kim and school was due to start. They were completely MIA. Frustrated and concerned for her two friends being, she gathered her things and moved into the school. What she saw upon entering the Junior hallway made her blood run cold.

"What is Tommy doing?"

Billy shook his head. "My best estimate would be engaging Cat in a flirtatious manner in order to obtain her romantic favor. That's what all the body language would suggest, but it doesn't make any logical sense." Billy adjusted his glasses. "Tommy has no interest in Cat. His hormones only ever spike when Kimberly is present."

Cat finally excused herself and left Tommy looking dazed. His friends took the opportunity and approached him, Billy making mental notes of the boy's physical appearance. From a cursory glance, he looked drugged to Billy's untrained eye. He took advantage of Tommy's distracted state and poked his arm with a scalpel he always kept handy for situations such as this.

That brought him out of his stupor. "That the hell?" He noticed them and smiled jovially, though his eyes remained hollow. "What's up guys? I was just talking to Cat. She's something, isn't she?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Trini watched as her old friend just stared off after the aforementioned blondes retreating form. "We'll deal with that later. Have you seen Kim?"

"She's not here?" That got Tommy completely out of his stupor. "I have to talk to her about something. But, I can't remember. My head's all weird. Hey guys, what do you think of Cat? She something special, isn't she?"

"She's something, all right." Aisha Campbell, a girl they knew of but had never officially met, came strolling up. "I have to tell Kim something, too, but have yet to lay eyes on her. I'm not sure she's here today."

Tommy Shook his head and greeted them all, again. He then went on as if nothing had strange had occurred. "Billy, what's going on with Tommy? That is so not his normal behavior."

"I'm not feeling well, Trini. I trust you to pass the message on to the appropriate people." He carefully maneuvered through the crowds of students, being sure to keep his test sample away from the prying eyes of his peers. "Alpha, I'm coming in."


Kimberly watched Tommy and Cat from her perch on the balcony of the Rita's palace. She hadn't demorphed since receiving the sword of darkness. She wasn't quite ready yet. All she could feel was the cold inside her spreading and some embroiled rage that had bubbled up from somewhere she didn't even know she had access to. For the moment it didn't feel like her. It would probably pass.

"Well, well. Looks like little Miss Kitty has found a mouse to play with." She listened to their conversation and smirked behind her mask. "Tommy, the mouse. All you men are the same."

"They need to be taught a lesson."

She turned and regarded Rita. On a pedestal in the throne room lay the prone body of who she now knew to be Scorpina. The Empress was preparing for the apparently exhausting task of bringing her head General back to life.

"I suppose they do."


"No, Trini, I can't explain it."

Aisha locked eyes with the Asian girl and ground her teeth. "Why don't you go on ahead and try. Again."

"I just realized when I saw Cat this morning, standing there being all pretty, that she's perfect for me. And it doesn't really make sense to me, but yet it does. You know?" Tommy tried to get up from the bench they had forced him to take perch on, but the girls shoved him back down. "What more do you want from me?"

"What were you doing yesterday?"

"I went to practice, made a total ass of myself 'cause Kim was looking really cute in her running shorts. After that I went to the Youth Center to teach my beginners Karate course then I went home and tried calling Kim until Jan threatened me with castration if I didn't stop."

"So, business as usual?"

"Yeah, and it's still normal except I don't think about Kim anymore. Instead, I think about-"

"Don't say her name!" Trini gave Aisha a strange look. "Whenever he says you-know-who's name, he loses all sense."

"She might be onto something."

Trini slapped Tommy on the head for the hell of it. "I'm not happy with you right now, idiot. I'm glad you're beginning to make sense, but damn if I'm not mad at you."

Aisha seemed to be studying Tommy a little more intensely. "So, you didn't notice a change until you saw her, right? Before that you were still gaga over Kim."

She grabbed him by his shirt collar and hauled him outside of the school and to her bright yellow Jeep. Trini followed closely behind. Aisha drove like a mad woman all the way to a neglected nursing home in Stone Canyon.

"Ya'll need to keep an open mind now. My grandmother can be a lot to take in at first, but she might be able to help. Gran's mom was born in Louisiana and raised a bit different. She doesn't really talk about it much but can be persuaded to use the gifts that were passed down."

"And what does that mean?"

"My Gran practices Hoodoo and dabbled with a bit of Voodoo in the late 70s." She watched as they paused. "Don't worry, she won't do anything bad. At least, she hasn't shown me any of the bad yet. Not for lack of begging on my part."

"Child, are you coming to try and pry dark secrets from me, again?"

There, in one of the more well-kept living apartments, was a woman almost as regal as a queen. Not in appearance, but in stature. They could feel her power like rays of the sun.

"I brought friends, Gran. Trini and Tommy."

Gran stared Tommy down under her powerful gaze. "Child, what on Earth have you got all over you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You're covered in all kinds of dark magic." Standing with grace, she came over to them and promptly whacked him on the forehead. "Your mind's been clouded over and messed with. I've never seen a mark of this kind of black. You play with shadows, boy?"

"Thanks, Gran, for clarifying what we already had pretty much figured out. But can you lift it?"

"If I was young and foolish like you? Sure, I could do anything. Old and wise as I am, I have to say no. This spell is older than me."

Aisha sat down on a rather flowery couch with a huff. "Fat lot of good you are."

"Oh, hush you. I said the spell was older than me. The magic is young and half fueled by hormones." She grabbed Tommy's head and concentrated. "The other half is another kind of magic all together. You all know anyone who's been dabbling in the dark arts?"

The teens wandered back onto campus. Not that Tommy saw much reason in it. They'd spent the whole first of the school day at Aisha's Gran's place while she'd poked, prodded and choked him with weird herbs. Herbs that were alternatively burning, being tossed or soaked in strange liquids before being thrown on him. All to no avail. They still had no clue who'd "Put the black in his head" as she'd groused more than once during their visit.

"Sorry she couldn't be much help." Aisha shoved a somewhat dazed Tommy onto a bench in the court yard. "I'll keep an eye on you-know-who. There's something off about it. And if Gran is right, it may not be all her fault."

Trini nodded and said farewell to their new friend. Left with just Tommy, she had a moment to reflect. They'd learned a few useful things that morning, at least. But she had yet to hear from Billy or see hide nor hair of Kim.

Jason and Zack finally found them, though neither were happy about being left out of the loop. Jason more then he really had a right to be, but logic wasn't always his strong suit.

"So, where were you two all day?"

Trini wasn't in the mood for his annoying misplaced jealousy. "Tommy? Cat."

The affect was instantaneous. His eyes glazed over and the boy began babbling like a loon. Jason immediately regretted his question.

"What happened to the T-Man?"

Trini shrugged and stood beside Zach. "Pretty sure it's a spell but we don't think it was Rita. We have suspicions, though. Have you seen Kim?"

"Rumor mill says she contracted herpes from the baseball team. I think it was Tawnie who started it. You know how much she "adores" Tommy." Jason scoffed and whacked the aforementioned boy upside the head. "Wouldn't be surprised if she did this, too."

Trini took a moment and just stared at the sometimes witless wonder that was Jason Lee Scott. "It's moments like these that remind me why Billy often wins my favorite poll."


Kimberly was locked inside her own mind. She couldn't quite figure out what her current location was. She knew she was somewhere but it felt like nowhere.

"You're in Goldar's Dark Dimension. Well, Rita made it, but Goldar uses it more."

Kim squeaked and whirled around to find and all too familiar blonde in front of her. The girl smirked at her obvious confusion. Cat was at ease in this place that felt like everything good in the world was being slowly smothered and Kim oddly enough didn't find the other girls behavior shocking.

"You've been done in by pride."

"I don't understand."

She snickered and Kim's skin crawled. "It's quite simple. Instead of becoming power drunk after Rita unlocked your inner magic and removed the pesky veil of naivety humans cling to, you moved for independence. Maybe even fancied breaking the curse that plagues you lot's coins, yeah? Not smart, Kimmy."

She shoved Kim into a manacle laden chair which quickly constrained her. "Rita is on a time limit. Her father expects great things, for starters. Also, love is a fickle thing often not won by fair means. She needs this planet and you having a spine and a plan of your own just won't do."

"Whatever. Cut the crap and, like, just tell me why I'm here.'

"You're in stasis. Thanks to the spell placed on you by the Sword of Darkness. You've killed and now you're "evil", but only when you're awake, sort of."

Kim impatiently signaled for her to continue. "Oh, you don't sleep anymore, per se. You go into stasis in the throne room and your soul wakes up here. Keeps you from wondering through the nether verse trying to contact your friends."

Kim took Cat's moment of gloating to reflect. "I killed someone."

"Scorpina sold her soul to avenge her now destroyed planet long ago. She was easily resurrected, but please, let the fact that you actually took her life tear you up inside."

"Why do you hate me?"

Cat glared before she disappeared in a haze of white smoke. The blonde had no intention of telling anyone anything. Let them all assume as they please. She had an agenda to keep and that brunette upstart was not going to stop her.