Chapter 9

"Oh crap."

Staring down at his blonde former teammate Billy quickly evaluated his odds of escaping without some kind of beating. Kat had years of training with the best martial artists Billy had ever known, her lifetime of diving and dance training which left her exceedingly fit and of course the pink ninja powers. On his own list of assets he could include his not inconsiderable but forcibly neglected combat skills and a partially eaten hot dog.

In as sincere a manner as he could he asked her, "this isn't how it seems."

With an alert and extremely anxious expression Kat replied, "it looks like you tricked everyone and used the Dark Duchess to teleport everyone to another planet."

"Okay, so it is what it seems. Violence isn't the answer."

There was a pink blur then Billy found himself grasped by his collar by an angry australian power ranger. From what he remembered of Kat, and Billy still had excellent memory, this was her angry face. She yanked him up onto his tiptoes, "this isn't funny Billy, they're your friends!"

Despite his precarious situation Billy sneered. He might not have expected this development but he was over the shock already and Kat's reaction was predictable. Fortunately all she could do was smack him around a bit, in fact that small niggling thread of guilt that had been at the back of his mind was vanishing rapidly thanks to the bullying. "No Katherine, they're your friends. What are you going to do about it?"

Kat shook him slightly as she screamed with frustration, "dammit Billy! You're a GENIUS! Why can't I get through to you, we risked everything to save you."

Billy watched in shock as Kat let him go and stepped back, angry tears running down her face as she pleaded with him, "this hate filled monster isn't you. If it is this was all for nothing, so fine, if you really hate me that much here."

With that Kat tossed her blaster to him and he reflexively caught it. Reaching forward she gingerly took his hands in her own and lifted the blaster to point at her chest, which would be lethal at this range even with her ninja gear on. Billy blanched as he looked down to where their hands joined over the weapon's grip. Kat steadied for voice and continued, "if you're truly lost forever then just do it Billy. Prove how evil you are and enjoy your victory."

Looking in the eyes he asked, "why?"

Not bothering to hide her tears Kat answered softly, "because you are my friend. I'll save you or die trying."

For what seemed an eternity they stood frozen. Billy felt strangely disconnected from the surreal tableau and for the first time in a long time he could focus his thoughts. All the distractions around him: the chirping birds, barking dogs, stiff breeze ruffling Kat's hair in front of him, even the oddly contrasting textures of the blaster in his right hand and hotdog in his left; all were there but dismissed as simple distractions. Here he stood with a woman who was both a constant source of pain and one of his closest friends and he held the power of life or death.

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and decided.

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Thousands of light years away there was a dark flash of energy and where only moments ago there had been nothing but sand and rocks a group of strange figured stood. Five brightly colored warriors. One gold armored female warrior and three bronze robots. One seemingly young woman in dark robes. All nine figures collapsed to the ground as they appeared, groggy from the surprise trip.

First to recover was the dark robed woman who was by far the most accustomed to her own teleport spell. Staggering to her feet she gathered her robe and hissed at the group, "that's it. I've had it with you and your freaky planet, I'm out of here." With that and a rather crude gesture she vanished in another burst of shady light, distinctly smaller than the first, before any of the others could do more than blink in protest.

With the Dark Duchess gone only the two battling factions remained. On one side the power rangers got to their feet, Tommy quickly checking that everyone was there and steady on their feet. On the other side Scorpina and her three war-bots were also rising and Scorpina began to assess the situation. Even a cursory glance made it clear they weren't on earth anymore, she could see two moons in the sky. Doing a double take she stared at the moons for a moment, something about them disturbingly familiar.

Tommy stepped out in front of his team to face Scorpina, in his mind the priority was dealing with the immediate threat and they'd work the rest out later although below that professional layer that came with leading the team he was worrying about Katherine. "Alright Scorpina, just what the hell is going on?"

Scorpina barely noticed the red rangers question, let alone acknowledge it. With a sinking feeling she surveyed her surroundings, less than surprised to see a mountain a few miles away which had what her keen eyesight could tell were ruins of an old city. Even though she couldn't see it she knew the city contained one modern building which was little more than a holding cell, which sat next to a landing pad. An empty landing pad since her shuttles were all aboard her ship in earth orbit.

For centuries Scorpina's life had been fairly straightforward, she was either very happy because she was battling, angry because she'd lost a battle or bored because there nothing to fight with. Goldar had understood that and been a terrific partner, she hated the rangers for taking him away. She thought she could never hate anything that much as long as she lived. Apparently she was wrong, her hatred for the rangers was nothing compared to how she felt about Billy Cranston.

Suddenly she found her path blocked by the rangers, "you're not going anywhere without an explanation Scorpina!"

"What's to explain White Wonder? Little Billy Cranston tricked us, all of us. He didn't block teleportation, he redirected it."

It was the green ranger who was quick enough to ask the next question, "well where are we?"

"For all the good it'll do you, we're on Questiss five. A planet which has been deserted for nearly two hundred years, which is why it was so perfect when I needed somewhere to stash Billy boy. This must be his idea of irony, ha ha. Now I have things to do here, so GET THEM BOYS." Scorpina laughed menacingly as she sicced her robotic minions on the rangers.

For a moment the rangers took up defensive stances, then relaxed them as nothing happened. Irritated Scorpina looked over her shoulder to the three war-bots, "well go on, get rid of these pests."

Volt, self appointed leader of the war-bots, looked to his two near twins Gizmo and Spectrum before looking back to his so called mistress and shrugging. "Um, no?"

Staring in disbelief for a moment Scorpina was brought up short by a coppery taste in her mouth, she was clenching her teeth and had bitten the inside of her cheek. She'd been so angry she hadn't even noticed, "what do you mean, no?"

All three robots began slowly fading out under the stealth field that was Spectrum's specialty as Gizmo answered Scorpina, "we have conflicting orders from our creator. But don't worry, we'll be seeing you later. You to rangers." And then they were gone.

Taking an instinctive step back as the evil gold armored warrior spun on him Tommy noticed the veins pulsing at her temple as she screamed at him, "I HATE BILLY CRANSTON!"

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Billy released the breath he'd been holding as he opened his eyes and dropped the blaster, standing just a little taller as what felt like a huge weight lifted away. "I believe you have proven your point Katherine, I apologize for any disquiet my behavior may have induced."

Almost immediately he felt himself caught up in a tight hug, it could almost be described as desperate as the pink ranger indulged in the relief she felt at finally saving her old friend and so she wouldn't have to face how afraid she was he'd pull the trigger. She sniffled slightly as she spoke to him, "you did it Billy, you're you again! I knew you could break the spell."

Kat stepped back as she felt him stiffen up, "what's wrong? Is it the others, we'll find a way to get them back, I know we will."

Coughing hesitantly Billy answered, "that's not it, no. Ahem, the thing is, well." Looking anywhere but Katherine's face he stammered out, "I wasn't under any spell, Scorpina can't do magic."

A breathless second later Billy found himself laying on the grass with a sore jaw and looking up at an enraged Katherine Hilliard, advancing on him with murder in her eyes. "What do you MEAN there was no spell? How could you do something like this?"

Rubbing his sore jaw Billy sighed to himself, only in his world could this be seen to be going well.

**Author's notes: A bit erratic but here it is, any comments/criticisms are welcome.