Disclaimer: MMPR belongs to Disney/Saban, but I'm going to try and see if they'll work out a deal with me on Ebay...

Impending Darkness

Chapter Eleven

Once the other Rangers were sure that Trini was no longer in danger, which involved Azalea repeating, "Eysi diseh asih hasi!" several times in an exasperated tone, Jason decided it was time to take charge and regroup on knowledge. He had yet to tell the others about the memory he'd experienced, and if at all possible, he wanted to hear Tommy's story. He'd begun to form a vague plan in his mind, and with a little ingenuity on Billy's part and a lot of distractions from himself and the others, it just might work.

Kimberly, however, was more concerned about Tommy. She hadn't heard the conversation between Billy and Jason, but knew even before Jason opened his mouth that something was wrong. Thus she was able to interject the question weighing heavily on her mind: "Where is he and what have they done to him?" She wanted to run right out into the common room and look for Tommy, demand an explanation and solve the whole thing with a kiss, but the expression on Jason's face told her that wouldn't be a good idea.

"He's out there with Billy," Jason answered with some hesitation. Kim didn't move. Something told her that she needed more information. "Kim...Billy thinks the aliens did something to his brain. It's like..." He fished for a comparison. "Like on Rita's island of illusion, when he thought we were all putties and he started to panic. It's like he can't see us as we really are and he's afraid that we might hurt him."

"So maybe the aliens made him think we were his enemies or something?" Zack asked. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Man, if they can do this to us, break us up and make us fight each other, we won't have a chance of getting out of here."

"We're stronger than that," Trini said quietly. A touch of color had returned to her face already, and she was looking at them with far more focus than before. "Tommy recovered from an illusion once, and he can do it again. We all did."

"One thing's for sure," Jason said. "We've got to put all our heads together. You guys won't believe some of the stuff I saw in that memory." At Trini and Zack's blank looks, he explained, "I have a memory that's not mine. I must have fallen asleep earlier or my mind just wandered, but it was like I was there when the aliens destroyed an entire world." An uncontrollable shudder ran up his spine, and Jason had to force the next words out. "I was the last survivor of the planet. The only survivor. I saw what the aliens did to a village...and now I know what they'll do to Earth if we can't stop them."

"Speaking of memories..." Kimberly said slowly, "I still have to tell you guys about how we got here, now that I know the rest." She cast an anxious glance towards the next room. "Do you think we could get Tommy to sit down and listen? Maybe just being around us will help."

Zack, however, was looking at Azalea. The little girl had seated herself in one of the chairs by the small table in the center of the room and was going over the results from Trini's blood sample again and again, as if she couldn't figure something out. Every minute or so, her head would tilt forward, and then she would jerk upright again and dart a look around as if afraid of being watched. "Hey Kim," he said in a low voice so that Azalea wouldn't overhear. "What's up with Azalea?"

Kimberly, whose mind was anywhere but on the underage alien in the room, stared at Zack as if she hadn't heard the question. "What?"

Zack made a shushing motion before pointing to Azalea. "I get the feeling something's not right."

"She looks exhausted," Trini said quietly. "I know she didn't sleep hardly at all when I told her to."

"She got interrupted by the aliens," Zack said darkly.

"Maybe there's something on the screen she doesn't get," Jason said thoughtfully.

Kimberly pondered that in the small part of her brain that wasn't worrying about Tommy. "Well, if it was supposed to take two weeks for the parasites to die, then maybe she can't figure out why it happened so soon?"

"Well, that's easy," Zack said, as if it were obvious. At their expectant looks, he seemed momentarily surprised. "I mean, think about it. They didn't die until Trini flushed 'em. You get it? It looks like humans have some kind of defense system against those things, and Azalea wasn't expecting that. If she were to have those things, then maybe it would take her two weeks to get them out of her system."

A slow smile spread across Trini's face. "Zack, you're brilliant," she said. "She must be trying to figure out why it happened."

"Funny thing though," Jason said thoughtfully. "She didn't seem so shocked when Tommy's cuts mysteriously got better or when I got my sight back."

At the mention of her boyfriend's name, Kim stood up straight and stomped one foot. "Oh, that's it!" Jason took an instinctive step backwards; the Pink Ranger was entering 'mission mode,' something she had picked up from Trini. Kimberly directed a determined look at the other three. "I'm going to get Billy and Tommy, and we're all going to sit down and talk this stuff out together." With that, she spun around and vanished into the next room.

Seconds later, Billy hastily joined the other Rangers, a pink flush coloring his face and ears. He had what looked like a miniature book with him; all his notes on the various things he'd managed to translate so far. "Tommy and Kimberly will be here...eventually," Billy said, obviously embarrassed.

Jason raised an eyebrow. Zack raised two. Trini let out a knowing laugh before stifling it with one hand. "Way to go, Kim," she said after a moment. "Straighten that boy out."

"What'd she do?" Zack asked Billy, hoping to get an answer from the Blue Ranger before he got distracted by the new technological doodads Azalea was currently playing with.

Billy appeared to replay something in his head before answering. "Well, Kimberly approached Tommy with increased velocity, and as Tommy was sitting with his back toward her, he did not have sufficient time to react to her presence. He attempted to strike her with less than normal enthusiasm, but Kimberly diverted the attack before pinioning his legs by applying her body mass to his."

Jason had the foresight to interrupt Billy at that point, needing a translation rather badly. "Uh, Trini?"

"He said that Kim surprised Tommy by sitting on his lap," Trini answered, laughter in her voice. "Keep going, Billy."

Reluctantly, Billy went on, "Tommy's facial expression indicated that he was equally divided between the emotions of fright and hope. Kimberly said, 'It's good to have you back, Tommy, no matter what.' Then they began...kissing." Obviously Billy couldn't think of a scientific way to explain that particular public display of affection.

"Yeah, that's Kim all right," Zack said with a grin. "There's two ways to solve a problem: hitting it or kissing it."

As if on cue, Kimberly appeared, towing Tommy by one hand. Her eyebrows were drawn together in resolve and she strode right into the center of the room, pulling her boyfriend after her. Tommy didn't appear to be offering much resistance, but his gaze darted around the room distrustfully all the same. Kim pushed Tommy into a chair next to Azalea before dragging the third over for herself.

It was only after she'd settled beside Tommy that Kimberly saw the grins and winks passing among her friends. She almost opened her mouth to say something, but shrugged and decided that her victory needed no comment from her.

"All right," Jason said, just as if he were calling a meeting to order. "We're going to get ourselves on the same page. A lot's happened and we haven't all been together for it. We've got things to talk out, so I figured we'd start with Kim's missing memory and go from there."

Kimberly searched her brain for a starting point, and at last made up her mind that from beginning to end would be best. So she started with the almost-'zord battle against Alarmo and went straight through her memory of their capture until her ribs ached anew with remembrance. During her recitation, Trini and Billy kept analytic eyes on Tommy. To their surprise, he appeared to be listening. More than that, the longer he listened, the more tension left his body.

So his mind has not been altered to a point where he cannot receive and process new information, Billy thought.

"Billy?" Jason prompted, as if he'd already tried to get the Blue Ranger's attention once or twice.

"Yes?" Billy responded, startled. "Did you say something?"

"I asked you to tell us your theory of mind manipulation again," Jason said patiently. "It might jog some other people's thoughts."

Billy began shuffling through his papers; he really needed to make a table of contents and put numbers on all his pages. "Well, my current hypothesis is that the Liame-Menashi possess some sort of memory and/or mind altering device which has allowed them to erase certain portions of our recollection."

He paused, and Trini translated, "He thinks the aliens have a memory-erasing machine."

"Precisely," Billy said with a nod. "However, as both Tommy and Jason have received some sort of medical care, we can assume that we have at least one or more allies aboard this ship. Jason believes he has a certain memory that did not previously belong to him. My theory is that the aliens might be able to add specific knowledge to our minds by transmitting memories."

Trini took over. "There are friendly aliens that might be giving us hints by leaving us memories." She stopped and then added her own opinion. "It would have to be at night then, since Tommy woke up that one morning and his back was better."

"And I heard something moving around," Jason reported. He got a few looks from the others and hastened to explain, "I woke up in the middle of last night when I was still blind and there was a living...something beneath my head. I could hear its heartbeat. When it knew I was awake, it ran for it. I heard what sounded like claws scraping against the bed, but the door never opened."

"Thus," Billy concluded, "this particular alien or helpful ally is using an entrance that doesn't involve the door."

"Then you're saying there's a hidden way out of this room?" Zack asked, just to clarify. "Wow, that could really come in handy."

"So finish your story, Jason," Kimberly urged. "What about the memory you have now?"

Jason took a deep breath. "I gotta warn you guys, it's brutal. I mean, beyond horror movie brutal."

"Jason, we're not little kids," Trini said a bit sternly, but she softened her tone. He looked haunted by what he could see in the depths of his mind's eye. This was the first she'd heard about the memory, however. What was it like to recall something that couldn't possibly have happened in your life?

Billy was hunting for a fresh writing utensil and some clean sheets of paper on which to take notes when Azalea stood up suddenly and shut the analysis screen off. She gave no sign that she had understood a word of their current conversation as she started for the doorway connecting to the kitchen. About halfway there, the small girl swayed slightly and had to pause and regain her balance.

As if unaware she was the center of attention, Azalea kept going, made it to the door, and activated a communication device in the next room. She began a hushed conversation in her sibilant language, and even though Jason followed and attempted to eavesdrop from the doorway, he couldn't understand anything.

He turned back and met the questioning glances of his friends. Jason had to shrug, indicating his incomprehension without tipping Azalea off as to his presence. Opting to leave her alone for the moment, Jason went back to the others and without further preamble launched into the best account he could provide of the strange, alien world he had witnessed through the eyes of a child.

Almost as he expected, the girls expressed their horror far more verbally than the guys. Billy, though he was taking the most detailed notes he possibly could, found his eyes blurred by tears as he saw the bruised and broken bodies of people he would never meet littering a fire lit camp.

Zack was uncharacteristically solemn and silent throughout. At one point he almost wanted to cover his ears, but even that wouldn't erase the truth of what Jason had seen. Tommy's hands were over his face and his loose hair spilled forward, hiding his true emotions. Only Kimberly, with her hand on his shoulder, felt the way he trembled as he listened.

"And then I woke up," Jason finished. "I was the girl. I mean, for the first few minutes I wasn't sure if I had the right number of fingers." There was a long, uneasy moment of silence that seemed to stretch on for an hour. Finally, Jason knew he had to break it. "Guys, we can't let this happen to Earth. We've got to make a plan and get out of here."

"You don't get it, do you?" These were the first words to come out of Tommy's mouth since the group meeting had begun. "That little girl that you were…its Azalea."

That revelation fell like a bombshell into the midst of the other five Rangers. "What?" Kimberly demanded, straightening up so fast that she winced and pressed her hand to her side.

"How can you be sure?" That conclusion hadn't even crossed Jason's mind. Of course, relating those terrible events to what he saw in this clean, well-lit environment had been the furthest thing from his thoughts, especially while trying to take care of the others.

"Earlier, I saw a burn on the back of her neck," Tommy explained. "It's below her collar, where it sounds like it should be. And the handprint…I know how she got that."

Trini's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, Tommy? Jason just told us how it happened."

Tommy raised his head; his face looked haggard and old. "Not that one. The one on her hand. I don't know how, but—"

"—you have these images that you couldn't possibly have seen before, and it seems like you could almost have imagined it, but the memory of the pain is too real," Jason said steadily. He focused on Tommy. "That's how it feels, right?"

The White Ranger nodded almost helplessly.

"I don't get it," Zack said. "I mean, how did she get these memories into your heads? Why is she doing it?" He craned his neck in a vain attempt to see out of the doorway, to see the little girl whose past was becoming a part of them.

"Perhaps she is not performing such acts on purpose," Billy said quietly. "In fact, Azalea may not be responsible at all."

"What's the theory this time, Billy?" Trini's question wasn't asked unkindly; she wanted any good reason to believe that Azalea wasn't working with the aliens. Trini could see no logical basis for the girl to have loyalty to the World-Burners other than pure fear. But if she had access to the mind-manipulation device, was she the one that had erased their memories initially?

"What if the aliens gave us the memories as a warning?" Billy asked. "Even our unknown ally could be involved. Due to Azalea's memory that Jason possesses, we have an idea know what will happen to Earth if we do not act quickly." He looked around at all of them. "I maintain the theory that anyone could have planted those memories in Jason and Tommy, not just Azalea."

Kimberly was dubious. "Wouldn't they have sensed something?"

Jason laughed shortly. "I spent I don't know how long unconscious. I mean, one moment Trini's sticking a needle in my arm and the next, I'm in a fish bowl."

"I'm with Jase," Tommy said. "I'm not sure how long those aliens had me in the white room, but anything could have happened in there and I wouldn't have known."

Kimberly exchanged glances with Trini. This could be the opening they needed to get Tommy to talk. "What white room, Tommy?" she asked. Her boyfriend tensed up suddenly, almost like he'd said too much.

"Everyone's spilling what they know," Jason said. "Go ahead, bro. We're here to listen." He hated seeing Tommy, one of the strongest people he knew, jumping at shadows.

Tommy swept the room with his gaze before running both hands through his hair. "You're all real, right? I know—I know I sound crazy, but I've got to be sure." A great sense of dread was rising inside him, as if all he saw was a dream waiting to shatter. Everything seemed to be slowly returning to normal, and the room was even in focus now, but every once in awhile there would be a telltale flicker of movement that mutated into something unreal. Like when Jason had tried to shake hands and his arm had turned into a snake. The vision had lasted only a split second, so fast that Tommy might not have noticed, but his tortured senses were on edge and he couldn't seem to turn them down.

Of course, that hadn't been a bad thing when Kimberly had started what she called 'therapy with a kiss' or in this case, many consecutive kisses. That was something he could remember; something that he didn't think could be faked by any alien illusion. And Trini, Zack, Billy, and Jason...they had shown themselves friendly so far. This was reality. Nothing could take its place.

Almost before he knew it, Tommy began his story with leaving their quarters and seeing the hallways of the alien ships for the first time. He tried to let the words come naturally, without thinking about what he was saying, but he got hung up on the first putty fight. He could still remember the weight of Kimberly's broken body in his arms, and the way her lips had curled into a sneer when she'd said, 'No choice but to kill you.'

"I'm right here," came the real Kimberly's voice from beside him. "Whatever you saw, just remember that I'm here."

He pressed forward with that thought. Tommy recounted the run-in with himself at Angel Grove High School, the strange Command Center, the river of colors, and finally, the shape-changing tiger. He was sure dozens of other things had happened, but like a nightmare, the less memorable portions had faded into scattered images.

"You didn't know how right you were, Jase," Zack said when Tommy had finished. "It sounds just like the Island of Illusion."

"No, it was several times worse," Tommy said. "It had no end, no real flow, and nothing I could use for absolute reference."

Billy was still adding notations to the fifth piece of paper he'd used to record Tommy's account. "Of course," he said once he was done. "By disturbing your body's perceptions, the aliens effectively removed what you knew to be true from your experience. Gravity, for example. Simulating a change in gravity disrupts equilibrium as well as denying the brain an understandable reference point for interpreting data."

"Trini, a translation?" Zack asked.

Trini rolled her eyes but complied. "Basically, by taking away the trust you put in your senses, it's much easier to wear down the mind's defenses. It makes you paranoid."

"What I want to know about is the extra memory you've got," Jason said. "How does it fit in with Billy's master theory?"

Billy started to object to the classification of his many hypotheses, but was distracted by Tommy's flat refusal.

"No. It's just—I can't right now, not with my brain going haywire." The White Ranger lapsed into a miserable silence. It was hard to explain exactly why. Perhaps it was his own encounter with people he loved being used against him, or the burning desire he'd felt from an alien child that he understood so well, having a history of adoption himself. He couldn't shake the feelings Azalea's memory gave him; they were too much a part of him now. Maybe when the tense atmosphere had cleared a little Tommy could find words to express everything.

Jason, realizing that the conversation needed sudden guidance away from Tommy, asked, "Anything new about the computer, Billy?"

"Unfortunately, negative." Billy sighed. "Without an alphabetical or phonemic translation, I fear I have reached an impasse for the moment."

"He needs Azalea's help," Trini clarified, directing a significant glance toward the next room.

"Well, then I'd say it's about time we asked for it," Kim said firmly. "We'll be right back, Billy. Just take a minute and look at the blood analyzing machine, would you? Azalea was using it earlier; Trini can fill you in." With that, she stood up, snatched Jason by the arm, and led the way into the next room, where Azalea was still deep in conversation with a hooded figure.

Now that Kimberly knew what to look for, she could just make out the moist texture of the alien's skin and the large, opaque eyes. The World-Burner caught sight of the humans and barked a sharp word, which made Azalea jerk around with a gasp and cut the connection. She appeared to wilt suddenly, and her features became exhausted again. Had she been acting in front of the World-Burners? Or had she been acting in front of the Rangers?

"Azalea," Kim said as if she hadn't noticed a thing, "we need your help with something."

The young girl looked at the Pink Ranger for a long moment as if processing her words. "Kassa?" she asked after several seconds, standing up.

"Can you help Billy translate the computer link? It's really important," Jason said, pointing to the round screen. The scrolling white lines of script had returned to the blue background. "Azalea, can you help him?" he repeated, looking for signs of comprehension.

Azalea was looking at Jason, but she didn't appear to be listening. She blinked once, slowly as if she wasn't seeing straight. Then, appearing to realize that she'd just been asked a question, she tried to answer but no sound came out.

Kimberly, who as a teenager had seen more girls pass out than any of the others, dove forward and caught Azalea just as she started to fall. The small girl collapsed bonelessly and Kim was careful to avoid touching her skin just as a precaution. She gestured for Jason to help her lift Azalea onto the nearest chair, and then covered her with a blanket.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "You don't think the aliens are experimenting on her too?"

Kim darted a glance over her shoulder at Tommy, just visible through the doorway. "That's the last thing we need." She shook her head despairingly. "If Azalea can't continue to help us, what will we do then?"

Just then, Billy came into the room. He had his miniature book under one arm and a single sheet in his hand as if he had a question, but when he saw the looks on his friends' faces, he asked, "What happened?"

"Azalea just passed out," Kim reported. "We're not sure but...do you think the aliens are messing with her?"

Billy thought back to the description Trini and Zack had given of the blood sample Azalea had taken from herself. Something was nagging at him, something... "Kimberly, could you examine the skin where Azalea extracted her own blood?"

Though Kim thought the request a little odd, she knelt beside Azalea and pulled aside the blanket enough to lift the edge of her black shirt. And then she gasped. "Oh my gosh."

"What?" Jason and Billy asked in unison. In answer, Kimberly moved out of their line of vision, removing the blanket altogether and rolling up Azalea's shirt to see the extent of the damage.

A large, greenish-purple bruise covered the little girl's hip. It was approximately a little bigger than Kimberly's palm and dotted with dark red puncture wounds. Some of the wounds were on top of each other, some were half-healed, and many were scarred over.

"I'd say that the aliens definitely had something to do with this," Jason said when he found his voice. "But why? She's their helper, right? It doesn't make sense."

Billy knelt down, careful not to touch Azalea, and examined the large contusion. "Kimberly, do you recall where Azalea retrieved her advanced hypodermic needle from?" At Kim's nod, he asked, "Could you get one for me? I need it for comparison."

Before Kimberly got as far as the doorway, the outer door to the rest of the alien ship irised open to reveal two of the tall World-Burners. Their hoods hid their features, but Billy and Jason spotted scaly, five-fingered hands as the two aliens raised some type of weapon and took aim.

Ranger instincts on full alert, Jason threw himself to one side and rolled, coming up with the intent to kick the weapon out of the alien on the left's hand. Billy went after the alien on the right with uncharacteristic initiative, flinging several of his papers into its face before diving at its midsection.

"Tommy, help us!" Kimberly shouted, seizing the chance to escape by dodging past the two aliens and through the still-open doorway. She was confronted with the airlock chamber, the far door sealed tight. I probably have to close the other door in order to get out of here, she thought. I can't leave the others behind, and I'll get nowhere by myself.

Frustrated, Kim took her emotions out on Billy's alien, hitting it with a kick to the back and sending it sprawling. It was in that instant that she saw the reptilian tail snake out from beneath the World-Burner's robe and catch Billy behind the knees, sweeping him off his feet. Billy landed hard, the wind momentarily knocked out of him. While he was down, the alien adjusted its grip on its weapon and fired at Kimberly. She somersaulted out of the way and attempted to pin the alien.

"Jason, watch its tail!" she warned, rolling to one side as her own alien tried to hit her with the aforementioned appendage.

Jason heard her advice just in time to avoid being brained. He was reminded of his old Tyrannosaurus 'zord's movements as he ducked and came up to the left of his alien. Its weapon was lost under one of the chairs, but Jason had almost forgotten about the aliens' burning body temperature. Their robes protected him from most of the heat, but if they managed to touch him skin to skin, the contact would probably burn him in a second. "Kim, don't let them touch you!" he yelled back. And then over his shoulder he called, "Tommy, man, we could use your help!"

Tommy rose from his chair and walked slowly toward the doorway, his eyes focused on the struggle of his friends. Zack was on his feet, hovering in the doorway but unable to be of any help. Trini was sitting up, trying to see what was happening but still without enough strength to stand. It's up to you to help them fight, part of Tommy's mind said. You've got to stop this, another part of him warned. If you don't, they'll end up just like Azalea when she was tricked. That part came from the memory that wasn't his, motivated purely by childish preservation.

"Jason, stop!" Tommy shouted over the melee. "They just want Azalea. That's all."

Billy was back up and fighting again, trying to distract the second alien who had managed to buck Kimberly off of its back and trap her against the wall. "How can you be certain?" the Blue Ranger asked, blocking a strike before attempting to knock the alien off-balance in order to try pinning it again.

"The memory," Tommy answered. Zack was practically fighting in place next to him, throwing his own punches and wincing every time one of their friends was hit.

"Man, you're gonna have to do better than that," the Black Ranger said harshly, upset that while he couldn't do anything Tommy was just going to stand there and let the others take on the World-Burners alone.

Desperation made Tommy say what he hadn't been able to say before: "Look, another group of people just like us tried to hold Azalea hostage once. They wanted to use her against the World-Burners, but the World-Burners fought back. They killed one of the people, the one primarily responsible for the plan. Please," Tommy said, "just back away."

The fight had ground to a halt in front of him. Jason was still facing his own alien, chest heaving from all the dodging he'd had to do in order to keep from getting burned. Kim was frozen on the floor, one arm raised to protect her face while Billy stood over her in a defensive stance.

"You're sure, Tommy?" Jason asked, his tone of voice implying that if he wasn't sure bad things were going to happen in the near future.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure," Tommy replied firmly. "Walk away. Don't turn your backs, but walk away." And then, suddenly recalling what Azalea had done in the presence of a World-Burner, he added, "Show them the backs of your necks; bow your heads. I think it's a gesture of submission."

Carefully, one by one, Billy, Jason, and Kimberly raised their hands in surrender and did as Tommy said, each lowering their heads just enough to expose their necks for a few seconds. "Lemmas," Billy said, but got no visible response. The two World-Burners remained where they were, long tails flexing slowly.

To be continued

Language Translations:

Kassa: What?

Lemmas: Sorry.

Reviews hoarded! (No seriously, I keep them in my email inbox for weeks.)

Author's Note: Yay! I actually got my latest teaser in the next chapter like I was supposed to! Now let's see if I can do it with this next one...

Thanks to my reviewers (in order of appearance):

Sam (Fae) whose reviews are progressive.

Cmar whose reviews make my muse bounce happily.

Ice-Princess-Amber, who was so right about Tommy.

Dagmar Buse whose name I stared at in shock (THE Dagmar Buse? Aaaah!).

Rapunzl, who raised some important questions that I hope I answered.

Jps1926, who was the first to comment on the teaser.

ShadowMaria whom I believe is a newcomer; welcome. 

DeviousNevius to whom I am not fair.

Next time on Power Rangers!

"Jason!"

"Mmm?"

"Jason, wake up!" Kimberly shook his shoulder harder. She didn't know at what point he'd fallen asleep last night, but he was definitely taking a long time to get with the program.

"Whaz th' matter?" Jason asked, rolling over and rubbing his eyes. All in all, they'd had a pretty calm night; everyone was present, nobody's life seemed to be in mortal danger...

"Billy's gone."

That made him sit up straight. "He's gone?"

Kimberly nodded. "And what's more, I saw the thing that's been helping us out." She did a couple stretches to prove her point. "My ribs are good as new, and I saw it."

"It?" Jason repeated, trying to clear his head and think straight.

Kim was adamant. "It's an animal, Jase."