Disclaimer: Callisto still belongs to Universal and all things Power Rangers are still Saban's. Carri and Chris and any other not known character came from my imagination and cannot be used without my permission.
Author's Note: It has been a CRAZY past few months but hopefully things have settled down now and I can get back to writing. Here is the new Scrolls, and Dark Inheritance will follow soon.
Ranger Scrolls
Pink Dilemma
Part 2
Carri got up early the next morning, rushing through her morning routine so she could teleport to the Power Chamber. Billy and Alpha weren't in the main room, so she walked up and looked at Rocky. After a few moments she heard a door open.
Billy saw Carri catch him out of the corner of her eye. "He's doing a lot better you know."
"That's good," she said as she nodded. She had a good time with her friends last night, but the entire time she was worried about her boyfriend. "How much longer before he regains consciousness?"
"It's hard to say for sure. I know I said this before but he really is lucky to be alive. To be honest that second attack by Kat should have killed him. He was already so weak. By the time I got to him, well, he must have been really fighting for something," Billy paused, unsure of what to say. Decision made he continued. "Last night it was touch and go all night. I thought he was ok but with everything he'd been through...," he shook his head as his voice trailed off, "now I can say with one hundred percent certainty that he'll be fine."
Carri smiled. Not as much about what Billy said, but that he'd said it at all. He could have babied her, but he told her the truth. She reached down and put Rocky's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Do you think," she started but had no time to finish the thought as the alarm went off.
Billy and Carri turned to see what was going on. They saw Kat standing there with a group of Zedd's Tengas. "You go ahead. I'll alert the others."
Carri nodded. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger two, yellow!"
The yellow Zeo ranger appeared before her cousin, who gave her a vicious smile as she spoke. "I'm surprised to see you here. I figured by now you'd be mourning the loss of your boyfriend."
"You're assuming he's dead. And you know what they say about assumptions," Carri replied, wearing a satisfied look behind her mask.
Kat frowned. "That's too bad. I thought I'd all but left him that way." That was not going her way at all.
Before Kat had a chance to make a move, Carri jumped in to start the fight. She wanted to get that staff away from Kat, but that was proving to be difficult with all the Tengas around. Before she got a chance to really give it a try, three flashes of light came in to help her.
"And I was beginning to think you were going to make it easy for me to destroy you," Kat said, the disappointment in her voice not conveying how she really felt. It was more fun to destroy all four at once than to waste her efforts on one pathetic little challenge.
"Sorry to disappoint," Jason replied as he attacked her while Tommy and Kim went to work on the Tengas.
After a few minutes the rangers thought they were making progress. The Tenga army was diminishing and they were coming closer to getting that staff. Kat sensed the fight was not going quite as planned. She leaped backwards and held her staff high in the air. A lightning bolt flew from the sky, and then she quickly turned the staff towards the rangers, hitting all four of them and flinging them to the ground. "How do you like my new trick?"
"How do you like mine?" asked a voice from behind. Kat spun just in time to see what was about to hit her. As Trey's staff made contact, Kat hit the ground hard. Furious to be surprised like that, Kat took off leaving just the rangers.
Trey ran over to help the others get up. "Are you all ok?" he asked. He didn't like hitting a former ranger like that, but he didn't have the same qualms about hurting Kat as the others did. As of right now, she was on Rita and Zedd's side which made her the enemy.
"Yeah I think so," Tommy replied as he stood.
"Zordon informed me of your situation," Trey told them. "I got here as fast as I could." The rangers needed his assistance, especially if what Zordon was speculating was true.
"Thank you. From the look of it, we're going to need as much help as we can get," Kim replied. She and the others regrouped, and then the rangers quickly teleported back to the Power Chamber.
"Billy I don't know what we're going to do, she keeps getting stronger," Jason said as they powered down. She was not going to make it easy to get that staff away.
"That last attack was some sort of staff upgrade," Billy informed them. "Somebody strong is powering her."
"Callisto?" suggested Carri. That's what made the most sense. Billy shook his head no.
"Rita and Zedd?" supplied Kim, thinking the sorceress was the next best thing.
Billy shook his head no again. "More powerful than that."
"Who could be more powerful that Callisto and Rita and Zedd?" asked Tommy. Mondo and Machina were gone, perhaps Master Vile was back. He might be able to do it, but why would he.
"That's the answer I'm almost afraid to find out," replied Billy. He had a feeling their mentor had an idea. Zordon was asking all the right questions as the information came rolling in, however if he knew he wasn't sharing and Billy wasn't one to push.
Jason made a face. "Do you think we can still get the staff away from her?"
Billy nodded. That he had figured out. "I have done a lot of research on the staff. I still can't say for sure that it's what's making her evil. I do know that it can absorb a lot of energy. Most of it evil energy, but if we can counteract that with some good energy of our own, it may make it unstable enough that Kat can't hold onto it, giving you guys seconds to steal it."
The rangers thought for a moment. Tommy was the first one to speak. "How do we infuse it with good energy?"
"If one of you guys can get a hold of the staff, I think I have a way to fill it with good energy through the Zeo Crystal," Billy told them. It was going to cause quite the shock for whoever got their hands on it, but he's was fairly certain anyone on the team was willing to endure it.
"So basically the plan is grab the staff and hope you can work your magic before she kills us," Carri asked as she crossed her arms and thought about the plan. The others shot her a look. "I just wanted to be clear."
"You don't think it will work?" asked Jason, turning toward her and crossing his arms as well, as if daring at her to come up with some reason why it won't.
The corners of Carri's lips turned up slightly at the look Jason was giving her. "If Billy came up with it, it's bound to work. That staff just hasn't brought us much good luck yet."
"Well I think it's about time for our luck to change," Kim said. It had to, they didn't have much choice.
"I am going to stay around Earth. Please don't hesitate to call when she attacks again," Trey told them. He was not needed here, now, but he would be back when the attacks started again.
"We won't," Tommy replied. "And thanks again for your help."
"Any time rangers," Trey said as he teleported off.
"So now what?" Kim asked as she looked at the others.
"We are supposed to do a martial arts seminar on campus this afternoon. It's part of an outreach to kids program that USC is doing," Jason said. With everything going on, he had almost forgotten about it until one of the members of the children's organization contacted him that morning.
"We as in," Carri didn't finish the sentence as she looked at Rocky then glanced at Tommy and Jason.
"Yeah," Tommy replied. "Jason and I will carry on. We can tell them that Rocky suddenly got sick." They had to, Rocky would agree they couldn't let the kids down.
Kim and Carri nodded in agreement as Jason spoke. "Emily is coming up after the seminar," he told them. "Maybe when she gets here we can all go out."
"Sounds good," Kim replied. If they had a quiet rest of the day, an evening out might be good.
Jason nodded. "We had better get going." If they were going to do the seminar they needed to get moving.
"We'll see you guys later," Carri told them as the guys prepared to teleport out.
"Good luck," Kim added as she gave her boyfriend a kiss. The two male ranger's then teleported off. Kim turned to her friend. "So what do you want to do?"
"I don't know," Carri said glancing at her boyfriend. She felt like she should stay with him, especially after what Billy told her that morning.
Kim grabbed her by the arm. "Come on. I'm taking you down to the beach. A little sun always brightens up your day."
Carri looked hesitant. "But"
"No buts. Come on, let's go." Kim was not going to let her mope around over everything that was going on.
"I'll let you know if anything happens. Go have a good time," Billy encouraged her to get out. She most certainly wasn't needed there, it wouldn't do her any good staying.
Carri thought for a moment. "I guess you're right." With that, the two girls teleported out of the Power Chamber leaving Billy alone to do work.
Billy found himself so occupied with the Kat situation that the afternoon flew by. He was contemplating whether or not Rocky would be alright long enough for him to go out with the others for a bit when his friend started to stir. Billy ran over to him and put a hand on him to keep him from moving too quickly. "Easy Rocky. You took quite a beating."
Rocky started to sit up. "How long have I been out?" he asked looking around the Power Chamber, immediately going into ranger worry mode when he saw no one was there. "Where are the others? Are they fighting? Are they hurt? Do they need me?"
Billy smiled as he helped him sit up. "The others are fine. Tommy and Jason are finishing up a seminar, and I believe Carri and Kim spent the afternoon on the beach."
"Seminar?" Rocky repeated, not believing that he was out long enough to miss the class he was supposed to teach. "You mean I've been out for a day now?"
"Yes," Billy replied looking at his friend, his brow arching. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember being suspended in the air by Callisto, and Carri was held against a tree. Kat came running towards me and I don't know about anything after that." He struggled to remember what happened but he simply could not.
"Kat used her staff to strip you of your powers and knock you to the ground. With Callisto still holding Carri against the tree and the others down from Kat's attack, Kat went over to you and used her staff to try and kill you. If it wasn't for Tommy, she would have succeeded. Jason freed Carri and she teleported you out of there," Billy finished, filling him in on the battle he missed.
"And I've been out since?" asked Rocky. Kat must have hit him hard. He got a firsthand look at what that staff could do and it wasn't good.
Billy frowned. The next little bit was where the story got complicated. "Well yes but not entirely because of that. Zedd sent Tengas to attack when the others got back so they took off again. Kat was able to infiltrate the Power Chamber. I think it was due to a glitch in the system and her being a ranger before. She attacked you, but I was able to get her out before she killed you. When the others came back from the fight you were dying and we didn't think you'd survive. You almost shouldn't have survived."
Rocky smiled. "I have a lot to live for." He accepted his role as a ranger and what might happen because of it. However life was good and he didn't have any intention of being bested that easily.
"You were kind of iffy last night, but the others weren't there for that part. They left, well three of them left and dragged Carri with them. We didn't think you'd want her here watching you."
"Thanks," Rocky told him. They were right. She didn't need to sit there over him. He knew her, she'd just get pissed everything and do something stupid like confront Callisto by herself. "So she's at the beach now?"
"Hang on let me check," Billy said walking over to the control panels. He did a quick scan for her. "Looks like she's back at the apartment."
Rocky hopped down of the med bed. "Then that's where I'm off to."
"Just take it easy," Billy requested. His friend was nowhere near one hundred percent yet.
"Of course," Rocky replied, although they both knew should there be another attack take it easy wouldn't be an option.
Billy nodded. "See you later."
"Later," Rocky said as he teleported to the living room of his friends' apartment. He looked around and saw nobody was there so he walked down the hallway. Carri and Kim's bedroom doors were shut. He assumed that they had just gotten back from the beach and were getting changed. He cracked open Carri's door and looked around. He didn't see her, but the bathroom door was cracked. Knowing she wouldn't mind the intrusion he walked into the room and then quietly shut the door behind him. He walked over toward the bed and made himself comfortable while he waited for her.
A few minutes later Carri walked out of the bathroom. She was looking for her perfume, so off in her own little world thinking about everything that has happened that she almost didn't notice Rocky sitting there. As she saw him she froze for a moment. "Rocky?" she asked in disbelief. She was worried it would be a long time before she saw him up and around again, yet here he was. Casting that thought aside, she ran over to him and threw her arms around him.
Rocky returned the hug then he pushed her back a little bit. "Hey," he said smiling at her.
Not one to get overly sentimental, she returned the smile and cracked a joke. "Nice of you to finally join me."
"Sorry I was too busy to bother with you before," he joked back with a chuckle, getting a sly smile from her. His smile disappeared as he moved to discuss the seriousness of his situation. "Billy told me what happened."
Carri nodded, knowing they had to discuss it even though she was perfectly content pretending it didn't happen. "After Kat attacked the Power Chamber and we returned, I really thought we were going to lose you. I didn't know what to think or what to do. All I remember is sitting on the floor thinking that if something were to happen to you I'd"
Rocky stopped her with a kiss. "Don't worry about it now," he assured her. He saw how much it hurt her to think about him dying and he saw the flash of anger that would have led to her doing something stupid and dangerous. "I'm here. In one piece. I would never leave you." Rocky put his arms back around her and pulled her in giving her another kiss.
Carri grinned as she curled up in her boyfriend's arms. "You might want to work on your battle skills so you don't get your ass kicked like that again," she teased, pushing the thoughts aside of how hard it was to see the man she loved like that and how she wanted to rip Callisto a new one.
The blue ranger let out a laugh. "Maybe I'll sign up for some karate lessons or something," he replied as he smiled down at her.
"Hey Carri are you ready to go?" Jason asked as the door swung open. He was surprised to see her sitting there with Rocky and smiled at the duo. "It's good to see you up and moving."
"It's good to be up and moving," he replied.
"So do you want me to tell the others you're not coming?" Jason asked, assuming the duo would want some alone time together.
Rocky spoke before Carri could answer. "Well where were you going?"
"The whole gang of us were going to eat," she replied. As soon as she replied she knew Rocky would want to go, which was fine with her.
"Just because I was almost dead doesn't mean I lost my appetite," Rocky joked. Truthfully he was starving, he just wanted to see his girlfriend first and figure out the rest later. "Count us in."
"Are you sure you feel up to it?" Jason asked. He almost died, he didn't want his friend to feel obligated to go out with them.
"Absolutely," he replied eagerly before turning toward his girlfriend. "Then after maybe me and you can come back and have some alone time." He would love to take her somewhere but he knew he wasn't up to par at the moment and he needed to just relax.
She grinned at him. "I'd like that."
"Are we ready?" Rocky asked as he turned toward Jason.
The green ranger nodded. "Tommy went to grab Kim, Emily and Billy are here so we are good to go."
"Then let's do it," Rocky said as he hopped up and took his girlfriend with him. The three of them went out to greet the others and then they were all off to dinner.
After they left the restaurant, everybody went their separate ways. Billy went back to the Power Chamber, Carri and Rocky went back to her apartment to relax, while Tommy and Kim went for a moonlit stroll down the beach. Jason and Emily walked around town, unsure of how they wanted to spend their night.
Emily looked up at her boyfriend. "I'm so glad that Rocky is ok. I'm sure Carri was devastated."
Jason nodded. "She was, but she's strong. She kept doing what had to be done." She was a ranger. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for her to see him like that but he had no doubt that she would have continued to be more than good to go in battle.
"I just can't believe that Kat would do those things." Kat was her friend and she had been trying to wrap her head around it for a while.
"I know, but it's unfair to judge her. When you're evil - well spells can make people do things that they would never dream of doing." Emily had gotten a little taste of spells courtesy of Rita. That made them hate each other and was relatively tame in comparison to what some of them had gone through.
"Have you ever been evil?" They never talked in depth about his ranger days but she felt like this was something that was important to know.
Jason shook his head no as he answered. "No, but Tommy has. I saw what he was capable of doing. You remember that day that Carri and I disappeared on the beach?" Jason paused and glanced at Emily, who nodded. "We were taken to be killed by Tommy, who was still evil in that world and was killing rangers. When we freed him he was devastated by what he had done. Tommy has a heart of gold, he would never want to hurt any of us."
"What do you think is going to happen when you free Kat?" The pink ranger was such a good person, she didn't know how she was going to deal with it.
Jason shrugged. "Kat hasn't done anything worth regretting yet." If it was him he'd just apologize and move on, go back to being a ranger. Evil spells happen.
Emily made a face. From her count she had done a lot worth regretting. "She almost killed Rocky and destroyed your Power Chamber."
"Both things she's going to be upset about," Jason somewhat agreed with her. "However Rocky's not dead and we put the Power Chamber back together." He knew it was hard for her to understand. She didn't know what it was like to be a ranger.
"Do you think Kat will want to be a ranger again?" She asked the question because she wasn't sure she'd be up to coming back and fighting alongside the people she just tried to kill.
"It's hard to say for sure. I'd want to go back to fighting the good fight, righting all the wrongs, and making up for what I'd done... not to mention not having the power is a hard thing to get used to. You always want it back." He was fairly certain anybody on the current team felt the same way but he couldn't say it with certainty about Kat.
Emily put her arm around Jason as they continued walking. "I just hope everything works out."
Jason returned the gesture and squeezed her as he smiled at her and nodded. They were approaching a movie theater, and Jason was about to suggest they go in, when his communicator went off. Jason took Emily's hand and walked off into an alleyway. "Go ahead."
Billy's voice came through the communicator. "It's Kat. She's attacking again."
"I'm on it," Jason said. He put his hand down and turned towards his girlfriend. "I'll be right back."
"Be careful," she said giving him a quick kiss, trying not to worry about what might happen with Kat.
He nodded his head before double checking to make sure he was clear and shifting into position. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger four, green!"
Jason was the first morphed ranger to appear on the scene. He glared at Kat, immediately noticing that she was by herself this time. "You're making this too easy for us," he said, acknowledging her lack of backup.
Kat rolled her eyes. "Please I don't need Zedd's army to take you out." Kat saw a red and pink light, followed by a blue and yellow light. She glared at the five rangers as they stood there. "So you're on your feet again? That won't last."
Rocky let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I was you."
Kat turned just in time to see the black light materialize beside her. She did a few back flips so the entire ranger team was in front of her. "I'm not dumb enough to fall for that again."
The rangers looked at each other. They knew what they had to do, and they knew they might have to hurt Kat in order to keep this from going on any longer. Trying to think of her as a normal enemy they all attacked, each ranger making an effort to grab for the staff. What they didn't know was that Kat had become very good at welding its power and she was able to keep the rangers off of her.
"Has anybody tried using their power weapons against her?" Rocky asked as he looked at the others. They shook their heads no. They had always been so concerned with Kat's safety that they were reluctant to do it. Now though they all knew that they only chance they had would be for someone to knock her off her feet. He called for his power weapon and attacked.
Kat was surprised to see him attack her like that given the rangers desire not to hurt her and attempt to make her one of them. She was so surprised that she didn't have time to mount an offence. After a few minutes of fighting with him, she maneuvered out of his way and lifted her staff high in the air to try and get a charge from it. Rocky tried to grab it, but she was too smart to let him get to it.
As Kat held her staff in the air, she concentrated all of her energy on the blue ranger. So much so that she never noticed the yellow ranger leap at her and grab the middle of the staff. Kat swung the staff around and threw the ranger on her back.
"You think I'd let go that easily?" asked Carri. She was determined to get the damn thing away from her cousin and when she put her mind to something she was pretty good at seeing it through.
"No a challenge would be more fun," Kat replied, anxious to do some damage to the yellow ranger, the one Callisto said hated them the most.
Carri quickly maneuvered to her feet without letting go of the staff. Suddenly she felt a charge of energy flow through her. She didn't know how long she would have to hold on for Billy to finish his work. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to worry about it long. The staff quickly became unstable with the good and evil energy in it. The staff sent electric shocks through both cousins' bodies, throwing them back before the staff fell to the ground where they once stood.
Tommy ran to attack Kat before she could pull herself together. As he did so, Jason ran over and grabbed the staff, teleporting out with it. Kim and Rocky went to check on Carri. "Are you ok?" Kim asked as she was climbing to her feet.
Carri grinned as she hopped up and shook her limbs out a bit. "Nothing like a little electric shock to get the blood flowing."
The blue and pink rangers briefly acknowledged her comment before they all ran over to assist Tommy, who was handling Kat now that she was without her staff. "Give it up Kat. Your power no longer exists. You can come back, with us, where you belong."
"I never belonged with you," she hissed as she prepared to battle the four rangers.
As Tommy went to grab her, Callisto showed up with a handful of Tengas. "Not so fast red ranger," she said with a growl, throwing him back. "I believe you have something that belongs to us."
Jason teleported back onto the scene. "Had you mean," he cockily corrected the goddess.
"What did you do with my staff?" growled Kat, ready to tear him apart limb from limb.
"Not much. Gave it to Billy, he destroyed it," replied Jason. It hadn't been that hard to siphon the energy out of it and destroy the staff when Billy got a hold of it. According to the former ranger, the hardest part was figuring out where to siphon the energy to.
Kat glared at the green ranger and let out a growl. "How dare you."
"Don't worry we'll take care of them," Callisto said as she advanced. The destruction of the staff was not going to go over well. Hopefully they could get a new one and forget about it.
The goddess was stopped dead in her tracks by the gold ranger. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
Trey begin to fight with Callisto as the Zeo rangers ran for Kat. However the Tengas wouldn't allow them access without going through them first. Kim was the first one to break free. As she ran towards Kat, Goldar appeared taking them both away.
The other rangers cleared the Tengas and ran towards Kim. "Where did she go?" asked Tommy as he briefly glanced around.
"Goldar rescued her," Kim replied with a frown.
"We'll have to get her later," replied Jason. There wasn't much they could do about that now, especially with another target left on the battlefield. The rangers turned around and gave their full attention to Callisto.
"Let's just piss her off and get her out of here," Carri said reaching for her pistol. She had more important things to deal with than a pissy Olympian goddess.
"Sounds like a plan," Rocky replied as the rest of the team did the same. He was worn out from the fight given that he was still recovering, and he never liked seeing his girlfriend try and face off against Callisto. The quicker they got this over with the better.
All five rangers fired on her, grabbing her attention as Callisto spun around when she got hit. As the dust cleared, that was the first time she noticed Kat had disappeared along with the Tengas. She hissed at the rangers once for good measure and with a wave of her hand, she took off as well.
"Those bastards took my staff!" Kat yelled as she materialized in Zedd's throne room.
"Calm down, I'm sure we can get you another one," Rita said, resisting the urge to groan. She was starting to think this would be another failure. At least she wouldn't have to chalk it up to one of her own.
Callisto arrived in the throne room and looked at Kat, who was fuming. "Don't worry it's replaceable." At least she assumed it was, she'd have to go investigate.
"Can I get one now?" she asked, sounding like a hopeful child.
"It's going to take a few days," Callisto replied. She was going to have to go back to the person who made it and figure out a way to request another one. This was a mission of interest to him as he had future plans involving these rangers, she had a feeling she could get him to oblige.
Kat crossed her arms and stormed off. Zedd smiled and sighed. "Teenagers." He was glad to see things were finally going somewhat his way. It didn't matter that she lost her staff, they were finally able to use one of the rangers own against them and in his book that was a victory.
The ranger's teleported back to the Power Chamber and powered down. "I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem like the staff was what was keeping Kat under the spell."
"You're right Kim," Billy replied. It was quite obvious that she was still evil. "But remember, it was only a theory."
"So then how do we reverse the spell?" asked Tommy. It didn't sit well with him that they couldn't easily flip the switch by destroying the staff.
"I think she's going to have to be reminded of who she is," Billy answered. "I've been scanning her, and this is not the kind of spell you can free with potions or artifacts."
"So we need to remind her that she was the sweet, innocent Kat we all loved," Carri said with a sigh. They tried to tell her she was their friend at first. They failed miserably.
Billy nodded. "That's essentially the idea."
"She won't listen to us," Jason pointed out, his thoughts echoing Carri's. "We've tried."
"Plus it's hard to get to her with Callisto and Zedd's goons guarding her," Rocky added. It was one thing last time they tried this with Tommy. They were trapped with him in Gasket's battle arena, they had his full attention and Gasket was so cocky he didn't think his plan would fail. He didn't step in until it was too late.
"What if we kidnap her? She's powerless against us without her staff. All we have to do is grab her and bring her here," Tommy suggested. They they'd have her full attention, it would be easy to work on her from there.
"Well I don't know if bringing her here would be such a good idea," Billy said, thinking about the last time she was there. "However I can find a cave in the desert to set you up in. All I need to do is put up a force field to keep her evil friends out and you guys might just be able to work your magic on her."
"We just have to hope that she doesn't get a new staff before she attacks again," Kim said. She had a feeling pulling that stunt to get the staff away from her wouldn't work twice.
"Well she seemed kind of pissed at us. I don't see her waiting too long to come after us. She just needs time to regroup," Jason thought out loud. At least he hoped so. Otherwise they would be in trouble.
"Jason's right," Tommy agreed. She still had Zedd's forces backing her. At the very least she'd be able to come down and cry charge. "She won't wait to come back after us. We just need to be ready."
Billy nodded as he went to work creating a space that the rangers could take Kat to in order to try and break the spell that Callisto placed over her.
Kat awoke the following morning and went straight for the throne room. She saw Lord Zedd sitting on his perch. He turned to look at her when he heard her come in. "I want to go down to the surface," she said looking at him. She was still fuming and she wanted to take out those rangers, staff or no staff.
"That would probably not be wise seeing as though you don't have any powers," Zedd pointed out. She wasn't that good of fighter - like some of the rangers before her the martial arts skills she used in battle were a product of her morpher.
"Send me with Tengas and a monster. Then I can watch as they torture the rangers," Kat pleaded. She could hang back, she just wanted to see them hurt.
Zedd thought for a moment. He loved her spunk, her thirst for destruction. He almost couldn't deny her. "I will send you down there. However, at the first sign of trouble I am bringing you back."
Kat grinned as he gave in. "Don't worry the only ones who are going to see trouble are the rangers."
Zedd laughed as he scanned the surface. Upon picking an object and transforming it into a monster, he sent Kat and some Tengas down to the surface.
Tommy had gone to the Youth Center early with Rocky. Rocky felt like he needed a workout after being out the last day, and Tommy never refused a challenge. A few rounds into the boys sparring routine, their communicators went off. The duo walked over to a secluded part of the Youth Center to answer them.
Tommy raised his communicator to his mouth. "Go ahead Billy."
"Zedd created a monster and sent it to the park, along with Tengas and Kat," he replied. This was their chance, the team needed to get moving.
The red and blue rangers exchanged a hopeful glance. "Does Kat have a staff back?"
"There is no evidence she is in possession of a staff." They scanned her thoroughly, she didn't have the energy signatures surrounding her that the staff was producing.
That was good news. "What do you want us to do?"
"If you can grab her and teleport, I'll take care of the rest," Billy replied. He had a holding area set to go.
"Alright. We're on it," Tommy said as he glanced over at Rocky. "It's morphin time!"
"Zeo ranger three, blue!"
"Zeo ranger five, red!"
The blue and red Zeo rangers were the first to arrive on the scene. They saw the monster and the Tengas protecting Kat. They wanted to get to Kat as fast as they could, but to get to her they would have to get through Zedd's goons first. As the two rangers rushed into battle, the remaining three rangers appeared on the battlefield ready for the fight. Tommy and Rocky saw them come in and ran straight toward the monster leaving them with the Tengas.
"You guys will never learn," Carri said as she easily through a few Tengas aside. They had become more of a warm up battle than an actual fight.
"If Rita and Zedd ever learned the meaning of the word defeat, we wouldn't still be doing this," Jason replied as he dealt with his own Tengas. It would be nice if they tucked their tail between their legs and ran away, but if they hadn't yet he doubted they would ever.
"But they haven't," Kim said as she threw a bird aside, "so we'll just have to teach them."
Kim continued to fight Tengas. At one point she looked around and realized that the Tengas around her were gone, and only Carri and Jason had them to deal with. Kim smiled as she called for her power weapon and ran at the monster.
Kat looked at the pink ranger in shock as she launched an attack that neither she nor the monster saw coming. Tommy saw Kat focused on Kim. He knew this could possibly be his only chance to get a clear shot at her. Tommy flipped over the top of the monster and grabbed Kat's arm.
"Let me go," she hissed, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this.
"I don't think so," Tommy replied as he hit the button to teleport himself.
Jason and Carri finished pummeling the Tengas just in time to see Tommy and Kat disappear. "Tommy got Kat?" Carri asked, noticing the blue ranger nod out of the corner of her eyes. "She's going to be pissed but that's a good thing," she said more to herself than anything.
"I don't think that's such a good thing," Kim said as she pointed to the monster who was now growing to city wrecking size.
"Well there's only one thing we can do about that," Jason replied as they all shifted to call on their zords.
"We need Super Zeo Zord power now!" Rocky yelled. Upon his command four out of the five Super Zeo Zords came barreling towards them. The rangers jumped into their zords and turned to face the monster. "Time to send this guy back where he came from," Rocky said as the individual zords attacked.
The monster laughed. "You don't scare me," he said as he tried to fight off the individual zords.
While the fight was going on, Carri looked up to see the red Super Zeo Zord flying toward them. "It's about time you got here."
"Traffic," he replied laughing at his friend. He'd had to help get Kat situated before he could get back to the fight.
"Well whatever, I think we need to show this jerk what we're made of," Kim said, ready to finish him off and free their friend.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Tommy replied as they begun the megazord transformation. When the transformation was complete, Tommy went to call for the Red Battlezord. He wanted to make short work of this monster because they had more pressing things to deal with.
The Red Battlezord attacked and as it did, the megazord brought out its saber to finish the job.
"What have you done?" Callisto growled as she entered the throne room.
"Made another worthless monster that fell to those blasted rangers," Zedd grumbled as he crumpled back in his seat.
Callisto glared at him, obviously seething. "I don't care about your monsters, it's Kat I'm worried about."
"She went on her own accord," Zedd told her. He wasn't Kat's keeper, he may have told her she could go but he was fairly certain she would have figured out how to go on her own if he didn't try and help her. "It appears as though she wasn't as good as you thought and the rangers got her."
Callisto was furious, and although she wanted to make a point with him she had better things to concern herself with so she simply hissed at him and took off.
"Do you think she's gone Zeddie?" Rita asked as she walked in. She was hoping she was, the goddess made her nervous.
"She probably went to search for Kat, or she's fled the galaxy again," Zedd replied. He was just glad she was gone. "Either way, she's out of our hair for a while."
Tommy took the rangers to the cave that Billy set up for them. No one, not good or evil, would be able to find this place unless they knew where it was first. As they walked in, they immediately noticed Kat chained to a wall.
"You will all pay for this!" Kat yelled as she glared at her captors.
Carri was the first to power down, and the others followed. "Katherine it's us. We're your friends, your family."
Kat looked at the yellow ranger curiously as the ranger walked up to her. "My friends? My family? Do you want to know what happened to my friends and family? You all destroyed them."
"Kat that's not true. You have to believe us. You've been brainwashed," Tommy told her as he powered down. She'd done this for him once before. He owed it to her to make sure he could help her back to the side of good.
"Brainwashed?" Kat said as she tried not to laugh. "Callisto found me. She nursed me back to health. She told me you killed everyone I loved and that I was lucky to be alive, but now I can see that I'm not so lucky anymore."
"Kat we're not going to kill you," Kim assured her, wondering exactly what Callisto had done to her. "We're your friends. We care about you. We know you're not this evil person that Callisto has made you out to be."
"Callisto, Lord Zedd and Rita are the only friends I have left," Kat snapped. She had to stand firm and believe that they were out right now trying to rescue her.
"They're evil. You're a good person. You've broken their spell once before, I know you can do it again," Rocky said trying to urge her to remember who she was. However it didn't look like she was buying it.
Kat turned away from them. "Stop it. I will not listen to this."
"You don't have a choice," Jason replied, feeling irritated that she was so stubborn. He supposed it ran in the family.
Carri thought for a moment, the same sense of irritation washing over her. They had to get her to realize who she was, and what better way than to flood her with memories. "Kat, remember when we were little and I used to come to visit you in Australia? We used to have so much fun. Your dad would grill out almost every night and we would spend hours surfing. Remember when we were like, twelve, and you met that really cute older boy on the beach? I spent the next week trying to hook you guys up. I even switched your surfboards out so he accidentally took yours and you had to confront him."
As Kat turned back towards the rangers they could have sworn that her eyes flashed blue for a second. Tommy squeezed Kim's hand and decided it was his turn to walk down memory lane with Kat. "Do you remember when we went to the ski resort and you spent that entire time trying to hook me up with Heather? In the end it was you and I who ended up dancing," he paused for a second and then continued, "Remember our first date? At Ernie's Hawaiian party? And how we spent the entire next day curled up together on the beach?"
"Think of all the fun we've had together. The group of us. The rangers. All the fun times you and Aisha had and you and Tanya. Remember your first birthday in the States? Remember the fair?" Rocky continued to try and flood her with memories.
"Remember when you saved my life at the Youth Center?" Kim asked trying to come up with something positive between them. It had been so difficult between them lately with everything that happened with Tommy. "When you truly showed us how good you were? When you proved you were worthy of being a power ranger?"
Kat was absorbing everything the others were saying. The others could see her eyes flash blue, and even see the blonde streaks that were starting to appear in her hair. Suddenly, Kat started to shake her head violently. "No, no, no!" she yelled as the black hair and eyes completely took over again. She swallowed hard fighting back the flood of emotions that was trying to come forward.
Jason frowned looked at his friends. "We should keep going. It was starting to work."
Before the others had a chance to respond, their communicators went off. The five rangers formed a circle as Tommy went to answer it. "What is it Billy?"
"Callisto's in the park and she's not to happy. You guys have to get down there right away."
"What about Kat?" Tommy asked, glancing up at her momentarily.
"Don't worry, she's not going anywhere. And as much as Callisto's been trying, she can't find her," Billy assured them.
"Right," Tommy said as he put his arm back down to his side. "Let's do it. It's morphin time!"
"Zeo ranger one, pink!"
"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"
"Zeo ranger three, blue!"
"Zeo ranger four, green!"
"Zeo ranger five, red!"
"Rangers it's nice of you to come," Callisto said as she was staring them down. "Now if you'll tell me where Kat is I might spare your pathetic lives."
"Let's see... how about no," Carri finished with a growl as she was the first to call on her weapons and mount an attack. The other rangers were quick to follow.
Callisto didn't hesitate to throw the Zeo's to the ground. "You've made a mistake rangers. That wasn't a request as much as a demand. Now tell me where she is," growled the goddess as she hurled the closest ranger high into the air.
Tommy's eyes grew wide as he saw Callisto lift Kim. "I think it was you who has made the mistake," he said as he created his Zeo Blaster, putting it in one hand while taking his Zeo Power Sword in the other. Tommy then ran at her full force.
Callisto snapped her attention towards the red ranger as she let Kim go. "Well if you are going to take out a team, you may as well start with its leader. Then the rest of them will topple behind him."
Callisto and Tommy started to fight. The other four rangers regrouped and stared at the duo. Carri was the first to speak. "Hey Calli you forgot one thing."
Upon hearing the name that she dreaded the most to be called, Callisto turned towards the group and formed a fireball with one hand. "And what's that?"
"That by taking on our leader you just took on our entire team," Kim pointed out as she gripped her weapons a little tighter, preparing for the battle ahead.
Jason laughed. "That is not going to end well for you." As he spoke the foursome attacked her, power weapons in hand.
Rocky and Carri were the first in line to take a shot at her and roll off, forming their blasters as they hit the ground. When Kim and Jason were clear they fired, hitting her and causing the fireball she had ready to throw to implode. "What are you going to do now Calli?" Rocky asked, intentionally irking the goddess.
Before she had a chance to retaliate, Jason and Kim hit her with blasters as well. "I think she should just give up," Kim answered Rocky's question for her.
"Never," Callisto hissed as her eyes darted around, trying to take note of the position of her enemies.
Tommy joined his friends and called for the Zeo Cannon. The teens wasted no time firing on her. "How about now?" he asked as the blast tore through her and sent her to the ground.
Callisto slowly got to her feet as her goddess powers healed her and she stared at them. It had become obvious that her plan had failed. She would not be able to locate Kat, not anytime soon anyway. By the time she found her, well those goodie rangers would probably have figured out how to rip her from evil's grasp. She decided it would be better for her to take off and regroup. "Until next time rangers," she said as she disappeared.
"We've been lucky with her so far," Rocky said with a frown. "One day...," he decided not to finish his thought as he knew that the others realized that their luck would one day run out.
"We're just lucky that she has low tolerance for her own failure," Tommy pointed out. She could wipe the floor with them, but typically if things weren't going her way she got angry and took off.
Kim smiled. "So I guess at this point she considers Kat a failure? Score one for the good guys."
Jason nodded in agreement. "Speaking of Kat, we need to get back."
Carri looked at her friends. "You guys go ahead. I have an idea, I'll be right behind you."
The others nodded as they went back to the cave which held their friend and fellow ranger.
Four multi-colored streaks flew into the cave that contained their friend. As they materialized and powered down, Kim spoke. "Do you think we should keep going with the memories?"
"Carri has an idea. Let's wait for her to get back," replied Tommy. The memories were helping but it wasn't enough. He hoped Carri had something stronger.
Kat looked at the group. For them to be back so quickly, she feared something had happened to Callisto. "Where is she?" Kat yelled, panicked that the one person who cared was gone.
"She?" repeated Jason, thinking briefly that she meant Carri.
Kat glared at him. "Callisto."
"We sent her off were she belongs," Rocky replied, hoping that would get her to forget about the goddess for now.
"You killed her?" Kat questioned almost yelling. She would have all their heads for this if it was the last thing she did.
Jason frowned. "We could only dream." And he did have that particular dream a few times.
"How dare you! She will be back. She will rescue me and she will make you pay for all that you have done to me!" Kat threatened. Callisto wouldn't give up on her. She would find her and together they would make this right.
"No Kat I think she cut her losses and you just happened to be one of them," Carri said as she teleported in.
"Losses? She would never do that to me," Kat replied as she held back tears that formed at the thought of the one person she knew cared for her abandoning her.
Tommy looked at her. "Maybe it's because she knows you're our friend and that we would be able to prove it to you."
"Liar!" Kat yelled. They were not her friends. She couldn't let them brainwash her.
Carri approached her with a book in hand. "We can sit here and discuss memories all you want, but you know what they say. A picture is worth a thousand words."
With that Carri opened a photo album and shoved it in Kat's face, forcing her to look at the pictures. The book was arranged chronologically. It was Kat's personal photo book that she started when she was little to showcase her best friends and boyfriends. The book started out with pictures of Carri and her as children. As Carri flipped the pages, Kat saw other old friends from Australia, as well as boys she had been interested in.
Tears started to form in Kat's eyes as she looked at the pictures. It was all so familiar. But how could it be? Callisto said these people were her enemies. Kat gasped as she saw the first picture she took in the states. There she was. With the people Callisto had called her enemies. Three of them were standing in front of her. The blue, pink and red rangers.
The others looked at Carri and Kat. They saw a stray tear fall down Kat's face. Her hair started showing streaks of blonde that came and went. They also noticed that the wall Kat was chained to and the roof over her head was starting to shake. The foursome took off for the other side of the cave. "Careful!" Rocky called to Carri who was still showing Kat pictures.
Carri continued to flip through the photo book. She didn't give a damn if the place collapsed around her, she was bringing Kat home. Finally she got to some newer pictures. As Kat looked at the images of the Zeo rangers and their friends, the tears flowed freely. The rock continued to shake as little pieces flew down. Jason, Kim and Tommy hit the ground, with Tommy protecting his girlfriend.
As Carri got to the end of the book, Kat saw the pictures of her and Chris. Memories came flowing back. Her hair and her eyes were rapidly switching colors back and forth. Bigger boulders started to fall.
"Carri move!" Rocky yelled as he started back toward his girlfriend.
Upon realizing that her job was done, Carri snapped the book shut and turned to run. A chunk of rock hit her in the shoulder blade and she fell to her knees. Rocky ran for her and helped her up, then pulled her protectively next to him as they ran to the other side of the cave and hit the ground beside the others.
Almost as rapidly as it had begun, the shaking of the walls and the roof stopped. The other rangers got to their feet. There, in front of them, Kat stood chained to the wall. Her blonde hair and blue eyes had returned. The rangers maneuvered around the fallen rocks to get to her.
"Kat!" Carri exclaimed as they unchained her. Carri threw her arms around her cousin, who was still crying. She winced as she did so, that boulder had hit her hard and she was going to pay. It was worth it to have her cousin back.
"Thank you," Kat whispered into her ear as she returned the hug.
"Come on, let's get back to the Power Chamber," Rocky said putting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. She immediately tensed up and he frowned. She was probably going to be feeling that for a few days. The others nodded and the group teleported out.
When they arrived in the Power Chamber, they immediately walked Kat over to a med bed. "What happened in that cave?" Jason asked once they finished getting Kat situated. Billy looked at his friends. "Whoever helped Kat become evil and gave her that staff was not too happy with you trying to remind her of who she was. There was a lot of evil energy flowing to the spot where she stood, which was what was causing the rocks to fall." As Billy spoke he started the scan on Kat.
"Well?" Tommy asked after a few moments, hoping she was in the clear.
"It appears as though there are no traces of the evil that took her over. Also she has no injuries from her little adventure," Billy replied, a smile on his face.
The rangers smiled. Kat smiled back as she looked at them. Her smile turned into a frown as she realized what happened the last time she was in the Power Chamber. "Oh God," she said as the tears started to come back. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Kat calm down," Carri said as she stood by her. "What's wrong?"
"I am so sorry," Kat said between sobs. After the tears slowed down she spoke again. "I can't believe... Rocky I thought I'd killed you... and Alpha and Zordon... and what I did to the rest of you..."
"It's ok," Rocky replied. It was Callisto he blamed for his near death experience, not Kat. "I'm alive, they're alright. Nothing to be upset over."
"Rocky is right Katherine," Zordon stepped in. "You were under a very powerful evil spell. All of your actions were reversible, and although you did some terrible things, you should not hold yourself at fault for any of them." If the spell holding her to the side of evil was from who he thought it was from, she was very lucky to have come back to them without having done something that couldn't be undone.
"Yeah Kat, we're not mad at you," Jason said and the others echoed his sentiments.
"We're just glad to see you safe and sound," Kim added. Evil spells were spells, they weren't who they were and it was always forgive and forget.
Kat smiled as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Thank you guys," she said her voice almost a whisper. The others smiled and said you're welcome. Kat looked at her friends. "So now what?"
Kim grabbed her old friend's hand and looked her in the eye. "I know you only gave me the power because of the situation you were in. I couldn't, I wouldn't dream of keeping powers that didn't belong to me. These are yours, and whenever you want them back, just let me know." She loathed giving them up but it wasn't fair, she'd give them back to Kat when the pink ranger was ready.
Kat smiled at Kim's comment. She almost expected them to throw her off of the team. After all, Kim was with Tommy now and she was Jason and Carri's roommate. However they still wanted her and that made her feel both happy and a little sad. She took a moment to look at each and every one of her friends. She sighed heavily as she hopped down from the med bed and walked away from them.
"Kat what's wrong?" Tommy asked. He knew when she was hiding something important. Unlike her cousin who would just tell it like it is, she gave cues until he finally could convince her to spill.
"Wrong? Nothing's really wrong. It's just that I," Kat frowned not really knowing how to say what she wanted to. "Kim you can keep the powers."
The others looked at her with blank expressions on their faces. Kim was the first to speak. "Thank you for the gift, but are you sure this is what you want to do? I mean after the ordeal you just went through... maybe you need to take some time to think about it." It was hard to ask her to think about it when what she really wanted to do was jump for joy.
Kat smiled at her. "No. They're yours now. Besides, I've been... well you see...," Kat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The only way to say it was, well, just to come right out with it. "I'm moving to North Carolina," Kat spat out quickly as she turned away from her friends and teleported home before she could give them a chance to respond.
"Kat wait!" Carri exclaimed but it was too late. She looked over at Billy. "Where did she go?"
Billy took a moment at the computer before he turned back to his friend. "She went home," he replied.
"I'm going to talk to her," Carri said as she teleported out before her friends could say a word.
The others glanced at each other. "I don't understand why Kat would all the sudden want to do that," Tommy said. She went to school here, she was a Power Ranger. What could possibly pull her away to North Carolina?
"You're right it doesn't make much sense," Jason replied. If it was family related surely Carri would have known. Outside of family, he couldn't think of very many last minute reasons to move.
"Well hopefully Carri can find some answers," Kim said. If anyone could get someone to spill it was the yellow ranger.
Rocky glanced down at his watch. "Guys I have to get going, I'm going to be late to work. Tell Carri I'll call her later to find out what's going on." Also to see how she was feeling since she ran out of there without asking for a scan on her shoulder. That bothered him a bit but there was nothing he could do about it.
Kim nodded, a silent agreement to pass the message along. "I think I'm going to give the two of them some time and head over there and find out myself."
Rocky teleported out. Tommy and Jason looked at each other. "How about it bro? Wanna hit the mats?" Jason asked. It had been a crazy few days and he wanted to get some stress out.
"That sounds like a good idea," Tommy said. The boys teleported out and Kim followed them to pass the time.
Carri teleported to her living room and saw Kat sitting on the couch. Kat stood up to face her cousin when she saw her come in. She rubbed her eyes to try and hide the fact that she'd been crying. Carri crossed her arms and glared at her. "Kat I don't, hell we don't understand what's going on."
Kat frowned. She didn't know what more she had to explain. "I thought I was pretty clear. I'm moving to North Carolina. Kim's going to take my place."
Carri threw her arms up in the air, a stabbing pain shooting through the side that was injured. She did her best to ignore it and continue. "That's the part that's not clear. You're moving to North Carolina."
"What do I have left here that should make me want to stay?" Kat asked, looking her cousin in the eyes.
"You have us. Your friends. You had the team until you removed yourself from it." What the hell kind of question was that? Her entire life was here – her friends, family, school, the rangers – all in southern California.
"I used to have all that," Kat snapped at her. Carri looked surprised that her cousin would snap like that. Kat even surprised herself as tears started to form. "Ever since Kim came back and you two started hanging out, and she got back together with Tommy I haven't had any of that."
"Let's not forget that you broke up with Tommy long before Kim came back into the picture. And yes, Kim and I have become close lately and you and I have drifted, but that's not because I haven't tried to keep us together. So don't blame Kim." Kim was worried about how Kat would react when she started dating Tommy. She assured her that Kat and Tommy were in the past, that she wouldn't hold anything against her. Now she was funneling everything against her.
"I'm not blaming Kim," Kat spat out as the tears started to flow. She didn't mean for it to come out that way, it's just the honest truth that things changed after Kim came back but Kim wasn't the cause. "I never belonged to this stupid team in the first place."
"How dare you say that!" Carri exclaimed as her own tears started to form. She batted them back with irritation before they went anywhere. "You've been with this team for a long time and we care about you."
"Do you know why I was made a part of the team? The same reason you were. I knew their secret. The only difference is, you became best friends with them and they accepted you. Tanya was my only best friend on the team. That became evident when I left Tommy and none of you wanted anything to do with me. So now you have the perfect team. You're all each other's best friends. So congratulations." She never went on any outings with the team anymore and sometimes she felt like they didn't even care if she went or not.
A few stray tears started to flow down Carri's cheeks as she responded. "How dare you! You were my best friend. You were a part of our team. Until Chris came into the picture. Until you didn't want anything to do with us." As she finished she wiped the tears away and tried to will them back. Kat was telling her screw you, she wasn't going to cry over it.
"It doesn't matter anymore anyway. I'm moving to North Carolina and that's final."
Any hint of tears vanished as Carri simply got agitated and rolled her eyes. "Even if you've lost all respect for us, the rangers, your friends, what about Chris? You just gonna leave him here too?"
"Chris got a scholarship to Chapel Hill he's thinking about accepting. The day I disappeared I got a letter in the mail saying I'd been accepted," Kat replied, her words coming out more calmly than she thought they would.
The yellow rangers jaw dropped as she put this whole thing together. "Oh God that's what this is all about? You following your boyfriend of nine months to the other side of the country?"
Kat glared at her. "Don't tell me you can look me in the eye and honestly say that you wouldn't follow Rocky if he transferred to the other side of the country."
"That's different."
"Yeah, right." They were the men they loved, how that was different was beyond her. "I'd love to know your crazy logic for that."
Rocky was actually a good guy for one, but she wasn't going to go there, not now anyway. "We've been together for almost two years now and we can honestly say we love each other. However even if he transferred to the other side of the country I would still have other things to consider. Like my friends. My responsibilities. The rangers."
"I think we've covered that, I've left my powers in quite competent hands. I never see my so called friends anymore anyway. And how can you say that because we haven't been together as long as you two have that we can't say we love each other."
"Because to love each other you have to truly know each other. And can you say that?" Nine months was hardly enough time to know someone, especially when you are slipping meetings in between dozens of other things.
"We know everything about each other." Kat said, her tone almost challenging as she crossed her arms.
"Yes I'm sure between your dance classes, school, being separate during vacations, time spent saving the world, you know each other. Speaking of saving the world, I guess that means you broke Zordon's orders and told him you were a power ranger." She hoped she was making a point here and that Kat wouldn't say she actually did tell him.
"I would never tell him. Even if I did, it would be no different that Jason telling Emily. Oh wait, yes it would, since you guys like Emily." It hurt to know that Jason could tell his non ranger girlfriend. The others trusted her with that secret, she didn't know if they'd give Chris the same.
"First of, Emily has made an effort to get to know us. Not once has Chris called any of us and invited us somewhere. Second, Jason has been with Emily for over a year. She knew strange things were happening. Besides the only reason I busted my secret was because I didn't want to die. I wouldn't be here talking to you now if I had kept my mouth shut."
"I wish you weren't!" Kat yelled, gasping a bit after she spoke and putting her hand to her mouth. She saw the look of horror come across her cousin's face. Kat didn't mean to say that. She was just getting so frustrated but it was too late to take it back now.
Carri slowly curled her fingers into a ball as she crossed her arms and glared at her cousin. "Fine if you want it that way I'll leave. But remember this. You don't have to go. Whether or not you want to admit it you have friends here. We still care about you. If we didn't care about you we wouldn't have worked so hard to make you good again. And you're still my cousin and I still love you. So think about that before you commit to the other side of the country." With that, Carri stormed out the front door slamming it behind her. Tears started to fall and for once she ignored them as she searched for her keys and took off.
Kat slouched down on the couch as she started crying as well. She never wanted to argue with Carri like that. It's just everything, all the emotions that had been bottled up, all came pouring out at one time. She should have talked to them before, told them how she felt. Instead she let it come out like this. She leaned her head back on a couch pillow as the tears continued to flow freely.
Callisto arrived at the Dark Fortress and stood in front of Astronema. The princess of evil glanced over at the woman standing in front of her. "He's angry you know." Callisto said nothing and Astronema took that as her cue to continue talking. "When Dark Specter himself helps you make someone evil, gives you a staff more powerful than you can imagine, well he expects results."
"He obviously didn't plan for the rest of those power brats. It's not my fault. I warned him not to underestimate descendants of Xena or Hercules," Callisto replied. They had outsmarted even the monarch of all evil this time.
"Don't be so quick to throw the blame to Dark Specter," she quickly replied as she gave her a warning glance. Not that she would report her friend to Dark Specter, but she couldn't say the same for everyone on her ship.
Callisto laughed. "Please I'm not afraid of him."
Astronema sighed and turned away from the goddess for a moment before she spoke again. "You're just lucky that he has future interests on Earth. Otherwise he would have considered this a complete waste of time. And he may not be able to kill you, but trust me he can make your eternity a living hell."
Callisto didn't reply. She knew Astronema was right, she just wasn't about to admit it. "So now what?"
"Now I believe you have a certain space ranger you promised me," Astronema reminded her. That had been the deal. She arranged the meeting with Dark Specter, and in return Callisto would bring her the carcass of the ranger.
"Oh yes. I did, didn't I?" Callisto replied with a smile on her face as she went back to planning ranger destruction. Not the ranger she would like, but a ranger was a ranger and she'd enjoy her task.
Kim walked into the Hillard household. She had given them almost an hour to talk, she hoped that was enough time. She saw Kat curled up on the couch and she went over and sat next to her. "Hey Kat," she said softly. It was obvious that she was upset and she was trying to be a little delicate.
Kat didn't reply as she turned away from her friend. She thought about it. Carri had probably told Kim what had happened and now Kim was here to beg her to stay. She didn't want to talk about it, not again. She didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. "I don't have anything else to say."
"Well if you want to talk I'm here," Kim replied. She had no clue what was said between the two cousins but something obviously went down. Kat seemed curled up within herself.
Kat took a deep breath as the tears started to come back. "I don't want to talk. I can't... I don't want to hurt you too. I don't want to make you all hate me."
"We don't hate you," Kim said confused at her friend's reaction. Thinking that something had gone down might be a bit of an understatement.
"Carri does," Kat replied as she started to sob again. She couldn't believe what they said. That wasn't her. She was hurt and angry and getting over the whirlwind of being Callisto's pawn. She loved her cousin, they had been best friends, she never meant for any of that to happen.
Kim leaned over and put a reassuring hand on her back. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you."
Kat looked at her. Maybe she hadn't talked to her cousin. "You don't have to lie to me I'm sure she told you how she feels."
"I haven't spoken to her," Kim replied as she glanced around the house, hoping to see the yellow ranger peeking out from somewhere. "Is she here? Maybe we can all talk and hang out and"
"I haven't seen her since she stormed off," Kat interrupted her friend. Then Kat stood up and started to walk up the stairs, brushing Kim's arm away as she went. She paused on the bottom step and turned back toward Kim. "I'm sorry I just... I just can't deal right now." Then she walked up the stairs wiping tears out of her eyes as she went. She walked into her room and shut the door behind her, flopping on her bed and burring her head in her pillow. Maybe she should talk about it, maybe she should tell Kim how she felt. However she had already made one friend hate her, she wasn't going to make any more.
Kim sat on the couch and watched her friend walk away. She frowned as she reached for her phone and dialed Carri's number. There was no answer. She tried once more and then left a message hoping to hear back from her. She decided to give Tommy a call. Maybe he would run up to L.A. with her, maybe she could find her friend there.
Rocky finished filing out some papers. It had been a late night. There was a lot more action at the beach than he had wanted to see. Especially with all that had happened to him in the past few days not to mention all that happened to the team.
He sighed as he thought about what had happened. There was everything with Kat, him almost dying and now his girlfriend was MIA. Kim called him and said she couldn't find her anywhere. She wasn't picking up the phone. That wasn't like Carri. Kim had said from what she could tell, it looked like Kat had Carri had been in a huge fight. He wouldn't be surprised if she was dealing in her own way. Hopefully her own nondestructive way.
He sat there thinking about it all until a voice ripped him out of his thoughts. "You ok man?" Cody Madison, his closest friend at work asked.
"Just a rough few days, that's all," Rocky replied as he looked up from his work.
"School? Friends? Relationships?" Cody pried. It wasn't really any of his business, he was just bored and if Rocky would spill he'd take it.
"Not school. I guess you could say friends. Kinda relationship."
Cody made a face. "Trouble?" He thought the duo was solid.
"Not with me and her," Rocky answered quickly. That wasn't a rumor he wanted started. "Really with her and some other friends. Honestly I don't know but I think shit hit the fan while I was working if you know what I mean."
"Yeah," Cody replied with a nod. "I'm out. You going to lock up?"
Rocky nodded as he watched as Cody leave. He quickly finished what he was doing. He looked down at his watch and sighed. It was much later than he originally thought. Rocky turned out all the lights and walked out the door of the main building. He locked the door and gave it a quick tug to make sure the lock had actually caught. They had experienced problems with it in the past and he didn't want to be the guy responsible for letting people trash the place at night.
Rocky stretched his arms as he walked through the parking lot. His car was parked near the main building. He unlocked the doors and climbed in. As he did, he noticed a car far off in the distance. He chuckled. It was probably a young couple trying to enjoy the water at night. He always hated seeing people there at night though because nobody was there to protect them. Then again they knew that. It was swim at your own risk that late.
The blue ranger cranked his car up and put it in reverse. He drove through the parking lot. As he got closer to the exit, he got closer to the car in question. He started to get a sense of familiarity. Once he was practically on top of it and shined his headlights on it, he knew why.
Rocky parked his car beside the familiar yellow Mustang. He got out and smiled. He should have known he would have found her here. She couldn't have been here too long, he was certain he would have noticed before. He quickly walked down the beach and saw her sitting at the water's edge. He went down and stood behind her.
"Hey," he said, catching her attention.
Carri was startled by her visitor for a moment, but she recognized the voice. "Hey," she replied, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge him.
Rocky walked over and stood next to her. "This seat taken?" he asked smiling at her.
She gestured to the ground beside her. "Help yourself."
He sat down and turned to her. She was obviously upset. It must have been one hell of a fight for her to have gotten this shaken up. "Kim's been worried about you. I've been worried about you."
"I'm sorry I didn't answer anyone's calls. I just couldn't, ya know? I needed some time." She needed to calm down, try not to hit something, and process.
"Time to what?" Rocky asked putting his arm around her. He felt her tense and he glanced down at her shoulder, frowning at the ugly purple bruise that was poking out over the neckline of her shirt.
"Think," she replied. She paused for a moment. "Kat and I got into a fight." She was fairly certain he knew that. Her friends weren't stupid, they would have checked for her at the house first.
"I'm sorry," he said, dropping his arm around her waist and giving it a squeeze. She didn't immediately reply. He wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it but he had to ask. "About what?"
She sighed as she answered. "Let's see it started with her being replaced by Kim. But that was ok with her, because us five were best of friends and she didn't belong because she wasn't friends with us anyway. That hurt to hear."
Carri paused at took a deep breath. She didn't want to start crying again. She told herself she was through. "Then she told me that her reason for going to Chapel Hill was to follow Chris. I can't believe that she would say she's in love with him after nine months. That she would pick him over her friends."
"Nothing's set in stone is it?" Rocky asked. She shook her head no. "Maybe this will make her realize that we are her friends and we do care. Maybe she will change her mind."
Carri simply shook her head. It was nice thought but her cousin probably already had her bags packed with one foot out the door now. "I doubt it. Besides it doesn't matter. That didn't hurt as much as when she wished me dead."
"Carri I'm sure she didn't say that," Rocky said softly. They may have been bickering over everything but there was no way she'd wish Carri dead.
"We were talking about Emily, comparing her to Chris. I think she's jealous because Emily knows our secret. I told her if she didn't know I wouldn't be standing in front of her. She told me she wished I wasn't." Kat knew what that meant. The alternative to not being there was her dying on the beach. From the look on Kat's face she knew that was exactly what she meant when she said it.
Rocky pulled his girlfriend closer. "I'm sure she didn't mean that."
"Maybe she did. Maybe she wants us all to hate her so she can leave without feeling bad. All I know is that she hurt my feelings. I never thought my cousin, my friend would say those kind of things," Carri replied as she curled up against Rocky. She didn't like to cling to anybody else for support. At the same time, she was really glad he was there for her to lean into.
Rocky felt her entire body shake as she took a deep breath. The conversation had really gotten to her, he didn't need her to say anything for him to know that. "It will be ok," he replied as he held her closely with one hand and took the other and ran it through her hair. He continued to hold her there quietly watching the water until she dozed off. Then he helped her up and followed her back to her home. Not in Angel Grove, he wouldn't dare suggest she go there, but back to her apartment in L.A.
Kat awoke at one in the morning. She had cried herself to sleep earlier in the day. She was wide awake now. She didn't feel much better though. She got off the bed and walked by the dresser. She noticed the letter of acceptance to Chapel Hill sitting there. Kat picked it up and glanced at it. It was hard to believe that something she knew was so right was causing her so much heartbreak. She let go of the letter and watched it flutter back down to the surface of the dresser.
The former pink ranger opened her room door and looked around. The doors to Carri's bedroom and the guestroom were wide open. Both girls were probably at the apartment, but that was to be expected. She didn't even want to hang around herself at the moment. She sighed as she leaned against the hallway wall. She felt like a mess. She probably looked like one too. Kat walked into the bathroom and washed her face, rinsing away all the dried tears. She took one long look at herself.
She wasn't sure what to make of herself anymore. She didn't know who she was anymore. Her senior year in high school it was so simple. She was an A student. She taught dance full time. She participated in so many school committees - social, government, leadership, yearbook - you name it she was on it. She was Tommy's girlfriend. She was Carri's best friend. She was the Pink Ranger. Through that she had become friends with Rocky, Jason and Adam. Most importantly, she was happy.
So where had everything gone wrong? Where had Kat gone? She still got decent grades, although her GPA wasn't nearly as high as it was in high school. She didn't teach dance full time anymore. She couldn't because of school, she only taught on Saturdays. She wasn't involved at USC at all. She missed that, the after school meetings and the planning for things for your fellow students. As far as Tommy and Carri, and even being the pink ranger goes, she had messed all that up. Not Kim, although Kim made an easy out – but it was Kat who dumped Tommy and Kat who avoided hanging out with Carri afterwards, always scared her cousin was silently judging her. Plus she was the one who gave Kim her powers and told her that she didn't want them back.
What about the rest of the team? She couldn't blame anyone but herself. She was right about one thing. She and Carri were both so easily accepted into the group because of what they knew. However Carri became best friends with the group and she never felt like she had that. They were never ever mean to her, but she just wasn't as close with them. Carri made friends with them so easily because she tried. She was always talking to them, hanging out with them. She joined the group and formed a relationship with Rocky, and immediately befriended Tommy and Adam. When Jason came back, those two became best of friends telling each other everything. Then with Kim, well, they were quickly joined at the hip. Kat felt like she didn't try hard enough. They did accept her because of what she knew so she let it stand at that. She never felt like she had to work for friendships because she was automatically their friend by being a ranger. Kat sighed. When she was a ranger, when she was in high school, she never thought anything of it. She considered them friends because they always saw each other, always hung out together. Now she knew she should have tried harder, that if she did she wouldn't be in the position she felt she was in now.
What position was that exactly? Unhappy. Well she couldn't say she was completely unhappy. She was Chris's girlfriend and she did love him, but she wanted to fix some other things in her life. She wanted to be close to Carri again. Maybe she could even become good friends with Kim. She wanted to at least be friends with the others. She didn't want to be a power ranger. That took up so much time. Without rangering, she could get back to her old activities. Could that even happen now? After everything they've been through and after everything that has gone on, would she be able to get things close to where they were?
What about Chris and Chapel Hill? He hasn't accepted yet, although she suspected he would, especially when she tells him that she got accepted to the school. Would she follow him? She knew the answer. She almost certainly would. What would be left for her here if she didn't? Friendships she may not be able to mend? Friendships that she wasn't sure were truly there in the first place. Well Carri's was. She had been her best friend as far back as she could remember. Until now. Until they drifted apart this year.
Kat continued to look at herself in the mirror. She needed to think. She picked up her hairbrush and ran it through her blonde hair, pulling it up into a ponytail. She turned and exited the bathroom, heading down the stairs and out the front door. Kat took the brisk walk to Angel Grove Park. It was always a place where she felt calm, and she really needed that at the moment. Kat took a stroll down to the lake and sat down, leaning her back against an old tree.
She looked out over the water. She smiled as she took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. Kat closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Where had it all gone wrong? Not just this - everything. She put her hand down on the grass, on top of a stone. She picked it up and started to rub it with her fingers. It was perfectly smooth, it felt like it had been in the water for ages.
She sighed as she held it and went back to her train of thought. Maybe it was the Power Rangers themselves. Her life was normal until she got mixed up with them. "I wish the power rangers never existed," she said aloud as she clutched the stone. She frowned. Maybe that wasn't the problem. After all, she wouldn't even know about the power rangers if she had never come to Angel Grove, and Carri would still be her best friend.
"I wish we had never moved to this stupid town to begin with," she whispered with a sigh clutching the stone even tighter. She opened her eyes and looked down at the stone. She laughed as she realized what she was doing. It was something her father showed her when she was little. Find the perfect stone and make a wish, and then toss it into the water. Then if you were pure of heart, the wish would come true. She didn't know where the story came from, although she suspected it was an older fairytale from his parents, who were prone to storytelling. She'd made a lot of wishes when she was younger, some of them coming true while others not. Of course that had everything to do with chance and nothing to do with throwing a stone. However for old times' sake, she took the stone in her hand and reached her arm back, tossing it into the water.
She couldn't see the strange glow it gave off as it fell below the water's surface. She gave the silly childhood tradition not another thought as she frowned and leaned her head back against the tree. She closed her eyes once again as a million thoughts filled her head. Finally she allowed herself to fall back asleep, putting an end to this horrible day.