"I want to help you."
Vida stopped walking and turned back to see a blond girl standing a little way behind her. The girl looked frail and helpless, staring at Vida with an expression of hopefulness at the thought of being included. If she didn't know better, Vida would have thought that Leelee was trying to look innocent.
"Leelee, you're evil, remember?" said Vida.
"Not really. Just because my mum's like super evil doesn't mean that I am. Besides, Mum doesn't like the prince either. I want to help you fight him."
"The only time I've seen you in a fight, you spent most of the time complaining your hair was messed up."
"But..."
"Leelee, I don't like you, I don't trust you and I don't want you standing behind me in a dangerous situation because I wouldn't know for sure who you'd attack."
"How can you say that?" Leelee actually looked like she might cry. Vida didn't buy it.
"You haven't been here," Leelee said, "while I've been helping the mystics. They trust me. Sort of."
Vida knew she didn't know Leelee all that well. Leelee had shown up at about the same time that Udonna had begun her search for the Mystic Rangers. She'd approached them, pretending to be a normal girl, trying to gain their trust. When that hadn't worked, she'd approached them honestly as the daughter of the Queen of the Vampires, saying that the vampires wanted to get rid of the prince too.
While that might be true, Vida didn't see how they could trust someone who was probably only working to put in power someone as evil as the prince.
"If they trust you, good for you. I still don't."
Vida turned and started walking again. She wasn't too worried about turning her back on Leelee. After all, the girl would try and be nice to them until they did what she wanted. She'd only bring out the claws when she didn't need them anymore.
Bright lights appeared all around her in brilliant colours. For a moment, Vida tensed for a fight, but the lights faded to reveal people. To reveal Maddy.
Vida grabbed her into a fierce hug.
"Hey, sis," Maddy said, half-laughing, half-crying as she hugged Vida back. The others gave the sisters a brief moment before they piled into the embrace too. Then everyone started speaking at once, saying how worried they'd been, how they'd thought they'd never see her again, how glad they were that she was safe. Vida just let it wash over her as the sense of belonging filled her to the brim.
"We should get to Mercer's base," Vida said, "to see if we really can become Rangers. After that, we'll have to decide what happens next."
"We told Andros and Zhane we'd go back to the rebels," Maddy said, "Something big's going down and they're going to need our help."
"Mercer's fighting the prince too, and he doesn't have nearly as many in his team as Andros has in the rebels."
"I don't want us to be seperated again."
"Neither do I," Vida looked Maddy in the eye so she could see she was being sincere. "If you really want to go back to Andros, I'll go with you. But at least hear Dr Mercer out. He's a good man and a great leader."
"I'll listen," Maddy conceeded and Vida grinned. She started looking round for the invisiportal entrance that was somewhere near here. In that pause, Nick noticed Leelee, still standing amoung the trees a short distance away.
"Are you coming too?" Nick asked, his tone very much sounding like an invitation. Vida fumed slightly as Leelee nodded, but she didn't say anything. She just found the green point of light and reached into it, the invisiportal opening to suck them all inside.
What she found wasn't anything like what she'd been expecting.
The control room was in chaos. There was, by the looks of things, a major battle going on. There were about a dozen dark guards battling three bright-suited Rangers. And there, in the middle of the room, was the Green Ranger, locked in combat with a Black Ranger.
In the few seconds it took for them to take in the scene, one of the guards grabbed hold of Leelee.
"Hey! This top is Italian!" she said, punching the thing in the stomach and tugging herself free. She humphed and straightened her shirt.
"Leelee? You're OK?"
Vida had seen what happened to the dark guard's victims. Leelee had hit the thing with her bare hands and now she was acting like the biggest concern she had was the wrinkles it might have made in her outfit.
"Hello, future Queen of the Vampires here. Like a touch of absolute evil would really hurt me."
"Well, they can hurt us," Nick said, ducking out of the way as one of the dark guards got too close.
"Get out of here," called one of the Rangers, jumping to land between the Mystics and the prince's minions. Vida thought she recognised the voice.
"Ethan? Where the hell did you get a morpher?"
"Long story."
Another of the dark guards came at them, clearly deciding that they made an easier target than the Rangers. It was about to be proved wrong. The Mystics had their wands out and the dark guard was quickly wrapped in vines and engulfed in flames.
"Awesome!" called Ethan as the guard disintegrated under the attack.
Leelee grinned, "They're creatures composed entirely of dark magic. That means good magic's the only thing that can destroy them."
"Let's get to it then," said Nick.
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Tommy was hard-pressed. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd dealt with fighting someone who knew his every move, but this was different. When he'd fought his past Ranger encarnations, he'd been older and more experienced, but this Green Ranger had had as much time to learn as he'd had.
And there was power behind each move that was stronger than anything Tommy had faced before. He was certain he could take the Green Ranger, at least the Green Ranger that had existed in his world. But this Green Ranger had the power of Dark Spectre inside him as well as his Ranger abilities. And that made him stronger than Tommy.
He'd always tried to believe that good would triumph over evil no matter what. Now he just hoped he'd been right.
Around him, the other Rangers were battling with the prince's creatures, but Tommy didn't have time to give them a thought. He was too busy working out how to block each blow, trying to get a few of his own in.
The prince caught Tommy with a blow that sent him flying across the room and smashing into one of the control panels, which exploded into sparks around him. He hit the ground, winded, and then lay a moment longer. He didn't move. Thanks to the helmet, the prince would have no way to see how badly he was hurt. Let him assume it was severely.
The prince would want to gloat.
One of the reasons he'd become so good at martial arts was that, when he'd been younger, he'd wanted everyone to think he was wonderful. If he was honest with himself, it wasn't a tendency he'd ever completely got rid of. An evil version of himself was bound to want to prove to his victim who was the superior.
The prince approached Tommy, walking slowly. There was still caution, but that diminished as Tommy continued to lie motionless. The prince reached down for the clasps on Tommy's helmet.
Tommy grabbed the prince's wrist and pulled. At the same moment, he brought his leg round, knocking the prince's feet out from under him. He continued the movement, still holding the prince's arm. As the prince went down, Tommy ended up on top on him, a knee in the prince's back and the prince's arm twisted behind him.
"You think you can defeat me that easily?" the prince asked.
The prince's free hand pulled out the Dragondagger and slashed at Tommy's leg. That was enough for the prince to get out of Tommy's hold, his captured arm now a lever to send Tommy spinning.
Then they were both on their feet again, facing each other down.
Tommy realised that the room was slightly more crowded now than it had been earlier. And there were less of the dark guards.
Some more people had arrived, but Tommy didn't recognise any of them. Whoever they were, they had some amazingly powers. He watched as what appeared to be a pink tornado ripped apart one of the guards.
"It seems my guards are out-matched," said the prince, "but I've still got a few tricks left."
The prince brought his hands to the front of his shield, gathering a ball of energy there. Tommy knew that move, even though he'd only ever managed when he'd been under Rita's control. The prince was focussing his powers, bringing them together as a weapon.
Tommy tried to dodge the energy blast, but the explosion shook the room. The consoles and electronics couldn't take it, causing further explosions. Half the ceiling caved in, nearly burying Tommy in the rubble. The others were struggling to get out of the way of the chaos as the control room came apart.
Then the noise and movement stopped. The smoke slowly cleared to reveal a room destroyed. There was nothing left of the machinery and controls that Mercer had built. There was just a group of teenagers, dirty and tired, coughing at the dust in the air.
The prince had gone.
Tommy didn't think he'd have gone far. The fight between them was a long way from being over and the prince wouldn't want to leave it an open question. He'd be back to try and kick Tommy's ass and prove once and for all who was better. But for now, they had a moment to breathe.
"Is everyone alright?" Tommy asked.
"No!" said a blond girl, "These shoes are ruined."
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The prince moved through the base. Fools!
They thought they could challenge him with their fancy tricks, but he'd show them who was the strongest. He'd teach them they were wrong. He'd prove their weakness and have them begging for his mercy.
He would get that imposter from another world and, just the two of them, he'd show the universe that the power of evil could always overwhelm goodness. That man would learn which path he should have chosen. He'd dared to face him. He'd thought about undoing all the prince's plans.
For that he would die.
The prince stepped into what seemed to be some sort of lab. Coloured jars filled with strange substances lined the shelves. The was no sign yet of the people who'd fled. They thought they fear him now, but they would know true terror before he'd finished with them.
The prince was about to leave to continue his search, when a strange glow caught his eye. A semi-transparent white stone was set on a table and something inside it was emitting a golden light.
Curious, the prince walked over to it and laid a hand on the surface of the stone.
He could feel little through the glove, so he powered down, letting his hand touch the warmth of its strength. Whatever was in here was powerful. He was never one to walk away from power.
Smiling slightly at the thought of all the damage he could do if he had even more power in his hands, he brought a fist down on the stone. It shatted beneath his strength, as everything did in the end, leaving only a black Gem on the table.
He picked it up and felt it's power beginning to flow through him.