Chapter Eighteen -- Doppelgangers
"We just have to get ahold of the thirteenth Crystal," Catalina said. "It would be great if we could locate some kind of time-altering device, but that's not necessary."
Jenga somersaulted over Rygog's head. She landed neatly on the ground and rolled away. Rygog hopped around and stabbed at her with his sword. She slapped her palms on each side of the blade and held it firm. With a sudden jerk, she yanked the double-edged sword from his hands. She kicked him in the chest, knocked him to the ground, and placed it against his throat.
"Aw man," Rygog griped. Scorpina, Queen Machina, Rita Repulsa, and Diva Tox cheered as Jenga had beaten yet another. Lord Zedd, Rito, Elgar, Goldar, and Prince Sprocket sat along one wall frowning. Rygog trudged across the room and joined them.
"Who's next?" Jenga asked, buffing her knuckles on her chain mail. She cast her glance at Ivan Ooze.
"I'm not about to fall for that again," he said.
Jenga waved her arms across her chest. Immediately, her silver chain mail changed to a bright yellow button-up blouse and light blue jeans. Reebok Cross-Trainers completed her outfit.
"Are you ever gonna get rid of those cones?" Diva Tox asked Rita.
Rita adjusted her "bra" and answered, "Nope."
"Why don't you let your hair down anyway?" Diva Tox asked.
"Do you think I should?" Rita asked. "I might be willing to try that."
"Why don't you give it a shot?" Scorpina asked. "You could color it, too."
"Hmmm," Rita thought out loud. "I wonder how I would look with brown hair?"
"No way. Go for green," Jenga suggested.
"Or black," Queen Machina added.
"Pink," Archerina suggested.
"Let's go try something," Rita said excitedly. "Maybe I'd look good as a blonde."
"Jenga! Jenga!" Orbus cried. He floated across the room without Klank. "Finster and Klank believe they have found a way to accomplish your request!"
"I'll catch up with you all later," Jenga said. Orbus floated to her shoulder and the two darted to the staircase for Finster's lab.
Trini leaned against Billy's chest. He had his arms wrapped around her. "We still have a chance," Trini sighed. "At everything."
"At a life together," Billy said happily. Trini was only the second person he had ever felt a true emotional attachment with. She was only the third person he had ever kissed. But he knew that Trini was the one person meant for him. The fact that she was an Earthling was icing on the cake.
"Would you like that?" Trini asked. "A life together?"
"Do you?" Billy asked nervously.
"I sure do," Trini answered.
"Good," Billy said, smiling all over himself.
Kimberly rested against the corner of her bed with her pink comforter pulled up around her. "I wonder if Mom would like Sk-," she began to wonder. She immediately forced the thought from her mind. "What is happening to me?" she asked aloud.
She took a deep breath and said, "There is nothing wrong with listing all of Skull's good qualities.
"Okay, let's see. He's really nice now. In fact, he's been really nice since he and Bulk joined the Police Academy.
"He's got a really nice smile. And he has short hair. That's definitely a plus now.
"He has a great sense of humor.
"He is very loyal to his friends." With a sigh she thought, "And he has really filled out lately."
Kimberly realized with a note of excitement that she felt really warm and good inside. "Me and Skull," she thought.
She briefly thought back to the time she was under the spell that caused her to fall in love with Skull. She had slipped into that brief relationship so quickly. That was why she was so startled when the spell wore off. She had thrown Tommy aside so quickly.
"Me and Tommy just were not meant to be," she said truthfully. Everyone had envisioned them to be such a perfect couple. The whole school, in fact. But Kimberly was too independent to be Tommy's girlfriend. He was a nice guy and she would never claim that he wasn't, but he had to be in charge. He had changed the Rangers from a friendly band of superheroes into a structured army. He had tried to date Kimberly the same way. He seldom asked her opinion, he just naturally assumed she felt the same way he did. Katherine seemed much better suited to Tommy than Kimberly ever was. Kimberly liked the middle ground - not in charge but not getting ordered around either. Katherine was the type of person who was so in synch with Tommy he didn't have to try and order. She wasn't ordered around, because she was one step ahead of Tommy the whole time.
Skull, on the other hand, was free to go where the wind carried him. "I'll get to be the sane one in this relationship," Kimberly said. She waited for the voice in her head to slam on the brakes, but it didn't.
With a bright smile, Kimberly crawled off of her bed to go talk with Bulk.
Kimberly entered the living area. "Bulk?" she asked.
"He and Billy are lifting weights in the exercise area," Aisha answered. She, Zack, Tommy, and Kat were the only four present in the living area.
"Where is everybody?" Kimberly asked.
Skull, Trini, and Jason are in the med center, and Rocky, Adam, and Tanya are upstairs talking with Catalina," Katherine answered.
"I'll let you all get back to your movie," Kimberly said as she crept across the room to the side hallway that led into the gym.
"One more Billy," Bulk prompted. With a grunt, Billy got the bar to the top of the extension. "Good job." He took the loaded bar and set it on the bench.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Kimberly asked.
"Nah, we just finished," Bulk answered.
"Good," Kimberly said, "I need to talk to you. Oh and Billy, you stay too."
"Sure," Billy answered.
"What's up Kim?" Bulk asked.
"This is probably the weirdest thing I have ever asked," Kimberly said. "I can't believe how nervous I am."
"Kim?" Bulk and Billy asked in unison.
"Do you think Skull would actually ... maybe ... want ... to ... go out with me ... maybe ...?"
Bulk and Billy looked at each other. "What did they do to you in Florida?" Billy asked. "Are you blind?"
"I've just been so mean to Skull," Kimberly said softly.
"You were only mean to him because we were mean to you," Bulk said, "yet he has still had a crush on you since third grade."
"He will say yes," Billy said.
"Definitely," Bulk said.
"Should I just go ask him?" Kimberly asked.
"He's in the Med Center," Billy said. "Go ask him now."
"Now?" Kimberly asked. "Just go ask him now?"
"This will hurt a little," Alpha said. He pushed the needle through the soft side of Skull's splint and into his arm. Skull winced a little, but sighed as the pain killer entered his system.
"Go," Billy encouraged. Trini and Jason looked up as Billy and Bulk shoved Kimberly into the room.
"Kim?" Jason asked.
"Can I talk t-to Skull?" Kimberly asked.
"Sure," Jason said. He, Alpha, and Trini left the room.
Kimberly hurried over to Skull's side. "Hi Skull," she stammered.
"Hi Kimberly," Skull said nervously.
'Just ask him out fool,' Kimberly thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "Skull, when all of this is over, would you like to go somewhere ... sometime?"
"Aren't you in Florida?" Skull asked.
"And you're in Paris," Kimberly said dejectedly. Before either of them could say a word, she rushed to his face and kissed him. Skull unconsciously moved his left hand to Kimberly's hair.
After just a few seconds, Kimberly pulled away. 'Pretty dull as kisses go,' she thought, 'but we're both nervous.' Kimberly gave a nervous giggle, when Skull made a move that surprised them both. Using his one hand, he pulled Kimberly to him and kissed her more intimately than he had ever kissed anyone. No more than ten seconds later, Skull pulled away, leaving Kimberly's lips tingling. "Wow," she muttered.
"Uhn huh," Skull answered.
"So is that a yes?" Kimberly asked.
"Oh yeah," Skull said.
"Heads up!" Finster cried. Jenga and Orbus dropped to the floor as a red laser beam streaked past them.
"Geez Finster," Jenga complained as she picked herself up off of the floor. "This place is a death trap."
"Aye, b' we ha' tha crystals ready, m'lady," Klank said in his thick Scottish tongue.
"Cool," Jenga said. "How does it work?"
Finster pointed at the complex maze of crystals and lasers. "Long story short," Finster said, "I will use the Earth Crystal to open a selective portal through the Anti-Earth Crystal. It will open a portal to an Anti-Earth in a different dimension."
"What if there isn't an Anti-Earth?" Jenga asked.
"There is a near infinite number of alternate dimensions," Finster said. "The odds are better that there will be an Anti-Earth than that there won't be."
"Excellent," Jenga growled gleefully. Her plan was coming to fruition.
"Did you see Skull?" Kat asked. "He is beaming."
"So is Kimberly," Tommy said.
"You know, I think they look really good together," Kat whispered to Tommy. He smiled and nodded in agreement.
Queen Machina pulled the clay-colored ribbon out of Rita's cones. Her hair let go and spilled down onto her collar. "I'm not changing the gown," Rita said.
"You don't have to," Diva Tox said. "Put it in a ponytail and pull it in front." She picked up her on purple ponytail and shook it to prove her point.
"I'm having second thoughts about this," Rita groaned.
"Just change the color and see what you think then," Scorpina said.
"Okay," Rita said. She pointed her staff at her hair. Suddenly, green color bled through it.
"Hmmm," Queen Machina said. "Maroon gown, gold makeup, green hair. You look Christmassy."
"I wonder what Zedd will think?" Rita wondered as Diva Tox quickly put her green hair in a ponytail holder.
"I like it," Archerina said.
"Fire in the hole!!!" Orbus shouted. Klank, Orbus, and Jenga ducked as Finster hit the ON switch on the laser. Red light flooded the laboratory. The light quickly passed through a series of crystals, each time slightly altering its purpose.
"Are you sure this will work Finster?" Jenga asked.
"It should," Finster said. "It had better. We can only do his once."
The red laser struck the Earth Crystal. "Cast yer spell, Jenga!" Klank shouted.
Jenga jumped to her feet, thought a few choice words, and pointed both hands at the Anti-Earth Crystal. Blue light flew from her fingertips. The red laser passed through the Earth Crystal and collided with the Anti-Earth Crystal just as Jenga's spell hit it.
"Will it work?" Orbus asked.
The Anti-Earth Crystal suddenly shattered with an explosion of light. The smoky crystal lay in several pieces about the room. "Did it work?" Finster asked.
"Just wait," Jenga said. The shards began to melt. The tiny pools of liquid rolled together, forming a perfect circle about three feet in diameter. It began to glow with a soft white light.
"I think it's gonna do something," Orbus said excitedly.
"I think you are right," Jenga said excitedly.
Suddenly, the puddle broke up into several bubbles of light. They blew out of the room on a hidden breeze. "Let's go!" Klank shouted. Finster, Klank, Orbus, and Jenga ran out of the lab and after the bubbles of light.
"What the -?" King Mondo stammered. He stared at the whirlwind of bubbles.
"Cool!!" Prince Sprocket and Elgar shouted in unison.
The many bubbles collided with a wall, popping and leaving a smear of light. Everyone in the room paused as the bubbles formed a gigantic eight foot circle of light.
"What does it do?" Goldar asked.
Jenga folded her arms across her chest proudly. "Watch," she said.
Immediately, the circle of light began to swirl toward the center. "A whirlpool of light?" Zedd asked.
"The doorway to another world," Jenga said.
"Can we send Rito?" Zedd shouted, producing shouts from all over the room. Jenga put her hand up to shush them.
"Watch," she whispered.
Streams of colored light flew from the portal. Two blue, two pink, two red, two green, two yellow, two black, and one white. The streams flew to the middle of the room and returned to their original form.
MasterVile growled and rolled all six of his eyes.
"Oh crap," Tommy muttered. The thirteen Rangers jumped to their feet and took a defensive stance. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!!!"
Catalina gave a cry and clamped her hands over her ears as the alarms went off. "Where's Alpha?" Adam asked.
"He's helping Skull," Tanya said. She hurried over to the console and tried to find the cause for the alarm. Tanya quickly read over the monitor. "This can't be," she muttered.
"Wait wait wait," Jenga said, holding her hands up before her. "We mean you no harm."
"Why did you bring us here?" Kimberly asked.
"What do you want with us?" Bulk growled.
"My name is Jenga," she answered. "I am from a different dimension than yours."
"You are not," Billy said. "You're on the moon."
"Yeah, but I'm not on your moon," Jenga said. "I need your help to take over the universe. Sort of."
"I thought you were the good guys?" Adam asked. The thirteen Rangers were slowly letting their guard down.
"In your dimension, Queen Jenga of the Xett Empire is good. In this dimension, the Rangers are good," Jenga explained calmly.
"An alternate dimension," Billy sighed happily. "Where everything good is evil and evil is good."
"That's one way of putting it," Jenga said with a smile.
"I don't follow," Rocky said. "You mean there are Rangers on this world who are good? And you space aliens are evil?"
"Actually, I'm a space demon, but yeah. That's the twenty-five cent tour," Jenga said. "The Rangers look just like you. Identical. They are just good in this dimension."
"Isn't that pretty bizarre?" Jason asked. "That there would be a dimension exactly opposite this one?"
"There are an infinite number of dimensions," Trini said. "It's not surprising at all."
"You want us to help you?" Aisha asked.
"Yes," Jenga said. "Then I will either send you home or you can stay here and enjoy the victory in my court."
"No," Katherine said. "We will help you win here, then you will come to our dimension and defeat your good counterparts."
Jenga thought it over for a minute and extended a hand to Tommy. "Deal?" Jenga asked.
Tommy firmly shook her hand. "Deal."
"Zordon," Tanya said, "the sensors are messed up. It says we are all on the moon."
"The last thing we need is for the Power Chamber to start messing up," Rocky said.
"No," Catalina said when she finally found her voice. "This is something much worse. Jenga did something with the thirteenth Earth Crystal. She must have my maps."
"Your maps?" Adam asked.
"I had thirteen maps created to show the location of the crystals, but even I never looked at them. This was before I left the loop. Ivan Ooze stole them, but before he could tell anyone about them, Zordon's Rangers locked him away," Catalina said. "Ivan Ooze is back."
"If they have the thirteenth Earth Crystal and the thirteenth Anti-Earth Crystal," Zordon said. He stopped, fearful of even finishing the thought.
"We don't stand a chance," Catalina finished.
"I don't know about this," Rita said.
Scorpina and Diva Tox pulled her toward the main palatial room. Ships were arriving by the dozens, and the palace was full of demons and aliens of every color, shape, and size imaginable. "What are you worried about?" Archerina asked.
"There are a lot more people out there," Rita said.
"Don't worry about," Queen Machina said.
The five women walked across the room. "No one noticed," Rita growled.
She pointed her staff at a blank spot near the wall. She pointed her staff at the wall. Immediately, a stage appeared in a glimmer of light. The five women jumped up on it and looked over the crowd.
"QUIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Queen Machina and Archerina bellowed through their internal speaker systems.
The dull roar of the crowd disappeared, and everyone turned to look at the stage. "A-hem," Rita said. A few confused murmurs traveled through the crowd. "Well?" Rita asked angrily.
"Zedd? What are our wives doing up there?" King Mondo asked.
"Beats me," Lord Zedd answered. "I never know what's going on anymore."
"MY HAIR!!!" Rita screeched.
The room was silent for a few more moments, and then the dull roar continued. Rita growled through clenched teeth and jumped off of the stage. She tucked her staff under her arm, pulled her gown up above her knees, and strode across to Zedd through the crowd in just a few, angry steps. "ZEDD!!!!!" she screamed in his ear.
"What is it, woman?" he asked, turning away from MasterVile and King Mondo.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY HAIR!!!!!!!?"
"Well, when I asked you to change the cones, I meant your bra. I'm going to end up putting an eye out on one of those things. I never said anything about changing your hair, but if you like it, I like it."
Rita was numb for a moment. She then swung her staff under his feet and knocked him down. She stomped away, muttering, "Worthless son of a -"
"Hey!" Jenga shouted in self-defense. "There are plenty of other ways you can insult Zedd without bringing me into it."
"Well, what do you think?" Rita asked.
"Go for red," Jenga said, fingering her own curly auburn locks. "With three blue streaks."
Rita growled in disgust. She pointed her wand at her green ponytail. It immediately turned gray and pulled itself up into twin cones.
"So when do you get to compete?" Skull asked.
"At the '98 Pan Global Games," Kimberly answered. "Coach thinks I stand a real chance at bringing home the gold. I know the US has gotten the gold in the past three games, but I want to win for me. To actually win a gold medal. Wow."
"That would be pretty amazing," Skull agreed.
Suddenly, Zordon's voice filled the air. "Rangers. Please hurry to the Power Chamber."
Thirteen beams of light descended through the atmosphere and landed in the remains of Angel Grove. There were no buildings or vegetation anywhere. The entire city had been covered with lava. Smooth silvery rock stretched for almost as far as the eye could see.
"So this is Angel Grove?" Skull asked.
"Not much to do, is there?" Aisha asked bitterly.
"We just wait?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure Jenga will be sticking her nose where it doesn't belong," Rocky said angrily. "Oh, I mean Zordon."
"This is so weird," Tommy said. "Our enemy is Zordon, a good wizard. And our allies are evil space aliens."
"They're space demons on this world," Billy corrected.
"Like Ninjor and Dulcea," Tanya said, "on our world."
"I can't believe Tommy Oliver could be good on any world," Tommy said.
"Morals are reversed on this world," Trini said. "Hey, I wonder if Pope Charles Manson is evil on this world?"
"That would be cool," Bulk said, "but he probably wouldn't be Pope here."
"If the Pope is good on our world, and this place is opposite, then shouldn't the Pope be evil here?" Kimberly asked.
"I seriously doubt anything of religious origin would be reversed," Billy theorized. "Just the basic good and evil of being."
The thirteen Rangers looked at the thirteen Rangers through the Viewing Screen. "This is unreal," Tanya whispered.
"Pope Charles Manson?" Rocky asked. "As a Catholic, I take offense to that."
"They are serious," Trini said. "Zordon? Catalina? Is this possible?"
"By harnessing the power of the Anti-Earth Crystal, Jenga opened a portal to an Earth that is a complete good/evil reversal," Catalina explained. "Evil Rangers. In this dimension, if Rangers become evil of their free will, they lose their power."
"In the other dimension then," Billy said, "they would lose their powers if they became good of their own free will."
"This is making so little sense," Tommy said.
"All you need to remember is that they are your enemies," Zordon said.
"Here they come," Kat said. Thirteen streams descended to the Earth and materialized, producing thirteen teenagers. The two teams stared at each other for a moment.
"So you all are our good counterparts?" Tommy asked.
"I suppose so," Tommy answered.
"No good can come from this," the two Tanyas said in unison.
"If you all are our opposites," Adam mused, "then you defend."
"We attack," Trini growled.
Suddenly, the evil doppelgangers attacked. Anti-Aisha clawed at Zack before punching Aisha in the face. Aisha retaliated with a side kick.
Bulk caught Anti-Bulk's fist in his hand. "If you are my opposite, then you used to almost be a nice guy," Bulk said through clenched teeth.
"So you used to be a jerk, huh?" Anti-Bulk asked. "That is so pathetic." He yanked his fist away, and before Bulk could react, he connected solidly with Bulk's jaw.
Anti-Tommy ran up to Kimberly. "Did you dump me on this world too?" he asked. He immediately shot both arms forward and clenched his hands around her throat. With a strangled croak, he picked her up off of the ground by her neck.
Anti-Kimberly and Anti-Katherine ran up to Tommy. "Hello Thomas," they both purred. Both females suddenly high-kicked Tommy.
Anti-Skull stood before Skull. Anti-Skull laughed scornfully and looked at Skull's broken arm. "Sure would be a shame to break the other arm, wouldn't it?" Anti-Skull asked.
Katherine and Billy backed away from Anti-Trini and Anti-Adam. "Two geeks who probably couldn't defend themselves if their lives depended on it," Anti-Adam said.
"Actually, your lives do depend on it," Anti-Trini growled. She suddenly lashed out and kicked Billy in the chest before either of them could react.
Katherine high-kicked Anti-Trini before she could react. She ducked Anti-Trini's punch, but she kicked Kat in the ribs before she had gotten back to her feet.
Jason hit the ground in a painful heap. He wasn't used to fighting someone as big as him that actually fought. Tommy was matched in skill, but even he didn't have the bulk strength that Jason suddenly realized he apparently had.
Tanya was thrown head over heels by Anti-Tanya. "Looks like Tommy has been giving her lessons too," Tanya thought painfully.
Rocky successfully blocked Anti-Zack's punch. With a sudden swipe of his leg, he brought Anti-Zack to the ground. He didn't have time to relish in his accomplishments, though, as Anti-Rocky threw Zack at him.
Anti-Billy grabbed Trini in a bearhug before she could react. "Billy," Trini muttered. "Don't do this."
"You fight for good," Anti-Billy growled. "You are an enemy." He hurled her at the ground in disgust.
Anti-Skull jumped at Skull. Skull dodged his doppelganger and ran at Kimberly. With a scream, he jumped on Anti-Tommy's back. Kimberly barked a hoarse cough as she fell from Anti-Tommy's stranglehold and hit the ground.
Skull clamped his cast around his neck and wrapped his legs around Anti-Tommy's torso. "Leave Kimberly alone," Skull growled. Anti-Tommy grabbed Skull by his arms and threw him aside. Skull landed on his broken arm, producing a painful bellow.
"We can't fight ourselves!" Jason cried.
"That's because you're too big of a wus to fight dirty," Anti-Jason taunted. He jumped at Jason with both feet, but Jason rolled away.
"Guys," Anti-Tommy said, "let's have some real fun."
"Right," the doppelgangers agreed. With a cacophony of morphing cries, all twenty-six teenagers morphed.
The two sets of Rangers were identical. Even the Animal Guides were identical. The twenty-six suits and helmets gleamed beautifully.
For a brief moment, neither side moved. A second later, the battle began.
Jenga watched the battle. "Ooooh," Jenga said. "This is dizzying." She shook her head in confusion. "Rangers on the side of evil. This is so exciting!"
"Hey Jenga," Diva Tox said. She pushed forward to Jenga on the balcony. "Let's go to Earth. I'm in a fighting mood."
Jenga looked at the gray orb that was currently Earth, and then at the ongoing party in the main room. "Cool," Jenga said. Both women disappeared in a twinkle of blue.
Jenga and Diva Tox materialized in the middle of the fight a few feet off of the ground. They dropped to the ground, blue sparks flashing as they absorbed the impact and stood up at their full height.
The evil side paused as they spied Diva Tox, the newest villain. "Who's the chick in the hooker boots?" Anti-Tanya asked.
"Hooker boots?" Diva Tox asked angrily as she glanced down at her black vinyl thigh-high boots. "My name is Diva Tox, the Toxic Diva. And if you feel the urge to write it, it's two words. Diva. Tox. I don't care what anybody else has told you. Two words." All twenty-six Rangers stared at the space pirate. "So? Who are the good guys here?"
The evil Rangers all pointed at the good Rangers. "Much obliged," Diva Tox said. She charged the good Rangers with Jenga at her side, followed by the evil Rangers.
Catalina watched the battle through sad eyes. "No one will ever win this war," she sighed.
Trini gasped as cool air rushed around her head. She spun around and realized her helmet had been opened by Anti-Trini. Anti-Trini responded by taking her own helmet off. The two slender women looked at each other for a few moments, neither moving. Suddenly, the Green Zeo Ranger, Trini didn't know which one, spun into them.
As the power was on stand-by mode, both Trini's were susceptible to the stone ground. Their heads simultaneously cracked into the hardened lavabed. Both Yellow Rangers simultaneously lost consciousness.
Trini opened her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over her.
"The evil Rangers backed down," Tanya answered. "We finally started to get the upper hand and they took off."
"Excellent," Anti-Trini thought as she looked around the Power Chamber. "I'm in." She wondered if any of the others got in.
Trini opened her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. She realized that she still had not powered down.
"Are you okay hon?" Billy asked.
"Yeah," Trini answered. She sat up and took in her surroundings. Stone walls, Billy with an evil grin, Jenga. Oh crap.
"How are you feeling?" Jenga asked.
"Okay," Trini muttered. "Do you mind if I'm by myself for awhile?"
"Not at all," Jenga answered with a truly sweet smile. "Come on Billy."
They left Trini alone in the room. After first checking to see that she was alone, she tried to teleport. "They couldn't have gotten us switched," Trini thought to herself. When the teleport failed, she tried her communicator. "I'm definitely on the moon," she thought bitterly. "That means nothing will work." She was grateful she wasn't powered down. Even without the power's protection, her armor would be better than her street clothes. "I wish I could power up," she thought.
She tiptoed to the door and looked out. The hallway was empty. "I have to find some way out," she thought. She ran down the hallway and into the dark corridors of the palace.
Chapter Nineteen -- Trini's Trial
"Green Ranger, Power Down!" Skull shouted. Immediately, he grabbed his arm and screamed in pain.
"Skull!" Kimberly cried. She hurried over to him and tenderly took his left hand.
Billy left Trini's side and darted over to the panicking green Ranger. "Did you hit your arm before we morphed?" Billy asked.
"Yeah, when Tommy threw me off of his back," skull answered. "Can you fix it?"
"Sure," Billy said with a smile. "You probably just knocked the bone out of place. We'll take this splint off, realign the bone, and put a new splint on. Trini? Will you help?"
"Hmm?" Trini asked absently. She still sat on the emergency table and looked around the room. "No thanks."
"Oh-kay," Billy said. "Who has had any type of first aid training?"
"I have," Kimberly and Katherine said in unison.
"Come on," he said.
"Trini must have hit her head, hard," Skull muttered as he was led by Kimberly to the med center.
Trini walked up to the Yellow Zeo Tube. "What is this place," she wondered. "Is this the Command Center?"
"Are you gonna power down?" Tanya asked.
"Huh?!" Trini asked defensively. She spun around in shock and terror.
"Uhm," Tanya stammered, "we're gonna go watch a movie before supper. Wanna come?"
"C'mon girl," Zack said. "It's _Jack_. That's not even on video yet!"
"Sh-sure," Trini stammered. "Power Reverse, Power Down." She demorphed and walked over to the hallway.
"I ain't heard that one before," Tanya muttered as she left the room.
"What is that odius stench?" Ivan Ooze asked over the roar of the music. A literal party had started in the palatial room, with aliens, demons, and evil Rangers alike having a ball. It seemed as if victory was eminent. They had twelve Anti-Earth Crystals, the most powerful Earth Crystal of them all, number thirteen, and a crew of evil Rangers with powers equal to that of the good Rangers.
"This place is lousy with Rangers!" Gasket cried.
"At least they're evil," Diva Tox said.
"They are still teenagers," Ivan complained, fanning the air in front of his face.
Katherine walked out onto the balcony, where Lord Zedd, King Mondo, Jenga, Squatt, Baboo, and MasterVile stood talking. "Does the environment extend this far?" Katherine asked nervously.
"Yes," Jenga answered. "Join us."
"Thank you," Katherine answered.
"This is so bizarre," MasterVile muttered.
"Tell me about it," Katherine said. "In our universe, you all are trying to destroy the Morphing Grid. You know, because the Grid is evil."
"We, too, would like to destroy the Morphing Grid," Lord Zedd said, "but here it is powered by good."
"That's sick," Kat said. "It really turns my stomach to think of good Rangers. Ugh."
"I like this one," King Mondo said. "Your counterpart here is sickeningly sweet."
"How about that," Katherine said. "Zordon told me I am the most evil human he has ever met." She smiled evilly and cracked her knuckles to emphasize her point. "By the way, who is that lady with the purple hair?"
"Hooker boots?" Jenga asked. "That's Diva Tox."
"Wonder Woman wears hooker boots," MasterVile said.
"What are hooker boots?!" King Mondo shouted.
"Do you know what a hooker is?" Lord Zedd asked.
"Of course," he answered. "We have them on our Cog Assembly Line."
"No, not one who uses hooks," Jenga said, "one who turns tricks."
"Like a magician?" Squatt asked.
"Oooh!" Baboo cried. "I wanna be a hooker!"
"No, someone who sells her body," Katherine explained. "To men. For pleasure."
King Mondo looked at her blankly. "Anyway," Jenga said, "hookers sometimes dress really tacky, and wear knee-high boots made out of vinyl."
Diva Tox danced her way over to the balcony with Bulk in a tango. "I am not a hooker," she said defensively.
"We know that, dear," Jenga answered. "We just think you look, dress, and act like one."
"Oh," Diva Tox said. "That's okay." The music suddenly changed to an energetic calypso. "CONGA!!!" Diva Tox cried. Bulk placed his hands on her hips and they danced out into the crowd. Archerina joined the line, followed by Zack, Rito, Sprocket, Scorpina, Jason, Rita, Rocky, and Queen Machina. Before they had reached the middle of the room, the line had more than fifty beings attached, all dancing in perfect unison.
"I love it when a plan comes together!!!" Jenga laughed. She was so happy she didn't know what to do with herself. She gave MasterVile a quick peck on the lips and then joined the Conga Line behind Rygog.
Trini looked up. "Must be some party," she muttered to herself. Stone dust was sprinkling down from the ceiling above her due to the many dancing feet directly above her. She continued walking down the dark corridors. "How am I gonna get out of here?"
Trini sat curled up in a recliner, looking at the doppelgangers all about her. She knew she had to try and act like good Trini. She might be able to find something out that could benefit the evil Jenga.
The yellow Ranger smiled at herself. She looked at her so-called friends and then crept out of the room. "I bet I can even get Alpha to help me," she said.
"Unchained Melody," sung by LeAnn Rimes, drifted through the entire palace. Jenga and MasterVile slow danced on the balcony. Her head lay against his chest lovingly. MasterVile stroked her curly red hair. He loved the way the three blue streaks accented the rich auburn.
"Jenga?" he asked.
"Mmmm?"
"Do you want to have a baby?"
Jenga stopped swaying. "Say what?"
"Do you want to have a baby?"
"Now?" she asked.
"No, not now," he said. "After we have destroyed the Alliance of Peace. We're gonna be the two most powerful beings in this universe."
"We already are," Jenga said.
"We'll be official," MasterVile said. "Besides, wouldn't you like to have a little girl."
"That would be nice," Jenga said. "We'll talk about it later."
Billy was dancing with Kimberly near the center of the room. "Billy, you looked confused," Kimberly said.
"I can't find Trini," he said. "I'm sorry, Kim, but I'm starting to get worried about her."
"Go," Kimberly said. Billy nodded his thanks and disappeared into the crowd. Kimberly started to leave the dance floor when Goldar approached her.
"Uhm, Miss Kimberly, would you like to ... have a ... dance with me?" He growled deep in his throat with embarrassment.
"Goldar, do you have a crush on me?" Kimberly asked. "Well, not me, but the other Kimberly."
"No no no. It's just that ......"
"He does!" Kimberly thought excitedly. "Of course," she said. Goldar growled happily and wrapped his golden arms around the Pink Ranger carefully. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his armored body, and they began to sway with the music.
"There," Billy said.
"All better," Kimberly added. She gave Skull a quick peck on the lips, causing the both of them to blush.
"I'm gonna go find Trini," Billy said, although neither was listening.
Jenga and Queen Machina were talking on the balcony when two white streams swept past them. "Whoa!" Diva Tox cried. The twin streams darted across the room and then circled back to the balcony. Porto and Perkiz appeared before them.
"You're just in time for the party!" Jenga said.
Diva Tox danced by with another conga line behind her. "Hey!" everyone in line shouted as they kicked their left legs out.
Perkiz's silver armor gleamed beautifully as he danced to the end of the line and latched on to Tanya's hips.
"Where's Finster?" Porto asked.
Queen Machina pointed to the middle of the conga line with her fan. Finster was sandwiched between Katherine and Lord Zedd.
"Finster is having fun?!" Porto cried. "Oh well. If you can't beat 'em..." He danced to the end of the line.
"I haven't had this much fun since the Junior Prom!" Rocky laughed.
"Where are Trini and Billy?" Jason shouted from somewhere near the middle of the line.
"Billy left to find Trini earlier," Kimberly said. She side-stepped the line of dancers and looked down the hallway to her right that Billy had left through.
"Kimberly!" Jenga shouted. "If you want, you can take Perkiz and go hunt them down."
"Which one is Perkiz?"
"Black Wulf in silver armor," she answered, pointing.
Kimberly ran up to Perkiz, pulled him out of line, and told him what to do.
Perkiz sniffed the air. "This way," he said.
"Are you part wolf?" Kimberly asked.
"Full-blooded Wulf Warrior," Perkiz answered. "Jenga accidentally gave me intelligence, so she kept me as her henchmen."
"Do you smell anything yet?" Kimberly asked.
"I smell a human male," he said.
"That's probably Billy," Kimberly said. "Do you think it will be much longer? I'd kind of like to get back to the party."
"Wait," Perkiz said. Sniff sniff. "I smell a female with him now. She is very frightened." A scream suddenly rushed to their ears.
"Trini, please," Billy begged. He pressed the screaming female against the stone wall and forced her to look at him. Trini stopped screaming and looked at Billy.
"What do you want?" Trini asked in a soft voice.
"We were just wondering where you were," Billy said.
"They don't know," Trini thought to herself.
Perkiz and Kimberly rounded the corner. "Everything's okay now," Billy said. "Trini, why don't you power down and come join the party?"
"Power down?" Trini asked. "No, I'd rather not."
"Power down, Trini," Kimberly said.
"Okay," she said. "Yellow Ranger, Power Down."
Kimberly and Billy looked at each other, and then at the unmorphed Ranger. "Let's go join the party," Trini said with an attempted laugh.
"Omega Bay, huh?" Trini muttered under her breath. "Let's see how secure it is." She frowned when the results came up. "This place is impenetrable!!!"
"Yes, it is," Zordon said from his tube. Trini cried in alarm. She had forgotten he was there.
Trini smiled nervously and looked down at the console. "Well, you would be happy to know that there is no way for Jenga to get to the Zords," she said. She promptly got up and ran from the room.
Catalina slowly walked into the room. "Zordon?" she asked.
"Yes," he said, shaking his head as a response to the question she didn't even need to ask.
"Alpha," Catalina said. "Please come here."
The small robot hurried into the Power Chamber. "Yes?"
"Scan for foreign fingerprints on that console," Catalina whispered.
"Right away," Alpha answered.
"STOP THE MUSIC!!!" Kimberly bellowed. She and Billy ran out into the main room, followed by Perkiz carrying a fighting Trini.
The music screeched to a halt, and everyone turned to look at them.
"We got our Trinis switched," Billy said angrily. Gasps rose up from around the room.
Jenga pushed through the crowd. She stood before Trini. "You aren't evil?" Jenga asked.
"No," Trini said. "I'm not evil. I fight for Universal Peace." Jenga's eyes suddenly burst into blue flames. An angry snake-like hiss escaped her. A long, thin, black, forked tongue darted out between dangerous fangs. Trini jumped and cried in alarm. Jenga's expression immediately returned to normal.
"Perkiz," Jenga said. "Take Ms. Kwan to a cell until I have decided what to do with her."
The Wulf picked Trini back up and started to carry her away. "You'll never get away with this!" Trini yelled. "Zordon will find some way to get me home."
"Fraid not," Jenga said. "Unless they intend to barge up here and attack us in person, you're stuck here!"
Trini realized she was right but continued to struggle in Perkiz's grip the whole way.
Catalina rushed into the Med Chamber. "Where's Billy?" she asked frantically.
Kimberly helped Skull off of the table and answered, "He went to find Trini just a few minutes ago."
"Dear God," Catalina said. "I don't think that's our Trini."
Trini slid across the room and hit the wall. She shot Perkiz an angry look and picked herself up off of the floor.
"Can I get you anything?" Perkiz asked in a calm voice.
Trini looked at her forearm. "I'm bleeding," she said. "I'll take a bandage if I can get a clean one." She gingerly touched the deep scratch, most probably created during her slide across the floor of the cell.
"Right away," Perkiz said.
Kimberly, Jenga, Katherine, and Diva Tox "Tush-Push"ed their way across the room, prompting whistles and cat-calls from the various men about the room. The semi-fast music of "One Way Ticket," by LeAnn Rimes, was perfect for their western line-dance.
Perkiz walked up to the dancing quartet. "Jenga, I need a bandage for the prisoner," he said.
"Go talk to Finster," she said, pushing her hip to the left twice and then back to the right.
Perkiz left them and quickly hunted Finster down in the gigantic room chock full of people. "They're in my lab," Finster muttered. He had never been much for romance, preferring to spend his time with his magic rather than women, but he found himself compelled by the rhythmic gyrations of the four females out on the floor.
"You want me to just go get it?" Perkiz asked. "You trust me."
"Uh huh." Finster tiptoed to get a better lock.
"Horn dog," Perkiz muttered as he attempted to find the stairs to Finster's lab.
"Trini?" Billy asked.
"What?!" Trini cried, spinning around in alarm.
"You sure are jumpy today," he said.
"You don't mind I'm in your room, do you?" Trini asked.
"Of course not," Billy said, "but this isn't my room. It's Rocky's."
Trini laughed nervously. "My bad," she stammered. "You know, they were both blue and all."
"Mine is the first room on the right at the top of the hall," Billy said.
"Oh, FIRST room on the right," Trini said. In her head she shouted, "Do something to distract him you fool!!" With saying a word, she launched herself at Billy and devoured his mouth.
Billy grunted and pushed Trini away without thinking. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Of course," Trini said. "You know, we could go to your room for a little while. Just the two of us."
"Huh?" Billy asked, his voice cracking as if he were thirteen years old again. "Didn't you spearhead a Pro-Virginity Movement at the Peace Conference?"
Trini thought for a minute, and then said, "Did you sign it?"
"Nooo," Billy said slowly.
"Well that's okay then," Trini said. "I just can't have sex with other virgins who signed the contract."
"Trini," Billy said, "why don't we have Alpha scan you? I think you hit your head pretty hard."
"I'm fine," Trini assured him, kissing his neck. Billy knew that if he didn't stop her soon, he would end up doing something that Trini would regret once she got her right mind back.
"I can't think straight," Billy said. He was feebly attempting to push her away. "All of the blood is leaving my brain."
"That's okay," Trini said. "I like my men stupid."
Kimberly, Skull, and Catalina rushed into the room, causing Trini's seduction and Billy's arousal to come to a screeching halt. "That's not Trini!" Catalina cried.
Billy stepped back from her. "Excuse me?" he asked.
Trini looked about her nervously. She suddenly side-kicked Billy in the groin, sending him to his knees.
Skull rushed her, but she easily pushed him aside due to his injury. Kimberly stood between her and the doorway, other than Catalina's hologram. She planted her legs apart and held her arms at her side. "I don't want to fight you, but I will," Kimberly said.
"SABER-TOOTH TIGER - DOVE!!!" Trini suddenly bellowed. In a flash of light, she was in her yellow armor. She had her Power Blaster unsheathed and pointed at Kimberly's head. She attempted to teleport, but it didn't work.
"I just had Alpha put a block up for teleports out of the Power Chamber," Catalina said. "You aren't leaving until we get our Trini back unharmed."
"Get out of the way," Trini said to Kimberly. Kimberly glanced at Catalina, who nodded yes. Kimberly reluctantly stepped aside.
Trini stepped out in the hall. The other Rangers were standing at the far end, alarmed by all of the commotion. Trini swept her Power Blaster across the group. "Nobody move," she threatened. She then ran up the hall. A few seconds later, Alpha's frightened cry came from upstairs.
Trini sagged against the stone door. A cheerful country western song drifted through the hallways from the party going on in the main room. She suddenly realized how hopeless her situation was and burst into tears.
The twelve Rangers and Catalina ran into the Power Chamber. Trini had Alpha in a head lock. Her Power Blaster was pressed against the robot's back. "Anybody makes a move and the robot gets it," Trini said.
"Aye-yi-yi!!!" Alpha cried, prompting the evil Yellow Ranger to tighten her grip.
"What do you want?" Catalina asked.
"Teleport me to the moon," Trini growled.
"Not until we get our Trini back," Alpha said.
"Shut up," Trini growled. "Billy. Fix it so I can teleport out of here."
Billy glanced at Alpha, whose lights were currently blinking frantically. "Don't you dare hurt Alpha," Billy said as he hobbled over to the console.
"Billy! Don't!" Alpha pleaded. "You might never get Trini back!"
Trini pressed the trigger halfway. "I can kill the robot and still have enough time to waste the entire room before any of you can morph." The twelve Rangers looked at each other nervously, for they knew she was right.
"You can teleport now," Billy said. Trini pushed Alpha aside.
"Idiots," she said. She started to teleport, but suddenly fired a shot at Alpha. The yellow laser beam struck Alpha in the chest, knocking him several feet backwards. By the time he had hit the floor, his entire chest had melted into a solid lump of blackened metal, and his lights were gone. The only sound coming from him was a rapid stream of repeating yi's.
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tanya screamed, although her voice was lost in the other cries. She pushed her way to the front of the group and jumped at Trini. Trini teleported away just as Tanya slammed into the floor. She beat her fists against the floor angrily and screamed.
Billy rushed over to his fallen comrade. "Alpha," he said softly. He didn't have to turn the robot over to know that Alpha would need a serious rewiring, if even that would save him.
Catalina suddenly gasped. Her hands went to her heart, and an expression somewhere between pure bliss and sorrow crossed her face. "He's gone, Billy," she said simply.
By the time the words had registered, the other Rangers had gathered around his prone metal body. "No," Billy sobbed. "No he's not."
"Billy," Catalina said, "I just felt Alpha's soul pass through me. Even if you can get that body working, it won't be Alpha."
"Alpha had a soul?" Tanya asked, still stunned that he was gone.
"Apparently he did," Catalina said. Pale blue tears were flowing down her cheeks. "He, he passed through me before he went to ... heaven, I guess. He was sorry to leave you, but he was so happy. I've never felt anything like that." Catalina looked up at Zordon's tube, but he was not there. He was in his private chambers, crying.
Perkiz walked into Finster's lab. The only light was coming from the very back of the room. He walked over to the glow. "What is this?" he asked. He picked the crystal shaped like a pair of unfurled wings up. Immediately, the white light washed over his body, and a heavy black burden was lifted from his body.
Chapter Twenty -- The Escape
Tears flowed from Perkiz's dog-like eyes. "No," he breathed. "It's not true. It can't be true." He knew that he was evil. He remembered being created. He remembered rebelling, and then the accident that made him intelligent. Then, the spell. He shuddered angrily. "How could she do that to me?" Perkiz growled.
Perkiz found the bandage he had come for. As he slowly made his way to Trini's cell, he planned out the worst revenge he could think of.
The twelve Rangers stood around Alpha. "I didn't know Alpha had a soul," Zack said sadly.
"He had a conscience," Kimberly said. She wiped away the silent tears that trickled down her cheeks. "I guess a soul goes with that unspoken."
"At least we have that much," Tanya said. She put her arm around Kimberly and cried with her. "We know he's happier now. And we'll get to see him again. Someday."
"He died," Billy said numbly. The gears in his brain were working frantically. "Just like the rest of the planet."
"What are you getting at?" Tommy asked.
"Nearly every Earthling has died," Billy said, a smile starting to creep across his face.
"Billy," Catalina said. She walked through the crowd and knelt beside him. She wiped away the last of her tears and laughed. "You're a genius."
"What?" Aisha asked, her voice still cracking.
"We'll have to take him out of the Power Chamber," Catalina said. "Otherwise it won't work."
"We'll have to repair his body," Billy said. "Just not activate it."
"What are you talking about?" Adam asked angrily.
"When Catalina gets the thirteen Earth Crystals," Billy explained, "and can fix the Earth, everything will be fixed. Everybody who has died so far will move back in time, and it will be as if they never died in the first place. They will have no memory of it."
"Except for us," Catalina said. "Because everyone in this room has had intimate contact with the Earth Crystals, we will remember everything. But this also means that if we were to die, our bodies would remain dead, even after time was restored."
"How does this help Alpha?" Rocky asked.
"We can repair Alpha's body," Billy said. "When his soul comes back, he will have a living body to come back to. We couldn't do that with flesh, but we can manipulate metal."
"Can you repair him?" Kat asked.
"It will be hard, but I think I can," Billy answered. "But first, I am going to put a block on the Power Chamber. The only person who will be able to teleport in will be our Trini. I'll have it block evil Trini by the only thing we know about her - her fingerprint."
"Why didn't both Trinis have the same fingerprint?" Bulk asked.
"Even identical twins have different fingerprints," Billy answered.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Zack asked.
"There is only one person who knows how Alpha works as well as I do," Billy said, "and she's on the moon."
Trini teleported into the palace. She powered down and ran over to Billy. "Trini!" he cried. "You're back!"
"Guess what else?!" she cried, jumping up and down with excitement.
"What?" he asked, a huge smile spreading across his face.
"I killed their Alpha!!!" Trini shouted. She laughed until she had tears streaming down her face. "They were acting like lunatics. Tanya tried to grab me before I teleported, but I was too fast. MAN!!! What a rush!"
"Did their Command Center look like ours?" Billy asked.
"No," Trini answered. "I think they called it the Power Chamber or something. And Alpha was different."
"Maybe an updated version," Billy suggested.
"I guess, but my power blaster sure did him in!" With that comment, the two Rangers burst into maniacal laughter.
Trini pulled at the bars on her door. She knew they wouldn't give, but struggling against an immobile door was better than sitting against the wall and doing nothing.
Suddenly, a black furry face appeared before her through the bars. With a scream, she jumped away from the door.
"Shh," Perkiz pleaded. "Don't call any attention."
Trini quickly backed into the room and collapsed in the corner. "Please don't hurt me," Trini pleaded.
"Hurt you?" Perkiz asked, sounding truly horrified. "No, you don't understand. I'm here to help you escape." Trini remained curled up in the corner. "I touched some weird crystal in Finster's lab and it destroyed Jenga's spell on me. I'm not evil anymore. I was never meant to be evil. She made me intelligent, and when she found out I was inherently good, she made me evil so I would serve her. Now do you want me to help you escape?"
"Why should I believe you?" Trini asked.
"Jenga is going to kill you in six hours," Perkiz said. "You can either wait for her or take a chance with me. I'm leaving for my home world."
"You can't teleport out," Trini said slowly. "Jenga has a force field around the solar system and the Milky Way."
"I know how to activate the shield," Perkiz said. "If I put it around myself, I can teleport away. But I want to help you. It's my way of making amends."
"Okay," Trini said. "I'll trust you."
"I'm sorry I don't know my way around the palace better," Perkiz said. "I've only been here for a few hours."
The hallway suddenly opened up into a large bedroom. A gigantic wrought iron four poster bed said against one wall. "What is this place?" Trini asked.
Perkiz took a deep sniff and said, "Jenga and MasterVile's bedroom. We should look around. There may be something of use in here. Look in the dresser."
"I see the questions in your eyes, I know what's weighing on your mind," Jenga sang with the music to "I Swear" by All 4 One. The majority of the rooms occupants were engaged in a slow, beautiful line dance, which Jenga had recently taken a liking to. She knew they were dancing to please her, but she didn't really mind. King Mondo and Queen Machina were slow dancing as a couple, as were Zedd and Rita, and Diva Tox and MasterVile. The latter two were not dancing as close as the others, although Jenga wouldn't have minded. She always knew what people thought and felt, and MasterVile's passion for her burned deeper than any she had ever known. MasterVile agreed to dance with her only to take her mind off of Maligore.
Prince Sprocket wobbled up to Jenga. "May I have this dance?" he asked sweetly.
Jenga extended her hand to the short machine. "I would be honored to dance with a prince," she answered. Hand in hand, they strode out onto the dance floor. Jenga was only about 5'9", but she still had to bend over slightly to dance with Sprocket. They had barely started to dance when a bolt of betrayal surged through her body.
She took several deep breaths. A horrendous gnarl came from her throat. "Perkiz," she growled in a voice about six octaves lower than her usual. "Excuse me," she said to her dance partner. She hurried out of the room and ran, full speed, toward her bedroom.
Trini found a glass box. Within it were five compact disks. One blue, one red, one black, one white, and one yellow. She saw no way to open the box, but decided to take it when her finger ran across an imprint on the bottom. "ShogunZords," she read.
Perkiz suddenly snapped to attention. "Jenga," he said frantically. "I smell Jenga. Trini, we have to go." Perkiz ushered her out of a side door.
"She's coming?" Trini asked as they ran up a hallway they hoped would lead to Finster's lab.
"And she's angry," Perkiz added. "She must know her spell has broken."
"What are we gonna do?" Trini asked.
Perkiz suddenly had an idea. "You keep running," he said. "I'll catch up."
Before Trini could say anything, Perkiz had already disappeared.
Trini didn't stop running until she was already deep in the crowd of dancing demons. She stopped dead still, standing in the midst of the couples. Her mouth dropped open and she sucked in several frantic breaths. "Calm down," she told herself. "Just slowly walk out of the group."
She walked off of the dance floor, slowly and careful not to make eye contact. She felt as if she was trying to leave some bizarre prom. Everyone was dancing to Earth music, but the vast majority of beings there were not even remotely close to being humanoid.
A doorway was off to the side. "That might be it," Trini thought to herself. Trini started to walk toward the door when a powerful hand latched onto her shoulder. With a sudden scream, Trini spun out of the grip.
"It's me!" Perkiz cried. He grabbed Trini and pulled her aside.
"Where did you go?" Trini asked.
Perkiz held up a glass box. Within it were four crystal shards, each emitting a soft pink light. "I had to get this," Perkiz said. "Let's get out of here."
Trini darted into Finster's lab. Perkiz closed the door behind them. "Give me a minute to open the portal to the Power Chamber," he said. He handed Trini the box with the pink crystals in it. Perkiz moved to manipulate some controls on Finster's computer, while Trini looked around the darkened room.
"What is that?" she asked herself as she moved to the back of the room. She picked up the source of the light, and upon realizing what it was, shook nervously. "Perkiz?" Trini asked excitedly. She hurried over to the Wulf and said, "The thirteenth Earth Crystal."
"Take that with you," he said with a smile.
Suddenly, something slammed into the door. Perkiz and Trini both cried in alarm. "Perkiz!!" Jenga screamed.
"We gotta hurry," Perkiz said. He typed in a quick command. Immediately, a shimmering portal of white light appeared in the middle of the room.
"It's friendly in origin!" Katherine cried.
"But it's coming from the moon," Adam said.
"It must be Trini," Zack said.
"I'm already on it," Billy said. His hands flew across the console before him. A white light flashed through the Power Chamber, and a swirling vortex of white light was floating in the air.
The portal flashed just as Jenga ripped the door off of it's hinges. "It's open!" Perkiz cried. "GO!"
"You come too!" Trini cried. Jenga's feet stomped angrily against each step.
"You don't really think I'm staying here, do you?!" Perkiz asked.
Trini ran toward the portal and jumped into it. She felt her body collapse into a random assortment of molecules and spin through the portal.
Jenga burst into the room. She thrust her arm out before her. Her blue scepter was suddenly in her hand. She extended it. A giant red ball of energy darted from the scepter's sapphire. Perkiz jumped into the portal. The red ball of energy darted into the heart of the portal as well. It tinged red for a brief second before it closed.
Her auburn hair blew around her head with an angry wind. A few seconds later, she felt a small iota of contentment, but it was soon lost within the churning ocean of rage that was her soul.
Trini landed on her back on the floor of the Power Chamber. Her possessions fell from her grip. The Crystal slid away and the two glass boxes shattered. Before she could acknowledge her safety, Perkiz jumped through the portal. A red flash of light followed.
"Perkiz!" Trini cried. She scrambled over to her new-found friend. The silver armored Wulf lay on his stomach on the Power Chamber floor. Trini reached out to him and rolled him onto his back. She didn't even notice the palm-sized hole in his armor. "Perkiz! Wake up!!" His black blood, the only reminder of his past evil life, began to pool up around him. Trini knelt beside him even as his sticky blood began to soak through her pants.
"Don't you die on me!!!" Trini demanded. She took his hand and held it comfortingly. "Please Perkiz. You just turned good. Dear God don't let him die." She sobbed openly, her words barely cognizant.
Perkiz turned his dark amber canine eyes to Trini. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. "We'll help you," she said. "We can save you. Billy, do something."
Blood began to seep through every joint of his full-body armor. "Trini, it's too late," Billy said. Perkiz weakly nodded in agreement.
"NOOOO!" Trini screeched. "IT CAN'T BE TOO LATE!!! I didn't even get to thank you."
Perkiz opened his mouth and softly said, "I ....... know." His eyes closed, and he was perfectly still.
"Perkiz!" Trini cried. She turned to face Billy. "Please save him, Billy!!!"
"It's too late," Billy said. "He's already gone."
"NO!" Trini shouted angrily. "William Cranston! If you don't at least try to save him I will NEVER forgive you!!!!!!!!!!"
Tommy walked over to them and crouched down on his heels. "Trini, if Billy could do something he would," Tommy said seriously.
Trini sat down and started crying anew. She still didn't let go of Perkiz's hand.
"Billy," Kimberly said, "you know she didn't mean it."
"I know," he answered sadly.
"Do you?" Tommy asked from the door of Billy's room. He and Katherine joined Kimberly on Billy's bed.
"I'm not sad because of what Trini said," Billy muttered. "I should have noticed we had the wrong Trini. I could have saved Trini a lot of heartache and Perkiz would still be alive."
"Can I come in?" Trini asked in a meek voice. "And can we be left alone?"
"Sure," Katherine answered. Kimberly patted Billy on the shoulder, and the three teens left Billy and Trini alone.
"I'm sorry, Billy," Trini said. She wiped at her still-red eyes. "I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. But I heard what you said. I'm glad you got us switched. If you hadn't, Perkiz would still be evil. I can guarantee you that Perkiz would rather die good than live evil. Plus, he got to make amends for being evil. He rescued me, and he got us the Thirteenth Earth Crystal."
"What?" Billy asked. "We have all thirteen crystals?"
"Yeah," Trini said. "Come on."
Trini was glad to know that her friends had removed Perkiz's corpse and cleaned up his blood. Tommy and Jason put the body in a freezer in a back room, so that Trini could ensure that her newest friend could have a decent burial when the Earth was restored.
Catalina sat beside the five Crystals. Billy and Trini walked over and sat beside her. "What are the pink ones?" Trini asked. She realized with a fresh batch of tears that it was the pink crystals that caused Perkiz to ultimately die. If he had kept on running with her, they would have been far enough ahead of Jenga he could have made it to safety in time.
"The Crystal of Time," Catalina answered.
"This is what caused Perkiz to die," Trini said with a deep breath. "He went back to get this even though Jenga was after us."
"This will really help restore the Earth," Catalina said. "Jenga won't be able to use this for evil anymore."
"Perkiz died to save us," Billy said. Trini smiled and nodded.
"Thank you," Catalina said.
Billy put the final Crystal in the black-lined case. "How are you going to get this to your dimension?" Billy asked.
"My friend Sigma is going to do it," Catalina answered.
"Rangers, please execute extreme caution while we are gone," Zordon said.
"What do you mean?" Bulk asked.
"Are you leaving too?" Katherine asked.
"In a manner of speaking," Zordon said. "All who have had excessive contact with the Crystals will disappear when the Crystals leave this dimension. This includes myself, Ninjor, Dulcea, and many others you have not met."
"What about us?" Kimberly asked. "We've all touched the Earth Crystals."
"Yes," Zordon said, "but you are Earthlings. You are exempt from the rule."
"So what should we do while you're gone?" Skull asked.
"You must keep fighting," Catalina said.
"Why?" Jason asked. "Shouldn't we just hole ourselves up down here in the Power Chamber and wait for the Crystals to fix everything?"
"No," Catalina said. "You have to keep fighting. If you don't, the Earth will lose hope and the Crystals will be useless. Understand? As long as there are Earthlings on this planet, Earth will expect people to fight. Got it?"
"We got it," Billy answered.
"Take care," Catalina said. "I'll be back before you know it."
Lightning flashed through the room. When they looked back up, Catalina and the Crystals were gone. "Zordon?" Billy asked. He looked up at the blue tube, but it was already empty.
They were alone.
Chapter Twenty-one - Missing Mentors
Although Zordon's tube provided as much light as it always did, the Power Chamber seemed much darker. Everything was so much quieter without Alpha, affectionately called 'Billy's Little Brother' by Kat. Zordon and Catalina had only been gone a few seconds, but their absence was already profound.
"I feel weird," Trini said.
"Me too," Billy agreed. He stared at the prone robot before him. It had taken Billy, Jason, Tommy, and Bulk to get Alpha on an "operating" table. Alpha was surprisingly heavy.
"I mean, look at us," Trini remarked. She pointed to the Population Display. "There are three thousand, two hundred, and fourteen people alive on the planet. Storms are still everywhere. Yet we aren't worried. I'm not, anyhow."
"That's because we know that Catalina can fix it," Zack said.
"But I wasn't really worried even before then," Trini said. "At least not as much as I should have been. This has been Doomsday, but I was just mildly depressed about it."
"I've felt the same way," Aisha agreed.
"This has been a weird couple of days," Rocky said.
Billy tried to pry the chest plate off of Alpha, but it was melted shut. He instead opened the service door at the side of Alpha's neck. After removing a few screws, he separated Alpha's golden head from his body.
"Thank goodness," Billy said happily.
"What is it?" Skull asked.
"Alpha's memory banks weren't ruined," Billy said. He removed a black box which held over seven hundred fifty gigabytes of memory, Alpha's brain. "Every thought, feeling, emotion, anything, is in this box." He walked over to Alpha's "room" and carefully put it in a secure place.
Billy turned back to work on the robot.
"Cyclopsis," Jenga said. The large silverish-white Zord stood before the palace.
"Been there, done that," Rita said.
"But even you almost won," Jenga said. "This new version is stronger. And..." She pointed her staff at the Zord. A beam of blue light hit the Zord. It immediately began to glow with a bright blue light. The single Cyclopsis quickly separated into thirteen Zords, two blue, two pink, two green, two yellow, two red, two black, and one white. "There are thirteen this time." Jenga sat on the balcony ledge. "It doesn't matter if we have any Earth Crystals or not. When the Rangers die, the Earth will die with it. No Earth, no Earth Crystals, no Morphing Grid.
"The Evil Rangers will pilot the Zords, tomorrow morning," Jenga said. "I don't feel like doing anything tonight. Victory is eminent. Needless to say, though, I am ill. Please continue the party without me."
Jenga walked off of the balcony. The crowd parted as she strode across the room. She looked at no one directly, but it made no difference as everyone was looking at the ground.
She stopped when she got to the edge of the room. She made absolutely no gesture or movement, but the music began to play again with her silent command. "Please," Jenga said, "have a good time."
Just as she was about to descend down the dark hallway, she heard a faint voice. "Billy," she muttered. She walked around the outside of the room and headed for the voice. "Finster's lab," she said to herself in wonderment.
She stopped beside Finster's computer system. "They haven't closed their end of it," Jenga said happily. "The idiots." She started to open the portal so she could travel through, but decided to do something a little different.
Before she started though, she ran her fingers through her hair and shook it. She then concentrated on her clothing. The Earth-like articles shifted into something that suited her mood just a little bit better.
The lights of the Power Chamber flickered. The only lights that remained steady were the Zeo Power Tubes. "What's going on?" Tommy asked. In just a few seconds, all thirteen Rangers were in the main room. With a final flicker, the Power Chamber darkened. The only lights were from the Zeo Crystals, casting an eerie glow on the room.
"I don't know what's going on," Billy said. He started to run over to the computer console when a ball of fire jumped out of the air. With a gasp, he stepped backwards.
The ball of fire dropped onto the ground. It quickly burned a circle shape on the floor. The Rangers were scattered about the room, pressed against the walls.
The circle of fire continued to burn. Suddenly, five lines of fire raced across the circle at various places, producing a star. "A pentagram," Kimberly whispered in horror.