Part Four: Return to Khalterria
[Kingdom of Tashalla, Wednesday, June 18 (Earth date), 9:45 am Angel Grove time (around 7:15 am local time)]
Adam and Andréa soon arrived on Khalterria, nearly everything the same as it was before they had left thousands of years ago. They, along with Taliana, stood on a hill at the edge of a forest overlooking the walled city of Tashalla, still as beautiful as the day the two last saw it and just like the castle they both saw at the end of their dreams. One never would have been able to tell that a terrible and bloody battle between good and evil took place there long ago judging by the lushness and serenity of the land. "I don't believe it," Andréa said, admiring what was once her home. "It's just as incredible as it always was. Nothing's changed about it!"
"Just as the two of you have hardly changed yourselves," Taliana added. It wasn't until then that Adam and Andréa realized that they weren't dressed in the modern-day Earth clothing that they had just been wearing or even their Ranger armor, but instead in outfits like those of medieval commoners. Andréa's ensemble consisted of a loose-fitting lavender-colored tunic with a wide leather belt buckled around her waist, dark brown-colored breeches, and short jodhpur boot-like shoes. Adam wore a similar outfit but instead with a dark green-colored cotton shirt, a black leather vest, looser-fitting pants, and boots that came up to the thigh. "Don't be surprised as to why your clothes have changed," Taliana continued. "It is merely so you will be able to blend in with the rest of the people without arousing too much suspicion."
"Hey, as long as I'm not wearing a dress, that's fine with me," Andréa commented, thoroughly satisfied with her new outfit.
"So how does it feel to have returned home?" Taliana then asked.
"This is unbelievable!" Andréa said enthusiastically.
Adam, on the other hand, was obviously not quite as thrilled. "It's great, but, well, whatever became of Corinthia?"
Taliana looked away for a moment, wishing that she didn't have to explain. "Perhaps I should have told you sooner," she replied. "Shortly after I sent the two of you away, The Master, the same evil force responsible for destroying your armies, invaded Corinthia, killed all the remaining members of the royal family, and completely destroyed the city, burning most of the people's homes to the ground. The majority of the citizens, without a city or a ruler, fled what remained of Corinthia and settled here among the people of Tashalla, while others left Khalterria to join the then newly established civilization on the planet now known as KO-35 or went elsewhere. But when The Master came after Tashalla again, no one wanted to see another great kingdom fall the way Corinthia did. In a deal made with him to spare the city, Aurelius and Constantina were allowed to continue ruling over their land even though The Master had total control over all of Khalterria. And because you were the last and only heir to the throne, Andréa, there has been no royal family of Tashalla since your mother and father's deaths many years later." Andréa listened as she spoke of this aftermath, feeling some guilt of leaving their lands and their people behind even though she knew there was nothing she, or Adam for that matter, could have done to stop this chain of events. But then she also noticed how Adam's expression had become more and more depressed as Taliana told them about what had happened, making it obvious that he felt much more guilt than her.
"After the king and queen died," Taliana continued, "the only way I was able to keep order among the people was to constantly convince them that someday you would return. But as time went on, each generation began to grow less and less confident that it would actually happen. Despite this, the people still admire you through the various legends passed down over the centuries. Everything about Aurora and Adrian has become a tale cherished not just by Khalterrians, but by all people here in the Karova System." Andréa blushed at the idea of being considered an ancient legend. "However," Taliana went on, "it cannot be spoken of too much in public, as The Master has tried to outlaw such stories and celebrations against the people's will. A year ago on KO-35, there was such a celebration, and Dark Specter, the supreme monarch of evil and one level above The Master, launched an attack on the people because of this. Although they had their own team of Rangers, only one survived and another was critically injured in the battle, few people even knowing if he did actually survive. Since then, the planet has been completely abandoned. No one here on Khalterria, though, has ever attempted to lead any kind of uprising against The Master in danger of losing their lives and their limited freedom, but now that the two of you have returned, the people will surely be ready to begin a revolt."
"Wait a minute," Adam cut in. "This 'Master' you keep telling us about . . . who is he?"
"No one has ever truly seen him, thus no one knows for certain who he really is, but everyone knows that he is the one who controls all of Khalterria and many other worlds as well. It is the only name by which we know him."
"I see." This Master seemed quite suspicious to Adam. It was probably that idea of him controlling several planets at once that made the long-time Ranger think he had actually seen or fought The Master during this lifetime already. But then again, it could have all been a strange coincidence.
Andréa was growing impatient. "Well, we didn't come all this way just to look at it, did we?" she blurted out in a very anxious and modern tone. "Let's go!" The trio started down the hill and walked the path towards Tashalla, Adam and Andréa only now realizing that this was a path that they had often traveled many times during their first life together.
* * *
As Adam and Andréa entered the city of Tashalla with Taliana, the townspeople began to look at them strangely. It wasn't that the two of them didn't look like they were from around there, but it was more like the people knew who they were without ever seeing them before, and the two Rangers could tell. And to be escorted by the one-time advisor to the long-dead royal family must have meant that something important was about to happen. Nevertheless, the townspeople went about their daily morning routines as if nothing happened yet still tried to catch glimpses of the young travelers who looked all too familiar.
Andréa was enjoying every minute of this; she had always loved reading about the medieval period on Earth, and the setting made her feel like she was in the middle of one of those stories. "Wow," she said, "this is just like going to one of those Renaissance Faires, don't you think, Adam?"
"Yeah, sure," he replied distantly as they continued on. Right then, he couldn't have cared less what she thought of returning to the kingdom that was never his.
A small group of children suddenly stopped playing and watched as the three walked past them in the direction of the long-abandoned palace. "Hey, look!" one of the younger children shouted excitedly to his playmates, pointing at the two Rangers. "It's them! They came back, just like the story said they would!"
"Yeah, right!" a second child said to the first, obviously skeptical of her friend's observation. "How could they be back if they died thousands of years ago?"
A third slightly older and more knowledgeable child spoke up. "They didn't die; they were just sent into the future like the story says, and nobody knew where or when they'd end up. I've snuck into the palace a few times and seen some of the pictures there were of them."
"But I thought they looked like you, Kayleigh," the skeptic second child said to her, "white hair and blue eyes. Those two don't look like that! They're dark-haired like me, nothing like in the story!"
"They could've taken on new identities; you never know," the white-haired girl named Kayleigh tried to reason. "But other than that, those two look like them!" As she said that, more and more children crowded together to see if the newcomers really were Princess Aurora and Prince Adrian, the ones they had heard so much about in the old legend. The children, as well as the other townspeople, all grew up hearing and believing that they were great heroes who sacrificed their lives to save their subjects, that they were the pride of both Tashalla and the fallen kingdom of Corinthia.
Andréa was the first to notice the awestruck children. "Hey Adam," she said, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. He turned to face her as they continued on. "You think those kids know who we are?"
He showed no emotion as he saw the group staring at them. "I wouldn't be at all surprised," he replied flatly. In fact, Adam really didn't care anymore what they all thought; they weren't the descendants of any of his subjects, so what did it matter to him? Still, the children, along with a few of the older townspeople joining them, as the three went up to the palace and disappeared inside.
* * *
The inside of the palace had barely changed. Though it was showing its age from no longer being properly maintained the way it once was, it still had an enduring grandeur. Few items were missing, as the Tashallan people believed that they shouldn't have taken anything out of respect for their ruling family, even though there hadn't been a king or queen in ages. The first room the two Rangers were in was the old ballroom, the place when Aurora and Adrian had first met. Still hanging on the walls were old, dust-covered paintings featuring many of the great Tashallan rulers, including a few portraits of two people who were never actually rulers: Aurora and Adrian as they once were months before they had been sent away, the pictures that young Kayleigh had told her friends of.
They walked out onto the floor; it seemed so big and lonely without dozens of elegantly-dressed courtiers dancing across it. "Boy, this brings back a lot of memories," Andréa said partly to herself and partly to Adam, who was barely listening to her.
"Yeah, sure," he said again without emotion just to make her feel like someone was listening to her.
Taliana silently walked over to one of the huge windows and looked down at the townspeople milling about below the palace. She was starting to sense some reluctance from the two, especially from Adam. It had begun to trouble her some; though the two had become Power Rangers in their new lives, she still wondered if they were powerful enough to successfully defeat The Master and end his rule over Khalterria this time around. She didn't want to have to see the two of them lose each other again if they were to be defeated. Taliana had already seen too much death and destruction over her long life as an immortal, and she hoped to see no more.
She jumped slightly when Andréa touched her shoulder. "Is there something wrong, Taliana?" the former princess asked.
"No, nothing's wrong," she lied. "I was just . . . thinking about the two of you and how fortunate it was that you were able to find each other again in such an unexpected way."
"I see." Andréa was concerned for her old friend and confidante; it wasn't like Taliana to seem this depressed about anything. The last time she really was down about anything, as a matter of fact, was when she was forced to send Aurora and Adrian into the future. Andréa could also tell that something was on Adam's mind as well. She tried asking telepathically what was bothering him, but he had shut her out. She wasn't able to tell that he continued to have that nagging feeling that the other Rangers were in trouble and, like the warning in his dream, he was letting them down by not being there for them.
[Power Chamber, a little before 1:30 pm]
A few hours had passed since Adam and Andréa had left, and everything had since been quiet. But just then, the alarm sounded. "Alpha, what's going on?" Tommy asked, suddenly awakened from a daydream.
"Yo, Divatox just sent a whole buncha Piranhatrons to the city," Alpha replied, mildly frustrated and frantically checking out computer readings. "Ho boy, and they're scattered all over the place!"
"Figures that she'd wait 'til Rae and Adam were gone to attack," Tanya said suspiciously, "but there's gotta be more to it, especially when the Piranhatrons aren't in just one place."
"I know," Kat added. "Divatox is probably trying to split us up so we can't find whatever kind of detonator she's planted." By that time, the Rangers had all caught on to their nemesis's fascination with planting detonators.
"So what should we do?" asked Justin.
"Looks like we really don't have much of a choice but to split up and get rid of them," Tommy replied, checking out the readings himself while thinking up a battle plan. "Kat, you and Justin head downtown. Tanya, can you take the industrial district?"
"Sure thing," she said.
"And I'll take the power plant. Let's get to it then."
"Be careful, Rangers," Dimitria advised the four. "Remember, you are not at full strength, and there is no way for Adam and Andréa to help you until they return from their mission."
The Rangers all nodded in acknowledgement. "Shift into Turbo!"
* * *
[Angel Grove City Park, about an hour later]
Though all the Rangers were having little trouble with the Piranhatrons as more and more of the foot soldiers kept appearing, none of them were even close to finding the detonator. Once they were totally occupied, Elgar appeared in the park with the device. "All right!" Divatox's nephew said to himself. "Auntie D actually wants me to do something!" He snuck behind some bushes, set the detonator down in them, and activated it, the timer set at 24 hours. "Heh heh, the Rangers'll never know what hit 'em when this puppy goes off! Porto was pretty smart to put a thingy on here to keep those power geeks from tracking it. Good thing I won't be around to see it when it does go off!" The dim-witted creature laughed to himself some more. "Boy, Auntie D's gonna be so proud of me for doing something right! Maybe when we finally take over the world, she'll give me an island to control! Or better yet . . . a small country!" After making sure nobody saw him, Elgar disappeared, the detonator continuing to tick away.