[For Disclaimer, see the initial chapter. ]
Note: This is not a crossover, and sorry for any confusion. It's just a cross into... imagination! The counterparts from the fantasy dimention look just like the Rangers except for the way they dress and any distinguishing characteristics. Please keep the reviews coming, because they encourage me to revise and type up the next chapter. ^_^


Here Today But Where Tomorrow
Chapter Three: Trust and Trouble


When Billy and Natilie arrived in the Command Center, the young woman joined Kali behind the electrical forcefield bars before she could protest. The two women looked at each other for comfort, only to find that look reflected in the other's eyes. Their gaze of differing brown irises then turned to view the mysterious teenagers, only for Kali to step back in accusation, one finger lifting to Billy.

"Richard Nyte! You.. you... This is... utterly bizarre." Her head shook as this new person's appearance sank into her mind. "I should've recognized your voice..." Her neck stiffened; her tone hardened, "Explain yourselves!"

Billy looked at Jason, mirroring the action the girls just did before answering, his hands wringing near his stomach, fidgeting in nervousness, "Ah, aside from the parallel universe and the swapping of you two with our friends due to wild frequencies and rips in the dimensions, uh... there's not really that much to converse."

"'Not that much to converse'? We're in a mechanic shack with a robotic slave and floating head in a tube of green.. green... goop!" Natilie interjected with a slight loss for a better word.

Jason spoke up for Alpha V, who appeared uncomfortable with the accusation of being a slave, "Alpha V is not a slave; he's a guide to run the Command Center while we're away, and that 'floating head' is our leader and 'founder,' kind of, Zordon. He has chosen us to do what he can't while trapped in a `warp by our arch-nemesis."

Natilie began to snicker behind Kali's back, lifting a hand to her mouth to hide and stifle it. The female in yellow seemed to be having trouble keeping herself composed, too. "No kidding... (heh-heh) Well then, who might be this (ha) arch-nemesis?" _Your own under-developed bodies?_ With that thought, Kali waited hopefully to hear Nat's witty remark in her mind, but she was disappointed with no answer. The ordeal sounded like some sort of demented dream to her.

Jason didn't seem to be amused, though, a bit confused with the snickering, "Rita Repulsa. She lives on the moon with her cohorts, Goldar, Finster, Squatt, Baboo, and Scorpina..."

"I see." The smile was wiped from her face with the dragging of her hand over her cheeks while Natilie waited until the private humor wore off. "And what, exactly, are you? Some government organization?"

"No, we're..." The leader glanced up at Zordon before continuing, "..the Power Rangers."

"Power... Rangers?"

"YES, NATILIE. KIMBERLY AND TRINI ARE THE PINK AND YELLOW RANGERS, RESPECTIVELY. BILLY IS THE BLUE RANGER, AND JASON IS THE RED RANGER, THE LEADER. THERE IS ALSO ZACK, THE BLACK RANGER."

One thin finger pointed towards the male in red, "Scott... is Jason, red?"

"No, Miss. Jason is Jason, red."

"But you look like Scott!"

"I can't help that, but I'm still myself and no one else."

That prompted a brief huff from the shorter girl, "Okay, okay... And you're Billy?" She motioned towards the unmorphed Blue Ranger, who gives a nod in response. "So who's this 'Zack'?"

Billy smiled a bit wryly, trying to think of the best way to answer her question, "Zack is... Well, as soon as his class dismisses, Alpha will contact him, and you may get to meet him as well. He's quite the memorable experience."

"Okaaay... Uh, if this is all so simple, why don't you just let us out of here and send us back?" As Natilie asked questions, Kali crossed her arms over her chest, glancing around at the complete color coordination with a smirk.

"It's not as simple as it seems. Since presumably the girls initiated the switch, they'll need to do the same in order for the positions to be reversed and everything to be returned to normal."

"And why's that?"

"Because... that's what the computers say."

"How do you know they're telling the truth?"

"Computers don't lie," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Why not? Everyone lies sooner or later."

"Because they're not programmed to lie."

"But they're not programmed to tell the truth either, are they? They could just.. change their minds!"

"Uhh... They don't, uh, have minds..." Billy pushed his glasses up on his nose, looking to Jason and Kali for an escape from this.. interesting conversation with Kimberly's counterpart. With a sigh, the colonel placed a hand over her apprentice's mouth before she could spout out another ridiculous question.

"Please pardon Natilie... She was dropped on her head many times as a child." There's a pause before she decided to add aloud, "... and as an adult. And many times inbetween." As Natilie's elbow met her stomach in an indignant act, she grunted and grinned wildly, enjoying egging on her friend.

It was Jason's turn to grin before he decided to shut down the forcefield with the push of a convenient button, allowing them to walk around and snoop. He leaned against a console while watching them for any conspicuous movements -- Natilie still seemed rather interested in Billy and the surrounding, "rustic" gadgets while Kali remained quiet, pensively watching the walls and buttons as though she was trying to memorize every nook, cranny, and flashing light, not moving from the spot she was standing in previously. Billy tried not to swat the curious Natilie away while trying to form a plan, going over strategies in his mind.

The leader in a red tank top stood, casually heading over to the solemn Trini look-a-like, "So... what's it like in your home world?"

She shot him a blank, indifferent look before lifting her eyes to the dome ceiling of wires and lights. "More of an unwelcoming company than a home; more than a wilderness than a world."

Hearing this, Natilie sauntered over, placing a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Excellent insight, poor facts. The place's Starre Metropolis... Full of magical beings an' heroes an' enemies of all sorts. The most common people, though, are loners, so it's not exactly a place to kick up your boots and share a story."

Dark eyes lifted to cast a slight glare over Jason's shoulder, but he seemed interested with both views of where the other "they" live. Natilie, deciding to leave Billy to his thoughts for a moment, took a seat next to Jason while Kali remained standing warily.

"Magic, heroes, enemies? Must be plenty of adventures there... Can you two use magic? And what did you mean by 'Light comrades' earlier?"

Before Kali could open her mouth in response, Natilie spoke for her, "Sure can! And we're in the major Dark legion in the area, so I bet that's what she meant."

"Natilie!"

"What?"

"As much as it may hurt, think before you speak."

"But there's not always enough time!"*

"Then don't speak at all."

"But..."

"Nat." Kali's gaze and voice became stern and sharp before she turned back to Jason's questioning face.

"Dark legion..? Trini and Kim aew in.. someplace evil? You work for evil?" His voice rose in tone as the danger the girls were in became evident, but Kali tried to calm him.

"Don't worry so. We were infiltrating Commander Oasis's citadel as the switch took place, so they're in 'Good' hands... Of course, in our bodies, that probably won't be a good thing for them. You'd be surprised at how merciless the Light warriors can be against our kind."

"Your 'kind'? Is it a race separation, religion, what?"

"Our..." She shot a warning glance at Natilie in order to signal her to let her handle this. "..race, I suppose you could say. Our.. tiny bit of Cainite ancestry put us in that legion automatically."

"Cainite?"

"A term for the strongest fanged ones by some beliefs."

"Fanged... Vampires!" His eyebrows lifted in realization, mouth opening slightly. Kali's eyes shifted nervously to the other inhabitants of the Command Center before continuing,

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You're... evil vampires!"

"Really, you can't judge us by that. Natilie doesn't even have fangs or any sign of that sort of bloodline. Other breeds were mixed in through the years. It's not so much as the Dark keeping us there as the Light shunning us until it's the only place to turn. There is no gray area, for they are weak and quickly destroyed by both sides."

He gulped, nodding slowly as he tried to understand. The only other sound aside from their words was the sound of Billy and Alpha V pushing buttons and entering information. "What.. other kinds of races? What do you.. do, exactly?"

"One question at a time. Natilie is mostly human, actually, so that seems to be the reason for her lack of smar--" she cut herself off abruptly, changing the course of her speech as she realized dumbly that these people are humans, too. "Ah.. I mean, eh... She's been training as a mage, therefore, to make herself useful in combat."

"What about you?"

"What am I composed of? Well, Cainite, angel, a bit of human... It's evident in my characteristics. I look like this because of human appearance; all of us are a bit human, since our races branch off of that."

"Forget the other question," His head shook in disbelief of what he was hearing, "Tell me the Light doesn't really push you away because of, basically, what you look like?"

"It's more than that to them, I suppose... But yes. We were automatically sifted there upon birth."

"But you said you were part angel, too! And if Natilie's mostly human, why were you both put over there?"

"Because we're tainted with evil blood. No matter how many generations pass, no amount of breeding can take it away from us... Our past, present, and future families are stuck in the Dark. Forever. That's just the way it is."

"But to put an angel in an evil catagory... Was it a dark angel?"

"No, infact.. --" She cut herself off again, catching herself slipping into something entirely not necessary for him to understand. "Look, we're not here to discuss my family's scandals! It was deemed the lesser form, and this is what happens!"

"But you don't want to be in the Dark legion."

"Not really, no, not that it's any of your business."

"Aww, now Kali, stop being rude to the guy!" Natilie pouted, leaning in towards the conversation. "He's just trying to see what we're like compared to his friends!"

"And you, Natilie, don't want to be there either, do you?"

"No... Nope, I don't."

"Do you both want to be in the 'gray area', or...?"

"I'm not sure, Jason. The Light warriors are cruel to us... I'm not sure if I want to be like them, who, at times, act no better than the Dark. But no one survives in the gray, no matter how strong."

"That's... awful... Do you think this Scott guy will let you join his, uh, legion-group thing?"

Natilie was going to answer this time, but she was interrupted by a laugh from Kali. It wasn't a happy laugh, tinged with bitterness and sadness.

"I've never met the man face-to-face, but... I see no reason for him to trust us. Not unless he's just like you." The muscular teenager's eyes were met with deep ones the color of oak. There was an awkward silent moment before Natilie spoke up from beside Jason.

"C'mon, Kals, the Light can't be that bad... They all look well-fed enough," Kali's eyes lifted from Jason's with this words, trailing over to Natilie, getting the bad feeling that she's about to say more than she should... again. "They're nice to the public..." She began to relax with that last comment before, "And I bet they don't beat their own officers--" She bolted upright, pratically diving over Jason to clamp her hand over Natilie's mouth.

"Keep your trap shut, Nat!" She spat harshly, glaring at the girl. _Ugh..._

But it was too late; Jason's mouth was gaping open slightly with the news that they had been beaten by their own comrades. His expression became sympathetic, "They.. beat you?" _That's as bad as if Kim and Trini were beaten by their parents! Or by... us!_

She crawled over Jason to sit between him and Natilie, keeping her hand held tightly over her mouth to prevent her from spouting anything else out. Her words seemed hurried to put away his suspicions, "Ehh, only the superiors -- it's not really so much of a beating as it is a, uh, an encouragement to excel!" _Weak, Kali. He'll really believe that._

_The way she won't let Natilie speak... It has to be bad. I bet there're even worse things they aren't telling me. Oh, man, I hope the girls don't experience anything like that while over there..._ "I see... Yo, Billy, any luck yet?" He called out, not knowing how to help them by just talking and growing even more anxious.

"Actually," Billy looked up from the console, having been paused in the same position for several moments as he listened to them speak instead of doing his work with a focused mind. He finished placing microchips in a ball-like device and screwed on a plastic covering to protect the mechanisms inside. "with the data given, I have designed a device to go into the next dimension and give us a visual of what's going. And, according to the read-outs, the coordinates of the other side of the tear are... well, they're somewhere, and we'll find out where exactly they are in proportion to where the girls are... when someone crosses over. So one of us will need to switch to join the girls, meaning another person will be swapped over here."

"I'll go!" Jason jumped up to volunteer, glancing to Zordon for approval. The sage didn't seem to have a problem with it, nodding down at the ranger.

Such spunk brought a tiny grin to Kali's lips, and she allowed her hand to slip from Natilie's mouth. _I guess he's not so bad after all..._ Natilie, of course, was grinning from ear to ear.

"`Told you he was tryin' to be nice!"

"Must you always have the last word, Nat?"

"Whenever you let me, yes."


***


Major Nyte, a replica of Billy Cranston, came up the stairs, and a small beaker was in his hand. The stairwell was a long, spiralling, wooden one; and he had to take the special stairwell on the other side of the citadel to get to the furthermost regions of the dungeon. Not a very well-designed facility when it came to accessibility, but it certainly helped in keeping prisoners from escaping. Obviously, it was a long trip, giving Trini more time to talk and stall.

"Potion? Uhh... This is probably bad."

"No kidding. Kiss your immortality goodbye."

"Imm-... immortality? Goodbye?"

"Indeed," he smirked, "Don't play dumb with me. We're not letting you free to murder our kind any longer."

"M-murder? You think I've murdered people?"

"Not just any 'people'. My kind. My officers. My legion, and all sorts of peasants. You've also physically forced them to join you in your Hellish clan. Both crimes are punishable by death."

"But I haven't done anything wrong! I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not the person you're looking for. Listen, I was in the park--"

"I don't need your excuses!"

"If you'll just let me explain,--"

"I don't need your excuses; I will not repeat myself again! Prove that you are not, indeed, Kali."

"...How?"

"Try to get out of these restraints."

"I've BEEN trying!" She emphasized, exasperated. _What a stupid request!_

"No, no, use your magic."

Trini quirked an eyebrow, "I have magic, too?" _How ludicrous!_

He nodded, "You know you do." _Maybe... she's not lying? She probably would've gotten away by now away..._ He blocked that thought from her access incase she did have her powers after all. Then, his expression hardened, _No! I will not make the fatal mistake of being blinded by the curve of a hip!_

"I... I don't know how to use it." She hung her head. "Does this 'immortality loss' mean you plan to kill me, too?" _Someone please wake me up from this nightmare..._

"Of course! What did you expect? Yours truly will do the dirty work." _Her thoughts are so panicky..._

"Why, again, are you doing this?" _Good, good, stall!_

"Your legion will surrender with the severe blow to their ranks, and you will no longer hunt down my legionnaires." _Stalling will do you no good when the potion gets here..._

"But I've heard that I'm just a colonel. What about the commander and general, if I have my rankings straight?"


***


As Kali and Scott were speaking those very words, there was a muffled cry of alarm in the cell completely on the other end of the long corridor, where the bars were made of pure silver*. There were several, in fact, but they were cut off before Commander Oasis or anyone else in the immediate area could hear them. With the swift dying out of voices was the dying out of the several men that had been put in charge of keeping the "boss" of the Dark legion restrained. Normally, Scott would have been overseeing him, but he felt as though it'd be more entertaining to attend to Kali.

One ebony hand lifted to run his index finger across the corner of his mouth, wiping the dripping stain of crimson from it. Then, with his sharp, pearly canines peeking out from his lips, the blood began to run from the tips of his fangs like water, falling onto his lips and tongue. He grinned slowly and maliciously, making his escape with the same swift lethality that killed the men sprawled upon the floor.

_Hmm... So they failed, did they? They must be punished, starting with... Kali._

However, before Drahj broke free of the men's grips, a messanger had already been sent to intercept Major Nyte near Colonel Trang's cell.


***


Just then, Richard walked over to them, a little out of breath. Terrified, Trini felt her breath catch in her throat. _The potion!_ Scott looked away, not really able to stand that expression on a woman's face. However, another sergeant ran up behind Major Nyte,

"Sir!" He gasped, out of breath, "Sir, the colonel has ordered for you to go to the Dark Legion's commander's cell! Drahj is causing quite a stir, and we need that potion now. The guarding soldiers are in danger as we speak!"

"Oh, Fine!"

The two on the floor looked up at Richard, overhearing the aggitated tone of his voice.

"Billy..." Trini mumbled, resting her head on her bound knees. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Commander," The Billy of this world composed himself, then spoke with a more respectful tone, "As you have heard, I must be off to Drahj's cell, unless you were to overrule the command from my superior...?" He paused, waiting for a reaction, but Scott just shook his head. With a sigh, he continued, "I did not know we would need two of these so soon. I am still waiting for more herbs to arrive for the second batch, so with the estimated time of mixture and the slow oafs assigned to the retrieval process, another one should be around midnight. Please, forgive me." He bowed slightly, then swept his white coat near the floor before moving from the room and across the corridored expanse of the dungeon.

"Well... It seems we will be stuck here for a while."

_Yes!_

"Well, if you don't know how to use your magic... Tell me who you 'really' are." _This should be interesting._

"Okay..." Scott let go of the last chain and its adjoining lock and crossed his legs, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. His expression softened; honestly, he was enjoying having someone to talk to.

"Well, my name is Trini Kwan; I'm seventeen years old; I live in Angel Grove, California; I enjoy volleyball and the more peaceful martial arts; and my best friends are Kimberly, Jason, Billy, and Zack."

"When listening to your thoughts earlier, I heard the name Jason. Do I really look exactly like him?"

"Yes... You heard my thoughts?" _...!_

"It's a common skill here."

"Well, uh..." _Don't think anything bad; don't think anything bad... Wait, he can hear this too. Don't think! Don't think!_ "Since you look like him, Kimberly, who you've accused of being Natilie, hugged you and got herself caught."

"I see..." _It makes more since than Natilie just losing her mind. Then again..._ He grinned mischievously.

"And the Major Nyte, he looks exactly like Billy. I was hoping he could help me get in touch with my friends, but... I guess not." _He's lightened up a bit..._ She tried to scoot closer to get a better look at his expression. "What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing. Even if you did manage to 'escape', these people would try to kill you on the way out. The potion's just for a slow, painful death. I could burn you into ashes and destroy you now."

"Oh..." _Wonderful,_ she thought sarcastically. "Just what are you getting at, then?"

"A person of my ranking practically commands respect, so that's why I've been acting like a jerk. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Don't worry ab--" She cut herself off, blinking as Scott stared at her.

"How can you say that when I'm putting you to death?"

"I... don't know. I suppose I understand that it's your job to get rid of this Kali person."

He thought about that for a moment. He somewhat believed her, but the Trini identity seemed highly improbable. Instead, he considered that possibility that Kali was ill but had changed her ways. While her eyes were cast to the ground, he leaned over and pressed the back of his warm hand to her brow. Her forehead, in fact, was hot.

"Ka.. Ah, Trini, perhaps you should lie down. Since we have plenty of time, would you like to rest in my quarters? Who knows, maybe I could even find a way to spare your life," _among other things_ "if you are not, indeed, who we seek."

"It would be odd to let me rest, then kill me, so... Would you really do that?"

"Certainly."

"But... why?"

"As long as things go your way, what does the reason matter? Now, let's go." He bent down to pick her up, chains and all, and covered her eyes with one hand, just incase there was a turn of events. Then, slowly because of the added weight, he began to make his way through the halls and up the stairs. Her last thoughts before she dozed off were along the lines of, _I wonder how the real Kali would feel about all of this?_


***


Kimberly woke up in a room of stone blocks, blinking as her eyes tried to penetrate the surrounding darkness. However, it wasn't the room that was dark; she was facing the dark-colored wall! She turned once noticing the light out of the corner of her eye, blinking at a group of men seated around a table playing cards. The biggest of them glanced up at Kimberly, nudging at the man beside him with a brown ponytail. This other man grinned a bit at Kim before returning to their game of cards.

_Weird... What happened to the prison?_

She was answered by that interested man, "We got you out, of course. You should know better than to not count on us when you get in tight spots with this legion."

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"What's wrong with you?" His eyes didn't lift from the cards in his hand. "You've been here before. We're in a secret room in their citadel. Just got to wait for guards to fall asleep before we make it out of here."

"But who are you?"

"Are you blind? Can you not see? It's your knight in dreary armor!" He paused in the game even though it was his turn, lifting his eyes to her when she didn't response. "Did you hit your head? Did they hurt you?"

She blinked at him, tilting her head to the side. She felt as though she's seen him before, but she can't quite place his tanned face. _What is this..?_ "Uhh... No, I'm fine, thanks." _Am I safe or not? Where's Trini?_

He frowned, placing his cards face-down on the table and standing. As he moved out from around the table, he gripped what appeared to be a thin cigarette from one of the men's mouths -- "No puffin' in a lady's presence!" -- and tossed the lit end into the man's crude cup of stone. Kim lifted both eyebrows as the man didn't seem to be affected by this other than a respectful nod as "Mister Ponytail" made his way towards her and squatted next to her. He had a rather nice muscular physique beneath loose, tattered clothes.

"What's wrong, beautiful? You must have amnesia... Come on. Let's get you a drink, and you can tell me allllll about those mean ol' Lights."


To Be Continued...


Author's Notes:
*"But there's not always enough time!" This line was heard on Friends, spoken by Phoebe.
*Silver is commonly referred to as being used against vampires.
The Cainite bit I got from the game Vampire: The Masquerade (Redemption) and other sources, with my own twist.
As a reminder, Scott is Jason in the "new world", Kali is Trini, Natilie is Kimberly, Richard is Billy. Guess who Drahj and the mysterious person near the end is. :D However, it's Pre-Tommy in the MMPR storyline. If anyone has an idea for a name for "Mister Ponytail", please leave it in a review, because suddenly, I just can't think of one. o_o