Disclaimer: Very few of the characters within belong to me. You'll know which is which. I'm not making anything on any of them anyway, so nobody should get excited.

As always, Rach rules. This is a little short, but I hope everyone enjoys it…

Angel with Two Faces

Chapter 9

It was Zedd's old throne room, that much Trini was sure of, but though signs of decay were still abundant, things had clearly changed.

Before it had been stark and cold; now red draperies hung across doors and ceiling, giving the appearance of fetid luxury. Tall iron braziers burned hot, casting a sinister red glow over the scene. Flanking the blocklike metal throne were a pair of weapons racks, filled with implements of destruction.

And on the throne itself sat a creature of grotesque proportions, like something out of a Giger nightmare. His skin was blackened and tight; shiny and stretched over him like the hide of an overfed python. His eyes burned deep in his skull; pinpoint embers that glowed with barely contained malevolence. His teeth were long and curved like those of a feral wildcat, wet and yellow as he curled his lips back in a horrific smile.

It was the smile that did it, that and the words that dripped from his mouth like putrid honey. "Hello, Thomas, my old friend. You got my message, I think?" The hatred in that simple question reached out from the holoscreen and curled invisible tendrils through the room, sending chills over Trini's spine. In all her recollection there had only been one being able to creep her out like that, only one who was driven by malice and rancor rather than the desire to rule.

Tommy's response, recorded by the computer, confirmed it.

"God damn you to hell, Goldar."

Goldar chuckled. "Been there. Thought I'd give you a taste of your own. How do you like it so far?"

Billy chimed in, his voice rough. "What do you want, Goldar?"

Goldar fingered his lower lip. "Now there's a question. I'm almost tempted to answer it." He grinned, almost puckishly. "And after all why not? It's not as though you can stop me." Goldar leaned forward, his voice a menacing whisper. "I'll tell you what I want, Ranger. I want you all to die."

There was a pause; then Billy's voice again. "There's more to it, though, isn't there? Otherwise you wouldn't be talking to us now, you'd just attack. So what do you want?"

Another pause; then Goldar nodded slowly. "Still the brain of the Rangers, I see. Remember what we called them, Thomas?" Tommy didn't answer. Goldar prompted him. "Come, you must remember. When you belonged to Rita? When you and I were friends?"

There was the sharp hiss of a gasp, but Trini didn't know whether it had been Tommy or Billy. "We were never friends." Tommy's voice was flat and unconvincing.

"Yes…" Goldar's voice became reminiscent. "You remember, Thomas. I know you do. We were brothers, united in a common goal, our bond as real and as strong as anything I had ever known. Sworn and ready to destroy the Rangers." Goldar suddenly frowned, and the fury in his eyes made Trini flinch. "But they stole you from me! Turned you against me! We were brothers, and suddenly you despised me. Left me. For them."

"Yes." Now Trini could hear anger in Tommy's voice. "I left it all behind, Goldar. I only regret I didn't kill you when I had the chance."

Goldar chuckled. "How many times I have felt the same." He pulled his red cloak around himself, shifting to drape one leg over the arm of the throne. "You ask me what it is I want. It's you, Thomas." He kicked his leg carelessly. "If I could have all that I wanted, I would ask for the lives of those who stole you from me. But the heart and sinew of the Rangers are out of even my reach. So I will settle for the mind. You, Thomas, and the one by your side, he who falsely calls you friend." Goldar gave a soft, menacing laugh. "A long time ago, Blue Ranger, I heard your duplicate call me his lord. I intend to hear these words from you, before you die."

"Not happening, apehead," Tommy spat out.

Goldar shrugged. "So be it." He nodded to someone out of view of the holoscreen, and Vile appeared, decades younger and living up to his name in spades.

He was escorting a woman, tall and elegant, blond and cool as Grace Kelly in her prime. She was clad in scanty black leather, her buttery hair gleaming in the flickering light of the braziers. Katherine Oliver looked disdainfully through the holoscreen, and Trini felt cold clutch at her heart.

Goldar's voice purred in the background. "You might recall that I have some things you may want back…"

"That is not my wife." It sounded like Tommy was talking through clenched teeth.

Goldar chortled with glee. "Naturally not. Who could ever mistake this beautiful creature for that?" At his words another blonde, bound and ill-used, stumbled into view. Her face was swollen and bruised in places, her lip was split, her hair matted with blood and filth. Yet Kat's expression was defiant, even when Goldar forced her to her knees. "You must admit mine is a distinct improvement."

"You sonofa – !" They could hear the sound of a chair clattering to the ground, and then Billy's voice interrupted Tommy's tirade.

"We'll come, Goldar. Leave Kat out of this. She had nothing to do with Tommy's defection."

The creature raised a shoulder nonchalantly. "I have what I want from her, and the others. Come to me, Blue Ranger, and perhaps I will let her live a little longer, if you will die in her place." At his words Kat spat on him and was backhanded for her trouble.

"I'll see you in hell, Goldar!" The fury in Tommy's voice was all but palpable.

"Yes, Thomas. I expect you will." The screen flickered out.

The first, and for a time only, sound to break the silence that followed was a single half-swallowed sob from Miri, and the swish of the door as it closed after her. Trini made a move to follow her, but a gentle word from Jason stopped her.

"She'll be stronger for time alone, Tri." He stared at the closed door for a moment, his dark eyes enigmatic, and then he cleared his throat. "Well, obviously standing around doing nothing isn't an option. Ideas?"

Maya nodded. "The Exo. I'll get it together and meet you at Nemesis in thirty."

"Exo?" Jason looked at Trini interrogatively, but she shrugged, as much in the dark as he was.

Eric shot Maya a look. "It's just a prototype."

"Point being?"

The Black div. commander shrugged. "If you think it's ready for prime time, let's do it. We'll need weapons as well…"

The deep voice of Ba'altesch boomed from the back of the room. "I would be glad to lend my assistance in that area, if Maya could use me." She nodded and he followed her out of the room.

Eric leaned forward to watch as Jason replayed the scene without sound. "What do you think he meant by 'I've got what I want from her and the others'?"

Jason shook his head slowly, his gaze fixed on the screen. "No idea. Whatever it is, it's unlikely to be good." He found the part he was looking for and froze it. "There. Tri, what do you think he meant by wanting the heart and sinew of the Rangers but they're out of reach?"

Trini gave him a humorless grin. "I'd guess that's what he used to call you and Kim. He wanted revenge on the two of you, but she's dead and he thinks you are."

Jason nodded, rubbing his chin. "That's what I got too. We were all friends, but Bill and I were closer to Tom, and of course he fell for Kim. Twisted logic, but I can see how Goldar thinks we're more to blame for Tommy's defection than you or Zack."

Trini shrugged. "And that helps how?"

"Not sure yet, but it does." Jason looked up at her. "Where's the library?"

~*~

"I'm not going to let him kill you, Bill." They hadn't spoken since leaving the atmosphere, but Tommy couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I know."

"I'm not going to let the bastard kill anyone else," Tommy growled, more to himself than to his companion.

"He's not going to let Kat go easily, Tom." Billy was calm as he finished composing what Tommy knew was a communication to his daughter. "He won't let any of us go easily."

"You're not even going to try to get back, are you?"

Billy leveled a look at him. "Are you?" Tommy gave him a tight grin. "Thought not." The Admiral absently touched the explosive belt he'd hidden under his shirt. "Our best bet is to try and take him out with us. At least that way he'll leave the Earth alone."

~*~

Kat heard footsteps approaching the cell she shared with Cassie and Wes. Not Goldar, she mused; his step was heavier. Vile's too. No gear sounds, so not a robot…

Kat's double, the one from the throne room, came around the ill-lit corner. Kat leaned one shoulder against the stone wall and glared at the woman through the iron bars that separated them.

"Hello, sister."

True to her name, Kat hissed.

The double laughed. "Quaint. I came to see how you are faring down here." She shivered elegantly. "Chilly, isn't it?"

Kat eyed her, every bit as disdainful as her double had been upstairs. "Perhaps if you had some clothes on…"

The other woman chuckled again. "Jealous, are we? After all I have no stretch marks, no cellulite…"

"No personality…"

The blonde double stretched her arms over her head. "I think Thomas and the children will prefer me to you, don't you agree? I mean you're so… used. I share your memories, you know, and it certainly seems as though his ardor has waned since you became old and unattractive. I think I shall enjoy his attentions before Goldar destroys him."

Kat shrugged and turned her back. "Whatever. If you have my memories then you know I've no interest in him any longer. Not after what Billy and I have shared."

"What Billy and you – " The double looked confused. "I have no memory of this. You lie."

Kat snorted. "Check your personality bank, what there is of it. I don't lie."

The double did some sort of internal consultation. "Then to what do you refer?"

Kat cast an uneasy glance at her slumbering companions. "Forget I said anything."

"No! I insist on knowing." The blonde took a step or two toward her.

Kat bit hard on her lip to keep from grinning. Here, kitty, kitty… "It's not important."

The double came right up to the bars. "You will tell me this instant! I demand to know!"

Kat hesitated, then shrugged. "Well, all right." She cast another look over her shoulder, then sidled up to the bars. "You see – " Her hand shot out and grasped the other woman around the throat, her fingers digging into the pale flesh. "You will keep your paws off my family, kitten." Kat pushed the woman away, then jerked her forward, hard, smiling grimly at the dull thud of her double's head hitting the iron bars. "You got that? You don't touch them." Thud. "You don't think about them." Thud. "And you sure as shit don't ever hurt them." THUD!

The double wailed as she fell to the floor, a thin stream of blood bisecting her face. She scuttled backward, crabwise, her blue eyes wide. "You – you lied, and – This is not us! You cannot behave in such a manner – there is nothing in our memories to indicate – "

Kat bared her teeth at her. "You don't know me very well, 'sister'. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family. Go near my husband or my children and you'll find out exactly how badly I can behave."

The blonde woman whimpered and scampered away, leaving Kat with a feral smile on her battered face.

~*~

Taylor was clearly itching to get moving. "Everything stowed, Commander." She was given to addressing her husband formally whenever they served together, Trini had noticed. She supposed it had to do with her military background.

"Everything being what, exactly?" Eric was consulting their flight plan to the dark side of the moon.

Taylor ticked things off on her fingers. "Ba'altesch brought enough weaponry for the crew; Maya has something she called the 'Exo' back there, all in crates…"

Trini finished the list. "Miri took care of medical and Jason tossed in a duffel of some kind. That's about it."

Eric nodded. "Okay. Crew present and accounted for?"

"Yep."

The Black div. commander tapped his comm. "Rocky?"

Rocky's voice crackled to life, unusually sober. "All div. forces assembling now. We'll be ready to attack at go time."

Eric nodded. He looked up at the two yellow Rangers. "Then I guess we better go save the world."