Author's notes: Guys, this was hard to write. Everyone remembers the "Return of the Green Ranger" episodes fondly, but go back to it. It's kind of a mess. An evil Tommy interacting with the Rangers would have been interesting… but he immediately sends the Rangers back in time. Or, an Angel Grove that was apparently on the East Coast because it was the 17th century and there were British soldiers and no one spoke Spanish and it was obviously a frontier filming location in Australia anyway. (Watching season 2 is fun; the second half is filled with "are they filming in Australia?" moments.) So I'm tweaking the story quite a bit: keeping the time travel element, but keeping the new Rangers in the present to deal with evil Tommy clone. It means generating a lot of new story. Hopefully everything goes together pretty seamlessly.

Trigger warning: There is a scene later in this chapter where evil Tommy straight up sexually harasses Aisha, and Aisha tries to rationalize it. She also remembers a teacher sexually harassing her in the past. I don't usually give trigger warnings. I realize now I should have done so in the evil Billy clone story, to warn about what happens to Trini. I'm giving it now, along with an explanation. This scene is not about evil Tommy "cheating" on Kimberly, or showing any kind of attraction toward Aisha. It is sexual harassment, which means he's using his power and privilege to control her and make her feel like an object. It's ugly and wrong and happens to literally every woman. Seriously, every woman has had to deal with sexual harassment on some level, and it often happens very young, way younger than you'd think. They often do as Aisha does: try to rationalize it, pretend it wasn't as bad as it was, or just stay silent because making a fuss would accomplish nothing, at best. This situation is common, but it should not be normal. Look up Everyday Sexism, be aware, and be an ally when you can. That is the end of my PSA.

Reviewer thanks: Ghostwriter, The-Chibi-Poe (So, Tommy is Wolverine?), The-Knight2000 (Tommy could be the one with the kink, though… He does have a thing for powerful women.), KLR1 (You're going to see a very different Rita and Zedd in this chapter…), Mirajane92 (Hey, there's another chapter today, too. What a coincidence!), Notepadhalffull (Well, he did go into detail, but Kimberly's right. There's knowing, and then there's knowing. We'll start to get into some of that this chapter), and mfmxxx (I never said Tommy was going to kill Zordon. And Kim is probably going to reveal more…? Maybe. Some things are best left unsaid.)


Brighter Paths

Book 5: Shades of the Past

Chapter 19: Anywhere in History

Billy was staring out the window, wondering if he could incorporate those theories he'd discussed with Cestria into his latest project, when he realized Ms. Appleby had stopped talking. In fact, no one in the class was making any noise, except for a few familiar guffaws in the back. Slowly, he turned his attention away from the window to see Ms. Appleby standing over him, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, Billy?" Ms. Appleby said.

For a moment, Billy's mind went completely blank, and his mouth unhelpfully uttered, "Uh... ma'am?"

There were a few laughs around the class, and Kimberly—the only one of his friends he could see—shot him a sympathetic look. Billy surreptitiously checked to see if he still had his pants on. That was usually the next step in nightmares like this.

Unfortunately, it was one of those waking nightmares. Ms. Appleby began moving back to the front of the classroom. She pointed to the board, which Billy should have noticed before. "We were brainstorming research methods for next week's essay, which is...?"

Billy stuttered, but then he heard Tommy whisper from behind him 'historical period.' "The prompt is to tell when and where we would choose to live in history, and how that would affect our day-to-day life," Billy said quickly.

From the sharp look she gave Tommy, Billy could tell Ms. Appleby knew exactly what had just happened. However, her eyes had already slid over to the still-laughing Bulk and Skull, who were enjoying the fact that the school brain had screwed up in the middle of class. "And what sort of research methods would you use? Farcas? Eugene?"

The two didn't look happy about their first names being used, but they recovered quickly. "Ms. Appleby, you did say any time in history?" Bulk said.

"Which means we pick yesterday Angel Grove, since any time in the past is history," Skull grinned.

"So all we have to do is... look around," Bulk finished, giving what he obviously thought was a winning smile.

Ms. Appleby closed her eyes and looked to be counting slowly. "If you had read the assignment sheet," she said slowly, "you would have noticed my only requirements for time and place is that it has to be before your birth, and before you ask, yes, it has to be a place that actually existed. Boys, were you born yesterday?"

Sensing a teacher meltdown, Adam quickly raised his hand.

"Yes, Adam," Ms. Appleby said with a tone of relief.

"If anyone wanted to write about the past of Angel Grove or the surrounding area, there's an exhibit at the history museum this weekend," Adam said. "I heard the curator of the exhibit is an expert in local history."

Ms. Appleby smiled. "That's a lovely suggestion. Class, I'll add a couple of bonus points to the essay to anyone who brings back proof that they've been to the exhibit: let's say a signed brochure from the curator. Even if you're not writing about Angel Grove, you can still benefit from a taste of local history."

The bell rang, and the class packed up as quickly as possible, desperate to leave after the last class of the day. Billy ducked his head to avoid Ms. Appleby's pointed look.

The six teens grabbed their books from their lockers and practically ran out of the school. It had been stuffy in the school building, as the air conditioning was on the fritz, but outside was lovely, the bright sunshine tempered by the first few cool breezes of fall. They collapsed on a picnic table under some trees near the school; they didn't really want to go to the crowded Youth Center.

"Thank you," Billy said to Tommy. His face still felt hot from being called out in the middle of class.

"No problem," Tommy said.

"Okay, I've literally never seen you space out like that in class, Billy," Kimberly said. She was busy doing stretches, and she slowly slid down into a splits in the grass.

"I'm just working on a lot of projects right now," Billy said. "And you space out enough for both of us."

Kimberly stuck her tongue out.

"Okay, so what's everyone writing about?" Aisha said, already pulling out her notebook. "I was thinking about ancient Egypt. Maybe research Cleopatra."

"You can't be Cleopatra, remember?" Rocky said. "We have to be ourselves, not a famous historical character. That's why I would definitely be a Viking. Adventure... sacking the English... funny hats..."

"You know they didn't actually wear funny hats," Adam said, a pained expression on his face.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to be a knight for King Arthur," Tommy said, flourishing an imaginary sword.

"King Arthur is fictional," Adam said.

"Well... maybe a knight for some king around that time," Tommy amended, grinning.

"Hey, maybe you can be one of the knights fighting while I'm attacking England with my Vikings!" Rocky said.

Adam laid his head on the table. "Can we try for at least a little historical accuracy?"

"Okay, history guy, what are you going to write about?" Rocky said teasingly.

"Renaissance Italy," Adam said immediately. "I've been reading a book on sculpture and architecture at the time, and I think I could use some information from that. I wouldn't mind working on the Sistine Chapel."

The rest looked a little bit intimidated by his definite plans. "So what about you, Kim?" Aisha said as Kimberly was unfolding herself from the ground. "Any times in history you'd want to live?"

Kimberly shrugged and sat on the table in front of Tommy. "I'm gonna have to think about it. I've never really imagined living in another time period... besides in stupid fairy tales that I know have nothing to do with real history." She chuckled. "Plus, didn't it kind of suck to be a woman for most of history?"

"Sometimes it kind of sucks to be a woman now," Aisha pointed out.

Kimberly grinned. "I dunno... Maybe I'll go to that history exhibit at the museum. I could totally be a gunslinger in the Old West." She made finger guns. "What do you think... Calamity Kim?"

Tommy laughed. "I'd be terrified."

"You should be," Kimberly said.

Aisha cleared her throat. "What about you, Billy?"

Billy had been staring at the lake, again spacing out. He jerked back to attention. "I don't know. I supposed I'd like to meet some of the great thinkers: Albert Einstein, Marie Curie... But I'm also having a hard time imagining living in another time. Maybe if I could take my laboratory with me."

"Just don't start trying to miniaturize the place so you can take it wherever you go," Tommy joked. "With our luck we'd all get miniaturized and lost in the backyard."

"We could all meet at the museum tomorrow," Adam said. "At least to get the extra points."

"I've got a gymnastics thing in the morning," Kimberly said, "but after?"

They made plans to meet after lunch and broke apart, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha racing to get to Rocky's Jeep. Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy began slowly walking home.

"No awkwardness about the whole 'hey, we were evil for a while' thing," Kimberly said. "I really expected them to get all weird about it."

"Like you said," Tommy said, "they didn't live through it. It's easier to digest if you didn't actually experience it." He frowned. "I'm just worried about when the honeymoon period is over. It's been way too quiet around here."

"Don't complain too loudly," Kimberly said, a gentle reminder that anyone could be listening in. "I'm more worried about homework now." She sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to write about. Billy, you have any ideas?"

"Hm?" Billy said distractedly.

Tommy and Kimberly looked at each other.

"So I was thinking about writing about the time we helped Santa deliver presents to children around the world," Tommy said casually. "What do you think, Billy?"

"Sounds fine."

"You don't think Santa will get mad?" Kimberly said.

"I don't think... what? Santa? What are you talking about?" Billy shook his head, breaking out of his reverie.

The two laughed.

"Billy, what's got you distracted?" Tommy said. "You're acting like me, and I'm the one who's brain damaged, not you."

Billy shrugged. "I'm just thinking through a problem with a project, like I said. Cestria mentioned a few theories, but the dry Earth atmosphere makes those theories trickier."

Tommy and Kimberly smirked at the mention of Cestria. She'd lately become a frequent guest star in Billy's vocabulary.

"Did Cestria say things had calmed down on Aquitar?" Tommy said, deciding not to tease Billy too hard. "We did leave there in a rush."

"They were able to incapacitate Hydro Hog again," Billy said. "Now they're just fending off attacks from rulers trying to grab power. The Machine Empire has sent some drones. Thankfully, nothing serious, though, as the Empire doesn't seem incredibly interested in expanding to their part of space."

"Let's hope it stays that way, for both us and them," Tommy said darkly. "If the rest of their family is like the one Dex fought."

"You know, it's no wonder we can't imagine living in Earth history," Kimberly said. "We spend most of the time talking about things happening off planet."

They were cutting through the park to get to their neighborhood. It seemed peaceful as usual, if a bit emptier than normal, when Tommy stopped, suddenly on alert. Billy and Kimberly looked confused, but then they heard the warbling as well.

"Speaking of things from off planet..." Kimberly said.

Several Putties sprang from the trees in front of them, and others merely teleported, this time behind them.

"Should we call back-up?" Billy suggested.

There were quite a few Putties, but they didn't seem to have any other purpose except to attack the three Rangers. "No, they're driving right now," Tommy said. "I think we can take these on our own."

"Fine with me," Kimberly said.

As the Putties advanced, the three Rangers split apart with practiced ease, staying just close enough so they could help each other out without getting in each other's way.

Billy ducked one attack while using the opportunity to slip out of his too-heavy backpack. He grabbed it by the straps and swung it at one of the Putties, clocking it in the head. He was for once grateful that he'd been carrying too many books, as the Putty went down long enough for Billy to concentrate on the other two.

Kimberly decided to try out some flips she'd been working on. She vaulted over one Putty, using its shoulders as a springboard, and used the added momentum to add force as she elbowed the Putty behind it right in the Z. She had her elbow braced with her other arm, so the power feedback tingled rather than hurt. She whipped around with a kick to Putty she'd flipped over. It grabbed her foot, but she flipped backwards, breaking its hold and throwing it off balance as she prepped to take out another Z.

Tommy had taken on the most Putties, or perhaps more Putties had gravitated toward him, knowing that he was usually the hardest to take down. He used their numbers to his advantage, playing the Putties off each other as he dodged in and out of their attacks. He lined up three just right and took them all out at once, careful to avoid the power feedback. He had almost maneuvered around to take out the other two when he felt his head snap back as he was grabbed by the hair.

"Ow! What the..."

A Putty in front of him kicked him hard in the stomach, taking advantage of Tommy's momentary lapse. Tommy landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him. His scalp burned where the Putty had pulled his hair out, and he saw spots in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes, even as his brain was screaming for him to get up, and when he finally opened them he saw Billy and Kimberly bending over him, looking concerned.

"Are you okay?" Kimberly said, her voice going up several pitches. "I saw you get knocked down, and..."

"M'okay," Tommy said, accepting the hands up from Billy and Kimberly. He felt a little dizzy when he got to his feet, and the back of his head hurt like hell. He put a hand to the back of his head, where some hair had been pulled from the room, drawing just a bit of blood. "That asshole Putty pulled my hair out."

"Hair-pulling? Really?" Kimberly said. "That seems dirty, even for a Putty. Let me see."

She pulled Tommy's head around and pushed his hair back to look at the place. "It doesn't seem too bad. I've had worse from Kevin."

"Not too fun to happen in the middle of a fight, though," Tommy said, still rubbing the place. "I let it distract me. Why didn't the Putties attack me when I was down, speaking of dirty fighting?"

"Billy and I were already done, and we were coming to help you," Kimberly said. "We took care of your last two Putties."

"There were three," Tommy said. He was starting to feel hot, and he wanted to get inside and lie down. His head felt like it was splitting in two. "The hair-puller behind me."

Billy frowned. "We only saw the two in front of you. This is starting to sound worrisome. I'd like to get you checked out at the Command Center."

"Okay," Tommy said, which worried Billy and Kimberly more. Usually it was impossible to get him to agree on any scans. "After that, aspirin and bed." He looked at Kimberly, suddenly remembering the date they'd had planned that night.

"Don't worry about it," Kimberly said. "I'm going to tell the others what happened. I think they'll be at the Youth Center. You just feel better, and contact me if it's something bad."

Tommy swayed on his feet, a wave of dizziness washing over him, and Billy grabbed his shoulder. "It shouldn't be too long," Billy said. "I'll let you know."

They looked around for a minute to check that no one was watching, and then Billy and Tommy teleported.

Kimberly was about to go to the Youth Center when she stopped. Whenever they destroyed a Putty, there was always a tiny bit of clay-like ash where the Putty stood, and that ash stood out distinctly on the sand where Tommy had been fighting. Five Putties: three he'd taken down, and two Billy and Kimberly had done. And yet, marked clearly in the sand behind Tommy, was a set of smooth footprints and no ash residue. As if it had teleported away once it had done whatever it had done to Tommy.

"Hair-pulling," Kimberly said to herself, and then she brushed her fingers through her own hair. "God, I hope that's not going to become a new thing with Putty attacks."


Zedd stood at his balcony, drumming his metal claws against the rail. The room had taken on a reddish aura. "And why," he said, "was there an unauthorized Putty attack on the Rangers?"

This question was not specifically aimed at Goldar, but he was the only one in the room. "My lord, you might ask your wife. Or the Wizard of Deception."

Goldar knew his comment was a bit flippant, but he found that ever since Zedd had married Rita, Zedd had been far less demonstrative with his short temper and far less likely to torture people for idle comments. Instead, his temper had turned inward and become more focused on one target in particular: Rita. He never touched her or even threatened her with violence, but their arguments were loud and frequent, interrupted by intermittent silences.

Zedd's breath hissed in his mask. "Where is she?"

"Empress Rita is in her private throne room, my lord," Goldar reported. He braced himself. He knew what was coming.

"Goldar, please go personally and ask my wife what the hell she thinks she's doing, and tell her that she's in danger of ruining my plans for the Rangers." The room flashed red again. "Respectfully, of course."

Goldar bowed. "Yes, my lord." He left the throne room and resigned himself to walking to Rita's throne room. It was becoming a far too familiar path.

He passed Baboo and Squatt without comment, as they were carrying some sort of equipment to Finster's lab. He also passed Finster's lab without comment. They were working on something for Rita, but even if he stopped and asked, they would tell him nothing, and he would not be able to understand anything that Finster was doing.

It was an open secret that Rita had threatened Goldar's life. As such, Goldar found himself more and more aligned with Lord Zedd, and he didn't particularly mind all that much. Zedd was predictable and had no hidden agendas, or at least made no secret of his agendas, even if he didn't share all the details. Rita, on the other hand... who knew what she was getting up to these days?

Goldar took a breath and approached the old familiar throne room, preparing for unpleasantness. Rita had not physically attacked him since that one time after the wedding, but neither had she made things easy on him. He knew especially not to teleport into her throne room; the last time he'd done that she'd yelled at him loud enough for the whole palace to hear.

"Empress Rita," he said as he approached, making his voice as neutral as he possibly could. "I bring a request from Lord Zedd."

Rita was standing at her balcony, drumming her nails against the rail, and Goldar was struck by how similar she looked to Zedd in that moment, their poses mirrored. If she'd been able, she might have even made the room flash red.

"Yes, Goldar?" Rita said, her voice dangerously quiet. "What does he want?"

Goldar cleared his throat. He'd been considering how to rephrase Zedd's request respectfully... a skill he was slowly learning. "Lord Zedd wonders if you would consider sharing your plans for the Rangers with him, as he is currently enacting his own plan, and he is concerned that the plans will interfere with each other. My empress," he added hastily.

Rita laughed. "I'm sure that's exactly what he said. And did he send his request with an indication of his own interfering plans?"

"He did not share any plans with me, my empress," Goldar said.

Rita smirked. "Then tell him to postpone them. My plans are too important, and I've already taken the first few steps." She glowered. "And tell him if he ever wants to question me again, he'd best do it himself. After all, his oh so magnificent brain can predict just about anything. He can predict my plan if he wants."

"Yes, empress," Goldar said. It had gone about as well as he'd expected, he thought as he left, but now he had to deal with the fallout of delivering Rita's message to Zedd. He wondered how he was going to rephrase this one.

He finally made his way back to Zedd's chamber of command. "My lord," Goldar said, "Empress Rita respectfully asks your forbearance. Her plan would be difficult to halt now, though she invites you to meet with her to discuss strategy if you wish."

The room flared redder still. "Is that what she said?"

Goldar hesitated. "I am paraphrasing, my lord."

"I bet you are," Zedd said. "In that case, tell that wife of mine..."

Goldar stifled a sigh, preparing for another trip to Rita's throne room, when Zedd stopped.

"No..." Zedd said. "Tell her nothing. Whatever she has planned with that no-account Wizard of hers, it will prove absolutely useless by tomorrow afternoon. You might say..." he rumbled with laughter, "she will have run out of time... as will the Rangers."

Relieved that he didn't have to make another trip, Goldar was nonetheless apprehensive of Zedd's hints at his plans. From the Rangers' conversation that afternoon, Goldar had some idea of what Zedd was planning, but he also knew that two uncoordinated attacks at the same time would probably be disastrous. He only hoped the disaster would be contained to the Rangers.


"I feel fine," Tommy complained as Billy and Alpha continued to wave scanners around him. He was starting to get a little embarrassed, as the worst that had happened was that he'd been sucker punched by a Putty. "I just have a headache, and you've already said it wasn't a concussion."

"No concussion, true," Billy said, quietly wishing that Trini was there. "You still have a headache and dizziness, though, and if it's not caused by a concussion, I'd like to find out what is causing it."

"I just got walloped. Not the first time, either," Tommy said. "I think if I just get to bed, I'll be fine."

"Tommy, please be more patient," Zordon said. "We are faced with too many unknown quantities now to be complacent. The partnership of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa is not to be taken lightly, and until we know more we must investigate everything, including the Putties' new hair-pulling tactics."

Tommy reached up to rub the back of his head again, but Alpha smacked his hand away so he could continue scanning. "Okay, I get it... but do I have to be here while the scans are running? I know they're going to take a while to process."

"I guess you're right," Billy said. "Alpha, do you think we collected all the scans we need?"

"Yes, Billy," Alpha said. "I will begin the processing right now."

Tommy hopped to his feet—he'd been sitting on a stool they'd brought in when Tommy had kept swaying on his feet. He felt steady now, though incredibly tired. "Sounds good to me. You coming?"

"Yes," Billy said. "Zordon, I'll send you some information about my new project later on tonight. Would you mind looking over it before Sunday?"

"Of course, Billy," Zordon said.

Billy grabbed hold of Tommy's shoulder, who looked dead on his feet. Together, they teleported to the backyard. Tommy leaned against Billy as they made their way to the front door.

"Boys, I was nearly ready to call the Command Center," Sylvia called from the kitchen. She peeked around the corner, but then surged forward when she saw Tommy. "What happened?"

Tommy tried for a nonchalant smile, somewhat spoiled by his pale face. "I'm fine, Sylvia. Just need a good night's sleep."

Sylvia cast her eyes at Billy, who responded, "Putty attack on the way home from school. Something odd happened, but I've got tests running in the Command Center." He led Tommy to the dining table and set him in a chair. "I might ask Aisha to go over the scans tomorrow. She's quite adept at anything pertaining to the Morphing Grid."

Tommy's eyes sharpened at that. "You didn't tell me it had something to do with the Morphing Grid. There's nothing affecting my powers, is there?"

"Calm down, we don't know anything yet," Billy said. "You could just be tired, like you said."

Sylvia gave Billy a look as she handed him the dishes and silverware. They knew Tommy's worry triggers, and worrying about his powers was right there at the top. "Eat what you can," she said to Tommy breezily, hoping to minimize his worries, "and then off to bed. Here's hoping Zedd and Rita hold off attacking until you can get some rest."

Tommy ate a few bites, pushing his food around on his plate so it looked like more, and then stumbled to his room. He couldn't even pull off his clothes before he collapsed in bed, already asleep.

"Do you think it's bad?" Sylvia said once they were certain that Tommy couldn't hear them.

Billy frowned down at his place. "The mode of attack was unusual, but I didn't want to worry Tommy about it too much. He didn't recover well from the attack because I did sense that some of his power was drained from him during the fight."

"Like the Green Candle?" Sylvia asked, her voice going to a whisper so he couldn't overhear.

"No," Billy said, "thankfully not. It's more like when I gave my power to Skull to heal him, or when we all gave Tommy our power to do the same. Our powers recover over time in that case. Except this wasn't given: it was taken. And I don't like the implications. What could Zedd or Rita want with a DNA sample and a sample of Tommy's power?"

Sylvia's eyes widened. "I shudder to think. Do you think it was wise to keep this from him?"

"I'm not sure," Billy admitted. "He's been so paranoid about Rita, thinking that she was going to target him, and I'm not sure I wanted to confirm his fears while he felt bad and while we didn't have all our information together." Billy jabbed his fork into a potato. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, after he's slept."

There was a knock on the door, followed closely by Kimberly sweeping in. "How's Tommy?"

"Asleep," Billy said. "Hopefully better by tomorrow, but we don't know what's wrong yet. How'd the others take it?"

"A little freaked," Kimberly said, "but trying to play it cool. That's starting to be a theme with them."

Sylvia was clearing off a space for Kimberly, who took the offer and the clean plate. "It could be that they're trying to seem like they are just as experienced and, dare I say it, cool, as you two."

Billy and Kimberly stared at each other, and then back at Sylvia.

"I'm cool?" Billy said, mouth full of potato.

"You two have been fighting for a year," Sylvia said. "Them, a couple of months. And now they're faced with twice the threat, and they're still getting used to the fact that they have to be on call 24/7 for world-saving duty. You two have grown almost blasé about the whole thing."

"We're not," Kimberly protested. "We still get freaked out. I for one am considering wearing a hair net to fight Putties."

"Do you show that side of you to them, though?" Sylvia pointed out. "You're so focused on staying calm in front of them that they don't get to see how you really handle stress and fear."

Billy was frowning. "Mom, are you saying we should panic? I don't see how that would solve any problems."

Sylvia smiled and shook her head. "I'm not advising you to do anything. Lord knows you kids take the world on your shoulders. I'm just saying that you might want to watch out for them, and talk to them a bit more. I remember a time when I barely saw any of you because you were out with Jason, Zack, and Trini, and not just for the monster fighting that I didn't know about. Not that I'm complaining, but you don't seem to have that kind of relationship with your new friends."

"We went to San Francisco with them," Kimberly said brightly. "Okay, I know, bad example."

"We're going to the museum with them tomorrow to prepare for an essay," Billy said. "But they're also pretty tight knit. It's difficult."

"It'll get easier," Sylvia said, gathering up some dishes. "Kim, I was planning on baking cookies tonight to bring to the PTA meeting tomorrow. Do you want to stay and help..." She smiled at the panicked expression on Kimberly's face, "eat some of them?"

Kimberly grinned. "Sure thing. My plans for tonight are asleep in the other room anyway. We could go get movies. Wanna watch Sleepless in Seattle?"

"Again?" Billy said. "There's a Star Trek marathon on tonight."

"No way," Kimberly said. "Compromise?"

Kimberly and Billy grinned at each other. "Brat Pack marathon," they said together.


Empress Rita Repulsa held the strands of hair, now tied with a green ribbon, almost tenderly in her hands. The strands thrummed with power, as the ribbon held the stolen morphing energy, but they also held visceral significance for Rita. She could close her eyes and transport back to that night long ago, holding Tommy's head in her lap as he cried, his strands of hair smoothed down underneath her hands as she tried to comfort him.

"Rita," a voice called out, the mutiple-voice of the Wizard of Deception. "We must begin the ceremony while the sample remains viable. Are you ready?"

Rita snapped out of her reverie. Her throne room was currently taken up by what looked like a standing coffin. The figure of Tommy, but not Tommy, stood inside. He looked very much like he had the day she'd met him: green shirt, his hair shorter and curlier, his skin not as tanned as it would become from the California sun. His eyes were closed and his face was relaxed, looking like he was sleeping. But he wasn't sleeping. He wasn't even a he, but an it: a shell that could be programmed, but lacked any identity or consciousness otherwise. The shell that had been used in the Wizard's torturous game with Zordon… the shell that Zordon hadn't been able to kill.

Finster fussed over some of the settings on the machine. "My queen, the clone is stable. It is ready for the transformation... if that is still what you wish," he ended with a bit of a plea in his voice.

Rita's lips thinned. Finster had given his objections, and Rita had actually considered them. Tommy under the spell had been unstable, struggling against the connection, spurred on by his own conscience. The Blue Ranger had apparently created a clone in her absence (she was actually surprised at his audacity, remembering the timid boy who had run from the Putties the first time he'd been attacked by them), and that clone had been unstable as well, driven mad by his cognizance of his own nature. What she proposed could backfire, and even if it didn't, it would be an abomination.

She smiled slightly. Her abomination. That would be fine.

She held out her hand, and the strands of hair floated over to the machine, where it was absorbed into an orb over the clone's head. "Wizard, please begin the process," she said.

The Wizard raised his wand. Rita had been expecting an incantation, as this was powerful magic being thrown around, but the Wizard silently let a stream of green energy flow from his wand to the machine. Finster hit a button, and a glass door enclosed the coffin, which was shortly filled with fog.

Now for Rita's part. On the small table in front of her, there lay a coin. It was newly forged. It wasn't a power coin, but made from metal that had been mined from below the moon palace. Finster had tried to study the metal, but all he could determine was that the metal had been affected by a power source that was not Rita nor Zedd nor any evil inhabitant of the moon palace, but something that was kept below. Rita had once sent a group of Putties to explore the caverns below the moon palace, and only one had returned, the rest apparently destroyed by a powerful security system. After that, Rita had lost interest... but she still had the metal, and it was perfect for her purpose.

Next to the newly forged coin was the grayish-green remnants of a candle. The wax and burned wick barely had any power left, but it was enough. Carefully, she pressed the coin into the wax, and the coin began to glow. Rita held up the coin. It felt different from the green power coin. It felt somewhat hollow, like a shadow. She held it aloft, and it drifted over to the orb on the machine. The fog in the coffin glowed white, then green.

The Wizard lowered his wand arm. "It's done."

The glass covering slowly slid open, the fog inside billowing out and drifting past the balcony into space. Finster took an involuntary step back, but Rita stood her ground.

The fog finally revealed a figure. His eyes were no longer closed, but narrowed in a kind of angry confusion. His skin had tanned slightly, and his hair was longer, pulling the curl out. In fact, he now looked like a carbon copy of the White Ranger.

He stumbled forward, eyes blinking rapidly, as he was desperately trying to regain his bearings. He put a hand against the coffin and seemed to sway on his feet, but then both hands clenched, and a spasmodic shudder went through his body.

No one spoke. Rita held her breath. She understood. He was remembering.

The clone looked up, his eyes bright with unshed tears, and he pitched forward to his knees. This time Finster took a step forward, ready to help, but Rita motioned him back.

"Empress…" the clone… Tommy… said. His voice was strangled with emotion, and he looked as if he wanted to leap out of his own skin, or sink through the floor. "My… my empress. I beg for your forgiveness… for betraying you." His throat closed up on the words. He seemed close to madness.

"It was not you," Rita reminded him. She was more than a little affected by his show of emotion, and she had to remind herself that this was a copy. A clone. Not the real Tommy. Still… this was exactly as she'd pictured Tommy returning to her, if he had ever taken that path. "You have the memories of Tommy Oliver. That was necessary. But you are not he. You have never failed me."

The clone looked up from his knelt position, his face flushed with tears. Their eyes met, and Rita felt the pull of the old spell.

But it wasn't with the boy in front of her. She had not sat with him for hours, bending his mind to her will. There was no bond between them, but a shadow of a bond, the remnants of what had long past. This clone was programmed to be loyal to her. The spell was part of him… but not part of her.

As she gazed into his eyes, she knew they weren't his eyes. It was like a pale shadow, mixed with something different. Something… wrong.

And as they looked at each other, she realized that the clone knew all of this. There was a sense of cold realization. No, it was not he. He had never betrayed her, but neither had she loved him. In that moment of clarity, Rita watched the clone struggle. He was Tommy, and yet he was not-Tommy in every single way. How would he react?

"What must I do, Empress?" the clone spoke.

It was a loaded question. What do you want me to do? What must I do to lash out at Tommy? What must I do to win your approval… your love?

Rita grinned. Yes, her abomination. And he would destroy them all.


It was late at night, far after Billy and Kimberly had finished watching The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. Kimberly had run back across the street to her house to go to sleep, and Billy had worked in his lab until Sylvia forced him to go to bed. All was quiet now.

Two figures appeared on the street, though they were invisible to anyone not looking directly at them, and certainly undetectable by any scanners. The Wizard of Deception pointed with his wand to the dark house.

"The power I created for you will allow you past the house's security," the Wizard said quietly. "That building is currently the most secure place on Earth, besides the Command Center. You will find your target in there. Do you remember your orders?"

The clone held up a small crystal. "Place this on the headboard to hide the White Ranger, and then use Billy's lab to trick the Command Center sensors into giving false readings. Then... have fun." He smiled. "I think I got it."

"Then get to it, Tommy," the Wizard said.

The clone sneered. "You know, I think Will had the right idea. Something about that name makes me sick to my stomach. Call me… Thomas, I guess." He grinned. "I'll come up with something better later."

"Very well, Green Ranger," the Wizard said pointedly, and then vanished.

Now no longer hidden by the Wizard's magic, the clone walked quickly over to the Cranston house, using a key the Wizard had created to get in. If anyone had been looking on, they would have seen Tommy, Sylvia's informally adopted son, sneaking in late at night, and they wouldn't have given it a second thought.


Billy watched as Aisha scanned the readings. It was mid-morning, and they had the readings up on the larger screens in the science lab.

"It wasn't a very large power drain," Aisha pointed out. "It might have been larger if he'd been morphed, but it feels more like ambient energy."

"Ambient?" Billy asked.

Aisha looked over, vaguely surprised she knew something Billy didn't, and wondering if he was just playing along to give her something to do. "Yeah," she said. "We morph to use our powers, but we're connected to the Morphing Grid whether we're morphed or not. But it's not just a connection. We give off a kind of... field, or something, around us. Not enough to make us super strong without morphing, but it does give us a little protection."

Billy squinted at the readings and moved his hand to his face, as if adjusting glasses before realizing he didn't have any. "I'd never really studied into how the Morphing Grid affects us when we're not morphed. I've mainly focused on how the Morphing Grid interacts with technology. My one biological experiment proved to be... well, disastrous."

"Looks like Rita's wanting to focus on that," Aisha said. "You said hair, skin, blood, and morphing energy? That doesn't sound good at all."

"What doesn't sound good?" Tommy strode into the science lab, wearing a green tank top and jeans.

Billy frowned. Tommy had taken to wearing more white lately. Dressing in their Ranger colors was almost an unconscious compulsion for them: they could wear other colors, but they just felt better if they incorporated at least a little of their own color.

Tommy looked down at his shirt. "Yeah," he laughed, "I came up here to work out early, and all I had left was my old clothes." He nodded up to the readings. "How are things?"

"We don't know," Billy admitted. "Our old friend Rita seems to be up to something. She's gathered biological and energy samples from you, and that was enough to knock you for a loop last night. But you feel better this morning? You said you worked out."

Tommy smiled. "Never better." He returned his attention to the readings. "I don't know why they would need samples like that. Finster should have some old blood work from me, and we throw around enough energy that they could have gathered samples of our powers any time. It's gotta be something else."

"That makes sense," Billy said reluctantly. "We can't get too attached to one theory. I'll go talk to Zordon. See if he has any theories."

"Don't take too long," Aisha said, still assessing the readings. "We need to get to the museum soon, and I want to get some lunch first."

"I might skip lunch and just grab something on the way," Billy said. "I still have a few things to do here, but I'll meet you at the museum."

"Okay," Aisha said. "Don't be late."

Aisha squinted up at the readings, feeling just a bit giddy that Billy had called her in. As an expert. She'd been working hard studying the Morphing Grid because she found it fascinating, and because she wanted to understand this thing that was quickly becoming such a large part of her life now. But now she felt like she was contributing. That she was bringing something new, not just filling someone else's boots.

Tommy nodded over to the screen, as if reading her mind. "You understand all that?"

"Not all of it," Aisha said. "The Morphing Grid is vast and complicated, and it seems to not pay attention to time so much if I'm not forcing it to. There are power signatures in here from the distant future as well as from the past... though Zordon has warned me not to look into the future too much."

"Yeah, better listen to him," Tommy said. "He's the big floating head of wisdom and all."

Aisha raised an eyebrow at that. She'd never heard Tommy speak so flippantly of Zordon. Of course, he was probably still rattled from the fight yesterday, and this was probably a weak attempt at humor.

"I can pull up your power signature now, if you want," Aisha offered.

"Not necessary," Tommy said. "Like I said, I feel better, and what matters is the readings from yesterday." He hunched over Aisha and looked closer at the screen. "That bit," he pointed. "That's where my power drained, right?"

"Right," Aisha said. "It seems harmless enough. Billy compared it to when he and the other Rangers transferred their powers momentarily to civilians. But taken forcefully, in the way it was, it definitely would have given you a headache."

As she was talking, Aisha was suddenly aware of Tommy's hand on her arm. At first he'd placed it there casually, a friendly gesture. But it was still there, and he was starting to squeeze slightly. It didn't hurt. It felt more like...

He was towering over her, way too damn close to her. Aisha froze, wondering what to do. She kept talking, and she was wondering if what she was saying was making any sense. Tommy's hand was still on her, and it was definitely massaging her arm. His face was practically in her hair.

"So that's me up there, on the screen." He gave a chuckle, his hand ghosting away in what sure as hell felt like a caress. "You probably know me better than anyone now."

And then it was over. He'd pulled back and was walking out, giving a friendly wave. "Just let me know if you find anything. See you at the museum."

Aisha waited for him to be well and truly out of there before gripping the desk and shaking. What... what had that been? Had he been hitting on her? But wasn't he with Kimberly? They were definitely all over each other most of the time.

Or had she imagined the whole thing? They put their arms on each other's shoulders all the time. It was always a friendly gesture, meant to reassure, gain attention, or just express friendship. They were athletes, most of them. They tended to be tactile, and had a much smaller field of personal space. Even Billy was getting more used to being closer to people, given his constant company with other athletes.

But this hadn't felt friendly. She's felt trapped, and the hand on her arm had felt much more personal. It had felt more like that time that the history teacher, Mr. Jacobson, had kept his hand on her thigh when she'd sat next to him on the school bus when they took their field trip to the Spanish mission. She hadn't said anything at the time, and hadn't told a soul, but she'd made damn sure never to be alone with him again, or to let any girls she knew be alone with him.

But had it really been like that with Tommy? She thought back. He'd been close, but he'd also wanted to look at the screen. Maybe he'd been lying about feeling better, and he needed Aisha's shoulder to help stay upright.

And even if she pointed it out, what would that accomplish? If it was nothing, she'd sound like she was making something out of nothing. People would start being extra awkward around her, afraid that she might accuse them of hitting on her. She'd like to think Adam and Rocky wouldn't do that, but she'd seen that happen to other girls before. Girls who put up a fuss, and no one believed them.

That was the thing. This was Tommy she was talking about. No one would believe her. Even she didn't believe it had happened. And even if she told, what would happen? Did she really want to accuse the leader of the Power Rangers of sexual harassment?

Taking a few steadying breaths, Aisha decided to keep an eye out and wait. If something like it happened again, she would say something. Zordon might be the person to talk to.

Still, she felt slimy, as if she'd done something wrong. Aisha considered taking a shower, but the idea of taking off her clothes in the Command Center twisted her stomach, and she didn't want to go back home. She decided to go to the Youth Center, hoping to distract herself before the museum trip, where she'd have to act like everything was normal.

In the security room, the Thomas flicked off the surveillance feed of the science lab and smirked. Step one accomplished.

Step two. It took a moment's work to change the frequency of the Command Center communications. It was a subtle enough change that Zordon or Alpha wouldn't notice unless they were specifically looking for it. It would also prevent the Command Center from contacting the Rangers the next time there was an emergency. And there would be an emergency... quite soon.


"Are you sure you're okay?" Adam said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aisha said. "Just... thinking over those readings."

They were sitting in the back of Rocky's Jeep while Rocky and Tommy sat in the front. Aisha had been quiet through lunch, and had only given lame excuses when the rest of them asked about it. That worried Adam, but Aisha obviously didn't want to talk about whatever it was.

They pulled up into the parking lot. Quite a few people from their class were already there, lured by the promise of bonus points. Bulk and Skull were clutching brochures, trying to get a signature without actually going in to the museum.

"You know," Adam commented as they walked by, "going into the museum is not going to physically hurt you."

Bulk sneered at Adam, though he made no moves toward him. "Won't help us any, either."

Skull rolled his eyes. "Look, could any of you guys let us borrow your brochure after? I can forge the signature easy, but I gotta know what it looks like."

Tommy smirked. "You know, you might have an easier time of it if you hadn't been permanently banned from the museum."

"Oo, permanent ban," Rocky said, grinning. "I'm actually impressed. I've never gotten permanently banned from a museum before. What'd ya do?"

"None of your business," Bulk said defensively.

"Didn't you throw up on a display of Stone Age weapons?" Tommy chuckled.

"That wasn't our fault," Bulk said. "We had food poisoning, and there was a monster attack. You were there, and you promised never to tell."

Tommy shrugged. "Too good a story. Should I let security know that they might need to get that sawdust that dries out the puke?"

But Bulk and Skull were already going away, shooting glares at Tommy and the others.

"Okay, I don't like them, but that wasn't nice," Adam said. "They weren't really bothering us."

Tommy shrugged. "They were trying to cheat, weren't they? Now they're not." He squinted at the parking lot. "I don't see Kimberly's car. Do you think they teleported in?"

"Kimberly said she might be late, and last I heard Billy was talking to Zordon," Aisha said. She was eyeing Tommy, almost suspiciously.

"Then I guess we go inside," Rocky said, sweeping the door. "Come on, Adam. I know you're dying to point us to all the local history around us."

The four went into the museum, grabbed brochures, and immediately veered to the right under the banner that announced Angel Grove local history. Surrounding them were artifacts and displays, all in chronological order. On the far wall they could actually see a picture of Power Rangers fighting a monster.

A middle-aged Chumash woman was standing in the middle of the room with a crowd of teenagers around her and had halted her talk as soon as they came in. "Are you from Ms. Appleby's class?" She waved them over, and they joined the group.

"As I was saying," the woman, who they quickly realized was the curator, continued, "Angel Grove has had a particularly violent history, and that's not just counting the past year of alien attacks. Along with the history of indigenous resettlement and European imperialism, as well as the lawless beginnings of the town itself in the 1800s, we have a long history of unusual occurrences, strange beings attacking not unlike the monsters we face now. Of course," she said with a smile, "these may be products of people under the influence of a tainted water supply... or too much time on their hands. With history, we never know. We can only make educated guesses. History is all about research and questioning everything, especially official accounts, since they're written by people who sometimes don't want the truth to be known."

The teens gave each other significant glances. This sounded far more X-Files than they'd been expecting. Of course, they were superheroes who fought those alien monsters, so who were they to judge?

"Just look around for a bit," the curator said, "and let me know if you have any questions. I'll sign all your brochures when I know you've had a good look around."

The curator walked up to Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Tommy, who were still gazing around, trying to decide where to begin. "It's so good to see teenagers taking an interest in local history, even if it's bribed with bonus points," the curator said, amused. "My name is Julie, if you have any questions."

"None of us are really from around here," Adam said. "Us three," he indicated himself, Rocky, and Aisha, "are from Stone Canyon, and Tommy here is from..." He looked at Tommy.

Tommy shrugged. "All over."

"Our two friends should be here soon," Adam said. "They were both born in Angel Grove."

Julie smiled. "As you can see, Angel Grove has a way of attracting new faces. I started studying this area in the 70s. Anyone who studied local history would not have been surprised by the monster attacks that began last year, though the academic community, as you can probably tell by my comments earlier, has a hard time giving credence to the stranger historical accounts."

"I think, with this place, sometimes seeing is believing," Aisha said. "In Stone Canyon, we didn't believe half of what was coming out of Angel Grove."

Julie had stopped smiling, and seemed to be staring intently at Tommy, squinting as she did so. He realized when she was doing and stared back pointedly.

"I'm sorry," Julie said, "but you said you weren't originally from Angel Grove? Your face looks awfully familiar."

Tommy frowned at her, looking a bit unnerved. "Just one of those faces, I guess. Come on, guys, let's look around. I'd like to enjoy the rest of the Saturday."


Zedd was raging, his throne room a deep red to match his mood.

"That... that THING!" he practically spat. "It's disrupting the time field around those three Rangers. They're perfectly in place, and the other two are nearly there, and there's no way I can send them ANYWHERE!"

Goldar held the device, unsure of what to do. He considered drawing the clone away from the others, but he didn't want to get near the thing... the abomination that now wore Tommy's face.

"RITA!"

It was the third time Zedd had yelled for Rita, so Goldar wasn't actually expecting her to show. This time, though, she was already striding into the throne room, smirking at the red ambience around her.

"I would warn you about blood pressure," Rita said, "but is that even an issue for you?"

"We can leave my biology out of this," Zedd said, and his claws gripped his staff, creating a grinding sound of metal on metal.

"I would, but you so prominently display it," Rita said coldly.

Zedd made a sweeping motion in the air, pointing to the Earth. "Call your boy back, at once."

Rita raised her eyebrows. "No. That would ruin my plan. Stop your plan."

"I'm warning you, Rita..." Zedd began.

"About what?" Rita said. "I have as much of a right to attack the Power Rangers as you, and you're just mad that my plan is working better than yours. Oh, wait. My plan is actually going forward, while you've just been standing around."

"Your plan," Zedd said, his anger barely tempered, "involves a highly unstable and illegal clone, brought to existence with that no account Wizard and samples gathered from the White Ranger... which they already know about... which is just a representation of an old plan that failed anyway. WHY did you resurrect the Green Ranger?"

Rita glared. "It couldn't be because I need allies and you're too busy stealing or chasing off the ones I have. No, obviously it's that I don't know what I'm doing. Tell me... how many times have you defeated the Power Rangers?"

Zedd glowered. "If your abomination gets in the way, I will blast it from where I stand." He turned his attention to Goldar. "The plan still stands. Attack the Blue and Pink Rangers, and make sure to activate the device when the others show up. I will block the Green Ranger's teleportation."

He glared at Rita, who merely smirked. He had no idea if she had something else up her sleeve, but he could not allow her to interfere with his plans anymore.


Kimberly and Billy were driving to the museum, hastily eating sandwiches on the way.

"You were supposed to be at my house before lunch," Kimberly complained.

"I lost track of time," Billy said. "And you could have contacted me... unless you lost track of time, too."

Kimberly smiled. "Okay, so it's both our faults. I think Tommy might be infecting us with his memory loss."

"I don't think that's how it works."

Kimberly adjusted the mirror as they were stopped at a stop sign, and then yelped at the sudden flash of gold. All Kimberly and Billy could do was hold on as, with one swift kick, Goldar launched the car past the curb and into the ditch.

"My car!" Kimberly yelled. "Asshole wrecked my car!"

"Something tells me he probably doesn't have insurance," Billy said. "Come on."

The two morphed and jumped out of the car to face Goldar and a group of Putties, who had relocated to the field past the ditch.

"Rangers," Goldar said. "Nice day for a drive."

"You're gonna pay for that!" Kimberly yelled.

The two Rangers quickly became too involved in fighting Putties for Kimberly to make any more threats. After several minutes, they realized there were too many to fight.

"We need backup!" Billy yelled. "Cover me!"

Kimberly drew her bow and fired over Billy, who had ducked to press his communicator.

"Tommy, come in. We're being attacked by Putties and Goldar."

The communicator gave out static, but nothing else.

Billy smashed his finger on the communicator, far harder than he usually would. "Zordon, come in! Rocky, Aisha, Adam... anyone!"

Still, no response.

"It looks like your friends aren't coming," Goldar said. His voice sounded gloating, but somehow Billy thought he sounded confused as well.

"Fine," Kimberly said. "It just takes two of us to beat you."

"You won't get the chance," Goldar said. "Honestly, though, I think you two are getting the better deal."

With that, he held up a device, pressed it... and Billy and Kimberly blacked out.


"It's done," the clone heard his empress's voice in his head. "Return the communicators to normal."

Thomas, pretending he was looking at a display, pressed a sequence into his communicator, the one that would reset the block he'd put on communications. Instantly, his communicator went off.

The three Rangers gathered around him, their ears attuned to the sound. Thomas jerked his head to the side, and they followed him around the corner so they could teleport.

The alarm in the Command Center was going off when they teleported in. "Rangers," Zordon said, "we were not able to reach you in time. Goldar attacked Billy and Kimberly, and they have disappeared in the attack."

"Disappeared?" Thomas said sharply. "What do you mean? Did Goldar take them to the moon palace?"

Aisha was already pulling up the Morphing Grid scanner and honed in on Billy's and Kimberly's power signatures. "Guys... I'm not sensing them anywhere. They're just completely gone."

"They have to exist somewhere," Adam said.

"I think the more correct term is 'when,' not 'where,'" Zordon said.

"Zordon is right, Rangers," Alpha said. "I'm sensing a rip in the space-time continuum, right around Billy's and Kimberly's last known whereabouts."

"So you're saying they're... well, of course they're back in time," Rocky groused. "You know, if Zedd or Rita is going to use our homework as an inspiration, why can't they just attack us with algebra?"

"Somehow I don't think that's better," Thomas said. "Come on... we have to find them, and soon. I don't think this is going to be the only attack, especially since we're down in numbers."

"I can maybe pinpoint their time period in the Morphing Grid," Aisha said.

"And I can scan the time anomaly," Alpha said.

"In the meantime," Zordon said, "we must take closer readings of the attack sight. Tommy, Adam, and Rocky can investigate and scan the area."

Adam raised his hand awkwardly. "I... I thought I might go back to the museum, actually. I can see if the curator knows about any records I could look through. She talked about strange occurrences in Angel Grove. Maybe I can find Billy and Kimberly in actual history, if they're still in Angel Grove."

"And if they're in a place that records history," the clone said. "Good idea. We'll report back in an hour."

Adam teleported out, and Aisha excused herself to the science lab so she could have more room.

"Looks like it's just you and me, buddy," Rocky said.

"Yes," Thomas said. "Yes, it does."


Billy and Kimberly woke up in a field, unmorphed and with splitting headaches.

"Okay, I'm getting pretty sick of this," Kimberly said. "And there better not be any scratches on my..."

She got to her feet, and then realized there wasn't a car. Not only was the car gone, but so was the ditch and the road. Instead, there was just more field.

Billy also got to his feet and brushed himself off. "Kim... are you certain we're in the same place we fought Goldar?"

Kimberly pressed her lips together. "Why would they move us, though?" She brought her communicator up to her mouth and pressed it. "Come in, Command Center. Are these things working again?"

Billy rummaged in his pockets, but for once he didn't have any tools on him. He'd left everything in his backpack in the car. He pressed his communicator, but it didn't even play static at him. "I don't like this. It's like when we were in the other dimension, and couldn't connect to anyone."

"Goldar did press some device," Kimberly said glumly. "Well, if we can't communicate and we can't teleport, we just have to investigate. This still kind of looks like where we had the fight... or at least kind of looks like Earth, anyway. If it's another dimension, we'll find out soon enough. If it's still Earth, we've got to walk to where we can get help."

"That's the stream that runs past Foley Woods," Billy pointed out. "I believe if we follow it for a while, we should get closer to town."

"Fine by me," Kimberly said.

They walked, swatting at bugs on the way. The stream grew a bit bigger, but they still hadn't hit anything that looked familiar. An hour passed, and they were starting to worry.

"Kim, do you know what I'm not seeing?" Billy said.

"Anything that looks like civilization?" Kimberly said.

"Exactly," Billy said. "And more specifically... power lines."

They kept walking, increasingly nervous by the step, when they finally heard a noise. The sound of hooves.

They turned to see a man wearing denim, flannel, a bandana, and a weathered, flat-brimmed cowboy hat. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at them.

"You're walking on Cranston property," the man said roughly. "Times are too dangerous to be trespassing."

The two raised their hands, rattled at suddenly looking down the barrel of a gun. Billy, however, edged slightly forward. "Cranston property?"

The man pushed his hat back, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Are you two lost?" the man said, lowering his gun. He started pulling off his coat. "It looks like someone robbed you both and just left you in your..." He blushed. "Well... your underclothes, miss." He tossed the coat at her and pointedly looked away.

Kimberly looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a long-sleeved crop top and cut-off denim shorts, but that wasn't anything unusual. As for Billy, he was wearing a simple blue t-shirt and jeans.

Billy's eyes were wide. "Play along with the nice man with the gun," he muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, putting on the coat and wrapping it around her, even though she was stifling hot in the sun. "We were headed to Angel Grove when we got lost... and we lost our clothes. You don't know where town is, do you?"

The man's eyes turned hard. "It's just past the Cranston land. I can get you to the boarding house, or the sheriff's… well, the deputy, anyway, or whatever you need. You two weren't doing anything untoward..."

They were starting to piece together what had happened, so Billy cut him off. "No, sir, my sister and I were held up. We were on the stagecoach when a bandit ran us off the road and took everything. We've been walking ever since. We'd sure appreciate any help you can give us. We didn't mean to trespass."

The man's eyes lost their hardness, and he dismounted the horse. "That's been happening too much lately. I'm sorry to hear that. You headed to Angel Grove looking for work?"

"Yes, sir," Kimberly said, copying Billy's new speech patterns. "Do you know anyone who's hiring?"

"I might," the man said. "I can get you across old man Cranston's land and to the center of town. My sister works at the boarding house, and she can put in a good word for you. They're always looking for more help. My father-in-law is a blacksmith, and I think he might be looking to hire. You take the horse, and your brother and I can walk. We should reach Angel Grove before sundown if we start now."

Kimberly accepted the hand up, even though she knew how to mount a horse, and she let the man keep the reins.

"I'm sorry about pulling the piece on you earlier," the man said. "Name's Henry. Henry Hart." He held out a hand to Billy, who shook it while feeling like his stomach was dropping somewhere around his ankles.

"Pleased to meet you," Billy said. "My sister's name is Kim, and I'm Billy."

"You got a Christian name?" Henry said, his eyes twinkling.

Billy and Kimberly looked at each other, realizing they'd have to make one up now.

"Oliver," Billy said. "My name's Billy Oliver."

"Good to meet you both," Henry said. "I know you haven't exactly had the best welcome, so let me be the first to do it proper. Welcome to Angel Grove."