Author: Jadelyn Tate

Story: Begotten

Characters: RJ, Kim

Disclaimer: I own no one, the idea of RJ and Kim being siblings is all Tara's over at PRU's, I'm just expanding it into a fic.

Summery: A Shark. A Crane. A Wolf. And you thought your family had issues.

Author Notes: I guess I wasn't clear enough about the guy with Mao in the last chapter. That was supposed to be Zordon. :D


"I don't understand, why can't we just teleport her out like you and Hartford did Alpha?" Tommy asked. After Jadespring had told him what had happened, Adam had called Tommy only to find out he had had a visit from Swiftwing and Billy had been contacted by Fleetfoot.

"Because, falcon, she is currently in the innermost area of the grid," Jadespring explained. "The Heart of the Grid, to be precise."

"So teleporting inside the Heart isn't possible?" Tommy asked and Billy shook his head.

"Only Guardians can get into the Heart of the Grid, Tommy," he explained. Taking in the blank expressions he was getting, he sighed. "Let me explain. The grid has different levels. Each level has the subspace areas for each team, but the deeper you go, the more power there is."

"So the Super-Dino Mode was another level inside the grid?" Hayley asked and Billy nodded.

"When you were in regular morph, you were in the outermost level of the Grid subspace for Dino Thunder," he agreed and was amused to see Hayley making notes. "When you five upped to Super Dino Mode, this was the next highest level."

"What about when Reds get Battilizers?" Hayley asked, intrigued.

Billy grinned. "Battilizers are from the third level, which explains why they're more powerful than the team power ups," he explained. He glanced at Tommy. "Conner had more power ups than any other red and got the closest to the heart without being a Guardian."

"He's probably going to end up a Guardian, then, isn't he?" Tommy asked and Billy smiled.

"I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he does, no," he agreed and Tommy sighed. Hayley simply smirked.

"So how do I get in?" Adam broke in. Normally, all the shop talk would intrigue him but Kimberly needed help; he didn't want to wait.

"Astral projection," Billy told him, not even blinking at the impatience in Adam's voice. "You can't physically go in without getting stuck."

"Which is what happened with Kim?" Tommy asked and Jadespring nodded.

"Kimberly teleported herself, body and all, into the Heart," he agreed. "Dai Shi was attempting to turn her against the Jungle Fury Rangers."

"So she went undercover, pretending to be evil, only to almost accidentally get turned evil for real in the process?" Tommy asked, amused. Jadespring nodded and Billy and Hayley snickered.

"I'm going in," Adam interrupted, looking determined. All amusement left the other two rangers as they exchanged looks. "You guys can keep my body grounded here, and I'll project myself there and get her out."

"That, actually, could work," Billy replied thoughtfully. "Though I'd suggest getting Rocky or Aisha for further help in keeping you grounded."

Tommy nodded. "Three or four is more powerful than just two," he agreed. Billy and Tommy moved to help Adam set up the candles while Hayley called the other two Ninjetti. In twin flashes of red/blue and yellow, they appeared.

Once they'd been brought up to date, the four rangers sat down in front of the four colored candles that represented four of the five elements. Adam, Billy, Tommy, and Jason had all spent many hours with Rita, Zedd, Daggeron, Leanbow, and Udonna learning about magic once they discovered they could harness it as Guardians. One of the biggest things they'd learned was the intense power behind the five elements. Tommy and Billy had agreed the extra boost would help.

Rocky was fire; passionate, energetic, and dangerous when provoked. Billy was water; typically calm, easy going, and gentle, he could be riled up to dangerous levels without warning. Aisha was earth; solid, reliable, and deadly with the right incentive. And Tommy was air; he flew through life as if obstacles did not exist. The right conditions could make him very dangerous, but getting him truly angry was hard to do. Inside the circle was Adam, representing the final element; spirit. Since it was his spirit that would be going inside the Heart of the Grid, they felt he probably didn't need an element candle.

"Ready?" Tommy asked and the other four nodded. One by one, they changed into ninjetti and closed there eyes. Inside, Adam began glowing black before, abruptly, his body collapsed. Billy shook his head to keep any one from moving. Without a spirit to sustain it, the human body could not function.

Adam was on his way to Kimberly.


"I daresay Tommy regrets much of what he did in high school now," Zordon said, wiping tears from his eyes. Kim had just finished regaling Zordon with what happened when Tommy finally figured out Principal Randall was Elsa. They were sitting in the middle of the Command Center, facing each other.

"You have no idea," Kim giggled. "He tried getting Conner to stop calling him dude but Conner usually ignores him, especially after Rocky pointed out Tommy used to say that all the time too."

Zordon chuckled. "Sounds like Rocky," he agreed. "Tommy wasn't happy I take it?"

"Oh, no, not even close," Kim replied. "He kept glaring at Rocky for the rest of the evening."

"And what about you, my dear," Zordon asked, gentle humor on his face. Kim blinked at him, confused. "We've spoken about all of the others, including how Karone took over for Kendrix which led to your chatting about how smart pinks have strengthened pinks reputations but we've talked very little of your accomplishments."

"I…I won a couple medals at the PG games and the Olympics but you knew that," she started, looking uncomfortable. "I opened up a gym and am in the process of opening up a new one in Oceans Bluff."

"Yes, yes, I know all of that," he said, staring her straight in the eyes. "I want to know how you're handling being a mentor."

"I…don't know," she finally confessed, biting her lip.

"How do you like your rangers?" he asked and Kim's eyes lit up.

"I adore those kids!" she exclaimed, smiling. "All of them are different and bring different thing but all of them are just…they're great cubs."

"Any concerns?" he asked gently. Kim paused, looking uncomfortable. "Kimberly?"

"I don't know how to work with Lily or Theo," she blurted out. "I can work great with Casey, he and I have a really close friendship and Dom and I found common ground in teasing RJ and Fran in the books but I don't know how to deal with Lily or Theo."

"What do you mean?" he asked. Kim stood up and began pacing.

"Lily isn't like me and she isn't like Fran. Lily is just…she's highly independent and really caring and motherly but for some reason I haven't been able to form the same friendship with her as I have with Casey or Fran," she said. "I know why I shouldn't do it, but I favor Casey and Fran over Theo, Lily, and Dom. I know that, RJ knows that, hell, even Tommy knows that!

"Theo is great but he's like a very odd and eclectic mix between Billy, Rocky, and my uptight English cousin Wesley. Well, before Wes got half disowned and turned into a human being. Anyway, Theo has brother issues which I sooooo get but at the same time his issues are way different. I mean, all of my friends knew I had daddy issues but Lily doesn't even know Theo's a freakin twin!

"And then there's my friendship with Casey and Dom. Casey is another younger brother, easily. He's just…we instantly clicked. When I was sick after RJ got his morpher, he was constantly by my side, according to RJ. And Dom, despite us getting off on the wrong foot, is a great guy. He really proved himself lately, especially when my alter-ego got sucked here.

"And, of course, there's RJ but the only issues we have are the standard older sister, younger brother variety. But the fact is, for some reason, I can't seem to get as close to Lily and Theo the same way I can with Casey and Dom and I don't know why!"

Kim breathed deeply as she faced the empty energy tube. She hadn't realized before how much that had bugged her. A soft hand on her shoulder calmed her down.

"Maybe you're not supposed to," Zordon suggested, his voice quiet. Kim frowned and turned to look up at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Zordon smiled.

"Being a mentor is a funny thing," he said, moving to lean against the consol. "No matter how much you try, you form closer bonds with some of your students than others. I did it, Tommy did it, even Adam did it when he was working with the Overdrive Rangers. Its part of who we are.

"But does that mean it's a bad thing? It depends. If you completely ignore the other students in favor of your favorites, than yes, it's bad. But you haven't done that. You still work with the others but you simply aren't as close to them as you are to Casey or Dominic.

"And it's possible that Casey and Dom need you more than Theo and Lily do. From what I've seen when I looked in on you, Casey needs someone who isn't use to the Pua Zhua. He's new to it, just like you. And he, and Dom, are alone out of the group. Lily and Theo had each other and RJ and Fran have been close for years as well. Dom, while he was good friends with RJ, has only recently returned. And Casey had no one at the Monastery before becoming a Ranger. Therefore, it stands to reason you three would gravitate to each other.

"This also explains why Theo and Lily aren't as close to you as they are to each other or to RJ. They've been students for quite some time and know more about Pua Zhua than you or Casey or Fran. From what I see, they bonded with RJ more than you which is okay and even expected. You can't be best friends with everyone Kimberly," he finished.

"But I want to be," Kim muttered with a pout. Zordon chuckled.

"It's not a bad thing you can't seem to connect with Theo or Lily. What matters is that you make it clear that you do care. I've seen many teams torn apart due to favoritism but I don't think you'll have that problem," Zordon told her. "You and RJ have done an admirable job in mentoring your students and though you never talked about it, you came up with a system that works for you."

"Whats that system?" Kim asked. "Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"RJ does indeed deal with Pua Zhua training, but you are the shoulder they cry on, the one they go to when they have an attack of fear or moral dilemma. That is a credit to who you are, Kimberly," he told her. Kim smiled.

"Just like you were for me," she whispered and he chuckled.

"Yes, my dear," he agreed. "Just like I was for you."


"Okay, where am I?" Adam asked, looking around. Suddenly, he recognized it as the place they had sent Alpha during his return to rangering the year before. He sighed.

"Great, wrong subspace."