Captain Blues: Another day, another episode. Enjoy!

*Dream*

The two stood in total silence, but then the knight fell to his left knee as sparks repeatedly flew from his body, but he was otherwise well, despite his injuries.

Black, on the other hand, was not.

The Power Ax slipped from Black's hands with a gasp filled with pain before disintegrating into purple particles. With a single step forward, tons of gray sparks flew from Black's body as black lightning shot out from Black's body to the area around him, accompanied by his screams of pain.

Then after ten seconds of his agony, all of it stopped.

Slowly and silently, Black fell to his knees and demorphed to his human state before falling down face first, his side bleeding lightly.

Knasty Knight turned around and walked towards the human and watched as his opponent feebly got on his knees, and with a sneer, he kicked Zack in the stomach, causing the human to flip over on his back.

"It looks like I wanted it more…." The knight softly said while lifting his blade. "I will admit, you were stronger and trickier than your Aura counterpart, but as I said, destiny was on my side today…Goodbye, Mastadon Ranger."

*End Dream*

[Location: Taylor Residence
POV: Zack Taylor]

With a gasp, Zack's eyes snapped open in alarm as his body flew up from his bed. There was sweat pouring down his face and bare chest as he panted. Once his breathing calmed, Zack laid back down on the bed.

Looking around in the darkness, Zack curled up into a small ball and shuddered with eyes full of fear as the laughter of the Knasty knight filled his mind.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Final Mix
Episode Four: Ranger Killer Yellow (Part One)

[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Rita Repulsa]

It had been three days since the battle of Knasty Knight and Cyclops, and Rita had been deep in thought.

Rita thought of her past victories compared to her current losses and realized she was severely underestimating her enemies.

She thought that just because they were newcomers in this very long war with Zordon, she would be able to trounce them and claim Angel Grove as her first stop to conquering this world in the name of her master.

Instead, she found herself facing very capable challengers—four of her monsters, Minotaur, Multi-eye, Bones, and Cyclops. The first and the latter being her two generals who led the assault on Zordon's village, defeated by these five.

During the war, Zordon and his group of rangers were difficult to defeat, and after a particularly bad day, she had to start thinking more cerebral in handing them all defeats.

And she did.

Not only did she summon five powerful monsters, but she made sure that she chose monsters that would change the strengths of the rangers into their most significant weaknesses.

Aura Black was a wild, fun-loving warrior who held honor above all, and she had to pit him against Knasty Knight, someone who was as dishonorable as possible. It was only natural that the just ranger was struck down with a sword in the back when Knasty Knight "Surrendered" and "promised" to become a good guy who held the honor.

Aura Black's death also gave Rita the Sword of Darkness that the foolish ranger kept from her.

Knasty Knight had nearly done it again, but the rangers saved the new Black Ranger before her knight could kill him.

Aura Pink was a passionate, warm warrior who believed in friendship, so Rita had to pit her against Death Rose, a monster specializing in hypnotizing to have that warm and friendly ranger die at her friends' hands.

Aura Yellow was a skilled, controlled warrior who kept her emotions in check, so she had to pit her against Swan Song. This monster could release those pent-up emotions and use them as his strength and skill to morph into anyone he pleased to build up the dark emotions.

Aura Yellow was forced to kill herself to end the link between her and the monster, all because of her anger towards the honorable Aura Black Ranger.

Aura Blue was a brilliant strategist who could not accept failure. Rita had to pit him against Lamie, also known as Scorpina, a human/monster trickster who used her skills to destroy his plans.

Aura Blue had to sacrifice his life to defeat her, and while he had failed, his sacrifice made it easier for Zordon to kill her during their final rush to his command center.

And then there was Aura Red. He was a warrior full of strength with a heart full of justice and intense loyalty to the wizard and the cause of peace.

There was only one warrior who could honestly defeat him who matched the ranger's strength, and the first one also held a heart full of justice and a sense of loyalty to her, and his name was Goldar.

The Aura Red Ranger and Goldar were fierce rivals, and both warriors were unable to reach a stalemate until the very end of the war, when Goldar finally landed the fatal blow on Aura Red.

"Goldar…" She breathed out, her mind going to her most trusted ally.

Goldar had been with her since her father, Master Vile, had made him her bodyguard to help her claim the Earth but during that long time, she had come to rely on him and soon came to care for him greatly while he didn't say it, he thought of her as an essential person in his life as well.

On the outside, she treated him as rudely as she did to her other minions but alone, the two of them were closest of friends, and Rita knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could depend on him for anything.

She truly hoped that Goldar could find his second apprentice after ten thousand years of being locked away, and if he were successful, her plan to defeat these rangers would become realized.

She realized that she could throw monster after monster at them, which would only make them stronger in the end.

Rita realized that she had to tear this team apart by throwing distrust and anger in their ranks to soften them up for her monsters. Once she was successful in that endeavor, Rita would claim the victory that Zordon stole from her many years ago.

But before she could do anything, she needed to observe them.

"Squatt and Baboo better not screw this up…." Rita hissed out as she stared at her sphere, waiting for the live feed from her monsters' camera to begin.

[Location: Angel Grove National Park
POV: Zack Taylor]

With an exhausted expression, Zack found himself standing in front of his team with Trini in front of him, her arms crossed and her glare hardened.

Jason decided to implement his training with his team once Zack completely healed from his battle with the knight. Unfortunately for Zack, Trini volunteered herself and Zack to spar first so he could gauge their skills.

Zack had initially refused, but Trini would not hear of it and forced Zack to battle her in this spar. "I don't think this is a good idea…." Zack whispered to Billy.

"I know, but Trini is very headstrong. She will get you to spar with her," Billy muttered back before staring at his friend with worried blue eyes. "Just be careful. She has been fairly crossed with you since the battle with the Cyclops."

Zack sighed and nodded in agreement with his shy friend.

Trini had been pretty angry at him due to being missing when they needed him most, but he didn't get why. He was kidnapped, for Christ's sake, yet she was mad at him, and he had no bloody idea why!

Zack then sighed.

Trini has been angry with him for so long now that he shouldn't even question why she was upset anymore, and that was the problem he faced with Trini, even when they were little.

Whenever Trini was angry, she wouldn't stop being mad until something distracted her, and typically, a nice snack of chocolate pudding or discussing martial arts would distract her.

Then once she calmed down, Trini would tell him why she was upset, and he would help her fix it. But no matter what he would try, she would stay angry at him, and that anger only seemed to increase every day.

Maybe he should stop trying to-

"Zack, get over here now!" Trini yelled to him with heat in her voice.

Zack lowered his head while Billy patted his friend on his shoulder then said, "I hope the odds remain in your favor..."

Zack gave his friend a slight frown, which caused Billy to frown as well before Billy turned to Trini and said, "Trini, perhaps you should ease up on Zack a little bit. Zack looks exhausted, and he should be resting, not sparring."

Trini scoffed and turned her head to the left and said, "How pathetic…" before she turned to Zack and said, "So you're now getting Billy to fight your battles? Such a coward. Why don't you stand on your own two feet and fight on your own!"

"Trini," Jason said with a stunned tone in his voice.

Something seemed to snap in Zack at that word.

Coward.

If there was one word that he hated more than anything in this world, it was that word.

Zack narrowed his eyes and took a step forward before he stepped into a fighting stance and yelled, "You know what? Fine! You and me, right now!"

Trini merely smirked and stepped into her karate stance before dashing forward.

Zack avoided the first two punches she had thrown and retaliated with a kick to her side, but she managed to block it with her left leg and quickly aimed a fist at his stomach.

Zack grabbed her fist and kicked her in the back of the knee while letting her fist go, causing her to fall on her back, but she kicked him in the stomach with her free leg, causing him to stumble backward and then gripping his side as a sudden burst of pain went through him.

Trini flipped up to her feet and charged towards him with a shout. Zack blocked three of her kicks and stood up quickly and blocked her right hook, managed to catch a knee that was going to his stomach, forced her knee back, and then stopped her elbow from striking his face.

Trini twisted her body and aimed an elbow at Zack's temple, but Zack ducked it and swept her off her feet with his right leg before wincing at the pain in his side.

Zack fell to the ground from her kick to his side and rolled away to gain some distance from her. Zack then rolled onto his feet, but he fell onto his right knee and coughed heavily.

He was more beat up than he thought.

Trini flipped to her feet and stood above him with a smirk as she asked, "You're beaten, Zack. You can't defeat someone that wants it more than you. And I've wanted this for so long."

"It looks like I wanted it more…." The voice of Knasty Knight echoed in his mind, causing a flash of gold to appear in his eyes. With a deep growl, Zack's body shot up off the ground and nearly took off Trini's head with an uppercut, causing her to stagger back in shock.

Zack panted as anger flowed through his veins, which caused a smirk to grow on Trini's face as she stepped back into a loose form of her fighting stance before she charged forward for a second fight.

"Jase, don't you think this spar is getting more…intense?" Kimberly asked in concern, her brown eyes staring at her two friends as they continued with the spar.

Jason remained silent, but he narrowed his eyes as he observed his two friends engage in a much more aggressive fight than he had expected.

He knew they didn't get along so well due to their personalities, and even when they did get along, it was as if it was an uneasy truce than any real friendship but what he didn't understand was why.

Why was their friendship an uneasy one?

Zack fell to the ground after Trini's roundhouse kick sent him to it and quickly pushed himself off the ground and kicked her in the stomach, sending her stumbling back before falling to the ground on her back.

Zack rolled on his back and got on his knees, panting before he stood up and yelled, "Is that all you got?! Stand up and fight, Trinity!"

Trini flipped back to her feet and shouted, "You have no right to call me by that name!" before she dashed forward and jabbed her right fist forward, which caused Zack to move his head to the right to avoid the fist, but he was unable to dodge the knee to his gut, which caused him to stumble backward.

Zack looked up at her and screamed, "That's your damn name! I can't call you by that anymore?!" Zack straightened his body up and added, "Of course not! I can't do anything with you anymore because of your unwarranted anger towards me!"

Trini narrowed her eyes at his words and replied, "Unwarranted?! You earned every bit of my fury after everything you had done last year! Do you know the damage you caused to my family? To me?!"

"I don't because I don't remember any of it!" Zack responded with a heated tone in his voice. "Nothing at all! You keep harboring this anger towards me for something I don't remember, and instead of telling it to me, you just keep it to yourself so you can stay angry at me! Well, guess what? I'm tired of apologizing for something I don't remember, and I'm tired of feeling guilty for nothing!"

Trini faltered a bit at his words before she scowled bitterly and responded with, "You deserve to feel guilty…And the fact that you can't accept what you have done and instead hid behind the whole "Losing your memory" sickens me to my core! Why don't you be a man and face up to what you have done!"

Jason quickly moved between the two, held up his arms towards them, and shouted, "That's enough!"

Jason's eyes flashed to Trini, then to Zack as he said, "I don't know what the hell all of this is about but amp down, both of you…We are friends here. I think sparring is over for the day."

"Good, because I have places to be," Trini said with fury in her voice before she began to walk away, but not before she scowled at Zack, who seemed immediately regretful about what had just gone down.

"Great…" Zack softly said. "I made things worse…."

But little did the rangers know, two certain monsters that belonged to Rita were watching from behind the trees.

"Lady Rita will enjoy seeing this!" Squatt said with a happy glee to Baboo before the duo vanished in a blue swirl.

[Location: Rita's Palace
POV: Rita Repulsa]

Rita didn't believe in miracles at all.

But when she saw the video of the rather intense spar the Yellow Ranger and the Black Ranger had was simply an unholy chance.

To see two rangers fighting as if they were enemies was a true sight to behold, and now, knowing that distrust between the two rangers, she knew exactly how to handle it.

And that by sending a monster down to add to that hatred.

With a smirk, she had Finster, with the monster book in hand, hold it before her until her eyes glanced down at this monster

The monster had the motif of a swan.

Its skin was pale white, and it had the wing of the swan attached to the right side of his back with the other wing bent around the left shoulder.

The swan's tail was covering the right side of Carden's face, leaving one yellow eye and a wide grin showing on the left. On the monster's chest was the swan's neck and head, and beneath it was a steel chest plate.

On the arms and legs were flat white feathers on top of blue armor, and finally, around his waist was a silver belt with the shape of feathers etched within it.

"Killer of the Aura Yellow Ranger! Arise, my shapeshifter Swan Song!" Rita yelled, and with a bolt of crimson lightning leaving her scepter, the Yellow Ranger killer was standing before her.

It was time for a new battle, and this time; she was in this game to win it.

"My lady," Swan Song greeted with a bow, a hint of a French accent leaving this monster's lips. "It is good to see you once more."

"Enough pleasantries," Rita said. "You were brought back to life for one thing and that is to be my ranger killer once again. Now watch!"

Through the large orb, Rita replayed the footage that the two buffoons had taken for Swan Song.

The monster had to silently admit, the Yellow Ranger's fury at the Black Ranger was something to admire.

"This is your mission…By the time it ends, the splinter should be there between the team, starting with these two," Rita said, her smile growing more prominent as she watched the intense spar.

"My lady, I have an idea…Why don't I control the putties this time around so I can work on my plan as I go along," Swan Song asked, hoping she would not take the request like he was trying to usurp her but to his surprise and joy, Rita nodded in agreement.

This would make everything work better than she thought.

"I see then you will lead a band of putties," Rita agreed with approval before she added, "I have footage of Black Ranger's bout with Knasty Knight and various battles with Yellow Ranger as well, if you need it, of course."

Swan Song nodded and said, "I will watch the footage with the Black Ranger and study it. I have a feeling that would be the better outcome for what I have planned, Lady Rita," while bowing his head.

Rita smirked and replied, "I shall leave you to it, Swan Song." The monster gave a bow, then turned away and walked past her throne room to his old room, but as he did, he heard something that caused a coy smirk to form on his face.

"Oh look, the Pigeon has been freed from the cage."

With a turn of his head, the swan-like monster observed Knasty Knight, his right arm pressed against the wound on the left side of his body, his golden eyes glaring at the newest summoned monster while leaning against the door.

"Oh look, the knight that has failed his queen has finally awakened," The monster countered with a slight smirk, causing the knight to scowl.

"You talk bird, but the last time you did that, I nearly skewered your head upon my blade," the monster growled while gripping his hilt tightly.

The knight truly hated Swan Song for trying to take the Aura Black Ranger from him and then nearly defeated him before their fated duel.

It took the knight nearly killing the monster to preserve his prey.

Swan Song gave a haughty laugh at this, then replied, "Oh, you did…But I left my mark on you as well…." The monster responded with a smirk.

Knasty Knight's eyes glowered at Swan Song while he removed his blade from its sheath and retorted, "Regardless of that mark, I was able to defeat you and the Aura Black Ranger in one fell swoop."

"But did you defeat this one?" Swan Song asked with a knowing smirk on his face.

When the Knight returned his question with a hard look, the monster laughed as he turned away and said, "That is what I thought. Now heal your wounds caused by an inferior ranger. I shall succeed in taking out two rangers while you failed to take out one."

Knasty Knight growled and turned away to return to his room to rest.

But Swan Song would not get the last word.

[Location: Angel Grove Arcade Center
POV: Zack Taylor]

"You've gotten slower, Zack, you are getting your butt kicked at an amazing pace!"

Zack turned his head to stare at his uncle, Alphonse Taylor, as the two of them were in the middle of playing an intense round of Street Fighter II. As much as Zack loved to hang out with his uncle, he just couldn't get his mind in the zone.

All he kept thinking about was Trini and the hate that she had for him.

Why couldn't he get her out of his mind?!

What had he done a year ago that had made her hate him so much? He was already stressed due to his nightmare about his battle with the Knight. But now, this issue with Trini was about to make him snap again.

And he already felt horrible enough for taking his spar with Trini too far because of her words. Despite all that had happened between them, she was his best friend, and although she hated him, he still cared for her.

He just wished he knew why she hated him so much.

After watching his fighter Dee Jay fall to the ground in defeat and his cousin's fighter Ken standing above him, Zack merely sighed and said, "You win, old-timer. You are the true Street Fighter," Zack said, trying to offer a smile to his uncle, but the older male frowned in concern.

"Zack, you haven't been yourself lately. What's wrong? Is it about Shepard and Tali again?" Alphonse asked with a frown on his face.

A rush of sadness filled his body at the names of his parents. For a moment, he could still see their smiling faces, both of them wearing their uniforms before he pushed the memory away.

"It's nothing, Unc," Zack replied.

Alphonse frowned at this and said, "Zachary, something is clearly on your mind, and it's evident by the look on your face. Come on, talk to me."

Zack looked at his uncle, an older male with kind, warm brown eyes, a salt-and-pepper goatee, and long, thick, black dreadlocks that stretched to the curve of his back and felt himself sigh.

Zack loved his uncle, but he would never understand the amount of stress he was going through between his nightmare regarding Knasty Knight and his issues with Trini. But, he could never lie to his uncle.

"Was it that noticeable?" Zack asked.

"You forget whose room is next to yours," Alphonse joked as he placed a hand on Zack's shoulder. "Curtis told me about you screaming last night. He's worried, and you know that Curtis only worries about his car."

Zack chuckled at this.

"What's going, Little Z?" Alphonse asked.

Zack turned to his uncle and answered, "It's a lot of things. But I guess the most recent thing is Trini."

"Trini?" Alphonse asked. "That girl that you were sweet on and made that music box for?"

Music Box?

When did that happen?

"Yeah," Zack sighed out. "She's been angry at me for some reason, and it's been bothering me. I've been trying to figure out how to talk to her, but everything has been so tense. And then today, I got her pissed, and I don't know what to do," Zack finished with a sigh.

"Have you contacted Benjamin about any of this?" Alphonse asked.

Zack scowled at the mere mention of his older brother, which made Alphonse raise his hands in surrender. "Nevermind. Forget I said his name."

Zack's scowl slowly faded, and he stared out at the street as he asked, "What do I do?"

Alphonse let out a sigh and said, "Is she someone you're willing to keep in your life?"

"Of course," Zack immediately answered.

"Then, you need to talk to her soon and squash whatever is standing between you two. You don't want something serious to happen and lose your chance to make up wi-" That familiar chirp came from Zack's wrist, interrupting Alphonse.

The two glanced at Zack's wrist, but before Alphonse could say anything, Zack let out a panicked sound.

"Sorry, Unc, I just remembered I have something to do. Catch you later!" Zack said before running off, leaving his uncle watching in confusion before he shrugged and walked back into the arcade.

Swan Song appeared on the roof, watching Zack running, and felt a smirk form on his face, a group of putties suddenly appearing behind him. "Attack him," The monster commanded, causing the putties to leap from the roof and land in front of Zack.

Zack took a step backward in shock and growled while whipping out his Morpher, and without any hesitation, Zack shouted, "It's Morphing Time!"

[Morphing Grid - Mighty Morphin Black Ranger]
(Theme of Morphing - Infinity Mijinion Stage from Megaman X6)

Zack found himself falling down the black void, his body glowing with gray light when he saw his power coin in the middle of a glowing gray orb.

The teen dove down and slammed into the orb at top speed, causing a streak of black lightning to shoot down to the ground.

The black streak of lightning and the lightning formed a male's body on one knee. The glowing black and white male figure got on his feet and forced the energy away from his body, revealing Black holding his Power Ax.

Black swung his ax twice before placing it on his right shoulder and pointed a thumb at his head as he shouted, "Mastodon!"

[Location: West Side of Angel Grove
POV: Mighty Morphin Black Ranger]

"You wanted me. You got me!" Black exclaimed before charging into battle, slicing down the first putty that got in his way.

With a smirk, Black sliced through several putties when they had gotten close and finished off the last one by kicking it three times and using his ax to decapitate it cleanly.

"Short work," Black said while placing the ax on his shoulders, but it was then he heard someone clapping behind him. Black turned around and found himself surrounded by a large amount of white and blue feathers.

"It was a good show, Ranger, but it is time for you to disappear for a while…." Swan Song said while leaning against the building, causing Black to charge towards him.

Swan Song swung his hand up with a chuckle, causing all the feathers around Black to collide against him and then send him flying into the air until Black was near the water.

With another wave of Swan Song's hand, the feathers formed into an orb before dropping his hand, causing the sphere that Black was within to crash down into the water, causing a large splash.

"That was easier than I thought," Swan Song stated with a laugh before vanishing in a swirl of feathers.

[Location: Scott Residence
POV: Jason Lee Scott]

"So, what are we going to do about them?" Kim asked.

Sitting outside while swinging listlessly on his hammock, Jason stared at Kimberly and Billy, both of them awaiting his answer.

After Zack and Trini's spar, Kimberly and Billy arrived at his place an hour later to try and figure out what was going on with the two.

Jason had heard their arguments and concerns, but honestly, Jason felt like it was something they shouldn't get involved in.

This was between the two rangers, and it should stay between them. "While I'm a little concerned, whatever is going on between them needs to be handled between them. We can't butt into their problems," Jason told them.

"What if their internal battle interferes with our duties as rangers? Or worse, what if Rita knows of their dislike?" Billy asked. "Surely she would do something to take advantage…."

Jason paused at this.

It was true that since their battle with the Cyclops and Zack's battle with the Knight, the two rangers were tense with each other, and the spar had let loose some anger the two felt between one another.

Rita would jump all over them if they had a weakness in general, so if she did find out about two rangers not liking each other, Rita would do everything in her power to cause strife in their team.

The minute they put on those morphers, any privacy that they had built up between them was no longer an option, for Rita could pounce on anything, good or bad, to try and harm them. They had to be more forthcoming and honest with one another.

"You're right," Jason conceded after a few seconds of silence, finally leaning up from his hammock to glance at his two friends. "While I'm all for them handling this themselves, we don't have the luxury of that anymore. Their strife will jeopardize us as rangers if we don't figure out what is going on with them."

Billy smiled at this, as did Kimberly, but as Jason got up from his hammock, the familiar jingle of their communicators rang out.

"Jason here. What's up, Alpha?" Jason asked into his communicator.

"Putties were spotted near the suburbs of Angel Grove!" Alpha exclaimed, causing the three rangers to glance at each other before the three of them nodded. Since Jason's folks were out of town, they had no problems transporting them away, knowing they wouldn't be seen.

[Location: Kwan Residence
POV: Jessica Kwan]

Jessica Kwan is a woman who never regretted anything in her life.

She didn't regret leaving the once-love of her life to go to Paris to study with some of the world's best cooks.

She didn't regret disobeying her parents and entering several martial arts tournaments and winning three out of five of them.

And heck, she didn't regret fighting for a higher cause other than herself, but as she sparred with her lovely daughter, she was starting to regret teaching her daughter karate at a young age because she had found out two truths.

The first was that Trini had become more skilled in the art, and second, sparring with her daughter while Trini was mad was an absolute nightmare.

Jessica didn't know what had gotten her daughter so cross, but trying to dodge her quick and nimble strikes that also held power in them was something she was not expecting.

Jessica blocked Trini's right palm and retaliated by kicking the back of her daughter's ankle, making Trini have to adjust her footing, but then the teenager launched her foot at her mother's head.

Jessica smacked the leg away and twisted around to back her daughter in the face. Trini blocked it and kicked her mother in the side, making Jessica stumble to the side, where Jessica then lifted her foot to block Trini's kick.

Jessica then pushed Trini's foot away and kicked the teen in the chest, making Trini move back.

Trini took a deep breath, rushed forward, and started to thrust her palm to her mother at a quick pace in an attempt to hit her.

Jessica smacked her wrists with every lung of her daughter's arm before she caught the right wrist, twisted her daughter's arm, and forced the girl to kneel before she panted out, "Tri, what is wrong with you, Trinity? You are normally so calm when we spar."

Trini gritted her teeth, gave a slight frown from the discomfort in her arm and said, "I can't get this anger out of my veins, Mẹ.…" Jessica was a little confused by her daughter's answer.

What was she this angry about?

Letting her daughter's arm go, Jessica walked towards the back door of their house and said, "Come on, I'll go bake us some chocolate chip cookies."

Trini gave a bright smile which made Jessica smile.

She knew her daughter's weakness.

After the two Kwan women returned to their home, Jessica found herself and Trini making the cookie dough for the chocolate chip goodness that was about to be made.

As they rolled the dough filled with chocolate chips onto the cookie sheet, Jessica turned to her daughter and asked: "So what has gotten you so angry?"

Trini looked at the bowl of dough and said, "Zack…."

Jessica was surprised to hear this.

She knew Zack and Trini were as thick as thieves. So much so that Jessica and her departed husband called Zack their second son.

But ever since what had occurred last year, she didn't see much of him anymore, and Trini never spoke about him until now and to practically hear the rage in her daughter's voice from mentioning his name had stunned her.

What happened?

"Sweetie, what happened between the two of you?" Jessica softly asked while eyeing her teenage little girl.

"He…He…" Trini sputtered angrily. "He's just so…Aggravating…." Trini finished weakly, her shoulders drooping while a small sigh left her lips.

"I don't get it. You guys are best friends," Jessica said softly with a worried frown on her face.

"We were best friends…A long time ago…" Trini whispered before shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Jessica knew her daughter was on the verge of tears due to the shaking of her shoulders and decided to let it go and continue to make the cookies, but her mind was racing.

"Con-gái…" Jessica started, wanting to make this as delicate as possible. "Sweetheart, do you blame Zack for what happened to your f-"

It was then that Trini's communicator began to chirp, causing her to immediately slap her hand on top of it before she said, "I forgot…I have to meet the others at the mall! I'll help you later," Trini said nervously before darting out the back doors, leaving her mother to watch in confusion.

[Location: Forest behind the Kwan Residence
POV: Swan Song]

From a distance, Swan Song stood with a slight smirk on his face before making his group of putties follow her as well before his form began to shift until his body bore a striking resemblance to the Black Mastodon Ranger.

"Time to get started," The imposter Ranger said, his voice resembling Zack's but with a more sinister edge as he began to walk after the putties and the Yellow Ranger slowly.

Time to start his plan.

[Location: Northeast Neighborhood
POV: Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger]

Running through her neighbors' backyards, Yellow leaped over a large bush and kicked a putty in the chest, sending it rolling back onto the ground below.

After Alpha told her of the putties attacking a suburb, the lone ranger transported herself to the location when she was kicked in the back by a putty.

She was not prepared for the suburb that was being attacked being hers!

But luckily, she was able to fight them off long enough to morph, and now she was battling them on equal ground.

"Power Daggers!" Yellow yelled out, causing her weapons to appear in her hands with a yellow flash, where she immediately stabbed into the first putty that came past her on the right then followed up with a slice through the head of the second putty to her left.

Yellow saw a putty charging towards her, and with a hidden smirk, she twisted her body, lifted her left leg, and kicked the putty's face, which sent it flying backward.

Despite putting up a good fight, even Yellow knew that no matter how skilled she was, she had too many putties to fight alone.

She hoped someone would come to help her soon.

'If I had known this would have happened, I wouldn't have sparred with my mom,' Yellow thought to herself as she dismissed her daggers and whipped out her blade buster and began to blast it at the putties, nailing either the heads or the chests of the putties but despite drawing them further away, she knew it wouldn't stop them.

But what she didn't expect was the putties suddenly being blasted from behind, causing them to fly in the air and land on her feet. Yellow looked up and saw Black walking towards her, smoke floating into the air from his freshly fired power cannon.

"Black!" Yellow yelled, actually glad at the presence of someone she usually would loathe seeing, but she noticed something.

His gait was more methodical as if he was sizing her up from a distance, and it wasn't only that. His posture looked very tense, like he was getting ready for another attack, but they were both alone.

"Sorry I'm late," Black said with a wave of his hand once he got close enough to her. "Some weird swan-like creep attacked me on my way here, but I managed to lose him on the way here, but he could show up soon. That bird is a little too determined to peck my brains out…."

The feeling of wariness instantly ebbed away when Yellow heard his calm, easy-going voice once again.

"Good job," Yellow said sternly, a frown gracing her hidden face as she turned away from her friend before adding, "But if he was heading here, we need to keep a lookout…."

"I agree…" Black responded, the cannon subtly changing with a flow of feathers into its ax form where his hand quickly gripped the hilt of the weapon but then he said, "But there is one thing we need to be careful of…."

"And what is that?" Yellow asked while turning her head towards him.

"Me…" And with those whispered words, dread immediately filled her being before she was struck in the back, sending sparks flying from her back as she flew forward and landed on her chest.

[Location: Northeast Neighborhood
POV: General]

Yellow turned around and summoned her power daggers and blocked the ax with them. "Black, what the hell are you doing?!" Yellow exclaimed, a faint trace of fear filling her voice as she held off the powerful weapon.

"Simple! You wanted a fight! I'm giving you a fight!" Black yelled before lifting his ax from her weapon and high into the air, but Yellow kicked him in the knee, making him fall to his knee before kicking him in the head, sending Black falling to his back before she rolled backward to gain some distance.

What the hell was going on?!

Why did he attack her?!

Black flipped up on his feet and stalked towards her, his ax dragging against the ground, causing the ground to uproot around it while he said in a dark tone, "Come on Trini…You wanted a fight earlier today and even called me a coward when I refused. Why are you hesitating now when I'm about to kill you?"

Yellow scowled and gripped the hilts of her daggers, but despite her anger, she kept it under control enough to ask, "Why are you doing this, Zack?"

Black tilted his head and said, "I want you dead. Is it that complicated?!"

And with that shout, Black charged forward then leaped in the air, swinging his ax from the ground up into the air where he sliced down towards Yellow.

Yellow managed to swiftly avoid it by leaping to the side and then moving forward to strike his head, but Black grabbed the dagger by the blade and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to stumble backward until she fell on the ground on her back.

Yellow rolled to her feet and blocked a right punch from Black, then ducked a swing from the ax and swept him off of his feet, causing Black to fall on his side, but he quickly rolled away to avoid Yellow's right foot.

Yellow watched as Black got on his feet and felt anger filling her veins when he began to laugh. "For someone that wanted to fight me so badly, it seems like I wanted this more," Black said through his laughter. "You were all willing to hurt me earlier today during our spar, so what is holding you back?" Black asked with a condescending tone in his voice.

"Why are you doing this?!" Yellow yelled with anger in her voice. "You're attacking your teammate, And for what?! Because of our spar?!"

"Friend? I am your friend?" Black asked with a biting tone. "Funny because you are no friend of mine…All I see is someone who decided that I was nothing more than a nuisance. I am not only doing this just because of that spar. I'm doing this because I realized that I deserve better than you and the others as teammates who stood by and let you maul me."

Black then cocked his head to the side, laughed, then said, "And if I have to join Rita's side to do it and defeat every one of you, I will…Besides, It's about time I join the winning side, and quite honestly. I'd like to live to see the end of all this."

Yellow snorted and growled beneath her helmet and said, "Heh…That's just like you, Zack. Always leaving when things get tough. I should have known you would pull this on us."

Black swung his ax to the side and said, "Then why don't you do something about it and fight me!" and with that shout, Black dashed towards her with his left arm cocked back.

Seeing the attack coming, Yellow took a step back to avoid the wild left hook, and once it passed, she took a step forward and struck Black in the chest twice before twisting her body and elbowing Black in the side sending him stumbling backward.

As Yellow turned around, Black leaped up and kneed her face, sending her falling to the ground.

Yellow got on her feet and avoided the swing of the ax before ducking the second swing and swiftly rising to kick the ax from Black's hand, then kicking him in the stomach.

Black caught it, laughed, then tripped her to the ground before landing on top of her and nailing her in the face, making her head snap to the left.

Yellow's head snapped up quickly and gave a head butt to Black's head, causing him to lean his head away in pain, but Yellow managed to push him off of her. Once she rolled onto her feet, she summoned her power daggers and then ran towards the rising Black.

With a shout, Yellow darted her daggers towards Black, who expertly maneuvered around her blades before kicking one knife out of her hand.

Black slammed his palm into her chest, causing a flash of purple light to spark briefly, and followed up by delivering a roundhouse kick to her head, causing Yellow to fall with a spin to the ground.

On the final rotation, however, Yellow threw her remaining dagger at Black. But as Yellow's back hit the ground, her knife pierced through Black's chest, which had black blood flowing from the wound, which caused Black's body to briefly flicker his proper form, The Swan Song, before becoming more stable again as the Black Ranger.

'Blast it all! She managed to strike my weak spot. I can't hold this form for long. I need to move to the next part of the plan….' Black thought while breathing heavily, but he managed to focus enough to finish the battle.

With a hiss of pain, Black pulled out the dagger and held it tightly in his hand.

His mark was left. It was time to finish this for now.

As Yellow flipped up to her feet, Black twisted the dagger and launched it toward the ranger, causing it to strike her chest.

A wave of sparks left Yellow's body while she was sent rolling down the hill behind her into a neighbor's backyard, where she then fell into the pool.

After a few seconds, Yellow found herself pulling herself out of the water and resting on the edge of her pool, breathing heavily while shutting her eyes.

Zack was really trying to kill her.

He was pulling out all the stops to make sure she didn't walk away.

Did being so overzealous in wanting to let out the anger she felt cause this?

No!

It was all Zack's fault.

It was he who started their dissolved friendship.

Zack was to blame for this, and if he were going to betray her and her friends to settle things between her, she would show him what he had birthed when he betrayed her, leaving her hurt and crying so long ago.

With a growl, Yellow pulled herself out of the pool and pulled out her Blade Buster, and when she saw him, she aimed her gun and began to fire.

Seeing this, Black opened his palm, and with black feathers, his ax appeared in his hands, and he began to move his arm quickly to deflect the beams of lasers that were aimed to hurt him.

After deflecting the last laser beam, Black tossed his ax in the air before throwing it at Yellow, who leaped over it but was quickly kicked by Black when she landed, sending her flying back into the pool.

Black took a step forward and hissed as his body flickered back into his original monster form. Still, he forced himself to stay in control once more, but when he heard voices coming from the distance and from watching the footage of the spar and other battles, he knew these voices belonged to the other rangers.

Yellow swam up to the surface and fell against the edge of the pool where Black stood.

Black crossed his arms and said with a cocky tone, "Looks like the backup has arrived…And that's my cue to book it. I'll be at the docks tonight, Trini. We'll settle this there. Come alone."

Black disappeared in a flash of black feathers, which floated to the ground before vanishing in a plume of black smoke in front of Yellow.

Just a few minutes later, her three friends came into her view, nearly gasping in shock at the state of the battlefield that she had made with both the putties and the rouge Black Ranger.

Yellow pulled herself to her knees, her body soaked from the water as she demorphed back to her standard form, where she then fell face-first on the ground and blacked out.

The last thing in her mind was the words that her ex-best friend and her new enemy told her.

"I'll be at the docks tonight, Trini. We'll settle this there. Come alone

But beneath her yellow shirt in the area where Black had struck her with his palm, glowed an ominous black feather, which faded away against her skin.

[Location: The Ocean
POV: Mighty Morphin Black Ranger]

Floating under the water in an orb made of white feathers, Black slammed his fists on it and screamed, "Let me out of here!"

Black slid down on his knees and slammed his balled-up hand on the feather floor beneath him before looking up, sadness filling his being.

Ever since that monster attacked him, he had been in this prison, and to make matters worse, there were feathers on his body that were glowing, and whenever they grew too bright, Black could feel something being pulled from his mind, which was also incredibly painful.

Whatever was going on, he needed to get back to his team.

Or else he was going to die here.…