A/N 1: So this is a little plot bunny that just won't go away. I've already put this up on ao3, but well, screw it, I'm going to do it here too. Even though the views for stories is screwed the heck up. Note: I am not a Kat hater. But this one just won't go away so I gotta do it.

A/N 2: Kat gets corrupted and joins Lokar's side. Lokar now has an ally, a Pink Ranger no less within the Power Rangers' ranks.

A/N 3: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers isn't mine.

Chapter 2 – Corrupted Children

Saturday, April 20, 1996

The Power Chamber

The desert outside Angel Grove, CA

He had faithfully defended the universe from front to back as a member of the Council of Meledon for heaven knows how long.

In the centuries that he had been involved in this war, he had trained his senses to know when something was amiss. When something was very, very wrong.

Today was one of those days. He could taste it, sense it, touch it, smell it, feel it.

Today was April 20. 4/20, as some humans liked to refer to it. Stoner Day, for some. Many of the Earthlings liked to smoke marijuana on this day, even celebrate it.

Today was more like Stoned Day, as far as Zordon was concerned.

As in his Red Ranger had been stoned by his girlfriend across the continent. That was the root of the problem, and it had come out of nowhere. Like a bolt of lightning.

Zordon and Alpha watched sadly as Tommy sat by Angel Grove Lake, crying his eyes out. And for good reason. And he felt just as sad.

Tommy was mentally as tough as anyone he had ever witnessed wear the uniform. That was regardless of who he had served with.

But this…this could wreck his leader if things went the wrong way.

But Zordon could feel something else. He was in tune with the Zeo Crystal – it was pure as the driven snow.

Today it was off just slightly. Would it affect the Rangers performance in battle, today or somewhere down the line?

He didn't know what Kimberly was thinking or who had given her the idea to write that letter. It was an absolute bombshell that had the potential to tear everything apart.

"Do you think the Machine Empire will attack soon, Zordon?" Alpha droned in a concerned tone as he too watched Tommy. He couldn't understand humans as he was a robot, as much as he loved Zordon's Rangers, but even he knew this was bad. The seemingly unbreakable relationship had been shattered into a million pieces.

"Yes, please keep watch, Alpha," Zordon said. "However, it is not the only thing I am concerned about going forward."

Alpha was going to ask Zordon what he was concerned about, but decided to leave it be for the time being.

Zordon hoped that the Machines wouldn't send an especially strong monster to fight his Rangers right now. Not with Tommy as messed up as he almost certainly was.

His thoughts then shifted to Ninjor – Ninjor had not come to the Rangers aid during the Orb of Doom sequence nor had he aided the Aquitians after they had come to fight off Master Vile, Rita and Zedd.

Zordon found that very suspicious. Why was that? Did Ninjor know something he didn't?

He also felt some power that lied dormant somewhere within his team, and in other places that concerned him, and he had the feeling when it was released that he wasn't going to like it. He felt he knew this power from somewhere, but he didn't know where it was from. That was the problem. Was this why Ninjor had retreated?

There were many questions that needed to be answered.

April 30, 1996

The Power Chamber

The desert just outside Angel Grove, CA

Unfortunately for Zordon and his Rangers, they would not even get a sliver of a chance to find the answers to their questions because the Machine Empire was relentless. And other things were happening too.

Tommy was in the process of being reunited with his brother. To complicate matters even further, the Machine Empire had attacked again. The attacks the day of the letter weren't quite so bad – Robocupid and Defoliator weren't that tough.

But then they'd attacked twice more, within 10 days after the infamous letter and they'd done it with a monster that could drain power from anything, even the Zeo Zords. They'd barely saved the Zeo Zords that time. Then there was Punch-a-Bunch who was even tougher.

The only hope had then been the Red Battlezord, which could only be controlled effectively if Tommy was in a good state of mind. He was not. The Kimberly thing, and now with David on his mind, had really messed him up bad.

They'd beaten Main Drain and Punch-a-Bunch but only because Tommy was as mentally tough as they came. When it was on the line, he'd come through.

The good news was that when the next fight came, the Zeo Zords would be ready to go again, as close to 100 percent as they would have been before Main Drain attacked.

But the questions still remained.

How could Kimberly treat Tommy so cruelly? Just throw him to the wolves as she did? That was not like the Kimberly he knew.

Where was Ninjor and why was he not coming to the Rangers aid at this time? The Machine Empire was relentless and if things were not corrected quickly, even though they would get the Zeo Zords back, it was only going to be a matter of time before Earth was finally conquered.

And what was this dormant power and why couldn't he find out what it was?

He was no closer to finding any of his answers. He was sure that his leader had the same questions, at least where Kimberly was concerned.

The problem was that beating the Machines had to be first and foremost. If they lost to the Machines, the questions he wanted answered would be the least of his problems.

June 28, 1996

The Power Chamber

Angel Grove, CA

There was a bit of good news, but there was also a lot of bad still. And there were even more unanswered questions to deal with. The ones Zordon was still pondering had not gone away either.

The one bit of good news was that Jason was back on the team. Perhaps, Zordon thought, Jason could help.

The bad news was that it was two months since the infamous Letter and Zordon still wasn't any closer to finding any of his answers. Just as Tommy had gotten past the saga with his brother, the Machines had relentlessly picked up attacks again.

In one instance, they'd worn down the Rangers until the Rangers went up against Somnibot – and were not for Trey, the Rangers would have been put in a permanent sleep and the world would have been lost.

There was a new question to ponder as well. Billy had tried to assume the Golden Powers from Trey and had been unable to. This raised serious concerns. Trey's powers were not directly related to the Zeo Crystal, but Zordon now had to wonder if the Crystal's integrity had been compromised recently and had played a factor in what happened there.

The Talos Dimension, same time

Unfortunately for Zordon, and his Rangers, Lokar knew the answer and as he watched in glee at the events that had transpired over the last couple of months, he could not be more pleased. Kimberly's fatal mistake was slowly, but surely, compromising the current Ranger team and would ideally destroy them.

He also knew that Jason would die as the Gold Ranger or he would have to give those powers up – not just because those powers were meant for Triforians, but because the Zeo Crystal and Morphin Grid itself was compromised by Kimberly's betrayal and because the Gold powers had a similar power to the Crystal itself, gradually Jason would lose his powers and possibly even die.

In his view, if Jason died that way it would be a fitting punishment. Jason had been the leader during the Island debacle and the Cyclopsis fight – it was for that reason that he hated Jason, as well as Kimberly, more than Tommy. Tommy was just a gullible idiot as proven by the fact that he didn't have a scintilla of an idea about the truth behind that Letter. He'd bought it hook line and sinker.

That Billy was not able to take the Powers was wonderful for Lokar too – Billy was the brains behind that whole operation and he had been in both those fights too. The compromised Crystal and Morphin Grid had played a factor in Billy being rejected too.

Presently, Lokar was addressing his son, who had turned fully to his side. Lokar had used Kimberly's former relationship with Tommy to his advantage and had used it to help Kaden not just win over Kimberly, but turn him to Lokar's side too. After all, Kaden was his son. Kimberly had no idea how deadly Kaden would be.

At least not yet. And they both hoped she'd never find out until it was too late. Kaden had told Kim he was leaving to go see his parents and would be back soon – he had told Kim the truth but obviously not the whole story.

"How goes it?" Lokar said.

"Very good, Father," Kaden said. "She has not one iota of a clue."

"Excellent," Lokar said, rubbing his hands together, happy with that revelation. "Have you thought about when you will marry her yet?"

"Probably after what the Earthlings call college, which is in a few years. I think it's too soon yet," Kaden said. "Kimberly actually tweaked her ankle recently and she has decided she will give the sport up after Pan-Globals and go to college."

"That is fine. I prefer it be dragged out anyways," Lokar said. "Take your time, son. By that point all opposition to the originals will be gone and it will be just us left – you, me and Katarina, ideally."

"Why haven't you gone to try and take her yet, anyways?" Kaden said.

"It's not time yet, that's why. I need this to be maximum impact. I'm going to let the Rangers think they have their problems fixed while they deal with the tin cans from the Machine Empire," Lokar said. "We are getting closer, but not there yet. When it is time, then Katarina will come to our side and it will be the beginning of the end of Zordon's legacy."

"Which will be sealed when I marry that original Pink, officially condemning her to the life of hell she so richly deserves," Kaden finished, laughing maniacally.

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1996, 8:30 p.m.

Angel Grove, CA

Considering how bad today had been, Kat was never more glad she was going to be going to bed that night. She had gotten her ass kicked today, and was sore on top of that. The last two months had been really, really odd.

The last major challenge had been back in July, when Gasket had successfully brainwashed Tommy into thinking he was King of the Machine Empire.

Then, suddenly, out of the blue, Gasket had done this thing where he tried to have time repeat to prepare for a sneak attack. Then, today, Kat had been challenged by Archerina and she'd got her ass kicked. It wasn't even close. She was totally outmatched.

Worse yet, she didn't think her problems were over. She was going to try to go to sleep, but she had the feeling she was being watched. Worse yet she had a senior calculus test tomorrow. That was going to suck.

"You know, maybe your life wouldn't be so difficult if you embraced who you are," a sinister voice said. Kat had been right, she was being watched.

Kat took a defensive stance and looked for the intruder. Then, as if the lights had a mind of their own, they came up and Kat saw a being who made her wish she was fighting Archerina again.

"Relax your defensive stance, Ranger. I just want to talk," the being known as Lokar said.

"You have five seconds to explain your intrusion into my sanctuary before I morph, teleport out of here and kick your ass back to where you came from!" Kat snapped. Her nerves were on edge and she didn't need this.

Lokar sighed as he fired an energy beam right at her head. She ducked and the beam hit her bedpost, cancelling it.

"It would be best if you acquiesced to my request, Kitty," Lokar said.

"Fine. But not here. And this had better be good!" Kat said.

"Very well," Lokar said. "And don't even think about calling for help – as long as I am here, you cannot buzz into your little communicator. I have erected a forcefield that blocks any communication. This is between you and me."

They teleported to Angel Grove Park and Kat said, venom lacing her voice, "Start talking. Now."

"Spunk, I like it. You're like me, which is no surprise," came the response. "I am called Lokar, and years ago, I fought some of your friends and pushed them to their limits. That isn't important though."

"And why isn't it? Tell me why I shouldn't morph and knock you into next week!" Kat said, her voice rising with every second.

"Because if you try, you'll be dead and won't know the truth," Lokar said. With that, he fired a beam of light at Kat's right arm. It hit, but it didn't do her harm. What she saw shocked her. It was a tattoo and not one she'd ever seen before.

"I was surprised to find this on you after you broke the spell Rita had on you and saved your predecessor," Lokar said. "That took guts."

"More guts than you could ever dream of having," Kat said, but clearly, her will to snap back was fading. For whatever reason, she couldn't tear herself away from this. Even if she wanted to.

"I can see you are losing will to fight back," Lokar said. "There is a reason for that. The reason is that I am your real father and that tattoo is the emblem of evidence."

"But you're evil," Kat said. She wanted to disbelieve this, but in her heart she knew there was a good chance of this being true.

"I know it is hard to believe, but it is true," Lokar said. "You were born many, many thousands of years ago – your real name is Katarina. You could have went either way, good or evil, but my wife Luna and I had a…disagreement and split. She took you and your brother which, as much as I disagree with, I respected."

"I am not trying to convince you to come with me and be evil, Katherine. You would of course say no, which you have every right to do. I am trying to make you think realistically," Lokar said. "Have you noticed that, as you Earthlings like to say, shit has hit the fan recently?"

"Yeah, I sort of noted that," Kat mumbled. Lokar smirked – he had Kat right where he wanted her.

"Let me just give you a little taste of a reminder," Lokar said and Kat saw the images – they were hard to watch. From the Letter to the fights that followed, the near defeats to Wolfbane and Somnibot to the capture by Gasket of Tommy and lastly the debacle today.

"Kat, the truth is the integrity of the Zeo Crystal and the Morphin Grid is compromised," Lokar said – of course he wasn't going to tell her the WHOLE truth, that would ruin everything. "It will get worse, too and Mondo will come back soon enough also. Jason is going to lose his Gold Ranger powers soon enough."

"What I'm telling you, Kat, is that one day, evil is going to win," Lokar said. "Maybe not today, or tomorrow but all evil needs is one good day and the integrity of your precious Grid erodes on a daily basis. You need to be on the winning side when shit hits the fan."

"I get what you're saying but…can I give my team at least a couple more battles to see if this is true or not?" Kat asked. "And if it's false, you go away and don't come back."

To her great surprise, Lokar nodded his head and said, "A reasonable suggestion. I think after the next couple of battles you will realize the truth. Until we meet again, my dear daughter."

With that, Kat was back in her room, and that whole conversation gave her the shivers. She didn't want to believe anything that – thing – had just told her. Especially the part about how evil was going to win and that the Grid was losing its integrity.

It couldn't be, could it?

Somehow, she knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

Oct. 14, 1996

Angel Grove Park, early evening

It hurt, but everything that Lokar guy said was coming to fruition. The last two battles had been ugly. First, Mechaterpillar, created by Gasket, had compromised and then beaten the Zords. Granted, that was because Machina had placed Tommy and Tanya under a singing spell which hampered the team. Then, Gasket and Archerina had tossed the Rangers on their asses. Only a miracle from Jason had saved them.

Then there was Impursonator, her ugly purse which turned out to be Rita's strongest monster yet. None of their attacks worked on her in the first round and they got lucky in the second.

The Cog battles Gasket had sent in between were tougher too. They still won, but each time was tougher than the last.

They still stood, but Lokar was right. If this kept up, evil was going to win. She felt there was no other choice. She took a deep breath before she pressed a button on a device Lokar had given her – she had no idea how she'd kept this concealed over the last month.

Instantly, Lokar appeared.

"You have made your decision?" he said, erecting his forcefield as he did so. No one could communicate with them while they were in that forcefield and no one could see in it either. That included Zordon.

"Yes, Father. I need to be on the winning side. It's getting worse every day," Kat said.

"You have made the correct decision, Daughter. Now, step forward and claim your destiny," Lokar said. "Be warned, this may hurt quite a bit."

As soon as she was close enough, Lokar put a hand on Kat's chest. Kat began to glow an insanely bright pink color. She gritted her teeth as she felt unconscionable pain as evil coursed through her.

This went on for about five minutes and when it was all done, Kat stood the same as she had been. No one would know she was changed, except if they were to scan inside of her. Oh and the glassy glow in her eyes that would happen at times.

"Welcome to our side, sister," another voice suddenly said.

"You must be Kaden," Kat said. She smiled wryly at his features. It was obvious this guy was a troublemaker.

"He's also the guy your predecessor dumped Tommy for. The spell I put on him outdid itself," Lokar mentioned casually.

"Now that's irony at its best," Kat said. "Gasket wasn't able to keep Tommy when he had him but I bet I could do it. And if he doesn't, he will be against us and I will mow him down. I already know the inner workings of their team which will be amplified when Tommy and I are married."

"Unfortunately, I think we should split. I think my 'friends.' will be coming any second and I must keep the ruse for as long as possible," Kat said, a mischievous smirk crossing her face.

"Yes, we should go. Take care of yourself, daughter and report from time to time," Lokar said. He disappeared and the forcefield ended – not a moment too soon because 20 seconds after that, Kat's fellow Rangers rounded the corner and spotted her.

"Here goes nothing," Kat said and rushed to greet her friends – they were to meet for a game of basketball.

Thus would begin a sequence of events that none of the Rangers would soon forget – although some would eventually want to.

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