A/N 1: So this is a little plot bunny that just won't go away. 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 3: Zordon sacrifices himself. The Rangers pay tribute to his sacrifice. Most of them anyways. Meanwhile, a civil war starts far away from Earth.

A/N 3: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers isn't mine. Eldin and Fienna are products of Boom Studios.

Chapter 4 – Civil War Part I

July 11, 1998, early in the morning

Kat's apartment, near the USC campus

Los Angeles, CA

In the short time since she'd been reunited with her father, which had been about 18 to 20 months give or take, this was only the second time that she was meeting her father and her brother in her apartment/sleeping quarters.

She hadn't really been expecting it either – she'd kept the place in good working order unlike most college students, so she had that going for her. She'd made Tommy keep things in order, too.

But she knew if they had dropped in unannounced, this was big.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but what are you doing in my apartment?" Kat said. "I assume the shield is up?"

"It is," Lokar said. "And you don't know what's about to happen today?"

"No, I do not. No one in the Rangers circle has told me what's going on," Kat said. "Tommy was out all night drinking last night and is with the boys today. They all got crazy drunk as well. TJ and Andros and his team have very little contact with Tommy."

"That's not good at all," Kaden said. "Kat, we are here to warn you that Astronema, Dark Specter's former second in command and now the Queen of Evil is preparing a massive attack today. On every planet that the United Alliance of Evil has ever targeted that remains free, including Earth."

"Then we can't let her win," Kat said. "I have heard, vaguely, of Astronema and as much as I hate it, she is a brilliant strategist as is Ecliptor. Only we can destroy the Rangers. That means I need to suit up."

"No, it's deeper than that, dear," Lokar said. "I know what's going to happen. Your dear mentor Zordon is going to sacrifice his life to save the universe.

Kat gasped. Zordon was annoyingly selfless, she knew that, but his very life?

That was next level.

"There's more though," Lokar said. "When he sacrifices himself, he will release a wave of energy that will wipe out every evil being that comes upon it. You will be purified and Kaden and I will lose you even if we survive."

"Then this cannot happen," Kat said. "I can write a quick note that I am leaving to be with my family for a few days – which, technically, is true. Give me ten minutes."

Ten minutes later, she had her note ready and a small bag ready to go.

"Are you sure where we are going is Zordon-proof?" Kat asked.

"It is. I have made sure that our hideout in the Talos Dimension is untouchable by Zordon's power," Lokar said.

"Let's hit the road, guys," she said.

With that, she teleported out with her father and brother. It wasn't a moment too soon because two minutes later, Tommy walked back into the apartment they shared and found the note.

He barely had time to register that note before he turned on the TV and saw the heartbreaking news.

Angel Grove, his home, was being attacked by Astronema's forces. There had been little hints that he'd heard from Andros, through Jason, that Astronema was preparing a final attack, but nothing like what he was witnessing.

He only hoped Kat was ok, wherever she was going.

In the meantime, he felt he should get some sleep and simply hope the good guys won so that he didn't go back to evil. He was completely and utterly hung over from the night before.

What he didn't realize was that he was about to be bestowed with one of the greatest honors anyone who wore the spandex could ever possess.

It was about to be his blessing – and in many ways, his curse.

The Dark Fortress, late morning

"Andros, listen to me. It is your duty to save the universe. Now is the time," Zordon said.

As he saw Andros come to the realization that this was the only way forward, and that his time on this plane was coming to an end, Zordon thought about many things that would be set in motion when Andros shattered his tube. He had, fortunately, had enough time on Eltar to create failsafes when this moment occurred.

First and foremost, that the battle against the Alliance would, for now, finally be won. There would still be battles to be won, he knew. The Rangers would have to deal with Lokar and his spawns, including the traitor that resided in their ranks when the time came.

But the battle for now, would be won. Those who still walked in the darkness, willingly, who came upon the wave would be eradicated – and they knew who they were.

Others who had been taken by the darkness would be returned to the light. Eldin, who had been turned into the cunning villain known as Master Vile, had already been returned to the light as he was slowly beginning to have regrets after his attempt to take Earth failed.

He had been searching for a way to restore his wife, Lady Fienna, and once Rita was also freed, Zordon would bestow on them that knowledge of how to do it before Rita would set off to Briarwood to fulfill her destiny.

Others who had been taken involuntarily included Astronema herself, Divatox, Rita and Zedd. They would be restored to their previous forms.

He also envisioned a civil war brewing.

Many of the toughest monsters his Rangers had faced had chosen to fight alongside Astronema.

But not all of them.

There were plenty of others who would be given the chance to make the right decision. Some already had, and they would live past the Z Wave. When they met those with evil in their hearts, a civil war would ensue and whoever won that would gain a huge advantage.

As Andros started his Spiral Saber towards Zordon's tube, Zordon's last thoughts were of two of his best soldiers, who had foolishly let evil come between them. The worst part about it was, they didn't even know it yet. They had let evil successfully come between something so pure, so good that it almost felt too good to be true.

Fortunately, he had one more failsafe. His chosen champion that he would pass his knowledge and wisdom on to was one of those two, and that person would have the tools to some day, at the right time and place, have a chance to rectify that mistake. These last effects of what he was about to do wouldn't be felt immediately, but they would be at the right moment.

"Lokar, Katarina, Kaden, I will never let the three of you conquer the legacy I built. Never. The Council of Meledon will have the final word," Zordon thought to himself.

That was his last thought before his energy tube was shattered.

It was done. The war had been won – for now.

Phaedos, same time

They were no longer in their little village that they had built for themselves on KO-35, they knew.

This band of about 30-40 monsters from the Zordon Era had done quite well for themselves. They had been tempted by Astronema's forces to try and take revenge on their former enemies as an unseen part of Astronema's plan, but had instead declined. They had renounced their ways of evil and would not be taking part.

In addition, they lived together in a makeshift village. Few knew of its existence, but that was fine with these "renegades." It was a tight group, so tight that nothing escaped that village. Though the village was small, it was extremely secure.

To their surprise, they hadn't been punished. Apparently, Dark Specter and that whole crowd thought they could conquer the universe without them, then bring them back in forcefully.

But they weren't in their own little village, where they'd seen and felt the Zordon Wave, and they weren't on the Fortress. That was clear.

"Wait a second," Pachinko Head, a former enemy of the original teams and clearly the group's co-leader, said in confusion. "This has to be Phaedos. I don't know of any other planet that looks like this."

"You're right," Nimrod, the Scarlet Sentinel, clearly Pachinko Head's muse and the group's other co-leader said. "I believe this is the first time I've ever been here also? But why?"

"Beats me," Grumble Bee said. "The way I understood it was Zordon's wave was going to come through, ballgame over. I do not understand what is going on."

"Cool it, guys. We'll find out our answers when they want us to know," Waspicable, a second in command of the group and arguably the creature who had the most heart the Rangers faced, said in a logical tone.

"You are about to find your answers now, Waspicable," a haunting, alluring female voice wafted through the canyon as the group of about 30 to 40 stood and watched curiously as an owl descended into the canyon. Before they knew what happened, the owl began to shimmer and transform into one of Zordon's former teammates and longtime friends.

"Greetings, all," Dulcea said. "I am sorry you were interrupted and transported, but my now deceased teammate Zordon made it so his energy wave would bring you here. I have been expecting your arrival."

"You must be Dulcea," Nimrod said as she stepped forward.

"I take it you are the leader of this lot?" Dulcea said.

"I am co-leader. Pachinko Head and I are co-leaders," Nimrod said. "You must be Dulcea. Why are we here?"

"You are here because Zordon wished to reward you for not taking the temptation to destroy your former enemies. To reward you for renouncing your evil ways," Dulcea said.

"There wasn't a choice to be made, Dulcea," Guitardo said. "We have too much respect for Zordon's chosen to do that again."

"Agreed," Soccadillo added. "But how is he going to reward us, since he's dead? I don't understand."

"What I am about to do with you," Dulcea said as she reached into her sheath and pulled out a pouch, "is your reward."

Reaching into her pouch, she pulled something out and then blew it at the assembled creatures. It almost resembled some sort of dust but not anything anyone would cough at.

They instantly felt more powerful than they normally would, for recycled monsters. They also noticed they had various weapons to defend themselves with.

"It's not the Great Power, but I believe what I just did, through Zordon's orders, should sufficiently be enough to help you defend any attacks. I sense a civil war is coming between you and your comrades who chose to stand by the darkness."

"Please tell me Katarina is no more and that Kat got purified, Dulcea. Please," Guitardo pleaded. "Please tell me Lokar is gone and Kimberly is not going to go through hell on Earth."

Dulcea looked at the cicada creature with sorrow. It was obvious that his respect for Zordon's first Pink Ranger had singlehandedly saved him from the wave. But she had to tell him the truth.

"I am sorry, Guitardo, but it cannot be helped," Dulcea said. "I am sad to say Katarina and Lokar still very much live and Kaden with them. They are going to come after you all as well."

"Guys, as much as I respect her, we can't worry about Kimberly right now," Pachinko Head said, for once losing his playful nature. He was dead serious and they all knew it. That level of seriousness they knew wasn't to be taken lightly – it had obliterated the Tigerzord years ago.

"We have to defend ourselves first. We will be ready for them Dulcea. We may end up outnumbered but we will not let them win."

"Your bravery is commendable. Good luck. I can't believe I am saying this to you, but, may the Power protect you all," Dulcea said.

None of them would have long to wait.

July 14, 1998

Just outside Angel Grove, CA

By now, the news had spread.

Every Ranger who had served under Zordon had come to pay their last respects.

Well, almost all of them.

Even Kimberly had come back. She wouldn't, and couldn't miss this. She stood, a safe distance away from the group so she wouldn't have to meet their gaze, but she had come as well.

The other burning thought on all their minds though, was that two people were missing.

One, they weren't surprised about, was Billy. Aquitar had been attacked by Divatox's forces and Billy was busy picking up the pieces. That they got.

Tommy had told them all that Kat had left Saturday (the day of the invasion, no less) to go visit her family. She had informed them she wouldn't be back, either, for the solemn ceremony.

Ironically, it was Tanya who broached the subject after they'd all paid their respects and her opinion surprised them all.

"Are you sure you're ok, Tanya?" Jason asked.

"Aside from Zordon dying, I'm ok, I guess," Tanya said. "Just thinking about Kat is all. Something doesn't feel right to me."

"I think you're over thinking this, Tanya," Adam said. "I'm sure Kat would be here if she wasn't with her family."

"I get that. Family is family. But why on Earth would you leave on vacation if the Earth is being attacked from all corners? On the very day of the attack?" Tanya asked. "And she's not here today, either. I know that Kim, I think her name is, is afraid of us, but she still showed up at least."

They all looked at the "kid Ranger," Justin, who was nodding in agreement.

"Something smells to me," Justin said, "and I think some day we need to dig deeper into this. I can just feel it."

"You both do have a point there," Trini said. "I probably don't sound as paranoid as you do, and this is the first time I've ever met you both but I think I smell a rat also. I just…can't quite put my finger on it."

Tanya and Trini nodded at each other, as if they were already understanding each other as Yellow Rangers. And Trini knew five seconds in that despite his age, Justin was smart as a whip.

'Aisha chose well,' Trini said, looking toward Aisha who nodded as if to say she knew what Trini was thinking.

"Come on, guys, we aren't here to talk about Kat, ok?" Jason said, trying to get them all back on track. "We're here to celebrate Zordon's life, ok?"

They all stopped when they saw Tommy in a trance-like state. It was as if he suddenly wasn't listening to anything they were saying.

"Tommy, man, you ok?" Zack asked.

Suddenly, Tommy snapped out of his trance like state and turned to Zack and said, "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks, Zack. I just had a weird feeling, is all. I suddenly have these bouts where I go into a trance-like state. As for Kat, I do love her, but I find her absence a bit weird also."

"Yeah, someone should keep an eye on you, man. That was completely weird," Rocky said.

What Trini, Tanya and Justin had no idea of was that their suspicions were far more nefarious than anyone had told them.

KO-35, same time

The sirens blared all throughout the makeshift war room these former enemies of the Rangers had built over the years.

They knew the attack was coming but they were hoping the attack wouldn't be so soon. It was also worse than they thought.

It was Katarina, Lokar, and Kaden, and about 50 previous monsters from the Zordon era (no doubt some of them had been revived again after the Countdown), but also it was someone they never wanted to see.

"Ivan Ooze," Lady Blue Gem, the sorceress the originals would know as Madame Woe, breathed with fear. "The most terrifying creature ever. Katarina and Lokar have stooped to a new low."

Blue Gem originally hailed from the M-51 galaxy and was a childhood friend to Rita, Eldin, Fienna and their family.

When Rita switched to evil, she went with Rita, but after the 1993 encounter with Zordon's Earth champions, she regretted what she did and renounced evil, having been convinced Rita would be purified one day – which had come true.

Now she herself would face the fight of her life along with the friends she had worked hard to build this village with.

"I understand you are scared but we must do what Dulcea gave us weapons to do. We mut fight and make our last stand," Pachinko Head said, comforting her.

"And that goes for all of you, too," he added. "It's ok to die fighting as hard as you can. It's not ok to die without fighting for honor at all."

"Come, we must head them off before they get to our village," Nimrod said.

As they left their village for battle, though, even deep inside Pachinko Head knew it would take a miracle for them to survive.

Without serious help, it was quite likely they would all die just as Zordon had a few days ago.

As they got closer to meeting what was possibly the final fight for some of them, Pachinko Head called Nimrod aside for a moment.

"If our comrades get killed and we are the last standing, I will turn as many as I can into pachinko balls and we run for our lives," he whispered to Nimrod, who nodded her assent.

They stopped and picked a grassy meadow not far from their village, big enough for all of them to spread out. Then they all hid in various spots. Over the horizon, they saw their enemies approaching the meadow, and they realized they could get the drop easily.

"When I give the signal, hit them with all we got," Nimrod told the 40 or so that were spread out.

Meanwhile, Kat, Lokar, Ivan Ooze and their whole merry gang were completely unsuspecting of what was coming – they were prepared to meet these traitors at the edge of their village, and give them an offer to rejoin them or die.

That was their intent until a barrage of laser fire came from out of nowhere. The next thing they knew, about 30 yellow energy ball blasts came at them. Some dove out of the way but a lot hit their mark, turning some of the footsoldiers and even a few monsters into gray pachinko balls. A stray one even almost hit Kaden – it just missed.

"How's that sneak attack feel, Lokar?" Nimrod said defiantly as the group of about 40, with Nimrod and Pachinko Head in the lead, stared at Lokar and Ooze defiantly.

"I must admit, that wasn't too bad, kiddies," Ooze said, giving a golf clap as he did so. "Maybe we will get a good workout after all."

"It's obvious you guys don't care about playing fair, so now we're going to try to make you cry," Pumpkin Rapper added, in his clever rhyme style (at least in his mind).

"Can it Pumpkin Rapper, I've seen you for five seconds and your awful rapping is already getting old," Waspicable said.

"Affirmed," Big Burpa added, defiantly.

"OK, everyone settle down. I'll make this very simple," Kat said, stepping forward as she did so. "You all have two choices – rejoin us or die."

"I think you know the answer to that, Kitty," Invenusable Flytrap responded. "You are the traitor, and even if you kill us today, you will not win in the end. I can assure you of that."

"Oh is that so?" Lokar said mockingly. "Daughter, Ivan, I think we have our permission to make mincemeat out of them."

With that, the brawl began. To even the rebels surprise, even though they were completely outnumbered, they were holding up well.

The power Dulcea had given them had indeed given them a fighting chance. Pachinko Head wasted no time in turning Slippery Shark, Stenchy, Stag Beetle and Miss Chief plus about 20 Oozemen into pachinko balls. This gave the rest of the group time to get in there and take on the rest of the monsters.

M-51 Galaxy

"Rita, what's wrong?" her father asked her as she, her newly revived mother, and her father all watched the scene, with also one eye towards the site of the former Command Center where the Rangers minus Kat and Billy were busy paying respects to Zordon, without any idea of the civil war that was currently taking place.

"They're not going to last, Daddy. I can feel it," Rita said. "We have to go help them."

"But they're winning," her father said. "What's it to you if these former villains die?"

"I just can't shake that if we leave this be, it'll be the Rangers next. They're winning for now thanks to Dulcea, but Pachinko Head is using a lot of energy," Rita explained. "Kat knows more about the Rangers inside workings than I wish to admit. If they die or some even get converted, Lokar's side only gets stronger. And Tommy still has no idea Kat is a traitor."

"I agree with you, Rita," Fienna said. "They can't win without help. Ooze and Lokar have unlimited numbers. In a round two, most if not all of them will be exterminated. And if they win, they will have a better shot at taking Earth."

Eldin hissed under his breath. He didn't like it and thought this first mission back was too risky but he was outnumbered in his opinion.

"Let's go then. If you are correct, we don't have much time," Eldin said.

Little did they know, Rita and Fienna weren't the only ones who thought as they did.

Review box is at the bottom. Please read/review/follow if you don't mind. Thanks.