Tommy yawned as he stumbled into his house, exhausted from yet another fight with one of Divatox's monsters and very glad that no one else was there at the moment. Divatox had stepped up the attacks after they'd all escaped from her little 'bug-trap', and the Rangers all needed a break. It didn't look as if they would be getting one, though. Oh, well. We'll rest while we can. She SHOULDN'T do anything until tomorrow. I hope. "I hurt," he muttered to himself. "Oh, man, do I hurt! Hurt and tired. . ."

But as exhausted as he was, he couldn't rest until he'd tended to his wounds, and the equipment to do that was in the bathroom, not the bedroom. So it was to there that he headed, casting a mournful glance to the bedroom door so invitingly open.

As he started to tend to his injuries, he wondered briefly if his parents had any idea that he kept all this first aid stuff in here, or why he did if they knew. Jason gave me a quick course in "How to Patch up a Power Ranger 101" as soon as I joined the team. Man, that's been a long time. He was somewhat surprised to realize he wasn't shivering at the memory of being the evil Green Ranger.

I guess after four years, the memories have faded a bit. It's about time. He was glad for that, these days he had much more interesting things to think about, things he'd far rather remember. Times with his friends, times with his. . .Kim. His heart still ached to remember the last time he'd seen her, waving from the window of the plane back to Florida.

"And she still never said anything about why she sent that letter," he muttered as he wrapped up his ribs. "Just hung all over Jason and got out of Angel Grove as fast as she could."

He knew there was nothing romantic going on between the former Gold Ranger and his ex-girlfriend, Jason had assured him of it, and Tommy trusted his friend with his very life. He also knew perfectly well there was nothing between himself and Kat. And I've got to tell her that. I've got to break up with her. There's only one person for me in the world: Kim.

As soon as he'd bandaged his wounds, Tommy practically stumbled into his bedroom, the only thing on his mind a long and relaxing sleep. He quite literally collapsed onto his bed, his mind clawing for the depths of unconsciousness.

He was very unceremoniously pulled away from his desperately sought rest by the jangling of the telephone. Why did Mom and Dad have to take the brood to the Zoo TODAY? Why couldn't they be here for this? Managing to jerk the receiver up, he half-growled, "I have had a very bad day and I really need some rest, so if this isn't a matter of life and death, it soon will be: yours."

"Why so violent, bro?" the all-too-cheery voice of his twin brother David lilted in his ear. "Or did Divatox's latest monster pound out your faulty memory even more?"

"Huh?" was the only thing Tommy's sleep and pain fogged brain could produce at that moment. David sighed. Having to deal with Tommy's forgetfulness was the only minor drawback to knowing his brother.

"You were supposed to come over here this afternoon, remember?" he reminded him. "I've got that surprise to show you, remember? The one I've been trying to get you to see for the past week?" David's voice held no rancor; he was simply trying to jog his brother's memory.

The Red Ranger yawned deeply. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, David, I didn't really forget, I just can't make it tonight. Is that going to ruin anything?"

"No," David shook his head, regardless of it being over the telephone. "It'll keep till tomorrow if you can't make it until then, but really, the sooner the better."

"What sort of surprise is it?" Tommy asked, starting to wake up just a trifle. "And why now, our birthday isn't until next month."

His brother laughed. "You'll see when you get here and not until. Try and make it as soon as possible, you're going to love it, trust me!" when a yawn was the only reply, David frowned. "You'd better get some sleep. See you tomorrow."

"All right," Tommy yawned again. "Around three sound good? If I can wake up by then?" after today's fight, I'll be lucky to be AWAKE at three, much less able to drive. But I can try.

"Sure!" David agreed. "Everything will be ready here. Get some rest!"

A click was all he heard as Tommy hung up. The elder twin laughed softly to himself, then hung his own phone up. "Is he coming?" a female voice said from behind. He nodded. "Good. This is going to be a surprise that he'll never forget."

"I don't believe it! They beat my monster again!" Divatox screamed as she stormed up and down her Subcraft's main chamber. "How could they! Can no one defeat those blasted Rangers?!"

The evil queen soothed her nerves by blasting various Piranatrons with her eye lasers, then threw herself down into her chair. She made another mental note to pick up a new pet somewhere, she missed her eel on occasion, such as when she needed something to play with. Then again, it had gone for a good cause, the awakening of her beloved Maligore.

"Uh, Divatox?" she jerked around at her name, to see Rygog holding out the telephone to her. "Call for you."

"Take a message!" she snapped. "I've got more important things to do than run my mouth to some salesman!"

She almost turned away, when the shrieking tones of her old fie. .uhh. .friend. . Rita Repulsa came through the device. "Divatox, you'd better pick up this line before I send Rito over to stay with you permanently!"

Rygog, Porto, and Elgar all could've sworn Divatox almost broke her arm getting to the telephone. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here, Rita, what do you want?"

"We're having a party at the palace tonight," the other evil queen told her. "And you're invited!"

"Why me?" the pirate snarled. "I'm very busy, I'm planning the destruction of the Power Rangers!"

Rita snorted. "You can do that tomorrow! I need someone intelligent to talk to! That's why I want you there!"

"Oh, all right!" Divatox groaned; it had been too long since she'd gotten out of her Subcraft anyway. "Do I have to bring my crew?"

A shudder was the reply, then Rita nodded. "I'd rather you didn't, but if you don't, Rito, Goldar, and Zedd are going to want to talk to us all night."

"All right, we'll be there in a minute, just let me change!" Divatox declared, slamming the phone down and leaping to her feet. "Porto, Rygog, Elgar! We're going to Rita's for the evening!"

With a snap of her fingers, the pirate queen was gowned in a short, slinky red and gold number that showed so much cleavage it might as well not have had a top at all, and every time she stepped, her thighs flashed to the world. The outfit was completed with a shorter version of her usual black boots and a sable-furred waist-length cape. Elgar couldn't help but whistle.

"Whoa, Auntie Di, you're gonna blow them away!" the mentally impaired mutant declared. "Why so dressed up if you don't even like Zedd?"

Divatox shrugged. "Because I always make a good impression. No matter what. Of course, it's not possible for me to make a bad impression, is it?" she glared at her flunkies, who all jumped to reassure her that she couldn't do anything wrong. "It's good to be the queen," she smiled to herself as she threw her arms out and teleported them all to the Lunar Palace. The Rangers could take the rest of the day off, she'd tormented them enough for one day. Tomorrow would be soon enough to destroy the Rangers in.

Tonight, Divatox was going to party!

"I'm going to do it, Tanya," Kat Hilliard rolled over, sighing deeply. "I have to."

"You sure?" the Yellow Turbo Ranger asked, massaging her aching shoulder. "I mean, it's sort of a big step, you know."

Her friend nodded, wincing at the pain that caused. All the Rangers had various aches and pains after this last fight. Divatox had stopped fooling around it seemed. About the only thing that would be much worse would be if she started launching attacks all over the planet. All five of them prayed she wouldn't think of that; none of the other galactic villains had anyway.

Kat winced as her entire left shin throbbed from the pounding it had taken in the last battle. "But it's for the best in the end, really. Tommy'll understand."

"I hope he does," Tanya glanced at the picture of Tommy and Kat seated on her friend's nightstand. "But I thought you guys were the perfect couple."

"I wish we could be," Kat sighed. "But even though I could take her powers, there's no way I, or anyone, could take Kim's place in Tommy's heart."

Tanya winced at the memory of the look on Tommy's face when Kim's letter had come to the Youth Center that day. She'd been a little shocked when Kat had started to date the Red Ranger, especially once Adam and Billy had told her how close Kim and Tommy had been. Everyone had looked on it as a good sign, though, that Tommy was healing emotionally.

When Divatox had kidnapped Kim and Jason, though, they had all seen the proof that Tommy wasn't anywhere nearly over Kim, and probably never would be. The rage in his eyes had shown clearly, scaring all of them. Kat had made her decision in that moment: she would leave Tommy.

But Kim had seemed to be with Jason, and once the ex-Rangers had left Angel Grove once more, things just hadn't worked out the way she'd thought they would. Kat sighed to herself as she worked out the last of the stiffness in her leg. Why don't I love him? I WANT to love him. . .but there's just nothing there. . .

"So I'm going to break up with him," she said out loud at last. "I'll talk with him about it tomorrow."

Tanya nodded, slowly making her way to her feet. She was spending the night over at Kat's house, since her parents had left on another expedition earlier in the day. She certainly hadn't counted on finding out Kat and Tommy were going to break up when she'd arrived. She pondered calling Adam briefly to tell him, when Kat cleared her throat. "Please, could you not tell anyone about this till after it's over with? I don't want all kinds of wild rumors spreading."

"All right," Tanya headed to change clothes, glad that none of her bruises were anywhere that would be visible. That was at least one good thing that could be said. Wish there was some way we could get another Ranger. We need some serious help. There's too much to be done for just five of us. I wish Trey hadn't went back to his own planet, we could use his help.

As Tanya walked into the bathroom, Kat sighed and quietly removed the picture of herself and Tommy from the nightstand. She laid a gentle hand on the image of him, and gazed deeply into it. "I'm sorry, Tommy," she whispered. "But you're not the one I love. No matter how much I wished I could have."

She gently put the picture away, then leaned back on the bed. Now if I could just tell the person I DO love about how I feel. . .

"You can start the party now!" Divatox proclaimed as she and her crew materialized in the front hall of the Lunar Palace. "Divatox is here!"

"Divatox!" Rita came over to give her old friend a hug, despite their harsh words the two evil queens cared as much for each other as any minions of darkness could. "It's been too long!"

"Yeah, it has, Frita," Divatox teased her with the childhood nickname. Rita growled at it, she'd never quite liked that! "So what have you been up to lately?"

Rita shrugged. "Not much, just trying to get things back in order at the palace ever since we blew up the Machine Empire."

"That was over a year ago!" Divatox pointed out, the two of them heading over the balcony while their minions and Zedd began to whoop it up behind them. "It's taken you this long?"

"We renovated, too," Rita told her, gesturing at the new cobwebs and dust all over everything. "You like?"

"It's so dark and depressing!" Divatox smiled. "I love it, who was your decorator? I really must hire him for some work on my Subcraft!"

As the evening progressed, Divatox found that she was actually having a good time! Several hours after her arrival, the entire partying crew was snoring in various sections of the throne room. Zedd had collapsed onto his throne, which wasn't so unusual, half the time he never left it anyway. Rito and Elgar were spilled under the refreshment table, with half-empty tankards of Eltarian beer in their hands. Rygog and Goldar had been arm-wrestling in a corner, and had fallen asleep during the contest. Porto and Finster had started off discussing science companionably, and had ended up in a long, involved drinking contest that neither of them seemed to win.

"Just think," Rita gazed through her RepulsaScope to Earth. "Once those Rangers are dealt with, this entire planet is ours for the taking."

The pirate growled something nasty. "Please, could we talk about something other than the Power Rangers? I was having a good time until then!"

Rita laughed. "Didn't mean to get you down. Besides, we've got something in mind for those goody-goods. . .a blast from the past, you might say!"

"What are you talking about?" Divatox frowned; she was the one who was supposed to be dealing with the Rangers, not these two clowns! Oh, sure, she liked Rita, and Zedd was sorta handsome, even though he was married. But the Rangers were her responsibility to defeat now, no one else's, unless someone else could overthrow her. If Rita and Zedd wanted to get back in on the game, they were going to have to outmatch her, and that wasn't an easy task. "You know I'm working on getting rid of them!"

"And you're not exactly doing a stellar job of it, are you?" Rita held her hand out, causing a gleaming silver box to appear. "But in here is a way to destroy the Power Rangers forever!"

Divatox laughed. "What have you got, bottled Rito stench?"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding!" Rita snorted. "We want to rule the planet, not destroy it! No, this is something much better: something that's going to bring up some fairly painful memories for that stupid Red Ranger Tommy!"

The pirate queen could plainly hear the hate that dripped from Rita's voice as she spoke the name of Thomas Oliver. "I take it you really don't like him?" she asked a trifle diplomatically.

"No, I don't!" Rita hissed. "He was my evil Green Ranger once, and then one of his stupid Ranger friends, that male you threw into Maligore's volcano, broke the sword I'd linked the spell to and freed him!"

"So what does that box have to do with memories for Tommy?" Divatox wondered.

The evil sorceress laughed before answering, and even Divatox felt a chill at that sound. "One of our monsters recreated and recharged the Green Ranger Power Coin, and gave it to a clone we made of Tommy. That clone eventually betrayed us as well, and went to live back in an earlier period of Earth's history."

"Get to the point!" Divatox snapped; the last thing she wanted was to go through a history lesson, especially with this cackling witch giving it!

Rita snorted. "Well, to cut it short, once we got back and got things set back up here, we sent Goldar and Rito back in time, and retrieved the coin!"

"What about the clone?" Divatox found herself briefly wondering; if it was one of Tommy, despite him being one of those Power Rangers, he was rather attractive. The husband-hungry pirate queen never passed up a decent chance to grab a man. Rita shrugged.

"I never asked," was all she said. "And I really don't care, we got the coin and that's what's in this box. The Green Power Coin, all ready to power the new evil Green Ranger!"

"There's a Green Turbo Ranger," Divatox casually pointed out. "Might cause some confusion, not to mention that Turbo powers are stronger than the Morphin ones."

Rita glared at her friend. "Maybe they're stronger than normal Morphin powers," she taunted. "But this coin has been supercharged to be of equal power to the Turbo Rangers!" the sorceress tossed the box to one side and leaped to her feet. "I'm going to go wake up Zedd! I'm suddenly in the mood! You can see yourself out whenever you like, Di!"

The pirate practically ignored Rita as the evil sorceress swished out of the room and headed over to her husband. Her gaze was all on the silver box. With a swift leap she had seized it and gently lifted the lid. Gleaming back at her from a deep green cushion was a round golden coin with a strange tripartite symbol on it that she recognized as that of the Green Morphin Ranger. She stared at it hungrily, licking her lips in deep thought.

"With this in my possession," she purred softly to herself. "I can create an evil Ranger of my very own! Rita's Green Ranger Tommy came so close to destroying the Rangers. . .I wonder what my Green Ranger could do. . ."

Almost before realizing it, she had slammed the lid shut on the box and slipped it into a pocket of her cape. Glancing around at the slumbering morons that comprised her court, she threw her head back, screaming their names at the top of her lungs. Elgar, Rygog, and Porto all leaped to their feet at once, while Rita and Zedd's lackeys just grumbled in their sleep. "What's up, Auntie Di?" Elgar mumbled. "I'm having a great time!"

"We're going back to the Subcraft," Divatox ordered. "I've got some plans to make, and I'm going to need all of you to help!" as they stumbled over to her, she sighed. I'd better get more help than this. Whoever I pick to be my personal Ranger needs to be strong. . .fast. .and have a brain. . .that lets out all of these doofuses.

With a wave of her hand she teleported them all back to the Subcraft, and set herself back on her throne. "Get some sleep, morons," she ordered. "I've got plans to make, and I don't need any of you in the way!"

As they fled to their various rooms, Divatox pulled out the box and once more stared at the coin. Total victory is within my clutches at last. All I need do is choose the proper bearer.

She whined slightly as she pulled her periscope closer to her. "I hate making choices."

Tommy pulled his hair back into it's usual ponytail as he stepped into the Youth Center. He'd decided while showering that morning, and every thought during his workout and classes at the dojo had only confirmed it. Even if he never saw Kimberly Harte again, he wasn't going to keep on dating someone he didn't love or at least like in more than the casual manner he did Kat.

There she is. He took a long breath as he watched her practicing her ballet. She is beautiful. Someday she's going to be very happy with some lucky guy, but it's not going to be me.

He was about to call out her name when she turned around and saw him. "Tommy," she smiled. "Hi!"

"Hi, Kat!" he waved. "Say, could I talk to you for a second? It's kind of important."

"Sure," she nodded, picking up her towel and wiping the sweat from her brow as she walked over to the table he was sitting at. "I've got to talk to you too."

He winced a trifle at the sound of that, hoping that she didn't want to go steady or go on a date or anything like that. His instincts said to let her speak first, to let her get whatever it was out in the open. But Tommy had tried all his life not to be ruled by his instincts. "Let me go first, please," he said. At her nod, he took a deep breath. "Kat, you are one of the greatest people I know. You're a good friend, you're very beautiful, and I really hope you find happiness someday with some one as good as you are."

She looked at him for a moment. "I hope I do too, Tommy," she said after a few moments. "And I hope whoever he is, it doesn't take me as long to figure out that I love him forever as it's taken you to figure out you're going to love Kim forever."

Kat could have sworn Tommy's jaw hit the floor with an audible thump at that moment. She giggled. "Tommy, I've known for a long time I don't love you. I really wanted to try to, though, and I did. Part of it was a little bit leftover of Rita's spell on me, to try and break you and Kim up. Part of it was because you're a very good person, a very loving person. But the only thing there can ever be between us. . .is friendship."

"You. . .mean you're not upset over us breaking up?" Tommy couldn't believe his eyes or ears with this!

"It's hard to say," she replied honestly. "I'm glad it happened, because now I'm free to find someone I can really love. I'm sad for you, though, because you already know who you love and she's not here."

Tommy sighed. "I know. Maybe I can swing a visit down to Florida, though, and talk with her. At least the two of us can be friends again, if nothing else. We are friends, right?" he looked a little nervous at that as he looked at her.

"Always," Kat smiled, squeezing his hand for a moment as she got back up. "I'm going out for a walk in the park, want to come along? Friend?"

He looked at his watch for a moment, then his eyes widened in shock. "Love to, Kat, but I was supposed to be at David's ten minutes ago!"

"It's been a while since I've seen your brother, what's he been up to?" Kat asked, walking with Tommy as he rushed out to his car. The young Ranger shrugged.

"The usual, I guess. He's been trying to get me to come to his place for the last week or so, he keeps saying he's got some sort of big surprise for me, but he won't tell me what it is."

Kat couldn't help but laugh. "Tommy, if it's a surprise, why would he tell you what it is?"

"You know, I never thought of that!" Tommy blinked for a few moments, then shook his head. "I'll see you around, Kat!"

She smiled, waved, and headed off to the park as Tommy started to drive away. Two hearts were far lighter than they had been in months. Things were, perhaps, going to be getting back on track with them.

"Is he here yet?" the young woman paced back and forth in David Trueheart's home. "He didn't forget again, did he?"

The young Native American smiled briefly. "Calm down. He'll be here soon."

"How soon is soon?"

Just as the words were uttered, they heard the sound of a truck pulling up outside. David peeked out a window, and grinned. "Soon is now, it seems. Here he is," when he looked behind him, he saw he was now alone in the room, and couldn't help but grin. Tommy is in for the surprise of his life!

He opened the door just as Tommy jumped out of the car and started for the door. "Hey there, bro!" he called out. "You finally got here, I see!"

"Yeah!" Tommy waved. "Sorry it took so long, but you know my memory!"

David snorted a laugh as he stopped his brother just outside the house. "Yeah, Tommy the sieve-brain!" he teased. "I'm surprised you've even remembered that I exist, little bro!"!

"How could I forget you, I see your face every time I look in the mirror," Tommy said dryly, poking at his brother a little. David scanned his face quickly, then touched Tommy's shoulder.

"Something's up with you, Tommy," he said quietly. "Come on, talk to your big brother."

Tommy met his brother's eyes for a moment, then looked up to the sky, almost as if asking for help. As he looked back down, he said simply, "Kat and I mutually decided it would be better for us both if we broke up. It was the right thing to do, and I'm glad we did it, I wish her all the happiness in the world: but now I'm missing Kim more than ever."

David raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Well, you can always go see her. But first, you've got to meet your surprise."

"Meet my surprise?" Tommy was surprised at the particular phrasing David had used. "What are you talking about?"

His brother only smiled and pulled him on into the house. "Just trust me, Tommy. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

Tommy shrugged and allowed himself to be pulled inside. David was grinning like a maniac as he cleared his throat a little. "Tommy Oliver, I'd like you to meet Teresa Magee," he gestured just ahead of them both.

Tommy looked up to see a young woman standing in the living room nervously. Her skin was the same shade as his and David's, and her long hair a deep black, and she bore an amazing resemblance to both him and David. He smiled briefly at her, then looked to David. "We've known each other a year and a half and you just now get around to introducing me to your girlfriend?"

Teresa chuckled. "I'm not his girlfriend, Tommy. I'm your sister."

"Sister!?" Tommy's head snapped back around to look at her. "Sister?!"

David nodded. "She's our sister. It seems we weren't twins: we were triplets."

Tommy was quite definitely in shock. "T. ..T. . .triplets?"

Teresa chuckled. "Believe me, it was every bit of a surprise to me to find out I had two brothers. But it's true. And I can prove it."

"How?"

The young woman walked over to them, pulling the sleeve back from her left arm as she did so. Tommy couldn't doubt the birthmark there, he'd seen it's duplicate on his own arm every day of his life, and on David's. "Like this," she said unnecessarily. "Brothers."

I. . .I have a sister. . .I had just gotten used to having a brother. .. and now. .. a sister. . .a REAL sister. . . a blood sister. . . "Do. .. do you know who our parents are, Teresa?" he stuttered the words out, he'd asked the same question of David shortly after they'd met as well.

Teresa shook her head. "I was adopted by the Magees when I was two months old. And call me Terry. I like that better than Teresa."

"All right. . .Terry," Tommy tried the word on his tongue, and liked it. He smiled. "Nice to meet you."

The triplets stood somewhat awkwardly staring at each other for a few moments. Then, almost as one, they enfolded each other in their arms. They had found each other. They had found a family.

"So, the Red Ranger has a sister and a brother," Divatox mused as she watched him through her periscope, playing with the Green Coin. "This could be very interesting."

"Uh, whatcha looking at, Auntie Di?" she turned as Elgar slumped into the room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and staring stupidly at her. "And what's that you've got there?"

She quickly slammed the Coin into the box and locked it, growling, "None of your business! I'll let you know when I'm ready for you to know!"

Elgar shrugged and started poking around looking for something to eat. Divatox returned her gaze to the Earth, where the triplets were talking away a mile a minute. Bored quickly with that, she started gazing all throughout Angel Grove. I've got to find someone PERFECT. A warrior, someone with intelligence and courage. Too bad they're going to have to be one of those goody-good types. Only someone like that can wield a Ranger's powers. Rita used some sort of spell and sword to control HER Green Ranger. I need something to control mine.

"Porto!" she bellowed. "Get in here!" she was rewarded to see her science officer come running in as fast as he could, considering his size and probable hangover.

"What is it, my queen?" he asked, bowing. "I am yours to command!"

"I know that already. I need to be able to control a human perfectly and completely. When I tell them 'jump' the only thing I want to hear them saying is 'how high?'. I want their every thought and consideration to just be how they can please me, and how to destroy the Rangers!"

Porto looked a trifle confused. "My queen, how are you going to make an evil Ranger?" he wasn't stupid, he could figure out partially what she had in mind. It was a decent enough plan, but how to do it always remained the problem.

Divatox laughed, gesturing the box. "That's how, Porto," she told him. "A little trinket I picked up at the party last night. Now are you going to figure out what I need to know, or do I have to find myself someone really intelligent?"

"Oh, no, my queen!" Porto leaped to work at once. "I can figure out a way to control someone for you, no problem!"

"And the Rangers must not be able to break it in any way!" she reminded him. "That was how Rita screwed up with her Green Ranger, she underestimated those blasted teenagers. I'm not going to do that!"

Porto nodded as he started searching through the database. He muttered under his breath promises that he wouldn't fail Divatox, he knew all too well the fate of those who did, and it wasn't pretty. Not in the slightest.

His queen ignored him for now though, as she searched Angel Grove for just the perfect person to use the powers she'd taken from Rita and Zedd. It didn't even occur to her to wonder if those two beings of evil would want the Power Coin back.

"She's your friend, Rita!" Zedd screamed at the top of his lungs. "You were the one who invited her here for the party, so anything she did is on your head. What possessed you to go showing off our Power Coin anyway?"

Rita glared at her husband. "I do what I want!" she grated. "How was I supposed to know she'd steal it?!"

"Uh, she's a pirate," Rito spoke up. "Pirates steal things, don't they? Seems kinda obvious. . ." he shut up as Rita turned blazing eyes on him, then ran off, apparently having urgent business elsewhere.

"Well, now she's got the Coin, and we don't!" Zedd settled back into his throne. "Let her have all the joys of an evil Green Ranger. . .for however long it takes the Power Rangers to free this one!"

He winced as Rita screeched at him, "What are you talking about? You can't possibly intend to let her get away with this! She's stolen from us, and that must be avenged!"

"Sure, sure, fine, fine," the lord of evil shrugged. Sure, starting the fight against the Rangers had seemed all right when they'd blown up the Machine Empire. But almost immediately after that, Divatox had started her little campaign for Murianthus and Maligore, and it just didn't seem to be worth it anymore. Let Divatox run herself ragged destroying the Rangers. Lord Zedd had more than had enough. "Rita, you do whatever you want about this. I'm going to take a nap."

"A nap!?" Rita couldn't believe her ears. "Our big chance to destroy the Rangers, the best shot we've had to get at them, using that brat Tommy's own past to do it has been stolen from us, robbed from us by another servant of evil, and you want to nap?"

Zedd barely looked at her. "Think of it this way, Rita: if Divatox actually manages to destroy the Rangers: we can sweep in and get rid of her once it's done. She can do all the dirty work, and we get to sit back and reap the rewards!"

His queen wasn't buying that, though. "Not my style, Zedd! I'm going to make that purple-haired wench pay for this! Next thing you know, she'll be trying to steal you!"

And at times I think I'd let her, just to get away from you! Zedd groaned to himself. Somedays I wonder just why it is I stay with her.

He knew perfectly well Rita had put a love potion in him during his centennial recharge, and that it had been nullified by Finster. It didn't seem to matter, though. He cared about her. But he'd long since begin to wonder if he really and truly loved her. He shrugged to himself as Rita flounced herself away to begin some sort of plan of retribution against the pirate queen. But I'm sort of stuck with her. Could be worse. I could be married to that one girl, Astronema. There's something INCREDIBLY wrong about a woman who changes her hair color that often!

As Zedd began to drift off to sleep, Rita headed straight for her library. She wanted information on how to completely humiliate Divatox! The pirate would pay for stealing the Green Coin from her!

"Oh, man, we've got a sister!" Tommy stared from David to Terry and back again. "Did you have any idea, David?"

His brother shook his head. "Not a clue until we bumped into each other in the airport when I was going to see Sam off. And I do mean literally bumping into each other."

Terry nodded. "I've sort of just moved to town. My friend and I came here, she grew up in Angel Grove and was finally moving back after being away for about a year or so. I didn't have anywhere else to go, and she told me there were some very good odds that you guys were my brothers, so I decided to come try to find you here. You're the only family I have now."

"What about parents?" Tommy asked, then wished he hadn't when he saw shadows in her eyes. "Terry? Did I say something wrong?"

Terry shrugged briefly. "It's nothing important," she demurred, glancing around the house. "Hey, where'd you go? You were the one who was so worried about him showing up, right?"

"I know," a soft voice said. "And I've been waiting a long time to see him again."

Tommy went as stiff as a board as the words struck into his mind, right into those areas reserved for words and motions made by only one person. He turned, not wanting to believe his eyes, but wanting to at the same time.

She stood in the same doorway Terry had been in only moments before. She'd been waiting and watching, hoping and praying that he would come. Tommy wet his lips, trying to get up the nerve to say something, anything, as he looked at her. Finally, he croaked out a single word. "K. . .Kim?"

Kimberly Harte nodded as she walked quietly into the room. "You never could be on time," she spoke lightly, but her eyes were covering every inch of his face, seeing and noting the pain he'd undergone. Pain I caused him. And shouldn't have. "We've been waiting for you."

"Sorry," he whispered. "I forgot. W. . what are you doing here, Kim? It's almost been a year. ..since you left again. . almost a year. . ."

His voice trailed off as he and Kim resumed their staring at each other, both of them completely convinced that no one noticed the way they were examining each other.

He's gotten thinner, Kim thought. I wish I'd known Terry when I came down here for the Tournament. I don't know, even if I had, getting kidnapped and fed to that monster would've probably driven it out of my head.

She's gotten even more beautiful. I wonder if Kat knew she was coming back and that's why she broke up with me when she did? That's kind of weird. . .that empty feeling I've had since she left. . .it's gone now. He almost flinched when he realized the aching hole in his heart had also been gone when they'd been together briefly after the events on Murianthus. He'd been too concerned over Rocky's health, just glad they'd survived the battle with Maligore, and concerned over having a new Ranger on the team to notice it though.

"Think we should leave them alone?" Terry whispered softly to David. Her brother nodded, guiding her out of the house and shutting the door behind them. "Were they always like that?"

David shrugged. "I don't know, by the time I met Tommy, she'd already broken up with him. But he's never been like that with Kat, the other girl he was dating."

"I think by the time they come out of there," Terry gestured to the house, "they're going to be back together: to stay. She told me very frequently that breaking up with him was the stupidest move she'd ever made in her life."

"I guess we'll find out when they come out again," her brother said philosophically. "Until then, what do you want to do?"

His sister's eyes sparkled with laughter. "Tell me, my brother. . .would you know anything about. . .karate?"

The park was beautiful that time of year, and that particular time of day it was beyond beautiful. Kat wandered through, glad for the chance to be alone.

Been a long time since I was. It's not really that safe. Divatox likes to send Piranatrons against us when we're alone. She took a long breath of the fresh air and sighed happily. But if anything DOES happen. . .I can call the others and get help.

She allowed her mind to wander over the events of the past few years of her life. First when she moved to Angel Grove, she was kidnapped and put under a spell by Rita Repulsa, used as a weapon to almost defeat the Rangers. Those same Rangers turned out to be the greatest friends she could've had, including and especially Kimberly, whom she was supposed to destroy completely under Rita's command.

Instead she had managed to free herself from the evil spell, and had helped Kimberly instead when the other girl had hurt herself. That had actually led to her becoming the Pink Ranger in her own turn, when Kim had left the team to start training full-time for the Pan-Globals.

Then Master Vile tore up time and we became the Zeo Rangers, and then Divatox started up and now we're the Turbo Rangers. She glanced briefly down at her wrist, almost sensing the Turbo Charger hidden there. A lot of things change, but one thing remains the same: the Rangers are the best friends in the world.

Kat quietly sat down on a hill, and gazed out over the park. So many memories filled her mind as she did that. That tree over there had been the one she had been under with the boy she'd been dating when first arriving in Angel Grove, who had turned out to be a Tenga who served Rita and Zedd. That clearing over there was where the carnival had been that the Rangers had taken her to for her birthday, that had wound up being ruined by Master Vile's releasing of the Orb of Doom.

She shook her head. Happy thoughts today. She looked around more, and smiled. There were the picnic tables where she and the others had shared so many happy times together. Just past the trees, she could see the abandoned warehouse district where she, as the Pink Ranger, had fought alongside the others and against the forces of evil so many times.

Alongside of so many different others. . .Tommy, Billy, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Justin, Tanya. . .man, there's been a lot of changes. . .but that's the way of life. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking over them all. The park was extremely quiet and still, and Kat herself was still sore and somewhat tired from the fight the day before. Breaking up with Tommy hadn't been quite the emotional drain she'd thought it would be, but she was still reeling just a little. As her eyes closed and she began to sink deeper into her thoughts, she didn't notice a shadow falling over her at first.

"Kat?" the voice startled her out of the half-sleep she'd fallen into, and she had only one reaction to being startled: she leaped to her feet, checked to make sure no civilians were around, then called out four words.

"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"

"Whoa, Kat!" she was brought all the way awake by the Power as she morphed, and shook her head to clear her mind. "Kat, I'm not an enemy!"

She stared. "Rocky!? What are you doing here?" she asked the former Ranger as she powered down quickly. "I thought you were busy with your dojo!"

Rocky DeSantos grinned as she pulled him down onto the grass next to her. "I am, but that doesn't mean I can't get out and see the world every now and then! And I've been trying to talk to you alone, but you've always been with Tommy or someone."

"Not anymore," she shook her head, suddenly feeling the urge to tell him this. "Tommy and I decided mutually to break up this morning. He loves Kim, and I don't love him, so it was the best thing for both of us."

She didn't notice the sudden lightening in his eyes as she said that. "Glad you guys both figured that out," he said diplomatically.

"You knew?" Kat raised an eyebrow as she looked at him, and he nodded. "Why didn't you say something?"

Rocky shrugged. "Would you have believed me?" he said simply. Kat was speechless for a few moments, in some ways, she could sense, this wasn't quite the same foolish, food-munching Rocky she'd always known. He was more serious, more thoughtful than he'd been when last she'd known him. But still that glint of humor danced in his eyes.

I think I like him better like this! She gazed into his eyes for a few moments, then realized something. "Um, am I staring at you?" she muttered, blushing and looking away even as she asked. He chuckled.

"Yeah, but I don't mind. I was staring at you."

"You. . uhh. .. were?"

Rocky smiled softly, brushing the hair gently away from her eyes as he did so. "I was. I like to look at you."

"You. . .do?"

"You know, you're going to have to get over that stuttering problem one day," he grinned at her. "Yes, I do like to look at you, and have for a very long time."

She touched her hand to her suddenly hot cheek, and realized she was blushing! She'd never done that when Tommy had paid her a compliment of any type! Then again, I always got the impression he was somehow comparing me to Kim when he did it.

Rocky smiled as he gently took her hand. "Come on," he offered. "Let's go for a walk. Together."

Oh, WOW!!! "S. .sure," she replied. "I'd love to."

Hand in hand, the Ranger and the former Ranger walked off together.

Inside the small house on the reservation, things were quiet and still. The two people were still staring at each other. Finally, one spoke. "I'm sorry, Tommy," Kim whispered, breaking the deadlock she'd had on his face and turning away. "I know you're dating Kat now, but I had to tell you this: breaking up with you was the absolute stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. I love you, and I never stopped loving you. I know after that letter, and how I treated you when Jason and I were back in town last year, you probably don't ever want to see me again, so now that I've said that, and made a complete fool of myself, I'm going to get my things and go."

She had enough time to take one step away before Tommy grabbed her arm gently, pulling her close to him and into a deep, sweet, passionate kiss that blew all their previous ones over the years away. She melted into his arms, hearing a soft whisper in her ear. "I love you, Kim. I love you."

How long they stood there, wrapped in each other's arms and lips, they never knew, and didn't care to know. They were just together. That was what was important.

"What about Kat?" Kim asked suddenly.

"What about the guy you met in Florida?" Tommy spoke at the exact same time she did. The two of them looked at each other, then giggled. "Kat and I broke up this morning," he told her. "We both knew I didn't love her, and she doesn't love me. It was just better like this. Better for both of us. I only love you, and she loves. . . I don't know who, but whoever it is isn't me."

Kim blushed a little. "Ummm.. . there was no guy in Florida. I made him up. I thought you loved Kat, and I wanted to let you free for her. I didn't want to keep you tied down to someone who was three thousand miles away."

"Being tied to you was the best thing that ever happened to me," Tommy told her firmly. "I love you. I've always loved you, beautiful."

"I love the sound of that," she leaned against him, enjoying the warmth of his arms around her. "My red knight," she whispered softly. He'd scared her at times, when he was the Green Ranger. When he was the White Ranger he'd been a little too noble, always fixed on being the ultimate Ranger, on leading the team. She hardly knew him as Red. Maybe I should,she thought to herself, snuggling deeper into his arms. We can't pick up where we left off. ..but we can start all over again.

The feel of his lips on her forehead was delicate and soft as he kissed her. It stirred something within her, something sweet and strong and insistent. She lifted her head, gazing into his eyes, seeing them wide and wet with tears. "What is it?" she wondered, touching one gently with the tip of her finger. "Did I do something?"

"No," he told her, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Because I love you."

She pulled his head down towards hers, their lips meeting again. She could taste the desire on his lips, and matched it with all of her own, desire suppressed for some time. His eyes widened even more, in surprise at how tightly she pressed against him. "Tommy," she said, her voice firm and strong. "I know precisely what I'm doing here. I have missed you, and wanted you for longer than I really want to say. I'm going to be blunt about this, so that there's no misunderstandings or anything. I love you. I want to make love to you. I don't have any protection or anything, but I'm honestly willing to risk pregnancy or disease or anything to be with you. I'd be honored to have your child, and I know it would be yours, because I'm a virgin right now, and I really don't think you have any disease."

Kim almost giggled at the size of his eyes as she spoke. "Uhhh, I don't," he managed to stutter. "I'm a virgin too. . .and I love you. And I am ready for anything that happens. I'm helping Rocky with his dojo, so I've got a steady income."

"I thought you were racing with your uncle," she asked, though the answer to that question was quickly becoming irrelevant as he began to kiss her gently.

"I was," he spoke between caresses. "But I decided to stop, it's a little too dangerous right now."

She couldn't help but laugh now. "Too dangerous, as opposed to riding around in cars that go five times the speed of any normal race car, and fighting gigantic monsters and an evil space alien pirate?"

"That's actually why I stopped," he told her seriously. "I've got a responsibility as a Power Ranger, to keep myself in one piece as much as I can. I didn't like racing anywhere nearly as much as I like teaching martial arts, anyway."

Slowly, she reached out and began to unbutton his shirt. She slipped it off his body, and took a long breath, staring almost droolingly at the firmly muscled body she saw. She hardly noticed his own clumsy fingers unbuttoning her blouse, until a light chill made her shiver. She leaned against him, enjoying the strength of his body against hers. "I love you," she whispered, feeling the hard muscles there. "I love you forever."

As her blouse fell to the floor, Kim and Tommy both stopped talking about what they'd done, what they'd been, and what they might be in the future. The only thing that mattered to either of them was each other, was the gentle stroke of hands against flesh, of lips against lips. It didn't matter that neither of them had the foggiest idea of what they were supposed to be doing here. They just knew they were going to do this, that they were meant for each other in every possible sense of the word.

And as they slowly made love on the floor of David Trueheart's house, all the past melted away. The letter, the silence, the pain, the misunderstandings, all were gone. All that remained now was the hope, the peace, and the eternal love they shared. That was what mattered. That was what counted.

Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Harte were together. Again. Forever.

Rita paged through several of her spellbooks, growling various nasty things under her breath as she hunted for a way to get some serious revenge on that pirate. "How dare she steal my Green Coin! I go to all the trouble of inviting her and her court here to my party and she steals from me!"

Ever since she and Divatox were little girls, it had been an unspoken agreement between the two of them that they were not to steal from each other. Even when Divatox had taken up piracy for her life of evil, she hadn't stolen from Rita. This first time was one that the evil queen was not going to forget or forgive.

At least not unless she actually DOES destroy the Rangers. That was one thing Zedd got right. If she can do it, then we can get rid of her and rule the entire planet. Friendships are nice, but world domination is something else altogether.

"But if I can get it back from her before she can give it to someone," Rita mused, pausing in her search to look out at the Earth. "Then we can do it. Either way's workable."

She leaned back, closing her eyes in thought. I wonder what those Rangers are up to. I haven't checked on them in a while. I think I'll rectify that.

She headed straight for the throne room, wincing at the loud snores coming from Zedd as he snoozed in his throne, and attached her eyes to the RepulsaScope, checking out each of the Rangers in turn. That new Blue Ranger, the little boy, was studying at the orphanage where he lived. The Green and Yellow Rangers were holding hands and coming back from a movie, the romance between them was so thick it almost made her nauseous. The Pink Ranger was walking with one of the ex-Rangers in the park. . .What's my former Ranger doing. . .he's Red these days. . .little traitor. ..

Her eyes flew wide with shock as she saw him and the former Pink Ranger entwined on the floor of a house, deeply involved in a passionate sexual encounter. She knew she should be revolted by it, but something drew her to simply stare, almost hungrily, at the two of them as they made love over and over again. She swallowed deeply, her heart pounding and thick lust boiling up in her veins.

Oh. . .my . . .goodness. .. she breathed, unable to pull her eyes away. She turned and ran straight to Zedd, not able to control herself or her desires for another second. "Zedd!" she screamed his name, pouncing on him and causing her clothes to vanish in a blaze of light. "Zedd! Wake up, you skinless buffoon! I need you!"

"Wuh? huh?" Zedd looked up at her as he slowly emerged from the cocoon of sleep. "Rita?" his voice was choked off at once by the questing lips of his wife as she kissed him hungrily. "Rita, what's with you?"

She wasn't answering with her voice, though, as she quite literally slammed herself onto him. "Change!" she managed to grunt out. "Change!"

There was only one thing she meant by that, it was physically impossible for Zedd to have sex in his 'monstrous' form. With a flicker of magic he returned to the shape he'd borne thousands of years earlier, a tall, handsome humanoid form. The only time he ever looked like that was when he was being romantic, or at least sexual, with Rita. Romance had ever little to do with their marriage, and he'd begun every last one of their times together since their marriage. But not this time.

As she practically forced herself onto him, Zedd tried to grab hold of the dream he'd been having just before she'd awakened him. But it shredded away into mist as Rita pulled his full attention to making love to her. With cries of delight and passion, moans of pleasure and romance, the two monarchs of evil indulged in the delights of each other's bodies. Rita sated the lust that seeing Tommy and Kim together had roused in here, and Zedd banished all thoughts he'd had of not truly loving Rita.

How could he not love someone who, out of absolutely nowhere, just because she wanted to, woke him up and made mad, passionate love to him? How could he not love Rita?

As they made love, Rita managed to retain enough control of her mind and magic to recast the love spells on him that kept Zedd nominally under her control, and with her. She wasn't going to let him get away from her. Not after all she'd done to him, and for him, in the past.

He owed her too much not to keep her as his queen.

"Terry! David!" the two of them turned when they heard Tommy calling out their names. He and Kim were coming out of the house, arms wrapped around each other and both of them practically glowing. "What have you two been doing while we were. . .busy?"

David grinned as he relaxed from the battle stance he'd been in. "Oh, just sparring a little."

"Sparring?" Kim raised an eyebrow. "I see a few things run in the family."

Terry wiped off her forehead and nodded. "I'm a purple belt in shokotan style karate, a black in praying mantis kung fu, and have been considering studying judo for a while as well. David, you're good."

Tommy couldn't help but laugh. "David, you remember when we met and you sparred with me?"

"Yeah, I do," David nodded. "I got mad when I lost and ran out, and. . ." he stopped what he was saying, trying not to give a sidelong glance at their new sister. Tommy knew what he was saying though, and had to remember to tell Kim that his brother knew about their identities as the Power Rangers. "And sulked for a while," he finished, trying to sound as smooth and unforced as he possibly could.

Terry chuckled lightly. "Sounds like you guys have had fun while I wasn't around. I wish I hadn't taken so long to find out about you two. I'd've been here a lot sooner if I could have been."

"Hey, let's go to the Youth Center!" Tommy suggested. "I think the others are going to be there this afternoon, and I'd like them all to meet you, Terry."

Let's just hope Divatox doesn't give her the welcome that Mondo gave me, David mused as he nodded his agreement and headed for the shower. He heard her asking, "Others?" as he shut the door behind himself.

"Yeah, our friends," Tommy told her. "Justin, Kat, Adam, and Tanya."

"Cool," Terry stretched a little. "Hope David gets out of there soon, I need a shower of my own."

Conversation died down briefly as the three of them sat around and waited. Finally, Tommy asked, "How did you guys meet?"

"It was right after I got back from my last visit here," Kim told him. "And I was extremely angry at myself for not telling you how I really felt. But the mental picture of you kept floating behind my eyelids the whole trip back to Florida. And things didn't get much better when I got back to the compound. . .cause I saw you. . .sort of. .."

Kim sighed as she stared at the gates ahead of her. She was back here. Again. Somehow, she wasn't nearly as happy over this as she had thought she would be when she'd been in Divatox's brig. At least the Rangers got us out of that. Thank goodness.

She shivered at the memory of being thrown into the volcano, of feeling the pure raw evil invading her body. "I'm not going to think about that," she whispered softly. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the taxi go inside and stop just outside the dorm room.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes almost made her heart stop. No way. How'd he get here first? It's not possible. . ."Tommy?" she whispered softly. The person she was looking at stepped closer, and she shook her head, quickly realizing that she was looking at a woman, not a man. "Oh, I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone I know."

"Hello," the stranger, who looked enough like Tommy to almost be him, except for being female. "Can I help you?"

She examined the woman for a moment. "You look just like him," Kim shook her head. "I've never seen a resemblance like that before."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"My ex-boyfriend," Kim winced at calling Tommy that, no matter how true it was, and no matter if she had been the one who broke them up. She quickly plunged into one of the suitcases being arranged on the sidewalk by the taxi driver and pulled out her wallet and her photo album, the one she could show to people. After paying the man, she flipped open the book to the most recent picture she had of him. "That's him. Tommy Oliver."

"Oh, my goodness," the woman whispered, staring. "I do look like him."

"What's your name?" Kim wondered, staring at the picture for a few moments as she let her hand rest casually near it.

"Teresa Magee," she was told. "But you can call me Terry. In fact, I'd prefer it if you did. I like it much better."

"Kimberly Harte," Kim introduced herself. "I don't think I've seen you around here before, or did I just not meet you?"

Terry shrugged. "I just moved here. I travel a lot, I have since I was about fourteen or so."

Kim took a long look at her. "Parents move a lot?"

"No," Terry's eyes darkened at once. "I don't know my parents, and the people I grew up with. . .let's just say they don't care anymore what I do. No one does."

The former Pink Ranger's heart went out to this person who looked so very much like her beloved Tommy. "Are you in training?" she asked. "I'm working towards the Pan-Globals myself."

"Cool," Terry nodded. "I'm not much into gymnastics, though. I'm a martial artist. Second degree black belt in praying mantis kung fu, I study karate as well, and I'm also a student of kendo."

"Really?" Kim grinned. "You're kinda reminding me of home right now. I've got a lot of friends who are into karate, and one of them is an excellent student of praying mantis kung fu. I don't know if any of them do kendo, though."

Terry grinned herself. "Have you ever studied any martial arts?"

"Not really," Kim shook her head. "I prefer my gymnastics, but I do know a few self-defense techniques. I had to learn, living in Angel Grove."

"Tough town?"

"You could say that," Kim smiled. With Putties and Tengas and who knows what they've got running around there these days, you could DEFINITILY say that!

As Terry began to tell her about her martial arts history, Kim was reminded even more strongly of Tommy when he started to talk about karate to a new student. There was the same lilt to the voice, the same caressing tones as of speaking of something that they lived, loved, and learned on a regular basis. If I didn't know better, I'd swear they were related! Kim thought once her bags were unpacked once more in her room.

And as the weeks passed and Kim got to know her new friend, that impression increased. Terry and Tommy had more than a physical resemblance, in a lot of ways they were alike emotionally and mentally as well, only Terry didn't have Tommy's abysmal memory!

A year later, Kim was packing to go home when she looked up to see Terry standing in the doorway. "Going back to California?" the young traveler asked.

"Yeah," Kim nodded. "I've wrapped up everything here, and I'm tired of the Florida scenario, frankly. What about you? Going to stay here?"

Terry perched on the back of Kim's chair and sighed. "I don't know. I've seen about as much of Florida as I want to, but I don't know where else to go. I've been looking everywhere."

"Looking?" Kim had gotten used to the near-identical physical looks between Terry and Tommy, but she hadn't ever seen either of them bear this expression of pure. ..sorrow. "Looking for what."

"Not what," Terry shook her head. "Who."

"Okay, who?"

Kim watched as Terry pulled three pieces of paper out of her back pocket, smoothing them out carefully onto the bed. "These. My brothers."

The young gymnast glanced down, staring at the dates on the birth certificates. "Terry," she said finally. "These are all accurate, right?"

"Every last one of them. Why?"

Kim took a deep breath. "My ex, his birthday is June twenty-first: just like yours. And he has a twin brother, David. My friend Kat wrote me about him, and sent a picture of the two of them together," she reached into one of her bags to pull it out, and handed it across.

Terry looked at it, and almost paled. "They . . .they could be them. My brothers. They probably have no idea I even exist."

Kim considered what she said next only briefly. She knew it was the right thing to ask. "Want to come back to Angel Grove with me?"

"Is that where they are?"

"Yes."

Terry stood up. "Then I'm going. I've spent the last five years of my life searching for my brothers, and I'm finally going to find them."

The triplets looked at each other. Terry smiled. "And I did. Kim and I bumped into David when we got off the plane. Neither of us expected him to be there, but once we met, and got everyone's story, we decided to get you to come out here and meet us."

"And if I hadn't kept forgetting every time I turned around good, I could've been reunited with Kim and met you that much sooner!" Tommy laughed at himself.

"You know it, little brother!" Terry chuckled.

He raised an eyebrow. "Little?"

"Yeah," she chuckled. "David's the oldest, then I'm next, and you're the youngest. We're all separated by about five minutes or so."

"How do you know?" he had to ask. Her eyes darkened briefly. "I. .if it's painful?"

"No," she shook her head. "I told you I don't know who our parents are. That's true, I don't. But I have our birth certificates. That's how I knew I had two brothers."

"The birth certificates?" Tommy had seen his shortly after he'd found David, and there had been no mention of just how many of them had been born at that time. In fact, the section with how many of us there were had been blacked out. Mom and Dad actually had us get our blood tested to verify that David and I ARE brothers. They're probably going to want to do the same thing with Terry.

She reached inside the small purse she carried and pulled out three sheets of paper. "If you've ever seen a copy of this, that's probably exactly what it was: a copy. These are the originals."

As Tommy took the one she held out to him, his eyes widened. "How'd you get them?"

Terry chuckled. "I have my ways," she whispered in a spooky voice almost precisely like David's own. Tommy chuckled in his own turn, and looked at the official document. There it was in black and white. He was the youngest of the triplets, born at eleven a.m. nineteen years earlier, on the twenty-first of June. Terry had been born five minutes before him, and David five before that. But where it usually had the birth-parents names, in all cases, those were blank except for the notation 'withheld by maternal request'.

"Whoever Mom was," he found himself almost choking on the words. "She didn't want us to find her."

"We know," David's voice startled them both, and they looked up to see him out of the house, clean and changed out of the workout clothes he'd been in. "But we found each other. And that's what counts."

"You know it!" Terry and Tommy both chorused, then Terry made a mad dash for the shower. "I've got to get my own place! There's no way I'm going to share a shower with a guy ever again, even if he is my brother!" she shouted behind herself.

Both guys laughed, sharing a look that only another male could possibly understand. Kim shook her head, noticing Tommy's communicator as she did so. Divatox better leave us alone today. Tommy's found his sister today, and we're back together. The last thing he needs is to have to rush off to save the world.

"Tommy," she looked up at David's soft voice. "Are you going to tell Terry about you being. . .," his eyes fell on the communicator, and she almost fainted to realize that he knew about them.

"I don't know," Tommy shrugged. "And yes, Kim, he knows about us. I only told him because I had to. It was the only way to keep him from rushing off headlong and getting himself killed."

"Like you've never done that," she said dryly. "Running off to save the day is almost a hobby for you."

The three of them shared a laugh, then as quietly as they could, Tommy and David filled Kim in on just how the eldest of them had learned the secret identities of the Power Rangers.

"Porto!" Divatox screamed out the name of her scientist. "You'd better have some results for me! I'm tired of waiting!"

"Yes, my queen!" the chubby inventor waddled over to her, bowing over and over again. "There are many ways traditionally used to control someone against their will, my queen! The first and most popular is by a spell on the person themself."

She waved a hand casually. "Yes, I know all about that. Those are too easily broken, though. Next!"

"There's control by an object, in which the spell of control is placed on something that is then placed on the victim. As long as the object remains with them, they will obey whoever cast the spell."

"No!" Divatox screamed, deepening the frown lines in her face. "All the Rangers would have to do is take off whatever the object is, and destroy it, and then I'll lose my Ranger! Next!"

Porto winced, obviously finding a way to control someone wasn't easy when it was Divatox who wanted to do the controlling. "Then there's potions of control," he looked up as she didn't scream at him right away, but appeared to be considering the possibility.

"No!" he was almost bowled over by the force of her bellow. "The Blue Ranger could just whip up something to nullify it, or that annoying Dimitria could remove it from my victim! Try again!"

The scientist flipped through his notes, anxiously searching for something to satisfy the evil pirate queen. He paused suddenly at a particular line of research. "Majesty," he suggested a trifle diffidently. "In one of my books, there was a mention of a method called brainwashing. Apparently in Earth's history it has been used frequently by various groups of evil humans."

He watched as Divatox mused this one over. "An Earth method of controlling humans," she considered. "Does it say how it's done?"

"Yes, my queen!" glad he'd researched that, he brought up the appropriate data. He kept his eyes eagerly on the queen's face as she read through the schematics on it. She smiled slowly, a cruel and evil sight. "Divatox?"

She stood up, eyes blazing, but not with rage this time. With something he'd seldom seen before: satisfaction. "Good work, Porto, I'm very pleased."

"And I know just the person to do it for you, my queen!" he told her. "The greatest brainwasher in the universe, I checked into it just as soon as I found out such a thing existed. He's called Tutaris, and I've already sent a message to him. He's ready to brainwash as soon as you wish him to."

Divatox raised her eyebrows; she'd never seen such initiative in her servants before. "Very good, Porto!" she declared. "As soon as I locate the proper human for this plan, then we shall begin."

He bowed eagerly as she pulled her periscope closer to her and once again started to search through Angel Grove. "There has to be someone good enough and strong enough for these powers," she muttered, her attention all focused now on various martial artists. None of them are what I need. NONE of them!!

"Uh, Your Majesty?" she growled at the sound of Porto's voice. "Perhaps I might suggest checking out one of the former Rangers? We know those are all skilled fighters."

"Porto!" she lifted her head back to stare at him. "You're reminding me just why I chose you as my science officer! You had an idea!"

"Of course, my queen!" he puffed himself up a bit. "Perhaps one of those two we had on Murianthus? Those were two of the original Rangers!"

Divatox raised an eyebrow, then turned to her periscope. The boy first. Jason, I think his name was. Yes, that was it. I should've done something with him while I had him on the Subcraft. . .he looked very tasty. . .perhaps if I choose him as my Green Ranger, I WILL!

"Hey, Jase!" the former Gold and Red Ranger waved to Adam as the Green Turbo Ranger beckoned to him to join him and Tanya at their table in the Youth Center. "Been a while!"

Jason walked over to his friends and grinned. "Sure has. What have you guys been up to?"

Tanya shrugged. "The usual. Hanging out, dating, saving the world, that sorta thing. You know how it goes."

"Oh, boy, do I!" the first leader of the Rangers nodded. "Hey, where's Tommy? Aren't he and Kat usually here hanging all over each other?"

"She broke up with him earlier today," the Yellow Ranger told him softly. "She's been gone ever since, and I think he went to go see David for a while. His brother's been asking him to come out to the reservation every day for the past week."

Jason found himself laughing. "And knowing Tommy, he's been forgetting every day for the past week!"

"I think he'd forget his head if it wasn't attached to him!" Adam said dryly. "I've never seen anyone as forgetful as that boy!"

"Hey, Adam, want to spar some?" Jason asked, getting to his feet. "Been a while since I had a decent workout. Think you're up to it?"

The smaller boy grinned as he got up. "You'll see!" he said as they started for the changing room. Tanya shook her head, muttering 'men' under her breath as she did so. You'd almost expect them to run around with clubs and in animal skins at times.

A few minutes later, she had to admit, though, it was fun to see them sparring with each other. Both of them were fantastic martial artists, and it was a study in beauty to see them move. If it hadn't been for the sudden hand on her shoulder, she probably would've started to drool as she watched both of them, shirtless and sweaty, flipped and kicking and punching all over the gym floor.

"Tanya?" she looked up to see Kat looking back at her, with someone she hadn't seen in months behind her.

"Rocky?!" Tanya practically leaped out of her chair to hug the former Ranger. "Man, we've missed you!"

He laughed. "So I've heard!" he was glad to feel that she wasn't holding anything back with her hug. "What are you looking at over there?"

She had to blush. "Just Adam and Jason doing some sparring, that's all."

Kat looked over, her eyes going somewhat wide at the sight of the two friends jumping every which way. "Oh, my goodness," she whispered. "Oh, my goodness!"

Sweat gleamed off their muscled chests, as he who was known still as "Angel Grove's Finest" and the slender Adam practically danced across the mat in that never ending physical melody of the trained warrior. Kat and Tanya weren't the only ones watching, though. All over the Youth Center, every female over the age of thirteen and under the age of eighty was watching, drooling, and desiring these two.

And one pair of eyes was doing so much more than simply watching. The mind behind them was plotting. . .when it wasn't simply in awe of the glistening bodies that it was watching.

Rocky couldn't help himself as he quickly slid into the changing room, knowing Kat and Tanya wouldn't notice his absence. They did, however, notice when he joined Adam and Jason on the mat with a karate yell that equaled any he'd ever done before his accident.

"Rocky!?" came from half a dozen throats, mostly those who had known him before he'd sprained his back. "Whoa!"

He didn't bother looking at the crowd, though. His attention was all taken up with Adam and Jason as they adjusted their moves to his arrival, expanding the katas to include him. For a brief moment, he was thrown back to the old days, back years to when he, Adam, and Aisha were the Champion Ninja Team from Stone County. That was when we met Tommy and the guys. That was when EVERYTHING changed for us.

He smiled. It was good to be home.

"Yes!" Divatox screamed at the top of her lungs. "Sweaty guys with no shirts on! Oh, baby!" she moaned in sheer pleasure as she stared through her periscope at the Youth Center gym. As she watched the Rangers, current and former, working out, for one moment the evil pirate queen forgot all about finding herself an evil Green Ranger. Ruthless she might be, power-mad, driven, and desirous of ruling the entire planet, Divatox was also female, and the sight of three men like those three turned her on in many ways!

"Uh, Divatox?" she growled as Rygog tried to get her attention. "I thought you were looking for someone to be your evil Ranger?"

"I am, I am!" she pulled the periscope down and thought for a few moments. I'll have to remember to grab me one of those to play with one day. I think I'd better make my Green Ranger a woman, though, so I'm not tempted to spend all my time rolling around in the bedroom! That girl I captured. . .Kimberly, that was her name. ..let me see what she's doing. ..I think she was with the Red Turbo Ranger last time I saw her. . .

She poked her periscope up out of a small lake and peered around again. The first thing she saw was Tommy's newfound triplet sister, just walking out of the house. She wore a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, both in green and both showing off a firm muscled figure that could only have been gotten by a lifetime of exercise. Hmmmm. . .she looks skilled. .but is she?

Divatox's eyes flicked momentarily from the girl to her two brothers, and licked her lips a little at the thought of what the two of them probably looked like under those karate gis, then shook her head. "Time for fun later, Di," she reminded herself. "Business now. I've got to find out just how good this Terry is."

"If I may suggest, my queen," Porto offered. "Perhaps some Piranatrons?"

"Shut up, Porto!" she snapped, having conveniently forgotten how he'd discovered a way for her to control her own personal Ranger. "Rygog!"

"Yes, my queen?" the huge mutant jumped to attention. "How may I be of service to you?"

She peered once more through the periscope, and nodded to herself, she would have to strike quickly before they reached the other Rangers. She didn't know if any of these humans knew the Rangers' secret, except for Kimberly, but if they didn't, that would be a distinct tactical advantage. If Tommy can't morph, then he's not going to be able to fight as well. This should be VERY interesting! A flavor of the unknown. ...

"Take a school of Piranatrons and go attack the Red Ranger and those he's with, as soon as they're someplace very public. I don't want him to be able to morph," she ordered. "You're not to hurt them, very much anyway, especially not the tall girl there. I just want to see how good they all are. Especially the girl."

Rygog bowed low. "Yes, my queen! It shall be as you say!"

Divatox grinned widely to herself as Rygog and the school of Piranatrons vanished. She had the distinct feeling she was going to find herself a Green Ranger in the same bloodline that the first one had come from. She laughed. You talked about the evil Green Ranger's return bringing up bad memories for Tommy, Rita. . .well, I bet you never thought about using one of his own family members for this! He won't be able to fight at ALL when he finds out who my personal Ranger is! Viva La Diva!

"Took you long enough to get out of the shower!" Tommy teased his sister as they headed down the road back to Angel Grove. "I thought for a while we were going to have to send in the Marines to find you!"

Terry laughed as she tossed her still-damp hair over one shoulder and. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she said in an innocent voice that made them all wonder briefly if she were really related to Adam instead of Tommy! "I was only in there thirty minutes!"

"That was quite long enough," David said dryly. "Hey, I got an idea! When we get to Angel Grove, we can all hit the beach! You do have a bathing suit in those suitcases of yours, don't you, sis?"

Terry nodded, grinning mischievously. "A nice little green two piece you could probably stuff inside of a matchbox. What about you, Kim?"

"Oh, I've got something or other to throw on," Kim said, barely listening as she was involved in yet another searching study of Tommy's face. Terry chuckled.

"Don't you have him memorized by now?"

Kim blushed a deep red, managing to pull her eyes away from her boyfriend for a few moments. "I think so," she said. "What about you, Terry?"

"Huh?" the triplet girl raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"When are you going to find some nice guy to stare at for hours on end?" Kim asked. "As long as I've known you, you haven't dated anyone. Why not?"

It was Terry's turn to blush now. "Well. . ..," she demurred. "I really haven't found anyone I like yet. Um, Kim, could we possibly talk about something else with my brothers around?"

"Oh, don't mind us!" David grinned. "Go on, keep talking!"

Terry's eyes went flinty, and her brother quickly backed off. "Um, forget I said anything. Does the beach sound like a good idea to everyone?"

A chorus of 'yeses' sounded from all over the truck. Tommy grinned softly to himself as he headed back to Angel Grove. I've got Kim back. I have a sister. Today's going just great. At last.

Zedd woke up for the second time, this time from the sleep of satisfied sex. He wasn't surprised to find Rita gone, probably still hunting for a way to get back to Divatox for stealing the Green Power Coin. She's just too hooked on having an evil Green Ranger. Oh, well. . .that's one of those female things I'm better off not getting involved in.

Almost without realizing it, Zedd found himself wandering around the lower reaches of the palace, down to the Caves of Deception. He remembered coming here once before, back when he'd still been human-looking on a regular basis. The form he assumed for his unions with Rita was only a memory of that, really.

He stared at the pedestal of rock where the Zeo Crystal had once rested. He wondered briefly what the Rangers had done with that, it seemed that he'd simply awakened one morning and they'd become the Turbo Rangers, with no hints as to what had happened to the Zeo powers. He shrugged to himself. That's not really a problem. We've still got five of them to deal with. Most likely SIX when they break whatever Divatox does to whoever she picks out to be her Green Ranger. History will repeat itself.

He was getting ready to leave, to return to the main chambers of the palace, when something caused him to stop. He frowned deeply. What's that? I don't remember seeing that when I was here last time. Of course, that WAS about five thousand years ago or more. I don't even remember when it was. Zedd walked over to the small doorway, passing through it almost in a daze.

Deep darkness folded itself around him as he walked through the corridor beyond it, a darkness as deep as that within his own heart. He felt almost as if he were still asleep, but at the same time, felt more awake than he had in he didn't know how long. Slowly, a faint light began to shine ahead of him.

Zedd. . .the voice whispered in his mind and ears both. Zedd. . .come back to the light. .. come back to the light. . .

"No," he whispered, not sure if it was against his will or not. "I belong to the darkness. To the shadows. To the evil."

You don't. Not inside. Not in your heart. I know this, as no other can. Please, come back to us. Come back to me. I love you.

"Rita?" he knew even as he spoke the name that wasn't who was speaking to him. He stopped in his tracks suddenly, his staff appearing in his hand as a cold rage filled him. "Whoever you are, you are wrong. I am the Lord of Evil, and always have been and will be. Never try to trick me again."

Without another word, he waved his staff and teleported himself back to the throne room. He needed to send a monster to Earth, to attack the Rangers. That would remove these silly feelings that the light and the voice had aroused in him, feelings of good and love and kindness. "Rita!" he bellowed. "Get in here! We need a monster!"

As she rushed in to help him with his plan, she examined him quickly. Whatever that flux in the spell was, it's gone now. He's evil. Through and through. Just the way we want him to be.

Neither of them could sense the faint presence of a force of good in the throne room, which slowly faded away. Once again, Zedd had returned to the darkness.

In the Power Chamber, Dimitria slowly opened her eyes and sighed. The beautiful white-robed mentor to the Power Rangers managed not to weep, though her heart was once more filled with grief. Alpha 6 was looking at her.

"He still didn't take it, did he?" her robotic companion asked. She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Dimitria. I know you really miss him."

"More than you can imagine, Alpha," her voice was quiet and thick with remembrance. "The time is drawing near when he must remember and return to the side of good, however."

"Are you ever going to tell the Rangers about him?" he asked. He wondered how they would take the news if she ever did tell them.

She thought about that for a few moments, then sighed. "I don't know, Alpha. But sooner or later, they must know. Whether I want to tell them or not. It is fate."

A sudden disturbance in the field of magic known as the Morphin Grid pulled her attention away from the roads of the past it was attempting to go down. Her eyes widened as she realized what that particular type of ripple meant. Someone has the Green Morphin Coin again.

"Alpha, scan both the moon palace and the Subcraft," she told him. "Something is very amiss."

"Yo, yo, yo," he muttered, heading to carry out her orders. "What is it, Dimitria?"

"I sense the reactivation of the Green Power Coin," she revealed. "This could be disastrous if it is in the hands of evil."

Alpha, despite not being human, shivered at the thought of another evil Green Ranger. The first one had done a great deal of damage, and only through true luck had Tommy matured and grown into a powerful leader. As the results of the scans came in, if he'd been human, he would've went pale. "Yo, Dimitria, the Green Power Coin readings are showing up in the Subcraft! Divatox has it!"

The sorceress closed her eyes briefly. The power of an evil Ranger, in the hands of Divatox. Especially one who can call upon the mighty DragonZord. I must let the Rangers kno. . .the alarms broke into her thoughts suddenly. "Dimitria!" Alpha groaned. "Rita and Zedd have sent down a monster! First activity we've seen out of them in months!"

"It is the Labelizer, Alpha," she touched the monster's aura through the ether and trembled at the evil it contained. "It labels everything in sight, and when it labels a human, the label shrinks around them, until they are gone."

"Yo, yo, yo, I'd better call the Rangers!" Alpha declared, heading over to the communication display. Dimitria nodded as she began to observe the monster's predations. Hurry, my children. . .hurry. . .

"So this is the Youth Center?" Terry asked, glancing up at the building. "Nice place."

"Yeah, it is," Kim nodded. "Man, it's been a long time since I was here. Everything still the same, Tommy?"

Her boyfriend shook his head. "Not exactly. Ernie moved to South America to build a bridge, and he sold the place to Lieutenant. . .Detective. . .ummm. ...Jerome Stone."

"Oh, wow," Kim frowned. "Weird; I always thought of Ernie as kind of eternal. Like he wasn't ever going to leave or change."

David chuckled. "Everything changes, Kim. Come on, let's go inside."

As they started in, the oldest of the triplets noticed that Terry looked a little reluctant. David laid a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Terry?" he asked when she looked over to him. "You okay? Not too scared?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "David, I've spent years looking for you guys. Now that I've found you. . .I'm going on to meet your friends. It's. . .kind of overwhelming in a sense, I guess."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, it's all right. I know what you mean. I felt the same way when I found Tommy. But things are going to be okay. We're together now, sis."

"Yeah," Terry couldn't help but smile, then squared her shoulders and turned to the door. Feeling almost as if she were in a dream, she walked inside, just behind Tommy and Kim. Her eyes flicked from corner to corner of the room, taking it all in.

There were people everywhere. Tables, chairs, booths, a bar with a TV in one corner. A gym set up to one side, with all kinds of exercise machines and a broad set of mats where a beginner's karate class was being held. Terry took a long breath as she looked around. I think I could like it here.

Her inspection, and her gaze, stopped on a pair of deep, warm brown eyes. She swallowed twice, staring at a tall, broad-shouldered and built young man of roughly her own age. His hair was trimmed short, his eyes were tender but held an amount of wisdom and strength no one of their age should have.

And she nearly had heart failure when he got up and started towards them. Tommy looked over at him, and smiled. "Hey, Jason!" he greeted the stranger. "What's going on?"

"Hey, Tommy, Kim, David!" Jason waved at them. "Been a while since I saw you guys! I was about to ask you the same thing!"

Other people were coming over, and Terry found herself pulled over to a table along with them. Names swirled past her, all in a blur as she tried to take it all in. Adam, Tanya, Justin, Kat, Rocky. . .she wasn't sure if she could deal with all of it at the same time, not with the gorgeous Jason so close to her. Kim asked me if I was ever going to find someone. . .I think I have! But with my luck he's got a girlfriend! How could someone THAT good-looking NOT have one! Or a dozen!

"So, you're their sister?" she practically jumped to see it was Jason talking to her. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you!"

"It's okay," she responded. "Yeah, I'm their sister. Terry Magee."

"Jason Lee Scott," he introduced himself personally, shaking her hand. "You look kind of nervous, I know sparring usually calms me down, and Tommy said you study martial arts?"

Terry nodded. "Yeah. You do too?"

"Yeah," he stood up, holding his hand out to her. "Want to spar a little? Might help you feel a bit better," he smiled as she took his hand and stood up, heading outside quickly to grab her gi before going over to the changing room he showed her to.

"Hey, Tommy," David smiled as he gestured to Terry and Jason sparring on the gym floor. "Something tells me Terry's going to fit in fine around here."

The Red Ranger smiled gently. "Good," he was about to go watch them closer, when an all-too familiar six toned beep sounded. He sighed and glanced over to the others. "We gotta go, guys. David, would you give Terry a raincheck on that beach visit? With our luck, this is going to take quite a while."

His brother nodded as Tommy, Justin, Kat, Tanya, and Adam made their way to their usual teleportation spot, and vanished in the corresponding colors of light. I almost wish I could do that myself. That's GOT to be a strange job.

"David?" he looked up to see Terry and Jason just next to him. "Where'd everyone go?" Jason continued.

David's eyes flicked briefly down to his wrist, knowing Jason would understand the silent message. Out loud, he only said, "They had to go, something came up. Tommy said we'd head to the beach later, asked for a raincheck."

"Sure," she shrugged, sitting down next to her brother and nodding to Rocky. "I know things happen."

"So," the former Blue Zeo Ranger asked, "What do you think of Angel Grove so far?"

Terry shrugged again. "Not bad. I've traveled a lot the past few years, and this is honestly the best place I've seen so far. And not just because my brothers live here."

David and Rocky exchanged brief glances, noticing the way Terry and Jason looked at each other every now and then. "I wonder why that is?" David said blandly. Terry didn't even seem to notice his question, far too absorbed in the soda Jason had just bought from her.

Strangely, or perhaps not considering, they didn't notice the small periscope peering up from a drink on a neighboring table.

"Rygog!" Divatox's voice ripped through the Subcraft. "Why haven't you left yet!? I told you to go attack those kids as soon as they were in some public place! They're at that Youth Center right now, the Rangers aren't even there, what are you waiting for, a personal invitation?"

The monster bowed low several times over. "I'm sorry, my queen, I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, I already knew that!" Divatox growled as she snapped up some Piranatrons. "Take these and go attack like I said! And don't come back without a decent estimate of that girl's fighting ability! Or else!"

As her servants vanished, the pirate sat back down and pulled her periscope back over to her. With an evil smile she looked through it and saw the Red Ranger's brother and sister, as well as three former Rangers, seated about a table. Her covetous cold heart grew jealous as she saw the looks the girl was giving to that ex-Ranger Jason. How come SHE gets to fall in love and all I get is dumped at the altar? It's just not FAIR!!

She uttered a soft laugh. "Well, you won't be in love much longer if you're half as good as I think you're going to be. Quite soon, you're going to be just as evil, sick, and twisted as I am: possibly more so!"

"Okay, Dimitria, what's Divatox up to this time?" Tommy asked as he and the other Rangers became solid. He wanted this fight over and done with! "I've just met my sister, and I want to get back to knowing her as fast as possible!"

"Congratulations on meeting Terry, Tommy," his mentor said softly. "When I have completed a project of my own I am working on, I wish to speak with you about her and David both. But for now, we have trouble."

Kat nodded. "What's going on?"

"It is not Divatox we face this time, Rangers, but rather your old familiar foes of Rita and Zedd. They have created the Labelizer monster and it is labeling everything in sight," she gestured to the monitors as the Rangers turned to look at them. They all shivered to see a typical huge and hideous monster shooting labels out of it's hands at people and objects all over town. Whenever a label landed on something alive, it wrapped and shrunk around the thing in question, shrinking them down to the size of a toy and holding them where they were. "Only the destruction of the monster shall permit these people to return to their full size, Rangers. You must hurry!"

The Rangers nodded as Tommy pulled out his Turbo Key. "Shift into Turbo!" he shouted.

"Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"

"Desert Thunder Turbo Power!"

"Dune Star Turbo Power!"

"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"

"Red Lightning Turbo Power!"

Within moments, the five of them had teleported out of the Power Chamber and were in the middle of downtown Angel Grove, where the monster was busy labeling everything in sight. "Oh, man, we'd better get this thing taken care before it starts labeling us!" Tommy declared. "Rita and Zedd are going to regret going back into the monster-making business!"

"Let's do it!" Adam snapped, running towards the creature as it labeled a park bench, once the two people who'd been sitting on it had been labeled out of existence. "And fast!" before there's nothing of Angel Grove left but a label factory!

It was a quiet, peaceful day at the Angel Grove Youth Center. Every day was like that, even when the battles raged outside. The last excitement that place had seen had been when Master Vile had held his end of the world party there, and that had been broken up by the Power Rangers. Oh, sure, there were martial arts exhibitions, concerts, all manner of things like that. . .but nothing really. . .exciting.. .happened.

Terry was liking it just fine that way, too. She'd had more than enough that day just meeting Tommy and all of his friends. Especially Jason. Never in her life had she fallen for someone like this. She'd had the occasional crush, even a boyfriend once or twice in her years of wandering. But never had she cared about someone as she did Jason. She knew it wasn't rational, she'd only met him that day. But for some reason, she felt perfectly willing to throw logic and rationality out the door.

"Did Tommy and the others have any idea when they'd be back?" Jason asked, more for Terry's benefit than anything else. Rocky shook his head.

"Nope, no clue," he replied. He suddenly went pale as a dozen shapes suddenly leapt up with a sound as of water falling. "Guys, trouble!" he snapped the words out as he would have in the old days when he was a Ranger. Kim, Jason, David, and Terry were on their feet, staring with wide eyes at the Piranatrons coming towards them.

Terry shivered at the sight of the mutant in the lead, as Rygog stalked towards them. "What is that!?" she wondered.

Rocky ducked under a swinging fist and told her, "Piranatrons! They're the foot soldiers of the local insane lunatic, Divatox!"

Kim nodded as she backflipped, kicking one of them in the face as she did so. "And the big one is Rygog!" she hoped Terry wasn't going to ask just how they knew all that, but a quick look showed her that the girl and her brother were both too involved in fighting off the monsters to really notice just who was saying what at the moment.

Terry and David were fighting back to back, punching, kicking, sweeping, swinging, and moving almost in unison, as if they'd trained for this every day of their lives. Almost everyone else had cleared out of the Youth Center when the Pirantrons had invaded, and Jerome Stone had joined in the fight, swinging a baseball bat he kept under the bar.

"You mutants get outta my place!" he screamed, smashing a Piranatron upside the head and causing it to collapse in a tiny shower of bubbles. "Yeah! This is like being back on the force!"

"Divatox is going to rule your world, puny humans!" Rygog hissed, swinging his sword at Jason. The former Ranger moved back quickly to avoid the blade, then slammed his elbow into Rygog's general stomach region.

Jason laughed, "You've got to be kidding! Divatox couldn't rule a fishpond, much less Earth!" he growled as the monster grabbed him by an arm and tried to throw him into a wall.

Tried, because a blur of green was there, knocking Rygog away from him and taking up a quick protective stance. "Leave him alone!" Terry shouted. "Pick on someone your own size, you monster!"

Rygog growled, quickly getting back up to his feet and glaring at the young girl. "Like you, pip-squeak?" he hissed. "Don't start something you can't finish, little girl!"

"Who are you calling little, airhead?" Terry challenged, ducking under the blade then grabbing it quickly and pulling it out of his hands. "And believe me, anything I start, I am fully capable of finishing!"

Jason couldn't believe his ears, and couldn't help but smile as he saw Terry facing the mutant down with his own blade. "I think you're the one who's bitten off more than he can handle, Rygog!" he told him. "And I think you'd better get out of here!"

Divatox's servant snapped out something incredibly nasty to Terry and Jason both, something they knew they were better off not hearing. He moved forward quickly, grabbing his sword back from Terry. "I'll see you again, human!" Rygog promised. "I promise you, this is not over with yet!"

In a flash of fire, he and all the Piranatrons that hadn't already been beaten down by the small force vanished. Jerome leaned against a table for a moment, catching his breath, and looked at the others. "Everyone okay?" he asked. At the varied nods, he grinned and shoved his baseball bat back under the counter. Seeing the look in the teenagers' eyes, he shrugged. "Even in Angel Grove, a person has to be prepared. Or should that be especially in Angel Grove?"

As he went to call everyone else back into the Youth Center, David and Jason both turned to Terry. "Are you okay?" two voices asked together. Kim chuckled, shaking her head. Oh, yeah, Jason's got it bad for her! And she's nuts over him!

"Yes, I'm fine," Terry smiled at the concern the two of them held for her. "Very fine, indeed. I haven't had that much fun in a long time, actually!"

"You call that fun?" Rocky stared at her. "Are you nuts?"

Terry giggled. "Rocky, I don't know about you, but I didn't grow up in Angel Grove. I don't fight monsters as an every day occurrence. This was a first for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it." it was the first time in my life I've ever fought to protect other people, not just myself. I LOVED it!

Rocky shook his head and sat back down as people slowly returned to the establishment. "Terry, you're just like your brothers," he grinned. "You're totally nuts."

"I know," Terry giggled. "Fun, isn't it?"

Rita watched, growling under her breath, as the Rangers swung their blade through the Labelizer, destroying it. "This was your bright idea, Zedd!" she hissed, glaring at him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Her husband only shrugged; he'd lost his enthusiasm for the plan shortly after sending the monster. All he really wanted to do now was sleep. "I'm taking a nap," he started towards their bedroom. "Keep the noise down out here, too!"

"You're going to sleep?" Rita wailed. "What about the Rangers? What about Divatox? What about our new evil Green Ranger!?"

Zedd glared at her for a moment. "Those are all your plans, Rita. I'm going to take a nap, and then I'll have my own. Now, keep quiet!"

As he stomped away, Rita's eyes blazed with fury. "I won't have this," she muttered. "Something is weakening my spell on him, and I will not permit this to happen!"

She stormed away to her spellroom; she'd been saving something for this very occasion, though she'd hoped she'd never have to use it. "Zedd," she said half to herself, half to him, even knowing he wouldn't hear her. "You brought this on yourself."

In a very short amount of time, blackness filled her spellroom, shadows split only by four tiny points of candlelight. Rita's face glowed a hideous green as she gazed into a book in front of her. With a voice devoid of all emotion, she chanted solemnly words of great and evil power. She kept all of her thoughts focused one thing and only one thing: the summoning she was attempting.

No mage of evil that Rita knew of had ever attempted something like this before. Not that it really mattered to her, she had never really cared if someone had beaten her to something or not. What she was interested in right now was a successful summoning.

Over and over she repeated the spell, concentrating with all her might. She knew Goldar and Finster had to be wondering what she was doing, but both of them would leave her alone, or else. Her brother didn't have to sense to wonder, but he also would leave her be. She chanted repeatedly, forcing her mind into darker and more evil places as she did so.

Then it happened. A sudden column of pure black smoke appeared in front of her. Eyes formed out of it, and a voice that sounded like all that was evil and twisted in the universe spoke. "Why have you summoned me, Rita Repulsa?"

"My husband, Lord Zedd, is growing weak," she said, her voice shaking a little from the strength of the spellcasting. "I gave him a love potion to cause him to marry me and gain control of his empire, but it was neutralized. I believed for a time he truly cared for me, but that has ended, and the spells I have been casting to keep his will under my control have been losing effect. I need your help to keep him on the side of evil."

The smoke-demon seemed to nod, as much as a thing without a head could. "And what do you offer me for this?" it asked. "What shall be my prize for this?"

She was lucky she'd thought of this long in advance. "Within one turning of the moon of Earth we dwell on, I will bring to you a purer human soul than you have ever imagined possible. That will be your payment."

"A pure human soul," the demon considered. "The purest of souls. It is a precious thing, a great thing. But it is not enough."

Rita's eyes widened. "What more do you want?"

"Three souls!" it countered. "Three souls: the soul of a warrior, the soul of a mystic, and the soul that loves them both. Each to be as pure as driven snow. Within the space of one human month, four human weeks, I will have these souls or I shall release Zedd from what I shall do to him: and I will claim you as my prize and payment, Rita Repulsa. Is this understood?"

A warrior, a mystic, and someone who loves both of them. Where am I supposed to find all THAT, and have them ALL be pure souls as well? Well, I've got a week to find them! Probably those Rangers will have someone in their ranks that I can use. I'll just have to search a bit. And it will be well worth it.

She looked at the smoke-demon, and nodded. "Agreed. We have a bargain."

"Very well," that which she had summoned seemed to thin out a trifle. "And now. . .to business!"

Rita found herself drawn after the thing as it wafted out of the spellroom and down to their personal chambers. They entered the bedroom, where Zedd lay tossing and turning in a most unquiet sleep. Rita could easily see the weakening of the spells that she'd placed on him, and shivered. I did this at just the right time, another day or less, and he would've broken them all.

Her jaw dropped, however, when her summoned companion hovered over Zedd for a moment, and then plunged deep inside of him. Zedd sat up straight, flickering to his human form briefly, and screaming with all his might. "Nooooooooo!" was all he had time to say before the thing now inside of him took total control, reverting him back to his monstrous body. His red visor turned to the deepest shade of black possible, as his silvery exoskeleton transformed into one of onyx. "I am Lord Zedd, Emperor of all I survey," he grated, and Rita flinched, even as she had the first time she had heard those words. "And there is much work that needs doing. The Power Rangers must be defeated, and the simplest method for that is the retrieval of the Green Power Coin and the creation of an evil Green Ranger."

Rita bowed low, trembling at what she had unleashed. "How shall we do that, mighty Lord Zedd?" it was best to refer to this thing as it had referred to itself. Better safe than sorry, she believed!

"We shall permit Divatox to keep the Coin for now," he declared. "She does have a good eye for warriors, and we have enough to do setting this place back into true order."

He got to his feet, flexing his body as if to see just how it worked. "Very fine indeed," he muttered. "And with the power of three pure souls added in one moon's time, very, very powerful indeed."

Rita stepped back as he threw a glare at her. "Remember: should you fail in your task, the punishment for it will be most dire. And beyond the greatest imaginings you have for pain as well."

As they walked towards the throne room, Rita found herself wondering if she had done the right thing by calling this creature up and permitting it to take over Zedd's body. Surely just letting him slip away from evil couldn't possibly have been worse than having to live with this thing? She shook her head suddenly. What am I thinking? I have served the side of evil faithfully and well since I was born, I will NOT let my husband, no matter how sneakily I wed him, dwindle into one of those stupid do-gooders! This is the right thing to have done, the ONLY thing I could've done to save us all! The forces of evil WILL win the day!

When the 'new' Lord Zedd entered the Chamber of Command, the entire room turned pitch black, lit only by two smoky torches that appeared on the back of the throne. They glowed red instead of yellow, as normal torches would have, and gave off a foul stench as well as light. Lord Zedd took his throne, and gestured to Rita to sit beside him.

"And I believe you shall not speak of what we have done this day, my dear wife," he purred, his voice low and beguiling. "For if you utter a word to any other in the universe about what now lives in this body, then the perils I promise you should you fail to live up to our bargain will seem pleasant."

Rita couldn't stop a shiver as Zedd materialized his staff in one hand. She had the intense feeling that things were about to get a lot scarier around here.

And she wasn't all that certain she liked it.

Divatox closed her eyes in thought, as Rygog limped back home to nurse his wounds, both physical and to his pride. She's strong, she's quick, she thinks on her feet, and she's got an attitude. The attitude I could do without, but I think I can change that when I make her my slave. Yes, I do believe I have found the one I've been looking for.

"My queen," Rygog called her and she glanced up at him, gesturing to give him permission to speak. "I want that silly human! She's disgraced me! She threatened me with my own weapon!"

"I know, I saw!" Divatox laughed. "And did it so easily, too!" at the look in his eyes, she waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, Rygog, she's going to pay for that. She's the one I've decided on to be my evil Green Ranger."

She could see the glint in his eyes at that. "Let me be the one to break her!" he begged. "I want to make her suffer for challenging me like she did! Please, my queen, I beg of you!"

"No!" she snapped. "I've already got plans made for how I'm going to turn her to evil, but that will wait. When the time is right, I want you to go back to Angel Grove and take her captive."

Rygog nodded, bowing. "When do you want me to do this, my queen?"

"I'll let you know!" she snapped. "Porto!" as the scientist popped up next to her, she continued, "Research this Teresa Magee thoroughly. I want to know everything about her, every last little detail, every secret she's ever had in her life. I want to know it all. And have your brainwashing friend ready at a moment's notice. Do you both understand!?"

Porto and Rygog both prostrated themselves in front of her quickly. "As you say, my queen!" they chorused. "All at your command!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I know," she sat back down, pulling the periscope closer to her. "Now get to work! I've got some personal things to do!" she declared. As they popped off to work, Divatox licked her lips and peered through the periscope, watching the one who would be her evil Ranger in time. What secrets do you hide, my dear? No matter. . .soon enough, they will all be mine to control. As will you. Enjoy your time with your brothers. For soon, you shall be fighting against them, as the reborn evil Green Ranger!

"Whew!" Tanya shook her head as she demorphed in the Power Chamber. "Another day, another monster, down the tubes! Good thing Rita and Zedd don't work with Divatox, we could have real trouble then!"

Kat winced briefly. "Don't give them any ideas," she said. "You never know, they just might try that!"

"Let's hope they don't then," Justin eased himself against a console and looked up at Dimitria. "Is there anything else we have to take care of? I've got a history test I really need to study for."

Adam looked over at the young genius, "Need any help? History was always my best subject."

Dimitria closed her eyes briefly, and sighed. If I could only tell you. . ."No, Rangers. Rita and Zedd appear to be going dormant once more in the ways of evil, and Divatox is deep in the throes of some new evil plan."

"A new evil plan?" Tommy was on his feet at once, looking up at her. "What do you know about it? What can we do?" he frowned deeply when Dimitria didn't respond to him and was about to say something harsh when he was cut off.

"Yo, yo, yo, Tommy!" Alpha shook his head, coming over to the Red Ranger. "Dimitria's not like that, you know she only tells you things when it's necessary you know them!"

"Correct, Alpha," Dimitria replied. "Rangers, there is nothing that can be done at this moment about Divatox's plan. When something can be done, then believe me, it shall be. In the meantime, return to your daily lives. Tommy, I believe you have a sister that ne----"

The alarms suddenly cut into what she was saying, and Alpha and Justin both leaped to the controls. "Guys, we've got trouble again!" the Blue Ranger sighed. "Looks like you spoke too soon, Dimitria. Whatever else Divatox is up to, she's got a patrol of Piranatrons trashing downtown Angel Grove!"

The Rangers got slowly to their feet. "Let's do it," Adam sighed. Tommy nodded.

"Back to action!" crackled through the Power Chamber as the five of them teleported away. Alpha Six looked up at Dimitria. "Why didn't you tell them that the Piranatrons attacked the Youth Center while they were fighting Rita and Zedd's monster?" he asked.

"It would have accomplished nothing," she told him. "And their friends will inform them of this when they arrive. There was no danger, the former Rangers and Tommy's family had things well in hand."

Alpha could only shrug, then took a look at the monitors. One was showing the Rangers as they kicked the Piranatrons around the downtown section, while a second kept an eye on the non-Ranger teens as they awaited the return of their friends. A third was showing the Lunar Palace, as much as they could of it, while a fourth probed for Divatox's Subcraft. Everything seemed to be in order, and the little robot absorbed himself in checking over the instruments, while Dimitria delved into her thoughts.

Something has happened to Zedd, she mused, touching again and again the twisted thing that was his aura now. She shivered, glad that whatever it was that had infected him could not sense the feather-light touch she was placing there every now and then. Something most hideous. What have you done to him, Rita? Your spell-signature is written all through this.

She sighed deeply. Much to be done. Divatox is active, Rita and Zedd are active once more. Something VERY strange is going on, I can sense it all around. I fear a time of change beyond all else is coming onto the Rangers. And this change might not be for the best.

Terry was exhausted by the time the Rangers trudged their way back into the Youth Center. She hardly even looked up when Tommy waved at her, too busy splitting her face apart with a massive yawn. "Terry?"

"Oh, hi, Tommy," she smiled at her brother. "You guys. . .do whatever it was you had to do?"

"Yeah," he sat down next to her, brushing Kim's lips gently with a kiss as he did so. "Everything's all taken care of. Sorry about not being able to get to the beach today. Think we can swing it tomorrow?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I was thinking of going job and apartment hunting. I have no intentions of sponging off David forever, especially since his dad's not going to be gone forever. I'd like to make a good impression on him, and on your parents when I meet them."

He agreed with her. "Good idea. Hey, if you can't find anything else, I think we might need some help at the dojo, what do you think, Rocky?"

His partner nodded briefly, "Yeah, I think one of the other instructors is going to be leaving soon, and you're more than good enough to teach, Terry. If you want to, that is."

"Maybe," she nodded, getting to her feet. "I really need to get to sleep, though."

Tommy joined her. "I'll give you two a ride back to the reservation," he said. "I sort of have to, considering I'm the one who drove you down here."

David grinned merrily, "I'm getting as forgetful as you!" he laughed. "I should've remembered to bring my car instead!"

"See you tomorrow, Terry," Jason bid her as the triplets started out. She smiled, hardly noticing as Kim rushed by her at warp speed to plant a farewell kiss on Tommy.

"Yeah," she nodded. "See you tomorrow." Oh, I think I'm in love!

"I'm glad you finally made it, Tommy!" David said as their brother stopped outside his house. "It wasn't easy trying to keep both Terry and Kim a secret from you, but they insisted that I do it!"

The Red Ranger laughed a little, as Terry waved good night to them and went on inside. He lowered his voice quickly, "How did she take us vanishing like we did?"

David shrugged. "Very well, I thought. Are you going to tell her about you and the others?" he glanced towards his brother's communicator meaningfully.

"I'd rather not," Tommy shook his head. "I don't want her to get caught up in any of Divatox's schemes."

"It might be too late for that," David remembered. He quickly told him about the attack at the Youth Center, and Terry's near-challenge of Rygog.

"Looks like some things run in the family," Tommy sighed. "Rygog's not exactly the brightest thing in the universe, but we'll keep an eye out."

David's lips quirked. "You might not have to. I think Terry could take the jerk if you gave her a chance. She certainly looked ready to when he attacked Jason."

"Well," Tommy raised an eyebrow. "You think she likes him?"

"I can't say for sure. But I wouldn't be surprised, and I think it's mutual," David declared. "And I think it's a very good thing if they became a couple. Something tells me Terry hasn't had as much love in her life as she needs."

Tommy nodded. "You got the same feeling, huh? I wonder what she hasn't told us yet: and why not," he practically winced at the look his brother gave him.

"Tommy, she just met you today and me a week ago. Why should she tell us too much right away? Give her some time to get to know us, and to get comfortable here in Angel Grove. I'm sure she'll tell us whatever it is she might have to in time."

"Yeah, you're right," the Red Ranger nodded. "Okay, I'd better get back home myself, Kim and I have a date for tomorrow."

"First date in a year," David congratulated him. "You guys be good now!"

Tommy blushed almost the same deep red as his shirt, and David only chuckled as he waved good-bye and headed inside. The youngest of the triplets grinned to himself and started back home. Today had wound up being a better day than he'd had any right to imagine.

Kim. Terry. Except for that monster, it was all right. To say the least. I just hope Divatox, Rita, and Zedd will let me get to know my sister and enjoy some time with Kim.

"Sire?" Goldar almost trembled when he saw the new improved Lord Zedd seated on his throne, with Rita a silent {for once} presence next to him. "Sire, you look. . .different!"

Rito blinked at his brother-in-law and shook his head. "Whoa, Ed, what did you do to yourself? You look all buffed up!"

Zedd ignored the idiot, and focused his attention first on the Tengas gathering behind Goldar. "You are not worthy to fight the Rangers as you are," he declared to the winged creatures. "You must be. .. improved.

The Tengas trembled a little as he raised his staff and pointed it at them. "Oh, don't be such wimps!" he commanded, his voice shaking the very palace. A blast of black lightning emerged from the tip of his staff and enveloped the warriors, blinding them to all sight and sound for a few moments. When they could be seen again, there was a definite change.

They had gained at least two feet in height, with correspondingly more muscles and a fiendish glow to their eyes. "Thank you, Lord Zedd," the chief Tenga declared, speaking clearly and without squawking incoherently for the first time. "We are now Super-Tengas, at your command, master."

Zedd nodded. "I will have a use for you briefly. For now, go clean up your quarters, they're a disgrace to the cause of evil."

The Tengas turned, and in perfect order, marched out of the throne room. Rito scratched his head in confusion. "Uh, how'd you do that, Ed?"

Once again he found himself ignored, as Zedd's gaze fell next upon Finster. The little inventor trembled at the look bent on him, wondering briefly if this was going to be the end of him now. Whatever had happened to Zedd, it didn't look as if he would be needed anymore. "Finster," Zedd grated. "You have served well for a good many centuries. Very soon, we shall require you once again, to recreate something lost some years ago. But there is one thing you must have first."

Goldar did shiver as Zedd looked at him next. "Goldar," Lord Zedd spoke. "You are to go to the planet of Tikaris and gain a quantity of ultra-steel from the mines there."

"Ultra. . .ultra-steel?" Goldar stuttered. "What for?"

Zedd's eyes blazed brightly, as the simian warrior backed up. "Do you want to question my will, Goldar?" he hissed. At Goldar's hurried shaking of the head, he nodded. "Good. You are to leave at once. Do not return without twenty pounds of ultra-steel. Your life and sanity depend on it, understood?"

Goldar's only reply was a shaky bow, and then he leaped off the balcony, flying as fast as he could towards the planet Tikaris. Zedd nodded to himself in approval, then looked back to Finster. "You are going to reforge a great blade, Finster," he said. "And once Divatox has done us the favor of choosing a new evil Green Ranger, we shall make that one our own."

"A sword?" Rita asked quietly. "What sort of sword?"

Zedd looked at her, a cold and cruel smile showing under his new black faceplate. "Why, Rita. . .if we are going to have an evil Green Ranger, then should it not stand to reason that we also have what kept the first under your power in the beginning?"

Her eyes widened, first with shock, then lit up with a sort of hideous joy. "You're going to reforge the Sword of Darkness!" she whispered. Then something else occurred to her. "But all that would be required would be for the Rangers to destroy that as they did the first one, and the history repeats itself all over again!"

Zedd shook his head. "This Sword shall be somewhat. . .different. .you will see, my dear Rita. You shall see, indeed!"

Laughter beyond evil sounded in the depths of the lunar night, as Lord Zedd rejoiced at his plan. Ah, yes, the forces of evil were going to win at last!

"Terry!" David waved the next morning as he came into the Youth Center to see his sister sitting rather dejectedly at the bar. "Hey, is something wrong?" she'd come to town that day searching for a job and a place to stay, and from the look of her, things hadn't gone very well.

"No, not really," she sighed. He wasn't so sure he believed her, though, and said so. She glanced over at him. "Tommy was here earlier," she said at last. "Then out of nowhere, he just up and run off. I don't know where he went or why. He just. . .left."

Must have been that monster attack I heard of on the news, David thought.Just great. "I'm sure it's nothing," he waved her fears away. "I'm sure he'll be back any second!"

Terry nodded, then perked up a little as Jason came over to them. "Hey, David!" he smiled. "Hi, Terry! How's the job-hunting going?"

"I think I'm going to take that job with Rocky and Tommy," she said, glancing over a newspaper in front of her. "There doesn't seem to be much else that I can do here."

"Sounds like a good idea," Jason agreed. "I thought about joining with them, but I like it here better."

"You work here?" Terry looked at him. "I somehow didn't imagine you as the waiter type, really."

Jason chuckled and shook his head. "No, I teach martial arts. There's enough distance between their school and here so we don't interfere with each other, and we offer advice on occasion as well."

"Cool," Terry looked up as Tommy and the other Rangers came back in, and smiled. "Hi, Tommy!" there was only a slight strain on her face as her brother came over to them.

"Hey, guys," he nodded. "Sorry I had to run like that, Terry, but something really urgent came up that I had to take care of. Have you thought about that job at the dojo yet?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think I'll take it, if the offer's still open."

"You know it is, sis," Tommy grinned at her. "You can start tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Kim sort of wrapped herself around Tommy as he stood next to Terry and smiled at her. "Hey, you want to go shopping?" the gymnast asked her friend. "I know you could probably use some new clothes. I haven't seen you buy anything in a year!"

"I don't have much money," Terry admitted. "I blew almost everything I had on the plane ticket here."

Kim shrugged. "Then you can watch me shop. I'm really good at it," she grinned. "And if you see something you like that you can afford, go for it."

Terry protested tokenly for a few more moments, then finally gave in. She glanced over at Tommy for a moment. "You coming?" she asked casually, hoping he would. I'd really like him to come, if Kim doesn't mind, which I doubt she will.

"Sure," Tommy nodded, then his shoulders slumped as something beeped. "Oh, man! I can't! That's my watch alarm, I've. . .got a doctor's appointment today. Nothing major, just my yearly checkup, but I'd better not miss it."

Terry sighed and nodded, as Kim gave him a quick kiss and whispered something in his ear before he dashed out of the Youth Center. "Kim," she said, looking at her friend. "Did I do something to Tommy? I. . .think he's avoiding me all of a sudden."

"Oh, no, that's not it at all!" Kim shook her head. "He just doesn't have the best memory and sometimes he'll remember things at the oddest times. He adores you, trust me!"

"Yeah, I guess," Terry got to her feet. "Now, did someone mention. . .shopping? And since my one brother bailed out on us, I think we're going to have to recruit my other one. . .and others," her eyes fell on David, Rocky, and Jason as they stood there. Kim's lips quirked.

"I like the way you think!" she declared. "Come on, boys!"

The look the three guys gave each other said plainly they envied Tommy at that moment.

Kim might have told Terry that her brother wasn't ignoring her, but as the next week passed, and every time it seemed like they were going to have the chance to spend some time together and get to know each other, something happened to stop it. Terry accepted Tommy's excuses each time, that he had to get his truck checked out, that he was late for something or other. . .

But she began to wonder if he were avoiding her, since these things never seemed to come up when it was just David or Kim around. She was working at the dojo now, and every now and then she would hear Kim coming in to talk to Tommy, and the two of them would sail off on a date somewhere together, which always seemed to go perfectly.

Despite all that, romance, if nothing else, was going along very well all over. Tommy and Kim were a couple so tight you couldn't even see air through them, as were Adam and Tanya. Kat and Rocky were dating on a regular basis. Jason hadn't asked Terry out yet formally, but he had begun to make it a habit to show up every day after work to drive her back to the small apartment over the Youth Center she'd rented her third day in Angel Grove.

Divatox watched all this with a dark and evil glee; she was timing her attacks just perfectly. With her ability to spy on the Rangers just about anywhere, she was able to learn that the female triplet had no idea of Tommy's secret identity, and that the Rangers weren't going to be telling her, either. That fit just right into the evil pirate queen's plot, she was able to attack in just the right times and places so she could draw Tommy from plans he made with his sister.

"And now she's starting to think he doesn't like her," the queen laughed softly. "And very soon, everything will be in place. I need just one more event to totally sever her. . .now what shall it be?" she mused for a few moments, then smiled. "I know just the thing. Rygog, Elgar, Porto!!"

As her three minions popped up, she found herself wishing she had her evil Ranger already. This Terry MUST be more interesting to talk to than these jerks! She's at least more intelligent. ..then again, who wouldn't be? "I have a three-pronged attack planned and ready to go, that is going to give me my evil Green Ranger!"

"What shall we do, my queen?" Rygog asked, while Elgar slowly worked at picking some meat from between his teeth.

"It's very simple, so even you should be able to understand it," she told them. But I doubt it. "First, you, Elgar, will take some Piranatrons and my latest monster, the Feline Fury, to Angel Grove to lure the Rangers away when I give the word. You are to keep them occupied as long as possible. Understood?"

"Uh, yeah, Auntie Di!" Elgar nodded, and Divatox's attention turned next to Porto.

"While he's doing that, I want you to take more Piranatrons and attack downtown Angel Grove. If I know Dimitria, she'll call those former Rangers in to deal with this, since they've proven they can handle my Piranatrons on their own," she chuckled a little. "But she won't call in that little Terry, because she doesn't know the secret of the Rangers. That will leave her all on her own, and thinking that no one here really cares about her."

Rygog laughed shortly. "What do I do, my queen?" he hoped it was what he wanted it to be. He'd been longing for a chance at that girl again!

"Well, Rygog," Divatox stood up, a wicked grin on her face. "You're going to get what you want. While Terry Magee is alone, you are to capture her and bring her here. And she is not to be harmed, I require her services, and I can't do that if she's all bruised up."

"Your Majesty!" Rygog protested a little. "I want to hurt her!"

Divatox shook her head. "Some other time, Rygog. My plan is more important than your wounded pride!"

The mutant sighed somewhat, knowing what would happen if Divatox even thought he'd betray her in the slightest sense. "Yes, my queen," he agreed. "I will bring her to you unharmed in the slightest physical way." Though I WILL do all I can to hurt her pride as she did mine!

Divatox nodded her approval. "Good. When I give the orders, I want to see you all out of here!" they bowed over and over to her, then hurried out as she once more pulled the periscope over to her. "Now back to business," she muttered, peering through. Watching hot looking males in the shower!

She licked her lips, enjoying the show as Tommy, David, Rocky, Adam, and Jason cleaned up after a rough workout session

I've really got to pick up one of those for myself, she thought as she watched the water sluicing down over five naked bodies. Oh, that's cute. . .Adam has a little birthmark on his left shoulder. Nice muscles down there too. . .ohhhh. . .imagine that! Rocky has a tattoo on his butt! What possible reason could he have for having a red ape there? Tommy's even more muscular than I thought. . .and I wonder if my Green Ranger to be knows about THAT particular scar on Jason? I wonder how he got it. . .

"You think Terry's mad at me?" Tommy asked as he and Kim walked into the Youth Center. Kim frowned for a moment, her forehead wrinkling up cutely he noticed.

"I'm not sure if 'mad' is the right word," she said finally. "But every time you guys try and do something as a family, that blasted communicator goes off and you've got to go save the world, and she doesn't know why. I'd say it seems to her like you're avoiding her."

Tommy thought it over for a moment, then nodded. "I'd say so. I think. . ." he paused, wondering if what he was thinking was the right thing to do. There had been so many attacks lately, and with just the wrong timing it seemed. . .

"You think what?" David's voice broke into his thoughts. "What's going on in that mind of yours, little bro?"

Tommy didn't answer right away, glancing around first to see if he could see Terry anywhere. When he couldn't, he continued, "I want to talk to Dimitria about telling Terry who we are. The Rangers. I'm tired of having to bug out every time there's a fight, and I can't tell her anything!"

"Better calm it down a bit, bro," David whispered as they entered. "Terry's in here."

Tommy nodded, quickly changing the subject. Terry was looking dead at them when they entered the main room of the Youth Center, and all of them almost flinched back from the look of rage that shone momentarily in her eyes. "Oh, yeah, she's mad," Tommy whispered softly. "I have definitely got to talk to Dimitria."

Terry could see him whispering something to Kim, and looking at her as she did it. I don't believe this! At the LEAST he could TELL me he doesn't like me so I could leave! This is his town, I don't have a place here, as much as I try to. I've found my brothers, that was my goal, now that I've done that, I should just leave. . .start wandering again. . .

"Hey, Terry!" Tommy waved in his usual friendly fashion as they joined her at the table. "What's going on, I haven't seen you lately!"

Of course you haven't, every time we try and get together, you've been running out within five minutes! "I know," she nodded, trying to maintain at least the polite fiction. She did like her brother, she was on the verge of loving him, but this was truly getting on her nerves. She smiled at him, hoping one last time that today they'd have some uninterrupted time together.

When five minutes later, Tommy was still there, and they were still chatting companionably, Terry began to have the faint hope that maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong.

"So, that's how Tommy and I met," David finished up the tale of Tommy's vision quest, and how that had reunited the two of them. "But we had no idea then we were going to find you one day!"

Terry nodded, and opened her mouth when a sudden beeping sounded. She sighed; she'd heard it before and the same thing always happened. Tommy had told her it was his watch alarm, and whenever it went off, he would have to go somewhere. As she looked at him, she saw the apology in his eyes and on his lips, and waved a hand. "No, you go do whatever it is you have to do this time. I'll see you later."

And now all his friends get up and go with him, at least Kat, Adam, Tanya, and Justin. Geez, you'd think the five of them were attached at the hip or something. Every time that watch alarm of his goes off, whichever of them is there with him goes off with him! She could hear them leaving as she shut her eyes, and sighed. At least everyone else stays here. Rocky, David, Kim. . .Jason. . .oh, Jason. . ..

"I'm hungry!" Kim declared suddenly. "Who's up for some food? Rocky, don't you say a word, I know how you are! And I do have enough for everyone, including you, so let's go!"

Terry didn't move, too lost in her thoughts. Jason glanced at the others, then touched her shoulder gently. "Terry? You okay?" she nodded briefly. "Want something to eat with us?"

She slowly sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "Sure," she sounded a little dejected, to Jason at least.

"Um, Terry," he said, glancing at the others and trying to send them a message with his eyes to leave the two of them alone. He groaned mentally when another communicator went off: his. He'd taken to wearing it again with all the attacks that had been going on, they all had, him, David, Kim, and Rocky, and ever since, it hadn't went off once: until now. PERFECT timing, Divatox. . ..NOT!!! Whatever's going on, it better be REAL good! "Um, Terry, we're going to have to go. Hate to pull a Tommy, but we've got to go . . .go. .. .."

Kim jumped in quickly, "To go get some things for a get-together we're having at Tommy's place later tonight. Wish you could come along, but we're going to need the extra space for groceries," oh, man, she's never going to believe that, that sounds HORRIBLE!!!

Terry's eyes shone with tears for one brief moment, then went very dark. "All right," her voice was falsely bright. "I know how things go. I'll see you guys later," she said, stepping away. Before they could say or do anything, she'd turned and practically ran out of the Youth Center. David sighed.

"I wish we could go after her, but Dimitria's calling," he said. He wasn't quite sure just what they could do if Divatox had sent another monster or something, but he knew the summons was important. "Let's get moving, we can talk to her after we get back."

"Yeah," Jason was staring after her, then sighed as they moved to a quiet, unwatchable corner of the Youth Center, teleporting out. Oh, Terry. . .

"You Rangers have had it!" Elgar growled as he directed several Piranatrons at them. "Divatox is gonna destroy you all!"

Tommy almost yawned as he fended them off. "Don't you have any better lines than that, Elgar?" he asked. "Come on, certainly you can do something a lot better than that!"

"You think you're the cat's meow, don't you, Red Ranger?" the Feline Fury purred, leaping on him out of a tree. "Well, I'm just in the mood for a little red mouse snack!"

The Red Ranger whirled just as he was borne to the ground by the monster, resembling a rather large and ticked off lion, and managed to grunt out, "I'm not a mouse, I'm a falcon!"

"Whatever!" the monster growled, clawing at his helmet. "Regardless, you're lunch!"

The Feline Fury's dinner plans were canceled, however, when a blue blur ripped across the battlefield and knocked it off the Red Ranger. "Sorry, kitty, but it's not feeding time just yet!" Justin told him, helping Tommy up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," his leader nodded. "Ready to take this thing down?" he asked as the others joined them. We'd better hurry, I've got some major explaining to do to Terry once I get Dimitria's permission to tell her about the Rangers. I hope she says I can, if she doesn't, I could lose my sister almost before I really get her. ..

"What's going on, Dimitria?" Jason asked as soon as all four of them were in the Power Chamber. "We had to leave Terry there by herself, and she is not happy!"

"I know, Jason," the white-robed one had not been looking very well herself the past few days. "But this is urgent. The Rangers are busy fighting the Feline Fury and Elgar, and cannot be called away. Porto and another group of Piranatrons have appeared in the park. There is no one there to see you, and they must be taken care of. I am aware of the fact you have no powers, and I have taken steps for that already."

The four of them stared. "Umm. . .what?" Kim asked. "What are you talking about, Dimitria?"

The answer came in the form of four flashes of bright light all around them. They looked down to see they were each glowing slightly: Kim in pink, Rocky and Jason both in red, and David in white. "You do not have the powers of a Ranger, but you will not take quite as much damage when you are struck, and your own blows will contain much more power than normal. This will not last long, however."

Jason nodded briefly, then asked, "Dimitria, why didn't you want Terry here? She's a great fighter, and I think she'd keep the secret. I know Tommy wants to tell her, he's scared she's going to think we don't like her or something because of them having to leave so much lately."

"I am aware of Terry's prowess as a fighter, Jason," Dimitria said quietly. "However, it is not yet the proper time for her to be brought here."

All of them stared at that. "You mean she is going to know about the Rangers?" Rocky burst out. Dimitria only beckoned them towards the monitors, where the Piranatrons under Porto's eager orders were trashing the park. The former Ranger sighed. "I get the picture. We've got work to do."

Jason nodded, looking to the others. This would be David's first fight as even a 'semi-Ranger', but the call was the same anyway. "Back to action!"

Terry ran out of the Youth Center and to the park, running right past her car. She didn't want to drive somewhere, all she wanted to do was run, just run far and fast enough to get away from all the pain. She couldn't believe what was going on, what was happening.

They ALL left me. . .like I had some sort of plague and the only way to avoid it was to avoid ME! Tommy's been acting like that all week, and now even David and the others are. . .are. . ..

"All alone, human?" she stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of that voice. She'd only heard it once before, but hearing it again didn't give her a better impression of the speaker. She looked up to see Rygog and what she assumed were the standard troop of Piranatrons around him, all looking at her. "I told you we'd meet again!"

She glared at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I don't suppose I could talk you into going away and coming back for a rematch when I feel better?" she asked hopefully. She rather expected the glare from him at that. "I guess that's a no."

Falling into a combat ready stance, she took a long breath. "Okay, let's get this over with!"

"Oh, but I'm not here to fight you!" Rygog startled her as the Piranatrons began to circle around. "Queen Divatox requires your services aboard her Subcraft, human!"

This isn't good! Why'd the others have to leave NOW!!??! Terry groaned to herself as she tried to back way, only to find some of the fish-things had already gotten behind her. "Where are the Power Rangers when I need them?" she wondered. They're supposed to protect the citizens of Angel Grove, heck, the entire world! I think I qualify! Help!?

"They're being kept busy, human!" Rygog said, charging towards her. She dodged out of the way, letting him smack into a tree, and chuckled softly to herself. "I'm going to get you for that!" he swore, scrambling back to his feet. "I promised my queen I'd get you without a mark on you. . .but I just might break that promise if you do that gain!"

Terry laughed, feeling a little more confidant in a battle situation. "You couldn't break an egg!" she taunted. "Of course, I could just break one of your bones. . .if you have any under there. . .a spine. ..maybe?"

The mutant roared in outrage, running towards her as fast as he could. Terry dodged again, laughing as he once more smashed into a tree. "Oh, my, you're just not good at this, are you?" she teased, then screamed when strong arms smelling highly of rotted fish wrapped themselves around her. She struggled in the sudden grip of a Piranatron, kicking as powerfully as she could until two of them grabbed her feet and lifted her off the ground, rendering her effectively immobile. "Lemme go, you creeps!" she ordered. "Lemme go!"

Rygog laughed triumphantly. "Well done, my Piranatrons!" he declared. "Now, take her back to Queen Divatox! She will surely reward me for this!" he fingered a strand of Terry's hair and laughed in her face. "You have no idea what lies ahead of you, human!"

With that ringing in her ears, the Piranatrons, Rygog, and the captive Terry vanished in a twisting bolt of teleportation energy. There was no sign Terry had even entered the small clearing where the entire battle had taken place: no sign at all.

"Dimitria!" Tommy and Jason chorused as their two groups arrived back at the Power Chamber seconds later. Tommy glanced over at his friend, wondering for a moment why they all looked so worn out and why they were all glowing faintly, then turned back to his mentor. "Dimitria," he continued, alone this time. "What's going on? What happened to the monster?"

"And all those Piranatrons!" Jason added. "I mean, right in the middle of the fight, they just vanished!"

"What do you mean, the fight?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow. Kim quickly filled her in on what was going on, then as one the nine teens turned to the woman in the plasma tube before them, begging for answers with voices and eyes alike.

Alpha overrode them all finally. "Rangers! Everyone!" he almost barked. "Let her speak!"

As things calmed down, Dimitria turned her gaze upon them. They were struck for a moment by how truly sad her eyes were. Then she spoke. "Rangers and allies, I fear that the two attacks we have been forced to deal with were merely a diversion while Divatox struck at her true target: Teresa Magee."

"Terry?!" Jason, David, and Tommy all chorused. "Why Terry?"

Dimitria closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them, looking straight at Tommy. "Tommy, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd retrieved and restored the Green Morphin Power Coin you once possessed. They planned to choose some warrior from Earth and create a new evil Green Ranger to destroy us all. Divatox stole the Coin from them, and kidnapped Terry with the intentions of making her the new evil Ranger."

"I'm not going to let that happen!" Tommy snapped. "I won't let it happen! We're going straight to Divatox's Sub and get Terry out of there before anything happens to her!"

"I am afraid that is not possible, Tommy," Dimitria shook her head. "Divatox has created a set of shields we cannot as yet penetrate. Until we work a way through them, I am afraid your sister is stuck there."

Tommy growled and turned away from the others, visions of when he had been kidnapped and forced to the service of evil running through his mind. "There's got to be some way," he muttered. He barely noticed Justin running over to the computers to start looking for a way to penetrate the shields. "I won't let what happened to me happen to her."

David put a hand on his brother's shoulder gently. "None of us will, bro," he said firmly. "We're going to get her out of there."

"Tommy," the Red Ranger turned around at Dimitria's voice. "Be at peace, my friend. We will do all we can to rescue Terry before it is too late."

The Rangers' leader sighed. "I know we will, Dimitria. It's just that. . .."

"It's bringing back a lot of old memories, isn't it, Tommy?" Jason said, putting his hand on Tommy's other shoulder. His friend nodded slowly, trying not to think too hard of that time in his life. "We got through that, and we'll get through this, my friend. We always do."

The Rangers and their friends gathered about their friend and leader, giving him that most-needed support and love as he had always given it to them. Dimitria sighed to herself as she watched them. It is good they are together. They will need this in the time to come.

She glanced to Alpha, sending him a message telepathically as she did so. The little droid nodded briefly, then as the others busied themselves either comforting Tommy or starting to help Justin get through the shields, he began a sequence of commands into the computer that would go unnoticed until the time was right for them to be seen.

The sorceress gazed quietly into the vaults of her own mind for a few moments, seeing the flickers of green that was the energy of the Green Morphin Coin. Normally it would've been a brilliant green, pure and bright like grass, but with it being in the hands of evil, it's brilliance flickered in and out. She sighed. For such a short time has the Green Morphin Coin served good. . .if only it could've been different.

But Dimitria of Inquirius was not one to dwell on might have beens. After only a moment of regret, she turned her mind and energies at once to her special and secret project. That, too, had to be completed, as soon as it could be.

"Let go of me! NOW!" Terry screamed as she struggled against the Piranatrons that still held her tightly in their grip. "What do you want, you fishy creeps?!"

"Now, now," a cold voice spoke. "Piranatrons, put her down. That's no way to treat our guest!"

Terry felt herself shivering as she was put down, and looked around to see who had spoken. Her heart almost stopped when she saw who it was. Tommy had described Divatox, the Queen Pirate who was attacking Earth, in a great deal of detail, and this person matched it perfectly. She swallowed a couple of times, then glared. "Send me home, now!" she ordered.

Divatox only smiled cruelly. "Do you have a home, my dear Terry? I thought you wandered everywhere."

"Doesn't matter, send me home!" she retorted. "Back to Angel Grove!"

"Is that your home then? I wouldn't think so, not with the way those so called friends and brothers of yours treat you," the pirate's voice was low and almost purring, sensuous and friendly.

Terry shivered for a moment, then shook her head. "Doesn't matter. David and Tommy are my brothers and my friends. You're not!"

Divatox chuckled as she walked around Terry, they were the only two left in the throne room, the Piranatrons and Rygog had left her there. "Am I not? Have I done anything to hurt you? Haven't they been the ones who keep running out on you? Who leave you and abandon you at every turn. . .just like everyone always has left you?"

"What are you talking about?" Terry asked. Divatox only laughed, then everything went thick and dark around her. Terry lost all sense of time, space, and location. When she was aware again, she found herself strapped down to a table, with a bright blazing light in her eyes. "Hey! Where am I?"

"You are with me," the voice was male, cold and icy. "I am a friend."

Terry snorted, trying to get away from the lights. So bright were they that even when she closed her eyes, she could still see them pulsing there. "If you're my friend, then let me out of here! I want to go home!"

"You don't have a home anymore, Terry," the speaker said. "Remember? It's burned down."

She flinched away when he said that. How'd he know that? Before she realized, she'd asked whoever was there that. There was a soft laugh. "I know everything about you, Teresa Rhea Magee. I know everything about you."

"No!" she snapped. "You can't! You don't!"

He laughed. "Oh, but I do. I know how when you were two months old, the Magees adopted you from the Angel Grove Orphanage, and took you to Seattle. I know how you entered the martial arts under the tutelage of Master Tran, when you were three years of age, at your parents' insistence. You were a skilled pupil, and are a warrior with few equals. You could be even greater."

She shook her head harshly. "I don't care about fighting as much as I care about the skill and the discipline of the arts themselves," she replied. "Just because you know that doesn't mean you know me!"

"I know how when you were thirteen, you lost the Magees and Master Tran to a fire. You lost everything then," the voice had become low and persuading now. "You were sleeping, when your mother suddenly ran into the room and woke you up. . .she told you to go. . .just to go. .."

Against her will, Terry found herself remembering how it had happened all over again. . .the night of the fire, the night her world had ended. . .in so many ways. ..

"Terry! Terry!" the teenager's eyes flickered open to see her mom standing over her shoulder. "Terry, wake up! You've got to get out of here!"

Teresa Magee sat up. "Mom? What's wrong?" she'd never seen her mom this upset in all her years there. "What's going on?"

Mrs. Magee just pulled her daughter to her feet and thrust a small box into her hands. "Take this and go! Your dad and I and Master Tran aren't going to be with you anymore. You're going to have to go on alone."

"Mom? I don't get it, what's happening?"

"Just go!" her mom had never been this agitated before. "Hurry, before it's too late! Go out the window!"

Terry wasn't quite sure how things happened, but somehow she found herself being pushed over to the window and down the ivy on the side of the house. "Mom! Please, tell me what's going on!"

"The box, Terry! That has your answers! Go, now! Quickly!" Terry had never been one to disobey her mother, and with that ringing in her ears, she quickly shimmied down the rest of the ivy and ran to the street, turning to look behind her. . .and her heart collapsed just as the house behind her exploded. . .with her parents and her teacher still inside.

Time passed. . .Terry was taken in by Child Welfare once her parents and master were buried, and it was several days before she had the chance to open the box her mom had given to her. Inside, she found a sheaf of papers. . .

And those papers had changed her life forever. . .

"What was on those papers, Terry?" the voice was still soft and soothing as it spoke to her. Terry was shuddering with tears, remembering the fire and the explosion, the funeral. . .and then the finding. "What was on them?"

"M. .m. .my birth certificate. . .Tommy. . .and David's. ..," she whispered. "And a letter from my parents. ..telling me that I was adopted. . .and wanting me to find my parents. . .and my brothers. .."

The speaker continued, "But when you found them, they turned away from you. You weren't good enough to be with them. You've never been good enough: why else would your parents. . .your real parents. . .have abandoned you?"

"They did that to Tommy and David too," she said, her tears slowly drying up. "I am good enough."

"Did they? How do you know that Tommy and David don't know your parents? Have they ever said they didn't?"

She thought for a few moments. "No. . .no, they haven't," she remembered. They'd never said they didn't know who their parents were. ..did they know and just hadn't told her?

"And remember, Tommy keeps running off. Who knows what he's doing. . .maybe he's going to meet them. . .they're doing things without you. . ."

Terry found herself remembering all the times Tommy had just run out of wherever they were, just leaving as fast as he possibly could, as if he couldn't wait to get away from her. "No," she whispered. "It can't be true. . ."

"Why can't it be?" it was a warm, friendly voice now that spoke, the same as before, but warmer. "Why can't he be keeping things from you? He probably is, you know. He's keeping something from you. . .what could it be?"

The tone in the voice intrigued Terry. "Do you know what it is?" she asked. "Do you know what Tommy's keeping from me?"

"I don't," whoever it was admitted. "But I know someone who does. She'll tell you. . .maybe."

Terry tried to look beyond the light, to see whoever it was she was speaking to, but to no avail. "Who?"

"Divatox," the speaker told her softly. "Divatox knows everything. She is your friend. She has a special gift for you, if you're willing to take it."

The young woman tried closing her eyes again, but the lights were pulsing even brighter now, making her head hurt far too much for her to think clearly. "A gift?" she grasped onto the word. "What sort of gift?"

"The gift of knowledge," she was told. "Knowledge of what Tommy is keeping from you. The gift of power. The power to avenge the insults and hurt that your brothers and their friends have given to you since your arrival here in Angel Grove."

"Why. . .to me?" she whispered. "I'm no one. . ."

A gentle hand was placed on her forehead. "You are special, Terry. You are very special. A great destiny lies ahead of you, but only if you want to take it."

"What. . .kind of destiny?"

"That of a warrior," the hand stroked gently, in a strange pattern across her forehead and face. Her eyelids drooped, as she was suddenly tired. "A warrior of darkness and evil. A warrior of hate and revenge."

Terry's eyes flew wide open. "No!" she declared. "I won't do that! That goes against everything my Master taught me! I won't!"

The hand was removed, and silence wrapped around her suddenly. The light still pulsed in her eyes, and there was the sense of being alone suddenly. "No," she whispered over and over again. "I'm not evil. Tommy and David might've hurt me, but I'm not going to be evil. I won't do that. I won't."

"What's going on in there, Tutaris?" Divatox asked, glaring at the mindwarper as he emerged from the chamber the prisoner was being held in. "Is she mine yet?"

"Not yet," the brainwasher shook his head and leaned against a console for a moment. "She has a very strong will, and it could take longer than I had anticipated to break her."

The pirate's eyes flashed with anger. "You had better not have said you could do it and then fail! I want that girl as my servant, and there is nothing that will stand in my way!"

Tutaris looked at the pirate coldly. "I always do what I say I will, Divatox," he replied. "I didn't think she was this strong, but now that I know, I can tailor my methods more precisely to her. The first session never breaks the victim entirely, especially not with someone like her. If you are patient, then you will have a slave that none of the Rangers can take from you!"

"Oh, all right!" Divatox pouted. "But it better not take too long, or those blasted Rangers will find some way to rescue her!"

The brainwasher shrugged. "It will take as long as it does. I will deliver nothing less than the perfect slave to you, dear Divatox. You paid me for that, remember?"

As he walked away, Divatox frowned. "I paid him?!" her eyes blazed. "Porto!"

"Three days," Tommy sighed, staring half into his drink, half into space. "It's been three days since Divatox took Terry, and nothing. No Piranatrons. No monsters, from her or Rita and Zedd. No gloating over the fact she has my sister, using her for a hostage, or anything like that. Nothing at all."

Kim hugged him briefly. The past three days had their nerves worn out completely. It was a tie between Tommy, David, and Jason as to who was the most upset over Terry's capture. "Justin's been working on some way to get the shields on the SpaceBase down for days now. He's bound to come up with something."

"I know," Tommy nodded. "I'm just worried about Terry. Wondering what Divatox is doing to her, hoping that she hasn't already turned her against us somehow. The way things were going on before she was captured, Terry might actually. .."

His girlfriend interrupted before he could continue. "I know Terry better than you do, Tommy, and I know that she would never turn against us like that. She might be angry and yell cause of you having to leave just about every time we turned around good this past week, but other than that, she wouldn't do anything like that."

"I hope you're right," the Red Ranger closed his eyes for a moment. "I really and truly hope you're right."

The past three days had been pure torture for several people, but Jason Lee Scott felt it the most out of all those who were on Earth. He had hardly left his house the entire time, just staring at a picture of himself and Terry that had been taken that last week.

While she had been somewhat upset over Tommy's constant disappearing, he'd taken the opportunity to distract her. He'd taken her to the amusement park, to the movies, to anywhere and everywhere that would keep her mind off her vanishing brother. And they'd had a magnificent time.

"You'd better not hurt her, Divatox," Jason muttered, staring deeply into the dark eyes of the picture. "We'll get you out of there, Terry. I swear it. By all that's good and holy in the universe, I swear this."

A salty tear fell upon the image of the two of them, and he didn't wipe it away, just staring. "I will get you out. ..

"Rita!" Zedd didn't scream her name out, but the palace still rocked when he spoke. "Come here!"

The sorceress quite literally ran to her husband's side, over the past few days she'd learned the hard way that if she didn't obey him completely, the penalties were painful. She still remembered the pain that had racked her body when she'd been a minute late coming to his side two days before. "Yes, Zedd?"

"Divatox has almost completely converted the girl she chose as the new evil Green Ranger to the side of evil," he told her. She didn't ask how he knew this. It didn't matter, he just knew it. "Once we have seen how she performs in battle, then we shall take her."

Rita nodded, then looked at what had been her husband. "I assume you have a plan for how to overcome Divatox's brainwashing of her?" she asked, not daring to look at him just yet. She'd found the 'red toned' version of Zedd much handsomer than this streamlined black model.

"Of course," he laughed low. "I have a plan for everything, Rita. You should know that by now."

Rita nodded as she hurried over to her RepulsaScope to peer at Earth. "You do, my lord," she said softly. And I hope this all works. . .I still have to find those pure souls. ..who would have ever imagined that three pure souls of a warrior, a mystic, and one who loves them both would be so hard to find?

She knew the penalty if she didn't find them, though, and it wasn't one she was willing to pay.

"Divatox is your mistress," the voice repeated that ceaselessly. "Divatox is your queen. She is the only one you must obey, the only one you can obey. Divatox is your mistress. You are as she is: evil."

She couldn't remember anymore when she'd heard anything but those phrases, endlessly sounding in her ears. She had begun to repeat it herself, her mind slowly beginning to fade into oblivion. "I am evil," she whispered. "I serve Divatox. I obey her."

"Yes," the voice agreed with her. "You are evil. You are her slave. You are hers."

"I am hers."

"You obey her."

"I obey her."

"You will do all she commands of you."

"Forever and always."

"She wishes you to destroy the Power Rangers."

"I will do all I can to serve Queen Divatox."

Tutaris smiled wickedly, and gestured to Divatox, who stood watching the last of Terry's mental defenses crumble to dust. He whispered, "She's putty in your hands right now. Mold her in any way you like."

The evil pirate queen laughed softly, then stepped over to Terry. "Teresa Rhea Magee."

"I am here to serve you, my queen," Terry's voice was flat and unemotional. Tutaris had done his work well over the past three days.

"I require you to destroy the Power Rangers for me," Divatox ordered. "You will do this."

Terry nodded. "I will."

"For this you will require two things, both of which I will give you. The power of the Green Morphin Ranger," Divatox took a deep breath and held out the Coin as Tutaris unstrapped the girl. Terry, almost zombie-like, reached out and took it. A flash of green light filled her, and she stood in the uniform of the Green Ranger, golden shield and all, with the Dragon Dagger by her side.

"Green Morphin Ranger, at your service, my queen," Terry spoke, demorphing in the same moment. "What else do I need to destroy them?"

Divatox laughed softly. "Knowledge of their identities. Observe," she waved a hand, creating an image of the five Turbo Rangers standing before them. With a flicker, their true selves were revealed. "You shall destroy them one and all: Justin the Blue Turbo Ranger, Katherine the Pink Turbo Ranger, Adam the Green Turbo Ranger, Tanya the Yellow Turbo Ranger, and Tommy, the Red Turbo Ranger."

"Tommy?" Terry repeated the name, her dead eyes taking on a slight bit of life at the name. Divatox glanced to Tutaris, who shook his head. "My. . .brother?"

"Yes," Divatox said. "The same brother who left you so many times. . .who has kept the secret of his true identity from you. . .your other brother knew. . .David knew the whole time that he was a Ranger. But he didn't trust you. He wouldn't tell you the truth."

The life faded from Terry's eyes, replaced by dark evil. "This will be avenged," she said simply. "I will serve you well, my queen."

Divatox smiled wickedly. "I know you will, my Ranger. It is time for you to show your 'dear brother' a little flash from his past. Are you ready?"

The Green Morphin Ranger made a fist and laughed, a sound of pure evil. "I was born ready, my queen!"

The Turbo Rangers, along with David, Kim, Rocky, and Jason teleported into the Power Chamber eagerly, hoping to see Terry there somehow. When they didn't, Tommy glanced up to Dimitria. "Why did you call us here?" he asked. Please, don't let Divatox have done it!

"Observe the monitors, my friends," Dimitria said simply. Everyone turned there, and Jason, Kim, and Tommy all paled at the sight they saw there.

With roughly thirty Piranatrons in tow, a female Green Ranger was tearing up Angel Grove Park. People were fleeing as fast as they could, but she wasn't holding back one little bit. There were already a few people collapsed near her, whether they were dead or injured, no one knew. Everyone in the Power Chamber hoped fervently that they were only injured.

"This is way too much like the past," Tommy whispered. "Oh, Terry."

Dimitria spoke again. "Rangers, Terry has been brainwashed by Divatox, with the help of Tutaris, the most skilled breaker of minds in the universe. She is now the evil Green Ranger, servant and slave of the pirate queen. You must hurry to the park and stop her before she causes too much damage."

"Let's get moving," Tommy sighed. Terry. . .coming to help you, sis. . . "Shift into Turbo!"

As the five of them teleported off, David walked over to where Jason was sitting in front of one of the computers, his head in his hands. "Jason?" he asked softly. "What's wrong?"

The young man looked up at him, and David almost stepped back at the look in the ex-Ranger's eyes. "My girlfriend is evil, and working for Divatox. Do you have to ask?"

"No, not. . .," David stopped. "Girlfriend? Is there something you two didn't tell us?"

"No," Jason shook his head. "I wanted to ask her out on a real date before all this happened. But the chance never came. I do care about her, though."

David smiled a little. "I think you two just might want to talk once we get her back. And we're going to get her back. That's sort of the Ranger thing to do, I hear."

Jason returned the smile, then looked up to Dimitria. "Can we get her back?"

The silence grew deafening as Dimitria didn't respond. Finally, she said, "I do not know, my friends. But do not give up hope. Anything can happen."

"And usually does, with us," Kim sighed, sitting down in another chair. Help my friend, Tommy.

"So you're the Power Rangers," Terry said, glaring at them in turn through her darkened visor. "You're not much. Even if you," she pointed to Tommy, "are my brother. Of course, you haven't been acting very brotherly: Red Ranger.."

Tommy stared at her. "Terry, I haven't done anything! Yes, I'm a Ranger, but I couldn't tell you I was, there's rules against it. And I was going to ask my mentor if we could tell you our secret. I was tired of having to hide it from you."

The evil Ranger snorted. "A likely story! I don't believe a word you say anymore!" the Piranatrons charged forward to attack the other Rangers at her gesture, while Terry herself took on her brother.

"Terry!" Tommy protested. "Don't do this! Please! We can help you get free of Divatox's brainwashing!"

His sister only laughed. "I hate to tell you this, but I haven't been brainwashed. Divatox showed me the truth about you, and I chose to serve her!"

"I don't believe you!" he shouted. "You're not her servant, you're my sister, and my friend!"

Terry's only response was a powerful kick to his stomach, followed up by a cut with the Dragon Dagger that almost broke through his Ranger suit. "I will listen to none of your lies!" she declared. "I am the Green Ranger, servant of all that is evil, and I will destroy you all as you should have done when you held these powers, little brother!"

"I was under a spell, and you're not acting under your own mind either!" he tried to reason her. "Don't you understand?!"

"I understand that you are going to die!" she told him, moving quickly and tripping him. Tommy shivered as she planted a foot on his chest, staring down at him.

Oh, man, talk about deja vu! He clearly remembered looking down at Jason from just about the same angle in the Dark Dimension. Terry didn't have the Sword of Darkness, but he could sense the same evil that had filled his heart now pulsing out from her. No wonder the others were so scared of me. I don't blame them one BIT!!!!!!

As the Piranatrons kept the other Rangers occupied, Terry pulled forth the Dragon Dagger and traced a delicate trail down his chest with it. She laughed wickedly. "I could kill you at any time, Red Ranger. But not just yet. I have something else for you, dear brother. Something else altogether."

She moved like a striking snake, burying the Dragon Dagger to the hilt so close to his helmet he could actually feel the impact. "You'll know when you get it. Trust me."

With an evil laugh equal to the one he frequently did when under a spell, Terry vanished, along with the few Piranatrons still left. Tommy slowly got to his feet, looking down to where the mark of the Dragon Dagger was still in the earth next to his head. He took a long breath. "Guys," he said softly. "We've got trouble."

The Chamber of Command shook with Zedd's voice, in the usual calm conversational tone he took these days. "This Teresa Magee is truly a powerful warrior. Much as her brother. But where he betrayed the cause of evil and dwindled to good, she will not. She shall simply. ..change masters. Goldar! Finster!"

At his summons, the two mutants leaped up. "Yes, mighty Lord Zedd?" Goldar asked, bowing. Since his return from his trip to gain the ultra-steel, Zedd had hardly spoken to him at all until now. "How may I serve you?"

"Take the ultra-steel you got for me and go to the smithy," Zedd rose from his throne. "We will meet you there. Finster, Rita, come along."

The smithy lay to one side of the lunar palace, and as the small gathering of evil servants entered it, Zedd turned to Finster. "You are to forge a new Sword of Darkness," he instructed the craftsman. "Rita and I will infuse it with necessary spells, but the basic form of it is for you to forge. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord," Finster bowed, getting out the tools he would need as Goldar entered with the ultra-steel. "I will not fail you!"

"You even think about weakening it, and I'll peel you like a grape, you got that?" the Master of Evil hissed. Finster paled, then nodded sharply and started the preparations for the forging. Zedd turned to Rita. "The spells we put into this blade will not only bind the evil Green Ranger forever to the side of evil but will be a weapon that will give her a powerful advantage against the Power Rangers!"

Rita nodded, grasping her staff firmly as Finster began to shape and pound the steel. Long hours passed, long and hot as the blade was forged anew and began to gleam with all the evil it possessed.

Zedd gazed at the sword, smiling under his mask as it glowed hot and bright with the fires of forging. As this blade is shaped by a minion of evil, so shall this Teresa Magee be shaped by MY evil. Divatox has merely begun the process. ...I shall temper her into the masterwork of evil it is her destiny to become! Enjoy the services of the evil Green Ranger while you can, Divatox. . .for soon she shall belong to US!

He cleared his throat a moment later, and gestured to Rita to stand beside him. They both raised their staffs and began to chant the spell that would bind the blade and the one who bore it to evil for all time.

As the last of their chanting faded, the completed Sword of Darkness glowed with a dark and sooty light. Zedd laughed softly, stroking the hilt as it lay on the anvil. "Rito, Goldar. When I give the command, you will bring me the evil Green Ranger. I have a great many plans for her."

"Yes, sir!" they both chorused. Whatever had happened to Zedd, Rito no longer had the nerve to call him "Ed" now. The one time he'd tried it, he'd been in racking agony for hours.

Zedd laughed as he marched back to the throne room. He really should've taken on a physical body sooner, this was so much fun! And once he had the three pure souls, and the power of the Green Morphin Ranger was his. . .he would be able to rule over this Earth, and the entire empire of evil the original owner of the body had built up for all time.

Deep within, the true soul of Lord Zedd shrieked in agony as he watched the invader slowly seize control of all that had been his. Someone help!!! he screamed mentally. Someone please help me!!

But no one heard.

"It's official," Tommy sighed as he slipped his helmet off back in the Power Chamber. "My sister works for Divatox, and has been so badly brainwashed she doesn't even know she is."

"We saw," David told him, pointing to the monitors. "You okay, she looked like she hit you pretty badly."

Tommy nodded, looking over to Dimitria. "So how do we get her free?" his question was short and to the point.

"I have been working on that problem, Tommy," she told him. "It will not be easy; Tutaris is one of the most skilled brainwashers in the universe. No one who's mind he has twisted has ever returned to normal before, I am sorry to say."

Jason growled, "Then Terry's going to be the first. I don't care what this guy did to her, we can't let her stay like that!"

"It would behoove all of you to return to your daily lives now," Dimitria advised. "Alpha and I will search for a way to release Terry from her mental imprisonment. If there is a way, we will find it."

"No way," Tommy and David both snapped, while Jason just shook his head and Kim looked sternly determined to stay right where she was. "We're not going anywhere until we find out how to help Terry!"

Dimitria smiled underneath her veil. She would've thought slightly less of them if they had simply left. For now, she instructed them in the methods that were normally used in Tutaris' ways of breaking a person's will. "Chief amongst them is stirring up their past, finding things they wish to keep secret and using them against the person," she said to finish.

Kim frowned for a moment. "Stirring up the past," she said softly. "That could be it."

"Kim?" Tommy asked. "What do you mean?"

"Terry hasn't said much to anyone about her past," Kim told them. "Not even me, and I've known her a year. But she did let drop something once a few months ago. I don't even think she realized she'd said it at the time. I didn't think there was anything to it at the time."

Dimitria asked, "What is it, Kimberly?"

The former Pink Ranger closed her eyes, trying to recall the exact sequence of events. Her lips moved quietly, thinking, remembering. ..

The two girls were seated on Kim's bed in the dorm, laughing. Terry had picked up a photo album and was paging through it absently. She stopped suddenly on a picture of Kim's mom and dad.

"Are these your parents?" she asked, a strange tone to her voice. Kim nodded. "They look very nice. . .," her voice trailed off a little, then she closed the book resolutely. "Let's go get a soda!"

Nothing Kim could say or do could make Terry explain why she had, for one second, sounded as desolate and alone as a person could be when looking at Kimberly's parents. But that night, when Terry spent the night, she had talked in her sleep, waking Kim up.

"Mom! Dad! ! Master Tran! No!! What's going on, mom, why won't you tell me what's going on? The box? The box? Mommy!! Where are you!? Nooooooo!!!!!!!"

She had drifted back into sleep after that. Kim hadn't had the heart to wake her up, but the next morning, Terry's pillow was soaked with tears. It had never happened again, as far as Kim knew.

Kim opened her eyes and looked at the others. "There's a box, I've seen it before. She's never let anyone look inside it, she protects it like it's got the Crown Jewels inside it or something."

David thought for a moment. "Yeah, I've seen it. Just a little gray steel box. I've seen her staring into it a few times, but she's never let anyone see inside it but herself."

"Alpha," Dimitria said. "Locate this box and teleport it here at once. I hesitate to invade Terry's privacy, but this may be the only way to save her from Divatox."

The little robot nodded, then in a little flash of white, a box appeared on a console in front of them. Alpha ran a small device over it, and the lid popped open. Tommy and David both stepped over to it, shaking a little.

Inside were sheets of papers. David lifted the first one out, quickly reading it. "It's her birth certificate," he told them. "The one she showed us before," he checked the next two, which turned out to be their own birth certificates.

At the very bottom was something else. Tommy gently drew it out and unfolded it. As he started to read through it, tears wet his eyes suddenly. He took a deep breath, and looked at them. "Guys," he said softly. "This explains a lot. And it just might be the key to getting her back."

"What is it, Tommy?" Adam asked. He'd never been one to pry into someone's private affairs, but if it was this necessary. ..and he knew it was.

The Red Ranger began to read it out loud.

"Are you pleased, my queen?" Terry asked, dropping to one knee before the pirate. Divatox nodded, a crooked smile on her face. "I am happy to be of service to you!"

"And you shall be of even more service to me tonight," she purred. "I have a very special mission for you, my dear Green Ranger."

Rygog grumped to Porto, "Ever since that brainwasher converted the girl, Divatox hasn't even looked at us!"

"I can live with that," Porto told him. "But once the 'shine' wears off her and Divatox is used to having her around, she'll ignore the Green Ranger just like everyone else!" already Terry wasn't "Terry" to the forces of evil, she was simply "the Green Ranger." "Now shush, I want to hear what Divatox is saying!"

The other mutant grumbled a bit, then shut up, just in case he was mentioned anywhere in what she said.

"Tonight, I want you to do some hunting for me," Divatox ordered. "You are going to hunt some very special prey, and I have some very specific instructions for what you are to do once you have it."

Terry drew the Dragon Dagger, testing the edge of it with a cold look in her eyes. "How painful do you want me to make it?" her voice was pure ice. "And please let it be my false brothers that I do this damage!"

Divatox shook her head. "No, my slave. There is another you can strike at, that will demoralize the Rangers and their friends alike, for it will show that you can take one of them out with ease. It is that one that you shall take down this night, my Ranger."

"As you wish, my queen," Terry bowed her head. "Who is it that shall feel my strength?"

The evil pirate laughed softly before answering. "This night, my Green Ranger, my weapon of destruction, you shall be unleashed against. . ..the Pink Turbo Ranger."

"It's nice to be out walking like this, Rocky," Kat smiled at him as they meandered through the park. Dimitria had banished them all from the Power Chamber after the reading of Terry's letter, insisting that they needed to relax and rest, lest their minds grow dull from constant searching.

He nodded. "It is," he agreed. "Man, I'm hungry! Look, there's a hot dog vendor! Want some?"

She had to laugh, no matter what happened, Rocky was Rocky, and that meant Rocky was hungry! "No, thanks," she shook her head as he ran over to the stand and started ordering enough food to feed a small army. "Where do you put all of that?" she wondered. Rocky just shrugged.

"In my stomach, where else?"

"Oh, Rocky!" she laughed, moving to one side as someone else came up to the stand. She was walking with Rocky over to a picnic table when a familiar, and at the moment unwanted, voice spoke.

"Going somewhere, Pink Ranger?" she whirled to see Terry, unmorphed, standing there, eyes glinting with evil. Kat gulped; the hot dog vendor and a small family at the picnic tables were close enough to hear what she'd been called.

The evil Ranger stepped closer to them. "Why so rude? Didn't Dimitria teach you any manners?" her voice was low and echoing almost. "Well, Divatox taught me some. Let me introduce my friends here. Piranatrons!" at a gesture, the family of four and the hot dog vendor all shimmered, transforming into Piranatrons.

"Get out of here, Rocky!" Kat ordered, reaching in her pocket for her Turbo Charger. "I can take these creeps!"

"Oh, no!" Terry gestured again, and another school of Piranatrons leaped up all around Rocky, grabbing onto him firmly. "I think he should stay! And I think you look much better unmorphed, Pink Ranger, so drop that charger!"

Kat stared, heart pounding and arms frozen. Terry stood by Rocky, a long and sharp dagger pointed to his throat. "Drop it, Kat," she hissed. "Drop it or I drive this into him so hard it'll come out the other side."

The evil Ranger smiled wickedly as Kat's charger dropped to the ground. "Now, the communicator," she ordered, nodding with pleasure as the device plunked at the Pink Ranger's feet. She casually reached out and ripped Rocky's own from his wrist, crushing it, then turned to Kat. "And now. . .if you so much as raise a finger to fight back, my Piranatrons will tear your little boyfriend here into more shreds than anyone can possibly count."

"Fight back?" Kat asked softly, fear freezing her spine. "Against who?"

Terry's eyes gleamed with cold fire. "Me."

Kat's guts cemented together with fear. She'd seen Terry demonstrating her karate and kung fu skills in the Youth Center and wasn't exactly eager to be on the receiving end of them. But as the young woman drove a savage foot to her kidneys, she realized there was nothing else she could do.

Terry laughed harshly as she grabbed Kat by the hair and threw her into a tree, then followed it up with a viscious elbow slam to her back. She casually tossed the other girl to the ground, then stomped hard, enjoying the sound of a rib cracking as she did so.

"Stop it!" Rocky screamed. "Stop it, Terry! Don't let Divatox rule you!"

The brainwashed woman barely looked up from her gruesome work as she punched Kat in the stomach several times. She did, however, speak. "Divatox is my queen, human, and she has ordered that this one be put out of commission. Be silent, before I unleash the Piranatrons on you."

Rocky growled, he would've done anything he had to in order to get away, if Terry hadn't been throwing a now semi-conscious Kat around like a rag doll. He watched in horror as the evil Ranger picked up the dagger she'd been threatening him with earlier and slammed it into Kat's stomach as hard as she could, then smashed Kat's head directly into a tree. The young woman's eyes glazed over, and Rocky screamed out her name in mental, physical, and emotional agony.

"My work here is done," Terry laughed low and wickedly, then teleported away with the Piranatrons in tow. Rocky ran for the bleeding Kat, grabbing her into his arms and cradling her.

"Kat!" he moaned. "Kat, don't you dare die on me!"

Her eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Rocky," her voice was very weak. "Rocky. . ." her eyes closed and her breathing grew very shallow.

"I'm going to make Divatox pay for this," he whispered, seeing her communicator a few feet away. Somehow it had escaped being smashed in the massacre that had masqueraded as a fight, and he grabbed for it. "Tommy! Adam! Someone help! Kat's hurt!"

For one horrible moment there was no response. Then, columns of light began to appear all around them. Red, green, blue, yellow, and three white appeared as the other Rangers and their friends responded. Tommy rushed over as he saw Rocky cradling Kat in his arms.

"What happened?" he asked as Justin and Tanya took one look at the situation, then ran to call an ambulance. "Come on, Rocky, talk tome. What happened?"

It took three tries before the former Ranger could speak. "T. . . Terry. She ambushed us, had me prisoner. Kat couldn't fight back, if she did, they would've killed me. Terry did this to her."

Tommy's eyes blazed with fury. "Divatox," he snarled. "It was Divatox who ordered it, Rocky."

"I know," Rocky nodded, staring at the dagger wound. "And she's going to pay for it."

"The ambulance'll be here in a few minutes, guys," they looked up as Tanya and Justin returned. "We told them that we were out walking and found her like this. Justin didn't think it would be a good idea for them to hear about everything that was going on."

Rocky barely nodded as he did what he could to stop Kat's bleeding. The sounds of the ambulance grew nearer and nearer as he held her hand, staring into her closed eyes, and swearing vengeance against the pirate queen who had ordered this devastation.

"You do such good work, my warrior!" Divatox praised the returned Green Ranger as Terry knelt before her, unmorphed. She was freshly returned from the beating of the Pink Turbo Ranger, and her dead eyes practically danced with joy now. "Such good work! Better than these morons!" she glared to Porto, Rygog, and Elgar, who shrank back at the contempt in the pirate queen's eyes.

"I live but to serve you, my queen," Terry spoke. "Please, Majesty, may I take out another of the Rangers? It was so invigorating to pound that silly pink pest into the ground! I want to do it again!"

Divatox shook her head. "You have done much this day already, Green Ranger, and there is far more that lies ahead of you tomorrow. You must rest!"

"As you wish, milady," the Green Ranger bent her head in obedience. "Where am I to rest at?"

The pirate queen gestured to Rygog. "Rygog, show my Ranger where she's to rest; you'll know the place, it used to be your quarters."

The mutant stared in shock. "My quarters, Divatox?" he spoke in surprise. "But where am I to sleep?"

"Who cares!?" Divatox screamed. "Just show my Ranger to where she'll sleep and be done with it!"

Rygog growled as Terry got to her feet and came over to him. Her eyes glinted with an evil light. "Yes, Rygog," she purred. "Just show me to my room."

The armored warrior simply turned around and marched off, with Terry following. "There it is," he grunted, gesturing to a room. "And don't get too comfortable in there! You won't always be Divatox's favorite!"

Terry's lips curved into a twisted smile. "Oh, but I will be. Divatox appreciates an effective fighter, and that is most certainly what I am. You, on the other hand, couldn't fight off a cold." with that, she closed herself into the room, listening as Rygog growled something incomprehensible and stalked off.

She glanced around her new quarters briefly, eyes widening as she realized that Rygog was far more than the simple fighter everyone had taken him for. There was a definite love of art and literature from all over the universe reflected in the way this chamber was set up. She approved of that, though she wasn't sure quite why.

It doesn't have to do with destroying the Rangers. . .or obeying Divatox. . .so . ..Terry's eyes flickered for a moment. She perfectly remembered everything in her life that had happened, with as much detail as she ever had before her brainwashing, but it all had an evil slant to it now. Her parents, both sets, had abandoned her heartlessly. Her brothers didn't consider her good enough to be told their secrets, and the Power Rangers were foes who would be destroyed at the whim of her queen. She shrugged a little; the only things that were important to her anymore were Divatox and destroying the Rangers.

"And she has commanded me to sleep," the evil Ranger stretched out on the comfortable bed and was soon edging towards a deep sleep. She had one last thought before oblivion claimed her, one that would've confused her and worried Divatox. . . I hope Kat survives. . .

Everyone waited patiently for results on Kat's progress. Tommy had called her parents, letting them know what had went on. The group of them had all agreed on the same story, tailored to keep Terry out of it completely, and to have them all coming to find Kat at the same time, instead of Rocky calling them. So far, everyone seemed to be accepting it.

"Why?!" Mrs. Hilliard whispered as she and her husband sat in the waiting room. "Why did this have to happen? Who would do this to her?"

No one had any answers for her, and the ones who knew the answer couldn't tell. Hours passed, and the shadows grew deeper outside as night enshrouded the land. No one was tired, though, or at least no one was trying to sleep as they waited for news.

"Is anyone here for Katherine Hilliard?" the female voice startled them all, and Rocky looked up to see a middle-aged woman in a doctor's coat there, a nametag that read Sharon Williams, M.D. on it.

"We are," he said, getting up and indicating the gathered crowd. "How is she?"

The doctor came over to them, her eyes worried. "It's not very good, but it could be a lot worse. She is alive, and as far as we can tell at the moment is going to be staying that way."

There was a palpable sense of relief in the room at that, then the doctor continued. "That was the good news. Here's the bad news. Katherine's right arm was broken in three places, there's a dagger wound in her stomach and a cracked rib. Those will all heal in time, she also has several bruises all over her body, which will also heal. But. . .,"

Everyone looked up. "But?" Rocky asked, eyes nervous. "But what, Dr. Williams?"

The doctor took a deep breath. "She has a concussion and is in a light coma at the moment. We don't know just when, or even if, she'll wake up. It could be a few hours, or a few weeks or. ..never."

"Never?" Mrs. Hilliard burst into tears. "Oh, Kat! Why did this happen? Why her?!"

As her husband tried to comfort her, the doctor spoke again. "If you want to see her, she's in recovery room C for right now. She'll be taken to ICU later."

Mr. and Mrs. Hilliard rushed along, the doctor behind them, eager to see their child. Tommy turned to the others and opened his mouth, about to say something, when the familiar beep of their communicators interrupted. He groaned softly. "Doesn't she ever take a break?" he muttered, raising his wrist to his lips. "What is it, Dimitria?"

"Rangers, I have heard of Terry's attack upon Katherine," the voice came through quietly. "Would all of you and your friends please report to the Power Chamber; we must choose a new Pink Ranger, someone to hold her powers until she is well again."

Rocky shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere just yet, I want to see Kat!"

"You may remain, Rocky," Dimitria relented. "But everyone else should come here at once; we cannot be long without a Pink Ranger, Divatox could attack at any second."

Rocky nodded a little and headed for the waiting room. He was going to be the next person to see Kat if he had to sneak in there and hide under the bed to do it. He hardly noticed as the others slipped to a quiet corner and teleported off, so involved was he with pacing and worrying.

Divatox is going to pay for this.

"Rangers, I am truly sorry to hear of Kat's condition," Dimitria told them as they stood before her. "If I had known of the attack in time, then I would have protected her. She should heal, however, in time. But with Terry under Divatox's control, we must have a Pink Ranger, and a replacement has been chosen."

The active Rangers looked nervously at each other for a few moments. It had taken them a while to learn to work as a team, and they were just now really getting good at it. A new member, one who didn't quite understand how things worked, would seriously upset things. But they all trusted Dimitria.

"Who is it, Dimitria?" Adam asked a bit carefully. He still remembered the day that he had become a Power Ranger. Being told by Zordon and Alpha that their heroic actions in defending Angel Grove had earned them the right to become Rangers had been an incredible shock. A lot had happened since then, not all of it good, but he wouldn't change a thing, he realized. Not a single thing.

The Pink Turbo charger slowly arose from where it had been resting in front of the dark-haired mentor. The Rangers, Jason, Kim, and David all stood in a row in front of her, waiting and looking around to see who the new Pink Ranger was. Slowly, the charger floated until it was directly in front of Kim.

The first Pink Ranger looked up at Dimitria, her eyes going wide. "You mean. . .me?"

"Yes," Dimitria nodded. "You are a fine fighter, Kimberly, and have had experience with being a Ranger in the past. You would make an excellent temporary Ranger."

Tommy's heart swelled with pride as Kim reached out and picked the charger from the air. He had been almost this proud when she'd chosen Katherine as her replacement before going to Florida. She called out quickly, "Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"

The Pink Turbo Ranger stood before them all, and then slowly removed her helmet. Kim's smiling face looked back at them all. For one moment they all forgot just why she was the one wearing the pink armor. "I'm back!" she whispered. "I'm back!"

As she powered down, she also sobered. "And I hope Kat is back in action soon."

"We all do," Tanya whispered. "We all do."

Rocky stood next to Kat's bed, staring down at her. Tears floated in his eyes as he looked at the young woman laying there, pale against the faintly blood-soaked bandages. He wouldn't be able to stay long, he knew, there would be nurses coming to change her soon. He just stared at her.

"Even now," he whispered softly, touching her hand as if she might break at the contact. "Even now you're beautiful, Kat. Nothing Rita, Zedd, Divatox, or anyone else tries can change that for me."

For a moment, he held still, hoping against all hope that it would be like in the movies, and at his words she would wake, wholly healed, or at least awake. But this was real life, and she remained as she was. He sighed and sat down in the chair put to one side of her.

"I wish I could've done something," he whispered softly. "I wish I could've helped you. I'm sorry, Kat."

Twin tears flowed down his cheeks as he held her hand. "Please stay with us, Kat. I couldn't survive without you. I love you, Kat Hilliard. I love you."

Rita scanned Earth over and over, seeking out what she needed to fulfill her bargain with the creature she'd placed within Zedd. Three pure souls, a warrior, a mystic, and someone who loved both of them.

"Where can I find three like that?!" she grumbled. "It can't be done! Three souls like that just don't exist!"

She sighed, leaning back and stretching her spine. She'd been looking for pure souls for three hours now, and she ached in places she hadn't even been aware existed. Her persistent headache was raging even more now, and she reached up to undo her cones, releasing some of the pressure that caused it. She rubbed her temples a little, wondering yet again if this was all worth it.

And as she ever had, she knew it was. The Rangers would be defeated, once she found three souls somehow, and she would rule by Zedd's side forever. As she absently combed out her hair, she peered through her RepulsaScope again, hoping to come across some clue to help her in her quest.

By some chance, she was peering straight into the Youth Center as the Rangers were talking. It had been two days since the evil Green Ranger had attacked Katherine in the park, putting her in the hospital, and there had been no sign of activity from Divatox in that time. Everyone, good and evil alike, assumed she was building up to something huge, but what it might be, no one had any ideas.

Rita watched the Rangers for a few moments. Rocky wasn't there, he hadn't hung out with them the past two days at all, being too busy staying near Kat. Kimberly had been given back the power of the Pink Ranger, and she and Tommy were working out at the moment, as were the others. She supposed with the combined threats of herself, Zedd, Divatox, and the evil Ranger, they felt they needed to be in top form.

She shrugged casually to herself; as much as they tried, they wouldn't be able to defeat her and her evil husband. She turned her RepulsaScope to the hospital; perhaps a pure soul could be found there.

A sudden evil smile curved her lips, and she looked into Kat's room. She was still in her coma, though the rest of her wounds were healing well. Rocky was next to her, half-asleep, with deep set dark circles under his eyes that showed he hadn't had real sleep in those two days most likely. He held Kat's hand in his own, and his lips moved over and over in the same four words, "I love you, Kat."

She watched as her parents entered to spend some time of their own with their injured daughter. Rita spared a thought for her own parents, Master Vile and Tilas, her long-gone mother, then her mind returned to business. She whispered a few words under her breath, and was gratified to see that she was right.

"Kat and Rocky both have pure souls," she laughed softly. "I should've known, since they both had Ranger powers! I have a warrior. . .I have someone who loves that warrior. . .now to find a mystic, whom that foolish Katherine loves as well. It surely can't be that hard."

She glanced back to the other Rangers, more in triumph than to spy on them right now, and was almost surprised to see that Jason was every bit as depressed as Rocky was, if not more so. "Poor little former Ranger!" she laughed out loud. "You miss your girlfriend, don't you? Too bad. ..she's evil through and through now! And soon that evil will belong to Zedd and me!!!"

Rita threw her head back and laughed wildly. "Sooner than you could possibly imagine!"

Her cold and evil laughter warmed Zedd's heart, if such a thing were possible, as he watched her watching the Rangers. The possessing spirit smiled cruelly. She has found two of the three souls I demand. And when she has found the third, and has fed them to me, then I shall unleash a reign of terror such as this universe has never seen before.

He turned and returned to his own watching of Divatox, more than willing to let Rita indulge herself in maniacal laughter as she saw fit, and to complete her task. He himself was more interested in just when the pirate queen was going to send out the evil Green Ranger. He wanted that one for his own.

And he would have her.

In her thousands of years of life, Dimitria had meditated more times than she could count. She had come to value the peace and tranquillity of the ethereal planes, even more so since she had come at Zordon's request to take over the leadership and guidance of the Power Rangers.

Her body still resided in the plasma tube as she wandered the peaceful planes, hoping to find the answers she sought in the stillness there. There were so many problems facing them at the moment, even she wasn't quite certain where to begin searching for the answers.

First and foremost, there was Terry. Teresa Rhea Magee. Twisted by Divatox into one of the most evil beings Dimitria had ever seen, the young girl's inner soul cried out for help. In all her life, Dimitria had never turned down a cry for assistance, and she had no intentions of starting now.

Next was Katherine, beaten very close to death by Terry at Divatox's command. Dimitria had magically repaired the very worst of the damage to the young woman, without anyone knowing and before the doctors had examined her. If she had not, then Kat would most certainly have died.

And it is not her destiny to die just yet, the veiled mentor thought. She, and all of them, have other things they must do.

She made a mental note to check with Alpha on how a certain one of their projects was coming along. She and he had been together a good many centuries, and she was looking forward to being with him for a good many more. Alpha Six was the only being in creation who knew all of her secrets, and had kept them all. He truly was her best friend, and not even the Rangers knew how close they truly were.

Her mind returned to the problems they faced. Terry. Katherine. And then there was Zedd. She still wasn't quite certain what had been done to him, but she knew it was evil, beyond anything he had ever done in his life. She wondered for a moment how the Rangers would react to knowing that their old enemy had not always been the scum he was now. She smiled to herself, remembering what else he was, and who else.

In time, she reminded herself yet again. In time they will know. But first I must help him. And to do that I must find out what has been done to him.

A soft call across the ether brought her attention away from it's inner musings. She looked to see someone standing a relatively short distance away; as such things were measured in this place that had no true distances to it, and her heart gladdened to see who it was.

"Zedd!" she was beside him a moment later, and they embraced. "Oh, Zedd! I have searched for you for so long!"

He nodded, he was in his human form here, that of a young man, no older than the Rangers themselves. "I wish I could be with you in more than just the astral plane, Dimitria. And I cannot stay long even now. The force which now inhabits my body will not permit it, and there is nothing I can do at the moment to block him."

Her eyebrows raised. "What force is this?"

"Selosia," the astral plane seemed to darken around them at the utterance of the name, and Dimitria paled. "Rita summoned and bound him to my body, and he has already begun his plans. I am not privy to them all, but I do know he intends to claim the new evil Green Ranger as his own warrior."

She nodded slowly. "Do you know how to free Terry?"

"I wish I did," Zedd sighed. "But Divatox's brainwashing is different than the spells I know."

I expected no less, she said to herself, then asked, "What has Selosia asked of Rita to bind him to you forever? I know he can't be doing it for nothing."

Zedd shivered. "Three pure human souls," he told her. "One of a warrior, one of a mystic, and one who loves them both. She has roughly two weeks left or he'll leave me and exact some form of punishment on her. I don't know how close she is to finding them, either."

"We'll have to make sure she doesn't find them," Dimitria decided. "And find a way to release you from him as well, and bind him back to the underworld where he belongs."

"Yes," the young man nodded, then stared down at himself as he suddenly began to flicker in and out of being. "Selosia is forcing me to return. He will not give me mastery of my body, but he will make certain that I do not speak to anyone. Please, hurry, Dimitria! There may not be much time left."

She reached out to him as he faded away to nothingness, whispering a promise to hurry. "I will free you, Zedd," she swore as she stood there, her only companions the mental images of other astral wanderers. I will free you, my love.

"Green Ranger!" Divatox's voice snapped sharply, and Terry came to attention at once. In two days she had not left the Subcraft, and she was beginning to get most irritated with the desire to cause damage to the Power Rangers. "Attend to me at once!"

Terry practically ran from the workout room her queen had set up for her to the throne room, and dropped to one knee before her. "How may I serve you, mighty Queen Divatox?" she asked. "Is it time yet to destroy those Rangers and my false brothers?"

"Indeed!" Divatox was most pleased with her servant, who had shown admirable restraint in the attack on the Pink Ranger and on her enforced restriction to the Subcraft. The pirate queen had let two entire days pass without an attack. She wanted the Rangers to grow a bit careless, and quite a bit concerned, and the extra time gave her more time to reinforce her control over the evil Ranger. She wasn't going to let anyone take Terry from her. "Go to Angel Grove and challenge them to combat, take no prisoners and let nothing stand in your way of destroying them all!"

Terry laughed, fingering the dagger with which she'd stabbed Kat. "And they are one less, so it will be even easier to defeat them!"

Divatox almost bit her lip, she'd forgotten to tell Terry the Rangers had replaced Kat. "If only!" she growled. "After you beat that silly Katherine into a pulp, they called on that former Ranger Kimberly to be the Pink Ranger."

"K. . .Kim?" the pirate queen looked up at the softer sound to her Ranger's voice. Terry stood there, dagger dangling from one hand and eyes suddenly wide and soft. "Kim. . .my friend. . ."

Blast it! I forgot those two knew each other! I've got to fix this! She nodded. "Yes, Kimberly. She was the first Pink Ranger. Never said a word of it to you, you remember? Just used you to get back to Angel Grove so she could get back together with Tommy, your faithless brother. . .."

She watched as the softness and weakness faded from Terry's eyes, replaced by the flat coldness Divatox had come to love. Tutaris had told her if the brainwashing ever faltered, just to speak in such a way that would lead her back to the core of how he'd broken her, Tommy's deception. Once again, it had worked.

"I will destroy them," the evil Green Ranger's hand clenched tightly around the dagger. "I will destroy them once and for all, my queen."

As she vanished, along with a school of Piranatrons, Rygog, and Elgar, Divatox laughed. "I love having my own Ranger!"

"I could really get to hate hospitals," Kim said as they came up to Angel Grove Memorial. Kat was still in her coma, and they'd made a point of coming to visit her for several hours a day. Rocky stayed there practically round the clock, and no one, not even the most fanatical enforcer of hospital policy, had the nerve to try and get him to leave her side before she opened her eyes.

Tommy nodded, his arm around her as it almost constantly was these days, as if he were protecting her from anything that might try to snatch her away from him as Kat had so nearly been snatched from life. "They're not the most pleasant places in the world."

He glanced over to Justin, and was a little freaked to see the expression of pain in the youngest Ranger's eyes. If he and Kim hated hospitals for the time she'd spent in them before going to Florida, then Justin despised them for the fact his mother had died in one. The Red Ranger went quietly over to his young friend. "You okay with coming here so much, Justin?" he asked softly.

The Blue Ranger looked up at him, and there was unknown depths of pain in his eyes. "I don't like it," Justin replied. "But I want to know how Kat's doing. I don't want to just sit at the shelter and wonder and worry. I did that once already, and you know how that ended."

Tommy shivered, and nodded. "I know," he put a hand on Justin's shoulder. "We're not going to lose Kat."

"If we do," Justin's voice was far older than his years in that moment, and sounded surprisingly like how Jason and Rocky did when speaking of what they planned to do to Divatox. "Then Divatox is going to be the next person to go."

As they rode up the elevator to ICU where Kat lay in her hopefully ending soon coma, each of them was momentarily lost in their own thoughts, some similar, some not.

Tommy. Pull through this, Kat. We all need you back, girl.

Kim. I'm going to tear off Divatox's purple hair and shove it so far up her ass she's going to taste it in her mouth for having this done to my best friend.

Tanya. I hate hospitals. They're too clean. I hate mess as much as the next person, but there's something unnatural about this . . .perfection.

Justin. If anything happens to Kat, I want to know about it. They're not going to do like they did with Mom, making me stay at home until the very end. I want to KNOW when it happens.

Adam. Even in this situation, Tanya's beautiful.

David. I hope we find a way to reverse Divatox's brainwashing of Terry, I miss my sister a great deal.

Jason. I wonder if Kim would need any help tearing up Divatox, I know she's thinking about it. How COULD that bitch do something like that to someone as sweet as Terry, then have her attack Kat like that? Well, she'll pay for it.

Just as the elevator doors were about to open, the all too familiar sound of their communicators rang in the small enclosure. Five of them sighed, and Jason and David nodded shortly. "We'll tell Rocky you were called away," Tommy's brother said.

"Call us if there's any change, either way," Justin insisted, his eyes full of conviction. The two non-Rangers both nodded, then in streaks of red, green, blue, pink, and yellow, the Power Rangers Turbo vanished.

"Took you long enough to get here, Rangers!" Terry, now as morphed Green Ranger, stood with the unsheathed Dragon Dagger in one hand and the other dagger she used in the other. "What's the matter, were you mourning that fallen Pink Ranger Katherine?"

Tommy growled, "Terry, this isn't you! Try to remember the good times we had, the real you!"

As she launched herself towards them, with the Piranatrons, Rygog, and Elgar beside her, she hissed back, "There were no good times, brother! You ran out every chance you got on me, and this is the real me now! If you can't accept it, then die!"

Her brother fell back a little, testing her defenses as she attacked him. She dodged to one side, then dropped low, cutting at his legs. Tommy leaped over the blade, striking down as he did so with his own Turbo Lightning Sword, hoping to knock at least one of the daggers out of her hands. He was successful in this, but as she dropped the normal blade, she reached out and tripped him quickly.

"You just seem to fall for that so easily!" she laughed, taking a moment to look at her cohorts as they attacked the other Rangers. "You stay there for a while, I'm going to go have some fun, brother!" with every utterance of the word, more and more hatred filled her voice. Tommy stayed on the ground for a moment as she ran off, trying to catch his breath.

He quickly took a look at the battlefield. Rygog and Adam were fighting it out, while Elgar was taking on Tanya and Justin along with some Piranatrons. Terry had Kim cornered and seemed to be teasing the repowered Ranger as the two of them fought. As he got to his feet and ran over, he could hear the 'conversation'.

"And so we meet again, my friend," Terry's voice was almost as thick with contempt for Kim as it was for Tommy. "Enjoying being back with your boyfriend? Enjoy it while it lasts. . .it won't be forever!"

Kim dodged under Terry's strikes, kicked at her stomach, then jumped back to gain a few moments of breathing space. "Terry, don't you remember when you found out Tommy and David were your brothers? The joy? The love?"

The evil Ranger barked out a laugh. "Those two deceivers? Don't make me laugh! Now, are you going to fight or are you going to die? Oh, forget it! You're going to die anyway!"

She ran closer to Kim, the Dragon Dagger glittering in the light. Kim jumped back even farther, whirled about, and pulled out the Turbo Windfire bow. "I don't think so!" the Pink Ranger declared. "You're not doing this because you want to, Terry! I know you better than you think!"

"I'm doing this because my Queen commands it!" Terry told her, sending Kim's mind flashing back to when it had been Tommy she faced in this same uniform, and he had uttered, I'm doing this because my Empress commands me! She shivered; that had ended well, would this?

She glanced over as Tommy landed next to her, his sword in his hand. "You're doing this because Divatox brainwashed you!" he snapped. "I know how it feels, Terry, I've been there before! I can help you, we all want to help you!"

The evil Ranger said nothing, only attacked the two of them together. Tommy grasped at a mental straw; he didn't expect it to work, but they had few options left. "Remember Jason? He's worried about you, Terry!"

And she paused. She stopped, practically in midstrike. The two of them looked at each other, wondering if this had done it somehow. That hope was dashed a moment later when Terry relaunched her attack, hissing, "He had better worry about the two of you! You're the ones who are going to die!"

As she drove them back across the battlefield, Kim and Tommy both wondered if she just might be right.

Selosia, the demonic creature inhabiting Zedd's body, growled to himself under his faceplate; he could sense the conversation the true owner of this body had carried on with someone on the astral plane. He wasn't sure just who Zedd was talking to, but he had tasted an incredible amount of goodness and purity in it.

Probably Zordon or Dimitria. It matters little. I am here now, and will never leave this body, do you understand!? he screamed to the soul of Zedd. There was no reply, which was just as he liked it. He turned his attention outward again, looking down to Earth. What he saw caused him to sit up in his throne sharply.

"Rita! Goldar! Rito!" he rather enjoyed the effect speaking had on this chamber, it literally shook at his every word. As the ones named ran in, he pointed to Earth. "Goldar and Rito, go to Angel Grove at once, to the park where Divatox's Green Morphin Ranger is attacking the Turbo Rangers. I want that girl brought back here in one piece, and as fast as you possibly can do it, is that understood?"

They both bowed low. "As you wish, sire!" Goldar promised. "We won't fail you!"

"See that you don't! And take some SuperTengas with you to distract the other Rangers!" he snapped. "Rita, you are to have the Sword of Darkness ready when she arrives, as soon as I've undone Divatox's brainwashing, you are to give it to her!"

As Goldar and Rito vanished, Rita bowed even lower, and gazed a trifle coyly at him through her eyelashes. He had no sexual interest in her, and wasn't at all amused by that. "What is it?" he asked.

"I've found two of the three souls I promised to you," she purred. It was plain to him she hoped by seducing him, of sorts, he might forget about their bargain. "I seek now only the third."

He barely looked at her, his gaze all on Earth and the battlefield below. "You had better find it. I have already begun to plan what I will do to you if you fail."

"What if I succeed?" she stepped a little closer to him, and he turned to deliver a scathing fire-filled glance. "What is my reward?"

"If you succeed, then I remain in this body, and you are not punished," he reminded her. "And that is all the reward you shall get or should expect!"

Trembling, Rita started away from him, until he laid a taloned hand on her shoulder. "You do not miss the old Zedd, do you?" he asked. He had seen a slight glimmer of fear, and regret, in her eyes as she walked away, and wanted to know what was going on in her mind.

"No!" she shook her head sharply. "You're all I ever dreamed you would be, in evil!! I don't miss him at all!"

"Good," he nodded. "Because when I have the three souls, I will be extinguishing his soul for all time. A task that has been long overdue."

Rita gulped a little at the harsh glitter in his dark visor. "Yes," she managed not to stutter. "And then our evil shall rule supreme!"

Selosia did what might've been a smile, then turned back to Earth, letting Rita go on her way. He had so many plans, and they were all about to begin completion, once the Green Morphin Ranger was successfully captured.

Terry kicked and punched with unceasing fervor and evil at Tommy and Kim. She enjoyed her work even more than Tommy had in his own evil days. Her brother managed to grab onto her arm for a moment and stared into her eyes. "Terry, don't do this!" he screamed. "Please, don't do it!"

She hooked an ankle around his leg and pushed him away from her, slamming him to the ground, and nodding as he squirmed away and rebalanced quickly. "Took you long enough to learn!" she mocked. "And I am going to do this!"

"Yeah!" Rygog glowered at the Rangers as he and Elgar came over to stand with Terry. "We're gonna destroy you all!"

Terry slammed him upside the head with the hilt of the Dragon Dagger. "I'm going to destroy them!" she reprimanded him. "I am the evil Green Ranger, chief servant of Divatox, and it is I who shall conquer the Rangers for her greatness!"

"I don't think so!" that harsh statement came not from one of the Rangers who now all stood before her, but from Goldar, who stood with Rito and a squadron of SuperTengas a few feet away. "At least you won't be doing it for Divatox!"

Everyone turned to stare at them. "What are you guys doing here?" Tommy asked; it had been a while since they'd seen these minions of evil. "I thought you'd all grown brains and left the planet by now!"

"No way!" Rito shook his skeletal head, then pointed with his sword at Terry. "But you're coming with us, Green Ranger! Rita and Zedd want you!"

Terry's eyes narrowed under her helmet. "I am the servant of Queen Divatox, and no one else!" she declared. "Tell your masters to speak with her if you would have something to do with me!"

"I don't think so!" with a wave of Goldar's sword, the SuperTengas swept towards them in a wash of feathers. Terry blinked as the creatures ran past her to attack the Rangers. She was about to turn to find out what was going on, when a harsh hand closed onto her wrist and a foul stench blew in her face.

"Let go of me!" she ordered. "Rygog! Elgar! Assist me at once!"

A sudden harsh laugh surprised her; she knew it for Rygog's. "Help yourself, Green Ranger! With you gone, I'll be Divatox's favorite again!"

Before she could do anything about his treachery, she felt herself being teleported away. Her last thought before they left Earth was that she would have her vengeance against him.

"Terry!" Tommy could actually feel the fear clamping down on his heart as Goldar and Rito vanished with his sister. "All right, that does it!"

The five of them burst into a frenzy of battle that cleared the SuperTengas and the Piranatrons out of the way in nothing flat, with Elgar and Rygog vanishing in their usual fashions shortly thereafter. The Rangers looked at each other as they were alone at last. "Now we've got this to deal with," Adam sighed. "Come on, we need to get back to the Power Chamber and find out if we can get her out of there."

"We need to break Divatox's brainwashing and get her out of Rita and Zedd's grip," Tommy sighed. "Could this possibly get any worse?"

With the usual rainbow of colors, the Rangers returned to the Power Chamber. With Rita and Zedd now in the game, the fight for Terry had escalated even worse.

"Release me at once!" Terry screamed, struggling in the grip of Goldar and Rito. "Release me and Divatox will spare your worthless lives!"

Selosia-Zedd rose from his throne and marched towards the captive Ranger. He raised his staff, black lightning crackling from the tip of it that wrapped around her tightly and knocked Rito and Goldar away from her. A wild howling scream erupted from her, and for a moment she couldn't be seen for the shadows that surrounded her.

Then they lifted, and a demorphed Terry stood there, one whom her brothers and the other Rangers would've found very familiar. There was less tension in her face, and her eyes were the same warm and caring brown they had always been before her brainwashing. She backed away, fear filling those eyes a moment later.

"Who are you?" she quavered, greatly confused. "What's going on?"

In the space of a heartbeat, the entire universe had turned around for Terry. She remembered her capture and brainwashing by Tutaris and Divatox, and learning who the Power Rangers really were, becoming a Ranger herself, though an evil one, attacking them, hurting Kat so very badly. She remembered that last battle, and being seized by Rito and Goldar who had brought her here.

Selosia laughed, and the sound of it chilled Terry's blood. "You're to be my evil Green Ranger, Teresa Rhea Magee. I have healed your mind from Divatox's brainwashing, and in return, you will serve me!"

Terry shook her head harshly, backing away from him as she did so. "No way! Thanks for freeing my mind and all that, but I am out of here!"

The staff was raised again, and once again the black lightning wrapped itself around her. "I think not, child! Rita, the Sword of Darkness!"

The evil witch leaped forward, thrusting the hilt of the evil sword into Terry's hands as she did so. The young woman's hands gripped instinctively around it, and her entire body stiffened. As the lightning Zedd blasted her with faded, the evil court stood there watching in awe and twisted delight.

Terry stood there, perfectly straight, with the Sword of Darkness held in her right hand loosely. Her eyes glowed green for a few moments, then she knelt before Zedd and Rita. "How may I serve you?" she asked quietly, offering the Sword up to them in homage and servitude. "I am the evil Green Ranger, loyal slave to Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. I am yours to command."

"You are indeed," Zedd laid a hand on her shoulder, and was proud to see she didn't so much as flinch at it. "And the first thing you will do is punish Divatox for stealing you from us in the beginning!"

"As you wish, my lord," Terry bowed her head. "What punishment shall be fitting for her?"

Rita stepped forward. "If I may suggest something?"

Her husband turned back to her, motioning for Terry to rise as he did so. "What do you have in mind?" Rita did have a few decent ideas every now and then. Perhaps this was one of them.

"Sink her Subcraft," she suggested. "Divatox values that above everything else she has, if you get rid of that, then she'll have nothing!"

"Yes!" Selosia was very surprised to hear something that good coming from Rita. "Green Ranger, return to the Subcraft, and don't leave until it's resting on the bottom of Angel Grove Lake, is that understood?"

Terry bowed low. "I hear and obey, Master," she said, then vanished in a blaze of green light. Selosia resumed his seat on the throne and bade Rito and Goldar go about their own business, gesturing for Rita to join him.

"Now we have the Green Ranger as ours," he said simply. "And you still have one more pure human soul to find. Have you sought further?"

She nodded quickly. "I have, but a soul that qualifies is not easy and I . . .want only the best for you!"

Selosia chuckled to himself. "Yes, of course. Now, shall we watch our Green Ranger destroy the one who chose her?"

They both turned their gaze to Earth, to the depths of Angel Grove Lake, and to the drama being played out there for their very own entertainment.

"Rygog!" Divatox screamed at the top of her lungs as they appeared back in the Subcraft. "How dare you leave my Green Ranger to Rita and Zedd!?"

The armored mutant stepped back at the force of her bellow. "Uh, Your Majesty, I didn't!"

"Yeah, you did!" Elgar piped up. "I heard you! You said with her gone, you'd be Divatox's favorite again! Don't you remember?"

Rygog paled briefly at that, as Divatox's eyes smoldered with fury. "You said what?" she snarled. When he didn't answer, she growled and punched him harshly. "You fool! Rita and Zedd can undo Tutaris' brainwashing and put her under their control now that they have her!"

"I'm sorry?" he whispered. Divatox's eyes glowed with the need and desire to destroy something, then Rygog had to dodge several eyeblasts from her. "Your Majesty, I crave your forgiveness!"

Divatox ignored him after a few blasts, whirling around to drag her periscope over to her. "By now they've probably already taken control of my Ranger," she mused. "I must find a way to reverse it!"

Rygog muttered under his breath as he tried to slink by Divatox. "Doesn't she ever just let something go? The Green Ranger's gone, think about us now! We're her loyal warriors!"

Divatox kicked him in the back as he fled to his chamber, then sank deeply into her thoughts. He is right about one thing, though. Any spell Zedd does won't be easy to reverse, if it can be. I'm going to need another edge, something to defeat them all, the Rangers and Zedd and Rita.

Her eyes widened suddenly, and she smiled, opening her eyes and reaching for the communications system. "Havok!" she dialed up her brother. "General Havok, this is Divatox!"

She jumped back suddenly as something smashed down between her and the control panel, shattering the connection. "How dare you!?!" the pirate growled at whoever had invaded her Subcraft. "Who. . .?"

Her voice trailed off as she realized who it was that stood there, Dragon Dagger extended and eyes cold with spellbound evil. "I have returned, mistress," her voice was mocking. "And I don't believe you're going to like what I do here."

Divatox stared. "What are you talking about? What have they done to you?" for a moment she wondered if this strange feeling was what the Rangers felt when she had kidnapped and brainwashed Terry herself.

"I now serve Zedd and Rita," she spoke flatly. "And your fate has been decided."

"No!" Divatox growled. "You are my Green Ranger, no one else's! Bow to your fate!"

Terry only laughed and kicked with all her strength at another console, destroying it. "My fate belongs to Rita and Zedd, as do I. It is your fate to perish on your sinking Subcraft!"

"Sinking?" the pirate looked around. "It's not sinking!"

The Green Ranger pulled out something new, a long, sharp sword that gleamed with evil power. As she pointed it at the Subcraft's side, a bolt of power flashed forth that tore a hole in the side. Divatox stared, dumbstruck, as Terry repeated the process on the other side of the craft. Piranatrons and various mutated servants ran this way and that, trying to salvage things, as the Green Ranger stepped closer to Divatox. "Next time, don't steal from those greater than you," her voice was low and husky with evil. "Oh, I forgot: there is no next time for you. I'd say it was nice serving you, but even I can't lie that well. Good riddance to nauseating rubbish."

As she vanished in a blast of green, Divatox screamed in horror the obvious. "We're sinking! Abandon Subcraft!"

The Piranatrons, Rygog, Elgar, and Porto all teleported out with her. As they left the home that had been hers for thousands of years, Divatox almost felt a touch of regret for stealing the Power Coin in the first place. Almost.

Jason and David were still at the hospital when the Rangers returned to the Power Chamber, but they both came once Tommy called them, saying they had news about Terry. "What is it?" they both chorused as soon as they could. "What's the news?"

Tommy didn't look very happy as he turned to them. "Rita and Zedd have Terry now. Goldar and Rito came down in the middle of battle and kidnapped her right off in front of us!"

There was a silence in the Power Chamber for a few moments. Then, David spoke. "How do we get her back?"

Dimitria answered him. "With care and wisdom. This in a sense is one of the best things that could've happened in this situation."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"Zedd and Rita will wipe Terry's mind clean of the brainwashing Divatox has done to her," the dark-haired sorceress said. "They will have to, for they wish to control her themselves. They will not be able to do so while she remains under Divatox's control. It is far easier to deal with a magical control of a person than that of brainwashing. Now we have but to deal with whatever spell they place on her."

Tommy was about to ask Alpha to look up all the details on the spells Rita had used on him and Katherine, when the alarms blared noisily. "What's going on?"

Justin quickly checked the scanners, then stared at everyone else in the Power Chamber. "Terry's come down again, but not to Angel Grove, at least not the city. She was detected in Angel Grove Lake, in the Subcraft."

"Divatox has her again?" every heart sank, until Justin slowly shook his head. "What is it, then?"

The Blue Ranger took a deep breath. "She sank the Subcraft. Our readings indicate she had something that blasted two holes in it, it matches up to old readings of something called 'the Sword of Darkness'."

He stared at Tommy, surprised. He had never seen the Red Ranger look like this before, he looked as if he were going to be violently sick! Kim and Jason didn't look much better, either, as they all scrambled for a seat. "The Sword," Tommy whispered. "Not possible."

Jason's hands went white-knuckled as he seized the back of the chair Kim had sunk into. "I destroyed that thing," he remembered. "I know I did."

"Rangers," Dimitria spoke. "It is well within the realm of possibility that the Sword of Darkness has been reforged. It would take a large quantity of ultra-steel, and certain spells of evil that Rita and Zedd both know to recreate that foul weapon, but it has obviously been done."

Tommy closed his eyes, trying hard not to remember the sick feeling of twisted magic and spells that had wrapped around him when he'd first touched the Sword of Darkness all those years ago. "Destroying it will break any spells on Terry," he forced himself to think logically. "That's what we're going to have to do."

"How?" David wondered.

"When Rita had the first one, and had Tommy under her control, I blasted it with my laser pistol," Jason remembered. "I'd be glad to do it again."

"It might not be that easy this time," Dimitria reminded them. "Rita and Zedd are capable of learning from their mistakes, and they might not bind the controlling spell into the Sword's existence. We shall have to investigate this."

Tommy nodded. "But I think we have something else to do first: go have that visit to Kat."

"Go and see her, Rangers," Dimitria smiled. "We will begin the search and inform you of any new developments."

As they left in the usual wave of colors, her smile faded. "Dimitria?" Alpha asked quietly. "Are you all right?"

"There has been a development already," she told him. "I have learned why Zedd has become nearly the living essence of evil. It is Selosia."

Alpha almost jumped out of his circuits at that name. "Whoa! Then we've got a lot of work ahead of us!"

They got down to business. Two lives, and countless souls, depended on their success now.

"As well as you worked for Divatox, I should not be surprised at how finely you've served me!" Selosia-Zedd praised Terry when she returned to the palace. "And you have served me finely indeed! Divatox is but a homeless, baseless pirate now! With all her treasure at the bottom of the lake, that is the most vile blow that could be dealt to that greedy, grasping woman!"

Terry smiled as she knelt before him, basking in the evil warmth of his regard. "I but do as commanded, my lord."

Selosia nodded. "And you shall continue to do so. If ever you disobey me, then you shall be punished severely. Be aware of this."

"I am, sire," Terry nodded. "Is there anything else you require of me? If not, I wish to spend some time in training. A warrior must keep her edge."

"Indeed," the Master of Evil agreed with her, turning to Rito and Goldar. "The three of you are dismissed, go to the training room and work upon your skills. As my warriors, I expect you to all be sharp. There will be no more lazing about, the Rangers will perish before another day has gone by!"

As Terry, Goldar, and Rito left, Selosia turned his gaze upon Rita, who had returned to scanning the Earth for the third pure soul. "There must be someone," she muttered. "I absolutely will find them."

"You fear me," it wasn't a question, and Rita knew it as she paled and looked at him. "I like fear. I like it even more when someone like you is the one afraid of me."

She didn't seem to be able to speak as he walked over to her, and he found he liked that even more. "Your time is running out, Rita. You have only fifteen Earth days left to find that soul, and it has taken you that long to find the first two. You know what I'll do if you fail."

Rita managed to stutter out a broken affirmative, and he smiled, a sight to make her tremble. "I don't think you do. I've only said that I'll punish you. Perhaps if I tell you how, that will encourage you to search even harder."

He was about to describe, in rich detail, the humiliations and pain he would heap on her when she simply turned, picked up her heavy skirts, and ran for her life and sanity. Selosia enjoyed the sight of her fleeing back, then returned to his throne. He was victorious. All that remained now was the piddling detail of destroying the Power Rangers.

"And with my Green Ranger, that will be a simple task," he declared. "The very simplest."

Night had fallen on Angel Grove as Divatox and her crew set up a makeshift camp on the banks of the lake where the Subcraft they'd all called home now rested. She stared disconsolately into the waters for a time, then lifted her gaze up to the full moon gleaming overhead.

"It's all their fault!" she growled, then turned to Rygog. "Or should I say it's your fault! If you'd gone to help my Green Ranger, then they wouldn't have taken control of her and turned her against me!"

Rygog bowed his head under her rage, knowing she had a perfect right to destroy him for what he'd done. He sincerely hoped she didn't, though. "I'm sorry, my queen!" he'd perfect the art of sucking up over the centuries. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"No!" she screeched, almost knocking him off his feet. "Just stay out of my way!"

Divatox returned to her solitary contemplation of the lake, as the crew kept themselves out of her way. Lost in thought, even someone as tough as she practically fainted when a very familiar voice spoke to her. "I guess this is why you're not returning my calls!"

She jumped to her feet and hugged the armored person standing just a few inches from her. "Havok!" she smiled, an extremely rare sight. "You got my call?"

"Yes, but it was interrupted, I didn't even have a chance to ask what's going on! Why aren't you in your Subcraft, dear sister?" General Havok, master of the largest robot army in the known universe now that the Machine Empire was a bad memory, asked.

Divatox made a face. "It got sunk! An evil Ranger I had under my control got taken over by Rita and Zedd and sank it!"

"Well, then, it's a good thing I brought my special gift for you then!" he sort of smiled, she couldn't tell under his combined helmet and mask; it made him look somewhat like a robot, and his specially crafted armor helped the effect.

"Gift?" she asked, her eyes brightening a little. "What gift?"

Havok lifted a hand, pointing above them both. Divatox followed his gaze, and a wide smile split her face. "The SpaceBase! It's complete!"

"Yes!" her brother was glad to see Divatox returning from the mental dump she'd been in. "You ordered my men to build it, and now it's complete!"

"Just in time!" Divatox threw her head back and called out, "Elgar, Rygog, Porto! Prepare everything, we're going to the SpaceBase!"

In a flash of red fire, they'd all teleported up to the twirling round base above them. Havok showed Divatox around as her henchmorons put their things in the quarters assigned to them; she never let anyone handle her personal items but herself. He asked delicately, "So you had an evil Ranger?"

"Yes, Terry Magee, the new evil Green Morphin Ranger," she nodded. "She's the triplet sister of that brat Tommy Oliver."

"The original Green Ranger?" Havok was impressed; every being of evil knew of Tommy as one of the finest evil forces in the universe, while he'd been evil. He also had a reputation as a traitor; his head would bring a fine price in any evil empire, as well as making the reputation of anyone who managed to pull such a feat off. "Just how did this happen?"

As Divatox caught her little brother up on recent events, as well as getting the grand tour of her new home, she made an oath to herself. Never again would she bother with an evil Ranger. Oh, sure, they were fun to have around, but they were really just too much trouble in the long run.

But as for revenge. . .that was something else altogether. Her eyes turned flinty as she finally came to her private rooms and prepared for some rest after a very long and exhausting day. "Revenge," she murmured, laying down, "is something that is never too much trouble. And revenge is what I shall have. For I am Divatox, Queen Pirate of the Universe!"

And with this new SpaceBase, I'm back and better than ever. I should almost THANK Rita and Zedd for this. . .but then again.. .I won't.

"I wish there was something we could do for her," Kim murmured to Tommy as they looked at Kat, still swathed in her bandages. "In fact, I'd be happy if she'd just wake up!"

Tommy nodded, holding her close to him. "I know," they'd been there for several hours, each of them taking turns going to see Kat. Rocky hadn't moved in his ceaseless guardianship/companionship to her, he still held her hand, whispering something none of them could quite hear, and which they didn't try to hear. They all respected his privacy. "She is going to wake up, it's just taking time."

"Too much time!" Kim sighed. "Way too much time."

The sound of a communicator going off broke into their visitation time. Rocky's half-closed eyes opened at the sound, and Tommy nodded a greeting. "We'll catch you up later," he whispered. "We've got business to take care of."

The former Ranger nodded. "See you later," he croaked, trying to speak through dry lips. Kim frowned.

"You'd better get some food in you, and some real sleep," she suggested. "You're going to collapse if you don't."

"I guess," Rocky sighed, making his way to his feet and looking at Kat. "I'll be back," he whispered, heading out for the hospital lunchroom. Kim and Tommy smiled briefly, then went to where they'd left the others.

"You guys hear the communicator?" the Red Ranger asked softly. At the other three nods, he sighed briefly. "I guess it wasn't our imagination. Come on, maybe there's been some new development or something," he looked to David and Jason. "Rocky's actually left Kat, he's at the lunchroom now. Could you guys let him know what's been going on, what we know, anyway?"

"Sure," Jason nodded. "You're going to get her back, right, bro?"

Tommy nodded firmly. "You know we will, Jase," he replied. He and the other Rangers teleported as soon as they were in a quiet area, arriving in a Power Chamber that held an Alpha hurrying from console to console, as Dimitria watched them quietly. "What is it, Dimitria? Please don't tell us another monster of some type!"

"No, Rangers," she shook her head. "It is time for you to learn of something that could very well change the fate of the world as we know it."

As they drew closer, Justin asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It is nothing wrong," Dimitria told them. "At least, nothing that we can change at the moment. But I have been keeping something from you, something that only a very few people in the universe have ever known."

"What?"

She was quiet for a few moments, then spoke. "Lord Zedd is under a spell, and is currently possessed by one of the fiercest, cruelest demons in the whole of creation. He is not evil by nature, and indeed is, or was, one of the kindliest and most gentle people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. When he was seventeen, as humans on Earth measure time, he was captured in a spell of great evil, and became the monstrosity we know today, the Lord Zedd, master of corruption, hate, and evil.

"Recently, the spell that made him like that began to fade and crack. Rita had noticed this, and kept as tight a control over him as she possibly could, through spells bound to sex. It appears, however, that even that could not keep him to evil in the long run, and just when he would've thrown off all the powers of evil, Rita summoned the great demon Selosia and bargained with him. That demon is now the force we are up against; it is he who has gained control of Terry's mind. And it is he that we must drive from Zedd's body and bind back in the darkness where he belongs."

As she stopped speaking, the Rangers all stared at each other in complete and utter shock. Tanya found her voice first. "You're telling us. . .Zedd isn't evil?"

"No, he isn't, not of his own will," Dimitria agreed. "There is more, much more, but it is not yet time for you to know it."

"When will it be time?" Justin's voice held a trifle of accusation in it. He hated to be kept in the dark on anything at all, especially something as important as this was.

"I do not as yet know," Dimitria admitted. "But when I do know, I will inform you all. Freeing Zedd from evil has been one of the projects that I've been working on for some time now. There are others, and you will know them all in time. But only when the time is right."

Tommy stood forth. "We trust you, Dimitria. And we're not going to let anyone stay under an evil spell, Terry or Zedd. We'll get them both back to where they belong: with us."

Dimitria smiled. She'd known she could count on the Power Rangers.

Zedd wandered the astral planes; Selosia was so busy contemplating his victory he didn't even notice that Zedd had left the body. Zedd enjoyed being free, not just of his body, but of the spell that had made him evil so long ago.

He still remembered it. That first day, when he had been captured by the forces of Cernos, the Dark Lord, and been bound into evil's service. A simple farmboy had been transformed into a warrior, and in time a warlord, of evil. Clearly in his mind there shone the farm of his parents, his brothers and sisters, now all dust, all crushed under Cernos.

I paid him back, though, Zedd smiled to himself in remembrance. Half in an attempt to free himself from evil, half in vengeance, he'd destroyed Cernos and taken over his entire empire. That had been his beginning, and now, he would give it all to be free completely.

"Who are you?" he recognized the voice, though it wasn't one he'd expected to hear here on the astral planes. "You look sort of familiar."

Zedd looked up into the face of Terry Magee. "Hello, Terry," he said politely. "I'm Zedd."

Even being effectively a spirit, she paled and jumped back. "You can't be! You don't look anything like that monster!"

He sighed. "I see I've got some explaining to do. Here, make yourself comfortable," being much more experienced in astral travel than she was, he was easily able to make a comfortable pair of chairs for them out of his own mind. As she nervously sat down, he gave her the condensed version of his life, right up until that very moment.

Terry listened; she still wasn't quite sure just what was going on here. She'd sort of wrenched herself away from watching her enspelled body exercise with Rito and Goldar in the training grounds, and had found herself in this strange gray place populated with ghostly forms. None of them had paid any attention to her, until she'd seen a male figure that bore a faint resemblance to her and her brothers wandering and had spoken.

"Wow," she said at last. "I had no idea. I'm under a spell myself, I think."

"You are," he nodded. "One of Selosia's better ones, actually. But breakable."

Her eyes widened. "It can be? I'm not doomed to this?"

"No," he smiled; he knew Terry better than she thought possibly, and he knew the hope that now filled her. "The Power Rangers will free you, trust me."

She looked at him quietly. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"They're going to free you, too, aren't they?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," was the honest reply. "I'd like to think they will, but I learned a long time ago never to count on hope."

She leaned forward to place a hand on his arm. "Never give up faith," she told him. "That's one thing that I've learned. Never give up hoping."

Rita dodged out of her bed the next morning, running for the bathing chamber as swiftly as she could. As she quickly and violently threw up, she began to shiver. This couldn't possibly mean what she thought it did, could it?

If it is, then it had to have happened before I brought Selosia into this world. I haven't been with that body since then, or with anyone else. I wonder what effect that would have on it.

Once the nausea had passed, Rita knew she had to find out what was going on. It was so early in the morning, she was the only one awake in the entire palace. Selosia, in Zedd's body, had taken to sleeping on his throne. Goldar and Rito were both firmly ensconced in their own chambers, while Finster snoozed away in the small room adjacent to his laboratory. Terry had probably been assigned a cubicle somewhere, and would be fast asleep in it. Rita was alone, and that was just the way she wanted it.

She made her way to her spellroom; that same one where she had summoned Selosia into their world. She pushed aside all outside thoughts, concentrating only on the spell she was about to cast. Let a human woman go to a doctor and wait weeks and weeks to find out the answer to this question: Rita Repulsa had but to cast one single spell and she automatically knew if she were pregnant or not.

It wasn't a simple spell, though, not for her. Rita's magical training had always been concentrated on the spells of control, destruction, hate, and vileness. She'd learned this one only after her marriage to Zedd, and hadn't practiced it very much. But now, she chanted and concentrated and cast with all her heart and soul in it for the very first time.

The results came in swiftly, even for magic, and Rita wasn't quite certain just how to take them. She took a long breath, and closed her eyes. "I'm pregnant," she whispered. "What a rotten way to begin the day."

Selosia was not going to like this, she knew. Then again, maybe he would. The demon fed on pure souls, and there was no purer soul than that of an unborn child. Even at the thought of that, her hands folded protectively about her stomach. Evil as she might be, and Rita Repulsa was evil indeed, she would permit nothing to harm the small life that grew inside of her now.

Like it or not, she was going to have to tell him, though. He'd find out if she didn't, and she didn't want to risk him destroying her if he thought there was something she was keeping from him. Telling him just might give her enough good points with him so he'd give her some leeway on finding the third pure soul to pay his price.

As she cleaned up the mess caused by the spellcasting, she concentrated a little, and was able to almost hear the little soul within her. Something happened that hadn't in thousands of years.

Rita Repulsa smiled.

Selosia wasn't in a good mood; how could anyone be in a good mood with the news he'd just received? It was impossible; it should never have happened, but it had. Somehow, in some way, Divatox's brother, General Havok, had arrived and swept her and her whole crew up to the SpaceBase he'd built and brought with him. There was no way he could destroy that just yet.

He looked up as Rita entered the room, then did a doubletake. She looked definitely different than the last time he had seen her. Her hair was a deep golden color, and hung in a long wave of light down her back instead of the double cones it had always been in. The deep wrinkles had eased in her face, and she wore a light, summery gown of pale blue. She looked unutterably beautiful, and yet still had a strange aura of unbelievable wickedness.

He looked her up and down quietly. "Nice dress," was his first comment. "Why the change in outfit?"

She shrugged. "After wearing the same thing for twenty thousand years, I got bored," she said bluntly. "And I have some news. I don't think it qualifies as good news, but it's news all the same."

The demon raised what passed for Zedd's eyebrows. "Kindly elaborate."

Rita paused for a moment, then spoke it simply. "I'm pregnant. It happened before you took possession of that body, which might have some unusual effect on the child. I thought you'd want to know."

Throughout her short speech, he was growing steadily more and more furious, not to mention hungry. The thought of a pure soul, the very purest of souls, that of an unborn child, was teasing his tastebuds to no end. He rose and walked over to her, planting a hand on her stomach. Her eyes widened and she tried to back away, only to have him seize hold of her wrist. "You will give me this child's soul," he hissed. "Now, as it is, unsullied by the touch of life outside your womb. I want it now."

Her eyes practically glowed with rage. "NO!" she hissed. "Absolutely not! I'd rather die!"

Selosia's eyes did glow with hate. "That can be arranged! You're not necessary here, I can easily dispose of you if you anger me!"

"Then try it!" she shrieked, twisting away from him and running as fast as she could. "But I'll never give you my child's soul! You owe your very presence in this world to me, and all you thought of was just how to use me! But Rita Repulsa can't be used by anyone!"

As he raised his staff to blast her, she gathered her magic and teleported away. Selosia's blast only turned a fairly large section of the throne room into charred stone. He swore in more languages than most beings knew existed, or indeed could speak, then threw himself back into his throne.

"She can have her brat," he decided. "There's a thousand unborn children I can feed off of if I must. And I don't need her or those souls she promised me; I can find them on my own, and with far greater ease than she ever did."

Terry, Goldar, and Rito were having what amounted to a good time, as they dodged back and forth in the training room. The evil Ranger still remembered how they had abducted her, but it didn't matter; the spell binding her made it irrelevant.

"You're good, human!" Goldar grunted as she flipped him up and pinned him easily. That wasn't an accolade he'd granted lightly, if ever. "But I am better!" his tail lashed out from underneath him and caught her around the waist, pulling her to the floor.

Rito slammed his sword next to her head; it would've gone through her head if she hadn't moved to the side just in time. She jerked her head down sharply, biting Goldar's tail and as he released her, howling in pain, Terry jumped to her feet and slammed right into Rito, knocking the animate skeleton down.

"I win," she grinned, pinning both of them with one feet each. With a double backflip she spun away, and came right up against Selosia-Zedd. "My lord!" she bowed quickly. "I didn't know you were here!"

The Lord of evil nodded briefly, then looked at the three of them. "Rita has left the palace and left me. She is no longer to be obeyed by any of you, is that understood?"

The three warriors all bowed in unison. "Yes, master," they chorused obediently. Terry spoke next. "Is this all the reason you came to our training session?"

"No," he shook his head. "The three of you are to go to Earth and attack the Rangers; give no quarter and take no prisoners. This battle is to be one of the last; kill them if you can, and make it as painful as possible. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord," they all bowed again, then with the merest of pauses for Terry to morph, they all teleported down to Earth. Selosia chuckled to himself as he returned to the throne room. His conquest had begun.

Angel Grove had seen a plenty of monster attacks over the past few years. It had seen one evil Green Ranger early on in the fight, and now that someone wearing that same uniform had returned, the citizens remembered how to get out of the way with the same speed they always had before. One thing about living in Angel Grove, you quickly learned how to remove yourself from the scene of a battle. If you didn't, you generally wound up as a smear on the bottom of some giant monster's foot.

As the five Turbo Rangers battled the evil Green Ranger, a few intrepid folk recorded the events for posterity as they always did. They were the only witnesses to something that Angel Grove hadn't seen in years: the still continuing attempts of the Rangers to reach through the powerful spell that had been placed on this evil Ranger.

"Please, don't you remember any of what we went through?" Pink Turbo Ranger asked, dodging under a swinging fist. "I'm your friend!"

"Friends?" Green Ranger laughed, kicking at her. "I don't have any friends!"

Kim flinched under her helmet; she remembered giving those same words to Kat when she'd been under the spell of Maligore. They didn't sound any nicer coming from Terry. "You do!" she insisted. "We're friends!"

The Pink Ranger was the only one fighting Terry at the moment, Tommy and Justin were teaming up against Goldar, while Tanya and Adam were laying into Rito for all they were worth. Luckily they had no SuperTengas to deal with, and not one of the good Rangers was going to question or complain. Kim could see the video cameras out of the corner of her eye, and she knew better than to speak Terry's name out loud, and could only pray that the enspelled Ranger wouldn't say hers. The last thing they needed was for their identities to be spread all over the media.

"Never!" evil Green hissed. "You are my enemy, and I will destroy you, for the glory and the honor of my lord Zedd!"

She doesn't know about the demon! Kim realized, and in the same moment realized it would do no good to tell her about it. She would just have to fight for now, and hope that Dimitria could figure out someway to save them all. The good sorceress was working on that now, with David's help, while Jason and Rocky visited with Kat. "Never!" she declared. "We're going to help you, my friend! No matter what it takes, we're going to set you free!"

"Yo, yo, yo, Dimitria!" Alpha cried out suddenly. "There's an incoming transmission!"

Dimitria paused in her search for a way to free Terry and Zedd, glancing to the droid, as did David. "Who is the transmission from, Alpha?" she asked quietly.

"That's just it, I can't tell! It's coming in on a frequency that's almost never used, and is coded!" the robot shook his head in confusion. "There's only one clear part to it: this is the answer you've been seeking."

"Is there anything here that can crack the code?" David asked. "If this isn't some sort of prank somehow, it just might be what we've been looking for."

Alpha nodded. "There's a program that can decode the message in just a few minutes; let's just hope it's something we can use!"

As he started the translation of the message, Dimitria returned to her thoughts. She attempted to trace the message's origins, only to find they had been so well shielded that not even she could find where it had come from. Whoever sent this wishes to remain a DEEP secret. Very well. So shall it be.

Her gaze turned outward from inward, watching David as he helped Alpha with the calculations and translation. She was glad Tommy had begun to bring his brother here, and would, had things not interfered, asked him to bring Terry there as well. The triplets had things they were to do together. And once we have restored both Terry and Zedd to the side of good, then those things will begin to be done. They and the Rangers have a fate ahead of them far beyond simply defending this planet, but that will be their beginning.

"Dimitria!" Alpha and David called her name simultaneously and she focused on them more intently. "The translation went much faster than we thought!" Alpha continued. "We've got the answers!"

"Then it is how to release Terry from the spell that binds her and how to banish Selosia from Zedd's body?"

David nodded, grinning foolishly as he jumped to his feet, almost ready to do a little dance with joy. "Now all we have to do is put this into action, and we're going to have my sister back where she belongs, and Zedd!"

Dimitria smiled. "Call the Rangers, Alpha," she said gently. "Let them know that we have the answers at last."

Divatox was busily filing her nails and plotting how to get various forms of revenge against Rita and Zedd when the pounding came at the door to the SpaceBase. She looked up, eyes pulsating with annoyance at the interruption of her manicure. "Havok, whoever that is, tell them to go away!"

The General nodded absently, pulling himself away from trying to explain to Elgar how not to pilot the SpaceBase into it's stationary orbit over the Earth. There were some things that no one could be taught, but it seemed more than ever that Elgar couldn't be taught anything.

"We don't want any," he said curtly as he opened the door. "So go--"

"Havok, would you shut up and let me in?" a screeching voice declared. "I need to talk to Divatox!"

He stared in disbelief at Rita Repulsa as she stood there, dressed so completely differently than when he'd last seen her that if he hadn't heard her before seeing her, he wouldn't have had any idea it was her in the first place. "Rita!?" he gasped. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me!" she pushed her way past him. "And I need to talk to Divatox!"

"She's on the bridge," he told her, following quickly after her. "What's going on, where's Zedd?"

Rita shrugged. "I'd imagine probably wandering the astral planes or doing whatever it is people who'd have demons invade their bodies do."

"What!?"

She didn't give anything else like an explanation until she threw wide the doors of the bridge and stormed in on Divatox, who looked up as she entered. "This had better be really good, Rita!" the pirate queen hissed. "First you have my Green Ranger sink my Subcraft, now you come barging in here!? There had better be one really good explanation for it all," Divatox looked at the other queen, and her eyes widened. "Nice outfit!"

Rita threw herself into a chair, and glared at her friend. "Yeah, right, whatever. Look, here's the short version. I summoned up a demon that took over Zedd's body, he's the one who enspelled the Green Ranger and sent her to sink the Subcraft. I found out this morning that I'm pregnant, I'm just glad that it happened before I called Selosia, I'd probably commit suicide if was that thing's. Before I came here I did a little something guaranteed to screw Selosia's life all up, though."

Divatox blinked for one moment, assimilating all that had just been said. "What?" she asked at last.

"I sent Dimitria a message," Rita laughed. "A coded message enspelled not to be detected by anything as either good or evil and totally untraceable. It gives precise instructions on how to banish that demon asshole back to the netherworlds, and just what to do to break the spell on the evil Green Ranger."

Havok stepped forward. "Why betray him?"

She glared at him. "I'm not. I'm simply striking at him through another method. Selosia wanted the pure soul of my child, to destroy and devour. I will not let him do that. I want to twist and corrupt this child, and make it into the image of evil that I am and that Zedd failed to be!"

Divatox leaned back in her throne and turned her gaze onto Rita. "And just why do you come to me? You could just go back to your father in the M-51 Galaxy if that was all you wanted."

"Oh, I'm going to be calling on Master Vile," Rita snapped. "But what I want from you and Havok here is simple: a partnership. An alliance. An agreement to work together, without destroying each other, to defeat the Power Rangers once and for all, once they've gotten rid of Selosia."

Divatox and Havok both stood up straight. "Say what!?" the brother and sister chorused. "You've got to be kidding!"

Rita shook her head. "No way. Give me a yes or no, but give me the phone first," without even waiting for an answer, she was over by the communications console, dialing up the imperial palace in the M-51 Galaxy.

"Hey!" Divatox snarled. "Don't you run up the long distance bill, I just got this place!" she growled something nasty as Rita ignored her. I hate uninvited company!

The battle in Angel Grove hadn't grown any easier for the Rangers; indeed, it had actually gotten worse. SuperTengas had been sent down to help out the three evil warriors of Rito, Goldar, and Terry, and the camera crew that had been recording the battle found it wise to leave for now. Since that moment, the battle had escalated in every way but one; there weren't any giant monsters running around.

Terry's going to need some SERIOUS psychological help when this is all over, Tommy thought as he kept an eye on her out of the corner of his eye during his fight with Goldar. And so is Zedd. I'm glad I had the others to talk to after my spell was broken. They're both going to need people to hear them out.

As he and Goldar exchanged swordstrokes and insults with equal enthusiasm, Tommy was startled to see the huge fighter back off suddenly. He glanced around to see Rito, Terry, and the SuperTengas had all done the same thing. There was only one thing he could think of offhand that would cause that, and looked quickly for it.

"Master!" Terry said, bowing low as Selosia appeared upon the field of battle. He looked different from the last time Tommy had seen him, with the chrome exoskeleton and visor now blacker than night, and a far more sinister air of power about him. "You honor us with your presence! Shall we now blast the Power Rangers to atoms!?"

The evil overlord laughed softly and wickedly. "Indeed we shall, my warrior! In mere moments, the only Ranger on the planet will be you, my evil Green Ranger!"

He raised the Z-staff, but before anything could happen, five lightning quick columns of light vanished from the scene in response to a communicator's beep. He growled. "Those cowards!" he hissed. "I never thought to see the day when the mighty Power Rangers run from a battle!"

Selosia turned back to his warriors. "Lay waste to Angel Grove," he ordered. "Leave nothing> standing, not a thing! If I see so much as a tree upright, I'll remove all your heads! Now go!"

Their orders given, the three of them separated in order to do the most damage in the least amount of time. Soon Angel Grove would no longer need to fear monster attacks: for there would be no one left in Angel Grove to fear!

"What is it, Dimitria?" Tommy's voice was strained this time as he asked the question. He had a fairly good idea of what was going to be going on now that they'd left the battlefield, and it wasn't pretty.

"We have received a coded message," Dimitria told them. "When we ran it through the translator, it revealed itself to be the very answers we've been looking for. We now know how to free both Zedd and Terry from the grip of evil."

Everyone stood up straighter at that. "What?" Kim spoke the word quietly. "How?"

David picked up a printout; he'd accustomed himself quickly to the mechanics of the Power Chamber. "The easier one, and the one we're going to have to do first, is Terry. It's similar to the spell that was on you, Tommy, but not identical. The Sword of Darkness has to be destroyed to free her, but it must be done by three very specific people."

"Who?"

"You," David began. "Me. And Terry herself. And she must do it fully willingly, not tricked. She has to know what's going to happen when she destroys it, and want it to happen."

Everyone seemed to deflate at that. "Not possible," Tommy sighed. "One of Zedd's spells isn't designed to give someone that sort of option."

"But this isn't one of Zedd's spells," Justin reminded them. "It's one of Selosia's. There could be enough leeway in it for it to work."

The Rangers' leader thought that over for a few moments, then threw his hands up mentally and literally. "I don't see that we have any other options. What about how to free Zedd?"

Dimitria told them, "That is why Terry must be released first. Once she is free and fully herself again, then the three of you must free Zedd."

"How?" Tommy repeated the question.

"You must surround him, and call Selosia by his name, challenging him as a group to fight you, without Zedd's body," Dimitria told them. "He will not be able to resist that and will emerge from it. Then I will step in. Together, the five of us will do what is necessary."

"Five?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow in query.

"Yes, five," Alpha nodded. "Tommy, Terry, David, Dimitria, and Zedd. They're the only ones who can do bind Selosia back to the shadows where he belongs."

The Rangers and David all looked at each other in startlement. But once again, they knew they had no choice. "Let's do it," was all Tommy said in the end. "And let's pray this works. We aren't going to get any other chances."

"Daddy!" Rita hurried over to Master Vile as he emerged from his SpaceSkull and embraced him. "I've missed you!"

The emperor of the M-51 Galaxy nodded to his daughter and to his erstwhile hostess as Divatox and Havok emerged from their own quarters. The pirate queen and her brother had somewhat reluctantly agreed to house Rita and her father, though they had yet to give a reply on the alliance offer she had extended to them.

"It has been some time," he nodded. "You said you've left Zedd?"

"That's a rather complicated story," she told him. "The simplest version is that Zedd is currently possessed by the demon Selosia, but the Power Rangers should be dealing with that in due course, and I happen to be pregnant with that fool of a husband of mine's child. I left to make certain it was raised in the proper atmosphere of evil, not carelessly sacrificed to feed that creature's hunger, and now I want to form an alliance with you, Divatox, and Havok to defeat the Rangers once they've disposed of Selosia."

Vile blinked all of his eyes, then turned to the pirate and her brother. "And what do you have to say to all of this?"

"Why not?" Divatox finally answered. She'd thought about this ever since Rita had presented her request, and had made up her mind. "Why should we fight amongst ourselves when we've got Power Rangers that we can fight instead?"

Havok nodded his agreement; he'd really only planned to work with Divatox, but Rita and Vile were fine forces of evil. "I agree. We can use the SpaceBase as our base of operations."

Rita shrugged; the palace wasn't that dear to her. "Fine by me. Oh, and once Selosia's been disposed of, and Zedd's returned to his disgustingly good self, which he will most likely, then we're going to be getting two new servants; Goldar and Rito will be coming."

"Oh, those two are still around?" Vile snorted. "I thought you'd at least have done something to improve their I.Q's while you were back here."

His daughter practically glared at him. "I've been busy!" she snapped. "But we can worry about that later. Are we in alliance or not?"

"Very well," Divatox decided.

"Let's do it," was Havok's reply.

"I came for one and so shall it be!" Vile declared. The four minions of evil reached out, joining hands in a hideous union.

"Let the forces of good beware," Rita cackled. "For the Alliance is here to stay!"

Tommy, unmorphed, and David stood side by side in the park, watching with blood running cold as people fled from Goldar, Rito, and Terry in her Green Ranger uniform. "It hurts to see someone running from one of us," Tommy said softly.

"I know," David agreed. "But hopefully it won't be happening for much longer. Are you ready?"

His brother nodded. "You get her attention over here, and I'll do the rest. I hope."

David headed down the hill, as Tommy slipped into the trees. The eldest of the triplets took a deep breath, then called out when he was close enough, "Green Ranger!"

Terry turned at the sounding of her title from the senseless terrorizing of innocent people she loved to do so much. "Well, well, well," she smiled underneath her helmet. "If it isn't you."

"Why not chase me for a while, sis?" he spoke just loudly enough for her to hear him and no other. "Or is your big brother too much for you to handle?"

"Never!" he'd known the appeal to her pride would work, as she leaped after him, Dragon Dagger in one hand, Sword of Darkness in the other. He turned and ran back up to where he'd left Tommy as fast as he could, hoping that this worked. "Why are you running, dear brother? Aren't you the one who challenged me? Afraid to fight me now?"

David shook his head, stopping at the prearranged spot and turning to face her. "No. But I think there's something you should hear first."

"What?" she paused briefly. "You begging for mercy?"

"No," Tommy stepped out. "This," the Red Ranger held up a small paper in one hand. "Our dearest Terry. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to write, for I am doing it in a sense from the grave. Your father and I, and Master Tran, must be dead for you to be reading this. You were never to be given the box until we were all to be dead.

"Within this box lies the truth of your heritage, as much as we know. You are not an only child. You are one of a set of triplets, you have two brothers. The birth certificates in here will tell you only the fact they were born, not their names or where they are now. You were all born in the city of Angel Grove in California, and perhaps there is where you will find the answers as to who your birth parents are. But find your brothers first, and with them, find your answers.

"We never told you that you were adopted because we wanted you to grow up knowing the full love of a real family. It is love that makes a family, not always blood. And we love you, Terry. Your father, myself, Master Tran, we all love you. And we always will. I'm sorry we couldn't have more time together, but I know that what we did have was wonderful.

"I do not know what your brothers are like, but I do know that if they are anything like you, they are truly remarkable young men. I wish you the best of luck in finding them, and I ask only one thing of you: that you always remember the goodness, the truth, the honor, the loyalty, and the love that we sought to instill in you as you grew up. Good-bye, my dearest daughter, and remember that we love you forever. Signed, your mother, Rhea Drew Magee."

As Tommy read the letter that had been in the box, Terry stood, eyes wide and hands shaking as she heard once again those words of love. "M. . .mom?" she whispered softly. "Mommy?"

David stepped up to her. "We are your brothers, Terry," he reminded her. "We love you just like your adopted parents did. Tommy couldn't tell you about being a Power Ranger because he'd sworn never to reveal his identity to anyone; I only learned about it because it was either tell me that or have me go rushing off and get killed for no good reason."

Tommy joined them. "I was going to ask Dimitria if I could tell you about the Rangers when all the trouble got started. She's our mentor, our friend, and she wants to help you, just like we do."

"You. . .do?"

"Yes," David nodded. "We know how to help you now too. Your sword."

Terry glanced at the Sword of Darkness, and her eyes widened to see it glowing a sick and twisted green. She dropped it, recoiling, then reached her hand out for it again as if compelled to. Tommy and David both quickly seized her wrists.

"No!" Tommy shook his head. "Terry, I know what you're going through, I've been through it myself. I was once the evil Green Ranger. But I was freed, and you can be freed too. Do you want that?"

"H. . .how?" her voice quavered between fright, evil, love, and longing.

David looked into her eyes, somehow sensing where they were even through the helmet. "We, the three of us, the triplets, must all destroy the Sword. It's the only way you'll be free. And you have to want to be free of it. Do you?"

In a flash of green, Terry demorphed. Her eyes were wide and wet with the tears that streamed down her face, her lower lip was trembling with reaction and fear. She still held the Dragon Dagger in one hand, and she appeared to be fighting one of the greatest inner wars of her lifetime, of anyone's lifetime.

She was.

You are the slave of Divatox. ..the first tendrils of control tried to wrap around her mind, carrying with them hints of knowledge and revenge.

No, you serve Lord Zedd!!! the second power to overwhelm and defeat her self-will demanded within her.

Her own desires backed away from both of them, seeking escape, seeking freedom. No!!! she screamed to both. I'm Terry Magee! Sister to Tommy and David! I REFUSE to be evil!

You have no choice! Divatox's brainwashing attempted to reassert herself. You have NO CHOICE!!

YOU ARE MINE!!!! the power of the spell that bound her was immense, but it had a weakness. Only one weakness.

The same was true of the brainwashing. One weakness and only one, the same weakness evil had always had, and always would.

Truth. As she realized the truth, that her brothers loved her and always had, she knew what she had to do.

Terry opened her eyes. She knew if they didn't act swiftly, this one clear moment of thought would be all she had before submitting to evil again forever. "Help me, brothers," she said. "To destroy the Sword of Darkness."

As soon as that was uttered, both Tommy and David pulled the laser pistols they'd been given by Dimitria out from their hidden holsters. They pointed the weapons at the Sword as it lay pulsating on the ground before them, then as Terry aimed the Dragon Dagger at it, they all fired simultaneously.

In a great burst of light and sound, the Sword exploded once and for all. As it faded from existence, Terry dropped to her knees and screamed once, long and horribly as she held her head in pain. Her eyes flashed one final time a brilliant green, then returned to normal. Tears still coursing down her cheeks, she looked up at her brothers as they stood next to her.

"W. . . I. . . I'm. . .sorry," she stuttered. "Oh, God, Kat. . . how is she? Did I. . .?"

"She's going to be fine," David said, slowly helping her to her feet. "Especially now that you're back with us. Welcome back, sis. We missed you."

"No!" Selosia screamed in outrage as he watched the Rangers destroy the Sword of Darkness, releasing Terry from his control. "This isn't happening! I won't let it happen!"

In a ball of pure fire he teleported to Earth, arriving at the park where the triplets were just about to be leaving. "NO!" he bellowed on his arrival. "You are mine, Green Ranger, and you cannot deny me! I am your master!"

Terry looked at him, cool contempt in her eyes. "Well, master, apparently you haven't heard the news: I quit."

Selosia growled, the Z-staff glowing with fierce light. "I don't think so!"

"Something tells me you just plain don't think," Tommy said dryly, looking at his brother and sister. "Terry. David. It's time for the second freeing."

Terry closed her eyes for a second, remembering the events she'd experienced on the astral plane. She nodded briefly. "You guys ready?"

Her brothers both nodded, sensing she knew what to do. Tommy made a mental note to ask her just how she knew later, once this was all ended. They all turned to Selosia. It was time.

"Selosia!" David spoke first, his voice harsh and commanding. "What's the matter, too chicken to fight us without a stolen body?"

He stiffened; it was obvious he'd not expected them to know his real name. Terry stepped up next. "You can't fight without the magic in Zedd's body, you had to use that to control me, you couldn't do it on your own! You're nothing but a coward! Come out of that body, fight like a real warrior. . . or are you too scared?"

The demon thing roared in outrage, leaping towards the formerly evil Ranger, only to have Terry dodge swiftly out of the way, bringing him straight up against Tommy. "You must be terrified of us!" he taunted. "That's the only reason you're still in that body! Come on out and fight us one on one, or one on three, whichever, Selosia! Surely you can take on three humans!"

Selosia paused for a moment, glaring at them. "Foolish mortals!" it screamed, the body pulsating a deep black with streaks of red. "You shall all pay for your audacity!"

"Do you take checks?" Terry retorted.

"He'd better, I'm all out of cash!" David called from the other side. That seemed to be the last straw, as Selosia threw his head back and howled like a banshee, seeming to tear the very sky apart with his anger. Like a black cloud of hate, the demon emerged from Zedd's body, which flickered for a moment to the 'normal' Zedd form, then metamorphosed into a young man's body that Terry found she remembered from her brief visit to the astral plane.

"Zedd," she whispered the word. The true Zedd. At last.

"Now you face Selosia in his true form!" the demon's voice echoed. "And now you shall perish!"

In a blast of purest white light, Dimitria stood before them suddenly. "I think not!" her voice was like a sword, shimmering and bright with strength. "Zedd! David! Terry! Tommy! It is time!"

Zedd's eyes blinked, and he slowly made his way to his feet, his head reeling with the strange and unusual sensation of being free at last, not merely of Selosia, but the ancient spell that had forced him to evil. He looked up to see the triplets coming towards him, and Dimitria to one side. All of them faced Selosia, who was reaching down with an impossibly long arm towards them. Memory flooded back to him, and he came to stand beside Dimitria. "I'm ready," his voice was quiet, smooth, and firm.

Dimitria, Zedd, David, Terry, and Tommy stood in a row in front of Selosia as his hand came down towards them, formed into a fist and smashed into the ground at their feet. The five of them stood firm, due to Dimitria's magic, they were unaffected by it. She held her hands out to Zedd and David. "Join hands!" she declared. "And circle him!"

Zedd and David took her hands, David took Terry's, Terry took Tommy's, and Tommy took Zedd's free hand. In seconds the demon had been encircled, and he stared down at them. "What do you think you're doing!?" he howled. "I will destroy you!"

"Been there, done that," Tommy cried out. "Let's do it!"

Each of them could feel a power that seemed to have formed at the touch of hand to hand. It glowed in their minds, and they all heard Dimitria speaking to them. Triplets! Take the power and use it to bind him, you are the ones through whom this must be done! Use it well, my children!

They didn't ask why she called them that, there wasn't time. But Terry, David, and Tommy could all sense what needed doing. With Selosia unable to escape the circle they'd made of their bodies, the three of them reached forth mental hands and wrapped them around the power that pulsated inside them all. As one, they bound Selosia with that power, in bonds that not even he could escape from. As he fell before them, there was a ripping sound, and a tear in the sky opened above them.

"Time to go home!" Zedd cried, and with a powerful kick propelled the bound demon up to the tear. As Selosia passed through, screaming and thrashing about in agony at the pure magic that enveloped it, the tear sealed behind him, and the five of them collapsed, each and every one overwhelmed by the forces that had been flowing through them.

They had won.

Rocky stared quietly at Kat. He hadn't heard from the others in hours. It didn't really seem to matter, either. All that mattered was the young woman so still and pale on the bed here. He kept hold of her hand, and slowly began to speak.

"I guess I should've told you how I feel a long time ago. Back when I first met you, I guess. Cause that's when it happened. That's when I fell for you. It just took me a while to figure it out. I'm kind of dense, I guess. Sorry about that."

"So. . .kay. . ."

He shook his head. "It's not okay, you shouldn't have a dumb brick like me in your life anyw---," his voice trailed off as he stared down at her. For so long he'd been sitting here, waiting and watching, hoping for some response. Had he lost his mind with his wait? Had it finally happened? "Kat?"

Her eyes were open, and she was looking at him quietly. She moistened her lips a little, reaching her hand out to him. "I. . .heard you," she whispered brokenly. "I. . .love . . .you. . .Rocky."

He seized her hand and covered it with weeping kisses and tears. "Oh, Kat," he cried. "Oh, Kat!!"

"I'd say get a room, but it appears you already have one," a teasing voice came from the door. Rocky didn't even look up at Jason, his attention was all taken up with the finally awakened young woman. The former leader of the Rangers chuckled, then turned to go get a doctor. They were going to need to know that Kat was awake.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw who was coming towards him. His hand crept towards his communicator, until Tommy stepped from around Terry and shook his head, running up closer to him. "It's okay, Jase," Tommy told him. "They're on our side now, now and forever."

"They?"

Tommy gestured to the young man coming up with the other Rangers. "That's Zedd. Or rather, it used to be. That's still his name, but he's not evil anymore. He never really was, it seems. He was under a spell."

Jason blinked a few times. "Um. Okay. Oh, Kat's awake."

Terry's eyes widened with joy as she heard that. "She is? How is she? I'd like to see her. . . but she probably doesn't want to see me."

A dark haired woman came up to join them. "We must all go to her," her voice was familiar to Jason, even if her face wasn't. His jaw most definitely hit the floor at this.

"Dimitria?" he asked softly. She nodded. "How? Why?"

She laid a hand on his shoulder, gazing into his eyes. "That is one of the things that must be told, with all who are involved there. Come. None shall disturb us in Katherine's room for some time, until I decide that they shall."

"How?" Justin asked; he, like all the Rangers, was somewhat disturbed to see their mentor clad in normal Earth clothing, her breathtakingly beautiful face unveiled at last. But she had done this as soon as she, the triplets, and Zedd had awakened from the collapse that had swept over them in the aftermath of their victory, then insisted they all go to the hospital at once.

She smiled briefly. "I am the embodiment of good," she reminded them. That seemed to be all that needed saying as they slowly filed into the room. Kat looked up at them as they did, at first nervous with Terry being there. But with Dimitria's reassurance, both she and Rocky relaxed.

"So why are you all here?" the former Blue Zeo Ranger asked. Dimitria sat gracefully, almost floating as she was accustomed to doing. She glanced at each of them, her gaze lingering on the triplets and Zedd the longest.

"To answer questions," she said. "And the first question I shall answer is one that has plagued the minds of the triplets since first they each learned of their adoption."

Tommy breathed it out. "Who our parents are."

She nodded, glancing to Zedd. "That knowledge was deliberately kept in every possible way from you all. General awareness in the cosmos of whose children you were would've led to disaster. Your very existence was kept a secret, by means of separating you as much as we could."

"We?" Terry asked.

"Yes, we," Dimitria agreed. "Nineteen years ago, on June twenty-first, in what is now called the Power Chamber and was then the Command Center, I gave birth to triplets: two boys and a girl. Those triplets were separated, given to three different families. The oldest was given to Samuel Trueheart, on the reservation just outside of town, shortly after his birth. The youngest was given to Sara and John Oliver, and they moved out of Angel Grove within days of the birth. The middle child, the girl, remained with me for two months until Rhea and Eric Magee were available."

The triplets had all paled during Dimitria's recitation. Then, she slowly extended her left arm, and as doubts about Terry's identity had faded when she displayed the small round birthmark on her arm, so did doubts of what the white-clad mentor said fade as the same was displayed on her left arm.

Tommy's mouth worked, unable to speak. David simply stared, his jaw wide open in shock. Terry didn't even bother trying to speak. She simply threw herself onto Dimitria, holding her as if she never planned to let her go. The brothers joined in a moment later, until Dimitria pulled back. "That is only half of what I must tell you," she said. "Now you know that I am your mother. You must learn who is your father."

"Who?" David asked. Everyone else seemed to be too in shock to move, and none could blame them. This had to be the strangest event in Power Ranger history.

Zedd stepped forward. "Almost twenty years ago, when I was Lord Zedd and the master of evil, a conjunction of planets and stars occurred that temporarily terminated the spell that made me evil. I had only a short time, but in that time I met with Dimitria. We had known one another before I was enspelled, and during this brief time of freedom, we at last consummated the love that we had held all those long eons before, and still hold now."

Everyone was staring now as Zedd took Dimitria's hand, and she touched the side of his face gently. The triplets glanced from each other, to Dimitria, and then to Zedd. They'd all noticed his resemblance to them, but had each dismissed it as coincidence. Coincidence didn't seem so very likely to them now, however.

Zedd continued. "Dimitria never let me know at the time that she was pregnant with my children, with you all. At the time of my spellbinding, I was seventeen years old. I have not aged one moment since then physically, and now that I am free, I will continue to age from seventeen onwards. I don't know if I'd make a good father, and I wouldn't want to interfere with the family bonds you've each formed," he saw the pain in Terry's eyes at that, and placed a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I will, however, try to be your friend. I have a lot of evil to make up for."

Terry sighed. "Seems to be a family trait," she glanced up at them all, mischief in her eyes. With that, a boatload of tension that had been in the room faded in a general laugh. The forces of good had won at last.

Weeks passed. Kat healed quickly, but seemed to have no interest in retaking the Pink Turbo powers from Kim. Whenever the other girl asked about it, Kat always changed the subject quickly. Kim worried with Tommy if the terrible beating had made Kat afraid of being a Ranger, but if so, the tall blonde gave no hints of it. Terry had apologized profoundly to all of them, especially Kat, about the things she had done, and each and every one forgave her.

The middle triplet was no longer the Green Morphin Ranger. She had given the Coin to Dimitria, who had locked it away in the Power Chamber beneath a set of spells that no one but Terry herself could ever break through, and if she was under the influence of anything evil, then even she couldn't pass through them. She had said bluntly that she could never wear that uniform without being reminded of the horrible things she had done to them all while evil, and they had respected her decision. Tommy had told her candidly he'd felt the same way when he'd been the Green Ranger, but things had been different then.

Dimitria had returned to the plasma tube in the Power Chamber, resuming her white robes and veil. Every now and then, however, she and Zedd did go out on the occasional date. Her relationship with the triplets hadn't changed very much, except that she and Terry now spent long hours in conversation. The young woman had an aching need in her heart for someone to talk to, and a need for someone to help her deal with all that she had done while evil. A mother was perfect for that.

Zedd had moved in with Terry, taking the legal name of Zedd Magee, and posing as her younger brother. He was taking martial arts classes from her, once she'd resumed her post at the dojo, and was also looking into going to college himself in the fall. His centuries of life had given him a great deal of experience, but little practical knowledge of how modern Earth humans dealt with things. He was slowly becoming used to living as a mortal, and he enjoyed it a great deal.

Kat and Rocky were a solid couple, every bit as close as Tommy and Kim were, though nowhere near as physical. The Red and Pink Rangers used protection in their liaisons these days, and those did occur at least once a week, if not more often. Jason and Terry grew even closer, and they finally managed to have the date he'd been meaning to ask her on before Divatox had poked her nose into their affairs.

The Alliance made it's debut only days after the debacle with Selosia, and the Rangers pushed the attack back quickly and firmly. It had given them a great deal of trouble, however, and the attacks were starting to come quicker and harder. The Rangers needed help, and they all knew it.

That help came one day shortly after Kat had emerged from the hospital for the final time.

"Why'd Dimitria want us here?" Tommy wondered as the five Rangers appeared in the Power Chamber. By their insistence, the triplets referred to their parents by their names; it removed a great deal of confusion. "If it's another attack, I think I'm going to go insane!"

Kim shrugged, as Jason turned to them from the seat he'd been in. "No, not another attack," the former Ranger said quietly. "In fact, it's good news."

Dimitria appeared in the tube, nodding. "Very good news. Rangers, as you all know, the Alliance of Rita, Divatox, Havok, and Vile has escalated the severity of the battle for Earth. Their powers united will make it difficult to defeat them, but with that which we will present to you today, it may be possible."

"What?" Kim wondered. "What is it?"

Jason smiled; he was the only non-Ranger in Angel Grove who knew their secret who was there at the moment. "It's not what. It's who."

He gestured to a darkened area of the Power Chamber. As they looked, a spotlight suddenly illuminated the shadows. Five figures stood there, five Turbo Rangers, in white, black, purple, gray, and brown uniforms. Dimitria spoke.

"These five people have been chosen to join you in the fight. Power Rangers Turbo, I present to you: the Power Rangers Turbo, the other half."

Tommy, Adam, Justin, Tanya, and Kim just stared in pure shock. Dimitria motioned, and the one in brown stepped forward. "You have proven yourself loyal and trustworthy, and are a strong fighter. From this day forward, you, Rocky DeSantos, are the Brown Ranger."

As Rocky removed his helmet, the Gray Ranger stepped up. Dimitria spoke again. "Your courage, strength, and honor allowed us to choose you as the Gray Ranger, David Trueheart, and from now on, you are the Gray Ranger, David removed the helmet, smiled, and went with Rocky to stand beside the other Rangers.

Next was the Purple Ranger. "Long has it been since you were on the side of good, Zedd Magee, but it has come at last. Welcome, Purple Ranger," her beloved removed his helmet and stood next to David as the Black Ranger was next.

"You chose freely to give up the Pink Powers to Kimberly, and now have come into your own as the Black Ranger, Katherine Hilliard," Dimitria said as Kat slipped her helmet off and smiled at Kim, the reason for her refusal to return to Pink now known. Now everyone turned to look at the White Ranger, hope blazing in every heart.

"History repeats itself in our family," Dimitria's voice was full of pride. "As once your brother progressed from evil Green to pure White, so do you also make this transition, Terry Magee. Welcome, thrice welcome, White Ranger."

As the White Ranger slipped her helmet off, revealing the smiling face of Terry, the entire room burst into applause. Dimitria cleared her throat a little. "Your Zords are currently being built on planet Eltar under the supervision of Zordon and the finest minds that world has to offer. When they are completed, they will be brought to you. Until then, you will each share a Zord with another Ranger. Rocky and Kimberly, together you shall pilot the Wind Chaser Zord. David and Tommy, my sons, you shall drive the Red Lightning Zord. Zedd and Justin, the Mountain Blaster Zord is yours to drive together. Kat and Tanya, Dune Star is under your joint control. Adam and Terry, Desert Thunder will do well with the two of you as pilots."

As Dimitria ceased to speak, Kim turned to Jason, frowning briefly. "I don't mean any offense, but why didn't you get new powers?"

"I was asked," he said quietly. "But I think it's time to let some others have the honor."

He didn't say anything about the real reason, the reason in his heart. Terry and Zedd both needed to prove to themselves, if no one else, that they could fight for the cause of good. David had more than earned this, with his quiet courage and strength. Kat and Rocky were two of the finest Rangers he'd ever seen, and deserved to keep the Power.

"Power Rangers Turbo," Dimitria caught their attention. "Remember the rules you must live by now. Never use your power for personal gain. Never escalate a battle unless you are forced to. And keep your identities secret. The Power Rangers are now complete."

Before any serious celebrating could begin, however, the entire room shook with the alarms. "Yo, yo, yo!" Alpha cried out, shuffling to the sensors. "We got trouble! Two monsters are wrecking downtown Angel Grove!"

Tommy grinned at his teammates, new and old. Something that ten minutes earlier would've driven him insane now seemed to be the easiest thing in the world. They all grinned back, even Jason. He pulled out his Turbo Charger. The command came sharp and clear.

"Shift into Turbo!"