Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The Cold One belongs to the book THE COLD ONE and to Christopher Pike. I'm not using this story for profit so I don't think they can sue me. The power rangers belong to Saban and Liz belongs to my imaginative mind. E-mail me if you have a problem or like this story.

The Cold One
Chapter One
by BAP

The Cold One looked around Angel Grove Park. The park looked nice. The people looked nice. It hated nice. That was the sole reason It had come to Angel Grove. To destroy it. Silently, The Cold One began It's work. It looked down the road. No one in clear sight. Quickly, The Cold One made Itself invisible. When It was invisible, entering people's minds was easier.

The Cold One saw a tall, handsome looking boy coming down the walk. _Ahh my first victim._ It thought of how It would do this. Entering the boy's mind was easy but finding the right information was tough.

Quickly, It wavered in front of the boy and pushed Itself into his mind. Information flooded at It. The Cold One looked over every piece carefully. Name: Thomas Oliver. Age: 18. School: Angel Grove High. Occupation: Leader of the Power Rangers. Parents....

_Power Ranger?!_ The Cold One thought for a moment. A Power Ranger. It could destroy starting with Thomas and his friends. The Cold One looked over the names of the other rangers. Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos, Tanya Sloan, Katherine Hillard, Jason Lee Scott, Elizabeth Maxwell. It smiled and left Oliver's mind. _The earth will be overthrown and it would all start with the Power Rangers and Angel Grove._

* * *
Tommy looked at his watch. Rocky was going to kill him. Once again Tommy was late for a sparring match they had set up. Quickly, he walked into the Youth Center and scanned around for Rocky. He found him sitting at a table with Adam and Tanya. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Hi Tommy," said Rocky. "Ready for a one-on-one match? Better be ready to get killed because I drank three bottles of Surge."

"Watch out Tommy," giggled Tanya.

"I will." Tommy suddenly felt a chill go through him. Something didn't seem right. He got up and began to fight Rocky but the feeling persisted. He tried to ignore it but it wouldn't shake off.

* * *
Liz spotted Adam over at a table talking to Tanya. The two were watching Rocky and Tommy fight. She snuck up behind Adam, putting her finger to her mouth signaling Tanya to be quiet. Tanya broke into a fit of giggles.

"Tanya are you okay?" asked Adam. She just giggled.

"Hi!" yelled Liz causing Adam to jump out of his chair and land on the floor. The two girls roared with laughter.

"Very funny you two," Adam grumbled. "Liz you'd better watch it."

"Or else what?"

"I don't know." He climbed back into his chair. "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course."

"You guys going out tonight?" asked Tanya.

"Yeah." Adam blushed. Liz sighed. He still couldn't get over the habit of blushing and it really annoyed her. The three looked over at the two sparring friends when they heard Rocky celebrating his victory.

"What's wrong with Tommy," asked Liz. Everyone knew that Tommy could kick Rocky's butt any day.

"I don't know," replied Tanya. "He was acting really strange when he came in." She lowered her voice. "Maybe Mondo got to him."

"No," said Adam staring at Tommy's face, "It looks like something else did."

* * *
The Cold One looked at a perfectly neat house. It hated perfect. It hated neat. _Oh well,_ It thought, _I can get this over with quickly._ The Cold One smiled. This was too easy.

The Cold One scanned the house with Its mind. No one was in the house except Tommy. _Good. Now I have him alone. Nothing can get in my way._ The Cold One slurred into the house and walked up the stairs. It could hear the heartbeat of a person in the bedroom to the left of the stairs, farthest down the hall. It chuckled. Human heartbeats were so easy to retrieve.

The Cold One melted through the door and saw Tommy lying down on his bed. _Perfect. He's an easy target._ The Cold One chuckled to Itself. _Every human is an easy target. Especially when they're troubled._ It could smell uneasiness coming from every breath Tommy made. He was troubled. By what, The Cold One didn't care. It was only interested in getting what It wanted. And by Tommy, It would do this.

The Cold One stood at the foot of Tommy's bed. With one leap, It fell onto Tommy. But instead of landing on him, like one would expect, It went into him, entering Tommy and his mind. The Cold One passed all of Tommy's information to the main control: himself. The Cold One quickly made some changes and in a moment It sat up and looked in the mirror. Instead of seeing nothing, like an invisible person would expect, It saw Tommy.

"I'm in control," It said aloud, laughing gleefully as It saw Tommy talking. The Cold One was in control.

* * *
Liz looked at herself in the mirror. Her silver dress looked good but she needed something else. _Shoes?_ Nope. Her white cheerleading shoes were her nicest and her only other shoes besides her Nikes. _Makeup?_ Nope. She never wore any and Adam knew it so he couldn't hold it against her. _Hair?_ That was it. She had forgotten to put up her hair. Sighing, she walked over to her dresser and began to brush it. Adam would be there any minute and she wasn't ready. How wonderful.

Suddenly an awful feeling crept into her stomach. She passed it off as a bad memory of her latest dream. Actually she had the dream several times before but never that realistic. The flames had seemed so real it scared her. Why did memories always come back so forcefully?

Liz took out a white scrunchy from her top dresser drawer and pulled her hair back. There, she was ready for anything now. She would sweep Adam off his feet like he had never known.

Liz heard the front door slam shut. "Adam!" she called but no reply came back. She heard something creep up the stairs. Her blood went cold. Adam would've answered her... or was he trying to get back at her for her trick earlier that day. "Very funny Adam. I know you're there so give it up." No answer. This time she got scared. Whoever was in the house wasn't Adam. Liz stood absolutely still, hoping whoever was in the house wouldn't go into her room.

Suddenly Liz heard the door to her room open. Quickly, she spun around, just in time to see a revolver pointed at her. Liz screamed, trying to see the face of the owner, but he was hidden in the shadows. The gun went off twice. Liz felt intense pain and fell to the floor.

"Why?" she whispered. "Tommy why?"

Chapter Two: Who? Why? Adam felt a chill up his spine. Something wasn't right. Not knowing what, he walked up Liz's front steps only to find that the front door was wide open. This made him uneasy. He knew that Mrs. Maxwell was out on a business trip and that Liz was home alone, but she would never be this irresponsible. He cautiously stepped into the house. Climbing the stairs, he prayed that everything was okay and the feeling was just a false alarm.

Adam looked around the hallway. No one in sight. "Liz," he called silently,wandering into her room. Opening the door he looked around. Everything seemed normal except that Liz wasn't there and it wasn't like her to miss a date. "Liz," he called again. No answer. _Where is she? What could've happened to her?_ The feeling became more intense with every step. He couldn't shake it. Something was definitely wrong. But what?

"Liz, please answer me if you're in here." Then Adam heard it. It was faint but he swore he heard a voice. "Elizabeth? Is that you? Please answer me."

"Help me Adam. Please." Liz felt like a ton of bricks had just fallen on her. Pain gripped her with fear. Her right shoulder hurt the worst as she stretched to speak. Something warm was on her arm and chest: she thought it was blood, but wasn't sure since she could barely see a thing. She could hear Adam's walk shift toward her.

Adam felt like he was imagining things. He had just heard the word "help." _Am I going nuts?_ He looked around the bed where he thought the sound was coming from. At the sight he almost fainted at what he saw. Liz was sprawled on the ground with blood surrounding her. Her eyes were closed and she was scarcely breathing. He drew in a deep breath to keep from cracking. "Elizabeth? Can you hear me?"

"Help me Adam I'm dying." she managed to whisper.

"No you're not!" cried Adam desperately trying to believe his own words. His mind was racing for what to do. The most obvious was to call 911 and that is what he did. He tried hard to believe that she would be all right.

* * *
The Cold One stared at the ambulance rushing down the street. It smiled. The Cold One wouldn't get caught, Tommy would. It knew that It could not use Tommy for all of Its plan. It would have to take him home soon.

The Cold One took Tommy back to his house and laid him down on the bed. Instantly It left his mind, knowing that he would have forgotten everything that he had done. Now he would be blamed, he would be the killer. It quickly left the house and headed for the park. Its plan was unfolding perfectly. Now what should It do? It was too soon to go after another ranger. It would have to follow them a bit to see their weak points. It was all The Cold One could do.

_This is perfect,_ It said to Itself. _But who should I follow first?_ It smiled.The Cold One hadn't had this much fun since It had been alive. How It had forgotten how much fun revenge was... and revenge It would get.

* * *
Adam watched as some doctors wheeled Liz into the ER. He had started to follow but some nurses held him back. Apparently she needed immediate surgery because the wound was big and she also needed a blood transfusion because of all that she lost. This scared him so much but he didn't say anything. Adam already felt like crying and he didn't need anything to make it worse.

Time went by. Two hours to be exact, and Adam felt like crap. There had been no news on Liz. Every doctor and nurse had either ignored him or just gave him an okay. This made him even more paranoid. Adam still couldn't convince himself that she would be okay. Surgery? Blood Transfusion? Things can't be this bad can they?

His mind then switched to another topic: who had done this? Whoever it was was a sick jerk to do something like that. And if Adam ever found out who did he would kick the crap out of them. At the thought he placed his head on his knees and allowed himself to cry.

"Adam are you okay?" Adam lifted his head up to see Jason's face. Jason's concerned face.

"Yeah I'm fine I guess."

Jason shook his head. He didn't look fine at all. Tears were welling up in his eyes and his expression told all. "Adam if you need to talk to anyone me and the others are always going to be here." Adam nodded holding back some sobs. Jason shook his head again. Besides being insecure, Adam was also very emotional, especially when it came to Liz. Liz was the only person who ever understood him and he was always so bright and cheery when she was around. She had seen past the strong, powerful form and had gotten to his heart. Perhaps she was the only one who had ever gotten there. Or it could be because he had had a crush on her in first grade. Whichever, she meant a lot to him.

"C'mon Adam. Cheer up."

"Cheer up? You want me to cheer up when my girlfriend is in the emergency room! I don't think so!" He placed his head in his hands again and once again began to cry. Jason sighed and whispered a good luck to him. He himself was wondering who had done this too her. Someone really cruel that was for sure. Something was up and it wasn't Mondo.

* * *
The Cold One had been spying on the Rangers all morning and It now had Its next victim. Katherine Hillard. She was such a sweetheart. Not for long though. The Cold One had to hit the rangers hard so that nothing of It could be discovered. If It was,the whole plan could be ruined. So now It was going for the ones who were kind and sweet or a powerful leader. Tommy was gone so Kat could be next.

It spotted Kat by a park bench. She appeared to be waiting for somebody. No matter. I can do this quickly. One of The Cold One's main rules was to never let anyone know It was there. That was important to keep especially on this mission.

The Cold One moved closer to Kat and then like Tommy, It entered her mind. It knew that if It switched around a few things It could make her act exactly like It wanted her to act without It being in her. It would switch her from a nice little girl to a very cold person, exactly like It.

Immediately The Cold One saw results. Instead of waiting patiently she began to tap her foot and then she got up and left. The Cold One was surprised but happy with the results. It didn't think she react so quickly figuring she was so nice. The Cold One must have used up too much energy when entering her. _Oh well. This could lead to a problem but I must do everything I can._

Kat marched back to her house enraged. She was so cheesed. Tommy hadn't shown up. She had waited five minutes for him. How rude. A sudden burst of coldness filled her spine. Nothing. Just a feeling of coldness for Tommy.

The Cold One giggled to Itself. She was taking the bait. If everything worked out It could get revenge in no time. The sooner the better. It had to finish the job It started.

* * *
"Are you here for Elizabeth Maxwell?" Adam looked up at someone who seemed obviously annoyed by her job. Adam nodded his head slightly wondering how she ever got to be a nurse.

"Well you can go see her now. The surgery was a success and she's awake." A smile and sigh of relief escaped Adam's system.

"I'll go with you too okay buddy?" Adam quickly turned his head to see Tommy.

"When did you get here?"

"You mean I've been here for an hour trying to comfort you and you haven't noticed me?" Adam shook his head. "I guess that explains why my comforting didn't work much." Adam wiped his eyes and got up to follow the nurse with Tommy tagging along.He felt bad for Liz and Adam. Liz had to be in intense pain and Adam... well, he was always in pain when someone close was hurt.

The nurse led the two into room 316 and Adam immediately went to her side. Tommy stayed in the hallway thinking the two should be alone for a moment. At least to calm them both down. Adam took Liz's hand. "Liz are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"I'm fine I guess," she answered in a slow cracking voice. She moved her head to see him. He looked terrible. His semi long hair was messy, his bright green shirt rumpled with faded washed out red spots, and his forest green cuorderoy jacket tied around his waist. "You look terrible."

"Thanks. You don't look so hot either. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes! Adam don't worry about me. I'll be fine. This is about as bad as when I went into the coma on vacation."

"Yeah, but then you weren't so close to death. Now it's like... ohhh." Liz giggled at the disgusted expression on his face and soon regretted it as she felt a strong wave of pain.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Jeez Adam you worry way too much."

Adam smiled weakly. She wasn't good no matter how she felt. He knew it would take weeks for full recovery. If only he'd taken her to the Power Chamber. She would have gotten better much faster. But Zordon only allowed injuries caused during a battle to be healed there.

"Can I come in?" Tommy stepped in the room. He was obviously curious on how she was doing.

"Yeah sure." Adam put his attention back to Liz who had her eyes closed trying to regain energy.

"How's she doing?"

"She says she feels okay but I don't really believe her. The doctors said she was lucky. If I hadn't gotten there when I did...." His voice trailed off. Tommy saw that the whole time he was talking his eyes never left her.

"Listen Adam, everything is going to be okay. You'll see. It always is."

"It's not just this. It's who did this. If I ever get my hands on who did this... I'll... I'll kick the crap out of them and break every bone in their body." He clenched his fist at the thought.

"Adam we have absolutely no idea where to start. The only people that know who did it is that person and Liz."

"Wha..?" Liz opened her eyes at the sound of her name. Adam turned his attention to her. Tommy did too.

"How do you feel?" Liz didn't answer. She was staring at Tommy. "Are you okay?" Once again no answer. Adam got worried. "What's wrong? Should I call the nurse?"

Liz screamed. She could only scream.

Chapter Three - Don't Leave Me With Memories The Cold One sat down at a park bench. It was tired. It had used too much energy on Katherine. That was bad. It might not have enough left for Jason It's next victim. "Oh well as long as I can get them away from her I'm fine."

The Cold One had come a long way from the beginning. It couldn't stop now. The idea was perfect. It just needed to get the others out of the way and voila! Instant control. "Now it's just a matter of time."

It smiled. How It was going to burn those rangers. Burn. Anger ripped through its body. Burn. Flames. Death. "I'll get you Elizabeth. Mark my words I will."

* * *
Kat ran down the stairs. "Mom, I'm going out okay?"

"Not like that, "exclaimed Mrs. Hillard. She looked her daughter over carefully. Kat was wearing a skin tight pink sleeveless shirt, super short denim shorts, and a black leather jacket in hand. "Honey, what are you wearing?"

"It's a new style," she lied. "See you later." Kat rushed out the door before her mom could ask her anymore questions.

Once in her car, Kat immediately went for downtown Angel Grove. Downtown wasn't as bad as a big city but still had lots of crimes and gangs. Hardly anyone decent would go there so many people who knew Kat from school were thoroughly surprised. Especially when she entered one of the bars. The place was pretty empty for a Friday night but still had people in it.

Kat sat down and ordered a drink while checking out the guys there. Lots of them were staring at her and she noticed a few were cuter than Tommy. She smiled at them. _I don't need Tommy. I can find someone else._

* * *
Liz closed her eyes. She was breathing heavily, with each breath her shoulder hurt more but she couldn't help it. Something in her had just snapped when she had seen Tommy. Something in his eyes. Immediately after she screamed the police had shown up and had somehow developed a story that the reason she was in shock was because Tommy had shot her. Adam began to protest but they said that they'd seen cases like this before. With that they took Tommy away. Liz had heard all this and felt guilty but was in too much shock to protest. She couldn't believe what she had just done.

"What just happened?" Liz didn't respond to the voice. She knew who it was. Adam. He had to be mad at her. She had just convicted one of his best friends. "Liz what happened?" Adam paused. "Liz I'm not mad at you. I know you have a good reason. Please just tell me what happened."

Liz swallowed hard. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"When I saw Tommy I... something... just snapped. Something in his eyes."

"Was he the one who...?"

"I don't know. I can't really remember. What if he isn't. I feel so guilty..."

"Don't. It isn't your fault. Now get some rest okay?"

"I can't sleep. Not after all this."

"I'll be here. When you wake up I'll be here." Liz nodded and tried to fall asleep. She had been sure she wouldn't be able to but soon she fell into a deep sleep.

Adam sat back in his chair. His thoughts flooded his mind endlessly. _Did Tommy do it? If not who did? And why Tommy? Why would anyone?_ He looked at Liz. She seemed peaceful and restless at the same time. Her body was still but her face full of worry. He wondered what she was thinking.

* * *
Jason hung up the phone. Tommy wasn't answering nor anyone else in the house. _Wonder where they are?_ Tommy didn't say anything about going out. Jason shook his head and got out the rest of his homework. A cold feeling suddenly came over him. He ignored it for the moment until it seemed to take over him. "I wonder if I'm coming down with something." Jason tried to stand up but found it impossible without support. He slowly made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Honey are you okay?" asked Mrs. Scott. She quickly ran to her son's side.

"I... feel... so... weak." With that he collapsed.

* * *
"Adam!"

Adam looked around at the sound of his name. In the doorway stood Tanya, her face worried and she was panting hard. "What are you doing here?"

"Adam it's Jason. He has a fever of 104 and it's still rising. He fainted at his house and he feels weak."

"Oh my gosh! Is he okay?"

"Besides the fever yeah." She motioned to Liz. "How's she holding?"

"Not bad." He lied. "Listen I can't leave her. I promised I'd be here for her when she wakes up."

"S'okay. I don't think they're allowing visitors anyway. I just thought you'd like to know."

"Thanks." Tanya left and Adam turned his attention back to Liz. _What's going on here?_

* * *
Flames engulfed the house. Heat rose everywhere and smoke curled onto the ceiling. A little girl was sitting down on the floor by her window crying. She didn't know how to get out of the burning house.

"Elizabeth! C'mon!" The girl got up and looked out the window. Her brother was sitting on a branch holding his hand out. "C'mon Liz! I'll get you out."

Liz climbed onto the windowsill but drew herself back once she saw how far it was to the ground. "I can't! It's too high. I'll fall."

"No you won't. Trust me." He shifted his position and moved closer. "C'mon!"

Liz began to cry. "It's too high up. You won't catch me. I'll fall and get hurt."

Matt sighed and climbed into her bedroom. "I'm going to carry you out okay?" She nodded. He quickly picked the 8 year old girl up by her waist and placed her carefully on the branch. "Okay. Now climb slowly down the tree. Go to...." His voice was cut off as a burning beam fell on top of him.

"Matt! Matt," she screamed but no answer came. As the firemen helped her down she kept screaming to her brother. She could only scream.

* * *
The Cold One covered Its ears. She must be screaming. The dream must have worked. Somehow It was always connected to her thoughts. It hated that. Everything It had ever worked for had been destroyed by her.

The Cold One looked at a picture of the Rangers that It had obtained. The silver, gold and pink rangers were crossed out in black ink. "Who's next my ranger friends?" It smiled as Its gaze fell upon the blue ranger. Its plan was going faster than It though it would go. "At this rate I'll have all the rangers gone by noon tomorrow. That is if no one gets in the way...."

* * *
"Elizabeth? Liz. Are you okay?" She was screaming and Adam had suddenly gone into panic. He was worried about her. Slowly he shook her to wake her up. With a jolt, she sat up and was greeted by a sharp pain in her right shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm... okay, ... I think." She realized that she was panting and sweat was beading from her forehead. "Just a bad dream." She sighed. "A very bad dream."

"What about?"

"Nothing important really. A bad memory and nothing else."

Adam sighed and let it go. She didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't help wondering what the dream was about though. It couldn't have been good. He glanced over at her still form. She didn't look well at all. Her face was pale and she looked rather weak. The sweat on her forehead didn't make him feel any better. He was worried. She had never been this upset before. He lightly kissed her on the cheek and got up to get a drink. All the time he tried to convince himself that everything would be all right.

* * *
Rocky ran into the empty house and played the messages. It had been a long day: school, chores, workouts... and now he just wanted to raid the fridge and relax.

The first message was from his aunt telling, or ordering them, to come up to Maine for the family reunion. Rocky wasn't too worried about that. His mom and his aunt went like water and computer keys. Most likely his mom would give a good excuse not to go.

The second was Adam telling him about the dilemma. Rocky stood there wide eyed listening to the story, drinking an unknown substance in his brothers thermos. Rocky didn't care what it was as long as it tasted good. And boy did it! As he headed upstairs he suddenly felt dizzy and sleepy. He made his way up to his bed and fell dead asleep.

To be Continued....