Note: * Some parts of this story is taken from "Passing of the Torch Part 1". Also the Sydney Carnival doesn't exist.
"That concert was great," Katherine Hillard {Kat} exclaimed, breathing in the sweet smell of a pink rose her boyfriend, Rocky De Santos, gave her earlier that night.
"It was great because you were there," Rocky's eyes wandered from the road for a second to look at his beautiful girlfriend.
Kat giggled. "Flattery will get you nowhere," she leaned over from the passenger's seat in the car and kissed Rocky on the cheek, "But it does get you a kiss."
"So flattery does get me something," Rocky smiled, then glanced in his rear view mirror to see about two dozen cogs trailing them on motorcycles, "Oh, shit!"
Kat looked at the Blue Zeo Ranger stunned. "What?"
"Look in the mirror," Rocky motioned towards the side view mirror on Kat's side of the car.
Kat looked at the reflection in the side view mirror and saw the cogs on the motorcycles. "What the hell are they doing?!?!"
"I don't know, but I know one thing," Rocky replied her, making
a sharp turn onto the road that lead to the outskirts of Angel Grove, "This
picnic has just ended............................."
Shannon Kassandra Kaze opened the door to her daughter's room, Caroline, to see her fiancé and Caroline's father sitting on a chair reading, The Night Before Christmas, for, what had to be, the tenth time that night. "..........Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight," Tommy Oliver finished the story and stood up, realizing that Caroline had finally fallen asleep.
He headed towards the door, where Shannon was standing. "How many times did you read it?" the girl asked him, as they walked out of the room.
"Six," Tommy answered, closing the door behind himself, "I'm starting to regret that Kim got Caroline that book for Christmas."
"Me too," Shannon agreed, "How about I read you another story?"
She kissed him sensually and was about to again when Shannon's communicator went off. "Hello?" she spoke into the communicator gruffly.
The White Zeo Ranger heard a loud screech in the background. "Shannon, this is Kat. Me and Rocky are being tailed by two dozen or so cogs in Rocky's Explorer and we can't shake them off. We need back up," Kat's voice was barely hearable.
Shannon's eyes met Tommy's and he nodded his head. "We'll be there as quick as we can. Where are you?" the brunette answered.
"We're on the outskirts of Angel................" all the two rangers could hear was static.
"Kat? Kat? Are you there, Kat? Can you hear me, Kat?" Shannon tried calling the Pink Zeo Ranger, but got no reply.
Tommy covered her communicator. "Something must be jamming the signal," Tommy grabbed his car keys, "She was about to say outskirts of Angel Grove. We can catch them if we floor the jeep."
Shannon got their coats and threw Tommy his. "Let's go then!"
she told him, as they ran out the door.
"Shannon? Shannon? Shannon this is Kat," the aussie slammed her communicator on the dashboard of the car in frustration, "Someone's jamming the damn signal!"
Rocky swerved the huge four-by-four to the left. "I know who it is and I'll give you a hint, her name sounds like fiesta," Rocky joked, during the frustrating moment.
"This is not the time to joke, Rocky! Besides I already know it's Zesta," Kat yapped back.
"Don't bite my head off! I didn't do anything. Anyways, Shannon and Tommy are on their way I bet," Rocky tried to look on the bright side of the situation.
Kat glanced at the side view mirror nervously. "I don't think they'll be here in time, Rocky. The cogs are getting closer!"
Rocky took a quick look into the rear view mirror and the cogs approaching at a faster speed. "Okay, then. Time for plan B," Rocky paused, "When I stop the car, we get out, and morph."
"I guess that's our only choice," Kat agreed, as Rocky brought the huge blue truck to a stop.
Rocky and Kat quickly got out of the truck and got in morphing position. "It's morphin' time!" they called out in unison.
The two flicked their wrists, but their zeonizers didn't appear. "DAMN!" Rocky shouted, "Zesta must be blocking our morphing signatures! Time for plan C."
"Plan C?"
"RUN!" Rocky and Kat started running like the sky was going to fall.
The cogs, still on the motorcycles, staring chasing the Blue and Pink Zeo Rangers, once in awhile shooting a laser to startle them.
A stray laser nailed Rocky in the right ankle and he collapsed to the ground. "Keep going, Kat," he urged her, as she stopped right next to him, "Forget about me! Save yourself!"
"No, I won't leave you!"
Rocky stole a glance at the cogs, who were approaching faster and faster. "Kat, do it for me! Get outta here! I don't NEED you!"
Kat stared into her boyfriend's eyes, the pain showing. She absolutely knew Rocky would risk his life for her, no matter what situation. "I'll be back for you," Kat whispered, kissing him sweetly on the lips.
She stood up and began running faster than she'd ever run before.
After awhile of running, she stopped and just stood there. "I'm starting to regret I left you, Rocky," Kat said to herself.
"Oh, you are going to regret more than that soon, Katherine," a musical voice laughed from the darkness.
Kat sneered, as she recognized the voice. "Zesta."
The enchantress stepped out from the darkness and stepped under the full moon's eerie blue light. "You remembered," Zesta grinned.
"What do you want?" Kat snapped at the blonde, whose hair was actually grayish in the moon's light.
"You."
This time, Kat laughed. "What do you want from me?"
"Your power. And I am not talking about your Zeo power. I am speaking of your evil power, the one Rita and Zedd gave about year ago or so," Kat turned pale, "In fact Rita and Zedd are my COUSINS. It is a small world, is it not, Katherine?" Zesta paused, "Well, besides that, I want you, Katherine. You still have evil coursing through your veins. I want you for the evil that still lurks within you. The unknown evil that lies within your very soul."
"NEVER! I will die before I am evil again!"
Zesta smirked. "Oh, that can be arranged. But a dead Katherine is not an evil Katherine, so it just will not do," Zesta threw a nasty upper cut at Kat, which she didn't expect, and knocked Kat out.
"Now, how did that chant go?" Zesta asked herself out loud, "Oh, yes!"
The evil woman positioned herself above Kat and began to chant, "From the four elders I worship: Vile, Scorpio, Electra, and Ivan, I call for the power to bring this girl's evil to the surface and let her evil rise to the top."
A black light covered Kat and re-revealed her in a black Ninja garb.
She stood up from the ground and said, "What do you wish, my queen?"
Rocky pulled himself up from the ground to confront the cogs, yet to be pushed to grass again by a black jet of light. "What the hell?!?!" Rocky cried, as the black jet materialized into Kat.
"Who the hell are you?" the Blue Ranger demanded, as the two dozen cogs suddenly disappeared into the air.
Kat circled Rocky, smirking under the cloth that covered most of her face. "I am your worst nightmare," she hissed, pulling Rocky onto his feet, or foot.
Kat backed away from Rocky and snapped, "Defend yourself."
Catching him offguard, Kat threw roundhouse at him and before he could think, Rocky had done a handspring to get out of the roundhouse's trajectory, landing on both of his feet. *OWWWWWWWW!*
Rocky fell backwards into the soft grass and practically screamed at himself, "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"
Kat hovered over him, a sword now in her hands. "Nice try, Blue Ranger, but as you put so delicately, it was stupid. Prepare for death."
Just as Kat looked as if she was about to shove the sword into the helpless Rocky, a piercing call filled the air, "SIYA!"
A red blur met Kat's side and knocked her off her feet, the sword sent flying out of her hands.
As the red blur slowed down, Rocky was able to see Tommy standing above him and Shannon running towards them. "It's about time!"
"KIYA!" Shannon went into a front layout flip and caught Kat's silver sword in midair.
Tommy grinned. "Show off," the ranger muttered.
Kat, who had pulled herself off the ground, snarled, "I'd love to stay and slaughter you all, but I have OTHER pressing engagements," with that, she vanished.
"Who was that?" Tommy asked Rocky, as he helped him up from the ground.
Rocky shrugged, as Shannon approached the two. "I may be a show off and I may not know who that Ninja girl was, but I know whose sword this is," Shannon displayed the very tip of the sword's blade, which had a cat's eye engraved on it.
"Zesta," Tommy spat, taking the sword from Shannon and examining it.
Shannon nodded her head. "Yeah, and I recognize that sword. Back when Zesta had a REAL army and not a bunch of machines, Scorpio used to have her henchmen make those exact same swords for Zesta's most elite generals," Shannon explained.
"And who is Scorpio?" Rocky asked, slightly flinching in pain.
"My grandmother. Zesta's mother," Shannon said the words tactfully.
"Your grandmother is a huge bug," Rocky questioned stupidly.
Shannon folded her arms across her chest. "Not funny. I'll have to show you guys a picture later."
Tommy handed the sword back to Shannon and looked around. "Hey, Rocko? Where's Kat?"
Before Rocky could answer a voice cut in, "Right here!"
The three turned to the left and saw Kat, jogging slowly over to them. "I ran into a few cogs up there, but I got rid of them," the ranger lied.
"Good," Rocky sighed, hugging the other ranger, "I'm glad you're okay."
As Rocky let Kat go, Tommy turned to her and asked, "We're gonna take Rocky over to the Power Chamber to get his ankle fixed. We'll drop by later and get the trucks. Do you wanna come with us, Kat, or can get home by yourself?"
"I think I'll go home," Kat glanced at her watch, "It's already past my curfew and my dad is bound to interrogate me. A mad Dad is not a happy Dad, I say."
"Suit yourself," Tommy turned to look at Shannon, "Ready to go, Sweetcheeks?"
"Yeah. Ready when ever you are," Shannon fiddled around with the sword that Kat had left behind.
"See you guys tomorrow," Kat pecked Rocky on the cheek and
flew away in a pink flash of light.
"I'm home!" Kat hollered, as she opened the front door to the house.
Stepping inside, she was greeted by a shout from the living room, that came from her little sister, Liyah, "SHUT UP, KAT!"
As she took her shoes off, she thought to herself, *What the hell is she doin' up this late?*
"I'm glad you decided to come home, Katherine."
Startled, Kat looked up to the stairs, where her father was standing. "Oh, hi Dad."
"Where have you been, Kitty? I was beginning to worry about you," Jeremy Hillard asked his daughter.
Kat smiled, when he used her nickname. "Rocky's car broke down again, Dad. Besides the concert ran a little late also," Kat answered, covering for her real whereabouts, "What is Liyah doin' up? Isn't already midnight?"
"That's true," Jeremy looked at his watch, "Kerry and Liyah are doing some kind of voodoo on a barbie doll. I think Justin has somethin' to do with it," he replied her, referring to Kerry Taylor, Liyah's best friend, and Justin Stewart, Liyah's boyfriend.
Kat smirked. "That's Liyah for ya," the Pink Ranger headed towards the stairs, "Well, I be best going to bed, Dad. See you in the morning," Kat climbed the stairs up to her 'pink' room.
As she stepped into her room, Kat closed the door behind her and removed her white halter, revealing a basketball size, purple and blue bruise. "Damn, Tommy packs a punch! I guess I really never realized it before because he was never out to attack me!"
She went into her closet and pulled out a small wooden box. Opening the box, she pulled some pictures off the top and pulled out some bandages. "Never go without a roll of bandages when you're a Power Ranger," Kat giggled, as she wrapped her bruise up.
Kat covered the bruise up and put the bandages back into the box. As
she was putting the pictures back, she took a minute to look at them. One
was a picture of her when she was five years old. The next picture was
of Liyah when she was five also. Lastly, there was a picture of herself,
Liyah, her father, and her mother. Kat stared at the picture of her mother.
*Wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, ya kinda remind my of my Zeo Sprit, Delenus,
Mum. Isn't that weird? Well, you couldn't possibly be her because she's
an alien and alive and your a human and dead. Expired. Gone. Forever..........................*
Delenus sat on a branch in a large tree with her sprit sister, Maylonus, while her other sprit sister, Sharena, was hanging upside down from one of the other tree branches.
"Do you ever miss your life as a human, Maylonus?" Delenus asked, watching the sun rise over the horizon.
"Sometimes," Maylonus paused, "But with my life how could you actually miss it. I mean I was a single parent, with two children that I knew I couldn't take care of on my own, and I was basically living out a life equal to what humans call crappy. The only thing I probably miss about my human life is my children. I hated giving them both up for adoption, but I knew it was the only way. Sometimes I would pray that they would be adopted together and not be separated. I am just glad they are both together now. I feel sad sometimes, because they do not even remember me, not even my eldest, but I know he is in good hands with Zordon and with Artemis by his side."
"Boy, is that true," Sharena joined the conversation, pulling herself up from her hanging position, "I really miss my life as a human. My life was okay, I guess. I was married, I had a son, but all of that was turned upside down when I got into a car wreck," Sharena was silent, "But I am with Maylonus. I mostly miss my son. He remembers me still, amazingly. What surprises me though, is that he still always goes to the cemetery and visits my tombstone on the anniversary of my death. I am just eternally grateful that he has Zordon watching over him and his friends."
The two sprits turned to Delenus. "I miss my life so much. Every little bit of it, but I am with you two, I miss my children the most. Who knew that a short flight to Brisbane from Sydney would end in such horror? I surely did not. Just a few minutes before I died I remember telling Kitty that when we got back home we would go to the Sydney Carnival, that was happening a few weeks from then. When I first came here, the first thing that Lady Dimitria told me was I was dead."
"Lady Dimitria always had subtlety," Maylonus scoffed, not meaning to insult the woman.
Delenus and Sharena laughed. "I started crying and she gave me the speech," Delenus stopped, as Maylonus and Sharena rolled their eyes, "You know the one where she goes on about how you are an alien and all that other crap. Anyways by the time she was finished, I was asleep. Well, not really, but I felt like I was going to fall asleep. As the years past, and we were about to reveal ourselves to the Zeo Rangers, I realized my Kitty was a Zeo Ranger. From then, I always thought that if we had not died, none of our children would be under the protective hand of Zordon."
Sharena shrugged. "You do have a point, Delenus. I wonder will the time ever be right so we can tell them the truth?"
"I doubt it," Maylonus replied.
Suddenly flashes and flickers of white revealed Kylara. "Lady Dimitria wishes to talk to us," Kylara informed.
"Be right there, sister," Sharena responded.
Kylara disappeared and Sharena and Maylonus were about to go, when they turned to Delenus, who was still sitting on the branch. "Coming, Delenus?" Maylonus asked.
Delenus looked up and told, "I will catch up with you."
The two left and Delenus just sat there, on the branch, for a moment
staring at the sun. "I hope we will meet again soon, Kitty...................................."
".......................And that is why World War II started in 1939," Ms. Applebee droned on, in the last few minutes of Kat, Shannon, Zack Taylor, Jason Lee Scott, Trini Kwan, and Adam Park's sixth period class, Social Studies.
"Shannon, what was the cause of World War II?" Mrs. Applebee chose on the half asleep student.
"Wha..What," Jason, who sat behind Shannon, woke the ranger up, "Ummmm, could you repeat the question?"
Mrs. Applebee folded her hands across her chest. "What was the cause of World War II?"
"The Nazi party attacking Poland," Shannon answered.
"And who led it?"
"Adolf Hitler."
Mrs. Applebee was about to ask the White Ranger another question, but Shannon was saved by the bell and she bolted out the door, straight into Tommy. "Whoa, what's the hurry, Sweetcheeks?"
"I feel asleep in class and Ms. Applebee started quizzing me on the information she had be lecturing us about during the whole period," Shannon yawned, as the rest of the teenagers caught up with the two.
"How did you do that, Shannon?" Zack marveled, "Whenever I fall asleep, I can't even answer the FIRST question."
Shannon giggled to herself. "She was lecturing right out of the book. Duh!"
"Well, I don't care how you cheated, but we need to go pick up Caroline, so come on," Tommy said, taking his fiancé's hand.
As Tommy and Shannon walked off, Jason suggested, "Youth Center?"
"Guess so," Adam agreed.
Trini noticed Kat staring off into the distance. "You coming, Kat?"
Kat snapped out of her trance. "Huh...Oh, I'm gonna go find Rocky. We'll meet you there," Kat replied.
"Okay, see you then," Adam bade, and the four teenagers started walking towards the parking lot.
Once they were out of sight and the halls were bare, Kat started talking to the air, "My queen, Tommy is going home. You may be able to catch him there."
Suddenly, Zesta appeared out of the air. "What about Billy?"
"I do not know yet, my queen."
"Tommy will be enough for now. You will know he is with us if he pulls you aside to talk to you about a 'school project', if not then he has not be turned," Zesta whispered.
Kat nodded her head. "Yes, my queen."
Zesta disappeared and Kat went running to go find Rocky.
"Tommy," Shannon asked the Red Ranger, as she drove her white Toyota Camery, "Do you think there's something wrong with, Kat?"
Tommy, who was sitting in the backseat with Caroline, looked at her puzzled. "What possibly could be wrong with, Kat, other than a loss of sleep from last night?"
Shannon shrugged, as she stopped the car at a red light. "I don't know. I've just been having this weird feeling since first period when I'm around Kat, and she's in all of my classes."
"So what are you saying," Tommy asked, as the car started moving again, "you think Kat's evil again or something?"
"I didn't say that," Shannon insisted, "I just said Kat's giving off this creepy feeling that I'm sensing."
"Thus meaning she's evil, right," Tommy paused, "If makes you feel any better, Sweetcheeks, let's ask her if she's under a spell, okay?"
Shannon laughed. "And if we ask her she'll admit it and tell us everything Zesta planned?"
Shannon parked in the driveway of their house, as Tommy grabbed their backpacks. "Good point," Shannon tossed Tommy the keys, "Look, let me go put our stuff down in the house and we'll continue this conversation, okay?"
"Sure," Shannon smirked, as he headed towards the front door with their backpacks.
Tommy unlocked the front door, grabbed the mail, and went inside the house. "Hello? Cam, are you home?"
He tossed the keys onto the kitchen counter and checked the mail. "Guess not," he muttered, flipping through the mail, "Bill, bill, hospital, junk, and junk."
Tommy wandered into the living room and was about to set the backpacks down, when he saw Zesta. He dropped the backpacks to the ground and took a battle stance. "What are you doing here?" the Zeo Ranger snapped at the blonde.
"Just came by to get a few things," she hissed.
"Like what?"
"You."
"Forget it."
"I cannot."
Zesta threw a bit of 'magic' in the Tommy's face and he fell to the ground unconscious. She position herself above his body and started to chant, "From the four elders I worship: Vile, Scorpio, Electra, and Ivan, I call for the power to bring this boy's evil to the surface and let his evil rise to the top."
A black light covered Tommy's body and faded away to revealing him in his original clothing, his eyes sparkling with evil. He stood up from the ground and said, "What do you wish, my queen?"
Zesta clapped her hands, "Another success!"
Five minutes after Tommy went in, Shannon was starting to worry a bit.
Getting out of the car, she took Caroline out from the backseat and
started to head into the house.
"When you go to the Youth Center I want you to take Katherine aside and to talk to her about a school project supposedly," Zesta told Tommy, "Katherine will inform you of everything."
"Yes, my queen," Tommy replied.
Zesta was about to tell him more when she heard Shannon yell, "Tommy, are you okay?"
"I will be in contact with you," Zesta whispered and disappeared.
Just then, Shannon walked into the living room, carrying Caroline. "What's taking so long, Olive Oil?" she questioned.
"Oh, nothing. I was just about to come out right now. Here," Tommy reached out for Caroline and Shannon gave her to him, "Get the keys off the kitchen counter and we can get going."
Shannon grabbed the car keys off the kitchen counter and the three headed
out to the car.
"This isn't fair," Rocky whined, as he sat at the gang's booth in the Youth Center.
"What isn't fair, Rocko," Kimberly Anne Hart asked, drinking some of her strawberry smoothe.
Rocky pounded his head with his math book. "This," he displayed his Calculus book, "isn't fair. Math is no fun."
"Who said it was fun," Billy Cranston inquired, grabbing Rocky's Calculus book before he beat it up more.
Rocky looked at Billy. "You did."
"No I didn't," Billy protested, "I may have said it was easy, but I never said it was fun."
"Easy means the same as fun," Rocky explained, drowning his sorrow in a blueberry smoothe.
Billy laughed at the Blue Ranger. "No, it doesn't. Calculus is EASY for me, but I've always hated Math."
"So Rocko's giving you guys his 'Math is no fun' bit, huh?" Shannon questioned, as she walked up carrying Caroline, Tommy right behind her.
Billy eyed Shannon. "It's a bit?"
Shannon smirked slightly. "Oh, yeah. He gave me and Tommy that one in second period. He kept saying that I said math was fun, when I absolutely dread it. It's not the highlight of my day, to say the least."
Rocky stuck his tongue out at Shannon. "Spoil the moment, why don't'cha?" Rocky shot at the guardian.
"Uhhh, Kat can I talk to you about that school project we're supposed to do?" Tommy asked Kat, who was sitting next to Rocky.
"Sure, Tommy," she stood up, catching his drift.
The two went outside to the parking lot. "So Zesta got to you?" Kat questioned, after they found themselves in a secluded area.
The Red Zeo Ranger nodded his head. "Yeah, she said you were going to tell me everything."
"Okay, then. Here it goes....................................................."
Later that night, Shannon started having unusual dreams, more like nightmares for her so to speak.
Shannon found herself dancing with Tommy in a ballroom, themselves the only couple in the whole room.
She wore a beautiful white satin gown and Tommy wore a tuxedo. "I love you Mrs. Shannon Oliver," Tommy whispered.
"I love you, Mr. Thomas Oliver," Shannon whispered to him.
The two kissed and suddenly everything changed. They weren't in a ballroom anymore, they were in a war zone: fallen buildings, explosions, fires, and fleeing people. Shannon was in the gown she was wearing before, but it was tattered and Tommy's tuxedo was dirty and ripped.
"Please don't go," she murmured, tears streaking her dirty face.
"I must," Tommy let go of Shannon's hands and started running, but before he could make it to where he was going, a bullet shot him in the back and he fell to the ground.
"TOMMY!" Shannon screamed at the top of her lungs and she ran to his body.
"Tommy," Shannon cried, stroking his long chestnut hair as she kissed his cold lips, "TOMMY!"
From the red skies, she suddenly heard someone calling to her, "Shannon.............Shannon........"
The more the voice called to her, the more it sounded like Tommy's. "Shannon.........SHANNON!"
The White Zeo Ranger woke up in a sweat to see Tommy hovering over her. "Tommy................" she mumbled.
"It's alright. It was just a dream," Tommy hugged his fiancé, as she cried.
"It all seemed so real. You were there and..........."
"Shhhhhhhhh," Tommy rocked her back and forth, "It was just a dream."
"I love you," Shannon cried softly.
"I love you, too," Tommy reassured her.
*I'm sensing an evil presense* Shannon thought to herself.
*My queen, what hell are you doing to my love?!?!* Tommy screamed in
his head.
Early that morning, Billy met up with Tommy and Kat in the park. "What was so urgent, guys?" Billy questioned, panting from running.
"This is what was so important," Kat pointed to a spot behind herself and Zesta appeared.
Right away, Billy took a battle stance. "Why, hello, Billy," Zesta greeted with smirk.
"What do you want, Zesta?" the Light Ranger barked.
"Why does everyone greet me like that," Zesta looked to Kat and Tommy and pointed at Billy, "Restrain him."
Tommy and Kat practically pounced on Billy and brought him down to the ground. "Sorry, buddy," Tommy apologized, as he punched Billy in the face, knocking him unconscious.
"Step away," Zesta motioned the two and they stepped back.
The enchantress positioned herself above Billy and began to chant for the third time, "From the four elders I worship: Vile, Scorpio, Electra, and Ivan, I call for the power to bring this boy's evil to the surface and let his evil rise to the top."
A black light covered Billy's body and faded away to revealing him in his original clothing. He stood up from the ground and said, "What do you wish, my queen?"
"Perfect!"
"My queen," Tommy inquired, getting Zesta's attention, "Why did you give my love those nightmares last night? Why must you torment her till no bound?"
Zesta turned to the Red Zeo Ranger. "Tommy, dear Tommy. You know my reasons. Besides, you may love dear Artemis, but if you break your loyalty to me, then things will be VERY different for your love."
Zesta's last seven words sent shivers up Tommy's spine. "Yes, my queen," was all he dared to reply.
"Now, on to more important things. We must prepare for tonight," Zesta changed the subject.
"What is happening tonight, my queen," Billy and Kat asked in unison.
Zesta smiled and she laughed rhythmically, "The terrorizing of
Artemis.................................."
"Hi, Shannon," Tamara Oliver and Liyah greeted the White Ranger when she opened the front door at her house.
"Hello," Shannon yawned, "What are you two doing over here so early?"
"We we're supposed to pick up Cam. Is she here?" Liyah questioned.
"Actually, she isn't. She told me she was going to Kerry's about ten minutes ago," Shannon drank some of the coffee she had in her hands, "What are you guys trying to do?"
Tamara and Liyah giggled. "We're gonna put a voodoo curse on Justin," Tamara replied, in between stifling her giggles.
Shannon laughed. "You guys are hilarious. You wanna come in for a minute?"
"Sure."
Shannon opened the door and lead the two girls to the living room, where they sat down.
Shannon managed to get the right words out and inquired, "I know I'm gonna sound crazy, but have you guys noticed anything different about Tommy or Kat?"
"Other than Kat acting perfect as usual," Liyah paused, "Yes. She's been more sneaky than usual. She's actually starting to scare me a tiny bit. Like this morning, she left about a half an hour ago, without telling our dad."
Shannon was surprised. "She did?" Shannon stopped to think, "That's about the time Tommy left here."
"Maybe there secretly meeting," Tamara suggested, pretending to use her hands as binoculars.
Shannon rolled her eyes. "Where do you guys get these ideas?"
"From you guys, I mean one minute YOU'RE kissing Tommy, the next minute your all over Jason," Liyah blurted out, "Oops!"
Shannon almost spit the coffee in her mouth out. She swallowed the coffee and said, "Who told you that?!?!"
"Uhh, no one," Tamara covered for Liyah.
Shannon thought back for a moment and realized, "Ryan told you guys, didn't he?"
Liyah and Tamara nodded. "No offense, Shannon, but I could watch 'General Hospital' or 'Day of Our Lives' and you guys rate high up there with those soap operas," Liyah pointed out.
"I guess you're right," Shannon smiled, then changed the subject, "So have you noticed anything about Tommy, Tamara?"
Tamara shrugged. "I haven't seen him since yesterday, when you guys picked Caroline up from our house. Why?"
"Well, last night......." Shannon got cut off by the duo.
"Ooooooooooooooo....................."
Shannon smirked. "Hey! You guys keep you imaginations to yourself! Last night he was just acting really weird. Sometimes he'd be talking to the wall or something."
"That's my brother for you, Shannon. Weird as always, but he's never talked to a wall before," Tamara joked.
"Ha ha," she laughed sarcastically, "Don't you guys have to go do some voodoo right now?"
Liyah and Tamara stood up. "Oh, yeah! Bye, Shannon!" Liyah called, as they headed towards the door and left.
Shannon put her coffee down on the kitchen counter and picked up the
cordless phone. She punched in a number and the dial tone came over the
phone.
"Ring! Ring! Ring!" the phone went at the Taylor's house and Zack answered the phone.
"Hello. Who the hell are you and why the hell are you calling so early in morning?"
"Thanks for the lovely greeting, Zack," a feminine voice snapped over the phone.
Zack recognized the voice right away. "Oh, hey Shannon! Sorry about the greeting, but it's so damn early in morning and I get moody sometimes."
"Don't worry about it. Is my sister over there?"
"Yeah. Cam's here. Kerry and her are waiting for Liyah and Tamara. Cam said something about making a voodoo doll for Justin."
"Yup. Tamara and Liyah were just here. They said something about voodoo, too."
"So what's up?"
"I don't really know. See about a half an hour ago, Tommy suddenly got out of bed, got dressed and left the house. When Liyah and Tamara came over here, I asked them if they had noticed anything different about Tommy or Kat. Tamara hadn't seen Tommy since yesterday afternoon, but Liyah said Kat was acting sneakier than usual. She also said that Kat left their house about a half an hour ago, too. I think Kat and Tommy are together for some reason."
"And you called me because?"
"I knew you'd probably be up because of your sister and I knew you'd be willing to help me, just to get out of the house before the girls started a voodoo doll for you."
"Girl, you ARE psychic!"
"I know I am. So are you gonna help me find out what's going on or not?"
"Sure, I'll call Aisha, too. She's always up at this hour."
"So is Kim. I call her, too. Meet us at my house, ASAP."
"Ya got it. See ya!"
"Bye!"
Zack hung up the phone and started to dial Aisha's phone number. The dial tone rang four times before Aisha picked it up. "Hello. What the hell do you want? It ain't dawn yet," she answered.
"Not half bad. But I think I had a better one." Zack joked.
"Oh, hey Zack! Sorry, I just woke up. What's up?"
"Okay, see Shannon just called me and she's thinks somethin' is goin' on with Kat and Tommy because they both woke up damn early this morning and left their houses. So she's thinkin' that the two are meeting for some reason or another. Plus, she needs some help and knew I would help her."
"How'd she know you'd be awake?"
"Kerry is awake and Cam is here. Liyah and Tamara are supposed to be here soon too, so they can try to make a voodoo doll for Justin. So she figured that I wouldn't want to be here when the started making it."
"Smart."
"I think the girl is gifted with the power of being psychic. Anyways, wanna help?"
"Sure, I'm already awake."
"Okay, I'll pick you up. We've gotta go to Shannon's."
"Right. Bye, baby!"
"Bye!"
Zack got of the phone and headed towards his room, when Kerry asked him, "Where ya goin', Zack?"
Zack smiled and replied, "I'm gettin' out of this house before
the voodoo curses start!"
Shannon hung up after talking to Zack and dialed Kimberly's phone number. On the first dial tone, Kimberly picked it up. "Hello. Please tell me it's already 6:00 AM before I pass out," she answered.
"It just turned six, Kim." Shannon laughed over the phone.
"Oh, sorry about that, Shannon. I was trying to stay in the split position for ten minutes, so I could stretch out my muscles. So, what's goin' on?"
"Well, I just called Zack and told him about what's going on. See, about forty-five minutes ago, Tommy just suddenly got out of bed, got dressed, and left, without saying one word to me. Then about a half an hour after that Liyah and Tamara came over her looking for my sister. I asked them whether they had noticed anything strange going on with Kat or Tommy. Tamara hadn't seen Tommy since yesterday afternoon, but Liyah said that Kat had been acting sneakier than usual. She also said that Kat had left their house at about the same time Tommy left here. So I think Tommy and Kat are together for some reason. Zack is calling Aisha right now and I told him I would call you. Wanna help figure out what's going on?"
"Sure! Anything to get out of training for one morning."
"Thank you! Come over to my house, ASAP."
"Right. I'll be right there. Bye!"
"Bye!"
Shannon hung the phone up and went to her room to change her clothes.
Fifteen minutes later, a magenta Toyota Avalon and blue green Ford Taurus parked outside Shannon's house and Zack, Aisha, and Kimberly emerged from the cars.
Shannon, who already had opened the front door, let them in and they sat down in the living room, where Caroline was sitting, half sleep, on the sofa. "What happened to Caroline?" Aisha asked, as she sat down next to the little girl.
Shannon walked in after them and responded, "She's trying to battle sleep, but is losing. I had to wake her up, in case we had to go Tommy and Kat hunting."
"So what's your theory, Sherlock?" Kimberly asked.
"Well, I think that Tommy and Kat are under a spell. First of all because I'm sensing something evil around almost constantly. Second of all because last night, I kept having these horrible nightmares. I kept waking up in a damn sweat every time. And every time I did wake up, I could sense an evil presence, most likely Zesta. It drove me crazy! I also caught Tommy talking to a wall once last night, obviously he was talking to the air that Zesta was invisible in. So that's my theory," Shannon explained thoroughly.
"Damn! Tommy was talking to the air?" Zack questioned.
"Yeah. Totally strange for him, huh?" Shannon agreed, as Zack nodded his head.
"So how are we supposed to find out what's going on?" Aisha inquired.
"I think Zesta's gonna try something on me tonight. So tonight stay on guard," Shannon advised, pointing to her wrist, where her communicator was.
"Right," they all agreed, standing up and heading towards the door.
Kimberly opened the door and saw Tommy's red Jeep Cherokee pull into the driveway. "Speak of the devil and he shall come," Kimberly muttered, "Shannon, Tommy's back!"
Shannon looked out the kitchen and saw his jeep. "Okay, thanks Kim! Now, get outta here, before it gets ugly!"
Kimberly, Zack, and Aisha went to their cars and drove off as Tommy walked into the house. "Shannon, are you here?" he called out.
"I'm in the kitchen," she sharply answered.
Tommy took one step into the kitchen and Shannon slapped him right away. "OWWWW! What the hell was that for?" Tommy grabbed his cheek.
"For not telling me where you went," Shannon snapped angrily.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I was out meeting Billy in the park to spar?" Tommy lied.
"No," Shannon yapped.
Suddenly, Tommy grabbed her in a kiss and kissed her with all the sexual feelings he had in him at the very moment. "Now would you believe me?" he asked.
"I'd believe to if you said you were the Wizard Of Oz," Shannon
remarked dreamily, kissing him again as she fell onto the kitchen table.
"Hello, this is Shannon Kassandra Kaze. I'm not home at the moment..................." the answering machine droned on twenty minutes later, as Shannon struggled to get Tommy off herself.
"Tommy, I need to get to the phone," Shannon told him, reaching out for the cordless phone hopelessly.
"Just let the answering machine get it. We can answer it later," Tommy mumbled, while trying to unhook Shannon's bra.
"Tommy! Hello.........I'm pregnant you know. I don't plan on having twins here," Shannon circled her arms around Tommy's waist, so she wouldn't fall off the table, "on the kitchen table, where I eat."
"Please leave your message at the tone," the answer machine went and then beeped, "Hello? Tommy? It's me, Billy............"
When he heard Billy's voice Tommy jumped for the phone, getting off Shannon. "Hello, Billy?" Tommy turned the answering machine off, "Sorry, I was a little tied up," he glanced at Shannon, who was putting her sweatshirt back on.
"Unhuh. Yeah, I know that's what she wants," Tommy replied Billy on the phone, as Shannon walked towards the kitchen door.
Tommy grabbed Shannon's wrist suddenly and started applying pressure. "Owwww! Tommy, you're hurting me!" Shannon tried to loosen herself from his grip.
The Red Ranger ignored her plea and kept applying pressure, as he kept talking with Billy, "Fine, then. I'll talk to her later. Okay. Bye."
He hung up the phone and let go of Shannon's wrist. "Don't ever leave," Tommy pointed his finger in his fiancé's face, as he harshly told her, "without my permission."
Shannon slapped him again. "I'll leave whenever I want to," Shannon marched out of the kitchen and to the living room.
Grabbing her car keys and Caroline, she headed towards the front door and opened it. "You'd better straighten up your act, Mr. Oliver! Because I'm LEAVING!" Shannon walked out the door and slammed it.
She unlocked her car, put Caroline in the backseat, climbed into the
driver's seat, and drove off angry.
"DAMMIT!" Tommy yelled at himself, banging his fist on the kitchen counter.
"Why did you let her run off, Tommy?" Zesta asked, as she materialized out of the thin air.
"I was mad, she was mad. I did not want to stop her, I just wanted to let her run because, because, because," Tommy stuttered, as he realized what he had become.
"Because of what, Tommy?" Zesta questioned.
Tommy was silent for a moment, as he searched for the right words, "Because I knew there was no place she could hide from me," Tommy ran his hands through his hair, "What have you made me, my queen? There was a time when I said I could never be mad with my love. Now, I am finding that I am frustrated with her almost all the time. I have become a monster," he looked to Zesta, "ANSWER ME! What have you made me, my queen?"
It was Zesta's turn to be silent. "I have made you into what you need to be for tonight," Zesta's voice turned sharp, "And if you ever dare to raise your voice to me again, I will KILL your love," with that Zesta disappeared.
Tommy glared at the air that Zesta was standing in, with tears shining
in his eyes. "Yes, my queen........................"
".......................And I just can't explain it," Shannon explained to her best friend, "It's like he was a whole different person from the Tommy I knew."
Shannon drove herself to Kimberly's apartment and was now telling Kimberly all the details of what happened at her house.
"He tried to get you to have sex on the kitchen table?" Kimberly was still shock from Shannon's story.
Shannon nodded. "Yeah, but that's not the point here. I'm not sure whether this is right or not or not, but I have a strong feeling that Zesta's spell is taking a side affect on him."
"And you want to go back there and wait until tonight?" Kimberly questioned her, bewildered.
Shannon laughed. "You want me to risk getting beaten by him? Yeah,
right. I'm not gonna go home until tonight............................."
"Hello, Tommy?" Shannon opened the door to the house, now that it was night.
She heard footsteps and Tommy came out of the living room. "Shannon, I'm so sorry," Tommy hugged her.
"I'm sorry, too," Shannon kissed him sweetly.
Tommy looked around. "Where's Caroline?"
"I left her with your parents," she kissed him again, with more passion, "I wanted to continue from this morning."
Tommy went wide-eyed. "You really want to?"
"Oh, yes.........." Shannon moaned, pushing him towards their bedroom.
Tommy followed and they ended up half naked when they made it there. "I love you," the White Ranger mumbled, caressing Tommy's neck.
"I love you, too," Tommy returned, putting his hand behind his back, where a sword appeared in his hand.
"What was that you said?" Shannon asked, as she kneed Tommy's 'little friend' hard.
Tommy groaned and fell to the ground, dropping the sword. Shannon picked it up and blew a kiss at Tommy, heading towards the bedroom door, "I'm sorry, Olive Oil, but you're under a spell and I'm not that stupid."
Shannon opened the door and was greeted by a surprise. She was greeted by Billy and Kat. "What the hell?!?!" she cried, dropping her sword in the process.
"Hello, Shannon," Billy's eyes gleamed with evil, as he wore a black Ninja garb like Kat.
Shannon just smiled nervously. "Hello, Kat, Billy. Now if you don't mind, I must be going," she tried to push her way between the two, but they grabbed her by the arms and threw her against the bedroom wall, where she fell onto the bed with a grunt.
"DAMN! That hurt!"
"Really?" Kat mocked, Billy and her entering the room, helping Tommy up off the floor and handing him his sword.
"Hold her down, so I can kill her," Tommy ordered Kat and Billy, his voice a tad higher than usual.
Before Shannon could jump off the bed, Billy had restrained her legs,
while Kat grabbed her arms. Tommy positioned himself above Shannon and
held his sword above his head, preparing to shove the sword into the pregnant
Shannon.
Before Tommy even had a chance to plunge the sword downwards, Maylonus appeared behind him and grabbed him from behind, throwing him to the ground.
Sharena and Delenus appeared behind Billy and Kat also and grabbed them from behind, freeing Shannon from their grip. "Run, Artemis! Call the other rangers!" Maylonus signaled the guardian, as she fought off the Red Zeo Ranger.
Shannon ran out of the bed room and stopped in the living room. Removing her communicator from her wrist, she spoke into the tiny microphone, "Shannon here. Anyone who hears this, please come to my place immediately! Tommy, Billy, and Kat have been put under one of Zesta's evil spells and................Ugh!"
While she was sending out the signal, Kat managed her way out of the bedroom and tackled Shannon to the floor, knocking her communicator out of her hands. "No one is going to rescue you, Shannon!" Kat snarled, pinning the White Ranger to the ground.
"Really?" Shannon asked, as she pushed Kat off herself and kicked the Pink Zeo Ranger into the kitchen door, "And whose gonna stop them from coming?"
"I will," Kat growled, pulling herself up from the ground, "Even if it is the last thing I do."
"It will not be the last thing you do, Katherine," Kat and Shannon turned towards the hallway to see Tommy and Billy, Tommy fully covered in his Ninja garb, "because we are going to help you dispose of this wretched wench that has come between our queen's plans too many times."
Shannon stared straight into Tommy's brown eyes deeply, seeing the evil in his eyes. "You don't mean that do you, Tommy? I'm your fiancé, you can't do this.............I LOVE you," Shannon emphasized the word, love, hoping it would effect him, but it didn't.
"It will not work, Shannon. Even you are not powerful enough to thwart our set plans," Billy snapped, Kat joining to two boys.
Suddenly, from the corner of the room, the front door came crashing in, three Zeo Rangers and five Element Rangers came walking in. "Someone call for a spell exterminator," Rocky remarked, eyeing the three evil rangers from inside his helmet.
"I did," Shannon piped up with a sigh of relief.
"Unfortunately, we would love to continue this fight with no aid of weapons, but out queen wishes us to take it to the next level. Billy, you know what to do?" Tommy paused for an answer from the Light Ranger, as the other rangers just store.
"Yeah."
"Alright, then. Let us go, Katherine," Tommy alerted.
Kat nodded her head. "We need Super Zeo Zord Power, now!" they called in unison, jetting away in pink and red lights.
Billy put his hands in front of him and a ball of light started to appear. "Oh my god!" Shannon cried, backing away from Billy, "He's trying to his elemental essence! Get outta here!"
Everyone teleported out of the house, Billy teleporting after them.
Teleporting to Angel Grove Quarry, the ten lights materialized into Shannon, Billy, and eight morphed rangers.
Right away, Billy threw a ball of white energy at Trini and Kimberly, sending the two Elements flying. Kimberly was just thrown to the ground simply, but Trini took most of the blast. The Wind Ranger slammed into the rock wall that surrounded the quarry, her helmet snapping off her head as she fell to the gravel unconscious. "KIM! TRINI!" Jason, Shannon, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Aisha, and Zack screamed in unison.
Zack and Aisha went to go aid their teammates, while Jason stayed behind to take Billy out personally. "What the hell is wrong with you, Billy?!?! That was," Jason motioned towards Aisha, who was tending to Trini, "Trini, who you knocked out. She's your girlfriend. She LOVES you."
Billy smirked, under the fabric that covered his mouth. "Love is irrelevant. No one really needs it, do they?"
Adam stepped up next to Jason. "Billy, everyone needs love. Without love you aren't whole. You aren't a person."
Tanya was about to add her two cents, when pink and red laser beams began to rain down on the 'good' rangers. Two huge shadows cast over the quarry, obviously belonging to Kat and Tommy's Super Zeo Zords. "Looks like Tommy and Kat....................." Shannon didn't finish her sentence, as she was shot square in the chest by one of the red laser beams and fell to the ground.
"SHANNON!" Rocky and Jason cried, being the only two who witnessed what happened, while everyone else was busy dodging the laser beams.
Jason ran up to the unconscious Shannon, while barely dodging the lasers, and quickly scooped the White Zeo Ranger up into his arms. "That's it," Rocky muttered, then spoke to Adam and Tanya through the helmet coms, "I think it's time to call of some zord power of our own."
"Right!" the two agreed.
"We need Super Zeo Zord Power, now!"
Rocky, Tanya, and Adam called on the rest of the Super Zeo Zords, while Jason, Zack, and Aisha teleported away with the three injured rangers. But before they went, Jason looked Billy square in the eyes and spat, "I'll be back for you."
"I am sure you will, Jason, I am pretty sure.........................."
"What has happened?" Zordon's voice filled the Power Chamber when Jason, Zack, and Aisha arrived with Shannon, Trini, and Kimberly.
"Tommy, Kat, and Billy are what happened, Zordon," Jason spat, laying Shannon down on the diagnostic table, "They've been turned evil by Zesta."
Zack nodded his head in agreement. "She's got them acting like herself. It's creepy," Zack set Trini down on another diagnostic table that rose out of the floor.
"Who knew Billy could pack a punch," Kimberly moaned, as she
took off her helmet, watching the zord fight on the Viewing Globe.
"So, you have decided to challenge us, have you," Kat mocked from inside of her Super Zeo Zord, as Tanya, Rocky, and Adam showed up on the scene with their zords.
Rocky snarled under his helmet in anger, ready to rip the two rangers to shreds, even though one was his girlfriend. "You are gonna pay for what you did to Shannon," he barked angrily.
"Really?" Tommy jeered, "I am so scared that I am shaking in my zord."
"That's so lame, that it isn't funny," Tanya jumped in, the anger in her voice as tangible as Rocky's.
"Not as lame as your face," Kat shot back like a five year old.
"Stop playing your foolish word games and fight!" Zesta's voice shouted from the dark skies. "You are supposed to destroy them, not argue with them!"
Suddenly, like water washing over sand, Kat and Tommy's eyes were drained of their evil. "No!" Tommy retorted, "I don't wanna fight!"
"Me, neither!" Kat agreed, "We're not your little hand puppets anymore!"
Zesta appeared in Tommy's zord cockpit. "You will do what I demand!" she ordered him menacingly.
"And how are ya gonna make me?" Tommy threatened Zesta.
Zesta bit her lip, as she thought quickly. "I will kill Artemis!"
Tommy smirked under the cloth that hid his mouth. "You couldn't kill Shannon, even if you tried!" Tommy removed his hood, "The Tommy under your cautious hand was easily persuaded by anything that came from your black magic lips. You looked menacing to him. You frightened him. He was yours and to be away from you scared the living hell out of him," he paused, "Well, now you're talkin' to the Tommy of his own free will, Zesta! And he ain't gonna fall for your lame lies no more!"
Tommy began to approach the enchantress and this time it was her turn to be afraid of the Red Zeo Ranger. "Killing Artemis was for your benefit, Tommy," Zesta explained, her voice shaking, "It was to help you."
"Killing Shannon is not for my benefit, Zesta," Tommy snapped, pointing at her, "It was for your benefit. You, you, YOU! That's all you think about these days isn't it, Zesta?"
"Please understand, Tommy," Zesta was practically begging now.
"Oh, I understand Zesta. I understand that you're one demented bitch. And anytime you wanna plead insanity, I'll be waiting, ya know," Tommy's anger was beginning to pile up.
Zesta suddenly disappeared into a black stack of smoke. "Tommy," Zesta's voice called out from the air, "I was playing with Katherine, Billy, and your mind all the time. You were never under a spell. I just made you think you were. You were just under a cast of chant. Nothing more and nothing less."
"What the hell is a cast of chant, you bitch?!?!"
"I will let Artemis tell you about that," the scarcasm was evident in her voice, "All I am telling is that it is a doozy of a spell."
As Zesta's voice faded away, Tommy looked down from his zord, and asked Billy, who was down on ground, "You okay, Billy?"
Looking up towards the zord, Billy replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. But what was Zesta talking about, a cast of chant?"
"I'm just as puzzled as you are, but I think we should get back to the Power Chamber. We've got a lot to explain to Jason and the others," Tommy sighed, sitting down in his seat.
"You guys have a TON of stuff to explain to the all of us,"
Adam agreed, as they flew and teleported to the Power Chamber.
Streaks of white, blue, red, pink, yellow, and green set down in the Power Chamber revealing Billy, Rocky, Tommy, Kat, Tanya, and Adam.
"Are you okay, Trini?" Billy rushed to his girlfriend, who was sitting on one of the diagnostic tables.
Trini nodded her head slightly. "Yeah. I just got knocked unconscious for awhile."
"We saw everything on the Viewing Globe," Aisha told Tommy, just as he was about to explain everything.
Tommy turned to Zordon. "Do you have any idea what a cast of chant is Zordon?"
"I am sorry, Tommy. I do not," Zordon responded.
"But I do," Shannon slowly walked through the chamber doors, wincing in pain with every step she took.
Tommy was immediately at the guardian's side, helping her walk. "You shouldn't be walking around in your condition, Shannon," the Red Ranger insisted, making her sit down on the other diagnostic table.
Shannon shook her head and remarked, "Yeah, I know. I also shouldn't be in the house when YOU'RE under a cast of chant. Zesta really scrambled your emotions into a egg, Oliver."
"Huh?" everyone went.
Shannon giggled, but stopped when pain went surging through her chest. "A cast of chant is a doozy of a spell, like Zesta said," she paused, pointing at Billy, Tommy, and Kat, "When she put you under, what you thought to be a spell, she put you under a cast of chant. A cast of chant is a sorta like a spell, but it's really weird. It mixes up your emotions, so if you were to be happy about something, it might make you mad or even sad. And since you think you're really under Zesta's power, you follow orders, like anyone of her evil minions would. The longer you are under a cast of chant, the more confused you feel, the more you want to cling to Zesta because she's the only one that can tell you what to do and is the only one who can reassure you when you really ARE confused. Thus making you her willing slave and servant."
"So that's why I was so mad at you, Sweetcheeks, when you wouldn't have sex with me on the kitchen table," Tommy wondered, as Shannon blushed a bright red.
"And that's why I felt like I wanted to rip your head off, Shannon," Kat realized.
"And that's why I wanted to kick Jason's butt all the way to Pluto," Billy pondered.
"Exactly," Shannon answered them, slapping Tommy in the process.
"What the hell was that for?" Tommy questioned.
"Think, Tommy, think. Use that big thing inside your head," Shannon snapped, as everyone else laughed.
Changing the subject, Kimberly asked, "So why were you three at Shannon's in the first place tonight?"
"I was ABOUT to explain that on the communicator, when I contacted you all, " Shannon eyed Kat, "but Kat suddenly jumped me from behind before I could tell all of you."
"Hey, I was evil. I didn't think about what I was doing," Kat mock pouted.
"What were they doing?" Adam inquired.
Billy, Tommy, and Kat looked away, ashamed. "They were sent to kill me by Zesta," Shannon slowly replied, "But it really wasn't their fault. The cast of chant made their emotions, well, it basically made them want to kill me, no matter the cost."
"So THAT'S what it meant!" Tommy suddenly exclaimed.
"WHAT?"
"Here, lemme explain," Tommy told the others, "See, this morning Shannon stormed out of the house and after she did, Zesta came to me. She was asking me 'Why I let her go?' and this crap. And I asked her what she made me because I was really acting like a monster that Rita or Zedd would send down. She told me she had made me into what I needed to be for tonight. And with Shannon explaining what a cast of chant was and how we were feeling towards her, I just realized that Zesta was trying to make me hate Shannon so much, that I wouldn't mind if I killed her."
"On the subject of Zesta," Kat chimed, "before I was put under that cast of chant she was told me that Rita and Zedd were her cousins. Is that actually true?"
"Yes, it is, Katherine," Zordon answered, after a time of being silent, "Master Vile, Rita's father, and Zedd's mother, Electra, are brother and sister to Zesta's mother, Scorpio."
Shannon nodded her head in agreement. "That is exactly true," Shannon paused, "Hey! I just realized, what did you three do to Maylonus, Sharena, and Delenus?"
"It depends on what you mean by, what did we do to Maylonus, Sharena, and Delenus," Billy blushed a bright red and stared down at the floor.
Kat blushed slightly also. "We sorta took'em out."
"YOU TOOK OUT THREE," Shannon stopped screaming, as a surge of pain zipped up her chest, "You took out three Zeo Sprits?!?!"
"Well, not exactly," Tommy tried to explain, "We sorta knocked them out. But you can't blame us, we were under Zesta's power."
Shannon waved her hand at them and laughed. "Whatever. Just as long Kylara doesn't come to visit me, asking ME why my fiancé and two of my friends took out three ZEO Sprits," the guardian yawned, "Now I don't know about you all, but I'm so tired and so weak, that I could sleep for a month if I could. So let's all go home, in peace, and relax."
"I'm up for the challenge," Aisha grinned, "But I don't want to be caught wearing ranger spandex at home," she smiled, motioning towards the eight morphed rangers.
Jason agreed with Aisha, "I with you. I'd be dead if my parents saw me like this."
"Zeo IV, Power Down!"
"Zeo III, Power Down!"
"Zeo II, Power Down!"
"Flame, Power Down!"
"Wave, Power Down!"
"Wind, Power Down!"
"Nature, Power Down!"
"Sound, Power Down!"
The eight powered down and the twelve flew away in jets of pure light.
A white streak set down in Little Angels cemetery, revealing Billy, still dressed in his Ninja garb from earlier.
Wandering through the rows of tombstones, Billy looked for one specific one with the help of the moon. "Come on, where is it?" Billy mumbled to himself, "I couldn't have forgotten where she is."
Walking some more, Billy stumbled over the tombstone he was looking for. Using his elemental essence, he used the ball of light that materialized in his hands to read what was carved on the marble stone:
Selena Cranston
1957 - 1985
May her sprit live on for many generations to come
As Billy stared at the words, tears streaked his bare cheeks.
Leaning back against a near by tree, he began to speak to the stars. "I've been coming here for twelve years, Mom. Even after, all the things I've been through. I kept my side of the bargain," Billy's voice began to fill up with ultimate sadness, "but where are you? You said you'd always be here for me, even when the going would get tough. Well, the going GOT tough tonight. I practically tried to kill my girlfriend.........but were you there? NO! Where are you, Mommy? I'm lost," Billy called out like a young child, as bundled up into a fetal position and cried his heart out.
Tears trickled down the cheeks of Sharena, as she watched Billy from the branches above his head. "I am here, Billy. I have been watching over you and I have been with you during the good and bad. I know you are lost, and so am I," Sharena brushed the tears away from her face, "If only you knew the truth............................."
