"Victorious again, dear?" The warrior allowed himself a small smile as he bowed in respect to his non-existent foe, it had been a good practice. He turned to his beloved, the only one he ever allowed to interrupt his katas. Besides his brother, anyway.
"As always Elysia. He never stood a chance." She offered him a special gourd filled with sweet water from the Mystic Springs, he accepted humbly and gratefully. The Mystic Springs were aptly named, no one had ever figured out why the water there was so clear, so pure, so sweet. But it was known for refreshing a person quickly, and that was why its waters were so cherished, and precisely why she had brought him the precious liquid. His energy renewed even more, he placed the gourd on a garden bench and hugged her tightly. "What's wrong?" She had always been quiet, peaceful. But lately she had been too quiet. "Elysia?"
She turned from him, gazing upon the distant mountain range. The morning fog was not as yet burned off of the lowlands, nor the mountain peaks. The grey tendrils draped around them, harmless enough, she supposed, but today she couldn't help but feel even they were not so benign as they seemed. He wrapped his arms around her, enveloped her with his very being, and they touched, heart and soul, as only they could. Her gifts made their union a very special one indeed. And a dangerous one in these times. "Rita will make her move soon. I've warned your brother to be careful on his quest. She will try to stop him."
"Do you know when?" She shook her head. She was holding something back, he felt it. But she would not tell him, so he would have to be patient.
"No, not precisely. But soon. She's wanting to prove she's as powerful as she has boasted. Her father is the one she wants to please. And Rita will do anything to prove she is the one who should be her father's right hand."
"Vile's upstart little teenager could be a problem, but we can deal with her Elysia. You worry too much about a sorceress who is still wet behind the ears. As long as Vile doesn't come here to help her, everything with be fine." He hugged his love and rested his hand gently on her stomach. "And our little one will be fine too, she will be as beautiful as her mother."
Elysia allowed herself a smile at that prediction. "Even I don't know if we will have a boy or a girl, dear. I haven't been shown that."
"Yet." He rested his face into her hair, shoulder-length, glowing dark auburn in the morning light and smelling of jasmine. "I may not have future vision, but I have a feeling on this. Our first child will be a daughter. We just need to pick a name."
"Kahva."
"Kahva? That's not a name in either of our families, where did you get that one from?"
"I've seen her. I've seen - I don't know what I've seen, whether it is our daughter, or another person altogether. But the young woman I've seen is strong in heart and mind, she is destined to fight evil. You will be her teacher. That I know." Again she was holding back. Why, he wondered. He turned her back to face him and tenderly lifted her face to his, softly caressing her mouth with a loving kiss. He pulled her to him even closer and held her securely, as if that alone would protect her from whatever tormented her mind and soul. Whatever it was that she felt she couldn't tell him.
"We will name our daughter Kahva, then. Her heart and soul will be as true and kind as yours. And we," he looked down into his wife's face, his steely blue-grey eyes locked with her warm rich brown ones, "We; you, my brother Ninjor and myself, will rid our world of Vile's daughter. We will free everyone from Rita Repulsa's childish antics."
"Yes, you will." She closed her eyes and let him just hold her. It was all she needed.
He looked at the mountains where Ninjor was roaming somewhere, looking for the right place to build his temple, where he could train others to fight against evil, and hopefully find something that would help them if Vile did come after his errant child. The warrior-wizard cleared his mind of doubts, it was his duty, his destiny to fight evil with physical skill and magic. Ninjor was master of all known fighting skills, and Elysia had the gift of future vision, the ability to warn of danger not yet known. They would be all right. Elysia and his child would live in a peaceful world. Of all these things, he was determined to ensure they would come to pass. It was his duty. His privilege and honor to fight for truth and light.
He was young, a warrior-wizard skilled far beyond his twenty-five years.
He was Zordon of Eltar. And he would not let evil win.
Sheena rushed into Ernie's Juice Bar, out of breath. Adam could barely see her for all of the bags she was carrying, and she was close to dropping every single one of them. "Sheena, hang on," he called. In a second he was at her side, taking more than half of the load she had brought in and setting the overflowing bags by their usual table. Tanya and Kat were working on some new moves down on the practice mat under Tommy's supervision, and Rocky was already seated at the table, his attention focused on his history book. Focused, until a dark blue cummerbund landed on the page he had been struggling to make sense of.
"What the - Sheena? Not now, please!"
"Yes, now, Rocko. Just stand up and hold it around you, I have to make sure it fits!" Rocky groaned, if there was anything he hated more than a history test, it was trying on clothes, even if it was just a cummerbund. He stood and held it in place barely long enough for Sheena to be satisfied it would do, then he dejectedly sat back down. "Don't know why you have to get so dressed up for a wedding anyway, you only wear the stuff once and that's it! Not very practical."
"You get `so dressed up' because you only do it once. Well, ideally anyway," Sheena replied. "And I wouldn't have had to interrupt you if you had just gone to the store and finished your fitting!"
"I hate those monkey suits! I mean, -" Rocky caught the glare and the swift kick under the table from Adam, and chose his next words carefully, "yeah, the tuxes look great, but they are so uncomfortable!" He shot a glare of his own at Adam as he rubbed his shin.
"And you think the women have it easy? I'd like to see you walking down the aisle in a wedding gown or a bridesmaid's dress, Roc." Kat, Tanya and Tommy were walking to the group, the practice over. Kat took a chair beside Rocky and ruffled his hair. "You're just scared that someone is going to see you looking like the handsome young man you are." She turned and pointed to a petite blonde leading an aerobics class. "Like, oh, maybe Stephanie over there? Isn't she in some of your classes?"
"Give me a break guys!" Rocky vainly tried to gain a little dignity back. "Look, Sheena, it's nothing personal, I just don't feel comfortable in a tux." They all laughed as Ernie came over with a platter of drinks. Rocky was grateful for the temporary shift in attention.
"Here you go guys. Sheena, did you buy out every store in Angel Grove?" Ernie tucked the platter under his arm as the last drink was taken. "Looks like you could start your own mall."
"It feels like it. I don't know what I would do without Mrs. Cranston to keep everything straight, the woman was born to organize weddings, I swear! Ernie, thanks again for letting us have it here, I know it was short notice." Sheena stopped to sip her drink and pull out a long checklist.
"Hey, no problem, I'm glad I could do it. Just to make sure here, the wedding is at three in the afternoon, right? I want to make sure that everything is set up in time." Sheena nodded, beaming.
"Three o'clock, Saturday afternoon, you got it Ernie. Thanks again, you're a sweetheart." Sheena gave Ernie a hug. The teens could've sworn that he actually blushed from the attention. "Mrs. Cranston will be getting up with you today to finalize everything." Ernie nodded and headed back behind the counter, Bulk and Skull had just walked in and were debating over who was supposed to buy the drinks this time and seemed to be trying Emily's patience. Tanya had settled down between Adam and Sheena and peeked into some of Sheena's packages.
"Ernie was wrong, you could open up two malls with all this stuff! Think you finally have everything?"
"I hope so." Sheena lowered her voice so as not to be overheard by anyone walking by. "Mondo's attack on the church really threw things for a loop. I can't believe the church `just happened' to be in the path of his last monster's rampage." She glanced over the checklist, then nodded to herself. "He has been really nasty lately."
"Leave it to Mondo to try and ruin a wedding." Tommy looked around, Billy and Jason were supposed to be meeting them there, but they hadn't arrived yet. "That overgrown tin can can't stand to see anyone happy. At least no one was at the church when the attack happened. We were lucky."
Tanya shook her head. "Luck had nothing to do with it. I'm willing to bet that Mondo knew the bridal shower was that day, and trashed the place beforehand deliberately." She hugged Sheena. "All those gifts that were there already, completely wrecked. Mondo has done some mean things before, but that was just spiteful. Beyond spiteful. I wish we could've saved more." Sheena smiled at her friends.
"I'm just glad no one was there in the line of fire. Things can be replaced, people can't. Friends can't be replaced." An awkward pause filled the air. Tommy broke it finally.
"Speaking of friends and placing people," he stopped, as suddenly he found he couldn't ask the question gently, no matter how hard he tried.
"Go ahead Tommy. I think everyone has been wondering, anyway." Sheena smiled at Tommy reassuringly as Kat slipped her hand in his.
"There's no easy way to ask this, so I'll just blunder straight ahead. The only people you're really close to here, well, we're it. I mean really close, you know? And Kat and Tanya and Kim are going to be bridesmaids, Kim's flying in from Florida," Tommy paused again, he wasn't good at this. He took a breath and rushed through the rest. "You know us because we are all Rangers. You know Kim because we introduced you two when she came back to visit, and once a Ranger, always a Ranger, you know. But everyone else is just a casual friend, you don't have any family..."
"My family is you guys now, Tommy. And the Cranstons. And I couldn't ask for better friends or family. But no, I haven't picked a maid of honor yet. I just haven't been able to do it, it's too hard to choose." Sheena pulled out the small photo album she had taken to carrying with her everywhere in her purse. She flipped to the older pictures, the ones of her life in her home world. "Though my family was gone back there, I still had my friends." She touched the faces of her friends in the same picture she had been looking at on the fateful day when the Cogs had kidnapped her. When she had claimed her heritage. She didn't notice Bulk and Skull stumbling over to the table. "I -" Bulk tripped over Sheena's packages and knocked the album out of her hands.
"Whoops! Sorry Sheena! Skull, can't you watch where I'm going?"
"Sorry Bulky."
Bulk drew himself back up and tried to look business-like. "We'd just like to let you know that we have decided to guard the Juice Bar against monster attacks, so you and Billy don't have anything to worry about, dear lady." Rocky couldn't help but smile, Bulk and Skull had been tripping over themselves from the first day they had seen Sheena, he was certain that they had a crush on her. "We'll let you get back to planning, we're going to start guarding."
"The wedding isn't until the end of the week guys, I think everything is going to be okay."
"Good detectives are always on the alert, Rocky." With that, Bulk and Skull saluted smartly and spun around, nearly running over Jason as he joined the group. Jason's foot hit the photo album, and the picture of Sheena's friends slipped out. He picked them up and handed the album back to Sheena as he sat down, but stopped as he noticed the writing on the back of the picture.
"Hey guys, Billy is still at the Power Chamber, he'll be here as soon as he can." He hesitated a moment before continuing, staring at the handwriting on the back of the photo. "Umm, Sheena, what's this, if you don't mind my asking? It looks like a poem." Sheena took the picture and looked at the handwriting on the back. For a moment, Jason thought he'd asked something wrong. "It's ok, you don't have to answer that, I shouldn't have asked."
"No, Jason, it's all right." Sheena paused, then continued. "You're right, it is a poem." She seemed to be trying not to let her voice crack as she read it aloud:
"Sisters of the soul forever, K. B.," Jason finished for her quietly. "She's not in this photo, is she?" he asked gently. Sheena shook her head, then pulled out a picture the Rangers had never seen before from the back of the album. It was of Sheena and another girl, perhaps two inches shorter and slightly heavier than Sheena, olive-complexioned with eyes that seemed almost black as opposed to Sheena's sparkling green. But otherwise, the two looked very similar to each other, as if they were related by blood.
"She was adopted, like I was. We were instantly drawn to each other, it was like there was a bond already there, before we met. We were like sisters. She's the one who took the picture of my friends and me at the park that day. She never liked having her picture taken, but we finally talked her into it that day, Josh took this one. It's the only one I have of her."
Jason started to ask who she was, but the beep of their communicators interrupted them. Everyone quickly grabbed books, bags and packages and slipped out into the hallway for privacy. "Jason, here."
Billy's voice came over the communicator. "Guys, you'd better come to the Power Chamber. There's something weird going on at the Machine Skybase." The Rangers looked around, they were still alone. A second later, they had all disappeared in their respective teleportation colors, ready to face whatever Mondo had planned this time.
"Your mom is a doll, don't worry. What's going on?" Zordon seemed as puzzled as Billy as he answered.
WE ARE NOT YET CERTAIN, RANGERS. ALPHA DETECTED SOME UNUSUAL ENERGY READINGS FROM THE MACHINE SKYBASE THIS MORNING. BUT NONE OF THESE ENERGY READINGS MATCH ANYTHING WE'VE SEEN FROM MONDO BEFORE.
"Well, what is this energy doing, or where is it going?" Tommy asked. Billy picked up a printout and read off the results.
"It seems the energy readings indicate a scan of some sort, through several dimensions. But as for what Mondo may be looking for, we can't tell. Jason and I were in the repair bay when the energy readings were first detected. Alpha, tell them what you found out."
The little robot shuffled over to the Rangers, as nervous as ever. "After I called Billy back to the Power Chamber, I ran a sensor sweep of the moon to be safe. Mondo's Cogs were crawling all over Zedd and Rita's old palace. But before I could determine what they were doing, they teleported back to the Skybase!" Alpha went over to another set of consoles to continue his analysis, muttering worriedly to himself.
"So that's what that was all about. I was wondering what was up when you told me to go ahead to the Juice Bar without you. Can you make a guess at all, Billy? If Mondo's planning another attack -" Sheena interrupted Jason, a frightening thought had just hit her.
"No, he's not planning an attack. Not yet, anyway, I don't think. Zordon, it seems to me that Mondo is looking for something very specific. Could he be looking for a new monster, or a new power source?"
"Or a new weapon, maybe?" Tommy interjected. "I think Sheena may be on to something here, Zordon." Their mentor was silent for what seemed like an eternity before he finally answered.
IT IS POSSIBLE, RANGERS. OR HE MAY BE TRYING TO SEE IF OTHER WORLDS ARE VULNERABLE TO AN ATTACK AT THIS TIME. HE HAS BEEN THREATENING AQUITAR AND TRIFORIA LATELY. THERE ARE UNCONFIRMED REPORTS THAT HE HAS SENT SOME OF HIS COGS TO EDENOI AS WELL, TO HELP COUNT DREGON. AT THIS POINT, UNTIL WE CAN DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF SCAN MONDO IS PERFORMING, I AM AFRAID THAT ANYTHING COULD BE POSSIBLE. ALPHA WILL CONTINUE CHECKING THE ENERGY READINGS AND WILL CONTACT YOU IF ANYTHING CHANGES. IN THE MEANTIME, BE ON YOUR GUARD, RANGERS, ESPECIALLY YOU, SHEENA. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT MONDO HAS GIVEN UP ON THE IDEA OF HAVING YOU AS HIS ULTIMATE WARRIOR.
"He could be after Billy too. After all, he hasn't been happy ever since he found out that Billy has the Sapphire Power. If he can't have Sheena, he may go after Billy to get back at her. With or without powers, Billy's knowledge of the Zords and the Power Chamber make him a tempting target," Adam added.
"Guys, we could second guess this to death. The fact is, until we know more about what is going on, any of us could be targets. Or all of us. We all have to stay extra alert." Billy put his arm around Sheena's waist and pulled her close. "I'll stay here and help Alpha with the scans."
NO, BILLY, YOU'VE BEEN WORKING FOR TOO LONG WITHOUT ANY REST OR RELAXATION. ALPHA CAN CONTINUE ON HIS OWN FOR NOW. UNTIL WE NOTIFY YOU RANGERS, ALL OF YOU NEED TO BE ON THE ALERT, BUT YOU MUST TRY TO RELAX. IF YOU LET YOURSELVES WORRY TOO MUCH, THE TENSION WILL DRAIN YOU, AND YOU WILL NOT BE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FOR A POSSIBLE BATTLE. HOPEFULLY WE WILL KNOW SOMETHING MORE DEFINITE SOON. Zordon disappeared in his time warp, concentrating his mental energies on the search. The Rangers all looked at each other, not knowing just how they were supposed to relax after that bit of news. But they all left one by one, Rocky to study, Tanya, Adam, Jason, Tommy and Kat to work out some more at the gym, leaving Sheena and Billy in the Power Chamber. Billy had gone over to look at Sheena's packages and started to chuckle.
"Looks like you've been busy. Anything I can help with?"
Sheena grabbed some of the bags and started for her quarters in the Power Chamber. "If you can help me get these things to my room, that would be a big help. I have to sort through everything, and then take most of it to the house and meet your mother."
"And I've been warned by her to stay away for now, that this is a time for the `girls' to get to be together, so I'll let you have all the fun with my mom." Sheena laughed at the look on Billy's face. Billy had no idea what she and his mom were doing to the cabin that his uncle was giving them as a wedding present, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Tell you what, when you get through at the house, meet me in the park for a picnic. We haven't had much time to ourselves lately." Sheena kissed him, and disappeared into her room.
"It's a date!"
"It started when I was young, only eighteen. My cousin Melantha and I found the Springs by accident. I called them `mystic' because we could both feel the magic here, and that the magic was unaligned. Our grandmother, Veda, told us that this was a rare find indeed, and that the Springs would have to be aligned with either the side of good or evil, that it could not survive for long in its neutral state. We were instructed to align it at precisely midnight, at the next new moons. The Springs were aligned with the side of good that night, and our family has tended the Mystic Springs ever since." Rina looked at her ten-year-old granddaughter, Elysia wasn't completely satisfied with her answer.
"How come nobody talks about Melantha?" Rina sighed, she supposed it was time to tell Elysia the rest of the story.
"Melantha was my age, and her side of the family has never been as strong as ours with the gifts. She's the only one who has ever been resentful of that, however. I didn't know it then, but she was jealous of me. Everyone calling the Springs `Mystic Springs', after the way I had described them, didn't help either. She was dating a young man back then, he was studying to be a wizard, but he had begun to learn some of the dark arts. Neither one of our families had anything to do with him, we didn't like the path he was taking, but Melantha was attracted to him. They were both power hungry, both wanted to be more than what they were, and were willing to turn to darkness to do it. Against the wishes of our families, she continued to see him in secret. He was called Zared back then. A vision warned me that someone would try to keep me from going to the Springs on the night of alignment, that there would be a potion in my water. I did not drink, and arrived there at the same time Melantha and Zared did. Melantha was furious that I was not asleep, it had been she who had put the potion in my water, Zared had made it for her." Rina paused, she didn't like to remember that night, but Elysia needed to know. "She attacked me, and I fell down. My head struck a rock, and I was bleeding as I fell into the water. My blood mixed with the Springs, and a few seconds later, at precisely midnight, the alignment was made. Normally, we would have just said the intonement, and that would've aligned the Springs, but when I fell into the water, a stronger alignment was made. Not only were the Springs forever aligned with the side of good, our family was aligned forever with the Springs. Any source of magic, once aligned, can never be turned to the other side, only destroyed. The Mystic Springs are now forever aligned with good, and because my blood is in the Springs, and the Springs' magic is in my blood, our gifts are also forever aligned with the side of good. Our gifts can never be turned to evil. We are a part of the Mystic Springs, and they are a part of us, now and forever. That is why we tend the Mystic Springs. Melantha left Eltar to go to another world with Zared after that, a world where he could learn his dark arts. They have never returned. The loss of Melantha is very painful for our family, that is why she is not talked about much. We miss her terribly, but we know that she chose a dark path, and never wanted to leave it. She died many years ago, poisoned by her own jealousy. The dark path is very inviting, Elysia, but you will never find happiness there. Remember this also, Elysia. Zared has vowed to return to Eltar one day, to spread his teachings here. Our family must not allow him to harm the Mystic Springs. No one here remembers the dark apprentice anymore. He has used many names since he left here, but seems to have settled on one name for himself now. I have recently learned of what he is currently calling himself. Remember his name, Elysia. He is now known as Vile." Little Elysia considered her grandmother's words very seriously, then the ten-year-old looked up at her grandmother solemnly.
"I will protect the Mystic Springs, and the side of good, with my life."
Rina had heard the cry of the falcon as it fell, had felt its pain. "Come Elysia, we have to find the falcon." She took her granddaughter's hand and they ran towards where they thought the falcon had fallen. A couple of minutes later they reached a small clearing and found two young boys, about Elysia's age, protecting the injured falcon from an older man who looked to be about fifty years old. Rina took in a sharp breath, then mentally sent for her kinsmen, they would need their help. One boy was now holding the falcon carefully, the other was struggling with the man for control of a staff. The staff was glowing with dark energy, and the man was losing patience with the boy.
"Impudent young pup! Unhand my staff!" he ordered. The boy refused to let go as the staff glowed brighter. The boy shouted for the other boy, his brother, to run away with the falcon. "That falcon is mine, stupid brat! Do you still dare to defy me, after seeing what I can do? I shot that falcon out of the sky with but a toss of my hand, I'll do much worse to you!" He finally wrenched the staff free from the child's grasp and then struck his head, sending the lad to the ground. He was dazed, a small trickle of blood seeped from the wound. The one holding the falcon went to his fallen sibling, to stay between him and the man. The dark energy dripping from the staff was starting to poison the cut.
"Are you so weak that you can only threaten children, Zared?" Rina challenged. Quietly she whispered to Elysia, "Go back to the Mystic Springs with your canteen and get water, we'll need to clean the boy's cut until we can take him there for the Springs' healing powers to do their work. Go child, your father and some of our kinsmen will be here soon, I've already sent for them." As Elysia ran back to the Mystic Springs, she could hear the man yelling at her grandmother.
"I am called Vile now, Rina, you had best not forget that!"
"I call you coward, for you are so afraid to die, you have used your dark arts to keep you young. I call you coward for threatening children. And I call you cursed, for even now my kinsmen are coming, and you cannot hope to stand against us all."
Elysia didn't dare look back as she heard him reply, "I can stand against you old woman! You think me a coward for staying young? Let's see what you think after I've beaten you down with my power!" Elysia heard the crackle of dark magic, then nothing else as she got closer to the Mystic Springs. She reached to her waist for her canteen, but it wasn't there anymore, it had fallen off while she had been running. Elysia looked frantically for anything that could hold water, then her gaze rested on one of the gourd plants. A gourd had fallen off of one of the vines, she picked it up. It could hold twice the water her canteen could if hollowed out. She grabbed her grandmother's gardening trowel to cut off the top of the gourd, it cut through it easily, and when she turned the gourd, most of the flesh spilled out, there was hardly anything she needed to remove. It was as if the gourd was meant for just the purpose she had in mind. She dipped the gourd in the water and filled it, then used the top she had cut off to close it. Elysia ran as fast as she could back to the clearing, she had been gone for nearly five minutes. Vile was firing blasts of dark energy at her grandmother, the boys were behind her, the injured one's cut now turning black as the cut was slowly poisoned by the trace of dark magic that had dripped on it. The other boy was still cradling the injured falcon and trying to shield his brother at the same time. Vile fired another blast at Rina, she deflected it as she had the others, and he was getting angrier.
"You can't stand against me forever, Rina! I will wear you down, and you won't be able to protect yourself, much less these children!" Elysia knelt at the injured boy's side and placed the gourd beside him. She glared at Vile, the one who had tried to get the power of the Mystic Springs for himself, the one who had encouraged Melantha's jealousy and lust for power. Elysia suddenly saw images around the dark wizard, images that scared her, but she was a protector of good, just like her grandmother. Little Elysia stood in front of her grandmother, and stared at Vile.
"You will be beaten, Vile. These boys will banish you from this world forever. Not even your daughter to be, Rita, will be able to stand against them. This will happen." Vile seemed shaken for a moment, then laughed even as Rina and Elysia's kinsmen ran into the clearing.
"So, the gift of future vision is with you early, child. Very well, I cannot stand against all of you at once, but I will return one day, and I don't think these boys can stop me, child." Elysia was kneeling by the fallen boy again and had started to clean the cut on his forehead.
"My name is Elysia, and I will not allow you or your kin to harm anyone, or anything. Leave, Vile." Vile laughed, but he did move away as he watched her clean the wound.
"You are spirited, child, and loyal to the side of good. It will be the end of you." With that, Vile disappeared in a flash of acrid black smoke. Rina and her kinsmen were staring at Elysia in amazement, and at first she didn't understand why. She had only done what she had vowed, to defend the side of good. Then as the boy she had been treating stirred, she saw what they were looking at. As she had wiped the cut with the water from the Mystic Springs, it had healed, and the trickle of dark magic had been washed away. She held the gourd for him and helped him drink some of the water. Moments later, he was recovered. Rina knelt by Elysia.
"Try the water on the falcon." Elysia took the injured bird from the other boy and washed its chest, then tipped the gourd so it could drink as well. Soon the bird was healed as well, the falcon flapped its wings and soared into the air, circling high over the meadow, diving back once to land by Elysia and place its head against her in thanks, then it flew off again, calling for its mate. They joined in the air seconds later, circled the clearing once more, then flew home. Everyone stood and watched the birds fly away, then looked at Elysia in wonder. Her father picked her up and hugged her, swinging her around in a circle.
"How did you do that? Could it be you have the gift of healing as well? And at such a young age!" Rina laughed as her son put his daughter down.
"No, Alaric, she is not a healer, but the water from the Mystic Springs do help the sick and injured. Elysia has found a way to transport the waters without their losing those properties, by using the gourd." Rina hugged Elysia, then all of her uncles hugged the girl too. Even Elysia's little brother Seth, who had come along with their father, hugged her. Then the two boys she and Rina had saved stood before them and thanked them. By the black belts they wore over their tunics, they were wizard apprentices, and quite accomplished for their years, as noted by the silver star each had on their belt. Rina recognized them then from the village, they were both older than Elysia. The one who had held the falcon was fourteen years, and the one who had so bravely fought against Vile was all of thirteen. The younger one bowed deeply before Elysia.
"Brave and noble lady, you have saved my life this day, I owe it to you forever." He turned to Alaric very seriously and asked, "Has anyone spoken for your daughter, noble sir?" Alaric laughed and told him no. "Then might I have that honor sir? I can feel it already, she and I are fated to be together." Alaric laughed again, then as somberly as he could, he told the boy he would consider it. He then invited both boys to Elysia's birthday party that afternoon, and after they had accepted, he and the other men left, taking Seth with them. The younger boy turned again to Elysia and kissed her cheek. "I shall see you this afternoon then, my lady. My brother here is Ninjor, and I am Zordon, and we have indeed been honored by your presence this day." The two boys left, leaving Elysia alone with her grandmother. Rina couldn't take the smile from her face, Elysia looked as if she had eaten a bitter pommlet. Rina took Elysia's hand and they made their way back to the Mystic Springs to finish the gardening Rina had started.
"You seem to have an admirer, Elysia." Elysia continued to wrinkle her face in disgust at having been kissed on the cheek by a boy. Rina laughed as they reached the Mystic Springs and Elysia promptly tried to wash the feeling of the kiss off of her face.
"Boys! Yuck! Why did he have to do that? A simple `thank you' would have been enough." Elysia started to retrieve her grandmother's trowel when Rina stopped her.
"Elysia, I'm going to tell you something. Tonight, when I enter the trance to confirm which gift you will have, there will be some who will be afraid at what I will reveal, most will be very happy though. Vile will be one of the ones who will be afraid, I think he may have sensed something in you today. I entered the trance last night, because I myself have had disturbing visions of late. Unless the trance tonight shows anything differently, you will have all the gifts with you as you get older. You are a very special child, Elysia. I do not know if you will be able to use all of the gifts, but they will be there in you, in your blood, you will not just be a carrier of the gifts like everyone in our family is. The gift of future vision is already upon you, that is a sign that you are exceptionally blessed. Use your gifts carefully child, and wisely. You are sworn to the side of truth, light and good, which will make your life a dangerous one, more so because of your gifts. Your gifts will guide you, and your kin, trust in them." Rina sighed, she wasn't sure if Elysia was old enough to understand what may be asked of her as she grew. "Remember, your gifts can never be used for evil, if anyone tries to turn you to the dark path, your gifts will not work, you are protected by the blood-bond we share with the Mystic Springs, and all your children, and their children, and their children will have that same protection. You have been singularly honored, are you ready to accept the responsibility?" Elysia looked up solemnly at her grandmother and repeated her vow made little more than a year earlier. She had seen several things when she had looked at Vile, and understood more than Rina realized.
"I will protect the Mystic Springs, and the side of good, with my life. This will happen."
CERTAINLY SHEENA, YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS WITH ME. Sheena took a breath and the words poured out, the dreams she had had lately about her homeworld, about her friends, and especially the ones about her best friend.
"It's as if I'm connected to her all over again, even though we're in different dimensions. She and I had promised so long ago that we would be there for each other for everything, including weddings. If she were here, she'd be my maid of honor. It's the reason I haven't been able to decide who to make my maid of honor, I can't think of anyone else but her being the one." Sheena paused, and gave a dry laugh. "You know, she would have a sixth sense about things sometimes, she even warned me that I was going to be taken away. I thought she had just been working too hard." Sheena went on a few more minutes about her best friend, finally mentioning her name to Zordon. "Kinda funny huh? Guess that should've been a hint way back then. I still don't know what I'm going to do about choosing, but thanks for listening to my ramblings, Zordon." With a nod to Alpha, Sheena disappeared in a swirl of silvery-white. Alpha could only stare up at Zordon for a few minutes after she left.
"What does that mean, Zordon? Why is Sheena having these dreams all of a sudden?" The ancient mentor was quiet for the longest time, then finally answered.
I DO NOT KNOW ALPHA, BUT I HOPE THAT IT IS NOT RELATED TO MONDO'S CURRENT ACTIVITY. IF IT IS, THEN THERE COULD BE GRAVE DANGER IN STORE FOR ALL. CONTINUE YOUR SCANS ALPHA, WE HAVE TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT MONDO IS LOOKING FOR AND WHY, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Billy wandered into the Power Chamber at that moment.
"Before what's too late?"
WE STILL HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT MONDO IS UP TO, BILLY, Zordon replied. BUT I NO LONGER THINK THAT HE IS TRYING TO THREATEN OTHER WORLDS, I BELIEVE HE IS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING VERY SPECIFIC. Billy went over to Alpha and peered at the console over the robot's shoulder. One set of readings showed Sheena's recent departure, the other showed the continuous scans that were trying to track the Machine Skybase's activities.
"But what could he possibly be looking for? If Mondo was targeting one of us, or something here on Earth, the scans would focus here, instead he's still going through several other dimensions." Billy shook his head and tried to make some sense of the readings, Mondo had never done anything like this before.
UNTIL WE HAVE THAT ANSWER BILLY, ALL WE CAN DO IS TRY TO KEEP UP WITH HIS SCANS, THEN HOPE TO STOP HIM BEFORE HE CAN BRING WHATEVER HE IS LOOKING FOR HERE TO OUR DIMENSION. Billy started to assist Alpha with the scans when Zordon's voice stopped him. BILLY, ALPHA CAN CONTINUE THE SCANS FOR NOW, AS I SAID BEFORE, YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR TOO LONG WITHOUT ANY REST OR RELAXATION, YOU MUST TAKE A BREAK. WE WILL CALL YOU AS SOON AS WE FIND OUT ANYTHING, I PROMISE. Billy sighed, Zordon was starting to sound like his mother, she had noticed the dark circles under his eyes lately, he'd been trying to make sure that everything at the Power Chamber was in tip-top shape before the wedding, so that he and Sheena could hopefully have an uninterrupted honeymoon. He'd also finished up some things for the cabin, things that he would take over there once Sheena and he had moved in, between that and college courses, he knew that Zordon was right, he did need to stop for a little while.
"Okay, I can take a hint when it's coming at me from all sides," he chuckled. "Alpha, call me the second you find anything, all right? I'm going to go to Ernie's and get a picnic basket fixed up for Sheena and me, have her meet me here when she gets through at the house." Billy punched the location of the quiet little spot in the park he had in mind for their rendezvous into the teleportation console for Alpha. "See you later!" Billy disappeared in a swirl of dark blue, then the Power Chamber was quiet again except for the beeping and clicking of monitors and sensors.
"Zordon, she hasn't told Billy about her dreams, has she?" Zordon closed his eyes and sighed, the nature of the dreams had troubled him greatly once Sheena had revealed them.
I SUSPECT NOT, THOUGH I AM SURE THAT SHE WILL. ALPHA, TIGHTEN THE SCANS, TRY TO DETECT IF MONDO IS SEARCHING FOR A PARTICULAR ENERGY PATTERN. IF WE CAN FIND OUT THAT INFORMATION, THEN MAYBE WE STOP HIS PLANS BEFORE THEY CAN START. I HOPE, Zordon thought, as his trusted aide did as instructed.
"Well do it! I've waited long enough for this, Klank!" Mondo watched as for the next half hour Klank scanned through dimension after dimension to see which ones had similar signatures. He amused himself for a while by spying on Sheena and her friends on Earth, they were seated at a table and Sheena was talking about her friends on her homeworld. Two of the clumsiest humans he'd ever seen stumbled into Sheena and caused her to drop her precious little photo album. "Sickening human sentimentality," he muttered to himself. He peered closer at the viewscreen and stared at the picture Sheena was showing her friends now. It was of her and another human who looked a great deal like Sheena. Mondo froze the screen on that image as Klank let out a shout.
"Sire! We may be in luck! I've narrowed down the search to twenty dimensions, and there is a seventy percent chance that we will find a descendant in one of those dimensions. The search is going along more swiftly since I was able to retrieve Elysia's signature, the signature of the energy she sent -"
"Get on with it Klank!" Mondo ordered. He absolutely hated it when Klank over-explained things. His majordomo had been at it for nearly a half hour now, after six months of searching Mondo's small amount of patience was wire-thin. Ten minutes later, they were rewarded. "Well, now, Elysia's descendant ended up in the same dimension that Sheena herself was sent to. Interesting, and how perfectly ironic." In another ten minutes Klank had narrowed the search down to that dimension's Earth. Within five, he had it down to a single continent. After an additional five minutes of searching, then another five of verification, Klank brought up the image of a human female. It was early morning there, about an hour before sunrise. Mondo stared greedily at the image of the young woman tossing fitfully in her sleep. He memorized every detail of her face. "How long before you can bring her here, Klank?"
Klank had already started feeding information into his device's computer banks. "My machine is only a scanner now, but now that I've got a lock on her sire, it will be very easy to create a dimensional portal and bring her here. The modifications to the scanner will only take a few hours. She will be yours by this afternoon." Klank turned to his work as Mondo looked from Klank's machine to the image that he had frozen less than an hour earlier.
"Sheena, I've got a little surprise for you. A very nasty surprise from home that is sure to ruin your wedding." Mondo laughed for a very long time as he lumbered back to his throne room. "Yes, the ones you humans love the most do tend to hurt you the most, don't they? Wait until you see what she's going to do to you, Silver Ranger!"
She had just arrived at Sheena's place and was hit with the feeling that she was near a tremendous energy source, it was like she was caught in the middle of a huge static charge. She remembered trying frantically to open Sheena's door, then there was nothing but darkness, she had been knocked out. She never found out exactly how Sheena disappeared, but had been haunted ever since that day by one thought: she had been too late. For the first year of Sheena's disappearance, the brunette had visited the site as a memorial of sorts, but hadn't been able to bring herself to do it since, it had hurt too much. She blamed herself for not getting to Sheena in time. Sheena had laughed off her premonition days before. "What, me falling into a big white light? That's a dream, not a vision. You stayed up too late watching TV, sister dear," Sheena had told her.
"Why didn't you listen to me? I was supposed to move in with you that day, but instead I lost you! Why did you leave me?" Her tears blended with the water from the shower, after all this time she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that if she had gotten to Sheena's just a few minutes earlier... From that day forward, she had retreated into herself, had thrown herself into her work, but it hadn't helped. She had lost her soul-sister less than a year after she lost her adoptive parents, it had gotten to be too much to bear. "I wish I could be with her... it's got to be more interesting than Richmond. Not as empty a place, anyway. We weren't sisters by blood, but my blood tells me you aren't dead, Sheena." She ended her shower, it wasn't helping to relax or refresh her. She got dressed and went about her apartment, doing the last of her laundry, a final check to make sure she had everything packed. Jaycynda and Cindy were going to be moving into her place, they already had their keys and had signed the lease. Jaycynda had lost nearly all of her furniture in a fire at her old place, so she was getting all of the furniture there, and could sell whatever she didn't need. "I certainly don't need it," the young woman thought as she checked her bags. "Betacam - man I'm glad that I saw that ad when the indy station in Clayton disbanded its news department, I never could've afforded a new one for my own. Blank tapes, resume tapes, batteries..." She continued on her mental checklist, she had all of her news gear, except for a tripod, she didn't own one, and it would've been too bulky to take one with her anyway. She closed her gearbag and checked her personal camera bag's contents. There was a small 8mm camcorder, blank tapes, a few pre-recorded ones, batteries, a 35mm camera, two lenses, batteries for it, a flash and film, plus a few filters. She had the tripod for that gear strapped to the bottom of the bag, it was small and light, but strong and easy to transport. Her overnight bag had a few changes of clothes and an extra pair of black sneakers, plus a few personal items, among them three five-inch tall Power Ranger figures that were carefully wrapped. One was a Red Zeo Ranger, the second was the Gold Ranger, and the last was the original Blue Ranger, well before the change to Zeo. The last had been a gift from Sheena, she remembered with a sad fondness. Sheena had given it to her the day before she disappeared.
The last bag to check was her backpack from college, it now held three photo albums, an album that had all the negatives she wanted to keep, the rest she was leaving for Jaycynda and Cindy to distribute to their friends. Her backpack was still open, waiting for any last minute additions that could be squeezed in, and for three framed photos. The first photo she packed hastily, it was the only one of Sheena and herself that had ever been taken, she couldn't bring herself to look at it just then. The second was a framed, wallet-sized photo that had been found with her mother. "My first name on the back, my birthdate, nothing else. Who am I?" she wondered for the millionth time. The photo, a baby blanket and the bodies of her parents were all that had been recovered from the single car wreck that she had somehow survived at two weeks of age. The last was of Sheena and all their friends in the park, taken a few months before Sheena `left'. She started to shove it in without a glance, but the images of her friends stopped her.
"Cindy. Jaycynda. Ann. Melissa. Josh. Kenny. Todd. You guys haven't blamed me, I know, but I just can't face you anymore, it's my fault Sheena isn't here with us. I lost her! I have to go, I can't stay here with the memories..." Her voice trailed off as she sat on the floor, hugging the photo tightly and crying, no longer able to keep her emotions bottled up, and trying to ignore the feeling that cold, hostile eyes were watching her, from somewhere...
"Where are you going?"
"I have one last job for the station, then I'm free. I don't know, maybe I'll freelance now. I've got all my own gear. It won't be too hard, stations all over need good photographers."
"But where will you go?" Mrs. Maitland asked again.
She shrugged. "Maybe out west somewhere, maybe even Los Angeles. I've got a ticket for the train at four, I sold my car a long time ago, so I've got money, I'll be okay. I'm not coming back, Mrs. Maitland, but I'll be okay, really. You worry too much about all of us," she laughed, trying to make light of it, trying to lighten her own heart. It wasn't working too well, for Mrs. Maitland didn't seem to be convinced, but she didn't press her anymore. She went back to where she'd left her bags, and sat on the steps of what was now Jaycynda and Cindy's apartment to wait for Steve to pick her up for the shoot, pulling her long hair through a dark grey baseball cap, as was her customary fashion. Her mind drifted back to the premonitions, visions and half-dreams she'd had for almost six months now, the first ones she'd had since Sheena's disappearance. A wedding where Sheena was telling someone she's glad they're there, and she saw it through the eyes of whoever it was that Sheena was talking to. That had been a rare happy premonition, the others were frightening. A battle where "Cogs" had grabbed "Billy", then all of a sudden seeing it through his eyes, and seeing herself there. She hadn't told anyone about the visions, the young woman thought for sure she was losing it, that her grief over Sheena was making her lose her mind, or come close to it. Why else would a TV show be in her visions?
She had also seen a dungeon where Mondo was holding "Billy", and whoever's eyes she was seeing the dungeon through, that person was strapped to a table and Klank was drawing blood from them, testing it, and saying something about a potion that wouldn't work. There had been something else, but it had been so terrifying, she had woken up five nights straight screaming, and then again this morning. "Am I losing my mind?" she wondered. Even now, though she wasn't having a vision right then, remembering them was enough to make her feel like evil eyes were watching her, and she couldn't shake it. The blare of a horn grabbed her attention, Steve was there to pick her up to go cover the Power Ranger look-a-like contest. Not exactly the assignment she would've picked, had she been asked, but it ended her last work day much earlier than any other shoot would have, so she hadn't said anything. Not even when they had assigned Steve to be the reporter. He was one of the many little reasons she was leaving, he was one of the ones who had taken her for granted, who had claimed work she'd done as his own. "But if it meant that Sheena would come back, I'd gladly endure his ego," she thought as she stowed her bags in the news unit. Steve was making some stupid comment, but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying, she didn't care anymore. She clipped her station id badge onto her T-shirt as she climbed into the vehicle, the general manger had said she could keep the badge as a remembrance of the station, if she wanted to. "It's been a good time for the most part," she mused silently.
As they drove to the contest, Steve tried to make conversation with her. "Hey K. B., the anniversary of your friend Sheena taking off is coming up, right? Anyone know what ever happened to her?" She glared at him, Sheena had not `taken off' and he knew it, just as he knew that no one had found out what happened. Three years of irritation with the conceited blonde reporter bubbled to the surface, just barely under her control.
"As if you care. She dumped you after one date, and I don't blame her! You've never cared about anyone except yourself, you and Lisa deserve each other. Now, if you'd like to get through this assignment peacefully, just shut up and leave me alone." For once, Steve either found a compassionate bone in his egotistical body, or was shocked speechless at this rare show of temper from the twenty-four-year-old photographer. Either way, the rest of the ride was painfully quiet, at least for him.
"And his good taste from you, Mrs. Cranston, the cabinet is beautiful," Sheena answered. Mrs. Cranston walked over and hugged her soon to be daughter-in-law.
"Please, Sheena, call me Helen. And yes, I think my son has excellent taste. I couldn't have picked a more wonderful young woman to be his wife myself." Mrs. Cranston looked around the dining room, everything seemed to be in place. "I think we can start on the den now, there's a mantle over the fireplace there that's begging for some pictures, I believe. John brought the furniture over yesterday." The two women went into the den and started to set out things in there. Mrs. Cranston gathered up some pictures to go on the mantle and arranged them, then asked for Sheena's approval. "How's that, dear?" Mrs. Cranston was placing the photo of Sheena and her best friend on the mantle, Sheena had found a frame for it that morning while shopping.
"Perfect." Sheena walked over to the fireplace and gazed sadly at the newly framed picture. Just a few hours earlier, she had told Zordon that her friend was the one who would've been her maid-of-honor. Now her friend's dark brown eyes were staring right back at her, bringing back so many memories of home... "I really wish you were here," Sheena whispered softly, forgetting for the moment that she wasn't alone. Mrs. Cranston placed her hand on Sheena's shoulder and looked at the photo of the two young women.
"She's your best friend, isn't she?"
Sheena sighed and nodded. "Yes. If she were here, she'd be my maid-of-honor. I can't choose anyone to take her place, no one can. She's as much my sister as surely as if we'd had the same parents. But barring a miracle, she can't be here, no one from home can be here, it's just not possible." Mrs. Cranston hugged Sheena and turned her to face her.
"I know our religions are different dear, but I think we both know that miracles can and sometimes do happen, if it is meant to be. Dreams that should come true have a funny way of doing just that, though not in the way we would want them to sometimes. Remember this, Sheena. Even though your friends aren't here in the flesh, as long as they are in your heart, then they will be here in spirit. True friends never leave your heart, no matter the distance." Sheena very nearly cried, Mrs. Cranston was just like her, she had a gift for saying what needed to be said. Sheena smiled and nodded, then went out to the car to bring in the last of her packages, it was early afternoon now, and she wanted to meet Billy by three o' clock if she could. It was a bright, wonderfully sunny day, spring had come a bit early to Angel Grove. She stopped and listened to the birdsongs, it seemed that Nature itself was forbidding her to be sad. She concentrated on her soul-sister, trying to tap into whatever connection they may have had. "Be safe, I miss you..."
Greg was checking the tapes she'd turned in, and she was about to make a clean escape with her bags and gear when Steve walked up with Lisa. "Where are you going?"
"I don't work at the station anymore, this was my last job Steve." She was tired of not being appreciated at her job, she wanted to do something where she had more control. She was tired of him, tired of Richmond, and tired of the pain in her heart. "I handed in my notice two weeks ago, this is my last job. Greg's got the tapes you need to edit for your package."
"Oh come on, you don't expect me to believe you're leaving, that's just a show to get a raise, girl," Steve countered. As the brunette slowly turned back to scowl at Steve, Greg eased over to hiss in his ear, "Bad move, big mouth."
Her dark brown eyes seemed to turn pitch black as she looked Steve straight in his eyes, making him quite uncomfortable. "No amount of money is worth staying here, especially with you around. News flash Steve, you don't have any coattails left to ride to fame on anymore, and little Lisa here will probably dump you as soon as the next new rising news star dawns on the horizon. I'm leaving, so find someone else to do your work. Hey, novel idea Steve, do your own job yourself, for once!" She stalked off, bags and all, and headed back into the arena to wait for Josh's arrival. Greg ran up and opened the door for her.
"K. B., I knew you had some fire in you! I'm glad I got to see you take that braggart down a few pegs."
"I don't like losing my temper, I've always tried to keep everything locked down, Greg. But he just hit all my buttons on a bad day."
Greg laughed. "He deserved it. Maybe he'll shape up now, you're the best photog we've had in a long time, you'll get a good job anywhere you want. I think Steve will soon realize just how much of his career he owes to your eye and skill." Greg's smile turned wistful as she walked into the arena. "Are you sure you have to leave Richmond?" He hugged her as she stopped and nodded. "Take care, girl. I, for one, am going to miss our `Little Shadow'."
"Little Shadow?" She looked at him, puzzled. "Where did that come from?"
"That's the nickname we gave you not long after you started, didn't you know that?" he chuckled. "You've got a way of sliding in and out of sight, you're so quiet, it's like you're a shadow. Take care of yourself, promise?" She smiled and promised, Greg was one of the ones she was going to miss. As he watched her disappear into the arena, Greg wondered if he'd work with anyone quite like her ever again.
And off in the reaches of another universe, cold metallic eyes were still watching...
"Hi, handsome!!"
Billy smiled as Sheena walked up, then sat beside him on the blanket he'd laid out on the ground. The park was beautiful, there was hardly a cloud in the wonderfully blue sky. Sheena greeted him with a passionate kiss that let him know that she'd missed his company of late as much as he'd missed hers. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it."
"What, and miss our first few minutes alone in nearly a month?" she replied. Billy flashed a mischievous grin at her.
"Well, if you hadn't shown up soon, the Sapphire Ranger always could've come to look for you, to rescue you from the perils of setting up a house with my mom." Sheena grinned just as impishly back at her love.
"Really? You know, I've always wanted to find out who was under that helmet and uniform. Think I might've found out?"
"Maybe," he winked. The two of them fell back laughing, it was so good to be alone, to be a normal soon-to-be-married couple. It was three o' clock on a Monday afternoon, they were going to be married on Saturday, and at least for the moment, they were simply Billy and Sheena, two people very much in love. Sheena sighed as Billy set out the late picnic lunch, just being with him had lifted her mood.
"Sire?"
"What is it, Klank?"
"Your dimensional transporter is complete. We shall be ready to bring the girl here in five minutes," Klank reported. Mondo gloated as the scene switched back to the other dimension where the girl was wondering down a hallway, looking at posters of some sort, he couldn't tell what, exactly. Not that it mattered.
"Tick tock, Sheena. Tick tock, tick tock, time's nearly up, tick tock, tick tock..."
Seeing another group of young women who had spotted him, Daniel quickly headed for the backstage area, the look-a-like contest was over, but there were vendors selling Power Ranger merchandise, karate demonstrations and others activities still going on, so there were still plenty of people milling about. He sighed as he reached the quiet of the backstage area, then nearly groaned as he spotted another young woman. "Here I go again," he thought for a moment, then Daniel realized that she wasn't paying him the least bit of attention. She looked tired and was overloaded with bags. Then he spotted the news camera she was holding and Daniel recognized her as the photographer he'd seen covering the contest. She was staring at the Power Ranger posters lining the wall, killing time, he supposed. She was slender, five feet, nine inches tall he guessed, and didn't seem like she should have the strength to carry all of those bags that swamped her. She had dark brown hair pulled through a dark grey baseball cap. Without the cap, he assumed it would fall down to the middle of her back. He noted her olive complexion, she looked like she could be anything from American Indian to someone of Mediterranean descent, a Scottish Highlander, or even Italian, there were so many possibilities... She also looked very familiar to him. Daniel made up his mind, and walked over to talk to her.
The brunette had been besieged with memories ever since she had gotten to the contest. All the Power Ranger stuff and the look-a-likes made her remember how much Sheena had loved the show, how she had dragged her in front of the TV to watch the Power Rangers and look at `Billy' that first time. "Isn't he gorgeous?!" she'd gushed. And Sheena was right, he certainly was good-looking, in spite of the clunky glasses he'd worn that first season.
She found herself in front of a pre-Zeo Power Rangers poster and looked at the Blue Ranger. She knew how much Sheena loved him, and mentally put the face of David Yost over the helmet. As she gazed at the poster, her mental image of David Yost was replaced briefly by the face of `Billy'. She shook her head, what was happening here? The face was the same, but slightly different, as if she was seeing the `real Billy'. "`Real Billy'? What am I thinking, he's a character on a show!" she admonished herself. Then her mind returned to the mental image of the actor, but she couldn't shake the weirdness of the experience. She went to the next poster, a Power Rangers Zeo poster that had the Gold Ranger in it also. Something seemed to flash in the background of the poster, she suddenly `saw' a Ranger in a dark blue uniform that had a slight metallic sheen to it, his helmet had a fierce wolf design. `Sapphire Ranger', her mind supplied for some reason. Then she `saw' a `Silver Ranger', with a cheetah design on her helmet, and then Sheena standing with the `Silver Ranger'. Then they might have become one person, or one of them simply disappeared, she wasn't sure which.
A tap on her shoulder banished the vision, and the poster was back to normal. She turned to see a young blonde man looking at her worriedly. For a second, she thought she was looking at David Yost, but remembered in the next moment that he wasn't there. "It's one of the look-a-likes," she realized. She was hit with another vision then. For a second she saw another face over his, `Billy's', like there was his face over the look-a-like's face, but slightly off, just a little different. Then as suddenly as it hit, the double image was gone, and she only saw the look-a-like's concerned expression.
"Are you all right? You seemed a little lost there for a second." His smile was warm and inviting, Sheena would've liked him, she decided.
"I was just thinking about something, a little lost in thought, I suppose you could say. You're the one who won the contest, right?"
"Yes," he answered. "I've been asked if I was the real guy so many times today, I think I'm going to scream. Though I guess I should take it as a compliment. But I'm being rude here, I haven't introduced myself properly, my dear," he stated with an exaggerated air. It had the desired effect, the young woman finally smiled. "I'm Daniel Whitley." He hoped that she would answer, she looked a bit uncomfortable at his attention. "And you are?" She took his extended hand and shook it, but he barely noticed, he was lost in her warm, dark chocolate brown eyes.
"Nice to meet you Daniel. I'm Kahva Briton."
"What are you waiting for then? Bring her here at once!" the Machine King ordered. Mondo turned back to the viewer in anticipation. Not only was he about to get some old Eltaran power, and one of the oldest bloodlines from that world; the one who Elysia had sent the power into the future to, the one the power had found, was Sheena's best friend. Mondo was beside himself, she was the best bargaining chip he could have short of Billy.
"Yes, sire," Klank complied. He flipped a few switches and muttered a hopeful prayer to his Assembler, he'd never tried anything like this before. "Please work, after all this, please work," he urged his device with a whisper. No need to let Mondo know that it had been constructed more on guesswork than actual knowledge. The machine coughed and whirred, then a purplish cog-wheel-shaped portal formed and beamed out of the Machine Skybase. "The portal is heading for her now, sire."
CONTACT BILLY AT ONCE ALPHA, WE NEED TO STOP THAT BEAM FROM REACHING THE OTHER DIMENSION, Zordon ordered. Alpha frantically pushed buttons on the communications panel, but could get no response.
"Zordon! The energy beam is interfering with our communications! I can't contact Billy or any of the other Rangers! And our scanners show that the beam is heading for the same dimension Sheena came from!" Alpha ran about the main chamber in a near panic, trying anything he could to contact Billy or stop the beam. "I can't stop the beam, Zordon! What do we do?"
KEEP TRYING TO STOP THE BEAM ALPHA, I'LL KEEP TRYING TO CONTACT THE RANGERS. I FEAR THAT MONDO HAS FOUND WHAT HE IS LOOKING FOR. As Alpha continued his efforts, Zordon didn't dare voice his fear that Mondo hadn't found what he was searching for, but who.
"Got everything in there but the kitchen sink?" he asked, pointing to the bags. She shook her head to clear the double image and laughed a little. "No, just what's left of my life, I suppose." Daniel frowned at that.
"What's left of your life? What do you mean, what's wrong? Is there anything I can help with?" he offered. He'd only been talking to her for five minutes, but already he was thoroughly smitten with her.
She smiled ruefully as she gathered her bags back up, it was nearly time for Josh to arrive. She waited for the janitor who had just come down the hallway to pass before she answered. "Unless you can turn back time, no. The past couple of years haven't been all that great, I need a fresh start, that's all. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Kahva turned to leave with her bags and camera, but stopped to look back at attractive young man. "Thanks for asking though. Nice to know someone cares." Daniel moved to her, placing his hand on her arm to keep her from leaving.
"Don't your friends care?" he asked. Kahva sighed, she hadn't wanted to talk to anyone about why she was leaving, but she couldn't help but answer him.
"I can't face them. It's my fault everything's wrong."
"Why?"
"I didn't stop Sheena from disappearing," she replied softly.
Daniel straightened up a bit, now he knew why she was so familiar, why he had felt the urge to talk to her. "That's who you are, you're talking about Sheena Devereaux, right? I thought I recognized you, you were found unconscious at her place with no memory of what happened. The news reports said you heard something and opened the door, then evidently you were knocked out right after that. The police got a call about a woman screaming and found you outside her door with a mild concussion, I think they said?" Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders to make her face him. "You were knocked out, there's no way you could've stopped whatever happened. It's not your fault, why are you blaming yourself?" Kahva turned her head, she couldn't look at him anymore, too many memories were surfacing, memories that hurt too badly to remember. She took a shaky breath and answered him, trying to ignore the prickly feeling in her spine, the feeling of something creeping up behind her.
"If I had gotten there a few minutes earlier, I could've done something! You don't understand..." She broke from his hold and turned to leave, but stopped again, this time because of something she couldn't explain. "Something's feeling weird here," she thought out loud. Kahva had a sense of something dark and cold moving through the air, the essence of evil. "This is like when Sheena disappeared, but sinister, hostile..." she said. Daniel didn't know what to make of the young woman's ramblings, it seemed she had forgotten that he was there.
"Poor thing," he thought. "She's really got a bad guilt trip going here." Aloud he said, "It wasn't your fault -" He stopped as a cold breeze started to move through the hallway from out of nowhere. Kahva stared at a spot next to her. Daniel couldn't see it yet, but she saw a purplish circle, shaped like a cog from a machine, starting to form beside her. As she tried to push Daniel away from her, everything in the hallway took on a purplish tinge, then an ominous dark violet-black. She shuddered as the breeze turned to a strong wind, the awareness of something malignant, something cold and dangerous couldn't be ignored anymore. Daniel could see the cog-shaped circle now, it was opening up and forming a funnel. To where, he didn't want to know. The entire hallway was bathed in a purple glow, posters were tearing off the walls and the winds around the funnel were howling. Daniel struggled to keep his balance. "What's going on?!" Kahva tried to shove him away again, but she was being dragged into the funnel, bags and all.
"Get out of here!!!" she screamed. Daniel shook his head, he wasn't going to lose her now.
"Grab my hand!" Daniel felt himself sliding across the floor, he was caught in whatever was taking Kahva.
"Daniel, run!! Get away -"
"Kahva!!!"
"One of the janitors was backstage and heard a noise, like a woman and a man screaming. He went to check it out, and when he got to the hallway, it looked like a war zone. Posters everywhere, trash cans knocked over, like there'd been a bad fight or something. There was no sign of the man or woman. He's already described the people to security, he passed them in the hallway a minute before he heard the noise, we're waiting on police to arrive now. The missing man is the one who won the overall look-a-like contest, we think." Greg sighed and looked straight into Josh's eyes. "The woman is Kahva. I'm sorry, Josh, she's gone." Josh turned and ran into the arena, making his way past the security guards to the backstage area. The hallway was indeed a wreck, littered with posters and trash. He spotted something plastic, about the size of a id tag. He picked it up, it was Kahva's station id badge. He sat in the middle of the hallway and cried as the first police officers made their way into the area, clenching the badge tightly in his hands.
"Not again. Oh please God, not again..."
"I dinna know sire, the portal is steering away from the Skybase. It's going to open up on Earth!" Klank shook with fear as the Machine King started to blow sparks and smoke.
"Bring her here Klank!! Bring my prize here!!! I will not lose her now!!!" Mondo roared. Klank could only squeak in response.
"It's too late, sire. She's on Earth."
"Close? It's not perfect?" Billy studied her for a moment. "You mean Mondo destroying the church, right? Yeah, I always thought that I'd get married there, I grew up there practically." Sheena's gaze fell down to the blanket, a look of regret flashing across her face. "What? Sheena, it's not the place that makes the wedding, it's who is there, the love, your family and friends..." His voice trailed off as she looked up at him.
"I know. I really hate what happened to the church. I'm not a Christian, but still, Mondo destroyed a sacred place, he had no right to do that." Billy stared hard at her, there was something else.
"Sheena, what's been bugging you? It's more than just the church. Tell me, please."
Sheena sighed and finally told Billy about her dreams. "I've been thinking about home, my other life a lot lately. My friends, my best friend, especially." Sheena smiled and laughed as a good memory flooded back to her. "I can remember dragging her in front of the TV to watch an episode of Power Rangers, to watch you... rather the actor who played you, but it was the character I loved, it was you. It's funny, after I got her to start watching the show, she would say that certain things, like how Zordon got in the time warp, weren't right. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew that they weren't right. I figured she was just getting weird, I never really thought about it. It's like I told Zordon this morning, lately it's like I'm connected to her all over again. She's my best friend, my soul-sister... and she can't be here."
"What's her name?" Billy winced inwardly at the pained look on Sheena's face. "Never mind, you can tell me later. The last thing I want to do right now is to make you sad. This is supposed to be a happy time, a time for us to relax before the insanity of the wedding this Saturday." Sheena couldn't help but smile at that, he was trying so hard to make her feel better. Goddess, what did I ever do to deserve such a man? Thank You for bringing us together. And please, keep my friends safe. Please, let them know somehow that I'm okay and happy. Sheena gazed into Billy's eyes and felt his love flowing through to her very soul. Billy grinned. "There is maybe something we should work on before the wedding."
"What's that?"
"The kiss." As Billy leaned in to practice the `you may now kiss your bride' part of the wedding, they both heard a rush of wind. They turned just in time to see a purple cog-like circle open up, and an object fall out of it and crash into the ground. It seemed to be a heap of body and bags, lying just a few feet away from Sheena. Billy got to the person first, it was a young woman. Her hair was covering her face, and a dark grey baseball cap was lying a few inches from her. Sheena picked up the cap, her breath stopping as she recognized it.
"This is impossible, it can't be..." Sheena looked at the crumpled mass of body and bags lying in front of them. "Kahva?" As Billy brushed the hair away from the unconscious woman's face, Sheena's heart leapt with joy. "Kahva?!" she cried, not daring to believe what she was seeing. But as the young woman stirred and opened her eyes, Sheena knew it to be true: her soul-sister was there, right in front of her.
"Hey Billy!" a voice called. Daniel didn't realize the voice was calling him until a hand grasped his shoulder. "Billy, you okay? You look a little out of it, the wedding isn't driving you that crazy, is it?"
"If I were marrying Sheena, I'd be crazy from love too, Bulky."
Bulky? Daniel couldn't believe his ears. The voices sounded like the actors from the Power Rangers TV show, the ones who played `Bulk' and `Skull'. The two young men looked like them too. "I'm sorry, you've got the wrong person here. My name is Daniel Whitley. Umm, I guess I am a little out of it, I've lost track of my friend I came with, she's about five feet, nine inches tall, long, dark brown hair -"
"Sounds like Sheena," `Bulk' replied.
"Dark, chocolate brown eyes, olive complexion," Daniel continued.
"That doesn't sound like Sheena," the one who looked like `Skull' stated. Daniel shook his head, these guys were really in character. But they had thought he was `Billy', and they were talking about `Sheena'... Daniel decided to try a hunch.
"I came here with Kahva Briton, she's a friend of Sheena Devereaux's, we, uh, wanted to surprise Sheena. For the, um, wedding, you know. But I've lost Kahva, have you seen her?" Daniel hoped his gamble would pay off.
The one who the skinny guy had called `Bulky' answered him. "Haven't seen anyone like that, but Sheena drove up on the other side of the park a few minutes ago, maybe your friend is with her already. Over that way," he pointed to what was apparently the other side of the park. "Hey, your friend sounds an awful lot like Sheena, is she dating anyone?" `Bulk' asked hopefully. Daniel started off in the direction he had pointed in.
"Yes," he lied. "Me."
"All the good ones are taken," Bulk grumbled as the stranger jogged off. "And we didn't even get to see this one yet."
"Life's not fair, Bulky my man. Life's just not fair."
Klank's audio receptors were about to blow from Mondo's verbal barrage. "Sire, I haven't been able to locate her yet, but I am getting some strange readings here. It seems there were two people in the portal. Perhaps the young man we saw her talking to was pulled in with her. The readings also indicate that the portal was altered as it came back into our dimension."
"How could that old fool Zordon have found out what we were doing? How did he alter the portal?"
"Sire, the portal wasn't altered by anything from the Power Chamber, or anything else on Earth." Klank checked his data once more, he couldn't be sure of just what had happened though. "But something did alter the portal. And I don't think it was a malfunction here. Perhaps it was affected by the second person being in the portal. It was, after all, designed only to bring one person over, not two." Klank watched as his master's full-blown rage settled down a few notches to just seething anger. But there was an odd satisfaction in his voice just the same.
"Perhaps, Klank. Just find her and bring her here. I want her to be mine..."
Billy was completely confused. "Huh?" was all he could say. The only Kahva he knew of was the ghost. The new arrival looked up at him with an equally confused expression.
"Daniel? What happened?"
Billy was really confused now. "Sheena?" Sheena was so happy, she could barely contain herself.
"Billy, this is Kahva, I don't believe it!!"
"Kahva is a ghost, what are you talking about?" The young woman Sheena was calling Kahva stared hard at him, as if seeing him clearly for the first time.
"Billy? Not Daniel? BILLY?!" Her eyes grew wide, then shut abruptly as she fainted. Sheena patted her face worriedly, but Kahva didn't wake up.
"She's never fainted before, not that I can remember, anyway. We'd better get her to the Power Chamber." Sheena was already tapping her communicator as Billy gathered Kahva into his arms.
"Who's Daniel?"
"I don't know," Sheena replied. Billy was still confused by the sudden arrival of the girl.
"And you know this girl - wait a minute, she's the one in your picture. Her name is Kahva also? How'd she get here?" Sheena frowned as she could neither contact the Power Chamber, nor teleport them there.
"Give you three guesses and the first two don't count."
"Mondo," Billy answered, it was the only thing that made any sense. "We'll take the Rad Bug then, we've got to get her to the Power Chamber before Mondo finds out she's here." Billy picked Kahva up and carried her to the vehicle as Sheena quickly gathered up the bags and the news camera that had come through with her and loaded them in the car. Billy ran back and got the picnic fixings as Sheena cranked up the Rad Bug. Within just a couple of minutes of her arrival, Kahva was being teleported again, but this time to the Power Chamber. As the Rad Bug drove off, a young man who looked very much like Billy ran up.
"Kahva?" Daniel called. He could see a car leaving the parking lot as he ran up, he hoped that it wasn't Kahva leaving with someone, he had to find her, they had to find out where they were. A piece of black plastic caught his eye, it was a broken lens cap. "This must've come off of her camera. At least I hope it was hers," he said softly to himself. Daniel stood and looked around, he had to find her, every instinct told him that they were both in a great deal of trouble.
TELEPORT THEM DIRECTLY HERE, ALPHA. BILLY AND SHEENA WOULDN'T HAVE BROUGHT A STRANGER TO THE POWER CHAMBER WITHOUT JUST CAUSE. Alpha checked the internal teleportation systems, they hadn't been scrambled by the energy beam. He pressed a button and in a split second, Billy, Sheena, the unconscious young woman and the bags, along with a news camera, were in the middle of the main chamber. Billy immediately moved to one of the examining tables and placed the girl on it, then automatically started running scans on her. BILLY, SHEENA. THE MACHINE SKYBASE SENT OUT AN ENERGY BEAM A FEW MINUTES AGO, BUT WE WERE UNABLE TO STOP IT. THE BEAM ALSO SCRAMBLED OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND EXTERNAL TELEPORTATION SYSTEMS, SO WE COULD NOT CONTACT ANY OF YOU, NOR BRING YOU HERE. MAY I ASSUME THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE BROUGHT A STRANGER TO THE POWER CHAMBER? Sheena put down the bags and camera and walked closer to Zordon's warp.
"We were having a picnic in the park and heard a noise, it was one of Mondo's teleportation portals opening up. Kahva fell right out of it." As Alpha squeaked, Sheena quickly added, "Kahva Briton, my best friend from back home I told you about this morning. My soul-sister. Zordon, no ordinary teleportation beam could've brought her here, what happened? Why is she here?"
IT WOULD SEEM THAT MONDO'S ENERGY BEAM WAS IN FACT A DIMENSIONAL PORTAL. Billy looked up from his scans of the still unconscious Kahva.
"That means that Mondo wasn't searching for a thing, or a power source, he was searching for a person. One of your friends, Sheena." Billy looked at the innocent girl who had so suddenly arrived in their world. She looked even more like Sheena in person than in the photo Sheena had showed him when they were sorting through her purchases that morning. So much alike, and so different at the same time... "Why would Mondo bring her here, though?"
UNTIL WE CAN DETERMINE THAT, YOUR FRIEND IS IN GREAT DANGER, SHEENA. SHE MUST STAY HERE SO WE CAN INSURE HER SAFETY. WE CAN ASSUME THAT WHATEVER MONDO'S PLANS FOR HER ARE, THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT IN HER BEST INTERESTS, OR YOURS. Kahva stirred on the examining table, Sheena ran to her side and took her hand again.
"Ohhh," Kahva moaned. "What happened?" As her vision cleared, she saw a very familiar face peering anxiously into hers. "Sheena? Oh, man, I've lost it, I'm seeing things."
"Only if I'm seeing things too, and I think if you were a Cog in disguise, Billy would've found that in his scans by now."
Billy grinned. "Nope, she's very much human, if a bit worse for wear at the moment. Hello there. I'm Billy Cranston, not Daniel, whoever that is. Nice to meet you." Kahva stared at him, and for a second Sheena thought she would faint again, but instead she struggled to sit up, unsuccessfully.
"Sheena? You're real? Where am I? Where's Daniel?"
Sheena laughed with relief as Kahva started to regain her senses a bit. "Yes, I'm real, you're in the Power Chamber, and I have no idea who this Daniel is you're talking about, but I'll take a wild guess that he looks like Billy, since you thought Billy was him in the park?" Kahva frowned and shook her head to clear the cobwebs, finally managing to sit up.
"I was talking to him before that - whatever," she shuddered, "sucked me in. He was trying to pull me out, I kept yelling at him to get away, then I couldn't see anything except for purple and black. I don't know what happened to him... uhh," she groaned as dizziness washed over her. Sheena helped her lie back down on the examining table again, Kahva was unconscious in the next second. Sheena turned back to Zordon.
"Could someone else have been brought over with her? I don't know any Daniel, but she did think Billy was him in the park." Billy was already working on the communications and teleportation controls. A minute later he closed a panel, then smiled at the readings he received.
"Communications and teleportation back online. Alpha, check the sensor logs and see if another portal opened up here on Earth, or at the Machine Skybase." He turned at Sheena's sharp breath. "If he was pulled through too, he might have ended up there, we have to be sure."
"The portal that opened up where you two were was originally a single portal, but part of it did split off. Sensors show it opened up on the other side of the park from you and Sheena. I'm getting a lifeform reading, but whoever it was isn't there anymore. Scanning now."
Sheena went over to the little robot. "Hurry Alpha," she urged. "If Mondo knows he's here, he's in trouble too."
"I don't care about him, I want the girl!!" Mondo lumbered over to Klank to look at the scans for himself. Klank rattled nervously for a moment, Mondo wouldn't like his news.
"I canna find any sign of her, Yer Nastiness, only the young man." Mondo yelled in rage and nearly hit Klank, but stopped himself.
"Bring him here. If I have him, then I can still get the girl. And finally I can put my plan into action. Send down the Cogs!"
"You'll be joining her soon enough!" a cold metallic voice roared all around him. Daniel whirled, looking for the source of the voice. Above him the image of a massive metal head with a whirling crown floated. "Cogs, seize him!!" it commanded. Daniel turned around in a circle, Cogs were appearing everywhere, surrounding him.
"This can't be happening," he thought as he steeled himself for an attack. But instead of a Cog leaping on him, the next thing he felt was an invisible something gripping him, and then the park, Cogs and floating image vanished from view.
"Yes, my liege? How may I serve you?"
"There is someone you will be retrieving for me as soon as possible, a young woman. A very special young woman." Mondo called up Kahva's image on the viewscreen. "Remember this girl, she is to be brought to me at the first opportunity. Dismissed." As Shifter started to leave, Mondo called him back. "Something else, my servant. If the chance presents itself, you are to capture the Sapphire Ranger as well. Now go." Mondo watched the viewscreen as the last of his Cogs teleported back to the Skybase. "The child is a good bargaining chip, but having Sheena's husband as well will doubly insure the Silver Ranger's compliance with my wishes. But even without her precious Billy, I can still do a lot of damage with the girl. Have a nice reunion, Sheena. Pity for you it won't be a long one."
"There he is - he does look like me," Billy stated with a bit of shock. "I've never had a twin, but I think I've got one now. Alpha, prepare to bring him here, if Mondo finds him -"
Alarms blared as Cogs and a holographic image of Mondo appeared around the young man on the viewing globe. MONDO HAS FOUND HIM, HURRY ALPHA. YOU MUST BRING HIM HERE AT ONCE, Zordon ordered. AFTER HE IS HERE, CONTACT THE OTHER RANGERS. Alpha hastily worked the teleportation controls, and a white teleportation beam surrounded the young man on the screen. A few seconds later, the beam appeared right beside Billy, and solidified into the form of the other dimensional visitor. Billy put his hand on Daniel's shoulder to turn him around, and had to duck a wild roundhouse punch instead.
"You're not taking me!" Daniel yelled. "Bring Kahva back - wait, you're human." It was Daniel's turn to stare as he got a good look at Billy. "You're - me, or I'm you, or... you're not with the metal guys, are you?" he asked suspiciously. Sheena walked over to him, extending her hand.
"Fortunately not, Mondo hasn't succeeded in turning one of us to his side permanently. Though he's certainly tried, and has come close on occasion. I'm Sheena Devereaux, this is Billy Cranston, my fiancé,." Daniel studied her and Billy for a moment, then finally shook her hand. "Man, the special effects get better every season," he joked. "I'm Daniel Whitley." He glanced around the main chamber, awed by all the controls and monitors. "I'll take a wild stab that since I've already run into a Bulk and Skull, and Cogs and King Mondo just then, that this is the Power Chamber? Though there wasn't a Sheena Devereaux character the last time I looked at the show. But I have to admit, I haven't watched the show all that much." Sheena smiled at that.
"No, I don't remember a character based on me before I came over either. I'm just glad we got you in here in time, Daniel. We were afraid that Mondo would find you before we did."
"You knew about me? You were looking for me? Did you guys bring us here?"
"We knew about you because Kahva was asking for you, she thought I was you at first," Billy supplied. "We brought you here to the Power Chamber, but we believe Mondo is the one who brought the two of you to this dimension."
"Kahva was asking for me? She's here? She's okay?" Daniel asked in an anxious rush. "Where is she? Mondo acted like he had her..." Sheena moved so that Daniel could see Kahva lying on one of the examining tables. "Kahva..." he breathed, then rushed to her side. He studied her face, she was a little pale, but seemed otherwise uninjured. "Is she okay? We were talking backstage at the arena, and everything went crazy." Daniel jumped as he saw Alpha for the first time, shuffling over to the other side of the table.
"She just needs to rest and recover from the dimensional teleportation, it appears. We need to check you also Daniel, to make sure that you're okay." Alpha tried to guide Daniel to another table, but he wouldn't move. "The other Rangers are on their way. Daniel?" The young man shook his head, he didn't want to leave Kahva's side. Sheena placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at him.
"She'll be okay, Alpha and Billy checked her out as soon as we got her here." Sheena turned Daniel to face her. "I know how you feel, she's my soul-sister, I don't want to let her out of my sight either." Daniel stood looking from Sheena to Kahva for a few moments, then was about to move to the other table so Alpha could check him when the rest of the Rangers materialized in the Power Chamber.
"Hey, I've still got that killer history exam to study for, couldn't Mondo have waited..." Rocky started to joke, but stopped as he and the others saw Daniel standing by Sheena and Billy, and someone else lying on an examining table. "Umm, guys, are my eyes getting weird from studying, or are there two Billys over there?" The other Rangers were in as much shock as Rocky, they couldn't say anything. Daniel laughed at their expressions.
"Guess I really am a Billy look-a-like. Nice to know that winning the contest wasn't a fluke." Sheena laughed then, and quickly made introductions. As Kahva stirred on the table, Daniel rushed back to her and helped her sit up. Sheena was relieved to see the she was a little more stable this time, and the color was slowly starting to creep back into her face. Daniel sat beside Kahva on the table as Alpha started to scan him. "Welcome back, sweetie."
"You've known me all of a few minutes and already I'm your sweetie? You don't waste time, Daniel." There was a short pause as Kahva realized what she'd said. "Daniel? Oh my God, I didn't know if you had gotten away, or if something had happened..." her voice trailed off as Daniel fiercely hugged her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine, as I'm sure Doctor Robot, Alpha, whatever your name is, little guy," Daniel looked at Alpha, "will find out after he does... whatever it is that he's doing." Daniel grasped the edge of the table as a wave of dizziness struck him. "I just hope the room stops moving, it's making me a little dizzy here." Kahva hugged him back, then looked at Sheena.
"I thought I'd never see you again, Sheena. But I knew you were alive, I could feel it. Your dad and I knew you were still alive." Kahva's smile was replaced with sadness. Sheena moved over to her, she had a feeling she knew what was wrong, but had to ask the question just the same.
"How is my Dad?" she asked softly. Kahva's eyes welled up, and Sheena had her answer. "When?" Sheena's voice started to crack, Billy moved to hold her as Sheena took Kahva's hands in hers.
"A little over six months after you disap - `left'. We never believed you were dead, we knew you were still alive. Sheena, he loved you so much, he couldn't have loved you anymore had you been his own flesh and blood. His last thoughts were of you, he wanted you to know that he understood. He didn't know why you had gone away, but he knew that if you could've warned us or told us, you would have. He didn't blame you in the least, he never did. And he also knew if you were kidnapped, like the police believed, that you would find your way back one day, that whoever had you wouldn't be able to keep you captive." Kahva tried to blink back tears. "He passed in his sleep, with all of us by his side. It was peaceful, there was no pain." Sheena moved from Billy to hug Kahva, for a long time they just held each other, crying. The other Rangers cried silently, they knew how much Sheena loved her adoptive father, and how worried she had been about him, about his health. No one said anything, there were no words that could be spoken. Sheena finally let Kahva go and the two of them dried their tears with tissues that Billy had produced. Sheena smiled at her husband.
"Thanks, Billy. Thank you for being there," Sheena told her best friend. "I know he thought of you as his daughter, too, even before the Britons passed away. Did they ever find out what started the fire at their store?" Kahva nodded, surprisingly, a smile crossed her face.
"It took three years, but they finally arrested their suspects last week. It was T. C. and Randy who did it. Remember, he'd escaped from jail about two weeks before the fire? Seems he was hiding out with T. C., and they robbed the store for some quick cash to get out of town. T. C. is trying to say it was an accident, that they didn't mean for a fire to start, but the evidence shows differently. She's finally getting her just rewards, I guess you could say. They've both been charged with the deaths of my adoptive parents." Kahva shook her head. "You know, I almost feel sorry for T. C. She's actually scared for once," she sighed. "But we both tried to get her to straighten out... I guess you can't win them all. She made her choice to break the law. Now she has to face up to what she did." Kahva shook her head and forced a smile. "But enough seriousness for now, I've got my soul-sister back! For a little while at least," she grinned. "What has been going on with you here, wherever here is, these past two years?" Sheena laughed, it was so good to hear her voice again.
"Oh, nothing much... My first year here was pretty uneventful. In the past year however, I've learned a martial art on another planet, fallen in love, become a superhero, now I'm their leader... little stuff like that, that's all," she joked. Kahva's eyes grew as big as saucers as she looked from Sheena to Billy, who once again had his arms around her. Sheena was alarmed as Kahva sank back against Daniel, her eyes closed.
"Are you all right?" she asked anxiously. For a few seconds there was no response, then Kahva's eyes popped open and she grinned wickedly.
"Psyche!!! That's payback, girl!"
Sheena was so relieved that Kahva was okay that she nearly choked. "Payback for what?" Kahva laughed as she looked at Billy and Sheena, she was enjoying some kind of private memory or joke. "For what??"
"Let me put it this way: I have only one request, Sheena. Turn off your transmitter to me when you kiss him, please!!" she said, pointing to Billy. Now it was Sheena's turn to be shocked.
"WHAT?? What are you talking about?" Kahva giggled, it wasn't often that she could surprise Sheena, and she had two years to catch up on.
"You remember my premonitions, right? They stopped after you left, but I think they've started up again, within the last few months, anyway. Well, I saw a `Silver Ranger' without a helmet on, bowed over another Ranger in a dark blue uniform who was lying on a table like this, and the `Silver Ranger' started to leave to get Mondo, to make him pay for what he'd done." All the other Rangers had been smiling at the exchange, but at this, they stiffened and paid strict attention. If the girl was talking about the incident with the bonsai tree... Sheena's eyes went wide, she had never said what she was going to do, but she had been thinking it, and had quietly sworn her oath over Billy. Kahva continued, "But then the one in dark blue woke up and hugged her and they kissed! It was you and Billy over there! I was so startled, I didn't see the flash flood rushing at me. I was out of action for nearly two months!" Sheena exchanged a look with Billy, he was just as surprised as she was.
"Two months... when was this?"
Kahva laughed again. "Look, you can kiss him all you want, just don't send the signal to me without warning!" Sheena quickly kissed Billy, just to annoy Kahva, and because she wanted to. Kahva wrinkled her nose at Sheena in mock irritation, then answered the question. "Oh, let's see, this was about six months ago. I messed up my back pretty bad, and had some bad cuts and deep bruises. I ended up with an infection that made me really sick about a week after getting taken down the river, but I got some great footage before all that happened, though. My camera flew out of my hands and landed safely on the riverbank, so the tape didn't get messed up. I had a news intern with me, he got the tape fed back to the station. My camera was dinged a bit but not broken. The station had sent me down to North Carolina to get footage of the damage and flooding from Hurricane Fran." Kahva looked from Sheena to Billy, they both had strange expressions on their faces. "Why do you ask?"
Sheena shook her head. "That's typical of you. You could break your spine, but if you get a good shot, you don't care." Sheena moved nervously. "Umm... we need to talk."
Now it was Kahva's turn to be nervous. "Umm... why?" Sheena took a deep breath and everything came out in a rush.
"Because six months ago I had to leave the planet for a while, and Billy told everyone that I had a sick friend I was taking care of. I was gone for two months." Kahva was quiet for a few moments.
"Oh great, knock me into a raging flooded river so you can go to another planet! Gee, thanks," she teased.
"I'll take you to Eltar, that's where I went. I think you would like it there." Kahva digested that for a second, then shook her head as what Sheena had said sank in.
"Wait a minute... 'another planet'?"
Sheena smiled. "Yes, Eltar. My ancestors came from there, so did Billy's and the other Rangers. We really should go to the -"
"So this is really real, I'm really in the Power Chamber, and I really haven't lost my mind?"
"It's really real, you're really in the Power Chamber, and you really haven't lost your mind." Kahva considered all of this, then took a deep breath of her own. She was all business now.
"Ok, so how did I get here?" Billy moved over to her and sat on the other side of her, while Sheena leaned against a console. For the first time, the other Rangers got a good look at the female stranger. Tanya gasped and whispered to the others, "She's the one in Sheena's picture! She's `K. B.' Who is she?"
"As soon as they remember we're here, Sheena will introduce us, I'm sure," Tommy chuckled softly. Billy was starting to tell what they had figured out.
"Alpha's readouts show that the portal which brought you here came from the Machine Skybase, but it was altered somehow." Billy checked a printout that Alpha handed him. He scanned the data, then nodded. "So from what we can tell, Mondo didn't want you to land on Earth, he wanted you two, or Kahva at least, on the Skybase."
"That makes sense," Daniel broke in. "What I remember is seeing a hole of some sort opening by Kahva, then it started pulling her in. It didn't pull on me until I tried to help her."
"Wait a minute. Mondo is real here too?" Kahva asked.
"You better believe it. More real than I personally want him to be." Sheena answered. Kahva whistled softly.
"I've seen on the show what he did, like when he blew Billy off course to the Power Chamber when he was coming back from Aquitar so he could capture him, and Billy ended up heading straight to the sun." Billy shivered at that memory.
"Please... that's not one of my fonder memories."
"But the Rangers were able to pull him back on course," Kahva continued. "But before all that, the Command Center blew up after the Rangers got the Zeo Crystal back together. Goldar and Rito had planted an implosion device for Zedd and Rita, and stole the Crystal while Tanya was in the Command Center with Alpha and Zordon. Now here's what I've always wanted to know: Why did you jump on that panel Billy? No one was really close to it, at least not on the show." Billy took his turn at being confused this time.
"What? That's not exactly how it happened, what are you talking about?"
Sheena laughed dryly, "Looks like some things are different between this world and the world we came from, Kahva."
"So, Billy didn't absorb a high amount of negative proton molecules that prevented him from taking the Gold Ranger powers?"
"Who was the science consultant on this show? I need to straighten out their science, sounds like," Billy laughed.
"Have they introduced me... uh... a Silver Ranger yet?" Sheena asked. Kahva didn't seem to hear her, she continued on, sorting out fact from fiction.
"And obviously you aren't aging rapidly Billy, and don't have to go to Aquitar, and then stay there because you're in love with Cestria."
"What?!" Sheena exploded. She looked ready to bite something in half, like a steel bar.
"Cestria? Who's Cestria? And what's this about aging?" Billy asked.
"Well, when you used the power coins to reverse the effects of Master Vile's time warp, it caused some kind of instability or something, I don't remember exactly, and you started to age rapidly, you turned into an old man in a few hours. The `Eternal Falls' or something like that on Aquitar was the only thing that could reverse the effect and cure you. Then you stayed on Aquitar to be with Cestria."
"The only person you better stay with is me, buddy!" Sheena warned half-jokingly.
"I don't remember too much about that episode, it was a two-parter. I hated it, because they didn't even get David Yost to say the lines at the end. They used old footage to set up the aging scene at the start of the show, and then the good-bye part at the end. They really should've hired you to write on the show, Sheena."
Sheena smiled and laughed. "Thanks, I've gotten better since I got here, too. And like you said, the aging thing hasn't happened. Billy's a Power Ranger again."
"Wait a minute," Kahva stared at Sheena. "In the show, there isn't a Silver Ranger, or a - what are you now, Billy? The Sapphire Ranger? That's the name that's been coming to me in my premonitions." Billy nodded yes. Sheena grinned at Kahva.
"The fans in our old world are missing out big time by not knowing about the Silver and Sapphire Rangers, I personally think. But then again, I'm biased," Sheena laughed.
"Well, right now most everybody is having fits, the Billy fans are having fits, anyway, because Billy isn't on the show anymore, and because the new Blue Turbo Power Ranger is supposed to be an eleven-year-old kid. That's the rumor on the Net, at least." Kahva was startled by the sound of other voices laughing, she hadn't been aware that there were other people in the room. "All - all the Billy fans are upset that he's not on the show anymore," she finished with a slight hesitancy.
"An eleven-year-old? Hey, Rocky, sounds like you're being replaced," Billy called over to the Blue Ranger. "And Turbo? What is that supposed to be? Race cars?"
"Well, umm, from what I saw on some web pages, they look like high powered go-carts to me. The Turbo powers are supposed to be the new powers," Kahva answered nervously, very aware of all the eyes on her now. All of the Rangers laughed at her statement about new powers.
"Nope, I think we're going to hang on to our current powers," Billy assured her.
Tommy walked over to Kahva and added, "Yeah, we've gotten used to these, I think. But we haven't been introduced to you yet. They've called you Kahva, but you're not the ghost we've met. I'm Tommy Oliver, the Red Zeo Power Ranger. But you probably know that from the TV show." Kahva hesitantly took his extended hand and shook it. If he didn't know better, Tommy would've sworn that the girl was scared of him.
"Kahva Briton. I don't know any ghosts, I'm sorry. Sheena?" Kahva pleaded.
"Ok, let's make some introductions here," Sheena intervened. Quickly introductions were made all around, and Kahva finally began to relax a little again. Tommy watched the girl, she seemed very uncomfortable at being the center of attention. Sheena was hovering around the new arrival protectively, and Daniel hadn't let go of Kahva since he had sat down beside her. If anything, he seemed to be holding her even closer. Billy had picked up on her discomfort too, he was being as protective as Sheena. As he watched, Tommy found that all of the Rangers' protective streaks were showing, all of them wanted to make Kahva feel more at ease. Kahva finally managed to put more than two or three words together again, and asked Sheena how all of this had begun. Sheena was only too happy to fill her in. "Let's see, about fifteen thousand years ago..." Tommy smiled to himself. Sheena was giving the nutshell version of Kahva Kilanye, and how she had brought Sheena over to this dimension, then of her becoming the Silver Ranger, Billy's becoming the Sapphire Ranger and marrying Sheena all in the space of a little over twenty-four hours. She continued on, flying over the past year's events in an hour, and would've kept on going in her enthusiasm, but Kahva's eyes were starting to glaze over a bit, she was experiencing information overload. The look on her face said it all, `I've just asked a writer for a history lesson, and writers go big on details... bad move!' Billy jumped to her rescue.
"Okay, enough TV show comparisons, enough history, let's not drown her with too much at one time, sweetie. What we need to do right now is figure out how Mondo got Kahva and Daniel here, and why, based on what Daniel saw, Mondo is after her." Sheena went from happy reunion mode to serious team leader in less than a heartbeat.
"He must know that she's my best friend, maybe he wanted to use her as a hostage to get me back as his servant. He never can take no for an answer." The Rangers killed a few hours throwing out whys, hows and maybes. Kahva was completely silent during the discussion, she watched Sheena with a practiced eye, experienced from their years of friendship. She knew Sheena down to her core, and noticed Sheena's discomfort at the thought of Mondo wanting her to serve him again. She's afraid not that it could happen, she's knows that's a risk just by being a Ranger. She's afraid that it WILL happen again, she's afraid of what Mondo will make her do. I've got to get her to talk it out, talk out the fear, or it just might happen... Jason was remembering the photos Sheena had shown them that morning, and guessed that Mondo might have been spying on them at the Juice Bar.
"Good guess, but that that doesn't explain about the scans Mondo was doing, or why Cogs were at the old palace on the moon. Where does that fit in?"
OUR READOUTS INDICATE MONDO WAS SEARCHING FOR A SPECIFIC ENERGY SIGNATURE WITH HIS DIMENSIONAL SCANS, BUT EXACTLY WHAT THE SIGNATURE IS, OR WHY HE WAS TRYING TO FIND IT IS UNCLEAR. Kahva jumped as she heard Zordon speak for the first time. WE DO KNOW ONE THING, THOUGH. A FEW HOURS BEFORE KAHVA AND DANIEL WERE BROUGHT HERE, THE SCANS STOPPED. Zordon didn't go into any more detail than that. He didn't have proof of his suspicions, but he felt that Mondo wanted Kahva for another reason, not just because she was Sheena's best friend. He had watched her for the past few hours, she reminded him of Elysia in small, tiny ways. How she was being so quiet, except for when she seemed to forget that anyone else was there but Sheena. Her comment about having premonitions... ALACOR AND HIS FAMILY LINE SURVIVED. IS SHE OF HIS LINE? IS IT POSSIBLE?
"So Mondo is after me, or both of us," Kahva shivered. "I want to go home."
"That's the other thing we have to figure out. How do we get you and Daniel back to where you belong?" Billy stated the question to no one in particular. "But if we don't find out why Mondo wants you, then you won't be safe anywhere but here, with us." Sheena pointed to Kahva's ba