Sydney and Astronema were both seated on lounge chairs on the deck of the 'UAE Lusitania' as it sailed through the early dawn light of the Atlantic Ocean. "So you know how to access the Zord Holding Bays, right?" Sydney asked.

"Pretty much. We have their Access Codes, passwords, even the location of it."

"What's the plan, then?"

Astronema said, "It's 12:30 a.m. in Angel Grove. At 7:30 a.m., we're going to send a few dozen monsters there with a few dozen tons of explosives and blow the place sky high. This afternoon, we'll send monsters to attack the Rangers, and with no Zords, they'll die protecting a city doomed to death."

"And then?"

"I figure by late afternoon, we can open the first slave camps. By this time tomorrow, I intend to have destroyed the entire planet."

"Shouldn't you go ahead and blow up the Holding Bays now?"

"Seven thirty is the earliest we can do it. Klank has to create some more monsters and read the disk thoroughly... But we'll get it done." With a happy sigh, Astronema purred, "We've finally won."

Sydney started to say something, but she suddenly sat upright, clutching her chest. With a gasp of pain, she bent over, her eyes tightly shut. "Are you okay?" Astronema asked in only mild interest.

She sat back up, this time holding both hands to her head. "No," Sydney said in a weak voice. "I'll be right back." In a flash of pink light, Sydney teleported away.

She instantly reappeared below decks of the 'Lusitania,' in front of a door with the nameplate 'Sydney.' Her eyes were wide and held a wild look, and she kicked the door open. Inside, instead of the glowing pink web of energy that she had expected to see, she saw three tiny pink motes of energy and a dead green spider on the floor.

"No, no, no," Sydney pleaded, kneeling beside the dead spider. She gently cradled it in her hands; it was dead, and there would be no more magic for her once the three pink motes of energy were gone.

She scooped up the glowing energy in her left hand, and with the spider in her right, she teleported off of the ship. When she arrived at a small magic shop in Angel Grove, there were only two in her hand.

"WAKE UP!" Sydney shouted angrily. "GET OUT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!"

From the back of the store, a short man with green, scaly skin appeared in a pair of pajamas. "Problem?" he asked sleepily, rubbing at his lizard-like eyes.

"The Magic Spider you sold me died," Sydney growled, laying the dead creature on the counter. "You told me it would never die, and I would always have magic. You lied!"

"You must have broken one of the rules," the lizard man said apologetically.

"I gave you my first-born son for that Spider!"

"You were the one who killed that boy, weren't you? You killed that young man at the high school."

"He was a rapist; he deserved it. And it wasn't entirely me, it was more HER than me..."

"It doesn't matter. That murder caused your Spider to die. If you commit a murder..."

Sydney yanked her knife out of her jacket pocket and said, "Since my spider is already dead..."

But before she had the chance to even take a step toward the unusual man, he threw a handful of white sand in her face. "Lunaticus!" he shouted.

She paused, and her hand with the knife in it slowly dropped. "The wall comes down," he added. "The separation ends tonight. Become one, and accept your fate."

Frowning, she placed the knife back in her jacket and tucked the two motes of magic into her pocket. "What have you done to me?" she asked, balling one hand into a fist and rubbing it against her forehead.

"This store will no longer sell to evil. Now leave."

Sydney promptly found herself on the sidewalk in front of the out-of-the-way magic shop. "Something isn't right," she moaned, rubbing her head. "Hole, there's a hole. We're spilling in together; it isn't right. It shouldn't be that way. I need help; I need help bad. Call nine one one, they died because they couldn't find eleven on the telephone and the house burned down. The crocodiles still live in the sewers and the spider eggs in the bubble gum make it chewy. Zhane likes gum; Zhane can help."

She fished in her pocket and found one of the two remaining motes of energy. She teleported into the MegaShip, and the mote promptly disappeared. "Zhane!" she screamed. She ambled about, collapsing in a chair before a control panel. "Please help me!"

Zhane, awakened both by Sydney's shout and Michele's calm alert that there was an intruder in the ship, stumbled onto the bridge in a pair of silver pajamas. "Sydney?" he asked. "What are you doing here? Are you planning to blackmail me?"

"Something is wrong," she said. "Please help me. My head is full, and it keeps on filling; it just won't stop. The gas is so expensive and it's going to keep on getting more expensive; people won't be able to afford to fill up their cars. My ShellCard is going to max out, and I don't even have a car."

"Sydney? Slow down. You're talking too fast."

She continued to ramble at a breakneck speed, now rocking slowly back and forth in the chair. "Mel Gibson was in that movie, and there's a man coming named Ransik. Ransik knows Mel, and he's on his way. He'll be here in four years, in 2001. It won't be your fight; there were different Rangers. They don't look right. The helmets are backwards. They look through the colored part. That isn't right; it's like cheap sunglasses that say Coca-Cola. New Coke was a hoax. Coke beat Pepsi in 1986." She paused, and then looked at him intently. Slowly, she asked, "Did you vote for Ronald Reagan?"

"What's happened to you? You're not making any sense."

"That can help you lose weight. You smell it and you won't eat. But you need to gain weight. You'll never be able to have a baby if you don't gain weight."

"I'm going to take you to Astronema, because I don't know what to do for you."

"NO!" Sydney screamed. "They're evil! With their black hearts and long fingernails and dark, dark blood... Never take me there. I don't want to go."

"What should I do with you?" he asked.

"They're coming, there will be even more soon. And there's a pink one on this team. We never knew there was a pink one, but there is. The sixth one is pink, and we've never seen that before. But the blue one has boobies and it's all different and I don't understand."

She burst into tears and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head there. Sobbing, she said, "There should be water but there's none! No water anywhere, and they could die." Then, she stopped crying and said, "But they aren't dying, so it's okay. It's okay because they don't need water."

In that moment, Zhane knew what he had to do. He didn't know how he would tell them, but he would. Sydney clearly needed help, and the only way he could take her to the Power Station was to tell their entire back-story. After Sydney's threats the previous night, he was afraid to be with Astronema anymore. He hoped the Rangers would still accept him, but if they didn't... He would just pack up his bags and take the AstroMegaShip out of the galaxy. At least he wouldn't have to keep on lying.

Touching his communicator, Zhane said, "Alpha? I've got a problem. Sydney Kwan is here with me. Can you teleport us both to the Power Station? She's sick, mentally sick, and I don't know how to help her."

"I'll teleport you both to MedRoom B," Alpha answered.

"Two to Sick Bay," Sydney chirped. In a streak of silver and an unusual assortment of white and pink light, the two humans teleported off of the MegaShip and into the Power Station.

"Command Center," Sydney said as soon as she appeared cross-legged on a bed in the MedRoom. "The lights got too hot and they short-circuited."

"What seems to be the problem, Zhane?" Alpha asked as he entered the room.

"She's just babbling," Zhane said. "I can't understand half of what she's talking about."

"Aboot," she said. "Blame Canada!"

"I see," said Alpha thoughtfully.

"Emily's the Phantom Ranger," Sydney noted matter-of-factly. "But not everywhere. Mostly just here. He's usually a guy. In some places, Cassie likes him, but not here. Everything is different here. Some places, Astronema is Karone. Some people spell it wrong; they spell it with an E, but it's okay, because he's totally smitten. He loves her bare feet and her blue hair. She's not wrong; she's just different. ... He wants what he can't have."

"See what I mean," Zhane told him.

Sydney suddenly reached out and punched him in the arm. "Phantom doesn't like you there. Not one bit. You two are not friends. Oh God, I love that show. It's so much better than my show. My show was cancelled. Or it just ended, I don't remember. But it isn't on anymore. People say I look like her. I'm still in the movies, but I don't want to be in the movies because it's so scary there!"

"Sydney, do you know where you are?" Alpha asked.

"They scream, and they stab, and it never stops! But wait. This time it did stop. For now, at least. There's always a sequel, but maybe this time, there won't be. But he's thinking about bringing her here, and she might be dead!"

"Who might be dead?" asked Zhane.

Sydney gave him an incredulous look and answered, "Parker Posey! Like Nancy! Nancy should be dead, but she isn't! She survived! Don't you understand?!"

"Sydney, would you please look at me?" Alpha asked. He placed one hand on her head and turned her gaze toward him while he examined her eyes with a small penlight. All the while, she kept ranting.

"Nancy and Heather aren't the same person. Heather is both people, but Nancy is just Nancy. She beat him; she killed him, and she saved the little boy. But she didn't save the little girl, because it wasn't her world! Get away from the light, Carol Anne!"

"Can you tell anything?"

"Not yet," Alpha said, continuing his examination.

"Carol Anne, covered in jell-o, she should be a grown-up by now, but she got chipmunk cheeks and the doctor was negligent and she died! It's so sad, and I felt so sorry for her mother. My mother died, too. She was an alien, she was. Just like me. I'm not from here, you know. I'm from a different Earth, but I'm not from there either. My grandfather was from Eltare, but from a different dimension. Miles away, things are different there. Money looks different; the Rangers are Japanese, and we all knew who they were. I had a Mei doll. But my grandpa was from Eltare, just like Zordon. That's why I have weird colors in my hair. When I have kids, they'll have weird colors in their hair, too. Like Jenga is bright red with blue streaks, and Astronema is all blue. My baby boy... He'll have skunk stripes." She gestured on her hair with her fingers, outlining two wide streaks on each side of her face. "His name is Russian, but he isn't."

"My initial examination does not reveal any physical ailments," Alpha told Zhane. "I'll begin checking for a magical explanation."

"I'm free falling. All the vampires are walking through the valley, moved west down Ventura Boulevard, all the bad boys, standing in the shadows, all the good girls are home with broken hearts. Vampires... Run, Dawn, run! Glory is coming!"

"Who is Dawn?" Zhane asked.

"Jenga will be back," Sydney said, ignoring his question. "She'll be back, and she's going to get her magic back. But when she comes back, there won't be many left. The new ones will be dead by then, and they'll be a happy family again. But there are so many... Thirty-something... It's just too many. I can't keep it straight. And did you know in some places they wear spandex?! But the armor is so heavy. George Clooney said a seven-year-old boy could beat up Batman if he was wearing Kevlar."

"Keep talking to her," Alpha suggested. "Maybe we'll learn something."

"When will Jenga be back?" Zhane asked.

"Jenga's coming back? Uh oh, uh oh. Lock up your sons, the prom won't be safe. She's gonna do the Quickening early, and she'll turn into me. You have to stop doing it. I can smell her on you, and that's bad. That's bad! Say you'll stop it."

"I'll stop it," Zhane said, a bit panicked.

"Stop signs, eight sides, bird bath, starfish. If you cut them in half, they turn into two starfishes. But people don't. I spilled his blood and he just stayed there." She began crying again. "I didn't want to kill him; I really didn't, but he hurt the little girl, and I couldn't help myself. I'm not a bigot, Zhane. Do you believe me?"

"I do."

"Debbie made me do it. The Homecoming Queen's got a gun, and she made me kill him. You know, like the Cinderella ride? Definitely an E ticket. God, my best friend's on a shooting spree; stop it, Debbie! You're embarrassing me!"

"Sydney?" Zhane asked. "You're making less and less sense."

"Debbie's really having a blast; she's wasting half of the class. Rosebud. I need an Instamatic."

"What's an Instamatic?"

"I hate this body," Sydney growled. "It's so young. I'm twenty-one! I'm not fifteen. Nickelodeon, and the girl from the faculty." Sydney suddenly giggled and said, "I saw her butt."

"I've found traces of magic, but it's a type I am unfamiliar with," Alpha said, sitting his scanner down. "I'm going to contact Catalina."

"I like Ranch better. And Pizza Hut croutons." As Alpha left the room, Sydney got on her knees on the bed and pointed at him. "Where's Dorothy's friend going?"

"He's going to get someone to help you," Zhane told her. "Her name is Catalina, and she can make you better."

"Click my heels together and I'll go home. Can't do that. I have a family here; I have friends here. And this thing tried to take that away from me! There are black, greasy feathers everywhere and they itch! I can feel them in my brain, and it itches so badly! Zhane, will you scratch my brain? Just reach in through my ears and wiggle your fingers around, okay?"

"Sydney, I can't scratch your brain."

"You ain't nothin' but a product, packaged to be bought up, you know, a year from now you won't be thought of. I can't wait, and I hope the dynamite goes off. Zhane? Zhane? Zhane?"

"Yes, Sydney?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I meant to send you a gift when you got married, but I got confused and I sent it to Lisa Kudrow instead."

"I'm not married, Sydney."

"Then why did I send a gift to Phoebe?"

"I don't know."

Sydney, still kneeling, was quiet and pensive for a moment. Then, she said, "He spelled my name wrong. Sometimes. Here it's right, but in Woodsboro, it would be wrong. It's like Kidney, with an I. You know?"

"I can't say I do know, Sydney."

She smiled at him and said, "Zhane, you're my favorite fictional character." She scrunched her face up and asked, "Do I look like one of those goofy Chinese dogs?" Without giving him time to answer, she continued, "OH! If Goofy wears pants, why doesn't Pluto?"

Zhane started to answer, but then he paused and said, "That's a good question."

Sydney began to idly swat at the air in front of her face. "I wish these turtles would leave me alone. I would stack them, but Theodore already did that. He did lots of stuff. I want to get a tattoo of a star on my belly. Like those yellow fuzzy guys. That's all right, that's okay, you never loved me anyway, and I think it's time for you to just move on."

"Me?"

"The sky is going to turn orange this morning. Smoke everywhere, and little Miss Muffet is still counting down to 7-3-0, eating her curds and whey. But her tuffet is gone. I sat on it and it broke. He broke it, too, but it wasn't his fault. They gave him pills, and they made him crazy. He went places he didn't mean to go; it was an accident. If he hadn't been crazy, he never would have went there."

"Who is he?"

"People hate her because she's a replacement. Some never gave her a chance, and they make lies about her to justify their hate. She never threw herself at him. She even tried to give him away. It was his choice, not hers, but they hate her. It isn't right. It isn't correct. It doesn't compute. No data."

"Sydney, is this a trick?" Zhane asked. "Because Alpha didn't find anything physical wrong with you, and it just occurred to me, the magic he found in you might be your evil magic."

"The big city is full of evil people. They start fires, and they don't even care. But they do it because they won't get punished. Outside of the big city, if they start a fire, they'll get beat up. The big city is the only place they can find power; they're losers in the real world. Always. The fire starters are always losers. Except for Drew. Mr. Floppy likes her."

As Alpha reentered the room, Catalina appeared in a subdued glimmer of white light. She looked as radiant as she always did, dressed in her flowing white gown with her bright, blue hair draped across her shoulders.

"Smurfette was a blonde," Sydney stated. "Sassette was her little sister. People say Smurfette was a whore but she wasn't. She was a saint, not like me."

"Something very unusual," Catalina remarked, stepping closer to Sydney and placing both of her hands on one of Sydney's.

"He isn't dead," Sydney said.

"Who isn't dead?" Zhane asked.

"David and Bob's friend. He has more work to do. I have more work to do, too. Pure white light, flowing everywhere. I have to make that happen or I'll have to go to hell. Jesus was a kick boxer, right? I like Mike better than Joel, but Tom is my favorite."

"It is magical, but I'm not sure I understand it," Catalina said slowly.

"Can you fix her?" Zhane asked.

Sydney gently brushed her hand over Catalina's azure tresses. "Your hair tastes like chocolate mint."

Catalina's mouth dropped open, and a look of realization appeared on her face. "There are two people in there."

"Like twins in my belly," Sydney said softly, placing both hands on her stomach. "But I only get to take one of them home. I can't let my husband know. I can't even let me know, because I'd never be happy."

"Two... souls," Catalina clarified. "Well, no... I can sense Sydney's soul, but the other... it's a fully-formed entity."

"Is she possessed?" Zhane asked.

"The Quickening," Catalina realized. "Oh my..."

"She mentioned the Quickening earlier," Zhane said. "She said that Jenga was going to do it early. What is it?"

"A traffic jam when you're already late," Sydney said.

"It's an evil ritual," Catalina began. "You can do it on any planet, but the ritual varies from planet to planet. The factors are determined by planetary mass, the planet's moons, rotation, the culture of species on that planet... It's very complicated, and it usually can't be performed more than once a century or so."

"Stop talking about it!" Sydney screeched. "It won't shut up! Just feed it bird seed and make it shut up!"

"What does it do for whoever performs the ritual?" Zhane asked.

"It makes them pure evil," Catalina explained. "The only catch is the being that performed the Quickening loses its identity. It just becomes the essence of evil, and it looks for a suitable host. For whatever reason, it chose Sydney. She has become a vessel of evil, and she doesn't even know it. This entity has its own memories, and it now has her memories, but she only has her own."

"Sydney's an innocent?" Zhane asked.

"An unwilling, unwitting pawn for evil."

"Never lay down the king," Sydney whispered. She lowered her head and began to closely examine her fingers. "But protect the white queen. The black queen is coming."

"What's causing Sydney's insanity?"

"Two separate spells were cast on her tonight," Catalina said. "I can still sense them. One broke the separation between Sydney and this evil entity in her. Good Sydney and Evil Sydney have merged, for lack of a better way to express it, but the other spell was a spell to produce insanity. I would presume that the being who cast these spells on her was hoping her insane ramblings would keep anyone from discovering what's been done to her."

"Can you remove the insane spell?"

"Certainly, but that's secondary." Catalina turned to the automaton waiting patiently at the foot of the examining table. "Alpha, would you please bring me the Thirteenth Earth Crystal? I'll need its protective energy to extract this... thing."

Sydney began to delicately stroke the section of grey in her hair. "It's not an urban myth."

"Will she be able to remember what's happening right now?" Zhane asked.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps."

"The collective conscious just won't shut up tonight," Sydney said with a sigh.

"Like a child, isn't she?" Catalina asked, looking at Zhane.

"If they'd listen and analyze what is said, they'd know more," Sydney remarked.

"Yeah, she is," Zhane agreed.

"Like, this one time, in the future, she's gonna save my Russian baby. I won't have it, but she'll cast a spell to make sure it gets sent to your planet. Zhane, lean in close."

Zhane leaned in closer to Sydney, who suddenly moved even closer to him, their noses so close they were almost touching.

"Tell her to cast the Spell of Kedvarak. Okay?"

"Okay, Sydney," he said, essentially ignoring what he believed were just insane ramblings.

"Let me OUT OF HERE!" Sydney suddenly screamed in a deep voice. Zhane jumped, startled, and staggered back several feet.

Catalina looked up quickly, and she saw that Alpha was entering the room with the Thirteen Earth Crystal. She stuck out her right hand, and the powerful crystal, shaped like a pair of wings, floated from Alpha's hands to hers. "Alpha, erect a restraining field," Catalina ordered.

Sydney tried to get off of the bed, but an invisible barricade was stopping her.

"I suppose you aren't as buried as you'd have me believe, are you?" Catalina asked. She pushed the Earth Crystal closer, but Sydney backed as far away as she could within the field.

"The body is mine," Sydney said, but her voice was changing. She spoke in a deep baritone, and her eyes changed from doe brown to dark red.

"It most certainly is not," rebutted Catalina. "Now tell me who you were, and I might not kill you after I extract you. Remain silent, and I will have you destroyed."

"You have no power over me, witch," Sydney spat.

"Kilad adap neok," Catalina began to chant, but Sydney was quick to interrupt.

"No!" she yelled. "I'll tell you."

"Smart. What were you?"

"I was a Tenga," Sydney answered, still in the male voice. "Centuries ago, my master tried to perform the Quickening. He missed, and it caught me up instead. My body was annihilated, and I became what you see before you. I moved across the universe, from one body to another, living 'til that host died and finding another."

"How did you survive Zordon's sacrifice?" Zhane asked.

"That is when I became as I am," Sydney said. "I was ignorant of my true purpose. I did not serve evil because I was not prepared for the Quickening. I had no knowledge of my purpose or destiny. But when Zordon's energy washed across me, I knew what I am. I am evil. I came to Earth, and I found this young woman with no extensive history here. I entered her, and I became her. Through this young woman, I can fulfill my purpose and serve evil. I have more power now than I ever had as a mere Tenga, and you, simple witch, cannot suppress me."

"Seems like a lousy trade," Zhane said. "You become pure evil, but you lose your body and your identity? What's the point?"

"No death," Catalina told him. "If your body dies, just go find a new host."

"Go ahead and banish me," Sydney said. "What difference does it make if I serve evil here or elsewhere?"

"Kilad adap neok rigale," Catalina chanted.

"You lied!" Sydney yelled.

"I said I might not have you destroyed," Catalina said, briefly stopping her chant. "And even if I had promised you I wouldn't, I still would. You have the gall to tell me to my face that you'll continue to serve evil, and you don't expect me to try and stop you?"

"I thought you good guys had more honor than this," taunted Sydney.

"When all is said and done, at the end of the final of the final fights, you'll thank me," Catalina told it. Closing her eyes, she rubbed the Earth Crystal and finished, "Allegot frenula trekessia."

The Earth Crystal flared with bright white light, and Sydney's body was momentarily overwhelmed with a pink glow. Then, abruptly, it was over.

Sydney looked around for a few seconds, and in her own voice, said, "They kill mice."

"Sever Lunaticus," Catalina added, and the Earth Crystal flashed white, once.

A look of confusion crossed Sydney's face and she slowly looked around. "Zhane?" she asked, looking to him for help.

"Scan indicates no physical, mental, or magical ailments," Alpha reported from a nearby console. "Lowering restraining field, now."

"What am I doing here?" she asked, sliding off of the table. She took a step toward Zhane, and then, her face dropped into an unhappy frown. A large tear appeared at the corner of her eye, and she began to shake her head 'no.'

"Sydney," Zhane said sympathetically.

"No, no, no," she began to plead, backing away from him. With a painful sob, she burst into tears, falling to her knees. "Oh God, no..."

"It wasn't your fault," he told her, dropping to the floor beside her and hugging her. "None of it was your fault."

"I killed him," she whispered, her tears wetting the shoulder of Zhane's pajama top. "I know it was me... I was so mad at what he did to her, I know I made that thing kill him!"

Catalina knelt beside Sydney and touched her shoulder. "It may have been your anger, but it wasn't you who did it."

Sydney rubbed her nose on her shirtsleeve. She then opened her denim jacket, removed the infamous Debbie from an inside pocket, and flung the knife across the room, where it clattered to a stop by the wall. "I'm not so sure."

"Then the Earth is free of one more rapist," Zhane said. He sarcastically added, "Pity."

"Not the point," Sydney said, drying her tears on her jacket. Exhaling heavily, she reached inside her front pocket and pulled out a lone mote of pink energy. "One more," she muttered.

"What is that?" Zhane asked.

"One spell," she answered. "When I was evil-"

"When the Tenga was in you," Catalina corrected.

"The Tenga bought a Magic Spider, and it would spin a web. At each intersection of the web's fibers, one of these pink things would grow. I... It was able to use them to do its magic. And there's one left."

"You could use it to make yourself twenty-one again," Catalina suggested.

"Perhaps," she said, nodding. "Or something else..."

"You don't have to use it now," Catalina said. "It's magic will last. Just hang on to it until you know what you want to do with it."

"I know what I want to do," Sydney murmured. Clutching the mote of magic tightly, she closed her eyes and silently made a wish.

Instantly, the mote of energy exploded in her hands, and for just a moment, pink light flooded across time and space.

The Previous Evening
8 p.m.

"Zeke, no," Lisa said firmly, pushing her date away.

"Don't be like that," Zeke murmured, sliding an arm around her shoulders.

"I said no," she repeated, wrenching free of his grasp.

"Yes," he said, smiling with one eyebrow cocked.

"No," she said yet again. This time, she opened the door to the car and began to walk away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted as he, too, got out of the car. "It's five miles back to town!"

Lisa, fully planning to walk the entire way back to the high school, paused on the edge of the road and turned back to him. Smiling confidently, she raised her left arm and flipped him off. She turned away and took a few more steps, but she then turned back and called out to him, "And just so you know, this was a pity date."

She had managed to take a few more steps toward town when she suddenly felt him slam into her back. For a moment, she was off of the ground, her feet flailing in the air. But gravity pulled her back down, and as soon as she was standing again, she thrust both of her elbows back into Zeke's chest and spun out of his arms. Undeterred, he came at her again, but in a move lacking finesse but nonetheless effective, she kicked him square in the groin. He only managed to squeak once before falling to the ground, curling into a fetal position.

"I got two things to say to you," Lisa told him. "One, you ever come after me or any other girl on this planet again, and I will kick your ass. And two, you can expect me to file charges."

The young blonde teenager walked out to the edge of the road again just as a car slowly drove past. She waved both arms in the air, and as it slowed to a halt, she ran to the driver-side window.

"Car trouble, ma'am?" Sgt. Robert Gutheim asked.

"Officer, I am very glad to see you," Lisa said, smiling warmly.

The Present

Sydney watched as a faint ripple passed through her immediate reality. "Does that mean it worked?" she asked no one in particular, glancing around.

"You still look fifteen, if that's what you mean," Zhane told her.

"Was anyone killed last night at the dance?" Sydney asked. "Raped? Anything unpleasant like that?"

Zhane gave her a peculiar look as he answered, "No... Well, you remember about Lisa-"

"Tell me."

"Lisa had Zeke Hathaway arrested for attempted rape," Zhane said. "He's in jail as we speak."

"He's not dead?" Sydney asked, her face lighting up. "And you said attempted rape. That means Lisa wasn't raped."

"Sydney?"

"Last night, Zeke raped Lisa, and I... the Tenga killed him," Sydney explained. "I just used my spell to give Lisa the courage to fight him off. It worked. I just saved her from rape and him from death.

"But wait... The Tenga originally murdered Zeke, and that made the magic spider die, so the Tenga went to that magic shop... That's where the spell was cast that got all of this started. So Zeke's murder was the catalyst for all of this, but today, Zeke wasn't murdered yesterday, so the magic spider shouldn't have died because yesterday's murder didn't happen today... Ugh, I hate time travel."

"The Tenga's magic spider probably existed only in a linear timeline that doesn't allow for time travel," Catalina explained. "Just don't think about it too much. We all hate time travel."

"It doesn't matter why. I'm just glad I'm the only person in my body now," Sydney said. "I guess I should go home and get a little sleep. I'm sure I'll think of a whole bunch of things to worry about tomorrow. Like, for instance, how the UAE will act when they learn I'm not on their side anymore."

"Tomorrow," Zhane agreed.

Sydney gave the Silver Ranger a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "And I'm sorry for everything the Tenga said through me."

"Wasn't your fault," he assured her.

"Alpha? Home, please?" Sydney asked.

"Certainly. Good night, Sydney," Alpha said. He pushed a few buttons on a control panel at the side of the room, and she teleported away in a streak of snow white.

"What a night, huh?" Catalina asked.

"Indeed," Zhane agreed. "Oh, before I forget... This is probably just nonsense Sydney was spouting when she was insane, but she told me to tell you to cast the Spell of Kedvarak. Does that make any sense to you?"

A knowing, grim look passed over Catalina's expression. "Perfect sense," she said. "Thank you, Zhane. I'll take care of it." He nodded his thanks, gave a brief wave to Alpha, and activated the teleportation feature of his communicator.

"Isn't the Spell of Kedvarak only used to send living energy back in time?" Alpha asked. "What possible use could it have for Sydney?" However, as soon as he said it, he, too, understood. "Andros."

"The Tenga was able to sell her first-born son to get the magic spider," Catalina said, "and clearly, that son will be Andros. At least we know that Andros grew up on the planet Daria. It shouldn't be too difficult a spell."

"What a bizarre turn of events," Alpha said thoughtfully. "Sydney isn't even from this universe, she's several years older than her body, and it has been predetermined that she and Justin will marry and have at least three children, who we now know will be Jenga, Astronema, and Andros."

"That means Justin is Lord Zedd's grandpa," Catalina observed.

"Things used to be much simpler," Alpha said, shaking his head. "Much simpler."

"I think I shall go home and begin the spell. Alpha, please contact me if anything crucial should happen in the next few days."

"Of course," Alpha said, and then, Catalina shimmered out of sight, leaving the medical room empty.

Epilogue

"You look exhausted," Trini remarked as she sat down at the table across from Sydney.

"I am exhausted," Sydney answered, peeling an orange. "I'm still remembering stuff, and... some of it isn't pleasant. I didn't sleep real well because of it."

"Remembering stuff?" Trini asked, taking a bite of her cereal. "What do you mean?"

"It's a long story, but I don't mind telling you if you're ready. It's gonna shock you, though."

"Very little shocks me anymore," Trini told her.

Sydney started to begin her tale, but another memory suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. She jerked her gaze to the microwave nearby, where the digital display revealed the time was 7:31 a.m. "Oh God."

"What?"

"Trini, please trust me. You have to morph and go to the Zord Holding Bays, right now."

"Wh-?"

"Right now!" Sydney cried. "Please, just trust me!"

Trini, admittedly shocked at her adopted sister's outburst, nonetheless nodded her head and shouted, "It's Morphin Time!" As yellow energy crackled behind her, she thrust her morpher out and cried, "Saber-Tooth Tiger!"

Sydney caught a glimpse of the armored Yellow Morphin Ranger, and then, Trini was whisked away in a yellow teleportation beam. "Please don't be too late," she pleaded.

When Trini materialized, she did not find herself standing in the middle of the massive Zord Holding Bays. Instead, she was standing in the burning wreckage of the destroyed Zord Holding Bays. Large fragments of their Zords lay everywhere, utterly demolished. Smoke was billowing up in great black clouds, and the sky was stained orange from the burning debris.

Author's Note: I wrote this fic back in July, and proofed it in August. My point being, this was written well before September 11th. I debated changing the ending, but the fact is, the explosion of the Zord Holding Bays is something I've been building up to for some time. While I was/am as saddened and troubled as anyone else by the destruction of the World Trade Centers, I do not feel this conclusion is offensive in that light. I hope I am wrong; as a writer, even an amateur, it is my desire to entertain people, not offend them.