"Truth cannot be oversaid, really." - Willow Blessing
"Metal has to be tempered, Lil Bro, or it never gets to be strong enough to survive a fight." - Julia Holochwost
"That's quite touching, in a strange, twisted way." - Ellen Brand
"It was getting dark so suddenly that Alice thought there must be a thunderstorm coming on." - Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"
"I hate quotations." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sigma's Universe
August 22

Omicron looked up from beneath the console as the white teleportation booth flashed with an incoming teleport. "Hello Sydney," Omicron said, returning her gaze back to the task at hand. "What are you doing here so early? It's not even six a.m. yet."

"Pattern nightmares," Sydney muttered. "Can't really sleep."

"Well, would you care to give me a hand with this?" Omicron asked. "The wiring system on this computer keeps shorting out for some reason. I think I've got some crossed wires."

"Yeah, I'll be glad to," Sydney said as she hurried down the lighted stairway. "What do you need me to do?"

"Can you take the top of the console off?" Omicron asked. "It's unbolted; just lift it right off."

Sydney nodded and hooked her fingers under the back of it. She gave it a hard yank, and the large piece of silver metal came off easily. "Ooh," Sydney muttered, looking at the mass of wires beneath. "An electrician's nightmare."

"My nightmare, at the moment," Omicron muttered. "We have three of the most powerful Swords in this universe here, but sometimes, you just can't beat a little elbow grease."

"What does this console do?" Sydney asked.

"Well, this one controls the interaction of Sigma's Sword with the material properties of our Rangers when they're morphed."

"Really? And that means-?"

"It keeps their bodies intact when they're morphed," Omicron answered. "Without this, we could conceivably cause them to disintegrate when they morph or de-morph. A morphed Ranger isn't a flesh and blood human being. This system here helps the transition to and from Ranger mode. They would most likely be able to morph without this console safely, but, as Sigma says, why take chances? All you really need is a Power Coin and a universal Morphing Grid."

"What exactly is the Morphing Grid?" Sydney asked, leaning her elbows on the console.

"Dana came up with a pretty good analogy once," Omicron said. "Do you know anything about computers?"

"Just enough to be dangerous," Sydney answered.

"That's enough. The Morphing Grid is like a giant computer, and the Power Coins are like programs. The program won't run without the Morphing Grid to make it run. That's a really loose analogy, but that's the gist of it," Omicron told her. "Most universes have some form of the Grid, even if they don't have any Rangers. Very complex and above most mortal comprehension."

"Computers, program, got it," Sydney said with a smile. "What does this here do?" she asked, poking at a crystalline orb that seemed very out of place amid the wires and machinery.

"Uhm, that's the relay," Omicron answered. "An extension of the Sword, sort of." Sydney reached out to gently caress it with her hand, just as Omicron said, "Don't touch it."

The orb flashed, and energy coursed through Sydney's body. She screamed as the energy lifted her off of her feet and threw her across the Power Core. "Sydney!" Omicron cried, crawling out from under the console. A glowing white after-image of Sydney being thrown across the room lingered in the air for a few seconds like a photographer's flash. She looked over to the other wall and saw Sydney lying in a moving heap at the base of the wall. White light was gathered up around her, although it, too, was dissipating. "Are you okay?" Omicron asked, hurrying over to her side.

"I think so," Sydney remarked, sitting up. However, as soon as she said it, she realized something was very different. "Do I sound different to you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Omicron told her. "You-... Look at me."

Sydney turned to look at Omicron. A quick glance down at her body told her what had happened. Extending her arms, she looked at her hands and was startled to see that they were smaller. "Omicron?" Sydney asked.

"You're, uhm, younger," Omicron remarked. "I would guess... fourteen or so."

"I'm younger," Sydney sighed, tugging at her now very loose clothing.

"The Sword must have done it for some reason," Omicron said. "But this is incredible. Your face is younger, your body is younger... Is your mind younger?"

"I don't think so," Sydney said warily. "I think I can still think the way I could before. Kind of catch-22, isn't it? A mirror. Is there a mirror around here?"

"In my room," Omicron offered. She pulled Sydney to her feet and then escorted her into her bedroom. Sydney walked up to her dresser and stared at a reflection she hadn't seen in seven years.

"I'm fourteen, again," Sydney realized. "Omicron, this is just like in my dream! I dreamt I was a teen again last night!"

"It's definitely correlated," Omicron said. "Well, not a biggie. We shouldn't do it real quick, but tomorrow, we can restore you to a twenty-one year old you."

"So I've only got to be flat as a board for twenty-four hours," Sydney complained, running her hands down the length of her body. "This is SO weird."

"Did your dream involve Justin?" Omicron asked warily.

"You know about that, too?" Sydney sighed.

"Everyone knows about it," Omicron answered.

Frowning, Sydney tugged at her oversized clothing. "I think I am going to have to get used to a life of perpetual weirdness," she muttered.

Jenga's Universe

Jenga, wearing a full-bodied cloak, walked cautiously down the hallways of the UDAB headquarters. Many divisions for the Universal Department of the Allied Benevolence were situated across the universe. Jenga had chosen the closest one on the planet Triforia. Since it was a universal organization, beings of every imaginable size, shape, color, and genetic make-up roamed the building. Many were contained in stasis fields, as many beings could not breathe the nitroxy mix in the atmosphere.

She stepped toward her goal, the office of the Triforian named River. River was one of a handful of universal experts on the manipulation of unbonded Ranger Powers. She had to have his expertise to redefine the Thunder Orbs.

"How may I help you?" a mechanical voice said as she stepped up to his door.

"I request permission to speak to River," Jenga answered in a deep baritone.

"Have you spoken with River before?"

"Yes sir," Jenga said. "My name is Driforzer."

"We will need to perform a retina scan for identification purposes."

Jenga smiled. "Understood," she answered. She reached into a pocket of her shawl and pulled out a pint-sized jar. It was filled with a clear liquid, and floating in the center was a perfectly shaped eyeball with a red iris. It was removed from Driforzer's dead body not more than three minutes prior. She positioned the iris at the scanner.

A second later, there was a ding as the computer said, "You may proceed, Driforzer."

"I give you the thanks of a million lands," Jenga sighed, bowing as she did so. Thus far, she had kept up her charade of Driforzer perfectly, speaking in his voice and mannerisms, dressed in his very shawl, and carrying his eye. The door opened, and she entered an office that an Earthling would have found remarkably familiar.

"Greetings, Driforzer," River said as he stood up. He extended his forearm. Jenga rubbed her own forearm against his, the alien equivalent of a handshake.

"It is pleasing to make your acquaintance again, River," Jenga lied.

"How can I help you?"

"I was wondering... Have you heard anything of Jenga Xett, lately?"

"No more than usual, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"I have heard rumors in the Azaria market that she has obtained the Thunder Orbs and is going to make a team of evil Rangers with them," she said. "Is such a thing possible?"

"For some, yes," he said. "I could manipulate the Thunder Orbs to serve evil, assuming I would want to." Smiling, River strummed his fingertips together and added, "But not Jenga. She isn't very adept at working anything you can't yell at."

Jenga scowled beneath her hood. With a flip of her hand, the door to his office slammed shut. River was promptly on his feet. Jenga was smiling as she pushed the blue hood down. River's eyes widened in fear as he saw that the most evil person in existence was in his office. "Jenga?" River grunted.

"The one and only," she said. "I cannot believe you talked bad about me!"

"Jenga, I didn't mean it," River said sympathetically. "I promise."

With a flick of her wrist, Ioaeu Sjknth flashed into existence in her hand. "Oh, dear Sophia," River groaned.

"You recognize this, don't you?" Jenga asked.

"Please don't kill me," he pleaded. "Please. I'll do anything."

"You can do nothing for me," Jenga told him. "Your intelligence will do much for me, however."

"I have a wife and children," he insisted. "Please."

Rather than pay any heed to his concerns, she lashed out with Ioaeu Sjknth, beheading him. Plunging the blade into his body, she drew on Ioaeu Sjknth's powers and absorbed all of his knowledge, intelligence, and memories. She quickly discarded what she didn't need, placed the jar holding Driforzer's eye on his desk, and walked away.

Sigma's Universe

Sydney held her toothbrush and toothpaste in her hand, leaning against the wall. She was waiting for whoever was taking a shower to finish so she could use the bathroom. Suddenly, the door opened and Billy stepped into the hallway, loosely holding a white towel around his otherwise bare frame. "Good morning," Sydney said.

Billy did a double take, unconsciously tightening the towel as he did so. He hadn't really expected to find anyone else awake so early. He certainly hadn't expected to find someone he didn't know awake so early. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Sydney," she answered. "I went to the Power Core this morning and accidentally had seven years knocked off of my life."

"You're kidding?"

"No, but it's just temporary," she told him. "I'll be changed back tomorrow morning. So... Bathroom mine?"

Sydney stepped past the scantily clad Billy and entered the bathroom. She widened her eyes and exhaled a sharp breath as she closed the door. "Trini is a lucky woman," she muttered to herself.

Jenga's Universe

Back at Earth, the Space Base was making its fourth revolution, now colored bright green and streaking through the daytime skies. Zordon was once again the only disembodied Eltarian on Earth. After the kidnapping of Dimitria, Catalina had left for Triforia to resume her old mentoring job. She insisted it was only temporary, as she had no doubts Dimitria would return to the side of Good. Meanwhile, on the Earth's moon, Jenga was in the Lunar Palace, preparing to activate her Thunder Orbs.

"We don't have prospects in mind, just yet," she told everyone. "Just the basic concept. A team of five evil Rangers, just for my very own. Astronema, I'll need a fire crystal."

"Got it, sis," she said, summoning one with yellow flame inside. She tossed it to Jenga, who caught it, and then broke it on DECA. Yellow flames danced around the blue object. Jenga was silent for a moment, silently chanting an incantation. A moment later, DECA flashed with yellow light. Jenga opened the top and pulled out the closest Thunder Orb. It was about as big as the circle made with her thumb and index finger. It gave off a bright, red light, and within it was the power for a Thunder Ranger.

She set it down on the ground and quickly pulled out the rest, blue, pink, green, and yellow. Then, she pointed her hand at them. A colored tendril of light leapt off of each of her fingers and stuck the orbs. They quickly began to change shape and size, growing to full Ranger size and forming an empty shell of armor.

"That is hideous," Jenga commented. The chest of each Ranger was white with a golden line running from neck to navel. "Nope, we gotta change that." She waved her hand, and immediately, the armored section of white was replaced with a chest not unlike that of the Morphin Rangers. However, instead of a white diamond on their chest, they had a white circle. "Much better." The Thunder Rangers' gloves were colored, instead of white. The glove was their Ranger color, as were their boots, while their wrist and ankle cuffs were white with gold trim. A small strip of gold, no more than an inch wide, stretched around both biceps of each Ranger. The belt was gold, with an intricate black and gold belt buckle that looked not unlike an entwined knot or a design by Escher.

"There's only one girl," Divatox commented, motioning toward Pink Ranger. All of the others had male-formed armor.

"No matter," Jenga said. "I'm hoping we might get an Orange and Purple Ranger out of this."

"How so?" Dark Spectre asked.

"In most of the universe, blue is the color for male and pink is for female. As such, Blue Powers were designed for men and Pink Powers were designed for women. However, if a man has the Pink Power, it makes his armor orange. If a woman has the Blue Power, it makes her armor purple," Jenga explained. "But this is applies only to powers that are under Ninjor's guard, crystals, coins, stuff like that. The Triforian Powers, for instance, work on a totally different principle."

"Isn't it kind of odd that blue and pink as a standard for male and female has arisen on so many planets?" General Havok asked.

"No, not really," Jenga answered. "It's such a universal concept that it works its way into every culture on its own. On Earth, blue and pink were assigned in 12th century England. Blue was used to cover boy babies at birth to protect them from evil. No demon would want a girl, so the saying goes, but people felt they needed a color, too. Red would have been chosen, but it's too strong, so it was watered down to pink.

"On Eltare, there was a pink flower called the Yager whose perfumed scent was used to adorn female corpses at death. It had a blue counterpart called the Layon which was used on male corpses," Jenga said. "But I'm getting away from myself."

"I really like their helmets," Astronema commented.

Red Ranger's animal was the Red Dragon. The visor was shaped not unlike two eyes, tilted to their side and with the insides merged. A golden dragon's snout was placed at the center of the top of the visor, set off by two small red dragon eyes. The golden design flared out to the edges of the visor, and the golden imprint of two ears were set above the eyes. The tail of the dragon, complete with a black stripe down the middle, extended down the center of the helmet towards the back. His mouthpiece was merged with the bottom of the visor. It was a sheet of silver, but there were no lips imprinted on it. Instead, three lines stretched across it horizontally.

Green Ranger had the power of the Lion. The visor was very thin. The mouthpiece had two curved lines on it, one near the top and another near the bottom. The visor was in the mouth of the lion. Two green eyes were above the visor, and the mane stretched out to the top center of the helmet. The golden design extended down the sides of the visor and curved around to go all the way down to the bottom of the mouthplate.

Blue Ranger's visor was much the same as Red Ranger's. However, his animal was the Pegasus, not the Unicorn as Zordon had named the Blue ThunderZord. The mouthplate, like the others, went straight up to the edge of the visor, although it had neither lips nor lines bisecting it. It was most similar to that of the White Ranger. A golden line outlined the mouthplate and the visor before merging together to form the Pegasus' head. Blue eyes, as per usual, were set above the visor. Horse ears completed the head, as did a few golden lines representative of the horse mane.

Yellow Ranger had a Kirin, a creature of Chinese mythology, on the helmet. It was a creature most similar to a unicorn. The visor was like that of Green Ranger. Yellow Ranger's helmet had the most gold on it. A rough outline of a face was set above the visor, and golden lines were straight out behind the face, indicative of the mane. The mouthplate had five lines across it horizontally.

Pink Ranger bore the Firebird. Her helmet was the most simple. A firebird head was into the center of the visor, and the wings curved across the top of the visor. The body of the firebird extended down the midline of the helmet, complete with black highlights. The mouthpiece was a triangle, its apex situated at her chin.

"How will you select people to wear the armor?" Lord Zedd asked.

"I'm going to pick people with totem animals most similar to the Thunder animals," Jenga said. "Red Ranger will be a rattlesnake, Green Ranger a lion or jaguar, Blue Ranger a killdeer, Pink Ranger an eagle, and Yellow Ranger a flamingo."

"How will you keep them evil?" MasterVile asked.

"Rita Repulsa kept Tommy evil for a time with her Sword of Darkness," Jenga said. "I have created my own Dark Thunder Weapons to keep my five Rangers evil. The Red Ranger has a Thunder Whip. Blue Ranger, Thunder Dagger. Green Ranger, Thunder Spinning Blade. Yellow Ranger, Thunder Claws. Pink Ranger, Thunder Nunchaku."

The weapons, all black as darkest midnight, appeared in the hands of each set of armor. In both of Pink Rangers hands was a set of nunchaku, not unlike that of Zeo Ranger II. Yellow Ranger's Thunder Claws were frighteningly reminiscent of Freddy Krueger’s glove. A handle was connected to five, curved blades. The blades were set in a manner that almost looked like a hand, and they would no doubt inflict a wide swath of damage. Green Ranger's Thunder Spinning Blade was a long chain with a circular, tri-sectioned, saw blade at one end. Blue Ranger held a simple dagger with a sharp blade, simple but deadly. And the Red Ranger held a cylinder with a dragon's claw at the end. With a simple flick of the wrist, an infinitely long red whip would snake out.

Jenga snapped her fingers, and all five Rangers disappeared, leaving the five Thunder Orbs behind. They all flew into the air and entered DECA, which Jenga picked up and tucked under her arm. "Now if you will excuse me, I must scan the Earth and select my Rangers."

Neither she, nor anyone else present, realized that DECA had been activated when the Thunder Orbs were removed. Already, the mechanical gears of DECA's brain were spinning, trying to come up with a plan.

Heather looked in what had been Willow Blessing's office. After the rather-young-herself Blessing had taken a big risk and put the even-younger Heather St. John on the air, she was suddenly an even more valuable asset. While Willow had been happy at KBKO, she knew she would be happier at WKRZ in Houston. Her family was in Houston, and not only that, but the job was going to hold much more promise for her.

It hadn't been an easy decision, but it was one she made quickly. As soon as Heather had shown up the next morning, she told her the news. After a rather tearful goodbye, Willow left KBKO studios with a promise to write. As Heather looked into the office, she realized that someone had already moved in. A middle-aged black man was unpacking things from a cardboard box on his desk. Turning around, he saw Heather at the doorway, and he said, "Hi, c'mon in."

"Good morning," Heather smiled, extending her hand. "Heather St. John."

"Oh, I know who you are, Ms. St. John," he said. As he shook her hand, she caught sight of a very unusual wedding band on his left hand. It was silver, but it glinted with blue and green highlights. "My name is Andre Ferguson."

"Very nice to meet you, Andre," Heather acknowledged. "So, uhm... Do you know about my little weird story?"

"Intern turned superstar overnight."

"Yeah," Heather commented. "I suppose that's the one. So, what do we do today?"

"First thing we gotta do is get you some good PR. We have to get your face all over Angel Grove and Stone Canyon before Monday," Andre said. "You ready to take some pictures?"

Sigma's Universe

"Justin, stop kicking me," Skull mumbled.

"Sorry," a deep, baritone voice came back. Instantly, both Skull and the person he was sharing the bed with sat straight up.

"Justin?" Skull asked in disbelief.

Rather than be his normal thirteen-year old self, Justin had aged considerably overnight. "What happened to me?" he asked in his deep voice again, delicately touching his facial features. Glancing down at his body, he saw a broad, bronzed, muscular chest. His arms were also built up with muscles, and more golden-brown hair than before covered his forearms. "Skull?" Justin asked, turning to look at him.

"Are you Justin?" Skull asked.

Justin turned slightly and picked up the shreds of the t-shirt he had worn to bed. Whatever had happened had happened quickly enough to shred his clothing to bits. He slowly picked up the sheets, stared for a moment, and then lowered them again. "Skull, I turned into a man overnight." He touched his jaw and smiled proudly as he said, "I need to shave!"

Jenga's Universe

"Oh!" Cassie cried as she ran into a person coming into the Youth Center. She dropped both of her milkshakes to the floor, and the two people tumbled to the ground in opposite directions.

"I am so sorry," the other person apologized. Looking up, Cassie saw that an attractive, albeit nerdy, girl was frantically picking up her books that had been spilled in the tumble. She had brownish-blonde hair that stretched a bit past her shoulders, and a pair of brown eyes that sparkled behind a pair of thick, black glasses. "Let me replace your milkshakes."

"No, it was my fault," Cassie insisted. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I didn't get any on you, did I?"

"No, I'm fine," she said. "Are you sure I can't replace your drinks?"

"I'm positive," Cassie said as she stood up. "What's your name?"

"Uhm, Ashley Hammond," she answered, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I sat behind you in English last year."

"Oh," Cassie muttered sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's okay," Ashley said with a smile. "I'm a rather forgettable person. Uhm, if you're sure I can't pay you back, then I guess I'll be on my way."

"I'm very sure," Cassie told her. "Sorry again." Ashley smiled as she walked off to find a table, her arms filled with various books.

"Hey Cassie," Carlos called as he hurried up to her side. "Have an accident?"

"Yeah, I bumped into that girl," Cassie answered.

"That's Ashley," Carlos said. "You don't know Ashley?"

"Should I?"

"She sat behind you in English last year," Carlos told her.

"So I hear," Cassie sighed. "Is, uhm, she sort of a-?"

"Nerd?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, she is. But she's really cool. She's been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember," Carlos answered. "I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Would she, possibly... be good for Tanya?" Cassie asked as guardedly as she could.

"Yes!" Carlos cried, his eyes wide. "She'd be great!"

"Well, I'm going to talk to Tanya about her replacement," Cassie said. "I'll mention her. Ashley Hammond, right?"

"She's the one," Carlos said. "Catch ya later."

"David?" a meek voice asked.

Turning on his bar stool, David Trueheart saw Marge Lubbock standing a few feet away. "Marge!" he cried, jumping off of his stool. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Smiling, she tilted her head to the side and said, "I've been visiting my grandmother."

"Yeah, I know," he said with a smile. "So, what brings you back?"

"Well, school starts next week, but... I heard that Phantom Ranger left town," she answered. "Are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?"

"That Phantom Ranger turned good?" she asked hopefully.

"That's the word on the street," David said, smiling. "Come on, sit down. I don't bite unless I'm asked."

Laughing, Marge took him up on his offer and sat down next to him. "I'd like to apologize for the way I acted last time I saw you," Marge said. "I was pretty freaked out. If it makes you feel any better, you weren't the only person whose face I screamed in."

David kept his grin under check as he said, "It's okay. It's forgotten. Emily wanted to see you a while back, but I haven't seen her for a few days."

"I guess Em would want to see me," Marge sighed. "We... have a lot to talk about. I hope she's okay..."

"Are you okay?" David asked.

"David, I know we aren't really all that close, but I have to tell somebody this or my cranium is going to implode!" Marge cried. "Can we go someplace private?"

"We can go see if there's anybody at the reflecting pool," David suggested. "It's pretty early; I doubt the rollerbladers are out yet."

"Okay," Marge agreed, nodding.

Sigma's Universe

"Sigma!" Billy shouted as he and Kimberly rematerialized in the Power Core. "We've got a weird problem here!"

"What kind of problem?" Omicron called from somewhere down beneath. "If it's about Sydney, we already know about it."

"It's about Justin," Kimberly said.

"Is something wrong with Justin?"

"He turned twenty-one years old over night," Billy said.

"He's like six three, two hundred and forty pounds, and he's got the physique of a bodybuilder!" Kimberly clarified.

"I've never shaved anyone else before," I said as I guided Justin on how to apply lather to his face. "And I've never had anyone shave me. Even when I broke my arm, I learned to shave with my left hand. Granted, I about shaved my lips off a few times, but still..."

"This might hurt, Justin," Jason told him. "But it might not."

"Either your new body is used to shaving, so your skin will be tough, or this is like the first time you've ever had a razor on your skin," I told him. "In that case..."

"It'll hurt like hell," Jason clarified.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Katherine asked, leaning against the doorway. "I mean, it's probably not even permanent. If I was you, I'd just walk around with some face fuzz for a while."

"No way," Justin said in his adult voice. His voice still had a juvenile lilt to it, but the tone was definitely mature. "My face feels all weird."

"Are you ready?" Jason asked, holding up a disposable razor.

"Go for it."

Jenga's Universe

"Ashley Hammond?" Tanya asked, looking at her yearbook photo. "My goodness, those are ugly glasses."

"I know, and she's really cute, too," Cassie said. "But Carlos spoke pretty highly of her."

"She was actually on my prelim list," Tanya realized, flipping back a few pages through her notebook. "I took her off because I couldn't find anyone who knew her. That was before Carlos showed up."

"Finalist?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Tanya said, writing her name on a sheet of paper with two other names. "So, I've narrowed it down to three people. Ashley Hammond, Kelly Roarke, and Barbara Gordon."

"I don't know either of those two girls," Cassie commented.

"You know, I should probably choose Ashley," Tanya realized. "Kelly and Barbara are both Seniors. Ashley is a Sophomore..."

"So, you're choosing Ashley to be the Yellow Ranger?"

Tanya looked at the sheet of paper for a few moments longer. "Yeah. Oh, man, this feels so strange. But, yeah, I'm picking Ashley."

"Do you wanna do it now?" Cassie asked. "She's at the Youth Center with Carlos."

"I guess so," Tanya sighed. "I mean, I'm leaving for UK tomorrow. I gotta do it sometime today, I might as well do it now."

"I'll go get them," Cassie volunteered. Patting Tanya's arm, she hit her communicator and teleported away in a pink flash.

Sighing heavily, Tanya pressed her own communicator and went to the Command Center in a streak of canary yellow.

Sigma's Universe

"Now was that really so bad?" I asked as Justin washed his face off.

"You never touch me again," Justin snarled, pointing a threatening finger at Katherine.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking when I put the aftershave on you," Kat said. With a shrug, she added, "I like the way it smells."

"Why is everybody congregated in the bathroom?" Sydney asked as she peeked her head in the door. "I- who is he?"

Justin looked at the door. "Sydney?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "And you are-?"

"This is Justin," Jason said. "He had a growth spurt last night."

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"It happened at the Power Core," Sydney said. "I had a bad dream about turning young, and I touched something I shouldn't have, and I actually did turn young. But I can be fixed tomorrow morning. What's up with this?"

"I just woke up like this," Justin informed her.

Sydney's eyes slowly widened as she realized, "You turned old in my dream, too... I must have done it, somehow."

"C'mon, we'll go ask Omicron," Katherine said. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, the two teleported away.

"Omicron?" Kat asked as she stepped out of the white teleportation booth.

"All right," Omicron called from beneath. Sydney looked over the railing and saw Billy, Kimberly, and Omicron clustered around one of the viewing screens. Looking up at the balcony, she said, "If Rocky, Skull, or Jason have turned into women, if anyone has sprouted horns, or if anything is growing hair that shouldn't be growing hair, it is NOT my fault."

"I think my dream is what made me and Justin... change," Sydney said. "Is that possible?"

"With the Sword, anything is possible," Omicron told her. "Well, almost anything. If you dreamed exactly this, you turning young and Justin turning old, then that's probably what the Sword made happen when you touched the conduit. But... that brings up a really big, ugly problem."

"What kind of problem?" Kat asked.

"The Swords aren't very adept at fixing biological problems," Omicron said, "and especially since they kept everyone going a while back during that Armageddon thing, they are fairly well drained. I can fix one of you tomorrow morning, but it'll take a week or longer to fix the next person, just because it will take that long to recharge."

"We probably won't even be here in a week," Kimberly realized.

"Yeah," Omicron sighed. "I know. It means either you have to stay young or Justin has to stay old."

Jenga's Universe

TJ Andrews looked up to see two well-built men in red clothing approaching him. He knew neither, but from the way they were walking toward him, he knew they were coming after him.

"Hey man," the white man said. "Are you TJ Andrews?"

"The one and only," TJ answered warily. "And you are-?"

"Tommy Oliver," he said, shaking his hand. "This is my good friend Zack Taylor."

"Hi," TJ said, still a bit cautious. "Uhm, can I help you guys?"

"Yeah, actually you can," Zack said. "Are you familiar with the Power Rangers?"

"Who isn't?" TJ returned.

"There is just no easy way to bring this up, is there?" Zack asked of Tommy.

"I don't think so," Tommy agreed. "Look TJ, it's like this. Zack and I have both, at one time or another, been the Red Turbo Ranger. It is time for both of us to retire, and we've picked you to be the new leader of the Turbo Rangers."

"Did Cindy Beth put you up to this?" TJ asked. "I am going to kill my sister."

"Uh, no. We don't know Cindy Beth," Zack promised him. "We're legit. Am I clear Tommy?"

"Go for it, man," Tommy told him.

"Shift into Turbo!" Zack shouted, taking the Turbo stance. With a flick of his wrists, he summoned his morphers. A moment later, he inserted the Turbo key and shouted, "Red Lightning Turbo Power!" TJ shielded his eyes from the intense light put off by the morphing process. Then, when he opened his eyes, he was more than mildly surprised to see the Red Turbo Ranger standing before him.

"You're serious?" TJ asked. "You want me to not only be a Power Ranger, but the LEADER of the Power Rangers?"

"We've done a lot of background stuff on you," Zack told him. "If you aren't Ranger material, then no one is."

"If you are willing, and we have to warn you, it involves a lot of work and danger, then we'll go transfer the power now," Tommy said.

"Yes!" TJ shouted, throwing his baseball bat and helmet to the ground. "I'm ready!"

"We're outta here," Tommy said, reaching out to touch TJ's arm. In two streams of red and one blinding white, the three teens teleported away from the batting cages.

"Hey Carlos, Ashley," Cassie panted as she stopped at their table.

"Cassie," Carlos acknowledged.

Cassie looked at Carlos and tapped her communicator. "Ashley," Cassie said, "this might sound strange, but Carlos and I have something very important to show you."

"Okay," Ashley agreed. However, before they could leave, two gorgeous woman with long blonde hair approached them. Carlos did a quick double check before he realized they were just Ashley's twin Valley Girl sisters.

"Hi Ashley," one of them said.

"Hello Maggie, Molly," Ashley acknowledged. "What do you want?"

"Oh my goodness," Cassie muttered as the two identical blonde twins marched a set of identical brown-haired triplet girls into view.

"We need you to watch the kidlets so we can go to the mall," Maggie said.

"These are your family?" Cassie asked.

"They're like the biggest family in Angel Grove," Carlos told her. "Two sets of twins, one set of triplets..."

"Both of our parents are twins, and they're extremely fertile," Molly said to Cassie. "It like runs in our family."

"Didn't Mom ask YOU two to watch them?" Ashley challenged.

"Come on, Ashley," Maggie said. "Stop being so difficult."

"Look, we're busy," Cassie told the twin girls. "We gotta go."

"Well, can you watch them?" Maggie asked, turning to Carlos.

"He's coming with us," Cassie said.

"Thank you for cooperating," Molly sneered. Ashley returned the sneer as she hurried away with Carlos and Cassie.

"So," Maggie tried, looking at their three siblings, "you guys wanna go to the mall?"

"No," they all said in unison.

"Ugh, what is wrong with our family?" Molly griped.

"Oh, I know," Maggie drawled. "Let's just take 'em back home."

"Thank you for treating us like human beings," the eldest triplet, Randi, quipped.

Outside the Youth Center, Ashley was being led by Carlos and Cassie to a secluded spot. "Just how big is your family?" Cassie asked.

"Too big," Ashley returned. "There are fourteen of us in all. There are the triplets, two sets of twins, and five singlets. See, Mom and Dad are each a twin, so it runs in our family, anyway. And apparently they don't believe in birth control or abstinence."

"It's clear to go," Carlos said.

"Go where?" Ashley asked.

"Ever wanted to be a Power Ranger?" Cassie asked her.

"Pardon?" Ashley asked.

In unison, Carlos and Cassie reached out and touched her arms. Activating their communicators, they teleported away in pink, white, and green sparkling trails of light.

"Jenga, I've got a question," Dark Spectre asked.

"Shoot," she told him, still scanning Angel Grove for suitable Thunder Rangers.

"It's been said that you were Supreme Evil since the dawn of time. Is that true?"

"Quite true."

"But, you also said you've only been the UAE's Supreme Evil for about seven hundred and ninety thousand years."

"That's how long I've been official," Jenga said. "How old do you think the universe is?"

"I have no idea."

"No one does," Jenga told him. "Literally no one. The farthest any type of conscious thought goes back is eight hundred thousand years ago. There was a Supreme Evil before then. Now, the Supreme Evil is in me. It is me and I am it in a way that you'll never understand. Now I was Supreme before the UAE decided to elect Zilactin. Of course, I had to take him down as soon as I found out."

"So... Darkonda never actually had a chance of defeating you?"

"No shit, Sherlock," she said. Suddenly, she cried out, "Oooh! I've found a Jaguar!" In a rush of blue fire, Jenga disappeared.

"Oh my God," Ashley sighed as they rematerialized in the Command Center.

"Welcome to the Command Center, Ashley," Alpha commented.

"That's Alpha," Cassie said.

"Hi, Ashley," Tanya welcomed. She stepped up to Ashley and said, "Are you up for this?"

"Up for what?"

"We didn't have time to explain to her what was going on," Carlos said. "We had to get away from her sisters."

Just then, red and white light flashed as Tommy, Zack, and TJ arrived. "Two at once," Bulk commented. Chuckling nervously, he said, "That makes me Senior Member."

"Ashley Hammond and TJ Andrews," Zordon boomed, "you have been brought here today to join the world's supreme and only supernatural fighting force. You have both been selected for your outstanding place in the community. Should you accept, Ashley, you will be the Yellow Turbo Ranger, and TJ, you will lead the Rangers as the Red Turbo Ranger."

"I'll do it!" TJ cried happily.

"Me?" Ashley asked. "A Power Ranger? I mean... if you're sure, then yes. I accept."

In a yellow flash of light, Tanya silently morphed. Zack moved to her side, and Tommy stepped between them with the Sword of Light. The yellow and red gems on the side of the golden blade flashed brightly. A string of red and yellow light leapt from Tanya and Zack into the Sword. The gems flashed brightly, and then a burst of appropriately colored light shot out and struck TJ and Ashley. Their bodies glowed brightly for a moment, and then they were clad in the Turbo armor. For a few seconds, there were two Red and two Yellow Turbo Rangers in the Command Center. However, that changed when Zack and Tanya's armor disappeared in a flash of light.

"This is incredible!" TJ shouted as he removed his helmet.

"Prodigious!" Ashley agreed. She removed her helmet, and her glasses reappeared in a brief glimmer of yellow. "Wow."

"In a few days," Bulk said, "your team will be complete. I'm just a temp."

"And Emily will be joining us as Phantom Ranger again before long," Cassie said.

"This is so cool!" TJ cried. "When do we get to go fight or something?!"

"It'll happen soon enough," Carlos said.

"C'mon, let's go back to my place, and we'll tell you about what you can expect," Cassie told them.

"I'll get you some communicators later," Alpha said. He then teleported the four Rangers away, sending them off to create what would be a lifelong friendship.

"You okay, Tanya?" Zack asked.

Sighing heavily, she answered, "Yeah. I think so. It's just-"

"Gonna take some getting used to," Adam told her. "Come on, we'll go to the Youth Center and drown your sorrows in some smoothies."

The elder members of the team teleported away, leaving Zordon and Alpha alone.

Sigma's Universe

"I don't want to be fourteen years old for forever!" Sydney cried. "You don't know how bad fourteen was to me! I had to wear a back brace for scoliosis for six weeks, and every time I turned, it squeaked! No, there's no way. I'll just stay behind and wait for the Sword to charge up so I can turn twenty-one again."

"We can't leave you behind," Justin said. "Heck, I want to stay big! This is awesome!"

"Justin, you can't be an adult," Rocky told him carefully.

"You're thirteen years old in there," Trini continued. "You have to be aged down."

"Aw man!" Justin complained. "Why?! I've been missing for so long, I can just take on a new identity! We can tell Mom and Dad, and..."

"No," Billy said. "I'm not really all that fond of having a little brother who is seven inches and seventy pounds bigger than me. But, if you are going to be that much bigger, then you have to go through the hell that is puberty."

"OH!" Justin shouted, jumping to his feet and giving the living room a jolt. "I just thought of something! No matter which one of us gets changed, me and Sydney are gonna be the same age! You don't have a good excuse anymore!"

Sydney dropped her head forward onto the table, her head colliding with a heavy thud along with an exclamative but whispered, "Dammit."

Jenga's Universe

Tandy Sparks looked up as a beautiful red-headed woman walked up to the front desk of the lobby in KBKO studios. "Hi," Tandy said warily. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, you do," Jenga said, handing her a business card.

Tandy took the card, and then looked back up at her. "Oh," Tandy sighed. "Uhm, are you here to see someone?"

"I'd like to speak with someone in charge," Jenga said.

Not taking her eyes off of the space demon, Tandy pressed the intercom and said, "Andre, there's someone here to see you."

"Who is it?"

"The Queen of Darkness."

"Janet Reno is here to see me?"

"No, it's Jenga Xett. Shall I send her back? Please don't make me turn her away."

"Send her back," Andre said.

"Thank God," Tandy sighed as she started to stand up.

"No, I can find my way back," Jenga told her, smiling warmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Xett," Andre acknowledged, extending his hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, and please, call me Jenga," she said with a smile.

"You know, you aren't at all what I imagined," Andre said bluntly.

"You're a very brave man, Mr. Ferguson."

"Thank you."

"Very few people have the guts to say anything that isn't a mindless compliment to me," Jenga continued. "I respect that."

"Again, thank you. How can I help you today?"

"There is a mystique about me," Jenga said. "I don't want to get rid of it; actually, I'd like to expand on it, and the best way for me to do that is to do an interview."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes sir," Jenga said. "I'd like KBKO to do my first Earth interview."

"That would be wonderful," Andre agreed. "We can get our top anchors in here in the next few minutes if you like-"

"Actually, I want to be interviewed by Heather St. John," Jenga said firmly. "Is that a problem?"

"She's here now," Andre said. "I'll go talk to her."

"Please do," Jenga smiled as she leaned back in her seat to wait.

"Jenga Xett?" Heather asked. "No, I don't think so."

"Heather, please!" Andre pleaded. "This could be the biggest break of your life! You could be the most well-known person on the planet tomorrow morning."

"But it's Jenga!" Heather cried. "Are you trying to get me killed our first day on the job together?"

"I'm trying to help us all out here," Andre continued. "This could be a monumental interview for the entire planet! Imagine it, Heather St. John is the brave soul who interviewed the epitome of evil and survived to tell about it."

"Imagine it, Heather St. John is the stupid idiot who interviewed the epitome of evil and ended up the main dish at a lunar barbecue."

"All right," Andre sighed. "I'll go tell Jenga we need to find someone else."

Heather watched as Andre turned to walk away. "Wait," Heather called. Sighing heavily, she relented, "I'll do it. But you owe me big."

"Hello, Ms. Xe-"

"Jenga."

"Hello Jenga," Heather said. She shook Jenga's hand, already startled at the amazing calm of the evil woman. "So... I'm gonna be interviewing you."

"That's my plan," Jenga agreed. "Now I would prefer to do this on my Space Base, but we can do it anywhere you're comfortable."

"Your Space Base?" Heather asked.

"Mmm hmm. So...?"

"Oh-kay," Heather agreed warily. "I just need to get some stuff ready. A camera, a..."

"No camera," Jenga insisted. "Tape recorders are fine, but no video."

"You do realize I'm in television news, right?"

"You do realize I said no cameras, right?"

"Okay," Heather agreed. "Just the tape recorder and a notepad. Can I take a few minutes to gather my thoughts before we leave?"

"Certainly. Will fifteen minutes do?"

"Fifteen minutes will be fine."

"Excellent. I have other matters to attend to." She magically produced a golden hourglass with blue sand. "I'll be back..."

"Emily St. John is the Phantom Ranger?" David asked.

"Yeah," Marge said, nodding. "I saw her change into Phantom Ranger right over there. I- I was kind of freaked out that day. I'm sorry I ran away screaming from you. I just wasn't ready to handle human contact."

"It's okay," David accepted. "I understand perfectly."

"Thank you," Marge returned, lowering her gaze. Her long, silken brown hair drifted off of her shoulders and she quickly brushed a hand through it, pushing it out of her eyes. "I'm glad you aren't going to hold it against me."

"Hello, David, Marge," someone said saucily. A quick glance around revealed them to be alone.

"Uhm, hi," Marge said, looking around.

"Do you see someone?" David asked.

"Not at the moment," Marge answered.

"Marjorie," the same someone said. The water in the reflecting pool began to roll and bubble.

"David," Marge said warily.

Water shot straight up in the air and in a rush of flames, Jenga stepped up onto the sidewalk. Half of her face was hidden by her tousled hair, but the half that could be seen possessed a seductive smile. However, seduction comes in many forms, not just that of sexuality. Seduction also comes with power and promises.

"Marge, David," she acknowledged. "I have a proposal for you!"

"Run Marge!" David shouted, pushing her toward the hedges. However, before they could run for safety, a giant slab of stone fell from the sky, flattening the hedges and blocking their way. Three more slabs fell around them, enclosing them in a giant box with Jenga and the reflecting pool in the center. Lastly, a gargantuan lid, also made of stone, dropped from the sky and sealed them in. Blue and red light was flashing in the reflecting pool, giving their sudden, dark prison an almost surreal look.

"Marge, David," she said a bit more harshly, "I have a proposal for you."

"What do you want from us, Jenga?" David asked firmly. Marge cowered behind him, trying to look strong but failing miserably.

She smiled and raised her right hand to chest level. Between the thumb and index finger was a glowing orb of red light, while an otherwise identical blue orb was held between her middle and index fingers. "Just your undying service."

DECA winked her camera-like eyes open. She slowly scanned the room, and her infrared scanners picked up no life forms. Activating her tiny thrusters, she lifted up into the air and hovered there for a few moments. She quickly put herself back online entirely, and she took a few moments to re-integrate all of her systems. She had rested in MasterVile's belongings for over ten thousand years before finally being placed in the Space Base.

She had her plan formed. She knew what she had to do to stop Jenga from bringing her plan of evil Thunder Rangers to fruition. DECA set one of her internal computers to replicate sufficient money to complete her project. By her estimates, she would need a minimum of three million in Earth American funds.

With an almost inaudible whoosh, DECA moved off of the Space Base. As she left the protective atmosphere of the satellite, she stabilized her internal pressure and flew off through space to the humongous planet Earth, looming before her.

"Oh my God, I HATE rude people!" Molly cried, commenting on the man giving a cashier at the help desk a hard time.

"Me too!" Maggie agreed. "Geeze, you'd think if they didn't have anything good to say, then they wouldn't say anything at all."

"Really," Molly nodded.

"You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"We should go over there and just chew that guy out for her," Maggie said, "'cause she can't say anything or she'll get fired, but we can rip that guy a new butthole if we want to."

"Ooh, you think?"

"It's not right that he's just allowed to yell at her for something that's probably his fault in the first place."

"That's true," Molly agreed solemnly, nodding her head.

"Wanna go rumble?"

"Okay," Molly said quickly. The two blondes started to walk toward the Sunglasses Hut when blue light flashed before them, producing Jenga Xett. Maggie and Molly both gasped and backed away.

"Maggie, Molly," Jenga acknowledged.

"Uhm, hi," Molly said slowly. She glanced at her twin and shrugged.

"Can we talk?" Jenga asked. She held up her hand, holding two glowing pink and yellow orbs in her palm.

"Those are beautiful," Molly sighed, only to have Maggie slap her on the arm.

"We're busy," Maggie answered plainly. "C'mon Molly."

"Margaret Tobin and Molly Brown Hammond!" Jenga shouted. "You come back here right now!"

"Run!" Maggie yelled, pushing Molly into the crowd of people on the second deck of the Galleria.

Jenga smiled to herself as the twin blondes ran off into the crowd of teenagers, parents, and Senior Citizens. They would be her's soon enough.

"Is she still back there?" Molly asked, pausing to look behind them. They saw plenty of people, but no red-haired demonness.

"No, I think we lost her," Maggie groaned as she leaned against the railing that overlooked the lower level. "She knew our middle names."

"I can't believe our parents actually named us after that 'Titanic' chick," Molly complained. "What kind of middle name is Brown?"

"Like Tobin is any better?" Maggie asked. She glanced over and saw that the escalator leading people up onto the second deck was just a few feet away; the one they needed was on the other side. "Come on, let's go."

Molly need in agreement and turned around to walk away. However, she was immediately face to face with someone and bumped into them, taking a few steps back instinctively. "Going somewhere so soon?" Jenga asked, flashing Molly the Yellow Thunder Orb.

"NO!" Maggie screamed. She reached out and grabbed Molly by the forearm and yanked her around. "MOVE!" Maggie bellowed as she plowed down the Up escalator.

"Hey!"

"Watch it!"

"Bite me!" Maggie returned as she pushed her way through the angry mob of people trying to make their way up to the second deck. People were getting out of their way, however, although many took the time to toss a few choice insults at the pair. Excepting the men, of course. They eagerly got out of the beauties' way.

Even without the people in their way, running down the escalator would have been a trying job. They had to run twice as fast as the escalator did, just to stay ahead. But suddenly, their job was made much easier when everyone vanished.

Maggie slowed to a halt, pausing on the now empty escalator that was slowly carrying her back to the top deck. "Where is everyone?" Molly asked, still running down the Up escalator. Her voice was extremely loud in the dead silence of the mall.

"I dunno," Maggie muttered. "Let's get outta here."

Before they could reach safety, however, everything changed around them. The black steps of the escalator turned into wooden planks, and the moving banister became an old rope. The mall disappeared, and the escalator finished its transformation into a swinging bridge above a ravine. With a scream, the plank Molly had both feet on broke through. "Molly!" Maggie cried, lurching forward. She grabbed her younger twin by the forearm, and she was pulled down onto her knees as Molly fell.

"Pull me up!" Molly pleaded, dangling above a roaring river where what a few minutes before had been the Galleria.

"Molly, Maggie," Jenga acknowledged again, kneeling beside the gaping hole in the suspension bridge. She lifted her hand up, holding the glowing Yellow and Pink Thunder Orbs. "Will you accept my proposal now?"

DECA hovered near Little Angel's Haven. A quick interior scan of the building revealed a large number of children, ranging from infants to the age of eighteen. According to everything in her scanners, she would have the most luck working with a child around the age of thirteen or fourteen. She quickly narrowed her search down until she found one final person.

Cross referencing her galactic files, she soon had a detailed report of the person. Tasha Young. Thirteen years old. Orphaned. Free-lance computer expert. _Perfect,_ DECA realized.

DECA did have access to the UDAB's records, which included a detailed account of virtually every person born on practically every planet in most of the universe. It was quite a comprehensive list, but for DECA, it wasn't a daunting task to scan through it. She was built with an internal computer systems that made Earth's most impressive computers' internal processors seem like lines drawn in sand. DECA was a bit concerned with having to carry her plan out using Earth technology, but she had no other option.

After checking for any onlookers, DECA entered the shelter and flew up to the second floor. She entered the room of Tasha Young, who was currently lying on her stomach on her bed, reading a magazine on computers.

"Hello Tasha," DECA said sweetly.

"Hey," Tasha muttered. However, she slowly lifted her eyes up and saw the blue UFO-like object hovering in the middle of her room. "Uhm... What are you?"

"My name is DECA," DECA said. "I am a Didactic Electronic Computerized Amalgamation, and I seek your help."

"My help?" Tasha asked, still staring at the blue object.

"I need to build a Blue Senturion unit, and I will need you to assist me."

Tasha, while at first skeptical, soon found herself enthralled with the elaborate story DECA was telling her. "So, if you can't make a Blue Centurion-"

"Senturion," DECA corrected.

"That's what I said."

"You said Centurion with a C. These are Senturions with an S."

"Okay, Senturion," Tasha said. "If you can't make a Blue Senturion, then the Earth could be doomed."

"That is one way of saying it, yes," DECA said. The blue contraption was hovering, quite placidly, beside Tasha's bed. "A Blue Senturion unit is our best line of defense against Jenga's Thunder Rangers."

"Well, if these Blue Senturion unit things are so hard to make, how can we make one?"

"I have full blueprints downloaded from the UDAB to create a fully functional Blue Senturion unit," DECA said. "I just need a native of this planet to assist me in getting the necessary materials."

"I don't have enough money to build a robot," Tasha quipped.

"Money is no object," DECA announced. The top of DECA opened and a robotic arm extended with numerous money notes in her hand. "I can make us as much money is needed."

"Wow," Tasha sighed as the arm withdrew and the top closed. "Counterfeit money." Cocking her mouth into a mischievous grin, she said, "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Let's go make us a robot."

"Excellent," DECA announced. "But first, I need a personal opinion on what type of Blue Senturion unit to build."

"How many types are there?"

"The Blue Senturion is merely a type of intergalactic police officer unit," DECA said. "However, the body housing the unit varies from planet to planet. Based on my own personal studies of this planet, I have devised two basic styles which I think would be effective." With a whir, the top compartment opened like a hinged lid. A video screen was on the bottom of it. "Blue Senturion, Unit One." The screen showed what could best be described as a robot from a bad B movie. It was humanoid and had a row of blue, yellow, and red lights across the chest. It was blue with large sections of white, black, and silver highlights.

"Nope," Tasha said. "Unit Two."

The scene flickered to a robot that looked much more impressive. There were no blunt edges, lights, or labels. It was almost entirely blue with silver highlights. To Tasha, it brought to mind one fictitious robot : Robocop. "Definitely," she said with a nod. "That looks cool." It had a silver face, but a blue visor covered the top half of its face, leaving only lips and the chin exposed. A silver holster rested on its left hip. A silver belt set off its waist, and its chest and legs had a brief hint of what was designed to look like organic musculature beneath. "So, what can I do to help?"

"The first thing we must do is rent a hotel room at the Hilton," DECA said.

"Why the Hilton?"

"Isn't the Hilton the finest hotel in Angel Grove?"

"Well, yeah."

Without saying another word, DECA turned tail and floated out of the room. Shrugging, Tasha followed her.

"You know, maybe I should carry you," Tasha suggested. DECA was hovering near her left shoulder as they walked toward one of the world's fanciest hotels. "I mean, this is Angel Grove, but still... tiny UFO's?"

"That is not advisable," DECA said. "Many of my internal wiring is Triforian Silver."

"What does that mean?"

"Triforian Silver is one of the universe's densest metals," DECA said. "A lump of Triforian Silver the size of your fist would weigh nearly two Earth tons."

"Really?" Tasha asked, a curious tone in her voice. "Well, if we're confronted by a police officer or something, then what will we tell people?"

Robert Sparling, doorman at the Hilton, did a doubletake as a young girl walked up to him, holding the hand of a metallic arm that looked both robotic and skeletal. The arm was attached to a blue object that looked like a stereotypical flying saucer. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's an optical illusion gag," Tasha said. "You know, like those people who walk invisible dogs."

"Good deal," he said with a smile as he opened the door to let her in.

"I can't believe that worked," Tasha whispered to her flying companion.

"People will eagerly accept the simplest hypothesis," DECA informed her. Changing the subject, DECA said, "Please try and get one of the best rooms here."

"If you've got the money, I can get us any room in this hotel," Tasha announced.

Tasha walked up to the counter as DECA lowered in altitude. The sentient blue robot hovered just beneath the edge of the counter. "Hi," Tasha called.

"Hello," a friendly voice returned. The clerk, an attractive woman with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, stepped up to the desk. "My name is Sheila. How can I help you?"

"I need to rent a room for me and my family," Tasha lied. "We'd like one of the best."

"Money is no option," DECA whispered.

"Money is NO option," Tasha repeated.

"Are your parents around?"

"Well, no..."

"We can only rent rooms to people who are eighteen years of age or older," Sheila said. "I'm very sorry. Have your parents come by, and we'll be glad to give you our finest room."

Before Tasha could walk away, DECA popped up from beneath the counter. Sheila gave a short cry of alarm. Tasha reached out to take DECA's hand, but the arm had already been drawn back in. "Are you familiar with the concept of bribery?" DECA asked.

"I think that's illegal, DECA," Tasha said.

"We will not be doing any harm or damage to anyone or anything," DECA said. "Quite the contrary. I am on your planet to save you from an evil plot devised by Jenga Xett. I am willing to both pay for the room and give you, and the manager of this hotel, twenty thousand dollars each if you will rent my young friend here a room."

"Twenty thousand?" she asked in a small voice.

"I can't believe that worked," Tasha muttered to DECA as one of the bellhops, a young man by the name of Tim Shell, led them to their room.

"According to my databanks, bribery is a wonderful Earth method of getting what you need," DECA announced. Tasha was still holding DECA by the hand, just in case someone confronted them about it. So far, they had only had to use their optical illusion excuse on the doorman. Sheila had been too content with her twenty thousand dollars to question much.

"Here is your room, madam," Tim said, opening the door.

"Wow," Tasha sighed as she entered the luxurious room. She had never seen anything so fancy.

"I think we're supposed to give him a tip," DECA realized.

"How much is usual for your tip?" Tasha asked.

"Different patrons give different amounts," he said calmly.

"Gimme twenty," Tasha requested.

"Certainly," DECA answered, extending a mechanical arm with a thick wad of bills in it.

"Here ye go," Tasha said. "Buy yerself somethin' pretty."

"How much money is this?" Tim asked.

"Twenty thousand dollars," DECA answered. "Thank you for serving us."

With a happy yelp, Tim literally bounded out of the room. "It takes so little to amuse Earthlings," DECA said.

"Yeah, twenty thousand here and there and you've got people falling over all each other," Tasha remarked. "So DECA, what do we do now that we've go the room."

"We start planning," DECA answered. Floating over to a window that looked out over the city, she continued, "Jenga will release her Thunder Rangers on Angel Grove tomorrow morning at dawn. We have until then to get the necessary materials to build our Blue Senturion unit."

"Overnight?" Tasha asked. "I'll have to be at the shelter for supper and I can't leave after eight o'clock."

"Ordinarily, I would not ask one to break the rules, but could I persuade you to stay with me all night if I can keep you out of trouble with your organization?"

Tasha grinned. "I don't have a problem with breaking some rules," she said. "If you can do the impossible, then I'm with ya 'til dawn, girl."

DECA slowly opened a lid on the top. A marble-sized blue bead floated out of it. It hovered off of the ground, and then it glowed white. A holographic image of Tasha formed around it, hiding the floating hologram bead. The image was mildly transparent for a moment, but it quickly solidified. Tasha stared wide-eyed at the exact replication of herself. The replication said, "I don't have a problem with breaking some rules. If you can do the impossible, then I'm with ya 'til dawn, girl." Then, the image disappeared, leaving only the floating blue bead behind. It darted over to DECA and flew inside her.

"Is this a satisfactory replication?" DECA asked.

Tasha blinked a few more times in disbelief before giving a one-word answer. "Yep."

"Legal pad, tape recorder," Andre said, handing Heather the objects. He pulled something out from behind his ear and said, "And my lucky ink pen."

"Thanks," Heather grumbled, taking it from him. "This is very weird." She tapped the top of the blue hourglass on Andre's desk with the ink pen. Watching intently, she saw the last few grains of blue sand drop into the bottom.

"Times up," Jenga announced as she burned into being in the room. Heather shielded her eyes from the blue fire.

"You sure like the color blue, don't you?" Heather asked.

"Very much," Jenga agreed. "Shall we go to the Space Base?"

"All right," Heather grumbled. Before they teleported away, she shook an angry finger at Andre and said, "You owe me BIG."

"Take a look at that view," Jenga said, pointing Heather's gaze out into space. "At this moment, you are seeing the Earth from an angle that less than a handful of her residents have seen. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's absolutely amazing," Heather murmured. From the balcony, the Earth hovered effortlessly against a never-ending backdrop of stars. It was both beautiful, awe-inspiring, and terrifying all in the same glance. She paused for a moment before turning to Jenga and saying, "Can I be candid?"

"Certainly."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I hadn't planned on it," Jenga returned. "Why?"

"I was just afraid you were going to kill me."

"Well, provided you don't say anything stupid, you'll be fine."

"What qualifies as stupid?"

"You're pushing it." Jenga couldn't stop the grin that followed. "I'm kidding, Heather. Geeze, you kill a few people, try to take over the planet, and suddenly everybody's all up in arms about you."

"Sorry," Heather apologized.

"It's okay, kid. Come, let's go make history."

Sigma's Universe

"I'm continually remembering things I would have liked to have done before I left home," Sydney complained. "I have friends I could have said goodbye to, I wish I had my mother's Bible, and oh! I had the neatest set of t-shirts! It was a set of fifty-six, and they were all either red or black, and printed on it in either black or red was a playing card. The whole deck."

"Don't you mean fifty-two?" Trini asked. The two girls, plus Justin and Jason, were driving to the local town to pick up some supplies.

"Fifty-two?" Sydney asked. "No, fifty-six."

"How many cards were in the decks of your world?" Jason asked.

"Am I the only one surprised that she had a set of fifty-six t-shirts?" Justin asked, mostly to himself.

"There were fifty-six," Sydney repeated. "There were four suits, hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. The low card was ace, two through ten, the joker, the jack, the queen, and the king."

"You played with the joker?" Trini asked.

"We played with all four jokers," Sydney said. "I'm missing something here."

"Our universe, and this universe too, doesn't have a joker face card," Jason explained. "Ace through ten, jack, queen, and king."

"That is so strange," Sydney said thoughtfully. "Fifty-two cards. What a concept."

"You really had fifty-six t-shirts?" Justin asked.

"Match set," Sydney said. "I made them myself. I guess whenever we get to your world, I'll have to make myself another set." She paused then, and said, "Whenever I get to your world..."

"Something wrong?" Jason asked.

Sydney sighed as she took the cap Sabrina had given her many weeks ago off of her head. Her brightly colored hair swung free, glistening in the bright sunlight. "It's just now occurring to me," she said. "I mean... we're almost there."

"Isn't it great?!" Justin cried.

"It's terrifying," Sydney whined. "What if I can't be changed back in time? I'll have to stay fourteen! I can't support myself if I'm fourteen! What will happen to me then?!"

"See, that's all the more reason for her to be aged up instead of me aged down," Justin said, thumping his hand on the seat back for emphasis.

"No, Justin," Sydney said forcefully. "It isn't an option. You are going to be seriously screwed later on if you miss your teenage years."

"She's right," Jason agreed. "You're older than all of us now."

The quartet drove in silence for a few moments before Justin asked, "You really had fifty-six matching t-shirts?"

Jenga's Universe

Heather was absolutely dumb-founded. "Will that suffice?" Jenga asked. The two were slowly walking through the corridors of the Space Base. They had just left the Hangar where a variety of space ships were parked. "I'd really like to see this in all of the big name papers, if you can manage that. 'Time' and 'People' would be nice, too."

The young reporter grinned as she flipped through the dozens of pages of notes she had taken during her conversation/interview with the Space Demon. "I'm sure I won't have any problem getting in any newspaper or magazine I want to be in."

"Oh, a final quote," Jenga said. She raised her right hand and magically produced an envelope, held between her middle and index fingers. "Please don't open this until you've written the article. You can add this at the very end. And remember, if you open it before you write it, I will know, and I may kill you."

Heather's eyes flared open as she took the envelope from Jenga. "Really?" Heather asked. Jenga had been so friendly and open during the interview, the sudden death threat was startling.

"I would say you could find out for yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it," Jenga quipped. "So, any final questions."

"No, I think I've got everything," Heather said. Turning around from looking at the planet Earth, she extended her hand and said, "Jenga, it's been a real pleasure."

"Likewise," Jenga said, shaking her hand. Jenga leaned on the balcony and stared out into space. As if gathering her thoughts, she waited a moment before saying, "But before you go, I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Heather asked.

"I've just given you the story that will make you the world's most famous mortal woman," Jenga said. She turned around and rested her back against the railing. "All I ask in return is a little bitty favor?"

"What's that?"

Jenga lifted her left hand up to reveal a glowing, green orb of light. "Ever wanted to be a Power Ranger, Heather?"

Tasha and DECA were walking and floating respectively toward the Galleria. "I gotta be honest with you, DECA," Tasha said, holding a print-out in her hand, "some of this stuff just doesn't exist on Earth."

"I had anticipated as much," DECA countered. "I suspect we will have to make many substitutions. Provided I can find six ounces of reforyl triklate or a decent substitute, we can make ourselves a Blue Senturion unit. It is a type of precious gem."

"Reforyl triklate?" Tasha asked. "Granted, I'm not really into jewels, but I've never heard of it."

"I have cross referenced reforyl triklate with all of my Earth knowledge, and I have not yet located either of these words. However, I'm sure a substitute can be found."

"What is it exactly?"

"It's a type of jewel," DECA answered. "Blue Senturion units use it to extract energy from the environment. It is in essence a never-ending battery."

"I gotta be honest with you, DECA," Tasha started. "I don't think anything like that exists on Earth."

"In that case, I will have to sacrifice myself."

"What do you mean by that?" Tasha asked.

"My power source is reforyl triklate," DECA said. "Although I do not particularly like the idea of turning myself off to complete our Blue Senturion unit, my sacrifice is a much smaller sacrifice than that of the entire planet." For the rest of the walk to the Galleria, the two new friends were deathly silent.

"Power Ranger?" Heather asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Very simple concept," Jenga said. "I'm making a team of evil Rangers, I need someone with the totem of a fierce cat to be the Green Ranger, and you just happen to be a Jaguar. Join me? I can make it worth your while..."

"You want me to be an evil Ranger? An evil GREEN Ranger, at that?" Heather said. She shifted her legal pad from one hand to the other and said, "Thanks, but no. Bad karma, all that stuff. Can I go home now?"

"I am gonna have to stop talking in rhetoric," Jenga said. Chuckling, she flipped her hair over her shoulders and said, "When I ask you to do something, I'm not giving you an option. Please reconsider."

Heather felt her stomach churning. She had never been so terrified in her entire life. _How could I have been so stupid!_ "Please let me go home," Heather said, not nearly as firmly as she had hoped.

"Certainly," Jenga said, standing up. She extended the glowing green orb. "Just take the power. It's delightfully wicked being evil. You can have any man on the planet, anything... Just touch this Green Thunder Orb, and the world is your oyster."

_Kill me or not, but..._ "No," Heather said defiantly.

"I'm in a generous mood today, so I'm going to give you a second chance to accept," Jenga announced. "There are two very easy ways out of this situation. One, accept the orb." After saying that, Jenga summoned Ioaeu Sjknth. The hilt was purple, angry. "Two, accept death. The choice is yours."

In a flash, Heather was off. She dropped the notepad and tape recorder as she bolted down the nearest corridor. Only one thought came to her as a means of survival. She knew it was a long shot, but as she saw it, she had nothing to lose.

She rounded the corner and ducked into the Hangar. _Get a little ship,_ she thought to herself. She hurried to the back of the room where she saw a small red ship, not much larger than an oversized car, a few ships over. It was floating effortlessly in the hangar. Heather glanced down and saw that the catwalk she was standing on was all that separated her from the oblivion of space. Getting to the small ship was going to require a leap of faith unlike any other.

Heather stretched out with her foot and tapped the nearest wing. It seemed stable. She had never been a particularly religious woman, but as she stepped off of the attached catwalk and onto the floating spaceship, she was praying harder than few humans had ever prayed. Every prayer, song, and Bible verse she had ever heard was whirling through her mind in a confusing mix.

Then, she pushed off with her other foot and landed on the ship. Falling to her knees, she grasped the shiny black surface of the craft. She waited just a few moments, and once satisfied that she was safe, she crawled across the dome-like bubble perched atop the ship. Upon crossing the peak, she slid down the slippery surface and landed chest-first on the other wing. Before getting to her feet, she tore her shoes off and tossed them aside. She reached up under her skirt and quickly removed both of her tan-colored stockings. "Much better," she muttered to herself. However, as she got into a kneeling position, she made the mistake of looking down and saw her shoes tumbling into the infinite reaches of space.

_Stop it, stop it, stop it!_ Placing one hand behind her for stability, she slowly got into a half-kneeling position. Her bare feet were already providing better traction than her slippery shoes had. Summoning up another burst of courage, she leapt onto the next ship over. Landing effortlessly, Heather's nerve was starting to build up. This time, she didn't pause. She ran from the end of one wing to the next. The small red ship was just a few feet away. It was shaped a bit like a Stealth Bomber, only there was a round dome covering the cockpit. Standing up to her full height, Heather looked again. She had to jump about four feet, and she would be there. She took a step back, and then she leapt.

She slammed into the dome, but she had made it. "I hope I can fly this thing," she muttered. She ran her hands across the dome, looking for a way in. Before she could dedicate much time to that, however, her weight overbalanced the ship and it tipped over. "NO!" She felt herself falling, and in a panic, latched on to anything she could. Her arms jerked, and the next thing she realized, she was hanging onto the inverted craft by one hand, holding on to one of the wings with a death grip. However, the surface was slippery, and her fingers were sliding. There was absolutely nothing she could grab onto, and as soon as her grip was gone, she would end up plummeting through space. Once she fell past the protective atmosphere of the Space Base, she would enter the cold vacuum of space and explode, dying instantly.

Jenga floated by, riding Ioaeu Sjknth like a stereotypical Halloween witch rides a broom, side-saddle. "Quite a predicament you've gotten yourself into," Jenga smirked.

"So this is the Galleria?" DECA asked.

"The one and only," Tasha said. "What do we need to buy first?"

"I would like to build the Blue Senturion's mental processing unit so that it can download information from the UDAB's data files while we are building his body," DECA said.

"So we need to buy computer parts first, right?" Tasha asked.

"Correct. Do you know of a place?"

"Cynthia's Computer Shack," Tasha announced. "That's the best place in Angel Grove to go for computer stuff." Tasha headed toward the escalator with DECA hovering behind her. She stepped on the up escalator and began her slow descent to the second floor. "Will Earth computers really suffice?"

"I will no doubt need to make modifications, but you have to work with what you've got," DECA said. "I must admit, Tasha, I expect more people to take notice of my unconformity."

"This is Angel Grove," Tasha sighed. "We could have a golden flying monkey attached to an organ grinder and nobody would blink an eye."

Tasha stepped off of the escalator while DECA surveyed the mall. "A rather impressive layout," DECA commented. "For an Earthian design."

"Of course. It's over here."

"Tasha, none of these computers are attempting to contact me," DECA complained. "Cynthia doesn't seem to have any sentiency machines running."

"That's because we don't have sentient computers," Tasha said. "Problem?"

"I should have known better than to even attempt to build a Blue Senturion unit on this still-water berg of a planet," DECA griped. "Well, let's get busy."

"Hi, can I help y-?" Cynthia started. She spied the blue object hovering behind the young girl.

"Yes you can," Tasha said. "We need to buy a lot of computer stuff."

"A lot," DECA repeated.

"As in probably everything you have," Tasha said. "Of course, we'll pay, but if you'll help us out and not ask any questions, we can give you a little bonus."

"Will twenty thousand suffice?" DECA asked as she extended a robotic arm with a thick wad of bills in her grasp.

"Cynthia?" one of the mall security guards asked. He knocked on the back door to her shop.

"Hi Daniel," Cynthia smiled. "Problem?"

"Well, I was wondering why you are closed early. Is there a problem?"

"No problem," Cynthia answered. "Just decided to close early. You take care, Daniel." Smiling again, she closed the door, leaving the man to ponder why she had closed her store during the peak shopping hours.

"Where are we going to get the metal to build the Blue Senturion unit?" Tasha asked as she took the cover off of yet another computer.

"The metal store?" DECA suggested.

"The metal store," Tasha repeated incredulously.

"Is there any shop in the mall that sells raw ore?"

"'Fraid not," Cynthia answered.

"What is the purpose of being on this useless planet?" DECA snapped. "You can't buy anything you need!"

"What kind of metal do you need?" Tasha asked with a sigh. "Maybe Lowe's or some place like that will have enough."

"Any type of steel or tin that I can reinforce," DECA said. "Do you know of a source?"

Tasha lifted the computer cover and pointed at the thin sheet of metal inside. "How about this?"

One of DECA's eyes turned red as she scanned the metal. "I would need approximately five hundred thousand sheets of metal at that density to compose a Blue Senturion unit," she said.

"But this kind of stuff would do?" Tasha asked. "How will you shape it into a robot?"

"The welding process is no problem," DECA said. "In my body cavity, I have a micro-laboratory that can manipulate metal far better than any of your supposed Earth technology."

"Then give me some money," Tasha suggested. "I'll run to the Toy Store and bit some die-cast metal cars."

"How much money will you need?" DECA asked.

"This is a lot of cars," Lucas, owner of Lucas' Lazer-Tag Palace, said. The gaming arcade was unique in that it also had a fair amount of toys for sale. Tasha currently had all of their die-cast cars stacked up on the counter, trying to buy them.

"Is there a limit?" Tasha asked, peeking around the massive stack of boxes. "I have money."

"Well...," he said slowly.

"Here's twenty-thousand," Tasha sighed as she handed over a wad of bills. "Keep the change."

"Do you need any help getting those out of the store?" Lucas asked.

"I have hard drives of many different sizes," Cynthia said. "The largest I have is five gig."

"Five gigabytes?!" DECA cried. "That's it?!"

"That's it. That's about the biggest they make."

DECA actually groaned as she took in the information. "Just downloading the Blue Senturion unit records will require forty-five terabytes."

"Terabyte?"

"One thousand gigabytes makes up one terabyte," DECA said. "I suppose I could make modifications... And perhaps place these 'hard drives' all throughout the body cavity... Please gather all of the hard drives that you have." DECA's top opened and two robotic arms extended, each holding a very alien tool. "I shall see if I can increase the performance of this five gigabyte drive."

"I got all kinds of metal now," Tasha announced. "Over five thousand dollars worth of model cars."

"You just have money rolling out of your ears today, don't you?" Cynthia asked as she began bringing boxes full of computer components out to DECA.

"Wait!" DECA cried. One of her optical scanners pointed its gaze at Cynthia's hand. "Reforyl triklate!"

"Excuse me?" Cynthia asked. DECA abandoned her current job and darted over to the young woman. She withdrew both of her arms only to pop one back out, this time with an empty hand. DECA delicately took Cynthia's left hand by the wrist and stared at the ring perched there.

"What is this stone called?" DECA asked.

"That's a moonstone."

"DECA?" Tasha asked.

"Moonstones are not rare on Earth," DECA realized. "Tasha, go purchase as many moonstones as you can."

"Sure," Tasha said as DECA handed her money. "Why?"

"I may be able to use it to make reforyl triklate."

Jenga literally danced down the hallways of the Space Base. She had five evil Rangers, and better yet, they had all agreed of their own volition to serve her. Granted, their only other option was death, but it still pleased her that they had all agreed to serve her. The Thunder Orbs wouldn't have worked for her otherwise.

"I can't wait until dawn," she purred. However, she paused when a realization came to her. "DECA."

From where she was standing, she turned and shot blue beams of light from her eyes to gaze upon the Earth. "You're building a Blue Senturion," she grumped. Shaking her head, she said to no one in particular, "Fine. If we want to involve the Senturion units, then we will." She disappeared in her customary teleport sequence of blue flames.

"I got us all kinds of rings," Tasha said proudly.

"Gold as well," DECA observed. "Excellent, Tasha. I can use the gold to rewire these hard drives back at the Hilton. It will make them run much faster."

"How exactly will this Blue Senturion unit work?" Tasha asked. "I mean... locomotion. Won't we need to have an engine of some type?"

"I can devise the parts from metal," DECA said. "However, I will need to observe an Earth machine to study the principles of locomotion, factoring this planet's gravity in, of course. Do you know of such a machine we could buy?"

"You want to buy a car?"

"Yes sir," Tasha answered. "Something expensive, of course."

"Of course. I'm sorry, but I can't sell a car to anyone who isn't old enough to drive."

"I don't want to drive it. I just want to buy it," she insisted.

"How will you get it off the lot?"

"I can pay somebody to drive to the Hilton for me," Tasha said with a shrug. "I don't know! Just let me buy a car! I've got the money!"

"I'm sorry, miss, I-"

With a thump, Tasha sat a large stack of green notes on the counter. "Is this real?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Tasha said proudly.

"Do you mind if I check?" he asked smugly.

Tasha's eyes widened as he took one of the bills off of the stack. He removed a brown ink pen from a drawer and drew a mark on the five hundred dollar bill. His eyes got even wider than Tasha's when the brown mark turned blue, a sign of quality. He rummaged through the stack and pulled a bill from the middle, drawing a quick mark on it with the counterfeit pen. He began to mark on the bills at random, a slight chuckling at first turning into a near-hysterical laughter when he realized the bills were real.

_That was too close,_ Tasha groaned. "Well, since you aren't interested in selling me a vehicle, I'll take the *two hundred and twenty thousand* I was going to give you in addition to the sticker price and leave."

"Any type of car you are looking for?" he asked as he escorted the young girl through the lot. "Sports car?"

"I want something really, really fancy," Tasha told him. "What's the most expensive car you've got?"

"Well... How about a Lexus?"

"What colors?"

"Black with gold trim?"

"Perfect."

Planet Thurmoth in M-51 Galaxy

Jenga couldn't help but smile as the Thurmothians leapt to their feet and bowed as she walked past. It was definitely nice to have a reputation that proceeded you. She walked up to the main desk of the Senturion Dealership. The man, his face highlighted with feline-like qualities, behind the counter stood up as she approached him. He took her hand in his, turned it over, and licked her palm.

"I love this royal treatment," Jenga smiled. "I'm here to buy some Senturion units."

"What type? And I must say, I could never charge anyone as beautiful as you."

"That's so sweet of you to say," Jenga returned. "And I'm looking to buy a Red Senturion unit. Three of them, actually."

Earth

"Heather?" Andre asked.

The attractive blonde stood with her back to him. She pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her coat pocket and slipped them over her faintly glowing green eyes. Turning back to him, she asked in a sweet voice, "Yes?"

"Your interview. How did it go?"

"Remarkably well," Heather answered. "I've got quite an article to write."

"Do you know where you are going to submit it?"

"Time, Newsweek, People, here and there, everywhere," Heather said. Her voice was strikingly normal, giving no hint to the evil coursing through her veins. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get started on writing it."

"Do you need any help?" he asked. "I mean, you're t.v."

"I'm so new I'm hardly anything," Heather quipped. "I'm sure I can do fine."

Sigma's Universe

"Geeze, Sydney," Jason laughed. "You're as bad as Rocky."

"Can I help it that I have a healthy appetite?" Sydney asked as she polished off her third order of chili cheese fries.

A short distance away, an attractive black woman, dressed normally, watched the quartet. Smiling wickedly, she produced a quartet of her own, four teenage thugs dressed in leather. Then, she summoned a quarter, walked over to the pay phone, and dialed a quick number. "Hello? Police? There's a big fight at the Sonic! You had better get out here before these four kids beat up these nice old Senior Citizens!"

Jenga's Universe

"Tasha, I am going to teleport you to our room at the Hilton," DECA said. "Please rearrange the furniture in an attempt to make room for all of our belongings. Including the Lexus. I will teleport you back here in exactly fifteen minutes."

"The Lexus."

"Yes."

Tasha had already realized that the simplest thing to do was just go along with DECA; she certainly seemed to know what she was doing. "Go for it," Tasha said. Her body began to glow, her form a swirling mass of white light. However, rather than streak up into the sky, she merely faded away.

Sigma's Universe

With a battle cry, Sydney leapt off of the table, only to have Justin catch her in mid-leap. "Lemme go!" she demanded as he held her with only one arm by the waist effortlessly.

"Sydney," Justin complained, "we're being arrested."

"I'm fourteen years old," Sydney said as she stopped struggling. Even so, Justin continued to hold her. "I can't be arrested."

"No, but you can be detained," Jason quipped as he was led past them by a police officer, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"I'm a peaceful person," Trini complained as she was escorted into the back of a cruiser. "Yet I've still managed to be arrested twice this summer!"

"I think it's kinda cool," Justin remarked as he handed Sydney over to a uniformed officer.

"Shut up, Justin," Sydney groaned as he was cuffed, and they were both pointed in the direction of the police car.

Jenga's Universe

Red Senturion Units One, Two, and Three walked into the Galleria with the utmost of ease. Their mechanical joints were as silent as organic ones, but they could move with more ease and considerably faster. Each possessed an incredible internal radio system that allowed them to stay in continuous contact with one another. In a sense, they were all extensions of the same Red Senturion unit. When one had gone as far as he could, another would promptly pick up the chase.

(I do not believe Tasha Young is at the Galleria,) Three said.

(You stay here,) Two thought at neither of them in particular. (I will go to the Hilton where she is recorded as staying.)

(I will check the Shelter,) Three announced.

(I will continue searching here for DECA,) One finished. Red Senturion units Two and Three disappeared with nary a teleport sequence. They just vanished. Red Senturion One, a gleaming red humanoid six feet tall with broad shoulders and black highlights, walked through the crowd of people, attracting remarkably little attention.

Red Senturion Three walked past a group of young children playing in front of Little Angel's Haven. They all stopped their game and looked up at the red robot walking toward the doors. He scanned their faces, vital information on each child becoming known to him. Realizing that none of them was Tasha Young, he continued into the shelter.

He stood in the center of the downstairs main room, scanning through the floors and rooms.

"Can I help you?" one of the shelter workers asked, no hint of amusement in her voice.

Red Senturion Three looked at her, information on the young woman filing across his field of vision. First name Akiko, worked at the shelter for several years... Negative match, not Tasha Young. "No," he answered simply as he turned and walked away.

With a grunt, Tasha got the couch out of the way. "Finally," she groaned as she flopped down onto it. She had pretty much emptied three of the rooms in their suite. She made a mental note to talk to DECA about the weight of the car on the floor, but there was certainly room for their Lexus otherwise. A knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie, and with a groan, she sat up. "I'm coming," she muttered.

Opening the door, she found a red robot standing before her. _Robocop._ It was identical in body to the Blue Senturion she and DECA were building, but it was red and black instead of blue and silver. "What are you?" Tasha found herself asking.

"I am Red Senturion Two under the charge of Jenga Xett," he answered. "My objectives are the assassination of Tasha Young and DECA."

He reached for the red and black pistol on his hip. With a yell, Tasha slammed the door in his face and darted into the suite. Red Senturion Two twisted the door knob, discovering it automatically locked. With a simple yank, he pulled the gilded knob and locking mechanism out of the door. As the door swung open, he removed the pistol from its holster and calmly walked into the room.

"Oh crap," Tasha muttered as she entered the side door of the bathroom. Pausing for a moment, she could just barely hear Red Senturion's near-silent footsteps on the carpet. Walking on the balls of her feet, keeping her heels away from the ground. Suddenly, the mirror over the sink exploded, causing Tasha to scream. She bolted from the bathroom, running through the second door and into the living area. Tasha darted through the now empty rooms and out the door, pulling it shut behind her.

Breathing hard, she leaned against the door only long enough to formulate a plan. "C'mon DECA," Tasha pleaded. Groaning, she ran a short distance down the hall to the stairwell. "Stupid, psychopathic robot."

DECA turned one optical receptor away from the hard drives she was currently dismantling. Switching to infrared, she scanned the area all around her. Nothing but the steady stream of humans past the store lit up as red in her vision.

"DECA?" Cynthia asked as she brought yet another box of computer components out from the storage area. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," DECA answered. She switched her vision back to normal. "It was nothing."

"Generic penthouse," Tasha puffed as she finally made it to the lobby. She had taken no more than a few steps, however, when Red Senturion Two stepped out from behind a column. With a tiny eep of alarm, Tasha darted out of sight, dropping to her knees behind a large potted plant. _So far, so good,_ she thought to herself. She crawl-walked across the lobby, darting behind a luggage cart. Peering over the luggage, she saw the shiny red robot slowly scanning the room.

"Now what," she muttered. She spared another glance back over the luggage. This time, the first thing she saw was a tiny red dot on the top of the cowhide baggage. Throwing her eyes up quickly, she saw him standing with his left arm outstretched, his laser pistol in his grasp. Silently, Tasha hurled herself to the side, a mere second before the luggage exploded. Cries of alarm rose up all over the lobby, but Tasha paid them no mind. She was already running by the time she made it to her feet.

Red Senturion Two calmly lowered his left arm and began to follow her, stalking her with the calm of a seasoned veteran or, in his case, a machine. He stopped again to raise the gun. However, his target disappeared into a swinging door before he could fire.

Tasha, headed for the Hilton's indoor pool, collided with a young girl in a purple swimsuit. Both girls went flying to the ground, Tasha going further with her momentum. "Hey," the other girl complained.

"You have to get out of here," Tasha warned.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. The girl wasn't but a year or so younger than Tasha.

"Somebody is wanting to kill me," Tasha answered. "Get out of here so he won't kill you, too!" Tasha ran off, leaving the young girl to stand there confused.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Red Senturion Two stepped in. He glanced at the young girl before him, information on her instantly filing across his vision. Kris Thomas, 12 years old, Negative match, not Tasha Young. "Excuse me," Red Senturion Two said calmly as he walked past her.

"Who are you looking for?" Kris asked. "A young African American girl?"

"Yes," Red Senturion Two answered simply.

"She went that way," Kris lied, pointing in the opposite direction of the pool.

Kris Thomas, 12 years old, accelerated heart beat, increased epidermal temperature, false statement. "No she didn't," Red Senturion Two told her as he strode toward the pool.

Tasha eyed the pool nervously. The only other place she could run that wouldn't take her through the entrance were the two saunas, and she seriously doubted that either of them had an exit. A few people, mostly Senior Citizens and a few kids, dotted the pool area. _The pool._ Tasha ran to the deep end and slipped into the water, pressing herself tightly into one of the corners. She kept as much of her body below water as he could, hoping with all of her soul that the Red Senturion wouldn't find her.

Then, she saw it. Red light glanced off of the water. Looking up, she saw him standing on the other side of the pool, his laser pistol pointed at her. One metallic finger rested against the trigger. "Please," Tasha pleaded, pressing herself even harder against the pool wall.

"I am not programmed to feel sympathy," he informed her. Then, he squeezed the trigger. Debris and water exploded up into the air as the corner of the pool was obliterated.

"NO!" Tasha screamed as she landed on the ground along with a rush of water. With a frightened gasp, she looked around.

"Tasha?" DECA asked, hovering near her. "Why are you wet?"

"Thank God," Tasha groaned as she stretched out on the floor. "DECA, if you had waited another second to teleport me..."

"What happened?"

"This thing that called itself a Red Senturion tried to kill me," Tasha answered. "Almost did, too. He said his two objectives were to kill the two of us."

"A Red Senturion?" DECA asked, her voice tinted with alarm. "Things just got a lot more dangerous, Tasha."

Sigma's Universe

"I don't like that one," Sgt. Mooney quipped.

"What a coincidence," Sydney smarted back.

"Put her with the new guy."

"Guy?" Sydney asked. "I'm a girl. Aren't you required to put me with the women."

"Eh," Mooney shrugged. "Nobody cares what we do in this town."

"Figures," Sydney griped as she was led to her cell. "Hey, this place is actually pretty nice."

"Hey Duke!" Mooney shouted. "We got yourself a cell mate."

Sydney's soon-to-be cellmate was a gargantuan bald man. His head was shaved, and he actually had a spiked dog collar around his neck. A big barrel chest was just barely contained in a black leather vest, and his blue jeans were purposely torn and ripped. "How old is she?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"How old are you?" Sydney returned with a sneer.

"She's just gonna be here for an hour or two," Mooney said as he opened the cell door. Unlocking Sydney's handcuffs, he urged her into the cell.

"So you're Duke."

"Yep."

"My name is Sydney," she said extending her hand. "I'm a 20 year old woman trapped in the body of a fourteen year old."

"Whatever," he grumped as he ignored her hand and returned to his bunk.

"Oh, we're just gonna have scads of fun together."

"Loose! Footloose!" Sydney sang, lying on her back on the top bunk. "Kick off your Sunday shoes..." She paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "I have no idea what the rest of the lyrics are."

"Oh no, does that mean you're going to stop singing?" Duke asked in a monotone.

"She's got it!" she sang again. "Yeah baby, she's got it! I'm your Venus, I am your fire, At your desire... Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, at your desire..."

"You have a very beautiful voice, but your taste in music really sucks."

"Hey!" Sydney protested. "I love songs from the eighties. Bananarama is awesome!"

"If you're going to sing, could you at least sing something I enjoy?" he asked.

"Well, what do you like?"

"Country."

"Yeah, well the joke's on you pal!" Sydney shouted as she leaned over the bed. He looked up to see her upside face staring at him. Her hair, all five colors of it, streamed down like a curtain. "It so happens I love country. Any preferences?"

"Something quiet?"

"How about the Dixie Chicks?"

"How about Bocephus?"

"Never mind. I won't sing."

The two sat in silence a bit longer before Duke said, "Go ahead and sing."

In a deep, sultry bass, Sydney belted, "Unchain my heart, baby set me free. Unchain my heart, 'cause you don't care about me."

"No."

She paused only briefly before singing, "Somewhere between like and love, much more than one not quite the other! How-"

"Sing country, dammit!"

In a hideous drawl, she began, "There's a tear in my beer 'cause I'm cryin' for ya dear!"

"Sydney, I could kill you without breaking a sweat," Duke threatened in that same monotone. "I suggest you take me seriously."

"All right, all right," she said. "Give me a song title. What do you want to hear?"

"Do you know any ballads?"

"Born on a mountaintop in Tenneeessee, killed him a b'ar, when he was only three. Davy! Davy Crockett! King of the wild fr-!"

"You're going to burn in hell for this," Duke warned.

In a sing-song, Sydney taunted, "You MUST be RE-ligious." She paused, thinking hard, before she finally said, "Well, if you don't want me to sing, are you willing to do anything?"

"I have a deck of cards," he offered.

Jenga's Universe

"Tasha, it is an impossibility to build a Blue Senturion unit while running for our lives," DECA said.

"Well, we have to do something!" Tasha cried. "I don't know about you, but I have no desire to be killed."

"I have no desire to be deactivated myself," DECA agreed. "Is there any way to get in contact with the Power Rangers?"

"None that I know of," Tasha groaned. "Maybe if I alerted the press? Called 911?"

"Try anything," DECA said. Opening her lid, she extended a metallic hand and dropped a few quarters into Tasha's hand. "And be careful. Keep an eye out. Red Senturions are capable of instantaneous teleportation." Tasha nodded as she ran from the store.

"Dammit, I'm not kidding!" Tasha yelled. With an angry scowl, she threw the receiver at the phone, splintering the plastic handset. So far, her calls to 911 had been met with ridicule. Apparently, they received more than a few requests for the Power Rangers.

With a heavy groan, Tasha all but collapsed against the public telephone. She looked up, suddenly catching a glimpse of red metal. In a shiny, glass store-front, she saw one of the red robots walking through the now slightly-thinned throng of people. It was late afternoon, and the lunch crowd had dissipated. However, there was more than enough people for some stray shots to produce disaster.

Immediately, the telephone she had just been on exploded. Tasha screamed and scrambled away as plastic, metal, and change scattered all around her. She shielded her eyes instinctively, but a split second later when she dropped her hand, she saw one of the Red Senturions standing there. He pointed his laser pistol at her, never saying a word.

Tasha, likewise, rolled away. His fired shot struck the floor, digging up a considerable crater in the tile. By the time he fired his second shock, she was already to her feet and running.

She turned the corner of the mall, grateful that the Galleria at times was almost like a labyrinth. Its unique design had prompted numerous articles in various architectures magazines. Today, Tasha counted on it to save her life. However, she had taken no more than a few steps when she saw another Red Senturion. She gasped and ducked into the nearest store.

"Hi, and welcome to Dimension X," someone said. Tasha turned to see a young woman, probably a Generation X'er, standing behind the counter. She was stacking beanie babies. "My name is Katie, and we've just got a shipment of beanie babies, including the Finster beanie baby, based on the actual Finster from the Dynasty of the Apocalypse."

"I'm just hiding," Tasha commented as she disappeared into an aisle of comics.

"Thank you for shopping Dimension X," Katie commented as she returned her attention to the task at hand.

Tasha crept through the store. Being one of the interior stores, it could be entered from one of two directions. It lay in the midline of one of the mall's corridors. The escalator to the second deck lay just a short run away.

Ducking around one of the aisles, she leaned against the shelf, obscured from view. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't know if she could do it. Just to run out into the mall could be committing suicide.

She waited, listening intently. She heard no mechanical sounds of any type, no footsteps, nothing... Praying one quick, desperate prayer, she ran out of Dimension X. As she rounded the corner, she looked back and saw no hint of a Red Senturion unit.

Tasha slowed to a normal walk, still glancing behind her. _Did they give up?_ She turned her attention forward, just as she walked into Red Senturion Three.

With a loud whir, one of DECA's "eyes" whipped toward the closed storefront of Cynthia's Computer Shack. Switching into infrared, she saw it. Red Senturion One was walked past.

_It's times likes these I wish I hadn't been blessed with sentiency,_ DECA thought to herself, not really all that sarcastically. There were Red Senturion units out there, and there was only three things to stop them once they had been assigned a goal.

Completion of the goal, deactivation, or instructions from Jenga Xett. DECA only foresaw one of the three possibilities being completed, and she didn't like it.

She instantly lowered her temperature, dropping to zero degrees Celsius. It wouldn't keep her invisible, but it might buy her time if the Red Senturions relied on infrared. "Cynthia," she whispered. She dropped to the ground, hovering only an inch or so above the carpeting. "Cynthia," she repeated again. She darted into the backroom, looking around.

"DECA?" Cynthia asked, still getting boxes out of storage.

"Is there a back way out of here?" DECA asked. "I'm being stalked."

"Stalked?"

"There's no time to talk. How can I get out?"

"There's a back door, straight through," Cynthia answered, pointing.

"Thank you," DECA said in a hushed whisper as she glided away, silently.

Tasha backed up a step. There was no running now. "I am Red Senturion Three under the charge of Jenga Xett," he told her. "My objectives are the assassination of Tasha Young and DECA."

"Why are you going to kill me?" Tasha asked, fighting hard to keep back the tears. "Because you were told to?"

"Yes," Red Senturion Three said, pulling his laser pistol from his hip.

"Please don't," Tasha pleaded. "You have no reason to murder me. I'm just a worthless kid."

"I am not programmed to make judgment calls," Red Senturion Three answered, leveling his gun at her chest. "I am only programmed to serve Jenga Xett's every order."

"I AM DECA!" a loud voice yelled. "DECA STANDS FOR DIDACTIC ELECTRONIC COMPUTERIZED AMALGAMATION!!!"

Tasha and Red Senturion Three both looked up. DECA was hovering at the edge of the second deck's "balcony." Red Senturion Three pointed his gun at DECA and fired. The blue object darted to the side, safely missing the blast. "Run Tasha, run!" DECA shouted.

As soon as the second blast at DECA was fired, pandemonium erupted. Screams filled the air, and general chaos ensued. Tasha bolted for the escalator.

DECA dropped down behind the railing and grabbed a rack of clothing, swiped from the closest clothing store. Seizing it with both hands, she hurled it over to the bottom deck. It hit Red Senturion Three, knocking him to the ground. His red and black laser gun hit the ground and clattered away.

Tasha ran up the moving escalator. It was empty, unlike the escalator going down. Everyone was desperate to get out of the Galleria. Suddenly, Red Senturion Two stepped into the spacious walkways. Raising his gun, he fired at the escalator. Tasha couldn't help but scream as plastic shrapnel belched out of the escalator's railing. Another shot, this one directly on target, destroyed the escalator's motor, and Tasha tumbled to her hands and knees.

The sharp edge of the steps cut into her knees and the fleshy heels of her hand, producing no pain but the first sticky bubbles of blood. However, she ignored that and crawled up the final steps. Another shot streaked past her, striking the gargantuan skylight above her. She put her arms up around her face as she ran through the shower of glass raining down.

She ran to DECA, only to have another Red Senturion unit appear before her instantly. Screaming in shock, she backpedaled several feet. "I am Red Senturion One under the charge of Jenga Xett," he said. "My objectives are the assassination of Tasha Young and DECA."

"Ma'am, we have to get everyone away from the Galleria," the policewoman said.

"There is a young girl still in there," Cynthia said. Glancing at the badge on the policewoman's chest, she said, "Elizabeth, her name is Tasha Young. She's African American, and she's about 13 or 14 years old."

"I'll make sure she gets out," Elizabeth promised. "Now you get away from here as quickly as you can."

Elizabeth turned to go into the Galleria when a young girl approached her. "Hi," the young girl said. "My name is Tasha Young. Can you point me in the direction of the Monster Shelters?"

"Certainly," Elizabeth said, relieved. She gave the girl directions. She vanished from Elizabeth's gaze in the crowd of people. Tasha stopped moving. Then, in a white flicker, she disappeared. A floating red marble was all that remained. It darted back into the mall, inconspicuously merging back into Red Senturion Two.

Tasha cringed as Red Senturion One raised his laser pistol. "Here I am, Red Senturion!" DECA yelled. Blue flashed before Tasha as DECA flew between them. She cried and jumped back as Red Senturion One yanked his aim from Tasha to DECA. The blue sentient computerized being flew across the Galleria, sailing high above the open roof of the lower deck. She dodged and weaved as shots from Red Senturions One and Three streaked past her.

"What are you doing?!" Tasha yelled as Red Senturion One ran along the balcony, trying to hit DECA.

"I'm their number one priority!" DECA answered. "Get out of here, Tasha!"

She started for the escalators, only to see Red Senturion Two running up them. Tasha looked down to the bottom deck and saw the elaborate fountain at the other end of the balcony. She tore off for it, hunkering down to avoid a stray shot. The lasers from the Red Senturion units were invisible. The only sign that DECA was being shot at was the fact that every time a laser struck something, whether it was stone, tile, marble, or brick, it exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.

Tasha reached the pinnacle of the oval-shaped opening of the second deck's floor. About ten feet below, the very utmost layer of the fountain bubbled merrily. Placing her knee against the railing, she hauled herself up to the top.

Far below, DECA was flying in rapid circles, going fast enough to avoid death but slow enough to keep the Red Senturion units' interest.

Holding herself essentially by her hands, Tasha looked at the fountain. The top of the fountain wasn't very deep, probably not more than a foot or two. However, as she turned to see a Red Senturion getting ever closer, she let go off all her fears and leapt.

She plunged beneath the water, sliding to her back as the water covered her face. Sputtering, she sat up and glanced behind her. The spray from the center obstructed her view of one side, but she didn't see a Red Senturion too close by where she could see. She trudged over to the edge of the top layer and stepped down into thigh-deep water.

The fountain was essentially a series of layers, water from the top trickling to the bottom. However, there was a smaller fountain in the center of each, sending water high. Coins lined the bottom, making it a bit more tricky to walk than she would have guessed.

Just as she hopped down to the next layer, she looked up to see Red Senturion Two jump onto the top of the fountain. "Crap!" Tasha cried, wasting no time in getting to the next lowest level.

Red Senturion Two pointed his gun at her and fired. However, just as he fired, one of the random founts spurted, deflecting the laser. It broke up into numerous beams, all of which traveled in wildly varying directions. A wide swath of minor damage was inflicted as it struck all around the mall. Windows broke, tile chipped out of the floor, and plaster fell from the ceiling.

Tasha finally made it to the bottom level. She hurried through the knee deep water and jumped out of the fountain, soaking wet. As she took off running, she glanced up behind her to see Red Senturion Two calmly walking through the water.

DECA whizzed up to Red Senturion Three, turning sideways and passing through his legs in mid-stride. He turned his gun and fired, hitting the ground.

"Come and get me, Red Boys!" DECA taunted. Floating about a foot off of the ground, she tore through the already greatly damaged Galleria's food court. She continually whipped around tables and chairs, producing plenty of plastic shrapnel. If not for the fact that they were machines, Red Senturion One and Three would have been seeing red in their attempts to destroy the elusive DECA.

She took a right turn into Sears, disappearing in the maze-like women's clothing department. Resting her base against the carpeted floor, she changed her temperature to that of her surroundings and she switched her vision to infra-red.

Tasha ran to what she hoped was the nearest exit. Red Senturion Two, the unit from the Hilton, was calmly following her, his laser pistol drawn and ready to kill. _Oh no..._ Tasha found herself facing a dead end. Rather than run into a lobby that would lead out of the Galleria, she was in the corridor that ended only in the restrooms.

She turned, hoping she could backtrack. However, the long shadow of Red Senturion Two was already creeping toward her. "Oh God," she groaned, panicked. She ran to the end of the corridor, hoping and praying that there was an exit, an exit she couldn't see it.

Nothing.

She stepped to the side, patting the wall, just as a shot from Red Senturion Two's laser pistol hit the wall. Screaming, she ran into the men's restroom. She slammed the door shut, hoping to find a lock but not surprised that there wasn't one. The Galleria's restrooms were gargantuan, holding twenty stalls.

She ran to the very back of the room and entered the back stall on her left, locking it. Tasha crouched on the back of the toilet. Her heart leapt into her throat when she heard the door open and Red Senturion Two's metallic feet click against the tiles. _You are dead meat if you don't run!_

Tasha got off of the toilet and got on her stomach in the stall. The fact that her stomach was rubbing against the tiles of the mens' room didn't occur to her. Survival was the only thing she could think about. She saw his red and black feet at the far end of the restroom. He was definitely looking for her, but he wasn't moving.

She suddenly got an idea. She stretched one arm up, pausing it near the handle. Her hand quivered nervously. Then, in a lightning quick jab, she flushed the toilet. She bit her lips hard in an effort to remain silent as she crawled on her stomach, pulling herself along with her elbows, beneath the tiles. She heard his feet moving toward the back of the restroom. Tasha crawled as quickly as she could, passing by toilet after toilet.

After crawling through about ten stalls, she heard him kick the stall door open. Biting on her lip hard, she kept moving. Then, she heard him open the next stall door. _He's going to find you!_ her mind screamed. The sensible part of her mind insisted she wasn't going to live, but she still didn't stop crawling.

Suddenly, the door to the restroom crashed open and DECA flew into the room. "It's me, Red Senturion!" DECA shouted.

_DECA!_ Tasha cried gratefully in the silence of her mind. She heard one of the laser pistol's shots hit the brick wall, and DECA darted out of the restroom. Red Senturion Two was close behind.

Shaking, Tasha climbed to her feet and sat down on the toilet. She knew she should be running, but she was shaking too much. Gasping for breath, she buried her face in her hands. _Stop it. You still aren't safe._

She wiped her cheeks, even though she wasn't crying. _Right._ Standing up, she cautiously pushed the stall door open. The restroom seemed to be empty. On her tiptoes, she hurried over to the main door of the restroom. _Please God, just one break._ She stepped out into the Galleria, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing the immediate area devoid of Red Senturion units. Keeping her back to the wall, she hurried to the main area of the mall.

Wherever DECA was, Tasha assumed the Red Senturions were as well. The mall was totally deserted; destruction was everywhere. At the moment, the only sound was that of the fountain. The water still rolled and bubbled merrily. She walked off, just as an explosion sounded behind her. She felt the bits of the wall hit her in the back, and as she spun around, she saw a blackened hole in the granite.

Glancing up, she noticed Red Senturion One walking out of Dimension X. Unable to keep from screaming in a mixture of fear and rage, Tasha tore off as fast as she could. He pointed his gun and fired, striking a glass case filled with various gadgets from Spencer's. The glass collapsed, tinkling as it struck the floor.

This time, Tasha followed the sunlight. However, as she darted down the final corridor leading to the exit, she realized something was wrong. Numerous police cruisers were parked on the sidewalk in front of the doors, their red and blue lights flashing. Chains were stretched across the door handles to keep a curious onlooker, or reporter, from sneaking in. Unfortunately, it was also going to keep Tasha in.

"NO!" she screamed, slamming into the door. She looked behind her and saw the shadow of Red Senturion One creeping around the corner. "Let me out!" Tasha yelled, jangling the door. She beat her fists against the glass. A quick idea occurred to her, and she dropped to the ground. Sitting down and leaning back on her hands, she kicked out with both feet. The glass, however, was safety glass, technically unbreakable.

"Please break," Tasha pleaded as she lashed out again, slamming both heels into the pane of glass stretched across the lower half of the door. The glass bent with her force, but it didn't even make an attempt to break. It just sent shock vibrations shaking up her legs.

Turning around, she slowly got to her feet, pressing herself against the door. Red Senturion One was in full view, slowly walking toward her. Tasha scurried from door to door, still finding them locked.

"Come on," Tasha taunted. "Shoot me." It was a simple plan, but as she saw it, it was her only chance. He would shoot at her, she would dodge, and the door would be blown to shreds.

Unfortunately for her, Red Senturion One wasn't stupid. His mechanical brain realized that, and he was going to wait until he could press the gun to her forehead to pull the trigger.

Tasha's legs gave out beneath her, and she slumped to the floor. "DECA, please," she moaned.

Suddenly, what sounded like the world exploding filled Tasha's ears. She screamed and ducked down as glass and metal burst out of the front wall of the Galleria. Tasha looked up just in time to see a pink truck land inside the mall, sliding to a stop. It slammed into Red Senturion One, sending the red killer robot flying.

The Pink Turbo Ranger was behind the wheel, and the Yellow Turbo Ranger was in the tailbed. Hopping out of the truck, Ashley hurried over to her. "Are you all right?" she asked, quickly examining Tasha for any injuries.

"I'm okay," Tasha breathed, disbelieving.

"Yellow Ranger, get her out of here!" Cassie cried as she leapt out of the truck and took a defensive stance.

"Right!" Ashley agreed. "Where to?"

"Monster shelter," Cassie said, placing herself between Red Senturion One and Tasha. Ashley wrapped an arm around Tasha's shoulders, and the two disappeared in a flash of yellow and white.

Red Senturion One casually climbed to his feet, staring at the Pink Turbo Ranger before him. "You can't teleport into the Monster Shelter," Cassie said defiantly. "If you want to get her, YOU have to go through me."

"You are not in my objectives," Red Senturion One said calmly, "but the assassination of Tasha Young is. If I must go through you, then so be it."

"You gotta go through us, too," Carlos said as he and TJ ran up.

Blue light streaked down through the ceiling, producing the broad-shouldered Blue Turbo Ranger. "And me," Bulk affirmed.

"Don't forget me," Ashley quipped as she reappeared in the Galleria.

"That is an acceptable proposal," Red Senturion One decided before he launched an all-out attack.

Sigma's Universe

"I'm sorry, but those big eyes scare the hell out of me," Duke said. "My girl loves Sailor Moon, but... ungh." He was reclined on his bottom bunk, while Sydney sat on the ground beside him.

"You know, most men like the idea of women trotting around in sailor fukus."

"I'll have none of that, thank you," Duke muttered. "I'll just take my women naked."

"That explains the playing cards," Sydney said with a grin. Each card had a buck naked woman in a variety of positions with the same vacant stare. "Now, it's ten, jack, queen, king, right?"

"I've never seen anyone have a hard time understanding the concept of a deck of cards," Duke grunted.

Sydney raised her eyebrows as she took in her hand. "So, it just goes, ten, jack, queen, king?"

"Right," he said.

"All right," she said as she rummaged through her cards. There..."

"Why is your hair so..."

"Metallic?"

"Yeah."

Sydney brushed her fingers through the silken, colored locks of hair. "It's dyed," she lied. "I just got some good hair dye. But the grey is real." They played cards in silence for a while longer, before Sydney asked, "What're you in for?"

"Same as always. I had to protect my smart-mouthed teenage daughter. You?"

"Public brawl," she said. "We won. Did you?"

"I ain't dead, am I?"

"I still find it very strange that they put a 14-year old girl in the same jail cell as a hardened criminal."

"Hardened?"

"Aren't you?"

"I wish. No, I'm strictly a misdemeanor kind of guy."

"I once kidnapped a member of the royal family," Sydney said.

"You did not."

"I could if I was twenty," Sydney griped.

"What is it with you and the obsession with being twenty?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I can't believe they got arrested," Tara griped as she parked in front of the jail.

"I can't believe Sigma won't just teleport them out," I added. "I mean, it was Sheila's fault!"

"He said he'll wipe everybody afterwards," Katherine commented. "Apparently, disembodied mentors like to jerk their students around."

"I'll go jerk Mooney around," Tara complained.

"He's her uncle," I told Katherine as Tara stormed up the sidewalk.

"Mooney!" Tara yelled as soon as she entered the building. "Get your sheriff hiney out here!"

"Tara, please don't get us arrested again," I pleaded. "I'm not a fan of community toilets."

"You hush," she threatened sternly, pointing a finger.

"See how she treats me?"

"What- oh," Mooney said as he came out front. "It's you."

"You can just see the love in the air, can't you?" Katherine asked.

"You arrested four of our friends, one of which is a minor? Why did you do that?" Tara snarled

"They were in a public brawl!" Mooney shouted.

Tara ran right up to him and stared him directly in the eye. "They were just defending themselves!"

"Mr. Mooney, sir, we're just here to pay their bail," I sighed.

"And who are you?"

"I'm Garland's boy," I muttered.

"Oh yeah!" he realized. "How's your daddy doin', son?"

"He's doing just fine," I said, attempting a smile. "He'll be back in town next week."

"Stop talking to him," Tara snarled, slapping me on the arm.

"Come on," Mooney said, stepping away from his angry niece. "We'll go get 'em out. You stay here." Tara sneered at him as the rest of us went to the back.

Jenga's Universe

TJ grunted as Red Senturion One kicked him in the ribs. As he stumbled away, Bulk and Ashley jumped at the robot. Each struck home on the beast, only to have it whirl around and simultaneously spin-kick both of them.

"Thunder Cannon!" Carlos shouted, stancing himself as he called on his Power Weapon. A burning green ball of energy shot out of the cannon, striking him in the stomach. With an oomph, Red Senturion One stumbled backwards, his metallic feet clanging against the floor.

Cassie jumped in next with Wind Fire, shooting a continual stream of pink lasers into Red Senturion One's body. Bulk followed suit, summoning his Hand Blasters and firing them in one fluid movement.

"Star Chargers!" Ashley cried.

"Lightning Sword!" TJ shouted.

"No you guys!" Bulk yelled. "Turbo RAM! That'll finish this guy off!"

"Right!" the others agreed. They quickly lined up and touched their weapons together. In a bright white flash, the Turbo RAM assembled. Ashley and Cassie knelt beside it and grabbed the handles there. Bulk took his place behind Cassie, with Carlos behind Ashley. Lastly, TJ stood behind the object.

"Turbo RAM!" they all shouted. "FIRE!" A giant, gleaming burst of energy shot out of the cannon, streaking the short distance to Red Senturion One. It hit him in the chest, and he exploded, gleaming red parts flying everywhere.

"We did it!" TJ yelled. "I love being a Ranger!"

"Awesome!" Cassie agreed.

"Were there any others?" Carlos asked.

With a flick of her wrist, a Turbo Navigator appeared in Ashley's hands. "Two more," she said quickly. "Maybe three... They are all in the... that way. There is something else in here, but... It's not registering as hostile."

"Let's go take back the Galleria!" TJ shouted happily as he ran off.

In Angel Grove Park, a bizarre assembly of people were walking down one of the few sidewalks. Molly Brown Hammond, wearing a bright yellow shirt, walked directly in front of David Alan Trueheart, dressed in jeans and a blue t-shirt. At his side was Margaret Tobin Hammond, better known as Maggie, in a pair of pink short shorts and a white tank top. Her long blonde hair was tied back with a pink scrunchie. In the lead was Marjorie Carol Lubbock, known to more as Marge, in red dress shorts and red blouse. She was positioned in the midline of the group. Each and every one of them had on a park of dark black sunglasses. There was a curiously empty space in front of Maggie.

Just then, a woman in a green business suit walked toward the group. She, too, was wearing the same black sunglasses. She effortlessly stepped in front of Maggie and began to march with them, not causing the group to break form.

They walked in perfect unison, each stepping forward with their right foot at the exact same time. Their arms swayed in unison, and the distance between them was equal. The group walked off of the sidewalk, heading into a nearby cove of trees. There, they broke form, making a circle. In perfect unison, they removed their sunglasses, reveal ten glowing eyes.

"Why are you the leader?" David asked, turning his blue eyes onto Marge's red ones.

"Our Queen selected me," Marge answered, cocking her head arrogantly. "She must have had her reasons."

"I am the oldest," Heather announced. "I should be the leader. Just because you are wearing red doesn't mean anything."

"I should be the leader," David said firmly. "I have the greatest physical strength and fighting ability."

"I am the leader, and I am justified in being the leader," Marge informed them. "I have the greatest intellect."

"It doesn't matter who is the leader," Maggie snapped, fixing her pink eyes on the three squabbling Rangers. "We're serving Jenga Xett. There is no greater honor."

Marge slid her sunglasses back on and said, "I agree completely. We avoid each other until the fight."

"That's kind of hard